Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Another "grim milestone"

As I've mentioned before, I have always suspected that my English sources at PCHR and other places were not telling us about all the deaths in the PalArab territories due to infighting and plain stupidity.

Thanks to Google Arabic translation now in beta, I can start to glean a little more about the many Palestinian Arabs who are killed by their own. Most Palestinian Arab newspapers in Arabic seem to ignore the self-deaths as well, but I found one that seems to report on them, Fasl Al-Maqal.

So far today I saw a story about a Christian woman who entered a car which then exploded last Sunday.

Widow of large crowds of Almgar and nearby villages on Sunday, the body of the murdered women, Ms. Aida Abu Shakarh (44 years old). , which killed as a result of an explosion of an explosive device placed under the car driven by her brother Milad Abu Shakarh.

And a man stabbed to death:

Young has reached the age of twenty-eight years, from the village of Allekaya in the Negev, was killed on the night of the day before yesterday, after it was attacked and stabbed with a knife.

The young man, the victim arrived at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba by his family but the crew medical examination could not save his life, and announced his death.
This, police sources did not disclose the name of the deceased young man, as it did not point out what believes the cause of this crime, note that the young man had no criminal record holders.

Combine this with the story of a Hamas man killed by four masked "militants" and we now have documented 100 Palestinian Arabs killed by their own people since Operation Summer Rains began in late June.

Human rights organizations of course ignore these cases because they do not consider Palestinian Arabs to be human - unless they are killed by Israelis. (The only exception is PCHR, and as we've seen they miss quite a few cases themselves.)

Israel's newest attempt to save the planet

I've talked about this before - how alternative energy sources are not only an ecological issue but a national defense issue. This article from Arutz-7/Israel21c mentions this explicitly, which is a good thing.

Personally, I think that similar research should be funded in the US by the massive defense budget, where a billion dollars can easily be found.

Israel is taking the lead in the effort to attain energy alternatives to oil. A new research initiative was launched at Israel’s Weizmann Institute and new cooperation with the US is in the works.

At Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, a new multidisciplinary research initiative into alternative, sustainable energy resources was recently launched. The goal is to significantly advance the search for solutions to the world's most pressing energy problems.

"Developing alternative means of producing energy is a necessary step for dealing with the continuing energy crisis," Institute President Prof. Ilan Chet told Israel21c. "Creating fresh, sustainable methods of producing energy in the required amounts will only be possible if we can gain the knowledge to invent completely new technologies.”

Finding true sustainable and affordable alternatives to oil would strip powerful Arab oil states of their ability to use oil as a tool of diplomatic pressure. “We believe we can help shape the planet's future," Chen said.

Institute scientists have already come up with several original approaches to producing alternative energy, such as the production of methanol, which is now extracted from fossil fuels, from the sun’s energy instead. If that method proves successful, it could provide a relatively clean, renewable, and environmentally friendly fuel, researchers say.

Physics and chemistry research groups are focusing on energy conversion, storage, and conservation. One research team, in the Institute’s life sciences department, plans to investigate ways of utilizing plants and biomass as energy sources.

A new bill, called the United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act, was submitted to the U.S. Congress in July. The bill was sponsored by 100 congressmen, both Democrats and Republicans.

The bill passed in the House of Representatives and has moved to the Senate for ratification.

"There is nothing we can do that is more important than weaning the United States and the world off its dependence of petroleum,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) told Israel21c. “And the first step is research, and an important part of that research is cooperative research with other countries similarly dedicated to finding alternative energy. There is perhaps no better partner than Israel."

Ramadan chatter?

An AWACS plane has been circling over New York City today.

A perfect day to play hooky

About 15 years ago, one day at work I had a lot of frustrations with my work and my boss, and an idea hit me - just get into my car and drive east until I hit the ocean.

On the way I stopped off to buy a beach chair, sunglasses, a trashy novel and some shorts, and within two hours I was situated in a pretty empty beach with nothing but sun and sand. I still treasure that day - a true mental health day.

As I came to work today, I realized that today was a perfect day to do the same thing. But I can't - between all the yomim tovim and covering for someone at work who is on maternity leave, I cannot take advantage of the last 80-degree day this year.

So I am asking my loyal readership:

Please take today off , especially if you are in the Northeastern US. Go to the beach, spend the entire day doing nothing, and let me know about it.

Have a great day.

Fatah official: Abbas wants Israel destroyed

Yesterday, Dry Bones blog linked to an older article of mine where I reminded everyone that Mahmoud Abbas is hardly the moderate, peace-seeking person that the world makes him out to be.

Today, we have more proof, thanks to the incomparable Aaron Klein of WND, who seems to be the only reporter on the planet to actually interview terrorist leaders and print what they say in English:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' stated recognition of Israel's right to exist is part of a "political calculation" aimed at ultimately destroying the Jewish state, a terror group leader and member of Abbas' Fatah party told WND in an interview.

The leader said the Fatah party does not recognize Israel and that any final accord that doesn't include flooding the Jewish state with millions of Palestinians will not be supported by the Fatah party and will lead to Palestinian civil war.

"The base of our Fatah movement keeps dreaming of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa and Acco," said Abu Ahmed, Fatah member and leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip. "There is no change in our position. Abbas recognizes Israel because of pressure that the Zionists and the Americans are exercising on him. We understand this is part of his obligations and political calculations."

The Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party. Together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Brigades has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing inside Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv this past April that killed an American teenager and nine Israelis. The Brigades also has carried out scores of deadly shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in recent months.

Brigades leaders are members of Fatah. The terror group's founder, Marwan Barghouti, is an elected Fatah official and is largely considered one of the most popular Fatah figures. Several top Brigades members serve in Abbas' Force 17 personal security detail.

The U.S. and Europe label Hamas a terror group, while Fatah largely is considered "moderate," in part for its purported willingness to accept Israel. The U.S. has given large sums of financial aid and weapons to Fatah since late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Peace Accords with the Jewish state in 1993.

Abu Ahmed explained Fatah itself has never officially recognized Israel.

"It is the PLO, which is a separate entity, that recognized Israel,and this was a step, a tactical step that had as its goal to bring the resistance and the revolution closer to the lands of Palestine," Abu Ahmed said.

The PLO was the official governing body of the Palestinians until the PA was formed following the Oslo Accords. Subsequent Israeli-Palestinian agreements were signed officially by the Fatah-led PA but not by Fatah as a party.

Still, Fatah leaders, including Abbas, have made scores of statements recognizing the Jewish state.

But Abu Ahmed commented, "There is an opportunistic class at the head of the Fatah leadership that for personal and political interests says it accepts the existence of Israel. There is no change in our official position. Fatah as a movement never recognized Israel. It is the PLO who did so for the reasons I mentioned."

The U.S. State Department considers the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades a terror organization.

A State Department spokesman yesterday told WND the Brigades is "separate" from Abbas' Fatah party. But Abu Ahmed explained his Brigades group is "one and the same" with the Fatah party.

"We are members of Fatah, and there are normal organic relations between us and the Fatah. We are in the Al Aqsa Brigades because we are Fatah members. We participate in all political decisions making of the Fatah movement."

Abu Ahmed said Brigades members consider Abbas their legitimate leader and answer ultimately to the PA president.

"Of course we are loyal to Abbas. He is our elected leader. We would of course prefer if his policy toward Israel was different, but we understand his obligations and calculations, and we do not consider ourselves limited by these calculations," the terror leader said.

Abu Ahmed explained the difference between Hamas and Fatah is that the Fatah party "is ready to discuss a political arrangement for the Jews."

But he said any arrangement must include the "right of return" of millions of Palestinians to Israel.

"We demand [any agreement with Israel] be based upon the principles that the great majority of our people support and first of all the right of return to the refugees, which mean that there cannot be any recognition of the Zionist entity.

"If any Palestinian government will dare sign a deal without this it means that this government has decided to throw away the fate and destiny of more than four million Palestinian refugees, and we cannot accept this."

The "right of return" is widely seen by Israelis as a ploy to flood Israel with millions of Palestinians, thus threatening the country's Jewish character.

As we have seen before, the Fatah "constitution" indeed never recognized Israel. It's major goal, still on its website today, is "Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence."

So what Abu Ahmed is saying is entirely consistent with known facts about Abbas, Fatah, the PLO and the Al Aqsa Brigades. The evidence that Abbas does not truly seek a lasting peace with Israel is overwhelming. But as the State Department quote above proves, the Western world would rather keep the fiction of a peaceful Abbas alive than abandon the failed, destructive "peace process."

Haveil Havalim #88 has arrived

The new, improved AbbaGav site is where you will find HH88, the finest of the JBlogosphere. Lots of thoughts about the yomim tovim but even a couple of links to my own strange postings.

Check it out! And update your blogroll with his new, easy to remember URL!

(I actually do own elderofziyon.com, but I don't publicize it because I can't see good statistics on people who link to there when I obsessively watch my Statcounter. So please don't use it, even though it is easier to remember. Just forget I ever mentioned it, OK?)

Pakistani charities for jihad

Two very interesting articles in The Times (Pakistan). The English isn't very good but the ideas (and tilt of the writers) soon becomes clear. ("Welfare Trusts" are simply charities):

With the advent of Ramazan, the mobile welfare trusts started their business in different Mohallahs, streets and by lanes on loudspeakers, asking donations for what they announced, that Almighty Allah is always happy with those, who give charity to the destitute, poor and needy people.

People usually used to contribute according to their means without ever getting to know whether or not this money was distributed among the deserved person. These religiously emotional announcements also shook the belief of the common man, a person with least education, and with the fear of God used to give money to these people who were walking around or riding a Suzuki pick-up unhindered.

The govt, reportedly issued an order that announcement of loudspeakers in the mosques is banned to avoid any hate material, but is unable to make accountable these roadside fundraiser for the so-called Madressahs or in the name of construction of mosques, more often than not, cheating people.

This business swells up in the month of Ramazan as being a Muslim, everyone believes that giving charity in the month of Ramazan is worth more and elicits the blessings of Allah Almighty. With this concept in mind, people without any hesitation give away money to these people.

The authorities concerned, especially town Nazims and councillors have the responsibility of keeping a check on these people and certain laws should be framed for their accountability. The govt must have a system of checks and balances in place on these street fund raiser and an account book should also be maintained.

This trend is usually witnessed in low-lying areas, where Suzuki pick-ups also sell the Holy Qura’an on the streets, whereas in somewhat posh areas, these people have somewhat improvised their mode of business by organising Dars (sermons) at home and asking donation for the people which ultimately responded by the upper middle class, as in our society, sham display of wealth has become a fashion.

It is the duty of the administration to compile a list of these roadside donation collecting welfare trusts and double-check their activities and make sure as to for what purpose they were collecting money and other gift items. Besides restricting Madressahs to show their annual accounts, government must also adopt code of conduct on these mobile welfare trusts and monitor their activities as to where they are getting their directions from and on whose directions, they are working in the city right under the nose of administration.

OK, this is not too strange. There are people who use charity to rip off other people all the time and in all organized religions. Calling for the government to oversee these charities makes sense.

A little later comes this other article about these "charities," which is a bit more ominous:

KARACHI: In order to maintain the record of Welfare Trusts, the government has decided to register all of them running in the province and any trust functioning prior to obtaining the license from their respective government would be disbanded, sources confirmed to this reporter.

According to details available, the government has received complaints from the various quarters that these Welfare Trusts were collecting donations to train manpower for Jihad in the war-torn areas of the Muslim world to fight evil forces. The sources said that in the garb of charity collection these trusts fully employed resources for procuring weapons of war and imparting training to the youth for Jihad....

It was however, also learnt through reliable sources, that these trained youth were also sent to Lebanon and Palestine and other Muslim countries to wage Jihad against Zionist forces. These young people, who were briefed on, and made aware of the wily machinations of the imperialist forces, belonged to highly educated families who had become highly motivated and were ready to sacrifice their lives as they said, for the sake of Islam.

As Jihad is the basic and the most important element of Islam to fight against those spreading hate, dividing people along ethnic and religious grounds the parents send their children knowingly or unknowingly to such Dars (sermons) for spiritual refreshment.

However, one could not overlook the fact that many of these so-called trusts were working on the agenda of West and receiving handsome amounts from the foreign donors/agencies for preparing children for confrontation, the source confided. Islam is being used by certain elements for their vested interests who have become tools in the hands of West, whose only aim to eliminate Muslims and defame Islam all over the world as the most facists religion on earth and US President George Bush Jr., has already issued an “edict” in this regard referring to Islam as Fascist Islam.

It is a little unclear whether this author is saying that the Jihadist charities are really fronts for an imperialist Zionist plot to make Muslims look bad, or if there are other charities that the West is supporting that are worse than the Jihadist front charities.

Either way, we can glean a few interesting points:

This article defines Jihad as quite warlike, unlike every Muslim apologist that the West ever sees.
Pakistani Islamic newspapers do not have a clue on the Western attitudes towards Islam.
From this article it appears that the idea of charities brainwashing Muslim youth to fight against the Zionist/imperialist forces is really no big deal, and that the Pakistani government is doing the bidding of the US by trying to crack down on this rather than anything being inherently bad.
It is far preferable to send kids to kill Jews than to think that your charity money might be going to thieving Muslims.

In short, Pakistan is one thoroughly screwed-up place. To think that they are our allies in the war against Islamic terrorism seems to be more a product of wishful thinking and arm-twisting that the reality.

Another "human rights" organization that lies

I just discovered another "human rights" organization that has no real interest in human rights but every interest in making Israel look evil.

Defence for Children International, Palestine Section is a self-styled defender of children that admits it is an :

independent, Palestinian non-governmental organization, which develops its programs and acts according to Palestinian children's needs and Palestinian priorities.

Might there just be a wee bit of a conflict of interest between pretending to care about Palestinian Arab children's needs and saying that they promote "Palestinian" interests - which include exploiting those same children for political gain?

Well, in case you thought not, think again. Their website spares no effort to count every possible Palestinian Arab minor who is injured or killed that they can blame on Israel, and does not mention a single negative word about Palestinian Arab children who are killed by their own people, or who are routinely used as human shields by their "militant" friends, or even who are encouraged to blow themselves up as martyrs , both directly and through the PA-funded media.

No, none of that seems to count to these supposed defenders of the innocent.

But beyond that, their count of Palestinian Arab children supposedly killed by Israel include some outright lies.

For example, I mentioned the PCHR report of two brothers who found a homemade Palestinian rocket , took it home and blow it up, killing one of them. Guess how DCI reports the same event?

On the 28 August 2006, 16 year old Mohamad Khaled Al Za anen found an unexploded shell on his family's land. He picked it up and carried it to his home with the help of his younger brother. Suddenly the shell exploded, kiling Mohamad instantly and severely injuring his brother.

Same dead kid, but this "human rights" organization blames Israel while the PCHR says that it was a locally made rocket.

They also go on to describe many instances where Israeli forces are battling Gaza terrorists, where any stray bullet that kills a PalArab kid is invariably blamed on the Israeli side, often with such objective descriptors as "an Israeli sniper put a bullet in his head."

They count events that are ambiguous at best:

Raja' was playing on a swing. At the same time the Israeli army attacked the neighbouring land, used for training Al Nasser Salah Al Deen militias. As Raja' tried to run, one of the poles from the swing fell on her head, killing her instantly.

Did a shell hit the swing? Or was this one of the swings built on the many Palestinian Arab "metal workshops"? No matter - it is easy to add this to the list of murdered kids, to make Israel look bad.

Or look at this incident:

On 10th July 2006, at around 19:50, a group of children were playing football on a piece of land near the agricultural school in Beit Hanoun. At that time, Palestinian resistance groups launched a missile towards Israeli towns, before quickly leaving the area. Immediately afterwards Israeli airplanes launched a missile towards the children immediately killing three of them and injuring another.

Assuming this is true, do you think that these mighty Defenders of Children will ever say a word about why their heroic resistance fighters are shooting missiles from the immediate area where children are playing soccer?

Also, notice that neither DCI nor PCHR will ever mention anyone killed by Palestinian Arabs shooting towards Israelis. Without exception, it is always asserted that any bullet that kills a child belongs to Israeli soldiers. So my running count of 97 Palestinian Arabs killed by their own people since Operation Summer Rains began is probably way, way undercounted.

But since there are no true human rights organizations interested in such things, no one will ever know.

The PalArab reverence for funerals

Looking at Palestinian Arab news reports I came across this little nugget:

Meanwhile a group of unknown gunmen open fired at residents while taking part in a funeral in Gaza city, Monday morning, inuring several residents.

Remember, it is only bad when non-Muslims do something like that.

Meanwhile, over at the offical Palestinian Arab "News" agency Wafa, not a single word about Arab on Arab violence in the territories. The entire site is dedicated to demonizing Israel - because, after all, that's the only "news" they are interested in telling the world about.

Civil war - complete with civilian deaths

Since my last PalArab self-death count post, four more dead have been added to the list, making the grand total 96 since I started trying to keep track.

Some details on these mature people who the world believes deserve a state of their very own:

In scenes reminiscent of the Lebanese civil war in the 70's and 80's, the confrontation quickly turned into street gun battles, with both sides using automatic rifles, pistols and hand-propelled grenades. At least three of the casualties were identified as innocent passersby, including 15-year-old Hassan Abu al-Hatel.

This is shaping up to be another week where more PalArabs are violently killed by their fellow moderate countrymen than by the "genocidal Zionist occupiers." But don't forget - they are a democracy, and their infighting is the same as in any other democratic country.

Just with RPGs.

UPDATE: 97, 12 dead in the past two days.

G'mar chatima tovah - 5767 edition

My most popular posting today is one I wrote two years ago, saying simply "G'mar chatima tovah." Many people are Googling the phrase today and ending up at this blog.

Someone should tell Answers.com that their translation is not quite accurate; this one is. (Hat tip: Balashon)

It is also very worthwhile to check out the poignant post by Ocean Guy.

So I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a g'mar chatima tovah (and a g'mar chasima tovah as well :) ) . I hope that anyone who I may have wronged during the year forgives me, and I forgive everyone for anything they may have done to me.

May we all be sealed for a great year, and may we all have an easy fast!

The great PalArab self-death whitewash - now at 92

As my readers know, I have been trying to keep a count of how many Palestinian Arabs have been killed by other PalArabs since the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit in late June. At the moment, I have identified 85 (one I missed from August who was executed by the "Executive Force" and an infant girl killed by her brother who found his father's assault rifle, in addition to my running count.)

As far as I can tell, there is no Palestinian Arab source who keeps an official count of dead Palestinian Arabs from infighting, "work accidents" and executions. I know that I am undercounting, because the closest thing to an authoritative source I have has missed some from other sources. For example, today's five injured by a hand grenade thrown by a Hamas member into a Fatah rally is not being reported by any PalArab English source I can find. Also, PCHR never reports on people who have died days after their injuries.

I just spent some time at the Palestinian Red Crescent site, thinking that an ambulance service would surely report on any injuries and deaths that they were aware of, no matter what the source.

But of course this "humanitarian" organization only cares about Palestinian Arabs killed and injured by Israel. For example, their detailed statistics from September show no one killed on September 8, when I know that one was that I reported on. Also September 13 - the PRCS mentions no deaths or injuries, I reported on one death from someone who blew himself up building a bomb and four lawyers injured from some clan clash.

The site is filled with pictures of death and injury from the early days of the intifada, lots of statistics and highlighting of Israeli actions, and not a single word that I could find about Palestinian Arab terrorists blowing themselves up, or children handling bomb belts, or people shot and killed by gunfire during wedding celebrations, or even the three "honor killings" I have mentioned.

It is almost as if even the Palestinian Red Crescent Society doesn't give a damn about Palestinian Arabs killed, unless they can use the deaths to score political points against Israel.

Also, since the PCHR started keeping track, at least 90 more PalArabs were killed between February and late June. One would think that some 180 deaths woudl rate a mention.

Here are links to my articles on Palestinian Arabs killing each other. You won't find these stories anywhere else.

Two Gaza girls on their way to school hit by rocket
Diary of the week's violence
Count keeps rising
Hot time in Palestine
Extrajudicial killing
Don't foozle
Another "honor killing"
Killing each other and blaming Israel
2 honor killings for the price of 1
Grim milestone
Oops!
They keep killing each other
Wedding, funeral, and a couple of clan clashes
Woman and child in a clan clash
A few more
No one cares

UPDATE: 7 more killed since last night, bringing the total now to at least 92.

At least 75 Palestinians – including security officers, passersby, and members of Hamas’ special security force – were hurt in violent confrontations and gun battles that erupted in Khan Younis Sunday morning.
A Palestinian was killed near the parliament building in Gaza, and another four were wounded. Shortly afterwards it was reported that a teenagers who was injured in the clashes died of his wounded. A member of the Palestinian presidential guard was also killed in exchanges of fire in Gaza City. Another four people were killed in other incidents, two of them Palestinian security personnel.

Ball in Siniora's court - if the game was fair

A whopping three days ago:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday called the ongoing Israeli military presence in Lebanese territory the "mother of all ills" and said it must be brought to an end.

"There won't be any valid argument then for the continuation of weapons in the hands of Hezbollah," he told a news briefing when asked about Hezbollah's claim last week to have more than 20,000 rockets after a month of war with Israel.

This of course begs the question of what the valid argument was for Hezbollah to amass such an arsenal to begin with over the past six years.

Luckily, we have the Syrian puppet Lebanese president ready to give an answer:

Lebanese President, Emile Lahoud said on Saturday that if Hezbollah didn't resist aginst the Zionist regime's aggression, a Zionist-affiliated President would now be in office in Lebanon.

In an exclusive interview with channel 3 of Italian state television, Lahoud asserted that Hezbollah was the only force which defended the country against Zionists' aggression and Lebanon can't demand them to be disarmed, adding that Lebanese army only can grant domestic securing and lacks the power to encounter Zionist army which is backed by America.

Makes perfect sense! The Zionist infidel dogs have always been wanting to sink their fangs into juicy Lebanese territory, and only the heroism of the Hezbollah heroes have stopped them.

The President, a Syrian crony, further announced that Lebanese army too ruled out Hezbollah's disarmment and so the UN peacekeeping forces have not the right to do so as there is no reference to this matter in UN's resolution.

Uh-oh, we have a slight contradiction here. Siniora is implying that the Lebanese government will not allow Hezbollah to hold arms as long as Israel withdraws from Lebanon, and Lahoud is saying that it is not an option.

Nasrallah, for his part, has added a new condition before he disarms. Besides Israel leaving the Sheba Farms and some northern Israeli villages, he also wants to make sure that Lebanon has an army that can repel Israel. He also threw in a threat that if Lebanon doesn't turn itself into a more pro-Syrian government, Hezbollah might just have to take over.

Meanwhile, Israel removed its last troops from Lebanon this morning, so Siniora's "mother of all ills" has made his words from last Wednesday become suddenly relevant.

Not that we are expecting him to actually follow through.

Ahmadinejad acknowledges the Elders

Ina fascinating New York Observer article written by Ahmadinejad's interpreter while he was in New York comes this tidbit, during a speech by the Iranian president to an enthusiastic room of Iranian-Americans - who gave him a standing ovation:

“Two thousand Zionists want to rule the world. You can do it elsewhere,” he said, as if speaking directly to the mysterious 2,000, “but not in Iran. It’s impossible—it’s not doable.”

I am privileged to be one of the infamous, mythical Two Thousand.

And, Mr. Ahmadinejad will be frightened to know, our power does not stop at the borders of Iran.

How to get a guaranteed job in the PA

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs prints its reservations on the EU resuming funding the PA. Most of the things they bring up are familiar but some details were new to me. In the aggregate, it is hard to conclude anything other than the fact that the "moderate" Fatah party actively supports fighting and terrorizing Israel. (Translation by Daily Alert:)

Is Financial Aid from the West Supporting Palestinian Terrorists? - Jonathan D. Halevi

EU members have been expressing great interest in renewing financial support to the Palestinian Authority. On September 21, 2006, the office of the Palestinian president signed an agreement with the World Bank for the transfer of $46.6 million to maintain basic services in the Palestinian Authority. In order to encourage donating countries to transfer as much money as possible to finance its budget, the PA is striving to magnify the image of a "humanitarian crisis" in the territories. However, without proper supervision, the West's financial aid might directly or indirectly find its way to funding Palestinian terror.

The PA allocates $48 million a year to security prisoners in Israeli jails and to released prisoners. Every Palestinian prisoner or Israeli-Arab in an Israeli prison is entitled to receive financial aid from the PA if he was imprisoned for the struggle against "the Israeli occupation." In addition, a released prisoner is entitled to a government position if he spent more than 5 years in prison. A prisoner who spent over 25 years in prison is entitled to the position of deputy minister and the rank of a brigadier-general in the security forces. The PA also transfers millions of dollars per month to organizations, run mostly by Hamas, that support the families of prisoners, dead terrorists, and the wounded.

This system of support, which aids murderous terrorists, suicide bombers who were caught, and those who launched them, conveys the message that the Palestinian Authority supports the armed struggle against Israel. The West's financial aid to the PA, if renewed without the proper precautions and supervision, might end up supporting thousands of former and current Palestinian terrorists. (JCPA-Hebrew, 27Sep06)

So the longer you are in prison for terror activities, the higher your rank in the peaceful PA.

In other words, the EU wants to give money to a people who explicitly and consistently idolize and support terrorists.

Yeshiva boys rejoice

And yeshiva parents, beware:

Tosfos.com is here.

Hat tip to Junior Elder.

Notable articles about Arabs

Enlightening articles on similar themes:

Observations on Arabs
Tribalism
which is itself a long commentary on this: Why We Will Never See Democracy in the Middle East

I do agree that the Arab psyche seems to predate Islam by quite a long period of time. I would venture to guess that Islam was heavily influenced by this Arab tribalist mindset overlaid with a religious motif.

As a trivial example, I once noted thatArab women covered their faces centuries before Mohammed. Islamic law apparently took the Jewish concepts of female modesty, applied it to justify the existing custom, and then used it to strengthen the laws of Islamic modesty beyond the original legal requirements. The Koranic laws may have been codifying and organizing existing Arab customs and mores.

A PalArab leader who really is a leader - and one who isn't

Palestinian Arabs themselves have historically always been far more pragmatic than their "leaders," who almost invariably are more interested in destroying the Zionist state than in building their own.

But once in a great while, you can find an exception:

LIKE every Palestinian town, Beita, a dusty home for 10,000 people spread across a hillside in the middle of the northern West Bank, has seen its fortunes dive since the start of the second intifada in 2000. Never prosperous, reliant on the wages of labourers who worked in Israel, it now has around 65% unemployment.

Yet since coming to office in December 2004, Arab Asharafa, the town's engaging and energetic mayor, has achieved something of a turnaround. He has widened the main road running through the town, is landscaping a new public park and opened a fruit and vegetable market that brings the council $100,000 a year in revenues (the market has gained at the expense of tightly-restricted Nablus, which used to be the main trading hub for the region). He has even started a project to bottle water from the town's spring and sell it, perhaps for export to Jordan.

What makes this remarkable is that the Beita council is dominated by Hamas, which ousted Fatah from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in elections this year. Well before the world's economic boycott of the PA began in March, foreign funding to local councils had begun drying up as Hamas took them over. Beita used to get 30-40% of its revenues from abroad, says Mr Asharafa; now it gets none.

Instead, Beita, under its Hamas mayor, provides an example of how Palestinians might start to wean themselves off donor-dependence. Its success comes partly because, while at the national level Fatah and Hamas are at loggerheads (talks on a national unity government, which seemed a done deal two weeks ago, are now stalled again), in Beita, as in many other mixed local councils, they co-operate.

It is also due to Mr Asharafa's mixture of charisma and creative thinking. He cracked down on electricity theft and non-payment of utilities bills while giving amnesties to students and the unemployed. He saves money by buying bulldozers and reselling them at the end of a project, instead of hiring. He talks businessmen into investing in public projects and taking a cut of the proceeds; at one point, he offered to put his own house up as collateral.

Politically, too, Mr Asharafa can permit himself statements that Hamas's senior leaders cannot. “Hamas must make peace with Israel,” he says, claiming that 90% of Palestinians want a two-state solution, and that the main obstacle—and reason why Hamas will not take the step of recognising Israel outright first—is a lack of trust.

While I, and every poll I've seen, disagree about the 90% number, this mayor symbolizes what Gaza could have been after Israel's withdrawal. Instead of wallowing in self-pity and blame, he actually acts to make life for his people better. He thinks creatively and he solves problems.

He sounds Jewish!

Too bad, Mr. Asharafa is the exception that proves the rule. He is more likely to be murdered for his views of a two-state solution than to be promoted to a ministerial position in the PA.
On the other hand, we have "leaders" like the current chairman of Fatah, Faruq Qaddumi. He advocates overthrowing the PA government because he doesn't like the infighting between Hamas and Fatah. But one of his quotes is very telling:

Fatah secretary general and head of the PLO politburo, Faruq Qaddumi, sharply criticized the Hamas and Fatah movements, warning that "their stubbornness will lead to fighting between Palestinian factions," and accusing those of taking in part in negotiations of "not wanting to reach an agreement."
In an interview to the London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper, Qaddumi claimed that the lead negotiators between the movements "are not interested in reaching an agreement." He called on the Palestinians to overthrow their government "so that Israel will bear the responsibility for the lives of the Palestinians who still are under the fire of occupation."

In other words, this "leader" who still operates out of Tunis wants the Palestinian Arabs to remain in refugee camps forever. He realizes that if PalArabs take responsibility for their own nation, and try to improve it - try to make the lives of their people better, try to build an economy, try to fight the clan wars and infighting, try to bring real peace and security to the region - then the pressure will be off of Israel!

This has been the face of the PalArab "leadership" - ignore the people except for their usefulness as pawns to pressure Israel. Happy Palestinian Arabs are very counterproductive to people like Qaddumi (as well as Haniyeh), because they don't turn into terrorists. Happy citizens actually go to work, provide for their families, and build an economy. Unhappy citizens attend protest after protest and blame others for their problems. As long as their "leaders" can channel their hate towards Israel and not towards the leaders themselves, they remain secure in their destructive policies.

It is a bit ironic that in this case, the real leader is the member of the recognized terror group and the destructive "leader" is a member of the "moderate" Fatah. But it is not surprising: Fatah is no more enlightened than Hamas is; it just has better PR.

What "dialogue" means to Muslims

I've mentioned before how, whenever Muslims call for "dialogue" with Christians or the West, they really mean that they want the opportunity to recruit more Muslims and that they have no interest in actually, you know, listen.

In other words, when they say "dialogue" they mean "Muslim monologue."

And this has been as consistent across all streams of Islam that I've seen. The terrorist front group CAIR has always called for "dialogue" as the answer for every problem, but look how they define it (in the recent example of the Pope kerfuffle):

"The proper response to the Pope's inaccurate and divisive remarks is for Muslims and Catholics worldwide to increase dialogue and outreach efforts aimed at building better relations between Christianity and Islam. This unfortunate episode also offers an opportunity for Christians to learn more about Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic concept of jihad.

The rest of the press release is, of course, a lesson in whitewashed Islam, cherry-picking Koranic statements to make it sound moderate.

Further proof about what "dialogue" means to Muslims comes from a favorite Palestinian Arab sheikh, who explicitly rejects the idea of dialogue - when the person initiating the dialogue is a Christian. (The amount of projection in his description of Catholic "dialogue" is classic.):

Pope Benedict XVI's meeting this week with a delegation of Muslim leaders and his calls for interfaith dialogue following earlier remarks about Islam are really "Crusader conspiracies" to subjugate the Islamic faith and force "Christian-Zionist" worldviews upon Muslims, a prominent Gaza Strip preacher told WorldNetDaily in an interview.

Sheikh Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic outreach movement, which seeks to make secular Muslims more religious, called the pope a "puppet" for "that Crusader George Bush."

The Gaza imam said the only Christian-Muslim dialogue that is acceptable is one in which "all religions agree to convert to Islam."

"The call for so-called dialogue by this little racist pope is a Trojan horse with the main goal of reaching a new system in which the ideals (of Christianity) are a new ideology that will rule relations between nations and people. The dialogue he wants is dangerous," said Abu Saqer, speaking to WND from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

"The pope is the spiritual and religious wing of the Crusader ideology," Abu Saqer said. "He is totally coordinated with Bush. Through this dialogue he hopes to break the lines of unity between Muslims and polarize the Muslim world, which has some partisans who will accept this new dialogue. But true believers know Islam must rule all relations. The only dialogue we will accept is when all other religions agree to convert to Islam."

Will we be seeing the "moderate" CAIR, or any Muslim leader for that matter, disagree with these statements?

A suggestion for the Z-Blogosphere

I spend a fair amount of time browsing Google News for articles of interest that may have escaped the notice of the mainstream media. In many cases, the most virulently anti-semitic and absurdly pro-terrorist articles are concentrated in a relatively few set of "news" sources.

Some of them are predictable - loony left sites such as Indymedia, and English-language Arab or Iranian sites.

But the Internet has spawned a number of other Web "news sources" which claim to not have an ideological bias, and are in fact just collections of articles that can be written by pretty much anyone. Examples include:

Scoop
OpEdNews
The People's Voice
Axis of Logic

There is no shortage of borderline psychos who tirelessly submit articles to these sites to push their agenda to make the Middle East, and the world, Jew-free. The sites themselves seem more interested in providing content to attach advertising to rather than in pushing a real agenda.

My suggestion, which I haven't yet had time to do myself, is for the Zionist Blogosphere (Z-Blogosphere?) to submit articles to these outlets. We can even rework old blog posts of which we are particularly proud. For most of us, it would increase our readership and allow us to counter the vile filth that passes for journalism or reasoned opinion on these sites.

Any articles that get rejected would, if nothing else, show the bias that the "unbiased" editors really have.

Any interest?

Latest peaceful PalArab poll

Unfortunately, the raw data for this poll is not available online (as was the case in past polls,) and the Palestinian Arab press release for the poll completely ignores the inconvenient support for terror that was uncovered, so I am relying on this Jerusalem Post report about the poll:

63% of PalArabs support shooting rockets into Israeli cities.
57% support terror attacks against Israeli civilians inside the Green Line.
75% support kidnapping Israeli soldiers to trade them for PalArab prisoners.

Yet "77% of Palestinians support a cease-fire with Israel and 74% believe that Palestinians cannot rely solely on armed struggle and must reach a political settlement with Israel."

The only way to interpret these contradictory results is to realize that to the Palestinian Arabs, peace is not the goal - the eradication of Israel is the goal, and they believe that this can be accomplished by diplomatic as well as terroristic means.

Mickey Mouse and Jack Sparrow - ZIONIST INTERLOPERS

MEMRI does it again:

Following are excerpts from an Iranian TV report on Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," which aired on the Iranian news Channel (IRINN) on July 27, 2006:
Anchor: Zionist ideology uses all means to impose its cultural control. Cinema, as an attractive and popular form of art, has always interested the Zionist circles.
Reporter: The hot news of cinema circles worldwide is: The "Pirates of the Caribbean" attack the silver screen. The example of "Pirates of the Caribbean" - Hollywood's latest effort to gain control - is all the more striking if we bear in mind the name of its producer: The Walt Disney company. Disney and its productions have been associated, more than anything, with the Zionist lobby in Hollywood. In 1995, when the pro-Zionist Jews were 2.5 percent of America's population, they made up 7.7 percent of Disney's board of directors. This clearly influences the content of this large company's productions, as well as its policies and guidelines. The Aladdin animated film series is one example of Disney creations that present Arabs in a negative light.

In 2004, Disney supported the Bush administration's expansionist policies, and refrained from screening the film "Fahrenheit 9/11," which harshly criticized Bush's policy in attacking Iraq. This film, which won the Palme d'Or award in the Cannes film festival, became the bestselling documentary in the history of the film industry. Disney's move brought it nothing but disgrace.

In any event, Zionism is not restricted to the capitalistic weapons companies, such as Lockheed and the banks that support it. Cinema is considered another, subtle, weapon in the hands of those who support this corrupt ideology. In Hollywood, Disney is the manufacturer of this weapon, and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" is its newest ammunition.

Those Iranians have figured us out again!

Might as well come completely clean:

	Captain Jack Sparrow: ZIONIST JEW
	Mickey Mouse: ZIONIST JEW MOUSE
	Genie: GENOCIDAL JEW ZIONIST
	Doc: JEW RABBI INFIDEL
	Dopey: GENTILE
	Lilo and Stitch: NEOCON ZIONIST CHRISTIANS

(H/T Daughter of Ziyon for most of the pictures)

Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Moderate Muslims

A very interesting article from the editor of American Muslim Perspective webzine, Abdus Sattar Ghazali, that pretty much makes the case that moderate Muslims do not exist - although that was not quite his point.

His central thesis is this one. Can you spot the gaping flaw in logic?

Gary Ratner, executive director of the Congress' Western region office in Los Angeles, says his group believes support for Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state is central to the definition of a moderate. The definition Mr. Ranter implies that a moderate Muslim should support:

Israel's occupation of the Palestinian land.
Israel's occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.
Israel's killing of unarmed Palestinian men, women and children.
Israel's right to imprison some 10,000 Palestinians.
Israel's right to imprison elected government of the Palestinians and their members of Parliament.
Israel's attack on civilian targets in Lebanon killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children.
Israel's sole right to have nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
Israel's right to defy all the UN Security Council resolutions while Arab and Muslim states must comply under pain of sanctions.

Really? Accepting Israel's right to exist means accepting everything Israel does? Someone needs to tell Europe!

Mr. Ghazali goes on to describe how the Muslim reformers that were honored by the American Jewish Congress are eminently unqualified to be called Muslim. I can see how he has problems with Salman Rushdie, Wafa Sultan and Nonie Darwish, who have all renounced their faith. But look at his arguments against the other two honorees:

Pakistan-born Tashbih Sayyed is editor of Pakistan Today weekly that is supported by a number of Jewish groups because Muslims declined to give ads when he published pro-Israeli and anti-Palestinian articles. Sayyed says it is debatable that Islam was spread by the sword and Prophet Muhammad's actions were divinely inspired.

India-born Salim Mansur is one of the leading members of Canadians Against Suicide Bombing (CASB). Mansur, a political science professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, argues that the Muslim world must stop blaming the West for all its own ailments, including poverty, illiteracy, injustice or extremism.

No, these cannot be called "moderate." To terror apologists like Ghalazi, a moderate is someone who wants the Middle East to either be Judenrein or have all Jews (and Christians) paying the jizya like good little dhimmis.

So he ends up proving his point quite well - any Muslim moderates are so far out of the mainstream of the Islamic world as to be considered lunatic fringe.

A notable correlation to his thesis is that Egyptian and Jordanian leaders who nominally recognize Israel, as well as Mahmoud Abbas, are also completely outside the pale of Islam. It would be interesting to hear how he would dig himself out of that hole - would he claim that they do not really recognize Israel and only said they did for political purposes, or would he say they are off-the-scales wackos whom most real Muslims regard as traitors?

I'd love to know his answer, because either way he ends up proving the point.

UN pretzel logic allowing Hezbollah to run free

A couple of days ago the NYT reported:

TIBNIN, Lebanon, Sept. 24 — One month after a United Nations Security Council resolution ended a 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, members of the international force sent to help keep the peace say their mission is defined more by what they cannot do than by what they can.

United Nations officials in Tibnin say part of their job is to stay neutral.

They say they cannot set up checkpoints, search cars, homes or businesses or detain suspects. If they see a truck transporting missiles, for example, they say they can not stop it. They cannot do any of this, they say, because under their interpretation of the Security Council resolution that deployed them, they must first be authorized to take such action by the Lebanese Army.

The job of the United Nations force, and commanders in the field repeat this like a mantra, is to respect Lebanese sovereignty by supporting the Lebanese Army. They will only do what the Lebanese authorities ask.

These are, of course, the same Lebanese authorities that allowed Hezbollah to bring in an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets to begin with, often past Lebanese army checkpoints at the Syria border who waved them through.

So the UN is now effectively a Hezbollah proxy army. Here's a bit of evidence of their "neutrality":

But now today we hear that Hezbollah has started re-arming, under the noses of the UN, but on the off chance that the UN would slightly impede their determination to build a new terror army they have a new strategy:

Hezbollah has been transporting rockets and heavy weaponry to Palestinian camps in south Lebanon just a few miles from the Israeli border, according to Lebanese officials.

Palestinian groups, including Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, maintain armed bases in Lebanon, mostly in the al-Naemeh province just south of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley, near Lebanon's border with Syria and Israel.

A senior Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WND Hezbollah started building a new set of bunker systems, this time in Palestinian refugee camps.

"The Lebanese Army doesn't have the authority to patrol inside the camps," said the official. "Hezbollah knows it is safe there to rebuild their war bunkers, and they began doing so with Iranian help."

A second Lebanese official confirmed the information, which came one day after Israel's Army Radio reported Hezbollah was seen by the Israeli army dismantling 14 outposts near the border with Israel, removing rockets and equipment for transport.

The Lebanese Army and a contingent of several thousand international troops have deployed in South Lebanon. None of the forces are authorized to enter Palestinian refugee camps.

The Lebanese government has stated its army will not confront Hezbollah or work to disarm the group. An agreement reached with Hezbollah last month allows the Lebanese militia to retain its weapons as long as it doesn't display the arms in public.

Let's follow the thread of illogic:

The UN will not do anything that the Lebanese army doesn't tell it to do.
The Lebanese army will not lift a finger to stop Hezbollah from re-arming.
Neither of them are authorized to enter the Palestinian Arab camps where Hezbollah is now known to be stockpiling weapons and building new bunkers.

And why exactly can the Lebanese not enter "refugee" camps in their own territory?

Because they are run by the UN!

For some reason, the UNIFIL forces in Lebanon cannot enter the UNRWA-run terror camps because they need Lebanese permission, which cannot be given - without permission from the UN!

And the UNRWA, which has been complicit in raising generations of terrorists throughout the Middle East and increasing the "refugee" population of Palestinian Arabs from 600,000 to some 4 million or so, jealously guards its own turf because it knows that it is a useless organization whose only purpose is to perpetuate Palestinian Arab misery so that they can continue to pressure Israel. Hezbollah fits very neatly in the UNRWA calculations - and even a castrated UNIFIL doesn't.

Genocide of Arabs and Muslims

A great article in Maariv translated by Imshin. Go read the whole thing. In a nutshell, it compares the numbers of Arabs killed by Israel since 1948 with the numbers killed in other conflicts since then, and goes on to analyze why the world is fixated on the comparatively puny numbers Israel is responsible for.

A short summary of Arab/Muslim deaths in some countries since 1948, using the lowest estimates.

Algeria	600,000
Sudan	2,600,000
Afghanistan	2,000,000
Somalia	400,000
Bangladesh	1,400,000
Indonesia	400,000
East Timor	100,000
Iraq	1,540,000
Iran	450,000
Lebanon	130,000
Yemen	100,000
Chechnya	80,000

Most of these Arabs/Musims were killed by other Arabs/Muslims.

And in the Israel/Arab conflict? Total 60,000, of which only a few thousand are Palestinian Arabs and the vast majority died in wars that Arabs themselves started.

Compared to over ten million Muslims killed in the same time period.

The entire article is lengthy but worth it.

H/T: OceanGuy.

Don't make fun of them. It's their culture!

Here's a tiny surreal detail of the bizarro world of the Middle East, where Jews defending Jews are called terrorists and people who blow up babies along with themselves are heroes:

A few terror groups really enjoy calling press conferences. It appears that in Gaza, press conferences are an indication of importance, and the groups that just hate seeing Abbas and Hamas hog all the headlines call their own press conferences often.

The funny part is that the contents of their press conferences are rarely reported, but pictures from these circuses sometimes make it to the wire services. Here's some from yesterday:

This must be the only place in the world where press conferences feature more weapons than reporters, where the people who call the press conference do not want the reporters to know who they are, and where nothing of importance is ever said.

Well, hardly ever. It turns out that the Saturday dog-and-machine gun show did include a few interesting facts:

Four armed Palestinian groups are threatening to target any Palestinian government that recognizes Israel.

Such a government would be a “legitimate target” and would be treated as an extension of the “occupation,” the groups said in a press conference in Gaza over the weekend.

The groups include the Na’sir ‘Salah A-Din Brigades (an arm of the Popular Resistance Committees), The Al-Aq’sa Martyrs Brigades, the Monotheism Brigades and the brigades of Ahmad Abu A-Rish.

The groups called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas to retract comments he made at the United Nations General Assembly last week.

‘Abbas said the future Palestinian government would recognize previously signed agreements with Israel, implying the government would recognize Israel.

Shortly after ‘Abbas spoke, senior Hamas adviser Ahmad Yousuf also rejected the idea.

I find it morbidly fascinating that Arabs have no problems crowing over Palestinian Arab "democracy" and yet see no problem with having the Hamas government abrogate existing agreements. Can you imagine how they would react if Israel would elect a new government who then says that "Oslo is from a previous government - we can ignore that agreement. "

Also glossed over is the small fact that the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades is still nominally headed by the very same Mahmoud Abbas that they are threatening. The media can't be bothered to Chances are many of these thugs are moonlighting as respected "policemen."

I also love the names of these groups. I had never heard of the Monotheism Brigades before. But killing other monotheists in the name of religion is an accepted part of this depraved culture that the world is willing to overlook.

It is just weird how, over time, such crazy and outlandish behavior becomes accepted as normal by the "enlightened" nations, yet any actions that are less than perfect from Israel is quickly condemned.

It seems that there must be a physical law, the Law of Conservation of Responsibility. If the territories have no responsibility whatsoever, then Israel must make up for it by being hyperresponsible for everything they do.

Judging from the photos above, we can also formulate along the same lines the Law of Conservation of Morality, Law of Conservation of Beauty, and Law of Conservation of Intelligence.

Police stop Jew from blowing a shofar. In Israel.

This story is so fundamentally disturbing on so many levels.
Hat tip to Jameel:

A Jewish man was hauled off to the Old City police station in the middle of prayer for sounding the shofar during Rosh HaShanah services at the area known as the Kotel HaKatan.

The incident occurred around 7:30 in the morning, at the northern-most section of the accessible Western Wall - a little-known area called the Kotel HaKatan, the Small Wall. It is considered to have extra sanctity, as it stands opposite the presumed spot of the Holy of Holies of the Beit HaMikdash.

Yesterday morning (Sunday), a group of some 10 men and two women gathered at the site, as they have done for several years on Rosh HaShanah, for early-morning prayers. The holiday prayers feature the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) at several different times. Towards the end of the first shofar sounding, a Border Guard policeman came in, made an unclear motion with his hand as if to ask what was going on, and then left. He said nothing.

Shortly afterwards, Eliyahu K., the 20-year-old prayer leader, blew the shofar a second time, in the midst of his silent prayer (in accordance with Sephardic custom). Policemen came in once again and began trying to pull him away. However, Eliyahu was in the midst of reciting the Amidah - a long passage during which one must stand in one place without moving - and he therefore did not move.

The policemen informed their supervisors by radio that he was praying and refused to move, and reinforcements were soon sent - no fewer than 20 policemen, according to several witnesses.

They then started dragging him out, and when they stopped for a moment, he got up and resumed his prayers. They then began to drag him away again, and shortly afterwards again stopped for a moment - and again he resumed his prayers. At this point, the policemen allowed him to complete his prayers.

In the meanwhile, the other members of the prayer group came out and tried to prevent the policemen from taking Eliyahu away. At this point, the policemen started swinging their clubs violently; no one was hospitalized, but "it was a big brawl," in the words of one witness, with many people being dragged around and beaten while wearing their prayer-shawls and Sabbath suits.

Meanwhile, Eliyahu was taken to the small police station at the Western Wall plaza, and several of his friends followed him there. They wanted to go up the steps into the police station, and demanded that at least the shofar be returned, but the police again came down with their clubs.

They finally took Eliyahu by foot, accompanied by his fiancיe, all the way around the Old City, past Mt. Zion and through Jaffa Gate, to the Kishle police station inside Jaffa Gate. At this point, there was no longer any violence, and Eliyahu was released around 11:30 - after being charged with attacking a policeman, disturbing a policeman in the line of duty, and disturbing the public order.

One witness related, "It's not only that they stopped him from blowing the shofar, but rather the fact that the police beat us up very harshly. I was on my way to the Wall for prayers when I saw 5-7 policemen going with Eliyahu and protecting him very closely. I walked after them, and then a few of his friends came, and then the violence started. We asked the policemen to return the shofar, and they started kicking us and punching us."

The worshipers said that the police had apparently been called by an Arab woman who said the sound of the ram's horn disturbed her children.

A Jewish resident of the Old City told Arutz-7, "How ironic. The loud Arab weddings and nightly prayers by the muazzin [over a powerful loudspeaker] at 4:30 AM disturb our sleep every night." Similar complaints are heard from Jews living near Arab villages in Judea and Samaria.

Israel annexed all of Jerusalem decades ago. The days when Jews cannot worship where ever they want in the holy city should be well behind us.

This is a textbook case of human rights abuses that no human-rights organization would ever consider mentioning - because human rights abuses against religious Jews don't seem to count.

As the article goes on to mention, this echoes the disgusting British behavior during the 1920s and 1930s when they would routinely arrest Jews for daring to blow the Shofar at the Kotel. I talked at length about this here. The fact that a Jewish government does the same thing today is just mind-blowing.

More peaceful talk from a Gaza sheikh

Here's another heartwarming story about a Gaza preasher who only wants to bring secular Muslims back into the fold.

For holy war, of course.

Sheikh Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic outreach movement, which seeks to make secular Muslims more religious, called for holy war against the Pope.

"We did not need the words of the pope in order to understand that this is a Crusader war against Islam and it is our holy duty to fight all those who support the pope, who follow him and who did not condemn what this small racist had to say," commented Abu Saqer, speaking to WND from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

"The day will soon come when the green flag of La Illah Illah Allah (There is no god but Allah) and Muhammad Rasul Allah (Muhammad is the Propher of Allah) will be raised upon the Vatican and all around the world and on the fortresses of those who want to destroy Islam because they know that this religion obliges them to face the truth that Islam is Allah's favorite religion. And until they join Islam hell is their last station," Abu Saqer said.

This fine example of tolerance has been greeted with the usual response from the Muslim world - agreement or silence.

It is yet another example of how Islamism, and probably Islam itself, does not distinguish between religion and politics.

Insane Muslim protestors of the day (9/22) - Oh, the humanity!

Can't quite figure out this one. Stop the humane crusade? Stop the crusade and humanity? Tough call.

From a Palestinian Arab rally. Note the Jewish star around his neck. The eyepatch may be to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day.

This all makes sense when you assume that Jews, infidels, dhimmis, "collaborators" and blasphemers are not human.

Shana Tova!

Wishing all of my readers a k'tivah v'chatimah tovah!

May this be a year of peace, prosperity, blessings, honor, and great happiness for all of us.

Ahmadinejad meets Neturei Karta; predicts death to all Zionists

From New York's Channel 2:

(CBS) NEW YORK It was a meeting out of the Twilight Zone: An Iranian president who wants Israel wiped off the map ... and a dozen rabbis who couldn't agree more.

WCBS-TV gained exclusive access to the event, held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Midtown. There, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed against Zionists, meaning the Israelis.

"They have no respect for the lives and dignity of the Jews," Ahmadinejad said through a translator. "If they could they would destroy 6 billion people in the world."

And then he made a chilling prediction about the future of Israel.

"But their time is ending. God willing," he said.

And the rabbis, who believe Israel's founding violated God's will, couldn't have been happier. One even went so far as to praise the controversial leader.

"God should give you long life and health and strength and not to be intimidated by the attacks of Zionism, that is attacking you as being anti-Semitic, which is a pure ploy of Zionism to intimidate people," one rabbi said. "They shouldn't speak up against their illegitimate state."

Ahmadinejad once again questioned the existence of the Holocaust. And the rabbis, some of whom lost relatives in the war, suggested it was all a Zionist conspiracy. The city's Jewish groups told CBS 2 the meeting was a travesty.

When told by CBS 2 that mainstream Jewish groups were calling the meeting an obscenity and a charade because these men represent nothing, Ahmadinejad replied, "Why are you asking this question from me? You represent Jews?"

The Iranian president never answered the question.

There is a special place in hell for these "rabbis."

That tiny minority of marriage-minded extremists

Since I saw the Muslim dating site MuslimIntro.com has at least one terror supporter proudly displaying his bigotry in his profile, I thought I'd look for any others.

Meet Hassan from Missouri:

Our family very simple farmer people who love Islam much and love Palestine much. Most of our family hates the jews. Many of our family live here in USA in Chicago Florida New York Baltimore and Minneapolis. We all love each other but no family is perfect....
My plan for the future is for me to finish college and start a business. Insha Allah one day sooner or later return to Palestine and live happy and good with my family. We have a struggle against the evil jews in Palestine. Allahu Maulana wala lahum maula. The best plan I can have is to live adhering to Islam and die that way as well....I would like to teach my children first and foremost the important aspects of Islam. Then they should also know how the life of dunia and Islam are related and also what they can do Islamically that is blessed and commended by Allah. They should also know the history of their parents culture and family. One of the most important things that my children should know is that they have a right to claim our homeland if they so choose in Palestine. And they may be inclined to help our cause to fight against the jews. But I want all my family members to be happy and living in the proper way in Islam.

This lovely woman from Egypt has only one wish for the world:

The thing I would most like to change about the world: balastien get their land back,jews be bunished

This Mohammud from the UK seems to have a healthy respect for Jews:

It's not in my hands but certainly in my prayers.That all muslim unite and that we truly love for each other whetever we love for ourselves.I'd love to see muslims taking over Jews in any fields.I love that,be it in studies or anything.

Google has a classic quote from the chatroom there in its cache:

The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with the unsympathetic Genitals.

I can imagine why the Genitals are unsympathetic!

This man from the UK seems to be well on his way to blowing up:

Conversation starters:
Do you like Shaikh Usamah BL?
What do you think is the status of Jihad Feesabeelillah (fighting, not waking up for work or college)?
People I admire/role models:
Mujahid Shaikh Usamah bin Laaden (hfa)
Mujahid Shaikh Ayman Az-Zawaahiri (hfa)
Mujahid Shaikh Abu Mus'ab az-Zarqaawi (hfa)
The thing I would most like to change about the world: Establish Shareeah, and nothing less.
i know i cant change the world to this with my own hands alone and without the will of Allaah, but i pray that Islam dominates the world, like Allah (swt) has promised in the Qur'an
My favourite food: Everything healthy and Halaal, except Zionist-funders

This man from Belgium agrees that the world should all be under Islamic law:

I think all countries must live by the shariah of islam, this is not our will, this is the thing that we must do, cause our prophet Muhammad sollollohu alyhi wasallam fought for that for several times in jihad against jews.

To be fair, there are some Muslims on this site that say they are not prejudiced against Jews and do not obsess over jihad. But can you imagine an American dating site where people proudly list similar opinions?