BBC Panorama Distorts the Facts About Jerusalem

From CAMERA:

"Finding a route to peace in [Jerusalem] is not exactly a walk in the park," says Jeremy Vine in a play on words to introduce the January 18th segment of BBC's "Panorama," entitled "A Walk in the Park." The segment presents alleged attempts by Israeli Jews to "change the demographics of East Jerusalem" and the title refers to the green areas being developed to link communities around Jerusalem. But viewers learn far less about the difficulty of "finding a route to peace" in Jerusalem than they do about the difficulty of finding objective information on the BBC.

Narrator Jane Corbin takes viewers on a "walking tour" of "what is happening on the ground" in eastern Jerusalem, scurrying from one "stop" to another to report on Israel's alleged misdeeds. Omitting essential facts and context that explain Israel's position, she provides a one-sided perspective that establishes Israelis as the villains and the Palestinians as their innocent victims...continue reading.

A phenomenon that continues to perplex me is that of Jews turning against Israel. One day I'd love to sit down with one and ask, WHY? Again from CAMERA:

In 1505, a Moravian Jew named Joseph Pfefferkorn denounced his faith and undertook a campaign to get the Talmud banned by claiming it blasphemed Christianity. Pfefferkorn was unschooled and a criminal, but that didn't stop the Dominicans in Cologne, who at the time were eager to cast aspersions on the Jews, from employing him. They recognized the value of a Jew accusing other Jews...Anna Baltzer - Jewish Defamer of Israel

CNN's Christiane Amanpour can't seem to help herself. Whatever the subject of the program, she's inclined to inject mention of Israel and its alleged myriad faults. An interview with Tibet's revered Dalai Lama prompted her to insert jarring comparisons of Tibet and the Palestinian "nakba." (Though with no musings on the absence of Tibetan suicide bombers.)...Amanpour's Impulse: Smear Israel

Throughout his years as a commentator on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Henry Siegman has consistently toed the Palestinian line that Israel is to blame for the failure to resolve the conflict. In a Jan. 25, 2010 article in The Nation, Siegman essentially promotes the current strategy of the Palestinian Authority leadership to bypass a negotiated settlement with Israel in favor of "forceful outside intervention." The purpose of this strategy is to compel Israel to accept a Palestinian state under the conditions demanded by the Palestinians...Henry Siegman Promotes Forceful Intervention Against Israel


From FrontPageMag:

The past year brought a fresh wave of anti-Israel rhetoric and accusations, most of which cited Israel’s “siege” of Gaza during last winter’s Operation Cast Lead as evidence of Israel’s injustice toward the Palestinians. The international press frequently echoed calls by human rights groups and activists to “end Israel’s illegal blockade” and “liberate Gaza.” Such messages have been conceived to undermine Israel and present a very misleading picture of the actual Gaza conflict...Eyeless in Gaza


From Asia Times:

(Perhaps BHO should be worrying about Biden)

DAMASCUS - United States President Joseph Biden landed in Baghdad on Friday amid speculation that he might help hammer out differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites ahead of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections...Sunnis scramble for allies


And don't forget your daily dose of Off The Wall News!

Arab leaders are responsible for refugee problem

For Zion's Sake Ministries:

"....In recent years, Palestinian leaders, writers and refugees have spoken out in the Palestinian media, blaming the Arab leadership for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. According to these accounts, and contrary to the Palestinian myth that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were deported by Israel in 1948, the vast majority of the Arab exodus from Israel was voluntary, and the result of orders by the Arab leadership...Read more


CAMERA:

Claim About Destroyed Gaza Hospitals Contradicted By Dugard's Own Findings


Joel Rosenberg:

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF IRAQ?


Lori's links and comments:

US Policy: Jews in Eastern Jerusalem are Unwanted ‘Settlers’ ,

Fatah: No Recognition of Israel – Ever,

Haniyeh: Hamas will not stand in the way of state on '67 borders,

The world has finally spoken, but awaits Israel’s response,

Barkat: We'll resist attempts to divide J'lem,

Israelis Wary of US-Backed Peace Process,

US to transfer $200 million to Palestinians,

Water Crisis in Iraq: The Growing Danger of Desertification,

The Future of Babylon Project,

Russia: Iran reactor to be switched on this year,

Shanghai urges 'two-child policy' ,

Italian ambassador says there can't be EU without,

Cuba says ready to discuss bilateral relations with EU,

All hail the planet ,

Friday sermon in Khartoum ,

File under "More Vodka!"... Russian Navy UFO records say aliens love oceans,

“Peaceful” Stone-Throwers

I was recently asked about an incident that had allegedly occurred in Gaza that put Israel in a bad light. The person who asked the question has been consistently critical of Israel. At that point, I hadn't been aware of the incident, and I still haven't checked the facts. But my immediate response was to ask my friend what he knew exactly. As it emerged, he knew about as much as I did - zilch. He'd heard in the media that Israel had acted in some inappropriate way and someone wasn't happy about it and that was good enough for him. Apprarently some people naturally expect Israel to be the oppressive aggressor.

Here's an article from CAMERA that highlights media "savvy":

Fox News Channel's coverage from the West Bank on a Friday in mid-July left some viewers a little puzzled. First, the station broadcast footage of Palestinians hurling rocks toward Israeli troops. A minute later, a Fox correspondent in Israel, Reena Ninan, told viewers that the demonstrators were actually "peace activists." And after another minute, she relayed the Palestinian claim that Israel used "extreme force" when it fired tear gas because the protesters did not even throw stones — just before the footage of Palestinian stone-throwers again appeared on television screens...Read more


Asia Times Online:

Has it all come to this? The wars and invasions, the death and destruction, the exile and torture, the resistance and collapse? In a world of shrinking energy reserves, is Iraq finally fated to become what it was going to be anyway, even before the chaos and catastrophe set in: a giant gas pump for an energy-starved planet? Will it all end not with a bang, but with a gusher? The latest oil news out of that country offers at least a hint of Iraq's fate...Iraq on track to its true destiny

DAMASCUS - Attacks on six churches in Iraq early this month and the targeting of Christians across the country have served as a microcosm of the difficulties facing Christians in the Middle East today. Migration, whether forced or to pursue a better life and employment opportunities elsewhere, has seen Christian numbers in the Middle East drop dramatically....Middle East Christians hit the road


Lori's links and comments:

Netanyahu: ‘Jews Can Buy in East Jerusalem; Arabs Can Buy in West Jerusalem” ,

Blair hails Israeli/Palestinian Start up,

US May Allow Building in Return for Setting Borders,

Israel to U.S.: Keep Out of Jerusalem,

Jews to Reclaim Land in Jordan? ,

Qatar Sheikh Funds Hamas to Buy Jerusalem Buildings,

Islamist Movement: The Temple Will Never be Rebuilt,

Iraq wants urgent water talks with Turkey, Syria,

Erdogan to make surprise trip to Syria,

Aly Gomaa’s WMDs,scroll down

Understanding Russia,

Russia & China warn US: Israeli attack on Iran means world war,

Russia set to build up its naval facilities in Syria , "Russia has reportedly been involved in talks to establish naval facilities in Yemen, Syria and Libya, among other countries in the Mediterranean."

Landmark Decision in Iraq

...For years, Kurdish officials and Baghdad’s central government have fought over the right do develop oil in the north of Iraq. As Iraq’s federalists struggled to come up with a national oil policy, Kurdish officials entered into contracts with foreign firms seeking to strike it rich in the northern part of the country. After Baghdad drew up its policy, the national oil industry said that Kurdistan’s contracts were null and void, claiming that the individual state had no authority to sell these contracts without federal approval. As a result, no oil has been pumped from Iraq’s Kurdish regions...Read More

Please note that the term Christian in the following article is sometimes used loosely:

Palestinian and other Arab Christians are a perennial political football, especially with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Holy Land.. Seen by some as the epitome of what happens to minorities under Islamist rule when their shops are firebombed in Hamas-ruled Gaza, they are also continually used by the Western media to show how the Israeli security fence divides those in Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Even as their community shrinks, they seem to get more and more attention. They were a centerpiece of Jimmy Carter’s Palestine: Peace not Apartheid...Israel's Christian Beneficiaries


A Jewish couple with five children had tried to make a reservation by email at the Haus Sonnenhof hotel in the Tyrolean village of Serfaus, in western Austria...'No Jews' policy employed at Austria hotel


In early April, Vice President Biden was asked if the administration was concerned that Israel might strike at Iran's nuclear facilities. "I don't believe Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that," Mr. Biden replied. "I think he would be ill advised to do that."...Obama's Signal to Israel: Submit


Saudi media quotes top Iranian official as confirming Revolutionary Guard has recently deployed anti-aircraft missile batteries in Persian Gulf following reports of imminent US-Israeli attack on country's nuclear facilities...Tehran preparing for attack on its nuclear sites


From Joel Rosenberg:

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER HINTS: VOTE FOR AHMADINEJAD

THE POPE VISITS THE EPICENTER: “I am certain that this will be a continuation of the dialogue between Judaism and Christianity in the spirit of the Prophets,” says President Peres


Lori's links:

Sheikh attacks Israel, Pope walks out,

Vatican vowed to stop missionary activity to Jews,

Chief Rabbi to Pope: Tell the world Jews belong in Israel,

Benedict XVI, the first pope to enter the mosque of the Dome of the Rock,

Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Sharm el-Sheikh,

Jordan's King Abdullah woos Assad in peace push,

UN Security Council calls for a Palestinian state,

'Iran deploys missiles in Persian Gulf',

Ahmedinajad to Iran/Syria delegates: We should look for new world order,

Killing Civilians: A Muslim View ,

Jordan king woos Syria in Mideast peace push,

Netanyahu: Peace talks to begin 'soon',

Boo's new Middle East Policy,

A growing divergence between J'lem and Washington? ,

Signs Point Toward ‘Cataclysmic’ War in Middle East,

Boo to visit Russia ,

Russia plays up its international role – especially in Mideast peace,

Russia, Japan looking to resolve disputes through economic ties,

Russia waits for U.S. proposals on stored nuclear warheads,

Gas deal between Turkey and European Union breaks Russian stranglehold ,

Angel or Demon? In the Vatican, Boo Is Both ,

Colombian president's ally arrested,

UAE ruler replaces top posts in cabinet reshuffle,

Iraq arrests minister's brother,

Turkey's prime minister reshuffles his Cabinet,

EU talks with Cuban foreign minister,

zerbaijani Foreign Minister Meets with U.S. Secretary of State,

More Joel Rosenberg Updates and Headlines

From Joel Rosenberg's blog:

APRIL 1st MARKS 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION: How did Washington miss it? Netanyahu understands Iran threat today, does Obama?

NETANYAHU WARNS IRANIAN MESSIANIC APOCALYPTIC CULT MAY GET NUCLEAR WEAPONS: If U.S. doesn’t act, Israel will


From FrontPageMag:

Arabs, Israelis, and Underdogs

Iraqis See Their Country Improving


Lori's latest links and comments

Israel rushes to India's defense

Blair: 'There is no alternative to a two-state solution' "There is no alternative to a two-state solution, except the one-state solution. And if there is a one-state solution, there's going to be a big fight,"

US must end Iran nuke drive, or Israel may attack, PM warns

Iran's Regime Will Collapse in Two Years

Russia does not rule out future NATO membership

BO administration meets with Iran

US to seek seat on UN Human Rights Council

G20 deal within hours, Brown says after talks with Obama

N. Korea threatens to down US spy planes ahead of missile launch

Chinese Develop Special "Kill Weapon" to Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers

BO Leaves Israel as 'Lone Ranger’ in Nuclear Iran

BO and Medvedev: Iran has right to peaceful nuclear program

Iran denies reports of 'talks' with US envoy at conference

Russian, Israeli PMs discuss Mideast peace

Russian analyst says Putin to become monarch of post-Soviet space "Under the world system envisaged by Panarin, there will be three centers of power - China, the European Union, and the Russia-led "EU-2."

New Israel FM strikes hard line on peace talks

Suspend EU-Israel trade agreement says UK

Albania, Croatia join NATO military alliance

European Parliament calls for closer ties between US and EU

Joel Rosenberg's latest and Lori's links

Keep an eye on this one; it may be prophetically significant:

U.S. TO HELP REBUILD CITY OF BABYLON IN IRAQ

Lori's links and commentary:

Large swath of Palestine land seized

Global financial crisis hits hard in Dubai

Non-State Actors vs. the Westphalian Model

Japanese Finance Minister Resigns After Seeming to Be Drunk at G-7 Summit News Conference

Financial crisis tests European Commission authority

Prague courts Obama for April visit

Russia, China sign energy accords

Russian missile defence to Iran on hold till meeting with Obama

Iran minister seeks missles on Russian trip

ElBaradei says Iran, Syria not cooperating enough

IAEA Chief: Israel Impedes Nuclear Disarmament

Israel's Peres to meet parties before naming premier

Arab Secy Gen: Arab initiative won't last if Israel continues foot-dragging

Jordan Turns Against Israel in Hague

'Jordan's bid for IDF war crimes petition comes from kingdom opponents'

Mashaal: 'Israel responsible for blocking Egypt's effort's to broker truce'

Israel assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists in a covert war

Israel's last ditch effort to destroy ... itself

Obama promises Palestinians he'll protect 'biblical heartland' ends with a history lesson

Egyptian army, air force conducts Sinai war games

Delegation of US senators arrives in Syria to meet with Assad

Revival or Rapture and Israel’s Leadership Precariously Perched

SOLANA met US Secretary of State Hilary RODHAM CLINTON

Babylon's future written in its ruins

AoC discusses Turkey's global importance

AoC plans 2nd forum

The new world order "Biden entered to a standing ovation, paused to engulf Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy representative, in a bear hug, and chatted for long minutes with Henry Kissinger. Then he headed to the podium to deliver a basic message: Obama wants to make America a more deserving partner for its traditional allies.""If you control the oil you control the country; if you control the food you control the population." -- Henry Kissinger

Doomsday seed vault's stores are growing

Thank you, Lori!

Who is Rahm Emmanuel?

By John Perazzo

FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Two days after defeating John McCain, Barack Obama made his first appointment as president-elect when he named 49-year-old Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff. Formerly an aide to Bill Clinton and currently the Democratic Representative for Illinois’ 5th congressional district, Emanuel has suddenly become a figure of great interest to the American public.

Read it HERE

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Durban II: An Early Test

By Joseph Klein

FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Less than three months after Barack Obama will be sworn in as the next president of the United States, he will have to decide whether or not to participate in a replay of the ignominious hatefest known as the United Nations Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The follow-up to that conference, the Durban Review of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, is scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland during April of 2009 (“Durban II”).

Read it HERE

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Also:

Israel worried about possible German sub sale to Egypt

Obama to Abbas: I'll support peace talks

Al-Qaeda 'awakens' in Iraq

US Special Forces Launch Raid Inside Syria

Oct. 27….(Breitbart) US military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as “serious aggression.” A US military official said the raid by Special Forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military’s reach. “We are taking matters into our own hands,” the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids. The attack came just days after the commander of US forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an “uncontrolled” gateway for fighters entering Iraq. A Syrian government statement said the helicopters attacked the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside, the statement said. The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children. A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh said some of the helicopters landed and troops exited the aircraft and fired on a building. He said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d’affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest against the strike. “Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria,” the government statement said. The area targeted is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency. Iraqi travelers making their way home across the border reported hearing many explosions, said Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of Qaim. On Thursday, US Maj. Gen. John Kelly said Iraq’s western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a “different story.” “The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side,” Kelly said. “We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement.” He added that the US was helping construct a sand berm and ditches along the border. “There hasn’t been much, in the way of a physical barrier, along that border for years,” Kelly said. The foreign fighters network sends militants from North Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are in league with al-Qaida and loyalists of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party, the US military official said. He said that while American forces have had considerable success, with Iraqi help, in shutting down the “rat lines” in Iraq, and with foreign government help in North Africa, the Syrian node has been out of reach. “The one piece of the puzzle we have not been showing success on is the nexus in Syria,” the official said. The White House in August approved similar special forces raids from Afghanistan across the border of Pakistan to target al-Qaida and Taliban operatives. At least one has been carried out. The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has been cut to an estimated 20 a month, a senior US military intelligence official told the Associated Press in July. That’s a 50 percent decline from six months ago, and just a fifth of the estimated 100 foreign fighters who were infiltrating Iraq a year ago, according to the official. Ninety percent of the foreign fighters enter through Syria, according to US intelligence. Foreigners are some of the most deadly fighters in Iraq, trained in bombmaking and with small-arms expertise and more likely to be willing suicide bombers than Iraqis. Foreign fighters toting cash have been al-Qaida in Iraq’s chief source of income. They contributed more than 70 percent of operating budgets in one sector in Iraq, according to documents captured in September 2007 on the Syrian border. Most of the fighters were conveyed through professional smuggling networks, according to the report. Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing US Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area became secure only after Sunni tribes in Anbar turned against al-Qaida in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans

Syria's Choice

From FrontPage Magazine:

Syria's Choice

By Hassan MneimnehThe Weekly Standard Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Seven years after 9/11, Washington policymakers remain fundamentally confused about the nature of Islamist extremism, the ideas behind it and the states that manipulate it. In few places is this problem more obvious than in the U.S. relationship with the secular Assad regime in Syria.

After the most recent iteration of the on-again off-again Washington-Damascus relationship—a meeting between the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—Muallem described the meeting as a "positive beginning of a dialogue" while the state-controlled Syrian press heralded it as the United States coming to its senses and joining Syria in the fight against the common threat of radical Islamism. Never mind that some of those radical extremists threatening us are in the employ of the Assad regime and may well have been behind a recent bombing in Damascus that killed 17. Never mind, also, that the price that Syria is actively seeking for its promise of cooperation is the restoration of its influence on Lebanon—a dominion that it had to abandon in the aftermath of the Cedar Revolution of 2005.

Read the full article here.