Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, January 20, 2006

Dick Cheney has it wrong

Q Mr. Vice President, a cornerstone of U.S. policy has been to spread democracy in the Middle East. Does the electoral success of Hamas and of the Iran-backed fundamentalist parties in Iraq prompt any second thoughts?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, I think the basic principle is still sound. If you look at the problem in Iran, though, a very restrictive system in terms of who's allowed on the ballot. And there's an unelected group of clerics, basically, that dominate in Iran. They're the ones who have to certify before someone is allowed on the ballot. And we've seen the result of that process, obviously, has been the election of the new President Ahmadinejad, the former mayor of Tehran. And he has conducted himself in a way and made a number of statements since he got elected, obviously, that are cause for concern. I don't think you can blame democracy or democratic principles for the fact that he is there.

Hamas in the Palestinian areas -- we'll see what happens. We got an election coming up shortly. But if you believe in democratic practices, as we do; believe in a freedom agenda for the Middle East, as we do; then I think it's important for us to be as consistent as possible going forward.
...
Once we've started down this road, though, I think it's very important we stick with it, and stick with those principles. And we believe -- the President believes very deeply and I share his conviction that the solution to the long-term problems in the Middle East lies in having democratically elected governments in places like Iraq that won't spawn the ideology of hatred and violence that has dominated so much of the region, that will offer people opportunities and hope, and will reduce the prospects for war in the future. So it doesn't mean you're always going to get a perfect result, but I would argue that we're going to get a much better result out of that process than we have the system that's been in place in the past that has produced the likes of Saddam Hussein, for example, or of Yasser Arafat.

This is the quandary that we've been talking about for a year now. By pushing democracy before pushing true freedom, you get a sham of an election that is easy for Islamists and terrorists to manipulate.

But if Dick Cheney thinks that election rallies where people get killed by campaigner bullets is what democracy is all about, who am I to argue?

The mainstreaming of Islamic anti-semtism

The Islamic world is far from monolithic. There are reform-minded Muslims, progressive Muslims, and pragmatic Muslims whose focus is in improving their communities.

Since Islam and Judaism are very similar in many ways, I have never jumped on the anti-Islam bandwagon that many right-wing bloggers occupy. On a purely religious outlook level, the two religions have many similar worldviews and goals, and I am dismayed that there isn't more cooperation between the two in matters of mutual interest.

Despite these similarities, and despite the oft-repeated Muslim refrain of how they have no problem with Jews but only Zionism, it is amazing how much instiutionalized anti-semitism has crept into the thoughts of moderate and mainstream Islam. It is no surprise that Jew-haters use Zionism as a code-word for Judaism, but even thoughtful Muslims have it branded on their psyches.

One example is from an Indian Muslim publication, the Milli Gazette, which has many articles about women's rights in Islam and similar topics. But when the topic turns towards Israel or indeed politics altogether, all semblance of logic and reason fly out the window.

One classic example is this article trying to differentiate between terror and "resistance." Almost hilariously the author tries to say that Muslims fighting in Kashmir for territory is terrorist and couterproductive but Muslims blowing up Jewish women and children are justified resistance.

A side comment in an article about Indian communists and Israel betrays the deep-seated anti-semitism of today's Islam:

Israel’s Zionist strategies are not always adopted by the US administration, though at the moment the American Zionist neo-cons do have practically sewed up US administration to their own world-view of total domination of the third world through the use of brutal force, under various spurious pretexts.

Here we see two things:

The classic language of anti-semitism has been entirely replaced by the veneer of anti-Zionism, which even otherwise educated Muslims swallow whole, and
No matter how much wishful thinking Israel's liberal friends display, there is no way that any sort of Jewish state would ever be accepted by the vast majority of Muslims.

This is not the only progressive Muslim publication that turns completely blind when the topic is Israel; Muslim Wake-Up! is another.

Here is one fundamental difference between Jews and Muslims - it is easy to find Jews who passionately hate Israel (see part 6) and hard to find Muslims who passionately hate Palestinian terrorists.

Abu Hamza in court

An interesting detail from the BBC coverage of the trial of terror-inciting Abu Hamza:

Mr Abu Hamza said that Jews had a kinship with Muslims, both religions being descended from Abraham. But Israel and 'Zionism' was another matter.

'I do not believe in Israel,' he said. 'In the Torah [Jewish holy text] it is not Israel. In the Bible it is not Israel. In the Koran it is not Israel. It is Palestine. It's an abomination to change its name.'

Much of the day was taken up with such extremely complicated debate...

Wow, the BBC authors must not be too bright to think that this point is "complicated." It is a simple, provable lie: The Koran not once says the word "Palestine." The Bible calls the land "Israel" and "Judah" numerous times, and not once "Palestine".

I hope that the prosecutor has more brains than the BBC.

Today's fake condemnations

Only Palestinian Arab leaders can look at an attack against Jews and claim that they are the real victims.

Which means that if only Jews would be victims of an attack, well, that would be just dandy!

This is sabotage and aimed at sabotaging the elections, not only the elections, but also the security of Palestinians,' Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told reporters at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

'The culprits must be punished,' he said. 'They aim to sabotage the elections and the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to impose law and order.'

'We condemn this attack,' echoed senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. 'This is an attack to sabotage the Palestinian elections and sabotage the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process after the elections.'

Has there ever been a culture so obsessed with victimhood to the point of paralysis?

Notable news

A British Muslim writes:

"I am clearly one of those foolish Muslims who have "succumbed to Zionist pressure". I think the salutary lessons of the Holocaust should be remembered. I think that Holocaust Memorial Day, designated by the UK, with the support of the United Nations, as 27 January, is an important commemoration. And I think that Muslims should take an active part in the memorial service and other commemorative events across Britain."

A 15-year old Arab boy gave a bomb belt to the IDF.

The EU is already preparing to negotiate with Hamas terrorists.

Development of the Nautilus laser gun that was meant to shoot down Katyushas and Hamas rockets has been stopped by the US.

Religious Jews are being barred from entering Jordan.

A Haaretz news ticker says that the EU is urging Israeli restraint after today's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. And Saeb Erekat says yet again that the attack wasn't meant to kill Jews, but to derail the Palestinian Arab elections. You see, he's the victim.

A coerced apology for Jew-hatred

Cape Town Muslim radio station, Voice of the Cape, has apologised for 'a number of deeply offensive and hurtful attacks on Jews and the Jewish religion' during a broadcast.

The offending comments were made by Egyptian student Sheikh Muhamed Colby in a September 2004 programme titled Human Rights And Religion, in which he suggested that Jews were intent on world domination, and were ready to spill Muslim blood.

After a complaint by the Jewish Board of Deputies, which was represented by Advocate Anton Katz and attorney Mervyn Smith, the Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee ruled that Voice of the Cape should apologise for the comments, which were found to have amounted to hate speech.

The ruling, made in September but only ratified by the committee on Monday, required Voice of the Cape to broadcast a scripted and unreserved apology once on its main news bulletin and at the beginning and end of the programme which contained the original offensive comments.

The station was also ordered to adopt a set of measures to prevent the broadcast of any further offensive material.

In its apology, Voice of the Cape said Colby's statements did not represent the station's views.

'In no way do we hold the Jewish community in contempt. Islam teaches us to respect all religions. We apologise unreservedly and unequivocally for any offence or harm caused to the Jewish community as a result of the broadcast.'

Colby's speech suggested that white Europeans, Zionists and Americans were responsible for a number of human rights violations, including the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

"As far as Judaism is concerned, they believe that they are the chosen nation by God Almighty," he said. "They believe they have been created to enslave and subjugate humanity and take full control of all matters of life.

"When they look at any other religion or sect, other than Judaism, they look at that sect as a means of enslavement, killing, slaughtering, murdering; any form, any means, as long as they reach their aim and their goal."

Colby said the "protocol of the wise Zionist" involved asking what steps could be taken to take "total control of the world".

"This is how they control the nation. This is how they control everything."

Colby said the blood of Muslim people was halaal (permissible) for Jews.

"We are seeing... that the blood of the Muslim is running through the streets and nobody is doing anything about it... " he said.

Notice the timeframe. The broadcast was in September 2004; the apology was this week.

If the Muslim radio station truly believed the words of the apology, why did they wait 16 months when they were ordered to apologize?

UPDATE: It's Almost Supernatural has been following this, and has many details on how it was covered. (Hat tip Soccer Dad.)

The Hamas roadmap, and how Israel can respond

OK, so now the PA is pretty much collapsed and the EU is starting to withhold money from the Palestinian Arabs who seem to spend all their money on "policemen." Hamas is poised to either win the election or come in a strong second place. So what's next?

It seems to me that Hamas will follow the path of Fatah.

They will pretend to moderate just barely enough to get the EU to loosen the purse strings and give themselves legitimacy. They miss the days when they could pretend to have a "political arm" and a "military arm" and the Europeans would happily buy into it. This would in turn pressure the US to moderate its stance towards Hamas, and it would pressure Israel as well.

Like Fatah, they will maintain the terror infrastructure but keep it more clandestine and keep plausible deniability. Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, Al Aqsa Brigades and probably a Gaza Al-Qaeda will be allowed to operate and be protected by the Palestinian Arab government.

Unlike Fatah, Hamas will try to move the PA towards a more religious direction. It doesn't appear that many Palestinian Arabs will have a problem with that.

There is one other big difference between Hamas and Fatah: Hamas actually cares about the Palestinian Arab people. This of course sounds strange, that an organization that encourages its people to blow themselves up cares about them, but the fact is that Hamas does spend time building hospitals and schools, and the PA ignores anything that could help their people. Admittedly, the schools are meant to be training grounds for the next generation of terrorists, but even so there is a charitable component to Hamas that does not exist in the Fatah leadership.

Although it is a slim hope, this could work to Israel's advantage. After all, Israel has an interest in the welfare of Palestinian Arabs. If they are happy and have jobs and prospects they are far less likely to become terrorists. The only people interested in keeping Palestinian Arab refugees" in camps are the Fatah and other Arab leaders. It is not clear that Hamas would encourage maintaining the refugee camps.

The collapse of the PA is a fait accompli. For Israel to remain intransigent towards a Hamas-led PA will not work to Israel's advantage, and frankly the Fatah-led PA was just as interested in Israel's destruction as Hamas is.

It sounds bizarre, but Israel should take the diplomatic initiative in accepting whoever is leading the PA and make a centerpiece of the policy the destruction of "refugee" camps and building of real towns. The disgrace of the UN-administered and self-perpetuating camps needs to be brought to the forefront; putting not only the UN on the defensive but also the PA, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria for what they have done to the Palestinian Arab people.

A shake-up in the PA can hardly hurt, and it may help. The negotiations with the PA have not helped Israel at all, and Hamas' relative pragmatism may bring an opportunity.

The logical song

Israel likes to use rational, logical arguments to make its case to the Western world. It is a somewhat effective method, but ultimately it is not what wins wars.

When it comes down to it, from a purely rational perspective, Jerusalem is just a piece of real estate, no more or less important than Gaza or Madagascar. Logical, rational Jews can look through the superstitious nonsense of tradition and coldly calculate the cost of keeping the eastern half versus the benefit of giving it up.

When Western leaders want to pressure Israel, they will also use the same cold hard logic to press their claims. Certainly, they reason, logical Jews realize that holding onto the West Bank is untenable: the demographic threat is insurmountable, the cost of protecting isolated Jewish enclaves is too high, the world pressure will be too relentless.

The irony is that Israel's strongest argument is the one it seems to try to actively downplay - the emotional argument.

The Palestinian Arabs don't use logic at all to try to convince their people that their cause is right - they use purely emotional arguments, constant pictures of Al Quds and videos of al-Dura on TV. They know that emotionally-charged citizens - illogical people - are their best weapon, because the West will throw up its hands in the face of emotional arguments and instead try to get the logical Israelis to give up more land and rights.

Meanwhile, the "enlightened" Israeli intelligentsia (and now leadership) will demonize the very Jews who have the emotional, non-logical connection to the land, the ones that don't listen to their cool academic arguments. Whether the connection is religious or cultural or just vaguely emotional, it has no place in Israeli decision-making. Such emotions are not harnessed; they are quashed.

There is no logical argument for Jews to stay in Hebron. None at all. Yes, you can argue that Jews lived there for centuries, but so what - Jews lived in Baghdad and Alexandria for centuries as well.

This anti-emotional attitude is what could lose Eretz Yisroel.

Chevron (Hebron) is the second-holiest city in Judaism. Logic doesn't enter into it - it is a fact. The heroes who moved there after 1967 were not motivated by logic, but out of pure love for the land and all it represents. It was important enough for them to risk their very lives for an idea - nothing logical about that. To have the state act against these people, to see Jews tell other Jews they cannot live in a city that their forefathers are buried in, is not just wrong. It is criminal. It is tragic that any Jew, even the most secular one, can conceive that Hebron is not a place for Jews to live wherever they want.

The same reasons against Jews living in Chevron can be used to cede all of Israel and take the Iranian advice to move to Alaska.

The very people who can best defend Israel because of their pure love of the Holy Land are being marginalized by their own government. It is beyond tragedy that Israel cannot elect a leadership that can say, clearly, to the world: This is our land. There are red lines that we will never cross, no matter what the reason, and they include Hebron. Kever Rochel. Jerusalem.

The emotional arguments are not only stronger than their logical counterparts, but they resonate more with people. Everyone can understand how someone can love their land beyond all rational thought. Abandoning that argument publically means that the "irrational" love that supporters have for Israel gets eroded as well.

As long as Israel concedes the emotional argument to the Arabs, as long as Israel tries to stay "logical" about her claims, she is at a severe long-term disadvantage in this war.

Pity the myopic Hamas women

It's gotta be doubly tough to not only have to walk around with a black veil all day, but also to balance a pair of glasses on it. How can they stop the glasses from slipping off their oh-so-sexy but modestly covered noses? Are there Sharia rules as to what types of frames would not drive the hormonally raged male Hamas terrorists crazy? Must the glasses be tinted heavily, lest someone to see her eyes and be forced to rape her?

It is time to Ask the Imam!

All the fun passed me by

Of all the articles that very angry liberals posted about the JIB awards, especially the Israel Advocacy category, not one bothered mentioning this blog.

Is it because I am careful not to mix up Islam with Islamism, and Palestinian Arabs with their leaders?
Or perhaps because I am not slavishly pro-Bush?
Or maybe simply because it is too inconsequential to mention?

The Carter Center gives Hamas a free pass

Here is what the Carter Center had to say on January 5th about Hamas participating in Palestinian elections, in its entirety:

Participation of Hamas
The 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections face a unique challenge in that they include the participation of a group, the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, that defends violence (including the killing of civilians) as a means to achieving a political end, refuses to give up arms or to declare a permanent ceasefire and is committed to the destruction of a United Nations member state, Israel. While it is in the long term interest of Palestinian democratic development and likely in the long term security interests of Israel that a wide spectrum of groups participate in lawful and peaceful political processes, Hamas’ current political participation, while simultaneously advocating violence, undermines a fundamental principle of democratic elections. In an August 2002 pre-election assessment, NDI, the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), recommended the adoption of candidacy requirements for the expected 2003 PLC elections. The 2002 report also suggested that a code of conduct be developed and enforced which committed all parties to transparent and democratic principles, disallowed election related violence and restricted individuals engaged in, or advocating violence from becoming candidates.

A code of conduct was developed by the Arab Thought Forum in conjunction with NDI in late 2005, which went some way toward this goal. While stopping short of disallowing certain candidates, the code does contain important undertakings that will help enforce peaceful and fair campaigning and promote a peaceful acceptance of the results of the polls. Most political parties have signed on to the code of conduct, and Hamas, as of January 5th, also accepted and signed the code. The international community and domestic observers should be vigilant in watching for violations.

The code is a necessary but incomplete step toward ensuring that elections are about peaceful means to achieve political ends. The Palestinian Authority and newly elected PLC should, as a priority, amend the election and party laws to ensure that political entities participate in elections fairly and peacefully and do not advocate the use of violence as a political tool. This prohibition should apply equally to all groups.

Noble words indeed. Too bad it ignores the reality of Hamas in favor of what they hope Hamas is.

Addressing a Hamas rally in the southern city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, Zahar reiterated his movement's opposition to any form of economic and security cooperation with Israel.

"To all those who claim that Hamas has abandoned the resistance option because of its participation in the election, we say that we remain committed to the resistance," he declared.

"Israel is an enemy, not a partner or a friend or a neighbor. We won't negotiate with them and this is our final position. Palestine, all of Palestine, belongs to the Muslims and the Arabs and no one has the right to give up one inch of its land."

Fathi Hamad, a Hamas candidate from the Gaza Strip, said his movement would continue to develop its armed wing, Izzaddin al-Kassam, by recruiting more members and manufacturing more rockets and bombs.

I'm sure that the Carter Center will duly register its "concern" over such "unfortunate" statements, and then go ahead and certify the election anyway - while castigating Israel for limiting Hamas campaign activity in "East Jerusalem."

I have been unable to find this "code of conduct" explicitly, although many articles on the Arab Thought Forum talk about it. An Al-Jazeerah article summarized it as follows:

1-Full abiding by the provisions of the Central Election Committee;

2- Respecting the role of the national and the international observers, and cooperating with them;

3- Committing to the privacy of vote casting, and to the right of the voters to choose the electoral register freely;

4- No arms to be displayed or used during the pre-election publicity;

5- Committing to the decisions of the judiciary concerning the electoral process; and

6- Accepting the final official results of the elections which will be issued by the Central Election Committee.

Not a word about terror, violence or accepting Israel's right to exist. This is what Jimmah thinks is important - the fact that Hamas won't publicly show weapons for a few weeks.

Hamas, by waiting until January to sign this "code", allowed itself maximum time to show arms during rallies during most of the campaigning anyway.

The Jew-hater behind Scruples

Once again, Google News comes through with indexing an article that is pure, unadulterated Jew-hatred as if it is a legitimate news source.

Today's article comes from EtherZone and it combines the classic paranoia of anti-semites from centuries past with a couple of bizarre twists. His claim to not be anti-semitic is from saying most Jews aren't aware of their leaders' perfidy. Excerpts:

THE "JEWISH BANKER CONSPIRACY"
UNDERSTANDING ANTI-SEMITISM

By: Henry Makow

Just mention the "Jewish Banker Conspiracy" and you'll be as popular as a skunk at a garden party. Tolerant and sophisticated people regard this concept as a hateful and tired cliche. They believe "anti-Semites" should be slandered, sent to jail, and lose their livelihood.

But what if there actually were a "Jewish Banker Conspiracy?" Then these sophisticates would have egg on their face, wouldn't they? They'd be exposed as rubes, victims of a stereotypical Jewish deception achieved by media owned by the very same bankers.

The "Jewish Banker Conspiracy" is not a chimera. It is the plan of Rothschild-controlled central bankers to create a totalitarian system to protect their illegal private monopoly of the world's credit. They print government currency for the price of the paper and then lend it to the government with interest.

The central banking families and their allies used their unfair advantage to gain a monopoly on the world's wealth and a stranglehold on culture and politics. To make us accept their "New World Order," (a.k.a. globalization) they need to divide and degrade humanity by destroying the four pillars of our personal identity and social cohesion (nation, race, religion and family.)

They sponsor Communism, Zionism, Socialism, Neo Conservatism, Liberalism, Feminism, Multi-culturalism and "Diversity" to achieve this purpose. (Socialism substitutes government for family.) Through control of intelligence agencies and secret societies, they sponsor terrorism (incl. 9-11), revolutions, wars and depressions. They may be planning another world war.

Anti-Semitism is caused because Jewish idealists, opportunists and dupes play a prominent role in the above movements, especially Communism. As the New World Order becomes more onerous, anti-Semitism will inevitably increase. Jews need to acknowledge this rather than pretend "anti-Semites" are hallucinating.

Many "anti-Semites" like Texe Marrs and Des Griffin believe that the Jewish Pharisees accepted the offer from Satan that Jesus rejected: "I will give you the Kingdom of the World (i.e. Money, Power) if you obey me." They believe Talmudic Judaism is dedicated to enthroning Lucifer and always has conspired to destroy Christianity. The recent treatment of Christmas is proof that they are not hallucinating.

I am just beginning this immense study and shouldn't be mistaken for an expert. My present hypothesis is that enthroning Satan/Lucifer means enthroning man in the role of God. This is called Illuminism (Hence the "Enlightenment.")

God is rejected. (God represents the natural development of mankind through adherence to spiritual absolutes like morality, justice and truth.)

When gold is God, the extremely rich are the "Chosen People." This myth, together with the Talmudic and Cabalistic traditions, is a perfect mechanism for elite totalitarian control. According to Israel Shahak, Talmudic Judaism has always been a model for a closed oppressive society.

In other words, the whole Jewish enterprize, Judaism etc. may be a "powerful weapon" to enthrone a rule of the super rich, who are "Jewish" mainly by virtue of wealth. But the average Jew will take the blame in the form of anti-Semitism.

For example, the British royal family sees itself as descending from the House of David. A Jewish Mohel circumcised Prince Charles. Are the Windsors Jewish? (Douglas Reed, Somewhere South of Suez, p.356.)

Henry Kissinger once said, "a people who have been persecuted for 2000 years must be doing something wrong." His unsympathetic attitude may reflect that of his employers, the Illuminati bankers.

But check out the author!

Henry Makow, Ph.D. is the inventor of the board game Scruples and author of "A Long Way to go for a Date." His articles on feminism and the New World Order are archived at his web site. Henry is a regular columnist for Ether Zone.

The insane scribblings of a lunatic are paid for, and given legitimacy, by a popular board game!

Haveil Havalim #53 is out

This week's Haveil Havalim is hosted by Elie at Elie's Expositions.

Elie was nice enough to link to three of my posts on his own initiative; much appreciated!

I hope it is not too gauche to mention that my name is spelled with a "Y" (Elder of ZiYon) for reasons too boring to go into here.

Check it out - it is great, as usual!

Boom.

From the Telegraph:

The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president's belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.

One of the first acts of Mr Ahmadinejad's government was to donate about £10 million to the Jamkaran mosque, a popular pilgrimage site where the pious come to drop messages to the Hidden Imam into a holy well.

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour - denied by the government but widely believed - is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a "contract" pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran.

Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.

He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.

This is similar to the Christian vision of the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Hidden Imam is expected to return in the company of Jesus.

Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable.

The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?

Let Ahmadinejad answer that question:

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday evening that the Islamic Republic’s 1979 Islamic revolution was a great movement and a stepping stone to a final “great event” in the world.

Speaking to a crowd in the southern city of Roudan, Hormozgan province, Ahmadinejad said, “The Islamic Republic is the continuation of the path of the prophets which came to begin a great movement and the final occurrence”.

“The Islamic revolution was a great leap in leading the people and reaching the climax of history”, Ahmadinejad said.

Hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance for the second quote.

Q: How can you tell the difference between Palestinian plainclothes policemen and Fatah terrorists?

A: Difference?

Dozens of Palestinian gunmen, including off-duty policemen, blocked two major roads in the Gaza Strip for more than an hour Saturday in the latest sign of chaos gripping the area ahead of Jan. 25 elections.

The gunmen were demanding a government response to the killing of a policeman in a drug bust a week ago.

The protesters urged Abbas to impose order in Gaza. They also called for the resignation of Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who oversees Palestinian security.

The plainclothes officers said they are members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to Fatah.

Well, this explains how so many Palestinian Arabs have jobs as "policemen" and we never see them - they are undercover plain-clothes detectives!

The innovations from PA security forces some almost too fast to keep track of!