Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Open thread, flight delay edition

I will be traveling today and there will inevitably be some flight delays, so while I am out of touch, feel free to add interesting links and discussions...

Meanwhile, for the link starved, this should hold you over for a few hours:

Soccer Dad's Shiny Happy Dhimmi #9
Haveil Havalim #201 has many good links on Gaza
Jack's twice-daily roundup

Why diplomats don't get it

The Israeli government, for the usual inscrutable reasons, declared a "unilateral" cease fire at 2 AM Israel time today.

This move was met with praise from the people who have been upset at Israel for the Gaza operation. The UN's Ban Ki-Moon said he was "relieved," the EU welcomed the announcement as did Condoleeza Rice.

It was not hard to predict what would happen next: Hamas and its associated terror groups ignored this confidence-building beginning of a "cycle of peace," and so far today 10 rockets have been fired from Gaza along with mortars.

So far, Israel has held its fire, with a couple of minor exceptions.

Will these "relieved" people now start to condemn Hamas for firing rockets? Or will they start pressuring Israel to withdraw from Gaza and go back to the good ol' days of being a sitting duck for Qassams?

The fact is that even those who "understand" Israel's right to defend itself cannot wrap their heads around the simple fact that civilian casualties cannot be avoided, especially when Hamas has made civilian casualties a centerpiece of its fighting strategy. They believe, whether they say it explicitly or not, that it is better for Israel to passively take Qassam rockets forever than for it to respond in an effective way.

And the last thing that they can possibly accept is that if Israel hadn't waited so long to respond there would have been fewer casualties. Likewise, the longer Israel waits to completely dismantle Hamas - which is inevitable - the worse it will be for Gazan civilians next time.

An entire generation of diplomats have grown up with the thought that military solutions can be postponed forever, or at least until they are out of office and it is someone else's problem. They have not grasped a fundamental truth - that delayed solutions are always much more expensive than timely ones.

Hamas cannot and will not moderate. No amount of wishful thinking and doublespeak can change that fact. Since its stated goal is the destruction of Israel, that means that there can only be two possible solutions: Hamas' destruction or Israel's.

Every time that an official from Kadima, the EU, US State Department or the UN says they want to avoid or cut short this war, they are really saying that they do not understand this basic truth. The longer it is avoided, the worse it will be - for everybody. Hamas will import bigger rockets with longer range; Iran will learn lessons from this operation and improve Hamas' fighting capabilities next time, and perhaps their own army will have effectively annexed Gaza if the world convinces Israel to "open its borders."

None of the people who are upset over the hundreds of civilian deaths have any plan, outside military, to avoid the inevitable "next time." And next time, there won't be only a thousand dead Gazans.

The only way to peace is to allow the IDF to destroy Hamas and its allies completely and thoroughly. Hamstringing Israel is the surest way to ensure many more deaths in the coming years. The very existence of these groups is the real threat to peace, and no amount of diplomacy can erase their implacable hate and obstinacy.

Even smart people have blind spots, and unless these diplomats are enlightened, they are partly responsible for the bloodbath that will inevitably follow their diplomatic "success."

Iran not exactly welcoming Obama

The Iranian FARS news agency publishes some photos of Iranians throwing shoes at pictures of Barack Obama (here reproduced from an Iranian message board):

Change!

(h/t Marc El)

British anti-semitism roundup

The JC lists them, as of last Thursday:

A young Orthodox man was viciously beaten after last Wednesday’s pro-Israel rally in what is perhaps the most serious incident.
Daniel Lowe, from Hendon, a bearded Orthodox Jew who wears a kippah, was a founding member of MuJewz, the Muslim-Jewish dialogue group at Oxford University. He had attended last Wednesday night’s pro-Israel rally in Kensington and was on his way to visit friends nearby afterwards when he was attacked.

He said: “As I was about to knock on their door, someone behind me said hello.” He turned to find two men of Asian appearance, one wearing a Palestinian flag on his jacket, the other wearing a keffiyeh. “They asked me where I had been. When I told them it was none of their business, they punched me in the head, pushed me to the ground and kicked me.”

Mr Lowe said the attack made him even more determined to attend Sunday’s Trafalgar Square event: “Jews shouldn’t be attacked for expressing their views in public.”

On Tuesday, a gang of Palestinian supporters forced their way into the offices in central London of the Israel lobbying organisation Bicom after a man called saying he was delivering a parcel.

Eight men and women — one armed with a loudhailer — shouted at and intimidated staff, ripped out computer cables, cut telephone lines and threw leaflets out of the windows.

One staff member said: “They were very aggressive, and asked whether we were Jewish and why we were supporting Israel. It was very frightening.”

It is understood that detectives at Westminster are investigating the criminal damage and viewing CCTV footage of the incident.

Bicom chief executive Lorna Fitzsimons said: “The vandalism and thuggery at our offices and against my staff this morning was utterly reprehensible. Bicom is a pro-peace organisation that promotes understanding and dialogue, often promoting moderate Palestinian voices for the sake of a speedy and peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.”

Both Marks & Spencer and John Lewis contacted suppliers this week to ask whether goods they stocked originated from Israel.

But both companies insisted that they were regular routine calls and that the timing was coincidental.

On Saturday, three protestors were arrested after occupying an Israeli-owned cosmetics store in central London.

The protestors chained themselves to the door of the Ahava store in Covent Garden, forcing it to close for around five hours. They also hung a banner in the window accusing the company of “funding Israeli war crimes in Gaza”.

A protest in Belfast on Saturday by pro-Palestinian campaigners against a stall selling Israeli products is being investigated by police as a racially motivated incident. Video footage posted on the internet showed the Sea Spa stall, which sells Dead Sea cosmetics, being deluged with leaflets from a balcony above as demonstrators shouted “Boycott Israeli goods”.

In Bristol, one man was arrested after about 30 pro-Palestinian protestors entered a city centre branch of Marks & Spencer, filled their trollies with Israeli produce and then refused to pay.

And the absurd targeting of Starbucks and other supposedly "Zionist" stores continues in England, as Harry's Place enumerates:

The week of smashed up shops with alleged Jewish ownership and supposed links to Israel continues.

Tonight I walked Rubert Street towards Shaftsburry Avenue in Central London and encountered quite a commotion on the corner. The police were cordoning off a section of the street and there were several police vehicles and about a dozen officers. I managed to capture the cause of the all this activity on my mobile phone.

Yes, thugs have attacked another Starbucks.

The antisemitic conspiracy loons and inciters who make irresponsible calls to “close down” shops, egged on by forums hosted on sites like Indymedia and elsewhere have done their job. The libel spreads.

Unlike the attack on a Starbucks in Whitechapel a few days ago which the thugs thought was empty, (but which wasn’t, and a manager could have burned to death had he not made it to the fire escape), this Starbucks would have been open for business. I saw the staff huddled behind the counter looking startled.

As you can see from the photos, crockery and furniture have been smashed to bits. A large litter bin has been thrown through the plate glass windows.

And still, after a spate of these attacks, the national media is silent, though there is a small mention of this evening’s attack in on the AP wires. Let’s see if the news desks of the national broadcasters think there’s anything worth reporting here.

UPDATE: They’re already crowing about the attack as some sort of victory at Indymedia.

UPDATE 2: There’s a short item, including a small photo, on the ITN News website. Another Starbucks - in Picadilly Circus - was also attacked, smashed and looted this evening.

Gaza has turned into the excuse that hundreds of Jew-haters were looking for to express their hate.

As one of the commenters at Harry's Place wrote:

Old school antisemitism = Jews are a fundamentally Middle-eastern people who don’t belong in Europe. If they won’t understand this, we’ll just have to teach them the hard way.

New antisemitism = Jews are a fundamentally European people who don’t belong in the Middle-East. If they won’t understand this, them over there will just have to teach them the hard way. And oh what the hell, let’s have a go at them here too.

You can’t stop progress.

PalArab press roundup 1/17/09

Even though Firas Press is associated with Fatah, it published a long and angry article upset at Israel for daring to kill Hamas spiritual leader Said Siad. A commenter said that even though Siad was responsible for the deaths of many Fatah members, still is is not proper for Israel to have killed him. Which is an illustration of Elder's Second Rule - that no matter how much Arabs hate each other, they will always hate Israel and the West more.

It appears that Hamas members who have been captured by Israel gave some of the crucial information needed to target Siad successfully. It seems he rented a house at the very beginning of the operation for secret Hamas meetings and once Israel caught wind of this they have been watching that house closely.

Turkey's Foreign Minister said that breaking off relations with Israel would be a mistake.

Six members of Hamas' Presidential Guard were killed by Israel today, and their names are listed.

There are reports that Qatar privately requested, and Israel agreed, not to assassinate the leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees while they were in Doha for the Arab meeting there.

Another report claims that Hamas turned part of Al Aqsa University into a torture chamber for Fatah members or others it is not happy with.

And today's Lie of the Day: Gaza doctors are now claiming that Israel coats it bullets with some sort of biological agent that poisons the blood and reduces its clotting ability, causing certain death within a few hours.

In close second place for Lie of the Day is that Israel bombed the Egyptian side of Rafah - and killed two Israeli soldiers there. Apparently, the IDF is now operating out of Egypt!

Reports: Hamas leader escaped Gaza in an ambulance

Palestine Press Agency is reporting that Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar escaped from Gaza into Egypt using an ambulance.

Witnesses said that Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, fled in an ambulance after Bassem Naim, Minister of Health in Gaza, forged a medical report and put medical gauze on his head to disguise him.

Zahar took advantage of the three-hour humanitarian period of calm declared by the Israeli army in Gaza and this allowed the first move in coordination with the Red Cross to move between the terminal and hospitals.

The Arab commenters at that site are happily calling Zahar a coward.

Another cool way to help IDF soldiers

Thank Israeli Soldiers is a program where soldiers get care packages, along with encouraging letters. The packages are specially packed with items that are useful for soldiers on duty.

This is in addition to the other ways I listed to help here.

And don't forget this great free way to help.

Open thread and random thoughts

The video I found of the "literal human shield" has received thousands of hits. It spread through message boards, first military and weapon-oriented boards and then spreading to other testosterone-driven sites like those for car enthusiasts. It is very cool to get so much attention, and at least a few of the visitors stuck around to read other posts, but it just reminds me that this comfortable little corner of the Web is still very, very small, and if I want to make an impact I need to find new ways to enlarge it. Videos are one way, but they do take time as well as good ideas (the one I worked on yesterday just didn't gel; I don't know if I can salvage it to make it funny enough.)

Anyway, here's a spot for people to put their own random thoughts....

Why "moderate" PalArabs are unhappy with Hamas

Al-Arabiya (Arabic only) talks about how West Bank Palestinian Arabs are criticizing Hamas:

After the atmosphere of national unity that prevailed during the first days of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, the voices of officials of the Palestinian Authority are now publicly criticizing Hamas policy, especially in terms of abuse with the political initiatives to stop the war. A minister of prisoner affairs, Ashraf El Ajrami, says that Hamas and Israel aim to keep the catastrophic situation in Gaza as it is, to abort the idea of an independent Palestinian state.

In turn, the President of the Fatah parliamentary bloc, Azzam al-Ahmad said he had contacted the Vice-President of the political bureau of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzouk, two days ago and asked him to agree to begin dialogue according to the Egyptian initiative, "but they refused."

Al-Ahmed said: "I think that Hamas is now aiming from behind to take the hard-line position to recognize it as a fait accompli leadership in the Gaza Strip, regardless of the number of victims who fall."

Palestinian writer and political analyst Samih Shabib mentions a "high level of media criticism in the Palestinian movement over Hamas' handling of the war in Gaza." The analyst, who is close to the Fatah movement, added, "I think that when the war began, Hamas presented itself as capable of causing surprises, and promised to create these surprises, but since then Hamas did not achieve the promised surprises, and Hamas' credibility was damaged."

He continued, "Khaled Meshaal and Ismail Haniyeh two days ago talked about an outright victory, while we notice the ground is a large Israeli incursion in Gaza, on the outskirts of cities to the extent that the citizen is aware of the inequality between the resistance and the Israeli army."

He added, "that in my every day that passes, Hamas loses more credibility, loss of lives of more than 5 thousand between the martyrs and wounded, in addition to the billions of dollars lost a result of the demolition of buildings."

The editor of newspaper al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Hafez al-Barghouti, said, mocking the statements from Hamas officials that "from some of the requirements of the Hamas movement for a the cease-fire it would seem that our forces are moving in the Tel Aviv district and not in their own home."

For his part, Pharaohs Hamada wrote in al-Ayyam that "Hamas has succeeded in absorbing a first strike and attacks, despite the exposure of the destruction and loss of the extensive stockpiles of arms and the death of some leaders of field", he said, "but Hamas this time, unfortunately (.. .) failed, and failed to strike painful blows quality or about the Israeli enemy, despite all the threats and warnings by the leaders of Hamas martyrs and the surprises waiting for the occupation forces in the invasion. "

These opinions, by "moderate" Palestinian Arab opinion makers and leaders, are striking. Not because they are unhappy with Hamas, which we have known for a while, but because of their source of unhappiness.

These leaders are not only saying that Hamas is (partially) responsible for the suffering of Gazans, but they seem more upset that Hamas promised to strike hard at Israel - and has failed.

Hezbollah promised to hurt Israel and managed to kill dozens of people with Katyushas, forcing the entire north of the country to flee. This was Hezbollah's "victory," not merely survival. They managed to take at least a partial offensive and hurt Israel.

Palestinian Arab anger is apparently at least as much as Hamas' failure to launch a "quality" attack on Israel as it is on Hamas bringing death and destruction on Gazans.

This is critically important to understand. Just as a huge majority of Palestinian Arabs rejoiced over the Mercaz Harav massacre of schoolchildren, their ambivalence towards Hamas will turn to love if Hamas manages to hit a school or apartment building in Israel that causes dozens or more casualties.

Once we see this we can understand Hamas' single-minded war strategy - try not to be killed by Israel but put all of your resources into anything that would cause Israelis pain, whether it would be another soldier kidnapping or a successful Grad attack at a populated area, killing many. A single deadly attack will make the so-called moderate Palestinian Arabs into unqualified supporters of the terrorists.

Right now, Hamas is perceived as losing because it hasn't managed to pull off that attack, not because of a thousand dead Gazans. To Palestinian Arabs - to Israel's "peace partners" - a few dead Jews would be worth the price of hundreds of civilians.

This also partially explains Hamas' reluctance for a cease fire and the concomitant increase of rockets today. Hamas is banking on getting "lucky" enough to rocket a school bus or an old-age home. And such an attack will enable Hamas to crown itself as the undisputed leader of Palestinian Arabs.

Because, deep down, even the PalArab "doves" want to see such attacks succeed as well.

Ma'an reports on the funeral of Hamas "interior minister" Said Siam:

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them Hamas supporters, attended a mass funeral procession in Gaza on Friday for de facto Interior Minister Said Siyam, who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday.

If Gaza is as ravaged as the news reports and "human rights" activists want us to believe, and if Gazans all believe that Israel is targeting civilians; if Israel's goal (as that moderate Mahmoud Abbas has said) is to "eliminate the Palestinian people from Gaza".... then why would so many people put their lives in their own hands and gather in such a large crowd, with the knowledge that surely Israel will drop megaton bombs on them? Imagine how many of these people could have been killed by a single bomb of the type that killed their hero (crater pictured on left).

Could it be that they really know that Israel is more moral than they are, and are willing to bet their own lives on it?

(By the way, his Ma'an obituary includes the fact that Siam used to get his paycheck from the UN:

Siyam worked as a math and science teacher at local United Nations-run schools. He joined Hamas in the 1980s, one of its earliest members. Siyam quickly assumed leadership of the local teacher's union.

(Meaning that he was a UNRWA teacher and a terrorist simultaneously.)

Morning links (updated)

This piece by prominent Israeli writer and leftist A. B. Yehoshua slamming Ha'aretz' Gideon Levy is a must-read.

Sultan Knish has the excellent "Why We Choose Us."

An entire unit of Hamas trained by Iran has been destroyed.

A picture of "starving Palestinians."

No one is crying over Said Siam.

UPDATE: Natan Sharansky explains things as well as anyone has.

Muslims pray to destroy Jews, Christians

Islam Online decided to open up a message board where its readers can compose their own prayers to Allah to support the people of Gaza. While some prayers ask for no more suffering and similar requests, others are a bit more...violent. In English, too!

Victory or Martydom
By Noureddine - New Zealand on 2009-01-16 04:14 (GMT)

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful. Oh Allah bestow your blessings on our brothers and sisters in gaza and bless them with patience and help then against their aggressors. Oh Allah you don't like transgression and injustice destroy the transgressors children of pigs and monkeys. Oh Allah save your sincere slaves and destroy the arab leaders our shame and burden. Oh Allah bless me with shahada in your sake. Ameen Ameen ya rab elaalameen.

READ AL MUNTAQIIM EXCESSIVELY INSHALLAH ALLAH WILL TAKE REVENGE SOON
By SADIQA on 2009-01-16 01:45 (GMT)

ya ALLAH DESTROY YOUR ENEMEIS AND ENEMIES OF PEACE AND ISLAM AN CHRISTAINS AND REST OF THE WORLD. DESTROY THESE ISRAELIS PLEASE ONCE AND FOR ALL AND THEIR SUPPORTERS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES AS WELL. AND MAKE THEM BURN IN HELL FOR GOOD. EVERY MSULIM SHOULD TAKE UP ARMS AGSINT THEM NO MATTER HOW SMAL IT IS . AND READ AYAH KURSI 313 TIMES WITH STRONG CONVICTION INSHALLAH ALLH WILL GIVE US VICTORY ARAB RULERS SHOULD RISE UP , AND HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND SUPPORT THE OPPRESSED BECAUSE IT COULD BE THIER TURN NEXT . THEY SHOULD SUPPORT GAZA NO MATTER HOW SMALL THEIR ARMIES REMEMBER THAT ALWAYS THE WEAK HAVE GAINED VCITORY OVER THE STRONG IN HISTORY AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN. WE HAVE THE QURAN AND SUNNAH AND LOT OF DUAS WHICH COULD HELP SAVE OUR LIVES AND THOSE OF OUR LOVED ONES TOO. LIKE BISMAILLAHILLAZZI LAYAZZURUU MAISMIHI SHAYYUN FIL ARZI WALA FISSAMAI WAHAUWAS SAMIUL ALEEM , 3 TIMES DAILY ON OURSLEVES AND OUR FAMILIES. THE JEWS DNT HAVE FAITH ON THEIR SIDE. THEY ARE DECEIVED BY THERI ORTHODOX RABBIS WHO TEACH TALMUDC HATRED AND KABBALA . BUT WE HAVE THE QURAN SO USE IT AT THIS TIME. ALSO READ SURAH FEEL EXCEESSIVELY DURING WAR AND VICTORY WILL BE OURS INSHALLAH . MAKE TAWEEZ OF MANZIL, OR WIRD AL LATIF DUAS AND DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. IF WE STOP NOW ALL OF US WILL BE MASSACRED OR MADE SLAVES OF THESE PEOPLE .

Dua
By Seema on 2009-01-16 01:16 (GMT)

Ya Allah let the whole community of Christian and Jews, punish them the way that all whole world will see it and learn lesson not to torture our brothers and sisters.

Yemen's Jews supposedly condemn Israel

News Yemen quotes the official Saba news agency:

Yemeni Jews condemn the Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip and agree that such crimes being committed by the Zionist entity put Jews in risk. They fear reactions from their Muslim neighbors because of brutal genocide being committed by Israel in Gaza.

Whenever Israel commits genocide in Palestine, the Jewish community is exposed to harassment by Muslims. Israeli aggression against Gaza people and killing of the Yemeni Jewish Moshe Yaish Nahari are two incidents evoked shedding lights on Jewish minority in Yemen.

I should mention that Nahari was murdered by a Muslim in Yemen two weeks before Operation Cast Lead.

"Harassments against us are increasing whenever Israel commits massacres against Palestinians. Killing of the Jewish Moshe Nahari is a personal criminal act and we hope we will get justice," said one of Yemeni Jews.

"Israeli killings of Palestinian people force us to stay at our houses fearing of harassments by persons do not understand that Yemeni Jews have nothing to do with what is happing in Palestine," said Rabi of Raida Jews, Yahya Yaish.

"What is happening in Palestine does not satisfy Allah and His Messengers. What is happening is a crime against Palestine and against all religions," added Yaish.

Does this sound like something a Jew would say of his own free will?

While Suleiman Yacoob, Yemen Jewish, says what Israel is doing does not satisfy any person and that Allah prohibits killing human being. "The Yemeni Jews are against genocides in Palestine and the harassments we face are just personal," he affirmed.

Saeed bin Israel, another Jewish citizen, says "Jews face several harassments from some Muslims, namely young people. These harassments happen in markets, streets and while in their work.

But Suleiman Yaqoob affirms that Jewish sect has strong and humanitarian relations with Muslims "we share all occasions, wedding parities and Qat sessions."

Over returning Jewish citizen to justice because of harassments he faces, Yaqoob says "we prefer being patients and avoiding any harm as much as we can." He notes that political leadership gives Jewish citizen more care and concern.

Does they sound like a proud, equal members of the Yemen community or more like ....dhimmis?

And notice the Arab mentality - it is only natural for Arabs to "harass" Jews because of what Israel does. One cannot expect them to act as if they had morals. So the harassment that they inevitably will do is Israel's fault!

Hamas said to have killed informant

Palestine Press reports that Hamas immediately found someone to blame for Israel's successful killing of Hamas leader Said Siam and executed him on the spot.

According to the report, Siam drove to his house and kept the engine running while he ran inside. That was when the IAF got him.

Hamas claims that they extracted a confession from the informant, said to be an insider, and then shot him immediately.

The PalArab self-death count therefore goes up...

The list of Hamas war crimes

The Jerusalem Post has an interview with an international law scholar, who said "The fighting tactics and ideology of Hamas are a 'case study par excellence' of a systematic violation of international humanitarian law."

He lists six war crimes that Hamas is doing regularly and systematically:

"First, the deliberate targeting of civilians is in and of itself a war crime," he noted, referring to the Hamas rockets fired at southern towns for eight years.

"A second war crime is when Hamas attacks [from within] civilian areas and civilian structures, whether it be an apartment building, a mosque or a hospital, in order to be immune from a response from Israel," he went on. "Civilians are protected persons, and civilian areas are protected areas. Any use of a civilian infrastructure to launch bombs is itself a war crime."

That Hamas bears legal responsibility for the harm to civilians in areas from which it fires is enshrined throughout international law, he said: "In the general principles of customs binding on nations, in the specific international law of armed conflict [also called] international humanitarian law, in the Fourth Geneva Convention, in decisions of the International Court of Justice and the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - it's all set out there."

Third, he explained, "the misuse and abuse of humanitarian symbols for purposes of launching attacks is called the perfidy principle. For example, using an ambulance to transport fighters or weapons or disguising oneself as a doctor in a hospital, or using a UN logo or flag, are war crimes."

The fourth violation, "of which little has been made, is the prohibition in the Fourth Geneva Convention and international jurisprudence against the direct and public incitement to genocide. The Hamas covenant itself is a standing incitement to genocide. [Similarly,] just before this fighting started, I saw Hamas leaders on television referring to Israel and Jews as the sons of apes and pigs."

The fifth crime relates to the scope of the attack on civilians, which upgrades the violation to a crime against humanity. According to Cotler, "when you deliberately hit civilians not infrequently but in a systematic, widespread attack, that's defined in the treaty of the International Criminal Court and international humanitarian law as a crime against humanity."

The final war crime for which Hamas is responsible is the recruitment of children into armed conflict.

Beyond these six, I think we can add:

* Combatants must wear uniforms and carry their weapons openly during military operations and during preparation for them.

* Wearing the uniforms of the enemy while engaged in combat is also a clear violation of the rules of war.

* Phosphorus payloads in rockets. (It can be used for smoke and illumination, but it cannot be aimed at civilians.)

* Violating rules for treatment of prisoners of war (not allowing Red Cross to visit, for example.)

* Immediate execution of supposed "collaborators" and others without a trial.

These are just during this operation, one additional one is that Hamas regularly tortured prisoners, sometimes to death.

Any others?