Thursday, September 17, 2015

Israel’s two greatest strategic mistakes (Vic Rosenthal)

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Vic Rosenthal's weekly column:

The murder of Alexander Levlovitz in Jerusalem when he was driving home from a Rosh Hashana dinner, is the latest in a series of cases of Jews killed or seriously injured by rocks and firebombs thrown by Arabs. The daily attacks in Judea/Samaria and Jerusalem rarely make the news outside of Israel, and even here we seem to accept them as natural phenomena, like large hailstones or volcanic eruptions, until someone dies or is maimed for life.

Right now this kind of terrorism is particularly prevalent, while at the same time a battle between police and rioting Arabs continues on the Temple Mount. The Arabs are upset because Israel’s government has decided that it is not acceptable for screaming mobs of Muslims to accost Jews trying to visit the Mount, where they are nevertheless not allowed to pray. There is continuous incitement on social media and in mosques calling on Muslims to “defend al-Aqsa,” which they can do on the Temple Mount or on highway 443.

Ever since the riots orchestrated by al-Husseini in the 1920s, the accusation that Israel plans to replace the al-Aqsa mosque with a Jewish temple has been effective in producing violent behavior among Muslims, despite its almost comical falsehood. Anything that Israel does in connection with the Mount is used as a pretext to make this accusation. The reason it works has to do with the first of two ideological principles that serve as foundations for Arab violence against Jews in Israel. Failure to take these principles into account led to the two greatest strategic errors made by Israel’s leaders since the founding of the state.

One principle is that of Muslim supremacy, according to which it is absolutely unacceptable that non-Muslims should in any way govern or control Muslims. A corollary is that a non-Muslim presence in what Muslims consider a holy place pollutes it. The so-called ‘status quo’ that has existed on the Temple Mount since it came under Jewish control in 1967 is a compromise – and you know compromises never fly with Muslims – to try to get around this. The status quo places the Mount under civil control of the Jordanian waqf, and allows non-Muslims to visit on a limited basis, but not to pray there.

Making this deal was the first great strategic error, because it should have been obvious that the Arabs would never be satisfied with anything less than full sovereignty over the Mount. Over the years, it has been a flash point for violence; and Israel has usually bowed to the threat of violence and little by little allowed its hard-won sovereignty to erode. For example, on several occasions the waqf has carried out construction projects while ignoring Israeli laws about safeguarding archaeologically sensitive areas; in fact, Jewish artifacts have been deliberately destroyed and Israel did nothing.

The other principle is the Palestinian Narrative, which asserts that the Jewish state is illegitimate, built on land stolen from indigenous ‘Palestinians’, and that violent ‘resistance to occupation’ is justified (indeed, more than justified: worthy of the highest praise).

The narrative got a massive boost from the second major Israeli mistake: the Oslo accords.

Oslo was not just a tactical error which led to the Second Intifada and thousands of dead Jews and Arabs, but also a strategic and ideological error from which Israel is suffering even today, long after the Intifada has been suppressed. The Oslo process implicitly validated much of the Palestinian narrative, asserting that Israel recognized the terrorists of the PLO as the representatives of the “Palestinian people” and spoke of “mutual legitimate and political rights.” Today the heritage of Oslo is the popularity in Washington and Europe of the idea that the 1949 armistice lines mark a border between Israel and ‘Palestinian’ territory, something that Yitzhak Rabin would have very vigorously opposed.

Recovery from these mistakes will be a long process and require a great deal of resolve and persistence. Among the difficulties associated with the Temple Mount is the position of Jordan, whose prestige in the Muslim world is directly tied to the waqf being in control of the Mount. No matter how King Abdullah feels about the PLO, Hamas and Palestinians in general – one suspects that his feelings are less than warm – he cannot appear less committed to Muslim sovereignty there than they are.

If Israel were to evict or sideline the waqf and take over full control, as it should have done in 1967, the pressure on Abdullah to take action would be immense. At the same time, he is dependent on Israel for the survival of his minority regime, which would place him in an impossible situation, perhaps even lead to an Islamist coup.

Only a gradual approach to recover sovereignty bit by bit, will work. Outlawing the screaming Muslim mobs on the Temple Mount was a good first step, but even that small step has had its price in Arab violence.

Neither are there easy ways to undo the damage done by Oslo. Arafat should have been killed in 1982, and the PLO should have been destroyed (both were saved by American intervention – US Marines escorted the PLO onto ships bound for Tunis). The moribund PLO never should have been revived and brought back to Israel in 1993. Unfortunately, we don’t have a time machine to go back and undo these errors.

One of the first acts of Yasser Arafat after Oslo was to take control of the media and educational system, which he turned into engines of indoctrination against Israel, Jews and ‘normalization’ – anything that might tend to reduce tensions between Jews and Arabs. 22 years later, a generation of Arabs that grew up under this system are stoning, burning and stabbing Jews to death whenever they have an opportunity.

Unfortunately, nothing has been done to change this. Oslo has long been abrogated and the Palestinian Authority has no legal authority; but Israel is afraid that if the PA collapsed it would be replaced by Hamas or worse. So it continues to prop it up. But the hateful incitement from PA media and its educational system must be stopped before it breeds yet another generation of terrorists.

Both of these mistakes were made because Israel assumed that compromise was an effective tactic when dealing with Arabs. Compromise is greatly admired in the West, where magnanimity is associated with strength. In the Middle East, an offer of compromise is understood as an admission of weakness. If I can take all of something, then why should I give you any? Therefore, I must not be strong enough to take it.

I am sure that the Arabs were surprised when Moshe Dayan offered them control of the Temple Mount. After all, Israel had conquered Jerusalem. Many of them were probably expecting to be kicked out of their homes, as the Jordanians had done to the Jews in 1948. But instead of teaching them that they had been defeated, Dayan gave them hope that by continued struggle they could prevail.

And if they do, you had better believe they will not be magnanimous.

9/17 Links: Ann Coulter's "F**ing Jews," Boy on Hamas TV wants to blow up the Jews, Reykjavik BDS in violation of WTO treaty

Ian is still recovering. From Elder:

Iceland Capital’s Israel Boycott is Flagrant Violation of WTO Treaty

Reykjavik, Iceland passed a law boycotting all Israeli products. Both Israel and Iceland are parties to an international trade treaty which bans such boycotts.

Boy tells Hamas children's TV he wants to 'blow up the Jews'

Translation of children's program broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV shows interviewer asking young boys dressed in military fatigues what they want to be when they grow up. One boy replies: "An engineer ... so I can blow up the Jews."

Ann Coulter accuses Republican candidates of pandering to 'f---ing Jews'

Controversial conservative pundit Ann Coulter posted a series of arguably anti-Semitic tweets at the tail end of Wednesday night's Republican debate, accusing the candidates of pandering to Jewish voters, including one posing the hypothetical question of: "How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?"
Coulter, who has 660,000 Twitter followers, was reacting to the frequent mentions of Israel made by participants in the second televised Republican debate held Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.
She first tweeted criticism of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's support for Israel when answering the question "What will AMERICA [emphasis her's] look like after you are president?", asking "How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?” She also wrote: "Good Grief, Huckabee is running for prime minister of Israel."

"Disgusting," charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO. "And if a simple, "I am sorry" is beyond the reach of the vocabulary of this noted wordsmith, then perhaps she has unearned her spot among top tier political pundits," Cooper concluded.

UNRWA teacher says he'll sweep the floor with a Jew's beard

This is an UNRWA teacher in the West Bank who calls himself "Abu Laure" on Facebook.

He has posted this picture with the caption, "With this you will find the resistance appealing."

And he also posted this photo:

The text says:

"I wear a keffiyah and I dance, and with [the keffiya] I'll catch the Zionist's beard and sweep [the floor] with it."

Ironically, the photo is of an anti-Zionist.

But we all know what "Abu Laure" really means when he says he wants to sweep the floor with the "Zionist's" beard, don't we?

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

UPDATE: The page has been taken down.

Al Quds al-Arabi has an exclusive interview with Mahmoud Abbas where he threatens to "explode a bomb" at the end of his upcoming speech at the United Nations.

He is presumably speaking metaphorically.

In an exclusive interview with «Quds Al-Arabi» Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke frankly about American, Arab and Israeli pressure, which made him consider resigning.He also spoke about the strong opposition to the idea of a Jewish state as a justification of religious wars in the Middle East and as [the same as] extremist organizations calling themselves the "Islamic state." The meeting with Abu Mazen took place in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, and contrary to reports in some Israeli media from their security services, Abu Mazen at the age of eighty showed a sharp mind through the interview and remembers the smallest details.

On the volatile situation in Jerusalem Abbas said Israel is practically dividing the Al-Aqsa Mosque temporally and perhaps spatially between Jews and Muslims, saying that "the temporal and spatial division will not succeed at all", and "Jerusalem is a red line that we will not allow any infringement upon".

And on his next trip to the United Nations, Abbas said he will talk about Oslo and the Israeli violations represented by the decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court to allow the demolition of Palestinian homes in areas A and B, two areas which are supposed to be subject to the rule of the Palestinian Authority administratively.

Abbas has promised that he will present a surprise, saying "I will at the end of the speech have a bomb. I will not reveal what the bomb is".

Whatever stunt he decides to pull - and it will be a stunt, not substantive - it will be because of something else he said in the interview, that "the Arab world is preoccupied with their problems."

Abbas has over the years threatened to resign, threatened to stop security coordination with Israel, threatened to dismantle the PA multiple times. Each time it was a pathetic attempt to become the focus of attention when the world was concerned with real problems. As Abbas himself has admitted, his people are not in bad shape by any measure. But like a toddler, Palestinian Arabs hate not being the center of attention, so they will continue to threaten to blow up the Oslo process without being willing to lose the benefits that the process gave them - autonomy, world acceptance as a state and the symbols of sovereignty. They hope that their threats will increase pressure on Israel, because to them this is preferable to actually making any meaningful gestures for peace.

Abbas attacked the idea of a Jewish state saying:"If Israel wants to be a Jewish state, there would be justification for the organization "Islamic state" and others to create an Islamic state in Syria, Gaza, Egypt and so on.

This fits in with the Arab view that Judaism is only a religion, and not an expression of nationhood, as it has been understood for millennia. Calling Israel a Jewish state is analogous to calling "Palestine" an Arab state, not an Islamic state.

But Abbas' hypocrisy is crystal clear even without that argument.

Just look at the Palestinian constitution and you will see that "Palestine" already defines itself as an Islamic nation!

Palestine is part of the Arab homeland. The state of Palestine abides by the Charter of the League of Arab States. The Palestinian people are part of the Arab and Islamic nations.

Most Arab countries already define themselves as "Arab states" and Islam as their official state religions.

And:

Islam is the official religion in Palestine.

Israel doesn't even have a state religion. "Palestine" does.

It would really be nice if a reporter would one day confront this hypocritical bigot with his own words. Abbas is coming to New York - which reporter has the guts to actually do his or her job?

Those wacky Jews and how they love to eat gentile blood

Egyptian newspaper Vetogate has a human interest article, during this high holiday season, on the wacky ways that Jews like to atone for their sins.

Since Jews are so sinful, we are told, by doing things like worshiping the Golden Calf, they must look for varied ways to atone for their sins.

For example, it describes the custom of Tashlich, where Jews symbolically cast their sins into the sea.

The paper rather poorly describes the Kapparot ritual of symbolically transferring one's sins to a chicken (or, more often nowadays, to money to be given to charity.)

And it also talks about how Jews like to eat human blood pastries on Purim.

On the occasion of Purim, Jewish adult men slaughter a non-Jewish child under the age of seven, after torturing him and then completely emptying their blood in a suitable container, and then the blood is dried until it becomes a powder to bake a blood pie, which is a sacrifice for this holiday; in order to atone for sins. Despite the fact that the custom has been discontinued for the time being, but the Jews practiced it all over the world, and particularly in Russia during World War II, prompting ostracism and persecution in the communities in which they lived.

This is the variant of the blood libel that centers on Purim rather than Passover.

This is what people in Egypt read in their newspapers, today.

If you want to know what's going on in Gaza, don't ask a reporter

Newsweek published an inane piece of self-congratulatory claptrap from James Rodgers, former BBC and Reuters reporter, pushing a forthcoming book about reporting from Gaza. The headline of the article is "If you want to know what's going on in Gaza, ask a reporter."

Covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was, and is, a huge challenge for an international journalist. The demands are intense—pressure from all sides, sometimes physical danger—and the rewards not always obvious. The pressure, especially at times of intense fighting, frequently turns to abuse from audiences. This seems especially to be the case in the age of social media.

Whatever the failures of the way the conflict has been covered—both Israelis and Palestinians, and their supporters, will point to countless shortcomings—international journalists have one advantage over many others involved or interested in the conflict: They can see more of it.

Maybe they see more of what is going on than ordinary people, but they sure as hell don't report it.

Here are today's headlines from the territories in Arab newspapers:

A rumor that Hamas rejected solving the electricity crisis by returning the remains of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin
Three PA security forces injured by Hamas members in Jenin
--but Hamas reports claim three citizens were injured by PA police using live ammunition during a protest in Jenin
Workers at Palestinian universities plan to strike
Gazans are going on Haj to Mecca via Egypt's Rafah crossing tomorrow
An armed robbery in Ramallah at a bank, 2.5 million shekels taken
Hamas urges all Arab countries to withdraw their ambassadors from Israel in response to the clashes at the Temple Mount
Sheikh Salah of the Islamic Movement in Israel claims that Israel has declared war on Al Aqsa
An op-ed that says that Netanyahu's crackdown on stone throwers shows that he "defies Allah."

Many of these stories are newsworthy. Few of them will ever be reported by Western reporters in Gaza and Area A.

So if you want to know what's going on in the territories, don't listen to blowhards like James Rodgers. You would do much better to read this blog instead.

Official PA news agency Wafa quotes Mahmoud Abbas complaining about Israelis trying to assure equal access to holy sites.

He said, “Al-Aqsa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”

Clearly he is not referring to Israeli Muslims or Israeli Arabs, and he just as clearly is not referring only to Israeli Jews - non-Israeli Jews who visit the Temple Mount are just as abhorrent to Mahmoud Abbas.

So Mahmoud Abbas believes that Jews have dirty feet.

Which is mainstream Muslim theology.

As we have seen, Abbas is not alone in considering Jews to be dirty. UNRWA school websites have said the same thing, quoting a hadith. Cached pages from UNRWA are here and here.

Mecca To Chip Away At Kaaba To Arm Temple Mt. Palestinians (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Mecca, September 16 - The mayor of Islam's holiest city announced plans today to provide rocks to Palestinians on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by breaking off pieces of the Kaaba building in the city's most famous mosque so that the Palestinians could be better-equipped to attack Jews attempting to visit.

Mayor of Mecca Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar responded to allegations that his country was doing little to help protect the Al Aqsa compound from defilement, saying that he was prepared to order the demolition of the revered Kaaba, including its ancient, venerated Black Stone, so that Palestinian protesters would have enough rocks to throw at Jews and Israeli police. The mayor, who was appointed by the Saudi government, insisted that no cause was more sacred to the Muslim world than the preservation of Islamic rule over Jerusalem's holiest site.

"Only fools genuinely believe that we in Arabia are doing nothing for the holy Palestinian cause," he said. "In fact it is not the 'Palestinian' cause at all, but the sacred duty of every Muslim to resist the Zionists by whatever means possible. If that means destroying the Kaaba piece by piece and delivering the fragments to our brothers at Al Aqsa to use as projectiles in preventing infidels from conducting their Talmudic rituals on the Haram al-Sharif, so be it." He added that partial demolition of the Kaaba could begin as early as next week, to allow pilgrims already en route to Mecca to perform their seven-fold circumambulation of it as planned.

As for the Black Stone at the Kaaba's eastern corner, Al-Bar said its holiness had been superseded by the all-encompassing resistance to Zionism, and it, too, would be removed from the structure to be thrown or slung at infidels. "In fact the Black Stone has been fragmented several times already, so this act would represent no further indignity," he explained. "I would think it the highest honor to be part of the noble resistance to usurpation of Al Aqsa."

Al-Bar dismissed concerns that the site of the Kaaba would become diminished in Islamic practice if the structure is dismantled. "The Black Stone itself was taken and held for ransom more than a thousand years ago, and only brought back after several decades," he said, referring to a tenth-century episode. "During that time its original location was still venerated. There is no reason that cannot be done again."

Scholars are debating the legitimacy under Islamic Law of the move. "Historically, the area around the Kaaba has been deemed a war-free zone, so one could argue it is inappropriate to be using the very object so venerated in that bubble of peace as a weapon," said Professor of Islamic Thought Sakri Lejj. "Technically, though, since the conflict zone in question is far away from Mecca, there would be no violation."

Others disagreed, but not necessarily on Sharia grounds. "It would make more sense politically, economically, and tactically, to sell the fragments on the international market, and raise money for some serious weapons systems for the Palestinians," argued theology scholar Ayit Bulbul. "Because we love them so much. Right? I mean, isn't that why Arab states keep Palestinian refugees in camps, restrict their employment, and deny them citizenship?"

09/16 Links: German bank closes "Quds Day" account; Russia to continue military support for Syria

Ian had a medical issue and he is recovering, thank G-d, but he will need some time to get back up to speed. - Elder

German bank closes account of pro-Iran, pro-Hezbollah supporters

Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest bank, has closed the account of the al-Quds day demonstration - which organizes annual marches in German cities calling for the destruction of Israel.
The bank “closed the account in September because of business conditions,” a spokesman told The Jerusalem Post by telephone on Tuesday.
The bank can drop an account “without providing reasons,” he said.
After the mass-circulation Berlin daily BZ published a piece by popular columnist Gunnar Schupelius in July titled, “Israel haters collect money through Commerzbank,” Israel’s embassy sent a letter of complaint to the bank.
The spokesman said the bank started the process to shut the account after the Schupelius column “drew attention” to the collection of funds for the al-Quds Day campaign.

Netanyahu Promises 'New Standard of Deterrence'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held an emergency security meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, after the wave of terror attacks in Jerusalem over the Rosh Hashanah holiday including massive riots on the Temple Mount and a lethal rock attack.
"We will fight through all means necessary against rock throwers, firebomb and pipe bomb throwers, and those who shoot fireworks to harm citizens and police officers," said Netanyahu.
"On the eve of the holiday it was again proven that rock throwing can kill," he added. "These activities will meet a very strong response of punishment and prevention. We will lead a systematic change and set a new standard of deterrence and prevention."

Here is a photo of Al Aqsa "worshippers" with piles of rocks ready to throw towards Jews:

ISIS Knows How To Develop Chemical Weapons And Now Threatens America With 9-11 Style Attack In New Video

Recently, several media outlets reported that the Islamic State used chemical weapons in both Syria and Iraq. The use of chemical weapons by ISIS was first reported by Kurdish Peshmerga forces from Iraq in July.
On Sunday, the New York Times reported that the United States confirmed the use of mustard gas by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. A laboratory in the U.S. conducted tests on scraps of clothing from ISIS victims and found traces of sulfur mustard, a forbidden chemical weapon that causes burns in the skin, eyes and respiratory organs.

After summer of name calling, J-Street claims that it never called anyone names

J-Street's Rosh Hashanah email message to its supporters was even more hypocritical than usual:

Oh really? Their email from July called their opponents warmongers and an "out of touch Jewish establishment."

Even at the beginning of September, J-Street kept referring to outdated polls from July to pretend that Jews were supportive of the Iran deal. Most Americans are against it as well.

And as their absurd arguments fell apart, they became more and more dependent on ad hominem attacks. An early september mailing called those opposed to the Iran deal "opponents of diplomacy driven by partisan politics and hawkish ideology."

J-Street's entire existence is based on the goal of dividing the American Jewish community. To say that they want to heal the rifts now is just another J-Street lie.

UNRWA deputy principal loves PFLP terrorists

Talal Abu Shawish is a Deputy Principal of an UNRWA school in Gaza.

He recently praised the PFLP's military training camps for women (and children):

He is also a fan of the PFLP terrorists of the 1970s, like Wadie Haddad, infamous for being behind a series of airplane hijackings.

The UNRWA principal lovingly goes into detail about all of Haddad's terror attacks.

Is there any chance that he doesn't teach the same to his students?

But UNRWA isn't concerned about that. They only care about when people like me reveal it.

Vile @NYTimes article minimizes and justifies the stoning murder of a Jew

From the New York Times, reporting on a stoning murder as if it was a natural event:

Rocks, apparently self-propelled, just magically appeared to pelt his car!

The first paragraph is almost as bad:

A Jewish man died early Monday morning after attackers pelted the road he was driving on with rocks as he was returning home from a dinner celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, the Israeli authorities said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting to discuss rock-throwing, mostly by Palestinian youths.

He just died after some unidentified "attackers" threw stones, not at his car or his head, but merely towards the road he was driving on. He wasn't murdered by stoning or anything like that. The Youths weren't aiming at his car, just casually tossing rocks on a road.

The man was identified in local news reports as Alexander Levlovich, 64. His death was reported as the police and Palestinian youths clashed for a second day at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, amid tensions over increased visits by Jews for Rosh Hashana. The two-day holiday began at sundown on Sunday.

Is there any indication that the rock throwing is connected to the Arab riots on the Temple Mount?

The writer Diaa Hadid seems to think so, ignoring that these types of rock throwing incidents happen every day. But by juxtaposing the two she minimizes the crime by finding a supposed crime being done by Jews that could anger the youths.

Also - Jews were visiting Al Aqsa Mosque? Really? The New York Times now accepts the Arab lie that the entire Temple Mount is the Al Aqsa Mosque!

By implication, an area that is only holy to Jews - where Palestinian Arabs engage in soccer, volleyball and parkour - has been transformed to a Muslim holy place that Jews are trespassing on.

And somehow Jews attempting to visit their holy place, which the Times doesn't mention as the Temple Mount until much later, justifies Arabs stoning cars with Jewish drivers?

Finally, we learn in paragraph 4:

Ynet, an Israeli news site, quoted a woman who said that she was a passenger in the car and that it crashed after being hit by a thrown object. The site did not identify the woman.

But then we see the justification for the murder later on:

Palestinians frequently argue that rocks and crude incendiary devices are among their only weapons to press for independence, and to defend themselves against Israeli forces during confrontations. For some young Palestinians in areas where there are frequent tensions, their use has become a rite of passage.

See? Throwing boulders - and firebombs - at civilians is just a way to gain independence - independence that Israel has offered numerous times, by the way.

In paragraph 11, we finally learn that Jews also believe they have a claim to the holy site in Jerusalem, but it it much fuzzier than the Muslim claim:

In East Jerusalem, Ms. Samri, the police spokeswoman, said protesters had thrown rocks at officers who had entered the contested holy site of the Al Aqsa Mosque — revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, one of the three holiest sites in Islam — so they could allow non-Muslims, including Jews, to enter the area.

Why doesn't the article mention that the Temple Mount is undoubtedly the holiest site in Judaism? Because the NYT doesn't quite believe it:

Similar clashes took place in July, as Jews held an annual fast day commemorating the destruction of two ancient temples believed to have once stood at the holy site.

A site is accepted as holy to Muslims because of a legend about a flying horse, but Jewish Temples were only "believed" to have stood at that spot.

What a sick piece of reporting, and headline-writing, in the New York Times.

(h/t DM)

At the time of writing I’m without internet connection at the house into which I recently moved, and I therefore beg Elder’s readers’ indulgence for recycling the following account of the Hadsasah Convoy Massacre of 1938, which appeared on my own blog in 2011. To those who have read it already, there, I apologise, but since Elder’s readership significantly times greater than mine, I hope there are people out there to whom this is fresh, and who read it with interest.

The ambush and destruction by Arabs in the Sheikh Jarrah district of Jerusalem of a convoy of vehicles – clearly marked with the symbol of the Magen David Adom – taking Jewish medical personnel and patients to the Hadassah Hospital in 1948, just four weeks before the Declaration of the State of Israel, was a terrible blow to the emergent state.

Most of the victims of that outrage were badly burned and unrecognisable. The dead included top specialists in their fields who, had they lived, might have achieved breakthroughs in medical science to the benefit of humanity. Among those killed were Hadassah's Director, the ophthalmologist Dr Haim Yassky, who had done much to treat trachoma; Dr Moshe Ben-David, Secretary to the Medical Faculty, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dr. L. Doliansky, Director of Cancer Research, and the Assistant Director, Dr Musbursky; Professor Joseph Bonaventura, Head of the Psychology Department at the Hebrew University; Dr Klar, Lecturer in Philology, and Dr Freiman, Lecturer in Jewish Law.

The incident embittered the Yishuv against Britain, whose Mandate rule was coming to an end, since British troops failed to come to the convoy’s aid.

However, the Jewish Chronicle (27 May 1988) carried an article by its Foreign Editor, Joseph Finklestone, based on the reminiscences of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert King-Clark (1913-2007), one of the officers who helped Orde Wingate to crush the 1938 Arab Revolt by leading one of the renowned Night Squads. According to King-Clark, some of the victims might have been saved had they accepted an offer of help from his friend Major John (“Fighting Jack”) Churchill (1906-96), of the Highland Light Infantry.

I reproduce Joseph Finklestone's account below, without further comment:

The Hadassah convoy, taking some 100 doctors, nurses, and patients to the Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University on besieged Mount Scopus, set out on its tragic two-mile journey on Tuesday morning, April 13, 1948, exactly a month before the British Mandate was due to be terminated. The convoy vehicles were marked with Magen David Adom’s red Shield of David. As the buses and lorries entered Sheikh Jarrah, they were ambushed between two craters in a narrow street.

Hundreds of Arabs poured withering fire on the helpless convoy, ignoring completely the fact that the passengers included dedicated doctors and nurses, as well as patients. The Arab gunmen showed no mercy as they set fire to the vehicles and saw their victims burn to death.

Major Churchill was the first senior British officer at the scene of the ambush. He had been on a battalion inspection parade when he saw a soldier waving a piece of paper.

This was a message from a British post at Sheikh Jarrah that a Hadassah convoy had been ambushed. The Arabs had mined the road, and the firing was intense. The time of the message was 9.30 – a significant time.

Major Churchill told the regimental Sergeant-Major to inform the commanding officer that there was trouble at Sheikh Jarrah and that he was going to see what was happening. Having collected his “Dingo” vehicle and driver, he quickly drove to the Sheikh Jarrah area and “Tony’s Post,” as the British post was known.

Major Churchill saw Arabs firing at the convoy from houses while an ineffective response was coming from the outnumbered Jewish guards. He also spotted large numbers of Arabs, many armed, swarming up the Wadi el Joz (Valley of the Walnut) to join those in the houses.

Appreciating that the Jews were facing an inevitable massacre if they did not receive immediate help, Major Churchill sent a radio message directly to the Second Infantry Brigate HQ – the telephone line having been cut by a mine – and asked for an artillery observation officer and two 25-pounder field guns to be put immediately at his disposal to blast the Arab gunmen from their ambush positions. “I need real guns, not machine guns,” he said.

However, Brigade HQ turned down his request. Lieutenant-Colonel King-Clark charitably attributes this decision to the Brigade HQ being startled by such an unorthodox demand and desiring to steer a middle course between Jew and Arab, as the Mandate was coming to an end.

Major Churchill, having explained that a very dangerous situation was developing and that some action would be needed if the Jews in the convoy were to be saved, then asked for two Staghounds – large armoured cars armed with a cannon and a machine-gun. This request was granted.

However, he was told that it would take some time to get these vehicles back from convoy protection duties elsewhere. “But for Christ’s sake try and avoid using their guns, “ said the staff officer. “It’s for their cannon that I want them,” replied Major Churchill.There was nothing he could do in the meantime at Tony’s Post, which consisted only of a subaltern and about 15 Scottish soldiers with no heavy weapons.

However, feeling a sense of responsibility, Major Churchill decided to try to rescue some of the trapped Jews by using one of his battalion’s big armoured personnel carriers and a Bren carrier. Having warned Battalion HQ by radio to have the vehicles ready, he went back himself in his “Dingo” to the transport lines. With these two vehicles and a small police armoured car, he returned to the ambush.

Getting out of his “Dingo,” Major Churchill walked about 30 yards, alone and in full view of the Arab gunmen. Later he told his friend, Lieutenant-Colonel King-Clark:

“As I walked along, swinging my blackthorn stick, I grinned like mad from side to side, as people are less likely to shoot you if you smile at them. Of course, having just come off a battalion parade, I was very dressed up – in Glengarry tunic, Sam Browne belt (but no claymore, worse luck!), kilt, hair sporran, red and white diced hose – and white spats! This outfit in the middle of battle, together with my grinning at them, may have made the Arabs laugh, because most of them have a sense of humour. Anyway, they didn’t shoot me!”

Arriving at the Jewish buses, Major Churchill hammered on the door of the nearest one. A woman’s voice called out: “What is that?” He replied, “This is Major Churchill of the Highland Light Infantry. I am here with a big, powerful armoured vehicle, and I can evacuate you from this bus and each of the other buses in turn if you would like to come. But there may be casualties when you transfer from one to the other. Do you understand that?”

The woman replied, according to Major Churchill: “Yes, but are you going to drive the Arabs off first?”

“No,” he said. “I cannot do that. I have only 12 men and there are hundreds of Arabs.”

“Well, I will have to talk to Dr Yassky (director of the Hadassah Hospital) or somebody else,” she replied.

The major heard her speaking in Hebrew to people on the bus. After a few moments he called out: “Hurry up and decide. It’s very dangerous for me outside here.”

Shortly afterwards, the reply came from inside the bus: “Thank you very much, but we don’t want your help. The Jewish Army – the Hagana – will save us.”

Major Churchill told Lieutenant-Colonel King-Clark that he had walked to the other buses, repeating the offer and stressing that it was their last chance of getting help from the British, and that if they did not accept the offer, it was most likely that they would all be killed. In each case, the reply was the same, according to the major: “No thank you, the Hagana will save us.”

As Major Churchill was leaving the buses, the driver of the Bren carrier shouted out that his Bren machine-gunner had been hit and was dying. Major Churchill said that he again shouted at the trapped Jews: “Look, one of my men has been killed, so I am leaving at once! You are on your own!”

They called out “Yes, yes.”

Major Churchill went to Tony’s Post which, he said, had continued to support the trapped Jewish vehicles with small arms fire against the Arabs. The fire from the post and that from the small Jewish escort in the trapped convoy prevented the Arabs from directly assaulting the vehicles.

This personal intervention by a brave officer was the last – and sole – action by the British forces. The Arabs, now very numerous, became emboldened and noisy and set the Jewish buses on fire with Molotov cocktails. They shot the occupants of the buses. By mid-afternoon, 77 Jews lay dead and a further 25 wounded. Only eight of the 110 men and women who had set out in the Hadassah convoy that morning escaped unhurt. When the British armoured cars eventually arrived at 3.30 pm – six hours after the ambush had been spring – they could do little else than survey the carnage.

Gazans protest Hamas over electricity, Hamas blocks reporters, media blames Israel

From Ma'an:

Dozens of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday held demonstrations for the third straight day to protest the coastal enclave's ongoing power crisis.
In the southern city of Rafah, protesters called for the resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's government over the crisis.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza, residents of the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps set tires alight in a demonstration held in front of Gaza's sole power station.
Hamas said that participants burnt photos of President Mahmoud Abbas, before the movement's police force dispersed the protest.
Local Fatah officials later "praised" the demonstration in posts on Facebook, but said they were "surprised" that pictures of Abbas and Hamdallah had been burnt.
The officials accused members of Hamas' military branch, al-Qassam Brigades, for burning the photos, and said: "We stood up against them."

It appears that the protesters were not behind the burining of photos of Abbas - but Hamas was.

Because PCHR says that Hamas has been quashing anti-Hamas demonstrations over the electricity shortage last Saturday and even confiscating reporters' cameras, memory cards and cars. It appears that Hamas realized that it could not stop the protests so instead they are trying to co-opt them and turn them into anti-Fatah protests - or at least tell people that the protests are anti-Fatah.

On September 1, the Egyptian power line into Gaza was damaged. I don't know if it was repaired yet.

But meanwhile, Ma'an cannot resist blaming Israel for the fuel shortage, by publishing bald-faced lies:

The plant requires 550,000 liters of fuel per day to produce at capacity, the energy authority says, although it has rarely been able to reach that amount, mostly due to the Israeli blockade which has limited fuel imports since 2007.

No, Israel doesn't limit fuel to Gaza at all. As long as people pay, Israel pumps it over. The shortages is from arguments between Fatah and Hamas over taxes and funding.

In fact, Israel might do more to alleviate Gaza's power crisis:

Meanwhile, Israel is considering a plan proposed by Qatar to supply Gaza with natural gas. The plan would see Israel laying a new pipeline from Ashdod, where gas from the offshore Tamar field enters the country, to the power station in the Gaza Strip, located only a handful of kilometers to the south.

The Gaza station, which currently can supply electricity for just eight hours each day, would be converted to work with the natural gas, expanding its output dramatically. The station was also damaged in an IAF strike during last summer’s war between Israel and Hamas. The IDF said that the station was not deliberately targeted.

According to the proposal by Muhammad al-Ahmadi, the head of Qatar’s committee for rehabilitating Gaza, the Gulf state would pay NIS 38.6 million ($10 million) toward infrastructure costs such as laying the pipeline. The gas itself would be paid for by the Palestinian Authority and private Palestinian funders under its auspices.

Ahmadi has also begun talks with private Israeli solar power companies to construct solar power fields in Israeli territory to produce 100 megawatts for Gaza’s use.

Yes, Israel cooperating with Qatar, an ally of Hamas, to help Gazans get electricity.

Doesn't exactly fit the meme of how Israel is trying to hurt innocent Gazans, does it?

Shana tova!

I wish all of you a happy and sweet New Year. May we all be written in the Book of Life, and enjoy a year of health, a year of prosperity, a year of joy, a year of peace, and a year of security.

I will not be blogging until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.