The Day In Israel: Tues Sept 1st, 2009

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Sweden’s Foreign Minister denied a Haaretz report that he and the Italian Foreign Minister would work to pass a resolution saying that the EU, under the Swedish Presidency, strongly condemned anti-Semitism and would work against its manifestations in Europe.

Wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:46PM: Regarding the last update, it seems as though the article was even more biased than I suggested.

Reuters relied on palestinians, who lied about the incident.

Two Hamas gunmen were killed in what appears to be a malfunction of an explosive device they were attempting to place near an area of Gaza’s border fence regularly patrolled by soldiers, Palestinian sources reported Tuesday.

Preliminary reports said the two were killed an Air Force strike, but the reports turned out to be false.

Meanwhile, Reuters has not updated its report with this latest information.

8:50PM: The IAF has reportedly vaporized two Hamasholes, according to Hamas and palestinian medical officials.

Reuters is there with the story. Or at least their biased take on it.

Israel had no immediate comment on the incident, which would constitute a breach of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended its December-January war with in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

There have been sporadic Palestinian short-range rocket attacks on the Jewish state since, often carried out by non-Hamas factions. Israel has generally responded with air strikes against infrastructure, causing few casualties.

Hamas shuns Israel but has signaled interest in a long-term truce.

Which brings me to the following questions:

  • The palestinians have been firing rockets and mortar shells into Israel way after Operation Cast lead, including during the past few weeks, yet this incident would constitute a breach of the so-called ceasefire?
  • Hamas is only shunning (i.e. avoiding or staying away from) Israel? They won’t recognize us.

I should point out that the reporter is someone by the name of Nidal al-Mughrabi. Just saying.

6:45PM: An excellent video on the Swedish blood libel.

6:42PM: Commissioner-general of UNRWA, Karen Abu Zayd, has responded to claims that the UN school curriculum includes the Holocaust by proudly confirming it since it would provide palestinians with some more understanding and empathy towards Jews and increase the chance of coexistence adamantly denying this is the case.

During a news conference at the Gaza harbor Abu Zayd said, “I can refute allegations that UN school curriculum includes anything about the Holocaust. Anyone can have a look at the school books. Really we focus on human rights in curriculum.”

Because what the heck does the Holocaust have to do with human rights?

6:27PM: We haven’t seen Hairstyle Man in quite a while. Does this picture provide a reason for this, or do my eyes deceive me?

Hairstyle Man jailed - AFP/Getty

A Palestinian woman shows small portraits of relatives jailed in Israel while demonstrating with others outside in the West Bank side of the Israeli controlled Ofer jail on August 31, 2009 in the West Bank village of Betunia, near Ramallah. Some 11,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails.

6:18PM: An Iranian newspaper has jumped on the chance to help spread the organ harvesting blood libel begun by Swedish journalist Donald Boström.

“New details exposed on trafficking of Palestinian organs,” read Tuesday’s headline of Iranian newspaper Kayhan, which is considered Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s mouthpiece.

The newspaper, which appears to be attempting to inflame Iranian public opinion in the wake of the controversy surrounding the Swedish article accusing IDF soldiers of harvesting organs from Palestinians, quotes Arab reporter Kusar Aslam as saying that, “Since the early 1970s the Israelis have snatched thousands of Palestinian bodies from hospitals in the territories and transferred them to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.”

Aslam, who claims she was stationed in Gaza and the West Bank for 22 years said, “My personal experience verifies the report published by (Donald) Boström,” referring to the Aftonbladet reporter who published the original article.

According to Aslam, some of the Palestinians were still alive when they were “kidnapped” by IDF soldiers.

“I personally witnessed Israeli soldiers and army vehicles snatching Palestinian bodies from emergency rooms,” the Iranian reporter said. “In other instances I saw soldiers follow Palestinians to cemeteries with the intent of stealing bodies before they were buried.

“This became so widespread that many people began to bury those murdered by IDF forces near their homes – in the yard or under a tree,” she said.

Which begs the question: if this is true, why didn’t Aslam break the story all those years ago, instead preferring to wait until some Swedish tabloid journalist did so? After all, she claims to have witnessed way more than Bostrom.

I think we all know the answer.

4:30PM: Contrived photo of the day…

Palestinian woman heart mural AP

An elderly Palestinian woman reacts shortly before the arrival of the body of Mohammed Nayef, 14, at the family house during his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, near Ramallah, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. Palestinian police on Tuesday said he was shot while throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military said the boy was one of three Palestinians who on Monday night hurled Molotov cocktails at a guard post near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

..unless you believe the photographer, Muhammed Muheisen, just happened to catch this grieving palestinian woman standing in front of a painting of a pierced heart.

1:00PM: Here is the Fox News interview with Israeli President Shimon Peres mentioned in yesterday’s post.

8:40AM: Photo of the day:

Madonna Tzipi Livni AFP/Getty Images

Tzipi Livni: I hope she doesn’t try to go all Britney on me..

Full story here.

She may have missed out on being Prime Minister, but I’m sure Tzipi is pretty happy she got to dine with Madonna and Jesus.

(Come to think of it, I wonder what the restaurant thought when they took a booking for “Madonna and Jesus.”)

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