Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Journalists in Gaza under siege

Ma'an reports:

Gaza – Ma'an – Journalists, correspondents and other employees at Arab and international news agencies and satellite TV stations are currently under siege in a tower building which hosts the offices of several press agencies.

Satellite TV stations are transmitting live images from the spot, and the sounds of gunshots and explosions can be clearly heard inside and outside the besieged building. Fear is apparent on the faces of the journalists at the Shawwa, Husary and Juwhara tower in central Gaza City.

Cross fire continues between rival gunmen who occupied the roof of the building, and others, who are currently shooting at the building where the journalists are besieged.

Wael Dahdouh, a reporter for Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV, said that more than 30 journalists are besieged in a small room, "where we are seeking refuge from the shelling and shooting inside our offices."

He added, "Another building with journalists in has been shelled by anti-tank missiles, while gunshots and shrapnel penetrate the walls of the place, every now and then."

The same journalists who have soft pedaled Palestinian Arab violence for years are now the main targets (and three have already been killed.) And now, on live TV, they are pleading for their lives from those who really don't care about human life.

UPDATE: The AP apologist for terror, Ibrahim Barzak, filed a report on how thoroughly screwed up Gaza has become. Too bad he waited until his own life was in danger before he wrote it:

With battles raging outside my building and my windows blown out by bullets, I sit in a dark hallway outside my apartment with my wife and baby. It's dangerous inside and outside.
Today I have seen people shot before my eyes, I heard the screams of terrified women and children in a burning building, and I argued with gunmen who wanted to take over my home.
I have seen a lot in my years as a journalist in Gaza, but this is the worst it's been.
Much of the fighting is taking place right here in my neighborhood. I went outside a few times to report, just around the house. I saw a building on fire after Hamas gunmen attacked, and I heard the screams of people who could not get out because of the gun battles.
My building is across from a Palestinian government complex, and both sides are fighting for control of the area. They're taking over rooftops. My apartment is on the top floor of this five-story building. This morning some Fatah gunmen tried to force their way into my apartment so they could shoot from my windows, overlooking the Palestinian government compound. I had an argument with them, and they left.
There have been clashes between Hamas and Fatah before, but there are dangerous new elements this time. Now they are arresting or even shooting people for the way they look. If you have a beard, you might be arrested by Fatah security for looking Islamic. If you have a chain around your neck or on your arm, Hamas gunmen might shoot you because you look secular.
The random use of weapons and explosives is out of control. People who consider themselves the elite, the politicians, sit with the Egyptian mediators at night and then come out with statements about a truce, and in the morning we see the opposite has occurred. These people are not controlling anything.
I saw several people shot right in front of my home today. I'm preparing myself for even worse violence.

"My own private Naqba"

I am working on a major series of posts to attempt to create a psychological history of the Palestinian Arabs from the birth of Zionism to today - to show how their mindset guides their actions and how external events change their mindsets. It is slower going than I would like but I think it will be valuable.

Articles like this that show the differences between ordinary PalArabs and their self-anointed leadership shed a lot of light on how they think:

"I've had it. I told my wife and kids that we are leaving the Gaza Strip," A., a businessman in his 40s who lives in Gaza City, said Monday. In the six and a half years since the intifada began he has never spoken about leaving and has remained optimistic, but now he has decided to get out.

"Why? Because I can," he said. With these three words, he summed up the reason why most Gazans stay put - because they, unlike him, cannot leave. "The situation is crap, I don't know what will happen to the kids. You can't send them to school for fear they'll be hurt in the crossfire. It's true that I have a successful business and own a few houses, but I'd rather know that the kids and I will remain alive."

A. says he recently realized that even though he does not belong to any of the organizations and is not in conflict with anyone, his life and those of his family are in danger. Militants have demanded money, threatened to hurt him and his children and tried to rob his car, obliging him to hire a bodyguard.

The events of the past several days were the last straw for him. "Enough, I can't take it any more. We'll go to Cairo or to Amman, we'll find a way to survive. Gaza can go rot, it can burn," A. said. When asked what he will do and how he will support his family, he says, "First off, I'll take my wife to a movie. We'll see people, we'll see women without hijab. Afterward - God is beneficent."

A. curses the "majnunim" [crazies] who he says destroyed Gaza and turned it into a hell. He says that Hamas and Fatah are fighting each other instead of battling against the chaos and the security vacuum, adding that even the hope that followed the establishment of the unity government has become a giant disappointment. "At the end, and ironically precisely on Yawm al-Nakba [the Palestinian term for Israel's Independence Day], what the Israelis failed to do to us, Fatah and Hamas did - to expel me from my home. It's my own private Nakba."

By the way, Israellycool is liveblogging the Qassams and other chaos.

Microsoft appealing to Palestinian Arab morality

They might be shooting rockets at innocent Israelis, and they might be murdering each other, but Microsoft clearly hopes that they don't copy software. From an ad in paltoday.com:(Arabic)

Gaza peace rally, with predictable results.

200 Gaza residents held a rally against the infighting.

“Just as we used to protect you from the occupation by acting as human shields, we have come to protect you from yourselves,” one protester shouted at gunmen, referring to instances when Palestinian civilians positioned themselves between militants and Israeli forces.

The "gunmen" shot at these proud human shields, and 8 of the protesters were injured.

They forgot the cardinal rule: human shields only work when defending against people who value human life. Otherwise you are just a flesh shield.

UPDATE: Wafa (Arabic) reports that 15 people were injured during the rally, from Hamas members who shot at them - from a watchtower.

Taking responsibility is foreign to Palestinian Arabs

Today the Rafah police chief resigned because he couldn't control the chaos in the streets of his town in Gaza.

Similarly, the PalArab Interior Minister in charge of security resigned on Monday after only one day of the Hamas/Fatah fighting.

Keep in mind that, officially, almost all of the Fatah terrorists and many of the Hamas terrorists are paid "policemen." These resignations prove that the "police" jobs were nothing more than welfare, but none of the officers - even their leaders - ever tried to take their jobs seriously.

Once again, we see that the concept of "responsibility" is foreign to Palestinian Arabs. Unless they are taking responsibility for killing Jews. Even the words they use to describe their civil war - "unfortunate events" - show that they don't regard it as a problem that must be solved but as a natural disaster which cannot be helped.

Another day, another "truce" broken

Hamas and Fatah brokered a "truce" on Sunday night. And Monday night. And Tuesday night.

And so far Wednesday, six Fatah "bodyguards" were killed by Hamas and a nurse was declared brain-dead.

Isn't it nice to know that the word "truce" is just as meaningless in Arabic as it is when it is said in English by PalArabs?

The PalArab self-death count for 2007 keeps climbing...236. Sounds like these guys deserve a state of their own....

UPDATE: Palestine Today(Arabic), which yesterday blamed Israel for eight of the people killed by Hamas, counts ten dead today and thirty in 24 hours in the latest "unfortunate events." For now, I'm adding 3 to the self-death count for today as I try to keep accurate track.

Tellingly, their main headline is about the Sderot rockets. Because terrorizing Jews makes the civil war almost worth it...

UPDATE 2: Ynet and Haaretz mention a Hamas "friendly fire" incident where they stormed their own car, killing 5. Are these guys shaheeds? 244. UPDATE 2a: YNet's list of dead today is at 15 so far, so I think I've got it right, but PalToday seems to indicate a couple of random driver shootings as well. Since the autotranslate is not that accurate I'll hold off.

UPDATE 3: Haaretz has 17 killed today; YNet mentions 3 more on Wednesday night. My guess is that Ha'aretz is not counting the brain-dead nurse, and normally I wouldn't except for the fact that her ultimate death will never be reported, so I am at 18 for the day at midnight Gaza time. 247.

UPDATE 4: Contradictory reports on the total Wednesday fatalities but one who died in an Israeli hospital was not counted by me yet, 248. Four were killed after an 8 PM cease fire but none yet on Thursday as of noon.

Best Naqba picture of the day

With paintings of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, left, and Jesus Christ, right, Palestinian women attend a rally to mark the 59th anniversary of the Naqba, or 'The catastrophe' in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday May 15, 2007. Palestinians commemorate Al Naqba May 15 each year, to mark their displacement by the founding of Israeli in 1948. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Five and a half months

Israel's defense minister Peretz said:

... 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.

He also said:

"Israel cannot afford to accept harm to its citizens, and will perform the necessary operations to defend its sovereignty and ensure the citizens' safety.

"We will not be part of internal Palestinian power struggles, but we will react harshly," he added.

This is all great, except that his first statement was made five and a half months ago, and the second statement was today. And even when he said it today the IDF announced that it will not react harshly but just lob a few rockets back at Gaza, where one will inevitably kill a bystander and the nearly six months of goodwill that Olmert and Company have tried to build by allowing Sderot residents to be sitting ducks will evaporate.

Somehow I don't think that nearly half a year of lies and the occasional tiny reaction is going to help the citizens of Sderot very much.

Shooting the hand that feeds you

From Ha'aretz:

Gunmen shot and wounded a top Egyptian official in Gaza on Wednesday as he tested whether a shaky ceasefire deal between feuding Fatah and Hamas loyalists was holding, a Palestinian security official said.

The Egyptian was shot in the hand as he walked along a Gaza street with the Palestinian cabinet secretary Ghazi Hamad of Hamas and a Fatah official, in a bid to see whether the armed rivals were sticking to the truce agreed on late Tuesday.

The Egyptian was among a team involved in mediating the truce and trying to put an end to the fighting.

They're shooting at each other, they're shooting at Israel and they're shooting at Egyptian diplomats. Ya gotta hand it to them for both consistency and irony.

Woman injured in Qassam attack (updated)

The Hamas/Fatah fighting isn't stopping the Qassams from being fired. At least 5 were shot today, one seriously injuring a woman and damaging her house in Sderot. Another hit a schoolyard.

It is probably Islamic Jihad's bid to unify the warring factions, since no matter which side you are on, they can always agree that shooting terror rockets at Jewish women and children is Allah's will.

(Our May Qassam calendar is here.)

UPDATE: Ma'an has a bulletin saying that Al Aqsa (Hamas) TV is saying that Hamas will launch "dozens" of rockets at Israel tonight.

UPDATE 2: Nine Qassams so far.

UPDATE 3: 18. 21 residents injured including 4 kids.

My guess is that Hamas is not trying to celebrate Naqba Day so much as they are trying to provoke an Israeli reaction that will stop the nascent civil war from escalating. Or perhaps they want to use this to solidify their leadership of Gaza.

UPDATE 4: Even during the Hamas/Fatah fighting, Hamas was publicly announcing the number of Israelis injured by their rockets - on the mosque loudspeakers.

Sands of Passion: The Al-Qaeda soap opera

From NationalBanana.com, h/t Atlas Shrugs:

PalArab civil war accelerates. Happy Naqba day!

Eight Fatah members were killed in a "Presidential Guard" training camp this morning by Hamas.

The crack journalists at Palestine Today (Arabic) blame it on an Israeli shelling - and have "witnesses" to back it up. Ma'an has all the details about how the "gunmen" forced people out of a car and shot them.

It is notable that these clashes occurred near the Karni crossing. I reported yesterday that Israel has been doing everything it could to keep the Karni crossing open since the PA had managed to reduce the terror threat there, and as a result thousands of new jobs had been created. In all probability, Karni will be closed for a while and the Palestinian Arabs will suffer economically - and the world media will blame Israel for it.

A Hamas terrorist was killed in a shootout in Gaza as well.

Our count of PalArabs violently killed by PalArabs is now at 221.

UPDATE: Ma'an counts 11 killed so far today. 223. (UPDATE 2: Ma'an Arabic says 12: 224 ).

UPDATE 2: Ha'aretz counts 13 killed today in Hamas/Fatah fighting. 225.

UPDATE 3: Ha'aretz news ticker reports a 10-year old girl died from injuries in the Hamas/Fatah fighting. 226.

UPDATE 4: YNet reporting 16 dead today as fighting continues tonight despite yet another "truce." Fatalities include a 17-year old boy and a third journalist killed since Sunday. 228.

UPDATE 5: Ma'an Arabic has Tuesday's total death toll at 17. 229.

UPDATE 6: In case any of you were wondering, Fatah websites call Fatah victims "martyrs" and Hamas websites call Hamas victims "martyrs." One of them must be wrong!

Another Fatwa against Palestinian Arab emigration

The mullahs are nervous about the thousands of younger Palestinian Arabs who are smart enough to want to get the hell away from the area.

A new fatwa against emigrants was issued yesterday by the Mufti of Jerusalem.

There is much talk these days in our land of Palestine about emigration, and especially among the young, and this because of the difficult security and economic situation, and out of a desire to find a living in other lands. Expression of this can be found in the rush to the gates of the embassies and consulates of the Western nations with requests for visas in order to reside permanently in those countries...
"Based on [the ruling of the prophet Muhammed and his friends], emigration from the blessed lands to live permanently in other countries is not permitted in terms of religious law. The people living in these areas must remain in their places of residence, and not leave them to infiltrators and conquerors, and they will thus perform an act of honor, and will be a support for the Al-Aqsa mosque... and will merit the good tiding of the prophet...
"Regarding temporary travel to other lands for the purpose of study and work, this is permitted as long as there is a determination to return and live in the blessed lands after the stage of study and work."

According to Arutz-7,

PA officials reported last November that in the preceding four months, foreign and Arab diplomats had authorized the entry of 10,000 PA residents to their countries, and that another 45,000 emigration requests were under similar consideration.

Sounds like a voluntary ethnic cleansing!

I have as of yet been unable to find a "human rights" group protest against these attempts by Islamic authorities to limit the natural human right of moving away from an area.

Today's bigotry, courtesy of Google "News"

Google News continues to index The People's Voice as a legitimate news source, and TPV continues to publish hysterical, incoherent (and ungrammatical) propaganda. Here's some of the latest, in an article by a Palestinian Arab who defends Farfur the Terror Rat's message:

No film mainstream makers of TV program or other media dares to be critical of the Jews, "Israel" or Zionism - a Jewish male must be referred to as'a nice Jewish boy. a young girl is a Jewish Princess.Jew musicians are always 'talented," writers " are gifted," painters very "sensitive," the Jewish doctors are "brilliant." The Jew millionaires are "philanthropic and visionary.What a big lie and conspiracy ! Lastly - millions of innocent Christians have been victimized by pro-Zionist film and TV propaganda. They do not realize the Jew "name changers" have used subtle and very sophisticated stories - to manipulate the minds of other people. - No nation or people can long remain free - while such a medium is totally controlled by venomous alien Jews - whose loyalty is to Zionism first!

At last - my many thanks and good luck wishes - to Hamas and the producer of the intelligent television program - "Tomorrows Pioneers" - and also hugs to Big smart Farfur! - Hold on tight to the Palestinian unity - do not hold on to old grudge - keep on the struggle ! - You Palestinians - are the frontiers - the pioneers - in a very noble mission - to change the world for all of us - for the better - in your struggle to liberate Palestine - the homeland of the Palestinian people !

You can complain to Google using the form here. The last time I did it, TPV wrote an article denouncing me, and hilariously thinking that my International Zionist Web was for real. (Just as interestingly, the article stated "We have no racist intentions. Racism is all about ignorance and would divert us from our purpose.")

The IDF helping the Palestinian Arab economy. Try to find that reported somewhere.

The US recently floated the idea of "benchmarks" where both Israel and the Palestinian Arabs would agree to some confidence-building measures. Two of the things Israel is supposed to do under this plan are dismantling checkpoints in the West Bank and allowing free passage between Gaza and the West Bank - both of which will certainly increase terror, according to the IDF and common sense.

But, Israel's critics would argue, what can you expect from the IDF - after all, the World Bank just released a report saying that Israel's policies are stopping any chance for an economy to be built in the territories. Israel seems hell-bent on a policy of strangling the Palestinian Arabs economically, right?

Too bad the press doesn't report on everything that Israel - including the IDF - is doing to help the PalArab economy:

Israel and the Palestinian Authority are working on plans for the establishment of five industrial parks close to the Green Line that are each meant to provide hundreds of Palestinians with jobs, Deputy Defense Minister Efraim Sneh confirmed yesterday.

Sneh told Haaretz that work on an industrial area has already begun in the area of Jenin and in Sha'ar Ephraim, close to Tul Karm. At the same time Israel is making plans to establish an industrial area in the Erez industrial zone, close the the Gaza Strip, that will be operated by Turkish contractors.

In addition, there are contacts with private Palestinian investors for the establishment of an industrial zone close to the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip, and also with the government of Japan for the creation of a similar park in the vicinity of Jericho.

Sneh also expressed criticism at the fact that the World Bank made no mention in its latest report, of the Israeli efforts to contribute to the Palestinian economy. In its report, the World Bank criticized Israel for effectively stymieing Palestinian economic development through policies that limit the freedom of movement of the Palestinian population in the West Bank.

The industrial park venture was presented by the defense establishment last January during a meeting of Israeli, Palestinian and American representatives at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Richard Jones. The meeting dealt with the Agreement on Movement and Access of November, 2005.

The idea behind the venture is to establish work places in the territory of the Palestinian Authority in order to prevent excessive dependence by the Palestinian economy on jobs in Israel.

All the industrial parks will be established in Palestinian Authority territory, and Israel has committed to facilitating security and bureaucratic arrangements relevant to the projects.

The clearest indication that the "benchmark" plan is not only a non-starter but is in fact counterproductive can be seen by what has been happening recently at the Karni crossing:

While tensions rise in the Gaza Strip ahead of a possible IDF operation in response to daily Kassam rocket attacks, 16,600 jobs have been created there in the last three months, with unemployment down - over the past six months - by close to 7 percent.

According to Col. Nir Press, commander of the IDF Coordination and Liaison Administration, a drop in terror threats to the Karni Crossing has led to an increase in the transfer of raw materials into Gaza, creating new jobs.

Nevertheless, he stressed, unemployment in Gaza remained at just over 30%.

The increase in jobs in the last quarter followed a similar rise in the previous quarter, when 19,100 jobs were created, including 10,500 in agriculture.

This past quarter, only several hundred out of the 16,600 new workers found jobs in agriculture, with the majority finding work in transportation, communications and construction.

According to the Coordination and Liaison Administration, 43 million carnations were exported to Europe from the Gaza Strip this past season, up from 17 million in 2006. The Palestinian farmers told Press during the meeting that they made a profit of €4.5m.

Press told The Jerusalem Post the increases in jobs and flower exports were due to both improved coordination and a Palestinian effort to deter terrorists from attacking the Karni Crossing, the main artery for cargo in and out of the Gaza Strip.

In 2006, Karni was closed for nearly 100 days due to intelligence warnings of planned attacks. Last summer, a vast tunnel - intended to be filled with explosives - was discovered being dug under the crossing.

"Last year, when there were the security warnings Karni was closed... and a lot of flowers went down the drain," Press said. "Since September, however, Karni has been open daily except for some days when it was closed due to labor strikes on the Palestinian side."

Israel's desire for peace with the Arab world, including the Palestinian Arabs, is clear and consistent from before 1948. The only thing Israel desires more is her own security.

The story at Karni is crystal clear - when the terror threat subsides, Israel goes above and beyond to help the Palestinian Arabs. After seven years of the intifada, this is more than remarkable - and it is possibly reckless. This is the story that is invisible to the world media, one that every Israeli knows in his bones and one that the entire world suppresses, because it doesn't fit the standard story template of oppressive Israelis and Palestinian Arab victims.

Benchmarks are stupid and do the exact opposite of their intent. If you want peace, pressure the Palestinian Arabs to stop their daily terror attacks and Israel will, inevitably and inexorably, do everything else. Forcing Israel to reduce her defenses will increase terror. The only people who can stop it are the Palestinian Arabs themselves, and it won't be in "response" to any Israeli goodwill gesture - it will be when they grow up and act like responsible human beings.

Notwithstanding the good news at Karni and the industrial zones, this prospect is not likely in the foreseeable future.