Freedom of the press, PalArab style (III)

Another story showing how progressive Hamastan is:

The Hamas-affiliated Executive Force on Wednesday stormed the media tower in Tal Al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City, and stole the car and mobile telephone of Palestine TV satellite channel manager, Muhammad Dawoudi.

Media sources told Ma'an that the Executive Force entered Dawoudi's home in the residential part of the tower and attempted to arrest him, yet dozens of journalists intervened and prevented the arrest.

The Union of Palestinian Journalists has condemned the repeated assaults against journalists, in general, and this attack against Dawoudi in particular.

In a statement to Ma'an, the union declared "such conduct represent a violation of the freedom of opinion", describing the attacks as "ideological terrorism" against journalists.

This of course begs the question of how so many liberals (like Jimmy Carter) can support a movement that goes against everything that is supposed to be important to liberals - like, you know, freedom.

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Is Fatah al-Islam "Palestinian"?

Note this story from AP:

At least 150 Palestinians fled a northern refugee camp Wednesday in anticipation of an assault by the Lebanese army battling Islamic militants holed up inside.

Most of the refugees left with the help of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said Samar Kadi, an International Committee of the Red Cross communications officer.

Those fleeing arrived on foot at the southern entrance of the Nahr el-Bared camp. They were searched by soldiers at a Lebanese army checkpoint and then climbed into vehicles sent by the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Lebanese army held many of them for interrogation, Kadi said.

...

The mainstream Palestinian Fatah movement was reported to have called on its guerrillas inside the camp to leave as well.

...Fatah Islam group is believed to be made up of mostly foreign Sunni Muslim fighters, and Lebanon's Western-backed government has accused the group of trying, with Syria's backing, to launch a rebellion in the north of the country and destabilize Lebanon. Syria denies the allegations and has described Fatah Islam as a dangerous terrorist organization.

Notice how AP calls the people leaving the camp "Palestinian" but the terrorists inside the camp are only "Islamic." Are we to believe that a miserable "refugee" camp was infiltrated by non-Palestinian Arabs as a base to attack Lebanon?

It is hard to know for sure. Some people say that they are a Syrian organization, other say they are al-Qaeda.

We do know that the leader of Fatah al-Islam is a Palestinian Arab, Shaker Absi.
We do know that they managed to get into these camps whose security is run by Fatah without much difficulty.
We do know that many of the PalArabs fleeing are being held by Lebanon on suspicion of being involved with Fatah al Islam.

It strains credulity to think that a couple of hundred Syrians and Saudi Arabians went to Lebanese camp hell-holes just to have a base from which to attack the Lebanese. It seems more logical that radical Palestinian Arabs went into the camps in order to recruit more people for their cause, which would indicate a majority as being Palestinian themselves.

The AP, however, will not even entertain such a notion. To even imply that Fatah al-Islam is a Palestinian Islamic terror group would reflect badly on all those good Palestinian Arabs who are the real heroes according to the mainstream media. So don't expect this to be a topic that will be investigated too thoroughly - much easier to blame Syria or Al-Qaeda, the known bad guys.

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M-16s found more effective than crib notes in passing tests

It seems that the Nablus "gunmen" who we mentioned were upset that they couldn't have their own secret matriculation exams somehow managed to force the testers to do what they wanted anyway:

Earlier this week, some 150 Fatah gunmen stormed a number of schools in Nablus and drove out hundreds of students who were taking high school matriculation exams.

The gunmen were protesting against Abbas's refusal to allocate secret halls for them so that they, too, could sit for the exams, without risking being arrested or killed by the IDF. The gunmen were later allowed to sit for the exams in special halls.

One of the teachers said most of the gunmen cheated.

"They opened books and copied the answers word by word," he said. "We were afraid to stop them because they were carrying M-16 rifles."

The peaceful PalArab territories also enjoyed some equally calm incidents:

Also on Tuesday, in the first protest of its kind since Hamas took control over the Gaza Strip, the families of dozens of Hamas supporters demonstrated in Nablus to demand the release of their sons from PA prisons.

Palestinian policemen fired into the air to prevent the demonstrators from approaching the city's central prison, witnesses said. No one was hurt.

Meanwhile, Fatah gunmen in Nablus kidnapped Shaher Saed, general-secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions.

Sources in the city told The Jerusalem Post that Saed was abducted from his downtown office. They said he was released unharmed later in the day after being ordered by the gunmen to resign from his post.

Gaza is not being left out of the fun:

The Executive Force and members of Hamas' armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, stormed on Tuesday the house of the former director of general intelligence and member of Fatah's revolutionary council, Maj. Gen. Amin Al Hindi, in western Gaza City, Palestinian sources have reported.

Back in Fatahland:

Workers in a hospital run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in the West Bank city of Qalqilya have launched a strike following threats by gunmen against one of their coworkers.

Looks like it may be time for more peace initiatives!

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Arab journalism ethics

I just thought this was funny. An item in yesterday's Ma'an News was copied almost verbatim today in Arab News - with a byline by who seems to be the plagiarist.

I discussed the Ma'an article yesterday.

Releasing only 250 Fatah prisoners is a blow to national unity, Palestinian prisoners' families say Date: 09 / 07 / 2007 Time: 13:49 Gaza - Ma'an - The families of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails have expressed their reservations about the Israeli prime minister's initiative to release 250 Fatah-affiliated prisoners. They said that accepting such an offer would only fracture the Palestinian national unity, and they called on President Abbas to make a deal that includes all Palestinian detainees without exceptions.	Israeli Move to Free Fatah Prisoners Angers Palestinians Mohammed Mar’i, Arab News RAMALLAH, West Bank, 10 July 2007 — The families of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails have expressed their anger about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s initiative to release 250 Fatah-affiliated prisoners. They said that accepting such an offer would only fracture the Palestinian national unity, calling on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reach a deal that includes all Palestinian detainees without exceptions.
The prisoners' families depicted freeing any Palestinian detainee as an accomplishment; however, they expressed their fear that the 250 whom Israeli Prime Minister Olmert intends to free would include only prisoners who have almost completed their sentences, and who are scheduled for release shortly in any case.	(Paragraph 5 in Arab News version.)The families depicted freeing any Palestinian detainee as an accomplishment, however, they expressed their fear that the 250 whom Olmert intends to free would include only prisoners who have almost completed their sentences, and who are scheduled to be released shortly in any case.
Such conduct would help improve the Israeli image internationally, the families said, while failing to serve the Palestinian people, of whom almost 12, 000 are detained in Israeli jails in dire conditions. In addition, most of the detainees are denied visits by their families. .	Such conduct would help improve the Israeli image internationally, the families said, while failing to serve the Palestinian people, of whom almost 11, 000 are detained in Israeli jails in dire conditions. In addition, most of the detainees are denied visits by their families.
The prisoners' families held their weekly sit-in outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday. They asserted that they would prefer a comprehensive prisoners' swap that includes all affiliations and is conducted under Palestinian conditions.	The prisoners’ families held their weekly sit-in-strike outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) yesterday. They asserted that they would prefer a comprehensive prisoners’ swap that includes all Palestinian political factions and is conducted under Palestinian conditions.
The Israeli cabinet approved the release of 250 Fatah prisoners during their meeting on Sunday, as a "goodwill gesture" toward Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.	The Israeli Cabinet approved the release of 250 Fatah prisoners “without blood on their hands” during their meeting on Sunday, as a “goodwill gesture” toward Abbas.
According to Ynet, the Israeli justice ministry and the Israeli domestic intelligence service (the Shin Bet) will formulate a list of 250 prisoners "without blood on their hands," meaning prisoners who were not detained for involvement in operations that led to the death of Israelis	However, several Palestinian factions share the Palestinians families their fears and concerns. The other Palestinian groups, which have thousands of prisoners in the Israeli jails, are already complaining that Abbas cares only about members of his faction. Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Islamic Jihad have expressed deep concern over the Israeli government’s decision to distinguish between the prisoners on the basis of their political affiliation. “Israel is mistaken to think that the release of Fatah prisoners will strengthen Abbas,” said a senior representative of the PFLP in the West Bank. “The families of the other prisoners will never forgive him for abandoning their sons. This move proves that he’s the president of only some of the Palestinians.” Even Fatah leaders are unhappy with the decision to release only 250 prisoners. They say the number is too small and point out that most of the prisoners were scheduled to be released soon anyway, after completing their sentences.

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Missing the point

Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades are reported to be run by Hezbollah.

Fatah accuses Hamas of working with Al Qaeda.

Fatah and Hamas each accuse the other of being behind the kidnapping of Alan Johnston by the Dagmoush family ("Army of Islam.")

The media tries vainly to keep score of these alliances, trying to figure out who the "good guys" are.

It is all utterly pointless.

The differences between Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the "Army of Islam" and the myriad other terror organizations may seem large to them, but ultimately they all share the same goals: a military and political takeover of the planet by Islam. Compared to their common enemy - namely, all of us - their differences are trivial. Shi'ites and Sunnis have cooperated in the past in their war against the "Zionist cross-worshippers." Sure they sometimes fight each other but that does not ever make them friends to us.

When will the free world wake up to the simple fact that the so-called "moderates" are just as bad, and possibly worse, than the "extremists"? The "moderates" have learned to lie and use Western liberal terms and ideas to guilt us into paying for our own destruction.

All these terror groups and the culture that allows them to thrive must be eradicated. There is no compromise possible, no accomodation, no "understanding." Militant, political Islam is the enemy of the free world for the foreseeable future and it cannot be bought off. There may be tactical advantages of knowing how they interact with each other but that must not be confused with who we should ally ourselves with. They know with utter clarity that we are their enemy; it is way past time for the West to understand the same with equal clarity.

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Abbas pretty much declared martial law. The West still loves him.

Sometimes, when the terrorists accuse the West of hypocrisy, they have a good point.

Everyone's favorite Holocaust denier has been completely circumventing existing Palestinian Arab laws in order to keep himself in power. Now, the quality of freedom and democracy in the PA was never very good to begin with, and there has been no judicial system to speak of for years. Even so, Abbas has now extended to the military a lot of judicial powers and he's done many other questionable actions. As PCHR mentions:

PCHR expresses its utmost concern over the latest presidential decree concerning the military judiciary under the state of emergency, which implies an extortion of the authorities of the Palestinian civil judiciary to be granted to the military judiciary. PCHR believes that this latest decree, which has been the most breakneck in a series of presidential decrees issued in the context of the state of emergency, is a prescription for the destruction of the judicial authority and the civil life towards the militarization of the Palestinian society, the derangement of the constitution, the confiscation of public liberties and the enforcement of a military dictatorship.

Some of PCHR's specific problems with Abbas' decress are:

1) PCHR believes that this decree opens the doors wide for militarizing the Palestinian society, enforcing a military dictatorship and destroying the civil life and judiciary under the pretext of the existing state of emergency, through:

- The extortion of the authorities of the civil judiciary to be given to the military judiciary;

- The extortion of the authorities of the Attorney-General to be given to the military judiciary; and

- The extortion of the authorities of judicial warranty officials to be granted to all members of security services.

2) PCHR is very astonished that the decree relied in its preamble on the PLO Revolutionary Law of the Regulation of Trials Revolutionary Penal Law of 1979, which are unconstitutional because they have not been ratified by the PNA. PCHR also denounces recalling Military Order #555 of 1959, which was issued during the Egyptian control of the Gaza Strip pertaining to the Egyptian Penal Law that is no longer effective in Egypt.

It has always been a mistake to pretend that Abbas was a real partner for peace, but to prop up someone who breaks his own laws will never work.

Seeing Condi Rice and President Bush and Ehud Olmert and the EU fall all over themselves to support this ineffective and impotent joker is not the way to win over Arab hearts and minds. The hole that was dug by allowing Hamas to run in the elections as a legitimate democratic party is getting deeper by the week, and I don't have a good short-term solution.

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Today's example of MSM blindness

An AP dispatch from Ramallah shows the amazing ability for people to see facts for themselves and draw exactly the wrong conclusions:

Ramalah an island of Palestinian peace

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Mohammed Kilani, a computer technician, hits the gym every other day to swim laps and lift weights. Umm Hussein, whose husband sells BMWs, takes her kids to the mall to shop, eat in the food court and play video games.

Despite the crippling poverty and frequent violence in the Palestinian territories, the city of Ramallah, the unofficial capital of the West Bank, holds out as an island of middle class existence.

The Islamic militant Hamas is largely absent from this city of 57,000, meaning that Ramallah could provide the best glimpse of what a Palestinian state could look like without Israeli occupation, with its trade and travel bans — if moderate President Mahmoud Abbas' secular agenda prevails.

While armed militias rule the streets of Nablus, and Gazans largely survive on U.N. food handouts, residents of Ramallah take yoga and Salsa dance classes or sip cappuccinos and beer in mixed groups — behavior that could get them killed 10 miles away.

...

In the weight room at Tri Fitness, the city's swankiest health club, Kilani, 25, took a break from lifting weights to compare Ramallah to his hometown, Jenin, which is next to one of the West Bank's most militant refugee camps.

In Jenin, coffee shops are only for men, unlike in Ramallah, he said over the crooning of Arab pop singers from the TV sets on the walls. Fewer women in Ramallah wear veils than elsewhere in the West Bank, he added.

Ramallah's rise has coincided with the decline of other West Bank cities like Nablus, the West Bank's second largest, where armed militias roam the streets.

Hakim Sabbah, 30, said Nablus had three movie theaters when he was a child. Sabbah, who works for a local aid group, Project Hope, said he once acted in a theater group that performed in the streets of Nablus' old city. "That's something we don't do any more," he said.

The cinemas closed during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s, and continuous street violence has prompted many businesses to relocate to Ramallah or neighboring Jordan, leading to greater unemployment.

...

Such worries feel distant from Ramallah's handful of Western-style coffee shops and bars, where English slang peppers Arabic conversations, men and women chat openly, beer is served despite an Islamic prohibition on alcohol and foreign passports abound. In neighboring villages, such behavior risks a violent reaction from conservative Muslims. In Hamas-controlled Gaza, it would be out of the question.

"I love Ramallah because you have these kinds of places that break gender stereotypes," said Saleh Hijazi, 24, sharing a table at the Pronto Resto Cafe with four other Palestinian twenty-somethings, all U.S.-educated.

"But I also feel that the place is very elitist," he added. "You can say that about Ramallah in general."

Hijazi sipped his beer and lit another Gauloise Blonde cigarette while the girl next to him discussed film theory with a guy in dreadlocks.

"You feel like you're living in a bubble inside of the West Bank," Hijazi continued, adding that he recently read a news report about 13 deaths in Gaza.

"I care about what's happening there," he said, "but physically and psychologically, it feels very far away."

The lead of the story indicates that all the PA territories could be just like Ramallah if it wasn't for those pesky militants. Then, as you read on, you see that Ramallah is the exception - that the entire West Bank is not much different than Hamas' Gaza in outlook.

Yet the author highlights how progressive Ramallah is, and how it can be a model for peace, rather than the real story - how the majority of Palestinian Arabs view Ramallah's residents as elitist sell-outs to the hated West.

All the facts are in the story, but the emphasis is clearly on the optimistic side.

The reason, once again, is that the MSM has a narrative about the Palestinian Arab/Israeli conflict:

Israel is an aggressive occupier of Palestinian lands.
Palestinian Arabs are mostly peaceful, secular people who are under merciless attack by Israel.
Hamas and the other "militants" are aberrations.
Islamic fundamentalism in the territories are aberrations.
Jewish fundamentalism, however, is the norm among fanatic intolerant settlers.

This narrative is so embedded in the collective MSM mindset that even when the truth is staring at them in the face, they choose to ignore and downplay it in favor of the higher truths that these reporters know in their hearts.

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Israel accused of helping Hamas!

The pro-Fatah, anti-Hamas Palestine Press Agency (Arabic) "reports" (autotranslated):

An informed Palestinian source revealed that Israel is working hard to support Hamas in the Gaza Strip from behind the curtain against President Mahmoud Abbas symbol of the Palestinian legitimacy, and the recruitment of its policy of separating the West Bank from the Gaza Strip to destroy any chance of an independent Palestinian state, , which represents the continuation of the coup Hamas in Gaza greater service to it.

Quoting the "statement" issued today by the UAE source as saying that "the statements of Israeli leaders to close crossings to international aid for the Gaza Strip has become big lie because there is no siege on the Gaza Strip, Welfare and fuel up regularly."

This is another example of Arab projection: since Arabs would never consider allowing their enemies' civilians to get humanitarian aid, the fact that Israel does this is "proof" that Israel supports Hamas' takeover of Gaza.

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Hamas repeats history: hurting PalArabs in a vain attempt to hurt Israel

People who have been reading my History of PalArabs series will find this story familiar:

Hamas's Finance Ministry on Monday barred Israeli fruits and vegetables from entering the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the spokesman for the Fruit Growers Association.

The move is likely to cost Israeli fruit growers NIS 3-5 million a day, according to the association.

The Hamas decision will also make it harder for Palestinians to keep fruits and vegetables in their diet, particularly those items not grown in Gaza, according to Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.

Upon hearing that Palestinian private contractors on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing planned to adhere to the prohibition, Israeli businessmen did not send out the scheduled 60 trucks of produce, Dror told The Jerusalem Post. The fruit and vegetable ban is the latest in a set of anti-Israel moves by Hamas, including continued mortar fire on the crossing, to keep Kerem Shalom closed.

On Saturday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, "We are against opening the Zionist-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom." He added that its use was part of a conspiracy by Israel and the pro-American Fatah leadership in Ramallah against the Palestinians in Gaza.

But according to the United Nations, the use of Kerem Shalom and Sufa as alternative crossings has been a lifeline that has allowed the UN to provide food staples to 1.1 million of the 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza.

David Baker, a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office, lashed out at Hamas's decision. "Israel endeavors to allow the entry of as much produce into the Gaza Strip as possible to alleviate the Palestinian situation. However, Hamas wants to exacerbate the plight at the expense of their own people by fomenting resentment against Israel."

...Dror added that the Hamas ban, along with the mortars it fires against the crossing, did not, however, prevent other goods' passage into Gaza through Kerem Shalom.

Israel and the United Nations have continued to help facilitate humanitarian aid, such as basic food supplies and animal feed, into Gaza via both through Kerem Shalom and Sufa. The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has also assisted operations at Kerem Shalom, which was the main commercial thoroughfare until Hamas seized power in Gaza last month.

According to Dror, an average of 150 trucks a day enter through Kerem Shalom and Sufa as alternatives to the Karni crossing, which has been closed - except to wheat shipments - since June 12th for technical and security reasons.

Israel and the UN have begun to rely on Kerem Shalom and Sufa, which are easier to secure because they are slightly set back from the border. Even then, said Dror, there have been almost daily mortar attacks on Kerem Shalom, while according to Eshel, Sufa is not suitable for transporting most produce as the high levels of dust in that area could easily damage delicate fruits and vegetables.

On average, approximately 500 tons of fruit, including bananas, apricots, plums and avocados, are moved into the Gaza Strip every summer.

So Hamas is shelling the crossing from which it gets most of its food, while the hated Jews and UN do everything possible to keep the flow of supplied into Gaza open.

In 1946-47, the Arab League announced a boycott against all Jewish goods, a farce that didn't end up hurting the Jews at all and resulted in Arab infighting. (The Jews found new markets for their goods and the Arabs bombed stores that ignored the boycott.)

At the very least, it should help Israeli charitable organizations to donate even more produce to Israel's own poor people, who actually appreciate getting help feeding their children.

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Lions and squirrels and UFOs, oh my!

Hamas has tried to milk their theater of freeing Alan Johnston into political points but the momentum has slowed as they continue to shoot and intimidate their rivals in Gaza.

So they had to find another hostage to free:

On Monday, Hamas operatives raiding the hideout of a notorious drug ring stumbled upon a lion stolen at riflepoint two years ago from the Gaza Zoo, said a force commander, Abu Hamam al-Deeb. But she was malnourished, missing four teeth, claws and part of her tail, a veterinarian said.

The operatives found the 2-year-old lion - as well as drugs and a weapons cache that were the target of the raid - after exchanging fire with the gunmen, al-Deeb said.

Sabrina was brought back to the Gaza Zoo and reunited with her brother, Sakher, who had avoided capture by resisting the gunmen. The two playfully swatted each other in the face and chased each other. When a zoo guard tried to pet Sabrina, Sakher crouched as if ready to pounce on him.

"We will start a long, arduous treatment to ensure she can survive," said the zoo veterinarian, Soud al-Shawaa. "She will only eat minced meat from now on so we feel sorry for her. ... They should punish the criminals who did this to her."

Sabrina had last been seen during a recent Muslim holiday at a Gaza photography studio where her captors charged about a dollar (€.74) for a picture with the lion.

Those Hamas guys are all heart!

Then again, the lion might be a spy, like the Zionist squirrels of Iran:

According to IRNA, the official Islamic Republic news agency, the national Police chief has implicitly verified the news about the confiscation of a number of squirrels, equipped with eavesdropping devices, on the Iranian borders. He has declined to give any more details, but, reportedly, when asked about the confiscation of 14 spy squirrels, he stated, “I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information”. IRNA adds, “These squirrels were equipped by foreign intelligence services, but were captured two weeks ago by the Police”.

Go here to learn about not only the squirrels, but the fact that the 12th Imam may show up in a UFO:

2- The Iranian blogger Gameeron reports that he has heard on a state-run radio station that a cleric has been talking about the twelfth Imam, who is supposed to rise and make earth all Godly. He has reportedly mentioned, “It is not like Imam will use his sword to defeat the enemies. Have you not heard about the occasional news about the UFOs which are spotted in the sky? We know nothing about the passengers of those objects. Maybe, Imam will use UFOs to attack his enemies. Because, when the time comes, he will call you guys and will tell you, ‘You! Go and become the governor of London, You! Go and become the governor of Chicago. You! Go and become the governor of Berlin. You have to be ready for the time, when he calls on you to become the governor of Paris’”.

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Syria invades Lebanon - and no one cares

From Michael Totten: (h/t LGF)

A few days ago Lebanese daily newspaper Al Mustaqbal quietly reported a limited Syrian invasion of Lebanon. (Via Naharnet.)

Syrian troops on Thursday reportedly have penetrated three kilometers into Lebanese territories, taking up positions in the mountains near Yanta in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

The daily Al Mustaqbal, citing sources who confirmed the cross-border penetration, did not say when the procedure in the Fahs Hill overlooking Deir al-Ashaer in the Rashaya province took place.

The sources said Syrian troops, backed by bulldozers, were fortifying positions "in more than one area" along the Lebanese border, erecting earth mounds and digging "hundreds" of trenches and individual bunkers.

This happened immediately before I left town for two days. When I returned I was surprised to find no mention of this whatsoever anywhere else in the media. I assumed the story had to be false. How could Syria invade three kilometers into any region of Lebanon without triggering a diplomatic and media storm?

So I emailed Michael Young, opinion page editor at Beirut’s Daily Star, and asked him if the story was nonsense. “It is true,” he said, “but the problem is that the 3 kilometers are in isolated areas, so that it isn't making headlines. However, the UN will be discussing border issues this week, I think, and that will be brought up. The Syrians are ratcheting up the pressure, but with the attack against UN troops in the south, they are, as one UN official put it, playing with fire.”

If Israel sent the IDF three kilometers into Lebanon and started digging trenches and building bunkers it would make news all over the world. But Syria does it and everyone shrugs. Hardly anyone even knows it happened at all.

Syria can, apparently, get away with just about anything. I could hardly blame Assad at this point if he believes, after such an astonishing non-response, that he can reconquer Beirut. So far he can kill and terrorize and invade and destroy with impunity, at least up to a point. What is that point? Has anyone in the U.S., Israel, the Arab League, the European Union, or the United Nations even considered the question?

Meanwhile, the Syrian government is evacuating its citizens from Lebanon in advance of…something they expect to happen after July 15, 2007.

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Ahmadinejad in his own words

There are a number of people who are disputing whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ever really said the literal words that he wants to wipe Israel off the map (here's only one example.)

UPI has nicely decided to put together statements that Ahmadinejad has been reported to say from a number of sources. It sheds a bit of light on the possible motives of the madman's defenders:

Whether Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants to wipe Israel off the map is still contested, even by anti-mullah Iranian Americans. But that he wants to wipe out the Jewish state, there can be no doubt. As he completes his visits to every Iranian town, the collection of his pronunciamentos is edifying reading.

Culled from a wide variety of sources, ranging from the London Daily Telegraph, to the Suddeutsche Zeitung Online, to France's Le Monde and Liberation, Ahmadinejad spells out the target and the strategy:

-- This regime (Israel) will one day disappear.

-- The Zionist regime is a rotten tree that will be blown away by one storm.

-- The countdown for the destruction of Israel has begun.

-- Zionists are the personification of Satan.

-- In the case of any unwise move by the fake regime of Israel, Iran's response will be so destructive and quick that the regime will regret its move forever.

-- The West invented the myth of the massacre of the Jews (in World War II) and placed it above Allah, religions and prophets.

Ahmadinejad's strategic recipe:

-- We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world.

-- The wave of the Islamist revolution will soon reach the entire world.

-- Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance pf the 12th Imam, the Mahdi (a 5-year-old boy who vanished 1,100 years ago and who will lead the world into an era of peace and prosperity, but not before the planet is convulsed by death and destruction).

-- Soon Islam will become the dominating force in the world, occupying first place in the number of followers among all other religions.

-- Is there a craft more beautiful, more sublime, more divine, than the craft of giving yourself to martyrdom and becoming holy? Do not doubt Allah will prevail, and Islam will conquer mountaintops of the entire world.

-- Iran can recruit hundreds of suicide bombers a day. Suicide is an invincible weapon. Suicide bombers in this land showed us the way, and they enlighten our future.

-- The will to commit suicide is one of the best ways of life.

-- By the grace of Allah we will be a nuclear power and Iran does not give a damn about (IAEA) demands (to freeze enrichment of nuclear fuel).

-- Iran does not give a damn about resolutions.

-- The Islamic Republic of Iran has the capacity to quickly become a world superpower.

-- Iran's enemies know your courage, faith and commitment to Islam and ... Iran has created a powerful army that can powerfully defend the political borders and the integrity of the Iranian nation and cut off the hand of any aggressor and place the sign of disgrace on their forehead.

-- In parallel to the official political war there is a hidden war going on and the Islamic states should benefit from their economic potential to cut off the hands of the enemies.

-- Addressing a conference devoted to "The World Without Zionism," Ahmadinejad said, "To those who doubt, to those who ask is it possible, or those who do not believe, I say accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible."

Clear enough for you?

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The futility of "goodwill gestures"

From Ma'an:

The families of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails have expressed their reservations about the Israeli prime minister's initiative to release 250 Fatah-affiliated prisoners. They said that accepting such an offer would only fracture the Palestinian national unity, and they called on President Abbas to make a deal that includes all Palestinian detainees without exceptions.

The prisoners' families depicted freeing any Palestinian detainee as an accomplishment; however, they expressed their fear that the 250 whom Israeli Prime Minister Olmert intends to free would include only prisoners who have almost completed their sentences, and who are scheduled for release shortly in any case.

Such conduct would help improve the Israeli image internationally, the families said, while failing to serve the Palestinian people, of whom almost 12, 000 are detained in Israeli jails in dire conditions. In addition, most of the detainees are denied visits by their families.

The prisoners' families held their weekly sit-in outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday. They asserted that they would prefer a comprehensive prisoners' swap that includes all affiliations and is conducted under Palestinian conditions.

Israel is stupidly offering, for free, to release 250 known or probable terrorists, and their families are supposedly saying that it is not a good idea.

Now it is entirely possible that this is a contrived PR move where the families of known terrorist murderers, who know that their relatives will never be released, are being set up to be quoted in a newspaper purely for pressuring Israel. Nevertheless, it shows the absolute futility of "goodwill gestures" - they create no goodwill at all, and on the contrary, they engender even more demands.

The only goodwill that ever come out of moves like this are a very temporary PR bump for Israel in the West. These reactions generally last a few weeks. Then, Israel is stuck with the consequences of unilateral gesture that cannot be undone - in this case, dealing with hundreds of new terrorists in the territories.

The day that Palestinian Arabs thank Israel for unilateral gestures is the day that they may have real value. As long as they are greeted with jeers and insults, their goodwill value seems to be below zero.

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Mustafa Barghouti's lies: Why Rafah is closed

The PA has a new professional spokesliar, doing for Mahmoud Abbas what Saeb Erekat did for Yasir Arafat for many years. He is Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, and he has been issuing daily statements about Israel that are filled with lies and half-truths.

His latest lies concern the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt:

PLC member and secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, said on Saturday that the Israel denying reentry to Gaza to 6,000 Palestinians trapped at Rafah Crossing is endangering their lives.

Barghouthi said in a press release that "28 Palestinians have died at the crossing since June 1st and the world has remained silent on Israeli actions, which transformed the strip into an open-air detention centre."

He added that a large number of Palestinians trapped at the crossing are in urgent need of medical treatment.

Barghouthi explained that even the deceased were not immune to Israeli punishment as they were denied entry to the strip and held in morgue in Egyptian hospitals.

Now, let's look at the truth:

1. Israel has offered to allow any stranded Gazans to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
2. As soon as this offer was made, Hamas and Islamic Jihad shelled that same crossing and threatened the lives of any Palestinian Arabs who attempt to use it.
3. The next day, Egypt prevented thousands of stranded Palestinians from going to the Kerem Shalom crossing.
4. The EU is responsible for Rafah, and the agreement that opened Rafah to begin with specified that Fatah would be responsible for control there. The EU considers Hamas to be a terror organization and they cannot according to their own agreement allow Hamas to re-open the crossing.
5. The bodies of those who died at Rafah were transferred to Gaza through Kerem Shalom.

I think that's enough to prove that Barghouti is a liar.

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Saudi Arabia sentences tragic teen to beheading

From the Asian Human Rights Commission:

This case concerns Rizana Naffeek who is facing the death sentence in Saudi Arabia, allegedly for the strangulation of a four month old baby. Through close study of the case the Asian Human Rights Commission is satisfied that, in fact, what has taken place was the tragic death of a baby in the process of being fed by an inexperienced teenager.

Rizana Naffeek was born on February 4, 1988 and comes from a war-torn, impoverished village. Here, many families, including those of the Muslim community try to send their under aged children for employment outside the country, as their breadwinners. Some employment agencies exploit the situation of the impoverished families to recruit under aged girls for employment. For that purpose they engage in obtaining passports by altering the dates of birth of these children to make it appear that they are older than they really are. In the case of Rizana Naffeek, the altered date, which is to be found in her passport now, is February 2, 1982. It was on the basis of this altered date that the employment agency fixed her employment in Saudi Arabia and she went there in May, 2005.

She went to work at the house of Mr. Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al Otaibi whose wife had a new-born baby boy. A short time after she started working for this family she was assigned to bottle feed the infant who was by then four months old. Rizana Naffeek had no experience of any sort in caring for such a young infant. She was left alone when bottle feeding the child. While she was feeding the child the boy started choking, as so often happens to babies and Rizana Naffeek panicked and while shouting for help tried to sooth the child by feeling the chest, neck and face, doing whatever she could to help him. At her shouting the mother arrived but by that time the baby was either unconscious or dead. Unfortunately, misunderstanding the situation the family members treated the teenager very harshly and handed her over to the police, accusing her of strangling the baby. At the police station also, she was very harshly handled and did not have the help of a translator or anyone else to whom she could explain what had happened. She was made to sign a confession and later charges were filed in court of murder by strangulation.

On her first appearance in court she was sternly warned by the police to repeat her confession, which she did. However, later she was able to talk to an interpreter who was sent by the Sri Lankan embassy and she explained in her own language the circumstances of what had happened as stated above. This version was also stated in court thereafter.

The Arab News delivers the punchline:

Upon hearing the case, the judge urged Otaibi, the child’s father, to use his prerogative to pardon the maid, which he refused to do. Therefore, the Shariah court sentenced her to death by beheading and gave her a period of one month to lodge an appeal, which has been left up to the Sri Lankan government to file.

However, Sri Lanka has not been given access to the documents needed to file the appeal, and time runs out on July 16.

So far, Human Rights Watch has not taken notice of this case, but Amnesty International (UK) has:

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

'The death penalty is always wrong but it is an absolute scandal that Saudi Arabia is preparing to behead a teenage girl who didn't even have a lawyer at her trial.

'The Saudi authorities are flouting an international prohibition on the execution of child offenders by even imposing a death sentence on a defendant who was reportedly 17 at the time of the alleged crime.

'Rizana's execution must be stopped and she must be allowed proper legal representation. Saudi Arabia should also freeze all further executions and stop what has become a torrent of judicial killing in recent months.'

Rizana has apparently informed the authorities that she was born in February 1988, but the Saudi authorities have reportedly ignored this on the basis that her passport indicated that she was born in 1982. According to information available to Amnesty International, no medical examination is believed to have been carried out to ascertain her age, nor was she given the opportunity to present her birth certificate, which reportedly shows that she was born in 1988.

In January 2006 Saudi Arabia assured the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that no children had been executed in the country since the children's convention came into force in Saudi Arabia in 1997. This is a weaker commitment than is required by the convention, which demands that no one is executed for crimes committed when they were under 18, no matter how old they are now.

Amnesty International is raising urgent concern over the plight of Rizana Nafeek at a time when executions in Saudi Arabia have increased rapidly. In the first six months of this year nearly 100 people in the Kingdom have already been executed, including three women. Half of these have been foreign nationals, mostly from poor countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2006 Saudi Arabia was known to have executed 39 people (though the true figure may have been higher), the seventh highest number in the world. This year the execution 'rate' is approximately five times higher than last year's, and Saudi Arabia is now likely to have one of the highest execution tolls for 2007 of any country in the world.

AHRC is organizing a letter-writing campaign to the bereaved father asking him to pardon the girl, which is enough to spare her under Shari'a law. So far it hasn't helped.

AHRC is calling on Muslim scholars to speak out. That hasn't happened. In fact, I have not yet seen any of the prominent Muslim "human rights" organizations say a word about this case.

A single phone call from the US government would probably have more effect to help the girl than anything else. There's only a week left.

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