The total Arab nation percentage of the UNRWA budget is about 1.1% .
Fourteen individual nations give more money to Palestinian Arabs through UNRWA than the combined amount given by Arab nations, not counting the aggregate EU contribution. Apparently, Finland cares more about Palestinian Arabs more than all the Arab nations combined.
A UAE "charitable foundation" gave $6 million to UNRWA, more than the combined Arab governments did.
Today, Hamas staged their own anti-Fatah rallies to blunt tomorrow's prayer protests planned by Fatah.
Tonight, Hamas is filling all public areas in Gaza with garbage, presumably to make those areas unsuitable for prayer or difficult to access (I haven't been able to determine exactly what kind of garbage makes a place unsuitable, certainly urine and feces do but I do not know if Hamas has gone that far.)
I can't get enough of these exercises in self-delusion that the Arab intelligentsia come out with so often:
The damage done to the Arabs by Israel’s creation is an untold story in the West. To understand it, you have to set aside the Israeli narrative and the idea of Arabs as fanatical, backward warmongers irrationally bent on destroying a modern, democratic and peaceable state.
Fair enough. Let's see:
For the Arabs, Israel’s presence in their midst has been disastrous. It has led to six major wars, forced them to militarise when they could not afford it, distorted their development, split their ranks and encouraged their fragmentation into ethnic and religious minorities, provoked the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and reared generations of young Arabs on conflict, hatred and hostility. It has forced them to host a state that dominated them and ensured continued western hegemony in their region. A disproportionate amount of damage was borne by the frontline states of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. But now Iraq and the rest of the Arab world are affected, as is Arab society in general.
Hmmm....the only way I can understand the Arab world wanting so badly to destroy Israel since 1948, ramping up its military, threatening Israel at every turn, moving its vast resources from development into war and terror - is to say that they are "fanatical, backward warmongers irrationally bent on destroying a modern, democratic and peaceable state." But that might just be me.
On each visit to the Arab world I am struck by its immense resources and its varied geography, history and customs, from Yemen to the Levant, sweeping through Egypt and Sudan to its westernmost point in Morocco. Such diversity could have made this the wonder of the world, physically beautiful, self-sufficient and wealthy. Instead, it is backward, poor and divided. This is not all Israel’s fault, but its existence has contributed significantly to the Arabs’ decline, and ignoring Israel’s role in the story would be misleading.
Yup, the existence of a few million Jews in a tiny sliver of land amongst a billion Arabs encompassing a large part of two continents obviously would contribute significantly to the Arab world's decline. Makes perfect sense!
The devastating and continuing effects of Israel’s establishment on the Palestinians are well documented, but they were not alone in paying the price for Israel’s creation. The Arab world was transformed by its imposition. No other event there since world war one has been so cataclysmic. There has not been a decade since 1948 when Israel has not been in combat with its neighbours. This has damaged the political process in the Arab world, which has come to depend on its army generals for leadership and to admire military strength and violence.
So it is Israel that forced the Arab world to admire military strength and violence! Ah, so! The UN’s Arab Human Development Report in 2002, which revealed the extent of the Arabs’ retardation, was clear that Israel’s occupation had affected the region’s political and economic life, and that the Arab-Israeli conflict was “a major impediment to human development in the region”. I took the liberty to download the actual report, and, believe it or not, that phrase does not appear at all! While the UN is harsh on Israeli "occupation" as always, the bulk of the report deals with Arabs' self-inflicted problems, not any perceived problems from without.
This is hardly surprising. The Arab states, struggling with post-independence when Israel was established, should have focused on their own political and social development. Instead, the frontline states were dragged into wars that diverted their resources into armaments and surveillance. After each defeat, they were forced to re-arm ever more extravagantly.
Oh, how they were forced to arm! Who can forget the Israeli threats to throw the Arabs into the Euphrates and Tigris? This borders being farcical.
Arab military spending in the late 1990s accounted for 7.4% of GNP (three times the world average of 2.4%). Since then it has grown by an annual 5%. As Israel acquired sophisticated arms from the United States, Arab states were pushed into trying to keep up at increasing expense, although the arms the Arabs bought from the US and Britain needed the sellers’ technical assistance for operation. These sales were thus designed to benefit western arms industries rather than help the Arab states protect themselves against aggression.
The continuing conflict has discouraged foreign and domestic investment in Arab states and led to a migration of skilled labour, further impoverishing local economies; in particular, it has exhausted and weakened the frontline states. Their economies have been grossly distorted towards militarisation at the expense of social and economic development. In 2002 average Arab expenditure on health and education combined was only 3.7% of GNP. Yet the Arabs had no choice but to militarise against what they saw as an expansionist Israel bent on taking their land. Israel did not set its borders with Egypt until the 1979 peace treaty and has still not done so with Syria or Lebanon.
The projection here is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
But beyond the idiotic reversal of facts, the author doesn't seem to recognize that Israel was forced to militarize itself on a per-capita basis far beyond that the Arabs were "forced" to do, and still Israel enjoyed a booming economy, outside investment, an influx of skilled laborers and thinkers, and it didn't abandon social services and internal development.
In other words, Israelis have no reason to write whiny articles like this blaming every problem on everybody else.
The rest of the article is more of the same, but it is another great indication of how little Arabs have the capability to self-criticize when they have an easy Jewish scapegoat next door.
And the author?
Ghada Karmi is Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, and author, most recently, of Married to Another Man: Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine (Pluto Press, London and Ann Arbor, 2007).
She is of course one of those Arabs who willingly left the Middle East - no doubt because of Israeli pressure!
The IDF foiled a major attack in Gaza today by Fatah and Islamic Jihad:
IDF forces killed five Palestinian gunmen en route to carry out an attack near Israel's border with central Gaza on Thursday afternoon.
Military sources said that the gunmen were advancing towards the Kissufim crossing in two cars when the IAF targeted their vehicles, thwarting the attack. Ground forces also fired on the gunmen.
The army said it was investigating the possibility that one of the vehicles had been rigged with explosives to serve as a car bomb.
The army said no soldiers were wounded and no damage was reported.
The Islamic Jihad and Fatah-allied Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
A spokesman for Islamic Jihad, Abu Ahmed, said a pickup truck crashed through the fence in central Gaza first, allowing an armored jeep to drive through.
The truck blew up inside the Israeli base (according to PIJ - EoZ) and militants inside the jeep began attacking soldiers with light arms and hand grenades, and an Israeli watchtower was blown up.
As usual, take the Islamic Jihad claims with a large grain of salt. But they do indicate that the intent of the operation was fairly sophisticated and large-scale. Thank God they were unsuccessful.
Because of this failure, it is unlikely that Western wire services will mention this story except in the context of "Israel kills 5 Palestinians."
It is notable that Islamic Jihad and Fatah consider this operation a success, because they claim that they managed to enter an IDF base. The fact that this is considered a success to them shows how much they have redefined "success" in order to assuage their extraordinarily low self-esteem.
It is also notable how the Palestinian Arab press is reporting on the Israeli Supreme Court ruling modifying the security barrier route around Bil'in. They are regarding this as a great victory, but not as a victory for non-violence or of the rule of law - they are regarding it as a victory for the "resistance." In other words, everything that PalArabs do is filtered through the prism of violence and even when something happens that is clearly not because of violence - on the contrary, if there was more violence in Bil'in chances are that the court would have ruled otherwise - even then, they celebrate it as a military victory.
The Arab psyche requires that their victories are seen as military, not diplomatic. Israeli concessions for peace are framed as being a result of successful military (i.e., terrorist) operations. In short, they define themselves as warriors, not as peacemakers.
Any peace agreement, from the Arab perspective, must be seen as being forcefully imposed by the Arab victors upon the hapless, weak Jewish victims. Anything less than that - any concessions on issues that they have held fast to for six decades - would be considered weakness and at odds with their own pretense of being proud warriors.
Which is yet another reason why a true peace is highly unlikely.
Recently I went into a well-known coffee chain in Edgware Road near Marble Arch. As I waited to be served I noticed the café was crowded but that I was the only female customer. Men in various permutations of Middle Eastern garb, including several in full head-to-toe keffiyah and robe, stared at me.
When I sat down and opened my bottle of apple juice I noticed it was fizzing. I called the server over and told her that the juice had fermented. ‘No -- English’ she said, throwing her arms up in despair. Another server came over and asked me what the problem seemed to be. I told her the juice had fermented and that they needed to check their fridge. She looked at the other woman and they shrugged.
I have to confess I have a short fuse about non-English people populating what seems to be 99% of every job in London and the Home Counties. I am spoilt because in recent years I have been to the USA several times and marvel at the stupendous service provided by young college students and other Americans who possess perfect English and are obliging beyond anyone’s expectations.
So, I became exasperated and said ‘Is there no-one working here who speaks English? This is Paddington - this is still a London neighbourhood.’
A well-dressed man came over and said ‘I speak English.’ I thought he was going to intervene on my behalf but instead came out with this astonishing observation:
‘You are a racist! You are a racist ape! Look at you-- you are an ape!’
I was dumbfounded. I came to London thirty-two years ago to soak up the culture of Dr Johnson and Chaucer and Milton, and in the autumn of my life am called an ape by a man from, well, perhaps Egypt, perhaps Palestine, perhaps Saudi Arabia..
Shocked, I glared at him, but he had to finish things off : ‘You want them to speak Hebrew, don’t you?’
I got up from my seat and went over to him and at the top of my voice said I would be proud to speak Hebrew if I could, it being the language of the Torah and of an ancient culture going back six-thousand years.
He then embarked on a tirade at me about the ‘five million Indians’ slaughtered in genocide in America. Meanwhile, the men in the café were in various states of laughter at me, and exhibiting great admiration for him.
Believe it or not, the server had in the meantime brought me a fresh juice which I calmly drank with my very un-Hebrew ham and cheese sandwich, and then I left. I wandered over to the flower shop and found myself commiserating with what seemed to be two Englishwomen who lived in a permanent state of fear in a neighbourhood they had called their own for generations. They told me I must have been mad going into that shop, as ‘all the establishments in Edgware Road are off-limits to us now.’
SDE BOKER, Israel - Reflective dishes may be the answer to make solar energy competitive with conventional sources of power, Israeli scientists say.
A global race is on to find energy alternatives as subsidies tip the balance in favor of renewable sources of power, which answer security and climate change concerns about fossil fuels.
New-found demand for one such renewable source, solar energy, has hoovered up supply of the silicon raw material, prompting a search for alternatives.
A team at Israel’s Ben Gurion University believe they have found just that, in a far less known material that is more expensive than silicon but also more efficient when used with a reflective dish.
“The dish could be put in a sunny backyard and generate most of the home’s utility needs,” said David Faiman, a professor of physics at Ben Gurion University who has studied solar energy for 31 years in Israel’s Negev desert.
“The costs per watt are comparable to that of a conventional power plant, but without fuel,” Faiman added.
No pollution and no money to terror-supporting states. It doesn't get any better than that.
ISMAILIA, Egypt, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Sinai Bedouin blocked the road north from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with burning tyres on Tuesday in protest at the demolition of 20 houses, police and Bedouin sources said.
Police earlier fired about 20 teargas canisters at Bedouin families who refused to evacuate their houses, which the authorities say were built without licences, they added....
They said a total of 1,500 unlicensed buildings were scheduled for demolition in the Sharm el-Sheikh area and not all of them belonged to Bedouin.
As Backspin points out, it has taken nearly seven years for Israel to demolish 1900 homes, and NGOs have been fixated on this issue. Where's the outrage when Arabs plan to demolish a roughly equivalent number of Arab homes in a much shorter timeframe?
One must conclude yet again that the "human rights" organizations are not nearly as interested in Arab human rights as they are in demonizing Israel. Which means that they are more bigoted (or, to use their term, "racist") than they accuse Israel of being.
I don't know Arabic, but Google Translate has provided me and this blog with much interesting information.
A few minutes ago I figured out that the Arabic word for Jews is written اليهود , and I started Googling that word - and auto-translating the resulting pages.
Not surprisingly, one sees a mirror of the worst anti-semitism that one can imagine, complete with links to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, fake anti-Jewish quotes from Benjamin Franklin and all the other stuff one would see in sites like Jew Watch. It is quite obvious that when Arabs say that they are only against Zionism and not against Jews, they are not quite telling the truth.
Some cool tidbits:
Jews are the greatest enemies of the nation! The hostility towards Islam and Muslims has been and remains and will remain as long as Muslims and Jews on this land issue concluded spent from the years of what was, what is and what will organism God says (to find Strongest among men in enmity to the believers ... the Jews) - verse 82 Surat Al - Maida Faadaoh Jews continuing to Muslims become permanent certificate from the Koran and Albdehat established in the hearts and minds and conscience of every Muslim believes in this book and this belief witted can not Eglglh shaking him or anything in the world, hence the (ironic) and (students) from each Alaithiat are occurring under the pretext of peace with the Jews ... which will be! !
The strangest thing is to find that there are some who take Islam as a religion they believe in the necessity of achieving peace with the Jews, and Jews are not friends and allies want us good IT! .. But now America is the mother Habibet Arabs are justified fears that the sons of enemies wants peace and progress for the Arabs, while Iraq and bin Laden are the enemies of this nation said Amr Moussa said Amr Moussa, and soldiers Hezbollah terrorists are killers! ! But these madmen knows that the Jews are murderers prophets and messengers to God? IT! Not know these fools that the Jews of Palestine raped and plan to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque and annexation of Jerusalem the eternal capital them? ? ? IT
They called pornography and corruption with deceive hide under the slogans such as freedom, equality, humanity and brotherhood, deaths Muslim youth, women and Egronh vices, persecuted women, and working hard to get a generation of Muslims emptiness, not a doctrine, not principles, and ethics and added, pollute the minds of emerging Petheij instincts and gratification, sometimes video, and other Balfdayat, the envy of Muslim women screened and says, and let the strength and values of decomposition, and writers are similar in their women treated decently and, for the Ihrvoha Vtartha, writers for young people and women lusts, sheds for everyone's religion and values, remains a hostage of appetites and impulses , God said about them: The SEEK amok and Allah loveth not spoilers
I don't know the original source for this story, published a few minutes ago by the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, but Palestine Press Agency had effectively the identical story in Arabic:
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday that the Palestinian kidnappers of an Israeli soldier may permit representatives of the organization to visit him.
Angelo Gnaedinger made the statement after meeting with the Hamas leader of the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh.
"We asked for access to him and the possibility for him to communicate through us with his family," Gnaedinger told reporters after the meeting. "We have been told that this is under consideration and that everybody is working on a positive solution for this case and that the humanitarian aspects are being take care of."
In this edition, it is Fatah who threatened journalists. From Ma'an (Arabic, autotranslated):
A journalist bloc said that three Palestinian journalists received death threats from groups Fatah movement, believing that these threats represent bankruptcy nationally and morally.
It accused the Bloc of them said, "Samih Asa'ad groups" to send each of these threats Chief Editor of "Palestine" local journalist Mustafa Sawaf, director of the Office of the Press home, and board member of the bloc, the Palestinian journalist Imad Abdel-Quds newspaper correspondent and local journalist Ahmad Muchehrawi.
Since there are more questions than answers about the Arabic-language public school opening in Brooklyn, here is where to find the details, with links so you can form your own conclusions.
The only subject that has a new curriculum is Arabic language. All the other subjects - math, history (humanities), science, reading - are typical 6th grade public school topics. The high-level curriculum can be seen here.
The Arabic curriculum is described this way:
All students will take a basic introductory Arabic language course that meets 3 times a week and is supplemented by small group instruction 2 additional periods a week.
This is an introductory course designed primarily for non-native speakers and differentiated based on student experience with Arabic and other language study. It will begin with alphabet, phonetics, basic introduction to the language framework, and will continue to include reading, writing, speaking and listening in Arabic.
There is no NYC 6th grade curriculum for the introduction to Arabic. Teachers who were trained at STARTALK, a federally funded professional development program at Michigan State University, are designing the curriculum.
In the initial phase, materials will be created by curriculum teachers based on samples and resources provided by the Arabic Language Instruction Professional Development Program at Michigan State University. As students develop proficiency, they will begin to use the Scholastic My Arabic Library (http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/worldwide/mepi/english.htm). The library is a set of translations of English language stories into Arabic.
On first glance, the Scholastic Arabic program seems to be fine - the My Arabic library is described as "a set of translations of English language stories into Arabic." If this is true, then there should be no worries about indoctrination or glorifying any problematic parts of Arabic culture.
The Scholastic Arabic site describing My Arabic Library adds a couple of details that one will not find in the English sites:(autotranslated)
It "class library" prepared for the first year until the sixth basic education.
The library includes one thirty to forty interesting titles and five copies of each title, as well as the teacher guide and posters.
These books have been chosen by Arab educators and specialists and translated in the Arab world and ratified by the ministries of education in each of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanon and the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Morocco.
The list of books in the library seems innocuous enough, including The Cat in the Hat, biographies of Amelia Earhart and Louis Braille, a book about volcanoes and a "Mystery at the Museum" - pretty much the same kind of thing that American classroom reading classes have been using for decades.
From looking at this, assuming that the stated curriculum is adhered to, I cannot see anything dangerous about the school at this time. The school seems to be appropriately transparent in its studies and as long as it stays that way - and as long as it does not become a substitute for private Arabic schools - it should not be any more problematic than Spanish or Chinese charter schools. But because the potential downside is so large, it should certainly be observed carefully.
There are still many unanswered questions. While the curriculum does not talk about Arab culture, the Executive Summary of the school emphasizes the cultural aspect of the school. That is the part that we have not heard enough about. It appears that the school will stray into political topics in the ninth grade, and this has the potential of being a disaster.
Another question is what the orientation of the Arab American Family Support Center might be (it is the "Lead Partner" for the school), as they are the initial Arabic-language instructors since there are not enough teachers who know Arabic in the New York public school system yet.
The de facto Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip has decided to ban what they call "political prayer" on Fridays in public squares. The head of the union of Palestinian religious intellectuals in the Gaza Strip, Marwan Abu Ras, on Monday issued a fatwa declaring participation in such prayers a sin.
"The open-air prayers go beyond simply worship and are being used to create chaos and terrorism," the spokesperson of the deposed Ministry of the Interior, Eyhab Al-Ghussein told Ma'an. He pledged that the security services would impose security and order in Gaza Strip by any means necessary.
Abu Ras, who issued the fatwa, explained that during last Friday prayers last week, some worshippers were smoking, wearing golden chains, and even selling food and drink – activities that are not in keeping with the sacredness of Friday prayers. "The purpose behind that prayer was absolutely something beyond worship, " he said.
Tahir Nono, a spokesperson of the deposed government confirmed that his government decided to ban public gatherings on Fridays which he said were held in the guise of Friday prayers.
Of course, Fatah has its own imams who are more than thrilled to create their own opposing fatwas allowing prayer outside mosques:(autotranslated from PalPress):
Presse decreed Samaha Dr. Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, Chief Judge of Palestine Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council legitimate passport prayers outside mosques in the open and public squares, stressing that the official is authorized to issue advisory opinions are only Shariah courts or Dar Al-Fatwa.
His eminence pointed out that the fatwa inadmissibility Friday prayers in the open is not based on the text or forensic evidence, stressing that the Koran anecdotes and actual expressly stipulated passport prayer anywhere, he said peace be upon him (and made me land mosques and purifying فايما man farce hammer prayer فليصل) Tellers Bukhari, the Prophet peace be upon him lead prayers holidays and edema and funeral outside Nabawi Mosque in Medina Chapel, located in the open door at the east.
Now that Fatah and Hamas have enlisted both politics and religion into their positions, we can be sure that Friday's prayers will be a blast.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told olim who arrived in Israel from North America that Israel "is not an easy country to live in as it has security problems in addition to bureaucratic problems."
Olmert said he was proud and happy that the olim wanted to settle in Israel.
Now, who could possibly be responsible for the security problems?
Maybe the person who told Sderot rocket victims to stop whining about living in a real-life shooting gallery.
Palestine Press Agency has a downloadable video that it claims shows the death of of Mohammed Sweirki, a Fatah officer, by being thrown off the top of a 15-story building in Gaza while handcuffed last June.
I put it on LiveLeak but could not figure out how to embed it here. Thanks to The Jawa Report, I am now able to show it here (warning - graphic violence, as the body actually bounces off the ground.)
(I was going to put it on YouTube but figured that they would censor it anyway...) And for those who love funny autotranslations, the name of the Hamas spokesman in Gaza is autotranslated on PalPress as "Sami Abu Venereal."
UPDATE: Israeli names can get auto-translated in amusing ways too. Here's Tzipi Livni:
There was Clare Short, a member of the British Parliament and Secretary for International Development under Prime Minister Tony Blair until she resigned in 2003 over the Iraq war. Claiming that Israel is actually "much worse than the original apartheid state" and accusing it of "killing (Palestinian) political leaders," Ms. Short charged the Jewish state with the ultimate crime: Israel "undermines the international community's reaction to global warming." According to Ms. Short, the Middle East conflict distracts the world from the real problem: man-made climate change. If extreme weather will lead to the "end of the human race," as Ms. Short warned it could, add this to the list of the crimes of Israel.
Can blaming Israel for earthquakes and tsunamis be far behind?
Portions of what appear to be a carved wall have been seen in the rubble left by the Islamic Waqf as they continue to use heavy machinery to destroy priceless and holy antiquities:
I'm no archaeologist, but this is man-made.
The Waqf is engaging in a crime against Judaism, history and archaeology, and Ehud Olmert is complicit in this crime by allowing it to happen:
Leading Temple Mount archaeologists, including Mazar and Gavriel Barkai, petitioned the Israeli government to immediately halt the dig and allow experts to inspect the emerging wall.
But Mazar and other archaeologists say they are being blocked by the Israeli government.
"The Antiquities Authority tells us to coordinate with the police. The police send us back to the Antiquities Authority," said Mazar, who is a professor of Hebrew University and member of the Public Committee for Prevention of the Destruction of Antiquities on Temple Mount.
Mazar also is the discoverer and lead archaeologist of Israel's City of David, believed to be the palace of the biblical King David, the second leader of a united Kingdom of Israel, who ruled from around 1005 to 965 B.C.
"It's crucial this wall is inspected. The Temple Mount ground level is only slightly above the original Temple Mount platform, meaning anything found is likely from the Temple itself," the archaeologist said.
Fed up, Mazar and other top archaeologists last week ascended the Mount to hold a news conference and inspect the site without government permission, but they were blocked from the trench by the Israeli police.
"It is unconscionable that the Israeli government is permitting the Waqf to use heavy equipment to chop away at the most important archeological site in the country without supervision," Mazar told WND.
"The Israeli government is actively blocking us from inspecting the site and what may be a monumental find and is doing nothing while the Waqf destroys artifacts at Judaism's holiest site," she said.
Rabbi Chaim Rechman, director of the international department at Israel's Temple Institute, was among those on the Mount last week with Mazar. He told WND he attempted to take pictures of the damage the bulldozers are allegedly wrecking on the wall, but his digital camera was confiscated by Israeli police at the direction of Waqf officials.
"If Israel was building a shopping mall and they found what may be an ancient Buddhist structure, the government would stop the construction and have archaeologists go over the area with a fine tooth comb. Here, the holiest site in Judaism is being damaged, a Temple wall was found, and Israel is actively blocking experts from inspecting the site while allowing the destruction to continue," Rechman said.
Rechman charged the Waqf was "trying to erase Jewish vestiges from the Temple Mount."
The last time the Waqf conducted a large dig on the Temple Mount – during construction 10 years ago of a massive mosque at an area referred to as Solomon's Stables – the Wafq reportedly disposed truckloads of dirt containing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temple periods.
After the media reported on the disposals, Israeli authorities froze the construction permit given to the Wafq, and the dirt was transferred to Israeli archeologists for analysis. The Israeli authorities found scores of Jewish Temple relics in the nearly disposed dirt, including coins with Hebrew writing referencing the Temple, part of a Hasmonean lamp, several other Second Temple lamps, Temple period pottery with Jewish markings, a marble pillar shaft and other Temple period artifacts. The Waqf was widely accused of attempting to hide evidence of the existence of the Jewish Temples.
The civilized world must write and call the Prime Minister's office and have him stop this crime immediately.
In a most reprehensible example of journalistic bias, a column today in the New Statesman looks at Israeli IDF camps aimed at foreigners and compares them to Hamas camps that indoctrinate campers in terror:
The British children who train to fight in Israel
How each year scores of British teenagers go to the Middle East to learn about soldiering and defending Israel
Matthew Holehouse
In 2001 shocking reports surfaced from Gaza of summer schools being organised by Islamic Jihad, which were teaching Palestinian adolescents to become suicide bombers. The Israeli government denounced the camps as evidence that a new generation was being brought up to hate and to kill.
What went unreported was that at a purpose-built barracks in the Negev desert, every summer hundreds of Jewish teenagers from Europe, Mexico and America pay to spend nine weeks saluting, marching, firing guns and otherwise pretending to be soldiers.
Marva, run by the Educational and Youth Corps of the Israel Defence Force and conducted entirely in Hebrew, simulates the basic training of Israeli conscripts for 18-28 year old members of the Diaspora. Dressed in boots and olive fatigues, and obliged to carry an M16 assault rifle at all times, school leavers on gap years do push ups in the dust, perform night marches with laden stretchers, maintain civil defence shelters, fire machine guns at paper figures and simulate military manoeuvres, as well as taking classes in Jewish identity and the history and values of the IDF. Karaoke and dance-offs also feature.
With the security situation improving, increasing numbers of British Jews, through youth groups such as RSY Netzer and Federation of Zionist Youth, are signing up to one of the four 120-strong sessions held every year. One half are girls, and large numbers come from public schools in Manchester and North London.
Blogs written by participants revel in the camouflage-induced machismo. "By the end of the first week we were beginning to look like soldiers" writes American Joseph Fisher. "Strict discipline is enforced by our mefakdim (commanders). There is a great atmosphere of camaraderie."
Participants deny that the course was overtly anti-Palestinian. "I never heard that sort of comment from an official source – although there were some very right wing individuals taking part," says Mark Fitch, a Manchester student who took the course last year. "There was a lot of debate about the IDF, and whilst obviously by going on Marva they implicitly endorsed the army, a lot of people said that they were torn about using guns and running about."
Since the start of the Second Intifada some aspects of the course have been reconsidered. Sessions on house-to-house fighting have been dropped, as have re-enactments of the Battle of Ammunition Hill, one of the bloodiest engagements of the Six Day War, has been cut. "They're very aware of looking politically correct," says Fitch. "When discussing the Middle East they really do try to present both sides of the story and the overriding message is of striving for peace.
Most recently, British 16 and 17 year olds have been able to take part in Gadna, the week-long course taken by Israeli schoolchildren in preparation for military service and which has recently come under fire for becoming increasingly militaristic. "Shooting an M16 gun… physically lying on the land of Israel, learning how to defend it, gave me an immense sense of pride" writes a breathless Aimee Riese, a London schoolgirl and recent participant, in the Jewish Chronicle.
And this, really, is the objective.
...There's not much to be won in games of moral equivalence and assertions as to which side's indiscriminate attacks on civilians are the more reprehensible. But ask yourself this question: If these were British Muslim 19 year-olds firing machine guns and running assault courses in Pakistan or Yemen, would we not have them all arrested at the airport?
The Islamic Jihad is running a summer school - to teach boys the benefits of becoming suicide bombers.
A new generation of children, Palestinian boys aged between 12 and 15 years old, is growing up amid conflict and violence.
The boys are told not only that it is good to kill, but also that it is good to die.
They learn that suicide bomb attacks have proved the most deadly way to hit the Israelis.
Mohammed, a 14-year-old boy, draws himself with explosives strapped to his body, ready to blow himself to pieces if it means killing Jews.
"Yes," he says, when asked if he wants to be a suicide bomber. "I want to liberate Palestine and be part of the revolution."
The boys are shown pictures of those who have already died in the conflict with Israel.
They are taught that to give their lives is to be guaranteed a place in heaven.
And to be a suicide bomber is one of the highest forms of martyrdom.
They will be greeted in paradise by 70 virgins.
"We are teaching the children that suicide bombing is the only thing that make the Israeli people very frightened. Furthermore, we are teaching them that we have the right to do it," said Islamic Jihad member Mohammed el Hattab, one of the teachers on the programme.
"We are teaching them that after the suicide attacks, the man who makes it goes to the highest state in paradise," he said.
So this moral midget Holehouse is comparing a program that indoctrinates 12-15 year olds into killing Jewish civilians with one that mimics basic training for adults (plus a very short course for 16-18 year olds that he didn't bother mentioning very much.) He finds it supremely offensive that Israel might want to instill pride in Jews worldwide. He implies that the IDF is based on a hatred of Palestinian Arabs even as he quotes denials, while the Jihad camp is clearly based on hating Jews. The IDF course stresses peace and the Islamic Jihad course stresses death -but Holehouse cannot be trusted to report that small inconvenient fact.
And finally he explicitly equates training with the IDF, probably the most moral army in the world, with terrorist training camps.
Obviously Holehouse knows the facts - clearly he read the articles in 2001 about Islamic Jihad - so his specious comparisons are not done out of ignorance but out of pure hatred for Israel and for Jews who identify with Israel.
In late November, Olmert said "we are a little disappointed" that Qassam attacks continued even during a "cease fire" that Israel held to unilaterally.
The Qassams continued.
In December, Olmert wrote a letter to the UN, saying "this restraint cannot continue for much longer."
The Qassams continued.
In February, Olmert said, "We are not going to restrain ourselves forever. The continued attacks challenge Israel's patience. In the end, if the attacks continue, we will respond."
According to the anti-Hamas Palestine Press Agency, Hamas prevented 7 trucks containing 25 tons of potatoes from leaving Gaza. The reason is that the produce was to leave through the Kerem Shalom crossing which is controlled by Israel:
The illegal Hamas militia prevented seven Palestinian trucks loaded with 25 tons of potatoes to export to the outside of the Gaza Strip through the crossing Karam Abu Salem southern sector.
Well-informed sources in Gaza [said] the quantity of potatoes are surplus in the domestic market, explaining that the Palestinian Authority obtained approval to export the Israeli side this quantity of potatoes across the crossing Karam Abu Salem, but the Hamas militia prevented the entry of trucks loaded to crossing Karam Abu Salem for purely political reasons grounds that the government of Hamas, the article dealing with this crossing.
The sources said that "all goods entering the Gaza Strip to pass through crossing Karam Abu Salem, and this is a clear contradiction in the allegations Hamas prevent export and acceptance at the same time the entry of goods through the crossing!" .
The sources confirmed that farmers ground berries, tomatoes and flowers affected by the decision to prevent Hamas response through Abu Salem, asked "of the embargo imposed on the Palestinian people Is the government of President Mahmoud Abbas legitimate traders to facilitate the export of goods and the entry to Gaza, or Hamas, which prevented traders export pretext of Israeli control over the crossing! . "
Last week the UN said that a shipment of export potatoes did cross Kerem Shalom.
The UNrecently released a reporton the state of the Palestinian Arab economy. It blamed Israel for closing Gaza crossings and did not mention the word "Hamas" once.
Plenty of observers have noted the anti-Israel and pro-terrorist bias that "human rights" organizations and NGOs have. One might think that the Palestinian Arabs who are beneficiaries of the money and publicity that they hand out would be a bit appreciative.
However, even as long ago as 1950, the Palestinian Arabs have been distrustful of international aid agencies, viewing them as Western plots against them. Not so much as not to accept the billions of dollars that they have consistently doled out, but enough to be resentful.
According to a Ma'an (Arabic) reader poll, that antipathy towards international aid organizations is alive and well.
The poll question is:
Human rights organizations working on Palestinian territories: 24% Operate freely and sincerely to serve the public 67% Hypocrisies of the party without further as interest 9% I do not know
In order for an insult to be effective, two things must occur: the insult must have at least a kernel of truth, and the person being insulted must be sensitive about the insult's subject.
For example, if I would scream to Shaquille O'Neal during a game, "Hey, skinny, watch that you don't get knocked over by the ball," besides the fact that this is a lame insult, it is unlikely to be effective in getting on his nerves because O'Neal is clearly not a skinny person.
On the other hand, if I would shout "Hey, Shaq, getting a little spare tire around the middle?" it has a somewhat better chance of getting under his skin, because there is a decent chance that he cares a great deal about staying in shape and that he would be sensitive about any comments that may play upon his deepest fears of losing his edge. However, not knowing Shaq in the least, it is entirely possible that he is supremely confident about his physique and such an insult would roll off him without a twinge of pain.
When you think about it, insults only hurt people who are not well-adjusted. A balanced person who knows his or her strengths and weaknesses would hear an insult and either disagree, in which case it doesn't matter, or agree that this is an issue that needs to be raised. Telling Kristie Alley that she is fat today would probably elicit a reaction more like "well, I used to be a lot worse, and talk to me in a few months." The successful Jenny Craig spokeswoman's public persona has been redefined by her successful struggle to lose weight so even if she hasn't reached her goal yet she knows quite well where she is at, and again an insult like that would not have the same effect that it could have on many women who are obsessed with their shape.
People who get insulted easily, though, are those who tend to have low self-esteem to begin with - they already have grave doubts about their own abilities, or skills, or belief systems, and insults hurt them because they bring pre-existing internal painful feelings to the surface and force them to face the truth.
Bullies are notable because they will take insults very seriously, and then they will tend to lash out back at the insulter, often using force. Their own egos are so fragile that they feel that they need to prove their superiority in at least one level, and often that is achieved by using raw, physical violence.
One of this site's themes is that groups of people tend to think in similar ways. When a group of people get insulted to the extent that they threaten violence, then it may be surmised that the entire group suffers from some sort of mass psychosis.
In the past month alone, I can count at least five "insults to Islam" that made the news:
A quite unfunny Opus cartoon was pulled from some American newspapers because it had the potential of being an "insult to Islam."
A Malay man made a YouTube video which, among other things, said that a Muslim call to prayer near his house at 5 AM was singing out of tune and sounded like a rooster. This elicited protests.
Soccer balls decorated with flags of many nations were distributed to Afghans, and many Muslims were insulted because the Saudi flag depicted on the ball includes Allah's name.
A Swedish cartoon depicting Mohammed with a dog's body was strongly protested by Muslims worldwide as a huge insult to Islam.
Some of these incidents are no doubt real insults to Islam, just as there are daily insults to Judaism and Christianity and other religions, not to mention other groups of people.
One difference is in the reaction to these insults. A violent reaction to an insult is a sign of mental instability, and a mass violent reaction is evidence of a pervasive mental health crisis within that group.
To give a simple example: One of the favorite targets of Islam-bashers is Mohammed's relationship with his child bride, Aisha. Now, I have no doubt that referring to Mohammed as a "child molester" is a very deep insult to most Muslims. A mature reaction could be to calmly explain that it is unfair to subject seventh-century figures to 21st century morals, especially since popular concepts of morality can change every decade. (Or to ignore the provocation.) While that explanation may not assuage the insulters, if the person insulted truly believes that he is right, he is unlikely to react violently.
But those Muslims who, deep down, think it is a little bit sketchy for their prophet to be marrying a child are more likely to turn the insult around into a violent reaction.
The other difference between the Muslim reaction to insults and those of most others is hypersensitivity. Muslimshave created an atmosphere where they are insulted at even the slightest provocation, as in the Malay or Opus cases, or in the case of the Afghan soccer balls, being deeply aggrieved at what was clearly an innocent mistake. Such hypersensitivity to the most minute perceptions of the whiff of blasphemy must mean that the supposed insultees' own belief systems are so tenuous to begin with that literally anything can set them off. This is not a sign of piety; it is a sign of serious insecurity.
(For completeness sake, I should mention that there is a third kind of insult that is much harder to brush off, and that is an insult to one's loved ones. The natural anger that results from this kind of insult is partly due to the fact that the subjects cannot defend themselves. But if the mighty Islamic god or prophet is considered too fragile to be able to handle insults on their own, this shows even more strongly that the Muslims who rush to defend them are not very secure in their own belief in their power.)
The AP has just published a backgrounder on the new breed of Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist groups that have taken over PalArab "refugee" camps in Lebanon, and it seems that they really are mostly Palestinian - a fact that's been glossed over in the media for months.
(And kudos to AP for covering the story - I criticized AP two months ago for ignoring these facts and it appears that they have corrected themselves.)
The Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh on the edge of the southern city of Sidon is where most of the Palestinian radical groups are based and where plots against Israel and Western influence in Lebanon — and against Lebanese foes — are believed to be hatched. It's the largest of the 12 camps in Lebanon, housing about 45,000 of the 400,000 Palestinians whose exile dates from Israel's creation in 1948.
Bearded men in battle fatigues and carrying Kalashnikovs or pistols freely roam around the densely populated camp or guard the offices of the various groups.
Radical Islamic militias in the camp include Asbat al-Ansar ("Band of Partisans"), Jund al-Sham ("Soldiers of the Levant") and the Islamic Struggle Movement. Washington has accused Asbat al-Ansar of being linked to al-Qaida, and it and the Jund al-Sham are said to have close ties to Fatah Islam in the Nahr el-Bared camp.
Membership in each group probably numbers dozens.
While the relationship between the Sunni fundamentalist groups and al-Qaida is unclear, at the very least they are inspired by the movement's global appeal and share its philosophy of "jihad" against what it regards as American and Western attempts to dominate the Muslim world....
"We converge with al-Qaida and approve its role in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Sheik Walid Sharif, spokesman for Asbat al-Ansar. "Sheik Osama is our sheik, may God protect him."
Sharif says he has sent more than 300 Palestinian and Lebanese recruits to fight in Iraq alongside Ansar al-Sunnah, an Iraqi group with close links to al-Qaida, and that he has been in contact with al-Qaida in Mesopotamia, which is believed affiliated with bin Laden.
About 25 of his men have died in operations in Iraq, including suicide bombings, Sharif said.
Another Palestinian radical leader, Sheik Jamal Khattab of the Islamic Struggle Group, pointed out that not every Muslim fighting American occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan is with al-Qaida. He also sought to distance his group from the loss of innocent lives in Iraq.
"We support anyone who fights America or Israel, but we are against ... killing of innocent civilians," he said.
In Lebanon, intelligence officials blame radical Palestinians in Ein el-Hilweh for at least two recent attacks, a rocket fired into Israel in mid-June that caused damage but no casualties and a car bombing a week later that killed six Spanish members of UNIFIL, the peacekeeping unit monitoring the shaky truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
Authorities say members of Fatah Islam have confessed to bombing two buses near Beirut in February in which three people died and 20 were wounded, and the government has accused the group of planning other attacks. But the Lebanese army did not move against the group until after its fighters ambushed more than 30 army soldiers.
The group's strength had grown to hundreds of fighters — Palestinians, Lebanese and other Arabs — and the battle with the army was the worst violence Lebanon has suffered since its 1975-90 civil war, killing some 150 soldiers, an unknown number of militants and more than 20 civilians.
In Nahr el-Bared and the other refugee camps, the rise of the radical Islamic groups has further cut the influence of the secular Palestine Liberation Organization, which once controlled the camps but saw its power wane after its fighters were driven out by Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Goksel, the former UNIFIL officer, fears the real danger is that the radical Islamic movements will keep recruiting fighters in the poor, overcrowded camps and carry out more attacks until they finally get the backing of their would-be patron, al-Qaida, while authorities miss a chance to squelch the jihadists.
The Ap captions in the file pictures meant to accompany the article are more explicit:
Palestinian gunmen of Ansar Allah, Arabic for Partisans of God, stand alert as they prepare to deploy in the refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon, Lebanon, June 5, 2007 to prevent further Jund al-Sham frictions with the army after clashes. The Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh on the edge of the southern city of Sidon is where most of the Palestinian radical groups are based and where plots against Israel and Western influence in Lebanon — and against Lebanese foes — are believed to be hatched. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
During the major fighting in the Lebanese camps, the West was bending over backwards to imply that the terrorists were anything but Palestinian - usually blaming Syria. The picture is still murky but getting clearer.
Remember also that the reason that Palestinian Arabs are so amenable to being recruited to these terror groups is because their host countries refuse to integrate them into society, and keep them imprisoned for generations.
Hamas said that any people who participate in the now weekly Friday demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza are "sinners." 11 worshippers were injured by Hamas this past Friday.
An editorial cartoonist in Gaza was threatened with being shot if he doesn't make his cartoons more acceptable.
I can understand cracking down on non-licensed livery drivers, but the fact that they are also fining carpoolers shows that the government is thoroughly corrupt:
The Road and Traffic Authority in Dubai has doubled the fine imposed against motorists who illegally transport passengers without a livery permit. Residents from low-income background decried such measures saying that this is making transportation difficult for them.
Many residents of Dubai and the northern emirates benefit from these illegal taxis, as their prices are low compared to the licensed ones.
Another widely used form of transportation, which is also punishable by law, is the car pool. It is a system in which office workers with cars pick up their colleagues from their homes and drop them at work and vice versa for a fixed amount of money. The car pool is heavily advertised in the classified pages of the local newspapers.
These illegal systems benefit commuters who have no alternative means of transport other than expensive taxis or irregular buses. Dubai, which is revamping its public transportation system by adding hundreds of new buses, is considered better than the neighboring emirates that do not have such systems in place.
Mohammed Obaid Al-Mulla, CEO of Public Transport Agency at the authority, stated that the fine has been raised to AED5,000 from AED2,500.
“Statistics gathered from a series of field campaigns launched since 2004 up to July 2007 show that this phenomenon has several characteristics; namely: it is widely practiced and virtually covers all areas in the emirate of Dubai. However, it is noticed that passenger smuggling is habitual in certain locations well known to both smugglers and passengers, but rarely does it take place at sides of main roads. Moreover, these locations are constantly being changed to avoid reporting campaigns. In fact, it is rather difficult to assess the actual magnitude of this practice as it involves several categories of vehicles, at the top of which come private vehicles, rented cars, commercial transport vehicles and private-companies vehicles,” commented Al-Mulla.
Informed sources at the Public Transport Agency revealed that Franchise and Performance Control Section at the agency launched a new campaign aimed at heightening the awareness about passenger-smuggling in Dubai with a view to curb this phenomenon, which is inflicting heavy losses on the public transport sector.
He also noted that this practice retracts when reporting campaigns and fines are announced, but is usually matched with the entry of fresh smugglers, while those who were in the business return after a short break. He further added: “It is noted that upon streamlining of taxi activity in other emirates, taxi drivers switched their vehicles as private vehicles and deployed them in passenger-smuggling business in Dubai. More drivers are expected to engage in this practice following streamlining of transportation activities in various parts of the UAE.”
As to the losses inflicted by this practice on Dubai Taxi Agency, Al-Mulla stressed that it results in material losses to the agency as well as jeopardizes the standing of the agency as a service-providing body seeking to deliver optimum services in innovative methods in line with the best global practices applicable in this vital field. “Smuggling of passengers is viewed as an uncivilized practice incompatible with the standing of Dubai as a commercial and economic center in the region. Such a phenomenon is capable of undermining the efforts of the RTA to expand and develop the transport sector, let alone the resulting losses suffered by various service, tourist, social and other sectors,” added Al-Mulla.
Rather than improve their public transportation and taxi services to do a better job, they penalize its competition and call it "smuggling."
A Palestinian girl holds a weapon next to militants from Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militia linked to the ruling Fatah movement, during a rally in the Old City of the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Child abuse is just so precious when you have an Arab stringer taking the photos.
Another peaceful image from this rally:
Palestinian gunmen from Al-Aqsa brigades of Fatah movement fire their weapons during a rally in the West Bank city of Nablus August 31, 2007. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini (WEST BANK)
I like when they fire guns into the air while there are people climbing buildings right above them.
I wonder when they'll start firing RPGs in the air to show how happy they are during these rallies? I mean, since they fire guns as a symbol of their manhood, wouldn't a bigger gun mean that they are even more macho?
The prospects for peace with the "good" Fatah terrorists have never looked brighter!
Another strange story that illustrates the bizarre misogyny in Saudi Arabia:
Following negotiations between the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) in Jeddah and the Family Protection Committee at the Makkah region’s Social Affairs Department, six sisters, who had run away from their drug addict father in Riyadh, were given a women’s shelter in Jeddah on Wednesday night.
The girls had previously run away from their drug addict father and stayed at a shelter in Riyadh.
They then ran away from the shelter in Riyadh and arrived in Jeddah looking for help from their maternal uncle.
The father of the six sisters, the eldest of which is 28, pressured their uncle to send his daughters back to Riyadh. Fearing a return to Riyadh, the girls ran away from their uncle’s house and sought help from the NSHR. The society called the Social Affairs Department in the Makkah Region and reported that the girls allege they were sexually harassed.
“The girls now are considered to be runaways — such cases get transferred to the police and the general prosecution to check their claims. They then get transferred to shelter homes in their own region,” said Saeed Al-Ghamdi, general director of the Social Affairs Department in the Makkah Region.
“Until now we have no proof of abuse. We only have what the girls have said. We still have to check their father’s case,” he said.
So girls who are being sexually abused can only leave their abusers' homes if they can prove abuse, and of course the father's word is worth far more than six sisters.
And the 28-year old is simply not allowed to live alone and take care of her sisters in Saudi Arabia - such a solution is so far beyond possibility that it is not even entertained. Even she will be forced to return to her abusive father's home if he claims that he never touched her!
Which means that in Saudi Arabia, women are legally children no matter how old they are until they get married.
Notice also how the Arab News tastefully waters down sexual abuse to be merely "alleged sexual harrassment." By the Western definition of sexual harassment, every single female in Saudi Arabia is being harrassed. It is obvious that here we are talking about a father who is using his daughters for his own perverted gratification, and it is equally obvious that he can easily get away with it, because the testimony of the girls are almost automatically discounted.
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Elder of Ziyon
