Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 27, 2009

About that two-state solution that Hamas supposedly endorses...

There have been no shortage of people over the past few years trumpeting various Hamas statements as indicating that Hamas would accept a two-state solution.

Of course, these same people ignore Hamas when it says the exact opposite, in plain language.

So here is something else for them to ignore:

Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s plan to establish a de facto Palestinian state within two years, arguing that “resistance” is the only way to establish a Palestinian state.

Fayyad’s 65-page plan deepens “the reality of [Palestinian] division and the presence of the Israeli occupation. This fulfills the desire of the occupation in line with the policy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," said Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum.

“Fayyad is not authorized to make determine the political course for the Palestinian people … Fayyad’s government is not legitimate because he believes in coordination and negotiation with the [Israeli] occupation,” Barhoum added.

“We have one path for our Palestinian state to be established. The only way to do so is through resistance and a state without settlements, when all detainees are released and the refugees are back to their homeland,” he said.

Isn't that interesting? Hamas' goal isn't a state, it is a war.

In other words, what good is a state when it is not accompanied by lots of dead Jews?

I wonder what Jimmy Carter thinks about this latest peaceful statement from his Hamas buddies. I'm sure he'll condemn it real soon now.

Radical Islam: Totalitarianism, Mark III (TNR)

Today's must read, by Jeffrey Herf and published on TNR:

The Totalitarian Present: Why the West Consistently Underplays the Power of Bad Ideas
As uncomfortable as it may make some tolerant and well-intentioned souls, an intellectually respectable case can be made that radical Islam constitutes the third variant of totalitarian ideology politics in modern history. The first version emerged in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The second was that of modern communism in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. While these first two versions succumbed to military might and ideological exhaustion, respectively, the political, ideological and military battle with radical Islam remains undecided.

One way to illustrate the case for radical Islam as Totalitarianism Mark III (and perhaps draw some practical conclusions from it), is to focus on three points of comparison and contrast between the Nazi and communist eras and that of contemporary political Islam: the problem of underestimating the power of ideology; modernity and anti-modernity; and the issue of preemption in context.

Read the whole thing.

He partially blames liberal "sophisticated" thinking as one reason that the Islamist threat is not taken as seriously as fascism and communism was, but I would venture to say that much of it is simply that Islamism as a political ideology cloaks itself in religion, and most liberals don't want to challenge religious thought as much as they would like to challenge political ideas. If the separation between Islamism as a political movement and Islam as a personal religion could be explained better, then liberals would come around to the fact that they are against everything that political Islam is for.

Egyptians upset: Exodus story too sympathetic to Jews

An Egyptian TV preacher has brought up the apparently sensitive topic of the Exodus on his show being seen during Ramadan, causing controversy in Egypt.

According to Al Arabiya (Arabic), Amr Khaled created a Ramadan TV show called "Stories of the Koran." The second episode tackled the story of Pharaoh and the Jews, which very roughly parallels the Biblical story.

Khaled discusses Pharaoh's reasons for slaughtering the Jewish males. In his website, he asks the audience whether Pharaoh was justified (in the Koranic story, Pharaoh dreamed that the Jews would take away his property and this prompted his plans for genocide.) He also asks more general questions to prompt readers to think about the story, such as whether Musa (Moses) wanted to save the Israelites or if he wanted to convince Pharaoh to believe in Allah.

According to the article, Khaled (who is now in Saudi Arabia for the Umrah) is under pressure for airing a program that is so sympathetic to Jews, and he may not be allowed back into Egypt. Apparently the Interior Minister has asked Khaled to scale back his pro-Jewish views on TV, and Khaled refused. A colleague of his defends him, saying Khaled has no such sympathy for Jews, and future programs will talk about Israeli crimes to prove his loyalty to the Arab cause.

Don't play with firecrackers!

From PCHR:

...A family dispute took place between members of the al-Jamala family and those of the al-Bughdadi family in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north Gaza city. The dispute took place when a member of the al-Jamala family asked children from the al-Bughdadi family, who were playing with firecrackers in front of his house, to leave the area. The issue developed into a dispute between the two families. During the dispute one of the parties opened fire, killing two civilians:

1. Ghazi Munir Deeb al-Jamala, 20, hit by a bullet to the heart; and

2. Shadi Nabil Deeb al-Jamala, 23, hit by a bullet to the forehead.

You see, kids, this is why it's dangerous to play with firecrackers. Your neighbors might just kill members of your family because of it!

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is at 171.

Shalom Sesame will return

From JPost:

Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Stiller and Christina Applegate are just a few of the stars slated to appear in a new Sesame Street-style production geared at teaching Jewish-American children about Jewish culture.

"Shalom Sesame," a 12-part series for preschoolers featuring the globe-trotting Muppet Grover, will explore Jewish identity and traditions and will film on location at several Israeli sites, including the Western Wall.

Big-name guest stars, including actors Debra Messing, Greg Kinnear and Cedric the Entertainer, will join puppets and children in segments filmed in Israel and the U.S., according to the series' producers.

"Shalom Sesame" was first produced in 1986, selling more than 1 million copies on video and DVD. The new incarnation will tackle more issues of diversity for Jewish children and be accompanied by an interactive Web site and other outreach materials.

I just went to YouTube and found some of the older clips, bringing back many memories from when I watched it with my kids.

It also had stars, like this segment with Alan King:

But for some reason I cannot find any of the clips with a much younger Sarah Jessica Parker.

Nefesh B'Nefesh offering free blogger flights to Israel

Nefesh B'Nefesh is asking Jewish/Israeli bloggers to nominate other bloggers to fly to Israel on a NbN flight, with the proviso that they must write about their experience.

The catch is that we can only nominate other bloggers and must write a blog post as to why we chose that person.

So, as much as I'd like to win (hint, hint), I need to nominate someone else.

For the same reasons given by JoeSettler, I would choose Soccer Dad. He has done more than anyone else to promote the JBlogosphere and he has specifically promoted my blog numerous times. His postings are always well thought out and he would do a great job in reporting on NbN.

This is my official nomination post. Watching these types of posts over the next week is going to be amusing.

DFLP women terrorist training photos

Ma'an shows us pictures of DFLP female terrorists training:

Once again, Gaza just doesn't seem that crowded. Plenty of room - for practicing killing Jews.

Predicting the next Arab rumor

Rumor prediction is a very inexact science, but the fact that Ma'an chose to highlight a single story about an Israeli scientific experiment makes me think this one is on the horizon.

You see, Israeli scientists have a joint research project with the University of Hawaii where they detonate tons of explosives underground in the Negev to simulate a small earthquake. Even more nefarious is that this research is being paid for by the US Defense Department.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Tamimi continues his daily screeds against Israel, today saying again that Jerusalem is an Islamic and Arab city and that there is not a shred of evidence that Jews ever lived there, that the Temples didn't exist, and that Israel is furiously trying to purge all signs of Muslim presence in the city. (And every time he opens his mouth it makes headlines in the PalArab press.)

I think it is only a matter of time before Tamimi or one of the other anti-Jewish crusaders accuses Israel of planning to create an earthquake in Jerusalem meant to demolish the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Hell, there's more evidence for this than for stealing the organs of dead Palestinian Arabs!

Erekat and the "Jewish State"

Ha'aretz has an interesting interview with chief Palestinian Arab liar/hypocrite/negotiator Saeb Erekat where all the questions come from readers around the world. One of his answers is:

Will you ever recognize Israel as a Jewish state? Thank you
Asked by Jon P, from Buffalo, U.S.A.

Saeb Erekat: That's so amazing of Israel. The birth certificate of Israel as embodied in the UN is called the State of Israel so I'm asked to recognize the State of Israel. I'm a Palestinian, Muslim, Christian, I don't think about converting to Judaism or joining the Zionist organization.

I'm not going to call the shots for you. I'm not going to stop you from circumcising your boys, I'm not going to stop you from going to synagogues. You can call yourself whatever you want.

If you want to call yourself the biblical, united, eternal, holy, milk and honey land of Jewish Israel, submit your name to the UN. Your name is the State of Israel. It's unbelievable to ask Palestinians.

It is the Jewish State that called itself Israel, not the UN.

I would argue that the "birth certificate" of Israel from the UN's perspective is United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for a partition of Palestine into two states.

That resolution uses the term "Jewish state," by my count, 30 times.

(h/t Mustafa, who points out that Erekat avoids answering whether the PA would accept a land swap.)

Saudi husband is 80, wife is 10

From the Arab News:

AL-LAITH: A 10-year-old bride was returned last Sunday to her 80-year-old husband by her father who discovered her at the home of her aunt with whom she has been hiding for around 10 days.
A local newspaper said the husband, who denies he is 80 in spite of claims by the girl’s family, accused the aunt of meddling in his affairs. “My marriage is not against Shariah. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he said.
He added that he had been engaged to his wife’s elder sister and that this broke off as she wanted to continue with her education. “In light of this, her father offered his younger daughter. I was allowed to have a look at her according to Shariah and found her acceptable,” he said.

This may be a new record in Saudi depravity: a groom eight times the age of the bride.

Who do you think has a lower opinion of the girl: the father who sells her to a dirty old man and forces her to return to him when she runs away, or the dirty old man himself who finds her looks "acceptable" for his nightly rape?

But who are we to disapprove? It is acceptable under Sharia!

Israeli dates being eaten for Ramadan

Al Quds has an article about how Jericho-area farmers are trying to market their dates in competition with Israeli dates grown in settlements.

Arab farmers have increased their date yields this year so that Muslims can more easily avoid eating the imperialistic Israeli dates. The article seems to imply that Israeli dates are cheaper and more plentiful, as they are an export product. If I am reading it correctly, Arab farmers are also saying that their dates are healthier than the evil Israeli dates.

In previous years, Muslims in England, Egypt and Morocco were aghast to find out that their yummy Ramadan dates originated in Israel.

I wonder if some of the dates in Gaza came from Israel.

PFLP not happy with Hamas

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist terror group that thrives in Gaza, is less than happy with the slow Islamization of Gaza by Hamas.

The latest edict by Hamas mandating that girls in government schools cover up their hair is being criticized by the PFLP:

[The PFLP statement said these are] "irresponsible actions occur that crack the Palestinian social fabric and will reflect negatively on the situation of education, and is a blatant violation of human rights that are guaranteed by law.

"There is no item in the Palestinian Basic Law, allows any party whatsoever to impose its vision of Palestinian society...

The PFLP apparently missed Article 4 of the Palestinian Basic Law, which states:

Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect for the sanctity of all other divine religions shall be maintained.

The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be a principal source of legislation.

Legally, Hamas seems to have the right to impose Shari'a on Gaza (and, inshallah, on the West Bank and all of Palestine) unless it violates the precepts of another religion.

Sorry, PFLP. Your Marxist radicalism just doesn't fit as well with Islamic radicalism as well as you like to believe.