US official praises Palestinian Arab press

A US official in the American Consulate in Jerusalem celebrated World Press Freedom Day in Ramallah:

Today, 3 May, is the United Nations' World Press Freedom Day, celebrated around the world. The United States consul for press affairs in Jerusalem, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, invited members of the Palestinian press to a special celebration in the West Bank city of Ramallah to honour the achievements of Palestinian journalists.

In her speech, Schweitzer-Bluhm applauded the Palestinian journalists for their "dedication to service", "commitment to getting at the truth" and "solidarity and bravery in the face of intimidation."

She particularly expressed her appreciation of the obstacles Palestinian media personnel must overcome to carry out their jobs, mentioning roadblocks, checkpoints, accusations of bias, threats, violence and gunfire. "Despite these obstacles, you do get the news out every day," she congratulated.

She applauded Palestinian journalists for challenging their own government, governments of neighbouring countries and the government of the United States. "Your inquiries and reports are a required part of a democratic Palestinian society," she said. "You are providing your fellow citizens with the information, the tools, to make decisions and be active members of their society. I urge you to continue to question and investigate and report."

Schweitzer-Bluhm described all attacks on journalists and freedom of speech as "despicable", adding, "And to those who would try to intimidate you or curtail your freedom of speech, I say no one is free if there is not freedom of information," she said.

Now, I spend a fair amount of time reading Palestinian Arab news sources in both English and autotranslated Arabic. With one exception, every major news source is clearly aligned with a political party, and the news is slanted that way (for example, Fatah-leaning newspapers will refer to Fatah victims of intraPal violence as "martyrs", and Hamas-leaning papers will do the same for Hamas victims.) With one exception, even basic journalistic standards of unbiased reporting is completely ignored in the Palestinian Arab media. Wafa, Al-Ayyam, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Paltoday - all of them have the journalistic standards of the National Enquirer.

The one exception is Ma'an News, which to its credit will take on PalArab corruption and internal violence. Ma'an is not afraid to report negative things about the PA.

But its impartiality ends at the Green Line. While a Reuters or an AP may highlight and believe every absurd claim of violence that PalArabs have against Israel, they will at least mention if Israel denies the accusation. Not so for Ma'an - any random "witness" is believed completely when the accusation is against Israel, and no attempt is even made to confirm these stories.

I don't know whether the reason for Ma'an's partiality is because their reporters have no interest in the truth, or if they are afraid to report the truth, or if they are simply so brainwashed that they can't even conceive that there might be another side to the story. But there is simply no Palestinian Arab news outlet that can be said to be helpful in advancing the cause of peace with Israel.

And Ma'an is the best of the lot. One only needs to read Palestinian Media Watch or MEMRI to see the blatant anti-semitism, lionization of death and murder, and absurd hate that permeates the Palestinian Arab media.

And for this US official to praise this supposed press freedom without any reservations is very troubling indeed.

UPDATE: Islamic Jihad celebrated World Press Freedom Day with a statement that perverts the entire idea of freedom. Autotranslated from Paltoday:

Demanded that the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine today, the occasion of World Press Freedom Day today, Thursday,, the masses of journalists, to focus on the fundamentals it meets all our people away from the differences and contradictions Media battalion is developed in all our battles.

The movement said in a statement the "Palestine today," a copy of which, the role played by the media in highlighting the novel and impose national, and avoid discord and show Unionist voice of our people.

The movement said in a statement "the day World Press Freedom Day, journalists live atmosphere of persecution and oppression and gagged and confiscated liberties, spared no prosecutions were kidnapped and killed and arrested, at the hands of the enemies of freedom around the world, topped by the head of the evil American and pampered State of the Zionist entity."

Nice of them to tell the media what they should cover to advance their cause. The fact that they have RPGs to back up their request shouldn't be a problem at all.

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Reasons for decline of the Muslim world (Husain Haqqani)

This article, by the Muslim director of Boston University's Center for International Relations, tells the straight truth about the Muslim world today.

So why is it only being printed in the Brunei Times and the Gulf News?

Reasons for decline of the Muslim world

Husain Haqqani

03-May-07

THE Muslim world seems to be in the grip of all kinds of rumours. The willingness of large numbers of Muslims to believe some outrageous assertions reflects pervasive insecurity coupled with widespread ignorance.

The contemporary Muslim fascination for conspiracy theories limits the capacity for rational discussion of international affairs.

For example, a recent poll indicates that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that al-Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the United States, notwithstanding Osama bin Laden and his deputies have taken credit for the attacks on more than one occasion.

The acceptance of rumours and the readiness to embrace the notion of a conspiracy does not apply exclusively to the realm of politics.

Villagers in rural Nigeria are refusing to administer the polio vaccine to their infant children out of fear that the vaccine will make their offspring sterile.

Some religious leaders in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanistan have also voiced concerns about a "Western-Zionist conspiracy" to sterilise the next generation of Muslims as part of what they allege is an "ongoing war against Islam".

Mobile phones and the Internet, the pervasiveness of which is often cited as a measure of a society's progress and modernity, have become a means of spreading fear in the Muslim world.

Text messages, originating from the Pakistani city of Sialkot, recently warned people of a virus if people answered phone calls from certain numbers.

The virus would not hurt the phone, the messages said, but would rather kill the recipient.

The panic caused by the rumours forced the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to issue a denial. Phone companies sent out text messages urging people to be calm.

A newspaper rejected the rumour but featured the headline, Killer Mobile Virus.

A text message widely circulated in an Arab country claimed that trucks carrying a million melons had been smuggled across the country's northern border and the melons were contaminated with the HIV virus, which causes Aids.

No one paid any attention to the fact that the HIV virus cannot be transmitted by eating melons.

The Muslim world has a high rate of illiteracy but ignorance reflected by the readiness to believe unverified (and sometimes totally outrageous) claims is not just a function of illiteracy.

It is a function of bigotry and fear. Literate Muslims, such as those involved in the text message rumour-mongering, are as vulnerable to ignorant behaviour as illiterate ones.

Conspiracy theories have been popular among Muslims since the twilight years of the Ottoman Empire as a way of explaining the powerlessness of a community that was at one time the world's economic, scientific, political and military leader.

The erosion of the leadership position of Muslims coincided with the West's gradual technological ascendancy.

The Persian, Mughal and Ottoman empires controlled vast lands and resources but many important scientific discoveries and inventions since the 15th century came about in Europe and not in the Muslim lands.

Ignorance is an attitude and the world's Muslims have to analyse, debate and face it before they can deal with it.

The 57-member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference have around 500 universities compared with more than 5,000 universities in the US and more than 8,000 in India. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an "Academic Ranking of World Universities", and none of the universities from Muslim-majority states was included in the top 500.

The Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Western nations spend around 5 per cent of GDP on producing knowledge.

The tendency of Muslim masses to accept rumours as fact and the readiness to believe anything that suggests a non-Muslim conspiracy to weaken or undermine the Muslims is the result of the overall feeling of helplessness and decline that permeates the Muslim world.

Most Muslim scholars and leaders try to explain Muslim decline through the prism of the injustices of colonialism and the subsequent ebb and flow of global distribution of power.

But Muslims are not weak because they were colonised. They were colonised because they had become weak.

Conspiracy theories paper over the knowledge deficit and attitude of ignorance in the Muslim world. It is time for a discussion of the Ummah's decline in the context of failure to produce and consume knowledge and absorb verifiable facts.

Husain Haqqani is director of Boston University's Centre for International Relations, and Co-chairman of the Islam and Democracy Project at Hudson Institute, Washington DC. He is author of the book "Pakistan between Mosque and Military".

There is something seriously wrong when repressive Muslim regimes can print something like this but the liberal US media, supposedly dedicated to free speech, wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

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PalArabs extend winning streak to 21

During the week from April 26-May 2, Palestinian Arabs managed to kill at least 6 PalArabs. The mighty IDF, perhaps demoralized by the Winograd report, only managed to kill 2, according to PCHR.

(One of those 2 is denied by the IDF so it is probable that the score is really a 7-1 rout.)

This marks 21 consecutive weeks where Paleos managed to kill each other in greater numbers than the "genocidal" IDF.

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Many Gazans prefer occupation

Ha'aretz on Sunday published one of the most detailed articles about how bad things are in Gaza that I have ever read. It's worth reading the whole article by Avi Issacharoff - it details the murders, honor killings, clan clashes, prostitution, drug dealing and all the other chaos in the Strip.

Two points from the article are worth noting, and both are never mentioned in any media:

The [Palestinian Arab Gaza] journalist adds: "There are two options today that could take us out of this situation: Someone strong in the Gaza Strip who does not care about a confrontation with the clans, or an Israeli occupation. Many people in the Strip hope that Israel will reoccupy it because these phenomena were not prevalent during the Israeli occupation."

In the reality that is Gaza, where economic hardship screams out, there are quite a few Palestinians who wish to send Qassam rockets at its northern neighbor - and not necessarily for ideological reasons. The head of a unit of launchers gets $5,000 from the organization that sends him on his mission for releasing a salvo of rockets - an enormous sum in Gazan terms. The members of the unit receive several hundred dollars. The economic temptation is immense. It is less important to those launching the rockets whether the target is actually hit. That may be important only to those who wish to see the IDF return as an occupier to Gaza.

These two items - that many Gazans are hoping for Israeli re-occupation, and that rocket crews get paid huge amounts - are facts that you will never see in a Western newspaper. Because, once again, the facts upset the narrative of a Zionist-oppressed Palestinian Arab people that is the basis of nearly all journalism about the area.
(Hat tip: EBoZ)

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A new twist on an old lie

We've seen before that Palestinian Arabs will blame Israel for any deaths that cannot be 100% proven to be internal.

Today, a PalArab was killed near the Gaza border fence. That is about all that is known for sure.

PalArabs are claiming that he was shot by an IDF patrol, who then arrested his brother who was with him as they were gathering scrap metal. The IDF denies shooting, or arresting, anyone in the area.

We have seen many times how Palestinian Arab "witnesses" make up lies on the spot. We have also seen Israel readily admit their operations. Given the track records of both parties, I am counting this is a Palestinian Arab internal murder - the second time this week that PalArabs claim an Israeli kill that Israel denies.

This is the first time I've ever seen a claim of an arrest as well. My guess is that the brother killed the victim and this is a coverup.

The incentive on the PalArab side is obvious - stirring up hatred against Israel and claiming that Israel is routinely entering Gaza.

It will be interesting to see if tomorrow's PCHR report blames both these claimed deaths on Israel.

The 2007 PalArab self-death count total is now at 193.

UPDATE: A more traditional killing in Khan Younis: 3 men in a Subaru shooting a 24-year old woman, Raghda Al- Ghalayeeni. 194.

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Ahmadinejad in hot water over kissing woman's gloved hand

Once again, no matter how crazy you are, there are always crazier people:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinajad is being slammed by Iranian newspapers and Islamic groups after he kissed his teacher's hand during a celebration, on the occasion of Iranian teacher's day.

The Tehran-based "Hezbollah newspaper" considered the Iranian president's behavior contradictory to Islamic law, "which prohibits the kissing the hand of any lady, if she is not one of the man's family members, and to whom he can not get married."

The newspaper went as far as saying, "the Iranian people have never witnessed such a violation of the Islamic rules since the Islamic revolution in 1979, and such inappropriate behavior could have very serious influence on the sacred Islamic principles and values."

It is noteworthy that, when the Iranian president kissed his teacher's hand, she was wearing gloves, and so there was no contact with her flesh.

UPDATE:
(H/T Memri Blog)

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The Kurdish example for Palestine (Marty Peretz)

From TNR (H/T Soccer Dad):

THE KURDISH EXAMPLE FOR PALESTINE:

For years the Kurds were my favorite lost cause. I do not mean this at all cynically. I gave to Kurdish charities. I wrote about them, and others wrote about them in TNR, too. I bored dinner table conversations about the justice of their cause and the injustice of their oppressors. What the Dalai Lama was to Richard Gere (forgive my pretension), the Kurds were to me. But Tibet is truly a lost cause, having fallen into the grisly grip of the Chinese who will never let go. Never.

But I don't want to compare the Kurds to the Tibetans who have no one but celebrities behind them, and people driving Volvos. I want to compare the Kurds to the Palestinians. This comparison arose in the middle of a public discussion last night with Martin Kramer, a fellow at the Olin Center for International Studies at Harvard University. He and his audience were talking about the United States in the Middle East after Iraq. One of Kramer's points was that the Middle East was about to break down, whether we like it or not. Another was that the "city-state" will be a more common form of government than what it is now. And, in the discussion, it became clear that Kurdistan, whether it had formal independence or not, was a real state and its people were a real people.

So my lost cause was no longer a lost cause. And those who loved the Kurds, but never loved them the most, have also been rewarded for whatever decent loyalty they had and expressed. The fact is that, aside from us lost causers, nobody really wanted the Kurds to have a state, which they did have for less than a year after World War II until the Soviets turned on them and the U.S. did not help. So some people loved the Kurds but everybody got an acid attack when the name Kurdistan was mentioned.

Still, consciously or not, and I believe consciously, the Kurds followed the example of what the Zionists did from the twenties on. For several decades, even under the raging reign of Saddam Hussein, they built an educational system and a health system, they had a working Kurdish government that no one recognized, they paid attention to all of the requirements for civil society. There is a vibrant economy and it is generating serious foreign investment. It is true that, for the last dozen years or so, their ambitious ventures were implicitly and explicitly carried out under the protection of the U.S. Yet it was as if nobody noticed. The international system paid no attention, except to warn that there should not be a Kurdish state. There should not be a Kurdish state. There really should not be a Kurdish state. Yet there is a Kurdish state, and it will get along with Turkey.

Contrast the Kurds with the Palestinians. Everyone is passionate for a Palestinian state. There have been at least two declarations of independence proclaiming it. 120-odd countries have already recognized the state of Palestine. The Palestinians have embassies all over the world, and the world's countries have representation in it. Even the government of Israel wants there to be a Palestine, and three of the previous governments have also expressed support and worked for a Palestinian state. In fact, I suppose I want a Palestinian state, too. But the Palestinians don't have a state, and it's not because Israel failed to give them one or negotiate one with them.

The contrast is startling: no one wants a Kurdish state and yet there is one. Everyone wants a Palestinian state, people are willing to die for it and, what's worse, kill for it. Mahmud Abbas is president of the state, and there is an elected parliament with a designated prime minister and a "unity" government. But let's face it: the state of Palestine simply does not exist. There is even a question as to whether the Palestinian people really exists, except in the realm of conflicted ideology. That is not enough. I'll wager a bet. The Kurds will be represented as a state in international councils long before the people of Palestine stop killing each other.

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The latest scam allowing money to PalArab terrorists

Let's put the pieces together:

From Reuters:

Palestinian officials expect to start receiving a major new injection of aid from Saudi Arabia to ease a year-old embargo imposed by Israel and Western powers, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday.

A package of $250 million of Saudi money -- equivalent to some six weeks of the Palestinian Authority's basic funding needs -- will start arriving soon, Fayyad told Reuters as he lamented delay in resolving technical snags to other aid flows and Israel's refusal to hand over Palestinian taxes it collects.

...While the Western powers and Israel still refuse to help Hamas as long as it does not renounce violence or recognise Israel, Fayyad won a pledge from the United States to help ease technical difficulties for those donors still making payments.

A key element of this was an assurance from Washington to banks that they would not be penalised for making transfers to an account run by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, run by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

This is not a one-time deal. From The Jerusalem Post:

The Palestinians want to establish a new fund that would allow donor countries to send them aid while formally maintaining their boycott of the Palestinian unity government, a senior official said Wednesday.

Under the arrangement, foreign aid could be sent to the PLO, in which Hamas is not represented. The Palestinian government, a coalition of Hamas and the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, could then draw money from the PLO account.

This is great for Finance Minister Fayyad, and there will indeed be a bit more accountability for the funds rather than the suitcases full of cash that characterized 2006.

What is Hamas' take on this? Well, Haniyeh is just tickled pink, as he addressed a bunch of EUdiot parliamentarians who met with him to give Hamas a bit more legitimacy in the world's eyes:

Haniyeh stressed to the delegation the need for the world to deal with the Palestinian national unity government as the representative of the Palestinian people. He also emphasized that aid and support should come direct to the Palestinian ministry of finance.

So instead of upsetting Hamas, Hamas seems very happy that the money is going to the Finance Minister via the PLO. At the very least, it reduces pressure on his government to actually act, you know, responsibly. And it is entirely possible that Hamas' "military wing" is being paid directly from this same fund.

However, there is another wrinkle in sending all this money to the PLO:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal agreed on a scheduled mechanism to reactivate the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a Hamas official said on Sunday.

Abbas and Mashaal, who met in Cairo on Friday evening, "agreed to rebuild and rehabilitate the PLO," Yehia Mussa, a Hamas lawmaker, told reporters in Gaza.

Mussa denied press reports that the ruling Hamas has given its final acceptance to join the PLO. However, he confirmed that Hamas will enter the PLO as soon as it is reformed.

And Hamas will not just join the PLO as an ordinary group member, but rather as the senior partner:

Hamas is threatening to withdraw from the national unity government if it does not secure appropriate representation in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazzal has claimed.

In a press statement, Nazzal said the Hamas delegation to the Damascus and Cairo dialogues "hinted that they will not continue in the government, as the Mecca deal reads, if their share is not the largest in the PLO."

Put the puzzle pieces together and what do you have? A concerted effort by Hamas to take over the PLO - and the hundreds of millions of dollars that the US is now allowing to flow to that "moderate" organization.

And the fact that the US is allowing this loophole to exist will ensure that the PalArabs will not pay for voting for Hamas - and will not have any reason not to vote for Hamas again. The entire logic of the boycott has been turned on its head by the well-meaning "humanitarian" gestures that will ultimately lead to new weapons, new terrorism and less hope for PalArabs.

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PalArab journalists claim that a bulldozer tried to assassinate them

WAFA and Paltoday report (in Arabic) of a deliberate Israeli attempt to murder them - with a bulldozer:

Jenin-5-2-2007-A number of Wafa photographers, journalists, dawn today, survived from certain death, when detained by an army bulldozer in a closed area inside the camp of Jenin in the northern West Bank, tried searched.

Seif Aldahlah colleague, photographer, "Wafa" in Jenin, said said that while he was filming the raids and arrests that took place in the city and camp at dawn today, with a number of photographers, pursued by an army bulldozer in one of the alleys of the camp, more than once, where the driver tried deliberately searched.

He added that the occupation soldiers tried to prevent us from before photography, fear of the transfer of the real picture and barbaric exercise during storming operations of houses unarmed citizens.

Photographers and journalists stressed that such practices, the term deliberate Israeli policy, which aims to target journalists and media crews, and prevented them from disclosure practices of the Israeli army atrocities against the Palestinians.

Let's get this straight:

• Israel tries to stop them from telling their stories even though they manage to print stories about Israeli actions - real or imagined - many times every day.
• Israel decided to target these "journalists", not with bullets or rockets, but with a slow moving bulldozer, chasing them around the streets of Jenin like a Three Stooges film.
• They all ran away from the deadly bulldozer as a group instead of spreading out.
• Jenin's citizens are unarmed.
• And while Israel tried so desperately to assassinate these "journalists" with a piece of earth-moving equipment over the course of perhaps 15 minutes, they couldn't shoot a single video or photograph showing this event.

Here's how I predict the trajectory of this story going in English:

First, IMEMC will publish it.

Ma'an might skip this one, but even Ma'an takes any claims against Israel seriously no matter how absurd, so that's about 50-50.

Then some rabidly "Zionist" hating sites like uruknet will mention it in context of a much larger story detailing "Zionist crimes."

And some moonbat next year will mention it as proof that St. Pancake herself, Rachel Corrie, was targeted by a deliberate Israeli bulldozer policy.

UPDATE 1: Here's the promised IMEMC story.

UPDATE 2: It's funny to see that when the PalArab media tries to spin a story like this, they won't mention the violent acts of their own people - which the terrorists brag about at the same time.

The Islamic Jihad website claimed to torch an Israeli jeep in Jenin during this operation, and published this picture (no idea if this picture was actually taken this morning):

I guess that the "journalists" had to choose between telling the truth and bashing Israel. Easy choice when your entire purpose is propaganda.

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Elder scoops Arutz-7

Arutz-7, May 2, 2007: PA Arabs Forbidden by Muslim Leaders to Flee Street Violence

Elder of Ziyon, April 30, 2007: Fatwa against PalArabs emigrating

Might as well toot my own horn once in a while.

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Ahmadinejad tries to battle the International Zionist Web

As my long-time readers know, I am the founder of the International Zionist Web, whose existence was publicized by Mad Mahmoud Ahmad Inejad a year ago:

But now, he is trying to create his own media conspiracy to battle those of us who have controlled the news for so long.

DAMASCUS -- Participants in the Third International Conference of Arab and Islamic Media to Support the Palestinian People, which is currently underway in Damascus, have pointed to the need for Islamic media outlets to draw up a common strategy.

In the opening speech on Monday, Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara described the situation in the region as very sensitive and said Israel is using “software and hardware” methods in an attempt to turn world public opinion against Islamic and Arab nations.

On the responsibility of the Islamic media to counter the U.S.-Israeli plot against Muslims, he said that Islamic media outlets should perform their duty by compiling a common information dissemination strategy and proving to Westerners that Islamic nations are in the right.

A delegation from Iran comprising media directors and experts on Palestinian affairs, including the managing directors of the Mehr and Fars news agencies, and the managing directors of the Tehran Times, Iran, and Al-Vefaq newspapers, are also participating in the meeting.

During the conference, 13 expert committees will draw up a draft resolution for final approval and will prepare a strategic formula for making the world more aware of the suffering of the oppressed Palestinians.

Subjects such as Syria’s Golan Heights, which is occupied by the Zionist regime, and the role of media in differentiating between resistance and terrorism will be discussed in the meeting.

Although the media have a unique status in international developments, unfortunately, the media outlets of the Islamic world have failed to adopt a united approach to confront the Western conspiracies, he noted.

Zarghami mentioned the call of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for Islamic solidarity, saying the ulema should formulate strategies for Islamic unity and the media should play a more active role in this regard.

Palestinian Information Minister Mostafa al-Barghouti, Al-Manar TV Director Abdullah Qassir, who is also a Hezbollah MP in the Lebanese Parliament, and the Arab League deputy secretary general for media affairs all emphasized the necessity of devising a practical plan to establish an Islamic-Arab front to counter Western media propaganda.

Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal told the delegates that unity among Islamic media outlets would isolate Israel politically.

“Today, reliable and precise information and the presentation of a common Islamic media strategy for countering propaganda by the West and Israel can be effective for politically isolating this regime (Israel),” the Syrian minister told the Mehr News Agency.

In order to maintain their independence and Islamic identity, Islamic countries should employ soft approaches, he said.

Let me give them some free advice: If you want to create a good media conspiracy that won't get detected by the gullible infidels, purposefully make some of the Islamic media pretend to be pro-Israel. This will weaken the arguments of those that claim that there is a monolithic Islamic press that is being controlled by an all-powerful set of key players. It will also deflect the dhimmi arguments that there is no real independent Islamic press. A consistent, common message can only occur when a significant number of the messengers pretend to disagree.

This method has been fabulously successful for the Imperialist/Zionist Alliance - so many of the Zionist media routinely trash Israel that you literally cannot tell that they are on our side.

This is just a taste of some of the brilliance that comes from 3000 years of controlling the world.

(If you want to join the IZW, just put the logo on your website with a link back to the original IZW article and let me know in the comments with your URL.)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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