I'm a poet, an English Jew and a frequent visitor to Israel. Deeply disturbed by the reports of wanton slaughter and destruction during Operation Cast Lead, I felt I had to see for myself. I flew to Tel Aviv and on Wednesday, January 28, using my press card to cross the Erez checkpoint, I walked across the border into Gaza where I was met by my guide, a Palestinian journalist. He asked if I wanted to meet with Hamas officials. I explained that I'd come to bear witness to the damage and civilian suffering, not to talk politics.And the nations of the world was so taken in by the staged testimonies and photos of Gaza that they have just pledged many more billions of dollars to help Hamas build their next generations of weapons and kidnapping tunnels. It is indirect aid to terrorists, but any way you look at it, Hamas is the winner.What I saw was that there had been precision attacks made on all of Hamas' infrastructure. Does UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticize the surgical destruction of the explosives cache in the Imad Akhel Mosque, of the National Forces compound, of the Shi Jaya police station, of the Ministry of Prisoners? The Gazans I met weren't mourning the police state. Neither were they radicalized. As Hamas blackshirts menaced the street corners, I witnessed how passersby ignored them.
THERE WERE empty beds at Shifa Hospital and a threatening atmosphere. Hamas is reduced to wielding its unchallengeable authority from extensive air raid shelters which, together with the hospital, were built by Israel 30 years ago. Terrorized Gazans used doublespeak when they told me most of the alleged 5,500 wounded were being treated in Egypt and Jordan. They want it known that the figure is a lie, and showed me that the wounded weren't in Gaza. No evidence exists of their presence in foreign hospitals, or of how they might have gotten there.
From the mansions of the Abu Ayida family at Jebala Rayes to Tallel Howa (Gaza City's densest residential area), Gazans contradicted allegations that Israel had murderously attacked civilians. They told me again and again that both civilians and Hamas fighters had evacuated safely from areas of Hamas activity in response to Israeli telephone calls, leaflets and megaphone warnings.
Seeing Al-Fakhora made it impossible to understand how UN and press reports could ever have alleged that the UNWRA school had been hit by Israeli shells....
...THE GAZA I saw was societally intact. There were no homeless, walking wounded, hungry or underdressed people. The streets were busy, shops were hung with embroidered dresses and gigantic cooking pots, the markets were full of fresh meat and beautiful produce - the red radishes were bigger than grapefruits. Mothers accompanied by a 13-year-old boy told me they were bored of leaving home to sit on rubble all day to tell the press how they'd survived. Women graduates I met in Shijaya spoke of education as power as old men watched over them.
No one praised their government as they showed me the sites of tunnels where fighters had melted away. No one declared Hamas victorious for creating a forced civilian front line as they showed me the remains of booby trapped homes and schools.
From what I saw and was told in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead pinpointed a totalitarian regime's power bases and largely neutralized Hamas's plans to make Israel its tool for the sacrifice of civilian life.
Corroboration of my account may be found in tardy and piecemeal retractions of claims concerning the UNWRA school at Al-Fakhora; an isolated acknowledgment that Gaza is substantially intact by The New York Times; Internet media watch corrections; and the unresolved discrepancy between the alleged wounded and their unreported whereabouts.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
Elder of Ziyon
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Elder of Ziyon
Today, we have further confirmation, from Palestine Today:
Private sources confirmed that the Palestinian resistance obtained the Israeli missiles which did not explode during the aggression on Gaza, saying that resistance experts were able to dismantle the missiles and extract the the explosive material inside.The last sentence is interesting, because it seems to confirm that some Hamas collaborators are in Egypt, scouring the Sinai for old mines to smuggle to Gaza.
The same sources pointed out that they will be able to manufacture hundreds of improvised explosive anti-tank devices, after the dismantling of dozens of huge rockets that did not explode during the Israeli war.
The sources added that the experts were able to extract the detonators of the missiles as well.
The sources said the explosive article by Israeli missiles, located in one of the finest and most powerful species in bringing about breakthroughs in the explosions and the place where he received meant that the Palestinian resistance and put her hand on the precious treasure of the Israeli explosives.
Palestinian factions would use quantities of explosive materials from remnants of the wars that took place in Egypt's Sinai for the manufacture of missiles against the Israeli occupation forces, but they were of poor quality.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Elder of Ziyon
media bias
Egyptian security seized one ton of explosives from a hidden weapons cache in the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, the Israeli intelligence services reported.Before the war, Egypt found these caches fairly regularly. Judging from what Israel found in Gaza, clearly Egypt only has found a fraction of the weapons and explosives that were going to Hamas.
An Egyptian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that security forces discovered 13 packages of explosives buried in the desert that are suspected to be bound for the Gaza Strip.
As far as the documented finds go, this one is on the larger side.
It is also noteworthy that nearly every article about the Rafah tunnels written by the MSM in 2008 focused on consumer goods being smuggled and ignored the weapons and munitions, as the reporters fell into the Hamas propaganda trick of misdirection.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Elder of Ziyon
And the reason is because Egypt will not crack down on them.
After weeks of bombing and despite high-level meetings and diplomatic speeches pledging to end the smuggling of goods and weapons from Egypt to this Palestinian enclave, reconstruction of what the workers here estimate are 1,000 tunnels has continued unabated for the three days since Israel and Hamas ceased firing.I tend to believe that most Rafah tunnel diggers are reluctant to smuggle arms nowadays, but the author doesn't consider that Hamas has its own tunnels exclusively for weapons and explosives whose owners are much less likely to grant interviews. Indeed, Hamas has more money for bribes from taxing the goods from the "consumer tunnels," and Egypt regularly finds caches of explosives and arms in the Sinai meant for Gaza. (It is entirely possible that Hamas has built tunnels south of Rafah, as well.)
“Israel will never succeed. I will make it 25 metres deep” to avoid the Israeli bombs that destroyed this narrow corridor during the three-week assault, said Abu Haysem, one of the Rafah tunnel owners. Abu Haysem said he built his tunnel out of the basement of his home, which lays, speckled with shrapnel, about 320 metres from, and 14 metres under, the Egypt-Gaza border.
“If Egypt decides to stop the tunnels from working, they can. They can block the roads to Rafah and arrest the tunnel owners,” said Abu Haysem. “Egypt says they will stop the tunnels but they don’t because they want the money.”
That money – 50 per cent of Abu Haysem’s lucrative trade – is used to pay his partners across the border and funds their graft scheme with Egyptian officials.
The sentiment on the ground remains one of scepticism that serious steps would be taken to halt the smuggling. Indeed, most of the tunnelling along the border is done in the open, within sight of Egyptian border posts.
Other than by bribing officials, some tunnel owners claim their tunnels will remain open thanks to Egyptian solidarity with the Palestinians, after Egypt faced the opprobrium of several Arab countries for keeping their part of the Gaza border sealed. That sympathy, said Akram Hamad, a tunnel worker, is partly derived from a common understanding between Egyptians and Gazans: that the Rafah tunnels no longer traffic in weapons. “The Egyptian side has sympathy with us when it comes to food, but when it comes to weapons they are very strict,” said Mr Hamad.
The Egyptians tied to the tunnels apparently do very little actual work building them, but assume the bulk of the legal risk and responsibility for bribing Egyptian authorities to get materials through them.
At any rate, the idea that the tunnels could be closed without full Egyptian cooperation is a non-starter. Money tends to make people a bit less interested in adhering to agreements.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
Hamas has also explicitly stated that, as a result of the current Israeli airstrikes, the Arab world must cut all ties with Israel - and open up the Rafah crossing.
In other words, Hamas is explicitly playing politics with the lives of the people it pretends to protect.
This is nothing new, for either Hamas, Palestinian Arabs or for the Arab world at large. Using people as political pawns, as cannon fodder, and as human explosives has been a long-standing tradition in the Arab world.
What is slightly newer is the desire to use the concept of the sanctity of all human life as a weapon itself. In other words, in Hamas' calculus, the public relations value of the media reporting that Gazans are dying due to lack of medical supplies is far more important than keeping the people alive. (It is notable that the English-language Hamas website now speaks of a "humanitarian crisis" but the Arabic-language version does not.)
Hamas has wanted Egypt to open its borders since the coup last year. The reason is that Hamas wants to be recognized as the legal government of Gaza, and Egypt refuses to recognize them as such - and it tries to adhere to existing agreements with the PA and Israel regarding Rafah.
Hamas is now looking at this operation as a means to gain political points. It will hold its own people hostage, knowing full well that the West and even Egypt values the lives of Gazans more than Hamas does, and using the hostages to gain legitimacy from Egypt, and then the rest of the world.
Even under attack, Hamas is trying to ensure that it will be more powerful, politically, after this operation than it was before. In this way Hamas is copying Hezbollah's playbook from 2006: Hezbollah lost many fighters and Southern Lebanon lost many civilians who lived under de facto Hezbollah rule, but in the end Hezbollah gained admiration, adoration from the Arab world, a full replenishment of the rockets it lost, a de facto control of much of Lebanon's army and a much higher profile in Lebanese politics.
Israel's campaign must therefore not stop at Hamas' infrastructure and military capability. Israel must use PR in ways much better than it has in the past. It must hammer away at the fact that Hamas has been a disaster for Gaza residents by any rational measure, that Hamas happily plays games with Gazan lives, that Hamas has all but driven out the Christian community in Gaza, that Hamas has cynically manipulated shortages while giving its own people plenty, that Hamas is nothing more than a terror group that holds innocent Gazans hostage. Israel must stress that a return to the status quo is not an option, and that Hamas is outside the pale of acceptability by moderate Arabs and those who claim they want peace.
Winning a war is less than half the battle nowadays.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
media bias
Neither side seems to want such an all-out fight -- particularly not Israel, whose defense minister has pointed out that an invasion could cost hundreds of lives and leave thousands of Israeli troops stranded in Gaza without an exit strategy. But neither Israel nor Hamas has been satisfied with the informal cease-fire they reached in June with the help of Egypt. During the summer and fall, the rocket fire from Gaza diminished but never entirely stopped. Israel, in turn, allowed only a modest increase in the flow of goods into Gaza, which has been under virtual siege since last year, and frequently sealed off the strip entirely in response to fresh attacks.The cease-fire was also supposed to include no more Hamas weapons smuggling, and the "modest increase" of goods included cement that Hamas seized for itself to build an extensive network of tunnels and bunkers. The rocket fire did diminish, at least until early November.
But the recommendation that the wise editors come to is predictable, and absurd:
But an increasing number of Israeli thinkers are pointing out that the prevailing strategy of trying to isolate and destroy Hamas while building up the rival Palestinian leadership in the West Bank hasn't worked.The "unnamed expert" ruse of editorial writers as well as journalists is the time-honored way to put forth their own opinions as if they belong to a higher power, conveniently ignoring any other.
Some 200,000 Gazans recently turned out for a rally in support of Hamas; a war would only strengthen the movement's most radical factions.The two parts of this sentence have nothing to do with each other. I recall the pro-Hamas rallies last year far exceeded 200,000 - and the pro-Fatah rallies did as well. The idea of pacifying the radicals by giving in to them is so extraordinarily wrongheaded that it could only have been written by an MSM editorialist.
Israeli officials rightly point out that no country should have to tolerate missile attacks on its cities; such attacks justify a military response. But Israel would be better positioned to defeat Hamas politically and diplomatically if it allowed the full resumption of food, medicine and fuel deliveries to Gaza and made clear its willingness to end other restrictions on civilian trade in exchange for a full cessation of rocket attacks and other hostilities.Wow. Israel sent in daily deliveries of goods essentially every day from August through October, truckloads of food, medicine, fuel, clothing, building materials, and other goods. In return, Hamas built up an arsenal of more rockets, imported tons of explosives, gathered more money by taxing smuggled goods, didn't lift a finger to take administrative responsibility of Gazans' daily lives (leaving that to Western money filtered through Fatah institutions,) and created an infrastructure to kidnap more Israeli soldiers. And the wise old men of WaPo now say that Israel should do exactly the same thing again?
If Hamas is to be toppled, it will have to be through a political process led by Palestinians.Every poll over the past year of Gazans shows that Fatah would get more votes in an election than Hamas. Yet Hamas still holds power. Perhaps it is because Hamas is a military dictatorship that has wiped out its political opposition in Gaza? Hamas' hold on power has only increased as its popularity has gone downhill. How, exactly, would more pro-Western Palestinian Arabs manage to seize power politically from ruthless Islamic extremists?
Which means that the Washington Post is counseling Israel to do nothing about a new terror statelet next door that is dedicated to murdering every Jew in rocket range - besides, of course, make sure that Hamas never takes any of the responsibilities of power by providing them with all their basic needs.
And similarly, Egypt gets off scot-free in this absurd editorial for its role in isolating Gaza. Arabs simply cannot be expected to be responsible for bad things happening to their brethren - only the would-be targets of Arab terror must turn the other cheek.
(h/t Soccer Dad via email)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
AL-ARISH: An Egyptian security official says a booby trapped suitcase carrying 25 kilograms of explosives was defused near the Egyptian border with Israel and Gaza.Al Arish is where yesterday's fuel truck explosion was as well.Police often find weapons caches destined for the Gaza Strip, but the official said finding an "advanced" bomb is rare.
The official said the bomb is being inspected to determine who was behind it and whether it was heading to Israel.
25 kilos is quite a large bomb, and it indicates that Hamas is trying hard to come up with new and innovative ways to murder Jews.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
free gaza, media bias
Although she predictably slams Israel at every possible opportunity, a couple of salient facts manage to sneak out during her tirade:
On entering Gaza Hass said she was accompanied by Hamas-appointed security personnel at all hours, and was prevented from entering any of the Strip’s refugee camps. She said she had been warned by the security men that there was a chance that she would be abducted by extremists during her time in Gaza. After three weeks, she said, the security officials told her they got wind of a plan by one of the factions to kidnap her, which she called a pretext, and forced her to leave the area.So this independent journalist happily filed reports that were effectively censored by Hamas, which only allowed her to enter certain parts of Gaza. Hass eagerly accepted the role of propagandist.
During her time in Gaza Hass visited the southern town of Rafah where the hundreds of tunnels to Egypt snake below the earth, and described the full markets and influx of people that the new industry had spurred in the area. Hass described seeing many goods, even weapons, available in the Rafah souq, and remarked at the change in what she called a ‘once very poor town.’From a quick Google search, I could not find a single Hass report for Ha'aretz where she mentioned seeing weapons in Rafah. In fact, out of the many reports that talk about the goods that get smuggled into Rafah through tunnels, the most obvious - weapons - is not mentioned anywhere. TVs, motorcycles, cattle, zoo animals, candy, shoes - we see them all from Western reports, but never a mention of weapons.
The only way to know that weapons are still being smuggled is because Egypt regularly intercepts weapons and explosives caches on their way to Rafah. Gaza reporters, however, cannot bring themselves to mention that fact.
Hass mentions it here - but to a Palestinian Arab audience, and not as a reporter but as an advocate.
Isn't the presence of weapons for sale in Rafah an important fact? Apparently, not to the Western reporters who love filing tunnel stories, and apparently not to Amira Hass herself.
The MSM meme of starving Gazans is too important. If reporters would mention that weapons are getting smuggled into Gaza and sold (as well as given to terror groups), some stupid readers might start thinking that perhaps food is not the most important thing to Gazans - and we can't have that, can we?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
self-death, work accident
Saudi Arabia denied Hamas accusations that they didn't give Hajj visas to Palestinian Arab pilgrims, as both sides continue to trade accusations and insults.
Hamas attacked, beat and killed a 41-year old chicken seller in a public market in the Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
The PalArab press quotes Maariv as saying that Israel will intercept the Libyan ship headed for Gaza, purportedly filled with humanitarian aid that is due to arrive on Monday. (UPDATE: They did.)
Meanwhile, Turkey says it will send its own ship to Gaza, in coordination with Hamas. It would supposedly contain medicines and "Palestinian campaigners."
Islamic Jihad said that it has no intention of continuing the illusory "calm" in Gaza past the six month mark, whose deadline is due in the coming weeks.
It is instructive that while the world media has been tirelessly reporting on the smuggling of food and fuel (and motorcycles and TVs) to Gaza, Egypt keeps intercepting shipments of weapons and explosives also bound for Gaza. These smuggled goods somehow escape the radar of the intrepid journalists.
Speaking of tunnels, an enterprising young man in Gaza has found a good use for the soil that is dug up by the tunnel diggers - he is building old-fashioned ovens out of the mud mixed with straw, and selling them for 150 shekels each. Apparently the mud is ideal for these ovens.The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 216.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
OCHA is not nearly as overtly anti-Israel as other UN agencies. Even so, and even as it tries mightily to project an unbiased front, its hatred for Israel is clear in its very mission (which, by definition, is not concerned with any Palestinian Arab violation of Israeli human rights) as well as its reports.
A new slick OCHA report on the situation in the "OPT" in September provides a number of examples of the overarching bias, bordering on hatred, that the UN has against Israel.
Three times the report states:
Israel’s closure of Gaza crossing points continues, with only a slight increase in the number of truckloads allowed entry... The number of truckloads of imported goods allowed into Gaza increased slightly compared to August 2008....imports for the month were slightly up from the August figures.And what does "slightly" mean? It means that the number of truckloads of goods increased from 3565 to 4049, an increase of 13%.
Somehow, I don't think that a 13% monthly increase in, say, inflation or the stock market would be characterized by anyone as "a slight increase." But in its zeal to make Israel look bad, the UN will trivialize Israel's efforts to increase aid while maintaining its own security.
And then the UN chooses specific types of goods that decreased:
There was a noticeable decline in the number of truckloads carrying hygiene and cleaning supplies (82% less than in August), industrial/electrical appliances (33% less) and the non-edible consumables (39% less).If that is true, it must mean that some other goods increased more than the 13%, but the UN doesn't bother to break those down. It is apparent that Israel increased the amount of food, cement, gravel and fuel sent to Gaza significantly, but the UN doesn't mention this fact in its attempts to make Israel look as bad as possible.
Another section of the report praises smuggling tunnels:
In light of the inability of many Gazan businessmen to conduct trade through Gaza official crossings (Karni, Sufa and Kerem Shalom), Rafah tunnels have become a vital lifeline to obtain needed goods over the last year. Media reports estimate the number of tunnels to be in the hundreds, employing up to 6,000 Palestinians. On 25 September, the Hamas authority police introduced new regulations to control trade through the tunnels. A list of conditions were announced, among which was that all tunnel operators must meet certain standards in order for their tunnels to be licensed and allowed to operate. Numerous tents covering tunnel entrances are visible in the Rafah area and the industry is increasingly becoming open and controlled. The extent of the tunnel network is a direct result of the continued restrictions on access.Notice how the UN carefully refuses to mention the possibility of Egypt allowing trade to occur legally through Rafah.
Also note that not a word is mentioned about another major tunnel industry - weapons and explosives. Egyptian forces regularly find caches of dynamite and weapons in the Sinai around Rafah, meant for transport in these same tunnels that the UN considers a "lifeline."
Well, that is true if you don't consider the lives of Israelis who are the ultimate targets of these weapons to be worth anything.
Another indicator of bias, as the UN couches what should be considered good news into expectations of Israeli evil:
While the number of settler-related incidents decreased in September, there are concerns that settler violence will increase during the October olive harvest as has been the case during past harvests.Invariably, if something good happens the UN spins it to make Israel look bad.
Incidentally, the UN's definition of "settler-related incidents" includes unverified reports that the UN encourages Palestinian Arabs and NGOs to submit using a handy form.
Another example:
On 15 and 16 September, Erez crossing was closed, except for emergency medical and humanitarian cases, in response to the firing of a homemade rocket from Gaza towards Sderot.The adjective "homemade" is purely meant to trivialize the threat of the rockets towards Israel, and the implication is that Israel must not bother to defend itself.
I wonder, if Palestinian Arabs would firebomb UN workers in Gaza, if the UN report would refer to the means of attack as "homemade Molotov cocktails."
And yet another:
Access for more than 60% of the Palestinian population to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was denied during the holy month of Ramadan (1-29 September). Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were denied entry, while the access of West Bank ID holders was regulated by a special permit regime, valid only on the four Fridays during the month.The absurdity of counting Gaza residents as part of the "60%" who were denied entry to Al Aqsa is self-evident, but it serves to make Israel once again look evil - for not allowing a large, unrepentantly hostile mass of people to cross though Israeli territory.
But this is the UN, and when UN staffers are tasked to only support one side of a conflict as they are in this case, one can expect that they will be singularly biased.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
Which means that during this horrible "siege," Israel has been doubling and re-doubling the number of patients allowed from Gaza to Israel or the PA for treatment.
Table 1
Referrals and Permits to Enter Israel for Medical Care,
Gaza, 2006-2008Month
No. of patients applied for permits
No. of patients given permits
Proportion of patients given permits
2006
January
741
719
97.0%
February
769
716
93.1%
March
562
485
86.3%
April
274
209
76.3%
May
453
404
89.2%
June
474
400
84.4%
July
185
171
92.4%
August
293
267
91.1%
September
438
402
91.8%
October
380
345
90.8%
November
509
455
89.4%
December
392
359
91.6%
Total 2006
5470
4932
90.2%
2007
January
506
452
89.3%
February
595
540
90.8%
March
681
607
89.1%
April
515
460
89.3%
May
737
665
90.2%
June
412
368
89.3%
July
859
765
89.1%
August
985
787
79.9%
September
715
591
82.7%
October
1103
850
77.1%
November
654
422
64.5%
December
1041
669
64.3%
Total 2007
8803
7176
81.5%
2008
January
2590
1618
62%
February
2324
1670
72%
March
2569
1747
68%
April
1959
1263
64%
May
1908
1346
70%
June
1851
1152
62%
Total (6M) 2008
13201
8796
66%
Sources: COGAT and WHO, Jerusalem Office 2008. Data from Jan. 2008 ff not yet confirmed by WHO.
While the percentage of permit approvals has dropped, the number of permits has increased dramatically, despite these salient facts:
During this period there were some 30 foiled attempts at terrorist infiltration, including at least 20 incidents where Palestinians used medical missions to attempt terror attacks. In June 2006, a female suicide terrorist was arrested at the Erez crossing while on her way to carry out an attack on an Israeli hospital. In May 2007, two female bombers received permits but were caught after slipping through security checks.7 On May 22, 2008, a truck loaded with 4.5 tons of explosives exploded just before reaching the crossing.Another point is that the number of patients traveling to Israel via Gaza dwarfs the number who go to Egypt.The ISA published reports on 11 individuals, including those just cited, who used permits for medical care or for family visits to patients already in Israel for the purpose of carrying out terror-related activities. At Erez, three patients admitted under questioning that they had purchased referral notes with bogus medical information from doctors in Gaza. According to the ISA, terror organizations were making a special effort to recruit women, including those who are pregnant, who are less likely to be closely examined and whose heavy clothing more readily conceals suspicious objects.8 PHR-I forwarded these patients for approval, unaware of their true status.
Here we have another example where Israel's humanitarianism towards a hostile Gaza population, which is is under no obligation to provide, is used as a weapon against it.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
self-death
Al Jazeera English had a story about the Rafah tunnel industry, both in print and in video, where they claim that Hamas doesn't allow the tunnel operators to smuggle in people, drugs or weapons. Al Jizz romaticizes the smuggler, saying that they are necessary for Gazans to survive, and that they only bring in things like "shoes, chocolate and 7-Up."
Of course, the esteemed journalist doesn't bother finding out if Hamas operates any of its own tunnels to smuggle weapons. Clearly, the tons of weapons and explosives that Egyptian authorities are finding constantly are meant for Gaza, so the Jazeera reporter is being more than a little disingenuous.
Meanwhile, there was another tunnel death, this time by "electrocution," in Rafah.
The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 193.
UPDATE: A trader was murdered in Gaza. 194.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
gilad shalit
Her main finding is that terrorists are liars:
“Nobody from the political or military wing of Hamas knows where Shalit is,” [Mahmoud Zahhar] says, disingenuously, sitting by my side in a starched safari suit. “Only the small group who kidnapped him know. They are very secretive.”In the end, the people who claim to know how Shalit is being treated profess ignorance as to his whereabouts and those who know his whereabouts don't say how he is being treated, meaning that everyone is lying.He says he has no idea of the conditions in which Shalit is being held, only that they must be better than those of the more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners whose release Hamas is demanding for his safe return.
...
While Zahar and Yousef are reluctant to discuss Shalit, members of the Doghmush clan are happy to brag about how well he is being treated. I meet them in a garage of one of the many buildings the clan owns in the Sabra district. Abu Khatab Doghmush, a 51-year-old clan elder, is sitting with family on a sofa pushed against a wall.
Abu Khatab insists that the Army of Islam is not holding Shalit. “The only faction that controls his life now is the Qassam Brigades,” he says, his heavy gold watch flapping against his wrist. “But I can tell you that Shalit is living in a paradise. Our religion of Islam demands that we look after prisoners even more than we do our own people.” He rejects speculation that Shalit is locked deep in an underground cell booby-trapped with explosives: “He’s not being kept in a closed room all the time – this would not be healthy. He can go out and take fresh air.”
Abu Khatab then makes an extraordinary claim: “Every year a party is held to celebrate his birthday. Yes, there is a cake and candles, music, everything.” Shalit, born on August 28, 1986, has now spent three birthdays in captivity.
The claim that Shalit is being well treated is repeated by everyone I meet. His plea that he needs hospitalisation is dismissed by Abu Khatab. “No, it is I who require hospitalisation,” he says, kicking off his plastic sandal to reveal a foot eaten away by gangrene.
...Over the days that follow, repeated attempts to talk to the al-Qassam Brigades are rejected. Again and again I am referred back to Hamas political leaders such as Zahar as the only ones able to speak about Shalit. With Zahar and others claiming only al-Qassam knows anything, the circle of professed ignorance and denial is closed.
...When Abu Mujahed arrives, I am taken aback. We have spent time watching young PRC recruits training – all wear black balaclavas and carry AK-47s. But 24-year-old Abu Mujahed wears a beige suit and brown shirt, a look that would not be out of place in a cheesy video on an Arabic music channel. He has come straight from his brother’s wedding, he says, before explaining in clear English (he is studying multimedia technology at university) precisely how a prisoner exchange should work.
“After the Israelis free the first 100 Palestinian prisoners, Shalit would be moved to Egypt. Once he’s in Egypt, the Israelis would have to free 1,000 more of our brothers and sisters before he is released. We were very close to agreeing a deal a year ago, then the Israelis stopped negotiations. We were amazed that they were prepared to go back to zero. It is the Israelis who are putting obstacles in the way of an agreement.
“If we do not see some results soon, we will be forced to close the file,” he concludes ominously.
When I ask how much he knows about Shalit’s whereabouts and the conditions he is kept in, Abu Mujahed repeats the mantra that he is being treated well, “according to our religion”. Only a small group know where Shalit is held, he claims, and they communicate by means of dead letter drops, mobile phones being too easy to track.
It is rare to see real reporting nowadays; this is an excellent article.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
self-death
Following yesterday's explosions aimed at Hamas sites in Gaza, two Fatah men were arrested in a car full of explosives.
Islamic Jihad held its annual Iftar breakfast banquet for "journalists and intellectuals" south of Gaza City. The terrorist speakers stressed to the journalists what an important job they had in telling the world about their side of the story. (Pictures of the banquet here.)
The DFLP threatened to break the "calm" in face of alleged Israeli aggression. Islamic Jihad characterized the "calm" as "scandalous."
The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 161.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
Speaking of Hezbollah, a popular Lebanese singer named Haifa Wehbe was reported to have said that she would like to join that terror group. She had previously voiced her support for Hezbollah during the Lebanon war, saying that Hezbollah's rockets were only aimed at military targets. Nasrallah responded to her overtures by saying that she needs to cover up more and act more modestly.There are reports that Egypt plans to partially open the Rafah crossing at the beginning of Ramadan for some sick people.
Hamas arrested a trusted insider on suspicion of spying for Israel. This has happened a number of times and the paranoia is getting more acute.
A Hamas member was seen carrying a bomb at Al Azhar University. A couple of days ago another bomb exploded there, causing damage but no injuries.
Egyptian forces found another cache of explosives near Rafah, this one 100 kg. They claim to have closed 140 tunnels in recent weeks.
Fatah has come out against the strikes in Gaza held by teachers and civil servants unions. They are saying that it is not in the best interests of Fatah! See my earlier post on this topic.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of "moderate" Fatah, says it will refuse to ever hand over its weapons.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
self-death
More explosives meant for Gaza found in the Sinai by Egypt.
Al-Jazeera is demanding that Ha'aretz apologize for saying that Al Jazeera apologized for their fawning coverage of Samir Kuntar. Al Jazeera said they violated their own code of ethics but denies apologizing for it.
So far this year, 260,000 Palestinian Arabs crossed from the territories into Jordan. 197,000 came back. The number of those coming back are expected to rise as school starts, however.
Israel opened up Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel allowed lumber to enter Gaza for the first time in a year. A Gaza cement factory re-started operations. And Islamic Jihad and other terror groups are claiming that the "calm" is only benefiting Israel and are threatening to increase their attacks. (Sorry, the last few were from yesterday and I don't have the links handy.)
UPDATE: A man was found murdered in his house in Qalqiya. The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 152.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
self-death, Temple Mount, work accident
The news about the Hamas leader's son who converted to Christianity, and is now attacking Islam as a whole, is finally being believed by the PalArab press after his TV interviews.
PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo is now referring to Hamas leader Zahhar as "speaking like he is mentally ill". Apparently there is a dispute concerning the PA continuing to pay salaries to people in Gaza.
Islamic Jihad is bragging about new rockets that they have been developing during the "calm. " (They've also enlisted CNN in this PR push; here's how the CNN reporter described the "factory":
The "factory" is anything but; it's a tiny room with rockets lining the walls and masked men trying to light a fire from a gas canister to heat the explosives.
First, the lighter doesn't work, then there's a gas leak and the room becomes filled with suffocating gas.
You hear of unexplained explosions in Gaza from time to time, euphemistically called "workplace accidents." That thought is enough to make us squeeze out of the room and wonder whether we've gotten just a little too close to the story.
Egypt considers a planned rail line between Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat to be a threat to the Suez Canal, as freight trains can move huge amounts of material between the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aqaba in 6-12 hours.
More and more Muslims are warning against Jewish plots to take over and destroy the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, claiming that plans for the Third Temple by various religious groups are being studied by the Israeli government. One said despairingly that "it could be argued that the city of Jerusalem is already Jewish."
UPDATE: Another Helles family member died from his wounds from Hamas' attack two weeks ago. The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 149.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
Jordanian contacts with Hamas continue during the marriage of Khaled Meshaal's son in Damascus.Islamic Jihad released photos of their use of the "calm".
Egypt found another cache of ammunition and explosives in the Sinai to be smuggled into Gaza.
Egypt denied reports that Israel is opening up the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
bbc
The Israeli actor playing Saddam Hussein in a new television series once narrowly escaped a missile fired by the late dictator's army.Reuters of course doesn't expand on this last point. From Variety last year:But for Igal Naor, taking the lead role in "House of Saddam", the BBC/HBO dramatisation of Saddam's 24-year rule airing in Britain from Wednesday, it was not about revenge.
Instead, the 50-year-old from near Tel Aviv believes his experience of the conflicts and complexities of the Middle East, and his childhood effectively raised as an Arab in Israel after his family left Baghdad, gave him the edge over other actors.
"In the street everyone spoke Iraqi. It was a 'little Baghdad' around Tel Aviv," he said of the neighbourhood where he grew up that was dominated by Iraqi Jews who left Baghdad after Israel's founding 60 years ago.
"I could understand much better than, say, a British actor or an American actor about what this man is and the environment he was living in," Naor told Reuters by telephone.
"This is my area, the Middle East, Iraq. I can understand things like the special need for honour, pride. I live in an environment of war and blood."
He recalled how a missile fired by Iraq at Israel in 1991, during the first Gulf War triggered by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, landed close by.
"As an Israeli, he was an enemy," Naor explained. "In 1991 a missile he sent to Tel Aviv fell 50 metres from my house with one tonne of explosives. Luckily nothing happened to us."
Nevertheless, he added: "I didn't love him or hate him."
Naor, who has appeared in Hollywood movies "Munich" and "Rendition", rejected the idea that casting an Israeli as Saddam should be seen as controversial.
"We are actors, we are artists. Why should we be Israelis, Lebanese or Egyptian?"
Although he encountered no negative feedback at home, there was a backlash against him, and more particularly his co-star Amr Waked, in Waked's native Egypt, he added.
Egypt's Actors Union, which opposes normalization of ties with Israel, is furious and says Waked now faces being banned from ever filming in Egypt again.Notice how bold Waked is in the face of criticism: first he says he didn't know, then he says the film is critical of the US and finally he falls back on not wanting to breach his contract."The position of the union is clear in its rejection of normalization and requires that members abide by this position," declared Ashraf Zaki, chairman of the union.
"He will be facing an investigation as soon as he returns," Zaki added. Waked is in Tunisia for the shooting of the drama, "Between Two Rivers," which is backed by the British Broadcasting Corporation and HBO.
The actor has defended his position, telling Egyptian papers he did not know an Israeli was involved. Furthermore, he told the Egyptian Mail, the film is pro-Arab and criticizes US foreign policy.
He has made it clear he has no intention of leaving the series, in which he plays Hussein Kamel, Saddam's son-in-law who fled from Iraq to Jordan but eventually returned and was executed.
Were he to quit now, the actor said, he would be in breach of his contract.
Outside of that, he fully supports the Egyptian actors' boycott of Israel.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
self-death
That doesn't stop Palestinian Arab columnists from blaming - all together now - The Jooooos!
Hamas held a series of raids today against Fatah, and also shot and seriously injured Fatah Sheikh Imad Khalil with nine bullets to the pelvis.
Hamas claims to have confiscated a large number of Fatah explosives and weapons, and they also raided some Fatah charities as well as the official Fatah WAFA news agency.
Meanwhile, an unknown group claimed responsibility for the Friday morning Internet cafe bombing that accidentally killed the bomber himself, saying that they were trying to rid Gaza of vice and adultery.
UPDATE: Looks like Fatah is retaliating - by arresting pro-Hamas journalists in the West Bank.
Also, Hamas had arrested a journalist for a German news agency, Sawwah Abu Seif. Funny how that has not stirred up a big stink.
A man died from wounds in a clan clash a few days ago.
Hamas continues to arrest every suspected Fatah person they can find, now going after student committees in Al Azhar University.
Hamas is also fighting the Army of Islam, and there have been at least 6 injuries on both sides in clashes.
A Hamas newspaper is claiming that Egypt arrested three Gazans trying to infiltrate - who admitted that they were from Fatah and admitted involvement in Friday's bombing. No confirmation from anyone else yet.
The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now 123.






