Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 26, 2011

"Construction at a peak in Gaza"

Palestine Times has a photo essay showing a torrid pace of construction in Gaza, saying it has reached a peak since the 2009 war. This is something that you will not read anywhere in English.

As always, the message depends on who your audience is.

When speaking to the West, cry about how you cannot get hold of concrete and iron. But to your own people, brag about how much you are building.

Zahar brags that Hamas would win elections

From Ma'an:

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said Sunday that his movement would win a sweeping victory in upcoming legislative elections due in May.

The Hamas leader said that Hamas would gain a better percentage than their 2006 election victory, where they won 74 of an available 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Hamas has not yet made a decision about a presidential candidate, he added.

Zahhar made the remarks during an interview with London based pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

In the Arabic interview, Zahar said that Hamas is "delighted" by polls showing Fatah leading them, because he said the polls said the same in 2006, when Hamas rolled to a large victory over Fatah.

One fact about the 2005 local elections and the 2006 legislative elections that most people don't realize: Hamas won in the West Bank as well, not just in Gaza.

In the December 2005 local elections, Hamas won 73% of the vote in Nablus, 72% in Al Birah (Abbas' hometown), and a majority in Jenin. Only in Ramallah itself (where there are a significant number of people working, directly or indirectly, for Fatah) did Fatah manage to eke out a tie.

I don't know if that would happen today, but Hamas is much stronger in supposedly Fatah strongholds than most people know.

Unity! Hamas detains more Fatah members in Gaza

Since the original "unity" discussions in May, the major demand by both Hamas and Fatah has been a very simple one: to release the political prisoners of the other party.

And nothing has happened. For eight months.

On the contrary, both sides have continued to accuse the other of detaining and arresting their members even as soothing words continue to come from their supposed leaders in Cairo.

The latest such event happened today, as nine Fatah members were summoned to appear by Hamas security in central Gaza.

Similarly, Hamas denied a report in Asharq al-Awsat that it now allows Fatah-oriented newspapers to be distributed in Gaza as part of the unity agreements made in Cairo. In a statement, Hamas said that it was irresponsible to report lies like this, and it pointed out that Fatah has restricted Gaza reporters from working in the West Bank as well.

So while Fatah and Hamas continue to pretend that they are making great strides in Cairo, the facts on the ground in Gaza and Ramallah indicate something quite the opposite.

The impression one gets is that they are more interested in maintaining the appearance of unification - to forestall a Palestinian Arab Spring - than in actually doing anything concrete.

Their game playing will inevitably come to a head in the coming year as more promises get broken and planned unification steps get delayed. Fatah and Hamas will be quick to create committees and set up meetings, but the people will notice the paucity of actual results soon enough.

And when the two groups feel pressured to actually do something, the ideologues of Hamas will prevail over the milquetoast leaders of Fatah. After all, Hamas' red lines are a lot starker than Fatah's, and in a battle of ideologies, Fatah will blink first. Just like it collapsed in Gaza fighting with Hamas, so it will cave in the face of Hamas' intransigence.

One major reason is that in the end, Fatah's goals are congruent with Hamas'. Fatah wants to see Israel destroyed as much as Hamas does, just they want to see it done in a Western-friendly manner. For Fatah, peace was never a goal, it was a means to an end. And without a real commitment to peace - not just mouthing words in English to New York Times columnists, but a real commitment - peace doesn't stand a chance.

Reports that Israel attacked arms convoy in Sudan

From Israel HaYom:

The Israel Air Force recently struck two vehicles in eastern Sudan that were smuggling Iranian weapons to Gaza, according to Sudanese media reports published on Sunday.

Sudanese government and army officials have denied that any such attack occurred, and Israeli officials were remaining mum on the reports.

According to Sudanese newspaper Al-Intibaha on Sunday, quoting sources from local tribes who witnessed the attacks, the first IAF strike took place about 10 days ago, targeting a convoy of six Land Cruiser SUVs. Four people were killed and two cars were completely destroyed, the report said.

The second attack, according to the newspaper, took place last Sunday, hitting a Toyota and killing everyone in it. The people in the car, however, were reported to be "gold seekers" and not arms smugglers.

Another local report on the attacks, appearing in the Sudanese Al-Rakoba newspaper, claimed that Israel Defense Force soldiers onboard two Israeli Apache helicopters disembarked on an island off the coast of Sudan, wandered around the island, and then left on the helicopters without Sudanese security forces being able to intercept them. In contrast to the Al-Intibaha report, Al-Rakoba claimed that the attacks occurred in late November.

The same report also noted that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir remarked that his country could not protect its own soldiers and he asked Egypt to help monitor any Israeli incursions into Sudanese territory

The Sudanese newspapers said the targeted vehicles were travelling on a path known to be a Hamas smuggling route: from Port Sudan, where ships carrying weapons from Iran are unloaded, continuing along a western route heading to Egypt and into the Sinai Peninsula, and finally entering the Gaza Strip.

Despite the detailed report, Sudanese government officials were quick to deny penetration of Sudanese airspace by foreign elements. The Sudanese army spokesman also claimed that he had no information regarding such an attack, calling the reports "rumors."

I couldn't find the original Al Intibaha article; the Al Rakoba article is here.

PLO threatens to withdraw recognition of Israel

More moderation from those darlings of the Western world, the PLO:

Mohammed Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah Central Committee and one of the Palestinian Authority negotiators with Israel, was quoted Sunday as saying that the Palestinians may cancel the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel.

Shtayyeh's comments were published by the London-based Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.

This was not the first time that a senior PA official had talked about the possibility of abrogating the Oslo Accords.

The comments came less than 48 hours after Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to join a temporary leadership of the PLO that would prepare for new elections for the organization's two key bodies - the Palestine National Council and Executive Committee.

You mean that recognition is reversible? Come on, it can't be. Teams of Western Middle East experts have told us that the PLO's recognition of Israel is permanent and proof of their peaceful intent. If the PLO can decide in an instant that their agreements are worthless that would mean that "peace" was a tactical move to take land away from Jewish control, not a strategic move to live in peace with their neighbors. And after hearing how peaceful they are for two decades - even after they launched a terrorist war in the midst of it - how can we believe that they would change their minds?

This is the same guy who sent out his Christmas card wishing to celebrate next year in "liberated Palestine."

UPDATE: Hanan Ashrawi says the same thing, so this is not just ne guy mouthing off - this is a coordinated threat by the PLO.

A breath of fresh air

YNet has a nice article about how Jews and Muslims in Detroit work together on Christmas to do volunteer work for social service agencies.

The first comment is even nicer:

It amazes me how Jews and Muslims live peacefully together in Brooklyn, Detroit, and other regions outside of the Middle East. I think even in Israel and Palestine there must be good stories...

the problem is we, Arabs living in Saudi Egypt or other countries only hear about the bad things going on in Israel/ Palestine.... I think the same applies for Jews living in Europe, Australia, and US... they only hear bad things...

I was personally moved when I read about the Oud concert in Jerusalem... naming a street after Om Kolthoom.... an Israeli child singing om kolthoom in Israeli idol show...

The media doesn't cover that... all we know about Israelis is that "they are European colonialists""" but at least half of Israeli Jews come from the Middle East....

I don't know what went wrong but I think the Arabs had difficult times coping with the way Israel was formed.... other than that, I think Hebrew is the closest language to Arabic.. and Judaism is the closest to true Islamic values (islam need to be reformed just like what was done to Judaism)...

Peace upon you all, and hopefully one day will live in peace....

yazeed , Saudi (12.25.11)

Sometimes, a spark of truth turns into a flame.

Anti-Zionists freak over "Judea and Samaria"

Anti-Zionist activists are at it again, freaking out over a week-old story in Arutz-7:

According to a report in Israel National News, the commander of Israel Army Radio, the national radio station in Israel operated by the Israel Defense Forces, has determined that all the station’s reporters should refer to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria.” The report states the decision was made as a result of complaints made by Israel Media Watch that the radio station’s referral to the area as the “West Bank” gives the impression to listeners that the territory does not in fact belong to Israel.

Israel Army Radio is a popular mainstream station in Israel listened to by people from across the political spectrum. It is thus significant that it is now being directed to use the same terminology used by the settler movement when invoking the Biblical, divine notion of “Greater Israel” that is completely detached from reality, diplomacy and human rights.

The author added:

I just chose to point out this news item since it is a good example of the “zeitgeist” in Israel, the slow unraveling of rhetoric that exposes the reality on the ground.

I love how these guys believe that "West Bank" is a historic term and "Judea and Samaria" are modern, rightist settler terms, a phrase daring enough to ring alarm bells in their little heads that cannot conceive of a Middle East before the 1970s.

So here's a quick look through the news archives from the 1950s through the 1970s.

From a National Geographic News Bulletin, from 1956:

The Free Lance-Star, 1965:

The term "west bank" was used between 1948 and 1967, almost exclusively without capitalization.

Before there were any settlements, the Labor-led Israeli government called the area "Judea and Samaria" as this 1968 UPI article shows:

Soon, the anti-Israel crowd started to push the use of the term "West Bank" as a proper name. Note that happened after 1967, showing that it wasn't a Jordanian initiative, Here's an example of one of the earliest uses of the term as a proper name from an AP article written in 1971, referring to the "so-called West Bank:"

Soon the "so-called" part was dropped, but the two terms were used together for a while still. Here's one from 1974, still with lower-case, from UPI:

But soon the Big Lie that only Israelis referred to the area as Judea and Samaria started to take hold. From Reuters, 1975:

And this lie spread so quickly that only two years later AP accused Israel of trying to rename the "West Bank" to Judea and Samaria!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a lie is created.

So today the use of the correct historical term for the area is considered extremist, and the use of the anomalous term created when Jordan illegally annexed the area for 19 years is considered normative.

(To their credit, most leftist commenters to the article cited noted that there is nothing political about referring to the area as Judea and Samaria. Calling it The West Bank, on the other hand, is purely political - first to make it appear as part of Jordan and later to avoid giving it any Biblical connotation.)

Funny news video from Chanukah, 1979

Check out the kid on the right:

(h/t JTA)

The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ali Gomaa, who is considered a moderate cleric, said on Saturday that "the grave violations against holy sites" in Jerusalem requires urgent international Islamic intervention.

He said that Israel's temporary closing of the ramp to the Mughrabi Gate on the Temple Mount - which Muslims do not use - was the latest violation against the sanctity of Jerusalem.

Presumably these "grave violations" also include the fact that Jews are allowed, with severe restrictions, to visit their own holiest site.

Gomaa further warned that if Israel would continue to ignore their feelings, it would feel the wrath of one and a half billion angry Muslims.

Gay Men's Chorus singing "Chanukah in Santa Monica"

A bonus Chanukah video, unlike any I've ever seen.

I was actually surprised that they didn't create a big menorah with their hands at the end; their stage was already in roughly the right shape.

(h/t DM)

"Silwan stone-throwers were checking cars for Jews"

I noted that an AFP photographer won a photo-journalism award for his shot of a stone-throwing youth being hit by a swerving car in Silwan.

The photographer, Ilia Yefimovich, was interviewed by "Achbar HaIr" about his photo and what happened that day.

He recounts what happened:

That day there was a funeral in the neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem, and I went up to Jerusalem to photograph it for the Russian news agency. At the funeral there was a commotion and disturbances, so we expected a mess. I stood at a major intersection located above the where they have the tent demonstrations in the neighborhood, just below the Cinematheque, and there were bunch of kids who were throwing stones at passing vehicles. For every vehicle they checked if the driver was Jewish and [if so] threw stones at him. At one point, a string of cars passed and the children ran toward the vehicle and began to throw stones at it; the driver pulled the steering wheel and hit the children.

This picture undoubtedly is highly debatable. My job as a photographer is to document the scene - the events I shoot were happening with or without the presence of the camera. I started taking journalism because I wanted to see with my own eyes how everything looks, on the news every reporter puts his personal views . The press here in Israel have a very big problem when the photographer becomes part of the news - then it's not news, it's propaganda. The average reader should be able to read between the lines and understand the truth, and not the opinion of some writers and editors.

You will recall that no photographer bothered taking a shot of the shattered back window of that same car.

(h/t Dan)

Hamas, PIJ say they want to change the PLO, not adapt to it

From JPost:

Hamas is joining the PLO not as a result of a change in its ideology but because it wants the PLO to stick to its original platform – liberating Palestine and achieving the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, Hamas leaders explained over the weekend.

The Hamas leaders’ clarifications came in response to claims that Hamas’s decision to join the PLO was a sign the Islamist movement was moving toward moderation and would abandon its radical ideology.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other radical Palestinian groups agreed on Thursday to join a provisional leadership of the PLO that would look into ways of “activating and reconstructing” the Fatah-dominated organization.

The decision was announced following a meeting of representatives of several Palestinian groups in Cairo.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are demanding the PLO reconsider its political strategy by scrapping the Oslo Accords and its recognition of the two-state solution.

Hamas’s “foreign minister” Osama Hamdan, said the decision to join the temporary PLO leadership did not mean Hamas would become part of the peace process with Israel.

“Anyone who thinks Hamas has changed its positions and now accepts the PLO’s defeatist political program is living in an illusion,” Hamdan stressed. “Hamas cannot make the mistake of joining a process that has proved to be a failed one over the past 20 years.”

He was quoted by the Quds Press news agency as saying Hamas’s decision to be part of a provisional PLO leadership was aimed at “reconstructing the organization and reconsidering its political program.”

Hamdan emphasized that Hamas remains committed to fulfilling the aspirations of Palestinians, “first and foremost the liberation of our lands from the sea to the river and achieving the right of return.”

By seeking reconciliation with Fatah, Hamas hopes to achieve the Palestinians’ goal of liberating all their lands and securing the return of the refugees to their original homes inside Israel, Hamdan said.

Another Hamas leader, Khalil Abu Leila, said his movement would not join the PLO under the latter’s current political program.

One of the main tasks of the provisional PLO leadership was to “bring the PLO back to its correct path and the goal for which it was established, namely the liberation of Palestine,” he said.

Abu Leila said Hamas had long been demanding the PLO be “reactivated” and reconsider all agreements signed by the organization. His remark was seen as a reference to the Oslo Accords, which were signed between the PLO and Israel in 1993.

Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah also denied the decision to join the provisional PLO leadership was an indication his group would abandon its ideology.

“We still haven’t joined the PLO,” he said. “In future discussions with other factions, we will talk about incorporating Islamic Jihad into the PLO. Thursday’s meeting was just the beginning of this process.”

Shallah told London-based Al- Hayat newspaper it has already been made clear no organization would be asked to abandon its program as a condition for joining the PLO.

On the other hand, he added, no group has been asked to accept the PLO’s political platform as a condition for joining the organization.

“In principle, there is a Palestinian consensus that the PLO is an address for all Palestinians,” Shallah said. “We are seeking to make this an appropriate address.”

He said that during last week’s discussions in Cairo, PLO and PA leader Mahmoud Abbas made it clear the Palestinians would still preserve the right to “armed resistance” against Israel, despite the talk about the need for a “popular uprising.”

“No one has the right to say armed resistance is illegitimate and the Palestinians cannot resort to it,” Shallah said.

But who are you going to believe, terrorists or Time magazine Middle East experts?

Archaeologists confirm detail of Chanukah story

From Ha'aretz:

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered the first archeological find to confirm written testimony of the ritual practices at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

An Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeological survey at the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount yielded a tiny tin artifact, the size of a button, inscribed with the Aramaic words: “Daka Le’Ya,” which the excavation directors on behalf of the IAA, archaeologists Eli Shukron and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, explain means “pure for God.”

Researchers believe the artifact, dated to the first century, towards the end of the Second Temple period, is a seal similar to those described in the Mishnah. If they are correct, this is the first time physical evidence of the temple ritual was found to corroborate the written record.

The team believes the tiny seal was put on objects designated to be used in the temple, and thus had to be ceremonially pure.

In this vein, and in the spirit of Hanukkah, Jerusalem District archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: “It is written in the Talmud that the only cruse of oil that was discovered in the Temple after the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks, “lay with the seal of the High Priest” – that is: the seal indicated that the oil is pure and can be used in the Temple. Remember, this cruse of oil was the basis for the miracle of Hanukkah that managed to keep the menorah lit for eight days”.

In addition to this artifact, the dig also yielded other Second Temple artifacts, some older from the time of the Hasmonean Dynasty rule, including oil lamps, earthenware pots, and containers filled with oils and perfumes, as well as coins bearing Hasmonean kings such as Alexander Jannaeus and John Hyrcanus.

Wiktionary translates "Daka" as "to cleanse, to purify."

Intriguingly, Jastrow translates "Daka" as "humble" or "crushed." And the Genesius Lexicon translates it similarly:

Is it possible that "Daka l'Ya" doesn't only mean "pure for God" but perhaps "crushed for God" - meaning it is a seal meant specifically for olive oil produced for the Temple service?

(h/t Dan)

Fatah leader begs Christians to stop leaving "Palestine"

Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, spoke at a Fatah-organized dinner in Bethlehem on Friday night.

During his speech, Shtayyeh asked Palestinian Christians to stay and to stop emigrating to other countries, quoting Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" He said that no one deserves the land more than Palestinian Christians and that they are part of the "mosaic" of Bethlehem.

Ma'an English did not bother mentioning his appeal to Palestinian Christians. Their exodus from the territories, mirroring the Christians fleeing from every single Muslim-majority country, is something that must be downplayed.

He also threatened the Israeli government, saying that if it doesn't distinguish between Har Homa and Tel Aviv, the Palestinian Arab leaders will not distinguish between Ramallah and Jaffa.

Of course, judging from the Fatah logo, they never did. Except between 1964-1967, when they said they have no political interest in the West Bank.

Given that, Shtayyeh's Christmas card that he sent out to his friends is more than a bit ironic:

At Christmas, all roads lead to Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year hoping that next year we celebrate together in liberated Palestine

Not a single Palestinian Arab leader ever expressed that wish when those areas were under Jordanian control. Which means that "liberated Palestine" doesn't mean an independent Palestine, but a land liberated from Jews.

(h/t SM)