Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Goldstone Report does not condemn Hamas once (part 22)

Ma'an quotes to an Al-Arabiya TV interview with Hamas politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouq. In the interview, Marzouq points out exactly why Hamas is so ecstatic over the Goldstone report, even though people think that the report condemns Hamas for shooting rockets into Israel.

Marzouq points out something interesting:

Moussa Abu Marzouq reiterated the party’s stance on the UN-mandated Goldstone report, which says there is evidence of war crimes in the actions of Israel and Gaza factions during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in December and January.

“It was all Palestinian factions who launched projectiles,” Abu Marzouq said, “including Fatah,” indicating that the report does not single out Hamas.

Sure enough, the report does everything possible not to explicitly name Hamas as being in violation of any humanitarian laws.

Going back to the section that is about Qassam rocket attacks against Israel, here is the first time the word "Hamas" is written in that section outside the footnotes, para. 1608:

On 20 April 2009, a member of Hamas called on other armed groups to stop firing rockets “in the interests of the Palestinian people”

Unbelievably, Hamas is only mentioned as a force that wants to stop rocket fire!

Later on, Goldstone does passingly mention the "armed groups" that it is referring to. Hamas, of course, is not one of them, but the Qassam Brigades are described as:

1611. The ‘al Qassam Brigades’ are the armed wing of the Hamas political movement.

Goldstone's reluctance to blame Hamas even for rocket attacks on Israel borders on the comical. The report is forced to admit that Hamas had taken specific responsibility for rockets:

1627. The first civilian casualties from rocket fire were recorded on 28 June 2004 in Sderot, when Afik Zahavi (4 years old) and Mordehai Yosefof (49 years old) were killed by a Qassam rocket. Afik’s mother, Ruthie Zahavi (28 years old) was critically injured and nine others were wounded. Hamas claimed responsibility.994

1631. On 6 January 2009, during the Israeli military operations in Gaza, Khaled Mashal, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau wrote in an open letter that the demand to stop the Palestinian resistance was ‘absurd … our modest home made-rockets are our cry of protest to the world”

The comedy descends into farce in this paragraph:

1635. In response to questions by the Mission, on 29 July 2009, the Gaza authorities stated that they had “nothing to do, directly or indirectly, with al-Qassam or other resistance factions” and stated that they were able to exercise a degree of persuasion over the armed factions in relation to proposed ceasefires. While noting that the weaponry used by the armed factions was not accurate, the Gaza authorities discouraged the targeting of civilians.

Not an ounce of skepticism by Goldstone for these manifestly absurd distinctions between Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades; on the contrary, it appears that Goldstone embraced these distinctions - even when it clearly knows otherwise (para. 1611 above.)

In its Conclusions and Recommendations section, concerning rockets, the most critical paragraph again avoids blaming Hamas:

1950. In relation to the firing of rockets and mortars into southern Israel by Palestinian armed groups operating in the Gaza Strip, the Mission finds that the Palestinian armed groups fail to distinguish between military targets and the civilian population and civilian objects in southern Israel. The launching of rockets and mortars which cannot be aimed with sufficient precisions at military targets breaches the fundamental principle of distinction. Where there is no intended military target and the rockets and mortars are launched into civilian areas, they constitute a deliberate attack against the civilian population. These actions would constitute war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity.

This is the "balance" that Goldstone proudly points to. Israel is mentioned explicitly with regards to tens of alleged human rights violations; Hamas is not mentioned in connection with any war crimes! And Goldstone maintains the fictional separation between "the Gaza authorities" and "armed groups," meaning between Hamas and its own military wing called the al-Qassam Brigades.

Nothing about Hamas in the Gilad Shalit paragraph:

1952. With regard to the continuing detention of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Mission finds that, as a soldier who belongs to the Israeli armed forces and who was captured during an enemy incursion into Israel, Gilad Shalit meets the requirements for prisoner-of war status under the Third Geneva Convention and should be protected, treated humanely and be allowed external communication as appropriate according to that Convention.

Even the sections that undoubtedly must refer to Hamas manages to avoid They Who Must Not Be Named:

1954. Although the Gaza authorities deny any control over armed groups and responsibility for their acts, in the Mission’s view, if they failed to take the necessary measures to prevent the Palestinian armed groups from endangering the civilian population, the Gaza authorities would bear responsibility for the damage arising to the civilians living in Gaza.

Similarly, the Recommendations section avoids the dreaded H-word as well:

1973. To Palestinian armed groups,
(a) The Mission recommends that Palestinian armed groups should undertake forthwith to respect international humanitarian law, in particular by renouncing attacks on Israeli civilians and civilian objects, and take all feasible precautionary measures to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians during hostilities;

(b) The Mission recommends that Palestinian armed groups who hold Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in detention should release him on humanitarian grounds. Pending such release they should recognize his status as prisoner of war, treat him as such, and allow him ICRC visits.

The only recommendations in the report to "Gaza authorities" are to release political detainees and to "continue to enable the free and independent operation of Palestinian non-governmental organizations."

Hamas is not given a single recommendation to stop rocket attacks. Hamas is not told to stop incitement. Hamas is not told to release Gilad Shalit (as if he is being held against Hamas' wishes!).

No wonder Hamas is thrilled about the report. In the entire 450 page report, Hamas is not singled out once for condemnation.

And all the news stories and Goldstone interviews that claim that the report condemns Hamas are wrong.

The Honor Song

From Israeli humor show Latma, a musical interview with the Palestinian Minister of Uncontrollable Rage. Click on the lower right arrow and the CC button to read subtitles.

"Who needs life at all if there is honor?"

Islamic Jihad al-Quds Brigades endorses Goldstone

The Sayara.ps al-Quds Brigades website praises the Goldstone Report and "the great efforts undertaken by the legal institutions and human rights organizations in rallying support" for the report.

Terrorists really seem to be enamored of this report and of the "human rights" organizations that have pushed it.

In the same website today is another article that stresses that terrorism ("resistance") is the only way to defeat Israel.

Islamic Jihad website brags about prisoner getting masters degree

Saraya.ps, the Islamic Jihad al-Quds Brigades website, has an article about PIJ leader Abd al- Rahman Rabia Shihab, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Hadarim prison Israel.

While in prison, Shihab received a bachelor's and master's degree in sociology.

The article talks about how the Israeli authorities supposedly tried to stop him from taking these courses, but how he prevailed anyway. Which is really weird, because he received his degrees from Israel's Open University and clearly he was allowed to take these classes by the Israeli prison authorities.

But, everyone knows that Palestinian Arab prisoners are routinely tortured, so perhaps the torture was scheduled while he was doing his homework.

Saudi rumors that H1N1 vaccine causes infertility

Al Arabiya reports that rumors are speeding through Saudi Arabia that the swine flu is a conspiracy and that the vaccine causes infertility in 80% of those who take it. This rumor is spreading just as the vaccine is being readied to be given to the population.

The conspiracy theory did not originate in the Middle East. Here's one version of it on YouTube.

Unlike Al Arabiya's last article quoting an Arab doctor about how H1N1 is a conspiracy, this article actually interviews real doctors and also attempts to uncover the origins of the conspiracy theory.

Morning tweet links

Media Backspin's tweets this morning include:

The 3-minute video that may prove Iran's nuclear intentions (Ha'aretz)

The video depicted a room made of stone. At the center stood a Perspex mock-up - equipped with a flashing red light - of a ball-shaped bomb resting in the metallic, gold-plated cone of a missile warhead. In the most important scene in the film, the computer simulation shows the launched warhead reentering the atmosphere and exploding 600 meters above the earth's surface. According to experts, this is the ideal altitude for detonating a nuclear bomb in order to generate the maximum degree of destruction on the ground.

Historical revisionism on the Temple Mount (HuffPo)

The Waqf Authority -- the Islamic land trust that has administered the Temple Mount since the 12th century -- has used bulldozers to destroy Judeo-Christian ruins beneath the Mount. I toured the rubble firsthand and saw the crushed Herodian-era glass, Temple pottery, and smashed Templar crosses. The Israeli archaeologists sifted through the piles like medics surveying a battlefield with no survivors.

HRW founder joins its critics (NYT)

At Human Rights Watch, we always recognized that open, democratic societies have faults and commit abuses. But we saw that they have the ability to correct them — through vigorous public debate, an adversarial press and many other mechanisms that encourage reform.
That is why we sought to draw a sharp line between the democratic and nondemocratic worlds, in an effort to create clarity in human rights. We wanted to prevent the Soviet Union and its followers from playing a moral equivalence game with the West and to encourage liberalization by drawing attention to dissidents like Andrei Sakharov, Natan Sharansky and those in the Soviet gulag — and the millions in China’s laogai, or labor camps.
When I stepped aside in 1998, Human Rights Watch was active in 70 countries, most of them closed societies. Now the organization, with increasing frequency, casts aside its important distinction between open and closed societies.

And one more link, The Bedouin who Serve in Israel's Army (BBC):

The traditional view of the Arab-Israeli conflict is of Jews fighting Muslims. But that image does not always reflect the truth.

In fact, there are thousands of Muslim Bedouin who serve in the Israeli army, or IDF, and even bear arms against their fellow Muslims in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

They do so although it is not compulsory for them to serve in the Israeli military, as it is for most Israeli Jews, and sometimes military service comes with a price tag.

"I will do whatever is required from me to do the job with the full faith in the service of the Israeli state," asserts Maj Fehd Fallah, a Bedouin from the village of Saad in the Israeli occupied Golan.

He is happy to perform his duty, whoever he may have to fight against.

UN lists Iranian human rights violations; media ignores it

A few days ago, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon issued a report on the state of human rights in Iran. It is only 18 pages long, and Moon bends over backwards to find positive things to say about some trends, but on the whole it is a pretty damning document in its details. Some excerpts:

The year also saw, however, an increase in human rights violations targeting women, university students, teachers, workers and other activist groups, particularly in the aftermath of the elections.

The death penalty continued to be widely applied, including in some cases involving juveniles. There were at least some cases of stoning and public execution, despite moves by the authorities to curb such practices. Cases of torture, amputation and flogging and suspicious deaths and suicides of prisoners while in custody were also reported.

On 19 June 2009, five independent United Nations experts in a press statement voiced grave concern about the use of excessive police force, arbitrary arrests and killings. They noted that, while the protests had largely been peaceful, violent clashes with security forces had resulted in the death, injury and arrest of numerous individuals.

The Special Rapporteur ... cited a number of different torture methods, including sleep deprivation, beatings, stress positions and lack of access to health care. The individuals allegedly subjected to such treatment included members of student groups, religious groups, journalists, human rights defenders, union campaigners, social activists, individuals who had committed crimes as juveniles and individuals associated with various minority groups, including the Baha’i, Azerbaijani and Kurdish segments of the Iranian population.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the death penalty is imposed for certain hudud
crimes, including adultery, incest, rape, fornication for the fourth time by an
unmarried person, drinking alcohol for the third time, sodomy, sexual conduct
between men without penetration for the fourth time, lesbianism for the fourth time,
fornication by a non-Muslim man with a Muslim woman and false accusation of
adultery or sodomy for a fourth time. Furthermore, the death penalty can be applied
for the crimes of enmity with God (mohareb) and corruption on earth (mofsed fil
arz) as one of four possible punishments. Under the category of ta’zir crimes, the
death penalty can be imposed for “cursing the Prophet” (article 513 of the Penal
Code). The death penalty can also be applied to such crimes as the smuggling or
trafficking of drugs, murder, espionage and crimes against national security.

According to Amnesty International, eight juvenile offenders were executed in 2008, and to date three have reportedly been executed in 2009.

OHCHR continues to receive reports of human rights abuses against minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. While it is impossible to verify all the information received, a pattern of concern arises with respect to the protection of minorities, including the Baha’i community, the Arab minority in Khuzestan, the Nematollahi Sufi Muslim community, the Kurdish community, the Sunni community, the Baluchi community and the Azeri-Turk community.

As highlighted in the previous report of the Secretary-General, serious restrictions remain on the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression issued a number of urgent appeal letters expressing serious concerns over allegations received that groups such as journalists, students, poets and human rights defenders had been arrested and imprisoned.

Don't expect to see anything about this report in the New York Times, or the BBC. It has received practically no publicity from the media outside the Baha'i community. (Al Arabiya mentioned it because it was the first time the UN acknowledged Iranian persecution of their Arab minority in Khuzestan.)

Notable

Asharq al-Awsat has an interesting story of a brewing battle over Gaza's mosques between hamas and Islamic Jihad:

The Islamic Jihad members are also pursued because of the ongoing war to control a number of mosques.
Sources within the Islamic Jihad told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Al-Quds Brigades declared a large-scale state of alert, a move that almost led to clashes between the two sides after a member of the Al-Quds Brigades fired shots at government personnel who tried to arrest him before he escaped.
The sources said that Hamas security agencies stormed homes of the Al-Quds Brigades personnel in an improper way in Khan Yunus, southern Gaza Strip, late at night without respect for the privacy of homes.
The sources added: "Twenty of our personnel are still being pursued."
Moreover, more serious incidents took place in Al-Shujaiyah, where large altercations and skirmishes took place between Hamas and Jihad members after Hamas was accused of attempting to control the Al-Rahman and Al-Quran Mosques.

(h/t Judeopundit via Mustafa)

The Daily Australian slams the UNHRC.

Tom Gross points out that the word "terrorism" is being used pretty freely - not for Israeli citizens but for Iranian Revolutionary Guard thugs.

Ma'an newspaper sues Hamas leader for slander

A few years ago, Ma'an was the only reasonably objective Palestinian Arab news outlet. Every other paper was clearly aligned with with a political party except for Ma'an. It was the only PalArab paper that openly criticized both Fatah and Hamas.

Then, when Hamas took over Gaza and started threatening journalists, Ma'an turned into Hamas' puppy dog. Since then, Ma'an has almost completely stopped its criticism of Hamas, waiting until someone else criticizes the terrorists and then quoting it (usually along with Hamas denials.)

Today, however, Ma'an is taking legal action against a Hamas politician...because he accused the agency of not being pro-Hamas enough.

For the first time in its five year history, Ma’an News Agency is pursuing legal channels against a political figure who verbally attacked the agency.

The controversy concerns remarks by Gaza-based Hamas lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri, who sought to discredit a Ma’an news report that Hamas plans eventually to sign on to the Egyptian-backed Palestinian unity initiative. The report stated that Hamas will sign the deal as soon as the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Khalid Mash’al, returns from consultations with a foreign country not named by the source.

Al-Masri slammed the report on a Gazan website, saying, “What was posted on Ma’an was just an anecdote … Ma’an is a Fatah mouthpiece whose cheap dealings and publishing of lies bolster the Zionist movement.”

Ma’an’s attorney, Shawki Issa said that Al-Masri’s accusations were harmful. “We are a media institution founded on the principle of civilized debate. We are shocked at this bizarre and rude criticism.”

How dare Hamas accuse Ma'an of being against Hamas! Ma'an must defend its honor as being as pro-terror as any other news agency!

Hamas taking over Gaza Dental Association

Hamas seems to have become emboldened in recent days to seize control over various independent institutions. Last year it took over the doctors and teachers unions, expelling anyone who it felt would be a threat; earlier today Hamas raided a charity.

This afternoon Hamas seized documents and equipment belonging to the Gaza Dental Association, and it setting up a committee to take over the dentists' union, much to the consternation of Gaza dentists.

These sorts of stories were prevalent up until a couple of months ago and then they died down. It seems likely that in the wake of the one-sided UNHRC condemnation of Israel on Friday that Hamas has proof that its own human rights violations will be ignored by the world, and it is acting accordingly.

Goldstone report problems, part 21

Paragraph 1515 of the Goldstone report says:

1515. At the public hearing in Geneva on 6 July 2009, Mr. Shawan Jabarin of Al-Haq reported that tens of thousands of Palestinians today are subject to a travel ban imposed by Israel, preventing them from travelling abroad. Mr. Jabarin, whom the Mission heard in Geneva by way of videoconference, had been subject to such a travel ban since he became the director of Al-Haq, the West Bank’s oldest human rights organization. Mr Jabarin challenged his travel ban in the Israeli High Court after he was prevented from travelling to the Netherlands to receive a human rights prize, but the ban was upheld on the basis of ‘secret evidence’.864 Mr. Jabarin believed that the ban was imposed as punishment.

Footnote 864 says:

For the Israeli High Court decision of 10 March 2009 (Al-Haq translation), see www.alhaq.org/pdfs/Shawanabarin-v.pdf;

So since Goldstone used the testimony of Shawan Jabirin, and since the commission quotes from one of Al Haq's documents that translates an Israeli Supreme Court decision, let's look at what the document actually says:

1. The petitioner, a resident of the West Bank, requests to be permitted to leave for abroad – according to the petition – in order to participate in the award ceremony of a prestigious award for “human rights defenders”.

The state objects to the request due to the objections of security officials. In the public response submitted by the state, it is said that the petitioner is a senior activist in a terrorist organisation, and that his leaving for abroad may serve for the advancement of the terrorist organisation’s activity in the West Bank.

2. This is not the first time that the petitioner has submitted a petition regarding his desire to leave the country. In the framework of the previous petitions, the Supreme Court has reviewed secret material, presented ex parte, of behalf of the security authorities, and we have done the same today. The petitions were all rejected in the past. Thus, in its verdict of 20 June 2007, the Court found that:

“this petitioner is apparently active as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in part of his hours of activity he is the director of a human rights organisation, and in another part he is an activist in a terrorist organisation which does not shy away from acts of murder and attempted murder, which have nothing to do with rights, and, on the contrary, deny the most basic right of all, the most fundamental of fundamental rights, without which there are no other rights – the right to life.”

In its decision of 7 July 2008, the Court found that:

“we are dealing with reliable information according to which the petitioner is among the senior activists of the terrorist organisation, The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”

(h/t NGO Monitor)

Goldstone relied on testimony from someone who, if the commission read their own footnotes, was proven by the Israeli Supreme Court to be a senior member of the terrorist group PFLP!

And notice that the director of Al Haq, the "West Bank’s oldest human rights organization," is a PFLP terrorist - something that, as far as I can tell, Jabarin does not deny. In fact, in 2003, Israel allowed Jabarin to travel to Jordan - and Jordan refused to accept him presumably because of his terror links!

Hamas steals aid, attacks wedding

Palestine Press Agency reports on two incidents in Gaza.

This morning, dozens of Hamas militants attacked a charity, Cooperative Housing Foundation International (CHF), arrested its workers, and confiscated aid meant for needy families. (CHF indeed feeds thousands of Gazans. Its website is silent on this matter.)

And on Saturday night, Hamas members attacked a wedding, arresting some guests and breaking chairs and sound equipment. [h/t Yerushalimey for spelling]

(PalPress is very anti-Hamas and has articles that none of the news agencies in Gaza would dare report, but its track record has been pretty good.)

PalArab anthem parody causes freak-out

I finally found an English article about the controversy over the Palestinian Arab national anthem being played in a "distorted" way by Al Jazeera.

What happened is that a parody of the unofficial Palestinian Arab anthem had been going around various Arab websites over the past month, and Al Jazeera played part of it for guests belonging to Hamas and Fatah to ask their opinion. It was not Biladi, the official vengeful national anthem, but Mawtini, which was written in 1936 (and has more recently become the national anthem - of Iraq!)

Someone who was clearly sick and tired of how Palestinian Arab leaders act (of course, he wants them to embrace their terror roots far more) made fun of Mawtini, and the PalArabs directed their anger at Al Jazeera for playing it. Here are the parody lyrics that were played on the air and the original English translations:

My homeland, My homeland
Curse and perversity, Plague and hypocrisy
Are in your hills, Are in your hills
Tyrants and oppressors, Cunning not fidelity
Are in your sanctuary, Are in your sanctuary
Will I see you? Nothing else

Original:

My homeland, My homeland
Glory and beauty, Sublimity and splendor
Are in your hills, Are in your hills
Life and deliverance, Pleasure and hope
Are in your air, Are in your Air
Will I see you? Will I see you?

The original parody had more scathing lines:

My homeland, My homeland / My homeland, My homeland
The youth will not tire, 'till your independence / Agreement will never emerge
Or they die / No, its star will not appear
We will drink from death / Again
And will not be to our enemies / All kinds of parties have appeared
Like slaves, Like slaves / With one worry in mind
We do not want, We do not want / Which is to enslaved to our enemies
An eternal humiliation / And that you perish, you perish
Nor a miserable life / They don’t want, they don’t want
We do not want / Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock
But we will bring back / Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock
Our storied glory, Our storied glory / Instead, they want, instead, they want
My homeland, My homeland / To live like slaves
The sword and the pen / Which is certain shame for us
Not the talk nor the quarrel / My homeland, My homeland

The video of the parody, showing various PalArab leaders who are considered traitors, can be seen here. It already has about 50,000 views on YouTube.

The Resurrection of ZOG!

One might think that in the wake of Walt/Mearsheimer, Obama's seeming pandering towards "moderate" Arabs, the growth of "J Street" and other issues, that the storied Zionist Occupied Government controlled by a secret cabal of Joos was on the ropes.

But the enemies of the Elders never counted on...Astro Boy!

According to the movie synopsis,

ZOG (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) - Most of the old robots that are dropped to the Surface from Metro City are in pretty bad shape. Astro Boy manages to resurrect Zog and gain a powerful ally who is bigger and stronger than any other robot on the Surface.

We're back, baby! And the Nazis at Stormfront are nervous! (http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=646266)

Daily Goldstone 10/18

Yaacov Lozowick picks up on another of those really reliable Gaza eyewitnesses:

On page 200 of the Goldstone Report we find this sentence:

706. The Israeli ground offensive from the east reached al-Samouni neighbourhood around 4 a.m. on 4 January 2009. In addition to the ground forces moving in from the east, there were, in all likelihood, heliborne398 troops that landed on the roofs of several houses in the area.

Should you wonder what that means, heliborne troops (and how would the Commission members have known?), you can follow footnote 398:

One witness told the Mission that on 5 January 2009, walking on Salah ad-Din Street towards Gaza, he saw by the roadside parachutes Israeli troops had used to land in the area.
Israel has not used parachutes in battle since 1956. I've never heard of parachutists in any army jumping from helicopters, because the two methods contradict one another. Parachutists jump from mid-altitude airplanes, and aim at large areas since they cannot be guided to precise points. Helicopters land troops on precise points; the troops jump out from a height of a foot, or three.

I haven't heard of Israeli troops being flown by helicopter into battle in Gaza, but who knows? Maybe it happened. If so, eyewitnesses would be able to tell about it in one, very clear case: if they saw the helicopters coming in, effectively landing, and then leaving troops behind them. It's that simple.

The story told by the witness is straight from some Arabian tall tale. I am totally at loss for an explanation as to why the fact finders would have wished to cast themselves as giving the time of day to such fabulists, but I'm at loss for an explanation about lots of things in their report. Keep in mind, however, that one of the four members was chosen for being a military man, and some of their staff were hired for their military expertize, so it's not that they didn't know better.

h/t Tzvi