Mondoweiss agrees that released murderers are "freedom fighters"

The last time we spoke about Annie Robbins, Mondoweiss' Editor at Large, she was claiming that there was no evidence that Jewish Temples ever existed on the Temple Mount.

So perhaps it isn't surprising that she agrees that murderers are "freedom fighters."

The PLO sent out a letter to its diplomatic posts ahead of the prisoner release, saying that each one isn't a terrorist but a "Palestinian freedom fighter, who struggles against the occupation and fights in accordance to international law."

Yes, the PLO says that people who axe senior citizens to death are "freedom fighters."

And Mondoweiss agrees.

Here is Robbins' comment to this sickening characterization: "Touche for Palestine doubling down with an injection of truth today."

Annie Robbins believes that according to international law, any Palestinian Arab can stalk and kill any Jew in Israel - man, woman or child.

The woman is beneath contempt.

A Facebook page has been set up to condemn Mondoweiss for this disgusting stand.

(h/t Max S.)

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Black is white, up is down, murderers are peace doves

A cartoon in Al Quds to commemorate the release of 26 murderers:

(h/t Khaled Abu Toameh via Donna)

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Sickening photos of Abbas celebrating with murderers

Every single person released from prison by Israel on Tuesday was involved in murder.

Some went out to kill any Jew that would pass by; others targeted specific civilians. One killed a Holocaust survivor. Another killed an 84 year old man with an axe. Yet another targeted a 51 year old woman in the car where she would give rides to Arab workers.

These people are beneath contempt.

To Israel's "peace partner" Mahmoud Abbas, and to his people, they are heroes.

The idea of any sort of agreement with these people openly celebrating murderers is nauseating.

(If someone knows the names of the people in these photos with Abbas, please let me know.)

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Sinai Jihadists claim responsibility for rocket to Eilat

The Mujahadeen Shura Council took responsibility for firing a rocket (or rockets) at Eilat early Tuesday morning.

This is not the Ansar Jerusalem group who had four members killed on Friday.

The statement says "In response to the recent crime of the Jews which killed four of the Mujahideen in the land of Sinai, the black Mujahideen Shura Council [announces] the bombing of the city of Rashrash 'Eilat' with a missile at one dawn on Tuesday."

The statement added that the missile caused the Jews to have "dread and horror" as they rushed to their underground shelters.

The Mujahideen Shura added that the city of Eilat "and other cities of the Jews" will not enjoy security nor tourism, pointing out that "the Jews will dearly pay the price for the blood of the mujahideen.

Iron Dome intercepted one rocket. Residents reported hearing two explosions, one of which may have been Iron Dome firing.

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PA says releasing murderers is a step towards "peace." In Arabic they are complaining that it is not enough

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainees said Monday that Israel's decision to release the first group of Palestinian prisoners was an important step for promoting peace.

"President Abu Mazen has succeeded in putting the issue of prisoners as a political and national priority and saved it from unfair conditions imposed by Israel," Issa Qaraqe said.

The first stage of the prisoner release is a strategic step to toward the liberation of all Palestinian detainees, he added.

Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, also welcomed the prisoner release, saying freeing all Palestinian detainees was a key priority.

Israeli attempts to use the issue of prisoners as a bargaining chip is doomed to fail, he added.

You see that? Releasing murderers is a step towards "peace"!

Orwell lives!

In Arabic, the word "peace" isn't mentioned. Abbas Zaki in fact mentioned that this was a reminder of the first lopsided prisoner release to the PLO, a 1983 swap of 4700 Lebanese and Palestinian Arabs for 6 Israeli soldiers.

Also in Arabic the Palestinian leaders are complaining about the release of prisoners, saying that some of them would have been released soon anyway, and that 16 of them were unjustly sentenced to begin with (they were only "accomplices.") These were also not the most senior prisoners, nor the ones that have become "symbols." They are literally saying that this release is an insult and a "stab in the back" and the list is "childish" and an attempt to thwart negotiations.  Furthermore, they are complaining that some of the prisoners are being released to Gaza instead of the West Bank.

Ma'an has a list of the prisoners being released, but of course nothing about the victims.

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List of terrorists being released this week for no good reason. And their forgotten victims. (UPDATED)

Here is the list of terrorists being released by Israel on August 14 in exchange for literally nothing.

Terrorist		Date of Arrest		Charge(s)		Names of Victim(s)
Fayez Mutawi al-Khur		Nov-85		Murder, Attempted Murder		Solomon AbuKassis, Menahem Dadon
Salah Ibrahim Ahmed Mugdad		Jun-93		Murder		Israel Tannenbaum (night watchman in Netanya) Israel Tenenbaum was born in Poland on 11 September 1921. His father was Zorah Tenenbaum. He immigrated to Israel in 1957, at age 36, and settled in Moshav Ein Vered. He worked in agriculture on the moshav for many years, and was well regarded by the other residents as a quiet, modest man. On Monday, 14 June 1993, Israel’s body was found at the Sirens Hotel in Netanya, where he had been working as a night watchman. A terrorist had murdered him on the job.
Samir Nayef al-Na’neesh		Mar-89		Murder		Binyamin Meisner Binyamin Meisner was born to Ruth and Eric Meisner in El Salvador on 30 April 1964. His family immigrated to Israel when he was 3.5 and settled in Kiryat Tivon. In January 1983, Binyamin joined the IDF. On 24 February 1989, Binyamin fell while patrolling the Casbah in Shechem (Nablus) during reserve duty. Binyamin was survived by his parents; his brother, Raphael; and his sister, Tamar.
Yusef Abdel Hamid Irshaid		Mar-93		Murder, Attempted Murder		Nidal Rabo Ja'ab, Adnan Aj'ad Dib, Mofid Can'an, Tawfik Jaradat, Ibrahim Said
Mustafa Othman al-Haj		Jun-89		Murder		Friedrich Rosenfeld Steven Frederick Rosenfeld was born to Eugene and Ethel Rosenfeld in New York on 29 August 1941. He immigrated to Israel in 1968 and volunteered at Kibbutz Masada, where he was injured when a truck he was driving hit a landmine. Following rehabilitation, Frederick began working on archaeological digs in the Ein Bokek area, where he met his wife, Rachel. He was a Zionist with a great love the for the Land of Israel. On Saturday, 7 June 1989, Frederick went on a hike in the hills near Ariel, where he lived. He encountered a group of shepherds who stole a knife that he had in his possession, stabbed him to death, and hid his body on the side of the path. A different shepherd who was passing through the area found the body the next day. Frederick was 48 at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and brother.
Salameh Abdallah Musleh		Oct-93		Murder		David Reuben
Atiyeh Salem Musa		Mar-94		Murder		Aizik Rotenberg (Holocaust survivor, 67) Isaac Rotenberg was born to Natan and Miriam Rotenberg in Poland on 15 March 1927. A selektzia was held in his city following the outbreak of the Second World War, and his family was sent to the Sobibór extermination camp. With the exception of him, his younger brother, and his sister, his entire family perished. He was taken with his brother to a labor camp. When a revolt broke out, the two succeeded in escaping the camp, but they lost track of each other in the ensuing commotion. Isaac then made his way to the forest and joined the partisans. In April 1947, Isaac reached the Land of Israel. He joined the IDF the next year, and fought in the War of Liberation in the north, near Kibbutz Manara. Isaac was married to Riva, and they had two children, Tzipora and Pinhas. He worked as a plasterer, and was a founder of the city of Holon. Upon reaching retirement age, he decided to continue working a few hours per day to keep himself busy. On 29 March 1994, during the Passover holiday, as Isaac was hunched on his knees, fixing a floor in his workplace in Petah Tikva, two of the Arab laborers on site attacked him and struck the back of his neck with axes. He was critically wounded, and entered a coma. Two days later, on 31 March, he died.
Salah Mahmoud Mukled		Jul-93		Murder, Attempted Murder		Joshua Deutsch
Mohamed Abdel Majid Sawalha		Dec-90		Murder, Attempted Murder		Baruch Heisler
Atef Izzat Sha’ath		Mar-93		Accessory to Murder		Simha Levi Simcha Levy was born to Jiran and Yosef in 1942, and immigrated to Israel in 1950. In 1992 Simcha moved to Midreshet Hadarom in Gush Katif, where she made a living providing transportation to local workers. Simcha was a small woman with a big spirit. She was a proud Jew who lived among the Arabs in order to make ends meet. She loved the people of Midreshet Hadarom among whom she lived. She was a helpful person and would discreetly provide assistance to those less fortunate; she would donate boxes of produce to needy Jewish and Arab families. On 12 March 1993, Simcha picked up a group of female agricultural workers in Khan Yunis. Among them were three male terrorists dressed as women. As the workers looked on, the three murdered Simcha in her vehicle with blows and stabs from a knife, then fled. The subsequent investigation revealed that many workers had received instructions not to come to work that day, so that there would be space for the terrorists. Simcha was 51 at the time of her death, and was survived by brothers and sisters. She was interred at Ofakim Cemetery.
Yusef Said al-Al		Feb-94		Throwing a bomb, Accessory to Murder		Ian Feinberg, Sami Ramadan
Midhat Fayez Barbakh		Jan-94		Murder		Moshe Becker, citrus grower
Ali Ibrahim al-Rai		Apr-94		Murder		Morris Eisenstadt
Mohamed Jaber Nashbat		Sep-90		Accessory to Murder		Amnon Pomerantz Amnon Pomeranz was born to Tzipora and Moshe Pomeranz on 15 August 1944. He was an electric engineer and scientist, and worked in research and development. Amnon was an original and creative thinker, theoretical and practical at once. During his time at Raphael he worked on missile and robotics development. For him, work was a challenge. He did not pursue honor, and did not compete for social standing. Amnon also was an outstanding athlete. On 20 September, Rosh Hashanah 1990, Amnon left his home in Havatzelet Hasharon for reserve duty in Gaza. Three hours later, he was brutally murdered by a horde of murderous rioters thirsty for Jewish blood when he made a wrong turn on the way to his base and accidentally entered Al Burj Refugee Camp. He was stoned and murdered, and his car set on fire. Amnon was 46 at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and three children: Hofit, Snapir, and Gideon.
Samir Hussein Murtaji		Oct-93		Kidnapping, Manslaughter		Samir al-Silawi, Khaled Malaceh, Nasser Akilah, Ali al Zaabot
Hosni Faregh Sawalha		Dec-90		Murder, Attempted Murder		Baruch Heisler, 24 On 2 December 1990, Yaacov missed his ride to his yeshiva and instead boarded bus 66 from Petah Tikva to Tel Aviv. Three Arab terrorists boarded at the Pardes Katz stop, and immediately thereafter, at the junction of Ben Gurion Road and Jabotinsky Road in Ramat Gan, began stabbing passengers. Baruch Yaacov was murdered; three others were injured.
Faraj Saleh al-Rimahi		Jul-92		Murder		Abraham Kinstler, 84 Avraham Kinstler was born to Zissel and Rabbi Kalman Kinstler in Kańczuga, in Polish Galicia, on the eve of Shavuot, 4 June 1908. At the age of 20 he founded the town’s branch of Hovevei Zion, and in addition to his work there he taught his friends Hebrew. In 1935 he married Hannah, and the two immigrated to the Land of Israel, where they reared their daughters: Ada, Shlomit, and Batya. Avraham was an individualist and an original thinker, a multi-talented person, studious, as well as a Torah scholar. He was highly familiar with both general and Jewish culture, while especially treasuring Jewish thought and studying it to the last of his days, seeking to bring the world of Judaism to the young generation. Above all, though, Avraham was a working man. He believed in work, made it a value, and kept at it his entire life. On 7 July 1992, Avraham went to work as usual. There was a heavy dust storm that day, and the trees had to be watered. But he didn’t get to the point of turning on the water: a terrorist ambushed him and murdered him with an ax. The terrorist was caught several months later, brought to trial, and sentenced to life in prison.
Ala eddin Ahmed Abu Sitteh		Jan-94		Murder		David Daddi, 43  Haim Weitzman, 33 David Dadi was born to Shimon and Miha Dadi in Tunis on 1 September 1950. He immigrated to Israel as a child and settled in Ramla. David had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. He had a greatjoie de vivre and laughed and smiled much. He also loved to study Torah, and was a true scholar. Hayim Weizman was born to Annette and Hanania Weizman in Morocco on 4 July 1960. His family immigrated to Israel in 1962 and settled in Ramla. As an adult he married and had a son, Eliran. Hayim was a lively and happy person. He enjoyed bungy jumping and even won a championship in it. On 31 December 1993, David was stabbed to death along with his acquaintance Hayim Weizman in his apartment in Ramla: Arab workers from Gaza who were working in a neighboring apartment entered the apartment while they slept and killed them.
Ayman taleb Abu Sitteh		Jan-94		Murder		David Daddi, Haim Weitzman
Esmat Omar Mansour		Oct-93		Accessory to Murder		Haim Mizrachi Hayim Mizrahi was born to Mazal and Pinhas Mizrahi on 8 December 1963. He grew up in Bat Yam and Holon with his sisters, Margalit and Asnat, and his brother, Itzik. As a child, Hayim belonged to the junior league soccer team of Hapoel Tel Aviv. Following is army service, he became religious, moved to Beit El, and married Iris. On Friday, 29 October 1993, Hayim went to buy eggs from an Arab-owned farm near his home, as he was wont to do. He was greeted by terrorists who attacked him and fled in his vehicle after wounding him and stuffing him into the trunk. The terrorists proceeded to murder Hayim, then burned and abandoned the vehicle north of Ramallah. Hayim was 30 at the time of his death. He was put to rest in Holon Cemetery. Hayim was survived by his pregnant wife, his parents, his sisters, and his brother. Half-a-year after his murder, his daughter, Tehilla, was born.
Khaled Mohamed Asakreh		May-91		Murder		Annie Lee
Nihad Yusef Jundiyeh		Jul-89		Murder		Zalman Schlein
Mohamed Mahmoud Hamdiyeh		Jul-89		Murder		Zalman Schlein
Jamil Abdel Wahab Natsheh		Dec-92		Accessory to Murder		Shmuel Gersh
Taher Mohamed Zaboud		Feb-93		Murder		Abraham Cohen
Sabih Abed Hammed Borhan		Feb-01		Murder		Jamil Muhamad Naim Sabih, Aisha Abdullah Kharadin

I once made an infographic about what Israel gets back from "goodwill gestures."

Hebrew list here.

There are apparently 12 Arab victims, presumably Israeli Arabs, listed here. Since no reporter seems to bother asking the families of Jewish victims how they feel knowing that the murderers of their loved ones are being freed for no reason, I wonder whether anyone will ask the Arab families what they think about this deal.

(h/t Josh K)

UPDATE: Added victim details from Al Magor.

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Soccer player stunt "like an Egyptian bomb in Tel Aviv"

From soccer site 101 Great Goals:

Last week, during Basel’s home match against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League, Basel’s star winger, Egyptian Mohamad Salah, went to great lengths to avoid shaking hands with his Israeli opponents.

Salah positioned a pair of boots on the side of the pitch and avoided the pre-match handshakes under the pretense of changing his orange Adidas footwear.

That incident went viral, and ahead of the return leg in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night there had been planty of chatter whether Salah would even be arriving in the Jewish land for political reasons.

In the end Salah did turn up in Israel, despite telling reporters before the match:

In my thoughts I am going to play in Palestine and not Israel, and I am also going to score and win there. The Zionist flag won’t be shown in the Champions League.

As it turned out, Salah’s pre-match predictions played out according to his word. The Egyptian scored Basel’s second goal in a thrilling 3-3 draw, which saw the Swiss club knock out Maccabi 4-3 on aggregate.

Salah’s behaviour before the match in Tel Aviv also drew plenty of attention as, once again, the Basel player fudged the pre-game handshake pomp.

Rather than shaking his opponents hands like normal, Salah devised a trick to get around the customarily duty as he gave a fist-bump to the Maccabi players as he walked down the line.

Many reports in the Arab world seem to be celebrating Salah’s innovative way of not shaking the Maccabi Tel Aviv player’s hands, however these days it could be argued that a fist-bump is a normal method of displaying a greeting in public.

Will UEFA investigate this shocking lack of sportsmanship from the Egyptian?

Egyptian newspaper El Fagr described what Saleh did in heroic terms, even though he was the first Egyptian player to appear in Israel in nearly twenty years.

The newspaper's choice of an analogy to describe this  so-called heroism?

A terrorist attack.

The headline says "Egyptian 'bombs' in the middle of Tel Aviv cause devastation."

The accompanying photo shows an Israeli flag being burned.

The article says that Saleh's actions "succeeded in landing several blows, like Egyptian bombs destroying central Tel Aviv." It adds that his actions were "a horrible nightmare that destroyed the Zionists."

It also said that his playing, coming during Ramadan, reminded the Israelis of the Egyptian "defeat of the Zionists" in the Yom Kippur War, which also occurred during Ramadan.

Yes, "moderate" Egypt considers a soccer player's antics to be as great as a major terror attack in Tel Aviv. Which says quite a bit about Egypt.

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Nasrallah: "Call us terrorists"

Hezbollah's Al Manar translated parts of Hassan Nasrallah's Quds Day speech last Friday. It is worth watching for those who mightily try to find "moderation" in the worst terrorists.

There is nothing moderate in his words. (There was no audio for some reason.)



He thanks Syria and Iran for their help in funding terrorist groups, and says that Hezbollah will continue to help all terror groups that fight against Israel.

Some more of the speech:

Palestine which we are talking about is the whole of Palestine from the sea to the river, which should return fully to its people no one of the world's Sheikh or Sayyed or Prince nor King or President or a government to give up or abandon one grain of sand from the soil of Palestine, or a drop of its water, oil, or a piece of its land and does not have a mandate to do so....

Imam Khomeini had described Israel accurately when he called it a cancerous tumor, and it is really a tumor that kills, the only solution is to eradicate it without giving it any opportunity or surrender and eradicate. ...Israel represents a constant and enormous threat not only on Palestine and the Palestinians, this is an illusion and misinformation and ignorance. Israel is a threat to all peoples and countries of the region, with its security and sovereignty and he who denies this is arrogant.

...Some might think that the demise of Israel is a Palestinian interest, it’s rather a national interest of each country of the region, and [Israel] is a threat to Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, thus the disappearance of Israel is a national Jordanian, Syrian, Egyptian and Lebanese interest....

...On al-Quds Day, which is the last Friday of Holy Ramadan, we the twelver Shiites will not abandon Palestine, the Palestinian people and sanctities.

Hezbollah, the Islamic Shiite party, will not abandon Palestine, al-Quds, and the holy sites of the nation. We were born and arisen on bearing the responsibility of defending Palestine and Al-Quds. We - the Shiites- won't abandon this cause never ever. Call us rejectionists, call us terrorists, call us criminals, say whatever you want and keep killing us at every front, at the door of every mosque, we the Shiites of Ali bin Abi Taleb will not abandon Palestine.

Now, does Nasrallah represent the "political" or the "military" wing of Hezbollah?

This speech was also notable for being performed live, rather than via closed circuit TV as Nasrallah usually does.

Which means it is a real shame that at the moment he said "keep killing us at every front" the IDF didn't do exactly that.

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"Pepsi defies the occupation"

Last year I noticed that various soccer teams and tournaments in Gaza featured the Pepsi logo and advertising. Pepsi apparently didn't mind their association with Hamas terrorist leaders:

Further research showed that the sponsorships were done by a local Gaza bottling company, Yazegi, that apparently has permission to use the Pepsi logo when sponsoring sporting events and the like.

Pepsi never responded to inquiries about their public association with Hamas.

Now, this year, Gaza is again seeing the "Pepsi Cup" football championship during Ramadan. The Yarmouk Stadium that hosts the tournament was bombed by Israel during Pillar of Defense because it was used as a launch site for terror rockets aimed at Israeli civilians, and Yazegi helped repair or cover up the damage that is still there.

Yazegi represents itself as Pepsi in Gaza, and on their Facebook page they say, directly, "Pepsi defies the occupation" - "occupation" being the Arabic code-word for Israel itself.

Is this message one that the Pepsi corporation supports?

Perhaps Israeli sellers of Pepsi should inform the company that they don't appreciate being told that Pepsi is "defying" their country and supporting those who want to destroy it.

You can complain on Pepsi's US Facebook page. Demand that the company dissociate itself from the Gaza bottling company using its name to support terrorists and to promote messages of hate against Israel.

(The winner of the Pepsi Cup tournament was the Islamic Society of Gaza.)

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Librarians visiting "Palestine" show their ignorance

The entire idea of librarians supporting boycotting Israel is an oxymoron. How can people who are dedicated to acquiring, categorizing and disseminating knowledge even consider boycotting an entire nation of people who are so instrumental in creating that same knowledge?

Yet a group of Israel-hating librarians recently visited "Palestine" to drink up and then regurgitate the lies being fed to them by their propaganda-spewing hosts.

It is remarkable that self-described librarians can write a paragraph like this with a straight face:

We are an independent group of librarians and archivists who traveled to Palestine from June 23 – July 4, 2013. We come from the US, Canada, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, and Palestine. We bore witness to the destruction and appropriation of information, and the myriad ways access is denied. We were inspired by the many organizations and individuals we visited who resist settler-colonialism in their daily lives. ... In all our travels and work, we respected the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel and did not partner with any organization that violates this call. As librarians and archivists, as people who believe in access to information, we affirm that institutional academic and cultural boycotts are appropriate responses to curtailed freedoms and are effective tools for change.

Librarians who voluntarily censor others' opinions are not librarians.

As a result of their indoctrination during their trip, you can see howlers like this on their blog:

[A]bout 25% of Israelis in pre-67 borders are Palestinians, who are “residents” of Israel, but denied citizenship and legally discriminated against, thus it is important to distinguish between Israelis and Israeli Jews...

These librarians are so brainwashed that they believe that there are no Arab citizens of Israel!

If they had bothered to speak to any Israeli, they could have found out that they were taught and then spread lies, which should bother any real librarian. Actually, if they would have bothered to read any books about Israel they would have known that this was nonsense. However, these "knowledge workers" prefer to work without knowledge. Their BDS overlords told them to boycott any books that tell actual truth about Israel.

The group happily posed with drawings of terrorists:

Another photo they proudly took symbolizes the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their homeland (unless the graffiti is referring to the dog breed.)

This photo of theirs shows a map that erases Israel and helpfully enshrines violence with the PFLP logo along with two rifles:

Support for violence? Spreading lies? Romanticizing terrorism? What kind of "librarians" are these, anyway?

Indeed, these "librarians" have no problem violating their own code of ethics:

The core mission of librarians and other information workers is to ensure access to information for all for personal development, education, cultural enrichment, leisure, economic activity and informed participation in and enhancement of democracy....Librarians and other information workers are strictly committed to neutrality and an unbiased stance regarding collection, access and service. They seek to acquire balanced collections, apply fair service policies, avoid allowing personal convictions to hinder the carrying out of their professional duties, combat corruption and seek the highest standards of professional excellence.

One of the leaders of the group, although she didn't participate in this visit, is "Jenna," who wrote many of the blog posts on behalf of the tourists. Librarians for Fairness fills in the details:

Jenna's father, whom we will refer to as Mitch, is one of the most prominent librarians in the world. He is also a former president of the American Library Association. We doubt that anyone would call Mitch an ardent Zionist, or for that matter, a Zionist. But Mitch accepts Israel's right to exist. We believe Mitch to be a fair-minded man...

Mitch communicated to Jenna in December of 2012, during the early planning stages of Librarians and Archivists to Palestine. He asked Jenna if respecting the BDS Movement was a requirement for acceptance in the delegation. Mitch wisely asserted that if it was, that in and of itself would be "oppressive." Well, we in LfF know that supporting the BDS Movement is, indeed, one of the mandates for inclusion in Librarians and Archivists to Palestine. And the BDS Movement (founded by Omar Barghouti, who, ironically, holds a graduate degree from Tel Aviv University) does, in fact, call for the annihilation of Israel. Mitch also expressed his view that the de-legitimization of Israel was "deeply wrong." And he further pointed out that Israeli Arabs are treated a lot better than Jews in Arab lands have been treated, since the 1940's. Moreover, in his criticism of BDS, Mitch noted that he does not see anyone doing a BDS against Saudi Arabia.

Jenna, why haven't you listened more to the wise words of your Abba (Dad)? Jenna, do not your father's admonitions indicate that he may very well feel that Librarians and Archivists to Palestine is more about de-legitimizing Israel, than helping Arab libraries and archives?

The vast majority of real librarians should be ashamed of this group.

(h/t Dan)

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Jordanian columnist: "How to destroy Israel without war"

An op-ed in Jordanzad discusses how to get rid of Israel without defeating it militarily.

You see, the Arabs need to do to the Jews what the Arabs think the Jews did to put the Arab nations in disarray.

So, according to writer M. Mamedabid, the Arabs should secretly create and fund an extremist Jewish organization that would make Al Qaeda look like Girl Scouts. This organization should openly advocate the murder of all Arabs, Christians and Muslims in the Middle East. Using secret Arab funding, it will go on terror sprees and murder gentiles all over the region.

Meanwhile, the Arab states would publicly declare their support for the "moderate" Israeli parties, therefore adding to the power of the Jewish terrorist groups.The Jewish extremists will start killing the secular and leftist Jews, causing a civil war. Eventually the extremist Jews will take over the country, thanks to the secret Arab petrodollars funding them, and the West will turn against Israel, which will have been revealed to be a disgusting racist state, and it will then disappear in a cloud of infighting and civil war.

I can't wait for the first checks to be surreptitiously sent from Amman to the zealots of the Temple Mount Faithful to implement this brilliant scheme.

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Another Palestinian Arab hero

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian minister of prisoners’ affairs on Tuesday warned of possible deaths among hunger-striking prisoners and highlighted that their health had seriously deteriorated.

Issa Qaraqe said any tragic results at this stage would result in serious escalation amid prisoners and lead to negative consequences which could affect US efforts to restart peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.

Hanan al-Khatib, a lawyer from the ministry of prisoners’ affairs, who visited the Jordanian hunger striker Abdullah Barghouthi in hospital, confirmed he was in real danger after 95 days on hunger strike.

According to al-Khatib, Barghouthi “can’t feel his left hand and can’t stand up.”

He also suffers from spells of dizziness, she added, highlighting that he also has symptoms of kidney and liver troubles and could face kidney failure if he continues with the strike.

Barghouthi has already lost 30 kilograms, according to al-Khatib quoting his doctors.

He has been hospitalized at Haemek Medical Center in Afula in northern Israel since shortly after he started a hunger strike on May 2.

Al-Khatib had noted earlier that he was chained to his hospital bed by his legs and his left hand.

Poor Abdallah Bargouthi! He must be a good guy for the Palestinian minister of prisoners' affairs to be so concerned for his well-being.

An earlier Ma'an article, from July 20, gives slightly more details:

A lawyer for the PA ministry of prisoners' affairs said Barghouthi, a Jordanian citizen, could go into a coma at any moment.

"I saw him breathing very heavily and he began to have fainting spells," Hanan al-Khatib said Friday after visiting him in Afula Hospital.

...Barghouthi is serving 67 life terms, the highest sentence ever handed down by an Israeli military court. He has been detained since March 2003.

A Hamas leader, Barghouthi was convicted of involvement in multiple attacks in Israel.

Oh, you mean he was a terrorist? Who would've guessed?

I wonder what attacks he was involved with?

Nothing big. He just built the bombs for the Sbarro pizza shop bombing, the Moment Cafe bombing, the Hebrew University bombing, the Zion Square refrigerator bombing, and the Rishon LeZion nightclub bombing. In other words, he was Hamas' chief bombmaker and responsible for the deaths of 66 Israelis.

Note also how the PA is working so hard on behalf of a Hamas bomber. There's unity for you!

One more detail:

He has been on hungers strike since May 2 and is demanding to serve the remainder of his sentence in a Jordanian jail, under the Wadi Araba agreement between Jordan and Israel.

I can find nothing in the Wadi Araba agreement that mandates prisoner exchanges.

It is a shame that Barghouti is starving himself to death. He deserves a much more painful demise.

 Luckily, the media has grown tired of the prisoner hunger strikes (especially when none of them ever seem to actually die, since these are "modified" hunger strikes, whatever that means) and no one really cares any more about these publicity stunts.

UPDATE: Ma'an has an adoring profile of Barghouti and his terror attacks in Arabic.

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The elephants in the room, 2013

Now that US has successfully pressured Israel and the PA to attend talks, it seems to be a good time to revisit the list of "elephants in the room" that are still being mostly ignored. The list, sadly, has not changed much since I last did this in 2010.

Elephant 1: Hamas controls Gaza

Every peace plan includes Gaza in a Palestinian Arab state, and none of them has any provision on how to handle the fact that Gaza is a terrorist haven, in much worse shape since Israel uprooted the settlements there, controlled by a terrorist group that is consistently and wholeheartedly against Israel's existence.   Peace is impossible with this elephant, so it is easier to pretend it isn't there. (See also Elephant 11.)

Elephant 2: Palestinian Arabs elected a terror government

In the only fair, democratic elections in the territories, the Hamas terrorists were chosen by the people. Poll after poll shows that Palestinian Arabs support terror in Israel itself. (Over 40% still support a violent intifada in 2013.) The elections proved that the conventional wisdom was wrong - and the conventional wisdom proceeded to ignore it.

Elephant 3: The current PA government was not elected

This corollary to Elephant 2 means that the current people negotiating for the Palestinian Arabs do not represent the people. Even if they sound moderate or compromising, they have no mandate. The current PA president is well past his term of office, and the current and previous prime minister were never elected (in fact, he received a tiny percentage of the vote when he did run for election.) Negotiating with the PA is, literally, meaningless.

Similarly, the unelected PLO is the real power behind the PA. The PA officially reports to the PLO, and all negotiations are done by the autocratic, Fatah-dominated PLO, not the PA.

Elephant 4: The current PA government has almost no power - and no respect

Outside of Ramallah, the Fayyad/Abbas government has little popular support and little power. Hamas is a very real threat to the PA in the West Bank and is quietly building its base. The attitudes that forced the PA to abandon Gaza - a lack of passion by people for its positions - could very well play out in the West Bank as well.

Elephant 5: The PA is being kept alive by artificial methods

The PA budget is bloated from "payroll" of non-working workers - but if they would slash the payroll, the people on international welfare would revolt. So the very basis of the organized Palestinian Arab workforce is a fiction being kept barely alive by ever-increasing infusions of cash with no real plan to fix the problem. (The bulk of the PA budget goes to Gaza, and much of that goes to workers being paid not to work.)

Elephant 6: Fatah remains a terrorist group paid by the PA

Despite the recent claims that the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has dismantled, it is a joke meant to appease the wishful-thinkers. The PA might arrest Hamas members in the West Bank, but there still remains - today - terrorist groups that report to Fatah. Here's the webpage of one of them. There has been no serious move by the PA to dismantle their own terror groups.

Elephant 7: The first - and second - stages of the roadmap were never implemented

The entire point of the road map was to slowly build confidence, starting with the end of terror and incitement on the Palestinian Arab side, afterwards building a "provisional" state and only then going to final-status negotiations. Abbas and his team simply threw out phases I and II. By skipping to Phase III as if the other two phases were already in place, the entire exercise is simply a joke. Incitement remains at full blast and the lull in terror is tactical, not a sea-change in Palestinian Arab attitudes. 

Even though the US has made statements against Palestinian Arab incitement, it hasn't moved to stop it. 

This is not so much an elephant anymore quite so much as it is a proof that terror works. Before the second intifada, the world was not fully behind a Palestinian state; autonomy was still considered an option. The world never demanded 1 to 1 land swaps based on the 1967 lines - but after the terror spree they now do. And the demands of the road map to slowly build confidence before granting a state has likewise been thrown out the window. 

Terror pays.

Elephant 8: The PA's goal remains the destruction of Israel

Whether it is by "right of return" or not changing the Fatah charter or by printing map after map showing no Israel, even the most moderate Palestinian leader clings to the idea of destroying Israel, and looks upon a Palestinian Arab state as only one stage in the process. One only needs to look at the maps of "Palestine" in official PA documents and schoolbooks. 



A 2011 poll that remains criminally under-reported proves that when Palestinian Arabs say they want a two-state solution, it is only a stage towards their real goal of destroying Israel. 



Elephant 9: Jerusalem

Most Israelis want a unified Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. Most Palestinian Arabs refuse to accept anything less than all of ("east") Jerusalem as the capital of a Muslim state. The positions are not compatible and a compromise will not reduce the chances for violence - it will increase it.

Elephant 10: What happened to Gaza

Forgetting Hamas for now, the time period between Israel's dismantling settlements in Gaza and the Hamas takeover is instructive as to how Palestinian Arabs take advantage of territory they gain. They didn't build new houses or communities to reduce the "refugee camp" population, no schools or hospitals. They destroyed the greenhouses purchased for them by American Jews; they turned beautiful former settlements into training camps for terror - in other words, Israel's last major concession not only didn't help achieve peace, it ended up encouraging terror. Any claims that something similar wouldn't happen in the West Bank is the triumph of wishful thinking over experience.

Elephant 11: Palestinian Arab "unity"

Related to Elephant #1. No peace plan can work unless Hamas and the PA/Fatah reach some sort of unification agreement. This is not possible in the foreseeable future. Moreover, Hamas is powerful enough that any such agreement must include a hardening of PLO positions that would be completely incompatible with the basic Quartet demands for peace - renunciation of terror, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements.

Elephant 12: The Palestinian Arab "diaspora" and Arab intransigence

Any final peace agreement would mean that Arab countries could no longer justify keeping Palestinian Arabs in "refugee camps" nor could they justify their continued refusal to discriminate against Palestinian Arabs from becoming citizens of their countries should they want to stay. The millions of PalArabs in the Middle East becoming citizens would not be accepted by many Arab countries as it would endanger their own tenuous holds on power. 

Elephant 13: Economics

Some 16 years after Oslo, the economy in the territories is still close to non-existent and wholly dependent on foreign aid. Not only is there no free market, there is no incentive to build one as the very mentality of Palestinian Arabs and their leaders is one of welfare rather than responsibility. All the plans to create a Palestinian Arab state do not consider Day 2 and how such a state would be able to sustain itself. The expected influx of hundreds of thousands of people from "refugee camps" would make it even worse. It would take at least a generation to turn the poisonous attitude of entitlement around.

Elephant 14: Gaza demographics

Gazans have no room to expand as their numbers continue to grow at among the fastest rates in the world.  Theoretically they could move to the West Bank but only a small percentage would. This is another Day 2 powder keg that is being ignored in the interests of a "solution" of a "Palestinian state." 

Elephant 15: Palestinian Arab leaders never showed interest in independence

The West assumes that the goal is an independent Palestinian Arab state where Arabs no longer have to live under "occupation." But the actions and words of Palestinian Arab leaders have never borne that goal out; they have not worked towards building the institutions and infrastructure that would be necessary in an independent state. Their insistence on "right of return" and "Jerusalem" as issues that must be resolved before independence betray their thought processes - inconsistent with independence (neither of which require those two issues to be resolved) and consistent with a desire to destroy Israel in stages.

Elephant 16: A unilateral Palestinian Arab state would be militarized

There is no way that a new Palestinian Arab state would remain demilitarized for any length of time. The Palestinian government could invite a friendly Muslim nation to position anti-aircraft weapons within its territory; to shoot missiles at El Al planes landing a few miles from the Green Line, or to get a few thousand tanks poised to cut Israel in half.

Iran already effectively controls Lebanon and Syria and is working to ensure Gaza comes back under its orbit. They would use the nascent state of Palestine to position themselves on the West Bank as well. Just like the PA ran away from Gaza at the first sign of trouble, so would they abandon their state to Iranian proxies and Islamic terrorists.

The PLO's will to defend themselves is not nearly as strong as their will to destroy Israel, a desire that has been inculcated in them for generations. Palestinian Arab nationalism is a fundamentally weak and externally-imposed construct. Iran is poised and anxious to take advantage of the chaos that would follow a unilaterally declared state, even if at the moment they are distracted.

But the West is ready to risk Israel for that elephant as well.

Elephant 17: The so-called "right to return"

The PA is showing no interest in integrating the Palestinian Arabs outside of the territories into their state. On the contrary; the "refugee camps" in PA controlled territory continue to grow, rather than shrink. Clearly, the PA expects the bulk of the  "diaspora" to go to Israel, not a Palestinian Arab state, and decades of incitement both within and without the territories have brainwashed generations of Arabs to not accept anything less than a "return" to a land that most of them have never stepped foot in. (UNRWA has been a major promulgator of this lie.)

Elephant 18: The tension between being pro-West and pro-Arab

The biggest Western success story in the Palestinian Arab territories is the existence of the "Dayton forces" that have been helping crack down on Hamas in the West Bank. 

However, most Palestinian Arabs regard those forces as puppets of the West. Not only do Hamas and Islamic Jihad hammer away at this point, but ordinary Palestinian Arabs do as well. The more cooperation between the PA and Israel/US, the more the PA government is delegitimized in the eyes of its people. 

Elephant 19: Corruption and human rights abuses are still endemic in the PA

Despite the publicized successes, the PA remains mired in corruption, hardly a model for an independent state. The 2008 Global Integrity Report rated the West Bank as close to the bottom in its corruption ratings. Press freedom remains low; the justice system is improving but hardly competent, and whistle-blowers are forced to go to the Israeli press to expose corruption. The success that the PA has had in weakening Hamas in the West Bank has come at the expense of massive human rights violations, including torture. 

Elephant 20: Palestine would be Judenrein

Statements by PA leaders make it clear that their state of Palestine would not have any Jewish citizens allowed within. Jews whose ancestors have lived in Judea and Samaria, whether for decades or for millennia, will be legally barred from living in Palestine - an extraordinary display of state anti-semitism that is completely at odds with the Western standards that the nascent state of "Palestine" is attempting to live up to. 

Elephant 21: The Muslim world's antipathy towards Israel

Even if all of the preceding elephants could somehow vanish, the Arab world and the Muslim world remains implacably against the idea of a Jewish state in the midst of supposedly Muslim lands. Iran remains in de facto control of southern Lebanon and Gaza; ordinary Jordanians and Egyptians remain among the worst anti-semites in the Arab world. The best "peace" would be bitter cold; it will not include any real normalization, and the threat from radical Islam remains potent in Arab and Muslim states. Furthermore, any tension between Israel and any of its neighbors - Hezbollah or Hamas or Syria - would result in even the moderate Arab world solidly behind Israel's enemies, no matter what. The best peace plan would result in Israel being exactly where it is today - surrounded by enemies, with less of a land buffer, and Israel relying on US money to prompt Arab neighbors to keep radicals in check. 

That is not peace, and that is not security. 

Elephant 22: The Arab Spring

We now see how tenuous is the hold of Arab leaders on their nations. The chances of a similar upheaval in the Palestinian Arab-controlled areas is not small. What would happen to the "peace agreement" then? 

Besides that, Abbas has no successor. Poll show that if elections were held today, the new president of the PA would be a convicted terrorist now in Israeli prison. Any piece of paper signed by Abbas would be next to worthless after he is gone.

 It is true that Egypt has, despite rhetoric, kept the Camp David accords, but that is out of self-interest. The entire point of Palestinian Arab nationalism has been to destroy Israel, not to achieve statehood - so their self-interest coincides with taking any Israeli concession and then reneging on their end.

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