Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, January 07, 2005

Another farce: PA "election observers" pour in

More than 500 election observers have poured into east Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority over the last few days to watch the Palestinians cast their ballots, take the ballots to counting centers, and then count the votes.

The observers are divided into three categories. The largest contingent, 260 members, comes from the European Union. A second contingent is sponsored by the US National Democratic Institute and is bringing some 80 people from 15 countries; and the rest are part of a third group from a wide variety of countries – including Egypt, which is sending 20 observers – gathered under the UN's umbrella.

And where exactly were these "observers" when the campaigning was going on, when only Abbas managed to travel freely, when the PA press and "security forces" are all run by the same party that supports the Holocaust-denier Abbas, where all the millions that pour into Fatah go to only one candidate? Who needs to cheat in such an election? -EoZ

What a dove Abbas is!

Abbas later visited the nearby Balata refugee camp, where he was greeted by scores of Fatah gunmen belonging to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

Two of them, Ala Sanakreh and Ahmed Abu Salateh, appeared next to Abbas as he addressed thousands of supporters. The two are wanted by Israel for their role in a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's French Hill junction four months ago and other attacks. Abbas later held a closed door meeting with the gunmen and promised to help them after the election.

'I will do everything to protect these men,' Abbas vowed. 'The issue of the wanted men will be at the top of my priorities, in addition to the case of the prisoners.'

On the eve of Ababs's visit, Fatah members in the city murdered a 44-year-old man suspected of 'collaboration' with Israel.

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades have thrown their weight behind Abbas, calling on their supporters to vote for him. The group has also backed his call for an end to rocket attacks, and many of its gunmen say they won't oppose his efforts to reach a truce with Israel.

Ask the Elder I

It is too hard to answer Fool Callie's questions in the tagboard, so I'll try here:

Why have the MO community started kicking up the Bat Mitsvah thing if girls still don't read from the Torah?

I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Halacha would not allow a girl to read from the Torah so it isn't going to happen (except in women-only prayer groups), but I imagine that it has more to do woth "keeping up with the Cohens" than anything else, as far as their parties go.

Is Botox Kosher?

Are you planning to eat some?

Plastic surgery for cosmetic-only purposes is frowned upon, and I don't see why Botox would be any different. But I never read a t'shuva on the topic. My guess would be that if it has a small danger involved (like the reports that people contracted botulism) then it would be definitely no good; if not then it may be acceptable for special cases. Perhaps you can ask this woman who appears to be an Orthodox dermatologist who has given talks on this topic.

Do Orthodox Jews have the tooth fairy?

We had the Tooth Mal'ach (the Tooth Angel) but I forgot where I got that idea from. I have no idea what the general frum community does. But it is a fantastic question.

Tsunami vs. Terror Aid

Saudi Arabia's pledge to help tsunami victims: $30 million
Saudi Arabia's money sent to Palestinian suicide bombers: $109 million

Members of the Fatah youth movement chant slogans during a rally for Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas at a hotel in the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Hanina, January 5, 2005.

Remember that these are not Hamas - these are the terrorists from Mahmoud Abbas' own party. Look how moderate these kids are with their cute Nazi salutes! - EoZ

Wishful thinking

It is utterly depressing to see wishful thinking replace common sense in the current Israeli government.

Is there any actual indication that Abbas will be any more "peaceful" than Arafat? For every "pragmatic" statement that gets trumpeted in the Western press, he makes three statements completely consistent with the desire for the destruction of Israel. Since when is someone who denies the Holocaust, insists on all of Jerusalem, and praises suicide bombers a "moderate?"

Is there any actual indication that abandoning Gaza will make things more peaceful? Hamas isn't saying anything of the sort. Israel will have to de facto occupy all the areas that they plan to abandon to keep rockets out of southern kibbutzim. And for this we are uprooting Jews, dismantling synagogues and moving cemeteries?

Historically, Israel has gained respect most when she looked after her own interests. Sure she was criticized in 1967, when she bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor, even after Entebbe. But has the criticism lessened any since Sharon started his appeasement policy? On the contrary - Israel is more reviled than ever. And now she no longer has the moral authority of protecting her own citizens, weakening her further and placing her at the mercy of the EU and UN who are so anxious to impose a solution. If Israel is losing her own desire to defend herself and ignore the world, G-d help us all.

And it all seems to be based on the same sort of wishful thinking that produced the fruits of Oslo, of over a thousand innocents killed.

-EoZ

New Antisemitic Iranian TV Show

A new historical series airing on Iran's Sahar TV, recorded and translated by MEMRI's TV Monitor Project, depicts the early Christian era from an Islamic perspective. The seventh episode, which aired on December 30, 2004, shows the crucifixion of some of Jesus' followers by the Romans. In a scene reminiscent of the crucifixion of Jesus, the series shows Jews who are passing by the crucifixion site stopping to abuse the crucified Christian preacher Adonya, by gleefully and maliciously throwing stones at him as he is nailed to the cross. A Roman soldier tries to stop them, but the Jews bribe him and continue to abuse Adonya. In portraying them as Jews, the actors talk like cartoons, and wear as their clothing traditional 'Jewish' religious garb (a tallis, which in fact is used only during prayer).

The Fence

THE FENCE [Cliff May]
The new fences will be chain-link and six feet tall, topped with small spikes to “deter” those who might consider scaling them. Well, we’ll see what the International Court of Justice in The Hague has to say about this!

Oh, wait a minute, sorry. These fences are not being erected along the West Bank to protect Israeli communities from Hamas terrorists, these fences are being erected between the District of Columbia and Prince Georges County in Maryland, and they are meant to stop “criminals” from crossing from the city into the suburbs. The route the fences will block has been used as a “corridor for drug dealing.”

And, off course, drug dealers are committing crimes. Whereas suicide bombers are …how shall I put this …expressing their anger and outrage over grievances? The front page Washington Post story is here.

Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards

I spent way too much of today looking at some of the blogs that are mentioned in the Israellycool blog that are up for nominations in one of the many annual awards given throughout the blogosphere. It is worth looking through the nominees and browsing - some are political, some are personal, but all are either Israeli or Jewish (or both.)

I was astonished at how many are out there now, and my tiny, little-read news blog seems a bit redundant with all of the other ones in the 'sphere.

A good place to start is the nominations for "best post". I also liked the personal Israeli blogs which describe Israeli society in ways you could never get from newspapers.

And, no, I'm not trolling for a nomination!

-EoZ

Israeli Group Biggest Civilian Aid Contributor to Sri Lanka

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The Sri Lankan government reportedly refused to accept a large Israeli rescue and medical mission to aid tsunami victims. But even so, an Israeli group says it has contributed more civilian aid to Sri Lanka than any other country.

The Israeli humanitarian aid organization Latet (Hebrew for "to give") has already shipped 70 tons of supplies to the area, said Latet spokesperson Evia Simon. "It is the biggest amount of equipment [sent by] a civilian aid organization to Sri Lanka," said Simon.

The group has sent about $300,000 worth of supplies, including water, water-purification tablets and medicine. Latet has its own six-man team, including a doctor, on the ground in Sri Lanka to help distribute the supplies.

Latet, the first humanitarian aid agency to be established in Israel, has previously provided aid to Kosovo war victims, Ethiopian famine victims, victims of the two Turkish earthquakes and survivors of the earthquakes in El Salvador and India.

Israelis were surprised last week to hear that Sri Lanka had turned down Israel's offer to send a 150-person medical and rescue team to the country. Unofficial Israeli sources said that the Sri Lankan government refused the team's help because the unit falls under the umbrella of the Israeli army.

But the Sri Lankan ambassador to Israel, Tissa Wijeratne, denied that his government had refused the Israeli assistance and said Sri Lanka had "no objection" to the military composition of the team.

"The Sri Lankan government didn't refuse," Wijeratne said in a radio interview on Tuesday. "They wanted the Israeli government to delay the arrival of the 150-member Israeli rescue and relief team."

Wijeratne is due to meet with the Israeli Health Minister Danny Naveh later on Tuesday.

Palestinian Word Games (Daniel Pipes)

Palestinian Word Games
By Daniel Pipes, January 4, 2005

New York Sun*
January 4, 2005

We read that "Prime Minister" Mahmoud Abbas is running in the elections on Sunday to succeed Yasser Arafat as "president" of "Palestine."

Excuse me, but prime minister, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, means the "head of the executive branch of government in states with a parliamentary system." Despite tens of thousands of references to Mr. Abbas as prime minister, he in not a single way fits this description.

Oh, and there is also the matter of there being no country called Palestine. Arab maps show it in place of Israel. The U.N. recognizes its existence. So too do certain telephone companies – for example, France's Bouygues Telecom and Bell Canada. Nonetheless, no such place exists.

One can dismiss use of these terms as symptoms of the same unrealism that has undermined Palestinian Arab war efforts since 1948. But they also promote the Palestinian cause (a polite way of saying, "the destruction of Israel") in a vital way.

In an era when the battle for public opinion has an importance that rivals the clash of soldiers, the Palestinian Arabs' success in framing the issues has won them critical support among politicians, editorial writers, academics, street demonstrators, and NGO activists. In the aggregate, these many auxiliaries keep the Palestinian effort alive.

Especially in a long-standing dispute with a static situation on the ground, public opinion has great significance. That's because words reflect ideas – and ideas motivate people. Weapons in themselves are inert; today, ideas inspire people to pick up arms or sacrifice their lives. Software drives hardware.

Israel is winning on the basic geographic nomenclature. The state is known in English as Israel, not the Zionist entity. Its capital is called Jerusalem, not Al-Quds. Likewise, Temple Mount and Western Wall enjoy far more currency than Al-Haram ash-Sharif or Al-Buraq. The separation barrier is more often called a security fence (keeping out Palestinian suicide bombers) than a separation wall (bringing to mind divided Berlin).

In other ways, however, the Palestinian Arabs' wording dominates English-language usage, helping them win the war for public opinion.

*

Collaborator means someone who "cooperates treasonably" and brings to mind the French and Norwegian collaborators who betrayed their countries to the Nazis. Yet this term (rather than informant, mole, or agent) universally describes those Palestinian Arabs providing Israel with information.
*

Refugee status normally applies to someone who, "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted . . . is outside the country of his nationality," but not to that person's descendants. In the Palestinian case, however, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of refugees also merit refugee status. One demographer estimates that more than 95% of so-called Palestinian Arab refugees never fled from anywhere. Nonetheless, the term continues to be used, implying that millions of Palestinian Arabs have a right to move to Israel.
*

A settlement is defined as a small community or an establishment in a new region. Although some Jewish towns on the West Bank and in Gaza have tens of thousands of residents and have existed for nearly four decades, settlement, with its overtones of colonialism, is their nearly universal name.
*

Occupied territories implies that a Palestinian state existed in 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza. That was not the case, making these areas legally disputed territories, not occupied ones.
*

Cycle of violence, a term President George W. Bush has adopted ("the cycle of violence has got to end in order for the peace process … to begin"), implies a moral equivalence between the killing of Israeli civilians and Palestinian Arab terrorists. It confuses the arsonist with the fire department.
*

The peace camp in Israel – a term that derives from Lenin's usage – refers to those on the left who believe that appeasing mortal enemies is the only way to end Palestinian aggression. Those in favor of other approaches (such a deterrence) by implication constitute the "war camp." In fact, all Israelis are in the "peace camp" in the sense that all want to be rid of the conflict; none of them aspires to kill Palestinian Arabs, occupy Cairo, or destroy Syria.

Arabs may have fallen behind Israel in per capita income and advanced weaponry, but they lead by far on the semantic battlefield. Who, a century back, would have imagined Jews making the better soldiers and Arabs the better publicists?

Top Ten Arab and Iranian Conspiracy Theories in 2004

The year 2003 saw conspiracy theories from the Middle East surrounding most major events, ranging from the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia to the capture of Saddam Hussein. 2004 saw a continuation of this trend. Previous conspiracy theories this year included blaming the U.S. and Zionists for worldwide calamities, Egyptian conspiracies about 9/11, and accusations about activities of the U.S. and Jews in Iraq. The following top ten list represents conspiracies which were published in the Arab and Iranian media during the last months of 2004.

10) U.S. and Zionist Control of Al-Jazeera: Muslim critics of Al-Jazeera frequently charge that it is run by the U.S. and Israel. In the Tehran Times on December 2, Hassan Hanizadeh wrote that "rumors arose suggesting that the network was established by U.S. and Israeli agents in order to present a bad image of Islam to the world… The actions of the network gradually revealed the fact that Al-Jazeera officials, on the orders of Zionist agents, are trying to … tarnish the image of Islam…"

9) Zionists Spreading Diseases Amongst Arabs: Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV broadcast a program in November about "Zionist attempts to transmit dangerous diseases like AIDS through exports to Arab countries." Iran's Mehr News Agency ran a story titled "Israel Exporting Carcinogenic Foodstuff to Arab States" on November 24, writing, "The trend has led to an increase in leukemia and liver and stomach cancer in the Arab countries which have imported Israeli foodstuff."

8) Iran Accuses Al-Zarqawi of Working for Jordan: The Iranian Mehr News Agency alleged on December 26 that "Jordan sent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to Iraq to carry out destabilization activities," and that Iraqi President Iyad Allawi is controlled by Jordanian officials. The report also accused Jordan of planning to re-settle five million Palestinians in Iraq.

7) Jews Were Behind the September 1st-3rd Chechen Beslan School Attack: Dozens of religious, political, and media personalities from the Middle East have blamed the Beslan attack on Jews and Israelis. Ali Abdullah, a conservative Bahraini religious scholar, claimed on September 5, 2004 that Israelis - not Muslims - were behind the attack, as part of an effort to "tarnish the image of Muslims."

6) Israel Stealing Body Parts of Palestinian Children: Iran's Sahar 1 TV is currently airing a weekly series that premiered on December 13 called "Zahra's Blue Eyes." The show includes graphic scenes of Palestinian children whose eyes have been surgically removed and stolen by Israel.

5) Jews Tamper with The Koran: The Kuwaiti English daily Arab Times published an article on September 21 titled "New Education Plan 'Enforced'; Jews tamper with Holy Quran." The article reported on the Dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies of Kuwait University, Dr. Mohammad Abdul Razak Al-Tabtabaei, who had "warned citizens and residents of some versions [of the Koran] which have been manipulated by Jews…" Al-Tabtabaei explained, "For long Jews have been plotting against Muslims using various means… They have been damaging the Holy book by the changing and deleting verses with the aim of hiding the truth."

4) U.S. To Invade Pakistan and Annihilate Muslims: Maqdoom Mohiuddin favorably reviewed a book in the Saudi Gazette on October 19, which advances the theory that "there have been rumors about a possible invasion of Pakistan… The U.S. has started implementing its program… The book also reveals that the other possible targets of the U.S. will be Sudan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey…" Mohiuddin claims that President Bush's true goal is the "total annihilation of the Muslims."

3) U.S./Jews Behind the October 7th Taba Attacks in Egypt: Adli Barsum of the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhuriya is one of dozens of Arab columnists who propagated conspiracy theories about the Taba attacks. He asked in Al-Gumhuriya on October 12: "Who planned the bombings in Taba? … Is it the Mossad? …Is it the CIA?" The London Arabic-language daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that a headline in Egypt's weekly Al-Mustaqbal Al-Jadid, the official organ of the National Party's Policies Committee under the leadership of Gamal Mubarak, read "Proof of Mossad Involvement in the Explosions in Taba."

2) Israel Killed Yasser Arafat: Writing in the Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram, Ghada Karmi claimed on November 11, "… A close confidant of Ariel Sharon has stated that the latter had 'eliminated' Yasser Arafat 'through his cooks'…" On November 11, Khaled al-Batesh, leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told UPI that "during Sharon's last visit to Washington, he told U.S. President George W. Bush, 'We will help G-d to get rid of him.'" An article in the Tehran Times on November 17 stated that "a special Zionist commando group" was responsible.

1) U.S. Soldiers Stealing Organs from Iraqis: In the Saudi daily Al-Watan on December 22, an article by Fakhriya Ahmad alleges that, based on European secret military reports, U.S. personnel in Iraq are stealing human organs: "The reports confirm the finding of tens of thousands of mutilated cadavers missing parts… These teams offer $40 for every usable kidney and $25 for an eye…" The report also appeared in the Syrian daily Teshreen and in Iran's Jomhour-ye Islami.

Radical Islam in The Netherlands: A Case Study of a Failed European Policy - Manfred Gerstenfeld

On December 23, 2004, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior published a 60-page report entitled From Dawa to Jihad. Prepared by the Dutch general intelligence service (AIVD), it describes radical Islam and examines how to meet its threat to Dutch society.
#

Among the close to one million Dutch Muslims, about 95 percent are moderates. This implies that there are up to 50,000 potential radicals.
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Since September 11, 2001, phenomena such as the growth of radical Islamic groups, polarization between Muslims and the surrounding society, limitations in the process of integration, and Islamist terrorism have increased in The Netherlands.
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The capability of Dutch society to resist the threat of radical Islam is considered low, though recently a greater desire has become apparent among the Dutch population to become more resistant. Also within the Dutch Muslim community resistance against radical forces is low. The moderate organizations and individuals are not able to counterbalance the radical forces.
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An earlier AIVD report dealt with Saudi influences in The Netherlands, mentioning a number of mosque organizations that originated from Saudi missions and financing. The Amsterdam Tawheed mosque, which in the past has put extreme anti-Semitic statements on its website, is linked financially, organizationally, and personally with the Saudi Al Haramain Foundation. Several other mosques are supported financially by Saudi charities.
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The Dutch report places the blame for the origins of the problem squarely on the deeply-rooted ideology of fierce opposition to the Western way of life among certain Muslim groups. It does not claim that the problem of radical Muslims would disappear if there were peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel and Jews are not mentioned in the report.

Saudis report truth, PA lies about Palestinian girl killed by Palestinians

#1 The truth: Palestinian girl killed in Gaza explosion
www.spa.gov.sa/newsprint.php?extend.229069

Gaza city, Gaza Strip, Jan 1, SPA[Saudi Press Agency] -- A ten-year-old
Palestinian girl was killed Saturday when an explosion ripped through her
home in the Jebaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, hospital
officials said.

Residents said Ibtihal Abu Daher was killed when a Palestinian rocket
inadvertently hit her house. Her 11-year old brother Ihab was also wounded
in the explosion.
--SPA

1359 Local Time
1059 GMT

#2 The Lie: A Palestinian Girl and a Man Killed by Israeli Troops
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=1807

JABALYA, Palestine, January 1, 2005 (IPC Agencies)[Official PA website]--
Ibtihal Abu Daher, 10 years-old girl, from the Gaza Strip refugee camp of
Jablya, was killed early this morning by the Israeli troops and her
11-year-old sister was injured after an Israeli tank fired a shell on the
Palestinian-owned houses opposite to the Abu Safiya neighborhood.

A senior hospital official at the Gaza-based Alshifa hospital, said that
Ibtihal arrived in a very critical condition at the Kamal Edwan hospital in
the northern Gaza Strip, and that her sister was in a moderate condition.

Oil-rich nations fail to deliver when calamity strikes Muslims

By John Farmer
The tsunami that struck South Asia last week has cast an unflattering light on the Muslim world and the mindless hatred it fosters towards the West.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation on the globe, was also by far the greatest victim of the earthquake and tsunami that convulsed the Indian Ocean basin. Of the tens of thousands of fatalities, Indonesia suffered at least 90,000 deaths. It, in a sense, was truly an Islamic tragedy.

So where in its hour of need did the Islamic world turn for relief? To the hated West, of course.

While America was ponying up some $350 million and the nations of Western Europe pledged sums approaching $200 million by the last count, what were the oil-rich Muslim nations of the Middle East doing for their religious brethren? Not a whole hell of a lot. Kuwait, which owes its very existence to Western help when Saddam Hussein tried to swallow it whole and today is fat with $45-a-barrel oil profits, dug down deep but could initially find only a paltry $2 million in aid money.

Kuwait is typical. Qatar, which reportedly has offered some $35 million, is the exception. The super-rich Saudis could come up with only $10 million, and the rest of the Arab world has been slow to react, and niggardly with what help they have found it in their hearts to offer, if any.

It's all part of a piece in the Muslim world. From Egypt to Pakistan and in all Muslim nations in between, it has been politically easier to finger the West, and especially the United States, for the Muslim plight than to look inward at their own faults and failings. Their treatment of the Palestinians offers but one example.

The plight of the Palestinians cries out for help. But most of the help they get comes not from their wealthy Arab neighbors, but from the West and from international agencies. What the Palestinians primarily get from their Arab neighbors are subsidies to the families of suicide bombers and a lot of hot-air hatred for Israelis and Americans. The Saudis, for example, have for decades poured millions of dollars into the funding of Wahhabi mosques and schools and clerics who preach jihad against infidels, a k a Westerners in general and Americans in particular.

Will that change now with the huge Western and, more particularly, American participation in the tsunami rescue effort? Not likely. It's not in the Muslim mind-set to acknowledge Western good will or good intentions. The Serbian slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo, for example, was halted only by Western intervention, led by the American military; the Muslim Middle East was impotent to stop the genocide. But did that get the West or Washington any applause? We're still waiting.

So deep are the feelings of inferiority that afflict the Muslim societies of the Middle East (especially in the face of Israeli success) that they cannot accept responsibility for their own failings. Better to blame America and the West than to question the backwardness they endure in the name of Islamic or religious rigidity. One would hope that their helplessness in the face of the tsunami suffering of their co-religionists in South Asia would open the eyes of Middle East Muslims to their own inadequacy. But don't bet on it. It's easier to blame the rich Americans for being too slow with help.

George W. Bush has taken few hits even here at home for his tardy reaction to the crisis. It's true that Bush wasn't quick off the mark (he never is, really), but on this score he's taking a bum rap. Everyone was slow to react, largely because first estimates of the casualty rate were low, as few as 20,000. Only after a day or two did the world begin to grasp the dimensions of the tragedy.

And the scale of American aid is hardly measured by the $350 million Bush has offered. Two Navy battle groups, whose operations cost American taxpayers millions of dollars per day, have been dispatched to the stricken regions with supplies and thousands of personnel. Equally important is the fleet of American helicopters made available to ferry water and food to remote areas of Sri Lanka and especially the isolated islands of Indonesia. As the days go by and the rescue mission mounts, the role of the American military in aiding the Muslims of South Asia will only grow in size and scope.

This, as even the most radical of Middle East Muslims must realize privately, is a job only the American Superpower can handle. Whether they'll credit American generosity, however, or continue to see us as the "Great Satan," is another matter.