Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Crazy Egyptian plans to have cage fight with a lion - that symbolizes Israel

Given the current state of the economy, it comes as no surprise that many Egyptians are doing all that they can to revive international interest in their country. What is surprising, though, is that one man has somehow managed to convince himself - and a few others - that he can single-handedly “boost tourism in Egypt” by fighting a full-grown African lion in direct hand-to-paw combat, in front of the Pyramids at Giza.

Inexplicably, al-Sayed al-Essawy, a 25-year-old from Daqahlia, has come to believe that “the world will flock to see the Egyptian man who defeated a lion with his bare hands.”

The fight, or “battle” as Essawy, prefers to call it, was announced two weeks ago, immediately igniting a firestorm of international protests and online petitions from individuals and animal rights organizations alike. The negative reaction surprised Essawy, prompting the self-proclaimed “strongest man in the world” to admit to being “confused and heart-broken.”

Nonetheless, Essawy insists that the fight is still on, even if he has to stage the battle in a secret location.

Al-Masry Al-Youm: When, and more importantly, how did you come up with this idea?

al-Sayed al-Essawy: I discovered my incredible strength at the age of 13, and, almost immediately afterwards, promised myself that, one of these days, I would fight a lion. Since then, I’ve been thinking about the best way to go about it, and, after the revolution, with the economy the way it is, I’ve been given the perfect opportunity to realize my dream.

Al-Masry: What about animal lovers? Are you aware of how many people your lion-fighting plans have angered? People are threatening to boycott Egypt and any Egyptian products because of you.

Essawy: That’s because they don’t understand what I’m going to do. They think I’m going to kill the lion. I’m not going to kill it, nor will I be armed with a sword or dagger - those are all false reports circulated by the media for reasons I don’t understand.

Al-Masry: So, you’re not going to kill the lion?

Essawy: No. Unless it’s a matter of life or death, in which case I will be forced to kill it.

Al-Masry: When is fighting a lion not a matter of life or death?

Essawy: It’s up to the lion. If he chooses to withdraw, or surrender, and lets me tie him up, then I will not kill him and the fight will end. But, like I said, if it comes down to either me or him, I will have to kill him. But I don’t want to kill the lion, nor am I planning on it. I want to make that clear.

Al-Masry: What will you do with its corpse?

Essawy: I will have it stuffed (laughs).

Al-Masry: What message are you trying to send?

Essawy: When I defeat the lion - which I will - I will pull an Israeli flag out of my pocket, and drape it over the lion, and put my foot on it. Israel led me to this, through all their atrocities which, as a child, I grew up watching on television. The message is that even though Israel and America may be as strong as a lion - the strongest creature on the planet - they too can be defeated.

Al-Masry: By you?

Essawy: By the Arab youth, which is about to explode. Soon, they will be ready to take on the mightiest foe.

Al-Masry: But, technically, the lion’s only fighting because you’re forcing it to.

Essawy: Yes. It’s a caged fight, so there will be nowhere for the lion to run. I have challenged the lion, and I will defeat it.

Al-Masry: So, to dismiss this as just some really crazy guy beating up an innocent lion would be, in your opinion...

Essawy: Completely inaccurate and misleading. I’m not a crazy person. There’s a political reason behind what I’m doing.
...

Al-Masry: If the event is successful, how will you follow it up? More lion fights?

Essawy: I have a whole series of shows planned in my head. I will pull an airplane with my teeth, and I will pull an airplane with my hair. I will also be run over by an airplane. In between each of these acts, there will be lion battles.

Al-Masry: Have you fought any other beasts before? Will this be your first lion fight?

Essawy: This will be my first battle with a lion, yes. I have fought other animals, mainly dogs. On separate occasions, I have fought three of the most ferocious dog breeds.

Al-Masry: How are you training for this specific event?

Essawy: By doing a series of mental exercises. Nothing physical, just brain-training. I visualize the fight for two hours at a time. I visualize the lion, and all the possible ways it could attack. Will it go for the head, or will it grab me by the feet? I ask myself these questions and visualize how I will dodge these attacks.

Believe it or not, the interview gets even nuttier.

Chag Sameach!

I would like to wish my readers a chag sameach, a wonderful Shavuot holiday.

(I'll still be blogging for a few hours more but I wanted to make sure my Israeli readers get the message!)

Not a good holiday for the lactose intolerant

Photos of weapons on Mavi Marmara - a year late

Last week it was reported that the Israeli Navy had photos of IHH terrorists on the Mavi Marmara wielding weapons.

Photos recently obtained by the Navy show a weapon hanging off the shoulder of one of the IHH members. Another photo shows a gun. It is as yet unclear who took the photos. One of the images allegedly shows MK Hanin Zoabi, who took part in the flotilla, standing next to an armed activist.

Navy commandos who took part in the raid later testified that the IHH men had at least two firearms and at least one of them was used to fire at the soldiers immediately after they descended on the ship. One of the commandos was hurt by a 9 mm bullet not used by the IDF.

Navy sources could not explain why the photos have only recently been received.

Today, the photos have finally been published - only in the print edition of Yediot. Here they are, courtesy of IMRA:

Abbas proven a liar again

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an interview with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on June 2, 2011:

Mahmoud Abbas: With regard to [Palestinian recognition] of a Jewish state, or whatever, this has never been an issue. Throughout the negotiations between the Israeli and us, from 1993 until a year ago, we never heard the words "Jewish state." Now, they have begun to talk about it, and our response was: "Go to the UN, and call yourselves whatever you want. We are not the party to address. Not only that – we refuse to recognize a Jewish state. Try to wrest it out of the UN or anyone else."

Why does Israel insist on demanding this from us, and us alone – it did not demand this from the Arabs, from Egypt, from Jordan, or from any Arab country with which it negotiated? Only from us. We know the reason, and we say: "No, we refuse."

Abbas is trying to imply that the "Jewish state" demand was initiated by Netanyahu only within the last year.
Was the demand to be recognized as a Jewish state only brought up in 2010?

No. Ehud Olmert actually demanded it at Annapolis in 2007, and the negotiations beforehand showed that the Israelis were pushing for that phrase to be used at Annapolis, while the Palestinian Arabs adamantly refused - and even refused to admit that there is any such thing as a "Jewish people."

Once again, Abbas is proven to be a liar. But people insist Israel to make an agreement with a congenital liar - because the alternatives are supposedly worse.

So it is better for Israel to make an agreement with someone who cannot be trusted at all?

Third day in a row: Rafah crossing still closed - by Hamas

Hamas' siege on Gaza continues.

For the third consecutive day, Hamas has not opened the Rafah crossings because of a disagreement with Egypt on logistics.

Egypt closed the crossings on Saturday morning for "administrative and technical" reasons, causing anger from the Gazans waiting to go to Egypt. But since Sunday, Hamas has closed the crossing.

It appears that one major reason Hamas is unhappy is that Egypt maintains a list of thousands of Gazans who are not allowed to enter Egypt. Hamas wants this list, which no doubt includes many of its members, to be discarded.

Notably, the crossing is open from the Egyptian side, and Gazans returning home from Egypt are being allowed through.

Where are the amateur videos of the Golan riots?

YouTube is filled with amateur video of Syrian demonstrators and of Syrian funerals. Scores of such videos are uploaded daily. Everyone now has video cameras in their phones so it is easy to take such videos (even as it might be somewhat difficult to upload them from Syria at times.)

Yet I cannot find a single amateur video of the riots in the Golan Heights on Sunday, "Naksa Day." No videos of people being shot, or of life threatening injuries. I tried multiple search terms in Arabic, but the best I can find is Al Jazeera coverage or people posting Israeli TV coverage (cropping out the Hebrew, but obviously from the Israeli side.)

Isn't that interesting? Hundreds of young people come ostensibly to protest Israel, many fully expecting (and some actively hoping) to be shot and "martyred" by the hated Zionist enemy, yet no videos have surfaced of this supposed massacre?

The only explanation I can think of is that the Syrian authorities who transported them to the demonstration confiscated every single phone and camera before allowing them to arrive.

The Syrian authorities clearly wanted their story of the demonstration to be the only one. And as is increasingly clear, it is only a story.

Saudi cleric sees sex at Jedda airport

Jedda Inter~~national~~course Airport?

Too funny, from MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a video featuring Saudi cleric Dr. Ali Baqna, posted on the Internet (June 1, 2011):
Ali Baqna: This clip reveals the true story behind the design of the [Jedda] airport. We can see clearly in this picture… This is the head, here is one hand, and here is another hand. This is a leg, and here is the other leg. But what do we have here? This is a women's vagina. And what do we have here? A man's penis. And here we have another vagina.

This is a man's penis [coming out] of a vagina, but opposite it, there is a woman lying on the land of the Arabian Peninsula. This pillar represents the penis – God forbid – in this pagan design, and this represents the female. This is exactly what it represents. It is very clear, Allah be praised.

This is a drawing made according to this model. This is the airport. Here is the head, these are the hands, and here you have the legs. The woman's vagina is very clear in this drawing. This is a depiction of the tallest control tower in the world.

This is only to make things clear to you, and to show you that this design is a pagan design, a design of the sacred woman whom they worship, in order to sanctify fertility, witchcraft, paganism, and so on.

[…]

Here you can clearly see the head, the hands, and the legs. The tower erected here represents a human penis, God forbid. This here represents a woman's vagina, God forbid. To my view, this is crystal clear.

[…]

People who know how the West thinks realize that this reflects their never-ending ways of deception. It is as Allah said: "Nor will they cease fighting you." They are fighting you with weapons, with spearheads, with ideology, and so on.

[…]

This is a vagina from which a penis comes out. "Allah's curse be upon them, how they are deluded away from the truth." The [West] relies upon such theories, such desires, and the so-called women's liberation. Why? Women's liberation? So that women can be like the rebellious Lilith.

[…]

Prince Khaled is presenting the model to Prince Sultan. Note that the penis can be seen here. They feared that this would be revealed – the head, the hands, the penis – so when they were standing in front of the larger model, it didn't include the penis. How come? Where is the penis here? Maybe they wanted to avoid problems.

If the Saudis are censoring real p0rn from their Internet, then this must be the next-best thing.

(h/t Israellycool)

Report: 14 "Naksa" mourners in Syria killed - by Palestinian terrorists! (UPDATED x3)

From Ma'an:

Fourteen Palestinian refugees were reported killed and another 43 injured on Monday, a report from the Palestinian government's WAFA news said.

The victims were part of a massive group in Al-Yarmok, an unofficial Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, mourning the death of between 10-23 Palestinians by Israeli fire on the Golan Heights ceasefire line the day before.

Angered over the failure of camp leaders to organize demonstrations marking the Naksa, the anniversary of Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan Heights, an estimated 100,000 mourners were said to have attacked the headquarters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command.

Militants with the PFLP-GC reportedly opened fire on the group, who were taken to a local camp hospital for treatment. The report cited hospital staff saying 14 were pronounced dead.

During the clash, mourners reportedly set fire into the PFLP-GC headquarters, and condemned the group for its use of weapons against the crowd.

Palestine Press Agency adds that the PFLP-GC is a close partner with the Syrian leadership. Which would explain why a recognized terrorist group runs the Yarmouk camp.

Sources said that the demonstrators chanted against [PFLP-GC leader] Ahmad Jibril, Khaled Mashaal and other political leaders based in Damascus, accusing them of being agents of the Syrian regime.

This group was not "pro-Palestinian" enough to have some ceremonies to mark the 1967 war - like the Lebanese camps that had their solemn burning of tires at the entrances - so they attacked their terrorist leaders.

The terrorists did what one would expect them to do - shoot and kill their fellow Palestinian Arabs. (Note also that Syria has no problem allowing terror groups in these camps to be armed.)

The camp residents, naturally, then burn down the headquarters of their leaders.

And the upshot is - there are now 14 more martyrs of the "Naksa." And the Syrians have reason to be suspicious of their Palestinian Arab "guests," which could have some interesting repercussions, as the Palestinian Arabs in Syria have mostly been on the sidelines during the rioting against the regime.

Yes, I know you need a scorecard to keep all the factions straight. One thing is clear, though - everyone hates Israel, as this video of anti-government protesters in Homs stomping on Israeli - and Iranian! - flags shows:

UPDATE: YNet reports that a visit by Hamas' Khaled Meshal started the riots! YNet doesn't mention how many fatalities, though.
(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

UPDATE 2: Palestine Press Agency updated the story. Apparently the funeral attendees resented that the PFLP-GC head Jibril and Hamas leader Meshal attended the funeral.

They accused both terror leaders of sending Palestinian Arabs to the border to get killed - to serve the agenda of Syria to distract from their own bloody war against their people.

UPDATE 3: Graphic video of one of the protesters getting shot in the head by the PFLP-GC. Viewer discretion advised.

Amazing how there is no video of Naksa protesters getting supposedly fatally shot by the IDF, isn't it?
(h/t Yael)

Kuwaiti woman activist wants to legalize sex slavery

A brilliant application of Sharia!

A female political activist and former parliamentary candidate has recommended the introduction of legislation to legalize the provision of enslaved female concubines for Muslim men in Kuwait in a bid, she says, to protect those men from committing adultery or corruption.

The activist, Salwa Al-Mutairi, suggested apparently seriously in a video broadcast online that she had been informed by some clerics that affluent Muslim men who fear being seduced or tempted into immoral behavior by the beauty of their female servants, or even of those servants 'casting spells' on them, would be better to purchase women from an 'enslaved maid' agency for sexual purposes.

She suggested that special offices could be set up to provide concubines in the same way as domestic staff recruitment agencies currently provide housemaids.

We want our youth to be protected from adultery," said Al-Mutairi, suggesting that these maids could be brought as prisoners of war in war-stricken nations like Chechnya to be sold on later to devout merchants.

"This is not religiously forbidden," she added, indicating that Caliph Haroun Al-Rashid (766-809 AD) was married to one woman but possessed 200 concubines.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this idea.

Egyptians might lose part of their summer temporary underage "marriage" trade to these rich Gulf men who already have concubine slaves. This might hurt the Egyptian economy.

Besides that, though, I don't know that there is any other downside - from the twisted perspective of the proponents of this law.

(h/t Eye on the World)

Another Saudi woman forced to apologize for driving

From Arab News:

Commenters noted how her hair in uncovered!

Wajnat Al-Rahbini, a Saudi actress who was arrested after driving her car Saturday along Jawazat Street in Jeddah, expressed regret for her actions and apologized to the Interior Ministry.

"I apologize for driving my car while I was aware that this action was against rules and regulations. I regret what I have done and hope that the officials will accept my apology," she said after she was released from detention at Al-Kandara police station, according to local daily Al-Madinah.

Al-Rahbini said she was traveling to the passport department and the labor office to complete some paperwork concerning her late husband who died about a month ago. "I have no one to complete these procedures for me. My driver has traveled abroad and will not be back before three days. I did not like to sit in the same car with a non-mahram. For these reasons I drove my own car and I am sorry for what I did," she said.

Al-Rahbini said someone reported her to the police but when the police arrived she was standing beside the car and was not behind the wheel. "I parked my car near the building of the passport department and the labor office in Al-Kandara district. When I got out of the car, the police were surrounding me. They wrote in their report that when they caught me, I was not actually driving," she said.

Al-Rahbini said she was asked to sign a pledge never to do this again and was released without bail. She, however, recalled that this was not the first time she drove her car in Jeddah. "My late husband was suffering from blood clots and many times he would faint. Each time I drove him to the hospital. This happened about seven times," she said.

The actress admitted that she had committed a blunder by driving her car but said she was obliged to. "I committed a grave mistake by breaking the rules. I am sorry. I want the police and the officials to pardon me. I swear that the security were very nice to me and treated me very politely," she added.

However, some local reports said Al-Rahbini was caught while driving on King Abdullah road near the Oasis Mall. Though she was released, the car was impounded.

"Moderate" Fatah vows to attack Jews in Israel

More peaceful statements from the Palestinian "moderates."

From Now Lebanon:

The residents of the Ain al-Hiweh Palestinian camp in Lebanon went on strike Monday as they closed the camp’s entrances to protest Sunday’s killings of protestors on the Golan Heights border by Israeli gunfire.

NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported that the protestors in Ain al-Hilweh blocked the camps entrances with flaming tires, and rallied in the area.

Fatah commander in Lebanon Mounir Maqdah, based in the camp, vowed to “retaliate from inside Israel,” after several protestors on the Golan borders were killed by Israeli gunfire on the anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War.

I never could figure out how Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon think they are helping their cause by setting fires at the entrances to their own communities, or by going on strike where the only people they would hurt are themselves.

No doubt they are very proud at their ability to act in a self-defeating manner.

So where was UNDOF on Sunday?

UNDOF is the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Syria. This is its mandate:

Maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Syria;

Supervise the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces; and

Supervise the areas of separation and limitation, as provided in the May 1974 Agreement on Disengagement.

Here is a map showing its area of operations. I have highlighted Majdal Shams, where the riots were yesterday and on May 15th.

The map shows that the Arab rioters passed through miles of UNDOF areas patrolled by the Austrian contingent of UNDOF.

The entire UNDOF forces consist of around 1200 lightly armed peacekeepers.

So what did they do on Sunday to defuse tensions on the border?

A fascinating post in Tom Lehner's blog written after the Nakba Day protests describes how UNDOF, especially the Austrian unit, normally works during demonstrations:

EGG or “Ein-Greif-Gruppe” (Interference Unit) is a small unit on permanent 24/7 alert status.

In case of protests (Nakbah, Family shouting, Quneitra Protests, and others) this unit is called out. They drive in Trucks to the place of protest, armed with light arms (Ausbatt: Glock side arms for officers, and STG 77 assault rifles for enlisted) and barbwire rolls.

After unrolling the wire, that is supposed to keep protesters in line, soldiers take position and wait for the Syrian “Liaison Officer”, usually a young Lieutenant that speaks English and you can be sure he belongs to the Military intelligence (Never officially confirmed, but everybody knows it).

Peace without force through simple presence.

Since 1967 the Austrian Armed Forces have done a marvelous job with this. The men and women are highly professional when it comes to following the orders. They have even earned (early 90’s) the Nobel Peace Prize for their outstanding job.

So why didn't UNDOF do what it normally does to keep the protesters away from the border? Why did they disappear?

Lehner believes that the UN purposefully stayed away, hoping for casualties to pressure Israel to make more concessions.

I'm not sure I'd go that far, but the absence of UNDOF in the area during the protests is very important.

Given that UNDOF is there every other May 15th, it is more than noteworthy that they did not do the same this year, especially when the protests were planned in advance. And this goes double for the "Naksa Day" protests.

The UN's only statement that refers to UNDOF was "The UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is seeking to confirm facts and help calm a continuing volatile situation in the area." Shouldn't they be preventing the escalation of tension, rather than confirming facts afterwards?

The UN needs to answer these simple questions: where was UNDOF during the riots, and why did they not act to save human lives?

(h/t Vandoren)

EoZ interviewed at Pundit Press

Yesterday I was interviewed by Pundit Press. Check it out.

Hamas stopped "Naksa Day" protests in Gaza

Yesterday, things in Gaza remained quiet, even though it was "Naksa Day."

Now we know why.

Palestine Press Agency reported that Hamas banned a planned demonstration of people who planned to approach the security fence near Khan Younis. Hamas' reason was that it would hurt "national unity." One commenter said that Hamas prevented Islamic Jihad from reaching the fence at Beit Hanoun.

Just more proof that in Gaza there's pretty much no such thing as a "spontaneous protest."

Lebanese writer: "Would we want to be treated like we treat the Palestinians?"

From Ghassan Karam in Ya Libnan:

It is that time of the year when the Arab world rediscovers the Palestinian people and their just cause. Alas the discovery does not last for more than a few hours during which politicians make their speeches and compete with each other in an effort to establish their political concern and awareness. We have been going through this ritual for over 60 years and there isn’t anything that anyone can show for these efforts. One cannot help but feel sorry for the Palestinian people since with such friends who needs any enemies.

The Lebanese, in general,have been possibly the worst opportunists and exploiters on these occasions. I have no doubt that there are some very sincere Lebanese who truly believe that the Palestinian people have been unjustly treated and must be supported in their struggle for an honorable settlement. But I am so very disgusted when I hear the disingenuous sentiments expressed in support of the Palestinian struggle by those who have consistently exploited them and abused them. The crocodile tears shed on this occasion are a convenient cover to argue against the Palestinians through a shrewdly constructed rationale that argues that the Palestinians should be abused and discriminated against; they should be deprived of many of their human rights and educational opportunities in order to preserve their right of return. We discriminate against them because of our love, concern and support for them. ...

Does our duplicity know any bounds? Would we want to be treated like we treat the Palestinians? After all isn’t that the best guide for action: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? Let us play a mind game if you will: Let us imagine that a group of people invaded Lebanon and that half the population decided to flee the war for a variety of reasons. They sought refuge in a number of neighbouring countries till the hostilities end. To their surprise when the war was over they were not permitted to go back. Would we then want these refugees to spend the next 63 years living in the hastily erected temporary refugee camps that were set upon their arrival or would we expect their host countries to treat them like they treat any other immigrant? Wouldn’t we expect and even insist that the hosts make every effort to alleviate their suffering and to integrate them into their respective societies and economies? Shouldn’t they be allowed to own property like all other inhabitants and enjoy the same privileges and protections of the law of the land? And wouldn’t we insist that if they choose then they should become citizens of their adopted countries of residence so that they will be able to exercise their right to vote and thus participate fully in shaping the society in which they are an integral member?

I am confident that our answers to each and every one of the above hypothetical question is in the affirmative. Not only that but we would expect all people anywhere in the world to be treated that way whether they are Iraqi refugees, Vietnamese refugees, Somali refugees or Armenian refugees, just to name a few groups. We will never sanction that we be treated differently than the population where we sought refuge and most importantly we will not accept the argument that we need to be discriminated against for our own good, as if love of country and adherence to moral values and principals are best promoted through mistreatments and opprobrium.

And finally let us repeat one more time what many studies have made abundantly clear: The right of return will not be diminished or watered down in any way form or fashion if the mistreatment and abuse of the Palestinians comes to an end either through acquiring the citizenship rights of where they live or the right to be permanent legal residents with all the rights enjoyed by all other residents.

Lebanon and the Lebanese must right what has been wrong for 63 years. The shameful treatment of the Palestinian refugees is a blot on our national character and history, a blot that we have the moral duty and the obligation to ameliorate by admitting our past errors and by offering the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon full equality under the law in each and every sphere. We also need to offer citizenship to those that want it. Nothing else will do.

The comments include lots of anti-Palestinian Arab hate.