Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Are anti-semitic Muslim texts "hate speech"?

From the (Los Angeles) Jewish Journal:

USC Muslim Group Removes anti-Semitic Passage From Its Internet Site

Until earlier this month, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at USC included on its Web site the complete texts of the Quran, Islam's holy book, and the Hadith, which are the oral traditions associated with the life of the prophet Muhammad.

This database included a saying attributed to Muhammad that calls on Muslims to kills Jews:
"The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews," Book 41, No. 6985 stated.
The MSA is a university-sanctioned student group and its Web site is hosted on the USC server. When Rabbi Aron Hier, director of campus outreach at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Reut Cohen of the Horowitz Freedom Center discovered the passage, they sent a letter to Alan Casden, a USC trustee and co-chair of the Wiesenthal Center's board, urging him to have the university remove that portion of the Hadith.

Casden quickly contacted Provost C.L. Max Nikias, who ordered the passage removed, saying it was "truly despicable" and that it violated the university's Principles of Community.

"This is an important reminder that when free speech becomes a platform to encourage violence, then it has crossed the line," Hier said. "We commend USC for having the moral courage to stand up against those who hijack speech and religious freedoms and the good will of the campus community in order to spread a message of hate and extremist violence."

I have mixed feelings about this.

In general, I think it would be a bad idea for USC to host any religious material on its own website. The fact that some of the hadiths are anti-semitic is not the reason they should be removed; the reason is because by not removing them it appears that USC is promoting a religion.

If the MSA wants to provide a complete searchable list of Hadith on its own web server space, that is a worthy endeavor, and they should not feel constrained by the fact that some of the hadiths are objectionable. It is a valuable resource, to be sure, and I'd rather that the verses stay up there so that people can see for themselves some of the source materials of Islam.

For example, besides the infamous tree verse mentioned above, other mentions of the Jews in the Hadiths at USC include:

Volume 2, Book 23, Number 472:

Narrated 'Aisha:
Allah's Apostle in his fatal illness said, "Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians, for they built the places of worship at the graves of their prophets."

Or the many variants of the hadith quoted above which are still there (Bukhari):

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 176:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight wi the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 177:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

Volume 4, Book 56, Number 791:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The Jews will fight with you, and you will be given victory over them so that a stone will say, 'O Muslim! There is a Jew behind me; kill him!' "

So let's try to be a bit consistent. If hadiths that call for the genocide of Jews are offensive, then they should be repudiated by Muslims altogether, not just temporarily removed from some public websites. If the Muslims stand by these hadiths, let them be visible for everyone to see, along with the ability for others to criticize them. But just removing them does not do anything to stop "hate speech" - the problem isn't hate speech; the problem is the belief system of a large percentage of the world's population.

Syria stealing Lebanon's water. Oh well.

In one of the more egregious cases of Syrian meddling in Lebanon, Al Mustaqbal reports (via MEMRI blog):

Lebanese security sources are saying that teams from Syria's Irrigation Ministry began digging two water wells in Lebanese territory west of Dir Al-'Asheir village in the border region.

According to the sources, the digging began over a week ago.

It was also reported that the Syrian teams have prepared large tanks in Syrian territory to store the water pumped from the wells, and that the water will be used in Damascus and its suburbs.

But for some reason, Syria's repeated incursions into Lebanon - taking land, stealing natural resources - is not called "occupation" by anyone.

Today's PalArab press roundup

Mahmoud Abbas has yet again rejected the idea that Palestinian Arabs who were born in Lebanon should ever become citizens of that country. The "moderate" "leader" once again confirms that in his mind it is far better for them to languish with few human rights and no state for decades more rather than be productive and happy. One wonders if Abbas thinks that Arabs of Palestinian descent should become citizens of Germany or Canada if they so choose?

Israel has intercepted a planned shipment of 1700 natural gas containers headed for Gaza. These containers would make ideal rockets.

The PLO condemned Al Jazeera for not covering Israel's release of 198 prisoners live. They pointed out that Al Jizz will cover press conferences from Hamas terrorists, so why not a Fatah photo-op?

A family fight in Jenin saw a man murdered by his brother-in-law.

The "Palestinian" embassy in Yemen was closed last week, and there were rumors that it was in protest of Hamas offices having opened there. Today the explanation is that they closed because of sectarian fighting in Yemen, not for any political reasons.

Condi Rice is reported to be floating "new ideas" on borders, "refugees" and Jerusalem in her talks.

Jordan's Agricultural Engineers Association is publishing a blacklist of Jordanian firms that import things from Israel. Apparently, they didn't get the memo that there is a peace agreement between Jordan and Israel.

An Egyptian diplomat quotes Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal as complaining that the only country that supports Hamas is Iran.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 155.

"Hezbollah planning to kidnap Jews in Venezuela"

From the Los Angeles Times:

Western anti-terrorism officials are growing concerned Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim militia Washington has labeled a terrorist group, is basing operations in Venezuela.
Linked to deadly attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina in the early 1990s, Hezbollah may be taking advantage of Venezuela's ties with Iran, the militia's longtime sponsor, to move "people and things" into the Americas, according to a Western terrorism expert.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has established warm diplomatic relations with Iran. The Bush administration, Israel and other governments worry Venezuela is emerging as a base for anti-U.S. extremist groups and spy services.

Several joint Venezuelan-Iranian business operations have been set up in Venezuela, and the two nations have formed a $2 billion program to pay for social projects in Latin America. Those ties worry U.S. officials because Iranian spies around the world have been known to work with Hezbollah, sometimes using Iranian embassies as covers, experts say.

The most concrete allegations of a Hezbollah presence in Venezuela involve money-raising. In June, the U.S. Treasury Department designated two Venezuelan citizens as Hezbollah supporters and froze their U.S. assets.

In March 2007, the ties between Venezuela and Iran led to the start of weekly Air Iran flights from Tehran to Caracas that stop in Damascus, Syria.

Agents of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah have allegedly set up a special force to attempt to kidnap Jewish businesspeople in Latin America and spirit them to Lebanon, according to the Western anti-terrorism official.

Iranian and Hezbollah operatives traveling in and out of Venezuela have recruited Venezuelan informants working at the Caracas airport to gather intelligence on Jewish travelers as potential targets for abduction, according to a Western anti-terrorism official.

But don't call them anti-semitic for targeting Jewish targets. They are strictly anti-Zionist. They love Jews!

The PalArab rumor weapon

One of the most used weapons in the Palestinian Arab arsenal is the rumor.

Some Palestinian Arab leaders like to burnish their own images and self-importance by starting rumors - usually baseless - that they hope will result in actions that will benefit them.

Rumors work particularly well in the Arab world. While everyone is predisposed to believe rumors that conform to their own worldview, Arabs are more likely to perpetuate and amplify rumors. The Arab media, which admittedly has improved a lot in recent years, will still publish and propagate rumors without fact checking way too often.

Nothing incites Arabs, especially Arab Muslims, more than rumors that attack their honor.

The 1921 Arab riots against Jews started from a rumor that Jews had killed Arabs.

The 1929 Arab pogroms started from a pure rumor that Zionists had cursed Mohammed and had attacked Muslims in front of the Western Wall.

The 1987 intifada was sparked by rumors that four Arab victims of a car accident were in fact killed by Israelis.

The 1996 Temple Tunnel riots were likewise sparked by false rumors about Israel's digging under the foundations of Al Aqsa.

The Mohammed cartoon riots, a large part of the Palestinian Arab flight from their homes in 1948, and any number of other events have been fueled by rumors - sometimes purposefully planted, sometimes just wishful thinking (as in the Apollo 11 rumor that I had mentioned recently.)

By any measure, however, a large number of people have been killed because of the Arab propensity to believe rumors, and in many cases these rumors are started purposefully to create just such a violent atmosphere.

The most prevalent recent rumors, as had many of the past, focused on supposed Jewish desecration of the Al Aqsa mosque. Every couple of weeks, a press conference is held by some Palestinian Arab Muslim leader who warns the Arab world of Jewish plans to dig underneath the foundations, to expell thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Jerusalem, and, more recently, to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount.

These rumors have been growing more hysterical and more fanciful with every telling. It is hard to imagine that these are not coordinated efforts by some Palestinian Muslim leaders - possibly associated with the PA, but maybe not - to fan the flames of anger in the Arab world in an effort to start a new uprising, this time not only an intifada but an "extrafada" that would engulf the entire Muslim world.

It appears that these recent efforts have been largely ignored by most Muslims outside the territories. This has not dissuaded the rumormongers; it only makes them try to redouble their efforts to anger world Muslims by embellishing and adding to their lies, secure in the knowledge that no Arab or Muslim newspaper would dare contradict any story that shows Zionist Jews to be anything less than pure evil.

The Jerusalem rumors have hit a new level in the past few days. As Ma'an (Arabic) reports:

The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs demanded a need to hold an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to take necessary action to protect the city of Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque; [and they also demanded] the formation of an international commission of inquiry on the "criminal" practices of the occupation in their excavations under the Al Aqsa mosque.

...[There were reports] earlier in the media that Israeli extremists are preparing to rocket shelling of the Al Aqsa Mosque in the month of Ramadan. Palestinian sources said that Jewish settlers had already brought rocket launchers to the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.

And the Ma'an story is illustrated with a picture that appears to be a stereotypical Israeli settler in front of an array of rockets, taken from an Israeli newspaper but obviously way out of context (not to mention probably Photoshopped.)

It is no coincidence that this rumor arose on the anniversary of the 1969 arson attack of the Temple Mount by an Australian Christian, an event that itself was falsely rumored - and probably still widely believed - to have been done by Jews.

This rumor that Jews are planning a rocket attack on the Temple Mount, as many before it, is simply incitement to murder Jews.

Whether this rumor will gain traction is yet to be seen, but the fact that there has been a clear escalating pattern of rumors over the past few months - all centered on the Al Aqsa mosque - indicates that some group is consciously trying to start a new conflagration in Jerusalem.

And neither the PA nor the PalArab media is doing anything to stop it.

The Anis Arguments

This guy is too much.

Anis, the guy who wrote the "Free Gaza" song that I parodied and who threatened legal action against me, has a section of his website called "The Faked Interviews." These are a must-read for their sheer cluelessness.

What Anis does is he creates a dialogue between his "faked" self and a "faked" opponent, where Anis gets to write both sides of the argument and therefore manages to make his opponents look like fools. As anyone with a high-school education knows, this is called a "straw-man" argument and it proves nothing, except perhaps the ignorance of the debater about his opponents' positions.

His arguments against Zionists, for example, are pretty much dedicated to the idea that Zionists have no legitimate arguments and they therefore tirelessly evoke "anti-semitism" to shut up their opponents.

Well, he has now honored me with a "faked interview" with Elder of Ziyon.

Cluelessness seemingly has no limits.

For example, he completely misses the point of the Rachel Corrie song I just wrote:

Faked Anis: Hate speech is not allowed on YouTube.
FEZ: It is my freedom. You are for freedom, aren't you?
Faked Anis: You are not free.
FEZ: Of course I am. I called Rachel Corrie an idiot and a tool of terrorists.
Faked Anis: She was killed by an Israeli tank when she defended the human rights.
FEZ: Her death was a victory.
Faked Anis: I saw that you wrote that on your blog.
FEZ: Her death has been the best thing since the SS Liberty!
Faked Anis: You wrote that, too.
FEZ: Yes! And I am proud of it.
Faked Anis: This is your level.
FEZ: I think you meant that as an insult.
Faked Anis: I said: this is your level.
FEZ: You won't get away with insulting me, you bastard.

Anis (sorry, "Faked Anis") reads the Corrie satire - written from the perspective of an Arab terrorist who partners with the ISM to mislead idealistic college students into conflating "resistance" with peace - as if these are words I believe!

Who can deny that Rachel Corrie's death was the best thing to happen from the pro-Palestinian perspective since the USS Liberty? The tragic death of a misguided student is not something Israelis or Zionists celebrate, but it was a propaganda bonanza for those who want to see Israel disappear. The words "Rachel Corrie" are used in arguments in much the same way that Anis accuses Jews of using "anti-Semitism" - as a club to end all arguments. (And she was not "killed by an Israeli tank", either.)

And those who read this blog would know that I would never insult my opponents as crudely as Anis imagines.

Let me be clear: No, I do not believe that the Free Gaza movement would be so stupid as to bring bullets and guns to the Gaza shore. That was exaggeration for the purposes of the parody - that's how humor works. But like all humor, it must have a grain of truth, and the ISM, with which Free Gaza is closely associated, has in the past actively aided terrorists.

From perusing Anis' blog - not an easy feat in itself as it is difficult to navigate without a map - I do not believe that Anis himself is a terrorist or even very sympathetic to terror. But a surprisingly large number of NGO members and his fellow"peace activists" are on the record as supporting "armed resistance", "by any means possible" - including suicide bombing. (Sources upon request.) To publicize that fact in a humorous way is in no way "hate speech." Anyone who thinks it does simply does not understand what hate speech is. (As far as "copyright infringement" goes, read the comments by erkwit on the YouTube video page.)

The attention is flattering, I must say. The only part I feel bad about is that I pride myself on being fairly precise in what I write and I am astonished that someone can read my blog and misunderstand what I am saying so badly. Perhaps I overestimate the intellect of a small portion of my audience.

Today's PalArab press roundup

There are rumors that the kidnapping of a 60-year old Israeli businessman in Nigeria might have been from Hezbollah in revenge for the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh.

Speaking of Hezbollah, a popular Lebanese singer named Haifa Wehbe was reported to have said that she would like to join that terror group. She had previously voiced her support for Hezbollah during the Lebanon war, saying that Hezbollah's rockets were only aimed at military targets. Nasrallah responded to her overtures by saying that she needs to cover up more and act more modestly.

There are reports that Egypt plans to partially open the Rafah crossing at the beginning of Ramadan for some sick people.

Hamas arrested a trusted insider on suspicion of spying for Israel. This has happened a number of times and the paranoia is getting more acute.

A Hamas member was seen carrying a bomb at Al Azhar University. A couple of days ago another bomb exploded there, causing damage but no injuries.

Egyptian forces found another cache of explosives near Rafah, this one 100 kg. They claim to have closed 140 tunnels in recent weeks.

Fatah has come out against the strikes in Gaza held by teachers and civil servants unions. They are saying that it is not in the best interests of Fatah! See my earlier post on this topic.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of "moderate" Fatah, says it will refuse to ever hand over its weapons.

Rachel Corrie - the lyrics

Yesterday I asked the moonbat Anis, who was threatening to sue me for my song parody of his Free Gaza absurdity, a question:

I'm considering a parody of Simon and Garfunkel's "Richard Cory" as "Rachel Corrie," calling her an idiot and a tool of terrorists. Would that pass your muster or would you try to find a reason to take that one down as well? Just wondering what your definition of "free speech" includes, Anis!

His response was "This is your level." I think he meant it as an insult.

Anyway, the idea stayed in my head, so this morning I wrote the song:

I hired Rachel Corrie to help bring Israel down
She was young, she was stupid, didn't know her way around
She was the perfect patsy, do anything I asked
But even I didn't know how well she'd perform her last task

Yes I – recruit peacenik wannabes
And I brainwash them for terror
Teach them to hate Israelis
And I wish they all could be
Oh I wish they all could be
Yes I wish they all could be
Rachel Corries.

“Peace and terror are the same” is the lesson that I taught
I told her that the underdog was right no matter what
Killing Jews in Israel is demanded by my god
The ISM is just another arm of my jihad

Yes I – recruit peacenik wannabes
And I brainwash them for terror
Teach them to hate Israelis
And I wish they all could be
Oh I wish they all could be
Yes I wish they all could be
Rachel Corries.

She learned to hate America, the freedom made her gag
She was thinking she was peaceful as she burned her country's flag
The bulldozer came slowly but I'm glad she hadn't fled
As good as Corrie was in life, she's worth much more when she's dead

And now she's a propaganda factory
Her death has been the best thing since the SS Liberty
And I'm glad she didn't flee
Her death was a victory
And I wish I had ninety
Rachel Corries!

If anyone wants to sing and record this, I will be happy to make an appropriate accompanying video.

Trouble in Hamastan

Hamas crushed its armed opposition in Gaza but it may now face a tougher challenge.

Earlier this week, the teachers' union in Gaza decided to strike to protest Hamas' politicizing their jobs. Hamas responded by arresting and torturing union heads and replacing them with Hamas loyalists.

Now, the medical workers are starting an open-ended strike in Gaza and civil service workers are threatening to strike as well to protest similar heavy-handed Hamas tactics against them.

The medical workers will continue to work for free in non-Hamas hospitals.

This is a very interesting development that has flown under the MSM radar. It may be the most significant threat that Hamas has had to face, especially since the PA continues to effectively but indirectly bankroll Hamas using money from the rest of the world. Hamas simply does not have enough qualified people to staff all of these positions and the people of Gaza will blame Hamas for their loss of services.

Hamas may be forced into the sort of pragmatic decision making that many thought Hamas would have to deal with when it took power, that was stupidly cushioned by its supposed rival's bankrolling of Gaza's infrastructure.

As usual, the Palestinian Arab people (for all their failings) show far more common sense than their leaders who care more about staying in power than about helping their own people.

Ahmadinejad: "Zionists develop diseases to sell drugs"

From Iran's ever-amusing Press TV:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blasted some 'Zionist drug cartels' that develop new diseases to sell their pharmaceutical products.

“Some multinational companies and Zionist cartels produce new kinds of diseases to export their drugs to other countries,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Iranian pharmacists arragned to mark the Pharmacy Day.

“Contrary to the commercial approach that is prevalent in the world drug markets, our approach towards the production and export of drugs is humane,” Fars news agency quoted the president as saying.

“We should try to produce drugs that are needed worldwide to help the humans,” he noted.

Earlier this year, Iran successfully mass produced Angipars, the world's first herbal medication for the effective treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

So you see, the Jews - oh, sorry, Zionists - are creating diabolical new diseases just so these capitalist pig Jews - oh, damn, I meant capitalist pig Zionists - can profit from the drugs that only evil Jewish minds - evil ZIONIST minds - can develop antidotes to.

(I cannot find a single non-Iranian reference to Angipars on the Internet. Must be really popular amongst those humans that Ahmadinejad says he cares about.)

Now, this is ironic

YNet reports that Jeff Halper, the moonbat from Israel who sailed on the Free Gaza boat, travelled through the Erez crossing to Israel where he got detained by Israeli police. They are considering charging him with breaking the law.

What is the law they want to charge him with? Incitement? Sedition? Treason?

No, nothing like that. The law that he broke was that Israel has made it illegal for Jewish citizens to enter Gaza.

So here we have a law that is clearly bigoted, as it discriminates against Jews only. Yet it is a law that Jeff Halper would normally support, because otherwise thousands of Gush Katif expellees would be trying to return to their homes.

If Halper is charged and contests the charges, he will be on the side of the settlers who he passionately fights every day, fighting against a law that portions of "Palestine" be Judenrein - his normal, bigoted position.

By the way, here is a screenshot from a video of Halper with two other members of the FGM in an amateurish press conference, imitating the monkeys in the famous "see no evil" picture. He's the monkey on the right, in a video ironically called "3 Wise Men."

Listening to their words for half a minute would convince anyone that wisdom is not an attribute that anyone would ascribe to these people.

"Peace activists" threaten me (updated)

The wonderful, peace-loving, guitar strumming and terror-supporting "activists" of the "Free Gaza" movement have taken exception to my satirical take on their "Free Gaza" song contest.

I just got an email from "Anis" himself, the lead singer and lyricist for the moonbattery-filled original song:

AnisinMainz has sent you a message on YouTube:

Beyond the line

This video violates the YouTube Community Guidelines and infringes my copyright. It is not a satire, but defamatory hate speech. I flagged it and will pursue legal consequences shortly. Anis

Firstly, there is no copyright mentioned anywhere on the web pages that host the original, piece of junk song.

Secondly, even if there was, Anis happily endorses YouTube videos where other moonbats are trying to sing the same song, and they are not complaining about "copyright infringement" there.

Thirdly, even though they are claiming that my parody is "hate speech" I conveniently show proof for my statements in my version of the video itself. Calling terror supporters by what they are is not exactly hate speech.

But the funniest part is that the aptly-named Anis titles his screed "beyond the line." My parody was so tame compared to what it could have been - the ISM and its associated groups' record for terror is quite well documented.

Threatening to sue anyone whose opinion differs slightly from the politically-correct pro-Palestinian terrorism line by moonbats is so typical.

The political Left - where "free speech" only applies to the like-minded.

UPDATE: More in the comments section of YoiTube between Anis and myself:

AnisinMainz

You are infringing my copyright

elderofziyon
Look up "parody" and "fair use" with your copious amounts of free time.

AnisinMainz

This is not a parody, you stole my video and my song and this is not legal. Moreover, you attached comments that clearly violate the YouTube Community Guidelines (read them) and this video will be removed. The defamatory and insulting character of your "work" prevails over satirical elements. This is a clear case. Sorry you spent so much time with it.

elderofziyon
Oh, don't worry, I didn't spend that much time on it. Your concern is touching!

I'm considering a parody of Simon and Garfunkel's "Richard Cory" as "Rachel Corrie," calling her an idiot and a tool of terrorists. Would that pass your muster or would you try to find a reason to take that one down as well? Just wondering what your definition of "free speech" includes, Anis!

Time for a new open thread

Illustrated with this interesting old Kool-Aid ad from pre-Ayatollah Iran:

Today's PalArab news

More stuff you won't see reported in the Western media:

Islamic Jihad terrorists are training to kidnap Israeli soldiers, saying that they are convinced that this is the best way for more terrorists to be freed from Israeli prisons. They "are taking advantage of the current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to carry out serious military training."

Israel responded to the story yesterday that Jordan was upset over excavations near Mughrabi Gate, saying that every move they are making is in coordination with Jordan and UNESCO.

Fatah is accusing Hamas of seeking to destroy education in Gaza as Hamas continues its crackdown on teachers and to replace pro-Fatah teachers with pro-Hamas teachers.

Islamic astronomers are worried that the crescent moon due this weekend to mark the start of Ramadan might be mistakenly recognized early because Venus is too bright and near the moon. Evidently, in past years people mistook Venus for the moon.

The "Chief Justice of Palestine"'s Sharia courts announced that the divorce rate for Palestinian Arabs is 8.37% (meaning that 8.37% of marriages end in divorce.) He claims that this is the lowest divorce rate in the world. Not surprisingly, he is lying: India's divorce rate is a fraction of that, for example.

An Egyptian cleric has come up with a solution for Muslim bigamists who move to Western countries where bigamy is illegal: divorce one of the wives in secular court and keep her around as a "mistress."

UPDATE: Supposed clan clash in Gaza, one woman dead. The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 154.

Freaks of Gaza

The "Free Gaza" movement has a song contest. Yes, moonbats with guitars are gathering to put together unbelievably bad crap they pretend to be music in support of the rights of terrorists to kill Jews with impunity.

The video announcing the contest, along with a pathetically bad "Free Gaza" theme song, can be seen here.

Since I cannot resist a contest, you can see my version of their song here. Most of the video and all of the audio is taken from the original but the lyrics and annotations make it a bit more...accurate. (If embedded video doesn't work, click here.)

PA leaders think Hamas will take over the West Bank

I have mentioned before the fact that Hamas is much stronger and Fatah much weaker in the West Bank than the world realizes.

Well, many PA leaders agree.

Firas Press is reporting that a large number of PA leaders are sending their kids to school - in Jordan. They anticipate that sometime during this school year there will be widespread fatal Hamas/Fatah violence of the type that shook Gaza last year and they want to keep their kids safe.

Moreover, they are scrambling to get jobs for the PA diplomatic corps abroad so they don't get caught in the crossfire when Hamas starts hunting Fatah leaders in the West Bank. They are taking Hamas' recent threats to conquer the West Bank very seriously.

Perhaps the rest of the world should, as well.

Saudis whining over poor Olympic showing

It seems that one cannot just buy Olympic medals by throwing millions at sports federations. It would also help if someone in the Saudi delegation had a calendar:

A state of anger dominated Saudis over the poor results of their representatives in Beijing Games.

Some claim that officials of the five federations should give reasons for the poor show of their representatives, especially with the financial support for these federations.

“Why did they go,” Ibrahim Al-Ghamdi, a teacher, asked the Saudi Gazette. “Hasn’t the government spent millions and millions of riyals on these players to keep Saudi Arabia in the front line of international sport? We need to be transparent and see where the problem lies,” he added.

Ghamdi suggested that if we continue to perform like this “We’d better refrain from participating”.

Sultan Al-Dawoodi and Sultan Al-Hibshi who participated in shot put failed to put up a good performance.

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that pay great attention to equestrian, since it is the sport of ancestors. Arabs have been known for their love if this sport.

In Beijing, Saudi riders too disappointed their supporters. Prince Abdullah Bin Mot’ib Bin Abdullah, Fasial Al-Sha’alan, Ramzi Al-Dahami, Kamal Ba-Hamdan and Adnan Al-Baitouni are globally known for their achievements. Saudi fans expected that this team could win a silver medal or at least a bronze.

None of the Saudi representatives in Beijing would get much attention than Ali Al-Dohaili, a weightlifter who claimed that he was misinformed about the day of his participation. According to him, the team’s administrator had informed him that the event would be on Tuesday.

“I was surprised to know that it was on Monday,” he told the Arabic daily Al-Riyadiah.

Saudi sport columnists and writers insisted that such incident ought to be investigated officially to see who was responsible for depriving the young man from representing the country.

The only Saudi swimmer in the competition, Badr Al-Muhanna, also failed to at least prove himself as a professional swimmer.

Badr Al-Mutair, the sole Saudi representative in shooting was no luckier than his friends.

I especially like the sentiment that if Saudi Arabia is not going to win medals, why send any representatives at all?

By the way, Saudi Arabia excludes women from their Olympics team, which didn't stop the Washington Post from pretending that their allowing a woman to attend the Olympics as a member of the staff for the first time this year was a huge breakthrough. (The WaPo did follow up with an editorial calling to ban Saudi Arabia from the Olympics in 2012 if it continues to ban women athletes, based on an earlier op-ed by an Egyptian woman.)

August "cease-fire" calendar

Q=Qassam
M=Mortar

August 2008

8/16 - YNet reports three rockets over the weekend, I could only find specific mention of two so I don't know when the third was fired.

Previous "cease fire" calendar here.

The PLO's "goodwill gesture" to Rice

Israel over the weekend allowed two boats filled with terror supporters to reach Gaza, partly because of the desire to make Condi Rice's visit to the area this week more congenial.

Moreover, Israel released nearly 200 prisoners, including two known murderers, also to placate the US Secretary of State.

And how does the PLO, the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and organization whose name is often automatically prefixed in the Western press as "moderate," welcome Condoleeza?

From Mathaba.net, quoting Iran's IRNA:

Head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization`s `PLO` Political Department Farouk Kaddoumi on Sunday denounced the US colonial approach in the Middle East.

He told a joint press conference with [Iranian] Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki that the US policy is aimed at supporting Tel Aviv regime in the region.

As to the Palestinian resistance movement to the Tel Aviv regime, he said the PLO and Hizbollah share identical views regarding their approach towards Israel.

Kaddoumi underlined the importance of national unity, saying, "anyone against the resistance movement should go to hell".

Praising resistance of Hizbollah to the Zionist aggressions, the PLO official said the victory achieved by Hizbollah was in fact an Arab-Islamic victory.

Expressing support for Iran's national program to produce nuclear energy, he said that Tehran must achieve its legitimate rights enshrined by Non-Proliferation Treaty.

It should be remembered that the PA is still officially run by the PLO, and even though Kaddoumi has been in a long-standing power struggle with Abbas and has been in exile he is still apparently the secretary-general of the PLO's political department. It is the PLO, not the PA, that has observer status and participates in debates at the UN.

PalArab press roundup

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, while welcoming Israel's "goodwill gesture" of releasing 198 PalArab prisoners, emphasized that there can be no peace agreement unless Israel releases every single terrorist and murderer. Because they are the heroes of Palestinian Arab society, among the "moderates" like himself.

There is a report that Abbas wants to meet with another of those heroes, Samir Kuntar, when he visits Lebanon later this week.

Even so, Abbas' PA continues to arrest Hamas members in the West Bank. Apparently, Hamas members in Israeli jails is unacceptable but in PA jails it is OK.

Abbas' government is set to give $100 to some 63,000 unemployed Gaza workers and fishermen on the eve of Ramadan, thus alleviating any pressure on Hamas to take care of Gazans and freeing up Hamas funds for more important things like rockets and guns.

Egypt is said to be ready to open the Rafah crossing tomorrow to allow hundreds of Gazans and Egyptians stuck on the wrong side of the border to return to their respective areas.

Israel allowed some 1800 gas pipes to enter Gaza. Hopefully they are plastic.

Jordan is planning to enter the fray as Arabs criticize Israeli excavations around the collapsed Moroccan Gate as undermining the Temple Mount and they continue to accuse Israel of covering up any Muslim artifacts they find while faking Jewish archaeological finds. (Of course, Israeli archaeologists have found and do publicize Islamic finds, and Arabs are the ones who have been proven to destroy any vestiges of Jewish antiquities on the Temple Mount.)

A writer published in two papers his disgust at Al Jazeera for allowing Israelis to be interviewed on that channel. He claims that Israel gets millions of dollars worth of free propaganda by Al Jazeera's interviews, that Israeli TV never allows any Palestinian Arabs to appear on its channels, and that allowing Israelis on Arab TV is "inadvertant normalization" with the Zionist enemy.