Israel Matzav

If Obama had a son...

Hat Tip: Jack W.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Charlie Hebdo, humor, Mohamed, Mohamed cartoons

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:42 PM 1 comments

Wednesday's Charlie Hebdo: A million copies and more Mohammed cartoons

Charlie Hebdo is publishing a new magazine on Wednesday. More than one million copies will be distributed (I think I saw somewhere that their normal run is 45,000) and it will feature cartoons of Mohammed (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

The next edition of Charlie Hebdo, out on Wednesday with a million-copy print run, will "naturally" contain cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, along with jibes against politicians and religions across the board, said the stricken weekly's lawyer.

Richard Malka was among the first to call for the magazine to continue functioning after nine of its contributors, including famed cartoonists Cabu and Wolinski and its publishing director, Charb, were gunned down last Wednesday by Chérif and Saïd Kouachi.

When asked whether that meant more cartoons of Mohammed, which have been a regular feature in the magazine until last Wednesday's attack, he replied: "Naturally."

"We will not give in otherwise all this won't have meant anything," he told France Info radio on Monday, which broadcast from the magazine's heavily guarded temporary offices at Libération newspaper.

"Humour without self-deprecation isn't humour. We mock ourselves, politicians, religions, it's a state of mind you need to have." 

"The Charlie state of mind is the right to blaspheme," he went on. 

The magazine will be translated into 16 languages. Wow. 

Labels: Charlie Hebdo, Islamic terrorism, Mohamed

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:35 AM 0 comments

Video: Iranian political analyst compares P 5+1 agreement to Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

On Syrian television last week, an Iranian political analyst compared the P 5+1 agreement with Iran to the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, which, Muslim tradition tells us, the Prophet Muhammad had signed with a rival tribe called the Quraysh out of tactical necessity. Two years later, by most accounts, a stronger Muhammad, citing a violation by the Quraysh as pretext, saw to it that the treaty was dissolved. He then defeated his enemy. Is Iran signaling to Muslim audiences that even if it came to an agreement on its nuclear weapons development program, they shouldn't fear, because an agreement with Israel wouldn't last forever?

Let's go to the videotape. The comparison is around the 2:10 mark.

Labels: Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear threat, Mohamed, Quraish treaty

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:07 PM 0 comments

Arab filmmakers making movie glorifying Khaiber genocide

The Anti-Defamation League reported on its blog last week that a Qatari movie company is making a feature film glorifying the Khaiber genocide.

A pro­duc­tion com­pany in Qatar will report­edly start film­ing a multi-million dol­lar tele­vi­sion series next month com­mem­o­rat­ing the geno­cide of Jews in Ara­bia in the 7^th century.

The series, called “Khaiber,” is based on a script writ­ten by Yusri Al-Jindy, an Egypt­ian writer who has pre­vi­ously depicted Israelis and Jews as blood­thirsty sav­ages in his work. One of his plays about the 1967 war, titled “The Wan­der­ing Jew,” was banned in Egypt.

The series, pro­duced by the Doha-based Echo Media Qatar, is sup­pos­edly sched­uled to be filmed in sev­eral Arab coun­tries, includ­ing Morocco, Egypt and Jor­dan, and will appar­ently fea­ture sev­eral well-known Arab actors. Echo Media Qatar has report­edly started build­ing sets with struc­tures sim­i­lar to the ones inhab­ited by Jews 1,400 years ago.

A report on Al Jazeera in Ara­bic yes­ter­day described “Khaiber” as “the most impor­tant fea­ture of the Islamic-Jewish fight. Mus­lims always raise its name in their ral­lies against Israel because it con­sti­tutes a mem­ory of a harsh defeat for the Jews who lived in the Ara­bian Penin­sula dur­ing the time of prophet.”

The story of “Khaiber,” accord­ing to most Islamic sources, ends with the exe­cu­tion of thou­sands of Jews, includ­ing women and chil­dren. Pro­test­ers at anti-Israel ral­lies around the world, includ­ing the U.S., often evoke this bat­tle in their chants to gal­va­nize supporters.

Accord­ing to Al Jazeera, Al-Jindy said he wrote the script because “the Zion­ist move­ment is cur­rently pass­ing through a turn­ing point as a result of the changes in the Arab world.”

For those who have forgotten, the IHH terrorists on the Mavi Marmara three years ago invoked the Khaiber massacre to incite the murder of the IDF soldiers who raided the ship.

Let's go to the videotape.



Jonathan Tobin adds:

The filming of “Khaiber” is just the latest instance of major TV productions in the Arab world (which are often broadcast in prime time during Ramadan) being used to promote anti-Semitic themes. Egyptian TV’s “Knight Without a Horse” blockbuster centered on the forged “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” canard. Echo Media Qatar has previously produced a film blaming the Jews for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

But the “Khaiber” film is especially significant because it blends ancient hatreds with contemporary hopes for a similar destruction of the Jews. The goal of such a film is to dehumanize the Jewish people and to delegitimize their rights, especially to self-defense.

The genocide of the Jews of Arabia is a historical fact that speaks to the intolerance of early Islam that need not inform contemporary relations between Jews and Muslims. But the glorification of the slaughter of Arabian Jews more than 1,300 years ago is a not-so-subtle signal that justifies the efforts of those who intend a similar fate for the 6 million Jews of Israel. The embrace of these ideas by a popular Muslim audience is an ominous sign that the sea change in Arab culture that will be required to create a genuine peace in the Middle East is nowhere in sight.

The attitude has always been the attitude of Muslims toward Jews. What is ominous is that in a nuclear age, the World continues to pretend that it doesn't exist. 

Labels: Islamic anti-Semitism, Khaiber genocide, Mavi Marmara, Mohamed

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:17 PM 1 comments

Egypt blocks YouTube

Egypt has decided to punish YouTube for showing Innocence of Muslims by blocking its service... for a month.

An Egyptian court ordered the suspension of online video service YouTube for a month on Saturday for broadcasting a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad, state media reported.

The country's administrative court ordered the ministries of communication and investment to block YouTube, owned by Google , inside Egypt because it had carried the film Innocence of Muslims, said state news agency MENA.

...

Egypt's National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority said it would abide by the ruling as soon as it received a copy of the verdict.

Maha Abouelenein, a Google spokeswoman in Cairo, said the company had yet to receive any formal notification of the ruling.

I could quip 'what took them so long,' but in Egypt the problem is that the Morsi government can now beat up protesters for a month without worrying about it showing up on YouTube.

Labels: Egypt, Islam, Mohamed, YouTube

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:47 PM 0 comments

Muslims seething over Charlie Hebdo

The Organization of Islamic Countries is seething over the biography of Mohamed series at France's Charlie Hebdo (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has slammed caricatures of the Prophet (peace be upon him), published in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, saying it incites hatred and intolerance against Muslims.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed concern at the publication of the comic book series on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Ihsanoglu said the publication went against the norms of responsible journalism and was tantamount to abuse of the right to freedom of expression. He added that incitement and advocacy of hatred and intolerance on religious grounds signified by this publication was in contravention of international human rights laws and instruments.

He called on the magazine to abide by the provisions, particularly those in the European Union (EU) context, on incitement to hatred and violence. He urged the authorities in France to take appropriate action against the magazine.

Watch for the 'youths' to start burning Paris down soon. 

Labels: Charlie Hebdo, Islam, Mohamed

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:18 AM 2 comments

Look out for Islamic Rage Boy: Charlie Hebdo doing 'Life of Mohammed' series

We're going to start seeing Islamic Rage Boy again soon. French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo is doing a series on the life of Mohammed (first cover pictured - Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News). This is from a Google translation.

Who owns Muhammad? At all. He is the prophet of Muslims, of course, but for others it is a historical figure or a caption. Can caricature drawing Muhammad as Jesus or Napoleon Zorro.

When Muhammad cartoon in Charlie, we caricature above is the idea that makes the extremists, or are used to oppose Muhammad Muslim radicals. In all cases, it is the vision of God's fools that determines the way we think Muhammad. We must tell the truth you do not know Muhammad. In the West, everybody can quote episodes from the life of Jesus, but include an episode from the life of Muhammad? Is this normal in a country like France, where Islam is presented as a second religion?  

We imaged the life of Muhammad as the chroniclers have told Muslims. No humor added. If the form will appear blasphemous to some, the bottom is perfectly halal ...

So can we expect attacks on French diplomatic installations/ Or is that treatment reserved for the US these days?

Labels: Charlie Hebdo, Mohamed, Palestinian riots

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:59 PM 0 comments

US actress suing Google to take down Innocence of Muslims (with link to full-length movie)

If you had appeared in Innocence of Muslims and there was a fatwa issued calling for the murder of anyone who had appeared in the movie, what would you do? I would think that anyone who understands the implications of such a fatwa would be in hiding and not holding press conferences to announce that they're filing a lawsuit. But actress Cindy Lee Garcia held a press conference on Wednesday to announce that she is suing Google-YouTube for alleged copyright violations (apparently not the first time) as a result of the film being shown. That means that her name and face are now associated with the film. I don't hope she wins the lawsuit but I hope she hasn't just issued herself a death sentence. Quite simply, these people are crazy.

Last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied Garcia's request for a temporary restraining order that would have required YouTube to stop posting the crudely made 13-minute video, finding the actress was unlikely to prevail on the merits of her case in state court.

As in her previous lawsuit, Garcia accused the purported filmmaker of fraud, libel and unfair business practices. But her federal lawsuit also asserts a copyright claim to her performance in the video, titled "The Innocence of Muslims." Garcia's case was the first known civil litigation stemming from the video, billed as a film trailer, which depicts the Prophet Mohammad as a fool and a sexual deviant. The clip sparked a torrent of anti-American unrest in Egypt, Libya and dozens of other Muslim countries over the past two weeks.

...

Garcia's lawyer argued in court last week that her client, who is from Bakersfield, California, has suffered harm similar to a person whose privacy is violated by the unauthorized release of a sex tape.

But Google's attorneys said that the rights of an actor do not protect that person from how a film is perceived.

In her latest lawsuit filed in US District Court in Santa Clara, California, Garcia says that Google is infringing on the copyright she holds to her performance in the film by distributing the video without her approval via YouTube.

Garcia's lawsuit identifies Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a Los Angeles-area Coptic man who has served time in federal prison for bank fraud, as the film's producer.

On Saturday, a Pakistani cleric offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who killed the film's maker. Garcia said in her lawsuit that an Egyptian cleric had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against anyone who served as a director, producer or actor in the video.

...

According to Garcia, Nakoula operated under the assumed name of Sam Bacile, misleading her and other actors into appearing in a film they believed was an adventure drama called "Desert Warrior." After the fact, however, she learned that some of her lines spoken in the production had been dubbed over.

The alteration made it look like Garcia "voluntarily performed in a hateful, anti-Islamic production," the lawsuit says, adding that she has "been subjected to credible death threats and is in fear for her life and the life and safety of anyone associated with her." Nakoula has been in hiding for much of the past two weeks after being questioned by federal authorities looking into whether he may have violated terms of his probation in the making or promotion of the video.

At this point, it's been up long enough that I'd bet that (like with Fitna a couple of years ago)  enough people have downloaded it so that it will never disappear from the internet.

I also think she'd be much wiser to be in hiding rather than holding press conferences.

UPDATE FRIDAY 12:21 AM

Link to 'full version' removed because it wasn't the real movie.

Labels: Google, Islam, Islamophobia, Mohamed, YouTube

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:24 AM 2 comments

US continues to apologize for Innocence of Muslims video

They just can't apologize enough, can they? Here's yet another apology from the United States, this time from the US embassy in Brussels on Monday morning. Unbelievable!

The anti-Muslim video that has generated protests in several countries does not represent U.S. views of #Islam bit.ly/PeFepH
— US Embassy Brussels (@usembbrussels) September 24, 2012

Labels: dhimmi, Islam, Mohamed, United States

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:42 PM 0 comments

Is Israel a Muslim country?

If you're in Israel and you want to watch Innocence of Muslims, you'd better download it now. A group of Israeli Arab MK's and religious leaders has filed a lawsuit calling on Israel to join such progressive bastions of free speech as Egypt, Libya and Indonesia in forcing Google and YouTube to take the video down.

MK Taleb a-Sanaa and various Arab-Israeli mayors and religious leaders on Wednesday filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court demanding that Google take down an anti-Islam video ridiculing the Muslim Prophet Mohamed from YouTube, to prevent future publicizing of the film and to block all access to the film in Israel.

...

The petitioners claim that the publication violates the religious feelings of Muslims in contravention of Section 173 of the Penal Code, constitutes incitement to racism against Muslims in violation of Article 144 of the Penal Code, and is defamatory according to the 1965 Defamation Law.

The petition was filed by attorney Kais Nasser, and was filed against Google, which owns YouTube.

News reports have indicated that Google has already blocked access to the video in Egypt, Libya, Indonesia and India, but has rejected a request by the White House to pull it from the video-sharing site YouTube altogether. Authorities in Afghanistan ordered YouTube to be shutdown "indefinitely" to stop Afghans from watching the film, while Russia and Saudi Arabia also threatened to block the website unless it removes the film.

If the laws were properly interpreted, perhaps we would not have reached this point. My own view is that Israel's laws in this area are stifling and probably in need of revision. I would not ban the film.

Labels: Google, incitement, Islam, Mohamed, YouTube

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:30 PM 0 comments

Awesome: Google refuses to pull 'Innocence of Mohamed' film clip

Awesome. Let's give Google credit where it's due. Google owns YouTube. Although they agreed to pull 'Innocence of Mohamed' - the film that was used as an excuse to attack American diplomatic posts last week - in some Muslim countries, they refused to pull it generally. In free countries, you can still see it.

Google said was further restricting the clip to comply with local law rather than as a response to political pressure.

"We've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive situations in these two countries," the company said. "This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007."

White House officials had asked Google earlier on Friday to reconsider whether the video had violated YouTube's terms of service. The guidelines can be viewed here.

Google said on Wednesday that the video was within its guidelines.

Let's hope that Google keeps it that way.

Labels: freedom of speech, Google, Mohamed, YouTube

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:26 PM 1 comments

Alleged 'Innocence of Muslims' filmmaker taken for questioning

The filmmaker who allegedly made Innocence of Muslims was taken for 'questioning' in the wee hours of Saturday morning in Southern California.

[Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve] Whitmore told The Times that [Nakoula Basseley] Nakoula was taken in for a voluntary interview with probation officials and has not been arrested or detained.

Authorities waited until most media had left for the day to take Nakoula in.

Earlier Friday, sheriff’s deputies had to escort attorneys through a scrum of news cameras into Nakoula’s home. When the man was taken away early Saturday, authorities had to dodge only a lone photographer for The Times and a few lingering reporters.

Nakoula has told the Associated Press that he was a logistics manager on the "Innocence of Muslims" movie, not the director. He told a Coptic Christian bishop on Thursday that he had no role in it, the clergyman told The Times.

Nakoula is believed to use the alias Sam Bacile, which was the name a caller who took credit for the film gave to the AP and the Wall Street Journal.

On Friday, U.S. courts spokeswoman Karen Redmond said the Office of Probation in the Central District of California was reviewing whether Nakoula, who has been convicted on bank fraud charges, violated terms of his probation in relation to the video and its uploading onto the Internet.

He had been ordered not to own or use devices with access to the Internet without approval from his probation officer -– and any approved computers were to be used for work only. "Defendant shall not access a computer for any other purpose," the terms read.

Restrictions were also placed on him enlisting others to get on the Internet for him.

And you thought there was free speech in America, didn't you? (By the way, this story was headline news in Israel earlier on Saturday).

UPDATE 11:03 PM

Headline fixed.

Labels: freedom of speech, Islam, Mohamed, Religion of Peace

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:30 PM 4 comments

Obama vows to file a lawsuit against Libyan attackers

Yes, that's US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens being dragged through the streets of Benghazi on Tuesday night like a side of beef. And President Obama knows just how to deal with those Libyans: He's going to file a lawsuit.

Let's go to the videotape.



No, no, no. The solution isn't to 'work with the Libyan government to bring the attackers to justice.' It's to get up there with your drones and kill them. Otherwise it will happen in country after country. And that assumes that the Libyans will be cooperative - probably a huge assumption.

By the way, have there been any condemnations from Libya?

Labels: 9/11, Barack Hussein Obama, Islam, Libya, Mohamed, Religion of Peace

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:19 PM 4 comments

Who will pay the legal bills? Obama's ally Mohamed Morsy instructs his embassy to sue to keep Mohamed film from being released

Israel Radio reports (9:00 pm) that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy has instructed his embassy in Washington to file a lawsuit to prevent the film Innocence of Muslims, which aroused the ire of the 'protesters' in Cairo and Benghazi on Tuesday night, from being released.

I wonder who he thinks is going to pay his legal bills.... Maybe Obama will....

Labels: Islam, Mohamed, Mohammed Morsy, Religion of Peace

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:04 PM 3 comments

It's come to this: Libyan 'protesters' dragged dead body of US ambasador through the streets of Benghazi

This is how low President Hussein Obama has dragged the once proud United States of America. The man whose body (he might have been alive at this point but he might not) is being dragged through the streets in this picture is none other than Christopher Stevens, the United States Ambassador to Libya. Although the early reports said his car was hit by a rocket, it now appears far more likely that he and three embassy employees (two of them US Marines) were dragged from their embassy car and lynched by the 'protesters' (Hat Tip: Brana L).

Yes, that's how low President Hussein Obama has dragged the dignity of the United States of America. An American diplomat was murdered by a mob in the streets of a two-bit backwater country on Tuesday night, and I can guarantee you that so long as Hussein Obama is in power, there will be no meaningful response - military or otherwise from the United States of America.

Here's video of what happened last night at a consulate of the former 'world's only superpower.'

Let's go to the videotape.



My friend Jim Hoft, who has much, much more on this story, reports that both Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton are claiming that the Libyans were dragging Ambassador Stevens to the hospital. Read the whole story, look at the pictures (there are more) and watch the video (there is more) and decide for yourselves. I think Hussein and Hillary are full of bull dung.

Yet another September 11 disgrace.

Labels: American exceptionalism, Barack Hussein Obama, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, Islam, leading from behind, Libya, Mohamed, United States

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:07 PM 2 comments

Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler

Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Wednesday, September 12.

1) Embassy riots

In reaction to an anti-Islamic film, protesters in Benghazi, Libya and Cairo, Egypt attacked the American diplomatic compounds in both cities. Al Ahram reports:

Egyptian protesters on Tuesday took down the American flag from the walls of the US embassy in Cairo during a thousands-strong demonstration held to condemn a short film produced by California-based American-Israeli Sam Bacile, which critics say demeans Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.
The film was initially thought to have been produced by members of the Coptic Diaspora. Maurice Sadek, a conservative Coptic Christian living in the US, and controversial Pastor Terry Jones, who is known for his burning of the Quran, are believed to have been promoting the film but were not involved in its production, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal.
...
Many of the more Islamist-leaning protesters had answered calls by Salafist leader Wesam Abdel-Wareth – who is also the president of Egypt's ultra-conservative Al-Hekma television channel – to protest the film 'Mohammed's trial' at 5pm outside the US embassy in Cairo's Garden City district.

In addition Mohamed al-Zawahiri (Ayman's brother) called for the protests too. (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

The New York Times reports:

Bracing for trouble before the start of the protests here and in Libya, the American Embassy released a statement shortly after noon that appeared to refer to Mr. Jones: “The United States Embassy in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.” It later denounced the “unjustified breach of our embassy.”
Apparently unaware of the timing of the first embassy statement, the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, put out a statement just before midnight Tuesday saying, “It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” Mr. Romney also said he was “outraged” at the attacks on the embassy and consulate.

Of course, the Obama campaign condemned Romney's criticism. Regardless of the timing, why was the first American response to the threat of the protests to condemn the film? Apparently, though, someone in the administration thought that the apology was a bad idea and disavowed it. Whether it was a disavowal of the apology or that the apology was deemed politically damaging is unclear. Instapundit has advice for the President.

Last week the administration pledge more aid to Egypt, and the Egyptian security forces didn't prevent the attack.

In Libya, the results were worse as the American ambassador to Libya was killed along with three others.

In a statement confirming the four fatalities, President Obama said he strongly condemned the killing — the first death of an American envoy abroad in more than two decades — and had ordered increased security at American diplomatic posts around the world.
“While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants,” Mr. Obama said, calling Mr. Stevens “a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States” who had “selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi” and, as ambassador, “supported Libya’s transition to democracy.”
...
The killings threatened to upset Washington’s relations with the new Libyan government that took over after the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and sour American public opinion about the prospects of the democratic opening of the Arab Spring.

2) Englishman condemns Israel in American newspaper; no rioting in Israel

Daniel Levy one of the founders of J-Street bolsters his anti-Israel credentials with an op-ed in the New York Times, Seven Lean Years of Peacemaking.

One thing is clear: The years from 2005 to 2012 have been seven decidedly lean ones for peacemaking and withdrawal and seven gluttonously fat ones for entrenching Israel’s occupation and settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In these areas, almost 94,000 new settlers have been added since 2005, some settler outposts have been legalized and thousands of Palestinians have been displaced.
In the Book of Genesis, Joseph is called on to interpret Pharaoh’s dream of seven fat cattle followed by seven emaciated cattle emerging from the river. He tells Pharaoh that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of famine — and to gather the necessary grain to see Egypt through the lean years.
But in interpreting the seven lean years of peacemaking, we can forget dreams and dream-readers. One need only look at how the Gaza withdrawal has reshaped debate within Israel’s dominant political bloc, the right-nationalist-religious camp — call it the rise of Israel’s 1.5 percent doctrine.

Levy explains that there's now less urgency in Israel for the peace process.

New dividing lines have emerged within Israel’s ruling elites, and the disagreements do not revolve around the details or timing of cutting a peace deal with Mahmoud Abbas. There are three competing tendencies within Israel’s ruling coalition: annexationists (who want to formally take over the West Bank), status quo merchants (who wink at the notion of two states while expanding settlements), and Bantustan two-staters (who want the Palestinians to accept 50 percent of the West Bank as constituting a state).

For the most part, I believe that most Israelis are "status quo merchants," in that they see a Palestinian leadership unwilling to make peace with Israel.

The term, "Bantustan" is ugly. The full implication of the term is that Israel would be the equivalent of the apartheid state of South Africa. When he was offered nearly everything he demanded at Camp David in 2000, Yasser Arafat rejected the offer:

At the close of July 2000, however, the Israelis felt that their generosity had been rebuffed. And the Palestinians felt that they were being offered a state that would not be viable -- ''less than a bantustan, for your information,'' Mr. Arafat said in a recent interview.
''They have to control the Jordan Valley, with five early warning stations there,'' Mr. Arafat said. ''They have to control the air above, the water aquifers below, the sea and the borders. They have to divide the West Bank in three cantons. They keep 10 percent of it for settlements and roads and their forces. No sovereignty over Haram al Sharif. And refugees, we didn't have a serious discussion about.''

The usage of "Bantustan" in the context of peace making then means that if Israel's offers don't satisfy Palestinian demands, Israel is culpable for the lack of peace and is thus illegitimate. By making it known that the Palestinians have no obligation to compromise, Levy, and like-minded Israel bashers, make the possibility of peace more remote.

But there's one aspect to this op-ed that deserves a bit more scrutiny:

Maybe this is all just a bad dream and there is no such thing as a 1.5 percent doctrine. Perhaps leadership changes, security escalations and recent upheavals in the Arab world are to blame. The post-withdrawal rocket fire from Gaza onto civilian areas in southern Israel is a frequent explanation for the lack of progress. And it’s true that these occasional attacks are inexcusable and a violation of international law (as are many of Israel’s responses and its own military provocations).

Note how Levy first dismisses rocket attacks as "occasional" then equates them to Israeli self-defense! In the 7 years since the disengagement, Israel has been attacked by more than 8000 rockets. That comes out to more than three a day. If that's how Levy defines "occasional," how would he define "frequent?"

In order to explain why there's no peace process, Levy ignores Abbas's obstructionism and downplays Hamas sponsored terror and blames Israeli ideology! If he believes that there should have been peace by now, Levy's dreaming.

Labels: Abu Mazen, Benghazi, Cairo, Egypt, Gaza expulsion, Islam, Libya, Middle East Media Sampler, Middle East peace process, Mohamed, rockets, Soccer Dad, Yasser Arafat

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:21 PM 0 comments

US Embassy in Cairo flushes tweets down the memory hole

Remember that dumb statement by the US embassy in Cairo apologizing for the 'insults' to Islam that led to an attack on the embassy?

Well, the tweets that went with it have now been flushed down the memory hole. You can see screen caps of them here (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Labels: Cairo, Egyptian Islamization, Islam, Mohamed, Religion of Peace, United States

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:15 PM 0 comments

Obama claims Cairo embassy not speaking on his behalf

In an earlier post, I reported that in the aftermath of an attack on the US embassy in Cairo over an American-made film about Mohamed, the US embassy in Cairo condemned 'misguided individuals' who hurt Muslims' feelings. In other words, the US embassy apologized for the Muslim attack on the US embassy. Late Tuesday night, the Obama White House said that the embassy spoke 'not in our name.'

The Obama administration is disavowing a statement from its own Cairo embassy that seemed to apologize for anti-Muslim activity in the United States.

"The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government," an administration official told POLITICO.

The U.S. embassy in Cairo put out a statement early Tuesday that apologized for an anti-Muslim film being circulated by an Israeli-American real estate developer.

...

The Romney campaign accused the Obama administration of sympathizing with the protests in a statement released after the administration statement.

“I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks,” Romney said.

Something tells me that in a second Obama administration - God forbid - that apology would have been allowed to stand.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Cairo, Campaign 2012, Islam, Mitt Romney, Mohamed

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:21 PM 1 comments

(With video) US ambassador to Libya killed in 'protest' over film that offended Muslims

The United States ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other embassy employees were killed in a rocket attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday night. The attack was part of a 'protest' by adherents of the 'religion of peace' against a film being made in the United States - apparently by an Israeli.

The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.

Gunmen had attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a center of last year's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one U.S. consular official. The building was evacuated.

The Libyan official said the ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was being driven from the consulate building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire.

"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them," the official in Benghazi told Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from the State Department in Washington. U.S. ambassadors in such volatile countries are accompanied by tight security, usually travelling in well-protected convoys. Security officials will be considering whether the two attacks were coordinated.

Let's go to the videotape (which was done before it was announced that four were dead including the ambassador).



Meanwhile, London's Daily Telegraph reports that the film maker, Israeli American Sam Bacile (contrary to what you just heard in the video above, he is apparently the film maker), has gone into hiding.

Bacile identifies himself as an Israeli Jew and said he produced, directed and wrote the two-hour film, "Innocence of Muslims”.

Speaking by phone to the Associated Press from an undisclosed location, Bacile, who went into hiding Tuesday, remained defiant, saying Islam is a “cancer” and that he intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.

Bacile said he believed the film will help his native land by exposing Islam's flaws to the world.

"Islam is a cancer, period," he repeatedly said, claiming the film cost £3.3 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors.

He said he had worked with some 60 actors and 45 crew to make the two-hour movie in a three-month period last year in California. “The movie is a political movie. It’s not a religious movie,” he said.

It is being promoted by controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has drawn protests in the past for burning the Koran and vehemently opposing the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

Jones said he planned to show a 13-minute clip of the film Tuesday evening at his church in Gainesville, Florida.

...

A 14-minute trailer of the movie that sparked the protests, posted on the website YouTube in an original English version and another dubbed into Egyptian Arabic, depicts Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a madman in an overtly ridiculing way, showing him having sex and calling for massacres.

The website's guidelines call for removing videos that include a threat of violence, but not those that only express opinions. YouTube's practice is not to comment on specific videos.

Read the whole thing.

The English version has been online since July, but the Arabic version just went up last week. I guess that's what got their attention.

Here's a 1:32 trailer of the film.

Let's go to the videotape.



The full 14-minute version that's online in English may be found here.

Labels: Benghazi, Cairo, Mohamed, Religion of Peace

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:06 PM 1 comments

Egyptians attack US embassy in Cairo

Here's yet another reason President Obama can be proud that he helped get rid of Hosni Mubarak. In Cairo on Tuesday, 'protesters' attacked the United States embassy to protest an American film that allegedly offends Mohamed. There's one slight problem: No one knows which film it was.

Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy on Tuesday, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that insulted Prophet Mohammad.

In place of the U.S. flag, the protesters tried to raise a black flag with the words "There is no God but God, and Mohammad is his messenger", a Reuters witness said.

Once the U.S. flag was hauled down, some protesters tore it up and showed off pieces to television cameras. Others burned the remains outside the fortress-like embassy building in central Cairo. But some protesters objected to the flag burning.

Incredibly, instead of condemning the attack, the US embassy in Cairo condemned anyone who would hurt the poor Muslims' feelings....

The U.S. embassy had put out a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning "misguided individuals" who hurt the religious feelings of Muslims or followers of other religions.

"We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.

Unbelievable.... But here's the best part:

Although it was not clear which film prompted the protests, Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and seat of Sunni learning condemned on Tuesday a symbolic "trial" of the Prophet organized by a U.S. group including Terry Jones, a Christian pastor who triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran.

According to the website www.standupamericanow.org, Jones and others were due to take part in an event on Tuesday - the anniversary of the September 11 attacks by al Qaeda on U.S. cities - called "International Judge Mohammad Day" in Florida. It was due to be carried live on the Internet.

Some activists had mentioned Jones in calls for a protest.

We got to get Hollywood right on this. We got to get some Koran-burning films put up on the internet and in theaters everywhere. Unbelievable....

Labels: Cairo, Egyptian Islamization, Islam, Mohamed, United States

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:10 PM 4 comments