Sunday, July 06, 2008

  • Sunday, July 06, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Martha Gellhorn was an amazing journalist who did some groundbreaking reporting over sixty years, traveling to most major conflicts.

I've mentioned her views on Palestinian Arabs in the past, when she filed reports from 1961 and 1967. Even though she was a committed leftist, she had no patience for how the Palestinian Arabs had turned into pawns in the conflict nor for their wildly inflated claims as to what happened in 1948. She was passionately pro-Israel.

So she would be aghast at the fact that the award named in her honor has been going to people who she would have eaten for lunch in real life, such as Robert Fisk. The award committee includes such rabid anti-Israel advocates as John Pilger.

The latest co-awardee is Mohammed Omer, whose credentials as a journalist are non-existent, as he only writes for his own website and he gets articles printed in rags such as the "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. " His account of his interrogation by the Shin Bet as he returned home from receiving the award is so over-the-top ridiculous that it is amazing that anyone believes it:
The security men also demanded he show all the money he had on him, and particular attention was paid to the British pounds he was carrying. His Gellhorn prize money had been awarded in British pounds but he was not carrying the entire sum on him bodily, something the investigators refused to believe.

After being unable to produce the prize money, he was ordered to strip naked.

"At first I refused but then I had an M16 (gun) pointed in my face and my clothes were forcibly removed, even my underwear," Omer said.

At this point Omer broke down and pleaded for an end to such treatment. He said he was told, "you haven't seen anything yet." Every cavity of his body was searched as one of the investigators pinned him down on the floor, placing his boot on Omer's neck. Omer began vomiting, and fainted.

When he came round his eyelids were being forcibly opened and his eardrums probed by an Israeli military doctor, who was also armed. He was then dragged along the floor by his feet by the Shin Bet officials, with his head repeatedly banging on the floor, to a Palestinian ambulance which had been called.
Israeli officials deny any mistreatment but who are they next to an "award-winning journalist" whose media sponsor couldn't even arrange press credentials for him to go across the border?

If Gellhorn would still be alive, she would have figured out that Omer is a fraud in a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, her name is now associated with people who she wouldn't deign to spit on.
The Arab News goes even beyond calling terrorism "natural" for Arabs:
Israelis killed a Palestinian youth for driving a bulldozer onto the midst of a crowd in the heart of East Jerusalem and killing three Israelis last week. But the reaction of the Western political leaders to the action of the Palestinian worker, one of over a million and half living in humiliation of the Israeli occupation, amounted to killing him and other Palestinians a thousand times.
Yes, this brilliant writer from our "moderate" friends in Saudi Arabia considers a condemnation of the purposeful killing of Jews to be equivalent to killing a thousand innocent Palestinian Arabs. This is the sort of sick mentality that is mainstream in the Arab world.
While the Western leaders did not feel any compunction in condemning the poor building worker in the harshest words they could find in the dictionary, they did not have the guts to describe the incident as the natural and likely reaction of a human being put to indignities beyond his endurance powers.
Indeed, a fully employed Palestinian Arab, who gets paid by evil Jews hellbent on destroying his dignity, is quite justified in killing them en masse because of his abject humiliation. In other words, Arabs are naturally (really, genetically) prone to murder because their honor is far more important than mere Jewish lives, and the West doesn't have the guts to realize this simple fact and start praising the murderer instead of condemning him.
Over the past six months 365 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, most of them civilians, with children accounting for 50 percent.
I don't know about the 365, but the 50% number is wholly fictional, but it must be OK for an Arab to make up statistics making Israel look bad because, after all, he is being humiliated by the very existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. If killing is justifiable, certainly lying is.
It is high time that we made a clear distinction between the acts of terror, particularly from a state that calls itself a democracy, and the acts springing from frustration, injustice and humiliation.
In one sentence the author has just justified every single Arab and Muslim terror act over the past century, because each one must have sprung on some level by someone's "frustration" or perceived "humiliation." This, of course, also includes terror attacks against Saudi Arabia itself, not to mention 9/11.
This Palestinian youth was a human being with normal feelings of pride and honor. He could not be blamed for losing his equanimity for a moment when he thought about the plight of his brothers and sisters who are being treated like dirt in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and put under a blockade denying them the most basic requirements of life.
Our good editorialist has now descended from pure fantasy into mind-reading as he not only justifies a terror attack, he places it in a context where such an attack is positively praiseworthy. The author, Abdul Aziz Al-Suwaigh, is a diplomat who has been an employee of Saudi Arabia's Ministry for Foreign Affairs. And this is all done in English in a newspaper that cannot publish anything without the approval of the Saudi royal family.

A blog post by Richard Landes about this post here

Saturday, July 05, 2008

  • Saturday, July 05, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Ma'an reports:
A Palestinian man, 23-year-old Tariq 'Udwan, died on Saturday of wounds he sustained several days ago in a mysterious explosion in the Suokat As-Sufi area south of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian man was stabbed to death when a clan dispute turned violent in the northern West Bank village of Kafr 'Abbush, south of the city of Tulkarem.
Four Palestinians were injured when a tunnel between Egypt and Gaza collapsed on Friday.

Dr Muawiya Hassanein, director general of ambulences and emergencies for the Ministry of Heath told Ma'an that “ Mohamad al Bashteeni- 23- arrived at the local hospital of Abu Yousef An- Najjar breathing with immense difficulty.

He had attempted to rescue four Gaza residents trapped in a tunnel between Egypt and Gaza. Al Bashteeni was almost suffocated by the collapsing tunnel, said Dr. Hassanein, and the fate of the four Gazans is unknown.
Also, a man was seriously injured by a gunshot in Rafah. Our 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 103.

UPDATE:
Egypt found 400 kg of explosives in the Sinai meant to be smuggled into Gaza.

Friday, July 04, 2008

  • Friday, July 04, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
The latest Zionist crime comes courtesy of Egypt, which is accusing Israel of stealing its cotton strains.

According to Palestine Today:
While the cultivation of world-famous Egyptian cotton has deteriorated because of the reluctance of farmers from planting a result of lack of revenue, and the increase of cheaper imports, an Egyptian study revealed that Tel Aviv has been seeking for decades to steal Egyptian cotton strains, and it was about to announce new types of colored cotton (taken from Egyptian strains.)
The Egyptian cotton industry has been battered for decades, so it is always convenient to blame the Jews.

Meanwhile, Israel's cotton industry is doing quite well, as this fact sheet from the Israel Cotton Board shows. Israel exports cotton worldwide and is innovating in creating strains that require little water yet are high-quality.

Even if Egypt's claims are true, I have no idea if it is illegal to take a cotton seed between countries. Certainly other agricultural products are always being moved and hybridized worldwide; I'm not sure why cotton would be any different. (And were there any cotton fields in the Sinai in 1967?)

Based on what I am reading, though, Israel doesn't need any help in its cotton research and innovations.
  • Friday, July 04, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Reuters wrote another of their stupid "factboxes" about Jerusalem that minimizes the Jewish attachment to the city, not even mentioning how many Temples there were or the daily Jewish longing to return to Jerusalem over millennia.

The Arabic "Palestine Today" republished the article - but completely deleted any mentions of the Temple altogether.

Reuters:
On a rocky promontory, watered by springs 760 metres (2,500 feet) up in the hills between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, Jerusalem has been settled for 5,000 years. It became the centre of Jewish religion and nationhood. Roman rule saw the Temple destroyed in the year 70 and Jews later forced into exile.
Palestine Today deleted the last sentence.

Reuters:
For Muslims, the walled Old City features the golden Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, Jews pray at the Western Wall, a relic of the Temple, and there are many Christian churches.
Palestine Today:
There in the old city wall surrounding the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque and Buraq Wall and many Christian churches.
The Buraq Wall is a name given in the 1920s by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who while trying to eradicate all Jews from Jerusalem made up a story that Mohammed tethered his flying horse to the Western Wall, thus claiming that area as a Muslim holy place.

This is the level of intellectual honesty that one finds in the Palestinian Arab press - they will even edit wire service stories when the facts, already watered down so much as to make them meaningless, are not to their liking.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

  • Thursday, July 03, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Another jumps on the bandwagon:
A senior Palestinian minister said Thursday that he was pinning his hopes on US presidential candidate Barack Obama, believing he would seal an elusive deal on creating a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority's planning minister Samir Abdullah told reporters on a visit to Tokyo he expected Obama to win the election in November and "look at the Palestinian question and try to do something about it."

"He promised that he will not wait until the end of his term to launch negotiations and he will make it happen from day one. I hope that he will fulfil his promise," he said.
My other Obama posts can be seen here, including one from 2005 that recalls then state senator Obama giving a written testimonial for a book honoring rabidly anti-Israel academic Rashid Khalidi - anyone have a copy?
  • Thursday, July 03, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Two weeks ago I mentioned that an Egyptian writer won a prestigious literary award for his encyclopedia on Jews and Zionism. I excerpted a synopsis of his work in English and showed that it was seriously flawed and borderline racist.

He also wrote a recent article in Al Jazeera predicting that Israel cannot survive for too much longer.

In fact, it was he himself who was destined not to last much longer, because he just died.
  • Thursday, July 03, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
One of the usual responses by Palestinian Arabs to terror attacks - besides celebration and joy - is to tell the West that these attacks are a "natural reaction" to "Zionist crimes."

Hamas used those words yesterday as they praised the attack, and a Firas Press op-ed said the same thing this morning.

No one seems to notice that only the Arabs are allowed to "naturally" murder. Israel doesn't have that luxury - its acts must withstand the tightest scrutiny before even being decided upon. Those evil Zionists cannot naturally believe in revenge or murder because those are, well, evil. But the poor oppressed Palestinian Arabs are naturally allowed to act aggressively.

In other words, those who defend terror attacks in this way are telling the world that all Palestinian Arabs simply do not have the same capacity for free will that the Zionists have.

The defenders and justifiers of terror are the racists, openly saying that Palestinian Arabs cannot act like adults - they are children or animals or mentally disabled people who cannot be blamed for acting in bad ways because they do not have the mental capabilities to think soberly and logically. Only the hated Jews have that ability, you see.

So only the Jews can be blamed for any civilian deaths, because they are the adults and know better. The Palestinian Arabs aren't.

The world buys into this farce to some extent, always assuming that the Israelis have more ability to act in a logical manner than Arabs can, and therefore asking more concessions from the adults than from the slightly defective children.

Only Israel seems to expect Arabs to act as adults, as people who understand the concept of responsibility and who realize that actions have consequences. For everyone else, including the Arabs themselves, the Arab world can act as it pleases because it simply does not have the maturity that the Jews do.

Arabs acting like animals is "natural," according to their defenders. Isn't that as racist as can be?

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

  • Wednesday, July 02, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Everyone who tries to apologetically claim that most Palestinian Arabs are against terror attacks should read the comments autotranslated from Arabic in the Palestine Press Agency story about today's attack in Jerusalem.

Every single comment shows great joy at this attack.

Keep in mind that the audience that reads this news source is generally pro-Fatah and anti-Hamas. Here are some of the joyful comments:

Allahu Akbar
Victory in Gaza and the resistance in West Bank
Fathia tribute to the heroes of every Qassam Brigades
In all of Palestine

Lion of God
God have mercy on you, hero

Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

Allahu Akbar, praise to God

And victory for us

You delivered your hands Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

Allahu Akbar

Brigades heart falcon declare absolute responsibility for this heroic operation and that this process will be the first in a series of operations following

And because we to believe this nomenclature fired on a truce or calming and secure negotiations with the enemy, but we believe in revolution until victory because we eliminated at the stage of national liberation from the Zionist replacement

It is a revolution until victory to victory turn into victory

Allah is God
Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar, praise to God
Thank God Almighty for the wonderful news Panah
It is a victory for us and our inherent

Revenge
May God martyr in him and the occupation must leave the eye Bil'in Pilsen, age, blood and blood apparent darkest We in the Al Aqsa Brigades congratulate this process quality and make sure that the occupier will reply next Aedm fever bastions O tyrants from Khan in Chdaa Aqsa Brigades - Palestine if she did, and if fulfilled Maauadt Struck with pain and to calm the angry Mojtzeh with the enemy

God God is the greatest
Oh God, dearest of Islam and Muslims in Palestine
Oh God, Tamim Secretary
Informing the pig does not impede anything, you pigs,
A greeting to you, martyr fresheners
You are indeed a martyr martyr martyr
Oh God, he introduced rest in peace
Oh God, Secretary of Secretary
Heal us of you, you pigs

Oh God, hit a throw Mujahedeen
We want operations in the depth of the usurper entity and the establishment of this entity God to end more quality strikes


Here is the promise of victory started waving
First, my congratulations and blessings to the family of martyr struggling Hossam [lastname] to the Gardens of Eternity O martyr of Palestine Albar Here is Qaradawi victory looming on the horizon, this heroic operation comes at a time when we need a heroic example of this process at a time when weakness of the cowardly Zionists and given a free truce profaned the blood of our people Bank cherished wish Loya coup learn from the heroic martyr instead they guarded built Zion and finally say to the Gardens of Eternity O martyr, God willing
  • Wednesday, July 02, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From MEMRI: (TV clip here)
Following are excerpts from "The Secret of Armageddon," an Iranian television series. In it, Iranian scholars, historians, researchers, academicians, and scholars criticize Christian Zionists, affirm the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, promote various conspiracy theories, discuss the Jews' "genocidal plan for the genocide of humanity," claim that Iranian Jewish and Baha'i communities are plotting to take over Iran, and more.

The series aired on the Iranian news channel IRINN in May and June 2008:

"The Zionist Jews believe that the divine promise was given to them, and that their rule will not be restricted to the land between the Nile and the Euphrates. They believe that God gave them the entire world. They base this belief on the false stories that they themselves invented and keep telling."

[...]

Narrator: "The economic and political power of the Jewish oligarchy and nobility has played an important role in the history of Iran and the world, wreaking havoc – to the point that the ancient Jewish editors of the Book of Jeremiah wrote in it that Jehovah, the god of the Israelites, is the god of all of humanity."

Iranian university lecturer Ali-Reza Karimi: "What is known worldwide today as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion contains the plans and policies of the elders of this sect to conquer the world and establish a global Jewish government, which were discussed at the 1897 [Zionist] Congress in Basel, Switzerland."

Narrator: "These plans, which exposed the views and designs of the Zionists, were edited and collected into 24 protocols. They deal with political, educational, social, economic, and legal strategies, which they planned to use after the destruction of the culture, civilization, and religions of other nations. These strategies will be carried out using dishonorable means and conspiracies, leading to the establishment of a global Jewish kingdom."

[...]

Iranian researcher Shams Al-Din Rahmani: "The goal of the Zionists is the total destruction of Islam. They know that this destruction will not be achieved easily, and therefore, they are trying to Americanize the religion of Islam."

[...]

Iranian researcher Sayyid Hashem Mir-Louhi: "Over a century ago, the Russians attacked a [Jewish] gathering, and got hold of this book. Later, the book was published in various languages, and recently in Farsi as well. Some of those Jew-boys deny it, and say it is not theirs. But when you look into the modus operandi of those Jew-boys, when you examine it carefully, you realize that they are trying to operate in the same way that was outlined in their protocols.

[...]

"The Zionist Jew-boys talk about a 'Greater Israel' – from the Euphrates to the Nile – but their actual goal is world domination.

[...]

"In their third protocol, they say: 'This term' – they are referring to the term 'liberty' – 'turns the masses into bloodthirsty creatures. When the bellies of these bloodthirsty creatures are satiated with blood, they will go into a deep slumber and will become unconscious of anything. In this condition, it will be easy to shackle them.'"


Iranian university lecturer Ali-Reza Karimi:
"The Rothschilds were members of a certain society, which spread its network throughout the world for hundreds of years, and acted as a secret political organization.

[...]

"By hoarding the wealth plundered by the Europeans in their colonialist attacks, this international network became an unrivaled economic force, and situated itself in the center of the global nobility.

[...]

"According to historical documents, it was the Rothschilds who instilled the idea of Palestine as the Promised Land in the minds of the wealthy and enlightened Jews, and insisted on making it happen. At the time, most of the Jews did not have a specific country in mind, and some even considered America or South Africa to be the Promised Land. It was due to the economic and political power of the Rothschilds that this plot was realized.

[...]

"The British government, which was controlled by the Zionist empire, [and] led by the Rothschild family, committed itself to the realization of the Zionist aspiration." [...]

Iranian researcher Shams Al-Din Rahmani: "Oliver Cromwell, the dictatorial prime minister of England, placed England entirely at the service of the Jews in the 17th century. This [policy] became so deeply engrained that by the early 18th century, the Jews had a colonialist empire, which reached as far an India. They launched the slave trade, which is a Jewish trade par excellence. Most of the slaves back then were black Muslims from Africa. This was part of their evil plan to eradicate Islam in Africa. This plan was guided entirely by the Jews."[...]

Iranian historian Mohammad-Taqi Taqipour: "Iran, which is a country with a rich history, and a special cultural status and geographical location, like Turkey, has become a target for the plans of those Jewish

Iranian university lecturer Ali-Reza Karimi: "The Persian nobility and the wealthy Jews were involved.."

Narrator: "[Former Iranian PM] Sayyid Ziya Al-Din Tabtabai maintained secret ties with global Zionist imperialism. When he left office, in 1921, he went to Palestine, in order to carry out yet another mission of global Zionism. His mission was to purchase lands from Muslim Arabs in Palestine at a low price, and to give them to Jewish immigrants, in order to establish the State of Israel. Since the Muslim Palestinians were not prepared to sell their lands to Jewish immigrants, Sayyid Ziya Al-Din Tabtabai, in the guise of a Muslim, would buy these lands and pass them on to the Jewish immigrants."[...]

Iranian historian Mohammad-Taqi Taqipour: "As soon as news about the Balfour Declaration reached the leaders of the Iranian Jews, they held conferences and established the Iranian Zionist Organization, also known as the Central Committee of the Zionist Organizations in Iran.

[...]

"The Zionists and their organizations in Iran devised a plan, which was signed in 1931 by Rabbi Azizullah Naim, chairman of the Iranian Zionist Organization. This plan included eight clauses. In brief, according to this plan, Reza Shah's regime must permit Jews from all over the world to enter Iran and settle wherever they wish, in accordance with the plan that they themselves devised. In addition, these Jewish immigrants would be granted liberties by law, and no one could deny them these liberties. There would be equality between Jews and non-Jews in Iran – most of whom are Muslims. Fertile lands throughout Iran would be allocated to these Jewish immigrants free of charge. After two years, they would be granted citizenship, and a visa from the government also free of charge."

Iranian university lecturer Ali-Reza Karimi: "They planned to take over large parts of Iran, and to establish concealed camps, which would be populated by Jews from around the world, particularly Europe. This way, they wanted to gradually take over Iran, like they did in Palestine." [...]

Narrator: "Is it possible that according to the schemes of the global Zionist empire, Iran was meant to become another Israel, like in the case of Palestine?" [...]

Iranian researcher Shams Al-Din Rahmani: "The sole reason Reza Shah and the Pahlavi dynasty were brought to power was to enable the Jews and the Freemasons to take control of Iran. Reza Shah was brought to power during World War I, and was deposed during World War II. Movies, TV series, and so on about that period demonstrate how deeply Israel, the Jews, and the Freemasons had managed to infiltrate Iran." [...]

Narrator: "In the early days of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's regime, the Zionist organizations grew so much that the Jews began to immigrate to Palestine via Iran. Many of these Jewish immigrants, supposedly on their way to Palestine, stayed in Iran in order to consolidate the plan to turn Iran into a second Israel. This is why many Jewish children who immigrated from Europe to Iran came to be known as 'the Tehran Children.'

"Following these events, the Jewish Agency started its activity in Iran. Under the guise of transferring Jewish immigrants to Palestine, it began its operations in Iran. The rise of Jewish and Zionist organizations and associations enabled the Jewish leaders and tycoons to penetrate the realms of politics, society, intelligence, and most importantly, the economy, and to maintain a significant presence and influenced there.

[...]

"Reports by the SAVAK intelligence agency about the financial and economic situation of the Jews in the days of the Pahlavi dynasty stated: 'Most of Iran's tycoons are Jews. If the Jewish tycoons were to withdraw their money from the Bank of Commerce and the other [Iranian] banks, the Iranian government would find itself in a serious crisis.'"

[...]


Former Iranian TV correspondent Mahdi Sabonchian: "Back then, I used to go to the airport to get information and take pictures. There was continuous contact [between Iranian Jews and Israelis]. Even then, [Iranian Jews] would immigrate to Israel. I would see El Al and Air France airplanes landing. I used to stand near the planes, take pictures, and prepare my reports.

"The Jews traveling to Israel would carry hens with them. I saw them carrying cages with two hens each. Some Jews from Rasht were about to travel to Israel, and I asked them why they were taking hens with them. They said: 'We were told to bring hens with us.'

[...]

"By taking all these hens, they have become so advanced that they export eggs to the entire world, both for consumption and for incubation." [...]

Narrator: "For many years, Hollywood constituted another aspect of the cultural war. The film industry in the early 20th century was shaped by Jewish immigrants, most of whom belonged to Zionist organizations."

[...]

Iranian researcher Sayyid Hashem Mir-Louhi: "Moral corruption will spread wherever these Jew-boys tread. In other words, every Jew-boy believes it is his personal duty to destroy the moral values of other nations, in order to control people's minds and souls. This menacing problem has penetrated American theater and cinema, and is clearly evident."

[...]

Once again, their first protocol reads: 'Addiction to alcohol and excess drinking of intoxicating beverages became the problem of non-Jews when liberties are granted.'"

[...]

Narrator: "Thus, a new front against the Islamic revolution is opened. Global imperialism invests billion of dollars and uses a broad distribution network to flood Iran with videos, CDs, and DVDs of the latest vulgar, destructive Western films with Farsi subtitles. These films are sold cheaply to the youth in dark alleys, as well as in broad daylight, in public places. The films spread vulgarity, and feed the youth with the falsified Zionist way of thinking, so that in future attacks they will remain defenseless." [...]

Iranian researcher Sayyid Hashem Mir-Louhi: "There is a genocidal Zionist Jewish plan for the genocide of humanity at the hand of the Zionist Jew-boys. Even though the Jew-boys sometimes talk about a 'Greater Israel,' their real goal is world domination."

[...]

Narrator: "Today, there are many indications that the 'hidden hands' of world Zionism were involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack. According to a large group of Western intellectuals, the Zionists are the real rulers of the United States. According to irrefutable documents published by independent American media outlets, the Zionists used intelligence agents and spies, with the full cooperation of agencies with the country, to carry out this terrorist operation in full view of the world, in order to prepare the ground for taking over Afghanistan and Iraq, and to realize the dream of a greater Israel."

There's lots more, watch the whole thing.
  • Wednesday, July 02, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
A Palestinian Arab terrorist commandeered a bulldozer and went on a rampage in Jerusalem, killing 3 or 4 and injuring dozens before he was killed.

The group Freedom for Galilee Brigades claimed responsibility, but they have a penchant for lying.
----------------
One Palestinian Arab newspaper describes the episode of female mega-terrorist Dalal Mughrabi as a "stain on the conscience of Palestinian leaders" - but it isn't because of her terror attacks. It is because they hadn't demanded her body years ago.
----------------
The Iraqi president apologized for shaking hands with Ehud Barak earlier this week. Apparently, it is OK for Palestinian Arabs to shake hands with Zionists, but not for any other Arabs.
----------------
A Fatah-linked organization, translated as "The Storm Hawks," claimed responsibility earlier this week for the rocket attack on Sderot on Monday. The Al Aqsa Brigades now denies that this group is part of Fatah.
-----------------
There are reports that people are storming the Rafah crossing from Gaza.
-----------------
I had missed this story about the smuggling of rare Jewish manuscripts from Iraq to Israel. Although these priceless works were confiscated by Saddam Hussein, the current Iraqi government is very upset that these manuscripts - many of which were damaged during the Gulf War - are leaving Iraq.
-----------------

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

  • Tuesday, July 01, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Firas Press is reporting that part of Israel's deal with Hezbollah will involve handing over the body of one of the most notorious female terrorists ever, Dalal Mughrabi.

On March 11, 1978, Mughrabi led a band of eleven terrorists who took boats from Lebanon and landed north of Tel Aviv. Upon landing, they met an American photographer, Gail Rubin. Their intended target was Tel Aviv so they asked her where they were. Once she told them, they murdered her.

They then hijacked a bus filled with families going on an outing, seemingly with the intent to take it to Tel Aviv.

An IDF unit chased the bus and finally forced it to stop, and then the shootout began. Mughrabi and her gang started shooting passengers point-blank and then they firebombed the bus itself, trapping the passengers. At least 35 were killed, including 13 children, in what became known as the Coastal Road Massacre.

The Palestinian Authority named a girls' school in Hebron after Mughrabi. PA summer camps and other special events are named in her honor as well. By any measure, she is regarded by Palestinian Arabs as a role model.

The Fatah-leaning Firas Press article about her as well as all the commenters even today consider this bloodthirsty terrorist as a "martyr."

Once again, we see the caliber of Palestinian Arab "heroes" - the people who have murdered the most innocent people.
  • Tuesday, July 01, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
A hilarious article in Palestine Today laments Israelis supposedly co-opting Palestinian Arab culture, including Jews wearing the keffiyeh. The autotranslation is a little hard, but here is part of it:
It is not enough that Israel occupies Palestinian land and displaced thousands of Palestinian citizens from their homes and stripped most important elements of normal life, but now it comes round to steal the Palestinian heritage, including the Palestinian keffiyeh and Palestinian clothes ...

Even dishes and Thyme oil and olives!

The keffiyeh is a symbol of significant importance to the Palestinians, and it was awarded by the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat "Abu Ammar" a special elegance until the last day of his life.

He specially formed it on his head so that it resembles a map of Palestine, and stayed put on his head a sign of the Palestinian Al Shoumoukh, wherever they kufic found the pulsating heart of Palestine and everywhere in the fragrance of the smell of olives and oranges, a symbol of lasting rejection of occupation and resistance, and for the whole world symbol of the struggle And the right, the symbol of the Palestinians.

(The article goes on to say that the keffiyeh became an important symbol during the 1936 riots when terrorists would wear it to cover their faces making it hard for the British to find them. It served the same purpose in the 1987 intifada.

Now the Israelis are attempting to steal Palestinian heritage, especially the keffiyeh. Two Israeli designers, Gabi Ben-Haim and Amoco Harel designed a keffiyeh with the colors of the Israeli flag and Stars of David in an attempt to seize Palestinian folklore. They said the lines will be designed as blue on a white background, pointing out that this design is part of integrating Israel into the Middle East, and that Israel had a right to be in possession of the keffiyeh as being a part of the Middle East.

(The next paragraph says that El Al stewardesses in the 70's also wore keffiyehs.)

...These thefts were not limited to the keffiyeh and Palestinian clothing heritage, but the Israelis also wanted to seize «falafel» and present it as a popular Israeli food, and promoted via posters of the crowded shops selling souvenirs at Israeli cities and Israeli restaurants in European and American.
Notice that according to Palestinian Arabs themselves, the keffiyeh is a symbol of "resistance."

The falafel kerfuffle has been around for years. Seriously, would any Jew be insulted if for some strange reason Palestinian Arabs started loving sweet gefilte fish, Tam-Tams or Bisslis?
  • Tuesday, July 01, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Normally I don't quote Debka, whose accuracy is sometimes questionable, but this fits in with what I've been reading in the Palestinian Arab press:
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the Palestinian Hamas’ armed wing, determined to keep fellow terrorist groups from violating the ceasefire with Israel, has in the last two days deployed a string of 1,000 sentries and monitors at the missile sites of the northern Gaza towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.

Oddly enough, Hamas has assumed the role of protector of Sderot against Palestinian missiles and mortars. Even harder to believe, Hamas’ hard-line “chief of staff” Ahmed Jabari has taken personal responsibility for maintaining the ceasefire.

Hamas security officers have been assigned with sticking close to every Jihad Islami and Popular Resistance Committees operative thought likely to start shooting missiles or mortars, and making sure it does not happen. Military sources report that Hamas operatives beat the daylights out of the Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades operatives who launched a Qassam missile against Israel as a provocation five days after the truce Egypt brokered between Israel and Hamas went into effect on June 19.

As DEBKAfile has reported, Hamas hopes to make good use of the respite in hostilities to recuperate, rearm and regroup for the next round. To win popular standing as rulers of the Gaza Strip, the Islamist group must demonstrate how it forced Israel to lift the blockade and reopen the border crossings, which Israel shut for two days when the missiles and mortars started flying last week.

This was quoted in the pro-Islamic Jihad "Palestine Today". My guess is that the main reason Israel hasn't responded to any cease-fire violations is because it sees how seriously Hamas is taking it.

Inevitably, this is causing mounting pressure on Hamas from the other terror groups in Gaza, like PIJ and Al Aqsa. Unlike 2006, Hamas is not tacitly encouraging other groups to continue firing.

Monday, June 30, 2008

As usual, this is far from complete, and it is more to show how ignored the Qassam issue is rather than to show how many are being fired. Many Qassams never make it in the news, and the rare times that the IDF publishes statistics shows that I am usually undercounting . Also, these are Qassams that don't make it to Israel; many that are fired explode in Gaza itself, often causing damage or even deaths.


This list does not include mortars being shot from Gaza, which are usually much more numerous on any given day. The mortars are turning deadlier as well. It also does not count the occasional rocket from Lebanon. It does attempt to count Grad/Katyusha rockets from Gaza.


June 2008

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
3
4
1 11
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
4

5
7
25
1

15
16
17
18
19
20
21

4
8
29



22
23
24
25
26
27
28


3R, 1M

2R
2M
2M
29
30
1
2
3
4
5

2R


1R


6
7
8
9
10
11
12

1M, 1S
1M

2R



Previous calendars:

May 2008
April 2008

March 2008
February 2008
January
December 2007

November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February

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