January 2012

The "Free Syrian Army" Challenges Assad / DR.Jacques Neriah

The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the rebel force fighting Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has included “Raising the flag on Iwo Jima” – depicting the bravery of U.S. Marines in World War II – on its official Facebook page. This appears together with the FSA logo which reads: “We will vanquish or die!”

The Arab Uprising s' Impact On Israeli Defense / Efraim Inbar

Jan.1 2012
Although the wave of mass protests spreading through the Arabic-speaking countries may have begun to recede, it has left a wide-ranging impact on the region. Three authoritarian regimes have collapsed, and the rest are experiencing varying degrees of duress.

This emerging political and strategic landscape has major implications for Israeli national security. Regional turmoil has effectively ruled out a major advance in Arab-Israeli diplomacy, enabled Ankara and Tehran to expand their influence, continued the decline of U.S. influence, and emboldened extremists.

Christians At Risk: A Jew's Concern - Part One/ David Haris

Note:David Harris is Executive Director, AJC
06/12/11
I read with dismay the reports of repeated assaults on Copts in Egypt.

Here's a Wall Street Journal account (June 11):

Christians At Risk: A Jew's Concern - Part Two/ David Haris

December 31, 2011
Here's a recent headline in The Guardian: "Gaza Christians long for days before Hamas cancelled Christmas."

As a non-Christian, I'm curious about the reaction.

Or when the media reports on attacks on Coptic Christians, an estimated ten percent of the Egyptian population.

Middle East Craziness: Some Personal Anecdotes / Prof. B.Rubin

December 30, 2011
I think if you haven’t had much contact with the Middle East it is hard to comprehend how loony a region this is and the magnitude of the lies told about it. I had to deal today with something relating to the presence of Egypt’s embassy in Israel and it made me think about some past experiences.

Majority and Minorities in the Arab World / Zvi Mazel

The Lack of a Unifying Narrative
The current sociopolitical eruption in the Arab world is the result of the total failure of Arab states to create a unifying national narrative and establish modern egalitarian polities.

Instead of seeking what is unifying, and constructing a society that mobilizes its resources to defeat backwardness and improve the economy, the elites have attempted through Arab nationalism and/or Islam to impose a unity that has always left parts of the population outside the majority community.

US and EU Funding Palestinian Efforts to Stop "Normalization" with Israel / Khaled Abu Toameh

January 3, 2012
In recent weeks, the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank has been waging a campaign aimed at foiling any meetings between Israelis and Palestinians.

As a result, Israeli and Palestinian academics were forced to cancel a number of planned meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank after receiving threats from activists belonging to various Palestinian groups, including Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

At the same time, the Palestinian leadership has permitted meetings between its representatives and Hamas officials.

The Fantasy of Palestinian Reconciliation / Pinhas Inbari

02 January 2012
A week-long negotiation session in Cairo brought about two major achievements for the PLO:

2012: Middle East Scenarios / Alan Caruba

January 2, 2012
A bit of history—the troubles we are seeing today in the Middle East actually began following the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War One. The 1919 Versailles Treaty that followed carved up the Middle East into colonies to be controlled by England and France, each with their figurehead monarchs. The Arabs involved had no say in the matter.

Hamas Says Gaza Not "Occupied" : UN Disagrees

World Body Out of Step with Palestinians
GENEVA, Jan. 3 - The UN’s continued labeling of the Gaza Strip as “occupied” was directly contradicted today by a top leader of Hamas, the vehemently anti-Israel Palestinian terror group that controls the territory.

Noting the Hamas statement reflects the reality since Israel's full withdrawal in 2005, the Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch called on the UN to encourage Palestinians to take responsibility for areas they control, and to cease referring to Gaza, in reports and through officials and spokespeople, as “occupied territory.”

An Old Egyptian Tradition: A Military that Brutalizes Egyptians / Raymond Ibrahim

January 2, 2012
The myths of a "patriotic" or "altruistic" Egyptian military carefully protecting the "rights" of its citizenry—the narrative of the mainstream media of the January 25 Revolution—are long gone.

Hamas Openly Joins Brtotherhood: Brotherhood Openly Joins Hamas War on Israel / Prof.B.Rubin

January 3, 2012
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which rules the Gaza Strip and has been moving toward a partnership with the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party, has openly proclaimed itself the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

This development took place during the visit to Cairo of Hamas’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. It should be remembered that Hamas not only calls for Israel’s destruction but for genocide against Jews generally. It was Haniyeh’s first trip abroad since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007.

South Sudan, Israel's New Ally / Daniel Pipes

January 3, 2012
It's not every day that the leader of a brand-new country makes his maiden foreign voyage to Jerusalem, capital of the most besieged country in the world, but Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan, accompanied by his foreign and defense ministers, did just that in late December. Israel's President Shimon Peres hailed his visit as a "moving and historic moment." The visit spurred talk of South Sudan locating its embassy in Jerusalem, making it the only government anywhere in the world to do so.

This unusual development results from an unusual story.

Sunni Versus Shia: The Middle East's New Strategic Conflict / Prof.B.Rubin

04 Jan 2012
Of course, conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims are notat all new, but the fact that this is becoming a central feature on the regional strategic level is a dramatic shift. After all, as long as there were secular-style regimes preaching anall-inclusive Arab nationalist identity, differences between religiouscommunities were subordinated. Once there are Islamist regimes, theology becomescentral again, as it was centuries ago.

Identity Among Middle East Christians / Aymenn J.Al - Tamimi

January 5, 2012
In the course of the present unrest across the Middle East and North Africa, it has become clear that questions of identity are going to be extremely important in deciding the future paths of the various countries in turmoil, not only as regards the divide between Islamists and secularists, but also concerning ethnic and sectarian tensions in countries like Syria, Yemen, and Libya.

The Debate About Gender and Religion in Israel / Sharyn Mittelman

Naama Margolis brings into focus the debate
Jan 5 2012
The issue of public gender discrimination and harassment in Israel has received significant media coverage both in Israel and abroad.

It began with recent controversies over women singing in a ceremony for the Israeli army, which was boycotted by religious soldiers, and the informal gender segregation on some buses in ultra-Orthodox (haredi) areas. (See a previous blog post on these issues.)

The "Confusing " Massages of Mahmoud Abbas / Khaled Abu Toameh

January 6, 2012
Many Palestinians are finding it increasingly difficult to understand what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas really wants. Some say they are even confused because of Abbas's contradictory messages to the Palestinians and the rest of the world.

On the one hand, Abbas has been telling the Palestinians that he has no intention to run for another term. On the other hand, some of his aides and advisors are now saying that Abbas is Fatah's only candidate for president in the next election, slated for next May.

Hamas Chief: "Islamic Spring": Britherhood Chief: Chaiphate Soon / Prof.B.Rubin

Hamas Chief: “Islamic Spring”; Brotherhood Chief: Caliphate Soon; Western Media: Islamists Moderate, Israel Bad
January 6, 2012
A 27-year-old American-Israeli law school student decides he’s going to go to Egypt and talk to Egyptians. He gets arrested by the authorities there as a spy, then is released in the prisoner exchange. He then brags that the mere charm of his magical persuasion convinced a hardened Muslim Brotherhood cadre not to be anti-Israel any more. So there’s nothing to worry about!

CALLS for Dutch Government to Issue Appology for Ignorance about Fate of Jews During the Holocaust

Calls for Dutch government to issue apology for ignorance about fate of Jews during Holocaust
06 January 2012
A number of Dutch politicians are calling on their government to apologize for what they call the "passive" response of the exiled Dutch government to the mass deportations of Jews by Nazi occupiers during World War II. Of the 140,000 Jews who lived in the Netherlands before the German invasion in 1940, more than 100,000 were deported and murdered in the Nazi death camps. About 30,000 Jews live in the Netherlands today, out of a total population of nearly 17 million.

Muslim Persecution of Christians: December 2011 / Raymond Ibrahim

January 5, 2012
The Nigerian church bombings, wherein the Islamic group Boko Haram killed over 40 people celebrating Christmas mass, is just the most obvious example of anti-Christian sentiment in December. Elsewhere around the Muslim world, Christmas time for Christians is a time of increased threats, harassment, and fear, which is not surprising, considering Muslim clerics maintain that "saying Merry Christmas is worse than fornication or killing someone." A few examples:

The Real Reason Abbas Went o the U.N / Mudar Zahran

The world held its breath last September 26th as Palestinian "President" Mahmoud Abbas made his case for statehood before the United Nations General Assembly. The Israeli establishment still stands disturbed by the Palestinian Authority's [PA] move, to the point that Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, described it as "a very dangerous situation" that "requires action." Nonetheless, amid this storm; Israel might have an opportunity of a lifetime on which to capitalize.

An Anti - American Islamist Obama's Favorite Middle East Leader / Prof.B.Rubin

Why Is an Anti-American Islamist Obama's Favorite Middle East Leader?
06 Jan 2012
For the first time in forty years,Israel is not the American president’s favorite Middle Eastern ally. Instead,that role is played by Turkey’s government.

Is Lybia Disintergrating As A State / DR.Jacques Neriah

January 8, 2012
Jacques Neriah
More than two months after the death of Muammar Gaddafi – and nearly five months since he was removed from power – Libya’s new government faces problems in securing order and the unity of Libya as a state.

The Two Faces of Al Jazeera / Oren Kessler

JAN.8 2012
One of the principal beneficiaries of the Arab uprisings has been Al Jazeera television. Viewers are praising the English and Arabic channels' comprehensive coverage of the revolts while the Obama administration continues to court the network as part of its signature foreign policy goal of improving ties with the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Turkey Admits to Massacre, World Yawns / S. Mittelman

Jan 6 2012
Bodies are mounted on to mules after the attack

A news story which received little coverage in Australian media surrounds the tragic news that Turkey committed a massacre that killed 35 civilians in an air strike into Iraq near a Kurdish village along the Turkish border on 28 December 2011.

Gaza Leader Promises "Difficult Days" for Israel

Jan.8 2012
TUNIS — The prime minister in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday promised "difficult days" for Israel, and at a rally in Tunis urged Arab Spring revolutionaries to fight for an independent Palestine.

Ismail Haniya received an ovation from the crowd of some 5,000 men, women and children gathered in a stadium waving Palestinian, Tunisian and Hamas flags.

"I Certainly Do Not See Iran As A Threat" Declaired Turkey's Foreign Minister / David Harris

"I certainly do not see Iran as a threat."
January 8, 2012

These words are destined for the history books.

They were uttered by Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, during a recent visit to Tehran.

Other than such brilliant luminaries as Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, and North Korea’s new strongman, Kim Jong Un, few world leaders today would echo Davutoglu’s views.

Obama Supports the Muslim Brotherhood / Prof.B.Rubin

Such a ‘Great’ Idea It Can Now Be Proclaimed But Not Criticized: Obama Supports the Muslim Brotherhood
January 8, 2012
Not only is the Obama administration, as I’ve written for the last year, favoring radical Islamist forces — despite the fact that these are anti-Western, pro-terrorism, building dictatorships, and openly antisemitic and anti-Christian — but now even the establishment media is admitting it.

A friend of mine said, “Oh, they are probably saying that the Brotherhood is sounding radical publicly but privately reassuring U.S. officials that they are moderate.”

Will Palestinian Reconciliation Lead to A Hamas Takeover of the PLO? Lt.Col. (ret.) Jonathan D.Halevi

January 5 2012
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal reached an agreement in Cairo on 22 December on national reconciliation and a strategic partnership. A new temporary leadership was formed for the PLO, for the first time in tandem with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The Rise of Hamas: "Death to the Jews" / Khaled Abu Toameh

January 10, 2012
The Islamist frenzy that is currently sweeping the Arab world has seen Hamas rise to become a legitimate and recognized player in the Palestinian and international arena.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh last week began a tour of a number of Arab and Islamic countries, where he has so far been received as a hero and with chants of "Death to Jews!"

Campaign To Cancel UNESCO Election of Syria to UN Human Rights Committee

RE: Signs of success in campaign to cancel UNESCO’s election of Syria to human rights committee

Jan. 9, 2012

Dear Rivka,

I want to share with you some good news.

31,078 People read this web in Dec.2011

To the readers of my web,
Thank you for reading my web.
I hope it will reduce the number of people who "buy" the demonization propaganda against Isrel.

The truth is usually in the middle. Justice is not on one side of the conflict.

Australian Jews Complain to Broadcaster About TV SERIES "the Promise"

10 January 2012
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has complained with the Australian broadcaster SBS about the British-made television series ‘The Promise’, which it says conveys anti-Jewish stereotypes.

Israeli Archaelogists Found One More Proof Against Palestinian Efforts to Rewrite the History of the Land of Israel

10.01.12
Israeli archaeologists find 1,500-year-old kosher 'bread stamp' near Acre
The tiny stamp was used to identify baked products; experts think it belonged to a bakery that supplied kosher bread to the Jews of Acre in the Byzantine period.

A 1,500-year-old seal with the image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah has been discovered near the city of Acre.

Farewell to Sondra Hale Anti - Israel Activist at UCLA / Cinnamon Stillwell

Jan 10, 2012
The rabidly anti-Israel University of California, Los Angeles anthropology and women's studies professor Sondra Hale has retired. Her list of dubious achievements is long and, over the years, Campus Watch has chronicled a good number:

Hale was one of the founding members of the organizing committee for the Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel. At the time of its inception, she touted her prominent involvement, telling the Daily Bruin in February, 2009 that, were it to go into effect, "foreign exchange and cooperative programs with Israel would cease."

UN Watch Challenges the UN on Labeling Gaza "Occupied"

Pressed by Media, Evasive UN Pledges to Answer
UN Watch Challenge on Labeling Gaza "Occupied"
Jan.10 2012
As shown in the video and transcript below, the spokesman of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was asked by journalists on Friday to respond to UN Watch's challenge as to why the world body continues to label the Gaza Strip “occupied” by Israel, despite a Hamas leader last week stating the opposite.

After initially seeking to dodge the question, the spokesman promised the UN would look into it and respond. We're waiting.

Learn Courage from An Arab Marxist and Cowardice from Western Phony "Liberals" / Prof.B.Rubin

January 10, 2012
A little man stood on the stage in a British university hall, meticulously dressed, looking just like the scholar that he was. To look at him you would think he was the embodied stereotype of timidity. It was 1980. Iraq had just invaded Iran and I was in Exeter, England, at an academic conference. Though I hadn’t realized it before arriving, the meeting was sponsored by the Saddam Hussein government.

Befogging the Enemy: U.S Officials as Human Pretzels / David J.Rusin

Dec 31, 2011
The most vexing video of 2011 may be this clip of Congressman Dan Lungren questioning Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Stockton on December 7. Though Stockton's evasiveness is in line with the government's history of not calling Islamism the enemy — recently exhibited by scrubbing FBI training materials and labeling the Fort Hood attack as "workplace violence" — his ability to twist himself into knots to avoid stating the obvious deserves special recognition:

Lungren: Secretary Stockton, are we at war with violent Islamist extremism?

Palestinian Rights Activist Confirms Hamas Puts Terror Bases in Civilian Areas / Allon Lee

Jan 10 2012
Sheikh Radwan, Gaza: red stars mark rocket fire
A Palestinian human rights activist has inadvertently confirmed what Israel has always insisted, that terrorist groups live, train, operate and run riot throughout the Gaza Strip's residential neighbourhoods.

In a piece written for the Palestinian news service Maan, Gaza human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma reveals that the "resistance movements" are so entrenched and widespread in residential areas that civilians are suffering frequent injuries because of their activities.

Friedman ( NYT )Cheers as Egyptians are Enslaved / Prof.B.Rubin

January 11, 2012
It is distasteful when Western intellectuals, politicians, and journalists who pride themselves on their enlightened, humanitarian views watch people abroad fall subject to ruthless forces of dictatorship and dogma. When these same people actually cheer the new tyrannies, put their arms around the shoulders of those who despise them, and tell everyone else that there’s nothing to worry about, that’s actively disgusting.

Palestinian TV : Songs on Israeli Cities as Palestinians / Itamar Marcuset al

Palestinian - PA TV rebroadcasts song
Jan. 11, 2012
Song reappears on PA TV:
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth
are Palestinian
Palestinian Authority TV keeps reinforcing the Palestinian denial of Israel's right to exist. This week PA TV rebroadcast a song which states that "Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours."

The song On the way to Jerusalem by Muhammad Kabha, which has been broadcast on PA TV seven times, identifies numerous cities all over Israel as "Palestinian."

Muslim Brotherhood Declares 'Mastership of World' As Ultimate Goal / Raymond Ibrahim

January 12, 2012
Although many Muslim leaders openly articulate their efforts as part of a larger picture—one that culminates in the resurrection of a caliphate adversarial by nature to all things non-Muslim—many Western leaders see only the moment, either out of context or, worse, in a false context built atop wishful thinking.

Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose long-term purpose is reflected in the word "prepare" appearing in their motto.

Updating the Ancient Infrastructure of Christian Contempt / Dexter Van Zile

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, headquartered in Jerusalem, has been a persistent source of anti-Zionist agitation in mainline Protestant churches in the United States since its founding in 1994. The organization subjects Israel, Jews, and Judaism to intense scrutiny while remaining nearly silent about Arab and Muslim extremism in the Middle East. In addition to publicizing the writings of its founder, Anglican priest Naim Ateek, Sabeel broadcasts its message via regional conferences in the United States and regular study missions to Israel.

What Does Hamas Really Believe? S.Mittelman

Jan 11 2012
Hamas, has governed the Gaza strip since 2007. Its Charter calls for the destruction of Israel and Jews. It states "our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious" and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Hamas also rejects the Quartet's offer to become a partner in the peace talks by recognising the Jewish state, ending terror and accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

What Abdullah and Abbas Hope to Achieve from Amman Talks / Khaled Abu Toameh

January 13, 2012
The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which resumed in Amman earlier this month, are mainly intended to help Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah bolster their stature among their constituents and the international community.

For King Abdullah, who is facing growing popular protests in the kingdom over lack of reforms and transparency, the meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials in Amman are a way of distracting attention from his problems at home.

After Embracing PLO, UNESCO Lobbies to Circumvent U.S Penalty

January 13, 2012
UNESCO officials are braced for “months” of back-and-forth with the United States as they seek restoration of U.S. funding following mandated cuts in response to the Paris-based agency’s embrace of “Palestine” as a member, diplomatic sources report.

Islamic States Pledge Tolerance But As Report Says: Practice Persecution

January 13, 2012
The report "Defamation of Religion", Freedom of Religion, General Assembly, Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 0 Comments

Concerns about an Islamic-sponsored “combating intolerance” initiative at the United Nations are brought into sharp relief by results of a new world survey on religious persecution.

Muslim nations make up nine out of the top ten countries where Christians face the “most severe” persecution, and 38 of the top 50, reports U.S.-based Open Doors in its 2012 World Watch List.

3rd Anniversary of Goldstone Report

3rd Anniversary: Goldstone Report Hits Dead-Ends, But Far From Dead
Jan 13 2012
Yesterday marked the third anniversary of the notorious UN Human Rights Council session that created the Goldstone Report, a 500-page document that excoriated Israel—for defending itself from deadly rockets—while exonerating Hamas.

The core charges of the report—that Israel's leadership intentionally plotted to murder Palestinian civilians, and did so from racist motives—were famously retracted by Judge Goldstone in op-eds published last year in the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The Goldstone Report "Reconsidered" - A Critical Analysis / Gerald M.Steinberg et al

The Goldstone Report “Reconsidered” – A Critical Analysis
Edited by Gerald M. Steinberg and Anne Herzberg NGO Monitor and Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

To order a copy of this book, visit Amazon.com or contact [email protected].

Israel has been the subject of numerous controversial U.N. inquiries related to armed conflict and responses to terror attacks. But, the scope and impact of the Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, known as the Goldstone Report, were particularly extreme.

PA Mufti:Muslims' Destiny is to Kill Jews / Itamar Marcus et al

Jan. 15, 2012
PA's highest religious authority, the Mufti, at Fatah event:
Muslims' destiny is to kill Jews
Resurrection will come only after Jews are killed by Muslims

Moderator at Fatah event:
"Our war with the descendants of the apes and pigs (i.e., Jews)
is a war of religion and faith"

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik