Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Saturday night open thread

I just turned on a comment feature that this post is meant to test - the ability for you to flag people's comments, and if they get below a certain score, they get deleted. It should be used for especially offensive posts, not merely if you don't agree with someone's opinions.

We'll try it out and see if it works. If you see something offensive in the comments, click on the "Flag" option.

Islamic Jihad celebrates Beit Lid massacre anniversary

On January 22, 1995, Islamic Jihad staged one of its bloodiest terror attacks, the double suicide bombing at the Beit Lid junction. 21 were killed.

One of the more heinous tactics used in this bombing was the targeting of medical personnel. As ambulances and medics converged on the scene to help the victims, the second bomber ran into the crowd and blew himself up as well.

Predictably, the Islamic Jihad mouthpiece newspaper Palestine Today is celebrating this attack today on the 15th anniversary.

It is worthwhile to note that the Beit Lid massacre was the seventh major terror attack after the Oslo "peace" agreement, just sixteen months after the signing. What was supposed to herald a new era of peace was instead bringing the worst wave of terror within Israel in its history. Even dovish then-president Ezer Weizman called for a halt in the "peace" accords in the wake of Beit Lid. Yitzchak Rabin didn't listen, and the bombings continued, years before the second intifada.

This is what the world called "peace," and it is what terrorists are celebrating today.

Fatah calls Hamas kettle black

Fatah seized on yesterday's non-story of Hamas leader Aziz Dwaik supposedly saying that Hamas accepts Israel right to exist and then denying it.

Palestine Press Agency reports that Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf says that this shows that Hamas speaks out of both sides of its mouth. He said that Hamas tries to fool Arab and Islamic countries when it says it is a resistance movement, and then tells the international community about its willingness to recognize Israel, and live with them long-term truce, even in a Palestinian state with provisional borders.

He then accuses Dwaik's denial as being insincere, saying that even after his attempts at "spin" he proved that Hamas really does recognize Israel.

What is funny, of course, is that Fatah does the exact same thing, as it pretends to support the "peace process" on the one hand and turns around and says it supports "resistance" on the other. Weekly violent demonstrations in Bil'in and Nilin are wholeheartedly supported by Fatah, PLO and PA leader Abbas. Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades continues to exist, and presumably still gets support and funding from Fatah leadership. Even Fatah's platform from last year mentioned "resistance" as well as support for the "peace process" (given large preconditions.)

It is especially funny to hear Fatah accuse Hamas of speaking differently to Arab audiences than to Western audiences, as it was Fatah's leader Yasir Arafat that turned that skill into an art form.

More Gaza "civilians" and more PCHR lies

Even though I haven't been spending too much time lately on looking for more dead Gaza "civilians" who were actually terrorists, other people (notably PTWatch) has been diligently digging through Arabic websites and we keep adding to the list.

As of right now, we have identified 358 terrorists who were categorized as "civilians" by the PCHR. Add together the rest of the police and the "militants" that PCHR counted, and we have 667 dead Gazans who were legitimate targets, quickly closing in on half of the dead not being civilians.

Many of the civilians were clearly being used as cover or were unavoidably killed in a legitimate operation. The latest "martyr" PTWatch found is a case in point.

#901, Usama Sa’id Mohammed Lubbad, was a recruiter for Islamic Jihad (who also evidently taught Islamic Jihad tenets to the terrorist equivalent of Cub Scouts in a mosque) and he was killed on January 9th. His obituary mentions that he was killed with a few of his Islamic Jihad friends - mentioned in PCHR as #897, 899, 900 and 909. That's five Islamic Jihad members in one shot, a legitimate target by any measure.

However, during the attack two other people were killed. One was a seven year old boy, the other a 55-year old man. Their deaths were unavoidable by the IDF, and very justified under international law.

Looking back at how PCHR described the attacks at the time, we can see how they purposefully lie to make Israel look like it deliberately attacked civilians. In one section of the report they say

At approximately 09:40 on Thursday, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at three members of the resistance who were near al-Qassam mosque in Beit Lahia, killing all three:

1. Mohammed Nafiz al-Hindi, 25;

2. Anwar Jaber Abu Salim, 24; and

3. 'Abdul Nassar 'Abdul Gaffar 'Ouda, 23.

A couple of paragraphs later they say

At approximately 13:00, medical sources announced the death of Ussama Said Lubbad, 19, of wounds sustained earlier on the same day when IOF warplanes bombed a group of young people in Beit Lahia. Another 3 civilians were immediately killed in the same attack.

These were not two separate attacks, but the same one, as Lubbad's obituary makes clear. PCHR pretends that there were two attacks so that they can claim that the IDF deliberately targeted "a group of young people" - implying that the IDF targeted civilians, one of their memes that has been copied and repeated by HRW, Amnesty and Goldstone.

Out of the group of 7 killed, five were terrorists. PCHR must have known at the time they wrote the report that it was a single attack.

Notice also where the terrorists were - near a mosque.

Erdogan accuses Israel of using WMD in Gaza

Turkey's prime minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of using "weapons of mass destruction" in Gaza in an interview with a TV station from the UAE, according to Palestine Today.

Apparently, only one side in the recent diplomatic spat between Israel and Turkey is trying to smooth things over.

US State Dept. encourages trade with Gaza

The State Department has something called an "E-Consulate" to act as a virtual US consulate to the Gaza Strip.

It includes this page:

Yes, U.S. companies can do business in Gaza! Dozens of U.S. firms have established agencies and disrtibutorships [sic], and Palestinian consumers have a strong preferance [sic] for a wide variety of U.S. goods and services.
In particular, many U.S. companies have re-oriented their marketing efforts to acknowledge the Palestinian market as culturally, economically, and commercially distinct from the Israeli market. The U.S. Commercial Service in Jerusalem strongly encourages U.S. exporters wishing to market their goods in the West Bank & Gaza to use local Palestinian agents and distributors. Using Israeli agents for Palestinian markets does not utilize local, Palestinian market expertise, and does not allow U.S. firms to maximize their sales exposure to the local market. We can help you find well qualified Palestinian agents and distributors for your products.

Please visit us online at: http://www.buyusa.gov/westbank/en/

I found a cached variant of this page from 2006. It is interesting that the page was never updated since then and gives the appearance of reflecting current US policy, as does the linked page at BuyUSA.gov.

Arab writer convinced Israel's Haiti aid pure propaganda

The often anti-semitic, far left People's Voice finds an Arab willing to talk about how Israelis saving lives is clearly a propaganda ploy:

Why Israel send a team to help Haiti? What is the relationship between Israel and humanitarian aid?

If we were to canvass the question among 10 million Palestinians the Zionist state of Israel possessed of human compassion? I very much doubt that the consensus would be positive. More than likely those canvassed would be bewildered by such a question in light of the suffering they endured all these years.

With such a litany of crimes against humanity to its credit it is difficult to reconcile with the show of compassion Israel is extending to the Haitian people, who live half a world away, while at the same time they cause such misery and suffering to Palestinians who live only a few hundred meters from their comfortable homes and towns.

In the absence of any evidence that Zionists have any compassion towards humanity one might conclude that the aid the Zionist are giving to the devastated people of Haiti nothing more than ‘crocodile tears’. A cleverly crafted piece of propaganda, designed to clean up the reputation the Zionist state has for the brutal disregard for human suffering.

Then the article goes into fantasyland:

On the other hand it would have been very logic [sic], very natural, and in harmony with the Palestinian culture that the future post Zionism Palestine will help brothers and sisters in humanity anywhere in the world. Palestine history is the best testimony: Palestine has helped and welcomed refugees and religious and ordinary immigrants from many parts in the world.

Fatah and Hamas were throwing each other off of buildings a couple of years ago. But, given the chance, Palestinian Arabs would naturally help Haitians!

But when Palestine was struck by the Zionist earthquake it cannot unfortunately help others because it needs first to be free from the occupation, in other word the Palestinian humanism will be appear when the inhuman Zionism disappear.

Ah, now we are back to the usual PalArab self-pitying mindset we are so used to. They really want to act like normal, compassionate human beings, but the "Zionists" are stopping them! It's the occupation! The average person in Ramallah can't possibly think about those who are crushed underneath buildings because he sometimes has to go through a checkpoint!

In other words, once the Palestinian Arabs succeed in throwing the Jews into the sea, then the world can see what wonderful people they really are.

Dwaik denies Hamas "moderation"

From Ma'an:

Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Aziz Dweik on Thursday denied reports by Israeli news outlets that he said on Wednesday Israel has a right to exist.

"The media reports in question were inaccurate," he said in a statement, adding that since his release from an Israeli prison last year, Israeli news outlets have repeatedly misrepresented his views.

The Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli newspaper, quoted Dweik as saying on Wednesday that the Islamic movement has accepted Israel's right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which calls for dismantling the state.

The person he supposedly made these statements to helpfully explains why he is so dense as to believe the opposite of what Hamas has been clearly and adamantly saying for decades:

The remarks were said to have been made during a meeting in Hebron with British millionaire David Martin Abrahams, who reportedly maintains close ties with senior Israeli and British government officials.

Abrahams, who the The Jerusalem Post identified as a major donor to Britain's Labor Party, told the newspaper he would urge Foreign Secretary David Milliband to "consider the implications of Hamas's positive overtures."

"The fact that there is a possibility for recognition of Israel is a symbolic gesture," he reportedly said. "We can all look for good in people and we can all look for bad in people. I always look for the good."

He was also quoted as saying: "People might say that I'm naïve, so let them."

I think we just proved it!

Object lesson in Hamas duplicity

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Hamas has accepted Israel's right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, Aziz Dwaik, Hamas's most senior representative in the West Bank, said on Wednesday.

Dwaik's remarks are seen in the context of Hamas's attempts to win recognition from the international community.

Dwaik is the elected speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was released a few months ago after spending nearly three years in an Israeli prison.

Naturally, this news has caused a stir in Gaza. Luckily, another hamas leader, Dr. Salah al Bardawil, has clarified Dwaik's position.

You see, Hamas' charter never called for the destruction of Israel! So there is no need for it to be nullified.

Hamas' charter does quote the Muslim Brotherhood's founder as saying "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" . But that's just the prologue. And it says obliterate," not "destroy." Big difference!

Also, it says:

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Muslim generations until Judgement Day. This being so, who could claim to have the right to represent Muslim generations till Judgement Day?

This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Muslims have conquered by force, because during the times of (Islamic) conquests, the Muslims consecrated these lands to Muslim generations till the Day of Judgement.

Now, if Hamas-bashers want to interpret that as if it means that Hamas wants to destroy Israel, that's their problem.

And this part is equally irrelevant:

The day that enemies usurp part of Muslim land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Muslim. In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.

Nowhere does that paragraph say "destroy Israel"! Amazing!

Double-talk is a wonderful Palestinian Arab tool, because they know that there will always be stupid Westerners who cannot believe that they are being lied to.

Terrorists love Akiva Eldar

Akiva Eldar is one of Ha'aretz' go-to analysts with a consistent agenda of demonizing his nation.

A couple of days ago he tried to pour cold water on Israel's work in Haiti by saying how poorly Israel treats Gaza. For example:

The disaster in Haiti is a natural one; the one in Gaza is the unproud handiwork of man. Our handiwork. The IDF does not send cargo planes stuffed with medicines and medical equipment to Gaza....

I was not aware that Haiti was shooting rockets at Israel.

And apparently Eldar feels his message of unremitting Israeli hate towards Gaza would be diluted if he mentions the medical clinic that Israel did set up for Gazans after the war - that Hamas barred Gazans from going to. Eldar cannot be bothered to mention the 4000 Gazans who did manage to get medical attention in Israeli hospitals in 2009. No, to Eldar, Israel is an evil nation who goes to Haiti for PR but callously ignores the people in pain in Gaza.

Not surprisingly, his op-ed has been featured all over the world in Arab and far left websites. And now, even the Hamas Al Qassam Brigades website has reprinted his article.

I wonder if they paid him?

Al Qassam Brigades leader dies in UAE

In two separate incidents in 1989, Hamas kidnapped and murdered two Israeli soldiers, Sgt. Avi Sasportas and Cpl. Ilan Saadon.

The terrorist responsible for these murders, Mahmoud Al-Mabhuh, was one of Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades co-founders. Some time later he ran away from Gaza and went off to live in the UAE.

He just died of cancer in a hospital there.

Great BBC video on Gaza

BBC 2 sent a real soldier, Iraq war veteran Col. Tim Collins, to look at Sderot and Gaza. He saw the evidence of secondary mosque explosions that Goldstone didn't. He interviews Gaza rocket makers and gets chased out of Rafah where the weapons smugglers work. He honestly looks at one of the bigger accidents of the war, where the Gaza doctor's daughters were killed, and shows how difficult it would be for Israelis to have distinguished the civilians.

Wish I could embed it.

(h/t t34zakat)
UPDATE: Here's the article about the video that includes most of the text, from Conflictzones.tv: (h/t Gaia)

Inside the Gaza Strip – subjected to a short but bloody war against Israeli forces that ended in January 2009, and under the control of the Islamist militant movement Hamas - Colonel Tim Collins drove up to a massive roadside poster.

“It shows the Legoland town of Sderot [southern Israel] being bombarded by unguided weapons,” said the Colonel. “[Responding to] this is what the Israelis say the attack was all about. But this poster wasn’t produced by an Israeli PR company. It was paid for by Hamas, and they’ve got their badge on it – showing a war crime by any standard.”

The main target for the rocket fire depicted in the Hamas roadside billboard had indeed been the small Israeli border town of Sderot.

In the town, British-born Tottenham-supporting police officer Micky Rosenfeld showed the Colonel gaily-painted bomb-shelters into which the town’s 30-thousand citizens would flee for relative safety every time they heard a piercing “Red Alert” siren. The Colonel noted that fragments [of metal ball-bearings stuffed into rocket-heads] had ripped holes even into the thick metal walls that surround the bomb-shelters. “That’s vicious,” Colonel Collins said. “If that hits your flesh it would tear you up.”

Thousands of rockets and mortars had fallen during the eight years before Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008, Colonel Collins was told.

“Growing up in Belfast during The Troubles, I can sympathise with them. It’s no way to live … These were by and large people who had decamped from an Islamic society in north Africa and found themselves living on the front-line,” Colonel Collins said, [referring to Jews from Arab north Africa who had come to Israel in the 1950s and had often settled in small towns in the country’s under-developed south.]

Behind the town’s police station was a collection of the remnants of rockets that had struck the town. Colonel Collins picked up a rusting rocket casing. “It can’t be accurate, because it’s heavy and imprecise – so this is an indiscriminate weapon,” said Colonel Collins. Police Chief Inspector Rosenfeld told him how he believed the rocket-firers sometimes managed to target their missiles -- by listening to Israeli radio which revealed where the first rocket or rockets had hit, and then adjusting their sights to make the next ones more lethal.

Rosenfeld also showed him the remnants of more advanced Grad rockets, which he said had been smuggled to the armed Palestinian groups via a number of countries through tunnels under the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt. Twenty of these had hit cities far further up the coast or far further inland during three days at the start of the Gaza-Israel war, he said. Israel feared that if it failed to act, Palestinian militants in Gaza would over time be able to smuggle in or develop rocketry that could hit further and further away until missiles reached the main Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Late at night, the Colonel managed to rendezvous inside the Gaza Strip with men who fired rockets across the border into Israel. The Colonel was being driven by Abu Haroon, a beaded fighter from a sub-group of Fatah called the Abu Rish Brigade. At the rocket men’s makeshift base inside a refugee camp, Abu Haroon and his men produced a rocket and started dismantling it. “TNT [a high explosive] was spilling out of the back of it,” recalls the Colonel, “and I was particularly nervous when they put a badly-constructed home-made fuse on top of the device, making it a live weapon, then brandished a detonator.”

Abu Haroon made it clear that these rockets were “simple” devices that could not be accurately targeted. “We don’t know where these drop,” he told the Colonel. “Because there are no electronics here. Not big shooting rocket like Israel says about it.” Expressing the hope that conflict will end and that “the children can grow up without ever having known the war that Abu Haroon and his men have known, God willing,” Colonel Collins left and was driven back to his hotel in Gaza City.

Later, in Bet Hanun, northern Gaza Strip, the Colonel examined the remains of a deserted and destroyed mosque -- one of several that had been smashed during the Gaza-Israel war. Inside the now deserted mosque, Colonel Collins looked up at a gaping hole left by an air strike. “The allegation was that this was used as a storage facility for weapons,” said the Colonel as he tramped about the ruined structure. “I have to say that what was commonplace in Iraq was also seemed to be evident in Gaza as well. Down in the cellar of the mosque there was clear evidence of secondary explosions. It’s my opinion that the only thing that could have caused this was that explosives were stored here.”

The Colonel also went to the scene of possibly the most well-publicised tragedy of the war. A tank had fired two rounds into an apartment block. The shells struck a bedroom and killed three daughters and a niece of a local doctor, Ezzedeen Abualaish. Colonel Collins found the scene “heart-rending”, but when he painstakingly found the exact spot from which the tank, perched on a hillside overlooking Gaza City, had fired two rounds, he was able to work out what the Israeli tank-gunner would have been able to see.

“The civilians had been evacuated into Gaza…. I have to say that it would be difficult from this range, even through optic sights, to make out clear targets. So you would only see shadows.” However the Colonel said firing a main armaments round without actually identifying the target was “questionable”. [An Israeli military investigation in 2009 stated that the gunner had believed there were Palestinian fighters moving around in what he and his commander thought was an abandoned building. The doctor had been telephoned by an Israeli military officer days before advising him and his family and all inhabitants to leave the building, the report stated.]

On his way out of the Gaza Strip, Colonel Collins passed alongside a plethora of roadside pictures and billboards plastered with the faces of young men killed in years of conflict with Israel, each shown in a heroic pose wielding a weapon. “Some call them ‘legitimate targets’, others call them ‘martyrs’. They’ve certainly been ‘martyred’ to suit someone’s agenda. In my view, like in Ireland, it’s a waste of young lives.”

As Colonel Collins walked towards a heavily fortified checkpoint to exit Gaza, he reflected on his visit. “The real victims here are the people of Gaza, and the people of Sderot, who’ve been used like cattle,” he said. “In my view that’s the real crime.”