Second Temple virtual model

From the Jerusalem Archaeological Park website.

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Arafatization of Hamas, part IV

It looks like Hamas can have its cake and eat it, too.

One of the major differences between Hamas and Fatah is that Fatah consistently and shamelessly lied to the Western media and politicians to achieve its goals, and Hamas keeps its outright lies to a minimum.

What Hamas is starting to learn now is that the media, the EU and much of the liberal "intelligentsia" is so emotionally invested in the idea of "peace" that they will even believe things that Hamas isn't saying. As long as their spokesperson wears a suit and smiles, the gullible West is more than happy to report that Hamas is moderating, Hamas is pragmatic, Hamas is someone that can be dealt with.

And Hamas' mainstreaming is happening at a startling speed, even while they continue to spew hate explicitly in their videos and websites and mosques. The World Bank approved $60 million to the new Hamastan, France and Russia favor talks with the terrorists, the EU's Solana says that aid will continue, the US is hinting that it might reconsider its threats to stop the money flow, China and Spain have said they will talk to Hamas.

And this is all happening while Hamas is gearing up to get the bulk of its aid from Hezbollah, Iran, Saudi Arabia and every other anti-Western entity it can find so it can be independent from US aid.

It appears that Hamas is betting that world Jew-hatred is more powerful than the world's revulsion at Islamist terror. And so far, it looks like it is a safe bet.

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Useful idiots of the day: Greenpeace

From Iran's GoozNews:

Given the years a country needs to produce a nuclear weapon and assuming that Iran intends to do so, there is no need to rush in sending Iran's nuclear case to the Security Council, said Paul Horseman, a spokesman for Greenpeace International.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) decision to report Iran to the UN Security Council will seriously increase the risk of escalating tensions in the region and is counter-productive," added the British peace activist.

In an interview with IRNA on Tuesday, Horseman said that representatives of his organization in different countries are doing all they can to convince governments of the mistake they are making of referring Iran to the Security Council.

"Reporting Iran to the UN has created a vacuum of confidence building, a situation that IAEA head ElBaradei said he was intent on avoiding," said the disarmament campaigner.

"Board members supporting the EU-3 draft resolution have effectively shot themselves in the foot. The Iran crisis has been brought closer to the brink."
Emphasizing on the similar approaches undertaken by the US and UK in the months before the military attack on Iraq in 2003, Horseman said that by rushing into conclusions the international community will not have the chance to resolve the situation through diplomatic means.

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Muslims finally find cartoon character to attack

After searching for weeks, Muslims finally found a cartoon character to pour their seething wrath upon. The hapless man was publicly dragged through the streets of Lahore, Pakistan.

The brave victim, a Mr. McDonald, remained calm and silent during his ordeal, which soon took a turn for the worse.

A true hero, Mr. McDonald mocked his attackers with a smile even as body burned in the streets and his attackers beat him repeatedly with sticks.

Sources say that former president Bill Clinton knew Mr. McDonald personally, and was devastated at his death.

The fact that he was killed while defending Western culture assures him a place in Paradise, and his status as a martyr is secure. We will be seeing his name on restaurants, playgrounds and other public squares around the world.

He will not be forgotten, and we can take comfort in the fact that he has unlimited Happy Meals where he is now.
(Hat tip AbbaGav)

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The Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest

The best idea yet - let Jews run their own offensive cartoon contest! Check out the brilliant logo and the other graphics on the page:

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GoozNews

I just found out that one of the Farsi words for "fart" is "gooz."

So, without comment, here is today's GoozNews from Iran:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Monday afternoon, "The message of the Iranian nation's Islamic Revolution is peace and security for entire mankind, based on monotheism, justice, and nobility of human beings."

Iran's former president and Head of International Institute for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations Mohammad Khatami said insulting others is not compatible with democracy and those who have insulted Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) must apologize for their shameful act.

Hundreds of students of Jamia Hamdard University condemned the blasphemy committed on Islam's holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) by a number of Western publications.

Hundreds of students, teaching staff and non-teaching staff of Jamia Hamdard today held a demonstration inside its campus, voiced their hatred towards Denmark, US, the Zionist regime and European Union for condoning the publications and called on the world's Muslims to boycott Western products, particularly those of the US and Denmark.

Issuing a warning, the demonstrators chanted slogans such as `Death to US', `Death to Denmark', `Death to the Zionist regime' and `Death to Britain', and called on the world's Muslims to further protest such moves. They called US President George W Bush "the most ruthless criminal in history."

A number of theology and Basiji (volunteer forces) students gather in front of the British Embassy in Tehran on February 14, 2006, in protest over the publication of the blasphemous cartoons against the Muslim Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a number of European press.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Saturday that the real holocaust should be sought in Palestine, where the blood of the oppressed nation is shed every day and Iraq, where the defenseless Muslim people are killed daily.

Stressing that these crimes mark western liberalism, he noted that the Zionists are about to be annihilated and that the era of occupation of Palestine is over.

The chief executive added that meanwhile, the destruction of colonial and Zionist culture is quite obvious.

Turning to the fact that Zionism has lost its philosophical foundations, he called on the Western states to resume worshiping God Almighty rather than selling the glory of enlightenment to the disgrace of being subject to the Zionists.

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Hmmmm

Someone found my site by searching for "elder porn".

Apparently, some Canadian likes me!

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Saudi prince: Jews are subhuman

How else can you reconcile these two statements?

In other remarks, al-Faisal said that for all the shock in the Western world about the suicide attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and in Iraq, most Muslims were even more surprised.

The attacks were the result of a cultlike attitude fomented by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden that ran counter to the central tenets of Islam, which holds that "killing one soul is like killing all of mankind," Prince Turki al-Faisal said.

"Inasmuch as the West was surprised, if you like, by this culture of death, I can assure you that the majority of Muslims were even more surprised because this culture of death runs counter to everything that Muslims hold dear to themselves," al-Faisal said.

"Nothing justifies any terrorist act whether through suicide bombing or through any other activity," al-Faisal said.

And then immediately afterwards, in the same talk:

Still, he distinguished the suicide attacks carried out by Palestinian groups against Israel, saying the attacks were justified by groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad as "legitimate means of war under occupation."

So "killing one soul is like killing all of mankind" unless that soul happens to be Jewish and living in an area that Muslims consider Judenrein. In that case, it is praiseworthy.

This is our close ally.

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Win a trip to Israel

Honest Reporting is giving away a free trip to Israel.

"Grand Prize is a trip for 2, including round trip airfare from New York, with a 5 night stay at the 5 star Jerusalem Pearl Hotel, plus a 2 night stay at the Dan Hotel in Herzliya.

"When you sign up for the raffle, you'll also become an HonestReporting subscriber, supporting Israel's battle against media bias."

(Disclaimer: If you enter the raffle by clicking on the link above, I get an additional chance to win myself. But I am a big fan of Honest Reporting anyway.)

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What the hell was Arafat thinking?

We all know that the Intifada was an amazingly bad move on the part of Arafat, taking the Palestinian Arabs from being hopeful about a possible future state into a suicidal terror existence. We know that most Palestinian Arabs were employed in Israel before the Intifada and that the Palestinian Arab economy has plummeted because of the loss of most of these jobs.

But I just stumbled onto some Palestinian economic statistics showing to what degree Palestinian Arabs depend on Israel for their livelihoods. Without Jews buying their goods, Palestine could never exist.

(Palestinian Arab) Foreign Trade

Foreign Trade Indicators, 1997-2000 Value in Million US $

Exports Imports Indicators	1997	1998	1999	2000
Total Palestinian Exports	382	395	372	401
Total Palestinian Exports by Country
Exports to Israel	358	382	360	370
Exports to Arab Countries	19	11	10	29
Export to other countries	5	2	2	2

Over 92% of their exports went to Israel before the intifada. The same site shows 73% of Palestinian Arab imports came from Israel in 2000.

Arafat must have known these statistics. He must have known that starting up a war with the very nation that you are completely dependent upon is economic suicide.

Yet, who among the Arab world is willing to say a bad word about Arafat? Who has the honesty to say that Arafat caused more pain to the Palestinian people than any other human being? While Israel built their infrastructure, increased their life expectancy and decreased their infant mortality rates, gave them jobs and electricity and water and a hope for peace and independence, Yasir Arafat single-handedly threw it all away.

As long as Arabs consider him a hero, as long as their capacity for self-delusion is so spectacularly high, as long as their hatred for Jews surpasses their love for their own people, there is no hope for peace. And everyone with a brain knows this.

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Evil Jews taking dhimmi money for infidel holiday. Happy Valentine's Day!

An air train of 27 cargo jets have delivered 100 million flowers over the past two weeks for St. Valentine’s Day tomorrow. El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), Cargo Air Lines (CAL) and foreign airlines handled the shipments.

Israel Flower Growers Association secretary general Haim Hadad says Valentine’s Day is a peak export event for flower growers, who prepare for it months in advance, growing special red flowers. Target markets are the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, the UK, US, and Russia. Flower growers, exporters and airlines have created an efficient network for delivering flowers to Europe within 24-48 hours of being picked.

Israel’s flowers centers are the northern Negev, Lachish region, Sharon, Emek Hefer, Jezreel Valley, Arava, and Jordan Valley.

Flowers overseas cost $0.50-0.60 each ahead of Valentine’s Day, double the usual price. Hadad estimates that export sales will total $50 million. Valentine’s Day has been marked in Israel in recent years, with many people sending red flowers to their loved ones.

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Neo-Islam (Amir Taheri)

It is nice when knowledgable columnists echo things I've been saying. I think that he is overemphasizing the role of the West in creating this "neo-Islamic" Salafist movement (clearly there are masses of Middle Eastern Muslims brainwashed by political Islam without any help from the West) but altogether a very worthwhile article.

February 12, 2006 -- 'GOD? What about him?" the sheik asked with a frown.

We were in a London mosque, discussing the sermons the sheik delivers at Friday congregations. I had asked why God almost never featured in (or, at best, got a cameo role) in sermons that focused almost exclusively on political issues.

For the sheik, what mattered was "the sufferings of our brethren under occupation." In other words: In our Islam, we don't do God — we do Palestine, Kashmir and Iraq!

Here we have a religion without a theology, a secular wolf disguised as a religious lamb.

How did this neo-Islam — a political movement masquerading as religion — come into being, and how can those who know little about Islam distinguish it from the mainstream of the faith?

USING Islam as a vehicle for political ambitions is not new. The Umayyads used it after the Prophet's death to set up a dynastic rule. Three of the four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad were assassinated in the context of political power games presented as religious disputes.

Fast forward to the 19th century, and the Persian adventurer Jamaleddin Assadabadi, who disguised himself as an Afghan to hide his Shiite origin and set out to build a career in the mostly Sunni land of Egypt. Although a Freemason, Jamal (who dubbed himself Sayyed Gamal) concluded that the only way to win power among Muslims was by appealing to their religious sentiments. So he transformed himself into an Islamic scholar, grew an impressive beard and donned a huge black turban to underline his claim of being a descendant of the Prophet.

His partner was Mirza Malkam Khan, an Armenian who claimed to have converted to Islam. Together, they launched the idea of an "Islamic Renaissance" (An-Nahda) and promoted the concept of a "perfect Islamic government" under an "enlightened despot."

Malkam had a slogan of unrivaled cynicism: "Tell the Muslims something is in the Koran, and they will die for you."

The trick worked, because the overwhelming majority of Muslims didn't know Arabic, and those who did had as much difficulty reading the Koran as an English speaker has with Chaucer.

LATER in the century, the campaigns of Sayyed Gamal and Mirza Malkam produce the Salafi movement. The term comes from the phrase aslaf al-salehin ("the worthy ancestors") and evokes the hope of reviving "the pure Islam of the early days under Muhammad."

The Salafi movement gave birth to the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-Moslemeen) led by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt (1928), and to an Iranian Shiite version, the Fedayeen of Islam, led by Muhammad Navab-Safavi (1941).

In the '40s the movement produced two other children. The first was a hybrid of Marxism and Islam concocted by a Pakistani journalist Abul-Ala al-Maudoodi, who saw himself as "the Lenin of Islam." The other was a hybrid of Nazism and Islam promoted by the Palestinian Mufti Haj Amin al-Hussaini and Rashid Ali al- Gilani, an Iraqi firebrand of Iranian origin.

From the 1930s through the 1960s, the offspring of Salafism organized terrorist operations killing hundreds of people, but failed to win power anywhere. Instead, most Muslim nations were seduced by Western ideologies such as nationalism, socialism and communism. Yet most of those ideologies lost their luster by the 1970s — and various versions of the Salafi movement began to fill the vaccuum.

In 1979, it won power in Iran under a semi-literate mullah named Ruhallah Khomeini. In the 1980s, it dominated Pakistan through a group of army officers known as "the Koran Generals." In 1992 it came close to seizing power in Algeria through the Front for Islamic Salvation (FIS). In 1995, it seized power in Kabul under the banner of the Taliban. Most recently, it won the election in the West Bank and Gaza under the label of Hamas.

SALAFISM'S biggest successes, how ever, have come in the West — where the emergence of large communities of Muslims has created a space in which neo-Islam can thrive.

This new space is of crucial importance for two reasons.

* It allows Salafism to promote its ideas and recruit militants in freedom — something not possible in most Muslim countries, where local despots won't tolerate any breach of their control of the public space.

* Muslims living in the West have no first-hand experience of the intolerance and terror that neo-Islam has practiced in Muslim countries for decades. Instead, they see Islam as an element of their identity and, although seldom going to the mosque, consider neo-Islamist militants as "lobbyists" for themselves.

Anxious to control its constituency within Western democracies, neo-Islam, in its different versions, uses tactics developed by other totalitarian ideologies, notably fascism and communism.

ITS first move was to promote a visual apartheid to distinguish its adherents from the rest of society — in the same way that Lenin, Hitler and Mao wanted their followers to wear specific uniforms.

For men, the props are beards, khaksari (earthly) garments such as shirts falling down to the knees, baggy shalwar (pantaloons), an araqchin (cloth cap), a checkered Palestinian neck-scarf and sandals or shoes without laces. The garments must never come in bright colors (although green was the color of Mohammed's clan, the Bani-Hashim); black and white are the preferred shades of neo-Islam. The neo-Islamist will also always carry a worry bead plus a miswak (a wooden tooth pick), which is supposed to have been favored by the Prophet.

When it comes to women, the choice of clothes is even more limited. Women are obliged to cover their hair, and also avoid bright colors. The more radical neo-Islamists promote the burqa, a head-to-toe drape with two holes for the eyes.

Only a small minority of the world's Muslims follow this visual apartheid. Some of the most outrageous neo-Islam outfits can be seen only in the West, never in any Muslim country.

Once visual apartheid is achieved, the neo-Islamist moves to Phase Two: making his followers brain-dead. This is done by persuading them that there is a unique Islamic answer to all questions ever asked or ever to be asked.

And where does the answer come from? From "fatwa factories" set up by (often semi-literate) sheiks in some Muslim countries. The most complex issues of life, from banks charging interest to euthanasia, are often answered with a simple "yes" or "no."

The idea is that, as Maudoodi (the "Lenin of Islam") believed, Islam was sent by God to turn men into robots obeying divine rules as spelled out by the sheiks.

Maudoodi claimed that, when God created man, He made His creature's biological existence subject to "unquestionable laws." Yet God failed to to apply the same rule to man's spiritual, political and cultural existence. Realizing His mistake, God sent Mohammed to preach Islam, which provides the "unquestionable laws" needed for the non-material aspects of man's existence.

NEO-ISLAM pursues its culture of apartheid by dividing the world into "Islam" and "un-Islam."

Wherever Muslims are a majority is designated as Dar al-Islam (House of Peace); the rest of the world is Dar al-Harb (House of War) or, at best, Dar al-Da'awah (House of Propagation). The claim is that it is enough to be a Muslim to be always right against non-Muslims.

This is not how Muhammad taught Islam. His biography is full of instances where he ruled against a Muslim in a dispute with a non-Muslim. For him, the world was divided between "right" and "wrong," and "good" and "evil," not Islam and non-Islam. It is possible to be a Muslim and do evil things, while a non-Muslim could also be an agent of good.

That neo-Islam is uncomfortable with the idea of religion as something to do with God is not surprising. In Islam, the only absolute and immutable truth is the Oneness of God. Thus what the Koran or shariah (not to mention self-appointed sheiks) offer are relative matters, open to infinite interpretations.

Neo-Islam's attempt at destroying individual freedoms is as much a threat to Islam as the Inquisition was to Christianity.

To protect itself, Islam needs to revive its theology with emphasis on divinity (marefat al-ilahiyah). In other words, Islam must re-become a religion.

THIS does not mean that Muslims should stay out of politics or ignore Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir or any other cause. What it means is that they should recognize that these and similar causes are political, not religious, ones. Nobody prevents Muslims from practicing their faith in Palestine or Kashmir. These disputes are about territory, borders and statehood, not about faith.

Neo-Islam is a form of fascism, hence the term Islamofascism. Its primary victims are Muslims, both in Muslim majority countries and in the West.

In many Muslim countries, neo-Islam has been exposed as a political movement and can no longer deceive the masses. In the West, however, it is has managed to dupe parts of the media, government and academia into treating it not as the political movement it is, but as the expression of Islam as a religion.

It is time to end that deception and recognize neo-Islam in its many manifestations as a political phenomenon.

Neo-Islam has as much right to operate in the political field as any other party in a democracy. But it does not have the right to pretend to be a religion — it is not.

Iranian author Amir Taheri is a member of Benador Associates.

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Self-interest, free speech, and shafting Denmark

The Betrayal of Denmark

It is worth reading in full. Here are my comments:

The West has sacrificed its ideals and thrown democratic, liberal Denmark under a train to try to mollify people who want us dead anyway. It is a disgrace and it is against our own deeply-held convictions.

In the end, everyone does what is in their self-interest. Sometimes the self-interest in money, sometimes it is human lives, but too rarely does self-interest easily coincide with ideals, except for those who truly can think long-term.

I once worked for a major telecommunications company who proudly spoke of its ideals, and how it would stand up against discrimination in its own policies as well as when dealing with others. When we were being told this spiel, I asked a simple question: If Saudi Arabia wanted a billion dollar contract with the company but says that no Jews may come and work on it, would they turn down the contract? The hemming and hawing answer made it clear that ideals only go so far.

Denmark does not have the market share of many products that Arab countries do. Denmark does not threaten the lives of those who do things that it disagrees with. Therefore, Denmark gets shafted.

Newspapers that pretend to have lofty standards suddenly forget their own slogans when faced with either economic or physical harm. If they would be honest about it, that wouldn't be so bad, but when they cloak their fear in high-minded concepts like "respect for the feelings of others" they are just hypocrites.

It is not only newspapers; but it is countries as well. The lack of vehemence in supporting Denmark's free speech and the amount of scraping and bowing to irrational demands of a few members of a religion is telling.

It is understandable that nations and companies and media outlets will want to act in short-term self-interest, but what they are not seeing is that in the long term, this is not self-interest - it is slow suicide before the onslaught of radical Islam in its desire to take over the world. Apologizing to would-be mass murderers will not make them like you; all it does is make it easier for them to crap on you next time.

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Iran is a threat that cannot wait

The Telegraph is reporting on US contingency plans to take out Iran's nuclear capabilities, and the Boston Globe is talking about how Iran could react to a strike:

Iran is prepared to launch attacks using long-range missiles, secret commando units, and terrorist allies planted around the globe in retaliation for any strike on the country's nuclear facilities, according to new U.S. intelligence assessments. Obtained with the assistance of North Korea, Shahab 3 long-range missiles could be tipped with chemical warheads and strike Israel and U.S. military bases in the region. Iran is believed to have at least 20 launchers that are frequently moved around the country to avoid detection.
Iran purchased at least a dozen X-55 cruise missiles from Ukraine in 2001 that are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as far as Italy. Intelligence officials also point out that Iran controls a small island at the mouth the Strait of Hormuz and could use missiles and gunboats to temporarily shut off access to the economically vital Persian Gulf, sparking an oil crisis.

Plus a US strike to Iran would not be surgical but could lead to a much longer engagement:

A report, "Iran: Consequences of a War," written by Professor Paul Rogers and published Monday by the Oxford Research Group, says attacks on Iranian facilities, most of which are in densely populated areas, would be surprise ones, allowing no time for evacuations or other precautions. Rogers, of the University of Bradford's peace studies department, says: "A military operation against Iran would not...be a short-term matter but would set in motion a complex and long-lasting confrontation.

It seems clear that fears of Iranian retaliation now should not enter into the equation of deciding when to attack, because their capabilities will only increase over time, heading towards nukes (anyone who believes that their nuclear program is peaceful is a fool.)

I think that any US attack on Iran will result in a full scale ground-war retaliation - against Israel. Just like Saddam Hussein sent his Scuds to Israel trying to escalate the war into an Arab/Israeli war, Ahmadinejad will do the same thing in his attempt to be the undisputed leader of the Muslim world. Unlike Saddam, he really will send chemical warheads and dirty bombs to Israel. Any military option will be very, very ugly.

But waiting for UN Security Council resolutions will make the ultimate war even worse. A nuclear Iran is far worse than a nuclear North Korea.

The US should immediately enforce a total embargo against Iran of all goods. It should tell every trading partner that if they trade with Iran, they lose their business with the US. Iran is getting stronger by the week but it cannot survive for more than a few months without trade with Russia and other countries. The main non-military option to avoid the deaths of thousands of people cannot wait. And it is time for the US to use its economic might as a non-lethal weapon, exactly the way that Arabs and Muslims always threaten to use theirs.

It would start an economic crisis, but that is far better than the alternative.

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Haveil Havalim #57 published

This week's Haveil Havalim is being hosted this week by one of my favorite bloggers, AbbaGav. As usual, it is an excellent roundup, taking up far more time than I can imagine.

Through it I found some interesting cartoon comments that I had missed, plus lots of interesting posts on other topics.

And I am honored that AbbaGav mentioned two of my posts as well. He hit the posts that I liked the best, but the blogosphere liked this one by far (thanks to a link from SimplyJews, a blog made up by fellow Elders.)

While I am at it, last night I passed the 20,000 page hit mark, with the last 10K coming much quicker than I had hit the initial 10K (5 months versus 12). Thanks to all who read me and hopefully appreciate my posts.

Have a great week!

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