Education, Gaza style
* Senior advisor to Egyptian President Morsi calls the Holocaust “an-American invented hoax”
* Danish, Dutch and British-funded Ma’an news agency: Jews are “the root of conflict in the world,” “Allah has decreed” they should be “humiliated” and be “outcasts in every corner of the earth”
* Sunday Times editor and owner unreservedly apologize for Netanyahu “blood libel” cartoon, calling it “a terrible mistake”
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* You can comment on this dispatch here: www.facebook.com/TomGrossMedia. Please also press “Like” on that page.
CONTENTS
1. New Muslim Brotherhood Knesset member can’t decide which wife to bring
2. EU-funded Ma’an News Agency publishes vicious anti-Semitic article
3. EU may not declare Hizbullah a terror group, even if they were behind EU terror attack
4. Sunday Times apologizes unreservedly for cartoon, calling it “a terrible mistake”
5. Egyptian defense minister warns of state’s possible collapse
6. Morsi advisor calls the Holocaust “a U.S. Hoax”
7. Hamas: No discussion of confederation with Jordan before Palestinian statehood
8. Hamas opens new “military academy” to train schoolchildren to attack Israelis
9. Fischer to retire from Bank of Israel
10. Iran claims to have sent a monkey into space
[All notes below by Tom Gross]
NEW MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD KNESSET MEMBER CAN’T DECIDE WHICH WIFE TO BRING
Taleb Abu Arar, a new Bedouin member from the Raam-Taal party who was elected to the Israeli parliament last week, can’t decide which of his two wives to bring to next week’s official ceremony when new MKs swear allegiance to the Knesset and the state.
The Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv reports that Abu Arar is married to one older wife, with whom he has nine children, while his younger wife, who is only aged 22, has already given birth to one child.
Ma’ariv reports that Abu Arar is not violating Israel’s anti-bigamy laws because the younger woman is officially only his mistress.
Abu Arar is a member of the “Islamic Movement in 1948 Palestine” which is the Muslim Brotherhood’s faction in Israel and aims to establish an Islamic state in all of Israel.
Raam-Taal (the United Arab List) is a party headed by Ahmed Tibi, who often appears as a guest on Western media denigrating the state of Israel. Tibi previously served as a senior advisor to PLO leader Yasser Arafat and represented the Palestinian Authority at the Bill Clinton-sponsored Wye talks in 1998, during which the then Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to withdraw from most of Hebron and large sections of the West Bank.
(For more on last week’s elections, please see here.)
EU-FUNDED MA’AN NEWS AGENCY PUBLISHES VICIOUS ANTI-SEMITIC ARTICLE
The Palestinian-run Ma’an news agency, which is funded by the Danish, Dutch and British governments, as well as receiving grants from the EU, UNDP, and UNESCO, has published an article, saying:
“[The Jews] feel inferior to the nations and societies in which they live, because of the hostility and evil rising in their hearts towards others and for their plots and schemes against the nations who know with certainty that the Jews are the root of conflict in the world, wherever they reside.”
“[Jews are] outcasts in every corner of the earth, and not one nation in the world respects them... but Allah’s curse upon them and his fury at them cause them to continue with their transgression.”
“Allah has stricken fear in their hearts and decreed humiliation and degradation upon them until Judgment Day”.
The article only appeared on Ma’an’s Arabic website and not on its English-language site.
The Ma’an website uses the slogan: “Undeterred in its mission to convey the truth.”
More details and a translation of the full article from Ma’an can be found on the website of the important NGO, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), the director of which, Itamar Marcus, is a longtime subscriber to this list.
EU MAY NOT DECLARE HIZBULLAH A TERROR GROUP, EVEN IF IT IS PROVEN THEY WERE BEHIND TERROR ATTACK IN EU
The European Union’s most senior counter-terrorism official, Gilles de Kerchove, said on Monday that the EU may not designate Hizbullah as a terrorist organization even if it is proven that the Iranian-backed terror group was behind the suicide bombing on tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria last July. Bulgarians and Israelis were murdered in that blast. Bulgaria is a member state of the EU, as I pointed out in this dispatch: Her final call: “I just found out I’m pregnant at last”.
The statement by de Kerchove comes as Sofia prepares to announce the conclusions of its investigation into the bombing. They are expected to agree with the findings of Israeli and American intelligence, that the Iranian-backed terror group Hizbullah was behind the bombing.
Philipp Missfelder, foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, sharply criticized de Kerchove for his comments.
Missfelder told the Jerusalem Post: “Statements like this are counterproductive. Terrorism is an integral part of Hizbullah’s overall strategy that undermines the political stability of Lebanon and threatens the existence of Israel.”
“There has never been doubt about that. By no means can the EU tolerate that this group operates from European soil. Therefore it is absolutely urgent to put this group on the EU terror list,” he said.
SUNDAY TIMES EDITOR UNRESERVEDLY APOLOGIZES FOR CARTOON, CALLING IT “A TERRIBLE MISTAKE”
This is a follow-up to Sunday’s dispatch:
The anti-Israel cartoon the Sunday Times used to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
(That dispatch has been linked to by various news sites around the world.)
Rupert Murdoch, the owner of The Sunday Times (and who is a subscriber to this Middle East email list), on Monday issued an apology for the cartoon, calling it “grotesque” on his twitter feed to his 400,000 followers. He wrote: “Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of the Sunday Times. Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon.”
Martin Ivens, the acting editor of the Sunday Times, has also now apologized “unreservedly” for the cartoon.
British commentator Melanie Phillips (also a subscriber to this list) has written “Ivens, to whom I directly worked for three years when I wrote for the Sunday Times, is a decent person without a shred of anti-Jewish or anti-Israel feeling. And the Sunday Times is more supportive of Israel than most.” I have also met Ivens and would agree with that.
However, too much of the discussion about the cartoon in the British media over the past three days has concentrated on the fact that it was deemed insensitive to publish it on Holocaust Memorial Day, rather than that it was wrong to publish it at all – because it contains no truth. Israel does not try and kill civilians (it is Fatah and Hamas that do that) and Israel’s security barrier – far from being responsible for killing anyone – has done precisely the opposite. It has saved thousands of Jewish and Arab lives by bringing to an end a wave of suicide attacks in which Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens were dying and being maimed.
For an example of someone still recovering, please see:
* Remembering the injured: The remarkable story of Kinneret Chaya
EGYPTIAN DEFENSE MINISTER WARNS OF STATE’S POSSIBLE COLLAPSE
Egypt’s defense minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi yesterday warned that continuing political conflict could lead to “the collapse of the state”. He said the current political, economic and social challenges facing the country represented a “danger to Egyptian security and the cohesion of the Egyptians state”.
During the last seven days of unrest more than 50 people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters, mainly in Port Said, but also in Suez, Cairo and other provincial cities.
MORSI ADVISOR CALLS THE HOLOCAUST “A U.S. HOAX”
Fathi Shihab-Eddim, who is in charge of editors of all Egyptian state-run publications, and is a close political confidant of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has said that the Holocaust is “a myth.”
He said: “The myth of the Holocaust is an industry that America invented [during World War II] in order to destroy the image of their opponents in Germany, and to justify war and massive destruction against military and civilian facilities of the Axis powers, and especially to hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atomic bomb.”
This comes two weeks after Egyptian news agencies aired film clips of Morsi himself making an anti-Semitic speech in which he called Jews “these warmongers, these descendants of apes and pigs.”
HAMAS: NO DISCUSSION OF CONFEDERATION WITH JORDAN BEFORE PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told journalists after meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Monday, that the Palestinians will only discuss the idea of forming a confederation with Jordan after they have established their own Palestinian independent state.
HAMAS OPENS NEW “MILITARY ACADEMY” TO TRAIN SCHOOLCHILDREN TO ATTACK ISRAELIS
Hamas’s Gaza-based Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has announced the opening of a “military academy” in Gaza that will train schoolchildren as young as 12 to mount violent attacks on Israel. Haniyeh said that the new academy would prepare children for the establishment of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.” (i.e. it will try to wipe out all of Israel). He made the announcement during a ceremony in the Gaza Strip marking the birth of the prophet Muhammad, attended by more than 10,000 schoolchildren.
Hamas has been criticized in the past for using child soldiers and for using children as human shields, who are then often reported by international media as underage civilian casualties.
More here from Ibrahim Barzak, Gaza correspondent for the Associated Press.
FISCHER TO RETIRE FROM BANK OF ISRAEL
Stanley Fischer, one of the world’s most experienced central bankers, is to step down as governor of the Bank of Israel on June 30 after more than eight years in the job. Israel’s central bank announced the move yesterday, saying that Fischer, a former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, had informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his intention to leave his post at midyear.
Netanyahu, who won re-election to a third term with a weakened mandate last week, is in talks to form a new coalition that commentators say will have to cut spending and raise taxes to close a growing fiscal deficit.
Fischer is regarded as one of the world’s leading central bankers. He was persuaded to take up the position by Netanyahu when Netanyahu was serving as Israel’s finance minister eight years ago.
Fischer is credited with helping Israel’s economy to avoid the worst of the economic crises suffered by other countries in recent years. In 2010, Fischer was named by the international monetary publication Euromoney as best bank governor in the world.
Fischer is now being tipped as a possible successor to Shimon Peres when Peres eventually steps down as Israel’s president.
IRAN CLAIMS TO HAVE SENT A MONKEY INTO SPACE
While Iran’s economy is in increasingly dire straits and its leaders continue to repress their population, the regime says it has successfully sent a monkey into space. It says the monkey went up in a capsule named Pishgam (Farsi for “Pioneer”) to a height of 75 miles before returning to earth intact and alive.
The Iranian regime seems to be mimicking the regime in North Korea in spending the country’s resources in a costly nuclear weapons program and in a space program.
[All notes above by Tom Gross]