Monday, February 16, 2015

The Palestinians' EU-Funded Campaign Against Israel



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The Palestinians' EU-Funded Campaign Against Israel

by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  February 16, 2015 at 5:00 am
While Abbas was talking in Stockholm about his intentions to revive the peace talks with Israel, leaders of his Fatah faction in the West Bank were sending a completely different message to the Palestinians. They were not talking about any peace process with Israel. They were making statements that would only radicalize Palestinians and give them reason to hate Israel even more. They are leading their people toward eternal confrontation, and not reconciliation, with Israel.
The EU is not helping advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. On the contrary, the EU continues to turn a blind eye to the anti-Israel campaign, and is generously funding it through dozens of NGOs in the Palestinian territories.
EU leaders, such as European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (right), who met with Mahmoud Abbas (left) last week, are either unaware of anti-Israel incitement by his Fatah faction or simply prefer to bury their heads in the sand. (Image source: RT video screenshot)
Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction in the West Bank is trying to divert attention from its problems at home by further inciting Palestinians and the international community against Israel.
In recent weeks, Fatah gunmen and Palestinian Authority [PA] policemen have been clashing almost on a daily basis in the Balata and Jenin refugee camps in the northern West Bank. Meanwhile, Fatah leaders have been busy badmouthing each other -- a sign of deepening divisions among the faction's top brass.
This incitement, which includes reviving the old disproven claim that Israel was behind the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat and calls for boycotting Israeli companies, is playing into the hands of Hamas and other Palestinians who are opposed to any peace process with Israelis.

Muslims and Islam in Sports

by Monir Hussain  •  February 16, 2015 at 4:00 am
The English authorities evidently did not think Moeen had done anything wrong in wearing wristbands that said "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine". They argued that his messages were not political, just "humanitarian."
Choncheh Ghavami, a British-Iranian law graduate, was arrested in June 2014 because she attempted to watch a men's volleyball match at a Tehran stadium, and placed in Iran's infamous Evin prison. Since her arrest, she has apparently been kept much of the time in solitary confinement.
"You should not develop women's cricket. It is not in Islam or in Afghan culture." — Members of the Afghan Taliban.
Not only are some of the Muslim players trying to insert their religion into the field of sports, but some wealthy middle eastern sheikhs also seem to be trying to push Islamic ideology into the games.
It is not known why so many Muslim players seem extremely sensitive when it comes to their religion, yet so extremely insensitive when it comes to embarrassing their people and their religion when it comes to their behavior in international sporting events.
The emblem of Real Madrid before (left) and after its cross was removed to please its sponsor, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
Every religion permits its followers to invite new people to join it. We call it preaching or proselytizing. Traditionally, Muslims and Christians have preached everywhere; in some areas, however, such as international sports, religion, race and politics have historically been considered off-limits.
Now, it seems, Muslim players have begun violating this practice.
Formerly, in 2003, Zimbabwean star cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga were punished for wearing wristbands against Robert Mugabe's brutal acts. And in 2006, former Australian test player Dean Jones was sacked from his job as a commentator when, presumably as a (bad) joke, he remarked about Hashim Amla, a devout South African Muslim cricketer with long beard, that "the terrorist has got another wicket."

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