Dalia Rabin: My father might have stopped Oslo

"Many people who were close to father told me that on the eve of the murder he considered stopping the Oslo process because of the terror that was running rampant in the streets and that Arafat wasn't delivering the goods.  Father after all wasn't a blind man running forward without thought.  I don't rule out the possibility that he considered also doing a reverse on our side.

After all he was someone for whom the security of the state was sacrosanct.
So they say that Oslo brought Arafat and gave them rifles and caused the
intifada. But historical processes develop, change and flow. It is
impossible to take a person murdered in '95 and judge him according to what
happened in 2000."

Dalia Rabin, daughter of PM Yitzchak Rabin
Interviewed in the Seven Days magazine supplement of Yediot Ahronot
8 October 2010
[Translation by IMRA]

New Emergency Committee for Israel ads

The Emergency Committee for Israel PAC has begun airing television ads in two close races featuring incumbents who signed the notorious "Gaza 54" letter and who have failed to support a strong US-Israel relationship.
The two ads, which can be viewed at www.ecipac.org, target Rep. John Tierney (MA-6) and Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) and will air hundreds of times in each district in this last week before Election Day.
Between now and Nov. 2nd, ECI PAC will continue highlighting the records of those incumbents in tightly-contested Congressional races who have not stood with Israel, with the goal of making sure the next Congress supports a strong U.S.-Israel alliance.
Here's the Tierney ad. Let's go to the videotape.

And here's the Holt ad. Let's go to the videotape.

Who will be next? Heh.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Noah

David

Simon

One Palestinian Cartoon Shows Why There Isn't (And Won't Soon Be) Peace

In the cartoon, a young boy is being instructed in the Arabic alphabet by the teacher. But even before he starts with the letters, the very basis of his world view and knowledge is presented (in his thought balloon) as this: All of Israel must be replaced by Palestine. See the map on the right side of the balloon, remembering Arabic is read from right to left. This goal is presented as the foundation stone, the guiding light, the very basis of Palestinian thought and identity.

Here's another example of the kind of people the PA admires as heroes--terrorists who attacked Israeli civilians.

http://xrl.us/Falestinian h/t solomonia.com via rubinreports.blogspot.com

Motion Picture Academy Gives Oscar to Jean-Luc Godard a filmmaker who Essentially Accused Israel of Hitler

The Zionist Organization of America has condemned a decision by the Motion Picture Academy to grant an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement to French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.

Godard has what the ZOA calls an 'unremitting obsession with Jews.'

In 1968, said ZOA, Godard called Jewish producer Pierre Braunberger “sale juif” (“filthy Jew”); in a 1976 documentary he contrasted the lives of a French and Arab family and featured flickering images of Golda Meir and Adolf Hitler, proposing them as comparable tyrants.

According to the statement, Godard has also defended the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, described the State of Israel as “a cancer on the map of the Middle East,” and has justified acts of Arab terrorism by saying that “Israel is a paradoxical form of Nazism’s historical resurgence.”

A more recent anti-Israel comment made by Godard was in a 2009 article in Le Monde, in which he is quoted as making an off-camera comment during the filming of a 2006 documentary: “Palestinians’ suicide bombings in order to bring a Palestinian State into existence ultimately resemble what the Jews did by allowing themselves to be led like sheep to be slaughtered in gas chambers, sacrificing themselves to bring into existence the State of Israel … Basically, there were six million kamikazes …". The odious comparison was followed by his saying that "Hollywood was invented by Jewish gangsters.”

ZOA expresses its disappointment at the Academy’s response when presented by the Forward with some of Godard’s remarks, which read: “The Academy is aware that Jean-Luc Godard has made statements in the past that some have construed as anti-Semitic. We are also aware of detailed rebuttals to that charge. Anti-Semitism is of course deplorable, but the Academy has not found the accusations against M. Godard persuasive.”

Godard won't be there. Read the whole thing.

I guess it couldn't be an Oscar season without a controversy about Israel.

/Sigh

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

wasn't as good as all the feminists said he was IMHOP

noahdavidsimon's posterous

HezbollahDenies Playing Cards

Friday, September 17, 2010, YnetNews reported:

Hezbollah has prepared a deck of playing cards serving as a hit list of senior Israeli officials it holds responsible for the February 2008 assassination of senior member of the organization, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus. Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam has publicized a hit list of senior Israeli officials. At the top of the list, constituting the "ace card" is Mossad Director Meir Dagan.

Today, Hezbollah is denying the story:

Hizbullah denied it has produced playing cards bearing pictures of Israeli officials to be targeted in assassinations.
The denial came in response to Kuwaiti, Israeli and U.S. media reports claiming Hizbullah had produced the cards to identify candidates for "revenge assassinations" over the killing of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh in a Damascus bombing in 2008.
"It would be against the culture of Hizbullah for it to use such reckless methods," Hizbullah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi told The Daily Star.
He noted that card playing is generally disapprove in Islamic culture, adding that "Hizbullah does not endorse or sanction" the production or use of such cards.

The Hezbollah denial is of course absurd.
First of all, "reckless" is exactly the description one would give to Hezbollah's kidnapping of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in 2006--which led to a war for which many in Lebanon have still not forgiven Hezbollah.
Secondly, it is odd of Hezbollah to be squeamish about playing cards due to "Islamic culture" when they are heavily involved in illegal drug trafficking. In October 2005, Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of Director of American Center for Democracy, testified before the House of Commons in Ottawa about terrorism financing:

...Since the mid 1980s, Hizballah has used illicit drugs as a major funding source and weapon against the West. An official Iranian fatwa ruled: “We are making these drugs for Satan America and the Jews. If we cannot kill them with guns, so we will kill them with drugs.”

If Hezbollah can make that excuse to allow them to use the drug trade to fund their terrorism, it's a cinch to get around the issue of manufacturing playing cards.
By the way, the YnetNews article mentions claims by Hezbollah that they had been close to assassinating an Israeli "big fish," but called it off because of the Gaza Flotilla episode. That same article also mentions that Israel came close on two occasions to assassinating Hezbollah Nasrallah.
Nasrallah was not available for comment, but I think we can imagine what it might be.

via daledamos.blogspot.com

Go Fish

noahdavidsimon's posterous

Israel proposes using Fayyad allied Fatah at border with Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel – The Israeli general who controls the gates of Hamas-run Gaza says he is pursuing a complex and delicate strategy: enable exports from and development in the impoverished Palestinian territory while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from getting credit for any progress.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot said Israel seeks to work with Hamas' rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, to help revive the economy. Fayyad would set priorities for what Gaza needs and place his people at the borders, Dangot explained.

He said that the Palestinian Authority — driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007 and currently involved in fitful peace negotiations with Israel — must "show the flag there, to show their existence — even if 100 meters (yards) from there is a Hamas checkpoint." The new approach is just the latest of the twists and turns Israel's Gaza policy has taken since the Hamas takeover. Trying to contain and weaken an Iranian-backed entity on its doorstep, Israel has employed a wide range of tactics — from a punitive three-year border blockade to periodic cease fires to a brief and devastating war almost two years ago. Israel imposed the blockade after the Hamas takeover of Gaza, allowing in only a limited selection of basic goods. But it came under pressure to ease the embargo after an Israeli raid of a Gaza-bound blockade-busting flotilla killed nine Turkish activists in May. Dangot has since helped devise the more relaxed rules. Today, most consumer goods are allowed into Gaza, while many raw materials and building supplies remain restricted and exports are banned, with the exception of seasonal shipments of strawberries and cut flowers. The general says he hopes to ease restrictions further. This could include allowing in more raw materials to crank up Gaza's key industries — textiles, furniture and agriculture — and to enable more exports by spring. Cement, steel and other vital building supplies are only allowed into Gaza if earmarked for international aid projects, meaning the private construction sector — traditionally the engine of the Gaza's economy — is left on the sidelines. Dangot said he could envision arrangements in the future under which private builders could receive supplies, provided their projects are approved by Fayyad. Ghassan Khatib, the spokesman of the Fayyad government, called for a complete lifting of the blockade, saying Israel's policy has been counterproductive and only benefited Hamas. Hamas, for its part, has harshly criticized the Palestinian Authority for its coordination with Israel and has urged the West Bankers to instead seek a joint government that is closer to Hamas' hardline views opposing peace talks with Israel. Israel broadly says its policies were dictated by security concerns, such as halting repeated rocket attacks; Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets at communities in southern Israel in recent years, killing a dozen Israelis. Yet officials also acknowledge that there is a political dimension in that Hamas must not be perceived as ruling successfully. "We are fighting against a terror regime," said Dangot, who is called the military's coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza and is a pivotal player in policymaking toward the Palestinian areas. "You cannot be in a situation where Hamas gets credit for a policy" that improves the lives of people, he said. At its most restrictive, Israel's border blockade prevented the import of seemingly random items from spaghetti to pencils. The policy did little to weaken Hamas politically but came under intense global scrutiny after the flotilla raid. Did Israel have to wait for the criticism to ease the embargo? Dangot acknowledged that in "a few cases there were mistakes (and) some of them were not." The international community has praised the easing of the blockade, but says more needs to be done to get Gaza's economy, battered by a decade of conflict and closure, back on its feet. Dangot said the continued import restrictions are necessary because of concerns that cement, steel and other items could be diverted by Hamas to build bunkers and tunnels. Gazans say that the easing of the embargo has fallen short of needs, and the arrangement with the donors has done nothing for badly needed private construction. In a meeting with Dangot earlier this month, Gaza business people told the general that 75,000 to 120,000 jobs could be created in the construction industry, and that the entire embargo notion was misguided. "You succeeded to inject blood into a patient who is intensive care," delegation member Ali al-Hayek told Dangot. "You are not killing him and you are not reviving him. We need to re-evaluate the blockade, which failed." Dangot urged them to be patient, saying that change would be gradual. In the AP interview at Israel's sprawling military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Dangot noted that since the summer, Israel has already approved importing building supplies for more than 70 international projects, including schools and infrastructure. He said the issue of private construction could also be addressed in tandem with the Palestinian Authority in order to build up the Fayyad government's credit with Gazans: "We have to find a mechanism," he said. "If, for example, a group of local commercial people will come and the PA will (sponsor) them, this is what I am looking for." He said the PA can also help determine priorities for infrastructure projects. "I am not confirming anything without Fayyad's approval." Israel hopes that the Fayyad government will eventually re-establish a foothold in Gaza, including by deploying its representatives on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the main trade crossing with Israel. Currently, the West Bank government coordinates shipments to Gaza with Israel, while Gaza business people take delivery of the goods at the crossing. With a Palestinian Authority deployment in place, Israel would be able to allow more exports from Gaza, beyond strawberries and cut flowers, Dangot said. However, it's not clear whether Fayyad could send border inspectors to Gaza without an elusive unity deal. The current system is hitting some snags, including over which international aid projects get Israeli approval. Dangot said he has encouraged aid agencies to submit as many plans as possible. However, he has denied approval to two U.N. schools being built on an empty plot in Gaza City, saying they need to move to a nearby location. In the interview, Dangot suggested that there were Hamas facilities nearby or beneath the site and that the schools could therefore function as inadvertent shields for Hamas in a future conflict. Chris Gunness, spokesman for the main UN aid agency in Gaza, disputed any Hamas presence near the intended construction sites. Gunness said the UN is working closely with area residents to get the badly needed schools built, and asked: "Do you think the community would agree to build two schools for 5,000 children if they were going to be used as human shields?"

via news.yahoo.com

noahdavidsimon's posterous

Jerusalem Bagels

Za’atar powder is also served with these legendary huge bagels sold at every corner of Ancient Jerusalem. They were used to be sold with hard boiled egg, but now it is more common to have a side of a large falafel patty. Not the traditional way to serve neither bagel nor falafel!