Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 07, 2009

Today's PalArab news 12/7/2009

The PFLP accused Hamas of shutting down a planned rally near Gaza City, saying that Hamas wants a monopoly on political opinion in the Strip.

A bomb destroyed a car, and damaged a house, of Maher Abu Khalil Shamallakh in Gaza. Firas Press uncovered audio evidence that Hamas was behind this assassination attempt, and indeed Hamas has been trying to suppress this news. I am not sure what Shammalakh's affiliation is.

There are reports that Israel has demolished 450 buildings that were illegally built in Area C. Not in the past week, or last month - but over the past 12 years! I wonder how this compares to the demolition of buildings for zoning or similar purposes in any other country. As usual, acting hysterical over a non-story turns it into a big deal.

After denying that there were any cases of swine flu in Gaza, Hamas admitted that there were five cases.By coincidence, two of them died yesterday.

In other Gaza health news, Hamas stopped some 40 hospital patients from traveling to Israel for treatment, including children who need intensive care.

Gazans who need a vacation are flocking to the dismantled Jewish settlements for rest and recreation.

A UNRWA scandal in Lebanon

The article I just quoted from Al Arabiya, about refugees from Jordan in Lebanon who are still considered "Palestinian" and therefore have no rights, also includes a little-known fact that points to a huge scandal of how UNRWA conducts itself in Lebanon:

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) lists nearly 400,000 [descendants of 1948 refugees.]

But Lebanese and Palestinian officials say the number of refugees actually resident in Lebanon may be as low as 250,000 as UNRWA does not strike off its figures Palestinians who move to other countries.

So UNRWA exaggerates the number of "refugees" in Lebanon by an astounding 60% - and begs money from world governments based on hugely inflated numbers.

Suffering "Palestinians" treated like dirt in Lebanon

From Al-Arabiya:

Saeed Mohamed Hammo technically does not exist as far as the world is concerned. But as he recounts his life as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, his story is very much real.

Hammo, 61, is among an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 so-called "non-ID Palestinians" in Lebanon who are considered illegal aliens and who have lived in legal limbo, many of them for decades.

They have no freedom of movement, no right to work and no access to medical services or education.

Lebanon recognizes as refugees only Palestinians who fled here following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

The majority of the non-ID Palestinians came to Lebanon in the 1970s following the events known as Black September, when Jordan kicked out the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and thousands of Palestinian fighters.

As such, they are not considered refugees by Lebanese authorities and have no official status.

"Non-ID Palestinians live in harsh conditions and are deprived of some of the most important and basic human rights," Mireille Chiha, of the Danish Refugee Council office in Beirut, told AFP.

"They have no freedom of movement, can't purchase a car or motorbike and they don't benefit from the services of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees," she added. "Even within the refugee camps, they are referred to as the 'ghareeb' or foreigner.

Jamileh Mohammed Salloum, 40, is Lebanese and married a non-ID Palestinian at the age of 18 without realizing the hardships that awaited her and the three children she would bear.

A Lebanese woman is legally not entitled to pass on her citizenship to her children or spouse.

"I never in my wildest dreams imagined that my children would have no rights and that my country would treat me like this," she said angrily. "Where are the human rights that everyone likes to talk about?

"My children don't even know Palestine, they are Lebanese."

Even though regular Palestinian Arab descendants of 1948 refugees have limited rights in Lebanon, the ones who were driven out of Jordan - the PLO heroes - are in even worse shape. This is an entirely Arab-created problem, of "Palestinians" who have never been in Palestine and whose troubles have been exclusively the result of Arab decisions.

Notice also that it appears likely that UNRWA's bizarre definition of "refugee" that inflates the number of real refugees from 1948 by a factor of 10 or so is now being used by Lebanon against the children of Jordanian "Palestinian" refugees from the 1970s. These children born in Lebanon should be Lebanese citizens by any definition - even UNRWA's - but the notion of descendants of Palestinian Arabs being "refugees" is so ingrained by the UN that thousands of people are suffering because of it.

Omri on HRW

Omri at Mere Rhetoric writes again about HRW and Garlasco.

Don't read it because it is a comprehensive takedown of HRW's dishonesty and paranoia. Don't read it because it is a classic example of Omri's incomparable snarkiness.

Read it because it mentions me, and I am an egomaniac that way.

Did the Vilna Gaon predict the date of the third Temple?

Last week Ha'aretz reported:

If the 18th-century rabbinic authority the Vilna Gaon was right, on March 16, 2010, construction will begin on the third Temple. His projection states that the auspicious day will coincide with the third completion of the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter.

The great day is at hand: On March 15, the reconstructed Hurva Synagogue, considered the most important house of prayer in Jerusalem will be rededicated. It was last destroyed in the War of Independence.

The Hurva, whose name means "ruin," was initially built by disciples of Rabbi Judah Hahasid in the early 18th century. It was destroyed shortly thereafter by Muslims demanding the return of loans given to build the synagogue. After it was rebuilt in the mid-19th century, it became the most important synagogue in the country, but it was blown up in 1948 by the Jordan Legion a few days before the fall of the Jewish Quarter in the War of Independence.

In 2001, after years of debate, the government decided to restore the building.

The historic building, whose famous dome one more dominates the skyline of the Jewish Quarter, has now been meticulously recreated, including furnishings and wall frescoes.

This story has been making the rounds ever since Ha'aretz published it, and now the Palestinian Arabs are, predictably, saying that Israel plans to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque in March.

But nowhere can I find a source for this "prophecy," as some are calling it. Does anyone have a source, or is Ha'aretz being Ha'aretz?

Internet problems open thread

My Internet connection has been really maddeningly screwy the past couple of days. Every few minutes it just chokes, then comes back. I might have to reboot the entire Elder network, which could take some time due to its vast international reach.

So while I try to calm down, check out this week's Haveil Havalim, done by Batya.

UPDATE: It sure doesn't look like I'll get any blogging done today. I have a super-secret Zionist meeting this evening at a major Manhattan hotel, where we plan our evil Zio-ultra-right-wing-nationalistic-hawkish schemes and cheer our successes.

And eat lots of food.

UPDATE 2: An outtake from last week's video of the British anti-semite going to watch "Seven Jewish Children."

Back on YouTube

Due to popular demand, and much grumbling about the NMA-TV video servers I was using, I uploaded a few of my videos back onto YouTube, under a new Elder of Ziyon channel.

I will slowly be putting more of my older videos on that site, but I have to stay away from anything that YouTube might find offensive, or else I'll get kicked off again. So I will be keeping my NMA-TV and LiveLeak accounts open as well.

Zionist Locks and a test case for "pro-Palestinian" activists

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday it seized dozens of high-security locks in Ramallah as a part of a crackdown on products manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements. The Department of Consumer Protection of the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy said it confiscated 70 “Mul-T-Lock” products, which are produced in a factory in the settlement of Barqan, near the Palestinian town of Salfit. Abdul Hamid Mizher, the director of the consumer protection department appealed in a statement to all Palestinian merchants to abide by the ministry’s instructions to boycott settlement products.

Mul-T-Lock is one of many companies that reside in the Barkan Industrial Zone. About 40% of the 6000 workers in that zone are Palestinian Arabs. When the PA tries to boycott these products, they are hurting their own economy. Israeli anti-settler group Gush Shalom says "We hope for the complete collapse of the Barkan Industrial Zone, which is an economic mainstay of the settlement project." The Israeli Supreme Court recently ruled that workers' rights in the territories must be to the same standard as within Israel. Barkan Industrial Zone apparently fell short in many areas compared to the working conditions in Israel. This is being used by "pro-Palestinian" activists as a reason to close the industrial zone altogether - when, if they really cared about Palestinian Arab workers, they should be lobbying to improve conditions and oversight at Barkan, not shut it down and add to the West Bank's already high unemployment rate. Which makes this a good test case to find out how many people who claim they care about Palestinian Arabs really think: Should it be shut down and add to PalArab unemployment, or should it be improved and brought up to salary and working standards that will help ordinary West Bank Arabs? Should it become a test case for Arab-Jewish cooperation or should it be scrapped? The answers to those questions can tell a lot about how "pro-Palestinian" many of these activists are.

Those evil Israelis, helping the Jordanian economy

YNet reports:

Jordanian sources claim that the export of some 500 tons of cucumbers to Israel in November has resulted in a spike in local cucumber prices.

The As-Sabeel weekly quoted Jordanian sources as saying that local merchants and middlemen purchased the produce at local vegetable markets in order to sell it to Israel at relatively steep prices.

Jordanian farmers say that during the transition period between autumn and winter, when cucumber harvests are unstable, Israeli merchants are willing to pay more (3.5-4 dinars, or $5-6.50) for every five-kilogram (10 pound) box of cucumbers.

Meanwhile, say the sources, the export of cucumbers to Israel has spurred an increase in local cucumber prices to a level of 0.7-0.9 dinars, or $1-1.30 per kilo.

Jordanian farmers told As-Sabeel that they had decided to export cucumbers to Israel despite protests from organizations opposed to the normalization of ties with the Jewish state because they could not sell them to other markets in Syria and the Gulf states.

So local Jordanian farmers found a customer for their products that are willing to pay a premium for them. In any other context, this would be considered a good thing, and a boon to the local economy. Yet since the customer happens to be Israel, their resultant greed is not blamed on the farmers themselves but on Israel for being willing to pay more for Jordanian goods!

In 1999, Jordanian farmers produced 74,000 tons of cucumbers, so the idea that selling a mere 500 tons to Israel would force the local market price to rise that dramatically is not likely.

It is worth mentioning that Jordanian cucumber farmers protested government regulations last year that forced them to lower their prices, to the point of threatening to destroy their cucumber crops rather than adhere to the regulations.

Hamas:"UNRWA aid should have no strings attached"

I mentioned the other day about UNRWA's budget shortfall, how it is partially the fault of Arab states that never paid their already pitifully small pledges to UNRWA, and that if the West truly wants to solve the "refugee" problem, it should shame the Arabs into shouldering their own responsibilities for the issue.

Hamas, predictably, has a different take on the issue.

Commenting on the UNRWA budget crisis, Hamas' minister of refugee affairs Hussam Ahmed says the the UNRWA budget deficit is a political issue, and that UNRWA is trying to use it to impose a political agenda on Palestinian Arabs.

He said "We are against the policy of Arabization of UNRWA because it pushes the international community to abandon its responsibilities towards refugees, and support towards making the refugee issue an Arab issue and not an international one."

Ahmed further said that since the "international community" (meaning the Western world) is responsible for the Balfour Declaration, the Sykes Picot agreement and the 1947 partition plan, then it is wholly responsible for the "refugees" and must pay them forever, without ever asking for anything in return.

It is almost as if he is worried that the West would one day do exactly as I suggested. Which is the best proof that it would work.

Cute kids with guns

The Sun (UK) has an expose of how Al Qaeda affiliates poses babies and small children with real weapons to make recruitment videos:

A TINY girl aged barely two sucks her fingers in childish innocence - while grasping an AK-47 assault rifle almost as big as her.
The tot, in full Muslim dress, was made to pose with the weapon dubbed the "Widowmaker" as part of a sickening propaganda stunt staged by extremists of the Islamic Jihad Union, linked to al-Qaeda.
The group - who target British and US troops from lairs on the Afghan border with Pakistan - also pictured the girl and five other toddlers with heavy weapons in front of a black Islamic flag.

The Sun had a similar expose four years ago, that time from Iraq.

Even so, you have to give credit to Palestinian Arabs for being the trendsetters in this arena. Even though it is commonplace nowadays to see pictures such as this one of a Palestinian Arab kid hanging out with a gun and his mentors,

they have been inculcating their kids with a love of violence for decades. Just check out this LIFE magazine

cover from June, 1970:

"Civilians" - the video

The video of the research that I and my co-bloggers did on the PCHR's lies about Gaza.

Turkish "analyst" says Jews ready to buy up Dubai

Palestine Today has an article that quotes a Turkish businessman as saying that Jewish money is ready to pounce on Dubai.

Someone named Orkhan Goksel says that he has warned since 2007 that Dubai would sink into debt, that Jewish banks would take over the country (since, as everyone knows, most of the banks are Jewish anyway) and - within a short period of time afterwards - Dubai will become a part of Israel.

He predicts that this will all occur by 2015.

(I have no idea why there are so many stories about anti-semitism today.)

Gaza kids enjoying 'Eid

Palestine Today has a photo essay of Gaza children enjoying 'Eid.

A majority of the pictures shows kids with toy guns:

Among the pictures was this unintentionally ironic shot:

Academic anti-semitism in the Ukraine

From Ha'aretz:

Stories appearing on several Ukrainian Web sites claim Israel has brought around some 25,000 Ukrainian children into the country over the past two years in order to harvest their organs.

The claim, which was made by a Ukrainian philosophy professor and author at a pseudo-academic conference in Kiev five days ago, is the latest expression of a wave of anti-Semitism in the country.

Jews, Israel and anti-Semitism have become a major motif of the presidential election campaign in Ukraine, with some figures making anti-Semitic statements and others condemning them. Some candidates, including a Jew and someone whose rivals claim is Jewish, blame a third rival - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - for bringing anti-Semitism into the race.

"Ukraine's political system is a parody of democracy," Russia's Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar, said.

Vyacheslav Gudin told the estimated 300 attendees of the Kiev conference a detailed story about a Ukrainian man's fruitless search for 15 children who had been adopted in Israel. The children, Gudin said, had clearly been taken by Israeli medical centers, where they were used for "spare parts." Gudin said it was essential that all Ukrainians be made aware of the genocide Israel was perpetrating.

The conference, some of whose participants belong to a Slavic-rights movement, also featured two professors who presented a book blaming "the Zionists" for the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s as well as the country's current condition.