Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Peaceful PalArab weekend

The West's favorite "moderate" politician, Mahmoud Abbas, peacefully threatened Israel saying that if Israel doesn't go back to the pre-1967 "Auschwitz borders," there will be perpetual war.

Which goes to show that the PLO letter to Israel at Oslo that solemnly promised to abandon violence was not worth the paper it was written on. And brings up the question that people are afraid to ask: what is to say that any "peace agreement" will not be torn up as well?

Fatah is planning a conference to debate this exact issue - whether to stay with supposed peace while supporting terror implicitly, or to return to supporting terror explicitly.

A "work accident" killed 2 terrorists in Beit Hanoun, but predictably the PalArabs blame an Israeli airstrike. After a lull, the 2008 PalArab self-death count rises to 213.

Candles and streetlights

Snapped Shot notices that one of the AP's carefully crafted shots of candlelight protestors in Gaza didn't adequately crop out the background:

Palestinians hold candles and placards during a protest against Israeli sanctions, at the main road in Gaza City, Thursday, Nov.13, 2008. Gaza officials shut down their only power plant, cutting off electricity to much of the city of 300,000, after Israel canceled plans to ship in some diesel fuel for the plant as well as 30 trucks full of humanitarian supplies. The Israeli move came after Gaza militants fired at least eight rockets and some mortar shells at Israel on Thursday, according to the Israeli military.

The terror professor

From CTV:

The RCMP has arrested a Canadian man in Quebec at the request of France, which accuses the man of being behind a bomb attack that killed four people at a Paris synagogue in 1980.
The Department of Justice confirmed to CTV.ca that Hassan Diab, 55, was arrested at his home in Gatineau, Quebec Thursday.
Diab is a part-time sociology professor at the University of Ottawa, CTV News has learned. According to the university officials, he teaches one class at the undergraduate level.
Diab is also listed as a contract instructor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Carleton University for the fall of 2008. Carleton officials could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Two French anti-terrorism judges travelled to Canada earlier this week according to The Associated Press. Investigators are searching Diab's home and office for clues, including DNA samples.

A year ago the story broke that Diab was being investigated by French authorities. He told French media it was a case of mistaken identity.

Three French citizens and one Israeli woman were killed outside a synagogue in a posh area of Paris when a bomb went off minutes before a crowd of people were due to emerge from the synagogue. Twenty others were hurt.
The attack took place on a Friday evening, at the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

The Ottawa Citizen adds:

As one of the first contemporary terrorist strikes on a synagogue outside the Middle East, the blast led to the fortification of Jewish community sites across Europe and North America and a massive wave of anti-Semitism across France.
The break in the case came in September 2007 when German authorities discovered an old membership list for the now-defunct PFLP-SO, prompting a new French magistrate to reactivate the investigation.
A month later, Le Figaro, quoting unnamed sources, reported that French authorities suspected Mr. Diab was the leader of the small commando team responsible for the attack and asked Canada for assistance with their investigation.
The main Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group, blacklisted by the Canadian government as a terrorist group since 2003, is described as a secular Palestinian group, purportedly guided by Marxist ideology, that is responsible for the 1968 hijacking of an El Al flight en route from Rome to Tel Aviv, as well as car and suicide bombings in Israel.

The Globe and Mail is sympathetic with the professor:

Until last year, Hassan Diab was leading the quiet life of a Canadian sociology professor.

Prof. Diab was teaching at both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, was said to be a popular colleague and teacher. After leaving the violence of his native Lebanon and earning his doctorate in the United States, Prof. Diab, 54, received his Canadian citizenship and appeared to settle into Ottawa.

There, friends said he was a secular man with an interest in sociology and Middle East studies, and was not without a warm side.

"He has a great rapport with students," said Carleton professor Nahla Abdo, a friend of Prof. Diab's. "He's intelligent, he's smart, he's witty. ... I really think highly of his academic skills."

But just before noon yesterday, the RCMP showed up at a home in Gatineau, Que., and arrested Prof. Diab on behalf of French authorities, who allege he was an integral part of the bombing of a Paris synagogue 28 years ago.

Today, Prof. Diab will appear in court in an extradition hearing. He steadfastly maintains his innocence, saying he wasn't in Paris at all that year, his name is very common, and that French investigators simply have the wrong man.

"It's a case of mistaken identity," his lawyer, René Duval, told The Globe and Mail last night. "I'm telling you he's innocent, and we'll fight that up to the Supreme Court of Canada."

The first allegations against Prof. Diab surfaced last November, when a French newspaper, Le Figaro, received a leak that Prof. Diab built the bomb in the 1980 attack. The story made news across France and Canada.

For Mr. Diab, life hasn't been the same since. He has been harassed, followed, and had one person attempt to break into his apartment, his lawyer alleges. None of the specific charges against him have been made openly and French authorities have not attempted to contact Mr. Duval.

The Globe and Mail takes pains to make it sound like a secular professor couldn't possibly be a terrorist, without noting that the PFLP has a secular Marxist ideology.

Haaretz' wishful thinking

On November 8, Ha'aretz had a sensational headline:

Haniyeh: We will accept Israel within '67 borders

The article text, however, didn't really say that Haniyeh would accept Israel. His exact quote was "A Palestinian state will not be created at this time except in the territories of 1967."

Ha'aretz realized that its wishful thinking was once again affecting its news policies and silently changed the headline to

Haniyeh: Hamas willing to accept Palestinian state with 1967 borders

The original headline was cached in Google News for a while, and can still be found in some blogs.

It is obvious to anyone who isn't blinded by ideology that Hamas has no interest in recognizing Israel. Yet there will always be that set of influential people who will ignore the thousands of Hamas statements that explicitly call for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews and instead desperately parse statements that could be twisted into sort of looking like something less than completely genocidal intent.

Yet even after Haaretz noticed its gaffe, it has repeated it today, with another non-story that it is breathlessly peddling:

Haniyeh recognized Israel in 2006 letter to President Bush

And what did letter say?

Haniyeh wrote in the missive, "We are an elected government which came through a democratic process."

In the second paragraph, Haniyeh laid out the political platform he maintains to this day. "We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce for many years," he wrote.

Haniyeh called on Bush to launch a dialogue with the Hamas government.

"We are not warmongers, we are peace makers and we call on the American government to have direct negotiations with the elected government," he wrote. Haniyeh also urged the American government to act to end the international boycott "because the continuation of this situation will encourage violence and chaos in the whole region."

The exact same thing - Hamas "moderate" plan for the destruction of Israel in stages - is again being hailed by Haaretz as a huge breakthrough.

One would think that they would be somewhat embarrassed by now for continuously being proven wrong about how peaceful Hamas is, but it is difficult to underestimate the hopeful stupidity of the Israeli "peace camp."

Status quo: Jews lived in all quarters of the Old City

The recent re-opening of the Ohel Yitzchak synagogue near the Temple Mount has again ignited protests from Arabs who claim that Jews are trying to "Judaize" the Old City of Jerusalem.

What most people don't realize is that Jews have lived throughout the Old City, not just in the so-called "Jewish Quarter."

A description of Jewish places throughout Jerusalem was written by the late Rabbi Yaakov Goldman in 1975, and it is a fascinating and important article with many photographs. Here are some excerpts:

Many say to us Jews that, even in the best of days before the establishment of the State, Jews only lived in one section of the Old City, called the Jewish Quarter, and, since there are four quarters, and we have had only one, what claim do we have to sovereignty over the whole of the Old City? Unfortunately, I find that not only non-Jews, but even Jews seem to accept this apparently reasonable 'fact.' We Jews also speak of the "Jewish" Quarter. Even the Israeli government has laid down special regulations about the Jewish Quarter, regarding settlement of Jews, which do not equally apply to the other quarters. I see in this a false assumption, and a great danger if we accept such a way of thinking. For, in actuality, the entire Old City, all four quarters, has been inhabited by Jews for at least the last few centuries. And Jewish population has been, if not a majority, a substantial minority in these quarters, at various points in history.

The 'Moslem' Quarter

The Moslem Quarter is described in detail by one of the great rabbis of Jerusalem, who died ten years ago, Ben-Zion Yadler. Rabbi Yadler would go to the Kotel on Tisha B'av at midnight, when he would begin teaching Midrash. Up till twelve o'clock he wouldn't appear - there were too many 'Zionists' who used to come. But at twelve we would all gather together and he would tell us about Jerusalem. I remember once that Arabs began throwing stones at us. He said to us in Yiddish, "Don't be upset. You wanted them to give you back Palestine; they're giving it to you stone by stone."
He writes a full description of what is today called the Moslem Quarter, and says as follows: Not only did the majority of Jews of Jerusalem live in the so-called 'Moslem' Quarter, but, also the more important Jews lived there, rather than in other sections of the city. And he goes on to describe twenty-two synagogues (I've been able to locate practically all of them), many mikvaot and yeshivot, among them, the biggest yeshiva in that part of the city - which is fortunately still standing - Torat Chaim. As you come from Damascus Gate, it's on the left side of El Wad Road. Very strange: it is right on the Via Dolorosa part of the street. (The Via Dolorosa curves at one point, and part of it is on El Wad Road.)
Then you have another big yeshiva, Chaye Olam, with a Talmud Torah of twenty-two classrooms -- each classroom today is an Arab home. (A Talmud Torah consists of eight grades, and here there were three parallel classes.) Part of the building is now unused. That part was never finished because the Arabs brought a case against it in 1927 when the yeshiva wanted to start a new wing. They weren't able to finish it, so they just have the walls up. The yeshiva is close to what is the holiest part of Jerusalem for Jews.
There is another building, very close to the golden-domed mosque, which a Hungarian Jew, who arrived here about a hundred years ago, put up. In that building were two yeshivot called Mishmarot (Watches) because twenty-four hours a day Torah was studied there. Rabbi Yadler described how at midnight one group would come from the farthest corners of Jerusalem and another group would go home at that late hour to a place called Bab-el-Hota, close to the Lions Gate. I was still able to find one or two Jews who lived there in their youth. A synagogue was there, but it's been abandoned for over forty years. You can still see the building near two Turkish baths. One is on the corner of the Bab-el-Katunin, and is called Hamam-el-en; and closer to the Temple Mount, very close, is the second bathhouse. Both of these bath-houses had good mikvaot under the supervision of rabbis. The Arab owners didn't want to lose Jewish trade, and they made special arrangements for mikvaot.

The article also describes many of the Christian holy places in the Moslem quarter and other Jewish sites in the Armenian and Christian quarters. And it has this pertinent observation:

Control

Once again, people are reviving the issue of international control of Jerusalem. Even such an authority as Dr. Kissinger has said that Jerusalem is holy to the three religions. There is a very great distinction. However, for the Christians and Moslems there are holy places in Jerusalem. But the city, as a whole, is not holy to them. However, to Jews the city itself is holy. We have the regulations in the Mishna: "The whole world is holy to Jews; Eretz Yisrael is holier, Jerusalem is still holier, the Temple Mount is holiest." There is a special sanctity that pervades Jerusalem as a city (irrespective of whether there happens to be there synagogues or other holy sites) which is not the same for Islam or Christianity.

Read the whole thing to learn things about Jerusalem that you will not find anywhere else.

PalArab press: "Livni threatens to attack mosques"

Here's a perfect example of incitement in the Palestinian Arab press.

The headline at Palestine Today says,

At the UN "Dialogue of Religions" Conference, Peres discusses peace while Livni threatens to attack mosques and "extremists" in war

And here is what Livni really said:

The Middle East conflict is not the cause of extremism. The conflict and the violence are a result of the manipulation of religion and believers by extremist leaders who try to reap political benefits at the expense of innocent believers. The ones who pay the price are the believers themselves.

Today's event sends a very important message to the region, but messages alone are not enough. It's a necessary beginning, but certainly not the end. The beginning of a common struggle against extremists, before it's too late. The Middle East is paying a price because of the extremists living there. Israel will fight extremists, terror and extremism and, at the same time, continue to negotiate, as we are determined to do; we must continue these parallel tracks of counterterrorism and negotiation.

A piece of paper is not enough to achieve a genuine peace; we need to change the message conveyed in the mosques, prayer houses and schools. Extremism is not a gratuitous idea. The fight against extremists is common to the region's leaders. I know that some of the leaders in neighboring countries think it will be easier to live with the extremists, but they had better understand that when they shut their eyes to the hostility emanating from the mosques and the schools, it works against you as a leader, against your people, and against the possibility to bring peace. The change must happen also in our states.

We will continue to negotiate, we will continue to fight terror and extremism, and only when we do both simultaneously will there be peace.

For people who consider the preaching of terrorism in mosques to be mainstream Islam, I guess that her statements do sound like a declaration of war against all mosques.

Fun with the PalArabic press

This morning, four heavily armed Hamas terrorists tried to breach the fence into Israel, and alert Israeli forces killed them:

According to military sources, gunmen approached the fence in an area east of Khan Younis and were about to enter Israeli territory when a paratrooper force identified them and opened fire at them.

Four Palestinians were killed in the clashes and several were injured. One soldier was lightly injured in his hand and was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

The force uncovered Kalashnikov rifles and grenades on the gunmen's bodies.

Ma'an English, of course, reports things completely differently, based on those ever present "eyewitnesses":

Witnesses said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles during fighting between the armed men and Israeli tanks who had invaded. One missile was fired at a mosque, and the other exploded near a school, where the fighters were located.

Other witnesses reported a different version of the airstrike. According this account, three missiles landed near houses belonging to two families named Aal Muhanna and An-Naja, and another landed near the Al-Islah mosque.

It is amazing how "eyewitnesses" can see completely different things, and how they consistently find that Israel is shooting at schools and mosques and never at terrorists. Of course, coincidentally, "resistance fighters" usually are the only ones who happen to be killed while Israel supposedly attacks these mosques and schools.

But Ma'an Arabic shows how Arabs really feel:

Four Martyrs in Israeli shelling east of Qarara sector

...The medical crew found the body of the martyrs...

The Qassam Brigades announced the death in a statement about the martyrs, promising to respond harshly to Israeli aggression.

Ah, they weren't just "fighters" - they were on a holy mission!

Open thread!

Lots of cool comments lately, but no obvious place to put them. Let's put them here!

To start things off, commenter Brad points to a State Department blog where they ask for ideas on how to have Israelis and Palestinian (Arab)s reach an agreement.

Here is also a good place for people to post their bitter partisan post-election bashing.

Pre-pubescent abayas in Saudi Arabia

Normally, Islam asks women to cover themselves when they reach puberty.

But who says that Muslims don't innovate in sharia?

In the southern province of Asir, school regulations stipulate that pre-pubescent girls should dress in such a way that no part of their body, including head and face, is visible.

A child who dares to violate the new dress code faces severe punishment, including a public scolding and deductions from her marks.

This has put parents in a real dilemma. On the one hand, this new dress code is being imposed; on the other, they find it difficult to convince their young daughters that it is necessary for them to be completely veiled.

In addition, the parents have not been able to convince school authorities that little girls are not required to dress as adult women. Though Islam has strict dress regulations for women, they are only applied after girls reach puberty.

Must be that some Asir male teachers were starting to get turned on at the sight of eight year old girls. So they are simply "protecting" them, out of immense honor and respect.

Gaza taking all of Egypt's fuel

Palestine Press Agency reports (autotranslated):

The Egyptian cities near the border with the Gaza Strip are suffering through a severe fuel crisis, because of increased smuggling of gasoline and diesel to Gaza through tunnels stretching across the border, especially after the closure of Gaza's crossings with Israel since the beginning of this week.

There has been increased smuggling of fuel from the cities of El Arish and Rafah and Sheikh near the northern coast of the Strip in special containers, where they are transferred to Gaza through the tunnels to be sold exorbitant prices. This led to the disappearance of gasoline and diesel at fuel stations in the northern Sinai.

It is like the city of Arish residents have to stand for hours in front of gas stations in order to obtain only some of liters, which affected the traffic on the streets, leading to the disappearance of taxis and small buses transport.

The North Sinai Governorate authorities are trying hard to control the smuggling of fuel to Gaza. Governor Major General Mohammed Shusha has ordered the confiscation of any quantities of petrol and diesel packaged and ready for smuggling, dealing with the prohibition of fuel stations to sell fuel in such containers.

Your taxes paying for terrorist life insurance

From Ma'an:

he Palestinian foundation for sponsoring families of “martyrs” and wounded will offer the so-called presidential “noble grant” to 500 families whose members were killed during the Al-Aqsa Intifada (uprising), says Intisar Al-Wazir, the chair of the foundation.

The Director General of the foundation, Khalid Al-Jabareen explained that the payments will affect families of those killed in 2001 and 2002 and have not received that “noble grant” yet. Efforts will continue to pay that grant to all families who have not received it yet. Payment, according to Al-Jabareen will start next week.

The “noble grant” was approved by late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat. The grant is worth Six thousand Israeli Shekels, or 1,500 US dollars.

Of course, this "noble" money goes to pay for families of suicide bombers.

Just like the money Saddam Hussien used to pay to Palestinian Arab terrorists.

And where exactly does the PA get these funds to disburse to terror families? Do you even have to ask?

Abbas pledges to follow the path of terrorism

From YNet:

"The Palestinian leadership will continue to follow Yasser Arafat's path until a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is established," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday during a memorial service marking the fourth anniversary of the iconic Palestinian leader's death.

During the memorial, held at Abbas' Mukataa compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian president said, "The path of the shahids - Arafat, George Habash (founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and (assassinated Hamas spiritual leader) Sheikh Ahmed Yassin - is the path that we cherish; it is aimed at upholding the Palestinians' nationalist and sovereign resolutions."

What great heroes this moderate voice for peace has!

Then again, what do you expect?

This round goes to Hamas

For over four months, Israel managed to maintain a "calm" of sorts with Gaza, with the tacit agreement that there will be no attacks from either side. Although in many ways the original agreement was ignored by Hamas - they continued to smuggle in weapons, they continued to build a huge underground terror infrastructure with the cement Israel allowed in under the agreement, and Gilad Shalit turned from an important part of the agreement to someone completely peripheral - Israel did benefit by having residents of Sderot and other Negev communities being able to live relatively normal lives.

There were violations of the calm by Hamas and other Gaza terror groups, but Israel consistently applied a single rule: for every rocket or mortar shot, Israel would shut off the border for at least a day. The response was immediate and, most importantly, consistent. Hamas arrested Islamic Jihad rocket cells and worked to keep at least part of the deal.

Now, Israel is starting to allow supplies to go into Gaza even while under attack.

Bowing to the ever-present international pressure, where moral midgets like the UNHCR's John Ging will continue to insist that Israel open its borders at the very moment that Qassams are falling on Israeli communities, Israel is poised to resume fuel shipments - despite the fact that Hamas is well positioned to get all the fuel it needs from the elaborate network of tunnels under Rafah that provides cooking oil and gasoline at half the price of Israeli fuel.

Today, Hamas tried to send four well-armed terrorists into Israel - but Israel has let them change the rules of the game where such attacks are going to be considered normal, while Israel continues to provide supplies to an entity determined to destroy it.

The status quo has changed and it was not a change in Israel's favor.

THE place for Jewish singles in Dubai!

A friend of mine just told me he is speaking at an upcoming conference in Dubai, and he said that this is the first time he will ever remove his yarmulka for a talk.

I imagine that this is a good move, given that Dubai's Al-Arabiyah TV is advocating the molestation of Israeli Jewish women, but even so I was curious as to how Jews in general do in that booming, multicultural city.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a place for Dubai singles to look for Jewish partners!

Scrappleface on Arafat in 2004

Four years ago I copied this funny piece from Scrappleface. Alas, the link to the original is gone:

Coroner: Arafat Died of Tilex Poisoning

(2004-11-11) -- The coroner for the Palestinian Authority today announced that former Chairman Yassir Arafat died from 'acute Tilex poisoning,' and blamed the CIA and Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service.

'Infidel agents infiltrated Chairman Arafat's personal quarters and sprayed his bathtub with Tilex, a deadly toxin to certain lifeforms,' said an unnamed spokesman for the coroner. 'We believe the bathtub was poisoned up to two years ago, but Chairman Arafat's exposure came only recently, due to his personal hygiene schedule.'

The coroner said his report 'ensures Mr. Arafat's status as a martyr, which helps to overcome his shameful legacy as the man who signed a peace accord with Israel.'