Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Today's Palestinian Police Phunnies XXI

Apparently, here is how "due process" is done in Palestinian Arabia:

* Arrest the criminal suspect.
* Let him go.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Jan 5, 2006 — Palestinian authorities on Thursday released a militant held in connection with the kidnapping of a British family in Gaza, a day after his followers went on a rampage and smashed holes in a wall along the Egypt border.

Palestinian security officials refused to comment on why they released Alaa al-Hams, a militant from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The group is affiliated with the ruling Fatah Party.

'I was released as a result of the agreement reached between Fatah and the (Palestinian) Authority yesterday. This will calm all types of protests from our side,' al-Hams told The Associated Press by telephone.

Al-Hams was arrested late Tuesday on suspicion his group kidnapped human rights activist Kate Burton and her parents for two days last week. They were released unharmed.

Early Wednesday, his supporters stormed government buildings in the southern Gaza town of Rafah and blockaded the border crossing with Egypt. Later, they hijacked bulldozers and broke down a wall along the border, sending hundreds of angry Palestinians streaming into Egypt.

Two Egyptian troops were killed and 30 were wounded by gunfire in the rampage, a brazen challenge to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' authority.

It is funny how when Israel controlled Gaza, all terrorist activity was blamed on Israel and no one considered that the terrorists are just criminals who are inculcated in a culture of violence. Every terror attack had a "reason" and that reason was never plain Jew-hatred.

Now that they don't have Israelis around, they are attacking their own supposed leadership. And their allies in Egypt. And any Western supporters who happen to be around.

Haters don't need a reason to hate, and the constant attempts to "understand" them is counterproductive, to put it mildly.

Mi-mi-mi-meme

I was tagged by Elie for the "four" meme. Why there are more than four questions, I do not know.

Four jobs you've had in your life:

Sunday-school teacher
Computer security consultant
Video editor
Font designer

Four movies you could watch over and over:

Groundhog Day
My Cousin Vinny
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Shawshank Redemption

Four places you've lived:

Allentown, PA
Edison, NJ
Philadelphia
Pikesville, MD

Four TV shows you love to watch:

The Simpsons
The Prisoner
Taxi
South Park

Four places you've been on vacation:

London
The Bahamas
Cancun
Israel

Four websites you visit daily (or at least every weekday):

Four of your favorite foods:

Yodels
Tribe of Two Sheiks Cracked Chili Pepper Hummus
Schwarma
Calzones (every pizza shop makes them radically different)

Four places you'd rather be: (I'm assuming at the moment, not lifetime)

Israel
Home instead of work
Bermuda
San Francisco

Four books you'll read over and over again - not counting Torah:

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Harry Potter series (at least before the 7th book comes out)
Any Scott Adams' Dilbert books
Our Bodies, Our Selves (kidding!)

Four that I'll tag with this Meme:

Rogue Jew (because he said hi on my tagboard)
Callie
Atheist Jew
Maharal (because he made a nice comment to me)

Professional courtesy

Earlier today it was reported that Palestinian gunmen burst into a house in Rafah and tried to kidnap the parents of Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was killed in 2003 as she protested the demolition of a house in the southern Gaza town.

According the Corries' host, the five gunmen appeared to be affiliated with Fatah, though it was unclear whether they were from the same group that blockaded the border.

The gunmen eventually relented after being told who their targets were, he said.

Just waiting for the Corries to issue a statement blaming Israel...

In other news...I wonder if it was a Caterpillar?

A group of gunmen associated with Palestine's ruling Fatah movement has used a stolen bulldozer to smash through a barricade on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

I wish I knew what he was talking about

Anyone know what this is?

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Wednesday condemned a Zionist company's humiliating act against Muslims, saying it shows the stupidity of the company's officials.
"This measure shows the Zionists' grudge against not only Muslims but also all who believe in the Almighty.

"A printed card which apparently mocked Muslims and their religious beliefs explicitly indicated the lack of confidence of the followers of Zionism in the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque as the first qibla of Muslims and a holy site for all Ibrahimite religions," he said. (That statement by itself is priceless. -EoZ)

The spokesman added, "Iran's Foreign Ministry calls on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the UN Secretary General (Kofi Annan) to show a strong reaction to and condemn such an act of impudence.

"Other regional and international organizations are also required to protest the impudence of the Zionist company and seriously adopt necessary measures to punish it," he said.

So what did the "Zionist company" do? And how can I get a copy of this card?

Give 'em what they want

Sometimes, you find Arab positions that are even more bizarre than usual.

Two examples from today's news:

Dr. Elias Akleh in Arab2000.net (slogan: "Looking forward to the 20th Century") argues that a Palestinian state just plays into the hands of the imperialist Western infidel dhimmi descendants of apes and pigs. So, presumably, he is against the establishment of such a state. Sounds fair to me.

Cybercast News Service discusses the peculiar Wahhabi phenomenon of destroying all major Islamic landmarks:

Al-Ahmed, a Saudi scholar and expert on Saudi political affairs, estimates that the majority of Islamic landmarks in Saudi Arabia have already been destroyed. Islamic architecture expert Sami Angawi told media earlier this year that at least 300 historical buildings have been leveled in Mecca and Medina over the past 50 years.

"A telling example is the house where the Prophet Mohammed was born and [another] house he lived in until he was 29 are going to be demolished," Al-Ahmed said. Also destroyed was the 18th -century Ottoman-era Ajyad Fort. "They destroyed it at night. They blew up the hill where the fort was situated to make room for hotels," Al-Ahmed said.

Other reportedly destroyed sites cited by Al-Ahmed include: the first house in Islam, where the prophet Mohamed held secret meetings with his followers, which was destroyed in the 1980s; the houses of the prophet in Medina, where he lived for the last 10 years of his life; the Al-Fadik mosque in Medina built during Mohammed's life and destroyed in July 2003; and the Ali Al-Oraidi Mosque and Shrine in Medina destroyed in 2004. "It had been in operation for 1,200 years," said Al-Ahmed.

Behind the destruction is the Wahhabist strain of Islam, which seeks to destroy any revered physical structures that clerics believe could lead believers to idolatry, said Al-Ahmed. Real-estate development, especially around Mecca and Medina, which hosts millions of pilgrims every year, is also a major factor.

Religious politics also plays a role. When authorities allegedly destroyed one of the five renowned "Seven Mosques" built by the Prophet Mohammed's daughter and four of his "greatest Companions," Wahhabists were approving. "The mosques are not welcomed by Wahhabis," said Al-Ahmed. "It's partly political. They don't want Shia to go there to pray."

Where the Abu Bakr mosque stood, there is now an ATM machine, said Al-Ahmed. The home in which the founder of Islam grew up is slated to be destroyed, as well as his birthplace, which has a library built over it. Two major battlefields with both historic and religious significance have also reportedly been paved over.

So if the Wahhabis want to come to Israel to destroy the Dome of the Rock, I think Israel should welcome them with open arms.

Both of these initiatives can go a long way in increasing understanding and love between the peoples.

Hamas will eliminate corruption and bring back law and order to the Palestinian Arab territories.

But graffiti artists defacing walls for AFP photographers will evidently have a free pass.

Good thing that this dude isn't dyslexic - imagine how embarassed he'd be if he had written "SHAAM" instead.

Call for Papers: Terror Conference '07

The National Conference to Support the Resistance just finished a very successful program in Lebanon. Details helpfully provided by the Lebanon Daily Star:

BEIRUT: The National Conference to Support the Resistance said that Hizbullah is a "national duty and the only real option to defend Lebanon's territories, national sovereignty and independence."

In a final statement adopted on Monday at the end of the two-day conference, protecting the resistance was at the top of a list of 14 recommendations.

The conference endorsed Friday the option to resist and confront the "American-Israeli schemes against Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries."

Several civil society organizations took part and emphasized the need to promote the culture of resistance and reinforce the society's immunity to meet the current challenges facing Lebanon.

During the conference, eight working papers were discussed. Some of them dealt with "Distinction between Terrorism and the Resistance," "Role of Culture in the Resistance," and "Methods to Reinforce National Unity."

The conference president Yehya Ghaddar read out the 14 recommendations and said "several similar conferences and activities will be held in Lebanon soon."

Following the discussions and interventions, participants announced the establishment of the National Gathering to Support the Resistance in order to increase the participation of the civil society organizations in the gathering.

In the recommendations, the conference called upon the National Gathering to Support the Resistance "to strengthen the awareness about the nature of the Zionist enemy and its danger."

Furthermore, the recommendations said comprehensive and civil resistance should be a priority of the civil society, the parties, forces and youth, cultural and women's associations.

The conference also called "to mobilize all immigrant forces to confront the Zionist project that targets Lebanon's territories, people, state and entity."

It also made an appeal to "generalize Lebanon's national culture among immigrants so that they form a pressure group wherever they are and defend the resistance and national interests."

This perennial favorite conference among the biggest and best terrorists in the world may have been the most fun yet! The 2002 Conference, although it included such after-hours activities as "Blow up the Jewish child" and "Hang the US President", suffered from the extended name of "The National Conference to Support the Resistance and Freedom and Reject US Interference" and it was widely acknowledged that the extra four words made the acronym TNCTSTRAFARUI was a bit too hard to pronounce, even in Arabic.

But this year's was a smash! Delegates had break-out sessions in the evenings, over drinks of Mecca Cola. These "birds of a feather" sessions allowed bombmakers to socialize and network with Arab governmental officials in an informal way.

The highlight of the conference had to be the Honor Killing session on Saturday night. The delegates went "out on the town" in Beirut, looking for any unmarried woman who was socializing with a man (or a woman ugly enough to be a man.) Dragged by their hair to the delight of onlookers, their throats were slashed in the Grand Ballroom as their proud parents looked on.

It is not too late to register for the 2007 conference! Of particular importance are any scholarly papers that can prove that Jews are genetically closer to apes than humans; much research is being done in prestigious Arab universities and they are very close to announcing a breakthrough. "How to talk to CNN" is another always popular topic.

Of course, the usual papers extolling Nazism and at the same time identifying Zionism with Nazism are welcome, as always.

We might not have the global star-power of some other conferences, but we are confident that we are the leader in Middle East terror conferences, and we intend, inshallah, to stay number one!

Hotel packages are available - make your reservations now!

More stats from the "calm"

As a followup to yesterday's post about the end of the fake "calm," here are the numbers:

As Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah's Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades announced an end to their self-declared truce of January 2005, under which they pledged to refrain from attacking Israeli targets, an annual summary of terror activities for 2005 released by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Sunday revealed that a total of 2,990 attacks were launched against Israeli targets. The attacks occurred after the truce was announced the report stated.

...There was a significant increase in Kassam rocket attacks on Israel with 377 recorded, compared with 309 in the previous year. At the same time there was a decrease in mortar shellings with 848 launched in 2005 compared with 1,231 in 2004. There was also a drop in bombing attacks with 199 recorded in 2005 compared with 592 in 2004. A total of 1,133 shooting attacks were carried out by terror groups in 2005 compared with 1,621 in 2004.

In 2005 security forces arrested 160 potential suicide bombers in raids in West Bank villages and towns, 59 affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, 29 with Hamas, 47 with Fatah Tanzim, 14 with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and 11 with other terror groups.

Over ten attacks a day during the "calm."

I see stuff like this on "Law and Order" all the time!

About 200 policemen stormed government offices in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on Monday to protest at the failure of the Palestinian Authority to fight growing lawlessness, witnesses said.

The incident was the latest sign of chaos in Gaza, which has suffered growing internal unrest since Israel withdrew last September after 38 years of occupation. (What? It is not a "cycle of violence?" - EoZ)

Firing into the air as they ran through the streets, the policemen raided government offices, courthouses, an election office and the municipality building in Rafah.

They smashed windows at the Interior Ministry building and forced the staff to leave.

The number of police taking part in the protest swelled to some 200 officers, most of them armed, who forcibly shut down one government building after the other.

'We are calling on all officers to take off their uniforms because the Palestinian Authority has tied the hands of policemen, preventing us from implementing law and order,' one policeman told Reuters.

The police rampage followed the killing of a police officer in fighting with a Rafah clan on Thursday. After that incident, Palestinian police backed by gunmen imposed an armed blockade on the Rafah border crossing and forcibly ejected travellers.

Witnesses said the police did not wear uniforms -- in protest at what they said was the Palestinian Authority's failure to give them the power to restore law and order in Gaza. Some wore masks.

Masks! What a great idea! I wonder where they got the idea of masks from?

Here is a picture from September of Palestinian policemen wearing masks. Who could have been their inspiration?

HH #51

This week's Haveil Havalim is now up, hosted by Shiloh Musings. It is yet another excellent collection of the Best of the Jewish Blogosphere. And I'm not just saying that because of the links to my blog.

Because, this time, there aren't any!

I would be crushed, but the combination of the JIB awards and the fact that I got more hits today than ever before helps to ease the pain.

The fake "calm" is over

The fake "tahadiye" that Palestinian Arab terror groups said they agreed to in March 2005 is officially over.

Of course, during that "calm" the only let-up in terror attacks is because of Israeli responses to terror and the terrorist desire not to sabotage the Gaza withdrawal, not from any real commitment from the terrorist side. The amount of logistics involved in organizing a suicide attack proves quite well that the "calm" was a joke.

As Daled Amos points out, there were 23 major terror attacks during the supposed calm. He does not count the hundreds of rocket attacks and unsuccessful attacks on Jews during that same time.

There never was a truce (as the wire services called it) or even a calm. The constant references to such by the media will not be missed.

The fundamental problem

This morning I saw two very different essays that touched on the same theme from different worlds.

Redneck Texan wrote a very articulate essay arguing that the real clash of civilizations between Islam and the West is inevitable unless the West surrenders, and bemoaning the fact that in many ways the West is acting in French mode.

The Balitimore Sun published an essay and review of recent books about religious fundamentalism that argues that there is really no difference between Islamic fundamentalism and the fundamentalism of any other religion; that all fundamentalisms encourage violence. Although the author does mention that Islamic fundamentalism has a violent component that is lacking in other religions, she doesn't press the point.

I'm not quite as right-wing as Redneck Texan. Perhaps my own religious views make me more sympathetic to Islam as a religion as opposed to Islamism as a political ideology, although it gets harder to distinguish the two as time goes on. But to downplay or ignore the fact that the only major religious bloodshed that is occurring today is exclusively due to people who claim to be acting in the name of Allah is suicidally shortsighted.

The political component is what gets lost in the argument. I do not believe that there are any theocracies in the world today besides Islamic theocracies. Once a nation adapts fundamentalist religious law as national law, or a major component of national law is religion-based, that is when the dangers of religious fundamentalism become apparent. It is not likely that we will be seeing a Christian nation arise that is aimed at forcing the "second coming" so while it may be possible to argue that all fundamentalisms have a violent component in theory, in fact the only one that is a danger to the world is Islamic.

The Islamists have no qualms about couching their political arguments in religious terms, making the Western kneejerk reaction of supporting freedom of religion the major stumbling block in fighting Islamism. This mixing of politics and religion only helps the violent Islamic supremacist cause, as it paralyzes the West's reaction to Islamic terror.

So while I may be naive in my sympathy to Islam as opposed to Islamism, I think it is critical that the world make the same distinction - one is a religion that should be protected, the other is a violent political supremacist ideology that must be eradicated as quickly as possible. And the only way that will happen is through war, ugly as it is.

Perhaps even more importantly, Muslims themselves must clearly distinguish between the two. The fact that they appear to overwhelmingly support the political ideology of Islamism will only hurt them in the end, and it does not reflect well on their religion.

Palestinian Arabs cheapen their own lives again

An interesting detail about Thursday's terror attack, where a Palestinian Arab who aimed to blow up a children's Chanukah party was stopped by a true hero. The Palestinian media, of course, had a different take:

"Three citizens were heroically martyred today in an explosive operation
that targeted Israeli soldiers at a roadblock south of Tulkarm," declared
Voice of Palestine radio in the lead item of its two main news shows
Thursday afternoon.

The other Arabs that were killed were innocent bystanders, who were goign about their daily business. Yet the Arab media refers to them as "martyrs."

What makes something valuable? It is a simple question of how much importance people place on something. If people decide that a yellow substance that can be mined is valuable, then gold becomes valuable. Pet rocks and Pokemon cards once had value, but as people lost interest the items became less valuable.

It is easy to say that human life has infinite value, but in fact human life is only as valuable as people make it. If a community acts as if life is valuable, where much effort is spent in keeping human beings alive and safe from harm, then life itself becomes commensurately valuable.

On the other hand, if a community shows disdain for the lives of its own citizens, then they obviously do not value life as much and in a very real way their community's lives are worth less than the lives of the community that truly values life.

So, in a very real sense, Palestinian Arab blood is cheap - due to the acts of the Palestinian Arabs themselves.

By celebrating deaths of their own people, by even celebrating the deaths of people who had no desire nor intent to die, the Palestinian Arabs show how they truly feel.

Israel has shown far more regard for Palestinian Arab lives than the Arabs themselves have. Far more Palestinian Arabs have been killed by fellow Arabs and by each other than by Israelis. Palestinians under Israeli "occupation" were treated far better than those in Lebanon and Syria and under the PA, in every sense - economic, educational, medical.

Something is very wrong when the Palestinian Arabs' supposed enemies value Arab lives more than they themselves do.

The planets are aligned. Daughter of Ziyon has a new post.

The always beautiful and talented Daughter of Ziyon has decided to grace the JBlogosphere with her description of my nephew's wedding last month.

Take the racism test!

I was going through some old posts of mine when I used to waste my time frequenting Yahoo Message Boards before I discovered how much fun it is to instead waste my time blogging. Here's an oldie but goodie:

Do you consider Israel's policies racist? Take the Racism Test to see if you are racist too!

Do you believe that:

Jews should be able to live in a Palestinian state?
Jews should be able to own land in Palestine?
Jews should be able to build their own communities in Palestine?
Jews should be able to vote in Palestinian elections?
Jews should be able to freely immigrate to Palestine; no discrimination in immigration policies?
Jews should be able to freely worship at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and Rachel's Tomb outside Bethlehem?
Jews should be able to worship on the Temple Mount?
Jews should be able to be elected in a Palestinian parliament?
A Jew should be able to be elected President of Palestine?

Answer only one "no", and - congratulations! You must be a racist!