Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, November 06, 2008

5000!

This is my 5000th published posting.

Which brings up the question:

What am I, nuts?

This amusing poster comes from an exhibit at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle. It also applies to one current exhibit in its sister museum, the Experience Music Project.

The American Moslem Brotherhood, 1893

In 1893, on the third floor of 30 E. 23rd Street in New York City, was the headquarters of the American Moslem Brotherhood.

The organization was the brainchild of what most consider to be the first American to convert to Islam, named (Mohammed) Alexander Russell Webb.

Webb converted to Islam while he worked in the US Consulate in the Philippines. He then went to India on a fundraising mission to spread the faith to America: (Washington Post, December 21, 1892)

He arrived in New York City in February of 1893, enthusiastic and full of major plans, and quite willing to use the New York Times (Feb. 25, 1893) as his means of spreading Islam in America:

Webb did manage to start an Islamic publishing company as well as a Muslim school and a mosque. But unlike his initial comments, he started backtracking upon the goal of converting Americans to Islam, now saying that he only wanted to educate them about Mohammedeanism. (NYT 10/8/1893)

And a milestone was achieved in December of 1893, as the Muslim call to prayer was first sounded in New York City: (12/11/1893 NYT)

But all was not Paradise for Mr. Webb. He got into a dispute with one of his workers at the publishing company and she barricaded herself in the office demanding to be paid money he owed her. (This is the first article that refers to his organization as the American Moslem Brotherhood.) The worker, Nefeesa Keep, also alleged various monetary indiscretions from Webb, saying that he solicited and took large amounts of money from rich Muslims abroad and used them for his personal needs (7/16/1894):

The first American Muslim convert retaliated by accusing Keep of stealing from the office; Nefeesa turned around and filed a complaint against Webb and his wife on conspiracy charges.

She then added an additional charge of mail fraud:

The following year, an Indian prince came to America to see how his money meant for converting Americans to Islam was being spent, and he left sorely disappointed. The New York Times did a very large piece on this, interviewing both the prince and Webb. Webb strongly denied receiving most of the money from the Nawab and was found to be living in poverty.

Webb again in this interview denied wanting to convert most Americans to Islam.

Webb vigorously defended himself, giving an exact tally to the Times of every amount he received from India.

Things quickly went downhill for Webb and his mission. There was lots of name-calling and blaming, and Webb became disillusioned at the idea of having any success in America. He blamed the lack of funds on his failure as well as some of his partners who split off from him.

Strikingly, even at a time that the media was explicitly racist in many guises, Alexander Russell Webb's faith was treated with respect - there was no "Islamophobia" in America in the late 19th century.

Obama asks son of Israeli to be Chief of Staff

Barack Obama's first choice for White House Chief of Staff is Rahm Emanuel, and it appears likely that he will take the job. The best news about Emanuel can be seen in, of all places, the pro-terror Electronic Intifada website. Its editor, Ali Abunimah, has expressed bitter disappointment that Obama has not been publicly espousing the pro-Palestinian Arab stance of his earlier career, and his description of Emanuel is filled with loathing:

During the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama's pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel. Emanuel is Obama's first high-level appointment and it's one likely to disappointment [sic] those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration's pro-Israel policies. White House Chief of Staff is often considered the most powerful office in the executive branch, next to the president. Obama has offered Emanuel the position according to Democratic party sources cited by media including Reuters and The New York Times. Rahm Emanuel was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1959, the son of Benjamin Emanuel, a pediatrician who helped smuggle weapons to the Irgun, the Zionist militia of former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, in the 1940s. Emanuel continued his father's tradition of active support for Israel; during the 1991 Gulf War he volunteered to help maintain Israeli army vehicles near the Lebanon border when southern Lebanon was still occupied by Israeli forces. As White House political director in the first Clinton administration, Emanuel orchestrated the famous 1993 signing ceremony of the "Declaration of Principles" between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. One of the most influential politicians and fundraisers in his party, Emanuel accompanied Obama to a meeting of AIPAC's executive board just after the Illinois senator had addressed the pro-Israel lobby's conference last June. In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vocal pro-Israel hardliner, sometimes more so than President Bush. In June 2003, for example, he signed a letter criticizing Bush for being insufficiently supportive of Israel. "We were deeply dismayed to hear your criticism of Israel for fighting acts of terror," Emanuel, along with 33 other Democrats wrote to Bush. The letter said that Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders "was clearly justified as an application of Israel's right to self-defense" ("Pelosi supports Israel's attacks on Hamas group," San Francisco Chronicle, 14 June 2003). In July 2006, Emanuel was one of several members who called for the cancellation of a speech to Congress by visiting Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki because al-Maliki had criticized Israel's bombing of Lebanon. Emanuel called the Lebanese and Palestinian governments "totalitarian entities with militias and terrorists acting as democracies" in a 19 July 2006 speech supporting a House resolution backing Israel's bombing of both countries that caused thousands of civilian victims. Emanuel has sometimes posed as a defender of Palestinian lives, though never from the constant Israeli violence that is responsible for the vast majority of deaths and injuries. On 14 June 2007 he wrote to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "on behalf of students in the Gaza Strip whose future is threatened by the ongoing fighting there" which he blamed on "the violence and militancy of their elders." In fact, the fighting between members of Hamas and Fatah, which claimed dozens of lives, was the result of a failed scheme by US-backed militias to violently overthrow the elected Hamas-led national unity government. Emanuel's letter urged Rice "to work with allies in the region, such as Egypt and Jordan, to either find a secure location in Gaza for these students, or to transport them to a neighboring country where they can study and take their exams in peace." Palestinians often view such proposals as a pretext to permanently "transfer" them from their country, as many Israeli leaders have threatened. Emanuel has never said anything in support of millions of Palestinian children whose education has been disrupted by Israeli occupation, closures and blockades. Emanuel has also used his position to explicitly push Israel's interests in normalizing relations with Arab states and isolating Hamas. In 2006 he initiated a letter to President Bush opposing United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Dubai Ports World's attempt to buy the management business of six US seaports. The letter, signed by dozens of other lawmakers, stated that "The UAE has pledged to provide financial support to the Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority and openly participates in the Arab League boycott against Israel." It argued that allowing the deal to go through "not only could place the safety and security of US ports at risk, but enhance the ability of the UAE to bolster the Hamas regime and its efforts to promote terrorism and violence against Israel" ("Dems Tie Israel, Ports," Forward, 10 March 2006). Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, told Fox News that picking Emanuel is "just another indication that despite the attempts to imply that Obama would somehow appoint the wrong person or listen to the wrong people when it comes to the US-Israel relationship ... that was never true." Over the course of the campaign, Obama publicly distanced himself from friends and advisers suspected or accused of having "pro-Palestinian" sympathies. There are no early indications of a more balanced course.

When Ali Abuminah is angry, this is usually a good sign.

Heroes!

From AP (h/t Weasel Zippers):

With painting of Jesus Christ, top left, and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, top right, late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, bottom left, and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, bottom right, Palestinian painter Waleed Ayyoub adds the last touches on a painting he drew of Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, in the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008.

"Moderate" Fatah claims Israel inventing history in Jerusalem

As I reported last night, it is not only the "Al Aqsa Foundation" who spoke out against the rebuilding of the ancient and historic Hurva synagogue in the Jewish Quarter.

The PA's chief negotiator and former prime minister Ahmed Qurei has slammed the building of the synagogue, calling it a "danger" and furthermore accusing Israel of fabricating a Jewish history in Jerusalem.

In addition, as I wrote, one of the things that really upsets the Arabs is the height of the Hurva. As Palestine News Network writes:

The skyline around Abdullah bin Omar, or Omari Mosque, will be dwarfed by the new synagogue creating the illusion that the Old City of Jerusalem is Jewish.

Yet Jerusalem in 1900 included not one but two tall domed synagogues that dominated the skyline, the Hurva and the Tiferes Yisrael synagogues, as can be seen in the lower right of this picture (click to enlarge):

This picture of Tiferes Yisrael shows how it dominated its immediate surroundings, circa 1940:

An interesting implication about this new kerfuffle is that it proves beyond any doubt that Israel's "moderate" peace partners are anti-Jewish, not only anti-Zionist. The Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem has been around since at least Second Temple times but the apparent official policy of the PA is to render it Judenrein, exactly the way Jordan did in 1948 when it demolished 35 synagogues there.

The fact that the PA does not countenance the presence of any Jews or the restoration of destroyed synagogues in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem shows that their policy is one of ethnic cleansing, not peace.

Followup on Damascus, 1816

Kashmiri Nomad takes me to task for misreading James Silk Cunningham's description of ">an encounter between the richest Jew in Damascus and a dervish in tattered clothes. He correctly points out that the dervish is not a servant:

The comparison that Buckingham made was not between the richest Jew in all of Damascus and a servant but rather was a comparison between the richest Jew in all of Damascus and a Sufi dervish. For any one in any doubt Muslim societies that venerate the sufic mystical interpretation of Islam that naked tatters wearing dervish would have been in a higher social status than even the prime minister himself . Therefore for elder of ziyon to characterise him as a servant is misleading to say the least.

I wish he would have commented here so I could have corrected it earlier.

While Kashmiri Nomad (who links here often) says this is a case of the "pot calling the kettle black" in terms of today's discrimination that Arabs suffer in Israel, my point still stands: the richest Jew in Damascus still had to spend an entire meal "seated ...with the greatest possible humility on the floor beneath us, at the feet of his superiors who occupied the sofa, first kneeling, and then sitting back while kneeling, on the heels and soles of his feet, with these and his hands completely covered, in an attitude and with an air of the most abject and unqualified humiliation." The visiting Christians and the Muslims in the room enjoyed fine foods and were attended to by servants, while the Jew was given nothing and apparently ignored by the servants, and was denied a place at the table.

So while I certainly was mistaken as to the social standing of dervishes, the point is that in 1816 Damascus, even the most powerful Jews were treated like dirt.

It is undeniable that there is discrimination in Israel against Arabs, but the difference is that it is roundly considered by most to be a bad thing, while in the Muslim world the social discrimination against non-Muslims is an essential feature of the religion.

Here we go again: 35 rockets, mortars from Gaza

Yesterday, the IDF went into Gaza in force for the first time since the "calm" in order to destroy the opening of a tunnel that was meant for abducting Israeli soldiers. As a result, six Hamas members were killed, and chances are that the streak of 19 weeks in a row of more internal PalArab deaths than IDF-caused deaths is going to be over this week.

While the IDF took pains to say that this was a one-time only operation to defuse a "ticking tunnel," and clearly building tunnels to kidnap soldiers is also a violation of the truce, Hamas has responded with 35 Qassams and mortar shells. And Hamas took credit as well, claiming 33 mortars and 4 rockets.

UPDATE: By sheer coincidence, Hamas' Qassam Brigades' leader said on Monday "we vow to strike the Zionist enemy anywhere inside the occupied Palestinian territories, therefore we will, Inshallah (God's Willing), carry out quality operations inside [Israel]."

Sharia! 13-year old rape victim stoned to death in Somalia

From the NYT:

The United Nations said Tuesday that a Somali stoned to death by Islamist militants after she had been accused of adultery was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped while visiting her grandmother.

In the first such public killing by the militants in about two years, she was placed in a hole and stoned to death on Oct. 28 in a rebel-held port city, Kismayu, in front of a crowd, after local leaders said she was guilty under Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Koran.

“Reports indicate that she had been raped by three men while traveling on foot to visit her grandmother in the war-torn capital, Mogadishu,” Unicef, the United Nations children’s agency, said in a statement.

“Following the assault, she sought protection from the authorities, who then accused her of adultery and sentenced her to death,” Unicef added. “A child was victimized twice — first by the perpetrators of the rape and then by those responsible for administering justice.”

The human rights group Amnesty International has identified the girl as Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow and said she was killed by 50 men who stoned her in a stadium in Kismayu in front of about 1,000 spectators.

When the family tried to report the rape to the Shabab militia that controls Kismayu, the girl was accused of adultery and was detained. None of the men she accused of rape have been arrested.

A Somali news agency adds more disturbing details:

Thousands of people witnessed the grotesque execution of Aisha at a football stadium in the port town of Kismayo on Monday.

The 13-year old was led in and forced into a hole in the ground. The hole was then filled so that only her head was showing. About 50 men then started to throw stones at her, according to Amnesty’s information.

After a while, nurses were called to check whether Aisha was still alive. The thin body was then brought out of the hold and examined. When it was established that she was still alive, she was again placed in the hole so that the stone-throwers could continue.

When some of the spectators tried to storm the stadium to save Aisha, the militia opened fire on the crowd, and a young boy was killed.

A spokesman for the Shabab-militia expressed regret for the boy’s death and assured that the soldiers who had opened fire would be punished.

However, it would seem that the men whom13-year old Aisha tried to report for rape have little to fear. None of them have been arrested.

The story has been out for over a day now, and we have yet to hear any condemnation by Muslim leaders.

Muslims take aim at Hurva Synagogue

The last time we saw the "Al Aqsa Foundation," they were seething and whining over the opening of the rebuilt Ohel Yitzchak synagogue at the base of the Temple Mount.

Now, they have suddenly noticed that the Hurva synagogue, one of the most famous and largest in the Old City before it was destroyed in 1948, is close to completion. Although this rebuilding of the structure that was deliberately blown up by the Jordanian army in 1948 has been no secret, something seems to have gotten the Al Aqsa Foundation's attention now:

Its iconic dome is now well on its way to completion.

This is what Hurva looked like before 1948:

And this is what it looks like now in the closing stages of its rebuilding:

The Muslim whiners seem to have two problems with Hurva's rebuilding. The first is a completely asinine claim that there was a mosque at that site.

The second problem is that the Hurva's dome has changed the skyline of Old Jerusalem, since it is one of the tallest structures in the Old City. Islam requires that the highest religious structure in any city always to be a mosque, and the existence of a tall synagogue is a huge insult to a people who are perpetually looking for reasons to seethe.

UPDATE: The PA has joined in condemning this attempt to "Judaize" the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.

Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'

Time for a couple of Seattle tourist shots taken this week...

Here's the Space Needle (two pictures autostitched, click to see larger):

And here is the Experience Music Project museum, which also houses a science fiction museum (5 pictures auto-stitched):

Finally, here is a wall I stumbled upon near the Pike Street Market that is filled with people's used gum, simultaneously disgusting and beautiful:

You have to click on it to see the detail.

Four killed, three missing in a tunnel collapse

From Palestine Today (English):

Four people were killed and three went missing in the collapse of an underground tunnel Sunday north of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, security sources said.

Sources from Hamas informed Egyptian authorities of the incident.

Egypt is still searching for the missing people inside the tunnel, the source said.

The identities of the dead and missing were not immediately known, the source said.

Four Palestinians were injured and hospitalized earlier Sunday after the collapse of another tunnel, according to Palestinian medical sources.

Chances are that these tunnels collapsed due to the recent rains in Gaza.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 211.

The Palestinian Authority's endorsement (guess who?)

Palestine Today reports (autotranslated and cleaned up):

The Palestinian Authority does not officially announce its position on the U.S. elections, as that is "an internal matter," but off the record at their headquarters in Ramallah this is not the case.

According to informed sources in Ramallah, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are both hoping for an Obama victory despite his pro-Israel statements. Those statements, according to media sources, are meant to earn the approval of the Israelis and the Jewish lobby in the United States.

The sources said that during their last meeting, Barack Obama emphasized to Abbas and Fayyad the right of the Palestinians to East Jerusalem, and their right to a stable, sovereign state.

Hamas stated that the comparison between Obama and McCain are a "choice between bad and worse" in terms of foreign policy issues with the upcoming Arab and Islamic world, particularly the Palestinian issue.

Meanwhile, Lebanese-Americans in Hezbollah country seem to like Obama as well.

Like other Lebanese-Americans in the Hizbullah bastion of Bint Jbeil, Hussein al-Sayyed speaks fondly of the American way of life and says he plans to cast his vote for Barack Obama.

The United States and its regional ally Israel consider Hizbullah to be a terrorist organization responsible for many attacks on Westerners and Israelis.

"I'll vote for Obama, that's for sure," Sayyed, a Shiite 48-year-old restaurant owner and fan of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, told Agence France Presse ahead of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.

Freedom of expression, Hamas-style

While Hamas and Fatah are trying to hammer out a reconciliation agreement in Cairo, Hamas has just warned printers in Gaza not to print any pictures of Yassir Arafat.

Firas Press reports that Hamas threatened to shut down any printer who dares create an Arafat or Fatah poster as the fourth anniversary of Arafat's death is next week.

Hamas sent thugs to a number of printers in Gaza to warn them personally, and to threaten them with arrest and the loss of their equipment if they don't listen.

Today's lie masquerading as news

Ma'an once again shows its propensity towards falsehood (even though it remains better than most Palestinian Arab media) with this absurd article:

Disturbing long range plans from the Israeli Antiquities Authority outline strategies for the construction of a Jewish Temple on the site where the Al-Aqsa Mosque now stands, a Jerusalem researcher says.

The plans were obtained by Palestinian archaeologist and researcher Dr Ibrahim Al-Fanni, who revealed the drafts and drawings to Ma’an’s Jerusalem correspondent.

The papers showed sketches outlining the demolition of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Marwani mosque (Solomon’s stables) beneath the building.

The series of designs is titled the “Comprehensive Strategic Plan,” and is divided into two possible routes.

“Plan A” outlines the architectural and archaeological plans in the eventuality that Israel fails to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The plan involves opening up the Fatimi Halls, which are located under the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The halls would be turned into a Jewish Temple, and construction would gradually move to the upper part of the compound, taking over space in Al-Aqsa.

“Plan B” would see the demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the construction of a Jewish “Royal Palace” on the same site, which Muslims believe was the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad started his journey into the heavens.

Asked why Israel would choose to target the Dome of the Rock, which is not a holy site in Judaism, Dr Al-Fanni explained that “under the spot where the golden dome stands, according to Judaism, there is an exposed piece of bedrock of what they call Mount Moriah- metaphysically known as Even Ishtiah which is a Hebrew term meaning “drinking stone.” [sic] Judaism says that the world is spiritually nourished from this spot…the stone is the center of the Universe.”

I'm sure that there are some Jews who draw up plans on destroying the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and replacing it with the third Temple. Heck, I would love to see those continuous Muslim desecrations of Judaism relocated to Ramallah or Jordan (it would be a shame to destroy what is certainly some impressive architecture.)

But it is ridiculous to think that the Israel Antiquities Authority would draw up such plans. It will be recalled that the IAA refused to stop the Waqf from destroying priceless Jewish artifacts as the Muslims attempt to get rid of any evidence Jewish temples at that spot. Far from being complicit in any plot to destroy the mosques, the IAA is complicit in the continuing destruction of the Temple.

Ma'an claims that this archaeologist showed them these documents, yet there are no pictures or drawings shown. The article is illustrated with a file photo of ancient Jerusalem. Surely if Ma'an really was shown these purported documents, they would have taken copious photocopies and plastered them all over the article.

The most ancient and second-holiest place in Judaism, the Cave of Machpela, was placed off-limits to Jews and Christians by the Muslims until 1967. This is attested to in many diaries of Jews and Christians who visited there, and exceptions were very rare (the Prince of Wales famously visited in 1862 after getting a waiver from the Ottoman Sultan.) Now it is at least partially accessible to Jews. The Temple Mount should be treated similarly - at the very least. But the IAA is certainly not going to be the ones who do it.