Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

"Everyone who wants to drive the Jews into the sea, say 'aye'"

Pictures of jailed Palestinian lawmakers are seen during a Hamas lawmakers' session of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza November 21, 2007. REUTERS/Ismail Zaydah (GAZA)

More on the Saudi rape case

I mentioned the case in Saudi Arabia of a woman who met a male friend when both were abducted and repeatedly raped by a gang of Saudi men, and the victims ended up getting sentenced to prison and 90 lashes.

And when her lawyer tried to appeal, the Saudi justices doubled the victims' sentences to 200 lashes and more prison time.

Well, the Saudi Ministry of Justice is backing the judges' ruling:

The Ministry of Justice made its first public statement regarding the second verdict in the so-called “Qatif Girl” rape trial, justifying the decision to punish the victims with lashes and jail time on the basis of “some proved charges.”

The statement, which was released through the official Saudi Press Agency, said the ministry “welcomes objective criticism that benefits the general good, away from emotional responses.”

Last week “Qatif Girl”, whose name has not been released to protect her identity, and a male companion saw their sentences increased from 90 lashes to 200 lashes and six months in jail on orders by the Higher Court of Justice.

The two were found guilty of being in a state of khalwa, when an unrelated man and woman are found together, prior to their abduction and rape. The sentences of the seven men found guilty of abducting and repeatedly raping the young woman and her male companion were also increased to between two and nine years each...

The ministry also said yesterday in its statement that anyone has a right to appeal verdicts, but also warned of “stirring up agitation through the media that may not be objective and cannot grant anyone any right as much as it can negatively affect the other parties involved in the case.”

The ministry statement used the term “the woman and her male friend” and “the woman and her companion” without referring to either of them as rape victims.

The Qatif General Court also revoked Al-Lahem’s license to practice law for “disobeying rules and regulations” at a hearing during Ramadan, according to yesterday’s statement from the ministry.

The statement didn’t elaborate on the nature of the violations the lawyer allegedly committed in the courtroom.

Al-Lahem told Arab News on Sunday that the incident was sparked when he objected to the presence of the rapists in the courtroom, saying that under Saudi law she did not need to be present and in the same room with her attackers.

Sounds like just the kind of country the US should be selling weapons to.

A "Shabbos goy" robot?

Israelity reports:

A robot programmed to work on Shabbat will do it: clear the table, turn off the oven, control the a/c and click lights off and on - especially the bathroom one that gets turned off accidentally in the middle of the night by half-awake innocents.

According to the Hebrew press, “Shabbat Robot” is the brainchild of White Box Robotics, a subsidiary of Frontline Robotics.

The robot is meant to replace the traditional Shabbos Goy - a controversial term used for non-Jews hired to perform work-related tasks for Jews on the Sabbath.

But it’s gonna cost ya; About $4000 when product hits the market.

I can't wait to see what ShaBot 6000 will think of this.

Giving your enemies weapons in the name of peace

The (literally) criminal government of Olmert, Barak, Livni and company has crossed another couple of red lines, endangering not only Israeli citizens but the entire state - since yesterday.

When we last checked, the Olmert gang decided to release some 430 terrorists to appease a Palestinian Arab government that has no ability to govern. This came on the heels of other "gestures" like settlement freezes, amnesty of Fatah "militants," agreeing to bypass Phase 1 of the roadmap and put all of Israel on the table (even inside the Green Line,) floating ideas to divide Jerusalem - and pretty much doing everything necessary to ensure that in five years there will be a barrage of rockets coming from the heart of Eretz Yisrael towards the Jews huddled by the Mediterranean.

Yesterday, the government with the lowest approval rating in the history of democracy threw in a few more rewards for terror: allowing the PA to receive 25 armored vehicles, a thousand rifles and 2 million bullets.

Oh, Ha'aretz also reports that Israel has dismantled some 25 checkpoints in the West Bank as well.

And just one more tiny thing - there are reports that Olmert is also agreeing to the Palestinian Arab "right of return" in principle, and allowing as many at 20,000 Arabs to move into Israel.

The major PalArab "gesture" in the past week has been to add a couple of hundred out of their 80,000 "policemen" to make some cosmetic arrests of car thieves in Nablus. Of course, this meant that Israel pulled back from Nablus and removed some checkpoints.

And by sheer coincidence, the attack that killed Ido Zoldan came from the Nablus area that was being controlled so well by the incompetent, terror-leaning "policemen" of Fatah.

The goodwill doesn't only apply to Fatah terrorists. Hamas gets some action as well, as Ma'an is reporting this morning that Barak is allowing the export of strawberries and flowers from Gaza, just to add some more cash to Hamas' coffers.

See also Israellycool and Israel Matzav.

Annapolis blog entries (Think-Israel)

Think-Israel asked bloggers to contribute their postings about Annapolis to be consolidated and publicized:
-------------------------------------------

"An invitation to Annapolis," by Ellen W. Horowitz.

"Munich 1938, Annapolis 2007" by Chaim Szmidt. Read it at Freedom's Cost. [Submitted by TM. , who wrote: "This isn't my blog but it's from one of my favorites"]

"The Libel Tourist video", Rachel Ehrenfeld speaking. See this documentary at The Libel Tourist blog. Also viewable at astuteblogger.blogspot.com. [Saudis fund terrorists; ultimate objective -- to impose Sharia (Muslim Law) on everyone.]

"Mandate for Palestine: The Legal Aspects of Jewish Rights" by Eli E. Hertz. Download it at Myths and Facts website. Or download it directly by clicking here. A Hebrew version is also available. [Israel's right to Biblical Israel (the "West Bank") is irrevocable by international law.]

"Questions And Answers About Israel, Annapolis, And 'Peace'" by Steven Plaut (www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com). Read it at the Jewish Press. [Why Israel should not go to Annapolis.]

"Anti-Americanism Dangerously Misunderstood, While Israel is Still Expected to do all the Heavy Lifting," by Phyllis Chesler. Read it at Chesler Chronicles. [Israel gives. Gets grief. Gives more. Gets no respect.]

"Stacked Deck! Peace conference invitee list revealed." by Batya Medad. Read it at Shiloh's Musings. [Hail, hail, the gang's all here and Israel gets to play the sacrificial lamb.]

"Honest Broker or Dangerous Scam?" by Batya Medad. Read it a Shiloh Musings. [Blair and Rice aren't honest brokers. They're partisan.]

"Annapolis..." by Chaim Szmidt. Read it at Freedom's Cost. [Olmert buys off countrymen who could bring his administration down and kowtows to administrations that could wipe out his country.]

"November 1947 and Annapolis déjà vu," by Elder of Ziyon" Read it at Elder of Ziyon. [However failure or success is measured at Annapolis, the day after there will be violence.]

"Quo Vadis Annapolis?" by Yoram Ettinger. Read it at The Ettinger Report. [Arabs view peace as just another a tactic to defeat their enemies.]

"Jerusalem" by Akiva. Read it at Mystical Paths. [Jerusalem is too important to Judaism to lose her.]

"Condi's Fatal Error" by Arlene Kushner (http://www.arlenefromisrael.info/). Read it at Front Page Magazine. [Sec-State Rice's judgment is poor.]

"The Annapolis Summit" by Bernice Lipkin. Read it at Think-Israel. [This "peace process" is as wrong-headed as the previous ones. We need a new paradigm for peace.]

"Surprise... Not! Palestinians Abuse Their Own Kids!" by Barbara. Read it at Barbara's Tchatzkahs. [Monster Alley isn't where you make a deal.]

"Annapolis: The very definition of antisemitism" by Anne Lieberman. Read at Boker tov, Boulder. [Annapolis applies a double standard. That's anti-Semitism.]

"Dangerous Times We Live In," by Ralph Levy. Read it at Ralph's Rant. [Points out indicators that Olmert is disregarding Israeli wishes and is recklessly willing to damage Israel.]

"Motivation" by Ralph Levy. Read it at Ralph's Rants. [Why the push by the Bush administration? Ralph speculations.]

"Ancient History" by Ancient Clown." Read it at Lest we forget. [Breaking treaties isn't a new concept that needs time to understand.]

"Coordinating Committee to Save Jerusalem and other items" by Yid With Lid. Read it at Yid with Lid. [Catch up with what many bloggers are writing.]

"Every Party Needs A Pooper," by Jeff Dunetz. (www.jeffdunetz.com) . Read it at Jeff Dunetz [How the Arabs play "who wants to make mid-east Peace?"]

"At Annapolis, Will Israel Sink Or Swim?" by Yisrael Medad (myrightword.blogspot.com). Read it at Arutz-Sheva. [Annapolis proposals sound upbeat but they are in Israel's worst interests.]

"Israel should say to US, 'Bring it on?'" by Ted Belman. Read it at IsraPundit, November 15, 2007. [Saying "no" to America's goal of creating a Palestinian State could be very good for Israel.]

" Let's give them a state!" by Carl in Jerusalem. Read it at Israel Matzav [93.3% Palestinian Arab children experience domestic violence. A state is the gestalt of its citizens. So what can we expect of their State?]

Higher education, PalArab-style

From Ma'an:

Birzeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah suspended classes until further notice following fighting among students from rival political factions on Tuesday.

Birzeit Public Relations director Ghassan Andoni told Ma'an that the university administration has suspended teaching and evacuated students "for their safety."

A Birzeit student said that students were hospitalized after a fight broke out between supporters of the ruling Fatah party and supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

A source close to the Fatah-affiliated student bloc alleged that four masked PFLP students assaulted a Fatah-supporter in his room.

Ma'an Arabic adds some detail, which I do not fully understand in autotranslation but the word "assaulted seems to be an understatement:

Sources claimed vicinity of Youth "that four masked from Algiha People attacked at about one o'clock at dawn today, the student housing (a. C) calculated on the Youth and their Blaatdae by a savage blow with nails through the feet and the point of burning coal and sticks strike, requiring his transfer to hospital Sheikh Zayed in Ramallah for treatment. "

At least they are too moral to drink beer.

Red Cross to terrorists:"Play nice"

From the BBC (h/t Backspin):

Thirty hooded gunmen sit at desks around a flip chart, pen and paper in hand, listening to a lecture on the laws of war by the international Red Cross.

All the Palestinian armed factions have signed up to the course, though they are being taught in individual groups.

The head of Gaza operations for the Red Cross, Anthony Dalziel, said the course was part of his organisation's worldwide effort to teach international humanitarian law to all parties in armed conflict.

Here in Gaza the classes are lively. The teacher is locally-recruited Red Cross staffer Iyad Nasr.

"The guys like to push and to challenge us. They seem to enjoy, to be interested even in the material they are given.

Mr Nasr told me how surprised some of the gunmen were to find that groups like theirs have a status under international law.

"But then they also have to realise they have responsibilities. Legal ones. And if they don't keep them, they can be prosecuted under international law.

"And that comes as quite a surprise to these guys, most of whom have always viewed themselves as the victims."

And as freedom fighters, with right on their side.

As the class progresses, bandage wrappers are torn open. The gunmen are given a practical lesson in first aid.

All over the room, masked men pair up to practise, juggling bandages, splints and rescue lifts.

It is an incongruous sight but it sums up the main message of the Red Cross here - it doesn't matter who you are, in times of armed conflict it is your duty to protect civilians, the injured and prisoners.

But will these men change their behaviour outside the classroom?

I asked Abu Hotheifa, one of the gunmen on the course.

"There are things we learned here that surprised us. Things we weren't aware of but as to whether our actions will change on the ground, that is up to our leaders. They decide. Not us."

Civilians are often the victims in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in Palestinian in-fighting.

Gunmen use busy streets, even private homes, as battlegrounds.

Armed Palestinian groups fire rockets at Israeli towns like Sderot, just over the Gaza border, almost every day. Sometimes using public areas, like schools, as launch sites.

Abu Khaled is a local factional leader in Gaza. He told me his fighters were told to take the Red Cross course to show the world they are not as many see them.

"People think we are terrorists," he said. "But actually the Islamic law we follow is far stricter than international law in its rules of how to protect civilians and prisoners in war.

"By coming to the courses, we want to prove we are aware of international regulations. In fact, it is the other side which attacks civilians and kills innocent people."

I asked Abu Khaled about the rockets fired at Israel by his faction and others, with the aim of killing ordinary Israelis.

"They are responsible," he insisted.

Then came a threat not entirely in keeping with the Red Cross class going on around us.

"If they keep hurting our civilians they should know - today we may be targeting their people in Sderot , tomorrow and in the future, with new technology, our resistance will spread further.

"Our missiles will reach deeper inside Israel."

I suppose if the terrorists are spending hours watching immeasurably boring Powerpoint presentations, then they aren't spending that time preparing bombs in residential areas, so this course will help the situation marginally.

So far this year, over 80 Palestinian Arab women and children have been killed - by their own people.

1907: Moroccan Arabs kill Jews, rape women

I've been spending some time lately looking through old books at Google Books. Here's something I didn't know.

From the 1907 New International Year Book:

During the revolt of the Kabyles near Casa Blanca in August, following a bombardment of the town by a French battleship, the Arab tribes attacked 6000 Jews in Mallah, killing thirty and wounding sixty, and carrying off 250 young women and girls. The Jewish quarter was left in ruins and more than half the Jewish population wandered to Tangier, Gibraltar, and elsewhere in destitution.

In the latter part of November the town of Setlat was plundered by a tribe of Arabs and the Jewish population fled. On December 6 the Jewish village near Sefron was attacked by Berbers and a number of women and children were carried off. During this month nearly 500 Jews emigrated to Spain from Morocco.

Once again, we see that while Jews in Arab countries were certainly treated better on the whole than their compatriots in Europe, they were hardly treated as equals, and sometimes they were massacred - simply because they were Jews.

How Palestinian Arabs respond to goodwill gestures

Today, Israel announced that they were releasing some 441 prisoners ahead of Annapolis as a "goodwill gesture."

This evening, Israel was rewarded with the murder of a 29-year old Jew in the West Bank.

And who proudly took credit for this terror attack?

Fatah, of course.

A spokesman for the organization said that the terror attack was "an act of protest against the Annapolis conference and a response to Israeli crimes."

Now, keep in mind that just yesterday, the PA pretended that they already had disarmed Fatah and was now going after the PFLP:

The PA minister ...Yahya confirmed that the PA leadership had promised Israel to dismantle all militias and armed groups in the West Bank ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. He added that the first to be targeted were members of Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, so as not to give anyone an excuse to say that the PA leadership is favoring one group over the other.

So which is it: Abbas can control his own Fatah party, which means he is responsible for their terror attacks; or he doesn't, which means that he is nothing more than a figurehead?

Either way, he is not a man who Israel has any business making deals with, let alone unilateral concessions in the name of "peace" that invariably make things worse.

Great Moments in Saudi Jurisprudence

From Arab News, edited to show the historical order of events:

A year-and-a-half ago in the Eastern Province town of Qatif, a seven men gang-raped a 19-year-old girl 14 times. Three judges from the Qatif General Court sentenced the rape victim to 90 lashes for being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape. The sentences for the seven rapists ranged from 10 months to five years in prison.

The case was referred back to the General Court by the Appeals Court judges last summer after Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, the victim’s lawyer, successfully contested against the initial verdict saying it too lenient for the rapists and unjust for the victim.

Yesterday, the General Court in Qatif doubled the number of lashes for a rape victim as well as jail terms for her assaulters. In its verdict, the court also suspended the victim’s lawyer from defending her.
The Appeals Court sentenced the victim to 200 lashes and six months in prison. The seven rapists had their sentences increased to between two and nine years. The verdict came in as a shock to everybody.
A source at the Qatif General Court said that the judges had informed the rape victim that the reason behind doubling her punishment was “her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.”

That's right - when the rape victim complained that punishing her for being raped was a bit unfair, the judges decided to she needs to be doubly punished for daring to tell them her opinion.

After all...she's just a woman.
(h/t Omri)

Reuters, AP photographers face off on important story

Reuters was the first out of the gate with their intrepid photographer, poised to take the picture that would perfectly illustrate all the subtleties of the conflict in one iconic image:

The convoy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives at the residence of Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem November 19, 2007.

A few seconds later, the AP photographer, clearly upset over missing this scoop, decided to take his photo with a bigger focus on the Israeli security guard with the gun, especially having him look to the side ominously:

An Israeli security guard stands in the street as the convoy of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's residence for a meeting in Jerusalem, Monday, Nov. 19, 2007.

Then the AP photographer took advantage of his position to take a second photograph a few seconds after this one, designed to appeal more to the news editors who preferred landscape orientation:

The Reuters photographer, livid at this escalation in the cycle of wire service photographer violence, pushed the AP photographer out of the way to create his iconic landscape representation of the scene, also with the sideways glance:

Either that, or one must conclude that wire-service journalists are just sheep who don't try to find news nearly as much as they just lazily follow what everyone else is doing.

Even the PalArab "goodwill gestures" are meaningless

Israel, stumbling down the stairs leading to Annapolis, has made a number of "goodwill gestures" ahead of the meeting in order to appease the PA and the State Department. It is releasing hundreds of prisoners, freezing building in the settlements, dismantling others, Olmert met Abbas in PA territory for the first time, Israel granted amnesty to known Fatah terrorists, and Israeli officials have publicly floated possible concessions that go beyond Barak's ridiculous offer at Camp David.

On the other side, there has been one major PA initiative ahead of Annapolis: an increased deployment of a few hundred (out of the tens of thousands) "security forces" in Nablus, in an effort to re-impose law and order.

Last week, all the headlines from Nablus seemed to indicate that the crackdown was working. It seemed so successful that the US decided to throw another $1.3 million to the PA as a reward for finally doing a small percentage of its basic job for which it already gets hundreds of millions of dollars.

Today, we see that like most of the things the PA does, this crackdown was mostly a myth:

The PA minister said his forces were currently carrying out a massive security operation against armed gangs in the Nablus area. "These gangs have harmed the residents and caused them a lot of damage," he said. "We are determined to end the state of lawlessness and anarchy and dissolve all militias and armed groups." Yahya confirmed that the PA leadership had promised Israel to dismantle all militias and armed groups in the West Bank ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. He added that the first to be targeted were members of Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, so as not to give anyone an excuse to say that the PA leadership is favoring one group over the other.
Despite the PA's ongoing security operation in the Nablus area, local residents said that many armed groups were still operating there and that those taken into custody were not top gunmen.
"They are making many arrests, but it's mostly of suspects involved in petty crime," said a prominent businessman living in Nablus. "The latest security operation, which has nevertheless been welcomed by many here, is apparently aimed at appeasing the Americans and Israelis on the eve of the peace conference and showing that the Palestinian Authority is making a serious effort to impose law and order."

Apparently, the PA and Al-Aqsa have agreed to cool things off until Annapolis, and the PA will make a show of force like surrounding a (UNRWA-run) PFLP-stronghold "refugee" camp without any intent to enter it and disarm real terrorists. Everything the PA is doing is cosmetic, reversible and meaningless.

But it is enough to convince people who desperately want to continue to believe that the Palestinian Arab people desire to build a peaceful state.

The entire "peace process" is the grown-up equivalent of closing your eyes tightly and wishing really, really hard that this time, the Palestinian Arabs are serious.

Let them eat crabs

An interesting poll, reported by Ma'an (Arabic), shows that only 45% of Palestinian Arabs think that the existing government with Fayyad as prime minister is legitimate. Only 19% say that the Hamas government is legitimate.

Annapolis looks more and more like the "Geneva Initiative" where people from both sides who call themselves "leaders" negotiated a supposed solution. Of course, this "Annapolis Initiative" is supported by the United States.

Maryland is known for its crabs. Most Americans can eat and enjoy crabs, and sea crabs are halal - but they are not kosher.

Annapolis looks more and more like a crab banquet where the only people who cannot enjoy it are the Jews who actually care about being Jewish.

(And it is not a coincidence that the original authors of the Geneva Initiative are pretty much the only ones who are enthusiastic about Annapolis.)

The Great Thanksgiving Meeting, December 2, 1917

In the wake of the Balfour Declaration, British and world Zionist leaders gathered at the London Opera House to publicly show their thanks to the British government in promising them a homeland.

The speakers and audience members were almost all Zionists or very sympathetic to Zionism. If one wants to have a good idea of the mindset of early Zionists, reading their own words to their own people is invaluable.

So it is instructive to see how these Zionist leaders talked about the existing Arab population in Palestine. If, as some would claim, Zionism has always been inherently antagonistic to Arabs, and it had always planned to expel the Palestinian Arabs from their homes, one would guess that these speeches would provide an inkling of that plan.

Here is everything said on that day about Arabs in Palestine:

LORD ROBERT CECIL, K.C., M.P said:

We welcome among us not only the many thousands of Jews that I see, but also representatives of the Arabian and Armenian races who are also in this great struggle struggling to be free. (Hear, hear.) Our wish is that Arabian countries shall be for the Arabs, Armenia for the Armenians, and Judaea for the Jews. (Applause.) Yes, and let us add, if it can be so, let Turkey, real Turkey, be for the Turks.

MR. HERBERT SAMUEL, M.P. said:

Three conditions must indeed be observed in any new developments that may take place in Palestine. In the first place, there must be full, just recognition of the rights of the Arabs, who now constitute the majority of the population of that country. Secondly, there must be a reverent respect for the Christian and Mohammedan holy places, which in all eventualities should always remain in the control and charge of representatives of those faiths. (Cheers.)

COLONEL SIR MARK SYKES

And if there is one thing that gives me great pleasure here to-day it is to feel that you—at this turning-point in your history, when the Government made its Declaration—you thought not only of yourselves, but you thought also — and afterwards you will look back with joy on the fact—when the hope of redemption was held out to you, you thought not only of yourselves but also of your fellows in adversity, the Armenians and the Arabs. (Lend cheers.)

The British Chief Rabbi:

The spirit of the Declaration was that of absolute justice, whether to Jews out of Palestine or to non-Jews in Palestine. They especially welcomed in it the reference to the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. That was but a translation of the basic principle of the Mosaic legislation. (Cheers.)

"SHAHK ISMAIL ABDUL-AL-AKKI addressed the meeting. He spoke in Arabic, and his speech was translated by Mr. I. Sieff, who mentioned that the speaker was under sentence of death by the Turkish Government for having joined the Arab national movement":

Shahk Ismail said he desired to tender deep gratitude to the British nation and the British Government for affording his countrymen and himself help and asylum in their hour of persecution. His country was held in chains by the Turks, who were supplied with German gold, and he looked with confidence to England and France to deliver them from bondage, as he believed in the ultimate good over evil, and was confident in the victory of the Allies. He not only spoke as an Arab, but as a "Moslem" Arab, having studied five years in Theological Schools and being granted a Degree, and it was the duty of every Moslem to participate in the movement for the liberation of their countrymen.

The meeting was to celebrate the great act of the British Government in recognising the aspirations of the Jewish people, and he appealed to them not to forget in the days of their happiness that the sons of Ishmael suffered also. They had been scattered and confounded as the Jews had been, and now began to arise, fortified with the sense of martyrs. He hoped that Palestine would again flow with milk and honey. (Cheers.)

M. H. N.
MOSTDITCHIAN, a member of the Armenian Delegation, said he availed himself of the opportunity of giving their Jewish brethren the heartiest greetings of the Armenians — (cheers) —and sincerest congratulations for the dawn about to break upon the glad valleys of their ancestral land. ...It was not the time to say what the Armenians had suffered during the last three years—a state of things to which the worst pogrom was a heaven; but they, as well as the Jews, looked towards "tomorrow" with great fervour as a result of the Declaration. They had waited long enough with their Jewish brethren, for centuries and centuries, and these two nations as well as the Arabs would make Palestine another Promised Land and a Garden of Eden—a centre to which humanity might look up. (Cheers.)

MR. NAHUM SOKOLOW: (later to become president of the World Zionist Organization and to write his own History of Zionism, 1600-1918)

Relations between Jews and Arabs had hitherto been scanty and spasmodic, largely owing to mutual ignorance and indifference. There were no relations whatever between the two nations as such, because the oppressive Power did not recognise either of them, and whenever points of connection began to develop they were destroyed by intrigue, to the detriment of both nationalities. We believe that the present hour of crisis and the opening of a large perspective for epoch-making developments offer a fruitful opportunity for a broad basis of permanent cordial relations between two peoples who are inspired by a common purpose. We mean a real entente cordiale between Jews, Arabs, and Armenians, such an entente cordiale having already been accepted in principle by leading representatives of these three nations. From such a beginning we look forward with confidence to a future of intellectual, social, and economic co-operation; we are one with the Arabs and Armenians to-day in the determination to secure for each of us the free choice of our own destinies. We look with fraternal love at the creation of the Arab kingdom, re-establishing Semitic nationality in its glory and freedom, and our heartiest wishes go out to the noble, hardly-tried Armenian nationality for the realisation of their national hopes in their old Armenia. Our roots were united in the past, our destinies will be bound together in the future.

A few days later, Mr. Sokolow in a later demonstration said:

We appreciate deeply the important remarks offered by our distinguished friend Sir Mark Sykes on the subject of the relations between the Jews, the Arabs, and the Armenians. My reply to these remarks is: We are Zionists—not only Zionists for ourselves, but also for the Arabs and the Armenians as well. Zionism means faithfulness to one's own old country, to one's own old home. Zionism means consciousness of a nation. Can we Jews be ignorant of the fact that the Arab nation is a noble nation which has been persecuted? Is not the co-operation between the Arabs and ourselves, the Jews, in the Middle Ages for civilisation and for true culture written in our hearts and deep-rooted in our conscience? Our membership of the Semitic race, our title to a place in the civilisation of the world and to influence the world and take our share in the development of civilisation, have always been emphasised. If racial kinship really counts, if great associations exist which must serve as a foundation for the future, these associations exist between us and the Arabs. I believe in the logic of these facts. In the principle of nationality lies the certainty of our justice. There lies also the certainty of our brotherhood with the Arabs and the Armenians. We look most hopefully to the happy days when these three nations will create—in fact they have already created in the consciousness of some of their leaders—an entente cordiale in the countries of the Near East which have been neglected for so long. We are not going to take away anybody's property or to prejudice anybody's rights. We are going to find the land which is available and to settle down wherever there is room, and to live in the best relations with our neighbours—to live and to let the others live. Palestine is not yet a populated, civilised, prosperous country. We are going to make it so by investing our means, our energies, and our intelligence....

We Zionists hate the word toleration, and Sir Mark Sykes really struck the very point when he condemned the word. We don't like mere toleration by non-Jews, and we don't want them to be tolerated. We know that Palestine is full of sanctuaries and of holy places, holy to the Christian world, holy to Islam, holy to ourselves. Are we blind not to see that there are these places of worship and of veneration? Palestine is the very place where religious conflicts should disappear. There we should meet as brethren, and there we should learn to love each other, not merely to tolerate each other. (Applause.)

Even in the wake of an astounding political victory, the Zionists took pains to say that they wanted to be partners with the Arabs; that they were looking forward to Arab states becoming independent side-by-side with the Jewish state; that Zionism should inspire the Arabs and other oppressed peoples to greater heights.

The worst that can be said about the early Zionist vision of Jewish/Arab unity is that it was hopelessly optimistic, that wishful thinking was allowed to trump common sense (as history was to show only a few years later as the Arabs, goaded by "leaders" who were motivated out of self-aggrandizement and pure anti-semitism, started their first deadly riots against Jews in Palestine.) But to read these words and conclude that the early Zionist leaders had anything but respect for their Arab neighbors would be to be purposefully blind.

Latest PalArab Annapolis demands

Palestine Press Agency notes (autotranslated, cleaned up:)

Dr. Saeb Erakat, head of the Negotiations Affairs in the Palestine Liberation Organization, said that the instructions of President Mahmoud Abbas were not to sign any agreement or treaty with the Israeli side in Annapolis unless they include the release of all Palestinian prisoners without exception.

Erekat stressed during his meeting with a number of wives and mothers of prisoners and detainees in Tulkarem this evening, that any "treaty or agreement with the Israeli side is unacceptable and will not sign unless it also includes opening all offices of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, and the complete elimination of the settlements, and withdraw from the West Bank." He stressed that this is not disputed.

Once again, the Palestinian Arabs have shown that they have no ability to even think about compromise.

Which means that once again, their so-called leaders are willing to sentence their own people to more decades of misery rather than accept anything that falls short of their maximal demands.

And in fifty years, after they have killed a few more thousand of their own and perhaps a few hundred Jews, their grandchildren will be saying that they will now consider accepting the Barak offer.