From Ian:
Sarah Honig: Some truly hated truths
The truth is that Israel’s cardinal sin is not allowing its genocidal enemies a deluxe war. This has earned us wrath in censorious capitals and yet another preposterous summons from the UNHRC’s kangaroo court.
The truth is that none of the moral relativists out there will admit that the only imbalance in our equation is between the morality of an ultra-liberal democracy and the immorality of the primeval fanatics who beleaguer it.
The truth is that Gaza’s piteous plaintiveness must be juxtaposed with the riotous rejoicing over a single Israeli’s “capture.”
But these unvarnished truths are unwanted in the smug societies that turn up their sneering noses at us. As George Orwell is reputed to have warned mankind, "the further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."
BBC and NYT Admit Gazan Civilian Casualty Stats Not Credible
Since the conflict in Gaza began, many in the media have become obsessed with publishing “body count” casualty statistics, especially showing the number of Gazan civilian casualties. This data has been used to support those accusing Israel of committing “war crimes.” They say that the huge numbers of “civilian” deaths proves that Israel is being indiscriminate in its military operations.
Now both the BBC and the New York Times (which has been particularly fixated on the daily casualty stats) are admitting that there are serious problems with these numbers.
The BBC’s head of statistics Anthony Reuben, asks:
"If the Israeli attacks have been ‘indiscriminate,’ as the UN Human Rights Council says, it is hard to work out why they have killed so many more civilian men than women…
…In conclusion, we do not yet know for sure how many of the dead in Gaza are civilians and how many were fighters. This is in no sense the fault of the UN employees collecting the figures – their statistics are accompanied by caveats and described as preliminary and subject to to revision.
But it does mean that some of the conclusions being drawn from them may be premature.
UN Watch: Letter to Navi Pillay about her silence on Hamas
Dear Navi Pillay,
Every minute of your silence since Hamas attacked Israel this morning and broke the ceasefire only confirms what we already knew: You are a fraud.
Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer UN Watch
BBC: Caution needed with Gaza casualty figures
Its recent report said that as of 6 August, 1,843 Palestinians had been killed and 66 Israelis and one Thai national since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July.
Of those Palestinians, the status of 279 could not be identified, at least 1,354 were civilians, including 415 children and 214 women, the UN body reported.
So there were 216 members of armed groups killed, and another 725 men who were civilians. Among civilians, more than three times as many men were killed as women, while three times as many civilian men were killed as fighters.
The UN report carries a caveat with its figures: "Data on fatalities and destruction of property is consolidated by the Protection and Shelter clusters based on preliminary information, and is subject to change based on further verifications."
There has been some research suggesting that men in general are more likely to die in conflict than women, although no typical ratio is given.
Nonetheless, if the Israeli attacks have been "indiscriminate", as the UN Human Rights Council says, it is hard to work out why they have killed so many more civilian men than women.
Alan Dershowitz: Hamas' Phony Statistics on Civilian Deaths
The media should immediately stop using Hamas-approved statistics, which in the past have proved to be extremely unreliable. Instead, they should try to document, independently, the nature of each person killed and describe their age, gender, occupation, affiliation with Hamas and other objective factors relevant to their status as a combatant, non-combatant or someone in the middle. It is lazy and dangerous for the media to rely on Hamas-approved propaganda figures. In fact, when the infamous Goldstone Report falsely stated that the vast majority of people killed in Operation Cast Lead were civilians and not Hamas fighters, many in Gaza complained to Hamas. They accused Hamas of cowardice for allowing so many civilians to be killed while protecting their own fighters. As a result of these complaints, Hamas was forced to tell the truth: namely that many more of those killed were actually Hamas fighters or armed policemen. It is likely that Hamas will make a similar "correction" with regard to this conflict. But that correction will not be covered by the media, as the prior correction was not.
The headline—"Most of those killed by Israel were children, women and the elderly"—will continue to be the conventional wisdom, despite its factual falsity. Unless it is corrected, Hamas will continue with its "dead baby strategy" and more people on both sides will die.
Caroline Glick: Obama’s new plan for Hamas
Netanyahu’s erred during the fighting when he made the demilitarization of Gaza a declared war aim. By doing so he opened the door for the Left, the White House and the EU to begin spewing their absurd lies about Fatah as a credible, moderate force that can be depended on – with their taxpayer dollars and euros – to demilitarize Gaza.
In his remarks, Obama indicated that the world – that is the US and Europe – must be involved in any cease-fire deal related to Gaza. And for the privilege of having them on board, Israel needs to accept Hamas-Fatah’s demand for open borders.
But the truth is that the US and the EU are completely unnecessary. Israel and Egypt can secure the borders. And if the Americans and Europeans are concerned for the welfare of the people of Gaza, they can transfer their aid to Israel, which can distribute it to those who need assistance rather than handing it over to Hamas.
The reason Netanyahu isn’t trying to use the war in Gaza to promote a wider peace with Fatah is because Fatah is not interested in peace with Israel. As it showed again during the war, Fatah is Hamas’s partner, not Israel’s. And any deal with Fatah is a deal that strengthens Hamas.
The resurrection of Abbas
Bungling international envoys, stale politicians, and clichéd columnists are revving up a campaign to "re-empower" Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and Gaza.
They want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "pluck peace from the rubble of Gaza," and throw himself into a conciliatory embrace of Abbas. This means that Israel should embark on withdrawals from the West Bank, not just from Gaza, and once again bet its future on "moderate" Palestinians.
This is dodgy talk. The notion that Abbas and his Palestinian "Authority" can be Israel's salvation is without evidentiary foundation. Abbas is not "part of the solution," but a central part of the problem.
Sarah Honig: Piteously-cum-victoriously
Israel is hard put to contend with such cynicism.
It will almost certainly be soothed with assurances of due diligence by international overseers. Unfortunately, however, promises by overseas governments and NGOs to strictly supervise the financial outlays and shipments into Gaza must be taken with a great grain of salt.
Where the entire corrupt infrastructure is reliant upon coercion and cheating, outsiders cannot efficiently scrutinize. Hence the fact that UN facilities in Gaza doubled as rocket depots and that maritime smuggling of rockets and military materiel to Gaza was rife.
The monstrous burgeoning of Hezbollah missile hoards in South Lebanon despite the clear provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 testifies all the more to the utter lack of trustworthiness of international undertakings and supervision.
It’s easy to promise vigilance, inspection and even demilitarization. It’s a whole other matter to actually keep these promises. Foreign peacekeepers and observers, as we had well experienced on the Lebanese front, won’t risk life and limb to confront adamant terrorists.
Quite the contrary. They are likely to stand back and vent their ire at Israel which shows up their ineffectiveness.
The replication of such scenarios is more than likely in Gaza.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas Executes One of Its Leaders - Then Blames Israel
According to the journalists, Taha was executed by a firing squad three days ago. They said that he died instantly of gunshots to the head and chest.
Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin al-Qassam, arrested Taha in 2013 on suspicion that he had served as an informant for the Egyptian General Intelligence Service.
Hamas sources said then that, in addition to the espionage charges, Taha was also suspected of involvement in a "big corruption scandal," but did not elaborate.
Sources in the Gaza Strip said on Thursday that Taha was executed because Hamas feared he might implicate some of its leaders in many corruption scandals. "The man knew too much about the senior leaders of Hamas," said a veteran journalist living in Gaza City who had close ties with Taha. "Hamas leaders used to take him with them on their visits to different countries."
Hamas has never denied that Taha was being held in custody.
Israeli Columnist in London Probes Why UK is Fascinated With Hamas as Underdog, its One-Sided Media and ‘Death to All Juice’
Feuer, who has been a journalist for nearly 20 years, returned to his friend’s flat and was appalled when he watched the British news: “The vast majority of British media, the BBC in particular, but also SkyNews and print news, make for an extremely depressing experience. Almost enough to make your head explode. I would describe the sampling as ‘one sided,’ but then even the term ‘one sided’ implies that somewhere there are, in fact, two sides, and that someone chose one of them. But it didn’t even look that way to me. There was only one side.”
Coverage of Israel is only of the destruction in Gaza: “Only the IDF destroys, bombs, demolishes; there is almost no mention of rockets in Israel. Occasionally they mention the Iron Dome, but when they show a house in Israel that was hit by a rocket, they make sure to balance it: ‘Relative to what is going in Gaza,’ the correspondent emphasizes, ‘this is nothing.’ And in another instance that made me want to smash the TV, they showed Israeli soldiers’s funerals. I’m sitting there in tears, but the newscaster says something like: ‘Though there is no comparing the number of dead, also the Israelis can be sad.’”
“The empathy is reserved for only one side,” he said. “The tunnels are ‘impressive.’ The Hamas ‘fighters,’ ‘didn’t stand a chance,’ etc.”
He said that no matter how hard Israeli leaders try, the British media provides no respite: “When they interview Israeli spokespeople, it seems as though they are mocking them… Of course the Israeli spokespeople try to claim that Hamas is waging a public relations war – again that Israeli notion that everything can be explained, as though there is no reality. I saw Tzipi Livni on the BBC, and I was embarrassed.”
JPost Editorial: Moral myopia
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations are doing their utmost to conceal the number of combatants who were killed. They do this by lying about names when providing data to the media.
And of course the most egregious violation is Hamas’s active attempts to get as many civilians killed as possible.
While Hamas’s leadership goes underground, the civilian population is not only deprived of bomb shelters, it is purposely exposed to the fighting. Rocket launchings as staged from crowded civilians areas (as documented by India’s brave NDTV news crew). Hamas and Islamic Jihad purposely use hospitals, schools and mosques to store arms. There have even been cases where Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists have forcibly prevented civilians from leaving areas slated for an IDF air strike.
West Bank Feminist Academics Condemn Israel (!) For Promoting Rape, Sexism, and Genocide.
On July 31, 2014, the Institute of Women’s Studies at Birzeit University put out “an urgent call” to condemn Israel, Israeli scholars, and the Israeli culture of “rape,” “misogyny,” “sexism,” “genocide,” and “ethnic cleansing.”
That’s not all. The Institute also condemned one unnamed member of the Israeli Parliament who has allegedly called for “the killing of all Palestinian women”; another Israeli academic who has allegedly called for the “raping of Palestinian women;” and a Rabbi who has “call(ed) for mass murder of Palestinians while taking their foreskins as trophies.”
Birzeit University is a Palestinian academic institution located in the West Bank-- specifically, in the town of Bir Zeit. The message has made it far beyond Palestine, however. American and European listserv groups are circulating this filth, which is how it came into my possession last night.
The Birzeit women, intoxicated by their own rhetoric and on quite a metaphoric high horse-- perhaps with a real as well as metaphoric Hamas gun to their heads, too-- do not mention the Palestinian culture (in both Gaza and on the West Bank) of forced veiling, child marriage, child rape, polygamy, honor killing, and normalized daughter- and wife-beating. Nor do they mention Hamas’s culture of Jihad, human sacrifice, or Hamas’s use of their own civilian human shields for propaganda purposes.
IDF: Why Does Hamas Use Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields?
From the Kidnapping to the Redeployment
Times of Israel Live Blog: Rocket hits Sderot home after Hamas ends truce, IDF strikes targets across Gaza
Egypt presents new ceasefire proposal without end-to-blockade demand; 1 Palestinian boy killed, 50 rockets fired since 8 a.m after Hamas ends lull; Israeli negotiators leave Cairo talks as Israel refuses to negotiate under fire
Israel won't negotiate under fire, official says as truce ends
After threatening to resume fire if their demands are not met, Gaza terrorists fired at least 30 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel on Friday morning, shortly after a 72-hour cease-fire expired and Egyptian mediation efforts aimed at striking a lasting agreement collapsed.
"We will continue to strike Hamas, its infrastructure, its operatives, and restore security for the State of Israel," Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement Friday.
Following the resumption of fire, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) said Friday that "it is unthinkable to conduct negotiations under such extortion -- rocket fire on civilians as a method of applying pressure."
"This is the moment of truth for Israel's power of deterrence in the coming years. Our response needs to be forceful," Bennett said. "I would like to remind the Israeli public: Operation Protective Edge is not over. Hamas has not been defeated yet. The people of Israel need to be strong and ready."
2 Rockets Hit Israel Before Ceasefire Ends
Hamas is apparently not waiting for a 72-hour ceasefire to expire at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning.
The “Red Alert” incoming rocket siren was heard in the Eshkol region of southern Israel shortly after 4:00 a.m. early Friday.
The IDF said that two rockets exploded in open regions in the area. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages.
Right, left call for strong response to renewed Hamas rocket fire
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) called on the government to immediately respond to the rocket fire.
"Apparently, the only language Hamas understands is that of the IDF. There is no point in continuing talks in Cairo. Blackmailers and terrorists only understand strength and the time has come that we take that simple truth seriously," Elkin stated.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky (Bayit Yehudi) said that if Israel allows Hamas to shoot rockets without a significant response, it will lose its deterrence and encourage more shooting.
Similarly, Knesset Interior Committee chairwoman Miri Regev (Likud) said "Israel must destroy Hamas. Hamas is not an organization with which we can reach agreements, and that was proven throughout this war." Regev said Gaza must be "demilitarized and dismembered" because "this is a war on our home and it is us or them, so they must be defeated without compromise." The Likud MK added that that Israelis will not have normal lives as long as Hamas is in Gaza.
Cabinet told purging Gaza of terror would take 5 years, cost hundreds of soldiers’ lives
According to diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal, the report — presented to ministers as they debated the future of the Gaza operation — said the cost in civilian Palestinian lives would spike into the thousands.
The clearing of the territory of terrorist threats, including 20,000 gunmen as well as rockets, explosives and weaponry would take no less than five years. Israel could also face numerous soldier abductions by Hamas.
“We would long for [the days of Israel's occupation of] southern Lebanon,” an IDF official said, adding that building a coherent intelligence network on the ground to create order in the chaos would take years.
Severe disorder, riots and unrest would also be expected in the West Bank and among Israeli Arabs.
Battalion commander tells ‘Post’ how reservists uncovered tunnels under fire
“Everyone showed up. They left everything behind: their families, their jobs, and came,” Elbaz told
The battalion went to work, under grueling heat, tracking down and destroying Hamas’s tunnels. It didn’t take long before Elbaz and his soldiers came under fire, he said.
“We faced mortars, snipers and automatic weapon fire. A sniper injured a soldier [from a different battalion] who was at our position. Terrorists came out of orchards and opened fire,” Elbaz recounted. “We returned a lot of fire. This was significant combat.”
Back from Gaza, troops talk of a tougher Hamas and feelings of a job unfinished
A fighter in a commando unit of the Paratroop Brigade, he spent a little over two weeks fighting in and around Khan Yunis during Operation Protective Edge, searching for infiltration tunnels and seeking out Hamas gunmen to engage. Then, just like that, on Wednesday he was back to being a 27-year-old guy in Tel Aviv getting ready to start law school, having emerged from the war in one piece.
"Yoav" was one of several reservists to whom The Jerusalem Post spoke after their return home this week. In addition to his newfound respect for the fighting capabilities of Hamas, he left with mixed feelings about the war.
“The question is, what was the mission we were sent to do? If it was to deal with the tunnels, then we finished the mission. If it was to do something more, then you need more soldiers and it’s not up to us – it’s up to the state to decide.”
MK Shaked: Obama Admin. Doesn’t Understand ‘Rules of the Jungle’
Israeli MK Ayelet Shaked slammed the Obama administration for not “understanding the rules of the jungle” when it comes to Mideast policy during remarks to U.S. Evangelical Christian pastors at the Knesset on Thursday.
“I want to thank you for your support for Israel,” Shaked told the visiting Christian leaders, who were in Israel as part of a solidarity mission organized by Christians United For Israel (CUFI).
Shaked thanked the U.S. for recently approving additional Iron Dome funding, but did not hold back criticism of President Barack Obama, saying that his administration “lacks a fundamental understanding of the Middle East.”
“They don’t understand the rules of the jungle,” Shaked said when describing recent cease-fire efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who drew a lot of criticism in Israel over the inclusion of Hamas supporters Qatar and Turkey in talks.
Intel snared in $6B Israel divestiture hoax
It was revealed in May that Intel was investing nearly $6 billion to upgrade its chip facility in southern Israel. But, on Thursday, some news sources received a press release that said Intel was doing an about-face on this investment because of Israel's attacks on Gaza over the past few weeks.
"The Kiryat Gat facility is only 15 miles from the northern Gaza Strip," the press release read. "Reports of the destruction and loss of life resulting from Israel's recent assault on Gaza, in addition to the blockade that Israel has imposed on the people of Gaza for the past several years is not something that business leaders can continue to ignore."
It turns out, however, the press release was fake.
Tunnels still intact, say Hamas, Al-Jazeera
And at a rally in Gaza City on Thursday, a Hamas spokesman said Hamas still has tunnels that stretch “inside the Zionist entity.” Mushir al-Masri said it would use these tunnels when resuming attacks on Israel on Friday morning if its demands were not met.
The claims follow an Al-Jazeera report on Wednesday, which showed its correspondent in what it said was an operational attack tunnel on the Israel-Gaza border.
Abu Laith, a 43-year-old Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades fighter who ventured out of his home during the 72-hour ceasefire with Israel, told the UK paper that the terrorist organization still has “enough rockets, more than the enemy can imagine,” with which to target Israel.
Why is the US on the sidelines as Cairo talks collapse?
After weeks of blustering and blundering, with pronouncements from Washington podiums and Secretary of State John Kerry’s lengthy attempt at securing a negotiated ceasefire through shuttle diplomacy, Washington kept a low profile as delegations met in Egypt’s capital in the past few days.
The US was, in fact, represented in Cairo. Acting Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein — Martin Indyk’s successor — arrived in the Egyptian on Wednesday, August 6, after talks began. His role was treated ambivalently, with State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf describing it as “to monitor progress and advise in areas where the US can be helpful and achieve — in achieving a lasting ceasefire and forging a sustainable long-term solution for Gaza,” but noting that “he will not be involved in direct mediation between the delegations.”
Harf suggested that the limited involvement stemmed from the fact that “obviously, Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization” and that Washington does not maintain “direct contact with Hamas officials.”
Kerry: Israeli Concessions on Gaza Require Hamas “Giving Up Rockets”
Secretary of State John Kerry told BBC on Tuesday that any moves to “open crossings and get food in and reconstruct and have greater freedom” in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip must be coupled “with a greater responsibility towards Israel, which means giving up rockets.”
Kerry’s statement echoes comments by U.S. officials stretching back to the opening of the current round of hostilities, with Obama administration officials being explicit that disarming Hamas must be part of any Israeli draw-down or ceasefire. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel explicitly called for Hamas to be disarmed as long ago as last month:
Hamas: Body Parts for Terrorists
Israel’s Channel 10 reports that Hamas has offered to to make a trade to get their terrorists released from jail. Israel rejected the offer.
According to the report, Hamas has offered to trade body parts they collected or captured from dead IDF soldiers in Gaza, in exchange for the release of the recaptured terrorists that had previously been released in the Gilat Shalit trade. Is there any limit at all to Hamas’s depravity?
Egypt-Hamas animosity casts pall over ceasefire hopes
“There is no agreement to extend the ceasefire,” Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau and a participant in the Cairo negotiations, wrote on Facebook late Wednesday night, upping the ante if negotiations failed to address his movement’s list of demands.
A day later, an Egyptian security official said that the Palestinian delegation was refusing to compromise. The Egyptian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Thursday that the Palestinian delegation’s stance had hardened after the arrival in Cairo of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders from the Gaza Strip. He said Azzam al-Ahmad, the leader of the delegation and the representative of Western-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, had threatened to withdraw from the talks if the two terror groups do not show more “flexibility,” adding that the delegation, which was supposed to leave Cairo on Thursday, would stay through the weekend.
On Thursday evening, Hamas announced that it would resume attacks against Israel on Friday morning if its demand to end the blockade on Gaza was not met.
Boston city hall scene of 3,000-strong Israel rally
Opposite the New England Holocaust Memorial’s six imposing glass towers, up to 3,000 Israel supporters demonstrated support for the Jewish state in Boston Thursday.
Convened by more than 100 area synagogues and Jewish organizations, the event was the region’s largest pro-Israel gathering since the start of Operation Protective Edge on July 8. Free shuttle buses helped suburban families dodge the logistics of Boston traffic and large-scale construction at the rally site.
In addition to the expected line-up of communal leaders and diplomats, a reserve officer who fought in Gaza and the mother of a local lone soldier drew warm responses from a crowd waving hundreds of American and Israeli flags.
In front of CNN, hundreds protest anti-Israel media bias
Several hundred people rallied outside CNN’s Time Warner studios Thursday evening, calling on it and other US news outlets to stop slanting its coverage against Israel.
“We decided it’s time to take a stand against bias in the media,” said Jeremy Dery, one of the rally organizers. “The media has ignored the Israeli side of the conflict. The world believes that Israel targets innocent people.”
“I’m here to expose and confront the lies that biased media, like CNN, displays to the world regarding the war between Israel and the Gaza Strip,” Dery said. “Their news anchors have reported deceitful stories that favor the Palestinian side, while ignoring, the Israeli point of view during this whole operation.”
Joe Hyams from Honest Reporting, an advocacy group based in Jerusalem, said he’s tired of the “insidious double standard and media duplicity.”
“I won’t apologize to the international media that we didn’t bleed enough,” Hyams said, referring to Israel’s Iron Dome, which intercepted the nearly 3,000 rockets fired on civilians during the war.
Norway To Host Huge Pro-Israel Rally, Mosques Expected To Hit Back
Despite being one of the smaller countries in Europe, Norway is to host one of the continent's largest pro-Israel protests on Sunday. Police are expecting a violent backlash to the protest from Mosques and pro-Palestinian groups, according to the Local.
The 8,000 strong "With Israel for Peace" (MIFF) will assemble in front of the Norwegian Parliament to support Operation Protective Edge. A similar protest in 2009 led to significant violence when the group was attacked and the Police lost control of the situation.
But MIFF have confirmed they will not be intimidated by Muslim groups. MIFF leader Conrad Myrland said: "I expect leaders of opposing organisations and mosques to calm their members, and everyone should respect people being allowed to express their viewpoints in a peaceful way."
Music woven out of conflict and sorrow
Even a war has a soundtrack. For local singers, songwriters and Galgalatz, the army’s pop music radio station, the past weeks of the Gaza operation found the stress and sorrow stimulating some intensive musical creativity.
“Etzlenu BaGan” (In Our Kindergarten), a mournful ballad written by Iftach (Ifty) Kerzner and sung by Shaylee Atary, is currently number six on the Galgalatz radio station.
Kerzner, who lives in Tel Aviv and writes songs as a hobby, said he caught a glimpse of two kids huddling under a blanket, playing around with a flashlight — an image that spurred the refrain of the song, which is about a group of friends, growing up together.
When Israelis hear siren-esque sounds
With Israelis slowly returning to normal after a month (and for some, weeks and years) of taking cover when the sound of a Code Red siren rings over towns and cities, one comedy troupe has parodied Israelis’ fear of rockets.
The Hebrew-language video, made by a trio called “Ritalin Kids” — Amit Raviv, Ofir Boaz and Asa Keren — shows Israelis running for cover after mistaking various sounds, from a kettle boiling to a donkey braying to Whitney Houston hitting those high notes, for the warble of an incoming rocket alert.
Transgender Israeli Singer to Europe: 'Shut Your Mouths About Gaza, You Raped the World'
Transgender Eurovision song contest winner Dana International has lashed out at European leaders following numerous interventions about the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Dana International, who was recently featured on YouTube dancing in a synagogue, issued a firmly-worded statement aimed at Israel's critics. She said: “You need to shut your mouths, you have murdered millions and millions of people throughout history.
"Shut up Dutch people! Shut up Belgians! Shut up British people!
"You conquered half of the world. You raped Africa, you raped half of the world. Bring back Africa's money!
"There is no nation in Europe who can come in guilt free and criticize Israel.
How a Hamas Anthem Became a Hit in Israel
A few days ago, I called a young relative who is serving in the Israeli air force and asked him: “Do you know that song—“Kum, Aseh Piguim”?
Without missing a beat, he said: “You mean that song that’s a hit all over Israel? The song that all my friends are singing all the time?”
“Yeah,” I said. “That song. I wanted to know if you can explain to me why they are singing it?”
What I actually meant to ask was: Can you please explain to me why all the young people in Israel are singing a song entitled “Up, Do Terror Attacks”—a song recorded and released by Hamas in Gaza, which repeatedly calls for killing or expelling all the Jews from of Israel? But I didn’t have to say all that. He knew why I was asking.
Amid Gaza-Israel conflict, some tales to warm the heart
Perhaps with the worries about rockets flying and death tolls mounting during the Gaza operation, many lost sight of the myriad heartwarming stories from the conflict. Here are some you may have missed in recent days.
Meet Lt. Eitan, hero
Israelis held their collective breath last week after learning that an Israeli soldier was believed to have been taken captive through one of the tunnels leading from Gaza to Israel.
IEC Transfered Generators to Gaza Hospitals
In a Unique Operation, IEC transfers 10 generators to hospitals in Gaza.
Two days ago, in a unique deployment operation, the electric company transferred 10 generators with a total capacity of 4.3 megawatts via the cargo terminal at Kerem Shalom for the benefit of hospitals in Gaza.
At the Kerem Shalom crossing point, the generators were provided by the IDF representative bodies and were transferred to the Palestinian Authority. Diesel generators were provided with operating and safety instructions translated into Arabic.
PM Thanks Diaspora Jews for 'Standing By Israel'
In a letter to Jewish communities around the world, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu thanking them for their support in the recent weeks. In the letter, Netanyahu said that “The Jewish people always unites to meet challenges. The current period is no different. Over the past two months, beginning with the kidnapping and murder of three of our teenagers, through Operation Protective Edge, the support of Jewish communities around the world has been a source of great strength for the people of Israel.
“At the same time, we know this has been a difficult period for Jews around the world,” Netanyahu continued. “Many of you have had to face aggressive protesters, and even violent anti-Semitism. In the name of the State of Israel and Israelis, I thank you for the protection you gave our just battle to restore long-term quiet and security that all Israelis deserve. I ask that you continue raising your voices to battle the lies that are aimed at Israel.
“Israel will, for its part, continue standing at your side, as you deal with hatred and intolerance. Jews everywhere should be able to live with pride, not fear. I have great faith in the Jewish people and in the justice of our cause,” Netanyahu added. “I look forward to continuing to build our common future together with you.”
LA leaders hold moment of silence in solidarity with Israel
As a three-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold this week, Los Angeles City leaders came together in council chambers on Tuesday morning in a show of solidarity for Israel.
Holding white carnations, the leaders reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas during the month-long rocket bombardment into the country.
Organized by Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfeld, Los Angeles City Hall chamber business was put on hold for a moment’s silence in memory of all those who have died over the past four weeks.
Israel's Davis Cup tie against Argentina moved abroad
Three days after the ATP World Tour 250 tournament scheduled to take place at Ramat Hasharon next month was canceled, the ITF's Davis Cup Committee unanimously agreed that, "due to concerns arising from the military conflict between Israel and Hamas, it is not advisable at this time for Israel to host Argentina."
The tie was scheduled for September 12-14 at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv, but the Israel Tennis Association was given five days on Thursday to select a neutral venue.
South Africa threatens to prosecute citizens serving in IDF
South African authorities said they will prosecute citizens who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
The warning earlier this week came after a pro-Palestinian advocacy group opened a case against Dean Goodson of Cape Town, who reportedly is serving in the IDF.
Action Forum in Support of Palestine told the South Africa Independent online that it plans to open cases against at least four other South Africans that the group believes are serving in the IDF.
Arab-Israeli Deliveryman Indicted for Swastika Vandalism
A newspaper delivery worker has been accused of scratching swastikas onto vehicles in the Beersheva suburb of Lehavim. The worker, a resident of the Bedouin town of Rahat, was indicted on Thursday of damaging property and of a racist act.
According to the indictment, the incident occurred on July 28, during the height of Operation Protective Edge. The defendant used a rock to scrawl a swastika onto a number of vehicles in the town.
The defendant told police that he committed the act because the residents of the town “were Jews,” and he was expressing his feelings towards them.
Ironically, at least several of the cars the defendant damaged were owned by Arabs. If convicted, the defendant could serve time for committing a racist act.
Israeli Arab Leader Muhammad Zeidan Supports Hamas: Its Missiles Target the Enemy
French senator sorry for murdered Disney toons post
A French senator apologized for any misunderstandings connected to her praise for a campaign featuring fake pictures of Israeli leaders murdering Disney cartoon characters.
Nathalie Goulet of the Union of Democrats and Independents party made the endorsement on Twitter earlier this week, Europe1.fr reported, in posting on her account the images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bludgeoning a dying Pinocchio. The picture also showed Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stabbing Alice, and former Israeli president Shimon Peres choking Peter Pan.
“Very powerful campaign against children mass murder,” Goulet wrote about to the pictures
Jewish students 'bullied' out of class
Jewish students are allegedly being assaulted and refused entry into lectures at universities around Melbourne.
Student groups report anti-Israel protesters at RMIT, Monash and La Trobe campuses are profiling people and heckling Jews out of class lectures.
Matthew Lesh from the Australasian Union of Jewish Students told Tom Elliott they’ve had a “phenomenal” experience on campus in the past two weeks. (h/t jelsie)
Green Party of Canada prez resigns after blog backlash
Green Party of Canada president Paul Estrin, who wrote a post on the party’s blog supportive of Israel in its fight against Hamas, has resigned under pressure from the party’s executive board.
Soon after the post’s publication, Elizabeth May, the Green Party of Canada’s political leader and a member of parliament, quickly distanced herself from Estrin.
“His views are contrary to Green Party of Canada position. We support peace. We condemn violence,” May wrote on Twitter in response Estrin blog post, which has since been removed from the party’s website.
‘Whack Hamas’ app developer: Google gave me a raw deal
Google may have been a little too conscientious in its “cleanup” of the Play app store this week, according to Avishay Segal, VP of Marketing at HitsNapp, creators of the Whack the Hamas app, which Google dumped along with several other Gaza war-themed apps. “We are pretty sure Google was contacted by anti-Israel groups that pressured them to remove our app,” Segal told The Times of Israel. “There was nothing in our app that had to do with violence or bombing people.”
Whack the Hamas was one of three Israeli-developed Gaza-themed games removed this week by Google from its Android Play app store. They are Gaza Assault: Code Red, which lets users control a drone that drops bombs on Hamas terror targets in Gaza; Bomb Gaza, in which players need to target terrorists while avoiding civilian casualties; and Segal’s Whack the Hamas, a version of Whack-the-Mole, in which players need to knock down the Hamas “operatives” that pop up on the screen.
Israeli Shopper in the Netherlands Horrified When Ralph Lauren Clerk Says Bnei Brak Not in Israel
An Israeli shopper in the Netherlands was horrified when a clerk at the Ralph Lauren Factory Store wrote up his duty free slip and listed his address, in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak, as being in “Palestinian Territory.”
The shopper contacted GEODKOSJER, the Jewish consumer defense association in the Benelux countries, which wrote to Ralph Lauren, the president of the clothing company, to ask if ”this is a kind of boycott of Israel, not to name it and instead identifying it as ‘Palestinian Territory’?”
“We understand that by acting like this your Factory Store wants to make a political statement, which is totally unacceptable to our member,” said the letter, signed by Dr. Henru Rosenberg, president of GEODKOSJER.
George Galloway: Bradford is an Israel-free zone
On the heels of Yvonne Ridley’s effort to make Scotland a Zionist-free zone, the MP for Bradford West announced (on whose authority?): “We have declared Bradford an Israel-free zone.”
“We don’t want any Israeli goods, we don’t want any Israeli services, we don’t want any Israeli academics coming to the university or the college. We don’t even want any Israeli tourists to come to Bradford, even if any of them had thought of doing so. We reject this illegal, barbarous, savage state that calls itself Israel.”
According to some of his constituents, Bradford is already pretty much a Galloway-free zone. (h/t Bob Knot)
UK police to investigate MP’s call for ‘Israel-free zone’
Two complaints were lodged against controversial British politician George Galloway, after he called for Bradford to be declared an “Israel-free zone,” the BBC reported Thursday. Galloway’s calls were being investigated by in order to determine whether they qualified as hate speech.
Row Over Plan to Fly Palestine Flag Over Glasgow City Council
Glasgow City Council has caused controversy by planning to fly the Palestine flag over its chambers on Friday.
Sadie Docherty, Lord Provost of the city, said that the council would be raising the flag in solidarity with the people of Gaza, but the Paul Morron, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, said the Jewish community was "angered and hurt" by the decision.
Mr Morron added that flying the flag is "the worst kind of gesture politics" and that the move will do "nothing to alleviate the suffering on either side of the conflict, nor does it bring peace closer by one single minute".
Cllr Docherty had earlier said in a letter to the mayor of Bethlehem:
Group that organizes Muslim prayers at University of Calgary spreading hate - "Jew pigs - avenge them"
The Muslims of Calgary organization, who advertises Friday prayers at the University of Calgary, has posted false information which has lead to comments such as "Jew pigs - avenge them". They posted a picture of dead babies claiming it was Israel who killed them. The picture is from a chemical attack in Syria. The group also rents University of Calgary space to host their speakers.
May I remind you that the current president of the Palestinian club on campus, Ala'a Hamdan has been quoted saying 'I will soak a koffiyah in your blood...I will become the mother of a martyr'. She has also been quoted saying 'Most CEOs are Zionists'.
Ban On Flights To Israel Renewed Until People Stop Clapping At Landing (satire)
“I don’t know who these melodramatic folks are, but they make routine events unbearable for normal humans,” he continued. “Do these people also applaud when the traffic signal changes? Do they throw confetti when the mail gets delivered? Set of celebratory fireworks when their child is appointed hall monitor at school? This has to stop.” Huerta said the ban would remain in effect indefinitely, with a review every three weeks to determine whether the stupid habit has been eliminated from Tel Aviv-bound flights not originating in the US. If so, the FAA will again allow US carriers to fly there.
“This has been going on for far too long, frankly,” agrees Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker. “This is essentially the only weapon in our arsenal, if you’ll forgive the metaphor, but this is a battle that must be waged and won, for the sake of collective sanity.”
Officials in Israel, though bitter about the implications for the Israeli economy, conceded the need the rid the aviation world of the scourge. “It’s past time to put the kibosh on this inanity,” said a grudging Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Yisrael Katz. “The danger from texting while driving can wait.”
UNRWA To Revamp Procedures For Posing Corpses In Its Facilities (satire)
To forestall a recurrence of such damage, Gunness will initiate a protocol under which any positioning of bodies or injured children on UN property must be cleared by his office in advance. Only by following that procedure, says Gunness, can UNRWA keep its facilities in as good a condition as possible.
“The contrast between a pristine building and one pockmarked with shrapnel is a key tool in making Israel look bad,” explained Gunness. “So the maintenance of a dramatic ‘before’ vs. ‘after’ effect carries extra importance.”
The protocol includes built-in advance permission for certain schools and warehouses already exposed in international media as venues for the storage or launching of rockets targeting Israeli towns. However, the vast majority of UNRWA facilities maintain neutrality at least in appearance. Violations of the protocol will result in lower priority for the violators’ relatives to find employment in key UNRWA positions locally, and venues where multiple violations occur will no longer receive approval for the storage of rockets or other weapons.