Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, April 20, 2017

In what country can Arab high school students help launch a satellite? In Israel!

A tiny satellite built by Israeli high school students flew into space Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on its way to study the atmosphere as part of an international research project.

The Duchifat-2 (Hoopoe) is one of 28 nanosatellites from 23 countries participating in the European Union’s QB50 thermosphere research program, but it’s the only one constructed by high school students.

Over 80 pupils in grades 9-12 at schools in Herzliya, Ofakim, Yeruham, the West Bank settlement of Ofra, and the Bedouin town of Hura helped to construct Duchifat-2, which weighs just 1.8 kilograms (four pounds), and is just 20 centimeters (eight inches) tall and 10 centimeters wide. Due to its small size, the satellite has no motors and instead uses the earth’s magnetic field to gently keep itself correctly aligned in space.

An Atlas V supply rocket carrying the payload of satellites along with over three tons of supplies blasted off from Florida and headed for the International Space Station, which it will reach after approximately two days of travel. Astronauts inside the orbiting space station will release Duchifat-2 and the swarm of other nanosatellites into space in about six weeks’ time.

Fourteen students from Herzliya and Hura traveled to Florida to watch the launch live.

The Israeli satellite will study the plasma density in the lower thermosphere, a layer of the atmosphere that begins at about 85 kilometers (53 miles) altitude and continues up to about 300 kilometers (185 miles).

Where else in the Middle East can Arab students have such opportunities? Specifically, where else can Arab girls work on science projects of such high caliber?

Here are the bright students, Arabs and Jews, at NASA.

(h/t Zvi)

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Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

This isn’t the first time I’ve written this, and it won’t be the last unless something changes.

Marwan Barghouti is in the news again, calling for a hunger strike to “resist” the “abuse” of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The New York Times also made news by publishing an op-ed by Barghouti with a note that he is “Palestinian leader and parliamentarian,” but failing to include the fact that he was imprisoned after a conviction for five terrorist murders. He was accused of being involved in many more, but the state chose to prosecute him only for the ones for which the evidence was strongest. After all, five life sentences should be enough to keep him off the street, shouldn’t they?

Israelis can be excused for being skeptical. After all, 16 of them weren’t enough to keep Ahlam Tamimi, mastermind of the 2002 Sbarro Pizzaria bombing, behind bars (she was released in 2011 as part of the ransom for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit). Tamimi has a flourishing career as a broadcaster in Jordan, which has refused her extradition to the US (some of her victims were US citizens). Yet again in 2013 Israel agreed to release 104 prisoners, most of whom were convicted of murder, “in order to move toward renewed peace negotiations.” Some 78 were released before the doomed negotiations fell apart.

Although the Knesset passed a law in 2014 establishing a life sentence without possibility of parole in less than 40 years and without eligibility for release for diplomatic purposes, the pressure that can be placed on Israeli officials when a person, especially a young soldier, is in the hands of the enemy can be immense. In any case, the law doesn’t apply to terrorists already in prison, nor to military courts where many cases which occur in Judea and Samaria must be tried. I am not aware of any terrorist that has yet received this kind of sentence.

Barghouti and Tamimi are popular Palestinian heroes, because nothing makes a bigger Palestinian hero than killing Jews. There is agitation from the Israeli Left and foreign circles to release Barghouti, who is considered a possible “moderate” Palestinian political leader and even (and this is insane) “the Palestinian Nelson Mandela.”

The only thing Barghouti shares with Mandela is the fact that he is in prison, something that could also be said of Charles Manson, and nobody calls him the American Mandela. But I could easily imagine circumstances under which Barghouti (unlike Manson) would be released.

There should be no question of releasing Barghouti and no need to try to extradite Tamimi. These options should have been foreclosed from the start. Both justice and our national interest demand that these murderers and others like them should be dead.

Let’s look at some of the reasons that Israel should implement a speedy and sure death penalty for terrorist murder.

1.       Fewer terrorists means less terror. As I’ve said above, life sentences are often cut short. Many of the prisoners who were released went back to terrorism, including some that murdered again. At least 6 Israelis have been killed since 2014 by prisoners who were released in the 2011 deal that freed Ahlam Tamimi. They would be alive today if their murderers had received the death penalty. Laws to limit prisoner exchanges are unlikely to be enforced when the next soldier or child is kidnapped.

2.       The presence of high-profile terrorists in prison encourages attempts to kidnap Israelis in order to free them.

3.       It is a deterrent. A terrorist knows that if he survives his attack, he will be imprisoned under good conditions with other security prisoners, he can earn academic degrees, and his family will be compensated. He might even be released early. Yes, some terrorists are suicidal but many are not. A death penalty, if it is swift and sure (as it is not, for example, in the US) does deter other potential terrorists.

4.       How can we ask soldiers and police to risk their lives trying to capture terrorists when they know they will receive de facto light sentences? And how can we punish them if, out of frustration, they kill a terrorist that they could have captured alive?

5.       Honor and deterrence demand that Israel kill terrorist murderers. This is possibly the most important consideration of all. In Arab cultures, a clan that does not retaliate for the killing of its members loses its honor and its power of deterrence. Even if the folks in North Tel Aviv think that we are too civilized to kill our enemies, the Palestinians are certain that it’s because we are too weak, as a culture, to do so. They take this as a sign that their struggle is succeeding and are encouraged to continue it.

There will be objections. What about mistakes? Death is so final. But in the case of terrorist murderers, the evidence is often very strong – they are often caught quite literally red-handed. So there is no reason we can’t insist on a very high standard of proof before imposing the death penalty.

Executions, it is objected, create martyrs. But an imprisoned Barghouti or Tamimi is a martyr already, a living one. In life they continue to work against us, probably more effectively than if they were only names on Palestinian schools, streets and soccer fields. Dead martyrs are no worse than living ones.

But, they say, most civilized countries don’t have death penalties. Yes, but most civilized countries haven’t faced (until recently, anyway) the sheer volume of terrorism that we have.

Israel actually has a death penalty on the books, which was applied in Adolf Eichmann’s case. When the Fogel family was brutally murdered in 2011, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty, but in the end did not do so. A law requiring the death penalty for murder by terrorism was introduced after the last election by Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, but it did not pass. It should have. Jewish law would probably approve of a death penalty for especially heinous terrorist acts, with a high standard of proof. For example, Barghouti, Tamimi and the Fogel murderers might qualify.

Why has Israel drawn back, even in cases of murder as horrible as the Fogel case, in which five members of a family, including a three-month old baby, were slaughtered by terrorists who were proud of their handiwork? I think the reason is that – as in so many other cases – Israelis feel the need to appease the non-Jewish world, to meet the (supposed) ethical standards of “enlightened,” post-Christian European society.

That’s an attitude appropriate to a subject people living under foreign rule, not a sovereign state. I’ll get into that in my next article.

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04/20 Links Pt1: We’re turning a blind eye to Iran’s genocidal liars; A steady diet of anti-Israel rhetoric

From Ian:

Michael Oren: We’re turning a blind eye to Iran’s genocidal liars

The Australian, April 19, 2017 - In responding forcibly to North Korean and Syrian outrages, President Trump has taken a major step towards restoring America’s deterrence power. His determination to redress the flaws in the JCPOA and to stand up to Iran will greatly accelerate that process. The US, Israel and the world will all be safer.
The US has signed agreements with three rogue regimes strictly limiting their unconventional military capacities. Two of those regimes — Syria and North Korea — brazenly violated the agreements, provoking game-changing responses from Donald Trump. But the third agreement — with Iran — is so inherently flawed that Tehran doesn’t even have to break it. Honouring it will be enough to endanger millions of lives.
The framework agreements with North Korea and Syria, concluded respectively in 1994 and 2013, were similar in many ways. Both recognised that the regimes already possessed weapons of mass destruction or at least the means to produce them. Both assumed that the regimes would surrender their arsenals under an international treaty and open their facilities to inspectors. And both believed these repressive states, if properly engaged, could be brought into the community of nations.
All those assumptions were wrong. After withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Pyongyang tested five atomic weapons and developed intercontinental missiles capable of carrying them. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, less than a year after signing the framework, reverted to gassing his own people. Bolstered by the inaction of the US and backed by other powers, North Korea and Syria broke their commitments with impunity.

Seth Frantzman: 'With Syria in pieces, it’s time to recognize Israel’s annexation of the Golan'

Michael Oren says it is time for the world to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel.
In contrast to negotiations with the Palestinians, there is no Syria to negotiate with, Deputy Minister for Diplomacy in the Prime Minister’s Office Oren said on Tuesday.
“Without Israel there [in the Golan], the region would be jeopardized. ISIS would be on the Kinneret,” he said, adding that other states in the region are glad Israel is on the Golan. This is one of several important outcomes of the 1967 war still felt today.
Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 in a decision that was never recognized internationally.
Oren was speaking at a Jerusalem seminar hosted by The Israel Project and the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research. The seminar – one of a series that runs through June – is focused on the impact of the war of 50 years ago, domestically and geopolitically, with special emphasis on Jerusalem.

JPost Editorial: Strike Out

The hunger strike by Palestinian terrorist prisoners that began this week, as explained by convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti in an op-ed in The New York Times that identified him as “a Palestinian leader and parliamentarian,” was a last resort to protest “Israel’s illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners.”
The uninformed reader might ask why this hunger strike is different from all other Palestinian hunger strikes.
While some might be inclined to accept Barghouti’s motives at face value, there is ample evidence that his action is nothing more than a cynical attempt to exploit his fellow prisoners in a bid at succeeding Mahmoud Abbas as leader of the Palestinian Authority – despite his imprisonment.
According to Barghouti, Palestinian prisoners and detainees have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and medical negligence. “Some have been killed while in detention. According to the latest count from the Palestinian Prisoners Club, about 200 Palestinian prisoners have died since 1967 because of such actions,” he wrote.
But there remains an aspect of unreality about this strike. All one has to do is take a look at some of these conditions in prisons being decried by the Palestinians, some of which have actually been improved over the years. In the early days of Palestinian terrorism following the Six Day War, convicted terrorists were denied pencil and paper. By 2012, their privileges extended to obtaining remedial education behind bars, including academic degrees from the Open University.

This story came out, and was widely reported, last week:

Marvel artist Ardian Syaf will face “disciplinary action” after it was revealed over the weekend that he promoted an anti-Christian and anti-Semitic verse from the Koran in one of its books.

Superhero fans know the X-Men as a team of “mutants” that fights against intolerance. The newest issue of “X-Men Gold,” however, included a reference to Indonesian politics and the Koranic chapter and verse QS 5:51. The surreptitious messaging spread on Reddit and entertainment websites on Saturday before the company took action.

“O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies,” one translation of the text reads. “They are, in fact, allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you — then indeed, he is one of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.”

The Koranic reference was printed on a main character’s clothing in a story where a Jewish woman becomes the team’s leader.

A “212” and another “51” appeared elsewhere in the book, both references to a day of Muslim protests in December over claims that Jakarta’s Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, insulted Islam.

“The mentioned artwork in X-Men Gold #1 was inserted without knowledge behind its reported meanings,” Marvel said in a statement released Saturday. “These implied references do not reflect the views of the writer, editors or anyone else at Marvel and are in direct opposition of the inclusiveness of Marvel Comics and what the X-Men have stood for since their creation. This artwork will be removed from subsequent printings, digital versions, and trade paperbacks and disciplinary action is being taken.”

The reaction from the artist:

In an interview with local Jakarta newspaper Jawa Pos published today and translated by Coconuts, Ardian stated that he had tried to explain his side to Marvel. “But Marvel is owned by Disney. When Jews are offended, there is no mercy.”

There is an irony here from a Muslim artist who doesn't like Jews.

Back in the 1940s, the first Muslim comic book hero was created. He was called Kismet, Man of Fate. An Algerian, Kismet eschewed alcohol, used phrases like "By the beard of Allah!" and fought Nazis in Nazi-occupied France, although he would try not to kill anyone.

Kismet was supposedly created by "Omar Tahan," but that was a fiction. In fact he was conceived, written and drawn by Jews. And considering that comics in that time period were routinely blatantly racist, Kismet - despite the stereotypical catchphrases - was someone who was clearly a good guy.

The comic book house that created Kismet, Bomber Comics, was owned by two Jews, including a woman, Ruth Roche, who probably wrote the Kismet stories.

So we have Jews who created a very respectful (if short-lived) Muslim comic book hero 75 years ago when racism and bigotry was widespread, and today we have a Muslim artist who inserted anti-Jewish messages in the modern form of the same medium.

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In 2005, this encouraging news was reported:

The University of Maryland is planning to use private grants to have a fully functioning studies program by 2010 dedicated to Israeli culture, not just the nation's conflict with Palestine.

Though there are Israeli studies programs at other universities — including Wesleyan University, American University and the University of Pennsylvania — many of them focus only on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said associate professor Hayim Lapin, director of the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies. In contrast, this program will offer classes on language, literature, sociology, economics and ecology, he added.

"The way Israeli studies gets played out is it becomes extremely politicized," Lapin said. "We don't have that problem right now. There are plenty of people with very strongly held political views, but we don't have a highly politicized program in one way or the other."

Here is a description of every course being offered by the Israel Studies program at UMD for this coming fall semester:

ISRL289I The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict: Fundamental Questions
Why are Palestinians and Israelis unable to resolve their conflict? Will they ever? Using insights and methodologies from a variety of disciplines and contrasting interpretations of history, this course will examine why the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues, why it has become so central in world politics and how it connects with other global issues.

We can't know the specifics without a syllabus, but claiming that the conflict is "central in world politics" is already an indication of the bias in this course.

ISRL329E Special Topics in Israel Studies; Israel and the Arab Spring
This course will explore and analyze the political, diplomatic, and strategic effects of the Arab Spring and its continuing after effects on the State of Israel, using that as a lens to study the contemporary Middle East. It starts with a preliminary study of Israel's foreign policy and then examines the effects of the Arab Spring on its domestic politics: relations with other regional actors, the Palestinians, and the United States; and Israel's strategy towards non-state actors such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS.

This could be an interesting course, but either way it is clearly political.

ISRL329F Special Topics in Israel Studies; The History of Economic Policy in Palestine/Israel
This course examines economic policy in Palestine/Israel from 1999 (under Ottoman rule [sic]) through the British Mandate (1922-48) until 1988, when the current neo-liberal economic policy began. It will examine how the governments and society dealt with issues such as growth versus equality (distributive justice); ideology versus praxis; local original policy versus imported policy; and politics versus academic economics - who decides and under what circumstances?

I could be wrong, but the term "distributive justice" seems to indicate that this is an anti-Israel (and anti-free market) course.

ISRL349Q Investigating Topics in Israel Studies; The Self and the "Other" in Israeli Culture: Literature, Film, and Television
Modern Israel includes people of many different faiths, ethnicities, languages, and cultures, but, Jews of European origin have generally dominated its political and cultural climate. Through literature and film, we will explore how the sense of the "self" is constructed and how the "other" is imagined in Israeli culture. "Others" include Palestinians, Sephardim, Mizrahim, non-Zionists, women, and Eastern Europeans who do not relinquish their ties to the past, as well as other individuals who resist the collective ideologies of a nation constructing itself.

The topic is worthwhile; the presentation looks highly biased. A lot would depend on whether this course looks at contemporary Israeli culture or if it will be dominated by the admittedly problematic aspects from the 1950s.

ISRL349Z Investigating Topics in Israel Studies; Beyond Black and White: Jews and Representations of Race
An examination of Western constructions and representations of 'race' from medieval times to the modern rise of Zionism and the founding of Israel, with a focus on how Jews utilized the racial discourses of each period to negotiate their position within Western history.

I cannot see any way that this course is not problematic given the politics around race on college campuses nowadays.

ISRL448M Seminar in Israel Studies; The Israeli War Discourse, 1967-2017
Recommended: Some knowledge of Israel or a previous Israel Studies course. This online course focuses on a unique Israeli phenomenon, 'war-normalizing discourse', a set of linguistic and cultural devices that blur the various characteristics of war by transforming it into a "normal" part of life. We will examine the reciprocal relations between this discourse, Israeli culture and society, and foreign policy.

When war is part of life, how can "war-normalizing" be avoided? This looks highly biased from its conception.

ISRL448T Seminar in Israel Studies; Israel's Occupation at 50
Now in its fiftieth year, Israel's occupation of the West Bank is the longest continuous military occupation in the world. This seminar will examine its history, the radical transformation of Israeli policy towards Palestinians over five decades, and its impact on the daily lives of Palestinians struggling with the ongoing military and settler presence in their land. The seminar will conclude with a discussion of continued Palestinian resistance to military occupation, including the use of terror against civilians.

This one is obviously anti-Israel. even the course description cannot avoid bias.

It is possible that there is a lot more nuance here and that my skepticism is misplaced. Mitchell Bard, who is an excellent analyst, praised this UMD program last year.

I fear, based on these descriptions, that the UMD Israel Studies Program has not lived up to its original goals, and based on what little we can see here, it may have been largely subverted to be a subset of the traditionally anti-Israel Middle Eastern Studies programs that infest academia today.

(h/t MKG)

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This morning, gunmen riding a motorcycle fired shots at four stores that sell alcoholic beverages in the village of Zababdeh.

Zabadeh, near Jenin, is the only Christian-majority town under PA rule north of Nablus. About two-thirds of its residents are Christian.

This was reported in Ma'an Arabic but not its English edition. Ma'an tries to frame the attack as anti-alcohol, and doesn't mention the religious angle, although of course only Christians sell alcohol in the territories. This is meant to send a message to the entire population of the town, not just the store owners.

In general, Zabadeh Christians downplay any suggestion of friction with their Muslim neighbors, although Christmas trees were burned by Muslims there in 2015, and one source notes that there are sometimes fights when Muslims make lascivious comments to Christian women in the village.

This is the sort of low-level yet overt intimidation that have prompted the vast majority of Christians under Arab rule in the West Bank to flee since 1948.

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Gaza cancer patient and her sister try to smuggle explosives into Israel for Hamas

From JTA:

Two Palestinian sisters attempting to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip so that one could receive cancer treatment were caught smuggling explosives.

The explosives, used in the production of homemade bombs, were hidden in tubes carried by the women labeled “medical materials,” the Shin Bet security service said in a statement issued Wednesday evening, hours after the women were stopped at the Erez Crossing.

The sisters were approved for entry into Israel so that one could receive potentially life-saving treatment for her illness.

According to the Shin Bet statement, a preliminary investigation showed that the explosives were sent by Hamas be used in a terrorist attack on Israeli targets in the “near future.”

This story tells us a lot.

It shows (yet again) that Hamas is willing to endanger Palestinians - current and future medical patients - for a chance to murder Jews.

It shows (yet again) that humanitarian aid is being used by Hamas for terror.

But perhaps more importantly, it shows why Hamas can do this with impunity.

Because this story is virtually unreported outside Israel.

When Israel places restrictions on Gazans crossing the border, dozens of NGOs jump all over the story and ensure that the issue gets worldwide coverage. But the same NGOs (like Gisha) are silent when Hamas cynically uses Israeli goodwill as a weapon to try to kill Jews.

Hamas knows that there is very little downside to these smuggling attempts because there is no publicity, and when there is no publicity there is no shame. When there is no shame, there is no disincentive to callously disregard human lives for those who live in an honor-shame society.

(h/t Zvi)

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04/19 Links Pt2: U.N. Fair and U.N. Balanced; Murray: UK: War on Free Speech at the NUS

From Ian:

U.N. Fair and U.N. Balanced

Sengupta’s implication in the third example is that the UN Security Council’s obsession with Israel is no big deal because it also discusses Yemen and Syria. But those countries are active war zones, sites of terrorism and foreign intervention and humanitarian crises. Is the New York Times seriously likening the situation in Israel to what’s happening in Yemen and Syria? To do so would be to commit the same gross moral equivalence of which the UN stands condemned.
Moral equivalence between Israel and its adversaries might as well be part of the Times style guide, I suppose. What’s remarkable about Sengupta’s piece is that even as she clumsily attempts to provide left-wing “context” to Haley’s appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations, she can’t bring herself to mention that the charge of corruption against the UN Human Rights Council is a long-standing bipartisan element of U.S. foreign policy.
Saint Hillary Clinton herself, when she announced that America was rejoining the council in 2009, said her goal was “improving the UN human-rights system,” and in a subsequent speech she chided its anti-Israel bias. “It cannot continue to single out and devote disproportionate attention to any one country,” Clinton said.
Haley’s charge is obviously true. The council exists only because its ancestor, the UN Human Rights Commission, had become so monopolized by autocrats, dictators, anti-Semites, anti-Americans, and chronic human-rights violators that it was dissolved upon American withdrawal in 2006. Its replacement is little better, since any human-rights body whose members do not recognize rights within their own borders is not worthy of the name. Last November, the nonprofit UN Watch reported that the autocratic socialist government of Venezuela used hundreds of fraudulent groups to whitewash its record before the council. What’s the word for that? Right: corruption.
Nikki Haley has the clarity of vision and political gumption to call corruption by its name. No wonder the Times finds her so unusual.

It’s fact and fiction at TOI event with two Jerusalem-based authors

Both immigrants from North America, Matti Friedman and Haim Watzman now live and write in Jerusalem. As reporters, they both observed Israeli life with the detachment of a foreigner — and the keen eye of an insider. Now, as authors, this insider-outsider perspective continues as seen in their recently published work.
On Tuesday, April 25, the pair will discuss their new books in English for The Times of Israel Presents. The event is part of the monthly series, Personal Pages: Meet the Authors, and take place at the Tower of David.
Former The Times of Israel staff writer Friedman hails from Toronto. His first book, “The Aleppo Codex,” an investigation into the strange fate of an ancient Bible manuscript, won several awards including the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize and was translated into seven languages. His latest book, “Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story,” based on his military service in an isolated Israeli army outpost in Lebanon, was chosen as a New York Times notable book and one of Amazon’s 10 best books of 2016.
His reporting, mainly for the Associated Press, took him from Israel to Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow, the Caucasus and Washington, DC. Critical essays he wrote for Tablet and The Atlantic about foreign media coverage on the 2014 Gaza War gained worldwide attention.

Yemen minister says fate of country’s last 50 Jews unknown

Yemen’s information minister said his government is unaware of the fate of the country’s few dozen remaining Jews, most of whom reside in the Houthi rebel group-controlled capital of Sana’a, Israel Radio reported.
Speaking to an Israel Radio reporter on the sidelines of a conference on the civil war in Yemen in Paris, Moammer al-Iryani also said Saturday that the Houthis view the tiny remaining Jewish population as an enemy and are engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that includes ridding Yemen of its Jewish community.
Approximately 50 Jews are believed to remain in Yemen, 40 of them living in Sana’a in a compound adjacent to the American Embassy. Despite the ongoing civil war, they have refused to leave the country.
The Iranian-backed Houthis, who took control of large parts of the country in an offensive beginning in 2015 alongside forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have long incited against Jews and Israel. The group’s slogan is: “Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse upon the Jews. Victory to Islam. Allahu Akbar.”

photo credit: Abba Reitsman, MDA

There’s something about the way the sound carries to my street, but I always know when there’s a terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction, as there was today. One siren? It’s a heart attack or some other emergency. Several sirens? We’re talking a terror attack.

Now I’m going to specify here and say that it was an Arab terror attack. At this point you may be thinking: is there any other kind? But it needs to be specified. It needs to be said. An Arab did this to a Jew.

Why does it need to be said? And isn’t it a little bit racist to specify the nationalities or races of the parties involved? And why not say “Palestinian” and “Israeli” if you must specify nationality or “Jew” and “Muslim” if you must specify religion?

So here’s the thing: last week a British tourist, Hanna Bladon, was murdered by an Arab terrorist while she was riding the Jerusalem light rail. He murdered her because he THOUGHT she was Jewish. At any rate, not one of the British news outlets referred to her murder as such. They said she was killed. They didn’t call it terror. They didn’t call her murderer an “Arab” or a “Palestinian” because it didn’t fit their narrative.

Hanna Bladon, murdered by an Arab who thought she was a Jew.

It didn’t fit what those reporters felt comfortable reporting, what they WANT to report. They don’t want a good British Christian murdered because someone thinks she’s a Jew. They don’t want Arabs murdering Jews. They want Palestinians murdering Israelis, because then they can call it “freedom fighting.” Or they can explain it away as “he just snapped” from all the supposed Israeli oppression/occupation.

They’re comfortable with that. But definitely not comfortable with the idea that Israeliness has nothing to do with terror on any level. It’s not about someone fighting for land or someone snapping. It’s Arabs, wanting to murder Jews.

Period.

That’s the truth of the matter and it’s all anyone should be interested in, specifically news outlets.

“Democracy dies in darkness” is alliterative as all get out, but it’s meaningless pap. The truth is, the truth is the last thing you’re going to get from news outlets. Which is why I have to blog this stuff at the end of a long, tiring day at work. Because no one pays me to lie.

So back to our terror attack of today. My husband pointed out that none of the Israeli news outlets saw fit to mention this dynamic: that of an Arab terrorist, attempting to murder a Jew. The Times of Israel mentions a “Palestinian assailant” (read “freedom fighter) in the article, but not in the headline. Ynet also doesn’t see fit to put the facts in the headline, which reads: One lightly-moderately wounded in a terrorist attack at the Gush Etzion intersection; Terrorist shot, killed.‏ The article itself refers to a “Palestinian terrorist” who wounds a 70 year-old “man.” We have to guess at the victim’s nationality/religion.

Haaretz doesn’t tell us anything about the identity of the attacker. The headline reads: Israeli man wounded in West Bank car-ramming attack; driver killed. Obfuscation. Both victim and attacker could have been Israeli Arabs, for all we know. The attacker gets no identity at all, because they’re leaving open possibilities here, you see? The “driver” could have been anyone, Arab, Jew, or even Mr. Smith from Idaho. In a leftist fantasy world where everyone is equal, we don’t need to know that here an Arab tried to murder a Jew. Both are human beings and that is all that matters.

The Israel National News headline reads: One Injured in Car Attack in Gush Etzion and the text tells us that the victim is “Israeli” and describes the attack as “terror.” But we don’t know a thing about the terrorist. He could have been any nationality, any color, any religion. If we wonder, we’re probably already racist bigots, just for asking the question.

The Jewish Press went pretty much as neutral as Haaretz: Terror Attack at Gush Etzion Junction, Terrorist Dead. Do I think they did it on purpose? Of course not. But it doesn’t matter. If a British person should stumble across that headline, what is he going to think?

He’s not going to think: An Arab tried to murder a Jew. Because he’s not ALLOWED to think that kind of thought in his cosseted little world of political correctness.

The thing is, the only way we’re going to hammer home the truth is by speaking it clearly ourselves, over and over again. It must be said: An Arab terrorist tried to murder a Jew. Every time it happens.

Let’s stop pretending there is a nationality called “Palestinian.” That’s THEIR game. Not ours. We don’t play games. We tell the truth.

If they wanted a state called Palestine, that could have been Transjordan. But no one is confusing Jordan with a mythical place called “Palestine” and neither should we.

This is not about land, either. It’s about hatred and bigotry. Tamimi the terrorist who killed Hanna Bladon did not give a rat’s ass about her passport. He wanted her dead because in his mind, she was a Jew, which is the same thing as some kind of vermin to be offed the moment it is confronted.

Let me say this: no hero goes around stabbing defenseless women riding trains minding their own business. This was no freedom fighter. He was a piece of crap who deserved to die.

By the same token, no heroic freedom fighter stabs a 70 year-old man in the head as that man is minding his own business, just crossing the street. THAT is pathological, sick, ugly.

During all the travails of the Jewish people, we never acted out randomly like this because we snapped. No one does. It’s not how people operate. Terror is pure evil and must be presented as such and labeled clearly. Caveat emptor.

If we don’t do it in our own media, don’t label victim and terrorist clearly, we cannot expect the world to fall in line and do it for us. Moreover, if we don’t label victim and terrorist clearly, we cannot expect to WIN.

The thing is, even if the news reporters are in a hurry or don’t have a lot of space for a headline, there’s no excuse for this lack of clarity. Accuracy doesn’t have to take up either space or time. “Jew” and “Arab” are both a heckuva lot shorter than Palestinian, attacker, assailant, Israeli, and so on and so forth.

Please, let’s get our act together on this score, people. This is a war we’re fighting. And we’re not going to win it by obscuring the truth.

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Egypt's Al Azhar University under pressure to become more moderate

interesting read from Al Ahram:

Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars defended its teachings on Tuesday amid rising criticism in Egypt that its curriculums foster extremism and sectarianism.

In an official statement released following a meeting presided over by the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, to discuss several issues, the council described itself as "the only ones mandated to teach righteous Islamic dogma that spreads peace and stability between Muslims themselves and between Muslims and others."

"The proof of this is the millions who have graduated from Al-Azhar whether in Egypt or worldwide and who call for peace; and it is a falsification of people's awareness and a defamation of its teachings to accuse it of nurturing terrorists," the statement read.

The council added that anyone who "tampered" with the religious body would be considered to be meddling with Egypt and its history, as well as being unfaithful to the integrity of the people and the whole nation.

Egypt was rocked by twin bombings of churches last week, which killed at least 47 people. The attacks in Tanta and Alexandria were claimed by local IS-affiliated militants.

Criticism of Al-Azhar has increased since the attacks, with some public figures accusing the venerable Islamic institution, which has branches all over Egypt and several abroad, of spreading extremism through its teachings and syllabuses and by its public decision not to formally declare IS militants apostates.

The statement also said that the council stands side-by-side with the Coptic Orthodox Church against the latest attacks, stressing that the Egyptian people will be able to fight off terrorism and extremism.

The Council of Senior Islamic Scholars is an advisory board comprised of prominent Azhar clerics; appointees are selected by the grand imam.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called on Al-Azhar in several speeches to rethink religious discourse and "purge it of flaws" that negatively affect Islam.

Al Azhar has been fairly outspoken against anti-Christian terror, it does not extend that courtesy to Jews. In fact, Al Azhar clerics have praised suicide bombings against Jews.

It is interesting that the Egyptian public has been so anti-fundametalist, and that Al Azhar is frightened of this development.

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Maggid Of Mezeritch Reveals Gebrochts An April Fools Prank Gone Out Of Control (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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Medzhybizh, Ukraine, April 19 - A chief disciple of the founder of the Hasidic movement revealed today that a practice he initiated of abstaining from the consumption on Passover of matza that has come into contact with liquid was actually a joke, and that he never intended for it to be adopted as a serious custom.

A rueful Dov Ber of Mezeritch, known as the Maggid of Mezeritch, told a reporter today that the widespread Passover stringency known as gebrochts was a practical joke he and several other followers of the Baal Shem Tov had devised for April Fools Day about 250 years ago, and that the families and communities that subsequently adopted the practice in good faith did so unaware that they were being trolled.

Gebrochts, referring to broken pieces of matza that are soaked in or mixed with liquids such as water, oil, and eggs, originated in the late eighteenth century as early devotees of Hasidism adopted the extra stringency of avoiding bringing matza in contact with water, out of a concern that any flour that had not been kneaded into the dough, and still remained unnoticed on or in the matza after baking, would become chametz when wet. While the Talmud and medieval authorities explicitly cite contemporary practice as unconcerned for such an eventuality, the extra measure of care for Passover's strictures caught on among the Hasidim, and became standard among Jewish communities influenced by the movement. The Maggid disclosed in an interview that the time had come to set the record straight, and that he never meant for people to take the concern seriously.

"Anyone who knows the sources, as a Hasid is expected to do, would know immediately it's out of line even with what our holy ancestors practiced," he explained. "What does it mean, after all, if the saintly Maharal, Rashi, and Rambam ate gebrochts - that we are somehow more devoted to the laws than those giants? My friends and I were sure that our disciples, who were learned men, would get the joke, and that would be the end of that. But it didn't happen that way. I guess we should have realized some people are so earnest they can't detect irony. Now Hasidim will never know the Passover pleasure of chicken soup with kneidlach, of matza brei, of matza meal chremzlach. And that's a shame."

He did, however, offer advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, suggesting that someone manufacture an oral insert to be sold to adherents of gebrochts, designed to prevent saliva from touching the matza in one's mouth, lest it become chametz before being swallowed.

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04/19 Links Pt1: Glick: General Mattis and the Fatah tautology; Marwan Barghouti Is No Nelson Mandela

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: General Mattis and the Fatah tautology

On Friday, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit Israel as part of a tour of the region that will bring him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Djibouti. The declared purpose of Mattis’s trip is to “reaffirm key US military alliances, engage with strategic partners in the Middle East and Africa, and discuss cooperative efforts to counter destabilizing activities and defeat extremist terror organizations.”
Ahead of his visit, Mattis should spend some time considering the hunger strike being carried out by the Palestinian terrorists imprisoned by Israel. A serious consideration of the strike will tell him more about the nature of the Palestinian conflict with Israel than a hundred “expert” briefings.
There are several important things for Mattis to consider in relation to the strike.
The first thing he needs to note is that all of the terrorists on strike are members of the Fatah terrorist group.
This fact should signal to General Mattis that Fatah is not a normal political party. In fact, it is a terrorist organization that has a political party.
The second thing Mattis needs to consider about the strike is that it is supported by the international Left.
To understand why, Mattis needs to recognize the Fatah tautology.

PMW: PA students are read letter glorifying terror written by terrorist murderer

In line with the Palestinian Authority's policy of teaching children to see terrorists as heroes and all violence as internationally accepted means to confront Israel, the PA Ministry of Education decided that a letter by imprisoned terrorist Marwan Barghouti should be read to all "students of Palestine."
Marwan Barghouti is serving 5 life sentences for orchestrating three shooting attacks that killed 5 people in 2001-2002.
Barghouti's dominant messages in the letter are that the imprisoned terrorists are the students' heroes and role models and that studies and terror go together.
Referring to himself as "the great prisoner and the free man," Barghouti addressed "all the young people of Palestine" presenting himself and his fellow imprisoned terrorists and murderers who "have already chosen the path of resistance" as examples to follow.
While he emphasized that studying and acquiring knowledge is a way of "resisting," even while in prison, Barghouti focused on his personal experiences as a prisoner: "I was arrested for the first time when I was in high school... Imprisoned for more than 23 years, expelled for seven years, and subjected to pursuit and assassination..." He then concluded: "I say this to you in order to emphasize to you that the path of studies and the national path go side by side" - the national path being his euphemism for violence, terror, and murder. Barghouti underlined how he himself has been able to study while imprisoned:

JPost Editorial: No Barghouti option

Those in Israel who support Barghouti remember him from before the second intifada. It was a period in the late 1990s when Barghouti opposed violent struggle and led the fight against corruption within the Palestinian political leadership.
But Barghouti was radicalized as a result of the collapse of the peace talks in 2000 between then-prime minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. He turned to terrorism and became involved in the Tanzim, the military arm of Fatah which was responsible for some the most deadly terrorist attacks ever carried out against Israeli civilians.
Barghouti is a savvy political manipulator who has managed to remain relevant despite his incarceration a decade and a half ago. He is using the Palestinian prisoners as his latest ploy for self-advancement.
It is depressing that a man like Barghouti, with the blood of so many victims on his hands, has consistently been the most popular candidate to lead the Palestinian people. And it is not despite his murderously violent past, but precisely because of it, that Barghouti is able to beat a Hamas candidate for the Palestinian vote. This is the sad state of radicalized Palestinian politics that is the real obstacle to peace.
The idea that people can change is central to Judaism.
It forms the basis for Teshuva – roughly translated as repentance or contrition, but more properly expressed as a return to one’s true moral nature. If Barghouti were popular for a brave call to stop violent terrorism and embrace peace that would be laudable. If, however, he enjoys the support of the Palestinian street due to his track record as a murderer who inflicted pain and suffering on Israelis, that is intolerable.