July 2010 ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Palestinian history quiz, part one - before 1948

1. Where did the Yaman and Qais tribes, who fought a bloody feud for hundreds of years in Palestine, come from, respectively? A. Ancient Canaan and Philistia B. Yemen and Northern Arabia C. Syria and Transjordan D. Yemen and Egypt 2, According to John MacGregor, who visited Palestine in the 1870s, what was the worst insult that an Arab could hurl at another Arab? A. Dog B. Pig C. Monkey D. Jew 3. What was the year of the first organized Arab...

PA continues to embrace terrorism

What other conclusion can be derived than that the PA continues to embrace terrorism when you read that again they named a summer camp after one of their most horrific terrorists?"The Ministry of Social Affairs in Ramallah opened yesterday in El Bireh the fourth integration camp for people with special needs, and in Bethlehem the second Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi camp [opened]... The second Dalal Mughrabi summer camp was opened in the headquarters...

Poverty-stricken Gazans have a lot of computers

A new statistical study released today that I quoted earlier has some interesting figures for the West Bank and Gaza. Here's one: West Bank Gaza Percentage of households with a computer 51.1 45.6 Percentage of households with an Internet connection 27.2 30.9 The mind reels at so much povert...

Gaza unemployment facts

Palestinian Arabs released some statistics about the West Bank and Gaza on the occasion of World Population Day. One of the statistics was that unemployment for the first quarter of the year was at 33.9% in Gaza and 16.5% in the West Bank. While the Gaza number is very high, giving Gaza one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, there is an assumption made that this high rate is because of the Israeli closure of Gaza. This is not quite...

Friday linkdump

Khaled Abu Toameh discusses why many Arabs would prefer to live and work in Israel than in any Arab country. Jonathan Dahoah Halevi points out the irony of how Hamas, supposedly yearning fro independence, is fighting tooth and nail to keep Gaza "occupied." Mustafa at "Horses and Definitions" updates a post about how the Arabs rejected Israel's offers to return the Sinai and the Golan after the 1967 war, pointing to a recent interview of Shimon...

"Reporters Without Borders" silent on Hamas crimes

Gaza's Journalists Union has condemned a break-in at their headquarters today, in which a computer was stolen. Yesterday, as I mentioned, another Gaza journalist was held by Hamas in solitary confinement for six hours and needed to be hospitalized. At the Reporters Without Borders website, nothing has been written about any press freedom issues in Gaza or the West Bank since early May, even though there have been numerous published reports...

Hamas still smuggling in weapons. Not that the media will mention it.

Today, a Grad rocket was shot from Gaza into Ashkelon and two mortars were also shot into Israel from Gaza. Grad rockets are smuggled into Gaza, not manufactured there. In the past day, Egyptians have uncovered three more smuggling tunnels. Also, today they announced that they found a weapons storehouse and explosives south of El Arish that were earmarked for delivery into Gaza. Oh, and an IED exploded on the Gaza border. The media does...

The "direct talks" farce

The world is abuzz over the supposed fact that the Arab League has given Mahmoud Abbas the green light to hold direct talks with Israel. From what I can tell, that is not what happened. Abbas has been adding pre-condition upon pre-condition for months, saying that he cannot agree to direct talks until he gets specific, written concessions from Israel in advance. He has demanded a complete and permanent halt to settlement building (not just...

Hymen restoration covered by UK healthcare

From The Daily Mail: Increasing numbers of Muslim brides are having taxpayer-funded ‘virginity repair’ operations before marriage. There were 116 hymen replacement operations carried out on the NHS between 2005 and 2009. The total for 2009 was 30, up 25 per cent from 24 in 2005. The health service figures echo a trend reported by private clinics, which are seeing a huge surge in demand for the procedure from Muslim women paying up to £4,000. One...

The Nakba Obsession (Sol Stern)

A nice piece in City Journal. Here is a portion: A specter is haunting the prospective Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations—the specter of the Nakba. The literal meaning of the Arabic word is “disaster”; but in its current, expansive usage, it connotes a historical catastrophe inflicted on an innocent and blameless people (in this case, the Palestinians) by an overpowering outside force (international Zionism). The Nakba is the heart of the Palestinians’...

Psalms too Zionist for moderate Palestinian Arabs

I had missed this story last week: The lead singer of the iconic 1970s disco group Boney M said Thursday the band was asked to skip one of its biggest hits in a West Bank concert this week. Boney M., known for "Rasputin," "By the Rivers of Babylon," "Ma Baker" and "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" gained worldwide fame for its music in the late '70s disco era. Maizie Williams said the Palestinian concert organizers told her not to sing "By...

Palestinian Arab intellectuals slam Abbas for admitting Jews have rights

Last month, Mahmoud Abbas spoke to leaders of American Jewish organizations. According to reports, at the meeting he said, "I would never deny [the] Jewish right to the land of Israel." The reaction to this speech was surprisingly muted in the Arabic press. However, an all-star roster of Palestinian Arab intellectuals have come out squarely against Abbas' statement, pretty much admitting that they do not believe that Jews have any right to live...

Nah, they're not anti-semitic

An email correspondent points me to the Wikipedia page of (as far as I can tell) the only Iranian-designed and manufactured assault rifle. The rifle's name? The Khaybar KH2002. Yes, it is named after the Battle of Khaybar, whee Mohammed slaughtered some 10,000 Jews in 629 CE. The Iranian military does not use the assault rifle, according to the article. Instead, they ship them to be used by - Hezbollah. (h/t Be...

What does the BDS movement want?

An excellent video, from StandWithUs: (h/t sshende...

From the Detroit Free Press: The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn has launched a fund-raising drive to pay for a statue of legendary journalist Helen Thomas that concerns some in the Jewish community. Thomas, a former White House correspondent and native Detroiter born to Lebanese immigrants, was forced to quit her job at Hearst Newspapers last month after saying...

Newest Saudi trend: "Daytime marriage"

A new alternative has come up to temporary "misyar" marriages, and this one is approved by Saudi authorities. Called "Daytime Marriage," this allows a man to have two wives - one for the day shift and one for nighttime. The advantages are said to be that with this sort of marriage, women who work at night can also enjoy the benefits of marriage. Or, at least, some of them. Apparently, some older women are taking advantage of this arrangement,...

MEMRI translates an article in Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper by journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl: I was last in Gaza in mid-February. Returning three weeks ago, I found it almost unrecognizable... and the greatest surprise was the nature of that change. I would have expected a change for the worse, considering the blockade – but the opposite was the case; it seemed as if it had...

The Flotilla Farce (Danny Ayalon)

Danny Ayalon, writing in the Wall Street Journal, touches on many of my blog themes - the hypocrisy of the flotilla activists, the plight of Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon, and how Gaza's poverty is hugely exaggerated. A couple of years ago, a Palestinian refugee camp was encircled and laid siege to by an army of tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers. Attacks initiated by Palestinian militants triggered an overwhelming response from the army that took...

Journalist hospitalized after Hamas detains him

In yet another story of Hamas repression that flies under the radar, a Gazan journalist Hossam al-Mughany was detained by Hamas and placed in solitary confinement for six hours. Since he has back problems, he had to go to Shifa hospital afterwards for treatment. But Hamas arresting and intimidating journalists is a dog-bites-man story, and the media doesn't even bother to protect their own - because they are scared of Hamas as wel...

Will the PA cabinet resign next week?

I've seen a couple of Arabic articles now saying that the PA ministers will resign next week and there will be a major re-shuffle. A Fatah spokesman was quoted a couple of days ago as saying that "Next week we will form a new government representing the aspirations and ambitions of the Fatah movement." It is unclear what Salam Fayyad's role will be in the new government, although everyone seems to agree that he would maintain his Finance Minister...

One of the oft-repeated claims about Gaza is that about 30% of its farmland is eaten up by Israel's buffer zone. This claim has been made by many, including the UN, as in this quote from 2009: "Bear in mind that 30% of Gaza's most productive land is within that buffer zone."More often, the figure given is as a percentage of "arable land" - for example, this UN...

Oldie but goodie: IDF pilot lands F-15 with one wing

Fascinating video from The History Channel: I looked up this incident. It happened in May, 1983, so I doubt that much of the video of the plane flying with one wing is real. It's a great story, though. (h/t Yerushalime...

New battle: Hamas versus lingerie

From Ma'an: Gaza police announced Wednesday restrictions on women's lingerie and dress stores across the Strip. Among the prohibitions include displaying lingerie or pajamas in store windows, having fitting rooms or cubicles inside shops, and using tinted glass for store windows. Security cameras inside women's stores will also be banned. Gaza police spokesman Brigadier Ayman Al-Batniji said the new restrictions will "protect morals and allow...

Two years ago, Al Arabiya reported: Muslim scientists and scholars have called for the world to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with Mecca time, press reports said Thursday. Prominent scholar, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy, said modern science had provided evidence that Mecca was the true center of the Earth, the BBC reported. One scientist argued that unlike other longitudes,...

Three idiots; three critics

Three prominent people recently said some very stupid things. Three wonderful critics ripped them to shreds. Melanie Phillips on David Cameron Jennifer Rubin on Oliver Stone Evelyn Gordon on Roger Coh...

German anti-semitism on the increase

From Der Spiegel, an article I missed from two weeks ago: It was supposed to be a carefree festival in Sahlkamp on the outskirts of the northern German city of Hanover. Billed as an "International Day" to celebrate social diversity and togetherness, the June celebration included performances by a multicultural children's choir called "Happy Rainbow" and the German-Turkish rap duo 3-K. Music from Afghanistan was also on the program. But then the...

Today's PalArab news (7/28/2010)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas, in an interview where he was emphasizing how much he wants peace, mentioned how he feels that Tzfat (Safed) is the most beautiful city in the world. He was born there in 1935. Abbas was on a trip to Africa to shore up his support there. Two people were seriously wounded from an apparent "work accident" in central Gaza. An Iranian delegation is expected to arrive in Gaza in the next few days. They will be bringing in...

Scathing attack on Fayyad

Palestine Times, a pro-Hamas newspaper, published a scathing attack on PA prime minister Salam Fayyad. The article compares Fayyad with the hedonistic Roman emperor Nero, as a "parasite sitting at the head of parasites in the West Bank." The author is particularly upset at the proliferation of nightclubs in the territories, which it claims is being done under American orders. The PA, referred to as "lice," is castigated for pretending to defend...

From YNet: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Paul the Octopus, the sea creature that correctly predicted the outcome of World Cup games in South Africa, is a symbol of all that is wrong with the western world. During a speech he delivered in Tehran over the weekend, Ahmadinejad said the octopus is a symbol of decadence and decay among "his enemies", and accused the...

Google News links to incomprehensible gibberish

Once upon a time, I aspired to have my blog be indexed as a news site in Google News. After reading this article from a "news" source called International.To News, I am quite happy not to be in that crowd. Here are only two paragraphs that indicate a deep psychosis on the part of the writer: WikiLeaks is a CIA front organization. WikiLeaks releases High Security Military Documents. "The White House is screaming like a stuck...