Tuesday, July 01, 2014
What Happened at Lydda
In his celebrated new book, Ari Shavit claims that “Zionism” committed a massacre in July 1948. Can the claim withstand scrutiny?Khaled Abu Toameh: How Abbas Duped Kerry and Indyk
Others have found Shavit’s account of Lydda “riveting” (Avi Shlaim), “a sickening tour de force” (Leon Wieseltier), and “brutally honest” (Thomas Friedman). As I read through it, however, the alleged actions and attitudes of Shavit’s Israeli protagonists struck me as implausible. To me they seemed to personify much too readily Shavit’s broader thesis: that “Zionism” had been preprogrammed to depopulate the country of its Arabs, and that this preprogramming filtered down even to the last soldier. In Lydda, soldiers licensed by “Zionism” then became wanton killers of innocents, smoothing the work of expulsion.
Perhaps my suspicion was stoked by the fact that, time and again over the decades, Israeli soldiers have stood accused of just such wanton killing when in fact they were doing what every soldier is trained to do: fire on an armed enemy, especially when that enemy is firing at him. That such accusations might even be accompanied by professions of “love” for Israel is likewise no novelty. (See under: Richard Goldstone.) When such charges are made today, they tend to be subjected to rigorous investigation. Could Shavit’s narrative withstand a comparable level of scrutiny?
Shavit relies largely on his interviews, conducted those many years ago. Since he doesn’t cite documents in a public archive, I have no way of knowing whether he fairly represents his subjects. But it did occur to me that these same protagonists may have told their stories to others. And, with a bit of research, I discovered that they had.
Abbas appears to be the only player who benefited from the botched U.S.-sponsored peace process. Not only did this peace process get 78 prisoners released, but it also paved the way for Abbas to embark on unilateral moves and wage a diplomatic war against Israel in the international arena.State Dept Claims Palestinian Govt ‘Making Every Effort’ to Abide by U.S. Requirements
As if that were not enough, the peace process eventually drove Abbas into the open arms of Hamas: Abbas would rather join forces with Hamas than succumb to U.S. pressure to reach a "treacherous" agreement with Israel.
Kerry and Indyk failed to understand that no Palestinian leader has a mandate to make real concessions to Israel as part of a peace agreement.
Instead, they chose to endorse the false assumption that Abbas would be able to deliver a deal. By doing so, they actually forced Abbas to mislead them into thinking that if only Israel released more prisoners, he would be able to make concessions. The question now is whether Kerry and Indyk will be prepared to admit that they were duped by the Palestinian Authority president. Probably not.
While AP reporter Matt Lee pressed State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on the United States’ relationship with Palestine, Psaki maintained that President Abbas and his technocratic government “are making every effort” to abide by U.S. requirements, including the rejection of violence.State Dept: Palestinian Govt 'Making Every Effort' To Abide By U.S. Requirements
Lee questioned Psaki about the recently confirmed deaths of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers, but Psaki declined to predict how the matter might weigh into the United States’ relationship with Palestine. Lee continued, “There also, I think — for — more than a dozen rockets that were fired into Southern Israel from Gaza today. Is that something that would make you rethink your position as it relates to the Palestinian government?”
Psaki replied that the State Department would “continue to review and take a look at the circumstances at the ground on a daily basis”, but that “I don’t have anything new to predict for you or outline”, indicating that the United States maintains its support for the Palestinian government.
“Do you think right now that they are abiding by the requirements?” Lee asked.
Israeli jets pound Gaza, hit 34 targets in overnight strike
The IAF airstrikes targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad assets in the Gaza Strip including a Hamas complex in Rafah that hosted a command center, Hamas residential structures, and a weapons storage facility.U.S. Government-Approved Hamas Continues Sending Rockets Into Israel
"If Hamas’s aim is to escalate, we will act accordingly," a senior security source said, warning that an increase in Gaza rocket fire will be met with an increased Israeli campaign of air strikes.
Security quiet would be met with a similar response from Israel, the source added.
In the 18 days since the terrorist group Hamas kidnapped three Israeli boys, over 40 rockets have been launched from the Gaza strip into southern Israel, including at least 15 Monday morning.Fmr. Israeli Security Chief: More Gaza Rocket Fire May Prompt IDF Op ‘Bigger’ Than Pillar of Defense
Monday’s rockets come after a Saturday rocket attack striking an industrial factory in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, causing a large fire in the area.
The Saturday attack injured two of the four workers who were inside the factory. The two injured were taken to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon suffering from light burns.
According to reports, the fire in the factory led to smaller explosions inside the factory, caused by paint canisters that caught on fire. ‘’A fireball rose 200 meters from the burning factory, it was horrible,’’ said one of the people injured.
A top former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general told a local radio station on Monday, that, if rocket fire out of Gaza does not subside, Israel may opt to hammer Gaza militants harder than in Operation Pillar of Defense in Nov., 2012.Satan Gleefully Anticipating Eventual Arrival Of Palestinian Kidnappers (satire)
That month-long operation saw Israeli aircraft hit some 1,500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets, with a roughly equal number of rockets fired across much of southwestern Israel, as well as longer-range rockets hitting Tel Aviv and surrounding areas to the south, and the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The Prince of Darkness has begun preparations for the eventual arrival in Hell of the two men responsible for the abduction and murder of three Israeli boys two weeks ago, and has set aside a special array of devices and situations to torment them once they die.Dr. Sherkoh Abbas on the Kurdish Engine of Middle Eastern Democracy
Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme of the West Bank city of Hebron lured the three Israeli teenagers into a vehicle at a popular hitchhiking location near the yeshiva at which the three studied, abducted them and killed them soon afterwards. The IDF found the bodies of the teens in a field near Hebron Monday, following 18 days of searches, prayers, and national outpourings of love and support for the kidnapped teens and their families. In contrast, Palestinian society almost uniformly celebrated the kidnapping, leading the Devil to pay special attention to the fates of the perpetrators once they are in his hands.
“It won’t be long now,” Satan promised his underlings this evening. “Criminals of this sort always end up coming to a violent end, and then we have them forever.” He detailed the punishments and suffering that await the pair, relishing each component of the torment.
The rapid advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern and central Iraq and the impending threat to Baghdad has focused on the world’s attention on the Kurds - seemingly the sole functioning bastion of defense against the jihadi offensive.Iraqi Lawmaker Calls on Kurds to ‘Explain Nature of Their Relationship With Israel’
At this critical juncture in time, Mida spoke to Dr. Sherkoh Abbas, President of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria, on the situation in Kurdish Syria, the political dimension of the Syrian Civil War, Assad, ISIL, Iran, US policy and the Israeli angle. The result was an illuminating inside perspective which proved, once again, that there is always more than meets the eye in our region.
Dr. Sherkoh Abbas’ family hails from the Kurdish area of Syria and part of the Kurdish region in Turkey, where it has been present and politically-active for over 400 years. Abbas himself has been active on Kurdish issues for over 30 years. In 2006, he formed the Kurdistan National Assembly - Syria (KNAS), an umbrella group for Kurdish political parties and tribal, religious and civic leaders opposed to Assad’s dictatorship and advocating federalism for Syria.
An angry Iraqi lawmaker demanded answers from members of the restive northern province over Israel’s public support for the creation of an independent Kurdistan.UN Watch: UN rights council meets on Syrian-backed “right to peace” initiative
“The Kurds should explain to the Arab world their relationship with Israel and clarify the situation. There should remain no room for doubt. We are witness to the Kurds becoming an enemy of Iraq and the Muslim world,” government member Tzadak al-Laban said on Sunday, in reference to recent statements by Israel’s prime minister, foreign minister, and president supporting Kurdish independence.
A Syrian-backed declaration on the “right to peace” is what a UN working group is seeking to draft during a week-long meeting at the UN Human Rights Council which opened yesterday in Geneva.U.S. Worried About Syria Threat to Commercial Flights
While all 193 UN member states can attend the sessions of the working group, only some 30 are attending, along with another 20 NGO activists.
Key backers of the “right to peace” include Cuba and Syria. One of the goals of such human rights violators is to erode the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, which calls for the international community to intervene in instances of extreme human rights violations such as genocide.
The “right to peace” aims to shield the perpetrators. UN Watch has exposed how this “right” is used to shield dictatorships like Syria and to give legitimacy to terrorism.
The Obama administration is concerned that terrorists in war-ravaged Syria are trying to develop a new generation of bombs that could be smuggled onto commercial planes, ABC News reported on Sunday.ISIS Parades Scud Missile, Tanks, in Al-Raqqah, Syria
As a result, Washington may ask overseas partners to enhance security measures at airports and is weighing whether to do the same at home, the report said.
"[This threat] is different and more disturbing than past aviation plots," one source told ABC News.
Israeli architects applaud Riba retreat from call for boycott
The British architects' union's decision not to pursue an anti-Israel motion has been welcomed by its Israeli counterpart.The Activists Who Cry Censorship
Members of Riba voted in March to call on the International Union of Architects (UIA) to suspend Israeli members.
Riba's council had been due to debate the issue last week, but members were asked only to ratify the creation of a new international division.
The UIA had already indicated that it would not consider the Riba motion at it annual conference in August.
Some unelected Jewish intellectuals claim to know the general will better than the chosen leadership of communal organizations, whom they accuse of being complicit with Israel in a conspiracy of silence to cover up Israel’s lamentable conduct. Writing in the San Francisco Gate in 2007, Stanford University Professor Joel Beinin asked, “Why discredit, defame and silence those with opposing viewpoints? I believe it is because the Zionist lobby knows it cannot win based on facts.” Beinin is entitled to his views and enjoys the freedom to publish them—hardly a sign of silencing. He is not under censorship.Jeremy Ben Ami tries to silence critical documentary
Beinin is representative of what Israel’s fiercest critics are really up to. Theirs is not a noble struggle to ensure that audiences give a full hearing to all views in the debate over Israel. It is a well-designed effort to undermine the credibility of opponents by casting themselves as muzzled dissidents and their adversaries as brazen censors.
Israel’s critics are of course entitled to express their views and seek to influence America’s Jews. But they should do so by engaging in genuine debate, rather than using free speech as a straw man against their adversaries.
Ben Ami’s attempts to discredit the film are clearly reflective of the film’s success, which could include prompting the J Street leader to make some of the strongest condemnations of Palestinians we’ve ever seen. In his response to our film, Ben Ami comes out against Holocaust denial and incitement, against denials of Jewish national rights, and against Palestinian terrorism. That is a good thing, especially if he keeps it up.The Indoctrination and Patrionization of J Street U
We know that the film has put local J Street activists on the defensive, forcing them to confront the contradictions of J Street’s statements and actions. Ben Ami’s op-ed is a dishonest attempt to provide his supporters with talking points as he sends them to call for censoring screenings of the film in Jewish communal venues. The man who, prior to joining the Jewish communal big tent, complained that the Jewish community is silencing his voice, is now actively trying to silence ours. It’s not working.
J Street’s activity on college campuses mirrors its behavior in the wider Jewish world. Through clever advertising, the distortion of seductive concepts like pro-Israel and pro-peace, and ready partnership with anti-Israel organizations on the basis of “open dialogue,” J Street U manages to enchant idealistic and naive college students.Robert Fisk accuses B’nai Brith Canada of peddling lies “used by the Nazis”.
As we see in the film, J Street representatives frequently claim that those who oppose J Street do so because they can not stand even a whiff of criticism directed at Israel. By the same token, they also claim that by forcefully critiquing Israel when it does wrong, they are behaving in the most Zionist way possible. Like good parents to a petulant toddler, they love Israel unconditionally, but only they have the strength and moral fiber to discipline her when she misbehaves. In this way, it claims, J Street ensures that Israel will grow up to become a successful, responsible, and moral “adult” Jewish State.
The latest column by Robert Fisk – the Independent’s “award-winning” Middle East correspondent - contains the usual distortions, half-truths and fabrications, as well as an especially appalling smear of Canadian Jewry’s largest human rights organization, B’nai Brith.Two Women Arrested over Alleged Knockout Attack on 79-Year-Old Orthodox Jew
The inspiration for his latest polemical tirade – oddly titled ‘How on earth can Israel tolerate this filth from B’nai Brith Canada?‘ - was an advert in the National Post.
The knockout punches came without warning, as 79-year-old Orthodox Jew Natfali Lebovits fell to the ground from the blows.Report: Zambian President Michael Sata in Israel for Medical Treatment
The Daily News reported that Raven Small, 20, and Tatyana Bone, 18, were arrested as suspects shortly after the incident that occurred on Sunday at 1:10 a.m. in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
An epidemic of these kinds of senseless attacks on unsuspecting victims have surfaced in cities across the nation. Many of the victims of the so called “knockout game” have been seriously injured and in some cases have suffered fatalities. (h/t Canadian Otter)
Zambian President Michael Sata on Thursday was receiving an unidentified medical treatment in Israel, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official.Israel's Next Generation of Combat Vehicle
According to what Zambian Vice President Guy Scott told MPs on Wednesday, Sata, 76, was in Israel on a “working holiday.”
The Israeli cited by Retuers said the Zambian leader “is here on a private visit and he is receiving medical treatment,” adding, “He did not come to lie on a beach.”
Agile and highly versatile, CombatGuard is the next generation of combat vehicle, engineered to tackle even the most rugged terrain.
Developed by Israel Military Industries (IMI), CombatGuard can be used for anything from operational missions, urban warfare and counterterror operations, to border patrols.
Creators say the vehicle is "characterized by agility, speed and lethality."
Li Ka-Shing: How The Chinese Billionaire Became The Startup Nation’s Biggest Supporter
If you’ve been following the business headlines lately, it’s clear that Israel and China are the hottest new collaborative couple. With the recent acquisition of Israeli food conglomerate Tnuva for billions by China’s Bright Food; the “Times of Israel’s” release of the first Chinese-language publication on Israeli innovation; and Israeli Economics Minister, Naftali Bennett’s recent statement that, Israel is shifting its economic resources to “China, China China,” the ties between Tel Aviv and Beijing couldn’t be stronger. But there may be one man to thank for the recent spike in Chinese interest in the land of milk, honey, and of course, technology — Billionaire Li Ka Shing.Truck by truck, Israel builds trade gateway to Arab world
Asia’s richest man with a net worth of $31.9 billion, Li has spent the majority of his life enveloped in a world of entrepreneurship and success, but since he turned his sights to world of startups and Israel in particular, things for the Asian mogul and the little Mediterranean country are looking up. Take Waze, for example, one of the 20 Israeli startups in which Li was an early investor, or the $130 million his venture capital fund, Horizons Ventures, donated to the Technion, one of the largest ever donations received by an Israeli university. No matter the cost, Li wants to be at the forefront of the next disruptive technology and evidently that means being heavily invested in Israel.
Three years after Syria plunged into violence, Israel is reaping an unlikely economic benefit. The number of trucks crossing between Israel and Jordan has jumped some 300 percent since 2011, to 10,589 trucks a year, according to the Israel Airports Authority. In particular, exports from Turkey – food, steel, machinery and medicine – have begun to flow through Israel and across the Sheikh Hussein Bridge to Jordan and a few Arab neighbors. Turkey’s Directorate General of Merchant Marine, part of that country’s transport ministry, said that transit containers shipped to Israel for passage on to other countries increased to 77,337 tonnes in 2013 from 17,882 tonnes in 2010.Israel, California sign major tech cooperation deal
The trade, though still small, is growing enough to encourage long-held Israeli hopes that the Jewish state can become a commercial gateway to the Arab world. Israel plans to invest at least 6 billion shekels ($1.7 billion) in infrastructure over the next six years to improve the trade route. In the past, some Israeli businessmen and diplomats have lamented the way politics have hurt economic opportunities; others have kept any trade with their Arab neighbors quiet so as not to upset them. Now they see a chance to boost economic and political relations.
"Israel is returning to its historic role, as a transit country, as a bridge between continents, where historic trade routes passed through," said Yael Ravia-Zadok, head of the Middle Eastern Economic Affairs Bureau in Israel’s Foreign Ministry. She leads a group of Israeli government and security officials trying to figure out how best to encourage trade.
Under the deal, companies from California and Israel will submit potential R&D projects in areas like high-tech, mobile network development, agricultural technology, and clean tech.Israel ‘best place’ on planet for clean-tech entrepreneurs
Of special interest to California is Israel’s water management tech. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently signed an agreement with California Governor Jerry Brown to export Israeli desalination, water recovery and recycling, water filtration, and water security technology to water-needy the US state.
Israel is the best place for clean tech entrepreneurs to set up shop, according to a study released by Cleantech Group and WWF.Nazi 'perfect Aryan' poster child was Jewish
It says the country has the “culture, education and chutzpah” needed to breed innovation, citing the success of wastewater engineers Emefcy and Seed technology firm Kaiima.
Finland and the USA are rated the second and third best countries, while there are signs China, India and Brazil are starting to offer more attractive markets for new businesses.
When Hessy Taft was six months old, she was a poster child for the Nazis. Her photograph was chosen as the image of the ideal Aryan baby, and distributed in party propaganda. But what the Nazis didn’t know was that their perfect baby was really Jewish.
“I can laugh about it now,” the 80-year-old Professor Taft told Germany’s Bild newspaper in an interview. “But if the Nazis had known who I really was, I wouldn’t be alive.”
Prof Taft recently presented the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel with a Nazi magazine featuring her baby photograph on the front cover, and told the story of how she became an unlikely poster child for the Third Reich.
