Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Interfaith dialogue, Islamic-style (revisited)

I've had a few posts on how, when Muslims call for "dialogue" with other religions, they are really calling for a new means to proselytize.

I just came across this Islam Q&A site where the question is raised: can a Muslim participate in interfaith dialogue if there is no way that they can use it as a platform for gaining converts?

Question: Here in America we are trying as best we can to call people to Allaah according to the way of the Pious Predecessors (al-salaf al-saalih). Recently there has emerged a very serious matter, which is the spread of committees to bring together the three heavenly religions – Islam, Christianity and Judaism – whereby each group sends a representative to try to bridge the gaps between these three religions and bring them closer together. They meet in churches and synagogues, and even pray together, as happened following the massacre in al-Khaleel (“Hebron”) in Palestine. These meetings are attended by a not insignificant number of followers from these three religions.

Our question is: the Muslims are represented by scholars – or by people who are counted as being scholars – and there has arisen among us an argument as to the ruling on attending meetings such as these, where Muslim scholars shake hands with and embrace priests and monks. There is no opportunity for da’wah in these meetings; they are held in the name of bringing these three religion closer together. Is it permissible for a Muslim who believes in Allaah and the Last Day to attend such meetings, to enter churches and synagogues and to greet and embrace a priest or monk? For your information, this phenomenon has spread across America, and we hope that you can send us the solution, because we have agreed to accept your ruling between us to suppress this fitnah that exists at the national level. Wa’l-salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmat-Allaahi wa barakaatuhu.

After a very long answer, disparaging all religions besides Islam as being worthless and false, the Imam finally gets to the point:

On the basis of the above, it is clear that the basic foundation of the laws and religions that Allaah has prescribed for His slaves is one and there is no need to bring them close to one another. It is obvious that the Jews and Christians have distorted and twisted that which was revealed to them from their Lord, to the point that their religions have become falsehood, kufr and misguidance.

....How can any rational person who knows about their persistence in falsehood and their continuing to knowingly follow misguidance out of jealousy and their pursuit of their own desires, hope for a closer relationship between them and the truly believing Muslims?

... The person who thinks of bringing Islam, Judaism and Christianity together, or bringing them closer to one another, is like one who strives to bring together the opposites of truth and falsehood, kufr (disbelief) and eemaan (faith). ....

Moreover, the religion of the Jews and Christians has been abrogated by Allaah when He sent the Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and Allaah obliged all the people of the earth, Jews Christians and others, to follow him.

If they persist in following their religion, which has been abrogated, then they are adhering to falsehood, not to true religion. So it is not permissible for the Muslims to get close to them, because by getting close to them they are approving of their falsehood on the one hand, and misleading the ignorant, on the other. What Muslims should do is expose their falsehood just as Allaah has exposed them in the Qur’aan. And Allaah knows best.

Someone might say: can there not be a truce among them, or a peace treaty, so as to avoid bloodshed and the tragedies of war, and so that people may go about their business and earn a living, and that the world may be developed so that the call to truth and guidance may be given to all people, and so that justice may be established among all people? If someone were to say this, it is fair enough, and any efforts to achieve this would be valuable, for it is a noble aim, because it is possible and it would have a great impact on people. But this applies only when it is not possible to enforce the jizyah system, because Allaah says in Soorat al-Tawbah (interpretation of the meaning):

“Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allaah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad), (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued”

[al-Tawbah 9:29]

At the same time, we must also make sure that we are striving to support the truth. This should not be an attempt on the part of the Muslims to appease the mushrikeen or to give up any of the rulings of Allaah, or anything that would entail their compromising their own dignity. The Muslims must retain their pride and their adherence to the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); they must continue to hate their enemies of Allaah and not befriend them, following the guidance of the Qur’aan and of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

So the next time CAIR or some similar organization claims to be interested in "dialogue," you know exactly what they mean.

One of the biggest annual challenges that our heroes at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice have to face each year is the proliferation of the color red in mid-February. As the Saudi Gazette reports:

Islamic scholars around the Kingdom such as Sheikh Khaled Al-Dossari preach that celebrating Valentine's Day and other non-Islamic celebrations is a sin. "As Muslims we shouldn't celebrate a non-Muslim celebration especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women," Dossari, a scholar in Islamic Studies and the Shariah, said.

In the face of such a clear and obvious violation of sharia law, it is up to our heroes at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to make sure that young Saudis do not stray - and that means targeting the sources of the scourge:

Agents of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice visited flower and gift shops in the capital Saturday night to instruct them to remove all red items - from red roses and wrapping paper to boxes and teddy bears - from their shelves, shop workers said.
"They visited us last night," said a couple of florists Sunday morning.
"They gave us warnings and this morning we packed up all the red items and displays."
Sunday was the last day people could buy red roses in Riyadh, until Valentine's Day on Feb. 14 passes.

Every year, Commission agents visit flower shops a couple of days before Feb. 14 to issue warnings. On the eve of Valentine's Day, they start their raids and confiscate any red items that are symbols of love, florists here said.

But the sinners are clever, willing to flout the obvious law of Allah to further their capitalist/Zionist goals:

As a result of the ban, there's a black market in red roses.
"A single rose costs around SR5-7 but today the same rose costs SR10 a piece and the price will go up to SR20-30 on Valentine's Day," said a florist who caters to customers on Valentine's Day from his apartment.

Loyal customers place orders with the florist days and sometimes weeks before Feb. 14. "Sometimes we deliver the bouquets in the middle of the night or early morning, to avoid suspicion," said the florist.

Many young hearts are planning to celebrate in their own way, whether in secret, abroad or on the Web.

"I send e-cards to all my special friends online," said Famita Hakeem, a young Saudi university student.

"We are planning on going to Dubai Wednesday night to celebrate Valentine's Day as a couple," said Hannan Radi, a Saudi wife and teacher.

Ms. Radi should have been more circumspect in her comments, as the Muttawa will be waiting upon her return to their territory.

Egyptians find TNT in a Rafah cemetery

M&C reports:

Egyptian security forces found a cache of explosives near the border with the Gaza Strip in the Sinai peninsula, security sources said Tuesday.
The cache, which contained 250 kilos of TNT, was found in a secret depot in Masura in Rafah, three kilometres from Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip.

Palestine Press Agency adds that these explosives were found in a cemetery:

The source said that "explosives were seized inside the cemetery, packed inside seven plastic sacks," and added that security forces received information from confidential sources is the fact that some smugglers conceal explosives inside abandoned graves.

"Abandoned graves" must mean wither their occupants found a better place to stay, or these holy explosives smugglers are discarding bodies to hide their product.

Nahoul the dead bee/Assud the killer rabbit update

MEMRI has both the death of Nahoul the bee and the rise of his replacement, the vengeful killer rabbit Assud, shown on Hamas TV.

Their clip can be seen here, I converted it to YouTube so other browsers besides IE could view it:

Meanwhile, here is the transcript:

Nahoul: I can't stand it, Mom, I can't...
Mother: What can I do? You've been sick for a whole month. We went to Al-Arish, but we couldn't get you to Egypt to have an operation.

[...]

Nahoul: All the children of Palestine are dying without treatment. I can't die, I don't want to die... Father...

Attempts to perform CPR on Nahoul fail

Father: Nahoul! Nahoul!

[...]

Child host Saraa Barhoum: Dear children, let me welcome on your behalf our new friend, Assud. Allah be praised, our friend Assud has returned safe and sound to his land, to Palestine, after he emigrated to a different Arab country – a country which is not this noble homeland, dear children.

[...]

Assud: Mom, I want to ask you something.

Mother: Go ahead.

Assud: Where is Nahoul? I haven't seen him for such a long time.

Mother: He went for a walk, and he'll soon be back, Allah willing.

Assud: Where did he go? Who goes out at night?

Mother: What do you want me to do... He'll be back soon, Allah willing.

Assud: Father, where is Nahoul?

Father [whispering to the mother]: How long can we keep what happened to Nahoul from him?

Father [to Farfour]: You are a believer, and our God...

Assud: What happened to Nahoul, father?

Father: Allah be praised, you are a believing Muslim, and you know that we place our trust in Allah... Your brother Nahoul got sick...

Assud: What hospital is he in, father?

Father: He's not in any hospital. He died a martyr's death, Allah have mercy upon him.

Assud: No, father!

Assud weeps

[...]

Assud: Just like Nahoul took Farfour's place when he was martyred, I will replace Nahoul, Allah willing. I will bring smiles and joy back to the children of Palestine, and the children of the whole world - the Arab and Islamic world, Allah willing.

[...]

Assud: I come from the diaspora, carrying the Key of Return. This is the Key of Return. Do you see it? Allah willing, we will use this key to liberate our Al-Aqsa Mosque. Here is a picture of the noble Al-Aqsa Mosque. Here it is, can you see it? Allah willing, we are the soldiers of the Pioneers of Tomorrow.

Saraa Barhoum: Yes, Assud, we will continue in the path of Nahoul and Farfour, Allah willing. We will not let them down, Assud.

Assud: We are all martyrdom-seekers, are we not, Saraa?

Saraa Barhoum: Of course we are. We are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of our homeland. We will sacrifice our souls and everything we own for the homeland.

Assud: Saraa, I'd like to ask you something.

Saraa Barhoum: What is it?

Assud: How many soldiers of the Pioneers of Tomorrow are there?

Saraa Barhoum: There are many, many soldiers of the Pioneers of Tomorrow.

Assud: Allah be praised.

Saraa Barhoum: By Allah's grace, they will help us liberate our homeland Palestine.

Assud: Saraa, you and I will be the first, right?

Saraa Barhoum: Yes, by Allah's grace, Assud.

Assud: And will we take Al-Aqsa?

Saraa Barhoum: Of course, Assud. We will liberate Al-Aqsa from the filth of those Zionists.

[...]

Saraa Barhoum [to girl in the audience]: Is there anything you want to share with us?

Girl: Arnoub ["Rabbit"]?

Saraa Barhoum His name is Assud ["Lion"].

Girl: How come you are called Assud, even though you look like a rabbit?

Assud: Because a rabbit is not good. He's a coward. But I, Assud, will get rid of the Jews, Allah willing, and I will eat them up, Allah willing, right?

Saraa Barhoum: Allah willing.

UPDATE: Israel Matzav points to Palestine Media Watch's Hebrew translation of an episode aired after Nahoul's death, where Saraa tells her audience not to be sad for Nahoul:

"We say today to you, Nahoul:
Congratulations, this is your wedding day!"

Vancouver Public Library to host anti-semite

From the Vancouver Sun:

Terry Glavin, Special to the Sun

British novelist Martin Amis recently confessed to being at a loss for words whenever he encounters the hysterical, "endocrinal state" that seems to befall certain people when the subject of Israel comes up in conversation.

"I just don't understand it," Amis said. "I know we're supposed to be grown up about it and not fling around accusations of anti-Semitism, but I don't see any other explanation."

And this got me to thinking. If it's not anti-Semitism, then what's the proper word for it?

What is the right word for a book like Greg Felton's The Host and the Parasite: How Israel's Fifth Column Consumed America?

What is the right word for Felton's thesis, which is that a Zionist "junta" was at work on Sept. 11, 2001, and that al-Qaida is a mere concoction in a secret plan to subvert the American Constitution, demonize Muslims and commit mass murder?

What do you call it when the Vancouver Public Library decides to present Felton, an apologist for the book-banning, journalist-jailing Iranian theocracy, as the featured author on the evening of Feb. 25, and as the library's contribution to national Freedom to Read Week?

What are we allowed to call Felton, who traces his Zionist plot back to the 1940s, when these same Zionists made "common cause" with the Nazis to rid Europe of its Jews, and participated in the herding of Jews into Hitler's gas chambers?

What Felton calls himself is an award-winning investigative reporter and Middle East specialist. His last legitimate journalism job appears to have been with a Vancouver weekly newspaper in the late 1990s, when his brief career as a columnist came to a famously embarrassing end. The column that got Felton into such trouble was also about Zionists.

In that column, Felton traced Zionist swindles and trickery back through time and across Europe to a massive coverup of events that occurred in the Caucasus Mountains about 1,000 years ago.

Europe's Jews aren't Jews at all, Felton wrote. Almost all of them are "Khazars," a long-extinct Turkic tribe from somewhere north of the Caspian Sea.

Felton has been peddling this kind of thing ever since his departure from the weekly Vancouver Courier. He now writes for fringe Arab webzines and an online journal out of Tehran affiliated with the Iranian theocracy's Islamic Propagation Organization.

Felton's byline also routinely shows up on neo-Nazi websites, conspiracy-theory bulletin boards, and sometimes even in pamphlets of the Marxist-Leninist sort. And now, Vancouverites can hear Greg Felton in person.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, Janice Douglas, VPL's director of youth services and community relations told me.

Felton approached the library looking for a gig. There was a "banned book" cachet about his tome, and the library hadn't hosted a Freedom To Read event in years. And Felton's book was "a book that people might not feel free to read."

That last bit was odd, I thought. From Dandelion Books, Felton's obscure little Arizona publisher, you can readily acquire titles about the lost continent of Atlantis, space aliens, New Age mysticism, mind control, 9-11 conspiracies, and even a novel by Yvonne Ridley, the disgraced, Taliban-admiring British journalist now working for an Iranian television network.

The Khazar legend was a staple of 1930s-era European racism. Long after it had been wholly discredited by geneticists, linguists, archeologists and historians, the lie was revived by late 20th-century neo-Nazis.

Neo-Nazis find it useful as a twisted justification for their Jew-hatred. For Israel's more conspiracy-prone enemies, the Khazar legend completely delegitimizes the notion of Israel as a Jewish homeland. That's how Felton employs it, and he gets extra mileage out of it as further evidence of the world's real, hushed-up history, which the Jews don't want you to know.

No, wait. Wrong word. Felton doesn't use the word "Jews" quite that way. It's the Zionists who are behind the curtain with their hands on the levers. Sometimes he uses two words to describe them. Zionist Jews. Jewish lobby. Zionist parasite.

When he calls them Khazars, he can attribute to them "the declared purpose of dispossessing and terrorizing" the Palestinian people, and by that one word -- Khazars -- the Palestinians become the only real Semites in the Holy Land, and Israel itself becomes anti-Semitic.

See how it works?

In Felton's words, Hamas is not an Islamist death cult animated by that classic anti-Semitic forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It's the equivalent of the French resistance during the Second World War, the "passionate defender of Palestinians."

There are no suicide bombings in Felton's lexicon. There are only "sacrifice bombings." Israel itself is a creation of the Nazis. It's the "Zionist Reich."

And that's the sort of ugliness that rushes in the moment the word "Israel" is mentioned in certain fashionable company these days. Martin Amis settled on the words "secularized anti-Semitism" to describe it.

If those aren't the right words, then words fail me.

Of course, Felton wins either way. Felton, who resembles the character Dwight Shrute from The Office, either he gets to speak and gets free publicity for his bigotry, or pressure builds on the Vancouver Public Library to drop the program and Felton can go back to his neo-Nazi and Iranian buddies and claim "censorship," gaining more publicity.

By the way, even on Felton's website he doesn't bother to mention the specific "awards" he supposedly has received. One can only imagine: "Best Disciple of Mein Führer 1997," perhaps.

VPL should be ashamed in its role in promoting pure anti-semitism and its lack of forethought in seeking scum like Felton to speak.

Adar 6

Not specifically a Jewish joke, but at least I hadn't heard it before...

Bill Gates came up to heaven and God wasn't sure what to do with him. On one hand, he gave a lot of charity, but on the other hand, he created Microsoft Windows which is a terrible operating system.

So God decided to give Bill a choice, let him decide whether he wanted to go to heaven or hell.

"Well, what are heaven and hell like?" asks Gates.

God takes Bill Gates to heaven where he sees a bunch of rabbis pouring over Talmudic texts. Then, he takes him to hell where he sees a beautiful beach with palm trees.

Without giving it much thought, Gates concludes, "I'll take hell."

A couple days later, God goes down to see how Gates is doing, and he's furious.

"I'm burning to a crisp down here! This isn't what I saw before!"

To which God replies, "I'm sorry, you must have seen a screen saver!"

Genetics and Jewish identity

I'm not keenly interested in this topic - my definition of a Jew is more halachic than genetic, and my definition of a "people" is more self-identifying than familial - but since there have been some vigorous discussions on this topic in the message boards, here is one of the more thorough treatments of the issue I've ever seen, from The Jerusalem Post.

Arab News article defending Saudi misogyny

This (obviously male) author is all over the place trying to deflect the problems of Saudi women on anyone and anything he can find:

The United Nations’ interest in the situation of women in the Kingdom really puzzled me. It looked as though Saudi women live in a huge prison guarded by people whose only interest is to humiliate and degrade women as much as possible.
It seemed as if the women in this country were desperately seeking words of help and promise of rescue from these organizations so that that they can begin life afresh enjoying all the freedom they lost a long time ago.
I wonder how members of such organizations — whose hearts apparently bleed for those oppressed and suppressed — are so concerned about the Saudi women, but fail to realize the tragic plight of the women in Palestine and Iraq.
UN organizations are not concerned about Palestinian women languishing in Zionist jails. They are being held unfairly without any charges or trial. They are being kept away from their children and husbands. How I wish these organizations opened their eyes and talked to us about these continuous tragedies and traumas. As for the situation of Iraqi women, they’re in endless distress. They’ve been traumatized with no end in sight to their miseries. How come these organizations don’t see a tragedy that TV screens bring to our living rooms?
I won’t say that the reason for their silence is that all these catastrophes are caused by America and Israel and they don’t want to annoy the global superpower and the regional superpower. I’ll only assume that they have good intentions and are trying to find out the truth. Maybe they want to make every nation feel happy.

OK, so the reason the UN criticizes Saudi Arabia is because it is way too Zionist. Obviously. (BTW, the UN has spent countless hours whining about PalArab women.)

These organizations should realize that every nation has its religious distinctiveness that’s taken into consideration when it comes to enacting laws. Islam has its Shariah rules, whether in granting women their rights or treating them as equals to men. Islam doesn’t deny other people their religious distinctiveness.
The Jews guard their religious distinctiveness with zeal. The same applies for Christians, Buddhists and others. This religious distinctiveness is respected in their laws. I’ve never heard a country or an organization objecting to Jewish religious regulations. No country, individual or organization can criticize Jews without inviting charges of anti-Semitism. In fact, nobody can question the truth about the holocaust even if it is scientifically and historically documented.

No, it is not that the UN is too Zionist - it is that it is Islamophobic! (And that sweet extra touch of Holocaust denial is always a welcome part of any article defending Islam.)

It would’ve been fair and more acceptable if the person who prepared this report considered — integrally — the primary role of Islam in the laws of the Kingdom. Since he didn’t, I’ll make some observations.
Let’s take the issue of women driving cars. The way the issue is discussed abroad would give the impression all the problems of women in the Kingdom would vanish once they were allowed to sit behind the steering wheel. The point not to be missed here is that no one in the Kingdom, whether rulers or religious scholars, has ever said that it’s religiously forbidden for a woman to drive a car. The minister of foreign affairs has clearly stated that if women don’t drive in the Kingdom it is because of the force of social custom. There are those who approve the idea of women driving and those rejecting it. We must find out what the majority wants and I believe a decision one way or the other will be taken very soon.

No, its not Islamophobia - it is not understanding that social customs that have nothing to do with Islam, although very much shaped by Islam, drive Saudi laws. It is up to people to decide whether women can be treated as human or not, not the UN.

As for the freedom of women when it comes to marriage and divorce, I know that the system in the country obliges the person who will tie the knot legally to directly communicate with the woman and make sure she agrees with the proposal.
As for divorce, I also know that it’s a woman’s right, under the Shariah rules, to ask for kulu (to file for divorce and give the husband back his dowry) the moment a she dislikes being with her husband. Judges are aware of it.
I know there are instances where these rules are ignored or violated by fathers or judges. Some judges delay the procedures of kulu because they want to sort out the problems between a man and his wife to avoid a divorce. But these violations don’t mean that women in the Kingdom are oppressed when it comes to marriage and divorce!

Of course not - the fact that women are treated like cattle doesn't mean they are oppressed! These are all aberrations, you see.

The issue isn’t about good intentions, but about ruining religions, ruining women and men and then corrupting societies. I can’t eliminate the political factor in the report. The UN seems to be thinking that taking away the religious identity from Muslims is the first step toward reforming their societies.

Hold on, we've switched gears again - apparently all of the misogyny really is from Islam, not social customs, and therefore it is correct.

Finally, I say to all those who cry over the situation of women in Saudi Arabia, whether they are outsiders or citizens: Leave the woman alone. Saudi women are capable of taking care of themselves without the help of these busybodies.
I also tell them that this country has a religion that can’t be ignored or destroyed. As for other habits or traditions, those are negotiable. Women have problems in Saudi Arabia that need to be addressed; men too have problems worthy of attention. If you really want to address these problems you should be fair in your comments and free from preconceived notions.

Luckily, the Arab News has also published some articles from real women. As I mentioned in November, here is what one wrote:

It is surprising and frustrating to see that women in Saudi Arabia, despite all their achievements, continue to be treated as underage dependents who need and are forced to be managed by their male guardians.

We cannot claim that a Saudi woman has all her Islamic and civil rights when the system insists on considering her immature, irresponsible and dependent on her male guardian no matter how old she is, how highly educated and intelligent she might be or what she has achieved in her professional career. At what age and under what circumstances is a woman in Saudi Arabia considered an independent, sane, responsible adult?

...Why does a young intelligent, ambitious woman needs her guardian’s permission to enroll in a university or apply for work? Does the system even realize that this male guardian does not necessarily have the best interests of the woman when he denies her the right to an education and a job?

...what about the daily obstacles women face if they want to purchase property, apply for divorce, gain custody of their child, or travel abroad? In all these cases, she needs a male guarantor or a male representative or permission from her male guardian.

So which person represents a more accurate view of women in Saudi society - the man who can't put together a coherent argument as he sputters all over the place, or a real live woman who lives there?

Assud, the Hamas killer rabbit, eats Jews

First we had Farfour, the Mickey Mouse ripoff that was brutally murdered by the Jews on Hamas TV.

Then we had Nahoul, the bee. Apparently, he starved to death in Gaza because the Jews refused to allow him to get food, or medicine, or something.

Now we have Assud, the killer rabbit who eats - Jews!

It is interesting that both previous cartoon characters who pledged to kill the Jews ended up dead. So how will Assud kick the bucket?

A work accident? A clan clash? Will he be shot to death at a wedding or a funeral?

Or will he die spectacularly as he drives his car and gets targeted by a missile?

I'd love to see that car swarm.

(h/t Israel Matzav)

UPDATE: I got the clip of Nahoul's death.

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."