Islamic apologetics in Canada

From the Vancouver Sun, in reference to the murder of Aqsa Parvez:

At the heart of Islamic logic, a logic inseparable from true faith, is the sanctity of human life. The Prophet Muhammad said in the strongest possible words, "Killing a believer is an act of disbelief." The Quran says that to kill one human being was tantamount in sin to killing all of one's human brothers and sisters.

Looking at the first quote, notice that it only applies to killing "believers". How does the Koran want to deal with unbelievers? 2:191 (Shakir translation):

And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.

This is but one of many Koranic verses strongly against those who do not believe.

What about the often quoted verse in the Koran, (taken directly from the Talmud, incidentally,) that killing one human being is tantamount to killing all of humanity? Here's the context, 5:32-36:

For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly Our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land. The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement, Except those who repent before you have them in your power; so know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and seek means of nearness to Him and strive hard in His way that you may be successful. Surely (as for) those who disbelieve, even if they had what is in the earth, all of it, and the like of it with it, that they might ransom themselves with it from the punishment of the day of resurrection, it shall not be accepted from them, and they shall have a painful punishment.

So even the very chapter that Muslim apologists use to prove the humanity of the Koran proves the exact opposite! (And Islamic commentaries make it even more clear.)

Now, according to Shari'a, does a girl who takes off her hijab fall into a category of an unbeliever?

I am not going to pretend to be an expert in Shari'a, and I don't know how authoritative these quotes are, but cursory research reveals:

Removal of the Hijab had exactly the same effect. At one time, you were independent and lived with dignity, but now you are nothing but a slave of your evil desire and behave worse than a Kafir (infidel). By removing your Hijab (An Act of Faith), you have destroyed your faith....Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) says: Modesty is the symbol of faith and whoever has no modesty (Hijab), has no religion.

To be fair, I highly doubt that there are any fatwas around that advocate killing one's daughter for the crime of discarding her hijab. But one can imagine that many Muslims with a lifetime of exposure to these concepts could think that it is justified.

Any way you look at it, this editorial, like countless other examples of Islamic apologetics, knowingly perverts the words of the Koran for Western consumption.

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This morning's peaceful Gaza news

* 34 people were injured, 5 seriously, from a grenade thrown at a funeral.
UPDATE: 4 were killed - three by the grenade, one from falling off a building. The PalArab self-death count for the year is now at 597.

* Today's kidnapping:

Unidentified gunmen on Friday morning abducted 'Umar Al-Ghool, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's advisor for national affairs from his home in Gaza City.

Al-Ghool's son, who lives in Ramallah in the central West Bank, told Ma'an that his father was abducted from his home in Tal Al-Hawa in Gaza City less than a day after he arrived there from Ramallah.

He accused Hamas of kidnapping his father, demanding they release him.

Which means that the "siege" of Gaza is hardly as total as the MSM would have us believe.

* And,

The Hamas leadership has requested political asylum from the Qatari government for 450 Hamas political and military leaders in the Gaza Strip who were involved in the Hamas takeover of the coastal region, Israeli radio reported on Friday.

The voice of Israel said that among the leaders who requested asylum were Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, Said Siyam, Salah Al-Bardaweel, Musheer Al-Masri, Fawzi Barhoum and Sami Abu Zuhri.

Palestinian sources were quoted as saying that the head of Hamas politburo in exile, Khalid Mash'al, has sent a message to the Qatari government asking for asylum for a number of Hamas leaders.

He also suggested that Hamas will hand over the major security headquarters and institutions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas through Qatari and Egyptian mediation in exchange for negotiating with Fatah. Mash'al stipulated that a number of Hamas leaders be guaranteed political asylum in Qatar.

Sources claimed that Qatar has not accepted Hamas' request.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri denied the story. He told Ma'an, "This information is baseless, and we are endeavoring to bring back the Palestinian people to their homeland rather than sending them away."

UPDATE 2: The body of a murdered girl was found near Hebron. PalPress didn't publish her age; almost certainly another "honor killing." 598.

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Hamas' little Hitler

From MEMRI:
Look at the mannerisms of this kid as he rails against the usual suspects - Zionists, America, Balfour. It's a midget Adolf without the mustache. (I cannot embed the video here, go to the MEMRI site to see it.)

And don't miss the girl who casually mentions genocide.

Transcript:

Boy: My beloved brothers, as you know, today the Al-Aqsa Mosque is crying out: "Where is the people of the frontline, the Palestinian people?" Yes, my dear brothers, that is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The subject of our lesson today is Jerusalem, to where your Prophet made his nocturnal journey – the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Yes, my beloved brothers, as you know today, and as you have known yesterday and the day before, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has fallen into oppressing and malicious hands, the hands of those who know nothing but injustice. But let me tell you how the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be returned, how we shall rescue it from the shackles of the occupation, from the shackles of the Zionist entity. Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued. Balfour decided on the cleansing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. But look what the Zionist enemy has done, look what Israel and America have done. Look what the allies of Israel and America have done. They have dug tunnels underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the sheiks and mujahideen of the Al-Aqsa Mosque have exposed these tunnels and called upon the Palestinian people: "Look what has happened, look what has happened." These calls have gone unheeded, my beloved brothers. But is it too late? No, it is not too late. If we all unite, the Al-Aqsa Mosque will not remain in the hands of the Zionist enemy, it will not remain in the hands of your enemy, despite all their conspiracies against the Palestinian people.

[...]

Girl: To Al-Aqsa, to Al-Aqsa – we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them.

(h/t LGF)

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Palestinian Police Phunnies XXIX

The Jerusalem Post reveals:

PA Civil Police commander Gen. Kamal al-Sheikh revealed that more than 600 Fatah-affiliated policemen helped Hamas take control of the Gaza Strip last June.

"Out of 13,000 policemen in the Gaza Strip, only 612 participated in the Hamas coup against the Palestinian Authority," Sheikh said during a tour of Bethlehem.

Downplaying the significance of the move, he noted that this constituted only 1.8 percent of the entire police force.

And the other 98.2% twiddled their thumbs - and drew their salaries.

This is the first time that a senior PA security official has spoken about the involvement of Fatah-affiliated policemen in the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. Sheikh did not say what kind of role the rebellious policemen played during the coup, but pointed out that the PA leadership had dismissed them and was no longer paying them.

The PA, which is hoping to raise $5.6 billion over the next three years at Monday's donors conference, still hasn't made enough progress in imposing law and order in the West Bank, the PA officials conceded.

They told The Jerusalem Post that despite the lack of progress, they expected the 90 countries that were scheduled to participate in the conference to approve the PA's request.

According to the officials, the PA's US-backed security plan, which was launched in the last few weeks in Nablus and Tulkarm, had failed to achieve most of its goals, largely due to the incompetence of the PA security forces.

"The security operation has not been a big success," one official said. "We arrested many wanted criminals and members of the Islamic Hizb al-Tahrir party, but we weren't able to lay our hands on many weapons."

Another official said the security operation did not target militiamen belonging to Fatah's armed groups. "These gunmen are continuing to operate freely in the refugee camps near Nablus and Tulkarm," he told the Post. "We arrested citizens who stole olive oil three years ago or fired into the air during weddings two years ago."

In addition, the PA's efforts to reform the Fatah-controlled security forces in the West Bank continued to face major obstacles, the official said, citing a lack of discipline among the ranks of the Palestinian policemen.

"We still have many officers who are involved in various crimes and corruption," he said. "We are still far from talking about real reforms in the security establishment. In the coming days we will launch a similar security operation in Bethlehem. But the real test will be in Hebron and Jenin, as well as in the refugee camps, where Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah militiamen call the shots."

The PA has also failed to make good on its pledge to cut by half the number of policemen serving in the various branches of its security forces, a number estimated at over 70,000. The PA is reluctant to fire large numbers of policemen for fear of driving them into the open arms of Hamas and other radical groups.

So just to make things crystal clear: The PA is asking for $5.6 billion, much of which is to to continue paying "policemen" (and now they are adding policewomen, because clearly they don't have enough) who:

- don't actually do anything, or

- they are actively involved in terror,

- after they promised they would reform the security forces,

- after they fooled the US into giving them $1.3 million based on the "success" of the Nablus "crackdown,"

- after they pledged at Oslo that the number of policemen would never exceed 30,000.

And they fully expect the world to bow to their demands and throw more billions their way, because that's what the world always does.

Responsibility is apparently not a word that is in the PA's vocabulary. And why should it be? They get routinely rewarded by the Western world for inciting hate, supporting terror, lying, and breaking written agreements. Two generations of Palestinian Arabs now have no concept that there are any repercussions for acting like spoiled brats who think that the world owes them everything.

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PalArab UN rep compares Jews to Nazis

Anne Bayefsky notes:

For those wondering whether the UN is going to continue to serve as a global platform for anti-Semitism—webcast around the world, free for all Internet users, and archived so that it may be accessed for a long, long time—the mystery is over. The UN Human Rights Council today broadcast uninterrupted hate speech—in the name of “human rights.” Palestinian UN representative Muhammad Abu-Koash had this to say on December 12, 2007 in the middle of the Council’s current session:

From Eye on the UN:

"The Israeli creeping geography has been countered...as the victims of Aryan purity have been transformed into the proponents of Jewish purity...


I will revert to poetry to deliver the message clearly to the Ambassador of Israel

Mr. Jail Man, do you not understand
Scars of concentration camps mark your hand
Negotiations commence today I understand
Leave our mountains, valleys,sea, air and land
Draw your lesson from France and Deutschland
Our will is strong, cease drawing lines in the sand
Washington, Mandela and Arafat stand so grand
Though called terrorists by occupiers in command
Mr. Jail man, you do not want to understand
You gave occupation new attire with Semitic brand.


Those who suffered in Europe, those who came from concentration camps, those who came from the ghettos, they should not act as our masters. They should know the meaning of suffering."

Just for some context of who this guy is, a few months ago he said: "Arafat, Castro, [Che] Guevara stand tall. . . in their worldwide influence, stature, and inspiration."

Also:

“The one who has monopoly on the violation of human rights is Israel... the darling of the High Commissioner.” — Palestinian Ambassador Mohammad Abu-Koash, Dec. 1, 2006, mocking Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who dared to cite Palestinian obligations to stop terrorism in addition to her regular criticisms of Israel.

And one year ago:

“The Holocaust is going on, and it is an Israeli holocaust against the Palestinian people.” Palestine Ambassador Mohammad Abu-Koash, Dec. 12, 2006.

He also referred to Qassam rockets as "Christmas firecrackers" on the very day that they killed an Israeli and injured two more.

Yup, Mr. Abu-Koash is a perfect representative of the Palestinian Arab people. He mocks human rights, loves dictators, pretends that everything wrong on the planet is Israel's fault and exhibits pure hate in the halls of the UN.

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Palestinian Arabs celebrate Festivus

From the Jerusalem Post:

One Israeli diplomatic official, describing the atmosphere at the meeting in Jerusalem of the Israeli-Palestinian Steering Committee as "tense," said the sides came to the meeting with widely different ideas of what it was meant to accomplish.

The officials said that while Israel saw the meeting as "a festive resumption of the peace process" that would deal with procedural issues about how to move the process forward, the Palestinians saw it as a forum for airing their grievances.

Can't wait to see if they also do the Feats of Strength and the Festivus Pole.

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The Eids crisis

OK, not really a crisis, but...

One of the vagaries of the Muslim lunar calendar is that the declarations of a new month (when the crescent moon is visible) often differ in different areas. So Islamic holidays sometimes are declared to be on different days by different Islamic leaders.

This month is unusual, though, in that there are three separate declarations. This is important because the tenth of the current lunar month, Dhu al-Hijjah, is the beginning of the Eid al-Adha festival, which celebrates Abraham's "sacrifice" of his son.

This year, Eid al-Adha begins next Wednesday according to Saudi Arabia, Thursday in Lebanon and Friday in Iran.

By the way, the Koran never says explicitly that Abraham sacrificed Ishmael, only that he sacrificed his son. The entire chapter never mentions Ishmael's name. It implies that Isaac was born afterwards but it is not clear. For those interested in the topic, check out Sura 37:99-113 and especially compare translations.

One last piece of trivia: Chanukah, in Arabic, is Eid al-Anwar (The Festival of Lights.)

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Israel allows 8th electricity generator in Gaza this year

Another story about the "hostile entity" that you won't read in the MSM:

A new electricity generator is to be sent to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli liaison and coordination department for the Gaza Strip said in a statement on Wednesday.

The generator will enhance power capabilities for the coastal region. It will be added to seven others which have been allowed into the Gaza Strip this year in coordination with the Palestinian power authorities in Ramallah.

The Israeli liaison department has also facilitated the entry of 13 Egyptian engineers and technicians into Gaza, who will install the generator during the coming weeks.

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These boots are made for walking - except in Iran

From AFP:

...The [Iranian] police last week launched what was termed a "winter" crackdown on unIslamic dressing, to follow an unusually vigorous summer drive against women whose clothing was deemed overly flimsy.

Tehran police chief Ahmad Reza Radan said women who wear high boots with their trousers tucked-in would be targeted by the moral police, as well as those who sport hats instead of headscarves and short tight winter coats.

Radan had described such fashions as an example of "Tabarroj", an Islamic term which means revealing one's beauty and bodily contours to unrelated men.

In the past years, it has become fashionable for liberal Iranian women to wear high boots over their trousers during the cold winter months.

"Wearing boots over trousers, according to Sharia (Islamic law), is tabarroj and an example of bad dressing, which will be confronted," Radan said, cited by the ISNA news agency.

The drive has been criticised by some moderates but the police have insisted the crackdown is popular with the public and necessary to improve security in society.

"I am sorry that you are concerned about the boots of a few rich women," was the response of hardline femmale MP Eshrat Shaegh, referring to the media interest in the ban.

"I am worried about women who do not have meat on their tables and no clothes on their children," she said.

AKI adds:

"If boots are not covered by pants that fall to the ankles, they show the female shape and that is therefore in contradiction with Islamic dress code," said Radan.

Iranian women can no longer leave home with their pants pushed inside their boots and they can no longer wear hats without a veil.

"A hat is not an adequate substitute for a veil or a hijab," he said. " If someone really wants to wear a hat, they can put it on the veil."

Generale Radan said decision to apply the Islamic code had come from a committee composed of the Revolutionary Guard, the judiciary, police and officials from the intelligence ministry and the ministry of culture and Islamic orientation.

That's a lot of men to spend their time discussing women's boots. Sounds like an episode of Queer Eye.

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Arabs abstain on Israel-sponsored "Puppies are cute" UN resolution

After decades of being treated as a pariah, Israel finally managed to get a resolution approved by the UN:

The resolution encourages able nations of the world to develop farming technology for developing countries.

The resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly's Second Committee, dealing with development issues. There were 118 votes in favor and 29 abstentions, with no opposing votes. The resolution will be brought before the full General Assembly next week.

"For Israel, this is a very dramatic development, and an historic day at the UN," Ambassador Dan Gillerman told reporters. "It is the very first time that Israel initiates and authors and submits a resolution which has nothing to do with the conflict. It is not easy for Israel to have its resolutions and its points of view adopted," he added. "This makes Israel a much more normal and acceptable member of the UN. One of our main aims is to not be a one issue country and to bring awareness of Israel's excellence to the world."

Who can argue with helping poor countries farm?

A look at the countries that abstained from this vote is instructive:

Included in the 29 abstentions were South Africa and [all the] 19 Arab states present – though not including Muslim Afghanistan and Pakistan, who voted in favor. Iran did not take part in the vote. The abstentions came from Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Darussalam, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

So what do the Arab nations have against helping third-world farmers?

Palestinian Authority United Nations representative Riyad Mansour criticized the move, telling Reuters that Israel was "trying to score political points" and had rejected a move that would have obscured the Jewish state as the author of the resolution in favor of its presentation as a “consensus resolution.”

OK, so it is not that the Arab nations - even the ones supposedly at peace with Israel - have anything against the resolution.

They just cannot stand to agree with anything Israel says, no matter how innocuous. It is easier to abstain than to even give the appearance of being on the same side as the hated Zionists on any issue.

This is beyond politics - this is just a seething hatred for anything that Israel does; this is misoziony. The very idea of agreeing with the Jewish state on anything sticks in the throats of the Arab world. For them, emotion trumps logic, and visceral hate makes real peace impossible.

UPDATE: It's Almost Supernatural exhaustively analyzes South Africa's abstention.

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Tunnel collapses in Rafah, one more terrorist dead

From PalPress (Arabic, autotranslated):

Palestinian medical sources announced today, Wednesday, killing appeared citizen Mahmoud Abdel-Hamid alive "23 years" of the inhabitants of the city of Rafah following the collapse of a tunnel on the Palestinian-Egyptian border.

The number of Palestinian Arabs who have been violently killed by their own actions this year is now at 591.

UPDATE: A child-killer named Rami Khalifa has died "in mysterious circumstances" in prison in Gaza. 592.

UPDATE 2: On Tuesday,

at approximately 10:30, several farmers found a dead body under an olive tree on the side of an agricultural road between Far’a refugee camp and the village of Sireen southeast of Jenin. The farmers saw gunshot marks as well as marks of violence on the body. A Palestinian civilian vehicle was near the body. The farmers called the Palestinian police, who examined the body. The dead body was identified as that of Mohammad Nayef El-Shaf’i (37) from Fa’ra refugee camp. He was the owner of the vehicle. The body was transferred to the forensic laboratory in Abu Dis for examination; and the police are investigating the incident.

593.

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Morning links (updated twice)

Britain's Lessons in Cultural Suicide

The perfect car for a trip to Mecca

Jews' subway hero a Muslim

My return to Kever Yosef

Testimony at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs by David Wurmsler (h/t Israel Matzav)

Audit finds U.S. funded university linked to terrorism (h/t Anti-Racist Blog)

Canada Praised For What Israel Should Have Done

Saudis give big to US colleges (h/t Smooth Stone)

The Middle East needs a lot, but not more weapons (Lebanon Daily Star)

I just saw this picture on World Photos, but it is not clear if it was taken recently. Still, it is classic:

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Tony Blair declares Bethlehem safe - what about Sderot?

Tony Blair stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bethlehem last night, to show that Bethlehem was a safe place for Christians to visit and to jumpstart the Palestinian Arab economy:

Palestine is a “safe destination” for tourists to visit, envoy to the Quartet Tony Blair said on Tuesday evening.

Speaking to journalists at a joint press conference with the Palestinian minister for tourism, Khouloud Daibes, in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, Blair said, “Bethlehem is a safe and good place to come.”

Citing Bethlehem as the litmus test for Israeli commitment to peace, he told reporters, “The real test of the sincerity of the Israeli side is if we really get change here in Bethlehem.”

“I know the Palestinian Authority is prepared to do everything it can to meet any legitimate security concerns but really there is no reason why tourists can not come here safely,” he added.

I don't expect Blair to visit Sderot any time soon, to stay there overnight and to declare how safe it is. I don't expect him to refer to it as a "litmus test" on Palestinian Arab commitment to peace. I don't expect him to praise the PA over how well they are helping stop their own Fatah-based Al-Aqsa Brigades from firing rockets at Israel.

Sderot is not on the radar of the "peace" plan. Sderot cannot be found on the roadmap. The 20 rockets that were shot today towards Sderot are not considered an obstacle to peace. It is way too inconvenient to mention Sderot when talking about the sacred "peace process."

No, Sderot and its residents are not important to Tony Blair and the Quartet. Because if they are forced to think about Sderot, they would be forced to reconsider whether real peace is possible. They would have to recall that the peaceful Palestinian Arabs freely elected a terrorist government in their most recent elections. They would be compelled to remember that the Western-trained PA "security forces" folded immediately in their first real test.

No, the "process" is too important to be derailed by inconvenient facts. Blair knows he is safe from Israeli actions in Bethlehem, but he knows just as well that he is in danger from those peaceful PalArabs should he visit Sderot.

So he won't.

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One last video for the eighth night

Happy Chanukah from the NBA Stars!

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"Humanitarian crisis" meme - since 1993

Did you ever get the feeling of déjà vu when reading news accounts about a "looming humanitarian crisis" in Gaza?

You are not imagining it:

November 17, 1993:

...the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza continues to grow.

December 6, 2000:

...impoverishing families across The West Bank and Gaza Strip and risking a humanitarian crisis, according to international economists and aid workers...

June 15, 2001:

The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip due to a shortage of medical supplies there.

November 19, 2002:

The humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza is a crisis of access and mobility; it is further compounded by an economic downturn that severely limits the ability of the civilian population to purchase and access basic needs.

February 27, 2003:

Humanitarian crisis: The cumulative impact of damage to civilian infrastructure, curfews and closures, and ongoing violence led the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to describe the humanitarian situation as "the most dire since 1967."

October 7, 2004:

The United Nations has warned in a special report of an impending humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

August 19, 2005:

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from a chronic humanitarian crisis that is deepening during the disengagement period.

March 19, 2006:

Gaza facing humanitarian crisis

May 18, 2006:

As the representatives of donor governments made fresh vows to rapidly establish a flow of aid to Palestinians on Monday, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues.

July 9, 2006:

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has demanded that Israel take urgent action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.

August 16, 2006:

Humanitarian Disaster in Gaza: "People are crying, hungry, thirsty, and desperate"

November 20, 2006:

Gaza: UN appeals for $2.5 million to ease 'humanitarian disaster'

July 20, 2007:

U.N. Official: Humanitarian Crisis Looms in Gaza

December 8, 2007:

The World Health Organisation warned against a humanitarian crisis erupting in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip due to Israeli travel restrictions

One would have thought that after 14 years of this "crisis" the Gaza population would be decimated by now. Reading these stories you'd expect Gaza to be like sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, somehow, the brave Gazans still manage to get weapons, ammunition, fuel, food, medicine and hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid, managing to stave off the starvation forecasted by "human rights" experts year after year.

It appears that there is an entire cottage industry of "human rights" organizations that are dedicated to sounding the alarm about Gaza every few months so they can keep their jobs and keep blaming Israel for every self-inflicted problem that the PalArabs have created in their Gaza homeland.

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Bethlehem, 2007

Michael Gove in the Times (UK) mentions:

There’s one invariable sign that Christmas is almost upon us – a story about how Bethlehem is suffering at the hands of wicked Israel.

This year we’ve already had our first exercise in demonising Israel for its treatment of Bethlehem with the graffiti artist Banksy enjoying extensive coverage for his trip to decorate the security barrier near the town with his work. The message of Banksy’s work and the coverage it has generated is the same: oppressive Israel has snuffed the life out of the town where the Prince of Peace was born. Herod’s spirit lives on, even as the spirit of Christmas is struggling to survive.

The truth is very different. The parlous position of Palestinian Christians, indeed the difficult position of most Christians across the Arab world, is a consequence not of Israeli aggression but of growing Islamist influence. Israel goes out of its way to honour sites and traditions sacred to other faiths while the radicals who are driving Palestinian politics seek to create an Islamist state in which other faiths, if they survive at all, do so with the explicit subject status of dhimmis. But when it comes to Israel’s position in these matters it’s still a case of O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see them lie.

He is right, of course. Christians have been abandoning Bethlehem for decades, and the intifada has only accelerated their exodus:

In Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, the Christian exodus has been most acute. In 1990, 60 percent of the population there was Christian. Today, some estimates say 20 percent or less of the city's population is Christian.

Tens of thousands of Arab Christians have fled the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the years. An estimated one thousand Christians have left Bethlehem each year for the last seven years -- a period covering the Palestinian uprising. There are between 10,000 and 13,000 Christians remaining in the city.

Today, only 1.5 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is Christian.

This doesn't stop Bethlehem's Christian mayor from blaming Israel:

"The cradle of our Lord Jesus Christ has turned into a big prison," the mayor said.

"This discriminating wall, besides isolating our town from the outside world and depriving Bethlehem from any future growth, snakes its way deep inside our municipal borders... closing the historic and main entrance of Bethlehem."

The barrier has devastated Palestinian farmers, the mayor said, confiscating 7,000 dunums (about 700 acres or 280 hectares) of arable land, making the lives of Palestinians "almost impossible" and putting them in "ghettos".

Yet amazingly, Bethlehem's population continues to grow even as the Christians flee:

Locality Name	Mid-Year Population in
	2004	2005	2006

Bethlehem (Beit Lahm)

28,111

29,019

29,927

Somehow, according to Israel's critics, the horrible separation barrier is only effective in forcing Christians to leave Bethlehem but it causes Muslims to increase.

See also previous post: Guess who's stealing land?

Meryl also weighs in on the issue.

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The PA's officlal car theft ring

From YNet, published on December 8:

In a report earlier this week, a senior Palestinian police officer boasted that following their new deployment, Palestinian police were able to confiscate a total of 180 stolen Israeli vehicles. An Israeli reading this report would think: Look at that, Mahmoud Abbas is starting to put the house in order.

But let’s wait a moment. What do they mean by “confiscated?” What would a Swiss police officer do if his people seized vehicles stolen in Italy? We can assume he would call his counterparts in the Italian police force and hand over the vehicles to them. However, Palestinian police “confiscated” the vehicles.

In other words, the Palestinian police force is short on vehicles, so it confiscates stolen vehicles to meet its own needs. Up until yesterday, a vehicle would be used by the person who stole it, or by the person who bought it from the thief. As of today, this vehicle is being used by a Palestinian police officer.

If the Palestinian police force was able to find 180 vehicles fitting for confiscation within a week, it means there are thousands of stolen Israeli cars out there that have not been taken apart.

Even in Nablus or Jenin one cannot drive around without a license plate, and in order to receive a vehicle permit anywhere in the world you need to arrive at some government office, present the documents of the new vehicle, and explain how you got it. So what does the Palestinian car thief say when he comes to the Palestinian government official and asks for a permit for a stolen Israeli vehicle?

My guess is that he tells the truth. Hello, I have a vehicle that was stolen from the Jews, how much do I need to pay in order to register it as a Palestinian vehicle? The official then offers his congratulations. Now fill out this form and pay the fees. Please fill in the thief’s name, date of theft, type of vehicle, and date of last emissions test in Israel. Please go over to the police now and fill out another form. We must have order here. The police officer may ask you to pay another fee. Good luck.

I’m certain there is an official procedure for this, with orderly registration. In fact, when an amateurish thief stole the vehicle of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef by mistake, a call was made to a senior Palestinian official and the car was returned within a few hours. How did they know where to find it? That’s very simple. The stolen vehicles are registered over there. The thieves pay fees. Everything is orderly.

UPDATE: Soccer Dad, who has a tremendously prodigious memory, recalls this article from 2001 that shows that things really don't change.

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Another "mysterious explosion" kills another terrorist

From Ma'an:

A mysterious explosion killed one member of Fatah's armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, and injured two others just after midnight on Tuesday in the old city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

Medical sources at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus confirmed the death of of Sulaiman Al-Qassas. They said he had arrived at the hospital in a coma.

Al-Aqsa Brigades spokesperson Mahdi Abu Ghazala told Ma'an accused "the Israeli occupation and collaborators" in an area known to be a meeting point for Al-Aqsa Brigades activists.

Invariably, these "mysterious explosions" are "work accidents" where explosives meant to kill Jews go off a bit early.

Notice also that the tens of thousands of PA "security forces" cannot seem to find and shut down terrorists even in places that they are known to hang out, and even when the terrorists belong to the same organization that rules the West Bank. And this is in Nablus, where the PA received kudos - and $1.3 million - from the US on how well it pretended to fight terrorists in the weeks leading up to Annapolis.

My count of Palestinian Arabs violently killed by each other this year now climbs to 590.

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IAEA talking to Tehran about university uranium

From AP via JPost:

Iranian and UN nuclear officials began a new round of talks here on Monday, this time to probe the source of weapons-grade uranium that was found at Teheran's university, the official IRNA news agency reported.

It was not clear from the report how or when the weapons-grade uranium was discovered at the Technology faculty of the state university.

This uranium was not found recently, but during IAEA's last visit to Tehran.

I wonder what the NIE's thoughts on this are?

Also, see Alan Dershowitz' take on the NIE fiasco.

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British financial institutions hiring imams

The first ever Shari’ah compliant exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been listed on the London Stock Exchange’s main market. The three funds launched by iShares enhance the range of Shari’ah compliant products available in London, underlining the City’s emerging role as an important centre for Islamic finance.

The three funds are the iShares MSCI World Islamic, the iShares MSCI USA Islamic and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Islamic. The funds track indices which screen out companies whose business activities involve earning interest, alcohol, arms manufacturing, tobacco, pork-related products, gaming and certain other forms of entertainment prohibited under Islamic law. The funds’ compliance with Shari’ah requirements will be reviewed annually by a Shari’ah Panel.

Barclays Global Investors BGI said the panel has issued a fatwah (edict) on the three new ETFs, which will track MSCI indexes of Shariah-compliant companies.

These are the iShares MSCI World Islamic, which consists of 793 stocks; the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Islamic, tracking an index of 306 stocks; and the iShares MSCI USA Islamic, with 276 stocks.

The panel, which comprises Islamic scholars Dr Mohammed Elgari, Sheikh Nizam Yacuby and Dr Abu Ghuddah, will certify that products are Shariah-compliant, provide advice on fund operations and investment methods, and carry out overall supervision of funds' compliance with Shariah principles.

The ethics involved in directly employing people to certify that you are fulfilling a religious duty should be pretty clear.

But beyond that, it is not far-fatched that one day, as Sharia compliant funds grow into a more significant percentage of the global financial business, that these scholars could threaten to withhold their approval unless Barclay's as a whole changes its general investment style to be more submissive to Islamic law. Given a choice of losing billions of pounds or slowly reducing investments in, say, alcohol and pork could become a no-brainer.

This is not the same as a "green" fund or other ethical investment options. This is a purely religious endeavor. It is increasingly dangerous for major financial institutions to depend on Islamic religious clerics for any portion of their business.

And the problem is only going to get bigger. Check out this flyer from a recent Sharia financial conference in Dubai, especially the "Master class" in Sukuk - effectively a day-long seminar on Islamic financial law meant for Europeans.

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British spies slam American assessment of Iranian nukes

It is not only Israel that has severe doubts over the recent NIE report. From the Telegraph (UK):

British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.

A senior British official delivered a withering assessment of US intelligence-gathering abilities in the Middle East and revealed that British spies shared the concerns of Israeli defence chiefs that Iran was still pursuing nuclear weapons.

The source said British analysts believed that Iranian nuclear staff, knowing their phones were tapped, deliberately gave misinformation. "We are sceptical. We want to know what the basis of it is, where did it come from? Was it on the basis of the defector? Was it on the basis of the intercept material? They say things on the phone because they know we are up on the phones. They say black is white. They will say anything to throw us off.

"It's not as if the American intelligence agencies are regarded as brilliant performers in that region. They got badly burned over Iraq."

A US intelligence source has revealed that some American spies share the concerns of the British and the Israelis. "Many middle- ranking CIA veterans believe Iran is still committed to producing nuclear weapons and are concerned that the agency lost a number of its best sources in Iran in 2004," the official said.

(h/t Yid with Lid)

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Neo-Andalusia?

The Tehran Times has an illuminating article:

There is a general reawakening taking place in the Islamic world.

A number of groups are associated with this reawakening and one of them is the Neo-Andalucian movement, which is a progressive pan-Islamic movement.

They use the appellation Neo-Andalucian because Muslim Andalucia was a center of learning and, at least for a time, a very tolerant place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in peace and harmony for the most part.

Islam teaches Muslims to seek out knowledge and to be tolerant toward non-Muslims who are not at war with Islam.

Also, the fall of Andalucia in 1492 marked the beginning of the 500-year decline of the Islamic world.

The Neo-Andalucians want to start an Islamic revival to end this 500-year decline, hence the identification with Andalucia.

The Neo-Andalucians are seeking to start a new Islamic Renaissance, unite the Islamic world, and uplift the oppressed Muslim masses.

There are many interpretations of Islam, but there is only one Islam since there is only one Holy Quran, one qibla (direction of prayer), one hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, and one Friday prayers ceremony.

These factors unite the Muslims, despite their differences.

...To uphold the banner of Islam and defend the faith, to start the new Islamic Renaissance, unite the Islamic world, and uplift the oppressed Muslim masses, we must strengthen our faith, dedicate ourselves to the cause of Islam, and struggle hard for the cause of Allah.

One doesn't have to read very far between the lines to see what the intent of this article is. The current regime in Iran has always tried to position itself as the leader of the Islamic world, with its Shi'ite leaders publicly playing up the similarities with Sunni Islam while privately bitterly fighting it. Iran's purpose is to create a pan-Islamic caliphate, controlling the entire Middle East, dominating Europe and acting as the Islamic superpower opposing the US.

One of the interesting parts of this article that betrays its real agenda is its description of the ideal state: "a very tolerant place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in peace and harmony for the most part." Does such a place exist today?

Ahmad Jum’a, a 25-year-old student, has been to the kingdom six times for the ‘Umra, the minor pilgrimage. A member of the Nazareth-based Salam Association for Hajj and ‘Umra, he is also qualified to guide groups from Israel during their pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.

Jum’a was born in Sullam, an Arab village in northern Israel. He is an Arab Muslim and has Israeli citizenship....

Once he has fulfilled his religious obligations of the pilgrimage, Jum’a spends the rest of his time mingling with the crowds and talking to Muslim pilgrims about life in Israel.

Explaining that he is a Muslim Arab with Israeli citizenship often leaves his audience gobsmacked.

“The Arab media always shows negative things about Israel and as a Muslim Arab living inside Israel I want to show a positive side of the country. I tell them there are good things in Israel and that we live side by side with the Jews. There are problems sometimes but the relations with our Jewish neighbors are generally good.”

The Muslims in Israel have freedom and passports, he tells them. They have a good economic situation and good jobs; they get along with their Jewish neighbors and they benefit from Israel’s services.

On a separate occasion he was talking with a Syrian pilgrim who, it transpired, had been a commander in the Syrian army in the 1967 War (Six Day War). Upon hearing that Jum’a was from Israel, the officer attacked him verbally and expressed support for Hizbullah.

Jum’a, a student of Middle Eastern studies, retaliated with a detailed review of Syria’s history, poor economic situation, its lack of freedom and the persecution of dissidents.

The Syrian officer was stunned by Jum’a’s knowledge, and astonished when he learned this was being taught in Israeli universities by Jewish lecturers.

“When I’ve completed the ritual, I talk politics,” Jum’a says. “I feel that I’m an envoy and wherever I go I need to explain the good things and bad things about Israel.”

Jum’a is not alone in this conviction.

Sheikh ‘Ali Bakr, 47, an imam from northern Israel who works for the Israeli Interior Ministry, has been to Saudi Arabia 24 times on pilgrimages. Bakr does not feel a contradiction in holding Israeli citizenship and attending the Hajj.

“On the contrary, I feel we’re a bridge between Israel and the Arab countries. We can bring people closer together,” he says. “Some think that Israeli Arabs are neglected and underprivileged, so we tell them that’s not the case, that we live here as equal citizens and that we fit well into the Jewish social fabric.”

If you accept the Iranian description of an ideal state for Muslims, Israel sounds like the place! (And certainly most Western nations.)

Obviously, the intent of "neo-Andalusia" isn't a place where all peoples live together with equal rights; it is an Islamic-dominated 'umma - that likely would extend to the real Andalusia - where non-Muslims are tolerated as second-class citizens and dissent is brutally crushed.

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Bilin lies continue

Pro-terrorist Palestinian Arab supporters (like the ISM) routinely refer to the weekly Palarab protests at Bilin as being "peaceful" and "nonviolent." And every once in a while, although only a few times a year, wire-service photographers show exactly how peaceful the protest is.

A Palestinian uses a slingshot to hurl a stone at Israeli border policemen, not seen, during a demonstration at the construction site of Israel's separation barrier in the village of Bilin, near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Friday Dec. 7, 2007

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Airport blogging

A couple of links while I wait for my (delayed) plane....

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Islamic "moderates." (h/t EBoZ)

Judeosphere presents the Zionist Conspiracy-o-Matic.

And, of course, you must check out edition CXLIV of Haveil Havalim over at Jack's Shack.

More as I see them....

* Review of "The Siege of Mecca", a book about a little known but incredibly important event from 1979.

Browsing through Google Books I just found an interesting 1893 edition of R. Saadiah Gaon's translation and commentary of the Torah into Arabic, using Hebrew letters for the Arabic transliteration (click to enlarge):

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PalArab fear of "normalization"

While I do not usually agree with everything Ray Hanania says, this article in Arab News should be read by every Palestinian Arab. Excerpts:

Palestinians I meet always point to the Israeli occupation as the main stumbling block preventing them from achieving independence and driving their oppressive lives. But I think far more obstacles exist that Palestinians are afraid to acknowledge, most that begin right in their own back yards.

Maybe because I was raised in America where tyranny is far more subtle and less violent than the real threats and physical dangers facing people in the Arab and Muslim Worlds. Or, maybe it is also because I am a realist, a state of mind that apparently continues to elude Palestinian society. Palestinians live in the past. Even when they emigrate to the Western countries, they may live physically in their adopted homelands, but they remain mentally imprisoned in “the balad. “The heaviest chains of this self-oppression may in fact be something Palestinians call “normalization.”

“Normalization” is a state of mind in which Palestinians prevent themselves from living in the present so they can dwell in the long lost past. Normalization is the act of refusing to accept reality, insisting that Palestinian existence is not in the present but in the past In this “unreality,” fading memories are more important than the clarity of the present.

Palestinian activists use “Normalization” as a bludgeon to keep Palestinians in line like sheep. Extremists pull the strings of suffering and frustration, throwing down the “normalization” card whenever a Palestinian tries to break free of the mental bondage and address the reality of the Israeli occupation.

...

I leave Palestine and Israel this trip recognizing that Palestinians are suffering from several layers of occupation, and a self-imposed oppression that has become the excuse for their failings. They say they want peace with Israel, but many deep down can’t accept the damage to their pride that compromise means accepting that their efforts over the past 60 years have been an utter failure caused by their own failed leadership.

While Palestinians are stifled in their aspirations, only miles away, Israelis are enjoying life, growing as a people and flourishing as a people. The ability of Palestinians to establish their own state continues to erode. That the people driving this erosion are Palestinians themselves is most troubling to me. Imprisoned in a wall of ignorance constructed by their own foolish failure to see through the rhetoric and the hatred of the past to the reality of today, Palestinians have only one option. They can either start living in the reality or they can disappear in the past.

He doesn't go far enough - Hanania, for all his candor, is not going to start blaming other Arab nations for their continuing contribution to PalArab misery, which can be remedied easily if the PalArabs were smart. But he is correct when pointing out that even "moderate" Pals have no ability to see things realistically as they wallow in self-pity and victimization - what seems to be a strategy on the part of their leadership, not a consequence of history.

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Donkey prices soar in Gaza

From Ma'an (Arabic):

The blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip has caused prices of donkeys to increase by 60% since last June, following the reduction of fuel supplies to Israel sector resulting in difficulty in supplying water and other basic needs.

A trader named Saber Jabbur said he sold his car and that he now intends to buy a cart and donkey (autotranslation: "stupid") to be able to sell agricultural harvest cucumbers and onions and other vegetables traveling between the houses.

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UK wants to be the leader in Sharia banking

From the Gulf Daily News:

MANAMA: The UK's strengths and capabilities as the leading international financial centre for Sharia-compliant financial services will be debated at the World Islamic Banking Conference.

The roundtable discussion is being organised and hosted by UK Trade & Investment and comprises experts from Islamic Bank of Britain, Bank of London and the Middle East, HSBC Amanah, ABC International and the London Stock Exchange.

Topics for discussion will include "Is the UK an obvious choice as a centre of Islamic finance" and "Are the ethical concepts of Islamic finance readily understood by the UK financial market?"

"As a leading centre for financial innovation where new Islamic structures are constantly being developed, the UK recognises the tremendous opportunities that Islamic Financial Services - worth over £250 billion has to offer," said British Trade Minister Digby Jones.

"Our goal is to position the UK as the international partner of choice for the provision of Islamic financial services, including developing strong partnerships with other centres of Islamic finance.

"We have a proven record of developing and delivering retail domestic and wholesale international investment Islamic financial services and products, and the necessary legal and financial skills and expertise to take full advantage of this."

"The debate will provide these leading companies with the perfect platform to showcase the skills and expertise the UK has to offer to those looking for a global partner in Islamic finance," said British Ambassador Jamie Bowden.

I have no problem with companies going after the Islamic market - it is just another market segment, after all. Adding Islamic credit cards or mutual funds as another option for customers seems reasonable. But things start to get sticky if the growing Islamic financial demands start to affect the mainstream practices of Western firms - if, in order to get a Sharia seal of approval, banks are requested to drop all investments in companies that sell alcohol or pork.

Far more worrying is when a Western government is willing to bend over backwards to accommodate the demands of a religion. This isn't about Arab banking, it is about Islamic, Sharia-compliant banking, and the quotes above indicate that Great Britain is willing to do whatever it takes to get a piece of the action, no matter what ethical issues are involved. The dangers of such a policy are obvious and extreme.

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BBC bias comes through again

Here's a classic example of how the BBC pretends to be objective but proves its bias, mostly by what it doesn't bother to mention:

Israel has protested to Egypt over the opening of a border crossing to allow Muslim pilgrims from Gaza to make their way through Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

The Israelis say they are concerned that militants may leave Gaza and go for training in Iran. ...

It is the first time Palestinians in Gaza have been allowed to cross directly into Egypt since June.

Now let's look at what the BBC didn't say:

* Israel is not only "concerned" that terrorists are crossing the border; they identified up to two dozen of them.

* While Egypt might not have allowed Gazans to leave before today, they did allow some 85 terrorists to re-enter Gaza in late September and 30 more in October. This is pretty relevant to the story rather than just saying that Israel is "concerned."

* By Egypt allowing Rafah to be opened, they are breaking existing agreements with Israel.

* Israel and the PA had created a mechanism for pilgrims to go to Hajj through Israel; the BBC implies that the Hajj pilgrims had no choice but to go through Rafah for their religious duties.

* Egypt's opening of Rafah legitimizes Hamas as the leader of Gaza Palestinians; they ignored the wishes of Abbas and the PA, let alone Israel.

* Rafah is only supposed to be opened by the PA in the presence of EU observers who have all but abdicated their responsibilities - and the EU Rafah observers include some from Britain.

All of these facts would have made the BBC piece more objective and accurate. By strange coincidence, they would also have made Israel's "concerns" look much more valid and Egypt's role much more insidious.

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Abbas discards second stage of Roadmap

AP reports:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he has rejected the concept of a provisional Palestinian state out of concern that the temporary borders of such an entity would become permanent.

Abbas told Palestinian lawmakers that during last week's Mideast summit in Annapolis, Md., the idea of a provisional state was brought up, but he turned it down — although it is a key part of the internationally backed "road map" formula for creating a Palestinian state.

The border issue is but one of the many hurdles facing negotiators to the talks, which are set to begin Dec. 12.

The second step of the three-stage road map calls for "creating an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty." Creating temporary borders would allow the Palestinians to have independence, while giving the sides more time to work out contentious issues like the final status of disputed Jerusalem.

Here is the beginning of the Roadmap's description of Phase II:

In the second phase, efforts are focused on the option of creating an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty, based on the new constitution, as a way station to a permanent status settlement. As has been noted, this goal can be achieved when the Palestinian people have a leadership acting decisively against terror, willing and able to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty. With such a leadership, reformed civil institutions and security structures, the Palestinians will have the active support of the Quartet and the broader international community in establishing an independent, viable, state.

Progress into Phase II will be based upon the consensus judgment of the Quartet of whether conditions are appropriate to proceed, taking into account performance of both parties.

Notice a pattern here? Abbas pretends to embrace the roadmap, but he utterly rejects any part of it where the PalArabs are asked to take any responsibility whatsoever. He knows that if the Palestinian Arabs need to pass any test whatsoever before reaching the next stage they will inevitably, invariably fail using any objective criteria. So this is why he insisted on skipping past Phase I and now phase II - he wants a state to be handed to his utterly incompetent, infantilized people on a silver platter.

They "deserve" it.

The funny thing that Annapolis advocates like to ignore is that there already is a "independent Palestinian state with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty," namely, the Hamas government of Gaza. Look how successful that has been! Gaza is the most accurate indicator of what a "Palestine" in the West Bank would look like - perhaps not run by Hamas, but equally cynically dismissive of human rights and peaceful coexistence.

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Red lines

Palestine Press Agency (Arabic, autotranslated) has a headline:

[ Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, Palestinian presidential secretary-general]said Jerusalem is a red line that can not be compromised and will be a top priority in the battle of the coming negotiations

It is not surprising to see statements like this from the PA leadership.

What is maddening is that there are no comparable statements coming from the leaders of the current Israeli government.

This is the major problem. All the rest is commentary.

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Hamas priorities

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian health ministry of the Ramallah-based caretaker government said on Thursday that "Hamas militias" have looted the fuel stores destined for hospital vehicles in the Gaza Strip.

A statement released by the health ministry said that fuel from the European hospital in the Gaza Strip had been stolen by the director of the hospital drivers to supply the Hamas-affiliated Executive Force.

The statement explained that the fuel reserve had been supplied by the ministry to enable the hospital to continue working for as long as possible.

While it is possible that the PA is lying, this seems to have a certain air of authenticity. Hamas loves seeing dead PalArabs that they can blame on Israel, so taking away hospital fuel is quite consistent with how they have acted in the past.

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Vilifying Israel by counter-example

From AP:

The caption states:

Palestinian construction workers build a new housing development in an east Jerusalem neighborhood, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007.

In a move that could hamper the U.S. peace push, Israel on Tuesday announced plans to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed east Jerusalem neighborhood. Palestinians warned that the move will undermine the newly revived peace talks. The new housing would expand Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood of about 4,000 residents in an area Palestinians claim as capital of a future state. Palestinian officials appealed to the U.S. to block the project.

So the only way that AP could illustrate the horror of Jews wanting to live in their holy city is by showing that they allow Arabs to build large housing complexes - in the Jewish holy city.

Similarly, from Reuters:

Malek, a two-and-a-half year old Palestinian girl from the West Bank village of Bidiya, undergoes heart surgery at an Israeli hospital in Holon, near Tel Aviv, October 21, 2007. Palestinians suffering serious illnesses have long traveled from Gaza to nearby Israeli hospitals for treatments unavailable at facilities in the territory, which is home to 1.5 million people and was occupied by Israel for 38 years until 2005. However Israel has tightened border restrictions since Hamas Islamists seized control of the coastal enclave in June.

This time the wire service cannot say with certainly that Israel doesn't allow people from Gaza to be treated in Israel - but it can imply it, playing the Hamas playbook.

The wire services try so hard to illustrate Israeli cruelty to the point that they will caption Israeli benevolence - that one would never see on the Arab side - as if it is cruelty.

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Israel wakes up to the Rafah problem

From JPost:

Amid concerns that terrorists were allowed to leave Gaza and travel abroad for training in Iran, Israel has filed a complaint with Cairo after Egypt allowed 1,700 Palestinians to pass through the Rafah Crossing to make the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

On Monday, for the first time since Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza in June, Egypt unilaterally opened the Rafah border terminal and allowed 700 Palestinians, who claimed to be religious pilgrims on their way to Mecca, to pass through. On Tuesday, another 1,000 crossed through the terminal.

"This is a clear breach of agreements we have made with the Egyptians," a senior diplomatic official said Wednesday, in reference to the November 2005 agreement under which the Rafah Crossing was opened. The official said the unilateral opening of the border had been preceded by another breach of agreements in October, when Egypt allowed 85 Hamas operatives to cross back into Gaza after cutting a hole in the border fence.

IDF intelligence estimates released Wednesday indicated that up to a couple of dozen Hamas terrorists were among the so-called pilgrims Egypt allowed out of the Gaza Strip. In recent years, hundreds of Hamas terrorists have traveled abroad to Iran and Lebanon for military training, and officials said it was possible that these terrorists would do the same.

In response to the increasing number of violations, the Foreign Ministry filed a harsh complaint with Cairo, and senior defense officials are scheduled to travel to Egypt in the coming week for talks about the recent events.

Too bad that Israel's Foreign Ministry doesn't read my blog, as I wrote that Hamas intended to illegally send the "pilgrims" through Rafah a week ago. That would have been the time to warn Egypt, not after the fact.

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Work accident!

A Hamas terrorist blew himself up and two others were injured when an explosive they were planting detonated a bit earlier than they had expected.

I don't know whether incompetence gets rewarded with the 72 virgins, but I cannot claim to be an expert on the finer points of Islamic doctrine.

Our 2007 PalArab death count has now reached 587.

UPDATE: More details on an earlier death - the police found a note saying "we are from several families, and have executed Hassouna for violating honor."

How honorable!

UPDATE 2: Hard to figure out the details, but PalPress is reporting on a horrific death of a 14-year old boy, apparently decapitated after being abducted in Rafah. 588.

UPDATE 3: 22 year old shot and killed Friday night. 589.

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Nice shooting

Ma'an (Arabic) quotes Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades as saying that of the 27 people killed by Israel in the past eight days in Gaza, 24 of them were members of al-Qassam.

I don't know whether the other three were civilians or members of other terrorist groups, but it is an astonishing statistic that cannot be matched by any other army in the world when fighting against a group that makes the strategic choice to hide among civilians.

Might be a good time to send the IDF soldiers some pizza - and sufganiot, and send them a message of support at the same time.

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Why Jews eat sufganiot on Chanukah (video)

Finally it gets explained in a clear and concise manner!

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Sharia news: British nurses asked to turn beds to Mecca

From the Daily Mail (UK):

The job of the nurse used to one of caring for the sick and needy.

But not - it would seem - in today's politically-correct Britain.

Now, nurses are being encouraged to spend valuable time turning around the beds of Muslim patients up to five times a day - so they can face Mecca.

In a bid to promote cultural understanding, they are also expected to provide patients with running water so they can wash before prayer.

And then, of course, they are required to turn the beds back around to return the wards to normality. The measures are being pursued by Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust to ensure Muslim patients have a "more comfortable stay in hospital".

Hundreds of staff have attended tax-payer-funded workshops with Muslim GPs and ethnic-minority support groups on how best to help patients.

During these meetings, nurses have been told that if a patient asks for water to bathe in, or for their bed to be turned to face Mecca, then this should be considered.

If the measure is deemed "practically possible" and does not impinge on other patients, then it should be carried out.

And if it is not practical, nurses are encouraged to find them a bed that faces Mecca permanently.

But an experienced nurse at Dewsbury and District Hospital in Yorkshire where the ideas are being tested, has blasted the scheme.

She said: "It would be easier to create Muslim-only wards with every bed facing Mecca than deal with this.

"We have a huge Muslim population in Dewsbury and if we are having to turn dozens of beds to face Mecca five times a day, plus provide running water before and after prayers, it is bound to impact on the essential medical service we are supposed to be providing.

Conservative MP David Davies also criticised the idea, saying: "Hospitals should be concentrating on stopping the spread of infections than kowtowing to the politically-correct brigade."

Isn't it amazing that "promoting cultural understanding" always seems to non-Muslims understanding Muslims, rather than the other way around?

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UNRWA announces donors - how do the rich Arabs stack up?

The UNRWA yesterday announced the amounts of money pledged by different countries for its work in 2008.

Country	Amount Pledged
Turkey	$500,000
Germany	$11,000,000
Bahrain	$50,000
Austria	$2,770,000
Luxemburg	$3,000,000
European Community	€66,000,000
Netherlands	$15,900,000
United Arab Emirates	$1,000,000
Switzerland	11,000,000 SwF
Italy	$15,000,000
China	$80,000
Kuwait	$1,500,000
Norway	150,000,000 NKr
Holy See	$20,000
United States	$90,000,000
Denmark	$18,000,000
Oman	$25,000
Spain	€2,600,000
Finland	€3,000,000
Egypt	$10,000
Ireland	$5,500,000
Iceland	$300,000

These numbers are probably not complete yet.

As in the past, the amounts that Arab nations give to UNRWA are a pittance. Egypt, Oman and Bahrain only give token amounts, and the combined Arab contribution announced is smaller than those of Ireland or Austria. It appears that Arab concern towards their Palestinian brethren shows itself in paying for terrorist weapons and the families of "martyrs" and not so much in providing things like food and jobs.

Keep in mind also that the Gulf is now awash with cash because of inflated oil prices, taking in net profits of some $5 billion every week, going on world shopping sprees of real-estate, banks and other blue-chip stocks. Not only could they bankroll all of UNRWA easily; they could build an Arab Palestine-in-exile in the underpopulated Gulf and provide free permanent housing to every PalArab who desires to move there.

But keeping them in miserable camps fits in with their strategy. Happy, contented Palestinian Arabs do not.

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The most boring Chanukah event in history

From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (which spells Chanukah at least 5 different ways from 1880-1900), December 8, 1890 (click to enlarge):
It's painful just to read it.

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Another "mysterious death" in Gaza

There had been a lull, but Maher Mohamed Hassouna was shot dead in Khan Younis on Sunday by the ever mysterious "unknown persons."

Our 2007 PalArab self-death count is now at 586.

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Minnesotans who want an 8-day weekend

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The NIE Iranian nuke report

The left-leaning media is having a field day touting a National Intelligence Estimate that Iran has no current nuclear weapons program.

The Israeli defense minister disputes the findings.

What no one is emphasizing is that the report also says:

We assess with high confidence that until fall 2003, Iranian military entities were working under government direction to develop nuclear weapons....we also assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons.

....We assess with high confidence that Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so.

So this report states pretty unequivocally that Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003; that it kept it secret and was lying to the world about it; that it is ready to restart the program at any time; and that it certainly has the capability to build nuclear weapons.

The major disagreement with Israeli intelligence is whether Iran had already re-started the program after 2003.

It appears that what this report proves is that the West had really poor intelligence capabilities in Iran. The report proves that Iran is duplicitous; how hard would it be for the Iranians to start a separate secret nuclear weapons program, while they was misdirecting the IAEA and other inspectors with the shenanigans at their known nuclear power plants?

Obviously I don't know any intelligence that the US doesn't, but the NIE did make two possibly very flawed assumptions:

This NIE does not assume that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons. Rather, it examines the intelligence to assess Iran’s capability and intent (or lack thereof) to acquire nuclear weapons, taking full account of Iran’s dual-use uranium fuel cycle and those nuclear activities that are at least partly civil in nature.

This Estimate does assume that the strategic goals and basic structure of Iran’s senior leadership and government will remain similar to those that have endured since the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. We acknowledge the potential for these to change during the time frame of the Estimate, but are unable to confidently predict such changes or their implications.

If these two assumptions are wrong, and I believe that they are, then the chances of a current, secret nuclear program in Iran is significantly higher than the NIE is saying.

The first assumption, that Iran does not intend to acquire nuclear weapons, is very suspect because the NIE itself acknowledges that Iran did indeed have a real, clandestine nuclear weapons program. And the second assumption - that Iran's strategic goals are the same as they were in 1989 - is also shaky, as only in recent years has Iran publicly voiced its goal of being a global Islamist superpower and the major counterweight to the US.

Nowhere does the NIE try to explain why Iran was interested in building nuclear weapons once, and why it would have abandoned its program strategically (it does explain why it would have done so tactically.) Given a known track record of desiring nuclear weapons, the capability to do so and the proclivity to lie about it, this report is hardly something to celebrate. And if the report was written under questionable assumptions then the seemingly optimistic results must also be called into question.

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December 1947: 75 Jews murdered - in Aden (Yemen)

In the wake of the partition vote, Arabs started rioting throughout the Middle East. The worst attacks in the early weeks came from Aden, a British colony that is now a part of Yemen, where 75 Jews were brutally murdered by Arab mobs:

The final death toll was 82 Jews.

It is ironic that the best arguments for a Jewish state at the time came from the Arabs themselves, as their vaunted tolerance for Jews disappeared in an instant and it was clear that only a Jewish state could protect the "dhimmis."

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Homeboy Chanukah

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Day two: Gaza refuses fuel; complains of "humanitarian crisis"

Ma'an reports:

Fuel companies in the Gaza Strip refused to accept deliveries from Israel for the second day in a row in protest against drastic cuts in supplies on Monday.

On the very same page, Ma'an also reports:

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been forced to shut down their emergency power generators, resulting in a looming “humanitarian disaster” due to Israel’s severe reductions in fuel supplies, said Muawiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry.

One gets the impression that if the Gazans could convincingly bomb the hospitals from the air, they would, just to blame Israel. Such is their hatred of Israel that they are willing to let their sick people die - just so they can blame the Zionists.

But when Hamas can blame Fatah, they will, even if the reasons contradict those of the fuel companies:

A petrol organization of the Hamas-run finance ministry on Saturday blamed the acting Palestinian government led by Salam Fayyad on fuel shortages in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

The Ramallah-based Fayyad government doesn't pay for Israeli Dor Company which delivers the fuel to Gaza while it pays for Baz Company which provides the West Bank with fuel, the organization said in a statement.

So is it that the fuel companies won't accept Zionist fuel because the amounts are an insult, or is it that the Israeli company is not being paid?

Dor already mentioned the real reason last Thursday:

Dor Alon officials said Thursday they were cutting back because the Palestinians have not paid their bills.

So now the truth becomes clearer - but that will never stop the PalArabs from going out of their way to blame Israel for the fact that even with the hundreds of millions of dollars that they manage to smuggle into Gaza, they can't pay for fuel.

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