[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 10/31 Links Pt2: The academic intifada; Starvation in Gaza? No, Obesity in Gaza; Rafael unveils C-Dome

From Ian:

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Alan Dershowitz: A Challenge to Ed Miliband: Would You Protect Great Britain Against Terrorism?

My challenge to Ed Miliband: What would you have done if you were the Prime Minister of a country that faced comparable threats? It is easy to criticize the British Prime Minister for not having opposed Israel’s incursion into Gaza but, as the New York Times reported, (10/23/14) Miliband “did not outline an alternative security response.” Now he must. Would he have waited for dozens of death squads with hundreds of terrorists to enter Israel and wreak havoc on cities, towns and kibbutzim near the Gaza border? Would he have tried to attack the tunnel entrances from the air, despite the fact that many of them were located in mosques, schools, hospitals, private homes and densely populated civilian areas?
The question British voters should ask is: What would Prime Minister Ed Miliband have done? What would he do if Britain were faced with comparable threats? His country, unlike tiny Israel, is an island separated from its traditional enemies by bodies of water. But one can imagine Scottish independent radicals digging tunnels into northeastern England. Or Irish radicals firing rockets into English cities on the West Coast? As opposition leader would Miliband criticize the current prime minister for trying to stop these attacks against British civilians? As Prime Minister would he do nothing and simply call for a cease fire and the resumption of talks, as he did with regard to the Israeli-Hamas conflict?
Miliband also rebuked Cameron for his “silence on the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians caused by Israel’s military action.” But Miliband himself has remained silent on Hamas’ deliberate use of human shields that has been the main cause for why Palestinian civilians were killed. As British military expert Richard Kemp said,
“No army in the world acts with as much discretion and great care as the IDF in order to minimize damage. The U.S. and the UK are careful, but not as much as Israel.”

Melanie Phillips: The academic intifada

The supposed crucible of knowledge, reason and enlightenment has turned into an incubator of hatred and bigotry, falsehoods and incitement, intellectual terrorism and physical violence. What we are seeing is an academic intifada. Yet in the face of this monstrous onslaught on Jewish students and perversion of scholarship to poison young minds against Israel, the leadership of Diaspora Jewry has done precious little.
Campaigners like Benjamin or groups such as Stand- WithUs (at whose meeting I spoke in Toronto this week) have been doing invaluable work countering the lies and helping support the beleaguered Jewish students. But they are doing it virtually alone and unaided. Given the nature and scale of what is going on, the silence from the Jewish community as a whole is quite astonishing.
Jewish leaders should be shouting from the rafters about what is happening on campus. They should be naming and shaming these bigoted lecturers for the hatred and lies they are spreading. They should be calling to account the university vice chancellors for failing to protect their Jewish students. They should be taking legal action against them for betraying their duty of care or allowing incitement of hatred, intimidation and discrimination on their watch. They should be jumping up and down over the way states such as Qatar or Saudi Arabia have twisted university curricula into hate-fueled or extremist propaganda outlets by pouring funds into university coffers.
But Jewish leaders aren’t doing any of this. Too timid to rock the boat, or maybe because they themselves don’t know enough to realize just how heinous are the lies being told about Israel, their instinct is instead often to try to marginalize, isolate or shut down some of these heroic folk trying to combat the falsehoods and intimidation on campus. This is shameful. A huge effort is needed to counter this evil with the hardest of home truths. Time our leaders woke up and smelled the coffee.

Israel and the Other PA: Perfidious Albion

The recent vote in Britain’s Parliament to recognize a Palestinian state (passed by 274 to 12) is, we are told, of no real consequence. Prime Minister Cameron’s government has said it signals no change in British policy.
But the vote was promoted by anti-Israel voices in Parliament that seek to pressure Israel into suicidal concessions; voices that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, have called for a total European trade embargo against the Jewish state, and have compared Israel to Nazi Germany. It is of a piece with other anti-Israel actions in Britain in recent years.
This summer’s Gaza War was triggered by Hamas – which openly declares its dedication to the murder not only of all Israelis but of all Jews – unleashing an incessant barrage of rockets at Israeli cities and villages. Even the Palestinian Authority’s representative to the United Nations observed of Hamas’s campaign that “each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity.” But in Britain, beyond Prime Minister Cameron’s assertion of Israel’s right to defend itself, the most visible, most vocal, full-throated and widely echoed contention was that Israel did not have a right to defend itself. Even as Hamas used civilians as human shields, the inevitable civilian deaths were evidence of Israel’s Jews being, in the words of a columnist for The Independent, “a child murdering community.” Such claims became also the message of large public demonstrations, which in turn were accompanied by mob attacks on Israel-associated and Jewish-associated targets and new calls for boycotts and other actions against the Jewish state. (h/t sophie44)

Starvation in Gaza? No, Obesity in Gaza.

One of the most enduring myths of the struggle in the Middle East is that Israel is starving Gaza, or that "Israel has put Gaza on a diet". This lie is perpetuated by extremist groups like JVP that offer flyers for download on their website accusing Israel of “slowly starving” the people of Gaza.
It is also perpetuated by individuals such as Norwegian Doctor Mads Gilbert who knowingly promote falsified statistics
The reality is something very different. Its been well documented in peer reviewed medical journals.
There is an avoidable public health crisis in Gaza. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiac disease are increasing dramatically. This is all associated with Western levels of obesity in the Gaza Strip. Obesity is also at epidemic levels in the West bank

Will the BDS End Campaign Against SodaStream? Don’t Bet on It

In a statement that first appeared in The Guardian then, BDS spokesperson Rafeef Ziadah indicated that the movement was not impressed by the company new location either:
"Even if this announced closure goes ahead, SodaStream will remain implicated in the displacement of Palestinians. Its new Lehavim factory is close to Rahat, a planned township in the Naqab [Negev] desert, where Palestinian Bedouins are being forcefully transferred against their will. Sodastream, as a beneficiary of this plan, is complicit with this violation of human rights."

Never mind the fact that the Israeli investment in the Negev means more job opportunities for Bedouins living in the area. And let ignore the lost Palestinian jobs that might result from the West Bank factory’s closure – SodaStream said it was planning to see work permits for its Palestinian workers at the new plant.
The under-reported story here is that BDS has no intention of stopping, even when its demands are met. It is yet more proof that the BDS is a radical movement aiming for Israel’s destruction, not a change to Israel’s policies in the West Bank.

UC Berkeley student group votes to disinvite Bill Maher; college overturns it

The controversy over having TV host Bill Maher speak at the University of California Berkeley has taken another turn. Well, make that two.
If you remember, the outspoken comedian was selected as the school's 2014 fall commencement speaker, until students incensed by his anti-religious comments -- particularly his views on Islam -- started a petition to have him removed.
On Tuesday night, the student group that's tasked with selecting commencement speakers met and voted to withdraw Maher's invitation.
That would have been the end of the matter except the very next day, the college said it won't honor the vote.
"This university has not in the past and will not in the future shy away from hosting speakers who some deem provocative," the school said.

Canada won’t let BDS get in its way, says top academic

And Davidson, president and CEO of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, is not going to allow the BDS movement to prevent his country’s 97 universities and colleges from building beneficial relationships with Israel.
“Boycotts are not a way to solve anything, and we strongly believe in developing and encouraging dialog to solve problems of all kinds. It’s for that reason we are holding a special conference this week to enhance that dialog, and allow institutions in both countries to develop better relationships,” Davidson said.
Davidson was referring to an international gathering of university and research leaders taking place in Ottawa this week to discuss national innovation systems and how they help universities drive the advancements that build prosperity. University presidents and innovation experts from Canada, Israel and Germany gathered for a policy dialogue called “Optimizing Canada’s Innovation system: Perspectives from Abroad.” About 100 academics – mostly university presidents from Canada, Israel, and Germany – took part in the event sponsored by the AUCC, which is an advocacy group that represents Canadian universities in the political and business spheres.

Anti-Israel Group Advocates Illegal Disruption Of 'Zionist Normalization' Assemblies

The response by Jewish education and advocacy groups was swift—on October 28, fifteen of these groups wrote to university presidents of more than 100 schools warning them of SJP’s plans and their legal ramifications. In the letter, the students argued, “The document is extremely troubling in that it outlines a clear strategy for targeting, ostracizing, harassing and silencing students. It advocates behavior consistent with ‘anti-Zionist normalization’ campaigns being waged by SJP groups across the country, whose explicit purpose, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is to delegitimize all pro-Israel perspectives and actively suppress their expression on college campuses.”
In one section of the leaked document, SJP prohibits leaders and members from collaborating or cooperating with Jewish and pro-Israel student groups, as well as anyone who has “aided and abetted Zionist student organizations”.

New Israel Fund Under Renewed Scrutiny Over Funding for Israeli NGO Led by Boycott Activist

The New Israel Fund, the New York-based non-profit which granted nearly $27 million to left-wing and progressive NGOs in Israel according to its latest financial report, is again under scrutiny following revelations of extreme anti-Israel rhetoric by the Executive Director of the Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF,) a body supported financially by the NIF.
A just-released fact sheet from NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog that monitors foreign funding for Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, discloses that the Executive Director of the HRDF, Alma Biblash, has described Israel in such inflammatory terms as “racist,” and “murderous.”
Biblash also described Israel as a “temporary Jewish apartheid state.” According to NGO Monitor, “Biblash also supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and promotes the Palestinian ‘right of return,’ meaning the elimination of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.” An article on the “right of return” by Biblash for the anti-Zionist website +972 stated: “Implementing the right of return is the just solution both in terms of historical and present justice for Palestinian refugees. Approximately six million Palestinian refugees live across the world. There will be no justice until Israel recognizes its responsibility for the Nakba (the Palestinian term meaning catastrophe, used to describe Israel’s creation), and allows the dispossessed to return to their homes.”

Father of WTC Victim Blasts Haaretz Over Cartoon Showing Netanyahu as 9/11 Terrorist

Roman Gertsberg, whose 25 year-old daughter Marina was inside the World Trade Center complex when Al Qaeda terrorists crashed two planes into the twin towers, told The Algemeiner, “If this cartoon shows that Israel flies the plane into the World Trade Center, then it is the most ridiculous display I’ve ever seen. Nobody in their right mind should associate Israel with flying a plane into the WTC . It it very offensive to 9/11 families to distort the historical events of that tragic day in order to bring attention to one political statement or another.”
Gertsberg emphasized: “We know who the perpetrators were – Al Qaeda and all their supporters.”
The cartoon, by resident Haaretz artist Amos Biderman, has drawn an angry response since being posted online this morning. Many critics expressed surprise and dismay that an Israeli newspaper would fuel the myth that Israel had a role in the 9/11 atrocity, a favored theme of the so-called “9/11 Truth” movement.
One commenter on the Haaretz website said: “It’s simply unbelievable that you don’t have any shame in comparing Netanyahu to the mass murderers of 9/11.” Another added: “You’re allowed to incite against the sitting prime minister in a much worse way than there was before the assassination of [prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin.”

Haaretz’s 9/11 Truther Gift to Anti-Semites

This is not a question of, as Biderman says, his not understanding the delicate sensibilities of Americans about 9/11. While we know that Haaretz often reads as if its staff lives in a different Middle East than other more sensible Israelis, Biderman’s cartoon seems to come from a different planet from the rest of us. On Planet Earth, it is well known that one of the cornerstones of contemporary anti-Semitism is the canard that Israel blew up the Twin Towers on 9/11, not al-Qaeda and that Jews didn’t show up to work in their offices in buildings that day. This is an obvious, astonishing lie that seemingly would be believed only by the insane, but the willingness of large numbers of Muslims to buy into it is proof of the strength of Jew-hatred in the Arab world.
Haaretz’s decision to give this vicious myth tangible support is more than an astonishing lapse of judgment. It is a sign that the newspaper is so obsessed with its futile crusade against Netanyahu (who looks to be a lock for a third term the next time Israel goes to the polls) that they have lost sight of the fact that even Haaretz-style left-wing Israelis are hated just as much by 9/11 truthers as supporters of the Likud.

Indy buries shooting of Yehuda Glick, focuses instead on Temple Mount closing

The article would suggest that the Israeli response to the attempted murder of Glick, to prevent further violence, is of greater importance than the terrorist attack itself. Indeed, out of 13 total paragraphs in the article, only 3 deal with the shooting.
The Independent’s editorial focus in these latest two articles represents yet another example of the British media’s myopic and often obsessive scrutiny of every Israeli act, as well as their failure to take Palestinian extremism and violence seriously.

CiF Watch prompts correction to Times of London Palestinian ‘bus ban’ claim

While the new regulations, if implemented, would require Palestinian laborers entering Israel through the Eyal checkpoint to head home at night through the same checkpoint from which they entered, thus resulting in a serious reduction in the number of Palestinians returning on Israeli bus lines, there’s nothing in the new rules even suggesting that Palestinians would no longer be allowed to ride Israeli lines.
Shortly after our post, we contacted editors at Times of London to complain about the false characterization of the new regulations, and today they issued the following correction in the online and print editions.

A BBC journalist does his job

Although comparatively rare, it is always a pleasure to be able to note that a BBC journalist has reported accurately and impartially on a topic connected to Israel.
In among a long and interesting – but bleak – article titled “Gay community hit hard by Middle East turmoil” published in the Features & Analysis section of the BBC News website’s Middle East page on October 29th, James Longman wrote:
“One refuge in the region for some is Israel, one of the most progressive countries in the world for LGBT rights.

BBC both amplifies and conceals PA incitement in report on Jerusalem attack

In other words, visitors to the BBC News website who read either of the first two versions of the article were not informed that Temple Mount (known as such not only by Israelis and long before the BBC’s obviously preferred title ‘Al-Aqsa compound’ came into existence) is the holiest site for Jews due to its being the location of the First and Second Temples. The failure to clarify that fact and the BBC’s use of the inaccurate phrase “Jewish claims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound” obviously misleads readers. Neither were audiences adequately informed why it is that non-Muslims (not just Jews) are currently not allowed to pray at the site or why, for example, a Christian wearing a crucifix would not be permitted to visit.

BBC’s Connolly omits context from reports on Gaza reconstruction, promotes Hamas-linked charity

Connolly is obviously less interested in adhering to BBC editorial guidelines on impartiality by informing BBC audiences of the fact that Human Appeal International is one of several British charities which come under the umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood’s fund-raising network for Hamas – the ‘Union of Good’ – chaired by Qatar-based Yusuf Qaradawi. As such, HAI is banned by Israel, has appeared on the US State Department’s list of charities linked to terrorism since 1996 and was cited by the FBI as a recipient of funds from the convicted Special Designated Terrorist Entity the Holy Land Foundation.
In 2005 Human Appeal International was one of two charities named on the charge sheet against Ahmad Salatna – a Hamas activist from Jenin who headed the Jenin Zakat Society and was convicted of providing some £6.2 million of funds originating in Europe to Hamas cells, suicide bombers and their families.

Russian Arms Sales to Syria, Iran Add to Middle East Instability

Putin’s Russia has revived its once flagging global arms sales business and is using those sales to revive its defense industrial base. Second to only the United States with about a 26 percent share of the global arms market—the United States has a 30 percent share—Russian arms sales in 2013 generated some 13 billion dollars for government coffers according to the pro-government Russia Today.
Other sources, such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), claim that the annual value of Russian arms sales, which the Russian government cloaks in secrecy, often exceeds that of the United States.
The obvious financial benefits tell but a small part of the value Russia derives from its arms sales abroad. Unlike the United States where large private corporations such as Lockheed and Raytheon compete for arms contracts, since 2007 Russia has relied on the state-controlled consortium Rosoboronexport to monopolize Russian arms sales and to advance Russian foreign policy objectives.

UN Confirms Iran Arms Transfers to Lebanon Would Violate Security Council Sanctions

The Iranian arms offer is an apparent effort to counter a Saudi Arabian pledge to provide at least $3 billion of arms to the LAF. But the NOW report noted that an Iranian arms transfer would violate United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 from 2007.
One key argument made by opponents – both domestic and international – of Tehran’s proposal is that it would contravene international law. Article 5 of UN Security Council Resolution 1747, passed in 2007, “[d]ecides that Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer directly or indirectly […] any arms or related materiel, and that all States shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran.”

CNN Interviews Yazidi Girl Kidnapped and Raped by Islamic State Terrorists

A 19-year old Kurdish Yazidi girl who was kidnapped by the Islamic State recounted a harrowing tale of how IS members systematically enslave and rape young girls captured by the terrorist group.
“They came to the village and said, you have to convert to Islam or we will kill you,” the girl, identifying herself as Jana, said.
Yazidis, who practice a syncretic religion tied to Zoarastrianism and ancient Mesopotamian religions, are considered “devil-worshippers” by IS fundamentalists.
Jana told CNN’s Ivan Watson that hundreds of girls were rounded up by IS members and taken to a three-story house in Mosul, Iraq, where they were offered as sex slaves for IS men.

ISIS Tempting Israeli Arabs With Free ‘All-Included’ Recruiting Getaways in Turkey

The Islamic State is nothing if not media and marketing savvy. The international terrorist group is offering Israeli Arabs an all-expenses-paid visit to a resort in Turkey, including airfare and hotel, in order to entice them to join the organization, Israel’s Ch. 2 News reported Thursday.
Dozens of Israeli Arabs and Bedouins recently took part in the attractive offer, in which they were enticed to undergo military training in Syria. However, after pressure from their families, they repented and returned to Israel – and are apparently not expected to stand trial.
‘M’, a twenty-something Israeli Arab from northern Israel, flew to Turkey with a group of like-minded youth, and stayed there for three nights in a hotel. He was supposed to join one of ISIS’s sectors in northern Syria, in the volatile triangle bordering Iraq and Turkey.

One in seven young Britons has sympathy with Isis cause

One in seven young British adults has “warm feelings” towards Islamic State, according to a poll.
Isis is riding a surge of “anti-politics” sentiment among disaffected under-35s who admire the jihadists’ courage, academics warn.
A tenth of Londoners and one in 12 Scots view Islamic State (Isis) favourably, but sympathy for the militant group reaches its highest levels among the under-25s, the Populus survey found.
In the first rigorous poll to test the UK’s feelings about Isis, 2,000 adults were asked to rank several countries and terrorist organisations on a scale of one to ten, according to how “warmly and favourably” they felt about them.
Although an overwhelming majority of the public — 88 per cent — gave Isis a low score, 5.2 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds gave it a nine or a ten. Overall, 14 per cent of under-25s and 12 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds gave Islamic State a score of between six and ten, implying a degree of sympathy.

MEMRI: Iran's Pragmatic Camp Calls For Exploiting Obama's Weakness To Attain Comprehensive Nuclear Agreement On Tehran's Terms

The second six-month extension of the talks between Iran and the P5+1, allowed for in the Geneva document of November 2013, will expire on November 24, 2014. As this deadline draws near, the pragmatic camp in Iran, headed by President Hassan Rohani's patron Hashemi Rafsanjani, which is directing the negotiations with the U.S. administration, is pressuring the Obama administration to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran on the latter's terms. According to the pragmatic camp's view, the Obama administration desperately needs a substantial achievement to show for its term in office, and therefore this is the time to pressure it.
The pragmatic camp's pressure on the U.S. administration utilizes two strategies: on the one hand, enticing the U.S. administration to accept Iran's position in the negotiations in return for Iranian assistance in resolving other Middle East crises, especially the ISIS problem, and even hinting at a possibility of Iran-U.S. normalization; and on the other hand, threatening that a rejection of Tehran's position will result in Iran's ideological camp – which is hostile to the U.S. and to the detente with it – rising to power in the next elections.
Ali Younesi, Rohani's advisor on religious minorities, said on October 18, 2014 that the ISIS crisis, and Barack Obama's being "the weakest president the U.S. has ever had," provide Iran with a one-time opportunity to bend Washington to its will in the nuclear negotiations.

West blamed for acid attacks on Iranian women

Moslehi told the government-affiliated news service that “foreign agents” were responsible for the attacks in Isfahan, where at least eight women have been doused with acid by unknown attackers riding motorcycles.
The unprovoked attacks have left victims badly burned, disfigured and blind.
The former minister said that he believed the attacks were orchestrated by foreigners in an attempt to defeat a controversial bill in Iran’s parliament that would legalize the activities of vigilantes who patrol the streets and punish people for un-Islamic behavior.

Bar anti-Semitic Muslim clergyman from Belgium, watchdog urges

A Belgian watchdog on anti-Semitism asked the government to block a Kuwaiti preacher who called for Jews to be eradicated from attending an Islamic conference in Brussels.
Tarek al-Swaidan, a leader of Kuwait’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, is expected to attend the Muslim Forum of Brussels on Nov. 7, the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA, said in a statement Wednesday.
The group motioned the Belgian Foreign Ministry to block his entrance into the country.
“An open anti-Semite, he declared only last July that the State of Israel must be destroyed along with all the Jews,” the LBCA statement said.

Jewish heritage sites in Arab counties face extinction

This could have been the picture of Jewish tourism in Iraq, the ancient home to many of the Bible's characters. Until the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, it was still possible to dream of a celebration at the grave of Nahum, or of prayer services at the grave of Ezekiel and a visit to the Jewish quarter in Baghdad.
But those who had dreamed of a better future in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein have had a rude awakening. The new Iraq has treated its own heritage -- the Babylonian, Christian, Muslim and, of course, Jewish -- with sheer brutality, and far worse than the old Iraq ever did. Terrorism on a daily basis, religious fanaticism and a weak and corrupt government -- all these have led to the utter ruin of human life and of important heritage sites all over the country.
As the sound of an explosion rips through the air, another golden dome of an ancient Shiite mosque falls into the building. Another museum is looted by Islamic State terrorists; another ancient Jewish home is consumed by flames. The mosques in the important Shiite city of Najaf were demolished countless times by Sunni terrorists; the Baghdad Museum was looted; and the remnants of American tanks now riddle the ancient city of Babylon.

The welcome rise of Israel's sun in the east

Israel is also deepening its strategic ties with India. The two were at odds during the Cold War, as India aligned with the Soviet Union. For years, the Congress Party refused to establish diplomatic relations with Israel for fear of alienating India’s Muslim minority at home and India’s diplomatic allies abroad. This policy was criticized by the Hindu nationalist opposition. With the end of the Cold War, India lost its Soviet backer. As the Indo-Pakistani rivalry deteriorated and Islamic terrorism spread, India turned to Israel for its military and technological expertise. The post-Cold War alliance between Israel and India received a new impetus with the electoral victory of the pro-Israel Hindu BJP party in 1998 and, more recently, in 2014. Today, India is Israel’s largest military market (accounting for nearly half of its worldwide military exports), and Israel’s second largest Asian trade partner after China. The new Indian government just announced that it would purchase $13.1 billion worth of Israeli military equipment and technology, rejecting a competing US offer.
The same goes for Japan, a country that had to downgrade its relations with Israel following the 1973 oil embargo imposed by the Arab members of OPEC. But with its chronic economic stagnation, Japan now understands that its growth depends less on Arab oil than on Israeli technology. Last week, Toyota ITC (Info Technology Center) held its first hackathon in Israel. Japan is purchasing Israeli technology for cyber-security, mobile apps, and robotics.
Israel’s deepening diplomatic, military and economic ties with Asia’s major powers constitute a welcome development. International relations are about power. The fact that the world’s emerging powers, who used to shun the Jewish state, now value their ties with Israel is a clear indication that Israel has reached an unprecedented level of economic and technological might. Never before in its history has Israel enjoyed such global clout.

Unpaid envoys champion Israel in places official diplomacy can’t reach

Israel’s diplomatic corps has a Minor League. Besides the state’s 82 ambassadors and 21 consuls-general, there are also 77 accredited honorary consuls. Mostly prominent jurists and entrepreneurs, they were recruited to represent the Jewish state in far-flung parts of the globe — places where Israel’s professional diplomats rarely reach.
They include the former prime minister of Kazakhstan, Sergey Tereshchenko, who is based in Almaty, and Jewish and non-Jewish volunteer diplomats from Aruba to Yerevan, from Porto to Osaka.
“An honorary consul is a respected citizen of a country (which may or may not have a permanent Israeli mission) who represents Israel in that country,” according to the Foreign Ministry. Benny Gilbert, for example, is based in Bridgetown, Barbados, and Leliana Firisua on the Solomon Islands. In both states Israel has neither embassy nor consulate.

Startup Funding for Q3 in Israel Tops $701 Million Despite Summer War

The Israeli tech website Geektime reported yesterday that despite Hamas’ rocket war against Israel this past summer, funding for Israeli startups remains strong. Geektime interviewed Koby Simana, CEO of IVC Research Center, to provide some perspective on the meaning of the numbers.
“We have been asked repeatedly about the effect of Operation Protective Edge on the local high-tech industry and on capital raising in particular,” says Simana. “Examining the data now, we are pleased to note that the Gaza conflict barely impacted high-tech capital raising. Traditionally, the third quarter tends to be the weakest for capital raising in any given year, but Q3/2014 ranked as the third best quarter ever, and one of the top three quarters in the past decade.”

Israel develops a maritime ‘Iron Dome’

Israel’s “Iron Dome” is heading to the seas, the maker of the rocket-blocking defense system says.
State-owned defense contractor Rafael wants to leverage the system’s much-vaunted success in protecting Israeli civilians in this summer’s Gaza war, hoping to draw navies as buyers for a new maritime version seen as especially useful in protecting national economic resources at sea like oil and gas platforms.
At this week’s Euronaval conference near Paris, Rafael unveiled “C-Dome,” which endeavors to help combat vessels counteract any threats from the air, including missiles, helicopters and tiny unmanned drone aircraft, which could increasingly become tools of combat and reconnaissance at sea just as they have on land in recent years.

Could an Israeli-created innovation end world hunger?

Between a third and half of the food grown today never makes it to market. Produce of all kinds is “lost” to spoilage and disease, due mostly to transportation, storage, and other logistics issues. As a result, hundreds of millions of people still go hungry – but they don’t have to, thanks to an invention by Israel’s Pimi Agro. By applying a formula based on hydrogen peroxide — “with a few key additions,” said Nimrod Ben-Yehuda, CTO and co-founder of Pimi – fruits and vegetables remain fresh and viable for up to 10 weeks, significantly cutting losses due to rot and deterioration during the transportation process.
Technology like this, he believes, could make a major dent in world hunger. In the coming months, Pimi plans to introduce these inventions to the United Nations and other international institutions. “For places like India, China, and Africa, this is huge, especially because the transportation systems in those areas are slow and refrigeration is hard to come by,” said Ben-Yehuda. “You could walk from one end of India to the other over a period of 10 weeks, and the vegetables and fruit you carry will still be fresh for the entire time.”

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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 05:00:00 PM

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[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] Saudi cleric says Jews are cowards

Prominent Saudi scholar Abdul Aziz al-Tarifi tweeted this yesterday:

The Umma (the Islamic nation) will not be victorious as long as it is afraid of the Jews, because Allah described them (i.e. the Jews) as cowards, and whoever is afraid of them (of the Jews) is even more afraid of others. [As the Quran says]: "They will not fight you all except within fortified cities or from behind walls."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think he is talking about "Zionists."

So the entire Muslim world is preparing for a religious war against Jews. Sounds like a useful thing to know.

(h/t Ibn Botrous)



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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 02:30:00 PM

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[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] Here's the difference between "moderate Arabs" and "radical right wing Zionists"

The supposedly moderate Fatah party headed by that man of peace Mahmoud Abbas called for a "day of rage" on Friday. It appears that this specific one mostly fizzled out, probably because of rain, but here is what Abbas was inciting his people to do:

Saturday night a rally is being called by those "right wing Jewish extremists" in Jerusalem calling for prayers for the recovery of Rabbi Yehufda Glick:

No rock throwing, no Molotov cocktails, no burning tires, no calls for Jews to riot in Arab neighborhoods, no attempts at forcibly entering the Temple Mount.

Maybe those radical Jews should become more "moderate" in order for people to take them as seriously as they take the Arabs.

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 01:00:00 PM

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[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 10/31 Links Pt1: The redhead who wouldn't give up; Hezbollah targeted Jews, Israelis in Peru

From Ian:

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Caroline Glick: Being safe while isolated

Before formulating a strategy for dealing with Obama over the next two years, Israelis need to first take a deep breath and recognize that as bad as things are going to get, nothing that Obama will do to us over the next two years is as dangerous as what he has already done. No anti-Israel Security Council resolution, no Obama map of Israel’s borders will endanger Israel as much as his facilitation of Iran’s nuclear program.
As unpleasant as anti-Israel Security Council resolutions will be, and as unpleasant as an Obama framework for Israel’s final borders will be, given the brevity of his remaining time in power, it is highly unlikely that any of the measures will have lasting impact.
At any rate, no matter how upsetting such resolutions may be, Goldberg’s article made clear that Israel should make no concessions to Obama in exchange for a reversal of his plans. Concessions to Obama merely escalate his contempt for us.
Bearing this in mind, Israel’s required actions in the wake of Goldberg’s sources’ warnings are fairly straightforward.
First, to the extent that Israel does have the capacity to damage Iran’s nuclear installations, Israel should act right away. Its capacity should not be saved for a more propitious political moment.
The only clock Israel should care about is Iran’s nuclear clock.
As for the Palestinians, whether Netanyahu’s willingness to stand up to Obama stems from the growing prospect of national elections or from his own determination that there is no point in trying to appease Obama anymore, the fact is that this is the only pragmatic policy for him to follow.
The proper response to the assassination attempt on Yehudah Glick is to allow Jews freedom of worship on the Temple Mount. The proper response to Obama’s nuclear negotiations is a bomb in Natanz. Obama will be angry with Israel for taking such steps. But he is angry with Israel for standing down. At least if we defend ourselves, we will be safe while isolated, rather than unsafe while isolated.

Sarah Honig: Zissel means sweetie

No squawk was raised anywhere about the fact that Abbas’s Fatah movement officially exalted Zissel’s murderer as a ‘heroic martyr.’
Oftentimes what is barely mentioned – if at all – by the world’s media is (or ought to be) as thought-provoking as what the talking heads focus on with undisguised relish.
The fetching face of three-months-old Chaya Zissel Braun, for example, was missing from front pages around the globe and it was never featured on any foreign TV news outlets. She was murdered (as was 22-year-old student Karen Yemima Mosquera) last week by an Arab terrorist who homicidally rammed his vehicle into a crowd of passengers waiting at a light rail stop in the capital. But to observers abroad this amounted to dog bites man.
Uninteresting. Been there. Heard that before. Jewish whines. Who cares? Newsroom groupthink doesn’t only trickle down to conformist reporters on the scene who quickly figure out what the chiefs want to hear and what they shouldn’t be bothered with. The signals from atop the journalistic hierarchy determine for news consumers what constitutes news and what does not.
Media linchpins put together the current-events agenda and they shape mass awareness. Perforce they dictate public opinion. What doesn’t pass through their selective filter will forever remain esoteric knowledge – even in these days of social networking on the World Wide Web.
The cruel fate of little Zissel – whose name means “sweetie” in Yiddish and who hadn’t yet cut her first tooth – won’t be discussed by most Facebook users or by Twitter addicts. Nothing will make Zissel a cause célèbre in the Land of the Free, not even her American citizenship.
The abduction and coldblooded execution of another American citizen this summer, teenage schoolboy Naftali Fraenkel, equally failed to elicit extraordinary sympathy in the Home of the Brave.

Hezbollah operative targeted Jews, Israelis in Peru

Peruvian authorities arrested a suspected Hezbollah operative in the capital of Lima earlier this week on suspicion of planning attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets.
The man, Mohammed Amadar, a Lebanese citizen, was apprehended in the street by anti-terror police, Haaretz reported Thursday, citing the local La Republica newspaper.
A search of his apartment discovered TNT, detonators and flammable substances.
The suspect had been gathering intelligence on places frequented by Israeli hikers and on Jewish institutions. Authorities said they were questioning Amadar to learn more about his intended targets.

Ben-Dror Yemini: US has turned Netanyahu into its punching bag

The American administration is going through something bad. It failed in Iraq. It failed in Libya. It failed in Afghanistan. It tried to be nice to the Muslim world, and in response, the Muslim world is becoming much more hostile towards the United States.
But instead of engaging in self-examination, the American administration has turned Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into its punching bag.
Apparently, Netanyahu is to blame for Libya's disintegration and for the Taliban's slow takeover of Afghanistan. As far as US Secretary of State John Kerry is concerned, Netanyahu is also to blame for the Islamic State's growing number of volunteers.
The Obama administration has been trying to advance the peace process for years. Kerry tried to do exactly what Condoleezza Rice tried to do before him. She also came to Israel again and again, she also opposed the settlements, and she also failed.

The redhead who wouldn't give up

Eighteen months ago, he took part in a conference on the Temple Mount that I initiated. It was held at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. Glick patiently listened to both supporters and opponents, among them former Justice Dalia Dorner, the archaeologist Dan Bahat, and Rabbi David Stav.
Afterward, Glick described to them the present-day reality on the Temple Mount.
"I don't go up to the Temple Mount to demonstrate, but to reconnect with my Creator," he said. "The problem is that I'm denied this right. A Muslim is permitted to play soccer on the Temple Mount, to urinate there, to have a picnic there, and even to curse at me, but if I dare to whisper a prayer, I immediately become 'provocative.'"
When I joined a delegation of media people that ascended to the Temple Mount over a year ago, Glick could not hide his joy. He was hopeful that this visit would lead to a change in the way the press viewed the issue of the Temple Mount, and that it would cease to regard it as simply "a matter for lunatics."
Glick certainly did not expect to be targeted for assassination, but ironically, the attempt on his life may end up helping his cause.

JPost Editorial: Standing up to intimidation

Gratuitous violence is despicable under any circumstances.
But when violence is used to terrorize and bully a group into abdicating basic human rights, it becomes a threat to the foundations of democracy.
On Wednesday night, Mu’taz Hijazi, a resident of Jerusalem’s Abu Tor neighborhood who is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, tried to assassinate Rabbi Yehudah Glick. This was a horrific act of violence directed at a man who was singled out for his religious and political beliefs.
What makes this crime all the more tragic was the fact that Glick, who is a vocal activist for the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, is also a strong defender of Muslims’ right to freedom of religious expression on what they call Haram a-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary. Unlike some proponents of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount who call to destroy Muslim houses of prayer and replace them with a rebuilt Jewish Temple, Glick advocates joint Jewish-Muslim prayers on the site that is so sacred to both religions.
Glick was in critical condition at press time. We wish him a speedy recovery.

The USA Officially Promotes Anti-Jewish Apartheid

This shouldn't surprise us, but as part of the official reaction of the United States Government of the attempted assassination of American citizen, Yehuda Yehoshua Ben Rivka Ita Breindel Glick, may he have a refuah shleimah, complete and speedy recovery, here's the text of the United States Government:
The continued commitment by Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians to preserve the historic status quo at this holy site is critical; any decisions or actions to change it would be both provocative and dangerous. The Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount must be re-opened to Muslim worshipers...
Remember, please, that Yehuda Glick, who is now fighting for his life after being shot three times at close range, has dedicated his life to fighting for Jewish rights on Judaism's holiest spot in the world, Har Habayit, the Temple Mount.

Anti-Israel Media Bias Indistinguishable from Palestinian Incitement

The first news report that stood out was that of the Associated Press. Here was their lede: “A gunman on motorcycle shot a prominent hard-line Jewish activist on Wednesday, Israeli police and legislators said, seriously wounding the man and then fleeing in a suspected assassination attempt.” So that sets the tone: Jews who advocate for equal rights for Jews in the Jewish state are “hard-line.” But the media really started to lose it when the Palestinian suspect shot at Israeli police later in the evening and the police fired back, killing him. The Reuters report, by Luke Baker, was a model of crass mendacity.
We don’t get Yehuda Glick’s name in the Reuters piece until five paragraphs in, so until then he’s only known as “a far-right Jewish activist.” Not only is he painted as an extremist then, but Reuters doesn’t tell the reader just yet what kind of activism he was engaged in. But Reuters–famous for running photoshopped pictures of Israel at war–is just getting started. When we finally learn about Glick, we’re told the following:
"Hejazi was suspected of shooting and wounding Yehuda Glick, a far-right religious activist who has led a campaign for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa compound."
Could Baker be bothered to use the Jewish name–which obviously preceded any other name–of the Jewish holy place? Nope. It’s written that way merely to leave the impression that the Jews–again, who were there first, as everyone who isn’t an anti-Semitic propagandist knows–are interlopers and trespassers.

Yehuda Glick's condition slightly improves following assassination attempt

There was a “very light improvement” in Glick’s condition by Thursday night, according to Prof. Petachia Reissman, of the hospital’s gastroenterology department.
She said the 49-year-old, who holds Israeli and US citizenship and is the spokesman for the Joint Committee of Temple Organizations, remained in serious but stable condition and was still in danger. Glick remained connected to a respirator and was under a general anesthesia; this was likely to continue for a few days, Reissman, who is head of the general surgery department, said.
After the first initial complex operation on Wednesday night, in which Glick’s hemorrhaging was stopped, he underwent a procedure to clean up the wounds on Thursday morning. With improvement, he will undergo another operation or two to repair damaged internal organs, the doctor said.
The assassin’s bullets punctured one lung, entered his throat and hand, fractured some ribs and caused more significant harm to his small and large intestines. Doctors put Glick through a whole-body CT scan and were pleased that they didn’t find significant harm to his spine at the neck, or more internal damage than they had seen when he was operated on.

Who’s More ‘Far-Right,’ Yehuda Glick or the Palestinian Who Tried to Murder Him? (VIDEO)

Including the headlines, strap lines, photo captions and text, the term “far-right” was used seven times in reference to Glick in the two Guardian articles. Though Beaumont alluded to the fact that Hijaz served time in an Israeli prison for “security” offenses, no similarly ideologically pejorative term was used to characterize him. Nor was there any mention of his PIJ affiliation.
So, why is Glick described as a “far-right” rabbi? Well, according to Beaumont, he “is a prominent activist closely associated with recent efforts to gain more Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount”, and is closely associated with a group that seeks to rebuild a Jewish Temple on the general location at the Mount compound where the First and Second Temples stood.

Under the ground is not good enough

Years ago, when Ehud Barak, then-Israel's prime minister, oversaw the peace negotiations with the Palestinians, one of the proposals that was seriously debated was shared control over the Temple Mount. The idea was to divide the control by layer: The Jews would control the parts deep in the mountain, underground, and the Palestinians would control the parts above ground.
This was one of the proposals that was once considered proof of Barak's genius. The kind of solution that only he could come up with. Documents were drawn up, scenarios were simulated, all kinds of experts and strategists were consulted, and after hours of deliberations everyone involved agreed that a solution had finally been found. But when they were presented with this solution, the Palestinians made it clear that they didn't want Jews anywhere, not even deep underground. As far as they are concerned, we should all just disappear, and if we find it hard to do, they are more than willing to help us evaporate.

If Abbas believes UN is the panacea, he's got a nasty surprise coming

I’m referring to Abbas’s initiative of bringing before the UN Security Council a draft resolution calling to enforce a schedule and a deadline for the establishment of a Palestinian state. "We are preparing a draft resolution for the Security Council in order to end the occupation and achieve peace through UN institutions," Abbas declared in his speech to the UN General Assembly last month.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was quick this week to vehemently deny a report claiming the Palestinians have decided to postpone the appeal to the United Nations pending a clarification of a new peace initiative by US Foreign Secretary John Kerry. "We will not wait for Kerry's initiative. We'll go to the United Nations," the Palestinian official stated.
Nothing could be more ill-judged and ill-timed than this move. The veteran Palestinian leader was revealed as a complete novice in the business of diplomacy and as someone who is not even aware of the basic modus operandi on the international arena. With his plan to move the dealings of the conflict from a local-regional arena to an international plane Abbas ignored - out of callowness of arrogance - the bitter power struggles that characterize the relationship between the Western powers, Russia and China, all members of the exclusive club of veto-right holders in the Security Council.

‘Post’ poll finds significant drop in Israelis’ view of Obama

Only 16 percent of Israelis believe US President Barack Obama’s administration is more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian, according to a Smith Research poll taken Wednesday night, exclusively for The Jerusalem Post.
The poll of 500 respondents representing a statistical sample of the adult Israeli Jewish population was taken following a report in The Atlantic in which officials close to Obama were quoted sharply criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling him “chickenshit.”
The report resulted in a major backlash among Israelis and in criticism of Obama across the political spectrum. Smith Research has asked Israelis in 11 Jerusalem Post polls throughout Obama’s tenure whether his administration is more pro-Israel, more pro-Palestinian, or neutral, which is seen as the bellwether question of whether Israelis believe a US president is on their side.
The new poll found that 53% consider the administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israel, 20% called it neutral, and 11% did not express an opinion. The margin of error of the poll was 4.5 percentage points.

US Officials Say Obama May Replace Kerry

US President Barack Obama's administration is coping with underwhelming performance on various fronts according to officials cited in the New York Times on Friday, who suggested he may replace some senior administration officials - including US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"There is an inflection point in every presidency, and this certainly is a logical one, if the president feels he might be better served by some replacements on his team,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the paper.
Citing the Ebola crisis in Africa that has spread to a few isolated cases in America under Obama's watch, the rise of Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in Iraq and Syria, and tensions in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, the paper noted world events have already led Obama to make changes by bringing in Ron Klain to manage Ebola and Gen. John R. Allen to lead the coalition against ISIS.
According to the New York Times, Kerry and US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "are struggling to penetrate the tightly knit circle around the president and carve out a place in the administration."

Kerry Calls 'Chickens**t' Slur 'Disgraceful and
Damaging'

After an unnamed senior official in US President Barack Obama's administration was quoted as calling Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu "chickens**t" on Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry finally got around to condemning the statement Thursday.
The insults were "disgraceful, unacceptable and damaging," according to Kerry, who spoke at a forum hosted by The Atlantic where the insults were published, reports AFP.
The US secretary of state claimed the comments did not reflect the views of US President Barack Obama or his cabinet.

10 ‘Chickenshit’ Headlines

A crisis in U.S.-Israel relations is no laughing matter. Yet as a headline writer, I can’t resist the temptation to have some fun with the report that an anonymous Obama administration official called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “chickenshit.” Here’s what I came up with:
Can the U.S. and Israel make chicken salad out of chickenshit?

David Singer: Palestine Wallows With Sweden In Ikea La-La-Land

Certainly Ms Wallstrom’s assertion that the international criteria for recognition of the State of Palestine have been satisfied – are rebutted by the clear terms of Article 1 the Montevideo Convention 1934 – which expressly provide:
“The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications:
a) a permanent population;
b) a defined territory;
c) government; and
d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.”
Failure to even mention that there must be a permanent population before Sweden can possibly begin the diplomatic process of recognising the State of Palestine indicates the incredulity that Ms Wallstrom’s announcement has produced.
The fact that international law – Article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter – authorises and legalises close settlement by Jews on West Bank land – including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes – while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced – seems to have passed under Sweden’s radar and that of the panel of its international law experts.
Equally as incredible is the fact that Sweden considers that the legal requirements for a State can be met in an undefined area with non-defined boundaries.
Effective control of territory is required – boundaries are not and have never been a necessary legal pre-requisite.

Israel Recalls Ambassador from Sweden over Recognition of PA

Israel has ordered its ambassador to Sweden to return home and has “invited” the Swedish envoy to Israel for a “talk” following Stockholm’s decision Thursday to recognize the Palestinian Authority as a country.
Lieberman stated flat out that Sweden’s new prime minister, Stefan Löfven, “acted before he had time even to study the issue in depth.”
He said Swedish Ambassador, Carl Magnus Nesser, “will be invited for a talk at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem,” but there was no indication when that will happen.

'Sending IKEA Furniture Without Screws Doesn't Help'

Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon delivered a crushing riposte to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom's comments, as he gave an interview with Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) Friday morning.
Wallstrom had told CNN Thursday she would be “happy” to send Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman some IKEA furniture, after Liberman denounced Sweden’s decision to recognize the Palestinian Authority (PA) as "the State of Palestine," saying that, “relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than the self-assembly furniture of IKEA."
“I think it’s a sign of a sense of humor, and I will be happy to send him a flat pack of IKEA furniture and he will also see that what you need to put that together is, first of all, a partner,” Wallstrom said in her rejoinder. “You also need to cooperate and you need a good manual."
In his interview, Nachshon directly attacked Wallstrom's points: "It's nice to send a piece of furniture from IKEA, but when it comes with a manual in an unintelligible language and is missing screws, it doesn't help."

IKEA To FM: Have You Ever Tried To Assemble Our Furniture? (satire)

The company, originally a Swedish enterprise but now run from the Netherlands, objected to Lieberman’s comparison, pointing out the lengths to which they go to ensure that assembling IKEA furniture is anything but simple. ”IKEA takes umbrage at Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s implication that our furniture is not complex,” IKEA spokesperson Traian Bildit announced. “He must never have tried to assemble any. IKEA has two stores in Israel, and tens of thousands of Israelis have lived the frustration that is trying to put together our pieces. One might conclude that it is not the Swedish government, but Mr. Lieberman, who is out of touch with reality.”
“Anyone who has tried to put together our products knows the special kind of hell that awaits them as they attempt to understand the instructions, match the hardware, and use the pesky little doodad we include as ‘the only tool you’ll ever need’ – while missing a vital screw,” he explained.
IKEA has reportedly offered to furnish the Palestinian state that the Swedish government recognized. In Gaza, the UN has ordered tens of thousands of OBSERVATOR bottle racks, which would be used to ensure building materials would be used for peaceful purposes. One excited UN official declared, “With international OBSERVATORs stationed in Gaza, there will be no need for an Israeli military, and Israel can be demilitarized.” He referred to previous UN peacekeeping successes such as the Golan Heights.

Sweden Recognized 'Palestine' for 'Muslim Votes'

Former Israeli Ambassador to Canada Dr. Alan Baker, the head of the Legal Forum for Israel, on Friday explained to Arutz Sheva why the Swedish government officially recognized the Palestinian Authority (PA) as the "state of Palestine" on Thursday.
Baker, who previously served as legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry, sent a message to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven following the declaration, explaining to him that the move opposes the 1993 Oslo Accords.
"On the one hand they encourage the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and on the other hand they establish in advance the results of the negotiations," Baker told Arutz Sheva. "According to the Oslo Accords the Palestinians don't have the status of a state."
Baker posits that the recognition is a simple political act that has no juridicial meaning whatsoever, much the same as the UK's recent non-binding vote on the same issue.
"This step puts Sweden in line with states holding a hostile approach to Israel, but it has no legal meaning. It's known that the Muslims are flooding Sweden, and the prime minister needs their support," explained Baker.

Bennett to Sky News: Don't Sit in London and Call Us Apartheid

“That’s a blatant lie,” responded Bennett. “[Israel is] the only country in this area that treats its 1.5 million minority of Muslims, of Arabs, with full equal rights. They vote for our parliament. They have members of parliament. They pay taxes. They go to work. They enjoy full equal rights.”
“I don’t recall that in Saudi Arabia women can drive, and I do remember a few Arab states that kill gays and stone them. And I know that Syria is butchering its own people,” he continued. “So for you to suggest that Israel is an apartheid state when we’re the only place in the Middle East that provides full equal rights to citizens - that’s a blatant lie and I don’t accept that approach.”
“You should be praising Israel for being in a very tough situation,” Bennett told the interviewer. “Fighting in a world of Al-Qaeda and Hamas and ISIS now. And for you to sit in London and call us apartheid, that’s unacceptable.”
“We’re fighting your war, make no mistake. If this Islamic regime comes and flows over Israel, it’s going to hit London. In fact, it is. They killed a soldier on London’s streets. And they’re going to do that again,” warned Bennett.

You can't preach us about apartheid when British are being killed on the streets of London (h/t Yenta Press)


Is Peace Now Leader Profiting From Opposition to Jerusalem Building?

It turns out, however, that there is a fly in the Peace Now ointment. The proposed Givat Hamatos housing development is adjacent to the southwestern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, an ancient Israelite site mentioned in the Book of Joshua. Established in 1973, it now has 40,000 (mostly Jewish) residents and is an integral part of Jerusalem. There is no plausible way for Gilo to be within Jerusalem’s borders while Givat Hamatos, as Peace Now asserts, would comprise an illegal “settlement.”
Turn about is always fair play in Israeli politics. Tzali Reshef, a co-founder of Peace Now and a one-term member of the Knesset from the Labor party a few years back, owns Ariedan Investments Ltd, which has invested in the construction in Gilo and French Hill, a neighborhood in northern Jerusalem also built after 1967. This information was disclosed by Dani Dayan, former leader of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, following his recent television debate with Reshef. Danan cited the obvious: for Reshef to invest in Gilo, while claiming that next door Givat Hamatos would be an illegal “settlement,” is more than slightly hypocritical – if profitable.
Palestinians with whom Peace Now has long curried favor would expect nothing less. Any post-1967 Israeli community, even in Jerusalem, is considered an illegal “settlement.” But settlement in the Land of Israel, whether long ago in overnight tower and stockade outposts or kibbutzim, to say nothing of Jerusalem, has always defined Zionism. Givat Hamatos is only the most recent example of a practice that is more than a century old and the dream of Jews during two millennia.

Palestinian youths storm police cordon on Temple Mount

Despite the Palestinian Authority’s call for a “Day of Rage” throughout the West Bank Friday and the temporary complete closure of the al-Aqsa compound on the Temple Mount on Thursday for the first time in 14 years, the situation in the capital was overall calmer than police had feared – perhaps partly due to intermittent heavy rains in the city — and the traditional Friday noon prayers ended without much incident.
“Forty-five hundred people entered [the al-Aqsa compound] to pray today,” Aharonovitch said. “The situation is quiet.”
Some sporadic violence was reported in the West Bank: rock-throwing was reported at the Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, where security forces used non-lethal means to disperse the crowds; several other altercations were reported in the Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus areas – but none were reported to have developed into serious incidents.
In Jerusalem a group of young East Jerusalem Palestinians attempted to storm a police cordon around the Temple Mount but were repelled. As police and protesters faced off on the Mount, fireworks were fired at police from nearby rooftops in the Old City; rioters also gathered in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz and pelted police with rocks. They were dispersed using riot control methods.

Security official: Jerusalem rioting could persist for weeks, even months

As police prepared Friday for possible violent disturbances in Jerusalem," a senior security official estimated that rioting in the capital could continue for several more weeks, if not months.
The security official told Channel 10 that defense establishment estimates do not believe there is an order on high or an organized hierarchy behind recent disturbances in east Jerusalem.
While relative quiet reigned as the Temple Mount compound was reopened and Muslim worshipers engaged in Friday morning prayers a day after the holy site was closed to all visitors, security forces remained on high alert.

US Urges Israel to Open Temple Mount to Muslims

US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki urged Israel to reopen Al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslims, in a show of concern for prayer rights that may seem ironic to many given the lack of criticism on the Jordanian Waqf's (Islamic trust) ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount - the holiest site in Judaism.
"We're extremely concerned by escalating tensions across Jerusalem and particularly surrounding the Haram al-Sharif, Temple Mount," Psaki said. "It is actually critical that all sides exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric and preserve the status quo on the Haram al-Sharif Temple Mount in word and in practice."
A "continued commitment by Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians to preserve the historic status quo at this holy site is critical," said Psaki, according to AFP.
The demand of "status quo" at the site where Arab riots have become a daily occurrence echoes calls for status quo by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and comes as the wave of Arab terror continues to spiral after a lethal attack in Jerusalem last week in which an Arab terrorist killed a three-year-old baby and a 22-year-old woman with his car.

Police reopen Temple Mount ahead of Friday prayers

Police decided Thursday evening to reopen the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to Muslims hours after ordering its closure and following Arab and US calls for Muslim worshipers to be allowed in.
“It was decided to restore [the compound] to normal… effective immediately,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said, adding that because of a fear of unrest at Friday midday prayers, entry for Muslim men would be restricted to those over 50.
There would be no restrictions on Muslim women, she said.
Non-Muslims are not allowed access on Fridays to prevent violent altercations.
Samri said the decision was subject to security developments.

MK Tibi: 'Jews Have No Right To Pray on Temple Mount'

As violence in Jerusalem rages on and the fear of Arab riots has placed security forces on high alert, MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List) told Channel 2 in an interview to be broadcast Friday night that "the Jews have no right to pray at the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Tibi explained his words: "[allowing Jews to pray there] is a misuse of the concept of equal rights."
"Jews are not allowed to pray at Al-Aqsa because this is a place of worship for Muslims," added Tibi. "While this is a 70-dunam site, every single meter is holy to Islam."

Jordan Threatens to Revoke Peace Treaty Over Temple Mount

Mohammed Al-Momani, Jordan's Minister of Media Affairs and Communications and spokesperson for the Jordanian government, said the peace treaty is "under threat" if Israel continues "breaching" the status of the Temple Mount, Arabic-language Sky News reported, as cited by Yedioth Aharonoth.
He also threatened that Jordan had put together a plan to oppose the Israeli "breaches" on the Temple Mount and eastern Jerusalem.
The Jordanian minister criticized how Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu folded to Jordanian pressure and said he would keep the discriminatory status quo of the Temple Mount, but nevertheless closed the site on Thursday.
The closure on Thursday has already led Jordan to call Israel a "terrorist state," and despite the threat of riots and violence, police folded to the international pressure from Jordan, the US and other sources and allowed limited access on Friday - for Muslims only.
This is far from the first time Jordan has threatened to revoke the peace treaty.

Arab Rioters Vow: 'It's an Intifada, We Won't Be Stopped'

What is going on in the head of a young Arab rioter engaged in the "silent intifada" of terror attacks against Jews in Jerusalem? That's the question AFP apparently sought to answer in a series of interviews with Arab terrorists in the capital city.
Hisham, a fourteen-year-old rioter born around the start of the Second Intifada, "dreams of a new uprising" according to the news source. Ironically, it has been noted Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently echoed calls for that 2000 intifada by encouraging terror using the Temple Mount as a trigger.
"All the young people go in and out of prison on a regular basis," revealed Hisham, speaking about the rampant lawlessness and violence permeating the Arab population of Jerusalem. There are roughly 230,000 Arabs in the eastern part of Jerusalem, and around 200,000 Jews.
Hisham recently was recently in jail for a week, his first and likely not last arrest, for his part in the violent riots attacking police in the capital.
But jail time is not enough to stop the Arab rioters, AFP found.

Gazans arrested sneaking into Israel to seek work

The men crossed near Kibbutz Alumim in the Sdot Negev Regional Council area.
IDF forces rushed to the site to intercept the men, believing them to be potential terrorists targeting the nearby kibbutz.
But an initial interrogation led the IDF to believe they had attempted the dangerous crossing in search of work in Israel.

Two Arabs Nabbed Right Before Light Rail Ambush

Two Arabs, both aged 22 and residents of Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood, were arrested late Thursday night after they were identified by police and Border Patrol forces lurking between the light rail stations of Beit Hanina and Shuafat, carrying slingshots and stones.
Additional police and border forces had recently been stationed in the area to help eradicate the widespread violence in Jerusalem that has been labeled a "silent intifada."
The police approached the two men, who began to flee. After a footchase through the alleys of Shuafat, the Arabs entered one of the houses, in an attempt to hide. The police came into the building and arrested the two men.

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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 12:00:00 PM

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[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] European Antisemitism and the Void of Jewish Leadership (guest post)

A guest post from "Jewish Peoplehood:"

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Summer 2014 marked a dramatic increase of anti-Semitic incidents is Europe. In July alone, anti-Semitic attacks rose by 400% in the UK and doubled in France. The atmosphere in Europe could be likened to those of the 1930s. Thousands marched the streets yelling "Hitler was right! Jews to the gas!" Synagogues and Jewish schools were firebombed. Those who appeared to be Jewish were physically assaulted, including rabbis and elder women.

(SOURCE)

Throughout all of these escalating attacks, I was struck by the silence and inaction of European Jewish organizations, the various groups sworn to protect, support, and represent European Jewry. Groups whose primary tasks include combating anti-Semitism, an issue that after thousands of years, prompts a need for preemptive measures.

But the groups' response to anti-Semitism could only be described as lackluster. In a time when the European Jewish community must call on their elected leaders and institutions, little was done in response. Which did in fact lead to grassroots action from younger generations of Jews, but also highlights the shortcomings of diplomatic Jewish groups.

A few examples would be the European Jewish Congress, Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium (CCOJB), and the Board of Deputies in the UK.

The European Jewish Congress did little more than release very occasional statements of condemnation in response to anti-Semitic attacks, despite their diplomatic status. Although it seems that recently they have been more in touch with their communities.

In Belgium, as Jews were attacked and refused basic services, the primary group CCOJB were either unable or reluctant to become involved in the struggle.

In the UK, which had an extremely high rate of anti-Semitic attacks, the Board of Deputies was able to do little to combat the steady tide of hate. Perhaps they were simply ill prepared, but anti-Semitism is not a novel issue in the UK, preventive planning is expected. The Jewish community took to the internet to speak out against the Board, claiming them to be impotent.

Even people from outside of Europe and heads of Muslim communities came to these events! That's a serious absence on the part of the EJC. They seem to be missing the mark on many fronts,

The scope of Jewish groups' impotency can also be seen on Twitter, where they have few followers and post very occasional tweets that seem quite abstracted from the real world fight Jews are going through.

Twitter is known to be the social media front-line of the anti-Semitic battle. Any engagement referring to Jews or Israel is immediately hijacked into an anti-Semitic rant, and that’s not to mention the countless original posts stating that Jews drink children’s blood…or calling for the gassing of Jews.

It is of grave importance that Jewish groups have a strong presence, and use that presence to combat the ever-present tide of anti-Semitic hate.

Now, on a positive note, we can and should expect these groups to rise to action. Their lack of preparedness this summer serves as a wake-up call. If they don't heed it, they will become obsolete.

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 10:00:00 AM

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[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] Bibi's response to anonymous US official calling him "chickenshit" (video)

I find it striking that even during what so many people want to consider an unprecedented crisis in US-Israel relations, Israeli leaders still go out of their way to emphasize how much they consider the US a friend and how much Israel has in common with America.

I once illustrated this with a series of posters:

The question has to be asked: why has Israel been the recipient of more vitriolic insults from US political leaders than the many nations who hate America? Why have we never heard any such insults of the leaders of Russia or Iran or Saudi Arabia - or France for that matter?

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 08:00:00 AM

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[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] NYT takes four months to issue a simple correction of an Ali Abunimah lie

From CAMERA:

The New York Times yesterday corrected an article by its journalist Robert Mackey, who had approvingly relayed a misquotation by anti-Israel extremist Ali Abunimah.

Shortly after three Israeli teens were kidnapped in the West Bank, Mackey shared on his New York Times blog Abunimah's allegation that a popular Israeli Facebook page called for the arbitrary murder of Palestinians. "Kill a Palestinian ‘every hour,' says new Israeli Facebook page liked by 18,000," Abunimah claimed on Twitter.

...The Facebook page's tagline actually states, in Hebrew rhyme, "Until the boys return — every hour we shoot a terrorist."

After CAMERA informed New York Times editors of the mistranslation, the newspaper published the following correction:

Correction: October 28, 2014
An earlier version of this post referred imprecisely to an Israeli Facebook page demanding retribution for the abduction of the Israeli teenagers that was cited by Ali Abuminah, a Palestinian-American activist, in a Twitter post. The Facebook page urged Israelis to kill a Palestinian prisoner held on terrorism charges every hour; in his tweet, Mr. Abuminah referred to the proposed victims as simply "Palestinian."

It took four months for the New York Times to figure out what the Facebook page actually said?

At the time, I noted that Vanity Fair made the same accusation, and that it also seemed to be sourced to Abunimah. Yet Vanity Fair at least issued a correction within a day or two.

And as I mentioned then, the English-language "About" description of the Facebook page said explicitly that it was referring to terrorists. The NYT didn't even need to find someone in New York City that knows Hebrew to find out that Ali Abunimah's assertion was a lie.

So why did it take four months for the New York Times to get this corrected, way past the time that anyone would read the original article?

Even Haaretz issues its many corrections in a more timely manner than the Times.

It seems likely that Robert Mackey, whose NYT blog this was written on, resisted the change. Because the truth is not exactly what interests him - the story of Jews wanting vigilante justice in killing innocent Arabs was too good to check.

On Thursday, the same Ali Abunimah who was caught in this lie published a bizarre conspiracy theory to exonerate the shooter of Yehuda Glick. It puts 9/11 conspiracy theorists to shame, but like them, it of course blames Jews for the shooting. Check out this part:

According to “eyewitnesses” quoted in Haaretz’s Hebrew edition, the assailant asked Glick “Are you Yehuda Glick?” before firing three shots.

The four words in Hebrew are “Ha’im ata Yehuda Glick?”

The assailant also reportedly said, “Yehuda, you annoy me” – in Hebrew, “Yehuda, ‘itsbanta oti.”

Except for one instance of the letter ‘ayn, these two phrases do not contain any of the consonants whose pronunciation easily distinguishes a native Arabic speaker of Hebrew.

“If indeed a pharyngeal ‘ayn was pronounced, that could indicate an Arabic accent,” Uri Horesh, linguist and assistant professor of Arabic at Northwestern University, told The Electronic Intifada. “But it could also indicate the accent of a Jewish Israeli of Arab descent.”

Wow! Some Israelis come from Arab countries, and have similar accents, so it could have been an Israeli that shot Glick! What more proof do you need? (The motive, of course, is a false flag attack. Really.)

Yet even though this post is only one among many that prove that Abunimah is an unhinged hater whose grasp of reality is worse than tenuous, reporters who write for the New York Times and Vanity Fair and many others believe him implicitly.

Anyone who swallows Abunimah's idiotic ramblings can only do so if they have a similar bias to begin with. And that, in short, is why it takes four months to get the New York Times to issue a simple correction that anyone who bothered to visit the actual Facebook page could have done in four minutes.



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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/31/2014 05:30:00 AM

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