Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, June 10, 2011

I guess Hamas doesn't read The New York Times

A month ago, the New York Times stated as a fact that Hamas is "fully committed" to a two-state solution, implicitly accepting Israel's right to exist.

They could not state a single fact to back up that assertion, but they repeated it in a editorial a couple of days later.

Hamas, meanwhile, must not be reading the New York Times, because they are saying something a bit different - to Iran:

New Hamas representative to Tehran told in an inaugural interview that the ultimate goal of the movement was to free the entire Palestinian land, destroy the Zionist regime and rescue the revered Quds from the claws of the Zionists.

Khaled al-Qoddoumi said Hamas would not pay any attention to the negative propaganda of the western media that Hamas should or would withdraw from the path of resistance.

The senior Hamas member refuted any option of compromise with Israel and underlined resistance as the only way of struggling with the occupiers and restoring the rights of the Palestinian nation. He predicted that one day, the Quds would return to the lap of the world of Islam.

Asked whether the Palestinian nation considers the option of compromise with Israel as legitimate, he said the Palestinian nation sees no reason to approve the option as it sees compromise as a futile and useless way. “The Israeli side has never sought peace. They have no belief in living alongside the Palestinian nation or other Muslim nations. The Zionist regime is a cancer and cancer must be uprooted,” he said.

But who are you going to trust - the NYT's wishful thinking interpretation of Hamas' words in English, or what they actually say explicitly in Arabic and Farsi?

Obviously the New York Times knows more about Hamas than Hamas does!

Syrian soldiers kicking bound civilians in the head

From Now Lebanon:

WARNING (Viewer discretion advised):A YouTube video purportedly filmed Thursday in the Homs area of Baba Amro shows members of the Syrian army kicking a civilian on the head. The man being beaten up can be heard screaming and begging the soldiers to stop

WARNING (Viewer discretion advised): A YouTube video purportedly filmed Thursday in the Homs neighborhood of Jawbar shows Syrian soldiers tying up civilian protestors on the ground. As he jumps on the back of one of the civilians and kicks his head, a soldier tells him: “This is for freedom,” and “This is for the martyrs.”

Aren't they manly?

Some links to read while I am out

Researcher says Iran can build a nuke in 2 months

Yale's latest gift to anti-semitism

NGOs promoting "Right to Return"

Michael Oren on the Six Day War and why Israel can't go back to 49 armistice lines

Video of Jerusalem right after the Six Day war

Michael Totten on Ottoman Fantasies

Some interesting historical parallels to the GCC

Dealing with "Apartheid Week" at York

Lawfare against the flotillas

Interesting old post about ownership of the Golan

JCPA's ground rules for upcoming flotillas

See you guys Thursday night....and chag sameach!

(h/t CHA, Silke, Zvi, MP, Joel, Zach N., Dan)

An open letter to Leonard Nimoy

Dear Mr. Nimoy,

I am a fan of your work (well, most of it) and as such I read your letter of support for Peace Now with sadness. It appears that you have not researched the issues as thoroughly as one would hope. Americans for Peace Now, the organization you are asking everyone to donate to, is not quite what it appears.

Peace Now is now a marginal organization in Israel. It is not mainstream and its positions do not reflect what most of the Israeli public wants.

That is not to say that Israelis are warmongers; far from it. Every Jew in Israel yearns for peace. Most Israelis support a two-state solution. In fact, even the current Israeli government publicly supports a two-state solution.

The difference is that most Israelis want to ensure that the solution will truly promote peace. They do not want to barrel headfirst into an agreement that could jeopardize their security; they want to ensure that any Palestinian Arab state will not one day turn into an Iranian satellite the way we saw Gaza and southern Lebanon become.

Gaza is instructive. Israel withdrew from the entire territory, yet it did not bring peace. On the contrary, it led to a war, and tens of thousands of Israeli citizens had to live under constant threat of rocket attack. Moreover, thousands of Israelis were uprooted from their homes in order to even bring a chance for peace.

At the time of the withdrawal, Gaza was ruled by the very same Palestinian Authority that Peace Now wants to force Israel to make an agreement "now" with. Yet they could not even control their own territory and Hamas violently took over Gaza.

The Gaza model is exactly what Peace Now demands from Israel, today. They have not learned a thing from that huge failure. Fortunately, the rest of the Israeli public learned the lesson that eludes Peace Now, and Israelis are now far more careful before jumping into any further concessions.

It is not like the Israeli leadership needs outside help in giving up concrete assets for peace. Here you can see how much Israeli governments - especially the "hawkish, far right" Likud - have given up in the often vain hope for peace:

Americans for Peace Now want America to pressure Israel to make concessions that the people are not ready to make, with a partner who is not willing to compromise and which even today routinely refers to Israel as "the enemy." This cynical use of American politics, and their recruiting of spokespeople like you, indicate that they have failed to get their agenda taken seriously by the Israeli people and are instead trying to use outside pressure to convince Israelis "what is really good for them."

This is not showing a love of Israel; it instead shows that they do not respect the Israeli public. It is not as if there isn't robust debate in Israel itself on how a peace plan would work and what compromises are necessary - the subject is a national obsession. The idea that an American actor, no matter how respected, should be used to convince Americans to give money to a movement that cannot gain any traction in the free-wheeling world of Israeli politics is, frankly, insulting to the intelligence of Israelis.

There are other problems with the organization you have chosen to identify with. For example, Peace Now supports the division of Jerusalem, something that is simply not tenable and would increase the misery of Jew and Arab alike.

Moreover, no organization has worked harder to demonize a significant percentage of the Israeli population than Peace Now. I am speaking about the so-called "settlers" who Peace Now believes are the biggest single impediment to peace. In fact, the Jews who choose to return to the Biblical Land of Israel are among the most patriotic members of Israeli society, serving with pride in the IDF and showing a love of Israel that is difficult to match. Peace Now, however, spends a huge amount of time and money specifically to battle their fellow Israelis who live on the "wrong" side of a mythical line that was never, ever a border between two countries, and was never even meant to be one.

It is legitimate to question the tactics and life choices of the Jews who live in Judea and Samaria, as it is legitimate to criticize any group of people out of love. Peace Now, however, has spent the bulk of its time treating their fellow Jews as the enemy. I think you could agree, Mr. Nimoy, that there are few enough Jews as it is that we cannot afford the baseless hatred that Peace Now exhibits towards those they disagree with.

Most Israelis agree that a great majority of these communities across the Green Line will remain a part of Israel, yet this is simply not compatible with how Peace Now acts towards these people. Peace Now actually encourages boycotts and other sanctions against their fellow Israelis and against the wishes of most Israelis altogether.

This year on Jerusalem Day, a remarkable thing happened. For the first time since Israel reunified Jerusalem, Kohanim ascended to the Temple Mount and blessed the Jews who visited their holiest site. They positioned their hands in a way you are most familiar with, as it is the one that you copied as the Vulcan greeting in Star Trek.

Jews must have free access to their holiest places - not only in Jerusalem but in Bethlehem, Hebron and elsewhere. Peace Now is against this. It should not be unusual for Jews to be able to ascend to their holiest spot and to be able to pray freely there.

Your letter refers a number of times to Star Trek, the television show that made you famous. If I may, I would like to mention something else from that show - the Prime Directive. As you no doubt know, this was the most important order that your character and his coworkers had to adhere to - the rule not to interfere in other cultures, even for the best of reasons.

Israel is not a banana republic, and Israelis are well aware of the dangers they face as well as the necessity for peace. When famous actors deign to tell Israelis what is best for them it is not only a violation of this rule, but it is an insult to the entire country, implying that somehow a person in Hollywood knows better than Israelis do of how they should think and act.

I hope that you come to realize the wisdom in the mythical Starfleet General Order #1, and show your love for Israel by supporting everyone who is honorable enough to live there, not by supporting division and hate.

May we all live long and prosper.

Elder of Ziyon

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

From Al Masry al-Youm (English):

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.