Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, September 02, 2013

9/02 Links Part 1: Kerry Has Proof of Sarin Gas, Arab League Calls for Action by UN and R.O.W.

From Ian:

David Horovitz: Obama unleashes horror in Jerusalem

Jerusalem is worried, too, of a direct line between requesting Congressional approval for military action against Syria — a relatively straightforward target — and feeling compelled to honor the precedent, should the imperative arise, by requesting Congressional approval for military action against Iran — a far more potent enemy, where legislators’ worries about the US being dragged deep into regional conflict would be far more resonant.
Israel remains hopeful that, to put it bluntly, Obama’s America will yet remember that it is, well, America. The alternative, it rather seems, is something the leadership in Jerusalem finds too awful to so much as contemplate just yet.

Anne Bayefsky: Obama Pushes Syria Intervention with Same Argument He Ignores on Iran

Virtually every argument the President made Saturday about why Syria threatens our national security can be applied to Iran many times over. “Risks making a mockery of the global prohibition” on nuclear proliferation. “Endangers our friends.” “Could lead to escalating use” of nuclear weapons. Has the “United Nations Security Council completely paralyzed.” “Flouts fundamental international rules.”
Congress would understand Iran. But the President of the United States refuses to make the case.

Kerry: We have proof sarin used in chemical attack

The United States now has evidence of sarin gas use in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday, adding that the “case is building” for a military attack.
A day after President Barack Obama stepped back from his threat to launch an attack, deciding first to seek approval from Congress, Kerry said in a series of interviews on the Sunday television news shows that the administration learned of the sarin use through samples of hair and blood provided to Washington by first responders in Damascus.

Syrian Captain Told: Fire Chemicals or be Shot

The messages were picked up by British officers. Anonymous Royal Air force (RAF) and Ministry of Defense sources who spoke to the Express said the messages were initially treated “with caution” due to fears they could have been planted by rebels.
The intercepted radio messages begin with a regional commander demanding that the captain of a Syrian Army artillery battery fire chemical shells.
When the officer protests, he is told “in direct terms” that if he does not fire the weapons, he will be killed.

JPost Editorial: Obama’s strategy

Aside from the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, there are no “good guys” among the sides of the conflict. The despotic Assad regime, which has no qualms about using chemical weapons to kill its own citizens, is battling against forces aligned with al-Qaida – the archenemy of the US – and against the Muslim Brotherhood.
It is to Obama’s credit that in his address on Saturday night, he said what was needed to be said: “I’ve told you what I believe, that our security and our values demand that we cannot turn away from the massacre of countless civilians with chemical weapons.”
Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval – rather than a sign of weakness of wishy-washy indecision – might instead be the wise move ahead of such a potentially volatile action.

Invoking Israel, Kerry Says Congress will Vote 'Aye'

John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, said on Sunday that the administration had new evidence that sarin gas was used in an attack by Syrian government forces that killed 1,400 people last month. Kerry also said that he is certain that Congress will approve the attack on Syria, and invoked the name of Israel in this context.
“I can’t contemplate that Congress would turn its back on Israel and Jordan and the allies of the region,” Kerry said on “Fox News Sunday,” saying that lawmakers had a duty to act to uphold international norms against using chemical weapons. Kerry stressed that it was important to send a tough message to other nations pursuing weapons programs, like Iran and North Korea.

David Cameron may mull putting Syria action back on table

According to a report in the Times of London, Cameron’s hasty decision to rule out action in Syria following a parliamentary vote last week rejecting intervention was taken to mean that Britain would not get involved even if the regime of President Bashar Assad would carry out an additional chemical weapons attack. This reportedly stunned even Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, the main opponent of the bill.
Calls to reconsider were led by Tory leader Lord Howard of Lympne, London Mayor Boris Johnson, former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, and former Tory foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

Syrian Rebel Leader Praises Minister Uri Ariel

One of the leaders of the Syrian rebel groups had praise on Sunday for none other than Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel of the Bayit Yehudi party.
Abu Adnan, one of the rebel leaders in northern Syria, spoke to Israel’s Channel One News and expressed his appreciation for Ariel’s comments regarding the chemical attack near Damascus.
“Allow me to send a message of thanks and appreciation to Housing Minister Uri Ariel for his humane and valuable statements and for his beautiful expression of emotion toward the children killed in Syria and toward the women being killed in Syria,” Abu Adnan told the channel’s Arab affair analyst Oded Granot.
“We appreciate this stance and thank him very much,” he added.

Whoever wins in Syria, its Christians will lose

The relentless persecution of Christ’s followers is foretold in the Gospels. Suffering is portrayed as the pathway to triumph. The global position today conforms quite closely to that picture. Three quarters of the world’s 2.2 billion Christians — the expanding part — now live outside the largely tolerant West. At the same time, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reports that Christians suffer more persecution than any other religious group.
Within the Middle East, however, the story is not of expansion accompanied by persecution but of persecution leading to elimination. The ‘Sunday’ people are now following the ‘Saturday’ people out of the Middle East. The outgoing Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, who knows that history, has called the suffering of Arab Christians ‘a human tragedy that is going almost unremarked’. He complained that ‘people don’t speak more about it’.

Analysis: Gulf States, Rebel Allies likely to wait before doubling down

Salman Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that if the US congress rejects intervening in Syria and Obama follows that advice – similar to British Prime Minister David Cameron’s acquiescence to his parliament’s rejection – then “we may see even more heightened efforts by Arab states working with others to make a coalition of the willing.”
The current coalition he says is both “unwilling and confused,” and because the Gulf States are determined that Syrian President Bashar Assad must go, then, in such a hypothetical situation, they would work to build other coalitions, increase support for the rebels, and ally clandestinely with various powers.
In this scenario, there would not be direct military intervention by Arab states, but a stronger push of support for the rebels. This option, is not without its risks, said Shaikh.

Arab League calls for international measures against Syria

The Arab League is calling for the United Nations and the international community to take steps against Syria over its recent alleged gas attack.
Arab foreign ministers arrived in Cairo on Sunday for an urgent Arab League meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis and the potential military strike on the country.
A final resolution was passed Sunday urging the UN and international community to "take the deterrent and necessary measures against the culprits of this crime that the Syrian regime bears responsibility for."
The League's foreign ministers also said those responsible for the attack should face trial, as other "war criminals" have.

Syria asks UN to stop US strike, 'prevent the absurd use of force'

In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and President of the Security Council Maria Cristina Perceval, Syrian UN envoy Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari called on "the UN Secretary General to shoulder his responsibilities for preventing any aggression on Syria and pushing forward reaching a political solution to the crisis in Syria", state news agency SANA said on Monday.
He called on the Security Council to "maintain its role as a safety valve to prevent the absurd use of force out of the frame of international legitimacy".

Syrian army moves Scud missiles to avoid strike

At the headquarters of the army's 155th Brigade, a missile unit whose base sprawls along the western edge of Syria's main highway running north from the capital to Homs, rebel scouts saw dozens mobile Scud launchers pulling out early on Thursday.
Rebel military sources said spotters saw missiles draped in tarpaulins on the launchers, as well as trailer trucks carrying other rockets and equipment. More than two dozen Scuds - 11-metre (35-foot) long ballistic missiles with ranges of 300 km (200 miles) and more - were fired from the base in the Qalamoun area this year, some of which hit even Aleppo in the far north.

Hezbollah says it will hit Israel from within Syria

A source in the joint operations organization formed between the Syrian Army and Hezbollah said the group is seeking to keep Lebanon out of any “military initiative” it may take, according to the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper and cited by the Naharnet website on Monday.
“Hezbollah is controlling 8,000 kilometers [around] Homs and will not hesitate to participate in an attack by firing surface-to-surface missiles from Syria,” the source said. “The party will not use its tactical and strategical rocket launchers inside Lebanon.”
However, should Israel attack Lebanon, then Hezbollah will use its rocket launchers deployed in Lebanon to respond, the source warned.

Egypt’s Morsi to stand trial over protesters’ deaths

Morsi will be tried in a criminal court for allegedly inciting his supporters to kill at least 10 people, use violence and unlawfully detain and torture protesters. Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood will be tried with Morsi, including top aides and leading members of his political party.
The case dates back to one of the deadliest bouts of violence during Morsi’s one year in office. At least 100,000 protesters gathered outside the presidential palace on Dec. 4, protesting a decree Morsi issued to protect his decisions from judicial oversight and a highly disputed draft constitution that was hurriedly adopted by the Islamist-dominated parliament.

Egypt judges recommend banning Muslim Brotherhood

The panel said Monday in a recommendation to Egypt’s administrative court that the Brotherhood has operated in violation of the law.
The recommendation isn’t binding to the court, which holds its next hearing on November 12. It appears however a step closer to banning the group, whose legality was disputed even before Morsi’s ouster.

French interfaith imam assaulted, called ‘Zionist’ in Tunisia

A French imam known for promoting Jewish-Muslim relations said he was physically assaulted in Tunisia by a man who called him a “Zionist.”
The attacker of Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam of Drancy near Paris, punched him in the chest and shoved him to the ground on Sunday near Hotel Gammarth near Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.
“He insulted me, called me a ‘Zionist and collaborator’ and then he hit me,” Chalghoumi was quoted Monday as telling Le Parisien daily. Chalghoumi was assaulted in front of his wife and children, who also were hit by the unnamed attacker, the report said.

Hamas Mufti wants to kill anti-Hamas demonstrators

Palestine Press Agency reports that Sheikh Yunis al-Astal, a Hamas MP and considered the Mufti of Hamas, has told the Tamarod Gaza movement to "prepare their burial shrouds" if they go ahead with their planned anti-Hamas protest on November 11.

Al-Astal also has a history of making crazed antisemitic statements, as MEMRI notes:

The [Jews] are brought in droves to Palestine so that the Palestinians – and the Islamic nation behind them – will have the honor of annihilating the evil of this gang.
...
All the predators, all the birds of prey, all the dangerous reptiles and insects, and all the lethal bacteria are far less dangerous than the Jews.
...
In just a few years, all the Zionists and the settlers will realize that their arrival in Palestine was for the purpose of the great massacre, by means of which Allah wants to relieve humanity of their evil.
...
When Palestine is liberated and its people return to it, and the entire region, with the grace of Allah, will have turned into the United States of Islam, the land of Palestine will become the capital of the Islamic Caliphate, and all these countries will turn into states within the Caliphate. When this happens, any Palestinian will be able to live anywhere, because the land of Islam is the property of all Muslims.
...
Allah punished the Israelites many times throughout history. He punished them by means of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. He punished them by means of the Companions of the Prophet in the Arabian Peninsula, at Al-Madina, and at Khaybar. He punished them by means of the Germans, and before that by means of the Romans. Today, it is the turn of the Islamic nation to punish them once again.

By this logic, Allah must really be hating the Arabs nowadays.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

The Hizballah scenario

Over the past week or two, we have seen numerous threats from Iran and from Syria that any US attack on Syria would result in Israel being attacked.

The latest comes from an Iranian Chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi visiting Damascus:

“The Israeli regime will be the main loser of any military action in Syria,” Boroujerdi said at a press conference in Damascus on Sunday after a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He added that Tel Aviv has so far been defeated four times by the resistance and emphasized that it would suffer a fifth defeat if it launches another war.

“Military attack on Syria will set the entire Middle East region ablaze and will put the security of the Zionist regime [of Israel] in jeopardy,” the Iranian lawmaker stated.

So how likely is it that there will be an attack on Israel if the US drops a few bombs on Syria?

Iran is not going to attack Israel directly. It wants to maintain the illusion that it is not an aggressive country; it hides its attacks behind others. It also doesn't want to risk Israel responding with an attack on its nuclear facilities.

Syria is not likely to attack Israel. Assad has no desire to open up another front in his mostly deadlocked war. Already, we have seen Israel attack Syria directly to bomb weapons on their way to Lebanon with no response. While Saddam Hussein attacked Israel during the first Gulf War it was meant to draw a response that would bring the Arab world to his side, but today the Arab world would not mind too much if Israel responded forcefully against the Syrian regime.

That leaves Hizballah.

It is doubtful that Hizballah wants to start any attack on Israel. It is already stretched thin with thousands of troops in Syria, and battling its image in Lebanon as the residents of that country are increasingly upset at Hizballah's adventurism and its slowly dragging them into a war they want nothing to do with.

For its part, Hizballah has been stubbornly silent among the Lebanon/Syria/Iran axis as to how any attack would affect Israel.

However, Hizballah is not an independent actor. It is effectively an arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. If Iran demands that Hizballah shoot rockets at Israel, Nasrallah cannot say no. And as we noted, Iran likes to hide its aggression behind others.

While Israel would be forced to respond to a Hizballah attack directly, it would make sense for Israel to pre-emptively state that any attack from Hizballah would be considered to have been done at the urging of Syria and Iran, and that any response will not only be directed at the source of the rockets but at the source of the command.

If this is a war of rhetoric. Syria and Iran think that they can dissuade Western powers from acting because of threats to Israel. Since they are quite subject to psychological projection, it makes sense that they themselves can be dissuaded from using Hizballah to attack Israel with counter-threats to them directly. While I don't think Israel should attack Iran (unless it is to use it as an excuse to neutralize their nuclear program that is quickly approaching a point of no return) a promise to respond to the real sources of the bombing might make Iran and Syria think twice before instructing Hizballah to attack.

Ma'an implies mosque preceded Tomb of the Patriarchs

At the end of an article about Arab protests against Jews living in Hebron, Ma'an gives some background, Muslim-propaganda style:

The Israeli military-controlled H2 zone includes the ancient Old City, home of the revered Ibrahimi Mosque -- also split into a synagogue referred to as the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

No, the entire site has been known as Tomb of the Patriarchs for 2000 years before Mohammed was born. The ever-liberal Muslims didn't allow Jews to enter their second-holiest place for hundreds of years.

Then again, Ma'an also says "Settlers in the property have committed frequent acts of violence against local Palestinians since occupying the property, including arson attacks and physical assaults, according to Christian Peacemaker Teams." without mentioning that Arabs have murdered quite a few Jews in Hebron over the years.

Oh, you mean you expected Ma'an to be truthful?

By the way, I couldn't find any video of the protests mentioned in the article. There was a protest in Hebron against American involvement in Syria, though, that was just as large ("dozens."). Why cover one and not the other?

Report: Muslim Brotherhood gave $250M to Sinai jihadists to attack police and army

Al Monitor translates an interview in Iraqi newspaper Azzaman with Hussein Abdel Rahman, spokesman of the Brothers Without Violence group, a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot that adheres to the same principles as the MB but eschews violence.

At the very end of the interview Rahman - who apparently knows quite a bit about what is going on in the Ikhwan - reveals a bombshell:

Azzaman: Amid persisting violence in the Sinai against the army and the police, some people are accusing Muslim Brotherhood leaders, mainly Mohamed Beltagy and Ezzat, of being involved in those incidents. Are these claims valid?

Abdel Rahman: The international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood earmarked a sum of $250 million to fund some jihadist movements in the Sinai, like al-Gama'a al-Islamiya and the Salah al-Dine Brigades, and supply them with arms sometimes to conduct acts of violence against the army and the police. Unfortunately, some are accusing Muslim Brotherhood youth of committing these acts, but it is not true. They are innocent of such acts that are caused by some leaders who have adopted the approach of Sayyid Qutb, such as Essam al-Aryan, Safwat Hegazi and Tarek al-Zomor. As for Badie, he did not manage any recent acts; Ezzat is actually the current mastermind of the Muslim Brotherhood.

While he denies direct involvement of the MB with the jihadist attacks in the Sinai, he admits freely that the jihadists are funded by the MB.

In this light, the Egyptian arrests of the Brotherhood leaders seems much more grounded in reality and less in harassment, as it sometimes appears. The implication is also that if the MB has given $250M to the Sinai jihadists, then certainly they must have bankrolled their fellow Hamas movement - and the idea that Hamas was involved in the Sinai attacks in some form becomes far more plausible as well.

(h/t Max S)

Lebanon has barred Palestinians from Syria for three weeks now

From IRIN:

Palestinian refugees fleeing the violence in Syria have been refused entry into Lebanon for three weeks now.

Since 6 August, according to Human Rights Watch, the Lebanese government has turned back Palestinians who had originally sought refuge in Syria when they were forced from their homes in 1948 and 1967, and are now fleeing once more with their descendants, this time from the conflict in Syria.

A source at the Lebanese General Security confirmed to IRIN the government is no longer letting Palestinians from Syria into Lebanon. Makram Malaeb, programme manager for the Syrian response at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said exceptions would be made for “humanitarian cases”.

According to the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, more than 92,000 Palestinians from Syria have already sought refuge in Lebanon, joining the 455,000 Palestinian refugees hosted in Lebanon before the Syrian crisis, largely in overcrowded slums that have often been hotbeds of unrest.

Once again, the people who discriminate against Palestinians the most are their Arab brethren. And practically no one is calling this what it is - apartheid by Arabs against Palestinians.

While the plight of these Palestinian Syrians is tragic, note the bias in the IRIN (UN) report: Palestinian Arabs were "forced from" their homes in Palestine, but are merely "fleeing" Syria. The terminology is exactly reversed from the truth, as most fled from Israel but are being forced from their homes in Syria.

Also, IRIN is parroting UNRWA's numbers of 455,000 Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon, when in fact a little-noted UNRWA report showed that this was a gross exaggeration and the real numbers are about 200,000 less. UNRWA collects money for 450,000 or so, but only supports 250,000, plus the 92,000 refugees that did make it into Lebanon before the gates were shut.

No one seems to complain when Egypt acts like Israel

From Ma'an:

Egypt plans to impose a 500-meter buffer zone along its border with the Gaza Strip, a senior Egyptian military official said Sunday.

Egyptian residents living in Saladin, al-Barahmeh, Canada, Brazil, al-Sarsouriya and other neighborhoods close to the Gaza border have received eviction notices.

Homeowners who received eviction orders demonstrated against the decision and burned tires in protest.

Army bulldozers have also uprooted trees in the border area.

The army has demolished 13 homes in the al-Sarsouriya neighborhood where tunnel entrances were found.

An Egyptian military official told Ma'an that most cross-border tunnels with entrances in fields or open areas had been destroyed in a security campaign to stop smuggling. He said it was more difficult to locate tunnels that opened into houses.

This was the same kind of clearing operation that Israel was doing on its side of the Gaza border - and which was permitted by Oslo - when Rachel Corrie was killed.

The article continues:

Egypt's army spokesman Ahmad Mohammad said that forces have destroyed 343 smuggling tunnels. He said the Egyptian military has also prohibited fishing near the border to prevent smuggling via the sea.

Hamas said Friday that two Palestinian fishermen were wounded and five others arrested by the Egyptian navy off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

"Some Egyptian navy ships fired in the direction of Palestinian fishing boats near the Egyptian border off the coast of Rafah at dawn on Friday," the Hamas government's press agency reported.

"Two fishermen were wounded and five others arrested," said Hamas.

They were both taken to the hospital in Rafah, medical sources said, adding that their lives were not in danger.

Hamas described the incident as an "unjustified act," and called for those "detained to be freed."

Isn't it amazing that when Israel defends itself from Hamas terror and smuggling of weapons, it is violating the human rights of 1.6 million Gazans - but when Egypt does the exact same thing, it is simply defending itself? Indeed, Egypt goes beyond what Israel does (by not allowing people and goods to cross into Gaza via the official crossings) and there is near total silence from the so-called "pro-Palestinian" activists.

Bashar Assad's grandfather's amazing 1936 letter to France

Arabic media has discovered an article written last year by Dr. Mordechai Kedar where he translated a letter co-written by Bashar Assad's grandfather, praising the Jews of Palestine and expressing fear of what would happen to an Alawite minority in an independent Syria ruled by Muslim fanatics.

The letter is amazing. As Kedar implies, the reason that the Alawite rulers of Syria are willing to fight to the last man to remain in power is because the alternative is that they would be exterminated - they understand the Muslim mentality of how they deal with minorities quite well.

Here's the letter, written in 1936, with Kedar's comments in brackets:

Dear Mr. Leon Blum, Prime Minister of France.

In light of the negotiations that are being conducted between France and Syria, we – the Alawite leaders in Syria- respectfully draw the following points to your attention and to that of your party (the Socialists):

1. The Alawite nation [sic] which has maintained its independence over the years by dint of much zeal and many casualties, is a nation which is different from the Muslim Sunni nation in its religious faith, in its customs and in its history. It has never happened that the Alawite nation [which lives in the mountains on the Western coast of Syria] was under the rule of the [Muslims]who rule the inland cities of the land.

2. The Alawite nation refuses to be annexed to Muslim Syria, because the Islamic religion is thought of as the official religion of the country, and the Alawite nation is thought of as heretical by the Islamic religion. Therefore we ask you to consider the dreadful and terrible fate that awaits the Alawites if they are forced to be annexed to Syria, when it will be free from the oversight of the Mandate, and it will be in their power to implement the laws that stem from its religion. [According to Islam, the idol-worshiping heretic has a choice to convert to Islam or be slaughtered.]

3. Awarding independence to Syria and cancelling the mandate would be a good example of socialist principles in Syria, but the meaning of full independence will be the control by a few Muslim families on the Alawite nation in Cilicia, in Askadron [the Alexandretta Strip that the French cut off from Syria and annexed to Turkey in 1939] and in the Ansariyya Mountains [the mountains in the western part of Syria, the topographical continuation of the Lebanon Mountains]. Even having a parliament and a constitutional government will not ensure personal freedom. This parliamentary control is only a facade, lacking any effective value, and the truth of the matter is that it will be controlled by religious fanaticism that will target the minorities. Do the leaders of France want the Muslims to control the Alawite nation and throw it into the bosom of misery?

4. The spirit of fanaticism and narrow-mindedness, whose roots are deep in the heart of the Arab Muslims toward all those who are not Muslim, is the spirit that continually feeds the Islamic religion, and therefore there is no hope that the situation will change. If the Mandate is cancelled, the danger of death and destruction will be a threat upon the minorities in Syria, even if the cancellation [of the Mandate] will decree freedom of thought and freedom of religion. Why, even today we see how the Muslim residents of Damascus force the Jews who live under their auspices to sign a document in which they are forbidden to send food to their Jewish brothers who are suffering from the disaster in Palestine [in the days of the great Arab rebellion], the situation of the Jews in Palestine being the strongest and most concrete proof of the importance of the religious problem among the Muslim Arabs toward anyone who does not belong to Islam. Those good Jews, who have brought to the Muslim Arabs civilization and peace, and have spread wealth and prosperity to the land of Palestine, have not hurt anyone and have not taken anything by force, and nevertheless the Muslims have declared holy war against them and have not hesitated to slaughter their children and their women despite the fact that England is in Palestine and France is in Syria. Therefore a black future awaits the Jews and the other minorities if the Mandate is cancelled and Muslim Syria is unified with Muslim Palestine. This union is the ultimate goal of the Muslim Arabs.

5. We appreciate your generosity of spirit in defending the Syrian people and your desire to realize their independence, but Syria at the present time is far from the lofty goal that you aspire for her, because she is still trapped in the spirit of religious feudalism. We do not think that the French government and the French socialist Party will agree to the Syrians’ independence, since its implementation will cause the subjugation of the Alawite nation, placing the Alawite minority in danger of death and destruction. It cannot be that you will agree to the (nationalist) Syrian request to annex the Alawite nation to Syria, because your lofty principles – if they support the idea of freedom – will not accept the situation in which one nation (the Muslims) try to stifle the freedom of another (the Alawite) by forcing its annexation.

6. You may see fit to assure the rights of the Alawites and other minorities in the wording of the treaty (The French-Syrian Treaty, which defines the relationships between the states), but we emphasize to you that contracts have no value in the Syrian Islamic mentality. We have seen this in the past, with the pact that England signed with Iraq, which forbade the Iraqis to slaughter the Assyrians and the Yazidis. The Alawite nation, which we, the undersigned, represent, cries out to the government of France and to the French Socialist Party, and requests them to ensure its freedom and independence within its small boundaries [an independent Alawite state]. The Alawite nation places its well-being in the hands of the French Socialist leaders, and is sure that it will find strong and dependable support for the nation which is a faithful friend, who has rendered to Francea great service, and now is under the threat of death and destruction.

[Signed by]:
Aziz Agha al-Hawash, Mahmud Agha Jadid, Mahmud Bek Jadid, Suleiman Asad [the grandfather of Bashar], Suleiman al-Murshid, Mahmud Suleiman al-Ahmad.

9/01 Links: Netanyahu Warns Don't Test Israel’s Strength, Hamas Terror Attack on Jerusalem Foiled

From Ian:

Hamas terror attack thwarted in Jerusalem

Two men, aged 22 and 25, have confessed to planning a terror attack in Jerusalem at the Mamilla Mall, near the Old City, police sources revealed on Sunday.
The men, who worked as cleaning staff at the mall, planned to use their access to plant a bomb in a trash can at the popular shopping center during the imminent Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) holiday season.
The men are residents of Shuafat and Ras Al-Amoud, two East Jerusalem neighborhoods, and therefore have blue Israeli identity cards, allowing them access to Jerusalem without going through the security check that most West Bank Palestinians must undergo.

Another ABC [Australia] fact-checking fail: Gaza and Breast Cancer

Why does the ABC continue to fail to adequately fact-check its stories about the Gaza Strip?
In July, I reported how the ABC uncritically parroted the easily disprovable tall tale by one of its guests that Gaza is devoid of birds, and AIJAC's Allon Lee reported Radio National host Phillip Adams' untruth about the population density in the Gaza Strip.
Now comes ABC reporter/producer Rania Zaydan's contribution. In her report for Newsline, "Charities raising breast cancer awareness in Gaza", Zaydan abandoned her critical faculties, offering up a story riddled with inaccuracies and baseless anti-Israel innuendo. (h/t EoZ)

Barry Rubin: So You're Going to Attack Israel with Chemical Weapons?

Of course it the bluff is called and if the aggressor added onto the attack, it would achieve far more damage to the attacker with no real benefit. Will such an operation contribute to Assad winning the civil war or surviving? Of course not.
So these threats should be laughed at--no matter that the threats must be prepared for carefully--and the response would be: You and what army?
But one can also ask this: In the face of such American behavior what possible credibility can be put on Obama Administration guarantees to Israel? Remember that the side Obama supports includes al-Qaida which is firing rockets into Israel even as America ponders an attack on the Syrian regime! For the first time America is objectively a co-belligerent with a force actively attacking Israel!

John Yoo: The Benefits Outweigh the Costs in Syria

To stand in the way of this pragmatic approach to international law, the White House has bound itself to a misreading of the U.N. Charter. As historian Marc Trachtenberg has shown, the U.S. delegation to the U.N. drafting conference did not understand the Charter to limit Washington’s freedom to use force. Senators, for example, were concerned that the new treaty prohibited the Monroe Doctrine. But in a May 1945 meeting, delegate John Foster Dulles said that “at no point would the member states give up their right to use force in all circumstances.” Under his logic, the United States could still wage war to advance the United Nations’ goal of maintaining world peace and security. Leo Pasvolsky, the key State Department official on the U.N. negotiations, confirmed that “there was certainly no statement in the text under which we would give up our right of independent action.” He later explained to the delegation that “if the Security Council fails to agree on an act, then the member state reserves the right to act for the maintenance of peace, justice, etc.”

Netanyahu warns enemies not to test Israel’s strength

Israel is “calm and confident” in the face of regional turmoil, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday at the weekly cabinet meeting.
Speaking hours after US President Barack Obama delayed a military strike at Syria pending a Congressional vote, Netanyahu declared that “Israel is calm and confident. Our citizens know that we are well prepared for any circumstance.”
He added: “The citizens also should be aware that our enemies have very good reasons not to test our strength and might. They know why.”

Samaria Prepares – Again – for Tel Aviv Refugees

In an emergency meeting held late last week in light of threats from Syria, the Samaria Regional Committee was instructed to prepare in case the region is asked to absorb Israelis from the Tel Aviv region.
Samaria (Shomron) could be used as a refuge in case of a chemical weapons attack from Syria. Military experts believe enemy armies will not target Israeli communities in Samaria due to the relatively high risk of missing and hitting an Arab city.

Israeli Politicians Slam America for Hesitation and Hypocrisy

He continued, “When the world is silent in the face of atrocities like in Syria, where one hundred thousand buried people are evidence of clear use of weapons of mass destruction, we see today as we face great danger, and question if no one in the world will stand by us, we can only protect ourselves.”
Bayit Yehudi MK and member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yoni Chetboun said, “Genocide in Syria needs to shake every person in the ‘free world.’ It is important to understand that without a surgical operation, weapons will remain in the hands of the insane.”

Obama blinked first

Even though just two years ago the U.S. Navy joined the coalition to topple Moammar Gadhafi in Libya without prior congressional approval, this time Obama flinched from making an even more limited move in Syria. Given that Obama was not going to formally declare war (only Congress has the power to do so), there was no logic to his choice to voluntarily relinquish his powers as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Unlike the decision of another Democratic president, Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1968 to unilaterally halt the aerial bombardment of Vietnam after years of fighting, Obama decided to silence his guns before the first shot was even fired.
Even if Congress approves military action in Syria after it returns from recess, the whimpering message delivered on Saturday by Obama will resonate in Damascus, Tehran, Moscow and Beijing, and further hasten the end of the American era.

Obama’s (unwelcome) chance

Further,it is all but certain that some in Israel and abroad will argue that a massive US strike on Syria would be counterproductive as it will only boost those in Iran who view nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantee against the “bullies of the world” threatening the Tehran regime. But they will be wrong. Irrespective of such Iranian calls, in the wake of a decisive American action in Syria, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would have to conclude that when the president of the United States vows that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, he actually means it.
As for Assad himself, he must conclude that the US response was his last warning – any future use of weapons of mass destruction would most assuredly spell the destruction of his regime.

Putin demands US present proof of Syria chemical weapons use

Putin also called the allegations against the Assad regime “utter nonsense.”
“While the Syrian army is on the offensive, saying that it is the Syrian government that used chemical weapons is utter nonsense,” he said.
Addressing US President Barack Obama as a Nobel Peace Laureate, Putin urged him to think “twice before making a decision on an operation in Syria.”

Rebels pan US delay in strike, say Assad emboldened

Opposition groups reacted negatively to news that the US would hold off on a strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad Saturday night, with some accusing US President Barack Obama’s of endangering them with his “backpedaling.”
“The death will continue in Syria because of the (failure of the) leadership of the United States to act decisively at this point,” Syrian National Council spokesperson Louay Safi said after the announcement, according to NBC News.

Syrian Officials Gloat: Obama Defeated Before War Began

Speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeem, Jamil said Obama “was defeated before the war began.”
America’s “muddled” position on airstrikes “has made a mockery of the U.S. administration all over the world,” he said, adding, “Previous administrations never cared about public opinion, Congress or allies.”
Jamil mocked the Syrian rebel fighters, who had hoped for a U.S. intervention that would weaken the Assad regime. “For them this popular saying applies: You brought us halfway to the water well, then abandoned us,” he taunted.

Syrian Media Releases List of Potential Targets in Israel

Specific targets labeled as "legitimate" for Syrian missile strikes included Israel's Dimona nuclear plant, petrochemical production plants in Haifa, Hazor military airbase, the Palmachim, Zala'im and Tzrifin military bases, Kalandia airport, and military and intelligence facilities in Turkey and Cyprus.

Weak world response on Syria boosts chance of strong Israeli action on Iran

The Iranians are carefully watching the world's response to the Syrian atrocities. If the response is not harsh enough, or swift enough, or serious enough, they may very well conclude that they would face a similar type of situation and read that as a green light to proceed with their nuclear program at full throttle speed.
The Israelis are also watching the world reaction. And Israel, too, may very well conclude that if the world's response is not harsh enough, or swift enough, or serious enough, then they too will feel that they have a green light to take action to stop the Iranians.
The lack of a strong international response in the face of rows and rows of gassed bodies wrapped eerily in white shrouds just 220 kilometers from Jerusalem might not compel Israel to take action against Assad, but it surely may compel it to think twice about relying on the world to rid it of the Iranian nuclear menace.

Suez Canal Authority says attack attempted on container ship

"One of the terrorist elements has carried out a failed attempt to affect the movement of ships in the Suez Canal by targeting one of the passing ships, Cosco Asia," Memish said in a statement about the Panama-flagged ship.
"The attempt failed completely and there was no damage to the ship or the containers it carried. The situation was dealt with strictly by the armed forces," he said, adding that the traffic of ships is moving normally. (h/t zvi)

Controversial Middle East ad pitched to TTC

An ad campaign about Israel and the Palestinian territories is being proposed to run on the Toronto Transit Commission.
The TTC says it will review whether to accept the advertising, submitted by a Montreal-based group called Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
The message is similar to a controversial ad campaign on Vancouver’s transit system from the Palestine Awareness Coalition, said Grace Batchoun, of the Montreal group.

Haldor Advanced Technologies Awarded Surgical Instrument Tracking and Management Agreement with Premier Healthcare Alliance

Premier, a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,900 U.S. hospitals and 100,000 other healthcare sites, awarded a three-year contract to Haldor Advanced Technologies to provide RFID enabled surgical instrument tracking and management solutions.
“We are honored to be have been selected by the Premier healthcare alliance as a new supplier partner”
Haldor’s real-time surgical instrument management solutions provide visibility into the location, status and condition of individual surgical instruments in operating rooms and sterile processing departments.

Israeli cyber security businesses poised to gain from Syrian crisis

The high-profile cyber attacks emanating from Syria may end up giving Israel’s economy a long-term boost by raising demand from its burgeoning cyber security sector.
Before the West could fire a single shot towards Damascus over the use of chemical weapons, the conflict claimed a fresh round of cyber victims when a group called the Syrian Electronic Army attacked The New York Times and Twitter’s servers on Tuesday.
Though not the first such attack by the group that supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, the timing as the world anticipated a US-led military operation, vaulted the hacking into international headlines.

Lingua.ly Transforms The Web Into A Language-Learning Opportunity

Thanks to a patent-pending natural language processing technique, Lingua.ly indexes texts on the web in Spanish, English, French, Hebrew and Arabic. After you’ve taken a few vocabulary quizzes and used the service for a little while, Lingua.ly will be able to recommend real texts for you based on the vocabulary you already know and the difficulty of the text.
Lingua.ly is a Chrome plug-in, so it’ll automatically prompt you to take new quizzes, personalized for you, as you browse the web. You can also use the plug-in to get recommendations for texts that are appropriate for your reading levels and mark up texts or browse Lingua.ly’s dictionary as you visit any site on the web.
Lingua.ly will remember the words you looked up and will start including those in your quizzes and base its reading recommendations on your knowledge. That’s definitely the strength of the service: it integrates with your daily web browsing habits and lets you learn new words as you go along.

"Jewish Voice for Peace" supports hate speech

At the "Jewish Voice for Peace" anti-Israel site, they urge their fans to lobby to defeat Proposition 76:

The California Assembly is considering Resolution 76, which opens the door to condemning advocacy for Palestinian human rights in California campuses. Arab, Muslim and progressive students of all identities should not be in fear of censure, discipline or reputational smear for criticizing injustice and demanding Palestinian equal rights. Defend campus freedom of speech. Tell your legislator in Sacramento to vote NO on Resolution 76!

Does Proposition 76 curtail anyone's right to demand equal rights for Palestinian Arabs?

Not at all. It mentions multiple times how important freedom of speech is, and it really only seeks to stop hate speech on campus.

Here are operative parts of the latest draft:

Be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the supreme importance of the right to freedom of speech , as protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and its rightful place on college campuses as a mechanism for the sharing and discussion of diverse ideas and opinions, including those that challenge a person to consider the merits of his or her own positions; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature hereby condemns biased, hurtful, and dangerous speech intended to stoke fear and intimidation in its listeners speech that promotes discrimination based on a protected characteristic, such as race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, medical condition, or political activities or affiliations ; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature encourages public post-secondary institutions to ensure that they provide a safe, encouraging environment for exercising the right to freedom of speech and for the vibrant discussion of ideas and opinions from people of all walks of life; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.

Which means that the so-called Jewish Voice for Peace is saying that anti-Israel activists should have the right to stoke fear and intimidate Israelis, Zionists and Jews on campuses.

There is really no other way to read it. JVP cannot figure out a way to be "pro-Palestinian" without using thuggish, intimidation techniques - and they seek to protect their right to use hate speech to make their point.

Which tells us everything we need to know about JVP.

(h/t Nitzan, Ian)

"Zionist spy duck" arrested in Egypt (UPDATE: Stork)

Al Ahram reports:

Egypt’s police put a duck under arrest late Friday as a device was found attached to its feathers, fueling accusations that it might have been used for espionage, Al-Ahram Arabic-language news website reported.

According to Al-Ahram's Arabic site, a fisherman in the Nile River of Egypt’s southern governorate Qena caught the accused bird, which was among a group of five ducks waddling in the freshwater.

The fisherman became suspicious that the device on the duck's body could be used for spying, prompting him to hand over the bird to the Coalition of Arab Tribes in Qena, who in turn filed a police report.

An anonymous security official told Ahram Online on Saturday that security and environmental experts are currently examining the device in order to determine its intended purposes and whether or not the little bird has repeated national secrets to anyone.

The story was later updated to say it was a stork, not a duck.

Arabic media say that the stork is suspected of being in service of Israel, which - they say - has been known to spy on Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries using birds.

Qena's security head stated that the devices were not explosive.

It's about time I added a new creature to the canonical list of Zionist spy animals. Since that article we've added puffer fish, super-rhinoceroses, a spy vulture, and the Turkish spy bird.

(h/t Gidon)