Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Call the NGOs! Prices for guns and ammunition soar in Gaza

Egypt's destruction of smuggling tunnels on the Gaza border is having an economic impact - on the price of guns and ammunition.

Firas Press reports that Gaza arms dealers are frustrated by Egypt's actions of destroying tunnels with either explosives or by flooding them with waste water.

Arms dealer "Abu Mohammed" said that arms smuggling operations have been suspended since mid-February and this has had an impact on the availability of weapons, missiles and ammunition which has led to higher prices in the market.

He said that the price of one bullet has gone from between 3-4 shekels up to 7- 9 shekels.

An Egyptian Kalashnikov rifle has gone from $900 up to $ 1,300, and Chinese Kalashnikovs from $1200 to $2000,and Russian versions are now going for $3000.

"The smuggling operations have ceased almost entirely; rarely does one succeed in smuggling very light weapons and ammunition here," he said.

The arms dealer added that the heavy and medium missile smuggling operations completely stopped since the last war on Gaza.

This is just more evidence of the dire economic situation in Gaza, Perhaps the UN and Oxfam can release reports about how much more difficult it is for Gaza terrorists to obtain their basic necessities, and how Israel must therefore lift its "blockade."

Wait - they are already demanding that!

I have always been skeptical of Egyptian claims that Gaza is the source of weapons, explosives and fighters in the jihadist terror in the Sinai. It never made sense that material that had to be smuggled into Gaza from Libya and the Sudan - through the Sinai - were being smuggled back. The jihadists can get weapons far more easily directly from the same sources Hamas was getting them from. The Egyptian government and army simply can't stand the Muslim Brotherhood aligned terror groups in Gaza and use the Sinai terror as their excuse to isolate the sector.

Haaretz columnists seem to be competing with each other as to who can write the most offensive pieces.

Today's entry comes from Ariel Rubinstein, where he enumerates twelve reasons why Israel should abolish Holocaust Remembrance Day.

It is a perfect example of how a brilliant person (Rubinstein is an expert on game theory and a winner of the Israel Prize on Economics) can also be very, very ignorant.

For example he starts off with "Holocaust Remembrance Day should be canceled, because the few who do have someone to remember will not forget those who died, and those who do not cannot truly remember."

In other words, national or institutional memory is meaningless. Why even teach history to begin with? Most of those things happened more than 50 years ago!

Rubiinstein seems to really hate religious Jews, and he wants to distance himself from those that were murdered by the Nazis as not being like him. He writes "anyone who genuinely wants to remember the destroyed Jewish study halls in Poland has no need to take part in the March of the Living at Auschwitz, they can see them in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim."

Jews in Europe also had libraries and shops and doctor's offices. But anyone can find those things today as well! Why bother to remember them? In fact, they had lives, too - which can presumably also be replicated.

"Holocaust Remembrance Day should be canceled, because a large proportion of the victims of the Holocaust were ultra-Orthodox Jews, and their followers in Israel and abroad do not accept the day as a fitting date to mark the destruction. It would be better to adopt the tradition and to append the lamentation for the Holocaust to the Tenth of Tevet or the Tisha B’Av fast days, on which in accordance with Jewish tradition all of the bitter tragedies of our people are mourned."

But all the other events that Tisha B'Av and 17 Tammuz and 0 Tevet and Tzom Gedalyah happened before anyone today was born! Why remember them when no one alive remembers them?

His most offensive reason, though, is this one:

Holocaust Remembrance Day should be canceled, because it is an unnecessary opportunity for an unapologetic peek at the pornography of death. Anyone who feels compelled to look at pictures of executions or a final glimpse of victims before they die are invited to watch the colorful videos of Islamic State.

What an obscene statement. ISIS wants people to view their videos for a specific reason: to cause fear and to gain recruits from sick people, today. Holocaust films are not meant to be titillating, If Rubinstein reacts to Holocaust films the same way he reacts to ISIS videos, then we have revealed exactly how sick he is.

It is no surprise that his last reason makes a comparison between Jews and Nazis, by saying "The danger of turning into beasts also looms over members of the chosen people."

What a disgusting man.

I wonder how game theory deals with players who are so filled with hate and spite that they cannot be considered rational.

Iran's parliament released its own "factsheet" incorporating the demands added by Ayatollah Khamenei in response to the Lausanne nuclear "framework" statement.

The full April 9 Khamenei speech slamming the US as a 'cheater and a liar' has been translated by MEMRI. Here are excerpts:

All the problems [will begin] when the details are discussed, because the opposite side is stubborn, breaks promises, behaves badly, and backstabs. It [i.e. the U.S.] could put our country, our nation, and our negotiating team under siege while the details are under deliberation.

As I have said, no agreement is better than a bad agreement, because there is honor in rejecting an agreement that seeks to trample Iran's national interests and destroy the honor of the nation – as opposed to [accepting] an agreement that humiliates the nation

The reason [for my concerns] is that the other side is a cheater and a liar; it breaks promises and contrary to the straight path. An example of such conduct by the opposite side [the U.S.] came during the recent talks [in Lausanne], when two hours after the talks ended, the White House published a declaration several pages long [i.e. the Fact Sheet] about the negotiations, most of which contradicted reality. Such a declaration cannot be written in two hours – this means that they had engaged in composing this slanderous, erroneous statement that contradicted the content of the negotiations at the very same time as they were negotiating with us.

Negotiations with the Americans revolve solely around the nuclear issue and none other. These talks are a test. If the opposite side [the U.S.] ceases its aberrant behavior, we can continue this experiment with other issues [as well] – but if the other side continues its aberrant behavior, this will reaffirm our past experience regarding distrust of America.

In my personal meetings on the nuclear issue with the [presidential and negotiations] officials, I insist that they perceive our current nuclear achievements as extremely important, and that they do not downplay them. The nuclear industry is vital to the state. Some intellectuals, who ask, 'Why do we need the nuclear industry?' are being deceitful. The state requires an advanced nuclear industry for energy, for producing radiological medicine, for desalinating seawater, and for agriculture. The most important aspect of the state's nuclear industry – that is, achieving this important industry – is the result of the talents of our young Iranians, and this is why we must continue [our] progress in the nuclear industry.

Criminal countries like America, who have already used a nuclear bomb, or France, which conducted dangerous nuclear testing, are accusing us of attempting to manufacture a nuclear bomb, while based on a religious fatwa and a basis of logic, the Islamic regime in Iran has never and will never aspire to a nuclear bomb, and considers it a headache.

Another request I made to the [presidential and negotiations] officials is to not trust the opposite side. Recently, one official explicitly said that we do not trust the opposite side. This is a good position. We cannot swallow the smiling deception of the opposite side, and we must not believe its promises. A good example of this is the position and speech given by the American president following the recent statement [to the media in Lausanne]."

Another of my demands to the [presidential and negotiations] officials is that a complete lifting of the sanctions must be carried out immediately and all at once on the same day the agreement [is reached]. This is very important. If the sanctions are meant to be lifted in a new process, then the basis of the negotiations will be meaningless, because the aim of the negotiations is to get the sanctions removed.

Another request I made to the [presidential and negotiations] officials concerns the oversight [of nuclear facilities]. We absolutely must not allow the pretext of oversight to enable them to penetrate our security and defensive zone. Even the state's military officials do not have the authority to permit foreigners access to this zone, or to halt our defensive advancement under the guise of oversight.

We must establish our defensive capabilities and the nation's iron fist on the military front, and these are indeed growing stronger every day. Furthermore, we must not allow the talks to damage support for our fighting brethren in various places in the region [i.e. resistance organizations such as Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis in Yemen, and more].

No form of special oversight which would make Iran a unique country with regard to oversight is acceptable. Oversight should be identical to the routine oversight that exists elsewhere and nothing more. Regarding the necessity of continuing the technical development of the nuclear program – scientific and technical advancement in various forms [i.e. research and development] should continue. The negotiating team might see the need to accept certain restrictions; I have no problem with this, but technical advancement should undoubtedly proceed at full force.

Here is the new "factsheet" released by the Iranian parliament's Nuclear Committee on Wednesday for revisions to the Lausanne statement based on Khamenei's demands:

Enrichment Program:

The period for the Join Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) should be limited to five years, in which about 10,000 active centrifuges operating at Natanz and Fordo now will continue nuclear fuel production by enriching uranium below the 5% grade.

The UF6 enriched reserves which are under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should be kept at Fordo nuclear plant and will be turned into nuclear fuel complex based on the existing capabilities.

During the five-year period, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to keep the excess centrifuges installed at Natanz and Fordo or will gradually dismantle them, and at the end of the 5-year period, it will replace all the existing centrifuges, including the active or inactive ones, with the new generation of (IR-N) centrifuge machines with the help of the new spaces and infrastructures which will have been already prepared and will use them without any limitation.

Justification:

Based on the Geneva agreement, the period for the final step should merely include a single period which has been considered as to be five years in the present factsheet. But in the Lausanne statement, different periods of 10, 20, 25 years and higher have been considered.

Given the Geneva agreement, the amount of enrichment should be specified based on the country's practical needs and the number of 10,000 centrifuges has also been specified on this basis.

The 5-year period in this factsheet has been has been specified with respect to the date when Iran's nuclear fuel contract with Russia for the Bushehr nuclear power plant will end; hence, the rules and limitations for the components of the enrichment cycle should be set in such a way that the Islamic Republic of Iran will be able to supply the fuel needed for the power plant after the end of the contract with Russia.

Operation of 10,000 centrifuges and developing and having a 10-ton enriched uranium stockpile will enable the Islamic Republic of Iran to supply the fuel needed for the Bushehr power plant in the year when the fuel supply contract with Russia (28-30 tons) ends.

Fordo installations:

Fordo nuclear facility will remain an enrichment and nuclear Research and Development (R&D) center. 4 enrichment cascades with 656 centrifuges will continue operation and production of fuel for purity levels lower than 5% by maintaining the current chain arrangements.

If the country would need 20%-degree (enriched) uranium, the nuclear fuel production line for purity levels lower than 5% will be altered to enrich uranium to the 20%-grade after connecting the centrifuge cascades to each other again.

Justification:

Based on the above, Fordo will remain an actual and active center, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain its capability to reverse its decision and restore the 20%-grade enrichment.

Research and Development (R&D):

In a bid to use R&D findings in the country's industrial-scale enrichment chain, R&D should be planned in a way that the necessary possibilities and infrastructures will be provided for replacing the first generation of centrifuges with the latest generation of centrifuge machines (IR-N) when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action comes to an end after 5 years.

The R&D program should undergo no limitation before it comes into use for industrial-scale operation.

Justification:

Accordingly, the advanced centrifuges will enter the chain of nuclear fuel production without any restriction at the end of the 5-year deal.

Arak Heavy Water Reactor:

Given the Group 5+1 countries' mere concern about the plutonium existing in the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of the Arak 40-MW heavy water reactor, the fuel used by the reactor will be sent abroad.

The G5+1 states will be committed to cooperate and take the necessary measures for relevant international licensing and permissions.

Justification:

Given the SNF export abroad, the insistence of the G5+1, specially the US, on redesigning the said reactor is merely a pretext and doesn’t have any scientific rationale.

What is more important than the heavy water nature of Arak reactor is the core of the reactor which is due to be taken out and then be redesigned and renovated. Such a move is irreversible in nature, and thus means crossing the specified redlines.

Supervision and Inspection:

Supervision and inspections of the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program should be carried out within the framework of the the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) safeguards agreements.

Justification:

Once done, the principle stated by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution - that security and military sanctities and boundaries shouldn’t be violated and that the inspections should be carried out at conventional levels similar to all other countries - will be respected and materialized. Given the Islamic Republic of Iran's opposition to the world arrogance, endorsing and implementing the Additional Protocol will provide the world arrogance (a term normally used for the US and its western allies) with legal grounds to stage their preplanned plots against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Sanctions:

Concurrently with the start of the JCPOA, all the US and EU sanctions will be terminated and Iran will start fulfilling its undertakings based on the verification of the IAEA.

The UN Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran will be annulled and all nuclear-related sanctions will be terminated and the Islamic Republic of Iran's case will be normalized.

The G5+1 countries, the EU and the UNSC will avoid imposition of new nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Justification:

By terminating all sanctions in a single step right at the start of the implementation of the final comprehensive agreement, the Supreme Leader's statement that termination of sanctions is part of the agreement and not its result will be materialized.

Based on the Geneva agreement, after the implementation of the JCPOA, all UNSC, US and EU sanctions should be terminated and no new (UNSC) resolution would be needed in this regard; Hence, terminating the UNSC sanctions will close the case and no new resolution which would pave the ground for new plots will be issued.

International cooperation:

The Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear cooperation with the world states, including the G5+1 members, in areas of building nuclear power plants, research reactors, nuclear fuel production, nuclear safety medicine and nuclear agriculture, etc. will be possible and will improve. Based on the JCPOA, Iran will be provided with access to the global market, trade and finance and technical know-how and energy.

Reversibility:

In case of the two sides' non-commitment to their undertakings, there will be a possibility for reversing all measures.

Justification:

Based on the aforementioned proposal, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be provided with reversible measures at the lowest level of damage and, therefore, the G5+1's commitment to its undertakings will be in fair balance (with those of Iran).

Duration of the JCPOA:

After the end of the five-year period and the JCPOA exercise, all restrictions will be lifted and based on the Geneva agreement, the case with the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program will be similar to that of the other NPT member states.

The Lausanne statement, as bad as it is, is considered literally meaningless by Iran.

(h/t Yoel, Mike Anon)

The Last Korczak Boy (video)

From the State of Israel's YouTube page:

Janusz Korczak
(Pen name of Henryk Goldszmit; 1878/9-1942)

Polish Jewish doctor, author and educator. Born in Warsaw to an assimilated Jewish family, Korczak dedicated his life to caring for children, particularly orphans. He believed that children should always be listened to and respected, and this belief was reflected in his work. He wrote several books for and about children, and broadcast a children's radio program. In 1912 Korczak became the director of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw.

When World War II broke out in 1939, Korczak first refused to accept the German occupation and heed their regulations (consequently spending time in jail). However, when the Jews of Warsaw were forced to move into a ghetto, Korczak refocused his efforts on the children in his orphanage. Despite offers from Polish friends to hide him on the "Aryan" side of the city, Korczak refused to abandon the children.

On August 5, 1942, during a 2-month wave of deportations from the ghetto, the Nazis rounded up Korczak and his 200 children. They marched in rows to the Umschlagplatz with Korczak in the lead. He never abandoned his children, even to the very end. Korczak and the children were sent to Treblinka, where they were all murdered.
----
Itzchak Belfer never really left Yanusz Korczak's orphanage on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw, Poland. Even though he is now 90 years old, a well-known Israeli artist, he will always be little Itzchakele from Warsaw, and Korczak is always with him in thought and spirit. The Polish doctor and educator lives on in Belfer's drawings and paintings, and Yanusz Korczak's spirit dwells in the artist's soul.

Belfer shares with us his amazingly clear memories from the orphanage on Krochmalna Street in pre-World War II Warsaw. He reveals Korczak's unique view of children as, first of all, human beings to be treated with the same dignity and consideration as adults.

He warmly describes the work of Korczak and his assistant, Stepha Wilczyńska, at the orphanage, their love for the children and their total dedication to saving them, which led to their tragic end.

(h/t/ Irene)

04/15 Links Pt2: Recognizing the Jewish State; Amb. Prosor sings Aretha Franklin

From Ian:

The Judean People's Front: Recognizing the Jewish State

But why does it insist on recognition specifically as a "Jewish State?"
There are two main reasons for this:
First, it is important to remember that for the past 100 years, the Arabs have been acting as though the Jews are foreigners who walked in one day and stole the land from its rightful, indigenous inhabitants. If peace is to be sustainable, the Arabs need to recognize that the Jews are in fact the returning indigenous people of Israel with just as much a right to a state of our own here as the Arabs have in their own countries. They must recognize that Zionism is a native, national liberation movement with just as much legitimacy as Arab nationalism. This doesn't mean they all need to become Likudniks or have to accept or agree with everything Israel does, but it does mean that constant discussion of destroying the illegitimate Zionist Entity must stop.
Second, Israel's entire reason for being is to be a Jewish State. If Israel's enemies recognize Israel, but not the kind of state that it is, then what have they done exactly?
Israel must stand firm in its insistence that its enemies recognize its right to exist as a Jewish State as part of its demands for realistic expectations from them. The idea that Israel should make peace with governments who will then continue to teach their people that Israel is the enemy is entirely unacceptable. Cease-fire? Sure. Peace Treaty? Absolutely not.

Amb. Prosor sings Aretha Franklin at the Commission on Population Development

“The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, sang: ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me!’
This song is an anthem for anyone who has ever felt marginalized or minimized. Every human being craves respect. When we empower individuals, we strengthen entire societies."

Liberal Jews Push Obama to Drop Support for Israel at UN During White House Parley

Members of a group of Jewish supporters of the Democratic Party who met with President Barack Obama this week urged him to remove the long-standing American veto protection of Israel at the United Nations. The group, affiliated with the left-wing lobby group J Street, pledged to support the president within the Jewish community in the event of a Security Council resolution calling for the creation of a Palestinian State.
The exchange took place in the second of two meetings Obama held with American Jewish leaders to discuss the current negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, as well as other regional issues. According to a source who was in the room, one J Street supporter told the president that if he decided to back a Palestinian state resolution over Israeli objections, “let us know first, and we’ll do the legwork for you, in the community… so you’re not going to come in cold.” Among the J Street supporters who were part of the delegation meeting with Obama were Alexandra Stanton, Lou Susman and Victor Kovner.
The atmosphere at that second meeting was described as pleasant and cooperative, in marked contrast to the first meeting, described by one source as “ungiving, very stern and tense.”

Courtesy of Middle East Monitor's Ramona Wadi:

Egypt's penal code has been updated to reflect Zionist terror and impositions. Following collaboration with Israel in destroying the tunnel network, the alleged "War on Terror" has now been extended by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi to Gaza. Individuals found guilty of tunnel construction or usage as regards the border between Gaza and Rafah can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to Al-Arabiya's quoting of the decree: "Anyone who digs or prepares or uses a road, a passage or an underground tunnel in the country's border areas with the purpose of connecting with a foreign entity or state, its citizens or residents ... will face life in prison."
...

Earlier in December 2014, PA President Mahmoud Abbas expressed support for Al-Sisi's role in the tunnel network crackdown and destruction, declaring: "We will continue to support any measure protecting Egypt from danger."

Within the context of Sinai, which has been cited as a reason for the new decree, US President Barack Obama stated that military supplies to Egypt will resume, as part of "Egypt's efforts to combat terrorism in the Sinai and throughout the country, and we will continue to work closely to address shared threats to regional security." This trend has been discernible throughout the "Arab Spring" and further magnified by media distortion and disruption, with focus strategically shifting to countries which are now struggling with the ramifications of US sponsored terror. A betrayal unfurled within a realm that held nothing but imperialist participation in fomenting terror and spectators applauding the parody of freedom.

Hence, threats within the region have been primarily instigated and funded by the US, which utilised the manipulation of democracy and society to nurture a wave of mutating violence that intentionally eclipses the tragedy of Palestine. As Al-Sisi continues to impose an image that suffices as an extension of the so-called war on terror coined by the US, Palestinians in Gaza remain shackled by the impositions that have affected the necessity of anti-colonial struggle.

As the region becomes embroiled within premeditated and sponsored violence, the repercussions on Palestinians portray an extreme isolation of the colonial process. Primarily, internationalism with regard to Palestine has been rendered obsolete, with the exceptions of Iran and Venezuela. Secondly, the colonisation process is strengthened through other countries' collaboration with Israel under other generalised pretexts. The Egyptian government has usurped and adapted Israel's colonial rhetoric with regard to land, citing territorial integrity while subjected a colonised and displaced population to indignity, humanitarian abuse and forced incarceration.

This crazed, comspiracy-laden analysis is par for the course of Arab media. The one thing that is hardly ever mentioned is any Palestinian responsibility for...well, for anything.

Turkish Flotilla To Yarmuk Camp Stymied By Nonexistence (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Istanbul, April 15 - Organizers of a flotilla to bring supplies and humanitarian relief to the suffering Palestinians of the Yarmuk Refugee Camp in Syria complain of a lack of progress on the initiative as a result of there being no such people or effort afoot.

The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, a Turkish group with declared sympathies for the beleaguered Palestinians, spearheaded a 2010 flotilla to the Gaza Strip to break Israel's control of maritime passage to and from the territory, a mission the Israeli Navy intercepted. To demonstrate the movement's commitment to alleviating Palestinian misery even when not inflicted by Israel, IHH announced this week that a new relief flotilla would depart from Istanbul port and head for the Syrian coast, where it would rendezvous with local human rights activists to deliver aid to the 18,000 remaining residents of the besieged Damascus-area camp. However, the IHH leaders who made the announcement failed to account for the obstacles inherent in the fact that neither they nor the flotilla exist.

El-Yarmuk, formerly a distinct camp but now a suburb of the Syrian capital, has shrunk from 160,000 residents to 18,000 over the course of the four-year-old Syrian Civil War. Pressed in on all sides by the various fighting factions, the few residents who have not fled continue to brave sniper attacks, deprivation, shelling, disease, and looting. Over the last several weeks Islamic State fighters have taken over the camp and imposed an even more brutal existence, summarily beheading and torturing large numbers of Palestinians.

The IS butchery, which had heretofore largely spared the Palestinian refugee community, spurred the Turkish activists to once again prepare to set sail on behalf of the oppressed. "Our desire to relieve the suffering of the Palestinian people at the hand of their persecutors takes no account of the identity of those persecutors," said Raçep Kiboshian, an IHH organizer who has the misfortune of not actually being a real person. "Or at least that's the idea. In practice, it's insanely difficult to organize an endeavor this ambitious without there actually being anyone here who genuinely cares about the Palestinians except as a pretext to attack Israel."

Kiboshian, who participated in several other imaginary relief efforts to help Palestinians facing threats other than Israel, confessed that he and his cohorts were caught unprepared for the sheer magnitude of the effort required to put together an operation similar to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. "The original flotilla only called for docking and unloading, but the Yarmuk camp is inland, so we would have to get the supplies and people from whichever port - probably Latakia, but since we're in the real of fantasy anyway, there's no reason to limit it to there - over land, through patches of territory controlled by different groups, and finally to the camp itself."

"That would be a tall order for anyone, but it's infinitely more difficult for people who only exist in some alternative universe," he lamented.

04/15 Links Pt1: Russia and Iran; N. Korea Transfered Missile Parts to Iran During Talks

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: Russia and Iran

There are a number of lessons to be learned from this warming of Russo-Iranian relations, both for Israel and for the world. First, the Obama administration’s “reset” policy with Russia has failed miserably. Back in 2010, when Medvedev put in place a five-year ban on S-300 sales to Iran, Obama administration officials attributed the Russian decision to successful US policy. Officials said they had explained to the Russians that the sale was “a red line that couldn’t be crossed.” So much for red lines.
Second, as Israel and other nations have warned, the framework agreement that Iran and the P5+1 nations (the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) reached in Lausanne has increased the legitimacy of conducting business and even arms sales with the Islamic Republic.
After witnessing Russia’s disregard for the US’s red lines, other nations will undoubtedly follow suit.
This seriously calls into question the ability to reinstate a sanctions regime if Iran is caught cheating. The term “snap back,” used to describe how economic sanctions will go back in place should Iran violate the terms of the agreement, may sound, well, snappy. But will it be? There is a lesson in this for Israel as well: The Jewish state has little, if any, ability to influence Russia’s foreign policy.

Isi Leibler: The Iranian crisis — American Jews must stand and be counted

This is indeed a time of reckoning, especially as the administration could also be on the verge of abandoning Israel diplomatically.
The unprecedented viciousness of the administration’s anti-Israel rhetoric may be a precursor to withholding its veto from the impending French UN resolution effectively recognizing a Palestinian state and negating Resolution 242 with a US- or a UN-imposed settlement that would deny Israel defensible borders. The path would then be open for the Europeans, with the tacit support of the US, to commence orchestrating resolutions sanctioning Israel.
The extent to which American Jews raise their voices may have a major impact on the outcome of these developments, especially in relation to wavering Democratic congressmen. Senator Chuck Schumer, recently endorsed for the position of Senate Democratic leader following the 2016 congressional elections, seeks to portray himself as a Jewish “hawk” on Israel and Iran. He has indicated he will back the proposed bill requiring congressional approval of the Iran deal, but his Jewish constituents should discourage him from sitting on the fence when it comes to lobbying his fellow Democrats to overcome Obama’s veto and review the unworkable agreement.
This is truly a time for American Jewish leaders to stand and be counted; the issues at stake will profoundly impact Israel’s security and could even have existential repercussions as well as a dismal outcome for the entire world. The indicators all suggest that American Jewish leaders have woken up and will not let Israel down.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Is more going on between Israel and the Palestinians than meets the eye?

Israel and the PA have a common enemy in the West Bank: Hamas. The PA leaders in Ramallah are well aware that without help from Israel, they would face another Hamas coup like the one that took place in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.
Today, the number of Hamas operatives and supporters whom PA security forces arrest in the West Bank is larger than the number of the ones Israel targets.
Hardly a day passes without reports about several Hamas supporters being arrested or summoned for interrogation by various branches of the PA security forces in the West Bank.
While the rhetoric of most Palestinian officials toward Israel remains inflammatory, there is a feeling among some Palestinians that matters between the two sides are not as bad as they seem to be. Many are convinced that Israel and the PA leadership maintain a form of secret back-channel dialogue that allows the two parties to continue working together despite apparent tensions between them.
Some have even gone as far as arguing that the recent Israeli gestures are part of a deal to stop the Palestinians from filing war-crime charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court. Other Palestinians attribute the gestures to a strong desire on the part of the PA leadership to avoid an all-out confrontation with Israel, on both the diplomatic and security levels.
At the same time, Israel has an interest in preventing the collapse of the PA in the West Bank – a situation that would result in total anarchy and lawlessness and pave the way for another intifada.

The Arab refugee problem as described in 1967

From LIFE, June 23, 1967:

Nothing has changed, except for the the brilliant propaganda campaign of the past 50 years to blame Israel alone for the Arab world's conscious decision to treat Palestinian Arabs like dirt.

Arab world fumes as Israel adds Holocaust curriculum to Israeli Arab schools

Walla reports that Israel plans to add Holocaust education to Arab schools in Israel. The program will emphasize the topics of Nazi genocide against the Jews.

The Ministry of Education is distributing a complete set of Holocaust materials to students in grades 7-12. The Ministry of Education estimated that due to the sensitivity of the subject is will be implemented gradually

Depending on the curriculum, educators will teach Arab students about Jsef Mengele's infamous "twins" studies and show a video about the Auschwitz concentration camp with subtitles and audio explanations in Arabic. The teachers will direct the students to discuss ethical issues.

The response from the Arab world was immediate.

Egypt's Al Ahram talked about Arab schools are being "forced" to discuss a historical fact - and illustrated the article with this photo equating Hitler with Netanyahu:

Tasnim News Agency says "Israeli authorities claim that the Jews in Germany suffered during World War II a «genocide» with fictional numbers at the hands of the Nazi government headed by Adolf Hitler, in order to gain the sympathy of the international community with the Jews on the one hand, and to intimidate and push them to allow Jews to emigrate to occupied Palestine on the other hand, with access to financial aid to the Zionist entity as compensation from the Germans who allegedly killed them in crematoria, and to cover up the massacres committed by the Zionist occupation authorities against the Palestinian people."

Aqsa TV reports that Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Commission, Dr. Hanna Issa, warned of the danger of Israel teaching the Holocaust to Israeli Arabs, who he considers under occupation since 1948. He insists that the Palestinian Authority control the curriculum of Israeli Arab schools, complaining, for example, that "occupation authorities aim to indirectly change the minds of Palestinian students, for example by publishing in textbooks book pictures of the Israeli flag."

Al Jazeera calls it "an occupation of Arab schools" quotes a critic as saying that teaching the Holocaust to Arabs is a "violation of civil rights against a national minority in accordance with the international law."

HRW bias shines through in report on Arab child laborers (UPDATES)

Human Rights Watch has released a 74 page report alleging that Palestinian kids are being employed illegally in Jewish-owned farms in the Jordan Valley.

Others have critiqued the report.

NGO Monitor pointed out:

As with many other HRW accusations and publications on Israel, as documented by NGO Monitor, the claims in this publication are entirely unverifiable and based solely on interviews. HRW provides no evidence that it even attempted to confirm any of the claims, many of which quote children, independently. Furthermore, in this instance, the allegations are inherently unverifiable, since there are no permits, pay slips, paperwork, or other documentation for the supposed child workers. Indeed, according to an Israeli official interviewed in in response to HRW’s allegations, “It is a horrific lie. There is no justification for employing children, not just morally and legally but financially as well.”

As the publication’s methodology section makes clear, HRW’s researcher (Bill van Esveld) began with a conclusion condemning Israel, and then sought evidence to persuade the intended audiences, particularly journalists readily influenced by NGO allegations.

UK Media Watch noted:

A 74-page report by HRW on the Israeli use of illegal Palestinian child labor appears to have misled readers by using a photo which actually illustrates the Palestinian use of illegal Palestinian child labor.

(After this was noticed, HRW silently changed the photo on the report.)

Anyway, we cannot believe a word HRW says. As CAMERA reports:

HRW researcher Bill Van Esveld claims that Palestinian children "have no option to work on Palestinian farms. Most of them don't exist anymore."

However, this VOA article from February notes:

According to the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry, there are 1,000 Palestinian farms in the Valley employing 12,000 workers. They produce crops for local consumption as well as for export to Arab countries, Europe and Asia.

How many farms were there in the Jordan Valley under Jordanian rule? We don't know. HRW certainly doesn't even try to find that out. They just say "most of them don't exist."

The bias is, as usual, obvious.

In terms of wages, not to justify paying any kids less than the minimum wage, but HRW claims that " "most earned only 60 to 70 shekels per day." However, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the average wage for Arab farmers working in the West Bank under the PA is 58.2 shekels a day. So the kids, even, when "exploited," make more money than adults working on Arab farms! (h/t Ahron)

In addition, the major role of Palestinian Arab middlemen in hiding the children is buried in the report, in order to ensure that 72 of the 74 pages blame Jews:

Palestinian middlemen who employ children to work for Israeli settler-employers also evade Israeli laws that prohibit children under 15 from working, and that prohibit children from working during school hours. While Palestinians who work in settlement industrial zones or in the construction sector inside settlements must obtain security clearances from the Israeli military to enter the settlements, those who work in agricultural fields can go to work without such permits. According to Z., 19, who has worked in settlements since he dropped out of school in Grade 10, “if you work for a settlement, they check your huwwiya [identification document], but if you work for a farmer, they don’t care.”

S., who was 16 at the time she spoke to Human Rights Watch, said she left school at age 13 because her family needed her to earn money. She worked in Kalia, a settlement, until age 15, when she was fired, along with other members of her family who worked in the settlement. S. did not know whether Israeli labor inspectors ever visited her settlement, but said she hid when on her way to work because of her age. “I would hide under the seats in the [middleman’s] bus on the way [to Kalia] whenever we saw a soldier or security guards, because [the middleman said] I was too young to work,” she said. “Sometimes the soldiers stopped the bus and I told them I forgot my identification card at home. They always let me through.”99 (Israel allows the Palestinian Authority to issue identification documents only to Palestinians aged 16 and above). In some cases, middlemen “employ” their own children.

L., 15, said he dropped out of school when he was 13, in Grade 9, to work in Tomer, where he picked and packed asparagus. “My dad is responsible for me, and for 4 or 5 other people. He has 2 wives and there are 14 people in the family, and me and 3 of my brothers left school to work.” L. said he earned 85 shekels per day – above average – for a six-hour shift beginning at 5:30 a.m. and up to 130 shekels if he worked until 4 p.m. The work required him to bend down low to the ground, which gave him back pains, he said. “I used to spray pesticide but I got a bad allergy in my eyes and had to get eye drops at the pharmacy, so now my dad won’t let me use pesticide.”100

(UPDATE: I had misinterpreted a paragraph about wages in an earlier version of this article, and have deleted my section critiquing it. I regret the error. [h/t Victoria])

UPDATE 2: For some reason, HRW isn't telling us about the worse child labor practices in Israel's neighbors:

Jordan

http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/jordan.htm

Lebanon

http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/lebanon.htm

Egypt

http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/egypt.htm

And, of course, in the PA as well!

(h/t Ahron)

04/14 Links Pt2: HRW’s Israel Obsession and Allegations of Child Labor; Catch Tuvia Tenenbom!

From Ian:

Catch Tuvia Tenenbom!

He brought up Jibril Rajoub, the senior Palestinian Authority official who was the former head of the Preventative Security Services.
“He’s charismatic, a genius, he’s amazing,” said Tenenbom. “He could have put my image [as Tobi the German] in Google and he’d know who I am. He didn’t do that because we matched and clicked.”
There were some people whom he found more difficult to appreciate, such as Israeli peace activists and European foundation employees. During an interview with an employee of a German foundation, Tenenbom, who felt the group was only pretending to be seeking peace in Israel, said, “Listen to me, why are you doing this? We all know the story, Germany and Israel. Why can’t you be a little more sensitive?”
The book, first released in Hebrew, and later in English, has done well, with many but not all reviewers praising it for its humor and sass, as well as for what Tenenbom sees as its major accomplishment: shedding light on what he considers the true nature of European foundations and their presence in Israel.
“There’s a facade of peace and love but it’s all hate and hate,” he said. “The Europeans hate the Jews, they don’t even know how much they hate the Jews. It’s so embedded in their culture, so ingrained in them and that’s what everybody sees but nobody sees.”

Generations of Palestinian refugees are in Iraq

Palestinians sought refuge in Iraq after the creation of Israel in 1948. At best they were second-class citizens. And since the 2003 US-led invasion, they've been caught in the crossfire of a brutal conflict not of their own making.
Awad's father, Khaled Hamad, would like to return to his native land.
"If Israel said come, I'd throw away my Palestinian nationality and become an Israeli," Khaled Hamad said. "I'm serious."
Salma Mohammad, 21, echoes Awad's sentiments.
"All our lives, from our grandparent to our parents to our children, we've been moving from one place to another," Mohammad said. "We want a future for our children, but there's no future in Iraq." (h/t Yoel)

Palestinian refugee condemns 'life of humiliation'

Ripe for Exploitation: HRW’s Israel Obsession and Allegations of Child Labor

On April 13, 2015, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a 74-page publication under the heading of “Ripe for Abuse: Palestinian Child Labor in Israeli Agricultural Settlements in the West Bank.” According to the press statement, which was copied widely in international media platforms, “Settlement Agriculture Harms Palestinian Children” through allegedly “low wages and ...dangerous working conditions in violation of international standards.”
As with many other HRW accusations and publications on Israel, as documented by NGO Monitor, the claims in this publication are entirely unverifiable and based solely on interviews. HRW provides no evidence that it even attempted to confirm any of the claims, many of which quote children, independently. Furthermore, in this instance, the allegations are inherently unverifiable, since there are no permits, pay slips, paperwork, or other documentation for the supposed child workers. Indeed, according to an Israeli official interviewed in in response to HRW’s allegations, “It is a horrific lie. There is no justification for employing children, not just morally and legally but financially as well.”
As the publication’s methodology section makes clear, HRW’s researcher (Bill van Esveld) began with a conclusion condemning Israel, and then sought evidence to persuade the intended audiences, particularly journalists readily influenced by NGO allegations