Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Fatah values its children - as fertilizer

I had missed this from Palestinian Media Watch last month:

PA TV narrator: "In the refugee camp Ein Al-Hilwe [in Lebanon], a rally was held in celebration of the [47th] anniversary [of Fatah]. A political symposium was also held on the occasion of the event."

Text on slide at event:

"Our children are our honor and glory,
they were created to be fertilizer for the land of Palestine,
and for our pure land to be saturated with their blood they were created to be fertilizer for the land of Palestine,
and for our pure land to be saturated with their blood"

(h/t Daled Amos, who has other examples of the PA's love of their children)

Egypt's new government planning to open Hamas office in Cairo

In an interview with Al Ahram, Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party chairman Mohamed Morsi said that the new Egyptian government would welcome Hamas moving its headquarters from Damascus to Cairo:

Q: Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Hamas support the Syrian revolution and the start of migration of the Syrian Palestinian leaders from Damascus...Will we witness the opening of the Office of the Hamas movement soon in Cairo?

A: I wish to open this office, and I strongly want to open an office for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, but this does not mean interfering in the internal Palestinian affairs. Egypt is the natural host of the issue, and the custodians of the Palestinian cause since the late forties, to support the Palestinian cause is our duty. In fact, Egypt had a distinct role in Gaza after the revolution. Egypt looks for all new guises for the Palestinian cause, and hosted the reconciliation talks on Egyptian territory. Rest assured that the will of Hamas to open an office does not mean beating the drums of war or threat of any country.

Despite his protestations, opening a Hamas office in Cairo would be a slap in the face of the PA. It would be the Hamastan embassy.

Hamas seems to be pulling out all the stops to effectively become just short of being a full province of Egypt - they want trade and travel through Rafah to be expanded, they want oil and natural gas and electricity to be delivered directly from Egypt, and ideologically they are identical to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

The only thing stopping them from wanting to go all the way is that if Gaza becomes part of Egypt, Israel would benefit.

That's of course the number one rule for the Arab Middle East - if it is good for Israel it must be avoided at all costs.

Today's interesting Wikileaks from Stratfor (updated)

Besides the leaked email I noted before about Ma'an's editor, we have:

Turkey planned on downgrading relations with Israel even before the May 2010 flotilla incident, documents published Wednesday by WikiLeaks suggest.

A leaked email from George Friedman, the head of US-based global security analysis company Stratfor, reveals that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger that at some point he would burn bridges with Israel in favor of a closer relationship with the Islamic world.

According to the Turkish newspaper Sunday Zaman, Friedman also wrote in the same email that Turkey does not get along with Israel and the United States. An attack by Israel on Iran would provide a good opportunity for Erdogan to finally cut Turkey’s ties with Israel and the US and to expand Turkey’s power, he further wrote.

The flotilla to Gaza — in which nine Turkish citizens aboard a ship heading to Gaza were killed after attacking the IDF commandos who intercepted it – was not the cause of Turkey’s new strategy but rather the opportunity Erdogan had been waiting for, Army Radio said.

And this was even more interesting, if poorly sourced:

Israel may already have the codes to crack into Iran’s anti-aircraft missile defense systems, according to WikiLeaks, which on Tuesday continued to publish email conversations by employees from the Texas-based Stratfor global intelligence firm.

The Stratfor email conversation took place in 2009 and focused on an alleged deal between Israel and Russia, in which Israel would supply codes to hack into the unmanned aerial vehicles that Israel had sold to Russia’s neighbor, Georgia, in exchange for the codes for Russia’s state-of-the-art TOR-M1 anti-aircraft system stationed in Iran. If the codes are indeed in Israeli hands, they could prove helpful in a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.

According to the WikiLeaks document, in 2009 a Stratfor analyst claimed to have been told by a Mexican source of the Israel-Russian deal. It was speculated in the email conversation that after Russia invaded Georgia over a land dispute in 2008, Georgia found that its Israeli-made UAV’s were not performing as successfully as they should, possibly because their communication codes were hacked, leading the country to seek to purchase UAV spy planes from other countries.

A Mexican source? Sounds more like a game of telephone again - some Georgian wonders why the UAVs aren't working well, assumes it isn't because of operator error and spins a conspiracy theory where Russia got Israel's codes, has to come up with a plausible reason how that could happen, and tells his Mexican buddy over drinks.

Reading these documents is fun, and some might be true, but their veracity is really shaky.

UPDATE: Here's the email about the UAVs. Looks like Georgia wanted Mexican UAVs because they felt the Israeli ones were compromised. one had been taken down intact. (h/t Yoel)

A Muslim scholar explains why Jerusalem is not in the Koran

I was browsing through the Quds Media site, which is one of the sources for some of the more ridiculous rumors about Israel and the Al Aqsa Mosque, and which has an English version. While there I saw this article:

Jerusalem in the Qur’an is a great book that thrilled and delighted me in a number of ways. I am surprised that such a meticulously documented book had to wait for such a long time before seeing the light. ...May Allah Ta’ala reward Brother Imran Hosein for writing this scholarly document, which will indeed fill up this intellectual and religious gap and serve as an academic reference to Muslims in all parts of the world. As I write this introduction, this book that was published only this year is already being translated to Arabic and Bosnian. In a short time it will be rendered into other European languages and to all the other tongues of the Islamic world.

Wow! a book about Jerusalem in the Quran when Jerusalem is not in the Quran!

I found an Internet version of the book, and to call it "scholarly" is, well, a bit misleading. The author spends much of the book on peripheral issues and bashing Israel. But when you dig in to find the meat of his laughable argument, you find this:

It is strange, mysterious, and enigmatic, … that the name of the city ‘Jerusalem’ (Arabic ‘Quds’ or ‘Bait al-Maqdis’) does not appear in the Qur’an! Yet so many of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an had links with that Holy City, and in it is located that only other House of Allah, apart from those built in Makkah and Madina, ever built by a Prophet of Allah, Most High. Not only is that House of Allah (Masjid al-Aqsa) mentioned in the Qur’an but so, also, is the miraculous night-time journey in which Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was taken from Makkah to Jerusalem and to that House of Allah. Perhaps the reason for this mysterious treatment of the subject is located in the Islamic view that Jerusalem is destined to play a central crucial role in the Last Age. Hence there was, perhaps, a divine need to cloud the name of the city, as well as its destiny, with a sacred cloud that would not be lifted until the appropriate time had come, and Jerusalem was poised and ready to play its role in the End of History.

There you go! The Quran doesn't mention Jerusalem because it is too darn holy!

In fact, this neatly explains not only why Jerusalem is not in the Koran, but why Islamic scholars ignored their supposedly third-holiest city for hundreds of years!

This, perhaps, explains the almost total absence of Islamic literature on the subject of the destiny of Jerusalem, something to which Dr. Ismail Raji al-Faruqi referred when he lamented: “Unfortunately, there is no Islamic literature on the subject” (see Ch. 1). The fact is that no one could have written on this subject until that time arrived when the cloud was lifted. This book was written in consequence of the conviction that the cloud is now being lifted.

You see? Jerusalem is more holy than Mohammed, more holy than Hajj, more holy than Zakat, more holy than prayer, more holy than the prophets - because they are all mentioned prominently in the Quran, but Jerusalem isn't.

The "proofs" in the book are even more ridiculous. The author claims that when the Quran mentions a "town" it means Jerusalem, and his first proof is the Quranic use of the word "town" referring to where the Jews lived - while they were in the desert.

I think that by using this logic we can deduce that Mickey Mouse is even more holy than Jerusalem in Islam, because Mickey isn't even hinted at!

In a remarkably tone-deaf interview, Hamas Gaza leader Mahmoud Zahar dismissed any claims that the power crisis in Gaza was a problem.

The leader of the Hamas questioned those talking about a state of flux in the Gazan street as a result of successive crises such as lack of gas and power outages, saying: "There are crises in gas, housing and oil in the world, and there are European countries with a huge declared bankruptcy. The people promting these rumors are the elements of the previous (PA) security forces who are sitting in their homes and getting paid, and who drive taxis, and spread rumors, and this is part of a plan to incite public opinion against Hamas before the elections." he continued, "On the ground of the Palestinian people are genuine, they survived the war and the blockade did not yield," and he urged the media "not to intervene at this game."

He also said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad were seriously considering a merger and a decision on a merger or cooperation agreement is due in the next few days.

Regarding Hamas' position on Syria and Iran, he stressed that Hamas does not interfere in Syrian affasirs, but asserted that Hamas is not with Iran or against it, and not with Syria or against it; they just want good relations with the Arab world.

And, as usual, he blamed Fatah for the failure of reconciliation so far.

Who's telling the truth about Ramallah TV station raid? (updated)

From YNet:

Communication Ministry officials raided the al-Watan TV station in Ramallah Wednesday.

The raid was headed by officers at the ministry's Wireless Supervision Unit. Palestinian sources said that an IDF force accompanied them.

The IDF said that the raid was prompted by the station's use of unauthorized frequencies, which endanger flight routes over Ben Gurion International Airport.

One of the station's broadcasters said that the soldiers seized transmission equipment, computers and documents, and detained four of the station's employees.

From Ma'an:

Suleiman Zuheiri, undersecretary of the Palestinian ministry of telecommunication in Ramallah, said Israel had breached Article 36 of the Oslo agreement, which requires consultations with the PA.

The accord says a joint committee of technical experts representing both sides shall be established to address any issue arising on the topic of communications, including the growing future needs of the Palestinian side.

Zuheiri said the unilateral move should not have been made by the Israeli military, which is not authorized to seize transmitters or intervene in communications issues but did so anyway.

“The Israeli claims that the stations’ transmission interrupts aircraft communication at Ben Gurion airport are false because the airport’s range is very different from the range used by TV stations.

"Civil aviation waves, according to international parameters, start at 120 megahertz, while TV frequencies start at above 500 megahertz,” Zuheiri explained.

He added that the two stations Israeli forces raided and confiscated their transmitters had been registered at the International Telecommunication Union, clear evidence that the action was illegal and violated international treaties.

His ministry was never notified that these two stations caused interruptions, Zuheiri said, nor did Israel's communications ministry inform the Palestinian side of its plans to shut the stations down.

From what I can gather (and I am no expert in radio frequency communications) both of these assertions are wrong.

VHF broadcast TV in the Middle East ranges from 48 to 252 MHz. Civil aviation uses frequencies in the VHF space, between 108 MHz and 137 MHz.

However, broadcast TV VHF stays away from the aviation bands, with nothing broadcast between 87.75 MHz and 175.25 MHz.

In other words, no TV could see a signal even if the Ramallah station was broadcasting illegally within that range.

That is not to say that the station wouldn't use that frequency for other reasons, or that its equipment doesn't leak out into the aviation frequencies, or that Ben Gurion airport (or maybe a nearby military airbase) might need to use different frequencies for specific security reasons, or any number of other scenarios.

The GOI and IDF need to have the proper information available to journalists immediately when a story like this breaks, because even though in most cases the truth is on their side, they lose credibility because most reporters aren't going to follow up weeks or months later to find out the justification.

UPDATE: I am told that there are two issues that are being mixed up in the IDF explanation - the radio frequency of broadcasts and general electronic emissions. While it is unusual for a TV station's electronics to interfere with civil aviation radio or radar, it is possible, just like electronics can interfere with any radio or TV broadcasts at home. (h/t JD)

Wikileaks/Stratfor: Ma'an editor "batsh*t insane"

From the latest Wikileaks dump of hacked Stratfor emails:

Sending straight to alpha because no WO on. Replying to this thread because it's in reference to the bias we should be aware of from Ma'an News Agency, whose story Mikey just pasted in response to the insight on what's happening at Pal camps in Lebanon. Source is new, just met him on my trip. He's a journalist who works for Ma'an. Insight below is his response to my questions about wtf his boss was saying in the article I pasted below the insight ('Palestinian editor says Jerusalem will be liberated with "military honor"'):

Nasser [Ma'an editor in chief Nasr al-Lahham] is the man but he's a nut. I know him well. Israelis know him too, he used to report from the Knesset and interviewed I think their president once at his home. His point here, seems to me, is Abbas' strategy of building institutions and restoring security, rather than violently resisting, is key to
liberating Palestine. He's telling the recruits they're just as important and valuable as Hezbollah and don't let anyone tell you otherwise

Here's the inside scoop on Nasser and the key to understanding how Maan remains the only truly independent news source in Palestine: He's a decades long supporter of the Popular Front, was president of the PFLP at Bethlehem Univ. and went to jail six years for it.

As a PFLP supporter, he detests organized religion and its mixing in politics (Hamas) just as much as he hates materialism/capitalism/corruption (Fatah). (On that second point, he's probably the most beloved media personality in the country and has huge influence, yet he never thought to move out of the refugee camp where he was born. Badass.)

The other important thing to know about Nasser, more important than anything else I just mentioned, is that he is batshit insane. Really do love the guy but something is off up there, trust me. He will spout out the craziest theories every once in a while

I repeat that I am not impressed with the level of intelligence at Stratfor in the memos I've seen so far, but sometimes they have interesting nuggets.

Netanyahu and others on PBS' "The Advocates," 1979

With host, Michael Dukakis!

The Netanyahu (Ben Nitay) part begins around the 15 minute mark:

I find it interesting that the pro-Palestinian Arab side is generally only talking about self-determination, not a state. By pretty much any definition, they have achieved that.

But every time they achieve something, the goalposts keep moving.

(h/t Hillel Neuer)

Arabs against absorption of refugees (NYT, 1966)

From The New York Times, April 4, 1966:

JERUSALEM (Jordanian Sector), March 30—"The Arab states will not integrate the Palestine refugees because integration would be a slow process of liquidating the Palestine problem," Ahmed Shukairy, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, declared in an interview today.

"Consequently, the refugees don't want to be integrated," he continued. "If there are no Palestinian people, there is no Palestinian cause. We can't conceive of a Babylonian cause today because there are no Babylonians. But we start from the premise that we will achieve the liberation of Palestine soon."

Arab refusal to assimilate the 1.3 million refugees now living in four host countries— Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, controlled by the United Arab Republic—has been the subject of criticism from Israel and from the Western nations that have contributed to supporting the refugees for most of the 18 years since Israel came into existence.

Most of the critics would agree with Mr. Shukairy that the Arabs will not assimilate the refugees because they want to keep tie Palestine issue alive. But few of them would be likely to agree that the refugees do not want to be assimilated, and almost none would accept the premise of "liberation of Palestine soon."

Indeed, questions about why the refugees persist in their hopes when Israel appears to have consolidated her position bring a different, but fairly standard, Arab retort:

"The Zionists remembered Palestine for 2,000 years. Why should we begin to forget in 18 years?"

When leaders of the Arab nations are asked why they do not assimilate the refugees, they reply that Israel and the West, not the Arabs, were responsible for the refugee exodus in 1948 from the part of British Palestine that became Israel.

These leaders ignore the rebuttal that the Arabs shared largely in the responsibility because their radio stations broadcast propaganda about Israeli atrocities designed to panic the refugees and that the refugees were told to flee.

...

The basic problem is that integration of the ordinary, uneducated peasant refugee requires land. In Jordan, the only host country that has given refugees the full privileges of citizenship, arable land is not available. The other Arab countries reserve what land they can develop for their own citizens, who want it badly.

Iraq, where there are almost no refugees, has the most favorable land-to-man ratio among the Arab states, but even there any significant assimilation of outsiders would require large scale development of irrigation

A Western ambassador in one host country said recently:

"The way to solve the problem is to stimulate Arab economic development to the maximum. If the Arab countries begin to need manpower, refugees will automatically be absorbed."

The psychological and emotional obstacles to integration are great. The refugees and their hosts feel strongly that they got a raw deal in 1948, and their self-esteem demands formal reparation, particularly because of the impression that the Israelis are cleverer, abler and more modern than the Arabs.

The Arab armies that moved against Israel in 1948, after the Arabs rejected the United Nations partition of Palestine, were beaten, and the defeat still Irankles.

One educated refugee said the other day in private conversation that he favored going back to the original partition plan, which would cost Israel 27 per cent of her present territory.

...

The mystique of the refugees, fed by Arab broadcasts and by nostalgic talk, is based on the conviction that they have been grievously wronged. One commentator, Cecil Hourani, has written: "In the dim twilight of the camps it is what has been lost that still beckons, not what can be done to take its place."

At a United Nations school in Gaza, a young refugee was learning the trade of an auto mechanic. He was scheduled to I go to Sweden for on-the-job training. He spoke a little English. Asked what he would do if he could get a permanent job in Sweden and if he met a girl, he liked, he said: "I would come back. My country needs me."

Hamdi Hirzallah, 40 years old, a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was present at the interview. A native of Beersheba, now part of Israel, he said with great intensity: "I will tell you something, and I wish you would quote me. If they try to leave, we will stop them, by force if need be."

Afternoon open thread/links

Where you can ruminate over the fact that a Houston high school basketball team may never find out if they are the best in the league.

Or you can review Vice News - in Gaza. (I didn't get to see it yet.)

Or discuss exactly what makes Pepsi a "Jewish drink."

(h/t JTA, jzaik)

Fatah accuses Hamas of stopping election plans

From Fatah's WAFA news agency:

Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of Fatah delegation to the reconciliation talks with Hamas, Tuesday told WAFA that Hamas continues to prevent the Central Elections Commission (CEC) resulted from reconciliation talks from working in the Gaza Strip.

“It has been agreed that CEC will start working in December 23, 2011…Two months and a week later, Hamas still prevents the commission from working in Gaza without reason,” said al-Ahmad.

He indicated that some Hamas leaders in Gaza don’t want to end the Palestinian division to benefit their personal agenda, as well as he expressed hope that Hamas will end its internal dispute and reach an agreement regarding the formation of the interim government.

Hamas, for its part, isn't only blaming Fatah for the failure of unity talks. They are blaming the US and Israel.

Since the unity deal signed last May, there has been essentially no progress.. But there are lots and lots of meetings and tons of blame.

(h/t CHA)

Hatikvah played in Egypt

From Israel's Foreign Ministry:

Israeli Ambassador Yaacov Amitai on Monday, 27 February 2012, presented his credentials to Field Marshal Mohammad Hussein Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces. At the official ceremony, during which other ambassadors also presented their credentials, the Israeli anthem was played, along with other national anthems, as is customary.

The presentation of credentials was held in a cordial atmosphere. Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Amitai and Field Marshal Tantawi emphasized the importance of the peace agreement and cooperation for both countries.

Ambassador Amitai said: "I will do everything I can to enhance understanding and to foster cooperation between Israel and Egypt."

Amitai has been demanding better security from Egypt, especially in wake of the bombings and attempted bombings of diplomats in India, Georgia and Thailand. On Sunday he refused to leave Cairo's airport until his car was checked for explosives.

Of course, Amitai is utterly dependent on Egypt's security, since the Israel embassy was closed due to some peace-loving riots and he has to do all his work out of his apartment.

Malaysia cancels concert because of singer's Allah tattoos

From AP:

Muslim-majority Malaysia on Tuesday banned a planned concert by Erykah Badu after a photograph appeared showing the Grammy-winning singer with the Arabic word for Allah written on her body.

The American R&B singer was scheduled to perform Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, but some Muslim groups said Badu was an unsuitable role model for young Malaysians after seeing a publicity photo of her with what appeared to be temporary tattoos of the word Allah on her bare shoulders.

A government committee that includes police and Islamic policy officials decided to forbid Badu's show because the body art was "an insult to Islam and a very serious offense," Information Minister Rais Yatim said in a statement.

The photo of Badu had "triggered public criticism that could jeopardize national security and cause a negative impact to the government's image," the statement added.

The 41-year-old, Dallas-born singer had already arrived in Malaysia. She can stay as a tourist but will not be allowed to perform, an Information Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

It was the first concert by a Western performer to be banned in Malaysia in recent years. Several other stars, including Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne, were told to dress modestly while performing.

The photograph of Badu, which also appears on her official fan website, attracted attention after Malaysia's most widely read English-language daily, The Star, published it Monday.

On Tuesday, the newspaper apologized to Muslims for what it called an "oversight," saying it deeply regretted any offense sparked by the photo, which was "inadvertently published." The Home Ministry summoned The Star's editors to explain the photograph, which caused some Muslim activists to demand the newspaper's suspension.

Here is the offending photo. The two "Allahs" are on her shoulders.

Good thing the newspaper didn't mention the Hebrew letters (apparently meant to spell "Badu.") She'd get lynched.

Hamas says unity should only be for fighting Israel

Hamas newspaper Palestine Today is featuring an article by Dr. Fayez Abu Shamala, cursing the reconciliation agreement with Fatah.

Shamala is saying that if the unity agreement means that the Palestinian Arabs can no longer engage in attacks against Israelis, it is useless. He asks why the PA is stopping Hamas and Islamic Jihad from attacking Jewish settlers and security officers - they should be joining in such attacks. He stresses that what is required of the Palestinian people is the resistance, not reconciliation.

He adds that the liberation of the land will not go through the UN and solutions will not come from politicians in Cairo or Doha, but only through force.

If Hamas is publishing this in its own newspaper, you can be certain that it reflects the thinking of its leadership.

Egypt stops fuel smuggling to Gaza, power plant shuts down

From Ma'an:

Egyptian security forces on Tuesday thwarted an attempt to smuggle large quantities of diesel fuel into the Gaza Strip via underground tunnels, Ma'an's correspondent said.

Egyptian military and police forces stopped four trucks containing more than 7,000 liters of diesel fuel bound for the Gaza Strip.

Four Egyptian smugglers were arrested and are being questioned.

Egypt wants to stop the use of underground tunnels for delivery of Egyptian fuel purchased by Palestinian authorities, and has severely reduced supply through the tunnel network, prompting an energy crisis in the coastal enclave.

Egyptian and Gazan officials reached a deal last week which includes longer-term measures to increase the capacity of Gaza's sole power plant and link Gaza's electricity grid to Egyptian infrastructure.

On Sunday, as part of the first stage of the agreement, Egypt increased its power supply to the Gaza Strip from 17 to 22 megawatts.

The shorter-term requirement is the delivery of fuel into Gaza, but a disagreement on the route of the fuel still appeared to be pending agreement.

The Gaza government is pressing for the Rafah terminal between the countries to be equipped for fuel transfer, and is reluctant to accept fuel to be delivered via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.

The government fears Israel will use control of supplies to squeeze the coastal strip.

So they'd rather rely on Egypt controlling the fuel supplies to Gaza. See how well that's working out?

Today, for the second time in two weeks, the Gaza power plant ran out of fuel and large parts of Gaza were again plunged into darkness. The head of the power plant again appealed to Egypt to accelerate a program to provide fuel.

And still no one places the blame on Hamas for this artificial crisis. Because they want to avoid being thrown into jail.