This week, Israel severely restricted Palestinian Arabs from crossing the Green Line for Passover, as it does every year. The chance for terror attacks increases greatly during Jewish holidays, as we had seen in the Park Hotel Passover massacre of 2002 that killed 30, 21 of whom were over 70 years old.
Anti-Israel sites are keen on pointing out how horrible Israel is for doing this, and how especially delicious the irony that Israel seems to celebrate its holiday celebrating freedom by restricting the freedom of Palestinian Arabs.
It just so happens that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been closed since last night and will continue to be closed from now through Tuesday. It is also closing it for a national holiday.
Not one English-language news source is mentioning this story.
And what holiday is Egypt celebrating?
"Sinai Liberation Day", April 25th, is the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Sinai in 1982.
I guess that irony that Gazans are imprisoned during Sinai Liberation Day (and the days before and afterwards) is not the right kind of irony.
Text of Hamas/Fatah agreement: Vagueness defined (updated)
I had mentioned that the draft text of the Hamas/Fatah unity agreement was extremely vague so as to ensure that any substantive decisions are pushed off as long as possible, probably until at least September.
Here it is in its entirely, in English, so you can see how Hamas and Fatah studiously avoided agreeing on anything real:
Not only that, but some of the smaller factions that signed the document did it with reservations on some of its contents.
The entire exercise in "unity" is a scam meant to fool the West long enough to get the issue of statehood in front of the UN.
Paragraph 2 is part of the scam. It is meant to placate the West by saying that the PLO, which runs the PA, is not bound by any Hamas decisions not to recognize Israel. However, as I have pointed out, as soon as "Palestine" is declared, the PLO will disappear and Hamas can fully participate in foreign affairs.
Security is the main sticking point between the parties, as they derive their power from their security forces. Yet only one sentence talks about this topic, and that sentence is pretty much "to be defined later."
As anyone can see, there's no "there" there. This unity government legitimizes terror but keeps its intentions fuzzy so that the US, UN and EU won't notice it.
The Arabs are counting on one basic fact, one that has rarely let them down:
Western leaders tend to be eternally optimistic, they have short memories, and they are mesmerized by such nice sounding words as "unity."
(h/t Zach, source: Rafah Today.)
UPDATE: Here is the list of groups that signed the agreement:
— Fatah
— Hamas
— Islamic Jihad
— Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
— Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
— Palestinian People’s Party
— Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
— Palestinian Liberation Front
— Arab Liberation Front
— Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command
— Dzb Baath Arab Socialist Party (Syria)
— Palestinian Arab Front
— Popular Resistance Committees
— Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA)
(h/t George Hale)
Here it is in its entirely, in English, so you can see how Hamas and Fatah studiously avoided agreeing on anything real:
1. ElectionsIt took three years for Egypt to convince Hamas to sign this wishy-washy document.A. Election Committee:2. Palestine Liberation Organization
Both Fatah and Hamas agree to identify the names of the members of the Central Election Commission in agreement with the Palestinian factions. This list will then be submitted to the Palestinian President who will issue a decree of the reformation of the committee.
B. Electoral Court:
Both Fatah and Hamas agree on the nomination of no more than twelve judges to be members of the Electoral Court. This list will then be submitted to the Palestinian President in order to take the necessary legal actions to form the Electoral Court in agreement with the Palestinian factions.
C. Timing of Elections:
The Legislative, Presidential, and the Palestinian National Council elections will be conducted at the same time exactly one year after the signing of the Palestinian National Reconciliation Agreement.
The political parties of both Fatah and Hamas agree that the tasks and decisions of the provisional interim leadership cannot be hindered or obstructed, but in a manner that is not conflicting with the authorities of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
3. Security
It was emphasized that the formation of the Higher Security Committee which will be formed by a decree of the Palestinian President and will consist of professional officers in consensus.
4.GovernmentA. Formation of the Government:5. Legislative Council:
Both Fatah and Hamas agree to form a Palestinian government and to appoint the Prime Minister and Ministers in consensus between them.
B. Functions of the Government:1. Preparation of necessary condition for the conduction of Presidential, Legislative and the Palestinian National Council elections.
2. Supervising and addressing the prevalent issues regarding the internal Palestinian reconciliation resulting from the state of division.
3. Follow-up of the reconstruction operations in the Gaza Strip and the efforts to end the siege and blockade that is imposed on it.
4. Continuation of the implementation of the provisions of the Palestinian National Accord.
5. To resolve the civil and administrative problems that resulted from the division.
6. Unification of the Palestinian National Authority institutions in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem.
7. To fix the status of the associations, Non-Governmental Organizations and charities.
Both Fatah and Hamas agree to reactivate the Palestinian Legislative Council in accordance to the Basic Law.
Not only that, but some of the smaller factions that signed the document did it with reservations on some of its contents.
The entire exercise in "unity" is a scam meant to fool the West long enough to get the issue of statehood in front of the UN.
Paragraph 2 is part of the scam. It is meant to placate the West by saying that the PLO, which runs the PA, is not bound by any Hamas decisions not to recognize Israel. However, as I have pointed out, as soon as "Palestine" is declared, the PLO will disappear and Hamas can fully participate in foreign affairs.
Security is the main sticking point between the parties, as they derive their power from their security forces. Yet only one sentence talks about this topic, and that sentence is pretty much "to be defined later."
As anyone can see, there's no "there" there. This unity government legitimizes terror but keeps its intentions fuzzy so that the US, UN and EU won't notice it.
The Arabs are counting on one basic fact, one that has rarely let them down:
Western leaders tend to be eternally optimistic, they have short memories, and they are mesmerized by such nice sounding words as "unity."
(h/t Zach, source: Rafah Today.)
UPDATE: Here is the list of groups that signed the agreement:
— Fatah
— Hamas
— Islamic Jihad
— Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
— Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
— Palestinian People’s Party
— Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
— Palestinian Liberation Front
— Arab Liberation Front
— Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command
— Dzb Baath Arab Socialist Party (Syria)
— Palestinian Arab Front
— Popular Resistance Committees
— Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA)
(h/t George Hale)
Arab writer admits Arabs must take their share or responsibility for "Nakba"
Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar has an article by Majed Kayali that is highly unusual in the Arab world.
While it of course blames Israel for the "nakba" in 1948, this is the first time I've seen an Arab columnist admit that Arabs must take some responsibility for the Palestinian Arab situation today.
Excerpts:
While it of course blames Israel for the "nakba" in 1948, this is the first time I've seen an Arab columnist admit that Arabs must take some responsibility for the Palestinian Arab situation today.
Excerpts:
Since the beginning we have regarded the Nakba as the product of a Zionist colonial act, and this is true, but it is not the whole story, or does not explain the truth of what happened.
In particular, the Nakba didn't happen suddenly, but it came within the framework of a series of events and developments, related to the establishment of the Zionist movement, and directing Jewish immigration to Palestine, and the establishment of the nuclei of political, military and economic and educational entities to Israel, before 1948.
The talk about the Nakba raises the question year after year, as to how the Arab reality not only could not do anything for the Palestinians, but for that very reason the Nakba continues. With all due respect to talk about the centrality of the question of Palestine, the love of Palestine, this has not translated in a practical way that makes it easier for the Palestinians, who have been the subject of all kinds of discrimination and extortion and being used in the Arab world.
In addition to all the above, the Arab system is responsible for preventing Palestinians from statehood. Arabs aborted the "All-Palestine Government" [puppet government in Gaza in the 1950s], and they annexed their land, which did not fall under Israeli control, namely the West Bank and Gaza.
Under the Arab system, Palestinian refugees have no rights, no power, under the pretext of maintaining their unity.
So you can not talk about the Nakba without a critical review of history, because history is written recounted a particular story, focused on the creation of Israel, and history is withholding of stories on the responsibility of Arab nations for the Nakba, within which they facilitated the migration of Jews from Arab countries to Palestine / Israel to the extent that this State doubled its population within three years, and 80 percent of Jewish immigrants came from Arab countries.
Did Abbas and Meshal sign the unity agreement? (UPDATE)
From Al-Quds al Arabi (Arabic), discussing the Hamas/Fatah unification ceremony in Cairo:
It may be possible that I am interpreting the autotranslation incorrectly, but I don't think so. The writer goes on to mention the other disagreements Abbas and Meshal had as far as protocol, seating, speaking and so forth.
I know that representatives from Hamas and Fatah signed the agreement a few days ago.
I cannot find any photos or videos showing Abbas or Hamas leaders actually signing anything, at a ceremony that was specifically meant to celebrate exactly that!
There's a story here.
UPDATE: ChallahHuAkbar tweeted George Hale from Ma'an this question after my blog entry (so did NGO Monitor), and he answered:
So why didn't Abbas sign....and why is no one asking him about this?
Notably, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not sign the agreement, as expected, and neither did Mr. Khaled Meshaal of the Islamic Resistance Movement 'Hamas'...
It may be possible that I am interpreting the autotranslation incorrectly, but I don't think so. The writer goes on to mention the other disagreements Abbas and Meshal had as far as protocol, seating, speaking and so forth.
I know that representatives from Hamas and Fatah signed the agreement a few days ago.
I cannot find any photos or videos showing Abbas or Hamas leaders actually signing anything, at a ceremony that was specifically meant to celebrate exactly that!
There's a story here.
UPDATE: ChallahHuAkbar tweeted George Hale from Ma'an this question after my blog entry (so did NGO Monitor), and he answered:
According to this report, no. It says assistants signed on behalf of both officials.
So why didn't Abbas sign....and why is no one asking him about this?
04/30 Links Pt2: Israel Does Not Owe Its Existence to the United Nations; Roger Waters, Bully
From Ian:
Israel Does Not Owe Its Existence to the United Nations
Jimmy Carter cancels Gaza Strip visit
Israel Does Not Owe Its Existence to the United Nations
Contrary to what many believe, the UN 1947 partition plan did not set the legal groundwork for the creation of the state of Israel. Rather, Eugene Kontorovich explains, Israel was created “despite the UN.” Kontorovich also discusses the potential impact of future UN resolutions. (Interview by Yishai Fleisher; audio, 25 minutes).UN announces “review” of bookstore after protest over books targeting Jews and Israel
The head of the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva has initiated a review of its concession arrangement with the bookstore operating next to the Human Rights Council in response to allegations over book displays that deliberately target Jews and Israel.The Hallelu Foundation (with Hebrew subs)
The world body announced the action in response to a March 26th protest by UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights monitoring group in Geneva, over the bookstore’s display of a series of books such as “How I Stopped Being a Jew,” which accuses the Jewish religion of being “genocidal.” The controversy was reported in a major Israeli newspaper article.
“We welcome this prompt action by the United Nations, which is founded on the principles of equality and tolerance,” said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer.
“At a time when Jews across Europe are being targeted by violent attacks and incitement, it is deeply distressing that the UN Headquarters in Europe would promote books on ‘how to stop being a Jew.’ It’s impossible to miss that no other books in the shop target or even criticize any other religious or ethnic group,” he added.
Jimmy Carter cancels Gaza Strip visit
A delegation led by former US President Jimmy Carter said it has called off a planned visit to the Gaza Strip.Fareed Zakaria and Haim Saban Spar Over Views on Israel
Carter had planned to make the visit on Thursday in an attempt to draw attention to the humanitarian situation in the war-battered territory. The trip included planned meetings with Hamas, the Islamic terror group that controls Gaza.
But late Wednesday, the Elders, the group sponsoring the visit, expressed regret that it would not take place. It gave no explanation.
“[The Elders] remain concerned at the slow pace of reconstruction and the continued closure of Gaza, and will work with the international community to improve conditions for its people,” a spokesperson for the group stated.
The spokesperson also expressed the group’s commitment towards Palestinian reconciliation and reaffirming “their belief in a just and viable two-state solution for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
Fareed Zakaria and media mogul Haim Saban butted heads over Israel at an event on Monday night, after Saban said Zakaria has an anti-Israel point of view.Scott Walker planning to keep press away during Israel trip
“Your point of view is so anti-Israel, I’m banging my head against the wall every time I watch you,” said Saban, who is Jewish and grew up in Israel.
“Your program is very, very unbalanced,” he said according to comments published in The Hollywood Reporter.
Saban offered to personally educate Zakaria on what he said was the truth regarding Israel: “I think you need to go through some change — I need to convert you.”
Responding to Saban’s accusation, Zakaria described the current political situation in Israel as a “creeping cancer that has grown larger and larger and larger.”
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will visit Israel this May, but will do so without press coverage, according to a report Wednesday.Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman is no Theodor Herzl
AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for Walker’s political action committee, Our American Revival, told Buzzfeed last week that Walker’s visit to Israel will be aimed at getting the possible Republican presidential contender up to speed on the country.
“He is interested in hearing first-hand Israel’s concerns about the future of our alliance and identifying ways to restore the ruptured bonds between our two countries,” Strong said.
“He is very concerned about the rise of Iran, the spread of radical Islamic terrorism, and the turmoil in Syria and Iraq, and is interested in understanding the views of the Israelis on how we confront these shared challenges,” she added.
The trip to Israel is seen as key for Walker to burnish his foreign policy credentials ahead of an expected bid to run for the Republican nomination for the White House.
Argentine Foreign Minister,Hector Timerman, has demonstrably and “irrevocably” excommunicated himself from the AMIA – Argentina’s premiere Jewish welfare, education and burial society – demolished by an Iranian Jihadist bomb in 1994, leaving 85 dead and 300 wounded.Sources: Nisman Supporters Cancel US Trip
By this personal act, he has rejected his Jewish education values and destiny — among them burial in a Jewish cemetery — and has, apparently, abandoned the Argentine victims of this Tehran-sponsored aggression.
By publicly announcing this action and reportedly charging the AMIA with obstructing Argentine national interests — in other words treason — it could be argued that he has exposed Argentina, once again, to grave threats from reactivated Iran-sponsored Hezbollah sleeper cells on Argentine soil, as were identified by the commonly presumed slain AMIA Prosecutor, Alberto Nisman.
Timerman has now invidiously compared himself with the Zionist champion and visionary, Theodor Herzl.
Herzl sacrificed himself in defence of the Jewish people and is buried among them in Jerusalem.
An Argentine delegation was forced to cancel a scheduled appearance in Florida this week following new accusations by a federal prosecutor that the delegation is working to undermine the Argentina’s relationship with Iran, according to sources apprised of the situation.Charlie Hebdo Artist Will No Longer Draw Mohammed Cartoons
Laura Alonso, a legislator in Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies, and Julio Schlosser, president of the Delegation of Argentine-Israeli Associations (DAIA), were scheduled to appear on Monday at a gathering of Latin American leaders and U.S. elected officials organized by the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF).
Alonso and Schlosser were expected to present information regarding the recent death of Alberto Nisman, an Argentine prosector who had been investigating the Iranian-orchestrated 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires.
The accusations against Alonso and Schlosser were issued just days before the duo was scheduled to appear at the IAF summit. They canceled their trip and did not appear at the conference, prompting speculation that the accusation is part of a larger effort by the Argentine government to prevent further investigation into Iran’s role in the AMIA bombing.
Many suspect that Nisman was assassinated due to his investigation of the bombing.
Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Renald “Luz” Luzier, who drew the toon of Mohammed holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign for the record-breaking post-massacre comeback issue of the French magazine, says he is done drawing pictures of Mohammed.Why Is the Green Party So Obsessed with Jews?
“I will no longer draw the figure of Mohammed. It no longer interests me,” Luz said in interview with Les Inrockuptibles magazine, as transcribed by Reuters. “I’ve got tired of it, just as I got tired of drawing Sarkozy. I’m not going to spend my life drawing them.”
Luz explained that he was not retiring Mohammed from his repertoire as a response to the terrorist attack on his magazine that killed numerous high-ranking editors. “They will have won if the whole of France continues to be scared,” he declared.
At least Luz spares us the nauseating sanctimony of his fellow cartoonist, Garry Trudeau, who prefers to hide his cowardice behind arrogant pronouncements about the nature of satire while sacrificing the free speech rights of other people. At least we don’t have to listen to blather about how the writers who withdrew their support from the PEN Freedom of Expression Courage prize, awarded this year to Charlie Hebdo, are actually protecting free speech by throwing it away. Luz has the grace to stand down without hectoring those who refuse to join him.
As it turns out, the Green Party has its own rather sorry record of an Israel obsession that has repeatedly crossed the line into outright Jew hatred. There have been reports of anti-Semitic posts and literature being circulated within the Green’s online forums, and of party members with Jewish sounding names being repeatedly subjected to abuse from others in these forums.Roger Waters, Bully
Then there is Pippa Bartolotti, the Green leader in Wales, who has wheeled out the age old trope that Jews have dual loyalties—something she claimed to have learned from the “university of life”. While in 2009 the Green’s deputy leader Shahrar Ali was filmed giving a viciously anti-Israel speech in which he derided “the niceties” of Holocaust Memorial Day.
Back in 2011 the Greens did establish an internal working group that was supposed to be grappling with the problem of anti-Semitism in the party, but the head of that investigation soon resigned claiming “it has become clear that the Green Party is institutionally anti-Semitic”.
In his phenomenal and classic song, Another Brick in the Wall, Roger Waters called out defiantly and with great passion: “Teacher! Leave them kids alone!” It’s a great moment in music. The song is incredibly infectious. The line captures the raw emotion young students can feel in the presence of a rigid authoritarian figure at the helm of his or her class.Robbie Williams arrives in Israel ahead of concert
Roger Waters, I’m sure, sees himself as a defender of the defenseless, as one who has the courage to stand up for the downtrodden. But, as I see it, Roger Waters is simply a bully.
Pop star Robbie Williams is scheduled to perform this Saturday, May 2 in Tel Aviv. As an ardent supporter of the BDS movement (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions), Roger Waters has sought to convince Williams to cancel his upcoming concert.
Amid public calls to back out of his performance Saturday in Tel Aviv, British crooner Robbie Williams touched down in Israel Thursday evening.Jewish Student Calls on Hitler-Loving Wits Council President Simply ‘to Love’ Instead
Accompanied by his wife and an entourage of over 50, the singer landed in Ben Gurion airport aboard his private jet a day and a half early, allowing plenty of time to see the best of the holy land’s sites.
Williams will spend Shabbat dinner with local pop star Ninet Tayeb, who will warm up his Saturday night performance in the White City’s massive HaYarkon Park, Channel 2 reported.
A Jewish student at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwaterstrand wrote an impassioned letter to Student Representative Council president Mcebo Dlamini, who prompted outrage over writing “I love Adolf Hitler” in a Facebook post.NY bans political ads on transit after judge okays pro-Israel poster
“The only offence I have committed against you is simply being Jewish,” wrote the student in a letter published by South African news portal Times Live.
“I have never met you, and most likely we have much in common yet you HATE me with so much unbridled passion – if only you could express that passion in standing up for those that have suffered from xenophobic violence,” the student said.
Dlamini raised eyebrows when he wrote “I love Adolf Hitler” as part of a Facebook post last Saturday.
“What about our Jewish brothers and sisters who fought side-by-side together with their oppressed fellow South Africans to bring down the evil Nationalist regime – people like Joe Slovo, Ruth First, Denis Goldberg, Lionel Bernstein, Arthur Goldreich, Harold Wolpe, Helen Suzman and so many others?” wrote the student. “All I ask is for you to love us – as Jews – for being South Africans and the many commonalities we share, rather than hating us for the few differences we possess.”
The student recalled Hitler’s policy of sterilizing what the Nazi regime called “Rhineland Bastards,” the children of mixed African and German couples.
To conclude, the student called on Dlamini simply “to love.”
The US’s largest mass transit system is preparing to ban all political advertising on its subways and buses after a judge ruled that a pro-Israel group was allowed to display an advertisement containing the phrase “Hamas Killing Jews” on New York City buses.UC Riverside official: Decision to stop selling Sabra hummus a 'mistake'
The resolution is expected to pass Wednesday at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board meeting after the finance committee approved it earlier in the week. The cash-strapped agency says such advertising only accounts for less than $1 million of its annual advertising revenue of $138 million.
“Advertisements expressing viewpoint messages, regardless of the viewpoint being expressed, would no longer be accepted,” the MTA’s general counsel, Jerome Page, told the committee on Monday.
New York is following in the footsteps of cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, which already have banned political ads on public transit, Page said.
UC Riverside’s recent decision to stop selling a brand of hummus partially owned by an Israeli company because of a student group’s request was a “mistake,” school officials said Wednesday.NGO Monitor: Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association and Demonization
University spokesman James Grant Jr. said campus leadership became aware only Wednesday that the school’s dining areas had stopped selling Sabra hummus and replaced it with Tapaz2Go, a gluten-free, Mediterranean-inspired brand hummus.
The university has reversed itself and will sell both brands, Grant said.
In a letter sent to the school’s vice president of internal affairs and student government leaders, Students for Justice in Palestine said campus restaurants selling Sabra brand hummus violated the university’s "Tartan Soul" – a reference to the values of integrity, accountability, excellence and respect associated with campus mascot the Scotty Highlander.
“The product was changed due to consideration for student preferences without consideration of the political issues raised,” the university’s statement said. “However, we made a mistake in agreeing to replace one brand with another.”
- On April 27, 2015, the Dansk Palæstinensisk Venskabsforening (Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association – DVP) launched an advertising campaign, “No Thanks to Settlement Products,” promoting an anti-Israel agenda on 35 bus lines in Copenhagen.Danish Bus Agency Removes Ad Against Israeli Settlements
Text: “Our conscience is clear! We do not buy products from Israeli settlements or invest in settlement industry.” Website: “No Thanks to Settlement Products.” Source: Facebook
On April 27, 2015, the Dansk Palæstinensisk Venskabsforening (Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association – DVP) started “a large-scale advertising campaign on 35 bus lines in Copenhagen and the surrounding area.” This “No Thanks to Settlement Products” campaign, which calls for the labeling of Israeli products from the West Bank, is part of DVP’s wider anti-Israel demonization agenda, as demonstrated by the misleading maps on the posters.
Copenhagen's public transport agency on Thursday ordered the immediate removal of posters opposing Israeli settlements on the capital's city buses after getting "a considerable amount of complaints."I’m a Progressive Liberal Who Supports Israel, And Here’s Why (Part I)
Movia, owned by eastern Denmark local authorities, said the campaign by the Danish Palestinian Friendship Association was "unnecessarily offensive."
The campaign that started Monday was calling for labels on goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
"Our conscience is clean. We neither buy products from the Israeli settlements nor invest in the occupation industry," the advertisement text read next to photos of two women only identified by their first names.
The company that runs the bus routes must remove the advertisements immediately from the 35 vehicles that displayed the posters, said the agency that is in charge of buses in Copenhagen.
"We got somewhere between 75 and 100 complaints, most of them in English," Movia spokeswoman Camilla Struckmann told The Associated Press.
For the past twenty years I have worked on social justice issues in the U.S. I have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to social justice and equity for all people. Thus, many of my friends and colleagues are surprised to find out about my support for Israel. I do not share those beliefs openly with colleagues, because it is not central to my everyday job (I work on poverty issues in the U.S.). The only time I offer up my opinion is when others go first. I know that supporting Israel is frowned upon in progressive circles. However, I think that it is a perfectly progressive value. This belief is built on a set of foundational ideas:I’m a Progressive Liberal Who Supports Israel, And Here’s Why (Part 2): Israel as an Apartheid State
- Israel is the ancient homeland of the Jewish people, whence they were exiled.
- In every place in which they have lived, Jews were/are treated as foreigners, or tolerated as a lower class of people.
- Zionism, as an idea, is a 2,000+ year old belief that Jews have the right to live in their ancient homeland as a nation — a right that was taken from them by force.
- Opposing the idea of Zionism is, literally, to oppose the right of the Jewish people to live, as a nation, in their ancient homeland, and thus it leads to Antisemitism.
- Antisemitism predates the re-birth of the nation of Israel by more than one thousand years.
- Opposing Israel (I mean, its very existence) is to advocate for the annihilation of an entire people.
- Unwavering support for the continued existence of Israel doesn’t equate to unwavering support for the Israeli government. I support the nation of Israel, but will offer constructive criticism when I see fit.
In 2001, just prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, some of my friends and colleagues attended the World Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Discrimination held in Durban, South Africa. It was an amazing experience for them, and for us, a great honor to send representatives from communities of color in the U.S.A, calling attention to all these issues in the Land of the Free.IsraellyCool: Palestinian West Bank: Occupation Growing
Unfortunately, my friends brought back lots of anti-semitic literature they picked up from the Palestinian representatives. At a conference where the world was supposed to make a united stand against racism, anti-semitism was rampant. My colleagues eagerly showed me books full of anti semitic cartoons — hardly distinguishable from Nazi-era cartoons — which they saw as examples of media as a tool for speaking truth to power.
Needless to say, I consider that 2001 conference an utter failure.
And so, four years before the launch of the Israeli Apartheid Week actions, anti-semitism became permissible under the pretense of raising awareness about Israeli oppression. It was thanks to this conference that I became politically aware about anti-Israel ideology.
Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my marbles, I know it’s Judea and Samaria but I can’t pass up using the other side’s malicious terms purely as title click bait sometimes.BBC amends online profile of Manchester constituency after complaints
From the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) comes this press release about hotels in the PA administered parts of Judea Samaria in 2014. And business is up!
- More than 0.6 million guests spent more than 1.5 million nights;
- During 2014, 610,347 guests stayed in hotels in the West Bank;
- 32% were from European Union countries and 9% were Palestinian, 10% were from the United States and Canada.
- The number of hotel guests was 2% higher than in the previous year.
Wow! I wonder how that compares to Syria, or Libya or even Egypt. Unfortunately we have no confirmation of figures from Gaza as yet though of course we have plenty of pictures of the many hotels in concentration camp Gaza which the foreign press like to stay in.
By way of comparison, the constituency which the BBC defines as “the richest place in Britain” – Kensington – is described as “well-to-do” and no mention is made of its ethnic or religious make-up.Western Media Confused After Discovering Israel Not Involved in Most Middle East Conflicts (satire)
The BBC has now amended the profile of Blackley & Broughton.
“A BBC spokesperson said: “These profiles aim to portray every constituency in a few sentences. We regret part of our description of Blackley and Broughton did not accurately reflect the area and we have now changed the wording accordingly.””
Once again the BBC chooses to miss the point.
Due to escalating tensions in Middle Eastern countries, arriving Western journalists were shocked to discover that the Middle East has a ton of conflicts, and very few are even remotely related to Israel.Sweden: Jewish teacher says he gets death threats from students
“I always write about the ‘Middle Eastern’ conflict being Israelis vs. Palestinians, but it turns out, the Middle East is a huge, complex, messed up region,” a BBC journalist exclaimed. “Who knew?”
Despite heavy media attention on Israel, a deeper analysis has uncovered that the Middle East / Northern Africa geographic areas are, to use a technical term, ‘ridiculously f__ked up’. Between the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, a Syrian civil war, a Yemeni civil war, a failed Libyan government, two ousted Egyptian leaders, a FUBAR-Iraq, and Iran funding proxy terror organizations while marching toward nuclear arms, the Elders of Zion apparently had their hands quite full over the past several years.
“Let’s take what’s going on in Yemen for example,” a New York Times reporter said. “It gets super complicated when you have a predominantly Muslim country that’s fractured along sectarian lines, with Saudi Arabia and Iran, two other Muslim countries, arming the two opposite sides…… yada, yada, yada, my brain is starting to hurt. It’s a lot simpler to just reinforce the Judaism vs. Islam narrative, so historically, that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
Upon learning about the range of problems facing the Middle East, leaders of the BDS movements said, “Well, we can still blame it all on the Jews, right?”
The article is titled "Swedish Jews suffer from hate against Israel", but the article doesn't really explain how the hatred is related to Israel and isn't just regular Muslim antisemitism.New solution to keep veggies fresh for a month, sans fridge
Henry Grynfeld is a teacher in the Rosengård district of Malmö. As a Jew he's often experienced harassment from his Muslim students.
"I was called 'Jew'. I was threatened. I was told things like "We'll kill all the Jews and you too". As soon as something doesn't go the way these young people had in mind, they have an argument ready in their back-pocket, and that's that you're a Jew."
"I feel safe as long as I do not show who I am - I wouldn't run around here with a kippa or a Star of David."
YLE did not meet many people who wanted to comment on antisemitism in the neighborhood. A few said that Muslims themselves are targeted by Islamophobia and hate-crimes.
A new technique developed by Hebrew University researchers that extend the life of vegetables for weeks without refrigeration could help break the cycle of poverty among rural farmers in the developing world, with.Drones – the future of precision agriculture
There are dozens of technologies that can help farmers grow healthier, hardier and better-tasting fruits and vegetables – many of them developed in Israel – but there are few technologies to extend the life of produce. While some fruits and vegetables can be kept in cold storage for months, others – like leafy vegetables – have to be brought to market within days, before they begin to wilt.
It’s a problem for farmers all over the world, especially in the developing world. Farmers who have no access to refrigeration – because of a lack of electricity, inability to afford equipment, infrastructure problems, or other reasons – are basically at the mercy of local wholesalers who offer them far less than their produce is worth.
Instead of taking their produce to the cities, where it can fetch the market price, farmers in rural India and Africa have to sell at below market prices locally, because by the time they get to the city, their produce will have gone bad. Selling their produce for subsistence wages, farmers get barely enough to live on and replant for the next season – and prolonging the cycle of poverty.
Combining a drone-mounted sensor with analytic software, the Israeli company Sensilize is launching what it calls the future of precision agriculture.Israeli Start-Up Partners With Samsung on Health Monitoring System for Elderly
The emerging field of precision agriculture is based on observing, measuring and responding to crops with smart technology. Drones — also called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – are giving farmers new possibilities, such as crop-dusting without a plane, but can also be integrated with smart technology.
Sensilize uses a micro-UAS platform to map fields with an integrated application-driven sensor called Robin-Eye, whose eight-band calibrated sensor provides ultra-high-resolution multispectral images of vegetation in almost all light conditions.
Sensilize’s cloud-based Robin-Mind software automatically analyzes these images and then – within 24 hours — provides the farmer with a true color image of the area as well as interpreted maps to enable optimal decisions to enhance efficiency, maximize yield and minimize resources.
The Israeli start-up Mybitat and Samsung have joined forces to develop technology to help keep senior citizens safe at home.India minister praises Israel’s ‘more crop per drop’ farm model
The technology would utilize sensors and cloud-based software to monitor seniors’ daily routines, and would be able to recognize any changes in clients’ behavior and health, in which case the system would call for help.
“Samsung believes the senior population can benefit from new technologies to improve their quality of life,” said Curtis Sasaki, a senior vice president at Samsung, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. “Our work with Mybitat has the potential to make key elements of the aging process significantly easier on individuals and families.”
“We believe current systems for managing aging require significant improvement,” said Mybitat founder Mati Kochavi.
The business of government is politics, but there’s a time to put politics on the shelf, according to Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra in India. “Everybody has to eat,” Fadnavis told The Times of Israel in an exclusive interview. “Israel’s agricultural and water technology is helping to satisfy global hunger. Who could disagree with that?”‘Emergency tech’ firm ClickSoftware sells for nearly $500m
India’s strategy in the past has been to keep Israel at arm’s length so as not to aggravate its relationship with the Arab world and its large Muslim minority. But that strategy goes out the window when it comes to engaging with Israel for its agricultural technology. Israel and India have extensive ag-tech ties, with government-level projects to improve growing techniques for a wide variety of crops, to dozens of business collaborations between private companies.
In fact, one of the biggest irrigation solutions firms in the world – NaanDanJain – is an Israeli-Indian firm, created in 2007 when Israeli irrigation tech firm NaanDan merged with India’s Jain Irrigation Systems. “India is an agricultural country, and we are helping India bloom with our affordable drip irrigation, filter, and fertilizer technology,” said Amnon Ofen, director of NaanDanJain. “There is no question that our firm has been responsible for the green revolution in India. I would estimate that NaanDanJain products have helped increase India agricultural output by tens of percent. Millions of Indian farmers are using Israeli equipment and technology, and they are producing more from their land.”
Israeli workforce management technology firm ClickSoftware is being acquired by California-based investment firm Francisco Partners Management. The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $438 million.Israeli restaurant in London tops GQ food and drink list
Currently a NASDAQ publicly-traded firm, ClickSoftware will see its stockholders sell their holdings to Francisco Partners, with each outstanding share to be sold for $12.65 – 45% over the stock’s average closing over the previous 90 days. The deal must still be approved by stockholders, but ClickSoftware’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the sale in a recent meeting. Francisco Partners, which focuses strictly on technology investments, aims to buy all outstanding shares of the company, turning it into a private firm, and ClickSoftware will recommend that all shareholders sell.
With over 700 employees, the Petah Tikvah-based firm is the world’s largest service management company, with its software helping hundreds of utilities, police and fire departments, and emergency rescue organizations to help them prioritize work orders, repairs, and emergency responses, ClickSoftware CEO Moshe Ben-Bassat told The Times of Israel in an interview.
ClickSoftware’s system is especially useful in emergencies, said Ben-Bassat – like the snow emergencies that became a routine event in many US cities last winter. When such events take place, utilities, emergency services, police, fire, food delivery personnel, and many others need to be ready operate in crisis mode, said Ben-Bassat.
London-based Israeli-owned restaurant The Palomar -- known for its modern Jerusalemite cuisine -- won "Best Restaurant" at the inaugural GQ Food and Drink Awards on Wednesday.Elie Weisel: Being Jewish is Not ‘Simply a Matter of Birth’ (VIDEO)
The well-known international monthly men's magazine chose The Palomar from among a pool of nominees that included a restaurant with two Michelin stars.
The Palomar is the sister restaurant of the popular Machneyuda restaurant in Jerusalem. The competition's judges praised not only the food but the unique atmosphere at Palomar.
One of the restaurant's owners, chef Assaf Granit told Israel Hayom on Wednesday that the award meant a lot to him and his partners in the restaurant. "Just being nominated was flattering," he said. "It's like being a film director nominated alongside Martin Scorsese or Robert De Niro.
Author and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel on Wednesday said being Jewish “is not simply a matter of birth,” and called on Jews to “do something about their Jewishness.”
“We believe that to be Jewish is not simply a matter of birth. We must do something with it, with ourselves,” Wiesel told a crowd at the Bloomberg Philanthropies townhouse office on New York’s Upper East Side.
“It doesn’t mean that the Jew is better than anyone else,” said Wiesel. “It simply means, because I am a Jew, I have to do something with my Jewishness. It is the Jew in me who works for human rights … the Jew in me who believes that racism is stupid. Not only evil, but stupid.”
Wiesel was speaking to an audience after former mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the winners of his Genesis Generation Project, which awarded nine $100,000 grants from Bloomberg’s own Genesis prize award money for projects providing a “sustainable and scalable solution to an important problem.” Actor Michael Douglas, who won this years Genesis prize, was also present.
Disgusting, intimidating behavior against a Jew at a Scotland university
From The Courier (UK):
This is what happens when anti-Israel hate is allowed to fester - it emboldens the haters to take things further and further.
And things are pretty bad in universities in Scotland nowadays.
UPDATE: Commenter Elise notes that this is the school that the new royal couple attended. Wonderful.
Two St Andrews University students have appeared in court following allegations they indulged in anti-semitic behaviour.Donnachie's reactions on his Facebook page:
Samuel Colchester and Paul Donnachie are charged with fondling their genitals before rubbing their hands on a flag of Israel. It is claimed they were intending to cause "alarm or distress" to Jewish man Chanan Roziel Reitblat.
Colchester (20), of Andrew Melville Hall, and 18-year-old Donnachie, of McIntosh Hall, both deny the allegations.
Colchester and Donnachie face a charge alleging that, on March 12 at a building owned by the university in Links Crescent, they acted in a racially aggravated manner intended to cause alarm or distress to Mr Reitblat.
The charge states they placed their hands inside their trousers and on to their genitals before rubbing them on to a flag of Israel. It is also alleged they made comments of an offensive nature within Mr Reitblat's presence, contrary to the Criminal Law Act.
An alternative charge states the pair behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm by acting in the manner described, contrary to the Criminal Justice Act.
Chanan Reitblat, the victim, tells me that this did not happen in a public area, like at a campus Zionist organization. The events happened in Reitblat's dorm room where he had put up an Israeli flag on his own personal bulletin board!
Reitblat emailed me that they told him...
...that I support terrorists and should be held liable for putting up a "terrorist symbol" in my room- pretty much that I deserve what's coming to me.Reitblat is traumatized by what happened in his own room, as one can imagine, telling me that this was an "awful month" for him.
After they left my room, they went on an hour long rant throughout the hall about how Jews have no claim to Israel and that Israel is a terrorist, Nazi state.
This is what happens when anti-Israel hate is allowed to fester - it emboldens the haters to take things further and further.
And things are pretty bad in universities in Scotland nowadays.
UPDATE: Commenter Elise notes that this is the school that the new royal couple attended. Wonderful.
The last gasp effort to make the UNHRC relevant
A very interesting dispatch from AP:
The UNHRC's actions over the next few days should be the final nail in the coffin of this thoroughly corrupt institution as well as proof positive that the Organization of Islamic States has an agenda that is fundamentally opposed to human rights.
And how much more proof do you need that Israel is used as a scapegoat for Muslim human rights abuses than the statement by the Pakistani ambassador to the UN?
Several members of the U.N.'s top human rights body are pressing for an emergency meeting to examine the government crackdowns against popular protests that have swept the Middle East and North Africa, Western diplomats said Wednesday.We already know that the UNHRC is a joke. (Leading UNHRC advisor Jean Ziegler edited a book that likened Libya's dictator Moammar Gaddafi to philosopher Jean Rousseau.) Yet there are those who cling to the idea that it has some relevance; pointing to the very few non-Israeli statements it has made or to the fact that it finally, belatedly kicked Libya out.
The countries, from Latin America, Europe, North America and Asia, are trying to collect 16 signatures necessary to force a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council next week, the diplomats said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, which was underlined by the innocuous title proposed for the meeting — "Promotion and protection of human rights in the context of recent peaceful protests."
The title was chosen to avoid singling out particular countries, the diplomats said. But they confirmed that Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria would be among the nations whose violent suppression of protests would be on the agenda.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, whose members carry significant weight in the 47-nation Human Rights Council, said it wouldn't consent to holding such a meeting.
"We think that the events that are taking place do not merit some kind of a special session," said Zamir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva.
He accused those advocating a special session of double standards, and said the OIC would use any such meeting to focus on human rights abuses by Israel instead.
The UNHRC's actions over the next few days should be the final nail in the coffin of this thoroughly corrupt institution as well as proof positive that the Organization of Islamic States has an agenda that is fundamentally opposed to human rights.
And how much more proof do you need that Israel is used as a scapegoat for Muslim human rights abuses than the statement by the Pakistani ambassador to the UN?
05/09 Links: Brainwashed at Bowdoin; Bye-Bye, George Galloway, David Ward and Natalie Bennett
From Ian:
William Jacobson: Brainwashed at Bowdoin: Anti-Israel Boycotters Miss a Teachable Moment
Denmark Jewish Leader: Way We Want to Live Our Lives Not Possible
Report: US, EU pressing for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
Around the Clock Action of our Field Hospital in Nepal
William Jacobson: Brainwashed at Bowdoin: Anti-Israel Boycotters Miss a Teachable Moment
Bowdoin College in Maine recently held a student-body referendum for a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Unlike more common student-government resolutions seeking “divestment” from a handful of companies, the Bowdoin referendum sought an unprecedented cutoff of all academic and cultural ties. The referendum was initiated by Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), part of a growing national SJP movement on campuses.Ben-Dror Yemini: A manipulation of human rights
I have covered SJP antics at Vassar (the picketing of a classroom because a course involved a trip to Israel, and later posting of a Nazi cartoon), Cornell (a protest leads to physical and verbal harassment of pro-Israel students — and me!), Northeastern University (a protest over suspension included chants of “Long live the intifada,” the bloody suicide-bombing and terrorist campaign), and New York University (the posting of mock eviction notices), and elsewhere.
Wherever I see SJP, I see a messianic absolutism directed at the deligitimization and demonization of every aspect of Israeli society. It is a view that presents Israel as uniquely evil, and Palestinians as uniquely pure victims.
The most messianic of all are some (not all, by any means) left-wing Jews who lead SJP chapters or are fellow travelers like the members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). For that sub-group of left-wing Jews, demonizing Israel has become a religion.
The IDF is not perfect, and some of Breaking the Silence's claims on the fighting in Gaza may be true, but these deviations have been put on display, without any context or proof.Bye-Bye, George Galloway
The report released by Breaking the Silence is already making waves around the world. Isn't it simply wonderful to preach human rights? It's a position in high demand. The thing is, we're dealing here with another piece of major deception, another link in the chain of effort to turn Israel into a living monster, and more help for the BDS campaign.
Why deception? First, when Israel is accused of harming civilians, or when people talk about proportionality, one has to ask: What are the proportions? It turns out there aren't any – and not by chance either. Because every comparative review definitively shows that Israel causes less civilian casualties than those witnessed on other similar battlefields.
Second, a country like Britain also has anti-war organizations. But no foreign country supports exposing the testimonies of British troops who have returned from conflict zones. So why the hell does Britain allow itself to finance Breaking the Silence? Why do the British think their dual morality is morality?
Third, four other countries – Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark – are funding a Ramallah-based organization, the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, which also aids Breaking the Silence. HR IHL funds a series of groups such as Al-Haq, BADIL, Al-Mizan and others, which are a part of the BDS campaign network.
We're not dealing with criticism of Israel, but an ideology that opposes the very existence of Israel. This is the ideological environment of the Breaking the Silence report.
Within that big picture are some huge specific wins. Specifically, the losses by anti-Israel maniacs George Galloway, David Ward and Natalie Bennett.
George Galloway is the poster child for anti-Israel hate, an obsessed creep who spews anti-Israel conspiracy theories, regularly appears on Iranian Press TV, attacks critics of the Mullah regime, and Jew-baits under the guise of anti-Zionism, British MP George Galloway storms out of debate when finds out opponent is Israeli:
Also losing was Liberal Democrat Party member David Ward, who had previously been suspended by his own party for his anti-Israel comments. Ward notoriously demanded that Holocaust Remembrance Day include remembrance of Palestinian refugees, and tweeted that if he lived in Gaza he would fire rockets at Israel. Ward’s reaction to the Paris unity march after the Charlie Hebdo massacre was to say he was “sick” that Benjamin Netanyahu was in attendance.
Rounding out the threesome, Natalie Bennett, Chair of the Green Party, also lost. Bennett is a big supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Bennett’s fanaticism was just the tip of the iceberg, England’s Green Party Has an Anti-Semitism Problem:
Denmark Jewish Leader: Way We Want to Live Our Lives Not Possible
“The way we want to live our lives is no longer possible,” said the vice president of Denmark’s Jewish community at an annual conference of the American Jewish Committee on Tuesday, reflecting on the state of security for Europe’s Jews.Bill Whittle: I Support Free Speech, But...
Jonathan Fischer was one of many speakers to address the discomfort of European Jewry as antisemitism is on the rise across the continent.
Such fears are exacerbated by the fact that European governments will ultimately move to scale back around-the-clock protection that has been provided since deadly attacks at a kosher supermarket in Paris and the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen in January.
“We can’t count only on security services, on intelligence services. Today makeshift jihadists are asked not to communicate, so intelligence services can’t spot them,” said Fischer, adding that the European Jewish “mindset” must adapt.
“Europeans have to adopt the ‘see something, say something’ policy, like in the US,” suggested Rutgers University law professor John Farmer, according to the British Jewish Chronicle, referring to a common security policy present not only at Jewish communities, but in public zones, such as New York’s subway system as well.
Speech is either free or it isn't! The attack in Texas wasn't against Conservatives--it was against every American. Check out this important Afterburner to find out why Bill says you're DEAD wrong if you think the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo or attendees at the free speech event in Texas had it coming to them for being too "provocative" by drawing Mohammed.
Report: US, EU pressing for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
A senior Palestinian official claimed Saturday that the US and the European Union were urging the Palestinian Authority to resume peace negotiations with Israel, according to a report in the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.'Obama mulls veto of French proposal for Palestinian state in UN Security Council'
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that Western diplomats had proposed to organize an urgent meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, either in a European country or in Washington.
The Palestinian official’s claims were not confirmed by Israel or the PA, according to Israel Radio.
Washington on Thursday called Israel’s approval of building 900 apartment units in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem “damaging and inconsistent” with its commitment to a two-state solution. The condemnation of the move by the State Department came less than a day after Netanyahu announced the formation of a new governing coalition.
US President Barack Obama has told associates that he intends to veto the French proposal for a UN Security Council resolution mandating the creation of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within two years, Channel 10 is reporting on Friday.United States taxpayers on hook to the United Nations for approximately $3.024 billion in 2015
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said this past March that Paris planned to start discussions with partners in the "coming weeks" on a United Nations Security Council resolution to lay out the parameters for ending the Middle East conflict.
"I hope that the partners who were reluctant will not be reluctant anymore," said Fabius, referring to the United States, which has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any action at the United Nations.
The United States has said it would "reassess" its options on US-Israel relations and Middle East diplomacy after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a stand against Palestinian statehood during his election campaign.
The United States taxpayers will pay the United Nations approximately $3.024 billion in 2015, according to testimony by Brett Schaefer, a Heritage Foundation fellow, before the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee responsible for multilateral institutions on May 6, 2015. This total accounts for $621.9 million toward the UN regular budget and $2.402 billion toward the UN peacekeeping budget. In contrast, 35 nations will pay less than a total of $29,000. Schaefer testified that the US' contributions continue to rise due to the UN's runaway budget which increased from nearly $15 billion in 2002 to nearly $41.5 billion in 2012. A major factor behind that increase is the "failure to arrest growth" in UN personnel costs which accounts for 70% of UN spending.White House hopeful Jeb Bush turns to George W. for Israel advice
Schaefer pointed out that US contributions to the UN may be higher than reported: "there is also a lack of transparency and analysis on the U.S. side...(the) 2006 report confirmed that actual U.S. contributions to the U.N. were higher by about 25 percent than previously reported by the State Department. The reporting requirement lapsed in 2011. As a result, a comprehensive accounting of U.S. contributions to the U.N. system after FY 2010 is not available and the last reliable accounting by the OMB was for FY 2010, which reported contributions totaling $7.692 billion."
This figure is more than double today's figure, raising the question of what exactly is the true cost of US' membership to the UN.
Jeb Bush said he was likeliest to take advice on Israel from his brother, former President George W. Bush.Santorum to Obama: ‘Iran, enemy. Israel, friend’
“If you want to know who I listen to for advice, it’s him,” the former Florida governor and likely contender for the GOP presidential nod was quoted Thursday by the Washington Post as telling a group of potential campaign funders from the pro-Israel community.
Bush faced questions at the meeting Tuesday in New York City, organized by Paul Singer, about including on his team James Baker, the secretary of state under Bush’s father, President George HW Bush.
Baker had tense relations with the Israeli government at the time, led by the late Yitzhak Shamir, and more recently criticized the current Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for his policies toward the Palestinians.
Republican Jews are fond of the younger former President Bush, seen as among the friendliest presidents to Israel, but are wary of associations with the brothers’ father.
Rick Santorum hinted Saturday in South Carolina that he is close to announcing whether he will again run for president, telling a gathering of conservative activists he’s driven by what he called President Barack Obama’s failures on national security.Egypt’s Foreign Minister Says Joint Arab Force to Combat ISIS, Iran Will be Ready Within Four Months
“Russia, China and yes, radical Islam, is threatening our country,” the former Pennsylvania senator said. “Heck, I would just be happy if our president would be able to tell the difference between our friends and enemies.
“Let me give our president a primer: Iran, enemy. Israel, friend.”
Santorum said he had the experience to articulate a “vision of keeping America strong.”
He told the crowd: “I’ve been clear about the threat of radical Islam. This isn’t a war on terror. It’s a war on radical Islam.”
The idea of the Joint Arab Force was first introduced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who said it was a necessity to combat the expansion of the Islamic State, which currently has strongholds in Syria and Iraq.IDF posts footage of medics saving Syrian rebel in Golan
The rising threat of Iranian regional influence also adds urgency to the Arab countries’ plan, particularly as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fight to take over Yemen, and the Saudi-led intervention to roll them back advances.
“The need for a unified Arab force is growing and becoming more pressing every day,” said Sisi back in February. The Egyptian president said he had received offers from both Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to help in the endeavor by sending troops.
“The challenges in the region and those facing our countries are huge … We can overcome those challenges once we are together,” said Sisi.
Last month, Shoukry said that the joint Arab force was necessary to combat the threats of extremism in the region, and that this force would undertake ”quick and effective missions” aimed at rebuffing growing threats to regional stability.
In late March, Arab foreign ministers assembled at an Arab League summit in Egypt’s Sharm Al-Sheikh adopted a draft resolution in support of the force’s creation.
The proposed force will be twice the size of NATO’s Response Force, at 40,000 men, according to an Arab League source. It will be based in Egypt, and will be led by a yet-to-be-determined Saudi officer.
The IDF on Saturday released rare footage of its medics performing a life-saving procedure on one of the most severely wounded Syrian combatants medical personnel have encountered in the Golan Heights, according to an assessment by the IDF chief medical officer in the area.CAMERA: A Closer Look at Who Funds Breaking the Silence
The man, a Syrian rebel who belongs to an unnamed organization fighting against the Assad regime and its allies, received treatment at the border and then inside Israel, and was ultimately able to return to Syria. It was not immediately clear when the incident occurred.
The IDF maintains a field hospital on the Syrian border, and has also treated hundreds of people wounded in the Syrian civil war at hospitals inside Israel.
The casualty in this case was transferred to an undisclosed location along Syria’s border with Israel by rebel forces working in conjunction with the IDF. He was treated by combat medics of the Givati infantry brigade.
A previous post on May 6 observed that Breaking the Silence, the Israeli group that uses alleged soldier testimonials to accuse the Israeli defense forces of misconduct toward Palestinian civilians, is amply funded by European "humanitarian" organizations.Wits University Vice Chairman Rebuffs ‘Jewish Puppet’ Critics: ‘It’s Racist and Antisemitic’
This raises the question as to why these European donors dedicate so much funding to exposing alleged misconduct by a few Israeli soldiers when the money would have greater humanitarian impact if it were used to sustain the countless victims of Islamic extremism and societal breakdown in the surrounding region. What makes the European fixation on Israel so baffling is that Israel already has in-place institutions to deal with such misconduct. The Israel Defense Forces enshrined a rigorous moral code to which its soldiers and officers are accountable. After every significant military operation, as a matter of routine, investigations into allegations of misconduct are pursued.
The largest donors to Breaking the Silence include European religious-based organizations and governmental groups who justify their support for Breaking the Silence, and other groups that seek to undermine Israel's standing, on humanitarian grounds. But are these groups fully forthcoming about their motivations? Is there more to this than just empathy for Palestinians, who are already at the top of the list as beneficiaries of financial and political support from western governments and non-governmental organizations and who enjoy the unique privilege of having a UN organization, UNRWA, solely dedicated to their needs?
One of the largest donors to Breaking the Silence is a Catholic organization from the Flemish portion of Belgium. A little history here is revelatory.
The vice chancellor of a major Johannesburg university struck back on Thursday at critics who claimed he had bowed to Jewish pressure over the sacking of student president Mcebo Dlamini, saying he is critical of Israel.How Medicine is Used to Promote the Demonization of Israel
“I am a critic of the Israeli state,” said University of Witwatersrand Vice Chancellor Adam Habib, who had arrived at a debate on the subject of Dlamini’s dismissal to a chorus of boos.
“I was the only VC to write about the incursion into Gaza,” he said, referring to last summer’s IDF ground invasion of the Gaza Strip during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas. “How did we go from the critique of Israel … to talking about all Jews? It’s racist and antisemitic.”
The vice chancellor had been labeled a “puppet” to Jewish donors by an alumni group and others for leading the panel that ultimately removed Dlamini, shortly after the student president with a knack for controversy posted to Facebook: “I love Adolf Hiter… There is an element of Hitler in every white person.”
Furthermore, two of the pro-Horton group leaders are also co-authors of the Gaza “open letter”—Drs. Iain Chalmers and Mads Gilbert. Chalmers has been caught on tape repeating David Duke-like hate rhetoric, referring to how “Zionists” exert “control in so many different domains,” labelingThe Lancet as one publication “they (Zionists) cannot suppress.” For his part, Gilbert is on record as a 9/11 apologist.UK Jews condemn upcoming play on Second Intifada siege
But these facts are erased as Horton and his team use their media connections to advance the attack. On April 24, 2015, the U.K.’s The Independent published a news story that completely sidesteps the ethical issues in the Gaza “Open Letter” and minimizes Manduca’s and Swee Ang’s blatant anti-Semitism. The article quotes unnamed “observers” who view the criticism of The Lancet as no less than “the most serious threat to The Lancet and free speech in academia” in almost 200 years.
While these lapses might merely suggest unprofessional journalism, the author—Jeremy Laurance—has a clear conflict of interest that was not disclosed. His brother is Tony Laurance, CEO of the U.K,-based Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), whose founder is none other than Swee Ang—one of the David Duke supporters and authors of the Gaza letter. MAP also partners with The Lancet in the Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance, a platform for anti-Israel political views under the guise of health advocacy.
As Horton and The Lancet’s refusals to genuinely address the issue of anti-Semitism, their position as ethical exemplars becomes increasingly tenuous. The contrast between their moral language and immoral actions could not be clearer. This discrepancy tarnishes The Lancet’s reputation as an academic journal as it demonizes Israel, Israeli academia, and Jews.
British Jewish groups are “extremely concerned” about a new play set to premiere in England about a terrorist siege during the Second Intifada.Saudi Arabia cancels contract with company that flew airliner to Israel
“The Siege,” which will open at the Lowry Theater in Manchester on May 13, is a re-telling of the April 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Over the course of a 39-day standoff, Palestinian terrorists holed up in the church, taking clergy and civilians hostage. Eight Palestinian gunmen were killed.
The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland told the London Jewish Chronicle that the play is a “whitewashing of the Second Intifada,” and the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that it would be “extremely concerned if it turned out to be the case that British taxpayers were funding a play that promoted terrorism as positive and legitimate.”
Saudi Arabia has terminated its contract with the Portuguese airline Hi Fly after it flew an empty jumbo jet marked with the logo of the kingdom’s national carrier, Saudia, to Ben-Gurion Airport for repairs.Mubarak sentenced to 3 years in prison for corruption
The announcement was reported in the Twitter feed of a Saudi news agency.
The arrival of the jet with the logo to Ben-Gurion Airport overnight Tuesday generated a stir in the Israeli media on Wednesday after surprised airport workers spotted the plane.
The plane in question, an Airbus A330-300 devoid of passengers, arrived from Brussels to Tel Aviv for routine maintenance work with the Bedek Aviation Company, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), officials said.
A European client that works with Bedek for plane maintenance happens to lease its jets to various corporations, including Saudia, they explained.
Egypt’s deposed leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were sentenced Saturday to three years in prison and a fine in a retrial on corruption charges they faced earlier. It wasn’t immediately clear whether it will include time he’s already served since his country’s 2011 revolt.Inspectors Find Chemical Weapons at Undeclared Site in Syria
The corruption case — dubbed by the Egyptian media as the “presidential palaces” affair — concerns charges that Mubarak and his two sons embezzled millions of dollars’ worth of state funds over the course of a decade. The funds were meant to pay for renovating and maintaining presidential palaces but were instead allegedly spent on upgrading the family’s private residences.
Mubarak was sentenced to three years, his sons to four in the case. He later appealed, sparking the retrial.
Supporters shouted in anger as Judge Hassan Hassanin announced his verdict, which included a 125 million Egyptian pound ($16.3 million) fine to be paid among the three men, as well as the return of 21 million Egyptian pounds ($2.7 million) they embezzled.
Inspectors from the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found traces of the deadly nerve agents sarin and VX at a research facility in Syria that had not been publicly declared, Reuters reported today.More Evidence Turkey Supports Al Qaeda
Samples taken by experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in December and January tested positive for chemical precursors needed to make the toxic agents, the sources told Reuters on the condition of anonymity because the information is confidential.
“This is a pretty strong indication they have been lying about what they did with sarin,” one diplomatic source said. “They have so far been unable to give a satisfactory explanation about this finding.”
Syria pledged to rid its of its deadly chemical agents, as well as eliminate the ability to manufacture them, in a deal to avert a military strike in the wake of a deadly chemical attack against residents of a Damascus suburb in August 2013. The OPCW was charged with certifying Syria’s compliance.
Even after Syria was declared to be free of chemical weapons last year, there were doubts that Syria had fully complied with its obligations. A few months later, Syria admitted to four more chemical weapons facilities that it had not previously declared.
First, there’s the passive support. If Turkey wanted to stop the flow of foreign fighters into Syria, it could simply tweak its visa rules for those countries that are the source to require visas for those under the age of 40. This wouldn’t impact most businessmen, but would stop the impulsive Jihadi. It could stop allowing thousands of foreign fighters to traverse its territory virtually unmolested. Stopping two dozen, when more than 100 times as many get a free pass, isn’t counter-terrorism; it is optics, equivalent to when Pakistan arrests a Taliban shadow governor, all the while supporting the rest. It could stop extending its medical services to wounded terrorists, all the while denying care to pro-democracy protestors beaten by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Brown Shirts.Turkey's Angry Reactions To Mounting International Recognition of Armenian Genocide Continue; New Voices in Turkey Demand The Country Face Up To The Past
Then, there is more active Turkish support, including allegations that Turkey has armed and supplied al Qaeda elements in Syria. These accusations are now more fire than smoke. One Islamic State commander, for example, has acknowledged Turkey’s material help. There is also documentary evidence about the relationship.
Last month, Turkey arrested 17 Turkish soldiers who intercepted an arms shipment destined to radicals in Syria. The arms shipment had been authorized by Turkish intelligence. Now, a Turkish judge has issued an arrest warrant for five more who sought to prevent the Turkish supply of weaponry to al Qaeda. So, here we have a titular NATO ally, which instead of arresting al Qaeda and Islamic State terrorists instead throws the book at those seeking to stop their supply. Welcome to the reality of Turkey, an undeniable sponsor of terror and a force for instability and sectarian hatred throughout the region. Diplomats can put lipstick on a pig, but there’s no denying this pig.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, AKP government officials, and pro-AKP partisan Islamist media continue their attacks against the Vatican, the European Parliament, France, Austria, Germany, and Russia for their official and unofficial recognition of the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks as genocide on the events' centennial, new voices in Turkey's anti-AKP media are advocating for Turkish recognition of the events as genocide.Turkey Recalls Luxembourg Envoy Over Armenian Genocide
Also on April 24, 2015, Turkey celebrated the centennial of its victory at the Battle of Gallipoli with grand ceremonies, with the participation of British Crown Prince Charles and Prince Harry, prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, and dignitaries from a number of Middle Eastern and African countries. The same day, a solemn ceremony in the Armenian capital of Yerevan commemorated the massacred Ottoman Armenians, attended by, inter alia, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Turkish leaders expressed their displeasure at these leaders' attendance in Yerevan; President Erdogan said that at the ceremony they would "get together, play, and dance to their own music" and that he wished that they had not gone there. He also boasted that while two heads of state had gone to Yerevan, "thanks to Allah, 20 came to Turkey" for its Gallipoli centennial.
This year, U.S. President Barack Obama again refrained from using the word "genocide" in his annual statement on the Armenian commemoration of the 1915 events, enraging Armenian-Americans, but that did not stop Turkish criticism of the U.S., as well as of other Western countries.
Turkey on Thursday recalled its envoy to Luxembourg to Ankara for consultations, after that country’s parliament recognized the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide, AFP reported.Austrian Catholic, Protestant churches apologize to Jews
The recall of the envoy is the latest such move by Ankara after it withdrew its ambassadors to the Vatican and Austria over the same controversy last month.
“We condemn and strongly reject the unfair resolution the Luxembourg parliament has adopted by distorting the historical facts and the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement quoted by AFP.
It said it had summoned the Luxembourg ambassador to Ankara to protest the resolution, which it said was “far from understanding” the role of parliaments in such issues.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s ambassador to Luxembourg Levent Sahinkaya “has been recalled to Ankara for consultations,” it added.
Austria’s Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have apologized for their anti-Semitic attitudes before and during World War II.US, EU reps concerned with anti-Semitism to partake in 'Solidarity Shabbat'
The separate apologies were issued Friday, a day of nationwide commemorations of the end of World War II 70 years ago.
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said the Catholic Church “must acknowledge its share of responsibility for the creation of a climate of disdain and hatred” for Jews before the Nazi era. He spoke of a lack of “pity and solidarity with our Jewish fellow citizens” during the Holocaust.
Austria’s Protestant Council of Churches expressed “particular shame” for “complicity against Jews and other groups … that were considered ‘unfit to live.'”
Twelve members of the US Congress and a number of European ambassadors will attend synagogues this month and participate in other activities to show their concern about anti-Semitism.New Birthright-Inspired Program Set to Bring Young Christians to Israel
Among 11 Democrats and the Republican pledged to observe the May 22 “Solidarity Sabbat” is Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate minority leader and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), one of two Muslims in Congress. The sole Republican so far pledged is Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).
Also pledged to participate, according to the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, which is organizing the event, are ambassadors to Washington from Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Georgia and Cyprus. Noted human rights activists Chen Guangcheng, formerly of China, and Paul Rusesabagina, formerly of Rwanda, also are signed on.
In addition to visiting synagogues, options for participation include hosting a Shabbat dinner and organizing a meeting on religious intolerance.
The Covenant Journey, a new initiative inspired by the popular Taglit-Birthright Israel program, is set to bring young Christians to Israel this summer in order to strengthen their faith and encourage them to become goodwill ambassadors for Israel.Israeli invention to end cooking, hunger?
“There’s one thing better than standing with Israel, and that’s standing in Israel,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said Thursday at the annual Christian Solidarity Event at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, where the new program was announced. “It is critical to bring the next generation of leaders in the Christian community to Israel. If they walk in the places where the patriarchs and the prophets and the kings and that young rabbi from the Galilee walked, then they will stand with Israel here and they will strengthen their Christian identity.”
The program will bring hundreds of Christian students to Israel on a Birthright-style trip at a cost of only $500 per person, thanks to donors including the Museum of the Bible and the Philos Project. (Birthright trips for Jews ages 18-26, by comparison, are free.) Students are selected for the Christian program based on their leadership roles on campus as well as their desire to advocate for Israel and strengthen their Christian faith.
Plenty of mobile apps help consumers order meals for delivery or offer recipes.BBC report on Israeli field hospital in Nepal
But a new app developed by Israeli entrepreneurs will actually prepare the food for you on your kitchen counter.
While not quite as fantastical as it sounds — to use the app you also need a coffeemaker-sized appliance called The Genie — the invention promises to prepare mess-free, all-natural, healthy food in just seconds.
Described by one writer as “like a Keurig [coffeemaker] for food,” the device, which looks sort of like a fancy rice cooker, uses Keurig-like single-serving, disposable (but in this case recyclable) pods.
Genie creators Ayelet Carasso and Doron Marco told Reuters the food in the pods will be nutritious and free of preservatives, the ingredients kept fresh simply through freeze-drying technology.
It is always a pleasure to be able to note the appearance of accurate and impartial BBC produced content on Israel-related topics and just such reporting appeared on the BBC News website’s Asia page on May 1st in the form of a filmed report which was also shown on BBC television news.Nepal earthquake Inside Kathmandu field hospital BBC News
The BBC’s Clive Myrie visited the IDF’s field hospital in Nepal and filed the following report.
The IDF field hospital has already treated more than a thousand patients and also in Nepal are a team of Israeli medical clowns and an IsraAID delegation which is offering medical care in more remote areas.
Around the Clock Action of our Field Hospital in Nepal
Soldier describes how immoral Hamas is
Looking at more of the "Breaking the Silence" testimonies, here's an example where the leftist group is trying hard to pretend that the IDF is doing something immoral - but in fact it is Hamas that is trying to get the IDF to kill civilians.
But what is the headline that Breaking the Silence uses for this story?
“I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees”
This shows quite clearly that BTS is not interested in showing the truth about the IDF, but that they are fishing for dirt to make it look bad.
In other cases the BTS interviewer tried very hard to get the soldier to denounce IDF's rules of engagement:
These examples show that Breaking the Silence is not a human rights organization. Its entire purpose is to demonize the IDF, to make it look bad even when it does nothing remotely wrong.
If only real reporters who know something about real wars would read these and write about it.
There was this mentally handicapped girl in the neighborhood, apparently, and the fact that shots were fired near her feet only made her laugh (earlier in his testimony the soldier described a practice of shooting near people’s feet in order to get them to distance themselves from the forces). She would keep getting closer and it was clear to everyone that she was mentally handicapped, so no one shot at her. No one knew how to deal with this situation. She wandered around the areas of the advance guard company and some other company – I assume she just wanted to return home, I assume she ran away from her parents, I don’t think they would have sent her there. It is possible that she was being taken advantage of – perhaps it was a show, I don’t know. I thought to myself that it was a show, and I admit that I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees because I was convinced it was one. I was sure she was being sent by Hamas to test our alertness, to test our limits, to figure out how we respond to civilians.
Later they also let loose a flock of sheep on us, seven or ten of whom had bombs tied to their bellies from below.
I don’t know if I was right or wrong, but I was convinced that this girl was a test. Eventually, enough people fired shots near her feet for her to apparently get the message that ‘OK, maybe I shouldn’t be here,’ and she turned and walked away.
The reason this happened is that earlier that day we heard about an old man who went in the direction of a house held by a different force; [the soldiers] didn’t really know what to do so they went up to him. This guy, 70 or 80 years old, turned out to be booby-trapped from head to toe. From that moment on the protocol was very, very clear: shoot toward the feet. And if they don’t go away, shoot to kill.Here we see that the IDF soldiers held their fire even though there was a very real chance that the girl was booby-trapped, that Hamas had booby trapped sheep, and that Hamas had booby-trapped an old man.
But what is the headline that Breaking the Silence uses for this story?
“I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees”
This shows quite clearly that BTS is not interested in showing the truth about the IDF, but that they are fishing for dirt to make it look bad.
In other cases the BTS interviewer tried very hard to get the soldier to denounce IDF's rules of engagement:
There were cases in which families were apparently killed by fighter jet strikes. How do you explain that?Showing that the IDF still tried to warn residents even in areas thatthey shouldn't have been and that they were under active fire from Hamas!
A lot of houses were hit, and some of those houses were also shared by occupants aside from [Hamas] militants. I think most of the families that were hurt were in cases like Shuja’iyya, (the testifier is referring to the artillery shot in the aftermath of the event in which seven IDF soldiers were killed when their APC was hit by a rocket) where the threshold for opening fire was more lax because forces were in immediate danger.
But the forces were operating in neighborhoods that were supposed to be uninhabited.
‘Supposed to be’ is one thing, but in reality there were people in there sometimes. In the urban areas of Rafah and Khuza’a, every other house was marked as ‘active’ (being used by militants). It was a real hornet’s nest in there, and they took down those houses systematically. ‘Roof knocking’ (a method by which a small missile is fired on the roof of a building as a warning shot to its residents that it is about to be struck) followed by a boom, ‘roof knocking,’ a boom. Despite the fact that no one was ‘supposed to be’ in there.
But there are means of confirming that there aren’t any people [in the houses], so how did it happen that they got killed anyway?Everything this soldier says isperfectly legal in the laws of armed conflict. What else could soldiers do to determine if civilians are in the house after leaflets, phone calls and roof-knocking? Should they ring the doorbell and ask politely to speak to the head of the household?
We can’t know everything. We did everything we could in order to know. If the family had no phone and a ‘roof knocking’ was conducted, and after a few minutes no one came out, then the assumption was that there was no one there.
You were working under the assumption that once a ‘roof knocking’ was conducted everyone leaves the building immediately, and if nobody leaves it means there was no one inside?
People who are willing to sacrifice themselves, there’s nothing you can do. We have no way of knowing if there were people in there who decided not to get out.
But the bomb was dropped on the house?
Yes.
And say after a ‘roof knocking’ 10 people go up on the roof of the house?
Then you don’t strike the house.
And what if after a ‘roof knocking’ 10 people stay inside the living room?
If people were inside the house I didn’t know about it. But I don’t think that was taken into consideration [over whether or not to bomb the house].
Is it a requirement to make sure no civilians are in a structure before it’s attacked by a fighter jet?
It’s not obligatory. Say the target was [Hamas’] deputy battalion commander in Shuja’iyya, an attack would be launched if the number of civilians wasn’t too high. By too high, I mean a two-digit number.
These examples show that Breaking the Silence is not a human rights organization. Its entire purpose is to demonize the IDF, to make it look bad even when it does nothing remotely wrong.
If only real reporters who know something about real wars would read these and write about it.