OBAMA IN ISRAEL

Steve Kramer (www.encounteringisrael.com)

President Obama descended on Israel just before Passover, a very inconvenient time for the residents of Jerusalem. Days ahead of time, streets had to be closed to traffic near the venues the president was set to visit. During his visit, traffic came to a standstill for hours at some locations. Even more inconvenienced were the residents living near to the Prime Minister and President of Israel's residences. They were subjected to continual ID checks and weren't allowed visitors during this crucial time. Nevertheless, Jerusalemites and almost all Israelis were pretty satisfied with Obama's performance.

Performance is the correct word, for every event and every public pronouncement of the American president was carefully choreographed. This was necessary to overcome the deficit in respect and affection that Obama had caused by his visit to Egypt, shortly after his inauguration in 2009. In Cairo, the president spoke to an invited audience of students and Islamist party members, cozying up to the Arabs, promising them a new American agenda, and "showing the love" he had for them. 

That in itself was not likely to elicit a good response from Israelis, but there was more. 

Saudi Arabia and Qatar's Idea of "Aid"

Samuel Westrop

It is not the failure of the Saudi Arabia and Qatar to "step up" that will foment extremism in the Middle East; rather, it is they who are fomenting it. They must step down, not "up." It is these states' sponsorship of jihadists and other extremists that brings about the turmoil and the bloodshed.

Many journalists, instead of letting facts speak for themselves, frequently seem partial to making idealistic predictions and sweeping statements about the Middle East. Although no newspaper or government predicted the "Arab Spring," once it happened, much of the media declared that an era of prosperity, equality and democracy was about to transform the Middle East into a modern region with modern aspirations.

The Guardian, in fact, was so desperate to justify its original support for the "Arab Spring" that it recently produced a straight-faced editorial in which it claimed that Egyptian President Morsi's power-grab against the judiciary was a necessary act to guarantee Egypt's democratic aspirations.
The latest journalist to pick up the wrong end of the stick is Tim Montgomerie, who recently penned an opinion piece for The Times, entitled "The Arab world must act – or face disaster." Montgomerie claims:

Burning Down the Palestinian House

Shoshana Bryen
April 5, 2013

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to "suspend unilateral action" against Israel for some indefinite period of time. It is, his spokesman says, to "give a sufficient chance for [US Secretary of State John] Kerry's efforts to succeed." By this, Abbas apparently means he will not make any additional unilateral efforts in the UN or try to convince the International Criminal Court to take up action against Israel.

This is the functional equivalent of agreeing not to swing the wrecking ball after you've set the house on fire.

Clarifying Demography or, What Threat?

My Right Word
Yoram Ettinger

On March 21, U.S. President Barack Obama stated at the International Convention Center that "given the demographics west of the Jordan River, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine."

Obama has been misinformed by his advisers. The suggestion that Israel should concede Jewish geography to secure Jewish demography ignores demographic trends in Israel, in the Muslim world in general and west of the Jordan River in particular. These trends reaffirm that time is working in favor of Israel's Jewish demography.

Currently, in sharp contrast with the demographic establishment's projections, there is a 66 percent Jewish majority (6.3 million Jews) in the combined area of pre-1967 Israel (1.65 million Arabs) and Judea and Samaria (1.66 million Arabs), compared with a 40% Jewish minority in 1948 and a 9% Jewish minority in 1900. The Jewish majority enjoys a robust tailwind of high fertility rates and immigration, which could produce an 80% Jewish majority by 2035.

UNRWA shuts down in Gaza because of riots. The irony is lost on them.

Elder of Ziyon

From UNRWA:

Demonstrators today stormed the compound of the UNRWA Gaza Field Office in response to a programme cut necessitated by budget shortfalls. The incident is a dramatic and disturbing escalation in a series of demonstrations that have taken place over the past week.

Commenting on today’s escalation and demonstrators breaking into UNRWA’s compound, the Gaza Director stressed that the Agency “respect people's right to peaceful demonstration but what happened today was completely unacceptable: the situation could very easily have resulted in serious injuries to UNRWA staff and to the demonstrators. This escalation, apparently pre-planned, was unwarranted and unprecedented". "These demonstrations affect our ability to provide much needed service to the Palestine refugees in Gaza and—because they also targeted the Gaza headquarters building—our operations in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria."

Demonstrations during the past week had already forced UNRWA to close many of its facilities. With the situation further compounded by today's actions, all relief and distribution centers will consequently remain closed until guarantees are given by all relevant groups that UNRWA operations can continue unhindered. "This is a very regrettable situation for us to be in, as food distributions right now are taking place for some 25,000 refugees every day. But we cannot tolerate these ongoing threats to our staff: their safety is of crucial concern at the moment," added Turner. "Any other affected installations will also remain closed."

UNRWA calls on all the groups behind today's event to immediately stop inciting crowds at these demonstrations and to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.

For years, UNRWA condemned Israel for closing the crossings to Gaza in response to deadly rocket fire and other attacks. The idea that Israeli citizens have the right to safety and security did not cross their minds - to them, Israel providing services to Gazans was more important than the mere lives of Israelis.

But when their own facilities get violently attacked - and not with anything approaching deadly force, from what we can see - UNRWA immediately shuts down their own services to the very people they are tasked with helping, forever.

Just a little more UNRWA hypocrisy.

Where's the Justice for American Settler Killed by Palestinian Stone-Throwers?

FBI Hasn't Prosecuted Anyone for Deaths in West Bank

getty images

Solemn Moment: Jewish settlers gather for funeral of Asher Palmer and his son, Yonathan, whose car was hit by stone-throwing Palestinians on the occupied West Bank in 2011.

By Michael Palmer

Published April 04, 2013, issue of April 12, 2013.

Two FBI special agents sat across from me in a conference room at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, in Washington. It was late October last year, shortly after Sukkot. We were discussing the deaths of my son Asher Palmer, and my grandson Yonatan Palmer, who were murdered on a Friday afternoon, September 23, 2011.

That day, Asher had strapped Yonatan into his car seat and headed to his in-laws in Jerusalem, where he expected to spend the Sabbath with his wife. Soon after they left, Asher drove onto a two-lane highway just outside the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba; a taxicab sped toward him, its rear window rolled down. The cab swerved close to Asher’s lane, and a football-size rock was thrown from the back seat, crashing through his windshield. Asher’s car veered off the road and rolled over. The cab sped off.

Obama still can't be trusted

Op-ed: US president's Jerusalem speech should have been addressed to young Palestinians
Shoula Romano Horing

After his trip to Israel, it is clear that President Obama's strategy in regard to Israel has changed but his goal remains the same. He is still trying to convince the Israelis to take suicidal risks and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the pre-1967 borders, which includes dividing Jerusalem.

Ireland to Build One of Europe's Largest Mosques

by Soeren Kern

The Emir of Qatar, who has long cultivated an image as a pro-Western reformist, has vowed to "spare no effort" to spread Wahhabi Islam throughout Europe. Wahhabism — which not only discourages Muslim integration in the West but actively encourages jihad against non-Muslims — threatens to radicalize Muslim immigrants in Ireland.

City planners in the Irish capital, Dublin, have given the go-ahead for the construction of a sprawling mega-mosque complex that will cater to Ireland's burgeoning Muslim population.
The massive €40 million ($50 million) "Islamic Cultural Center" will be built on a six-acre site in Clongriffin, a new and as yet unfinished suburb at the northern edge of Dublin.

Cause and effect, reversed by the anti-Israel press

Meryl Yourish

The New York Times does it.

Clashes Resume Across Israel-Gaza Border as Tensions Mount
Israeli-Palestinian tensions rose sharply on Wednesday with a resumption of clashes over the Israel-Gaza border as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails declared a three-day hunger strike to protest the death on Tuesday of a fellow inmate of cancer, a death that the Palestinians blamed on Israel.
In response to rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel, apparently in support of the Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike in Gaza late Tuesday night, its first since a cease-fire that ended eight days of fierce cross-border fighting in November. Warplanes struck two open areas in northern Gaza, causing no damage or casualties.

The AP does it.

Religious hate speech for children on PA TV

Child recites poem:

Jews - "Allah's enemies, the sons of pigs"

"murdered children," "cut off their limbs,"

"raped the women in the city squares"
and "defiled Allah's book"

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8730

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Earlier this month, Palestinian children were taught Islam-based hatred of Jews on the weekly PA TV children's show The Best Home. A young girl recited a poem filled with both Islamic hate messages and other libels demonizing Jews. The poem taught Palestinian children that Jews, "Allah's enemies, the sons of pigs," defiled the Quran and Jerusalem, both crimes against Islam, and "murdered children," "cut off their limbs," and "raped the women in the city squares." Palestinian Media Watch has documented that this weekly PA TV children's program teaches hatred and denial of Israel's existence.

Choosing Life in Israel

RUTH KING April 2, 2013

David Hornik moved to Israel in 1984. In the preface to Choosing Life In Israel he states: "This book is both about my own choice to live in Israel and Israel's choice to live and thrive in the face of challenges."
Hornik's book is a compendium of personal and political essays he has written since he became one of Israel's most incisive journalists. Arranged in chronological order, they revisit in eloquent prose a besieged nation's triumphs and tragedies, its ancient stones and its modern cities, its beauty, its warts, the incalculable harm of mindless appeasement, and its holiness.

Email addresses of NGOs that support Miftah

Here is a list of email addresses of some of the organizations that financially support Miftah, which published a blatantly anti-semitic article on Wednesday. So far, they have not responded to numerous tweets, so here is a chance for you to do something that can make a difference.

Representative Office of Norway repram@mfa.no
The Anna Lindh Foundation info@euromedalex.org Facebook
Oxfam UK enquiries@oxfam.org.uk Facebook
National Endownment for Democracy info@ned.org Facebook 
Secretariat for Consulate of Italy in Jerusalem segreteria.gerusalemme@esteri.it
Heinrich Böll Foundation info@boell.de Facebook Arab Middle East FB

This Blood Libel Brought to You by the West

Western-backed Palestinian apologizes for anti-Semitic blood libel

Fishermen stand at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City / AP

BY: Adam Kredo 
April 1, 2013

Following a rash of criticism from U.S. Jewish groups, a Palestinian nonprofit funded by Western governments has apologized for accusing Jewish people of using “Christian blood” during the Passover holiday.

Miftah , a Palestinian nonprofit group founded by Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian lawmaker, said Monday it regrets publishing an article on its website accusing “the Jews [of using] the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover.”

Miftah had refused to apologize for the article last week, instead lashing out at pro-Israel bloggers who highlighted the offensive article.

The Life of a Modern Jewish Refugee from Egypt

Daniel Greenfield


As Jews celebrate the Passover holiday, that commemorates the historical exodus from Egypt, it may be worth noting that this is not just a matter of ancient history.

The Jews of Egypt, and much of the rest of the Muslim world, became refugees once again in modern times. And this is not just something that happened 50 years ago. It’s still happening today.

This story of life for Egyptian Jews in a country of Islamic oppression comes to us from 2005.

Cpl. Dina Ovadia is telling her winding, unbelievable story for the umpteenth time, but her eyes still well up with tears. Ovadia, now 22, left her family home in Alexandria for the last time as a young and curious 15-year-old girl. All she wanted was to fit in. “Everyone always looked at me as though I was something different, the ugly duckling in the class. They asked me why I dressed the way I did, and why I spoke with my parents during the breaks, and why this and why that.”

Dina knew very little about Jews as a child. “In school they always taught us to hate Jews and Israelis,” she says. “Let’s take Koran class for example. I would be sitting, taking a test, and would read a verse that said you need to kill Jews. I also remember during the Second Intifada all the TV programs I watched that always said that Israelis are bad. I cried over the story of Mohammed al-Dura. My grandfather did his best to explain to us that they’re not bad, that we have to understand that in war, that’s what happens. At home we were always taught that all human beings are equal and you have to respect them for who they are, no matter what their background. In school they taught us that Israel is the enemy. They would say when I grew up that I would understand. During the Intifada I was even at demonstration, waving the Palestinian flag. It never even occurred to me that I was Jewish.”

Muslim "Secret" Courageously Outed

Douglas Murray

"As a community, we do have a 'Jewish problem.' There is no point pretending otherwise." — Mehdi Hasan, British Muslim journalist

How rife is anti-Semitism among Muslims? Well if you poll the so-called "Muslim world, " as Pew and other organizations have done, the answer is: very rife indeed. Take Pakistan for instance. In 2006 only 6% of the population had a "favorable" attitude towards Jews. In 2011 when that question was polled in Pakistan again, favorable attitudes towards Jews had gone down to just 2%.
Of course if you were to cite this figure, you would get an inevitable set of responses, such as claims that the figure was so worrying because "everyone knows" that Pakistan is a somewhat "challenging" country in that regard.
So take a nice moderate Arab country such as Jordan, for instance. After all, it has a peace treaty with Israel and everything.

Alas, the news is not much better. In 2006, just 1% of Jordanians polled had a positive attitude towards Jews. But there is some good news: when they were polled again in 2011, this number had soared to an amazing 2%.

More on the “apology” to Turkey

Meryl Yourish

Lee Smith says that it wasn’t President Obama who got what he wanted. It was Bibi.

According to Obama’s senior advisers quoted in the New York Times, the president “prodded” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with Obama “raising the importance of a makeup phone call every day he was in Jerusalem.” Netanyahu’s apology, according to the Washington Post, was “bowing to a long-standing Turkish demand.”
The reality is somewhat different than the official administration account. Jerusalem has long been looking to mend relations with its onetime strategic ally in Ankara. Contrary to popular narrative, it was Erdogan who was intransigent—not Netanyahu. Nor was Obama the prime mover here, “prodding” the Israeli prime minister to do his bidding. If anything, it was Netanyahu who used the commander in chief as something like a blunt instrument to force Erdogan to accept the same deal that his government had first put on the table at least 18 months prior: Israel would apologize; it would pay compensation; but it would not, as Erdogan had demanded, end the maritime blockade of the strip.

Miftah attacks me, refuses to condemn its blood libel

Elder of Ziyon
Miftah has responded to my exposé of their anti-semitic article last week:

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH strongly denounces the smear campaign being carried out against it and, by association, its founder Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. The obscure pro-Israeli website “The Elder of Ziyon” has wrongly accused MIFTAH and Dr. Ashrawi of promoting Jewish blood libel during Passover through its publication of an Arabic-language article that briefly addressed the subject.
The disclaimer at the opening of the “News and Analysis” section clearly states that, “The views represented in [News and Analysis] are solely those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MIFTAH, but rather fulfill its mandate for open dialogue.” For the record, to avoid further misunderstanding, Al Zaru’s article has been taken down from MIFTAH’s website.

Gilad Schalit's capture, in his own words, part II

BEN CASPIT

Former IDF soldier gives military investigators an account of the attack that led to his capture, the deaths of 2 of his comrades.

Gilad and Noam Schalit reuniting Photo: Reuters)

On June 25, 2006, IDF Corporal Gilad Schalit was abducted by Palestinian militants from Gaza, who had infiltrated into Israel by tunneling under the border fence. An attack on Schalit's tank led to the deaths of two of the tank crew, and Schalit, frozen in the face of an assault, freely admitted that he had acted in such a way as to facilitate his capture. After more than five years as a hostage in Gaza, Schalit gave IDF investigators an honest and often unflattering recount of the events surrounding the attack. The second part of an exclusive two-part feature. Click here for part one.

The use of the hand grenades that were thrown into Gilad Schalit's tank casts doubt on the view that the main goal of the attack was to kidnap a soldier. If the militants had wanted to kidnap a soldier, it is unlikely that they would have thrown a grenade into the tank. They wanted to kill, to cause as much damage as possible and then get away quickly.

Click here to read the original article in Hebrew

Somehow, Schalit survived the grenade blasts and exited the tank. As he left the tank, he saw the terrorist climbing the front of the tank which on the Merkava is referred to as "the knife."

Busing with Jodi

My Right Word

Jodi Ruderon took a trip to ... Ramallah, on a bus:

Israelis tour a no-go zone 

...about four dozen [Israelis]...made an unusual recent pilgrimage to Ramallah, one of several Palestinian cities that have been officially off-limits to most Israeli citizens for more than a decade...organized by the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information [from their FB: IPCRI - Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information shared a link.Wednesday Our Breaking Down Walls tour is featured in the New York Times!]...contacts between the two peoples have dwindled. Fewer Palestinians work inside Israel. Dialogue groups have broken up. Camps connecting children are harder to find. The communities increasingly function as if in alternate universes.