Al-Qaeda to Ahmadinejad: Knock off the 9/11 conspiracy theories

From the Guardian:

Al-Qaida has sent a message to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking him to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks.

Iranian media on Wednesday reported quotes from what appears to be an article published in the latest issue of the al-Qaida English language magazine, Inspire, which described Ahmadinejad's remarks over the 11 September attacks as "ridiculous."

What are you trying to do, Al-Qaeda? Deprive this blog of its subject matter? (h/t: Drudge)

Chabad.org: "Rosh Hashanah in a Nutshell"

I won't be posting from Wednesday night until Saturday night. What is this Rosh Hashanah business anyway?

The festival of Rosh Hashanah --the name means "Head of the Year" --is observed for two days beginning on Tishrei 1, the first day of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in G-d's world.

Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the special relationship between G-d and humanity: our dependence upon G-d as our creator and sustainer, and G-d's dependence upon us as the ones who make His presence known and felt in His world. Each year on Rosh Hashanah, "all inhabitants of the world pass before G-d like a flock of sheep," and it is decreed in the heavenly court, "who shall live, and who shall die... who shall be impoverished, and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise." But this is also the day we proclaim G-d King of the Universe. The Kabbalists teach that the continued existence of the universe is dependant upon the renewal of the divine desire for a world when we accept G-d's kingship each year on Rosh Hashanah.

The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram's horn, which represents the trumpet blast of a people's coronation of their king. The cry of the shofar is also a call to repentance; for Rosh Hashanah is also the anniversary of man's first sin and his repentance thereof, and serves as the first of the "Ten Days of Repentance" which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Another significance of the shofar is to recall the Binding of Isaac which also occurred on Rosh Hashanah, in which a ram took Isaac's place as an offering to G-d; we evoke Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son and plead that the merit of his deed should stand by us as we pray for a year of life, health and prosperity. Altogether, the shofar is sounded 100 times in the course of the Rosh Hashanah service.

Additional Rosh Hashanah observances include: a) Eating a piece of apple dipped in honey to symbolize our desire for a sweet year, and other special foods symbolic of the new year's blessings. b) Blessing one another with the words Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim, "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." c) Tashlich, a special prayer said near a body of water (an ocean, river, pond, etc.) in evocation of the verse, "And You shall cast their sins into the depths of the sea." And as with every major Jewish holiday after candlelighting and prayers we recite Kiddush and make a blessing on the Challah.

May you be sealed and inscribed for a good and sweet year.

(North) Korean News: "Iran's President Calls for Resisting against Arrogant Powers"

Korean News continues to feature propaganda for other dictatorships. Dig those strangely stunted paragraphs:

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a diplomatic appearance on Sept. 20 called for resisting against the arrogant powers.

He said that independent states cooperating with each other can provide their own interests and resist against the arrogant powers.

He stressed that the dominant powers must understand that the time of slavery is over and nations are not going to tolerate pressures anymore.

Iran along with other independent and justice seeking countries can stand and resist against those who want to impose pressure and dominate other nations.

ISNA (Iran): "Iran says deployment of NATO shield in Turkey 'inefficient'"

The missile shield is quite efficient at revealing the fault lines in the newfound solidarity of Turkey and Iran:

An Iranian IRGC Commander said Thursday deployment of NATO missile shield would be inefficient in Turkey.

"The moves are all the US and Zionist's evil acts against Iran," Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Ali Hajizadeh said as asked about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans on deployment of defense missile shield in Turkey.

The IRGC official added, "If Iran wants to dispatch ballistic missile, no threat will be effective and we declare they should be on alert about their own defense missile shield if they want to shoot down our missiles."

Also Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said, "The US excuses on deployment of defense system in Turkey are unwise and are scheduled to protect Zionist regime."

He said Zionist regime's problems would not be resolved by such acts and added, "Zionist regime's key problems are its lack of legitimacy and internal collapse as well as awakening and freedom of the regional nations which cannot be resolved by deployment of single radar."

There is also the lack of a definite article before the phrase "Zionist entity."

Vahidi noted, "By deployment of the system they want to limit Iranian and Russian power, but all of these excuses are unwise and incorrect."

Vahidi in a question asked on probable attack on Syria said, "It is an absolute insanity. We call it a support for the Zionist regime, if such measure takes place." [...]

If people had to refrain from doing everything that is really a Zionist plot, nothing would ever get done.

Fars (Iran): "Leader's Aide Terms Turkey's Positions against Zionists Political Gesture"

Let's hear from another general. Mr. Supreme (or Iran or Major General Mouthpiece) shows some interesting displeasure with Turkey here:

Iranian Supreme Leader's top advisor for military affairs Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi downplayed the importance of the positions and stances adopted by Ankara against the Zionist regime, describing them as political gesture.

"Turkey's gestures against the Zionists are political and they (the Turks) have maintained their relations (with the Zionist regime) behind the scene," Safavi said on Monday.

Relations between Turkey and Israel seemed to be going a bit dark after the Israeli military attacked the Gaza-bound relief aid convoy Freedom Flotilla in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea in May 2010, killing nine Turkish citizens on board the Turkish-flagged M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring at least 50 other activists that were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Turkey announced earlier this month that many military agreements between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been halted and the Israeli ambassador has been expelled over Tel Aviv's refusal to apologize for the last year's deadly attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla, which led to the killing of several Turkish nationals.

But despite these seemingly anti-Israeli positions by Ankara, analysts and officials of several regional states, including Iran and Syria, blast Turkey for its acceptance of a NATO missile shield which has been designed to more save the Israeli regime.

Earlier this month, a senior Iranian legislator rapped Ankara for agreeing with the deployment of the NATO missile system in Turkey, and said the regional nations are displeased with Ankara's contradictory attitudes and policies

"The contradictory behavior of Turkey is not acceptable to the regional countries," Vice-Chairman of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmae'il Kosari told FNA in mid September.

Kosari said Turkey's decision resulted from a double-standard policy, and stressed that Ankara lost the reputation and prestige that it had gained through its recent positions in support of the Muslim countries.

Meantime, media reports said that Turkey may consider cooperating with international powers in the event they decide to intervene militarily in Syria.

A report in the Turkish "Hurriyet" newspaper said "Turkey has lost its patience with Syria".

According to Ankara officials, Turkish President Abdullah Gul has issued an ultimatum to Syrian President Bashar Assad via his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who visited Syria last month.

Zionist lackey!

Fars: "Basically, BBC is not a media, rather it is an organization in disguise which has a Baha'i-Zionist nature with political-intelligence missions"

Iran displays its great alertness and vigilance, also known as brain-splat:

Detention of the members of a covert network who wired information to the British intelligence agency (MI6) under the cover of reporting for the British Broadcasting Corporation was the beginning of the country's clampdown on the BBC intelligence network, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi announced on Sunday.

"We have made the least detentions, but these measures mark the beginning of our actions in this regard and we carry out our duty very decisively whenever necessary," Moslehi told reporters.

He stressed that Iran had on several occasions announced that cooperation with the BBC has been banned to safeguard the country's national interests.

Moslehi said, "Basically, BBC is not a media, rather it is an organization in disguise which has a Baha'i-Zionist nature with political-intelligence missions."

Moslehi reminded the BBC's key role in the 2009 post-election unrests in Iran, and said the British broadcaster is a conglomerate of different antirevolutionary elements which carry out the most inimical acts against the country.

The Iranian intelligence ministry earlier this month confirmed that its forces have arrested members of a covert network who wired information to the BBC, accusing them of providing logistic support for enemies' soft war experts.

If that isn't a good description of the BBC's function, I don't know what is.

The Public Relations Office of the intelligence ministry said in a statement that the individuals were arrested after continued monitoring and controlling measures and massive intelligence gathering inside and outside the country by Iran's intelligence forces in the past few months.

The statement added that members of the secret network, some of whom have been arrested during the past few days, were collaborating with the BBC in a cover-up to fulfill the needs of the British secret service in exchange for big sums of money.

The ministry announced that investigations into the case and search for the remaining members of the network are underway, adding that it would release more information on the latest developments in the case in the near future.

This is not the first time that Iran is in raw with BBC over the fake reports about social and political realities in Iran.

"In raw"?

After presidential elections in June 2009, Iran ordered BBC's permanent correspondent in Tehran Jon Leyne to leave the country.

Following broadcast of fake news and change of realities on Iran's 10th presidential elections by the BBC, the Press Bureau of the Iranian Culture Ministry issued a statement to expel the BBC correspondent.

"In view of the function and performance of the BBC in distorting and changing realities on Iran's elections, Jon Leyne, the permanent correspondent of the network was expelled," the statement said at the time.

Meantime, the statement blamed the BBC reporter for encouraging unrests in Iran and destroying the private properties and public amenities during the days after the election through media tactics and psychological warfare.

If Fars News is any indication, the psy-ops were wildly successful. I don't think there is a functioning brain left in the organization.

Arutz Sheva: Man makes shehakol on Har Habayis, arrested on suspicion of reciting Birchas Kohanim

Sign of the times. How did the other member of the group "support" him? By helping him stand? By saying "amen"?

Temple Mount Police arrested a 76-year-old Jewish man Sunday after he recited a blessing before drinking some water. Yosef Hacohen felt ill during a tour of the Temple Mount and wanted to take a sip from a water bottle. As another member of the group he was a part of supported him, he recited the "shehakol" blessing that precedes drinking of beverages.

This aroused the ire of three Muslim Wakf men who had been following the 30-member group of which Hacohen was a participant.

In response to the Muslims' demands, the two policemen who also followed the group took Hacohen out of the group. This led to a small fracas. A higher ranking police officer arrived on the scene and decided to arrest Hacohen "on suspicion of reciting the Priestly blessing." [...]

Good thing they arrested him. When a 76-year-old man drinks water, there is always an "asher yatzar" on the horizon.

Asghar Bukhari calls Richard Millet names

Here.

MPAC-UK disseminates fake Ben Gurion quotes. MPAC-UK urges us not to forget that "Zionist bankers" funded Bolshevism. Bukhari sent a check to David Irving.

California Councilman names dog Muhammed to teach his children that "in some parts of the world they could be sentenced to death for doing so"

The guy may have just renamed himself "Salman Rushdie":

Naming his dog Muhammad, and later announcing it during a public meeting, was not meant to be disparaging to Muslims, San Juan Capistrano Councilman Derek Reeve said Tuesday.

In offering the first explanation of why he chose the name, Reeve said it was a decision made by his family in an exercise of free speech after teaching his children that in some parts of the world they could be sentenced to death for doing so. [...]

They can sentence you wherever you are. (h/t: Jihad Watch)

Fars: "Ahmadinejad Blasts Zionists for Displacement of Both Palestinians, Jews"

Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be ethnically cleansed of Jews. The deeply racist and Helen-Thomas-ist idea that Israeli Jews are ethically inauthentic is a big part of what is meant by the Khomeinist term "fake regime," and Iranian officials, as reported in news agencies like Fars, often call for Jews to "go back where they came from." I haven't seen this exact rhetorical ploy before, but otherwise this is business as usual:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that the Palestinian nation's right of sovereignty should be recognized and put into action, and added that Zionists have displaced not only the Palestinians, but also the Jewish population, through their wrong thoughts and policies.

"Palestine is witnessing two types of displacement; first displacement of over 5mln indigenous Palestinian population and the second displacement is related to those (Jewish) people who have been brought there with the hope of a better life," Ahmadinejad said, addressing a large number of American university students, teachers and professors in New York on Wednesday evening.

"The best choice is ending these displacements," he said, adding, "If the sovereignty right (of the Palestinians) is recognized, no problem will remain."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has on many occasions underlined Tehran's support for the Palestinian people and their resistance against the usurper Zionist regime.

In a latest case, President Ahmadinejad reiterated Iran's support for the Palestinians during a phone conversation with Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal earlier this month.

Ahmadinejad told Mashaal that the overall conditions in the world are changing in favor of the Palestinians and their resistance, and underlined that Zionists' crimes and killings could never save them from their imminent collapse.

He stressed that Iranians will always stand by the Palestinians and support them until achievement of final victory.

PressTV (Iran): "capitalism is on its death bed and will soon experience complete demise"

The parade of Iranian officials in these articles seems to feature generals more frequently these days--and they are more frequently making pronouncements on non-military topics. They used to appear mainly in the "our army is invincible" type of article. Iran is getting more oppressive:

Commander of Iran's Basij Forces Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Naqdi says capitalism is on its death bed and will soon experience complete demise.

The Iranian official said that the reason the global arrogance is experiencing its decline is that “it revolted against its fundamental values and it is only natural that under these circumstances it will have no fate but extinction.”

“Human rights, democracy and freedom were some of the fundamental values of the West, of which nothing remains today due to the Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib scandals as well as the US coups against the elected [leaders] of nations,” Fars News Agency quoted Naqdi as saying on Monday.

He added that while economic and financial gain which are the core of liberalist values, for the past three years the US and other European countries have not been able to do anything about their negative economic growth.

“The US President [Barrack Obama] has lost face to the extent that he is forced to covertly travel to various places for fear of public protests,” the Iranian commander added.

“All the tools used by the arrogant to suppress nations are being used against it (the global arrogance) today… to the point that it has been forced to block social networking … website,” Naqdi concluded.

That's a reference to the recent riots in Great Britain, but I don't think anyone is planning to move to Iran any time soon for the internet freedom.

Deuling views of Egypt and Turkey

Juan Cole:

[...] Ethnic nationalism can make for bad relations with neighbors if it is taken too far. But a Christian Democrat or Justice & Development kind of party can sidestep thorny issues of ethnicity and racial discrimination.

Not only has Turkey moved away from a wounded Turkish secular nationalism, but Egypt has moved away from a naive Arab nationalism. With the fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime, Egypt is groping toward a new, multi-cultural politics that makes a place for Muslim religious parties and for secularists alike. Many young Muslim Brothers speak favorably of a “Turkish model.”

Turkey and Egypt do about $2.7 bn in trade with one another annually (roughly the same as Turkey and Israel). Some 250 Turkish companies have invested $1.5 bn. in Egypt. In the first half of 2011, Turkey was the world’s fastest-growing economy. [...]

Pajamas Media:

[...] The Arab world is in free fall. Leave aside Syria, whose regime continues to massacre its own people, and miserable Yemen, and post-civil war Libya. Egypt is dying. Erdogan’s “triumphal” appearance in Egypt served as a welcome distraction to Egyptians — welcome, because what they think about most of the time is disheartening. What’s on the mind of the Egyptian people these days? According to the Arab-language local media, it’s finding enough calories to get through the day.

Egypt imports half its caloric consumption, the price of its staple wheat remains at an all-time high, and most Egyptians can’t afford to buy it. The government subsidizes bread, but according to the Egyptian news site Youm7 (“The Seventh Day”), the country now faces “an escalating crisis in subsidized flour.” Packages of subsidized flour are not reaching the intended recipients, in part because the Solidarity Ministry hasn’t provided the promised shipments to stores, and in part because subsidized flour and bread are diverted to the black market. A small loaf of government-issue bread costs 5 piasters, or less than one U.S. cent, but it can’t be found in many areas, as the Solidarity Ministry, provincial government, and bakers trade accusations of responsibility for supply problems. Poor Egyptians get ration cards, but flour often is not available to card-holders. Rice, a substitute for wheat, also is in short supply, and the price has risen recently to 5.5 Egyptian pounds per kilo from 3.75 pounds.

Most Egyptians barely eat enough to keep body and soul together, and many are hungry. That is about to get much, much worse: The country is short about $20 billion a year. The central bank reports that the country’s current account deficit in the fiscal year ended July 1 swung from a $3.4 billion surplus in the fiscal year ended July 2010 to a deficit of $9.2 billion in the fiscal year ended July 2011. Almost all of the shift into red ink occurred since February, suggesting an annualized deficit of around $20 billion. Egypt’s reserves fell about $11 billion since the uprising began in February. Who’s going to cough up that kind of money? Not Turkey, whose own balance-of-payment deficit stands at 11% of GDP and whose currency is collapsing . . . [...]

Read the rest (and skip the rest of the Cole).

Ha'aretz: "Nonetheless, Abbas has rejected the new proposal, which was presented to him by American Middle East envoys and . . . Tony Blair"

The headline stresses that Israel is showing "flexibility." But the same-old-story is the real story:

In an effort to convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table with Israel and suspend the request to the United Nations for recognition of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to show flexibility on a number of issues. These involve recognition of Israel as a Jewish state; the status of the June 4, 1967 borders and territorial swaps with a Palestinian state; and the time frame for the conclusion of negotiations.

Nonetheless, Abbas has rejected the new proposal, which was presented to him by American Middle East envoys and Quartet representative Tony Blair. [...]

New EOZ poster

This is not just the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the whole Middle East in a nutshell:

More EOZ posters.

None of the reports about Egypt and lulavim seem to notice that this is two years in a row

Here is the AFP, for instance:

An Egyptian decision to ban the export of closed palm fronds used in an upcoming Jewish festival is forcing Israel to seek ways to make up the shortfall, its agriculture minister said on Sunday.

In the past, Israeli dealers imported between 600,000 and 700,000 fronds, the vast majority of which came from Egypt's Sinai region. [...]

In this article, the present ban is simply contrasted with the "past." Here is an article about last year's lulav situation, however:

Giving Jews plenty of time to prepare for the Sukkot holiday, three and a half months away, Egypt has announced that it will not export lulavs this year.

Egyptian Agriculture Minister says he will ban the export of lulavs – palm tree fronds – this year, leaving Jewish communities around the world and particularly in Israel without its major source of lulavim for the Sukkot holiday. [...]

Nevertheless:

The Agriculture Ministry believes that it has managed to avert a shortage in lulavs -- palm tree fronds that are one of the Four Species used in the Sukkot holiday – despite a last-minute announcement by Egypt that it will not allow exports of lulavs this year. Israeli palm tree growers are expected to be able to produce enough lulavs to meet the demand, and imports from other countries are still an option. The Ministry also believes that lulav prices will not jump because of the unexpected situation.

I hope not. I assume US prices will parallel Israeli ones, and I have to buy a set of arba minim for the Judeobochur also.

IRIB: "Satans trying to impede IRI's progress: President"

The brain dissolving ray is working really well.

IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that all the world Satans are hand in hand preventing Iran development because in that case they will have no position worldwide.

Addressing a group of the provincial war disabled, directors and the elite, President Ahmadinejad said the Satans are scared of the Iranian nation because the nation enjoy a lofty culture that is affiliated to the Messenger of Allah the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Ahl-ul-Bait' (the infallible household of the holy Prophet of Islam).

President Ahmadinejad said if the lofty culture is introduced anywhere on earth well, all will accept it.

Everybody is just thristing for infallible households.

Fars News (Iran): "US Preacher Appreciates Ayatollah Khamenei's Role in Foiling Enemies' Plots"

Founder of the Islamic Institute of Counter-Zionist American Psychological Warfare! He certainly fits right in at Fars:

The prayers leader of Washington's al-Islam Mosque, Imam Abdul-Alim Moussa, underlined the role of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in thwarting the plots hatched by the West to annihilate the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

"During the presidential post-election events (2009), the West and the US made their utmost attempts at local and international levels to annihilate the Revolution in Iran but the important role of Velayat Faqih (religious leadership) defused all their plots," Moussa told FNA on Sunday.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the first conference on Islamic Awakening which kicked off work here in Tehran on Saturday and will last for two days.

Moussa appreciated Iran for choosing the title of "Islamic Awakening" for the conference as a strategic move, and said the phrase was a good choice compared with the "Arab Spring" used by the western media to describe the recent uprisings in the Middle-East and North Africa.

His remarks alluded to the unrests which began in Iran following the June 12 presidential election. While the defeated candidates alleged that the vote had been rigged, the Guardian Council, the body in charge of supervising the elections dismissed the allegations. [...]

That should be enough for anybody . . .

Update: The latest Haveil Havalim foils all enemy plots.

Guardian editorial supports Palestinian statehood bid

There is a lot to comment on, but I will focus on the following:

More than six decades later, Palestinians, who at first refused to accept the partition plan of the newly minted UN, are seeking similar recognition, firstly in front of the Security Council, asking for their own state based on the 1967 borders free from occupation and settlement by half-a-million Israelis, able to determine their own affairs.

If Palestinian have a right to state "free from . . . settlement by half-a-million Israelis," what do the authors envision? The expulsion of half-a-million people? The hand-over of the Jewish Quarter? Complete Arab control of the Western Wall? Don't expect any clarification on these points--I don't think these questions exist in the mental universe of the Guardianistas.

Fars News (Iran): "Islamic Jihad Leader Stresses Palestinian Determination to Take Back Occupied Lands"

Hamas officials often appear in the Iranian press making similar statements--and it is all translated into English:

Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement Ramadan Abdullah underlined Palestinians' determination to take back their territories from the Zionist occupiers, and said his people would not give even an inch of their lands to the usurper Israeli regime.

"We want the freedom of entire Palestine and will not give even an iota of our territories to anyone," Abdullah said, addressing the First International Conference on Islamic Awakening in Tehran on Saturday.

"The capital of Palestine is the holy Quds," he added, reiterating that Palestinians are resolved to the take back their capital from the Zionist occupiers.

Abdullah further blasted the US and certain Arab countries for exercising different plots to forge reconciliation between the Muslim countries and the Zionists, and praised the Iranian nation for resisting against such schemes and conspiracies.

He assured the audience that Palestinians would continue resistance against the Israeli regime and its allies, and said, "We should free the whole Palestine from the yoke of the Zionists".

Prominent Palestinian political and religious figures have always praised Iran's glorious and honorable stance in support of the oppressed Palestinian people.

Iran is due to hold an international conference on the Palestinian uprising (intifada) in Tehran on October 1-2.

Member of the Iranian parliament's Presiding Board Hossein Sobhaninia said in July that the conference, sponsored by the Iranian parliament, will be held to "find solutions for achieving the rights and ideals of Palestinians."

(North) Korean News: "Cuba, Iran Call for Fighting against Colonialist Powers"

Shatter those hegemonic moves:

Raul Castro Ruz, president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, and Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi in a recent conversation called for fighting against colonialist powers.

The development of relations between Cuba and Iran will have a great impact on shattering the hegemonic moves of powers and strengthening the unity of the countries opposed to the colonialist forces, they noted.

The colonialists are bound to face collapse, they said, stressing that the two countries would strengthen exchange and cooperation in the future.

Have a Songun Shabbos!