Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, August 22, 2011

New, improved, deadlier Israeli weapons! Must be true - Gazans say so!

The head of an emergency ward in a Gaza City hospital said Monday that Israeli forces were using new, more brutal weapons against residents of the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Israeli forces began a four-day bombarded the coastal enclave killing 14 Palestinians and wounding dozens more in a series of airstrikes and drone attacks.

Dr Ayman As-Sahbani said patients were admitted with horrific injuries and that some bodies delivered to Al-Shifa Hospital were so badly burned they were unrecognizable.

He said Israeli weapons made no distinction between women, children and the elderly, pointing out that a two-year-old toddler and a 13-year-old boy were among those killed in the latest escalation.

Does this mean previous Israeli weapons did distinguish between women, children and the elderly?

This is simply a conspiracy theory dressed up in a doctor's clothes. Given that some 11 of the 14 killed in Gaza were in fact terrorists, and the others were human shields, the only point that can be made about Israeli weapons is that they surpassed their previous already-stellar record of avoiding civilians.

We've seen "car swarms" for years, and the bodies were pretty much toast in those cases as well. This doctor is just playing the usual game of trying to blame Israel for war crimes when, in fact, Israel's brief gaz operation was proportional, limited and deadly accurate.

See also this important followup.

YNet: Unknown group "Jihadi Resistance" claims Eilat attacks

From YNet:

An unfamiliar organization calling itself the "Jihadi Resistance" claimed responsibility for the terror attack in south Israel last Thursday, in which eight people were killed.

The organization's spokesperson claimed the operation's aim was to assassinate Defense Minister Ehud Barak, adding that the organization will release a video of the attack in the upcoming days. The report could not be verified.

I could not find any Arabic site mentioning this unless they were quoting Yediot, so I don't know where this original announcement can be found online.

So did this organization call YNet directly?

It would make life much easier if the media sites would give links the way bloggers do. They still act as if they hold a monopoly on information - and how to interpret it.

The new Egypt wonders whether bikinis will be allowed on beaches

Al Masry al Youm reports that nervous Egyptian tourism officials met with members of the Muslim Brotherhood about their plans to encourage tourism should they gain power.

Specifically, they were asking their positions on allowing tourists to drink liquor or wear bikinis on the beach.

Muslim Brotherhood Secretary Dr. Saad Katatni dodged the question about liquor, but he stated that "Egypt is a religious country and wearing bikinis should not be allowed in the public beaches."

However, he said that "there could be an alternative to this kind of question, and perhaps one can wear bathing suits in private beaches."

The tourism officials replied that without wine and bathing suits, there would be no tourism altogether in Egypt.

A follow-up meeting is planned.

It is interesting that the tourism representatives are worried enough about a Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt to initiate such a meeting to begin with.

Israel is Xanax for the Arabs (Now Lebanon)

An editorial in Now Lebanon:

The reaction to the investigation into the February 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in general, and in particular the indictments handed down to the four alleged Hezbollah members accused of carrying out the crime, is arguably the most exquisite distillation of the Arab obsession with the conspiracy.

Had there been video footage of Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad jointly flicking the detonator switch as Hariri’s motorcade sped past the St. Georges Hotel on that fateful day, we would still believe they were Israeli lookalikes. Israel is our security blanket, our Xanax—call it what you will. We are a people who don’t want to consider any alternative to a safe but ultimately stunting worldview that casts Tel Aviv as the villain. Buying into Israel as the bogeyman is the drug we take to assure ourselves all is well.

When the March 14 coalition demands that Hezbollah surrender its weapons because it wants to move forward and build a country in which the state controls all arms, at best it is accused of hiding behind a clearly naïve argument—one that connects Lebanese security from Israeli attack to the deterrence created by the party’s armed wing—and at worst of being a key pawn in a fiendish Western stratagem to destroy the Resistance.

Anti-Western conspiracy theorists will say that the million Lebanese who took to the streets on March 14, 2005 did not force the Syrian army out of their country; the Americans did. It couldn’t have happened without them. And yet they will have no truck with an argument that suggests that Hezbollah would not be the party it is without Iran. Both are true to a greater or lesser degree, but the latter is perceived as morally stronger because it has Israel in its sights.

The Resistance is a pure, noble and brave institution, committed to Lebanon’s national integrity, ready to defend its southern border from foreign—read: Israeli—infection. The party and its supporters will laugh off suggestions that it is first and foremost a powerful asset in Iran’s regional standoff with Israel and the West. This is nonsense, we are told. It is a theory the West would have us believe, a conspiracy within a conspiracy, if you will. As one NOW Lebanon reader commented last week in defense of Nasrallah and his party, “Hezbollah is our pride, our Honor, and our [sic] Lebanon’s Liberators.” It is a mantra that tells part of the story.

Who needs the rest? Who cares about the decades of Arab authoritarianism, corruption and repression? This is explained away as our chronic condition, our lot in life, one that is somehow easier to deal with if the ever-present specter of Israel hovering in the wings is ready to rush on stage like a pantomime villain. To look inside ourselves would be too painful.

Hamas rips me off!

A few months ago, after Bin Laden was killed, I made a poster:

Now I see that a similar billboard is being put up in Gaza!

A recently erected martyrdom poster honouring Osama Bin Laden and Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin adorns a main street in Rafah near to the Egyptian border on August 21, 2011 in Rafah, Gaza

How dare Hamas take my idea equating two of the most prominent terrorist organizations!

Even worse, how dare they spit in the face of all those oh-so-educated Western Middle East experts who know without a doubt that Hamas is pragmatic and potentially peaceful with Al Qaeda is intransigent and incorrigible!

One more dead terrorist

I have noted and listed the names showing that, according to the PCHR, 10 out of the 13 people killed by the IDF in Gaza since Thursday were terrorists, and the other 3 were human shields who were right with them when they were killed.

Hamas' Al Qassam website claims that 15 were killed by Israel. And they list one Hamas member who was killed, who was not on the PCHR list:

Ashraf Azzam, 31, killed Friday.

So it is possible that the IDF was even more impressive in its accuracy of killing terrorists - 11 out of 14, or 78%, an almost unbelievable number for urban warfare. (If there was a 15th, I cannot find any mention of it.)

Terrorists count up their rocket tallies

The PRC says it shot 101 rockets and mortars towards Israel since Thursday.

Islamic Jihad says it shot 17 Grad rockets, and 9 "107" missiles and 22 mortars to Israel.

Hamas, after initially claiming to have shot a few missiles, reversed itself and now is not claiming any.

The PFLP says it shot 13 rockets and 12 mortars on Saturday and Sunday.

Terror groups have always been proud of their rocket totals.

I'm not certain if the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades from Fatah fired any.

It looks as if the tallies aren't final yet....two new rockets were fired Monday evening.

When masked jihadists talk - people listen

A photo from Islamic Jihad's press conference yesterday:

Surprise! PA postpones elections again!

PA president-for-life Mahmoud Abbas has just announced that the local elections that were planned for October 22 are being postponed indefinitely.

The reasons? Here's the doubletalk:

To contribute to efforts to end the division and achieve national reconciliation and unity, and support of national and Arab efforts to end the division and achieve reconciliation and unity which are national goals, and provide the atmosphere to achieve this, and to give opportunity to the Central Election Commission to complete readiness for elections in all provinces of the country, and on the powers conferred upon us, and upon the necessities of the higher interest and the public interest.

See? It is in the public interest to delay elections as long as possible. Because, after all, why should the public have a say in who is going to govern them?

And these are only the local elections. Elections to decide the actual leaders of the PA are not even on the drawing board.

Iranian sponsored anti-Israel march in London (updated)

From Iran's PressTV:

Hundreds of British nationals, including Muslims, civil and anti-war activists, and anti-Zionist Jews have taken part in the annual Al-Quds Day demonstration in London.

The demonstrators gathered at Portland Place, outside BBC Radio theatre, to protest against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Afterwards, demonstrators marched through central London to Trafalgar Square where they listened to speeches addressing the Palestinian issue.

Demonstrators carried Palestinian and Hezbollah flags and various anti-Zionist placards reading “Zionism is racism”, “freedom for Palestine”, “end occupation”, “end the killing”, “end the Israeli Apartheid”, “stop funding genocide”, “right vs. might”, “63 years of occupation must end”, “silence is complicity” and “boycott Israel”.

Moreover, the Pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted: “we are all Hezbollah”, “end the occupation now”, “Zionism terrorism”, “we are all Palestinians”.

There are a few videos on YouTube showing the event; here are a couple of screen shots:

Notice the sign above?

I guess MJ Rosenberg is right - they're not trying to delegitimize Israel. They're just trying to destroy it.

(Al Quds Day is an Iranian holiday created by Ayatollah Khomeini. It takes place this coming Friday, the last Friday of Ramadan.)

UPDATE: More from Richard Millett who was there:

Report: Egypt identified three of the Eilat terrorists

From Al Masry al Youm:

Egyptian authorities have identified three of the people responsible for carrying out a terrorist attack in Israel, just north of Eilat, on Thursday, in which seven Israelis were killed, according to an Egyptian security source.

The same source added that one of the men identified is a leader of terrorist cells in Sinai, while another is a fugitive who owns an ammunition factory.

It is unclear whether "identified" means "caught."

Also:

The source also gave details of an attack by Israeli security forces that left three Egyptians dead on Thursday. One army officer and two police officers were killed when an Israeli helicopter crossed the Egyptian border at mark no. 79, fired two missiles and then hovered over the Egyptian checkpoint, firing its machine guns, said the source.

I've seen reports saying that the IDF accidentally killed between 3 and 5 Egyptians.

I have not seen their names. I have not seen any news about their funerals.

I have also not seen the Egyptian press mention any soldier being killed by the terrorists themselves, including by suicide belts, something the Israeli media reported on.

Al Masry al Youm also has an interesting detailed report on the situation in the Sinai:

Ayoub and his followers believe that the security apparatus unwittingly created the threat of Islamists in Sinai, and that it was the same Islamists who suffered under these unlawful and harsh detentions who attacked the police station on 29 July.

While his Salafi group is peaceful, Ayoub says there are others that believe in violence, such as Al-Takfeer wal-Hijra.

When asked about their level of armament, he says, “They are armed, like everywhere else in Egypt, especially after the revolution started.” Ayoub told the media over a week ago that his group was ready to arm 6000 people in Sinai to protect the territory. Many in Sinai view themselves as the guardians of Egypt’s borders from potential Israeli threats.

Khaled Saad, a businessman and secular political activist in Arish, may not have much sympathy for the militant Islamists, but he still doubts that they are tightly organized groups with deep-rooted ideologies. The level of their threat, he says, is somewhat exaggerated.

“There has been a lot of anger at the security practices of the toppled regime, so it became easy for some sheikhs to gather outlaws and smugglers around them so that they become a militia,” Saad says, echoing Ayoub in suggesting that the recent attacks on state institutions are the continuation of a battle that began with the oppression of locals by Mubrak’s security apparatus.

Infiltrations from the Gaza Strip have also raised concerns about a rising Islamist insurgency in Sinai. Palestinian factions competing with Hamas’ control of Gaza are chased out and driven into Sinai by way of tunnels that bypass the tightly controlled border.

“Both Hamas and the military intelligence here in Arish have full information about all groups infiltrating into Egypt from Gaza. No one can expand and form a whole armed movement here, because they are well-tracked,” says a Palestinian living in Arish who requested anonymity.

..Egyptian tanks and armored personnel carriers are currently present at military checkpoints between Arish, Rafah, and the nearby town of Sheikh Zowayed.

The military show of force is part of the Egyptian armed forces’ “Operation Eagle,” a troop mobilization that began on 12 August. The deployment, which is ostensibly in response to terrorism threats, needed to be authorized by Israel, as it technically breaches the peace accords, according to reports in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

The mobilization came a week after a statement from a group advocating for an Islamic emirate in the peninsula and calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula went viral in the Egyptian media. In response, the military said it would “purge” the peninsula. Many people in Sinai voiced their support for the operation, but others raised concerns.

Before the attacks in Israel on 18 August, Egyptian security forces were quick to call the Sinai operation a success. Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin said at a press conference last week that the campaign has so far managed to arrest members of Al-Takfeer wal-Hijra and collect arms and illegally-acquired military uniforms. The assailants in the 18 August attack in Israel were reportedly wearing Egyptian army uniforms.

Security sources have also told local media that Palestinian members of the militant group Islamic Jihad were among those were arrested, some of whom were previously detained in Egyptian prisons and fled during the chaos of last winter’s uprising.

Local media have also reported on coordination between Hamas and the Egyptian military to monitor the movement of potential infiltrators to Sinai from Gaza through the tunnels, particularly from the Army of Islam and a little-known group Jaljalat. Both claim ties to Al-Qaeda.

Some experts on Islamist movements, such as Khaled al-Berry, suggest that the Army of Islam has loose ties to the Syrian regime, which is currently facing massive protests calling for its downfall.

Berry, who classifies groups like the Army of Islam as not strictly ideologically-motivated and easily employed by political players, warns of possible chaos in Sinai being sponsored by an embattled Syrian regime trying to prove its strategic importance to the region.

But in the end, it appears that the threat came from none of those groups. The attack on southern Israel on Thursday that killed eight people was, according to Israel, perpetrated by insurgents from Palestinian Resistance Committees based in Gaza who infiltrated Sinai through tunnels.

YNet has a report about the Sinai situation as well, but it does not seem to be nearly as in depth as this one.

See also the previous post by Suzanne.

(h/t Yoel)

Egypt and Israel both struggling with Al Qaeda

In the aftermath of the deadly attacks in Southern Israel, many are still wondering who was behind the attacks. Israel believes that the Popular Resistance Committees had a hand in the attacks and retaliated against them. The in Gaza based PRC denies involvement, but the PRC is obviously not only present in Gaza, but also in Egypt:

As the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs points out in an interesting article:

To stop the loosening of the Egyptian grip on Sinai, Israel agreed twice to significant Egyptian troop increases to their force deployment in the peninsula, thus changing the parameters set in the military annex of the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty. The latest deployment of more than a thousand troops was made only a few days before the terrorist incursion into Israel and was meant to boost Egypt’s efforts to regain its hold on Sinai. Assessing that the main threat to Egypt’s authority was in northern Sinai, where the gas pipeline splits toward the neighboring countries, Egypt decided to deploy its forces in that area, thus leaving the southern part diluted of forces and open to infiltrations.
However, from day one of the operations against the extremist organizations in northern Sinai, the Egyptian authorities realized to their dismay that the phenomenon is not limited to Sinai but engulfs the whole of Egypt. Islamist cells have been created all over Egypt so as to topple the regime by force. The network of Palestinian organizations in Gaza has already proved to be a threat to Egypt itself. In January 2011 Egypt’s former interior minister, Habib el-Adly, charged that the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamist group Jaish al-Islam was responsible for a New Year’s Eve attack on a Coptic church in Alexandria that left twenty-three Egyptian Christians dead. Jaish al-Islam is an Al-Qaeda affiliate and was formed by members of the Popular Resistance Committees, the organization responsible for last week’s attack within Israel.

The blog also mentions what happened two days before the event on Road 12: Egyptian forces mounted an attack east of the town of el-Arish and revealed:

The members of the group were part of a Takfiri organization, that is, the same organization of Muslim zealots that assassinated President Sadat in 1981, some of whom subsequently joined the Al-Qaeda militants.
The group was trained militarily in Gaza and in the region of Jabal Hilal in central Sinai, which is now the area where most of the fundamentalists fleeing the Egyptian security forces have found refuge. Jabal Hilal has been a notorious base for Al-Qaeda in the recent past and the location of difficult battles between Al-Qaeda and the Egyptian army, in which, in one case, an Egyptian general was killed.
Those militants were part of the groups that sabotaged the gas pipeline to Israel.
The leader of the Palestinians who allied with the Egyptian members of the El-Arish group was a member of Islamic Jihad in Gaza. He managed to reach El-Arish by using one of the underground tunnels. He had been in prison in Egypt but was able to escape to Gaza in the wake of the Egyptian revolution.
The Egyptians associated with the Palestinians were highly educated (one a mechanical engineer, another with a BA in administration) and came from Suez, Alexandria, Qalyoubiah, and Suhaj. The Egyptian security forces were surprised, since this was the first time a Sinai terrorist cell included members from outside of Sinai.
The interrogations revealed that there was a Takfiri presence almost throughout Egypt. El-Arish was a convenient location because it is close to Gaza and Israel, making it easier to obtain weapons.
The group clearly had a theological, jihadist outlook. Basically they wanted to replace the regime by force according to the tenets of Takfir (in which one Muslim declares another an unbeliever) and of the Egyptian Salafist movement.
Most of the Egyptian detainees had been members of fundamentalist organizations for years.
Their main targets were Egyptian security forces (which they viewed as heretic) and strategic installations such as the gas pipeline.

The so-called Arab Spring might be - for the time being - refreshing towards former opponents of the Mubarak regime as they now seem to be able to express their views without fears; it did create an opening towards Islamist actors as legitimate political entities:

The rise of various Islamist factions (...) that are striving for power makes it difficult for jihadists to directly threaten the regime’s stability. Realizing that they cannot (...) confront the Egyptian state head-on, the jihadists are trying to undermine the regime indirectly by exploiting the situation regarding Gaza and Israel and through renewed militancy in Sinai, and also by reviving religious tensions between Copts and Muslims, (...)

And that's a serious reason for concern:

Particularly significant is that the cell captured in El-Arish shows that the Takfiri and jihadist movement in Egypt is very much alive and even gaining more terrain. It can be assessed that the Takfiri militants are either part of Al-Qaeda or working hand in hand with their Al-Qaeda operators.

Indeed, as the The Jerusalem Center concludes:

Only a tight, effective, but mostly tacit partnership between Israel and Egypt can help both parties, each for its own reasons, cooperate in eradicating the fundamentalist cells in Sinai and beyond.

I hope the Egyptians will understand.