British Museum Expert: 'Real' Noah's Ark Would Have Been Round

A 3,700-year-old cuneiform text has the British Museum's top specialist on ancient Mesopotamian inscriptions convinced that Noah's Ark was most likely huge, round, made of wickerwork rope, and watertight material, http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/24/babylonian-tablet-noah-ark-constructed-british-museum the Guardian reported.

The http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/01/24/was-the-ark-round-a-babylonian-description-discovered/ expert, Irving Finkel, who decoded the weather-beaten clay tablet, with its 60 lines of tidy text, is one of the few scholars alive today who knows how to decipher script recorded on cuneiform or clay tablets.

Finkel is convinced this particular clay tablet is "one of the most important human documents ever discovered," the Guardian reported.

As for the craft described in the Book of Genesis, "I am 107 percent convinced the ark never existed," he said.

All civilizations have the myths. What is key, it seems to me, is what they say about the values of the particular civilization.

Finkel believes the idea that inspired the Biblical flood story originated in Mesopotamia. 

The authors of the Hebrew Bible were moved by hearing flood stories during their exile in Babylonia after the destruction of Jerusalem's First Temple in 586 BC.

Mesopotamia corresponds to today's Iraq, and smaller parts of Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Kuwait. Babylon was an ancient city of Mesopotamia.

"The flood story in Genesis basically overlaps with the Babylonian story. The two are interdependent, cut from the same cloth. The Judean intelligentsia knew Babylon's folk tales, but gave them a Jewish twist. The same holds for the similarity between the baby-in-the-bulrushes story of Moses and the story of the Assyrian king Sargon, whose mother also placed him in a reed basket," Finkel http://elliotjager.blogspot.co.il/2010/09/meeting-irving-finkel.html told me several years ago when I interviewed him here in Jerusalem.

The tablet Finkel analyzed is the only one found so far that offers precise dimensions and directions on how to construct the ark— which it says should be circular. The commands call for an ark that would be almost as big as a British soccer field, the Guardian reports.

Finkel does not say the craft actually existed but believes similar though smaller vessels did ply ancient waters, according to the Guardian. 

The tablet, which will be put on display at the British Museum, was first shown to Finkel in 2008 by Douglas Simmons, whose father, Leonard, brought it home to England after service in the Middle East with the Royal Air Force.

The clay tablet also portrays islands beyond the known world. The text says, that is where  the remains of the ark can be found.

Finkel details his flood theory in a book due out on Jan. 30, "The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood."

"Take Aways" From Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Session with Foreign Journalists Thursday Evening Jan. 18 Jerusalem

Economy

He's gearing up for next week's trip to Davos. Spoke about Israel as being safe, free and technically advanced.

His Davos speech will be entitled "Israel: Innovation Nation"

Israel committed to Negev and Galilee development.

Moving forward with rail link between Eilat and Ashdod – Red-Med link. Way to move Asian goods to Europe [via containers].

Committed to relocating advanced military bases to Beersheba.

[by prearrangement took one of just three questions from Xinhua] Israel is working on easing export restrictions to China.  Planning to offer China test desalination project for one Chinese city. Israel leads in this technology. Then, maybe, scale up to other cities.

Cyber warfare

Israel moving its biggest cyber defense bases to Negev.

Safe secure cyber environment is everyone's interest.

Beersheba will be capital of cyber efforts in years to come- the cyber capital of Israel – maybe bigger than that…

Security

Israel faces three challenges: Iran, Iran's Hezbollah proxy, Iran's Hamas and Islamic Jihad Proxy

Iranian nukes: "We will prevent it" by ever means possible.

Jordan

On Thursday's lightening, surprise visit with King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman:  It was an "excellent" meeting. The PM [in reply to query from Arab journalist, also by prearrangement] did not want to characterize Jordan's position on a continued Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley.

Israel's relation with Jordan also based on peace and security.

 Palestinians

In Gaza: Israel will not accept "drip" & "drizzle" of rocket attacks. [Air Force retaliating as he spoke for attack aimed at Ashkelon.]  

Negotiations with PA: The main component of a Lasting Peace is Israeli Security. Otherwise it will unravel.

Jerusalem does not want a Hamasstan in Judea and Samaria [West Bank]

We're seeing an "Afghanistan" evolving in Syria.

There is a Hezbollahstan in Lebanon.

Myths: That the core of the ME conflict is the Palestinian Arab problem; that "settlements" are the core of the Palestinian-Israel conflict; that a Palestinian state is what is holding up peace.

Why did they attack us between 1948 – 1967 when there  were no settlements?

Why attack us after we pulled out of Gaza?

Israel is ready for a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians are not ready for a Jewish state.

An accord with Palestinians is contingent on (1) security and (2) recognition of Jewish state [in any boundaries].

In answer to [prearranged question from BBC] question about why release of Arab terrorists is invariably linked to building [within existing] settlements.

Must Jews live in settlement clusters. No new settlements are being announced, only some dwellings within existing settlements.

Netanyahu expressed irritation with EU calling in Israeli ambassadors after settlement-building announcement. "When was the last time the EU called in Palestinian ambassadors to talk about incitement?"

Or the involvement of Palestinian Authority security personnel in anti-civilian attacks against Israelis?

It is significant to Israel that Palestinians are not being held accountable for their behavior.

[Continued construction] "This was part of the understanding.  It was the deal. Unwritten. But everybody knew it."

This is not an obstacle. What do the Arabs wants an ethnically cleansed state?

##ENDS##

Despite Vast Resources Poured into the Effort , UK Islamist Extremists Snub Non-Violence Prison Program

I found this interesting but hardly surprising.

A British government program aimed at rehabilitating radical Muslim prisoners so that they abandon their philosophy of violence has largely failed, according to Sky News. 

The majority of prisoners convicted on terrorism charges related to their Islamist beliefs have refused to participate.

There are about 150 convicted terrorists in British prisons, 110 of them have rejected taking part in the "Contest" program. Contest seeks to persuade them to reconsider their beliefs and reject violence.

The prisoners hold views that are "very fanatical" and "entrenched," rooted in certainty that "it is the correct worldview and anybody who opposes it is the enemy of God," said Dr. Usama Hasan of the Quilliam Foundation. The group is partly funded by the British government.

Contest is part of a larger effort to counter radicalism among the country's 1.6 million Muslims. 

Britain says it invests significant resources in "stopping people from supporting terrorism," according to a 2013 government report. London provides funding to community-based Muslim groups to help them counter militant Islamic propaganda and "offer alternative views" to "vulnerable target audiences."

Government sources told Sky News that none of the hardcore "jihadist" in the prison system, among them Abdullah Ahmed Ali who had conspired to blow up airliners with liquid explosives, consented to participate in the anti-extremism initiative.

Some 40 prisoners, mostly lower level "foot soldiers" are presently enrolled in the program. However, 30 offenders who completed their sentences and did not take part in the program are now back on the streets, Sky News reported.

The Contest prison program is modeled after one pioneered in Saudi Arabia.

Something tells me the Saudi instructors are more persuasive. 

Israelis Unsurprised by NSA Spying Revelations. Politicians Note that Pollard Has Been in a US Prison for 30 Years for doing Much Less

Reaction in Israel was muted to reports that the NSA and its British counterpart spied on former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, former defense minister Ehud Barak and on Israeli facilities. 

The revelations were made public by N.S.A. defector-- now Moscow denizen-- Edward Snowden and published in the New York Times on Friday December 20 just as Jerusalem went offline for the Jewish Sabbath.

With the end of the Israeli weekend on Sunday, the Hebrew-language newspapers and radio news programs headlined the eavesdropping.

Israel's top political, intelligence and military leaders work under the assumption that foreigners— friends and foes— are spying on them.

Shimon Shiffer, a columnist for the anti-Netanyahu government tabloid, Yediot Aharanot, wrote that he doubted senior Israeli officials would even pretend to be outraged. "No one has been taken by surprise, Israel's top officials know that everyone wiretaps everyone else, all the time."

Ronen Bergman, who specializes in national security affairs, wrote in Yediot that the Americans were likely looking for information about a possible Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear facilities.

The NSA also reportedly spied on the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Physics, according to the Times.

Yediot reported that American officials rented an apartment near Barak's Tel Aviv residence-- a high-rise tower -- in order to listen in on his conversations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds his most sensitive discussions at Mossad intelligence headquarters to minimize the possibility of eavesdropping, according to Israel's Channel 10 news. 

For similar reasons he does not keep a computer in his office, according to Israel's Channel 2.

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, whose office has no direct operational responsibilities, called the NSA's behavior "unacceptable," according to the http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Report-US-UK-spied-on-Olmert-Barak-in-2009-335691 Jerusalem Post.

"We don't monitor the U.S. president, the White House, or the defense minister, and I think we need to reach an understanding with the U.S." not to spy on Israel, Steinitz said.

My own take is that it would have been wiser for Steinitz to restrain himself. Not every event requires a comment even if a minister has time on his hands. 

And I doubt these comments reflect anyone's thinking but his own.

For the most part, Israeli politicians used the revelations to call on the White House to pardon Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy who has been incarcerated in a U.S. prison for 30 years. 

Few in Israel understand why he has been punished so harshly for so long.

The new head of the Labor opposition, Isaac Herzog, called on Washington to release Pollard on the grounds that he had been punished enough for spying done long ago.

Netanyahu said little on the matter directly.

He told the Cabinet on Sunday that Israel did not need to capitalize on the NSA revelations to make the case that justice demanded Pollard be released.

Earlier, Transportation Minister Israel Katz, a member of Netanyahu's Likud Party, said Pollard was being punished for activities that were mild in comparison to what the NSA had done. 

Tzahi Hanegbi, a former head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee, said the NSA revelations ought to serve as an impetus for Pollard's release.

The angriest, and characteristically shallowest, reaction came from Labor opposition Knesset member Nachman Shai, chair of  the Knesset Caucus on US-Israel Relations, who demanded that parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hold hearings on the American espionage.

"The silence of Israeli officials following these reports is disappointing and shameful," Shai said according to the Times of Israel. 

Most Israelis will take the revelations in stride, I suspect. Like all countries, the US has interests and to protect those interests it monitors events and conversations.

Money Buys Qatar Influence and Interdependence

The tiny Gulf sheikdom of Qatar, comprised of 300,000 citizens and one million foreign workers, is increasing its financial, economic and media footprint in the United States, the Washington Post reported.

Experts say Doha does not have a unified strategy behind its expansion into America other than to create strong cultural, political and economic bonds with countries that could help protect its interests.

"You'll drive yourself mad trying to find an overarching plan behind all the Qatari moves," said author David Roberts, according to the Post.

Qatar previously invested in Britain. Europe's tallest building funded by Qatari investors is the 72-story Shard located near London Bridge. 

Qatar has a major stake in Heathrow Airport. It also owns the Harrods department store. Since 2007, Qatar has invested $33 billion in Britain, according to the Post.

Qatar has established Al Jazeera America.

The original media outlet Al Jazeera in Arabic has been influential in forming public opinion in the Middle East. 

Obviously, you won't be seeing preachers teaching the Koran and ridiculing those not of the faith on the American version.

In fact, Al Jazeera in English -- shown in Israel -- looks a lot like the BBC. (Take that any way you care to.)

In January, Qatar purchased Al Gore's Current TV for $500 million in order to secure access to cable television channels for Al Jazeera America which is now hiring hundreds of reporters.

Besides Washington, Qatar has real estate interests in Chicago's Radisson Blu Aqua hotel and it is a majority owner of Golden Pass Products, a Houston-based importer of natural gas.

Qatar Airways is a significant customer of Boeing having recently purchased 50 Boeing 777 aircraft for $19 billion. It is the second biggest airline in Mideast behind Turkish Airlines.

Through its Qatari Foundation, the sheikdom has donated $100 million to Hurricane Katrina relief and is investing $5 million to spread Arab language and culture in America, the Post reported.

Like Saudi Arabia, which is controlled by the family Saud, Qatar is a family concern. The emir— who took over in June from his father— is Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, 33, who trained at Sandhurst, Britain's Royal Military Academy.

Qatar's foreign policies are not easy to pigeonhole.

Israeli ministers have quietly visited Doha.

Since 2003 it has allowed the U.S. to station a major military base on its soil. At the same time, it is a prominent backer of the Muslim Brotherhood and a generous donor to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Qatari-supported clerics have tried to make peace between Hamas and more radical Moslems based in the Strip.

With the eruption of the Syrian civil war, Qatar broke with the Assad regime and Hezbollah, supporting the Islamic opposition including groups associated with al-Qaeda. It has now reportedly stepped back from the Syrian morass ceding its influence to Saudi Arabia.