September 2012

Islamist Vandals Wage War on Free Speech by David J. Rusin

August 31, 2012
When Cyrus McGoldrick, advocacy director for the New York office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), logged into Facebook on August 12 to hint at his desire to vandalize anti-jihad ads that may soon run on city buses, he did not simply underline CAIR's troubling attitude toward free expression. McGoldrick's words — and the subsequent actions of others — have illuminated an overlooked aspect of the Islamist assault on Western speech: the defacement, if not obliteration, of political and commercial messages.

A destroyed AFDI ad in Greenwich, Connecticut.

An SOS From a Turkish Journalist by Claire Berlinski

August 30, 2012
Before I left Istanbul, Barçin Yinanç, the opinion editor of Turkey's English-language Hürriyet Daily News wrote a column that deserves attention. I reproduce it here:

I was in elementary school when I decided to become a journalist; I later started to work as a reporter in 1990. I tremendously enjoyed my profession as a diplomatic reporter, as the end of the Cold War brought with it tremendous dynamism to Turkish foreign policy. By the end of 1990s, I sort of entered a midlife crisis triggered by the state of affairs in Turkish journalism.

Let me explain.

Neologism and Nationalism by Alexander H. Joffe

August 30, 2012
There has never been agreement about Zionism. Not only is the idea of Jewish nationalism controversial, the very word "Zionism" arouses unique passions, as a recent controversy highlights. It was recently reported that the Jewish Federation of North America had dropped the word "Zionism" from a planning document. In a vehement denial, the Federation clarified that this was not so: It was merely a single individual on a subcommittee who proposed dropping the phrase "Zionist enterprise." The proposal, the Federation emphasized, went nowhere.

Lawyer for Corrie family: Nazi Germany’s founding was legal while Israel's founding was theft by Itamar Marcus

Aug. 29, 2012
Lawyer for Corrie family on PA TV in July:
Nazi Germany's founding was legal
while Israel's founding was theft
Lawyer Abu Hussein:
"Nazi Germany was a state based on the rule of law
for a short while... the State of Israel was founded
from the start on robbery and theft"

Israel is a "giant monster... we all want to step on its head,
but talking is not enough"

Gaza: Reverse Causality by David Harris

August 30, 2012
The New York Times (Aug. 29) carried a feature article entitled "U.N. Report Predicts a Bleak Future for Gaza Unless Services Are Improved."

Summing up the UN study, the article notes that by 2020 Gaza may not be “a livable place,” even as the population of this narrow strip of land is expected to grow by one-third in the next eight years, having already quadrupled in the last 45 years.

What’s striking about such accounts is the willingness to skip over the root cause of the problem or, at best, to make only oblique reference to it.

Gaza’s 600 Millionaires and Hamas’ Big Scam by Daniel Greenfield

Aug 30 2012
Khaled Abu Toameh is the only investigative journalist working the Gaza side of the street and in his latest report he asks, “How Many Millionaires Live in the “Impoverished” Gaza Strip?”

According to an investigative report published in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, there are at least 600 millionaires living in the Gaza Strip.

That’s not bad at all. So how did all those fine 600 folks make their millions? By controlling access to supplies for their own people.

Europe has Returned to Pre WWII By Giulio Meotti

September 2, 2012
The writer is a staunchly pro-Israel non-Jew, who tells us. “One day I reached my office, the stairs had been vandalized with red paint and the words “Free Palestine”. I know fear”

When kippah-wearing Jews and non-Jews march in Sweden to show that they have no fear, I know fear.

When anti-Semitism is again the most common currency of politics in Europe, I know fear.

When the Chief Rabbi of Lyon receives death threats with menacing photos, I know fear.

When a rabbi and his daughter are assaulted in the middle of Berlin, I know fear.

Victory: Shamed Sudan Pulls Out After UN Watch Campaign

GENEVA, Sept. 2 - In a rare victory for decency at the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, Sudan has just dropped its bid for a position of power on the world body. As reported by Foreign Policy Magazine and the Associated Press, Sudan's withdrawal followed a massive protest campaign chaired by Mia Farrow and organized by UN Watch.

Arab Spring now a Christian nightmare /By Salim Mansur

Friday, August 24, 2012
In the 1990s, western democracies stepped forward to stop ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia by dispatching NATO forces in support of UN peacekeeping operations in the Balkans.

The disintegration of Yugoslavia precipitated ethnic strife, and like all such struggles anywhere in the world, the Balkan conflict was complex and layered with history of grievances, identity politics, and religious bigotry. If one reaches back to the early years of the last century, this region was a cauldron of ethno-nationalism that ignited the First World War.

EGYPT'S LAST SYNAGOGUE DIES / Daniel Greenfield

Aug.31 2012
For the first time in 2,000 years, this year there will be no Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria.

The synagogue was the last ‘working’ synagogue in Egypt. The Egyptian authorities have banned High Holiday services for ‘security’ reasons.

Rewriting history Palestinian history fabricated

Rewriting the history of the Land of Israel in order to deny Israel's right to exist is central to Palestinian Authority (PA) policy. Long before it started the PA Terror Campaign (the "Intifada," 2000-2005), the PA was fighting a history war – erasing Jewish history and replacing it with a fabricated Palestinian history. This rewriting has two central goals:
1- Erase the Jewish nation's 3,000 year history in the Land of Israel;
2- Invent ancient Palestinian, Muslim and Arab histories in the land.

Hanan Ashrawi Is to Truth What Smoking Is to Health /by David Harris

September 3, 2012
Hanan Ashrawi, the PLO Executive Committee member much sought after by Western media outlets, has just earned a gold medal for historical revisionism.

In a recent article intended for an Arabic-speaking audience, she asserted there were no Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

Instead, according to her, there were only "emigrants," who left their ancestral homes voluntarily. Jews were not singled out for persecution, and if they were, it was, in reality, a plot by "Zionists."

Egypt Kicks Sand in Obama’s Face by Prof.B.Rubin

Egypt Kicks Sand in Obama’s Face by Prof.B.Rubin
03 Sep 2012
Brotherhood’s Leading Liberal Ally Defects; West Still Doesn’t Get It
I could write a 300-page book on how the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy has damaged Israel. I could write an 800-page book about how the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy has damaged U.S. interests. But why bother?

This is all you need to know:

Seeing double: Palestinians at the NAM summit in Iran By Pinhas Inbari

03 September 2012
The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah barely escaped major embarrassment last week after Iran invited both PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and his challenger in Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to attend the inauguration of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran. Ramallah was deeply shocked to learn that Haniyya was not invited as a mere guest or observer but as a formal representative of Palestine and its Prime Minister. To make matters worse, Iran’s official news agency 'Mehr' published Hamas’ letter accepting to attend the summit for all to see.

Jordan's King Abdullah Declares War on Internet by Khaled Abu Toameh

September 4, 2012
King Abdullah needs to know that in light of the calls for freedom and democracy, there is no room for such harsh measures against freedom of the media in the Arab world.

Is Jordan's King Abdullah trying to hide something from his people and the rest of the world?

Last week, the king managed to alienate journalists, bloggers and human rights and political activists by allowing his government to amend a law so it could impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression, including the blocking of websites.

Hate Israel Day at the U.N., Part 2

Sept.4 2012
UN Watch confronts world's worst regimes as they scapegoat Israel
to deflect attention from their own crimes.

In UN Watch Briefing 370 we reported on Part 1 of the ritual day of hate held by the last session of the U.N.’s top human rights body, in which Richard Falk, its permanent investigator on “Israel’s violations of the bases and principles of international law,” excoriated Israel and exonerated Hamas.

Forty years later, new revelations on the Munich massacre / Sharyn Mittelman

Sep 5 2012
Today marks forty years since the Munich massacre - when eleven Israeli Olympic athletes, coaches and officials, as well as a German police officer, were killed at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by Palestinian terrorist group Black September. This tragedy has recently been given renewed attention following the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) defiance of an international campaign to hold a minute's silence to remember those killed at this year's London Olympic's opening and closing ceremonies.

Egypt: Kill a Christian, Collect a Reward by Raymond Ibrahim

September 4, 2012
The flyers include the names and contact points for those Muslims who wish to collect their rewards for killing Christians.

Recently an Egyptian Muslim posted a YouTube videotape of himself cursing Islam and its holy book, the Koran; then tearing it to pieces and throwing it in the garbage. Here are excerpts of what he said:

Antisemitism on Clifornia campuses / Tammi Rossman - Benjamin

Dear President Yudof,

We are deeply troubled by reports that the University of California leadership has rejected the California State Assembly's unanimously-approved resolution condemning anti-Semitism in California's colleges and universities.

Libyan Islamists and the security forces: Iraq 2.0? by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

September 5, 2012
The Libyan elections in July that saw a poor performance on the part of Islamist parties were justifiably hailed by many commentators, who saw Libya as a notable exception to the theory of a universal regional ascendancy for the Islamists. I myself had wrongly predicted that the Islamists would gain the lion's share of the votes.

However, the election results should not lead to complacency.

WJC conference to push for recognition of rights of Jewish refugees from Arab lands / By Ben Sales, JTA

05 September 2012
TEL AVIV – Naim Reuven was only 8 when he left Baghdad more than 50 years ago, but he still remembers going with his father to catch fish in the Tigris River. His dad worked in a laundromat, a middle-class father of six and one of Iraq’s more than 100,000 Jews. Baghdad’s Jewish community suffered a pogrom in 1941, but Reuven, born a year later, has only fond memories of his childhood there -- until Israel declared independence in 1948.

Germany: New Ad Campaign to Counter Muslim Radicalization by Soeren Kern

September 5, 2012
"Salafists are fighting the liberal-democratic legal system and in its place they want to introduce their radical ideology in Germany." — German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich

The German government has launched a nationwide poster campaign aimed at fighting against the radicalization of young Muslim immigrants.

The ad campaign is the brainchild of German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, who has been leading Germany's multifaceted response (here, here and here) to the rise of radical Islam there.

Victimization of Egypt's Christians Worse After Revolution by Raymond Ibrahim

September 4, 2012
While some are aware that the Christians of war-torn Syria and Iraq are regularly abducted and held for large ransoms by Western-sponsored "freedom fighters," it is largely unknown in the West that the Christians of Egypt—which is not war-torn and has a stable government—are also prey to the same treatment. According to Al Moheet, a new human rights report indicates that there are dozens of cases of Muslim gangs abducting Christian Copts and holding them for ransom, in Nag Hammadi alone.

The Democratic Party Platform and Israel: What It Really Tells Us By Barry Rubin

05 Sep 2012
Many political criticisms, particularly during an election year, are subjective and can be challenged. Has something been taken out of context? A claim misunderstood? A word twisted? What’s special about analyzing the Democratic Party platform over Israel is that it is easy to take the text and show how support for Israel has been reduced, in some cases shockingly so.

U.N. adopts Cuban-sponsored "Right to Peace" text endorsing terrorism

Sept.5 2012
War is Peace
The U.N. Human Rights Council's recent 20th session saw the police state of Communist Cuba, a key backer of the Assad regime, successfully introduce a resolution for “the Right to Peace.”

Antisemitism Alive and Well in Romania Or How the Holocaust Never Happened by Michael Curtis

September 5, 2012
What is significant is that it was not the Nazi policy that triggered the massacre of Jews, but the Romanian government itself with the enthusiastic articulation of the military as well as the the broader society.

The virus of antisemitism is alive and well in Eastern Europe, and so is the denial of the Holocaust. It is particularly disconcerting that a younger generation in Romania, and more than likely everywhere else in the world, should be infected with this virus, and is -- or claims to be -- ignorant of the real treatment of Jews in the 20th century.

J'Accuse: Shame on Germany for Circumcision Ban by Alan M. Dershowitz

September 6, 2012
Why do countries with long histories of anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry seem to care more about the so-called rights of young children not to be circumcised than do other countries in the world with far better histories of concern for human rights?

The Democratic Platform: Not One Word on Islamism or Any Support for Arab Liberals and Allies by Barry Rubin

06 Sep 2012
Democratic Platform and the Middle East: Not One Mention of the Islamist Challenge Nor Support for Arab Government and Liberal Opposition Allies

When the authors of the Democratic platform’s sections dealing with the Middle East—I dealt with the section on Israel in a previous article—finished it they were no doubt quite satisfied. They felt that they had built a strong case for reelected President Barack Obama along the following lines:

Hanan Ashrawi and the attempt to write Jewish refugees out of history by Sharyn Mittelman

Sep 7 2012
Hanan Ashrawi, who sits on the PLO Executive Committee and is a former Sydney Peace Prize winner, has caused controversy by recently writing in an article intended for an Arabic-speaking audience that there were no Jewish refugees from Arab countries. She wrote, "the emigration of Jews was a voluntary act that was influenced by factors of pressure and temptation by Zionist movements and the Jewish Agency." Ashrawi explained that: "If Israel is their homeland, then they are not ‘refugees;' they are emigrants who returned either voluntarily or due to a political decision."

The Libya We Fought For Or Is Libya the New Iraq? by Daniel Greenfield

September 7, 2012
In Benghazi, a car bomb aimed at Libyan intelligence officials shook a crowded street. It's not the first car bomb to strike Libya after the fall of Gaddafi. Benghazi has its own insurgency and remains a flashpoint for the looming civil war that no one is talking about.

Study: Venezuelan anti-Semitism at new heights in race between Chavez and Capriles

September 7, 2012
(JTA) -- Anti-Semitism in Venezuela has spiked during the electoral race for president between a Catholic man of Jewish descent and President Hugo Chavez, according to a new report.

State media and supporters of Chavez, who has ruled the country for the past 14 years, regularly “vilify” his opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, derisively referring to his Jewish roots, a study by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism found.

Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood Bomb? by Raymond Stock

September 7, 2012
"We [Egyptians] are ready to starve in order to own a nuclear weapon that will represent a real deterrent and will be decisive in the Arab-Israeli conflict." — Dr. Hamdi Hassan, Spokesman, Muslim Brotherhood Parliamentary Caucus, 2006

California Campus Conundrum: UC Rejects Both CA Assembly and UC Task-Force Recommendations on Campus Anti-Semitism By Aryeh Weinberg

September 7, 2012
The past month has seen a great deal of activity in California regarding anti-Semitism on college campuses. The University of California Jewish Student Campus Climate Fact-Finding Team issued a report detailing the results of investigatory visits to six UC campuses, including eight recommendations for reform.

Finally, It’s Time to Recognize and Remember By Tabby Davoodi

August 3, 2012
30 YEARS AFTER, an Iranian-American Jewish civic organization, applauds the bipartisan sponsorship in Congress of legislation that would offer due recognition of the undeniable plight and suffering of Jews who were expelled from Arab and Muslim countries over the past 60 years. An estimated 850,000 Jews were displaced from their homes throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf since 1948, many of them having fled under increased threats of violence that often brutally targeted them simply because they were Jews.

Multiple and Severe Hate Speech on YouTube Online Hate Prevention Institute

August 1, 2012
The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) today released a report documenting serious racial hatred on YouTube. The report highlights how one user in a single day uploaded 1710 videos, the vast majority of which were blatant hate speech. YouTube responded by closing the user’s account within 24 hours of receiving an advanced copy of OHPI’s report.

Jewish community responses to campus climate report

Sept.8 2012
Dear UC Advisory Committee on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion:
We would like to bring to your attention two op-ed pieces that appeared this week in the J Weekly, the Jewish newspaper of Northern California.

The first is written by Guy Herschmann, a Jewish student at UCSC, who commends the UC campus climate report on Jewish students, stating that it "accurately describes the experiences many of us have had over the last several years with anti-Israel bias and agitation":

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/66340/u.c.s-pro-israel-jewish-studen...

Conflicting views in the PA about increased Israeli entry permits for Palestinians by Itamar Marcus and Barbaro Crook

Sept. 4, 2012
After 180,000 Palestinians enter Israel for holiday
PA daily: Entry permits intended to hurt Palestinian economy
Independent Al-Quds: Encourage more contact
Israel's decision to allow 180,000 Palestinians to enter Israel for the Muslim holiday of Eid El-Fitr has drawn different responses in the Palestinian Authority. While the official PA daily newspaper said that the move was intended to hurt the Palestinian economy, the independent Al-Quds argued that more contact should be encouraged.

"The Zionist gangs stole Palestine./ Official Palestinian Schoolbook / by Itamar Marcus and Harel Zioni

The establishment of the State of Israel in Palestinian Authority ideology and education
On the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence, Palestinian Media
Watch has prepared a comprehensive report describing how the establishment of the
state is depicted in the Palestinian Authority's educational system and official media,
both of which operate under the supervision of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
The report documents how the establishment of Israel and its continued existence are
demonized by spokesmen and representatives of the PA in the official controlled media.

PA unable to afford electricity but still pay terrorists six times the average Palestinian wage by Daniel Meyerowitz - Katz

Sep 6 2012
With the cost of living skyrocketing as falling revenues forces the Palestinian Authority ('PA') to stop paying salaries to its employees, the PA is struggling to hold onto what legitimacy it has left amongst its people. In spite of this, the PA is reportedly increasing the money it pays in support of terrorists who have murdered innocent Israelis.

500 Lashes, Death by Stoning: Women in Islam by Khaled Abu Toameh

September 10, 2012
Saudi authorities have sentenced Najla Yehya Wafa, a 35-year-old Egyptian woman, to 500 lashes. Her family says she was arrested after a business dispute with a Saudi Princess. Leila Jamul, a 23-year-old Sudanese woman, was sentenced last July to death by stoning for adultery. She is being held in prison, meanwhile, with her six-month-old baby.

A Pakistani girl and an Egyptian woman have become the latest victims of Muslim extremists who hide behind Islam's Sharia laws.

Steps to Disempower Iran by Christine Williams

September 10, 2012
The spokesman foreign policy for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party in the Bundestag, Philipp Missfelder, also advised that the Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah should be placed on the European Union's list of terrorist groups. The EU continues to categorize the Hezbollah as a charitable organization and a charitable group, thereby enabling them to raise millions of dollars to inspire, recruit and train terrorists.

UNWRA, Hamas and the plight of refugees by Daniel Meyerowitz - Katz

Sep 11 2012
Israel came under some criticism lately when Israeli authorities were refusing to allow entry to a group of Eritrean asylum seekers stuck at the Egyptian border. The Israelis eventually relented after one week and permitted some of the asylum seekers to cross the border.

One of the most prominent critics of this incident was William Tall, the local representative from the UN High Commission for Refugees ('UNHCR'), one of the two UN bodies tasked with catering to the world's refugee populations.

Canada severs diplomatic ties with Iran, calling Teheran "the most significant threat to global peace" / Or Avi Guy

Canada severs diplomatic ties with Iran, calling Teheran "the most significant threat to global peace" / Or Avi Guy

Sep 11 2012

How Muslim Men Are "Helping" Syrian Refugees by Khaled Abu Toameh

September 11, 2012
Muslim men from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have asked their embassies to help to help them find Syrian girls living in makeshift refugee camps in Jordan and Iraq. "Exploiting the conditions of the girls in the refugee camps by marrying them temporarily is a form of rape that must stop immediately. Those responsible for this crime should be brought to trial," says Abdel Bari Atwan of Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

WJC events in Jerusalem and at UN in New York highlight plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries

11 September 2012
As part of its effort to raise awareness of the plight of Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries after 1948, the World Jewish Congress is hosting two conferences.

Terrorism and Palestinian Statehood by Alan M. Dershowitz

September 11, 2012
As the Palestinian Authority continues to seek recognition by the United Nations as a "state," the world should consider the implications.

If the U.N. now recognizes Palestine as a state without requiring its leaders to negotiate a compromise peace with Israel, it would send a clear message to other groups seeking recognition and statehood: Terrorism will earn you the sympathy of the world and get you your way.

Why Hasn't There Been Another Palestinian Intifada? by Alexander H. Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky

September 9, 2012
Is the Arab Spring an 'intifada'? And why haven't the Palestinians joined in?

Help! Israel Is Trying to Defend Itself by Hisham Jarallah

Hisham Jarallah is a Palestinian journalist
September 12, 2012
As far as Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are concerned, it all started when Israel fired back. And they want the rest of the world to adopt this line. Sadly, there is no shortage of naïve people in the West who share this argument. These terrorists are causing more harm to the Palestinians than anyone else. But the two parties would like to see the terror attacks continue so that they can have an excuse to denounce Israel whenever the IDF fires back.

Jewish refugees are a ‘core’ peace e by Dan Diker

September 11, 2012
Dan Diker is the secretary general of the World Jewish Congress
It may come as a surprise to some observers that the saga of Jewish refugees exiled from Arab countries has been reinvigorated in Arab-Israeli diplomacy. Why are Jewish voices being raised now?

Another bad UN egg /BY HILLEL C. NEUER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012
GENEVA - Promoters of the UN’s hypocrisy-ridden Human Rights Council say it’s been reformed. Yet the 47-nation body stooped to a new low today by installing a top official whose life’s work — authoring books on World War II — make Germans the victims and the Allies the war criminals.