Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, February 11, 2008

Followup on Egyptian freak-out over Hebrew

It turns out that last week's story on Egyptians freaking out over the idea of teaching Hebrew in school was based on ...nothing.

The Egyptian political world is once again up in arms against Israel. The reason this time: A declaration that was attributed to Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Shalom Cohen, in which he purportedly called for the inclusion of Hebrew classes in the official Egyptian school curriculum.

The alleged comments appear to have been published in Egyptian newspapers and from there they were taken by the al-Jazeera news network. According to the report, "Ambassador Cohen claimed that the Camp David Accords include a clause that mandates the inclusion of Hebrew in the Egyptian educational program." That seems to have been enough to reignite the fire of fury against Israel.

Egyptian academics have not remained on the sidelines on this matter. "Cohen's request is a new humiliation for Egypt, its government and nation," Dr. Abdul Wahab al-Masri, an English literature lecturer, said on al-Jazeera.

"The Hebrew language is an artificial language taken from the past and even Israeli writers suffer from a lack of interest in writing it and (Hebrew articles) are usually translated into foreign languages," al-Masri said.

He added that the study of Hebrew must be completely prevented in junior colleges and other institutions and that it should only be taught to students in at the highest levels of education.

"We don't want to give this language the power that it doesn't deserve. It is enough for us that people will learn it in master's degrees and doctorates in the social sciences and this is only in order to become acquainted with Israeli society in order to know the enemy."

Israeli political officials denied the report in conversations with Ynet and claimed that Ambassador Cohen had never made the alleged remarks. "This is the continuation of a report by an Egyptian newspaper that we have already refuted in the past," the head of Arabic communications in the Foreign Ministry, Amira Oron said.

Gaza - a paradise for children

From the Guardian:

The armed men who assaulted eight-year-old Shahab al-Akhras on a street corner in Rafah covered their faces with balaclavas. Shahab, who is small for his age, was wearing the hata, the black-and-white checked scarf associated with Fatah - the party once led by the late Yasser Arafat.
The four men who pushed him into a corner and thrashed his hands on new year's day were wearing the uniforms of Hamas's Executive Force, these days Fatah's deadly rival. 'They took off my shoes and put them on the scarf and stamped on them,' he said. 'Then they told me to put out my arms in front of me and beat me with a stick. They said that if they saw me wearing the scarf again they would shoot me in the legs. I hate them!'
The internal struggle between the Islamist Hamas and the Fatah movement in Gaza - which Hamas thought it had won after three days of fighting last June - has resurfaced. While acts of violence continue to be committed by adults on both sides, the battleground now is over Gaza's children....
The case of Shahab al-Akhras is far from unique. Anecdotal evidence suggests teenagers are arrested and threatened, or their families are threatened. Ahmad Arawar, 16, was playing football in a sandy back alley. His story is typical. 'The Executive Force arrested me and beat me up last year at the Arafat memorial.' He was wearing the hata and trying to post a picture on a wall. His friend Faris Bakr, 12, said: 'I am Fatah because it is my origin. I'm not afraid of Hamas.'
Iyad Sarraj blames a wider issue than the simple question of competing politics - and factional fighting - for what is happening. For children who have witnessed the breakdown of family relationships or lost respect for fathers whom they have seen beaten or threatened, Sarraj believes the factions seem to offer protection, certainty and discipline. 'Hamas, for instance, functions as a clan,' he said. 'It is a new family. It offers protection to the children who follow it. It offers an identity.'

The point about clans is terrifically important, as one cannot understand the history of Palestinian Arabs without understanding clans - or, historically, tribes. The average Palestinian Arab historically tends to identify far more with his clan than with the national movement.

This is a topic I plan to explore in much more detail in a future post, hopefully.

Hate speech at UC Irvine

A report on the speech at the Muslim Student Union by Imam Mohammad Al-Asi:

The Muslim Student Union invited Imam Mohammad Al-Asi to speak on Feb. 7. During the event, entitled “From Auschwitz to Gaza: The Politics of Genocide,” Al-Asi compared the Nazi death camps to the Gaza Strip in order to persuade listeners of the “evil Zionist power that is Israel.” When you listen to the man speak, it’s hard to miss the venom in his voice when he spits out the words “Zionist,” “Jew” and “United States.”

While Al-Asi only compared concentration camps to the Gaza Strip for about 10 minutes, he spent the rest of the hour spouting propaganda one would expect to hear from Hezbollah, the radical Islamic terrorist group causing so much death and destruction in the Middle East. What’s that? You say he forgot to mention his association with Hezbollah? What else can you expect? He also unashamedly harbors heavy anti-American ideals and is opposed to “Westernism and Western modernity, which is proving to be a failure.” When the U.S.-led coalition moved into Kuwait to protect the country in 1990, Al-Asi called for the Muslims to vanquish the United States by “creating another war front for the Americans in the Muslim world—and specifically where American interests are concentrated.”

Because his views are so extreme, Al-Asi has been stripped of his title as Imam of the Washington Islamic Center. Saudi Arabia refused to give him a visa when he wanted to visit the country for the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Al-Asi’s hatred of Saudi Arabia and the United States (the “Great Satan”) is surpassed only by his acidic hatred for Israel and the Jewish people. A RAND Corporation report has marked Al-Asi as a “fundamentalist masquerading as a traditionalist.” He is known for preaching hate-filled ideas, including this passage from the Qur’an: “The final hour shall not commence until the Muslims engage Yahud (Jews) in warfare. … These Yahud will hide behind timber and boulder that will call out […]: ‘O Muslim, there is a Yahudi in disguise, come and annihilate him.’”

Read the whole thing.

Peaceful West Bank weekend

Forget the infighting in Gaza - the West Bank itself, which is regarded as under control of the "moderate" PA, is anything but peaceful.

From Ma'an:

A health clinic in the northern West Bank town of Huwwara has come under frequent attack recently, culminating on Saturday night when unidentified gunmen vandalized the interior of the building, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The Ministry said that the clinic has been fired upon several times, and its main electrical generator was stolen.

A Health Ministry statement said that the only losers in such attacks are the thousands of Palestinians served by the clinic. The Ministry said health servives should not be attacked in political or family conflicts.

What a peaceful place, where a health clinic is considered fair game!

Another story, ignored in the Palestinian Arab press, of a kidnapping last week of a female lawyer from Ramallah, the center of the "moderate PA:"

On Wednesday, 6 February, unknown assailants kidnapped the the lawyer Amani Taha Abu Arqoub (28) from the town of Durra southwest of Hebron. The kidnapping took place in Ramallah; and the lawyer’s fate is still unknown.

PCHR’s preliminary investigation and the statement’s of the victim’s family indicate that the lawyer Amani Abu Arqoub left her house on Wednesday morning and headed to the appeals court in El-Bireh for a case against the Palestinian Development Fund. At approximately 11:00, she called her colleague in the law firm, Suheil Ashour, and informed him that she won the case; and that she was on her way to the office of the Palestinian Development Fund in the Masyoun area in Ramallah to collect a check. At 13:37, three of the lawyer’s brothers and sisters received a telephone message from the kidnappers stating that “Amani will be away for 7 days. We will let you speak to her after that.”

The fact that this was not reported, or buried, in the Palestinian Arab press indicates that kidnappings such as these happen with some frequency. Which means that the hundred thousand strong PA "security forces" are a joke that the world continues to fund.

PalArabs try to have it both ways in Gaza

Dry Bones points out a link from the ZioNation blog which describes a funny exchange that occurred during a 2007 UN press conference:

Question: ...A year and half after the last Israeli withdrew from Gaza, the UN system still refers to Gaza as an Occupied Palestinian Territory. The only people who are not Palestinian in Gaza currently are UN people. Do you mean that Gaza is occupied by the UN?

Spokesperson: Definitely not.

Question: So who is it occupied by?

Spokesperson: Well…

Correspondent: I think there are some Israeli soldiers on the border…

Question: Not borders, who is Gaza occupied by?

Spokesperson: Traditionally, this is the terminology we have used. Yes?

Question: But the situation on the ground changed since Israel withdrew from Gaza.

Spokesperson: I will look into this.

Correspondent: Thank you.

Since that absurd press conference the UN continues to refer to Gaza as "occupied" but usually puts it in context of being a part of the "OPT" - "Occupied Palestinian Territories," lumping it with the West Bank.

This was made explicit by a statement made Friday on behalf of UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon:

Asked whether the Secretary-General would visit Gaza, the Spokeswoman said that there were no plans for such a visit at this point. Asked about the fuel cuts in Gaza, she noted that the Secretary-General had already expressed his opinions about the need to lift the restrictions on Gaza. The Secretary-General sees Gaza as part of a single Palestinian territory, she added.

This position is often reiterated by the PA, most recently by Saeb Erekat today. He lashed out at Tzipi Livni for saying "Gaza is today a problem for anyone who seeks peace, and therefore can never be part of a future Palestinian state." Erekat retorted that the "Palestinian state" would include Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem and that any attempts by Israel to separate the two is just a ploy to stop a Palestinian Arab state from being established.

If the PA wants to continue to consider Gaza as part of its territory than it is obvious that they must take responsibility for Gaza.

It is an indication of the puerility of the PA leadership that they cry about Israeli actions in Gaza while they do not take any responsibility for the territory themselves. They keep negotiating with Israel - with the approval of the world - pretending that cosmetic changes on the ground in Nablus are enough to show that they can control their people and territory.

They want to be treated as if Gaza doesn't exist but they insist that Gaza belongs to them.

Obviously, any negotiations, secret or not, while Gaza is an active terror base are a waste of time - or worse, they are an exercise in wishful thinking that will force Israeli concessions while the PalArabs get off scot-free.

It is time for the PA to be forced to make a choice: include Gaza and take responsibility, or abandon Gaza and try to negotiate a state in the West Bank. This game must end.

Adar 5

The only cow in a small town in Poland stopped giving milk. The people did some research and found that they could buy a cow from Moscow for 2,000 rubles, or one from Minsk for 1,000 rubles. Being frugal, they bought the cow from Minsk.

The cow was wonderful. It produced lots of milk all the time, and the people were amazed and very happy. They decided to acquire a bull to mate with the cow and produce more cows like it. Then they would never have to worry about the milk supply again.

They bought a bull and put it in the pasture with their beloved cow. However, whenever the bull came close to the cow, the cow would move away. No matter what approach the bull tried, the cow would move away from the bull and he could not succeed in his quest.

The people were very upset and decided to ask their wise rabbi, what to do. They told the rabbi what was happening. "Whenever the bull approaches our cow, she moves away. If he approaches from the back, she moves forward.

When he approaches her from the front, she backs off. An approach from the side and she just walks away to the other side."

The rabbi thought about this for a minute and asked, "Did you buy this cow from Minsk?"

The people were dumbfounded, since they had never mentioned where they had gotten the cow. "You are truly a wise rabbi," they said.

"How did you know we got the cow from Minsk?"

The rabbi answered sadly, "My wife is from Minsk."

Smart women alarm Iranian leadership

Yes, the mullahs are threatened by smart girls:

Who’s afraid of girls? The Iranian government, it seems. Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of Iranian girls enrolling in universities and other institutions of higher education. While many governments would see this as a blessing worth boasting about, that's not the case in Iran.

In a report to the administration of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s Research Center of the Majles (parliament) recently called the trend of more girls going to universities "alarming" and urged the government to stop it.

The research center documented what it called a worrisome rise in the number of females to enroll in universities and other centers of higher education. The report said that over the last two decades there’s been a 23-percent increase in the number of girls taking university entrance exams, with the number of girls who passed the tests nearly doubling -- to 65 percent -- over the same period.

The influential research center -- which has decision-making powers in both parliament as well as in government agencies -- also warned that the rise in female students could eventually lead to "social disparity and economic and cultural imbalances between men and women."

In other words, wives might make more money than their husbands, which would throw the Islamic Republic into a tizzy.

The report says the rise in female students has created other concerns, such as "securing university dorms and maintaining their [girls] physical security in confronting possible social perils."

But, I thought that hijab and high male Islamic standards ensure that no man harasses women!

Another problem, according to the report, is economic, "such as the possibility that expenses will be underused for specialized skills, as well as a change in the gender of the workforce."

Outside of having to pony up money for women's restrooms, I have no idea what the concern is here.

The center's report also warns about a detrimental affect on families and urges officials to swiftly find a solution to the "disproportion between the number of men and women" in Iran’s universities.

Shahla Shafigh, an Iranian-born women’s rights activist in Paris, told Radio Farda that she believes the opposition to female students is ideological.

"With the door of opportunity closed to most young girls, with all the control their families and others exert over them, young women are mostly going after knowledge and science to gain freedom and human dignity," Shafigh said. "And this is a good thing to happen in a country."

Well, not if you consider women to be less than human.

But what steps the government might take in regards to the situation is unclear.

Last year, after reports that the government might limit female enrollment in entrance exams, women’s rights activists in Iran expressed concern. The government later denied that there had ever been any such plans.

But there are signs the government intends to act on the gender issue, including recent media reports suggesting there could be a change in textbooks based on "gender differentiation."

Last week Zohre Tabibzadeh Nouri, who runs the government's office of Women’s Participation, told reporters in Tehran that "gender discrimination" will be implemented in certain sectors of the workforce. She added that the government must help women attain the kind of education and expertise suitable for them.

Iran once again shows what a bastion of human rights it is.

Arabs and Jews meet in Hebron

YNet reports:

Heads of local Palestinian clans in Hebron met on Sunday with representatives from Israeli settlements in the area and discussed the easing of tensions between the two sides.

The settlers reported that sheikhs Abu Khader Jabri and Haj Abu Ahram Abu Sneina representing the city’s Arab Muslim population in the West Bank city met in Jabri's home with the Kiryat Arba Regional Council head Tzvi Katzover, former Knesset Member Elyakim Haetzni and other settler leaders.

The commander of the IDF's Hebron Brigade, Colonel Yehuda Fuchs, also took part in the meeting.

The Israelis said Sheikh Jabri told them during the meeting that "I do not regard you as settlers but as residents. This city is yours just as much as it is ours."

The Jewish participants described the meeting as cordial, adding that the sides agreed to strive to live in peace with one another.

According to the Israelis, shortly after the meeting began, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades issued a proclamation throughout the city that called for dealing with the meeting's participants "with an iron fist."

Haetzni said following the meeting that "the fabric of life throughout the entire country has been destroyed by the fake peace produced by the Oslo Accords, which only resulted in more hatred, the spilling of blood and destruction."

Some five months ago Jabri denied a request by left-wing activists to sign an order allowing them to destroy the Hazon David synagogue near the entrance to Kiryat Arba, which Jabri has claimed is built on land belonging to his clan.

Since then the settlers have been waiting for the opportunity to thank the sheikh for coming to their aid.

This story perfectly illustrates one of the the major themes of this blog: The average Palestinian Arab is much more practical and willing to live with Jews than their so-called "leaders" and the inciters in their press and organized gangs.

It also shows that the Jews of Hebron, unfailingly portrayed in the Western press as the most rabid and hateful of all the "settlers," are anything but. Rather than being die-hard haters striving to make Hebron Arab-free they are willing to work with local Arabs who show no desire to murder them.

In addition, it shows that left-wing Israelis - the ones that tout "peace" the loudest - are far more hateful than the Arabs they pretend to be defending, and their hatred for Jews living in biblical Israel outstrips their hatred for real terrorism.

Their actions, as well as the reaction of the Fatah-based Al Aqsa Brigades (which the PA claims nominal control over) show who really cares about a true and realistic peace and who works to prolong the conflict.

Decades of non-stop incitement have created a huge dent in the historic pragmatism of Palestinian Arabs, but it is heartening to know that it has not yet disappeared.

UPDATE: More details at Arutz 7.

The brains of Bahrain and their Arab friends

A delegation from Bahrain sneaked into Gaza and now can't get out:

A BAHRAINI aid delegation stranded in Gaza could be back in Bahrain today, as talks have been stepped up to get them out through the sealed border with Egypt.

But Egyptian and Palestinian envoys in Bahrain yesterday accused the four-man team of slipping into the territory without telling the embassies here or the proper authorities.

The delegation arrived in Gaza on January 31.

They have been trying to leave since last Tuesday, having missed a chance to get out when the Salaheddin border crossing was resealed by the Egyptian authorities on Feburary 3.

"We are pained to say that we were not consulted by the delegation when they left," said Egyptian Ambassador Dr Azmy Khalifa.

"We should have been taken into their confidence."

He said the delegation crossed the border from Salaheddin "in an unauthorised manner" and "without permission".

Palestinian Ambassador Ahmed Ramadhan accused the Bahraini delegation of making political mileage out of the situation.

He said the first time he knew about the aid mission was from the local papers.

"I am surprised that they went with aid for our people without even letting the embassy know," said Mr Ramadhan.

He said the delegation "violated the border" and was now suffering the consequences.

"When people in Gaza, including the delegation, were given 48 hours to leave, they did not and now they say they are stranded," said Mr Ramadhan.

"Of course, we are trying to get them to Bahrain, but this situation should not have happened at all."
...

Mr Al Fadallah said some intermediaries had made the delegation an offer to leave Gaza through Israel.

"We have turned down that offer. We have nothing to do with the Zionist enemy," he said.

The delegation had earlier refused offers to be smuggled out of the troubled Palestinian territory.

We see that the Bahrainis could have left through Israel but they refused.

So who exactly is keeping them stranded in Gaza? Could it be their Arab brethren?

(belated h/t to jusa for pointing out an earlier version of this news)

Arafat's picture hangs at the Oxford Union

No joke:

The 185-year-old society, a jewel in Oxford University's crown, is a bastion of free speech where the elite of Britain and many other countries have cut their debating teeth. The framed photos in the entryway honor luminaries from Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Winston Churchill to Robert Kennedy and Yasser Arafat who have addressed the Oxford Union.

This makes it a bit easier to understand the sham "debate" that occurred there last month.

Olmert to Sderot: Stop whining

From YNet:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the situation in Sderot at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, saying that "there is no doubt that we all share the pain and the anger is understandable and natural, but the anger is not an action plan."

Perhaps it is time to remind everyone of my Olmert Qassam statement history, last published in September:
----------------------
In late November 2006, Olmert said "we are a little disappointed" that Qassam attacks continued even during a "cease fire" that Israel held to unilaterally.

The Qassams continued.

In December 2006, Olmert wrote a letter to the UN, saying "this restraint cannot continue for much longer."

The Qassams continued.

In February 2007, Olmert said, "We are not going to restrain ourselves forever. The continued attacks challenge Israel's patience. In the end, if the attacks continue, we will respond."

The Qassams continued.

In April, Olmert said "[Israel] cannot continue to ignore the Qassam lunching [sic] and infiltration attempts of terrorist cells."

The Qassams continued.

Finally, in May, Israel gave up on the fictional "cease fire" and started targeting Qassam launchers.

Even so, the Qassams continued.

Month after month after month. Every single rocket causing celebrations and congratulatory articles in Palestinian Arab newspapers and websites.

Now, the Sderot schools are open and the number of Qassams is increasing.

And what does Olmert say in September?

"We will not come to terms with it and we will not let it go by."

-------------------
So Olmert has had plenty of time to devise a plan and the best he can do it reducing Gaza's electricity by 5%? And then he has the chutzpah to ask the victims of the daily attacks to not protest but to provide him with an "action plan" - isn't that his job?

Rather than reducing Qassams, they have increased greatly over the past couple of months.

Forget Winograd. The inability of Olmert to do anything to defend Israel against Qassams is enough reason on its own to demand his resignation.

Followup on the Beatles and Israel

Judeopundit noticed a hilarious article in the Ramattan "news" agency where "Over 40 Human Rights organizations from around the world called on the 'Beatles' to boycott Israeli 60th anniversary."

One can only imagine what the names of these "human rights" organizations are, how they spend their time and money, and whether they are writing to, say, the surviving members of The Dave Clark Five.

Followup on AP's discovery of Hamas war crimes

Soccer Dad noticed that the Washington Post managed to report on the Israeli airstrike on rocket launchers hidden in a school without mentioning that the rocket launchers were hidden in the school.

Being the astute and responsible blogger he is, he wrote to the Washington Post ombudsman to ask about what must certainly have been an oversight on the part of the esteemed newspaper that also happens to publish unfiltered Hamas propaganda on occasion.

Followup on Irish woman in Gaza

In the latest on the Irish woman who was stuck in Gaza, the BBC writes:

Treasa Ni Cheannabhain, her daughter and an Egyptian niece were allowed back into Egypt on Thursday.

However, Ms Ni Cheannabhain was immediately taken in for questioning.

On Saturday, she said she was given a choice by the Egyptian authorities - to come before a military court, or to return to Gaza indefinitely.

I guess this woman who spends her life preaching her solidarity with poor Palestinian Arabs has decided that Egyptian military court provides better odds for a good life than her Hamas buddies.

Adar 4

Egypt is starting to control the crowds of Palestinians pouring in from Gaza.

Everyone is being put into a line, given a special plastic bracelet, and there is a limit of three bombs per person.

-Jake Novak