Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Internet Jihad cells

I find this amusing because in the time I used to spend on Internet message boards, the terrorist-supporters always accused the Zionists on the boards of being organized (and paid) by worldwide Jewry.

An announcement by the Global Islamic Media Front, an al-Qaeda mouthpiece, was recently disseminated across several jihadist forums in which the group presents the “jihadi information and the Western peoples.” The message, written by Ahmad al-Hatheq Bi Allah, argues that the Internet serves as the best alternative to broadcast television for Muslims to execute a “kind of jihad” involving preaching and information disbursement. As the Western media allegedly obfuscates “facts,” the author believes that it is incumbent upon Muslims to join Western Internet forums, to show the truth convincingly through visual or voice arguments, especially as it concerns Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Chechnya. With successful debate, the author claims the American people will place pressure upon the U.S. government, “the guardian or terrorism and its marketing,” to reverse its foreign policy, else the people are culpable for attacks brought upon them, as Ayman al-Zawahiri exclaimed.

The group, in addition, advocates that individual Muslims should not engage in these forum debates; rather, cells of Internet jihadists must be employed. The message urges Muslims knowledgeable in English, Spanish, French, or German languages to answer this call, and especially those who have great debating skills and know the “methods of convincing”.

Hamas pretends to soften, idiotic media swallow it whole

Literally hundreds of articles have been published in the past few hours, claiming that Hamas has softened its position on Israel because the "manifesto" that it published prior to the PA elections didn't mention destroying Israel explicitly.

Has there ever been a better example of wishful thinking replacing facts than this?

Not one person from Hamas has ever suggested that their goal to destroy Israel, enshrined in their charter, has been changed or abrogated. Nothing in their "manifesto" contradicts a word of their charter.

But the world media is so heavily invested in the slightest wisp of hope for "peace" that Hamas' pragmatic omission of Israel's destruction in the manifesto, clearly calculated to gain votes as opposed to any real change of attitude or tactics, is regarded as a major breakthrough toward Palestinian Arab democracy and lasting peace.

A culture that embraces lies to mislead the media now has a new method - just don't bother mentioning your goal, and the willing puppets in the Fourth Estate will fill in the lies for you.

The death toll could rise to 300 in Saudi Arabia where Muslim pilgrims were crushed to death on Thursday during a stoning ritual on the last day of the hajj, medical sources said.

"It's likely to be around 300 in the end," said a medic in Mena. Medical sources earlier said more than 100 people died.

The crush was the second tragedy to hit this year's pilgrimage. Last week, 76 people were killed when a hostel in Mecca collapsed in a narrow street.

Here's a rough body count from previous Hajj's:
1979 - 250 (fighting)
1987 - 400
1990 - 1426 (fire)
1994 - 270
1997 - 343
1998 - 118
2001 - 35
2004 - 251
2005 - 376

That's over 3400 Muslims dead in recent years from the Hajj.

This is more than the number of Palestinian Arabs killed in the Intifada (according to B'tzelem.)

You don't have to be high to vote for Hamas

...but it helps.

A Palestinian boy waves a Palestinian flag during a Hamas election campaign rally in the southern West Bank town of Idna, Wednesday Jan. 11, 2006.

Iran says Europe is discriminating against it!

Iran has grasped the fact that the European Left will do anything to avoid being called certain names, no matter how ridiculous they might be.

Iran's ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Ali Ahani, in a meeting with the foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, Tuesday condemned the discriminatory European reaction against the statements of Iranian President Ahmadinejad regarding the Holocaust.

This is political correctness taken to its logical conclusion: people who make racist, lying and inciteful statements cannot be criticized because that is "discriminatory."

And they deserve to be "condemned."

It would be laughable, except that this is very consistent with Iran's master plan of becoming a superpower, becoming the leader of the Islamic world, and bringing Europe on its side (or at least neutralizing it) in its global jihad against America and Israel.

Other articles from Iran's news agency are also entirely consistent with my thesis of Iran's plans:

Iranian city declared "Islamic world cultural capital" in ceremony attended by ambassadors of 24 Islamic countries - second in importance to Mecca.
Increasing ties with Kazakhstan
Expanding ties with Kenya and Qatar
Praise for Iran from Saudi Arabia

Gorilla in the Room

A lovely piece of Jew-hatred from some rag in Nevada whom Google thinks of as a legitimate news source:

GORILLA IN THE ROOM
Jim Moore
Let’s cut out all the bull-pedaling, pussyfooting, and pretending. There’s a sinister element in full flower, not just in this administration, but in this entire country. And we should confront it and talk honestly about it.

Some have called it a “gorilla in the room” and finding it reminiscent of the “emperor with no clothes” is not far off the mark.

That “gorilla in the room” is, with no hedging or qualifying, the stranglehold that the Israel lobby (AIPAC) and the Zionist cabal have on this administration’s foreign policy: meddling in the world in general, and the Middles East in particular.

It peeks out of the shadows occasionally as if to say, “Here we are, influencing America’s foreign policy, making sensitive decisions that pamper Israel, and you don’t even realize it. Even if you did you’d be too shocked, complacent, or intimidated to do anything about it.

Yes, we are the ‘gorilla in the room’, but you refuse to “see” us because you’ll be called an anti-Semitic, or a Jew hater, and in this age of political correctness, you certainly don’t want to be called that, do you? And that is how the “gorilla”, became your keeper and put YOU in the cage, instead of the other way around.”

The Zionists in the administration -- many are Jews, some are not -- are often called America’s “shadow government”, and this internal nemesis has plagued our nation almost from the beginning, which our founding fathers were well aware of.

Long before Zionism became a political pariah in America, George Washington, of all people, said this: “They (the Jews) work more effectively against us than the enemy’s armies. They are a hundred times more dangerous to our liberties and the great cause we are engaged in.”

And at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin put it more bluntly: “I fully agree with George Washington, that we must protect this young nation from an insidious impenetration. The menace, gentlemen, is the Jews. If you do not exclude them from these United States, in less than 200 years they will have swarmed in here in such great numbers that they will dominate and devour the land and change our form of government, for which we Americans have shed our blood, given our lives, our substance, and jeopardized our liberty.”

You didn’t have any idea that the “founders of our country” said that, did you? But they were smart, discerning men. They apparently saw the “gorilla” even before it got into the room.

Now, let’s put into play some related factors. We are not speaking here about all Jews. The Jews of the Diaspora, or “wandering Jews” are true to their biblical heritage, and as such, are peaceful, cooperative citizens of the countries they inhabit. But they are at odds with their Zionist brothers who they claim have no right to the land called Israel, since it is territory “stolen” from the Palestinians. Whether this odd situation is historically accurate is beyond the scope of this article.

It is useful to remember that pure bigotry and anti-semitism exists, today, in America, both on the extreme right and extreme left.

The real gorilla in the room is that the absurd hatred that the world still has for Israel has nothing to do with Arab rights or "Palestinians" or land. It is purely because of Jew-hatred and its accompanying lies, as the bogus quotes above prove. Everything else is window dressing, just like Mr. Moore's claims that dhimmi diaspora Jews are all right, as long as they oppose the idea of Jews having any land of their own.

Islamic terror is an oxymoron, according to Saudi moron

A senior Saudi cleric told Muslim pilgrims on Tuesday that the West was using the existance of terrorism to scare people away from Islam and discredit legitimate Muslim causes. Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, the state-appointed preacher at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, also called for stability in Iraq and noted Islam was innocent of the charge of "terrorism."

"Islam is innocent of this grave phenomenon (of terrorism). The shedding of blood in this country and other Islamic states is a forbidden criminal act," the cleric said. "We should not forget our brothers in Iraq in the continuing spiral of injustice and murder, and (we must) act seriously to bring security, stability and unity to them," he said.

"The campaign against Islam has become fierce and Muslims are being described in insulting terms to distort the image of Islam and scare people away from it," he told the 2.5 million pilgrims in a sermon to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.

OK, let's see what the peaceful sheikh has to say on other topics: (This is from April, 2002)

A top Saudi Arabian Muslim cleric prayed to God on Friday to "terminate" the Jews and urged Arabs and Muslims to abandon efforts to make peace with Israel.

"We must say farewell to peace initiatives with these people (Jews)," Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais told worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine, in a sermon, carried live by several Arabic television and radio networks.

He prayed to God to "terminate" the Jews, whom he described as "the scum of humanity . . . the rats of the world . . . prophet killers . . . pigs and monkeys".

And in 2004:

He told those listening to “read history,” in order “to know that yesterday’s Jews were bad predecessors and today’s Jews are worse successors. They are killers of prophets and the scum of the earth. Allah hurled his curses and indignation on them and made them monkeys and pigs and worshippers of tyrants. These are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, evil, and corruption…”

Mr. al-Sudayyis elaborated on the conflict between Muslims and Jews: “O Muslims, the Islamic nation today is at the peak of conflict with the enemies of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with the grandsons of Bani-Quraydah, al-Nadhir, and Qaynuqa’ [Jewish tribes in the early days of Islam]. May Allah’s curses follow them until the Day of Judgment.”

“The nation must know that these are people with a disgraceful history and a black record… They want to establish the Greater Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. They also aspire to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build their alleged temple in its place. They want to liquidate the State of Islam and the Koran, and build the State of the Torah and Talmud on its debris. They will get what they deserve from Allah…

“Our Al-Aqsa is crying out saying all mosques have been liberated, while I — a great holy mosque — am still being desecrated. Is the aspiration of over 1 billion Muslims to preserve their holy places [to be] considered savagery and terrorism? What a great lie, O Allah, O steadfast brothers in struggler and steadfast Palestine, the land of honor, loftiness, sacrifice, jihad, and bravery. The captivity of our Al-Aqsa in the hands of the tyrants makes us sleepless. May Allah please us with its liberation.Victory is coming soon, Allah willing.”

“...Here are the flags of victory looming on the horizon. We can smell it. It is crowned by a brave jihad, an intifada, which is still the winning card and the lit candle in the hands of the devout sons of this nation…O nation of jihad and sacrifice, it is the duty of Muslims to support their brothers in creed in Palestine and elsewhere and to back them with material and moral support. Jihad with money sometimes supersedes jihad with soul, as mentioned in many Koranic verses and the prophet’s traditions.”

Yup, nothing dangerous about Islam here!

The road to Hamastan

Every day brings more news of anarchy and chaos in PA-administered areas as the experiment in Palestinian Arab nationhood goes its merry way.

Today's items include an interesting op-ed from the Telegraph showing how Gaza is doing:

The first sign of just how dodgy security has become came when Said Ghazali, The Daily Telegraph's local man in Jerusalem, and I arrived at the Palestinian side of the crossing to learn that our regular driver - stocky, dependable Ashraf - would not be there to meet us.

He had a reasonable excuse. He has the bad luck to belong to the Masri clan, who are currently engaged in a blood feud with their rivals, the Kafarnehs. The toll so far is five dead and 70-odd wounded. Yesterday a Kafarneh was injured in a shooting attack and Ashraf thought it prudent to leave his cab in the garage.

We found another driver and set off for Rafah, the scene of an extraordinary outbreak of anarchy last week. A mob killed two Egyptian border guards and bulldozed concrete walls in a successful attempt to force the authorities to release a man suspected of kidnapping the British aid worker Kate Burton and her parents.

On the way, we passed through the town of Khan Younis. The main road was blocked by what I took at first to be an election rally.

Wrong. The Masri boys were at it again, this time wading into the Tahas, their sworn enemies in the southern end of the Strip.

The action in the main street was confined to fists and boots, but, as we turned into a parallel street to detour round the mob, we ran into a gun battle, with the rivals trading Kalashnikov fire from opposing blocks of flats. The cars in front of us sped up a bit, but 50 yards from the shooting, life was going on as normal.

Most Gazans grew up with gunfire. Before, it was only the Israelis they had to worry about. Now they are shooting each other. The security forces are no help. Their rivalries are the cause of much of the bloodshed.
[...]
At the end of a day like yesterday, I would normally retire to the UN Beach Club, a low-rise concrete joint whose seediness is more than compensated for by its views of the Mediterranean. And, of course, the fact that it is the only place in Gaza where you can get a drink.

Yesterday the Beach Club was still there. But the bar wasn't. Unknown saboteurs arrived at dawn a few days ago, tied up the guards and planted a bomb that reduced the interior to matchwood.

The way things are going in Gaza, it seems unlikely that the dear old Beach Club will be re-opening its doors any time soon.

More heartening news from the World Bank:

The PA is on the verge of functional bankruptcy. The failure to make the salary payment in full and on time will affect hundreds of thousands of people who feed at its table, and the tens of thousands of suppliers and merchants who earn their living from its employees. They will join the masses of unemployed. According to the World Bank, the unemployment rate in the territories exceeds 20 percent, with a rate of about 30 percent in the Gaza Strip, over 40 percent in the southern part of Gaza and among young people (ages 16-25) in southern Gaza, the favorite source of cannon fodder for Islamic Jihad, unemployment reaches the alarming rate of 70 percent. The bankruptcy of the PA following the elections, Roberts warns, could generate a shock of unimaginable dimensions.

"The Palestinian government needs the continued assistance of the international community," Roberts declares, "and to secure that, it must begin to assume its responsibilities." Raising salaries at a time when resources are unavailable for this, he notes, is precisely the opposite of demonstrating responsibility and reliability. The direct consequence of this move was a decision by the Bank, supported by the European Commission, to freeze $60 million for funding the PA's operating budget. According to Roberts, this far-reaching step was taken because the Palestinians did not fulfill their commitments on budget control. Were the donors not to hold the PA responsible, they would lose the confidence of their taxpayers that enough control can be exercised to prevent the money from being used to finance acts of terror.

Roberts notes that the amount of assistance the Palestinians are getting - $5 billion in five years, or $300 per capita annually - is the highest granted to any entity since World War II. "To maintain the deep involvement of the donors, and their diplomatic attention, as well as the desire of the private sector to invest additional money, the PA must improve its performance," Roberts states. Unfortunately, he continues, Yasser Arafat's departure has not brought about a dramatic change for the better - in fact this last year has witnessed serious deterioration in internal law and order and budget management.

And even the PA's friends are getting a bit upset:

Egypt threatened to withdraw its support for the Palestinian Authority if the PA did not act to control the rampant anarchy in the Gaza Strip, according to a report in the London Arab newspaper Al Quds.

The report claimed that following the incident at the Rafah border crossing in which two Egyptian soldiers were killed, Egyptian authorities delivered the threat to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as part of a specially delivered message.

Egypt also threatened to withdraw its support for the peace process if the PA did not take the proper steps to restore order to Gaza.

The countdown to the Islamic Republic of Hamastan is well underway.

May 28, 1936: Chaim Weizmann predicts peace while Arabs destroy trees

Dr. Weizmann may have been a very wise man, but he underestimated Jew-hatred - even when it was happening under his nose. In the same issue of the Palestine Post, the major headline was "Armed Hooligans Fire on Jewish Settlements."

Another interesting story that May was this one:

Today, Palestinians as well as the Israeli Left and even acting premier Ehud Olmert are accusing Jews of destroying Arab olive trees. The settler movement hotly denies any involvement, and in some cases it was proven that Arabs and leftists in fact lied about these charges.

We've touched on this topic before - Arabs have destroyed fruit trees in Palestine, and in much greater numbers, way before any Jews allegedly destroyed Arab trees.

But the accusations and lies have remained constant now for 70 years. Dr. Weizmann's prediction, unfortunately, did not come true - because the "political agitation" that he downplayed in fact became Arab policy vis a vis Israel.

Note also the last paragraph of the first story - the fact that Arabs were immigrating to Palestine in huge numbers in the 1930s shows that a large percentage of today's Palestinian Arabs in fact originated elsewhere.

More from the Iranian hajj hate festival

MEMRI has video of the Party in the Desert. Notable: the level of pure hatred shown by the Religion of Peace, how even when Muslims are talking to Muslims they have integrated the anti-Bush liberal talking points (it is comical how the murderous Great Satan is singled out for wiretapping phones without a warrant!) and the Freudian slip at the end about "peaceful nuclear technology."

TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=991.
Crowd: "Israel is the enemy of Allah."
Man: "May the hands of the infidels be chopped off."
Crowd: "May the hands of the infidels be chopped off."
Man: "May the hands of the infidels be chopped off."
Crowd: "May the hands of the infidels be chopped off."
Man: "[Chopped off] from the land of the believers."
Crowd: "From the land of the believers."
Man: "The audience will now split into two groups: One group will settle the score with America, and the other will settle the score with Israel. This group now: Death to America!"
Crowd: "Death to America!"
Man: "Death to Israel!"
Crowd: "Death to Israel! Death to America!"
Man: "Death to America!"
Crowd: "Death to America!"
Man: "Death to America!"
Crowd: "Death to Israel! Death to America!" Death to Israel!"
Man: "All together now: Death to America! Death to Israel!"
Crowd: "Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to America! Death to Israel!"
[...]
Speaker: "Today, the impure world Zionism, in the modern Age of Ignorance, has emerged with the same [polytheistic] ideology, but with new methods. It wants to take over the fields of economy, of culture, and politics, as well as the military, throughout the world."
[...]
"We, the pilgrims who have come to the house of God, condemn the plots and the measures taken by the international Zionism - the deceitful Satan who spreads heresy, polytheism, and idolatry, enslaving human beings with a new method. It abuses the divine religion of Moses. It takes satanic measures, and arouses the world's hatred towards this divine religion and its true followers. We denounce these criminal acts. We call upon the world of Islam and the free peoples to take significant measures to thwart the satanic policy of this camp."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar."
Speaker: "We, the pilgrims who have come to the house of God, strongly condemn the aggressive measures of 'the global arrogance,' led by the idol and center of evil, the criminal America. We condemn it for its aggression, warmongering, its murder, plundering, torture, espionage, its abductions, and its secret jails. We strongly condemn it.
"We emphasize that the occupation forces must leave the lands of Islam. We express our hatred and our disgust at the mother of all corruption of this century, the Great Satan, and at its illegitimate offspring, the plundering Israel."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar."
[...]
Speaker: "My believing brothers, I will now read to you the text of the call of the leader of the Islamic revolution, Imam Khamenei, to the pilgrims who have come to the house of God:"
[...]
"...Today, the fleets of arrogance are, once again, using new methods of deceit, in order to perpetuate and strengthen their control over the Islamic world. Their slogans of spreading democracy and human rights is one of these methods of deceit. The Great Satan, who embodies evil and violence against humanity, raises the banner of defending of human rights, and summons the peoples of the Middle East to democracy.
"The democracy that America wants to implement in these countries, however, means that general elections - which pretend to be popular, but are in fact American elections - will give rise, by means of conspiracies, bribery, and deceptive propaganda, to obedient American collaborators.
"These collaborators will accomplish America's goals of arrogance, and first and foremost stopping the spread of Islam, and removing Islamic values from the scene."
[...]
"The fact that the slogan of democracy is being raised by the greedy people who for many years have supported the dictatorial regimes in Asia, Africa, and the American continent is completely unacceptable. Likewise, when the call to fight violence and terrorism by those who support Zionist terrorism, and who carry out the bloodiest kind of violent acts in Iraq and Afghanistan this is a mockery."
[...]
"The American and British governments, which permit the torture of suspects, and the spilling of their blood in the streets, and the tapping of citizens' phone calls without a court order, do not have the right to claim they are defending civil rights.
"The governments that have blackened the face of modern history with their production and use of nuclear and chemical weapons to not have the right to impose their patronage on the issue of preventing the spread of weapons of mass... on the issue of preventing the spread of nuclear technology."

Austria's Federal Chancellor and the rotating Head of European Union Wolfgang Schuessel said here Monday the EU has no reason to impose sanctions against Iran because of Tehran's nuclear policies.

Speaking to the reporters after meeting with members of European Commission, Schuessel said, 'Although there have always been the possibility of imposing sanctions, the EU member states take that measure as the last option'.

He added it is not time to consult about sanctions yet.

At the same time, EU rotating president condemned Iran's announcement to start its nuclear research.

Schuessel stressed the EU is following the issue with concern because Tehran is distancing from a settlement based on consensus.

Isn't it interesting that santions are now the last resort - and attacking their nuclear facilities is not even a possibility?

One must wonder why Europe bristles at the US always taking the lead in tackling world crises, whether rightly or wrongly, but when the EU actually has a chance to do something, they invariably close their eyes and plug their ears and sing "LA-LA-LA-LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Iranians sure know how to have fun!

Par-ty! Par-ty!

Thousands of Iranian pilgrims participating in the 'Disavowal of Pagans' ritual in this sacred desert on Monday issued a resolution condemning the existence of a mercernary government called Israel by big powers.

Expressing their hatred towards International Zionism, the pilgrims condemened the crimes and machinations being committed by the Zionist regime.

The ralliers urged all Muslims to unite in order to neutralize the satanic policies of International Zionism.

They further condemned the hegemonic and war-mongering policies of the US and its allies that find expression in the occupation of Islamic states, massacre of civilians, torture of prisoners and establishment of secret and inhuman prisons.

The pilgrims expressed their affirmation to the peaceful use of nuclear technology as a legitimate right of all nations, including Muslims, and denounced the imposition of double standards on Islamic and western states in certain fields, particularly in the field of nuclear energy.

Stressing the rich economic and trade potentials of Muslim states, the ralliers called for establishment of an Islamic market and greater participation of Muslim nations in the production and distribution of goods.

Voicing their support for the people of occupied Iraq, they condemned terrorism in whatever form in that war-torn country.

Meanwhile, the pilgrims renewed their allegiance to the aspirations of the Founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Tens of thousands of Haj pilgrims gathered in the Desert of Arafat, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mecca, chanted anti-US and anti-Zionist slogans during the `Disavowal of Pagans' ceremony held here Monday.

This is like Vegas East!

More details in an inexplicably separate article from the same august source:

Tens of thousands of Haj pilgrims chanted anti-US and anti-Zionist slogans during the `disavowal of pagans' ceremony held here Monday.
"God is Great," "There is no Deity but Allah," "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" were among the slogans chanted by the masses in unison as they gathered in the Desert of Arafat, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mecca, for a day of prayer and meditation.
The faithful -- men clad in two-piece seamless white shrouds and women all covered except for their hands and faces to symbolize equality -- converged on Arafat by bus and on foot from the tent city of Mina, where they spent the night.

With any luck, an alternate energy source will come soon, making oil obsolete and allowing them to stay in tent cities permanently, just like their holy ancestors.

Shocking omission at the JIB awards

As I was looking at the JIB award nominations this morning to vote for my favorites, I was shocked to see that AbbaGav was not nominated (successfully) for Best Jewish Humor Blog.

So since one point of the awards is for people to see blogs they would not otherwise see, I wanted to point my readers to AbbaGav.

AbbaGav has the sense of humor that you must have when you know that the rest of the world is crazy and you are the only sane one. (Not to mention that the world would love to see you disappear, because you are the cause of all their problems.)

The black humor and sheer prolificity (to coin a term) makes AbbaGav my favorite funny site of the moment, so I recommend it highly.

(This entire missive is just a ploy to get Gav to comment on my blog, because the comments have been pretty light lately.)

Demolition Democratzia

It is fascinating watching the Palestinian Arabs pretend to embrace "democracy."

We have the Palestinian Authority, which is a subsidiary of Fatah - a terror group - running as the moderate alternative to Hamas, a terror group.

Both groups have impeccable terrorist credentials. Fatah has the legacy of master terrorist Arafat - and they are trying to capitalize on it:

But Fatah is also trying to be seen as a moderate party, a pursuer of peace with Israel. This schizophrenia is making it hard to get anything done. Not to mention the intra-Fatah fights: between the "young guard" and the old-timers, between the Tunis leadership and the Ramallah leadership, between the Palestinian "police" and the Abbas.

At the same time, Hamas has a consistent message - destroy Israel and get rid of the Fatah corruption. A single-minded focus on terror can only help, with a healthy dose of Islamic fundamentalism (Hamas, just like Al Qaeda, is a direct descendant of the Muslim Brotherhood.) Add this to the fact that Hamas has actually shown interest in improving the lives of ordinary Palestinian Arabs (in order to recruit them to terror, but still...) and it is hard for Hamas not be seen as the clear winner in any fair election - even though most actual Palestinian Arabs would prefer the pre-intifada world, they do not want to be led by the corrupt and hypocritical Fatah.

So now that the democratic table is set for Hamas to win any elections, the Western world suddenly becomes anti-democratic, or at the very least it gets its own schizophrenia about how Palestinian elections should be. This is in no small part due to the Bush mantra of "democracy" when in fact the mantra should have been "freedom."

Democracy depends on an emotionally mature nation, and the Palestinian Arabs have acted any way but mature. Asking them to vote in the screwed-up world they live in is like asking seven-year olds to vote based only on the content of cereal commercials.

That being said, I do not have the same problem with Hamas running for elections that most of the Western world seems to. There is no real difference between Fatah and Hamas in their policies vis-a-vis Israel, just Hamas is more honest about its goals. A Hamas leadership would not have the Arafatian-style lies and half-measures to lean upon to make the world pressure Israel to make even more concessions. And it does appear that the world is wearying of the entire Palestinian Arab problem, as it is finally noticing that even when Israel gives them land for free, the Palestinian Arabs cannot show any ability to govern. (I think giving up Gaza the way it was done was a mistake, but this was one positive result.)

Also, any election that Hamas wins will be the last elections of "Palestine" - shari'a law will become the norm and some Imam will become the de-facto dictator.

Now that the Palestinian Arabs have a chance to show the world that they can run a country, they will show the exact opposite. Too bad so many innocent people had to die to prove what should have been obvious from the beginning.

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.