Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Cleric: UNIFIL should give Lebanon missiles

I missed this one last week:

Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah sharply criticized Israel's violations of Lebanese airspace Thursday, calling on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to provide the Lebanese Army with defensive weapons.

"Israel is still violating our skies without taking UNIFIL's role into consideration," the country's senior Shiite cleric said during a meeting with Spanish Ambassador Miguel Benzo Perea. "UNIFIL should provide the army with surface-to-air missiles so it will be able to prevent any Israeli violation of Lebanon's airspace."

Fadlallah also expressed opposition to foreign interference into Lebanon's affairs, which he warned might create conflicts in the country and complicate relations among the Lebanese.

"We do not accept any international or regional tutelage," the cleric said.

In other words, give us lots of weapons but don't tell us what to do. Sounds about right.

Turns out that this Lebanese Shiite leader has a website. Thanks to him, we now know that women should never act as women in public.

For more info on him check this out.

What you didn't read about the Gaza incursion

This interview was before the shelling this morning that (apparently) tragically killed some 18 civilians. It shows a side of the Gaza incursion that you simply will never see outside the Israeli media.

Givate Brigade commander Col. Yoel Strick was pleased as his forces left the area of Beit Hanoun after a weeklong operation.

Col. Strick says that the forces also uncovered five weaponry manufacturing facilities. Buildings used as 'laboratories' where missiles and explosives were prepared...

Regarding the local Palestinian population Col. Strick admits that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is very difficult: "The situation is miserable and reminiscent of the familiar images from refugee camps. It's not easy to see the way they're trying to maintain their daily lives there. It was clear that an operation of this stripe would force us to operate from areas populated with civilians and that we would have to take every precaution not to harm them. There were only six civilian fatalities; I can say that I'm proud of the outcome considering the scope of the operation. I have no problem with our moral standing."

During the operation Col. Strick met in person with the director of the Beit Hanoun hospital. "I asked him what equipment he was missing and we made sure he got it," says Col. Strick, adding that "we didn't go in to holy sites or hospitals, the terrorists did however, often entering these places with arms."

Our favorite self-hating Jew dislikes Borat

Gilad Atzmon, that legendary jazz musician in his own mind, has decided that Borat's lampooning of anti-semitism is in fact a malicious way for him to shield Israel from legitimate criticism.

As best as I can tell from his latest rant, much of today's anti-semitism is really legitimate anti-Zionism, and therefore making fun of it serves to shield Israel from its crimes. Or something like that:

However, after last summer’s Israeli extravaganza of brutality in Lebanon and the seemingly endless and daily flood of Palestinian blood made to spill by the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank, anti-Jewish feelings seem to be fuelled by Zionist crime. Moreover, nowadays, when the Jewish State’s influence within the American administration is academically and historically established (The Israel Lobby, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html), when the support for Neoconservatism that has lead to a genocide in Iraq is largely endorsed by the Zionist intellectual and ideological voice (The Euston Manifesto http://eustonmanifesto.org/joomla/), some forms of anger against the ‘Jew’ should be comprehended as a political criticism rather than merely a primitive irrational outburst. This is, of course, not justifying ‘throwing Jews down the well’ but rather trying to explain from where such anti-Jewish feelings are originating.

Borat is set to present anti-Semitism as a backward reactionary tendency. By doing so Baron Cohen and his team are there to block or even to shutter any form of criticism of global Zionism in general and of Israel in particular. This is indeed a non-violent legitimate political agenda, yet something to keep in the back of your mind while having an evening out at the cinema.

As usual, Atzmon looks at the world through his usual evil-Jews lens and everything he sees confirms his views. One hopes that his clarinet playing is somewhat more competent than his articles are. (Then again, his usual publishers in the indymedia and Arab worlds will print anything he has to say, as the token Jew-hating Israeli.)

Hamas helpfully issues terror press releases

From YNet:

The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, have begun issuing a report which chronologically describes the resistance activities and the names of group members killed.

"We hereby announce the blessed operations we have carried out," the report states. "We shall continue to hit the enemy using all means. With the help of Allah, each of their bombardments will be answered with a bombardment, and each blood with blood."

The latest report punctiliously elaborates on the operations carried out on Sunday:

2 a.m. – Qassam launched

At night – Maadi Khaled al-Khamadin killed

7:10 a.m. – Qassam launched at Sderot

12:25 p.m. – Mortar shells fired at IDF forces in Beit Hanoun

1:30 p.m. – Two RPG rockets and Yassin antitank missile fired at Israeli armored forces in Beit Lahiya

2:10 p.m. – Qassam launched at Sderot

3 p.m. – Police officer Atef Kahlut killed in Beit Lahiya battle

5:10 p.m. – Snipers fire at IDF soldiers

6:35 p.m. – Qassam launched at Zikim

7:15 p.m. – antitank missile fired at IDF force

7:33 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. – Qassam launched at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai and Kibbutz Zikim

At night – Raid Abed al-Aal killed in Jabalya after being hit by a missile fired from a helicopter.

Notice that they don't even pretend to be targeting military targets - they say that they are shooting Kassams towards kibbutzim and towns.

Even though this was the terror report from Sunday, Hamas announced today that "the truce with Israel is over." As if it ever existed.

Oh, and by the way - Hamas also announced that they are calling on all Muslims to kill Americans.

Embrace your inner anti-semite

Mark Glenn, whom I've quoted before, has finally made his feelings explicit. He's sick and tired of everyone pretending that Zionism is the problem when it is, in fact, Judaism!

Let’s face it–the only reason we are allowed (not to mention willing) to talk about it these days is because it begins with the letter ‘z’ and not the letter ‘j’. That is the single barrier demarcating the two items–a simple issue of letters and pronunciation, despite the fact that they are basically the same animal. Stay within that safe ‘z’ zone and all will be relatively fine. You will be championed as a friend of humanity and a warrior for the truth. Venture into that other area though and bring up that dreaded ‘j’ word and suddenly the same ‘open-minded’ people who a moment before were erecting a monument in your honor start to loosen their collars and clear their throats uncomfortably.

...Let’s just lay it all out on the table and let the chips fall where they may. What have we got to lose, after all? Are we worried about making them mad? They already are mad, and I don’t just mean in the commonly-used manner indicating ‘unhappy’. Are we concerned that with the amount of power they possess that somehow God’s chosen people might do something to make life uncomfortable for us? That they might start a war?

Wake up and smell the Knishes, my friends, Judaism has been at war with us for over 2,000 years, ever since this man named Jesus of Nazareth came and blew the lid open on what Judaism‘s real agenda was. Judaism is a declaration of war and manifested by thousands upon thousands of acts of intentional malice directed by Rabbinical generals against the rest within the non-Jewish world in matters involving money, business, politics, and culture....

While the other two Middle Eastern faiths that are Judaism’s organic enemies–meaning Christianity and Islam–elevate the virtues of humility, charity and righteousness, Judaism not only elevates, but institutionalizes and legislates the vices of haughtiness, supremacism and callous disregard for other human beings. It is the codified mindset of mankind’s first murderer, Cain, who slew his brother Abel over reasons of envy and economics. Gentiles exist to serve the Jews. Rape of gentile children, murder, lying, theft, usury, all these things that have been condemned in every other religion around the world are given full sanction in Judaism when it benefits the tribe....

Judaism is nobody’s friend, and the sooner that the rest of us–Jew and non-Jew alike–come to realize this, the better off we will be. Get rid of it. It is a cancer. Cut is out and throw it away, as Jesus instructed that we do. It has never and will never be of any benefit to mankind. We cannot live in any kind of ‘peaceful co-existence’ with it. It is a declaration of war, and as long as it exists out there, mankind will never have peace.

Of course, he has an entire website dedicated to eradicating the world of the evil Jews, but he has been a little reticent to go public with his views before. Glad to see that the pesky mental block is gone and he is proud for who he is. Shouting your ignorance and bigotry from the rooftops is so therapeutic - especially when you know that, deep down, all your anti-Zionist friends agree with you.

(And, as usual, this article was indexed as "news" by Google.)

Women's lib, PalArab style

Islamic Jihad has accused Israel of arresting charity workers. In this painful autotranslation from WAFA:

Islamic Jihad accuses the occupation authorities to arrest citizens working in the framework of charity work
Wafa accused the Islamic Jihad movement, today, the Israeli occupation authorities to arrest citizens working in the framework of charity work, among charities based movement founded to help the citizens.Khader Habib, denied the news reported by the Israeli media, the arrest of occupation cell belonging to the women's movement in the cities of Ramallah and Hebron in the West Bank.

The Sheikh Habib, All prisons in the occupation forces working in the field of philanthropy.

Now, let's see what is really going on:

The Shin Bet exposed during the months of August and September a network of women operating for the Islamic Jihad as part of the organization's terror infrastructure in the West Bank. This was cleared for publication Tuesday.

The network is split into two terror cells – one in Kfar Ayin and one in Kfar Na'ama – that have carried out shooting attacks and have laid roadside bombs around Ramallah. The network has even operated an explosives lab. The Shin Bet and the IDF have arrested a number of the network's members.

One of the senior women arrested is Wadha Faqhaa, 24, from Jilzon, dealt with transferring finances to one of the cells. Faqhaa, head of the Islamic Jihad office in Ramallah, was arrested on August 3. During her interrogation, she said that she received funds from the organization's command center in Syria. Some of the funds she allocated to finance terrorist cells by way of a number of women Islamic Jihad activists serving as money couriers.

Two of the couriers – Haba Hamidat, 21, and Falastin Tsoobah, 21, also residents Jilzon – worked in the Islamic Jihad office in Ramallah that takes care of the organization's prisoners. They were arrested on August 20 and confessed to the accusations against them.

In addition to the two couriers, Faqhaa was also aided by other Islamic Jihad activists who served as a conduit for transferring funds from the organization's central command in Syria to the terror cells.

Two of these activists – Afat Khalifa, 21, from Kfar Naama, and Zakia Guanma, 40, from Jilzon – were arrested as well. They said during their interrogations that they received commission of USD 100 for each money transfer they carried out. These funds then funded the terror attacks of the Islamic Jihad's terror cells.

The sixth member who was arrested is Rania Abu Khadir, 26, from Tzurif. She is the head of the Islamic Jihad's student union at Hebron University. Khadir is suspected of being active in charity organizations, which transferred funds to terrorist organizations and the families of suicide bombers.

Judging from the use of female human shields to allow wanted terrorists to escape, and yesterday's woman suicide bomber and this article, it seems that the PalArabs are hellbent to make their own lives even more miserable than they are now.

But it is no surprise that they have such low regard for their women's welfare. Domestic violence against women in the territories has increased in recent years, with rapes, honor killings and incest all rampant, according to a HRW report released yesterday. (Although the PA gets the brunt of the responsibility in the report, HRW manages to obliquely blame Israel for some of it - after all, if PalArab men don't have jobs, then what choice do they have but to take their frustrations out on their wives and daughters?)

The one article liberals need to read

For all those who excuse Islamic terror, for all those who navel-gaze to try to find out what we did to make them hate us, for all those who are convinced that colonialism and Western values and Zionism are what motivate the jihadists - read this.

Hot for martyrdom

Michael Coren
National Post

Friday, November 03, 2006

Dr. Tawfik Hamid doesn't tell people where he lives. Not the street, not the city, not even the country. It's safer that way. It's only the letters of testimony from some of the highest intelligence officers in the Western world that enable him to move freely. This medical doctor, author and activist once was a member of Egypt's Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Arabic for "the Islamic Group"), a banned terrorist organization. He was trained under Ayman al-Zawahiri, the bearded jihadi who appears in Bin Laden's videos, telling the world that Islamic violence will stop only once we all become Muslims.

He's a disarmingly gentle and courteous man. But he's determined to tell a complacent North America what he knows about fundamentalist Muslim imperialism.

"Yes, 'imperialism,' " he tells me. "The deliberate and determined expansion of militant Islam and its attempt to triumph not only in the Islamic world but in Europe and North America. Pure ideology. Muslim terrorists kill and slaughter not because of what they experience but because of what they believe."

Hamid drank in the message of Jihadism while at medical school in Cairo, and devoted himself to the cause. His group began meeting in a small room. Then a larger one. Then a Mosque reserved for followers of al-Zawahiri. By the time Hamid left the movement, its members were intimidating other students who were unsympathetic.

He is now 45 years old, and has had many years to reflect on why he was willing to die and kill for his religion. "The first thing you have to understand is that it has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with poverty or lack of education," he says. "I was from a middle-class family and my parents were not religious. Hardly anyone in the movement at university came from a background that was different from mine.

"I've heard this poverty nonsense time and time again from Western apologists for Islam, most of them not Muslim by the way. There are millions of passive supporters of terror who may be poor and needy but most of those who do the killing are wealthy, privileged, educated and free. If it were about poverty, ask yourself why it is middle-class Muslims -- and never poor Christians -- who become suicide bombers in Palestine."

His analysis is fascinating. Muslim fundamentalists believe, he insists, that Saudi Arabia's petroleum-based wealth is a divine gift, and that Saudi influence is sanctioned by Allah. Thus the extreme brand of Sunni Islam that spread from the Kingdom to the rest of the Islamic world is regarded not merely as one interpretation of the religion but the only genuine interpretation. The expansion of violent and regressive Islam, he continues, began in the late 1970s, and can be traced precisely to the growing financial clout of Saudi Arabia.

"We're not talking about a fringe cult here," he tells me. "Salafist [fundamentalist] Islam is the dominant version of the religion and is taught in almost every Islamic university in the world. It is puritanical, extreme and does, yes, mean that women can be beaten, apostates killed and Jews called pigs and monkeys."

He leans back, takes a deep breath and moves to another area, one that he says is far too seldom discussed: "North Americans are too squeamish about discussing the obvious sexual dynamic behind suicide bombings. If they understood contemporary Islamic society, they would understand the sheer sexual tension of Sunni Muslim men. Look at the figures for suicide bombings and see how few are from the Shiite world. Terrorism and violence yes, but not suicide. The overwhelming majority are from Sunnis. Now within the Shiite world there are what is known as temporary marriages, lasting anywhere from an hour to 95 years. It enables men to release their sexual frustrations.

"Islam condemns extra-marital sex as well as masturbation, which is also taught in the Christian tradition. But Islam also tells of unlimited sexual ecstasy in paradise with beautiful virgins for the martyr who gives his life for the faith. Don't for a moment underestimate this blinding passion or its influence on those who accept fundamentalism."

A pause. "I know. I was one who accepted it."

This partial explanation is shocking more for its banality than its horror. Mass murder provoked partly by simple lust. But it cannot be denied that letters written by suicide bombers frequently dwell on waiting virgins and sexual gratification.

"The sexual aspect is, of course, just one part of this. But I can tell you what it is not about. Not about Israel, not about Iraq, not about Afghanistan. They are mere excuses. Algerian Muslim fundamentalists murdered 150,000 other Algerian Muslims, sometimes slitting the throats of children in front of their parents. Are you seriously telling me that this was because of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians or American foreign policy?"

He's exasperated now, visibly angry at what he sees as a willful Western foolishness. "Stop asking what you have done wrong. Stop it! They're slaughtering you like sheep and you still look within. You criticize your history, your institutions, your churches. Why can't you realize that it has nothing to do with what you have done but with what they want."

Then he leaves -- for where, he cannot say. A voice that is silenced in its homeland and too often ignored by those who prefer convenient revision to disturbing truth. The tragedy is that Tawfik Hamid is almost used to it.

Congratulations, Hamas

In the beginning of the current intifada, the PalArab terrorists used suicide bombers to kill any Jews they could reach. At first, Israel reacted defensively, adding many checkpoints and stopping many attacks. The Palestinian Arab people suffered because of the checkpoints but continued to support the terrorists.

The terrorists started recruiting Arabs who worked in Israel to blow up their workplaces. After a couple of bombings, most PalArabs lost their jobs as their Jewish employers did not want to be put at risk. The Palestinian Arabs suffered, the their economy went in the toilet, but they continued to support the terrorists.

The terror continued, though, and after a long period of no active military response, Israel took the offensive in the West Bank to pro-actively go after the terror cells and managed to reduce the threat a great deal. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Arab people's lives got much harder because of the fighting that had moved from Israel's cities to those of the territories. Still, they supported the terrorists.

The terrorists started recruiting women suicide bombers. After a couple of "successes," Israel cracked down on the Arab women as hard as they had on Arab men. The Palestinian Arab women suffered, but still they supported the terrorists.

The lowlife terrorist scum then started to smuggle explosives into Israel using ambulances. As a result, Israel has to stop and inspect every ambulance going through checkpoints, slowing down medical help to many. Palestinian Arabs suffered, but still they continued to support the murderers.

Finally, to stop the threats, Israel started building a fence to separate the Jews from those who wanted to kill them. PalArab farmers suffered from losing easy access to some of their crops but it essentially stopped the attacks. Yet still the Palestinian Arabs supported the terrorists.

Then the terrorists started shooting rockets into Israel. This caused Israel to invade Gaza, killing some innocent civilians along with many terrorists. Life deteriorated yet again for the Palestinian Arabs but still they supported the terrorists - so much so that they elected Hamas to lead them.

This caused the world to place an economic boycott on the territories, and the PalArabs suffered even more. But they continued to support the terrorists.

Now, the PalArabs are elated that Hamas called on their women to rescue their terrorist heroes who were shooting from a mosque. The women, knowing that Israel would not treat them as military targets, managed to dress the terrorists in their clothing and allowed them to escape. The PalArabs are crying with happiness and a new legend has been born.

As a result, the next time they try to do that, the Israelis will treat the women as a military target and shoot them - as they should treat anyone who is aiding terror. Many women will die. Life will get even worse for the PalArabs.

And they will continue to support the people who have made their lives hell because they believe that killing Jews is more important than building a state.

So, congratulations, Hamas, for your brave call to your puppet women to place their lives at risk to save your murderers. Because of your decision, many more of your sisters and mothers will die and your people will suffer more and more.

But they will continue to support you, so it must be worth it.

Newest AFP buzzword: "Ultra-radical"

AFP has addressed a major problem of nomenclature.

We know they describe the Fatah terrorists who want to destroy Israel while they pretend to negotiate as "moderates," and the describe the Hamas terrorists who want to destroy Israel while they get elected and become respectable as "radicals:"

A Palestinian minister has said the ruling Hamas party had reached agreement with president Mahmud Abbas's moderate Fatah on a national unity government, but a spokesman for the radical Islamist group would only say "important progress" had been made.

But then what does AFP call Islamic Jihad, who wants to destroy Israel but it not in the government?

Why, they must be "ultra-radical!"

An Israeli unit, which rolled into the town -- the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ -- took up position around the family home of Thaer Hassan, a member of the ultra-radical Islamic Jihad group, wanted for several years.

The ultra-radical Islamic Jihad, which has been behind all of the most recent bomb attacks against Israeli targets, immediately claimed the attack in which Massud was killed.

Yes, somewhere in the AFP network a style book has just been updated.

Thank heavens we have AFP to create distinctions between terror organizations that share the same goals and methods.

A little something to keep you up at night

Today I got a call from my credit card company asking about a possible fraudulent charge. Sure enough, someone must have gotten a hold of my number and tried to buy thousands of dollars worth of stuff.

From CopQuest.com.

So while it is possible that ordinary criminals are interested in things like police knives, insignia, uniforms and the like, it sure sounds a lot more like some local terrorists are preparing themselves.

I only hope that CopQuest keeps track of the delivery information in cases like these and shares them with local and national law enforcement.

Another grim milestone: over 150 PalArabs killed by each other

YNet reports that Islamic Jihad kidnapped and murdered four supposed "collaborators" with Israel, who they claim were caught doing the heinous crime of disabling rockets meant to kill Jews.

Meanwhile, the Khan Younis clan clashes continue with two more killed.

This means that the number of Palestinian Arabs violently killed by their own people since Operation Summer Rains (that I know of) is now at 154.

It also means that there were at least 11 murders this weekend in Gaza that the mainstream media, and indeed even most of the Palestinian Arab media, completely ignored.

In fact, I do not recall seeing any articles in the PalArabic media referring to any arrests or trials for any of the criminals - surprising indeed, considering how many policemen they have!

It sounds like these people deserve a state of their own. Because then we can have peace in the region.

Iran offers to give missiles to Israel's neighbors

And Reuters is even handed between a megalomaniacal regime and the leader of the free world.

TEHRAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Iran is ready to share its missile systems with friends and neighbours, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards said, after he showed off missiles including some he said had cluster warheads.

Guards commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi also told Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam TV late on Sunday the Guards had thousands of troops trained for suicide missions in case Iran was threatened although he said any U.S. attack was unlikely.

The United States has said it wants to resolve a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme by diplomatic means but has not ruled out the use of force. Washington believes Tehran is seeking to make atomic bombs, despite Iranian denials.

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, was quoted by Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency on Sunday as saying the Islamic Republic was ready to supply air defence systems -- without giving specifics -- to the Lebanese military.

"Tehran also considers this as its duty to help friendly countries which are exposed to invasion of the Zionist regime (Israel)," Sheibani was quoted saying, in response to what he said was a request by Lebanon's army commander, General Michel Suleiman, for help from friendly states.

Iran funded and supplied Lebanon's Hizbollah militia in the 1980s, but now says its support is political and moral. The group used Iranian-made missiles fighting Israel this summer.

"The Revolutionary Guards does not only depend on its technological might because it has thousands of martyrdom seekers and they are ready for martyrdom-seeking operations on a large scale," Safavi said, calling them trained professionals.

An organisation has previously said Iranians have signed up for suicide raids in case Iran was attacked, but officials have in the past said the group was independent of the government and not part of the Guards, the ideological wing of Iran's military.

No Iranians are thought to have directly executed suicide bombings in recent years. But the United States accuses Iran of being a state sponsor of terrorism, a charge Tehran denies.

When a country can be proven to have lied, repeatedly, Reuters ignores it in favor of "reporting" its claims and ignoring the context. Because to Reuters, terrorists and their supporters are just politicians.

Reuters doesn't even bother to mention the many threats that Iran has made against Israel in a story that talks about how Iran wants to arm Israel's Arab neighbors. Somehow, that is not considered relevant. But Iranian denials of terror and its nuclear bomb program are front and center.

Reuters is apparently so enamored of its "even-handed" status that it cannot be bothered to even juxtapose Iran's denial of terror with its claim of training thousands of suicide bombers. To put those facts together would be prejudicial, I suppose.

UPDATE:Reuters also misses the small fact that Iranian missiles in Syria or Lebanon increase the percentage of Europe within range significantly. But as long as Tehran "claims" to only being concerned with defending its Arab friends from Israel, this is nothing to worry about.

Nuttiest Arab news site yet - with a twist

So far in my travels through the Arab news sites with Google translation, I've seen distortions and some bizarre op-eds as well as some very telling omissions, but nothing that was off-the-wall loony.

Until tonight.

Introducing Al-Watan. It's opening cartoon is helpfully translated into English:

We also have this lovely caricature:

One main article goes off into Bizarroland with the claim that the US casualties in Iraq are now between 20,000 and 35,000, with most of them being hushed up very effectively.

Of course, Al-Watan has a very favorable article about the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon competition, throwing in the Jewish lies about death camps, the Western Wall and the kitchen sink, for that matter.

And these are the news articles!

So, which Arab government is behind this twisted "news" site? Syria? Bahrain? Egypt?

Nope - it is based out of Anaheim, CA.

The Yasir Arafat Soccer Championship

This Friday, in Gaza, will be the Yasir Arafat Football Championship. Teams are urged to register today.

I don't know about you, but I get a mental image of a soccer ball morphing into Arafat's kafiyehed head and his mass-murdering skull getting kicked all over the dusty fields of Gaza.

And I smile.

HH XCII

Yehuda from Jerusalem Games has masterfully written and edited this week's edition of Haveil Havalim, the roundup of the best of the JBlogosphere.

As is usual, I did not self-nominate so I am very gratified to have had two of my postings from this week chosen: Gaza: the most secure place on the planet and Anti-semites can't stomach Neturei Karta. This latter article was also recommended by Omri as "sheer brilliance" which I appreciate as well, although he still can't seem to spell my name right.

Speaking of, Muslihoon also wrote a nice recommendation of this blog, although he gives me too much credit for the reason I spell it the way I do. The reason is a bit more boring - back in pre-blog times, when I was spending time on Yahoo message boards, I saw that someone else had already chosen "elder_of_zion" so I had to spell it differently.

Anyway, HH includes some gems from Elie's Expositions, WestBankMama, Israel at Level Ground, Judeosphere and others.

Check it out!

6 PalArabs killed, 7 injured, not a Jew in sight

The Palestinian Arab press has not been reporting any violent internal killings lately. It is unclear whether it is because the headlines are so filled with anti-Israel rhetoric (the preferred way to refer to terrorists killed by the IDF is the civilian-sounding "residents") that the inevitable Arab on Arab violence is not considered news, or if they are in a self-denial phase. The PCHR "human rights" organization did not mention a single killing between October 19th and today while I counted twelve.

But either way, sometimes a massacre occurs that even the PalArabs cannot ignore, and the PCHR today reports on a huge clan clash that you will not see reported in the wire services:

On Saturday, 4 November 2006, five Palestinians were killed, including one woman, and seven others were injured, including a woman and a child, in renewed clashes between El-Masri and Abu Taha clans in Khan Yunis.

PCHR's preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 9:40 on Saturday, armed clashes erupted between El-Masri and Abu Taha clans in Jamal Abdel Naser Street at the intersections with Jala' and Bahar Streets in the city of Khan Yunis. The clashes erupted after Adnan Yousef Hosni Abu Taha (49) was beaten with a sharp object on the head by members of El-Masri clan. The clashes between both clans resulted in the death of 5 people:

- Abdel Aziz Ahmad Shaker Abu Taha (18), killed by several bullets to the head and chest;

- Bilal Ahmad Shaker Abu Taha (25), killed by several bullets to the head and chest;

- Ashraf Abdel Sami' Shaker Abu Taha (30), killed by several bullets to the head and chest;

- Salim Mohammad Odeh El-Masri (21), killed by two bullets to the pelvis; and

- Maha Nathmi Abdel Hafith Abu Shammala-Abdel Hadi (33), a bystander and a mother of 8 killed by a bullet to the chest.

The tiny McClatchy service mentions a different Khan Younis death briefly but doesn't mention the name.

One also has to wonder how many of the more recent deaths attributed to Israel were just internal fighting that is being spun. Were the two women "human shields" killed last week shot by Israel or by the terrorists in the mosque? The only sources are the PalArab doctors and "health ministry" who are known to be liars.

In any case, my PalArab violent self-death count since late June is now at 148.

Robert Spencer's "The Truth About Muhammad"

Being on the Internet as long as I have, I am always a little skeptical when someone reveals "truths" about a religion that is not theirs. Enough people have taken Judaism and Jewish teachings out of context and I try to resist doing the same to other belief systems.

On the other hand, I admire Robert Spencer immensely, and his Jihad Watch website is invaluable. I have not yet seen him blow anything out of proportion, and if anything he seems to understate the dangers of Islam.

Nevertheless, I approached his latest book, The Truth About Muhammad, with some reservations. Spencer is clearly a scholar of Islam but he appears to be relying on Islamic translations of primary sources, not the original Arabic. And there is no way for an outsider to know whether he is quoting anything out of context, or if he is cherry-picking the worst possible stories to prove his point, either consciously or subconsciously.

To his credit, he relies almost exclusively on (translations of) Islamic primary sources, notably two early Muslim biographies by Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Sa'd, that are considered reliable by most Muslims. It is important to realize that Spencer is not attempting a biography of the historical Mohammed as much as he is trying to reconstruct his life and legend as Muslims understand him, without the apologetics that usually make their way into the Islamic teachings meant for Western ears.

His point is, that since Mohammed is considered a model to be emulated by all Muslims, it is critical to look at how he is said to have lived his life.

And it isn't pretty.

Many episodes that may be excused in the context of 7th century Arabia cannot be ignored if Mohammed is indeed meant to be a model for human behavior for all time. His many marriages, including to his beautiful daughter-in-law; his start of his military career as a thief; and the consistent "prophecies" that ended up benefitting Islam and himself personally all point to a very problematic model of human behavior. (One such prophecy said not to bother Mohammed or his wives without permission - a very strange thing for Allah to care about.)

A major distinction can be seen between the Jewish prophets and Mohammed: when Jewish prophets sinned, it was recorded as an object lesson for future generations; when Mohammed did something immoral, the very definition of morality was changed to accomodate his whims.

One theme that comes from the book is that in Mohammed's mind (or the angel Gabriel's, if you prefer,) whatever is best for Islam is the correct path. Murdering a parent who is against Islam is good. Agreeing to temporary treaties that give Muslims breathing room is good, even if they have to compromise their principles - and then breaking the same treaty is also good if it comes at a time and place that is advantegeous to the religion.

One of the parts that resonated with me most was an agreement (later superceded) between Mohammed and the Jews of Medina, sharply distinguishing between "believers" and "unbelievers." (p. 91.) It affirmed the unity of all Muslims as a single united community, and it described the responsibilities they have for one another. To my mind, it goes a long way towards describing the "us vs. them" mentality that permeates Islam, and why the most moderate Muslims are so reluctant to act against the radicals and terrorists. When push comes to shove, almost all Muslims would support a bin Laden over any non-Muslim nation, and very possibly this mentality can be traced to this document and similar messages in the Quran and hadiths.

I like to look at groups of people from a psychological perspective, to understand how they think from their own points of view. This book is invaluable in understanding current Muslim thinking and, to an extent, why Islam has not evolved the way the other Abrahamic religions have.

Even if the stories are taken out of context, and even if Spencer is not reporting a large amount of progressive and peaceful statements of the "prophet," this book needs to be taken seriously by Muslims worldwide. I would love to see a critique of this book from a Muslim that relies on the same sources or can meaningfully describe why Spencer's sources are not to be believed, but as Spencer himself shows, many prominent Muslims quote the same sources liberally.

Spencer's hope is that the Muslims who read the truth about Mohammed would use it as a springboard to adapt the religion to modern times. This hardly seems likely, as introspection is not a very Islamic trait - and it is one that can get one killed.

It is also somewhat depressing to realize that Spencer is not describing the interpretations of "Islamists," but of mainstream Islam. The distinction that the media (and this blog) makes between the two seems to be artificial, and this is a difficult lesson to learn.

All in all, this is a very important book, and one worth reading.

A refresher Geneva lesson

In international conflicts, civilians may not be used to protect areas from military operations. (Convention IV, Art. 28 and Protocol I, Art. 51, Sec. 7)

1. Civilian objects shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals. Civilian objects are all objects which are not military objectives as defined in paragraph 2.

2. Attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives. In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.

3. In case of doubt whether an object which is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, such as a place of worship, a house or other dwelling or a school, is being used to make an effective contribution to military action, it shall be presumed not to be so used. ( (Protocol I, Art. 52, Sec. 3)

So the PA violated the Geneva Conventions by using women as human shields as well as by using a mosque as a military base. Israel was justified in fighting back against the terrorists in the mosque as there was no doubt that they were shooting from the mosque.

Not to mention the terrorists who disguised themselves as women, violating international law that says that combatants be in uniform.

Another look at the Hamas charter - by a Fatah supporter

At the PalArabic newspaper Al-Ayyam, a Fatah sympathizer named Mohammad Yaghi asks the question: Why can Hamas not accept the principle of two states?

Yaghi says that a unity government between Fatah and Hamas is impossible because Hamas cannot under any circumstances accept a two-state solution.

He points out that Hamas has rejected the Arab "peace" initiative, in which Israel gets recognized in exchange for full withdrawal to '67 borders, establishment of a Palestinian Arab state with Jerusalem as the capital, and allowing all PalArab "refugees" to return - even this maximal plan does not meet the minimum Hamas requirement.

Hamas' charter is equally dismissive of any "peace" conferences or similar international diplomatic initiatives to solve the conflict. Article 13 says

There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with.

The critical part of the article is this one (my fixing of the autotranslation):

But most important of all is that the thirty-six articles of the Charter are free of any text that defines the goal of "Hamas" seeking to establish an independent Palestinian state on the land of historical Palestine. The only article which contained the word "state" - notice the word "state", and not "an independent Palestinian state" - is the ninth article which defines the goal of the "Hamas" to "fight against the false, defeating it and vanquishing it so that justice could prevail, homelands be retrieved and from its mosques would the voice of the mu'azen emerge declaring the establishment of the state of Islam..."

The conflict in this context, the goal of the movement is to make the State of Islam. This explains the Movement's readiness to accept a long-term truce in return for the implementation of Israel's withdrawal from the territories occupied by year 67 and the return of refugees without recognition or bargaining for the remainder of the rights of the Palestinian people or of Muslims in the land of Palestine.

In other words, Hamas is not a nationalist movement with the goal of creating an Arab Palestine - it is wholly a religious movement with the explicit goal of creating a single Muslim 'ummah!

Yaghi also mentions the Muslim Brotherhood, and in the Hamas charter Hamas is described as one of the wings of the Brotherhood. This is mildly interesting in light of the MB's more recent PR campaign (including on this very blog) that they are against all forms of terror.

Hamas has many vocal supporters on the far Left. Do any of them realize that they are supporting a movement that would replace all Arab and Muslim-majority countries with a single Islamist terror nation that would be dedicated to the destruction of the West?

Hamas' actions from its inception until today are consistent - they do not want an independent Palestine, but they do want to get rid of any Jews in positions of power in "Muslim lands." And as the following quote from the charter shows, the meaning of Jihad is wholly military according to Hamas.

The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.

Cluster headache

Iran's IRIB news agency has an article decrying the use of cluster munitions worldwide, making a point of specifying Israel's use of cluster bombs in Lebanon. It skillfully implies that since 98% of the victims of cluster bombs are civilians, then the same percentage must hold for Israeli use.

Civilians, a quarter of them children, make up almost all the victims of cluster bombs over the last three decades, a humanitarian agency said on Thursday.

In a study of 24 countries and regions, handicap international said the controversial weapons, which scatter munitions over a wide area, had killed, wounded or maimed 11,044 people of whom 98 percent were civilians.

Cluster bombs were recently used by the Zionist regime in its month-long incursion into lebanon.

But on the same website, posted on the same day, one sees this:

The Islamic Republic of Iran started the second stage of a wargames named after the Noblest Messenger of Allah Hazrat Muhammad (A.S.) in the central Qom province by test launching of an array of indigenously manufactured missiles.

The missiles are capable of carrying cluster warheads.

So if Iran considers Israel's use of cluster munitions to be immoral, why are they developing and testing the same weapons? (IRNA confirms that missiles that actually held cluster munitions were fired.)

And since they are on the record as saying that nuclear weapons are forbidden, would the same logic apply?

And if Islam is a religion of peace, why would Muslims name a war game exercise after their prophet?

PalArabs flooded, blame the Jews!

There have been some heavy rains in Israel and surrounding areas over the past couple of weeks, causing some flooding.

In PalArab areas, flooding is especially dangerous because they often have open sewage ditches (the PalArabs haven't figured out how to build sewers, although they are excellent at building arms-smuggling tunnels.) So there is a higher possibility for disease when it floods.

But, the question remains - if something bad happens to PalArabs, somehow it must be the Jews' fault. How can they blame the floods on the Jews?

Luckily, our friends at the Palestine News Network (Arabic site, autotranslated) have found a way!

Qalqiliya / -A rubber boat in the western neighborhood in the city of Qalqilya north of the West Bank brings to mind the winter of 2005 when the racist wall detained in the western region and the rain water had risen to three meters and flooded homes, farms, livestock barns and forced the owners of boats used to transport Almahasseri n in the nearby houses of the apartheid wall.

Children in the neighborhood of al-Naqqar advantage of the opportunity to combine a depth of the water and brought high rubber boats and started swimming, exercising a hobby of them said : the occupation has prevented us from the sea and swim in it, Because praise in rainwater mixed waste water.

Mayor of Qalqilya, Wajeeh said Quas of the Palestine news : the municipality in the region setting up a giant project funded by the International Red Cross Society value of 200 thousand dollars. the drainage and waste water. It has been agreed with the Red Cross to begin soon in this vital project.

He added : Quas there was apprehension of the Israeli authorities prevented the project because it is close to the apartheid wall, There will accelerate the completion of the project in anticipation of the occurrence of disasters consequences in the event of heavy rains in the coming days.

So let's count the ways that we can blame Israel for the flooding:

The separation wall can act as a dam, stopping floodwaters from damaging the Zionist side and flooding residents who live nearby. At least that's what happened last year so it might happen again.
Children can't stop themselves from swimming in the contaminated water because the Zionists don't let them frolic in the Mediterranean.
The Red Cross will build a sewage system, but hasn't yet because of Israeli reservations, but they will, somehow. It doesn't make sense but the upshot is that the Israelis prevented them from building the sewers that they will be building.

It seems that the word "responsibility" is not in the Palestinian Arab vocabulary (they are not responsible for building their own sewers and drainage systems, for building their own swimming pools, or for keeping their children away from sewer water.)

Oh - my bad. They do know how to take responsibility for terror attacks.

Gaza: the most secure place on the planet

I've mentioned before that the PA has a higher ratio of security personnel to the general population than anywhere else. My last count had 90,000 "policemen" plus 3000 from Hamas being added.

Well, the IMF just released a report on how badly the PA mismanages its money, and the results are hardly surprising:

About 80 percent of the US$500 million (€394 million) in income in the past six months was spent on the ever-expanding government payroll and on fuel imports, leaving little for other budget items, such as welfare payments, the report said.

The report said the number of civil servants grew by 5,400 this year, to more than 142,000 in mid-June. Most of the hiring took place in the security services, and some 20,000 new recruits are currently being trained and could be added to the payroll in the future, the report said.

It now costs about US$100 million (€79 million) a month to cover salaries for government workers, compared to about US$80 million (€63 million) a month on mid-2005. The increase is also due to a generous across-the-board pay increase in late 2005.

"The government wage bill had already become unaffordable at the end of 2005," the report said. "Underlying the current fiscal difficulties is an increasingly unsustainable fiscal situation."

Hleileh warned that the current system of payments is setting back years of financial reform, carried out by former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, who had set up a single Treasury account to clean up rampant mismanagement and corruption.

So if this is true, that means that there are now about 96,000 "security personnel" and they are planning to add another 20,000.

The grand total will then be 116,000 security people to protect 3.5 million people, or one policeman for every 30 PalArabs.

I am just completely mystified how in such a secure place, things like a soccer riot or the destruction of a radio station could possibly take place (just to take two examples - from yesterday.)

A suggestion for "divestment" supporters

Ah, autumn. The time that nutty leftists in Somerville, MA try to put anti-Israel resolutions on the ballot.

They failed two years ago, but the symbolic value of a non-binding resolution in a tiny town is apparently too much to resist.

If these moral midgets are so concerned about Palestinian Arab rights, wouldn't you think that they would be campaigning to invest in "Palestine" rather than divest from Israel? I mean, they cannot go a day without crying about how PalArabs are starving and oppressed, so wouldn't these elitists be doing much more good by actually trying to, you know, help?

But I think I know the answer:

The "Palestine Index" of the Palestine Securities Exchange is down over 50% this year.

Supporting your favorite oppressed people has its limits, you know.

The "Starving Palestinians" meme

Just in the past few days, we see:

Egypt's largest Islamic group accused the world of "aggressive starvation" of the Palestinians Friday, as about 500 people demonstrated against Israel in Cairo's main mosque. - AP

"Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians into submission as the reward for having democratically elected the party of their choice." - OpEdNews, quoting Alexander Cockburn in The Nation in June.

"We are starving. We want a solution, or else there will be a big explosion here," said Imad Abu Sabri, an officer in the Palestinian presidential guard Force 17, who celebrated the Eid festival with hundreds of colleagues by blocking streets and burning tires to protest the government's failure to pay its employees. - SF Chronicle

Given his staunch opposition to the ‘militarization’ of the Intifada it is strange that Abbas is now the recipient of foreign arms shipments. More absurd is the fact that the generous suppliers of these weapons are the same governments that imposed crippling economic sanctions against the elected government in Palestine because it refuses to dismantle its military infrastructure. How cynical that western democracies should prefer to supply guns to a starving people instead of food. - Palestine Chronicle, completely ignoring the irony of Hamas acquiring tons of new weapons rather than food.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is defiant: "They used every conceivable act of inhumanity and cruelty, including starving our people and sowing divisiveness in our ranks, but have failed to bring this government down." - Al-Ahram Weekly

And here's one more piece of evidence of the unimaginable cruelty by the Zionists, especially the IDF:

The IDF meanwhile is stressing the importance of maintaining the flow of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

290 trucks carrying food staples and medicine entered the Gaza Strip from the Karni crossing over the last few days.

Some 400,000 liter of solar petrol, 100,000 liters of benzene and 15 tons of gas entered the Gaza Strip over the same period.

AFP accidentally explains the entire PalArab problem

Reading between the lines of this absurdly biased AFP dispatch, one can discern some real truths.

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada will accept a third of some 150 Palestinian refugees stranded in a camp in "no man's land" on the Iraq-Jordan border for three years, a UN Refugee Agency spokeswoman said.

Most of the asylum seekers had moved to Iraq after the creation of Israel in 1948, then fled their new home after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, but were denied entry into Syria and Jordan.

They have been "stuck in no man's land," living in tents in a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) camp just inside the Jordanian border ever since, UNHCR spokeswoman Astrid Van Genderen Stort told AFP.

Canada agreed to take in 63 of them, she said.

"They're undergoing security and medical clearance. If they don't meet the requirements, some might still be turned away," she said. "At least 30 have already been cleared."

The UNHCR stepped up efforts to relocate them this year, noting their living situation in an isolated desert with extreme temperatures, and an abundance of dangerous snakes and scorpions, has been "difficult," Van Genderen Stort said.

"Their plight was presented to various countries," she said.

Almost 300 Iranian Kurds, who fled to Iraq during Iran's 1979 revolution, were relocated from the camp to Sweden and Ireland, and some Palestinians have been moved to New Zealand, she said.

The Palestinians had received preferential treatment in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. After he was ousted from power by US forces, they faced "a backlash" from upset Iraqis who had been poorly treated by the former president.

Jordan and Syria turned them away, claiming they had already welcomed their quota of Iraqi refugees from the previous Gulf War and Israel was not warm to the idea of them returning to the occupied territories, she said.

"It's been a really sad situation because it's gone on for so long. We're extremely glad that countries have accepted some of these people," Van Genderen Stort said. "But, it will be difficult for those who stay behind."

Let's see what we can glean from this article:

A number of Palestinian Arabs fled in 1948 to Iraq. They were treated well, according to this article. They lived there for some 55 years. After Saddam Hussein's regime fell, the Iraqi Arabs were upset and made life difficult for them, causing them to flee Iraq and then they could not find any country that would accept them.

For all intents and purposes, these people should not be described as "Palestinian." They supposedly lived well in Iraq for five decades - yet for some reason they are still considered "Palestinian," not Iraqi. (AFP's "new home" comment is as inaccurate as journalism can be.) The percentage that have ever stepped foot in Palestine must be pretty small. And even though they were said to be treated well in Iraq, apparently they were never truly accepted as Iraqis, and it appears they were never offered citizenship.

In other words, even the Arabs that pledge solidarity with the Palestinian Arabs do not truly accept them as brothers. Even in the best of circumstances, they will be considered outsiders.

The people who are truly interested in helping this group of people do not come from any Arab nations, rather from New Zealand and Canada. You know - the immoral infidels.

The UNHCR is actually doing what a UN refugee agency is supposed to do - take care of the problem, so that the people in the refugee camps eventually manage to get settled. However, the UNHCR does not consider this a Palestinian Arab refugee camp - but an Iraqi refugee camp, as evidenced by the Kurds who live there as well.

Many Palestinian Arabs also live in camps, but not under the auspices of UNHCR. Rather, the UNRWA takes care of them. And instead of working overtime to find countries that are willing to take them, the UNRWA is doing everything they can to keep them in camps, generations after they lost their "refugee" status under any definition but the PalArab one. While UNHCR considers 3 years to be a long time for people to be stuck in camps, the UNRWA does not.

The AFP refers to PalArab refugees not being able to "return" to the disputed territories, when in fact the only place they could properly return to would be Iraq itself. Note that no one seems too concerned about the fact that Iraq is now hostile to Palestinian Arabs, to the point that they must flee. Rather than discuss ways to eliminate the prejudice and bigotry of the Iraqi people, the world simply accepts it as a way of life. (This happened on a much larger scale in Kuwait after the first Gulf War, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs were kicked out. For some reason, that "refugee problem" did not take up any room in the UN docket.)

Similarly, note that the refugee camp was on the Jordanian side of the border. Yet Jordan refused to even give the basic humanitarian aid to their PalArab brethren.

Reading between the lines, one can certainly learn a lot from this article.

Chofetz Chaim's obituary in the NYT and Time

English Hebraica posted a story by Avigayil Meyer where she had heard that the New York Times had written an obituary of the Chofetz Chaim in 1933, and she dug it up on microfiche:

I just found that Time magazine, in its September 25, 1933 issue, also wrote a much shorter obituary, but it is still notable:

Died. Rabbi Yisroel Meier Ha' Cohen. 100, "The Chofetz Chaim," "uncrowned spiritual King of Israel," Talmudic scholar, venerated by the world's orthodox Jewry as one of 36 saints whose piety dissuades the Lord from destroying the world; in Radin, near Wilno, Poland. Thousands of pilgrims sought his blessing in Radin where he founded a yeshiva (Talmudic school). He was "The Chofetz Chaim" (Desiring Life) by virtue of his book of that name listing the forms of slander from which a pious Jew must refrain. A onetime storekeeper, he humbly closed his shop when his popularity diminished the trade of other storekeepers, lived the rest of his life in poverty.

Freedom of the press, PalArab-style

A Palestinian Arab magazine that is published by the PA-controlled Al-Ayyam newspaper has pulled its latest issue:

The Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Ayaam pulled the plug this week on the latest issue of a biweekly journal it publishes called Al-Haal ("The Situation"). The reason for the suspension of publication was an Al-Haal interview with an Arab who assisted Israel in its war on terrorism in the PA. Al-Ayaam said that the positive portrayal of the anti-terrorist PA resident was damaging to the newspaper's reputation and to its professional underpinnings.

In the interview, the PA dissident, identified as one of the greatest allies of Israel, brags that he advised the leaders of the various PA terrorist factions regarding their tactics. However, Al-Ayaam editors felt that the portrayal of the Arab counter-terrorist was too positive, even heroic. The chief editor of the Al-Haal biweekly said in response that the editors of Al-Ayaam actually opposed those sections of the interview that appear to include criticism of the status quo in the PA.

Either reason is censorship.

And remember, kids...the liberals who are so enamoured of everything "Palestinian" are the ones who scream the loudest about "free speech."

The busy life of Mahmoud Abbas

Judging from the Palestinian Arab News Agency, WAFA, Mahmoud Abbas is so busy doing important things that he can't be bothered to figure out how to pay his people.

Here were his accomplishments yesterday:

He met with a delegation from a religious dialogue organization.
He met with members of the German Christian Democratic Party.
He received a letter from a Lebanese member of parliament wishing him well for Eid and congratulating him for his wise leadership.
He received an Eid letter from the Turkish President.
And from the Uzbek president.
And from a country which may or may not exist (Tatarstan)
He expressed sympathy for the death of a member of the Youth Ministry.
He received an Eid telegram from the President of Comoros, looking forward to seeing Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Presumably he wrote this from his capital in Moroni.
Another telegram, this one from Yemen's leader.
He took a phone call from the External Relations Commissioner of the European Union.
He took a phone call from Qatar's foreign minister.
He sent a telegram congratulating Brazil's president on winning a second term in office.

All these hugely critical tasks must be quite a burden, but as the territories fall further and further into chaos, it is good to know that the PalArabs have such an effective leader.

Irrationality as policy?

Moshe Arens has an interesting column in Haaretz saying that just maybe, Olmert's choosing Lieberman as minister of strategic threats was a shrewd move.

He explains that, in game theory, an irrational player (Ahmadinejad) has a decided advantage due to his irrationality. Since no one can predict what he might do, he can expect the world to play it safe and give him a wide berth so he can pursue his plans.

Arens is saying that Lieberman is (almost) equally irrational and throwing him up against the Ahmadinejad problem may be more effective in making the madman from Iran pause before making his next threat or pronouncement.

There is something to be said for irrationality as policy, keeping your opponents off balance. I'm just not as convinced that Ahmadinejad is acting irrationally in the real sense of the word.

We've discussed before Iran's geopolitical goal: to become the world's superpower.

Ahmadinejad is a sincerely religious man, and his vision of the future is the vision of a worldwide Islamic 'ummah. The establishment of this universal caliphate can be accomplished a number of ways, all of which are happening simultaneously:

Demographically, by converting large numbers of people to Islam and by ncreasing the birthrate of Muslims;
Politically, by making Europe irrelevant and targeting the US and Israel exclusively; and
Militarily, by becoming a nuclear power.

Ahmadinejad is not acting as the head of state of Iran; he is acting as the putative leader of the Muslim world. He has that pesky Shiite/Sunni thing to overcome but for the most part he is ignoring the differences between Muslims and focusing on the commonalities.

His seemingly irrational statements about Israel, the Holocaust and the US make much more sense when one realizes that his audience is not Iranians but a billion Muslims. If he can unify them behind him, he effectively becomes the superpower.

His manipulations of the West may be somewhat attributable to studied irrationality, but I think it is more focused - it is clear that old Europe is so paralyzed with fear of confrontation that they are more than happy to believe anything conciliatory he says and ignore the outrageous parts. Also, any head of state, no matter how nutty, has the opportunity to frame debates, and since Ahmadinejad has started his "wipe Israel off the map" and "Holocaust is a myth" memes, both those ideas have been taken more seriously by the world, albeit in watered-down forms.

If Islam is what makes him act how he does, then coming up with a counterattack is much harder. The only reason acting irrationally works is if one of the possible irrational actions will hurt the enemy more than it helps him, and almost anything Israel (or the US) does would increase Ahmadinejad's prestige and power.

The best policy I can think of, as I've stated before, is a unilateral, severe economic boycott against Iran by the US - as well as against any country that trades with Iran. The main US strength is economic and it is a weapon that is not used nearly enough. It would send stocks into a tailspin but that is a hell of a lot better than a nuke.

Arens has a point, though - the fear of an Israeli first nuclear strike by the irrational Lieberman may slow down the Iranian program. I think a few well-placed rumors that the Iranian nuclear brain trust has been thoroughly infiltrated by Zionists can work wonders as well. (And don't forget how effective a single bullet can be.) But Israel's options are very limited, no matter how many "strategists" are elevated to cabinet positions.

PalArab chaos reigns as everyone is buying weapons

A very revealing article in the Arabic (and not the English) side of the Palestine News Network. (I am doing my own paraphrasiing of the Google auto-translation to make it easier to read):

Qalqiliya - Palestinians are acquiring weapons not only to fight the occupation, but also because of the family disputes and clan clashes that have become more prominent, as well as the use of arms by the warring factions. This is resulting in ordinary Palestinian people acquiring weapons for self-defense in light of the chaos of security problems, the law and the lack of control by the government.

PNN reviews this phenomenon which is entrenched in Palestinian society and diminishes the chances for stability and the rule of law, and replaces it with the law of the jungle.

The rest of the article talks about the black market in weapons, apparently from Arabs in Israel; how the price has gone up as demand has increased lately so guns now cost three times what they cost at the height of the Intifada. Palestinian Arab families are vying to have the best weapons, and bullets are easy to smuggle in from Israel.

Families that cannot afford guns are buying hunting rifles which are manufactured locally by PalArabs.

300 weapons have gone into a single small village in the northern West Bank in anticipation of the coming chaos.

This pretty much proves that PalArab society is doomed. Putting thousands of weapons in the hands of a people who are trigger-happy to begin with, in a place where it is not even conceivable that there will ever be an effective police force or a working judicial and penal system, is a recipe for any Palestinian-controlled areas to become Somalia, with warlords and clans killing each other forever.

The very idea that this could be the nucleus for an effective state is utterly idiotic. We have an immature people who have no discipline and no self-control being given deadly toys. It is a hundred times worse than the most lawless inner-city ghettos in American history.

Which brings up the obvious but little-discussed fact: Even if all the political pieces fell into place, even if the most dovish Israeli government would give all the territories to a PalArab government that pledged unequivocal peace, the resulting Palestinian Arab state would not be tenable. No possible PA government could impose order over the PalArabs without being extraordinarily repressive. Civil war may not be assured, but deadly chaos most certainly is.

It is inevitable that the daily lives of Palestinian Arabs in any sort of independent state are going to be miserable and far, far worse than under "occupation."

But on the bright side - they can always blame the Jews!

Dead PalArabs that I missed - we're up to 142

Since I found the Palestine Human Rights Monitoring Group site, which also maintains a list of Palestinian Arabs who were violently killed by each other (or themselves), I am now compiling a list of deaths I had missed in my count since June 25. Here's what I have so far from late June to mid-September.

I am comparing these with names listed in PCHR, my sole source of PalArab self-deaths until I discovered other sources. It is possible that a couple of these are repeats and the names were spelled wildly differently, but I'm pretty sure I didn't record these deaths previously. In general PCHR records more than PHRMG but there are definitely some that PHRMG finds that PCHR did not record.

Tahiea Jirjawy Magazy Camp shooting 28/6/2006 dead cause bullet in the chest
Zaher Salman Mhareka 27 Salfeet Family Dispute 1/7/2006 dead cause bullet in head from Tha'r Sleman Moadi when he was in barber and he's from AL Aqsa Martyrs Kataeb
Tha'r Sleman Moadi 26 Salfeet Family Dispute 1/7/2006 dead cause bullet in chest from AL Aqsa Martyrs Kataeb
Zaher Sleman 27 Salfeet shooting 2/7/2006 dead during cross fire and he's from AL Aqsa Martyrs Kataeb
Basel Tha'r 40 Biet Lahia gun fire 1/7/2006 dead during family dispute
Tha'r Madi 25 salfeet shooting 1/7/2006 dead during cross fire and he's from AL Aqsa Martyrs Kataeb
Faiq Ata Madi 50 Salfeet shooting 1/7/2006 dead during cross fire and he's from AL Aqsa Martyrs Kataeb
Moatasim Qudeih Khan Younis Arm Clashes 16/8/2006 Killed in arm clashes between members of Fatah and Hamas activities.
Mahmoud Amin Awad Jaber 43 Kufur Laqif east of Qalqilia Misuse of Weapons 19/8/2006 Killed accidently by a bullet fired toward him
Wasim Nasim Salman El Masri 18 Khan Younis Police 28/8/2006 Killed by a bullet in the abdomen in Khan Younis
Ra'ed Al Natoor Nablus shooting 9/9/2006 Unknown gun men

So this adds 11 more to the count, which has now hit 141.

UPDATE: 142.

A 30-year-old woman was killed and her five-year old daughter critically wounded after being shot in their home in Kalanswa, Zaka reported Monday night.

The girl was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital for treatment.

Police speculated that the woman, Fatama Salama and her daughter, were shot due to an unpaid debt and that the father of the family was likely the target.

According to Israel Radio, a grenade was thrown into the family's home some months ago.

Israel "Not Eligible for Protection under International Humanitarian Law"

Anyone doubting the hypocrisy of the Palestinian Arab "human rights" groups need only to look at the description of (yet another) international conference about PalArabs:

PCHR and International Federation for Human Rights, in cooperation with a number of Palestinian, Israeli, Arab and international human rights organizations; civil society organizations; solidarity groups with the Palestinian people; and human rights lawyers, academics and experts, will organize a conference on international protection for Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in the period 13-15 December 2006 in Geneva. The conference seeks to lobby the Swiss Government as Depository of the Fourth Geneva Convention to convene a meeting of the High Contracting Parties to task a strong international protection force within the OPT to protect Palestinian civilians and their property.

The idea of organizing this conference emerged for two reasons:

First, there has been unprecedented deterioration in the situation in the OPT, under which crimes committed by IOF against Palestinian civilians have dramatically increased to include killings, destruction of property and economic infrastructure and a total siege mainly targeting Palestinian civilians.

Second, the international community tasked a strong international force consisting of 15,000 soldiers, mostly European, in response to an Israeli demand to protect Israel after a 34-day war against Lebanon and Hizbullah, although Israel is a nuclear country, which has the fourth strongest army in the world, and it is not eligible for protection under international humanitarian law.

The amount of hypocrisy and falsehood here is stunning:

Even though the PCHR itself reports on PalArab infighting and security chaos in the territories, this conference that is supposedly meant to protect Palestinian Arabs completely ignores this major source of their misery. It would not be a good idea to tell the world that Arabs treat fellow Arabs worse than Israelis do.
For the "fourth strongest army in the world" that is supposedly "targeting" Palestinian Arab civilians, they sure do a bad job. Hell, yesterday Arabs killed more people in Iraq than the IDF killed in weeks.
The last paragraph quoted shows the sheer bigotry of these supposed defenders of "human rights." They are saying explicitly that Jews do not have the right to be defended according to their twisted interpretation of international law. Besides the absurdity of framing the UN as a pro-Israeli force in Lebanon that is solely meant to protect Israelis, these moral midgets make up their own arbitrary rules whereby, effectively, Jewish Israeli is allowed, or supposed, to be killed.

A corrolary to this is that Hezbollah has every right to target Israeli Jewish civilians with cluster munitions, according to the PCHR. Any defensive move Israel does is, by their definition, illegal.

In other words, these people who claim to be supporters of human rights are defining Jewish Israelis as being subhuman who do not enjoy any human rights at all.

Just because someone says they are part of a "human rights" organization does not make them moral. As we can see here, the most immoral and twisted thinking can find a pleasant home as it hides behind high-minded platitudes about "human rights" that are effectively not about human rights at all, but about the abrogation of the human rights of Jews.

Tale of two tortures

From the Iranian Radio Broadcast Service:

The human right groups have slammed U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney’s allegations in support of torture.
In a recent interview with one of the American TV channels, Cheney approved the worst kind of torture in which the prisoner practically struggles between life and death.

From the historic Washington Post archives:

CRUCIFIED BY THE ARABS
The Washington Post (1877-1954) - Washington, D.C.
Author: Special Cable to The Washington Post.
Date: Nov 30, 1911
Start Page: 1
Document Types: front_page
Text Word Count: 204

Rome, Nov. 29. -- A party of officers, surgeons, and reporters who have been searching the places in Tripoli retaken by the Italians on November 26 found many bodies of Italian victims of the fighting of October 23.... These bodies had been atrociously mutilated. Some of the victims had been crucified and their eyelids stitched so that they could not close them. Some had been buried to their arm pits, their hands lopped off and their eyes gouged out. The agonized faces of many of them suggest that they had endured awful torture before death came.

Car thefts = "resistance?"

I don't want to read too much into an auto-translated word, but an article in the Arabic "Palestine News Network" speaking about the rash of car thefts by Palestinian Arabs against Israelis, refers to the thefts as "resistance."

Both the Google and WorldLingo language tools translated it the same way.

As we've said before, PalArab leaders look at the conflict as a "zero sum game" while Israelis tend to look for solutions that are win/win. Now, we know that "resistance" is a keyword by the PalArabs to justify terror (as well as to justify why they treat their own people so badly). Given the zero-sum mentality, then petty crimes against Israelis become a low-level "resistance" as well.

This is just conjecture but it is plausible. I would appreciate it if someone who knows Arabic could translate the first paragraph for me at the original site.

Anti-semites can't stomach Neturei Karta

Too repulsive to post in full, too funny not to link.

A Jew-hating moron named Mark Glenn decides that the Neturei Karta's anti-Zionism is not authentic enough for him - because they still believe in the Talmud:

Then ‘the good Rabbi,’ (in typical self-absorbed Jewish fashion) not content with his 45 minutes of fame, decided that the remarks I made about his organization and about the Talmud would not be left out there as the last word, and thus, in typical Jewish fashion, –meaning nervy–got up there, and amidst a performance of lisping, spitting, and bobbing back and forth, actually tried to sell the idea to us stupid, illiterate Goyim that the Talmud was a book of ‘peace and love’.
…peace and love. The Talmud, with its scurrilous description of Jesus and Mary, the sanctioning of murder, lying, theft and genocide was a book of peace and love…

…and then, there it was waaaaay back there in the deepest recesses of the conference hall, like distant thunder or like a waft of air that carries with it the smell of something beautiful to behold, that wonderful word that needed to be said…

….’boooooh!’ followed by another and then another, and a few other comments such as ‘just sit down and shut up, we don’t want to hear it!’

And I smiled, not just with my cheeks, but with all of it, my wrinkling eyes, my bared teeth and all of my soul. He blew it. He let the cat out of the bag. Had he remained seated and took his beatings like a man instead getting back up there and trying to defend the indefensible in the typically Jewish way, meaning whiny, effeminate, and Woody Allenesque, then he might have had a chance.

But not now. He blew it and he knew it and we all knew it.

And when I came out of the men’s room wiping the tears away from my dark, semitic eyes, there they were, with their pale skin, reddish hair and bluish eyes, the Men in Black, the ‘good Rabbis’ from Neturei Karta, standing right in front of me, staring at me very intently. They both turned and began to walk away from the conference, and I could not help but notice something strange…Each of them struck at his breast with his fist, as if there were an imaginary knife that was not seen.

I had heard of something like this before, and I believe that it is something called ‘The Pulsa de Nura’ which is a curse within Talmudic Judaism that is hurled at those who are deemed as enemies of the Jews…

The sheer self-congratulatory air of Glenn, who fashions himself a Talmudic expert, is quite amusing, despite his clear and unadulterated hate which is only matched by his ignorance. But it is people like this who do more to disprove the "anti-Zionist is not anti-semite" chorus than any number of scholarly articles.

Of course, this bigoted ignorant hateful drivel was linked to by Google "News."

A 43-year old man near Nablus (not named) and 45-year old Sami Mutawe of Khan Younis were killed by more of those mysterious "unidentified gunmen" that seem to proliferate in PalArab areas.
A Hamas terrorist died while digging a tunnel to facilitate the murder of Jews.
A man was seriously injured from gunhots that were being fired to celebrate a wedding. Notably, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights was quoted in this article but the website itself has not been updated to mention any of the murders or injuries since October 19th. This means that they have not reported on at least 12 dead PalArabs that I managed to find out about through mostly Arabic sources. Which makes me wonder how many I have missed since I started the count.

Also, if this wedding victim dies, chances are pretty good I won't be able to find out about it.

Anyway, my count of PalArabs violently killed by each other since Operation Summer Rains is now at 129. And my count of NGOs, newspapers, wire services, charities, human rights organizations and Palestinian Arab ministries who keep track of these things remains at zero (PCHR being the exception that proves the rule.)

UPDATE: I did find another source that tries to count PalArabs killed by each other, the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. But it is also woefully inadequate - they only count 73 in the same time period that I counted about 105. But it is another source to look at, as they do list names.

So there are two organizations that try to keep a count, but neither has updated their stats in a couple of weeks.

UPDATE 2: 130.

(IsraelNN.com) An Arab who was trying to steal at the site of the former Palestinian Authority (PA) airport near Rafiah was killed Sunday evening. PA sources claimed that Israeli soldiers were operating in the area and opened fire after PA police fired over the heads of the thief.

IDF spokesmen stated they know nothing of the incident and that Israeli soldiers were not in the area.