An Egyptian woman is seeking clarification from a court on whether her husband's declaration of divorce by text message is legally valid, a state-run newpsaper reported on Thursday.In case there are any women out there I might have accidentally married the last time I was in Vegas, I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you.After missing a call from her husband on her mobile phone, Iqbal Abul Nasr received a text message from him saying "I divorce you because you didn't answer your husband," Al-Akhbar said.
In line with sharia (Islamic law) men do not need to go to court to file for divorce. A unilateral declaration of divorce by a man, repeated three times, formally ends a marriage.
It was the third time Abul Nasr, an engineer from Cairo, received a divorce text message from her husband, prompting her to seek a legal decision from the a family court on the status of her marriage.
If the court declares the couple divorced, it would be the first reported case of divorce by SMS in Egypt.
The subject of divorce by SMS has been highly debated across the Muslim world and some Islamic countries like Malaysia have banned the practice.
According to Egypt's state-run statistics bureau, a couple files for divorce every six minutes in Egypt.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Today's proof comes from a throw-away sentence in the Yemen Times, mourning the loss of its parliamentary speaker Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar.
Sheikh Al-Ahmar is one of a few personalities that gained sincere respect and highest consideration from all the Yemeni people, as the deceased proved to be ‘a man of national compromise’, thanks to his key role and direct contribution to resolving multiple national issues and defending the Yemeni Revolution since its early stages....The idea of an Aryan-like "purification" of "Arab land" is not assumed to be objectionable or controversial; it is a given that the Yemen Times readership will, in total, agree with that aim. The existence of a Jewish state is considered a pollution of the great Arab nation, something that must be excised completely. Almost certainly, all Arabs would prefer to see the entire country uninhabited than to have Jews control it. It is not a political issue nor an issue of putative "justice" - one doesn't use the word "purification" in a political or judicial context. It is Arab shame that drives their thinking, and everything else is a smokescreen to justify what is in the end a visceral hatred.
Throughout his life of struggle, the late sheikh played an effective role in addressing issues of the Arab and Islamic nations. Despite difficulties encountering his efforts, the man has been ever present with an effective contribution to addressing all the vital issues of high concern to the Islamic world. Palestine, for instance, had been always present and immortalized in the man’s mind until he passed away. Over years, the man used to give a top priority to purifying the Arab land from the Zionist occupation and dominance.
This is what can be found not far beneath the surface of all Arab thinking; perhaps as a temporary measure they will insist publicly for the end of the "occupation" but their real aims are pretty easy to still discern, as they were before 1967.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- Temple Mount
Dichter wrote his interpretation of Israeli law "is in line with the rationale that bans Jews from praying at the site, in light of serious concerns that this will serve as a provocation, resulting in disorder, with a near certain likelihood of subsequent bloodshed."This is eerily reminiscent of the British rulings in wake of the 1929 Arab riots that Jews blowing a shofar at the Western Wall after Yom Kippur was also a "provocation" and cannot be allowed (my images of newspaper clippings are missing but the posting is still there.) Not to mention the more recent arrest a year ago of Jews blowing a shofar at the Kotel haKatan on Rosh HaShanah.
What Dichter doesn't understand is that by stopping these "provocations" he is not appeasing anybody, so not only does he hurt Jews who want to worship - an egregious human rights violation - he is not even accomplishing what he intends to.
The Arabic press is not reporting this as a victory - they are upset that Jews are allowed to go to the Temple Mount altogether. From Ma'an Arabic:
warned Sheikh Mohammed Hussein General Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian - Preacher of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque - from the occupation authorities to allow any of the extremist Jewish settlers and prayer in the Al-Aqsa mosque yards.And from Palestine Today (Arabic):
This came in response to a request by two members of the Knesset, the Israeli occupation authorities to allow them to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and demonstrate linkages.
The Mufti told a press received "Together," a copy of which, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in all precincts and accompany the mosque to worship Muslims alone may not be the object of this was to change the situation or interfere in the affairs of the mosque to impose a new reality, the occupation authorities blaming the serious consequences of such These prayers, which comes in the context of repeated incursions to the mosque.
He called on citizens and Mufti Ebrahim Al-Aqsa mosque to take more caution and prudence of heroes and the failure of such schemes.
The Mufti rejection of this aggressive designs against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, reminding Balaguetham done by Sharon before eight years of Al-Aqsa Mosque and led to the occurrence of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, stressing that the Palestinians and Muslims will keep a firm barrier against any attempts to interfere with or harm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its facilities.
Mufti also called the Arab and Islamic leaders and peoples, governments need to move to shoulder their responsibilities religious and historical preservation of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and with the increasing Israeli attempts to attack by all ways and means of the occupation authorities against the Palestinians and sanctities.
For his part, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri warned President of the Supreme Islamic in the occupied Jerusalem in the press statement following the meeting the immediate urgency of the body yesterday of the imminent danger posed to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.By acceding to absurd Muslim demands in the name of religion, Dichter is giving Arabs veto power over anything that happens anywhere, as they use the fig leaf of "religion" to accomplish political goals. This is another way that terrorism has won - the supposed "Al Aqsa Intifada" has pushed Israeli leaders who don't care about their own religion to violate the human rights of Jews who do care to toe the line, accept second class status and keep the shtetl mentality of not upsetting the gentiles - all in the name of an illusory "peace" that will never, ever come.
Sheikh Sabri described this statement as a serious development betrays a right-wing Israeli government's intentions that are subject to the wishes of pressure groups and Jewish religious extremist, calling on the Palestinians to overcome their internal differences and pay heed to these threats to the Al Aqsa Mosque.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- self-death
From PHRMG's statistics:
They mention another death on the 24th that I'm not sure if I counted so I'm staying on the safe side.
Muhamad Abd El-Lateef Kana'an 80 / Hizma-Jerusalem shooting 14.12.2007 Killed by shooting from Unknown gunmen in family fight. Omar Abd El-Lateef Kana'an 35 / Gaza shooting 14.12.2007 Killed by shooting from Unknown gunmen in family fight.
So the presumably final total of Palestinian self-deaths in 2007 is 611.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Only in Israel would the prize for the winning team in a weekly Survivor challenge be a Shabbat Dinner with Challah, honey, wine and Shabbat Candles for the whole team.Jews know a thing or two about surviving.
And only in Israel would the winning team share that prize with the losers because Jews don’t stop other Jews from eating a Shabbat dinner.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
The moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is in Cairo and raised the pilgrims' plight in a meeting with Mubarak, said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki."The Egyptians completely coordinated their return with the Israeli side," Malki said.
"We asked Egypt to help, and the president (Mubarak) said he would do his best, and he did," said Nabil Shaath, an Abbas aide who attended the meeting.PalPress, autotranslated:
In turn spokesman said Fatah Fahmi Azaaarir that President Abbas "Abu Mazen" made a great effort with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to solve the problem of pilgrims from the Gaza Strip and ensure their return to their homes as urgent humanitarian issues in the first degree.Earthtimes:
He added in a statement Azaaarir journalist arrived in Palestine Press News Agency a copy of "Hamas tried to exploit the issue politically and pilgrims rejected accusations put forward by officials in Hamas coup against Egypt despite all what Egypt for the Palestinian cause and humanity."
Meanwhile, Mubarak and Abbas also discussed the plight of more than 2,000 Palestinian pilgrims who were stranded on Egyptian territories pending authorization to return to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing point.Also from PalPress:
But as the leaders talked, the Egyptian authorities had already agreed to reopen the Rafah point ahead of allowing the pilgrims to make their passage.
Israeli political sources said today that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved quietly to Egypt for the opening of the Rafah crossing to solve the problem of pilgrims trapped in Egypt since week. "Debka:
And the relocation of Israeli military intelligence sources as saying that "Olmert does not want Hamas to exploit this crisis and the approaching visit of the American President George Bush to the region."
The sources added that "Egypt informed Israel intends to open the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip and pilgrims but Israel gave approval for a quiet opening to pilgrims."
These developments came pilgrims crossing and also following his talks Palestinian President who visited Cairo today and make unremitting efforts to end the crisis pilgrims.
Their return was similarly unmonitored. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has apparently decided not to kick up a fuss for fear of provoking violent Hamas outbreaks that would spoil US president George W. Bush’s visits to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, starting Jan. 8.Ma'an:
Cairo claims Israel was notified of its reversal but made no response, while Jerusalem denies being informed. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who flew to Cairo to press Egypt to give way to Hamas, Tuesday, Jan. 1, claims Israel was informed.
Israeli security sources further report that Egypt took advantage of Israel’s blind eye to get rid of 300 Palestinian terrorists, who were detained in Sinai - some of them al Qaeda and its allied Fatah al Islam activists, who were smuggled in from Lebanon. They entered Gaza under cover of the returning pilgrim group.
A security source in the Palestinian de facto government in Gaza Strip told Ma'an that dozens of Fatah activists who fled the Gaza Strip after the Hamas takeover in June 2006 have entered the coastal enclave along with the Hajj pilgrims.Things are very muddy, to say the least. Did Olmert tacitly agree to allow Rafah to be opened to avoid an embarrassing episode when Bush visits? Did Mubarak and Olmert set it up to give Olmert plausible deniability? It sounds like something Olmert would do, and his denials also sound like something he would do.
The security source told Ma'an that Hamas security forces arrested dozens of the Fatah fugitives for "security reasons," as several of them were suspected of crimes, including corruption.
Did Abbas really appeal to open Rafah, or is he trying to take credit after the fact? My guess is the latter, especially given the Earthtimes report above.
There is no question that Hamas is the real winner in this whole sorry episode, but no matter how you slice it Egypt has consistently chosen to side with Hamas from early December to now.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- self-death
Confirmed and reliable local sources in the Gaza Strip said that "promised Mahmud Farraj north," one of the most prominent militia leaders Field Hamas lawless in Gaza City, which claimed that the movement quoted today in Israeli shelling that targeted the Shajaiyeh neighborhood at dawn today , deceased since the day before yesterday, which caused fired during clashes between the militias of Hamas and elements of the Fatah movement in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood two days ago.This isn't reliable enough to add to my self-death count but it is interesting. There is more honor in dying as a martyr by Israeli fire than in being killed by a Fatah terrorist.
The sources indicated that Hamas hid the body in the north of the hospital and did not announce the news of his murder ...and was found after examination that [he was killed] two days ago after being [shot] twice in the chest.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Hundreds of Palestinians began pouring into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Wednesday despite Israeli objections, ending a five-day standoff that left them stranded in Egypt after returning from an Islamic pilgrimage.As I have mentioned in the past, this means that Egypt is legitimizing Hamas. It also means that Egypt is more concerned about Hamas' concerns than Israel's.
Two people, including one traveler holding a large cloth bag, were the first to pass through the Rafah terminal, greeted by green-vested representatives of Hamas, the Islamic group that rules Gaza. The two were followed by a flood of returning pilgrims walking across the border.
The pilgrims left Gaza last month to make a religious pilgrimage to Saudi
Arabia. They became trapped in Egypt on their way home last weekend when the Egyptian government said they would have to cross through Kerem Shalom, an Israel Defense Forces-controlled crossing, instead of going directly into Gaza through the Rafah terminal.
Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, fears that some of the
travelers are carrying large sums of money for Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Fearing capture by the Israelis, Hamas leaders among the pilgrims refused to go through the alternate crossing. The pilgrims rioted in temporary camps set up for them by Egypt and have threatened a hunger strike.
An Egyptian official said Wednesday that Israel had been informed of the
Egyptian decision to let the pilgrims back.
But Israeli defense officials said Israel hadn't approved their return and that Egypt's decision to let them back into Gaza contradicts understandings between Israel and Egypt. Officials in the foreign ministry said they had not been informed about Egypt's decision.
Practically, if Debka's figures are accurate, it means that some $150 million dollars has just been added to terrorist coffers.
Egypt, of course, has been deeply offended by Israel's objections to Egyptian collusion with smugglers to Hamas. And Egypt's tender feelings, as well as Hamas' threats to create a humanitarian crisis among its own people in the Egyptian desert, are obviously more important to the world than Israel's security.
Another victory for terrorism. 2008 looks like it will be a great year for the "peace process" where real facts don't interfere with the illusion of progress.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Twenty one year old Fadi Abd El-Latif Abu El-Rob died in the Israeli Jalbou' prison on the evening of 28 December, 2007. A Palestinian from the town of Qabatia, near Jenin, and a member of Islamic Jihad, Fadi Abu El-Rob had been detained in Jalbou' prison since 29 June, 2007.And here comes the fun part.
According to PCHR information, Fadi Abu El-Rob was suffering from an unspecified illness on the morning of December 28. He was transferred to the prison clinic, where his condition deteriorated.
The Israeli Prisons Authority (IPA) announced his death on the evening of December 28, without specifying the cause of death.
Fadi Abu El-Rob is the fifth Palestinian prisoner to die in an Israeli jail during 2007. Four Palestinians died as a result of medical negligence, and the fifth was shot in the head by an anti-riot unit who broke into Ketsa’ot Detention Center in the Negev on October 22, 2007.
PCHR notes with the utmost concern that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are being subjected to harsh and inhumane conditions as a direct result of deteriorating prison conditions, including deteriorating standards of healthcare. These conditions violate Articles 22 and 26 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
As I noted recently, the mortality rate for Palestinian Arabs between the West Bank and Gaza is roughly 3.8 per thousand. During 2007 there has been an average of about 10,000 PalArab prisoners in Israeli prisons. So if the 10,000 prisoners were home, if they mirror general PalArab demographics, one would expect about 38 of them to have died. So only 5 of them dying in Israeli prisons, and only 4 for medical reasons, sounds quite humane. I am certain that the Palestinian Arab prison mortality rate is a couple of orders of magnitude worse.
Even if we say that these mostly young men are healthy and are unlikely to have died from natural causes at those rates, if we generously assume some 100,000 terrorists altogether in the territories, about 350 were killed in Israeli operations this year and about 600 were killed by each other, the mortality rate for healthy male terrorists being violently killed is probably about 1%. Adding in traffic accidents, other medical emergencies and such, and we could probably assume 1.5% total annual mortality for young PalArab men. Which means we would expect some 15 of them to have died this year (and many more to have been injured.)
It sounds like, if PalArab youths are worried about their health, the best thing they can do is get arrested by Israel.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- media bias
Palestinian children watch an Israeli soldier during a routine patrol in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008.(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
And it's just a coincidence that the picture that Nasser Shiyoukhi submitted to AP happens to show an Israeli gun appearing to be inches from a child's head.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Six Palestinian activists were killed and several others injured on Wednesday morning in a series of Israeli air raids and a simultaneous ground incursion in the Gaza Strip.Which is more humane than shaving off their mustaches.
Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced the death of three of their members after Israeli warplanes fired three missiles at a group of activists in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood. Amongs the victims was Ahid Shamali, a leader in the Al-Qassam Brigades.
After a second Israeli strike, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced the death of activists Yousif Shamali and Mus'ab Jundiyya.
Israeli warplanes fired missiles a third time at another group of Al-Qassam Brigades fighters, killing Abdul-Karim Al-Hilou and Hammad Abu Amira, all fighters with the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades.
In fierce clashes between Palestinian resistance fighters and the invading Israeli forces in Ash-Shuja'iyya, an activist from Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades named Salim Al-Wadiyya was killed.
On Tuesday evening, a leader within Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, twenty-five-year-old Yahya Abu Talha was killed and five others were injured after the Israeli artillery bombarded a base in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- jimmy carter
While some (including myself) may dispute his status as a classic dhimmi, Mr. Carter did still manage to do some spectacularly dhimmi-type activities this year, including:
- The revelation that he might have advised his friend, Yasser Arafat, to reject Israel's Camp David offer in 2000;
- Declaring the mass murders in Darfur to not be genocide;
- Starting a pompously-named supergroup plagiarized from your humble host, which coincidentally includes mostly members that share his hatred of Israel;
- Not backtracking from his 2006 praise of Hamas on Larry King;
- Advising Jews to hate Christian evangelists, and advising Christian Evangelists to hate Israel;
- Telling Iowans to choose candidates who aren't so darn pro-Israel; and
- Quoting a fake "letter from Nelson Mandela" that was created on a virulently anti-Israel website calling Israel an apartheid state as if it was true.
If we add what we found out about this great humanitarian in December of 2006 we can add:
- It was revealed that Dhimmi Carter himself, when President of the United States, personally intervened on behalf of a Nazi war criminal.
- It was shown that in his "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" book, Carter purposefully plagiarized and misrepresented maps that came from Dennis Ross' book on Camp David.
Yes, it was a busy year for Jimmah, with much of his efforts going towards strengthening terrorists and demonizing Zionists.
So congratulations to Jimmy!
Honorable mention to Christiane Amanpour, our runner-up, who managed to equate a couple of abortion-clinic bombings and some decades-old Jewish settler actions with the purposeful murder of tens of thousands of people. Because, of course, all religions are equally likely to hurt people.
Perhaps she didn't win because she was accused of being a Zionist spy.
Honorable mentions to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the California congressional representatives, tied for third place. Full results here.
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
The terrorists who gunned down two off-duty soldiers hiking near Hebron on Friday are both Palestinian Authority workers, and one of them is even a member of the official PA security forces, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) revealed Tuesday night.Ahikam Amihai (left) and Yehuda Rubin, who were killed in Friday's terror attack near Kiryat Arba.
Since the attack on Friday, the PA has claimed that the murderers of David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai were unaffiliated terrorists. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that at least two of them were Fatah operatives.
According to details of the attack released Tuesday, the gunmen - Ali Dandis, 24, and Amar Taha, 26, both residents of Hebron - surrendered on the day of the attack to the Palestinian security forces in Hebron out of fear that they would be caught by the IDF. They also handed over the soldiers' weapons.
At first the PA said that this was a "criminal offense" - LIE.
Then the PA said that it was a "dispute" between arms dealers -LIE.
The PA broadly hinted that the victims were selling weapons to Israel's enemies - OUTRAGEOUS SLANDEROUS LIE.
The PA has claimed - even after the murders - that they have disarmed the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank and that there are no more Fatah terrorists - LAUGHABLE LIE.
The PA made all of these claims after the terrorists already turned themselves in last Friday - so there is no wiggle room to say that the PA was making guesses, or was misinformed. They knowingly, repeatedly lied to protect the terrorists and to avoid "looking bad" to the world.
The PA, at the very least, has proven that:
-It actively protects murderers.
-It conspires to cover up murders.
-It repeatedly, knowingly and publicly lies to the world.
Someone please explain the wisdom of negotiating with this terrorist organization called the Palestinian Authority. In what universe does it make sense to cut deals with people who support murderers and whose words cannot be believed - ever?
This is not spin on the part of the PA. This is not politics. This is not an amateurish attempt to deflect blame. This is the pre-planned decision, a clear choice between admitting that their people were involved or blaming the victims, between choosing the side of the terrorists or the "peace partners."
The PA terror organization, the clear heir of the PLO in every respect, made that choice crystal clear.
And these sickening liars, these people who continue support and pay terrorists, these subhuman scum whose heroes are mass murderers - these are the people that Olmert wants to entrust biblical Jerusalem to.
(See also Israellycool and especially Boker Tov Boulder's reproduction of Naomi Ragen's essay.)
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
And the Arab desire to wipe out the Jews resonated with other assorted anti-semites, Fascist sympathizers from Great Britain among them:
See also this article about the saga of two Arab Nazi paratroopers who came to Palestine during World War II; one of them ended up being a faithful gang leader for Hajj Amin Husseini in 1948.
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
BAHA, 1 January 2008 — You’re out shopping with your wife and children and you get into a disagreement with your wife. What do you do? One man did the unthinkable, he announced to hundreds of shoppers that he was divorcing his wife, the Al-Riyadh daily reported yesterday.This is a funny story, emblematic of a place where all you need to do if you want a divorce is proclaim it. But things turn darker with the next, explanatory paragraph about what daily life is like in a theocracy where women are so highly honored that they have to cover themselves in public:According to the report, the man left his wife and children to do his own shopping. As he was coming back to rejoin his family, he saw a young man approach his wife and give her his cell phone number on a small piece of paper. The wife took the paper and put it inside her bag and continued shopping as usual, not aware that her husband saw what happened.
When he approached her and asked her to give him the bag, she refused. He forcefully took the bag and dug out the piece of paper.
Enraged, the man walked over to the cashier and grabbing hold of the store’s microphone, he announced to shoppers that he was divorcing his wife and had no intention of ever getting back with her.
He then stormed out of the shopping mall and left his wife and two children behind.
Women being harassed in public places is a common occurrence in Saudi Arabia and the harassers can often get very aggressive and insist that the women pay attention to their advances and take their telephone numbers. Women often resort to accepting telephone numbers so they will be left alone.Doesn't this demolish one of the major reasons that Muslims use to justify the hijab?