The Celebration Continues: Israel at 65 Youtube

There are some charming clips on youtube, celebrating Israel's 65 birthday. Here's a few of our favorites

Happy Birthday Israel - Shining bright for 65 years featuring Israeli singer-songwriter Rosi Golan.

From StandwithUs  65 things we love about Israel in 65 seconds. 

And from the Fountainheads: Hope, Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day

 

Israel at 65 : A Week of Bay Area celebration

From the  J weekly calendar and elsewhere 

Sunday/14

 Israel’s 65th birthday celebration. Keynote speaker Rosemary Schindler, great-niece of Oskar Schindler, plus video screenings and party. At Congregation Beth Ami, 4676 Mayette Ave., Santa Rosa. 2 to 5 p.m. Free. 
“Israel in Marin.” Festival for all ages modeled after tour of Israel. At Osher Marin JCC, 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. Families with children 3 and under 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., main festival 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Free.
Israel Memorial Day celebration. Ceremony with musical presentation. At Berkeley Hillel, 2736 Bancroft Way in Berkeley. 7 p.m. Free. (510) 318-6484.
Israel Independence Day celebration. Israeli food, dancing and booths. At Addison-Penzak JCC, 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos. 1 to 5 p.m. Free.

Monday/15

North Peninsula Yom HaAtzmaut celebration. Israeli-style dinner, celebration and Israeli dancing. At Peninsula Temple Sholom, 1655 Sebastian Drive, Burlingame. 6 p.m. dinner, 7 p.m. celebration $5. RSVP required for dinner

Tuesday/16

Yom HaAtzmaut seder. Concept of a journey through time to explain the Zionist vision. At Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake St., S.F. 6:30 p.m. $18.
Community Yom HaAtzmaut celebration. Travel through Israel’s varied regions, explore tech innovations and taste Israeli food. At Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. 4 to 10 p.m. Free.
Congregational Beth El celebrates Israel's 65th birthday  featuring Israeli music, dance and art 1301 Oxford Street Berkeley 5- 7 pm
Temple Isaiah Lafayette Pot luck Dinner, Services and Israel @65 celebration 6:00 pm 945 Risa Rd  Lafayette

Saturday/20 

Notes from the Middle East: featuring Israeli pianist Eliran Avni and Israeli American conductor Daniel Alfred Waschs leading works by Egyptian composer Nader Abbasi and Israeli composer Avner Dorman. The Oakland East Bay Symphony will also present the world premiere of Ya Way Li by Palestinian American composer John Bisharat  Paramount theater  2025 Broadway, Oakland 8:00 pm tickets $20 -$70

 Monday/22

“Blue and White Monday.” Yom HaAtzmaut celebration for young adults. At Drake, 598 Fourth St., S.F. 6 p.m. $10.

Celebrating 65 years of Israel

 From Barbara Sofer, printed by the J Post in honor of Israel's 65th birthday

 65+1 new reasons why I love Israel 2013... in no particular order

The author is a Jerusalem writer who focuses on the wondrous stories of modern Israel. She serves as the Israel director of public relations for Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. The views in her columns are her 

Here are some of my favorite from her list

Young aboriginal leaders of the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, Canada, came to Israel to learn “how an ancient people can maintain their heritage while embracing the modern world, and in so doing achieve self determination.”

We Israelis talk with our hands, so a start-up called Pointgrab is developing technology so our computers understand our hand gestures.

We like to talk, period. Six heads of the hush-hush Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) star in a movie that reveals secrets of their careers. Even the director said he was startled that they agreed.

Intensity. We’re ranked first by Bloomberg in “research and development intensity.”

Mobileye Inside: Luxury European BMWs and Volvos will now protect themselves with Israeli anti-crash technology.

We are the first to arrive to help at a foreign catastrophe, yet it took us 50 days to form a government and no one seemed in a rush.

An Academy Award-winning director is about to film his first TV pilot here. It’s called Tyrant.
 The Syrian leader is also called “tyrant.” We’re taking in medical patients from his country, even though they’re officially the enemy.

When an Israeli won the gold medal for disabled rowers in Italy, no recording of “Hatikva” had been prepared for the ceremony. So she took the mike and sang the song (beautifully) herself.

Prize-winning Kharta the cow produced 18,208 liters of milk after getting post-traumatic stress treatment. She lives on a kibbutz near the border with Gaza.

The illegal foreign workers come mostly from countries that prohibit them from traveling to Israel. They don’t believe the propaganda. Neither do we!

Despite the ban, Iranians find ways to listen to Rita, the Israeli star singing in Persian.
Israel is exporting sugar to Holland for Dutch chocolate, and to Morocco for sweet tea.

Four sixth-graders from the Ma’aleh Hatorah school in Ma’aleh Adumim took first place at the seventh annual MindLab Olympics international championships, a “thinking games” competition for children from 10 countries.

They’re also good at Torah.

 Israel has won first prize in the Mindlab competition for seven years.

Bank of Israel chief Stanley Fischer turned down a raise.

Says the international advisory committee from MSNBC: Israel is a paradise for prisoners.
Despite the threat from Iran, 2012 was the best year ever for tourists.

Yes, we care. Israeli scientists have brought the aptly named Yarkon bleak fish back from the brink of extinction.

Our president carries an organ donor card.

3Flying high. A skirt-wearing religious woman passed the elite pilot’s course and became a navigator despite pressure that “a religious girl couldn’t do this."

3The world junior tennis champ is a 12-year-old from Ramle, who learned the game in a center for kids from the periphery.

Miss Israel came to Israel from Ethiopia when she was 12. She’s an orphan, brought up by her grandparents.

Said beauty queen served as an officer in the IDF.

The winner of the first season of The Voice Israel singing competition made aliya from Canada a few days before competing. The winner of the second season is an Israeli Arab from Acre.

Archeologists recently found the 2,700-year-old temple of a community that lived in Motza, west of Jerusalem.

The light rail stops are written in Hebrew, Arabic and English.

 Land of opportunity: The new head of the emergency room at Hadassah is the oldest of 11 children and grew up in a Galilee village here. His father only finished fourth grade and his mother never learned to read or write. He and three of his siblings are doctors. (He speaks Russian, too.)

 The cook-off in MasterChef Israel involved a German immigrant who converted from Catholicism to Judaism, a hijab-wearing Israeli Arab nurse and a very religious Jew from a family with 14 children. It was the most popular show of the year.

 Check out the whole list, here

Kerry, Obama and Eleven Dimensional Chess

Mike L.

{Cross-posted at Israel Thrives and Geoffff's Joint.}

From the earliest days of the Obama administration his followers have assured us what a smart fellow Barack Obama is, yet when it comes to the Middle East everything that Obama touches turns to garbage.

Today we have an article in the Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield in which he tells us this:

The State Department spokeswoman confirmed a Turkish newspaper report that Kerry wants Erdogan to play an active role in the peace process, and said Kerry asked Turkey to use its “significant influence with the Palestinians” to encourage Hamas to accept the demands of the International Quartet.

Turkey to play an active role in the "peace process"?  Turkey?  Really?

Bloomfield is skeptical:

Erdogan’s inclusion is bad news for Egypt, Fatah and Israel. Egypt resents Turkey moving on to its turf. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak felt he had a monopoly as the regional intermediary and told Erdogan to keep his hands off; his successor, Mohamed Morsi, apparently feels that way as well, plus now it’s an Islamist as well as national rivalry.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas knows Erdogan is a close ally of arch-rival Hamas and hostile to the secular nationalist Fatah. If anything, Erdogan is more radical than Abbas, and that’s the last thing the PA leader needs. Relations between the two men are said to be cool at best. Abbas also knows Hamas wants to overthrow him and take over not only the PA but control of the PLO as well.

There are few people who Israelis distrust more than Erdogan. Bringing him in is no way to win their confidence.

This must be another example of the Obama administration's fabled eleven dimensional chess.  Whenever this administration does something both counterintuitive and counterproductive (i.e., stupid) we're supposed to believe that it's actually some super-sophisticated move that the rest of us are just not bright enough to understand.  We're supposed to believe that Barack Obama is playing eleven dimensional chess with Sheldon Cooper and Stephen Hawking.  That's how intelligent the guy is.

Obama wrecked whatever potential that there may have been in the peace process through demanding total settlement freeze and he helped the Muslim Brotherhood come to power in Egypt.  Excuse me, but this is not the behavior of an intelligent individual, nor of an effective administration.  This is not eleven dimensional chess with Sheldon Cooper and Stephen Hawking.  These are not some super-sophisticated diplomatic ninja moves.  On the contrary.  What it really reflects is either stupidity or ignorance, or both, resulting in ineptitude.

And now we have Kerry wanting to bring Erdogan into the peace process?  In other words, Kerry thinks that it makes sense to alienate the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority for the purpose of courting Hamas?

I'm sorry, but this is yet another example of the Obama administration falling directly on its face when it comes to its efforts in the Middle East.  This move is not quite as dumb as demanding total settlement freeze, about which the administration (much to my amazement) actually does seem to have belatedly learned a lesson.  Nor is this nearly so horrific or treasonous as the administration's support for the rise of political Islam throughout the region.  It is merely a relatively small screw-up that will help blow the deal in the long run, but since there is virtually no hope for a negotiated conclusion of hostilities anyway, I suppose it hardly matters.

The point is that this administration, at least when it comes to foreign policy, is inept.  They do not know what they are doing and they have, in fact, made matters considerably worse.  Unless one is a craven sycophant of the administration, or of this president, we owe it to one another to point out these various mistakes and screw-ups, both large and small.  It does no one any good to pretend that a sow's ear is really a silk purse.  If Obama was half as intelligent as they tell us he is then he would not be making these profoundly stupid mistakes and his supporters would not feel it necessary to try and explain away these screw-ups as super-sophisticated ninja diplomacy.

It might be due to ignorance or it might be due to stupidity, but what it's not is effective.

Kerry should get out of the Middle East before the administration does even more damage than it has already.

Saudis build apartheid wall on border with Yemen. The world is silent

Saudi Arabia is building a fence, over 1,000 miles long from the Red Sea to the edge of Oman  in order to seal off its border with Yemen.

Security has deteriorated on the Peninsula since the Arab Spring. Yemen remains an Al Qaeda stronghold.

From the BBC:

Border security has dramatically worsened in the aftermath of the revolution, as thousands of illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and gun runners try to slip from impoverished Yemen into Saudi Arabia, one of the world's richest countries, Lt al-Ahmari told the BBC's Frank Gardner.

Five Saudi border guards had recently been killed along the border in shoot-outs with well-armed smugglers, he added.

The first part of the fence has already been built on the coast, slowing down - but not stopping - the tide of illegal immigrants.

Smugglers and militants have already shown ingenuity to circumvent the new border by using women, mules and secret paths to get into Saudi Arabia..

Will there be United nations resolutions condemning this apartheid wall? Will the International Solidarity Movement send people to sabotage it?  Will there be demonstrations in front of Saudi embassies and consulates throughout the world?

We already know that answer. All the nations of the world have not only the right  but the obligation to protect their citizens. All nations but Israel.

6.1 Earthquake hits Iran

Why has Iran built its nuclear facilities on an active faultline?

From the newswire:

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed 32 and injured hundreds more in a sparsely populated area in southern Iran on Tuesday, Iranian officials said. Authorities said it did not damage a nuclear plant in the region.


The report said the earthquake struck the town of Kaki some 96 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bushehr, a town on the Persian Gulf that is home of Iran's first nuclear power plant, built with Russian help.

"No damage was done to Bushehr power plant," Bushehr provincial governor Fereidoun Hasanvand told state TV. He said 32 people died and 850 were injured, including 100 who were hospitalized.

Water and electricity were cut to many residents, said Ebrahim Darvishi, governor of the worst-hit district Shonbeh.

The UN's nuclear watchdog agency said on its website that it had been informed by Iran that there was no damage to the plant and no radioactive release and, based on its analysis of the earthquake, was not seeking additional information. The International Atomic Energy Agency statement indicated that it was satisfied there was little danger.

  Of course, this is the same administration that has claimed that the Holocaust did not happen, and that the country has no gays.  

Israeli Couscous: I Have Learned Something New

Israeli couscous from Trader Joe's holds a special place in the hearts of the Bay Area's local pro-Israel activists. TJ's, bless them, have gone on stocking Israeli products in the face of considerable pressure from the BDS crowd to get them to stop. They have all kinds of lovely Israeli products. My own personal favorite is the Dorot frozen garlic cubes, but I am aware that many of my friends at one time bought a lifetime supply of Israeli coucous from Trader Joe's, to the extent that local activists were trading Israeli couscous recipes for months, desperate to use it all up.

I confess: I never bought any. The garlic cubes, yes, and matzo in season, but not the product I thought of as the 'fake couscous'. When I first became aware of this stuff, I had no idea what I was looking at. Couscous, to me, means, well, actual couscous, and in my childhood was usually eaten in the form of tabouli. It was also generally cooked and served by Israelis, adding to my bafflement--surely Israeli couscous is no different from normal couscous, I thought, puzzled. This odd stuff from TJ's, made up of little pasta balls like tiny ball bearings was a new substance altogether, and confused me. What made it Israeli? Why wasn't it actually couscous? What the heck was this?

I've learned a little more about it though, now, and I'm fascinated enough to be planning the purchase of a few boxes. It turns out that this peculiar carbohydrate is unique to Israel, and is actually a piece of Jewish history.

Let me take you back to the 1950s, when the newborn State of Israel is struggling to survive, and to feed its exploding population. Food is rationed. Immigrants and refugees from the Arab world are flooding into their ancient homeland and new haven. Rice is a staple food for these new Israelis, but it's not readily available because of the limited food supply and lack of imports.

David Ben Gurion to the rescue! Approaching the Osem company (yes, that same Osem whose tahini and matzo ball mix you still buy today), he asks them to come up with a rice substitute that can be produced in Israel. The result, called in Hebrew 'ptitim', is a baked wheat product, shaped like grains of rice, which can be boiled like pasta and served hot or cold. Dubbed "Ben Gurion's rice", it made its way into Israeli culinary history. The round balls of 'couscous' shortly followed.

Israeli couscous is currently very chic with foodies, to the amusement of Israelis, who seem to think of it as kid food. I am fascinated by its legacy. If matzo is the bread of affliction, this is the rice-substitute of the Ingathering, a tribute to Israeli ingenuity and determination to survive and thrive. I plan to learn to cook with it, and to give it a place in my kitchen, this most Zionist of foodstuffs.

Some reading:

http://www.haaretz.com/ben-gurion-s-rice-1.245490

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptitim

Abe Greenhouse, "ISM Scumbag" will be presenting at JVP Annual Conference in Berkeley

From an article by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, written on  August 21, 2003, 2 days after a devastating bombing on a bus in Jerusalem that  killed 7 children and 16 adults. 130 were wounded, many of them children. The bomb was laced with ball-bearings in an effort to increase the suffering and magnify the injuries of the victims on the bus.

 ISM Scumbag Dishonors Terror Victims
Charles Johnson
8/21/03

Abe Greenhouse, the terror-enabling ISM scumbag who desecrated Jerusalem’s Western Wall by leaving a note that read “END THE MOTHERF*CKING OCCUPATION!!!”, sneaked into the press area at the Jerusalem bus bombing on Tuesday shortly after it happened—and the Trentonian interviewed him about it. The lousy self-centered bastard could not spare one word of sympathy for the Israeli and American children he saw murdered that day, but used the opportunity instead to whine about the poor oppressed Palestinians living under the evil occupation. This one will turn your stomach:

Greenhouse, who’s been over in Israel for about month and has joined the International Solidarity Movement, Rabbis for Human Rights and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition since the start of his visit.

“There is a lot of danger in the work I do,” Greenhouse said. “It was a very trying experience, but nothing compared to the regular dangers Palestinians face every day.
“The bombing tonight made me want to remain here in working through this peace effort. My efforts are more important now than ever.”

The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for yesterday’s bus bombing to avenge the killing of a senior operative in a raid last week, but Greenhouse said there’s two sides to the story....

After seeing first hand the bodies of innocents, whose only transgression was living their lives in the state of  Israel, Greenhouse's blinders stayed on. "Nothing compared to the regular dangers the Palestinians face"

Here’s the story of the Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing that Abe Greenhouse just couldn’t be bothered to tell.

The bomb that caused the huge explosion on Egged bus 2  was spiked with ball-bearings and other metal debris designed to increase the suffering of the victims on the crowded bus. The bomber was Raad Abd el-Hamid Maseqa, 29-year-old cleric from  Hebron.

 According to an Associated Press report,

 Strollers were scattered near the stricken bus, medics carried away children with blood-smeared faces and a baby girl died in a hospital before doctors could find her parents. At least five children were among the 18 dead in Tuesday's suicide bombing by a Palestinian militant who blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus. Forty children were among more than 100 people injured. The attack was the 100th Palestinian suicide bombing against Israelis since the latest round of fighting began in September 2000. The youth of the victims stands out in that grim list, and the government said the choice of target was particularly cold-blooded.

Among the victims of the bombing was Shmuel Zangari, an 11 month old baby who died of a brain hemorrhage.  His older sister,  Avigal had facial burns. His sister Esther had a horrific blast injury.  The enormous concussive waves from the bomb broke her ear drums and tore apart her lungs.

 Abe Greenhouse knows very well that a suicide bomber is a bomb with a brain- they chose the targets and their moment of detonation.  This particular murderer chose a public bus, crowded with children. Greenhouse rationalizes and whitewashes the slaughter of innocents.

Abe Greenhouse, the "terror-enabling ISM scumbag” will be presenting at the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Annual Meeting in Berkeley California,  DoubleTree Hotel Berkeley Marina April 19-21.

President Shimon Peres’ speech at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony April 7, 2013

We built a defensive force capable of dealing with dangers, new and old. The Israel Defense Forces, which was formed in response to the attempt to annihilate the Jewish State which had just been created, is also the right lesson from the Holocaust. It is founded upon the bravery of Jews in the Holocaust.


******************

President Shimon Peres’ speech at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Jerusalem Sunday April 7, 2013

Dear Holocaust survivors, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein, President of the Supreme Court Justice Asher Grunis, Chief Rabbis Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Rabbi Yona Metzger, our dear friend Prime Minister Tony Blair, our dear friend the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada John Baird, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chairman of the Directorate of Yad Vashem Avner Shalev, Righteous Among the Nations, honoured guests:

The Holocaust will not sink into the dark hole of history. It is here with us, burning, real. It resonates as we step on the stones of the ghettos. It floats like a ghost in the barracks of the camps. It cries from the prayer shawls, the hair, the shoes that we see with our own eyes. It whispers from the tears that dried before we said goodbye. It is reflected in the photographs of the babies in their mothers’ arms. The noise of those murderous trains which have ceased stills rings in our ears. The smoke which has not faded as it drifted into the sky above. Survivors walk among us, the Holocaust and its horrors are with them every day. Their blood flows through our veins. Their bravery accompanies every step of our lives. There was no greater horror in the history of mankind. Nothing can remove the greatest darkness that mankind has known. The 74 years which have passed are more biography than history. Millions of names are still missing, of parents and children, of whole Jewish communities who were murdered. There is no substitute for the culture, for the values, for the talents which were and are no longer. They remain as an open wound. We will not stop searching for every scrap of information, for a name yet to be identified, for a photograph that has been blurred. A third of our people, six million, were murdered with no reason. The Jewish people today are fewer in number then on the eve of WW2. We decreased in number, but not in spirit. We are working with all our might to fill the void. Physically and spiritually. To grow out of the ashes, to create out of nothing, to build protection. To build a new independence, and not tire from working for a better world, for Tikkun Olam.

The Holocaust is an orphan with no comfort and a moral responsibility without compromise. It does not permit us, the Jewish people, to turn a blind eye. It must always be a warning to the entire human family. The map of Europe stills contains local stains of anti-Semitism. Racism erupted on that land in the last century and dragged it down to its lowest point. Ultimately the murder which came from her, damaged her. To our shame, there remain some who learnt nothing. Young skinheads. False scientists dressed in false suits. Yes! There remain those who forget the Holocaust, those who deny it. Not all the flames have been extinguished. Crises are once again exploited to form Nazi parties, ridiculous but dangerous. Sickening anti-Semitic cartoons are published allegedly in the name of press freedom. The journey for justice and freedom is not yet over. When I hear the four words, ‘Let My People Go’ I feel again and again that the journey out of the house of slavery, which began in our people and has not yet ended, must not stop. It must not stop until slavery, in all its forms, is stopped. In every place, in every situation. Until the winds of freedom blow away the stench of racism and decimate the evil smoke. The civilized world must ask itself how in such a short space of time after the crematoria were extinguished, after the terrible death toll that the allied powers endured to put an end to the Nazi devil, it is still possible for the leadership, like that of Iran, to openly deny the Holocaust and threaten another Holocaust. Whoever ignores the threat against one nation, must know that the threat of a Holocaust against one nation is a threat of a Holocaust against all nations. The Jewish people are a small nation in number but large in spirit. That spirit cannot be burned in the ovens. From the ashes of the Holocaust rose spiritual redemption and political rebirth. We rose and we built a state of our own. We lost possessions, but retained our values. We returned to our ancient homeland. We renewed our moral legacy. We returned to independence. We returned to creating, to educating and we returned to hope. We built a defensive force capable of dealing with dangers, new and old. The Israel Defense Forces, which was formed in response to the attempt to annihilate the Jewish State which had just been created, is also the right lesson from the Holocaust. It is founded upon the bravery of Jews in the Holocaust.

Today, Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day is also the memorial day for 70 years since the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. There was a never a rebellion like it. They were so few and their bravery remained as a model for so many. From now and forever. Today we salute their bravery with the flags flying in the wind of freedom. These are flags of exaltation, not only of grief. A clear line exists between the resistance in the ghettos, in the camps and in the forests and the rebirth and bravery of the State of Israel. It is a line of dignity, of renewed independence, of mutual responsibility, of exalting God’s name. As a ray of hope which was not extinguished even during terrible anguish. The ghetto fighters sought life even when circumstance screamed despair. A few days ago Peretz Hochman passed away. The small tobacco seller who became a great hero. Peretz Hochman came home to Israel and fought in Israel’s wars with the courage which typified him. He passed away only a few days before he was meant to stand with us, here today, on this stage and light the torch. His light will continue to illuminate. Raising the heroism of the fighters is not just a matter of doing justice to their bravery. It is an existential need, for each of us, for all us as a people. It is time. We did not always listen to the beat of their hearts. To the health. The time has come to repair. The history of the Holocaust is not just a lesson from the past, it is also a lesson for the future. That we will know to defend ourselves against dangers and intercept them before time. That we can rely on ourselves. That we must maintain our moral legacy, which withstood even impossible situations. That we can maintain friendship with friends, and work with them to foster a better future, for every person, for every nation, for all nations. And to guard against humanity ever losing its humanity again. We’ll ensure that every person will have the right to be different, different and equal. We will never despair. After all, we were commanded; “Do not fear, my servant Jacob” because “The Lord will give strength to his people.”

Anonymous hacks Israeli Hair Salon. They proclaim OpIsrael a Sucess

From the New York Times, reporting on the April 7, 2013 Cyber Day of rage against Israel:

Guy Mizrahi of Cyberia, an Israeli cybersecurity firm, said in an interview that the damage was not significant and that most of the attacks were “childish.”....
 
The pro-Palestinian hackers seemed to have had more success in attacking small businesses and individual Facebook pages. At midday they announced on Twitter that they had defaced the Web site of an Israeli hair salon, Peter Hair, in Ramat Hasharon, near Tel Aviv.

The salon site’s home page showed a person with a masked face, an image associated with Anonymous, holding a sign saying “Indonesian Security Down #OP ISRAHELL.” The rest of the screen was filled with a message to the government, accusing Israel of having “wronged humanity.” The hackers signed off with the message, “We are Muslims, Soldier of Allah.”

Reached by telephone on Sunday evening, the owner of the salon, Peter Imseis, said he had not been aware that the site had been hacked and added that it had not affected his business. Asked why he thought the salon had become a target, he said, “I don’t have a clue. It’s very strange.” 

Also reported- an Israeli army surplus store's website at israelmilitary.com was successfully hacked..  Anonymous  then claimed they had disabled the mighty Israeli military infrastructure.  Fortunately, their research skills are as competent as their hacking.

Anonymous: Sound and Fury and not much more

From Anonymous- their "List of confirmed affected websites during #OpIsrael" http://crypt0nymous.tumblr.com/post/47270432228/list-of-confirmed-affected-websites-during-opisrael

Anonymous claims  the following list includes latest confirmed tango downs, hacks, defaces, docks, hijacks, database leaks & releases, deletes out of the internet, admin takeovers etc.

Confirmed by WHO?  Every one that I've checked appears to be working just fine....
There is confirmation that the brave cyber-warriors of Anonymous had successfully  targeted an  Israeli children's cancer site  Classy.

Gov. websites:
http://www.cbs.gov.il/
http://www.defence.gov.il/
http://www.education.gov.il
http://www.environment.gov.il
http://www.gca.gov.il/
http://www.gpo.gov.il/
http://int.gov.il/
http://www.isa.gov.il/
http://www.lapam.gov.il/
http://mofa.gov.il/
http://www.mof.gov.il/itc/
http://www.mohr.gov.il/
http://nisa.gov.il/
http://sep.gov.il/

Other Israeli websites:
http://agreements.co.il/
http://alzheimer.org.il/
http://www.art-time.co.il
http://www.atlas-shelves.co.il/
http://bigsmile.co.il/
http://bubotmetukot.co.il/
http://biztv.co.il/
http://camellia.co.il
http://ciaobella.co.il
http://www.cogmetal.co.il/
http://www.connectionsmag.co.il
http://www.court.gov.il/
http://daniel-hall.co.il
http://dsignon.co.il
http://edanhatzilum.co.il
http://etzhaim.org.il
http://www.eximius.co.il/
http://fishgraphix.co.il
http://finephotography.co.il
http://galpro.co.il
http://www.goldbiz.co.il/
http://haifanet.co.il/
http://www.haifa-wwtp.co.il/
http://hed-haeer.co.il
http://hottam.co.il/
http://www.humor.co.il/
http://www.idf.il/
http://igmi.co.il/
http://www.inof.co.il/
http://www.insuranceoffers.co.il/
http://www.israntique.org.il/
http://www.kahane.co.il/
http://www.lawontheweb.co.il/
http://www.lawlink.co.il/
http://www.moshepapa.co.il/
http://www.misradneto.co.il/
http://www.mpi.co.il/
http://www.levechad.org/
http://natour-deal.co.il/
http://qsi.co.il/
http://www.pensya-tova.co.il/
https://smarteq.co.il/lib/_uploads/images/images.php
http://www.tama38law.co.il/
http://tapuahvedvash.co.il/
http://www.taussig-law.co.il/
http://thehome.co.il/
http://www.thenotaries.co.il/
http://www.t-pool.co.il/
http://www.visionimprovement.co.il/
http://web.ramgat.co.il/includes/x.html

Anon/Pastebins:
730 Israeli Facebook Accounts Hacked By Mauritania Attacker
Leak: http://www.connectionsmag.co.il, http://www.humor.co.il/ & http://www.art-time.co.il
95 israeli websites hacked by Aceh Cyber Team
14 israeli websites hacked by Kosovo Gold Hackers
Secret Israel Documents of http://israelmilitary.com by @TeamLHT; Leak: http://bit.ly/10I40Cm

Other medium:
100s off sites taken for op-israel by bilalsbxtra and dr samim-008
8 .il websites #HaCked and #Defaced bY #AnonGhost; Paste: http://pastie.org/7343283
Israeli Facebook Acounts HaCked by @An0nGhost
Part 1: http://pastebin.com/zdkHSvHT (400)
Part 2: http://pastebin.com/v7rfzkXm (560)
Israeli Cyber Pyrates facebook fan page hacked

Anonymous Website hacked. OpIsrael off to a Rollickingly Fun start

The website of Hactivist Group Anonymous has been hacked, bringing a highly ironic start to the April 7 2013 OpIsrael  Day o' Rage we've heard so much about.

Thanks so much to IsraellyCool for bring this to our attention.

Of of right now, the OpIsrael webpage plays a lovely version of Hatikvah, and runs MEMRI clips with Wafa Sultan.  It also offers these important facts about the conflict

1. Israel became a nation in 1312 BCE, two thousand years before the rise of Islam

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 CE lasted no more than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9. In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution, and slaughter.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

12. Arab refugees were intentionally not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16. The UN Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18. The UN was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like a policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

The hacked site bears the message: This site hacked by : EhIsR #opisrael are nothing!! Now is the time to know the truth about Israel.

EhIsR- I owe you a beer for this one.  Good job.

Youtube of the Anonymous website, taken this afternoon.

UC Santa Barbara divest team logo "From the River to the Sea"

You don't have to dig very deep to find the  hypocrisy of the BDS movement. UC Santa Barbara is currently debating divestment.   Its all about "human rights" the BDS'ers claim.  Its all about "justice".   But the "Justice" they seek is "Just us".

Have you noticed the logo of the UC Santa Barbara divestment team's Facebook page?

"From the River to the Sea".  From the Jordan river to the Mediterranean Sea- this isn't about achieving  an end to the "occupation". This isn't about achieve a just peace with safe and secure borders for both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.  These are not the words of those seeking peace between the state of the Jewish people and the state of the Palestinian people. These are the words of those  who seek to destroy Israel.

You'd never know it from their public statements:

You'd never know it from the wording of the divestment resolution, which claims "Its all about the occupation"

WHEREAS: investment by UCSB in corporations that profit, from the military Occupation of Palestine, for the purpose of sharing in those profits, undermines UCSB’s commitment to fostering the well-being of our state, nation, and world, by supporting institutions that act contrary to the UCSB Mission Statement....

LET IT BE RESOLVED that ASUCSB will examine its assets and UC assets for investments in companies that a) provide military support for, or weaponry to support, the occupation of the Palestinian Territories, or b) facilitate the building or maintenance of the Separation Wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes, or c) facilitate in the building, maintenance, or economic development of Israeli settlements on annexed Palestinian territories....

No, its not about the territories captured in the 1967 war.  Its not about the future borders of an Israeli State and a Palestinian state.   With the slogan  "From the River to the Sea"  The divestment lobby, led by Students for  Just Us in Palestine at University of California Santa Barbara has made its intentions quite clear.  This is about the end of Israel.

Lets just hope that the Student senators of UCSB  realize this, too

Happy 65th Birthday Israel!

Happy 65th  Birthday Israel!  A love letter from David Harris, published in the Huffington Post


I have enormous admiration for Israel - for its resolve, resilience, courage, and ingenuity.

What it has achieved in the past 65 years is breathtaking: the rebirth of a state with a rock-solid democratic foundation; the ingathering of millions of refugees and immigrants from just about every corner of the world; the creation of a world-class economy; the building of a first-rate army; and a determination to overcome one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after another.

Other nations might have succumbed, after 65 years of uninterrupted hostility, to enemies trying everything under the sun to destroy them, and short of that, to demoralize and isolate them. But Israel has not flinched. It refuses to cave. It keeps confounding its foes.


Its commitment to a two-state accord with the Palestinians, polls repeatedly reveal, remains unshakeable, even as many Israelis can't help but wonder if the Palestinians, given one chance after another for sovereignty, truly share Israel's aim of Jewish and Palestinian states living side by side in peace and harmony.

Moreover, in global surveys Israel comes out among the "happiest" countries in the world; Tel Aviv ranks as one of the top "go-to" destinations for young people; and Israelis' life expectancy exceeds that of Americans'.

Read it all here

Jewish Voice for Peace: Rejecting Free Speech

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
Noam Chomsky:

Jewish Voice for Peace doesn’t believe in freedom of speech.  We've long suspected this- after all, this is the group that made a habit of gleefully shouting down speakers they don't agree with.

In January, Carolyn Klaasen, Coordinator of  JVP-NY sent out an email to her mailing list, urging them to sign a statement in support of a BDS conference at Brooklyn college, and thanking people for “ standing up for free speech, open political debate”. A second email from Klassen, days later extorted that “efforts to shut this event down are a deplorable attack on free speech”. The JVP sponsored event went on as scheduled.

The JVP commitment to free speech ended right there.

Days ago,  Amy Helfant of JVP sent out another announcement, urging its supporters to pressure a New York synagogue into cancelling a talk by Pam Geller, writing “the willingness of the Great Neck Synagogue to welcome rather than condemn a person who promotes bigotry and racism is an affront to our values and has no place in the world we are creating for ourselves and our children.”   JVP’s moral integrity is rather selective. Hypocrisy. That's the word we’re looking for. Hypocrisy.

From an article in the Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis

Leftist Jewish groups are calling on a Long Island synagogue to cancel a speech by an outspoken Jewish blogger known for her outspoken anti-Muslim views — raising questions about a double standard on free expression.

New York activist groups Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, and Jews Say No! announced their opposition to a speech set for April 14 by Pamela Geller, an activist known for her extreme anti-Muslim rhetoric, at the Modern Orthodox Great Neck Synagogue.

In an email sent to JVP activists on April 3, the organization called on members to contact the Great Neck Synagogue and ask it to cancel the event. Rebecca Vilkomerson, JVP’s executive director, told the Forward on April 4 that at least 50 people had contacted Great Neck Synagogue at the group’s behest...

The campaign comes weeks after some of the same leftist Jewish groups organized against efforts to cancel a panel on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement at Brooklyn College. One of the groups also opposed a decision by the LGBT Community Center in New York to block an appearance by a pro-BDS scholar.

One gay community activist, who opposed the BDS ban at the LGBT Community Center, slammed the leftist Jewish groups for their apparent free expression flip-flop.

“I’m startled [the leftist Jewish groups] didn’t learn any lessons from the controversies of two months ago at the Gay Center and at Brooklyn College,” said Bill Dobbs, a longtime gay activist. “They’ve lost the moral high ground.”

Vilkomerson said that JVP’s call for the cancellation of the event was not evidence of a double standard

Right, Rebecca. Right. We know exactly how you think:  "Free speech for me, but not for thee"

Tammiphobia: Why is the harassment of Tammi Rossman-Benjamin allowed to continue on the UC campuses?

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life." Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill’s words are of likely of little comfort to Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a UC Santa Cruz lecturer and fearless advocate for the rights of Jewish students on campus. Her outspoken advocacy has won her acclaim throughout the Jewish community- she was on the short list of finalists in a nationwide Jewish Community Hero contest. Its also made her enemies.

From the Fousesquak blog:  In this open letter to Chancellor Blumenthal  Tammi Rossman-Benjamin describes the level of harassment and intimidation she has faced for daring to speak her mind   

She writes;

“In exercising my 1st amendment rights, a campaign of harassment, defamation and intimidation has been waged against me by CJP students. They certainly have the right to disagree with me, to ask for clarification, to voice dissent.  However their chosen response is deeply disturbing and alarming. Rather than disagree with me in a way that fosters understanding or asks for clarification, I am being harassed, intimidated and defamed in ways that are causing me to fear for my physical safety”       

The most current attack on Rossman-Benjamin stems from a talk she gave last summer, far away from the UC campuses.

Rossman-Benjamin writes:

....As you know, last summer I spoke out against campus anti-Semitism at a synagogue near Boston, in order to alert members of the local Jewish community to the problem of intimidation and harassment that some Jewish students face on college campuses today.  In my speech, I did not state, nor imply, that all Muslims or members of MSA and SJP are terrorists, or associate with terrorists. I spoke to raise awareness about a situation that exists in some instances on some campuses.  My intention was not to make a blanket statement or blanket accusations.  Yet my statements are being distorted by the Committee for Justice in Palestine to demonize me, I believe in retaliation for my speaking out against campus anti-Semitism in general, and initiating a Title VI complaint in particular.

 The pattern of harassment began with an email from UC Berkeley activist Tom Pessah , urging students to formally report this off campus talk to a UC campus climate survey on intolerance.

From: Tom Pessah
Date: February 17, 2013, 4:48:22 PM PST
Subject: [cal_sjp] report islamophobic incitement against SJP and MSA

A video has surfaced http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnSlbOhZgGI, showing UC Santa Cruz Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman Benjamin making extremely offensive comments about the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine groups at an off-campus event in June 2012. Benjamin singles these student activists out from all others, saying, “These are not your ordinary student groups like College Republicans or Young Democrats. These are students who come with a serious agenda, who have ties to terrorist organizations”.

If you are a UC student we encourage you to fill in this form for reporting incidents of intolerance on campus:
https://ucsystems.ethicspointvp.com/custom/ucs_ccc/default.asp

A petition was started, along with a poster campaign.  The harassment culminated in a resolution at UC Berkeley condemning  Tammi Rossman-Benjamin.  Some speculated the cowardly move to introduce the resolution at Berkeley rather than her home campus of UC Santa Cruz  was made to eliminate potential opposition and to deliberately silence the voices of her supporters at Santa Cruz.

At no point has anyone addressed the actual content of  Rossman-Benjamin's statements, instead focusing their efforts on ad hominem attacks.

The historic ties of such groups as the Muslim brotherhood to the Muslim Students Association have been well documented   An article by Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Sam Roe and Laurie Cohen, from a 2004 Chicago Tribune documents the history of the Muslim brotherhood in America, including  the establishment of the  Muslim Students Association (MSA), incorporated in 1963, by members of the Muslim Brotherhood at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Over the years, at Berkeley and elsewhere there have been close ties between various extremist groups and the Students for Justice in Palestine.  There is appreciable cross-pollination between SJP and extremist anti-Israel groups, including Al Awda and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Over the course of years,  SJP has hosted members of  Al Awda and the International Solidarity Movement and has promoted, participated and co-sponsored their activities.

From 2004

SJP ISM ties

To today

SJP ISM ties

A screen shot taken today of the resources page of SJP ( http://calsjp.org/?page_id=5 ) links directly to the International Solidarity Movement.

The relationship between the International Solidarity movement and SJP is not one-sided.  Local ISM members have been heavily promoting SJP's  Dam concert on their website as well.

The International Solidarity Movement is not a peace group. From the ADL's backgrounder

 Though ISM claims to promote only nonviolent means of resistance, it voices support for others who engage in armed resistance against Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has even warned that its activity "at times" is "under the auspices of Palestinian terrorist organizations."

Paul Larudee  who recently advocated that "armed struggle must not be discouraged, but rather made as effective as possible" is the reputed head of the  Northern California International Solidarity Movement. Paul has been photographed with Hamas leaders in Gaza, and has been hosted multiple times on campus, sponsored by the SJP.

Paul Larudee  has worked closely with Deppen Webber, who once infamously tweeted "My New Years resolution is to destroy the Zionist state"

To Students for Justice in Palestine, to Tom Pessah , Rebecca Pierce and their friends:  Just as not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, not all criticism of your group's tactics are "Islamophobic".  If you want to be taken seriously as a force for peace in the community, you will stop aiding and abetting extremists , stop hosting them, stop co-sponsoring events with them.  Tammi Rossman-Benjamin's words should have forced you to take a long sober look at those you've associated with over the years. Sadly, you were too distracted by your own self-righteous indignation and delusions of eternal victimization to even notice.

Yom HaShoah Events in the Bay Area

From the J Weekly: the Northern California Jewish Newspaper
This year, Yom HaShoah starts at sundown April 7.

Sunday April 7

City of Berkeley Holocaust remembrance. With music by composer Aaron Blumenfeld. At Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley. 11 a.m. Free. http://www.magnes.org.
“Yes, We Sang!” Yom HaShoah concert. Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco, Cantor Linda Hirschhorn and Nigunim Community Folk Chorus perform. At JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. 4 p.m. $10, free for children and seniors. http://www.jcceastbay.org.
“Life and Resistance in the Ghettos: 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.” Remembrance with a message from Israel by Consul General Andy David. At Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills. 5 p.m. Free. http://www.betham.org.
Sonoma County Yom HaShoah community commemoration. “Future of Holocaust Memory” theme and perspectives from three generations. At Friedman Center, 4676 Mayette Ave., Santa Rosa. 2 p.m. Free. http://www.jccsoco.org.
Yom HaShoah service. At Temple Beth Hillel, 801 Park Central, Richmond. 7 p.m. Free. http://www.tbhrichmond.org.
Holocaust commemoration. Featuring Yiddish music by opera singer Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell. At Temple Isaiah, 945 Risa Road, Lafayette. 4 p.m. Free. http://www.temple-isaiah.org.
Yom HaShoah commemoration. With a ceremony honoring a Torah from an unknown town in Czechoslovakia. At Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton. 6 p.m. Free. http://www.bethemek.org.
Holocaust commemoration for teens. With talk by Holocaust survivor Lillian Judd. At Congregation Beth Ami, 4676 Mayette Ave., Santa Rosa. 10:30 a.m. Free. http://www.bethamisr.org.
Yom HaShoah V’Hagevurah observance. Three Holocaust survivors tell their personal stories of survival. At Congregation Rodef Sholom, 170 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. 4 p.m. Free. http://www.rodefsholom.org.
“Never Again: How Can We Make It So?” Yom HaShoah and genocide memorial with talk by Sonoma State professor Elaine Leeder, former visiting scholar at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. At Congregation Shomrei Torah, 2600 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa. 10:30 a.m. Free. http://www.shomreitorah.org.

Monday April 8

Yom HaShoah V’Hagevurah remembrance. Reading of names followed by service with talk on the contributions of Jewish soldiers in World War II. At Peninsula Sinai Congregation, 499 Boothbay Ave, Foster City. 6:30 p.m. Free. http://www.peninsulasinai.org.

Tuesday April 9

“The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning.” Talk by James E. Young, professor of English and Judaic studies at University of Massachusetts Amherst. In Warren Auditorium, Ives Hall, Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. 4 p.m. Free. http://www.sonoma.edu/holocaust.
Santa Clara County Holocaust remembrance ceremony. Music, candlelighting, prayer and focus on “turning points” in the stories of survivors. At County Government Center, board chambers, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose. 4 p.m. Free.

Time is Not on our Side

It's that time, again. Time Magazine is asking us to cast our vote for the leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes that are the most influential people in the world.  Official voting ends on Friday, April 12th.

Anti-Israel activists have been pushing hard to vote up a second rate filmmaker and propagandist, Emad Burnat. They've been asking people to vote down the leader of the only free nation in the Middle East, Benyamin Netanyahu.

And up to now, they've been succeeding.  As of today Emad Burnatt has over 3,000 votes, significantly more than Michelle Obama or Pope Benedict XVI. He's got more votes than Jackie Chan!  Netanyahu has less than 800. The final tally will be on Friday, and again, when we fight back, we win.  Our opponents have had a huge head start, and we all know that self-promotion is the one thing that they are good at.

Fortunately, our friend David over at Five Minutes for Israel has created a handy set of links.  Check it out here, and vote.  "Like" Five Minutes for Israel on Facebook, too, for up to the minute easy ways you can help Israel.   Promote this poll on your own facebook page, via twitter and through your groups.

We can do it !

Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh: A Life Sentence

Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh, a  member of the Hamas terror group has died of cancer in the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.  An autopsy revealed that a malignant tumor in his vocal chords had metastasized throughout his body.  He had been serving a life sentence in an  Israeli prison since  2002 on charges of attempted murder, membership in a banned organization and illegal possession of firearms as a result of his role in the attempted bombing of a restaurant Caffit in Jerusalem’s German Colony.

 A Prison Service spokesperson  said Abu Hamdeya died in a hospital in southern Israel on Tuesday. After doctors diagnosed his cancer as terminal,  an early release process was begun.

Extremist groups from around the world attempted to use this man's death from cancer to fan the flames of hate

American Muslims for Palestine reported:

The American Muslims for Palestine today mourns the death of Palestinian political prisoner Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, who died from cancer after Israeli prison authorities denied him access to medical treatment.

Media reports indicate Abu Hamdiyeh had throat cancer, which spread to his spinal cord.
Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian Authority minister of prisons, said Abu Hamdiyeh's cancer spread because he did not receive treatment earlier, Maan News reported...

Today, AMP offers our deepest condolences to the Abu Hamdiyeh’s family

They mourn the death of a man who once targeted  families with children, eating in a popular restaurant. They offer condolences to the family of the man who targeted innocent civilians..  They whitewash his atrocities. They eliminate context. There is not a moment's thought of compassion for his intended victims, who were targeted as Jews, guilt only of living their lives in their ancient homeland.

 Our "partner for peace", the "moderate " PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Fatah leaders in Ramallah "Today, we were surprised to hear about the martyrdom of prisoner Abu Hamdiyeh,”

And again, the streets of the West bank were filled with rioters.

New Palestinian Opinion Poll

These are the results of the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research  in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between March 28-30 2013.  28% of Palestinians consider unemployment and poverty their most serious problem, followed by 26% feeling lack of unity was the main issue. 22% think its all about the "occupation". Surprised?

Main Findings: 

Presidential, Legislative, and Local Elections: 

 If new presidential elections are held today and only two were nominated, Abbas would receive the vote of 52% and Haniyeh 41% of the vote of those participating. The rate of participation in such elections would reach 62%

 f presidential elections were between Marwan Barghouti and Ismail Haniyeh, the former would receive 60% and the latter would receive 33% of the participants’ votes. The rate of participation in this case would reach 69%. In our December poll Barghouti received 51% of the vote and Haniyeh 42%. 

 If presidential elections were between three: Mahmud Abbas, Marwan Barghouti and Ismail Haniyeh, Barghouti would receive the largest percentage (38%) followed by Haniyeh (31%), and Abbas (26%). The rate of participation in this case would reach 73%

If new legislative elections are held today with the participation of all factions, 71% say they would participate in such elections. Of those who would participate, 29% say they would vote for Hamas and 41% say they would vote for Fatah, 11% would vote for all other third parties combined, and 20% are undecided. Vote for Hamas in the Gaza Strip stands in this poll at 33% and in the West Bank at 27%. Vote for Fatah in the Gaza Strip stands in this poll at 42% and in the West Bank at 40%.

Domestic Conditions: 

Positive evaluation of conditions in the Gaza Strip drops from 43% three months ago to 32% in this poll while 40% say conditions are bad or very bad.

Similarly, positive evaluation of conditions in the West Bank drops from 35% three months ago to 29% in this poll while 44% say conditions are bad or very bad

Perception of corruption in PA institutions in the West Bank stands at 78% in this poll compared to 74% three months ago. Perception of corruption in the public institutions of Hamas’ Gaza government stands at 64% compared to 53% three months ago. 

21% say there is, and 44% say there is to some extent, press freedom in the West Bank. By contrast, 16% say there is, and 35% say there is to some extent, press freedom in the Gaza Strip. 

33% of the Palestinian public say people in the West Bank can criticize the authority in the West Bank without fear. By contrast, 25% of the public say people in the Gaza Strip can criticize the authorities in Gaza without fear. These results indicate a decrease in the perception of freedom to criticize authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip compared to results obtained three months ago.

Reconciliation:  In the absence of visible progress in the Fateh-Hamas reconciliation dialogue, percentage of optimism about the chances for reunification of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip drops sharply from 39% three months ago to 18% in this poll

 Most vital Palestinian goals and the main problems confronting Palestinians today:

The most serious problem confronting Palestinian society today is the spread of poverty and unemployment in the eyes of 28% of the public while 26% say it is the absence of national unity due to the West Bank-Gaza Strip split, 22% believe the most serious problem is the continuation of occupation and settlement activities, 15% believe the most serious problem is corruption in some public institutions, and 7% believe it is the siege and the closure of the Gaza border crossings.

 Read the entire survey results here