Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 09, 2007

The 6000 stranded PalArabs are down to 30 Hamas members

Remember the 6000 Arabs stranded in Rafah because the EU no longer monitored that crossing from Egypt to Israel? The PalArabs, especially Hamas, whined incessantly about the humanitarian crisis, about how they were sick and dying, and how Israel must open that crossing point.

Israel, meanwhile, made a deal with Egypt for them to cross through Israel into Gaza, and over the past week, that's what has been happening.

Now there are only 30 left - all of them refusing to go to Gaza because they know Israel will arrest them as being terrorists:

ARISH, Egypt -- The last batch of 6,000 Palestinians stranded in Egypt since Hamas took control of Gaza in June returned home Thursday, leaving behind 30 Hamas supporters who cannot travel via Israel.

The final group of 400 Palestinians crossed the Oja (Nizana) checkpoint, near the divided town of Rafah on the Egypt-Gaza border, before continuing to Gaza via the Jewish state, a Palestinian source at the border said.

Rafah, the usual crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, has been closed since Hamas militants violently took over the territory June 15, stranding thousands in dire conditions in the Egyptian desert.

"These 30 Palestinians would rather stay in Egypt until the Rafah terminal is opened, and they refuse to cross via Oja," an Egyptian border source said. "They know they're down as belonging to or sympathizing with Hamas and fear being arrested by the Israeli authorities," he said.

"They don't have any choice but to wait for the Rafah crossing point to open, because either they're wanted by Israel or because the Zionist enemy won't allow them in," Hamas MP Moushir Masri said Tuesday.

"We demand that the Rafah crossing point be opened and reject any Israeli involvement" in controlling who crosses, said Masri, himself stranded in Egypt.

When open, Rafah is operated in close cooperation by Egypt, European Union monitors, Israel, and the Palestinians, and can be closed if any one party refuses to participate.

Here we have a classic case of erstwhile "leaders" of Palestinian Arabs who are willing to allow thousands of their people to suffer for their cause. Hamas did everything they could to not allow the stranded people to come to Gaza - and they continue to blame Israel, when the hated Zionist entity worked so hard to help out the Palestinian Arabs stuck in the desert.

Once again, Israel shows more concern for the welfare and well-being of Palestinian Arabs than their own leaders do.

Once again, Israel was vindicated in its reasoning of why the Rafah crossing needed to be monitored to begin with - because known, wanted terrorists were freely crossing between Gaza and the rest of the world via Egypt.

And once again, a few weeks ago the world media had a field day with suffering PalArabs that could (erroneously) be blamed on Israel, but now when Israel helps those people despite their own leaders' objections and Hamas is still fuming that their human pawns have disappeared, the story is almost impossible to find.

UPDATE: Look how the Palestinian Arab English propaganda press is spinning this story to make Israel look as bad as possible. Orwell is alive and well at IMEMC.org.

Hamas blaming internal fighting deaths on Israel?

The Palestine Press Agency, which is rabidly pro-Fatah, anti-Hamas but also rabidly anti-Israel, is reporting that Hamas is hiding deaths from internal clashes and then, if any Israeli activities happen anywhere in Gaza, they claim the deaths came from Israel.

I'm still on the fence about how accurate Palpress.com is, but on the other hand it is clear from many examples that there is no independent press in the PA that is willing to report objectively about Hamas because of death threats against reporters and a general atmosphere of intimidation (the public relations director of Shifa Hospital, who said that medical supplies in Gaza were running low, was arrested overnight by Hamas.)

My working policy on counting PalArabs being killed by PalArabs is that if the news source mentions names, I regard it as legitimate. And this story names the victims. Also, one of the commenters corroborates that Hamas indeed does things like this. On the other hand, the IDF does confirm that they killed two armed men in Gaza yesterday and then Hamas announced that they were Hamas members, and named them.

The auto-translation is a little difficult but this is interesting:

Sources close to Hamas martyrs of the Qassam Hamas claimed today cites the impact of a military confrontation with the Zionist occupation forces were only two dead fell following internal clashes occurred yesterday between leaders of the executive power lawless and banned street Palestinian Qassam around Disagreement over the loot that had been looted from the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority in the wake of the bloody coup carried out by Hamas against the organs and the PA offices and the two deceased were killed in the west of Gaza City supporters.

The same sources "that the two deceased were Fadi Fawaz Arkic 22 general, Mohamed Subhi Batunaiji 24, both from the Shajaiyeh neighborhood east of Gaza, Hamas has had to transfer their bodies to a nearby site of the Al-Mintar and conceal the fate of deaths for fear of detection daily crimes occurring between gangs and Qassam militia force operational sharing the Palestinian people and the property sold and divert funds to personal accounts.

The source continued that the Qassam Brigades took Bomb occupation soldiers mortar, which is the first time the bombing by Hamas rallies after the coup on the Israeli Palestinian legitimacy and to work to lure the occupation forces to respond to the bombing scene to show picture engineered by Hamas that targeted or killed in military operation against the Israeli occupation forces.

The source confirmed that the explosion which occurred near the towers of Sheikh Zayed northern Gaza days ago, which claimed the lives of the family Zulkiparneh Tefilin is the result of leaving the Hamas elements of explosive devices and ready-Bina children, which exploded after tampering (packaging belonging to Hamas)

This is known that Hamas had lied to the methods and falsifying many to justify its crimes against our people growing in the Gaza Strip, and the sons of the Fatah movement in particular.

And the commenter adds:

God give wrong evil-doers ... that the statement in the news is true ..

And I live very close to the compound supporters and the Office brother President Abu Mazen and heard heavy firing light and medium weapons and was clear that the clash lasted about a quarter of an hour and saw many ambulances and heard many screams in the place .. and assured me that there were dead and wounded the day before yesterday I met one of the businesses in the ER section of Shifa Hospital, told me that he had seen the dead and wounded .. When asked by a member of the so-called operational reason, I keep silent answer is not to do with you .. and this happened last Sunday evening, and God on what to say a martyr ... and that the firm also of those killed yesterday allegedly at the al-Mantar crossing is not right, did not kill them

There were killed because of missing two days before the announcement of the killing, and this Aydhahussb many of the witnesses and relatives Alkateliokadd heard this from some of their relatives ... have revealed all their papers and found enclosed in their misrepresentations and deceit everyone I, Banat Hamas for what God .. unmasking them violin and violin .

I knew the violins were important!

In the light of the IDF statement, I will not count these - I can't see how Hamas could fake the deaths of two already-dead people. In all likelihood, Palpress.com is not adhering to any journalistic standards in its anti-Hamas zeal and is willing to believe anything.

Even so, it is interesting that there are a couple of photos of the dead PalArabs - in Hamas colors - but no omnipresent wire service photos of grieving relatives at those two funerals.

Now, Olmert is alienating American Jewish donors

I've heard of tone-deafness, but this is ridiculous:

By Brad A. Greenberg, Staff Writer

[JERUSALEM, Aug. 8] "You are not to directly quote the prime minister," Ehud Olmert's press handler told a group of American Jewish journalists I've been traveling with this week.

This directive came as we sat in a conference room in the leader of Israel's Jerusalem offices. It seemed a ridiculous request, but the prime minister's fears made more sense once the meeting was over.

When Olmert walked confidently into the conference room, he shook some hands, said 'Shalom' and posed for a photo with a few journalists. Dressed in a navy suit and red tie, he sat tall, speaking in fluent English as he cracked jokes and invited our questions -- and that's when the meeting went south.

Asked about the hundreds of millions of dollars sent by American Jews to help Israel during and after last summer's war with Hezbollah, Olmert responded that the donations were very important -- but not necessary.

If a giver wants to give and the receiver wants to get, Olmert said, God bless that situation.

And as we've seen this week, God -- or human resourcefulness -- has blessed a quick reconstruction of northern Israel. But Olmert's comments seemed particularly ungrateful because he spoke not only to the American journalists, but also to some top officials of the United Jewish Communities (UJC).

Through the UJC's Israel Emergency Campaign last summer, North American federations sent $360 million to Israel. UJC is also the sponsor of this media trip, which was designed to show reporters and editors how American donations have been used. UJC officials have shuttled our group, including editors and writers from major Jewish publications in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and L.A., to show us the pain inflicted by war.

They arranged this forum with the prime minister to allow him to speak to the most philanthropic Diaspora community -- and this is what he says?

...Olmert has been heavily criticized for myriad mistakes in last summer's war, and even now, 12 months after the ceasefire, he appears oblivious to the situation on the ground.

I've spent the past three days in Northern Israel, near Haifa, Nahariya, the Galilee - and most everyone I've met has talked at some length about the lingering and traumatic affects of having been bombarded by Katyusha rockets for 34 days last summer.

Take, for instance, Shiri Havkin, who lives in the town of Rosh Pina. Havkin runs a small business, Drora's Herb Farm, out of her home; it was started by her mother, the Israeli singer Drora Havkin, and the younger Havkin took over when her mother died in 1995. She nearly lost it all last summer when tourism stopped -- her savings shriveled and she bounced so many checks the bank froze her activity.

She only stayed afloat thanks to a low-interest loan from a small-business development center that was supported by UJC. Another war, though, might be enough for Havkin to give up on the Galilee.

"If there will be another war, I will have to sell my house," she said. "I'm sorry to say but I cannot stand another war."

Olmert dismissed such sentiments as isolated and insignificant.

There is no trauma, he said: Nothing is collapsing; the north is booming; income is higher than ever; employment is higher than ever.

And, in fact, his claims are partially true. Israel's economy is once again going gangbusters. People have returned to the north, and the most visible remnants of war are a few blackened trees on the hillsides close to the border. Nahariya's streets and boardwalk are filled day and night with young revelers.

But that doesn't account for the emotional wreckage inside many Israelis.

Numerous psychologists and social workers told our group that post-traumatic stress disorder is a public-health crisis in northern Israel. Rami Benbenishty of Hebrew University said he'd found that 10 percent to 11 percent of children in Nahariya are in "critical, immediate need" of psychological treatment. They suffer not from war fatigue, but concussion paranoia. Debilitating fear is literally a sneeze away for some.

But what did the leader of Israel say when told many psychologists would not agree with his analysis of how war has affected his citizens?

He said it was time to change the psychologist.

We've seen leaders in history who didn't care about what their people thought. We've seen leaders who felt that they knew what was best for the nation in the face of facts and reason. We've seen leaders who spat in the face of their citizens when they pointed out the problems.

But I am not aware of any democracy that has ever had a leader who acted with such smugness, such dismissiveness, when his approval rating was in the single digits. The disconnect between what is in Olmert's head and reality is a gaping canyon. And yet, because of the peculiarities of Israel's parliamentary system, he has no reason to fear being voted out any time soon - by which time the amount of damage he can do to Israel is unimaginable.

Olmert is now acting as a king, not a servant of the people. And his reign is not just a mistake - it is a catastrophe.

UPDATE: See this article at Human Events.

Ahmadinejad: Newscasters' "holy war" - plus why censorship is important to Iran

See how objective Iranian news is?

IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday during his visit to the country's official news agency, IRNA, "Today our duty is proper informing to enable the people to adopt proper decisions."

Addressing IRNA staff, the president added, "Your mission for proper and in time news dissemination is a sacred one, and you should with your strong will push aside the oppressors' news networks." He reiterated, "The oppressors' front takes advantage of news and information dissemination at the service of inducting their policies and their programs in the hearts and minds of the world nations." According to IRNA Political Desk, Ahmadinejad who was visiting IRNA on the occasion of Iran's Reporters Day, added, "Today, proper information dissemination equals presence at the frontline of a holy war to liberate the mankind, and a liberating confrontation." He added, "The reporters are precious assets of our nation and revolution, and the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) has qualified personnel at its disposal that are valuable assents for our nation and our revolution."

He added, "We need to take advantage of the idealist, brave, and pious reporters, analysts, and professional news people, and the country's information dissemination networks as a huge capital, in order to enter the international scenes."

Ahmadinejad referring to the psychological war launched by the world oppressors media through news making, said, "Today the entire media, news agencies, news production and newspapers of the country must leave their defensive status and let the world nations hear the message of divine messengers of God, and the message of mankind's grandeur."
He added, "Today the oppressors' front tries to keep the people under the influence of inappropriate news dissemination, but when some of these people travel to Iran they experience a great mental evolution."

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasized, "One of the reasons why US is opposed to the visits of American nationals to Iran is that they have been bombarding our nation with their news weapons, and when they visit Iran and witness the cheerful people, or the advancement and positive developments in Iran, their viewpoints on Iran are altered."
Ahmadinejad referred to the point that the oppressors news agencies, resorting to words, report the news on criminal acts of the Zionist regime in a way that the oppressors are introduced as the oppressed, and vice versa. He reiterated, "The majority of the public that are not opposed to hearing the truth, when they are exposed to proper news dissemination find their proper way, and today our duty in the world is proper news dissemination."

Elsewhere in his remarks the president stressed the need to broadcast "useful news" in the country, arguing, "There might be lots of news that are authentic, but they should not be broadcasted, because they would disturb the peace of mind of the society." Stressing that we are not pro-censorship, Ahmadinejad said, "Censorship was invented by those who also devise standards for news dissemination, defining the news and the reporters in a way to match their standards and propagate their policies in the world." Addressing the IRNA reporters, he said, "My dear fellows, you shoulder a heavy responsibility today, because news work and news dissemination is a divine occupation, and the job of holy prophets." The president emphasized, "If we are to be witness to the occurrence of a positive event, we need to remember that one of the main pillars for it is proper news dissemination."

Ahmadinejad added, "You should know that your message is the message of divine prophets, the message of real liberation, justice, brotherhood, love, and kindness."

Dutch MP calls for banning the Koran

Get ready for more deadly riots...

The leader of the Netherlands' right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called for a ban on the sale and distribution of the Qur'an. He would also outlaw the book’s use in the mosque and at home. Mr Wilders says the Qur'an (Koran) is a fascist book which promotes violence and is similar to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Geert Wilders with finger raised

In a letter-to-the-editor in today’s de Volkskrant newspaper, Wilders argues that the Qur'an should only be permitted for research at an academic level.

However, the MP - who is known for his controversial statements about Islam - says he knows his proposal doesn’t stand a chance of being approved by parliament. His Freedom Party has nine seats in the 150-seat Dutch lower house of parliament.
A warning
Geert Wilders says he wants his proposal to serve as a warning to radical Muslims who misuse the Qur'an to justify the use of violence. His statement comes in response to the recent attacks on Ehsan Jami, founder of the Committee for Former Muslims. He says the perpetrators use the Qur'an as an excuse for the attacks. Wilders writes that“The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order.”The jurist, commentator and co-member of the Committee for Former Muslims, Afshin Ellian also thinks that the Qur'an “possesses extremely violent passages with regard to women, Jews and non-believers”. However, he is against a ban. Mr Ellian says you should take measures against the people who abuse the Qur'an, not the book itself:

“It’s a religious book which of course can be read and discussed. What we really should fight are the radical imams and mosques which use the Qur'an to spread hatred. We must take firmer measures against them.”

Hitler
Geert Wilders compares the Qur'an with Mein Kampf, which was written by Adolf Hitler in 1924. In his book, Hitler explained his theories about National Socialism, anti-Semitism and the superiority of the Aryan race.

The sale of Mein Kampf is outlawed in the Netherlands, but owning or trading old copies is permitted. However, Mr Wilders’ proposal to ban the Qur'an is more drastic than the ban on Mein Kampf because it would also outlaw the possession of the book.

Hamas: Early release for prisoners who memorize Koran

From Ma'an:

Gaza – Ma'an – The administration of Gaza's central jail, As Saraya, which is controlled by the Hamas-operated Executive Forces, announced on Tuesday that it will reduce any prisoner's sentence by one year if they are able to memorise five parts of the holy Qu'ran.

The director of the prison complex, Abu Al Hamid, affirmed that he wants to encourage the prisoners to learn the Koran by heart.

The Executive Force's website reported that Al Hamid has formed a committee that will monitor the prisoners' progress.

The EF has been in control of the complex after Hamas established control over the Gaza Strip. Since then, at least 850 prisoners are said to have escaped.

Presumably, the escaped prisoners already knew the Koran by heart so it is all good.

3500 Hamas terrorists "accidently" got paid

Looks like life in Gaza just got a lot easier - if you are a murderous thug dedicated to wiping out all Jewish existence from the Middle East:

A well-informed source in Ramallah confirmed that the new Palestinian ministry of finance in the caretaker government mistakenly transferred one year's salary to 3,500 members of Hamas' Executive Force in the Gaza Strip.

The source added "it was a mistake in the computer, as the Fatah employees were surprised that their salaries were not transferred to the banks in Gaza, but the salaries of the EF were."

Ma'an's correspondent in Gaza confirmed that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's government paid not just one month of the salaries; but an entire year's earnings.

Spokesperson of the Executive Force, Sabir Khalifa, confirmed to Ma'an that 3,500 members of the force received salaries for 12 months. He added that it is almost half of the force that received their salaries.

Khalifa said "this is an official recognition from [Palestinian President] Abbas and Fayyad that the force is legitimate and legal."

The remainder of the EF, who did not receive their salaries, said that half of the force received a grant from deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The unpaid force members said that they expect that they will be paid by Haniyeh's government in the future.

The best numbers I can find for average PA worker salary is about $375 a month.

This means that nearly $16 million just got transferred from the EU and USA-funded PA coffers to Hamas.

Given that there have been consistent reports of attempts to bring Hamas back into the PA, one may very well wonder how "accidental" this "computer error" was.

UPDATE: Pro-Hamas Palestine Today claims that it was no mistake and Fayyad meant to pay Hamas for past paychecks, and they claim that a Fatah official confirmed it.

No violins in Islam

The BBC published an article about life in Gaza. One of the interviews was very interesting:

I lead a group of 26 musicians - we play traditional Palestinian music. But for the last two months we haven't been able to work.

This group, Hamas, believe they are the leaders of Islam. The violin, piano, flute, all these instruments are banned. Only the drum is allowed. They say any other instrument is not mentioned in the Koran.

Hamas have already beaten one of my singers for singing for Fatah.

Far be it from me to try to interpret the Koran. But if Hamas says that believing Muslims must stay away from anything not mentioned in the Koran, may I suggest a few other things that would also be haraam:

AK-47s
Bomb belts
"Homemade" rockets
The Internet
Electricity
Gasoline
Jerusalem

Better be careful. Allah knows best.

Bat Mitzvah girl donates $100K for playground in Israel

This is amazing:

Samantha Resnick had only one item on her bat mitzva wish list. Unlike most girls her age, who cross their fingers for anything in a powder-blue Tiffany's box, Resnick set her sights on something a bit bigger than a ribbon fit around: $100,000 worth of donations to build a brand-new playground in Israel.
About a year-and-a-half before Resnick's bat mitzva, her father, Josh, sat his precocious, curly-haired daughter down for a talk.
"I said 'You've always had everything you've needed and you've also had everything you've ever wanted. Do you really want people to buy gifts for you or do you want to do something special for kids in Israel?'"
Without a moment's pause, Resnick agreed to the idea. "I was really proud of her," said Josh.
Over 500 friends and relatives received an unusual invitation for Resnick's bat mitzva last September: Included in the envelope was a small card requesting that donations be made to the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in lieu of gifts. Every family invited to the event contributed to assemble one of the largest bar or bat mitzva donations the JNF has ever received.
On Monday, in Israel for the first time, Resnick and her parents formally opened the playground that is attached to Sapir Park in the Arava Valley. The playground is designed to accommodate children who have special needs alongside those who do not.
Resnick, whose mother, Debbie, is a language and hearing therapist in the Pittsburgh public school system, explained why it was important to her to include special-needs children in the project.
"I feel so upset when you see all these kids playing and a mentally challenged kid is left out," she said. "You see them thinking 'I wish I could go and play, too.'"
Though content to be a 14-year-old philanthropist for the moment, Resnick has plans to expand the park.
"I want it to be huge," she said, adding that she hopes to emulate a park near her own home in Fox Chapel near Pittsburgh. She described her dream park with the matter-of-fact certainty of being a kid who knows exactly what a kid would want. "There's a slide of course, because everyone loves slides... and there are tire swings because I wanted to bring some stuff from America."

I'm getting Instalanched

Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds picked up on the "grim milestone" of 500 PalArab self-deaths I've counted this year.

So have Soccer Dad, Meryl Yourish, Yid with Lid, Boker Tov Boulder, Daled Amos, Seraphic Secret, Fiery Spirited Zionist, Discarded Lies and Protein Wisdom.

But in the hour since Glenn Reynolds posted his link, I've gotten about 1200 hits - and he only posted it an hour ago.

Welcome to all the new people visiting - I hope you get a chance to check out some of my other postings!

Today's morality news from Iran

From AKI: (h/t Dhimmi Watch)

Tehran, 7 August (AKI) - Iran stepped up its moralisation campaign this week with the arrest of 17 teenagers aged between 13 and 17 years of age at a birthday party in Tehran.

It is the latest arrest in a controversial campaign ordered by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and enforced by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The United Nation's children's fund, UNICEF, immediately expressed concern about the arrests of nine males and eight females - all minors - who have been accused of "promiscuity", "alcohol use", and "dressing indecently".

The adolecents, being held at the court's discretion, could be sentenced to three years' jail, a police spokesman said.

In Iran young people are considered adults from the age of 15 and therefore legally punishable.

At Kerman, in western Iran, local police announced the imminent execution of 12 "hoodlums" arrested with another 186 people during the last four months.

None of the 12 sentenced have been accused of serious crimes.

"These hoodlums have committed crimes from alcohol consumption to the molestation of women," a police spokesman said.

The arrests are part of a nationwide moralisation campaign which began in Iran in May.

During the first three months of the campaign, 2,500 businesses were reportedly closed down for allowing men and women to mix freely, 8,000 people were arrested for "offending public morals" and almost 63,000 women were stopped by police for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code.

Ya gotta hand it to the mullahs - they really understand the importance of being immoral in the pursuit of "morality."

Iran rejoicing over US weapons sales to Arab states

From Iran Press Service:

Paris, 7 Aug. (IPS) Not only Iran must not be afraid of the big sale of American weapons to the Arab regimes of the Middle East, but it must rejoice, as they would end up in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists whom Iran is the main supporter.
This prediction was made by Mr. Hoseyn Shari’atmadari, an influential journalist regarded as the senior mouthpiece of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i and an ardent advocate of the “offensive policy” adopted by the fanatic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad.

Iran has no reason to feel concerned about the planned arms sale to Arab countries by the United States.
“One must consider the sale of American weapons to the Arab countries as a good omen, a divine gift offered to the Muslim fundamentalists by their enemies”, Mr. Shari’atmadari, a high-ranking intelligence officer appointed by the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran as Chief Editor of the radical daily “Keyhan”.

The article, published on 4 August and signed by was referring to the 20 billions US Dollars military hardware and package to Saudi Arabia and another 10 billions to the other members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council that comprises, besides Saudi Arabia, the Island of Bahrain, oil rich Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman.

Speaking of Qatar, Hamas leader Haniyeh praised that nation today for continuing to support Hamas after its split with Fatah.

Yup, they are a great nation to send weapons to.

Meanwhile, Iran is a little impatient waiting for US jets to land on its doorstep, so it has built its own homegrown fighter jet.

2 children killed in Gaza. Let the lies begin!

From Ma'an:

Gaza – Ma'an – Palestinian child, Hala Wael Abdalah, aged 7, and her brother, Islam, aged 9, were killed in an explosion on Tuesday morning in a housing estate, in the An Nada area of the northern Gaza Strip.

Eight others were injured in the incident.

The cause of the explosion has not been verified.

Palestinian medical sources from Kamal Adwan Hospital said that Hala arrived dead, with her body severely burnt and in pieces. Her brother, Islam, died shortly after arriving at hospital.

Ma'an contacted local residents in the area to decipher the cause of the incident. Many said they believe it was a Palestinian homemade projectile, launched by one of the factions and targeting Israel, which landed in the area and killed the two children.

None of the factions have as yet announced responsibility for launching the projectile.

A leader within the Palestinian resistance commented on Ma'an's report of the death of the children. He said "the investigation of the resistance revealed that the explosion resulted from an unexploded rocket, launched by the Israelis."

He added "the rocket was found by the children and while they were playing with it, it exploded and caused the disaster."

YNet has a different spin:

Witnesses said a group of children stumbled upon a homemade rocket or a mortar shell and began playing with it. The device exploded, injuring all seven children, two of whom died later of their wounds.

The area is a frequent launching pad for gunmen who fire rockets toward Israel.
No Palestinian group blamed the IDF for the explosion.

All evidence, including within the Ma'an article, is that this was a PalArab rocket and not an Israeli one. But how does Ma'an headline the article?

"Unexploded Israeli rocket detonates killing two children in Gaza."

Thus solidifying the fact that even the most unbiased Palestinian Arab news source is, in fact, incredibly biased. Or at the very least that the many Hamas threats against journalists is being taken very seriously and is affecting how the news is being reported out of Gaza.

The PalArab self-death count is now at 503.

UPDATE: This has been a banner day for PalArab kids, as a 13-year old gets killed by some other kids while on a fishing trip near Nablus. I guess when everyone has a gun, some of them might be discharged. 504.

UK: Violent anti-semitic attackers avoid jail

From Totally Jewish: (h/t zionist spy)

The Jewish community has accused the courts of not taking anti-semitism seriously after three teenagers escaped prison for attacking and threatening to kill two yeshiva students.

Two men aged 18 and 19 were given suspended sentences and a 17-year-old was handed a curfew and community service at Bolton Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to racially aggravated assault.

The teenagers initially pleaded not guilty at Bolton Magistrates Court last October when accused of attacking two 17-year-olds in Bury New Road, Prestwich, on 8 June 2006. But they changed their plea when appearing at the Crown Court this week.

The court heard that the defendants shouted anti-semitic abuse at the students as they walked home, telling them, “you are going to die tonight”. One victim received a broken tooth and needed 23 staples in his head after being hit with a metal bar by one of the attackers while the others kicked him while he was on the floor. The other victim was left with a pain in the leg.

The 19-year-old was given a 12-month youth offender’s sentence, suspended for two years, a 12-month supervision order and 200 hours unpaid community service. The 18-year-old was given eight months in a young offenders institute, suspended for two years and the 17-year-old received a 12-month community rehabilitation order.

Jewish leaders and MPs have condemned the verdict claiming it sends out ‘entirely the ‘wrong message’ about anti-semitism.

I'm sure that the court felt that it was partially the yeshiva students' fault, for walking around so provocatively wearing yarmulkas. It's almost as if they were asking for it.

It's OK - Olmert doesn't care about Christian feelings either

For all Jews who are insulted that Ehud Olmert is amazingly inconsiderate about the strong feelings that Jews have towards Hebron and other Jewish holy places, and that he appears to care more about pleasing Arab Muslims who want to see the entire Middle East to be Jew-free than about the citizens that he is supposed to be defending....

Don't worry; Olmert is equally inconsiderate about Christians.

One of the requests that Abbas made of Olmert today was to allow the terrorists who desecrated the Church of the Nativity in 2002 to return to the West Bank.

Abbas, according to sources in Olmert's office, called on the prime minister to release more security prisoners, beyond the 250 who were let go last month, and to allow the return of some 20 Palestinian gunmen who were deported in 2002 to Europe and the Gaza Strip after they holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.
Olmert, again according to his office, said he would consider these requests. Abbas also asked him to remove checkpoints in the West Bank and to allow Palestinians more freedom of movement, something Olmert said he would discuss with the defense establishment.

While this news may be buried in the bottom of the Israeli news stories, it is at the top of the Palestinian Arab news articles.

As usual, the West completely misses the importance of symbolism to Arabs.

If Olmert allows the Church of the Nativity terrorists back into the West Bank, he is thinking like a Westerner - it is a small, almost meaningless price to pay for some pretense of an illusory "peace."

But to the Arabs, it means that the terrorists end up not being punished at all; their five years of exile were just a tiny blip in a worldview where perceived slights from the 15th century still rankle. It means that in yet another battle between the West and Islam, Islam has won. It means that Arabs can get away with demeaning the Christian religion with impunity.

Symbolic victories, to Arabs, are indistinguishable from real victories - the entire point of a battle is honor, and the honor that was temporarily lost by these terrorists being sent away will be restored, and then some. They will be hailed as heroes if they return to their old homes, and no Palestinian Arab would even consider denouncing them.

While they remain abroad, there is a small deterrent against PalArabs desecrating Christian holy places. As soon as they return, that disincentive disappears, and we can expect that next time there will be no hesitation in using priests and nuns as human shields, or using church grounds as weapons repositories. On the contrary - we can expect that the terrorists will be celebrated and cheered by the Arab masses.

Symbolism intersects with reality because PalArabs will react in real terms to symbols. The Western idea that symbols are not important does not work when dealing with people for whom symbols are of supreme importance. As a result, the enemies will always be emboldened and heartened by their symbolic victories, making it much harder for the civilized world to win the real war. Every Western concession to "peace" almost inevitably turns into a new weapon of war.

Too many times, we fall into the trap of not understanding the enemy.