Another Ramadan terror attack

Ah, Ramadan. All about fasting, prayer, spiritual reflection, reading from the Koran - and attacking the dhimmis.

A terrorist driving a black BMW ran his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a busy intersection in central Jerusalem near the Old City on Monday evening.

At least 17 people were confirmed wounded at Zahal Square, all in light-to-moderate condition. Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated those wounded to the Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaare Zedek hospitals for treatment.

The JPost adds:

Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said that the attacker was shot dead "within seconds" by an off-duty IDF officer who was touring the city with his unit.

He added that there was no intelligence information ahead of the attack, but noted that Jerusalem was under heavy security alert due to Ramadan.

But why, oh why would anyone associate Ramadan, the holiest Muslim month, with terror attacks?

Could it be because a couple of days ago there was a Ramadan terror attack against a hotel in Pakistan, killing dozens?

If Islam is a religion of peace, wouldn't it be logical that their holiest month would be the most peaceful month?

Perhaps, unlike what we've been told by apologists for Islam, Ramadan is really the "month for Jihad," as this Christian Science Monitor article from 2003 discovered.

But Israelis know this very well. After all, the Yom Kippur War in 193 is known in the Arab world as "The Ramadan War."

So there is nothing unusual for terror attacks to occur during Ramadan. On the contrary, it is expected.

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British Muslims celebrating 9/11 anniversary

From MEMRI:

Reporter: Islamic activists in the British capital have chosen to mark the seventh anniversary of 9/11 in their own way. Once again, they called the attacks, which caused thousands of casualties, the "New York Raid." They warned that new attacks would occur in the future, unless the U.S. reexamines its policy and attitude toward Islam and the Muslims.

Anjam Chaudhary, Secretary-General Al-Ghuraba Movement: Since the raid of Manhattan seven years ago, and the collapse of the twin towers in New York, many developments have taken place around the world. Many events similar to September 11, July 7, and November 3 [sic] have taken place in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, Iraq, and Afghanistan since then.

Reporter: The event took place after the fast-breaking meal at a religious center in east London, and was attended by dozens of participants. The speakers focused on the lessons to be drawn from the attacks, and they derided the war on terror waged by Washington, and by Western and Islamic countries, saying that it had managed to strengthen Al-Qaeda, rather than weaken it.

Muhammad Seif Al-Islam, The Salafi Youth Movement: This is the consequence of your own actions an of every step you take. Wake up, wake up. So many times we have heard the warning of Sheik Osama Bin Laden, as well as the warnings of Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda, calling upon the Western peoples to awaken from their slumber, and to be on their guard so that their governments will not lead them to war, causing violence and aggression. [These peoples] should prevent their governments from inciting them to become the enemies of Islam and the Muslims.

Reporter: Sheik Omar Bakri, whose return to British soil has been denied, addressed the participants by phone from Lebanon.

Omar Bakri: "Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: Some of them have died, and others await their turn, but they have not changed [their religion]."

Reporter: From the support for Bakri's words, it was clear that Bakri, founder of Hizb Al-Tahrir and the Muhajireen Movement, still enjoys the support and trust of his followers, who said their struggle against the British government's policy would continue, regardless of the measures taken against them.

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Free Gaza freaks stymied in their latest attempt to sail

From Ma'an:

The second siege breaking voyage organized by the Free Gaza movement has been delayed for “logistical reasons.” The ships were scheduled to dock in the Gaza port on Monday, and have not set a new date of arrival.

Chairman of the People's committee against the blockade and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Jamal Al-Khudari, said that the doctors, journalists, parliamentarians and activists set as the ship’s crew have begun to arrive in Cyprus.

Do you think this is perhaps because our leftist terrorist-supporters are having a hard time raising money from the masses of people who pretend to want to help ordinary Palestinian Arabs?

We're broke and we need money NOW! We are at a critical stage of our project and your help is needed. All of the money raised so far has been spent on the boats and project logistics, and we have taken an emergency loan for $70,000. That is why our illustrations below show more money spent than raised. We have already spent more than a half million dollars, at least half of which is in loans. We currently have less than $20K in our accounts. And we have to pay around $70K in fuel alone before this is over. It looks like we also might need a substantial amount ($15K though not certain) to make the satellite link work, and we really should bail out some of our Greek friends who have put themselves at serious financial risk to lend massive amount of funds to us. In all, we need $50K right away and $100K soon after, and then an additional $200K to pay back the remainder of the loans.

If they couldn't get enough money to pay for even half of their first PR stunt, who is going to pay for the second one - which will inevitably have much less publicity?

The reason they can't raise money is clear. Their mission is not to help Palestinian Arabs but rather to embarrass Israeli Jews. People are naturally charitable but even leftists know that this money is only being used for hate, not to help anyone in any real sense. So only the die-hard anti-semites and anti-Zionists are willing to put any cash into this money pit.

Which goes to prove once again that Israel does more to help ordinary Palestinian Arabs than any number of political groups who pretend to care so much about them.

Even their money to buy their fashionable keffiyehs is not going to their cause!

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The speech that Sarah Palin would have given

The New York Sun publishes the speech that Sarah Palin would have given in New York today to protest Ahmadinejad. Unfortunately, the rally organizers disinvited her when they came under pressure from Democrats. (I would love to see the speech that Hillary Clinton would have given before she found out that Palin was supposed to be there, which started the entire debacle.)

I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country — leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.

Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York — to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan — and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.

Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him.

He must be stopped.

The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a "Final Solution" — the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a "stinking corpse" that is "on its way to annihilation." Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman — not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.

The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.

The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the "Iranian nation would not retreat one iota" from its nuclear program.

So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.

If we retreat without leaving a stable Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions will be bolstered. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons — they could share them tomorrow with the terrorists they finance, arm, and train today. Iranian nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous regional nuclear arms race that would make all of us less safe.

But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world's most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran's desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.

Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran's official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government's threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.

It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad's rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.

If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed.

If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.

But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the "One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws." The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of "propaganda against the system." After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to "only" 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that" effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!

Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime's dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran's behavior.

Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech — a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.

We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran's allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran's refined petroleum imports.

We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran's economic influence.

We must target the regime's assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.

President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.

We must sanction Iran's Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps — which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization.

Together, we can stop Iran's nuclear program.

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain's promise and it is my promise.

Thank you.

The speech does stray into politics a little, but that could have been easily corrected.It is a shame that partisanship torpedoed what should have been a great demonstration against the madman of Iran.
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While on the topic, which VP candidate would you think knows better how to hold a weapon, Palin or Biden?

For some reason when I think "commander in chief," all else being equal, I feel a little better knowing that the person knows a thing or two about this topic.

UPDATE: A commenter asserts that Biden owns guns and goes skeet shooting, a story that just came out.

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The "Paul Isn't Dead" thread

Yerushalimey in the comments requested a Beatles thread, and why not?

At the left-wing Alternative Information Center we see an "open letter" to Sir Paul from a Jewish Israel-basher who insults McCartney in his feeble attempt to influence him to drop his Israel show this week. Evidently he doesn't quite get how "open letters" are supposed to work. It is funny, though:

If we are honest Paul, where John Lennon led you followed. When John Lennon gave back the MBE you were forced to do likewise. When he was dead and buried you were happy to accept a gong, a Knighthood, from Her Majesty. When John wrote in support of the struggle for Irish freedom, with songs such as Bloody Sunday and Luck of the Irish, you penned Give Ireland Back to the Irish. When John paid the fines of demonstrators against the Springbok Tour, the South African Rugby squad, you kept quiet, your hands in your pockets.

In other words, Paul, you have no mind of your own. So you should listen to me!

The only conclusion that can be drawn from your decision to play in Israel, especially given that your tour was cancelled only a few weeks ago, is that the most important question in your mind was the money you would receive for playing rather than any notions of peace. As recent publicity made clear, you have far more money at your disposal than any human being could spend in one lifetime. Do you really need the money that this concert will provide you? Has it not occurred to you that not only could you have afforded to make a small sacrifice, as have many other artists have done who are far poorer than you, but that you would have made a positive contribution towards bringing about a peaceful solution?

When you write songs about love, I thought you were a socialist - and now I'm disappointed to find out that you are a money-grubbing capitalist pig!

Perhaps the best comment that could be made about your decision to play in Israel is the title of a song which was addressed to you on John Lennon's Imagine.

**How do you sleep at night?**

Great move - mention a song which was as insulting as possible to Paul, telling him that he has no talent, as incentive to get him to abandon his concert.
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Yerushalimey mentions that Aleinu can be sung to Obladi Oblada. That is a bit of a stretch, but Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days" fits perfectly with L'cha Dodi - and was produced by Paul. He evidently played guitar on it as well, which was Apple's second single after "Hey Jude."
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Speaking of, despite Jewish grade-school rumors at the time, there is no evidence that "Hey Jude" had anything to do with Jews.
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It is very funny that the AIC idiot assumes that John Lennon would never have played in "apartheid" Israel. Yoko Ono had two exhibitions there in 2000, one in Jerusalem and one in an Arab city in northern Israel, Umm al-Fahm, thus showing that everyone knows that Jerusalem is a Jewish city!
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And how many Arab magazines would feature John and Yoko on the cover?

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Breaking: Tourists kidnapped in Egypt, possibly 2 Israelis(UPDATED)

From Sky News:

Between 10 and 15 foreign tourists have reportedly been kidnapped in Aswan, southern Egypt.

The victims possibly include two Israelis, Egyptian security sources said.

The Italian Foreign Ministry added that five Italians were among those kidnapped.

It said it was in contact with other countries involved, but gave no further details.

The Egyptian security sources said it was possible the group of kidnapped tourists had been transported to Sudan.

An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman said he had no information and was checking the report.

Attacks targeting tourists in Egypt's Nile Valley have been rare in recent years.

But a series of bombings targeted tourists in resorts in the Sinai Peninsula between 2004 and 2006.

Egypt blamed the Sinai attacks on a group of Bedouin with militant Islamist views.

Israeli authorities have been warning about such attacks for a while.

UPDATE: It appears that no Israelis were kidnapped.

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Do B'Tselem's cameras cause terror?

In recent weeks there has been an increase in reported attacks in Judea and Samaria, both from Jews who live there as well as from Arabs. A perfect case in point is last week's attack by an Arab in Yitzhar, where a nine-year old boy was injured and the Jews responded with violence against the village that sheltered the attacker.

Why are these attacks increasing now?

There are certainly a number of possible reasons: the tearing down of some checkpoints and the defeatist statements made by the Israeli government as it tries to come up with more and more concessions to please President Bush and Condoleeza Rice by the end of the year can surely be considered contributing factors.

But something else might also be a more direct reason.

In 2007, Palestinian Arab rights group B'Tselem started distributing cameras to PalArabs in the territories in order to enable them to take pictures and videos of any Israeli abuses they could find. This year some of the footage got a degree of publicity and the program has expanded.

Last week, Yochanan Visser of Efrat wrote a letter where he decried the attack on IDF soldiers by some settlers. But in that same letter came some details about the Jewish/Arab attacksthat were not publicized anywhere else:

This Shabbat a Palestinian stabbed a 9-year old boy in Yitzhar in his home, after which Jewish inhabitants of Yitzhar went on a rampage in the neighboring Arab village in which 8 Palestinians were wounded.

It is obvious that the situation in some areas in the West Bank is deteriorating. On the website of Israel -Facts Dutch monitor group we have been monitoring events in the West Bank for some time now. From the data we are collecting there evolves a picture of some very problematic areas, one of them Yitzhar. From these data we also learn that most of the reported incidents do not make it to mainstream media. In fact only the incidents like the one this Shabbat are reported. From our data we also learn that there are more Palestinian incidents against Jews than the other way around.

The same one-sided reporting accounts for the so-called "camera" incidents. From our own investigations we learn that these incidents are filmed at the moment of response to the original provocation. Like the incident on Shabbat also, some six weeks ago in Har Hebron the media reported that "settlers" set on fire a Palestinian field and also abused an arrested Palestinian in the presence of IDF soldiers. From further investigation we learned that it was the Palestinians who set the Jewish orchard on fire (not surprisingly for us because all the Jews living there are observant and would never make a fire on Shabbat) after which the Jews living there took revenge - this part was filmed.

We also learned that activists from leftist organizations like B'Tselem and Peace Now are fanning the flames in the West Bank. Their goal seems to be to provoke as many possible incidents in very sensitive areas like Hebron and Ni'ilin. They also publish mostly biased reports about events in the West Bank, apparently with the goal of further de-legitimating Jewish settlements there. The focus seems to have shifted from demonstrations to violent acts against IDF forces and Jews living in the West Bank.

I cannot say with certainty that the leftists are provoking these Arab attacks in order to video the responses, but it certainly seems that the Arabs themselves have started to do so.

Not that random rampages through Arab villages are justified, but there are great political gains to be made by provoking Jewish settlers into violence where cameras are waiting to catch them in the act. And while sometimes the Israelis have photographic evidence to show that attacks originated by Arabs (as in this weekend, when a 15-year old Palestinian Arab was caught on video lighting a Molotov cocktail outside Yitzhar) the grainy thermal security-camera video is not as dramatic as color video of enraged settlers attacking. (And even the clear evidence that the boy was lighting an incendiary device doesn't stop the Arab media from saying that the IDF murdered him "in cold blood.")

So we have a situation where the world media is seeing an apparent increase of Jewish violence towards Arabs, fanned by the existence of video, while in fact it is the other way around - and the number of unreported incidents of Arab violence are increasing dramatically.

(Even the Israeli media ignores much of the Arab violence. Early last year when I visited Israel I was doubly shocked by the desecration of a synagogue at a major Jewish shrine and theft of at least one Torah - and the fact that this incident was almost ignored even in the right-wing Israeli newspapers. One of my commenters mentioned that this is simply a "dog bites man" story and incidents like that happen with alarming frequency. So part of the fault has to lie with the Israeli media for ignoring stories that might bore some Israeli readers but open the eyes of the world.)

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Today's peaceful PalArab news

A "mysterious explosion" Deir al-Balah in Gaza injured 3. Those words are the usual euphemism for "premature terror bomb explosion."

Hamas' leader promised that Gaza will never go back to the way it was before Hamas' coup, bragging about how much better it is now. The few dozen Christians left in Gaza and the doctors who are still on strike had no comment.

The PA, meanwhile, continues to indirectly bankroll Hamas in Gaza, today offering $500 to the families of every Gaza prisoner.

Ma'an (English) reports that Israel confiscated "vast areas of Palestinian lands" in the Jordan Valley. What exactly is a "vast amount of land"? 140 dunams, which is about 0.05 square miles.

In protest of Israel's restrictions of concrete to Gaza (which Hamas uses to build Hezbollah-style military bunkers and weapons tunnels) a Palestinian Arab in Rafah decided to build a sturdy house out of mud, straw, wood and garbage, to symbolize to the world Palestinian Arab suffering. A picture of the house shows that he included at least one other essential item to prove how bad things are in Gaza - a satellite dish.

UPDATE: 2 dead in a new tunnel collapse. The 2008 PalArab self-death count rises to 187.

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Hamas humiliating doctors

Here is a section of a video shown on Israel's Channel 2 news, showing how Hamas treats doctors who went on strike in Gaza.

Dozens were blindfolded, brought into a mosque (!) and forced to chant and clap their hands to humiliating songs.

As of today, the Doctors Without Borders website still has no condemnations of the arrests, torture and humiliation that Gaza doctors, nurses, pharmacists and lab techs have been forced to undergo for the past month.

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Saudi cartoon: Wall Street is the Devil

From The Arab news, a Saudi newspaper:


It is interesting to see Saudis make fun of anyone as being greedy devils.

For example, in an article in that same newspaper this week:

THE presence of a housemaid in a Saudi house has become inevitable. If this inevitability is not because of her services, then it is because of the need to imitate others. This is a fact that everybody knows. The need for housemaids is connected to the ways Saudis live — women go to work, responsibilities for the social and educational welfare of children, men failing to help with house duties, few day-care facilities for children, large and spacious homes, extended families and increasing numbers of children. The net result is that the majority of families need to have housemaids. The truth of the matter is that some of us need more than one housemaid.

Saudi families are not only expected to have at least one maid, but also a driver, as this article on the disparity between rich and poor Saudis shows.

Of course, super-rich Saudis will spend exorbitant amounts of money on whatever they fancy. Greed is hardly an American trait, and Saudi Arabia along with the other Gulf countries are Exhibit A.

One only needs to recall the sheikh who shipped his car from the Gulf to Great Britain last summer - for an oil change.

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Iran's Supreme Leader: All Israelis are targets

It is easy to ignore the hateful rhetoric that regularly comes from Iran, but it seems to me that Iran's religious/Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has just upped the ante:

Iran can not become reconciled with the Israeli people, Ali Khamenei, supreme religious leader of Iran said. During Friday prayers, Khamenei sharply criticized statement by the assistant to the Iranian President Isfandiyar Rahim Meshai on friendship between Iranian and Israeli people. “The statement about Iranian and Israeli peoples being friends is nonsense”.

Supreme Leader of Iran said Israeli people are invaders who occupied trade facilities, sown areas in Palestine and its territory. “They are army of Zionist regime. Muslims can not show friendly relations toward those who fulfill order of enemies of Islam”.

“We do not have any problems with Jewish, Christians and other religious confessions, but we can not become reconciled with those who occupied Palestine’s lands,” he said.

The use of the word "army," I believe, is significant. Officially, Islam says that it is against killing innocent women and children, but if Khamenei is classifying every single Israeli as being effectively military, he has just given the Islamic justification for, let's say, exploding a nuclear device in Israel.

This is similar to the justifications for terror given in the past by various terror groups against Israel, but they would say that all citizens are legitimate targets by the virtue of the military service they are presumed to be doing, have done or will do. That "logic" was always a stretch. Now, in Iranian eyes, the very existence of Zionist Jews living on land in the Middle East is considered an aggressive act, no matter who they are - and by implication, it would be mandated to get rid of them.

This might sound silly, but in the end all terrorists strain to find religious justifications for their actions. Last April we saw al-Qaeda chide Hamas - using sharia - for indiscriminate rocket attacks, and Hamas defend itself by saying that children aren't the targets.

Khamenei might have just given the sharia-compliant green light for Iran's politicians and generals.

UPDATE: Although he is not a cleric, Ahmadinejad just said something else that would justify genocide against all Jews in Israel:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that the Zionists are not Jews but infidel.

Islam treats Jews and Christians better than infidels, like Hindus, who should all be killed rather than just subjugated.

These two statements happening on the same day - both escalations of already extreme rhetoric - may not be coincidental.

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More peaceful PalArab news

Another Palestinian Arab died in a smuggling tunnel, this one apparently electrocuted.

An Islamic Jihad member who was shot a few days ago died from his wounds. Hamas says it was an internal Islamic Jihad dispute, PIJ says that Hamas militia entered a fight and was responsible for his death. (It is once again notable that Ma'an accepts the Hamas version of the story without question.)

The moderate Al Aqsa Brigades in Gaza says that if things don't improve soon, they will end the "calm" at the end of this month. Part of their demands is the stopping of Israel's "Judaization" of Jerusalem.

Perhaps they will next demand the ending of the wetness of water.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 185.

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Today's PalArab press roundup

Keep them in cages: Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman denied earlier reports that Abbas was amenable to permanently settling any Palestinian Arabs in Jordan. Because what good are they when they are happy?

Olmert's parting shot at surrender? The PalArab media has reported that Ehud Olmert offered to apologize to Palestinian Arabs for the "naqba" in 1948. I couldn't find this in the English media. The PLO welcomed the move and, in reciprocation, said it was not enough and demanded everything else they always demand as well.

Legacy of fewer checkpoints?: A PalArab woman was detained in Netanya with a "large bag". Reports said that she had told her family that she would be "the headline of a big story." No details in the Israeli press yet about this.

Freedom of the press, Hamas-style: A journalist for the Fatah-based Wafa agency was arrested by Hamas in Gaza.

Egyptians trying to open Rafah: An Egyptian group is going to try to "break the siege" of Gaza on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. This is probably the same ISM- and Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group that tried last week.

Meanwhile, Egypt is planning to open Rafah this weekend for patients and students as well as Ramadan pilgrims, plus probably a few terrorists just to mix things up.

That Brazilian Jewish lobby: An article in Firas about how the Jews in Brazil control the media and don't allow any pro-Arab opinions to be publicized.

Stop killing Arabs and go back to killing Jews: Islamic Jihad remains saddened at the internal fighting that happened this week and urges Hamas to get back to doing what it does best, terror.

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US Consul: "Ugly rumors of US bias towards Israel"

Ma'an has an interview with US Consul for Public and Media Affairs Micaela Bluhm.

Fluent in Arabic, Bluhm consistently surprises Palestinians who speak to her in English.

Bluhm concluded the interview by summarizing the US attitude on a number of issues.

As the cultural representative to Palestine, Bluhm said she tries “each year, especially during Ramadan, to increase cultural activities and correct ugly rumors about the US bias toward Israel.”

When questioned on upcoming American presidential elections, Bluhm said that whoever wins will not change America’s commitment to Palestine.

“We are all still concerned, and whoever wins will be just as committed to creating a state called Palestine,” she said.

She said that in the next three months America could still lead negotiators to a peace agreement.

Despite numerous complaints about US policy toward Palestine, Bluhm said that America hopes to “encourage the Palestinian people.”

Why would a US bias towards Israel - which is undeniable - be considered an "ugly rumor"? Why is a US official apologizing for US policy?

She has said some eyebrow-raising statements before:

In her speech, Schweitzer-Bluhm applauded the Palestinian journalists for their "dedication to service", "commitment to getting at the truth" and "solidarity and bravery in the face of intimidation."

She particularly expressed her appreciation of the obstacles Palestinian media personnel must overcome to carry out their jobs, mentioning roadblocks, checkpoints, accusations of bias, threats, violence and gunfire. "Despite these obstacles, you do get the news out every day," she congratulated.

She applauded Palestinian journalists for challenging their own government, governments of neighbouring countries and the government of the United States. "Your inquiries and reports are a required part of a democratic Palestinian society," she said. "You are providing your fellow citizens with the information, the tools, to make decisions and be active members of their society. I urge you to continue to question and investigate and report."

As I wrote then, for her to praise the Palestinian Arab media - which is responsible for consistent incitement against Israel, as well as out-and-out lies - is ridiculous. And it has only gotten worse since I wrote that posting, as Ma'an has turned from a somewhat reasonable media outlet into one that is too scared to say anything negative about Hamas.

This US consul is sacrificing truth for appeasing her audience.

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The lies of Lauren Booth

Lisa Goldman, a left-wing Israeli reporter, exposes Lauren Booth's absurd lies:

In an interview with PJM, Ms. Booth says she has tried three times to leave Gaza — once via Erez Checkpoint, which leads into Israel, and twice via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. She was turned away by both the Israelis and the Egyptians, but told me she holds Israel solely responsible for her predicament. I pointed out that both a senior IDF spokesman and several well-informed Palestinian journalists confirmed that Israel has “zero control” over who crosses the Rafah border. In other words, perhaps Egypt was at least as responsible as Israel for forcing her to remain in Gaza. This elicited an angrily dismissive response from Ms. Booth, who claimed that “high up sources told her” that Israel is pressuring Egypt into keeping her trapped in Gaza. She would not reveal the source of her information, nor did she explain how it would serve Israel to have her stay indefinitely in Gaza.

...Referring to the interview she gave to Noa Raz, I asked if she had compared Gaza to the Nazi concentration camps. “Yes I did,” answered Ms. Booth. And do you really think the situation in Gaza is comparable to that in Darfur, where 400,000 people have been killed over the past five years? “Well,” she said, “Do we want to wait until 400,000 Gazans are dead?” She added that she had visited a camp in Gaza where 16,000 families had malnourished children, and the rate of unemployment hovered around 90 percent. If accurate, these are shocking figures that should concern all Israelis. But does Ms. Booth really expect to arouse our sympathy by making the grossly inappropriate suggestion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza?

“Do you think that Gaza receives less media attention than Darfur?” I asked. “Absolutely!” the British activist answered vehemently. So I did a search on Google news for “Darfur,” where 400,000 people have been killed over the past five years, and received 13,912 results. A search for “Gaza,” where, according to B’tselem, 810 Palestinians were killed in 2006-2007, brought up 17,605 results.

Asked how long she thought she would be stuck in Gaza, Ms. Booth answered tartly, “As long as the Israelis decide I should be here.” Then she added in a passionate tone, “I must see my children! They are 5 and 7 and they are waiting for me in France!” She did not explain why, if she was so concerned about her children, she elected to stay illegally in Gaza when she had the option of leaving on the same boat that brought her there.

But what irritated me the most about Ms. Booth’s long tirade was her description of what happened at Erez Checkpoint, which leads into Israel. I crossed Erez several times before it was closed to Israelis, and remember it vividly.

According to Ms. Booth, she arrived at the checkpoint without a permit to cross, which means that the Palestinians, who coordinate via phone with the Israeli border police on the other side of Erez, would have prevented her from continuing. Ms. Booth: “I tried to coordinate with the Israelis two days in advance, via the British Council, but that didn’t work. So I went with an old lady who did have a permit to cross, although she had been turned back several times.”

Ms. Booth said she was prevented by Israeli soldiers, who threatened to shoot her. “There were Israeli soldiers on the Gazan side of Erez?” I asked. Hearing the incredulity in my tone, she answered with irritated impatience, “Oh, I don’t know what they were. They were uniformed men with guns, alright?”

“Okay, I said.” “They were Palestinian men guarding the checkpoint. So, did they stop you?”

“Oh no!” she answered. “The Palestinians advised me not to cross, but I walked right into the tunnel and started walking. I was nearly at the Israeli side when a Palestinian man came running up behind me, holding a mobile phone and shouting that the Israelis had told him they would shoot me if I took another step.”

Perhaps the Palestinian border guard really did call his Israeli counterpart to tell him that Ms. Booth was trying to cross into Israel against their orders, and to ask him what the Israelis would do to her if she continued. And perhaps the Israeli border guard really did tell his Palestinian counterpart that he would shoot Ms. Booth if she continued another step. But I really doubt the incident occurred as Ms. Booth recounts it. Here’s why:

The entrance to Israel via Erez is practically impenetrable. It is a maze of turnstiles that lock automatically, bulletproof glass, closed circuit cameras and disembodied voices that issue instructions via the public address system. One does not see an Israeli soldier until one has passed through security, which is remotely controlled. During the June 2007 civil war, dozens of Fatah members took shelter from Hamas fighters in the Erez “sleeve.” But none tried to make a dash for Israel, because it is simply not possible — physically — to just push through.

By the way, since I am still upset over the JPost stealing my idea and pretending that they don't steal from bloggers, I was the first blogger to report that members of Free Gaza were stuck in Gaza after being denied permission to cross both the Israeli and Egyptian borders, and the excellent Media Backspin looked at my sources and noticed that Lauren Booth was one of them, before any of her many interviews seeking sympathy.

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