Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Has It Occured To Anybody That The Proximity Talks Are Between The Wrong Parties?

If everyone shows goodwill and mutual trust, if all international negotiators actively push the sides toward reconciliation, this goal is quite realistic
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, after meeting Abbas

Too bad that Lavrov was referring to reconciliation between the PA and Israel--and not between PA and Hamas:

The Biggest Homes In The West Bank Don't Belong To The Jews (Updated)

In her post, Why This Flaming Liberal Is Pro Israel And What Most Don't Understand) Sharon Cobb writes
But there is another issue I want to underscore. Unless you have driven from Jerusalem to Efrat to Tekoa, please don't whine about the conditions of the Palestinians, because what you will see on the drive I just mentioned, are fabulous homes all along the Palestinian territories, and the few Israeli outposts in the area have very very modest homes built with their own hands and that of their neighbors.
To get an idea of what Cobb is writing about, take a look at Arab Mansions, a post by Shiloh Musings written back in March 2007.

She wrote:
It's very annoying and inaccurate that people who aren't familiar with the facts on the ground here in the Shomron, north of Jerusalem, Israel, have such a totally distorted view of things.

My neighbors and I live in small, modest homes. Yes, that's the truth. The large, enormous mansions north of Jerusalem all belong to Arabs. For the longest time, I had been thinking of trying to sell a photo-story showing those elegant structures. Then finally during Succot, I mentioned it to a neighbor who said that he'd love to drive around with me, while I took pictures. thanks ms! So we went off one day and were amazed at how many gorgeous mansions were between Shiloh and Jerusalem.
Here are the pictures she took:

More Than 300 Rockets From Gaza Since End Of 'Cast Lead'--One Of Them Today

"One major foreign news service reported this week that the Negev area has been "quiet" since the end of Cast Lead." 

I guess it all depends on your definition of 'quiet':
Gaza terrorists attacked the Western Negev Wednesday morning with a Kassam rocket before workers arrived, but it heavily damaged a packing house that was knocked out of operation. Workers who had not yet arrived at work remained in their homes in the Sdot Negev area, south of Ashkelon.

Proximity Talks Take Place In A Vacuum--And May As Well Be On Another Planet

As long as Obama continues to pursue proximity talks without taking into account the people who are going to have to live with his manufactured peace, he will only make matters worse.

Recently, a joint poll was conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, between June 6 and 16, 2010.

Among the results:

Turkey Shoots Itself In The Foot

Prime Minister Erdogan may see bashing Israel as an easy way to get into the good graces of the Islamists, but there are consequences:
The Turkish tourism industry has been seriously affected by the recent tension between former allies Turkey and Israel. The Turkish economy has lost at least $400 million due to reservation cancellations from Israeli tourists, according to tourism agencies.

It's Not All About Israel: Saudi Visit To US Is Meant To Put Pressure On US

There's more to the Saudi visit than putting more pressure on Israel:
On Iran, however, the Saudi king fears that his country's historically closest ally is naive, and dangerously so, for putting so much faith in diplomacy. The same emotional approach that causes Abdullah to anguish about the Palestinians also explains his distrust and antipathy toward the Iranians, whom he sees as typically untrustworthy Shiite challengers to Sunni, and therefore Saudi, custodianship of the holy places of Islam.
According to FP, King Abdullah has been trying to create daylight between Saudi Arabia and the US--the better to be able to position his country in the Sunni-Shiite rivalry. To do that, the perception of being a pawn of the US has got to go.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Amnesty International And Human Rights Watch: When It Comes To "Occupation," They Keep Two Sets Of Books

Elder of Zion has been all over this, both in regards to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.When it comes to anyone else, "Occupation" is defined as physically occupying an area. However, when dealing with Israel, which has withdrawn completely from Gaza, both Amnesty International and HRW apply new definitions of the term.

In A Nutshell: What This Fall May Bring

In I’ve Never Seen Israel Like This, William Galston of The New Republic writes:
Some time this fall, an administration headed toward a midterm election with a faltering economy and negative developments in two war zones may confront a genuine Middle East crisis. We can only hope that its contingency plans are in place and that they're better than BP's.
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Peace Agreement Between Abbas And Israel? Here Are The Facts Obama Dare Not Face

Khaled Abu Toameh writes that:
The only way to move forward with any peace process is by insisting that the Palestinians first get their act together and end the infighting between the two Palestinian states. Perhaps before we search for ways to make peace between Jews and Palestinians, we need first need to find a way to achieve peace between Palestinians and Palestinians.
Until that time, Obama--in his single-minded push for peace--is ignoring a number of inconvenient truths about the current situation facing Abbas and the PA:

Middle East Peace: Tony Blair Gets It--But When Will Obama?

Tony Blair says that now he understands how Israelis view the peace process:
It was only when I came back to this after leaving office [as British prime minister ] that I understood the impact of the [second] intifada and the disengagement from Gaza on the Israeli mindset. The combination of those two things fundamentally changed the way Israelis look at this situation. Their position now is to say, ‘Show us that if we make peace, it’s a genuine, lasting peace with a Palestinian state that we can predict, that is stable, and that is a secure partner for us. Show us that, and we’ll give it a go. But if you can’t show us that, the experience of the last 10 years makes us very doubtful.’
The question is: will we have to wait until Obama leaves office before he understands?
Or not even then.

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Video Transcript: Arab Blasts Anti-Israel Sentiment In The Arab And Islamic World

The number of people killed in Arab police stations...is much higher than those who were killed in the Israeli-Arab wars
Magdi Khal

In a video of Egyptian-American Writer Magdi Khalil, director of the Middle East Freedom Forum saying what his fellow speaker does not want to hear.

Here is the transcript:
Egyptian-American Writer Magdi Khalil Blasts Anti-Israeli Sentiment in the Arab and Islamic World

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian-American writer Magdi Khalil, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on June 15, 2010:

Magdi Khalil: Whenever there is an incident, Israel does “damage control.” This is part of the Israeli defense tactics. These are successful people, not like Ahmadinejad, who said that Security Council Resolution 1929 should be thrown into the garbage bin. They deal with things seriously. These people know the meaning of world public opinion.

My colleague said that Israel is supported by Western imperialism and by the U.S. If so, Israel will collapse when Western civilization collapses.

Video: Inside A School For Suicide Bombers

This is a video illustrating how the Taliban brainwash children to become suicide bombers



Granted, Hamas is more polished--they have children's videos with make-believe characters. But the results are the same violation of international law that 'human rights activists' seem to think only apply to Israel.



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Monday, June 28, 2010

Several Thousand Palestinians Protest For Equal Rights--In Lebanon

Lebanon has marginalized Palestinian refugees for too long. Parliament should seize this opportunity to turn the page and end discrimination against Palestinians."
Human Rights Watch


While Hezbollah is preparing to put on a show on the world stage with its proposed Flotilla on behalf of the Palestinians of Gaza, the Palestinians of Lebanon continue to suffer--apparently out of fear that they will become naturalized citizens and stay in Lebanon:
Several thousand Palestinians and Lebanese civil activists converged on central Beirut on

Sunday, demanding more rights for Palestinians, many of whom live in squalid and over-crowded refugee camps.

Dozens of buses transported demonstrators waving Palestinian flags from refugee camps across the country -- from the southern city of Tyre as well as from the northern city of Tripoli.

"As Palestinians in Lebanon we have no rights. We just want to live with dignity," said Palestinian Imtithal Abu Samra, 29, who lives in the Beddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

Some 425,000 Palestinians are registered as refugees in Lebanon by UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees. Many live in 12 camps across Lebanon in conditions the UN has described as deplorable and appalling.

If You Think Conservatives Hate Soccer--What Do Islamists Think Of The World Cup?

Even assuming that David Zirin is right when he claims that The Far Right Hates Soccer, I think he overlooked an interesting angle when he ignored how radical Muslims feel about the game. After all, it's not as if conservative members of congress ever tried to pass resolutions condemning the game.

But this article from 2006 about Muslim attitudes towards soccer describes some of the fatwas issued against soccer:
On August 25, 2005, anonymous radical Islamist clerics published in the Saudi daily newspaper
al-Watan, an anti-soccer fatwa (ruling). This fatwa, as well as other similar anti-soccer fatwas, caused three Saudi players of al-Ta'if region's well-known al-Rashid soccer team, not only to leave the team but also to believe that soccer was forbidden by religious law. One of those three, Majid al-Sawat, was arrested while planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Iraq. The fatwa declared that soccer is permissible to play only when its rules are different from the accepted international rules. The ruling is based on a hadith (prophetic tradition) which forbids Muslims to imitate Christians and Jews.1

Hamas: Shhhh! Obama Doesn't Want Us To Discuss Our Secret Talks!

Assuming this is true, why in the world would the US trust terrorists to keep a secret--especially when it has to do with the recognition and acceptance that they need?
Hamas says asked by US to keep silent on talks

Islamist group source says senior American officials request contacts remain secret 'so as not to rouse Jewish lobby'

A senior Hamas figure said Friday that official and unofficial US sources have asked the Islamist group to refrain from making any statements regarding contacts with Washington, this following reports that a senior American official is due to arrive in an Arab country in the coming days to relay a telegram from the Obama Administration.

Go Figure: Allowing More Aid Into Gaza Devastates Gazan Economy

I suppose that may be one of the reasons that the Hamas terrorist 'government' refused to let Flotilla 'aid' into Gaza.

More to the point, the free flow of aid disrupts the very backbone of the Gazan economy--the tunnels. In The Myth of the Siege of Gaza, Jonathan D. Halevi writes:
"Smuggling" is not the correct word to describe the network of tunnels along Gaza's border with Egypt. Whereas smuggling connotes illegal activity carried out clandestinely, the Palestinian tunnel network is out in the open and extends the whole length of the border.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Separated At Birth: Ahmadinejad And...



Ahmadinejad




Bob Denver (Dobey Gillis/Gilligan's Island
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Friday, June 25, 2010

Gilad Shalit Is Not A Prisoner Of War--He Is A Hostage

To claim that Gilad Shalit is a prisoner of war is to surrender to the language used by the Hamas terrorist group that holds him and violates international law.

French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Levi notes:
there are, first of all, international conventions governing the status of prisoners of war, and the sole fact that this one has been sequestered for four years, the fact that the Red Cross, which regularly visits Palestinians in Israeli prisons, has never been granted access to him is a flagrant violation of the laws of war. But moreover and most of all, we must never tire of repeating this: Shalit was not captured in the fury of a battle but during a raid in Israel, when Israel, having evacuated Gaza, was at peace with its neighbor.
Hamas knows exactly what it is doing in kidnapping and holding Gilad Shalit--following in the footsteps of other terrorist groups such as FARC and its terrorist sponsor Iran:
Shalit is not a prisoner of war but a hostage. His fate is comparable to that of, not a Palestinian prisoner, but a kidnap victim being held for ransom. And he must then be defended as we defend the hostages of the FARC or the Libyans or the Iranians -- we must stand up for him with the same energy devoted to the defense of, say, Clotilde Reiss [a French student accused by Iran of being an agent of the French Secret Service] or Ingrid Betancourt [French-Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and rescued 6 years later].
It is time to stop playing the game being played by the Hamas terrorists and their apologists--not to mention the flotillas, whose deceptions are revealed by their refusal to bring aid to or visit Gilad Shalit in Gaza.

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Under Obama, Afghanistan Becomes Lebanon

Ehud Barak and Barack Obama: More in common than a name?
In The Western Way Of War, Caroline Glick writes about the removal of General Stanley McChrystal by Obama--and about US policy in Afghanistan. Along the way, Glick notes the parallels between Obama's failed policy in Afghanistan and the results of Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon:

Will Obama Take A Lesson From The Honesty Of Faisal Shahzad

Earlier this week, Faisal Shahzad, whose attempt to set off a car bomb in the middle of Times Square failed, admitted in court:
"I want to plead guilty, and I will plead guilty a hundred times over until the United States pulls its troops out of Afghanistan, stops its drone strikes in Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan, stops the occupation of Muslim lands and stops killing the Muslims" Shahzad rambled to a Manhattan federal court judge.

"We will be attacking [the] US, and I plead guilty to that," Shahzad calmly told Judge Miriam Cedarbaum.
Daniel Pipes notes that Shahzad's open admission in court is something of a first:

Emmanuel: “Ethnic Prejudice” Neither Ethnic Nor Prejudice

“Ethnic Prejudice” Neither Ethnic Nor Prejudice

Rabbi Avi Shafran


The recent Israeli High Court ruling against parents of students in the Israeli town of Emmanuel and the ensuing massive haredi demonstration on the parents’ behalf present an opportunity to either jump to conclusions or objectively evaluate the facts.

Several Sephardi parents – Israelis of North African and Middle-Eastern backgrounds – in the town brought a lawsuit aimed at preventing other parents of students who had been studying in the local Beit Yaakov girls’ school from maintaining a new school the latter group had established. The court ruled that the new school was born of illegal ethnic discrimination and, later, that the “new school” parents’ subsequent second choice – to send their daughters to a school in another city – was also forbidden them. The court fined those parents for each day they refused to comply with its order to return their children to the Emmanuel Beit Yaakov, threatened them with prison and then made good on the threat. On June 17, the parents, wearing their Sabbath clothes, were held aloft and escorted to the prison by a peaceful crowd of tens of thousands, singing and dancing, in a demonstration of support for the soon-to-be prisoners.

What gives here? Well there are two versions. First, the one presented by most media:

Lebanon's Hezbolla #Flotilla? If They Really Want To Help Palestinians--Start With Palestinian Persecution In Lebanon!

"Palestinian refugees in Lebanon do not enjoy several basic human rights, for example, they do not have the right to work in as many as 20 professions. Palestinian refugees are not formally citizens of another state, so they are not able to claim the same rights as other foreigners living and working in Lebanon."
UNRWA 
 -----
[S]tate policies and practices in Lebanon discriminate, effectively on grounds of racial and national origin, against Palestinian refugees who reside in Lebanon and that, consequently, Lebanon is failing to comply with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child with respect to Palestinian children. Particular concerns highlighted include limitations on the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, the right to be registered and the right to a name, and the right to social security.
Amnesty International

Salman Masalha writes:
Now that the Lebanese have boosted their national pride by registering the world's biggest dish of hummus in the Guinness Book of Records, they are bidding for the record in hypocrisy, soon to be seen on television screens everywhere. For it is not humanitarian motives or concern for the Palestinians that are making all these hypocrites restless. All they want is spectacle, footage and headlines. Because as we have already said, the Israeli-Palestinian arena is the most photogenic arena in the world.

If they had any genuine humanitarian concern, the Lebanese would stage protests against the harsh blockade that has been imposed on the Palestinian refugee camps in their country for decades. You have to read Amnesty International's reports on the situation of the Palestinians in Lebanon to comprehend the humanitarian disaster there. This hypocrisy was best described by a European volunteer in those camps, who told the organizers of the new flotilla: "You love the Palestinians in Gaza and hate your own Palestinians."
Just how poorly does Lebanon treat its Palestinians?

Israeli Ambassador Oren On The Difference Between AIPAC And J Street

From an interview Ambassador Michael Oren gave this past week:
“AIPAC’s mandate is to support the decisions of the democratically elected government of Israel, be it left, right or center,” he said. “J Street makes its own policy and does not necessarily, to say the least, accept the decisions of the policies of the government of Israel.”

“Listen, I represent the democratically elected government, and that government reflects the will of the people of Israel, and what they perceive as the interests of Israel,” he said, adding that J Street was an organization “taking issue with that, and that in itself is a source of disagreement.” [emphasis added]
It's a matter of emphasis.

AIPAC supports the people of Israel, regardless of the political leaning of the government.
J Street has a specific agenda--independent of the people of Israel and what they want.

[Hat tip: Jennifer Rubin]

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Why The Attempt To Delegitimize Israel Is Gaining Steam Under Obama

Jennifer Rubin suggests that efforts to use international organizations to delegitimize Israel have been gaining steam during Obama's tenure as president--for 3 reasons:
First, he’s raised the profile of international organizations, conferred on them new prestige, elevated gangs of thugs like the UN Human Rights Council, and made clear that international consensus is near and dear to him, a priority above many other foreign policy goals. This has emboldened Israel’s foes, who now enjoy more respect and more visibility. Because Obama has put such a high price on consensus in these bodies and on internationalizing decisions, he is handing a veto to the more aggressively anti-Israel members.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

"Samson Option": Choice In Absence Of Choice?

"Samson Option": choice in absence of choice? 
by Alexander Maistrovoy

Showing weakness and stupidity, the West encourages the Middle East predators, promotes the collapse of moderate Arab regimes and throws Israel into a dilemma: the Holocaust or the "Samson option"

"When people speak about human rights, everyone has in mind his own ones", a German scientist and publicist Wilhelm Schwebel wrote. His words perfectly reflect the issue of "breaking" the Gaza blockade. These actions are as related to human rights as Josef Stalin's "fight for peace". Till now not a single person has died of hunger in Gaza . They die in the other parts of the world, in Kirghizia, but nobody cares about it. The rights of Palestinians are above the rights of Uzbek people. As well as the Sudanese Christians, Iraqi Kurds, Boers in Southern Africa, "Ahmadyya" in Pakistan and Baha’is in Iran. Palestinians are the high caste of mankind because fortunately they are up against Israel , and the international community has its own rights and interests in this conflict.

What are they? Interests of all the players are very clear except for the West.

Saudi Newspaper Casts Doubt On The Lebanese #Flotilla

The Saudi newspaper “Al-Shaq Al-Awsat” is reporting today that, according to the Lebanese Minister of Transport, the women’s’ ship “Miriam” is fictitious, and the Lebanese flotilla consists of just one vessel – the French-registered “Julia”, which has taken the name “Naji El’adi”.

More Information On The Hezbollah Flotilla

From The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center--more information about the Hezbollah Flotilla.
The aid flotilla planned to set sail from Lebanon is supported by Syria and Hezbollah. Its organizer, Yasser Qashlaq, called for “getting rid of the remainder of the garbage of Europe” [the Jews in Israel] and sending them back to their “homelands.”

Overview

1. The international media coverage given the last flotilla to the Gaza Strip and the political pressure exerted on Israel as a result led many organizations and one country to proclaim their intention to send more ships. On the agenda is the intention to dispatch two ships which are expected to set sail from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip. The first, the Nagi al-Ali, is expected to carry 100 people, among them 25 European activists (some of the parliamentarians according to the organizers) and 50 correspondents. Another ship, the Maryam, is expected to set sail with 50-60 women aboard and a cargo of humanitarian assistance.

2. So far the organizers are being deliberately vague about the expected date of sailing. The date has been delayed because, among other reasons, of political pressure. However, the organizers still hope to have the ships set sail in the coming days, possibly through an intermediate destination, perhaps Cyprus.

3. In the meantime the organizers and Hezbollah have been exploiting the affair to launch a propaganda campaign against Israel, full of hatred and anti-Israeli anti-Semitic motifs. Yasser Qashlaq, the dominant figure in organizing the flotilla, declared that the ships over which the IDF takes control “will take the remainder of the European garbage” which came to Israel back to their homelands [See videos below]. Hezbollah’s propaganda network has been fully covering the events, trying to reinforce their media effect.

4. Responsible for dispatching the ships are low-ranking Lebanese activists who have no particular standing in Lebanon’s internal politics. Some of them belong to the March 8 Alliance, which supports Hezbollah and Syria. The two groups behind the operation are Journalists without Bounds and the Free Palestine Movement, two fairly minor organizations. In our assessment, purchasing the ships and organizing the flotilla were carried out with Syrian and Hezbollah involvement and support. Neither of them wants to expose its true identity.
Read the whole thing.

Sounds like the Hezbollah Flotilla is about as humanitarian as the Mavi Marmara.

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Not Surprisingly, The #Flotillas Overlook The One Person In Gaza Most In Need Of Aid

Jay Nordlinger writes:
Ehud Barak, the defense minister of Israel, said this to Robert Gates, our own defense chief: “A million and a half people are living in Gaza, but only one of them is really in need of humanitarian aid.” He meant Gilad Shalit, held hostage by Hamas for four years.

Hamas does not permit the Red Cross to see Shalit, of course. Neither does the Cuban dictatorship or Chinese dictatorship permit the Red Cross to see prisoners. May I remind you that the Red Cross visited inmates in Nazi concentration camps? One was Carl von Ossietzky, the pacifist journalist who won the Nobel Peace Prize for 1935. And may I remind you that Red Cross representatives were regular companions of Nelson Mandela, imprisoned on Robben Island?

If Gilad Shalit were other than Israeli, there’d be mass demonstrations in his behalf all over Europe, and on American streets, too. But . . .
An unquestioning public accepts the protestations of 'humanitarian activists' who glibly claim to be interested in peace, without having to even have to give the appearance of even-handedness.

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Why The Arab World Is So Lacking In Scientific Achievement

Not to overstate the obvious...
In a comment article for the Bahraini newspaper Al Wasat, Obeidli al Obeidli underscored the fact that Israel outperforms the Arab world in scientific research.

According to papers presented on the academic situation in the Arab world, 35 per cent of Arab academics live in the diaspora, and two thirds of those have no plans to return. Quoting Idriss Laghrini, a Moroccan thinker, al Obeidli says that Arab countries lost the opportunity to take advantage of its academic diaspora. He accused a dilapidated bureaucracy for not offering an environment conducive to research and innovation.
Part of the huge discrepancy between Israel and the Arab world when talking about scientific research comes down to a question of numbers:

Supreme Court Upholds Ban On Peaceful Aid To Terrorists--Problem For Carter And The New York Times?

You can't provide advice to terrorists--it's the law:
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law forbidding support for peaceful activities to terrorist organizations.

In the case of Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the court on Monday ruled 6 to 3 that Congress and the executive branch could bar all "material support," including training and advice of a peaceful and legal nature, to organizations considered terrorist under the Patriot Act. The court said the action does not violate the free speech rights of the donors.
According to the article, the original law has been invoked about 150 times since 9/11--but rarely in connection with humanitarian aid. The case before the court was brought by aid groups that had been training a Kurdish organization in Turkey how to bring human rights complaints to the United Nations and offered assistance in peace negotiations.

Apparently one of the high-profile people who may be affected by the ruling would be Jimmy Carter:

Video: The Reason #Flotilla Activists Find It So Easy To Ignore Real Humanitarian Crises

From the YouTube page:
It's been called an "open air prison," said to be "one of the worst humanitarian crises in the 21st century." Well, here is the REAL story about the situation in Gaza. With facts from the United Nations and footage taken in Gaza City, this is the TRUTH.
What we need to hear--and what the pro-Palestinian apologists cannot explain--is why Gaza, which not only receives aid on a daily basis, but to which aid can be sent by land, requires publicity-grabbing flotillas, while real humanitarian crises demanding real action are ignored.

The apologists offer rhetoric and mis-statements of fact.
But they ignore those who really need the help of real humanitarian activists.

Maybe that is why these apologists find it so easy to ignore these crises.



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From Iran: Women Veiling Badly

Taking time off from their “Facebook Espionage Division,” Iran is apparently going after an easier target:
Iran issues warning to 62,000 'badly veiled' women

Iranian police have issued warnings to 62,000 women who were "badly veiled" in the Shiite holy province of Qom as part of a clampdown on dress and behaviour, a newspaper said on Monday.

Around "62,000 women were warned for being badly veiled" in the province of Qom, Tehran Emrouz newspaper quoted provincial police chief Colonel Mehdi Khorasani as saying.
And who should happen to oppose the crackdown?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Dilemma That Hamas And Hezbollah Will Never Face

Never face? Actually, Hamas and Hezbollah revel in creating those situations.



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Monday, June 21, 2010

In Oakland, Anti-Israel Protesters Claim Major Victory--Blocking CHINESE Ship

The headline of the LA Times were typical:
Protesters block unloading of Israeli cargo ship in Oakland

Pro-Palestinian protesters on Sunday created a blockade of their own on Sunday by gathering at the Port of Oakland before dawn to block the unloading of an Israeli cargo ship.
It just so happened that neither the headline, nor the story that followed was actually true.

What Passes For Moral Authority These Days

Captain Kirk: Nobody understands you in this century unless you swear every other word. You'll find it in all the literature of the era: Jaclyn Suzanne, the novels of Harold Robbins."
Spock: Ah, the giants.
Star Trek IV

Shelby Steele writes about today's moral giants?:
Rock bands now find moral imprimatur in canceling their summer tour stops in Israel (Elvis Costello, the Pixies, the Gorillaz, the Klaxons). A demonstrator at an anti-Israel rally in New York carries a sign depicting the skull and crossbones drawn over the word "Israel." White House correspondent Helen Thomas, in one of the ugliest incarnations of this voice, calls on Jews to move back to Poland. And of course the United Nations and other international organizations smugly pass one condemnatory resolution after another against Israel while the Obama administration either joins in or demurs with a wink.
Such is what the world has come to. Jay Nordlinger writes:

Survey Says: The Arab World Does Not Like Iran (But It Doesn't Matter)

Not that this should come as a surprise.

The Pew Research Center did a survey of 22 different countries on how they feel about Iran.

Ahmadinejad
The attitude to Iran is negative among Germans (86%), the French (81%), and Spaniards (73%), among other nationalities. Elsewhere, 63% of Jordanian respondents and 60% of Lebanese respondents also expressed negative sentiments towards Tehran. Iran does enjoy favorable sentiments in Pakistan (72%) and in Indonesia (62%).
Nuclear Iran

Obama Less Squeamish About Afghanistan's "Hamas"

While Obama has not come out strongly against the terrorist group Hamas, there have been hints that he is willing to speak to them. In any case, Obama has no problem pouring $400 million of aid into Gaza, despite the fact that there is no way to keep the terrorists from benefiting.

But that is when we are talking about Israel. Just talk about Afghanistan, and the picture changes.

Video: Little Arab Children Sing "When We Die As Martyrs"

It's one thing to talk about the need to bring real democracy to the Arab world; it's another to understand the mentality there that makes it necessary.

Here is one example:



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Friday, June 18, 2010

Matthew Yglesias: Non-Liberal Jews Are Disloyal To The US

That is the implication from Matthew Yglesias's attack on Elliot Abrams: Elliot Abrams Denounces American Jews for Not Exhibiting Sufficient “Dual Loyalties”

At issue is what Abrams wrote as one of the participants in Obama, Israel & American Jews: The Challenge—A Symposium
But my own sad prediction is that among non-Orthodox Jews, the real divide will be between activists (whether leaders of community organizations, synagogue officials, major donors, or regular synagogue goers) and the broader majority of Jews. The activists will dump Obama; the rest will not, for their commitment to Israel and, for that matter, to Judaism is simply less powerful than their secular religion—liberalism as represented in the Democratic Party. Whatever excuse they supply themselves (for example, the Republican candidate for president, or even vice president, will undermine “a woman’s right to choose”), they will be displaying their priorities. Israel is simply not near the top of their list.

For which reason, more committed Jews can only thank God for the greater commitment of so many evangelicals—whose party loyalties have not become a religious faith and who will indeed dump Obama if he abandons Israel in a time of peril.
Yglesias counters:
But of course most Jews will vote for the political party that advances the policy agenda, including on abortion rights, that most Jews agree with. What on earth else are people supposed to do?
Is Yglesias claiming that Israel is not part of the policy agenda of the Democratic party? Good to know--but it is not true. A 2007 AJC poll of Jews showed that Israel was very much a part of the Jewish Democratic agenda, leading up to the 2008 election:

Shocka! Gaza Poll Contradicts What Its Defenders Claim About Gaza

Evelyn Gordon writes about a new poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which completely contradicts a number of myths that everyone seems to be claiming without actually talking to the Gazans themselves.
The first is that Israel’s blockade of Gaza in general, and its botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in particular, has only strengthened Hamas.

Political Physics 101: The Bond Between Anti-Semitism And Anti-Israel Hatred

The huge rise in anti-semitic violence in Canada provides an occasion to examine the phenomenon--and how it as changed and expanded:
Judging from what subsequently spewed over the transom, Statistics Canada's report that hate crimes directed at Jews were up 42 per cent in Canada was unsurprising.

Many, including Jews, who question Israeli policy, play down anti-Semitism as a factor. Yet anti-Israel rhetoric appears to grant permission to growing numbers to express anti-Semitic sentiments.

Israel Is Just The Thing To Those For Whom Vietnam Is Only A Memory

Stephen King of the Irish Examiner writes about the Gaza Flotilla--the latest mission by rebels looking for a cause:
...Beyond the wilder fringes, there used to be a consensus of aims about Israel/Palestine. Just as the desired goal in South Africa was a prosperous multiracial society, in the Holy Land it was of two secure states living side by side in harmony. But for those who have fallen into the trap of equating white South Africa with the state of Israel, the conflict in the Middle East offers many more – and more comfortable – opportunities to protest than years in the bush in the frontline states.

The struggle for Palestinian rights has long since moved beyond the university campuses where the keffiyah became the fashion statement of choice for bourgeois radicals. For a generation to whom Vietnam and South Africa are either faint memories or battles only read about in history books, Palestine is the most perfect cause. Unlike in the Spanish civil war, it’s not even as though Ireland, Catholic or Protestant, could be said to have a dog in the race. There are no mutilated nuns to confuse sentiment.

Video: IHH Leader About Mavi Marmara Instructs His Men To Throw IDF Overboard When They Land

In this footage, taken on board the Mavi Marmari on 30May2010, IHH leader Bulent Yildirim clearly instructs his followers to throw the Israeli commandos overboard when they land on the ship. His speech was made in Turkish and repeated in Arabic by a translator.

Are these the 'humanitarians' and 'pacifists' that we hear about aboard the Mavi Marmara?



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Muslims In UNHRC Stop Short Of Saying THE WEST Is Apartheid

I guess the West got off easy. Good thing we have the US in the United Nations Human Rights Council to keep these sorts of things in check:
Muslim states said Wednesday that what they call "islamophobia" is sweeping the West and its media and demanded that the United Nations take tougher action against it.

Delegates from Islamic countries, including Pakistan and Egypt, told the United Nations Human Rights Council that treatment of Muslims in Western countries amounted to racism and discrimination and must be fought.

"People of Arab origin face new forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and experience discrimination and marginalisation," an Egyptian delegate said, according to a U.N. summary.

And Pakistan, speaking for the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the council's special investigator into religious freedom should look into such racism "especially in Western societies."
Yeah, especially.


Not surprisingly, the resolution is expected to pass--after all, what else would you expect from the UN Human Rights Club:

US Diplomacy In Action: Cake-Eating Contest In Syria Is "Creative Diplomacy"

I suppose if Syria had golf courses, Obama may have tagged along.

The State Department's two leading Twitterati, Special Advisor on Innovation Alec J. Ross(@alecjross) and Policy Planning staffer Jared Cohen (@jaredcohen), are in Syria this weekleading a delegation of tech companies hoping to, as the Wall Street Journal's Jay Solomon puts it, "woo President Bashar al-Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran" with offers of networking equipment, computer software, and the like.
But it's not all work and no play for Ross and Cohen, who have been finding some time to take in the sights and tell us about it, 140 characters at a time. For example, according to Ross, on Tuesday Cohen challenged the Syrian Minister of Telecom to a cake-eating contest and called it "Creative Diplomacy." Match that, Tehran!

Now Hizbollah Is Sending Its Own Flotilla (Updated)

Hizbollah, which has murdered hundreds of Americans--attacking army barracks, embassies and airplanes--cares very, very deeply for the people of Gaza.

Here is the storyline:
An all-female ship, transporting medical supplies to Gaza is to leave Lebanon in the coming days, organizers said.

“We are all independent women who believe in breaking the [Israeli] siege on Gaza,” said Samar Hajj, who is coordinating the trip.

Hajj stressed that the activists were not affiliated with Hizbullah or any other political group. “This has nothing to do with Hizbullah even though it is an honor for us to be supporters of the Resistance,” she said.

Obama's Peace Partner Has Delayed West Bank Elections--Indefinitely

Khaled Abu Toameh writes:
Almost at the same time that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was meeting in the White House with President Barack Obama last week, the Palestinian government surprised Palestinians by announcing that municipal elections, slated for July 17, have been called off indefinitely.
The reason for canceling elections?
Something more basic than the PA's corruption and incompetence--fear:

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Iran--Running Scared?

Could be:
“A government that is scared of a corpse is a weak government,” Shirin Ebadi said, referring to the government’s decision to bar families of killed protesters from holding public funerals. Attacks on Mehdi Karroubi and  raids on the offices of Grand Ayatollahs Saane’i and Montazeri show the increasing desperation of Iran’s rulers. Every website managed by WordPress (the most popular blog hosting platform on the web) has been filtered since this past weekend in Iran (including this blog), and the

Revolutionary Guards have even set up a “Facebook Espionage Division.” All of this indicates that the Islamic Republic is a regime that has become afraid of its own shadow. And this is the real story of the past year. 

Facebook Espionage Division?

Now  that's scared!

Video: Maritime Martyrs--The Truth About The Mavi Marmara

The real objective of the Gaza Flotilla and the terrorist-connected IHH movement.



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"Pro-Israel" J Street To Congress On Letter Supporting Israel: Hey, Not So Loud!

From Politico
In the most open conflict in months between the left-leaning Israel group J Street and the traditional pro-Israel powerhouse AIPAC, the liberal group is asking members of Congress not to sign a letter backed by AIPAC that supports the Israeli side of the Gaza flotilla incident.

J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami writes that the AIPAC letter "fail[s] to address the impact of the present closure of Gaza on the civilian population, the deep American interest in resolving this conflict diplomatically, or the urgency of moving forward with diplomacy before it is too late."
The key point about Ben-Ami's letter to Congress:
His letter is silent on the actual substance of AIPAC's defense of Israel's actions.
The Congressional letter is intended to recognize the evidence that has shown that the world condemnation of Israel is unfounded--and J Street finds that threatening.

Video: Islam Has A History Of Building Mosques Over Other Religions' Ruins

I received a link to this video in an email.

I found the first 75% of this video disturbing--and wish it had gone with just the last point.
See what you think--and then read the article below.



I am wary of making the kinds of claims made here about Muslims, but I am interested in the historical background mentioned near the end. On the YouTube page, reference is made to Atlas Shrugs, and if you look up her post about the protest against building the mosque, there in the comments is an article by historian Dr. Steven Carol, which appears originally on the Statebrief blog, where he expands on the number of mosques built on the ruins of buildings of other religions:

UN Human Rights Council: Western Countries Slam Iran On Human Rights

Not the sort of thing you would ever expect to hear in the UN Human Rights Council--criticism of Iran:
The statement, delivered by Norwegian Ambassador Bente Angell-Hansen, expressed concern over a "lack of progress in the protection of human rights in Iran," especially since the widespread arrests and bloody crackdowns against dissidents that followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election on June 12, 2009.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Video: "Politics Of Deceit"--Repudiating Obama's Anti-Israel Policy (Updated)



UPDATE: This fits with a piece in today's Washington Post by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian sociologist and democracy activist living in exile:
Obama is too friendly with tyrants
When a billboard appeared outside a small Minnesota town early this year showing a picture of George W. Bush and the words "Miss me yet?" the irony was not lost on many in the Arab world. Most Americans may not miss Bush, but a growing number of people in the Middle East do. Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remain unpopular in the region, but his ardent support for democracy was heartening to Arabs living under stalled autocracies. Reform activists in Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait and elsewhere felt empowered to press for greater freedoms during the Bush years. Unfortunately, Bush's strong support for democracy contrasts sharply with President Obama's retreat on this critical issue.

...Despite his promises of change when speaking in Cairo last June, Obama has retreated to Cold War policies of favoring stability and even support for "friendly tyrants."
Somehow, for Obama, favoring stability seems to come at the expense of allies--and Israel is just one of many.

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From The Mavi Marmara: Happy Anniversary Iran!

[S]ince 2001, Iran has improved its geostrategic position more than almost any other country in the world, and it has done so based almost entirely on the blunders of others...As with virtually every major regional event since 2001, the Iranians will need only to sit back without firing a single shot to come out on top.

The Gaza Flotilla captured world attention 2 weeks ago with the ambush of Israeli soldiers aboard one of the ships: the Mavi Marmara.

And Iran could not be more pleased:

Never Say Die: Obama Holds Out Another Carrot To Syria

Here we go again--the more repressive the regime, the more carrots the Obama administration will offer:
The State Department has dispatched a high-level diplomatic and trade mission to Syria, according to senior U.S. officials, marking the latest bid by the Obama administration to woo President Bashar al-Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran.

The U.S. delegation comprises senior executives from some of America's top technology companies, including Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp., according to the U.S. officials. All these companies' businesses in Syria are constrained by U.S. sanctions.

The mission is controversial, given recent U.S. allegations that Syria transferred missiles to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Syria, Hezbollah and Lebanon deny the allegations.

Peace Activists Aboard Mavi Marmara Were Duped By IHH--What About Next Time?

From the Intelligence And Terrorism Information Center (PDF)
Overview 
1. Statements made by IDF soldiers, pictures taken aboard the Mavi Marmara,
statements from passengers, information found in files on laptops seized from the ship and
statements made by passengers to the media after their release, all prove that the
violence employed against the IDF on board the ship was not spontaneous but
rather a premeditated operation. The operation was organized beforehand by IHH
and implemented by a hard core of 40 violent operatives who were taken on board
specifically for the purpose. This bulletin provides an updated picture based on recently
acquired information.

Case Of Mosab Hassan Yousef: US Wants To Send Anti-Terror Agent Back To West Bank

Despite official denials, some hint that the US advocates dialogue with [the less radical elements within] Hamas and Hizbollah -- yet for someone who is avowedly NOT a terrorist, the USA is trying its best to deport him
The Muqata
From The Wall Street Journal:
Mosab Hassan Yousef is a best-selling author who wrote "Son of Hamas" about his life as a Palestinian who became an informant for Israeli intelligence. He's probably near the top of every Islamist terror hit list, yet, incredibly enough, the U.S. may soon deport him as a terror threat.

In 2007, Mr. Yousef came to the United States, where he converted to Christianity from Islam and applied for political asylum. The request was denied in February 2009, Mr. Yousef says, on grounds that he was potentially "a danger to the security of the United States" and had "engaged in terrorist activity." His case has automatically proceeded to the deportation stage, and on June 30 at 8 a.m. he will appear before Judge Rico Bartolomei in Homeland Security Immigration Court in San Diego.

Homeland Security is well aware of the author's history, and in fact is using it against him...
And here is a post from Yousef's blog

Why Israel Cannot Solve Its PR Challenge (or, It’s The Message, Stupid!)

Why Israel Cannot Solve Its PR Challenge (or, It’s The Message, Stupid!)

By Glenn Jasper

I spend my days helping clients develop and implement PR campaigns designed to promote the company in such a compelling way that its key audience will respond positively to what the company is communicating. Ultimately, the goal is always to build momentum and help the company achieve its potential.

So given that professional experience, it should be relatively simple to diagnose the PR problems Israel is having and prescribe a certain program to improve the situation.
And it is simple, but not in the way you might think.

Much has been written over the past few weeks – ever since "The Flotilla Affair" – about the overall weakness of Israel's PR, both when crises hit and in general. And they all brought wonderful examples of how and why Israel's PR has missed the mark.

But I'm afraid they've missed the mark as well.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Passenger Video Records Agenda Of Mavi Marmara: Israeli Soldiers “Get Held Hostage Or They Get Chucked Off”

The New York Times has posted an hour of raw unedited video from the Mavi Marmara:
Iara Lee, a Brazilian-American filmmaker and activist who was shooting a documentary on the flotilla of ships that was intercepted last week on its way to Gaza, has posted one hour of unedited video online that shows the early stages of the Israeli commando raid.

Ms. Lee’s raw video, posted on YouTube on Friday, gives viewers a chance to see the atmosphere on the main ship in the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, just before and during the raid. The footage was shot over the course of more than one hour, as the camera was turned on and off a few times, but it shows long, uninterrupted stretches of the event.
Over at CiF Watch, in Violence was Planned on the Mavi Marmara: “Ready to Fight” AKUS isolates a piece which clearly shows that not everyone aboard the ship was a peaceful demonstrator:



This is the reason that we cannot afford another one-sided commission from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

This time, the job has to be done right.

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Video: German News Report On The Islamists And Turkish Extremists On Board Mavi Marmara

The video below has English subtitles:



Not exactly a ship full of peace activists.

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Krauthammer On The Limitations Of Twitter And Facebook

New Media is a wonderful thing but...
On the one-year anniversary of the election that spawned the Green Movement in Iran:
Twitter cannot stop a bullet.

That's the lesson of what happened last year. There was a lot of romantic outpouring here thinking that Facebook is going to stop the Revolutionary Guards. It doesn't. Thuggery, a determined regime that is oppressive, that will shoot, almost always wins.
A hard but simple truth--especially when the Internet actually can be controlled.

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Yeah, Just Imagine

Jennifer Rubin writes:
Now imagine that Obama had made it clear that the administration would support no international inquest. If Obama had assembled a group of countries to stand with Israel and support the blockade, reminded the world that Israel’s forces acted in self-defense, insisted that Turkey come clean on its role, and made it clear that the real responsibility lies with Iran and its proxies, he would have avoided repeating the same error that has been at the root of 18 months of his failed Middle East policy
You can open your eyes now.
It's the same Obama and he has done none of these things.

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So How Are Obama's Peace Talks With Abbas Going?

After all, these days Abbas is negotiating peace with the US and Obama--not with Israel.

Hey, don't take my word for it--just ask Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah Central Committee
'Netanyahu not a real peace partner'

Abbas: We are negotiating with the US, not Israel.

'Witness' On A Speaking Tour About What Happened Aboard Mavi Marmar Admits She Was On A Different Ship

This is still online on the Code Pink site:
Dear Friend,

I just returned from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and started my speaking tour last night in NYC to share what I witnessed aboard the flotilla, and what people can do to end the siege.

I witnessed the Israeli attack that killed 9 persons and wounded 50 on the Gaza Flotilla - the six unarmed civilian passenger and cargo ships that were taking humanitarian aid to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza to break the over three year Israeli siege of Gaza.
It is the beginning of a message from Ann Wright, United States Army Colonel (Ret.) announcing her speaking tour and requesting donations.

It is all very well and good for Wright to spread the good word--it would be even nicer if what she was spreading was the truth.

The fact of the matter is that although Wright clearly claims "I witnessed the Israeli attack that killed 9 persons and wounded 50 on the Gaza Flotilla"--Wright (and Code Pink by maintaining this page) are being very misleading.

The truth came out during an interview with Dr. Aaron Lerner, that Ann "I witnessed the Israeli attack that killed 9 persons and wounded 50 on the Gaza Flotilla" Wright was not on board the Mavi Marmara at all:

Abbas Hems And Haws--And Lies To Obama--On Incitement

Apparently, Abbas does not care who he lies to--even President Obama:
And I say in front of you, Mr. President, that we have nothing to do with incitement against Israel, and we’re not doing that. What we care about is to live in coexistence with Israel, in order to bring about the independent Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel in peace and stability.
But that was in public, privately Abbas hedged when confronted on the issue:

Sunday, June 13, 2010

International Panel Named To Investigate The Mavi Marmara Incident

The panel that will investigate what happened aboard the Mavi Marmara--the one ship of the flotilla where members of the ship were killed--will be headed by retired Supreme Court justice Ya'akov Tuerkel and will include: international-law Professor Shabtai Rosen who won the Israel Prize winner and is a winner of the Hague Prize for International Law and former Technion president Amos Chorev, who served as a general in the reserves.

Now Arutz Sheva reports the names of the 2 international observers:

The Results Are In: Helen Thomas Was Wrong--Jews Are A People And Israel Is Home

The results of a study by New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University proves--among other things--that Helen Thomas is wrong:
Researchers say the study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, puts to rest age-old questions about whether Jews are a group of unrelated people who share a religious ideology or a distinct ethnicity with common ancestry.

“The debate is over,” said Dr. Edward R. Burns, one of the lead authors of the study. “The Jewish people are one people with a common genetic thread that evolved in the second or third century BC.”

Ramallah Featured In The Travel Section Of The New York Times

There is a new image to Ramallah, one that has replaced the image of the Palestinian showing his blood-soaked hands to an approving crowd not so many years ago.

When Abbas Claims To Accept Jewish Right To Israel--What Does That Mean? (Updated)

It's all very well to read stuff like this:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Jewish leaders on Wednesday that he would never deny Jews their right to the land of Israel, according to participants of the two-hour roundtable discussion.
But the question is not what he says for consumption in the English press--it's what he says to the Arab world.
Has Abbas actually repeated what he said in that meeting with Jewish leaders in Arabic to Arab leaders?

Back in 2008, Joel Mowbray wrote about what Abbas said to the Arabic-language Al-Dastur:

"With My Teeth I Will Rip Your Flesh. With My Mouth I Will Suck Your Blood"

The U.S. is seeking election to the Council because we believe that working from within, we can make the council a more effective forum to promote and protect human rights. We hope to work in partnership with many countries to achieve a more effective Council.
U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, March 31, 2009
So how's that working for you?

On June 8, Rania Al Rifaiy--Syrian representative to the UN Human Rights Council--regaled her fellow members with this:
This is a state that is built on hatred, discrimination, oppression and a paranoid feeling of superiority. Hatred is widespread, taught to even small children, who are taught to use weapons, and who are taught to sign missiles that will be fired at Arabs.

Let me quote a song that a group of children on a school bus in Israel sing merrily as they go to school. And I quote “With my teeth I will rip your flesh. With my mouth I will suck your blood.”
Not surprisingly, the members of the UNHRC found nothing here worth objecting to--even the chairman could summon up nothing more than a thank you:

Video: Bill Maher On Why The Media Is Pro Palestinian

According to Maher, it's not pro-Palestinian bias.
And it's not anti-Israel bias.

It's stupidity.



For a more direct answer to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's question: "Who speaks out publicly in a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli way in mainstream American politics, or media?" Newsbusters provides some examples.


[Hat tip: Newsbusters]

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Friday, June 11, 2010

"We Con The World" Is About WHAT?

Who's conning whom?

In Caroline Glick’s “We Con the World” and the Tea Partying of the US-Israel relationship, Didi Remez writes:
The video is a repulsive attempt to use satire to make Israel’s case on Flotilla Devbacle. I recommend suffering through its entirety to grasp just how much. This is not really surprising to anyone who has ever read Glick’s columns or makes a cursory inquiry into her background.
It's not quite clear why inquiring into Glick's background is important to critique the video [view here], whose success seems to have irked Remez.

No Surprise: Fatah Postpones Elections

It's no surprise, because one would expect no less when Abbas's term ended in January 2009.

Here's the story:
Palestinian local elections scheduled to be held in the West Bank on July 17 have been postponed indefinitely, officials said on Thursday. Hamas Islamists, who seized control of the Gaza Strip from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, had already said they would boycott the vote.

The Difference Between A UN Inquiry Into The Flotilla--and An Israeli One

Here is the predictable statement that came out of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on June 2 is predictable:
The Human Rights Council in its midday meeting adopted a resolution on the attack by Israeli forces against the humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza in which it condemned in the strongest terms the outrageous attack by the Israeli forces which resulted in the killing and injuring of many innocent civilians from different countries, and decided to dispatch an independent international fact finding mission to investigate violations of international law resulting from the Israeli attack.

Why Is Gaza's "Freely Elected Government" Trafficking In Drugs?

From CNSnews.com, we learning about something else that Hezbollah and Hamas have in common:
Hezbollah, Hamas Raise Money for ‘Terrorist Activities’ From Drug Trade in South America, Congressional Research Service Says
Amid growing concern about the illicit drug trade across the U.S.-Mexico border, the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas have been linked to South American drug trafficking organizations–and the money Hezbollah and Hamas make from narco-trafficking is used to finance their organizations, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS).

“International terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, have also reportedly raised funding for their terrorist activities through linkages formed with DTOs in South America, particularly those operating in the tri-border area (TBA) of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina,” stated CRS in an April 30 report.
The April 30 report quoted is entitled -- Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs:

Last Words Of The "American" Killed Aboard The Gaza #Flotilla

In Best of the Web yesterday, James Taranto noted the truth about Furkan Dogan, who was killed aboard the Mavi Marmara:
Israel-haters are making much of the fact that one of the Turkish "humanitarians" killed last week while attempting to break Israel's naval blockade of Hamas was a U.S. citizen. This, however, was by accident of birth: Furkan Dogan was born in Troy, N.Y., but his parents were Turkish and he grew up in Turkey.

"His brother, Mustafa, told the Turkish news media that he was 'clean-hearted with a happy face,' " the New York Times reported Friday. But a report from the Middle East Research Institute says he was far from the all-American boy the Israel-haters are making him out to be. Memri quotes Hussein Orish of IHH, the Turkish outfit that instigated the flotilla:

The Siege Of Gaza--By Hamas

In What About Hamas's Siege of Gaza?, Khaled Abu Toameh writes about the terrorist leaders of Gaza--the ones to whom the world is in a hurry to hand over aid:
As Israeli naval commandos raided the flotilla ship convoy that was on its way to the Gaza Strip, Hamas security officers stormed the offices of five non-governmental organizations, confiscated equipment and documents, and ordered them closed indefinitely.

Ever since it seized control over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, Hamas has imposed a reign of terror on the local population in general and its critics in particular. Hamas has brought nothing to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip other than death and disaster.

Some Habits Are Hard To Break: Abbas Still Inciting Hatred Of Israel

Both parties are taking some steps to help create an atmosphere that is conducive to successful talks, including President Abbas’ statement that he will work against incitement of any sort...
Statement on Special Envoy George Mitchell's Trip, May 9, 2010
So, what has Abbas been busy doing since May 9th?
Doing what he's been doing all along.

From Palestinian Media Watch:



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Yahoo Does Jerusalem--BOTH Of Them (2 Updates)

While it is true that it has been proposed that Jerusalem be divided between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, that is not even close to being agreed upon.

But that is not stopping Yahoo Weather!

When you go to Yahoo Weather and look for the weather in Jerusalem, among the Jerusalem's that show up are Jerusalem, Yerushalayim (not Jerusalem, Israel) and Jerusalem, West Bank.


If you decide to check out the weather in Jerusalem, Israel Yerushalayim, you get this:


And if you decide to check out the weather in Jerusalem, West Bank instead, you get this:


Oddly enough--the 2 Jerusalem's actually have the identical weather!

UPDATE: Apparently, this is not something new. Check out Mere Rhetoric's post from January: Yahoo Wipes “Ariel, Israel” Off The Map, Replaces It With “Jenin, Palestinian Occupied Territories”

UPDATE2: Dr Andre Oboler who provided key research on Anti-Israel Propaganda and Replacement Geography in Google Earth, has said
this case is far worse. Google initially suggested it was a user-content problem beyond its control, however, it eventually admitted it was wrong and fixed the problem. Yahoo isn't even pretending. This is corporate foreign policy and a deliberate effort at misinformation to advance a political agenda.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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