United Press on the Palestinian Arab refugee problem, 1948

I have written previously about the origins of the Palestinian Arab refugee problem, talking specifically about the Arabs of Haifa and the Mufti's interest in creating and perpetuating the problem. I started tackling the Palestine Post sources on the birth of the Palestinian Arab refugee problem of 1948. It is actually a huge amount of research, but I found today an interesting article that was published in the Palestine Post but was written for United Press (now UPI).

The author's thesis is that Israel was using the Arab refugees as a bargaining chip in getting Jews out of Arab countries. Of course, this never happened, so the author's analysis is wrong, but the facts that he mentions surrounding the Arab refugees seem to be on target.


United Press' Robert Miller says explicitly that the Jews bent over backwards to stop the Arabs from fleeing ("the greatest concessions were made to the Arabs if they would remain in Jewish territory...The Arabs refused to listen.")

And then, he says that Israel started encouraging the Arabs to flee (he got the reasons wrong, as mentioned above.) But what is the worst that the Jews did?

"They pointed out that the Arabs were welcome to remain, but that the Jews couldn't furnish food. The Jews offered to provide trucks to take the Arabs to the front lines."
Here is the Israeli crime, as of August 1948: telling Arabs that if they wanted to leave, they would help them.

The article does not spell out why the Arabs left, whether it was out of fear or because they were encouraged to, but it does say explicitly that Jews did not force Arabs out of their homes. Not that this never happened - in the course of a war bad things happen and things are always a lot more muddled while they are happening. But so far I have found no contemporaneous evidence of it, although there were plenty of accusations to that effect by the Arab leaders at the time as they tried to demonize the Jews while they grappled with the undeniably huge refugee problem that was dropped on the doorsteps of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.

Interestingly, Saudi Arabia refused to accept any Arab refugees, claiming that they had no money for them, but offered to pay for fighting Jews:

See also Palestinian Media Watch where real Palestinian Arabs admit what happened in 1948.

Ask Sheikha!

One of the funniest sections of Aljazeerah.com is where readers write hilarious rants about Israel or America to Sheikha and Dr. Kareem, and Sheikha agrees wholeheartedly.

If you are looking for a laugh, here are some of the recent headlines (almost all end with exclamation points). They encourage responses, too...

	Zionists own Western Media!
	The Israeli constitution is based on Immoral and impractical concept!
	If the U.S. “democracy” is so great; then why are thousands dying to stop it from spreading in Iraq?!
	Non-proliferation must be universal!
	Why was Olmert in the U.S.?
	The Da Vinci Code must be pulled out from all cinemas!
	If we believed that the new government is a credible one, then we must believe all Bush’s lies about justifying the war!
	A Third Intifada?
	Watch out! You’re being spied on!
	What is it that the Ummah of Islam really needs?
	Since when has Mr. Bush become a prosecutor, judge and a witness at the same time?!
	The U.S. chose to side with the Israelis, the stronger party, instead of saving the victims!
	Do Muslim women practice their rights fully?
	America is resorting to tactics used by its 19th Century gangs!
	The Muslims’ pioneering innovations touched every dimension of Western life!

Palestinian Arab capitalism

How mature people handle stock losses:

At approximately 01:00 on Friday, 26 May 2006, unknown gunmen fired shots at the Palestinian Stock Exchange located in the Qasr Hotel building, in the Rafedia Quarter of western Nablus. The attack caused material damage to the exchange. Sources from the stock exchange indicated that the attack was motivated by losses incurred by some individuals, due to the decline in stocks of some companies.

I'm sure that Palestinian Arab stocks skyrocketed right after the gunfire.

Sounds like they're ready for statehood! After all - they deserve it!

BBC lauds Hamas humanitarian work

The BBC has an amazing article online now about the release of a British Hamas supporter.

Israel has ordered a British aid worker to leave the country, accusing him of backing a militant group.

Ayaz Ali, 36, originally from Bradford, had been held in a top security Israeli prison for three weeks without charge.

Mr Ali, who worked in Gaza for Islamic Relief, was freed on Monday and given seven days to leave Israel.

Israel had accused Mr Ali of helping groups linked to Hamas. Islamic Relief, which is Birmingham-based, said his release was a relief to aid workers.

Hamas, which is the ruling Palestinian party, runs an extensive network of social services including kindergartens and clinics.

• 'Great relief'

But it is considered by the Israeli government to be a terrorist organisation.

Islamic Relief's president Dr Hany El Banna OBE said: "I am glad that this whole situation has come to an end.

"It is a great relief to Ayaz's family, humanitarian workers all over the world and Islamic Relief.

"We are grateful to all those individuals, international NGOs and the UK government who helped secure Ayaz's release."

So the BBC, clearly sympathetic to Mr. Ayaz, highlights Hamas' "social services" and "kindergartens and clinics"; starts a new section of the story, and then mentions as an afterthought that Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization.

They give specifics on Hamas' social work, but any specific examples of terror are left unwritten - in fact, the implication is that only Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization, while the rest of the enlightened world knows that Hamas is a humanitarian network of charities and hospitals.

The BBC also fails to mention that Islamic Relief has been accused of terror ties itself. Russia accused it of supporting Chechnyan terror groups; they seem to have accepted money from Al-Qaeda front groups, and their "orphans" are often the children of terrorists, allowing Islamic Relief to reward terror.

In other words, any facts or background information that may indicate that Ayaz is in fact a terror supporter are completely ignored, and anything that makes him look like an innocent aid worker and victim of unwarranted Israeli aggression is highlighted.

Hat tip to Judeopundit

Advice for NATFHE

The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education in Britain voted to urge their members to boycott all Israeli academic researchers and institutions, unless they publicly disavow supporting Israel's policies.

It's OK by me if the state of British academic research is so strong that they can afford to ignore all research coming out of Israel. But I think if they really care about the Palestinian Arabs, they should make the boycott much broader.

For example, using Intel Pentium 4 and Centrino/Pentium M chips in their computers should be strictly forbidden. THey were designed in Israel, and many of the Israeli researchers came from academic backgrounds.

Similarly, Windows XP was mostly designed in Israel, so they should really boycott that entire OS.

But such sacrifices should be a small price to pay for their principles. Boycotting Israel, and not, say, Iran, shows that these academics have strong principles indeed. So as they throw their cell phones using Motorola technology developed in Israel into the Thames, I will cheer them on.

Until that happens, one must assume that they are hypocritical anti-semites.

AP vs. Reuters photographers

Something interesting happened in the world of wire services yesterday.

Palestinian Arab terrorists planned to shoot their daily rocket barrage into Israeli villages, but the IDF was waiting for them. Between the gun battle and the helicopter missile, four of the bad guys ended up dead, rather than the kindergarteners they were aiming at.

AP was at the scene shortly after the terrorists got their just reward. The AP photographer shot a series of pictures showing the dead subhumans right next to their rocket launchers:

A Palestinian militant lies dead next to a homemade rocket prepared to be fired into Israel after he was killed by Israeli army gunfire in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday May 30, 2006. An Israel Air Force helicopter fired also a missile after the gunfight. At least three militants were killed and four other people were injured during the two attacks, Palestinian security and hospital officials said. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Reuters, alas, missed the opportunity to take similar photos. (A charitable explanation.)

But apprently to make up for missing the story, Reuters rushed to the hospitals in Gaza to show - what else - grieving relatives:

A Palestinian woman cries in a hospital in north Gaza Strip May 30, 2006. An Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile during a gun battle between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday night, killing three and causing several casualties, local witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

No mention of Kassam rockets at all! Only the poor, mourning Arabs, who died in a gunbattle with the cold, unfeeling IDF.

Considering Reuters' stated editorial policy...

Reuters news operations are based on the company's Trust Principles which stipulate that the integrity, independence and freedom from bias of Reuters must be upheld at all times.

Which wire service showed more integrity in covering this story?

UPDATE: BackSpin looks at this from a completely different angle. Also, see AbbaGav's take on the AP picture.

Just in case you thought NGOs were unbiased...

Three-day conference of European NGOs calls for a total boycott of Israel

GENEVA, May 29 (KUNA) -- The European Coordination Committee of Associations for Palestine, called for a boycott of Israel including sanctions and halting of investments. At the end of a 3-day conference Sunday the ECCAP applauded the mobilization of public opinion aimed at convincing governments and the International Community to exert its pressure on Israel to abide with its international obligations, as an occupying power, in conformity with international law.

Fund terrorists and boycott Jews. What a great bunch of people for governments to send their money to!

May 29, 1939: Palestine at the World's Fair

In May, 1939, Britain issued the infamous White Paper which overturned previous British policies of partitioning Palestine into two separate Jewish and Arab states. The White Paper itself is a remarkable read, as it shows the mindset of capitulating to Arab terror clearly, as well as the implicit idea that since Jews don't make as much trouble as Arabs, it is better to capitulate to Arab demands at the expense of Jewish lives.

The White Paper limited Jewish immigration for the entirely absurd reason that Palestine could not possibly economically support so many people without impacting the existing population - even as it admits that the Jews that immigrated so far has had no problems integrating and growing the economy. It is a wonder that the population of the area is increased many times over since then and yet somehow Israel hs a better economy than its more-roomy neighbors. Imagine that.

The White Paper also infamously capitulated to the Arab demands that Arab land sales to Jews be limited, in an amazing bit of enshrined political bigotry.

Unsurprisingly, the White Paper does not address the huge amount of illegal Arab immigration into the country. Only Jews are deemed a threat to the area.

In reality, of course, the reason is more clearly indicated here:

The lamentable disturbances of the past three years are only the latest and most sustained manifestation of this intense Arab apprehension [...] it cannot be denied that fear of indefinite Jewish immigration is widespread amongst the Arab population and that this fear has made possible disturbances which have given a serious setback to economic progress, depleted the Palestine exchequer, rendered life and property insecure, and produced a bitterness between the Arab and Jewish populations which is deplorable between citizens of the same country. If in these circumstances immigration is continued up to the economic absorptive capacity of the country, regardless of all other considerations, a fatal enmity between the two peoples will be perpetuated, and the situation in Palestine may become a permanent source of friction amongst all peoples in the Near and Middle East.

In other words, Arabs riot and murder and rampage when Jews move in, so if we have a choice of saving millions of Jews from certain death in Europe or upsetting Arabs who are quick to riot, it is much better to let the Jews die. Jews don't make as much trouble.

The fact that Palestine's economy was almost entirely the result of Jewish immigration is ignored. Economic reasons are the fig leaf of British fears of Arab terror, and Arabs then as now used terror to manipulate Western fears and policies, something I recently called the diplomacy of fear.

Against this backdrop. the World's Fair opened up in New York. The official British government of Palestine had no interest in exhibiting there, so the Jews of Palestine created their own exhibit. It is instructive to read Chaim Weizman's radio speech to the attendees, as it lays out the Jewish reaction to the bigoted and ultimately genocide-friendly White Paper. He makes the points that while the White Paper is immoral, it will not stop the ultimate rebirth of a Jewish state, that it was Jewish sweat that built Palestine up from an ignored slum to a major player in the Middle East.

Notice also Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Herzog's address, which was written before the White Paper, emphasizing how the Jewish return to Palestine has ecomonically benefited their Arab neighbors. Rather than talking about displacement and colonization, as is commonly charged nowadays, the Jewish leadership of Palestine always and consistently spoke of a win-win situation where Arabs and Jews both prosper.

The Arab leaders always pretended that Palestine was a zero-sum game, and the British White Paper codified that thinking. The Jews and the facts bore out a completely opposite conclusion - Palestine could and did turn into an economic powerhouse, benefiting hundreds of thousands of ordinary Arabs who moved in to take advantage of the Jewish-built economy.

Then, as now, outsiders pretend that they know the best solution to the Jewish "problem", and they come up with sometimes well-meaning plans to solve this problem. And then, as now, if their ideas end up accidentally resulting in the mass murder of Jews, they can say "oops - but we meant well."

Ahmadinejad's DNA, redux

I noticed today that Hyscience has linked to my scholarly debate of whether Ahmadinejad is a chimp or an ape.

On a related thread at Israellycool, someone named Woland pointed out this great picture that sheds light on the topic:

A proud member of the International Zionist Web

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the "international Zionist web" was trying to keep him from visiting Germany for the World Cup soccer match.

Well, this is flattering. Considering that ZOG and the Worldwide Zionist Conspiracy and the dreaded Israel Lobby get all the good press, my own Web division of the Elders has been keeping low-key.

But now that Ahmadenijaddio has blown the lid on the IZW, I have to 'fess up. I'm one of the founders of the IZW, and I even designed the logo with super-secret ancient Hebrew writing:

Now that we are "outed" you will be seeing a lot more from us, as we continue in our never-ending plan to ensnare evil goyim in our web.

If you want to join the IZW, just place the logo from my sidebar on your blog and link to this posting, and I will add you to the Conspiracy!

Haveil Havalim #71 - and the hits just keep on coming

WestBankMama at WestBankBlog hosts this week's Haveil Havalim #71, listing notable posts from the J-Blogosphere.

As usual, I dislike self-nominating, so I am honored that two of my posts are listed: Old Jerusalem and the post about the Americans killed by the terrorist Israel arrested last week (also linked by BackSpin.)

And of course it includes many good articles that I didn't notice the first time around, so check it out!

Lebanese-Americans publicly support Hezbollah

The Arab American News, a newspaper in Dearborn, Michigan, covered a "Liberation Day" rally that Detroit suburb last Thursday night, celebrating Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon (they call it a military defeat.) The rally organizers stressed that they are loyal Americans - and that they support Hezbollah against Israel:

The speakers stressed the importance of remembering the community’s victories, and the need to stay brave in the face of intimidation against expressing support for movements of justice and liberation. Osama Siblani, AAPAC president and publisher of The Arab American News; Abed Hammoud, President of CAAO; and Consul General of Lebanon, Dr. Ali Ajami, were adamant about the need to make it clear to American policy makers that the Lebanese are very loyal to America and its people despite having strong objections to the hypocrisy in the U.S.’ policy towards Lebanon and its one-sided support for Israel.

The speakers insisted that the Lebanese American community’s support for the resistance in Southern Lebanon and their opposition to the crimes of the state of Israel do not, in any way, detract from their loyalty to America.

Osama Siblani said “I have never been to the South of Lebanon until my recent trip earlier this month. I went from Beirut all the way to the border in the South. I want all of the American officials to know that I did not see a single person with a firearm from Beirut all the way to the border, except at one Lebanese Army checkpoint. What I have seen calls for us to be proud: people living their lives, smoking the water pipe, playing cards, watching their kids play on both sides of the border without threat! So why are you calling Hizbullah a terrorist organization, and why do you want to take their arms? I didn’t see any arms.”

The Lebanese Consul General in Detroit, Dr. Ali Ajami, gave brief remarks in English and Arabic. Responding to the Lebanese government’s deletion of Liberation Day as a national holiday he said “If they don’t want to celebrate liberation there, I will celebrate it here!” He also said that the resistance in Lebanon was to be celebrated and that it was a natural reaction of any people to occupation, threat and aggression. Ajami said “We did what any simple man would do. If your house is invaded you have to know what should be done, drive them out of your house. We are no terrorists, we are simple people trying to live in peace … yes I would agree both of us, Lebanese and Israelis, want peace, we want peace, p-e-a-c-e, and they want piece, p-i-e-c-e, a piece of our land!”

They glossed over the fact that their heroes killed 241 American servicemen in October 1983 and 17 in April, 1983. In fact:

Using names like the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Revolutionary Justice Organization, Hezbollah is also believed by the United States to have kidnapped and tortured to death[11] U.S. Marine Colonel William R. Higgins and the CIA Station Chief in Beirut, William Buckley, and to have kidnapped around 30 other Westerners between 1982 and 1992, including the American journalist Terry Anderson, British journalist John McCarthy, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy Terry Waite and Irish citizen Brian Keenan. Hezbollah was accused by the US government of being responsible for the April 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63; of being behind the suicide truck bombings that killed 241 U.S. Marines in their barracks in Beirut in October 1983; of bombing the replacement U.S. Embassy in East Beirut on September 20, 1984, killing 20 Lebanese and two American soldiers; and of carrying out the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome. Hezbollah denies involvement in these attacks and no evidence has come forth since.

No dual-loyalty there....just "loyal" Americans who support terrorists and would-be genocidal murderers who scream "Death to America!" at every opportunity.

News roundup

For some reason, today's Daily Alert is filled with a huge number of links to great stories, and I don't have enough time to dedicate separate posts to each like I would like to. Here are some highlights:

A preview of how Hamastan would be:

Zarqawi Backers Lay Down Sharia Rules - Sharon Behn (Washington Times)
Imams loyal to terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi have issued threats in mosques in a western Baghdad neighborhood against anyone who does not follow Islamic law, terrified residents are saying.
Zarqawi supporters reportedly killed six men for wearing knee-length shorts in another Baghdad neighborhood on Tuesday, despite the 106-degree weather.
Other rules laid down by the Zarqawi supporters forbid men from wearing orange or red clothes or using gel in their hair. Women no longer are allowed to work, and girls cannot study.

This sounds like some "peace activists" are trying to provoke Israel into killing some of the people they pretend to defend, in order to get some good video:

Palestinians Testing Gaza Fence Security - Hanan Greenberg (Ynet News)
Around 20 Palestinian arrived at the Gaza border fence on Sunday near Kibbutz Nir Am. They crossed one fence and approached the electronic sensor fence.
Despite requests by soldiers, the Palestinians refused to leave the area and began rioting. In an attempt to disperse the rioters, IDF soldiers fired in the air, but the Palestinians did not disperse.
One of the Palestinians approached the fence, and in response soldiers fired at his legs.
Last Wednesday, a few dozen Palestinians arrived at the border in northern Gaza, burned tires, threw rocks, and even climbed the electronic fence.
Attempts by the IDF to disperse the rioters by firing in the air failed, and eventually the soldiers fired at their legs.

Just like "peace activists", NGOs need to be monitored:

European NGOs Against Israel - Interview with Gerald Steinberg (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Many in European politics, academia, the media, and the NGOs use almost identical semantics. These four elements of society parallel each other, and work together as well, reinforcing each other in the overall attack on Israel.
The key anti-Israeli policies are emphasized by powerful European NGOs.

Another small victory in the battle against dependence on Arab oil:

Trash Treatment Plant Makes Clean Energy - Leah Krauss (UPI)
ArrowBio Waste Management Technologies' on-site generator just outside Tel Aviv is powered by biogas, the rich methane gas mixture released when organic trash decomposes.
About 25% of this energy goes to power the machinery at the site. The other 75% of the non-polluting power goes back onto the national grid, and the Israel Electric Corp. credits the company for it.
With rising oil prices and a growing concern for the environment, Israel, like other countries all over the world, is making a push to rely on more sources of alternative energy.

An American Righteous Gentile from WWII:

New Stamp To Honor U.S. Envoy in WWII Who Helped Jews Escape - Christopher Lee
66 years ago, Hiram Bingham IV, a blue-blood American diplomat in France, defied U.S. policy by helping Jews escape the Nazis in the early years of World War II. Bingham's actions cost him his Foreign Service career but won him the undying gratitude of the more than 2,000 refugees he helped save by issuing them travel visas and false passports, and even at times sheltering them in his home. The Yale-educated son of a former U.S. senator, Bingham died in 1988 at age 84. His own children did not learn the extent of his wartime deeds until 1996, when a son found a cache of old journals and correspondence stashed in a hidden closet in the family's Connecticut home. The U.S. Postal Service issues a stamp next Wednesday in his honor. (Washington Post)

A very long and incredible article about a woman who fights terror on the Internet:

Private Jihad - Benjamin Wallace-Wells
Rita Katz, who was born in Iraq and speaks fluent Arabic, spends hours each day monitoring the password-protected online chat rooms in which Islamic terrorists discuss politics and trade tips: how to disperse botulinum toxin or transfer funds, which suicide vests work best. Katz, who is the head of the Search for International Terrorist Entities, or SITE Institute, and her researchers mine online sources for intelligence. She has worked with prosecutors on more than a dozen terrorism investigations, and many American officers in Iraq rely on Katz's e-mails to brief their troops on the designs for explosives that are passed around terrorist websites. (New Yorker)

Despite everything, Israel's economy is booming:

Israel's Economy Leaving Palestinians Far Behind - Joshua Mitnick
At a time when the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza are teetering on the brink of a collapse, Israeli growth - with a 6.6% GDP rise in the first quarter of 2006 - has returned to the torrid pace set before the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising. It's also a recognition of a growing separation between the Israeli and Palestinian economies. Per-capita income - a measure of the standard of living - is 17 times higher in Israel than among its neighbors from the West Bank and Gaza. Now the possibility of full economic disengagement looms. (Christian Science Monitor)
See also Israeli Business Sector Shines Despite Dangers - Abraham Rabinovich
Sever Plotzker, economics editor of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, noted that Israel's business-sector GDP growth rate of 10.6% outpaced even China's, as did the industrial sector's 27% annualized growth. (Washington Times)

And more:

Syrian Subversion by Proxy - Editorial
Syria continues to occupy the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. Lebanese who visited the Bekaa several weeks ago said they saw Syrian military forces on Lebanese territory. Last week, the Lebanese Army clashed with members of Fatah Uprising, a Palestinian rejectionist group based in Damascus. After the fighting began, Palestinians based in Syria sent 50 fighters, as well as trucks, jeeps, and an anti-aircraft gun, across the border to aid the Fatah group in combating the Lebanese Army. Syria, in short, is subverting Lebanon by proxy. (Washington Times)

The Protocols, 21st Century-Style - Benjamin Neuberger
Another academic boycott of Israel is being organized in Britain. The organizers are not a majority but clearly rather a small minority. However, there are no initiatives for boycotts against other countries: not against Iran, which is denying the Holocaust and threatening to destroy Israel; not against Sudan, which is committing genocide in Darfur; not against Saudi Arabia, where people are executed for religious infractions; and not against China, which is carrying out oppression in Tibet and Shenzhen. Nor is the hated United States being boycotted.
When I was on sabbatical at Oxford University in 2003-2005, I was astonished to see how many professors and students identified Zionism with racism, imperialism, and colonialism. In these circles there is no understanding at all of the Jewish history of pogroms, persecution, and deportations, or of the meaning of the Holocaust. They do not know, and they do not want to know, that we have historical roots in this country, that our language is non-European, that half of the Jews in Israel did not come from Europe, that those who did come from Europe were considered alien and shunned "Semites" there, and that the Zionists had no colonialist mother country. The writer is a professor of political science at the Open University. (Ha'aretz)
See also Stop the British Academic Boycott of Israel - Colin Shindler
The writer lectures in Israeli Studies at the University of London. (Jerusalem Post)

Egyptian-Italian Journalist: Hamas Terror Is Not a Reaction to Occupation - Assaf Uni
"Israel's right to exist is today the international criterion for distinguishing between the terrorist camp and the camp of life," says Magdi Allam, the Egyptian-Italian journalist and writer who is now visiting Israel. "On one side, there is the Hamas government, Iran, fundamentalist Islam and even parts of the extreme left and right in Europe." On the other side, he says, are Western countries and "supporters of the right to live." The West, he believes, does not understand that it is under attack, and is trying to conduct a dialogue with the Muslims attacking it. Allam, 54, immigrated to Italy some 30 years ago and is today the deputy editor of Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest newspaper. (Ha'aretz)

California upholds Islamic indoctriniation in public schools

Unbelievable.

In our brave new schools, Johnny can't say the pledge, but he can recite the Quran. Yup, the same court that found the phrase "under God" unconstitutional now endorses Islamic catechism in public school.

In a recent federal decision that got surprisingly little press, even from conservative talk radio, California's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled it's OK to put public-school kids through Muslim role-playing exercises, including:

• Reciting aloud Muslim prayers that begin with "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful . . . ."

• Memorizing the Muslim profession of faith: "Allah is the only true God and Muhammad is his messenger."
• Chanting "Praise be to Allah" in response to teacher prompts.
• Professing as "true" the Muslim belief that "The Holy Quran is God's word."
• Giving up candy and TV to demonstrate Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
• Designing prayer rugs, taking an Arabic name and essentially "becoming a Muslim" for two full weeks.

Parents of seventh-graders, who after 9-11 were taught the pro-Islamic lessons as part of California's world history curriculum, sued under the First Amendment ban on religious establishment. They argued, reasonably, that the government was promoting Islam.

But a federal judge appointed by President Clinton told them in so many words to get over it, that the state was merely teaching kids about another "culture."

So the parents appealed. Unfortunately, the most left-wing court in the land got their case. The 9th Circuit, which previously ruled in favor of an atheist who filed suit against the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, upheld the lower court ruling.

The decision is a major victory for the multiculturalists and Islamic apologists in California and across the country who've never met a culture or religion they didn't like — with the exception of Western civilization and Christianity. They are legally in the clear to indoctrinate kids into the "peaceful" and "tolerant" religion of Islam, while continuing to denigrate Judeo-Christian values.

In the California course on world religions, Christianity is not presented equally. It's covered in just two days and doesn't involve kids in any role-playing activities. But kids do get a good dose of skepticism about the Christian faith, including a biting history of its persecution of other peoples. In contrast, Islam gets a pass from critical review. Even jihad is presented as an "internal personal struggle to do one's best to resist temptation," and not holy war.

The ed consultant's name is Susan L. Douglass. No, she's not a Christian scholar. She's a devout Muslim activist on the Saudi government payroll, according to an investigation by Paul Sperry, author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington." He found that for years Douglass taught social studies at the Islamic Saudi Academy just outside Washington, D.C. Her husband still teaches there.

So what? By infiltrating our public school system, the Saudis hope to make Islam more widely accepted while converting impressionable American youth to their radical cause. Recall that John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban," was a product of the California school system. What's next, field trips to Mecca?

This case is critical not just to our culture but our national security. It should be brought before the Supreme Court, which has outlawed prayer in school. Let's see what it says about practicing Islam in class. It will be a good test for the bench's two new conservative justices.

Keep in mind that, according to Islam, simply saying the words "There is no God except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." is enough to make you a Muslim. So California has just allowed more than just teaching about Islam - it has sanctioned the mass conversion of public school children to a different religion.

Blowing up children, if necessary

The AP has an interesting description of the Iranian suicide bomb celebration yesterday:

TEHRAN, Iran -- Under a banner showing coffins draped with American, British and Israeli flags, more than 100 Iranian men and women pledged Thursday to become suicide bombers - if necessary - to defend their country and Islam.

Has there ever been a sentence that needed scare quotes more than this one?

Yet AP plays it straight. It is almost as if they believe that blowing up women and children, on purpose, thousands of miles away from your country, is sometimes a necessary part of defending your land or your religion.

Hamas ends up with smuggled money anyway

Remember last week when Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was caught trying to smuggle over $800,000 into Gaza?

Well, the European monitors confiscated the money. Abbas demanded the money so he could launch a full investigation. And now...Hamas is using it to buy weapons for its terror gangs.

The EU is strangely silent about their complicity in this crime. Perhaps their job at the border crossing is to ensure that RPGs and Katyushas have been built by companies that adhere to the Zionist boycott.

Some 640,000 Euros confiscated from a Hamas smuggler at Rafiach crossing last week have been given to the Hamas Authority. Some of it will pay for a militia manned by Izaddin Al-Kassam terrorists.

The cash, the equivalent of some $820,000, was discovered in the baggage of the Hamas spokesman as he made his way into Gaza from Egypt. European Union inspectors confiscated the money, which was over 400 times more than the amount permitted without declaration. A band of Hamas gunmen arrived on the scene demanding the return of the money, but they were soon dispersed.

PA Chairman Abu Mazen ordered the money transferred to the prosecution offices of the PA, and demanded an investigation into the Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhari, and his activities.

However, Abu Zuhari said this week that the money had in fact been officially given to the PA's interior minister on May 22. Speaking with the official Hamas publication, Abu Zuhari promised that the donations would reach their "correct destinations."

Earlier this week, PA affairs correspondent Dalit HaLevy reports, Hamas Authority officials said that economic aid would be partially used to pay for the interior ministry's special security force. Members of the force were recruited from the Popular Resistance Committees and Izaddin Al-Kassam terrorist groups.

The utter idiocy of the NYT and MSM

Others have trashed (or are planning to trash) this nonsensical editorial in today's NYT, and frankly Israel Matzav did a brilliant job. I am just wondering what planet the editorialists are from:

Mr. Olmert wants to go ahead with Ariel Sharon's misbegotten plan to unilaterally redraw the borders of what could eventually be Palestine. The key word here is unilaterally, because the Israelis are prepared to do this without any input from the Palestinians. They would be left to try to cobble together a country out of whatever remained behind.

The New York Times, along with the rest of the MSM, just cannot even conceive that their basic assumptions are wrong.

The pre-conceived notion that has attained Biblical status among the left is that Palestinian Arabs somehow "deserve" a state.

I am not quite sure what criteria are used to make this assumption. Why, for example, do the Kurds not "deserve" a state but Palestinian Arabs do? Exactly how does a people attain the status of "deserving" a state?

If Gaza has taught us anything, it is that Palestinian Arabs cannot responsibly govern themselves. I cannot say for how many generations they will continue acting like infants with grenades, but it is manifestly clear that today's Palestinian Arabs do not have the capability to act responsibly even regarding their own people, let alone other nations.

The question is not "how to make a viable state out of the West Bank and Gaza." The question is, why on earth is this desirable? Why is the world throwing hundreds millions of dollars to a group of people who have shown no ability to govern, no ability to act maturely, no ability to build, no ability to even distinguish between right and wrong?

Is it because the UN decided that there should be a Palestinian Arab state in 1947? Of course not - the Arabs themselves didn't want it.

Is it because the West Bank and Gaza are/were "occupied"? Of course not - hardly anyone cared when Jordan and Egypt occupied the same areas.

Is it because the Palestinian Arabs finally recognized Israel at Oslo? Of course not - because they have withdrawn that recognition and no one even blinks. A state is still assumed to be the Solution.

The only real reason why the world says that Palestinian Arabs deserve a state of their own is because the Arabs have scared the world into thinking that if Israel would just give them what they want, we won't have any more terror attacks. In other words, it is a reward for the airline hijackings of the '70s and the Al Qaeda pronouncements of the 2000's. It is a Mafia protection racket on a scale that has never been imagined.

It is easy for the world to offer Israel as a human sacrifice to appease the Arab gods - because the world doesn't much like Israel anyway. So everyone from Osama bin Laden to the New York Times blames Israel for a problem that is being framed as Israel's fault rather than as a logical continuance of Arab and Islamic terror towards the West. The Palestinian Arabs have no responsibility according to the morally retarded "elite":

To a significant degree, the Palestinians put themselves in this spot by electing Hamas to run their government, and the Bush administration is right to refuse to legitimize a government dedicated to the destruction of Israel. But Mr. Bush should not punish the Palestinian people by endorsing any unilateral proposal — doing that would punish them for exercising their democratic right to vote.

In other words, we can scold Palestinians for choosing a terror group to lead them, but to actually hold them responsible for it is just way too mean. No - it is Israel that needs to do everything the Palestinian Arabs demand, because, after all, it is somehow Israel's fault that they freely elected Hamas.

We have seen the Palestinian Arabs, over and over again, being handed an independent state on a platter. We have seen them, again and again, reject that state, always for absurd reasons that blame Israel. And we have seen, again and again, the New York Times swallow the Palestinian Arab narrative whole, so much so that their editors can no longer even notice the utter incompatibility of how Palestinian Arabs are acting today with statehood. Gaza is a brilliant lesson in how an ultimate Palestinian Arab state would look - but one cannot expect the New York Times to notice anything that obvious.

That would mean they'd have to admit they were wrong, and it is much easier to support another terror state than to admit that you are wrong when you are the Newspaper of Record.

UPDATE: See also AbbaGav's comments.

Earliest pictures of Jerusalem

For Yom Yerushalayim I wanted to find the earliest pictures of Jerusalem on the Internet from Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources. I didn't do an exhaustive search so if anyone can send me a link to earlier pictures I'll add modifications.

The earliest Christian picture is almost certainly the mosaic on the floor of a church in Madaba, Jordan from the 6th century CE(predating Islam altogether!) The map is of most Biblical places and the Jerusalem part is fascinating:


Many other ancient maps of Jerusalem, from the 12th through 19th centuries CE, can be found here.

Perhaps pre-dating this one is a map known as the Peutinger Map, drawn in the 12th or 13th century CE that was apparently an exact copy of a 4th century Roman road map that included Jerusalem. This is far more a map than a picture, though:


An Islamic map of the area from the 10th century is fascinating for how it represents Jerusalem (one of the upper circles):

The Arabs never regarded the Land of Israel, which they called Falastin, as a distinct geographical or political unit, and mapped it as an integral part of ash-Sham, Syria, as in the example shown here. Jerusalem is represented by one of the circles in the upper part of the map (which is directed towards the south-west and is named Bayt al-Maqdas (Hebrew: Bet haMiqdash, the Temple).

I imagine the earliest picture of Jerusalem in Jewish art would probably be in one of the famous illuminated Haggadahs from the 15th century CE on the page where it says "Next Year in Jerusalem," but the earliest I could find was this one from a this early printed Amsterdam Haggadah (1695):


One of the first photographs of Jerusalem was taken in 1844 by Jiro De Franje:


This picture is a mirror image of the way Jerusalem looks.

I cannot find any Muslim artwork of Jerusalem specifically before the 20th century. Again, if someone can point me to an earlier picture I will post it.

Hamas wants to fly planes into buildings

Hamas is seeking the ability to attack Israel using small airplanes laden with explosives to be flown September 11-style into important targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers, a leader of Hamas's so-called military wing, Abu Abdullah, told World Net Daily yesterday.

Palestinian security officials said they believe Hamas recently smuggled into Gaza three small airplanes that can carry explosives and be used to attack Israel.
They said the aircraft were purchased from Eastern European dealers and that Hamas members received flight training in Sudan, Iran, and Syria.

Sometimes it seems like a contest among terror groups as to who can be the most depraved.

UPDATE: Full story is here.

YNet scared of Hareidim in Jerusalem

An interesting article in YNet:

Most Israeli citizens are well-aware of the division between east and West Jerusalem, but there exists another border in the capital, that which runs from north to south and separates the secular part of the city (south) and the ultra-Orthodox.

Even some northern neighborhoods previously considered to be secular enclaves are becoming more and more religious.

“On Mishmar Hagvul Street, near the religious Sanhedria neighborhood, you won’t see any TV antennas on the rooftops,” ultra-Orthodox reporter Yisrael Gliss says.

The situation in neighborhoods such as Ramot Eshkol or Maalot Dafna is most indicative of the fact that north Jerusalem is becoming more and more ultra-Orthodox, so much so that the northern part of the city is attracting many religious couples, most of whom are Anglo-Saxon.

Architect David Kroyanker says “the ultra-Orthodox are settling predominantly in the north, but the problem is that the border continues to move south. At first traditional religious people arrive, then come the more modern ultra-Orthodox, but it is not long before the neighborhoods become completely ultra-Orthodox.”

Former Mayor Teddy Kollek, who understood in the early 1980s that something has to be done, initiated the construction of a sports complex in north Jerusalem to attract the secular population. The ultra-Orthodox protested against the plan, saying the cars traveling in the area would disrupt the Sabbath. Some haredim even went as far as throwing sand and stones in the tractors’ engines to interfere with the construction works.

Eventually the plan was foiled, and the city’s soccer stadium, which was named after mayor Kollek, was built in the southern Malcha neighborhood.

Each year the religious population takes control of additional Jerusalem neighborhoods and sites, such as the Schneller military base, which is set to be cleared in the coming year. According to an agreement between United Torah Judaism and Agudat Yisrael, the Gur hasidic sect will own the site, and 800 housing units will be built there for its members.

Across the street from Schneller is the Tnuva compound, which was also sold to haredi real estate entrepreneurs.

Kroyanker, who lives in Malcha, is not optimistic regarding Jerusalem’s future.

“The city’s story is one of simple demographics,” he says. “This is a natural process whereby the haredi population is growing at a rate ten times higher than the secular population.”

“There is no solution this problem,” he says.

Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the founder and chairman of the religious ZAKA organization, says “haredim are not taking control of the city because a few rabbis planned it. They are taking control because ultra-Orthodox couples have many children – that’s just how it is.

From the hysteria in this report one would think thatYNet would prefer Arabs taking over Jerusalem rather than thse Jews who are so....Jew-y.

Luckily, I have a solution to the "problem" of a Jerusalem without TV antennas: Encourage non-Hareidi Jewish families to have lots and lots of kids as well! I guarantee, no "ultra-Orthodox" will get upset at this, and as a bonus, the "demographic problem" that is convincing Olmert to give up parts of Israel to terrorists will no longer exist!

To start, donate money to Just One Life, an organization that finds Israeli women who want to have abortions because they cannot afford to have a baby and supports them monetarily and emotionally so they can safely give birth. Over 7200 children have been born to women who have been helped by this program, and most of these are not Hareidim.

It's the least you can do to help save Jerusalem!

Aaron's story, part 6

Elie at Elie's Expositions has finally finished telling his tragic story of his son's passing, exactly one year after the shiva was over.

Read it and then hug your loved ones.

Humanitarian crisis, part 10 - feed the starving terrorists

In a staged shot worthy of the worst B-movie director, Palestinian Arab women pretend to be thrilled to give what appears to be a bag of garbage and a Hebrew National salami to a Hamas "militant". The reason appears to be that they want to show their appreciation that the Palestinian Arab security forces have increased in size yet again so they feel so much safer.

Since they didn't seem enthusiastic enough, the photographer instructed them to put a "thumbs up" sign to get the message across. Unfortunately, third-from-left Fatima's thumb had been sliced off by her husband when she was late giving him dinner one night so she can only show a fist.

Ahmadenijad: Thoughts will be punished

Today's GoozNews is yet another classic rant from the seemingly syphillic Ahmadenijad:

Even the mere thought of staging an aggression violating the rights of the Iranian nation will receive a stiff response from the nation, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday.

"Enemies should know that they cannot inflict the slightest harm to Iranians from the outside and that is why they are trying to create discord among the people," said the president in his address before a huge crowd in this southern city.

Saying Iranians "are on the eve of a great breakthrough," the president said "everyone has a responsibility to contribute to Iran's development and eventual rise as an advanced and powerful Islamic state."

He urged the nation to stay vigilant, and stressed that "our people have successfully conquered the highest peak of scientific progress with their resistance and unity."
"Unity, justice and hard work" have been major factors in the Iranian nation's achievement of its goals," he added.

They cannot refine their own oil but they are hellbent on getting nuclear "energy".

Israel arrests murderer of four Americans

One would think that the American media would be slightly interested in the names of the American victims of terror whose murderer was arrested by Israel yesterday.

It is also worth mentioning that the murderer is a member of Hamas, and that he is responsible for 78 deaths in terror attacks.

Here are the names and pictures of the American victims:

Marla Bennett

Benjamin Blutstein

Janis Ruth Coulter

David Gritz

Marla Bennett (24) of San Diego, California, David Gritz (24) of Peru, Massachusetts, Benjamin Blutstein (25) of Susquehanna Township, Pennsylvania and Janis Ruth Coulter (36) from New York were murdered when a remote-controlled bomb detonated in the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria on Jerusalem's Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus.

And here is a picture of the Hamas celebration at the news of the Hebrew University murders:

Meanwhile, the BBC just doesn't understand why Israel would consider arresting a mass murderer:

BBC correspondent Caroline Hawley in Jerusalem says it is not clear why the army moved against Hamad.

Hamas has not carried out any suicide attacks for 15 months and Israeli military operations in the past few months have focused instead on the militant Islamic Jihad group, which has been responsible for most of the recent bombs.

The clear implication is that when Israel even arrests a known terrorist, it is Israel that is escalating the conflict. The other BBC implication is that even though Hamas has been heavily involved in terror since the "truce," only suicide bombings are worth worrying about. The BBC even goes so far as to juxtapose Israel's arrest of a Hamas arch-terrorist with another meaningless Hamas pretense at flexibility towards peace, all to demonize Israel and boost Hamas.