Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Freedom of the Press, Hamas-style

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms [sic] just released a few recent examples of how Hamas completely restricts what journalists can do in Gaza.

Here are some of them:

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) expresses its concern about the deteriorating situation of media freedoms in Gaza Strip. This week MADA has monitored several violations against journalists, they are: the detention of the dean of Media faculty in Aqsa university Dr. Ahmad Hamad and the Greek director Bindles Baba Byblos after filming a wedding in Beit Hanoun, the prevention of France Press Agency photographer Mohammed Al-Baba from covering a march for “ Hizb Al-Tahrir” in Alnasser area in Gaza, and the prevention of Alshu’la newspaper chief editor Saher Alaqra’ and the correspondent of Sawt Falesteen Radio (Palestinian public radio) Tamim Abu Muammar from traveling to Egypt, in addition to the continued prevention of the three daily newspapers (Al-Hayat Aljadedeh, Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds) to enter Gaza Strip since 7 July 2010.

According to Hamad he said that he had gone on Sunday evening, 11 July 2010 to Beit Hanoun, accompanied by lecturer Mohammad Abu Odeh, and the director Byblos to film a wedding there to conclude it in a documentary film about the life of citizens in Gaza. Hamad added: "After we finished filming we left the wedding around 11 pm, but we were surprised that the police were waiting for us. They asked us about the tape which the director filmed, and when I asked them why? They answered: because you have filmed without permission, and conducted an interview with the father of the groom. And after an argument they took us to a police station in Beit Hanoun, and after they searched the car and watched the tape, the Superintendent Detective said the tape is normal and does not have anything to harm the government. But another person interfered and said that the groom’s fathers hold the government the responsibility for poverty, unemployment and hunger in the Gaza.” After many calls they release us after hour and a half of detention.”

Al-Baba said that he was filming a march of “Hizb Al-Tahrir” in Alnasser area/ Maqqousi Towers on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 at 5:00 PM, during the filming, a group belonging to the criminal investigation police unit attacked him and confiscated his personal stuff (camera - laptop – mobile ), and they took him to the police station in Alshate’area. After detaining him for an hour they asked him to sign a pledge that he won’t publish any picture about the march’s event, because there is a superior order banning media converge of the march.

As I reported yesterday, the Hizb ut Tahrir rally was broken up with live fire and Hamas policemen beating participants, seriously injuring a child.

If Hamas is restricting even documentary filmmakers from making videos, and banning journalists from rallies in Gaza, it becomes irresponsible for the mainstream media to report anything from Gaza without adding a caveat that their ability report facts objectively is impossible due to Hamas policies. Every Reuters photo should include the explanation that "this picture was allowed to be shown by Hamas authorities." The media freely mentions Israeli censorship policies when it impacts their work - yet you will not see them say anything about Hamas' complete control over their movements, actions and reporting.

By not reporting on Hamas' restrictions on their freedoms, the Western media in Gaza is complicit with Hamas' policies. The world's perception of Gaza is completely dependent on reporters who willingly withhold most of the information they know about Hamas' excesses.

How wrong was the media on Faisal Shahzad?

A day after the failed Times Square bombing attempt, NBC Nightly News repeatedly called him a "lone wolf."

A month after, CBS Evening News called him a "hybrid terrorist":

In one sense, Shahzad was a lone wolf, with evidence suggesting that he alone bought, assembled, and delivered his botched IED. But, sources say it's also clear Shahzad had some help, drawing inspiration, financial support and bomb training from the Pakistani Taliban.

Now, Al Arabiya released a martyrdom video that he had made months beforehand with the Taliban, describing his motive. (Guess what? Israel wasn't mentioned! I guess he missed the memo to always mention Israel.)

It sure looks like the media tried as hard as possible to minimize this failed terror attack. And this minimization was largely successful, as the new evidence about Shahzad has come out slowly and is mostly downplayed in the press.

Yet the facts are clear - a mere two months ago, a Muslim extremist who was trained by a worldwide terrorist organization tried to kill hundreds of men, women and children in New York City. The fact that his bomb failed is not nearly as relevant as the fact that he could have easily succeeded, especially if he had really aspired to martyrdom instead of chickening out and trying to use a timer. Dismissing him as "incompetent" is besides the point - that there are millions of people who share his vision, and many of those would not have made the same mistakes.

Mecca Cola - The Virtually Real Thing

The colors, font and background of Mecca Cola's logo seems awfully familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen it before:

I must admit I enjoy the irony of the slogan, though. I can just imagine a commercial with a young Saudi woman on a sunny day playing Frisbee - and then trying to drink Mecca Cola through her burqa, while the announcer says "The Taste of Freedom."

(This is the Palestinian Arab version of the product; the main Dubai-based version uses a different logo.)

Flotilla timeline video from IDF with English subtitles

This was just released with English subtitles:

Lots of footage from Israeli helicopters and boats that we hadn't seen before the release of the Eiland report.

Egyptian doctor creates Society for the Prevention of Kisses

Firas Press reports that an Egyptian doctor, Dr. Adel Ashour, Professor of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, is setting up a Society for the Prevention of Kisses between Couples in Egypt.

He notes that "All scientific research published in major world medical journals unanimously show that serious medical damage is caused by exchanging kisses through the spread of infection from viral diseases."

He gives a list of medical problems that can be cause by kissing, including "skin diseases like acne, meningitis and viral diseases such as colds that should not be underestimated as they may infect cells lining the brain and result in very high temperatures that are difficult to control and may lead to death in some cases, also inflammation of the parotid gland as well as measles and viral hepatitis."

He also noted that the Islamic religion prohibits kissing in a non-marital framework.

This could explain a lot:

The politics behind the Amalthea (Zvi)

Zvi comments:

Ghaddafi and Son
Ghaddafi has his own flamboyant and attention-seeking stance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He is a one-stater who, having been badly burned in the past, appears to want to be seen as pragmatic and peaceful in the western press. Never mind that his proposals are demented and would result in mass death, destruction and chaos in Israel and the region if anyone were mad enough to implement them... . Of course, despite wanting to appear to be pragmatic, Ghaddafi and his regime are staunch enemies of Israel.

In recent years, Ghaddafi's regime has made efforts to paint his son, Saif al-Islam, as a moderate pragmatist who should be welcomed as a voice of wisdom and common sense (never mind that the Libyan state is among the world's most repressive dictatorships, and that Saif al-Islam sits at the center of this dictatorship). Saif al-Islam's press statements in the wake of the ship drama project a sane, pragmatic image, to an extent that actually surprised me.

'Do you want the grapes or to kill the vineyard's guard?' To tell you the truth, we want the grapes and we got them – so there's no reason to cause any problems.
The problem was not a naval conflict with Israel, but rebuilding Gaza and helping our Palestinians brothers.

Of course, the man also spreads nonsense about Gazan conditions and about Israel. We're not talking about a man who really cares very much about the truth. But I'm slightly impressed that he's willing to dismiss the idea of mindlessly attacking Israel for its own sake. In a region where ludicrous flights of romanticized genocidal fantasy are the norm, this is an unusually rational stance.

Unexpected Wins
The Ghaddafi regime has won a huge tactical PR victory - a much bigger win than I expected them to secure, and clearly much bigger than Ghaddafi ever hoped to secure. At the same time, Egypt has come out significantly ahead and Israel achieved its objective. The UNRWA received a windfall. Hamas, which has been demanding that the Libyan ship dock in Gaza, looks mildly stupid.

What Libya Won
* The Libyan regime received a lot of press attention (especially for the Heir Apparent).
* It spun itself as being more moderate and stable than Turkey. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a very difficult feat, but Erdogan has watered down Turkey's reputation significantly, and Libya was very quick to take advantage.
* It showed itself to be more effectual than Iran, Hezbollah and its fellow Arab states, who for all their talk, have not yet launched any ships.
* It gets to play the hero in Gaza, and should therefore look good in the Arab media and certainly in the west.
* It looks good at the UN, because it's funding Gaza repairs via the UNRWA.
* It allowed Egypt to act as intermediary between Israel and Libya (I'll come to this in a minute).
* It made Israel look aggressive, particularly while the navy was shadowing the ship and nobody knew what would happen, without looking aggressive itself.
* It got Israel to sign off on a Libyan initiative in Gaza.

Ghaddafi accomplished all of this at the low price of a ship, a bit of cargo and the promise of about $50M to the UNRWA (assuming that the money actually flows, and assuming that this is not money that Libya had already promised in the past but witheld). I'm sure that Ghaddafi's staff are celebrating.

What Egypt Won
I think that this outcome pleased the Egyptians very, very much. Egypt was able to exercize its skills as mediator and, in a matter of a few days, achieved an agreement that satisfied both parties and settled a looming diplomatic/military crisis. At the same time, Egypt's influence with respect to Gaza was mildly strengthened.

On the world stage, the Egyptian government positions itself as a regional diplomatic heavyweight, a regime whose opinion cannot be discounted. It positions itself as a mediator that can facilitate otherwise  "impossible" agreements between Arabs and Israelis, a mediator that is essential to the peace process. This repuation has taken some blows in recent years. Iran and Hamas have consciously taken aim at Egyptian diplomatic prestige and at Egyptian influence over Gaza, and Egyptian influence and prestige have been battered by the obstructionism and hostility of an obnoxious little statelet (Gaza).

The Libya-Egypt/Egypt-Israel agreement allowed the Egyptian government to demonstrate both its skill as a mediator and its ability to bring Israel to the table. Egypt can claim an unexpected diplomatic win, one that has no downside for the Arabs. Furthermore, in doing the two-part Gaza deal with Egypt, Libya tacitly acknowledged that Gaza lies within Egypt's sphere of influence.

The fact that the flow of aid is going to filter through UNRWA instead of being handed directly and openly to Hamas embarasses Hamas somewhat, and Cairo must be smiling about that; Hamas has been sticking its finger in Mubarak's eye, and there is no love lost between the Egyptians and Hamas.

So this looks like a huge win for Egypt. In only a few days, Egypt settled a crisis, negotiated an agreement between two states that don't talk to each other, beefed up its diplomaic resume, received acknowledgement of its influence over Gaza and embarassed Hamas. Mubarak and Suleiman have every reason to be happy with this outcome.

Egypt evidently had mediation assistance from Austrian businessman Martin Schlaff, but Ghaddafi Jr. only mentions the Egyptians.

What Israel Won
Israel's interest was always to keep the ship from running the blockade. Israel wanted to set a precedent, according to which any real aid vessels will unload at Ashdod or, failing that, somewhere else, and the aid must flow into Gaza via controlled channels rather than confronting the Israeli navy.

Israel certainly isn't worried about a $50M influx of aid via the UNRWA. The amount of money sloshing around in Gaza already dwarfs $50M.

Conclusion
Ghaddafi is a murderous tyrant and a very strange man. His regime is one of the worst in the world. But I'll tip my hat, this once, to whomever handled this situation on their side; I can appreciate Olympic-caliber gymnastics.

Libya discovers UNRWA

From YNet:

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, chairman of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation which tried to send an aid vessel to Gaza, says he reached an Egyptian-mediated agreement with Israel on Wednesday, allowing him to infuse $50 million for the restoration of the Strip and transfer construction materials to Gaza.

"We will soon start funneling $50 million in coordination with UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) to begin rebuilding Gaza and transfer humanitarian aid and construction materials, without any objection on the part of the Israeli government."

According to Gaddafi Jr., "This is an agreement we never expected or dreamed of. UNRWA informed us that it has failed to receive one dollar for the restoration of Gaza so far, and was therefore unsuccessful in bringing in even one iron skewer or sack of cement.

UNRWA's 2009 budget shows that it did not receive a single cent from Libya. Apparently, Libya never gave any money to UNRWA over the sixty years it has existed.

All of a sudden, Libya became aware of UNRWA's existence - and is happy to funnel money there?

Arab nations are fairly consistent in spurning UNRWA. Their (public) attitude has always been that the West is responsible for the existence of Palestinian Arab refugees by allowing Israel to be created, so therefore the West should pay for their basic needs forever - even as they are hosted in Arab countries who have adamantly refused to give them equal rights.

Only last year, when UNRWA asked for emergency funds to help Gaza, did a couple of oil-rich Arab countries pledge one-time contributions - $25M from Saudi Arabia and $35M from Kuwait. Arab governments' annual cash contributions to UNRWA are pitiably small, about $7M out of the $470M total last year. Arab nations have consistently spurned UNRWA appeals for cash and have equally consistently failed to pay on their pledges to UNRWA.

In fact, Luxembourg has given more cash to UNRWA's annual budget than any Arab country.

If Libya decides to give $50 million to UNRWA, it will suddenly become UNRWA's biggest Arab supporter, and it might be the biggest single contribution ever from an Arab country in UNRWA's history. Compare that to the $267M the US gave in 2009, or the $48M that was given to UNRWA by - Sweden.

It seems a bit cynical for Libya to crow over how it will now give all this money to Gazans when, up until now, it has shown utter indifference towards the major international organization that supports them.

A challenge for Arab apologists

A London Islamic website called "Middle East Monitor" published an article that discusses, in depth, the philosophy of the late Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah concerning "Palestine."

It is worth reading in full, but here are some of the highlights:

For Ayatollah Fadlallah, Palestine is a Muslim issue over and above in importance any other in the world today, from which spring all other issues affecting Arab and Muslim countries. Hence, "Our position towards the Palestinian case is a religion we believe in, and not just a political slogan we consume today to leave tomorrow."

He stressed that Palestine summarises the past century, all the pains of the nation and all the dreams of the nation: "I do not dream without Palestine, and all the dreams fall when Palestine falls… It is not a battle, not negotiations, and it is not details; Palestine is the story of the nation: to be or not to be."

Ayatollah Fadlallah called for adopting Islam as the healthiest and safest method to achieve victory over the Zionists, saying "There's an axis and that is Islam in the face of Israel... we are stronger than any day because we are with Islam. The political battle of Islam is the conflict with Israel, and there is no Islam and Islamic political movement that is outside of the conflict with Israel."

He stressed that Israel is a usurper state, "and usurping [others' rights] is forbidden just as alcohol is forbidden, and there won't come a time when usurping becomes lawful". The passing of time - even hundreds of years - does not give legitimacy to the taking of anything that is not rightfully yours. He was part of the scholarly consensus that forbids the giving up of any part of Palestine; if an individual has the right to give up part of his own home, that's one thing, but a nation does not have the right to give up its land, because the nation does not just belong to the people living at any one time, it is the sum of generations of people who have lived and died therein. "The duty of the nation's scholars, whether Sunni or Shiite," he said, "is to restore Palestine in its entirety, from the river [Jordan] to the sea, and to mobilise the Arab and Muslim conscience for its sake."

The size and seriousness of the challenge, believed Ayatollah Fadlallah, requires us to widen the conflict with the enemy and integrate all of its concentric circles: Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and humanitarian. It also imposes on us that we prepare for a battle until God wishes victory and liberation. The Palestinian issue, he said, is Palestinian in its geography and its people, Arabic in its nationality and Islamic in the depth of meanings that govern its people.

...He also claimed frequently that Israel will not be strong forever and Arabs and Muslims will not be weak forever. As such, the struggle to liberate Palestine will span generations and he invited Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims not to impose time limits for resolving the issue. Just as, he said, we face an enemy who lived for many generations until it usurped the land, we must live even more generations to recover what is rightfully ours: this "equation of freedom is truly understood only by the mujahideen [freedom fighters]".

Conflict with Zionist Jews is not just a Palestinian matter, he believed, but is related to the Arab and Muslim presence in a region where America and other Western countries have sought to secure their own interests. Hence, they created Israel and make sure that it is the strongest state in the heart of the Arab world to prevent the latter from communicating, and meddle in its economics, politics and security in war and peace.

America's support for Israel, concluded Ayatollah Fadlallah, is the reason for Arab and Muslim hatred of American policies; the US policy on Palestine is "hypocritical", giving lethal weaponry to Israel and only words to the Palestinians. America, he claimed, is not interested in peace; it wants to buy time, creating despair until Israel completes its plan to control most of Palestine and imposes its terms for an agreement.

Ayatollah Fadlallah supported resistance against the Israeli occupation and the intifada in Palestine with all his strength and said that although the intifada alone cannot liberate Palestine it can liberate our collective belief that the Israelis are unbeatable. The intifada has let it be known that the Arab is not the man who is always slain, but is a man "who kills and gets killed", a quote from the Qur'an. He issued a fatwa authorising martyrdom operations against the Israeli enemy by virtue of having no other option but to do so, even if such operations led to the killing of civilians. A martyrdom operation, he said, represents the oppressed depth of the Palestinians' conscience which stores inside it the Muslim Arab character and its aspirations and pain but which is open to spiritual values, including jihad, pride, dignity and freedom, leading to the approval of God and paradise. At that stage, said Ayatollah Fadlallah, the body has no meaning and the male or female martyrs are encompassing the pain of the nation in their actions, as though the nation is struggling through them, and as if the nation gathers to give them its strength and courage, so that they can move towards the cause and forget the body. Thus, he ruled that "martyrdom operations are jihadist first class operations, but are the highest types of jihad." He pointed out that there is no difference in martyrdom operations between men and women, but the women's movement has more reward and is more altruistic than men's.

We are always told how the opinions of the Islamists and extremists do not represent the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims, and about how Arabs really yearn for peace and would be willing to recognize Israel if it would go back to 1949 armistice lines. We are told that the Saudi "peace plan" would be accepted by the Arab world.

The challenge:

Find a single Arab Muslim who lives in the Middle East today, who would be willing to fisk this article and explain how it does not represent the opinions of the vast majority of Arab Muslims today.

Based on my reading Arabic newspapers every day for the past few years, Fadlallah's opinion quoted here seems to be exactly congruent with what the vast majority of Arab Muslims firmly believe. But I am willing to be proven wrong.

The British judge who hates Israel, redux

I blogged about Judge George Bathurst-Norman, the British judge who effectively instructed a jury to excuse a group of people who damaged an arms factory because, they said, the arms were being shipped to Israel. Zvi looked at the judge further and found some stunning hypocrisy in his rulings.

Now, Jonathan Hoffman at CiFWatch went through the 87-page transcript of the judge's comments/instructions to the jury before deliberations. Here are some examples of what the judge said:

..Now you may be wondering what on earth has the actions of the Israeli air force to do with this country. The short answer is that if the Israeli Air Force was committing crimes in the way that the agreed evidence outlines in the unlawful killing of Palestinians in Gaza and in the unlawful causing of damage to property in Gaza, then under the War Crimes Act and other legislation any member of the Israeli Air Force who set foot in this country and who acted in that way would be liable to arrest and prosecution, as is anyone within this country who knowingly helps the Israeli Air Force to commit such war crimes.

...Democracy would not exist unless there were reporters and members of the public who were prepared to stand up for what they believe to be right, and sometimes, as in the case of the suffragettes, even to go to prison for their beliefs. As Edmund Burke says: “For injustice to flourish, all that is needed is for good men to do nothing.” Indeed, people like Mr Osmond [Christopher Osmond, the leader of the seven who admitted causing £187,000 of damage to the EDO factory] who put themselves in harm’s way to protect others may, in fact – there may be much to be admired about people like that. Perhaps if he had done it in this country in the last war he would probably have received a George Medal.

... He [Osmond] knew of the Philadelphi corridor, the corridor made around the boundaries of Gaza by the illegal demolition of Palestinian homes by the Israeli army, during which Rachel Corrie, one of the International Solidarity Volunteers bravely stood in front of a bulldozer which was being driven by an Israeli soldier and was effectively murdered when he drove the bulldozer over her in 2003.

Read his whole analysis. It proves a simply appalling use of a judge's position to twist justice and to preach hate and lies. This is perversion.

Egypt campaigning against underage, temporary "marriages"

Last year I linked to a very disturbing article about the phenomenon of what can only be called a slave trade in young girls in Egypt, under the guise of "temporary marriages," often with rich Gulf Arabs.

"Hanadi" was a teenager when she was sold into a short-term marriage by her father. "When I was 14, my father told me I was to be married to a man from Saudi Arabia," said Hanadi, who did not want to use her real name.

"Later on, I discovered that my father and the man had agreed I would stay with him for a month, until he returned home [to Saudi Arabia] at the end of the summer. There was never any intention for us to remain together any longer than his holiday in Egypt."

Hanadi is now 20 years old. She lives in a shelter run by Cairo-based non-governmental organisation the Hope Village Society, which cares for street children.

Although there is no specific law that bans the sale of girls and women into such temporary marriages, which often amount to prostitution, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Egypt is a signatory, forbids the sale of children and bans marriage under the age of 16, said Mohamed Tag el-Din Labib, Hope Village Society training and research director.

In addition, Egyptian law bans both prostitution and the marriage of girls under 16. "Minors in prostitution are sent to a sort of corrective centre, where conditions are often as bad if not worse than they are in adult prisons," said Nihad Abul Qumsan, director of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights. "The man involved is not usually prosecuted, but rather acts as a witness in a trial."

However, rights workers say that because minors often go through at least some of the steps that would make a marriage seem legitimate make it difficult for any of the involved parties to be held accountable or be prosecuted. In addition, parents are almost always either in charge of a transaction of this kind, or at the very least are involved and have given their consent.

When young girls are set up to be sold for sex, the matter is very often rendered superficially legal as the couple sign a civil marriage contract and are divorced upon the departure of the male party, or no marriage contract is signed at all, as was the case for Hanadi.

According to Ms Qumsan, rules can be circumvented in a number of ways, including falsifying birth certificates or not registering the marriage at all. Because of this, few statistics or studies on the matter exist.

Al Arabiya reports on a new Egyptian initiative to stop these temporary "marriages" to underage girls, which is astonishingly prevalent.

According to the article, the Egyptian minister for family and population Mosheera Khetab is campaigning against the phenomenon of underage girls getting married in "temporary summer marriages." Some 74% of minor marriages in some provinces are really prostitution.

This comes in the wake of a television show that exposed a network of minor girls who were being repeatedly "married" off to rich Gulf perverts.

One of these Gulf men was arrested and is being held.

(h/t Ali)

Ancient Turkish church defaced with "Islamist graffiti"

From Hurriyet:

Police have started an investigation after a suspected group of people defaced the façade of the 1,700-year-old Mor Jacob Syriac Orthodox Church in Nusaybin, in the southeastern province of Mardin, with pro-Islamic slogans.

The offenders allegedly defaced the stone walls of the church on Monday with various slogans, such as “Clear off, bastards,” “Clear off, Zionist dogs,” “Heretics, lay off,” and “Zionist powers, clear off,” in Turkish and, “Allah u Muhammed,” and “Prophet Muhammad, fight the infidels and hypocrites,” in Arabic.

The police will fingerprint the lid of a paint tin found on the ground at the site of the graffiti and will also fingerprint the wire fence surrounding the church, which is currently undergoing restoration.

The church reportedly dates from 313 A.D. and is currently being restored by the Mardin Directorate of Museums.

...[T]he graffiti could be removed without damaging the church’s historical texture.

The church is expected to re-open its doors once the restoration project is complete.

Isn't it interesting that graffiti that is anti-Zionist is described as "pro-Islamic"?

Sort of like protests filled with people calling to destroy Israel being described as "pro-Palestinian."

Is it a cheap shot to mention that this is sort of attack is a bit contradictory to the idea of Muslim tolerance?

Fatah pot calling Israeli kettle black

Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmi accused Israel of using all of its political, economic and media might to keep Hamas and Fatah divided from each other, according to pro-Fatah Palestinian Press Agency.

His statement said that Israel's goal is to maintain the division to weaken the Palestinian leadership in preparation for the liquidation of the Palestinian national project.

I guess that Qawasmi is an Israeli agent, then, because he has a history of stoking those very divisions that he says comes from Israel!

He recently accused Hamas of lying during reconciliation negotiations, and he was the first to accuse Hamas of being behind the arson at the UNRWA camps.

Moreover, in April, Qawasmi went off on a long rant about Hamas, accusing it of every crime under the sun: collusion with Israel, and then he said that Hamas "looted institutions, stole from the banks, and imposed a tax in violation of the law, and divided the national territory, and suppressed the violent traditions of the community, and violated civil liberties and [citizen] privacy, and made of the resistance just a slogan, with talk of rockets only via satellite channels."

Good work, Agent Qawasmi! You are acting in service of your Zionist masters!

Extremist Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir held what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration in Gaza City yesterday, and Hamas went in with batons and live fire to break it up.

According to reports, Hamas injured a large number of demonstrators by beating them, and one 7-year old child is in serious condition, now in the intensive care unit of Shifa Hospital.

For some reason, there were no Code Pink or ISM or Viva Palestina activists on hand to witness or report on the brutal beatings of peaceful demonstrators by the Hamas forces. Nothing on their websites about this incident where they can rail against the violence of the security forces, and no vigils for the health of the injured.

I'm sure that it is only a matter of time, though, before these groups courageously call for an end to routine Hamas violence against Gazans.

Because, after all, they care about the welfare of Palestinian Arabs above all and they live to publicize all violations of Palestinian human rights.

I'm equally sure that Reuters and AP are now watching the situation carefully to make sure that they are on the scene to take photos and video next time this happens, and that they are kicking themselves over having missed the story while their photographers take it easy between the each Friday's Bil'in and Nilin demonstrations.

Stuff I don't have time to blog (updated)

Fantastic color footage of Israel from as early as 1947 just discovered. (h/t Daled Amos)

Is the Iranian scientist "defector" going back to save his family from being assassinated?

Check out this new, snarky blog.

Honest Reporting goes into a lot of detail about The Lancet's latest shenanigans, a topic I touched on here.

The Brothers of Judea blog gets threatened.

Wikipedia's Jewish problem.

Libyan ship close to El Arish

Latest position of the Amalthea:

Only 13 nautical miles from El Arish; it seems unlikely to try to veer to Gaza - but you never know.

UPDATE: Every ship in the area just disappeared from the Marine Traffic site. Hmmm....

UPDATE 2: The Amalthea is docked at El Arish.

Queen Rania refuses Hebrew version of her book - on tolerance

From Ha'aretz:

Queen Rania of Jordan has turned down several offers to publish a Hebrew version of a children's book she recently wrote. The book, which was published in the United States by Hyperion under the title "The Sandwich Swap" for children between 4 and 8 years old, was co-written with Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Tricia Tusa.

During a promotional campaign for the book, the queen described it as the story of two girls who let the food they bring to school get in the way of their friendship. They disparage each other's food based on their own cultural preconceptions. The two main characters, Lily and Salma, have a lot in common, but not when it comes to their sandwiches: Lily prefers the all-American peanut butter and jelly, while Salma sticks to pita and hummus.

The two learn how to maintain their friendship, despite their cultural differences, but not without a food fight at school in which their classmates take sides. The confrontation ends, however, with a party at which the children exchange sandwiches. The book's message touches open such issues as getting to know others, openness and multiculturalism.

Queen Rania seems to be the poster child for Arab tolerance: it's real important until it comes up against a prejudice that is even more important. Then, of course, prejudice wins.

UPDATE: The Queen denies the story.

Palestinian Arab leaders reject Obama's call for talks. World media silent.

In another slap to the face of the Obama administration, two additional major Palestinian leaders have forcefully said that they will not enter into direct negotiations with Israel.

President Obama last week called for direct negotiations to start "well before" September.

A member of the PLO Executive Committee, Saleh Rafat, said in a radio interview this morning that the Palestinian leadership would not bow to any pressure from the US on the issue.

In addition, Fatah leader and commissioner Mohammed Dahlan gave a lengthy interview saying that the dominant Fatah party would actively fight against direct negotiations with Israel.

Yesterday, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat was equally intransigent on the issue, again rebuffing the US president.

For some reason, when Israel disagrees with the White House, it results in major headlines around the world, with commentators calling on the US to "get tough" with its ally. Yet the media is silent when the PA, heavily dependent on US aid to keep its economy barely above water, displays consistent and explicit arrogance against the US president.

Curious, isn't it?

PA hushes up attempted rape of American "peace activist"

From Ha'aretz:, a story dripping with irony:

The Palestinian Authority, as well as the leaders of the Palestinian popular protests in villages such as Bil'in, Na'alim, Umm Salmuna, have been trying to keep the following story away from both public knowledge and the media's eye: One of the more prominent Umm Salmuna activists – a village south of Bethlehem, long entrenched in a battle against the West Bank separation fence – is suspected of the attempted rape of an American peace activist who had been residing in the village as part of her support of the local protest.

Omar Aladdin, who had been arrested three months ago over suspicions he had attempted to rape the U.S. citizen, was subsequently released after agreeing to apologize to the young woman. However, Haaretz had learned that representatives of both the popular protest movement and the PA have since applied pressure on the American peace activist as to prevent her from making the story public.

The incident allegedly took place last April, as Aladdin, who had served a term in the Israeli jail in the past, arrived one evening at the guest house in which many of the foreign peace activists were staying. The European and American female activists reportedly agreed to let Aladdin stay with them after he had told them he feared the Israel Defense Forces were on his tail, adding that he had been severely beaten at an IDF checkpoint only a week before.

During his stay Aladdin allegedly attempted to rape a Muslim-American woman, nicknamed "Fegin" by fellow activists. The woman escaped, later accusing the popular protest man of the attempt. One villager who had encountered the American following the incident said she had been in a state of shock.

Aladdin then refused to apologize for the incident, when news of it reached the village's popular committee, the popular protests' governing body, allegedly saying that the incident had been marginal and normal. The American activist then asked the committee to notify authorities of the attempted rape, a request which resulted in the man being arrested by security forces in Bethlehem. After agreeing to apologize for the incident, Aladdin was released from custody by the PA police.

The U.S. citizen was then convinced to retract her complaint, as to avoid tainting the image of the popular protest, which had attracted praise from around the world in recent months.

However, the Umm Salmuna case is not the only one. Separation fence activists know of other incidents in which Palestinians molested and sexually assaulted foreign peace activists, a subject which was apparently raised in the discussions of the various popular committees.

Foreign female peace activists regularly participate in protests in the villages of Bil'in, Na'alin, and others, where the activists stay in separate houses. Some villagers do not agree with these housing arrangements, claiming that the villages' youth, who frequently visit the activists, are corrupted by the young women.

One villager said the female activists bring a different "culture with them, western, too open. The young people, especially from the villages, aren’t used to stay near other girls, they do not know their culture, certainly when it’s a young woman staying with other women in a strange house. They misinterpret it."

So now we have liberal Westerners agreeing to hush up stories of sexual abuse - tacitly supporting a repressive, patriarchal society.

Notice also how easily these female Western activists agreed to shield a man who said he was wanted by Israeli authorities. This sounds a lot like when the ISM shielded a Palestinian Jihad terrorist:

In March 2003, Israeli troops raided ISM’s West Bank offices in Jenin and captured a suspected member of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad. The Israeli army identified Shadi Suqiyeh, who was hiding in the ISM office, as a senior member of Islamic Jihad who had planned a number of foiled attacks on Israelis. A statement released by ISM soon after the incident explained that Suqiyeh was brought into the apartment by an ISM volunteer "concerned about his welfare" because "under Israeli military curfew, Palestinians spotted in the streets are shot on sight."

Finally, isn't it interesting that in this case the young man specifically chose the only Muslim American activist to be the victim?

One more point: this is hardly the first clash between Palestinian Arab culture and so-called "peace activists." In fact, Rachel Corrie may have been trying to ingratiate herself with Palestinian Arabs who were threatening the Westerners when she decided to become a human shield:

[Corrie] was propelled, in part, by frustration. During the past few days she and the nine other ISM activists had become preoccupied with an anonymous letter circulating through Rafah that cast suspicion on the human shields. "Who are they? Why are they here? Who asked them to come here?" it asked. The letter referred to Corrie and the other expatriate women in Rafah as "nasty foreign bitches" whom "our Palestinian young men are following around." It was a sobering reminder that outsiders -- even international do-gooders -- were untrustworthy in the eyes of some Palestinians.

That morning, the ISM team tried to devise a strategy to counteract the letter's effects. "We all had a feeling that our role was too passive. We talked about how to engage the Israeli military," Richard "Fuzz" Purssell told me by phone from Great Britain. ...That morning, team members made a number of proposals that seemed designed only to aggravate the problem. Purssell, for instance, suggested marching on a checkpoint that had been the site of several suicide attacks. "The idea was to more directly challenge the Israeli military dominance using our international status," Purssell told me.

Follow the Libyan ship - live! (Update)

Will the Amalthea ship from Libya try to run the blockade to Gaza or will it go to El Arish, Egypt?

You can follow its movements, minute by minute, from the Marine Traffic site!

Here's the most recent picture of its route:

As you can see, it seems to have turned more towards Egypt since the Israeli navy made contact a few hours ago. And Egyptian officials say that it is headed towards El Arish. But the captain might still change his mind....

UPDATE: The ship disappeared from the site - its GPS apparently turned off. No idea why.

I heard via email that Israel Radio reported that he main engine was damaged.

The captain had denied that he had changed course to Egypt.

And, at least one passenger on this ship craves "martyrdom," which may be part of the problem: (h/t Mere Rhetoric)

1:00 AM Israel time: Israel Matzav says: Israel radio just reported that the ship claims that its main engine is damaged and that it will take several hours to fix.

To me this sounds like the captain might be feigning damage and going to go for Gaza in daylight - or else why would he turn off the GPS?

UPDATE 2: It has re-appeared at the MarineTraffic site, still going 1.4 knots towards Egypt.
UPDATE 3: It is gone again. (3:35 AM Israel time)
UPDATE 4: Back online, going almost due south for some reason at 1.6 knots (4:05 AM) At this slow rate it wouldn't make it to El Arish until Thursday, but earlier in its journey is was going at 8 knots.
UPDATE 5: 6:00 AM, and the ship disappeared again, after being oriented at about 142 degrees, still towards El Arish. At this point is would have to go to 90 degrees to make it to Gaza.

By the way, it is carrying about the same amount of aid that Israel trucks in every day.

AP reported at 5:30 that the Libyan captain claimed to have been surrounded by for Israeli ships.

UPDATE 6: GPS still winking in and out, but the ship picked up speed and seems to be headed for El Arish - 115 degrees, 7 knots. (12:15) Gaddafi Foundation still saying it is going to Gaza, though.

Saudis moving forward, Jordanians backward (maybe)

The good news: Saudi Arabia is planning to pass a law in the near future to make it illegal for a girl under the age of 17 to get married, in a bid to eliminate the many child marriages (legal statutory rapes) that have been embarrassing the kingdom, especially when little girls are forced to marry old men to their parents can get paid.

The bad news: Islamists in Jordan are pushing to change the age at which girls can marry without parental consent from 18 to 15. A feminist activist retorted that even 18 is too young for girls to get married - unless they are pregnant and need to ensure that the child would be legitimate. (She is against girls being forced to marry their rapists.)

(h/t Ali)