Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, August 26, 2005

Israel leads again in microprocessor design

It looks like Israeli research, not Silicon Valley, pretty much owns the advanced microprocessor development space. Here's just the latest example:Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "Intel Corporation unveiled its next generation micro-architecture, a multi-core processor, which was completely developed at its facilities in Israel, and which will be used in all Intel-based computers from next year, the company said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Intel Development Forum (IDF) in California, Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini introduced the new 65 nano-meter (nm) microprocessor, saying that it was designed to bring increased power per watt and that it was expected to deliver an improvement of three to five times the strength of previous products.

'We will deliver 'factor of 10' breakthroughs to a variety of platforms that can reduce energy consumption tenfold or bring 10 times the performance of today's products,' Otellini said.

The new technology will go into production towards the end of this year, the first products of which will enter the market in the second half 2006.
Many earlier Intel chips were designed in Israel as well, such as the Centrino and many (most?) of the Pentiums. And the much-hyped Cell microprocessor, which will be used in the Sony Playstation 3, was developed at IBM Israel.

It is interesting that IBM, Motorola and Intel rarely mention this when introducing their new microprocessor products.

Here's a list of Israeli semiconductor companies.

Today's Zionist plot - and a recap of some old ones

We now can add Joo-toxins to the list of hilariously stupid Palestinian accusations of Israel.

Representatives of various Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday accused Israel of burying 'toxic materials' under the rubble of dismantled settlements to prevent Palestinians from exploiting the land.

The allegations were made during a press conference in Khan Yunis that was organized by the Popular Committee for Defending Palestinian Lands.

Committee coordinator Abdel Aziz Qadih claimed that the IDF and the settlers had buried the toxic materials six meters under the rubble of the settlements that were evacuated last week. He did not specify the type of toxins, but claimed that they were placed in large barrels underground.

'They want to destroy the land to prevent the Palestinians from using it after it's handed over to the Palestinian Authority,' he said. 'We call on all those who support our people to expose this matter and to help us deal with it.'"

This joins a long line of notable Palestinian flights of fancy:

A complaint to the UN in Geneva that Israel injected “300 Palestinian children with HIV”;

The claim that Israel was selling chewing gum in the PA-controlled areas containing “a sexually-stimulating adrenaline substance”;

Accusations by the PA’s Deputy Minister of Supplies in 1997 that Israel was giving the Arabs “food containing material that causes cancer and hormones that harm male virility and other spoiled food products in order to poison and harm the Palestinian population.”

In September 1998 the head of the Palestinian Consumer Protection Association accused Israel of “flood[ing] our markets with hundreds of thousands of tons of food products which are unfit for human consumption…the common goal [of which] is the proliferation of disease, weakness and slow death in the Palestinian body through indirect means.”

Israel also sold milk “designated for fattening calves” as baby food and “intentionally” filled meat with “carcinogenic hormones” before distributing it to the Arabs.

But wait - there's more!

"ISRAELI BULLETS CAUSE CANCER": Speaking to reporters on July 20, 2004, Arafat falsely alleged that Israel uses depleted- uranium bullets, as part of its plot to "cause cancer that is like Hiroshima and Nagasaki." (Washington Times, July 21, 2004)

"ZIONISTS CARRYING OUT ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS IN FRANCE": Hafez Barghouti, editor of the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, said on PA Television in January 2004, that "secret Zionist gangs" in France have been "blowing up Jewish synagogues in order to force them to immigrate [to Israel]." (PMW, Jan.11, 2004)

"ISRAEL RESPONSIBLE FOR MOSQUITOES IN GAZA": Basem Abu Dalal, the mayor of the town of Al-Nuseirat in PA-controlled Gaza, said that central Gaza is "suffering a rampage by mosquitoes," and said "the occupation" was one of the factors responsible. (Even though Israel’s administration of the area ended in 1994.) (Jerusalem Times, Aug. 7, 2003)

"ISRAEL MURDERS ARAB CHILDREN TO GET THEIR ORGANS": The official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported on Dec. 24, 2001, that "When the occupying authority holds the bodies of martyrs ... they steal body parts of the martyrs." Similarly, Arafat said on Al Jazeera Television on January 13, 2002, that the Israelis "murder our kids and use their organs as spare parts."

"ISRAEL CAUSES MAD COW DISEASE": Maher Al-Dasouqi, director of the PA’s Committee for Consumer Protection, said: "Citizens must be vigilant regarding chocolate from England, especially Cadbury’s, which is very popular in Palestinian markets, since the milk used in the production of all types of Cadbury’s chocolate was infected with mad cow disease. The sale of this chocolate is forbidden in England, but it was smuggled into the Palestinian regions by Israeli merchants..." (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec.8, 1997)

"ISRAEL INFECTS ARAB CHILDREN WITH AIDS": Nabil Ramlawi, the PLO representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said: "The Israeli authorities infected by injection 300 Palestinian children with the HIV virus during the years of the intifada." (Jerusalem Post, March 17, 1997)

"ISRAEL ASSASSINATED ITS OWN TOURISM MINISTER": In a three-part interview with Israel TV on Dec.7-9, 2001, Arafat said "the Israeli Mossad was behind the assassination in Jerusalem of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Ze’evi."

"ISRAEL CARRIED OUT THE 9/11 ATTACKS": On Oct. 7, 2001, PA Radio reported that "U.S. law enforcement officials have nabbed three cadres of Mossad operatives in New York in connection with the September 11 attacks." Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy said in Nov. 2001: "Arafat tells everyone who will listen that the Mossad crashed into the Twin Towers in New York. Arafat lives in a world of lies and perpetual fantasy." (Israel Radio, Nov.26, 2001)

"ISRAEL USES NAKED WOMEN TO CAPTURE INTIFADA YOUTH": A front-page declaration in the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Aug. 14, 2001, claimed that "the occupation is using naked women to hunt down intifada youth." (Jerusalem Post, Aug.15, 2001)

Not to mention the famous Joo-Rays that kill elderly Palestinian women and Arafat himself.

Hat tip to Bacon Eating Atheist Jew.

Jihad in South Florida (Robert Spencer)

Robert Spencer (of Jihad Watch) gets us up-to-date on the Al-Arian trial.

In a trial with more important national security implications than any since the Rosenbergs’, Sami Al-Arian now begins his third month in the dock. The defense claims that Al-Arian is a peaceful Muslim with unpopular political views. But according to prosecutors, while Al-Arian was a professor at the University of South Florida, and Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times was affectionately characterizing him as a “rumpled academic with a salt-and-pepper beard,” he was actually the head of the American wing of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), held a key position in the group’s worldwide leadership, and even established a cell of the terrorist group at his university.

A great deal of information about Al-Arian’s activities on behalf of Palestinian Islamic Jihad has come to light at the trial – much of which was hitherto unknown or only sketchily reconstructed by intelligence officials. The trial has become the occasion for the professor, whose case has for years been a minor cause celebre among Leftists, to be confronted with the fruit of his labors for the first time. Israeli policeman Yuval Avargil was on the scene at Beit Lid in Israel on January 22, 1995, when a PIJ suicide bomber exploded a bomb that killed twenty-two people. “I opened my eyes,” Avergil recounted at the trial, “I heard something rolling near me, I saw a head of a soldier with his eyes open on the side.”

What did the Rumpled Academic think of this attack? He wrote about the bombing enthusiastically almost three weeks later in a letter to Kuwaiti politician Ismail al- Shatti: “The latest operation, carried out by the two mujahideen who were martyred for the sake of God, is the best guide and witness to what the believing few can do in the face of Arab and Islamic collapse at the heels of the Zionist enemy and in keeping the flame of faith, steadfastness and defiance glowing.” He also asked for donations so that “operations such as these can continue.” Key to the defense’s case at this point is Al-Shatti’s contention that he never received this letter; prosecutors are hoping that Abdurraham Alamoudi, once the leading “moderate Muslim” and now serving a 23-year prison sentence on other charges, will corroborate their claim that the letter was hand-delivered to Al-Shatti.

Al-Arian, meanwhile, has consistently denied any involvement with the leadership of PIJ or any other “political organization.” In fact, when in early 1995 Tampa Tribune reporter Michael Fechter probed his ties to the jihad group, Al-Arian attributed it all to the sinister hand that jihadists so often see behind their misfortunes, no matter how farfetched the connection: “This,” he intoned to another PIJ member, “is an Israeli job, my brother.”

Is Sami Al-Arian actually caught in the middle of terrorist activities by others who are linked to him, but with which he has had nothing to do? A clue may come from a 1989 conference of the Islamic Committee for Palestine. Held in Chicago, the conference featured a panel discussion moderated by Al-Arian. As the Rumpled Academic looked on, one panelist addressed a question about how to solve the Israel/Palestinian conflict by inviting him to talk with him later about weapons smuggling techniques. Another, Imam Fawaz Damra of Cleveland, a former high-profile “moderate” who has recently been deported for failing to disclose his ties to terrorist groups on his visa application, declared: “The first principle is that terrorism, and terrorism alone, is the path to liberation.”

Damra, incidentally, was one of the signers of the recent fatwa condemning terrorism issued by the Fiqh Council of North America under the auspices of the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Damra’s name among the signatories lends credence to the view that this fatwa, despite the enthusiastic praise it has received from the mainstream media, is in fact another exercise in the deception that Damra and others so skillfully practiced in America for so long, while continuing behind closed doors to support terror. Just how well Sami Al-Arian played this game is now coming to light.

So this is why the neo-cons wanted to invade Iraq

It was so Israel could make some money selling bullets! :)

Israel Military Industries won a tender Tuesday for around $300 million to supply the U.S. army with ammunition. IMI said this is their biggest ammunition deal with the U.S. army to date.

IMI will supply light ammunition for rifles and machine guns, which will be produced in its 'Yitzhak' factory in Upper Nazareth. The deal will double the factory's scope of activity. It currently employs 350 workers, and has a revenue today of over $60 million a year.

The Yitzhak factory produces light ammunition principally for American forces operating in Iraq, the Israel Defense Forces, the police and the Israeli defense establishment, as well as various western European clients.

IMI Chairman Ovadia Eli said the success is a significant achievement for the company and represents an important stage in its growth, and that is likely enable it to win additional international tenders. According to Eli, the deal establishes the standing of IMI as an essential supplier for the U.S. army.

Israel’s exports to Arab countries up 21%

Some cheerful news to further freak out the Saudis:

Israel’s industrial exports to Arab countries, excluding diamonds, grew 21% to $106 million in January-June 2005, compared with the corresponding period last year, Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute director Yechiel Assia said.

Assia noted that these figures did not include $6 million in indirect exports to Arab countries by way of third countries in the first half of this year. These exports resulted from partnerships between Israel and Arab companies.

That's a lot of paper cups!

Abbas to media: Print what I say, not what I do

Once again, the new incarnation of Arafat says meaningless words to the news media, and they lap it up:

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he hoped to persuade Palestinians peaceful dialogue was the way to statehood after an Israeli pullout from Gaza that militants claimed as a victory for armed struggle.

Declaring the 'jihad' or 'holy struggle' of confrontation with Israel over, Abbas told Reuters it was time for what he called the 'greater jihad' of economic revival, rule of law and talks with the Jewish state to achieve a lasting peace.

Abbas said he has been promoting that message at recent public rallies celebrating the first evacuation of Jewish settlements from Israeli-occupied land Palestinians want for a state.

'The people are responding in a remarkable way. The people's beliefs are changing,' he said."

On the very same day, the PA's Ministry of Culture was busy as well:

The PA's Ministry of Culture released its "Book of the Month" today, a poetry collection honoring suicide terrorist Hanadi Jaradat, who murdered 29 Israelis. It was distributed as a special supplement in the daily Al-Ayyam.

Entitled "What Did Hanadi Say?" the collection includes a poem glorifying Jaradat's act of suicide terror, calling it "the highest goal":

"O Hanadi! Shake the earth under the feet of the enemies! Blow it up! Hanadi said: "It is the wedding of Hanadi the day when death as a Martyr for Allah, becomes the highest goal."

Now, we wait for a single mainstream media outlet to point out the jarring contradiction between Abbas' words and his actions.

And wait. And wait.

I just wrote to Reuters about this; we'll see what kind of form letter I get in return:

To the Editors:

On the very same day that Mahmoud Abbas claims in your interview to now be promoting a culture of peace among Palestinians, his own Ministry of Culture published a book praising a female suicide bomber who killed 29 Israelis.

Would it be too much to ask you, as a supposed "news" organization, to go a tiny bit beyond parroting the words of a proven liar and actually exposing the clear fraud he is trying to use you for? I seem to remember learning that news organizations should be a little skeptical of what leaders say; yet I have yet to see you expose a single incongruity within your beloved Palestinian Authority.

Would it be physically harmful to you to mention that the terrorist Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades gets money from Abbas' PA, which in turns gets its money from US and European taxpayers?

Is it too taxing for your Arabic-speaking reporters to mention the incitement that is printed and broadcast daily in the Palestinian media, directly breaking a signed agreement with Israel?

Or does your own political agenda trump actually reporting the news?

Saudis freak out over Hebrew paper cups

You can't make this stuff up! (Hat tip to OpinionJournal Best of the Web)

Made-in-Israel Paper Cups Used in Local Hospital
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab News

JEDDAH, 22 August 2005 — Paper cups with Hebrew writing disturbed both employees and medical staff at King Khaled National Guard Hospital on Saturday. The catering subcontractor for the hospital coffee shops began using them on Saturday after their usual supply ran out.

“We were shocked and angry,” said an employee. “How can Israeli products be allowed and how did they enter this hospital?” he asked.

The Filipino employee who works in the Al-Musbah coffee shop asked: “Why is everybody mad about the cups?” He was told: “Because they are made in Israel!”

According to hospital officials, the matter is being investigated and action will be taken.

Saleh Al-Mazroi, executive director for operations at KKNGH, said the matter had been referred to authorities in Riyadh and was being dealt with.

On the bottom of the paper cup was a website address and a telephone number. When Arab News looked at the website — www.orion-rancal.co.il. — it was found to be in Hebrew though there were a few words of English: “Israeli disposable paper, plastic and foam dinnerware supplier for restaurants.”

Arab News contacted Ibrahim Al-Musbah, manager and owner, who said, “I thank you for informing me. I will look into it personally and the offending articles will be disposed of.” He added that the company has a supplier in the Kingdom from whom they buy restaurant supplies. According to Al-Musbah, the supplier might be unaware of the problem.

Al-Musbah later contacted Arab News and said that the paper cups had come to his company by mistake. The cups were in a cardboard box that looked exactly like the ones his company normally receives and so the employees did not notice any difference. Al-Musbah added that the supplier was named “Jeelani” and that he would supply Arab News with his contact numbers today.

The paper cups were quickly withdrawn from use but might there not be other, less obvious, Israeli products in our shops and marketplaces?

Horrors! The $15 that they accidentally paid to an Israeli company could have gone for bomb belts!

Australian mainstream Muslim group promotes Protocols of the Elders of Zion

In a transcript of a radio interview in Australia about the Prime Minister meeting with "moderate" Muslim leaders, a moderate Muslim critic mentions a casual fact in passing:

MICHAEL VINCENT: What do you think of the result of today's meeting? Do you think it does progress the dialogue between the Muslim community and the Government?

IRFAN YUSUF: Well, it'll progress the dialogue between the Government and these particular organisations, but then I don't know really how committed these organisations are to, you know, to curbing extremism.

I mean, the last camp I went to, which was organised by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, I was handed a copy of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, as an educational text. It's extremely anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish text.

It's (inaudible) anti-Semitic forgery which was written, I believe, during the Zionist time as a way of encouraging pogroms against Jewish people.

And, I mean, I don't regard that as being, you know, reflective of mainstream Muslim opinion, but unfortunately that's the sort of opinion and attitudes and books and what have you that are being distributed by some of these peak bodies.

Today's future Pal Police funnies

Another in the continuing saga of "Today's criminals, tomorrow's policemen."

In another incident in the West Bank, arsonists set fire to the offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Hebron on Sunday night. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which is yet another sign of increased lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Hebron residents said the arson was apparently the work of a local Fatah gang whose members were angry because they were not given jobs and money.

Your tax dollars going to terrorists

An interesting part about funding for Fatah terror groups buried in another Gaza-in-chaos article:

In a military training camp run by the ruling Fatah movement, hundreds of young Palestinians marched in formation Monday and sprinted across a sandy lot.
[...]
Competition among armed Palestinian groups over control of Gaza's lawless towns intensified Monday as Israeli settlers cleared out the last of 21 Jewish settlements.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas wants to see carefully orchestrated victory marches under the Palestinian national flag. However, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a few tiny Palestinian Liberation Organization factions have ignored his appeals, already parading their gunmen in a show of force and planning parades once the last Israeli soldiers leave in the coming weeks.

[...]

In southern Gaza, near what was once the Gush Katif bloc of Israeli settlements, members of Fatah's military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, have organized three military training camps for more than 3,000 activists. (Tiny indeed! - EoZ)

[...]
The Palestinian Authority distanced itself from the training camps.

"There is no Fatah army, no popular army," said Tawfik Abu Khoussa, a Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman. "We want to get rid of the military images. After the withdrawal, there is one authority and that's it."

However, the Al Aqsa men said they were getting Fatah funding for the camps, and Palestinian security officials sat in on one of Monday's interviews with camp organizers.

In organizing a small private army, Fatah gunmen in southern Gaza also appeared to be sending a warning to the Palestinian Authority that they could make trouble if jobs are not found for them in the security forces. Many gunmen believe they are entitled to government posts, saying they made personal sacrifices in fighting Israel.

We have mentioned many times before the absurdity of believing that Abbas is a "moderate" when he directly funds the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades terror group. The connection is well known and for some reason the world community doesn't seem to have a problem continuing to give huge amounts of money to the PA knowing that some of it goes directly to a terror organization.

The AP decided that this information didn't have to appear until paragraph 24.

Two good reference articles

CAMERA published a good backgrounder, "Why Palestinians Still Live in Refugee Camps", that explode many of the myths that the media take for granted about Palestinian "refugees." (interestingly, they published the same table I did in an earlier article, but I had not seen theirs before I published mine from Wikipedia.)

And, via Israpundit, here is "Confessions of a Once-Hopeful Leftist," by Jared Israel, that does a nice job laying out the basic truths of the conflict and the true goals of the Palestinian Arab leaders.

Palestinian "Police" punchlines continue

More insanity from the Palestinians that the world thinks sounds normal in the bizarro Palestinian world. In today's double feature, we have the interesting idea of paying former terrorists more so they abandon their lives of crime.

It brings a whole new meaning to the expression "pay for their crimes."

Palestinian Authority Interior Minister Nasser Youssef has decided to double the salaries paid to the PA's security forces.

The increase in salaries is an attempt to attract more recruits to the PA security forces and to prevent them from opting to join terrorist organizations.

Meanwhile, back in Gaza:

Palestinians from the ruling Fatah party armed with assault rifles converged on the Gaza parliament building on Sunday to demand jobs in a protest that underlined challenges ahead for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

At least 200 al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunmen, most dressed in black, demanded jobs while accusing officials of corruption. Some fired into the air. The protesters came close to scuffles with police before commanders on both sides ordered calm.

They then dispersed.

"We are here only to send a message that Fatah fighters should be treated fairly. Jobs should be secured for those who made dear sacrifices," said Abu Jihad, a spokesman.

I can just see the want-ad now:

WANTED: New Palestinian policemen. Must have fired at Jews. Will consider rock throwers. A previous stint in jail a plus. We will do a background check to ensure previous membership in terror organizations. Send resume, along with references, blackmail and threats to shoot us, to: Abu Abbas, on top of Arafat's grave, Ramallah

Statue of Liberty, 8:30 AM

I am very lucky in that I can see the Statue of Liberty looking south from my cubicle window. I am about a mile away from it so I can't take any really good pictures without a much better zoom, but the lighting was pretty interesting at 8:30 even though there was a lot of smog today.

Enjoy!

Haveil Havalim #33 is up

Another excellent issue of Haveil Havalim, a round-up of the week's best postings in the Jewish blogosphere, is now at SoccerDad . One of my articles made it there.

The birth of modern Islamic terror

An amazing article by John Roy Carlson from October 19, 1948 in the Palestine Post about the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalism. Essentially every point the author makes applies today; eerily so. The graphic format is a little hard to read but it is worth it, especially the parts about the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Azhar University, about liberalism in interpreting the Koran, the various competing Muslim fundamentalist groups, and the affinity they had with Nazism.

Before this point, Arab terror was not primarily religious-oriented; it was more nationalist, anti-Western and anti-semitic. The rise of Muslim fundamentalism changed the game and it is more important to understand the origins today of a movement that is responsible for 9/11.