From Ian:
Gerard Henderson: There is no war between Israel and a nonexistent nation
Australia’s decision to vote in agreement with the US in the Security Council on the Jordanian resolution is not an example of Tony Abbott slavishly following Obama. Not at all. Australia has been a strong supporter of Israel’s right to exist within secure borders since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Also, the policy has been essentially bipartisan.
Australia’s support for Israel started when Labor’s Ben Chifley was prime minister. It continued after December 1949 under the Coalition prime ministers Robert Menzies, Harold Holt, John Gorton and William McMahon. Gough Whitlam was not as friendly to Israel as his predecessors, but his government lasted only three years. Malcolm Fraser is one of Israel’s most high-profile critics. But he did not manifest such a position during his nearly eight years as prime minister. Labor prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating were supportive of Israel, as was John Howard. Kevin Rudd essentially continued this position, as did Julia Gillard.
Viewed in this light, the position taken by the Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister reflects established policy. Moreover, it makes good sense.
It is fashionable among the left intelligentsia in the West to blame Israel for all the problems in the Middle East. However, the appalling civil war in Syria, which has seen about 200,000 Muslims killed by other Muslims, has nothing to do with Israel. Currently, authorities in Jerusalem want to see reconstruction in Gaza following Israel’s recent war with Hamas aimed at destroying missile sites and attack tunnels on the Israel-Gaza border. Neither Egypt nor the PA is supportive of this proposal, due to the hostility of the governments in Cairo and Ramallah to Hamas.
It is likely that the tension in the Middle East, as it affects Israel, will continue for some time. A long-term settlement seems a long way off. But this does not suggest a war between Israel and the Palestinians as depicted by O’Connor.
About 20 per cent of Israel’s population is made up of Muslims and Christians. Both groups enjoy full democratic rights. What’s more, as Arab-Israeli citizen Khaled Abu Toameh pointed out in The Australian yesterday, there is a lack of democracy in the PA areas on the West Bank — particularly with reference to female critics of Abbas.
While in Israel, I visited the Ziv hospital close to the Lebanese-Syrian borders, where Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and other minorities work together. Here, Melbourne-born doctor Michael Harari looks after victims of the Syrian civil war who have been brought to the hospital by the Israel Defence Force. There were adult male and child victims. According to Harari, no one asks details about the patients. They receive the best attention possible. At the Ziv hospital, there is no war between Israelis and Palestinians or, indeed, Syrians. It’s a symbol of hope in a troubled region.
Pro-Israel Student Activist Chloe Valdary Receives Death Threat
Pro-Israel student activist Chloe Valdary received a death threat via a YouTube video titled "Pro Israel Chloe Valdary Murdered!"
The brief video was posted Dec. 31 by "Jackson Carter." Beneath Carter's post is the following statement:
"Rest in peace Chloe Valdary, no way burn in hell be' yatch. You make me black and ashamed. If there is any justice in the world you'll get yours and then some!"
The six-second video features ominous images, including a woman lying in a hospital bed, the words "Bang ya dead!" and a photo of Valdary holding an Israeli flag. It ends with the statement "The Planetary Patriot is here." (The epithet "Planetary Patriot" appears in some of his other videos.)
The “Arabs are Semites too” fallacy
The response that “Arabs are Semites too” is a fallacy of course, as anyone who can use a dictionary can tell. Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Cambridge all give slight variations of the same definition, which is that “antisemitism” means hatred of Jewish people. Therefore whether Arabs are Semites or not is totally irrelevant to the issue of Arab antisemitism.
One possible reason for this response is that those who make it are unable to read a dictionary. A more likely reason, however, is that they have no solid rebuttal to the accusation of Arab antisemitism, and they are diverting the discussion to avoid admitting a fact that they do not like.
The ease with which antisemites use this fallacious argument is an indication that the fallacy is commonly shared and accepted among anti-Zionists. It is also an indication that anti-Zionists have a very low threshold of integrity for arguments that they are willing to use and re-use Ad nauseam.
This predilection for repeating lies that sound like truth is undoubtedly meant to score points based on the principle that “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself” as enunciated by Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s Propaganda Minister in Nazi Germany.
Israel freezes Palestinian funds in response to ICC bid
Israel on Saturday froze NIS 500 million ($127 million) in Palestinian tax revenues collected on Ramallah’s behalf, in response to the Palestinian Authority filing a request to join the International Criminal Court earlier this week.
The decision was apparently made during a meeting convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss Israeli responses to the unilateral move by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, an unnamed senior Israeli official told Channel 10.
The frozen funds are Palestinian taxes collected by Israel which were intended to be transferred to the PA’s coffers on Friday. Israel has threatened retaliation against the Palestinians should they move to join the court, and Washington condemned the move as a hindrance to efforts at reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.
“The funds for the month of December were supposed to be transferred on Friday, but it was decided to stop it as part of the response to the Palestinian move,” a senior Israeli official told Haaretz.
Israel said to weigh lawsuits against top Palestinian officials
Israel is said to be considering filing war crime lawsuits in the US and beyond against top Palestinian officials.
An Israeli official told Reuters on Saturday that Israel was “weighing the possibilities for large-scale prosecution in the United States and elsewhere” of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other top officials, a day after the PA submitted documents to the United Nations to join the International Criminal Court.
The official added that Palestinian leaders “ought to fear legal steps” as a response to their move toward ICC membership.
“(Hamas) … commits war crimes, shooting at civilians from civilian populated areas,” the official said, in reference to the 50-day conflict Israel fought with Hamas and other terror groups in and around Gaza. Israel lost 66 soldiers and six civilians, and a Thai agricultural worker, in the month-long conflict, while the Palestinian death toll surpassed 2,100, according to Hamas officials in Gaza. Israel said half of the Gaza dead were gunmen and blamed Hamas for all civilian deaths because it operated from residential areas, placing Gazans in harm’s way.
A second official told the news agency that Israel may push these cases via non-governmental organizations and pro-Israel legal groups who can file lawsuits abroad.
Obama Shouldn’t Oppose Effort to Hold Palestinians Accountable
For six years, the Obama administration has tried in vain to give the Palestinian Authority what it wanted. It has undermined Israel’s negotiating position at every turn and treated PA leader Mahmoud Abbas as a champion of peace even though he has repeatedly turned down opportunities to end the conflict. But by thumbing his nose at the U.S. at the United Nations Security Council with a doomed effort to pass a one-sided resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood and then heading to the International Criminal Court to pursue specious human-rights cases against Israel, Abbas may have finally gone one step too far. The new Congress can and probably will enact sanctions against the PA. The question is will the administration, which is the injured party in this nasty breakup, seek to prevent Congress from doing the right thing and holding the Palestinians accountable?
The end-run around the U.S.-sponsored peace process is not the first time the PA has flouted its commitment to negotiations under the 1993 Oslo Accords. For two decades, the PA, first under the leadership of Yasir Arafat and now of Abbas, has treated that famous peace deal and its follow-up agreements as merely pieces of paper to be discarded at will. It has sponsored terrorism, fomented hate for Israel and Jews, and refused to negotiate or even accept peace offers from Israel that offered them all they could reasonably hope for including an independent state in almost all the West Bank, Gaza, and a share of Jerusalem.
But in spite of these outrageous actions, the U.S. has not pulled the plug on the generous aid package that the PA received all these years. That has happened largely because the Clinton and Obama administrations have been so committed to the myth of Oslo that they have chosen to whitewash the PA. The Bush administration did the same thing once Abbas replaced Arafat. That did not advance peace but it allowed the Palestinians to think they would never be held accountable for their actions. Though legislation has been passed that would have cut off aid, presidential waivers were always exercised to prevent it from being enforced.
Palestinian move to join ICC will have implications for US aid, State Department says
Further steps by the Palestinians on Friday to deliver to the UN documents on joining the International Criminal Court will have implications for US aid, a senior State Department official said.
"It should come as no surprise that there will be implications for this step, but we continue to review," the official told Reuters.
"US assistance to the Palestinian Authority has played a valuable role in promoting stability and prosperity not just for the Palestinians, but also for Israel as well," the official added.
Earlier on Friday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers said there would be repercussions for the Palestinian Authority in the wake of its joining the International Criminal Court.
“Congress must do everything in its power to block funds to the PA and to any UN entity that recognizes a non-existent State of Palestine to make it clear to Abu Mazen that there will be consequences to his schemes at the United Nations and other international organizations like the International Criminal Court,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the chairwoman of the US House of Representatives Middle East subcommittee, said in a Dec. 31 statement.
Abbas mulls another UN Security Council bid for Palestinian state
Undaunted by its failed bid to win a United Nations Security Council resolution mandating an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority is now considering another push to lobby the world body to grant it independence.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s official spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, announced on Friday that Ramallah is weighing another proposal for a binding Security Council resolution that would call for a Palestinian state along the ’67 lines with east Jerusalem as its capital.
According to the Wafa news agency, Rudeineh said that “President Mahmoud Abbas instructed Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malaki and Palestine’s ambassadors and representatives in the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the African Union to appeal to governments who either opposed or abstained in the vote to support an end to occupation.”
Baird concerned over Palestinian Authority's 'dangerous' actions
The Canadian government expressed its concern Thursday over the Palestinian Authority's "dangerous" actions this week.
"Such a provocative decision only furthers the divide between Palestinians and Israelis, and will carry unfortunate consequences," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement Thursday. "Canada has expressed these concerns directly to the Palestinian Authority for nearly four years now."
Abbas signed onto the ICC a day after a resolution calling for an end to Israeli occupation by 2017 failed to win sufficient support at the United Nations Security Council.
Baird called on Abbas to return to abandon the legal route and "recommit to a negotiated solution."
"We believe this is the only way to bring about a just and lasting peace," Baird said. "Israelis and Palestinians deserve nothing less."
Could Obama Swing the Israeli Election?
If Obama decides to pick a fight with Netanyahu to influence the Israeli election, it could be focused on their personal relations. Even if the occasion is Iran sanctions legislation, pending in the Senate, or some housing units in Jewish areas of Jerusalem, the tactic may be aimed at personality rather than policy.
Kerry told European diplomats that Livni had warned him against using the Palestinian UN resolution as a point of pressure, as it could backfire and strengthen Netanyahu. We will see whether this advice ended the temptation for Obama to intervene. Or did it merely redirect the tactic to another place where Obama sees an opportunity?
Obama could pay a price for provoking another confrontation with Bibi. His own credibility is tarnished, particularly in foreign policy. He faces a Republican Congress that is unlikely to go along. The theory that friction will weaken Netanyahu is unproven; the reverse could happen. And Netanyahu may well win the Israeli election on March17, so Obama needs to think about the morning after.
Still, for those in the President's circle who believe that a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians would fall into place if only Bibi did not stand in the way, there has to be an enormous temptation to seize the opportunity. There are, no doubt, some in the Israeli peace camp who will encourage this line of thinking about American pressure.
American Security Guards Clash with Jews in Binyamin
Security guards from the United States Consulate on Friday afternoon clashed with Jewish residents near the community of Adei Ad, located in the Binyamin region.
Arutz Sheva learned that two vehicles belonging to the consulate arrived at the community without coordination with residents.
Locals then tried to make sense of the actions of the American security guards, at which point, officials said, an argument developed and the Americans pulled out a handgun and an M16.
A security official stressed in a conversation with Arutz Sheva that the guards arrived in the area without any coordination with the IDF and the police.
A spokeswoman for the Israel police told the AFP news agency that the diplomats were apparently on a mission, which was not coordinated with Israeli security forces, to assess "damage caused by acts of vandalism in an olive orchard of Turmus Ayya".
They were acting on Palestinian Arab accusations that Jewish residents had uprooted 5,000 olive saplings planted on land recovered after a years-long legal battle, the report said. (h/t Yenta Press)
Tibi Hoists PLO Flag on Temple Mount
MK Ahmed Tibi raised the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terror group's flag on the Temple Mount Saturday, after he arrived there along with Muslim leaders to celebrate the birth of the Muslim prophet, Mohammed.
"Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the capital of Arab Palestine and Al-Aqsa mosque is a place of worship for Muslims," declared Tibi during the event.
Tibi then hoisted the PLO flag.
"The parade here is a message of freedom and peace and [Arabs] will be released from Occupation to lead a free and normal life. The procession ended at the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is the crown jewel of Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine," he declared.
This is not the first time Tibi has made inflammatory statements claiming Muslims 'own' the Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest site. In November, Tibi made similar claims, prompting a fiery backlash from several MKs.
Abbas’s march to reelect Bibi
Pity poor Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, The New York Times editorialized on Thursday, “at nearly 80, he has to be tired and deeply frustrated with the failure of years of peace negotiations with Israel to achieve the Palestinian dream of an independent state.”
Not a word in the piece about his – or the Palestinians’ – responsibility for that failure, but plenty about “right-wing Israeli politicians opposing a Palestinian state and the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, steadily expanding settlements, making the creation of a viable Palestinian state harder.”
The Times acknowledged that Abbas’s decision Wednesday to join the International Criminal Court will “almost certainly make the situation worse, setting back the cause of statehood even further.”
And, it added, “By taking this tack before the Israeli elections, which are set for March 17, he has given Israeli hard-liners new ammunition to attack the Palestinians and reject new peace talks.”
According to the Times construct, the Palestinians should delay bringing Israel to the court until after the elections so as not to give ammunition to the Right.
Fatah distances itself from provocative Facebook post
The image, posted Wednesday on the Fatah Facebook page, also displays a rifle, the Fatah flag and the words “lingering on your skulls.” It was posted on the occasion of Fatah’s 50th anniversary.
A spokesman for Fatah told CNN on Friday that the group was not responsible for the image.
“Fatah did not design this image,” Mahmoud al-Aloul said, who added that the person who posted it “is currently being asked to remove it. The image and the text do not reflect the opinions of Fatah.”
The image was removed after al-Aloul’s comments were made to CNN.
This is not Fatah’s first Facebook controversy. After the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers last summer, Fatah’s page displayed a number of cartoons, including one depicting the kidnapped teens as rats caught on a fishing line. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Egypt border guards shoot Gaza man dead
Egyptian soldiers firing from across the border shot dead a Palestinian man in the Gaza frontier town of Rafah on Friday, medics said, although the motive was not immediately known.
The border troops shot the 23-year-old man “in the back and the bullet settled in the heart. He died on the spot,” emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told AFP.
The shooting was confirmed by the spokesman of the interior ministry in Gaza, Iyad al-Bazm, in a message on his Facebook page.
“A Palestinian citizen, aged 23, was killed by Egyptian army fire on the Egyptian-Palestinian border and the security agencies are investigating the incident to find out the motives,” it said.
Hamas condemns alleged shooting of Gaza teen by Egypt
Hamas on Saturday condemned the fatal shooting by Egyptian border guards of what they said was a Palestinian minor [23 years old] on the Gaza border.
“We condemn the killing (Friday) of the child Zaki al-Houbi by Egyptian army gunfire on the borders. We consider what happened as a dangerous development and excessive use of force,” the Islamist organization said in a statement.
“What happened is not appropriate to neighborly relations between brothers.”
DIY Israel Advocacy
Are you the vocal student who stands up for Israel when it is “cool” to condemn the country? Do your Facebook statuses include hashtags such as #IHeartIsrael, #IsraelUnderFire or #ISWI? Are you that student who intends to change the way society views Israel, but doesn’t know how to engage your passion?
The best way to help Israel, while living in America, is to teach our fellow citizens that Israel is an incredible ally for the United States and other countries to have. So how do you do that? How can teens create educational programs about our beloved Israel? Here are some helpful tips to get you started:
Know The Choir You Are Preaching To
The first step to successfully educating any group of people is understanding the audience. The program you create for a class of 6-year-olds will be different from an event for a church study group. Choose a topic that will be of interest to your crowd.
Michaek Lumish: Say Hello to Proteus7
Keeping one's finger on the pulse of popular political blogs or the popular on-line political magazines is a way to gain a sense of the political base. Israel, as anyone who participated in the Daily Kos Arab-Israel discussion knows, is not well-liked by the activist base of the Democratic party and is, in fact, a toss-up within the Democratic party, as a whole.
On Daily Kos, itself, the anti-Zionists routed the pro-Israel Jews.
Nonetheless, I want to thank Doodad for pointing us to this comment by Proteus7. It is a comment in response to a "diary" concerning the PA's attempt to join the International Criminal Court (ICC):
"What the Palestinian Arabs don't seem to understand is that they lost. They rejected the original UN partition. They tried 4 times and for 60 years, through direct war, and terrorist attacks on civilians to try to get all of Israel, and failed. Failure has consequences, they need to take what they can get and build from there. History is not kind to losers...they don't get to dictate terms. Unfortunately it won't happen. Thanks to the big lie, they've raised multiple generations to beleive that they have historical rights to a mythical nation of "Palestine" that never existed in history. They've elevated the mythology of the Temple Mount as an Arab holy place to ridiculous levels (from 1948-1967" under Jordanian control, not ONE Arab leader ever bothered to visit, or pray there) [Abdullah I, was assassinated there in 1951]. Israel will never give up control of Jerusalem, their 3000 year old historical capital, so it's a non-starter. The above points I make are not politically correct. They are not popular on here. But, they are true and factual, and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. Of course, given the level of intellectual dishonesty that i often see on these topics, I expect to get downvoted and banned quickly, rather than have a proper discussion of issues and facts. The truth isn't very popular on IP forums."
BDS Activist in UK Delivers Nazi Salute Outside Israeli-Owned Store
A leading activist in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in the northern English city of Manchester has been pictured giving a Nazi salute outside the Israeli-owned Kedem cosmetics store on King Street, a main thoroughfare in the town center.
The man, identified as Tristan Woodwards, was photographed with his right arm raised and his left arm locked at his side, in the traditional manner of a Nazi salute. Along with some of the other BDS supporters in the photograph, Woodwards is smiling widely.
Woodwards’ page on social media platform Twitter displays a photo showing him with a placard at another BDS demonstration outside a branch of Barclays Bank. Several sources described him to The Algemeiner as a “professional demonstrator.”
Raphi Bloom, co-chair of advocacy group North-West Friends of Israel, told The Algemeiner that today’s incident outside Kedem occurred after three BDS activists appeared in court for public order offenses allegedly committed over the summer, when the store became the focus of angry local protests against the war in Gaza between Israel and the ruling Hamas regime. After the court proceedings ended this morning, Woodwards and his comrades headed to Kedem for an “impromptu protest.”
Again, anti-Israel ads on RTD buses
AN ADVERTISEMENT that calls Israel an apartheid state and accuses Israel of war crimes was launched on RTD buses Dec. 17.
The advertisement is similar to one that angered Denver Jews and Israel supporters last year, and is sponsored by some of the same groups.
It is paid for by Coloradans for Justice in Palestine, Friends of Sabeel-Colorado and Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC). All three organizations support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
According to the campaign organizers, the release of the advertisement is timed to mark the sixth anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, or the 2008-2009 Gaza War.
In 2013, community leaders believed the advertisement was launched to coincide with the Jewish National Fund’s annual convention, which took place in Denver last October.
Vicious Haaretz inspired antisemitic blood libel
Somebody sent me this link (on a website which is 'anti-immigrant' in a clearly racist way). While the website may be marginal the video it links to - claiming that Israel is committing a Nazi holocaust against its Ethiopian citizens by forced sterilization of all the women - is certainly NOT. It is not new (it is from 2013) and it is from a programme on Russia Today. That is the popular 24/7 English language Russian cable news channel that is available to everyone in the UK who has a cable subscription.
This is a slick production hosted by a very attractive American lady in a mini-skirt. But that is where the niceties end. To get a feel for the antisemitic hatred - dressed up as anti-Zionism - that is now mainstream listen to this lady right the way through. But most importantly look at who is the source for this nonsensical story - none other Haaretz. In fact it seems that an increasingly high proportion of the most vicious anti-semitic and anti-Israel propaganda stories doing the rounds on the Internet originate from poorly researched - and usually completely untrue - Haaretz articles which are lapped up and subsequently grossly exaggerated by the grateful hordes of antisemites out there trawling for just such crumbs.
Egypt threatened to arrest Mrs. Clooney
Alamuddin-Clooney represents Mohamed Fahmy, the media network’s Egyptian-Canadian bureau chief in Cairo, who along with Australian Peret Greste and Egyptian freelance producer Baher Mohamed, were convicted of terrorism charges in June 2014. Their supporters say the charges were politically motivated.
The convictions sparked international outrage, months after their arrest in December 2013 amid accusations of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi earlier that year.
They were sentenced to between seven and ten years in prison but Egypt’s highest court in Wednesday ordered a retrial. Hundreds of journalists, many with black tape over their mouths, held silent protests after the three were sentenced to challenge what they see as growing media censorship in Egypt.
In an interview to British media, Clooney said a report she co-authored on Egypt’s judiciary system was seen as so controversial, she was told she faced arrest.
Iran claims it foiled Israeli hit on nuke scientist
A senior official in the Iranian military organization told the semi-official Fars news agency that the Revolutionary Guards prevented an attempted hit sometime in the past two years, but didn’t specify when or the identity of the target.
The Islamic republic has claimed numerous times that Israel was behind the deaths of several of its nuclear scientists in recent years.
“The Zionist enemy (Israel) took action to assassinate a nuclear scientist during the past two years, but the timely presence of IRGC security men thwarted this operation,” an official identified only as Colonel Baqeri was quoted by PressTV telling the news outlet.
The colonel added that the IRGC, which is directly subordinate to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and is tasked with protecting the regime, is “duty-bound to protect nuclear scientists.”
Over 76,000 Reported Killed in Syria in 2014
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, recorded 76,021 deaths in Syria last year.
The group documented the deaths of nearly 18,000 civilians throughout 2014, among them 3,501 children.
Most of the dead were combatants, including nearly 17,000 jihadists, 15,747 rebel forces and 22,627 regime troops and militiamen.
Rescue Mission of Jordanian Pilot from ISIS Fails
US forces have carried out heavy airstrikes on Raqqa, multiple news sources report Friday, as part of a military operation to save a Jordanian pilot captured last week by Islamist terrorists during a mission in Syria.
Fighter jets early Friday morning heavily bombed the area surrounding the house where the pilot, Moaz Safi Yousef al-Kassasbeh, is allegedly being held by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in Raqqah, according to the Turkish Anadolou news agency.
The goal: to allow two US military helicopters to swoop in for a rescue mission to save the pilot, according to Syrian news sources - a mission which failed when heavy fire prevented the helicopters from entering the area safely to make the rescue.
At least thirteen strikes were reportedly carried out in Raqqah, and the helicopters were sent in at a very low altitude to facilitate the rescue.
But the failed attempt has only put the pilot at greater risk, according to Lebanese news agency Al-Mayadan, and now ISIS has pledged to execute al-Kassasbeh by the end of Friday.
HORROR: ISIS Reportedly Gets Ebola
The World Health Organization is looking into reports that ISIS fighters in Iraq have been showing up at hospitals with Ebola symptoms.
According to the pro-government Iraqi newspaper al Sabaah, an unknown number of ISIS militants have shown up at a hospital in the militant-controlled city of Mosul, about 250 miles north of Baghdad. The paper reported that foreign terrorists brought the disease into Mosul from “several countries” in Africa.
It’s not yet clear whether the ISIS extremists actually have Ebola or another disease. Ebola symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and unexplained bleeding and bruising — problems which could also be attributed to malaria or yellow fever. And doctors in Mosul might be unable to even test for Ebola.
Islamists Mocked after Hacking Bus Timetable Website, Thinking it Will Cause Chaos in 'the West'
A group of Islamist hackers hoping to disrupt travel throughout the Western world instead took control of a bus timetable website for the city of Bristol in southern England.
‘Darkshadow’, a group of hackers apparently based in Tunisia, replaced the contents of TravelWest.info with a black page advertising that the site had been taken over. However, rather than organising travel to destinations all over the Western world, the site only contains bus information for part of South West England.
Local residents trying to find bus times were greeted with a message saying that the site had been hacked by the group – who call themselves an ‘Arab Security Team’ – with Arabic music being played in the background.
Local paper the Western Daily Press says that the hackers mistook it for a far more influential site promoting global travel. In fact, the ‘West’ in the website’s name refers only to the West Country – the traditional name for South West England.
Attention critics of Israel: Outrage in Palestinian Arab refugee camp as six die by execution (satire)
Ambassador Anwar Abdul Hadi, a senior member of the PLO leadership, has just gone public [here] on a startling and potentially explosive disclosure: during the past two weeks, the Palestinian Arabs' sworn enemy executed six Palestinian residents of a refugee camp in the Nablus area. Stand by for yet another UN Security Council emergency meeting, and furious condemnation of Israel.
You don't see any sign of this in the usual news streams? Wait.
Ah, turns out it's not the Israelis who did it. And oops, sorry; it wasn't actually in Nablus (we made that up) but in the vicinity of Damascus, Syria. The Yarmouk refugee camp, according to the headline. UNRWA, the bizarre Palestinians-only refugee relief agency, has a heavy footprint there, operating "20 elementary schools and eight preparatory schools in the camp and sponsors two women's program centers" but evidently is unable to prevent the execution of residents.
Those executions, reported to be punishment for blasphemy, were inflicted by what Abdul Hadi, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization bureau in Syria, is calling "militant Islamic groups, imposing application of Islamic law". For the record, and since there is generally a lot of confusion about this, the chairman of the PLO is Mahmoud Abbas, the notorious 'moderate' who is also styled 'president' of the Palestinian Authority, a four-year elected position which he has held throughout the decade since they last managed to have elections.
U. Chicago defeats anti-Israel academic boycott one drop of water at a time
The answer to those who seek to demonize and deligitimize Israel through the BDS movement is to build even more academic and other relationships with Israel.
The University of Chicago is doing just that, cooperating wtih Ben Gurion University on water resource management for desert climates. This is not a political move, but shared scientific research on its own merits. It’s only anti-Israel activists who turn such research to benefit all humanity into a political issue.
The Chicago Tribune reports For water’s sake, Chicago researchers reach across the seas to Israel:
The Arava desert, a salty wasteland dotted with tufts of scrub, gets only about an inch of rain each year. And yet cows lazily low at dairy farms that collectively produce nearly 8 million gallons of milk annually. Orange bell peppers flourish in a long swath of greenhouses that skirts the Jordanian border. Kibbutzim with vineyards somehow manage to churn out shiraz and sauvignon blanc, unfazed by the desert sun.
The clusters of farms and wineries in the Arava are a testament to Israel’s acumen in water technology. One of the most parched places on earth has found a way to beat water woes once so severe that Israel’s national mood rose and fell with the changing level of the Sea of Galilee, one of their most critical water sources.
That expertise helps explain why the University of Chicago sought out Israel’s Ben-Gurion University to help tackle one of the world’s most worrisome problems — water scarcity….
Israeli Designer Builds Futuristic Community Off the Coast of Abu Dhabi (PHOTOS)
Israeli designer Dror Benshetrit has helped transform Nurai Island, off the coast of Abu Dhabi, into an exclusive development complete with unique subterranean and overwater residences that create the illusion of solitude for their inhabitants, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
The 49 properties designed by Benshetrit entered the market in 2008 even before construction began, according to the report. Every one —nearly $1 billion worth of real estate— was sold in 72 hours. Workers are currently finishing construction on Benshetrit’s 3-hectare (7-acre) redoubt on the fishhook-shaped island.
Benshetrit, who is not a licensed architect, was invited to design the mega mansions on Nurai Island through one of his early admirers Michael Shvo, an Israeli expat and real estate broker. Shvo and the United Arab Emirates–based developer Zaya teamed up to transform the Island into the hyperexclusive development. Shvo then talked Zaya CEO Nadia Zaal into visiting Dror, who at that point had not even built a toolshed, Bloomberg reported.
Meet the Arab Christians who want to fight for Israel
Sitting in front of the family Christmas tree dressed in military fatigues, Amir Shalayan seemed in no doubt about his identity.
“When you go back back in religion, I consider myself a real Jew,” he said, unabashed by the non-Jewish festive decorations in his living room. “Jesus was Jewish and he was observing the Shabbat (Jewish sabbath).”
Mr Shalayan is in fact an Arab Christian, a category he refers to as “Aramean”, but his strong identification with the Jewish faith is offered as explanation for his keen army service. It also accounts for his vocal support of legislation that envisages officially declaring Israel a Jewish state - despite the presence within its borders of around 1.7 million Arabs, including 161,000 Christians, more than 20 per cent of the population.
Mr Shalayan, 26, is one of a small number of Christians to have volunteered,to serve in Israel’s armed forces - from which his co-religionists, like other Arabs, are exempt. This is in contrast to most Jews, for whom service is compulsory.
Having spent three years in the Israeli navy, he now performs regular reserve duty and is a member of the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum Association, which attempts to persuade other Christians to join the army. It claims to have recruited between 100 and 150 Christian volunteers since its establishment in 2012.
Mr Shalayan says his motivation is simple: Christians should assimilate in Israeli society and serve the country which protects them.