Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, April 28, 2008

AP still wrong on Beit Hanoun blast

It has been a few hours since Israel determined that the Gaza blast that killed most of a family was the result of a secondary explosion from targeted terrorists outside the house carrying munitions.

AP's Ibrahim Barzak is now reporting Israel's side of the story, but very skeptically:

In a statement, the military said explosives carried by the militants were detonated by an Israeli airstrike, and the blast from the explosives hit the house, not a tank shell, "and uninvolved civilians were hit." Palestinians said the militants were at least 400 yards from the house and none of the fighters were killed near the structure.

But the most detailed Gaza based account of the events, from PCHR which blames Israel for the explosion, show that this last sentence is a lie:

At approximately 8:15, an IOF plane fired a rocket at a group of resistance members near Abdallah Azzam Mosque, southwest of Izbit Abd Rabbou, approximately 1000 meters away from the main area of the incursion. The rocket fell 10 meters away from the house of Ahmad Eid Hassan Abu Me’tiq, seriously injuring a resistance member. Less than a minute later two rockets were fired at the same area and landed at the door of the same house, killing another resistance member: Ibrahim Salem Suliman Hajouj (20). Shrapnel from the rockets destroyed the house door and spread inside the house. Meyasar Metliq Abu Me’tiq (40) and her 6 children were eating breakfast only 2 meters away from the door. The shrapnel killed four of the children immediately. The mother was seriously injured; and the other two children were moderately injured. The mother later died of her wounds. In addition, 10 bystanders were injured, some of them sustaining moderate to serious injuries.

The AP cannot do basic fact-checks to show that their Palestinian Arab sources are, simply, liars, and by quoting them credulously they make it appear that the evidence supports the Palestinian Arab story and not the Israeli version. They are doing a better job than the thousand-odd "news" stories that don't even acknowledge Israel's claims, but they still fail basic journalism principles.

"World's Smallest Koran" not very impressive

From India's Economic Times:

DUBAI: The smallest copy of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, on display at The Bride Show here drew huge crowds at the recently concluded exhibition.

Almost one-third the size of its closest competitor, the 'miniature' Koran contains 10,000 lines engraved on sapphire measuring 58mm by 98mm which can be worn as pendant or a ring by brides and grooms on the wedding day, WAM news agency reported Monday.

The Koran has been engraved by Mir Emad Mokhtari with help of the latest advances in nanotechnology and has been officially registered as the smallest copy of the Holy Book at Astan-e Qods Razavi's Quran museum in Iran.

Is this an impressive display of Islamic nanotechnology?

This Koran fits in a space of roughly 2" x 4". This sounds more like microfiche than nanotechnology.

But last year, at Israel's Technion, they fit the entire Hebrew Bible - with diacritical marks! - in a space smaller than a pinhead:

The entire vowelled-Hebrew text of the Bible has been inscribed by Technion scientists on a gold-coated silicon surface smaller than the head of a pin.

The idea to inscribe the whole biblical text using a focussed-ion device was that of Prof. Uri Sivan, director of the Berrie Institute, and the project was carried out by Ohad Zohar, the center's physics education adviser, along with Dr. Alex Lahav, formerly lab director of the Wolfson Center for Microelectronics.

When the ions are shot at the surface, gold ions are removed from a 20-nanometer-wide spot to expose the darker silicon substrate underneath. A nanometer is equal to one billionth of meter or one millionth of a millimeter. The resulting letters can be observed only with a scanning electron microscope.

The nano-Bible will be photographed and expanded 10,000 times, and still be able to fit into a seven-by-seven-meter frame, to be hung in the Technion's physics faculty. The photograph will make it possible to read the entire Bible with the naked eye, and the height of each letter will be three millimeters.

Zohar said the original nano-Bible, the size of a crystal of sugar, would be displayed next to the photograph.

A sugar crystal (granulated, regular)is about 0.5 mm long. Which means that Technion managed to make their Hebrew Bible some 1/10000 the size of the Koran being touted here.

UPDATE: Mir Mokhtari, the inventor, clarifies things in my comments:

Hi, putting political disputes aside and sticking to the science and maths... the size is actually miss printed. It should read ten times smaller in both dimensions. The technology uses a 5nm spot size and has resolution better than 9nm around the edge of the words. We too could have made one much smaller, but you have to understand marketing and practicality. No point exhibiting something that requires a $1million SEM tool to be dragged around with. Also the value added to this art piece is the fact that it stands 1400degress heat during commissioning in jewellery and is scratch proof to extremely high impacts and can be worn on day to day basis. We managed to convince people all the words are there with a $5 handheld magnifier. Sometimes understanding people goes a longer way than understanding the technology....

Fair enough, the intent wasn't to set a technological record but to create a piece of jewelry.

Kids were killed by PalArab bomb

After reading the IDF explanation as well as the PCHR preliminary investigation into the deaths of the mother and four daughters this morning, I am convinced that the IDF version is correct - the IDF shot a missile at two terrorists who were outside the Abu Meatak home, and the explosives that at least one was carrying exploded, killing most of the family.

I would not count these as self-deaths, though, because it was a secondary explosion; it is not a "work accident" although their carrying explosives through a neighborhood and putting families at risk is clearly a war crime. (It's a judgment call but I need to be consistent in the count.)

Recent honor killing roundup

A survey of recent articles that talk about "honor killings:"

Pakistan:

Three weeks since Jagdeesh Kumar, a 22-year-old Hindu worker in a garment factory in Pakistan's largest city, was beaten to death by a mob for allegedly making blasphemous remarks about Prophet Mohammad, his murderers remain unpunished.
..."His murder may have nothing to do with blasphemy. What we saw was an honour killing, coloured as a killing for blasphemy. Most, if not all, of the cases of killing for blasphemy have a different, more mundane and criminal reason. Blasphemy provides a cover," says Nayyar. He has reason to believe that the Hindu boy was in love with a Muslim girl.

Kurdistan:

MORTALLY wounded and bleeding profusely, Pela Atroshi covered her head with her hands, pleading "please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me".

As her sister and her mother screamed, her uncle Rezkar Atroshi raised his gun and killed her. The family's honour had been cleansed.

Rezkar had already shot Pela twice in the back in the upstairs room.

Helped downstairs by her mother and her younger sister, the 19-year-old Kurdish Swede was confronted by four resolute men - her father and his three brothers. The men pulled the women apart. Her youngest uncle then finished the job, shooting Pela in the head.

The bullet went through one of her fingers and into her brain.

The decision to kill her was made by a council of male relatives, led by Pela's grandfather, Abdulmajid Atroshi - a Kurd who lived in Australia.

One of his sons, Shivan Atroshi, helped pull the women away from Pela so his younger brother could get a clean shot. Shivan, too, lived in Australia.

Pela Atroshi's murder in Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan, was officially deemed an honour killing by both Iraqi and Swedish authorities.

Iraq:

A 17-year-old Iraqi girl was murdered by her father in an honour killing after falling in love with a British soldier she met while working on an aid programme in Basra, it has been claimed.

A total of 47 young women died in honour killings in the city last year, Basra Security Committee told an investigation into Ms Abdel-Qader's case by The Observer. This is believed to be the only case of an honour killing involving a British soldier.

Could these four kids have been killed by PalArab fire?

This morning a mother and four children were killed in Beit Hanoun. According to Palestinian Arab sources, they were killed by either an Israeli airstrike or tank shell, depending on who is being quoted.

While the IDF blames all civilian deaths in Gaza on terrorists operating out of crowded civilian centers, Ehud Barak's statement implies that Israel admits that it was probably its own fire that killed the family. And even Israeli newspapers are assuming that it was the IDF. Of course, wire services are also reporting that as fact.

But buried in the stories come paragraphs like these:

The IDF is looking into the incident, but has yet to obtain a full picture of what happened. Military sources noted that a group of gunmen was spotted shortly after 8 am near Givati forces operating in the area. An aircraft fired at them and hit them, while tanks fired shells towards the area.
"The area where the fighting is taking place is very crowded," a source said. "The terror organizations are knowingly operating near civilians and putting them in danger. We are thoroughly looking into the circumstances of the incident."

It is most difficult for a blogger like me to do a thorough investigation of the circumstances of the family's deaths from thousands of miles away, but it seems to me that the media needs to be cautious before making the assumption that this was Israeli fire.

First of all, Beit Hanoun has been the site of numerous Qassam rockets falling short of their targets, and they have damaged many houses and killed people as well.

Secondly, Israel did target and kill two terrorists 400 meters from the family home. While sometimes Israel makes mistakes and misses its targets (as apparently happened with the Reuters photographer) this is a pretty wide miss, especially in a populated area where Israel is much more careful.

More interesting is the fact that there were many mortars and rockets shot today from Gaza towards Israel.

Most intriguing is this paragraph from a Ma'an dispatch (that is missing some words in the beginning):

Palestinian fighters unleash barrage of projectiles and mortars at Israeli targets

responsibility on Monday afternoon for launching five homemade projectiles and three mortar shells at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Netiv Ha'asara and at Israeli forces invading Beit Hanoun.

Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's (PFLP) military wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said their fighters fired four homemade projectiles at Sderot. They also said they shot and injured an Israeli soldier.

Moreover, the PFLP's and Fatah's military wings said their fighters fired mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

For their part, Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing five mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

At least four terror groups are claiming responsibility for shooting rockets and mortars in the northern Gaza Strip- which is exactly where Beit Hanoun is.

Right now, the only people claiming that this was an Israeli strike are Palestinian Arabs who are known to automatically blame Israel even when they are being killed by their own fire.

At the very least, it would seem premature to assume that this was Israel's fault at all.

UPDATE: From JPost:

The Palestinian mother and her four children who were killed Monday during IDF ops in Beit Hanun were not hit by a tank shell but rather were killed when ammunition carried by gunmen exploded, Army Radio quoted an IDF source as saying.
According to the unofficial source, the forces operating in the Gaza Strip town identified two gunmen who were carrying large bags. When the soldiers opened fire on them the bags exploded, causing the deaths of the family members.

I will wait a little for confirmation before adding this family to the self-death count, though.

UPDATE 2:

The media made no visible effort to verify the claim, and nearly all English-language press ignored an Israeli army statement carried by Israel Radio and Army Radio explaining that there had been no artillery fire in the immediate area.

Army officials said that according to reports from the field, the civilian deaths occurred when terrorists wearing backpacks filled when ammunition used the house as cover during a firefight with Israeli troops. The ammunition exploded after being hit by Israeli fire, killing seven people and wounding six others.

10 North Koreans killed in Israeli raid on Syrian reactor

Bloomberg reports:

Ten North Koreans may have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Syria in September, NHK reported on its Web site, citing unidentified South Korean intelligence officials.

The 10 people, whose remains were cremated and returned to North Korea in October, had been helping with the construction of a nuclear reactor in Syria, Japan's public broadcaster said. Some North Koreans probably survived the air attack, NHK said.

The U.S. government last week accused North Korea of helping Syria build a secret nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium.

Firas Press' version of the story adds a detail that some of the dead North Koreans were members of its military, which would effectively mean that there was no way the facility was meant for peaceful nuclear energy.

Hamas effectively bans any protests

From PCHR:

PCHR is extremely concerned by the decision of the Police Force of the dismissed government in Gaza stipulating the acquisition of a permit prior to holding public assemblies or celebrations. The Centre views this decision as a violation of the right to peaceful assembly that is protected by the Basic Law and the Public Assemblies Law for the Year 1998, which calls for notifying the police rather than obtain a permit.

The official web site of the Palestinian Police Force of the dismissed government in Gaza published an announcement on Saturday, 26 April 2008, titled “the Palestinian Police Call for Obtaining Permits to Hold Public Assemblies and Celebrations.” The news item stated, “Stemming from public interest, in order to maintain public order, to establish the rule of law, and based on the Law of Assemblies No. 12 for the Year 1998 and the Law’s Executive Bill issued by the Ministry of Interior in 2000, the Palestinian Police call upon any party wishing to organize a public assembly or celebration to obtain prior permission from the relevant authority in the Police Force. This is necessary in order to uphold law and order. In addition, the party will sign a commitment to respect the law and to ban the perpetration of any illegal actions, to infringe on public morals, fire in the air, or incite.”

In a related development, the Director of the Police in Beach Camp issued an order on 13 April 2008 to all owners of halls asking them to direct any person wanting to organize a celebration to go to the Police Compound to receive a permit and fill the relevant form.

What this doublespeak means is that Hamas has given itself the right to ban any public assembly that it chooses to.

Wonder what Jimmy Carter thinks about this latest assault on freedom from his peace-loving friends in Hamas?

Yet again, Gazans refuse to accept fuel

Something the UN can't quite seem to notice...From the increasingly pro-terror Ma'an:

Fuel distributors in the Gaza Strip have refused once again to accept a severely inadequate fuel shipment from Israel, despite warnings of an imminent humanitarian crisis.

The Deputy chair of the Gaza gas stations federation, Mahmoud Al-Khizindar, affirmed on Monday morning that the federation refused to receive the reduced fuel transfer from Nahal Oz terminal. "There are three benzene tankers and 14 diesel tankers at Nahal Oz terminal, and the federation refused to take that quantity because the Israelis did not fulfill their pledges to ship the needed fuel," Al-Khizindar explained.

Al-Khizindar added that no cooking gas has been allowed through the crossing since 9 April. He said that Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants use 350 tons of cooking gas every day.

That last paragraph is curious, in light of the fact that Al-Khizindar stated otherwise ten days ago:

Mahmoud Al-Khizindar, the deputy director of the Gaza federation of gas stations told journalists in Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, after a day of near-despair, that 180,000 liters of industrial fuel and 88 tons of cooking gas were being shipped to the Gaza Strip.

So if no cooking gas has been allowed through, it is because Al-Khizindar himself blocked it!

UN again shows its anti-Israel bias in Gaza

It appears that the Jerusalem Post report I quoted yesterday about the UN blaming Hamas for preventing fuel trucks from entering Gaza is not quote accurate. Here is the UN press release, not quoting any UNRWA official but someone from UNSCO:

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) said today that he remains extremely concerned about the severe humanitarian impact that the continuing fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip are having on the civilian population and on basic public services.
“The United Nations is heavily engaged with all parties to try to bring about a resolution of this crisis and see adequate supplies of fuel restored and distributed throughout Gaza,” Robert H. Serry said in a statement issued by his spokesperson.
Israel stopped all fuel supplies to Gaza after Palestinian militants attacked the Nahal Oz terminal, located close to the border with Gaza, on 9 April. On Wednesday, it told the UN it was ready to deliver 100,000 litres of diesel, but fuel was not delivered yesterday, with Nahal Oz closed and the storage facilities on the Palestinian side of the border crossing full, according to the Israeli authorities.

The implication here is that Israel has not allowed any fuel deliveries to Gaza between April 9 and April 24, and that Israel is fully at fault for breaking a promise to do so on the 24th. But Israel did deliver fuel on the 16th, the same day that three IDF soldiers were killed by Hamas. And the UN doesn't seem to believe Israeli claims that Nahal Oz' storage facilities are full.

The Gaza Petrol and Gas Station Owners Association informed the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) yesterday that it would distribute 50,000 litres of diesel to sustain the agency’s humanitarian operations, but this effort was thwarted by protests on the Palestinian side of the crossing.

Notice that the UN doesn't mention who is behind these protests, and how violent they were, giving Hamas a free pass.

UNRWA was able to make its food deliveries yesterday, but it will not be able to do so from tomorrow – the next scheduled delivery day – unless it receives fresh supplies of diesel.
“At this crucial juncture, all parties must act to avert further suffering of the civilian population,” Mr. Serry said in the statement. He called on Hamas, which controls Gaza, to ensure conditions to enable the distribution of supplies at Nahal Oz so that more supplies can enter Gaza.
“Hamas must immediately bring an end to attacks by itself or any other group against crossings in Gaza.”
The Special Coordinator also called on Israel to “restore adequate supplies of diesel and benzene for the civilian population of Gaza in accordance with international law.”
Last month, about 3.8 million litres of diesel fuel and 340,000 litres of benzene were transferred from Israel into Gaza, which Mr. Serry said was not enough to meet the requirements of Gaza, which is home to an estimated 1.4 million inhabitants. In March last year, more than 8.8 million litres of diesel fuel and 1.7 million litres of benzene were supplied.

So while the UNSCO grudgingly admits that Hamas attacks crossings, it refuses to admit Hamas hoarding fuel and stealing fuel meant for humanitarian aid.

The UNRWA is worse, as it bends over backwards to excuse any Palestinian Arabs who thwart fuel deliveries:

UNRWA's Director of Operations in Gaza, John Ging, told UN Radio today that yesterday's [Thursday's] delivery was thwarted by protests on the Palestinian side of the Nahal Oz crossing.
"Desperate people protesting at the fuel terminal prevented the importation of fuel for our operations. They were farmers and fishermen, who themselves, are in desperate need for fuel and they felt that they should get it as a first priority, not the UN, but this is perfectly understandable."

No mention of Hamas at all, no mention that these protests are violent, and certainly no mention of the likely link between Hamas and the "protesters."

We see again that Palestinian Arabs are simply not responsible for any of their own suffering, according to the UN, and anything they do to increase it is simply Israel's fault somehow.

Hamas attacked fuel trucks meant for UNRWA, hospitals

From JPost:

Hamas militiamen in the Gaza Strip on Sunday attacked fuel trucks headed toward the Nahal Oz border crossing, forcing them to turn back, sources in the Palestinian Petroleum Authority said.

The fuel was supposed to go to the UN Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA] and hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the sources said.

"Dozens of Hamas militiamen hurled stones and opened fire at the trucks," the sources added. "The trucks were on their way to receive fuel supplied by Israel. The drivers were forced to turn back. Some of them had their windshields smashed."

The Palestinian Petroleum Authority reached an agreement with Israel over the weekend to receive 250,000 liters of fuel after UNRWA complained that it did not have enough fuel to distribute food aid to more than 500,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry also accused Hamas of blocking fuel supplies to hospitals and clinics in the Gaza Strip. The ministry said Hamas gunmen opened fire at a number of trucks that were trying to transfer fuel to the hospitals and clinics.

Eyewitnesses in Gaza City said that at least on four occasions over the past few weeks, Hamas militiamen confiscated trucks loaded with fuel shortly as they were on their way from Nahal Oz to the city.

They added that the fuel supplies were taken to Hamas-controlled security installations throughout the city.

"Hamas is taking the fuel for it the vehicles of is leaders and security forces," the eyewitnesses said. "Because of Hamas's actions, some hospitals have been forced to stop the work of ambulances and generators."

PA officials in Ramallah said Hamas's measures were aimed at creating a crisis in the Gaza Strip with the hope that the international community would intervene and force Israel to reopen the border crossings.

"As far as we know, there is enough fuel reaching the Gaza Strip," the officials said. "But Hamas's measures are aimed at creating a crisis. Hamas is either stealing or blocking most of the fuel supplies."

They pointed out that last week Hamas dispatched hundreds of its supporters to Nahal Oz to block the fuel supplies from Israel. Hamas claimed that the protest was organized by farmers and fishermen demanding an end to the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The officials also noted that the shortage in fuel supplies has created a high-priced black market for individuals and institutions.

UNRWA workers admitted over the weekend that Hamas had prevented some fuel trucks from entering the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has also been exerting pressure on the Gaza Petrol Station Owners Association to close down their businesses so as to aggravate the crisis. Some of the station owners and workers said they were afraid to return to work after receiving death threats from Hamas militiamen and ordinary residents desperate to purchase gas and diesel for their vehicles.

The UNRWA news-page has nothing on this, so I don't know where UNRWA admitted publicly that Hamaas was stealing UNRWA supplies.

Earlier in the day, the EU blamed Hamas partially for the Gaza fuel shortage.

Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood drone attack plot foiled

From AP:

Egypt charged two leaders of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, two Sinai Bedouins and a Palestinian with plotting a terrorist attack with Hamas, a security official said Sunday.

Brotherhood leaders Abdel-Hai al-Faramawy, a professor at Cairo's Al-Azhar university, and Mohammed Wahdan were charged with paying the equivalent of US$3,600 (¤2,300) to two Bedouins to buy 30 jerry cans of fuel, spare parts and a remote control for an unmanned aircraft.

Al-Faramawy denied the charges, while Hamas said the reports were completely false.
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Hamas was planning to build the unmanned aircraft but it was not clear how the aircraft was going to be used or who would be targeted. Media reports suggest that everyone from U.S. and Israeli interests to rival Palestinian factions were to be hit.

Hamas does not possess any aircraft, but it has in the past attempted to load remote-controlled airplanes with explosives for attacks on Israeli targets. These attempts have never succeeded.

Previous Hamas attempts to fill remote-controlled planes with explosives are listed here.

ElBaradei blames Israel and the US for his being a moron

From JPost:

The head of the UN nuclear monitoring agency on Friday criticized the US for not giving his organization intelligence information sooner on what Washington says was a nuclear reactor in Syria being built secretly by North Korea.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei also chastised Israel for bombing the site seven months ago, in a statement whose strong language reflected his anger at being kept out of the picture for so long.

Yes, we all know how effective he would have been in stopping Syrian nukes.

Look how great a job he is doing in Iran!

The U.S. and its allies probably have no more than a year to take action against Iran before that nation acquires nuclear weapons, warns Dennis Ross, an architect of the Mideast peace process.
By 2009, Iran “could be a nuclear power, if not a nuclear weapon state, said Ross, who served as the director for policy planning in the State Department under President George H.W. Bush and special Middle East envoy under President Bill Clinton.