Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The second-most hated people in the Middle East

The most hated people in the Middle East? That's easy.

But who comes in at #2?

It is, hands down, the Iraqis of Palestinian origin.

Saddam Hussein gave huge privileges to Palestinian Arabs (short of citizenship, of course.) He gave them subsidized housing, forcing Iraqi landlords to charge less for Palestinian Iraqis. When Saddam fell, jealous Iraqi landlords started evicting them - and worse. Many were killed and blamed for terror attacks.

Hundreds fled Iraq, but found that none of their Arab brethren had any interest in taking them in. They have been stuck in real refugee camps - not the towns that the UNRWA runs in Jordan and the territories that it calls "refugee camps" - on the Iraqi borders with Jordan and Syria. And for years, the UNHCR has been trying to find countries to take them in.

Arab countries - even those that accepted thousands of other Iraqi refugees - refused to take the Palestinian Iraqis.

Yet, in 2006, when Canada offered to take a few dozen of the Palestinian Iraqis as refugees, both Hamas and the PA complained to the UNHCR, not wanting them to leave the area - preferrring that they stay in miserable conditions.

The reason? As an Arabic Falasteen editorial said, it is because happy Palestinian Arabs don't support their idea of "unity" - once they go to the West they have little interest in "returning" to the place where their Arab brethren can treat them like dirt:

We have warned and others in more than one location and an article about the dangers to be dissipating refugee diaspora Palestinians, since this will negatively impact on the fabric of their unity and their syndicated in the areas of asylum...these will lead to migration to other European countries and therefore as a result of this disruption to the bloc refugees in Lebanon and the resulting in the end of the negative impact on their right to return to their homes and property.

Today, the situation is similar:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today warned that the situation of the more than 2,700 Palestinians who have been stranded and are living in inhumane conditions in two camps on the Iraqi-Syrian border continues to deteriorate.

“Over the past 22 months, UNHCR has been calling for urgent humanitarian solutions for this group and – even if only temporary – relocation elsewhere, preferably in the Arab region,” the agency’s spokesperson Ron Redmond said at a press briefing in Geneva.

In 2006, Canada received 64 Palestinians from Iraq, while last year, Brazil accepted 107. Recently, Chile, which itself was once a refugee-producing country, offered to resettle an initial group of 117 Palestinians, who are expected to leave Iraq for the South American nation in April.

Additionally, Sudan has extended an offer to accept 2,000 Palestinians, and UNHCR and Palestinian representatives are currently working to finalize a plan to allow the operation to take place.

The agency welcomed these responses from third countries, but reminded countries that there is a further need to help in dealing with acute cases.

So whenever you hear people from Saudi Arabia or Jordan or Syria or Egypt or Kuwait or any other Arab state complain about how terribly Israel treats the Palestinian Arabs, ask them politely what exactly they have done for this group of less than 3000 refugees - who can be easily absorbed by any Arab country. Ask the oil-rich states how much money they contribute for the upkeep of these camps. Ask them whether they would allow temporary visas or work permits to this group of their beloved Palestinian brethren.

And then ask them why not.

"Bomb voyage" - Lebanese girl panics at SMS, plane emptied

From AFP:

A Beirut-to-Paris flight was grounded today after a passenger who had left her boyfriend behind said she feared he might have put a bomb in her luggage to keep her from leaving.
"The girl, Katia Salha, was either in love with this guy called Hussein Mughnieh, or they were engaged, and as the plane was taxiing to the runway she got an anonymous message on her phone telling her that he wished her bon voyage," a security official said.

"She got scared and she alerted a hostess that she feared her boyfriend might have left a bomb in her luggage."

An airport official said the pilot of the Air France flight taxied back to the gate for the plane to be searched.

It is curious that a woman would want a boyfriend who she suspects would want to kill her and a couple of hundred other people.

March Qassam Calendar

As usual, this is far from complete, and it is more to show how ignored the Qassam issue is rather than to show how many are being fired. Many Qassams never make it in the news, and the rare times that the IDF publishes statistics shows that I am usually undercounting by about 50% (although that number os probably less in recent months.) Also, these are Qassams that don't make it to Israel; many that are fired explode in Gaza itself (March 10 and 30th are examples.)

This list does not include mortars being shot from Gaza, which are usually much more numerous on any given day. It also does not count the occasional rocket from Lebanon. It does count Grad rockets from Gaza.

March

230 total

Previous calendars:

February 2008
January
December 2007
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February

The funniest anti-semite of the week

Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV has brought us a real winner in the shape of Wael Al-Zarad. Check out the video courtesy of MEMRI and then let's look at his words:

In short, these are the Jews. As Muslims, our blood vengeance against them will only subside with their annihilation, Allah willing, because they tried to kill our Prophet several times.

Hmmm...all Jews deserve to die because they supposedly tried to kill someone many centuries ago. Sounds familiar, but I cant quite put my finger on it...

What should we do with these people? What is the best solution for them? Should it be by shamelessly bestowing kisses, regardless of our religion and our morals, on satellite TV and in clear view of the whole world?

I hope you aren't drinking something when hearing this dud talk about "morality."

Should it be through futile meetings, which are usually conducted on carpets red with the blood of martyrs?

I like the imagery, personally. It seems logical that peace will only occur after the terrorists are dead.

Or should it be through an exchange of despicable smiles and ugly handshakes?

I guess that this sounds better in Arabic.

What is the best solution for these people, who have perpetrated every possible thing against us?

Every possible thing? This guy doesn't have much of an imagination, does he?

They have turned our mosques into pubs and bars, where they drink alcohol and get women drunk.

Which is, of course, more immoral than advocating genocide from those same mosques.(The next time I'm in Israel, someone please tell me where to find a bar in a converted mosque, because I'll make a special trip there, to get a woman drunk.)

From the dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, they proclaim that Ezra the Scribe is the son of God.

Say what? I must thank Robert Spencer for mentioning that this is in the Koran, because such a weird claim deserves a source.

By Allah, people, the Jews do not deserve such a fuss. They do not deserve to be feared. The Jews are not a terrorizing bogeyman. The Jews are nothing but human scum, who came as scattered gangs to occupy our land.

Of course, if these human scum managed to defeat the mighty armies of Allah, that doesn't say much for those armies, does it?

By Allah, if each and every Arab spat on them, they would drown in Arab spit. By Allah, if each and every Muslim spat on them, they would drown in saliva. By Allah, if the Arabs and Muslims turned into flies, the Jews would die from their buzzing.

And yet, when they actually try to fight those pathetic Jews and get defeated, they whine to the infidels at the UN that it wasn't a fair fight! Once again making one wonder - if the Jews are so pathetically weak and frail, what does that make the Arabs who run away from them so easily?

Therefore, my dear brothers, the Jews do not deserve to be feared so much. Therefore, I ask with pain and sorrow: Isn't there a single reasonable man in any of the Arab air forces? Isn't there a single reasonable man among them, who will break through these aerial borders, and bomb the Jews deep in their own land? Where are all the Arabs and Muslims?

This is my favorite part - this genocidal maniac, frothing at the mouth with his hatred of all things Jewish, himself admits that the Jews are living in their own land!

Rockets? What rockets?

Snapped Shot points to this beauty from Reuters:

Israeli army officers stand in front of the remains of rockets, fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, during a military briefing at the police station in the southern town of Sderot March 25, 2008. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis (ISRAEL)

Is it just me or is this picture framed to highlight something other than hundreds of Palestinian Arab rockets that have been shot towards Jewish civilians?

Nah, I'm sure that the Israeli policeman just happened to walk in front of the cameraman at the precise moment that he snapped the picture.

Gaza news you won't hear anywhere else

On Sunday, Hamas militias attacked the Egyptian embassy in Gaza City. The embassy officially moved to Ramallah but it still seemed to maintain a skeletal presence in Gaza. According to Palestine Press Agency, Hamas assualted a guard and ransacked the building, taking down the Egyptian flag.

100 truckfuls of food entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, including 10 trucks from Egypt.

Israel also sent some 61,000 animal vaccines to Gaza and is coordinating their distribution and the analysis of blood samples.

Hamas abducted more Fatah officers in Gaza.

Weeds

In 1901, Dwight L. Elmendorf set out to visit Palestine and document it with photographs (his "only weapon," as he put it.) He published the pictures in a 1912 book called "A Camera Crusade Through the Holy Land."

The photographs are quite good, but two are of particular interest.

The first is of the "Mosque of Omar," the Dome of the Rock:

And another is of the "Wailing Place of the Jews":

Notice the huge amount of weeds poking through the stones in the "third holiest place in Islam." It is desolate, and it looks like it was rarely visited.

Compare the floor of the Temple Mount - where Jews wouldn't visit because of its holiness - with the smooth floor in front of the Kotel.

In 1901, it was clear which people venerated Jerusalem and which people ignored it.

Lotsa links

EU Vice President goes to Nablus, blames everything on Israel at Ma'an
Arab-American activist says Obama hiding his pro-Palestinian Arab views at Arutz-7
One minute with the candidates at Fresno Zionism
Stop Jean Ziegler from joining the UN Human Rights Council at UN Watch
Join the Facebook Zionism page
US Aid for Terror at FrontPage
Al-Jazeera pretense of objectivity at Harry's Place (h/t Shylocke)
Your Tax Dollars at Work in Gaza by Jonathan Tobin
Palestinians vs Tibetans by Dennis Prager

Saudi Arabia's hatred for Palestinian Arabs

I have previously pointed out that, even though Saudi Arabia is awash with hundreds of billions of dollars in cash from oil revenues, the amount that it gives Palestinian Arabs is tiny compared to what the West gives. It spends far more in Western investments than it does in its Palestinian Arab brethren.

Meanwhile, it has built a huge welfare state at home, where Saudis grow up with free education, healthcare - and an incredible aversion to manual labor. The result is that Saudi Arabia has some seven million foreign workers in a total population of 27 million - roughly one quarter of all residents. Roughly 12% of Saudi nationals are unemployed, nearly a half-million, compared to essentially no unemployed foreign workers. Roughly a half million Saudi workers are Palestinian Arabs.

The unemployed Saudis are ripe pickings for radical Islam; as they enjoy a cushion of benefits and rewards for laziness. And the people who do real work are penalized, even after living there for generations.

An interesting illustration of how Saudi Arabia treats its Palestinian Arab residents can be seen in this lawsuit for US asylum submitted by a Palestinian Arab in 2003:

The IJ [immigration judge] recognized, based on Ahmed’s testimony, that Palestinians in Saudi Arabia are relegated to officially sanctioned second-class status incorporated into the legal and social structure of Saudi Arabia. Ahmed sought to portray this treatment as persecution providing grounds for asylum. He testified that although his parents have lived in Saudi Arabia for 50 years and Ahmed was born in the country, neither he nor his parents have been able to obtain Saudi citizenship because Saudi Arabia reserves citizenship for people of Saudi descent. To remain in the country, Palestinians must renew their residence permits every two years for a fee of 2,000 Riyals (about $530). Palestinians must also be "sponsored" by a Saudi Arabian citizen to own real property, work, or own a business. To illustrate the harsh effects of this requirement, Ahmed related that his father had successfully operated and expanded a grocery store for 15 years, only to see his Saudi sponsor - the de jure owner of the store - take the business away once it became profitable. Each time a Palestinian wishes to change jobs, he must change sponsors for a fee of 6,000 Riyals (about $1,600).

Ahmed testified about his experience while growing up in Saudi Arabia. He was barred from certain activities during high school and initially was not allowed to attend a university because he was an alien. Although he was able to gain admission to King Saud University in Riyadh because of his talent for soccer and the connections of a family friend, he was forced to study political and administrative science at the university because aliens could not choose their own topic of study. After graduating from the university and searching for a job for more than a year, Ahmed was hired in 1993 to sell cars. He testified that he was paid one-third as much as his Saudi counterparts and had to work significantly longer hours.

(The application for asylum was thrown out because although the US judge recognized that he was discriminated against, it didn't rise to the level of "persecution.")

We see that Saudi Arabia coddles its lazy natives and heavily penalizes the real workers, the backbone of its society. In fact, Saudi Arabia literally gives land away free for native Saudis - every Saudi is entitled to a free plot of land and an $80,000 interest-free loan to build a house - a benefit that has been there for twenty years, when oil was closer to $30 a barrel.

Imagine how much benefit Saudi society would reap if it invited Palestinian Arabs to become citizens? Its unemployment rate would plummet, its standard of living would rise, it would not be so dependent on workers from Africa and the Far East, and it would actually do something concrete to help Palestinian Arabs.

Of course, it has no real desire to do that. Like other Arab countries, the Kingdom wants to keep their Palestinian brethren in squalor, and most importantly to keep them angry.

Because their entire purpose, by Arab sights, is to hurt Israel.

Fisk: Bush responsible for suicide bombers in Iraq

In an otherwise interesting article about suicide bombers, Robert Fisk throws in - twice - who he blames for Muslims blowing up thousand of innocent Muslims in Iraq: George Bush.

..But a month-long investigation by The Independent, culling four Arabic-language newspapers, official Iraqi statistics, two Beirut news agencies and Western reports, shows that an incredible 1,121 Muslim suicide bombers have blown themselves up in Iraq. This is a very conservative figure and - given the propensity of the authorities (and of journalists) to report only those suicide bombings that kill dozens of people - the true estimate may be double this number. On several days, six - even nine - suicide bombers have exploded themselves in Iraq in a display of almost Wal-Mart availability. If life in Iraq is cheap, death is cheaper.This is perhaps the most frightening and ghoulish legacy of George Bush's invasion of Iraq five years ago. Suicide bombers in Iraq have killed at least 13,000 men, women and children - our most conservative estimate gives a total figure of 13,132 - and wounded a minimum of 16,112 people.

...One of George Bush's most insidious legacies in Iraq thus remains its most mysterious; the marriage of nationalism and spiritual ferocity, the birth of an unprecedentedly huge army of Muslims inspired by the idea of death.

While Fisk is suitably horrified at the phenomenon of suicide terror, it never occurs to him to blame the culture that glorifies death and martyrdom for the phenomenon. No, like all the other evils of the world, it must be because of George Bush.

Sderot still getting attacked. Just so you know.

An interesting pattern emerges as one looks at the daily Qassam totals.

Israel drastically reduced its operations in Gaza around March 6 and a tacit agreement seemed to take hold where both sides would observe a "calm." But Islamic Jihad, in the beginning, religiously fired 1 rocket per day at Israel, as well as the usual round of mortars at the crossings where humanitarian aid crosses into Gaza.

This pattern remained until Israel killed four terrorists in Bethlehem, which the Gazans considered a violation of the nonexistent truce and they shot dozens of rockets over a couple of days. Israel stuck by its calm.

Now, the number of rockets being shot is slowly being ramped up again - today there were 4.

This is almost exactly what happened during the "calm" announced in November 2006. Israel stopped all attacks in Gaza, but the rockets kept coming, a couple a day, slowly increasing over time until Israel finally resumed its policy of attacking rocket launching cells - after four months of constantly rising attacks.

Meanwhile, residents of Sderot are learning once again that their lives are worthless according to the current government of Israel. When Ashkelon gets attacked with a couple of Grads, Israel goes on the offensive; but the daily Qassams to Sderot are considered, now as then, to be a price Israel is willing to pay.

All while Hamas continues to smuggle in more rocket components and explosives.

Just like before.

US laser system flunks anti-Qassam test

From Strategy Page:

Despite legal, political and media pressure, Israel has rejected the use of lasers to protect its citizens from Palestinian missiles. This is mainly because of a test of the Skyguard system in the United States (at the White Sands Missile Range), which resulted in only 22 percent of the 36 rockets fired being detected and shot down.
The laser defense system in question has been around for over a decade, and was initially called THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser). Israel dropped out of the THEL project because of the expense of developing the system to the point where it would be ready for regular service. The American partner in THEL development is now offering a smaller version of THEL, called Skyguard, for protecting commercial aircraft from portable anti-aircraft missiles. The manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, originally developed THEL for combat situations. Tests two years ago showed THEL was able to knock down barrages of incoming mortar shells.

On paper, THEL (or SkyGuard, or the new name, Nautilus), looks good. The THEL laser and radar system was designed to track up to sixty targets (mortar and artillery shells, rockets) at a time and fire on and destroy these projectiles at a range of up to five kilometers. THEL can destroy about a dozen targets a minute, at a cost of some $3,000 per shot. Each THEL system (radar and laser) could thus cover about ten kilometers of border. The Skyguard version has a range of up to eight kilometers, uses improved software and can more easily link to other radar systems to obtain targeting information. Skyguard is designed mainly for knocking down portable anti-aircraft missiles fired near airports, at aircraft that are landing or taking off.

Last year, Northrop Grumman said that it could have a laser anti-rocket system ready in 18 months, at a development cost of $400 million. Each anti-rocket system would cost about $50 million, and one or two could protect against missiles from Gaza. Thus the total bill for just developing, building and installing the systems is about a billion dollars.

Israel would like the U.S. to help with the costs, for such a system could be useful in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Israel already gets over $2 billion a year in military aid, and the new Skyguard systems could come out of that. The Israeli artillery brass were making the argument that money spent on THEL would provide more benefit that billions spent on new jet fighters.

It took nine years, and over a half a billion dollars, for American and Israeli engineers to get as far as they did (one working prototype system) with THEL. Aside from the systems size and cost, there's also the problem of lasers being weakened by clouds, fog, mist or even artificial smoke. For that reason, there's not a lot of enthusiasm for proceeding right now on such a bulky and expensive system for use against small rockets. But by the end of the decade, a smaller, and cheaper, version will be more attractive, and more likely to be purchased. The Israeli lawsuit is all about getting THEL/SkyGuard/Natilus in service ASAP, no matter what.

The reality is that THEL is a bulky system, and not really mobile. Each system requires half a dozen or more large tractor trailer trucks to carry the radar, fuel supplies and laser. A proposed new version, the MTHEL (Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser) was designed (using three tractor-trailers) and tested. Engineers believe that MTHEL could be ready for battlefield use in about six years, at a cost of another billion dollars. In another few years, engineers believe they could create a MTHEL that could fit in a hummer.

But the development costs of THEL and MTHEL were so high, that both the American and Israeli governments pulled their support two years ago. The manufacturer put some of their own money into the project and came up with Skyguard. The pitch is that Skyguard would be cheaper than equipping thousands of aircraft with individual anti-missile systems. But first, THEL has to prove that it is reliable enough to stay on-line 24/7 (or nearly so), and act effectively if there is ever an attack. No one has yet tried using these missiles in the United States, but it has happened elsewhere, especially in Africa. There is not enough fear of such attacks in the U.S. to get SkyGuard funded, and purchased.

The first Skyguard system would cost about $150 million, with subsequent ones costing about 70 percent less. Skyguard will also be able to handle rockets, artillery projectiles, mortars, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles. In other words, if you had a billion dollars to spare, you might be able to get a Skyguard system to defend Israel from rockets fired from Lebanon or Gaza. Maybe. THEL is another example of technology that got out of the lab before it was ready to survive in the wild. What the Northrop engineers are saying is, "give us another billion bucks and a few years, and we'll have it working effectively." That is a pitch heard all too often in the Pentagon, and more often than not, the outcome is not good. Laser anti-aircraft systems are one of those weapons that can accurately be described as "the weapon of the future, and always will be."

Sixty years ago: Lovable loser

From Time, March 15, 1948 (and quoted in the March 24, 1948 Palestine Post):

In Damascus last week, two Chevrolet pickup trucks and two black sedans pulled up before a plaster and stone bungalow. Arab soldiers piled in bedrolls, crates, map rolls. Then a redhaired, blue-eyed man, who looked more German than Arab,* climbed into one of the sedans. The convoy filed out of Damascus, swung southward into Palestine. The Teutonic-looking man borrowed a phrase from General Douglas MacArthur. Said he: "I have returned." Ahead of Fawzi Bey Kawukji had come some 10,000 Arab volunteers. About one thousand more are entering each week. The Arab "rescue" of Palestine had begun.
Although Fawzi Bey, once an officer in the Turkish army, was born in Lebanon 53 years ago, he was no stranger to Palestine. There he got some of the 80-odd wounds which still sometimes make his popeyes water with pain. He had spent a lifetime fighting for Arab independence against the British and French. Now he was returning to Palestine to command the northern sector in the fight against Zionism.
Fawzi Bey had yet to prove that he could capably command a force of many thousands. So far his battles had ended in defeats: by the French in Syria, by the British in Palestine, and in Iraq (where he fought with Nazi help) during World War II. A British plane strafed, and almost killed him, in Iraq. He went to Germany to recuperate. There he helped stir up the Arab world against the British, married a German girl (his third wife), was held by the conquering Russians until February 1947.
Whatever the doubts of his military ability, there was no doubt about the magic of his name among Arabs. ...Every peasant and Bedouin knows his name. He likes to dress dramatically, to fit his dramatic legend. His favorite garments: a fleece-lined flying jacket, or long sheep-lined cape draped over his shoulders. After his escape from France last year (TIME, March 10, 1947), crowds often appeared before the Orient Palace Hotel in Damascus, and clamored to see him. He began every speech with the words: "I am not a man of words; I am a man of action." The crowd loved it.
Last week, after Fawzi Bey had moved to Palestine, one Syrian said: "Arab history is repeating itself. In the Crusades, Saladin had to free Jerusalem from the infidels. Today Fawzi Bey is our Saladin."
^{* Other blond Arab leaders: Haj Amin el Husseini, ex-Mufti of Jerusalem; Hussein Khalidi, secretary of the Arab Higher Committee: Sheik Hassan Salameh, Arab commander in the Jaffa sector of Palestine.}

Hamas terror trial to start today - in Jordan

Some Arab countries realize the danger from Hamas much more than many Europeans. From Palestine Today (Arabic):

Scheduled by the Jordanian State Security Court on Monday, the trial of five members of the "Hamas" movement on charges of "obtaining confidential information needed to ensure the security of the state, and possession of a firearm without legal authorization."

Jordan accuses the five members of the "recruitment of many elements on the Jordanian arena to work for the movement, and monitoring and photographing sensitive sites and whose disclosure endangers the safety and security of the Kingdom, in addition to monitoring the Israeli embassy in Amman and warehouses of the American commercial interests (C Town)," according to the indictment.

The defendants are fixed Ahmed Abdallah Aboualhaj, Salim Salim Mahmoud Alihusani, Azzam Ahmed Jaber Helmi, Mohamed Hassan Khojah spring, and demanded Hassan Saleh Abdallah.

The indictment alleges that "all the accused members of the" Hamas "movement, received extensive training in neighboring States in security and detection tracking and resisting the investigation and the security of communications."

It added that the list was subsequently "mandated by the accused Hamas members residing in the State to work on the Jordanian arena and on the two axes, the first recruit elements on the Jordanian arena to work for the movement, and the second monitor and photograph sensitive sites whose disclosure endangers the safety and security of the Kingdom of danger by the video camera and other ordinary and by location (Google Earth) on the Internet and to monitor the Israeli Embassy in Amman and American commercial stores. "

MSM whitewashes Zawahiri Jew-hatred

The knee-jerk desire to not admit that there are Arabs who hate all Jews is almost comical.

From AP:

al-Qaida No. 2 Says Attack Israel, US

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri is calling on Muslims to strike Israeli and American interests to avenge Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to a new audiotape.
In the 4-minute tape, posted on a Web site Monday, al-Zawahri accuses Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of helping Israel in its offensive by sealing off the border between Egypt and Gaza.
He calls on Muslims to "strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims," and says attacks should not be limited to areas in Israel or the Palestinian territories.

AFP's headline also emphasizes Israel but at least it gets it right in the first paragraph:

Al-Qaeda number two calls for strikes against US, Israel

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2008 (AFP) — The second-ranking leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, called for new strikes against Jewish and American interests in a new radio address monitored here.

"Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims," Zawahiri said in an audio speech issued by Al-Qaeda's As-Sahab information network on Sunday and monitored here by SITE Intelligence Group.

Zawahiri urged the faithful to "monitor the targets, collect the money, bring the equipment, plan accurately, and then -- while depending on Allah -- storm, seeking martyrdom and paradise."

..."Let us strike their interests everywhere, just like they gathered against us from everywhere," Zawahiri said. "Let it be known to them that they will get blood for every dollar they spend in the killing of the Muslims, and for every bullet they fire against us, a volcano will turn back on them."

He insisted that Israeli warplanes were bombing people in Gaza "based on the American decision, the Egyptian siege, and Arab collusion."

"They will never be able to insult and make a mockery out of our Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah upon him," Zawahiri went on to conclude. "They cannot expect to support Israel, then live in peace and enjoyment while the Jews are killing our fugitive and surrounded people."

Reuters' latest version also chooses to downplay his remarks about Jews:

Zawahri urges anti-Israel attacks over Gaza

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets to avenge Israel's raids on the Gaza Strip, in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Monday.
"O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims," said the speaker on the tape who sounded like Zawahri.

"Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately and then attack," he added, without specifically naming any targets. "No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only."

The cognitive dissonance that much of the media has is amazing. Even when the terrorists say explicitly that they want to attack Jews worldwide - and even when they do! - the MSM often wants to place it in purely political terms.

To too many journalists, political opposition makes sense, while pure bigotry does not. Since bigotry is so abhorrent, so is the accusation of bigotry. So even when we have Al-Qaeda, responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents, saying purely bigoted statements - the "enlightened" reporters just cannot believe their ears, and cognitive dissonance creeps in to replace straight facts.

Most Palestinian Arab supporters play this game according to MSM rules and are careful in English to ensure that they do not say anything anti-Jewish - they relegate that talk to the madrassas and mosques. And the reporters are more than happy to go along with that charade. But here, we see that even when Arabs publicly announce their bigotry, the natural reaction of at least some in the media is to whitewash it.