They're passing the popcorn - 'Palestinians' being ethnically cleansed
Khaled Abu Toameh reports that the 'Palestinians' are being ethnically cleansed, and instead of howling in protest, the 'international community' is passing the popcorn and watching.
The Palestinians in Iraq are now also paying a heavy price. Since
2003, the number of Palestinians there has dropped from 25,000 to 6,000.
Palestinian activists say the Iraqis are waging a campaign of ethnic
cleansing against the country's Palestinian population.
The activists say that since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime,
Shiite militias in Iraq have been systematically attacking and
intimidating the Palestinian population over the past decade, prompting
many to flee.
The Shiites, they say, are opposed to the presence of non-Iraqi
Sunnis, including the Palestinians, in their country -- especially in
the capital, Baghdad.
In addition, they say, many Sunnis in Iraq who had opposed Saddam
Hussein have also been waging war on the Palestinians, in retaliation
for their support for him.
Thamer Meshainesh, head of the League for Palestinians in Iraq, was quoted
a few days ago as saying that Palestinians were facing "unprecedented
violations" and "increasing assaults." He warned that Palestinians in
Iraq were being targeted by various militias as part of a systematic
policy to expel them from the country.
...
The Palestinians in Iraq are paying the price for meddling in the
internal affairs of the country. This is what also happened to
Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon and Libya. Palestinians often find
themselves involved, both directly and indirectly, in the rivalries that
take place inside Arab countries. And when the fire reaches them, they
start screaming for help, as is the case today in Iraq.
Is that why the 'international community' doesn't care - because the 'Palestinians' interfered in Iraqi affairs and therefore have it coming to them? Umm... no....
But what is most interesting is the complete indifference displayed
by international human rights organizations, the media and the
Palestinian Authority toward the mistreatment of Palestinians in Arab
countries.
The PA, whose leaders are busy inciting against Israel on a daily
basis, does not have time to care about its people in the Arab world. PA
leaders say they want to press "war crimes" charges against Israel with
the International Criminal Court because of last year's war with Hamas
and continued construction in West Bank settlements.
However, when it comes to ethnic cleansing and torture of
Palestinians in Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the
Palestinian Authority leadership chooses to look the other way.
Similarly, the international media seems to have forgotten that there
are tens of thousands of Palestinians living in various Arab countries.
The only Palestinians that Western journalists know and care about are
those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
International journalists do not care about the Palestinians in the
Arab world because this is not a story that can be blamed on Israel. An
Arab killing or torturing an Arab is not an item worth publishing in a
major newspaper in the U.S., Canada or Britain. But when a Palestinian
in the West Bank complains against the Israeli authorities or Jewish
settlers, many Western journalists waste no time rushing to the scene to
cover this "major" development.
Some might call the differing attitude toward alleged 'Palestinian suffering' in Israel v. the Arab countries anti-Semitism.
Shame on @NBCNews for its disgusting and arrogant treatment of (and discrimination against) its employees in the Middle East
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) November 16, 2014
A deeply disturbing (but not surprising) report from Brian of London based on the tweet above.
This morning [Abu Toameh has] followed it up with a longer message on Facebook
shared only with friends, with permission I’m quoting him here:
There’s a serious problem when a major US network tells
its employees they won’t get compensation for decades of work unless
they promise not to say or write anything about their former working
place.
In other words, they are saying: You must not reveal any of our
secrets or tell the world about double standards and hypocrisy of the
foreign media.
Not only is this unethical and filthy, but it’s also a form of
blackmail. I wonder if NBC NEWS would treat its employees in the US in
the same way. And what is NBC NEWS afraid of?
Clearly NBC News has sent some communication out to all of it’s staff
in Israel and perhaps the wider region with a change to the terms of
their employment.
Khaled Abu Toameh writes that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen is afraid to cut a peace deal with Israel.
[US Secretary of State John] Kerry failed to acknowledge that Palestinian Authority [PA] President
Mahmoud Abbas does not have a mandate from his people to negotiate, let
alone sign, any agreement with Israel. Abbas is now in the tenth year
of his four-year term in office.
Nor did Kerry listen to the advice of those who warned him and his
aides that Abbas would not be able to implement any agreement with
Israel on the ground. Abbas cannot even visit his private house in the
Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and he controls less than 40% of the West
Bank. Where exactly did Kerry expect Abbas to implement any agreement
with Israel? In the city-center of Ramallah or Nablus?
What Kerry and other Western leaders do not want to understand is that Abbas is not authorized to make any
concessions for peace with Israel, and has even repeatedly promised his
people that he would not make any concessions for the sake of peace
with Israel.
In a speech in Ramallah on November 11, marking the tenth anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, Abbas declared: "He who surrenders one grain of the soil of Palestine and Jerusalem is not one of us."
This statement alone should be enough for Kerry and Western leaders
to realize that it would be impossible to ask Abbas to make any
concessions. Like Arafat, Abbas has become hostage to his own rhetoric.
How can Abbas be expected to accept any deal that does not include 100%
of his demands -- in this instance, all territory captured by Israel in
1967?
Abbas himself knows that if he comes back with 97% or 98% of his
demands, his people will either spit in is face or kill him, after
accusing him of being a "defeatist" and "relinquishing Palestinian
rights."
This is precisely why Abbas chose to walk out of Kerry's nine-month
"peace process." Realizing that Israel was not going to offer him 100%
of his demands, Abbas preferred to abandon the peace talks last summer.
For Abbas, it is more convenient to be criticized by the U.S. and
Israel than to be denounced by his own people for achieving a bad deal
with Israel.
Abu Toameh seems to believe that there are circumstances under which Abu Mazen might agree to a deal with Israel if Israel were to give him 100% of what he demands. Sadly, even that is not true. And even if Israel were to agree to 100% of Abu Mazen's demands and Abu Mazen were to sign on the dotted line, there is virtually no chance that he would keep to his side of the bargain, and there is even less chance that whoever succeeds him would keep to Abu Mazen's side of the bargain (a precedent that has sadly been encouraged by the Obama administration's behavior). This is not about a return to the 1949 armistice lines. It's about Israel's continued existence as the Jewish homeland in the region.
That's the reality in the Middle East and most Israelis have come to realize that over the last 14 years. The only chance of it ever changing is if the 'Palestinians' were to some day wake up and realize that they will never have a 'state' unless they reach and keep to a deal. And that will never happen so long as the one consequence of not making a deal - losing out to on the ground reality - is consistently thwarted by the international community's obsession with Israeli 'settlement building.'
As US Secretary of State John FN Kerry negotiates a 'peace agreement' between the 'Palestinians' and Israel, one has to wonder whether 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen is the right man to be negotiating for Fatah. You see, Khaled Abu Toameh reports that Abu Mazen doesn't even control his own Fatah faction (Hat Tip: Bad Blue).
A series of events over the past few weeks have left many
Palestinians wondering if Fatah will ever be able to recover and
rehabilitate itself in the aftermath of its defeat by Hamas in the
January 2006 parliamentary election.
These events have also raised questions as to Abbas's ability to rein
in and control his own loyalists in Fatah. Abbas, it seems, has lost
control not only over the Gaza Strip, but also his Fatah faction.
The most recent crisis in Fatah erupted last week when Fatah legislator and activist Jamal Abu al Rub, who is nicknamed "Hitler," punched
senior Fatah rival Jibril Rajoub three times in the face after a
violent confrontation in Ramallah's Grand Park Hotel, where Rajoub, a
former Fatah security commander, was waiting to meet with the Chinese
foreign minister.
Abu al Rub later explained that Rajoub had "provoked" him, and that
was why he had decided to assault him. According to Abu al Rub, about
two months ago one of Rajoub's bodyguards had assaulted him during a
heated meeting of Fatah leaders in Ramallah.
The decision drew strong condemnations from Abu al Rub's supporters
in the Jenin area of the northern West Bank, where dozens of Fatah
activists tendered their resignations to Abbas. In a further escalation, Fatah gunmen loyal to Abu al Rub expelled Palestinian Authority policemen from the town of Qabatya near Jenin.
Palestinians have expressed fear that the fight between Abu al Rub
and Rajoub could lead to an all-out bloody confrontation between
supporters of the two men.
Abu Toameh goes on to describe this as another instance of the longstanding 'Palestinian' feud between the old guard and the new guard, with Abu al Rub representing the new guard. The new guard, as Abu Toameh hints, is highly unlikely to abide by any 'peace agreement' 'negotiated' by Abu Mazen. While the Obama administration, which is starved for an 'achievement' in the foreign policy field, won't care about that, Israel ought to care a lot about it.
Over
the past few weeks, Palestinian journalists and activists have threatened or
harassed a number of Israeli reporters covering Palestinian affairs.
The
most recent incident occurred this week when Channel 1 correspondent Yoram Cohen
was forced to leave a press conference in Ramallah after Palestinian journalists
protested against his presence.
One of the journalists, Naela Khalil,
later boasted that she had managed to expel an Israeli reporter from the press
conference.
The PA minister for prisoners’ affairs was holding the press
conference following Maissara Abu Hamdiyeh’s death from cancer in an Israeli
prison.
Cohen’s attempt to explain that he had received permission from
the PA deputy minister of information to cover the press conference did not
persuade the journalists, who demanded that he leave immediately. The PA
official has since denied granting Cohen permission.
...
“It
has become dangerous for Israeli reporters to enter Palestinian cities, mainly
because of the incitement by some Palestinian journalists,” a veteran Israeli
correspondent told The Jerusalem Post.
“We are trying to solve the issue
by talking to senior Palestinian Authority officials, and we hope we will find a
solution.”
But on Thursday, more than 200 Palestinian journalists signed
a petition calling on the PA leadership to issue an order banning Israeli
reporters from entering and working freely in Palestinian cities.
The
petition claimed that the PA leadership was discriminating against Palestinian
journalists because top PA officials preferred to deal with Israeli
reporters.
The journalists also demanded that the PA refrain from
providing any security for Israeli correspondents.
“This measure would be
the least that can be done in response to ongoing assaults on Palestinian
journalists,” the petition said. It specifically protested Israeli restrictions
preventing Palestinian reporters from entering Jerusalem.
The journalists
said their demand was aimed at “isolating the Israeli media which is
contributing to misleading and relaying a false and harmful image of the
Palestinian reality.”
The biggest problem the 'Palestinians' have with Israeli reporters is that many of them actually speak Arabic and therefore don't need a 'Palestinian' fixer to take them around.
The story was written under the byline of Khaled Abu Toameh, who reports for the JPost, but who formerly wrote (much less freely) for 'Palestinian' publications. I wonder if he can go to the 'Palestinian' cities and get out alive. I suspect not.
This past week, the Facebook account of journalist Khaled Abu Toameh was 'accidentally' taken down. Although it was subsequently restored, it was first restored without certain posts that criticized the 'Palestinian Authority' and the government of Jordan. Subsequently, those posts were restored. In this piece, Abu Toameh reminds Facebook of what its role is supposed to be.
Many Palestinian journalists, and those in the Middle East, are
forced to use Facebook to publish what their own media will not accept.
The media in the West Bank is mostly controlled by the Palestinian
Authority, which has repeatedly demonstrated a large degree of
intolerance toward any form of criticism. The same applies, of course,
to most Arab dictatorships.
Arab governments have obviously become wary of the use their critics
are making of Facebook to air their grievances and opinions. In some
countries, including the Palestinian Authority, intelligence services
have set up special teams to monitor Facebook and other social media
networks in search of critics and "dissidents."
But the problem becomes worse when Facebook itself starts removing material that bothers dictatorships and tyrants.
One can only hope that the same Facebook employee who "accidentally"
removed the article will make the same mistake and close down accounts
belonging to terrorist organizations and their leaders.
Take for example, the account of senior Hamas official Izzat al Risheq, or the numerous accounts that promote hatred and violence and are openly affiliated with terrorist and jihadi groups.
All one has to do is log in to these accounts, especially the ones in
Arabic, to see how most of them are engaged in all forms of incitement.
Those behind these pages are not seeking to achieve progress by
"challenging current conceptions," as George Bernard Shaw noted. Instead
they are using Facebook, among others, to spread messages of hate and
abuse against anyone who does not share their views.
Many Arab and Palestinian journalists and intellectuals have long
been waging a fierce campaign to get rid of censorship in their
countries. Some have even paid with their lives to achieve this goal,
while many others have been arrested or are facing intimidation and
terror. It is the duty of Facebook and Western societies to side with
those seeking freedom, and not to be complicit in suppressing their
voices.
Abu Bluff turns down $1 billion because it means not suing Israel in the ICC
'Palestinian' media is reporting that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen has turned down an offer of $1 billion for his 'cash-strapped' 'Palestinian Authority' because it would require him to agree not to sue Israel in the International Criminal Court.
AL MAYADEEN CHANNEL: ABBAS REFUSED A $1 BILLION DEAL TO SOLVE THE PA’S FINANCIAL CRISIS IN EXCHANGE FOR NOT GOING TO THE ICC
A senior Palestinian leader in Fatah said international parties
offered President Abbas a deal that would solve the PA’s financial
crisis by transferring $1 billion to the presidential treasury in
exchange for a promise from Abbas not to go to the International
Criminal court to try Israel’s leaders for war crimes.
The leader, who made his statements to the Mayadeen Satellite
Channel said the same pressures that were applied to late President
Yasser Arafat were being applied to Abu Mazen, both of whom did not
break them or the people.
At present, the PA is suffering a deficit that exceeds $1 billion
in its general budget. The government has said it does not know when
December’s half salary will be paid either, adding that it needs $150
million each month to pay its employee salaries. (Al Quds)
In an earlier post, I reported that journalist Khaled Abu Toameh's Facebook account had been blocked(it was reinstated late Tuesday night). Here's the reason why the account was blocked (from the same link as the paragraph above).
Arab Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh revealed last week
that the PA cancelled outstanding electricity debts for Palestinians in
the West Bank. He also wrote that despite the ongoing financial crisis
in the PA, Fatah and PA officials received unprecedented privileges like
dental treatment in Tel Aviv and shopping sprees in Israeli owned
businesses.
Shortly afterwards Toameh’s Facebook account was temporally shutdown and whitewashed by Facebook.
But don't worry: The European Union decided on Tuesday to give the 'Palestinians' another 100 million Euros. What could go wrong?
Former JPost reporter Khaled Abu Toameh's Facebook account has been blocked, apparently because of articles he posted about corruption in the 'Palestinian Authority' (Hat Tip: Lahav Harkov via Twitter).
The Commentator has learned that following complaints from the
Palestinian Authority and Jordanian security authorities about his
articles dealing with corruption, Facebook had taken the steps necessary
to effectively censor his work.
In speaking this morning to us, Abu Toameh noted, "All I have done
recently is share some articles which have been in the Jordanian press
(in Arabic) about corruption. I am for transparency, against corruption,
and yet they ban my account and continue to allow the leader of Hamas
to have an account. I am not in favour of terrorism like he is. This is
an attempt to silence me. To do this to a journalist is very bad."
Facebook sent the following pro-forma e-mail to Abu Toameh yesterday
evening: “You posted an item that violated our Terms of Use, and this
item has been removed. Among other things, content that is hateful,
threatening, or obscene is not allowed, nor is content that attacks an
individual or group. Continued misuse of Facebook's features could
result in your account being disabled.”
Toameh also told The Commentator that over the past few days, he has
been the subject of much online abuse, as well as threats and an
apparently concerted smear campaign against him.
This recently culminated in the posting of an article on the
‘Sabbah.biz’ website, accusing Toameh of being an ‘Israeli Hasbara
agent’ and showing a picture of him with the Star of David on his head.
The website is run by ‘Haitham Sabbah’, who is based out of Tulkarm in
the West Bank.
A petition is already being circulated
calling for Facebook to restore the account, stating: "It is not the
role of Facebook to act as a censor of the truth so please sign to put
pressure on to reopen this account if there is to be a chance for peace,
stifling the truth and hiding the reality of corruption and incitement
of hatred instead of promoting a peaceful solution is not the way."
A reality check on Abu Mazen's willingness to make peace
I wish all the delusional morons who actually think that the 'peace process' is going to lead to peace would read and listen to Khaled Abu Toameh (Hat Tip: Bad Blue).
What are the chances that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would ever sign a peace agreement with Israel?
The answer: zero.
...
Abbas is not interested in reaching any deal with Israel: he knows that such a move would require him to make concessions. Abbas knows that Israel will never give him 100% of his demands; that is enough for him to refuse to sign any historic agreement.
Like Arafat, Abbas does not want to go down into history as the first Palestinian leader to make concessions, especially on sensitive issues such as refugees and Jerusalem.
In 2000, Arafat rejected Prime Minister Ehud Barak's generous offer, which included more than 90% of the territories captured by Israel in the Six Day War.
Arafat turned down the offer because he was afraid of being condemned by Arabs and Muslims for having "sold out to the Jews." Arafat was later quoted as explaining that if he made any concessions to Israel he would "end up drinking coffee with [slain Egyptian President] Anwar Sadat up there."
So if Arafat, the popular symbol and leader of the Palestinians was unable to make any concessions to Israel, who is Abbas to accept anything less than 100%?
...
Abbas has even gone a step further by mobilizing Palestinian public opinion against Israel to a point where his people are not even ready to see him meeting with Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz.
Abbas's Palestinian Authority has been denouncing Israel and many of its leaders, including Mofaz, as war criminals. This is why when, two weeks ago, Palestinians heard that Mofaz was planning to visit Ramallah to meet with Abbas, hundreds took to the streets to protest.
Abbas quickly succumbed, and called off the meeting with Mofaz.
The next time Abbas plans to meet with any Israeli government official, Palestinians will once again take to the streets to protest.
'But we have to do SOMETHING,' say our moronic Leftists. 'No, you don't,' says Khaled Abu Toameh, who knows better.
Under the current circumstances, the wisest thing to do would be to maintain the status quo until the emergence of a new Palestinian leader who would have the true courage to make peace with Israel.
Indeed. With two provisos.
1. Don't expect it to happen anytime soon.
2. Stop acting as if we're holding the land in trust for the 'Palestinians.' All that does is let them hold out hope o destroying us.
Abu Toameh: An Arab journalist cannot work in the 'Palestinian' territories
Lori Lowenthal Marcus reports on the state of news reporting in the 'Palestinian'-controlled territories. It's not pretty. The motto seems to be 'all the news we want reported.' And Khaled Abu Toameh, the Arab reporter who left the 'Palestinian'-controlled territories thirty years ago so that he could report freely says that Arab-speaking journalists can no longer work there.
But just as frightening as Arab Palestinian bloggers and journalists being arrested for posting on their Facebook pages is the steady drumbeat of pressure that is leading to a decrease in coverage by western journalists who, presumably, are not as vulnerable to the capricious selections for punishment designed to suppress criticism of the ruling regime.
In addition to whispered discussions being heard in Ramallah about the “Facebook Police” are the directives issued to western journalists to focus their reporting on “Israel’s ‘occupation’” and refrain from prying into alleged corruption committed by PA officials, because “nothing else is newsworthy and nothing else should be reported.”
Some western journalists have been warned not to work with Arabic speaking reporters who fail to toe the “All-Occupation, All The Time” reporting. This is how the PA controls not only their own media outlets, but those western outlets. All too many simply play along rather than stand up for press and speech freedoms and possibly risk losing access. For those journalists who behave and report primarily about the occupation, the rewards are access to senior officials. Senior PA officials told Arab Israeli journalist abu Toameh, “Even the Jews at Haaretz behave themselves and for that they are rewarded with interviews of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.”
It is not only individual journalists who are being intimidated, but entire news sites critical of the PA have been blocked on the internet. A report in late April revealed that several websites which had reported on corruption within the PA were blocked, including Inlight Press, which had revealed that the PA had been monitoring the phones of Mahmoud Abbas’s opponents.
...
So thirty years on, Khaled abu Toameh finds that the path he took away from censorship seems to have doubled back on itself. Rather than walking firmly on the precious path of western iconic freedoms of an unfettered press and uncensored speech, abu Toameh is finding that that road is rotting out beneath his feet. This rare truth-telling journalist is finding it increasingly harder to report the corruption and lack of freedoms in the PA, and as a result our news world is becoming a quieter, but certainly not a better, place. On his own Facebook Page abu Toameh posted this silent cri de coeur: “A campaign of intimidation, harassment, pressure, threats and boycotts has made it impossible for an Arab journalist to work in the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.”
It's not surprising that the 'Palestinian Authority' treats journalists the way Lori describes. What's at least somewhat surprising is the fact that the so-called 'free' western media - the US, Europe and even Israel - is complicit in this false reporting and is allowing the 'Palestinian Authority' to create a false narrative. Does Jew hatred know no bounds? That's a rhetorical question. I know the answer.
Did the 'Palestinian Authority' fool the journalists or did the journalists play along with the 'Palestinian Authority'?
Khaled Abu Toameh reports on how the 'Palestinian Authority' lied to journalists regarding the situation in Jenin.
But while the international, and Israeli, media were breaking the "good news" about Jenin, the journalists failed to understand what was really going on in Jenin and its surrounding villages. Some journalists, in fact, chose to turn a blind eye to the grim reality on the ground.
The murder of Israeli Arab actor and film producer Julian Mar-Khamis in Jenin last year should have sounded an alarm bell among the media representatives. His killers have never been caught, sparking a wave of unconfirmed reports about the involvement of influential Fatah gangsters and Palestinian security officers in the case.
A Western journalist who wanted to do an investigative report into the case was warned by senior Palestinian security officers that she would be putting her life at risk if she insisted on carrying out this mission.
Last week, the truth about the situation in Jenin finally exploded in the faces of everyone: the local governor died of a fatal heart attack following an unsuccessful assassination attempt.
For the Palestinian Authority leadership, the assassination attempt was what lifted the veil: Palestinian leaders in Ramallah realized that they could no longer continue to hide the truth about what was really happening in Jenin.
Palestinian security forces have since arrested dozens of Fatah "outlaws" and police officers for various crimes -- including murder, extortion, abductions, sexual harassment and armed robberies.
Radi Asideh, the security commander of the Jenin area, admitted that it was the Palestinian security establishment that was responsible for the anarchy and lawlessness. "There is a defect inside the security establishment and officers were responsible for this," he revealed.
The biggest mistake, Asideh added, was that the Palestinian leadership had turned its back to the defect, allowing the situation to deteriorate at the expense of the people's security.
Palestinians say that anarchy and lawlessness are to be found also in other areas in the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority claims to have imposed law and order. And, they add, in most cases it is the Palestinian Authority's security forces that are responsible for the chaos and corruption.
It is more likely than not that most of the journalists were not fooled, but as Abu Toameh acknowledges is possible, they turned a blind eye to the reality of Jenin. Some of them may have done so out of fear for their lives, and some may have been fooled by their mandatory 'Palestinian' handlers. But many, many more come here with preconceived notions that require suspending all inquisitiveness and giving the 'Palestinian Authority' a pass. Until that changes (and that's unlikely in the foreseeable future), most of the reporting from Judea and Samaria will be biased and inaccurate.
Hudson Institute and Touro College running anti-Durban conference
Hudson Institute and Touro College running a conference on September 22 - the day of the Durban III conference - between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. The conference is entitled The Perils of Global Intolerance: the United Nations & "Durban III" and will take place at the UN Millenium Plaza Hotel.
The Hudson Institute and the Touro College Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust today announced an historic conference targeting manifestations of racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance at the United Nations. The conference will coincide with the highly controversial UN event known as “Durban III.” Organizers were galvanized, according to Anne Bayefsky, a Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute and Director of the Touro College Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, after learning that “Americans will be mourning the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 at the same time as the United Nations will appear to be legitimizing the kind of intolerance that drives terrorism itself.”
"Durban III" is intended to "commemorate" the 10th anniversary of the UN-sponsored anti-Semitic hatefest that took place in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The final product of that conference – the Durban Declaration – charged Israel with racism, the only one of the UN's 192 state members so accused. Led by Congressman and Holocaust survivor Tom Lantos, the United States – along with Israel – walked out of Durban I in disgust.
According to conference organizer, Anne Bayefsky, a Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute and Director of the Touro College Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, "The Durban conference legitimized hate speech on a global scale." At the widely-perceived racist "anti-racism" conference, the streets were filled with signs such as "for the liberation of Quds machine guns based on faith and Islam must be used," and handouts with Hitler's photo read "What if I had won? The good things: there would be no Israel..." Durban I ended three days before 9/11. The Durban Review Conference, or Durban II, was held in Geneva in 2009, and the only world leader to attend was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Organizers of the "Perils of Global Intolerance" conference were galvanized, Bayefsky said, after learning that "Americans will be mourning the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 at the same time as the United Nations is legitimizing the kind of intolerance that drives terrorism in the first place."
The one-day conference will be a call to action. "Given the events that Durban III is intended to commemorate," Bayefsky noted, "the UN will sadly serve as a global platform to promote the inverse of its original purposes and principles. It is imperative to deny legitimacy to prejudice and the Durban Declaration."
A Speakers List of International Prominence
The conference has gathered an impressive array of distinguished speakers from three continents, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, former US UN Ambassador John Bolton, former Governor Mike Huckabee, world-renowned scholar Bernard Lewis, Ronald Lauder is the current President of the World Jewish Congress, Academy-award winning actor Jon Voight, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Harvard Professor and best-selling author Alan Dershowitz, a psychologist named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world Wafa Sultan, Sudanese human rights activist Simon Deng, former Israeli UN Ambassador Dore Gold, Harvard Professor and National Humanities Medal recipient Ruth Wisse, veteran award-winning journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, Hoover Institution Fellow and National Humanities Medal recipient Shelby Steele, bestselling author and award-winning UK journalist Douglas Murray, and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy Zuhdi Jasser.
Political and other leaders who have a genuine interest in combating xenophobia will be provided a crucial forum to speak with passion about their concerns, and to distance America and decent people everywhere from a multilateralism divorced from fundamental freedoms and inalienable rights.
Read the whole thing. If any of you (especially fellow bloggers) are planning to go, please let me know via email. Yes, I would love to go....
My 'Palestinian' brothers and my other 'Palestinian' brothers
How many of you are old enough to remember the Bob Newhart show? "Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl!"
Let's go to the videotape. More below the fold.
I thought of those guys when I read this by Khaled Abu Toameh.
The Palestinians are divided today into two camps – one that is radical and another that is less radical -- or "moderate" in the words of the West.
Kind of like Darryl and Darryl - two sides of the same coin, aren't they?
The radical camp is headed by Hamas and other extremist groups such as the Islamic Jihad organization.
This camp's message is: We want 100% of everything and we will not make any concessions to Israel. We want all the land, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. We want to replace Israel with an Islamic state where Jews who wish to could live as a minority.
There is no point in talking about the possibility of negotiating with this radical camp about peace, especially as its declared goal is to eliminate Israel -- not make peace with it.
The only thing Israel could talk to the radicals about is how and when to dismantle the Jewish state and send Israelis to Europe, Russia, the US and their Arab countries of origin.
The less radical camp, headed by the PLO and a minority of secular Palestinians, is also saying that it wants 100%, but only of the pre-1967 lines -– meaning the entire West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
Like the radicals, the "moderate" camp is also saying that it will not and cannot make any concessions to Israel on its territorial demands.
With such positions, it is hard to see how the peace process could lead to anything positive. The radicals do not want to negotiate with Israel because they do not recognize its right to exist and believe it should be wiped off the face of the earth. The so-called moderates say they are ready to return to the negotiating table, but only if Israel agrees in advance to give them 100% of their demands.
Yet the central problem is that even if Israel does accept all their demands, neither camp is willing to commit to ending the conflict. This is basically why the 2000 Camp David summit failed – because Yasser Arafat was not prepared to sign any document that called for end of conflict even after a peace deal were reached between Israel and the Palestinians.
Abu Toameh has too much confidence in Israelis' acceptance of the 'two-state solution.' While most Israelis would probably still accept a 'two-state solution,' what they are willing to give to get there is far less than what Ehud Barak offered in 2000 and 2001 and far, far less than Ehud Olmert offered in 2008. And the 'Palestinians' found those offers to be unacceptable. The time for the 'two-state solution' seems to have passed.
Hamas wants you to know that life is good in Gaza. And so they published this spread of pictures on a Gaza beach, which was taken on Friday June 24, 2011.
In case you don't believe me, the spread of pictures above was originally published here. It was uncovered by Khaled Abu Toameh, who wonders why they need a flotilla.
The photos were actually published by a Hamas-affiliated website in an attempt to show that the situation in the Gaza Strip under Hamas's rule is not as bad as many people think.
No one is saying that the situation in the Gaza Strip is very good. It was never good – not when Egypt was there, not when Israel captured it in 1967, not when the PLO assumed control over the area in 1994 and not under Hamas today.
There has always been poverty in the Gaza Strip, where more than 80 percent of the people rely on handouts from UNRWA and dozens of international aid organizations.
But the irony is that, in comparison with the past, the situation in the Gaza Strip these days is much better. The rate of crime has dropped to its lowest in decades, and many Palestinians there are saying that they don't miss the anarchy, corruption and lawlessness that prevailed under the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority.
In a few weeks, the largest Palestinian shopping mall is scheduled to open its gates in the Gaza Strip, offering Palestinians a wide range of services, including cinemas, modern coffee shops and boutiques carrying international brands such as Armani, Ralph Lauren, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica.
According to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, there is no shortage of basic foods. Periodic shortage of medical supplies is often attributed to the ongoing power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, whose representatives in the West Bank are sometimes accused of withholding medicine as a way of punishing the Hamas government.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh last week boasted that, unlike the Western-funded government of Salam Fayyad, his government was not in debt and does not have any problem paying salaries to tens of thousands of people who are on its payroll.
In light of all the good news from that area, one wonders about the purpose of the new flotilla of ships to the Gaza Strip. Is it about helping Palestinians in the Gaza Strip or is it simply intended to challenge Israel?
Phyllis Chesler sheds light on an area where the promise of the Arab spring may already be declared a failure.
It did not happen, it is not important. The mainstream media does not really care about what happens to Arabs, Muslims, or Palestinians—not even when they are fellow or sister journalists, women, and feminists. The media only cares when and if Israelis are allegedly the perpetrators, the murderers, the checkpoint “humiliators.” Even when Israelis kill an armed Iranian-backed Palestinian member of Hamas in self-defense, even when Israelis accidentally, with no malice aforethought, kill a British journalist or an American “activist,” the Israelis are not only blamed—films, plays, and documentaries are made about the “martyred” American Rachel Corrie or the “martyred” British filmmaker James Miller or British “anti-war” activist Tom Hurndall. Countless demonstrations have been held. In Miller’s case the British government insisted on an investigation, and his family brought a civil lawsuit against an Israeli soldier.
The media was all over this even though an investigation strongly suggested that James Miller was killed by Palestinians “from the direction of the populated Rafah.” Although people know that Palestinians routinely hide behind civilian hostages, deliberately target Israeli civilians, especially children, create their own “martyrs” (the Muhammad al-Dura case as well as the Rachel Corrie case immediately come to mind)—nevertheless, the media refuses to hold Palestinians accountable and refuses to believe that the Israelis are innocent. The media knows full well that they will be killed or not allowed to “report” in Palestinian areas if they publish anything negative, anything true. By now, this habit is ingrained.
One of the recently beaten, tortured, and arrested Palestinian female journalists, Asma Al-Ghoul, is someone whom I first interviewedin 2009. Al-Ghoul is a secular feminist and a journalist who has written brave articles about honor killings on the West Bank and in Gaza. She asked me to edit and publish some of her work and I proudly did so. Al-Ghoul has been harassed and arrested by Hamas before. Why? Ostensibly because she dared to laugh, wear jeans on the beach, and entered the sea, fully clothed, to swim. These were her crimes—plus the fact that she was a single woman (divorced, actually), out in public, not wearing hijab, and relaxing on the beach with—unbelievably—male friends.
Almost no one is interested in the plight of women under Hamas. After all, they're being persecuted by Muslims and not by Jews, so there's nothing to see.
I wonder if there's any chance that Asma al-Ghoul (pictured) would become another Khaled Abu-Toameh if she wrote in English and was allowed to freely express herself. Now there's a thought.
Most Palestinians who were interviewed in east Jerusalem and Ramallah said they had never had much confidence anyway in Abbas and negotiators Saeb Erekat, Ahmed Qurei and Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Al-Jazeera’s show trial has only come to reconfirm many Palestinians’ suspicions about their leaders in the West Bank.
In the past, Palestinians used to hear these allegations from Hamas and other enemies of the PA. Now, however, Palestinians are hearing the charges against their representatives from what most consider a widely respected and reliable media outlet.
On the first day of the show trial, Palestinians were told that Abbas, Erekat and Qurei had given up Arab and Muslim rights to Jerusalem and the Haram a-Sharif, or Temple Mount.
On the second day, Al- Jazeera’s jury found Abbas and his team guilty of selling out on the issue of Palestinian refugees.
On day three, Tuesday, Al- Jazeera has promised to display evidence of the PA’s collusion with Israel in the elimination of Palestinian gunmen.
The TV station has already decided that the defendants are guilty of the three charges against them. The station’s unequivocal message to Palestinians is that Abbas and his men are traitors who need to be removed from the scene, and the sooner the better.
It’s hard to see how, in light of this damning verdict, the PA will be able to salvage what’s left of its credibility. Al- Jazeera has succeeded in instilling in the minds of many Palestinians and Arabs the belief that the leaders of the PA are a bunch of corrupt traitors who serve Israeli and American interests.
The damage to the PA’s image and reputation is colossal and irreparable.
If the 'Palestinian Authority' goes, what we get is Hamas or something similar. That's what most 'Palestinians' seem to want anyway. At least we'd know where we stand.
As to the 'peace process' and the 'two-state solution,' I'd say they're now dead too. They were always a sham and a coverup for the 'Palestinians' true intentions. But now it's been proven.
Why accusations that the Mossad was behind the Alexandria church attack should be cause for worry
Although it should be clear to anyone with a brain in his head that the accusations are patently false, Khaled Abu Toameh warns that the accusations against the Mossad in the Alexandria Coptic church attack, particularly coming from media affiliated with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, should be cause for worry.
By blaming the Mossad and the Jews for the church attack, the Egyptian leadership is trying to shift attention from the plight of the Coptic Christian minority, which has long been suffering from a systematic policy of discrimination.
Fortunately, most Christians in Egypt and the Arab world do not seem to buy the ridiculous conspiracy theories that their governments are trying to sell them regarding the involvement of Jews in terror attacks.
But the sad news is that many Muslims, especially those who are illiterate and live in poverty under their corrupt dictatorships, continue to believe the poisonous and hateful propaganda they are being fed -- which is why many of them will continue to join Al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist groups.
'Palestinian' civil war watch: Abu Bluff v. Dahlan
I've written a couple of times recently about the fight inside Fatah between 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen and former Gaza security chieftain Mohamed Dahlan. On Friday, I reported that a 'Palestinian' journalist was arrested for reporting on the story.
In Sunday's JPost, Khaled Abu Toameh (who now lives in Israel and is free to write what he pleases) reports on some of the goings on between Abu Bluff and Dahlan. It seems like it's about to erupt into a full-scale war.
Palestinian Authority security forces over the weekend arrested the director of the bureau of former Fatah security commander Mohammed Dahlan.
Sources in Ramallah said that Mu’taz Khdeir, who has been working with Dahlan for the past few years, was arrested for “security reasons.”
The arrest is part of a massive crackdown on Dahlan loyalists in the West Bank. Dozens of Palestinians suspected of being affiliated with Dahlan have been arrested by PA security forces in recent weeks.
Palestinians said that the Dahlan affair marked the biggest challenge to Abbas’s authority since Hamas drove the PA out of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Private TV and radio stations owned by Dahlan have also been closed down in the context of the clampdown.
Khdeir is the most senior Dahlan aide to be arrested by the PA. His arrest came as Dahlan, who has been in Egypt in the past few weeks, was scheduled to return to Ramallah to answer questions by a commission of inquiry.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas formed the commission to look into charges that Dahlan had been plotting to overthrow the PA government in the West Bank. The commission has also been entrusted with investigating the sources of Dahlan’s personal fortune.
The PA claims that its security forces have confiscated weapons that were found in the possession of dozens of Dahlan loyalists in the West Bank. The PA said it also seized large amounts of cash with many of Dahlan’s supporters.
“This is a very serious case,” a PA official in Ramallah said on Saturday. “Dahlan apparently tried to form an armed militia in the West Bank with the goal of staging a coup against President Abbas.”
The official claimed that Dahlan was also suspected of trying to establish a “new political leadership” in the West Bank. According to the official, Dahlan succeeded in recent months to win the backing of a number of top Fatah officials.
“Dahlan is not alone,” the official said. “We know that others members of the Fatah Central Committee have joined forces with him to undermine the Palestinian Authority. We believe that they received a lot of money from outside sources.”
Another PA official told The Jerusalem Post that Dahlan’s alleged scheme envisaged the establishment of a new Palestinian Authority. “Dahlan tried to form an alternative government, apparently with the backing of some Americans and Europeans,” the official charged. “We are determined to destroy Dahlan’s empire in the West Bank.”
Dahlan’s aides insist that the dispute between him and Abbas is only personal. Dahlan has strongly denied charges that he had plans to stage a coup against Abbas.
One of Dahlan’s aides told the Post that the dispute began when someone reported to Abbas that Dahlan had been bad-mouthing him and his sons. Dahlan was apparently secretly recorded as telling Fatah supporters in Jenin that all what Abbas cared about were the businesses of his sons, Yasser and Tareq.
“Abbas travels around the world to seek new opportunities for the businesses of his sons,” Dahlan was reportedly quoted as saying in the meeting.
In another meeting with Fatah supporters, Dahlan is believed to have mocked at Abbas, saying he was unfit to lead the Palestinian people. Dahlan is also believed to have boasted: “I’m the one who made Mahmoud Abbas. Without me he would have never been president.”
Dahlan is far from being a righteous person; in fact he's a heinous murderer who is every bit as evil as Abu Bluff. But the idea that there would be something inherently wrong about a 'coup' against a government whose term expired nearly two years ago is also ridiculous.
Let's face it: the 'Palestinians' don't want peace. They want a government that will attack Israel more aggressively. It's time to wake up to that reality and stop pretending that there's a 'Palestinian' polity that wants to make peace with us.
I personally hope that full scale war erupts between Abu Bluff's American-trained forces and Dahlan, so long as Jews can stay out of it. It would show yet again why there is no partner for 'peace' on the 'Palestinian' side.
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
