06/20 Links Pt2: Shame on the world’s anti-Semitic media; A School of Anti-Semitism?; Twitter and Hamas

From Ian:

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A Dynamic Duo of Duplicity Hits Jerusalem

David Sheen, whose tweets about Jews and Judaism frequently resemble those of neo-Nazis and who once produced a video in which Judaism is said to “hate humans,” and Dan Cohen, who engaged in pro-Hamas propaganda from Gaza while in the territory with the terrorist group’s approval, did participate in this year’s Jerusalem Day march – in order to defame its participants.
Together they’ve produced a video for the hate site Mondoweiss entitled “Worship God by Nakba,” the supposed translation of a Hebrew chant shouted by teens during the march. Sheen and Cohen write that the chant calls for “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
Unfortunately for Sheen and Cohen, however, some of their less credulous viewers understand Hebrew.
The teens in the video (10:15) are actually shouting “Worship God with rabak,” (עבדו את השם בראבק) a slang word that roughly means “great enthusiasm.” It is a take on Psalm 100:2, “Worship God with joy; come before Him with exultation,” which the teens are seen singing immediately afterward.
Sheen and Cohen portray this as a “call for ethnic cleansing.” That is, of course, a lie. (The pronunciation of בראבק. ba-rabak, leaves little question as to what they’re saying. בנכבה, be-Nakba, would both sound different and make no sense grammatically.)
In fact, the video is riddled with made-up translations.

JPost Editorial: Twitter and Hamas

If Osama bin Laden were alive today, would he have a Twitter account? There is a good chance he would, judging from the sorts of folks permitted to remain active on the online social networking service.
News of the horrific massacre of innocent restaurant- goers at Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market had barely broken when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh took to Twitter to praise the murderers.
“One of the #TelAviv bomber heroes, mercy and light on the kindness of your soul,” the former Hamas prime minister tweeted in Arabic at 10:45 p.m. on June 8, alongside a picture of one of the attackers, “shot in the street.”
Haniyeh’s Twitter account has been active since March 2012, and has 314,000 followers.
And Haniyeh is not alone. Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’s leader, has had an account active since May 2015, now with 45,800 followers. The main Hamas Twitter page, active since October 2010, has 239,000 followers. It even has an English-language account to helpfully convey the organization’s support of shooting innocents at a shopping center, dubbing it “a natural response to Israeli crimes.”
Twitter has already taken significant steps to remove the Twitter accounts of Islamic State supporters. A study commissioned by Google Ideas and published by the Brookings Institution’s Project of US Relations with the Islamic World found that in 2014 and 2015, Twitter banned hundreds of accounts used by the most active IS supporters.

Google, Facebook must be held accountable for criminal content – justice minister

Large internet companies and content providers such as Facebook, Google and Twitter should be held accountable for criminal activity on their platforms, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said at a conference in Tel Aviv on Monday.
“We need to acknowledge the fact that some very severe crimes are being conducted and incited through those platforms — such that there should be some measure of accountability” regarding the illegal activities and content that is published through their services, declared Shaked, who said these large internet companies were an “area of focus” for her ministry.
The Justice Ministry is working on draft legislation “to order a removal” of certain content from websites that incite to terrorism, and other legislation to curb specific content, like the distribution of child pornography, for example, she said. “In each case we are talking about content and websites that reach a particularly high threshold of criminal severity,” she added.

‘Politico’ Writer Indicts Israel for Palestinian Violence

On June 8, 2016, two Palestinian Arabs murdered four Israelis and wounded more than a dozen others in a terrorist attack at Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market. But one self-described analyst, Ben Ehrenreich, knows who is really to blame for the terror attack: Israel itself.
In his op-ed, “How Israel is Inciting Palestinian Violence,” which appeared in Politico, Ehrenreich asserted that Israel and its “occupation” were responsible for Palestinian “humiliation” and “despair” — and that this is what fuels terror attacks. To craft this narrative, Ehrenreich relied heavily on omissions and a questionable source.
He used the word “occupation” repeatedly, but failed to inform readers that Israel gained the West Bank in self-defense during the Arab-initiated 1967 Six-Day. That is, the “occupation” came into existence after Arabs sought, but failed, to destroy Israel. Moreover, Arab attacks against Israel long predated the 1967 war and resultant occupation. There are many examples, including the 1948 War of Independence in which five Arab states rejected a United Nations partition plan that would have offered a “two-state solution,” choosing instead to go to war to eradicate the fledgling Jewish state.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the umbrella organization currently led by Palestinian Authority President and Fatah movement head Mahmoud Abbas, was created in 1964, three years before the 1967 war. What “occupation” was it seeking to “liberate”?
[See also EoZ The deceptions of Ben Ehrenreich]

Shame on the world’s anti-Semitic media

Four Israelis butchered in Tel Aviv’s Max Brenner restaurant (Max Brenner is one of the Israeli chocolate brands targeted by the BDS) and the whole foreign media is “mistaken” once again the headlines.
La Repubblica, Italy’s largest newspaper, called the Palestinian Arab terrorists “aggressors”. Il Corriere della Sera, another large Italian daily, called them “killers”.
From Le Monde to Libération and Le Nouvel Obs, the entire French mainstream press used the word “fusillade”: shooting.
CNN reported about the “terrorists” in quotation marks. The BBC used the phrase “Tel Aviv shooting” as if it was a criminal event, while Israeli security forces had already stopped the terrorists and there was no doubt about the attack's roots. Sky News also used “Mass Shooting in Tel Aviv”, while the Guardian wrote: “Three Dead in Tel Aviv Market Shooting.”
The Independent did something even worse, "Tel Aviv shooting, three killed and six wounded in Israeli attack capital". Not only did they refuse to use the word “terrorism,” but for them, Tel Aviv has become Israel's “capital” instead of Jerusalem (The Independent changed the headline after Honest Reporting’s protests). The New York Times was also unable to tell the truth and referred to the terrorists as “Palestinian gunmen”.
The best journalism was Fox News, which ran the headline: “Terror in Israel”. Was that so difficult?

NGO Monitor: Will European Parliaments Halt Funds to Israeli Political NGOs?

In all three instances, the parliamentary debates, votes, and policy changes followed recent briefings from NGO Monitor, based on our research reports. The need for responsible policies regarding NGO funding from Europe has been repeated by Israeli government officials, diplomats, and members of the Knesset in their contacts with European counterparts.
These changes and the requirement for close oversight, including the involvement of parliament, mark fundamental changes in the way NGOs are funded by these countries. The extreme secrecy in budgets for radical NGOs, involving tens of millions of euros, opened the door for many abuses, including BDS and other forms of demonization. Similar steps are underway in the European Union, despite some efforts to block transparency and discussion, and in other countries that are involved in these activities.
Not coincidentally, the changes in European government NGO funding processes also come at an important time in the context of the parallel Israeli debate. After years of “under the radar” European interference through funding for a very selected group of Israeli NGOs (most affiliated with the US-based opposition organization known as the New Israel Fund), efforts are underway to end this political manipulation. Israelis have realized that no other democracy is subject to this type of attack on national sovereignty, through the manipulation of civil society organizations.
Under the framework of transparency, and following the precedent set in the US Congress, the Knesset is weighing laws that would require NGOs that are funded by foreign governments to declare this when they lobby and interact with official frameworks. But if European officials scale back or end this irresponsible practice, which is used uniquely to undermine Israeli democracy and sovereignty, and negotiate funding guidelines with their Knesset counterparts, such legislation will be unnecessary. Such a cooperative outcome would also mark a fundamental improvement in relations between official Europe and Israel.

PreOccupiedTerritory: EU Flings Sacks Of Money At Anti-Israel NGOs, Injuring 30 (satire)

Israeli medical crews rushed to treat dozens of far-left-wing activists today for injuries sustained after being hit by sacks of cash indiscriminately flung by the European Commission at those activists’ organizations.
Thirty people were injured, four seriously, when the sacks struck them around midday Monday, with a further eight people being treated for shock. According to police, the sacks of cash came flying through the air and hit the personnel of the recipient organizations. Seven of the victims required hospitalization, while eight were treated and released, and the remainder treated at the scene.
Tel Aviv District Commissioner Dur Bann told reporters that shortly before noon, European Union representatives in Israel launched four dozen eight-kilo burlap bags of cash toward a random assortment of NGOs whose work involves undermining Israeli legitimacy or impairing the proper application of the rule of law and security maintenance in Israel proper and in Judea and Samaria. The sacks of money crashed through the windows of the organizations’ offices, resulting in flying glass that accounted for more than half the injuries.
“According to witness statements, at this point it appears that the sacks of cash, distributed with little or no regard for their effect, caused mostly glass-related injuries,” said Bann. “We have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge a protest with the European Commission over this incident, but we cannot arrest any suspects at the EU offices, as the personnel there still enjoy diplomatic immunity.”
Paramedic officials said only a few people were injured directly by the flying sacks of cash. “Two persons standing near the window at the Peace Now office suffered skull and neck fractures from the impact of the sack,” said Magen David Adom spokeswoman Faye Spalm. “At more or less the same time, two sacks full of money struck the Breaking the Silence offices. One person’s foot was stuck between the sack and a piece of furniture, and may require amputation.”

Muslim Terror in Israel and America Evokes Irrational Responses from the Left

In the totality of the collective untimely salvos at Israel where were any comments regarding the responsibility of the Palestinian Arab leadership? For example, Hamas was eager to take responsibility for the attack, offering praise to the murderers. Mahmoud Abbas provided a general statement which criticized violence, yet offered no specific condemnation of the attack.
Am I the only one who thinks that after such an event, it might be an appropriate time to suggest Mahmoud Abbas publically condemn the murderers and announce strict measures to prevent such attacks, since the terrorists came from territory he is responsible for? Is it unreasonable to expect that mainstream media such as MSNBC include comments about how little is done by the Palestinian leadership to prevent ongoing terror? Moreover, would be reasonable to expect that MSNBC state that murdering innocent civilians is unacceptable, period, even if their network disagrees with Israeli policies.
Might one expect that the UNCHR urge the Palestinian leadership to act more like a genuine peace partner by cracking down on the extended intifada which has pushed the prospects for peace further away than ever. Where are such voices?
Statements from the EU, Britain and even the US did not mention a word about the need for the Palestinian Arabs and their leadership to do a better job of policing their own. General statements condemning the violence do nothing to prevent similar murders from reoccurring. This is inexcusable.
When the response to terrorism is viewed as less acceptable than terrorism itself, it’s a welcome mat for more.
Sometimes I wonder if two Israelis were sitting in a café in Ramallah or Gaza City and suddenly without warning started shooting indiscriminately at Palestinian Arabs, murdering them in cold blood, what might world reaction be to such horror?
On second thought maybe it’s not such a good idea to wonder such things.

Lynch: Transcripts of Orlando Killer’s Talks With Negotiators Will Omit References to Islamic Terrorism

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that published transcripts of conversations between the Orlando nightclub shooter and negotiators would omit his pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group.
In an interview on Meet The Press, Lynch said the FBI would be releasing a “partial transcript” of Omar Mateen’s calls to law enforcement while inside the Orlando gay nightclub where he murdered 49 people, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001.
Mateen reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call shortly after he began his rampage.
“It will be primarily a partial transcript of his calls with the hostage negotiators,” Lynch said.
“You say partial,” host Chuck Todd said. “What’s being left out?”
“What we’re not going to do is further proclaim this individual’s pledges of allegiance to terrorist groups and further his propaganda,” Lynch said.
“So we’re not going to hear him talk about those things,” Todd said.

Orlando and Tel Aviv Shootings Highlight American-Israeli Dichotomy on Guns

In a span of less than a week, deadly shooting sprees at the hands of gunmen affiliated with Islamic terror movements rocked Orlando and Tel Aviv. In America, the deadliest mass-murder attack since Sept. 11, 2001, has strengthened calls for stricter gun-control laws. Yet, in Israel, where many civilians carry firearms, questions on how the terrorists acquired their weapons did not spark national debate.
“Israelis relate to guns totally differently than Americans,” said Marc Provisor, director of security projects for One Israel Fund, an organization that provides security equipment to Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.
A majority of terrorists who have attacked Israelis in recent months have been neutralized by armed Israelis, including police officers, off-duty soldiers, and even civilians.
“People here have guns out of a grim necessity. It’s not a hobby,” Provisor told JNS.org.

PreOccupiedTerritory: Harrowed Khamenei Describes His Orlando Nightclub Ordeal (satire)

Now back in the safety of the Iranian capital, Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described for well-wishers the tale of his miraculous survival in the Orlando, Florida nightclub where a Muslim radical killed 50 people and injured 53 on Sunday.
Khamenei, still visibly distraught from the horror of the incident, escaped harm by hiding behind and under other patrons, and managed to hold another person between himself and the gunman long enough to escape the carnage. Friends and relatives in Iran described his actions as heroic.
The Supreme Leader, 76, was spirited back to Iran immediately following the shooting. He had traveled to Orlando to visit the various Disney theme parks and the Universal Studios resort, and in the course of his stay discovered that Pulse, an establishment catering mostly to an LGBT clientele, was celebrating Latin Night as part of Pride Week, and he decided to check out the scene, which is illegal back home in Iran.
However, recalled the Ayatollah, gunfire soon rang out and people scrambled. He managed to avoid being seen by Omar Mateen, the shooter, at one point even flinging a 25-year-old man into the path of the gunfire, an act he regards as heroic. “I soiled myself, but kept my wits about me,” he said, breathing heavily as the moments came back. “Somehow I managed to conceal myself from the shooter. I managed to maintain a buffer between him and me of at least one person who was immodestly dressed, and therefore deserved to be shot. But it was close. I hightailed it out of there as best I could.”

Guardian smears Israel in article on the right-wing extremism of Jo Cox’s murderer

News reports on the shocking murder of Labour MP Jo Cox have centered on the extremist political affiliations of the 52 year-old man arrested for the crime, Thomas Mair of Birstall, West Yorkshire. For instance, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Mair was a dedicated supporter of the National Alliance (NA), the once premier neo-Nazi organization in the United States, for decades”.
Yet, Mark Townsend, home affairs editor for the Observer (sister site of the Guardian), in an article published on June 18th (Why has the far right made West Yorkshire a home?), somehow managed to tie Israel into the story.
The reference to EDL’s (English Defence League) supposed support for Israel is completely inappropriate in the context of the article, as the far-right group’s alleged position on that particular issue is not even minimally central to their mission. Nor is the information in any way helpful in contextualizing the extremist views of Jo Cox’s suspected murderer.
Community Security Trust (CST), the charity tasked with protecting British Jews, has demonstrated that the claim that “Zionists are somehow in bed with the Muslim haters of the EDL” is nothing but dangerous lie, and that the decision by EDL leaders to, for instance, fly the Israeli flag at some rallies merely represented a cynical (and entirely unsuccessful) effort to attract British Jews to their cause.
British Jews (the overwhelming majority of whom identify with Israel) have, in fact, consistently condemned the group.

On the Labor candidate who thought Hizb ut Tahrir wasn’t “extremist”

Australia - A FEDERAL Labor candidate has been revealed to have close ties with Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Christian Kunde, Labor’s candidate for the NSW seat of Farrer, ... last night resigned after The Daily Telegraph made inquiries into his background.
Labor leader Bill Shorten was reported to be furious that Mr Kunde’s links to the firebrand senior spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia, Uthman Badar, had not been disclosed during the preselection process…
Mr Badar was banned in 2014 from delivering a lecture at the Opera House entitled “Honour Killings Are Morally Justified” after widespread outrage.
Mr Kunde attended several events with Mr Badar and vigorously defended attacks against him and claims that he supported terrorism.
In fact, Badar is spokesman for a group whose Australian head, Sheik Wahwah, has preached Jew hatred:
THE top Australian cleric of extremist Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir has ramped up his hate speech in a rant referring to Jews as who have “corrupted the world” and will “pay for blood with blood”....
In Mr al-Wahwah’s latest video speech, he says “refraining from fighting (Jews) constitutes widespread evil”.
“Jews are the most evil creature of Allah. Moral corruption is linked to the Jews, prostitution in the world began with the Israelites. Usury and gambling began with the Israelites, killing began with the Israelites.”

Daphne Anson: Aussie Greens' Policy Imperils Israel (video) & Greens Candidate Digs at Danby's "Duality"

In the lead-up to the imminent Australian federal election (2 July), the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network sent questionnaires to candidates soliciting their attitudes towards Israel and Palestine.
Australian Greens member for Melbourne Adam Bandt (who used to be the Greens' deputy leader under former leader Senator Christine Milne, predecessor to Richard Di Natale) was among those who answered with alacrity, and with the answers APAN hoped to hear.
But there can have been no surprise, given Bandt's and his party's form on the subject.
Nor can there have been surprise at the alacrity with which he agreed to take part in an APAN forum, at which Sophie Ismail, Labor candidate for Melbourne, spoke.
Here's a video showing how dangerous Adam Bandt and the Greens are: frankly, any supporter of Israel who votes for the Greens in the forthcoming election needs his or her head examined.

Adam Bandt [Australian Greens MP] Israel and Palestine Adopting a Just Position

APAN hosted Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt and Labor Member for Melbourne Sophie Ismail on 13/6/16 for a 1.5 hour discussion on "Palestine & Israel: Adopting a Just Position".
I selected what I believe are the most consequential quotes from Adam. Please be aware that I have cut and pasted these from this discussion and if that has caused them to be misconstrued it is not my intention, in fact I went to great lengths to ensure the quotes were left as they were said as much as possible for a short video.
As the 2016 Federal Election is coming up, I believe that this topic is of great interest to many Australians and they may benefit from understanding more about the stances of our politicians before voting.
I have also annotated this video in parts where I have found information that contradicts their statements as well as where it supports them. I have tried to use sources that are objective as possible knowing full well this is a very contentious topic. Following are the links to the sources referenced in this video.

A School of Anti-Semitism?

Jewish students no longer feel safe at the School of Oriental and African Studies
Earlier this year, SOAS held an ‘Israel Apartheid Week’ , culminating in a vote to ‘boycott’ the Jewish state: not a student protest, but an official, university-sanctioned boycott. Needless to say, there have been no comparable protests against Syria, Saudi Arabia or China, which have far worse human rights records. You might forgive a bit of idealised student geo-political ignorance, but Soas’s decision to boycott Israel was made with the endorsement of the school’s academic staff. The vote was preceded by a six-week campaign during which an ‘apartheid wall’ was constructed and anti-Israel activists went around menacing their fellow students with fake machine guns. Little wonder that Soas Jewish Society president Moselle Paz Solis said the whole experience had left some students feeling isolated. ‘We are too scared to go anywhere so we walk in a group to the station,’ he says. ‘People come up to me and say I heard you hate Palestinians.’ She doesn’t, of course. But such is the ferocity and political dishonesty of the campaigners that Jewish students are considered fair game by some of their more impressionable fellow students.
‘I was surprised that a majority of the academic staff voted in favour of a boycott that left so many Jewish students felling vulnerable,’ says Dr H. ‘But if Arab and Islamic courses are increasing, as they are, then surely the number of academics in those areas will be too.’
Pretty much all student societies at Soas have no choice but to conform to the Islamo-Marxist orthodoxy. Last year, an Israeli student was ejected from the Israeli Society (which is staunchly ‘anti-Zionist’) for having the temerity to oppose the boycott. There is little or no tolerance for anyone who objects to the demonisation of Israel and the casual visitor could be forgiven for thinking that only one religion is tolerated on campus. There’s a designated ‘multi-faith’ prayer room, but the noticeboard has only Islamic information. There’s no prohibition on the monthly meditations of the Urdu/Panjabi poetry-lovers’ group, but those who use the room are expected to conform to Islamic precepts. ‘If I was doing my Hindu prayers to íshvar (Skt. ‘Lord’), then that wouldn’t be a problem,’ says Dr H. ‘But a múrti (Skt. ‘image/statue’) would not be permissible in the prayer room as it violates the sanctity of the place.’ So the Soas prayer room is welcoming to people of all religions, provided they observe the diktats of the sharia. Small wonder the room is used almost exclusively by Muslims.

BBC Trust rejects appeals on Willcox ‘Jewish hands’ complaints

Eighteen months after the original broadcast, the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee has now published its findings concerning complaints about remarks made by Tim Willcox during a broadcast from Paris after the terror attacks at the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine and the Hypercacher supermarket in January 2015.
Readers will no doubt recall that in response to complaints, the BBC originally claimed that Willcox’s subsequent apology on Twitter sufficed. Having received a large number of complaints, the BBC then decided to consolidate them. Concurrently, additional complaints made to OFCOM were rejected.
In other words, the BBC Trust appears to be claiming that because anti-Israel activists – and murderous antisemites – use the terms ‘Israel’ and ‘Jewish’ interchangeably, it is legitimate for it to adopt the same language and that the use of such language is legitimate according to its editorial guidelines. One can of course only speculate whether or not the BBC would find it similarly appropriate to adopt and amplify the language of ‘justification’ used by those perpetrating acts of violence against, for example, the gay community.
Notably, this is not the first time that the self-regulating BBC Trust has rejected appeals concerning remarks made by this reporter, despite their having been flagged up by expert bodies dealing with antisemitism: the CST and the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism.

Successful cancer drug made in Israel? BBC won't tell you

An Israeli-developed drug cocktail that has been shown to cure 58% of terminally ill cancer patients has been approved in record time by the National Health Service of the United Kingdom.
BBC, reporting the story, failed to mention that the drug was developed in Israel. So discovered Michael Ordman of Israel's Good News Newsletter.
The Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, near Ramat Gan, Israel, reported a year ago that Dr. Yaakov Schachter, head of Sheba's Ella Institute, had developed the new combination of drugs – a discovery that was hailed by the scientific community as "a major breakthrough in cancer research." Based on the drugs nivolumab and ipilimumab, the new medicine shrinks cancerous tumors or eliminates them altogether.
In its article of more than 600 words, BBC reported that "a pioneering pair of cancer drugs that unleash the immune system on tumours will be paid for by the NHS in England" and that the decision to approve the drugs "is one of the fastest in NHS history and is likely to be adopted throughout the UK." The article goes on to sing the praises of the new drug, but does not divulge a word as to its Israeli origins.

Final status negotiations on Area C passé for BBC’s Kevin Connolly

In other words, Connolly’s portrayal of a ‘rich’ Israel with “enough water” and – by inference – ‘poor’ Palestinians and Jordanians lacking water for crop irrigation is a very partial (although in no way unusual) picture of the real situation.
An additional notable feature of Connolly’s article is its use of politicised terminology – for example:
“Part of the [Dead Sea] shoreline is in the Palestinian West Bank under Israeli occupation so it’s possible that in future Palestinians too will reap the economic benefits of the sea’s unique properties.”
Not only does that framing do nothing to enhance audience understanding of the history of the region, but it also conceals the fact that, like all other parts of Area C, the future of the area concerned is to be determined in final status negotiations according to the terms of the Oslo Accords, to which the Palestinians are of course party.
Do BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy permit the misleading of audiences by means of an unqualified and preemptive claim about the end result of a process which has yet to take place?

Mass Nazi Salute at Euro 2016 Match Spurs French Police to Investigate Hungarian Fans for Antisemitism

French police are investigating a group of Hungarian soccer fans who were caught on camera performing the Nazi salute during their team’s Euro 2016 match against Iceland on Saturday, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
The fans in question, believed by police to be far-Right “ultras” (soccer enthusiasts whose fanaticism about the game often erupts into violence), were wearing identical black shirts with the word “Magyarország” (Hungary) in white letters, as they made the Hitlerian gesture, en masse, in the direction of the competing team.
The incident, a police source said, “could lead to prosecutions under anti-racism laws, and legislation aimed at combating antisemitism.”
According to the Daily Mail, the Stade Velodrome, the stadium in Marseilles where the match took place, is located near a Jewish district, whose residents regularly complain of verbal and physical intimidation at the hands of antisemites.
The Hungarian fans under investigation were seen climbing over segregation walls after the match and brawling with stewards.

Anti-Semitic attack in Belgian elementary school

A 12-year-old Jewish boy studying in a school in Rennes-le-Château, south of Brussels, claims to have been the victim of an anti-Semitic attack by three fellow students, in what his mother has described as a “gas attack in showers.”
The Jewish boy’s mother filed a complaint last Thursday to the local police which is currently investigating the claims. The school itself also opened an internal investigation. According to the individual responsible for the investigation at the municipality of Rennes-le-Château, it was still not possible to determine the veracity of the charges leveled by the pupil. He also said that the city municipality is considering turning to an outside official in order to conduct the investigation.
The pupil’s mother has been quoted in the Belgian media saying that her son told her about the trauma which he underwent in elementary school. The boy complained about verbal and physical attacks which included obscenities, anti-Semitic jokes and punches which continued for between one and two years. Three pupils, one of whom is the son of one of the teachers, are responsible for the alleged attack.
According to the mother, the systematic abuse began in 2015 when her son told her that he had been “gassed in the showers” when the bullies sprayed him with deodorant and beat him with mops on his hands and on his back. The boy claimed that he had repeatedly informed one of the school teachers of the abuse for two years but its significance was downplayed. “My son will leave the school soon. It is important that the teachers take his complaints seriously,” she said.

Spanish village formerly named ‘Kill Jews’ twins with Israeli town

The ancient Spanish town of Castrillo Matajudios (“Camp Kill Jews”) that changed its name last year to Castrillo Mota de Judios (“Jews’ Hill Camp”) has twinned with the northern Israeli town of Kfar Vradim (Village of the Roses).
A delegation from Castrillo Mota de Judios arrived in Israel on Sunday for a ceremony designating the two as twin towns to promote cultural, touristic and commercial ties.
The signing was attended by the mayor of the Spanish town, Lorenzo Rodriguez, and the Spanish Ambassador to Israel, Fernando Carderera.
“We’re here in the Promised Land to safeguard the roots of the town, established in 1035, “said Rodriguez alongside the head of the Kfar Vradim local council, Sivan Yehieli.
Rodriguez said the agreement twinning the towns marks a “new chapter in the history of Castrillo Mota de Judios,” announcing that archaeological digs were recently launched to “rediscover ancient roots” and set up a Jewish culture museum in the town.

Israeli startups have raised $356 million in June – so far

June continues to be a hot month of investments for Israeli startups, with companies raising an amazing $356 million in 20 days.
Just the first week of the month brought in an astounding $237 million. But instead of slowing down as the global markets indicate is happening in the rest of the world, Israeli startups are endlessly announcing multi-million dollar funding rounds.
Flash storage company Elastifile may not have brought in the biggest funding round but because of who its newest investor is, the Israeli storage software startup garnered top headlines this past week.
Cisco Systems invested $15 million in Elastifile, bringing its total investment this year to $50 million.
Sony Pictures Entertainment also promoted media and technology company, Interlude, to international headlines this past week with its announcement of a cash injection into the Israeli startup known for its Eko interactive storytelling platform. Financial details were not disclosed by US media said the investment is a “multi-million dollar” one.

Major Auto Makers Relying on Israeli Tech to Beat Google’s Driverless Car

Several major automakers are teaming up with an Israeli assisted-driving developer to beat Google to releasing driverless cars, Forbes reported Wednesday.
General Motors will be the first to integrate semiconductor chips from Mobileye that can map road condition in real-time into its vehicles, followed by Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan in 2018. The amount of data provided by these vehicles, which represent nearly a third of the global car market, will allow Mobileye to map local conditions effectively.
The mapping strategy adopted by Mobileye contrasts with that favored by Google, which records every detail of the roads its cars navigate in 3-D maps. For now, that’s limited Google to areas near its headquarters in California and a few select other locations in the United States. The enormous level of detail necessitated by Google’s approach could lead to bandwidth issues.
Google also differs in that it’s seeking to create an autonomous car with no controls, whereas Mobileye is pursuing a more gradual approach. The Jerusalem-based company will be modifying its existing technology, which is already used by 90 percent of the world’s automakers, to improve the accuracy of its mapping.

Los Angeles Dodgers sign Israeli in Major League first

Dean Kremer became the first Israeli to sign a contract with a Major League Baseball team.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Kremer, a 20-year-old Israeli-American Tuesday. The team drafted the right-handed pitcher in the 14th round of this month’s 2016 MLB draft.
Kremer, a Stockton, California native born to Israeli parents, was drafted last year in the 38th round by the San Diego Padres but did not sign with the team. He transferred from San Joaquin Delta College to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he went 4-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 12 starts.
He was the first Israeli to be drafted by an MLB team.
Kremer played for Israel’s national baseball team for the past three years. He was named the European baseball championship’s most valuable pitcher each of the last two years and led Israel out of the tournament’s C-pool into the stronger B-pool last year.

To Russia with Bugs

Some 500 million little critters from Israel’s Bio-bee company will head to Russia, it was announced on Sunday.
Aiming to cut dependence on foreign agriculture imports as much as possible, Russia has been investing heavily in providing farmers with financial incentives for building greenhouses as well as using chemical-free pest prevention methods.
The country has banned the import of many European Union fruits, vegetables and even flowers, ever since violent conflict broke out between Russia and Ukraine, garnering sanctions from the EU.
Bio-bee stepped in when the Russian government called with its $1 million order.
This particular order of Bio-bee insects from Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, near Beit She’an, included several types of predatory mites. Among them is the Phytoseiulus persimilis mite and the Amblyseius swirskii mite, which are intended to be a “natural pesticide” for crops of tomatoes, cucumbers and roses.
In addition, an order of Bombus terrestris – commonly known as bumblebees – will be sent to improve crop yields.

In Israeli desert, world's highest solar tower looks to future

In the middle of southern Israel's desert, engineers are hard at work building the world's tallest solar tower, reflecting the country's high hopes for renewable energy.
Once completed in late 2017, the Ashalim Tower will rise to 240 metres (787 feet), taller than Paris's Montparnasse Tower and London's Gherkin, according to the Israeli government and the consortium building it.
Covered in stainless steel, the square tower in the rocky Negev desert with a peak resembling a giant lighthouse will be visible from dozens of kilometres (miles) away.
A field of mirrors covering 300 hectares (740 acres) -- the size of more than 400 football pitches -- will stretch out from its base, directing sunlight toward the tower's peak to an area called the boiler, which looks like a giant lightbulb.
The boiler, whose temperature will rise to 600 degrees Celsius (1112 Fahrenheit), generates steam that is channelled towards the foot of the tower, where electricity is produced.
The construction, costing an estimated 500 million euros ($570 million), is being financed by US firm General Electric, with France's Alstom and Israeli private investment fund Noy also involved.
Israel's government launched a tender for the project in 2013, committing to purchase electricity from it over 25 years as part of a shift towards renewable energy and energy independence.

Why 1.6 million people have shared a music video in Hebrew

Israeli band Jane Bordeaux has won over Internet users with its visually captivating music video for the song “Ma’agalim” (Cycles). That the song is sung in Hebrew – which most of the 1.6 million viewers probably can’t understand – hasn’t halted its viral trajectory.
The video is set inside an old penny arcade in which a wooden doll is stuck in place while the world around her changes and passes by.
Viewers and critics have cited the gorgeous animation. A look at the credits shows that director Uri Lotan has worked on projects with Sony Pictures Image works, Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios.
“Please take a few moments to immerse yourself in this lovely new music video for folk country trio Jane Bordeaux’s ‘Ma’agalim.’ The animated short transports us inside a device inspired by components from an old penny arcade device that contains a perpetually moving landscape where people go about their daily lives. The attention to detail in color and texture of every frame is breathtaking,” writes Christopher Jobson on Colossal, one of the top 50 blogs on the web.

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Hamas takes away recreation land from Gazans to reward terrorists

Al Soava is a set of sandy hills right outside Rafah that residents have turned into a recreation area. Kids fly kites and run up and down the dunes as families picnic.

Vendors go around selling toys, snacks and drinks for the people taking a break.  It is apparently the only open space easily accessible to residents of Rafah.

Hamas has started to flatten the dunes in order to give the land to its employees who haven't been paid for three years.

One Gazan complained bitterly, saying "Al Soava is park that dozens of families flock to a day. It is an escape from their homes, as most of them are poor, who cannot afford to go to the expensive beachfront chalets and cafeterias. These golden sands is the only place for fun and happiness for their children. "

That Gazan refused to give his name for fear of being arrested by Hamas.

Hamas is naming the new neighborhood "Attar," after Raed Attar, a top-ranking terrorist who was killed by Israel in August 2014.

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HRW and PLO cooperating on demonizing Israel

Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director, Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. Sari Bashi is HRW's Israel/Palestine Director.

Today they met with Hanan Ashrawi of the PLO.

According to Ashrawi, they spoke about supposed Israeli violations of human rights. She praised HRW for "its ongoing work to expose Israel's deliberate violations of international humanitarian and international law."

The three discussed how best to gather evidence of Israeli crimes that would stand up to scrutiny at the International Criminal Court. They went on to talk about how they could cooperate in the future.

Ashrawi also told HRW that Palestinians are committed to human rights.

The PLO jails and exiles political opponents, it does not provide adequate protection for gays or Christians, it prosecutes people who eat in public on Ramadan, and it considers Jewish freedom of worship to be criminal.

There is no shortage of snarky tweets on the timelines of HRW employees cutting down such statements by politicians that are clearly lies. But the timelines of Whitson and Bashi are barren of any criticism of the Palestinian leadership. More telling, they did not mention a word about this meeting with Ashrawi, who was exposed only a couple of years ago as heading an NGO that said Jews drink Christian blood and that praised terrorists.

HRW's bias against Israel is well-documented by its own statements. But we also need to see what it doesn't say. It's silence about Palestinian violations of human rights, and its willingness to secretly collude with human rights violators just to gather more dirt (real or imagined) on Israel, shows exactly how little HRW really cares about human rights and how it is merely an NGO facade for a political group.

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06/20 Links Pt1: PA TV: Islam prohibits Israel’s right to exist; "Selling a House to a Jew is a Betrayal of Allah"

From Ian:

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PMW: Palestinian Authority espouses Hamas’ religious war ideology

The Palestinian Authority is teaching its population that the conflict with Israel is based on a religious ruling which is identical to a significant religious ruling of Hamas. This Islamic religious ruling holds that all the land of the State of Israel is an inalienable religious endowment - a waqf - of which it is "forbidden to relinquish a single grain of soil." This means that Palestinians are prohibited from accepting Israel's existence in any borders as that is violating the waqf.
This week, PA TV's daily Ramadan program Palestine in the Quran taught:
Head of the Waqf's Al-Aqsa Academy of Heritage and Antiquities Najeh Bakirat: "Every grain of soil in Palestine is ours. The status of Hebron is part of the status of Palestine, as it is an integral part of the Palestinian land, like the status of Nazareth in our eyes, and Haifa, and Jaffa, and Acre (i.e., all are cities in Israel). Every grain of soil in Palestine is part of the blessed Palestine, and holy Palestine which is a waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law). Therefore it is forbidden to relinquish a single grain of its soil." [Official PA TV, Palestine in the Quran, June 11, 2016]

PA TV Ramadan lesson teaches that Islam prohibits Israel’s right to exist

Khaled Abu Toameh: "Selling a House to a Jew is a Betrayal of Allah"

The renewed campaign against Palestinians suspected of selling real estate to Jews is also part of the belief that the entire land is Muslim-owned, and no Muslim is entitled to give up even one inch of it to a non-Muslim. In other words, it is forbidden for a Muslim to sell his home or land to a Jew or Christian. This would be the nail in the coffin of any Palestinian leader who attempts to make any territorial compromise as part of a peace agreement with Israel.
This campaign has raised fears that Palestinians may resume extrajudicial executions of suspected land dealers.
"The land dealers should know that they would not be able to avoid earthly and life punishment. Not only will they not be buried in Islamic cemeteries, but their entire families will also be punished and it would be forbidden to marry or to deal in any way with their family members." — Palestinian National Work Commission in Jerusalem.
This campaign undermines Palestinians' long-standing claim that Jews "illegally seize" Arab-owned houses and land in Jerusalem. It seems that rather than illegal seizure, Jews have been paying willing Arabs cold hard cash for the properties.

Yair Lapid: The United Nations has lost it

The following is an edited version of a speech delivered by Yair Lapid to the Israel Law Center conference in Jerusalem.
The United Nation has lost it. When it comes to Israel the UN has lost credibility, lost common sense, and more than anything lost its most important asset – its integrity.
At the end of March, I stood in Geneva, with hundreds of protesters, wrapped in Israeli flags. We stood beneath the Broken Chair Monument which stands opposite the United Nations Human Rights Council. Inside, in the elegant hall, there was a debate, another debate, about Israel.
The UN Human Rights Council’s treatment of Israel strayed from the boundaries of legitimate criticism long ago. In the past decade the council has voted for 61 resolutions condemning human rights abuses across the world and 67 resolutions which condemned Israel.
Let me repeat that — The council has condemned Israel, a democratic country which upholds international law, more times than the rest of the world combined.
Israel is the only country on earth which warrants its own agenda item in the UN Human Rights Council. Agenda item 7 dictates that every time the council meets there will be a ‘discussion of the human rights situation in Israel’. This discussion happens irrespective of whether or not there have been reports of human rights violations. It happens without a factual examination of the complaints lodged by Palestinians, usually allies or members of the various terror organizations that are sworn to destroy Israel.

Before election, Labor chief promised PA 100% of territory

Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog was prepared to uproot all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and divide Jerusalem should he have become prime minister last year, Makor Rishon and Channel 10 reported on Sunday.
Herzog reportedly offered these concessions in talks conducted with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas before the March 2015 elections. Herzog was said to be represented by left-wing activist Gershon Baskin.
According to the reports, Herzog agreed to give Abbas an area that was equivalent to 100% of Judea and Samaria, including 4% in land swaps. On the issue of Jerusalem, Herzog agreed to withdraw from neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, which would become the Palestinian capital. The two also agreed to set up a joint Israeli-Palestinian municipality to run the shared city. According to the plan, a multinational force was to administer the Temple Mount, although the Western Wall was to remain under Israeli sovereignty. The sides agreed to let Israel keep a symbolic presence in the Jordan Valley, including two staging areas for armored troops, and to have Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian security forces fight terrorism together.
In response to the reports, Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) said, "The unearthing of the secret agreement between Herzog and Abbas proves once again that the Likud's victory in the last election saved Israel from this suicidal plan that involved extremely dangerous concessions, including the division of Jerusalem." Elkin added that the reported agreement showed "just how radicalized the Labor party [the Zionist Union comprises a Labor-Hatnuah joint list] has become and that there is a deep ideological gulf between us."

Inside the Herzog-Abbas agreement'

Following revelations on Sunday of a secret letter of understanding between Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in which the two leaders outlined the parameters for a future Palestinian state, Efraim Sneh spoke with Arutz Sheva about the agreement – and what it could mean for Israel going forward.
Sneh, a long-time Labor Party member, served as one of Herzog’s principle negotiators during talks with Abbas ahead of the 2015 Knesset election.
The framework agreed upon by the two parties includes the formation of a Palestinian state, which would encompass all of Judea and Samaria. Jerusalem would be divided in two, the eastern portion of which would serve as the capital of Palestine. Israel would also accept some refugees under the “right of return”.
The Old City of Jerusalem would also be divided, according to the outline, though as Sneh noted, Israel would retain the Western Wall.
“The most important thing is that the Western Wall remains under Israeli sovereignty. Eastern Jerusalem is divided, separating [predominantly] Israeli neighborhoods from [predominantly] Arab ones, which we don’t see as being part of Israel’s capital.”
The division of the city, Sneh acknowledges, will not be easy.
“We need to change the lifestyle in Jerusalem. [But] it’s better to have two separate capitals [in Jerusalem] than a single [united] city ridden with conflict.”

Shaked: 'We were saved from Camp David 2'

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) does seem to be too excited over the agreement between opposition head Yitzhak Herzog and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, she did express pleasure over Israel avoiding what she called "Camp David 2."
In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Shaked said that the information about the existence of negotiations between Herzog and Abbas, which were conducted by Ephraim Sneh, is not at all surprising. "This is the clear agenda of the Labor Party and we don't need to get angry at them for trying to put their agenda into effect. I am just happy that the Jewish People was smart enough to choose a right-wing government in order to prevent such plans from coming to fruition."
Furthermore, she insisted that the talks should not be seen as an attempt to undermine the government, but rather a legitimate part of the election campaign and an attempt to prepare Herzog for leadership. "This was during the election period and he prepared himself for ruling. I think that this emphasizes the between the Right and the Left in the recent election. As I said, the Jewish People are smart and wise, and we were saved from an attempt at Camp David 2, after Barak's Camp David brought us the Second Intifada."

Next American administration must grasp risks Israel faces

This is the season of the conventions. First the Republicans will convene in Cleveland and the following week the Democrats will meet in Philadelphia.
Each promises to be exciting. And the Middle East in general and Israel in particular will feature prominently in both US conventions.
When it comes to Israel, US administrations have a problem. Not just this administration. I’m talking past, present and, although we do not yet know who will occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January, the future administration, as well. The White House just does not understand Israel. For the White House, Israel is an enigma – and not just Israel. As everyone who monitors US foreign policy is painfully aware, American administrations don’t really grasp the reality of the Middle East.
Do not mistake an affinity toward Israel or being pro-Israel for an understanding of Israel and the Middle East. And don’t blame America for this lack of understanding – it’s a part of America’s DNA.
Americans have an innate optimism. They believe that their point of view is the prevailing point of view and they feel that they can convince anyone. And if that doesn’t work, bribery – military aid, monetary aid, UN votes – will. Americans are hardwired to fundamentally be fair and even-handed, they want to make certain that everything is equal, that the playing field is even.
Here is the biggest problem with this approach: when the playing field is even, it is your friends that suffer the most.

Netanyahu, Kerry said set to meet next week in new peace bid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly to meet early next week with US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
Israel’s Channel 2 said the meeting would take place in a European capital. The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately confirm the meeting, saying it would “make an announcement when there is something to announce.”
The TV report said Netanyahu would tell Kerry he backs potential Egyptian-led efforts to revive negotiations, rather than the international approach being pushed by France.
Netanyahu has recently given mixed signals on the Saudi-drafted Arab Peace Initiative as a means to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, suggesting partial support for it but also calling for it to be amended.

Obama administration: 'Settlements are corrosive'

Obama administration officials and leaders of the Zionist Union party lambasted Israel’s government on Sunday over a 70 million shekel spending plan for Yesha towns, including a large allocation to boost security.
The coalition government passed on Sunday morning the spending plan, which includes 15 million shekels to bolster Yesha communities suffering from Arab terrorism in recent months. Also included in the spending package is 10 million shekels for renovations and improvements on public facilities, 12 million shekels for security improvements, 6 million shekels for social services, and 5.5 million shekels for tourism sites.
In response, US State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned the spending plan, saying it strengthened “settlement activity”, which he described as “corrosive”.
“Our position on settlement activity remains clear and consistent. We strongly oppose all settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace,” said Kirby. “We continue to look to both sides to demonstrate with actions and policies a genuine commitment to a two-state solution. Actions such as these do just the opposite.”

Will Rivlin meet Abbas in Belgium?

President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are both scheduled to address the European Parliament this week – Rivlin on Wednesday, and Abbas on Thursday. Rivlin is expected to talk about the need for confidence-building measures between Israel and the Palestinians, one of his pet themes when hosting foreign visitors.
Since the start of his presidency two years ago, Rivlin has steadfastly maintained that Israelis and Palestinians are not doomed to live together, but rather are destined to live together.
The two men have known each other for a long time, and Rivlin has publicly invited Abbas to resume peace talks as has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a tête-à-tête with Rivlin last Friday.
Rivlin and Abbas are meeting in the aftermath of the June 5 international meeting in Paris, which was convened to discuss ways of pressuring Israel and the Palestinians to get back to the negotiating table – with neither side being represented at the confab.

Backing French peace push, EU adds carrots to sweeten deal

The European Union on Monday proposed “concrete” incentives for Israelis and Palestinians to restart peace negotiations at a peace summit later this year in Paris.
During their monthly meeting in Brussels, the EU’s 28 foreign ministers tasked the European Commission and the EU’s External Action Service — its equivalent of a foreign ministry — to make a “concrete and substantial contribution” to international efforts seeking to revitalized the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process through a “global set of incentives” for both two parties.
“The EU is determined, alongside other international and regional partners, to bring a concrete and substantial contribution to a global set of incentives for the parties to make peace with a view to an international conference planned to be held before the end of the year,” the foreign ministers said in a statement.
Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council specifically mentions “economic incentives,” invoking the EU’s 2013 offer of an “unprecedented package of political, economic and security support to be offered to and developed with both parties in the context of a final status agreement.”

The United Nations’ Remorse for “Creating” Israel

The United Nations did not choose June 4 or June 10 as the date to stand together with Palestinians. Those dates in 1967 were the beginning and end of the Six Day War when the Jordanians (together with Palestinians who were then citizens of Jordan) launched an attack on Israel and consequently lost the “West Bank” which they had illegally annexed. If the root cause of the plight of Palestinians was “Israeli settlements” in the West Bank, then those dates would have been more appropriate to anchor the anniversary.
But the United Nations wanted to mark its own poor decision. While the Palestinians rejected partition in 1947 and launched wars in 1948 and again in 1967, those bad decisions and actions were not deemed relevant. The UN chose to tell the Palestinians that it was not their fault. Their situation stemmed from decisions that the UN itself made.
Today, while the UN may no longer outwardly state that “Zionism is Racism,” the global body has adopted Abbas’s narrative that the UN planted a colonialist flag in Palestine. The Europeans and liberal press now echo Abbas and the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who claim that Israel is a foreign and dangerous entity that was unnaturally inserted into the Middle East, and that the Arabs are the sole indigenous people and the land itself is inherently “Arab.”
It is well passed time for Israel to actively combat this claim of colonialization, the way activists overturned the “Zionism is Racism” UN edict in 1991. It is time to clearly educate the world that RE-ESTABLISHING the Jewish State and not banning where Jews can and cannot live is neither colonialist nor racist, but the essence of freedom and justice.

Israel confirms it’ll ratify nuke test ban, ‘at the right time’

Israel said Monday it would ratify a treaty banning nuclear tests, a move that could be significant for Middle East peace, but only at “the right time.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Lassina Zerbo, the visiting head of the UN organization created to implement the treaty, that Israel supports the terms and therefore signed it, his office said in a statement.
But the further matter of ratification depends on “the regional context and the appropriate timing,” Netanyahu said.
His comments were backed up by Zerbo, who told The Associated Press after their meeting that the prime minister considered the issue of ratifying the treaty a matter of “when, rather than if.”
Israeli ratification would move the treaty closer to taking effect, leaving only seven holdouts among the 44 countries that must ratify it for the pact to go live.

Ahram: Palestine Revisited

In the official Arab discourse, the Palestine cause is still the "Arab's first cause" and the "crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict." Today, however, such talk seems to have lost credibility at both the official and grassroots levels. Egypt since 1979 and Jordan since 1994 are bound by peace treaties that oblige them to normalize relations with Israel, regardless of Israel's position on the Palestinian cause. Moreover, in 1993, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) itself signed the Oslo Accords, committing it to security cooperation with Israel.
In addition, some Arab governments today openly hold that Israel is no longer a major threat to the security of Arab states and peoples. They promote the idea of cooperating with it beneath the guise of the need to fight terrorism or, alternatively, the need to counter the Iranian expansionist project in the region.
At the grassroots level, the Palestinian cause has fallen to the bottom of the list of Arab priorities now that the region is infested with the plagues of extremism, sectarian strife and civil wars with no end in sight. Shia Arabs are at war with Sunni Arabs. The Kurds in Arab countries are at war with Arab citizens, whether Sunni or Shia. Most Muslims in the region, whether Arab or non-Arab, are at war with non-Muslims. Even the Palestinians are so divided that one camp accuses the other of serving as an Israeli tool designed to bury the Palestinian cause.
Until the Palestinians unite and all factions agree on a new and unified strategy for managing the conflict with Israel, there can never be a real opportunity for a political settlement.

Israel to take delivery of new stealth F-35 fighter jet this week

The Israeli defense establishment calls it a game changer, and views it as the plane that will provide the country with unparalleled aerial capabilities against its enemies.
On Wednesday, the IAF will move a step closer to deploying the F-35 Lightning II, one of the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jets, when the first of its fifth-generation warplanes is officially rolled out by manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Defense officials say the jets will transform Israel’s combat capabilities and significantly upgrade the air force’s ability to confront the threats posed to it, particularly by Hezbollah.
Wednesday’s ceremony, to be attended by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman alongside top IAF officers, will take place at Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The unveiling comes just weeks before Israel marks the 10th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War.
The F-35’s stealth features include advanced sensors, guided weapons, and the ability to fuse data from various sources, allowing the pilot to focus on tactics, rather than on running the aircraft. The first two jets will arrive in Israel in December.

Gaza Arabs demand UN stop Israel's anti-terror tunnel wall

Construction of an underground security wall along Israel’s border with Gaza has prompted an outcry in the Strip, with calls for intervention by international human rights organizations and the United Nations to block the Israeli plan.
The wall, which will run tens of yards into the ground and is intended to block Hamas terror tunnels, will be built entirely on Israel’s side of the border.
That hasn’t stopped Palestinians from crying foul, however, with claims that the wall would cause environmental damage.
In an interview published on Sunday by the Falastin newspaper, a Hamas mouthpiece, Gaza environmentalists warned that the security wall would block groundwater from Israel moving into the Gaza Strip. This, they claim, would prevent the replenishment of underground aquifers and force Gazans to draw more heavily from alternative sources.
The experts cited in the interview also suggested that the wall could cause cave-ins along the border, and would block the movement of animals across the Gaza-Israel border.

Hamas-Fatah unity talks stall - again

Reconciliation talks between longtime rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah continue to stall, and a new planned round of meeting has been put on hold, the Ma’an news agency reports.
The sides began a third round of talks last Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha, but they took a negative turn Saturday when Hamas accused Fatah over the failure of that day’s meeting surrounding the issues of employment and legislative council.
Hamas Spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement quoted by Ma’an that Fatah officials had allegedly recounted on previous agreements made in past sessions, something Fatah officials denied.
Abu Zuhri added that the Fatah delegation did not complete the day’s scheduled meetings and withdrew during the second session.
In the statement, Hamas held the Fatah leadership entirely responsible for “failing” the meeting, stressing that there was no” political will to achieve reconciliation” on part of Fatah.

Workers in the PA: Better salaries force Palestinian workers to Israel

Laborer from Hebron, Qassem Abu Hadwan: "The lack of monitoring of [Palestinian] owners of companies and factories and their exploitation of workers is what has forced people to Israel, to work and build in Israel. If only [the salary here in the PA] was at least half of the salary [in Israel]… no one would work in Israel. However, workers have to go to Israel, because no one [in the PA] gives them what they deserve for their work, whether in factories or in companies, and even in municipalities..."
Official PA TV host: "Do you think that the low income and exploitation by [Palestinian] factory and workshop owners are what force people to go [to work] within the Green Line [in Israel] or in the settlements?"
Laborer from Hebron, Qassem Abu Hadwan: "It is what forces the workers to Israel. Even though the Israelis exploit them, they give them what they are entitled to. In the end, when a worker goes to Israel and earns 200 or 180 shekels [a day] as opposed to what he earns here [in the PA], 50, 70, or 100 shekels, then he says: A month's work here equals a week's work there [in Israel]. How can it be compared?"

Arafat’s shadowy money man visits Israel — report

Deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s former money man Muhammad Rashid visited Israel on June 12 and held meetings with Israeli officials as well as figures connected to Syrian rebel groups, the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, reported.
According to the report, Rashid traveled on a Canadian passport, arrived with a delegation of senior officials from Iraqi Kurdistan, and stayed at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. During the visit, Rashid, who is a fugitive from the PA, where he has been convicted of embezzlement, was said to have met with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and an IDF intelligence officer.
From Jerusalem, Rashid reportedly went on to Haifa and met with senior Israeli officials at a restaurant, where the delegation was hosted by Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoub Kara, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Kara told The Times of Israel that “it is no secret that I am connected to the Kurds, the Yazidis, and the Syrian Druze,” but refused to discuss specific details of the Palestinian media report.

Gazans squeezed by triple taxes as Hamas replaces lost income

Standing in his big, but nearly empty, warehouse, Hamam al-Yazjji, is struggling to keep his business alive.
It is not just the daily hardships of making a living in besieged Gaza that are hitting him hard, but the high taxes imposed by Islamist group Hamas, which controls the tiny coastal strip.
Hamas has recently further raised taxes after a drop in financial support from allies, such as Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, and the collapse of its tunnel trade with people in Egypt.
"I used to import tens of food items from around the world, but in the last two years Hamas makes it almost impossible to make a profit because of the high taxes they imposed," says Mr Yazjji, who is based north of Gaza City.
Consumers and businesses in Gaza are hit three times by tax.
Israel collect taxes on imports into Gaza and the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and transfers the money to the PA after deducting a small administrative fee.

Candid Camera Show Drops Two ‘Israelis’ in Gaza City and Waits for the Lynching to Start [video]

The makers of a Gaza TV candid camera show in honor of the month of Ramadan were wondering how would rank and file Gazans respond if they realized that there are a couple of Israelis standing and walking in their midst. The concept was funny enough, and the two actors, Chouikh and Abu Zubaydah, depicting the hapless Zionists were equipped with a visual aid, just in case their subjects didn’t get the idea from their mix of broken English and Arabic — they each had an unmistakable, blue and white Israeli flag printed on their shirts. And so, with the hidden camera rolling, the two brave actors showed up in different parts of Gaza City, in front of a variety of astonished local men of all ages.
The funniest reactions were those of irate Gazans who grabbed the provocative Israeli before them and started beating him up, and the canned laughter loved those scenes. Some of the violent responses immediately followed the appearance of the blue Star and David between two parallel lines; others emerged following an exchange with the actors, in a clothing store, on a soccer field, on the street in front of a warehouse. Each time, the actor under attack, occasionally under a mob attack, would start yelling, “It’s a hidden camera” and urged the crew members to save his life.
But there were less violent, and more introspective reactions, too, when the subject would enter a lengthy argument with the two actors over their proposal that he become Israeli, for instance, because Israel is a mighty superpower. Unaware of being on camera, several subjects stood up to declare their fealty to their nation and their faith, expressing their anger at the provocation.

Vindication for Regime Change

As Max Boot observed, Barack Obama suffered an unpleasant surprise on Thursday evening. An insurrection at the State Department over the White House’s Syria policy has gone public. While the president was off at Yosemite National Park this weekend waxing poetic about the majesty of American topography, this mutiny spread to his Cabinet. According to the New York Times, Secretary of State John Kerry more or less agrees with the diplomatic revolt against the White House’s paralytic approach to the crisis in Syria. In taking this position, Kerry has retroactively vindicated the ouster of irresponsible regimes in the Middle East and dispelled the myths that supposedly explain the rise of the Islamic State.
The 51 diplomats’ missive, in which they dissent to Obama’s prescriptions for Syria, indicts the White House’s approach to the crisis from the very start of the Arab Spring-inspired revolt against Bashar al-Assad. Obama’s craven attempt to outsource the job of enforcing geopolitical norms prohibiting the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield and against civilians has only kept the Assad regime on life support. The Russian-U.S. partnership in Syria has now deteriorated into a virtual proxy war, with all the potential for escalation therein. “Failure to stem Assad’s flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as Daesh, even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield,” the diplomatic correspondence read. In short, the only way to destroy ISIS is to replace the regime in Damascus.
The fact that Secretary Kerry apparently agrees with this objectively accurate assessment of the increasingly dire situation in the Levant is a political earthquake. Kerry has seen his tenure at State consumed by the bloodletting in Syria. The administration’s desperation to avoid entanglement in that nation’s civil war led them to justify Iranian and Russian direct intervention in the conflict. Attacking the Assad regime now so as to shift the balance of power against Damascus, as these diplomats recommend, means risking broader conflict with Tehran and Moscow. In this way, the administration’s inaction justifies more inaction, and the crisis continues to spiral.

Syrian opposition denies any link to activist who spoke at Israeli conference

The Syrian opposition has officially disavowed the person who addressed the Herzliya Conference that took place last week, claiming to speak on behalf of the Syrian opposition.
The man, Essam Zaytoon, presented himself as the "Spokesman of the Southern Front's Foreign Relation Office." The Southern Front is a rebel faction operating under the umbrella of the biggest Syrian opposition organization, the Free Syrian Army.
In an interview with the Israeli TV channel i24 that was broadcast live at the conference, Zaytoon said that his participation in the conference is " proof that the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian opposition still exists."
In a statement issued on Saturday, the deputy chairman of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Samira Musalama, denounced Zaytoon's participation in the conference, emphasizing that he "does not represent the Syrian revolution."

Uranium Found at Parchin More Proof Iran Lied About Building Nuclear Bomb

"The Obama administration has concluded that uranium particles discovered last year at a secretive Iranian military base likely were tied to the country's past, covert nuclear weapons program, current and former officials said, a finding that contradicts Tehran's longstanding denials that it was pursuing a bomb.
Traces of man-made uranium were found at the Parchin facility, southeast of Tehran, by investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, as part of an investigation tied to the landmark nuclear deal reached last July between Iran and global powers.
The Iranians have claimed that the site was used for developing and testing conventional weapons. The particles were the first physical evidence-on top of satellite imagery and documents from defectors-to support the charge that Iran had been pursuing a bomb there...
Critics on Capitol Hill believe the Obama administration played down the extent of Tehran's nuclear work to advance President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy initiative.
They and some U.S. allies, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, fear that Tehran could quickly resume nuclear weapons work when the deal expires, or do it covertly...

Obama Admin Under Scrutiny for Ignoring U.S. Law Banning Russian Arms Sale to Iran

The Obama administration is stalling a congressional inquiry into its ongoing refusal to uphold a U.S. law that would sanction Russia for selling advanced missile systems to Iran, according to recent communications between the State Department and Congress exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
President Obama has the authority under U.S. law to designate as illegal Russia’s recent sale to Iran of the advanced S-300 missile system, a long-range weapon that would boost the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities.
The administration has so far declined to exercise its sanction authority under law and has been stalling attempts by Congress to discern the rationale behind this decision, prompting accusations that the administration is ignoring U.S. law and “acquiescing” to the sale in order to preserve last summer’s comprehensive nuclear deal.
Rep. Steve Chabot (R., Ohio), who first launched an inquiry challenging the administration’s reluctance to sanction the sale in early April, told the Free Beacon that the White House is continuing to punt questions from lawmakers, jeopardizing efforts by Western nations to block the arms sale.
The administration informed Chabot on June 8—more than two months after his initial request—that it has not reached a determination as to whether it will move forward with sanctions as specified under the law.

Iran reaches deal to purchase 100 Boeing planes

Iran said Sunday it has reached an agreement with American aerospace giant Boeing to purchase 100 aircraft to renew its aging fleet, though the deal must still be approved by the US government.
The Islamic Republic has ordered about 200 planes from three Western manufacturers since mid-January, when economic sanctions were lifted following a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran’s civil aviation authority, said in remarks published by the daily Iran newspaper that an agreement had been reached with Boeing for the purchase but said the deal was contingent on US Treasury permission.
Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, however, said Sunday that he hoped the initial accord could be completed within a month.
He told the Fars news agency that the deal would be “the largest and most important contract” with the United States — barring military deals — since before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran claims to foil ‘biggest terrorist plot’ in its history

Iranian intelligence officials have broken up “the biggest terrorist plot” to ever target Tehran and other provinces in the Islamic Republic, the country’s state television reported on Monday.
An anchor on state television read off a statement attributing the information to Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. Officials could not be immediately reached for comment to elaborate.
Several suspects have been arrested and are under interrogation over the plot after agents seized ammunition and bombs, the state TV said. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying the attack was timed to hit during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The report didn’t identify those arrested, though it called them “takfiris,” a derogatory term in both Arabic and Farsi referring to Muslims who accuse others of being “nonbelievers.”

Istanbul riot police disperse 'Trans Pride' march

Istanbul riot police fired tear gas and rubber pellets on Sunday (June 19) to disperse a march for transgender people banned after ultra-nationalists said that "degenerates" could not demonstrate.
Hundreds of riot police cordoned off the city's main Taksim Square to prevent the "Trans Pride" rally taking place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Authorities have banned transgender and gay pride marches this month, citing security concerns after the ultra-nationalist warnings against any such events on Turkish soil.
The annual gay pride parade, described as the biggest in the Muslim world, was due to take place on June 26. Istanbul has held gay pride parades since 2003, attracting tens of thousands of marchers, but last year's was broken up by police.

Turkish border guards kill 11 after 'firing indiscriminately' at Syrian refugees

Turkish border guards have reportedly shot dead nearly a dozen Syrian refugees, including children, as they tried to cross into the country.
At least 11 people were killed after they were “fired on indiscriminately” at the unofficial Khirbet al-Jouz crossing, around 30 miles south of the Turkish city of Antakya.
Many of the victims were from the same family, which had recently fled the northern Islamic State-held town of Jarabulus.
Local activists gave their names as Obaid al-Abo, 50, and his children; Hassan, six, Waed, 15, Walaa, 17, Fatoum, 20 and Amani, 21. His wife and another son were injured, they told the Telegraph.
Footage purportedly taken after the incident showed a woman weeping as she cradled the body of a young girl of around two years old, who appeared to have been shot in the stomach.
Another child is seen lying prone on the floor, covered by a blanket.
"Several families from the city of Jarabulus, north east of Aleppo and Idlib tried to cross the border on Saturday night towards Turkey," one activist said. "The guards opened fire on them indiscriminately.”

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The absurdity continues: 41% of Palestinians in Palestinian territory are "refugees" from Palestine (update)

Today is World Refugee Day, and as they do every year, the fake Palestinian "refugees" are pretending to be real refugees.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released figures for the occasion. Out of all residents in the West Bank and Gaza, 41.6% are considered "refugees."

No one blinks at such absurdity.

If they are Palestinian and live in what the UN and their leaders call the State of Palestine, where exactly are they refugees from?

Moreover, the PCBS says that some 40% of all "refugees" live in Jordan.But the vast majority of them are full Jordanian citizens. So why are they considered "refugees"?

This is all before the question of why, alone among all "refugee" populations, Palestinians are the only ones whose refugee status is automatically renewed every generation.

There is no way under UNRWA's definition for Palestinians to lose their refugee status. Even if a peace plan would suddenly appear and the Palestinian leaders agree to stop  insisting on the fake "right to return", UNRWA would have no means to take them off the roles.

The "refugee" status is permanently bestowed upon all Palestinians until they somehow all cram back into their alleged ancestral homes, in the same villages. Because if you say that they can move to a neighboring village in Israel and no longer be considered refugees, then why can they not live as citizens of "Palestine" in Nablus as non-refugees?

The refugee issue is a thinly veiled attempt to destroy the Jewish state. It has nothing to do with real refugeehood and calling Palestinians refugees is an insult to the millions of real refugees who are truly suffering today. And UNRWA is fighting to get as much of the world's refugee relief budget as it can, causing real refugees to be even worse off.

Happy World Refugee Day.

UPDATE: The PLO Negotiations Affairs Department tweeted this:

I responded:

Only if you assume a bizarre definition of "refugee" @nadplo

— ElderOfZiyon (@elderofziyon) June 20, 2016

They then blocked me.

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Guess who shot a girl in Gaza?

From the Hamas site Palestine Times:

A girl was shot at dawn on Monday while in her home west of the Tal al- Sultan area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to our correspondent the 13 year-old was critically injured, after suffering a gunshot wound in her chest area, while sitting in her home.

She was transferred to the European Hospital east of Khan Yunis.

Security sources suggested that the source of the gunfire that hit the girl was from Egyptian territory, as there was ​​heavy fire on the Egyptian - Palestinian border.

Heavy fire on the border between Egypt and Gaza?

Al Quds adds that there are regularly police actions in Egyptian Rafah where Gazans hear gunfire and explosions, and more than once shells have landed on the Gaza side.

Just another aspect of the Middle East that no one hears about because Israel is not involved.

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