Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Great pictures from IDF Dave

Read the whole thing.

Excerpt:

After class a bunch of arab kids run into us and challenge us to a soccer game.

The kids decide to forgo another round of soccer and we just hang out.

Will Abbas Bring an End to Conflict?

Abbas must stop the murder of Israelis
by Bruce Thornton
Private Papers

Just as in the days after the death of Arafat, the Palestinian elections have sparked an outburst of international optimism that perhaps the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can begin to be resolved. While all people of good will must hope that the optimism is warranted, the evidence is scant that the hope is grounded on something more than exhausted wishful thinking.

Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen), newly elected president of the Palestinian Authority, bears all the weight of the world's optimism. He is opposed to the intifada, the launching of rockets from Gaza, and terrorist violence in general, and unlike Arafat, he is a pragmatist without the blood of terrorism on his hands. Given democratic legitimacy by the vote, he can now use that mandate to reign in the terrorists, clean up the corruption in the Palestinian Authority, and create the conditions for a negotiated settlement that will lead to a viable Palestinian state and security for Israel.

So we are told—but we should pay careful attention to what Abbas says and the symbolism he manipulates. For all he is supposed to be the anti-Arafat, Abbas campaigned on a platform of total agreement with the policies of Arafat: a Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem and the "sacred" right of return for Palestinian refugees, the latter demand a non-starter for the Israelis, who recognize it as code for the destruction of Israel by demography. To underscore his accord with Arafat, Abbas not only used Arafat's image whenever possible during the campaign, but also took to sporting a checkered scarf reminiscent of Arafat's famous keffiyeh. And to make sure there was no doubt about his solidarity with Arafat, after the election Abbas proclaimed, "We offer this victory to the soul of the brother martyr Yasir Arafat."

Given that Arafat called for "jihad, jihad, jihad" to be waged until there was a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea," we should be troubled by Abbas' eagerness to channel Arafat's blood-stained spirit—especially since there is evidence that Abbas himself may not be so innocent of terrorism as we are led to believe. Last year Israeli attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Israel Law Center in a letter to President Bush pointed to evidence that Abbas financed the 1972 PLO massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. And let us not forget Abbas' 1983 book in which he claimed that Zionists collaborated with the Nazis to murder Jews in order to create sympathy for creating the state of Israel, and asserted that fewer than a million Jews had been murdered in the Holocaust.

But as of this moment, the question someone needs to ask Abbas is whether his agreement with Arafat extends to the PLO's "phases" plan for the destruction of Israel, a long-range strategy in which many different tactics—from suicide bombers to negotiated agreements—are used at different times given particular circumstances. This is a critical point, for Abbas' much-touted condemnation of the intifada and violence seems to rest not on principle but on a cost-benefit analysis. In 2002, Abbas made this obvious when he said regarding the intifada, "If we do a calculation we will see that without any doubt what we lost was big and what we gained was small." And more recently, speaking out against a rocket attack from Gaza, Abbas said, "This is not the time for this kind of attack," which suggests there is a time for shooting rockets at women and children.

In other words, blowing up innocents is not wrong, just an inefficient tactic for achieving the long-term goal of a Palestinian state that eventually will include the territory of Israel. Since force alone isn't going to make Israel disappear, negotiate for time (and money from the West) and wait to see what events transpire that bring closer the ultimate goal of Israel's disappearance. At that point, terrorist violence once again may be a suitable tactic, just as at present negotiation is the best move in order to provide space for rebuilding and strengthening a Palestinian Authority weakened by the untimely use of terrorism.

This, of course, was essentially Arafat's view, which means that Abbas' continual invocation of Arafat is a statement of ideological and strategic agreement; as Ephraim Karsh has written recently in Commentary, "For all their drastically different personalities and political style, Arafat and Abu Mazen are warp and woof of the same fabric: dogmatic PLO veterans who have never eschewed their commitment to Israel's destruction and who have viewed the 'peace process' as the continuation of their lifetime war by other means."

But for the sake of argument, let's give Abbas the benefit of the doubt and assume that his embrace of Arafat—like his assertion that going after the terrorist militants is a "red line that must not be crossed"—is merely campaign rhetoric necessary in order to pull off the elections and get himself elected, not to mention keeping himself alive. Let's consider Abu Daoud, mastermind of the 1972 Munich slaughter, a liar when he said that Abbas kissed his cheek and wished him luck when Daoud set out to organize the Munich attack. Let's assume that Abbas is sincere about finding a negotiated settlement that respects the right of Israel to exist.

Even if all that were true, the elephant in the room is still being ignored: the Palestinian militants like Hamas that are explicitly dedicated to the destruction of Israel and to the use of terrorism to further that aim. As long as these groups exist, no settlement is possible, for Israel is not going to sacrifice the lives of its citizens to give Abbas or anyone else the time to find some other solution to the violence that does not involve killing the terrorists who kill Israelis. Israel should not be asked to treat its citizens as "loss leaders" in order to achieve a "peace" deal that may or may not come and may or may not last.

Quite simply, those Palestinians sincerely committed to the "two-state solution" must go after and kill those Palestinians who are committed to the destruction of Israel, and whose murders provoke Israel's legitimate responses that unfortunately make life hard for the Palestinians. And yes, that means there must be a civil war. The so-called "moderate" Palestinians have to recognize that their aspirations are subverted by those among them who want to kill Israelis more than they want to live in freedom and prosperity, and that their suffering is caused by the actions of such terrorists that compel Israel to do whatever it can to protect its citizens, which after all is the primary obligation of any state.

Yet here in the West we refuse to put this question to these "moderates" and to condition our political and financial support on the one action that will eventually resolve the crisis. Instead, we have given the Palestinian Authority 20 million dollars and have promised 200 million more, and Abbas has been invited to the White House. Haven't we been through all this before with Arafat—the soothing rhetoric of peace, the photo-ops at Camp David, the millions of dollars, all followed not by peace but by political thuggery, fiscal corruption, and more murdered Israelis? We have to learn that as long as terrorism even seems to pay dividends, terrorism will continue to be used as a tactic. And giving money and prestige to someone who refuses to destroy terrorists and calls them "martyrs," and who implicitly endorses terrorism as a legitimate tactic, is simply ensuring that indeed terrorism will be used.

So too with the magic powers bestowed on the recent election. But a democratic election that puts into power someone like Abbas who refuses to disavow terrorism and to prove it by killing terrorists means nothing, no matter how much corruption he cleans up. The one issue central to resolving the crisis—stopping the murder of Israelis—is still unresolved. For all our delight at the spectacle of Palestinians voting and Abbas talking about peace and negotiations, we are back to the heady optimism after Oslo, when so much hope was quickly drowned in the blood of Israelis.

Hero teenage Sderot rocket victim brain dead

A 17-year-old girl who was wounded by a Qassam rocket strike in Sderot on Saturday was pronounced brain dead yesterday. Ella Abukasis was returning from a meeting of Bnei Akiva, together with her siblings and a friend, when they heard a warning that a rocket was approaching.
Abukasis suffered severe head wounds from shrapnel. Her friend and her sister were lightly wounded, while her brother was moderately wounded. According to one eyewitness, Ella had tried to shield her brother Tamir, 10, from the Qassam.

Watch out Vogue: New Al-Qaeda women's Jihad magazine

ROME — Al Qaeda has introduced an online women's magazine with articles including dietary advice for suicide bombers and tips on how to "dominate the passions" before blowing yourself up, according to Italy's SISDE secret service.
SISDE analysts disclosed the existence of Al Khansa, the unusual monthly Internet publication for female militants that is hosted by several Islamist Web sites, in the Italian spy service's quarterly review Gnosis.
...
"Among the Web pages of this newly born female review in Arabic, you won't find the usual fashion features that fill the pages of ladies' magazines the world over, except for a section dedicated to fitness with advice on diet and training to follow so as to acquire not a catwalk waistline, but martyrdom in the holy war."
With its bizarre format including articles on "breathing gymnastics to conquer the passions," evidently essential knowledge for those tempted to have a final fling before strapping on an explosive-laden corset, Al Khansa could indicate that al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has made a strategic choice in favor of "women's emancipation through martyrdom," according to the Gnosis report.
"This is a turning point in the project planning of international terrorist networks, which until now, unlike in the Palestinian intifada or in Chechen nationalist extremism, were limited to the exclusive employment of men in operations," the SISDE analysts said. (This does not make me too confident in the abilities of SISDE analysts, if they haven't heard of female Palestinian suicide bombers, or the Chechen women who brought the plane down. -EoZ)
...

An aspiring female martyr, or "mujaheda," must learn the Koran by heart, have basic first aid training [and] be able to prepare an emergency kit "in which natural honey and water from the Zemzem spring at Mecca are indispensable since they flow directly from Paradise," Al Khansa advised.
A female militant must also "be content with what is strictly necessary, sending televisions and air conditioners to be burned." She should offer her own money for the cause and know how to shoot and "how to carry munitions on her shoulder," the Web site said.
"This is obviously an 'emancipation' that is light-years distant from what the West means" by the word, the SISDE essay said.
"The portrait of the new heroine is of a woman paladin suspended between tradition and renewal, capable of protecting the family and the community against both outside aggression and the moral degeneration that insinuates its way inside society dominated by the 'corrupt' Saudi royal family."
Al Qaeda's concept of emancipation does not extend to "the promiscuity of Arab television stations," SISDE's analysis added. Al Khansa considers "as a form of prostitution the presence of female announcers without burqas on the Saudi television network Al-Ekhbariya."
In Al Khansa, the theorists of al Qaeda offer women "a path to reach freedom that would be denied in every other way — using the dominion of religion to oppose the dominion of men," the Italian secret service report said.

Tay-Sachs disease almost eradicated

This is an amazing story - Tay-Sachs may become the first genetic disease to ever disappear, and this is within a couple of generations of hard work. Remarkable! - EoZ

The genetic mutation disease Tay-Sachs, a fatal inherited disease of the central nervous system that mostly affects Ashkenazi Jews, has been almost completely eradicated, experts say, who claim that a genetic illness has become extinct for the first time.
"Last year not a single Jewish baby throughout North America was born with Tay-Sachs," says Prof. Robert Desnick of the Department of Human Genetics at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. Prof. Desnick is in Israel as the guest of Jerusalem's Hadassah hospitals. He said Monday that of the 10 babies born in North America in 2003 with Tay-Sachs, not a single one was Jewish.

Figures from Israel paint a similar picture. According to Prof. Joel Zlotogora, who heads the Health Ministry's Department of Community Genetics, just one baby was born with Tay-Sachs in Israel in 2003. Insofar as is known, not a single baby in Israel was born with Tay-Sachs last year, but as the disease takes some six months to manifest itself, the figures for 2004 are not final.

Desnick says that the data for the past two years may stem from a coincidental fluctuation in the incidence of the disease, and that isolated cases may appear this year or the next. He stresses, nevertheless, that whatever the case may be, the disease appears to have disappeared almost completely from among the Jewish nation.

Prof. Gideon Bach, who heads the Department of Genetics at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, says the eradication of Tay-Sachs can be attributed primarily to the fact that the general public in Israel is advised to carry out, at the expense of the state, genetic tests to diagnose the disease before the birth of the baby. In the event an unborn baby is diagnosed with Tay-Sachs, the pregnancy is usually terminated.

Another reason for the eradication of the disease, Bach says, is the work of the ultra-Orthodox association, Dor Yesharim. The association carries out tests on young individuals to check whether they are genetically "suitable." The results of these tests are passed on to the matchmaker. If there is a risk that a designated couple may give birth to children affected with Tay-Sachs, the matchmaker will report that the match is unsuitable. (before the couple have a chance to meet - EoZ)

Bach, who works with Dor Yesharim, says that numerous intended couples have been split up in the wake of genetic testing.

Some 1,000 years ago a Jew developed the genetic mutation which, it turned out, causes the fatal inherited disease. It has since been passed on among the Jewish people through the generations.

Tay-Sachs is a fatal genetic disorder mostly found in children that causes progressive destruction of the central nervous system. In general, children affected by the disease do not live beyond the age of 4.

Where the reporting stops
jpost staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 18, 2005

Palestinian journalist Majida al-Batsh surprised most of her colleagues late last year by announcing that she would run in the election for the chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority.

Batsh, a resident of the Old City of Jerusalem, had been working for many years as a Palestinian affairs correspondent for the French news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Before she presented her candidacy in the January 9 vote, Batsh was a frequent panelist on Israel TV Channel 1's Politica talk show, where she would speak more like a representative of the Palestinians than an impartial journalist from an international news organization.

...
The story of candidate Batsh, who wound up withdrawing her candidacy weeks ahead of the vote, highlights many concerns about the identity and political affiliation of several Palestinian journalists employed by international news organizations and TV networks to cover the Palestinian issue. It also underlines concerns about the credibility of much foreign news coverage in general in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In addition to her work at the French news agency, Batsh was also a reporter for the PA's official organ, Al-Ayyam,. In other words, she was also on the PA's payroll, since the Ramallah-based newspaper was established and is financed by the PA. Al-Ayyam's editor, Akram Haniyeh, has been listed as an adviser to Yasser Arafat.

But Batsh was not the only journalist at AFP who was working simultaneously for the PA. One of the agency's correspondents in the Gaza Strip is Adel Zanoun, who also happens to be the chief reporter in the area for the PA's Voice of Palestine radio station.

...
IT IS perhaps less logical when the covering of Palestinian affairs is entrusted only to Palestinian journalists, some of whom are openly affiliated with the PA or other political groups.

"I will never work on a story that defames my people or leadership," boasts a Palestinian "fixer" (mediator/guide/translator) who works on a regular basis with many foreign journalists. "It is my duty to protect my people against Israeli propaganda."

AFP is not the only member of the international news media to employ "journalists" who see themselves as "foot soldiers" serving the Palestinian cause. Other parts of the foreign media frequently allow their stories to be filtered through such fixers-consultants.

...
The Associated Press also has a journalist – Muhammad Daraghmeh – who works for the PA's Al-Ayyam. "It's like employing someone from the [Israeli] Government Press Office or one of the Israeli political parties to work as a journalist," comments a veteran foreign journalist based in Israel.

Daraghmeh's byline has continued to appear in Al-Ayyam; AP's Jerusalem bureau chief denies that he works for the paper.

Adds the veteran foreign journalist: "I also know of cases where former security prisoners have been hired as journalists and fixers for major news organizations, including American networks. Can you imagine what the reactions would be if they hired an Israeli who had been in jail for one reason or another?"

Iraqis change their minds; Israeli Iraqis ineligible to vote

Apparently this is a little too much, too fast for Iraq. -EoZ

While Iraq is making provision for Iraqi exiles in more than 14 countries to vote in the Jan. 30 election, some 90,000 Jews who fled Iraq for Israel will be excluded from participating.

That's the word from Iraqi officials who say the exclusion is due to the fact that the newly liberated nation still does not recognize the Jewish state.

The government said yesterday allowing Israelis of Iraqi origin to participate in the country's elections under the Out of Country Voting program was 'out of question.'

Even if Iraqi Jews living in Israel wanted to travel to a voting center in Amman, Jordan, they would be prohibited from casting ballots.

Abbas to his army: Take action against Hamas but don't actually do anything

Or, as Arutz Sheva puts it: Abu Mazen: Stop Attack But Be Gentle

(IsraelNN.com) PA leader Muhmad Abbas (Abu Mazen) has instructed his security forces to take action to stop shelling attacks against Israeli communities, but not by using force. Abu Abbas has reiterated his policy, to prevent a civil war among PA residents and terror organizations and therefore, will not use force to disarm terrorists.

"Put down that rocket or I'll....um....nonforcibly disarm you!"

Jersey City family murder may be from thieves - or terror

So far the press has relayed three theories, one of which (a dispute with a former tenant) has been ruled out. And details from earlier stories are changing today away from a religious motive. We'll see.

Update:

Another wrinkle that points yet again to terror -

ABC News has learned that the slain family's cousin has been a translator working for the prosecution in the trial of Lynne Stewart. She is the radical lawyer accused of smuggling messages from imprisoned Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, to terrorist cell members and associates.

So what else is new?

You would think that after watching how Arabs act towards Israel for over fifty years, that people would start seeing a pattern.

Today's game, played for the umpteenth time, is good cop/bad cop. Tell the West what they want to hear, play the wishful-thinkers in Israel and the US and Eurabia like an instrument, make sure that nothing is done, and throw up your arms and say "I have no control over the militants! And if I, a moderate, crack down on them - then I won't have any power at all! I'm your only hope for peace but don't expect me to actually do anything or I won't be able to help you!"

Did Muslims assassinate NJ Coptic Christian family of four?

Did members of the "Religion of Peace" kill a family of four in cold blood?

Argument over faiths probed in killing of 4

Jersey City man received chat-room death threat
Sunday, January 16, 2005
BY MIKE FRASSINELLI AND MARK MUELLER
Star-Ledger Staff

Authorities are exploring whether a religious argument in an Internet chat room led to the slaughter of a Coptic Christian couple and their two daughters in their Jersey City home, relatives of the slain family said yesterday.

One of the victims, 47-year-old Hossam Armanious, spent some of his spare time in chat rooms devoted to the Egyptian religious sect, at times proselytizing and at times writing about persecution of Coptic Christians by Muslims, family friends said.

Armanious' hobby took a dark turn about two months ago, friends said, when he was threatened after writing comments deemed an insult to Islam by another person logged in to a chat site.

'Some Muslim guys said if you don't stop this, we're going to come out and kill you,' said a family friend, who requested anonymity, citing fears for his safety.

First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory would not comment on the possibility that the slayings were a bias crime.

'We are continuing the investigation, making inquiries on several theories, and will not comment further,' Gregory said.

The friend said Armanious told him about the threat but did not seem especially worried about it. Those logged into the chat rooms frequented by Armanious are identified only by nicknames, providing a measure of anonymity.

Investigators, however, remain interested in the lead.

An uncle of Armanious' wife, Amal Garas, said yesterday that detectives told him they were pursuing the chat room argument as a possible motive for the slayings. The uncle, Milad Garas, was one of many family members interviewed by police Friday.

'One detective said this was his theory,' the uncle said.

Update from the New York Post:

Armanious' fervor apparently rubbed off on his daughter, Sylvia — who would have turned 16 yesterday.

"She was very religious and very opinionated," said Jessica Cimino, 15, a fellow sophomore at Dickenson HS.

A family member who viewed photos of the bloodbath said Sylvia seemed to have taken the most savage punishment.

"When we saw the pictures, you could tell that they were hurt really, really bad in the face; especially Sylvia," said Milad Garas, the high-school sophomore's great-uncle.

The heartless killer not only slit Sylvia's throat, but also sliced a huge gash in her chest and stabbed her in the wrist, where she had a tattoo of a Coptic cross.

Also found murdered were the wife, Amal Garas, and the parents' other daughter, Monica.

Fred Ayed, the deacon at St. George and St. Shenouda Church, where the deeply religious family attended services, said he's worried that the murders could have a ripple effect.

"I am concerned for the safety of our community," said Ayed, who knew Hossam for 30 years. "People are scared because one family was slain like cows," said Moheb Ghabour, publisher of a local newspaper for the Coptic community.

Osama Hassan, director of the Islamic Center of Jersey City, described the relationship between Copts and Muslims as cooperative if not friendly.

"I think there might be people that can get into physical fights, but not to the point of murder," Hassan said.

Both the deacon and uncle poured cold water on the theory that the family were the victims of a robbery gone wrong.

"This is not a robbery, Ayed said. "We found all of the jewelry in the house. They didn't take anything."

The FBI confirmed it has been called in to help with the case.

Muslim conspiracy theory of the day

From the ever-popular Tehran Times comes this startling example of Israel's expansionism. Yes indeedy, Israel is setting up "settlements" in Turkey!

Some stuff just can't be parodied. -EoZ

Qatar-based satellite television network Al-Jazeera reported last Sunday that the Zionist regime has made a proposal to establish a Jewish settlement in Turkey in southeastern Anatolia.

The proposal also called for a joint agricultural venture in the region.

The Turkish daily Yeni Shafak confirmed the report and wrote that Ankara does not have a positive view of the proposal, adding that Turkey’s National Security Council has revealed that the region Israel has picked is one of the country’s most fertile areas.

A wave of concern swept over Turkish citizens and political circles after the news was reported, since the Zionist regime’s current policies remind them of Israel’s usurpation of Palestinian territories and its slogan about the so-called Greater Israel: “From the Nile to the Euphrates”.

In its Aug. 25, 2004 edition, Yeni Shafak wrote that the Zionists are planning to purchase parcels of lands and immovable property in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

According to the paper, Turkey’s intelligence and security organizations are closely studying Israel’s policy.

In June 2004, the Turkish magazine Nokta warned the Ankara administration of the risks entailed by Israel’s plans.

The magazine disclosed that 60 Jewish people living in southeastern Anatolia where a dam is under construction, goaded on by the Zionist regime, purchased some plots of land with a total area of 423 square kilometers, i.e., half the size of Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul.

Israel is now asking for permission to invest in Turkey’s irrigation projects under the pretext of sharing its great experience in the field of agriculture, noted the periodical.

However, Israel’s top priority in the region is taking control of Turkey’s water resources.

Many Turkish political analysts view Israel’s measures as a serious threat to their country’s national security and have voiced their deep concern about the Zionist regime’s activities in northern Iraq.

Indeed, Israel’s recent proposals have worried political circles in Turkey much more than before.

Clearly, Turkey will face a serious predicament if it does not deal with the issue promptly and decisively.

AP drops scare quotes around "terrorists"

AP has always been the lesser of evils compared to Reuters and the disgusting AFP, but this comes as a shock: referring to Al Aqsa murderers, who only murder Jews, as terrorists without the usual scare quotes!

Grudging kudos also to Powell for saying what they are.

Of course, it is also sad when something this tiny and inconsequential is regarded as good news. -EoZ

Powell Demands Abbas Stop Terrorists

By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - Faced with a sudden setback to Middle East peace prospects, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) insisted Friday that new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas bring under control terror groups that are killing Israelis.

'He's got to get those terrorists under control,' Powell said after six Israelis were killed in a bombing and shooting attack at a Gaza crossing. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) responded by cutting all contact with Abbas.

"The terrorists are not going to destroy Israel. 'It's not going to accomplish anything. It hasn't accomplished anything,' Powell said."

Christian evangelicals launch daily Western Wall vigil

Why does it seem like Christians love Israel more than Jews do? This is truly amazing and I have no doubt that Mr. Cox will find many other Christians willing to join his prayer vigil - but can you imagine a Conservative or Reform Jew (or most Orthodox Jews) willing to do this sort of thing? - EoZ

There was no fanfare surrounding Earl Cox as he set out to launch his year-long prayer mission in front of the Western Wall on Sunday. Alone and hunched over a book of psalms, the evangelical Christian from South Carolina sat, undisturbed, praying for the peace and security of the State of Israel. It was to be the first prayer session in his effort to ensure an American Christian presence at the Western Wall every day, for at least eight hours a day, for the entire year of 2005.
'We want to make sure that true, pure Christians will pray that God will look over the people of Israel,' he said during a rare break from prayer on Sunday morning.

Cox, who moved to Jerusalem last week to oversee the year long program and is the founder of the pro-Israel American Christian Reserve (ACR), led a group of evangelical Christians on the inaugural prayer mission this week. A former Republican strategist and an active figure in the campaign to draft Elizabeth Dole for the U.S. presidency in 2000, he became an active pro-Israel voice three years ago during what he calls his religious 'metamorphosis.'

'I'd be happy to give someone a prize if they could tell me why I love you people so much,' Cox, who is also the host of the Christian Zionist radio show Front Page Jerusalem, said of his new pro-Israel persona. 'I know this sounds fanatical, but I am not a fanatic. In the past, I thought evangelicals were crazy, and to be frank, many of them have been crazy with the things they've done. But what we're bringing is absolute, pure, true love without an agenda.'

Cox, a real estate tycoon who has spent a great deal of his personal fortune funding pro-Israel efforts, founded and funds both ACR and Front Page Jerusalem. Back in his home base in Charleston, he sat in the town square nearly every Thursday with a bottle of water, an umbrella and a sign that read `pray for the people of Israel.' The vigil in the Old City, his partners in prayer explain, seemed like a natural way to give his prayer added power, significance, and attention.

Cox is hoping to enlist hundreds of Christians from abroad to participate in the effort and reported this week that a number of interested worshipers have already signed up for time slots on his Web site, www.supportforisraelstartswithme.com. Still, he's not worried about a shortage of volunteers, because as far as Cox is concerned, he can come out to the Western Wall everyday.

"I believe that prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is an important part of our lives," he says. "I could talk to you for six months straight and still not explain my love of the Jewish people. God just called on me to take a stand with Israel."

Why does the press still take Hamas statements seriously?

Has there ever been a bigger waste of newsprint and electrons than stories like this?

Not only because it is usually followed by atrocities like this. But the pattern is so predictable, the words so empty, the lies so egregious, that how can any self-respecting media outlet report it straight? Wouldn't it be better to say "Once again, a so-called moderate Hamas leader is hinting to the press that he might possibly consider being a little less murderous for a short period of time if Israel would completely and utterly surrender immediately"? Even a "Hamas has made such statements before, but its charter still calls for the destruction of Israel."

But every time a Hamas member makes such a ridiculous statement, thousands of media outlets trumpet it as a sign for peace, without the least bit of skepticism.