Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Azerbaijan detains 22 suspected Iranian spies aiming at Jewish, Israeli, US targets

Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry has detained 22 people accused of spying for Iran and other crimes, the ministry said on Wednesday.

They had been secretly cooperating with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), “collecting and passing information that could harm Azerbaijan’s security,” and recruiting people for Iranian intelligence services.

They were charged with high treason and illegal acquisition and storage of firearms and ammunition.

The ministry did not say when they were detained.
Azerbaijan announced on February 22 it had uncovered a terrorist group with links to Iran’s IRGC and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The group, led by an IRGC officer called Hamid and Hezbollah operative Hadji Abbas, was planning to stage attacks against the Israeli embassy and a Jewish cultural center in the Azeri capital Baku.

AFP adds the US embassy to the list of targets.

(h/t Philtheman)

How many missiles did Israel shoot? I'll tell you!

Ali Abuminah of Electronic Intifada asks what he thinks is a damning question:

Whenever you hear Israel’s tired hasbara refrain about rockets, rockets, rockets, remember to ask the question Yousef Munayyer recently asked: Why don’t Israel’s spokespeople ever tell us how many rockets, missiles and bullets Israel has fired on Gaza?

Of course the answer is because it is by orders of magnitude greater in both number and explosive power than anything Palestinian armed groups have or ever could muster against Israel.

Well, luckily for Abuninah, we can know how many missiles Israel shot into Gaza over the past few days - because PCHR counts every report of a missile, even those that cause no injuries or damage, and even some that never happened.

So using the numbers provided by a biased, lying anti-Israel organization that cannot even call the IDF by its name, we can count:

11 missiles fired on Friday and Saturday,
10 missiles fired on Sunday, and
8 missiles fired on Monday.

That's a whopping maximum of 29 missiles the PCHR claims (including at least one that was fictional) that Israel's dreaded war machine shot at Gaza over four days.

Not exactly carpet bombing, is it?

In comparison, Gaza terror groups shot about 250-300 rockets at Israel in the same time period. Meaning they shot ten times as many projectiles at Israeli towns as Israel shot at specific terrorist targets.

And most of the rockets fired by the Gaza terrorists were not the small "homemade" Qassams, but professional 122 mm Grad rockets, probably of Chinese or Russian manufacture, often with a payload of about 20 kg of explosives. They are not firecrackers.

Needless to say, when Israel shoots a missile, it generally hits the exact target intended. When Islamic Jihad fired a rocket, it aims at the general direction of where ever it thinks it can kill the most civilians. For moral midgets like Abuminah to pretend that somehow Israel's actions are worse than those of terror groups in Gaza is simply an attempt to justify terrorism.

Yes, Israel has far more firepower, but in no possible universe can you say that Israeli fire was disproportionate to the rockets that came out of Gaza.

You're welcome, Ali.

AFP ignores its own report; blames Israel for two child deaths from fictional airstrike (UPDATE)

From AFP:

A Gazan child died on Wednesday from wounds sustained in four days of Israeli-Palestinian violence, but a truce deal appeared to be holding, despite more rocket fire and two Israeli raids.

Gaza emergency services spokesperson Adham Abu Selmiya said Baraka al-Mughrabi, aged 7, died from severe injuries sustained during an Israeli bombing raid on Gaza City on Saturday.

The boy's death, which raised to 26 the number of Palestinians killed in four days of bloodshed, came 24 hours after Israel and militant groups in Gaza agreed to observe a ceasefire deal in a bid to end the confrontation, which saw more than 200 rockets fired at Israel.

Yet Mughrabi was injured not on Saturday, but in the same Monday morning incident that killed teenager Nayif Qarmout.

Which an AFP reporter (and photographic evidence) confirmed was not an Israeli airstrike.

AFP described the incident where Qarmout and now Mughrabi were killed as a kind of "work accident" where an explosive device carried by 15-year old Qarmout went off. The IDF denied any strike in the area and AFP confirmed that.

It is no surprise that "Gaza medical officials" will lie and blame Israel for the deaths, but AFP reporters should presumably know what they themselves reported.

The number of victims from the airstrikes is 24, not 26, of whom 20 were terrorists (and at least one, a farmer, was effectively a human shield as Islamic Jihad terrorists were injured in the same strike.)

Sloppiness or bias?

UPDATE: Ma'an was wrong; Mughrabi was not one of the kids with Qarmout. He was killed by a terrorist bullet. From AP:

A Palestinian boy accidentally struck by a bullet when militants fired in the air during a funeral died of his injuries Wednesday, family members and witnesses said.

Palestinian health official Adham Abu Salmia initially said that 8-year-old Barka al-Mugrahbi died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Monday.

However, Israel's military said it did not carry out a strike in the area at the time.

The boy's relatives and witnesses later said the boy was marching in the funeral procession for a Gaza militant Monday when he was struck in the head by an errant bullet.

At the time, gunmen were firing in the air, they said.

But did AP go back to Adham Abu Salmia and ask him why he lied? Will AP and other wire services keep quoting him even though they know he is a liar?

Delhi police confirm Iran behind embassy attack

From Economic Times of India:

The Delhi Police has cracked the Israeli embassy car blast case and traced the conspiracy to Iranian secret agents. According to sources privy to the investigation, it has now been 'conclusively established' that Syed Mohammad Kazmi, the freelance journalist recently arrested in the case, was in touch with an Iranian intelligence officer and had even visited Iran as part of the conspiracy.

Sources in the security establishment told ET that the breakthrough in the February 13 blast on an Israel diplomat's car, will be announced by the Delhi Police in a "day or two." They added that another couple of detentions have been made in the case.

The questioning of these two persons is underway and their arrests will follow soon. A senior official of the security establishment claimed that the Delhi Police had identified the bomber.

Even before the details of the investigation are placed in the public domain, India made it a point to share them with Israel. On Monday, home minister P Chidambaram is said to have briefed the visiting Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror on the alleged breakthrough in the case.

Putting its weight behind the Delhi Police, the MHA on Monday said it completely backs their line of investigation. "Wait for the announcement from the Delhi Police, which will unravel the entire conspiracy and the role of each individual and agency in the attack," a senior home ministry official told ET.

The outcome of the blast probe confirms Israel's assessment soon after the blast. Israel had claimed that the blast was carried out by Iran or its protege Hezbollah, given Israel's stiff opposition to its nuclear ambitions.

Kazmi has been charged with helping the bomber conduct reconnaissance of the Israeli embassy several times and keeping tab on the movement of Israeli diplomats. He allegedly helped terrorist who planted the magnet bomb on the diplomat's car.

Kazmi, a freelance journalist, is said to be running a feature news agency, Media Star, besides being a part-time worker with an Iranian broadcaster and also a columnist with Persian newspapers in Iran.

It is worth mentioning that an article in Al Jazeera by an "investigative journalist" that claimed this was an Israeli "false flag" operation was given credence by anti-Israel journalists.

Which proves yet again that for most Israel haters, there is no journalistic integrity - skepticism simply does not exist for the most moronic claims.

(h/t Yoel)

Rabid Israel-haters say Gilad Atzmon is too Zionist for them

A group of people whose single-minded aim is to take away the Jewish right of self-determination has decided that Gilad Atzmon's nutty anti-semitic rantings is too crazy - even for them.

From the "US Palestinian Community Network," quoted in Electronic Intifada:

For many years now, Gilad Atzmon, a musician born in Israel and currently living in the United Kingdom, has taken on the self-appointed task of defining for the Palestinian movement the nature of our struggle, and the philosophy underpinning it. He has done so through his various blogs and Internet outlets, in speeches, and in articles. He is currently on tour in the United States promoting his most recent book, entitled, The Wandering Who.

With this letter, we call for the disavowal of Atzmon by fellow Palestinian organizers, as well as Palestine solidarity activists, and allies of the Palestinian people, and note the dangers of supporting Atzmon’s political work and writings and providing any platforms for their dissemination. We do so as Palestinian organizers and activists, working across continents, campaigns, and ideological positions.

Atzmon’s politics rest on one main overriding assertion that serves as springboard for vicious attacks on anyone who disagrees with his obsession with “Jewishness”. He claims that all Jewish politics is “tribal,” and essentially, Zionist. Zionism, to Atzmon, is not a settler-colonial project, but a trans-historical “Jewish” one, part and parcel of defining one’s self as a Jew. Therefore, he claims, one cannot self-describe as a Jew and also do work in solidarity with Palestine, because to identify as a Jew is to be a Zionist. We could not disagree more. Indeed, we believe Atzmon’s argument is itself Zionist because it agrees with the ideology of Zionism and Israel that the only way to be a Jew is to be a Zionist.

Palestinians have faced two centuries of orientalist, colonialist and imperialist domination of our native lands. And so as Palestinians, we see such language as immoral and completely outside the core foundations of humanism, equality and justice, on which the struggle for Palestine and its national movement rests. As countless Palestinian activists and organizers, their parties, associations and campaigns, have attested throughout the last century, our struggle was never, and will never be, with Jews, or Judaism, no matter how much Zionism insists that our enemies are the Jews. Rather, our struggle is with Zionism, a modern European settler colonial movement, similar to movements in many other parts of the world that aim to displace indigenous people and build new European societies on their lands.

...Indeed, we regard any attempt to link and adopt antisemitic or racist language, even if it is within a self-described anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist politics, as reaffirming and legitimizing Zionism.

...As Palestinians, it is our collective responsibility, whether we are in Palestine or in exile, to assert our guidance of our grassroots liberation struggle. We must protect the integrity of our movement, and to do so we must continue to remain vigilant that those for whom we provide platforms actually speak to its principles.

When the Palestinian people call for self-determination and decolonization of our homeland, we do so in the promise and hope of a community founded on justice, where all are free, all are equal and all are welcome.

Until liberation and return.

I don't know if it is worth fisking the absolute stupidity and purposeful lies seen here - for example, the ridiculous idea that Zionism is colonialism, or the myth that Palestinian Arab nationalism would accept Jews as equals, or even the sheer hypocrisy of stating that "Palestinians," who have enjoyed peoplehood for a few decades at most, have a greater claim for self-determination than the 3000 year old Jewish nation (which these signatories deny even exists.)

The people who signed this are attempting to put on a "moderate" facade on their sheer hate by distancing themselves from a Holocaust denier and anti-semite, but their excuses are hardly more moral than Atzmon's sickening rhetoric. It is equally anti-semitic to deny Jewish peoplehood and Jewish self-determination.

And who signed it? A score of Arab academics and thinkers, whose signatures to this letter show that there is no relationship between being an intellectual and being a moral human being. They include Ali Abunimah, Joseph Massad, Omar Barghouti and a host of prominent Palestinian Arab professors and activists who cloak their hate in big words and lofty-sounding concepts - that only apply to their own people.

ISIS identifies likely secret Iranian nuclear site

From ISIS Online:

ISIS has identified in commercial satellite imagery a building on the Parchin site in Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to visit because it contains, or used to contain, a high-explosive test chamber (see figure 1). The building is located on a relatively small and isolated compound within the Parchin military site and has its own perimeter security wall or fencing. A berm can be seen between this building and a neighboring one, which is consistent with a description of the compound in the November 8, 2011 IAEA Safeguards Report. The compound is located more than four kilometers away from high-explosive related facilities also at the Parchin site which the IAEA visited in 2005 (see figure 2). 1

The IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano recently noted that the IAEA has “information that that some activity is ongoing” at the Parchin site.2 When asked if he was concerned that Iran was cleansing the site, Amano said that the “possibility is not excluded…” and that “we have to go there.” If Iran is engaging in clean up work to hide evidence at the Parchin site then it could be occurring inside this building as well. Thus, the IAEA deserves international support to visit this site without delay to inspect the inside of this building and other locations in Parchin as well.

In the November 8, 2011 Safeguards Report , the IAEA described evidence, including satellite imagery, indicating that Iran built the large explosive test chamber at the Parchin site and used it to conduct hydrodynamic experiments in the early 2000s, possibly related to the development of nuclear weapons. The IAEA has evidence that test chamber was placed at Parchin in 2000 and that a building was subsequently constructed around it.

The Associated Press has reported that satellite imagery in early November 2011 and satellite imagery from more recently shows increased activity at the Parchin site.4 It is not clear if this reported activity is occurring specifically at this compound, or at other areas at the Parchin site.

Hat tip to Challah Hu Akbar, who keeps getting better and better. He found this location on Google Maps so you can pan and zoom. It is a pretty remote area.

View Larger Map

See also CNN and Atlantic Wire.

Don't look at Juan Cole, though, because he's convinced that secret nuclear activity in military zones in Iran are completely innocuous. Iran's Supreme Leader said so himself - at least this decade.

Zahar: Hamas will accept fuel through Israel via UNRWA

From Hamas' Palestine Times newspaper:

Leader of the Political Bureau of Hamas Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar denied the report published by some Arab and Zionist media of a deal between Hamas and Egypt to accept the truce contingent on the introduction of fuel into the Gaza Strip, and said: "This is not true at all and has no basis in truth" .

Al-Zahar confirmed that there is nothing new on the subject of electricity, and expressed the approval of Hamas on the introduction of fuel for the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing by "UNRWA" for the power plant in the Gaza Strip.

So it looks like Hamas is going to allow fuel to reach Gaza via Israel after all, and is using UNRWA to make sure it does not receive the fuel directly, in a bizarre way to save face after depriving Gazans of fuel and power for well over a month now because of their refusal to do exactly that.

No confirmation yet from COGAT or UNRWA.

It is possible that by using this mechanism of going through UNRWA, Hamas will avoid giving taxes to the PA and will be able to tax it themselves. It will be interesting to find out how much Egypt (the presumed supplier) will be charging for the fuel.

Does this mean that UNRWA is going to be complicit in Hamas collecting taxes on fuel, and therefore in strengthening Hamas?

Crazy rumor that Netanyahu said he would destroy Lebanon

A bizarre rumor has been floating around. Here is the most embellished version I could find, from a Malaysian blog, but parts of it are all over the web:

At a news conference in Switzerland, on the occasion of the building an Israeli railway there, the German newspaper Die Zeit interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Congratulations Mr. Netanyahu, my first question is that does the beginning of the large train line’s construction confirm the announcement of the dissident Syrian Intelligence Office that you will strike Lebanon?”

In reply, Netanyahu stated:

“Yes, and it is not a secret that it will happen with U.S-Gulf support and that is why they have been warned, but before you ask, you have a look at the new map of the world and see that there is no nation with this name.” Given that the UN Security Council has listed 388 Israeli airspace violations by Israel against Lebanon, there is no doubt what Israel is planning regarding Lebanon.

President Michel Suleiman condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statements on Lebanon, saying that its existence will not be affected by his remarks.

"Lebanon is the only country to have defeated Israel militarily and the Jewish state is still recovering from it.” Indeed, the only thing that stopped Israel in 2006 from wiping Lebanon off the map was the defense against them provided by Hezbollah, who sent them crying with their tails between their legs.

...
Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon are on high alert in anticipation of an Israeli attack on Lebanon, the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat daily reported recently. According to the report, Hezbollah has been monitoring with caution the reinforcement of IDF troops along the Lebanon border.

It is also interesting to note that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, admitted that the Israeli train line is funded by Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Asked if he was not afraid of his people, he affirmed the close friendly relations between the two countries. Qatar, the one that has had a vested interest in formenting terrorism and and ‘regime change” in Libya, Syria and elsewhere.

As Victor Ivrii writes:

This quotation has been broadcasted all over anti-Israel websites and blogs despite being obviously bogus. Those who invented it were smoking pretty mighty stuff or had a great albeit pervert sense of humour. They only failed to mention that Netanyahu made this announcement on the board of the Israeli submarine—aircraft carrier on the Geneva lake

Israel possesses an expertise in many areas but railway building is not among them and many foreign companies are building railways and light rails in Israel. On the contrary, Swiss are experts here. And even if Israel was building a railway in Switzerland how could this construction be used to strike Lebanon?

Ivrii speculates that the quote originated in this Pravda article, but in fact it was created out of whole cloth a week earlier.

From a website called The Islam Times, February 22:

Qatar (Islam Times) – The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani confirmed that Israel is a friendly country and considered that using Qatar for the military operation in Libya is a Qatari mandate.

At a news conference in Switzerland, on the occasion of building the first and largest Israeli railway, the German newspaper “Die Zeit” asked the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Congratulations Mr. Netanyahu, my first question is that does the beginning of the large train line’s construction confirm the announcement of the dissident Syrian Intelligent Office that you will strike Lebanon?

Netanyahu replied: Yes, and it is not a secret that it will happen with U.S.-Gulf support and that is why they have been warned, but before you ask you have look at the new map of the world and see that there is no nation with this name.

The German journalist directed a question at the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and said: The Israeli train line is funded by Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, are you not afraid of your people.

The Emir of Qatar answered: Israel is a friendly country and there is no fear of our people.

When this completely bogus quote was reported to Lebanon's president, he indeed responded as if it was true. From Naharnet, February 23:

President Michel Suleiman condemned on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statements on Lebanon, saying that its existence will not be affected by his remarks.

He added in a statement: “Lebanon is the only country to have defeated Israel militarily and the Jewish state is still recovering from it.”

Netanyahu had said on Wednesday that an Israeli strike against Lebanon would be supported by the United States and countries of the Arab Gulf.

In addition, he remarked that there is no such thing as Lebanon on the world map.

He made his statements at a press conference during a trip to Switzerland.

This is just one way how a stupid, easily provable lie can get repeated across the world, and even be believed by Arab leaders and ostensibly respected newspapers without the slightest bit of skepticism.

But if you disagree and believe this idiotic nonsense, all you need to do is find me the article in Die Zeit.

(h/t Samson2)

Arab Insult News

From Al Arabiya:

The Arab League chief, Nabil al-Araby, has said comments made by a Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson in Egypt against the United Arab Emirates were “hostile,” in a statement issued by his office on Monday.

The Brotherhood spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan, had threatened action against the UAE if the Gulf country would attempt to capture and prosecute prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

The Sheikh had sparked a heated row between the UAE and his Brotherhood supporters when he criticized the Gulf state for reportedly revoking the visas of Syrians who protested against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad outside of the Syrian consulate in Dubai.

Qaradawi’s comments provoked a heated response from the Dubai police chief, Dhahi Khalfan, who threatened to arrest the Sheikh.

“We are going to issue an arrest warrant against Sheikh Qaradawi” Khalfan wrote on his Twitter account earlier this week.

“If he insults the UAE will we leave him? ...Whoever insults the state or the government of the UAE, I will pursue him,” the police chief added.

In response to the Muslim Brotherhood’s retaliated threat of action against the UAE, Egyptian media cited Araby as saying on Monday: “I call on all political forces to resort to wisdom and prudence and to avoid hostile attitudes and irresponsible statements that can be detrimental to relations between Arab countries, and that cause dissension and division.”

The Arab League chief added: “We are about to prepare for the coming Arab summit in Baghdad, which we hope would restore the spirit of Arab solidarity and unify Arab positions on the challenges and major variables facing the region.”

And, yes, insulting the government can land you in jail, even in "moderate" Arab states:

Jordanian military prosecutors have charged six activists with insulting King Abdullah II during a demonstration in the southern city of Tafileh last week, a judicial official said on Tuesday.

"Twenty-one have been arrested following the demonstration. State security court prosecutors have charged all of them with rioting and six of insulting the king," the official told AFP.

If convicted, the six suspects face three years in prison each.

You see, that's why we need the Arab Spring. Instead of getting thrown in jail for three years for insulting the king, you can face the death penalty for insulting Mohammed. It's so much less barbaric.

Speaking of, it looks like the Saudi who tweeted messages meant to treat Mohammed like a human being - and who was charged with apostasy as a result - may get a light sentence, due to pressure from human rights activists and an abject, groveling apology he made in court:

An apostate Saudi journalist who is believed to be facing execution for insulting Prophet Mohammed PBUH (Peace Be Upon Him) has repented at court and this means reduced sentence.

According to the Arabic language daily Sharq, Hamza Kashgari declared his repentance before the judge at the court in Riyadh.

“Kashgari declared his repentance and expressed regret for offending the Prophet (PBUH)….this means he will face a light sentence,” the paper said, citing Kashgari relatives.

The 23-year-old man, who works for Albilad Arabic language daily, fled to Malaysia last month after King Abdullah ordered his arrest on charges of apostasy in an article he wrote on Twitter. A few days later, he was deported to the Kingdom and arrested on arrival.

Speculation mounted after his arrest that Kashgari could be executed following statements by a senior Saudi Muslim cleric that the writer would be sentenced to death for apostasy.

Sheikh Saleh bin Fowzan Al Fowzan, a member of the 7-man supreme committee of scholars in Saudi Arabia, said it has been established in Islam that any one who insults God or the Prophet should be killed.

“Repenting will not work…any man who insults God or our Prophet (PBUH) should be killed,” he said. “But we should first verify that this man (Kashgari) did insult Prophet Mohammed in his article on Twitter…if verified, then he must be killed……many scholars and people are now demanding his execution.”

In an official statement, Kashghari announced that he had repented and asked for forgiveness. "I admit that my ideas and words were deviant. Some doubts had affected my thinking and drove me away from the correct path," he said.

He said he had completely abandoned all his wrong ideas and the tweets he wrote, saying he was depressed at the time.

Kashghari thanked family, relatives, friends and scholars who supported him and tried to guide him to the correct religious path.

Just so you know the rule: make sure you never, ever insult Islam, orArab leaders, or any sheikhs, or Mohammed, or any other prophets, or the Quran, or Allah. Judaism and Christianity and "non-divine religions" and Western leaders are fair game, though.

Those ancient "Palestinian shekels"

From PMW:

A Judean Shekel coin from the year 66 CE, the first year of the Jewish rebellion against Rome, was sold for $1.1 million this past week at an auction in New York. The words in Hebrew "Shekel of Israel [Year] 1" are printed on the front of the coin, and "Jerusalem the holy" appears on the back. [New York Post, March 10, 2012]

The official Palestinian Authority daily in writing about the auction described the Hebrew coin from the Second Temple period as an "ancient Palestinian coin" and as being part of the "Palestinian cultural tradition."

The article adds that the Jews' "political agenda" takes advantage of the sale of ancient Hebrew coins. The PA, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and only at times acknowledges that the state does exist, categorizes any archeological evidence of Israel's ancient past in the land as a "political agenda":

"It [the sale] is an opportunity for Jewish and Western scholars to use the Jewish revolt against the Romans in Palestine for a political agenda, and to connect this local revolt with the establishment of the Israeli occupation state."

Yeah, why would Jews be interested in an ancient Jewish coin from Judea that documents a Jewish revolt at the time that Jews had their own nation? Obviously, it is political!

Which brings up the question: if the coin is such a beautiful example of Palestinian heritage, why are no Palestinians bidding for it?

In a similar vein, a Jordanian named Gasser Anani gave a lecture last week about the supposed Judaization of Jerusalem, and he also talked about shekels, saying that they were realy an ancient Palestinian currency called "Shakla" and Israel "stole" them.

Of course, there is no such thing as an "ancient Palestinian currency." There would have had to be a Palestine for that to have been created. The first Palestinian currency was created by the British in 1927, and it had Hebrew on it.

In fact, the shekel is a unit of weight that was around since the Akkadian Empire and that morphed into a currency as it was usually used for silver. Jews never claimed that it was a Jewish invention; it is mentioned in the Bible as an already existing standard weight of silver in Abraham's time (Genesis 23) when he paid 400 shekels for what was to become the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

(h/t Stan)

The BBC allows Gaza liar to dominate interview

From Biased BBC, from Monday:

I've been waiting to see how the BBC would cover the recent missile terror attacks on Israel from Hamastan and finally, this morning, the BBC Today programme deigned to cover it @ 8.21am Naturally, Humphrys instantly suggested that Israel was to blame by impertinently striking against the Islamic terrorists that operate freely within Gaza. Then we had an interview, if you can it that, with Dr Aryeh Kontorovich who lives in Beersheva in southern Israel and Dr Mona El-Farra, vice president of the Red Crescent in Gaza. Basically Dr Mona was allowed to ramble on and on, without interruption. One wonders how the BBC can dare to suggest that the Red Crescent is some sort of neutral charity providing organisation after the semi coherent propaganda spouted by El-Farra. It doesn't matter what the situation is - when it comes to the BBC, Israel is ALWAYS to blame. Now, why might that be, do you think?

Commenter Sue went into detail on the interview, which you can hear here:

I found the respective speaking times as follows:

Dr Kontorovich 00:2:15:49
Dr. El-Farra 00:3:41:87

During Dr. Kontorovich’s two minutes, Humphrys managed to ask four questions including one statement:
“This started at the weekend, Friday? Things had been quiet since September?”
To which Dr. Kontorovich replied:
“In Be’ersheba, but I must stress that rockets have been falling continuously on Israel, but at a low intensity”
Humphrys ignored this, repeating:
“This (intensity) has been as a direct result of attacks on Gaza on Friday morning.”

Dr Kontorovich seemed upset and flustered, while Dr El-Farra let forth a continual stream of invective, alternately accusatory and self pitying. She was allowed to digress, uninterrupted, apart from an interjection by Humphrys “Sorry, the line isn’t terribly good (it was fine) if I can perhaps explain what was you’re saying. The car carrying this man described as a militant leader, that was attacked form the air...”

Mona El-Farra re-interrupted back, and continued by denying, twice, that there have been any rocket attacks from Gaza.

“let me tell you that for the last four months there were no rockets against Israel and Palestinians respected the cease-fire.”

“It is not a war between two equal parties, Israel with its very strong army attacking a group of militia, many that have been confined to the cease-fire for the last four months. This time Israel started [it]. I will not talk more about this.”

She was allowed to digress, completely uninterrupted for a further minute or two, listing everything lacking in Gaza, and she evaded the one significant point that Humphrys put to her, which was that if the rocket attacks from Gaza were to cease, there would be no raids into Gaza by Israel. The nearest she got to addressing that point was to say she didn’t approve of rocket attacks.

This interview was typically incompetent and misleading.

Indeed, the Red Crescent doctor is allowed to spout lies without the least attempt by the BBC interviewer to challenge her. Her insistence that Israel was targeting children and that there were no rockets from Gaza in four months was especially egregious.

Ha'aretz lists rocket attacks for the past year:

January, 2011 - 39 rockets fired toward Israel

February, 2011 - 28 rockets fired toward Israel

March, 2011 - 105 rockets fired toward Israel following clashes in Gaza

April, 2011 - 140 rockets fired toward Israel following an IDF hit on a Hamas terror cell

May, 2011 - 1 rocket fired toward Israel

June, 2011 - No rockets were fired toward Israel

July, 2011 - 27 rockets fired toward Israel

August, 2011 - 171 rockets fired toward Israel after a coordinated terror attack by Palestinian militants kills eight Israelis

September, 2011 - 13 rockets fired toward Israel

October, 2011 - 56 rockets fired toward Israel as response to release of former captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit

November, 2011 - 9 rockets fired toward Israel

December, 2011 - 42 rockets fired toward Israel

January, 2012 - 18 rockets fired toward Israel

February, 2012 - 30 rockets fired toward Israel

March, 2012 - Some 200 rockets fired toward Israel after the IDF assassinates the leader of Popular Resistance Committees

(h/t Yoel)

How an Irish leftist changed his mind about Israel

This article from the Irish Independent has been going around, and for good reason:

I used to hate Israel. I used to think the Left was always right. Not any more. Now I loathe Palestinian terrorists. Now I see why Israel has to be hard. Now I see the Left can be Right -- as in right-wing. So why did I change my mind so completely?

Strangely, it began with my anger at Israel's incursion into Gaza in December 2008 which left over 1,200 Palestinians dead, compared to only 13 Israelis. I was so angered by this massacre I posed in the striped scarf of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation for an art show catalogue.

Shortly after posing in that PLO scarf, I applied for funding from the Irish Arts Council to make a film in Israel and Palestine. I wanted to talk to these soldiers, to challenge their actions -- and challenge the Israeli citizens who supported them.

I spent seven weeks in the area, dividing my time evenly between Israel and the West Bank. I started in Israel. The locals were suspicious. We were Irish -- from a country which is one of Israel's chief critics -- and we were filmmakers. We were the enemy.

Then I crossed over into the West Bank. Suddenly, being Irish wasn't a problem. Provo graffiti adorned The Wall. Bethlehem was Las Vegas for Jesus-freaks -- neon crucifixes punctuated by posters of martyrs.

These martyrs followed us throughout the West Bank. They watched from lamp-posts and walls wherever we went. Like Jesus in the old Sacred Heart pictures.

But the more I felt the martyrs watching me, the more confused I became. After all, the Palestinian mantra was one of "non-violent resistance". It was their motto, repeated over and over like responses at a Catholic mass.

Yet when I interviewed Hind Khoury, a former Palestinian government member, she sat forward angrily in her chair as she refused to condemn the actions of the suicide bombers. She was all aggression.

This aggression continued in Hebron, where I witnessed swastikas on a wall. As I set up my camera, an Israeli soldier shouted down from his rooftop position. A few months previously I might have ignored him as my political enemy. But now I stopped to talk. He only talked about Taybeh, the local Palestinian beer.

Back in Tel Aviv in the summer of 2011, I began to listen more closely to the Israeli side. I remember one conversation in Shenkin Street -- Tel Aviv's most fashionable quarter, a street where everybody looks as if they went to art college. I was outside a cafe interviewing a former soldier.

He talked slowly about his time in Gaza. He spoke about 20 Arab teenagers filled with ecstasy tablets and sent running towards the base he'd patrolled. Each strapped with a bomb and carrying a hand-held detonator.

The pills in their bloodstream meant they felt no pain. Only a headshot would take them down.

Conversations like this are normal in Tel Aviv. I began to experience the sense of isolation Israelis feel. An isolation that began in the ghettos of Europe and ended in Auschwitz.

Israel is a refuge -- but a refuge under siege, a refuge where rockets rain death from the skies. And as I made the effort to empathise, to look at the world through their eyes. I began a new intellectual journey. One that would not be welcome back home.

The problem began when I resolved to come back with a film that showed both sides of the coin. Actually there are many more than two. Which is why my film is called Forty Shades of Grey. But only one side was wanted back in Dublin. My peers expected me to come back with an attack on Israel. No grey areas were acceptable.

...

Any artist worth his or her salt should be ready to change their mind on receipt of fresh information. So I would urge every one of those 216 Irish artists who pledged to boycott the Israeli state to spend some time in Israel and Palestine. Maybe when you come home you will bin your scarf. I did.

Read the whole thing.

Hamas website is posting IDF videos!

The Hamas news site Palestine Times has a series of videos about the events of the past few days.

Interestingly, two of them were posted on YouTube by the IDF.

One was this video where residents of Ashdod hear six huge explosions:

They have similar videos of Israelis running to shelters. The idea is to show their rocket fire is causing panic among Israelis - which is, after all, the very definition of terrorism.

The other video is more interesting. It is the interview that I posted yesterday of PRC spokesmen who insist that Hamas is not doing anything to stop their rocket fire. The caption it "The Brigades commends the government's support for the resistance."

Which means that Hamas is also admitting that they are not trying to discourage terror groups from shooting rockets at Israel.

The very things that the IDF wants to communicate with the outside world - that Gaza rocket fire is aimed randomly at civilians, that they can cause serious damage, that Gaza's leadership wholeheartedly supports their firing - are what Hamas brags about to their people!

Did Israel agree to stop "assassinations?" (updated)

From Reuters/Ma'an:

Islamic Jihad said on Tuesday it would adhere to its commitments under a truce deal brokered by Egypt to end four days of fighting with Israel that killed 25 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Jihad leader Daoud Shihab told Ma'an the deal was reached after many meetings and discussions with Egypt. The movement stressed it demanded that Israel halt assassinations of political leaders, Shihab said.

The latest fighting was sparked when Israeli warplanes killed the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees on Friday.

Shihab said the group is committed to the truce as long as Israel adheres to its commitments. "We do not trust Israel, but we trust our power and if Israel does not commit, we will reply," he added.

He called the truce a victory for Islamic Jihad, and a Palestinian achievement.

A senior Egyptian security official told Reuters that the deal to cease hostilities was set to take effect at 1 a.m. local time (2300 GMT).

The official said in a telephone call from Cairo that both sides had "agreed to end the current operations", with Israel giving an unusual undertaking to "stop assassinations", and an overall agreement "to begin a comprehensive and mutual calm."

"There is an understanding," Israeli Civil Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Israel Radio. "At the moment the direction is toward calm and it appears, unless there are last minute developments, that this round is now behind us."

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defense official, said Israel would feel free to take "pre-emptive action" if Israeli lives were in danger -- a reference to future strikes against Palestinian militants believed to be planning attacks.

But, he told Army Radio, if "there is quiet on their part, there will be quiet on our part."

A Palestinian official close to the talks said "the factions are committed," alluding to the Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees, who were most active in the fighting, but that these groups were waiting to see how Israel would respond.

Vilnai was quoted as saying in a radio interview that "anyone who is planning to carry out attacks must calculate that he might be targeted."

There is a lot of contradictory information here.

Islamic Jihad has been explicit that it wants to see a stop to "assassinations," by which it appears to mean targeting of terrorist leaders, not weapons depots or other targets. Its own announcement of the cease fire - hours after an angry communique that insisted that it would never accept any calm with Israel - only mentioned the "assassination" aspect and didn't ask for a stop to airstrikes in Gaza altogether.

From all appearances, Islamic Jihad leaders are trying to save their own skins. There announcement was striking by not referencing any pain that Gaza citizens might be feeling; it was only about their "mujahadeen." They simply don't care about anyone but themselves.

The question is, what exactly did Israel agree to?

On Friday, after a few rockets hit Israel, Israel attacked and killed the PRC leader, saying that he was planning a major terror attack on Israel. Did Israel commit to not doing so again? From the quotes that are out there, the answer is a strong "perhaps" depending on who is doing the speaking. It seems inconceivable that Israel agreed not to kill people preparing to shoot rockets into Israel. Or would Israel wait until the rockets are in the air?

The Jerusalem Post adds: (h/t Ian)

Speaking with Army Radio Tuesday morning, hours after the Egyptian-brokered deal came into effect, Gilad denied that Israel committed to refrain from assassinating heads of terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

"There is no written agreement," Gilad said, "Israel has no documents, no negotiations, no contacts with the terrorist organizations."

The only understanding that exists, he reiterated, is quiet.

If Israeli intelligence knows of a terrorist attack being planned, "there will be action to prevent it."

Either way, while things are calmer, that are hardly calm.

An Israeli army spokesman said three rockets landed in southern Israel Tuesday morning, without causing injuries.

Several mortars have also been fired recently.

To Nader's Unborn Children

A short article in the blog "Sleepless in Gaza" is getting a lot of attention, as it is filled with pathos - and more than a few lies sprinkled in:

To my unborn children,

I know you probably won’t be there to read this. Maybe I would be dead before you see the light. Or rather, witness how very inhumane and so unjust this world has become. I’ll just write anyway, maybe at least your elder brother or sister witnesses all that and read this.

Ever since I came to Gaza, I’ve been dreaming of a better life. Peaceful and quiet. No explosions or blood. No injuries or martyrs. Nothing but a regular peaceful life each and every one of us would wish for.

In Gaza, everything is different. In Gaza, Israeli F16s substitute birds. In Gaza, we sleep on the continuous buzzing coming from the ever-existent drones. We wake up to find that there’s no electricity. In Gaza, explosions are the sunshine and the smell of ash is the scent of the city.

Electricity barely comes in Gaza, where it’s very dangerous to live in. Every moment you live is considered a new life because it’s very dangerous and Israelis bring their toys over to Gaza and play with us the hard way.

My beloved unborn children, being a Gazan means that you’re strong willed, courageous, and like no other. As you grow up, you’ll learn all about the different kinds of weapons and arms both allowed and internationally forbidden. What’s different in Gaza is that Israel doesn’t distinguish its targets. Meaning, they kill anything that moves with a smile. Frankly, they would kill us more than once if possible.

Growing up in Gaza isn’t easy. Growing up in Gaza is a challenge. A quest. And the reward is a strong courageous personality. So brave to the point that you’d stand in front of a tank with a bare chest and a rock. Daring it to move forward yelling ‘over my dead body’. More like mashed if you want to know.

Another thing you’ll gain as a Gazan is that you’ll be able to distinguish the sounds of whatever that kills. Be a M-16, AK-47, .50 Cal, Shells from the Israeli warships in the sea, warplanes in the sky, tank shells, and the list goes on forever. Living in Gaza is a challenge of patience. Only the strong and the brave can survive. By survive, I mean living yet another day of struggle and a million hardships a day.

Last but not least, don’t leave Palestine. It’s where you belong. It’s where everything counts and where whatever little will make a huge change. Don’t leave Palestine because it’s my motherland. Your motherland. Don’t leave Palestine because at the end of the day, it’s all you’ve got left. Don’t leave Palestine even if you’ll be living on olive oil and thyme all your life.

PS: tell your mother that I love her so much. Kiss her cheeks and forehead for me.

With all my love,
Papa.

The most outrageous lie is, of course, "Israel doesn’t distinguish its targets. Meaning, they kill anything that moves with a smile. Frankly, they would kill us more than once if possible." This sickening calumny inserted in an otherwise heart-rending piece turns this from what could have been brilliant into just another case of inciting hate against Israeli Jews.

But there is much to be said for the piece, as no one - not even a Zionist - can fail to be moved by the light of Gazans. The problem is that the anger is misplaced.

So, even though the truth has no chance of infiltrating the pitch-black hate that the Arab world has for Israel, here is a Zionist's letter to Nader's unborn children:

Dear children,

You don't know me. And there are many people who want to make sure that you never will know me.

Because there are many people - your leaders, your teachers, your journalists - who have much at stake in painting me and all Zionists as evil, genocidal murderers.

In 2005, after much agonizing and soul-searching, Israel decided to uproot hundreds of Jewish, Zionist families from Gaza. Gazans were chafing under Israeli rule, and Israelis there were living in fear of terror attacks from Gazans. While the Jewish residents who lived there did not want to go, the Israeli government - led by the most right-wing prime minister in Israeli history - decided to forcibly remove them. Perhaps you can appreciate how much it hurts to lose one's home.

The reason Israel decided to do this was simple: it was hoped that such a move would help bring peace to the region. Without the Israeli presence there, people thought that Gaza could turn into a Singapore on the Mediterranean. There would be no more reason for rocket attacks on Jewish communities. The Palestinians could build their own paradise.

Some wealthy American Zionists even paid millions of dollars to buy the greenhouses the Israelis were leaving behind, as a gift to help Gaza's economy and to help jump start the metamorphosis of the sector into an oasis of peace. No one wanted peace more that Israel, and no one sacrificed more for peace than Israel. The lies you are being fed in school - that Israel is an expansionist state dedicated to stealing land from Arabs - were shown to be false, because Israel left Gaza for only one reason: in the hopes of bringing peace to the region.

Things did not turn out that way.

Militant groups in Gaza continued to shoot rockets at Israel. Hamas ended up taking over the area, killing hundreds of fellow Palestinians in the process. An Israeli soldier was kidnapped and hidden in Gaza.

The leaders of Gaza - your leaders - never dismantled a single refugee camp. They imported thousands of weapons. They allied with Iran. They continued to threaten Israel and they continued to attack Israel.

You may not believe this, but no one would be happier with a peaceful Gaza than Israel would. No Zionist wants to see anyone in Gaza suffer. Nothing would thrill Zionists more than to see a Gaza where both sides can freely cross the border to buy goods or work without fear of being murdered by the other. The IDF does not kill innocent people on purpose - ever. No Israeli celebrates when innocents are, invariably, killed. And, as much as you are taught otherwise, Israel spends tens of millions of dollars to ensure that innocent civilians would not be hurt in Gaza when it defends itself.

Yes, Israel defends itself. And it will continue to do so. It is maddening that after the painful withdrawal from Gaza - a land that Jews have lived in, on and off, for over two thousand years - the peace that they yearned for never came. On the contrary, the rocket attacks on innocent Negev communities increased. Israel is a sovereign nation and it will not tolerate attacks on its citizens. And you know quite well that the thousands of rockets that come from Gaza are aimed squarely at Israeli civilians. Israel will defend itself, and she will not apologize for it.

But she wishes she wouldn't have to.

Once upon a time, not long ago, there was the Erez Industrial Zone, where thousands of Gazans were employed and were able to support their families in dignity. It is no longer there, and the reason is because the terrorists that Gaza hosts and often celebrates would keep attacking it. The idea of co-existence and peace is not what Hamas or Islamic Jihad want.

Once upon a time, after the 2008-9 Gaza war - the war that your leaders started with a barrage of rockets similar to those seen this past weekend, in what they called Operation Oil Stain, a full three days before Israel attacked - Israel built a field hospital to help those injured in the war at Erez. Your leadership forbade anyone from coming and being helped.

Even today, while Israel is under fire - on the same day that your leaders shot mortars directly at the crossing where aid goes into Gaza - Israel did not close the crossing and sent hundreds of trucks over, because Israel does not want to hurt the innocent people of Gaza.

The only people who are aiming their weapons at civilians, on purpose, are the terrorists that your leaders are supporting. The only people who celebrate the deaths of innocent civilians are those on your side.

If you are willing to open your eyes, just a little, you will see what your leaders have done - that they have cynically hidden weapons in your mosques and neighbors' homes, that they have created an electricity crisis and power shortage because they are placing their own political goals above your welfare, that they have raised entire generations on hate rather than wishes for peace.

Israel wants peace, a real, lasting peace with all her neighbors. Your leaders have said, quite clearly and explicitly, that this is not what they want - they want to see the end of Israel.

So here we are. Do you want Gaza to become a Singapore or an Afghanistan? Whichever you choose, it will come true, sooner than you think. And if you choose the right one, your own children will never need to hear machine guns or rockets or warplanes and they will be able to grow up in peace and prosperity.

I wish you would get to know me. I don't hate you. And I would prefer to be friends.

Wishing you all long and peaceful lives where friendship can replace enmity and cooperation can replace hate,

A Zionist.