All The News Anti-Israel Posters Will Not Read Or Discuss 2

[Sixties Fan]

Look how Saudi Arabia's score for Israel plummeted from 40% to only 3% thinking Israel is their biggest enemy. Iraq's score also dropped a huge amount, from 42% to 7%, Libya's from 44% to 7%, Tunisia from 42% to 9%.

I would say that while the diplomatic recognition question reflects sky-high Arab antisemitism, the "threat" question is more reflective of whether the respondents believe the anti-Israel conspiracy theories claiming that Israel wants to take over the entire region, as well as a more sophisticated understanding of how Arab states relate to each other and to other nations.

At any rate, far fewer Arabs look at Israel as their main enemy than eight years ago. That is a very big deal. It means that the opportunities are opening at least for the possibility of dialogue and to discuss common interests, something impossible with a perceived enemy.


(full article online)

Arab people still overwhelmingly oppose recognizing Israel, but there is a silver lining

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Anti-Israel propaganda dressed up as pro-Palestinian has a long history. In 1958, Ralph Galloway, a former director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), discussing regimes’ treatment of Palestinian Arab refugees from Israel’s 1948-1949 War of Independence, said:

“The Arab states do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. They don’t give a damn whether the refugees [numbering approximately 500,00 – 600,00] live or die.”

Hence, UNRWA established camps instead of promoting resettlement in Arab states. This was at a time, the late 1940s and 1950s, when more than 800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands were being resettled. Roughly three-fourths went to Israel, the rest to Western countries.

Several end-of-2022 news items served as reminders that maintaining the “pro-Palestinian” fraud as an anti-Israel weapon continues. One was a Christmas season commentary about Bethlehem.

Raymond Ibrahim, writing for Gatestone Institute, reviewed 2022’s developments regarding the town’s Christians. Headlined “The Death of Christianity in Bethlehem,” the article noted constant persecution and intimidation of Christian Palestinian Arabs by Muslim Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority does not support the former but rather exerts pressure on them so anti-Christian violence is not reported to news media. International headlines could damage the authority’s image with major foreign donors.

From 1947 to 2016, according to Ibrahim, the percentage of Christians in Bethlehem, the religion’s birthplace (under PA administration since the 1993 – 1995 Oslo accords) has dropped from 85 to less than 16. And following Hamas’ 2007 takeover of Gaza from the PA, the Strip’s remnant Christians either fled or live virtually underground beneath Islamic rule.

Persecution of Palestinian Christian Arabs by Palestinian Muslim Arabs rates little or no media coverage, generates no public outpouring and little political investigation. Not being inherently anti-Israel, it doesn’t rank as pro-Palestinian.


(full article online)

‘Pro-Palestinian’ Means No Such Thing

Palestinians in Jenin at the funeral of gunman Youssef Salah who was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli …

www.algemeiner.com

 

[Hollie]

Have to admit I didn't see this one coming.

United Arab Emirates to Become First Arab Country to Teach Holocaust History in Schools

The United Arab Emirates announces it will become the first Arab country to include Holocaust education in schools.

www.breitbart.com

The embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the United States on Sunday announced that Holocaust history will be added to the UAE school curriculum — making it the first Arab country to offer such an education.

 

[Hollie]

​

Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki: If New Israeli Government Carries Out Its Plans, The Israelis Can Either Depart By Sea Or Wade In A Sea Of Blood

Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki said in a January 2, 2023 address that aired on Palestine TV that the Israelis...

www.memri.org

Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul Commemorates Palestinian Terrorists: They Are The Martyrs Of The Palestinian People Everywhere!​

​

​

Someone from something called the Fatah central committee, whatever that is.

Maybe a PO Box for welfare checks.

 

[rylah]

Barak, Dershowitz Come Out Against Judicial Reforms - Hamodia.com

By Yisrael Price Former Chief Justice of Israel's High Court, Aharon Barak. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) YERUSHALAYIM — Former High Court president Aharon

hamodia.com

Is Alan Dershowitz right to warn against the ‘override clause’? - JNS.org

Unlike Israel’s agenda-driven cynics, the world-renowned attorney has at least proven trustworthy where his views on the Jewish state are concerned, even if one disagrees with some of them.

www.jns.org

When Judges Rule: A comparison between the US and Israel

In most parliamentary democracies, the judiciary is subordinate to the legislature (of which the executive is part), though they are generally somewhat independent.

www.jpost.com

Back in 2010...

PM Netanyahu defends judiciary reforms after protests

Kan News | After former Supreme Court judge Aharon Barak harshly criticized the reforms of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Netanyahu responds to his words and speaks about the uproar the move caused on the Israeli street.

Report by Suleiman Maswudeh.

Justice Ministerâs Reform Numbers Fleshed Out, and Why Alan Dershowitz Is Unhappy

Perhaps Alan Dershowitz should first spend a week in an outpost outside Yitzhar, Samaria, and see how much help the Supreme Court sends him.

www.jewishpress.com

 

[rylah]

Diaspora Minister Chikli clarifies: 'I’m not a Conservative Jew'​

Even though his father is a Conservative Rabbi Chikli does not identify with the movement, the new Diaspora Minister explained.​

During an event of the Gesher Leadership Institute, Chikli spoke about his family background and his attitude towards Judaism. “I do not come from a Conservative background,” he said on Friday. “There is no such thing as a Conservative Tunisian, but I have a deep acquaintance with Conservative Judaism.”

The 41-year-old is a member of Kibbutz Hanaton, established by the Conservative movement and the Jewish Agency. He is the son of Conservative Rabbi Eitan Chikli, who serves as the president of the Jewish University in Mexico and was a leading rabbi in Israel. He was also a member of the movement’s youth movement, Noam, and attended Camp Ramah.

Most Israeli Conservative Jews are Anglo​

Chikli has been trying to explain this element of his Conservative background since he entered politics. His father isn’t the average Conservative Israeli rabbi, since a large proportion of them are English speakers, mostly Ashkenazi.

Chikli explained to the group that “among the Ashkenazim, the attitude of [Orthodox Israeli intellectual] Yeshayahu Leibowitz prevailed: Either you are religious or you are not. In this respect, the Judaism that came from North Africa is the Judaism that is most similar to American Judaism,” he said of most Conservative rabbis. “But the Mizrahi attitude of Judaism isn’t considered as such”, Chikli said.

Chikli spoke at Gesher’s graduation event. The group was composed of Israeli opinion leaders and decision-makers from all Jewish sectors who visited the US Jewish community to create bridges with it as Israeli leaders. The delegation is part of a joint venture with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.

Chikli added during his speech that “there are a lot of Jews in the US who attend public schools and who marry non-Jews.... this means ‘the ceremony is over,’” he said.

According to the minister, “studies of the Land of Israel of Hebrew and the Bible – will preserve the connection between the Jews of the world and Judaism.”

Diaspora Minister Chikli clarifies: 'I’m not a Conservative Jew'

Even though his father is a Conservative Rabbi Chikli does not identify with the movement, the new Diaspora Minister explained.

www.jpost.com

 

[rylah]

Regavim Petitions Court to Demolish Illegal PA Arab Mansion Obstructing Major Samaria Road Project

Last week, a new petition was submitted to the Jerusalem District Court demanding stop-work and demolition orders as well as additional administrative measures against a new, three-story luxurious villa, complete with a swimming pool in its expansive yard, which was built without a permit in blatant violation of the law near the village of Al-Funduq, in Area C, which is under full Israeli jurisdiction.

Al-Funduq is located 9.9 miles east of Qalqiliya, which in turn is 7 miles east of Kfar Saba inside green line Israel. The villa was built on the designated path of the Al-Funduq bypass road, a new thoroughfare planned by the Netivei Yisrael Corporation (the Israel Roadworks company) at a cost of hundreds of thousands of shekels, to ease traffic congestion in the area and improve road safety and security for all residents of the area – Jews and Arabs alike.

Needless to say, the illegal mansion is obstructing the construction of the new road, thwarting development and deepening the traffic chaos in the region from which all residents suffer.

A year ago, in the summer of 2021, when construction of the mansion was in progress, the Samaria Council and Regavim Movement appealed to the authorities, demanding that the law be enforced immediately. But the Civil Administration, back then still the domain of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, replied that “if necessary, supervision and enforcement procedures will be taken in accordance with established procedures, in accordance with enforcement priorities, and subject to operational considerations.”

For your next trivia competition, the above line is the answer to “what’s the largest number of words ever assembled in a sentence that means “No.” It’s 24.

When months passed and, as expected, no enforcement was carried out––while the construction of the villa continued at an accelerated pace––Regavim again turned to the Civil Administration to urge enforcement of the law. The Civil Administration’s response was: “A work-stop order will be issued as soon as possible.”

Naturally, no such order was issued, at which point, the Samaria Council and Regavim decided to petition the court.

The petition raises the issue of “enforcement priorities” which, according to Regavim, the Civil Administration uses to hide its enormous failure to enforce the law against illegal Arab construction in Area C.

In an appendix to the petition, Regavim lists dozens of cases in which the court accepted the Civil Administration’s fig-leaf claim of “enforcement priorities” based on system overload and insufficient manpower.

The court maintained a policy of non-interference in “professional considerations,” but in practice, according to the petition, under the auspices of this claim, the Civil Administration completely avoids enforcing the law. Moreover, Regavim’s petition contends that if the Al-Funduq case, which involves illegal construction on a major traffic artery––constituting a high priority for enforcement––received no attention whatsoever for more than a year, the Civil Administration’s priorities for enforcement are nothing more than a hollow excuse for inaction.

Yossi Dagan, Head of the Samaria Regional Council, said in a statement: “This is absurd. The state plans to invest millions of shekels to double the capacity of the road to provide a safety and security solution for thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, but on the other hand, it does not enforce the law and does not maintain the area.”

“It is inconceivable that while we see vigilant enforcement activity against Jewish pioneers in the Jewish settlement outposts, absolutely nothing is being done to fight the takeover of our national lands. Sadly, the law has not been enforced against a massive structure that was built as a deliberate takeover and is preventing the construction of the road. We hope that this petition to the Court of Appeals will result in the demolition of the illegal construction and the preservation of the nation’s lands in the area,” Dagan said.

Attorney Boaz Arzi, legal counsel for the Regavim Movement, said: “From our experience with the Civil Administration in hundreds of similar cases when we receive a response with a claim of enforcement priorities, it means the Civil Administration has no intention of enforcing the law. By turning a blind eye to a huge, luxurious villa that’s blocking the construction of a road that was planned at tremendous expense to the public, the Civil Administration indicates its questionable judgment, to put it mildly, and proves once again that the Civil Administration’s claim that it is acting according to ‘priorities’ is simply untrue. The Civil Administration repeatedly abuses the court’s trust and no less seriously, the trust of the public.”

It can be expected that now, after the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria has been taken over by the adjunct Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, who was also the co-founder of Regavim, better attention will be paid to the urgent need to demolish the beautiful obstruction where a highway will soon be paved.

Regavim Petitions Court to Demolish Illegal PA Arab Mansion Obstructing Major Samaria Road Project

Civil Administration hides its enormous failure to enforce the law against illegal Arab construction in Area C.

www.jewishpress.com

 

[rylah]

Diaspora Minister Chikli clarifies: 'I’m not a Conservative Jew'​

Even though his father is a Conservative Rabbi Chikli does not identify with the movement, the new Diaspora Minister explained.​

During an event of the Gesher Leadership Institute, Chikli spoke about his family background and his attitude towards Judaism. “I do not come from a Conservative background,” he said on Friday. “There is no such thing as a Conservative Tunisian, but I have a deep acquaintance with Conservative Judaism.”

The 41-year-old is a member of Kibbutz Hanaton, established by the Conservative movement and the Jewish Agency. He is the son of Conservative Rabbi Eitan Chikli, who serves as the president of the Jewish University in Mexico and was a leading rabbi in Israel. He was also a member of the movement’s youth movement, Noam, and attended Camp Ramah.

Most Israeli Conservative Jews are Anglo​

Chikli has been trying to explain this element of his Conservative background since he entered politics. His father isn’t the average Conservative Israeli rabbi, since a large proportion of them are English speakers, mostly Ashkenazi.

Chikli explained to the group that “among the Ashkenazim, the attitude of [Orthodox Israeli intellectual] Yeshayahu Leibowitz prevailed: Either you are religious or you are not. In this respect, the Judaism that came from North Africa is the Judaism that is most similar to American Judaism,” he said of most Conservative rabbis. “But the Mizrahi attitude of Judaism isn’t considered as such”, Chikli said.

Chikli spoke at Gesher’s graduation event. The group was composed of Israeli opinion leaders and decision-makers from all Jewish sectors who visited the US Jewish community to create bridges with it as Israeli leaders. The delegation is part of a joint venture with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.

Chikli added during his speech that “there are a lot of Jews in the US who attend public schools and who marry non-Jews.... this means ‘the ceremony is over,’” he said.

According to the minister, “studies of the Land of Israel of Hebrew and the Bible – will preserve the connection between the Jews of the world and Judaism.”

Diaspora Minister Chikli clarifies: 'I’m not a Conservative Jew'

Even though his father is a Conservative Rabbi Chikli does not identify with the movement, the new Diaspora Minister explained.

www.jpost.com

Netanyahu Appoints American Born Knitted-Yarmulke Wearing Settler Yossi Fuchs as Government Secretary

Anyone who believes Netanyahu is planning to sabotage Minister Levin’s reform should consider his appointment of Yossi Fuchs as Government Secretary.

www.jewishpress.com

 

[P F Tinmore]

Regavim Petitions Court to Demolish Illegal PA Arab Mansion Obstructing Major Samaria Road Project

Last week, a new petition was submitted to the Jerusalem District Court demanding stop-work and demolition orders as well as additional administrative measures against a new, three-story luxurious villa, complete with a swimming pool in its expansive yard, which was built without a permit in blatant violation of the law near the village of Al-Funduq, in Area C, which is under full Israeli jurisdiction.

Al-Funduq is located 9.9 miles east of Qalqiliya, which in turn is 7 miles east of Kfar Saba inside green line Israel. The villa was built on the designated path of the Al-Funduq bypass road, a new thoroughfare planned by the Netivei Yisrael Corporation (the Israel Roadworks company) at a cost of hundreds of thousands of shekels, to ease traffic congestion in the area and improve road safety and security for all residents of the area – Jews and Arabs alike.

Needless to say, the illegal mansion is obstructing the construction of the new road, thwarting development and deepening the traffic chaos in the region from which all residents suffer.

A year ago, in the summer of 2021, when construction of the mansion was in progress, the Samaria Council and Regavim Movement appealed to the authorities, demanding that the law be enforced immediately. But the Civil Administration, back then still the domain of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, replied that “if necessary, supervision and enforcement procedures will be taken in accordance with established procedures, in accordance with enforcement priorities, and subject to operational considerations.”

For your next trivia competition, the above line is the answer to “what’s the largest number of words ever assembled in a sentence that means “No.” It’s 24.

When months passed and, as expected, no enforcement was carried out––while the construction of the villa continued at an accelerated pace––Regavim again turned to the Civil Administration to urge enforcement of the law. The Civil Administration’s response was: “A work-stop order will be issued as soon as possible.”

Naturally, no such order was issued, at which point, the Samaria Council and Regavim decided to petition the court.

The petition raises the issue of “enforcement priorities” which, according to Regavim, the Civil Administration uses to hide its enormous failure to enforce the law against illegal Arab construction in Area C.

In an appendix to the petition, Regavim lists dozens of cases in which the court accepted the Civil Administration’s fig-leaf claim of “enforcement priorities” based on system overload and insufficient manpower.

The court maintained a policy of non-interference in “professional considerations,” but in practice, according to the petition, under the auspices of this claim, the Civil Administration completely avoids enforcing the law. Moreover, Regavim’s petition contends that if the Al-Funduq case, which involves illegal construction on a major traffic artery––constituting a high priority for enforcement––received no attention whatsoever for more than a year, the Civil Administration’s priorities for enforcement are nothing more than a hollow excuse for inaction.

Yossi Dagan, Head of the Samaria Regional Council, said in a statement: “This is absurd. The state plans to invest millions of shekels to double the capacity of the road to provide a safety and security solution for thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, but on the other hand, it does not enforce the law and does not maintain the area.”

“It is inconceivable that while we see vigilant enforcement activity against Jewish pioneers in the Jewish settlement outposts, absolutely nothing is being done to fight the takeover of our national lands. Sadly, the law has not been enforced against a massive structure that was built as a deliberate takeover and is preventing the construction of the road. We hope that this petition to the Court of Appeals will result in the demolition of the illegal construction and the preservation of the nation’s lands in the area,” Dagan said.

Attorney Boaz Arzi, legal counsel for the Regavim Movement, said: “From our experience with the Civil Administration in hundreds of similar cases when we receive a response with a claim of enforcement priorities, it means the Civil Administration has no intention of enforcing the law. By turning a blind eye to a huge, luxurious villa that’s blocking the construction of a road that was planned at tremendous expense to the public, the Civil Administration indicates its questionable judgment, to put it mildly, and proves once again that the Civil Administration’s claim that it is acting according to ‘priorities’ is simply untrue. The Civil Administration repeatedly abuses the court’s trust and no less seriously, the trust of the public.”

It can be expected that now, after the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria has been taken over by the adjunct Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, who was also the co-founder of Regavim, better attention will be paid to the urgent need to demolish the beautiful obstruction where a highway will soon be paved.

Regavim Petitions Court to Demolish Illegal PA Arab Mansion Obstructing Major Samaria Road Project

Civil Administration hides its enormous failure to enforce the law against illegal Arab construction in Area C.

www.jewishpress.com

Oslo expired.

 

[Sixties Fan]

In a recent interview in Hamodia, US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said, when asked about a recent poll that showed 72% of Palestinians support terror groups like Lion's Den, "I firmly believe, and you might disagree with me, but the vast, vast majority among the average Palestinians doesn’t wake up in the morning wanting to kill someone who happens to be Jewish. They want to live just like you and I do."

Stephen Flatow responded quite nicely in JNS to this.

I would like to add my own observations.

Nides was careful in his words. He didn't say that the vast majority of Palestinians don't support terror, only that most of them don't want to personally kill Jews.

I've been closely following Palestinian polls for over 15 years. I suspect Nides knows that polls show consistently over the years that a majority of Palestinians support terror attacks as part of a strategy to gain independence. Those questions are asked in the abstract.

But when Palestinians are asked about specific terror attacks, support goes way up.

In 2008, a terrorist entered the Mercaz Harav yeshiva and started mowing down students. 8 were killed, including 4 children. When Palestinians were asked if they supported that attack, an astonishing 84% said they did.

You can see how Palestinians consistently support specific terror attacks that murder Jews more than general attacks in the abstract from that March 2008 poll.


This is more than simply supporting terror for political gain. This is bloodlust against Jews.

Nothing has changed since then. In 2014, after a string of stabbing attacks including the massacre of four rabbis in Har Nof, not only were celebrations shown on Palestinian TV. A survey shortly after the event asked, "Recently there has been an increase in Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank in attempts to stab or run over Israelis. Do you support or oppose these attempts?" Four out of five Palestinians supported murdering Jews, and one in three emphasized that they strongly support such attacks.

Although the media and government officials try hard to wave this away, the truth is in these surveys.

It goes beyond that. You will never find a Palestinian official on Arabic TV condemning these attacks - besides when Mahmoud Abbas is pressured to do so by the US. On the contrary, the murderers are "martyrs" and "heroes," virtually every time.

Do well-meaning lies and obfuscations from people like Nides, and New York Times reporters, and Europeans, help the cause of peace? No, they don't. When the West gives Palestinians who support terror the benefit of the doubt, they learn an important lesson: that the West is on their side. By downplaying explicit and overwhelming Palestinian support for terror, they leaves the door open for "human rights" groups and Western parliaments to demonize Israel as the obstacle to peace, and the Palestinians as hapless, defenseless victims.

This emboldens the terrorists and results in more dead people on both sides.

It is important to note that Gulf countries, in Arabic, have been criticizing Palestinians for nearly a decade now, even as their own support for suicide terror has plummeted in other surveys. The Abraham Accords is in no small part a result of a refreshing honesty in parts of the Arab world about the real situation.

The West needs to stop its default stance of "don't upset the Palestinians." It hasn't worked and it has empowered them to be more intransigent, thinking that the West is doing their bidding.

Palestinians live in an honor/shame society. Therefore, upsetting them is exactly what needs to be done. Palestinians must be shamed into stopping support for terror in their schools and media.

If Tom Nides really wants peace, that is the most effective tool he has.

Coddling and covering up Palestinian support for terror does the exact opposite - and we see how well that has worked.

.@USAmbIsrael Tom Nides gets it exactly wrong

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[rylah]

Hamas Under Fire at Home, in Turkey, and on the High Seas​

Turkish intelligence has begun to limit Hamas activists headquartered in Turkey, following the reconciliation between Jerusalem and Ankara, Haaretz reported Monday. Although the Turks refuse to acquiesce to Israeli demands to expel Hamas terrorists, they are limiting Hamas officials’ efforts to establish a permanent presence there.

Meanwhile, life in the Gaza Strip continues to be unbearable, with an estimated 60% plus unemployment. And Gazans who attempt to flee to a better future in Europe often drown on the high seas.

---

According to JNS, the latest sign of mending Turkish-Israeli relations took place on December 28, when the new Israeli ambassador to Ankara, Irit Lillian, presented her credentials to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after four years without an Israeli envoy there.

Another positive sign: Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency and Mossad operatives last June cooperated to thwart Iranian terror squads sent to target Israeli tourists on Turkish soil.

But Israel was not receiving clear assurances that Hamas’s freedom of movement in Turkey would be restricted. Those restrictions are crucial since the Hamas leadership in Turkey coordinates and funds terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria.

Hamas has been able to run a two-tier strategy under the Lapid-Gantz security watch: the terrorist organization keeps a quiet border with Israel along the Gaza Strip, thus facilitating some 20,000 work permits to Gazans who continue to work in Israel uninterrupted; and at the same time the same Hamas has been burning up Judea and Samaria with countless terrorist incidents ranging from throwing Molotov cocktails on Israeli motorists and opening fire on soldiers and civilians.

But life under Hamas continues to be harsh, and many Gazans seeking a better life in Europe are drowning at sea. According to the AP, the devastating numbers of drowning Gazan migrants have led to an outpouring of popular rage against the Hamas rulers.

The AP reported on Sunday that high-profile Hamas officials are fleeing to Lebanon, Qatar, and Turkey, where they find shelter in luxury hotels, leaving the starved masses to deal with a collapsed economy and severely diminished services. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh relocated to Qatar with his wife and children in 2019. His deputy, Khalil al-Hayya, relocated to Turkey in 2022.

Suicides and suicide attempts have become part of the social reality in the Gaza Strip. They happen every day, even twice a day, and the authorities conceal them behind descriptions along the lines of: “A 24-year-old man was found dead by hanging. An investigation has been launched.”

On July 24, 2022, to give just one example out of dozens in recent months, Hosni Abu-Arabiya, 26, from the Shatti refugee camp west of Gaza City, ended his life, setting himself on fire in front of his family before anyone at home could stop him. He was severely injured and taken to the hospital with high-degree burns. Half a day later he was pronounced dead.

Mourners at a mass funeral for young Gazans who drowned at sea last month shouted the names of Haniyeh and Yehiyeh Sinwar, who runs things in Gaza, and added, “The people are the victims!” The families of the drowned youths blamed the Hamas bosses, present and absent, for the chaos and misery in the Strip, and accused them of corruption.

Hamas Under Fire at Home, in Turkey, and on the High Seas

Suicides and suicide attempts have become part of the social reality in the Gaza Strip.

www.jewishpress.com

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

 

[Sixties Fan]

The classic definition of chutzpah is someone murdering his parents and then throwing himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.

The EU has just hit that high standard:

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said this weekend that Israel must pay reparations for structures it demolishes in the West Bank that were built with EU funding.

Lenarcic's remarks were in response to 24 European Parliament members who contacted the commission following Israel's intention to demolish dozens of houses in the West Bank villages of the Masafer Yatta area that were built with financial aid from the European Union or its member states.

"The European Union has repeatedly requested that Israel compensate for the loss of European taxpayers' money," members of parliament wrote to Lenarcic, adding that the commission itself confessed that its diplomatic requests to Israel were ineffective.

Lenarcic responded that "in a number of incidents, Israel has been asked to return or compensate for assets financed by the Union that that were destroyed, dismantled, or confiscated," and that the European Union is continuing to work in this regard through a range of diplomatic and political channels.

This is like demanding compensation from the police for confiscating the car you stole.

The EU-funded buildings are built illegally. Not only under Israeli law - but under international law!

Even if you call Area C "occupied," the occupier is mandated by the Geneva Conventions to maintain a system of laws in the territory. These buildings are built in violation of planning and zoning laws, haphazardly, almost always on public/state lands, with no roads and often stealing water. It is like deciding to build a house in the middle of Yellowstone National Park.

I've seen these structures first-hand, proudly displaying the EU flag.

The EU deliberately builds them in Area C, in areas that no Arabs or Bedoun have ever lived, in order to steal land from use by Israel. They move Arabs from Areas A and B, and bus students from those areas to schools they build in Area C. It is land theft.

And these illegal buildings are popping all over.

I once made an animation showing one brand new village in the Judean desert, funded by the EU and NGOs, and how it has been growing based on satellite images.


There is no infrastructure. With full EU support, the Arabsgrab land, build shacks, and then claim that these are their ancient homesteads.

As The Daily Mail reported in 2015:

Alan Baker, an international lawyer who took part in drafting the Oslo Accords in the Nineties, said that the EU’s actions were illegal.

‘The EU is a signatory to the Oslo Accords, so they cannot pick and choose when they recognise it,’ he said.

‘According to international law, all building in Area C must have permission from Israel, whether it is temporary or permanent.

‘The same principle applies anywhere in the world. If you want to build, you need planning permission.

‘The EU is ignoring international law and taking concrete steps to influence the facts on the ground.’

If there is any problem here, it is that Israel has not been pro-active enough in destroying the illegal buildings, empowering the Palestinians and the EU to keep building against international law.

The EU redefines chutzpah: demands compensation from Israel for demolishing illegal buildings

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

The third Negev Forum met this week in Abu Dhabi.

The forum has participants from the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco as well as Egypt.

The goal of the forum is to advance multilateral projects in the fields of health, regional security, education, water and food security, tourism and energy. It is not a peace summit - it is very focused on specific mutual interests to countries in the Middle East, to benefit all.

The US tried to get Palestinians to join the meeting. They refused. And Jordan said that they won't attend unless the Palestinians do.

Now, why won't the Palestinians attend? Certainly they could benefit from talks about health, water and energy. According to Arab News, the reason they refuse is "Palestinians view the forum as an attempt to sideline its key demands of independence and an end to the Israeli occupation."

But that is not what the forum is about.

The only way the Palestinian refusal makes sense is if you understand the Palestinian mindset.

They have joined lots of international forums - but, invariably, they use those platforms to attack Israel. Whether it is about the world's oceans, or climate, or women, or the disabled, the Palestinians enthusiastically join - and then the entire session grinds to a halt as a Palestinian representative uses his allotted time to bash Israel.

To them, these conferences not a means to join the world community as an equal member. They aren't for information exchange. They aren't to work together to solve problems. To Palestinians, international foraare arenas of war, nothing more.

But the Negev Forum accepts Israel as a permanent part of the Middle East. It isn't marginalized - it is a key player. And the Palestinians cannot stomach the idea that Israel itself is considered legitimate.

Palestinians cannot hijack this conference. So boycotting, and shaming Jordan to do the same, it meant to somehow injure the conference altogether.

This has nothing to do with settlements, or human rights, or international law. The Palestinians refuse to attend a regional forum where they would benefit because it accepts Israel's existence - and Palestinian leaders still hope Israel will disappear.

Their childish behavior here is further proof that they have no interest in peace or becoming a responsible state. The entire purpose of the Palestinian national movement has always been the destruction of Israel. And they think that boycotting this event helps that goal in a tiny, tiny way.


(full article online)

Why don't the Palestinians join the Negev Forum? Because it contradicts their entire purpose of destroying Israel

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

Some Christian tourists visiting the Temple Mount have been forced by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf to wear garments adorned with bright yellow stripes, some Israeli tour guides have denounced. The choice of color does not appear to be a coincidence, as in the past yellow garments symbolized non-Muslims’ diminished status in the world of Islam.

The Waqf is the Jordanian entity that has a custodial status at Jerusalem’s holy sites. The Temple Mount is known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands. Non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit the compound where the Holy Temple of Jerusalem used to stand only under severe restrictions.

About two months ago, a Norwegian Pastor who prefers to remain anonymous led a group of 35 Christian tourists on a visit to Israel. The pastor arrived a week ahead of the group to prepare for the trip. He ascended to the Temple Mount with three Christian women. When they arrived, representatives of the Waqf approached the group and instructed them to wear special garments they provided. The long brown garment covered their entire body and they were also required by the Waqf to wear a large head covering. The garments had a prominent yellow stripe running down the sides.

The pastor explained that he had visited Israel dozens of times and ascended the Temple Mount several times in the past. This was the first time he had been required to wear the strange garb. He added that the women felt humiliated. The pastor described the episode to Amit Barak, the head of the Jerusalemites Initiative and a tour guide. He emphasized that due to the humiliating incident, he will no longer take groups to the Temple Mount.

Visitors at the Temple Mount wearing yellow garments. Courtesy of Beyadenu.

This story was corroborated by the Temple Mount activist organization Beyadenu, which runs tours at the site. Their guides have witnessed Waqf representatives requiring Christian and non-Muslim tourists to wear the same long garments with the yellow stripe.

“I don’t remember this happening until recently,” one tour guide told Israel365 News. “Certainly never with such a complete covering and certainly not a head covering.”

(full article online)

Christian tourists at the Temple Mount forced by Waqf to wear humiliating yellow garment

Some Christian tourists visiting the Temple Mount have been forced by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf to wear garments adorned with bright yellow stripes, some Israeli tour guides have denounced. The choice of color does not appear to be a coincidence, as in the past yellow garments symbolized...

www.israel365news.com

 

[P F Tinmore]

The classic definition of chutzpah is someone murdering his parents and then throwing himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.

The EU has just hit that high standard:



This is like demanding compensation from the police for confiscating the car you stole.

The EU-funded buildings are built illegally. Not only under Israeli law - but under international law!

Even if you call Area C "occupied," the occupier is mandated by the Geneva Conventions to maintain a system of laws in the territory. These buildings are built in violation of planning and zoning laws, haphazardly, almost always on public/state lands, with no roads and often stealing water. It is like deciding to build a house in the middle of Yellowstone National Park.

I've seen these structures first-hand, proudly displaying the EU flag.

The EU deliberately builds them in Area C, in areas that no Arabs or Bedoun have ever lived, in order to steal land from use by Israel. They move Arabs from Areas A and B, and bus students from those areas to schools they build in Area C. It is land theft.

And these illegal buildings are popping all over.

I once made an animation showing one brand new village in the Judean desert, funded by the EU and NGOs, and how it has been growing based on satellite images.


There is no infrastructure. With full EU support, the Arabsgrab land, build shacks, and then claim that these are their ancient homesteads.

As The Daily Mail reported in 2015:





If there is any problem here, it is that Israel has not been pro-active enough in destroying the illegal buildings, empowering the Palestinians and the EU to keep building against international law.

The EU redefines chutzpah: demands compensation from Israel for demolishing illegal buildings

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

almost always on public/state lands,

An occupier cannot own any land. It is all Palestinian land.