Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Saudis complain that their maids aren't slave-like enough

Another gem from the Arab News:

MAKKAH, 17 September 2007 — With a high demand for maids during Ramadan, many people employ runaway maids and pay them extortionate salaries ranging from SR1,100 to SR1,500, instead of the standard SR600 to SR800 paid to legal maids working legally.
Fahd Amash’s wife is a teacher. The couple have five children. “My wife is a teacher and our circumstance requires us to have more than one maid. However, the authorities say we’re only allowed one. Before Ramadan I employed a legal maid, who ran away leaving us in a mess,” said Amash.
With Ramadan at hand, Amash decided to hire a runaway maid. “We had to do things illegally in the end,” he said. “We contacted an Indonesian woman who provides people with illegal maids. She brought us a maid and said we had to pay her SR1,500 a month. She also said we had to give the maid a day off every 10 days and that her work for the month would end on Ramadan 28 in order to give her a chance to perform Umrah,” said Amash.

SR600 is $160. Saudis are saying that it is practically extortion for them to pay a maid more than $200 or so a month, and it is borderline obscene to have maids ask for a day off every ten days. Plus, the maids certainly are not allowed to practice Islam the way that their owners, um, employers can.

Not only that, but a family of seven finds that a single maid is clearly not enough - they must have two of them!

Once again, the Arab News accidentally reveals what a sick, spoiled society that ordinary Saudis live in as they take full advantage of foreign workers (because Saudis would never be caught dead doing menial labor!)

More nipples than you can count

From Kamangir, via Judeopundit:

The Persian blogger Lithium writes, “I decided to invent a new method for making inappropriate clothings compatible to the [Islamic] values”. The invention, which is given the name “The Shield of Modesty” by the bloggers, is “worn underneath the outfit and not only eliminates the natural bumps, but also adds numerous fake bumps to confuse those who stare at ladies’ chests”. The blogger asserts that “this is a totally Iranian invention” and he wishes that “with the help of the administration it can be mass produced” [Persian].

I can't possibly improve on this story.

Palestinian medical sources reported that 27-year-old Baha' Al-Ajlouni's corpse arrived at Al-Ahli Hopsital in Hebron riddled with bullets.

His brother, Bilal, aged 25, was admitted to the operation room suffering from serious injuries.

Governor of Hebron, Dr. Hussein Al-Araj, said that a family feud between the Rajabi and Al-Ajlouni families was reignited on Sunday, based on old grievances and the desire for revenge. He said that several people were injured in the ensuing clashes.

523.

The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, announced on Sunday that one of its members has died of wounds which he sustained in August.

The Qassam Brigades member, 20-year-old Nidal Al-Ashra, was injured whilst participating in an Executive Force operation to impose law in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

This makes 524 Palestinian Arabs violently killed by each other this year.

The Hamas Executive Force in Gaza City on Sunday said that they detonated a 15-kilogram explosive device planted at the entrance to the Palestinian Legislative Council building.

At approximately 17:30 on Saturday, 15 September 2007, a clash erupted between El-Buheisi and Abu Shehada clans in Deir El-Balah. The clash escalated into an armed clash, leading to the injury of 2 persons:The clash was a continuation of a fist fight that broke out between members of the two clan on Friday, 14 September 2007, over leading prayers in Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque in Deir El-Balah.

On Thursday, 6 September 2007, masked gunmen traveling in 2 vehicles abducted Sami Jaber Kuheil (44) from his car repair shop near his house in Daraj area in Gaza City. Sami’s father informed PCHR’s fieldworker that the family contacted several commanders and members of Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions, who confirmed that they held Sami; but they did not indicate where he was held.

At approximately 23:20 on Sunday, 9 September 2007, unknown gunmen abducted Mazen Ahmad El-Amasi (38) as he was sitting with friends near his house in Daraj area in Gaza City. Mohammad El-Amasi, who was with Mazen at the time, informed PCHR that 3 masked gunmen got out of a car and pointed their guns at Mazen as they were sitting near El-Omari store in Daraj. The gunmen ordered Sami to come with them. When he asked them about their identity, they informed him that they were members of Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions. They took Mazen to an undisclosed location. Mohammad added that his family contacted several commanders and members of Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions, who confirmed that they held Mazen; but they did not indicate where he was held.

Palestinian Arabs in the West consider Abbas a "collaborator"

An interesting article in Electronic Intifada (reproduced elsewhere) talks about the difficulty of creating a united Palestinian Arab front when there are internal disagreements about tactics, but it makes clear that some "mainstream" pro-Palestinian Arab organizations in the US and Canada regard any compromise for peace as a crime punishable by death:

In the US and Canada there have been calls for national meetings to formulate umbrella organizations that would speak on behalf of all Palestinians living there. But why now, and who is involved? Two things need to be pointed out before we answer these questions. First, for the most part the front line organizations like SPHR and Al-Awda are defined as "solidarity groups" although they are founded and led by Palestinians and even the majority of their membership is Palestinian. Second, these groups are not affiliated with any of the "old country" feuds or factions because their membership is mostly young and never belonged to these factions. This is relevant because some actors have insisted that these incipient national organizations be centered on these old and largely irrelevant factional identities. Others are insisting that only Palestinians be allowed to participate, which opened the discussion of who is a Palestinian. These issues are being purposefully exaggerated in order to exclude solidarity groups and/or give more voting power for failed "community groups." The constant talk of blood quantum ("only your mother is Palestinian!") is also designed as psychological pressure against the young students to make it uncomfortable to be in those meetings.

Why is all this happening now? When the day comes for Abbas to sign on the line -- giving up Palestinian rights -- he needs a Diaspora leadership that is in line with his decisions. In Canada, almost all Palestinian advocacy and community groups have been involved in these efforts, but our tried, tested and failed "elite" are trying very hard to take the helm once again -- if not by democracy then by any means necessary. Since these discussions started last year, some of the steadfast individuals have received physical threats and even death threats. And things have not got serious yet.

In the past two years in Europe, Palestinians were able to form an umbrella group that actually challenged the Abbas line, and tried to challenge the ban on the elected Hamas government. It may be no coincidence that now the old "elite" in Canada are receiving backing from Abbas and his entourage. Since last year there has been a rash of Fatah visits to Canada and the US where the primary goal is meeting with prospective allies here to prepare them for seats in a revived (but Abbas controlled) PLO. In recent months, Fatah has sent senior representatives to rally the support of Palestinians in Canada late last year and this summer following the events in Gaza and promised rewards to potential allies.

Palestinians in the Diaspora need to learn the lesson from Gaza and Lebanon. Although all Palestinians desire unity, it is impossible with those who are actively collaborating with the Israeli agenda and seeking to undermine the Palestinian movement for liberation. We cannot allow those who hijacked Palestinian institutions in Palestine in order to serve Israel to do the same in the Diaspora.
...It will be an enormous challenge, but it is one we have to meet to make clear there is no mandate and no possibility for Abbas, or any other would-be collaborator, to sign away Palestinian rights. Judging from the emerging agenda of the US-planned "peace conference" in November, it may be now or never for us to act.

The myth of the "moderate Palestinians" takes another hit.

Another Osirak?

The Times of London today published an amazing report claiming that Israel's activities in Syria ten days ago was a very successful attack against Syrian nuclear materials, or possibly even warheads, smuggled in from North Korea:

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

...
Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from “secret suppliers”, and added that there were a “number of foreign technicians” in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: “There are North Korean people there. There’s no question about that.” He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

“This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,” said an Israeli source. “We’ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear warhead.”

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, told yesterday’s Washington Post that the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The target was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to extract uranium from phosphates.

According to an Israeli air force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force specialists to spot the facility.

...
Only three Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know � Olmert, Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were given to the Israeli air force attaché in Washington to ensure Israel’s F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.

Once the mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their loads as they fled.

But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.

Washington was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they were destroyed in the attack.

There is no doubt, however, that North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ Khan’s network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani nuclear scientist had “several other” customers besides Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had reported to Congress that it viewed “Syrian nuclear intentions with growing concern”.

“I’ve been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,” Bolton said last week. Syria, he added, was a member of a “junior axis of evil”, with a well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and technical cooperation.

Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.

On August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was in Syria to sign a protocol on “cooperation in trade and science and technology”. No details were released, but it caught Israel’s attention.

Syria possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria � the area of the Israeli strike.

...

By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.

As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.

This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage. The new “axis of evil” may have lost one of its spokes.

(h/t Atlas Shrugs and Israel Matzav)

Shana Tova u'Metuka

I wish all of my readers a wonderful, peaceful and sweet New Year.

PalArab terrorists would love to kill Britney Spears and Madonna

From WND:

Muslim terrorist leaders threatened to forcibly convert Britney Spears and Madonna to Islam and warned if they resist, their heads would be cut off for "spreading Satanic culture," according to a new book released today.

The threats, recorded on audio, come as Madonna is due to arrive in Israel Wednesday to celebrate the Jewish new year with fellow Kabbalah practitioners.

"If I meet these whores I will have the honor – I repeat, I will have the honor – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam," said Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror organization.

I heard that Britney bombed at some awards show recently, but I didn't think she did that badly.

Read the whole thing...and Aaron Klein's book looks like a must-read.

Beersheba suicide bombing thwarted

From JPost:

On September 3 security forces foiled a plot to carry out a suicide attack in Beersheba, officials announced Wednesday.

Reportedly, the terrorist, a resident of the Gaza Strip, infiltrated Israel via the Egyptian border with an explosives belt. In his interrogation he admitted to being an PFLP activist on his way to Beersheba, where he was planning to detonate the explosives belt in a large crowd of people.

And this isn't even considered a major story in Israel.

9/11

More on James Abourezk's review of Walt/Mearsheimer

It turns out that the California Literary Review allows comments on its website, and the first comment on the review by James Abourezk was someone named "Kyle" who quoted my posting on the topic from yesterday. (Thanks, Kyle!)

Surprisingly, Abourezk responded back, saying that

When Kyle opens his comment with the accusation that I believe Jews were behind 9/11, he makes my point for me.
That is something that I have never said. Kyle’s accusation is one of the ways Israel’s supporters use to silence dissent–that is attributing something to me that is not true.

In response, I wrote two comments:

Kyle quoted the MEMRI translation of Abourezk’s interview with his friends at Hezbollah.
If Abourezk want to dispute MEMRI’s transcript (found at http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD170807 ) the video, which is in English, can be seen at http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1551.htm. The exact quote is “the Arabs who were involved in 9/11 cooperated with the Zionists, actually. It was a cooperation.”

Unless I am mistaken about the meaning of the word “actually” this is exactly what Mr. Abourezk is saying.

Of course, while I am sure that he can quibble about whether he meant that literally, when he in that same interview refuses to call Hamas “terrorists” - preferring to refer to them as heroic “freedom fighters” - which shows that Mr. Abourezk’s definition of terrorism is fairly elastic, twistable in ways to make Jews into terrorists while absolving Arabs who were behind countless suicide bombings against civilians.

Perhaps the evil Zionists who control the world and the media managed to edit the interview with Al Manar to make Mr. Abourezk look like he supports terrorists from Hamas and Hezbollah.

And then, since Abourezk is so fond of quoting Ilan Pappe, I added:

By the way, Ilan Pappe himself admits that his “history” is not based as much on facts as on how he wants to perceive them: “My [pro-Palestinian] bias is apparent despite the desire of my peers that I stick to facts and the ‘truth’ when reconstructing past realities. I view any such construction as vain and presumptuous. This book is written by one who admits compassion for the colonized not the colonizer; who sympathizes with the occupied not the occupiers; and sides with the workers not the bosses. He feels for women in distress, and has little admiration for men in command…. Mine is a subjective approach….” In other words, he is a fraud as a historian and he uses whatever facts he uncovers in only one direction: to demonize Israel. Which is very similar to how Abourezk seems to write, judging from his “review.”

It is not surprising that Abourezk chooses to base his claims about Zionist atrocities on such a flimsy basis - and Pappe’s description of “Plan Dalet” is just one of his more egregious attempts to build a case for ethnic cleansing when there was none. How effective can Israel’s supposed “ethnic cleansing” be Israel now has more Arab citizens than the total number of Palestinian Arabs in 1948?

I must say, though, that I was amused that Abourzek mentions Jonathan Pollard. One would think that with such an all powerful set of Elders of Zion running the United States government, they would have managed to get him pardoned by now!

We'll see if Abourezk responds.

UPDATE: Someone else did, so I answered them:

Elder wrote: “Anything but the subject of American policy towards Israel, PLEASE.”

LOL, reader. I do take requests.
The best response I’ve seen is Dore Gold’s article here:
http://jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&amp;DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=376&PID=0&IID=1795&TTL=Understanding_the_U.S.-Israel_Alliance:_An_Israeli_Response_to_the_Walt-Mearsheimer_Claim
If you want to know chapter and verse of what the US gets out of its relationship with Israel, that’s a great place to start.

Another good point is made here: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/contentions/index.php/pollak/902
“It is no exaggeration to say that France’s Middle East politics are exemplary of the kind of foreign policy Walt and Mearsheimer claim will best serve American interests. But what, after all, did France gain for all its legendary favoritism toward the Arab world? Absolutely nothing—except, I suppose, revenue from arms sales during the Iran-Iraq war (overtly to Saddam Hussein and covertly to Khomeini). France, as with so many Western countries, has found it difficult to convince Middle East thugs to return its affections.”

Ditto for Denmark - one of the most tolerant and pro-Arab nations in the planet, but a single cartoon causes death threats - and deaths. What a realistic policy!

My question is, why do we want America to be even-handed towards a people who celebrate American and Western deaths?

I have news for you: Israel is only the “little Satan.” America is the “big Satan,” and if Israel would disappear tomorrow it would not make any difference at all as to how Arabs think of the US - and the West as a whole. The West symbolizes humiliation for Arabs and that is not going to go away without a wholesale change in the way most ordinary Arabs think. There are group psychologies at work here, and we don’t understand them as badly as they don’t understand us.

I hope that’s enough for you to start with, reader. My blog elaborates at length on many of these issues.

(h/t Soccer Dad for the Commentary quote.)

"Overwhelming joy" at rocket attack

While the English-language Palestinian Arab press has been muted in its reaction to the Qassam attack this morning that injured dozens of Israeli soldiers in Zikim, the Arabic newspapers are unrestrained in their enthusiasm.

From Palestine Today (autotranslated):

The overwhelming joy swept around the Gaza Strip following the operation carried out by Al-Quds and Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades in the Israeli military expedition south of the city of Ashkelon and resulted in the injury of 67 different Israeli soldier wounded, while prevailed shock Israeli society that has not yet absorbed the painful blow.

And across the citizen Abu Rami joy of the process, saying: I invite all the Palestinian factions to walk in the footsteps of Al-Quds introduced joy to our hearts after the sadness that Uncle sector.

The Islamic Jihad supporters distributed sweets to motorists and pedestrians in the streets of Gaza City as an expression of joy with the "dawn of victory."

The West Bank territories received news of the "dawn of victory", which was carried out by the Palestinian resistance in the sector dawn today, the overwhelming joy, playing the Palestinian need for such operations, which would restore unity to the Palestinian people which is now scattered among the sector and the West Bank.

...a university student from Ramallah said that the process was actually a gift from the resistance all Palestinians in a situation experienced by the vast nation divided, the opportunity to emphasize that the resistance is unite the Palestinian people and is the only destination, and also unite community Israeli completely against the Palestinians.

He continued: "I think that this process may revive energy in the hearts of all mujahideen factions represent Bushra beginning of a new stage of resistance and struggle with the Zionist enemy. "

(Another) noted that the joy of the people this process is only an indication of the public rallying around the resistance option, every Palestinian as he said, agreed to celebrate this process.

The first and most obvious thing to note is that these Arabs are ecstatic over what they perceive as a military victory, where many soldiers were injured. The only comparable times that I can remember Israelis being equally happy over military operations - to the point of celebration - would be Entebbe, Osirak and 1967, all of which celebrated the saving of Israeli lives as opposed to celebrating enemy casualties.

Westerners need to understand that this is a different mindset. We do not celebrate enemy deaths or injuries (and in Israel's case, Israel often treats those very injuries) - but Arabs do celebrate their enemies' pain, unapologetically.

Which brings us up to the next point - why are they celebrating?

The Islamic Jihad has always taken the "high road" in the Fatah/Hamas clashes, saying that they need to unite in order to fight the real enemy. In this case, they succeeded in creating that unity, even if it is brief. They are completely invested in the destruction of Israel - it is their entire raison d'etre - and operations like these help prolong their existence. They know that one thing and one thing only unites the Arabs and that is their pure, unadulterated hatred for Israel. This attack heralds the "unity" that Palestinian Arabs never had but always talk about.

Another point is that the PalArabs are absolutely convinced that attacks like these will bring them to victory. They know intellectually that Israel will likely respond in ways that will make life in Gaza more difficult, and from past experience they know that those responses will be limited and temporary. Their psychological boost from such "victories" are far more powerful than their humiliation fromIsrael's traditional, "proportionate" responses have been.

From reading about the visceral reaction about this attack it is hard not to think about the other famous time Palestinian Arabs handed out candy to celebrate a perceived victory- exactly six years ago on 9/11. Over the years of the intifada is is abundantly clear that civilian deaths are celebrated as much as Israeli soldier deaths.

Mentally, this attack against brand-new recruits makes the PalArabs think that they can engage the IDF as real men and that is a huge ego boost. They have celebrated in their media much smaller attacks - sniping Israeli soldiers or blowing up empty jeeps, as well as the daily Qassam attacks against kindergarteners. One cannot understand the Arab joy of hurting their enemy unless one understands their bottomless feeling of humiliation at having lost wars to the weak Jews. Their egos are so crushed that any tiny feeling of empowerment is an occasion for unbridled joy.

Which brings up another reason for attacks like these. One major purpose is to humiliate the Jews the way that the Arabs themselves feel humiliated. They project their own feelings onto the Jews and they imagine that Israelis are cringing at being bested by the Arabs. They are absolutely clueless as to how Israelis think - certainly in Israel there is anger because this Qassam rocket problem has not been solved, and there will be finger-pointing and hand-wringing - but there is not a feeling of humiliation. (If Israeli felt that way, they would have already reacted the way that the Arabs would react if they had the means - with complete and total destruction of the enemy.)

The gaps in how the two sides perceive each other will not close in the foreseeable future, so it is imperative to understand the other side's thought-process. And neither side seems to be able to do that.

Freedom of the press, PalArab-style (XIII)

Hamas just arrested another journalist:

Palestinian security services, affiliated to the de facto government in the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday seized the director of Palestine TV, Fayiq Jarada. 'Security reasons' were stated as a pretext for the apprehension.

The ministry of the interior in the Gaza Strip alleged that Jarada was detained because he was filming too close to a security post in Gaza City, along with other photojournalists and cameramen.

The ministry claimed that Jarada was filming Palestinian security personnel in order to send their images to the Fatah-affiliated caretaker government in Ramallah, in the West Bank.

The committee for defending journalists within the government will secure the fair trial of Jarada, said the interior ministry, as agreed by the ministry of information in Gaza.

Well, at least he will get a fair trial before he is tortured and his body dumped.