What 'peace' with an Arab country means: Jordanian parliament prays for Har Nof murderers
Israel has a 'peace treaty' with Jordan. But that treaty isn't worth the paper on which it is printed. On Wednesday, Jordan's parliament prayed for the souls of the two terrorists who on Tuesday murdered four Jews and a Druze police office and wounded eight other Jews, four of them seriously.
On Wednesday, Jordan's parliament offered a prayer in honor of the spirit of Ghassan Abu Jamal and Uday Abu Jamal - the terrorists who slaughtered five people.
The prayer was held as the House of representatives session opened.
MP Khalil Attieh requested his fellow representatives to recite the Fatiha for the "spirit of the heroes."
The Fatiha is the first chapter of the Koran, recited on important occasions.
The picture above is just one of several exclusive pictures published at the Daily Beast showing the destruction of the Eliyahu HaNavi synagogue in Damascus, the oldest synagogue in Syria. The synagogue was destroyed by forces loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad.
This week’s attack, though the final blow, was not the first time the Syrian regime had bombarded the Jobar Synagogue. An Israeli news report from April 2013
noted that the synagogue had been “looted and destroyed,” although
later photos proved that the synagogue had taken only moderate damage
from a mortar shell.
Last December, photos emerged in another Israeli news report
showing that many of the synagogues most precious artifacts were
intact. The report stated that the bulk of the synagogue’s artifact
collection was being held safely in the hands of local leaders.
Before
the conflict, the synagogue held thousands of religious and cultural
treasures, including hundreds years old Torah scrolls, historical texts,
precious dining ware, and ancient Judaica of all sorts. Some of the
items were reportedly looted in the early days of the war. Some were
reportedly placed in safekeeping. Many remained in the building until
its destruction.
...
The Eliyahu Hanabi Synagogue, built to honor the prophet Elijah, had
existed at least since medieval times. The site has been a destination
for Jewish pilgrimage for centuries. It was said to have been built atop
the cave where Elijah hid from his persecutors. The Prophet Elisha, who
allegedly built the synagogue, was said to have anointed King Hazael on
its steps, now gone.
You might recall the story of Eilat-based Yitzhak Rabin Ramsy, and his quest for Israeli citizenship. Rabin and his mother have finally gotten their wish. Rabin and his mother got Israeli citizenship on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, after years of struggling with the Ministry, that wish
was finally granted by Interior Minister Gidon Sa'ar. Sa'ar traveled to
Eilat to present Rabin with his Israeli identity card - and citizenship -
in a special ceremony.
"I went to the Interior Ministry, the military and the media,"
Rabin's attorney, Naomi Gonen, told the press after the event. "I was
sure it would be easier, but then I found out that things work very
slowly to move through the system. It took a few months, but the main
thing is that in the end we succeeded - mainly thanks to the media, who
supported the cause."
"The struggle of Yitzhak Rabin ends now that he has successfully
obtained an identity card, and the gates of the country are open for
him," the attorney continued. "Were it not for the positive response of
the media in this fight to get him his citizenship, we would never have
succeeded."
Last week, I reported that UNESCO announced that it was 'postponing' an exhibit that shows the Jewish people's 3,500 year connection to the Land of Israel out of deference to the 'peace process.' The postponement caused consternation in Israel and at Los Angeles' Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is co-sponsoring the exhibit. Now, the United States and Canada are urging UNESCO to reconsider.
The United States and Canada called on UNESCO to rescind its sudden
decision to suspend an exhibit on Jewish ties to the Land of Israel – due to open at its Paris headquarters on Monday – in response to a protest by Arab states who fear it could damage the peace process.
“UNESCO’s decision is wrong and should be reversed,” said US Ambassador
to the UN Samantha Power on Friday. “The United States has engaged at
senior levels to urge UNESCO to allow this exhibit to proceed as soon
as possible.”
...
”UNESCO is supposed to be fostering discussion and interaction between
civil society and member states, and organizations such as the
Wiesenthal Center have a right to be heard and to contribute to UNESCO’s
mission,” said Power.
In spite of her harsh rebuke, the US had opted not to sponsor the
exhibit, which bore the sponsorship seal of only three countries,
Canada, Israel and Montenegro.
Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday there “is no
appropriate rationale to delay the exhibition and [we are] deeply
disappointed by the decision made to postpone it. Our ambassador to
UNESCO has written to the secretary-general of that organization urging
her to take all necessary action for this exhibition to go ahead as
long planned,” it said. Should UNESCO fail to open the exhibit as
agreed upon, the Wiesenthal Center plans to hold a press conferences in
Paris and Los Angeles on Monday to show its panels to the public.
Wiesenthal dean and founder Rabbi Marvin Hier said all the exhibit panels had been vetted and approved by UNESCO.
...
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said: “It is sad that
Arabs deny the 3,500- year connection of the Jewish people to the Land
of Israel, especially when that connection is part of their own
tradition.
With this decision, UNESCO has done a disservice to the peace process and implicitly endorsed Arab rejectionism.
This exhibit will only happen if the US says it's going to cut UNESCO's funding again. With the Obama administration in power, I would not expect that to happen.
This is the amazing story of a Jordanian baby named Yitzchak Rabin (who was so named two months after the original Rabin was assassinated) and his struggle to stay in Israel with his mother.
Protecting Yitzhak has been her life’s mission ever since he was
born, in January 1996, near the city of Irbid in northern Jordan—just
two months after the assassination of the original Yitzhak Rabin at the
hands of an extremist Israeli Jew opposed to the prime minister’s peace
overtures to the Palestinians. Miriam decided to name her son after the
Israeli leader in honor of the historic Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty
signed in 1994 by Rabin and Jordan’s King Hussein.
The problems started almost immediately. The media in both Jordan and around the world got windof the plan,
and the Jordanian Interior Ministry wouldn’t approve the name. Only the
personal intervention of King Hussein, Miriam says, allowed the couple
to prevail. “The king said, ‘Let them name the baby whatever they
want.’”
Local opposition to the move didn’t subside, however, especially after
King Hussein himself fell ill (he would die, in 1999, from complications
arising from cancer). The family was harried by Palestinians inside
Jordan who were strongly opposed to any reconciliation with Israel.
(Yitzhak’s parents are Bedouin Jordanians, also referred to as native
“East Bankers,” as opposed to Jordanians of Palestinian origin who came
to the Hashemite Kingdom as refugees in 1948 and 1967.) Miriam and her
infant son were forced to move from place to place like fugitives, even
spending nights in bus depots and a safehouse with an uncle in Amman.
...
The former first lady of Israel arranged for the family to emigrate,
and assisted them in their early years in Israel with work and
navigating bureaucratic hurdles. But she passed away in 2000, after
which the family fell on harder times.
Yitzhak, entering first grade in central Israel, was picked on by
kids in his class—“Arab-Israeli children, whose parents put thoughts in
their heads,” Miriam recalled. There were issues, too, between Miriam
and her Palestinian co-workers, who knew the family’s history. But the
most tragic situation befell Miriam’s brother back in Jordan, who,
according to Miriam, was murdered by a group of thugs as revenge for his
nephew’s name. Miriam took Yitzhak to Jordan with the intention of
attending her brother’s funeral, but, in her telling, a melee ensued at
the border crossing, where a small group of protesters awaited them. She
put Yitzhak, still a toddler, back on the bus to Israel, bruised and
bleeding. It was the last time he would set foot on the soil of his
native country.
Seeking a quieter existence away from the major Arab-Israeli
population centers of northern and central Israel, the family moved down
to Eilat, and have called the resort city on the Red Sea home for the
past 11 years. Given everything that has transpired, it’s no surprise
that Yitzhak has grown up wholly Israeli, surrounding himself with
Jewish friends, speaking Hebrew, and adopting Judaism as his own (he is
set to officially convert in the coming weeks).
Family of Arab honored for saving Jews rejects prize
The family of Mohamed Helmy, an Egyptian doctor who was honored posthumously by Yad VaShem recently for saving Jews during the Holocaust, has turned down the prize, saying that Israel is the one country by which Helmy did not want to be honored.
The Egyptian doctor Mohamed Helmy was honored posthumously last month
by Israel's Holocaust memorial for hiding Jews in Berlin during the
Nazis' genocide, but a family member tracked down by The Associated
Press this week in Cairo said her relatives wouldn't accept the award,
one of Israel's most prestigious.
"If any other country offered to honor Helmy,
we would have been happy with it," Mervat Hassan, the wife of Helmy's
great-nephew, told The Associated Press during an interview at her home
in Cairo this week.
Mohamed Helmy was an Egyptian doctor who lived
in Berlin and hid several Jews during the Holocaust. Last month, he was
honored by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial as "Righteous Among
the Nations" -- the highest honor given to a non-Jew for risking great
personal dangers to rescue Jews from the Nazis' gas chambers.
...
Hassan said the family wasn't
interested in the award from Israel because relations between Egypt and
Israel remain hostile, despite a peace treaty signed more than three
decades ago. But, she cautioned, "I respect Judaism as a religion and I
respect Jews. Islam recognizes Judaism as a heavenly religion."
"Helmy was not picking a certain nationality,
race or religion to help. He treated patients regardless of who they
were," she said.
Dressed in a veil, the 66-year-old woman from
an upscale neighborhood of Cairo was pleased to talk about her husband's
great-uncle. She and her husband, who did not want to give his name to
the AP, say they visited Helmy regularly in Germany.
But this next paragraph is rich....
Helmy was born in 1901 in Khartoum, in what was then
Egypt and is now Sudan, to an Egyptian father and a German mother. He
came to Berlin in 1922 to study medicine and worked as a urologist until
1938, when Germany banned him from the public health system because he
was not considered Aryan, said Martina Voigt, the German historian, who
conducted research on Helmy.
The Arabs loved the Nazis, but at the end of the day, the Nazis had no use for the Arabs.
The synagogue was said to be built on the site
where the prophet Elijah concealed himself from persecution and
anointed his successor, Elisha, as a prophet. It had been damaged
earlier this month by mortars reportedly fired by Syrian government
forces.
The rebels said the Syrian government looted the synagogue before burning it to the ground, Israel Radio reported Sunday.
The government said the rebels burned the
synagogue and that so-called Zionist agents stole its historic religious
items in an operation that had been planned for several weeks, the
Arabic Al-Manar Television reported, citing the Arabic Syria Truth
website.
The news came as Jews around the world marked the final days of Passover, the festival of freedom.
One of the oldest synagogues in the world, the
shul was partially destroyed by Syrian government shelling four weeks
ago, according to a video posted to YouTube.
...
An inscription in English at the synagogue reads, “Shrine and synagogue
of prophet Eliahou Hanabi since 720 B.C.,” although the actual date of
founding is disputed. One of the earliest mentions of the synagogue is
in the Talmud, which states that Rabbi Rafram bar Pappa prayed there.
Monday afternoon at the fights: Rand Paul goes after John FN Kerry for Obama's F-16 gifts to Egypt
There was a lot to watch when Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) questioned Senator John FN Kerry (D-Ma) at the latter's confirmation hearing to be US Secretary of State.This might be the highlight.
In the hands of a good realpolitik statesman, this balance would be
managed well. For example, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
would have kept the Egyptian government off-balance and made it
understand that Washington was doing it a favor by providing aid. In
other words, leverage would be used.
But in Kerry’s hands, leverage is tossed away. He is so afraid of
using power or being tough that he throws away leverage, believing there
can be no risk of problems. The recipient must not be intimidated or
pressed to change but shown that America is its friend and not the
imperialist bully that people like Kerry and President Barack Obama see
when they look back at U.S. history.
Precisely the same problem was displayed notably in two other recent cases (though readers can probably add more):
–When the Palestinian Authority (PA) approached the UN seeking
membership and recognition as a state, the Bush Administration made it
clear to the UN and allies that there would be a strong price to pay in
U.S. support and donations. The PA backed down. With Obama opposing the
same thing but not playing any trump cards, America’s “friends” almost
unanimously voted against Washington’s position and it suffered a
serious loss whose costs (including the permanent destruction of the
“peace process”) have not yet been counted.
–When it was suggested to Kerry that U.S. aid to Pakistan be held up
until it released a political prisoner, a doctor who helped America
locate Usama bin Ladin and who is now in prison and reportedly has been
tortured, Kerry refused.
America must be the one humiliated; the feelings of other countries cannot be hurt.
...
He also missed an opportunity to point out that arms were sold to some countries precisely because they had made peace with Israel and other countries because
they supported U.S. policy generally despite being very anti-Israel.
Arms were not given, however, to countries led by anti-American
revolutionary Islamist groups that also openly declared their support
for genocide of Israel and all Jews generally.
Kerry: “Better yet, until we are at that moment, where that might be achievable, maybe it’d be better to try and make peace.”
Wow, again. This is the mentality that has repeatedly crippled U.S. Middle East policy. It goes like this:
–We want peace.
–Therefore, we should not evaluate what policies are most likely to
succeed but merely those that can allow us to say that peace remains
possible. For example, even if the PA rejects talks for four years, we
shouldn’t criticize or pressure it because that might make peace less
likely, etc.
-It might work so we can’t “give up” but we must “keep trying” even
though this period is not conducive to progress and even while other
U.S. policies (especially backing toward Islamists) actually makes peace
even more impossible to achieve.
...
Kerry isn’t just wrong, he’s totally clueless. And as just about the
most openly arrogant man in American public life he will never let
reality penetrate through his ideological armor.
“These bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers,
the descendants of apes and pigs,” Mr. Morsi declared, using a slur for
Jews that is familiar across the Muslim world. Although he referred
repeatedly to “Zionists” and never explicitly to Jews, Mr. Morsi echoed
historic anti-Semitic themes: “They have been fanning the flames of
civil strife wherever they were throughout their history. They are
hostile by nature.”
Some analysts said the gap between Mr. Morsi’s caustic statements as a
Brotherhood leader and his more pragmatic actions as president
illustrated the many factors besides ideology that shape political
decisions. “What you believe in your heart is not the same as what you
do in power,” said Shadi Hamid, research director of the Brookings Doha
Center. Whatever Mr. Morsi’s opinions about Jews, he has left Egypt’s
foreign policy toward Israel largely unchanged, Mr. Hamid said.
Mr. Morsi’s past statements may still raise questions about how he would
act in the future if Egypt were not constrained by its financial
dependence, relative military weakness and a network of Western
alliances. But in contemporary Egyptian politics the gap between his
past vitriol and his present comity may serve mainly as a tempting
target for his opponents, Mr. Hamid said.
Though it's good that Kirkpatrick acknowledges that without explicitly
mentioning Jews that Morsi's statement from three years ago "echoed
historic anti-Semitic themes," Kirkpatrick still refers to analysts who
insist that Morsi is "pragmatic."
Q. I have seen reports of virulent anti-Semitism and
anti-Israel hate speech at rallies of presidential candidates. Could you
please let us know about these activities which appear to be highly
disturbing.
A. A concerned citizen in New York asks about campaign rally
rhetoric about Israel and possible anti-Semitism. I have not seen or
heard any slurs against Jews on the campaign trail, and I do not think
that has figured in the campaign in any way. Israel is a more
complicated issue. All the leading candidates have pledged to respect
Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. But Egyptians — secular and liberal or
Islamist — are deeply hostile to Israel. The overwhelming feeling here
is that Israel has failed to live up to its end of the Camp David
accords leading to the peace treaty because it has not recognized a
Palestinian state and instead allows settlements to continue on
territory envisioned as part of that state. An episode last summer fired
up the hard feelings anew because Israeli war planes killed a handful
of Egyptian security officers inside the border when Israel was pursuing
some suspected terrorists; Israeli officials initially refused to
apologize and Egyptians stormed the Israeli embassy. But eventually
Israel apologized, pledged an investigation and the situation calmed
down.So most candidates have sought to balance their commitments
to the peace (which is popular) and some criticism of Israel (which most
here consider an enemy.) It may be interesting to note which candidates are most hostile to
Israel. Not the Islamists. Mohamed Morsi and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh
are relatively positive about the importance of the peace. By far the
most hostile to Israel and even the treaty is Hamdeen Sabahi, a
Nasserite socialist with support from Egypt’s secular-liberal and
cultural elite.
In short, Kirkpatrick's response was that Egyptians are anti-Israel -
and he explains why that hatred is understandable - but not antisemitic.
He further explained that the Muslim Brotherhood isn't even the most
anti-Israel party in Egypt.
In another question and answer session a few months later, Kirkpatrick responded to a question about Sayyid Qutb:
Q. I wish you had asked the following questions:
1. What is Morsi’s opinion of [Sayyid] Qutb’s writings and their role in
defining the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. Does he reject Qutb’s
assessment of the inherent conflict between the Muslim world and the
cosmopolitan West or does he accept them?
2. Hamas in the Gaza Strip is an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Would Morsi criticize any moves Hamas has taken since gaining control of
Gaza, such as harassing Western nongovernmental aid organizations, and
even some Christian congregations?
3. Morsi attended graduate school in the United States for his Ph.D. in
materials science, and yet has endorsed the 9/11 deniers’ belief that
the World Trade Center towers collapse was due to explosives planted by
parties other than the Al Qaeda terrorists. Indeed, Morsi has expressed
skepticism that amateur pilots could have flown the planes into the
towers. Does Morsi still believe this?
4. In his years in the U.S., Morsi undoubtedly was exposed to the First
Amendment and the importance of free speech to Americans. Yet after the
Cairo embassy attack, Morsi’s first reaction was to call for the
American government to place the filmmakers of the “Innocence of
Muslims” on trial. Why did Morsi demand this, and did he expect the U.S.
government to comply? Thanks. — Philippe Byrnes | Albuquerque A.I see you are following Egypt closely! And these are also questions that come up often.
Sayyid Qutb was a historically significant and widely influential
midcentury Islamist thinker. And he was a part of the Brotherhood during
the revolution that brought Gamal Abdel Nasser to power. But he is now
best remembered for his most radical and militant ideas. Those ideas
were always controversial within the Brotherhood, whose founder, Hassan
el-Banna, emphasized inclusiveness. And the Brotherhood has disavowed
militancy or violence since at least Nasser’s revolution in 1952.
But I find Qutb often looms larger in the West these days than he does
in Egypt or the Middle East, because his later ideas became the
foundation of a different, far more militant and antidemocratic strain
of Islamist thinking that led to Al Qaeda. The Muslim Brotherhood has
never endorsed terrorism or Al Qaeda. And when Al Qaeda took
responsibility for the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Morsi —
then a leader of the Brotherhood’s political arm and its parliamentary
minority — was quick to denounce it.
We tried briefly to ask Mr. Morsi about Hamas’s rule in Gaza, and, in a
polite way, he told us it was a silly comparison. Egypt is a giant and
far more diverse. It has an established Christian minority whose rights
are at least written into the law, and it has a relatively strong
tradition of respecting the rule of law, compared to some of its
neighbors. But I regret that we did not get a chance to ask him exactly
your question.
We did not ask Mr. Morsi about 9/11, but, despite his engineering degree
in materials science, his aides tell me he does indeed question the
official United States government account of what happened to the
buildings.
I know that a lot of Egyptians question the official story but at the
same time think the attacks were a horrendous crime. I suspect part of
the explanation is that many Egyptians, probably including Mr. Morsi,
deeply distrust the United States for some of the reasons that he tried
to articulate. And I think another part of the explanation is that
Egyptians have been lied to by their own government and its official
media for at least 60 years (and the privately owned media is not so
accurate either). I sometimes have to explain to Egyptians that The New
York Times is not owned or controlled by the United States government.
Mr. Morsi’s first response to the attack on the United States Embassy
here did condemn the violence. It is not true that he first called for
legal actions against the makers of the video mocking the prophet.
But his reaction was more than a day late. The Muslim Brotherhood, which
is allied with Mr. Morsi, had called for a nonviolent protest against
the film in advance of the day the protest took place, and afterward it
continued to call for criminalizing such films. And when Mr. Morsi and
the Brotherhood both condemned the violence, their statements were mixed
with criticism of the video. Many Egyptians seem to believe that it is
possible to criminalize grave insults to established religions without
intruding too much on freedom of expression — an idea utterly alien to
the United States’ legal tradition. — David Kirkpatrick
Here Kirkpatrick clearly tried to draw the line between the Muslim
Brotherhood and Al Qaeda, with the former being moderate or, at least,
pragmatic. He does his best to defuse the questions rather than answer
them. Despite presenting an equivocal image of Morsi after the fact, his
reporting this week showed a willingness to acknowledge that the Muslim
Brotherhood may not, in fact, be so moderate.
That kind of pure bigotry is unacceptable anywhere, anytime. But it
is even more offensive in public discourse, coming from someone who
became the president of a major country. Mr. Morsi’s comments deserve to
be condemned unequivocally, as the Obama administration did on Tuesday.
Jay Carney, the president’s spokesman, said, “We completely reject
these statements.”
The problem goes deeper than just Mr. Morsi, however. The remarks were
made at a time when anti-Israel sentiment was running high in Egypt and
the region after the three-week Gaza conflict in 2009 between Israel and
Hamas. The sad truth is that defaming Jews is an all too standard
feature of Egyptian, and Arab, discourse; Israelis are not immune to
responding in kind either.
...
Does Mr. Morsi really believe what he said in 2010? Has becoming
president made him think differently about the need to respect and work
with all people? So far, there has been no official reaction.
First of all the reference to Israeli is gratuitous. There is no
comparison between the mainstream antisemitism in Egypt or most Muslim
societies and the fringe expressions of hatred in Israel. The
condemnation of Morsi is welcome, but while decrying Morsi's comments as
"an all too standard feature of Egyptian, and Arab, discourse," when
the Times has covered the issue in its news section, it has been given
to equivocation. In late 2011, Isabel Kershner wrote about Itamar Marcus's book on Palestinian incitement.
In one of the most egregious examples of Palestinian doublespeak,
Yasir Arafat spoke in a mosque in South Africa in May 1994, only months
after the signing of the Oslo accords, and called on the worshipers “to
come and to fight and to start the jihad to liberate Jerusalem.”
As the ambassador to Washington at the time, Mr. Rabinovich said he
found himself in the awkward position of having to explain to anyone who
would listen that jihad, usually translated as holy war, could also
mean a spiritual struggle, in order to justify continuing the peace
process.
Still, he said, it is not by chance that those focusing on Palestinian
incitement and publicizing it are “rightist groups who use it as
ammunition.”
Instead of treating incitement as a major issue, Kershner used the
quote from Ambassador Rabinovich to make it sound as if the issue is
partisan in nature.
I am looking forward to seeing the reaction in the Arabic media to this.
In response to White House spokesman, Jay Carney's praise of Morsi for uphodling Camp David, Israel Matzav writes:
And therefore he's not an anti-Semite? 'Go convince Hamas to stop shooting rockets at Israel for a while and we'll give you 20 F-16 fighter jets that are better than any of the ones you have' makes Morsy not an anti-Semite?
This hasn't been a good week for Egypt's Islamist government. In an editorial this week the Washington Post condemned Egypt’s climate of intimidation:
Mr. Morsi’s office protests that it is not responsible for these
investigations; it points out that the charges against Mr. Yousef, as
well as some other journalists, were initiated by private lawyers, who
are allowed to lodge complaints with prosecutors. But several of the
cases originated with complaints from the president’s office. And the
government has not hesitated to impose its agenda on state-run media,
installing its own editors and yanking unsympathetic news hosts off the
air.
It has also tolerated — at least — a climate of intimidation. The
offices of several independent television channels were besieged for
weeks by supporters of a popular cleric. During demonstrations against
Mr. Morsi’s government, his Muslim Brotherhood supporters took to the
streets and were accused of targeting journalists; one was killed by a
rubber bullet.
While calling for preservation of democratic freedoms in Egypt, the
Obama administration has been slow to take note of or respond to the
attacks on journalists. Officials say they are feeling their way with
Mr. Morsi’s government, trying to preserve cooperation on matters such
as counterterrorism. Yet the United States retains considerable leverage
over Egypt, including its influence over a pending International
Monetary Fund loan the government badly needs. That sway should be aimed
at preserving space for free media and a democratic opposition — which,
in Cairo, is not just a liberal good but a vital U.S. interest.
This is much stronger than the New York Times editorial, which simply
called on President Obama to give President Morsi a good talking to. The
United States does have leverage, and the Post is correct to suggest
that the American government should use it. This is why Morsi has been
pragmatic so far. But if he knows that there are no consequences to his
increasing authoritarianism, he certainly will not liberalize.
The student was knocked unconscious on Tuesday when he strolled late
at night in the center of the city. A band of 15 Arab youth pounced on
him, dragged him into a dark corner and pummeled him, using sharp
weapons.
The student lost consciousness, and the attackers fled when a passerby spotted them and called police and medics.
The police are investigating, but have but have not caught the attackers.
The Milan-based Center for Jewish Documentation's Observatory on
Anti-Jewish Prejudice reported last month that the number of
anti-Semitic episodes in the country soared last year.
The incidents ranged from street insults and swastika graffiti to physical aggression.
''We observed approximately 70 cases so far this year, most of them
graffiti and online attacks, over 40% more than last year,'' said
Observatory researcher Stefano Gatti. ''The boom might be due partly to
more efficient data-gathering, but the episodes have undeniably
increased,” he added.
Gatti also pointed out that Italian pundits and politicians ''such as
Silvio Berlusconi, Beppe Grillo or Piergiorgio Odifreddi'' are now
writing discriminatory posts and telling racist jokes. ''Making certain
issues seem normal, even funny, is one of the root causes of the rise in
anti-Semitic episodes in Italy,'' Gatti said.
An individual at the Chabad House in Venice who did not wish to be named
told The Algemeiner that the student was recovering and that such
incidents were rare in Venice. The source also indicated how the Jewish
community would respond. “We will answer evil with kindness,” the source
said.
Of course, Chabad of Venice might have an interest in Jewish tourists continuing to come there.... Just sayin'....
“Since [the March 2011] Toulouse massacre we
often hear of violent attacks against Jews. They are testament to an
underlying problem that requires examination and a solution,” Chief
rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar wrote in a letter to EU President
Herman van Rompuy.
Last year, French-Algerian Mohammed Merah
gunned down a rabbi and three children outside a Jewish school in the
southern French city of Toulouse. He died after a prolonged standoff
with French police.
In September, in a Rosh Hashanah greeting, the
president of the European Commission warned of a rise in racism and
anti-Semitism in Europe.
“At a very difficult time, both economically
and socially, when some people, even within Europe, are tempted to
reconnect with old demons — populism, racism and anti-Semitism — we need
more than ever to uphold, to protect and to promote together our common
ideals of peace, tolerance, reconciliation and respect for human
dignity,” Jose Manuel Barroso wrote in a message sent to the European
Jewish Congress.
The ADL reported last March that anti-Semitism
in Europe is at “disturbingly high levels,” with an average of nearly
one-third of those surveyed across 10 countries holding “pernicious
anti-Semitic beliefs.”
The study found large swaths of the population
subscribing to classical anti-Semitic notions such as Jews having too
much power in business, being more loyal to Israel than their own
country, or “talking too much” about what happened during the Holocaust.
Investigate and do what about it? Given that Europe is being overrun by Islam, do we really need an investigation to tell us that Europe is becoming more anti-Semitic?
And to think that Venice is one of the few places in the world to which Mrs. Carl has admitted she would like me to take her....
Here's LATMA's song of the week - the Language of the Arab Man. I had to watch this with the sound off so you can all let me know how the music is. Aren't subtitles great?
Syria: The more things change, the more they'll stay the same
Calling Israel Bashar al-Assad's best friend, a Syrian opposition leader has told a Saudi newspaper that there will be no normalization with Israel if the opposition takes over.
In an interview with Saudi newspaper al Youm, Ghalioun negated the possibility of normalizing relations with Israel, if and when President Bashar Assad's regime falls.
"We are convinced that the Syrian regime's strongest ally is Israel," he told the paper, adding that the international community's lack of action in Syria stems from concerns for the Jewish State's safety.
Ghalioun reiterated the Syrian opposition's position by which "the continued occupation of the Golan Heights severely undermines Syria's national sovereignty, which it will only regain after the occupied territories are returned."
Asked about a recent statement made by a member of the opposition, by which Syria will establish relations with Israel after Assad's fall, Ghalioun said: "Who is the fool who said such a thing?"
The heck with them. Let them go on killing each other.
Despite facing an economic downturn of generational proportions, the Egyptian government even banned palm frond exports ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot this year. The fronds are ceremonially necessary during the holiday, and Israel used to import 700,000 per year from Egypt. Not in 2011.
Just in case there are any agricultural ties left, by the by, Minister of Agriculture Mohamed Reda Ismail wants you to know he’ll be eliminating them. During a recent public discussion on the potential harms of pesticides, he took a detour to assure Egyptians that “if I knew [of any] Israeli experts working in the agricultural field in Egypt, I will fire them immediately” (Arabic; Google Translate).
Israel is of course a global leader in agricultural innovation but – again – the Egyptian government has its priorities. Petulant anti-Israel campaigning first. Feeding Egyptians second.
'Palestinians' hope to use UNESCO to bar Jews from Machpeila Cave
The Mayor of Hebron has told Time Magazine's Karl Vick that he hopes to use the Machpeila Cave's status as a UNESCO heritage site to bar Jews from praying there (Hat Tip: Honest Reporting).
Genesis 23 lays out the details of his grave in Deed Office detail, including the price (30 shekels) paid for the cave and the adjoining field from Ephron the Hittite. There’s not much about the site that’s in doubt, including what Palestinian officials aim to do with the property if they get control of it — stop Jews from praying there.
The stated reason: The massive stone structure built atop the cave by King Herod, a Jew, and held for a time by Christian Crusaders, has since the 14th century been a Muslim house of worship. The Ibrahimi Mosque has minarets, rugs, washrooms for ablutions and anterooms lined with racks for storing shoes.
“It’s a mosque!” says Khaled Osaily, the mayor of Hebron. “You don’t have to be an architect to see it! Will you allow me to pray in a synagogue or a church?”
Actually, the price was 400 shekels. Maybe Vick ought to go back and read the bible again. But Vick discounts the possibility that this could actually happen.
That reality is not going to change just because UNESCO voted in October to accept Palestine as a member, even as its application for full U.N. membership collects dust before the Security Council. Even if the World Heritage committee lists Hebron as a technically “Palestinian” heritage site, Israeli sentries will continue to hang their helmets at the entrance on the eastern side of the mosque, which on a recent weekday teemed with the chatter of children and worshipers, and Jews will continue to gather on the smaller western side, amid the clutter of bookcases and bearded Torah students, rocking like metronomes as they read.
Vick obviously needs to learn some history and current events as well. From 1948-67, when Jordan (there were no 'Palestinians' then) controlled Hebron, Jews were barred from the Machpeila Cave. In fact, for many years before that, Jews were not permitted to ascend above the 7th step entering into the Cave - they were not allowed into the cave itself.
And if God forbid the 'Palestinians' and their supporters get their way, the Cave will come under 'Palestinian' control. If God forbid that happens, does anyone really believe that Jews won't be barred from it? But Vick attributes all of this to spite.
So why frame the World Heritage application as a bid to restrict the use of a religious site, when the only practical effect will be to create bad feelings? For the same reason Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, in his September speech to the U.N. General Assembly, evoked the the Holy Land by name-checking Jesus Christ and the Prophet Mohammed but said nothing about the Jews: In a word, spite.
Vick still doesn't get it. The 'Palestinians' really mean it. What could go wrong?
Five times a day, mosques across Israel summon the faithful to prayer. My own home is probably 300-500 meters from a mosque, and while we definitely do not notice its chants during the day, we definitely do notice them - especially if we are up already - about an hour and a half before sunrise, which depending on the time of year could be just about anywhere between 4:00 and 5:00 am.
So that you all understand what we're talking about, I want to give you some idea of what it sounds like. As you listen to this video, keep in mind that it was filmed in the daytime, when there is a lot less echo from the surroundings than they there is at night.
Let's go to the videotape.
Pretty loud, isn't it? To be fair, if you live near it, you get somewhat used to it, and if you're really tired, you can sleep through it. But it can disturb people.
A bill being introduced in the Knesset would restrict the times of day at which the muzzein can be played (the muzzein is generally a recording of someone chanting). And you can guess who is upset about it.
According to the Knesset report, there are some 400 mosques in Israel, half of which are manned by state-employed clerics, and whose public address systems are under state regulation. The rest are not under government supervision.
Moreover, the study surveyed other countries' policies on the issue, and found that the Muezzin calls in Egypt are synchronized, and their volume is monitored. In Saudi Arabia, public address system use has been restricted as well. In Austria, the Muezzin sounds his voice only Vienna's Islamic Center, and only on Fridays.
Officials in the Arab sector lamented that the initiative is a direct affront to Islam.
"Those who come live in Jaffa are aware of the mosques and churches here," Sheikh Saliman Setel said. He noted that a few minutes of the Muezzin call does not compare to the noise that comes from traffic, police cars and ambulances.
Tel Aviv Councilman Ahmad Mashharawi equated the bill to a rash of legislation that has been promoted by the Right-wing Knesset members in recent weeks, and accused the lawmakers of being so "drunk on power they are willing to compromise the foundations on which the state was based."
"Islam was here before Anastassia Michaeli came to this country, and it will stay long after she's gone," he said.
Michaeli's ancestors were in this country long before there were Muslims, and her descendants will God willing be here long after there are Muslims. But that's not why I showed you this. I showed you this to point out the double standard.
Moreover, the study surveyed other countries' policies on the issue, and found that the Muezzin calls in Egypt are synchronized, and their volume is monitored. In Saudi Arabia, public address system use has been restricted as well. In Austria, the Muezzin sounds his voice only Vienna's Islamic Center, and only on Fridays.
And the Arabs will never agree to measures like that in Israel.
This reminds me of the argument over the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance being built on an abandoned cemetery.
In fact, the entire area of the Mamilla Cemetery had long been regarded by Muslim religious leaders as mundras -- abandoned. A cemetery not in use for 37 years is considered mundras and without sanctity. That explains why in 1946 the most prominent Islamic religious figure of the day, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, presented plans to build a Muslim university on a large portion of the Mamilla Cemetery itself (a rendering of which we presented to the court). Today, the concept of mundras is widely accepted and practiced in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territories and throughout the Arab world.
Though Judaism does not have a mundras concept, the Supreme Court noted in its decision that "despite the Jewish religious law prohibitions . . . to prevent the removal of graves or building on top of them, in practice, in cases where public needs required this, an agreed Jewish law solution has usually been found, and this allowed the building to be carried out in a way that minimized . . . the violation of the graves. . . . Jewish religious law also allows, as we have said, the removal of graves in a dignified manner. Balanced solutions of this kind were also proposed by the respondents [Simon Wiesenthal Center], and they even agreed to pay all the expenses involved in them."
I can't find a link right now, but during the course of the argument over the Mamilla cemetery, it came out that Muslim graves are moved to make way for public works projects everywhere in the Muslim world. But not in Israel. And the same will be true of any attempt to restrict the noise level coming from the muzzeins.
The 'Palestinian Authority's new cartoon: 'Israel is a scorpion'
The 'Palestinian Authority's official television station has a new cartoon called Israel is a scorpion. It has played numerous times over the past two and a half weeks. ''
The turtle, symbolizing the slow progress of Palestinian statehood, is chased by the Israeli scorpion throughout the video. On its way, the turtle passes Israel’s security fence. On the fence is a drawing of a dagger stabbing the Star of David.
The song repeatedly asks “Why should I like you?” and portrays the PA as forthcoming while Israel is “despicable,” “self-centered” and described as an oppressor who “hates the Palestinians in its heart,” “scatter[s] them around the world,“and subjects them to “beatings, oppression, detention and biting.”
The singer and composer, Ahmed Dari, who appears in the video, is an advisor to the PA and has been a member of the Permanent Delegation of Palestine to UNESCO, the United Nations' Educational, Social and Cultural Organization.
Tanks, falling missiles and bulldozers demolishing houses are also part of the visuals. One segment depicts an Israeli tank with a shovel rolling up a Palestinian flag. A number of Palestinian children are shown fleeing the tank, some already lying in pools blood on the flag.
The song also criticizes the US for “strengthening” Israel against the PA and “forgetting” about the Palestinians: “You and the other one [USA] that strengthens you against me [The USA] is proud of you It feeds and nourishes you It takes [oil] from me and gives it to you A second later forgets me”
A picture of shell casings and a baby bottle accompany the words “It [the US] feeds and nourishes you [Israel].”
Virgin Megastores recommends Mein Kampf to its Arabic readers
This picture was taken at a Virgin Megastore in Qatar. Note the recommendation on the right. Elder of Ziyon points out that this isn't just a Qatari phenomenon - he found this blog post from Bahrain that Virgin recommends Mein Kampf there too.
Mein Kampf has been a best seller in Arabic for years - Lisa Goldman described it as being the first book she saw for sale at Amman's Queen Alia airport in 2007 (she didn't mention the name of the bookshop, but she does mention Virgin in the same post when discussing the bookshop at Rafik al-Hariri airport in Beirut). And somehow I doubt that the prominent recommendation is so unusual either.
But one thing that Beirutis have always been good at is carrying on regardless. Restaurants open, bougainvillea blooms expansively, books are launched, film festivals abound, and hapless journalists go about their business. Despite a friend telling me that Mein Kampf is on the Downtown Virgin Megastore’s bestseller list (It could be innocent. Could it?), the city is full of bright and beautiful ideas. Estella and I (my 1991 Kawasaki Estrella – she lost the ‘r’ in homage to the anti-heroine of Great Expectations) have had plenty to do sounding out bookish thoughts all over the city.
So what's new here?
What's new is that Virgin is owned by Richard Branson, who also owns Virgin Atlantic Airlines. Branson is British - not an Arab. And Branson's chain has just been 'outed' even though it's been marketing Mein Kampf in the Arab world for years (and it's conceivable that the decisions are made by local management and Branson has little or no say in them).
Well, if it awakens the West to the virulent anti-Semitism in the Arab world, I am happy to pass it on.
A BBC journalist named Thomas Dinham recently wrote of his own encounter with anti-Semitism in Cairo. Dinham, who is neither Israeli nor Jewish, told of one potentially dangerous confrontation: “Someone pushed me from behind with such force that I nearly fell over. Turning around, I found myself surrounded by five men, one of whom tried to punch me in the face. I stopped the attack by pointing out how shameful it was for a Muslim to assault a guest in his country, especially during Ramadan.” He went on, “I was appalled by the apology offered by one of my assailants. ‘Sorry,’ he said contritely, offering his hand, ‘we thought you were a Jew.’”
Expressions of anti-Semitism are common even at the higher reaches of Egyptian politics. Presidential candidate Tawfiq Okasha, speaking on the television station he owns, recently said, “Not all the Jews in the world are evil. You may ask: Tawfiq, what is the ratio? The ratio is 60-40. Sixty percent are evil to varying degrees, all the way to a level that words cannot describe, while 40 percent are not evil.” He noted that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is “one of those Jews who adhere to the Zionist ideology, which is one of the worst ideologies.”
Okasha did concede that, while even among the 40 percent of non-evil Jews there is only one in a million who is blameless, it is possible to “coexist” with this sort of Jew because they “do not betray, conspire, extort or view others as Gentiles.”
In Cairo today, this might count as a progressive idea.
The Arab Spring should liberate people not only from oppressive rulers, but also from self-destructive and delusional patterns of belief. Anti-Semitism, the “socialism of fools,” not only threatens the Israel-Egypt peace treaty and dehumanizes Jews. It also undermines rationality. It prevents its adherents from seeing the world as it is -- and it will only be an impediment to actual change in the Arab world.
Read the whole thing because it's not just about Egypt. It's about every country that has been affected by the Arab spring. Maybe all those dictators were just playing on the way their people felt about Jews anyway. I wonder what else could have caused all that anti-Semitism. Hmmm.
Surprise: Goldstone's retraction spurred anti-Semitic cartoons in Arab world
Actually, this shouldn't surprise anyone. The Anti-Defamation League reports that Richard Goldstone's ostensible retraction of the report that bears his name has led to a round of anti-Semitic cartoons like the one above in the Arab world.
“Just as the original report was celebrated by Arab cartoonists as ‘proof’ of the evil nature of Israel and Jews, so too has the decision by Judge Richard Goldstone to reconsider his findings inspired another round of hateful caricatures and stereotypes in the Arab media," Anti-Defamation League chairman Abraham Foxman said.
"Newspapers across the Arab world have responded to the Goldstone developments with a series of hideous caricatures, many of them viciously anti-Semitic.”
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
