Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, January 09, 2006

The UN gives Hamas a raise, the PA keeps "refugees" in camps

Hat tip Iris blog.

We've known about the UNRWA support for terror for years, but this article shows even more clearly how much Hamas uses UN funds for its own terror activities.

It also adds a telling detail - that the PA itself refuses to dismantle "refugee" camps in Gaza to allow its people to live in decent conditions! As we've known for years, the supposed leaders of the Palestinian Arabs and of other Arab countries are more interested in keeping Palestinian Arabs in miserable conditions (to pressure Israel) than they are in their welfare. There is little that proves this as clearly as the facts in this article.

The decision taken at the end of December 2005, by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to provide a large increase in salaries for its thousands of workers, contributes directly to HAMAS’ coffers. The significant raise takes effect this month.

The 7.5 – 21% increase for UNRWA’s workers was ostensibly enacted to bring their salaries closer to the much higher level of Palestinian Authority employees. UNRWA is “the second biggest employer” in Gaza after the Palestinian Authority.

The UNRWA raise also has had the dire effect of increasing UN funding to HAMAS. Most UNRWA workers in Gaza – in fact 90 percent - voted for HAMAS in their 2003 union elections. HAMAS also runs the union’s executive committee, and controls 23 of the 27 seats in of the workers’ representatives in the different sectors, such as teachers, clerks, services, etc.

Since HAMAS deducts membership fees of its activists from their UNRWA salaries, the UNWRA raise contributes directly to the HAMAS budget

The more HAMAS gains the more Fatah stands to lose. Indeed, a Gaza Fatah leader and candidate for elections in the Khan Yunis refugee camp, Doctor Sallah Bardawil, strongly protested the UNRWA salary increase. On December 29, 2005, Bardawil noted that the HAMAS election campaign is supported directly by fees paid to HAMAS by its UNRWA members. According to Bardawil, HAMAS also finances its activities with additional contributions from the Palestinian public and the Muslim World.

However, since Hamas, like its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, obligates each member to pay dues proportionate to 3 to 5%, of their salary, the raise increases both the Zakat – the obligatory payment of at least 2.5% of their annual income – as well as the membership dues. Thus, the UNRWA workers’ contributions add more funds to the HAMAS campaign chest.

Israel demanded long ago and repeatedly that UNWRA fire workers who are members of the Hamas terror organization. Many of the terrorists and the suicide bombers were either UNRWA employees, or originated from UNRWA run refugee camps and educational institutions. UNWRA denied the charges despite the evidence.

UNRWA, since its establishment in 1949, together with the Arab/Islamist nations, and with the Palestinian Authority since 1993, has been working to preserve and continue the Palestinian refugee problem, rather than eliminating it. Thus, UNRWA maintains the Arab/Israeli conflict. In the latest telling example, even after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, when the Palestinian Authority refused to help the refugees in the refugee “camps,” despite receiving generous international aid for economic development, UNRWA did not demand that the PA resettle the refugees. For example, the PA received $100 million from the United Arab Emirates (UAE),) to build a new town named Sheikh Khalifa City, in honor of the UAE president on the ruins of MORAG, one of the Israeli settlements. This new city was to house the families of shahids, prisoners, and families harmed by the conflict.

Yet, despite the poor housing conditions in the refugee camps, the Palestinian Authority deliberately refuses to settle these refugees in the new city. The PA maintains this attitude in order to maintain the refugee problem, and to claim the Palestinian “right of return” to Israel. UNRWA plays along with the PA. Moreover, it provides financial support to HAMAS, which is devoted to the perennial Jihad against Israel and the West.

You can now vote for your favorite Jewish and Israeli blogs at the JIB Awards.

I am happy to see that Rose's Story did make it in the competition for Best Series!

You are allowed to vote once every three days, so you can spread your votes among worthy nominees or try to stack the deck for your favorites! :)

The first round of voting is open through January 19th.

Ethical terrorists save the day!

Hamas is mad as hell, and isn't going to take it anymore!

GAZA CITY, January 7, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Palestinian resistance factions have accused the Palestinian Authority of failing its security responsibility, revealing plans to set up a joint force to maintain order and grind the raging chaos in the territories to a halt.

'If the PA dragged its feet over this issue, we would set up a special security force to undertake this responsibility,' Ezz El-Dine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs and Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades, said in a joint statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net on Saturday, January 7.

They stressed that the PA was expected to restore order, maintain security and adopt a zero-tolerance policy with those behind the recent anarchy.

The factions pointed the finger at 'suspicious bodies' for plunging the Gaza Strip into a state of lawlessness.

The factions further denounced the unrest at the Gaza-Egypt border and the spat of kidnappings in Gaza , saying these irresponsible acts did not reflect the ethics of the Palestinian people.

'We condemn this incident in the strongest possible terms as it badly hurts the image of the Palestinians, who only use their weapons against the Zionist enemy,' read the statement."

Isn't it heartwarming to see Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad work together in the spirit of unity, ethics and brotherhood to make Gaza the paradise it is meant to be - where weapons and explosives are only to be used against Jews?

I'm sure the EU and UN will be praising this new, tripartisan movement as a positive sign towards peace.

(I must also mention how snazzy the terrorists look in their green Hamas caps. So friendly!)

Chilul Hashem

The list of people happy about Sharon's illness:

It does not reflect well on these people to be in such company.

Washington DC Imam: Muslims will destroy Jews, Israel

These words come not from some bizarre fringe Saudi cleric, but from Imam Mohammed Al-Asi, the "the elected Imam of Muslims in Washington DC". A quick Google finds many Muslim sites quoting him approvingly. His latest screed ends thusly:

Little do they know, but the Jewish worshippers of Israel who are publicly celebrating 57 years of a historical aberration are, by all the forces of history and divine decree, celebrating the coming of a day when they will have to come to terms with Islamic self-determination in the Holy Land area and beyond that into the expanses of Africa and Asia. The prophet of Allah, upon whom be peace, summed it up when he said:

'The final hour shall not commence until the Muslims engage Yahud in warfare. And the Muslims will deal the deathblow to Yahud. These Yahud will hide behind timber and boulder that will call out on Muslims: “O Muslim there is a Yahudi in disguise, come and annihilate him.”

It is entirely possible, however, that this esteemed Imam is a liar, as his name is not mentioned anywhere on the Islamic Center of Washington website. According to the ADL, the Islamic Center denies any connection to him.

Even so, the existence of such an Islamic supremacist bigot who is publishing incitement and hate against Jews in the US is noteworthy.

Democracy in action

By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer
At least 15 pilgrims were killed Thursday and 39 injured when a building near the Grand Mosque collapsed around them just after they returned from midday prayers, the Interior Ministry said.

The tragedy in Islam's holiest city came as millions of Muslims converged for the annual hajj pilgrimage, which begins Sunday.

A statement from the Interior Ministry, quoting Ali al-Tuwejli, head of Mecca's civil defense team, said the death toll could reach 20 and the number of wounded could number more than 80.

A civil defense official told government-run Al-Ekhbariya television that the 40-year-old building's foundations were cracked and too weak to support the weight.

While this is of course a tragedy, there is an interesting media angle to this story:

How can the media report anything that happens in Mecca and Medina objectively when no non-Muslims are allowed in those cities?

If only Muslim reporters and photographers are allowed in the cities, and clearly they themselves regard the cities as holy, will they report news or just toe the official line?

How do we know that this building collapse wasn't a bomb that would embarrass the Saudi government, for example?

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."