Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Fertilizer for bombs and terrorists going through Rafah

And somewhere in the teeming crowd, came people anxious to exploit the day for their own less innocent purposes.

Fertiliser, broken down into half bags for lugging through the many tunnels that arms smugglers normally use for delivery into Gaza, was to be seen as it was manhandled overland.

It was white, oily, crystalline and a dab on the tongue left a sharp, burning sensation.

In most countries fertiliser has a perfectly innocent function but in Gaza militants use it to make explosive.

"Hey, hey, hey," shouted a man as I took a photograph of a pile of fertiliser half bags.

His aggressive tone jarred with the mood the crowd as he grabbed my camera lens firmly.

From the Washington Post:

Along one teeming road in the Egyptian part of Rafah, a Hamas security official who had been stranded on Egypt's side of the border since June -- fearing arrest by Israel during a crossing if he tried to return -- met his mother and sisters in the surging crowd. "Eight months I haven't seen him!" his mother exclaimed after a flurry of hugging and kissing.

The man excused himself for not talking. "I'm on the wanted list," he explained.

Israel accuses Egypt, increasingly sharply, of allowing smugglers to bring arms and explosives into Gaza. It was clear Wednesday that contraband and gunmen could cross the border that day with little chance of being stopped.

... Seven or eight Egyptian border guards stood lined up along one stretch of no man's land, which was thick with milling Palestinians and livestock.

The Egyptian guards watched but did not move. "Don't speak to us! Don't even look at us!" one Egyptian officer shouted after someone in the crowd moved toward them.

(h/t Backspin)

Morning links

Israellycool continues his liveblogging of the situation in Gaza, Sderot and vicinity.

Egypt Today on the Israeli film The Band and why Egypt refuses to screen it.

YNet and BackSpin on anti-semitic Arab cartoons.

Canada decides not to attend Durban II : "We'll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and intolerance, not those that actually promote racism and intolerance"

Brazilian singer: "I constantly ask myself why I need suffer so. I am not Jewish, I did not crucify Jesus.”

Sderot Reality

And. from what I can tell, it's been about 36 hours since the last Qassams, although mortars have continued. B'li ayin hora.

More Hamas staged stunts - candlelight edition

From the Jerusalem Post:

On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.

In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.

In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.

But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.

"They had closed the curtains in the rooms to create the impression that Hamas leaders were also suffering as a result of the power stoppage," one journalist told The Jerusalem Post. "It was obvious that the whole thing was staged."

Hamas also seems to have timed its Sunday night blackout for prime-time TV:

Fortunately for those who wanted all-Gaza, all-the-time, there was still Al-Jazeera, which had been on the scene with live broadcasts and commentary from the very moment that Hamas had decided to cut the power in Gaza and send it into darkness on Sunday night.
Indeed, so ready was Al-Jazeera with live coverage of candle-bearing Palestinian children and immediate reaction from across the Arab world, that Israeli officials said Tuesday they strongly suspect the Arab news network had coordinated its coverage in advance with the Hamas leadership.
"They were so prepared, it's hard to believe they didn't know this was going to happen," said the official. "Although it's already dark in Gaza by 6 p.m., they waited two hours to shut their generator down so that the lights going out in Gaza could be carried live on Al-Jazeeera during prime-time viewing."

Others noticed the fortuitous timing of a "spontaneous" candlelight demonstration only minutes after the power plant shutdown:

Minutes after the power plant shutdown, Gaza residents started a candlelight march. Live Associated Press TV pictures showed dots of light moving slowly up a darkened main street.

So when the media talk about how Hamas won the PR war with Israel, it is a bit disingenuous of them not to admit their own responsibility for that victory - the news organizations are not only susceptible to obvious staging, they welcome being manipulated if they can get a good picture or story out of it.

See also my posting "Baking a crisis" on a similar theme.

Rafah blasts were planned for weeks

From Dion Nissenbaum of McClatchy Newspapers:

Before dawn, Palestinian militants blew up and tore down large sections of the concrete and iron walls separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt.

They had apparently been planning the attack for weeks. With the knowledge of locals, militants had spent weeks methodically using blow torches to cut along the bottom of the 30-foot-tall corrugated iron wall along the Egyptian border.

Before dawn on Wednesday, militants blew holes in the adjacent concrete slabs and then toppled the iron wall.

It looks like yesterday's clashes between Gazan women and Egyptian border guards were staged specifically for the purpose of doing this pre-planned operation in such a way that Egypt would be unwilling to interfere.

And it seems probable that everything we've seen over the past few days - Hamas closing bakeries, shutting the fuel plant, perhaps even the rocket barrages themselves last week - were all meant to play to world opinion, create a fake "crisis", all ultimately to force Egypt to open Rafah, something that Hamas has been trying to do for months.

(h/t Backspin)

UPDATE: The Times (UK) reports that this has been going on for months!

a Hamas border guard interviewed by The Times at the border today admitted that the Islamist group was responsible and had been involved for months in slicing through the heavy metal wall using oxy-acetylene cutting torches.

That meant that when the explosive charges were set off in 17 different locations after midnight last night the 40ft wall came tumbling down, leaving it lying like a broken concertina down the middle of no-man's land as an estimated 350,000 Gazans flooded into Egypt.

The guard, Lieutenant Abu Usama of the Palestinian National Security, said of the cutting operation: "I've seen this happening over the last few months. It happened in the daytime but was covered up so that nobody would see."

Asked whether he had reported it to the government, he replied: "It was the government that was doing this. Who would I report it to?"

Abu Usama, who normally works from a small guard cabin in no-man's land, added: "Last night we were told to keep away from the wall. We were ordered to stay away because they were going to break the blockade."

Just remember, it is all Israel's - and the Joooz' - fault

I haven't been spending too much time lately looking for absurd misozionistic and anti-semitic rants, but that is not a reflection of any sort of moderation in the Arab and Islamic world - these rants are still printed daily in Arab and Muslim media.

Two examples from today, the first from the ever-reliable Iranian IRNA:

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said here Wednesday that Palestine is the main problem of the world of Islam.
"It is for 60 years that criminal West has imposed Israel on the world of Islam like a dagger and occupied the first Qibla of Muslims," said Haddad-Adel in an address to a group of parliamentarians.
He said today, Muslim world has been awakened and Muslims have regained their identity.
He added that Americans too intend to deceive public opinion by their lies, which are broadcast by the media run by the Zionists.

Our second comes from that moderate ally of ours, the UAE:

ONE of the basic principles of war is that one must have a plan. One of the even more basic principles is that in order to win the war, one must know the enemy's plan!

This is impossible, unless one has first identified the enemy and has taken whatever measures are necessary to know him as well as he can possibly be known. This leads to an old, probably Chinese, injunction; "To succeed, keep your friends close; but your enemies even closer!"

If you are going to fight for the Palestinian, the Middle East, the Arabic, the Islamic, the Pakistani, the Lebanese, the Iraqi, the Iranian cause, or any of the many causes of "the people" in the Middle east, or even understand the conflicts in the region, it is imperative that you not only know all about the enemy, and his plans, but first that you recognise and acknowledge exactly who the enemy actually is!

I am not sure this has been done, for I see little mention of him in the media which seems to be flowing out of the region. ...

No one seems to want to address this major issue, which for years has been behind the Balkanisation of so many countries in the region, and the establishment, installation, stabilisation and solidification of one great foreign and aggravating element, Zionist Israel!

To know the enemy is half the victory. No victory or defence can be devised or pursued without knowing whom one is fighting. Since the "enemy" in this case is right there on the home grounds of the people he is invading and attacking, it should be obvious who he is.

I ask, of the people who live in the region, the Press who write about it, and Muslims particularly, what would the Prophet have done faced with such a scenario? What are you doing?

Read a rare and refreshingly clear voice of startling and exceptionally clear vision on this “unmentionable topic,” by an American. He, and what he has to say on the matter, may be a good platform from which to search for the truth of the enemy, and get an ID on him.

Scott Ritter is not only a clear-sighted and perceptive visionary, he is a brave man who writes exceptionally well. Worth reading!

“Israel at present can have no friends, because Israel does not know how to be a friend. Driven by xenophobic paranoia and historical grievances, Israel is embarked on a path that can only lead to death and destruction. ...” writes Ritter.

America's inability to resolve the question of Palestine is one of the gravest tragedies of our times. This is primarily because the US administration and the US Congress have succumbed to the demands of the Zionists and the Zionist regime. This is a lethal ailment that afflicts the US. The American politicians have fallen captive to the Zionist network. Even though Jews only make up 2.9 per cent of the country's population, an astounding 56 per cent of Clinton's appointees were Jews. Let me assure you the situation was the same in the Bush administration. A coincidence? I don't think so. You have to ask yourselves what motivates American Jews to gain such political power. Is it a genuine care for American interests?

The proportion of 56 per cent in the administration, compared to 2.9 per cent in the populations, says it all without going into the specific numbers. Surely fair-minded Americans the likes of Scott Ritter prefer US-inspired policies to those perpetrated by the Zionists. Regretably little is being done to cure this fatal disease.

Hamas mimicking Arafat

Yasir Arafat was infamous for directing terror attacks while denying any responsibility as he used other front organizations to do the work. (And Arafat was copying his mentor, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who instigated anti-Jewish pogroms in the 1920s and '30s while denying any responsibility to the British.)

The events of the past two days shows that Hamas is following the same game plan.

Yesterday's demonstration by women at Rafah was orchestrated by Hamas, as they bussed hundreds of women from all over Gaza. The goal was to embarrass Egypt into allowing Rafah to open.

Then, this morning, 17 simultaneous explosions by "masked gunmen" took down the Rafah border wall with Egypt - and Hamas denied responsibility.

But Hamas immediately "took control" of the border, and even allowed a Caterpillar tractor to clear the debris so cars can pass through. This "control" has been what they have been demanding for months.

The denial is telling. It shows that, while Hamas used to be unusually honest about its actions and goals before it took over Gaza, it has now started subscribing to using other terror groups to do actions that might be considered distasteful to the international community and to Arab countries.

Yesterday's barrage of 20 rockets - which Hamas did not take credit for - indicates the same thing.

Arab countries sick of Hamas

Despite the manufactured "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza and (perhaps because of) extensive al-Jazeera coverage, Arab countries have been muted in their support for Gazan Arabs - and Hamas is frustrated, as Iranian al-Aram reports:

A senior member of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has criticized Arab and Islamic states' stance towards Gaza blockade by the Israeli occupying regime.

Speaking to Alalam TV Tuesday, Hamas representative at the Palestinian Legislative Assembly, Ahmed Abu Halbiyeh lashed out at Arab countries, asking them to rise and save the Palestinian people as soon and effectively as possible.

"Hamas movement calls on the leaders of all Arab and Islamic countries, parliaments, political parties, and people to help save the Palestinian nation," Hamas official said.

"Unfortunately, Arab and Islamic countries have not so far given a positive response to our calls, and there has been only little talk for putting pressure on the Zionist regime or for encouraging the Palestinian groups to resume internal negotiations and find a resolution to the Zionists' blockade", Abu Halbiyeh said.

He further noted that "it seems the Palestinian blood is not important for the Arab and Islamic countries".

Hamas legislator said that the Palestinian nation would fulfill their duties concering resistance against occupation by every possible means, and "criticism goes to those countries which make no effort to help the Palestinian people".

Sounds like a spoiled teenager screaming to his parents "You don't love me!"

Politically incorrect Porky Pig

From 1940, "Ali Baba Bound":

Check out the suicide bomber - and the protester.

Great moments in Iranian media's due diligence

A particularly funny article from Iran's Al-Alam:

Al-Yamani Group Linked With Israel

BASRA, Iraq, Jan 22--A security official in Iraq city of Basra says the so-called al-Yamani cult might have been linked with foreign countries and the Zionist regime of Israel.

Bassem al-Moussavi told Alalam, "The so-called al-Yamani cult wants to turn holy cities and southern parts of Iraq insecure and assassinate the country's clergymen, security and political officials as well as attacking mourners of Imam Hossein (AS), the third Imam of Shiites."

He said the group also planned desecrating sanctities of Iraq, murdering the innocent people and attacking the security forces.

He added, "Studies show possible link of the group with the internal and external powers, including the Zionist regime of Israel. One can not however raise any comment on the issue before completion of due research."

Al-Moussavi said some regional and international sources say the cultists might have been lined with the Zionist Regime of Israel, announcing that the Regime might have extended financial, training and military aid to them.

Is the Iranian media all of a sudden afraid of lawsuits?

Gazans reject fuel

From Ma'an:

The Federation of Gaza Oil and Fuel Companies denounced Israel's decision on Monday night to allow bare minimum quantities of diesel fuel and natural into the Gaza Strip.

The General owners, oil and gas companies in Gaza today, Tuesday, rejected receiving mere quantities of diesel allocated to the humanitarian needs of the Agency for relief and received only diesel for electricity and natural gas for cooking.

Mahmoud Al-Khaznadar, the vice president of the Federation said: "The occupation allocated only 45,000 liters of diesel … for humanitarian purposes to hospitals and UNRWA and so on, except for quantities power station, which received 250,000 liters, except for the receipt of 200 tons of natural gas for cooking."

Al-Khaznadar said that 45,000 liters of dieselis not enough for civilian life in Gaza Strip.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's decision to provide just 2 million liters of diesel to the Gaza Strip's power plant is a circumvention of international law, treaties and conventions governing the treatment of a population under occupation.

When a people say explicitly that they'd rather die than compromise, whose fault is it when they die?

Video of Israel TV crew under fire from Gaza

Giyus links to a video showing an Israeli news crew, covering the fatal shooting of an Ecuadoran kibbutz volunteer by Hamas last week, getting shot at themselves by sniper bullets and mortars:

I follow the news fairly closely and didn't see any mention of Israeli reporters being shot at from Hamas. Needless to say, there was no condemnation of Hamas by any human rights or reporters' rights organizations. And, of course, the Israeli news correspondents were not in "occupied" territory at the time.

Shooting at Israelis is apparently quite acceptable to the world.

Part of the blame must go to Israeli news organizations themselves for not making a big deal over this. Every violation of the Geneva Conventions by Israel's enemies should be publicized, cataloged and placed in easily accessible databases.

Even though these violations occur numerous times a day.

Hamas' goal: open the Rafah crossing

Israel Matzav reported yesterday on a Debka article (no longer available) that Hamas is trying to use this manufactured "crisis" in Gaza in order to pressure Egypt to open the Rafah crossing.

Today, there is some evidence that Debka is correct. Palestine Press reports that Hamas has sent hundreds of women to Rafah to provoke and embarrass the Egyptians at the border (autotranslated):

Clashes erupted this afternoon between anti-riot forces stationed on the Egyptian crossing point of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and between women from Hamas demonstrating and picketing in front of the crossing and creating anarchy at the border in order to embarrass the Egyptian leadership and incite public opinion.

Eyewitnesses said at the border women were brought in buses belonging to the Hamas movement after appeals sent them yesterday in mosques.

Hamas used women as a way to reach the goals that mostly lead to the destruction and loss of the Palestinian people oppressed under this provision unjust in Gaza and to embarrass the Egyptian leadership to the public opinion and Arab public.

Eyewitnesses said, "Ambulances rushed to the area of the crossing after the injury of a number of female supporters of Hamas were injured and were transported to the congestion of Rafah hospital to receive treatment."

The Hamas movement called for a demonstration of supporters of women's wives and female relatives of troops and Islamic bloc in the universities and schools near the Rafah crossing this morning, after Jmathn in buses from different areas of the Gaza Strip and they went to the crossing to demonstrate against the Egyptian authorities and demand to open the crossing closed since the Hamas coup in the Gaza Strip seven months ago.

The Egyptian police announced yesterday on the strengthening of security presence on the border of the Gaza Strip to 300 anti-riot forces in preparation to deal with Hamas demonstrations in the light of threats to use non-peaceful means to open the crossing in the event of the Egyptian authorities refused to adhere to their demands.

Ma'an adds that the Egyptians used batons and water cannons against the women as they shouted "Allah Akbar."

Baking a crisis

I mentioned yesterday Palestinian Arab press reports that Hamas forced the bakeries of Gaza to be closed even though they had a month of supplies. I wrote on Sunday about similar reports that Hamas was stealing fuel meant for hospitals.

Today, a PA official confirmed these stories:

A top PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas was "holding more than 1.5 million Palestinians hostage" in an attempt to rally the Arab and Muslim masses against the PA and Israel.
"Of course, we strongly condemn the Israeli measures against the residents of the Gaza Strip, but Hamas is also responsible for what's happening there," he said. "Unfortunately, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are paying a heavy price for Hamas's irresponsible actions."
The official also accused Hamas of ordering owners of bakeries to keep their businesses closed for the second day running to create a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. "Hamas is preventing people from buying bread," he said. "They want to deepen the crisis so as to serve their own interests."
The official said that contrary to Hamas's claims, there is enough fuel and flour to keep the bakeries in the Gaza Strip operating for another two months. "Hamas members have stolen most of the fuel in the Gaza Strip to fill their vehicles," he said.

From Hamas' viewpoint, it is all worth it as long as they can get their stooges at AP and Reuters to file pictures such as these:

Palestinians queue to buy bread from a bakery in Gaza City, Monday, Jan. 21, 2008.

And credulous reporters from major newspapers shamelessly parrot Hamas propaganda as they look for that "human angle":

Four days into an Israeli blockade that has cut off food and fuel to the Gaza Strip, residents of the strip contemplated Monday how long it would be until disaster hit. One family of 13, shivering in the cold, counted its eight remaining candles. A bakery that normally feeds thousands had three days' worth of flour.

Hospital generators with enough fuel for three days and no spare parts powered incubators in which twin boys born 2 1/2 months prematurely were being kept alive, their thin chests heaving convulsively.

Because, after all, if reporters have a nice juicy story of cute babies in imminent danger that can be conveniently blamed on Israel, or they have to dig a little to find what is really going on, which story will they choose?

As the Jerusalem Post's Khaled Abu Toameh reports, Hamas has convincingly won a PR victory with staged photos and stories such as these.

January Qassam calendar

As usual, this is far from complete, and it is more to show how ignored the Qassam issue is rather than to show how many are being fired. Many Qassams never make it in the news, and the rare times that the IDF publishes statistics shows that I am usually undercounting by about 50%. Also, these are Qassams that make it to Israel; many that are fired explode in Gaza itself.

This list does not include mortars being shot from Gaza, which are usually much more numerous on any given day. It also does not count the occasional rocket from Lebanon.

262 this month

Previous calendars:

December 2007
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February

MSM can't resist pictures of cute terrorists in training

In Beirut:

A Palestinian child carries a rifle as he joins a demonstration at Shatila refugee camp in Beirut January 21, 2008, to protest against the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Sstrip.
REUTERS/ Jamal Saidi (LEBANON)

In Syria, via AP:

A Palestinian boy holding the Muslims holy book the Quran in one hand and a replica rifle in the other, during a protest against Israeli tactics in the Gaza Strip in al-Yarmouk refugee camp a major refugee camp some 10 km (6 miles) south of Damascus Monday Jan. 21, 2008. Some 1,500 people headed by Hamas deputy leader Mousa Abou Marzouk and members of other Damascusbased Palestinian factions took part in the rally.
(AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)

And because Reuters couldn't stand to see AP have an exclusive on that kid:

A Palestinian child holds the Koran and a toy gun during a rally against a fuel blockade which led to power cuts in Gazaat al-Yarmouk Camp near to Damascus January 21, 2008.
REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA)

You just have to wonder if any Muslims look at the last picture and get really upset over the imagery of a Koran in one hand and a rifle in the other. They spend so much time arguing that Islam means peace - what do they think when they see this picture? Is it a manifestation of Islamic justice or is it a mockery of Islamic beliefs?

And if they get upset, is it because they disagree with the symbolism or only with it being seen publicly?