Elder of Ziyon

Antisemitic "Khaybar" (video) to be followed with anti-Israel film.

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

MEMRI has some excerpts of the upcoming Ramadan antisemitic "Khaybar" miniseries showing Jews being deceitful, bloodthirsty and cowardly:.

Echo Media, the production company behind "Khaybar," has announced that it is ready to start work on its next film.

Just as Khaybar uses a historical incident to push its explicitly antisemitic agenda, this film - entitled "Enough Humiliation" - uses the Arab uprisings as the hook to call for the destruction of Israel and the "liberation" of Jerusalem from Jewish control.

Echo Media head Mohsen Ali says that the film is meant to unite Arabs on the "issue of Jerusalem and the stolen land of Palestine." He added that he believes that the film will be an important milestone for the company as it capitalizes on the presumed success of the Khaybar miniseries.

Note that the name "Enough Humiliation" refers not to "the territories" but to the existence of Israel itself.

Human rights organizations have continued to ignore calls to denounce and condemn this mass incitement against Jews that will be seen and enjoyed by hundreds of millions.

My petition to HRW and Amnesty had reached over 1000 signatures. Every signature generates another email to those groups.

(If anyone wants to publicly deliver the petitions to Amnesty and HRW offices in their country, let me know so we can write a press release. Both have offices in midtown Manhattan but I can't publicly deliver them - any volunteers?)

Rohani's playbook is clear: Fool the West while buying time

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:15:00 +0000

Here's an interesting snippet from a New York Times report, February 8. 2004:

In part because of their desire to avoid another confrontation in the Middle East, Britain, France and Germany won American approval in October for a diplomatic initiative in which Iran agreed to suspend its enrichment activities at Natanz, which it maintains is a peaceful facility, and to accept additional inspection protocols.

Some American officials fear that compliance with that pledge may be slipping, and that, in any case, a confrontation over Natanz is virtually certain. ''The European deal may have postponed the reckoning, but unless the Iranians give up their program, it's not going to avoid the reckoning,'' said a senior American official.

Even many Europeans say they are not sure of Iran's intentions. A senior European envoy said that after a meeting recently with the leader of Iran's national security agency, Hassan Rohani, it was not clear whether Iran truly intended to end its weapon program or was simply playing for time.

''We are very suspicious of their intentions,'' he said, adding that it was often hard to tell even in meetings who was a reformer and who was a hard-line cleric.

Today, the Western media and even most politicians have almost unanimously declared this same Hassan Rohani to be a reformer, a moderate, someone the West can do business with!

On what do they base this? Well, on nothing, except that Rohani isn't as bombastic as Ahmadinejad.

Yoel noticed something notable in Rohani's press conference on Monday, that was not reported anywhere.

This "moderate reformer" stated that "If sanctions have any benefits, they will only benefit Israel. It has no benefits for others. We will make the enemy [Israel] understand that it has no option but to bow its head in front of the great Iranian nation and not wave its ax [at it]."

Are these the words of a moderate?

As TOI notes:

According to Ze’ev Maghen, an Iran scholar at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University and Jerusalem’s Shalem College, Rowhani is himself convinced of the necessity of an advanced nuclear weapons program, and interested in using soft language merely as a stalling tactic in best Iranian negotiating tradition.

“Rowhani is a dyed-in-the-wool Khomeinist and part of the consensus on Iranian nuclear energy, which is a code word for nuclear weapons,” Maghen told The Times of Israel on Monday. And “he is no friendlier on Israel than [outgoing President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad. The only difference between the two is one of style.”

A few months after the 2004 NYT article above, Rohani made a speech where he said:

If one day we are able to complete the fuel cycle and the world sees that it has no choice -- that we do possess the technology -- then the situation will be different. The world did not want Pakistan to have an atomic bomb or Brazil to have the fuel cycle, but Pakistan built its bomb and Brazil has its fuel cycle, and the world started to work with them. Our problem is that we have not achieved either one, but we are standing at the threshold.

Rohani has a track record of putting a smiling face on Iran's buying time to build a nuclear weapon. Now he has the best platform possible to do so.

And the Iranian regime is playing the Western world like a flute.

Gazans demand mobile provider to allow them free votes for Arab Idol

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The conclusion of Arab Idol is coming up, and Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf has reached the finals.

Gazans naturally want to vote for their native son, but they don't want to pay the mobile text messaging fees associated with it.

So they are protesting the mobile service provider!

Some claim that their text messages in support of Assaf are not getting delivered.

Naturally, a conspiracy theory is growing, that some unnamed Arab businessmen are colluding against Assaf's victory, for reasons that are unclear.

Meanwhile, PA president Mahmoud Abbas is not above personal lobbying of the judges in the program:

“I no longer know what to say,” Lebanese singer Raghib Allama, a member of the jury, told Assaf.”But I can sum it up like this—your voice is measured by a gold balance.”

Allama, one of the most popular singers in the Middle East, told Assaf that on his way to the studio for the Arab Idol programme on that day, he was called by President Abbas.

“President Abbas commended all the singers, the jury and MBC for this achievement….he asked me to look after you,” Allama told Assaf.

Wealthy Palestinian Arab businessmen are also stuffing the ballot boxes, with billionaire Munib Masri saying that everyone should get out the vote and saying that "dozens of businessmen have purchased and sent thousands of messages in support of the artist."

The finals are set for next week.

While Assaf is undeniably handsome and has a good voice, part of his appeal is also that he has sung songs that deny the existence of Israel.

EU audit finds €1 billion aid to Egypt is wasted

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:24:00 +0000

From FT.com:

The €1bn in EU aid supplied to Egypt over the past seven years has done little to achieve its stated aims of improving democracy and human rights in the country, according to a damning assessment by the bloc’s spending watchdog.

The European court of auditors found that the new Egyptian government that swept to power in the wake of popular uprisings in 2011 had – if anything – demonstrated even less interest than its predecessor in EU-sponsored programmes to foster civil society and protect the rights of women and minorities.

It also warned that Brussels was unable to track about 60 per cent of the aid money after it was transferred to Egyptian government coffers, raising concerns about widespread fraud and mismanagement.

“They do not fulfil the conditions at all – and nevertheless, the money is given,” said Karel Pinxten, the court of auditors official who oversaw the review, and is urging the EU to overhaul the policy.

The report suggests that the EU continues to fumble a decades-old effort to craft an effective policy to improve governance and generate economic growth in a vital region on its southern doorstep.
The most recent incarnation of the bloc’s so-called “neighbourhood policy” was unveiled in 2004 with the philosophy that Brussels would give more aid money to governments that delivered on reform and withhold it from those that did not.

The initiative gained greater urgency after the wave of popular uprisings that rocked north Africa and the Middle East two years ago, turning out authoritarian governments and opening the way for a new approach by the EU.

As the largest country in the Arab world and one of the EU’s biggest recipients of foreign aid, Egypt has been a particular priority. The EU has allocated about €1bn to Cairo between 2007 and 2013 – the period covered by the audit.

Yet the court of auditors found that the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and the European external action service, its diplomatic service, “have not been able to manage EU support to improve governance in Egypt effectively,” according to a copy obtained by the Financial Times.

“The commission took quite a few initiatives. But taking initiatives is one thing – getting results is something else,” Mr Pinxten said.

He also noted the resistance to programmes to stamp out corruption and protect human rights shown by Hosni Mubarak, the long-time Egyptian ruler, as well as the current Islamist government led by Mohamed Morsi.

“It’s quite clear under the period of Mubarak but also now under Morsi, from the Egyptian side, there was not a high degree of willingness to go along with the commission. And that’s an understatement,” Mr Pinxten said.

A formal reply by the commission generally accepted the report’s findings but said it did not “take sufficiently into consideration the local political context” and argued more time was needed to see results.

Nonetheless, it acknowledged “an increased aversion towards civil society and human rights more broadly” in Egypt since the 2011 uprising.

The report is likely to spur a fresh debate about the merits of EU foreign aid – particularly at a time of budget cuts in Europe.

Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European parliament, said the report showed the EU human rights policy to be “a joke” and demanded that the bloc be more forceful about suspending aid.

Aid by the US to Egypt dwarfs that from the EU. And the US is not obligated to send one cent! JPost noted last week:

At Friday’s State Department daily press briefing one reporter asked, “How much is the US obligated to provide to Egypt under the Camp David Accords?” Nothing at all, the spokesman responded a day later, obviously after consultation with Foggy Bottom policy makers.

“The United States is not obligated to provide assistance to Egypt. We provide assistance because it serves U.S. national interests in a crucial and volatile region.”

During his most recent trip to Cairo, Secretary of Sate John Kerry pledged another $250 million. In response to a reporter’s question, the department spokesman said it was all for economic stabilization and development and none was for military assistance.

So who lobbies for continued US aid to Egypt?

In part, Israel.

In prior years when Congress tried to link aid to Egypt to democratic reform and respect for human rights, some of the loudest objections came from the Israeli embassy in Washington, whose diplomats scurried to Capitol Hill to explain how vital that aid was to maintaining their peace treaty.

They weren’t overly concerned about Cairo’s abysmal human rights record, though they did want Washington to press for an end to anti-Israeli incitement in the Egyptian media.

US aid to Egypt is far more expansive than that from the EU, but it seems clear that much the money being sent by USAID is being wasted.

Two years ago, Egypt claimed to have rejected USAID money exactly because of the strings attached - that they require human rights and democracy to flourish. But they seem to still accept it, as nothing on the USAID site mentions any problem.

Perhaps the reason is that the Muslim Brotherhood considers all the Western money flowing indirectly into its coffers to be a jizya tax on the West.

Just last month, John Kerry pushed through an extension on military aid to Egypt with seemingly no conditions:

Discreetly, the US State Department renewed military aid to Egypt last month. The announcement was made only 7 June. The administration of Barack Obama avoided a public debate that would be embarrassing on the latter's support for the new political regime in Egypt, run by the Muslim Brotherhood.

US Secretary of State John Kerry used the exemption granted him by law to extend military assistance, despite the concerns of Washington on the new Egyptian regime's policy towards the establishment of a true democracy and respect of fundamental freedoms and human rights in Egypt.

On 9 May, Kerry sent Congress a memo informing it of his decision to extend $1.3 billion of annual military aid to Egypt, citing the need to protect the essential interests of the United States in the Middle East, namely the passage of warships in the Suez Canal, necessary to protect the oil-rich Gulf region against threats from Iran, the protection of the borders with Israel from infiltration by Islamic militants and weaponry, which enhances the security of the former against the threats of Islamic extremists in the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.

At any rate, the EU audit proves that any Western money being sent as an incentive to improve human rights and democracy in Egypt is being thoroughly wasted. Just as importantly, it proves that the West is reluctant to reign in aid even when it is shown to be a waste - it is harder to stop a program than to start it. (Think about UNRWA, over sixty years after it was supposed to have disappeared.)

Will the EU do a similar audit on money sent to the PLO, directly and through NGOs?

(h/t Elliott E)

Barbra Streisand sings to Shimon Peres (video)

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:05:00 +0000

I'm not a big fan of hers, but people say Barbra Streisand's performance at the star-studded 90th birthday show for Shimon Peres was amazing:

6/18 Links Part 2: Quakers BDS Camp, IRS vs. Pro-Israel Groups and Oil for Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Ian) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:30:00 +0000

From Ian:

Pacifists at War

With their passion for peace, it may seem curious that leaders of the American Friends Service Committee, the organized political voice of the Quakers, would have dined with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad in New York five years ago. Then, last year, the Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation divested from Hewlett-Packard for providing technology consulting to the Israeli Navy. The AFSC website provides helpful hints for educating Americans about “Palestinian nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation” and organizing lobbying efforts “to end/condition US military aid to Israel.” All else failing, they must be sure to boycott SodaStream refills, “which are manufactured within an Israeli settlement in occupied Palestinian territory” and even have the chutzpah to bear the label “Made in Israel.”
None of that sounds like fun, so the AFSC is inviting college students with suitably anti-Israel credentials to participate in a five-day summer training institute in pastoral upstate New York. There they will participate in an “intensive program” focusing on “what is happening in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories,” the better to develop Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions programs on their campuses.

The IRS vs. Pro-Israel Groups

Applications of pro-Israel groups for tax-exempt status are routinely routed to an antiterrorism unit within the Internal Revenue Service for additional screening, according to the testimony of a Cincinnati-based IRS agent.
Asked whether Jewish or pro-Israel applications are treated differently from other applications, Gary Muthert told House Oversight Committee investigators that they are considered “specialty cases” and that “probably” all are sent to an IRS unit that examines groups for potential terrorist ties.

CAMERA: Misinforming Students on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The word terrorism first appears in the timeline under the year 1988, when "Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemns all forms of terrorism and recognizes the state of Israel." The perpetrators of the Munich massacre are "Palestinian gunmen" and those who carried out the Entebbe hijacking are just "Palestinians."
The Oslo Accords, students are told, meant that "the two sides were no longer claiming that the other did not have the right to exist as a state of peoples on that land." Yet students are not informed about the Fatah Party Congress in 2009 where participants cheered as Palestinian Authority officials vowed to never recognize the Jewish State and reaffirmed their commitment to armed struggle. In addition, the messages emanating from Palestinian media, mosques and officials exhorting the public to oppose coexistence and to destroy Israel are ignored.

Women Plan March to Arab Town, ‘Enough Rock Terror’

The women will march under the banner, “Women Against Rocks.” Organizers noted that despite the slogan, men and children are invited, as well.
Marchers intend to enter Azoun itself. “We will let the Arabs know that there will be a response to rock terror, and we will make it clear to the IDF that the time has come to end this phenomenon,” they declared.

Terrorist Earns Hebrew U. Doctorate, Refuses to Shake Hands

A terrorist who served two prison terms for involvement in terrorism, including a plot to carry out a suicide bombing, has been awarded his doctorate in chemistry from Hebrew University, Maariv reports.
The terrorist is an Israeli citizen and a resident of eastern Jerusalem.
During the graduation ceremony in Hebrew University’s Har Hatzofim campus he refused to shake hands with Hebrew University President Professor Menachem Ben-Sasson. His name was read aloud at the ceremony and he was applauded by the crowd.

Kim Jong-un endorses Mein Kampf as guidebook for economic growth

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un handed copies of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf to a host of the country's top officials last January. The website New Focus International reported the controversial volume was printed especially in the format of a “hundred-copy book,” meaning a limited edition of banned books that have been published in secret for the consumption of members of the country's elite.

MEMRI: The AMIA Bombing Affair: Joint Investigative Committee Agreement Not Ratified By Iran

Following the signing of the MOU, a disagreement emerged between the two countries over the issue of whether Argentinean investigators would be allowed to interrogate the Iranian officials linked to the affair. While the Argentinean parliament did ratify the MOU, the Iranian Majlis began studying it at the end of February 2013, but to date still has not ratified it despite pressure from the Iranian Foreign Ministry. In statements, Majlis representatives and media circles warned against any move that could harm Iranian sovereignty.

Cisco CEO John Chambers in Israel again

Ahead of the visit, he said, "Israel is a global leader in innovation, and Cisco is proud of its longstanding commitment to the country. As we strengthen our partnership with Israel, I believe that together, we can promote change in the country and encourage sustainable growth and productivity, which will influence the region and all of Israel's people."

Israel Aerospace Industries signs foreign deals worth $100m

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) has signed new foreign contracts worth $100 million. The contracts include a $30 million contract to upgrade a special mission aircraft with the company's ELL-8232 electronic support measure/electronic intelligence (ESM/ELINT) system for tactical and strategic missions; two contracts to supply maritime patrol radar, worth $32 million; and communication intelligence systems.

Hava Nagila, Gangnam style

Now “Gangnam Style” fever has reached the local stage. The Embassy of the Republic of Korea, in cooperation with the country’s tourism and foreign ministries, held a “Gangnam Style” contest in Herzliya in which 12 Israeli teens competed, and 17-year-old Eva Kamun came out on top with her “Hava Nagila” performance.

Israeli college’s Clashers app brings music lovers together

It’s not every school that gets invited to the Microsoft Research Design Expo — in fact, only nine schools get invited, and this year, the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) is one of them. MSR Design Expo is one of the most exclusive computer design events in the world, so schools that get invited want to show off their best technology.

Bras, bees, and ‘oil for peace’ at Israeli agricultural event

International cooperation and advances in food production and agriculture not only have the potential to solve food shortages, they also have the potential to foster peace. Among the products available at the event was one called “Olives for Peace,” an organic olive oil package being marketed jointly by an Israeli farmer and a Palestinian farmer. Doron Akiva, an olive oil producer in Ezuz in southern Israel, has teamed up with Palestinian farmer Mohammad Joudeh of the village of Azzun, near Kalkilyeh in central Samaria.
The product consists of one package containing two separate bottles of olive oil produced by each farmer. “We don’t want to talk peace,” Doron said, “we want to make peace.” Olives for Peace may or may not achieve that goal, but if the show’s many attendees taking samples are any indication, the company has definitely mastered olive oil.

PalArab doctors attend Israeli medical expo

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:00:00 +0000

I guess they are not part of the "civil society" that is supposedly boycotting Israel.

Persons with a medical background from all over the world, and those interested in state of the art medical technological innovations, gathered this week in the colorful and impressive esthetically designed exhibition hall. Most of the participants were exhibiting advanced instrumentation that assists in innovative treatment methods, and what they all had in common was that they had come to update themselves on the most recent innovations which would constitute for all of them, a medical breakthrough in the not too distant future.

Among the many visitors who came from Japan, Germany, France, the USA, were also Palestinian medical personnel from Judea and Samaria who had been specially invited by the Civil Administration with the object of familiarizing themselves with the technological innovations in the medical field, to form an impression of the worldwide capabilities of the advanced equipment and also to try and bring the medical "spearhead" to the territories of Judea and Samaria. The Health Coordinator in the Civil Administration, Dalia Bassa said that "We invited the Palestinian medical people so that they could get exposure to a level of advanced medicine worldwide and would be able, as the need arises, to introduce the advanced instrumentation into the Palestinian market - into their clinics and hospitals, and thus enhance the medical treatment being provided currently to the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria".

Israel believes that exhibitions and gatherings of this nature, will substantially strengthen the cooperation in the health sphere between the Israeli and Palestinian Health Ministries and therefore supports initiatives of this kind.

Sunnis and Shiites are fighting - in Australia!

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Wow:

And this:

A secretive and radical program operating inside an Islamic book store in western Sydney is encouraging young Muslims to get involved in Syria's conflict, a 7.30 investigation has revealed.

The bloody conflict in Syria has become a magnet and a new training ground for militants around the world, including Australians.

ASIO has estimated around 100 Australians could be currently fighting in Syria, and four Australians have so far died in the conflict.

Since it opened just over a year ago, the Al Risalah bookstore has gained a reputation as a centre of Islamic extremism.

7.30 has been investigating Al Risalah's activities and the people behind it, identifying four key sheikhs.

All are radical, and all are encouraging Australians to get involved in the Syrian crisis.

The most famous of the sheikhs is Abu Suhaib, known to authorities as Bilal Khazal.

Khazal is a former baggage handler for Qantas, trained at a military camp in Afghanistan, and was a confidant of Osama bin Laden.

(h/t Yoel)

6/18 Links Part 1: Khamenei Wins Again, Fiji to the Golan and Turkey Rounds up the Usual Suspects.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:00:00 +0000

From Ian:

And the Winner is... Iran's Nuclear Program

Making Rouhani the president was a brilliant strategic move for Khamene'i -- not just to pacify the West, by also to pacify the Iranian people, who want nothing more than Iran to be accepted as a normal country and regain the international standing it had before the Islamic revolution.
Rouhani's more religiously "moderate" rhetoric led the Iranian people to believe he would be able to negotiate Iran out of the catastrophic economic reality they face. So the "reformers" pin their hopes on him, instead of going out into the streets and demonstrating against him and the regime, as they did after Iran's previous presidential "election."

Who Is Hassan Rouhani?

As a negotiator, Rohani is triumphantly duplicitous, known to lull his non-Iranian counterparts into a false sense of calm. Despite all the talk that, during his term as a nuclear negotiator, Iran appeared more cooperative with the international community, Rohani bragged about how he had tricked the West. In April of 2006 during a speech at the Assembly of Clerics, Rouhani was caught on tape, boasting that while talks were taking place in Teheran, Iran was able to complete the installation of equipment for conversion of yellowcake -- a key stage in the nuclear fuel process -- at its Isfahan plant, but at the same time convince European diplomats that nothing was afoot. "From the outset," he said, "the Americans kept telling the Europeans, 'The Iranians are lying and deceiving you and they have not told you everything.' The Europeans used to respond, 'We trust them!'"

New Iran Prez: Our Economic Problems All Israel's Fault

Hassan Rohani, Iran's new President, is being termed a “moderate” in Western media, but it appears that his moderation stops when it comes to Israel. In his first speech as Iran's new leader, Rohani quickly launched into a diatribe against Israel, blaming the Jewish state for Iran's economic problems.

'Iran's nuclear aims advancing despite sanctions'

Iran is making "steady progress" in expanding its nuclear program despite international sanctions that do not seem to be slowing it down, the UN nuclear agency chief told Reuters on Monday.

CIF Watch: Glenn Greenwald - Hamas and Hezbollah are NOT terrorist movements

We reported recently that Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald has been speaking at the annual Marxist-Leninist conference, and we posted a few clips of his 2011 appearance at the conference, held in Chicago. During his talk (titled ‘Civil Liberties under Obama’), the CiF columnist defended American al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki, and downplayed the “scope” of the 9/11 attacks – which he suggested were much more limited (in the scale of violence) than what the U.S. has perpetrated in the Arab world.

Groundwork and maintenance on BBC’s ‘From Our Own Correspondent’

Knell employs the same policy of omission of context in her story of Gazans “playing football on a field partly obliterated by an Israeli air strike” – without clarifying whether that same football field was one of those used to launch missiles at Israeli civilians. Her tales of “classic cars repaired for everyday use” and “Gazans resorting to donkeys when their cars ran out of fuel” naturally omit any mention of the latest craze for brand new Chinese cars in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas deploys 600-strong force to prevent rocket fire at Israel

Hamas has deployed a 600-man military force in the Gaza Strip that operates 24 hours a day in order to prevent rocket fire at Israel, a senior Arab source told The Times of Israel on Monday.
Since Egypt — with the election a year ago of President Mohammed Morsi – stepped up its involvement in Gaza and began to pressure Hamas to not allow rocket fire, the Islamic organization has diligently worked to keep the peace in Gaza, even when that came at the price of confrontations with smaller Islamic groups such as the extremist Salafists, the source said.

Islamist students vow to fight PA crackdown in West Bank

A group of Hamas-affiliated students living in the West Bank has launched a campaign calling for civil disobedience against harassment by Palestinian Authority security forces.
Titled “It Makes No Difference To Me,” and organized by the Union of Islamic Students in the West Bank, the campaign aims to fight what members say is a PA crackdown on Hamas activists across the West Bank, including repeated summonses for investigations in PA security headquarters.

Morsi Appoints Member of Terrorist Group Governor of Province They Terrorized

Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi recently appointed 17 new local governors this weekend, seven of them from his party, and one from a decidedly problematic one: The new governor of Luxor belongs to the political wing of Gamaa al-Islamiyya, which is not only a terrorist group but the organization that perpetrated one of the worst terrorist attacks in Egyptian history in Luxor, where they slaughtered four Egyptians and 58 foreign tourists in 1997.

Sinai on High Alert, Al Qaeda Sets Up Base

The Egyptian government has declared a high alert in the Sinai Peninsula following a high level of Al Qaeda terrorist activity in the region.
The terrorists have set up a military base in central Sinai, Egyptian security officials told the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency on Monday.

Report: Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah’s Brother Killed in Syria Fighting

The brother of Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed recently in a fierce battle in the Syrian city of Qusair, Israel’s Channel 2 reported Monday.
According to the report, Nasrallah attended the funeral of his brother, Khader, in the village of Kfar Kana in south Lebanon on Sunday.

Hamas to Hizbullah: Leave Syria, Fight Israel Instead

Hamas expressed sympathy for the suffering and bloodshed in Syria, and affirmed the Syrian people's right to freedom.
"The Syrian people have the right to realize their rights and aspirations for freedom and dignity. This people have always been supportive to resistance and resistance fighters," Hamas said, according to Ma’an.

Fiji Troops Replace Austria in Golan Heights UN Force

A force of 170 soldiers from Fiji will replace Austrian troops in the United Nations peacekeeping force monitoring the Golan Heights buffer zone.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has been stationed on the Israel-Syrian border since the ceasefire declared following the 1973 war.

France, Belgium, Saudis Send Weapons to Syrian Rebels

Reports on Monday said that Syrian rebels have already begun receiving weapons from various sources, as they attempted to wrest control of the country from the control of President Bashar al-Assad. While a debate is taking place in the U.S., Britain, and other countries about helping the rebels with arms, the reports said that rebels have already gotten advanced weapons with the assistance of Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and France.

Middle East state reportedly sends rebels antitank missiles

An unnamed Middle Eastern state has supplied Syrian rebels with 250 sophisticated Soviet-made anti-tank missiles, most of which were given to radical Islamist militias fighting President Bashar Assad, according to a report published in London-based Arabic daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday.
According to the report, the unidentified state made its first delivery of 9M113 Konkurs missiles to the rebels a week ago via Turkey. The Konkurs antitank missile has a maximum range of four kilometers and a hit probability of 90 percent. Egypt, Iran and Turkey are the only known operators of the missile system in the Middle East.

Turkish police arrest dozens in raids on homes, newspapers

Turkish news media reported Tuesday that police are carrying out raids and detaining people suspected of involvement in violence against police during a wave of anti-government protests.
According to Hurriyet Daily News, “anti-terror security teams” arrested several people in their homes as part of the latest government crackdown against dissenters. Nearly 200 people were detained by police on Tuesday, according to estimates by Hurriyet. Today’s Zaman quoted Interior Minister Muammer Güler saying 25 people were arrested in Ankara and 62 in Istanbul.

Michigan governor in Israel to boost ties

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:30:00 +0000

Michigan, of course, is the home to the United States' largest Arab and Muslim communities.

From MLive:

Gov. Rick Snyder met with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government and business leaders as he toured the Middle Eastern country during an investment mission.

The Republican governor is interested in Israel's budding startup businesses, particularly in automotive, defense, water technology and research.

He was last in Israel 14 years ago as a venture capitalist.

“I had a chance to see the start of high-tech boom in Israel and that’s great to see,” Snyder said in a phone call from Israel. “This is really a startup nation. They’ve done a great job of being entrepreneurial, innovative, and that’s a major part of their economy now and the good part is we can learn from that.”

He signed a letter of intent with the country to work together on industrial research and development, and create the framework for future cooperation between Michigan and Israeli companies.

Snyder has met or plans to meet with people from a few different industries, including:

Automotive: He met with several automotive company representatives and visited the General Motors Advanced Technical Center Israel in Herzliya. There are Israeli companies that offer smart vehicle technology, such as collision avoidance systems, he said.

“There's a lot of young companies here in Israel that are looking for ways to work with (original equipment manufacturers), tier one suppliers on how their technology might be helpful,” Snyder said.

Water: He met with water industry officials in Israel to discuss ways they're using water more efficiently and reducing the electrical cost of providing water. For example, they use software to monitor water use.

Education: Snyder on Tuesday plans to learn about a program started by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit in Israel to help immigrants with illiteracy problems get up to speed and into the school system quickly. He also plans to talk with university officials about opportunities for technology transfer collaborations. He said the University of Michigan already works with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center on disease research.

I didn't even know GM has a facility in Israel.

(h/t Dan)

Mass anti-government protests planned for June 30 in Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0000

From Al Monitor:

Less than two weeks before June 30, the day of expected massive protests calling for the ouster of Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, both the Ministry of Interior and the military are left with difficult options as expectations of widespread, bloody confrontations continue to rise.

Retired police Col. Khaled Okasha, a security analyst and main witness in the trial involving Morsi’s jailbreak during the January 25 protests, believes the Ministry of Interior “is going through the most complicated, confusing and mysterious time in its recent history.”

On June 12, a day before Okasha’s talk with Al-Monitor, Egypt’s Interior Minister Gen. Mohamed Ibrahim announced that “police forces are legally committed to securing the June 30 protests, keen on the safety of every citizen regardless of their political allegiances.”

The statement contradicted the minister’s statement two days earlier [June 10]: “You will not see a single police officer in protest areas to let peaceful protesters express their opinions freely.”

The abrupt and unexplained reversal of Ibrahim’s statements clearly reflected how indecisive the country’s security apparatus is.

“We cannot understand who takes such decisions and on what basis. But the minister of interior is similar to the president who appointed him to politicize the ministry in the first place and recreate an ironfisted apparatus that will serve the administration and defend its policies and interests regardless of how right or wrong they are,” said Okasha.

Al Arabiya:

The opposition-backed campaign dubbed Tamarod, Arabic for rebellion, has called for a demonstration outside the presidential palace against Mursi on June 30.

Tamarod says it has gathered millions of signatures to a petition demanding that Mursi step down to pave the way for an early presidential election.

In a reaction, Islamist parties said they plan to organize a “million-man march” in front of Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque next Friday, to counter Tamarod’s protest at the end of the month.

The markets are taking notice:

Trading in Egypt’s benchmark stock index, the world’s worst performer in June, tumbled to the lowest level by value in five years, on concern anti-government protests will bring the nation to a “tipping point.”

Shares of about 70 million Egyptian pounds ($10 million) were traded yesterday, the lowest since Bloomberg started tracking the data in August 2008. About 85 million pounds changed hands so far today, compared with a 12-month average of about 400 million pounds.

Egypt’s stocks have slumped 15 percent in June, the most among 94 gauges tracked by Bloomberg, amid growing polarization between supporters and opponents of the North African country’s Islamist government. Both sides are calling for nationwide demonstrations on June 30, the one-year anniversary of President Mohamed Mursi taking office.

While his country burns, Erdogan meets with Hamas leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:15:00 +0000

A head of state has priorities, after all.

From Turkish Radio and Television English:

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a key meeting today for the Middle East peace.

Prior to his Gaza visit, Premier Erdoğan will meet Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Ankara.

The meeting bears critical importance in terms of the Middle East peace and reconciliation efforts between Palestinians.

Palestinian Head of State Mahmoud Abbas appointed academic and independent politician Rami Hamdallah as the new prime minister, causing discontent on the side of Hamas.

Hamas claimed Hamdallah's appointment is illegal.

Erdogan's visit to Gaza was originally scheduled for the end of May, then pushed back to sometime this month.

The PLO admits it hasn't made any concessions since 1988 and doesn't plan any

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:00:00 +0000

I found this in a paper at the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department site, in a paper where they try to spin their reasons for avoiding negotiating with Israel:

What are the Palestinians offering from their side?

The Palestinians have made numerous concessions and good will gestures. Although the two-state solution is common discourse today, it must be remembered that this solution is based on the Palestinian historic compromise of 1988, whereby the PLO accepted a state on a mere 22% of historical Palestine, for the sake of peace. During the past twenty-plus years of peace process, the Palestinians have entered all negotiations in good faith and have acted in accordance with agreements made. Palestine has also joined other countries in the region in establishing the Arab Peace Initiative, which extends the offer of normalized relations for Israel with 57 Arab and Islamic countries following Israel’s full withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, and a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue in accordance with UNGA Resolution 194.

Which means that they are offering - nothing. And they are trying to pretend that this intransigence of the past 25 years is somehow proof of their flexibility and willingness to work for peace!

Keep in mind that their continuous mention of UNGA 194 means that they never have, and never will, accept the concept of a Jewish state, and they insist even today that Israel must be flooded with millions of Arabs - turning it into an Arab state - as a prerequisite to "peace".

It is beyond me how Western diplomats can read this position paper, written in plain English, and still claim that Israel is the intransigent party.

Moshe Arens on the "demographic threat"

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:57:00 +0000

In Ha'aretz:

Many of the important decisions taken in the life of individuals or nations are not based on objective probabilities attached to future events. That information is usually nonexistent, and we may have recourse to game theoretic considerations or intuition in making decisions. When probabilities are introduced, they generally are on pretty shaky ground.

That is the case with the demographic projections that are promoted by those urging an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. Here we are advised by some that we should be prepared to cut out parts of the Land of Israel − Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland − based on certain demographic prognostications indicating that in time the Jewish population would constitute a minority in the State of Israel unless this decision was taken now.

The Danish-Jewish physicist Niels Bohr famously said that prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. That is certainly true in this case. Most past demographic forecasts in Israel have turned out to be wrong.

If this was no more than an academic exercise, there would be nothing to get excited about; the forecasts could be published in an academic journal and we could revisit the data in another 10 or 20 years. But those using these demographic forecasts hold them as a Damocles sword above our heads, insisting that we take a decision now and abandon Judea and Samaria, a decision that would be irreversible.

Yet it might turn out in the years to come that their forecasts were off by 10, 20, maybe 30 percent. Hurry, they shout, there’s no time to lose − the window of opportunity is closing. They are not talking about a mastectomy, they are talking about cutting the heart out of the Land of Israel.

Not very good advice.

Bashar Assad fake-quotes Golda Meir on his Facebook page

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Seen on Bashar Assad's official Facebook page:

It translates to:

"When we burnt down Jerusalem, I hadn't slept all night, expecting that the Arabs would be coming from all over towards Israel. When the sun rose, I knew full well that we are facing a sleeping 'Umma [Islamic nation]"
- Golda Meir

The quote, of course, is fake. But it shows that Assad is still trying to deflect his problems to Israel.

6/17 Links Part 2: Focherini Beatified, What Happened to the Bees and Streisand Arrives

noreply@blogger.com (Ian) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:00:00 +0000

From Ian:

Catholic activist killed for saving Jews set for sainthood

An Italian Catholic activist and journalist who was declared a Righteous Gentile for saving Jewish lives during World War II has formally been put on the road to sainthood by the Roman Catholic church.
Odoardo Focherini was beatified – the step before sainthood – at a ceremony Saturday in his hometown of Carpi, near Modena in northern Italy.

MKs and Activists Discuss Deteriorating Situation on Mt. Olives

"It's crucial to get our message across to as many public officials as possible", said Lubinsky. "including those present at the hearing. The very fact that there are ongoing hearings about Har Hazeitim means that our message will reach the proper authorities and peace will eventually prevail at one of Judaism's holiest sites."

After Firebombing of Third Montreal Jewish Business, Community Group Demands Answers from Police

The B’nai Brith expressed concern on behalf of Montreal’s Jewish community over the frequency of the attacks and how they have been able to continue unabated. “This is the 3rd Jewish-owned business that has been fire-bombed in less than 2 weeks and our concern for the safety and welfare of the community is high. The Police must take concrete steps to reassure the community that their safety is not in jeopardy,” Slimovitch demanded.

Israeli and Turkish Beach Soccer Teams in Diplomatic Incident

Before Israel’s national Beach Soccer team’s game against Turkey on Sunday (in which Israel won 9-6 and qualified for the European Championship), as the two teams were exchanging each other pennants, Coach Benny Lam noticed that the Turks threw the Israeli flags away.

Golkar Lawmaker Under Fire for ‘Secret’ Israel Visit

Indonesia has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Israel until the country allows an independent Palestine. But this stance hasn’t stopped Indonesian officials from visiting Israel, or put a damper on trade ties.
The two nations set up a chamber of commerce to facilitate trade in 2009, settling on the unassuming name the “Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.” Indonesia booked $750 million in trade in 2008, and $450 million in 2009, despite failing to officially recognize the country, according to reports in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

London to host conference on boycott campaigns

The three-day conference will take place at University of London’s Birkbeck College, and is being hosted by the Pears Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism at Birkbeck, in conjunction with the International Consortium for Research on Anti-Semitism and Racism.

Siamese twins at the Civil Administration

With Israeli assistance and coordination of the Civil Administration in the West Bank, a Palestinian woman gave birth in Israel to Siamese twins connected to each other, after a complex caesarean section.

US Passes Bill to 'Remove Existential Threats' From Israel

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act on Friday, which would make it U.S. policy to take “all necessary steps” to ensure Israel is able to “remove existential threats.”

Start-ups ride a cybersecurity wave into Israel

There are two big “waves” set to hit Israeli hi-tech in the coming year, according to Gadi Tirosh, a general manager at venture capital fund Jerusalem Venture Partners. One wave will consist of new companies working in the cybersecurity space, as protecting government, enterprise, and consumers from hacking, online espionage, and cyber-terrorism becomes even more vital than in the past.
The second wave concerns the place where many of these security-oriented companies will set up shop — Beersheba, a city which will soon host many of the IDF’s advanced technology facilities. As the city grows, multinational giants, like Deutsche Telecom, Ness Technologies, EMC, and others are setting up R&D facilities in the city, drawing from the graduates of Ben Gurion University’s large body of engineering students.

VascoDe brings smart-phone capabilities to simple cell phones

The company has essentially built a method for simple phones – the basic Nokias and HTCs that dominate the developing world – to run smartphone apps like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and Skype. Who would invest in a company looking backward rather than toward the next generation of iPhones and Android devices?

Tel Aviv named one of world's best beach cities

Confirming something that its residents have known for years, Tel Aviv has been voted as one of the best beach cities in the world. Joining the likes of Miami and Rio de Janeiro, National Geographic has included Tel Aviv in its list of the "Top 10 Beach Cities."

Barbra Streisand arrives in Israel

From the airport she headed to Jerusalem's King David Hotel, where she will stay for the next two days. During the rest of her visit, she will be staying at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv.
Immediately after arriving at the Jerusalem hotel, Streisand and her entourage were already on their way to the Western Wall.

Israeli Scientist: Virus Causing Bees to Disappear

Scientists have not been sure as to the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, attributing it to situations as diverse as an increase in pesticide use to global warming, but according to Hebrew University's Sela, the culprit is a virus that has been spreading in the worldwide bee population. Speaking to Israel Radio, Sela said that he had developed, together with an American company, a treatment for the virus, which rehabilitated up to 70% of the hives that it was tested on.

Revolutionizing agritech at Israel’s Volcani Institute

Whether low-tech or high-tech, this and countless other innovations from the government-funded Volcani Agricultural Research Organization in Israel have earned a worldwide reputation for expertise in plant sciences, plant protection, environmental sciences and herd management.
Farmers can drop by Volcani’s main campus at Beit Dagan to get any help they may need, whether it’s an irrigation issue or a way to banish white flies from tomato vines without using pesticides. Much of what is learned, developed and implemented in Israel then gets planted in fields around the planet.

Spillover from Syria to Lebanon gets larger

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:15:00 +0000

From Now Lebanon:

A Syrian army helicopter bombed the eastern Beqaa town of Arsal again yesterday afternoon. This time they aimed at the center of the town, located in a valley of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range a few kilometers away from the Syrian border.

It was the latest episode in a series of incidents that raise concern that a new front may emerge in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley, especially after Syrian regime forces and Hezbollah-trained fighters have recently pushed the rebels out of Qusayr, a former rebel stronghold. Analysts say that a war in the Beqaa is imminent.

Arsal has been bombed by the Syrian air force in August last year, but no inhabited areas were hit then. Most of the military operations took place in the farmlands straddling the border, as the Syrian army officially said that they were following rebel fighters who had crossed into Lebanon. For the people in Arsal, a Sunni enclave on the border with Syria surrounded by Hezbollah-controlled areas, bombing the inhabited areas was a long time coming. Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising, the town has earned a reputation for sheltering Syrian refugees and anti-regime activists, and its farmlands have been reportedly used as a safe haven by rebel fighters.

Arsal’s support for the Syrian rebellion has brought the town to an open war with neighboring Hermel, a region controlled by Shiite Hezbollah (which is involved in the Syrian conflict alongside the regime’s loyalist forces). On Tuesday, a resident of Arsal was killed and another two were briefly kidnapped while passing through Hezbollah’s territory. Politically motivated tit-for-tat kidnappings have occured quite often between the inhabitants of the two towns during the past year.

And:

A video posted on YouTube shows a group of Jihadists announcing the formation of a brigade to fight Hezbollah in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley region.

“Following the call for Jihad in Syria made by the Ulamas of [Islam], we announce the formation of the Lebanese Shield of Beqaa Battalion to fight Hezbollah,” a masked gunman is shown as saying in the video broadcast on Sunday.

He added that the battalion will include four companies “spread across the Beqaa.”

The Beqaa Valley region has been targeted recently by rocket attacks from Syria hitting the Sunni majority town of Arsal, as well as Baalbek, a bastion of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.

And:

Four Shiite Lebanese men were killed Sunday in an ambush in a volatile area by the border with Syria, hiking already high sectarian tensions and concerns over the spillover of the civil war raging next door.

Gunmen from the families of the slain Shiites took to the streets and set up roadblocks between their town and the neighboring Sunni majority town of Arsal, accusing residents there of being behind the killings.

Lebanon is being sucked back into "Greater Syria" to help create a greater Syrian mess.

Matkot madness (BBC)

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Around the world, favourite beach activities include sunbathing, swimming and sandcastle building.

But in Israel, matkot - an extreme game of bat and ball - dominates the coastline.

The goal is for two players to hit a small rubber ball with a racket as many times as possible, without dropping the ball.

Matkot is so popular, one lifelong fan has turned his home into a museum dedicated to the game.

Yolande Knell went to join hundreds of matkot players by the sea in Tel Aviv to find out why they love it.

(h/t Zvi)

6/17 Links Part 1: Peace Now wants Hamas State, The Pope Annoys Turkey and Fisk's Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Ian) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

From Ian:

The Palestinians are blocking Kerry

A sober view of the situation should lead any observer to the conclusion that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership have no intention of changing their strategic decision to avoid any real negotiations with Israel. Their insistence on preconditions -- for example, advance Israeli consent to the 1967 lines as the future borders of a Palestinian state, the complete halt of Israeli construction over the Green Line (including in Jerusalem), and the release by Israel of imprisoned Palestinian terrorists -- is consistent with the tactics they have been using, including the U.N. statehood bid. The Palestinians are doing everything to avoid the possibility of becoming involved in a process that will require compromises and concessions on their part (for example, the refugee issue, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and an end-of-conflict declaration).

Protest: ‘Peace Now wants Hamas State’

Samaria Residents’ Council Benny Katzover said, “We cannot let a loud, extremist minority take over public discourse on Israel’s streets. Our activists in Israeli cities will show up anywhere that a negligible group tries to create the false impression that someone in Israel still supports dividing Jerusalem.”
“We came to protest opposite a small group of vocal extreme-left activists who are acting on behalf of the country – but not our country, but the country that doesn’t want any Jews within its borders, the country that wants Jerusalem as its capital,” said activist Sagi Keizler.

Arafat Jaradat and the Torture of Palestinian Prisoners the Media Won’t Report

Though we have often charged the Guardian with consistently engaging in ‘activist journalism’ – their continual search for evidence to buttress preconceived pro-Palestinian conclusions – this observation is likely only half correct. The ubiquity of reporting alleging Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians stands in contrast to the dearth of stories in the paper focusing on Palestinian mistreatment of fellow Palestinians, suggesting that advancing a narrative of Israeli oppression is of much greater concern to their reporters than genuine advocacy on behalf of the human rights of Palestinians.

BBC’s Knell uses F1 to amplify PA propaganda on Jerusalem

Oh dear! It seems that (pretend Governor of Jerusalem) Mr Husseini is not even content to limit himself to demanding “East” Jerusalem alone as the capital of a Palestinian state. Perhaps that explains why he is so outraged by a sporting event which in actual fact took place in areas of the city he and his PA colleagues are not supposed to find remotely controversial – at least according to the narrative as it is understood by their Western donors.
How very revealing it is that Yolande Knell chose to politicise what could have been a factual and impartial report on a sporting event by showcasing Husseini’s baseless histrionics and that in doing so, she opted as a volunteer mouthpiece for the amplification of the opinions of a man who promotes the offensive racist trope of the ‘Juadization’ of Jerusalem.

Robert Fisk Equates Terrorists With Himself

That’s all a long time in blog years, but Fisk finally found his voice on the controversy. The Independent’s columnist writes:

As for Salama and al-Kumi, you can try to find them in the organisation’s database today. “Journalist not found,” it says. The “Newseum” has killed them a second time.
So Fisk’s equating thugs and terrorists with himself. It wouldn’t be the first time he did that. In 2001, after being beaten within an inch of his life by Afghan refugees, Fisk wrote:

And I’ll say it again. If I was an Afghan refugee in Kila Abdullah, I would have done just what they did. I would have attacked Robert Fisk. Or any other Westerner I could find.
Fisk’s so open-minded, his brains fell out.

PMW: Terrorist who killed taxi driver is "hero" who "brought honor to all humanity" - on PA TV

Killer of 84 year-old man praised as a "heroic giant" on PA TV - VIDEO

Gaza suffers drop in foreign aid over Syrian war

Islamic charities abroad that used to donate heavily to Gaza have been redirecting some of their aid to Syria, forcing local charities to scale back programs, aid officials said.
"All of Gaza is suffering from this," said Noha Zaki of Gaza City's Amal orphanage, home to 100 children. Zaki said donations to her charity are down by 50 percent.

Hard-line Egyptian cleric sentenced for burning Bible

A hard-line Muslim cleric received an 11-year suspended sentence Sunday for tearing up and burning a Bible, Egypt's official news agency said.

Syria: Egypt's Morsi joining US, Israeli conspiracy

The Syrian official said that Morsi's calls for foreign intervention in Syria and the implementation of a no-fly zone in the country would only serve the interests of the US and Israel.
The source added that the continued presence of an Israeli embassy in Cairo and Egypt's adherence to the Camp David accords with Israel delegitimizes both Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Rohani challenge

The election of Rohani makes the job of those who are working to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons much harder. Whereas Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was candid and outspoken in his hatred of both the West and the Jewish state, Rohani is likely to attempt to exploit his “moderate” image and his popular mandate to advance Iranian interests, particularly the ending of Iran’s international isolation.

Analysis: The good and the bad of Rohani’s election

Analysts who support this view argue that at least Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke honestly and directly while Rohani will dissimulate and hide the regime’s true intentions – taking the international community for a ride as negotiations will continue until Iran has the bomb.
Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum, wrote on his blog, Danielpipes.org, in an article titled, “Rooting for Jalili,” that the same logic holds for supporting the hardliner Saeed Jalili this time around, just as he wrote four years ago that he was rooting for Ahmadinejad. Pipes wrote that it “is better to have a bellicose, apocalyptic, in-your-face Ahmadinejad who scares the world than a sweet-talking Mousavi who again lulls it to sleep, even as thousands of centrifuges whir away.”

Peres: Ahmadinejad will be accountable

With regard to outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Peres said that history will never forgive him for what he did to Iran.
“He wasted millions of dollars on uranium; he brought the Iranian people to its knees; he destroyed the economy; he hung innocent citizens; he made Iran a center for terrorism and turned it into a state of isolation.”

BBC suspends ties with Turkey's NTV over protests coverage

The BBC announced on Friday it has suspended its partnership with Turkey's private NTV channel after it pulled a programme on press freedom and the anti-government protests.
NTV decided not to broadcast an edition of the BBC programme Dunya Gundemi (World Agenda) on Friday which included an item on the initial failure of mainstream Turkish media to cover the protests, a spokewoman for the British broadcaster told AFP.

Ankara upset at Vatican for pope’s remarks on mass killings of Armenians

Turkey has reacted angrily to the Vatican following a statement from Pope Francis describing the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as “the first genocide of the twentieth century” during a meeting with a delegation led by Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics on June 3.

Pet Shop Boys slap down BDS liars

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:30:00 +0000

The Pet Shop Boys are playing in Israel next week, which naturally means that Israel haters pulled out all the stops to try to pressure them to cancel.

Their answer is short and shows that at least some pop stars have a degree of intelligence:

I don't agree with this comparison of Israel to apartheid-era South Africa. It's a caricature. Israel has (in my opinion) some crude and cruel policies based on defence; it also has universal suffrage and equality of rights for all its citizens both Jewish and Arab. In apartheid-era South Africa, artists could only play to segregated audiences; in Israel anyone who buys a ticket can attend a concert. Neil x

The graphic that the haters used to try to demonize the duo from playing reveals a lot about how Israel haters simply make up "facts" whenever they feel like it.

1 child killed every 3 days? 2 kids "caged" every day?

These statistics are anti-Israel fantasies.

There have been no Palestinian Arab children killed by Israel in the past five months (the last one was throwing rocks and bottles at the IDF in January.) Even during the second intifada, from 2000-2005, the number of children killed did not reach this level.

Similarly, the idea that 2 children are arrested every day is equally ridiculous.

How many people would even bother to question statistics shown on a poster like this? To do so, you must assume initially that the BDS crowd is filled with liars, and most Westerners tend to trust seemingly authoritative "facts" that come their way.

The lies of the Israel haters are insidious, and of course the more "honest" ones will not bother to correct their co-haters - because there are no consequences to lying.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

"Khaybar" Ramadan miniseries faces controversy - but not because of its Jew-hatred

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The antisemitic Ramadan miniseries "Khaybar" scheduled to be broadcast in various Arab countries next month is facing some controversy from at least one potential market - but not because of its virulent antisemitism.

As we've been reporting for months, the entire point of the series, disguised as a historical drama, is to show how the Jews have been engaging in "fraud and deceit" since the times of Moses up until today. As the screenwriter said explicitly, "The goal of the series is to expose the naked truth about the Jews and stress that they cannot be trusted."

But the message of hate is not what is causing controversy.

Dubai TV is threatening not to show the series because it apparently has actors portraying Mohammed's "companions." Some Muslims extend the ban on portraying prophets in art or drama to anyone Mohammed spoke to as well, and "Khaybar" seems to include some of Mohammmed's companions as characters in the series.

Ali Al Rumaithi, Director of Dubai TV, stated that while it would be a major loss to not broadcast the series, his responsibility to his viewers is more important, and subjecting them to images of Mohammed's companions is a danger. Subjecting them to incitement against Jews is, of course, just dandy.

Rumaithi is in talks with the director as to the extent of the potential violations. Filming only finished last week and the director is busy to finish the series' post production in time for its Ramadan airing.

Ramadan starts July 8.

So far, human rights groups have been silent in face of this impending incitement against the entire Jewish people. Sign the petition to pressure them to make a statement against Arab antisemitism, a topic they have shunned.

Egyptians protest against, and Muslim Brotherhood praises, Hamas

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:34:00 +0000

From Ma'an:

Egyptian security has asked Hamas leaders to change the hotel its delegation is staying in after receiving intelligence that protests will be held outside, sources told Ma'an.

Hamas' chief in exile Khaled Mashaal and Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh, along with a delegation of 24 party officials, were told that demonstrators would be rallying outside the Intercontinental Hotel to protest the Islamist movement's "intervention in internal Egyptian affairs," the sources said.

Egyptian security had been asked by protestors to "send Hamas leaders out of Egypt," responding that they were prepared to defend the delegation, the sources added.

The sources added that the change in hotel was required because forces did not "have the situation under control."

The delegation is in Cairo for emergency talks with the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt Muhammad Badie.

The movement has come under sharp criticism in recent weeks after former Egyptian Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy said Hamas took part in prison riots during Egypt's revolution.

The Muslim Brotherhood praised the terror group:

Deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party Essam El-Erian says developments in the ongoing crisis in Syria have shown the difference between the Gaza-based Hamas group and Lebanese Shia Hezbollah group, both of which were originally founded to resist Israeli occupation.

"Hamas has never pointed a weapon towards any other nation. They withdrew from Syria and did not compromise their principles at the expense of losing support and key establishments in Syria," El-Erian said Sunday in a statement on Facebook.

"Hizbullah, however, has directly intervened against the revolutionary people of Syria by supporting a despotic regime (Al-Assad) and pointing their weapons at their fellow Arabs, not the Zionist enemy."

The ruling party in Egypt doesn't consider Israel to be a nation and supports terrorism. Good to know.

Nasrallah visited Qusair, Syria more than once

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 03:00:00 +0000

Ali Hashem, writer for Al-Monitor, is a very pro-Assad journalist (and former BBC reporter) who also writes now for Hizballah's Al Mayadeen.

His latest article is interesting - especially for those who want to see Hassan Nasrallah dead:

In the center of the city, I stood in the middle of the main road as a huge, black four-wheel-drive came my way.

I stared at the man sitting beside the driver: The face was familiar, but something was missing. It was clear I was face to face with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, without a turban, wearing a military uniform. He smiled and nodded to me, and while I was still in shock, the car was out of sight. There was no convoy, only one car, but as I said before, there were security measures taken in the city and around.

It took me some time to confirm that whom I saw was Nasrallah. When I returned to Beirut, I started my investigations to confirm it and I did.

While investigating, I came across another piece of information: that this visit wasn’t the first for Nasrallah to Qusair during this very crisis. “Sayyed Nasrallah went to Qusair a day before the start of the battle: He met the commanders, visited some injured fighters and gave a speech,” a source close to Hezbollah told me, “He spoke for around half an hour with his main commanders exchanging ideas on the battle and the expectations and how many days it’ll take them to finish it.”

As for the latest visit, the one day after the offensive, our source said that Nasrallah visited the city of Qusair and the towns around it in the country side. He added, “Sayyed Nasrallah wanted to thank the fighters personally, he met them, met the injured, and went around the area.”

I asked the source how Nasrallah is able to move from Beirut to Qusair in Syria and sometimes travel to Iran while Israel is saying that he is hiding.

“It’s a hide-and-seek game,” he replied, “Nasrallah's security apparatus is professional enough to know when to move and how. No one knows what they do and what their measure are, we only know when things are done.”

Nasrallah’s visit to Qusair shows once again that the group’s fight in Syria isn’t a matter of interests, it’s a matter of existence.

Looks like the IDF needs to beef up its intelligence; Nasrallah's peeking out of his hole is too good a target to ignore, and hitting him in Syria (or getting any Sunni Arab to do it) would probably be much less problematic politically than taking him out in Lebanon.

Turkish police adding chemicals (pepper spray) to water cannons

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:40:00 +0000

This photo has been floating around the pages of people watching the protests in Turkey:

It is supposedly of Turkish security personnel pouring Jenix, a pepper spray concentrate, into the water cannons they are using against protesters at Gezi Park.

Ansa (Italian) reports:

Istiklal Avenue, Taksim Square, Besiktas, the Bosphorus Bridge: names that trigger in the minds of millions the images of holiday tourists and colorful Eastern postcards. Today these places in the heart of Istanbul are war zones. A war, with lots of stinging substances used by the police, which continues into the night. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets again in the megacities of the Bosphorus and Taksim to march to denounce the brutal assault last night of police in Gezi Park and the young activists who occupied it.

A vicious attack, which injured 800, including children hit by rubber bullets, dozens of people 'burned' by stinging agents put in the water by police fire hydrants - as reported by the photos of the activists in which you can clearly see the cops load the substance 'Jenix' in armored vehicles - or hundreds suffocated by the clouds of tear gas. All this while riot police arrested the doctors who treated injured protesters, beat an opposition deputy, lawyers and journalists. It is a "war against the population," the president of the German Greens Claudia Roth charged.

While Jenix doesn't seem to be any less legal than tear gas, it is still a chemical weapon that causes the skin to burn. it is unclear whether it is meant to be mixed together with water in this fashion.

So far, this has barely been reported in English anywhere except in social media.

(h/t EG)

Actor dresses as woman to experience sexual harassment in Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Elder of Ziyon) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:30:00 +0000

I had heard about this last month but never saw the English version; this one from CNN:

(h/t Gidon)