Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A note about "civilian" deaths in Gaza

As with Cast Lead, the media is relying on PCHR (and, worse, on the Hamas health ministry) to determine how many of the dead in Gaza are civilian and how many are terrorists.

Remember: PCHR only counts a person as a "militant" if he is, in their opinion, actively engaging in military activities at the time of his death.

So while I don't know about this person either way, PCHR says:

At approximately 14:10 on Monday, 19 November 2012, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a civilian car that was traveling in al-Saftawi Street in Jabalya, in which Hussam Fayez Hamdan Abdul Jawad, 32, was traveling. The car was destroyed and Abdul Jawad was killed.

Jawad may very well have been a member of a terror group, but PCHR is not going to say - he was just driving, not preparing to fire a rocket.

Since the first couple of days of the fighting, Hamas has refused to admit any casualties among its members. (Islamic Jihad right now says seven of its members were killed.)

This is exactly what happened during Cast Lead. Hamas hushed up every single terrorist death during the war, and only in the months afterwards did they slowly document on their websites the "martyrs" and the dates they were killed. In the end, hundreds of people that the PCHR called "civilians" were found out to have been terrorists.

When Hamas controls the security forces and, to an extent, the movements of the media, they control the truth.

Also during Cast Lead, as soon as the ground war started, Hamas and other terror group members took off their fatigues and continued to fight in civilian clothes - another breach of the Geneva Conventions. This further made it difficult to find out who the civilians are.

One thing is certain: the vast majority of those killed in Gaza so far have been males of fighting age. This in an area where men between 16-40 take up perhaps only 18% of the population (men between 15-64 are about 27%.)

It will again take months to figure out the real truth about casualties. But don't trust the initial statistics - as we've seen, they are historically skewed.

Hamas kills six "collaborators," drags one body behind motorcycle (PHOTO) (UPDATE)

From Ma'an:

Palestinian gunmen shot dead six alleged collaborators in the Gaza Strip who "were caught red-handed", according to a security source quoted by the Hamas Aqsa radio on Tuesday.

"They possessed hi-tech equipment and filming equipment to take footage of positions," it said.

The Hamas radio said the men, who were suspected of working for Israel, were shot. It did not elaborate.

Gunmen chained the body of one of the alleged collaborators to a motorcycle and dragged it throughout the main streets of Gaza City.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has a photo of the gruesome extrajudicial punishment.

By the way, this means that Hamas has killed twice as many Palestinian Arabs as they have killed Israelis during the current fighting.

AP adds:

Witnesses said the six men were pulled out of a van Tuesday, forced to lie face down on the street and then shot dead.

Five bodies lay in a pile as a mob stomped and spit on them. A sixth body was tied to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets as people screamed, "Spy! Spy!"

Hamas posted a sign on an electricity pole, naming the six alleged informers.

UPDATE: A new photo (h/t EoL)

Let's negotiate! I'm sure they can be trusted!

One more: (h/t Sophie)

Islamic Jihad boasts of targeting aid crossing

I got this video from the Islamic Jihad saraya.ps front page.

The caption brags that this mortar launcher is targeting the Kerem Shalom crossing, from which the majority of Gaza's food, medicine and other aid arrives.

Despite the barrage of rockets and mortars, Israel opened the crossing on Sunday to allow aid to get to Gazans. Since this is a new video, it appears that Islamic Jihad deliberately is trying to shut the crossing down, to cause a "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza.

Morning Pillar of Defense video wrapup

On Nov. 20, 2012, the IDF targeted an underground rocket launching site in Gaza.

On Monday. November 19, 2012, the IDF targeted a munitions storage site within a residential suburb in the southern Gaza Strip. The abnormally large explosion indicates that the building was used as a weapons depot. This is yet another example of terrorists' use the civilian population in Gaza as human shields,

Home video of Iron Dome taking down a huge barrage of rockets aimed at Beersheva, I believe Monday:

(h/t Yoel)

Mayadeen TV (pan-Arab TV channel based out of Lebanon), November 15th, interview of Khaled Al-Batsh, a senior Islamic Jihad leader by Ghassan Bin Jiddo.

Ghassan Bin Jiddo: Mr. Khaled Al-Batsh, the Fajr 5 missiles, where do you get them from? Are they manufactured locally, or are they from outside the Palestinian lands?)

Khaled Al-Batsh (via phone): Of course they are 100% Iranian made, received by the Resistance in the framework of the legitimate aid which the Islamic Republic gives to the Palestinian people. This is well known, and was published in the media.

By the way, this same Ghassan Bin Jiddo was the TV host who celebrated the birthday of child-murderer Samir Kuntar in this stomach-turning video from 2008:

(h/t Al Gharqad)

UPDATE: This JPost article seems to confirm my conjecture yesterday that some of the rockets are manufactured in Gaza according to Iranian blueprints:

The deputy leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhleh, has said that rockets fired by Hamas and the “Palestinian resistance” at Israeli towns and cities are of Iranian origin, Lebanon’s el-Nashra newspaper reported on Monday.

Some of the weapons were manufactured locally in an Iranian factory, Nakhleh said, adding that the rockets Hamas has fired at Tel Aviv have a range of “up to 80 kilometers.”

Frightened Iranian Jews express support for Gaza Arabs

The Jewish representative in the Iranian parliament expressed his solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Siamak Mareh-Sedq condemned the "Jewish aggression" and said that he represented all of the 20,000 Iranian Jews in his opinion, claiming that they expressed interest in helping the wounded of Gaza.

Oh, by the way, the Jewish representative to Iranian parliament is required, by law, to support the political positions of the Iranian leadership.

Jews of Iran who disagree are not likely to express their opinions very loudly. But Roger Cohen might disagree.

Hamas war crimes poster (3)

Third in the series:

Hamas and Fatah "unify" - in wanting to kill Jews

From Al Arabiya:

Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas said on Monday they have decided to end years of infighting in a show of solidarity over the Gaza crisis, AFP news agency reported.

“From here, we announce with other (factional) leaders, that we are ending the division,” senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub told a crowd of about 1,000 who gathered for a demonstration in Ramallah, the West Bank’s political capital.

Among those present at the rally were top members of Hamas’s leadership in the West Bank as well as senior officials from its smaller rival Islamic Jihad, the AFP correspondent said.

Ramallah’s Manara Square was a sea of Palestinian flags as the crowd chanted “Unity!” and “Hit, hit Tel Aviv” in an appeal to Hamas militants who have fired at least five rockets at the coastal city since Thursday.

Its so nice to know that they can agree about something!

Obviously, this is a joke - Hamas in Gaza didn't announce any unity, and they are the only ones who count. It is not conceivable that Hamas would accept Fatah negotiating cease fire terms on its behalf.

Only this morning Fatah complained that the Gaza leaders were keeping Fatah members under house arrest.

Arab editor slams leftists who support Hamas

From Now Lebanon's Hanin Ghaddar:

If one reviews the rhetoric of the liberal "resistance" supporters, especially after the escalation of violence in Gaza, you'd think that Hamas is a liberal or secular group, not an Islamic faction.

During the nearly two years of systematic and brutal killing by the Syrian regime of the Syrian people who are resisting tyranny, many Arabs preferred to remain silent, justifying their denial by fear of the Islamists. But suddenly, when Hamas decided to respond to the Israeli attack on Gaza, this reaction was cheered as the ultimate resistance. It didn't matter who is resisting here and why. The Islamic nature of Hamas does not matter, only because it is against Israel.

This juvenile attitude of having one enemy, Israel, and justifying all other kinds of brutality and tyranny in the name of resistance is very common among many Lebanese and Arab leftists and liberals.

Do they ask if Hamas has been the best example of governance in Gaza, the way they question the Syrian opposition day and night? Never. At least Hamas had the chance to demonstrate what kind of state it envisions, and it has been obvious that it is not the secular, civil state the opposition is demanding in Syria.

Unfortunately, the Arab awakening did not eliminate these moral double standards. The Syrian opposition can resist Assad as much as they want, but their cause will not be recognized by these leftists as long as some Islamists have joined them. Meanwhile, Hamas and Hezbollah can be as Islamist as they want; they will be forgiven, as long as they resist, or say they are resisting, Israel.

Hamas has not gone secular, but the leftists have long ago lost their compass.

By the way, earlier today I tweeted this, which got retweeted quite a bit:

At least 370 deaths in #Syria since last Wednesday, and zero anti-Syrian demonstrations.

(h/t Michael for correcting earlier version where I misinterpreted part of the editorial.)

The funny case of Moshe Rotoor, or how pin-up girls can win the war

From Haaretz, one of their examples of psychological warfare on the digital battlefield:

Thousands received emails from one "Moshe Rotoor," using a Russian account, who claims in broken Hebrew that "the military censorship of military intelligence is hiding the information about the attacks on our soldiers on the border of Gaza. See the picture of the field of death in which our soldiers are falling in Gaza." YouTube videos enclosed in the email claim to show an IDF jeep hit by an anti-tank missile. In reality it is a jeep belonging to the Reuters news agency that was hit on the border on Friday.

Notice the "field of death"? Hamas "martyrs" are regularly described as having fallen in the "playground of death."

I have received two emails from "Rotoor," but in the second email he admits to being a member of Hamas! He claims that Hamas has far more rockets than Israel assumes, and to watch out for long, dark night, but he signs it the Al Qassam Brigades.

Yet Hamas is using "Rotoor" in its own internal propaganda to prove to Gazans that Israelis secretly admit to more casualties, and are "secretly" publishing videos to YouTube showing how many Israelis are really dying. Of course, the YouTube channel is named for the fictional Moshe Rotoor.

So far, Hamas' attempts to manipulate Israelis have been laughable. But their attempts to do so show that they are projecting their own fears onto Israelis. Which gives us an opening to easily win this game.

Time to kick this psychological warfare up a notch.

Let's spam Gaza email addresses with photos of 1940s-era pin-up girls asking a very easy question:

Now, that will demoralize the terrorists!

Monday links

So many links, so little time...

From Ian:

IDF Blog: Pillar Of Defense: Fifth Day Recap VIDEO

IDF Hijacks Hamas Radio, is Broadcasting Warnings to Gaza Population

Fighting wars in a minefield of lawyers

"Former top IDF international law head emphasizes the legal battles the military faces in choosing targets.
Libman said that an international lawyer’s job was to navigate the “gray areas” that characterized many disputed aspects of the law of armed conflict, always striving to be in keeping with the “spirit of the law.”
It was crucial, Libman said, that the IDF adhere to and “guard our [country’s] values,” since success could only be achieved in this and future operations by defending the “value we place on human life.”

An Arab View... by Khaled Abu Toameh

"This hostility is the direct result of years of anti-Israel and anti-Western incitement in the Arab and Muslim world -- not only toward Israel but also toward the United States. In today's world of the Palestinians, anyone who talks about peace with Israel is a traitor and a collaborator; but anyone who calls for the destruction of Israel and fires rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is a hero."

Only disproportionate deterrence will offset Hamas by Isi Leibler
We must recognize that in future conflicts, the terrorists will continue accumulating more effective and lethal weapons to employ against us.

"We must therefore endeavor to resist calls for a cease-fire until such time as Hamas, in conjunction with the Egyptians, undertake to cease their aggression.
There must be a clear understanding that any breach would result in harsh “disproportionate” Israeli responses including the targeted killings of those responsible for initiating attacks. In the absence of such an agreement an enforced cease-fire will be perceived as a major victory for Hamas and our citizens will simply return to the life of terror they endured since the first Kassams were launched a decade ago."

Reflections on Current Hamas-Israel Hostilities by Daniel Pipes

Melanie Phillips: Here is the (real) news

“So with Israel having faced existential attack from the Arab and Muslim world for the six decades of its existence, and having been under intensive rocket, missile and human bomb attack from them for more than a decade, the BBC Any Questions production team selected as the audience question to launch its discussion of the Gaza war whether Israel actually deserved to exist at all.” (inc. an EOZ link)

The Era of Dictators Moves to the Era of Islamists by Douglas Murray

The constant, unabated terrorizing of Israelis does not interest the international community and the media. They only become interested once Israel responds to such attacks.
"The cards may be familiar, but the game has changed: the stakes are higher. A great shift is occurring across the region. We appear to be moving from the era of the dictators to the era of the Islamists.
Whatever is to come, Israel will need her friends abroad, for she has none nearby.”

PMW: Hamas disinformation: Israel's international airport closed, planes redirected to secret base

Hamas video threatening Israelis draws more parody than fear
Due to the video's bad translation and technical problems, it has become one of the hottest parodies on the web.

Fear, rage and resilience in Kiryat Malachi amid the rocket fire
Sirens interrupt rocket victim’s funeral

"While Eitan declares that the terrorists “want to rain fear on us, but they won’t succeed,” the chants of the crowd and the sound of the siren linger in the air. For the roomful of mourners, the next rocket is not far away."

Israeli government websites under mass hacking attack

More than 44 million hacking attempts have been made on Israeli government web sites since Wednesday when Israel began its Gaza air strikes, the government said on Sunday.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said just one hacking attempt was successful on a site he did not want to name, but it was up and running after 10 minutes of downtime.

Senator Graham threatens US will cut off Egypt aid unless it reins in Hamas
Joseph Lieberman downplays risk of Israeli ground incursion

J Street calls on Obama to show ‘greater leadership’ on Gaza, peace process
Left-wing Jewish group says it rejects the idea that ‘the US can’t want peace more than the parties themselves’

Lovitz Stands Up for Israel, Slams 'Terrorist' Hamas
"It's also sad to hear Americans defend Hamas, a terrorist organization. Israel has a right to defend its citizens."

Israelis open homes, schools to families from the south
People are opening homes and hearts to residents of Israeli communities seeking respite from the constant missile attacks.

"Not only soldiers sprang into action the moment Israel’s military launched Operation Pillar of Defense in response to incessant rocket fire from Gaza. Israeli civilians in the center and north of the country also responded by offering Mideast hospitality to families wishing to escape the stress and trauma for a night, a weekend or longer.
“The day everything started, we got families to sign up as hosts,” says Keren Claster, assistant to the mayor of Efrat, south of Jerusalem. “We’re also gathering toys and books to send to shelters in the South.”

Sites like ‘Life Under Fire’ bring home rocket reality
High-tech experts introduce videos, web pages, and other info to help Israelis stay safe, and help the rest of the world understand what is unfolding

Islamic Jihad warns Muslims: Beware, your sexy Facebook friend could be a Mossad agent

Arab youths set up Jew stabbing cell
Arrest of 17-year-old east Jerusalem resident suspected of stabbing Abraham Tau two weeks exposes terror cell
Police suspect that the teenagers' actions were nationalistically motivated and carried out under the auspices of an organization called "Lovers of the Land," which aims to physically harm Jewish residents of the city.

France: Muslim Student Attacks Professor Who Didn't Respect Islam

"Vive Bin Laden! Vive Merah! All Jews to the Ovens!"
These graffiti slogans, along with some swastikas and other symbols, were found on a wall in Caluire, an area of Lyon especially associated with the French resistance to the Nazis.

His mother's from Surbiton but he was blown up near the border with Gaza

"Family of British-Israeli soldier relive the attack that helped trigger the current crisis
Until last week, the British-Israeli soldier Shimon Alankri, 20, was in peak fitness, serving with the army's Sayeret Givati unit on routine patrol along Israel's border fence with Gaza. Then, on 10 November, a cell from the Gaza Popular Resistance Committees fired a guided anti-tank missile at his jeep. The missile blasted straight through the vehicle and out the other side, wounding them all.
It proved to be one of the triggers that led to Israel's Operation Pillar of Defence, a fierce offensive that has divided opinion abroad, but has proved deeply popular in Israel as the country heads towards elections in January."

Also, didn't want to forget this great example of how Israelis take the rockets with humor: (h/t Stan)

And:

Daphne Anson: It's Been A Weekend Of Disproportionate Bias On The BBC

CAMERA: CNN Whitewashes Hamas

Video: CNN's Ashleigh Banfield: Jerusalem 'Is Not The Capital' of Israel

MSNBC downplays danger from Hamas rockets to Michael Oren

Photos of pro-Israel demonstration in LA

(h/t O)

It has been a very busy few days, here from the safety of the US. Two of my posts went viral and I have been getting tens of thousands of hits.

I've been blogging far more than usual and not getting much sleep, as I try to find stories and angles that the many excellent pro-Israel bloggers and journalists might be missing.

I just wanted to take a short time out to thank you for your support.

Thank you to those who are reading the blog.

Thank you to those who are tweeting, re-tweeting, Facebook Like-ing (the "dead child" story was "Liked" over 2300 times!), submitting my stories to Reddit and emailing them around. This is crucial, especially when you send messages to reporters and news outlets who are clearly writing untruths and half-truths. I have been at least partially responsible for three media corrections this week, but it could not have happened without the support of thousands of readers, new and old.

Thank you to those who are sending me stories. I hope I remember to credit all of you. It makes my life a lot easier and it makes this website much, much better for everyone. And apologies if I could not get to your story idea; I simply do not have enough hours in the day.

Thanks to Ian for his daily linkdumps!

Thank you to those who have given me kind words, compliments and great feedback, both publicly in the comments and tweets and privately via email. It really means a lot to me.

Finally, thanks so much to those who chose, on their own, to donate to the blog. When people decide on their own to help me out without prompting, it is especially precious and when a donation comes in while I am running on fumes, it gives me a lot of new energy!

It is wonderful and humbling that my hard work is appreciated and being disseminated, even making it to the New York Times, to CNN and to many other media outlets. Naturally, one day I'll be so big that they will be honored to appear on my site :)

Most of all, we cannot forget the big picture. Let us hope for a real, permanent peace, so that this blog is no longer necessary, except for jokes and viral videos...

עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו, הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עַלֵינוּ, וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן

Youm7 (Egypt) reports that Saber Abul Fotouh, a member of the High Commission for the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, which is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that their "youth group" are poised to join the jihad in Gaza "with our Palestinian brothers in their war against the brutal Zionist aggression."

Aboul Fotouh told the newspaper that they wish to issue such a decision, adding that if a decision would be made to join the jihad, "there will be hundreds in our community [willing to go to] Palestine to help our brothers there, and stand on their side."

Sources said that a number of young Muslim Brotherhood members already traveled to Gaza in order to support Palestinian Arabs in their war against Israel, but this was denied by Aboul Fotouh, saying they have not received orders from the group so far to travel to Gaza - but they hope so.

However, he stressed that Hamas is not in need of members to support it because it has the best fighters in the world, saying that their first duty to support them is with weapons and money.

Is this an admission that the Muslim Brotherhood is involved in smuggling weapons to Gaza?

Could there have been weapons in the Egyptian convoy that entered Gaza yesterday? The luggage compartment of a tour bus could easily hold several Fajr-5 rockets!

Egypt has still not clarified where it stands on arming Hamas. It is way past time for the US to force them to publicly state their position, and to back it up.

(h/t Lachlan)

Will media groups condemn Islamic Jihad for using them as human shields?

From AFP:

A senior Islamic Jihad militant was killed on Monday in an Israeli strike on a Gaza City building housing Palestinian and international media, the Islamist faction told AFP.

Israel confirmed the attack, with its intelligence services saying the strike had targeted "senior Islamic Jihad officials" who were on the premises.

It was the second time in as many days that Israel had fired on the Shuruq Tower in the city's upscale Rimal neighbourhood which is used by media outlets including Britain's Sky News, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network, Russia Today and Iran's Press TV.

Smoke was seen billowing from the lower floors of the tower, also used by Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV whose offices were destroyed in the first strike on Sunday morning, officials said.

"One Palestinian was killed and three others injured in a strike on the Shuruq Tower," an ambulance services statement said.

Islamic Jihad sources named him as Ramez Harb and said he was a senior commander in its armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.

"One person was killed and lots of people were injured. Now there's a fire on the second, third and four floors," Saed Swerky, Russia Today's Gaza correspondent told AFP by phone just after the attack.

"The Israelis warned the foreigners to leave this building yesterday because they were going to attack it again," he said, speaking from inside the building.

The IDF had identified four Islamic Jihad leaders in the media building.

After yesterday's attack, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)issued a strong condemnation to Israel:

Reporters Without Borders condemns Israeli air strikes targeting news organizations in Gaza City today and calls for an immediate end to such attacks. At least nine journalists were reportedly injured and several local and international media were prevented from operating.

“These attacks constitute obstruction of freedom of information,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “We remind the Israeli authorities that, under humanitarian law, the news media enjoy the same protection as civilians and cannot be regarded as military targets.

“Even if the targeted media support Hamas, this does not in any way legitimize the attacks. We call for a transparent investigation into the circumstances of these air strikes. Attacks on civilian targets are war crimes and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions. Those responsible must be identified.”

Now that we know that the existence of senior Islamic Jihad officials in that same building, who were clearly using the international media presence as a shield for their own operations, will RSF modify its condemnation? After all, we now see that Israel behaved exactly as they are supposed to under international law: they identified a legitimate target, and warned the civilians to get out of the way so they could attack.

Moreover, will RSF issue an equally strong condemnation of Islamic Jihad for treating journalists as human shields?

Not that this is the first time in this conflict that reporters were used in that way. A very interesting video compilation shows reporters noting rocket firings very close to where they were reporting, meaning that the terrorists were banking on the reporters shielding them from reprisals:

As well as tweets indicating the same thing, see here for many.

So now that we know that terror groups use reporters for immunity from attack, will RSF and Israel's Foreign Press Association condemn them within the next couple of hours?

One other point: Al-Aqsa Television, one of the targets yesterday, is designated as a terror organization by the US.

(last point h/t CHA)