Thursday, November 22, 2007

  • Thursday, November 22, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
One of the interesting sub-conversations I've been having with my Palestinian Arab correspondent in my comments section concerns illegal Arab immigration into Palestine. He claims that it essentially didn't happen; I claim that it was significant as a result of economic factors.

While my claim mirrors that of Joan Peters in her book "From Time Immemorial" it takes nothing from that book; rather my information comes from contemporaneous articles in the Palestine Post. My correspondent dismisses pretty much all evidence that doesn't fit his dogma as unreliable Zionist lies, although he is unclear on exactly what the motive is for a newspaper to put its own reputation on the line by making up stories.

Peters' methodology is heavily criticized in Edward Said and Christopher Hitchens' book, Blaming the Victims. The actual article that takes issue with Peters is written by the hardly-unbiased Norman Finkelstein. He brings up some good points about sloppiness on Peters' part but he is hardly blameless in the other direction. For example, on page 48, Finkelstein takes pains to quote a British official denying a significant number of Hawranites moving from Syria to Palestine because "the Palestine Government had taken special measures" on the Syrian border to keep out undesirable people. Yet a few paragraphs later he admits that there was significant immigration from Hawran, and then claims that the Hawranites all went back into Syria later in the decade. He doesn't bother to point out that if the British denied the the fact of the Hawranites' entry to begin with, that they also would have missed a large percentage of illegal immigrants that they didn't know about.

This is a hard topic to research as the hard numbers that are available are not necessarily accurate. But one scholar that took on this challenge was Fred Gottheil, who took an economic perspective into the issue, in an article in Middle East Quarterly in 1973, predating Peters. He summarized his findings - and showed problems with the critics - in a 2003 article for Middle East Quarterly.

He first establishes well-known patterns of migration from undeveloped economies to more developed economies. He then shows current migratory patterns for Palestinian Arabs towards oil-rich states. He then goes on to document the economy of Palestine as being much better than that of surrounding countries in the 1930s, with the daily wages of Arabs in Palestine more than doubling those of its neighbors. Thus he sets the stage - it would be highly unusual if there wasn't mass migration into Palestine by Arabs in that timeframe.

Direct evidence for this immigration remains fragmentary and somewhat anecdotal, but it does add up:

There are several problems associated with estimating Arab immigration into Palestine during the 1920s, the principal one being that Arab migration flows were, in the main, illegal, and therefore unreported and unrecorded.[17] But they were not entirely unnoticed.

Demographer U.O. Schmelz's analysis of the Ottoman registration data for 1905 populations of Jerusalem and Hebron kazas (Ottoman districts), by place of birth, showed that of those Arab Palestinians born outside their localities of residence, approximately half represented intra-Palestine movement—from areas of low-level economic activity to areas of higher-level activity—while the other half represented Arab immigration into Palestine itself, 43 percent originating in Asia, 39 percent in Africa, and 20 percent in Turkey.[18] Schmelz conjectured:

The above-average population growth of the Arab villages around the city of Jerusalem, with its Jewish majority, continued until the end of the mandatory period. This must have been due—as elsewhere in Palestine under similar conditions—to in-migrants attracted by economic opportunities, and to the beneficial effects of improved health services in reducing mortality—just as happened in other parts of Palestine around cities with a large Jewish population sector.[19]

While Schmelz restricted his research of the 1905 Palestinian census to the official Ottoman registrations and used these registrations with only minor critical comment, he did acknowledge that "stable population models assume the absence of external migrations, a condition which was obviously not met by all the subpopulations" that Schmelz enumerated.[20]

Like U.O. Schmelz, Roberto Bachi expressed some reservation about the virtual non-existence of data and discussion concerning migration into and within Palestine. He writes:

Between 1800 and 1914, the Muslim population had a yearly average increase in the order of magnitude of roughly 6-7 per thousand. This can be compared to the very crude estimate of about 4 per thousand for the "less developed countries" of the world (in Asia, Africa, and Latin America) between 1800 and 1910. It is possible that part of the growth of the Muslim population was due to immigration.[21]

Although Bachi did not pursue the linkage between undocumented immigration into Palestine and the 6 (or 7) to 4 per thousand differential in growth rates between Palestine and the other less developed countries (LDCs), the idea that at least one-third of Palestine's population growth may be attributed to immigration is—using Bachi's own growth rate differentials—not an entirely unreasonable one.

Lacking verifiable evidence did not prevent Bachi from stating the obvious concerning internal migration within Palestine:

The great economic development of the coastal plains—largely due to Jewish immigration—was accompanied both in 1922-1931 and in 1931-1944 by a much stronger increase of the Muslim and Christian populations in this region than that registered in other regions. This was probably due to two reasons: stronger decrease in mortality of the non-Jewish population in the neighborhood of Jewish areas and internal migration toward the more developed zones.[22]

In the footnote accompanying this quote, Bachi writes: "As no statistics are available for internal migration, this conclusion has been obtained from indirect evidence."[23] Bachi's footnote is instructive. The "indirect evidence" he referred to no doubt included his understanding of the important role economics plays in explaining demographic movements. While appreciating the value of Ottoman registrations and British mandatory government censuses in providing estimates of Palestinian demography, they were, in his judgment, still crude and incomplete.

Reference to Arab immigration into Palestine during the 1920s is made as well in the British mandatory government's annual compilation of statistical data on population. The Palestine Blue Book, 1937, for example, provides time series demographic statistics whose annual estimates are based on extrapolations from its 1922 census.[24] The footnote accompanying the table on population of Palestine reads:

There has been unrecorded illegal immigration of both Jews and Arabs in the period since the census of 1931, but it is clear that, since it cannot be recorded, no estimate of its volume is possible.[25]

The 1935 British report to the League of Nations noted that:

One thousand five hundred and fifty-seven persons (including 565 Jews) who, having made their way into the country surreptitiously, were later detected, were sentenced to imprisonment for their offence and recommended for deportation.[26]

The number who "made their way into the country surreptitiously" and undetected was neither estimated nor mentioned.

Historian Gad Gilbar's observation on Ruth Kark's contribution to his edited volume Ottoman Palestine, 1800-1914, touches on the issue of Arab immigration into and within Palestine. He relates her ideas in "The Rise and Decline of Coastal Towns in Palestine" to Charles Issawi's thesis concerning the role of minority groups and foreigners in the development of Middle Eastern towns. Explaining why no other Palestinian cities grew as rapidly as Jaffa and Haifa did during the final three decades of the Ottoman rule, Gilbar writes: "Both attracted population from the rural and urban surroundings and immigrants from outside Palestine."[27]

Each piece of the demographic puzzle by itself may reveal no identifiable picture. But given a multiplicity of such pieces, an image does begin to appear. The Royal Institute for International Affairs adds another piece. Commenting on the growth of the Palestinian population during the decades of the 1920s and 1930s it reports: "The number of Arabs who have entered Palestine illegally from Syria and Transjordan is unknown. But probably considerable."[28] And C.S. Jarvis, governor of the Sinai from 1923-36, adds yet another:

This illegal immigration was not only going on from the Sinai, but also from Trans-Jordan and Syria, and it is very difficult to make a case out for the misery of the Arabs if at the same time their compatriots from adjoining states could not be kept from going in to share that misery.[29]

Gottheil goes on to show the undeniable patterns of intra-Palestine migration towards areas with high Jewish population, again proving that Palestinian Arabs were highly itinerant and providing more circumstantial evidence that Arabs outside Palestine, given the same disparity in economic opportunity, would have great incentive to move into Palestine.

Finally, he looks at Justin McCarthy's "1990 The Population of Palestine" which discounts Arab immigration emphatically without any evidence - in fact, McCarthy uses some numbers from another demographer to "prove" very little immigration while ignoring that other demographer's own caveats that he was not counting illegal immigration. McCarthy makes the same mistake that others do in assuming that British records on illegal immigration were accurate, when in fact they only recorded the number of people they caught and jailed.

Putting it all together, even though Peters' numbers may be exaggerated, it is undeniable that a significant number of what we today call "Palestinians" actually moved into Palestine as a result of the economic opportunities that came in the wake of Jewish - and British - capital and investment. Similarly, the Arabs of Palestine profited greatly from Jewish economic growth, consistently moving towards Jewish areas in order to cash in.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

  • Wednesday, November 21, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
From JPost:
Though not a well-celebrated holiday among the haredim, come Thursday night, Masbia - a soup kitchen that serves hot meals five nights a week in the heart of Borough Park - will also partake in the [Thanksgiving] festivities.

The mixed crowd the soup kitchen attracts - ultra-Orthodox and non-Jew alike - will get a taste of two traditions, side by side. Thursday's menu will include a serving of turkey and cholent, as part of a four-course meal planned to begin with coleslaw and pickles and end with dessert.

Weeks in advance, Jews were already calling Masbia, looking to volunteer at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving - a holiday many use as an opportunity to thank God and give back to the community.

This year, food pantries can use all the help they can get, as shortages have reached an all-time high. The scarcity has been caused by steady cuts to a federal food program over the last five years, combined with growing demand.

...
Masbia's founders witness the growing poverty daily. Not a week goes by when Alexander Rapaport, who co-founded Masbia with Mordechai Mandelbaum, doesn't see a member of his community searching through the garbage bins.

On its opening night two-and-a-half years ago, Masbia served eight meals. Today, it serves 160 dinners a day.

To meet their $500,000 annual budget, Masbia, which does not receive steady government funding, has come to depend on a daily spirit of "thanksgiving." The founders have found a way to resurrect an "old world" ritual and at the same time ensure that the supply at Masbia never dries up.

Today, most of their annual budget comes from newlyweds and their parents, who thank God by sponsoring a meal at the soup kitchen in the days before the wedding celebration.

"The most appropriate thing to do before my wedding was to pay for a hot meal," said Meir Neuman, who got married less than a week ago. "This is the way to give gratitude to God and let the poor join in my simcha."

To sponsor an entire night costs $960, or roughly $6 a meal.

The tradition dates back to the "old world," where the custom was to sponsor a "poor man's meal" in the days before the wedding. The Talmud and Midrash relate stories in which giving to the poor at the time of the wedding saves the couple from potential danger. What evolved was a tradition of giving to the less-fortunate as part of the pre-wedding ritual.

"When Europe was still a bustling Jewish center, everyone made a 'poor man's wedding' for poor people to have good meal," said Neuman.

In America, that tradition largely faded. But Masbia has found a way to bring it back into style.

"If tomorrow will be the day I rejoice the most, at least let others less fortunate rejoice with me," said Neuman, who came to Masbia dressed in his wedding garb. "[At] my wedding, I spend time with my family and friends, but at Masbia, I am with klal yisrael [the Jewish people]."

Recently, a man visiting from Israel came to eat at Masbia. He came alone, but behind him, a family with small children sat down to eat.

"I couldn't believe what I found here. I never saw it in Israel or anywhere in the world," he said. "Haredim and non-haredim eat together, goyim [and] not-goyim, everyone eats in harmony."

Come Thanksgiving, he said, "we will all celebrate here together."
  • Wednesday, November 21, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon

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)
  • Wednesday, November 21, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Wednesday, November 21, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Wednesday, November 21, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

  • Tuesday, November 20, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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?]

  • Tuesday, November 20, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Tuesday, November 20, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.

Monday, November 19, 2007

  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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)
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • Elder of Ziyon
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.)

AddToAny

EoZ Book:"Protocols: Exposing Modern Antisemitism"

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Hasbys!

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Blog Archive