Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, March 23, 2014

NGO counts 38% of rockets exploding in Gaza

The Gaza NGO Safety Office tries to keep a count of rocket fire. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be accurate, but its tallies are still notable.

Islamic Jihad claimed to shoot some 120 rockets at Israel earlier this month. Other groups associated with Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah claimed about 20 more rockets. The IDF said more than 60 rockets landed in Israel.

According to GANSO, they counted 61 rockets and 14 mortars being shot during the entire two week period from March 6-19, not counting a few test rockets shot to sea. Of those 61, 23 of them fell short or exploded on the launch pad.

That is a 38% failure rate, virtually the same rate that I noted for a two-week period in January.

Even if GANSO is undercounting, the percentages are probably not too far off.

As we know, at least two rockets landed on houses during those two weeks, killing at least one and injuring several. Another rocket exploded while being built, killing 4 terrorists and a two-year old child.

And there have been many other Gazans killed by terror rockets over the years, a statistic that the media simply doesn't report.

Egypt excludes Turkey. Qatar from Islamic summit

From Al Arabiya:

Turkish and Qatari delegates have been excluded from attending an upcoming Islamic affairs summit in Egypt, a minister said on Saturday, citing the two nations’ foreign policies towards some Arab states as the reason.

Egypt’s Awqaf (religious endowments) Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said invitations were not sent to the two countries to attend the two-day conference of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs starting on Monday.

Gomaa said Egypt had decided not to deal with any Turkish official until Turkey imposes a change on its foreign policy, reported al-Dostour newspaper, in an apparent reference to Ankara’s frosty relations with Cairo after the crackdown on Islamist protesters in the Egyptian capital in August last year.

The decision to exclude a Qatari delegation from the conference was made by Egypt after some Arab states curtailed ties with Doha last month, the minister said, adding that Qatar is involved in acts that “harm the security of Egypt,” local daily al-Masry al-Youm reported.

And this isn't even a Shiite/Sunni thing.

Must be Jewish plot.

03/22 Links: J Street Endorses Palestinian Refusal to Recognize Jewish State; Hijacking HR Law

From Ian:

J Street Endorses Palestinian Refusal to Recognize Israel as Jewish State

In a development that is not sending shockwaves through the pro-Israel community, the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” advocacy group J Street has declared its support for the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
In a statement posted on the group’s website, executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami says that to “keep moving forward, both [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] now need to give a little.”
Netanyahu, he says, must drop his insistence that Abbas recognize Israel as a Jewish State because “it is simply unrealistic and unreasonable to expect any Palestinian leader to consent” to such a demand.
Ben-Ami never goes on to say what Abbas “needs to give.”

Caroline Glick: The worst alternative

Finally, they assume that Israel has no ability to withstand a European economic war. But this assessment ignores Israel’s burgeoning trade with Asia. China is building a rail link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean through Israel as an alternative to the Suez Canal. Israel is India’s largest military supplier. Israel’s energy independence and emergence as a major exporter of natural gas similarly decreases its reliance on European markets.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the Israeli one-state plan is the worst possible plan for managing the Palestinian and pan-Arab conflict with Israel, except for every other plan that has been tried from time to time. It presents Israel with considerable threats and challenges. But on balance, as I show in my book, these threats are less acute and less dangerous than the ones Israel now faces. Moreover, the Israeli one-state plan is a viable prospect, which similarly distinguishes it from all the other ideas on offer.

Melanie Phillips "The Hijacking Human of Rights Law"

Too bad! Jordanian murderer of schoolgirls ends hunger strike

Last week, trying to take advantage of the uproar after Israel killed a Palestinian Jordanian judge at the Allenby bridge, a Jordanian who murdered seven Israeli schoolgirls started a hunger strike to pressure Jordan to release him. He was even refusing his medication.

Unfortunately, he has ended the strike after less than a week rather than seeing it through to the end.

A Jordanian soldier jailed for life for the murder of seven Israeli schoolgirls, who had been on a hunger strike for five days, was hospitalised Wednesday after his health deteriorated, police said.

"Ahmad Dakamseh is currently being hospitalised after his health deteriorated because he had been refusing to eat or take medicine since Friday," a statement said.

"He ended his hunger strike in hospital and is currently receiving all necessary care."

On March 10, Israeli soldiers killed Jordanian Judge Raed Zeiter in a scuffle at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, prompting Jordanian MPs to demand that Dakamseh be freed.

But the government refused, and Dakamseh began his hunger strike.

Israel, which said Zeiter had attacked the soldiers and tried to steal one of their weapons, expressed regret over the shooting but stopped short of apologising.

In 1997, Dakamseh opened fire on a group of Israeli schoolgirls as they visited Baqura, a scenic peninsula on the Jordan River near the Israeli border.

He killed seven of the girls and wounded five more, as well as a teacher.

He was taking medicine for high blood pressure and diabetes, according to his son.

It really is a shame.

03/21 Links Pt2: No, you shouldn’t visit Arafat’s grave; Oxfam posts Cynthia McKinney webpage

From Ian:

No, you shouldn’t have visited Arafat’s grave

I highly doubt though that the PA officials you met with spoke about the town squares throughout the PA named after suicide bombers. I also doubt they gave you a glimpse into the PA’s official educational system or media which daily incites against the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
I’ll save what was missing from your visit for another discussion, and give you time to explore that reality here.
But back to the Arafat smiley.
The bottom line is whether you like it or not, whether it was your intention or not – a smiling group photo at the grave of someone who led a life of pure terror, murder, and evil, DOES in fact honor his memory, and does serve as a statement of approval.

Sponsors of Harvard Arafat Grave Visit Attack TruthRevolt

Barry Shrage, President of Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies, sent a letter to his Board of Directors and Past Board Members harshly condemning the coverage of Harvard Israel Trek 2014’s visit to Yasser Arafat’s grave. Instead of speaking out against the visit, Shrage elected to attack and bully members of the pro-Israel community who were outraged by the photo, labeling them “ideologically motivated bloggers” and “at the extreme edge of the Jewish community.”
Shrage then provided a link to a student response that was posted on The Times of Israel under the title “Photo Distorts Purpose and Impact of Harvard Israel ‘Trek.’ The original title of the article was “No apologies for visiting Arafat’s grave” though it was later changed to “Yes, we visited Arafat’s grave.” The URL of the website still reads http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/no-apologies-for-visiting-arafats-grave/
Missing from the statement is a condemnation of the group visit and photo by Arafat's tombstone. Arafat was responsible for the murder of thousands of people, with a special focus on Jews.

J Street U Attacks David Horowitz Freedom Center

J Street U Penn attacked the Hillel of Greater Philadelphia (HGP), The J Street Challenge and The David Horowitz Freedom Center. After explaining how they felt attacked by the movie and Hillel of Greater Philadelphia’s sponsorship of the film, J Street U Penn attempted to challenge HGP’s co-sponsors:
Ironically, J Street U has come under heavy fire for its association with numerous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic groups:
J Street U Jerusalem hosted an event with an anti-IDF group and the group’s lead speaker equated the IDF with Palestinian suicide bombers.
J Street U Tufts sponsored an event with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The SJP chapter at Northeastern University was so extreme and anti-Semitic that they were suspended by the university.
J Street U takes its students to the grave of terrorist Yasser Arafat.
J Street U students clapped for the “right of return” at their conference.

EU to build desalination plant in Gaza. Guess who is opposed?

AFP reports:

The European Union and UNICEF launched a project Thursday to build a desalination plant in the Gaza Strip to provide 75,000 Palestinians with drinking water.

A joint statement said the project will be implemented by UNICEF thanks to a 10-million-euro ($13.7-million) EU grant.

Just 5.8 percent of Gaza households have good quality water because of increased salinity caused by sewage infiltration of groundwater, according to a statement released Thursday by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of World Water Day on Saturday.

“Access to clean water is a fundamental human right for all. And yet many Gazans face acute water shortages on a day-to-day basis,” EU representative John Gatt-Rutter said as the first stone was laid for the project.

“Others can only access water of very poor quality,” he added, saying the new plant “offers the prospect of access to clean water for many thousands of families”.

The plant at Deir al-Balah in the center of the territory is expected to become operational in 2015, and will supply fresh water to 75,000 people in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south.

Who could possibly be against this?

Well, a lot of organizations, actually - and all of them pretend that they care about Palestinian Arabs!
A couple of years ago, when UNICEF put out the bids for the desalination equipment, Gaza unions said they would boycott UNICEF if it allowed Israeli companies to bid on the project. It is unclear if UNICEF caved to their demands, but it shows that politics is more important than public health for Gaza unions.

But they are not alone.

As AIJAC pointed out recently, an entire consortium of Palestinian Arab NGOs have come out against the concept of desalination in Gaza.

Yes, you've read that right.

The consortium, EWASH, wrote:

...The undersigned organizations would like to voice their concerns regarding the implications of seawater desalination for Gaza as well as the challenges facing it:
1. Perpetuating the status quo while accommodating the occupation...
2. Increasing the isolation of Gaza whilst enabling Israel to ignore its obligations...
3. Increasing the vulnerability of the civilian population of Gaza...
4. Desalination plant requires significant amounts of electricity which Gaza does not have...
5. Seawater desalination plant is environmentally unsustainable, which will further deteriorate the already deplorable environmental situation in Gaza...
6. Further sustainable and right-based alternative solutions exist...

The "right" they are demanding is for Israel to provide the water to Gaza at a discount.

Isn't it fascinating that "pro-Palestinian" organizations are asking for Gaza to be more dependent on Israel, rather than more independent?

Instead of adding new freshwater to a region that is already in crisis, they want Israel to redistribute the water it has - to its own detriment.

And who are these brilliant NGOs who don't want Gaza to have new sources of fresh drinking water?

Endorsing organizations:

EWASH members:

1. DanChurchAid
2. Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ)
3. Polish Humanitarian Action
4. Institute of Environmental and Water Studies - Birzeit University
5. Near East Council of Churches-Jerusalem
6. Middle East Children's Alliance
7. Palestinian Environment NGO Network (PENGON)
8. We Effect – Swedish Cooperative Centre
9. MAAN Development Centre
10. House for Water and Environment (HWE)
11. Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group (PalWEG)
12. Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)

Other civil society organizations:

13. Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights
14. The Palestinian Centre for Human rights
15. Media Environmental Centre
16. Palestinian Farmers Union (PFU)
17. Earth and Human Centre for Research and Studies (EHCRS)
18. Palestinian Farmers Association
19. Land Research Centre
20. Institute for water and environment – Al-Azhar University
21. Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UWAC)
22. Palestinian Environment Friends (PEF)
23. Arab Centre for Agricultural Development

Keep this list in mind, because these orgsnizations - including so-called "human rights" organizations - are so obsessed with hurting Israel that they are willing to increase the suffering of Gazans to accomplish it.

03/21 Links Pt1: IDF Discovers Another Massive Terror Tunnel; 1,700 Hamas Millionaires in Gaza

From Ian:

Sarah Honig: Kerry’s cogent connections

It’s, therefore, inherently dishonest to deny that the feud is and always was about the creation and continued existence of the Jewish state.
That’s why it still massively matters that the Palestinians, whose raison d’être remains to replace us and extinguish Jewish sovereignty by one means or another, recognize the Jewish right to statehood in the Land of Israel. That would translate to desisting from the continuous campaign to extinguish Jewish sovereignty by one means or another.
The Palestinians and the entire Arab/Muslim realm demand strategic sacrifices of Israel that plainly jeopardize its survival prospects. What Israel demands in return is that the war against it cease. That can only happen when the initial pretext for the war is retracted. Since Israel was attacked because the very notion of a Jewish state was anathema to its Arab neighbors, then discontinuing the state of war must start with recognition of the legitimacy of a Jewish state.

Sarah Honig: Syria’s lingering hell

As the Syrian inferno keeps combusting and incinerating itself, it also sends messages of paramount existential importance to Israel – messages that we cannot afford to ignore if we want to live.
If this is the gruesome way Arabs treat each other, what would they unleash on the Jews whom all of them had been brainwashed to abhor?
If, furthermore, there’s no distinct or remotely cohesive Syrian nationality, then all the more so there’s no distinctive or remotely cohesive Palestinian nationality. The conflagration that mercilessly consumes Syria could just as likely consume the Palestinian state for which the international community hoarsely clamors. Jihadist imports with nothing to lose would just as frenziedly turn Judea and Samaria into killing fields, should we yield them.
At that point, unbridled chaos would literally reign directly and dangerously next door and inevitably impact us day to day.

IDF says it exposed massive Gazan ‘terror tunnel’

IDF Soldiers Unveil Terror Tunnel in Gaza Once Again
The Israeli military announced on Friday that it had uncovered a tunnel from Gaza into Israel meant for carrying out a terror attack, and rejected a Hamas claim that the find was an old tunnel.
IDF officials said the tunnel, uncovered on Tuesday, reached hundreds of meters inside Israel, “near civilian communities,” and went as deep as dozens of meters underground.
An IDF official said the tunnel was one of the largest, if not the largest, yet discovered, adding that the army still did not know how far it went.
“This advanced tunnel was intended to pose a direct link and threat to Israeli territory, and enable Hamas terrorists to reach and harm Israeli civilians,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement. (h/t Yenta Press )

Work accident!

Hamas this morning announced yet another of their brave mujahadeen being blown to bits while "engaging in a jihad operation."

Ibrahim Rafati died in an accidental explosion in Gaza City. He died, Hamas announced, "after a great career of jihad, and after hard work and jihad and sacrifice. We consider him a martyr."

That last part is important, because otherwise Allah might have put Rafati in the "dumbass" category.

Also, it was reported yesterday that two people were injured in Beit Hanoun when a rocket inexplicably crashed into their house. One was described as being in serious condition.

Perhaps Gaza TV weather reports should add "40% chance of rockets falling from the sky today."

Let us all gaze at and admire Iran's moderation

This morning, Iran's Supreme Leader tweeted:

He unfortunately didn't have the space to add "And the ~~Jews~~ Zionists would have deserved it anyway."

(h/t MtTB)

The "human rights" activist who loves terrorism

One of the underlying principles of the "peace process" is that everyone is fundamentally decent and wants peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. The Palestinians are just like us and it is racist to suggest otherwise - they have the same dreams and hopes and aspirations and desires to live in a peaceful world.

Here's an anecdote from this week that should cause one to think twice about this assumption.

From "Dr. Ramy Abdu" on Facebook, March 18:

This morning at 3:20am, Palestinian Security forces raided Human Rights defender Wasef Al-qadah’s family home in Nablus and arrested him.

From "Hanine Hs" on Facebook, March 18:

Just woke up to the phone call that thugs from the Palestinian Authority security forces are raiding the home of friend and colleague واصف قدح Wasef Qadh, Lecturer at the Najah University in Nablus. There is no difference between the thugs of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli occupying forces. Both are terrorists, applying arbitrary arrests on the freedoms to live and speak!

Who is Wasef al-Qadah?

Al-Qadah is a lecturer at An Najah University. He also works for the the NGO called the Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights. He is getting married today. In other words, al-Qadah is an upstanding citizen, a role model for all, and a shining example of the type of person that Palestinian Arabs would look up to.

Admittedly, the Euro-Mid observer is one of many NGOs whose entire existence (and funding) is dependent on them writing absurd anti-Israel reports. Last December they released a report blaming Israel for Gaza men abusing their wives. His name is listed as the registrar for their website.

So why was this fine citizen arrested on the 18th by the equally decent Palestinian Arab security forces?

Because this "human rights defender" is a supporter of Hamas, and the PA apparently didn't want him to participate in the funeral for a Hamas leader whose body was returned by Israel this week.

Yes, there was a large funeral for Muhammad Hambali, a senior Hamas commander who was responsible for the deaths of at least 20 Israelis and who was killed in a shootout in Nablus in 2003.

And "human rights defender" Wasef al-Qadah celebrated terrorist Hambali on his own Facebook page:

In the parallel universe of the Palestinian Authority, a university lecturer and "human rights" leader can also be a supporter of a murderer and a terrorist. There is no contradiction. "Human rights" and killing Jews are one and the same.

Al-Qadah was released after the funeral.

It is not like Wasef al Qadah is unique in this respect. He is typical. In fact, he is a role model! Other Western-supported NGOs have openly embraced terror as "legitimate resistance" and there is barely a peep of protest except in rare cases when the funders are forced to make a statement about it.

If you look through Palestinian Arab media and NGO statements this week to find a single voice condemning Hamas commander Muhammad Hambali and the adoration he received at his funeral, you will come up empty. In fact, you will find nothing but praise for this "hero."

There can be no peace with people for whom this terror-supporting mindset is considered admirable. And it is way past time for Western analysts and pundits to wake up and understand this self-evident fact.

(h/t Bob Knot)

Oh, Egypt shoots at Gaza fishing boats too. Now why haven't we heard that?

There have been many reports about how Israel terrorizes Gaza fishermen, enforcing the 6-nautical mile limit off the coast by shooting warning shots towards them.

But in the most recent weekly UN OCHA report, we see that Egypt shoots at them as well:

[O]n two occasions, Egyptian naval forces opened warning shots towards Palestinian fishing boats approaching the Egyptian border; no injuries or damages were reported.

Is this the first time this happened? Not at all. From February 22:

An Egyptian naval ship fired warning shots at a Palestinian fishing boat early Saturday, officials said. No injuries were reported.
The incident happened off the southern coast of the Gaza Strip within Palestinian territorial waters, Nizar Ayyash, spokesman for the union of Gaza fishermen, told the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency.

Last August:

Egyptian naval police shot and wounded two Palestinian fishermen and detained five off the Gaza Strip on Friday, medics said, an incident that hinted at increased tension between Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers and Cairo.

These were reported, but no NGO seems to have bothered writing up reports about this.

What a mystery.

03/20 Links Pt2: Boston Jewish Leader Appalled By Arafat Visit; SJP’s underhanded tactics at Loyola U

From Ian:

Boston Jewish Leader "Appalled and Offended" By Arafat Visit

The director of Aish Campus Boston, Rabbi Chananel Weiner, was sickened to hear that Boston donors helped support a trip to Yasser Arafat’s grave: "I am appalled and offended by the visit to Arafat’s grave funded by Boston’s Jewish community for the Harvard Trek to Israel.
For Boston’s Jewish community’s funds to go toward the lionizing of Arafat strikes me as a turn of events that will stain our community beyond recognition.
As someone who lived in Israel from 2000-2005 and witnessed first hand the destruction of lives, buses, cafes, property, and much more I cannot stand for this revisionist history and allocation of funds for the next leaders of our world."

Hillel on Harvard Student Arafat Grave Visit: No Big Deal

David Eden, Chief Administrative Officer at Hillel International, provided a statement in defense of the Harvard College Israel Trek 2014. The trip made a stop at Yasser Arafat's grave and posed for a picture. His statement is quoted in full: "A photograph of Harvard Israel Trek participants at the tomb of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah is causing understandable concern. That image is not what this trip is about. This morning the Trek was up north on the Syrian border touring an elite Israeli defense post and receiving an update from a senior IDF general on the current security situation there. So much of the trip is in that vein."

Some student Israel-hate from France.

Friday 14 march, the president of Paris VIII University threw out 10 Israeli students, who had actually been invited to a debate. In Saint-Denis the pressure from radical, ideologically anti-israeli students is so strong that the “president” found nothing better than to publicly humiliate these young Israelis to calm the anger of these students.
One of the 10 israeli students, Nicolle Perle, has written a witness letter to the students of France
France's hatred is rife in Paris VIII! (French)

The video below appears to be a group of anti-Israel students who, on top of having public demonstrations where the make their hatred of all things Israeli as public as possible, also demand that no one take their picture or video the demonstration.(h/t Yenta Press)