And now, Hamas suddenly has cash!
Ma'an reports that Hamas distributed some $130,000 in cash to the needy over the weekend.
But, of course, none of Hamas' newfound cash could possibly go towards rockets and explosives, could it?
Of the Middle East's oil producers, Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, is the hardest hit of all. With daily production of about 2.5 million barrels, Iran loses about $1-billion a year for every dollar drop in the price of oil.So Iran came up with a creative way to slow down its losses - close all markets for a brand new "holiday":
As oil goes, so go Mr. Ahmadinejad's political fortunes. And while his vaunted nuclear program is not immediately threatened, those in the West who seek to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons should gain considerable economic leverage as a result of the financial crisis.
As recently as last month, Mr. Ahmadinejad put on a brave face, boasting that Iran was capable of enduring oil prices as low as $5 a barrel. But last week the Iranian President was forced to admit his government will have to come up with a new budget, based on more realistic price estimates.
With inflation at about 30 per cent and unemployment at 10 per cent, Mr. Ahmadinejad has run out of political options, says David Menashri, chair of modern Iranian studies at Tel Aviv University. "Thirty-per-cent inflation is a terrible hardship for someone on a fixed income," he said, noting that "800,000 people are added to Iran's work force every year; the government can find jobs for only about half of them."
All markets in Iran will be closed on Monday as a protest to the crimes of the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip.It isn't clear how closing markets will help Gazans, or Iranians, but it does save a day of expenses in an economy that is heavily subsidized by the government.
Releasing a statement on Saturday, the Basij department of the merchants’ union announced the merchants will close their shops on Monday throughout the country to show their resentment to Israel over its brutal measures in Gaza.
James Bennet, now the editor of The Atlantic, was The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief from 2001 through 2004. After his return, he wrote a two-page memo to Chira on the use of “terrorism” and “terrorist” that is still cited by editors, though the paper has no formal policy on the terms. His memo said it was easy to call certain egregious acts terrorism “and have the whole world agree with you.” The problem, he said, was where to stop before every stone-throwing Palestinian was called a terrorist and the paper was making a political statement.Now, why would victims of terror in the disputed territories be considered any less human than those within the Green Line?Bennet wrote that he initially avoided the word terrorism altogether and thought it more useful to describe an attack in as vivid detail as possible so readers could decide their own labels. But he came to believe that never using the word “felt so morally neutral as to be a little sickening. The calculated bombing of students in a university cafeteria, or of families gathered in an ice-cream parlor, cries out to be called what it is,” he wrote.
The memo said he settled on a rough rule: He would use the words, when they fit, to describe attacks within Israel’s 1948 borders but not in the occupied West Bank or Gaza, which Israel and the Palestinians have been contending over since Israel took them in 1967. When a gunman infiltrated a settlement and killed a 5-year-old girl in her bed, Bennet did not call it terrorism. “All I could do was default to my first approach and describe the attack and the victims as vividly as I could.”
In fact, coupled with a large surplus of fruit and vegetables intended for markets in Israel, the vast majority of people here aren't wanting for food.Sultan Knish asks "What does being Pro-Israel mean, anyway?"Reports that as many as 50 per cent of children are suffering from malnutrition are exaggerations, says Khaled Abdel Shaafi, director the United Nations Development Program.
"This is not a humanitarian crisis," he said. "It's an economic crisis, a political crisis, but it's not a humanitarian crisis. People aren't starving."
After eight bleak years, Jesus' birthplace finally has a Christmas season to cheer about.This news does not sit well with those who would rather see Bethlehem in misery, so they could blame Jews for Christian suffering. Of course, some may choose to ignore the good news:Hotels are booked solid through January, Manger Square is bustling with tourists, and Israeli and Palestinian forces are working to make things go smoothly.
Elias Al-Araj's 200-room hotel is fully booked for the season, and he plans to open a 100-room annex. He says he already has bookings through July.
"This year, business was great," he said.
Bethlehem's economic fortunes are closely tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tourism blossomed in the 1990s, when peace hopes were alive, but was crushed by the outbreak of fighting in 2000. Christmas after Christmas, tourists were scared off by Palestinian violence and Israeli travel restrictions.
With calm gradually returning to the West Bank, Bethlehem has again become a magnet for Christmas pilgrims.
"It's a difference between heaven and earth," said entrepreneur Mike Kanawati, who is so optimistic he's opening a new restaurant near the Church of the Nativity.
Palestinian officials say that 1.3 million tourists have visited the West Bank this year, nearly double last year's level. The total for 2008 could rise to 1.6 million. The tourism boom has created 12,000 new jobs, said Riad Malki, the Palestinian information minister.
Bethlehem's 19 hotels are fully booked through January, said Mayor Victor Batarseh. He said he expects 30,000 visitors on Christmas Eve alone, compared with 22,000 last year, with about 5,000 more expected during Orthodox rites in January.
Batarseh said he hopes the signs of recovery will persuade more Bethlehemites to stay in their town. In recent years, growing numbers, particularly Christians, have emigrated.
"Calm and an increase in tourism will create more job opportunities and encourage families to stay in the city," said Batarseh, who is Christian. Officials say 40 percent of the town's 32,000 residents are Christian, down from 90 percent in the 1950s. The rest are Muslim.
A vicar has banned the Christmas carol O Little Town of Bethlehem from his services after witnessing the strife-torn state of Jesus's birthplace.The good vicar seems to know exactly who to blame for Bethlehem's problems, and they are those Jews from Russia, not the Muslims from Hamas.The Rev Stephen Coulter has decided that the words 'How still we see thee lie' are too far removed from the reality of Bethlehem today and should not be sung in his parish.
He toured Bethlehem in a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was shocked at how the Arab-Israeli conflict that has raged around the West Bank town has decimated its population, wrecked its economy and hit tourism.'The Christians we stayed with consider themselves descendants of the very shepherds who were keeping watch over flocks by night 2,000 years ago.
'Can you imagine how they feel being stopped by security guards, Jews from Russia, who have been in the country for just five years and who have all the freedoms denied those who have been there for centuries?
'They ask how the Jews who were treated so badly in the Second World War now inflict the same treatment on others.'
Press sources revealed that an Israeli businessman was killed by a Yemeni pilot who fired dozens of gunshots to the passers-by.And, no, it is not a translation error, as the Yemeni Arabic press certainly refers to Yaish Nahari as "Jewish".
Moshe Yaish-Nahari, a 35-year-old married man with nine children, was killed on Thursday night by machine-gun fire in the Bedouin in Yemen amid watching citizens.
The Israeli businessman who was murdered also taught the Torah in Israeli religious schools in Yemen, and it was not immediately clear what the real causes of his death.
Iranians attended a protest rally against Israel and in support of the oppressed and defenseless Palestinians particularly 1.5 million Gazans in blockade before Friday prayers.I've never seen a crowd issuing a statement before.
Shouting “down with the US” and “down with Israel” marchers showed their hatred towards Israeli brutal measures and support for freedom of Palestine.
They also called for Muslims unification to defy cruelty and crimes of Israel and its biggest ally the United States.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Government Spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham were also among marchers.
The crowed [sic] also issued a statement that said intensification of cruel blockade imposed on Gazans is undoubtedly the offspring of alliance of the United States, Israel and some Arab states betrayal aimed at destruction of Palestine’s Islamic resistance and compensation of Israel’s disgraceful failures.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-stated necessity to raze Israel to the ground. The Israeli Government has blockaded Gaza Strip to influence on upcoming presidential elections in Palestine and to bring a necessary man to the post, the President said.How do you say "unambiguous" in Farsi?
Moshe Yaish-Nahari, the brother of a prominent rabbi in Yemen was shot to death on Thursday in Rida, Yemen, located north of the capital Sana'a, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported.To Yemen's credit, this is an anomaly, and the government stepped in to arrest the murderer. Unfortunately, the only reason that the killer was on the streets is because of Islamic law:
Local sources said the suspected killer, Abed el-Aziz el-Abadi, a former MiG-29 pilot in Yemen's air force, has been apprehended and taken in for questioning.
Eyewitnesses told the newspaper that el-Abadi had confronted Nahari at the market in Rida, called out to him "Jew, accept the message of Islam" and then proceeded to open fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Nahari was struck by five bullets.
According to the preliminary investigation, the suspect had murdered his wife just two years ago, but avoided jail time by offering her family compensation.Sharia allows the family of the victim to make such a choice, and this is why Moshe Yaish-Nahari is dead today.
Former US president Jimmy carter and his delegation had a round of talks with prime minister Fouad Siniora and some members of the cabinet around 8:PM Thursday.Notice that Carter doesn't even rely on Hezbollah lies to make these sorts of statements anymore. Hezbollah refused to meet with him, so he has no idea if Hezbollah would agree that these withdrawals would bring peace.He added : "I look forward to see the establishment of close diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria, which will be a step forward for peace in the region . The day after tomorrow (Saturday) I will visit Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in order to encourage him to speed up this process."
He expressed his belief that Israel's withdrawal in the near future from the Shebaa Farms area and the village of Ghajar would bring peace to the region as a whole.
Hamas is known as as "terrorist" or "resistant", the movement has become the central part of the dispute with Israel. The Islamist movement, this durable, politically and socially in the territories, will partner in the peace process.You see? Murderers from Hamas told a French diplomat that they really don't hate the blood-sucking Jews, that their still-extant charter is not really very important, and that Haniyeh is just a cuddly teddy bear - so why shouldn't he believe them?
I stayed in Gaza twice during which I met the political leadership of Hamas. I came away with the impression that the Islamist movement continues its transformation began in 2005 through its participation in municipal elections, then legislative elections in 2006 he won everything provided by membership in response to the failure of the Palestinian Authority and corruption which undermines Fatah. This commitment in the electoral process that previously excluded in the name of Islamic ideology has created tensions within the movement and is now considered anathema to Al Qaeda.Since then, Hamas has evolved significantly in terms of ideology. It no longer refers to its charter inspired Islamist radical nor does the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews, but contains anti-Semitic references on the topic of global conspiracy that would have created the Hebrew state. When we suggest the abolition of the charter (written in 1987), leaders of the movement say that it "was not adopted by a Hamas" and that "only references are the platform and the election policy, "presented by Ismail Haniyeh during his investiture by the Palestinian parliament in January 2006.
Reading these two texts confirms the movement's ideological evolution in a more Islamist nationalism. The failure of national unity government in March 2007 and control by force the territory of Gaza in June led by radical Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, did not upset this trend .
The Europeans have put three conditions: renouncing violence, accepting past agreements between the PLO and recognition of the State of Israel. This is the dogma that closes any prospect....
When you are already infected with vile misozionistic or anti-semitic tendencies, the tiniest whispers of "moderation" take on huge new meanings and the pesky counterproofs are dismissed. For an example of the latter, here is what a cleric said on Hamas' own TV channel last month:The Koran warns against the hostility of the Jews, whom it presents as the worst enemies of the Muslims: "You will find that the people strongest in enmity for those who believe are the Jews and the polytheists."
You see, since Hamas leaders didn't quote these words to him verbatim, and the words that they have written down that say the same thing were written in 1987, our brilliant writer just knows, deep in his heart, that Hamas doesn't agree with what it shows on the TV stations it owns and controls. We just need to show a little more trust with the terrorists, to understand them a bit better, to read their minds and between their words to know that they are really moderates who shout their Jew-hatred only to keep up appearances.
This verse exemplifies how deeply rooted is the Jewish enmity toward Islam and the Muslims. The fire of hatred was ignited in their hearts, when they realized that the Prophet who was sent was not one of their own. Beforehand, "they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieve," but when he was sent, they denied him. Therefore, the Prophet waged a lengthy Jihad against them, which continues to this day, and will continue until the day of their annihilation, Allah willing.
The Jews are known to be treacherous. They murdered their own prophets. Ibn Mas'oud said: The Israelites would kill 300 Prophets in a single day, and then they would go shopping for vegetables. After killing 300 men, they would go to the market, as if nothing happened. Ibn Mas'oud said that the Israelites killed 43 Prophets in a single hour, first thing in the morning. When 170 Israelites enjoined the killers to be virtuous and to refrain from vice, they were all killed in a single hour at the end of the day. Killing comes naturally to them. We're talking about a time when they didn't possess the enormous military arsenal that they have today. All they had were swords. When the Prophet Muhammad went to Al-Madina... We don't harbor hatred toward anyone. We are hostile to the Jews only because they occupied our land and defiled our holy places. That's why we declared war against them.
We are honored to be the spearhead in defense of the honor of the Arab and Islamic nation in the face of these apes and pigs. This, however, does not exempt the Arabs from their responsibility, about which Allah will reckon with them on the Day of Judgment.
Don't believe what they say to their own people dozens of times a day - believe what they tell a gullible French sycophant who is just itching to show that he is relevant.
Instead of pushing for a boycott of Israel, the UCU says that it will now research and publish a report on academic freedom in a number of countries, including the Palestinian territories.Besides the third day in a row of humanitarian aid, Israel also approved transferring 100 million shekels to Gaza to stem their cash flow crisis.
Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM
If you want real peace, don't insist on a divided Jerusalem, @USAmbIsrael
The Apartheid charge, the Abraham Accords and the "right side of history"
With Palestinians, there is no need to exaggerate: they really support murdering random Jews
Great news for Yom HaShoah! There are no antisemites!