Archive for February 9, 2013

Very Soon, Israel will rule the new Middle East

Instead of planning Israel’s annihilation, its Arab neighbors may find themselves seeking Tel Aviv’s favor the way the U. S. & Europe courted OPEC in the 1970’s & 1980’s.

By

 

If you still think the future of Israel looks bleak, think again.

A few months ago it looked like the Jewish state might not survive until 2013. Rockets were raining down from Gaza; revolution was about to install one Islamicist government in Egypt, and another was poised to take over in Syria. Iran was threatening to finish what Hitler’s Holocaust started, with an atomic bomb. The Obama administration seemed unwilling to stop that happening– while Israel’s only alternative to nuclear annihilation was a preemptive strike that was bound to start a major shooting war in the Middle East. Continue Reading »

Palestinian diplomatic mission to Cyprus upgrades to Embassy status

Cyprus continues to support the Palestinians after their successful bid last year in the UN General Assembly to have its status elevated from UN observer to ‘nonmember observer state’.

 

Cyprus’ foreign minister said Friday that the Palestinian diplomatic mission to her country has been upgraded to embassy status.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in Cyprus last week - Amos Ben Gershon / GPO

By The Associated Press |Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in Cyprus, February 20, 2012.          Photo by Amos Ben Gershon / GPO

Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said after talks with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki on Friday that the upgrade is in line with Cyprus’ recognition of Palestinian statehood in 1988 along with seven other European countries that have also since become European Union members. Continue Reading »

Ahmadinejad Attacked in Egypt for 2nd Time

Now it’s an Egyptian citizen who attempted to assault Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By Elad Benari

 

An Egyptian citizen attempted to assault Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo on Thursday evening.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo – Reuters

According to a report in the website of the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, the assault occurred at the residence of Mojtaba Amani, the acting Iranian ambassador in Cairo, during a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

The attacker attempted to physically assault Ahmadinejad as he chanted, “Down with Iran, he must leave,” Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

A journalist for the Turkish news agency Anadolu who was present at the scene said that the aggressor was swiftly removed by security guards. Continue Reading »

When will everyone get it? – Hamas does NOT accept Israel!

 

Western leaders & media jump all over Jordanian king’s assertion that Hamas accepts Israel’s existence, only to ignore Hamas’ leaders clarification that it, in fact, does not & will not….EVER.

By  Ryan Jones

 

 

Every once in a while, world leaders and diplomats try to spin a certain piece of news to make it appear that even Hamas is willing to compromise and accept Israel’s existence for the sake of peace.

The goal is obvious – to paint Israel and its policies as the sole obstacle to peace.

But every time, Hamas wastes no time clarifying what everyone already knows: that it, the group which won the last Palestinian general election, does not and never will accept Israel’s right to exist in this region. Continue Reading »

Dore Gold’s Lessons from the Eisenhower debate

According to former President Nixon, Eisenhower said that the Suez Crisis was the biggest foreign-policy “blunder” of his administration. There is substantial evidence that Eisenhower came to renounce his own Suez policy.

 

By Dore Gold

Israel should stay clear of the internal American debate over the candidacy of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary. The identity of the defense secretary can have profound implications for Israel, but this is an internal American decision. At the same time, it is impossible to ignore one aspect of this issue which touches on the history of U.S.-Israel relations. Recently, David Ignatius, one of the leading columnists of The Washington Post tried to compare Hagel’s worldview to that of President Dwight Eisenhower, who had to contend with the joint operation of Britain, France, and Israel against Nasser’s Egypt.

Continue Reading »

Betar Jerusalem Football Club set ablaze after ‘hate speech’ charges

Although the fire was without injury, the trophy room of the Football Club & the office of the property caretaker were heavily damaged.

‘The history of Beitar has gone up in flames’

 

By JTA

 

Arsonists set on fire the trophy room of the Betar Jerusalem soccer team one day after the indictment of four of its fans for anti-Muslim hate speech.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013. – Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters

Assaf Evers, a fire department spokesman, was quoted by Ynet as saying that the fire was caused deliberately early on Friday morning. Continue Reading »

What turned Nicky Larkin into an Irish Zionist?

 

Filmmaker, Nicky Larkin’s views were pro-Palestinian, but in a moment of clarity while making his film, his attitude changed.

“I remember thinking that if I was sitting in Dublin or Belfast or London, I wouldn’t have heard about the rockets or the kid getting killed – I’d have only heard about the nasty Israelis going in and bombing the s*** out of the poor Gazans.”

 

With red hair shorn to the scalp, a tattooed forearm, freckled white skin and a pint of beer in front of him (albeit Goldstar, not Guinness), filmmaker Nicky Larkin looks every inch your stereotypical Irishman. Continue Reading »

Brooklyn College supports BDS event, anti-Israel conference

Despite uproar after college’s political science department sponsors anti-Israel conference, BDS event goes ahead.

NEW YORK- Brooklyn College on Thursday evening hosted an event hosted by the Students for Justice in Palestine, during which two speakers, and dozens of their supporters, called for the boycott, divestment and sanctioning of the State of Israel.

Palestinians call for a boycott

Palestinians call for a boycott – Photo: REUTERS

The evening went ahead as planned despite an uproar that ensued after the public college’s political science department officially sponsored the event, sparking a debate over the weight of such a sponsorship and its appropriateness in an academic environment.

Continue Reading »

Chuck Hagel: U.S. Should ‘Reverse Optics’ in its Relationship With Jewish state

Former senator Chuck Hagel does not elaborate on his claim or explain how he believes Israel is keeping “Palestinians caged up like animals,” according to the Journal Star report. The comment is, however, consistent with Hagel’s long anti-Israel & anti-Jewish record.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations recently published a recording of a speech given by former senator Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s highly controversial nominee for secretary of defense, in which he said that the United States has to “reverse optics” in its relationship with the state of Israel.

Chuck HagelIn order to restore its credibility as an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians, America has to “reverse optics” in its ties with the Jewish state, the former Republican senator from Nebraska said in 2007, as first reported by Breitbart.com. Continue Reading »

Far Beyond apologies: UK’s Blood libel cartoon

Which British politicians, NGOs, media, academics & trade unions have consistently helped strengthen the genocidal image that so many British hold regarding Israel?

By Manfred Gerstenfeld

 

Apologies offered by the British weekly The Sunday Times for an anti-Semitic cartoon published on International Holocaust Remembrance Day address only one, albeit major, aspect of this issue. The paper stated that publishing the drawing “was a mistake and crossed the line.” It admitted that Gerald Scarfe’s caricature had reflected “historical iconography that is persecutory or anti-Semitic.” The drawing showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall using what appeared to be the blood of Palestinians as cement. Continue Reading »

In a SodaStream boycott push by BDS, Palestinians may be the victims

SodaStream is an example of how boycotting an Israeli company doing business in the West Bank can end up hurting the very goals that boycott proponents say they are trying to achieve: Palestinian rights & Israel-Palestinian peace.

By Ben Sales

MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank (JTA) – For proponents of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, SodaStream would appear to be a straightforward target.

The SodaStream headquarters in Ma'ale AdumimThe Israeli company, which sells a popular kitchen gadget that turns tap water into carbonated drinks, has a large factory in a West Bank settlement. When SodaStream announced that it would run an ad during the Super Bowl, the pro-Palestinian boycott campaign against the company reached a fever pitch. Continue Reading »

Hezbollah status to be discussed at summit meeting by EU leaders

Despite Burgas bombing probe, European & Israeli officials are a bit skeptical that Hezbollah will be blacklisted.

 

Israeli officials expressed satisfaction Thursday that the question of placing Hezbollah on the EU’s terror blacklist was expected to be discussed at a two-day summit of the leaders of the 27 European Union states that began Thursday evening in Brussels.

Bulgaria bus bomb.

Bulgaria bus after terrorist’s bomb. – Photo: REUTERS

Though there was no expectation that any decision would be made at the meeting, one official said the very fact that it would be discussed by the European leaders was a step in the right direction.

Continue Reading »

Syria denies Israel targeted missile convoy on way to Lebanon

In a letter sent to UN Security Council, Syria rejected statements made by U.S. officials, claiming Israel had struck a research center and not a convoy carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah.

 

Syria‘s UN ambassador says there is “no truth” to reports that an Israeli airstrike last week, which seriously damaged a scientific research center, had targeted a convoy heading to neighboring Lebanon.

Israeli F-15 jets

Israeli F-15 jet – Photo by AP

International media reported on July 31 that Israel launched an overnight air strike on Syria-Lebanon border.

Syrian state television said the attack targeted a research center near the capital Damascus, and later aired video footage purporting to show the site of the alleged Israeli strike. Continue Reading »

4 Betar Jerusalem fans indicted for racist chants

Team’s fans charged with yelling “death to Arabs” & “burn down their village,” at match after 2 Muslim players joined football club.

 

The Jerusalem District Attorney on Thursday filed two indictments in the magistrate’s court against four Betar Jerusalem fans for making racist statements against Arabs and Muslims, including new players that had joined the team.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013. – Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters

A statement released by the state said that the first indictment was submitted against three fans: Menashe Eliyahu Mani, Lior Shimon Danino and another fan.

Continue Reading »

Former Egyptian PM: Morsi’s gov’t nearing ‘end of the road’

From Abu Dhabi, his new home in exile, former Egyptian PM Ahmed Shafik slams his homeland’s current regime, implies Muslim Brotherhood is ‘insane’

By Reuters

 

Former Egyptian prime minister and air force pilot Ahmed Shafik, who ended his career amid corruption allegations and fled to the Gulf, is confident that with Egypt in turmoil seven months into its experiment with Islamist rule, its often-reviled political old guard will eventually be seen by Egyptians, and by Washington, in a more kindly light.

Shafik after 2012 election – Photo: EPA

“Egyptians reject the current regime,” said the last prime minister of Hosni Mubarak, the president who was ousted in 2011 after three decades in power. Continue Reading »