Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 31, 2007

Peaceful Gaza news

The Palestine Press Agency may be rabidly anti-Hamas but lately all of its stories ended up being corroborated by others, often a couple of days later. So here are today's stories from the Arabic edition:

* Hamas looted trucks filled with aid from Jordan
* Hamas threatened Egypt if it doesn't allow Hamas hajj terrorists to cross Rafah unimpeded
* Hamas abducted 30 Fatah members in northern Gaza
* Hamas threatened journalists not to cover Fatah celebrations of its 43rd anniversary tomorrow in Gaza
* Hamas arrested hundreds of Fatah members in Rafah
* Hamas stormed a house in Khan Younis and another in Jabalya
* Hamas abducted an "intelligence officer" in Rafah
* Hamas attacked mourners at a funeral who were displaying Fatah flags

And all of these stories are from today.

UK interview with just another nutcase radical Imam

From the Sun (UK):

A FANATICAL Pakistani cleric told The Sun yesterday of his chilling dream to turn the world Muslim – by force if necessary.

Qari Hifzur Rehamn, 60, spoke openly of imposing Islamic law’s stoning and beheading on Britain – as Pakistan was rocked by unrest over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

He warned: “We want Islamic law for all Pakistan and then the world.

“We would like to do this by preaching. But if not then we would use force.”

Rehamn, 60, spoke in the Pakistani town of Kahuta as the call to prayer echoed over the dusty streets.

He is Imam of the town’s fundamentalist religious school or madrassa, where classes for kids as young as nine include Jihad or Holy War and barbaric punishments.

His teachings are frightening enough. But his mosque lies in the shadow of the secret bunker where Pakistan produces nuclear weapons.

And when asked if it would be right to nuke British infidels, he laughed and answered: “Probably.”

Rehamn, in a flowing grey beard and turban, explained Islamic, or Sharia Law as we sat surrounded by some of his 250 students.

He said: “Adulterers who are married should be buried in earth to the waist and stoned to death.

“Homosexuals must be killed – it’s the only way to stop them spreading. It should be by beheading or stoning, which the general public can do.

“Thieves should have their hands cut off. Women should remain indoors and films and pop music should be banned.”

So what does he think of Britain? The dad insisted: “The nonbelievers must be converted to Islam. Morals in your society, with women wearing revealing clothes, have gone wrong.”

And here I thought there was no compulsion in Islam.

Saddam party tomorrow. Dress informally. Poison gas optional.

From Ma'an (Arabic, autotranslated, cleaned up):

The Arab Baath Socialist Party announced a rally tomorrow, Tuesday, in the city of Nablus, to commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The party's leadership called on the Palestinian masses to participate in the ceremony in the Hall bureau in the city of Nablus two p.m., in memory of the late President Saddam Hussein.

Isn't it nice to know that the West Bank is so progressive?

Lies, damn lies, and B'Tselem's statistics

B'Tselem just came out with its annual report on how horrible Israel is, and for purposes of "balance" it threw in some statistics on Palestinian Arabs killing each other.

It comes to the apparent conclusion that even with a reduction of Palestinian Arab deaths at the hands of Israel this year, Israel was responsible for more PalArab deaths than Palestinian Arabs themselves were. It counts 373 Palestinian Arabs killed by the IDF and 344 killed in internal fighting.

The press releases don't go into the details of B'Tselem's methodology, and its apparent attempt to keep track of intra-Palestinian Arab violence gives it a veneer of respectability and even-handedness. But look a bit deeper into how it claims to get its numbers, buried almost unnoticeably on its website:

Since the beginning of the current intifada, B’Tselem has published on its website the names of every person (Israeli, Palestinian, and foreign) who was killed in the violence.

The data include the person’s name, age, and place of residence, the date and place of death, and who killed the individual. The data on Israelis who were killed indicate whether they were a civilian or member of the security forces. Regarding Palestinians who were killed, the data state whether they took part in the fighting, in the event that B’Tselem has this information. In some cases, the data provide a short description of the circumstances in which the individual was killed.

B’Tselem emphasizes that the listing of a person as a civilian, or having not participated in the fighting, or the inclusion of any other details regarding the cause of death, does not indicate that the person or entity that killed the individual violated the law, or that the deceased was innocent, or that any other legal or moral conclusion can be drawn from the facts. The lists of fatalities relate to persons killed during incidents related to the al-Aqsa intifada, and are to be viewed solely in that light.

The problem is that B'Tselem uses a very expansive definition of deaths related to the intifada when counting Israeli killings and a very narrow one when counting Arab killings.

For example, it counts this as an Israeli killing related to the intifada (and as a killing of a minor):

Jihad 'Alian Muhammad a-Nabahin, 17 year-old resident of al-Bureij Refugee Camp, Deir al-Balah district, killed on 09.11.2007 in al-Bureij Refugee Camp, Deir al-Balah district, by gunfire. Did not participate in hostilities when killed. Additional information: Killed when he and his friend tried to cross the perimeter fence and enter Israel.

If he was killed for only trying to cross a fence, and had no intent to do anything bad to Israelis (as B'Tselem implies when it says that he was not participating in hostilities), then what exactly does this death have to do with the intifada?

But when it comes to intra-Arab deaths, B'Tselem becomes much more restrictive in saying that they have to do with the intifada. While Hamas/Fatah battles do seem to count, tunnel collapses and "work accidents" and Arabs shooting other Arabs at checkpoints and Christians killed for being Christian and many other types of deaths do not make it into their list. So while over 600 Arabs were violently killed by each other this year, B'Tselem implies that the number is only 344, thereby neatly making it look like Israel is responsible for more Arab deaths than Arabs themselves are - a very wrong implication.

But B'Tselem's dishonesty does not end there. They nicely list 53 minors and come to conclusions that most of them "did not participate in hostilities" when they were killed. Probably most of them didn't, but again B'Tselem's definition of "not participating in hostilities" includes minors who tried to cut through the fence around Gaza, trying to escape arrest, trying to "collect" Qassam rocket launchers, or throwing stones (the very definition of "intifada" according to Palestinian Arab propagandists.) Once again, B'Tselem interprets its own definitions in ways that maximize propaganda value and minimize adherence to a true picture.

One interesting statistic that B'Tselem doesn't bother mentioning in its press release: the number of females killed. B'Tselem likes to count "minors" even though the majority killed were 16 and 17 years old. But its own list shows only 2 adult women (and 3 girls) killed by Israel during the year, as opposed to the 41 adult women and far more than 3 girls killed by PalArabs this year, statistics that B'Tselem doesn't count in its quest for "human rights."

In other words, B'Tselem will use statistics that seem to imply an Israeli policy of random shooting of non-combatants but that randomness falls apart when one sees that the minors are usually fully grown and the number of females killed is diminishingly small compared to men.

Publicizing those statistics as well as the others mentioned would make Arabs look more bloodthirsty than Israelis, and B'Tselem cannot countenance such a conclusion.

Fayyad is ticking off Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, on Sunday called for the murder of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad for "collaboration" with Israel and the US.

This was the first time the group has openly called for Fayad's assassination. In the past, the group distributed leaflets strongly condemning Fayad and calling for his dismissal.

Fayad has been under heavy criticism from some Fatah leaders and activists, who accuse him of denying them public funds and plotting to undermine Fatah's grip on power. Other Fatah leaders have also accused Fayad of seeking to consolidate his power with the hope of replacing Mahmoud Abbas as PA president.

The threat was made in a leaflet distributed by the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the Gaza Strip. Some Fatah officials in Ramallah sought to distance themselves from the threat, claiming that the leaflet had been forged. They even went as far as accusing Hamas of being behind it.

"The command of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the Gaza Strip calls on all its elements and striking forces in the West Bank to immediately eliminate the so-called Salaam Fayad," the leaflet said. It claimed that Fayad's Ramallah-based government was working for Israel and the US.

Fatah is not the only terror group upset over the unelected "prime minister" of the PA. Islamic Jihad and Hamas took great offense at his sorrow over the murder of the two Israeli hikers last week. The pro-terror Palestine Today reports (autotranslated):

Islamic Jihad said such statements are a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and are outside the bounds of unanimity with the Palestinian resistance.

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that the statements detract from the extent of resistance, does not represent our people in any way.

Similarly, the Islamic Jihad Qudsway website criticized Fayyad for offering condolences to the families of the murdered Israeli boys, and for using the word "sad" to describe it.

I am about halfway through reading "Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948" and hope to write a review when I'm done. But this very reminiscent of the 1936-39 Arab riots: for about six months, the rival Arab factions in Palestine managed to hold together long enough to keep a strike going, but afterwards the Husseinis started accusing all of their political rivals of "collaboration" - leading to the murders of some thousand Palestinian Arabs. The Nashashibis, who were just as interested in a Palestinian Arab state as the Husseinis but who wanted to work with the British to achieve it, and who did not have a problem with speaking to Zionists when it suited their interests, were targeted and killed by the intolerant terrorist Husseini clan.

In 1937-38, as now, pragmatists had to be silent because of fear for their lives. The terrorists have a near-monopoly on public opinion because the comparative moderates are targeted and threatened for their views - a problem that the terrorists themselves rarely have within the Arab world. By the nature of that society, the extremists have a huge advantage because the moderates are usually not the type to advocate or execute political assassinations.

Fayyad, because he is more realistic and willing to talk to Zionists, gets called the worst name in the Arab vocabulary: a traitor to the cause. His desire to balance the PA budget gets him death threats. Such is the state of the enlightened Palestinian Arab society.

The Islamist Lobby

The saga of the Gaza Hajj pilgrims and their likely terrorist guests continues. YNet reports:

Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority reached an agreement on Sunday evening to allow more than 1,000 Palestinians returning from the haj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia to return to their homes in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas had demanded that Egypt reopen the Rafah crossing to allow the pilgrims to pass directly into the coastal territory rather than force them to pass through Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Israel was insisting that they must all pass through Israeli security checks on the grounds that some of them might be carrying arms or money for Hamas.

Palestinians sources claimed that the agreement stipulated that Egypt would check the Palestinians and report to Israel about any large sums of money found on the pilgrims.

Israel was concerned that senior Hamas members carrying large sums of money raised in Saudi Arabia were among the throngs of Gazans that were preparing to enter the Strip.

Hamas blamed Israel and the PA government led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for trying to use the pilgrims to leverage political pressure on the organization.

"Those Palestinians are our brothers. We'll find them a solution, but let's do without loud mouthing. Negotiations won't work that way," he told a news conference in Cairo.

The case of the pilgrims gave rise to a heated debate in the Egyptian parliament on Sunday, with most members favoring their return directly to Gaza without Israeli checks.

Hamas Islamists called on Egypt to open its shuttered border crossing with the Gaza Strip to let the Palestinians return to their Gaza homes on Saturday.

What the news media is refusing to mention is that by Egypt acquiescing to Hamas demands to open Rafah, it is a slap in the face of not only Israel but also of the PA, which nominally is supposed to control the Gaza crossings. By Egypt allowing Hamas to dictate how Rafah operates, Egypt is giving de facto recognition of the Hamas government of Gaza as being legitimate.

From this article is appears that a majority of Egypt's parliament supports Hamas' position concerning Rafah. For some reason, no one considers it strange that a nation, ostensibly at peace with Israel and an ally of the US, would so blatantly support Hamas at a time when its influence among Palestinian Arabs - and Gazans themselves - appears to be slipping. It doesn't seem to be in Egypt;s best interests to strengthen Hamas politically. So why does its government support Rafah being open in this case?

The answer, only half jokingly, is the Islamist Lobby.

A small population of Islamists can in many cases control the foreign policy of Egypt, as well as many other Arab countries. While the "realists" will try to cozy themselves up to the West, many in the government naturally sympathize with the hard-line, anti-West Islamist lobbies.

And, like the much talked-about Israel Lobby and Americans, the people in Arab countries are much more sympathetic to the Islamist lobby as well. Western aid is great but they don't like having any strings attached. Sure, some actions by some terrorists are beyond the pale, but in general they are solidly behind the goals of terror organizations.

For some reason, no one asks the Arab countries to be "even-handed" concerning Middle East peace. It is axiomatic that they will be 100% supportive of any side that fights Israel. But Western nations, when they naturally sympathize with the Western-oriented Jewish state, are accused of not being "honest brokers." Having 90% of the United Nations in knee-jerk opposition to Israel is not nearly enough for these hypocritical advocates of "even-handedness" - no, it is easier to blame a mysterious Jewish lobby for any possible pro-Israel actions in the West.

This is the power of the Islamist lobby. Just by adopting an anti-Western, anti-Zionist attitude, it wields great power in all Arab nations, and pro-Western "realists" cannot really fight it.

What is the major weapon in the Islamist Lobby arsenal? What does it do that makes it so effective?

The answer is as obvious as it is hardly mentioned: the implicit threat of violence. If Arab nations do not toe the Islamist Lobby line, they can expect terror attacks on their soil from thousands of Islamists already living there.

So even though Hamas is a threat to Egypt as well - even though the free flow of weapons and money to Gaza is not in Egypt's interests - the Islamist Lobby can ensure that Egypt toes its line. The implicit threat of Islamist violence, which is the real power of the Islamist Lobby, is far more seductive than the empty Western threats of cutting aid by a percentage point or two.

To some extent, the entire world is held hostage to this threat, but the likelihood of any nation capitulating to the Islamist Lobby threats is directly proportional to the number of Islamists on their land. And the number of Islamists is itself directly proportional to the number of Muslims.

The worst that anyone can say about the so-called Israel Lobby is that its members can threaten to support a different candidate in a free election. But, as Egypt and now Pakistan knows, the Islamist Lobby can threaten - and follow through on their threats - in much more bloody and effective ways.

Terrorism, and its implicit threats of violence, is just as much a political tool as fundraising or lobbying. But one doesn't see it being denounced quite as vituperatively when it is only a background threat that silently moves politicians to act in ways that are good for their self-preservation but bad for their nations and the world.

So don't expect any editorials denouncing Egypt's capitulation to those who support Hamas. The fear of the Islamist Lobby ensures that any criticism of it will be much quieter than that of other special interest groups.

The polls are now open: vote for EoZ Dhimmi of the Year

On the right hand side of this blog you can see the poll. It will stay up through New Year's Day.

Vote for the most deserving dhimmi of 2007!

"Sugar" explosives followup

As I suspected, this story was all but ignored in the European press. The exception proves the rule.

And note how the EU condemned it:

EU spokeswoman Alix deMauny said the bloc distributes its food aid through U.N. agencies, rather than directly, and does not export any sugar to Gaza.
"Based on the information received, it appears that these bags cannot be confused with any kind of EU humanitarian aid," deMauny said. "We would consider it an isolated criminal act and we condemn it."

Smuggling explosives in order to make bombs to kill Jews is "an isolated criminal act"? Sounds suspiciously like how the PA considers murdering Jews on a hike. Terror, it seems, is never the case when Jews are the intended victims.

PA: "Don't worry about murders, it was only Jew-hatred"

From Ma'an:

Hebron security commander Samih As-Sayfi said on Sunday that Friday's killing of two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank was a criminal offense, not an act of political violence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Earlier, the military wings of Hamas, Fatah, and Islamic Jihad all claimed responsibility for the attack.

And since robbery wasn't the motive, it must have only been old-fashioned anti-semitism. You know, the usual Jew target-practice. Anyone can understand that motive.

The commander said that statements by Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades, and Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades were attempts to curry favor with the Palestinian public and confuse the security services.

See? Just because the Palestinian Arab public overwhelmingly supports killing random Jews on a hike doesn't mean it is, Allah-forbid, a political killing!

Who would ever think that general violence against Jews was political?

The Iranian PRESSTV website used a satirical Photoshopped image as proof of Iran's benevolence towards Jews. I had noticed and even linked to this picture (since replaced.)

Read the whole story at The People's Cube.

Nice shooting (5)

al-'Aretz notices what we've noted a few times in the past month - how accurate the IAF has been in killing terrorists and not killing civilians:

The Shin Bet and the IAF (in some cases the IDF Southern Command is also involved) are responsible for the most lethal part of combating terror organizations in the Gaza Strip: the assassinations from the air, for which Israel coined the euphemism "pinpointed thwarting." This past month alone, at least 40 armed terrorists were killed in IDF air attacks.

Lately, the thwartings have indeed become more worthy of the title "pinpointed." In all the attacks of recent weeks, only gunmen were hurt, as confirmed by Palestinians. The rate of civilians hurt in these attacks in 2007 was 2-3 percent. The IDF has come a long way since the dark days of 2002-2003, when half the casualties in air assaults on the Gaza Strip were innocent bystanders.

(I believe that Ha'aretz is mistaken in saying that no civilians were hurt in the past few weeks, I think it meant that none were killed. There were some injuries, at least according to the Palestinian Arab press.)

Nonetheless, the idea that only 2-3% of the deaths from airstrikes during the entire year have been civilians is nothing short of phenomenal.

The Gaza terrorists are quite happy knowing that they live in cities and that the civilians around them act as de facto human shields; violating Geneva Conventions is not a very big taboo for them. They keep their explosives and tunnels and leaders in populated areas, hoping that if Israel does attack that they can win the propaganda victory of having many of their fellow citizens blown to bits as well.

The incredible statistic of one civilian death for every 40 or so terrorists is more than just amazing. It proves beyond any doubt (if you are not an inveterate liar) that the IDF, unlike its enemies, does not target civilians; it proves yet again that the IDF is the most moral army in history; and it proves that Israel spends far more time and effort in how to protect Arab civilians than Arab terrorists do. It is a record that the armies of the US, Britain and the rest of the free world should envy.

Importing potassium nitrate disguised as EU aid sugar

From the Jerusalem Post:

The IDF and Shin Bet uncovered 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks that were disguised as aid from the European Union, the army announced on Saturday.

Security forces discovered the stash in the cargo of a Palestinian truck at a West Bank checkpoint earlier in December. According to the IDF, the material, hidden in sugar sacks, was planned to be used by terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
"Potassium Nitrate is a banned substance in the Gaza Strip and the Judea and Samaria region due to its use by terrorists for the manufacturing of explosives and Kassam rockets," the IDF spokesperson wrote in a statement.
"This is another example of how the terror organizations exploit the humanitarian aid that is delivered to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip with Israel's approval," the statement read.

Reuters adds:

"We are looking into this report," said an EU official in Israel. "If it is found to be accurate, this is an illegal act that should be condemned."

It will be very interesting to see if this story gets any traction in European news outlets, and if there are any reactions of outrage by EU diplomats. So far, I cannot find it being picked up by any specific newspapers or websites outside Reuters. (Typically, major stories will be picked up by many news outlets in minutes.)

UPDATE: The story is now over six hours old and only a satirical UK site has published it, according to Google News.

EoZ Dhimmi of the Year update

Thanks for all the comments and nominations for EoZ Dhimmi of the Year.

Because there is a probability of coercion and abject fear behind the Iranian Jewish community leaders' statements, I will take them off the nominee list.

Some of these fit in better with Jihad Watch definition (the person "who behaved in the most pusillanimous, abject, and/or suicidally stupid way in the face of Islamic supremacist bullying and intimidation, peaceful or violent") or with LGF's Idiotarian definition ("the most moonbattish, obtuse, deranged, or duplicitous person or group of the year") so if possible I would like to try to stick with the official EoZ definition:

The nominees should be prominent non-Muslims who have accepted and embraced their second-class status in a Muslim-dominated world.

This means that being merely anti-Israel or anti-semitic is not necessarily enough to be the Dhimmi of the Year, but actually doing things to boost political Islam at the expense of the Western world. I would prefer people who did something dhimmi-like specifically during 2007.

At the moment, the nominees are (with links to appropriate dhimmi-like statements made in 2007 when available, please help me fill in those I do not have.) The people who may not qualify are in parentheses; if you can show a quote that boosts their Dhimmi bona-fides it will be taken into consideration.

Rev. Manuel Musallem
Bishop Tiny Muskens
Jimmy Carter
(Walt and Mearsheimer)
Nancy Pelosi (just for putting on the scarf)
Robert Fisk
(The EU) (h/t Jeff)
(Noam Chomsky)
James Petras
Ken Livingstone
(Ron Paul)
(Condoleeza Rice)
US Congress (not that I'm really against that resolution, but look at the California congress members) h/t Jeff
James Abourezk
Hanan Ashrawi
Dr Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury
Christiane Amanpour
Juan Cole (excellent choice, Yitzchak!)

Nominations will end on Sunday, December 30, and I'll hopefully start the voting soon afterwards.

Nice shooting (4)

In another astonishing day of IDF effectiveness, some 8 terrorists were eliminated yesterday with no civilian deaths.

Seven Palestinian terrorists were killed in several incidents in the Gaza Strip.

A top Islamic Jihad man, Muhammad Abu Abdullah, also known as Abu Murshud, was killed in an air strike late Thursday evening.
An IDF spokesman said Abdullah was a senior operative in charge of manufacturing Kassam rockets and explosives. The operation was carried out with the assistance of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), he added.
According to Palestinian sources, IAF aircraft fired several missiles toward the car in which Abdullah and other gunmen were traveling. The sources said that two other Palestinians were killed in the air strike and several others were wounded.
In another operation Thursday overnight, an IAF aircraft killed a Hamas gunman near the southern Gaza Strip security fence.
Palestinian sources said five others were wounded in the attack.

During earlier operations in Gaza earlier in the day, the IDF killed five members of Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip in air strikes and fire exchanges.
Two Islamic Jihad men were killed in an IAF strike on their car in the early evening, Palestinian officials said. The military said it targeted a car filled with explosives on the way to an attack.
Earlier, the IDF killed three Palestinian gunmen in an exchange of fire and an air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, the army reported. Palestinians said the dead were members of Hamas.
Nine people were wounded, including four civilians, Palestinians reported, claiming that among the wounded was a 13-year-old boy. None of the injuries were life threatening, officials said.

IDF troops killed one of former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei's bodyguards, the military said Friday morning.

Palestinian sources reported that IDF troops operating south of Ramallah in the town of Bituniya shot and killed Muatassem a-Shariff, a Fatah operative and a Presidential Guard member. Eye witnesses said a-Shariff was shot while after opening fire while trying to escape IDF troops who came to his house in order to arrest him.

The Palestine Center for Human Rights counts 1 Gaza civilian death from December 13-26 out of 23 total killed by the IDF. In their detailed report I could not find the name nor circumstances of that supposed civilian death. In fact, when I added up their 23 deaths I didn't find any civilian, unless you count a "police officer" as a civilian. PCHR likes to add the appearance of Israel shooting randomly at civilians with lines like "At approximately 20:30 on Monday, 17 December 2007, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at civilian car (a white Skoda), in which the commander of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) and his bodyguard were traveling, in al-Nasser Street in the north of Gaza City. The missile hit the car and killed the two occupants."

According to PCHR's own very biased reports and counting the deaths from today, the IDF has managed to kill 54 terrorists since November 29 - and only 6 civilians. And this source tries as hard as it can to classify victims as "civilians" even if they do a clearly aggressive act, so chances are the ratio is even more impressive. (One of the victims from early December was "shooting birds." The December 6th report mentions one civilian that I could not find in their detailed report either.)

Arabic news sources have been buzzing about Hamas' discovery of "collaborators" in Hamas itself - including at least one prominent member - that help the IDF identify and eliminate terrorists. It looks like the IDF and Shin Bet have been doing a good job on Gaza intelligence lately, although it has been much harder since Israel abandoned Gaza.

That legendary Palestinian Arab religious tolerance

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests attacked each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning on Thursday.

The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities.

Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can touch off vicious feuds.

On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners were scrubbing the church ahead of the Armenian and Orthodox Christmas, celebrated in early January. Thousands of tourists visited the church this week for Christmas celebrations.

But the clean-up turned ugly after some of the Orthodox faithful stepped inside the Armenian church's section, touching off a scuffle between about 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 Armenians.

Palestinian police, armed with batons and shields, quickly formed a human cordon to separate the two sides so the cleaning could continue, then ordered an Associated Press photographer out of the church.

Four people, some with blood running from their faces, were slightly wounded.

So the Palestinian Arab Christians, who are more moderate than their Muslim counterparts, in the moderate West Bank, cannot stop themselves from beating each other up in their own holiest places.

But we can be sure that Palestinians would happily allow free access for Jews to worship in their own holy spots in a future Palestinian Arab state, right?