Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Arab media reporting Israeli tanks in Gaza

Both Ma'an and Paltoday have bulletins saying Israeli tanks have entered Gaza for the first time since the withdrawal. Paltoday (Arabic) says they are in Jabalia.

IMEMC says a guard at the Islamic University was shot and killed by a sniper. Our 2007 PalArab self-death count rises to 249.

UPDATE: Terrorist died from wounds yesterday in Gaza hospital. 250.

Wafa reported 47 killed in the infighting before the one above which is exactly my number. They also report 210 injured and 28 in critical condition.

UPDATE 2: Ynet reports 1 killed during PalArab funeral; man and woman killed in Fatah/Hamas shootings. 253.

UPDATE 3: AP's Ibrahim Barzak, the guy who described how scary the violence was yesterday, is back in form spending more time on Israeli airstrikes than PalArab violence today. But he claims 22 were killed yesterday, I only had 18, so I am adjusting my count to 257.

UPDATE 4: Hamas blew up a Fatah terrorist. 258.

AP spins, lies, repeats

The Associated Press published a helpful guide to what's going in in Gaza. Too bad it isn't very accurate:

Q: Where is the Gaza Strip and how big is it?
A: It's on the Mediterranean coast, with Israel on two sides and Egypt on the other. The territory is 25 miles long and 6 to 9 miles wide. About 1.3 million Palestinians live there, making it one of the most crowded territories on Earth.

It is somewhat crowded, but as I've shown in the past, it is one quarter the population density in Macau or Monaco. And Gaza City is not close to the most crowded city.

Q: Who are the opposing forces?

A: The moderate Fatah movement, the traditional ruler, is on one side and controls most of the Palestinian security forces. On the other side is the militia set up by the Islamic hard-liners of the Hamas movement, which was voted into power a year ago. Palestinian militants also have joined the fight.

This is so misleading that it can be safely considered a lie. The "militants" that joined the fight are the Fatah terrorists who are not "moderate" at all.

Lifestyles of the rich and terrorist

On Wednesday, Hamas attacked the house of a Fatah "security chief" in Gaza named Rashid Abu Shbak. Because this made the house newsworthy, we now can see how some of the poor Palestinian Arabs live.

Here's an exterior shot of Chez Shbak:

Coming in through the nicely manicured garden, (I wonder how much of that scarce water it uses?) one sees the entrance foyer:

A bit further in one can relax in the sitting room:

And what would a poverty stricken shack be without the spiral staircase:

Marty Peretz at TNR contrasts the lavish homes of mid-level Fatah terrorists to the modest abodes of Israel's prime ministers. Batya at Shiloh Musings comments with links to pictures she took of Arab mansions outside Jerusalem.

(Hat tip Soccer Dad for the TNR link)

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!