Mortars from Syria target America soldiers

Ummmm...why isn't this bigger news? Somehow I thought that when a country attacks another, or doesn't prevent its people from attacking another, it is fair game for invasion. -EoZ

The Iranian-backed guerrilla group Hizbullah is increasingly involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with orders and money flowing from its Beirut headquarters into the West Bank, according to a senior Israeli intelligence official.

The group has 10 "controllers" in Beirut who are in daily contact with Palestinian groups in the West Bank, mainly the al-Aqsa Brigades, the official said.

Hizbullah is supported by Syria as well as Iran and controls 44 cells in the Palestinian territories. They have carried out 62 attacks in which 27 Israelis have been killed and 50 injured, he said.

The claims come at a time of increasing tension between Iran and the west, mainly because of suspicion that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons. The allegations of Hizbullah involvement could be part of a softening-up process by Israel ahead of action against Iran or Syria. This week, Israeli jets flew over the Bekaa valley in Lebanon, an area controlled by Syrian forces.

Israel's claim was given some credence this week by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who complained about Iran meddling in the West Bank and Gaza. He claimed Hizbullah was trying to "infiltrate" Fatah, his own organisation, which includes the al-Aqsa Brigades.

Hizbullah, whose forces are ranged along the Israeli border in southern Lebanon, is the best-equipped and best-disciplined paramilitary group in the region and is respected and feared by the Israeli military. Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000 after suffering high casualties at its hands.
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For the past four years, Hizbullah has been relatively quiet. It has fired an occasional Katyusha rocket across the border and engaged Israeli soldiers at Shabaa farms, an outpost where the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian borders meet.

The intelligence official said the head of the Hizbullah operation in Beirut responsible for the West Bank and Gaza was a Palestinian in his 30s who had been born in Israel.

Until now, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been largely self-contained. The main Palestinian groups - Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - are homegrown organisations.

On the ground in Gaza, there is little sign of Hizbullah. Hamas leaders in Gaza earlier this year denied Hizbullah was active. And the Israeli intelligence official said that, although Hamas received money from Iran, it had resisted Hizbullah involvement in Gaza.

But he said it was different on the West Bank, where Israel's policy of targeted killings of the leaders of Palestinian groups had left a vacuum that Hizbullah was helping to fill, mainly within the al-Aqsa Brigades.

The official also confirmed that there was regular contact between Israeli intelligence officers and their counterparts in Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Speaking to British journalists in his compound in Ramallah earlier this week, Mr Arafat said Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "is working against us and giving money to all these fanatical groups, financing Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and trying to infiltrate Fatah".

But he disputed that Hizbullah was already operating in the West Bank and Gaza. "Hizbullah is not active in the territories. It is trying," he said.

Palestinian groups are relatively poorly armed, lacking the weaponry and training available to Hizbullah. The intelligence official claimed that, since June, the Palestinians had smuggled into Gaza 128 anti-tank weapons, 900 Kalashnikovs, 200kg (440lb) of explosive and five anti-aircraft missiles.

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Hizbullah is involved in West Bank, says Israel

The Iranian-backed guerrilla group Hizbullah is increasingly involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with orders and money flowing from its Beirut headquarters into the West Bank, according to a senior Israeli intelligence official.

The group has 10 'controllers' in Beirut who are in daily contact with Palestinian groups in the West Bank, mainly the al-Aqsa Brigades, the official said.

Hizbullah is supported by Syria as well as Iran and controls 44 cells in the Palestinian territories. They have carried out 62 attacks in which 27 Israelis have been killed and 50 injured, he said.

The claims come at a time of increasing tension between Iran and the west, mainly because of suspicion that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons. The allegations of Hizbullah involvement could be part of a softening-up process by Israel ahead of action against Iran or Syria. This week, Israeli jets flew over the Bekaa valley in Lebanon, an area controlled by Syrian forces.

Israel's claim was given some credence this week by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who complained about Iran meddling in the West Bank and Gaza. He claimed Hizbullah was trying to 'infiltrate' Fatah, his own organisation, which includes the al-Aqsa Brigades.

Hizbullah, whose forces are ranged along the Israeli border in southern Lebanon, is the best-equipped and best-disciplined paramilitary group in the region and is respected and feared by the Israeli military. Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000 after suffering high casualties at its hands.

For the past four years, Hizbullah has been relatively quiet. It has fired an occasional Katyusha rocket across the border and engaged Israeli soldiers at Shabaa farms, an outpost where the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian borders meet.

The intelligence official said the head of the Hizbullah operation in Beirut responsible for the West Bank and Gaza was a Palestinian in his 30s who had been born in Israel.

Until now, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been largely self-contained. The main Palestinian groups - Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - are homegrown organisations.

On the ground in Gaza, there is little sign of Hizbullah. Hamas leaders in Gaza earlier this year denied Hizbullah was active. And the Israeli intelligence official said that, although Hamas received money from Iran, it had resisted Hizbullah involvement in Gaza.

But he said it was different on the West Bank, where Israel's policy of targeted killings of the leaders of Palestinian groups had left a vacuum that Hizbullah was helping to fill, mainly within the al-Aqsa Brigades.

The official also confirmed that there was regular contact between Israeli intelligence officers and their counterparts in Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Speaking to British journalists in his compound in Ramallah earlier this week, Mr Arafat said Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 'is working against us and giving money to all these fanatical groups, financing Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and trying to infiltrate Fatah'.

But he disputed that Hizbullah was already operating in the West Bank and Gaza. 'Hizbullah is not active in the territories. It is trying,' he said.

Palestinian groups are relatively poorly armed, lacking the weaponry and training available to Hizbullah. The intelligence official claimed that, since June, the Palestinians had smuggled into Gaza 128 anti-tank weapons, 900 Kalashnikovs, 200kg (440lb) of explosive and five anti-aircraft missiles.

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The Panic Gift Shop

SDEROT, Israel -- At the Panic gift shop, the checkout counter chatter is dominated by Qassams, the crude rockets that Palestinians frequently fire at this ragged industrial town of nearly 20,000 two miles from Gaza's northeast corner.

"We're strong, and no one will break us," Rahel Swissa, 50, a customer with short, bleached-blond hair, declared on a recent afternoon.

Olga Ameroz shows the shrapnel burn suffered by her daughter Eleanor, 4, after a Palestinian rocket landed near a kindergarten in Sderot this summer. The family has since left the town.

"Oh, come on, sweetie," retorted Tzippi Aderi, 46, her baby-blue fingernails clacking against the cash register. "I'm scared. A door slams and my kids jump."

Swissa quickly dropped the bravado. "My kids don't even want to come visit me," she confessed. "Another son just moved away."

In the past four years, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 325 Qassam rockets at Jewish settlements within the strip and at Israeli towns on its periphery, according to Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence agency. Few of the wildly inaccurate rockets have ever hit anyone or anything other than fields, empty lots or back yards. Most of the casualties associated with Qassam strikes have been patients treated for shock. But in the last 3 1/2 months, four Israelis have been killed, all of them in Sderot.

A little over two weeks ago, Israel launched its largest military operation in more than 2 1/2 years in an effort to stop the rocket attacks. Since the offensive began on Sept. 28, the fourth anniversary of the start of the current Palestinian uprising, Palestinians have launched nine Qassams toward Sderot. One killed two children.

"How much can the army really do to prevent them from firing?" Marco Mark, 43, a city employee, said on a recent afternoon as he finished his lunch at Burger Ranch, an Israeli fast-food restaurant. "The Palestinians will just fire from another place. We're living here in fear without any security."

This week, military commanders recommended ending the Gaza operations, according to Israeli news accounts, and on Thursday Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered a pullout from a northern refugee camp after indications that the offensive would be widened. So far, 108 Palestinians -- at least 29 of them children and teenagers -- have been killed, including five on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.

The Israeli Home Front Command on Wednesday began using a radar-based alarm system that is designed to detect rocket launches and gives Sderot residents a 20-second warning before one lands. As a Qassam lunged toward the city Wednesday morning, loudspeakers blared: "Red Dawn! Red Dawn!" The projectile fell in a field outside town, according to a military spokeswoman.

Before the warning system was installed, many residents scoffed at it, predicting it would create more panic than the rockets themselves. "It's only going to make people more afraid," Aderi, the cashier, had said. "People will run from one place to another. Where are they going to hide?"

But after Wednesday's attack, Yehuda Ben Maman, a municipal security officer, declared in an interview: "The warning system is a success. For example, in three schools in Sderot, the students who were in the courtyards were able to run inside of the building when they heard the warning.

"There was a bit of panic here and there," he conceded, "because it was the first time that the system was activated. There were also a few places in which people reported that they didn't hear the warning or understand what was being broadcast."

While suicide bombs have been a primary weapon of Palestinian guerrillas in the West Bank throughout the uprising against Israeli occupation, Qassam rockets are the weapon of choice in the Gaza Strip, which is enclosed by electronic fences, surveillance cameras and Israeli military patrols. Manufactured in garages and apartments, the crude rockets range from three to six feet long and pack between nine and 20 pounds of explosives. They are launched from collapsible tripods.

"Even when no one is hurt, there's fear," said Aderi, a mother of four. "It's psychological. One fell here in the parking lot a few months ago. My daughter was hysterical."

Some residents said the Qassam attacks have forced them to change their daily routines. "We try to be out as little as possible," Aderi said. "We're no safer at home, but at least I know my husband and kids are with me."

The attacks prompted Olga Ameroz, 34, and her five youngsters to leave town. "My children were terrified," Ameroz said during a recent visit to check on relatives. She raised the blouse of her 4-year-old daughter to expose a welt left by shrapnel from a rocket that landed near the child's kindergarten 3 1/2 months ago. "We moved. Even now, they hear a door slam and think, 'Qassam.' "

Scared or not, many Sderot residents say they cannot afford to leave. They split their anger between the Palestinian guerrillas and what they describe as their own government's neglect of a city that ranks fifth among Israel's 210 municipalities in the percentage of residents on welfare and fourth in the percentage receiving unemployment compensation.

Nearly two of every five residents are immigrants who were settled here by the government since 1990 after they arrived from former Soviet republics or Africa.

"I can't even think about leaving," said Swissa as she walked out of the Panic gift shop with a tiny yellow bag of purchases. "Who's going to buy my house? If I sell, I'd lose money."

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Internet Haganah: Hamas Declares the US an Enemy Country

Hamas published a statement condemning the US and designating it as an enemy country after the US vetoed a resolution in the UN security council that would have unilaterally condemned Israeli military action against the group in the Gaza Strip.

The raids followed a series of rocket attacks on the southern town of Sderot, during which two Israeli toddlers were killed.

The United States vetoed a resolution condemning the Israeli military action against Hamas cells in the Gaza strip. U.S. Ambassador John Danforth cast the U.S. veto after British and German efforts to find compromise language failed.

'Once again, the resolution is lopsided and unbalanced,' Danforth said, noting that the resolution made no mention of the launching of rockets from the Gaza strip at Israeli towns and cities.

In a press release in Arabic on its official web, Hamas leaders said: 'Hamas is condemning the U.S vote and stating that Hamas considers the U.S as an enemy and as an accomplice to the Israeli enemy aggression against the Palestinians. Hamas regards the U.S position as a criminal act that puts her in a confrontation with 'weak' nations. The U.S will face responsibility for its position as an accomplice with Israel to the animosity.'"

www.palestine-info.info/arabic/hamas/statements/2004/6_10_04_1.htm

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Hitler's Iraq

By Grant Jones
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 14, 2004

Last month Daniel Pipes, a leading scholar on Islamic terrorism, wrote an article entitled, “They’re Terrorists—Not Activists.” In it Pipes catalogs twenty evasive terms used by the media for the word “terrorist.” A twenty-first euphemism is now coming into vogue: “the Iraqi resistance.” Michael Moore has become a cheerleader for the “resistance.” He states on his website, “The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the Revolution, the Minutemen...” (michaelmoore.com, April 14, 2004).

Actually, those that are trying to re-establish the secular Baath dictatorship, or its Islamist equivalent, are pure evil. They are nihilists. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush referred to Saddam’s Baath dictatorship as Fascist and Nazi. He was not far off the mark as Saddam’s behavior certainly qualifies. Saddam’s aggression against Iraq’s neighbors has cost over one million lives. Saddam filled trenches with the bodies of hundreds-of-thousands of innocent men, women and children.

Fruit does not fall far from the tree. The origins of Saddam’s dictatorship date back to World War II. On 3 April 1941 Rashid Ali overthrew the Iraqi government, which was friendly with the British and Allied cause. As the result of the 1932 treaty establishing Iraq’s independence, the British maintained bases at Basra and Habbaniya (not far from Falluja). The latter base was attacked by units of the Iraqi army and laid under siege. The situation was serious, “By 13 May [1941] new decrypts revealed that German aircraft with Iraqi markings had arrived in Syria, the next day they began bombing the British forces which were entering Iraq...” (John Keegan, The Second World War).



This was consistent with “Hitler’s Directive No. 30. Middle East” dated 23 May 1941: “The Arab Freedom Movement is, in the Middle East, our natural ally against England... I have decided to push the development of operations in...support of Iraq...it may later be possible to wreck finally the English position between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.” (Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance) Meanwhile, “In Syria a committee was formed to mobilize support for the Rashid Ali regime. This was the nucleus of what later became the Ba’th Party, rival branches of which came to govern both Syria and Iraq.” (Bernard Lewis, The Middle East)



Fortunately for the world, Winston Churchill did not wait for the results of a “Global Test.” He immediately moved troops, which were badly needed to stop General Erwin Rommel’s Africa Corps in Libya, into both Syria and Iraq. The British and Indian troops made short work of Iraq’s army. Rashid Ali fled to an appropriate hiding place: Berlin. This was Ali’s second fall from power. Less than a year after gaining independence, in 1933 Ali became Iraq’s Prime Minister under King Faysal. At this time there was an uprising of Assyrian Christians, concerned about their place in the new nation. While the King was out of the country, Ali proceeded to use harsh measures, “In clashes with the Iraqi troops several hundred Assyrians were brutally killed.” (Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropedia, 1984 edition q.v. “Iraq”) Loyal to his roots, Saddam Hussein had resurrected Rashid Ali as a hero of Baathist Iraq.



It is not surprising that both the secular Fascists of Syria and the medieval theocrats of Iran and Al Qaeda should unite in attacking those that would bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East. Nihilists united in hate recognize their common ambitions and enemies. Their purpose is to destroy what chance there is for democracy in Iraq, after which they will fight it out for power. A classic example of nihilists uniting to destroy freedom is the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag on 23 March 1933. This act made Hitler dictator of Germany by a vote of 444 to 84. On the surface it seems peculiar that Communists delegates would vote for such a measure along with the Nazis. But only on the surface, the Nazis and Communists were just two different gangs with a common enemy, the first democracy Germany ever had, the Weimar Republic.

Nihilism is an accurate term for Communists, Nazis, Baath Party Fascists and Islamist terrorists. According to Webster’s: “Nihilism, The doctrine which denies any objective ground of moral principles; called also ethical nihilism...The doctrine that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake...In loose usage, revolutionary propaganda; terrorism.” Or as Faust defined the nihilist credo, “All that exists, deserves to perish.”



Then there are the nihilist enablers who should know better. There are: Michael Moore, quoted above; Markos Zuniga, at his “Daily Kos” website, who wrote “screw them” in reference to the Americans murdered in Falluja, characterizing the victims as “mercenaries;” Kofi Annan who pursues the U.N’s anti-Western vendetta while sub-Sahara Africa burns; International Answer referring to the terrorist killer Ahmed Yassin as “a political leader;” International Solidarity Movement, who in solidarity with terrorists, sends human shields into Gaza to protect the terrorists’ communication tunnels; Nicholas “Million Mogadishus” De Genova of Columbia ranted, “The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.” De Genova defines “peace” as “a world where the U.S. would have no place.”


The American Left, and their ally the lamestream media, refuse to identify evil as evil. They compare President Bush, who has vanquished two loathsome dictatorships of both the secular Fascist and Islamist type, with Hitler. Simultaneously, psychopathic baby killers in Iraq, Israel and Russia are referred to as “the resistance” or “insurgents” or “fighters” or “militants.” This is the Left’s declaration of moral bankruptcy, their leap into the abyss of nihilism.

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Brides for Jihad

Militants force local women to wed foreign fighters
By Aqeel Hussein in Mosul
(Filed: 10/10/2004)

A "brides for jihad" campaign has been launched by Islamic militants in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, intimidating local families into offering their daughters to foreign fighters waging war on America and its allies.

A fundamentalist group, the Islamic Council of Mosul, has written letters to residents in western parts of the city, which is near the Syrian border, demanding that the name of every girl is put on a list. The register is held at the Al-Mahmood mosque whose imam, Zinad al-Jaburi, boasts that he has married off three of his daughters to Syrian terrorists.

"These people are heroes they have come to Iraq and want to make their new home here," he said. "Marrying local women ties them to us and our families."

According to local residents, Mr al-Jaburi has threatened his followers with death if they do not respond to the letters distributed at his mosque, which place a religious obligation on recipients. "Join your daughters to our Syrian brothers who have come to help Iraq," they read. "Allah says you must marry your daughters to good men.

"We ask each honest father that lives in Mosul city to support the project in order to be a real Muslim and achieve the glory of the holy Koran."

The first Syrian man to be married at the mosque was killed soon after during an ambush on American troops.

Shihab Rifaie, who was purportedly in Mosul dealing in imported second hand cars, married an 18-year-old called Sara whose father had put her name on the mosque list.

Her family refused to talk about their late son-in-law but a neighbour, Yunis Lilou, said: "I am too astonished for words that these people would make their daughters marry a suicide terrorist. We must control the situation and destroy this movement."

Local police say they are aware of the forced marriages but are unable to tackle the problem because of the culture of fear perpetuated by the foreign jihadists.

Families have been torn apart over the marriages, with fatal consequences. At the end of last month, a 24-year-old local man, Ayad Mazher, killed a young Syrian fighter who had won the agreement of his father to marry his sister, Sarhan.

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The Truth: Speech at Duke U. Counter Terrorism Speak-Out

The truth

Remarks of Brigitte Gabriel to be delivered at the Duke University Counter Terrorism Speak Out

I’m proud and honored to stand here today as a Lebanese speaking for Israel the only democracy in the Middle East. As someone who was raised in an Arabic country I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arabic world.

I was raised in Lebanon where I was taught that the Jews were evil, Israel was the devil, and the only time we will have peace in the Middle East is when we kill all the Jews and drive them into the sea.

When the Moslems and Palestinians declared Jihad on the Christians in 1975,
they started massacring the Christians City after city. I ended up living in a bomb shelter underground from age 10 to 17 without electricity eating grass to live and crawling under sniper bullets to a spring to get water.

It was Israel who came to help the Christians in Lebanon. My mother was wounded by a Moslems shell and was taken into an Israeli hospital for treatment. When we entered the emergency room I was shocked at what I saw. They were hundreds of people wounded, Moslems, Palestinians, Christian Lebanese and Israeli soldiers lying on the floor. The doctors treated everyone according to their injury. They treated my mother before they treated the Israeli soldier lying next to her. They didn’t see religion they didn’t see political affiliation, they saw people in need and they helped.

For the first time in my life I experienced a human quality that I know my culture would not have shown to their enemy. I experienced the values of the Israelis who were able to love their enemy in their most trying moments. I spent 22 days at that hospital, those days changed my life and the way I believe information, the way I listen to the radio or to television. I realized I was sold a fabricated lie by my government about the Jews and Israel that was so far from reality. I knew for fact that if I was a Jew standing in an Arab hospital I would be lynched and thrown over to the grounds as shouts of joy of Allahu Akbar, God is great would echo through the hospital and the surrounding streets.

I became friends with the families of the Israeli wounded soldiers one in particular Rina, her only child was wounded in his eyes.

One day I was visiting with her and the Israeli army band came to play national songs to lift the spirits of the wounded soldiers. As they surrounded his bed playing a song about Jerusalem Rina and I started crying. I felt out of place and started waking out of the room, and this mother holds my hand and pulls me back in without even looking at me. She holds me crying and says: “ it is not your fault”. We just stood there crying holding each other’s hands.

What a contrast between her, a mother looking at her deformed 19 year old only child, and still able to love me the enemy, and between a Moslem mother who sends her son to blow himself up to smithereens just to kill a few Jews or Christians.

The difference between the Arabic world and Israel is a difference in values and character. It’s barbarism verses civilization. It’s democracy verses dictatorship. It’s goodness verses evil.

Once upon a time there was a special place in the lowest depths of hell for
anyone who would intentionally murder a child. Now, the intentional murder of Israeli children is legitimized as Palestinian “armed struggle”. However, once such behavior is legitimized against Israel, it is legitimized every where in the world, constrained by nothing more than the subjective belief of people who would wrap themselves in dynamite and nails for the purpose of killing children in the name of god.

Because the Palestinians have been encouraged to believe that murdering innocent Israeli civilians is a legitimate tactic for advancing their cause, the whole world now suffers from a plague of terrorism, from Nairobi to New York, from Moscow to Madrid, from Bali to Beslan.

They blame suicide bombing on "desperation of occupation" Let me tell you the truth. The first major terror bombing committed by Arabs against the Jewish state occurred ten weeks before Israel even became independent. On Sunday morning, February 22, 1948, in anticipation of Israel’s independence, a triple truck bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists on Ben Yehuda Street in what was then the Jewish section of Jerusalem. Fifty-four people were killed and hundreds were wounded. Thus, it is obvious that Arab terrorism is caused not by the “desperation” of “occupation”, but by the VERY THOUGHT of a Jewish state.

So many times in history in the last 100 years, citizens have stood by and done nothing allowing evil to prevail. As America stood up against and defeated communism, now it is time to stand up against the terror of religious bigotry and intolerance. It’s time to all stand up and support and defend the state of Israel, which is the front line of the war against terrorism.

Thank you.

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Pals increase ties to Syria

DAMASCUS - Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Shaath held talks in Damascus Wednesday with his Syrian counterpart Farouk Al-Sharaa, in the latest sign of improving bilateral ties between the Palestine National Authority (PNA) and Syria.

Shaath arrived in Damascus from Beirut late Tuesday to be the highest-level Palestinian official to visit the Syrian capital since early 1990s.

He said his visit was part of efforts to improve bilateral ties. “We have discussed all means to boost Syrian-Palestinian relations at all levels,” Shaath said.

Shaath also held talks in the Syrian capital with other senior government officials on ways of improving bilateral relations.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Al-Sharaa, Shaath voiced optimism at the resumption of official ties with Syria, saying he sensed that the Syrians and Palestinians shared the same political strategy.

“We speak to the world in one language,” he said, adding, “We are also aware of all the dangers facing Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and the Arab nation.”

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Vandals Target Joseph’s Tomb

(IsraelNN.com) Reports from Shechem indicate PA residents have once again damaged Joseph’s tomb, not specifying the extent of the damage from the latest attack.

Joseph’s Tomb was to be accessible to Jews as per the Oslo Agreement, but remains off limits to Jews with the exception of special circumstances requiring advanced coordination with military officials.

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Is the Intifada Over?

by Bret Stephens

For most Israelis, and for many Palestinians too, the violence seems to be in recession. How did things improve so dramatically for Palestinians and Israelis alike? Begin by recalling Israel's elimination, in late March, of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The Israeli army has also incarcerated terror suspects in record numbers, which helped yield information for future arrests. Most importantly, the security fence has begun to make the Israeli heartland nearly impenetrable to Palestinian infiltrators. Taken together, these measures prove what a legion of diplomats, pundits, and reporters have striven to deny: that there is a military solution to the conflict. A sufficiently strong military response to terrorism does not simply feed a cycle of violence (although a weak military response does); rather, it speeds the killing to a conclusion. (Wall Street Journal, 14 Oct 04)"

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Presbyterians have double standard on State of Israel

A divestment policy that punishes one side in Mideast conflict won't bring peace
A. JAMES RUDIN

Religion News Service

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is facing a self-inflicted firestorm of criticism, much of it coming from the denomination's own clergy and lay leaders. This past summer the PCUSA's national policy-making body, the General Assembly, adopted a sweeping resolution calling for 'phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel in accordance' with church 'policy on social investing.'

But the PCUSA's top executive, Clifton Kirkpatrick, placed his own interpretation on the loosely worded General Assembly statement. He maintained that phased divestment is aimed only at 'those companies ... found to be directly or indirectly causing harm or suffering to innocent people.' He did not explain how his church would make such determinations. A report on divestment is due in early March 2005.

The possibility that the nation's ninth largest Christian body would embark on a project that could result in the withdrawal of hard-earned church funds from various companies doing business in Israel has drawn sharp negative reactions from a large number of irate Presbyterians.

The PCUSA Board of Pensions, which provides health and retirement benefits for ministers and church employees, has a $6.2 billion investment portfolio, while the Presbyterian Foundation, with a $1.1 billion portfolio, funds much of the mission program. The Pension Fund must provide benefits that plan members have earned. As a result, there are serious legal impediments to any divestment proposal that may harm fund participants. But there are other equally significant grounds to criticize the proposal.

Among the critics is Presbyterians Concerned for Jewish-Christian Relations, a group committed to building mutual respect and understanding between the two faith communities. The organization's key leaders are Donald Shriver, president emeritus of Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan, and William Harter, pastor of the Falling Spring Presbyterian Church in Chambersburg, Pa. Harter is a past member of the National Council of Churches Committee on Christian-Jewish Relations and the World Council of Churches Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People.

Their group has publicly assailed the divestment resolution: 'We are deeply distressed by any suggestion that divestment policies of the church relating to Israel should uniquely target that country in ways that do not apply to every other country. ... We must be careful not to attack the economic life of the Israeli people, or to undermine Jewish survival in any way.'

But the criticism of the General Assembly's action went even further: 'We categorically denounce any equation between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and (the former South African policy of) apartheid.'

Mark Brewer, pastor of the Los Angeles Bel Air Presbyterian Church where President Reagan was a member, was particularly bitter in his criticism: The General Assembly 'fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch going down. The idea that withholding funds is going to make peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is ridiculous.'

The PCUSA's Confessing Churches, a group of theologically conservative Presbyterians, is also highly critical of any divestment plans.

The PCUSA has once again used a double standard when it comes to Israel. The Presbyterians Concerned group correctly noted the divestment resolution is 'uniquely' aimed at Israel. Singling out Israel for special punishment is an unfair policy, one that runs counter to the PCUSA's oft-proclaimed attempt to be a genuine voice of Christian conscience and reconciliation.

But controversy within the PCUSA is nothing new. There has been continuing criticism on a host of issues coming from 'grass-roots' members, all aimed at the church's national staff in Louisville, Ky. But the divestment issue has created one of the most heated backlashes to date.

Unfair divestment aimed at Israel should be rescinded and replaced by a balanced PCUSA peace-making effort that does not punish Israel as if the Jewish state were the Middle East conflict's guilty party.

Divestment aimed at Israel alone will discredit the Presbyterian Church and will not hasten peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Those two peoples need something much better than a one-sided divestment strategy from a church that is so painfully and publicly divided.
Rabbi James Rudin, the American Jewish Committee's senior interreligious adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.

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Terrorist bomber drama "a model for young and ambitious people in the Arab world."

Ramadan drama documents life of Yehya Ayyash
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

A joint Palestinian-Syrian drama series telling the life of Hamas bomb-maker Yehya Ayyash is poised to become the most popular show for tens of millions of Arab viewers during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Friday.

Ayyash, a resident of Rafat village in the northern West Bank, was responsible for a spate of suicide bombings that killed more than 100 Israelis between 1994 and 1996. (during the Oslo "peace process - EoZ) He was assassinated by Israel in 1996 when his booby-trapped mobile phone exploded in his face.

Ayyash, who was nicknamed "The Engineer" because of his expertise in preparing and handling different kinds of explosives, has since become a legend for Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Some have gone as far as comparing the Bir Zeit university graduate to Salah Eddin, the heroic Muslim warrior who drove the Crusaders out of Jerusalem.

Many Arab TV stations broadcast month-long dramas during Ramadan as a form of entertainment. Last year Hizbulah's Al Manar TV station broadcast a controversial series – also produced by a Syrian film company – based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
...

Palestinian writer and literary critic Salah Al-Bardawil dismissed the fears of Hiyam and expressed hope that the drama would present an "honorable" portrait of Yehya Ayyash. "There's no need to worry," he said.

Bardawil noted that the main theme of the drama would be "rejection of the occupation and Zionist and American hegemony, the importance of resistance and the need to avenge the blood of the (Palestinian) victims."

He said the timing of the drama was significant "because it supports the forces fighting against Israeli and American oppression and aggression in Palestine, Iraq and the Arab and Muslim region." The Gaza-based writer said the drama would also serve as a model for young and ambitious people in the Arab world.

Diana Jabour, who wrote the script for the new drama, said she avoided using her imagination and relied only on facts. Asked why she had chosen the Hamas bomb-maker as her hero, Jabour explained: "I was deeply impressed by his personality. Whenever I heard about a suicide attack, the name of The Engineer would be linked to it. I soon discovered that his real name was Yehya Ayyash and started collecting material about him."

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EU ready to reward terror

I wonder what Palestinians could possibly do to not deserve a state according to the EU? Certainly the atrocities and attempted genocide of Jews in the Middle East seems to be considered praiseworthy and deserving reward. - EoZ

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Union is set to produce a plan to ensure the viability of a Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders, it has emerged.

In a bid to step up the EU's engagement in the region, the plan is set to focus on reconstruction as well as ensuring security is brought to the territories.

It will also set out the need for holding free and fair elections.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is a former EU envoy to the Middle East, said that it is hoped the plan would be adopted in November at a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, according to reports.

The move follows deep unease in Europe over the lack of progress in implementing the EU, US, UN and Russian backed ‘Road Map’ for peace and a response to Israel's plans to withdraw from Gaza.

"We want to show the will to start moving and commit ourselves to the situation in the Middle East", Mr Moratinos told a press conference.

Diplomats insist that the Road Map is still on the table, but little progress has been made ahead of the US presidential elections.

EU diplomats also insist that the move does not represent the EU stepping away from the Quartet and is compatible with the Road Map.

However, with a vote on prime minister Ariel Sharon's plans to withdraw from Gaza in 2005 set to come before the Knesset in two weeks time, the EU is keen to make sure no power vacuum ensues

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One more Palestinian mistake

By Barry Rubin, The Jerusalem Post

The PLO returns to its explicit demand of 'Two peoples, one state'

An event of such earthshaking dimensions occurred on October 4 that it should go down in the Middle East history books: an op-ed piece in The New York Times by Michael Tarazi, the PLO's legal adviser, comprising a policy statement of prime importance.

Such an article would never appear without approval by that group's leadership and broad support from its cadre.

Its title, "Two peoples, one state," tells the story.

The PLO's position is now publicly and officially back to where it was in the 1960s and 1970s. Its open goal: Israel's elimination. To say this is nothing new because such has been the implicit aim all along would be a grave mistake. The fact that the PLO has come out into the open with such a position signals a very important change indeed.

This decision is one more sign that any chance for progress in the peace process is an illusion. While road maps, declarations, delegations, and other efforts may contribute to peace in the long-term, in the immediate context they are useless exercises in wishful thinking.

The key to understanding the history of the last half-century's Arab-Israeli conflict is that the PLO was never a true nationalist movement. Had it been, the problem would have been solved long ago.

For the PLO destroying Israel is more important than building an independent Palestinian state or relieving the Palestinian people's suffering. That is why Yasser Arafat turned down Israel's offer at Camp David as well as the Clinton plan, both of which offered a viable independent state with its capital in Jerusalem.

Never fully appreciated about this approach was its irrationality from the standpoint of a genuine Palestinian nationalism. A nationalist wants his people to live in a country of their own in order to build their identity and well being.

Demanding a "right of return" to Israel sabotages any real Palestinian nationalism.

If the goal was to build a strong, stable Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel, everything would be done to discourage refugees from going to Israel. For why should a Palestinian state make a gift of these people, their money and talents to someone else?

But if you know that Israel will reject such a "return," then demanding it ensures postponing the end of the occupation, more violence, casualties, and billions of dollars in compensation.

The demand for return - PLO documents explicitly make this clear - is intended to subvert Israel and place it under Palestinian rule. That being the case, the returnees would not be lost to Palestine but would soon be making a real return - to the State of Palestine, bringing all of Israel with them.

BUT EVEN this slightly subtle two-stage plan proved too much for the PLO; so it has gone back to the explicit demand for a unitary state at the beginning of the process rather than as the outcome of years of subversion.

One need not be a genius to understand the consequences of such a "solution." The daily power struggle, bloodshed and civil war would make what is happening now look like a picnic.

To take the scheme Tarazi proposes seriously would be to assume that the Palestinian leadership is so humanitarian, so liberal and democratic-minded that it will sacrifice its own ambitions and totally change its historic behavior.

The movement's promotion of terrorism and vicious anti-Israel incitement belies any such intention.

Finally, and regrettably, this new campaign shows that even if Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip - or accepts a Palestinian state in all the West Bank too - it will only initiate a new phase in which the Palestinian leadership demands Israel's elimination as the next step.

Tarazi tries to make this Palestinian demand seem something forced on it by Israeli policies. In reality, Palestinian leaders have repeated it in private conversation for years, even at the height of the peace process.

The explicit demand to dismantle Israel rather than seek a Palestinian state alongside it is growing also as a result of the current Palestinian assessment. It is a "right of return" to the 1960s and 1970s arising from the combination of a lost intifada, victory in the international propaganda war, and refusal of a real compromise peace.

It is also one more in a long series of Palestinian mistakes. For every person in the West ready to go along with the Palestinian demand to destroy Israel there are five or 10 willing to accept the movement's supposed nationalist narrative.

They will buy the argument that Palestinians just want their own homeland, but not the idea that it should include Israel as well.

This is even truer of Western states and politicians. The PLO's new line is likely to be a public-relations disaster, undoing many of the movement's apparent gains in the battle for public opinion.

Even Tarazi reveals the hypocrisy of pretending that the new Palestinian policy is a reluctant choice still being debated. He concludes: "The only question is how long it will take, and how much all sides will have to suffer" before Israeli Jews accept this outcome.

As real Palestinian moderates realize, defining the conflict in these terms ensures that no matter who leads Israel, the struggle will go on for a very long time with far more suffering - and a certainty that Palestinians will not get a state for many years.

The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center; editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal; and editor of Turkish Studies.

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Israel's Commitment to Domestic and International Law in Times of War

Judge Amnon Straschnov
Former IDF Military Advocate General

• All activities performed by Israel during the first intifada as well as nowadays are based on law. Israel follows the emergency defense regulations enacted by the British in Mandatory Palestine in 1945. They are similar to those enacted by the British against the IRA in Northern Ireland.

• Israel has established four main principles for implementing the laws of war in the fight against terrorism: 1) Military necessity - the obligation to use force only in a situation which yields a direct military advantage. 2) Distinction between combatants - those who take part directly in hostilities - and noncombatants. 3) Humanity - the obligation to refrain from operations which cause unnecessary suffering. 4) Proportionality - the obligation to ensure that the action does not target in a manner disproportionate to the military advantage expected from the attack.

• Israel classifies terrorists the same way the Americans classify terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq - as unlawful combatants. They do not have the privilege to be under the umbrella of international law because they do not adhere to the laws of war. Rather, they have violated every possible provision of the laws of war. They don't wear uniforms or abide by the conditions that entitle them to be POWS.

• Once we define terrorists as unlawful combatants, they become legitimate military targets. It is allowed both legally and morally to fight and kill them. They want to come and kill us, and there is no question regarding the evidence. They've manifestly and openly declared their intentions.

• We are entitled from a legal point of view, as a total act of self-defense, to target them. If we can catch them and bring them to trial, that's better. But if this is not possible, we should be allowed to shoot them down.

• The Geneva Convention was enacted in 1949 and The Hague Regulations in 1907. There was no such terrorism at the time, and there exists no special convention or protocol against terrorism. There is certainly a need for one.

Legal Differences Between the Last Two Palestinian Uprisings

There is a big difference in the legal problems arising from the first intifada (1987-1993) and from the second uprising that began in 2000. The first intifada was characterized by civil unrest, by civilians including women and children throwing stones and making roadblocks. But it was not terrorism. The most extreme terrorist activity at that time was Molotov cocktails thrown at soldiers or civilian vehicles. The problem with applying laws in these situations is that there are no set laws dealing with these kinds of occurrences - the laws of war don't apply and the laws of peace don't apply.

At that time we introduced administrative detention, trials, and deportations, all based on the law and within the framework of the law. All activities performed by Israel during the first intifada as well as nowadays are based on law. Israel follows the emergency defense regulations enacted by the British in 1945. The British enacted similar defense regulations against the IRA in Northern Ireland.

The law cannot remain stagnant. It must evolve according to the situation. For example, before the first uprising, the law regarding administrative detention (detention without trial) was different. Administrative detention occurs when information is received based on wiretapping or from an informer whose identity cannot be revealed in court due to his need for protection. A person can be put into administrative detention for six months with a military judge's approval and this can be extended after six months only with the approval of a judge. There is a judicial review by the Supreme Court of Israel over the administrative detention.

Before the start of the first uprising in 1987, Israel had about 200 administrative detainees. According to the law at that time, the state was obligated to bring each detainee before a judge within 48 hours for supervision, to check the matter. When the uprising started, sometimes we had thousands of administrative detainees and it was impossible to bring them before a judge, and we changed the law. The new law said it is not obligatory for the state, or the military government, to bring each detainee before a judge, but that he has the right to petition to appear before a judge, at any time.

In October 2000 the second intifada broke out, referred to by some as an “armed conflict short of war.” During the first three years of this armed conflict, 942 Israeli civilians were killed in terrorist activities. Coffee shops became scenes of bloodshed. Buses were blown up. When terrorism is imposed on you, you have to fight it - diligently, determinately, and unceasingly - not only in Israel but everywhere in the world. The measures that are taken against terrorists or the people who send them cannot be compared with the moderate measures taken during the first uprising, which was a civilian one.

In the first intifada Israel had control on the ground and it didn't use tanks, helicopters, or even armored personnel carriers - only jeeps. Israel lost control on the ground as part of what people used to call the peace process and began to gain it back again only two and a half years ago after the Passover massacre in Netanya and Operation Defensive Shield. The tension has now been eased by a combination of control on the ground, the fence, better intelligence, and better ability to react to this intelligence. All these elements together build a situation in which the level of terrorism is lower than in the past. In some areas in which the tension is lower because of the fence, the rules of engagement are different from other areas in which there is no fence and the ability of the terrorists to cross into Israel is easier. Before the first uprising, when times were quiet, Palestinians worked in Israel, and there was almost no problem of security, people were not put into administrative detention and there was no policy of targeted interceptions. Only after terrorism arose and Israel suffered many casualties did we have to take measures against it. Israel should not be ashamed or scolded for the measures it had to take. Compare this to the United States which holds 600 detainees in Guantanamo, Cuba, because the U.S. Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over them there. Or compare Israel's record to that of France. During the Algerian uprising there were many atrocities performed by the French army against Algerians, yet there was not even one court-martial of French troops.

The powers of the military advocate-general in the State of Israel are different from his counterpart in the United States or England. He is completely independent and decides whether to court-martial, not the military commanders. I would prosecute people who deviated strongly from the rules of engagement, or from common law or from human rights. To shoot somebody for no good reason would result in a court-martial.

Principles for Fighting Terrorism

It's easier to be a democracy in that part of the world where the United States is located than here in the Middle East, where Israel is surrounded by countries that have nothing to do with democracy or human rights. Israel as a democracy has to weigh two main considerations: first, to fight to eliminate terrorism, and second, it is our duty under international law, humanitarian law, and the Geneva Conventions to protect the human rights of the local Palestinian population, most of whom are innocent.

Israel has established four main principles for fighting against terrorism. First, there must be a military necessity - The obligation to use force is only in a situation which yields a direct military advantage. Second, there needs to be distinction between combatants - those who take part directly in hostilities - and noncombatants. Third is the need for humanity - the obligation to refrain from operations which cause unnecessary suffering. The fourth is proportionality - the obligation to ensure that the action aimed at legitimate targets does not affect protected persons, namely civilians, and that it does not target in a manner disproportionate to the military advantage expected from the attack. These four principles should be the basis of Israel's implementation of the laws of war.

Unlawful Combatants Are Not Entitled to Treatment as Prisoners of War

What is the legal status of terrorists? Some argue that if they are combatants, they should have the same rights as combatants, namely prisoner-of-war (POW) status and access to The Hague Regulations and the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of POWs. Some say they are civilians and as civilians cannot be attacked. There isn't a proper classification for these terrorists under international law. The Geneva Convention was enacted in 1949 and The Hague Regulations in 1907. There was no such terrorism at the time or during the Second World War, and there exists no special convention or protocol against terrorism. There is certainly a need for one.

Israel classifies terrorists the same way the Americans classify terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq - as unlawful combatants. They are combatants but they do not have the privilege to be under the umbrella of international law because they do not adhere to the laws of war. They are not entitled to its protection since they have violated every possible provision of the laws of war and humanitarian law. They don't wear uniforms or abide by the conditions that entitle them to be POWS.

What measures are we taking against these unlawful combatants? If we have evidence and manage to bring them into custody, we bring them to trial before a court of law, a military court.

Targeted Interceptions and the Law

One new measure employed by Israel in the war against terror involves targeted interceptions, a subject of extensive debate. Once we define the terrorist as an unlawful combatant, he is a legitimate military target. It is allowed both legally and morally to fight and kill any terrorists for their notorious and ruthless terrorist activities, and we should not deal with them as protected persons. They are unlawful combatants, they want to come and kill us, and there is no question regarding the evidence. They've manifestly and openly declared their intentions.

Why should we wait until a terrorist carrying an explosive belt walks into a coffee shop in Jerusalem, opens his coat, and only when we see the belt are we allowed to shoot him? We are entitled from a legal point of view, as a total act of self-defense, to target him and get him beforehand. If we can catch him and bring him to trial, that's better. But if he is surrounded by bodyguards, we should be allowed to shoot him down.

There are very strict preconditions that apply to the use of targeted interceptions. These preconditions are known at all levels of the IDF and the Ministry of Defense, which consult with the military advocate-general. First, the terrorist or his superior must pose an imminent threat; it is not permitted to exercise this policy as a punitive measure but only as a preventive measure. Second, there must be no viable option to arrest the terrorist. Third, the four principles of military necessity, distinction, humanity, and proportionality noted earlier must be adhered to firmly. Only under these circumstances may we carry out this kind of interception. There was no mistake when targeting Sheikh Yassin or other known terrorists with blood on their hands. The only problem with targeted interceptions is when innocent people in the surrounding area are killed or injured. We keep telling our soldiers and pilots to keep the idea of proportionality in mind. The killing of civilians in time of war can happen inadvertently, of course, but the pilots know how to differentiate, and they have the right and the discretion not to shoot when there is extensive danger to the local population.

The Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court of Israel is the pinnacle of human rights in the State of Israel, as well as in the administered areas. While there is no precedent in international law, every local inhabitant including Arabs residing in the administered areas can apply directly to the Supreme Court of Israel and ask for remedy based on justice. People can petition the Supreme Court and it has jurisdiction over every Israeli official.

There are many examples of Supreme Court intervention. During the Gulf War in 1991, Israel distributed gas masks to every Israeli citizen but not to the local Arab population of the West Bank and Gaza. After a petition to the Supreme Court, the court ordered the army to distribute gas masks to the local population, as well.

We obey, without question, our Supreme Court rulings. In the case of Israel's security fence, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled, first of all, that it is legal to build the fence, and second, that the route of the fence should be amended. I think that's the right decision. The idea of building the fence arose because we wanted to protect ourselves, not because we wanted to cause misery to the Palestinians.

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Judge Amnon Straschnov, currently president of the Israeli Institute of Commercial Arbitration, served as the Military Advocate General (Chief Legal Officer) of the Israel Defense Forces (1986-1991) and as President of the Military Courts in the West Bank (1982-1984). He also administered Israel's military justice system both within the "green line" and in the administered areas. His many publications include Justice Under Fire (1994, Hebrew), dealing with the legal aspects of the first uprising in the administered areas.

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