Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, May 03, 2007

US official praises Palestinian Arab press

A US official in the American Consulate in Jerusalem celebrated World Press Freedom Day in Ramallah:

Today, 3 May, is the United Nations' World Press Freedom Day, celebrated around the world. The United States consul for press affairs in Jerusalem, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, invited members of the Palestinian press to a special celebration in the West Bank city of Ramallah to honour the achievements of Palestinian journalists.

In her speech, Schweitzer-Bluhm applauded the Palestinian journalists for their "dedication to service", "commitment to getting at the truth" and "solidarity and bravery in the face of intimidation."

She particularly expressed her appreciation of the obstacles Palestinian media personnel must overcome to carry out their jobs, mentioning roadblocks, checkpoints, accusations of bias, threats, violence and gunfire. "Despite these obstacles, you do get the news out every day," she congratulated.

She applauded Palestinian journalists for challenging their own government, governments of neighbouring countries and the government of the United States. "Your inquiries and reports are a required part of a democratic Palestinian society," she said. "You are providing your fellow citizens with the information, the tools, to make decisions and be active members of their society. I urge you to continue to question and investigate and report."

Schweitzer-Bluhm described all attacks on journalists and freedom of speech as "despicable", adding, "And to those who would try to intimidate you or curtail your freedom of speech, I say no one is free if there is not freedom of information," she said.

Now, I spend a fair amount of time reading Palestinian Arab news sources in both English and autotranslated Arabic. With one exception, every major news source is clearly aligned with a political party, and the news is slanted that way (for example, Fatah-leaning newspapers will refer to Fatah victims of intraPal violence as "martyrs", and Hamas-leaning papers will do the same for Hamas victims.) With one exception, even basic journalistic standards of unbiased reporting is completely ignored in the Palestinian Arab media. Wafa, Al-Ayyam, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Paltoday - all of them have the journalistic standards of the National Enquirer.

The one exception is Ma'an News, which to its credit will take on PalArab corruption and internal violence. Ma'an is not afraid to report negative things about the PA.

But its impartiality ends at the Green Line. While a Reuters or an AP may highlight and believe every absurd claim of violence that PalArabs have against Israel, they will at least mention if Israel denies the accusation. Not so for Ma'an - any random "witness" is believed completely when the accusation is against Israel, and no attempt is even made to confirm these stories.

I don't know whether the reason for Ma'an's partiality is because their reporters have no interest in the truth, or if they are afraid to report the truth, or if they are simply so brainwashed that they can't even conceive that there might be another side to the story. But there is simply no Palestinian Arab news outlet that can be said to be helpful in advancing the cause of peace with Israel.

And Ma'an is the best of the lot. One only needs to read Palestinian Media Watch or MEMRI to see the blatant anti-semitism, lionization of death and murder, and absurd hate that permeates the Palestinian Arab media.

And for this US official to praise this supposed press freedom without any reservations is very troubling indeed.

UPDATE: Islamic Jihad celebrated World Press Freedom Day with a statement that perverts the entire idea of freedom. Autotranslated from Paltoday:

Demanded that the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine today, the occasion of World Press Freedom Day today, Thursday,, the masses of journalists, to focus on the fundamentals it meets all our people away from the differences and contradictions Media battalion is developed in all our battles.

The movement said in a statement the "Palestine today," a copy of which, the role played by the media in highlighting the novel and impose national, and avoid discord and show Unionist voice of our people.

The movement said in a statement "the day World Press Freedom Day, journalists live atmosphere of persecution and oppression and gagged and confiscated liberties, spared no prosecutions were kidnapped and killed and arrested, at the hands of the enemies of freedom around the world, topped by the head of the evil American and pampered State of the Zionist entity."

Nice of them to tell the media what they should cover to advance their cause. The fact that they have RPGs to back up their request shouldn't be a problem at all.

Reasons for decline of the Muslim world (Husain Haqqani)

This article, by the Muslim director of Boston University's Center for International Relations, tells the straight truth about the Muslim world today.

So why is it only being printed in the Brunei Times and the Gulf News?

Reasons for decline of the Muslim world

Husain Haqqani

03-May-07

THE Muslim world seems to be in the grip of all kinds of rumours. The willingness of large numbers of Muslims to believe some outrageous assertions reflects pervasive insecurity coupled with widespread ignorance.

The contemporary Muslim fascination for conspiracy theories limits the capacity for rational discussion of international affairs.

For example, a recent poll indicates that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that al-Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the United States, notwithstanding Osama bin Laden and his deputies have taken credit for the attacks on more than one occasion.

The acceptance of rumours and the readiness to embrace the notion of a conspiracy does not apply exclusively to the realm of politics.

Villagers in rural Nigeria are refusing to administer the polio vaccine to their infant children out of fear that the vaccine will make their offspring sterile.

Some religious leaders in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanistan have also voiced concerns about a "Western-Zionist conspiracy" to sterilise the next generation of Muslims as part of what they allege is an "ongoing war against Islam".

Mobile phones and the Internet, the pervasiveness of which is often cited as a measure of a society's progress and modernity, have become a means of spreading fear in the Muslim world.

Text messages, originating from the Pakistani city of Sialkot, recently warned people of a virus if people answered phone calls from certain numbers.

The virus would not hurt the phone, the messages said, but would rather kill the recipient.

The panic caused by the rumours forced the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to issue a denial. Phone companies sent out text messages urging people to be calm.

A newspaper rejected the rumour but featured the headline, Killer Mobile Virus.

A text message widely circulated in an Arab country claimed that trucks carrying a million melons had been smuggled across the country's northern border and the melons were contaminated with the HIV virus, which causes Aids.

No one paid any attention to the fact that the HIV virus cannot be transmitted by eating melons.

The Muslim world has a high rate of illiteracy but ignorance reflected by the readiness to believe unverified (and sometimes totally outrageous) claims is not just a function of illiteracy.

It is a function of bigotry and fear. Literate Muslims, such as those involved in the text message rumour-mongering, are as vulnerable to ignorant behaviour as illiterate ones.

Conspiracy theories have been popular among Muslims since the twilight years of the Ottoman Empire as a way of explaining the powerlessness of a community that was at one time the world's economic, scientific, political and military leader.

The erosion of the leadership position of Muslims coincided with the West's gradual technological ascendancy.

The Persian, Mughal and Ottoman empires controlled vast lands and resources but many important scientific discoveries and inventions since the 15th century came about in Europe and not in the Muslim lands.

Ignorance is an attitude and the world's Muslims have to analyse, debate and face it before they can deal with it.

The 57-member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference have around 500 universities compared with more than 5,000 universities in the US and more than 8,000 in India. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an "Academic Ranking of World Universities", and none of the universities from Muslim-majority states was included in the top 500.

The Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Western nations spend around 5 per cent of GDP on producing knowledge.

The tendency of Muslim masses to accept rumours as fact and the readiness to believe anything that suggests a non-Muslim conspiracy to weaken or undermine the Muslims is the result of the overall feeling of helplessness and decline that permeates the Muslim world.

Most Muslim scholars and leaders try to explain Muslim decline through the prism of the injustices of colonialism and the subsequent ebb and flow of global distribution of power.

But Muslims are not weak because they were colonised. They were colonised because they had become weak.

Conspiracy theories paper over the knowledge deficit and attitude of ignorance in the Muslim world. It is time for a discussion of the Ummah's decline in the context of failure to produce and consume knowledge and absorb verifiable facts.

Husain Haqqani is director of Boston University's Centre for International Relations, and Co-chairman of the Islam and Democracy Project at Hudson Institute, Washington DC. He is author of the book "Pakistan between Mosque and Military".

There is something seriously wrong when repressive Muslim regimes can print something like this but the liberal US media, supposedly dedicated to free speech, wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

PalArabs extend winning streak to 21

During the week from April 26-May 2, Palestinian Arabs managed to kill at least 6 PalArabs. The mighty IDF, perhaps demoralized by the Winograd report, only managed to kill 2, according to PCHR.

(One of those 2 is denied by the IDF so it is probable that the score is really a 7-1 rout.)

This marks 21 consecutive weeks where Paleos managed to kill each other in greater numbers than the "genocidal" IDF.

Many Gazans prefer occupation

Ha'aretz on Sunday published one of the most detailed articles about how bad things are in Gaza that I have ever read. It's worth reading the whole article by Avi Issacharoff - it details the murders, honor killings, clan clashes, prostitution, drug dealing and all the other chaos in the Strip.

Two points from the article are worth noting, and both are never mentioned in any media:

The [Palestinian Arab Gaza] journalist adds: "There are two options today that could take us out of this situation: Someone strong in the Gaza Strip who does not care about a confrontation with the clans, or an Israeli occupation. Many people in the Strip hope that Israel will reoccupy it because these phenomena were not prevalent during the Israeli occupation."

In the reality that is Gaza, where economic hardship screams out, there are quite a few Palestinians who wish to send Qassam rockets at its northern neighbor - and not necessarily for ideological reasons. The head of a unit of launchers gets $5,000 from the organization that sends him on his mission for releasing a salvo of rockets - an enormous sum in Gazan terms. The members of the unit receive several hundred dollars. The economic temptation is immense. It is less important to those launching the rockets whether the target is actually hit. That may be important only to those who wish to see the IDF return as an occupier to Gaza.

These two items - that many Gazans are hoping for Israeli re-occupation, and that rocket crews get paid huge amounts - are facts that you will never see in a Western newspaper. Because, once again, the facts upset the narrative of a Zionist-oppressed Palestinian Arab people that is the basis of nearly all journalism about the area.
(Hat tip: EBoZ)

A new twist on an old lie

We've seen before that Palestinian Arabs will blame Israel for any deaths that cannot be 100% proven to be internal.

Today, a PalArab was killed near the Gaza border fence. That is about all that is known for sure.

PalArabs are claiming that he was shot by an IDF patrol, who then arrested his brother who was with him as they were gathering scrap metal. The IDF denies shooting, or arresting, anyone in the area.

We have seen many times how Palestinian Arab "witnesses" make up lies on the spot. We have also seen Israel readily admit their operations. Given the track records of both parties, I am counting this is a Palestinian Arab internal murder - the second time this week that PalArabs claim an Israeli kill that Israel denies.

This is the first time I've ever seen a claim of an arrest as well. My guess is that the brother killed the victim and this is a coverup.

The incentive on the PalArab side is obvious - stirring up hatred against Israel and claiming that Israel is routinely entering Gaza.

It will be interesting to see if tomorrow's PCHR report blames both these claimed deaths on Israel.

The 2007 PalArab self-death count total is now at 193.

UPDATE: A more traditional killing in Khan Younis: 3 men in a Subaru shooting a 24-year old woman, Raghda Al- Ghalayeeni. 194.

Ahmadinejad in hot water over kissing woman's gloved hand

Once again, no matter how crazy you are, there are always crazier people:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinajad is being slammed by Iranian newspapers and Islamic groups after he kissed his teacher's hand during a celebration, on the occasion of Iranian teacher's day.

The Tehran-based "Hezbollah newspaper" considered the Iranian president's behavior contradictory to Islamic law, "which prohibits the kissing the hand of any lady, if she is not one of the man's family members, and to whom he can not get married."

The newspaper went as far as saying, "the Iranian people have never witnessed such a violation of the Islamic rules since the Islamic revolution in 1979, and such inappropriate behavior could have very serious influence on the sacred Islamic principles and values."

It is noteworthy that, when the Iranian president kissed his teacher's hand, she was wearing gloves, and so there was no contact with her flesh.

UPDATE:

(H/T Memri Blog)

The Kurdish example for Palestine (Marty Peretz)

From TNR (H/T Soccer Dad):

THE KURDISH EXAMPLE FOR PALESTINE:
For years the Kurds were my favorite lost cause. I do not mean this at all cynically. I gave to Kurdish charities. I wrote about them, and others wrote about them in TNR, too. I bored dinner table conversations about the justice of their cause and the injustice of their oppressors. What the Dalai Lama was to Richard Gere (forgive my pretension), the Kurds were to me. But Tibet is truly a lost cause, having fallen into the grisly grip of the Chinese who will never let go. Never.

But I don't want to compare the Kurds to the Tibetans who have no one but celebrities behind them, and people driving Volvos. I want to compare the Kurds to the Palestinians. This comparison arose in the middle of a public discussion last night with Martin Kramer, a fellow at the Olin Center for International Studies at Harvard University. He and his audience were talking about the United States in the Middle East after Iraq. One of Kramer's points was that the Middle East was about to break down, whether we like it or not. Another was that the "city-state" will be a more common form of government than what it is now. And, in the discussion, it became clear that Kurdistan, whether it had formal independence or not, was a real state and its people were a real people.

So my lost cause was no longer a lost cause. And those who loved the Kurds, but never loved them the most, have also been rewarded for whatever decent loyalty they had and expressed. The fact is that, aside from us lost causers, nobody really wanted the Kurds to have a state, which they did have for less than a year after World War II until the Soviets turned on them and the U.S. did not help. So some people loved the Kurds but everybody got an acid attack when the name Kurdistan was mentioned.

Still, consciously or not, and I believe consciously, the Kurds followed the example of what the Zionists did from the twenties on. For several decades, even under the raging reign of Saddam Hussein, they built an educational system and a health system, they had a working Kurdish government that no one recognized, they paid attention to all of the requirements for civil society. There is a vibrant economy and it is generating serious foreign investment. It is true that, for the last dozen years or so, their ambitious ventures were implicitly and explicitly carried out under the protection of the U.S. Yet it was as if nobody noticed. The international system paid no attention, except to warn that there should not be a Kurdish state. There should not be a Kurdish state. There really should not be a Kurdish state. Yet there is a Kurdish state, and it will get along with Turkey.

Contrast the Kurds with the Palestinians. Everyone is passionate for a Palestinian state. There have been at least two declarations of independence proclaiming it. 120-odd countries have already recognized the state of Palestine. The Palestinians have embassies all over the world, and the world's countries have representation in it. Even the government of Israel wants there to be a Palestine, and three of the previous governments have also expressed support and worked for a Palestinian state. In fact, I suppose I want a Palestinian state, too. But the Palestinians don't have a state, and it's not because Israel failed to give them one or negotiate one with them.

The contrast is startling: no one wants a Kurdish state and yet there is one. Everyone wants a Palestinian state, people are willing to die for it and, what's worse, kill for it. Mahmud Abbas is president of the state, and there is an elected parliament with a designated prime minister and a "unity" government. But let's face it: the state of Palestine simply does not exist. There is even a question as to whether the Palestinian people really exists, except in the realm of conflicted ideology. That is not enough. I'll wager a bet. The Kurds will be represented as a state in international councils long before the people of Palestine stop killing each other.

The latest scam allowing money to PalArab terrorists

Let's put the pieces together:

From Reuters:

Palestinian officials expect to start receiving a major new injection of aid from Saudi Arabia to ease a year-old embargo imposed by Israel and Western powers, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday.

A package of $250 million of Saudi money -- equivalent to some six weeks of the Palestinian Authority's basic funding needs -- will start arriving soon, Fayyad told Reuters as he lamented delay in resolving technical snags to other aid flows and Israel's refusal to hand over Palestinian taxes it collects.

...While the Western powers and Israel still refuse to help Hamas as long as it does not renounce violence or recognise Israel, Fayyad won a pledge from the United States to help ease technical difficulties for those donors still making payments.

A key element of this was an assurance from Washington to banks that they would not be penalised for making transfers to an account run by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, run by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

This is not a one-time deal. From The Jerusalem Post:

The Palestinians want to establish a new fund that would allow donor countries to send them aid while formally maintaining their boycott of the Palestinian unity government, a senior official said Wednesday.
Under the arrangement, foreign aid could be sent to the PLO, in which Hamas is not represented. The Palestinian government, a coalition of Hamas and the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, could then draw money from the PLO account.

This is great for Finance Minister Fayyad, and there will indeed be a bit more accountability for the funds rather than the suitcases full of cash that characterized 2006.

What is Hamas' take on this? Well, Haniyeh is just tickled pink, as he addressed a bunch of EUdiot parliamentarians who met with him to give Hamas a bit more legitimacy in the world's eyes:

Haniyeh stressed to the delegation the need for the world to deal with the Palestinian national unity government as the representative of the Palestinian people. He also emphasized that aid and support should come direct to the Palestinian ministry of finance.

So instead of upsetting Hamas, Hamas seems very happy that the money is going to the Finance Minister via the PLO. At the very least, it reduces pressure on his government to actually act, you know, responsibly. And it is entirely possible that Hamas' "military wing" is being paid directly from this same fund.

However, there is another wrinkle in sending all this money to the PLO:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal agreed on a scheduled mechanism to reactivate the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a Hamas official said on Sunday.
Abbas and Mashaal, who met in Cairo on Friday evening, "agreed to rebuild and rehabilitate the PLO," Yehia Mussa, a Hamas lawmaker, told reporters in Gaza.
Mussa denied press reports that the ruling Hamas has given its final acceptance to join the PLO. However, he confirmed that Hamas will enter the PLO as soon as it is reformed.

And Hamas will not just join the PLO as an ordinary group member, but rather as the senior partner:

Hamas is threatening to withdraw from the national unity government if it does not secure appropriate representation in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazzal has claimed.

In a press statement, Nazzal said the Hamas delegation to the Damascus and Cairo dialogues "hinted that they will not continue in the government, as the Mecca deal reads, if their share is not the largest in the PLO."

Put the puzzle pieces together and what do you have? A concerted effort by Hamas to take over the PLO - and the hundreds of millions of dollars that the US is now allowing to flow to that "moderate" organization.

And the fact that the US is allowing this loophole to exist will ensure that the PalArabs will not pay for voting for Hamas - and will not have any reason not to vote for Hamas again. The entire logic of the boycott has been turned on its head by the well-meaning "humanitarian" gestures that will ultimately lead to new weapons, new terrorism and less hope for PalArabs.

PalArab journalists claim that a bulldozer tried to assassinate them

WAFA and Paltoday report (in Arabic) of a deliberate Israeli attempt to murder them - with a bulldozer:

Jenin-5-2-2007-A number of Wafa photographers, journalists, dawn today, survived from certain death, when detained by an army bulldozer in a closed area inside the camp of Jenin in the northern West Bank, tried searched.

Seif Aldahlah colleague, photographer, "Wafa" in Jenin, said said that while he was filming the raids and arrests that took place in the city and camp at dawn today, with a number of photographers, pursued by an army bulldozer in one of the alleys of the camp, more than once, where the driver tried deliberately searched.

He added that the occupation soldiers tried to prevent us from before photography, fear of the transfer of the real picture and barbaric exercise during storming operations of houses unarmed citizens.

Photographers and journalists stressed that such practices, the term deliberate Israeli policy, which aims to target journalists and media crews, and prevented them from disclosure practices of the Israeli army atrocities against the Palestinians.

Let's get this straight:

Israel tries to stop them from telling their stories even though they manage to print stories about Israeli actions - real or imagined - many times every day.
Israel decided to target these "journalists", not with bullets or rockets, but with a slow moving bulldozer, chasing them around the streets of Jenin like a Three Stooges film.
They all ran away from the deadly bulldozer as a group instead of spreading out.
Jenin's citizens are unarmed.
And while Israel tried so desperately to assassinate these "journalists" with a piece of earth-moving equipment over the course of perhaps 15 minutes, they couldn't shoot a single video or photograph showing this event.

Here's how I predict the trajectory of this story going in English:

First, IMEMC will publish it.

Ma'an might skip this one, but even Ma'an takes any claims against Israel seriously no matter how absurd, so that's about 50-50.

Then some rabidly "Zionist" hating sites like uruknet will mention it in context of a much larger story detailing "Zionist crimes."

And some moonbat next year will mention it as proof that St. Pancake herself, Rachel Corrie, was targeted by a deliberate Israeli bulldozer policy.

UPDATE 1: Here's the promised IMEMC story.

UPDATE 2: It's funny to see that when the PalArab media tries to spin a story like this, they won't mention the violent acts of their own people - which the terrorists brag about at the same time.

The Islamic Jihad website claimed to torch an Israeli jeep in Jenin during this operation, and published this picture (no idea if this picture was actually taken this morning):

I guess that the "journalists" had to choose between telling the truth and bashing Israel. Easy choice when your entire purpose is propaganda.

Elder scoops Arutz-7

Arutz-7, May 2, 2007: PA Arabs Forbidden by Muslim Leaders to Flee Street Violence

Elder of Ziyon, April 30, 2007: Fatwa against PalArabs emigrating

Might as well toot my own horn once in a while.

Ahmadinejad tries to battle the International Zionist Web

As my long-time readers know, I am the founder of the International Zionist Web, whose existence was publicized by Mad Mahmoud Ahmad Inejad a year ago:

But now, he is trying to create his own media conspiracy to battle those of us who have controlled the news for so long.

DAMASCUS -- Participants in the Third International Conference of Arab and Islamic Media to Support the Palestinian People, which is currently underway in Damascus, have pointed to the need for Islamic media outlets to draw up a common strategy.

In the opening speech on Monday, Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara described the situation in the region as very sensitive and said Israel is using “software and hardware” methods in an attempt to turn world public opinion against Islamic and Arab nations.

On the responsibility of the Islamic media to counter the U.S.-Israeli plot against Muslims, he said that Islamic media outlets should perform their duty by compiling a common information dissemination strategy and proving to Westerners that Islamic nations are in the right.

A delegation from Iran comprising media directors and experts on Palestinian affairs, including the managing directors of the Mehr and Fars news agencies, and the managing directors of the Tehran Times, Iran, and Al-Vefaq newspapers, are also participating in the meeting.

During the conference, 13 expert committees will draw up a draft resolution for final approval and will prepare a strategic formula for making the world more aware of the suffering of the oppressed Palestinians.

Subjects such as Syria’s Golan Heights, which is occupied by the Zionist regime, and the role of media in differentiating between resistance and terrorism will be discussed in the meeting.

Although the media have a unique status in international developments, unfortunately, the media outlets of the Islamic world have failed to adopt a united approach to confront the Western conspiracies, he noted.

Zarghami mentioned the call of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for Islamic solidarity, saying the ulema should formulate strategies for Islamic unity and the media should play a more active role in this regard.

Palestinian Information Minister Mostafa al-Barghouti, Al-Manar TV Director Abdullah Qassir, who is also a Hezbollah MP in the Lebanese Parliament, and the Arab League deputy secretary general for media affairs all emphasized the necessity of devising a practical plan to establish an Islamic-Arab front to counter Western media propaganda.

Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal told the delegates that unity among Islamic media outlets would isolate Israel politically.

“Today, reliable and precise information and the presentation of a common Islamic media strategy for countering propaganda by the West and Israel can be effective for politically isolating this regime (Israel),” the Syrian minister told the Mehr News Agency.

In order to maintain their independence and Islamic identity, Islamic countries should employ soft approaches, he said.

Let me give them some free advice: If you want to create a good media conspiracy that won't get detected by the gullible infidels, purposefully make some of the Islamic media pretend to be pro-Israel. This will weaken the arguments of those that claim that there is a monolithic Islamic press that is being controlled by an all-powerful set of key players. It will also deflect the dhimmi arguments that there is no real independent Islamic press. A consistent, common message can only occur when a significant number of the messengers pretend to disagree.

This method has been fabulously successful for the Imperialist/Zionist Alliance - so many of the Zionist media routinely trash Israel that you literally cannot tell that they are on our side.

This is just a taste of some of the brilliance that comes from 3000 years of controlling the world.

(If you want to join the IZW, just put the logo on your website with a link back to the original IZW article and let me know in the comments with your URL.)

State Department whitewashing Fatah

The annual Country Reports on Terrorism publication for 2006 was released yesterday by the State Department. Here is a list of Palestinian Arab terror organizations that it listed:

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (al-Aqsa)
The Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)

While Hamas and Islamic Jihad both have "military wings" (the Al Qassam brigades and the Al Quds Brigades) they are not listed separately - they are considered part of the larger terrorist organizations, as they should be.

But the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the "military wing" of the Fatah terrorist organization, are listed as a terror group - and Fatah is not.

It seems that politics in supporting Abbas is more important than accuracy for the State Department.

Boy, does the truth hurt!

Last week, during a Yom Ha'Atzmaut ceremony, acting President Dalia Itzik directed comments towards Israel's enemies:

"Our advice to you is replace your Katyushas and Qassams with computers and loving education, the smile of a boy that has a future, and neighborliness.

"We hear the sharpening of swords and voices of war from near and afar. In distant Iran, in nearby Syria, in the Palestinian Authority at out doorstep, there still reside fiery zealots of hate-ridden leaders that believe in their ability to harm the state of Israel," Itzik said, adding that "the citizens of Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority should think twice about why they are so thirsty for battles and blood.

"Isn't the blood that you have already spilled enough?"

The wiser PalArabs didn't bother to mention this speech, as it was a very accurate and damning indictment against the society of violence and hate that they have built over the decades. But that doesn't mean that the dumber ones can't react.

Here is what one terror-advocate wrote in response, at the "People's Voice" website where anyone can write their own "news", in an article called "Israel's Pornographic Lies":

Well, it is manifestly clear that Itzik's remarks are void of even an iota of truth and honesty. Their mendacity and brazen hypocrisy cry out to the seventh heaven.
Indeed, urging Palestinians to trade their Qassams, the primitive, ineffectual home-made projectiles, for computers, and appealing to them to stop bloodshed would have made sense had it come from a decent and peaceable state that respects human rights and observes the rule of international law.

But coming from Israel, the international pariah and perpetual violator of international law, Izik's homily can be compared to a veteran whore exhorting others to celebrate her chastity.

Well, who is occupying whose land? Who is murdering whose children? Who is demolishing whose homes? Who is narrowing whose horizons? Who is stealing whose land? And who is barring whom from accessing food and work?

More importantly, who has been committing a slow-motion genocide against whom? There are thousands of other questions that Itzik should have answered before indulging in this verbal fornication....
It is indeed lamentable that instead of urging her people to walk in the path of peace and stop killing and oppressing the already thoroughly tormented Palestinians and stealing their land and narrowing their horizons, Itzik chose to indulge in wanton lies as if lies are Israel's oxygen.

It is also especially sad that Itzik's outrageous speech went unanswered and unchallenged, neither by Israeli officials, nor by the Israeli intellectual community, nor, indeed, by the Israeli media.

This shows that the Israeli society is still suffering from a collective psychosis, a serious moral morbidity that needs a long time to heal.

Whew! While I didn't quote his entire meandering set of "facts" to prove that Israelis are bloodthirsty rapists towards a peaceful Palestinian Arab people, it sure looks like Itzik hit a nerve with this guy. And yet, in his entire screed, he couldn't point out a single "lie" that Itzik said.

(The part about a "collective psychosis" is just the latest example of Elder's First Rule of Arab Projection. His obsession with sexual analogies is perhaps a topic for another day.)

Once again, rather than admitting that the Palestinian Arab policy of unremitting violence has been counterproductive and has hurt PalArabs more than anyone else; instead of agreeing that perhaps computers are better than Qassams, we have a clueless terror apologist who just fumes and rants uncontrollably when confronted with a very simple truth.

May Day whining

It comes as no surprise that there is much unemployment in the PA. But one can always count on the infantile whiners there to put the blame anywhere but on themselves. The ridiculous "International Middle East Media Center" makes up some facts:

Unemployment is up and thousands who found work as part of the Israeli cheap labor force can no longer reach jobs due to closure, the Wall and an campaign of arrests.
In the public sector, strikes have at times over the course of the year crippled government offices, the education and health systems, security and municipal services. Trying to reach work within the West Bank and East Jerusalem has become even more difficult with the Wall completely blocking access for some, while others are forced to find lengthy routes around it. Israeli forces have destroyed or shut-down many factories in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip....
Unemployment is rising among Palestinians with an overall rate around 50 percent. There are areas where it is as high as 85 percent.

Too bad the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics disagrees, putting the unemployment rates at 18.6% in the West Bank and 34.8% in Gaza Strip. The West Bank numbers are not too much out of whack with Jordan's 14% unemployment rate.

But nowhere, and I mean nowhere, will you find a single article in Palestan that sees a correlation between PalArab terror and PalArab unemployment.

They might mention that they no longer have as many jobs in Israel as they used to, but they'll never say that perhaps some Israeli employers got rid of their PalArab workers when the workers started blowing up.

Nowhere will you see them noticing that Gaza unemployment soared when Israel left Gaza.

Nowhere will you find someone saying that it's been over six years since the terror campaign replaced Oslo, how come the Paleos haven't managed to build any real industry in that timeframe? How come they destroyed the state-of-the-art greenhouses that American Jews bought for them in Gaza? How come they constantly attacked the Erez industrial zone, killing many and forcing Israeli companies to leave?

Taking responsibility is not something that these people are capable of. It is a culture of whining and blaming others and perceived entitlements.

Mosques applying for Fed money meant to protect synagogues

The Department of Homeland Security started a $24 million grant program on adding security systems for non-profit organizations "who are deemed high-risk of a potential international terrorist attack."

This is obviously a response to repeated threats made by various Islamic terror organizations against all Jews worldwide, and because of real attacks against synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the West carried out by Muslims.

But guess who is trying to get this money? Yup, your favorite terror front organization, CAIR!

Because of all those Mossad agents targeting mosques in the US, no doubt.

Many more details at Debbie Schlussel.

Fatwa against PalArabs emigrating

It appears that the recent mass emigration of Palestinian Arabs away from that hellhole is starting to make the muftis nervous.

In this fatwa printed in the Islamic Jihad Arabic website, a fatwa is printed prohibiting leaving Palestine except for specific reasons. Here's the auto-translation from the "Association of Palestine Scholars":

God Almighty says : "O ye who believe, if you come across someone who disbelieved the march do not turn your backs to them," Qur'an 40:51.

It was observed in the past few months the migration of large numbers of our people especially the youth to foreign countries such as the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia and with the complicity of the occupation, on the pretext of crimes of the Zionist occupation incursions, assassinations, arrests and demolition of houses and the unjust embargo and the many barriers, and also because of security problems and murders, thefts, and others.

The seriousness of this phenomenon on our people, religiously, politically, socially and where we are still in a battle with the occupiers militarily, politically and economically, and it is heart-rending arrival of thousands of Jews to Palestine month despite their suffering.

Good legitimate in this case : There is impermissible for any of our people stationed migration to a foreign nation it is a Administrating day crawl only legitimate reason, such as education, treatment and other infrastructure, repatriation and parents.

What all of us patience and Almassabreh stationed resistance and the unification of the occupation forced to leave the country and the migration of Quranic verse, "O you who believe, be patient and fear steadfast, fear Allah, that ye may prosper." Qur'an 40:51

Relief is just and victory is coming soon, God says, "God will make yet given him"

"He said the Messenger of Allah and peace be upon him, "I know that victory with patience and with anguish and vaginal lining"

OK, I somehow doubt that the "vaginal lining" part is an accurate translation, but this shows how nervous these guys are, despite the bravado they display for the West.

Update on the Kotel ha-Katan

In January I blogged about the Kotel ha-Katan, a little-known part of the Western Wall that is even closer to the holiest part of the Temple.

Earlier, I had blogged an extremely disturbing story about someone who was arrested for blowing the shofar at the Kotel ha-Katan last Rosh Hashanah - by Israeli police.

It looks like it is finally starting to receive the attention it deserves.
From Arutz-7:

Unknown to most visitors to the Western Wall, the remnant of the Holy Temple compound extends to the north far beyond what they can see - and a campaign is underway to publicize this.

The Western Wall is a supporting wall of the Temple Mount complex, on which the two Holy Temples were built approximately 2,850 and 2,350 years ago, respectively. Though it is technically outside the Temple area, it has special sanctity; the rabbinic Sages taught that the Divine Presence would never leave the Western Wall.

Of the nearly 500 meters of length of the Western Wall, roughly 200 meters of the southern end [to the right of the worshipers] are easily accessible today - but the remainder is just as sacred. Another 100 meters or so are included in a tour of the Western Wall Tunnels. Above these tunnels, near the Iron Gate entrance to the Temple Mount and on Temple Mount floor level, is an open area facing a short segment of the Wall. This is the area known as the Kotel HaKatan.
One Would Not Know It
Though it is off the beaten track, the Kotel HaKatan is actually slightly more holy than the familiar Western Wall plaza, because of its closer proximity to the Holy of Holies of the ancient Temples. However, one would not know this upon visiting it - for it is hard to get to, has no trappings of a holy site, and is not even protected 24 hours a day.

An ad-hoc committee named Kotleinu, "Our Wall," is working to promote and improve conditions at the Kotel HaKatan. The committee comprises mostly residents of the Old City of Jerusalem who are concerned that the area is not treated with the respect it deserves.

The group says that of late, for the first time ever, the Tourism Ministry department in charge of Holy Sites has committed to upkeep the Kotel HaKatan. Deputy Director-General Rafi Ben-Hur acknowledged that the Ministry is responsible for the area, but said that special budgeting must be obtained before this responsibility can be actualized.

Despite this, some recent improvements at the site include a police presence during daylight hours, a security camera monitoring the area and the access road, municipality-provided street-sweeping - and even a sign that says "Do not litter."

"A no-littering sign is an improvement," an active Kotleinu member told Arutz-7, "but what we really want is a sign saying that this is a holy site and that it should be treated appropriately."

Prayer Services and Arab Bicycles
Yeshivat HaKotel maintains a daily afternoon prayer service there, and other groups and yeshivot also pray there on Shabbatot. This, despite the fact that there are no chairs or prayer stands at the site; even prayer-books cannot be stored there, as there is no security at night. Sometimes, Arab children pass through there with their bicycles, or Arab women with their shopping bags - reminiscent of the scene of the "regular" Western Wall up until several decades ago.
"If the Ministry sees that tourists from both in and out of Israel frequent the place and are interested in it," Kotleinu feels, "this will provide an incentive to upgrade it. This is why we have started a letter-writing campaign to this effect."
Kotleinu asks concerned citizens and tourists to join the campaign for improving Kotel HaKatan conditions by visiting the Small Wall and by writing to or faxing (02-6496157) Tourism Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch. A recommended sample letter can be seen here.

Jordanian report on men kissing men

Autotranslation is a very inexact science, and I cannot claim to understand every detail of this report published in Jordan and reproduced by Ma'an, but it sounded so funny I couldn't resist posting it here.

The upshot seems to be that a Jordanian study showed that men kissing men can spread disease and also seems to have some social connotations depending on how the kissing is done, so the authors recommend replacing kissing with a handshake.

Amman-Jordanian Constitution newspaper published in its issue today a report on the views of professionals and religious scholars about the phenomenon of men kiss men, a phenomenon which has spread in Arab societies.

The report showed disparity in the positions of those surveyed thought their views about the phenomenon and the following is the full text of the report, as published by the Constitution.

Spread large communities usually "kiss men for men" when they meet at some events, or after an absence, or when visiting among themselves, and perhaps that of Jordanian society in which the values of love and tolerance, and its members Surayrah purity and clarity of hearts, most communities sprouting Fihahdh phenomenon, which did not hide their aversion many Jordanians of them, citing what can be caused by complications in the event of a disease can be transmitted, in addition to the revulsion of this custom among many people who find themselves Mensakin to live with them despite what caused them hardship.

In the book Professor of Sociology Dr. Suleiman Obeidat "customs and traditions of Jordanian society" saying (that men kiss men on the cheekbones of common habits when Jordanians, and this pattern of Kissing reflects the longing and desire in the meeting).

Adds Dr. Obeidat "The Kissing on the cheekbones, it might be some kind of sympathy, it dies of a person close to him comes to people's sympathy, condolences and most unable to know its own even if it did not knew personally, and although these usually to express sympathy to the people of the deceased and alleviate the grievances, but that have many disadvantages, the Jordanians Elmsonha and talk about them, and wish to stop causes usually Kissing, and apply negative practice this habit of meetings and rallies also women, and equally applicable to the meetings and rallies men.

While Samaha says Dr. Abdel Azizakhiat and former Minister of Religious Endowments : that usually men kiss men hated so taboo, and he hates to accept men bite men, or something from it, or embraces, and then hand-shake and then Ptqubel hands of the Sultan and the world just because they inherited year-old Muslim, born of first-Sadr to this day.

Dr. facilitate Abu Rajab Al-Tamimi is internal diseases specialist said : possible impact of the men kiss men negative results of the most significant transition germ "Estrepettokukas", as composed in the throat and go abroad through the mouth and saliva, and the transmission of venereal diseases such as syphilis caused by the type of bacteria, and the transmission of viral diseases especially if the wounds in the lips, As can move Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) if the wounds in the face Natiaankin one of the parties, in addition to that Kissing given the opportunity to move respiratory viruses, such as cold viruses, influenza at the convergence of the nose above.

Dr. Atta-Khalidi, professor of psychology, said the Kiss between men and symbolic meanings : Kiss that the cheekbones between two mean equality, the man does not accept another cheekbones less centers or position or rank, Kiss between two estranged Trmazali tolerance and forgiveness, and Kiss between two occasions in the consolation mean humility and volunteer for service and assistance, and Kiss on the head mean reverence and appreciation , Kiss Stinger mean respect, and Kiss on the nose mean estimate.

He added that Dr. Khalidi usually men kiss men of old habits die when Jordanians, are an expression of love and a desire to help and participate in weddings and funerals, the time has come to abandon the practice of hand-shake and self instead.

As a professor of educational administration, Dr. Ahmed Yousef Hill : he emphasized that this habit hateful religious prohibition to a degree, and adverse health, and socially unacceptable, and that many of the sons of Jordanian society dislikes them, adding that this usually is not alone, which should stop exercising, but there are tens of negative habits and concepts which should be debated and developed , or to refrain from exercising, and his Dr. Hill said : Given the conviction and the conviction of most Jordanians need to stop this practice Elad e negative, it is proposed to initiate the Prime Minister announced the government's position on this practice, and appeal to Jordanians to stop practice in the public and private occasions, and initiate clan Jordanian announcement in Douaouinha of self in a hand-shake all events, and initiate everyone who reads this subject to discontinue the practice of this custom.

The terrible plight of PalArab prisoners

Angry Palestinian Arab family members have been demonstrating for the release of their relatives, languishing in prisons where there is a history mistreatment and torture.

Hamas asked them to be patient and rejected any use of violence on the relatives' parts.

Doesn't make sense? Of course it does - when the prisoners are in Egyptian prisons:

Palestinian security forces on Monday foiled an attempt to break into the Egyptian embassy by Palestinian family members, whose sons are being held in Egyptian jails.

Ma'an's correspondent reported that a number of people have been participating in a 'sit-in' strike for the last two days in front of the embassy, calling for the release of their sons. Today, they attempted to forcibly enter the embassy, but presidential forces intervened and dispersed them after shooting in the air.

The Hamas movement has expressed reservations over handling of the events, and rejected dealing with the issue of the arrested Palestinians in Egypt through violent means.

In a statement issued on Monday, the movement stated that "dealing with this issue can be only through dialogue. This can be achieved in the bilateral meetings with our brothers in Egypt, and also through Hamas leaders' meetings with the Egyptian ambassador in the [Gaza] Strip". The statement also highlighted that the Egyptian government "has promised that this subject will be dealt with within two months".

Hamas called on all citizens "to be patient, and give a chance for the efforts made in this regard." The movement also urged the Egyptian government and their embassy to understand the feelings of the family members, who are worried about their sons in Egyptian jails.

For some strange reason, I haven't been able to find any pictures of these distraught family members in any wire service photo, the way I see the people who demonstrate against prisoners in Israeli jails. (There are a couple of photos of PalArab police guarding the Egyptian embassy

but no pictures of the emotional protesters, as is the case for similar protests against Israel.

See here. )

In fact, it is hard to find out any information about Palestinian Arabs in Egyptian prisons - what crimes they were charged with, how long they've been detained, how many there are.

One can almost come to the conclusion that only prisoners in Israeli jails are of interest to PalArabs, even though Egypt routinely tortures prisoners with real torture, not the pseudo-torture ascribed to Western countries. It's almost like they use the prisoners for propaganda purposes, but don't really care about them on any other level. And that the wire services and "human rights" organizations play along with the fiction that only Israeli prisoners are important, while PalArabs who languish in Egyptian prisons have no value whatsoever.

Nah, that's crazy talk.

Results of years of rewarding terror

In the interview (with the Al-Ayyam paper), Mashaal also said Palestinians would renew violence if the international community continues its boycott of the Palestinian unity government, a coalition of Hamas and Fatah.
"We are doing the impossible to end the embargo on our people...if, God forbid, it continues...the results will be serious," Mashaal said.

"The explosion will be in the face of the Zionist enemy," Mashaal said.

OK, so the West stops giving some aid (while increasing other aid) to the PalArabs because the Hamas-led government won't renounce violence.

And Hamas answers that if the West doesn't stop the embargo, there will be more violence. (Against Israel, of course - he's not that stupid to threaten the West.)

It would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that the West has acceded to Arab and Muslim threats of violence for decades. Mashaal is just using a formula that has been proven successful time and time again.

So while it might seem like it makes no sense, the Pavlovian response of the West proves that terror, and threats of terror, have been mostly successful in getting the Arabs what they want. he very idea that violence is counterproductive is not even entertained by PalArab leaders.

A further proof of this happened today: Egypt scolded the PalArab terror groups for shooting rockets into Israel, calling it a "lost gamble." Their responses:

The spokesperson of the Hamas movement, Ismail Radwan, said "resistance is not gambling, but a legal right for the Palestinian people, secured by all international laws and conventions."

He told Ma'an "the Palestinian factions adhered to the ceasefire for a sufficient time, yet the Israelis broke it and so they are to blame for their aggressive actions."

Radwan affirms that as long as the Israelis violate the ceasefire, the homemade projectiles will continue to land on Israeli towns.

A leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, Khadir Habeeb, says he disagrees with the Egyptian delegation on the use of the term "gamble" to describe the hurling of homemade projectiles. However, he admits that the projectiles must be used "efficiently and not excessively". He also argued that the Palestinians unanimously agreed on the ceasefire, but it was the Israelis who violated it.

The military spokesperson of the An Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), Abu Sharif, refuted the Egyptian declarations regarding Palestinian projectiles and described them as "accusations against the Palestinian people".

Egypt is hardly against PalArab aspirations, but instead of even considering that Egypt might have a point, the Paleos instinctively berate and continue threats of terror and blaming Israel - an almost subconscious predilection for violence and redirection that seems to be a result of many years of being rewarded for just such actions and threats.

And until Israel and the West makes a consistent stand that such thinking is wholly unacceptable and will be punished rather than rewarded, it will continue.

Palestan news you may have missed

The wire agencies often have their separate section for offbeat news items. One can construct the same style of news from recent events that occurred in the nascent terror state of Palestan, but they tend to be a little...different:

Haircut fatwa:

The Supreme Fatwa Council of Palestine has issued a fatwa permitting men's and women's hairdressers to operate on condition that they do not break Islamic law.

The fatwa stated that women can be employed as hairdressers as long as they only cut the hair of women that want to look attractive for their husbands and not other men or foreigners; this would be Haram (forbidden).

It also stated that if a foreign man is present in the hairdressers, women must be prohibited from entering it.

Entrepreneurial spirit:

The Palestinian Executive Force (EF), which is affiliated to the ministry of interior, announced on Sunday that they arrested a gang that planned to kidnap children and hold them hostage for ransom money.

The group was caught whilst attempting to kidnap a child in front of a school in Gaza City. The EF have been investigating and monitoring the suspects for 3 days.

The EF said in a statement "the group was caught whilst attempting to kidnap a boy near his school and they admitted during interrogation that they were planning to ask for $10,000 from his father."

Student debate gets violent:

More than 20 students were injured in clashes that erupted between Hamas and Fatah student blocs at Al-Quds university in Abu Dis, in the West Bank, on Sunday afternoon.

The clashes erupted during a debate between the students in preparation for the student senate elections to be held on Monday. Eight student blocs are meant to be competing in the elections.

Terror is declared legal:

Several Palestinian resistance factions on Sunday affirmed their right to retaliate to Israeli military operations, rejecting the statement of the head of the Egyptian security delegation, who depicted the launching of homemade projectiles at Israeli targets as "a lost gamble".

The spokesperson of the Hamas movement, Ismail Radwan, said "resistance is not gambling, but a legal right for the Palestinian people, secured by all international laws and conventions."

Joooos behind Hindenburg disaster?

In an otherwise generic article about the 70th anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster at a South African aviation website comes this jawdropper:

LZ 129 Hindenburg and sister-ship LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were German airships, called zeppelins. The two had an impressive safety record: the Graf Zeppelin had flown safely for more than 1 million miles, and made the first circumnavigation of the globe. The controversy relates to the cause of the fire in such a safe aircraft. The cause is still unknown and theories persist that the fire was sabotage.

One of several theories is that Adolf Hitler ordered the destruction of the Hindenburg in retaliation for the Zeppelin company's openly anti-Nazi stance. Another theory is that Zionist agents working against anti-semitic Germany were behind the fire.

Say what? I just quickly Googled through the seamy underbelly of the web and didn't find any such theory anywhere.

But I'm sure we will start seeing it now!

Today's Palspeak/Reuters word: "siege"

In standard English, the word "siege" means:

the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible.

But in PalArabia, the word takes on a different meaning:

“There is a possibility of the lifting of the siege on the Palestinian people, it will come gradually,” Abbas said in Cairo on Saturday. “We didn’t feel that there are problems with the European countries, either in terms of the lifting of the financial siege or the political siege.”

That article, from the Daily Times in Pakistan, correctly puts "siege" in scare quotes and refers to the sanctions as an "embargo."

But look how Reuters captions this picture:

A Palestinian woman attends a rally against the siege in Gaza April 29, 2007. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

As soon as Mahmoud Abbas open his mouth, the Reuters editors scramble to update their stylebook to stay in sync. And in this case, they are more biased than the newspapers in Pakistan!

For Olmert, forever is a long, long time

From YNet:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel "cannot continue to ignore the Qassam lunching [sic] and infiltration attempts of terrorist cells."
He stressed that "Israel has conveyed clear messages to the Palestinian Authority and international authorities that it did not want an escalation but would not avoid the necessary steps to protect the residents of the South."

Where have we heard that before?

Oh yes - over two months ago:

Olmert said that if the Kassam rocket attacks on Israel continue, Israel would have to retaliate. "We are not going to restrain ourselves forever," he said. "The continued attacks challenge Israel's patience. In the end, if the attacks continue, we will respond."

And in December, in a letter to the UN:

"Israel is demonstrating restraint and has avoided retaliating at this stage, but warns the Security Council that this restraint cannot continue for much longer."

Olmert's strong words ("we are a little disappointed") extend all the way back to the fourth day of the "cease fire," in late November.

And even earlier, when the "cease fire" was brand-spanking new and already breached:

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday morning that any attempt to fire into Israeli territories would be considered a breach of the cease-fire and treated with severity.

According to Peretz, Israel is interested in quiet, but would not accept attacks on its citizens.

It's so reassuring to know that Israel's leaders don't intend to wait forever to respond to Qassams. Perhaps for two or ten or a hundred years, but not forever.

Forty-one years after he retired from baseball, Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax was the final player chosen in the draft to stock the six teams for the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League.

Koufax, 71, was picked by the Modi'in Miracle in the draft conducted Thursday night by former major league general manager Dan Duquette, who heads baseball operations for the league.

"His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league," said former big leaguer Art Shamsky, who will manage the Miracle. "It's been 41 years between starts for him. If he's rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team."

In the 1965 World Series, Koufax refused to pitch Game 1 for Los Angeles because it fell on Yom Kippur.

In his career with the Dodgers, in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, the left-hander threw four no-hitters, including one perfect game. He retired due to arm problems after the 1966 season and was later voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Cease fire funnies

Israel killed three Hamas terrorists planting a bomb by the border in Gaza.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the Islamist militant group, which leads a Palestinian unity government, has the right to respond to the deaths by "all means available".
He called the incident a violation of the five-month-old Gaza ceasefire, which all but collapsed earlier this week when Hamas's armed wing started firing rockets into Israel.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Hamas armed wing, said the four militants were on a "jihadist mission when the Zionist enemy opened fire on them".

At least Hamas is consistent: the "cease fire" is only broken when Israel does something, but "jihadist missions" are A-OK!

No matter how anti-Israel you are, there's always someone who hates it more

The ultra left is in a tizzy over an article by far-left, "progressive" Uri Avnery where he argues that there should be a two-state solution - in large part because there are more Jews than Arabs between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, and it is simply not acceptable to have a state where Jews are a majority in the Middle East. (I'm surprised he doesn't call for an pan-Arab Islamic 'Ummah to take care of that little problem.)

The criticisms of Avnery are vituperative and borderline psychotic. One article berates him and puts him in company of other closet Zionists like Chomsky and Jimmy Carter. Ilan Pappe weighs in with his own special brand of Jew-hatred. One guy puts his criticism in terms of his Communist leanings, blabbering about a class struggle in Israel. Another tries to psychoanalyze Avnery for why he would possibly consider Israel legitimate in any way, shape or form. Even within Avnery's own "Gush Shalom" organization there are many who disagree with the idea of Israel existing.

In many ways, the Left mimics the Arab world in that if one advances an argument that is not on the extremist fringe extreme, he gets slammed as a traitor to the cause. You can almost see the pain as people who admire Avnery are so upset that he doesn't beat his head against the furthermost left wall along with the crowd. And, as in the Arab world, as long as the nutty fringe is accepted as mainstream, there is no hope for real progress from these "progressives."

Another example of Reuters pro-terrorist bias

Reuters dispatched a photographer to one of those ubiquitous "press conferences" in Gaza yesterday, but instead of the usual pictures of ski-masked terrorists, they took a number of pictures of fully masked female terrorist wannabes:

Female Palestinian militants (with white scarves) from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades arrive at a news conference in Gaza April 26, 2007.

But nowhere can one find an actual Reuters article about the topic of the press conference, and why women with guns were there.

You would need to search a bit harder to see what the press conference was about (via UPI):

GAZA, April 26 (UPI) -- Palestinian women activists are publicly joining the ranks of militant suicide bombers and have threatened Israel should its forces attack the Gaza Strip.

Four masked women said Thursday in a news conference in Gaza they were human bombs ready to blow themselves up inside Israel and at other unexpected Israeli targets. They identified themselves as activists from four military units affiliated with the nationalist Fatah movement, of which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is a leading member.

The women, dressed in military fatigues, said they were ready to respond to the Israeli threats to invade the Gaza Strip, adding they have established an operations room to "confront the Israeli aggression." They urged all the other factions to join them in expanding the operations for "coordination, confrontation and to direct painful blows to the occupation."

Palestinian factions have recently appealed to young women to join their military ranks, and several have announced female brigades.

Reuters attended a press conference where women, recruited by the "moderate" Fatah, promised to blow themselves up. Yet, even though they took pictures showing them with guns, they refrained from pointing out that the women were wearing bomb belts as well (AP mentioned it), and that they promised to kill Jews to enter Paradise. They didn't bother mentioning that Fatah is led by Mahmoud Abbas, the darling of the wishful-thinking brigade.

In other words, because the fact that these women terrorists do not fit the liberal media playbook of "Fatah=good, Hamas=bad, Palestinian Arab women=innocent victims of Israeli aggression", Reuters deliberately chose not to report the story.

More proof of media bias in Gaza

Yesterday I wrote about how everyone admits that the media coverage in Gaza is overwhelmingly tilted to make Palestinian Arabs look as sympathetic as possible. Journalism, in Gaza, has a clear agenda and the reporters play their parts perfectly.

Further proof can be seen from this article about a Gaza-based photographer who just won a $15,000 award for a photograph of a dead child at a funeral in Gaza:

A PALESTINIAN photographer for AFP has won an Arab award for a picture of the funeral of a Palestinian child killed during an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip.

Mahmud Hams, 27, a native of Rafah, bagged the prize for photography of the Arab Journalism Awards handed out by Dubai Press Club at the end of a two-day Arab media forum in Dubai on Wednesday.

The US$15,000 prize "is a boost which will prompt me to work with more enthusiasm", said Hams. "I am happy to be able to convey the Palestinian people's daily reality."

If one looks at the news photo archive at Yahoo (which cover the past month) we can see all of the photos that Mahmoud Hams took. Here is the breakdown (not counting older file photos or non-Gaza photos):

Palestinian Arab political figures making speeches: 2
PalArabs seeking shelter after sewage flood: 2
Grieving relatives after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza: 7

How does Hams cover stories that could possibly put Palestinian Arabs in a poor light? He manages to make them look heroic anyway!

There was a crippling garbage worker strike in Gaza this month, and there were piles of garbage everywhere rotting in the streets. But the only Hams photo that mentions the strike is this one:

A Palestinian boy stands in front of blaze from garbage piled up in a street in Gaza City during a general strike by municipality workers.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)

There were many murders in Gaza over the past month, and security is nonexistent. So how does Hams cover this story?

Palestinian Hamas militants hold up their weapons while attending a press conference in Gaza City, 2006. The Palestinian government on Saturday voted to implement a security plan aimed at restoring order in the Palestinian territories and unifying diverse security forces.(AFP/File/Mahmud Hams)

And the generic cute kid picture, flying that wonderful flag of theirs:

What pictures are missing?

Considering that during the past month, Gazans managed to be outkilled by PalArabs compared to by Israelis by a ratio of roughly 30-6, one would expect pictures of dead bodies from clan clashes, or wailing relatives, or perhaps people injured in infighting. A family carried a corpse into a PA government building and shot the place up - where was Hams? A 5-year old girl was shot in the head, two 12-year old boys were killed - where was Hams? Police attacked 5 PalArab journalists - where was Hams? A Christian bookstore was bombed in Gaza - where was Hams? Video stores and libraries were burned down - where was Hams?

Apparently, in the alternate Gaza universe that Hams and his journalist friends choose to show the world, we not include such unpleasant topics. And what editor can resist a picture of smiling Palestinian Arab kids waving flags - when they have no other pictures to show?

UPDATE: Dave at Israellycool had noted a similar award, for a similar picture, also given to Hams two weeks ago where Hams actually "dedicated the prize to Palestinian martyrs."

Given that, I believe that "bias" is not an accurate word when referring to Hams - it is "propaganda." (I also believe that "opportunistic" is another accurate adjective, but journalists and photographers always seem to do their work with one eye towards receiving awards, actively seeking out pathos at the expense of fairness.)

Sderock

Imagine a place where there is poverty, where you are in danger of being killed every time you step outside, where it seems like even your own people don't care about you outside of empty slogans.

If you are the Western media and this is Gaza, you would expect that the natural reaction to this numbing situation is violence - joining terror gangs, marching with AK-47s and rocket launchers.

But the people in the Israeli town of Sderot react somewhat differently:

The underground Israeli pop-rock music scene seems to start here, in a bomb shelter set in the center of town.
It does not matter how loudly the teenagers hammer at their drums or pluck at the guitars; the metal walls that are meant to protect residents from incoming rockets also work as a sound barrier for the funky music.

It is not unusual for Israeli towns to turn shelters into community centers of some sort. But Sderot, barely a mile from the Gaza Strip, is one of the few cities where such shelters are still used with frequency.

And in Sderock, as the shelter-turned-music-studio is called, the teenagers grapple with the dueling realities that have made the city famous: the music that comes out of it and the rockets that come into it.

"This is the safest fun place in the city," said Nir Oliel, a 21-year-old resident, who has played guitar for several years. "It is also where everyone great came from."

In the Israeli public consciousness, Sderot is a place of poverty and danger. It has been barraged by more than 4,000 rockets in the past six years, including nearly 200 since November's shaky cease-fire. Six people have died and dozens of homes have been damaged.

Yet Sderot is also the hometown of a pop-culture hero of the moment: Kobi Oz, lead singer of Teapacks, the Israeli pick for the popular Eurovision song contest. ...
Oz, with two platinum albums in Israel, is by far the most successful musician to come out of Sderot, but he is hardly alone. He got his start with Sfatayim (Hebrew for "lips"), a band composed of young artists from Sderot who played Moroccan music. On Israeli radio, it is possible to hear more than half a dozen bands from this city, quite a feat for a place with a population around 25,000.

The musicians who grew up in the 1980s are the children of immigrants from North Africa and other parts of the Middle East. They blended guitar and drum with oud (a stringed instrument) and darbukah (a goatskin-covered drum) to create what critics called ethnic pop. Those who perform it say it is simply Israeli.

But it is a particular kind of Israeli, reflecting the sort of chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that many children here grow up with, convinced that the wealthier European Jews in the bigger cities like Tel Aviv look down on them....
"Don't Break," a song one group recorded for Independence Day celebrations this week, focuses on their sense of defiance and fear: "We won't break, we won't be afraid," the chorus goes.

And then:

How does the state abandon?

This war, who is extending his hand?

They do nothing, when it comes to you.

The verse ends with "Shma Yisrael," which translated literally is a command: "Listen, Israel." It is also a reference to the Shema, the Jewish prayer said twice daily.

With the success of so many musicians in the past decade, the city has poured considerable resources into cultivating more talent. The city estimated it spends some $30,000, a considerable portion of its budget, on music. International groups have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars on projects like Sderock...
For their teachers, it is only a matter of time before the younger students become more political in their songs and outlook. A byproduct of parents' insistence that their children stay inside to avoid the crash of Qassam rockets, the music shelters have became more popular than the basketball courts.
Biton's anthem for Sderot has become a sort of mantra for the residents: "I don't leave the town for any Qassam."

And Oz, who has become a sort of ambassador of Israeli kitsch, said he was determined to sing about a place that lives in a constant tension between joy and sorrow, always navigating cultural divides.

"Our music is a bit schizophrenic, but that is how life is," said Oz, who now lives in Tel Aviv but visits Sderot frequently. "There is always a double kind of meaning. The point is to show everybody that's normal here."

I've recently blogged about how maturity can be defined as taking responsibility, something that most Arabs seem congenitally unable to do. Another good definition of maturity is the ability to work with the cards that you are dealt and make the best of them, as opposed to whining and waiting for other people to bail you out.

The comparisons between Sderot and Gaza are compelling, but the differences of how they handle adversity are even more so.

The hits just keep on coming

From Paltoday Arabic, a Force 17 member was killed by a family in Al-Bireh.

The "security forces" imposed a curfew on Al-Bireh and tried to arrest members of this family (translated as "rainfall") but they shot back.

Curfews? Surrounding buildings to arrested wanted people? Nah, the enlightened Palestinian Arabs wouldn't act that way!

The self-death count for the year is now up to 187.

UPDATE: Ma'an says that Israeli soldiers killed the Force-17 man, but admits that Paleos imposed the curfew. The PalToday article remains up and is very clear blaming the family. YNet also says that it was an intrafada death, so I'm still counting it as a self-death.

UPDATE 2: A member of the Palestan security forces, Abdul Rahman Shihda Abu Tair, was shot in the head and killed by a "family" at the Rafah crossing Friday morning. Two others were injured. 188.

UPDATE 3: Mohammad Khalil, 27, from the An Nasser Salah Addin Brigades (PRC) blew himself up in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. 189.

UPDATE 4: The PalArabs are claiming that a 19-year old was killed by an Israeli artillery shell in Gaza. Israel denies it. Since Israel has no problem admitting when they do fire into Arab areas, I'm counting this as a self-death until I see any evidence otherwise. 190.

UPDATE 5: 55 year old man killed in another Clan Clash in Gaza. 191.

UPDATE 6: Body of 20-something Nasser Abu Amuna found in Khan Younis, victim of those ubiquitous "unknown gunmen." 192.

Ineffective Arab boycott update

A four day meeting of 14 Arab League states that pretend to enforce an economic boycott of Israel just ended, in Damascus.

So-called US allies Iraq and Saudi Arabia are among the countries represented at the conference, despite US pressure on the two countries to end their enforcement of the boycott, which bans business with Israel or business in Israeli-made goods.

Saudi Arabia continues to uphold the Israel boycott in blatant violation of an agreement made with the United States in November 2005, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"The Arab boycott of Israel will remain an influential tool and strong backer of the Palestinian people until the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and the restoration of all the occupied Arab territories," Muhammad al-Ajami, director of the Syrian Office for the Boycott of Israel, said to the official Syrian news agency SANA.

Among the countries represented at the conference are Syria, Sudan, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Yemen. Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel, are not participating in the meeting.

Isn't it strange that the PA, which is so heavily dependent on Israeli goods, says that it enforces this boycott?

Even Arabs know that the boycott is a joke:

The Arabs set up an organization decades ago to boycott Israel to isolate the Jewish state, but the effectiveness of the boycott dwindles by the year.

Sources close to a four-day meeting that opened in Damascus Monday are describing the conference's agenda as "ridiculous" in the wake of pressure on Arabs to abandon "the weapon of the boycott."

The sources told United Press International on condition of anonymity the "absurdity" of the agenda was a reflection of the pressures placed on the Arab countries by Western powers led by the United States.

"The participating Arab countries in the conference are like someone drowning and trying to prove he is still alive, especially after previous meetings have failed in imposing a ban on multinational firms" dealing with Israel, one source said.

Which begs the question: if the boycott doesn't hurt Israel, and in fact if Israeli goods continue to be sent to Arab countries directly or indirectly despite the boycott, why do they keep the fiction going?

The answer is simply that to admit it is a failure would be a disgrace and these macho nations cannot bear to look like they have capitulated. Honor yet again trumps true self-interest in the Arab world.

UPDATE: Once again, those Likudnik Zionist neo-cons show how cunning they are, by encouraging their puppet Iraq government to join the Zionist boycott and thereby redirecting suspicion away from themselves - since we all know that the entire invasion was a Zionist plot.

PalArabs win 20th in a row, in a squeaker

Anyone reading the news over the past seven days saw that the IDF killed 9 Palestinian Arabs in a 24-hour period last weekend (seven of them seem to have been terrorists, including a 17-year old "child" throwing a firebomb.)

But even with this commanding lead in the weekly game of Who Kills More Palestinian Arabs, the Paleo side managed to methodically increase their score, reaching 10 dead right at the final buzzer and managing to include 2 kids and one woman in their final tally (a 12-year old girl shot in the head may have died too, but I couldn't find it reported anywhere.) The feared IDF offensive never materialized and the PalArab team managed once again to outkill the Israelis.

This marks 20 weeks in a row that PalArabs have managed to kill each other in greater numbers than that genocidal, ethnic cleansing, IDF war machine. Apparently the fearsome US-funded weapons of the Zionist pigs cannot hope to overcome the tenacity and pure pluck of the scrappy Palestinian Arab team when it comes to killing.

Congratulations to the winners, and it is too bad that your accomplishments do not get the publicity that they deserve.