Another Mosque Attacked--In The Muslim World

There have been mosque burnings in the Muslim world--but there are mosque bombings too, such as this suicide bombing at an Iranian mosque:

A suicide attack has killed at least 38 people and wounded more than 60 others near a mosque in the southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar as Shias marked the climax of Ashoura.

The ritual commemorates the seventh century death of Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein.

Another Change in NIF’s Policy on BDS

For Immediate Release

December 14, 2010

Contact: Jason Edelstein, 052-861-2129

Another Change in NIF’s Policy on BDS

NIF Adopts Guidelines Recommended by NGO Monitor

Jerusalem - As part of the continuing revisions of their funding practices, the New Israel Fund (NIF) has released new guidelines stating that the foundation “will not fund global BDS activities against Israel nor support organizations that have global BDS programs,” notes NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institution.  On December 13, NIF’s website was changed to also state that the foundation “opposes the global BDS movement, views the use of these tactics as ineffective and counterproductive and is concerned that segments of this movement seek to undermine the existence of the state of Israel.”

NGO Monitor notes that NIF now recognizes that the goal of the BDS movement is to de-legitimize Israel’s right to exist. This moral stance was absent from previous NIF policy on this critical issue.

Wikileaks And The Middle East: What If They Are Just Part Of The Game?

Lee Smith writes that more than anything else, the Wikileaks documents do not reveal so much what the Arabs really think but rather the games they play:

A number of analysts [3] have spent the first weeks of the post-Cablegate era fighting a rear-guard action against the reality of Mideast diplomacy portrayed in the Wikileaks cables. Some are claiming [4] that what the Arabs say in private to U.S. diplomats about Iran is not what they really mean, or that Arab security regimes do not represent the will of the Arab people. Others argue [5] that those American analysts who find their positions vindicated in the released cables are just looking for any evidence to justify [6] their desire to make war on Iran.

Even if these critics are just trying to cover their tracks, their remarks raise, albeit indirectly, an essential point: We know what the Arabs tell diplomats and journalists about Iran, but we don’t know what they really think about their Persian neighbor.

Israel Gets Its Surge On!

Back in 2008, Michael Totten explained how Israel was unable to implement a 'surge' in Lebanon:

American General David Petraeus proved counterinsurgency in Arabic countries can work. His surge of troops in Iraq is about a change of tactics more than an increase in numbers, and his tactics so far have surpassed all expectations. The “light footprint” model used during former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but American soldiers and Marines had no chance of defeating insurgents from behind barbed wire garrisons. Only now that the troops have left the relative safety and comfort of their bases and intimately integrated themselves into the Iraqi population are they able to isolate and track down the killers. They do so with help from the locals. They acquired that help because they slowly forged trusting relationships and alliances, and because they protect the civilians from violence.

The Israel Defense Forces did nothing of the sort in Lebanon.

Lebanon no, but what about in the West Bank?
Evelyn Gordon writes that Israel has successfully implemented a war against terror in the West Bank that would make General Petraeus proud:

Karl "Why Israel Doesn't Care About Peace" Vick Is Back

Karl Vick of the Times writes about the real victims of the impasse between Israel and the Palestinians--the next generation:

Palestinian terrorism has done more than destroy lives and hopes for peace. No less important, it has created a separation of the mind. Israelis say they simply think much less about Palestinians. Meanwhile, the West Bank regularly witnesses government-sponsored incitement of hatred towards Israelis, where honoring Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israelis has led to a generation of Palestinians coming of age without wanting to know what Israelis look like, much less the land both sides claim as their own. The absence of familiarity, names, basic knowing - the absence of the foundations of empathy - does not bode well for the chances of the two peoples one day living as neighbors in peace.

Actually, truth be told, Karl Vick does not blame the shrinking chances for peace on the incitement of hate in the West Bank--he makes no mention of it. For that matter, Vick mentions terrorism only once in passing.

No, according to Vick, it is not terrorism that does not bode well for the chances of living in peace--no, it is Israel's separation barrier that stands in the way.

Here is that paragraph the way Vick actually wrote it:

Justice Has Been Denied To Former DePaul Professor Thomas Klocek

In 2005, Thomas Klocek was suspended by DePaul University in response to complaints from Muslim students who resented Klocek's challenge to their statements. Klocek then filed a defamation suit against DePaul.

Marathon Pundit writes that Klocek faced an uphill battle, which he lost:

Outside of a mathematics professor and some campus conservatives, no one at DePaul defended Klocek. As for Klocek, a devout Catholic, he learned that standing up for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, can be a career-ending move.

I've been covering the Klocek case for five years. He sued DePaul in the summer of 2005 for defamation. But shortly before the start of the trial, the third judge assigned to the case, a DePaul law school graduate, dismissed the suit.

His lawyers appealed, but late last month the Illinois Supreme Court decided not to hear Klocek's appeal.

Justice has been denied.

Here is the press release from Klocek's lawyers:

The Strangest Antisemite of Them All: The Bizarre Case of Friedrich Nietzsche

This post was written by Barry Rubin and is reposted here with permission.

The Strangest Antisemite of Them All:
The Bizarre Case of Friedrich Nietzsche

By Barry Rubin

No serious thinker has done more harm to the Jewish people than Friedrich Nietzsche, whose writings were an important inspiration for Adolph Hitler and Nazism. Yet far from being an antisemite, Nietzsche was one of the most pro-Jewish German writers of his time. How can this paradox be explained and does it have any lessons for the present day?

The Mythical "Palestinian Right Of Return" (Updated)

The phrase "Right of Return" is thrown around a lot in connection with the assumed legal right of Arabs, who fled then-Palestine in 1948 during the war that was declared by the Arab world against Israel, to return.

Arlene Kushner explains that there is no legal right of Arab return in accordance with international law:

As the Palestinian Arabs are screaming about "right of return" as a priority in negotiations, and as they base this right on UN General Assembly Resolution 194, it becomes important to have a clear understanding of what this is all about:

There is no such thing as the "right of return" as an internationally recognized legal right.

The Zionist Plot: Sharks And Pigeons And Squirrels--Oh My!

Robert E. Belgrad writes about the history of Israel being accused of training animals against the Muslim world:

• Just last week, shark attacks near Sharm el-Sheikh, have been blamed on Israel--possibly the Mossad using them as a biological weapon to harm Egypt’s tourist trade.
  
  
• In August 2010, Iran accused Israel of using pigeons to spy on her uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.

India Lifeline Gaza Convoy traveling through Iran

The following post is by IsraeliGirl, and is reposted here with permission.

India Lifeline Gaza Convoy traveling through Iran

A large Asian aid convoy called the Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan left India for the Gaza Strip with about 500 activists from 17 Asian countries. While convoy organizers try to position their action as solidarity with the Palestinian people under a unified umbrella of Asian countries, the convoy include militant activists that have been injured in the Marmara Gaza flotilla convoy. Considering the Marmara activists were armed and ready to attack IDF soldiers, these are not peaceful activists.