Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, August 19, 2005

Kfar Darom, 1946-1949

Kfar Darom was refounded in 1946 as part of "Operation Negev", an ambitious one-day program to build five settlements on JNF-owned land in October, 1946.

Even though the political implications were clear, the local Arabs welcomed the new Jewish villages, as this Palestine Post article shows:

The village was integral in the 1948 war, repulsing Egyptian attacks even before Israel declared its independence:

And the attacks continued, as Kfar Darom was the first line of defense against the Egyptian army. And the members were nothing short of heroic against a much larger and better-equipped enemy.

Unfortunately, Kfar Darom's isolation made it impossible to hold on to it, and the village was abandoned later in 1948.

But Jews are compared to the moon, where every month it appears to disappear only to come back again. And the members of the 1946 incarnation of Kfar Darom founded a new village a year later in the Negev:

New US Ambassador to UN does his job

A good article showing the cluelessness of the Jew-hatred of the UN and the direct criticism from Ambassador Bolton.

This is an auspicious start for the new UN ambassador. Let's hope that he continues to do his job in the spirit of Moynihan and Kirkpatrick.

The United Nations’ funding of a Palestinian Arab propaganda campaign timed to coincide with Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip has increased tensions between the U.N. and American officials.

America’s newly installed ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, labeled “inappropriate and unacceptable” the United Nations Development Program financing of materials bearing the slogan “Today Gaza, Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Mr. Bolton said yesterday that the UNDP had failed to explain why it funneled money to the Palestinian Authority to back the production of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the provocative slogan as well as UNDP logos.

Responding to angry reactions from Jewish and Israeli leaders, UNDP officials yesterday said financial support from the agency was intended to help the Palestinian Authority communicate with Palestinian Arabs during Israel’s evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza. (Communicating how to build rockets? - EoZ)

In a letter to the American Jewish Congress, which had decried the funding of the propaganda materials, a UNDP administrator, Kemal Dervis, said it was “not at all acceptable” that the agency’s logo was placed on the propaganda.

“We cannot be involved in political messaging,” Mr. Dervis wrote. The UNDP manages nearly $4 billion in donor resources annually, operating in 166 countries.

The response from the UNDP was not sufficient, Mr. Bolton said yesterday. “Funding this kind of activity is inappropriate and unacceptable. We plan to raise the issue with UNDP and with others,” he said in a statement to The New York Sun. In effect, Mr. Bolton expressed to the UNDP that the most serious problem for his office was not the logo, but the fact that the agency supported that message with its checkbook.

William Orme, a spokesman for the UNDP, told the Sun by telephone yesterday evening, “We’ve seen Ambassador Bolton’s comments, and we are taking this matter seriously.”

This is the fourth explusion of Jews from Gaza

A fascinating timeline I found on this site shows the history of Gaza. During the first millenium, after the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews slowly moved back into Gaza. (The remains of one 1500 year old synagogue are still there today.) The number of Jews moving there accelerated during the Middle Ages and throughout the tumultuous history of the region.

During WWI, the Ottoman Empire ordered the eviction of Jews from Gaza City.

Jews returned in small numbers during the 20's, but were forced out by the Arabs during the riots in 1929, leaving all their possessions behind.

In 1946, the kibbutz Kfar Darom was founded the east-central part of Gaza on the same area as the Kfar Darom mentioned in the Talmud in around the year 500. It was abandoned under Egyptian fire in the 1948 war.

Of course, under Egyptian rule, no Jews were allowed to live in Gaza. They started returning after the Six Day War, with Kfar Darom being built for the third time in 1970.

So while history may be repeating itself in that Jews are being forced to leave Gaza, who knows - history may also repeat itself where Jews may end up going back there yet again.

Exclusive offer for Elder of Ziyon readers!

Yesterday I was playing with a new, awesome digital camera and decided to take some pictures of Manhattan from the place I work. I took ten shots and stitched them together to make what is effectively a 33 megapixel panoramic view of lower Manhattan.

Here is a much-reduced version:

To give you an idea of how large the full picture is; here is a small slice:

If you want to download the full gigantic picture, it is here (sorry, filehost.to is no longer working - EoZ) It is over 3 MB.

Enjoy!

Kassam rockets kill more Arabs than Jews

Ha'aretz reports:

Ever since the Palestinians began to manufacture and launch locally produced missiles, about four years ago, most of the casualties they have inflicted - dead and wounded - have been Palestinian, and not Israeli.

The legendary Palestinian regard for human life remains legendary.

Hamas: Gaza withdrawal will help Islamists in Afghanistan and Iraq

Sometimes, Hamas tells the truth.

Gaza is being perceived in the Arab world not only as a victory over Israel but as a victory of militant Islam over the West.

At the height of Israel's disengagement, Mahmoud Zahar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, said that from the Palestinian perspective the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza signifies the collapse of the Zionist outlook and is "a sign of the final battle that will decide the conflict."
"It is a defeat for Israel, which did not find an answer to the Kassam rockets or the war of the tunnels or to suicide attacks."
Zahar expressed confidence that the disengagement will lift the morale of the Arab and Islamic world and will affect the battle for Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We are part of the great world plan whose name is the world Islamic movement.
"We do not recognize the State of Israel nor its right to control any of the land of Palestine.
"Palestine is holy Islamic land that belongs to Muslims the world over," he emphasized.

Here come the Macau terrorists!

Often you will see the media hammer home how densely populated the Gaza Strip is, as if that excuses terrorist behavior and the fact that the Palestinians have failed to build a decent infrastructure there over the decades. Well, unfortunately, there seem to be many far-more crowded (and yet productive) areas of the world.

It's a wonder that we don't see any suicide bombers from Hong Kong or Gilbraltar.

Country/region	Population	Area (km²)	Density
Macau, SAR, PRC	449,198	25.4	17,685
Monaco	32,409	1.95	16,620
Singapore	4,425,720	692.7	6,389
Hong Kong	6,898,686	1,092	6,317
Gibraltar	27,884	6.5	4,290
Gaza Strip	1,376,289	360	3,823

Gaza has less than one quarter of the population density of Macau and Monaco, those hotbeds of terror.

How do you say "hypocrisy" in French?

It always amazes me how countries that have no problem pressuring Israel to give more and more and more to Palestinian thugs, despite decades of terror attacks and murders of Jews, become so hawkish so quickly when a single one of their citizens becomes a victim of a much smaller attack - one that would barely make Page 17 of Le Monde if it was against an Israeli Jew.

Where are the French newspaper articles pointing out that Hamas might have kidnapped the journalist, and that the PA is short of ammunition so cannot be held responsible to police their own people? Where are the supporters of the "moderate" government of the PA defending their efforts to find the kidnappers? Where are the politicians pointing out that Hamas has a humanitarian as well as a militant wing and that they shouldn't be punished for the crimes of the "activists"?

And the bigger question is: how quickly after the journalist is released will the French revert to pressuring Israel to give more to the terrorists?

France has threatened to halt financial and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority unless a French journalist who was kidnapped in Gaza City earlier this week is freed unharmed.

PA officials said the threat was delivered to the PA on behalf of French President Jacques Chirac, who is 'extremely disturbed' by the abduction.

The journalist was identified as Muhammad Ouathi, an Algerian Muslim with French citizenship who was working as a soundman for French Television Channel III.

More than 80 non-governmental organizations on Tuesday called for the immediate release of Ouathi. They also urged the PA to arrest the kidnappers and bring them to trial.

Tags: Middle East, Palestine, Israel

San Jose Mercury News equates settler supporters with terrorists

The magical words that have been used for years to downplay terrorists murdering people are now being used to describe Jews with no intent to hurt other Jews:

Police, militants clash in Gaza

By MICHAEL MATZA, DION NISSENBAUM AND MARTIN MERZER

Knight Ridder Newspapers

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip -- Clashes erupted Tuesday between Israeli authorities who stepped up the use of force and militant supporters of the Israeli settlers who faced a midnight to leave their homes in Gaza.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested or detained and several injuries were reported during a sporadic series of shoving matches. Extremists also torched several vehicles, tossed rocks at authorities and threw acid and other caustic agents at them.

So the same words that are used to describe Al Qaeda, Hamas and the British bombers now apply to Jewish demonstrators.

By the way, the "acid" incident seems to be close to fictional. In Israel they are reporting that the police claim that demostrators threw acid or ammonia on one policeman.

I wrote a letter to the Mercury News complaining about this:

I am outraged at the words you have chosen to describe the protests against disengagement in Gaza.

It is well known that many newspapers dislike the word "terrorist", with the specious claim that it is a loaded term. So for years we have seen terrorists described as "militants", or, in some cases, "extremists." So when we see a headline that says "Police, militants clash in Gaza" we have a good idea that it is referring to either Israeli or Palestinian policemen and members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

However, today I see not only a headline but the contents of an article referring to Jewish settler sympathizer-protesters as both "militants" and "extremists." The only violent act that is referred to is an alleged splash of acid on a policeman, which I have not been able to verify in any Israeli online news source outside of a single mention that "police claimed" that one policeman was splashed with either acid or ammonia.

So we possibly have a case where your report lacks veracity, as it didn't have any qualifiers on the "fact" that acid was thrown on multiple policemen.

But more troubling is the implicit moral equivalence of protesters who have stated numerous times that they have no intention of physically hurting anyone, and members of Al Qaeda and Hamas who explicitly state and act to kill hundreds of people.

This is a perversion of the English language, and it succeeds in doing exactly what you claim to want to avoid by not using the word "terrorist" - you are making an obscene moral judgment by using the exact same words to describe diametrically different sets of people.

There is a good definition of terror - it is the purposeful targeting of innocent civilians. It is not hard to call members of Hamas or Al Qaeda "terrorists." But to call them "militants" and "extremists" when you also give the same name to overwhelmingly peaceful protesters betrays a bias that is way beyond what a newspaper should exhibit. It is insulting, sickening and unacceptable.

Tags: Middle East, Palestine, Israel

Update: The newspaper replied to me with a form letter saying they will not publish my letter without more personal information. Of course, I was not interested in being published: I wanted a reply.

Israeli armor saving American lives in Iraq

Yet another story that the mainstream media wouldn't touch because it doesn't fit with their agenda.

The speed and effectiveness with which American military trucks were equipped with armor in Iraq had a lot to do with Israel’s war with Palestinian and Lebanese terrorists. For over a decade, Israeli troops have had to drive trucks through areas containing Islamic terrorists. The ambush methods of these terrorists were similar to those encountered in Iraq, and it was from this experience that Israeli firms developed kits for armoring trucks. These kits included 10mm steel plates, cut and shaped to fit a particular type of truck, plus bulletproof glass for the windshield and windows, and brackets and other hardware needed to attach the armor. Thus when thousands of American military trucks had to get armored in 2003, the Israeli firms had kits already designed. Thus many, if not most, of the American armored trucks in Iraq got that way because of Israeli designed, and often Israeli manufactured, armor kits.

Reuters: Kidnapping is just a form of protest

Reuters' "even-handedness" continues on in bizarre ways as it justifies Palestinian kidnapping of journalists:

GAZA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen abducted an Algerian Muslim journalist working for a French television station on Monday, his TV crew said, the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreigners in the Gaza Strip.

Mohamed Ouathi, a soundman for France 3 Television, was walking back to his hotel in Gaza City with his television crew when three unmasked men armed with rifles threatened him, pulled him into their vehicle and drove away.
[...]
Palestinian militants have kidnapped several foreigners in the past in a sign of growing chaos in Gaza, caused mainly by those opposed to reforms President Mahmoud Abbas has carried out in his Fatah group and those protesting against alleged corruption in his government.

Ya gotta love a "news" agency that bends over backwards so much to justify terrorist crimes, reducing them to a mere "protest", no different from a letter to the editor.
Tags: Middle East, Palestine, Israel

On Sunday in Gaza City, Hamas strung blazing green banners: 'Resistance wins,' read one, 'so let's go on.' Around the corner was a banner from the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by a more secular faction, Fatah. 'Gaza today,' it read, 'the West Bank and Jerusalem Tomorrow.' A tag line said the banner was paid for by the United Nations Development Program.

Nice to know that the UN is spending its money so wisely. I guess there are no longer any Palestinians who need food or jobs.
Tags: Middle East, Palestine, Israel

One year of blogging

Boring nerd stats:

TruthLaidBear ranks me as blog #9973, which is frankly pretty bad. ("Slithering Reptile" in the Ecosystem.) I used to be ranked higher but then the blog URL had to change and evidently some people never found me again.

Technorati shows 10 blogs that link back to this blog.

I am still short of 10,000 page-hits. This blog still barely registers on the JBlogosphere, except that SoccerDad seems to like me and I get lots of links from his blog.

By far my most popular post was this one, which ended up spinning off its own blog that has far less traffic than this one. Fame is fleeting.

I recently got a very nice compliment from Linda of Something and Half of Something, saying:
"I read your blog several times each week, in my humble opinion, it is one of the best out there."

People find me mostly through jrants.com and jewishblogging.com, with a sizable percentage from Google searches. I am also proud to be the only hit when Googling for "Joo Rays."

For those interested in the name of the blog: I used to spend massive amounts of time on Yahoo News Message Boards, arguing about Israel with idiots, and spending way too much time coming up with thoughtful responses that end up scrolling off the page in a few minutes. One of the handles I used was "Elder of Ziyon" because someone had already taken the name Elder of Zion. So I migrated out of MB hell and into the blogosphere, hoping that my articles might be accessible longer to a larger audience, as well as hoping to be able to keep my own repository of interesting articles (this blog originally was only quoting others' articles with very little comment from me.)

I know I can increase my audience by doing things like posting links to my site on LGF (or even Havel Havalim), and also by posting more personal blog entries, but so far I have been happy with people just finding me. It is more meant to be a reference blog than a conversational blog and while I enjoy and appreciate people commenting, I'm more interested in making sure that news articles and opinions are published that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

But I am sure that this blog will continue to evolve over the coming months anyway. Hope you like it!

The peaceful democratic Palestinians and evenhanded Reuters

Palestinians, and Reuters, in a nutshell:

Dozens of members of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, some of them armed, stormed into a government building in the West Bank on Saturday to demand jobs, witnesses said.

The incident in the town of Qalqilyah was another sign of growing lawlessness and frustration at lack of economic opportunities in the Palestinian territories.

'We belong to Fatah. We ask you to leave your offices. The offices will be closed until our demands for employment are met. Our protest is peaceful so far,' one of the Fatah members told the employees, who complied immediately.

The Fatah men then closed the offices with chains and locks and departed, leaving several members of the group behind to guard the building. Police did not intervene.

[Abbas] promised during the presidential campaign to boost employment and recruit into PA institutions gunmen who have confronted Israeli forces during a four-and-a-half year uprising. Promised jobs are yet to materialize.

OK, in five very short paragraphs, we see:

* Palestinians use violence and threats of more violence to extort what they want.
* Palestinian officials and police willingly give in to blackmail from any thugs who walk in the door.
* Reuters will excuse criminal behavior as simple "frustration" on the part of the criminals.
* Abbas promised to reward with jobs anyone who ever shot a bullet at a Jew.

What Reuters fails to mention in its background information is the small fact that most of the Palestinian "police" are just paid terrorists themselves who don't bother to go to work. For some reason, Reuters also fails to mention the likelihood that these "members of Fatah" would probably be considered terrorists by any sane definition of the term.

But you can only fit so much background information in an article, right? Might as well stress the information that shows the terrorists' points of view.

A sad anniversary

Today is Tisha B'Av, the saddest day of the year that commemorates countless national tragedies, foremost being the destruction of both Temples but it has expanded to also include tragedies that didn't happen on this day, such as the Crusades and the Holocaust.

Right now in Israel the "disengagement" (or, as the Arabs view it, unilateral Jewish surrender) is starting.

And tomorrow is the first year anniversary of this blog.

I remain saddened by the incredible amount of sin'at chinam in the Jewish blogosphere. The sin of Loshon Hora is bad enough when applied to an individual, but when used against a group of people it is literally unforgivable.

How many times have we seen JBlogs issue screeds, sometimes in the guise of humor, against Lubavitchers or Haredim or Modern Orthodox Jews or Likudniks or Roshei Yeshiva or Jews from Brooklyn or Jews from Teaneck or Gaza settlers or religious politicians in Israel or America? These attacks happen daily, and unfortunately the attacks are not usually aimed at the ideas that may be objectionable but to the people that believe them.

Sometimes, one sees a blog seriously discuss ideas, defending and attacking opinions. Of course this is admirable and in a loose sense it is essentially democratizing the halachic and hashkafic methodologies from previous centuries.

But, shamefully, these posts and blogs seem to be in the minority. It is easier to disparage people, especially when one has a willing audience who is happy to laugh at the jokes - and provoke a more extreme attack next time.

In general, as my readers know, my political views tend towards the conservative. But I believe something that is shockingly liberal. I believe that almost all Jewish and Israeli leaders usually do things because they honestly believe that their decisions are the best for the nation as a whole. I believe that Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres passionately believe that disengagement is the right thing to do now, I believe that those who want to ban certain books believe they are doing the right thing, I believe that people fighting for or against metzitzah b'peh truly believe their arguments. I may strongly disagree with various opinions, but I hope I do not disparage the people who hold them. Conspiracy theories make little sense to me. It makes much more sense to be "dan l'chaf zechut", to give these leaders the benefit of the doubt, and argue against their ideas rather than try to come up with bizarre theories as to how they are really trying to do X.

I believe in achdut, unity. It hurts to see such petty and absurd infighting in the JBlogosphere. A sizable part of the world would like to see us dead, and it seems to me that we should be concentrating on what we have in common rather than what separates us.