Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 24, 2009

British Foreign Secretary: "Hamas and Hezbollah not like Al Qaeda"

The British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband, has come out with his own initiative of outreach to the Muslim world ahead of President Obama's similar public initiative, and it is a prime example of wishful thinking as a substitute for reality.

He started off with a major policy speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies last Thursday. The speech looks very similar to what an Obama foreign policy may look like, with serious engagement with the Muslim world even when some countries do not share Western ideas of morality:

Respect is never enough alone. It is only ever a precondition. A change in tone must lead to a change in substance. Broadening coalitions will require a more active effort to reach out, a greater effort for reconciliation with those who do not share our values or adhere to our world view, but who have more in common with us than those who preach that we are the enemy.

That is why Britain, with Embassies in 38 Muslim majority countries, maintains diplomatic engagement with countries with whom we have major disagreements on human rights, nuclear proliferation or conflict, like Iran, Sudan or Uzbekistan. In each case, we seek to influence through engagement and dialogue, and to do so on the full range of challenges we have in common: climate change; Millennium Development Goals and the economic crisis for instance.

Where it is harder to draw the line and determine who we can and should work with, is in relation to those political movements that are not in government. And conflict situations are the most difficult of all. Every case is different. In some cases our troops are at risk and we will not jeopardise their security. And the commitment to politics and violence are shifting and blurred. There are no easy cases.

...as long as those values we hold in common are respected in the course of the election, then its outcome is legitimate.

I know that at this stage many people will be leaping out of their seats to ask “what about Hamas?”

Let me address that by first reminding you that in 2000 we and many of our EU partners shunned the Austrian government not because of the way it had come to power but because of the far-right views and policies it espoused. When it comes to Hamas, no one disputes that they won the most seats. We are not claiming that their election was “illegitimate”. We are saying the failure to embrace a political process towards a two-state solution makes normal political relations impossible.

Also, elections are not the end of the matter. Democracy requires the ballot box but is not reducible to it. It also requires a thriving civil society. So, in places where power is closely guarded we must continue our efforts to promote reform from the bottom-up - training journalists and judges, or funding civil society groups working to protect women or minority rights. At the same time, we will use our influence to defend the institutions that protect freedoms and uphold justice for all and to stand up for individual rights. The accountability of power is the way to reinforce authority and legitimacy.

At first glance, this looks liberal but realistic, reflecting the difficulty of differentiating between terrorists and groups who can be partners for peace. It is a defensible position.

The problem is that Miliband granted an interview to London-based Al-Hayat over the weekend, where he shows his biases are towards accepting Hamas and Hezbollah:

British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband said that both Hizbullah and Hamas could be seen among groups that have a patriotic aim.

In an interview with the daily pan-Arab al-Hayat on Sunday Miliband said "our stance has always been up to the assassination of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafik Hariri in 2005 was to dialogue with Hizbullah MPs. However, this stopped following the Hariri assassination."

He added that the military wing of the party continues to be regarded as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom."But we agreed to resume our dialogue with Hizbullah MPs partially because they have a cabinet minister in Lebanon and the fact that the Lebanese government is committed to the Arab peace process," Miliband said.

In the Arabic interview, Miliband says that one of the mistakes that the West has made in dealing with the Muslim world was to not distinguish between groups like Al Qaeda and groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, who have national aims. He admits that Hamas' constitution has some problematic elements but insists that this does not necessarily reflect Hamas' reality.

It is worthwhile to remind the minister that Hamas' charter is virtually indistinguishable from what Al-Qaeda says:

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Moslem generations until Judgement Day. This being so, who could claim to have the right to represent Moslem generations till Judgement Day?

This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force, because during the times of (Islamic) conquests, the Moslems consecrated these lands to Moslem generations till the Day of Judgement.

What this means is that Hamas holds that Andalusia, Spain is indeed Muslim land and must be reconquered by force - exactly what Al Qaeda says. Hamas holds that all Muslim nations should coalesce into a single Islamic 'Ummah - exactly what al-Qaeda says. Hamas does not distinguish between Islam as a religion or as a political movement - just like al-Qaeda. And as far as I can tell, every Islamic movement that descended from the Muslim Brotherhood, including Hezbollah, shares these exact sentiments.

If there is a philosophical difference between Al Qaeda and Hamas, I would love to see some real evidence of it, not the hopeful interpretation of Hamas' PR department's English-language statements.

NGO claims they found depleted uranium in Gaza

A tiny NGO is claiming they have evidence that Israel used depleted uranium in Gaza - and lots more. Here's their full press release

In the Gaza Strip between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, the Israeli army conducted a ground and air offensive nicknamed « Operation Cast Lead ».

During the first few days a Norwegian doctor doing humanitarian service in the hospital at Shifa, Dr Mads Gilbert, denounced the presence of radioactive matter, possibly Depleted Uranium, in the bodies of victims. On 4 January 2009, after investigation, ACDN (Action of Citizens for the total Dismantling of Nukes) alerted the press and public opinion with a media release: "In Gaza, the genocide with Depleted Uranium has begun, using GBU-39 bombs provided by the USA".

So even from this press release we already have a good idea that the ACDN has no credibility. First of all, Dr. Mads Gilbert has said that the 9/11 attackers were justified and he is an apologist for Hamas. Secondly, the ACDN put out a press release accusing Israel of some very specific things on January 4th when they had no access to Gaza altogether and were pretty much reading Hamas propaganda as their major source. Since they called it a "genocide" that early, it is clear that they are far from objective and indeed that they have a specific agenda which is hardly fact-based.

This helps us understand the second part of the press release:

This accusation has now emerged with greater strength after several months of investigation carried out in close liaison with the people concerned and with the help of Jean-François Fechino, a consultant on diffuse pollution and an expert accredited to the UN Environment (UNEP). ACDN has just produced a 33-page report concluding that the presence of dozens of tonnes of Depleted Uranium (perhaps as much as 75 tonnes) in the soil and subsoil of Gaza is highly probable.

In April 2009, a four-person mission including Jean-François Fechino went to Gaza under the auspices of the Arab Commission for Human Rights. The samples of earth and dust that they brought back from Gaza were then analysed by a specialist laboratory, which found in them elements of Depleted Uranium (which is radioactive, carcinogenic, teratogenic), particles of Cesium (which is radioactive and carcinogenic), asbestos dust (which is carcinogenic), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs, which are fine particles which endanger health, especially the health of children, asthmatics and old people), phosphates (from oxidation of white phosphorus), tungsten (which is carcinogenic), copper, aluminium oxide (which is carcinogenic), and Thorium Oxide (ThO2, which is radioactive)...

The detailed results will soon be made public. Journalists or other persons wishing to learn more are invited to contact ACDN or visit its Website www.acdn.net.

I of course emailed them immediately to get a copy of their report. I'm anxiously awaiting their reply showing their methods of estimating that the IDF dropped 150,000 pounds of depleted uranium on Gaza - a hundred pounds per fatality. Not to mention - copper! And asbestos!

The shocking AIPAC connection to Free Gaza

I just got this email from the Free Gaza mailing list:

Dear Friends,

It is with deep regret and sadness that we have to announce a separation within the Free Gaza Movement.

Free Gaza Movement was formed in the fall of 2006 by five individuals....A year later, a non-profit called the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees (AIPAC) was created in California as a means of accepting U.S. tax-deductible donations on behalf of Free Gaza.

With volunteers from AIPAC, and others, we were responsible for the first, successful voyage to Gaza in August 2008.

For the last, several months, we attempted to negotiate an affiliate and funding agreement with AIPAC. Unfortunately, this has not been successful, and we have decided to separate. AIPAC has decided to call itself "The Free Gaza Movement." They have reserved the new URL "http://www.freegazamovement.org/" for themselves, and have set up a new email address, "friendstogaza@gmail.com," for their use. Our web address is the original "http://www.freegaza.org/," and our existing email address is "friendofgaza@gmail.com." Please make a note of these distinctions. Also, please note that we do not have a funding agreement with AIPAC. Any donations made to California since September 2008 have not and will not be sent to us in order to run boat missions out of Cyprus.

AIPAC? Does that sound like a coincidence to you?

And isn't it a shame when moonbats can't get along with each other?

What "peace" means to Egyptians

A new poll in Egypt, reported by Firas Press, explains exactly what Arabs mean when they say they want to see "peace" in the region.

The poll was titled "What are your dreams?" and was conducted by the "National Center for Social and Criminal Research in collaboration with the Center for Information and Decision Support Council of Ministers."

According to the poll, 71% of Egyptians dream of peace in the region.

The same poll found that 58% dream of the destruction of Israel.

Which means, of course, that the Arab concept of peace is what most people would call "war." But it's OK as long as the victims of the war are those undesirable Jews.

You know - Egypt's "peace partners."

The liberation of Jerusalem, 1967

Here's part of the English transcript of the radio broadcast describing the Israeli soldiers liberating the Old City. You can here the actual broadcast in Hebrew here.

Colonel Motta Gur announces on the army wireless: The Temple Mount is in our hands! I repeat, the Temple Mount is in our hands!
All forces, stop firing! This is the David Operations Room. All forces, stop firing! I repeat, all forces, stop firing! Over.

Commander eight-nine here, is this Motta (Gur) talking? Over.

[Inaudible response on the army wireless by Motta Gur.]

Uzi Narkiss: Motta, there isn’t anybody like you. You’re next to the Mosque of Omar.

Yossi Ronen: I’m driving fast through the Lion’s Gate all the way inside the Old City.

Command on the army wireless: Search the area, destroy all pockets of resistance [but don't touch anything in the houses], especially the holy places.

[Lt.- Col. Uzi Eilam blows the Shofar. Soldiers are singing ‘Jerusalem of Gold’.]

Uzi Narkiss: Tell me, where is the Western Wall? How do we get there?

Yossi Ronen: I’m walking right now down the steps towards the Western Wall. I’m not a religious man, I never have been, but this is the Western Wall and I’m touching the stones of the Western Wall.

Soldiers: [reciting the ‘Shehechianu’ blessing]: Baruch ata Hashem, elokeinu melech haolam, she-hechianu ve-kiemanu ve-hegianu la-zman ha-zeh. [Translation: Blessed art Thou L-rd G-d King of the Universe who has sustained us and kept us and has brought us to this day]

Rabbi Shlomo Goren: Baruch ata Hashem, menachem tsion u-voneh Yerushalayim. [Translation: Blessed are thou, who comforts Zion and bulids Jerusalem]

Soldiers: Amen!

[Soldiers sing ‘Hatikva’ next to the Western Wall.]

Rabbi Goren: We’re now going to recite the prayer for the fallen soldiers of this war against all of the enemies of Israel:

[Soldiers weeping]

El male rahamim, shohen ba-meromim. Hamtse menuha nahona al kanfei hashina, be-maalot kedoshim, giborim ve-tehorim, kezohar harakiya meirim u-mazhirim. Ve-nishmot halalei tsava hagana le-yisrael, she-naflu be-maaraha zot, neged oievei yisrael, ve-shnaflu al kedushat Hashem ha-am ve-ha’arets, ve-shichrur Beit Hamikdash, Har Habayit, Hakotel ha-ma’aravi veyerushalayim ir ha-elokim. Be-gan eden tehe menuhatam. Lahen ba’al ha-rahamim, yastirem beseter knafav le-olamim. Ve-yitsror be-tsror ha-hayim et nishmatam adoshem hu nahlatam, ve-yanuhu be-shalom al mishkavam [soldiers weeping loud]ve-ya’amdu le-goralam le-kets ha-yamim ve-nomar amen!

[Translation: Merciful G-d in heaven, may the heroes and the pure, be under thy Divine wings, among the holy and the pure who shine bright as the sky, and the souls of soldiers of the Israeli army who fell in this war against the enemies of Israel, who fell for their loyalty to G-d and the land of Israel, who fell for the liberation of the Temple, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and Jerusalem the city of the Lord. May their place of rest be in paradise. Merciful One, O keep their souls forever alive under Thy protective wings. The Lord being their heritage, may they rest in peace, for they shalt rest and stand up for their allotted portion at the end of the days, and let us say, Amen.]

[Soldiers are weeping. Rabbi Goren sounds the shofar. Sound of gunfire in the background.]

Rabbi Goren: Le-shana HA-ZOT be-Yerushalayim ha-b’nuya, be-yerushalayim ha-atika! [Translation: This year in a rebuilt Jerusalem! In the Jerusalem of old!]

h/t Treppenwitz from 2005...

UPDATE: Video of the liberation (h/t Jack's Shack)

I've been wondering why my Yahoo email account gets so many banner ads like the one pictured on the right.

After all, Yahoo and Google mail will automatically generate ads based on the content of the emails - and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what my emails included that would prompt ads for women looking for sugar daddies.

Then it hit me...my email box is filled of stuff with the word Elder in it! "Elder" must be one of the keywords that prompts this particular style of ad.

I guess I just have to get used to it...

1922 House Resolution 360 on Palestine

From Eli. E. Hertz of Myths and Facts via Jihad Watch:

The United States Congressional Record
1922 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
National Home for
THE JEWISH PEOPLE JUNE 30, 1922
HOUSE RESOLUTION 360 - UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED

"Palestine of today, the land we now know as Palestine, was peopled by the Jews from the dawn of history until the Roman era. It is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. They were driven from it by force by the relentless Roman military machine and for centuries prevented from returning. At different periods various alien people succeeded them but the Jewish race had left an indelible impress upon the land.

Today it is a Jewish country. Every name, every landmark, every monument and every trace of whatever civilization remaining there is still Jewish. And it has ever since remained a hope, a longing, as expressed in their prayers for these nearly 2,000 years. No other people has ever claimed Palestine as their national home. No other people has ever shown an aptitude or indicated a genuine desire to make it their homeland. The land has been ruled by foreigners. Only since the beginning of the modern Zionist effort may it be said that a creative, cultural, and economic force has entered Palestine. The Jewish Nation was forced from its natural home. It did not go because it wanted to.

A perusal of Jewish history, a reading of Josephus, will convince the most skeptical that the grandest fight that was ever put up against an enemy was put up by the Jew. He never thought of leaving Palestine. But he was driven out. But did he, when driven out, give up his hope of getting back? Jewish history and Jewish literature give the answer to the question. The Jew even has a fast day devoted to the day of destruction of the Jewish homeland.

Never throughout history did they give up hope of returning there. I am told that 90 per cent of the Jews today are praying for the return of the Jewish people to its own home. The best minds among them believe in the necessity of reestablishing their Jewish land. To my mind there is something prophetic in the fact that during the ages no other nation has taken over Palestine and held it in the sense of a homeland; and there is something providential in the fact that for 1,800 years it has remained in desolation as if waiting for the return of the people."

Congressman Frank Appleby N.J.

For fascinating reading, which would not be considered at all politically correct today, check out the discussion in the Congressional Record around this resolution:

Part 1

Part 2

Today's PalArab news

What do Hamas and I have in common? Hamas is also upset about the PCHR being biased! Of course, the bias is against Hamas... "We put big question marks around their credibility and fairness."

What does Binyomin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas have in common? Neither of them will agree to placing any part of Jerusalem under third-party control!

Firas Press reports that Hamas is sending a computer virus to people in the West Bank through fake emails. Not sure how they know it is Hamas, sounds like regular malicious spam.

There are increasing reports of internal divisions in Hamas, as well as pressure on them as Egypt identified some of Hamas' money sources and shut off the spigot.

A Gazan was injured by an explosion inside his house. Just another work accident....

One of those ubiquitous keys

I just saw this picture at Palestine Today:

It sure looks like a Palestinian Arab holding a deed to a house, presumably inside Israel, with the key to that house.

Now, I'm no locksmith, but if old Palestinian keys looked like that, it looks like anyone could get into anyone else's house. No grooves or teeth in the key?

And if the key is fake...what does that say about the deed?

The siege of Gaza - by Hamas

Palestine Press Agency has an interesting story this morning from Gaza.

Last Saturday, 85 women from Gaza were slated to go to Ramallah to participate in a conference from the General Union of Palestinian Women, a PLO-based organization. At the Erez crossing, Hamas stopped them and confiscated their conference materials and papers.

This is not the first time we are reading about Hamas limiting movement between Gaza and the rest of the world; they also stopped Gazans from traveling to Egypt through Rafah two months ago when Egypt opened the crossing.

Will the Free Gaza movement protest this siege of Gaza by Hamas? Will any media characterize Gaza as a prison or concentration camp - whose guards are Islamic extremists? Will human rights groups complain?

And will anyone notice that, apparently, Israel gives permission for even non-medical cases to leave Gaza and travel to the West Bank?

US media reluctant to call terrorists "Muslim"

It is a top story across many US news sites this morning:

Four men arrested for an alleged plot to bomb a New York synagogue and Jewish community center are expected to appear in federal court Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, according to a criminal complaint filed in White Plains, New York.

James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen are accused of plotting to detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of Bronx, New York.

Each man had at least one alias, according to the office. Three of them are U.S. citizens and one is a Haitian, a statement from the New York governor's office said, citing the U.S. Attorney's office.

The statement said the informant met with Cromitie in June 2008 in Newburgh, New York. During that meeting, Cromitie said his parents live in Afghanistan, that he was angry over the U.S. war there and that he expressed interest in "doing something to America."

They also conducted surveillance, including photographs, of an Air National Guard base where they wanted to blow up planes, the statement said. The informant provided the men with a surface-to-air guided missile and C-4 plastic explosives, none of which could actually be used.

From stories like this one it is very hard to understand motive. At first it sounds vaguely like some sort of skinhead-type group wanting to kill Jews, but why would they also want to blow up military planes? CNN's article only gives a slight hint when it said that the ringleader's parents live in Afghanistan.

Nothing adds up...unless you look for other sources of news. The London Evening Standard puts things in perspective from the first paragraph:

Four Muslims have been arrested over a plot to shoot down US military aircraft and simultaneously blow up two synagogues in New York.

The Daily Mail even puts the dreaded "M" word in its headline:

Four Muslim extremists arrested over plot to bomb synagogue and shoot down planes

One can understand why US media would be reluctant to identify someone's religion for, say, a random murder or a robbery, but in a case like this, their religion is a critical part of understanding the story.

The Evening Standard continues, adding details about the men's aliases and statements that CNN and AP deemed irrelevant:

The alleged plotters were named today as James Cromitie (also known as Abdul Rahman), David Williams (aka Daoud and DL), Onta Williams (aka Hamza) and Laguerre Payen (aka Amin and Almondo). They are all thought to have been born in the US. Cromitie, the apparent ringleader, told an FBI informant he was upset by the war in Afghanistan, where his parents were born, and wanted to “do something to America”.

He was caught on tape complaining that the “best target [the World Trade Center] was hit already”. In the same conversation Cromitie, who has been arrested 27 times, said: “I hate those motherf***ers, those f***ing Jewish bastards ... I would like to get a synagogue.”

At one stage he told the informant as they watched Jews in the street that if he had a gun he “would shoot each one in the head”. He also said that if he died a martyr he would go to paradise.

The plotters allegedly planted one fake bomb in the boot of a car outside the Riverdale Temple and two on the seat of another car outside the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx last night. The gang then planned to drive 60 miles north of New York to Newburgh to collect mobile phone detonating devices.

The next stage was to go to Stewart International Airport, also in Newburgh, where they would shoot down a military jet while simultaneously exploding the synagogue bombs. The airport is used by the New York Air National Guard and the US Air Force. But the weapons were supplied by an FBI informant and the gang's movements had been monitored since June last year.

And the Daily Mail adds:

One, of Afghan descent, was Muslim-born while the other three converted in prison, officials said, adding that some were of Arabic descent and one is of Haitian descent.

All of the relevant facts in the London papers were clearly available to the US news outlets - and they were consciously suppressed by the editors as not being an important part of the story.

The American media has spent lots of time in the effort to paint Islam as being just another religion, a highly personal aspect of people's lives that has only a tiny influence on their activities (except when the activities are wholesome and charitable.) News editors so not want to be accused of incitement and Islamophobia, so they play it safe. In this case, it is clear that their refusal to highlight the obvious makes the news suffer.

Once religion becomes part of the story, other uncomfortable questions naturally come up: why would people who choose to be Muslim also choose to bomb Jewish targets in America? Is their anti-semitism a result of their religion, or did they choose the religion because of their existing Jew-hatred? The usual implied reason, anti-Zionism (which for some reason is deemed an understandable and acceptable reason for terror attacks in other cases) does not fit into this story at all. The American press mentions a vague motive about US involvement in Afghanistan, but targeting US synagogues doesn't fit in.

These people hated Jews and America. The most relevant fact about the case is being suppressed. The all important question - motive - is therefore being ignored. And the secondary question of how to connect the dots between their religion and their motive cannot even be asked without this information.

UPDATE: The New York police commissioner, when asked about motive at a press conference a few minutes ago, said, simply, "jihad."

The Zionist Occupied Government, 2009 edition

Today I took my second trip to Washington DC with Norpac, a PAC based in the New York area dedicated to strengthening the US-Israel relationship.

Over 800 people took a day off of work to advocate the importance of this relationship to our lawmakers and to request help on specific bills.

Capitol Hill was crawling with mostly religious Jews, talking to nearly every senator and member of Congress or their aides. As I mentioned last year, for today at least it really was a Zionist-occupied government.

Norpac organizes the logistics brilliantly, training hundreds of laymen with talking points and providing background information, scheduling all the appointments and arranging for followup.

My group first visited a congresswoman froma southern state. We were scheduled to meet her aide but as soon as we started talking to him she entered the room. She is strongly pro-Israel and very much against giving money that could go towards terrorism, and indeed even against the US giving money to the UN.

She spoke to us for so long that we we almost late to the next meeting, with a southwestern congressman. His voting record is spotty on issues that the pro-Israel crowd supports, but it appeared that his objections were more technical - he is a stickler for agreeing to all the amendments and riders and if he has a problem with one, he might not vote for it.

My talking point was about the concerns of funding the PA while we cannot guarantee that Hamas doesn't benefit. He asked, very reasonably, how we could ensure that the money won't be misappropriated, while still giving support to the "moderates" supposedly on our side. (This is not the place to argue with that, if the Israeli leaders support the PA we are not going to tell politicians not to.)

Our third meeting was with an aide for a Western congressman. He is also very pro-Israel and informed us that IDF pilots train in his state.

I had a little time to sightsee afterwards. I got a ticket from my local representative to visit the House gallery and watch a pretty boring session. I was a bit taken aback that the seats in the gallery have a pattern on them that include a backwards swastika. No cameras or any electronics are allowed there so I couldn't take a picture, but it was disconcerting to see. Maybe I'll call my congressperson...

Altogether, it was a very fruitful day. It is vital for our leaders to know that this issue is important to us, and it makes a big impression on them to welcome a delegation of 6 or 8 ordinary people who are passionate about Israel. There is no doubt that Norpac brings results, and I highly recommend that any New York/New Jersey area readers join the mission next year.

Mr. Elder goes to Washington

Today blogging will be light as I am going to Washington with some 800 other people from NORPAC to advocate for a strong relationship between the US and Israel with members of Congress and their aides.

I am putting updates on my elderofziyon Twitter channel, and you can read the updates on the sidebar. Later I will try to blog a wrapup.

Hamas stealing medical equipment, medicines

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has charged Hamas with stealing ambulances donated by Arab countries, painting them black and taking expensive medical equipment on board for their own purposes.

Moreover, Hamas has taken tons of medicines and given them to medical clinics aligned with their movement to the exclusion of public hospitals. They have also sold the medicines at huge profits. Beyond that, Hamas is claiming not to have enough medicine even though a four month supply is sitting in warehouses.

The spokesman charged Hamas with destroying the health infrastructure in Gaza, replacing experienced doctors with Hamas lackeys who have little medical knowledge, causing many patients to die.

I think that I might mention this to the members of Congress and their aides I'm seeing today on the NORPAC trip.

Obama's choice of venue in Egypt

It has been reported that Barack Obama will make his much anticipated speech to the Muslim world from Cairo University.

Here are a couple of tidbits from Cairo University's recent history.

In April 2000, some Israeli Embassy officials in Cairo went to Cairo University to attend a lecture on "Jews, Judaism and Zionism." They were banned from attending the lecture, because even then, 21 years after Camp David and before the Intifada broke out, Cairo University did not want to make it appear that they were supporting "normalization" with Israel. Egyptian intellectuals applauded the move.

More recently, an Egyptian movie included a lesbian scene. A professor at Cairo University decried the movie:

Preacher and Islamic Studies professor at Cairo University, Dr. Abdel-Sabour Shahin accused the new movie, Heena Maysara (Until Further Notice), of spreading homosexuality and promoting debauchery.

He called on authorities to prosecute the director of the movie and the two actresses, Ghada Abdel-Razeq and Sumaya Al-Khashab, who enacted the lesbian encounter on the big screen.

Shahin claimed the movie is part of "a Zionist and American conspiracy" which uses this sort of movie to destroy the moral fabric of society.

Even with these stories, Cairo University is probably still the least inappropriate place for an American president to speak in Egypt. Which is not saying much.

Saudis lead world in camel urine research

You can make fun of the Arabs all you want, but they sure know how to find good uses for camel urine. This article in AKI last year gives the gruesome details:

Camel urine, considered an ancient Islamic 'remedy' from the time of the Prophet Mohammed, has become big business for men and women in Yemen.

The urine has become fashionable recently among Yemen's young people, who claim that it strengthens the scalp, slows hair loss and promotes healthy hair.

According to the Arab TV network al-Arabiya, hair salons throughout the country are requesting this precious 'tonic' and selling it at four dollars a litre - a high price considering the income level of most of the buyers.

"I have been using camel urine since I have been going to elementary school," said Amal, a university student in Sanaa.

"The first time a neighbour told me that she had been using it (urine) for many years, because it made her hair more beautiful and shiny. Now everyone in my home uses it."

The use of the urine is not just limited to women. Men have reportedly also been using it to prevent or stop hair loss.

"Many young men use the camel's urine. I am forced to buy large quantities for my business," said Hasan, a barber.

A boom in the sale of camel urine has prompted people to begin breeding more camels, and they are constantly being given liquids in order to collect more urine.

Nomadic camel breeders have benefited the most from the sale of urine. The breeders are usually in the most remote areas of the country such as Hudeida and Mukallah provinces.

Some people also claim that camel urine is good for the liver, a claim discredited by the University of Sanaa that said it was harmful for the digestive system.

The use of camel urine could have its roots in Islamic religion. In the Prophet Mohammed's "sunna" (or tradition), it talks about the benefits of camel milk and urine.

In a "hadith" (or narrative), foreigners are said to have gone to the holy city of Medina with high fever and the Prophet Mohammed ordered them to leave the city and drink urine and milk from a camel to help them recover.

So it is only natural that camel urine would be a cornerstone of research by Arabs to find every miraculous use possible. Which is perhaps why it was a Saudi who found that camel urine can possibly cure cancer:

Saudi inventors received eight awards in the ITEX 2009 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur between 15 and 17 May, with one of the winning inventions - microparticles in camel’s urine to treat cancer by Dr. Faten Khorsheed from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah – chosen as one of the six best out of 600 inventions presented to win the exhibition’s Asia Cup.

Who said that Arabs aren't any good at science?

(I must confess I don't understand why a potential cancer cure is being exhibited at an inventors' fair rather than being presented as a paper in a medical journal. But who am I to judge Dr. Khorsheed's priorities?)

Hezbollah trying to make inroads in Egypt

From Al-Arabiya:

Egypt's parliament has opened an investigation into the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah's reported distribution of money to the poor in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country, according to press reports Monday.

Mohamed Sherdi, MP of al-Wafd opposition party for the northeastern governorate of Port Said, accused Hezbollah of distributing five and 10 Egyptian pound bills with the Shiite party's stamp.

"We found one pound, five pound and 10 pound bills with the Hezbollah stamp on them," Sherdi told Al Arabiya. "These small bills are what people on the lower end of society commonly use so we fear that Hezbollah members in Egypt are distributing money to the poor," he explained.

The stamp printed on the bills says "Hezbollah-Ahl al-Beit- God's bond." Ahl al-Beit refers to the prophet's family and is a common expression used in the Shiite faith.

There has been increasing friction between Egypt and Hezbollah/Iran in recent months, after Egypt caught Hezbollah terrorists planning attacks.

Islamists often use "charity" in order to gain a foothold in areas they want to subvert.

"Breastfeeding" sheikh returns to Al Azhar U.

From Al-Arabiya:

The case of the male breastfeeding fatwa, or religious ruling, just took another strange turn as the scholar who issued the controversial opinion was rehired after being fired by Egypt’s al-Azhar University.

The Cairo Administrative Court overturned the decision by al-Azhar's disciplinary committee to expel Ezzat Attiya, the president of the hadith department, for issuing a fatwa condoning the symbolic breastfeeding of grown men in 2007.

The court annulled the university’s decision to expel Attiya after he issued a fatwa permitting symbolic breastfeeding of men as a way to loosen the customs of segregation between the sexes in Egypt.

Islam prohibits sexual relations between a man and the woman who breastfed him in infancy. Attiya said that if a woman were to symbolically breastfeed a male colleague, she could be alone with him since he would no longer be considered a potential mate.

Attiya's unusual opinion was widely publicized by Arabic language satellite channels and largely ridiculed in the Western press. It was even discussed in the Egyptian parliament.

In 2007 Attiya made his statement on Al Arabiya, saying that after five breastfeedings the man and woman could be alone together without violating Islamic law because the man becomes a symbolic relative of the woman, and therefore they could be alone and the woman could remove her headscarf to reveal her hair.

He later retracted his statement and apologized saying his interpretation war reserved for exceptional cases.

Iran shows Hamas who's boss

Ma'an reports:

Senior Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al dismissed his deputy, Mousa Abu Marzouq and another leader because of their reported opposition to the dictates of Syria and Iran, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper “Politics.”

Quoting anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that Mash’al had Abu Marzouq and Imad Al-Alami replaced during Hamas’ internal elections over two weeks ago, specifically because they opposed Tehran and Damascus over the issue of reconciliation with Fatah.

“The elections have many changes but still many details are hidden by Hamas … the removal of Abu Marzouk and Al-Alami were the result of pressure from Syria and Iran on Mash’al,” the newspaper’s source said.

The report also states that Mash’al had the two leaders dismissed in exchange for a promise of continued support from Iran.

Kuwaiti sources aren't always the most accurate, but if this is true it shows (once again) that Hamas is simply a client of Iran and not a representative of Palestinian Arabs, who overwhelmingly want to see a Hamas/Fatah reconciliation.

The natural consequence is that all the moonbats who pretend to love Palestinian Arabs and who support Hamas are really, effectively, lackeys of Iran in its fight against the more moderate Arabs in the region.

Followup 2 on Yemen "blasphemer" case

Last month, a mob burned down the house of a man in Yemen after a rumor was started that he had torn a Quran.

A week later Yemeni politicians were very upset that some of the mob were arrested for burning the man's house down. They called for the accused blasphemer to be arrested and put on trial instead.

Apparently, they got their wish. From The Yemen Observer:

In the first case of its kind in Yemen, the lawyer of the Yemeni citizen AbdulMalik al-Beidhani withdrew from the court after the judge refused to allow him access to the file of the case, or listen to the witnesses and ask them questions in the session held on Monday May 11.
The Lawyer Yasin al-Azizi told journalists that the court had dealt with his client as if he was condemned prior to his trial. “The court did not respond to my requests as a lawyer of the defendant,” said al-Azizi. He also accused the judge of administrating the trial based on prior beliefs and neglecting the defendant’s right of defense.

Al-Azizi called for the application of the law and to give the suspect legal protection as the accusations are weak and his case is of a crime that threatens public security since his home was destroyed, his property was confiscated, and his family was abused. Al-Azizi wondered what the judiciary has done about the case for those responsible for burning and completely destroying the house of the defendant’s family.

At the first session the suspect did not have a lawyer as his family had asked to defend him, but they withdrew at the last minute. However, at the first session, the suspect denied all of the accusations saying that they were fabricated by some people he had problems with. He said he believed in God, his Holy book, and the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammed.

He strongly denied tearing or disrespecting the Holy Quran and said that the Quran is protected by Allah forever until the judgment day.

The suspect’s family complained that the prosecution and judiciary have refused to accept their complaint about the burning and destroying of their home by extremists who, according to the family, were incited by preachers of mosques particularly by the preacher of al-Anqa mosque which is located a few meters away from their home.

Over 150 extremists and citizens took part in burning and destroying the suspect family’s three storey house in al-Anqa quarter in al-Hasaba zone of Sana’a last month. On the day they destroyed the house, mosque preachers in al-Hasaba zone accused the suspect of tearing the Quran and stepping on it. They also accused him of raping several young girls, killing them and burying them in his home. They also accused his mother of running a prostitution ring in her home.

After destroying the house and the suspect was brought to the court, the attackers, headed by mosque preachers, unanimously decided to confiscate the property which the house was built on and claimed it as waqf for the al-Anqa mosque.

Yemen - where anyone with a grudge can get a mob to take care of your enemy, and get the court system to support them as well.