Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, May 27, 2011

Terrorist who stabbed a rabbi to death gets monthly salary from the PA

Remember how people said that Hamas would become more moderate when they became part of a government?

Hamas' AlQassam.ps site put up an article today about Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed Fallit, who has been in an Israeli prison for 19 years. In May 1992, Rabbi Shimon Biran was ambushed and stabbed in the back by the terrorist, near Kfar Darom. The article praises him for stabbing a civilian and then talks about how difficult his time in prison has been.

Apparently, glorifying terrorists is still in style with the new, improved, moderate Hamas.

By the way, Fallit has been getting a monthly salary since 1994, courtesy of the Palestinian Authority - and your tax dollars. As PalWatch reported last week:

In 2004, the PA defined by law exactly who would be considered a prisoner as "anyone imprisoned in the occupation's [Israel's] prisons as a result of his participation in the struggle against the occupation."

The PA's Ministry for Prisoner Affairs said Thursday that its policy had always been to pay salaries to prisoners and their families "regardless of their political affiliations."

The ministry said it was unaware of any new law concerning salaries of prisoners and their families. It said, however, that the PA government had in recent years taken a number of decisions to raise the salaries of the prisoners and their family members.

The ministry pointed out that the PA had been paying salaries to prisoners since its establishment in 1994.

Good analysis of the Netanyahu/Obama drama from JPost

Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem Post has a thought provoking article that discusses, from a diplomatic perspective, why things happened the way they did over the past eight days.

He gives fairly reasonable answers to the questions:

Why did Obama surprise Netanyahu with a speech that clearly stated the 1967 lines as the negotiation baseline?

Why did Netanyahu choose to pick a fight with Obama, issuing an extremely tough response to the president’s Mideast speech?

Why, after issuing this response, did Netanyahu feel the need to cross swords with Obama when they issued joint statements after their Friday meeting?

Why did Obama decide to speak before AIPAC, and why did he say what he said?

Why was Netanyahu’s speech to Congress important, especially since he did not chart any radically new course?

Read the whole thing.

To that last question, I will add another answer.

Bibi's speech was not only important diplomatically, but also by its effect on the entire discourse around the Arab/Israeli conflict.

His speech changed the discussion from one that is framed in a pro-Arab way ("the settlements are the main obstacle to peace") to one that is more accurate, that is, that Israel is never going to compromise on its security, regardless of what people want. Changing the framework in this way has resulted in reporters and pundits being forced to change their arguments. It has, in short, moved the goalposts and re-awakened people to hearing Israel's viewpoint after years of nonstop pro-Arab rhetoric that invaded mainstream news media.

I don't know how long this will last, but that is not a small achievement.

(h/t Russell)

UNIFIL member killed, 4 injured in Lebanese blast

From AFP:

An Italian peacekeeper was killed and four wounded, one gravely, in an explosion targeting a UN patrol in south Lebanon on Friday, ANSA news agency reported, citing defence ministry sources.
Contacted by AFP, a defence ministry spokesman in Rome said: "I can confirm the attack but as the rescue is still under way I do not have a very clear idea of the situation. In principle we have one fallen and one gravely injured."

Other sources are saying two were killed.

JPost notes:

The explosion happened on the UN's International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, when peacekeepers killed in missions across the world are commemorated by their colleagues.

Must be Israel's fault. Probably rage at Netanyahu's speeches.

Why is BDS silent on Microsoft?

From Time in March:

Microsoft's "Kinect" hands-free motion control peripheral for the Xbox 360 has been confirmed by Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever.

Kinect "sold through an average of 133,333 units per day, for a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days on sale," says Guinness. The "sold through" part is especially important as sell-through denotes products actually purchased by customers—not just shipments to retail stores.

Guinness also points out that Kinect sales eclipsed "both the iPhone and the iPad for the equivalent periods after launch."

More than 10 million XBox Kinects have been sold.

The Kinect was designed by a company in Israel that sold it to Microsoft.

So why are we not hearing from BDSers to boycott Microsoft, or at least the XBox and Kinect?

After all, company size shouldn't matter. Isn't this a question of morality?

(Well, yes, it is, but not in the way the BDSers pretend it is....)

Arab Spring: new Nazi party in Egypt

From Al Masry al Youm:

A group of Egyptians have announced their intent to establish a Nazi party with "a contemporary frame of reference," an independent Egyptian news website said on Wednesday.

Al-Badeel, a leftist news portal, quoted founding member Emad Abdel Sattar as saying the party would bring together prominent figures from the Egyptian society. The party’s founding deputy is a former military official.

The party believes in vesting all powers in the president after selecting him or her carefully, Abdel Sattar said, adding that preparations are underway to choose the most competent person to represent the party.

The Nazi party operated secretly under former President Hosni Mubarak, whose regime prevented party leaders from carrying out their activities freely.

Although Al-Masry Al-Youm could not verify the news reported by Al-Badeel, two Facebook pages have appeared recently under the title of "the Egyptian Nazi Party".

I found a few Facebook pages, with lots of videos and photos and (predictable) anti-semitism. Here are two logos I saw:

They might be fringe, and they might be small, but I am not seeing any outrage in Egypt.

(h/t Elder of Lobby)

Is Israel booby-trapping Hamas weapons?

Firas Press quotes Israeli media today as saying that Hamas is fearful that some of the weapons it is receiving are actually booby-trapped or otherwise tampered with by Israel.

According to the story, Israel passes weapons to Bedouin in the Sinai who in turn smuggle them to Gaza. The Popular Front claims to have received weapons that were tampered with.

I don't know if it is true, but it is a great idea, isn't it?

They should add tracking systems as well.

Bad anti-Israel folk-singer tries again

Last year a self-styled "folk singer" named David Rovics put out a truly horrible song that made the Mavi Marmara terrorists sound like heroes. It turns out he has an entire library of anti-Israel songs, each one written and sung worse than the next.

He has a new song now because Netanyahu's speech really burned him up. It is so bad, it is funny.

I wrote my own folk song in response to last year's Rovics train wreck that is much better, and I even made a video of my own where the singer, in the same faux-singing style of Rovics, sings almost as badly as Rovics does.

So because it is Friday, here once again is the video and lyrics of my quickly written folk-song masterpiece, The Pawns of the Middle East:

In 1948 their leaders abandoned them

The rich Arabs packed up and went to Lebanon

Their confident leaders told them to get out of the way

So the Jews could be slaughtered and then they'll be back to stay

But that's not what happened. Their fighters didn't fight.

Wild rumors scared them, and most then joined the flight

They ended up in Egypt, Syria, Jordan

The Palestinian Arabs thought they'd start over again

They thought that they'd be welcomed by the Arabs who said that they loved them

But they were placed in giant camps, and had to stay in tents

They thought that they were all Arabs, but they were only that in name

The other Arabs didn't want them to remind them of their shame

Chorus:

Decade after decade, the Arabs let them down

They treated them like animals, and just used them as pawns

They thought that their problem was that they didn't have a state

But the real problem was that they were taught only to hate.

They wanted jobs, they wanted land, they wanted to fit in

Their hosts only wanted the millions given by the UN

They kept them stuck in camps, in disgusting misery

They did everything possible to ensure they'd never be free.

The Arab states passed laws to let them know where they stand

They couldn't work in certain jobs, couldn't own any land

They had no choice, no rights, no control over their fate

And they raised a generation who was taught nothing but hate.

Chorus

Jordan never gave them an inch of "historic Palestine"

The entire world had no problem. They thought that this was fine.

The only land that Arabs would allow them to receive

Was the land that would be left over when they forced the Jews to leave.

Their new leaders taught terror, for them not to be so meek

Jordan slaughtered thousands of them in a matter of just weeks

And so it went, year after year, kept in dire straits

400,000 of them got kicked out of Kuwait

Decade after decade, the Arabs let them down

They treated them like animals, and just used them as pawns

They thought that their problem was that they didn't have a state

But the real problem was that they were taught only to hate.

I made this song a "video response" to Rovics on YouTube, but somehow I doubt that he'll approve it. In fact, I predict that he'll complain to YouTube about mine and try to get it taken down.

Malaysian activists refuse to deliver aid for Gaza through Israel!

The saga of the Malaysian ship that styles itself as an "aid" ship continues....

First Israel stopped it and it was going to go to Egypt to get its cargo delivered to Gaza.

Then Egypt refused to let it dock.

Then it tried to go to Gaza again, and got stuck with engine trouble.

Now, the activists are refusing to allow Egypt to deliver the plastic sewer pipes the only way it can - via Kerem Shalom!

From AFP:

Malaysia activists refuse Gaza aid delivery via Israel

Activists on a Malaysian aid ship that had been bound for Gaza refused to hand their cargo to Egypt on Thursday, they said, fearing that it would end up in Israel.

They had tried to land in Gaza last week but changed course when the Israeli navy fired warning shots.

Matthias Chang, who is heading the mission for the Perdana Global Peace Foundation, told AFP the group was not consulted when the Malaysian and Egyptian governments worked out a deal to end the impasse.

"The Egyptian government has imposed on the Malaysian government as a condition (that)... the cargo be discharged... (and) transported via Karem Shalom, at the Israeli border in Gaza," Chang said.

"We are not assured that this cargo would in fact be delivered to Gaza, as in the past... most of the humanitarian aid was laid to waste in Israel," he added.

Chang also questioned Cairo's refusal to allow the cargo, consisting of 7.5 kilometres (4.6 miles) of sewage pipes, to be transferred via the Rafah crossing -- Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel -- given that it would be open this weekend.

"This turn of events demonstrates the insincerity of the Egyptian government and their implicit endorsement of the illegal siege when they explicitly stated they would permanently open the Rafah crossing," Chang said.

In the past, Hamas refused to accept much of the symbolic "aid" that was delivered by various supposedly pro-Palestinian activists. Now the Malaysians are trying to say that Israel stole the piles of garbage that "activists" threw into their political flotillas.

Of course, the Malaysian anti-Israel activists are not interested in delivering aid to Gaza, but in embarrassing Israel. As always, the joke is on them.

As a reminder, here is the alleged "60 tons of aid" that was on board the Free Gaza ship that was intercepted in February 2009:

(h/t Mike)

Nevada isn't only larger than Israel.... (UPDATED)

Five Nevada counties have a larger area than Israel!

UPDATE: Donkeyrock made a more colorful version:

Zionists are EVERYWHERE!

From MEMRI:

The Iranian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami said that Turkish President Abdullah Gul's call to Hamas to recognize Israel, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, attests that he is partner to the Zionist-Western plot aimed at toppling Hamas, and warned Gul that recognizing Israel would only encourage it to continue its aggression.

When the Turkish president has turned Zionist, then we really have reached world domination! Bwahahahaha!

Muslims forcing marriages on non-Muslim women

From The Australian:

AMID the upheavals in Egypt since January, reports have begun to emerge of a surge in disappearances of Coptic girls.

One priest in Cairo estimates that at least 21 young girls, many as young as 14, have disappeared from his parish alone.

In most cases, when a Christian girl who disappears is found by her family, she has been converted to Islam and married. The Coptic authorities, have even set up a series of refuges in monasteries to handle the growing numbers of girls who wish to return to their families, many of whom are not accepted by their family of origin.

But a worse problem for these women is that their conversion to Islam is irreversible.

Religion is stated on Egyptian ID documents and even though secular law provides for reversions, under the growth of sharia they are very difficult, except for those affording legal advocacy.

This situation is not unique to Egypt. There have been consistent reports of girls being coerced into Islamic conversion and marriage in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

That many of these girls are initially runaways is not in doubt. However, there is also evidence that a huge number are converted and married against their will.

The situation was documented in a controversial report published in 2009 on conversion and forced marriage of Coptic women by Washington DC-based Christian Solidarity International. The authors are Washington academic Michele Clark and Egyptian Coptic broadcast journalist Nadia Ghaly, based in Melbourne.

Between 2005 and 2008 they interviewed and documented 50 Egyptian women, mostly aged between 14 and 25, who had decided to return to their families. All claim to have been tricked, coerced or raped, converted to Islam and married. Most of the interviewees were trying to reconvert to their Christian identity, with limited or no success. The report's conclusions were printed in several major publications, including Forbes magazine.

Since the so-called Arab Spring, and the ensuing riots at Christian churches, the authors are trying to bring the subject of forced conversion and marriage to greater prominence.

Both groups live extremely closed, highly traditional separate lives and the norms surrounding marriage and sex are almost medieval, says Ghaly.

So, for example, it is not unheard of for a young Christian girl from a poor family to run away from an arranged marriage. Yet a high proportion of these women claim coercion, even rape, despite the shame that such a claim will cause if the girl wishes to return.

Many claim they were kept as virtual slaves. Others who were able to leave could not bring their children. Ghaly claims this is more than overt religious oppression, and amounts to "a form of cultural genocide".

She cites a document published by Human Rights Watch in November 2007, which says that even if Coptic women can obtain a divorce from their Muslim husband, those who wish to return to Christianity "meet with refusal and harassment from the Civil Status Department of the Ministry of Interior".

Under sharia law, reconversion is considered apostasy punishable by death.

(h/t Mike)

Afternoon links - part 2 - plus videos

Barry Rubin - Media gets Netanyahu trip exactly backwards

New poll shows deep American Jewish support for Israel (CAMERA)

AP's "fact check" is more spin than fact (CAMERA)

Just Journalism on the Economist's latest "Global Peace Index" ranking Israel near bottom (I looked at it last year and in 2009)

Iran denies IAEA report that it is working on nuclear weapons

Wiesenthal Center wants to boycott Swedish handball event

Top Jewish donor says he won't support Obama in 2012

Israeli girls choir performs in Norway. it has Jewish, Muslim and Christian girls in it.

Facebook call to march on Israel's borders June 7

YNet op-ed: Don't expect peace

Richard Kemp video:

Bi-Bi Pro American video that is all over the place:

(h/t Bill, Jack,Dan, Patrick, Challah Hu Akbar)

Jordanian man beaten to death by Saudi religious police - for long hair

Al Watan.sa and Firas Press report on the death of Nabil Hassan Hamid, 28, from Jordan.

Last week he was arrested by the Saudi religious police for the crime of having long hair. A member of the Muttawa chased him, beat him, and apparently shaved off his hair.

He was hospitalized for a week before succumbing to his injuries, apparently a brain hemorrhage. Here he is before his death:

The Saudi authorities say that he died from a 4-meter fall while fleeing, and added that "it is well known that people running fast in a panic might get a stroke." Later they claimed he died from an asthma attack.

Some Facebook pages have popped up to protest his murder.

Saudi woman driver/activist arrested, apologizes (updated)

From France 24 earlier this week:

In a tough setback for aspiring Saudi female drivers, Saudi police have arrested female activist Manal al-Sharif, who boldly posted a video of herself behind the wheel online on Friday. Our Observer was with her for the symbolic drive.

More than 600,000 people watched the video of al-Sharif chatting with a friend as she drives around the eastern Saudi city of Khobar. The seemingly mundane scene is in fact anything but. Deeply conservative Saudi Arabia is the last country in the world to ban women from driving.

Al-Sharif was reportedly arrested on May 22 while driving, released for a few hours then taken back into custody. A Saudi security official said she is being accused of “violating public order”, and will be held for five days while the case is investigated. The video she made was removed from YouTube following her arrest, as was the Facebook page she created calling on Saudi women to collectively defy the driving ban on June 17.

Nevertheless, a new Facebook page was created almost immediately, and the video survived on video sharing site YouTube, re-posted by Al-Sharif’s supporters.

Apparently, al-Sharif could not handle the pressure being brought to bear on her by the Saudi authorities. She is said to have released an abject apology that sounds very, very strange for someone who a week ago was such a pioneer:

Manal Al-Sharief admits she made a mistake by driving a car in the Kingdom and promises never to do it again. This is according to Dr. Ghazi Al-Shammari, Chairman of the Family Solidarity Committee in the Eastern Province Emirate, who told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that this is what Al-Sharief told him when he visited her at the Women’s Prison in Dammam.

Al-Sharief is the 32-year-old Saudi woman who was detained Saturday for driving a car in Al-Khobar.

Al-Shammari had visited her accompanied by Brig. Gen. Abdullah Al-Boushi, Director of the Eastern Province Prisons.

He said he spoke to her and quoted her as saying, “I made a mistake and I’m a daughter of this nation. I have nobody but my family and the sons and daughters of my nation. I advise girls of my generation to rally behind our leadership and Ulema. They know better than us about our condition. I’m confident about what I’m saying after sitting alone and contemplating.”

She added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is special because it has the Two Holy Mosques, is a refuge for Muslim hearts and is quite different from other countries in the world.

Al-Sharief said she was well cared for and only wanted to return to her family and her work. She had repeated she made a mistake and confirmed she would not repeat the action again, according to Al-Shammari, who was quoting a conversation Al-Boushi had with her about her needs in prison.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette reported earlier that Al-Sharief also plans to withdraw from the campaign for women to drive, according to a source at the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR).

“Manal wants to be released,” the source said. “She said the investigation had been carried out and she will withdraw from the campaign calling for women to drive cars.”

Saudi Arabia is once again safe from the scourge of woman drivers.

UPDATE: A popular Facebook page is calling on Saudi men to beat women who dare drive at a planned protest next month.

(h/t Folderol)