Be comforted, my people....

Tomorrow we read from Isiah: ... נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ, עַמִּי

"Comfort ye, comfort ye My people... He gives power to the faint; and to him that has no might He increases strength. ...they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary..."

This is a fitting antidote to the three weeks of mourning we have just concluded on Tisha b"Av.

Despite the Babylonian conquest and exile, the Hellenist desecration, the Roman destruction, the Arab dhimmitude, the Crusader orgies of cruelty, the expulsion from England, the Inquisition and expulsion from Spain, the pogroms through Europe and Russia, the Shoah and over 90 years of terrorism and genocidal Arab wars, the Jewish people, small in number (only 14 million in a world of 6 billion) lives and thrives with "with wings as eagles".

Israel has absorbed millions of refugees and created a vibrant economy on a desolate patch of earth that is one eighth of one percent of the area of the Arab nations surrounding it.

..."The secret to Israel's survival, despite all the great challenges it has faced, lies in democracy and respect for the worth of the [Israeli] individual.... Israel  [developed] manufacturing, industry, and invention. The [average] income there is double [the average income] in the neighboring Arab countries. [Israel] has rendered itself an inescapable fact. Throughout all stages [of its development], it drew its power from the honor it granted to its citizens, while its Arab neighbors trampled the [poor] creatures known as their citizens under military boots" '

Okaz (Saudi Arabian Press), June 7, 2011

Be comforted, my people....

"This year, Israel published numerous scientific studies that put it in first place worldwide in terms of the number of studies [published] per capita – 12 studies to every 10,000 people. America is in second place, with 10 studies [to every 10,000 people], followed by Britain, with nine. As for the Arab countries, they are all at the bottom end of these statistics.

... Today, there are 21 international science companies in Israel... It knows before everyone else the results of [these companies'] studies, reaping their fruits and using their scientific expertise to advance Israeli inventions.
"The Israeli strategy in science and technology is based on finding new approaches in scientific research and technological invention by training new generations of scientists – especially in physics, chemistry, and the natural and social sciences....

"Since 1949, Israel has established marine geology and nuclear physics institutes, as well as [institutes] for the study of desert regions and information technology. Israel makes use of scientific research and technological development to secure its coasts and meet its [other] strategic defense and security needs, and in order to protect the environment, discover and develop natural resources and use them before others, produce electricity, communications, and information technology, and research [alternative] energy..." 

Al-Watan (Saudi Arabian Press), June 7, 2011

Israel has the highest venture capital investment IN THE WORLD

• 2 x the U.S.
• 30 x Europe

Israel has the second highest number of companies listed on the NASDAQ

• 2nd only to USA
• more than all of Europe, India, and China combined

Israel has more start-up companies than Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada and the UK.

Israel is a leader in:

• computers,
• security,
• communications,
• medical device patents,
• clean-technology and
• biotechnology

Be comforted, my people....

There is NO Iranian messenger of peace and reconciliation

From The WSJ, AUGUST 2, 2011, by EMANUELE OTTOLENGHI*:

... who's the more moderate: the Holocaust-denying Ahmadinejad, or Khamenei, the patron of Tehran's murderous revolutionary guards?

...moderation, however we define it, is rarely the stick by which Iran's leaders should be measured.

...Khamenei, who has remained firmly in command of the Islamic Republic since he acceded to power in 1989, periodically puts on such shows [debates about "moderation"] largely to confuse Tehran's adversaries.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spreads his hatred under a portrait of Ali Khamenei.

AFP/Getty Images 

 

Nothing illustrates this better than Iran's nuclear standoff with the rest of the world. Led by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, the international community has negotiated with Khamenei's Iran since its clandestine nuclear program was exposed in 2002. Tehran has responded with a cat-and-mouse game, which includes changing presidents and their political orientations as convenient. Iran has crossed every red line drawn by the Security Council and has ignored every ultimatum, without any consequence of note. Through all this, Iran has mostly managed to come on top. Sanctions were a setback, no doubt. But the time, effort, energy, and resources invested by America and its allies in getting the U.N. to approve them, to say nothing of their mixed results, are a testament to Iran's diplomatic acumen and proof that its strategy is working.

As his nuclear scientists worked underground to master the secrets of the atom and his engineers developed ballistic missiles, Khamenei sent a parade of elected figures and emissaries to run circles around their Western interlocutors and deceive them that a compromise was in the cards. When Khamenei felt that moderation best served his nuclear ambitions, he allowed then-President Mohammad Khatami to travel the world and promote his "dialogue of civilizations," while the cleric Hassan Rowhani—dubbed internationally as "moderate"—negotiated nuclear issues abroad.

When ostensible moderation no longer served Khamenei's purposes, he endorsed Ahmadinejad and dumped Mr. Rowhani for the tough but worldly Ali Larijani. For good measure, he then had Mr. Rowhani investigated for nuclear espionage with the West. Eventually, Mr. Larijani too was unceremoniously removed to make room for an even more inflexible ideologue, Saeed Jalili, and Mr. Khatami's dialogue gave way to Ahmadinejad's rabble-rousing. The scenes are changing again now, and who knows what Khamenei's spectacle will bring next.

Behind the show, Iran's quest for nuclear weapons has marched on regardless of the "moderation" of the players. Mr. Khatami is reputed to have suspended Iran's weaponization program in 2003 for fear of reprisals, but this was hardly proof of reasonableness—it was more likely only a tactical retreat prompted by America's presence in Iraq and U.N. inspectors roaming Iran's nuclear sites. Mr. Khatami allowed clandestine nuclear activities to flourish just as his predecessor, Akbar Rafsanjani, and his successor, Ahmadinejad, did too.

Yet many Western leaders and analysts remain wedded to the belief that somewhere, in the intricate labyrinth of Iran's ruling elites, there lurks an emissary with the vision to heal and restore the long-lost love between Iran and the West. They believe the challenge of diplomacy is to find him and deliver him from both internal plots in Iran and the cynicism of imaginary Western warmongers.

This vision has endured more than 30 years of failures to find one reliable messenger of peace and reconciliation from the Islamic Republic. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many still believe that all that hampers Iranian-Western relations are our own follies, mistrust and failures of imagination. The contrary is true. 

When it comes to Iran, reality far surpasses fiction. Even our wildest predictions eventually fall far short of the threat we still confront.
 
*Mr. Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. This op-ed is drawn in part from an article to be published in a forthcoming issue of Middle East Quarterly.

Legislators find it "disgraceful" and "ludicrous" that PA uses aid to pay terrorists

From PMW, 8 August 2011, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik:

Last week, Palestinian Media Watch presented a report to members of US Congress documenting that the PA pays salaries to imprisoned terrorists from the general PA budget. In addition, the report showed that the PA actively honors terrorists who are serving life sentences for murder. Legislators in the US and Britain have responded that they find it "disgraceful" and "ludicrous" that their tax money is paying these salaries.

US Congressman Trent Franks:

"I cannot support sending millions of American taxpayer dollars to such an organization; especially when they are currently paying salaries to over 5,500 terrorists sitting in Israeli prison... No American funds to the West Bank were ever to be made available for the purpose of recognizing or otherwise honoring individuals who commit (or have committed) acts of terrorism. This disgraceful waste of taxpayer dollars is an affront to freedom and an insult to Israel, the most precious ally America has in the world." [FoxNews.com]

British MP Philip Davies:

"Tory MP Philip Davies said the payments were 'ludicrous'. He added: 'People think overseas aid is to try to alleviate terrible poverty in places where they can't afford to look after themselves. But it's being put to these kind of purposes. It would be bad enough at the best of times, but at a time when we have got no money, it is utterly inexcusable.'"

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations also released a statement by Richard B. Stone, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman:

"At a time when we are spending valuable resources to battle terrorism, the Palestinian Authority is using American and international aid to support convicted terrorists. Such a counterproductive policy undermines basic values and laws evaluating assistance from the U.S., and must be stopped if peace is to be pursued in the region."

Follow this link to read follow-up stories in Fox News, the Daily Mail, the Jerusalem Post and the Conference of Presidents' statement.

"Whose Jerusalem Is It?"

From Israel On Campus (McMaster University, Canada), Oct 1st, 2009, by Dr. Jacques Gauthier:

Sovereignty over Jerusalem and Its Old City

The central point of the lecture was to distinguish between political rights and legal rights. Legal rights are binding, and Gauthier's thesis claims that the Jewish people were given legal rights to Jerusalem through the formalization of the Balfour Declaration of the San Remo Conference by the Supreme Council of Nations, which was the precursor to the League of Nations, and the United Nations.

Gauthier invoked the legal principle of "la chose jugée" (judged issue) in his discussion of how all legal rights and claims recognized by the Supreme Council became irreversible, binding forever in a "sacred trust", and could not be changed with further legislation by the creation of the League of Nations that followed, and the UN after that.

• A solution to the issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem must be made in order for peace to be achieved
• Israel has claimed sovereignty over all of Jerusalem; the Palestinian Authority has claimed sovereignty over East Jerusalem (including the Old City)
• The Green Line is from a 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan
• Based on the Green Line, if Israel were divided today, the western part of Jerusalem would go to Israel, and East Jerusalem and the Old City would go to Palestine
• Maps from the 1^st Century CE and onward show that the borders of Jerusalem have remained almost identical up to today
• It is important to distinguish between legal and non-legal claims
• Herzl, 1896
  • Published his thesis, The Jewish State
  • In 1897, organized the first Zionist Conference in Basil
• Balfour Declaration, 1917
  • Turning point of legal rights of Jews over Palestine
  • Approved by the British War Cabinet during World War I
  • Britain was reaching out for Jewish support and made a binding commitment to help establish a Jewish state in Palestine
• Paris Peace Conference, 1919
  • Five nations formed the Supreme Council of Allied Powers – United States, Britain, Italy, France, Japan
  • Listened to different country claims over the defeated nations
  • Zionist organization presented their statement of claim (political document), stating what they wanted recognized by the Supreme Council
    • The Jews wanted a state, a home, and independence in due course
    • Wanted Britain as their trustee, to help them until they were in a position to declare independence
    • Weizman presented at the conference an request for recognition of the Jewish title to Palestine and the right of the Jews to reconstitute their national home in Palestine
  • Arab delegation
    • Represented by the Hashemite family (controlled Mecca)
  • The Arab and Jewish delegations met before the conference. The Arabs agreed to support the Jewish claim to Palestine if the Jews helped the Arabs achieve independence
• Article 22 of the League of Nations
  • Refers to territories that are not ready to govern themselves
  • Victors of the war set up mandates (trusts) over these territories
• Every treaty signed at the Paris conference dealt with rights and titles; the defeated nations had to renounce their rights and title to the victors
  • This was binding by international law
• San Remo, Italy, 1920
  • The Supreme Council did not have time at the Paris conference to make a decision regarding the Ottoman territories
  • Came to San Remo to make this decision
  • April 25, 1920: Decided to give recognition to the title of the Jewish claim over Palestine and to the Arab claim over Mesopotamia (Iraq)
  • Mandate for Palestine – political rights given to the Jewish people, and civil rights were given to the current inhabitants
    • Preamble recognises the Jewish connection to Palestine and the grounds for the Jews to reconstitute their national homeland in Palestine
      • This turns the political claim of the Balfour Declaration into a legal claim
      • 14 million Jews were deemed to have rights in Palestine if they chose to immigrate
• 1921: The Hashemites became angered by the French. To appease them, the British give the Hashemites the throne over Iraq and the throne of Trans-Jordan.
  • The land that had been granted to the Jews was divided up, the western portion became Trans-Jordan
  • Britain pledges support in establishing a Jewish state with the remaining land
• Partition Resolution, 1947, by the General Assembly of the UN
  • Not binding
  • The Jews accept the Partition Resolution (West Palestine would become an Arab state, Jerusalem would be an international city)
    • As part of the Resolution, a referendum would occur after 10 years to modify the rights to Jerusalem

The Jewish people are not occupiers of Jerusalem because they were given the right to establish themselves there

Conclusion: From the perspective of international law, there are binding decisions from the League of Nations that have been reneged and forgotten

Saudi Writers Acknowledge Israel's Success

From MEMRI Special Dispatch No.4036, July 29, 2011: On June 7, 2011, two Saudi columnists – the liberal Khalaf Al-Harbi, of the Saudi daily 'Okaz, and Fawaz Al-'Ilmi, of the Saudi daily Al-Watan – published articles comparing Israel's situation to that of the Arab countries. Al-Harbi opined that the secret to Israel's success lay in its democratic regime and its respect for the human rights of its citizens, while Al-'Ilmi wrote that Israel's prosperity was due to its investment in education and science. It should be noted that these articles are a rare phenomenon in the Saudi government press. Following are excerpts of both articles: Al-Harbi: "Do We Really Still Believe that Israel Is a Temporary Entity Bound to Disappear?"   ..."The secret to Israel's survival, despite all the great challenges it has faced, lies in democracy and respect for the worth of the [Israeli] individual....    The secret to the collapse of the Arab countries, one after another, lies in dictatorship and in the oppression of the individual... It is impossible for an Arab country, a neighbor of Israel, to succeed in liberating Palestine while denying dignity to individuals [within its own borders].    "Israel won war after war, and scooped up Arab lands larger than [Israel itself] in both size and population. It then went on [to develop] manufacturing, industry, and invention. The [average] income there is double [the average income] in the neighboring Arab countries. [Israel] has rendered itself an inescapable fact. Throughout all stages [of its development], it drew its power from the honor it granted to its citizens, while its Arab neighbors trampled the [poor] creatures known as their citizens under military boots. "If only we could get in touch with our teachers to let them know that Israel still exists, while the Arabs are headed for destruction. In order to know who will remain and who will perish, one must always check who has democracy, human rights, and social justice."  'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), June 7, 2011 Al-'Ilmi: Israel Is at the Pinnacle of Scientific Research, the Arabs at Its Nadir Al-'Ilmi wrote: "...Tawasul [Altawasul.com] is the official website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and, unlike Arab websites, it updates its entries every 12 minutes around the clock and offers them in Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, English, French, and Russian. On January 20, the website published a report which revealed that the only registry in the world for Arab bone marrow donors is located in the Hadassah Medical Center, associated with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It should be noted that the Arabs living in Israel constitute no more than 1.2 million of the world's Arabs, who number upwards of 400 million. ..."Before these Arab [donors] were registered, the Hadassah Medical Center largely failed to expand its donor registry, or to [arrange] donations from Jew to Arab or vice versa. But, thanks to the Arab doctor, perceptions have changed, and Arabs and Jews are willing to donate bone marrow [to one another] in order to save the life of someone they don't even know. "This year, Israel published numerous scientific studies that put it in first place worldwide in terms of the number of studies [published] per capita – 12 studies to every 10,000 people. America is in second place, with 10 studies [to every 10,000 people], followed by Britain, with nine. As for the Arab countries, they are all at the bottom end of these statistics. "Reports on the gaps in science and technology between the Arabs and Israel show that the annual education expenses of the [average] Arab citizen has dropped to $340, while in Israel it is more than $2,500. Indices... that measure income, education, and health levels place Israel at 23rd place worldwide, while Egypt has dropped to 199th place, Syria to 111th, Jordan to 99th, and Lebanon to 82nd. As for the number of scientists engaged in research per one million citizens, Israel has 1,395, versus 136 in the Arab world... UNESCO's statistics indicate that, on average, scientific research expenses in the Arab countries do not exceed 0.2% of the annual budget, whereas in Israel the figure is 4.7%, placing it in first place worldwide... "For ten years now, Israel has been forming strategic ties with scientifically advanced countries in order to merge [its research] with their research centers, and in order to encourage its scientists to take part in international development programs. Today, there are 21 international science companies in Israel... It knows before everyone else the results of [these companies'] studies, reaping their fruits and using their scientific expertise to advance Israeli inventions. "The Israeli strategy in science and technology is based on finding new approaches in scientific research and technological invention by training new generations of scientists – especially in physics, chemistry, and the natural and social sciences, as [Israel] is convinced that these sciences will allow it to control the world and direct its course. "Since 1949, Israel has established marine geology and nuclear physics institutes, as well as [institutes] for the study of desert regions and information technology. Israel makes use of scientific research and technological development to secure its coasts and meet its [other] strategic defense and security needs, and in order to protect the environment, discover and develop natural resources and use them before others, produce electricity, communications, and information technology, and research [alternative] energy..."  Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), June 7, 2011

The PA denies Jewish history in Jerusalem

From PMW, 11 August 2011, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik:

The Jewish Temple is "the alleged Temple"

Examples from April - July 2011

Earlier this week, on the Jewish day of mourning known as Tisha B'Av, which commemorates the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, the official PA daily denied the Temple's existence, referring to it as "the destruction of the alleged Temple" and "the so-called destruction."

For years, Palestinian Authority leaders have actively denied Jewish history both in ancient Judea/Israel and in Jerusalem in particular. Palestinian Media Watch has documented this ongoing PA policy of historical revisionism, which centers on the denial that a Jewish Temple ever existed in Jerusalem. PA political and religious leaders, officials, and even academics consistently refer to the Temple as "the alleged Temple." [Arabic: Al-Haikal Al-Maz'oom].

The Palestinian claims that the Temple never existed and that Jews have no history in the Land of Israel not only contradict Jewish sources, Christian sources, and the archeological record, but contradict the Quran as well. The Quran in Sura 17:2-7 mentions the "Children of Israel's" two periods of independence in the land and the destruction of both the First and the Second Temple: "...to enter the Temple even as they entered it for the first time, and to lay waste..."

The PA accuses Israel of forging a false Jewish history in the land while at the same time stealing Palestinian history, culture, and heritage. The Palestinians refer to these actions as "Judaization." The main target of this "Judaization" is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which Israel purportedly conspires to destroy in order to build the Jewish Temple.

Advisor to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Ahmad Al-Ruweidi, recently denied the existence of the Temple while commenting on an Israeli excavation of a tunnel:

"I personally visited the entrance to this tunnel, and it is clear that they [the Israelis] have built it modeled on the alleged Temple, as a basis for transferring the Temple in the future into the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

Follow the link for examples from the PMW archives from April to July 2011. The examples are arranged in two categories: PA leaders refer to the Jewish Temple as "the alleged temple" and PA denial of Jewish history in the land and accusations of heritage theft.

Noach Flug, leading campaigner for Israeli Holocaust survivors' rights, dies at 86

From Star Tribune, 11 August 2011, by Associated Press, USA:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Noach Flug, a tireless advocate for Holocaust survivors who successfully fought governments to compensate this aging and dwindling population, has died. He was 86. 

The Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel said Flug died Thursday morning at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. Flug "worked day and night in Israel and around the world for the good of his fellow survivors," center spokesman Uri Arazi said. "He was a man of integrity and a leader."

Born in Poland in 1925, Flug was deported from the Lodz ghetto, where he was a member of the anti-Nazi underground, to the Auschwitz death camp in August 1944. Nearly all his family was killed at that camp, but he managed to survive it and two other concentration camps. In 1958 he emigrated to Israel, working as an economist and a diplomat.

But it was as a champion of Holocaust survivors in their fight for reparations that he left his greatest mark. He held leading positions on the Jewish Claims Conference, the World Jewish Restitution Organization, the International Auschwitz Committee and the Israeli Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

Flug also served as chairman of the umbrella organization of Holocaust survivors in Israel, the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, lobbying the government successfully for larger stipends for survivors.

 In 2006, Germany awarded him the country's Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for his "decades-long work on behalf of survivors of the Holocaust and his tireless efforts to promote understanding between Jews and non-Jews and between Israel and Germany." Israel has more Holocaust survivors than any other country, some 220,000.

 "Despite the terrible suffering he endured during the Holocaust, Noach still found the strength, dignity and determination to lead the fight for compensation, restitution and above all, for justice," said Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress.

J Street’s soft sell for the uninformed

From JPost, 10 Aug 2011, by ISI LEIBLER:

It's unconscionable for American Jews to canvass their government to force Israel to act contrary to its will regarding national security.

 

Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J Street, has written a highly misleading book titled A New Voice for Israel that ... is a disingenuous attempt to paint a sanitized, respectable portrait of an organization whose principal objective is to undermine the policies of Israel’s democratically elected government.

It does so at a time when the Jewish state is facing existential threats and undergoing an international campaign of demonization and delegitimization.

The dividing lines between J Street and mainstream Jewish groups are not its views, but its efforts to convince Americans to encourage President Barack Obama to pressure the Israeli government. It is surely unconscionable for trendy American Jews to canvass their government to force Israel to act contrary to its will regarding national security, with potential life-and-death repercussions. J Street justifies this on the grounds that Israelis need “tough love,” comparing us to children on drugs who must be pressured into doing what’s good for them, or impounding the car keys of a drunken friend.

The blatant dishonesty of Ben-Ami’s stated willingness to back Israel during war was demonstrated by J Street’s approach to the Gaza conflict – which united all sections of the Israeli political spectrum, including the far-Left Meretz. J Street applied moral equivalence to Israel and Hamas, claiming that “there are many who recognize elements of truth on both sides of this gaping divide,” and reproached Israel for launching “a disproportionate response.” It stated that “we recognize that neither Israelis nor Palestinians have a monopoly of right and wrong,” and accused Israelis of “lacking sanity and moderation” in their attitude toward Hamas.

J Street also supports and finances the candidacy of anti-Israel congressmen, and constantly campaigns against pro-Israel resolutions in Congress. Immediately following the Fogel family massacre, J Street even opposed a bi-partisan congressional resolution condemning the PA for anti- Semitic incitement, claiming that “the current PA leadership has taken great political risks and shown real willingness to end the conflict.” It facilitated meetings on Capitol Hill for Goldstone to promote his discredited report. Furthermore, in 2009 – at the height of the Iran sanctions debate – Ben- Ami published an article opposing UN sanctions, although he has since changed his position.

J Street lobbied against a US veto of an anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council, prompting Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman to sever ties with the group, quipping that “J Street is so open minded about what constitutes support for Israel that its brains have fallen out.”

J Street repeatedly slanders AIPAC and its efforts to generate bi-partisan support for Israeli governments, labeling it an extreme right-wing body. It warns American Jews that their “one-sided support of Israel” could lead to charges of dual loyalties. One of its founding partners and a member of its advisory board, Daniel Levy, even told a gathering in Abu Dhabi that the creation of Israel was “an act that was wrong.”

J Street now ritually condemns boycott, divestment and sanctions, yet still welcomes organizations promoting BDS, like Voices for Peace, in their conferences. It also co-sponsored a congressional mission to Israel with Churches for the Middle East, a pro-BDS coalition. It honors IDF soldiers who refuse to obey orders. It supports the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity group, which calls for the liquidation of the Jewish Agency and Jewish National Fund.

Ben-Ami tries to make light of the scandal that exposed him as a serial liar, obliging him to apologize for having repeatedly denied that J Street was clandestinely funded by George Soros, a pathologically anti-Israel Jew. There are other anonymous offshore donors, and evidence that much of J Street’s funding emanates from sources hostile to Israel, including Arabs.

The list of J Street’s anti-Israel initiatives is endless. Most are either ignored or played down in Ben-Ami’s misleading book, which could well serve as a case study of Orwellian double-speak, topped by the dishonest manner in which it portrays itself as “pro-Israel”. 

It is reminiscent of the “pro-peace” communist front organizations that sought to dupe bleeding-heart liberals into believing they were promoting peace, whilst in reality they were advancing the interests of the “Evil Empire.”

Ben-Ami claims that it requires courage for detractors of Israel to speak up. Yet in reality the liberal media, especially the New York Times, treats him and other Jewish critics of Israel as heroes, providing them with exposure that they would otherwise never obtain.

Despite this, J Street has failed to expand beyond the very narrow band of the anti-Israel far-Left and naive fellow travelers. It would be an act of folly to accept it now as part of the Jewish mainstream.

24 NGOs call for UN rights council emergency session on Syria

From a UN Watch PRESS RELEASE,  August 9, 2011:

GENEVA — An international coalition of human rights and church relief organizations are urging the UN’s 47-member Human Rights Council to “end its silence on the atrocities now being committed by the Syrian regime.” The groups are calling for the council to convene an emergency session on the bloody crackdown, hold televised hearings in Geneva for victims to testify, and create a special investigator into rights violations by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Led by UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights advocacy group, the appeal was submitted in a letter today to council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre, signed by 24 non-governmental, humanitarian and church groups from Australia, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, France, Germany, India, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Switzerland, Uganda, the US and Vietnam.

The NGOs criticized the council for holding only one meeting on Syria more than three months ago, saying the UN body had “failed to take prompt or effective action to protect the victims of Syrian mass killings.”
“It’s wrong for the world’s top human rights body to turn a blind eye to Syria’s massacre of its own people, whether in Hama, Deir al-Zour, Idlib, Binnish or elsewhere,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.
The majority of the council, including African, Asian and Islamic states, generally oppose “naming and shaming” countries. Influential members China, Russia, and Cuba have defended Syria at the council. Brazil, India and South Africa blocked strong action by the Security Council in New York.

“When the UN allows power politics to trump human rights, the Assad regime gets a free pass to commit mass murder in broad daylight,” said Neuer.

The NGO appeal also called on the council to hold the Syrian military and political leadership personally accountable for alleged “crimes against humanity.”

Click here for text of NGO appeal

Scoring points with Terrorism

From NRO, August 4, 2011, by Clifford D. May*:

Who deserves the blame for the terrorist attacks in Norway? My answer would be the perpetrator and no one else — unless it turns out there really is a modern Knights Templar or some other organized movement that sent him on his mission of mass murder. But there are those who disagree, who see this atrocity as part of a wider conspiracy — or, perhaps, as a convenient stick with which to beat their political and ideological opponents. One example: The New York Times last week ran an editorial arguing that Anders Behring Breivik was “influenced by public debate and the extent to which that debate makes ideas acceptable.” The “broader” issue, says the Times, is that “inflammatory political rhetoric is increasingly tolerated.” ...A few days later, the Times brought in reinforcements, publishing an op-ed ...by two Norwegian commentators, Jostein Gaarder and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. They asserted that “the hatred and contempt from which [Breivik] drew his deranged determination were shared with many others throughout the international right-wing blogosphere,” which they characterized as “Islamophobic” and consisting of “loosely connected networks of people — including students, civil servants, capitalists, and neo-Nazis. Many do not even see themselves as ‘right-wing,’ but as defenders of enlightened values, including feminism.” Gaarder and Eriksen’s meaning is plain too: Those concerned about such issues as gender apartheid in Saudi Arabia, honor killings within Muslim communities in the West, and the genital mutilation of Muslim girls are, objectively, on the side of neo-Nazis and therefore they also should put a sock in it. Exploiting atrocities to settle political scores through guilt by association is a nasty game, but if we are going to play it, I’d look elsewhere. I’d start with Reuters or, more precisely, what we might call the Reuters Doctrine. After the attacks of 9/11, there were individuals and groups (emphatically including the policy institute I head) making the case that terrorism should be defined as the use of violence against civilians to further a political cause, and that expressing a grievance by intentionally killing other people’s children is never justified. We argued that civilized people, of whatever religion or nationality, ought to be able to agree on this principle, and, if they did, then those who target innocents would be seen only as terrorists, unequivocally condemned by the “international community.” Reuters disagreed. The global news agency took the position that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” This expression of moral relativism was embraced by many in the media, on the far left and far right, in academia, government, and transnational organizations. And that may indeed have paved the way for Breivik — who unquestionably fancies himself a fighter for European freedom — to believe he could use terrorism to focus attention on his grievances without de-legitimizing those grievances. If it works for militant Islamists, why not for a militant Norwegian? In his rambling 1,500-page “manifesto,” Breivik lists the names of many individuals whose writing he has read and who are therefore now being accused of membership in the “Islamophobic blogosphere.” ...Does that imply that those writers share the blame for Breivik’s murders? Shall we burn their books? ... Or should we reject as illogical and hypocritical the charge that anyone critical of Islamism is beyond the pale and tarred with Breivik’s brush? Consider: Both the Sierra Club and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski are committed to fighting ecological degradation. Does that mean that all environmentalists have blood on their hands?... Back to the Times editorial: It states that there is a “disturbing, and growing, intolerance across Europe for Muslims and other immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.” Where is the evidence for that? Which European countries have closed their borders to Muslim refugees? Which European countries have passed the equivalent of Jim Crow laws? Which European mass murderers have targeted innocent Muslims? The answer is none, but of course innocent Muslims have been slaughtered — and continue to be slaughtered — by Iran’s rulers, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Tehran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq. Do the math: Muslims, more often than Christians, Jews, or Hindus, are the victims of Islamic militants. But nowhere in Europe do Muslims suffer oppression and discrimination on the level that religious and ethnic minorities do in most of the 50 or so countries that hold membership in the Organization of the Islamic Conference. (Can you find any editorials on this issue in the Times or other major newspapers?) To be sure, there may be some Europeans and Americans who suspect that all or most or too many Muslims endorse the crimes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Anwar al-Awlaki, and other self-proclaimed jihadis. That’s wrong. But it’s no less wrong to encourage the fiction that Muslims are victims and that Christians, Jews, and Hindus are their victimizers. This construct already has led to a weird sort of affirmative action for Islamic extremists. For example, Naser Jason Abdo was awarded “conscientious objector” status by the U.S. Army not because he was morally opposed to killing but because he was morally opposed to killing fellow Muslims. Imagine if a U.S. soldier had refused deployment to the Balkans saying he couldn’t defend Bosnian Muslims against Serbian Christians. You think he’d have been regarded as a conscientious objector and given an honorable discharge? If there were ever any doubts about the conscientiousness of Abdo’s objections to taking up arms, he cleared those up following his release from the Army when he immediately stocked up on guns and explosives, apparently intending to replicate the massacre carried out by Maj. Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood. Hasan is another instance of what might be called reverse discrimination: Had he been a white supremacist instead of a Muslim supremacist, do you think his views would have been ignored and he would have been able to rise in the American military as he did? Toward the end of his manifesto, Breivik argues that “democratic change” is an illusion and that the only answer is “armed resistance.” He predicts that “more moderate” political efforts will be “persecuted” and that attempts at “peaceful reform will be crushed,” leaving violence as the only alternative. By demonizing those concerned by the pathologies afflicting the Muslim world and emanating from it, Times editorial writers and their allies are actually giving credence to Breivik’s worldview... *Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism and political Islam.

PA continues to honor "Martyrs" and not worry about donors' grants

From PMW Bulletin, 31 July 2011, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas' advisor, Sabri Saidam, recently defended the PA's honoring of Palestinian "Martyrs" by naming streets after them and marking their birthdays. Palestinian Media Watch has reported on the PA policy of turning terrorists into role models by naming events and places after them. Abbas' advisor said Palestinians should continue this practice and not be concerned about the condemnation from foreign countries or the possibility that countries who support the PA financially will cut funding:

"Blessings to the souls of our Shahids (Martyrs), whom we will not forget - not for the sake of a grant, not for the sake of a deal..."

Earlier this year, Saidam expressed strong support for naming a square after the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi whose bus hijacking killed 37 Israeli civilians in 1978. The official PA daily reported that he "emphasized that the anniversary of Dalal's Martyrdom-seeking (i.e., her terror attack) should be made greater by inaugurating a [city] square in her name." Following a popular inauguration of the "Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Square," Saidam told Agence France-Presse:

"Every one of us has tried in his own way to express his pride in this Shahida [Martyr Dalal Mughrabi]."

In the recent article he wrote in the official PA daily, he also expressed sorrow over the fact that some Palestinians view the Martyrs "as a burden" and do not wish to commemorate them out of fear of evoking international condemnation:

"How it pains me to see people who view our Shahids (Martyrs) as a burden because the donors will be angry and some countries will complain, or because economic and everyday interests will be harmed... Blessings to the souls of our Shahids, whom we will not forget - not for the sake of a grant, not for the sake of a deal, and not for the sake of a position."

Saidam lamented that Palestinian youth don't know the names of past leaders, and mentioned three Fatah leaders from the 1960s: Abu Ali Iyad, Abd Al-Fatah Hamoud, Ahmad Al-Shuqeiri. Abu Ali Iyad was appointed head of Fatah military operations in 1966, and was responsible for several terror attacks. Abd Al-Fatah Hamoud was one of the founding members of Fatah and Ahmad Al-Shuqeiri was the first chairman of the PLO.

When Palestinian Media Watch publicized the PA's plans to inaugurate a square named after Mughrabi in 2010, international disapproval and criticism forced the PA to cancel the inauguration. However, Fatah went ahead and held informal inaugurations in 2010 and 2011.

As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, the PA has named numerous places and events after Dalal Mughrabi....

Norway's sordid complicity with Nazism and Hamas terrorism

From Aish.com, by Alan M. Dershowitz:
 

In a recent interview, Norway's Ambassador to Israel has suggested that Hamas terrorism against Israel is more justified than the recent terrorist attack against Norway. 

... "We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel." In other words terrorism against Israeli citizens is the fault of Israel. The terrorism against Norway, on the other hand, was based on "an ideology that said that Norway, particularly the Labor Party, is foregoing Norwegian culture." 

It is hard to imagine that he would make such a provocative statement without express approval from the Norwegian government.

I can't remember many other examples of so much nonsense compressed in such short an interview. First of all, terrorism against Israel began well before there was any "occupation". The first major terrorist attack against Jews who had long lived in Jerusalem and Hebron began in 1929, when the leader of the Palestinian people, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, ordered a religiously-motivated terrorist attack that killed hundreds of religious Jews-many old, some quite young. [Actually the Mufti inspired "fedayeen" earlier attacks in the early 1920s against Jews and also against Arabs who opposed him - SL]

Terrorism against Jews continued through the 1930s. Once Israel was established as a state, but well before it captured the West Bank, terrorism became the primary means of attacking Israel across the Jordanian, Egyptian and Lebanese borders. If the occupation is the cause of the terror against Israel, what was the cause of all the terror that preceded any occupation?
 

Norway is the most anti-Semitic and anti-Israel country in Europe today. I was not surprised to hear such ahistorical bigotry from a Norwegian Ambassador. Norway is the most anti-Semitic and anti-Israel country in Europe today. I know, because I experienced both personally during a recent visit and tour of universities. No university would invite me to lecture, unless I promised not to discuss Israel. Norway forbids Jewish ritual slaughter, but not Islamic ritual slaughter. Its political and academic leaders openly make statements that cross the line from anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism, such as when Norway's former Prime Minister condemned Barak Obama for appointing a Jew as his Chief of Staff. No other European leader would make such a statement and get away with it. In Norway, this bigoted statement was praised, as were similar statements made by a leading academic.

The very camp that was attacked by the lone terrorist was engaged in an orgy of anti-Israel hatred the day before the shooting. Yet I would not ever claim that it was Norway's anti-Semitism that "caused" the horrible act of terrorism against young Norwegians.

The causes of terrorism are multifaceted but at bottom they have a common cause: namely a belief that violence is the proper response to policies that the terrorists disagree with. The other common cause is that terrorism has often been rewarded. Norway, for example, has repeatedly rewarded Palestinian terrorism against Israel, while punishing Israel for its efforts to protect its civilians. While purporting to condemn all terrorist acts, the Norwegian government has sought to justify Palestinian terrorism as having a legitimate cause. This clearly is an invitation to continued terrorism.

It is important for the world never to reward terrorism by supporting the policies of those who employ it as an alternative to reason discourse, diplomatic resolution or political compromise.

I know of no reasonable person who has tried to justify the terrorist attacks against Norway. Yet there are many Norwegians who not only justify terrorist attacks against Israel, but praise them, support them, help finance them, and legitimate them.


The world must unite in condemning and punishing all terrorist attacks against innocent civilians, regardless of the motive or purported cause of the terrorism. Norway, as a nation, has failed to do this. It wants us all to condemn the terrorist attack on its civilians, and we should all do that, but it refuses to live by a single standard.

Nothing good ever comes from terrorism, so don't expect the Norwegians to learn any lessons from its own victimization. As the Ambassador made clear in his benighted interview, "those of us who believe [the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel] will not change their minds because of the attack in Oslo." In other words, they will persist in their bigoted view that Israel is the cause of the terrorism directed at it, and that if only Israel were to end the occupation (as it offered to do in 2000-2001 and again in 2007), the terrorism will end.

Even Hamas, which Norway supports in many ways, has made clear that it will not end its terrorism as long as Israel continues to exist. Hamas believes that Israel's very existence is the cause of the terrorism against it. That sounds a lot like the ranting of the man who engaged in the act of terrorism against Norway.

The time is long overdue for Norwegians to do some deep soul searching about their sordid history of complicity with all forms of bigotry ranging from the anti-Semitic Nazis to the anti-Semitic Hamas. There seems to be a common thread.

The "Jewish Tribe" in Uganda

From Aish.com, 31 July 2011, by Menucha Chana Levin:

... Uganda is the unlikely location of a devoted community of several hundred people who are not yet converted to Judaism, but who have clung to its tenets for nearly 100 years. 

Unlike other groups who claim to be descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes, these Ugandans simply and wholeheartedly chose Judaism. Though isolated and persecuted, the Abayudaya – the Luganda word for "people of Judah” – practice full Jewish observance and yearn to be part of the Jewish nation.


...The Abayudaya was founded in 1917 by Semei Kakungulu, a warrior and distinguished ruler of one of the eastern provinces of Uganda. After studying and meditating on the Bible, he developed a lifestyle mixture of Judaism and Christianity. He later discarded the Christian elements after studying the verses in Isaiah 56:1-8 promising special blessing for converts who faithfully observe the mitzvot.

In 1919, Kakungulu started a sect known as Kibina Kya Bayudaya Absesiga Katonda ("the Community of Jews who Trust in God"). With great dedication to his new faith, Kakungulu and his followers underwent circumcision – something very foreign to that culture. He also composed a 90-page book of laws based on the Torah – including observance of Shabbat and the laws of family purity – that were to govern the community. Soon after, in 1920, a European Jew named Yosef arrived and during his six-month stay taught them about the Jewish holidays and kashrut.


Inspired by Yosef's teachings, Semei Kakungulu realized the need to establish a yeshiva school for strengthening and transmitting Jewish tradition. Unfortunately, as those dreams were starting to become reality, Kakungulu became ill and died in 1928. Though many of his plans died with him, he had already laid a foundation for the community by training future leaders.

One of Kakungulu’s dedicated followers, Reb Samson, took over and instituted a law which guaranteed the survival of this brave little community for several generations. Starting with his own daughters, Reb Samson insisted that members of Abayudaya marry only within “the tribe.” Without this ban on intermarriage, the Abayudaya community would surely not exist today. Further, Reb Samson trained teachers to lead other synagogues in Uganda, another key to maintaining continuity.

In the 1960s, Reb Samson contacted the Israeli embassy in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. He hoped that some of the Abayudaya would be granted permission to go to Israel, to study Torah, convert, and train to become rabbis. However, before those plans could reach fruition, the dictator Idi Amin captured Uganda in a coup d'etat. This brutal regime, lasting from 1971 to 1979, introduced extremely harsh policies. Amin declared a ban on Abayudaya religious practices: all synagogues were closed and Jewish books were forbidden. His intent was to make life so difficult that the would-be Jews would instead embrace Islam or Christianity.


The unfortunate result was that 95% of the Abayudaya did submit to Christianity or Islam, ending all of Reb Samson's hopeful programs and nearly obliterating the community. Those who remained loyal concealed themselves in bushes, caves or their banana plantations, engaging in “illegal prayers” late at night.
From a peak membership of 3,000, only 150 Abayudaya clung to their beliefs. At that point, the group adopted the name, Kahal Kadosh She'erit Yisrael – “the Holy Community of Jewish Remnants.”

Youth Village

Finally, after eight terror-filled years in which 300,000 Ugandans were brutally murdered, Idi Amin was overthrown and Lt. Gen. Museveni came to power. The new president immediately declared freedom of worship in Uganda, which inspired the Abayudaya youth to revitalize their community.

A farming youth settlement, modeled after a kibbutz, was started at Nabugoye Hill. Parents sent their children there. During the day, the children attended schools six kilometers away for secular studies. At night, they studied Judaism and Hebrew by the light of the moon. The youth village thrived; they built the Moses Synagogue and established a self-sustaining farm...

Torah Tradition

Today, the main Abayudaya community of 150 members resides in the village of Putti in the Pallisa district. A few hundred more are scattered in four other locations. They are subsistence farmers and also engage in brick-making and producing basic Judaica such as kippahs and challah covers. Their houses are small, grass-thatched huts. Yet in one respect these huts are different from other African homes: mezuzot are attached to the doorposts, donated by a man named Simon den Hollander who once visited.


The Abayudaya pray three times a day, with the men wearing tallit and tefillin every morning. The children are taught to say "Modeh Ani” and "Shema Yisrael." Married women go to the mikveh. They light Shabbat candles, make Kiddush and avoid any forbidden activities such as traveling and lighting a fire.

The Abayudaya observe kashrut and did not eat meat until two visiting shochtim from Israel taught them to perform ritual slaughter. Congregants remove their shoes before entering the synagogue, a custom practiced by Jews in biblical times. Lifecycle events, too, conform to Jewish tradition: male children undergo brit milah, and a “chevra kadisha” is responsible for burial ceremonies.


The Abayudaya have gained acclaim for their original music, which combines distinct African rhythms with Hebrew Psalms and prayers. Their religious-themed album, entitled "Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish people of Uganda," was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005.

Their religious-themed album, entitled "Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish people of Uganda," was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005.

This faithful little community, like many in Africa, lives in terrible poverty unimaginable in the Western world. They know that education is the key to the future, and have put out an appeal for Hebrew instructional textbooks and CDs, as well as English textbooks in all subjects.
Though not yet Jewish, the Abayudaya’s greatest dream is for a complete halachic conversion, to become true “members of the tribe.” A few Abayudaya visited South Africa, prompting one rabbi to write:

"I was impressed with their story and more so with their sincerity. They are clearly not of Jewish descent nor claim to be. I arranged with them to meet with the Beth Din, but it was just a preliminary meeting and no formal process of conversion has been instituted. I do hope they find a sympathetic halachic ear as I have not met people with such devotion to Judaism."

Their spiritual leader, Enosh Keki Mainah, told me of his fervent prayer: “"We yearn to go to Eretz Yisrael - the home of the Jewish people. God will redeem us soon and gather in our dispersed ones from the four corners of the earth."

Breivik and "totalitarian democrats"

From JPost, 28 July 2011, by CAROLINE B. GLICK:

There are those that seek to silence conservative thinkers by making a criminal connection between [their] writings and the acts of a terrorist.

Last Friday morning, Anders Breivik burst onto the international screen when he carried out a monstrous act of terrorism against his fellow Norwegians. Breivik bombed the offices housing the Norwegian government with the intention of murdering its leaders. He then traveled to the Utoeya Island and murdered scores of young people participating in a summer program sponsored by Norway’s ruling party.

... Norwegian and Western media have focused...on ...a 1,500-page manifesto that Breivik posted on the Internet. ...certain parts of Breivik’s manifesto read like a source guide to leading conservative writers and bloggers in the Western world. ...[some blame] the ideas propounded by conservative thinkers and the thinkers themselves for Breivik’s heinous acts of murder.

For instance, a front-page news story in the Times on Monday claimed, “The man accused of the killing spree in Norway was deeply influenced by a small group of American bloggers and writers who have warned for years about the threat from Islam.” The reporter, Scott Shane.. quoted left-leaning terrorism expert Marc Sageman who alleged that that the writings of anti-jihad authors “are the infrastructure from which Breivik emerged.”

That is, Shane quoted Sageman accusing these writers of responsibility for Breivik’s acts of murder.

...it is worth considering what separates liberal democracies from what the great Israeli historian Jacob Talmon referred to as totalitarian democracies.

... liberal democracies reject the resort to violence as a means of winning an argument. This is why, for liberal democracies, terrorism in all forms is absolutely unacceptable.

...As Talmon explained in his 1952 classic, The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, the totalitarian democratic model was envisioned by Jean- Jacques Rousseau, the philosophical godfather of the French Revolution. Rousseau believed that a group of anointed leaders could push a society towards perfection by essentially coercing the people to accept their view of right and wrong.

Talmon drew a direct line between Rousseau and the totalitarian movements of the 20th century – Nazism, fascism and communism.

Today, those who seek to silence conservative thinkers by making a criminal connection between [their] writings and the acts of a terrorist are doing so in pursuit of patently illiberal ends, to say the least. If they can convince the public that [conservative] ideas cause the mass murder of children, then [their] voices will be silenced.

Another aspect of the same anti-liberal behavior is the tendency by many to pick and choose which sorts of terrorism are acceptable and which are unacceptable...


... Ma’ariv asked [Norwegian Ambassador to Israel Svein] Sevje whether in the wake of Breivik’s terrorist attack Norwegians would be more sympathetic to the victimization of innocent Israelis by Palestinian terrorists.

Sevje said no, and explained, “We Norwegians view the occupation as the reason for terror against Israel. Many Norwegians still see the occupation as the reason for attacks against Israel. Whoever thinks this way, will not change his mind as a result of the attack in Oslo.”

So in the mind of the illiberal Norwegians... it is unacceptable for Breivik to murder Norwegian children, because his ideology is wrong. But it is acceptable for Palestinians to murder Israeli children, because their ideology is right.

...attempts to link conservative writers, politicians and philosophers with [terrorism] are nothing new. The same thing happened in 1995, when [some] tried to blame rabbis and politicians for the sociopathic Yigal Amir’s assassination of then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. The same thing happened in the US last summer with ... insistent attempts to link the psychotic Jared Loughner, who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her constituents, with Gov. Sarah Palin and the Tea Party.

...this tendency ...endangers the future of liberal democracies...

Fatah Youth condemns Norway attacks

From Ma'an News Agency (Bethlehem and Gaza), Saturday 23/07/2011:

 

 

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Fatah Youth released a statement on Saturday condemning attacks in Norway which have reportedly killed over 90 people.

"It is with consternation that we have received the dramatic news of an awful terrorist attack against a summer camp ran by our comrades of Norwegian Labor Youth 'AUF,'" the statement said.

The Fatah Youth group had taken part in the summer camp in the past on the Island of Utoya, near Oslo, where over 90 people were reportedly killed in a shooting spree on the Island and a bomb attack in Oslo on Friday, news reports said. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Note that the (archive) photo shows the Fatah Youth Secretary General meeting a smiling Norwegian Prime Minister at a (previous?) youth camp at Utoya Island with a T-shirt bearing the slogan "Tear Down the Wall" - SL]

"Fatah Youth declares its consternation about the terror attack. There are no words to describe an attack against people that have been our comrades in our struggle ... Very few people have stood by our side as much as the Norwegian people, and particularly our AUF comrades."

"We know those who have been cowardly assassinated. Those are people that have stood for the human and national rights of the Palestinian people both in Europe and while visiting Palestine.

"Fatah Youth has participated for almost 15 years in the same summer camp ...We hope that those responsible for this criminal terror attack will be brought to justice. Such sick minds should not have a place in any society..."

[I wonder whether these Fatah "human rights activists" had anything to say about the recent brutal Fogel family murders or the ongoing glorification of terrorism by Fatah? - SL]