Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Ahmadinejad: Newscasters' "holy war" - plus why censorship is important to Iran

IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday during his visit to the country's official news agency, IRNA, "Today our duty is proper informing to enable the people to adopt proper decisions."

Addressing IRNA staff, the president added, "Your mission for proper and in time news dissemination is a sacred one, and you should with your strong will push aside the oppressors' news networks." He reiterated, "The oppressors' front takes advantage of news and information dissemination at the service of inducting their policies and their programs in the hearts and minds of the world nations." According to IRNA Political Desk, Ahmadinejad who was visiting IRNA on the occasion of Iran's Reporters Day, added, "Today, proper information dissemination equals presence at the frontline of a holy war to liberate the mankind, and a liberating confrontation." He added, "The reporters are precious assets of our nation and revolution, and the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) has qualified personnel at its disposal that are valuable assents for our nation and our revolution."

He added, "We need to take advantage of the idealist, brave, and pious reporters, analysts, and professional news people, and the country's information dissemination networks as a huge capital, in order to enter the international scenes."

Ahmadinejad referring to the psychological war launched by the world oppressors media through news making, said, "Today the entire media, news agencies, news production and newspapers of the country must leave their defensive status and let the world nations hear the message of divine messengers of God, and the message of mankind's grandeur."
He added, "Today the oppressors' front tries to keep the people under the influence of inappropriate news dissemination, but when some of these people travel to Iran they experience a great mental evolution."

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasized, "One of the reasons why US is opposed to the visits of American nationals to Iran is that they have been bombarding our nation with their news weapons, and when they visit Iran and witness the cheerful people, or the advancement and positive developments in Iran, their viewpoints on Iran are altered."
Ahmadinejad referred to the point that the oppressors news agencies, resorting to words, report the news on criminal acts of the Zionist regime in a way that the oppressors are introduced as the oppressed, and vice versa. He reiterated, "The majority of the public that are not opposed to hearing the truth, when they are exposed to proper news dissemination find their proper way, and today our duty in the world is proper news dissemination."

Elsewhere in his remarks the president stressed the need to broadcast "useful news" in the country, arguing, "There might be lots of news that are authentic, but they should not be broadcasted, because they would disturb the peace of mind of the society." Stressing that we are not pro-censorship, Ahmadinejad said, "Censorship was invented by those who also devise standards for news dissemination, defining the news and the reporters in a way to match their standards and propagate their policies in the world." Addressing the IRNA reporters, he said, "My dear fellows, you shoulder a heavy responsibility today, because news work and news dissemination is a divine occupation, and the job of holy prophets." The president emphasized, "If we are to be witness to the occurrence of a positive event, we need to remember that one of the main pillars for it is proper news dissemination."

Ahmadinejad added, "You should know that your message is the message of divine prophets, the message of real liberation, justice, brotherhood, love, and kindness."

Dutch MP calls for banning the Koran

Get ready for more deadly riots...

The leader of the Netherlands' right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called for a ban on the sale and distribution of the Qur'an. He would also outlaw the book’s use in the mosque and at home. Mr Wilders says the Qur'an (Koran) is a fascist book which promotes violence and is similar to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Geert Wilders with finger raised

In a letter-to-the-editor in today’s de Volkskrant newspaper, Wilders argues that the Qur'an should only be permitted for research at an academic level.

However, the MP - who is known for his controversial statements about Islam - says he knows his proposal doesn’t stand a chance of being approved by parliament. His Freedom Party has nine seats in the 150-seat Dutch lower house of parliament.
A warning
Geert Wilders says he wants his proposal to serve as a warning to radical Muslims who misuse the Qur'an to justify the use of violence. His statement comes in response to the recent attacks on Ehsan Jami, founder of the Committee for Former Muslims. He says the perpetrators use the Qur'an as an excuse for the attacks. Wilders writes that“The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order.”The jurist, commentator and co-member of the Committee for Former Muslims, Afshin Ellian also thinks that the Qur'an “possesses extremely violent passages with regard to women, Jews and non-believers”. However, he is against a ban. Mr Ellian says you should take measures against the people who abuse the Qur'an, not the book itself:

“It’s a religious book which of course can be read and discussed. What we really should fight are the radical imams and mosques which use the Qur'an to spread hatred. We must take firmer measures against them.”

Hitler
Geert Wilders compares the Qur'an with Mein Kampf, which was written by Adolf Hitler in 1924. In his book, Hitler explained his theories about National Socialism, anti-Semitism and the superiority of the Aryan race.

The sale of Mein Kampf is outlawed in the Netherlands, but owning or trading old copies is permitted. However, Mr Wilders’ proposal to ban the Qur'an is more drastic than the ban on Mein Kampf because it would also outlaw the possession of the book.

Hamas: Early release for prisoners who memorize Koran

From Ma'an:

Gaza – Ma'an – The administration of Gaza's central jail, As Saraya, which is controlled by the Hamas-operated Executive Forces, announced on Tuesday that it will reduce any prisoner's sentence by one year if they are able to memorise five parts of the holy Qu'ran.

The director of the prison complex, Abu Al Hamid, affirmed that he wants to encourage the prisoners to learn the Koran by heart.

The Executive Force's website reported that Al Hamid has formed a committee that will monitor the prisoners' progress.

The EF has been in control of the complex after Hamas established control over the Gaza Strip. Since then, at least 850 prisoners are said to have escaped.

Presumably, the escaped prisoners already knew the Koran by heart so it is all good.

3500 Hamas terrorists "accidently" got paid

Looks like life in Gaza just got a lot easier - if you are a murderous thug dedicated to wiping out all Jewish existence from the Middle East:

A well-informed source in Ramallah confirmed that the new Palestinian ministry of finance in the caretaker government mistakenly transferred one year's salary to 3,500 members of Hamas' Executive Force in the Gaza Strip.

The source added "it was a mistake in the computer, as the Fatah employees were surprised that their salaries were not transferred to the banks in Gaza, but the salaries of the EF were."

Ma'an's correspondent in Gaza confirmed that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's government paid not just one month of the salaries; but an entire year's earnings.

Spokesperson of the Executive Force, Sabir Khalifa, confirmed to Ma'an that 3,500 members of the force received salaries for 12 months. He added that it is almost half of the force that received their salaries.

Khalifa said "this is an official recognition from [Palestinian President] Abbas and Fayyad that the force is legitimate and legal."

The remainder of the EF, who did not receive their salaries, said that half of the force received a grant from deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The unpaid force members said that they expect that they will be paid by Haniyeh's government in the future.

The best numbers I can find for average PA worker salary is about $375 a month.

This means that nearly $16 million just got transferred from the EU and USA-funded PA coffers to Hamas.

Given that there have been consistent reports of attempts to bring Hamas back into the PA, one may very well wonder how "accidental" this "computer error" was.

UPDATE: Pro-Hamas Palestine Today claims that it was no mistake and Fayyad meant to pay Hamas for past paychecks, and they claim that a Fatah official confirmed it.

No violins in Islam

The BBC published an article about life in Gaza. One of the interviews was very interesting:

I lead a group of 26 musicians - we play traditional Palestinian music. But for the last two months we haven't been able to work.

This group, Hamas, believe they are the leaders of Islam. The violin, piano, flute, all these instruments are banned. Only the drum is allowed. They say any other instrument is not mentioned in the Koran.

Hamas have already beaten one of my singers for singing for Fatah.

Far be it from me to try to interpret the Koran. But if Hamas says that believing Muslims must stay away from anything not mentioned in the Koran, may I suggest a few other things that would also be haraam:

AK-47s
Bomb belts
"Homemade" rockets
The Internet
Electricity
Gasoline
Jerusalem

Better be careful. Allah knows best.

Bat Mitzvah girl donates $100K for playground in Israel

This is amazing:

Samantha Resnick had only one item on her bat mitzva wish list. Unlike most girls her age, who cross their fingers for anything in a powder-blue Tiffany's box, Resnick set her sights on something a bit bigger than a ribbon fit around: $100,000 worth of donations to build a brand-new playground in Israel.
About a year-and-a-half before Resnick's bat mitzva, her father, Josh, sat his precocious, curly-haired daughter down for a talk.
"I said 'You've always had everything you've needed and you've also had everything you've ever wanted. Do you really want people to buy gifts for you or do you want to do something special for kids in Israel?'"
Without a moment's pause, Resnick agreed to the idea. "I was really proud of her," said Josh.
Over 500 friends and relatives received an unusual invitation for Resnick's bat mitzva last September: Included in the envelope was a small card requesting that donations be made to the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in lieu of gifts. Every family invited to the event contributed to assemble one of the largest bar or bat mitzva donations the JNF has ever received.
On Monday, in Israel for the first time, Resnick and her parents formally opened the playground that is attached to Sapir Park in the Arava Valley. The playground is designed to accommodate children who have special needs alongside those who do not.
Resnick, whose mother, Debbie, is a language and hearing therapist in the Pittsburgh public school system, explained why it was important to her to include special-needs children in the project.
"I feel so upset when you see all these kids playing and a mentally challenged kid is left out," she said. "You see them thinking 'I wish I could go and play, too.'"
Though content to be a 14-year-old philanthropist for the moment, Resnick has plans to expand the park.
"I want it to be huge," she said, adding that she hopes to emulate a park near her own home in Fox Chapel near Pittsburgh. She described her dream park with the matter-of-fact certainty of being a kid who knows exactly what a kid would want. "There's a slide of course, because everyone loves slides... and there are tire swings because I wanted to bring some stuff from America."

I'm getting Instalanched

Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds picked up on the "grim milestone" of 500 PalArab self-deaths I've counted this year.

So have Soccer Dad, Meryl Yourish, Yid with Lid, Boker Tov Boulder, Daled Amos, Seraphic Secret, Fiery Spirited Zionist, Discarded Lies and Protein Wisdom.

But in the hour since Glenn Reynolds posted his link, I've gotten about 1200 hits - and he only posted it an hour ago.

Welcome to all the new people visiting - I hope you get a chance to check out some of my other postings!

Today's morality news from Iran

From AKI: (h/t Dhimmi Watch)

Tehran, 7 August (AKI) - Iran stepped up its moralisation campaign this week with the arrest of 17 teenagers aged between 13 and 17 years of age at a birthday party in Tehran.

It is the latest arrest in a controversial campaign ordered by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and enforced by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The United Nation's children's fund, UNICEF, immediately expressed concern about the arrests of nine males and eight females - all minors - who have been accused of "promiscuity", "alcohol use", and "dressing indecently".

The adolecents, being held at the court's discretion, could be sentenced to three years' jail, a police spokesman said.

In Iran young people are considered adults from the age of 15 and therefore legally punishable.

At Kerman, in western Iran, local police announced the imminent execution of 12 "hoodlums" arrested with another 186 people during the last four months.

None of the 12 sentenced have been accused of serious crimes.

"These hoodlums have committed crimes from alcohol consumption to the molestation of women," a police spokesman said.

The arrests are part of a nationwide moralisation campaign which began in Iran in May.

During the first three months of the campaign, 2,500 businesses were reportedly closed down for allowing men and women to mix freely, 8,000 people were arrested for "offending public morals" and almost 63,000 women were stopped by police for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code.

Ya gotta hand it to the mullahs - they really understand the importance of being immoral in the pursuit of "morality."

Iran rejoicing over US weapons sales to Arab states

From Iran Press Service:

Paris, 7 Aug. (IPS) Not only Iran must not be afraid of the big sale of American weapons to the Arab regimes of the Middle East, but it must rejoice, as they would end up in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists whom Iran is the main supporter.
This prediction was made by Mr. Hoseyn Shari’atmadari, an influential journalist regarded as the senior mouthpiece of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i and an ardent advocate of the “offensive policy” adopted by the fanatic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad.

Iran has no reason to feel concerned about the planned arms sale to Arab countries by the United States.
“One must consider the sale of American weapons to the Arab countries as a good omen, a divine gift offered to the Muslim fundamentalists by their enemies”, Mr. Shari’atmadari, a high-ranking intelligence officer appointed by the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran as Chief Editor of the radical daily “Keyhan”.

The article, published on 4 August and signed by was referring to the 20 billions US Dollars military hardware and package to Saudi Arabia and another 10 billions to the other members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council that comprises, besides Saudi Arabia, the Island of Bahrain, oil rich Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman.

Speaking of Qatar, Hamas leader Haniyeh praised that nation today for continuing to support Hamas after its split with Fatah.

Yup, they are a great nation to send weapons to.

Meanwhile, Iran is a little impatient waiting for US jets to land on its doorstep, so it has built its own homegrown fighter jet.

2 children killed in Gaza. Let the lies begin!

From Ma'an:

Gaza – Ma'an – Palestinian child, Hala Wael Abdalah, aged 7, and her brother, Islam, aged 9, were killed in an explosion on Tuesday morning in a housing estate, in the An Nada area of the northern Gaza Strip.

Eight others were injured in the incident.

The cause of the explosion has not been verified.

Palestinian medical sources from Kamal Adwan Hospital said that Hala arrived dead, with her body severely burnt and in pieces. Her brother, Islam, died shortly after arriving at hospital.

Ma'an contacted local residents in the area to decipher the cause of the incident. Many said they believe it was a Palestinian homemade projectile, launched by one of the factions and targeting Israel, which landed in the area and killed the two children.

None of the factions have as yet announced responsibility for launching the projectile.

A leader within the Palestinian resistance commented on Ma'an's report of the death of the children. He said "the investigation of the resistance revealed that the explosion resulted from an unexploded rocket, launched by the Israelis."

He added "the rocket was found by the children and while they were playing with it, it exploded and caused the disaster."

YNet has a different spin:

Witnesses said a group of children stumbled upon a homemade rocket or a mortar shell and began playing with it. The device exploded, injuring all seven children, two of whom died later of their wounds.

The area is a frequent launching pad for gunmen who fire rockets toward Israel.
No Palestinian group blamed the IDF for the explosion.

All evidence, including within the Ma'an article, is that this was a PalArab rocket and not an Israeli one. But how does Ma'an headline the article?

"Unexploded Israeli rocket detonates killing two children in Gaza."

Thus solidifying the fact that even the most unbiased Palestinian Arab news source is, in fact, incredibly biased. Or at the very least that the many Hamas threats against journalists is being taken very seriously and is affecting how the news is being reported out of Gaza.

The PalArab self-death count is now at 503.

UPDATE: This has been a banner day for PalArab kids, as a 13-year old gets killed by some other kids while on a fishing trip near Nablus. I guess when everyone has a gun, some of them might be discharged. 504.

UK: Violent anti-semitic attackers avoid jail

From Totally Jewish: (h/t zionist spy)

The Jewish community has accused the courts of not taking anti-semitism seriously after three teenagers escaped prison for attacking and threatening to kill two yeshiva students.

Two men aged 18 and 19 were given suspended sentences and a 17-year-old was handed a curfew and community service at Bolton Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to racially aggravated assault.

The teenagers initially pleaded not guilty at Bolton Magistrates Court last October when accused of attacking two 17-year-olds in Bury New Road, Prestwich, on 8 June 2006. But they changed their plea when appearing at the Crown Court this week.

The court heard that the defendants shouted anti-semitic abuse at the students as they walked home, telling them, “you are going to die tonight”. One victim received a broken tooth and needed 23 staples in his head after being hit with a metal bar by one of the attackers while the others kicked him while he was on the floor. The other victim was left with a pain in the leg.

The 19-year-old was given a 12-month youth offender’s sentence, suspended for two years, a 12-month supervision order and 200 hours unpaid community service. The 18-year-old was given eight months in a young offenders institute, suspended for two years and the 17-year-old received a 12-month community rehabilitation order.

Jewish leaders and MPs have condemned the verdict claiming it sends out ‘entirely the ‘wrong message’ about anti-semitism.

I'm sure that the court felt that it was partially the yeshiva students' fault, for walking around so provocatively wearing yarmulkas. It's almost as if they were asking for it.

It's OK - Olmert doesn't care about Christian feelings either

For all Jews who are insulted that Ehud Olmert is amazingly inconsiderate about the strong feelings that Jews have towards Hebron and other Jewish holy places, and that he appears to care more about pleasing Arab Muslims who want to see the entire Middle East to be Jew-free than about the citizens that he is supposed to be defending....

Don't worry; Olmert is equally inconsiderate about Christians.

One of the requests that Abbas made of Olmert today was to allow the terrorists who desecrated the Church of the Nativity in 2002 to return to the West Bank.

Abbas, according to sources in Olmert's office, called on the prime minister to release more security prisoners, beyond the 250 who were let go last month, and to allow the return of some 20 Palestinian gunmen who were deported in 2002 to Europe and the Gaza Strip after they holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.
Olmert, again according to his office, said he would consider these requests. Abbas also asked him to remove checkpoints in the West Bank and to allow Palestinians more freedom of movement, something Olmert said he would discuss with the defense establishment.

While this news may be buried in the bottom of the Israeli news stories, it is at the top of the Palestinian Arab news articles.

As usual, the West completely misses the importance of symbolism to Arabs.

If Olmert allows the Church of the Nativity terrorists back into the West Bank, he is thinking like a Westerner - it is a small, almost meaningless price to pay for some pretense of an illusory "peace."

But to the Arabs, it means that the terrorists end up not being punished at all; their five years of exile were just a tiny blip in a worldview where perceived slights from the 15th century still rankle. It means that in yet another battle between the West and Islam, Islam has won. It means that Arabs can get away with demeaning the Christian religion with impunity.

Symbolic victories, to Arabs, are indistinguishable from real victories - the entire point of a battle is honor, and the honor that was temporarily lost by these terrorists being sent away will be restored, and then some. They will be hailed as heroes if they return to their old homes, and no Palestinian Arab would even consider denouncing them.

While they remain abroad, there is a small deterrent against PalArabs desecrating Christian holy places. As soon as they return, that disincentive disappears, and we can expect that next time there will be no hesitation in using priests and nuns as human shields, or using church grounds as weapons repositories. On the contrary - we can expect that the terrorists will be celebrated and cheered by the Arab masses.

Symbolism intersects with reality because PalArabs will react in real terms to symbols. The Western idea that symbols are not important does not work when dealing with people for whom symbols are of supreme importance. As a result, the enemies will always be emboldened and heartened by their symbolic victories, making it much harder for the civilized world to win the real war. Every Western concession to "peace" almost inevitably turns into a new weapon of war.

Too many times, we fall into the trap of not understanding the enemy.