Just like a good neigbor. Israel and Syria.

“It’s strange for us that Israel is more humanitarian than our Arab brothers."
Ammar, father of two, from Syria

The 7 year old civil war in Syria has left nearly 500,000 people dead. 5.6 million have fled the country and over 600,000 are internally displaced. Despite being officially at war with Syria, Israel has provided hundreds of tons of food, medicine, clothing, gasoline and essential medical equipment to the war-ravaged Syrian people. It has also treated nearly 5,000 wounded Syrians in Israeli hospitals and clinics.

In the last week alone, Israel has provided 300 tents, 28 tons of food, three pallets of medical supplies and 30 tons of clothes and shoes to Syrians . The NGO Fly Aid provided the aid with an undercover unit of all Arabic speakers. The NGO has 3 units worldwide, and provides aid to countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

From the Independent:

Syria conflict: Injured civilians turn to historic foe Israel amid Deraa bloodshed

Despite being told there is no place for them in Israel, Syrian families camped close to the Israeli border say if it was permitted they would consider relocating to Israel, even after decades of fierce hostilities.

“Escaping the killing machine of Russia and the militia forces has made us think of allying with what we consider to be the devil. We all think about going to Israel but it is not allowed. Everyone is trying to escape death because the Jordanian border is blocked,” says Ammar, 27, a father-of-two who is in Rafid, on the border.

“It’s strange for us that Israel is more humanitarian than our Arab brothers. I once even heard people saying they hope that Israel would include this area in the Golan,” he adds.

Israel. Operation Good Neighbor. Tikkun Olam in action

Just cleared for release: Israel took out Syrian nuclear facility in 2007

Destroyed Reactor

According to a special announcement from the Israeli Defense Forces, Operation "Outside the Box" destroyed a nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zur, Syria in September 2007.

The IDF can clear for publication that in September 2007 IAF fighter jets destroyed a nuclear reactor that was being built in Syria. The destruction of the nuclear reactor, known as Operation "Outside the Box", was carried out by IAF fighter jets following lengthy and complex intelligence and operational efforts and eliminated a nuclear threat against the State of Israel and the entire region. Today it has been cleared for publication that during the night between September 5 and 6 2007, IAF fighter jets targeted and destroyed a nuclear reactor in advanced stages of construction in the Deir ez-Zor region, 450 kilometers north of Damascus. Beginning late 2004, a vast intelligence effort including cooperation with security forces, provided a great deal of valuable information that ultimately led to the precise aerial attack. The IDF prepared for the destruction of the nuclear reactor with utmost precision whilst preparing for various scenarios and potential escalation. The Chief of the General Staff at the time, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said with regards to destruction of the nuclear reactor: "As soon as the Prime Minister gave the IDF, under my command, the responsibility to destroy the nuclear reactor in Syria, it was clear to me that we must be prepared on the intelligence, operational and technological fronts in order to eliminate the nuclear threat against the State of Israel and the region while simultaneously taking the necessary steps to prevent an escalation to war; that if forced upon us – we will win a decisive victory!" The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, who serves as the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command at the time of Operation "Outside the Box" recently said: "The message from the attack on the nuclear reactor in 2007 is that the State of Israel will not allow the establishment of capabilities that threaten Israel's existence. This was our message in 2007, this remains our message today and will continue to be our message in the near and distant future." From Politico The Syrian facility was almost identical to the Yongbyon nuclear complex in North Korea that produced plutonium for nuclear bombs, according to Israeli intelligence officials, and it was only weeks away from beginning to produce highly radioactive materials. Deir ez-Zur was captured in 2014 by ISIS forces.  Israel's decisive intervention may  ultimately have prevented a nuclear- armed ISIS. Read about it here Before and after

Tikvah, the Zionist Group at UC Berkeley Fundraising for Victims of Syrian War.

According to the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, as of this week:

• The total number of victims documented by the Action Group is 3665, including 465 women
• 1672 Palestinians are locked up behind Syrian government’s bars, 106 of which are women
• Yarmouk refugee camp is under the Syrian regime army and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s siege for 1,691 days in a row
• 205 refugees, mainly in Yarmouk Camp, have died due to lack of medical care and malnutrition
• Water supplies have been cut off Deraa Camp for 1427 days, and 167 days in Yarmouk Camp
• The Regime army has been in control of Handarat camp for more than 522 days. More than 80% of its buildings have been completely or partially destroyed.
• Approximately 85 thousand Palestinian-Syrian refugees fled to Europe by the end of 2016
• 31 thousand refugees are located in Lebanon
• 17 thousand refugees are sheltered in Jordan
• 6 thousand refugees are in Egypt
• 8 thousand refugees are staying in Turkey
• One thousand refugees are present in Gaza

Yet the "human rights groups" that claim to care about the Palestinian people are strangely and uncharateristically silent when they can't hold Israel responsible for their suffering.

Real, tangible help instead comes from the last place you'd expect it- from Israel, a nation officially in a state of war with Syria.  

For over four years, the Israeli Defence Forces has been helping injured Syrians who cross Israel’s northern border, and has been supplying Syrian civilians with food, fuel and household necessities.

From The IDF Operation Good Neighbor website: 

The IDF primarily provides 3 types of assistance as part of Operation Good Neighbor:

1. Medical –  Over 4,000 people have been brought to Israel to receive treatment, including hundreds of children. The IDF also transfers medicine, supplies, and equipment to Syrians across the border. An internationally managed field hospital has also been established at an Israeli outpost near the border.

2. Infrastructure – 450,000 liters of fuel have been transferred for heating, operating water wells, and ovens in bakeries. The IDF also transferred seven generators, water pipes to rebuild Syrian infrastructure, and equipment for a temporary school in the region.

3. Civilian aid – The IDF transferred 40 tons of flour to bakeries, 225 tons of food, 12,000 packages of baby formula, 1,800 packages of diapers, 12 tons of shoes, and 55 tons of cold weather clothing.

UC Berkeley's Tikvah Students for Israel is doing their part as well. On Monday, the Zionist  group will be fundraising  to help support Operation Good Neighbor.  Stop by and help them out.  Their table will be at Sproul Plaza from 11-2.

UPDATE:  Rain Date will be Friday, March 16.  See you there!

Iranian Drone penerates Israeli airspace

Early this morning, an Iranian drone crossed into  Israeli airspace, and was immediately shot down by a combat helicopter.

In response, Israel  then launched airstrikes on Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria, including the command and control center that launched the drone,  at an air base near Palmyra.

A  Israeli F-16 was shot down, reportedly by Russian made S200 missiles.

Reports indicate that the plane had 25 missiles launched against it, and took a hit, and lost its tail.  The heroic Israeli pilot was still able to fly the plane back into Israeli airspace, where he and the navigator ejected

In true New York Times fashion, the headline paints Israel as the aggressor.

From IDF Spokesperson Peter Lerner, via Twitter:
3 observations
1. First direct Iranian operation against Israel.
2. Iran and its proxies are preparing the battlefield of a future war.
3. Iranians in Syria means there are plenty targets for the IDF, the counter strike shows that Israel has operable intelligence.

🔴 3 observations
1. First direct Iranian operation against Israel. 2 Iran and its proxies are preparing the battlefield of a future war. 3 Iranians in Syria means there are plenty targets for the IDF, the counter strike shows that Israel has operable intelligence.

— LTC (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) February 10, 2018

The Palestinians reacted to the news of the downed aircraft by passing out sweets.

Israel has the right and the responsibility to protect its civilians. Israeli leaders have made it abundantly clear that they will respond as needed to any attack or provocation.

The mission was a resounding success, according to the IDF, who declared:

In total, the IDF targeted 12 military objectives, including 3 aerial defense batteries and 4 Iranian targets that are part of Iran's military establishment in Syria. “We carried out a wide-scale attack on the aerial defense system - radars, rockets, batteries, posts, and we performed a substantial strike, which as can be seen - they are trying to hide” says Brig. Gen. Amnon Ein Dar, Head of the Air Group in the IAF. According to Brig. Gen. Ein Dar, it is “the biggest and most significant attack the air force has carried out against Syrian air defenses since 1982.”

Chemical Weapons facility destroyed in Syria.

According to unconfirmed reports on social media the Israeli military has reportedly struck a SSRC chemical weapons research center near Masyaf, in Syria.

Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) is responsible for the development of chemical weapons for the Assad regime.

According to UN war crimes investigators Syrian forces have used chemical weapons more than two dozen times during the country’s civil war.  Last April  Assad's Government forces dropped Sarin on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in Idlib province, killing more than 80 civilians.

Two North Korean shipments to Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) were intercepted in the past six months, according to a UN report on North Korea sanctions violations.

The destruction of the chemical plant has the potential to save thousands of Syrian lives.

Amos Yadlin, the director the Institute for National Security Studies, justified the attack on the site, calling it a clear and overdue moral statement.

From YNET

“The reported attack overnight is unusual. This is a military-scientific Syrian site in which they produce, among other things, precision missiles, some of which will be significant in the next military campaign,” .

“The factory that was attacked also manufactures chemical weapons and explosives barrels that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians. If it was an Israeli attack, it is finally an Israeli moral statement about the massacre in Syria.”

Terror attack in the Golan. Israel strikes back

From the Times Of Israel

A 15-year-old Israeli boy was killed in the Golan Heights Sunday morning in what the IDF said was a missile attack from Syria, just south of the Quneitra crossing. Three others were hurt, including his father, a civilian contractor, who sustained serious injuries.

A vehicle that was delivering water to the contractors, who were working on the fence that Israel is building across the plateau, was targeted with an anti-tank missile fired from the Syrian side of the border, military officials said.

The IDF responded with tank fire at “Syrian military posts in the immediate vicinity,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said. The IDF was weighing a further response to what was regarded as a deliberate attack, military sources said later Sunday.

“This is not a case of errant fire but of an intended attack,” he said. “The IDF will continue to watch the northern border and react to developments in the field accordingly.”

The boy, Mohammed Karkara, from the town of Arraba in the lower Galilee, had accompanied his father to work on what was the first day of the summer vacation.

In response, Israel targeted 9  military installations in Syria.
Again, from the Times Of Israel

“The IDF targeted nine Syrian army positions in response to the earlier attack that originated in Syria killing an Israeli teenager and injuring two other Israeli civilians. The targeted sites include Syrian [regional] military headquarters and launching positions,” the IDF said in a statement. 

Time for Assad to realize that his choices have consequences .

"Yesterday's attack was an unprovoked act of aggression against Israel, and a direct continuation to recent attacks that occurred in the area," said Lt. Col.Lerner. The  military  "will not tolerate any attempt to breach Israel's sovereignty and will act in order to safeguard the civilians of the state of Israel."

As expected, there was complete silence from CodePink, Jewish Voice for peace and the Presbyterian Church on the unprovoked attack on Israeli soil leading to the death of 15 year old Mohammed Karkara.

More ignorance from Al Awda

All too often, the Israel haters come out with a statement so offensive, so jaw-droppingly ignorant,  and so inaccurate all you can do is shake your head in wonder.

Todays clueless comment comes from Zahi Damuni, co-founder of the extremist group Al Awda, who writes: 

"What we have is Gaza like situation in the Yamouk camp. Every now and then there is food delivery  and people act like the siege is over. Its not over until its over... "

To Zahi Damuni: At least 85 people have died from hunger in theYamouk camp in Syria. 20,000 more Palestinians are starving.

From the Independent:

“Bread is a dream for children inside Yarmouk Camp,” says Fuad, a Syrian Palestinian music teacher who tries to help bring food to the 20,000 Palestinians besieged inside Yarmouk. Standing by a barrier of sand and rubble that blocks an entrance to the camp in south Damascus, he adds that “people have been trapped in there for 185 days and are sick because they are eating weeds we used to feed our animals”.

Contrast that with Gaza where three separate surveys found "alarming" rates of obesity.  In  Gaza, food comes in regularly.  Food is also exported.

In December alone,  4522 truckloads of goods entered Gaza. 2,135 of those carried food, while the others carried humanitarian and construction materials

54 truckloads of goods were exported from Gaza, including 37.5  truckloads of strawberries,   7 of spices,  9 of flowers, and one of cherry tomatoes.

For Zahi Dumani to imply an equivalence between Syria and Gaza is a sign not only of his tenuous grasp of reality, but also of his moral and intellectual bankruptcy.

As of today, no flotillas or global marches are being planned to break the siege of Yarmouk.

Israel school children take up collection for Syrian refugees

Haters gonna hate this for so many reasons.

The Druze, Bedouin, Christian Arab, Muslim Arab, Circassian and Jewish  students of Israel's Amal-Shimshon school  (apartheid FAIL alert) near the Syrian border have gathered hundreds of pounds of warm clothing, sleeping bags and blankets for the refugees of the conflict in Syria.

From Israel 21C

In just a couple of days, 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of gear piled up near the principal’s office. Everything was boxed and transferred by truck through Human Warmth volunteers – after all Hebrew tags were removed, as per the group’s instructions. Greetings in Arabic were tucked into the pockets of donated coats and jackets.

Cohen says that as a result of Israeli press coverage, more donations have since come in and will be sent soon.

This humanitarian gesture to an “enemy people” is only the latest one making news in Israel.

Hospitals in Safed (Tzfat), Tiberias, Nahariya and Haifa have taken in hundreds of Syrian patients transferred from the border by Israeli military vehicles for treatment, at no charge. Ziv Medical Center in Safed, for instance, has delivered Syrian babies and provided care to many war casualties, including an eight-year-old Syrian girl whose leg was severely shattered and needed complex surgeries. She was discharged after two months at the Israeli hospital.

From teacher Eti Cohen  “Our school puts great importance on volunteering for the community,” she says. “All the children contributed — it didn’t matter if they were Jewish or Arab — with a full heart.”

What the World's Silence on Syria means to Israel

From Dr. Mordechai Kedar,  Director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Islam (under formation) at Bar-Ilan University, Israel reprinted at the Love of the Land Blog

In March 2011 a series of nonviolent demonstrations began in the cities of Syria, which expressed the wish of its citizens to live in a more decent state. Two and a-half years later, more than 100,000 are dead and four million are refugees in Syria and abroad. Hundreds of thousands of houses and apartments have been turned into rubble and the infrastructure in large parts of the country has been shattered. Without a doubt, there has been enough time, enough deaths, refugees and destruction for the world -- which claims to be guided by moral considerations -- to wake up and do something beyond verbal condemnation.
But this has happened. The world continues to look away.

The sad conclusions to emerge from the world's silence in the face of the suffering in the Middle East are very important to us as Israelis:

1. Even if tens of thousands of Israelis are killed, injured or displaced by war or terrorism -- the world will fail to respond.

2. Israel must not make any concessions in return for international guarantees, because when put to the test, every state operates according to its current interests, not according to its past commitments or moral considerations.

3. Moral considerations do not affect actions. Anti-Semitism, however, pushes moral imposters to boycott Israeli products.

4. Even those who use non-violent means may be exposed to violent reaction, and the world accepts this immoral equation.

5. If Iran does not threaten the West, the West will again be willing to sacrifice the Jews to the point of extermination, as long as oil from the Persian Gulf keeps flowing into the energy market.

6. In an international system that operates without a moral compass, Israel must act according to its own best interests. And if the security interest - Israel's existence - means holding on to all the Land of Israel or part of it - other considerations must not be involved in the decision.

7. Ethical considerations such as "the Palestinians also deserve a state" must be compared to saying that "Syrians deserve to live." A European or American who does not care about Syrian life has no right to demand that Israel be more moral than him.

8. Peace in the Middle East will only be achieved by he who is able to demonstrate to his opponents that he is invincible.

Read it here

Israel targets Iranian Weapons Bound for Hezbollah

Israel launched an airstrike in Syria today,  with Syria's state media reporting that Israeli missiles struck the Jamraya military research center near the Syrian capital Damascus, setting off  massive explosions.



This was the second Israeli strike against Syria in three days

Overnight Thursday, an attack targeted a shipment of extremely accurate guided Iranian-made missiles, stored in a warehouse near the Damascus airport.  The Fatah 110 surface to surface missiles have a precise guidance systems and were reportedly bound for Hezbollah.  These mobile, solid-fueled missiles can reach Tel Aviv and much of Israel from southern Lebanon,  representing a considerable improvement over the liquid-fueled Scud missile

According to Israeli and U.S. officials  previous Israeli airstrikes in January also targeted weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah.

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama  told the Spanish-language TV station Telemundo, "The Israelis, justifiably, have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah". Obama also said it was up to Israel to confirm or deny any strikes, but that the US coordinates very closely with Israel.

Judy Feld Carr: the Canadian musicologist who saved over 3,000 Syrian Jews

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Lets take it one step further- Never doubt that a single thoughtful, committed citizen can change the world. Remember the story of Judy Feld Carr. Feld Carr used funds from the Dr. Ronald Feld Fund for Jews in Arab Lands (established at Beth Tzedec Synagogue, Toronto in 1973), to negotiate the ransom and release of Syrian Jews from inside Syria. Ultimately, Feld Carr helped over 3,228 Jews escape from Syria.

From an article in the Times of Israel by Raphael Ahren

Horrified, Judy Feld Carr closely follows the news coming out of Syria, where government troops and rebels are waging a bloody civil war. The former music teacher from Toronto has never been to Syria, yet she has a special connection to the country, and especially to the Jewish community that used to live there.

For nearly three decades, Feld Carr single-handedly arranged the smuggling of more than 3,000 Jews out of Damascus, Aleppo and Qamishli to safety in Israel and America. At the time, the totalitarian Syrian regime didn’t allow Jews to emigrate and tortured those caught trying to escape. But lower officials, she found out, could be bribed into letting Jews leave.

“Oh, my dear,” she says when asked what’s going through her head as she hears the reports from the war zone. “Thank God the Jewish community is out. That’s my first thought. Because if you had a sizable community of 3,000 people, this would be a major problem.”

Judy Feld Carr, a grandmother of 13 has received countless honors, awards and medals. In June 2012, Feld Carr was the recipients of the Presidential Award of Distinction of the State of Israel, created by President Shimon Peres, to "recognize outstanding contribution to the Jewish People and the State of Israel".

She remains a lasting inspiration to many, a reminder that one person can truly make a difference in the world.

UNESCO votes to keep Syria on the UN Human Rights panel

UNESCO voted 35-8 to allow Syria to stay on human rights panel.
Lets put this in context.

8,000–11,000 people have been killed in Syria at the hands of their own Government, in the last year. Many more have been injured. Tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned. Over 600 political prisoners have died under torture. UNICEF has reported that over 400 children have been killed.

From UN Watch

“For UNESCO to keep President Bashar al-Assad on a human rights committee while his regime mercilessly murders its own people is immoral, indefensible and an insult to Syria’s victims,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, the Geneva human rights group that heads a campaign of 55 parliamentarians, human rights and religious groups demanding Syria’s expulsion.

“The world squandered a golden opportunity to expose the Assad regime’s lack of legitimacy. Politics trumped human rights, with too many UNESCO diplomats fearful that if Syria were removed for gross violations, their own regimes would be next.”

“Today’s appalling decision calls into question the credibility of UNESCO’s mission to promote human rights. Syria’s membership is a lingering stain upon the reputation of the UN as a whole,” said Neuer."

This is an unconscionable evil, and shows how out of touch with reality UNESCO, and indeed, the entire United nations is.

"Murdering Assad More Important Than Killing An Israeli"

Well, this is different.

Saudi cleric who once offered cash prize to whomever kidnaps Israeli soldier comes out against Syrian president

Saudi cleric Dr. Awad al-Qarni is claiming that killing Syrian President Bashar Assad would be a more noble deed than killing an Israeli person.

Saudi newspaper Sabah quoted al-Qarni as saying that Assad deserves to die for heresy, referring to him as "Basharon," in a jab alluding to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The Muslim cleric claimed that the Golan Heights will not be freed until Assad's "treacherous" regime falls.

I guess it's important to keep your priorities straight.

Viva Palestina Organizers cozy up to Syrian Tyrants

Thank you, Anonymous.

"Hactivist" organization Anonymous has released a massive number of emails, including correspondence between George Galloway and Bouthaina Shaaban ,Assad's media adviser.

George Galloway, one of the organizer of Gaza flotilla, Viva Palestina convoy and currently involved with the Global March to Jerusalem sought assistance from Assad's office, asking for permission for the flotilla to sail from the Syrian port city of Latakia

From Haaretz:

"Galloway has for many years carried on close contacts with dictators and extremist elements in the Arab world. In the late 1990s, he was closely linked with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the Assad regime in Syria, Hamas in Gaza and the Iranian regime.

In July 2011, at a time when Assad was perpetrating massacres of his own people, Galloway was interviewed on Hezbollah's al-Manar network, where he heaped praises on the Syrian president. "Bashar Assad wants reform and change, to realize the aspirations of his people," he said in the interview, which was quoted in the official Syrian news agency Sana. "They are trying to pressure Syria and President Assad because of the good things that he did, such as supporting Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and rejecting to surrender to Israel."

In January 2009, Galloway founded the Viva Palestina organization, which began to organize aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip. The Shin Bet security service describes the organization as being "pro-Hamas" and assesses that Viva Palestina activists are involved in the transfer of funds to Hamas.

Galloway is considered persona non grata in several countries. In March 2009, Canada refused to permit his entry, stating that his organization was aiding Hamas in several ways, including the transfer of funds. In January 2010, Galloway was deported from Egypt following a visit he made to the Gaza Strip in the course of which members of his organization clashed with Egyptian soldiers at the Rafah border crossing, leading to the death of an Egyptian policeman. Egypt has since then refused to permit his entry into Gaza from its own territory.

On August 11, 2010, Galloway wrote to Bashar Assad's media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, who is considered to be one of the closest aides to the Syrian president. In an email message that bore the subject heading "IMPORTANT - private and confidential," Galloway asked Shaaban for Syrian help in organizing the aid flotilla to Gaza.

"I am writing once again to ask for Syria's co-operation although I do not doubt it for one moment. Syria is as I have often said is the last castle of Arab dignity," Galloway noted. "This convoy sets out simulataneously [sic] on September 18th 2010 from London, from Casablanca and from the Gulf. The London and Gulf columns of vehicles would like to converge on Latakia and sail from there to Al Arish."

Galloway listed the organizations that would be taking part in the flotilla, including IHH, the Turkish group that organized the flotilla to Gaza in May 2010. "It is intended that the vehicles and passengers should sail to Al Arish on board the Mavi Marmara, which as you know is owned by IHH," he wrote. "If His Excellency the President Bashar al Asad and his government can accept this proposal in principle perhaps you could nominate partner organisation(s) and individuals with whom my colleagues could liaise about the practical details?"

Galloway informed Shaaban that the two members of Viva Palestina responsible for the flotilla were Kevin Ovenden and Zaher Birawi. The Shin Bet charges that Birawi is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. He lives in England, where he engages in intensive anti-Israeli activity. Birawi has been linked to the organizing of past convoys and flotillas to the Gaza Strip. Ovendon is a far-left British activist who was aboard the Mavi Marmara in the May 2010 flotilla to Gaza.

Three days later, Shaaban sent an emailed response to Galloway in which she expressed enthusiasm for the idea. "God bless your amazing efforts and I will be honored to be part and parcel of it and to be the catalyst for my country too," she wrote. "You will find me happy to put my time and energy to help with this most important cause of the Twenty First Century."

Galloway responded in another email, in which he wrote, "I knew that I could rely on you and the last Arab country in this historic endeavour. Can I respectfully request that you task officials in Damascus and Latakia to make contact with my comrades in advance of your arrival back to Syria?"

The flotilla ultimately sailed from Latakia on October 18, 2010 and arrived in Al Arish three days later, and from there continued in a land-based convoy comprising dozens of vehicles and hundreds of activists to the Gaza Strip. The entry into Gaza by Galloway and 16 others was denied by the Egyptian security services, although the convoy itself was permitted to enter following talks between the Egyptian and Syrian governments "

Ah, They're Just Afraid of Getting Their Behinds Kicked, As In 1967

At YNet: Israelis Banned From Turkish Race

Now, this is not QUITE as drastic as it sounds. My first guess was that if you were an Israeli citizen they were officially banning you from being a Turk. Not quite. It's a bicycle race.

A group of Israeli cyclists was banned last weekend from the 2011 Cycling Tour of Isparta in Turkey, after the Syrian and Iraqi teams threatened to withdraw from the competition.

The Turkish cycling association is organizing this year a series of international tours to promote its cyclists in Europe and win a ticket to the Olympic Games.

Israel participated in the first tour, the Cycling Tour of Turkey, but the Syrian team avoided facing the Israelis and the Iraqi team withdrew after the first stage, after learning of the Israeli participation.

Some people might have said that if Syria and Iraq wanted to take their bikes and go home, it would have been reasonable to let them, rather than ban the team that wanted to compete, and were willing to ride with people of all nations. But that would just be silly.