Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, July 03, 2009

Free Gaza irony

The ultra-left, Israel-hating program "Democracy Now!" had a special treat yesterday - Mairead Maguire, Irish Nobel peace laureate and Free Gaza freak, called in from the jail in Israel to tell grateful listeners just how evil Israel is for stopping the latest publicity boat from landing.

Maguire spouts the usual lies and absurdities: that Israel threatened to shoot them, that Israel is breaking "every international law in the book," that she thinks that Israel used depleted uranium weapons, that Israel doesn't allow any human rights workers into Gaza, that the moonbats were "in grave danger of actually being killed" and "I really thought that we were all going to drown," and so forth. Somehow she doesn't mention that the Free Gaza people lied to the Cyprus authorities as to their declared destination, or otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to sail altogether.

Besides the irony of a Nobel Peace Prize winner whose group routinely supports Hamas terrorism and happily poses with and hugs mass murderers, there is a further irony:

This evil Israel, the object of her hate and loathing which she claims it treating the freaks of Gaza so badly, is letting her call up an anti-Israel radio show with an audience of millions from her jail. How many democracies, let alone police states, would allow that?

(h/t Veet)

Why Jews cannot (easily) become citizens of Jordan

I received an email today from someone asking me about any restrictions I was aware of against Jews having Jordanian citizenship or owning Jordanian land. I responded

My understanding is that Jordan specifically excluded Jews from its citizenship even if they adhered to all the other requirements when they allowed Palestinian Arabs to become citizens in 1950. See page 73 of this.

As far as land ownership is concerned, I don't know of any specific law banning sales to Jews, but it appears that the rules for transferring land in Jordan are sufficiently restrictive against non-Jordanians that effectively no Jew could possibly buy land legally.

He responded back with a source that shed more detail on the land question in Jordan:

Under the direct instructions of King Husayn23, the government of Jordan in 1973 passed the "Law for Preventing the Sale of Immovable Property to the Enemy."24The "enemy" is defined in Article 2 as "any man or judicial body [corporation] of Israeli citizenship living in Israel or acting on its behalf." Under Article 4 of this law any Jordanian citizen who sold land in Jordan or the West Bank to the "enemy" faced the death penalty and forfeiture of all his property to the state:

The sale of Immovable property against the provisions of this law constitutes a crime against state security and well being, punishable by death, and the confiscation of all the culprit's Immovable and moveable possessions.

In addition, Article 3 deemed the sale of land to any alien (i.e., a non-Arab) without permission from the Council of Ministers a security offense punishable by death.

According to PA Attorney General Khalid al-Qidra, Jordan had sentenced 172 people to death under this law.25 Amnesty International reported that as of 1988 many of the convictions were in absentia and that there had been no executions.26 However, PA Justice Minister Meddein claimed that Jordan had executed 10 violators.27

Whatever its application, the Jordanian Parliament repealed the 1973 law in 1995, following the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. Milder statutes adopted in its place still effectively bar Israelis from purchasing or leasing land in Jordan. The Law on Economic Boycott and Banning Dealing with the Enemy (Article 6) states that "it is impermissible for foreign persons or corporate entities that do not hold an Arab nationality to purchase, lease, or own directly or indirectly any immovable property in the kingdom."28 The only exceptions require high level political authorization.

So while I do not believe that Jordan has or had specific laws banning Jewish ownership of land the laws in place effectively make it impossible for Jews to become landowners in Jordan.

Further research shows that the Jordanian citizenship law does indeed still specifically exclude Jews.

In 1933, a number of prominent Arabs in Transjordan asked Great Britain to allow Jews to settle there, to help its ailing economy, and Zionists were enthusiastic about the idea. But since the British saw the riots that were happening in Palestine at the time they didn't want to worry about more problems of that type, so they created a law banning Jews from living there.

This policy was ratified — after the emirate became a kingdom — by Jordan's law no. 6, sect. 3, on April 3, 1954, and reactivated in law no. 7, sect. 2, on April 1, 1963. It states that any person may become a citizen of Jordan unless he is a Jew. King Hussein made peace with Israel in 1994, but the Judenrein legislation remains valid today.

So, yes, Jordan really has a law banning Jews - not Zionists, but Jews - from becoming citizens. And the original source of this law was none other than Great Britain.

UPDATE: Here's the law: (h/t british18)

The following shall be deemed to be Jordanian nationals:
(1)Any person who has acquired Jordanian nationality or a Jordanian passport under the Jordanian Nationality Law, 1928, as amended, Law No. 6 of 1954 or this Law;

(2)Any person who, not being Jewish, possessed Palestinian nationality before 15 May 1948 and was a regular resident in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between 20 December 1949 and 16 February 1954;

(3)Any person whose father holds Jordanian nationality;

(4)Any person born in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan of a mother holding Jordanian nationality and of a father of unknown nationality or of a Stateless father or whose filiation is not established;

(5)Any person born in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan of unknown parents, as a foundling in the Kingdom shall be considered born in the Kingdom pending evidence to the contrary;

(6)All members of the Bedouin tribes of the North mentioned in paragraph (j) of article 25 of the Provisional Election Law, No. 24 of 1960, who were effectively living in the territories annexed to the Kingdom in 1930.

But what if a Jew wants to become a naturalized citizen? Well...

Any Arab who has resided continuously in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for not less than 15 years may acquire Jordanian nationality, by decision of the Council of Ministers taken on a proposal by the Minister of Internal Affairs, if he renounces his nationality of origin and the law of his country permits him to do so...

UPDATE 2: Hasbara Buster pointed out a later article I had overlooked, that seems to show that anyone can become a Jordanian citizen if they pass muster from the Council of Ministers:

Article 12
Any person other than a Jordanian who is not incapable by law may apply to the Council of Ministers for grant of a certificate of Jordanian naturalization if:
(1)He has been regularly resident in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for a period of four years preceding the date of his application;
(2)He intends to reside in the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan.

Maybe a Jew-turned-Muslim like Uri Davis could become a citizen under those circumstances, so I cannot say that Jordanian law completely excludes the possibility of Jews becoming citizens. In reality, it would appear to be very unlikely.

Any way you look at it, non-Arabs are discriminated against by Jordanian naturalization law.

Quick PalArab news

There are reports that Gaza Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar secretly visited Switzerland and met with Swiss officials.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan charges that some Israeli produce sold in Jordan is grown in West Bank farms, and calls for a boycott.

For those wondering, the Red Cross regularly visits Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. It announced its July visit schedule.

Egyptian forces yet again killed Somalis trying to get into Israel.

Why are there still "refugee camps" in the PA?

The culture of entitlement that pervades the Palestinian Arabs continues unabated.

Yesterday, leaders of a Nablus "refugee" camp declared a series of escalating actions protesting the reduction of some services by UNRWA, including forcing UNRWA not to be able to work at all.

Today, UNRWA in Nablus responded - by shutting down almost completely, except for three health clinics. UNRWA stated (in Arabic only, these events never make it to the Western press) that they none of their workers would "put their lives at risk," meaning that the threats were much more serious than they were portrayed.

The question that no one asks is - why are there still any "refugee camps" in areas administered by the PA? They have been effectively under PA authority for well over ten years now. In that time period, real villages and towns could have been built. Businesses could have started. Plans could have been made to move camp residents out into the many West Bank cities and villages and eliminate these bizarre, decades-old anachronisms.

The truth is that the population in the West Bank camps has increased by over 33% since 1997.

If the Palestinian Authority wants to truly govern their people, why do they allow these semi-autonomous camps to exist? Why aren't they working overtime to give their people the dignity of living on their own?

The reason is that the PA has no intention of building a nation. Its leaders have no sense of responsibility. They don't care about their people. And, even more importantly, the camps are a symbol of Palestinian Arab suffering that they do not want to lose.

Once there are no camps, how can Palestinian Arabs claim that their lives are so terrible? The camps are emblems of suffering and they must remain forever as long as Israel exists. The PA makes a false impression that Israel is responsible for any Palestinian Arabs who are in dire straits today and the camps are their Exhibit A.

There is another side of the equation. Entire generations of Palestinian Arabs have been brought up in these camps with the mentality that the world owes them, and this week's strikes in Nablus prove it again. When people think that way they are not likely to want to actually work to make their lives better. There is nothing stopping UNRWA camp residents from moving out on their own - many have over the decades. The people that remain in the camps are the ones who are the laziest and most likely to be radicalized.

These camps have been there for sixty years. Where is the plan, drafted by UNRWA and the PA, to get rid of them? There is none, and won't be one, as long as the camps fulfill the dysfunctional yet real wishes of the PA and of their residents.

Egyptians refuse Jewish references in music festival

From the Forward:

Wendy Sternberg was thrilled when the organization she founded, Genesis at the Crossroads, was invited to perform at the eighth annual International Music Festival at Egypt’s Alexandria Library.
She looked forward to achieving the goals of her group, which seeks to bridge cultures in conflict through the arts and prides itself on stellar musicianship and cross-cultural dialogue.
Yet, despite her dream of the festival as a perfect fit with Genesis’s aims, Sternberg pulled out on June 4, after her group was barred from performing in Hebrew and from describing the religious backgrounds of its members in festival literature.
Sternberg said Genesis was informed a year ago that performing songs in Hebrew would be viewed by the Egyptian public as an extension of a Zionist agenda.

“You can love music and not be a Zionist,” Sternberg said. “The arts are safe. To really embrace the diversity is our greatest asset.”

Even at that, the situation was acceptable but not desirable, Sternberg said. Though the group’s Jewish members were upset, GATC decided to replace Hebrew songs with others in Ladino and Arabic.

The real trouble arose when Sternberg received an e-mail May 24, informing her that GATC would be required to eliminate biographical references to members’ religions. This meant that Alberto Mizrahi, cantor of Chicago’s historic Anshe Emet Synagogue, could not refer to himself as a hazan, and GATC could describe itself as comprising only “different musical trends,” not different religious backgrounds.

That demand, Sternberg says, struck at the core of her group’s purpose and identity.

When Sternberg asked American University Islamic studies professor Akbar Ahmed for advice, she said he told her, “Walk away.”

Ahmed told the Forward he reminded Sternberg that moderate Muslims must speak out for dialogue among the three Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

“But if one party or another is not involved, the notion of an Abrahamic dialogue is not realized,” he said.

Sternberg outlined her position in a May 25 e-mail to five staff members of the Alexandria festival: GATC had accepted the restrictions on Hebrew songs out of respect for the current political climate, but would not agree to omit all religious references.

“We welcome a conversation with you to either further pursue this summer’s opportunity with you without diluting Genesis at the Crossroads’ mission and message, or to close this chapter without our involvement in your 2009 festival,” Sternberg wrote in the message.

Eldin’s reply came a few days later, Sternberg said, in just three words: “Thank you. Goodbye.”

The Egyptians didn't reject the group because of perceived Zionism, but because they wanted people to know they were Jewish.

Thank you open thread

With the year half over, I have well over 300,000 page views - more than I had in all of 2008.

So thanks for visiting!

Here's an open thread for the sheer hell of it.

(Sometimes, Yahoo News links to this blog, but the stories they choose are not always the ones I think should be publicized. Open threads have been known to pop up there as well. Very weird.

(On the other hand, CNN is now linking a Shmuley Boteach/Michael Jackson story to one I wrote yesterday.)

UPDATE: Sure enough, this is the posting of mine that Yahoo chose in it Mideast Roundup blog listings. Sigh.

HRW report on IDF - one sided and deceptive

I just looked a little at the Human Rights Watch report on Israeli drones killing civilians in Gaza.

The report was mainly written by Marc Garlasco, who had famously blamed Israel for the very ambiguous Gaza beach blast in 2006 and whose credentials as an expert are equally ambiguous.

I didn't have time to look at the report too carefully, but it follows the normal HRW playbook of doing everything possible to blame Israel for not being perfect.

The main example was the famous case of Israel bombing what appeared to be a group of men loading a truck with missiles.

To support its statement, the IDF released video footage of the attack, made available online, probably taken by the drone that launched the missile. It showed a group of at least one dozen men casually loading cylindrical objects crossways onto an open truck immediately before the missile struck. At least five more men are seen standing around the vehicle.
The IDF video does not show any secondary explosions, which would have indicated the presence of weapons-grade explosives or propellants at the site. Nor was the destruction at the site consistent with the presence of rockets. Had the truck been carrying Grad rockets with warheads, the truck and adjacent buildings would have been destroyed. Even without warheads, the propellant in the rockets would have destroyed the truck.

Credible doubts about the attack arose on December 31, when the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem released an interview with the owner of the truck, Ahmad Samur, who said that he was transporting oxygen canisters used for welding, and not Grad rockets. According to Samur, his family was trying to move the canisters from the metal workshop he owns to protect them from looters. He denied any connection to Hamas or any other Palestinian armed group. Eight civilians died in the attack, Samur said, including three children and Samur's son 'Imad, age 32. Two others were severely wounded.

As HRW mentions, the video was widely available and can be seen here:

While HRW is probably right in that the cylindrical objects were probably not Grad missiles as they appeared, its only advice to the IDF was to notice that the objects were smaller than Grad missiles are and try to identify them better before firing. (As it was, the video shows that the IDF watched the activity for over two minutes before firing.)

However, the objects were being taken from the vicinity of a metal workshop - the places that Qassam rockets are typically built. It is a very reasonable assumption that these were weapons of some sort. HRW doesn't even consider that the IDF might have a case in targeting these men. Would an average soldier looking at this video be able to make such an assumption that these are oxygen tanks, knowing that at that very moment there were dozens of rockets being fired at Israeli communities daily? I cannot blame the IDF for their decision - but HRW, of course, does.

One other interesting fact. HRW lists the names of those killed during the attack, and says that eight civilians were killed and none had any connection with any terror group. However, one of them, Ashraf Sayed Khamis al-Dabbagh, was identified as a "militant" by the PCHR. (#366.)

One other person I noticed from the report, Adham Hamdi al-'Adani, killed when the IDF hit near a Gaza school, is this person depicted in an Al Qassam Brigades martyr poster, #33 in the PCHR list:

He is identified here as a member of the Al Qassam Brigades Deir al-Balah Battalion.

This is not to say that these bombings weren't mistakes. Most of the victims do not appear to have been terrorists, and the IDF should - and does - do everything necessary to avoid killing civilians. There are articles and video that show the IDF aborting bombings when they see civilians in the area, evidence that the HRW seems to ignore in its reckless quest to damn Israel as being indiscriminately violent.

However, HRW either ignored evidence that some of the "civilian" victims they are talking about were actually terrorists or it didn't do any reasonable research (typing the names into Google should have been enough.) This is either sloppy work or it is purposeful deception on HRW's part.

Sinai poor people "looting" expired Gaza aid

An enlightening article in Al Quds reveals two interesting phenomena.

There are tons of aid, sent by Arab countries and meant for Gaza, that Egypt let rot for months in a stadium in El Arish. Rice, oil, blankets, flour and clothing have been sitting there.

Until it starts going bad.

Then, the Egyptians burn it.

When the poor people of El Arish got wind that this was happening, they started taking the doomed goods for themselves, overwhelming the guards.

People in the Sinai have always been resentful that they are poorer than Gazans are and yet the Gazans get free food and clothing while the Egyptians just get poorer. This is one way they feel they can get a little bit.

Hamas announced the death of field leader Ali Mohammed Tayeh, who was killed during a "special Jihad mission" in Gaza. In other words, a "work accident."(They only used the words "jihad mission" in Arabic.)

Some Palestinian Arabs are touting one benefit of being imprisoned in Israel: learning Hebrew. Their knowledge of the language helps them to understand the enemy and write letters to Hebrew newspapers that are more likely to be published. One former prisoner mentioned that he managed to take correspondence courses from Hebrew University while in prison.

Palestine Today quoted Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner general of UNRWA, as saying that Israel has set Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Keep in mind that this was being quoted in a website for a newspaper in Gaza which also publishes photos like this one, from a conference on youth in media. Look how primitive these people's lives are!

An Islamic Jihad site has a headline that a group of 30-40 radical Zionist Jewish extremists stormed the Al Aqsa compound (Temple Mount.) This "storming" consisted pretty much of...walking. Here's their picture:

Looks really violent!

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 109.

June 2009 rocket calendar

Q=Qassam (may include Katyusha-style rockets)
QS=Qassam landing short in Gaza
M=Mortar
F=Fatality (F=Gazan, F=Israeli)
(G)=Grad (included in Qassam count, not consistent yet)

MS=Mortar landing short
P - unnamed "projectiles"
(Paren) indicates unconfirmed Palestinian claims

* - Fatal non-rocket attack

K=Katyushas from Lebanon

June 2009

All earlier rocket calendars here.

7/1 2M
7/16 1Q
8/9 1Q, 2MS

"Obama changed his tune due to Zionist pressure"

Iran's Press TV is just so much fun to read:

A senior advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says US President Barack Obama's recent remarks about Iran's election show that he is under pressure from the Zionists.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Tuesday night, Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi said that Obama originally took a soft stance on the results of Iran's presidential election but then was forced by the Zionists and the US neoconservatives to make tough comments about Iran.

And next we are going to force him to support building new Jewish towns in the West Bank!

Ramadan in Israel, 1949

I just came across this from the Palestine Post of June 30, 1949, describing how hard the new state of Israel tried to accommodate its Muslim citizens - and even its Muslim enemy POWs.

In 1949's Ramadan, Israel went out of its way to give extra rations to Muslims for their break-fast meals, mosques were repaired, special Muslim programs were broadcast on Kol Yisrael, and Muslim POWs were given access to extra food and religious articles.

Notice also that one of the reasons that there was a shortage of sheikhs and imams - because they fled their communities during the war, leaving their followers behind. The story of the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who voluntarily fled in 1948 has still not been adequately written, and this would be an interesting chapter of that book.