Media-ocrity of the Week
“Charges of anti-Semitism are not new to Richard Falk. A former Princeton University professor of international law, Falk has been publishing intermittently on Palestinian self-determination and what he considers Israeli military misdeeds for the past four decades.… To call Falk a ‘self-hating Jew,’ however, would imply that Falk harbors a deep discomfort with his Jewish identity, and that this anguish manifests itself as anti-Semitism in his personal life and academic work. In reality, Falk told the Forward, his criticism of Israel is less a reflection of his Jewish identity than his posture as an American leftist, perennially dedicated to history’s underdogs—in his eyes, the Palestinians.… In 2008, Falk was elected by the U.N. Human Rights Council…to be the special rapporteur to the Palestinian territories. The council itself has been roundly criticized by the United States, among others, as a biased body that focuses disproportionately on Israel.… Several [critics] pointed to [Faulk’s] essay on the ‘Palestinian Holocaust’…as evidence that he could not be an impartial observer in the West Bank and Gaza. ‘Comparison between the Holocaust and Israel is simply beyond the pale of reasoned discourse. It belongs to that genre of hate speech that includes claims that blacks are racially inferior, that women enjoy being raped and that all gays are pedophiles,” wrote…Alan Dershowitz in a December 2008 article.… ‘No one who holds such views should ever be appointed to a position of trust and responsibility that requires fair judgment and an ability to distinguish truth from falsity.…”—Excerpts from a Forward article written by Naomi Zeveloff, entitled “U.N. Official Answers Questions About Fierce Criticism of Israel,” which attempts to explain Richard Falk’s disgraceful anti-Israelism, which recently led the UN special rapporteur to “Palestine” to post a cartoon on his blog depicting “a [yarmulke- and Star of David-clad] dog chewing on a pile of human bones while lifting his leg to relieve himself on Lady Justice.” (Forward, July 21.)
Weekly Quotes
“Long after the political tussles of this year’s federal election have been forgotten, Jack Layton’s courage and grace in leading his party when he was suffering from cancer will be recalled, and will inspire.… In his obvious love of politics, Mr. Layton is a match for any other leader. It comes across as an expression of love of life, which is why, perhaps, Canadians feel they know Mr. Layton in a way they may not know other political leaders. And it is why his illness is a reminder that, in a democracy, what unites us is much more important than disagreements over policies.… When he said on Monday he will step aside until September, to focus on his fight [against cancer], he was like one of those hockey players, one of the very grittiest, who is knocked down and is struggling to rise, and the announcer says, ‘If he’s down, you know he’s hurting real bad.’ All Canadians stand behind him in hoping he is back in September, or at some later date, to lead his party again.…”—Excerpts from a Globe & Mail editorial, entitled “The Personification of Courage and Grace,” describing NDP Party leader Jack Layton’s courageous battle against cancer [Layton’s New Democratic Party displaced the Liberals as the formal Parliamentary opposition in Canada’s recent federal election].The Canadian Institute for Jewish Research wishes Mr. Layton a full and speedy recovery. (Globe & Mail, July 26.)
“Khaled Mouammar, President of the Canadian Arab Federation, has always had some fairly unhinged attitudes toward Israel. So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that he is now distributing an article with the subject line “Possible Israeli Connection to Oslo Attacks.” The article—which appeared on the anti-Semitic (and occasionally Holocaust-denying) web site www.veteranstoday.com—concludes as follows: ‘Increasingly, it looks like [the] Mossad’s fingerprints are all over [the Norway killings].… Massive car bombs are one of their specialties. They’re experts at these type operations, using convenient stooges for plausible deniability, usually without their knowledge. Spread the word, and keep the pressure on Israel and its Washington paymaster/partner, masters of mass murder crimes.”—Excerpts from a Jonathan Kay article, entitled “President of Canadian Arab Federation spreads conspiracy theory that Norway attack was Israel’s handiwork,” describing an article written and distributed by Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation.(National Post, July 26.)
“We are going to the United Nations because we are forced to, it is not a unilateral action. We have not been able to return to negotiations.… Our first, second and third choice is to return to negotiations.”—Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, at a gathering attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, blaming the current “peace process” impasse on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “refusal to negotiate on the basis of the 1967 borders and to stop settlement [construction];” this despite the fact that Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly called for “direct negotiations without preconditions” and stopped “settlements” for ten months. As recently as last week, in an interview with Al-Arabiya, Netanyahu affirmed: “I’m prepared to negotiate with [Palestinian Authority] President Abbas directly for peace between our two peoples right now. We can do it here in my home in Jerusalem, we can do it in Ramallah, we can do it anywhere.” (Independent Media Review and Analysis, July 21.)
“Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is upping the ante in the spat he precipitated with Israel about the Mavi Marmara last year. On Saturday, Erdogan issued an ultimatum that should the Israeli government not apologize by Wednesday for stopping the Turkish ship…Turkey will implement its ‘Plan B’ that might include an Erdogan state visit to Hamas-controlled Gaza.… Let’s hope Jerusalem does not buckle to Ankara’s threats. First, Erdogan’s demand that Israel apologize to Turkey is analogous to a burglar demanding compensation for being cut by broken glass during a break-in. Second, Israel’s willingness to consider concessions simply encourages the [U.S.] State Department and the European Union to demand further concessions.… Enhancing the irony of the current situation is Turkey’s willingness to engage uncritically with Hamas while at the same time loading its dialogue with Israel and, for that matter, many American Jews with demands. According to two separate sources in Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, the Turkish embassy in Washington maintains a blacklist of certain Jews with whom not to engage. The implication Erdogan and Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan make: Hamas terrorists are okay no matter how violent, but for Turkey, Jews are verboten.”—Excerpts from a Michael Rubin article, entitled “Turkey Threatens Israel,” describing Turkey’s hypocrisy in demanding that Israel apologize for last year’s Mavi Maramara incident prior to normalizing bilateral relations with the Jewish state. (Contentions, July 25.)
“It’s a done deal for us.”—Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon, Wu Zexian, in a statement following a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, reiterating China’s recognition of a Palestinian state, first expressed when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was stationed in Tunis. China was among the first countries to recognize “Palestine” and immediately assigned an ambassador to the “state” when the PLO moved to the West Bank. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, July 25.)
“Flotilla Folk want to be human rights heroes without really putting themselves in harm’s way. So they don’t go to help the victims of the brutal regimes in Syria, Iran, the Congo or Darfur. Instead, they choose to fight Israel because they know it strictly follows Western humanitarian standards and the rule of law. They get to pretend they are brave warriors, when in fact, they are only play-acting on a safe stage.… Flotilla Folk share a basic philosophy: They believe that the way to bring peace to the Middle East is through acts of civil disobedience that will get media attention, not through encouraging negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. They aren’t like ordinary people. They think it is okay to ignore terrorism against Israelis, to overlook the 8,000 rockets Hamas has fired from Gaza into Israeli communities over the past five years, turning everyday life into a lethal game of Russian roulette. They think it is okay to ignore the fact that Hamas is an Iranian proxy, and that Hamas’s founding document calls for the murder of Jews, the “obliteration” of Israel and its replacement with a fundamentalist theocracy that opposes all the freedoms and social justice values for which the Flotilla Folk claim to stand.… And they act as though it is okay to ignore the hate-filled incitement that saturates Palestinian society.… Fortunately, international leaders…in Greece exposed the hypocrisy of the Flotilla Folk and their false pretenses, and stopped them.…”—Excerpts from an article co-written by Roth Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, entitled “What do ‘Flotilla Folk’ do?”, exposing the double standards of flotilla “activists,” who condemn democratic Israel while ignoring the crimes against humanity committed by the Hamas and other terrorist organizations. (Jerusalem Post, July 25.)
“The main, immediate beneficiaries of what is known as the ‘Arab spring’ are Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. The riots in Egypt and the removal of Mubarak and his associates from power prompted two developments: First, the Muslim Brotherhood is no longer an underground movement and has become an important, influential political element. The group’s influence prompted Egypt’s government to… virtually suspended its battle against smuggling from Rafah to the Strip. Simultaneously, Egyptian security forces preoccupied with domestic developments completely lost their hold on the Sinai Peninsula. Some 300,000 Bedouins belonging to four or five large tribes are now the Sinai’s true rulers. These tribes’ main income is based on smuggling…and they quickly exploited the security vacuum in the peninsula in the wake of the revolution. As result of these developments, arms shipments to the Strip have been surging in recent months.… Hamas and Islamic Jihad hold thousands of mid-range Grad rockets, and a few heavy Fajr rockets that have a range of some 65 kilometers (roughly 40 miles) and can reach the outskirts of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv.…”—Excerpts from a Ynet News editorial, entitled “Growing Threat in Gaza,” describing the massive build-up of arms in the Gaza Strip by jihadist terrorist organizations following the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. (Ynet News, July 21.)
“This is a very terrible development. It was usual to hear this from the Mubarak regime because the elections were always fraudulent. [This] raises serious questions about the credibility of the coming election.”—Bahey El Din Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, responding to the decision taken by Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the military junta presently ruling the country, to ban international observers for the first elections of the post-Mubarak era. Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, the council’s legislative adviser, said the ban was implemented on the grounds of national sovereignty.(Christian Science Monitor, July 21.)
“During the 2008 campaign and throughout the subsequent debate over his health care legislation, President Obama used his mother’s experience as a cancer patient fighting to get coverage to pay for treatment for what her insurer said was a pre-existing condition as an emotional argument to sway skeptics. However, a new book by New York Times reporter Janny Scott has revealed this story appears to be a fabrication. The Times reports (in a story buried on page 14 rather than on the front page) that during the course of researching her book, ‘A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother,’ Scott uncovered correspondence showing ‘the 1995 dispute concerned a Cigna disability insurance policy and that her actual health insurer had apparently reimbursed most of her medical expenses without argument.’ In response to inquiries, ‘a White House spokesman chose not to dispute either Ms. Scott’s account or Mr. Obama’s memory, while arguing that Mr. Obama’s broader point remained salient.’”—Excerpts from a Jonathan S. Tobin article, entitled “Obama Lied About Mother’s Health Insurance Problem,” describing the U.S. president’s express willingness to lie about his mother’s fight against cancer to achieve political gains. (Contentions, July 14.)
“I had the privilege of serving in the IDF as an officer and a fighter, but I am not a hero. I never stopped a tank with a Molotov cocktail, and I did not fight empty-handed in alleys and the sewage pipes.… Those with the courage to fight the evil Nazi empire are the real heroes. From the time of the State of Israel’s establishment, our fighters have been inspired by those who dared to rebel in the heart of the Nazi empire at the height of its power.”—Israeli Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, at a ceremony honoring the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, praising the courage and heroism of those who rose up against the Nazis, in a “rebellion [that] put fear in the hearts of SS soldiers, who hesitated to walk the streets of Warsaw.” (Jerusalem Post, July 27.)
Short Takes
INTEL REPORT SAYS IRANIAN PRESIDENT WANTS TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR ARMS OPENLY—(Vienna) According to a recent U.S. intelligence assessment, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons, but is opposed by Supreme Leader Khomenei, who is concerned about international reaction to such a move. Fueling the speculation is a comment made by Ahmadinejad last month: “If we want to make a bomb, we are not afraid of anybody.” According to the security report, Ahmadinejad is pushing “to shake free of the restraints Iran has imposed upon itself, and openly push forward to create a nuclear bomb.” However Khamenei, who has the final word on nuclear and other issues, “wants to progress using secret channels, due to concern about a severe response from the West.” (Washington Post, July 22.)
AHMADINEJAD THREATENS TO SEND US, ISRAEL ‘TO THE MORGUE’—(Tehran) Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to destroy the United States and Israel if put on the defensive. “Resistance will continue until Iran sends its enemies to the morgue,” he said on his website, making a reference to the US and Israel who he said are “on the verge of collapse and gasping for their last breathes.”Ahmadinejad was reacting to news from Iranian state media that Islamic Republic illegally brought down a U.S. “spy drone” flying near its Fordo nuclear enrichment plant in Qom province.Iran, Ahmadinejad said, “is the region’s greatest military power.” (AKI, July 20.)
US REPORT WARNS OF AL-QAIDA TERROR THREAT TO UTILITY PLANTS—(Jerusalem) According to a recently released U.S. intelligence report, al-Qaida is planning a massive attack on a major U.S. utility facility. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report warns that violent extremists have obtained insider positions and are planning physical and cyber attacks at a major facility, including a chemical or oil refinery. Although the US State Department says no specific threat exists, materials recovered during the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in May suggest that al-Qaida seeks to carry out an attack on or around the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. (Jerusalem Post, July 21.)
US PAYING SALARIES FOR JAILED PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS—(Jerusalem) According to a Palestinian Media Watch report presented to the US congress in Washington this week, the Palestinian Authority allocates more than $5 million a month in US government funds to pay terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons. The report says the average monthly salary for terrorist prisoners is NIS 3,129 a month, more than the average monthly wage for a PA civil servant. According to the study, such payments contravene US law that prohibits funding of any person who “engages in, or has engaged in terrorist activity.” The US provided some $600 million to the PA in 2010. (Jerusalem Post, July 26.)
REPORT FINDS VAST WASTE IN U.S. WAR CONTRACTS—(Washington) According to a draft report by a bipartisan congressional panel, the U.S. has wasted or misspent $34 billion contracting for services in Iraq and Afghanistan. The three-year investigation comes from the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was established by Congress in 2008. Its final report lays out in detail the failure of federal agencies to properly manage and oversee grants and contracts set to exceed a total of $206 billion by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The report warns that the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops and assistance poses the risk of “massive new wastes of money,” because both the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan may be poorly prepared to manage projects funded with U.S. taxpayer funds. The U.S. government’s controversial reliance on private security contractors is another focus of the commission; the report says the inappropriate use of contract security has at times inadvertently undermined the aims of U.S. foreign policy. (Wall Street Journal, July 23.)
PA SUMMER CAMP SPONSORED BY FAYYAD NAMES CHILDREN’S GROUPS AFTER TERRORISTS—(Jerusalem) A Palestinian Authority summer camp for children has divided its campers into three groups named after the terrorists Dalal Mughrabi, Salah Khalaf and Abu Ali Mustafa. Dalal Mughrabi in 1978 led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, in which 37 civilians were killed, 12 of them children. Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) was the head of the Black September terror group, which perpetrated many terror attacks including the murder of two American diplomats, as well as the murder of 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics in 1972. Abu Ali Mustafa, who was the General Secretary of the terror organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), planned numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians during the Intifada. The summer camp is being held under the auspices of PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who recently visited the camp. (Palestinian Media Watch, July 21.)
HAMAS EXECUTES TWO GAZANS AS SPIES FOR ISRAEL—(Gaza) Gaza’s Hamas government has executed a Palestinian father and son convicted of spying for Israel in defiance of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who by law has final say in implementing such rulings. Hamas officials said the men had confessed to providing the IDF with intelligence that helped them track down Palestinians, including Hamas chief Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was killed in a 2004 air strike on his car. Human rights groups have criticized Hamas executions, which are permitted under Palestinian law but require Abbas’s approval. (Reuters, July 26.)
JUNE 2011 REPORT ON HUMANITARIAN AND CIVILIAN ACTIVITIES IN GAZA—(Jerusalem) The Israeli government, in conjunction with the IDF, coordinated in June the delivery of 4,795 trucks of humanitarian aid and development assistance to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, containing 118,651 tons of food, fuel and other products such as construction materials, agricultural products, textiles, cooking gas, and vehicles. Furthermore, 3,894 permits were issued last month to Palestinians allowing them to pass through the Erez border crossing into Israel; 1,634 permits were issued for medical cases enabling Palestinians to receive treatment in Israeli hospitals. As well, thirty-three new development projects in Gaza were approved in June, including the construction of new schools, housing units and road projects. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, July 12.)
REBEL CHIEF SAYS GADHAFI, FAMILY CAN STAY IN LIBYA—(Zintan, Libya) Libyan chairman of the rebels’ Transitional National Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has affirmed that Col. Moammar Gadhafi and his family can remain in Libya as part of a political solution to the five-month-old conflict, provided Gadhafi gives up power and leaders of the opposition can determine where in Libya and under what conditions he resides. Mr. Jalil’s offer appears to be a significant reversal for the leader, and echoes comments made by U.S., Italian and French officials in recent days to the same effect. The softening of Mr. Jalil’s position toward Col. Gadhafi and his family comes as rebels step up military preparations for a resumed push on Gadhafi’s forces along multiple fronts and the NATO powers are clearly tiring of the ongoing stalemate. (Wall Street Journal, July 25.)
DAMASCUS TO ALLOW ORGANIZED OPPOSITION—(Damascus) Syria’s cabinet has endorsed a draft law allowing new political parties to operate, reversing a decades-old ban on organized political opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s ruling Baath party. However, analysts in Damascus say the law is undermined by various restrictions and the continued constitutional provision that stipulates the Baath party is the leading party in “state and society.” Endorsement of the draft law holds the potential to open up Syria’s political system, but the violence against antigovernment protests for more than four months has elevated protesters’ demands for change. Protests are expected to intensify in the Muslim month of Ramadan, which is due to start next Monday. (Wall Street Journal, July 26.)
ASHKENAZI JEWS RANK SMARTEST IN WORLD—(Jerusalem) According to a study performed by Cambridge University, entitled “From Chance to Choice: Genetic and Justice,” Ashkenazi Jews, with a median IQ of 117, are the most intelligent cohort in the world, ranking 10 points higher than the second-ranked group from Northeast Asia, and 20% higher than the global average.According to USA Today, “Ashkenazi Jews comprise 2.2% of the U.S. population, but represent 30% of faculty at elite colleges, 21% of Ivy League students, 25% of the Turing Award winners, 23% of the wealthiest Americans, and 38% of the Oscar-winning film directors.” Furthermore, the Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies estimates that “Since 1950, 29% of the Oslo awards [Nobel Prizes] have gone to Ashkenazim, even though they represent only 0.25% of humanity. Ashkenazi achievement in this arena is 117 times greater than their population.” (Ynet News, July 23.)
