Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

State Department whitewashing Fatah

The annual Country Reports on Terrorism publication for 2006 was released yesterday by the State Department. Here is a list of Palestinian Arab terror organizations that it listed:

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (al-Aqsa)
The Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)

While Hamas and Islamic Jihad both have "military wings" (the Al Qassam brigades and the Al Quds Brigades) they are not listed separately - they are considered part of the larger terrorist organizations, as they should be.

But the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the "military wing" of the Fatah terrorist organization, are listed as a terror group - and Fatah is not.

It seems that politics in supporting Abbas is more important than accuracy for the State Department.

Boy, does the truth hurt!

Last week, during a Yom Ha'Atzmaut ceremony, acting President Dalia Itzik directed comments towards Israel's enemies:

"Our advice to you is replace your Katyushas and Qassams with computers and loving education, the smile of a boy that has a future, and neighborliness.

"We hear the sharpening of swords and voices of war from near and afar. In distant Iran, in nearby Syria, in the Palestinian Authority at out doorstep, there still reside fiery zealots of hate-ridden leaders that believe in their ability to harm the state of Israel," Itzik said, adding that "the citizens of Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority should think twice about why they are so thirsty for battles and blood.

"Isn't the blood that you have already spilled enough?"

The wiser PalArabs didn't bother to mention this speech, as it was a very accurate and damning indictment against the society of violence and hate that they have built over the decades. But that doesn't mean that the dumber ones can't react.

Here is what one terror-advocate wrote in response, at the "People's Voice" website where anyone can write their own "news", in an article called "Israel's Pornographic Lies":

Well, it is manifestly clear that Itzik's remarks are void of even an iota of truth and honesty. Their mendacity and brazen hypocrisy cry out to the seventh heaven.
Indeed, urging Palestinians to trade their Qassams, the primitive, ineffectual home-made projectiles, for computers, and appealing to them to stop bloodshed would have made sense had it come from a decent and peaceable state that respects human rights and observes the rule of international law.

But coming from Israel, the international pariah and perpetual violator of international law, Izik's homily can be compared to a veteran whore exhorting others to celebrate her chastity.

Well, who is occupying whose land? Who is murdering whose children? Who is demolishing whose homes? Who is narrowing whose horizons? Who is stealing whose land? And who is barring whom from accessing food and work?

More importantly, who has been committing a slow-motion genocide against whom? There are thousands of other questions that Itzik should have answered before indulging in this verbal fornication....
It is indeed lamentable that instead of urging her people to walk in the path of peace and stop killing and oppressing the already thoroughly tormented Palestinians and stealing their land and narrowing their horizons, Itzik chose to indulge in wanton lies as if lies are Israel's oxygen.

It is also especially sad that Itzik's outrageous speech went unanswered and unchallenged, neither by Israeli officials, nor by the Israeli intellectual community, nor, indeed, by the Israeli media.

This shows that the Israeli society is still suffering from a collective psychosis, a serious moral morbidity that needs a long time to heal.

Whew! While I didn't quote his entire meandering set of "facts" to prove that Israelis are bloodthirsty rapists towards a peaceful Palestinian Arab people, it sure looks like Itzik hit a nerve with this guy. And yet, in his entire screed, he couldn't point out a single "lie" that Itzik said.

(The part about a "collective psychosis" is just the latest example of Elder's First Rule of Arab Projection. His obsession with sexual analogies is perhaps a topic for another day.)

Once again, rather than admitting that the Palestinian Arab policy of unremitting violence has been counterproductive and has hurt PalArabs more than anyone else; instead of agreeing that perhaps computers are better than Qassams, we have a clueless terror apologist who just fumes and rants uncontrollably when confronted with a very simple truth.

May Day whining

It comes as no surprise that there is much unemployment in the PA. But one can always count on the infantile whiners there to put the blame anywhere but on themselves. The ridiculous "International Middle East Media Center" makes up some facts:

Unemployment is up and thousands who found work as part of the Israeli cheap labor force can no longer reach jobs due to closure, the Wall and an campaign of arrests.
In the public sector, strikes have at times over the course of the year crippled government offices, the education and health systems, security and municipal services. Trying to reach work within the West Bank and East Jerusalem has become even more difficult with the Wall completely blocking access for some, while others are forced to find lengthy routes around it. Israeli forces have destroyed or shut-down many factories in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip....
Unemployment is rising among Palestinians with an overall rate around 50 percent. There are areas where it is as high as 85 percent.

Too bad the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics disagrees, putting the unemployment rates at 18.6% in the West Bank and 34.8% in Gaza Strip. The West Bank numbers are not too much out of whack with Jordan's 14% unemployment rate.

But nowhere, and I mean nowhere, will you find a single article in Palestan that sees a correlation between PalArab terror and PalArab unemployment.

They might mention that they no longer have as many jobs in Israel as they used to, but they'll never say that perhaps some Israeli employers got rid of their PalArab workers when the workers started blowing up.

Nowhere will you see them noticing that Gaza unemployment soared when Israel left Gaza.

Nowhere will you find someone saying that it's been over six years since the terror campaign replaced Oslo, how come the Paleos haven't managed to build any real industry in that timeframe? How come they destroyed the state-of-the-art greenhouses that American Jews bought for them in Gaza? How come they constantly attacked the Erez industrial zone, killing many and forcing Israeli companies to leave?

Taking responsibility is not something that these people are capable of. It is a culture of whining and blaming others and perceived entitlements.

Mosques applying for Fed money meant to protect synagogues

The Department of Homeland Security started a $24 million grant program on adding security systems for non-profit organizations "who are deemed high-risk of a potential international terrorist attack."

This is obviously a response to repeated threats made by various Islamic terror organizations against all Jews worldwide, and because of real attacks against synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the West carried out by Muslims.

But guess who is trying to get this money? Yup, your favorite terror front organization, CAIR!

Because of all those Mossad agents targeting mosques in the US, no doubt.

Many more details at Debbie Schlussel.

Fatwa against PalArabs emigrating

It appears that the recent mass emigration of Palestinian Arabs away from that hellhole is starting to make the muftis nervous.

In this fatwa printed in the Islamic Jihad Arabic website, a fatwa is printed prohibiting leaving Palestine except for specific reasons. Here's the auto-translation from the "Association of Palestine Scholars":

God Almighty says : "O ye who believe, if you come across someone who disbelieved the march do not turn your backs to them," Qur'an 40:51.

It was observed in the past few months the migration of large numbers of our people especially the youth to foreign countries such as the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia and with the complicity of the occupation, on the pretext of crimes of the Zionist occupation incursions, assassinations, arrests and demolition of houses and the unjust embargo and the many barriers, and also because of security problems and murders, thefts, and others.

The seriousness of this phenomenon on our people, religiously, politically, socially and where we are still in a battle with the occupiers militarily, politically and economically, and it is heart-rending arrival of thousands of Jews to Palestine month despite their suffering.

Good legitimate in this case : There is impermissible for any of our people stationed migration to a foreign nation it is a Administrating day crawl only legitimate reason, such as education, treatment and other infrastructure, repatriation and parents.

What all of us patience and Almassabreh stationed resistance and the unification of the occupation forced to leave the country and the migration of Quranic verse, "O you who believe, be patient and fear steadfast, fear Allah, that ye may prosper." Qur'an 40:51

Relief is just and victory is coming soon, God says, "God will make yet given him"

"He said the Messenger of Allah and peace be upon him, "I know that victory with patience and with anguish and vaginal lining"

OK, I somehow doubt that the "vaginal lining" part is an accurate translation, but this shows how nervous these guys are, despite the bravado they display for the West.

Update on the Kotel ha-Katan

In January I blogged about the Kotel ha-Katan, a little-known part of the Western Wall that is even closer to the holiest part of the Temple.

Earlier, I had blogged an extremely disturbing story about someone who was arrested for blowing the shofar at the Kotel ha-Katan last Rosh Hashanah - by Israeli police.

It looks like it is finally starting to receive the attention it deserves.
From Arutz-7:

Unknown to most visitors to the Western Wall, the remnant of the Holy Temple compound extends to the north far beyond what they can see - and a campaign is underway to publicize this.

The Western Wall is a supporting wall of the Temple Mount complex, on which the two Holy Temples were built approximately 2,850 and 2,350 years ago, respectively. Though it is technically outside the Temple area, it has special sanctity; the rabbinic Sages taught that the Divine Presence would never leave the Western Wall.

Of the nearly 500 meters of length of the Western Wall, roughly 200 meters of the southern end [to the right of the worshipers] are easily accessible today - but the remainder is just as sacred. Another 100 meters or so are included in a tour of the Western Wall Tunnels. Above these tunnels, near the Iron Gate entrance to the Temple Mount and on Temple Mount floor level, is an open area facing a short segment of the Wall. This is the area known as the Kotel HaKatan.
One Would Not Know It
Though it is off the beaten track, the Kotel HaKatan is actually slightly more holy than the familiar Western Wall plaza, because of its closer proximity to the Holy of Holies of the ancient Temples. However, one would not know this upon visiting it - for it is hard to get to, has no trappings of a holy site, and is not even protected 24 hours a day.

An ad-hoc committee named Kotleinu, "Our Wall," is working to promote and improve conditions at the Kotel HaKatan. The committee comprises mostly residents of the Old City of Jerusalem who are concerned that the area is not treated with the respect it deserves.

The group says that of late, for the first time ever, the Tourism Ministry department in charge of Holy Sites has committed to upkeep the Kotel HaKatan. Deputy Director-General Rafi Ben-Hur acknowledged that the Ministry is responsible for the area, but said that special budgeting must be obtained before this responsibility can be actualized.

Despite this, some recent improvements at the site include a police presence during daylight hours, a security camera monitoring the area and the access road, municipality-provided street-sweeping - and even a sign that says "Do not litter."

"A no-littering sign is an improvement," an active Kotleinu member told Arutz-7, "but what we really want is a sign saying that this is a holy site and that it should be treated appropriately."

Prayer Services and Arab Bicycles
Yeshivat HaKotel maintains a daily afternoon prayer service there, and other groups and yeshivot also pray there on Shabbatot. This, despite the fact that there are no chairs or prayer stands at the site; even prayer-books cannot be stored there, as there is no security at night. Sometimes, Arab children pass through there with their bicycles, or Arab women with their shopping bags - reminiscent of the scene of the "regular" Western Wall up until several decades ago.
"If the Ministry sees that tourists from both in and out of Israel frequent the place and are interested in it," Kotleinu feels, "this will provide an incentive to upgrade it. This is why we have started a letter-writing campaign to this effect."
Kotleinu asks concerned citizens and tourists to join the campaign for improving Kotel HaKatan conditions by visiting the Small Wall and by writing to or faxing (02-6496157) Tourism Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch. A recommended sample letter can be seen here.

Jordanian report on men kissing men

Autotranslation is a very inexact science, and I cannot claim to understand every detail of this report published in Jordan and reproduced by Ma'an, but it sounded so funny I couldn't resist posting it here.

The upshot seems to be that a Jordanian study showed that men kissing men can spread disease and also seems to have some social connotations depending on how the kissing is done, so the authors recommend replacing kissing with a handshake.

Amman-Jordanian Constitution newspaper published in its issue today a report on the views of professionals and religious scholars about the phenomenon of men kiss men, a phenomenon which has spread in Arab societies.

The report showed disparity in the positions of those surveyed thought their views about the phenomenon and the following is the full text of the report, as published by the Constitution.

Spread large communities usually "kiss men for men" when they meet at some events, or after an absence, or when visiting among themselves, and perhaps that of Jordanian society in which the values of love and tolerance, and its members Surayrah purity and clarity of hearts, most communities sprouting Fihahdh phenomenon, which did not hide their aversion many Jordanians of them, citing what can be caused by complications in the event of a disease can be transmitted, in addition to the revulsion of this custom among many people who find themselves Mensakin to live with them despite what caused them hardship.

In the book Professor of Sociology Dr. Suleiman Obeidat "customs and traditions of Jordanian society" saying (that men kiss men on the cheekbones of common habits when Jordanians, and this pattern of Kissing reflects the longing and desire in the meeting).

Adds Dr. Obeidat "The Kissing on the cheekbones, it might be some kind of sympathy, it dies of a person close to him comes to people's sympathy, condolences and most unable to know its own even if it did not knew personally, and although these usually to express sympathy to the people of the deceased and alleviate the grievances, but that have many disadvantages, the Jordanians Elmsonha and talk about them, and wish to stop causes usually Kissing, and apply negative practice this habit of meetings and rallies also women, and equally applicable to the meetings and rallies men.

While Samaha says Dr. Abdel Azizakhiat and former Minister of Religious Endowments : that usually men kiss men hated so taboo, and he hates to accept men bite men, or something from it, or embraces, and then hand-shake and then Ptqubel hands of the Sultan and the world just because they inherited year-old Muslim, born of first-Sadr to this day.

Dr. facilitate Abu Rajab Al-Tamimi is internal diseases specialist said : possible impact of the men kiss men negative results of the most significant transition germ "Estrepettokukas", as composed in the throat and go abroad through the mouth and saliva, and the transmission of venereal diseases such as syphilis caused by the type of bacteria, and the transmission of viral diseases especially if the wounds in the lips, As can move Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) if the wounds in the face Natiaankin one of the parties, in addition to that Kissing given the opportunity to move respiratory viruses, such as cold viruses, influenza at the convergence of the nose above.

Dr. Atta-Khalidi, professor of psychology, said the Kiss between men and symbolic meanings : Kiss that the cheekbones between two mean equality, the man does not accept another cheekbones less centers or position or rank, Kiss between two estranged Trmazali tolerance and forgiveness, and Kiss between two occasions in the consolation mean humility and volunteer for service and assistance, and Kiss on the head mean reverence and appreciation , Kiss Stinger mean respect, and Kiss on the nose mean estimate.

He added that Dr. Khalidi usually men kiss men of old habits die when Jordanians, are an expression of love and a desire to help and participate in weddings and funerals, the time has come to abandon the practice of hand-shake and self instead.

As a professor of educational administration, Dr. Ahmed Yousef Hill : he emphasized that this habit hateful religious prohibition to a degree, and adverse health, and socially unacceptable, and that many of the sons of Jordanian society dislikes them, adding that this usually is not alone, which should stop exercising, but there are tens of negative habits and concepts which should be debated and developed , or to refrain from exercising, and his Dr. Hill said : Given the conviction and the conviction of most Jordanians need to stop this practice Elad e negative, it is proposed to initiate the Prime Minister announced the government's position on this practice, and appeal to Jordanians to stop practice in the public and private occasions, and initiate clan Jordanian announcement in Douaouinha of self in a hand-shake all events, and initiate everyone who reads this subject to discontinue the practice of this custom.

The terrible plight of PalArab prisoners

Angry Palestinian Arab family members have been demonstrating for the release of their relatives, languishing in prisons where there is a history mistreatment and torture.

Hamas asked them to be patient and rejected any use of violence on the relatives' parts.

Doesn't make sense? Of course it does - when the prisoners are in Egyptian prisons:

Palestinian security forces on Monday foiled an attempt to break into the Egyptian embassy by Palestinian family members, whose sons are being held in Egyptian jails.

Ma'an's correspondent reported that a number of people have been participating in a 'sit-in' strike for the last two days in front of the embassy, calling for the release of their sons. Today, they attempted to forcibly enter the embassy, but presidential forces intervened and dispersed them after shooting in the air.

The Hamas movement has expressed reservations over handling of the events, and rejected dealing with the issue of the arrested Palestinians in Egypt through violent means.

In a statement issued on Monday, the movement stated that "dealing with this issue can be only through dialogue. This can be achieved in the bilateral meetings with our brothers in Egypt, and also through Hamas leaders' meetings with the Egyptian ambassador in the [Gaza] Strip". The statement also highlighted that the Egyptian government "has promised that this subject will be dealt with within two months".

Hamas called on all citizens "to be patient, and give a chance for the efforts made in this regard." The movement also urged the Egyptian government and their embassy to understand the feelings of the family members, who are worried about their sons in Egyptian jails.

For some strange reason, I haven't been able to find any pictures of these distraught family members in any wire service photo, the way I see the people who demonstrate against prisoners in Israeli jails. (There are a couple of photos of PalArab police guarding the Egyptian embassy

but no pictures of the emotional protesters, as is the case for similar protests against Israel.

See here. )

In fact, it is hard to find out any information about Palestinian Arabs in Egyptian prisons - what crimes they were charged with, how long they've been detained, how many there are.

One can almost come to the conclusion that only prisoners in Israeli jails are of interest to PalArabs, even though Egypt routinely tortures prisoners with real torture, not the pseudo-torture ascribed to Western countries. It's almost like they use the prisoners for propaganda purposes, but don't really care about them on any other level. And that the wire services and "human rights" organizations play along with the fiction that only Israeli prisoners are important, while PalArabs who languish in Egyptian prisons have no value whatsoever.

Nah, that's crazy talk.

Results of years of rewarding terror

In the interview (with the Al-Ayyam paper), Mashaal also said Palestinians would renew violence if the international community continues its boycott of the Palestinian unity government, a coalition of Hamas and Fatah.
"We are doing the impossible to end the embargo on our people...if, God forbid, it continues...the results will be serious," Mashaal said.

"The explosion will be in the face of the Zionist enemy," Mashaal said.

OK, so the West stops giving some aid (while increasing other aid) to the PalArabs because the Hamas-led government won't renounce violence.

And Hamas answers that if the West doesn't stop the embargo, there will be more violence. (Against Israel, of course - he's not that stupid to threaten the West.)

It would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that the West has acceded to Arab and Muslim threats of violence for decades. Mashaal is just using a formula that has been proven successful time and time again.

So while it might seem like it makes no sense, the Pavlovian response of the West proves that terror, and threats of terror, have been mostly successful in getting the Arabs what they want. he very idea that violence is counterproductive is not even entertained by PalArab leaders.

A further proof of this happened today: Egypt scolded the PalArab terror groups for shooting rockets into Israel, calling it a "lost gamble." Their responses:

The spokesperson of the Hamas movement, Ismail Radwan, said "resistance is not gambling, but a legal right for the Palestinian people, secured by all international laws and conventions."

He told Ma'an "the Palestinian factions adhered to the ceasefire for a sufficient time, yet the Israelis broke it and so they are to blame for their aggressive actions."

Radwan affirms that as long as the Israelis violate the ceasefire, the homemade projectiles will continue to land on Israeli towns.

A leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, Khadir Habeeb, says he disagrees with the Egyptian delegation on the use of the term "gamble" to describe the hurling of homemade projectiles. However, he admits that the projectiles must be used "efficiently and not excessively". He also argued that the Palestinians unanimously agreed on the ceasefire, but it was the Israelis who violated it.

The military spokesperson of the An Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), Abu Sharif, refuted the Egyptian declarations regarding Palestinian projectiles and described them as "accusations against the Palestinian people".

Egypt is hardly against PalArab aspirations, but instead of even considering that Egypt might have a point, the Paleos instinctively berate and continue threats of terror and blaming Israel - an almost subconscious predilection for violence and redirection that seems to be a result of many years of being rewarded for just such actions and threats.

And until Israel and the West makes a consistent stand that such thinking is wholly unacceptable and will be punished rather than rewarded, it will continue.

Palestan news you may have missed

The wire agencies often have their separate section for offbeat news items. One can construct the same style of news from recent events that occurred in the nascent terror state of Palestan, but they tend to be a little...different:

Haircut fatwa:

The Supreme Fatwa Council of Palestine has issued a fatwa permitting men's and women's hairdressers to operate on condition that they do not break Islamic law.

The fatwa stated that women can be employed as hairdressers as long as they only cut the hair of women that want to look attractive for their husbands and not other men or foreigners; this would be Haram (forbidden).

It also stated that if a foreign man is present in the hairdressers, women must be prohibited from entering it.

Entrepreneurial spirit:

The Palestinian Executive Force (EF), which is affiliated to the ministry of interior, announced on Sunday that they arrested a gang that planned to kidnap children and hold them hostage for ransom money.

The group was caught whilst attempting to kidnap a child in front of a school in Gaza City. The EF have been investigating and monitoring the suspects for 3 days.

The EF said in a statement "the group was caught whilst attempting to kidnap a boy near his school and they admitted during interrogation that they were planning to ask for $10,000 from his father."

Student debate gets violent:

More than 20 students were injured in clashes that erupted between Hamas and Fatah student blocs at Al-Quds university in Abu Dis, in the West Bank, on Sunday afternoon.

The clashes erupted during a debate between the students in preparation for the student senate elections to be held on Monday. Eight student blocs are meant to be competing in the elections.

Terror is declared legal:

Several Palestinian resistance factions on Sunday affirmed their right to retaliate to Israeli military operations, rejecting the statement of the head of the Egyptian security delegation, who depicted the launching of homemade projectiles at Israeli targets as "a lost gamble".

The spokesperson of the Hamas movement, Ismail Radwan, said "resistance is not gambling, but a legal right for the Palestinian people, secured by all international laws and conventions."

Joooos behind Hindenburg disaster?

In an otherwise generic article about the 70th anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster at a South African aviation website comes this jawdropper:

LZ 129 Hindenburg and sister-ship LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were German airships, called zeppelins. The two had an impressive safety record: the Graf Zeppelin had flown safely for more than 1 million miles, and made the first circumnavigation of the globe. The controversy relates to the cause of the fire in such a safe aircraft. The cause is still unknown and theories persist that the fire was sabotage.

One of several theories is that Adolf Hitler ordered the destruction of the Hindenburg in retaliation for the Zeppelin company's openly anti-Nazi stance. Another theory is that Zionist agents working against anti-semitic Germany were behind the fire.

Say what? I just quickly Googled through the seamy underbelly of the web and didn't find any such theory anywhere.

But I'm sure we will start seeing it now!

Today's Palspeak/Reuters word: "siege"

In standard English, the word "siege" means:

the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible.

But in PalArabia, the word takes on a different meaning:

“There is a possibility of the lifting of the siege on the Palestinian people, it will come gradually,” Abbas said in Cairo on Saturday. “We didn’t feel that there are problems with the European countries, either in terms of the lifting of the financial siege or the political siege.”

That article, from the Daily Times in Pakistan, correctly puts "siege" in scare quotes and refers to the sanctions as an "embargo."

But look how Reuters captions this picture:

A Palestinian woman attends a rally against the siege in Gaza April 29, 2007. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

As soon as Mahmoud Abbas open his mouth, the Reuters editors scramble to update their stylebook to stay in sync. And in this case, they are more biased than the newspapers in Pakistan!

For Olmert, forever is a long, long time

From YNet:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel "cannot continue to ignore the Qassam lunching [sic] and infiltration attempts of terrorist cells."
He stressed that "Israel has conveyed clear messages to the Palestinian Authority and international authorities that it did not want an escalation but would not avoid the necessary steps to protect the residents of the South."

Where have we heard that before?

Oh yes - over two months ago:

Olmert said that if the Kassam rocket attacks on Israel continue, Israel would have to retaliate. "We are not going to restrain ourselves forever," he said. "The continued attacks challenge Israel's patience. In the end, if the attacks continue, we will respond."

And in December, in a letter to the UN:

"Israel is demonstrating restraint and has avoided retaliating at this stage, but warns the Security Council that this restraint cannot continue for much longer."

Olmert's strong words ("we are a little disappointed") extend all the way back to the fourth day of the "cease fire," in late November.

And even earlier, when the "cease fire" was brand-spanking new and already breached:

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday morning that any attempt to fire into Israeli territories would be considered a breach of the cease-fire and treated with severity.

According to Peretz, Israel is interested in quiet, but would not accept attacks on its citizens.

It's so reassuring to know that Israel's leaders don't intend to wait forever to respond to Qassams. Perhaps for two or ten or a hundred years, but not forever.

Forty-one years after he retired from baseball, Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax was the final player chosen in the draft to stock the six teams for the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League.

Koufax, 71, was picked by the Modi'in Miracle in the draft conducted Thursday night by former major league general manager Dan Duquette, who heads baseball operations for the league.

"His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league," said former big leaguer Art Shamsky, who will manage the Miracle. "It's been 41 years between starts for him. If he's rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team."

In the 1965 World Series, Koufax refused to pitch Game 1 for Los Angeles because it fell on Yom Kippur.

In his career with the Dodgers, in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, the left-hander threw four no-hitters, including one perfect game. He retired due to arm problems after the 1966 season and was later voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Cease fire funnies

Israel killed three Hamas terrorists planting a bomb by the border in Gaza.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the Islamist militant group, which leads a Palestinian unity government, has the right to respond to the deaths by "all means available".
He called the incident a violation of the five-month-old Gaza ceasefire, which all but collapsed earlier this week when Hamas's armed wing started firing rockets into Israel.