Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, January 23, 2006

Interesting article on Iranian worldview

This is a very long article where the author claims to interview some Iranian politicians and military men. The author is clearly sympathetic towards his subjects and it is hard to know how much of what they say is true and how much is bluster. Also, it is not clear that the average Iranian agrees with them - the level of patriotism in Iran is almost certainly not as described. Even so, their analyses are interesting. One excerpt:

When I asked them what Iran would do if the U.S. was serious in attacking Iranian nuclear sites, Hussein said, "Then they open hell's gates towards themselves," and smiled. When I asked him to elaborate more, he continued, "In the papers there is always talk about air attacks on Iranian installations by Israel or the U.S. This type of psychological warfare is used to divert our attention. We know for a fact that no two Western wars are similar and we are sure that the Israelis would not risk an air attack. We know there are at least three possible scenarios of attacking these sites, including using their submarines in the Persian Gulf, commandos from the sea, or Mojahedin Khalgh trained in Israel and Azerbaijan to destroy the Bushehr nuclear power plant from the inside, but these are only plans. We have even more plans for how to confront them as well. This is a game of chess and we have practiced many different scenarios." Ali, another revolutionary guard, smiled and responded, "We have indicated directly and indirectly that with the first bullet shot at Iran, the map of the Middle East will be changed forever. Many American puppet regimes and dictators will fall and there will never be a government like what is now in Israel. The Apartheid system in Israel will be dismantled and a democratic government which embraces Jews, Christians, and Moslems equally will come to power. Millions of Palestinians will return home and millions of European and American migrants will return back from Palestine to their countries."

When I mentioned the immense firepower of the U.S. and the chemical, biological, and nuclear arsenal of Israel Hussein smiled and said, "We are ready, bring them on." Then after chuckling he said, "We have our sensors in place in the U.S., Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and most Arab countries. We know ahead of the time when they are coming, and since Mr. Bush has given American democracy along with the preemptive strike as the right of everybody in the world, we are going to use it and use it effectively. We are present in most of the military briefings of the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq. As soon as we see that it is imminent we hit them and hit them hard. If U.S. commanders used a sledgehammer to break a walnut in Iraq, we will use two sledgehammers for a hazelnut everywhere in the Middle East! Whether the U.S. or Israel attacks us, we will consider it as Israeli attack since we know how much power they have over the U.S. political and decision-making system." When I asked why they would hold Israel responsible if the U.S. attacked unilaterally, he responded that the American policy in Middle East is designed and dictated by Jewish organizations such as the AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) which in turn gets its agenda and policy from Israel. "Don't you remember the role of three Jewish Musketeer's in Iraq invasion?" He meant Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Michael Ledeen. Ali added, "The U.S. political system is under heavy pressure from Zionist organizations. Look at the articles published in U.S. papers about Iran. Most of the authors are Zionists strongly affiliated with AIPAC. Most of these guys dream of an Israel which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates. This is dangerous ideology. We must stop this at some stage and this is the best time. Many Western immigrants in Israel are thinking and working toward it. Look at the Mayflower ship which brought a handful of Europeans to America, the American natives lost their identity and culture, and the rest is the history. We do not want this to happen to the Middle Eastern countries."

Jamshid said, "Since her inception by the Europeans, Israel has had four wars with her neighbors and in three of those wars she obtained more land. That is until 1979, the year the Islamic Republic was born in Iran, and since then she has not started any wars, since she knew she cannot, because Iran would definitely intervene. They want more land for all these Russian and other immigrants and that is why they put pressure on the U.S. to attack Iran."

I asked Jamshid what the possible response could be, he said very calmly, "If our peaceful nuclear installations are attacked, no doubt we will take out that chocolate factory in Dimona, and not only that one, but all other shops which sell that kind of chocolate in Israel!" He was referring to Israeli nuclear sites, and then continued, "We will make a big mess in Israel and leave it to the Europeans and the Americans to clean this mess up. Both the U.S. and Israel know that, and for that matter, if they are serious about their intention, they have to bomb not only the nuclear research centers, but all the Shahab-3 silos and to be safe many other military sites as well- and that means an all out war. We are ready for that. That is a hard job for them since finding and destroying these sites quickly is very hard," and laughed.

I asked them how they saw the war scenario. Ali said, "The possible war would be outside of Iranian borders. We have many theaters of operations including Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf and some Arab countries where U.S has troops there. We can increase the U.S. fatalities to a few dozen a day easily. In the case of Israel we are going to cause the immigration of 2-3 million European and Americans." When I asked for further explanation, he said, "Well if Iran is attacked we know who is responsible and that is when we decide that they should not live in our neighborhood." When I mentioned the Arrow anti-missiles Israelis have, he smiled. "Arrow anti-missiles are not accurate, and we know that for fact. They are working hard to improve it, but have not been successful so far. It is mainly a propaganda tool for the USraelis," stressing the last word with smile, before adding, "The Shahab-3 can easily take care of them. Their accuracy has been improved greatly. We have enough of them to spend more per target to increase the chance of hitting a target accurately, also do not forget we have satellite which looks at our target there and gives us real time information."

Javid, an Iran-Iraq war veteran calmly said, "There are many obstacles to the invasion of Iran. Iran is four times bigger than Iraq, so the number of soldiers has to be more accordingly. The U.S. does not have that many troops, even it were to bring in NATO and can double or triple the size of troops of what is has now in Iraq, there are still a lot of shortfalls. Iranian people have a very distinct culture and history which make them stand out as a solid nation. Two main elements which play important role in the defense of the country are nationalism and Shi'ism. These two are our real nuclear weapon. Both played an important role in the Iraq-Iran war. During the chaos of the revolution where there was no formal army to stand in front of hundreds of Iraqi tanks, ordinary people took up arms and stood in front of the Iraqis heavy army and stopped them for months. Young citizens took up grenades and threw themselves under the tanks and stopped Iraqi tanks. Saddam thought the war would take a few weeks, and although he was backed by Russia, Europe, U.S. and the Arab world, it took eight years and at the end he did not gain a meter of Iranian soil."

When I mentioned the superiority of U.S. military hardware, software, as well as their tactics he said, "Even if they could bring few thousand more soldiers and the best hardware they can not get to Tehran- conquering Iran is wishful thinking a corn-grower from Kansas might believe. First of all, in Iran people always fought against invaders and the army helped them. The U.S. can defeat the Iranian army, but not the Iranian people. There has never been any army in the world that could defeat a nation. Vietnam is the recent history lesson. On the basis of a military evaluation done by some western analysts and institutions, in any invasion of Iran 200,000 to 500,000 troops will be lost. Which country or countries are going to handle that amount of loss just for a problem which there is a diplomatic solution?" When I raised my eyebrow at his figures he got agitated and said, "Well, look, Saddam Hussein penetrated into Iran about 20-60 kilometers and lost about half a million men. Since the Americans have a better army and equipments, then they will have fewer casualties than Saddam. However, anybody who wants to get to Tehran which is a long way from the Iraqi border must pay more". Then he laughed and said, "Otherwise if they want to pay a friendly visit to us, then they are welcome!" He continued on, "Most Iranian cities are near a mountain or in a valley, and it is very easy for a few fighters to go to those mountains that overlook the cities and make hell for the invaders. That is why as a nation we had only two major defeats in the last 2,500 years: one by Greeks and one by Arab Moslem armies. Suppose that an imaginary army comes to Iran; to be successful that army has to get control of at least 10-12 major cities which have more than a million in population, since if any of these cities are ignored, then their mission is not accomplished and that city would quickly become the main point of resistance. Iraq had two cities and quickly was overcome by the invaders. Basra was mainly Shiite and Baghdad was partly Shiite and you know that the Shiite hate Saddam. The reason was that Saddam was a dictator, who did not have popular support, and many disliked him. Iraq had gone through two terrible wars and exhausted its resources physically and mentally. The government of Iran is not like Saddam's, it still has many supporters and even the opposition groups want to correct its shortcomings and not topple the regime. In case of such an invasion, it will inevitably back up the government. Iran came out of the war with Iraq quickly and now it produces his own armaments including airplanes, rockets, missiles, tanks, and heavy armor."

On Friday afternoon, 20 January 2006, Mohammed Bassam Shuhaiber, 11, from Gaza City, was injured by a live bullet to the abdomen during an electoral gathering. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, Shuhaiber was attending an electoral gathering organized by Fatah in the al-Sabra neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, when a member of Fatah fired gunshots into the air. One of the bullets hit the child, who was evacuated to a hospital in the city. Soon after, the child's family destroyed a car belonging to the member of Fatah, who is believed to be responsible for the shooting and also beat him. PCHR also discovered that the suspected shooter is a member of the security services.

Meanwhile, Hamas is accusing Fatah of forcing the Palestinian Police to vote for Fatah.

Somehow, this is all Israel's fault. A prominent Yemeni columnist notes, with a straight face:

One is truly amazed to watch the US coverage of the Israeli Prime Minister’s latest illness and how little mention, if any, is ever given of the black record that Sharon has accumulated over the years. On the contrary there were efforts made to paint the man as having turned to the only “hope for peace”, as he has shown by his unilateral decision to get the settlements out of Gaza. Nothing could be further than the truth. If you ask anyone in Gaza, they will tell you that not much has changed since the Israelis “withdrew”, as they are confronted with daily killings, encroachments, assaults and what have you, to make life as miserable for the residents of Gaza as possible.

Cognitive dissonance is an amazing thing.

Put simply, the experimenters concluded that human beings, when asked to lie without being given sufficient justification, will convince themselves that the lie they are asked to tell is the truth. Only when sufficient justification is given, researchers speculated, are human beings able to resist having their mind instantly reprogrammed by any request that they lie.

Anti-zionism is racism:

The General Assembly declared 2005 the Year of the Desert. Famine and poverty-ridden countries in Africa and Asia benefit from technologies created in Israel's Negev, where, with scientific and technological ingenuity, the desert miraculously became a productive region of wealth creation.

At Turtle Bay, however, Arab diplomats threatened to vote down a resolution because Israel proposed to insert a paragraph hailing an international desert conference in Beer Sheba. Although it is within Israel's pre-1967 borders, the Negev capital is "disputed territory," the Arabs said. In a "compromise," a balancing paragraph alleging Israeli destruction of natural Arab resources was awkwardly slapped on.

Most African and Asian countries joined the attack on Israel. Some Europeans, too, eagerly jumped in, while other Europeans religiously observed their abstaining tradition. As a result, the desert resolution was turned into a petty Middle Eastern dispute.

Iran secretly increasing nuclear capabilities

Hamas' "equal rights" for women:

With her textured handbag, heavy mascara, and a veil revealing only her eyes, Alaa Awdeh sounds like the ultimate feminist. Women, she believes, should have equal rights in Palestinian society, especially the right to die in the armed struggle against Israel.

''That's what I am looking for, to sacrifice my life," said Awdeh, 18, an Islamic studies major at Al Najah University in Nablus and enthusiastic member of the youth wing of Hamas, the radical Islamic group.

HH54

Haveil Havalim #54 is out, this week hosted at Jack's Shack.

As usual, it is an excellent collection of more good articles from the Jewish blogosphere than I have time to read. There are two articles from here, one which I submitted (at the advice of Soccer Dad) and one which I didn't, so presumably Jack liked it. Even a little appreciation towards a blog goes a long way, and although I may like to pretend to have no ego, I have to admit it feels very nice when someone compliments an article I wrote.

Check it out!

It's all a game - and the cards are stacked

The Nobel-prize winning Professor Israel Aumann has been spending his newfound fame on giving advice about how game theory affects the Middle East conflict. What he says makes sense, and I like his backhanded swipe at "Peace Now."

Rushing to surrender territory to Israel's enemies in an effort to increase security and foster peace is a bankrupt policy that will only lead to further bloodshed.

So said Nobel Laureate Professor Israel Aumann Saturday evening during a speech to participants in the Herzliya Conference on the folly of Israel's “disengagement” from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.

Aumann explained the problem is most Israelis, unlike their Islamic foes, have become convinced they are out of time.

“The Arabs always said they have time, and that they can wait 10, 20 or 50 years until we disappear,” he noted.

But Israelis, “we're in a hurry. We're destroying beautiful, flourishing communities in the name of peace, because 'something has to be done.'”

Instead, Aumann lectured, Israel should be patient and wait until the Arabs truly accept the fact of Israel's existence, regardless of how long it takes.

“If we had patience,” he said, “We might really achieve peace. [But] anyone who wants peace now won't ever get a lasting peace.”

“The very act of running headlong after the longed-for peace is precisely that which distances it from us.”

The man recognized as one of the world's leading game theorists also criticized his government's failure to demand any reciprocity from the Arabs, while under Western pressure Israel continues to dole out concessions.

“The wretched Oslo Agreement,” as he referred to it, “includes a clause in which the Palestinian Authority agrees to stop the unbridled incitement in their schools against Israel and the Jews... This clause has never been carried out, and the incitement gets worse and worse each year.”

The rape of impressionable young minds with such hate-filled propaganda “is much more serious than any terrorist acts or Kassam rockets,” the professor warned.

“If children learn in school that the state of Israel should be wiped off the map, they'll become adults who believe the same thing. And not long from now, they'll be the leaders.”

His point about time is very important.

A little-known and counter-intuitive fact is that if you go to Vegas and bet on a coin toss for an arbitrary number of times, the odds are not 50/50 - the house has an edge. The reason is because the house has unlimited funds and you don't, so it is possible that you will go on a losing streak and lose everything but that is impossible for the casino.

This may be similar. The sheer number of Arabs and Muslims who are dead-set against Israel make even equitable-sounding agreements severely tilt towards the Arab side in reality. Israel does not have unlimited time, unlimited territory ,unlimited population or unlimited resources, and the Arab world has great advantages in all those areas.

There is a well-known saying - the Arabs can afford to lose many wars against Israel, but Israel cannot afford to lose one. I believe that this fact needs to be a major part of the strategy that Israel uses when deciding whether to give more concessions or to cave to more Western pressure. Those who push for a solution now are the ones who ultimately hurt Israel, even if their hearts are in the right place.

NY Sun: Possible terror connection to Brandeis professor

The Al-Arian trial showed some evidence that a Palestinian professor at Brandeis University may have been raising money for Islamic Jihad.

Alisa Flatow, murdered by Islamic Jihad in 1995, was a Brandeis student.

Concern is mounting about the possible connections between a prominent Palestinian Arab scholar, Khalil Shikaki, and leading members of the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Government wiretaps introduced at the trial of a Florida professor accused of operating the American wing of PIJ, Sami Al-Arian, show Mr. Shikaki distributed money in the West Bank for Al-Arian associates allegedly tied to PIJ - conversations the federal government argues may represent terrorist activity.

Mr. Shikaki is, among many scholarly affiliations, the founder and director of a prominent polling institute, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, and last year was named a scholar at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. Among Palestinian Islamic Jihad's more notorious acts was an April 1995 bombing in Israel that killed a Brandeis student, Alisa Flatow.

He is also the brother of the assassinated founder of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fathi Shikaki, and a former director of the Florida-based World & Islam Studies Enterprise. WISE was founded by Mr. Al-Arian and connected to several other figures involved in the recent PIJ terrorism trials in Tampa, Fla., during which Mr. Al-Arian and three co-defendants were acquitted.

{...]
Wiretaps of conversations between Messrs. Shikaki, Shallah, and Hammoudeh introduced as evidence at the Al-Arian trial...suggest that Mr. Shikaki distributed money in the West Bank for Al-Arian associates, who raised the funds in America, and then stopped the money transfers in January 1995, shortly after PIJ was declared a blocked terrorist organization by President Clinton.

In a government wiretap dated January 15, 1995, in a conversation between Messrs. Shikaki and Hammoudeh, Mr. Hammoudeh says to Mr. Shikaki: "If you please, do us a favor. There is an amount of money for orphans in Nablus." In the case against Mr. Al-Arian, the government argued and introduced evidence indicating that "orphans" was a code for Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Mr. Shikaki replies: "Um ... Eah. [Pause.] [Sighs.] Okay, when you want to give it to them."

In a wiretap from January 28, 1995, Mr. Hammoudeh calls Mr. Shikaki again from Florida to inquire about the money distribution, and Mr. Shikaki refuses - five days after Mr. Clinton signed an executive order prohibiting financial transactions with terrorist organizations threatening the Middle East peace process, including PIJ.

"What have you done for us regarding the subject," Mr. Hammoudeh asks. "Ehh ... I did not do anything for you yet, by God, Sameeh," Mr. Shikaki replies. "If you have another way to give them money, a way other than my way ..."

Mr. Hammoudeh then says: "By God... I mean I can send them a check through the mail. But I thought this way is better, more secure."

This sounds exactly the way two people would speak about giving money to orphans, right?

Hamas' extreme makeover

This story almost seems like a spoof, but the sad part is that not only is it serious - but it will work in Europe.

Hamas is paying a spin doctor $180,000 (£100,000) to persuade Europeans and Americans that it is not a group of religious fanatics who relish suicide bombings and hate Jews.

The organisation, also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, has hired a media consultant, Nashat Aqtash, to improve its image at home and abroad because it expects to emerge from next week's Palestinian general election as a major political force, and wants recognition and acceptance by the US and EU.

"Hamas has an image problem. The Israelis were able to create a very bad image of the Palestinians in general and particularly Muslims and Hamas. My contract is to project the right image," said Mr Aqtash, who also teaches media at Birzeit University in Ramallah.

"We don't need the international community to accept Hamas ideology, we need it to accept the facts on the ground. We are not killing people because we love to kill. People view Hamas as loving sending people to die. We don't love death, we like life."

Mr Aqtash, who describes himself as opposed to violence and "believing in the Gandhi route", has advised Hamas leaders to change their image by explaining that they do not hate Israelis because they are Jews. And he is attempting to persuade influential foreigners that Hamas is essentially a peaceful organisation that was forced to fight, but is now committed to pressing its cause through politics, not violence.

"Hamas does not believe in terrorism or killing civilians. But Ariel Sharon pressed buttons to make people angry. Sometimes we are innocent enough to react in a way that the Israelis use the reaction against us," he said.

Next week Mr Aqtash says he will address the former US president Jimmy Carter and former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, and other prominent foreigners monitoring the election. But he admits he and his small team working from an office in Ramallah have their work cut out. Hamas is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, killing and maiming hundreds of civilians (many of them children), although not for yesterday's attack in Tel Aviv.

Hamas's founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel and it wants to impose an Islamic state on all Palestinian territory.

Mr Aqtash, who says he is not a member of Hamas and does not know where it got the money to pay him but frequently refers to the group as "we", says he has told the leadership it has to change its rhetoric. He says Hamas has not helped itself by celebrating suicide bombings; he advises against celebration. And he has told Hamas leaders not to talk about destroying Israel.

"Abdel Aziz Rantisi [the former Hamas leader killed by Israel two years ago] was on television saying things that foreigners cannot accept, like we will remove Israel from the map. He should have talked about Palestinian suffering. He should have said we need this occupation ended. Foreigners will accept this," he said.

Mr Aqtash has also advised Hamas leaders to emphasise that they are not anti-semitic or against Israelis because they are Jews. Hamas has taken the message on board. In an interview earlier this week, Muhammad Abu Tir, who is second on the Hamas election list, twice (and unprompted) offered an assurance that he is not a Jew hater.

"Loving others is part of our religion. We are not against Jews as Jews, we are against oppression," he said.

Mr Aqtash also told Mr Abu Tir to rid himself of a red beard, coloured by henna, because it makes people laugh.

The PR man wriggles away from questions about whether Hamas has more than an image problem when it sends bombers on buses and into cafes.

"I'm personally against killing. All civilians should not be killed. Killing Israeli civilians is not accepted by the international community. They think it is a terrorist act," he said.

"But Sharon was responsible for killing civilians too. During this intifada Hamas killed a thousand Israelis, some of them civilians, some of them soldiers. But the Israelis killed 4,000 Palestinians. It's a war. The Israelis use F16s; Hamas uses people. Anyway, Hamas hasn't sent a suicide bomber in a year."

Hamas is also attempting to soften its image at home with the launch of a television station in Gaza that includes a children's show presented by "Uncle Hazim" and men in furry animal suits. The station, named Al Aqsa Television after Islam's third holiest site, says it intends to put across the group's message "but without getting into the tanks, the guns, the killing and the blood". It will instead focus on religious readings, discussion programmes and a talent show.

Mr Aqtash, however, is not entirely confident in his powers of persuasion.

"How did I do?" he asked as the interview ended. "Did I make you think differently about Hamas?"

Just wait. In a few weeks we will be seeing op-ed pieces from the Eurabians saying that "Israel has to negotiate with enemies" and "Hamas has changed and embraced democracy" and "Islamic Jhad is the menace, not Hamas" and "Hamas has no control over its military wing."

Because when people want to believe something badly enough, they don't need too many reasons to ignore the truth.

Q Mr. Vice President, a cornerstone of U.S. policy has been to spread democracy in the Middle East. Does the electoral success of Hamas and of the Iran-backed fundamentalist parties in Iraq prompt any second thoughts?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, I think the basic principle is still sound. If you look at the problem in Iran, though, a very restrictive system in terms of who's allowed on the ballot. And there's an unelected group of clerics, basically, that dominate in Iran. They're the ones who have to certify before someone is allowed on the ballot. And we've seen the result of that process, obviously, has been the election of the new President Ahmadinejad, the former mayor of Tehran. And he has conducted himself in a way and made a number of statements since he got elected, obviously, that are cause for concern. I don't think you can blame democracy or democratic principles for the fact that he is there.

Hamas in the Palestinian areas -- we'll see what happens. We got an election coming up shortly. But if you believe in democratic practices, as we do; believe in a freedom agenda for the Middle East, as we do; then I think it's important for us to be as consistent as possible going forward.
...
Once we've started down this road, though, I think it's very important we stick with it, and stick with those principles. And we believe -- the President believes very deeply and I share his conviction that the solution to the long-term problems in the Middle East lies in having democratically elected governments in places like Iraq that won't spawn the ideology of hatred and violence that has dominated so much of the region, that will offer people opportunities and hope, and will reduce the prospects for war in the future. So it doesn't mean you're always going to get a perfect result, but I would argue that we're going to get a much better result out of that process than we have the system that's been in place in the past that has produced the likes of Saddam Hussein, for example, or of Yasser Arafat.

This is the quandary that we've been talking about for a year now. By pushing democracy before pushing true freedom, you get a sham of an election that is easy for Islamists and terrorists to manipulate.

But if Dick Cheney thinks that election rallies where people get killed by campaigner bullets is what democracy is all about, who am I to argue?

The mainstreaming of Islamic anti-semtism

The Islamic world is far from monolithic. There are reform-minded Muslims, progressive Muslims, and pragmatic Muslims whose focus is in improving their communities.

Since Islam and Judaism are very similar in many ways, I have never jumped on the anti-Islam bandwagon that many right-wing bloggers occupy. On a purely religious outlook level, the two religions have many similar worldviews and goals, and I am dismayed that there isn't more cooperation between the two in matters of mutual interest.

Despite these similarities, and despite the oft-repeated Muslim refrain of how they have no problem with Jews but only Zionism, it is amazing how much instiutionalized anti-semitism has crept into the thoughts of moderate and mainstream Islam. It is no surprise that Jew-haters use Zionism as a code-word for Judaism, but even thoughtful Muslims have it branded on their psyches.

One example is from an Indian Muslim publication, the Milli Gazette, which has many articles about women's rights in Islam and similar topics. But when the topic turns towards Israel or indeed politics altogether, all semblance of logic and reason fly out the window.

One classic example is this article trying to differentiate between terror and "resistance." Almost hilariously the author tries to say that Muslims fighting in Kashmir for territory is terrorist and couterproductive but Muslims blowing up Jewish women and children are justified resistance.

A side comment in an article about Indian communists and Israel betrays the deep-seated anti-semitism of today's Islam:

Israel’s Zionist strategies are not always adopted by the US administration, though at the moment the American Zionist neo-cons do have practically sewed up US administration to their own world-view of total domination of the third world through the use of brutal force, under various spurious pretexts.

Here we see two things:

The classic language of anti-semitism has been entirely replaced by the veneer of anti-Zionism, which even otherwise educated Muslims swallow whole, and
No matter how much wishful thinking Israel's liberal friends display, there is no way that any sort of Jewish state would ever be accepted by the vast majority of Muslims.

This is not the only progressive Muslim publication that turns completely blind when the topic is Israel; Muslim Wake-Up! is another.

Here is one fundamental difference between Jews and Muslims - it is easy to find Jews who passionately hate Israel (see part 6) and hard to find Muslims who passionately hate Palestinian terrorists.

Abu Hamza in court

An interesting detail from the BBC coverage of the trial of terror-inciting Abu Hamza:

Mr Abu Hamza said that Jews had a kinship with Muslims, both religions being descended from Abraham. But Israel and 'Zionism' was another matter.

'I do not believe in Israel,' he said. 'In the Torah [Jewish holy text] it is not Israel. In the Bible it is not Israel. In the Koran it is not Israel. It is Palestine. It's an abomination to change its name.'

Much of the day was taken up with such extremely complicated debate...

Wow, the BBC authors must not be too bright to think that this point is "complicated." It is a simple, provable lie: The Koran not once says the word "Palestine." The Bible calls the land "Israel" and "Judah" numerous times, and not once "Palestine".

I hope that the prosecutor has more brains than the BBC.

Today's fake condemnations

Only Palestinian Arab leaders can look at an attack against Jews and claim that they are the real victims.

Which means that if only Jews would be victims of an attack, well, that would be just dandy!

This is sabotage and aimed at sabotaging the elections, not only the elections, but also the security of Palestinians,' Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told reporters at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

'The culprits must be punished,' he said. 'They aim to sabotage the elections and the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to impose law and order.'

'We condemn this attack,' echoed senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. 'This is an attack to sabotage the Palestinian elections and sabotage the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process after the elections.'

Has there ever been a culture so obsessed with victimhood to the point of paralysis?

Notable news

A British Muslim writes:

"I am clearly one of those foolish Muslims who have "succumbed to Zionist pressure". I think the salutary lessons of the Holocaust should be remembered. I think that Holocaust Memorial Day, designated by the UK, with the support of the United Nations, as 27 January, is an important commemoration. And I think that Muslims should take an active part in the memorial service and other commemorative events across Britain."

A 15-year old Arab boy gave a bomb belt to the IDF.

The EU is already preparing to negotiate with Hamas terrorists.

Development of the Nautilus laser gun that was meant to shoot down Katyushas and Hamas rockets has been stopped by the US.

Religious Jews are being barred from entering Jordan.

A Haaretz news ticker says that the EU is urging Israeli restraint after today's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. And Saeb Erekat says yet again that the attack wasn't meant to kill Jews, but to derail the Palestinian Arab elections. You see, he's the victim.

A coerced apology for Jew-hatred

Cape Town Muslim radio station, Voice of the Cape, has apologised for 'a number of deeply offensive and hurtful attacks on Jews and the Jewish religion' during a broadcast.

The offending comments were made by Egyptian student Sheikh Muhamed Colby in a September 2004 programme titled Human Rights And Religion, in which he suggested that Jews were intent on world domination, and were ready to spill Muslim blood.

After a complaint by the Jewish Board of Deputies, which was represented by Advocate Anton Katz and attorney Mervyn Smith, the Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee ruled that Voice of the Cape should apologise for the comments, which were found to have amounted to hate speech.

The ruling, made in September but only ratified by the committee on Monday, required Voice of the Cape to broadcast a scripted and unreserved apology once on its main news bulletin and at the beginning and end of the programme which contained the original offensive comments.

The station was also ordered to adopt a set of measures to prevent the broadcast of any further offensive material.

In its apology, Voice of the Cape said Colby's statements did not represent the station's views.

'In no way do we hold the Jewish community in contempt. Islam teaches us to respect all religions. We apologise unreservedly and unequivocally for any offence or harm caused to the Jewish community as a result of the broadcast.'

Colby's speech suggested that white Europeans, Zionists and Americans were responsible for a number of human rights violations, including the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

"As far as Judaism is concerned, they believe that they are the chosen nation by God Almighty," he said. "They believe they have been created to enslave and subjugate humanity and take full control of all matters of life.

"When they look at any other religion or sect, other than Judaism, they look at that sect as a means of enslavement, killing, slaughtering, murdering; any form, any means, as long as they reach their aim and their goal."

Colby said the "protocol of the wise Zionist" involved asking what steps could be taken to take "total control of the world".

"This is how they control the nation. This is how they control everything."

Colby said the blood of Muslim people was halaal (permissible) for Jews.

"We are seeing... that the blood of the Muslim is running through the streets and nobody is doing anything about it... " he said.

Notice the timeframe. The broadcast was in September 2004; the apology was this week.

If the Muslim radio station truly believed the words of the apology, why did they wait 16 months when they were ordered to apologize?

UPDATE: It's Almost Supernatural has been following this, and has many details on how it was covered. (Hat tip Soccer Dad.)

The Hamas roadmap, and how Israel can respond

OK, so now the PA is pretty much collapsed and the EU is starting to withhold money from the Palestinian Arabs who seem to spend all their money on "policemen." Hamas is poised to either win the election or come in a strong second place. So what's next?

It seems to me that Hamas will follow the path of Fatah.

They will pretend to moderate just barely enough to get the EU to loosen the purse strings and give themselves legitimacy. They miss the days when they could pretend to have a "political arm" and a "military arm" and the Europeans would happily buy into it. This would in turn pressure the US to moderate its stance towards Hamas, and it would pressure Israel as well.

Like Fatah, they will maintain the terror infrastructure but keep it more clandestine and keep plausible deniability. Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, Al Aqsa Brigades and probably a Gaza Al-Qaeda will be allowed to operate and be protected by the Palestinian Arab government.

Unlike Fatah, Hamas will try to move the PA towards a more religious direction. It doesn't appear that many Palestinian Arabs will have a problem with that.

There is one other big difference between Hamas and Fatah: Hamas actually cares about the Palestinian Arab people. This of course sounds strange, that an organization that encourages its people to blow themselves up cares about them, but the fact is that Hamas does spend time building hospitals and schools, and the PA ignores anything that could help their people. Admittedly, the schools are meant to be training grounds for the next generation of terrorists, but even so there is a charitable component to Hamas that does not exist in the Fatah leadership.

Although it is a slim hope, this could work to Israel's advantage. After all, Israel has an interest in the welfare of Palestinian Arabs. If they are happy and have jobs and prospects they are far less likely to become terrorists. The only people interested in keeping Palestinian Arab refugees" in camps are the Fatah and other Arab leaders. It is not clear that Hamas would encourage maintaining the refugee camps.

The collapse of the PA is a fait accompli. For Israel to remain intransigent towards a Hamas-led PA will not work to Israel's advantage, and frankly the Fatah-led PA was just as interested in Israel's destruction as Hamas is.

It sounds bizarre, but Israel should take the diplomatic initiative in accepting whoever is leading the PA and make a centerpiece of the policy the destruction of "refugee" camps and building of real towns. The disgrace of the UN-administered and self-perpetuating camps needs to be brought to the forefront; putting not only the UN on the defensive but also the PA, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria for what they have done to the Palestinian Arab people.

A shake-up in the PA can hardly hurt, and it may help. The negotiations with the PA have not helped Israel at all, and Hamas' relative pragmatism may bring an opportunity.

The logical song

Israel likes to use rational, logical arguments to make its case to the Western world. It is a somewhat effective method, but ultimately it is not what wins wars.

When it comes down to it, from a purely rational perspective, Jerusalem is just a piece of real estate, no more or less important than Gaza or Madagascar. Logical, rational Jews can look through the superstitious nonsense of tradition and coldly calculate the cost of keeping the eastern half versus the benefit of giving it up.

When Western leaders want to pressure Israel, they will also use the same cold hard logic to press their claims. Certainly, they reason, logical Jews realize that holding onto the West Bank is untenable: the demographic threat is insurmountable, the cost of protecting isolated Jewish enclaves is too high, the world pressure will be too relentless.

The irony is that Israel's strongest argument is the one it seems to try to actively downplay - the emotional argument.

The Palestinian Arabs don't use logic at all to try to convince their people that their cause is right - they use purely emotional arguments, constant pictures of Al Quds and videos of al-Dura on TV. They know that emotionally-charged citizens - illogical people - are their best weapon, because the West will throw up its hands in the face of emotional arguments and instead try to get the logical Israelis to give up more land and rights.

Meanwhile, the "enlightened" Israeli intelligentsia (and now leadership) will demonize the very Jews who have the emotional, non-logical connection to the land, the ones that don't listen to their cool academic arguments. Whether the connection is religious or cultural or just vaguely emotional, it has no place in Israeli decision-making. Such emotions are not harnessed; they are quashed.

There is no logical argument for Jews to stay in Hebron. None at all. Yes, you can argue that Jews lived there for centuries, but so what - Jews lived in Baghdad and Alexandria for centuries as well.

This anti-emotional attitude is what could lose Eretz Yisroel.

Chevron (Hebron) is the second-holiest city in Judaism. Logic doesn't enter into it - it is a fact. The heroes who moved there after 1967 were not motivated by logic, but out of pure love for the land and all it represents. It was important enough for them to risk their very lives for an idea - nothing logical about that. To have the state act against these people, to see Jews tell other Jews they cannot live in a city that their forefathers are buried in, is not just wrong. It is criminal. It is tragic that any Jew, even the most secular one, can conceive that Hebron is not a place for Jews to live wherever they want.

The same reasons against Jews living in Chevron can be used to cede all of Israel and take the Iranian advice to move to Alaska.

The very people who can best defend Israel because of their pure love of the Holy Land are being marginalized by their own government. It is beyond tragedy that Israel cannot elect a leadership that can say, clearly, to the world: This is our land. There are red lines that we will never cross, no matter what the reason, and they include Hebron. Kever Rochel. Jerusalem.

The emotional arguments are not only stronger than their logical counterparts, but they resonate more with people. Everyone can understand how someone can love their land beyond all rational thought. Abandoning that argument publically means that the "irrational" love that supporters have for Israel gets eroded as well.

As long as Israel concedes the emotional argument to the Arabs, as long as Israel tries to stay "logical" about her claims, she is at a severe long-term disadvantage in this war.

Pity the myopic Hamas women

It's gotta be doubly tough to not only have to walk around with a black veil all day, but also to balance a pair of glasses on it. How can they stop the glasses from slipping off their oh-so-sexy but modestly covered noses? Are there Sharia rules as to what types of frames would not drive the hormonally raged male Hamas terrorists crazy? Must the glasses be tinted heavily, lest someone to see her eyes and be forced to rape her?

It is time to Ask the Imam!

All the fun passed me by

Of all the articles that very angry liberals posted about the JIB awards, especially the Israel Advocacy category, not one bothered mentioning this blog.

Is it because I am careful not to mix up Islam with Islamism, and Palestinian Arabs with their leaders?
Or perhaps because I am not slavishly pro-Bush?
Or maybe simply because it is too inconsequential to mention?

The Carter Center gives Hamas a free pass

Here is what the Carter Center had to say on January 5th about Hamas participating in Palestinian elections, in its entirety:

Participation of Hamas
The 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections face a unique challenge in that they include the participation of a group, the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, that defends violence (including the killing of civilians) as a means to achieving a political end, refuses to give up arms or to declare a permanent ceasefire and is committed to the destruction of a United Nations member state, Israel. While it is in the long term interest of Palestinian democratic development and likely in the long term security interests of Israel that a wide spectrum of groups participate in lawful and peaceful political processes, Hamas’ current political participation, while simultaneously advocating violence, undermines a fundamental principle of democratic elections. In an August 2002 pre-election assessment, NDI, the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), recommended the adoption of candidacy requirements for the expected 2003 PLC elections. The 2002 report also suggested that a code of conduct be developed and enforced which committed all parties to transparent and democratic principles, disallowed election related violence and restricted individuals engaged in, or advocating violence from becoming candidates.

A code of conduct was developed by the Arab Thought Forum in conjunction with NDI in late 2005, which went some way toward this goal. While stopping short of disallowing certain candidates, the code does contain important undertakings that will help enforce peaceful and fair campaigning and promote a peaceful acceptance of the results of the polls. Most political parties have signed on to the code of conduct, and Hamas, as of January 5th, also accepted and signed the code. The international community and domestic observers should be vigilant in watching for violations.

The code is a necessary but incomplete step toward ensuring that elections are about peaceful means to achieve political ends. The Palestinian Authority and newly elected PLC should, as a priority, amend the election and party laws to ensure that political entities participate in elections fairly and peacefully and do not advocate the use of violence as a political tool. This prohibition should apply equally to all groups.

Noble words indeed. Too bad it ignores the reality of Hamas in favor of what they hope Hamas is.

Addressing a Hamas rally in the southern city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, Zahar reiterated his movement's opposition to any form of economic and security cooperation with Israel.

"To all those who claim that Hamas has abandoned the resistance option because of its participation in the election, we say that we remain committed to the resistance," he declared.

"Israel is an enemy, not a partner or a friend or a neighbor. We won't negotiate with them and this is our final position. Palestine, all of Palestine, belongs to the Muslims and the Arabs and no one has the right to give up one inch of its land."

Fathi Hamad, a Hamas candidate from the Gaza Strip, said his movement would continue to develop its armed wing, Izzaddin al-Kassam, by recruiting more members and manufacturing more rockets and bombs.

I'm sure that the Carter Center will duly register its "concern" over such "unfortunate" statements, and then go ahead and certify the election anyway - while castigating Israel for limiting Hamas campaign activity in "East Jerusalem."

I have been unable to find this "code of conduct" explicitly, although many articles on the Arab Thought Forum talk about it. An Al-Jazeerah article summarized it as follows:

1-Full abiding by the provisions of the Central Election Committee;

2- Respecting the role of the national and the international observers, and cooperating with them;

3- Committing to the privacy of vote casting, and to the right of the voters to choose the electoral register freely;

4- No arms to be displayed or used during the pre-election publicity;

5- Committing to the decisions of the judiciary concerning the electoral process; and

6- Accepting the final official results of the elections which will be issued by the Central Election Committee.

Not a word about terror, violence or accepting Israel's right to exist. This is what Jimmah thinks is important - the fact that Hamas won't publicly show weapons for a few weeks.

Hamas, by waiting until January to sign this "code", allowed itself maximum time to show arms during rallies during most of the campaigning anyway.

The Jew-hater behind Scruples

Once again, Google News comes through with indexing an article that is pure, unadulterated Jew-hatred as if it is a legitimate news source.

Today's article comes from EtherZone and it combines the classic paranoia of anti-semites from centuries past with a couple of bizarre twists. His claim to not be anti-semitic is from saying most Jews aren't aware of their leaders' perfidy. Excerpts:

THE "JEWISH BANKER CONSPIRACY"
UNDERSTANDING ANTI-SEMITISM

By: Henry Makow

Just mention the "Jewish Banker Conspiracy" and you'll be as popular as a skunk at a garden party. Tolerant and sophisticated people regard this concept as a hateful and tired cliche. They believe "anti-Semites" should be slandered, sent to jail, and lose their livelihood.

But what if there actually were a "Jewish Banker Conspiracy?" Then these sophisticates would have egg on their face, wouldn't they? They'd be exposed as rubes, victims of a stereotypical Jewish deception achieved by media owned by the very same bankers.

The "Jewish Banker Conspiracy" is not a chimera. It is the plan of Rothschild-controlled central bankers to create a totalitarian system to protect their illegal private monopoly of the world's credit. They print government currency for the price of the paper and then lend it to the government with interest.

The central banking families and their allies used their unfair advantage to gain a monopoly on the world's wealth and a stranglehold on culture and politics. To make us accept their "New World Order," (a.k.a. globalization) they need to divide and degrade humanity by destroying the four pillars of our personal identity and social cohesion (nation, race, religion and family.)

They sponsor Communism, Zionism, Socialism, Neo Conservatism, Liberalism, Feminism, Multi-culturalism and "Diversity" to achieve this purpose. (Socialism substitutes government for family.) Through control of intelligence agencies and secret societies, they sponsor terrorism (incl. 9-11), revolutions, wars and depressions. They may be planning another world war.

Anti-Semitism is caused because Jewish idealists, opportunists and dupes play a prominent role in the above movements, especially Communism. As the New World Order becomes more onerous, anti-Semitism will inevitably increase. Jews need to acknowledge this rather than pretend "anti-Semites" are hallucinating.

Many "anti-Semites" like Texe Marrs and Des Griffin believe that the Jewish Pharisees accepted the offer from Satan that Jesus rejected: "I will give you the Kingdom of the World (i.e. Money, Power) if you obey me." They believe Talmudic Judaism is dedicated to enthroning Lucifer and always has conspired to destroy Christianity. The recent treatment of Christmas is proof that they are not hallucinating.

I am just beginning this immense study and shouldn't be mistaken for an expert. My present hypothesis is that enthroning Satan/Lucifer means enthroning man in the role of God. This is called Illuminism (Hence the "Enlightenment.")

God is rejected. (God represents the natural development of mankind through adherence to spiritual absolutes like morality, justice and truth.)

When gold is God, the extremely rich are the "Chosen People." This myth, together with the Talmudic and Cabalistic traditions, is a perfect mechanism for elite totalitarian control. According to Israel Shahak, Talmudic Judaism has always been a model for a closed oppressive society.

In other words, the whole Jewish enterprize, Judaism etc. may be a "powerful weapon" to enthrone a rule of the super rich, who are "Jewish" mainly by virtue of wealth. But the average Jew will take the blame in the form of anti-Semitism.

For example, the British royal family sees itself as descending from the House of David. A Jewish Mohel circumcised Prince Charles. Are the Windsors Jewish? (Douglas Reed, Somewhere South of Suez, p.356.)

Henry Kissinger once said, "a people who have been persecuted for 2000 years must be doing something wrong." His unsympathetic attitude may reflect that of his employers, the Illuminati bankers.

But check out the author!

Henry Makow, Ph.D. is the inventor of the board game Scruples and author of "A Long Way to go for a Date." His articles on feminism and the New World Order are archived at his web site. Henry is a regular columnist for Ether Zone.

The insane scribblings of a lunatic are paid for, and given legitimacy, by a popular board game!

Haveil Havalim #53 is out

This week's Haveil Havalim is hosted by Elie at Elie's Expositions.

Elie was nice enough to link to three of my posts on his own initiative; much appreciated!

I hope it is not too gauche to mention that my name is spelled with a "Y" (Elder of ZiYon) for reasons too boring to go into here.

Check it out - it is great, as usual!

Boom.

From the Telegraph:

The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president's belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.

One of the first acts of Mr Ahmadinejad's government was to donate about £10 million to the Jamkaran mosque, a popular pilgrimage site where the pious come to drop messages to the Hidden Imam into a holy well.

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour - denied by the government but widely believed - is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a "contract" pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran.

Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.

He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.

This is similar to the Christian vision of the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Hidden Imam is expected to return in the company of Jesus.

Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable.

The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?

Let Ahmadinejad answer that question:

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday evening that the Islamic Republic’s 1979 Islamic revolution was a great movement and a stepping stone to a final “great event” in the world.

Speaking to a crowd in the southern city of Roudan, Hormozgan province, Ahmadinejad said, “The Islamic Republic is the continuation of the path of the prophets which came to begin a great movement and the final occurrence”.

“The Islamic revolution was a great leap in leading the people and reaching the climax of history”, Ahmadinejad said.

Hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance for the second quote.

Q: How can you tell the difference between Palestinian plainclothes policemen and Fatah terrorists?

A: Difference?

Dozens of Palestinian gunmen, including off-duty policemen, blocked two major roads in the Gaza Strip for more than an hour Saturday in the latest sign of chaos gripping the area ahead of Jan. 25 elections.

The gunmen were demanding a government response to the killing of a policeman in a drug bust a week ago.

The protesters urged Abbas to impose order in Gaza. They also called for the resignation of Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who oversees Palestinian security.

The plainclothes officers said they are members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to Fatah.

Well, this explains how so many Palestinian Arabs have jobs as "policemen" and we never see them - they are undercover plain-clothes detectives!

The innovations from PA security forces some almost too fast to keep track of!

Protocols of the Elders of Iranian Islam

I cannot overstate the danger the entire world is facing from Iran.

The world is starting to rouse, ever so slowly, to the danger of Iranian nuclear weapons and offensive missile capabilities with much of Europe within its range.

I have stated before the Iranian aim is to become the world's second superpower, as well as to become the world leader of Islam. When you combine the two, it is clear that the ultimate goal is nothing less than world domination.

I do not write these words easily. I am very careful with my language and I try to be precise, often leavening my posts with "usually"s and "often"s to make sure that I am not making sweeping alarmist statements that are not true. But I have been spending quite a bit of time reading the Iranian news sites and the voluminous quotes from Iran's president and other political leaders, and not only is it clear that my inital analysis of Iran's goals were correct, but they have been understated.

Two articles, when combined, show Iran's goals:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Saturday that Tehran's foreign policy towards global affairs is highly dynamic, systematic and up-to-date.

Addressing a press conference, Ahmadinejad said that Iran's foreign policy vis-a-vis regional and global affairs is based on a "very clear" logic, which is the logic of tranquility and peace for all and is founded on justice and spirituality.

"We are for expansion of relations (with other countries," said Ahmadinejad.

He said Iran's foreign policy seeks peace and tranquility for all nations and "By the grace of God, we have been moving in the same line until today."
The president regretted that today, human societies are ruled by certain rulers who are against spirituality and have no faith in it.

"A number of arrogant individuals, who get tranquilized only by exploiting and dominating nations, are at the helm of power," said the president.

He regretted that today, mankind is under control of certain governments which intend to impose "artificial peace" on the international community in defiance of justice and spirituality. "We believe that such peace and tranquility will not be established because they lack necessary foundation for peace.

"Today, humanity is dominated by the rulers who want to provide security for their own people by imposing war on other nations," added the president.

Such high-sounding principals! But what exactly does he mean? Anyone who has been reading Ahmadenijad's words for any length of time knows that he is talking about a world Islamic 'ummah, a "peace" where everyone in the world is either a Muslim or a willing second-class citizen of the single world entity ruled by sharia, Islamic law. (Hindu and Buddhist infidels may be less than welcome in this world.)

This is made explicit in another article:

Iran faces a multi-dimensional threat and so it needs a multi-faceted preventive strategy.

The Supreme Leader's representative to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hassan Rowhani, made the remark while attending the commemoration ceremony of several senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) who were martyred in a plane crash in northwestern Iran.

"The enemy intends to damage our Islamic and Iranian identity and national confidence by promoting secularism, immorality and market for the Western cultural goods.

"As for domestic security, the enemy encourages and prepares counterrevolutionary forces and intends to inflict damage on our economy," he warned.

Rowhani added, "Now that that Muslim forces in the Middle East have resisted the global arrogance strongly, the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be ignored.

"Iran is the only powerful state in the region which plays an effective role but the enemy would not like Iran to play such a role.

"The IRGC have played a very effective role over the past three decades during the post-Islamic Revolution particularly in cultural, political, spiritual and educational fields. It has protected the Islamic Revolution against different conspiracies."

He pointed to incidents taking place in the aftermath of September 11 events, occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq by Iran's enemies and other developments in the Middle East, saying, "The role of IRGC, Basij (volunteer forces)and other armed forces should not be ignored."

Iran's foreign policy, its scientific research policies, its cultural and religious and military policies, all point to Iran's becoming the de facto leader of the Islamic world and the ultimate spearhead of the war against the United States and Israel, with Europe happily playing a role as a neutral frightened Switzerland, scared both of Iranian nukes and her own demographic Islamic fifth column.

Iran is still far from its goal. It does not have the economy to withstand a real concerted set of sanctions from the West. There are many in Iran who oppose the Islamization of their country's laws. Iran's relationships with the Arab world are still strained. But diplomatically, Iran is in far better shape than the West thinks, and recent history proves that Europe will choose short-term economic gains over long term strategy - preferring to buy Iranian oil that will ultimately bankroll their nuclear-tipped missiles aimed at Paris and Berlin (besides, of course, Tel-Aviv.) And the Arab world would happily rally around an Islamic power rather than an infidel one, when push comes to shove.

The time to act against this threat is now, not later. Iran has perfected the game of buying time and this is not the time to play by their rules.

How to shut up terror supporters

Here is another posting that I created when I was on Yahoo News message boards a couple of years ago:

Terrorist supporters like to pretend that they are only working to protect the poor, downtrodden Palestinian people.

Yet many Palestinian Arabs would LOVE to, voluntarily, move to another Arab country to raise their families in peace, to get jobs and get their pride back. But their Arab "brethren" won't let them come in!

Jordan no longer allows Palestinain Arabs to even visit, or travel through Jordan to go to Mecca! Syria has always kept their Palestinian Arabs in inhumane refugee camps. Kuwait expelled 600,000 Pals in 1991.

So ask a terrorist supporter if he thinks that Palestinian Arabs should be allowed, if they want, to move into other Arab countries and become citizens there.

Their silence will be deafening.

Or at best they will feebly try to change the subject.

Because if they answer honestly, they prove to the world that they don't give a damn about Palestinians, only that they want Israel to disappear.

al-Turki's wisdom

It is time to use the Culture of Death to some advantage.

Thousands of pilgrims were rushing to complete the last of the three days of the stoning ritual before sunset when some of them began to trip over dropped baggage, causing a crush, said Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry. ''This was fate destined by God,'' al-Turki said. ''Some of the pilgrims were undisciplined and hasty to finish the ritual as soon as possible.''"

From now on, whenever any Palestinian Arab gets killed, the Israeli press releases should have a mantra-like statement:

"We regret the loss of life, but, as Mansour al-Turki has stated so eloquently, 'This was a fate destined by God.' We trust that the deceased are in Paradise and that their families are proud that they died for such a worthy cause."

It should be said as automatically and unfeelingly as every single Palestinian "condemnation" of terror attacks.

Internet Jihad cells

I find this amusing because in the time I used to spend on Internet message boards, the terrorist-supporters always accused the Zionists on the boards of being organized (and paid) by worldwide Jewry.

An announcement by the Global Islamic Media Front, an al-Qaeda mouthpiece, was recently disseminated across several jihadist forums in which the group presents the “jihadi information and the Western peoples.” The message, written by Ahmad al-Hatheq Bi Allah, argues that the Internet serves as the best alternative to broadcast television for Muslims to execute a “kind of jihad” involving preaching and information disbursement. As the Western media allegedly obfuscates “facts,” the author believes that it is incumbent upon Muslims to join Western Internet forums, to show the truth convincingly through visual or voice arguments, especially as it concerns Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Chechnya. With successful debate, the author claims the American people will place pressure upon the U.S. government, “the guardian or terrorism and its marketing,” to reverse its foreign policy, else the people are culpable for attacks brought upon them, as Ayman al-Zawahiri exclaimed.

The group, in addition, advocates that individual Muslims should not engage in these forum debates; rather, cells of Internet jihadists must be employed. The message urges Muslims knowledgeable in English, Spanish, French, or German languages to answer this call, and especially those who have great debating skills and know the “methods of convincing”.

Hamas pretends to soften, idiotic media swallow it whole

Literally hundreds of articles have been published in the past few hours, claiming that Hamas has softened its position on Israel because the "manifesto" that it published prior to the PA elections didn't mention destroying Israel explicitly.

Has there ever been a better example of wishful thinking replacing facts than this?

Not one person from Hamas has ever suggested that their goal to destroy Israel, enshrined in their charter, has been changed or abrogated. Nothing in their "manifesto" contradicts a word of their charter.

But the world media is so heavily invested in the slightest wisp of hope for "peace" that Hamas' pragmatic omission of Israel's destruction in the manifesto, clearly calculated to gain votes as opposed to any real change of attitude or tactics, is regarded as a major breakthrough toward Palestinian Arab democracy and lasting peace.

A culture that embraces lies to mislead the media now has a new method - just don't bother mentioning your goal, and the willing puppets in the Fourth Estate will fill in the lies for you.

The death toll could rise to 300 in Saudi Arabia where Muslim pilgrims were crushed to death on Thursday during a stoning ritual on the last day of the hajj, medical sources said.

"It's likely to be around 300 in the end," said a medic in Mena. Medical sources earlier said more than 100 people died.

The crush was the second tragedy to hit this year's pilgrimage. Last week, 76 people were killed when a hostel in Mecca collapsed in a narrow street.

Here's a rough body count from previous Hajj's:
1979 - 250 (fighting)
1987 - 400
1990 - 1426 (fire)
1994 - 270
1997 - 343
1998 - 118
2001 - 35
2004 - 251
2005 - 376

That's over 3400 Muslims dead in recent years from the Hajj.

This is more than the number of Palestinian Arabs killed in the Intifada (according to B'tzelem.)

You don't have to be high to vote for Hamas

...but it helps.

A Palestinian boy waves a Palestinian flag during a Hamas election campaign rally in the southern West Bank town of Idna, Wednesday Jan. 11, 2006.

Iran says Europe is discriminating against it!

Iran has grasped the fact that the European Left will do anything to avoid being called certain names, no matter how ridiculous they might be.

Iran's ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Ali Ahani, in a meeting with the foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, Tuesday condemned the discriminatory European reaction against the statements of Iranian President Ahmadinejad regarding the Holocaust.

This is political correctness taken to its logical conclusion: people who make racist, lying and inciteful statements cannot be criticized because that is "discriminatory."

And they deserve to be "condemned."

It would be laughable, except that this is very consistent with Iran's master plan of becoming a superpower, becoming the leader of the Islamic world, and bringing Europe on its side (or at least neutralizing it) in its global jihad against America and Israel.

Other articles from Iran's news agency are also entirely consistent with my thesis of Iran's plans:

Iranian city declared "Islamic world cultural capital" in ceremony attended by ambassadors of 24 Islamic countries - second in importance to Mecca.
Increasing ties with Kazakhstan
Expanding ties with Kenya and Qatar
Praise for Iran from Saudi Arabia

Gorilla in the Room

A lovely piece of Jew-hatred from some rag in Nevada whom Google thinks of as a legitimate news source:

GORILLA IN THE ROOM
Jim Moore
Let’s cut out all the bull-pedaling, pussyfooting, and pretending. There’s a sinister element in full flower, not just in this administration, but in this entire country. And we should confront it and talk honestly about it.

Some have called it a “gorilla in the room” and finding it reminiscent of the “emperor with no clothes” is not far off the mark.

That “gorilla in the room” is, with no hedging or qualifying, the stranglehold that the Israel lobby (AIPAC) and the Zionist cabal have on this administration’s foreign policy: meddling in the world in general, and the Middles East in particular.

It peeks out of the shadows occasionally as if to say, “Here we are, influencing America’s foreign policy, making sensitive decisions that pamper Israel, and you don’t even realize it. Even if you did you’d be too shocked, complacent, or intimidated to do anything about it.

Yes, we are the ‘gorilla in the room’, but you refuse to “see” us because you’ll be called an anti-Semitic, or a Jew hater, and in this age of political correctness, you certainly don’t want to be called that, do you? And that is how the “gorilla”, became your keeper and put YOU in the cage, instead of the other way around.”

The Zionists in the administration -- many are Jews, some are not -- are often called America’s “shadow government”, and this internal nemesis has plagued our nation almost from the beginning, which our founding fathers were well aware of.

Long before Zionism became a political pariah in America, George Washington, of all people, said this: “They (the Jews) work more effectively against us than the enemy’s armies. They are a hundred times more dangerous to our liberties and the great cause we are engaged in.”

And at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin put it more bluntly: “I fully agree with George Washington, that we must protect this young nation from an insidious impenetration. The menace, gentlemen, is the Jews. If you do not exclude them from these United States, in less than 200 years they will have swarmed in here in such great numbers that they will dominate and devour the land and change our form of government, for which we Americans have shed our blood, given our lives, our substance, and jeopardized our liberty.”

You didn’t have any idea that the “founders of our country” said that, did you? But they were smart, discerning men. They apparently saw the “gorilla” even before it got into the room.

Now, let’s put into play some related factors. We are not speaking here about all Jews. The Jews of the Diaspora, or “wandering Jews” are true to their biblical heritage, and as such, are peaceful, cooperative citizens of the countries they inhabit. But they are at odds with their Zionist brothers who they claim have no right to the land called Israel, since it is territory “stolen” from the Palestinians. Whether this odd situation is historically accurate is beyond the scope of this article.

It is useful to remember that pure bigotry and anti-semitism exists, today, in America, both on the extreme right and extreme left.

The real gorilla in the room is that the absurd hatred that the world still has for Israel has nothing to do with Arab rights or "Palestinians" or land. It is purely because of Jew-hatred and its accompanying lies, as the bogus quotes above prove. Everything else is window dressing, just like Mr. Moore's claims that dhimmi diaspora Jews are all right, as long as they oppose the idea of Jews having any land of their own.

Islamic terror is an oxymoron, according to Saudi moron

A senior Saudi cleric told Muslim pilgrims on Tuesday that the West was using the existance of terrorism to scare people away from Islam and discredit legitimate Muslim causes. Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, the state-appointed preacher at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, also called for stability in Iraq and noted Islam was innocent of the charge of "terrorism."

"Islam is innocent of this grave phenomenon (of terrorism). The shedding of blood in this country and other Islamic states is a forbidden criminal act," the cleric said. "We should not forget our brothers in Iraq in the continuing spiral of injustice and murder, and (we must) act seriously to bring security, stability and unity to them," he said.

"The campaign against Islam has become fierce and Muslims are being described in insulting terms to distort the image of Islam and scare people away from it," he told the 2.5 million pilgrims in a sermon to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.

OK, let's see what the peaceful sheikh has to say on other topics: (This is from April, 2002)

A top Saudi Arabian Muslim cleric prayed to God on Friday to "terminate" the Jews and urged Arabs and Muslims to abandon efforts to make peace with Israel.

"We must say farewell to peace initiatives with these people (Jews)," Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais told worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine, in a sermon, carried live by several Arabic television and radio networks.

He prayed to God to "terminate" the Jews, whom he described as "the scum of humanity . . . the rats of the world . . . prophet killers . . . pigs and monkeys".

And in 2004:

He told those listening to “read history,” in order “to know that yesterday’s Jews were bad predecessors and today’s Jews are worse successors. They are killers of prophets and the scum of the earth. Allah hurled his curses and indignation on them and made them monkeys and pigs and worshippers of tyrants. These are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, evil, and corruption…”

Mr. al-Sudayyis elaborated on the conflict between Muslims and Jews: “O Muslims, the Islamic nation today is at the peak of conflict with the enemies of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with the grandsons of Bani-Quraydah, al-Nadhir, and Qaynuqa’ [Jewish tribes in the early days of Islam]. May Allah’s curses follow them until the Day of Judgment.”

“The nation must know that these are people with a disgraceful history and a black record… They want to establish the Greater Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. They also aspire to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build their alleged temple in its place. They want to liquidate the State of Islam and the Koran, and build the State of the Torah and Talmud on its debris. They will get what they deserve from Allah…

“Our Al-Aqsa is crying out saying all mosques have been liberated, while I — a great holy mosque — am still being desecrated. Is the aspiration of over 1 billion Muslims to preserve their holy places [to be] considered savagery and terrorism? What a great lie, O Allah, O steadfast brothers in struggler and steadfast Palestine, the land of honor, loftiness, sacrifice, jihad, and bravery. The captivity of our Al-Aqsa in the hands of the tyrants makes us sleepless. May Allah please us with its liberation.Victory is coming soon, Allah willing.”

“...Here are the flags of victory looming on the horizon. We can smell it. It is crowned by a brave jihad, an intifada, which is still the winning card and the lit candle in the hands of the devout sons of this nation…O nation of jihad and sacrifice, it is the duty of Muslims to support their brothers in creed in Palestine and elsewhere and to back them with material and moral support. Jihad with money sometimes supersedes jihad with soul, as mentioned in many Koranic verses and the prophet’s traditions.”

Yup, nothing dangerous about Islam here!

The road to Hamastan

Every day brings more news of anarchy and chaos in PA-administered areas as the experiment in Palestinian Arab nationhood goes its merry way.

Today's items include an interesting op-ed from the Telegraph showing how Gaza is doing:

The first sign of just how dodgy security has become came when Said Ghazali, The Daily Telegraph's local man in Jerusalem, and I arrived at the Palestinian side of the crossing to learn that our regular driver - stocky, dependable Ashraf - would not be there to meet us.

He had a reasonable excuse. He has the bad luck to belong to the Masri clan, who are currently engaged in a blood feud with their rivals, the Kafarnehs. The toll so far is five dead and 70-odd wounded. Yesterday a Kafarneh was injured in a shooting attack and Ashraf thought it prudent to leave his cab in the garage.

We found another driver and set off for Rafah, the scene of an extraordinary outbreak of anarchy last week. A mob killed two Egyptian border guards and bulldozed concrete walls in a successful attempt to force the authorities to release a man suspected of kidnapping the British aid worker Kate Burton and her parents.

On the way, we passed through the town of Khan Younis. The main road was blocked by what I took at first to be an election rally.

Wrong. The Masri boys were at it again, this time wading into the Tahas, their sworn enemies in the southern end of the Strip.

The action in the main street was confined to fists and boots, but, as we turned into a parallel street to detour round the mob, we ran into a gun battle, with the rivals trading Kalashnikov fire from opposing blocks of flats. The cars in front of us sped up a bit, but 50 yards from the shooting, life was going on as normal.

Most Gazans grew up with gunfire. Before, it was only the Israelis they had to worry about. Now they are shooting each other. The security forces are no help. Their rivalries are the cause of much of the bloodshed.
[...]
At the end of a day like yesterday, I would normally retire to the UN Beach Club, a low-rise concrete joint whose seediness is more than compensated for by its views of the Mediterranean. And, of course, the fact that it is the only place in Gaza where you can get a drink.

Yesterday the Beach Club was still there. But the bar wasn't. Unknown saboteurs arrived at dawn a few days ago, tied up the guards and planted a bomb that reduced the interior to matchwood.

The way things are going in Gaza, it seems unlikely that the dear old Beach Club will be re-opening its doors any time soon.

More heartening news from the World Bank:

The PA is on the verge of functional bankruptcy. The failure to make the salary payment in full and on time will affect hundreds of thousands of people who feed at its table, and the tens of thousands of suppliers and merchants who earn their living from its employees. They will join the masses of unemployed. According to the World Bank, the unemployment rate in the territories exceeds 20 percent, with a rate of about 30 percent in the Gaza Strip, over 40 percent in the southern part of Gaza and among young people (ages 16-25) in southern Gaza, the favorite source of cannon fodder for Islamic Jihad, unemployment reaches the alarming rate of 70 percent. The bankruptcy of the PA following the elections, Roberts warns, could generate a shock of unimaginable dimensions.

"The Palestinian government needs the continued assistance of the international community," Roberts declares, "and to secure that, it must begin to assume its responsibilities." Raising salaries at a time when resources are unavailable for this, he notes, is precisely the opposite of demonstrating responsibility and reliability. The direct consequence of this move was a decision by the Bank, supported by the European Commission, to freeze $60 million for funding the PA's operating budget. According to Roberts, this far-reaching step was taken because the Palestinians did not fulfill their commitments on budget control. Were the donors not to hold the PA responsible, they would lose the confidence of their taxpayers that enough control can be exercised to prevent the money from being used to finance acts of terror.

Roberts notes that the amount of assistance the Palestinians are getting - $5 billion in five years, or $300 per capita annually - is the highest granted to any entity since World War II. "To maintain the deep involvement of the donors, and their diplomatic attention, as well as the desire of the private sector to invest additional money, the PA must improve its performance," Roberts states. Unfortunately, he continues, Yasser Arafat's departure has not brought about a dramatic change for the better - in fact this last year has witnessed serious deterioration in internal law and order and budget management.

And even the PA's friends are getting a bit upset:

Egypt threatened to withdraw its support for the Palestinian Authority if the PA did not act to control the rampant anarchy in the Gaza Strip, according to a report in the London Arab newspaper Al Quds.

The report claimed that following the incident at the Rafah border crossing in which two Egyptian soldiers were killed, Egyptian authorities delivered the threat to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as part of a specially delivered message.

Egypt also threatened to withdraw its support for the peace process if the PA did not take the proper steps to restore order to Gaza.

The countdown to the Islamic Republic of Hamastan is well underway.

May 28, 1936: Chaim Weizmann predicts peace while Arabs destroy trees

Dr. Weizmann may have been a very wise man, but he underestimated Jew-hatred - even when it was happening under his nose. In the same issue of the Palestine Post, the major headline was "Armed Hooligans Fire on Jewish Settlements."

Another interesting story that May was this one:

Today, Palestinians as well as the Israeli Left and even acting premier Ehud Olmert are accusing Jews of destroying Arab olive trees. The settler movement hotly denies any involvement, and in some cases it was proven that Arabs and leftists in fact lied about these charges.

We've touched on this topic before - Arabs have destroyed fruit trees in Palestine, and in much greater numbers, way before any Jews allegedly destroyed Arab trees.

But the accusations and lies have remained constant now for 70 years. Dr. Weizmann's prediction, unfortunately, did not come true - because the "political agitation" that he downplayed in fact became Arab policy vis a vis Israel.

Note also the last paragraph of the first story - the fact that Arabs were immigrating to Palestine in huge numbers in the 1930s shows that a large percentage of today's Palestinian Arabs in fact originated elsewhere.