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Illustration by International Artist Phillip Ratner-ratnermuseum.org

Israel Seen – 2016 Media Highlights from Major Sources on Israel

 

In Christmas message, Netanyahu underscores thriving Christian community in Israel

CAMERA

A Puzzling Omission At Politico

Politico paints former US Ambassador John Bolton as a radical for his views on the Arab-Israeli conflict. But viewed with the proper context, as CAMERA’s Sean Durns explains, “Bolton’s views are not radical, although they do differ from the model favored over the past 25 years.” Read more

BBC News Coverage Of Terrorism In Israel

There were 95 terror incidents in Israel in November. The BBC News website covered none of them. Read more

CAMERA Prompts National Geographic Correction On “Palestine”

Following communication from CAMERA, National Geographic editors immediately replaced an erroneous reference to “the barrier between Israel and Palestine” with “the barrier between Israel and the West Bank.” Read more

NPR Morning Edition Corrects Tel Aviv Error But Errs On “Palestinian Land”

NPR’s “Morning Edition” has corrected a Dec. 16 broadcast which on some stations misidentified Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital. Unfortunately, though, the corrected item concerning Israel’s capital was not the only problem in the broadcast. Read more

Reuters Crazy Captions

Reuters photo captions about a Palestinian man killed in violent clashes with Israeli troops on Sunday omit the circumstances of his death, saying merely that he was “shot and killed by Israeli forces” without providing any context. Read more

AFP And MSNBC Err On “Palestinian Land”

Both Agence France Presse and MSNBC incorrectly called the West Bank “Palestinian land.” In fact the territory is disputed land that Palestinians want for a future state, so identifying it simply as “Palestinian land” effectively endorse’s one side’s political claims over the other’s. Read more

Times of Israel Adds Information On Controversial Poster

Following contact from CAMERA’s Israel Office, the Times of Israel has added clarifying information to an article on a controversial poster that sparked an Israeli police investigation. Read more

For Second Time, ABC Corrects: US Does Not View Settlements As “Illegal”

CAMERA’s Jerusalem office has prompted a correction to an ABC News article that erroneously reported that the US government considers Israeli settlements illegal. Read more

CAMERA’s UK Media Watch Prompts London Times Correction

CAMERA’s UK Media Watch prompts a correction to a Times of London article. The correction states that the US considers Israeli settlements “illegitimate,” not “illegal.” Read more

“Moderate” Iranian President Meets With Terror Group And Calls For “Jihad”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, designated a “moderate” by many, recently met with the leader of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Tehran. But the meeting received little attention in the press. CAMERA’s Sean Durns has the story. Read more

UN Head Admits Anti-Israel Bias Where’s The Coverage?

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admitted that there is a bias against Israel at the United Nations. Why are so many US news media outlets ignoring his remarks? Read more

 

Alan Dershowitz

CAMERA’s BDS Conference At Harvard

“CAMERA doesn’t censor, it simply adds to the dialogue in the marketplace by substituting truth for falsehood and letting people pick and choose what arguments they want to accept, as long as all the arguments are presented,” said Alan Dershowitz in this video address to CAMERA’s BDS conference at Harvard Law School.

 

Why BDS Pursues “Anti-Normalization”

“Why does the BDS campaign work so hard to prevent its opponents from simply being heard? There is only one conclusion that can be drawn from these BDS actions. Those setting the BDS agenda understand that the only way they win the argument is when the pro-Israel side does not have an opportunity to present its case,” writes CAMERA’s Karen Bekker. Read more

Israel’s Water Solution For The Middle East

“The Middle East endured a horrific drought in 2008 and Israel was out of options. With her freshwater sources reaching the ‘black line,’ Israel was forced to turn to saltwater ocean…. Today, Israel generates 55% of its domestic water supply from desalination based techniques,” writes CAMERA Fellow Ben Suster at the University of Central Florida. Read more

 

Gatestone

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Greece-Israel-Cyprus Relations: Ripe for Expansion?

• Relations with Greece and Cyprus provide Israel with allied neighbors and bring Israel closer to Europe in terms of security, trade, and energy.
• Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are the only working democracies in a region of undemocratic, semi-democratic, and failing states. This is a powerful motivating factor for cooperation.
• Israeli-Greek relations have advanced to a degree where the militaries’ air forces and navies are conducting joint operations and joint maneuvers.
• Israel expressed deep gratitude to both countries for sending fire-fighting aircraft when widespread fires hit Israel in November 2016.
• Greece, Israel, and Cyprus have decided to formalize their proposal for the construction of a pipeline from gas fields off the coast of Israel. The three democratic countries can guarantee in the long-term a secure means of delivery in an effort to minimize Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

Inter-state relations consist of rational choices aimed at producing desired outcomes. For Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, this means a continuation of stability and security in the chaos that has erupted from the Arab Spring. In light of this upheaval in the Middle East, cooperation between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel is essential to produce a haven of stability.

First, for Israel, Greece and Cyprus represent a bridge of stability to Europe, a stable region close to home. This security dimension is important for a country surrounded by pockets of instability and sources of radicalism. Both countries provide Israel with an allied neighbor and bring Israel closer to Europe in terms of security, trade, and energy.

Second, Israel is also a crucial security actor in a region affected by drastic domestic changes within states lacking a culture of peaceful co-existence. Currently, Greece is heavily saddled by the influx of refugees fleeing war. Cyprus, Greece, and Israel share similar significant interests such as security, energy security, and the need to deal with radicalism and terrorism.

These three countries have a lot to gain by deepening multilevel cooperation.

Third, Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are the only working democracies in a region of undemocratic, semi-democratic, and failing states. This is a powerful motivation factor for cooperation since democratic values are a fundamental criterion for partnerships. This strategic partnership could set the groundwork for future cooperation among these states.

In the last few years, Greek-Israeli relations have intensified due to the intensity of threats, the urgency, and the need to solidify relations in a region tormented by multifaceted threats. Israeli-Greek relations have advanced to a degree where the militaries are conducting joint air force operations and joint maneuvers by Greek and Israeli navies. Greece permitted an overfly mission by Israeli military aircraft in Greek air space in 2014. An Israeli military attaché has been stationed in Athens since 2014. These are major choices on the part of Athens, whose foreign policy of the past had focused exclusively on building a one-way relationship with the Arab world, leaving Israel out of the picture.

Israel expressed deep gratitude to both countries for sending fire-fighting aircraft when widespread fires hit Israel in November 2016.

A Stable Axis of Power

Greece-Cyprus-Israel relations are setting clear ground rules of engagement for states to operate as regional stabilizers. Jerusalem, Athens, and Nicosia constitute a stable axis of power that should be expanded to fill the vacuum of leadership in the region. The tripartite cooperation between the three countries as well as the joint declarations that followed recent meetings were labeled “non-exclusive,” thus leaving the door open for others willing to participate. Yet, any potential candidates for joining this cooperation will have to be clear about its intentions, policy choices, and above all their support for peace and democracy. These trilateral understandings are a message to the region. Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are initiating an alliance of stable nations, who share common values, and are willing to fight (in different ways) terrorism.

The recent advances constitute just the security dimension of this new tripartite cooperation. Cyprus and Greece provide Israel with close proximity to Europe, a continent where, despite problems, democracy flourishes. The intensity of threats, as well as the deteriorating security in the Middle East, point to the need of further cooperation between the stable forces in the region. This is a historic moment for the future of this region and the time is ripe to produce more allied relationships amidst the chaos of the Middle East.

In a very promising development, Greece, Israel, and Cyprus have decided to formalize their proposal for the construction of a pipeline from gas fields off the coast of Israel. They are taking their case to the EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner, thus making a formal step in materializing the project. The feasibility report of the proposal and its financial competitiveness are encouraging. The project possesses strategic advantages since it uses the safest route to Europe. The three democratic countries can guarantee in the long-term a secure means of delivery in the effort to minimize Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

About Dr. George Voskopoulos

Jewish Press

Whole Arab Villages in Judea and Samaria Stand Empty as residents flee to U.S.

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Media reports about the Arab struggle to retrieve the lands of Amona has been presented by politicians and the media as part of an Arab tradition of loyalty to their land.

Indeed, one of the Arab claimants against the Amona community has been quoted as saying, “If your child dies, you can make another one in his place, but land that you sold cannot be replaced.”

And yet, a report in Friday’s Makor Rishon suggests reality on the ground in Judea and Samaria reflects a somewhat different set of values. Local Arabs may not be willing to sell their land, but many of them don’t live on said land either, preferring instead to emigrate to the US.

According to reporter Assaf Gibor, Route 60, which runs from Afula, on Israel’s side of the “green line” through Jenin, near Shechem, through Ofra and outside Ramallah to Jerusalem and then through Gush Etzion, past Hebron all the way to Be’er Sheva, features ghost villages on either side of the highway. The Jewish settlers of Ofra and Amona have been wondering what has happened to neighboring Arab villages such as Silwad, three miles from the main road and about 8 miles north-east of Ramallah. A visitor happening inside the village can see numerous, luxurious villas, that are deserted.

Gibor, who describes those empty homes as “white elephants,” met in Silwad a man in his 79s named Salah, who sat with him over a cup of coffee and revealed that he’s been living in Puerto Rico for 52 years. Having left in 1964, before the Israeli liberation of 1967, Salah got his BA in Puerto Rico and MA in Tennessee, and now he is retired and living off his rental property on the island. His children were born in the US, one is a lawyer, the other a pharmacist, both Harvard graduates. Sadly, they’ve only visited the old country once – but both speak Arabic.

Hamza Awada, 21, who lives with his parents in Arizona, met Gibor in Dir Dibwan, not far from Silwad. He is visiting to conclude a two-year wife search. It’s an arranged marriage, and after the wedding the happy couple will move to America. Hamza has lived in New York City and in Arizona, as well as in Jordan. “Life here in the village is quaint, but it’s not for me.”

Hamza describes himself as a Palestinian, not as an American, and he likes the sense of community in the village his parents had left in their youth. He’d even like to come back some day, maybe. But “life here is difficult,” he says. “It’s hard to find work, make a living and earn enough to support the lifestyle I’m used to abroad.” He plans to maintain the same ties to the old place his parents have kept: visit every few years. He speaks Arabic with his parents at home, but at school and elsewhere outside the home it’s all English.

According to Gibor, between 80 and 90 percent of Dir Dibwan’s residents have an American citizenship. One local resident, Muhammad Manasra, who splits his life between the village and California, estimates the population in the two neighboring villages at 16,000, most of them living abroad.

One of the most common methods used to obtain a US Visa is marrying an American citizen.

In many cases, Arab wives who discover the US lifestyle after having grown up in poverty in Judea and Samaria, refuse to go back. “My brother married a woman from the nearby village of Beitin,” Manasra relates. “There are many Palestinian-Americans there, too. He brought her to the US, arranged for a visa, and the minute she landed there her eyes opened, like she discovered a new world. He would work and she moseyed through the malls and spend money. They had two children, and when the elder was five, my brother wanted his wife and both children to go back to the village so the children learn Arabic and become familiar with Palestinian culture. His wife refused. It ended very badly. They divorced and today both live in the US separately. My brother’s house is sealed,” he says and points at the deserted villa.

Arab immigration from Judea and Samaria has been going on for decades. Official Palestinian Authority figures suggest there are three million Arabs living there. In reality, the figures are lighter by at least one million, according to many experts. Since 1997, Israel is no longer operating the census there, and the PA count does not abide by international norms, whereby a person who has been absent for a year or more from his country is no longer counted. Demographers Yaakov Feitelson and Yoram Ettinger suggest the figure of 1.8 million Arabs in Judea and Samaria, as opposed to the PA claim of 2.9 million.

JNi.Media

About the Author: JNi.Media provides editors and publishers with high quality Jewish-focused content for their publications.

 

Israel Hayom

Yesh Atid leader: We need to get Palestinians out of our lives

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid Photo credit: Reuters

Myths and Facts

Islam’s Tenuous Connection to Jerusalem

December 22, 2016 | Eli E. Hertz
Despite 1,300 years of Muslim Arab rule, Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab entity. Oddly, the PLO’s National Covenant, written in 1964, never mentioned Jerusalem. Only after Israel regained control of the entire city did the PLO “update” its Covenant to include Jerusalem.

 

Overall, the role of Jerusalem in Islam is best understood as the outcome of political pressure impacting on religious belief.

 

Mohammed, who founded Islam in 622 CE, was born and raised in present-day Saudi Arabia; he never set foot in Jerusalem. His connection to the city came years after his death when the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa mosque were built in 688 and 691, respectively, their construction spurred by political and religious rivalries. In 638 CE, the Caliph (or successor to Mohammed) Omar and his invading armies captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire. One reason they wanted to erect a holy structure in Jerusalem was to proclaim Islam’s supremacy over Christianity and its most important shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

 

More important was the power struggle within Islam itself. The Damascus-based Umayyad Caliphs who controlled Jerusalem wanted to establish an alternative holy site if their rivals blocked access to Mecca. That was important because the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca was (and remains today) one of the Five Pillars of Islam. As a result, they built what became known as the Dome of the Rock shrine and the adjacent mosque.

 

To enhance the prestige of the “substitute Mecca,” the Jerusalem mosque was named “al-Aqsa.” It means “the furthest mosque” in Arabic, but has far broader implications, since it is the same phrase used in a key passage of the Quran called “The Night Journey.” In that passage, Mohammed arrives at “al-Aqsa” on a winged steed accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel; from there they ascend into heaven for a divine meeting with Allah, after which Mohammed returns to Mecca. Naming the Jerusalem mosque “al-Aqsa” was an attempt to say the Dome of the Rock was the very spot from which Mohammed ascended to heaven, thus tying Jerusalem to divine revelation in Islamic belief. The problem however is, that Mohammed died in the year 632, nearly 50 years before the first construction of the “al-Aqsa” Mosque was completed.

 

Jerusalem never replaced the importance of Mecca in the Islamic world. When the Umayyad dynasty fell in 750, Jerusalem also fell into near obscurity for 350 years, until the Crusades. During those centuries, many Islamic sites in Jerusalem fell into disrepair and in 1016 the Dome of the Rock collapsed.

 

Still, for 1,300 years, various Islamic dynasties (Syrian, Egyptian, and Turkish) continued to govern Jerusalem as part of their overall control of the Land of Israel, disrupted only by the Crusaders. What is amazing is that over that period, not one Islamic dynasty ever made Jerusalem its capital. By the 19th century, Jerusalem had been so neglected by Islamic rulers that several prominent Western writers who visited Jerusalem were moved to write about it. French writer Gustav Flaubert, for example, found “ruins everywhere” during his visit in 1850 when it was part of the Turkish Empire (1516-1917). Seventeen years later Mark Twain wrote that Jerusalem had “become a pauper village.”

 

Indeed, Jerusalem’s importance in the Islamic world only appears evident when non-Muslims (including the Crusaders, the British, and the Jews) control or capture the city. Only at those points in history did Islamic leaders claim Jerusalem as their third most holy city after Mecca and Medina. That was again the case in 1967, when Israel captured Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem (and the Old City) during the 1967 Six-Day War.