Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, August 19, 2011

It's Friday - time for another Syrian massacre

Syrian forces shot dead at least 14 people when they opened fire to break up anti-regime demonstrations that flared across the country after the weekly prayers, activists told AFP.

Ten people, including two children, were killed in separate shootings on protesters in the southern province of Daraa, while three were killed in the central city of Homs and one in a Damascus suburb, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The shootings come a day after President Bashar Al Assad told the UN chief Ban Ki-moon that his security forces ended operations against civilians.

The number of dead is now at 22.

Lebanese Palestinians don't care about statehood - they want their rights

Now Lebanon interviews Palestinian Arabs about the September UN statehood stunt:

In Lebanon, at least among the Palestinian populations living in Sabra, Shatila and Ain al-Hilweh, the potentially historic moment does not appear to have caused much of a stir.

“We are hopeful,” said Nawad, a nurse at a clinic near the entrance to the Shatila camp on the outskirts of Beirut. “But I don’t hear the issue discussed around the camp.”

Indeed, around a quarter of respondents were unaware of the bid or knew only the scantest of details.

Among those familiar with the plan, their greatest concern was over the effect recognition of the State of Palestine would have on their status as refugees in Lebanon.

“I hope the law will give us the right to work and to buy property in Lebanon like other nationalities,” said Nawad.

“I have business in Syria but have to return to Lebanon every seven days with the pass I have. Will [UN membership] help with the bureaucratic hassle?” asked 34-year-old Sabra resident Saleh.

As I have documented many times, Lebanese Palestinians' main concern is that the state-sanctioned discrimination that is directed at them specifically be ended. This is something that Mahmoud Abbas is fighting against.

These were the only normal Palestinian Arabs that were interviewed. Among the self-appointed "leaders," their concerns were way out of sync with what their people care about:

According to Mounir Maqdah, a Fatah official in Ain al-Hilweh, Abbas’ diplomatic course undermines the Palestinian cause. After criticizing the bid for failing to tackle the issue of Israeli settlements and for not accounting for the territory occupied by Israel, he told NOW Lebanon that Palestinians should remain united and “regain our power by choosing once again the path of resistance. Only a military solution will be considered as a credible one and put fear in the hearts of Israelis.”

Hajj Maher Oueid, head of Ansar Allah, an Islamic faction close to Hezbollah, is more measured in his criticism. He believes the bid lacks in ambition and will probably remain fruitless, as it only calls for the recognition of the Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. “The bid does not tackle the real underlying problem of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, amounting today to some six million around the world,” he told NOW Lebanon. “A fair solution is one that is comprehensive and benefits all Palestinian refugees. This one is not.

Isn't it interesting that the leaders' concerns are centered on destroying Israel while the actual Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon just want to live their lives without being discriminated against?

German far right party implies it wants to gas Jews in campaign posters

From Expatica:

A German far-right party is stirring controversy in Berlin with posters, put up ahead of next month's regional election, which some see as a provocative reminder of the Holocaust.

The poster depicts the leading candidate for the extremist NPD-DVU, Udo Voigt, on his motorbike, wearing a black leather jacket, with the motto "Gas geben" (Step on It) or literally "give gas" in what some see as a reference to gas chambers where millions of Jews perished in Nazi extermination camps.

The signs have been put up around the city including just across from the capital's Jewish Museum and reportedly opposite the lakeside villa where the Nazis signed off on the "final solution" for Europe's Jews in 1942.

The mayor of the district where the Jewish Museum is located, Franz Schulz of the Green party, called the campaign a "provocation". Museum officials declined to comment.

The National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), which recently merged with the small far-right German People's Union (DVU), was set up in 1964 by former Nazis. In 2009 it had between 6,000 and 7,000 members.

It has never won seats in the country's federal parliament, but has gained representation in several regional parliaments, most recently in the eastern states of Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Voigt, who is also a district councillor in Berlin, was found guilty in 2004 of promoting Nazism after he called Hitler "a great man".

There have been repeated calls to ban the NPD on the grounds of racism and anti-Semitism.

A Der Spiegel article describes other provocative ads that the party has made, which make it clear that this was deliberate.

(h/t Silke)

Five of the terror victims

From YNet:

Just 50 meters separated between Danny Gez and his brother, Moshe, when the latter was killed by terrorists together with his wife and another couple. Helpless, he was forced to watch his brother being shot dead.

Sisters Flora Gez and Shula Karlinsky and their husbands, Moshe Gez and Dov Karlinsky, were on their way to Eilat for the weekend when they were killed by the cell which terrorized the area on Thursday.

The friends chose to travel to the southern resort city on Highway 12, instead of the on the more popular HaArva Highway.

Several dozens of kilometers north of Eilat, where Highway 12 runs the closest to the Egyptian border, they were ambushed by terrorists. The ensuing hail of bullets left no survivors in the Karlinsky and Gez car.

"I saw the terrorists come up to the driver's side, Dovik's side (i.e: Dov Karlinsky), and shoot him, and afterwards shoot the rest," Danny recounted in an interview with Ynet.

"The murder took place before my eyes and I couldn't do anything. They shot them from zero range and even confirmed their deaths."

Gez also narrowly escaped being shot. He recounted seeing two people dressed in camouflage standing on the road, and ordered the driver of his vehicle to stop, and reverse.

Seeing their victims flee, the terrorists fired at the car, hitting its front as well as its tires. "I called out to the other passengers, 'We're being shot at, lie down'," Gez said. He and the other passengers were saved.

Devastated family and friends told Ynet that the two sisters were close friends and that both were educators held in high esteem by their colleagues, parents and young students.

"They were devoted educators. This is a horrific loss," one of Flora's colleagues told Ynet.

Both couples lived in Kfar Saba, where they will be laid to rest on Sunday.

The four's car was the second to be ambushed on Thursday.

Shortly beforehand, the terrorists ambushed another car: Esther and Joseph Levy were on their way back from Eilat to Holon on Thursday, heading north on the Mitzpe Ramon Highway, when they were caught in the fray.

They were ambushed by a terrorist who rained bullets on their vehicle, causing it to skid to a halt and flip over.

Joseph was killed and Esther suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. Lucky, she was able to stay conscious.

"It's a miracle she survived," her cousin, Raffi Mauda, told Ynet. "She told us that she saw the terrorist and prayed he wouldn’t confirm the kill. She essentially played dead for 90 minutes. She was then able to call us and tell us what happened."

From her hospital bed, Esther relived the horrific moments which followed the attack: "The radio was still on after the car flipped over… I heard the one o'clock news, about the other incidents. I just kept praying that he stops shooting at us. The radio was playing and I could hear the fire exchange between the terrorists and IDF soldiers.

"I didn’t move. I was so scared that he would shoot at us again. There was blood everywhere and I heard my husband wheezing. I could see his shirt, it was blood-soaked."

Joseph Levy was a veteran employee of Elbit Systems. "He was such a good man. The salt of the earth. This is a tremendous loss," Mauda said.

Levy is survived by his wife and three children. His funeral will be held in Holon on Friday afternoon.

(h/t Dan)

Peaceful Abbas supports war against Israel - if all Arabs joined in (updated)

From Ma'an:

Abbas said the Arab League had discussed allowing armed resistance to Israel's occupation if the bid for full membership of the UN failed, and that some countries supported the idea.

But the president said Palestinians did not want armed resistance "unless you all take a decision to launch war."

He added: "I cannot fire one single bullet at Israel because all I have is a policeman with a Kalashnikov and minimum ammunition."

It isn't like Abbas has an ethical problem against killing Israeli civilians - it's just that he is afraid of losing!

After all, what did he do to stop the second intifada? Since Arafat's death, when he took over as leader of Fatah in late 2004, there have been multiple deadly terrorist attacks that Fatah claimed credit for.

This is in line with what Abbas said in 2008 to a Jordanian newspaper:

At this present juncture, I am opposed to the armed struggle because we can't succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different.

He also said something similar last year:

"I have said more than once that if the Arabs want war - we are with them....We do not wish to turn to armed struggle, because our [lack of] capabilities and the international atmosphere do not allow for it.
...
"I turned to the Arab States and I said: 'If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it.' "

(h/t Mike)

I cannot find any indication that Abbas condemned yesterday's attack near Eilat. He used to mouth meaningless "condemnations" after his people massacred Israelis, but even then his words always betrayed that he didn't have any moral qualms about those attacks. He would say that the attacks "worked against Palestinian interests" or were ill-timed but he would never show any indication that he was truly offended by them.

People like Abbas who mouth words of "peace" as a tactic are far from peaceful.

PRC song: "Destroy the Jews"

The Popular Resistance Committees, the organization Israel says is behind yesterday's terror attacks, has a multimedia page on its website.

One of the song titles is "Dimroo al-Yehud" - which translates to "Destroy the Jews."

Tough to misinterpret that.

Here it is. It was apparently recorded by someone named Abu Ali; it has been linked to in various Muslim and Arab forums.

The PRC has not taken responsibility for the attack, but their statement about the assassination of their leaders says:

We bless the heroic operation that returned the fight to Palestine in splendor, the operation carried out by the Mujahideen heroes near the city of Eilat, where they inflicted on the criminal enemy dozens of dead and wounded in the quality operation {Allah threw horror in their hearts}.

Grad rockets hit Ashdod - yeshiva and synagogue hit

From YNet:

A rocket fired at Ashdod on Friday exploded in the courtyard of a haredi yeshiva and left 10 people injured. Magen David Adom emergency services said two men were seriously injured.

Eight others were lightly injured in the attack. The victims were rushed to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot. Minor damage was caused to the building.

The rocket was fired at around 8:10 am and a Color Red siren was sounded in Ashdod and Gedera.

Emergency services detected an additional Grad rocket which hit a synagogue situated several blocks from the yeshiva. The rocket did not explode and security forces are working to demolish the building in order to clear it.

Eyewitnesses said that the victims left the synagogue after hearing the siren. They ran for cover in an adjacent building. When they heard the first blast they came outside and were then hit by the second rocket.

A total of 12 rockets were fired at southern communities overnight.

The "Abdullah Azzam Brigades" took responsibility for the Grad attacks, but no Grad rockets get into Gaza without Hamas' knowledge and approval. Terror groups might manufacture Qassams without Hamas knowing, but they cannot smuggle in rockets and weapons without Hamas' full consent.

YNet also has a profile of four of the victims of yesterday's terrorism.

"We Love Syria and Its Leader"

Syria's official SANA "news" agency continues in the best tradition of Soviet-style propaganda:

A Russian popular delegation on Wednesday arrived in Damascus to take part in "We Love Syria and its Leader" campaign.

The delegation includes Russian political, academic, cultural and artistic personalities in addition to 6 Syrian residents in Russia.

In a statement to SANA, members of the delegation said the visit aims at seeing the reality of events in Syria on ground, adding that Syria is a country of great history and people and led by a wise leadership.

They also expressed that the Russian people rejects foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs, stressing that the Russian people supports Syria.

They don't just like Syria and its leader - they love them!

Saudi woman claims to have hacked into anti-Muslim websites

From Arab News:

An Alkhobar woman studying in the United States is taking credit for destroying 23 Danish websites that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Thursday.

Nouf Rashid told the Arabic newspaper she was hacking into Danish websites having references to cartoons of the Prophet along with other sites that had questionable content in her view.

She said she had also destroyed a number of pornographic sites and hacked into the computer systems of young men who had tried to blackmail girls by threatening to publish their private photos. She gained expertise in the field out of a desire to learn new things in the IT field.

Nouf said she had hacked into some of the Danish websites that denigrated the Prophet and shut them down. “I also sent messages and articles about Islam and the Prophet to those who managed those sites,” she pointed out.

A woman with that name from that same town in Saudi Arabia has a Facebook profile where she says she likes Grey's Anatomy and Friends - TV shows that feature premarital sex.

But she obviously can determine and enforce what is holy and what is profane.

IDF responds, kills 2 PRC leaders and 3 more terrorists

From Ma'an:

An Israeli airstrike killed six Palestinians Thursday evening in southern Gaza, medics said, hours after a series of attacks left seven Israelis dead near Eilat.

Gaza medical official Adham Abu Salmiya said the airstrikes targeted a house in Rafah.

A Ma'an correspondent said the home belonged to Popular Resistance Committees official Khaled Shaath, who was killed instantly. His two-year-old son Malek later died of injuries sustained in the strike.

The attacks killed four others in Rafah. Among them were PRC military wing chief Abu Awad Nayrab and PRC operatives Imad Hamad, Abu Jamil Shaath and Khaled Masri, medical officials said.

The PRC confirmed the deaths in a statement posted to its website.

Earlier, government spokesperson Mark Regev said the Israeli intelligence was certain that the attacks originated in Gaza. "This is not speculation, not conjecture, not joining the dots. They are sure these terrorists left Gaza."

The PRC responded by saying "A martyr is born with his blood flowing, and the march of thousands of martyrs, body parts and blood would not stop until we achieve victory and God's promise of empowerment."

Terrorism is proof that the "peace process" has nothing to do with peace

Let's imagine that Israel and the PLO had agreed to the boundaries of a Palestinian Arab state back in 2008.

Would today's terror attack have still happened?

The answer can be seen by looking at where the attack occurred - in the "internationally recognized borders" of Israel.

Not in Gaza. Not in the area that the PLO officially claims they want for a state.

In fact, the attack was not even in a place that would have been called "Palestine" before the British Mandate.

People are so used to hearing the phrase "peace process" that they are conditioned to believe the biggest lie of all: that if only Israel would give up more territory, then there would be peace. An agreement, it is widely assumed, would mean no more claims against Israel and a chance for both nations to live side by side in harmony.

Today's attack - which included an RPG attack on a family in a car, killing two children - has nothing to do with "Palestine." The entire point of the attack is to kill Jews who enjoy their own national self-determination in the Middle East. As long as Jews live in freedom in the area, they will be attacked. It will simply never end.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the PRC are not going to disappear after a peace agreement is signed. They would continue to attack Israelis, they way that the fedayeen attacked before there was an "occupation." They will continue to find new claims as Hezbollah does with the Lebanese border after Israel withdrew behidn UN-drawn lines.

Pseudo-intellectuals will likewise keep finding ways to justify the terror by blaming Israel for the reprehensible deeds of the terrorists. They cannot accept the fact that not only would Israel's capitulation not stop terror, but it would probably increase it. Terrorists fired rockets from Gaza to Israel literally hours after Israel's last troops withdrew from Gaza - and they never stopped, even before the "siege."

Israeli actions are not what is preventing peace. Palestinian Arab actions are what makes peace impossible - their terrorism as well as their widespread support for terrorism, in the media and on the streets.

Islamic Jihad issues rare condemnation of Hamas for arrest

Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades has condemned Hamas for "kidnapping" one of their mujahadin.

According to their statement, Hamas raided an Islamic Jihad building on Monday morning and "arrested [the PIJ member] without regard for the sanctity of Ramadan and without respect for the [normal] coordination mechanisms used between Saraya [Islamic Jihad] and Gaza security forces."

PIJ added that Hamas "turned its back on all the efforts made for the release of the Mujahid, which led us to announce the incident, which we did not hope to reach this point."

The statement concluded that "this incident is strange and deplorable but will not affect the fraternal relations between the Quds Brigades of all the Palestinian factions and our brothers in the Gaza government. We express hope that the crisis ends soon ..and we return to the method of dialogue and understanding to resolve any problem that may happen in the future."

Although it is no surprise, this statement shows that the Hamas government normally coordinates activities with Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups, which makes the idea of a peaceful "unity government" with Fatah even more of a joke.

Palestinian Arabs respond to terror attack with glee (updated)

The talkbacks on Palestinian Arab news sites are filled with happiness and glee at the murder of Israelis today near Eilat.

And not only the Hamas or Islamic Jihad oriented sites, but the Fatah-leaning sites as well.

Palestine Press Agency, which is a Fatah-leaning site, has commenters saying

"God praise the [Hamas] Al-Qassam Brigades" (they have not taken responsibility)

"Our Lord is with the heroes"

"[I] call for resistance in the Gaza with rocket fire and suicide bombings and the Glory of God and His Messenger"

"Tribute to the Heroes of each attack and no matter what their affiliation"

"God is great and victory is coming"

By far the most popular comment in the Hamas-oriented PalTimes is "God is great."

Firas Press has a numbr of "God is Great" comments as well as one referring to the victims as "monkeys."

The popular Paldf.net forum site has hundreds of messages of praise as well as digging up every possible scrap of rumor they can find.

I have yet to find a single expression of sadness or condemnation for the attack. One person thought that it was "suspicious" and implied it was a Zionist false flag attack to be a pretext for invading Egypt or Gaza; that's the closest I could find to a reservation about the attack. Everyone else is pouring out happiness and congratulations to the heroic terrorists.

UPDATE: A couple of people think it is unfair to generalize based on talkbackers, who are usually the most extreme idiots. However, there are usually extremists on both sides of the story. I cannot find a single Palestinian Arab who is an "extremist" in supporting peace or condemning terror. And that is a significant issue that is worthwhile to mention.

Links, snippets, video

Possible next leader of Labor Party does not see establishing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as a crime:

In its time, it was a completely consensual move. And it was the Labor Party that founded the settlement enterprise in the territories. That is a fact. A historical fact....I am familiar with the worldview that maintains that if we cut the defense budget in half there will be money for education. It's a worldview with no connection to reality....I reject it; it is simply not factually correct, even though it is now perceived as axiomatic. A school that is located in a settlement and has X number of students would be located inside the Green Line and have the same number of children at the same cost. I don't say that the settlements themselves did not cost more money. But even if the defense budget were cut in half, and even if the settlement costs were cut in half, the economic ideology that led us to them would not seek to divert the newly available funds to the service of the state.

The always excellent Richard Landes talks about the West's problem with criticizing Islam in a new blog in The Telegraph:

In an honour culture, it is legitimate, expected, even required to shed blood for the sake of honour, to save face, to redeem the dishonoured face. Public criticism is an assault on the very “face” of the person criticised. Thus, people in such cultures are careful to be “polite”; and a genuinely free press is impossible, no matter what the laws proclaim.

Modernity, however, is based on a free public discussion, on civility rather than politeness, but the benefits of this public self-criticism – sharp learning curves, advances in science and technology, economic development, democracy – make that pain worthwhile.

But such a system represents a crucible of humiliation for alpha males, especially those who believe that the social order depends on the honour of ruling elite, like the anti-Dreyfusards around 1900, ready to sacrifice a single man for the honour of Army and Church.

This is particularly true for Islamic religious culture. In Dar al Islam, a Muslim’s contradiction/criticism of Islam was punishable by death, a fortiori did this hold true for infidels. Modernity has been a Nakba (psychological catastrophe) for Islam, and Islam in all its variegated currents has yet to successfully negotiate these demands of modernity.

On the contrary, the loudest voices in contemporary Islam reject vehemently the kind of self-criticism modernity requires. Criticism constitutes an unbearable assault on the manhood of Muslims.

Khaled Abu Toameh on the Arab uprisings:

Elliot Abrams: Will Ariel block peace?

If there is a single issue that explains the failure of Obama policy toward Israel, it is settlements. And this week the administration once again indulged itself in a knee-jerk reaction that displayed incomprehension in a way that harms U.S.-Israeli relations without doing the slightest bit of good for the Palestinians.

This week Israel announced a plan to construct 277 more housing units in Ariel, a settlement that is a town of 18,000. The new units are to be constructed in the center of the town, it was also announced. This is a significant fact, for construction of new units at the edges of the town would mean that the security perimeter would need to be extended to protect the new housing and the people in it. But this will not happen, and Ariel will expand in population but not in land area. It is not, in the usual Palestinian Authority parlance, “taking more Palestinian land.”

When I worked on these issues in the Bush Administration, we discussed settlement expansion thoroughly with the government of Israel and (as I have explained elsewhere) reached agreement on some principles. These were that Israel would create no new settlements and that existing settlements would expand in population but not in land area. New construction, that is, would be in already-built-up areas, and the phrase we used was “build up and in, not out.” The usual complaints about new construction in the settlements were that “it is making a final peace agreement impossible” or at least more and more difficult by “taking more Palestinian land” that would have to be bargained over in the end and whose taking would right now interfere with Palestinian life and livelihoods. We understood that there would never be a long construction freeze even if there might be some brief ones, for the settlements–especially the “major blocks” that Israel will keep–are living communities with growing families. So we reached that understanding with the Israelis: build up and in, not out. That way whatever the chances of a peace deal were, construction in the settlements would not reduce them.

This agreement the Obama Administration ignored or denounced, suggesting at various times that it never existed or that, anyway, it had been a bad idea and all construction must be frozen–even in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem. (To be more accurate, construction by Israeli Jews was to be frozen; construction by Palestinians could continue). No Israeli government could long accept such terms and though the Netanyahu government did agree to a short and partial freeze, when that failed to bring the PLO back to the negotiating table the freeze was ended. This Obama fixation with a construction freeze proved disastrous because the president and his secretary of state took the view that it was a precondition for negotiations without which the Palestinians could not be expected to come to the table. Of course once that American position was announced the Palestinian leadership had to adopt it, lest they appear weaker in asserting Palestinian “rights” than Washington.

(h/t O, CHA, jzaik)