Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, March 24, 2008

US laser system flunks anti-Qassam test

Despite legal, political and media pressure, Israel has rejected the use of lasers to protect its citizens from Palestinian missiles. This is mainly because of a test of the Skyguard system in the United States (at the White Sands Missile Range), which resulted in only 22 percent of the 36 rockets fired being detected and shot down.
The laser defense system in question has been around for over a decade, and was initially called THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser). Israel dropped out of the THEL project because of the expense of developing the system to the point where it would be ready for regular service. The American partner in THEL development is now offering a smaller version of THEL, called Skyguard, for protecting commercial aircraft from portable anti-aircraft missiles. The manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, originally developed THEL for combat situations. Tests two years ago showed THEL was able to knock down barrages of incoming mortar shells.

On paper, THEL (or SkyGuard, or the new name, Nautilus), looks good. The THEL laser and radar system was designed to track up to sixty targets (mortar and artillery shells, rockets) at a time and fire on and destroy these projectiles at a range of up to five kilometers. THEL can destroy about a dozen targets a minute, at a cost of some $3,000 per shot. Each THEL system (radar and laser) could thus cover about ten kilometers of border. The Skyguard version has a range of up to eight kilometers, uses improved software and can more easily link to other radar systems to obtain targeting information. Skyguard is designed mainly for knocking down portable anti-aircraft missiles fired near airports, at aircraft that are landing or taking off.

Last year, Northrop Grumman said that it could have a laser anti-rocket system ready in 18 months, at a development cost of $400 million. Each anti-rocket system would cost about $50 million, and one or two could protect against missiles from Gaza. Thus the total bill for just developing, building and installing the systems is about a billion dollars.

Israel would like the U.S. to help with the costs, for such a system could be useful in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Israel already gets over $2 billion a year in military aid, and the new Skyguard systems could come out of that. The Israeli artillery brass were making the argument that money spent on THEL would provide more benefit that billions spent on new jet fighters.

It took nine years, and over a half a billion dollars, for American and Israeli engineers to get as far as they did (one working prototype system) with THEL. Aside from the systems size and cost, there's also the problem of lasers being weakened by clouds, fog, mist or even artificial smoke. For that reason, there's not a lot of enthusiasm for proceeding right now on such a bulky and expensive system for use against small rockets. But by the end of the decade, a smaller, and cheaper, version will be more attractive, and more likely to be purchased. The Israeli lawsuit is all about getting THEL/SkyGuard/Natilus in service ASAP, no matter what.

The reality is that THEL is a bulky system, and not really mobile. Each system requires half a dozen or more large tractor trailer trucks to carry the radar, fuel supplies and laser. A proposed new version, the MTHEL (Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser) was designed (using three tractor-trailers) and tested. Engineers believe that MTHEL could be ready for battlefield use in about six years, at a cost of another billion dollars. In another few years, engineers believe they could create a MTHEL that could fit in a hummer.

But the development costs of THEL and MTHEL were so high, that both the American and Israeli governments pulled their support two years ago. The manufacturer put some of their own money into the project and came up with Skyguard. The pitch is that Skyguard would be cheaper than equipping thousands of aircraft with individual anti-missile systems. But first, THEL has to prove that it is reliable enough to stay on-line 24/7 (or nearly so), and act effectively if there is ever an attack. No one has yet tried using these missiles in the United States, but it has happened elsewhere, especially in Africa. There is not enough fear of such attacks in the U.S. to get SkyGuard funded, and purchased.

The first Skyguard system would cost about $150 million, with subsequent ones costing about 70 percent less. Skyguard will also be able to handle rockets, artillery projectiles, mortars, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles. In other words, if you had a billion dollars to spare, you might be able to get a Skyguard system to defend Israel from rockets fired from Lebanon or Gaza. Maybe. THEL is another example of technology that got out of the lab before it was ready to survive in the wild. What the Northrop engineers are saying is, "give us another billion bucks and a few years, and we'll have it working effectively." That is a pitch heard all too often in the Pentagon, and more often than not, the outcome is not good. Laser anti-aircraft systems are one of those weapons that can accurately be described as "the weapon of the future, and always will be."

Sixty years ago: Lovable loser

From Time, March 15, 1948 (and quoted in the March 24, 1948 Palestine Post):

In Damascus last week, two Chevrolet pickup trucks and two black sedans pulled up before a plaster and stone bungalow. Arab soldiers piled in bedrolls, crates, map rolls. Then a redhaired, blue-eyed man, who looked more German than Arab,* climbed into one of the sedans. The convoy filed out of Damascus, swung southward into Palestine. The Teutonic-looking man borrowed a phrase from General Douglas MacArthur. Said he: "I have returned." Ahead of Fawzi Bey Kawukji had come some 10,000 Arab volunteers. About one thousand more are entering each week. The Arab "rescue" of Palestine had begun.
Although Fawzi Bey, once an officer in the Turkish army, was born in Lebanon 53 years ago, he was no stranger to Palestine. There he got some of the 80-odd wounds which still sometimes make his popeyes water with pain. He had spent a lifetime fighting for Arab independence against the British and French. Now he was returning to Palestine to command the northern sector in the fight against Zionism.
Fawzi Bey had yet to prove that he could capably command a force of many thousands. So far his battles had ended in defeats: by the French in Syria, by the British in Palestine, and in Iraq (where he fought with Nazi help) during World War II. A British plane strafed, and almost killed him, in Iraq. He went to Germany to recuperate. There he helped stir up the Arab world against the British, married a German girl (his third wife), was held by the conquering Russians until February 1947.
Whatever the doubts of his military ability, there was no doubt about the magic of his name among Arabs. ...Every peasant and Bedouin knows his name. He likes to dress dramatically, to fit his dramatic legend. His favorite garments: a fleece-lined flying jacket, or long sheep-lined cape draped over his shoulders. After his escape from France last year (TIME, March 10, 1947), crowds often appeared before the Orient Palace Hotel in Damascus, and clamored to see him. He began every speech with the words: "I am not a man of words; I am a man of action." The crowd loved it.
Last week, after Fawzi Bey had moved to Palestine, one Syrian said: "Arab history is repeating itself. In the Crusades, Saladin had to free Jerusalem from the infidels. Today Fawzi Bey is our Saladin."
^{* Other blond Arab leaders: Haj Amin el Husseini, ex-Mufti of Jerusalem; Hussein Khalidi, secretary of the Arab Higher Committee: Sheik Hassan Salameh, Arab commander in the Jaffa sector of Palestine.}

Hamas terror trial to start today - in Jordan

Some Arab countries realize the danger from Hamas much more than many Europeans. From Palestine Today (Arabic):

Scheduled by the Jordanian State Security Court on Monday, the trial of five members of the "Hamas" movement on charges of "obtaining confidential information needed to ensure the security of the state, and possession of a firearm without legal authorization."

Jordan accuses the five members of the "recruitment of many elements on the Jordanian arena to work for the movement, and monitoring and photographing sensitive sites and whose disclosure endangers the safety and security of the Kingdom, in addition to monitoring the Israeli embassy in Amman and warehouses of the American commercial interests (C Town)," according to the indictment.

The defendants are fixed Ahmed Abdallah Aboualhaj, Salim Salim Mahmoud Alihusani, Azzam Ahmed Jaber Helmi, Mohamed Hassan Khojah spring, and demanded Hassan Saleh Abdallah.

The indictment alleges that "all the accused members of the" Hamas "movement, received extensive training in neighboring States in security and detection tracking and resisting the investigation and the security of communications."

It added that the list was subsequently "mandated by the accused Hamas members residing in the State to work on the Jordanian arena and on the two axes, the first recruit elements on the Jordanian arena to work for the movement, and the second monitor and photograph sensitive sites whose disclosure endangers the safety and security of the Kingdom of danger by the video camera and other ordinary and by location (Google Earth) on the Internet and to monitor the Israeli Embassy in Amman and American commercial stores. "

MSM whitewashes Zawahiri Jew-hatred

The knee-jerk desire to not admit that there are Arabs who hate all Jews is almost comical.

From AP:

al-Qaida No. 2 Says Attack Israel, US

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri is calling on Muslims to strike Israeli and American interests to avenge Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to a new audiotape.
In the 4-minute tape, posted on a Web site Monday, al-Zawahri accuses Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of helping Israel in its offensive by sealing off the border between Egypt and Gaza.
He calls on Muslims to "strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims," and says attacks should not be limited to areas in Israel or the Palestinian territories.

AFP's headline also emphasizes Israel but at least it gets it right in the first paragraph:

Al-Qaeda number two calls for strikes against US, Israel

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2008 (AFP) — The second-ranking leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, called for new strikes against Jewish and American interests in a new radio address monitored here.

"Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims," Zawahiri said in an audio speech issued by Al-Qaeda's As-Sahab information network on Sunday and monitored here by SITE Intelligence Group.

Zawahiri urged the faithful to "monitor the targets, collect the money, bring the equipment, plan accurately, and then -- while depending on Allah -- storm, seeking martyrdom and paradise."

..."Let us strike their interests everywhere, just like they gathered against us from everywhere," Zawahiri said. "Let it be known to them that they will get blood for every dollar they spend in the killing of the Muslims, and for every bullet they fire against us, a volcano will turn back on them."

He insisted that Israeli warplanes were bombing people in Gaza "based on the American decision, the Egyptian siege, and Arab collusion."

"They will never be able to insult and make a mockery out of our Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah upon him," Zawahiri went on to conclude. "They cannot expect to support Israel, then live in peace and enjoyment while the Jews are killing our fugitive and surrounded people."

Reuters' latest version also chooses to downplay his remarks about Jews:

Zawahri urges anti-Israel attacks over Gaza

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets to avenge Israel's raids on the Gaza Strip, in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Monday.
"O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims," said the speaker on the tape who sounded like Zawahri.

"Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately and then attack," he added, without specifically naming any targets. "No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only."

The cognitive dissonance that much of the media has is amazing. Even when the terrorists say explicitly that they want to attack Jews worldwide - and even when they do! - the MSM often wants to place it in purely political terms.

To too many journalists, political opposition makes sense, while pure bigotry does not. Since bigotry is so abhorrent, so is the accusation of bigotry. So even when we have Al-Qaeda, responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents, saying purely bigoted statements - the "enlightened" reporters just cannot believe their ears, and cognitive dissonance creeps in to replace straight facts.

Most Palestinian Arab supporters play this game according to MSM rules and are careful in English to ensure that they do not say anything anti-Jewish - they relegate that talk to the madrassas and mosques. And the reporters are more than happy to go along with that charade. But here, we see that even when Arabs publicly announce their bigotry, the natural reaction of at least some in the media is to whitewash it.

Apple detente

Palestine Today mentioned that on Sunday, Israel allowed the export of 700 tons of apples grown by Golani Druze - to Syria.

A little further research brought a fascinating recent Ya Libnan (Lebanon) article that says that the annual trade in apples between Israel and Syria is much higher than that:

The economic position of Golan Druse is far better than that of their coreligionists and relations in neighboring Syrian-controlled villages. Druse horticulturalists have been permitted to export 11,000 tons of apples to Syria per annum since 2005 - the only existing economic relationship between the two countries.

The entire Ya Libnan article is worth reading as it goes into the complexity of the issues facing the mostly Druze residents of the Golan who have divided loyalties between Syria and Israel.

But the apple trade was news to me.

Gallup spinning numbers of radical Muslims

Gallup polled some 50,000 Muslims over a six year period to see how Muslims think, and they will be releasing their results in a book. Ahead of publication they are putting out weekly press releases with some statistics. But based on the press releases, we can already see that they will be spinning the numbers to minimize Islamic radicalism.

Look how deceptive this release is:

Understanding extremists and the nature of extremism requires a global perspective that extends beyond conflicting opinions of experts or anecdotes from the "Arab street." What do Muslims polled across the world have to say? How many Muslims hold extremist views? What are their hopes and fears? What are their priorities? What do they admire, and what do they resent?
According to the Gallup Poll, 7% of respondents think that the 9/11 attacks were "completely" justified and view the United States unfavorably. Among those who believe that the 9/11 attacks were not justified, whom we'll call "moderates," 40% are pro-United States, but 60% view the United States unfavorably.

Analyzing and comparing the answers of the 7% with the moderate majority produced some surprising results. By focusing on the 7%, whom we'll call "the politically radicalized" because of their radical political orientation, we are not saying that all in this group commit acts of violence. However, those with extremist views are a potential source for recruitment or support for terrorist groups. This group is also so committed to changing political conditions that they are more likely to view other civilian attacks as justifiable: 13% of the politically radicalized versus 1% of moderates say that attacks on civilians are "completely justified."

Firstly, notice that they only give numbers for those who call 9/11 "completely justified" and they do not let us know the numbers who consider it "partially justified". They say that the "moderates" are a majority but is this a significant majority, a tiny majority or a plurality? By only giving the 7% number they are trying hard to imply a large difference which may not exist.

Notice also their choice of nomenclature: those who are pro-terror are merely "politically radicalized" while those who were against it - but perhaps support blowing up Jews - are "moderates." The word choice indicates that moderation is normal and expected, but extremism doesn't exist - it is just a learned behavior. This is a huge bias.

The press release also doesn't bother to explain the glaring contradiction that only 13% of those who already declared support for 9/11 claim that all civilian attacks are justifiable. Perhaps the question was stated in a way where Muslim civilians were implied?

Finally, as they try hard to make it appear that "only" 7% of Muslims worldwide support terror and hiding numbers that may indicate otherwise, they don't bother to run the calculation: assuming a conservative number of 1.2 billion Muslims, this means that "only" 84 million are extremist terror supporters that want to see, say, all Americans dead.

One can only imagine how the book will try to bury the real numbers that are so inconvenient to mention in the press release.

British jihadist preacher caught on tape

From News of the World (UK):

A FANATICAL preacher of hate has been recorded urging impressionable young British Muslims to go to WAR against our troops.

Watch hate preacher on video

Yet, sickeningly, crazed cleric Anjem Choudary and his wife rake in more than £25,000 a year in welfare BENEFITS—while he plots to destroy British society.
Now Choudary —who once called for the Pope to be executed and described the September 11 hijackers as "magnificent martyrs" — could face arrest under anti-terror laws for his evil ranting on the tape, which was passed to the News of the World.
After hearing his latest inflammatory remarks, terror experts asked: "What more does this man need to do before he is locked up?"

Choudary, 41, was taped lecturing a secret meeting in west London earlier this month. On it he urges his Islamic followers to persuade would-be terrorists to sign up for killing campaigns.
The bearded mullah describes non-Muslims as "the enemy" and tells his sympathisers they should brainwash at least TEN Britons a month into becoming al-Qaeda supporters.
He also urges his clan to preach that:
FIGHTING jihad against Western society is an obligation.
BRITISH Muslims should travel abroad to fight our troops.
TERRORIST wannabes should "put fear into the hearts" of non-Muslims in the UK and spread al-Qaeda messages.
Choudray's lecture tour was launched with the aim of teaching Islamic extremist recruiting teams how to win new members and brainwash them into backing the mass-murdering terror group.
His speech was made days before Osama bin Laden's new video message warning Britain will soon be hit by new attacks.
Choudary says: "Even in the jihad you can see people carrying the dawah \ and inviting to Islam. The latest video from Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri \ was dawah, at the end of the day.
"Dawah and, obviously, putting fear into their hearts to say, look, no matter how many people you send in your army, it will not make a difference. We have enough land to bury the whole lot of them."
Choudary then claims that, by sheer weight of numbers, radicalised Muslims can make anti-terror laws obsolete. He brags: "So, your job is to create propaganda, our role here in Britain is vital.
"We undermine them, we undermine their ideology, we break their back." He adds: "If we carry on en masse, commanding good and forbidding evil, we say you and your laws can go to hell."
Choudary reminds his fanatical followers: "Remember, our ultimate objective, apart from pleasing Allah, is domination of the sharia \ all over the world."
When we spoke to Choudary he refused to discuss our recording but admitted he WAS on a recruitment drive.
He ranted: "I would like to recruit enough to turn the whole country into an Islamic state within a month...by tomorrow.
"You can put that down. I'm trying to recruit 5,000 a week."

Tunnel collapse!

Another dead Palestinian Arab terrorist, this one from a tunnel collapse on the Egypt/Gaza border:

The body of a 29-year Palestinian was pulled out from a collapsed smuggling tunnel between Gaza and Egypt on Saturday, hospital officials said.
Trapping Under the Rubble

Five diggers were in the tunnel when it collapsed Friday. Four were rescued with serious injuries, and the body of the fifth, a 29-year-old man, was retrieved Saturday, hospital officials said.

The tunnel had been shut down several days earlier by Egyptian security officials, and the diggers had returned to try to reopen it.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 45.

In other Peaceful PalArab news, a rocket that was meant to kill Jews landed in Beit Hanoun, Gaza causing a "powerful explosion."

And PA police officers got into a gunfight with "gunmen" yet somehow 4 civilians were injured, one seriously.

Recent keywords - how people find me

It is always fun to see what people type into search engines to find this blog. Today, predictably, there are a lot of Purim-related searches, but as always there are some that are funny and some that are slightly scary:

purim torah
isaac newton jew
arab death video
arabs news paper
dubai carpool
coptic tv
iran's sahar 1 tv is currently airing a weekly series that premiered on december 13 called zahra's blue ey
arabs porn (always a popular search term)
flowers shaped like stars (an oldie but a goodie)
ali al-quradaghi
beauty contest israeli winner
israel, purim, photographs, children, costumes,
picture of purim costume
homemade rockets
photos of the crown prince of bahrain
tosfos in engllish
modeiin israel
jews everywhere
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arab porn
lynching video
translation ??
algerian family atallah
americans marrying saudis blonde
the truth about muhammad book
photos of poor
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gaza sderot blog, israel insider
arab newspaper
soup kitchens, bklyn, jewish
purim torah christmas
elders of ziyon (you mean there are others?)
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almas palestinian businessman bring together hamas fatah
examples of bias in textbooks
holocaust denial video
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second jewish temple artifacts pictures
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how to defend the prophet
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interactive methodies of learn english
adar 11
jewish world domination (always a favorite)
sderot mishloach manot
hatzalah video new motorbikes
terror alert israel purim
israeli rescue mission 90 seconds hero
arab holiday

A PalArab death I missed from February

PHRMG's list of Palestinian Arabs killed by internal gunfire, while far from complete, adds one murder I missed in early Febraury:

Jaser Hussein Abu Jarghoun, 28, Khan Yunis, Feb 1, Killed by shooting from unknown gunmen.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is at 44.

Megillah trivia question of the day

How many parties are mentioned in the Megillah?

Egypt likes Israeli "occupation" of Gaza

Yesterday:

Palestinian and Israeli sources said yesterday Israeli and Egyptian representatives agreed in principle to a deal that would replace Israel with Egypt as the Gaza Strip’s sole electricity provider.
Under the deal, Egypt would set up a new power line from the Sinai Peninsula town of Arish to the nearby Gaza Strip. The 150-megawatt line would cost $35 million and be operational within two years.
Egypt currently provides the Gaza Strip with only 7 megawatts of power, while Israel provides 124 megawatts through 10 different lines. A local power station produces the remainder.
Omar Kittaneh, chairman of Palestinian Energy Committee, who is in charge of the project on the Palestinian side, said the Egyptian plan would be funded by the Islamic Development Bank. According to Kittaneh, tenders will be floated in the next few days.

But, as Palestinian Press Agency reported later, Egypt denied any such deal (autotranslated):

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry denied news media reports today that Egypt accepted assumed responsibility to provide electricity to the Gaza Strip.

Why would Egypt prefer that the poor, cold, starving Palestinian Arabs in Gaza remain in a situation where they do not have a reliable electricity supply?

It must be that, even though Israel is not legally occupying Gaza, Egypt prefers that fiction - and its resultant consequences to Gaza residents - to actually helping their fellow Arab "brethren."

See also:
Gaza and International Law
PalArabs try to have it both ways in Gaza
Egypt's violent reaction to idea of expanding Gaza into Sinai

Work accident of the day

From AFP:

A Hamas activist was killed and two other members of the Islamist movement were wounded in an accidental explosion at a training camp in Gaza, the second such incident in as many days, medics said.
Wael Hammudeh, 30, was killed in the explosion in a camp of the armed wing of Hamas in southern Gaza, medics and witnesses said.

Isn't it amazing that the number of Gazans who are known to be killed in such a manner increase dramatically when Israel isn't bombing Gaza?

Just more evidence that Hamas was moving the bodies of those that died by other means in places that Israel was attacking so as to inflate the "martyr" count.

Ma'an is still reporting yesterday's work-accident as an Israeli air raid, after even Hamas backtracked, showing that "Palestinian Arab journalism" is an oxymoron.

Meanwhile, a Hebron man was murdered as well at his gas station, bringing the 2008 PalArab self-death count to 43.

IBD notices the terror poll

From Investor's Business Daily:

Hate That Dares Not Speak Its Name

The Mideast: When a poll reveals all but a fraction of Palestinians support the murder of eight innocent Jewish seminarians, it shows a people wedded to evil. It's a short trip from this hate to the kind Hitler espoused.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a professional and independent polling agency that surveys Palestinians four times a year, has found that no less than 84% of 1,270 Palestinians questioned by the center in personal interviews said they supported the March 6 shooting inside Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav yeshiva.

The slaughter was carried out by East Jerusalem resident Alaa Abu Dheim, who was himself eventually killed during his attack. All but one of the eight he killed were teens, two of them only 15 years old. Another 11 were wounded.

Pollster Khalil Shikaki was understandably shocked at the results, which also found 75% support for scrapping Israeli-Palestinian talks and 64% support for the Hamas terrorist group's thousands of recent rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on Israeli towns.

Asked for their preferences for president of the Palestinian Authority, 47% chose Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas while 46% chose their current "moderate" president, Mahmoud Abbas.

But the chilling significance of the poll numbers goes beyond media commentaries about them reflecting "increased tensions." Imagine if more than 80% of some sector of the American public supported an Oklahoma City-like terrorist attack carried out on our soil. It would be viewed as a breakdown of civilization.

And consider the fact that such a large proportion of Palestinians approve of slaughtering of victims who not only were civilians and religious students, but minors. A true slaughtering of the innocents.

The message we get from this is very clear: The vast majority of Palestinians advocate such acts of terrorism against young innocents because the victims were Jews.

Their version of the Final Solution may not entail gas chambers and concentration camps, as Germany's National Socialists did in the last century. But it does apparently include murdering, at random, Jews because they are Jews.

Read it all.

The classic of the Purim Torah genre

One of the best recent additions to the ever-growing canon of Purim Torah - far better than my original contribution this year - was written in 2000 by Immanuel Burton. It is a hilarious piece of scholarship.

The author writes:

In each and every year on the twenty-fifth day of December the Nazarine world celebrates Choggoh, which is the festival of the birth [Christmas], and many people who are not Nazarines also celebrate then. And there are many customs which people follow during Choggoh. Even though Choggoh is not a Jewish festival, the author wondered in his heart to work out and to know how the Mishnah would appear were this the case, and so the author therefore gathered the customs and other matters which celebrants of Choggoh are accustomed to in this pamphlet. The student has to realise that this pamphlet is presented in the style of "Purim Torah". However, the author has left it as an exercise to the student to find in the writings of the true Torah the sources of phrases and conjectures found in the pamphlet, and by this the student will be amused on Purim and will merit to study Torah at the same time. Anyone who does not consider a matter of jesting such as this an amusing matter - it is appropriate that he stop immediately.

Here's the first page of his Mishnah Choggoh - the Halachos of Christmas:

A rough translation of the part of the first two lines, with the commentary in parentheses:

The tree (Christmas tree) that is taller than twenty cubits: in the house, it is invalid (because people don't look up higher than twenty cubits and therefore the decoration at the top of the tree isn't visible) but in the marketplace it is permitted (it does not say it is kosher because [the outdoor tree] is not part of the day's obligations, but is only used to publicize [the holiday]. From here on the mishnah will only refer to the house-tree.) If [the tree] is not three hands-breadths high it is invalid (for it lacks importance.) Rabbi Noel allows a bonsai tree (even if it is less than three hands-breadths [high] because this is the way that it grows and it has importance...) but the Sages (there are three Sages) forbid it (for the tree must be able to be decorated and have presents [fitting] underneath.)

It is well worth the download.

UPDATE: For those who don't understand Hebrew, a similar project in English is shown here.
There are many contradictions between the two, which will need to be resolved by someone greater than I.