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NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA
“IN ISRAEL'S 60-YEAR HISTORY, THERE IS NO PRECEDENT FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ACTIONS THIS WEEK.”
Israel's darkest week-Caroline Glick
The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's liquidation sale of Israel's strategic assets opened officially this week. Iran's proxies have pounced on the merchandise. The first asset sold was the security of southern Israel. The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's "cease-fire" with Hamas transferred all power to determine the fate of the residents of southern Israel to Iran's Palestinian proxy. Under the "agreement," Hamas will refrain from attacking Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot and surrounding kibbutzim for as long as it serves its interests. Since temporarily halting its attacks on southern Israel is the only thing that Hamas has agreed to do, it will use the lull in fighting to build up its arsenal and its military infrastructures in Gaza. When it has built up its forces sufficiently, or when its Iranian overlords give it the order, Hamas will again attack southern Israel. And when it reengages, it can be assumed that it will do so with a vastly expanded missile range. So under the guise of the "cease-fire," Hamas will place hundreds of thousands more Israelis at its mercy. The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's agreement with Hamas does more than sell out the security of the South. The agreement also divests Israel of its former ability to isolate Hamas diplomatically. Fatah's renewal of negotiations toward reconciling with Hamas is a direct consequence of Israel's actions. As these talks unfold, it is clear to all concerned that they will not lead to any sort of power sharing agreement between the two parties. Hamas today holds all the power in Palestinian society. Israel's acceptance of Hamas's power over the safety of Israeli citizens only amplified this fact. Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas - who cannot even travel to Nablus without IDF protection - is not approaching Hamas as an equal, but as a supplicant. (Jpost)
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JORDANIANS THREATEN BOYCOTT AGAINST DUTCH DUE TO CARTOONS AND ‘FITNA’
 Dutch companies fear Jordanian boycott- Sebastiaan Gottlieb
Fearful of a Jordanian boycott of their products, two Dutch companies have distanced themselves from the film Fitna, produced and released earlier this year by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. On Sunday, Friesland Foods and the Zwanenberg Food Group placed adverts in Jordanian newspapers to announce that they have nothing to do with the film. They're hoping to prevent their products ending up on a Middle East blacklist.
They took this step after 'The Messenger of Allah Unites Us', a broad coalition of Jordanian political parties, professional organisations and media, printed one million posters showing Dutch and Danish products that - they argue - consumers in Jordan and other Middle East countries ought to boycott. In addition to a number of Danish brand names, the list includes such Dutch companies as KLM, Philips and baby food manufacturer Friso. There's considerable anger in Jordan regarding Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The chairman of the coalition, Zakaria Sheik, says that both men have offended Muslims throughout the world and shouldn't escape their punishment. (radionetherlands.nl)
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THE 19TH ARRONDISSMENT BECOMES A BATTLEGROUND BETWEEN JEWS AND ARABS
Racist Violence in Paris and Brussels- Tiberge
The 19th arrondissement of Paris has become a war zone between Jews and North Africans. The most recent flare-up of violence occurred on Saturday June 21. A 17-year old Jewish boy suffered several broken ribs and skull fractures during a violent assault by Mulsim youths. The boy was hospitalized in an unconscious state at Cochin Hospital where he is currently being kept in an artificial coma.
The boy, who was wearing a kippa, was walking on Rue Petit, in the 19th, when he came upon a group of 30 young persons of African origin who insulted him before beating him. Five minors were arrested, said a police source, but they have not been identified by witnesses. According to the police, the assault must be put into the context of "brawls" between groups of young Jews and North Africans. One such brawl is said to have occurred just before the beating.
Yesterday, Le Figaro analyzed the situation in the Buttes-Chaumont (the Chaumont Hills) in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, where urban warfare has become commonplace. On Sunday, Roger Madec, the socialist mayor of the 19th arrondissement, requested supplementary police units to restore order. Le Figaro reports that in the pitched battles it is sometimes difficult to discern aggressors from aggressed. In mid-June, a car chase resulted in several young Jews being arrested, "but they were the victims," insists Sammy Ghozlan, of the Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism. "They felt compelled to stick together to protect themselves," he said though he agrees that certain Jewish gangs are also looking for a fight. (brusselsjournal)
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MAJORITY OF INDONESIANS WANT SHARIA LAW
Indonesia backs sharia law, poll shows-Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent
A majority of Indonesians would like to see Sharia law implemented in their country, a new poll shows, although only a minority favour the harsh measures sometimes associated with the system.
The poll of 8,000 people in the world's most populous Muslim country, home to 200 million Muslims, found that 52 per cent favoured some form of Islamic legal code, such as religious arbitration in family disputes. Asked if women should be made to wear a head scarf 45 per cent said yes, while 40 per cent favoured chopping off the hands of thieves. "A lot of people think the idea is very good, but when you start talking of every day implications, the number dropped," said Ira Soekirman of Roy Morgan Research, an Australian company which conducted the survey. (telegraph.co.uk)
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ACADEMIC FREEDOM
"Every time a book is sold over the Internet, an American author, an American publisher becomes vulnerable"
U.S. Librarians, Authors, and Publishers Weigh the Chilling Effects of 'Libel Tourism' [incl. Joseph Massad, "Alms for Jihad," Cambridge University Press, Khalid bin Mahfouz]- by Jennifer Howard Chronicle of Higher Education
When the College Art Association decided recently to settle rather than fight a possible libel action in Britain over a book review published in one of its journals, it did more than sidestep a costly and probably doomed legal battle. It opened itself up to sharp accusations that it had failed to stand up for freedom of expression.
The episode is a reminder of how wide a gulf separates the United States—where First Amendment protections and jurisprudence make libel very difficult to prove—from most of the rest of the world, where protecting reputations and public sensibilities trump the right to say what one pleases. It also points to the hazards of publishing in a truly global context, where, thanks to the Internet, a journal article or monograph or blog post can be accessed almost anywhere, no matter where it was written or published.
The fracas comes at a time when Congress is moving forward on legislation that would protect American writers and publishers from foreign libel judgments. The draft legislation would make such rulings unenforceable here unless they meet First Amendment criteria. And the episode also casts light on an effective culture of resistance to such judgments among American librarians, who often perceive them as censorship.
The recent controversy centered on a review in the fall 2007 issue of Art Journal, which is published by the association (The Chronicle, June 18). The review was written by Joseph A. Massad, an associate professor of Arab politics in the department of Middle East and Asian languages and culture at Columbia University.
In a discussion of Palestinian Art (Reaktion Books, 2007) by Gannit Ankori, Mr. Massad alleged that Ms. Ankori had appropriated the work of Kamal Boullata, a Palestinian painter and art historian, without giving him due credit. That allegation has been made elsewhere as well. (campuswatch)
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SCHOLARS CONTINUE TO SOFT-PEDAL THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT'S WORDS
Analysis: Iran's talk of destroying Israel must not get lost in translation-JOSHUA TEITELBAUM/JERUSALEM CENTER FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Juan Cole of the University of Michigan argues that Ahmadinejad was not calling for the destruction of Israel, saying, "Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map because no such idiom exists in Persian." The British Guardian's Jonathan Steele argued that Ahmadinejad was simply remarking that "this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." Steele continues: "He was not making a military threat. He was calling for an end to the occupation of Jerusalem at some point in the future. The 'page of time' phrase suggests he did not expect it to happen soon." Scholars continue to soft-pedal the Iranian President's words. Professor Stephen Walt, who previously served as academic dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and co-authored The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy along with Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, told a Jerusalem audience during a joint appearance in early June 2008, "I don't think he is inciting to genocide," when asked about Ahmadinejad's call to wipe Israel off the map. (Jpost)
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“ESPOSITO COOKED THE BOOKS AND DUMBED DOWN THE TEXT” IN WHO SPEAKS FOR ISLAM?
Polling Muslims [letter to the editor & response; incl. John Esposito]- Eric Nielsen and Robert Satloff
IN THE ARTICLE "Just Like Us! Really?" (May 12) Robert Satloff reviews findings from the Gallup Press book Who Speaks for Islam? by Dr. John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed.
Satloff states that comments in his piece attributed to Mogahed were transcribed from an event hosted by his own Washington Institute for Near East Policy. When one listens to the audio from the event (posted on his website), it becomes apparent that he either: (a) failed to check the quote against the actual audio recording, or (b) purposely fabricated a quote to suit his needs. Satloff writes in his piece, supposedly quoting Mogahed: "Yes, we can say that a Four is not that moderate ... I don't know ... You are writing a book, you are trying to come up with terminology people can understand. ... You know, maybe it wasn't the most technically accurate way of doing this, but this is how we made our cluster-based analysis." [emphasis added]. So, there it is--the smoking gun. Mogahed publicly admitted they knew certain people weren't moderates but they still termed them so. She and Esposito cooked the books and dumbed down the text. (campuswatch)
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH
UNHRC FORBIDS CRITICISM OF SHARIA LAW
 Jihad Against Freedom of Speech at the United Nations-Jeffrey Imm
The United Nations' Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has no problem with its members suggesting that the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job" perpetrated by the United States on itself. The human rights of America's 9/11 victims are not a priority for UNHRC's Richard Falk, the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, who engages in 9/11 conspiracy propaganda, while working for an organization headquartered in New York City funded by U.S. tax dollars. This is Richard Falk's protected freedom of speech. Denying the role of Jihadists in the 9/11 attacks is apparently perfectly acceptable freedom of speech for the UNHRC, but criticizing Sharia law is another story. On June 16, 2008, UNHRC president Doru Romulus Costea announced that criticism of Sharia law will not be tolerated by the UNHRC, based on the complaints and pressure by Islamist delegates to the UNHRC. In effect, the Islamist nations represented at the UNHRC have effected a Jihad against freedom of speech at the United Nations when it comes to criticizing Sharia or Islamic supremacist (aka Islamist) theocratic ideologies that threaten the freedom and lives of innocents around the world. This again demonstrates the key imperative of control for Islamists - in this case in terms of controlling ideas, thoughts, and words of an international organization intended to promote human rights. Outgoing UNHRC Commissioner Louise Arbour subsequently raised concerns about debates on Sharia becoming "taboo" within the United Nations group, stating that it "should be, among other things, the guardian of freedom of expression." (countererrorismblog)
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ANTISEMITISM
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR TO MARK ISRAELS’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY WITH FOCUS ON THE PALESTINIAN ‘NAKBA’
Book Week boss accuses Edinburgh event of bias-Shelly Paz
Jewish Book Week director Geraldine D’Amico has expressed disappointment that the Edinburgh International Book Festival plans to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary by focusing on the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, the Palestinian term for the creation of Israel. The main session will feature the anti-Zionist historian Ilan Pappé, who is due to discuss his project “Nakba: Return of the Soul,” together with co-creators Raja Shehadeh, a Palestinian writer, and artist Jane Frere. The exhibition “enshrines the stories of those who had to leave” Israel during the 1948 war. According to Ms D’Amico, the director of the Edinburgh Festival, Catherine Lockerbie, “is a great festival organiser, a friend and a role model. In 2006, she rejected calls for a boycott of Israeli speakers when the Edinburgh Film Festival shamefully did not. This is why I was saddened now to see that in 2008 the only recognition of Israel’s 60 years of existence is a talk on the Nakba, with no-one to make the case for Israel.” (thejc.com)
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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
 The Presbyterians Giveth, the Presbyterians Taketh Away-Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
In May, the Presbyterian Church (USA) released "Vigilance against Anti-Jewish Ideas and Bias." Jewish organizations were effusive in their praise. The last decade has seen a spike in violent anti-Semitic hate crimes in Europe. The document could not have been more welcomed and well timed. The love-fest was short lived. In June, the PC(USA) removed the original document from its website and replaced it with "Vigilance against Anti-Jewish Bias: In the Pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian Peace." It would be hard to construct two more dissimilar documents with similar titles. The original pointed directly to problematic PC(USA) overtures and materials, such as overtures "declaring that the Jewish people are no longer in covenant with God … or to blame for the crucifixion." It was a startling and honest mea culpa that directly addressed Jewish concerns about a steady pattern of criticism of Israel that had morphed into derision of Jews. (The latest U.S. State Department annual report on human rights offered, "The distinguishing feature of the new anti-Semitism is criticism of Zionism or Israeli policy that — whether intentionally or unintentionally — has the effect of promoting prejudice against all Jews by demonizing Israel and Israelis and attributing Israel's perceived faults to its Jewish character.") Ominously, the main focus of the new document is no longer anti-Semitism, but Presbyterian responsibility in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Anti-Semitism has become essentially a sideshow to the main event, which seeks "to call an end to the Israeli occupation … to criticize Christian Zionism … to speak out against the placement of the separation barrier." (Perhaps the denomination might convince Hamas to end its daily barrage of lethal rockets directed at civilians. That might be easier if the denomination would begin by mentioning them, but don't look for such mention in the document.) PC(USA) members are now cautioned to mind their Ps and Qs as they pursue their one-sided quest for peace. They are urged to be vigilant against slipping into the language and imagery of anti-Semitism while all references to PC (USA)'s own malfeasance have been purged. (christianitytoday)
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FRENCH JEWISH TEENAGER ATTACKED AND BEATEN ON SHABBAT
 Grave anti-Semitic attack in Paris: teenager in coma
PARIS (EJP)---French Jewish organisations on Sunday condemned an anti-Semitic attack in Paris in which a Jewish teenager was severely beaten by a gang of five black African youths with metal bars.
Sammy Ghozlan, head of the Bureau for Viligance on Anti-Semitism (BNVCA), which monitors anti-Semitic acts in te country, told EJP that a group of six or seven youths attacked the teenager with metal bars and "smashed his skull." He said the young man, who didn’t carry ID papers because of the Shabbat, was a member of the local Lubavitch community. He was only identified by his first name Rudi.
The 17-year-old was wearing a kippah when he was attacked in square Petit in Paris' multi-ethnic 19th district Saturday evening at around 8:30 pm. According to Ghozlan, the teenager was in a very grave coma when he was brought to hospital Cochin after being found lying on the ground.
Ghozlan stressed that earlier this month Jews from the same 19th district neighborhood had already expressed their concern and complained about anti-Jewish dealings of a gang of coloured youths.
There is no doubt that this is an anti-Semitic act," Ariel Goldmann, vice president of CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish organisations, said. (ejpress)
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Update: Doctors ‘optimistic’ about condition of Jewish teenager severely attacked by gang-EJP
PARIS (EJP)---The Jewish teenager who was severely beaten by a gang of youths on Saturday
after leaving the synagogue is still in an artificial coma but he is in an “better condition.”
"He will wake up progressively and doctors are optimistic," Sammy Ghozlan, head of the National Vigilance Bureau Against Anti-Semitism, told EJP Monday afternoon after visiting Rudy Haddad at the Cochin hospital The 17-year-old, wearing a kippah or skullcap, was attacked by seven youths of Black African origin who beat him with metal bars and smashed his skull near the Beth Haya Mouchka Lubavitch synagogue in Paris’s 19th district. (ejpress)
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TERRORISM
New York Times columnist "Kristof has a documented history of blaming Israel and letting Islamic terrorists off the hook."
Kristof: Never Mind the Terrorists-Steve Emerson
In his June 19th piece titled, "Strengthening Extremists," New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof lambastes the American and Israeli policy of isolating the terror group Hamas, alleging that Hamas' international isolation and resulting pressure have only managed to empower the so-called Islamic Resistance Movement.
And to "prove" his point, Kristof interviews two Gazans who, unsurprisingly, hate Israel. In Kristof's world, the siege of Gaza has only made Hamas more popular. Never mind that Hamas won the Palestinian elections before the siege began and after the Israelis had unilaterally withdrawn from Gaza. A withdrawal, by the way, which Hamas seized upon as a "victory" which, in turn, made Hamas more popular - enough to defeat rival Fatah in the elections.
So the Israelis give the Palestinians land for nothing in return, and Hamas gains popularity. According to Kristof, the Israelis isolate and attack Hamas in Gaza, and Hamas gains popularity. So when does Hamas lose popularity? Kristof claims that the recently minted "truce" between Hamas and Israel will somehow do the trick. Again, never mind Hamas' history of breaking such truces. Even the deferential Reuters news service said of the arrangement, "Israel-Hamas truce begins but duration in doubt." (familysecuritymatters)
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“THIS BATTLE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING, AND WE SHALL SEE WHO WILL BE THE VICTOR.”
NEFA: TerrorWatch on Fatah al-Islam and Samina Malik Powerpoint- Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has posted a new edition of its TerrorWatch video cybercast, this time examining Al-Qaida's growing focus on the plight of the Palestinians and the emergence of apparent Al-Qaida cells in lawless regions of the Gaza Strip. In a January 2008 audio recording, Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker al-Absi told his followers, "“We ought to think about our brothers in the blessed land in Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip, the heroes of Fatah al-Islam who were granted success by Allah in their first blessed operation, of whom we ask Allah… to grant them and us success… We say to them, ‘Your will play a major role in the future. You are part of one of the most important fortresses and frontlines… Our Lord has poured out patience over us and allowed us to gain a foothold… against the infidels… This battle is only the beginning, and we shall see who will be the victor.” (counterterrorismblog)
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SHARI’A AND THE WAR AGAINST THE WEST
The Fifth Generation Warfare-Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen
[From Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency; Edited by Jeffrey Norwitz; U.S. Naval War College, June 2008, chapter 28.]
The United States and the West cannot win the war against radical Islam merely with the most sophisticated military strategies. Winning requires understanding the role of shari'a and the Muslim Brotherhood in developing a global ideological and political movement supported by a parallel "Islamic" financial system to exploit and undermine Western economies and markets. This movement is the foundation and the major funding source for the political, economic, and military initiatives of the global Islamic movement.1
Shari'a finance is a new weapon in the arsenal of what might be termed fifth-generation warfare (5GW).2 The perpetrators include both states and organizations, advancing a global totalitarian ideology disguised as a religion. The end goal is to impose that ideology worldwide, making the Islamic "nation," or ummah, supreme.3
Rising oil prices and the West's dependency on Middle East oil, combined with willful blindness and political correctness, provide a surge of petrodollars, making financial and economic jihad so much easier to carry out. Moreover, according to shari'a, Muslims hold all property in trust for Allah.4 Therefore, under the shari'a, all current and historic Muslim acquisitions everywhere, including the United States, belong to the ummah, in trust for Allah.
Shari'a is the crucial source and ultimate authority dictating the actions of practicing individuals and radical Muslim states and movements alike. Failing to understand the political use of shari'a hampers the U.S. ability to mount effective policies, plans, and strategies to successfully counter this fast-growing totalitarian threat. (frontpagemag)
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TERRORISM-INTERNET
HATE ON THE NET
http://Web of Hatred-Ziv Hellman
How pervasive is hatred on the web - and what can be done to combat it?
The Web may be the most important new medium since the printing press, and with an estimated worldwide audience of 1.3 billion, it is a prime means of communication and marketing. But along with its explosive growth and its valuable and informative sites, it is also a major platform for spreading messages of hatred. Precisely because of its spirit of openness, the free exchange of ideas, and the absence of censorship, anti-Semitic groups have discovered that the Web offers them avenues of expression and recruitment that go beyond anything they could have dreamt of in the past.
The paradox is underlined by Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet Prisoner of Zion and government minister. "There is no doubt that the Web is an unparalleled democratic tool. The Soviet Union would not have succeeded as long as it did if the Web and satellite television had existed in its time. But even democracies need to defend themselves against dangers. Yelling 'fire' in a crowded cinema might be an exercise of free speech, but it is also a public danger. Anti-Semitism on the Web is definitely a public danger," says Sharansky, now chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem think tank… But the sheer numbers makes monitoring everything virtually impossible. The Simon Wiesenthal Center last year identified about 8,000 "problematic hate and terrorist websites and other Internet postings," an increase of 30 percent over the previous year. It's not restricted to anti-Semitism. "The overwhelming majority [of sites] are anti-Semitic in various forms," says Leo Adler, the Wiesenthal Center's director of National Affairs in Canada, who has been active in Web monitoring efforts. "But there are sites that are anti-immigrant, homophobic, anti-Muslim… it's very democratic. Nobody is left out. There's a hate group for everyone." (Jpost)
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JIHAD-INTERNET
HAMAS’S WEBSITES NEW FACE LIFT
 Hamas Upgrades Website to Incite Hatred and Promote Terrorism-IICC
Terrorism and Internet: Hamas has recently upgraded the website of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, its military-terrorist wing. Upgrading the website, which incites to hatred and anti-Israeli terrorism, reflects the importance Hamas places on its website network as a central component in the battle for hearts and minds.
Overview
1. Hamas has recently launched a new and improved version of the website of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, its military-terrorist wing. The upgrade of the website is reflected in new sections, technical improvements, and extensive use of visuals (documenting Hamas's terrorist activity and glorifying shahids, particularly suicide bombers). Similarly to its predecessor, the new website is available in Arabic and in English and obtains its technical services from a company based in Russia.
2. Upgrading the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades website illustrates once again that Hamas places considerable importance on the Internet as a major component in the battle for hearts and minds, indicating that Hamas is ready to invest resources in improving its extensive website network. It should be mentioned that Hamas operates more than 20 websites, the most important being Palestine-info, which is published in eight languages. Through those websites, Hamas distributes actual information combined with propaganda and psychological warfare, targeting various reader audiences: Palestinians in the PA-administered territories (first priority), the Arab and Muslim world (second priority), and European and North American countries (third priority). (IICC)
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