Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, February 17, 2012

Latest Latma

Hamas using electricity crisis to cement its independence from Ramallah

For the past week, I've been reporting that the current power crisis in Gaza is wholly Hamas' fault. It was Hamas that started refusing to take in any heavy-duty diesel from Israel a year ago and it is Hamas that refuses to accept fuel from Israel today - fuel that could turn the power plant on and provide hospitals, water treatment plants and other important infrastructure running in Gaza.

The question is - why? Why is Hamas willing to gamble with the lives of its citizens this way?

Yesterday, the Gaza health minister issued an appeal:

The Palestinian Minister of Health in Gaza, Dr Bassem Naim, is to declare a state of emergency in Gaza's hospitals due to acute power cuts and fuel shortages.

The Health Minister called for an immediate intervention to restore fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip. He appealed to the Egyptian leadership and parliament - the People's Assembly - to provide the necessary fuel to Gaza and to work toward resolving this recurrent problem.

Over the past year, Hamas has relied on smuggled fuel, going through inconsistent suppliers and being locally purified in Gaza, to run the power plant. It seems to be a very inefficient method to run the electric grid of a quasi-nation. Hate for Israel does't explain this completely, as plenty of other aid - including cooking gas - is arriving in Gaza from Israel every day.

It can be assumed that Hamas was trying to show that it can run its own infrastructure without help from either Israel or the PA. In other words, Hamas wants to act like - and be treated like - its own nation.

With the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which soundly trounced all opponents in the parliamentary elections, Hamas has a friendly neighbor with which it can establish "international" relations.

Already, Hamas extracted a promise that Egypt would build electric lines to Gaza. Hamas managed to get the post-Mubarak leadership to open the Rafah border, bypassing Ramallah. Gaza officials now regularly travel around the world by going through Egypt. Egypt is even considering adding a regular direct flight from El Arish to Mecca to accommodate Gaza pilgrims (there have only been chartered flights between the two destinations so far.)

It looks like Hamas is using the humanitarian argument to secure an Egyptian pledge to permanently provide fuel to the Gaza area. Hamas is explicitly calling on Egypt to promise to provide Gaza with a consistent, reliable supply of fuel - but not as charity, but as a signed agreement between peers.

I think we can expect to see future agreements from a sympathetic Muslim Brotherhood-run Egypt where the Rafah crossing is expanded to allow much larger quantities of goods to travel through without the need for smuggling tunnels, but as normal trade. All of this will cut the PA out completely.

Fatah official admits the truth (in Arabic)

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an interview with Munir Miqdah, head of the Fatah militia in Lebanon, which aired on Al-Quds TV on January 9, 2012:

Munir Miqdah: Our Palestinian people – in Palestine and abroad – are fed up with the negotiations. They fed up with the policy of negotiating with the Israeli occupation. Allah willing, there will be armed resistance very soon, and Allah willing, we will witness the beginning of the end of the Israeli entity on the land of Palestine. This will also be achieved as the result of what we see in the Arab world.

Interviewer: Are you part of what is happening in the Fatah? Are we supposed to consider you "classic Fatah," and then "Fatah light" or "diet Fatah"?

Munir Miqdah: Some people believe that through negotiations they will be able to extract the establishment of a Palestinian state, first within the 1967 borders, and then moving on. I believe, however, that most of the Fatah leaders now support a return to armed struggle, and our abandoning these futile negotiations, which will only bring upon the Palestinian people further confiscation of land and further killings.
[…]
[Mahmoud Abbas] no longer believes in negotiations, and all the Fatah leaders believe in armed struggle and resistance.

Miqnah admits that even the "doves" who want to negotiate are still adhering to the PLO Phased Plan of 1974, where any areas of Palestine that get "liberated" are used as a foothold to get more and more of the land until the Jews are forced out altogether.

UPDATE: I have no idea why MEMRI removed the video, both from YouTube and its own site.

A heinous honor killing in Hebron reported in Arab media

From Emirates 24/7:

A Palestinian mother waited for her 16-year-old daughter to go to bed, tied a rope around her neck and strangled her to death. The woman murdered her own daughter after neighbours lied to her that the girl had an affair with their son.

The crime, which moved local residents, had remained underground for a while before it was revealed by police and a Palestinian female activist, who described it as “one of the most heinous criminal acts” in Palestine.

The crime took place in Bait Oula, a tiny village in the West Bank town of Hebron and it was publicized several weeks after it was perpetrated by the mother.

Residents, who spoke to the Palestinian Arabic language daily Donia Al Watan, said the mother had already been cruel to her daughter as she used to force her to do all household work because she does not like female offspring.

It was this cruelty that made her rush and murder the girl without bothering to check if what neighbours said about her daughter was true.

“Just go and see your daughter’s pictures on my son’s mobile phone,” the neighbouring woman told the mother after an argument, according to the paper.

“The mother then started her plan to kill her daughter…residents said she had made her daughter clean the house for two days so the family will be prepared to receive would-be mourners on their daughter’s death.”

After the murder, the family left the girl in her bed all the night. In the morning, they went straight to hospital and said their daughter had died of heart attack.

“But doctors noticed the swelling in her neck and that her body was bluish….they informed the authorities, who later wrested a confession about the murder…the mother said she killed her to wash off shame and clean the family’s honour….a day later, hospital tests showed the girl was still virgin and pure….it was a hasty crime of honour, which has never been marred or even touched.”

It is hard to confirm this story. It is attributed to a PalArab women's rights activist who revealed it while visiting Jordan. The earliest mention I found was from Albawaba on January 26th.

I couldn't find anything about it on Palestinian Arab human rights sites.

(h/t jzaik)

Work accident!

Islamic Jihad terrorist Hamad Abu Shallouf, 25, was killed in a "jihad operation" in Rafah on Tuesday.

The group issued a poetic statement asking that the "blood of the martyrs will remain a lamp that illuminates the path of the faithful to victory and empowerment, and we renew our commitment to the option of jihad and resistance, the perfect choice for the Liberation of the Holy Land from the filth of the usurpers."

Let's hope that the blood of Islamic Jihad martyrs flows like a mighty river as thousands more manage to die from their own actions - without hurting a single innocent person.

The hypocrites who voted against Syria resolution at UN (Zvi)

From Zvi:

Who voted against the UN resolution condemning the brutal crackdown by the al-Assad regime? Who voted in favor? (Israel supported the resolution, for one) Who abstained?

The usual suspects.

Here is what various countries had to say about it at the podium.

Voting against - the usual crew of raving hypocrites (notice how many of them have served on the Human Rights Council!):

* Bolivia (*cough lapdog of Venezuela cough*)
* China (anti regime change)
* Cuba
* Ecuador (ditto)
* Iran (anti foreign intervention)
* North Korea (sovereignty)
* Russia (wanted resolution to restrict rebels)
* Syria
* Venezuela
* Yemen (claimed surprise at appearance of Article 19)

I think that the others were Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

Abstainers included Algeria, Armenia (historically abstains, possibly for fear of persecution of Armenians in Syria), Comoros (said that they had screwed up and failed to cast their votes properly), Burundi (said that they had screwed up), Kyrgyzstan (said that they had screwed up) and 11 others.

The Venezuelan regime launched into a conspiracy-theorist tirade that included accusations that the West wants to occupy Syria and the claim that "instead, the Assembly should be concerned about recognition of a Palestinian State, the end of Israeli rights violations and ending the blockade on Cuba." Because of course the slaughter of thousands of Arabs by other Arabs doesn't matter at all; what do they care about dead Arabs? What matters to the Chavez regime is trying to destroy Israel and attacking the US.

The representative of Syria also made a general statement, saying that a “Trojan horse” had been unmasked today as the resolution’s Western co-sponsors had paved the way to internationalizing the situation. It was clear that the Arab League had been kidnapped by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, he added. Syria had left the Arab League temporarily; it was broken, politically and morally, he said, congratulating it on its new alliance with Israel. Syria no longer wanted the League to stand by it following its shameful actions, but it did want them to save whatever face it had left and cease the plotting against other Arab States.

He went on to warn that the wealth of all the Gulf Cooperation Council countries would be squandered on losing causes and the price would be borne by all Arabs, who would be used as fuel to obtain the objectives of Israel and the West.

I would add that Iran's representative said, "As long as armed groups continued to resort to violence, the crisis would continue, serving the interests of the Zionist regime."

"Israel weakening Al Aqsa with underground chemicals"

The Hamas-run, British-based Palestine Info site "reports":

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is using chemical materials to accelerate excavation underneath the Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem, Kamal Al-Khatib, the deputy leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, said.

He said in a press release on Tuesday that the use of chemical materials was meant to speed up the erosion of the rocky layer or foundation that protects the Aqsa mosque.

He opined that the IOA was planning to weaken the foundation of the holy site in preparation for demolishing it and building the alleged temple in its place.

The network of tunnels underneath the mosque had caused a big hole and any explosion of any kind or a minor earthquake could pose a dangerous and permanent threat to the Aqsa mosque, Khatib warned.

He charged that the IOA was hoping that such a natural phenomenon would occur in order to appear as if the mosque was destroyed due to a natural cause.

Challah Hu Akbar reported on this a couple of days ago; Arab media even ran photos of the tunnels that are adjacent to the Temple Mount and the newly re-opened Roman-era Jerusalem water channel as "proof" somehow of this chemical attack.

I'm sure that people who build tunnels underneath mountains would be most interested in this new, high-tech method of excavating tunnels using only chemicals.

And who is pushing this absurd story in English? Why, Mondoweiss, of course! Because according to the high journalistic standards of the anti-Zionist crowd, any accusation against Israel must be true by definition.

(h/t Dan C)

Beirut river turns blood red

Hey, it's the Middle East:

The Beirut River mysteriously turned blood red Wednesday after a stream of unidentified red liquid began pouring from the southern bank of the river in Furn al-Shubbak. The source of the liquid had yet to be determined Wednesday evening, as the river continued to empty the red-colored water into the Mediterranean Sea.

Government and local officials rushed to the scene at the Chevrolet crossing of Furn al-Shubbak Wednesday morning in an attempt to locate the sewage canal that was dumping the red-colored water but they were unable to locate the source. Accusations were traded among officials from the municipalities of Hadath, Hazmieh, Sin al-Fil, Furn al-Shubbak and Shiyah.

Eyewitnesses working in the area told The Daily Star this was not the first time the river had turned a different color. Several business owners around the Chevrolet crossing said that colored water pours into the river roughly every two months but no one pays attention to it.It was the quantity and brightness of the red liquid that grabbed the attention of many passersby and commuters on different bridges in the city Wednesday.

Looking forward to the frogs (or crocodiles,) locusts and hail.

The lies of a "human rights" organization

From the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights:

On Tuesday 14 February 2012, the Gaza Strip’s electric power plant announced that it was ceasing operation because it had run out of fuel supplies. This shortfall is a result of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) continued suspension of delivery of industrial fuel and the simultaneous halt in the supply of fuel from the smuggling tunnels.

The electricity cuts have exacerbated Gaza’s already-deteriorated humanitarian conditions and human rights situation. The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the Israeli siege on Gaza, which aims to keep the Strip on the edge of humanitarian catastrophe. The electricity cuts have an effect on the supply of food and medicine. Therefore, Al Mezan calls on the international community to ensure the necessary supply of industrial fuel. It also calls on the international community to work without delay for an end to the Israeli siege.

According to Al Mezan’s field investigations, the interruption in the supply of industrial fuel has brought to a halt the operation of the only electrical power plant in Gaza, resulting in an electrical supply lasting only eight out of 24 hours. The plant needs between 350,000 and 400,000 liters of fuel daily. Due to the ongoing shortfall in the amount of fuel provided by the IOF and Israel’s imposition of restrictions and impediments on the entry of fuel, the Gazan government resorts to importation of fuel from Egypt via smuggling tunnels. These supplies help keep the electricity running.

Slightly modified Al Mezan logo

As I have documented, the IDF is ready and willing to provide fuel for Gaza. It is Hamas that refuses to receive it, and it is Hamas that decided to switch from reliable Israeli supplies of diesel to getting fuel through smuggling tunnels.

Al Mezan is lying. It has no ability to report about Israel at all in an unbiased manner. Even worse, it is apparently afraid to lay the blame on the crisis where it belongs - directly at Hamas.

Yet, as a "human rights" NGO, Al Mezan data is cited in UN publications. It has partnered with Amnesty International, with Physicians for Human Rights -Israel as well as many other NGOs. They believe it uncritically - even though this is hardly the first time it has released a press release filled with lies.

Who is demanding accountability from the all-powerful and respected "human rights" NGOs? (Besides NGO Monitor, which is heavily criticized for doing exactly what the media is supposed to be doing.)

The media and the Assads, in the good old days

A fun video from Shraga Simmons, founder of Honest Reporting, whose excellent new book I plan to review soon:

I also got the chance to interview Shraga (at a noisy airport) about this book, and plan to post that soon as well.

Nasrallah reiterates his support for Assad's murderous regime

Hamas might be getting nervous about publicly supporting a regime that murders thousands of its own Arabs, but Hezbollah has no such compunctions:

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah defended Thursday President Bashar Assad and said Israel sought any system of government in Syria other than one headed by the embattled leader.

“The Zionist project poses a threat to the entire region,” Nasrallah said.

“Some Arab states had been colluding with the United States, the West and Israel against nation’s interests and assisted in keeping the Israeli entity,” he said.

“Some of these governments had even betrayed Lebanon and Palestine,” he added.

On Syria, he said Israel preferred any system of government to that of President Bashar Assad.

He said Damascus would resist and would never succumb to the will of the U.S. in the region.

"Israel bets and believes that given the regional strategic environment that is working against it that the Syrian regime should be overthrown,” he said.

“An Arab peace plan with Israel has been on the table for years now … Arab leaders say the only solution concerning Israel is political but they refuse to offer a political solution in Syria,” he added.

"There is an Arab, Western, American, and Israeli insistence that there be no solution in Syria and on toppling the regime in Syria. Why?” he asked.

Those millions of dollars coming from Iran are paying off!

How Iran's media publishes anti-semitism without being criticized

Every week or so, you can find an absurd, anti-semitic, conspiracy-heavy article in Iran's PressTV. Here's this week's entry, by Peter Eyre:

Many years ago after we had given independence to many of the former members of the British Empire one could have felt a certain amount of pride to be British but that has since long gone.

We now see another “Imperialistic Empire” taking its place know as the “New World Order” (NWO) with its headquarters firmly embedded in the City of London.

This evil satanic organisation, consisting mainly of Zionists and very senior members of the Freemasons have spread their evil tentacles over most of the UK and launched this country on a programme of continuous conflicts and war.

The NWO controls world finances, world politics, the UN, WHO, the ICJ, the judicial system, education, police and the military via its arm - NATO.

The heartland of the NWO are the Rothschild’s, members of the EU Royal Families, the Pilgrim Society, the very senior members of the Freemason´s (including many MP´s and members of the House of Lords), the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House London), Friends of Israel and The Bank of England etc.

There is a steady stream of politicians that pay regular visits to Chatham House to pledge their support for Israel with our current Prime Minister David Cameron, his deputy Nick Clegg and many others such as former PM Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, Ken Clarke, William Hague, George Osborne to name but a few. It is in the bowels of this building where they swear their allegiance to Zionists backed groups and Israel (their funders) instead of our own country.

Many people in this country do not realise that our dear BBC also forms part of this same satanic rot and is highly funded by the pro-Israeli groups that manipulate everything we hear and see.

But these articles in PressTV are never written by Iranians.

Instead, Iranian media taps from their ever-growing roster of Western nutcases and tin-foil-hat-wearers to write what they really want to hear.

Since Iran claims that they would never be so crass as to attack Jews - after all, some 10,000-25,000 live in Iran, proof positive of how much Iran loves their dhimmmis - they are forced to use one of the oldest tricks in the journalism book. Find someone else who you agree with and broadcast whatever nonsense they are spouting. And at the end, in small type, print "The authors' views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Press TV News Network."

This way, they pretend to inoculate themselves from any charges of anti-semitism, while doing everything they can to spread classic Jew-hating tropes.

Enough Westerners buy the sham to make sure that it remains a prominent meme in Iran's English-language press.