Five more tunnels discovered by Egypt

Fox News reports:

An Egyptian security official says border guards have discovered five new underground smuggling tunnels north of the Rafah crossing point.

The official says two tunnels were used to pump fuel to the Gaza Strip which is facing severe energy shortages. One of the tunnels was found in a kitchen with a pump connected to hose running through it.

The tunnels were found early on Monday, added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

And the other three tunnels? Take one guess. From Palestine Press (autotranslated:)

The Egyptian security sources said on Monday in press statements "that they found weapons and explosives in three of the tunnels detected on the Gaza border."

Weapons and explosives? Nah, not in Gaza!

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AP still wrong on Beit Hanoun blast

It has been a few hours since Israel determined that the Gaza blast that killed most of a family was the result of a secondary explosion from targeted terrorists outside the house carrying munitions.

AP's Ibrahim Barzak is now reporting Israel's side of the story, but very skeptically:

In a statement, the military said explosives carried by the militants were detonated by an Israeli airstrike, and the blast from the explosives hit the house, not a tank shell, "and uninvolved civilians were hit." Palestinians said the militants were at least 400 yards from the house and none of the fighters were killed near the structure.

But the most detailed Gaza based account of the events, from PCHR which blames Israel for the explosion, show that this last sentence is a lie:

At approximately 8:15, an IOF plane fired a rocket at a group of resistance members near Abdallah Azzam Mosque, southwest of Izbit Abd Rabbou, approximately 1000 meters away from the main area of the incursion. The rocket fell 10 meters away from the house of Ahmad Eid Hassan Abu Me’tiq, seriously injuring a resistance member. Less than a minute later two rockets were fired at the same area and landed at the door of the same house, killing another resistance member: Ibrahim Salem Suliman Hajouj (20). Shrapnel from the rockets destroyed the house door and spread inside the house. Meyasar Metliq Abu Me’tiq (40) and her 6 children were eating breakfast only 2 meters away from the door. The shrapnel killed four of the children immediately. The mother was seriously injured; and the other two children were moderately injured. The mother later died of her wounds. In addition, 10 bystanders were injured, some of them sustaining moderate to serious injuries.

The AP cannot do basic fact-checks to show that their Palestinian Arab sources are, simply, liars, and by quoting them credulously they make it appear that the evidence supports the Palestinian Arab story and not the Israeli version. They are doing a better job than the thousand-odd "news" stories that don't even acknowledge Israel's claims, but they still fail basic journalism principles.

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"World's Smallest Koran" not very impressive

From India's Economic Times:

DUBAI: The smallest copy of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, on display at The Bride Show here drew huge crowds at the recently concluded exhibition.

Almost one-third the size of its closest competitor, the 'miniature' Koran contains 10,000 lines engraved on sapphire measuring 58mm by 98mm which can be worn as pendant or a ring by brides and grooms on the wedding day, WAM news agency reported Monday.

The Koran has been engraved by Mir Emad Mokhtari with help of the latest advances in nanotechnology and has been officially registered as the smallest copy of the Holy Book at Astan-e Qods Razavi's Quran museum in Iran.

Is this an impressive display of Islamic nanotechnology?

This Koran fits in a space of roughly 2" x 4". This sounds more like microfiche than nanotechnology.

But last year, at Israel's Technion, they fit the entire Hebrew Bible - with diacritical marks! - in a space smaller than a pinhead:

The entire vowelled-Hebrew text of the Bible has been inscribed by Technion scientists on a gold-coated silicon surface smaller than the head of a pin.

The idea to inscribe the whole biblical text using a focussed-ion device was that of Prof. Uri Sivan, director of the Berrie Institute, and the project was carried out by Ohad Zohar, the center's physics education adviser, along with Dr. Alex Lahav, formerly lab director of the Wolfson Center for Microelectronics.

When the ions are shot at the surface, gold ions are removed from a 20-nanometer-wide spot to expose the darker silicon substrate underneath. A nanometer is equal to one billionth of meter or one millionth of a millimeter. The resulting letters can be observed only with a scanning electron microscope.

The nano-Bible will be photographed and expanded 10,000 times, and still be able to fit into a seven-by-seven-meter frame, to be hung in the Technion's physics faculty. The photograph will make it possible to read the entire Bible with the naked eye, and the height of each letter will be three millimeters.

Zohar said the original nano-Bible, the size of a crystal of sugar, would be displayed next to the photograph.

A sugar crystal (granulated, regular)is about 0.5 mm long. Which means that Technion managed to make their Hebrew Bible some 1/10000 the size of the Koran being touted here.

UPDATE: Mir Mokhtari, the inventor, clarifies things in my comments:

Hi, putting political disputes aside and sticking to the science and maths... the size is actually miss printed. It should read ten times smaller in both dimensions. The technology uses a 5nm spot size and has resolution better than 9nm around the edge of the words. We too could have made one much smaller, but you have to understand marketing and practicality. No point exhibiting something that requires a $1million SEM tool to be dragged around with. Also the value added to this art piece is the fact that it stands 1400degress heat during commissioning in jewellery and is scratch proof to extremely high impacts and can be worn on day to day basis. We managed to convince people all the words are there with a $5 handheld magnifier. Sometimes understanding people goes a longer way than understanding the technology....

Fair enough, the intent wasn't to set a technological record but to create a piece of jewelry.

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Kids were killed by PalArab bomb

After reading the IDF explanation as well as the PCHR preliminary investigation into the deaths of the mother and four daughters this morning, I am convinced that the IDF version is correct - the IDF shot a missile at two terrorists who were outside the Abu Meatak home, and the explosives that at least one was carrying exploded, killing most of the family.

I would not count these as self-deaths, though, because it was a secondary explosion; it is not a "work accident" although their carrying explosives through a neighborhood and putting families at risk is clearly a war crime. (It's a judgment call but I need to be consistent in the count.)

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Recent honor killing roundup

A survey of recent articles that talk about "honor killings:"

Pakistan:

Three weeks since Jagdeesh Kumar, a 22-year-old Hindu worker in a garment factory in Pakistan's largest city, was beaten to death by a mob for allegedly making blasphemous remarks about Prophet Mohammad, his murderers remain unpunished.
..."His murder may have nothing to do with blasphemy. What we saw was an honour killing, coloured as a killing for blasphemy. Most, if not all, of the cases of killing for blasphemy have a different, more mundane and criminal reason. Blasphemy provides a cover," says Nayyar. He has reason to believe that the Hindu boy was in love with a Muslim girl.

Kurdistan:

MORTALLY wounded and bleeding profusely, Pela Atroshi covered her head with her hands, pleading "please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me".

As her sister and her mother screamed, her uncle Rezkar Atroshi raised his gun and killed her. The family's honour had been cleansed.

Rezkar had already shot Pela twice in the back in the upstairs room.

Helped downstairs by her mother and her younger sister, the 19-year-old Kurdish Swede was confronted by four resolute men - her father and his three brothers. The men pulled the women apart. Her youngest uncle then finished the job, shooting Pela in the head.

The bullet went through one of her fingers and into her brain.

The decision to kill her was made by a council of male relatives, led by Pela's grandfather, Abdulmajid Atroshi - a Kurd who lived in Australia.

One of his sons, Shivan Atroshi, helped pull the women away from Pela so his younger brother could get a clean shot. Shivan, too, lived in Australia.

Pela Atroshi's murder in Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan, was officially deemed an honour killing by both Iraqi and Swedish authorities.

Iraq:

A 17-year-old Iraqi girl was murdered by her father in an honour killing after falling in love with a British soldier she met while working on an aid programme in Basra, it has been claimed.

A total of 47 young women died in honour killings in the city last year, Basra Security Committee told an investigation into Ms Abdel-Qader's case by The Observer. This is believed to be the only case of an honour killing involving a British soldier.

More from Iraq:

At first glance Shawbo Ali Rauf appears to be slumbering on the grass, her pale brown curls framing her face, her summer skirt spread about her. But the awkward position of her limbs and the splattered blood reveal the true horror of the scene.

The 19-year-old Iraqi was, according to her father, murdered by her own in-laws, who took her to a picnic area in Dokan and shot her seven times. Her crime was to have an unknown number on her mobile phone. Her "honour killing" is just one in a grotesque series emerging from Iraq, where activists speak of a "genocide" against women in the name of religion.

In Basra alone, police acknowledge that 15 women a month are murdered for breaching Islamic dress codes. Campaigners insist it is a conservative figure.

Du'a Khalil Aswad, 17, from Nineveh, was executed by stoning in front of mob of 2,000 men for falling in love with a boy outside her Yazidi tribe. Mobile phone images of her broken body transmitted on the internet led to sectarian violence, international outrage and calls for reform. Her father, Khalil Aswad, speaking one year after her death in April last year, has revealed that none of those responsible had been prosecuted and his family remained "outcasts" in their own tribe.

"My daughter did nothing wrong," he said. "She fell in love with a Muslim and there is nothing wrong with that. I couldn't protect her because I got threats from my brother, the whole tribe. They insisted they were gong to kill us all, not only Du'a, if she was not killed. She was mutilated, her body dumped like rubbish."

Birmingham, UK:

Two police forces were accused today of "letting down" an honour killing victim when she told officers she feared for her life in the months before her murder.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) criticised failings in the handling of Banaz Mahmod's complaints against her family.

She asked police for help four times, even giving officers a list of men she thought would harm her, but was not taken seriously.

Miss Mahmod, 20, disappeared from her home in Mitcham, south London, in January 2006, and her body was found buried in a suitcase in a garden in Birmingham three months later.

Following an Old Bailey trial her father and uncle were jailed last July for her "barbaric" murder.

Pakistan:

A man shot dead his daughter on suspension of having illicit relations in Nishatabad Police Station precinct here Wednesday.

Sheffield, UK:

THREE Asian men were locked up this week for their part in the "mob violence" that led to the death of an Iraqi Kurd on the streets of Sheffield.
Ismail Rashid, aged 42, was the victim of an 'honour killing', beaten to death because he had been sleeping with a married Pakistani woman. A gang of up to 20 attacked him at the corner of Lifford Street and Norborough Road in Tinsley in June last year and he died in the Northern General Hospital eight days later, despite brain surgery.

Israel:

Police suspect a 19-year-old male from the village of Rama was involved in the killing of his cousin in her Haifa apartment a year and a half ago. Anan Hessin is suspected to have murdered his cousin Rim Kassem in an honor killing on January 10, 2007.

Jordan:

A Jordanian man has been charged with premeditated murder after his 35-year-old daughter was shot dead in an apparent honor killing, a judicial source said on Thursday.

"The suspect was arrested on Wednesday following a complaint by his other daughter that he killed and buried her sister several months ago in the (northern) city of Rasta," the source told AFP.

"The man was charged after he confessed to murdering his daughter to cleanse the family's honor because she frequently disappeared from home."

Jordanian authorities recorded a total of 17 so-called honor killings in 2007, slightly up on previous years.

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Could these four kids have been killed by PalArab fire?

This morning a mother and four children were killed in Beit Hanoun. According to Palestinian Arab sources, they were killed by either an Israeli airstrike or tank shell, depending on who is being quoted.

While the IDF blames all civilian deaths in Gaza on terrorists operating out of crowded civilian centers, Ehud Barak's statement implies that Israel admits that it was probably its own fire that killed the family. And even Israeli newspapers are assuming that it was the IDF. Of course, wire services are also reporting that as fact.

But buried in the stories come paragraphs like these:

The IDF is looking into the incident, but has yet to obtain a full picture of what happened. Military sources noted that a group of gunmen was spotted shortly after 8 am near Givati forces operating in the area. An aircraft fired at them and hit them, while tanks fired shells towards the area.

"The area where the fighting is taking place is very crowded," a source said. "The terror organizations are knowingly operating near civilians and putting them in danger. We are thoroughly looking into the circumstances of the incident."

It is most difficult for a blogger like me to do a thorough investigation of the circumstances of the family's deaths from thousands of miles away, but it seems to me that the media needs to be cautious before making the assumption that this was Israeli fire.

First of all, Beit Hanoun has been the site of numerous Qassam rockets falling short of their targets, and they have damaged many houses and killed people as well.

Secondly, Israel did target and kill two terrorists 400 meters from the family home. While sometimes Israel makes mistakes and misses its targets (as apparently happened with the Reuters photographer) this is a pretty wide miss, especially in a populated area where Israel is much more careful.

More interesting is the fact that there were many mortars and rockets shot today from Gaza towards Israel.

Most intriguing is this paragraph from a Ma'an dispatch (that is missing some words in the beginning):

Palestinian fighters unleash barrage of projectiles and mortars at Israeli targets

responsibility on Monday afternoon for launching five homemade projectiles and three mortar shells at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Netiv Ha'asara and at Israeli forces invading Beit Hanoun.

Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's (PFLP) military wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said their fighters fired four homemade projectiles at Sderot. They also said they shot and injured an Israeli soldier.

Moreover, the PFLP's and Fatah's military wings said their fighters fired mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

For their part, Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing five mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

At least four terror groups are claiming responsibility for shooting rockets and mortars in the northern Gaza Strip- which is exactly where Beit Hanoun is.

Right now, the only people claiming that this was an Israeli strike are Palestinian Arabs who are known to automatically blame Israel even when they are being killed by their own fire.

At the very least, it would seem premature to assume that this was Israel's fault at all.

UPDATE: From JPost:

The Palestinian mother and her four children who were killed Monday during IDF ops in Beit Hanun were not hit by a tank shell but rather were killed when ammunition carried by gunmen exploded, Army Radio quoted an IDF source as saying.

According to the unofficial source, the forces operating in the Gaza Strip town identified two gunmen who were carrying large bags. When the soldiers opened fire on them the bags exploded, causing the deaths of the family members.

I will wait a little for confirmation before adding this family to the self-death count, though.

UPDATE 2:

The media made no visible effort to verify the claim, and nearly all English-language press ignored an Israeli army statement carried by Israel Radio and Army Radio explaining that there had been no artillery fire in the immediate area.

Army officials said that according to reports from the field, the civilian deaths occurred when terrorists wearing backpacks filled when ammunition used the house as cover during a firefight with Israeli troops. The ammunition exploded after being hit by Israeli fire, killing seven people and wounding six others.

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10 North Koreans killed in Israeli raid on Syrian reactor

Bloomberg reports:

Ten North Koreans may have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Syria in September, NHK reported on its Web site, citing unidentified South Korean intelligence officials.

The 10 people, whose remains were cremated and returned to North Korea in October, had been helping with the construction of a nuclear reactor in Syria, Japan's public broadcaster said. Some North Koreans probably survived the air attack, NHK said.

The U.S. government last week accused North Korea of helping Syria build a secret nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium.

Firas Press' version of the story adds a detail that some of the dead North Koreans were members of its military, which would effectively mean that there was no way the facility was meant for peaceful nuclear energy.

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Hamas effectively bans any protests

From PCHR:

PCHR is extremely concerned by the decision of the Police Force of the dismissed government in Gaza stipulating the acquisition of a permit prior to holding public assemblies or celebrations. The Centre views this decision as a violation of the right to peaceful assembly that is protected by the Basic Law and the Public Assemblies Law for the Year 1998, which calls for notifying the police rather than obtain a permit.

The official web site of the Palestinian Police Force of the dismissed government in Gaza published an announcement on Saturday, 26 April 2008, titled “the Palestinian Police Call for Obtaining Permits to Hold Public Assemblies and Celebrations.” The news item stated, “Stemming from public interest, in order to maintain public order, to establish the rule of law, and based on the Law of Assemblies No. 12 for the Year 1998 and the Law’s Executive Bill issued by the Ministry of Interior in 2000, the Palestinian Police call upon any party wishing to organize a public assembly or celebration to obtain prior permission from the relevant authority in the Police Force. This is necessary in order to uphold law and order. In addition, the party will sign a commitment to respect the law and to ban the perpetration of any illegal actions, to infringe on public morals, fire in the air, or incite.”

In a related development, the Director of the Police in Beach Camp issued an order on 13 April 2008 to all owners of halls asking them to direct any person wanting to organize a celebration to go to the Police Compound to receive a permit and fill the relevant form.

What this doublespeak means is that Hamas has given itself the right to ban any public assembly that it chooses to.

Wonder what Jimmy Carter thinks about this latest assault on freedom from his peace-loving friends in Hamas?

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Yet again, Gazans refuse to accept fuel

Something the UN can't quite seem to notice...From the increasingly pro-terror Ma'an:

Fuel distributors in the Gaza Strip have refused once again to accept a severely inadequate fuel shipment from Israel, despite warnings of an imminent humanitarian crisis.

The Deputy chair of the Gaza gas stations federation, Mahmoud Al-Khizindar, affirmed on Monday morning that the federation refused to receive the reduced fuel transfer from Nahal Oz terminal. "There are three benzene tankers and 14 diesel tankers at Nahal Oz terminal, and the federation refused to take that quantity because the Israelis did not fulfill their pledges to ship the needed fuel," Al-Khizindar explained.

Al-Khizindar added that no cooking gas has been allowed through the crossing since 9 April. He said that Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants use 350 tons of cooking gas every day.

That last paragraph is curious, in light of the fact that Al-Khizindar stated otherwise ten days ago:

Mahmoud Al-Khizindar, the deputy director of the Gaza federation of gas stations told journalists in Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, after a day of near-despair, that 180,000 liters of industrial fuel and 88 tons of cooking gas were being shipped to the Gaza Strip.

So if no cooking gas has been allowed through, it is because Al-Khizindar himself blocked it!

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UN again shows its anti-Israel bias in Gaza

It appears that the Jerusalem Post report I quoted yesterday about the UN blaming Hamas for preventing fuel trucks from entering Gaza is not quote accurate. Here is the UN press release, not quoting any UNRWA official but someone from UNSCO:

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) said today that he remains extremely concerned about the severe humanitarian impact that the continuing fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip are having on the civilian population and on basic public services.

“The United Nations is heavily engaged with all parties to try to bring about a resolution of this crisis and see adequate supplies of fuel restored and distributed throughout Gaza,” Robert H. Serry said in a statement issued by his spokesperson.

Israel stopped all fuel supplies to Gaza after Palestinian militants attacked the Nahal Oz terminal, located close to the border with Gaza, on 9 April. On Wednesday, it told the UN it was ready to deliver 100,000 litres of diesel, but fuel was not delivered yesterday, with Nahal Oz closed and the storage facilities on the Palestinian side of the border crossing full, according to the Israeli authorities.

The implication here is that Israel has not allowed any fuel deliveries to Gaza between April 9 and April 24, and that Israel is fully at fault for breaking a promise to do so on the 24th. But Israel did deliver fuel on the 16th, the same day that three IDF soldiers were killed by Hamas. And the UN doesn't seem to believe Israeli claims that Nahal Oz' storage facilities are full.

The Gaza Petrol and Gas Station Owners Association informed the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) yesterday that it would distribute 50,000 litres of diesel to sustain the agency’s humanitarian operations, but this effort was thwarted by protests on the Palestinian side of the crossing.

Notice that the UN doesn't mention who is behind these protests, and how violent they were, giving Hamas a free pass.

UNRWA was able to make its food deliveries yesterday, but it will not be able to do so from tomorrow – the next scheduled delivery day – unless it receives fresh supplies of diesel.

“At this crucial juncture, all parties must act to avert further suffering of the civilian population,” Mr. Serry said in the statement. He called on Hamas, which controls Gaza, to ensure conditions to enable the distribution of supplies at Nahal Oz so that more supplies can enter Gaza.

“Hamas must immediately bring an end to attacks by itself or any other group against crossings in Gaza.”

The Special Coordinator also called on Israel to “restore adequate supplies of diesel and benzene for the civilian population of Gaza in accordance with international law.”

Last month, about 3.8 million litres of diesel fuel and 340,000 litres of benzene were transferred from Israel into Gaza, which Mr. Serry said was not enough to meet the requirements of Gaza, which is home to an estimated 1.4 million inhabitants. In March last year, more than 8.8 million litres of diesel fuel and 1.7 million litres of benzene were supplied.

So while the UNSCO grudgingly admits that Hamas attacks crossings, it refuses to admit Hamas hoarding fuel and stealing fuel meant for humanitarian aid.

The UNRWA is worse, as it bends over backwards to excuse any Palestinian Arabs who thwart fuel deliveries:

UNRWA's Director of Operations in Gaza, John Ging, told UN Radio today that yesterday's [Thursday's] delivery was thwarted by protests on the Palestinian side of the Nahal Oz crossing.

"Desperate people protesting at the fuel terminal prevented the importation of fuel for our operations. They were farmers and fishermen, who themselves, are in desperate need for fuel and they felt that they should get it as a first priority, not the UN, but this is perfectly understandable."

No mention of Hamas at all, no mention that these protests are violent, and certainly no mention of the likely link between Hamas and the "protesters."

We see again that Palestinian Arabs are simply not responsible for any of their own suffering, according to the UN, and anything they do to increase it is simply Israel's fault somehow.

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Hamas attacked fuel trucks meant for UNRWA, hospitals

From JPost:

Hamas militiamen in the Gaza Strip on Sunday attacked fuel trucks headed toward the Nahal Oz border crossing, forcing them to turn back, sources in the Palestinian Petroleum Authority said.

The fuel was supposed to go to the UN Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA] and hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the sources said.

"Dozens of Hamas militiamen hurled stones and opened fire at the trucks," the sources added. "The trucks were on their way to receive fuel supplied by Israel. The drivers were forced to turn back. Some of them had their windshields smashed."

The Palestinian Petroleum Authority reached an agreement with Israel over the weekend to receive 250,000 liters of fuel after UNRWA complained that it did not have enough fuel to distribute food aid to more than 500,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry also accused Hamas of blocking fuel supplies to hospitals and clinics in the Gaza Strip. The ministry said Hamas gunmen opened fire at a number of trucks that were trying to transfer fuel to the hospitals and clinics.

Eyewitnesses in Gaza City said that at least on four occasions over the past few weeks, Hamas militiamen confiscated trucks loaded with fuel shortly as they were on their way from Nahal Oz to the city.

They added that the fuel supplies were taken to Hamas-controlled security installations throughout the city.

"Hamas is taking the fuel for it the vehicles of is leaders and security forces," the eyewitnesses said. "Because of Hamas's actions, some hospitals have been forced to stop the work of ambulances and generators."

PA officials in Ramallah said Hamas's measures were aimed at creating a crisis in the Gaza Strip with the hope that the international community would intervene and force Israel to reopen the border crossings.

"As far as we know, there is enough fuel reaching the Gaza Strip," the officials said. "But Hamas's measures are aimed at creating a crisis. Hamas is either stealing or blocking most of the fuel supplies."

They pointed out that last week Hamas dispatched hundreds of its supporters to Nahal Oz to block the fuel supplies from Israel. Hamas claimed that the protest was organized by farmers and fishermen demanding an end to the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The officials also noted that the shortage in fuel supplies has created a high-priced black market for individuals and institutions.

UNRWA workers admitted over the weekend that Hamas had prevented some fuel trucks from entering the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has also been exerting pressure on the Gaza Petrol Station Owners Association to close down their businesses so as to aggravate the crisis. Some of the station owners and workers said they were afraid to return to work after receiving death threats from Hamas militiamen and ordinary residents desperate to purchase gas and diesel for their vehicles.

The UNRWA news-page has nothing on this, so I don't know where UNRWA admitted publicly that Hamaas was stealing UNRWA supplies.

Earlier in the day, the EU blamed Hamas partially for the Gaza fuel shortage.

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Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood drone attack plot foiled

From AP:

Egypt charged two leaders of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, two Sinai Bedouins and a Palestinian with plotting a terrorist attack with Hamas, a security official said Sunday.

Brotherhood leaders Abdel-Hai al-Faramawy, a professor at Cairo's Al-Azhar university, and Mohammed Wahdan were charged with paying the equivalent of US$3,600 (¤2,300) to two Bedouins to buy 30 jerry cans of fuel, spare parts and a remote control for an unmanned aircraft.

Al-Faramawy denied the charges, while Hamas said the reports were completely false.
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Hamas was planning to build the unmanned aircraft but it was not clear how the aircraft was going to be used or who would be targeted. Media reports suggest that everyone from U.S. and Israeli interests to rival Palestinian factions were to be hit.

Hamas does not possess any aircraft, but it has in the past attempted to load remote-controlled airplanes with explosives for attacks on Israeli targets. These attempts have never succeeded.

Previous Hamas attempts to fill remote-controlled planes with explosives are listed here.

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ElBaradei blames Israel and the US for his being a moron

From JPost:

The head of the UN nuclear monitoring agency on Friday criticized the US for not giving his organization intelligence information sooner on what Washington says was a nuclear reactor in Syria being built secretly by North Korea.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei also chastised Israel for bombing the site seven months ago, in a statement whose strong language reflected his anger at being kept out of the picture for so long.

Yes, we all know how effective he would have been in stopping Syrian nukes.

Look how great a job he is doing in Iran!

The U.S. and its allies probably have no more than a year to take action against Iran before that nation acquires nuclear weapons, warns Dennis Ross, an architect of the Mideast peace process.

By 2009, Iran “could be a nuclear power, if not a nuclear weapon state, said Ross, who served as the director for policy planning in the State Department under President George H.W. Bush and special Middle East envoy under President Bill Clinton.

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The UNRWA response that reveals their true colors

I mentioned on Wednesday that the UNRWA in the West Bank went on a planned 3 day strike - stopping food distribution and other services - in response to attacks and threats on UNRWA personnel by Palestinian Arabs.

And these events were not mentioned, as far as I could tell, on the UN or UNRWA websites (although their concurrent suspension activities in Gaza in response to fuel shortages were mentioned.)

Why does the supposedly neutral UNRWA go out of its way to mention anything that can be blamed on Israel and downplay things that Palestinian Arabs do to them?

I emailed the UNRWA three times - first to their public information office, then to their West Bank PR office, and finally to Christopher Gunness, who is also one of the UNRWA's press liaisons:

Dear Mr. Gunness:


I read in Palestine Today Wednesday morning that UNRWA is closing its offices in the West Bank in protest from being forced to close earlier this month by protesters. I could not, however, find any press release from UNRWA concerning this, nor about the protests earlier this month reported in PNN.

Can you please comment on what is happening and any background information you might have? I originally sent the email to the main public information office 24 hours ago, and then to the West Bank PIO last night, but received no response.

Thank you,

Elder of Ziyon

Here is Gunness' response in its entirety:

HI there,

There had been problems but these have now been avoided for the time being.

Chris

That's it. Nothing specific, no confirmation of what I had mentioned, no pointers to any press releases I might have missed - nada.

To the UNRWA, violent attacks by the people they are meant to help are embarrassing events that should never be mentioned to the public because the UNRWA is emotionally invested in making sure that the Palestinian Arabs appear purely as victims and never - never - as being partially responsible for their own problems.

Their website contains megabytes of information about the 1948 "nakba" but to find out the real source of their problems nowadays one must decipher doublespeak that is buried deep within. For example:

With more than 9,000 people crammed into an area 650 meters by 200 meters, Neirab camp near Aleppo has a population density that sadly rivals Gaza. Most of the population lives in small one-room shelters. Depending on the time of day, these tiny rooms may serve as living rooms, salons or bedrooms.

Um Hashem, Neirab resident, outlines in gestures how six people can sleep in twelve square metres: four people lay sideways across the room. Meanwhile, Um Hashem lies lengthways, clutching her two-month-old son.

It has been close quarters in Neirab camp since the first Palestine refugees fled their homeland to Syria in 1948, where they were put up in abandoned WWII barracks. Originally, each barrack in the former British and French military base housed sixteen families. With successive generations the camp population increased, however the size of the camp has stayed the same. To address overcrowding, an infrastructural overhaul has become necessary.

In Phase I of the Neirab Rehabilitation Project, UNRWA built new shelters for Neirab refugees in the nearby camp of Ein el Tal, which does not suffer from the same overcrowding. This phase is drawing to a close with 300 families relocating to new shelters. Their decampment will provide additional space for the refugees still residing in Neirab.

Volker Schimmel, UNRWA Project Officer for the Neirab Rehabilitation Project, insists that although the living conditions of Palestine refugees in Neirab must be improved considerably, the project is not calling into question their right of return. "We want to allow Palestinians to live in dignity," he states. "Choosing not to live in misery does not mean that they will forfeit their right of return."

In English, this last paragraph means that any UNRWA attempts to build better housing for Palestinian Arabs in camps has been roadblocked for 60 years by "Arab leaders" who think that happier Palestinian Arabs may lead some of them to not want to destroy Israel quite as much, which reduces their usefulness considerably. The UNRWA doesn't even try to pressure Arab governments to allow PalArabs to become citizens any more - they abandoned that decades ago, unlike the UNHCR, which is actually dedicated to reducing the number of refugees under its care.

The UNRWA might have its private frustrations with the Palestinian Arab leaders who fight tooth and nail against the welfare of real-life Palestinian Arabs, but it will only publicly blame Israel.

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Where killing Jews is the ultimate goal

There was another terror attack this morning:

Two Israelis were killed Friday morning when Palestinian terrorists opened fire at them in the Nitzane Shalom industrial complex near Tulkarm.

IDF troops and police were at the scene and were searching for the shooters.

According to the preliminary investigation, at least one terrorist arrived at one of the factories in the complex and opened fire at the two.

The gunmen had initially intended to infiltrate Israel but returned to the industrial complex after they were unable to penetrate the security barrier, Army Radio reported.

The Nitzane Shalom complex was built in 1995. It houses nine factories that provide jobs to many Palestinians from the West Bank.

Al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Hamas' military wing, have assumed shared responsibility for the shooting attack near Nitzanei Oz.

The organizations claimed that the attack’s executer is a terrorist wanted by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, who arrived at Qalansuwa village disguised as a woman. Later on, the terrorist changed into worker’s garments and advanced towards the factory, where he executed the attack “dedicated to Gaza’s residents.”

It is again important to understand the mindset that plans and executes such horror. The terrorists planned to enter Israel and kill civilians there and when they couldn't they decided to attack Jews that were a bit easier to reach.

And every terror organization is claiming credit for the attack:

Five Palestinian resistance factions have claimed responsibility for shooting dead two Israeli security guards in the Tulkarem industrial zone on Friday.

The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds brigades and the Al-Qassam Brigades the military wing of Hamas, also claimed responsibility for the operation in Tulkarem.

The Palestinian Arab press will spin this into an attack on "settlers" even though it is clear that their goal is to kill any Jews they can find on either side of the Green Line.

Notice that the Al Aqsa Brigades - our moderate friends whom the PA has claimed no longer exists, and some of whose members just received amnesty from Israel yesterday - is happily taking responsibility.

Most importantly, think about the natural Israeli reaction to an attack like this:

It will mean that Arab women from the territories will be subjected to much more rigorous screening.

It will also result in Arabs losing their jobs as Israeli employers get naturally more jittery about the security of their workers.

In other words, the net effect will be to make the Palestinian Arab lives much more miserable. But since they successfully managed to murder a couple of 50-something Jews, to their sick minds this is a victory.

And you will not find many Palestinian Arabs who disagree.

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Chabad synagogue torched in Miami

Federal, state and local police on Wednesday are investigating a fire that damaged a Miami Beach Jewish community center during Passover. The Chabad Shul, located at 2401 Pinetree Dr., was vandalized early Tuesday and its Torah stolen.

FBI Dir. Robert Mueller said to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, a member of the house judiciary committee, in Washington DC., that his agency will investigate the fires that damaged Miami Beach synagogues in the past six months as hate crimes.

The FBI has jurisdiction over hate crimes motivated by intolerance of a person's race, religion, or national origin.

CBS4 Tiffani Helberg was told by congregation members that the Torah, a religious scroll of Jewish laws and customs, a centerpiece of its religion, was taken. Pieces of the Torah were found outside. Its value is more than $40,000.

"We could see all the prayer books there, all burnt up you can find them, but not one inch of the Torah remnants," said Rabbi Zev Katz. "And we found the pole to the Torah outside. Something strange happened; this is definitely criminal activity."

The rabbi said he believed the fire was intentionally set, but Miami Beach fire officials have not confirmed it. The pole that holds the Torah found outside was brought to the attention of investigators as a clue as to what might of happened.

Wasserman Schultz, who is Jewish, said the fact that the fire occurred during Passover and that there have been two synagogue fires in the past six months makes the fire suspicious. Although the Chabad House is outside her congressional district, many of its congregates live within her district.

Two synagogue fires in six months in Miami?

So, which is more prevalent - Islamophobia or anti-semitism?

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How to spot a Persian prostitute

Slate explains how prostitutes can make a living while wearing chadors in the nation claims it is far moral than the West:

Tehran's former police chief Reza Zarei attempted suicide in prison yesterday, a month after being arrested for consorting with six naked women in a brothel. In the aftermath of the scandal, the Times, the Associated Press, and the BBC all reported that prostitutes are becoming more visible on Iranian streets. Given the Islamic dress code, how do Persian prostitutes signal their trade?

Location, location, location. In the 1970s, Bostonians looking for a proverbial good time went to the "Combat Zone" and New Yorkers flocked to 42nd Street; in contemporary Iran, the holy city of Qom is known (unofficially) as a place of "both pilgrimage and pleasure." There, prostitutes wearing veils and even chadors mill about temples or sit together in public courtyards where men can inspect them. Sometimes a male go-between offers "introductions," at which point the prostitutes pull aside their headgear so the potential client can get a glimpse, but the whole process is fairly subtle. For an outsider, it's difficult to pick a street girl out of a crowd.

Qom may have become a prostitution hot spot due to the abundance of shrines. Young female runaways with no shelter come to the city knowing they can take refuge at holy sites by sleeping in rooms intended for pilgrims. They have no way of making a living, so after awhile they get involved with the sex trade. The city's young theological students and transient tourists form the main clientele.

Of course, Qom isn't the only place in Iran where prostitutes walk the streets. Back in 2002, the Iranian newspaper Entekhab estimated that there were nearly 85,000 prostitutes in Tehran alone. In that city, and especially in nearby suburbs, there are neighborhoods where heavily made-up prostitutes in traditional garb stand idly at traffic circles. Prospective customers drive by slowly to check out the human wares, then make a deal. The visual difference between an ordinary citizen wearing makeup who happens to be standing alone and an actual prostitute is, again, quite subtle. Apparently, mistakes are not uncommon.

The penalties for prostitution are severe—ranging from whipping to execution. But there's a loophole in Islamic law called sigheh, or temporary marriage. According to Shiite interpretation, a man and a woman may enter an impermanent partnership with a preset expiration date. There's no legally required minimum duration (a day, a week, anything goes) and no need for official witnesses—unless the woman is a virgin, in which case she needs the consent of her legal guardian. An Iranian who's wary of arrest can simply escort a prostitute to a registry, obtain a temporary contract from a Muslim cleric, and then legally satisfy his sexual needs.

Not that the mullahs don't have their priorities straight:

Iranian police will confront women in private offices, or even socialising in cafes, whose dress is deemed improper, as part of a continued morality crackdown, Tehran's police chief said on Thursday.

Police have been enforcing the crackdown for the past year and its morality patrol officers have handed tens of thousands of warnings to women on Tehran's streets.

Including offices and cafes -- which so far have not been targeted -- would mark a major expansion of the drive.

"As part of the campaign to increase security in society, the police in the capital will soon act against bad veiling in private companies, cafes, internet cafes and restaurants," Commander Ahmad Reza Radan said.

He added that police would also be acting against "satan-worshipping" groups but did not give further details.

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Hamas calls on Gazans to storm Rafah border on Friday

Firas Press reports (Arabic):

The Hamas movement today, Wednesday, told audiences to go on next Friday to the Rafah border crossing to break the siege and supply needs from the city of El Arish in Egypt.

I am not sure if they mean this upcoming Friday or the one after that. The last rumors of a planned breach turned out not to be true but that may have been because of the attack at Nahal Oz and Israel's reaction, which would have delayed an action like that.

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Flying pig moment at the UN

AP reports:

The United States, Britain, France and other members walked out of a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council late Wednesday after Libya compared the situation in Gaza to Nazi concentration camps in World War II, council diplomats said.

The walkout was a rare protest by diplomats on the U.N.'s most powerful body against one of their own members. Libya is the only Arab representative on the council.

According to several diplomats, Libya's deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi ended a long speech about the plight of the Palestinians by comparing the situation in Gaza to the concentration camps set up by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews. Some 6 million Jews and between 220,000 and 500,000 Gypsies were killed during the Nazi Holocaust.

Immediately after Dabbashi mentioned the concentration camps, diplomats said, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff, Britain's deputy ambassador Karen Pierce, Belgian Ambassador Johan Verbeke and Costa Rica's deputy ambassador walked out of the council's consultation room.

South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, the current council president, then ended the meeting.

It is a tiny step, but it shows that Arab hegemony at the UN is not as complete as it has been in the past.

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I always wanted to blog from the beach

And now I have.

Here enjoying a warm spring day at a deserted NJ beach, hanging out with the beautiful and talented Daughter of Ziyon home for Pesach vacation.

Hope you are having as good a day as I am!

UPDATE: Here, for the first time, you can see DoZ. She is playing the popular game Beach Blanket Burqa.

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Three TRILLION dollars!

The latest "statistic" from rabid, anti-Israel nutcases comes courtesy of "Desert Peace" via "MWC News":

America has literally been the lifeline of the zionist paradise for the past 60 years, at the tune of three billion dollars a year (over three TRILLION dollars to date of U.S. taxpayers money).

One can only imagine what mental gymnastics and mathematical games must be played in order for a country that receives $3 billion annually to have gotten $3 TRILLION over the course of sixty years.

Does this person think that US citizens have been bankrolling evil Zionists for a thousand years? Or perhaps the annual amount given to Israel has gone down from, say, $50 billion a few years ago to only $3 billion today?

Actually, the answer is from an absurd study by someone named Thomas Stauffer a few years ago, published by the Arab-funded WRMEA. Stauffer, who was eulogized in 2005 as being a "a good friend of OPEC and an advisor to the oil ministers of several member countries," was an energy economist who pretended to tally up how much Israel has cost the US with some ridiculous assumptions.

For example, he blames Israel for the Arab oil boycott in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War - a war initiated by Arabs, one would recall. The costs of the oil crisis, naturally, must be blamed on Israel, according to "scholars" like Stauffer. Israel gets blamed for higher oil prices. One can only imagine how much of today's price of oil Stauffer would blame on Israel today.

Similarly, any programs that the US has in place in order to gain energy independence is assigned as an expense to benefit Israel. So is the Strategic Oil Reserve, meant to buffet the US from any arbitrary Arab whims. And, of course, the first Gulf War was wholly to help Israel, according to this Harvard lecturer.

Obviously, such pseudo-scholarly garbage gets eaten up by anti-Israel bigots as if they have merit, and it is really a perfect example of how the Saudi-funded WRMEA will latch onto any anti-Israel material no matter how tenuous the scholarship is.

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Palestinian Arabs protest and close UNRWA offices; UNRWA goes on strike

Some more news that got almost no attention:

Earlier this month, the UNRWA announced that they would be reducing some services in the West Bank. As a result, the "Popular Committees" protested by forcibly preventing UNRWA workers from getting to their jobs at a number of camps as well as their headquarters. The committees threatened UN workers and threatened to burn their offices and storehouses of food.

The UNRWA called the Palestinian Arab police to help them re-open their offices, and the Popular Committees responded by saying that they “deplore, denounced and condemn the conduct of those who are of the mindset to call the police to suppress these demonstrations.” The protests meant that food distribution and other services were curtailed.

Today, the UNRWA called a three-day strike in the West Bank to protest the violent conduct of the Committees. This means that for three days, food will not be distributed in the villages, although schools and medical clinics will remain open.

The UNRWA said that while they have no problem with peaceful protests, the physical threats and prevention of workers from doing their jobs is a bit over the line.

I could not find any mention of any of these events at the UNRWA web page (which is chockful of articles detailing Israeli actions) and I have emailed them for any press releases or other information.

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Latest Peaceful PalArab poll - Think Condi knows?

The latest poll of Palestinian Arabs by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (raw results here) shows that a majority of Palestinian Arabs support suicide terror against Israeli civilians:

Q.5 How do you feel about the suicide bombing operations against Israeli civilians? Do you strongly support it, somewhat support it, somewhat oppose it, or strongly oppose it?

	Total	West Bank	Gaza
	N= 1199	n= 760	n= 439
Strongly support	26.1	20.1	36.4
Somewhat support	24.6	22.2	28.7
Somewhat oppose	28.4	31.3	23.2
Strongly oppose	18.1	22.6	10.3
Don’t know \ No answer	2.8	3.8	1.4

That's 50.7% who support suicide bombings against 46.5% opposed.

Can one imagine the world community supporting the establishment of any other state outside of "Palestine" given this knowledge about its citizens consistently supporting terror? Would Tibet or Armenia or Kurdistan get such latitude in their quests for independent states if their citizens held similar positions?

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My Amazon review of "Who Speaks for Islam"

I finally received the book "Who Speaks for Islam," and it is exactly what I was hoping it would not be: an apologetic essay for Muslims that selectively uses numbers to prove a point.

Here is my Amazon review:

I purchased this book well aware of the articles the authors had already written about their findings. The articles would not give details of the poll results, and I had hoped to see the raw data in an appendix of the book. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

This is not a book of scientific fact; it is an opinion piece masquerading as science. When the authors say that only 7% of Muslims worldwide consider the 9/11 attacks "completely" justified they do not say how many consider the attacks "somewhat" or "mostly" justified. Then, the authors go on to label the 93% who may or may not consider the 9/11 attacks somewhat or mostly justified to be "moderates". This is absurd, and it appears that the reason that the authors do not release the raw data is because they realize that the detailed poll findings would not conform to the spin that they decided to clothe their results in.

An apparent example of question bias: the pollsters asked Muslims their opinion of democracy, and found that the "radicals" were more in favor of democracy than the "moderates." However, they do not illuminate these findings by asking questions about Western values like freedom of the press or freedom of religion, things that Westerners would associate with democracy but that Muslims may not. Could it be that the radicals are pro-"democracy" because they want to use democratic methods to establish a sharia state? The authors do not go down that path.

Most polls will show how the questions are phrased, the order of the questions, and the demographic breakdown of the respondents. This book does no such thing. As such, it is worthless propaganda, and raises far more questions than it answers. My opinion of the Gallup organization has gone down considerably to promote such propaganda as if the authors' opinions are proven by a scientific poll.

So far, mine is the only negative review the book has gotten - all the others gave it 4 or 5 stars, showing how shallow people are when a book fulfills their preconceived notions.

I also emailed the Gallup organization asking them to release the raw polling numbers that the book was based on; I received no response.

Polls are tricky enough when the pollsters try to be unbiased; they are downright dangerous when the pollsters withhold their own data in order to make the numbers represent something that they do not.

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Gazans keep shelling Gaza crossings

As sure as night follows day, Gazans will attack the crossings that provide them with food, fuel and medicine.

From Ma'an Arabic:

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility of the bombing of the Karam Abu Salem crossing with three missiles of "maximum type 2"on Tuesday evening.

The battalions released a statement saying that the shelling comes in response to a series of Israeli massacres and an affirmation of the resistance option.

They are too lazy to even come up with any specific reason for the attacks nowadays.

But still the MSM cannot find any irony that Palestinian Arabs continuously attack their own lifelines. And the Israeli government cannot manage to emphasize this to the world.

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UNIFIL buries report of Hezbollah arms smuggling

UNIFIL knows quite well that Hezbollah is smuggling arms from Syria - in direct violation of UN Resolution 1701 that ended the Second Lebanon War -but since it never had any direct evidence it always downplayed that fact.

So, for example, in the February report from the Secretary General on the implementation of 1701, we will see a paragraph that is skeptical about Israeli claims that Hizbollah is re-arming, like this one:

26. Israel maintains that Hizbullah is significantly rebuilding its military presence and capacity, inside the UNIFIL area of operations. At times, the Israel Defense Forces has provided UNIFIL with information about locations in the UNIFIL area of operations, in which it claims that these activities are taking place. UNIFIL, in collaboration with the Lebanese Armed Forces, immediately investigates all such claims if sufficiently specific information is received. To date, it has found no evidence of new military infrastructure in the area of operations. Israel also claims that Hizbullah has adapted its modus operandi in order to conceal its activities from UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces, and has relocated its operations mainly to urban areas. UNIFIL has observed that its operational activities are on occasion being closely monitored by unarmed civilians. However, UNIFIL constantly changes its patrolling patterns to maintain the highest level of effectiveness.

And then, much later in the report, the UN will grudgingly admit:

39. In my last report to the Council on the implementation of resolution 1701 (2006), I drew attention to alleged breaches of the arms embargo across the border between Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic and the claimed transfer of sophisticated weaponry from the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic across this border. In its letter dated 10 December 2007 (S/2007/724), the Syrian Arab Republic countered those claims and maintained that allegations of weapons smuggling across the Syrian-Lebanese border were motivated by political rather than security considerations. However, Hizbullah, by admission of its leaders on several occasions, has replenished its military capacity since the 2006 war with Israel. I therefore remain concerned that this border remains vulnerable to such breaches, which would represent serious violations of the resolution and constitute a significant threat to the stability and security of Lebanon.

And at the very end...

71. I remain concerned about ongoing reports and Hizbullah public statements that point to breaches of the arms embargo, in serious violation of resolution 1701 (2006).

So as of February, the UN knew that both Israel and Hezbollah claimed that Hezbollah was smuggling arms into Lebanon but it wasn't quite willing to admit that it was being hoodwinked by Hezbollah.

This seems to have changed in late March.

Armed Hizbullah militants warded off members of UNIFIL last month when the peacekeepers discovered a truck carrying weapons and ammunition.

On March 30, UNIFIL troops on patrol discovered the truck, chased it down and pulled it over. When the troops approached the vehicle, armed Hizbullah men exited the truck and threatened the troops at gunpoint. The UNIFIL patrol then went back into their cars, according to the source, and returned to their base.

The report submitted to the Security Council said the incident occurred on the night between the 30 and 31 of March. "This serious violation of the UN resolution raises concerns," the report said.

Israeli security officials believe that Hezbollah forces are usually found in areas where the organization enjoys centralized civilian support. There are many areas that answer to that description in south Lebanon because most of the residents in the south of the country are Shiite Muslims, who support Hezbollah.

The incident, referred to in a semi-yearly report submitted to the UN Security Council by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, was not reported in the media at the time.

I could not find this report on the UN website. If anyone else can, I would appreciate it.

Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace get prominently reported by UNIFIL, publicly, but Hezbollah violations that are much more severe are downplayed, minimized and essentially ignored. Not only that, but the obvious evidence that Hezbollah knows how to smuggle weapons under the UNIFIL radar, perhaps even in collusion with some UNIFIL troops, is ignored as well.

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Israel blowing a PR opportunity again

There have been at least 6 terror attacks against Gaza crossings in recent weeks, that have killed an injured Israeli soldiers and civilians, the most recent being a foiled attempts Monday night. (I don't think that number includes the mortar attacks that the crossings constantly come under.) Jimmy Carter's pals in Hamas have claimed responsibility for some of them.

And yet, Israel today has opened two of these same crossings:

Israel has opened the Erez and Sufa border crossings into the Gaza Strip Tuesday morning.

86 trucks of supplies are expected to be transferred to the Palestinians through the Sufa crossing throughout Tuesday. The trucks will contain basic food supplies such as fruits and vegetables, meat products, fish, flour and sugar. Diapers and medicine will also be transferred.

The Erez border crossing will be opened for sick Palestinians who require medical treatment to cross into Israel.

Why does Israel consider itself obliged to supply those who want to see it destroyed?

Moreover, why does Israel continue to provide targets for those who actively use Israel's humanitarian desires as a weapon to kill Jews?

Wouldn't it make sense at the very least for Israel to announce that every crossing that gets attacked will be automatically, immediately closed for two weeks or a month? Just announcing it ahead of time, and following through, would at least force the world to look at the phenomenon of Arab terrorists purposefully placing their own people at risk.

By announcing these rules ahead of time, the onus for protecting Arab civilians goes from Israel to the Arab leaders of Gaza in the court of public opinion, and Hamas would be forced to explain to its own people why killing Jews is more important than their own food and medicine. Hamas apologists would be on the defensive.

Is this really so difficult?

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Silky-smooth fatwa of the day

It turns out that there is something else that can get Muslims to seethe besides comics, pigs, dogs, and Jews:

Silk.

As for your question, it should be clear that there is nothing wrong with neckties unless they are made of pure silk. Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: "There is almost a scholarly consensus that wearing clothes made of pure silk in the form of a shirt or tie, etc., is forbidden for men. Some scholars permit it in exceptional cases such as when the man has a skin disease that requires wearing silk, or some kind of dire necessity, or because nothing else can be found to wear, etc. The above scholarly opinion concerning the prohibition of silk is based on the explicit statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Wearing silk has been forbidden for the men of my Ummah." The Prophet's words are categorical in their implication, so there is no way to justify wearing pure silk in ordinary circumstances. Concerning clothes that are not made of pure silk, but are a mixture of silk and other substances such as cotton, acrylic, wool, etc., scholars are divided on the ruling about them. When one looks closely at the various views concerning this issue, it can be concluded that if silk is not the main substance of the cloth, then it is permissible; say for example: if a certain piece of cloth is 60% cotton and 40% silk, then it shall be considered permissible for men to wear." Allah Almighty knows best.

When looking for the word "silk" in the Koran to find Mohammed's prohibition, though, I only see descriptions of Paradise, where silk (and gold jewelry, also haram for men) is in plentiful supply:

The Cave

1. [18.31] These it is for whom are gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow, ornaments shall be given to them therein of bracelets of gold, and they shall wear green robes of fine silk and thick silk brocade interwoven with gold, reclining therein on raised couches; excellent the recompense and goodly the resting place.

The Pilgrimage

1. [22.23] Surely Allah will make those who believe and do good deeds enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and (with) pearls, and their garments therein shall be of silk.

The Originator

1. [35.33] Gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter therein; they shad be made to wear therein bracelets of gold and pearls, and their dress therein shall be silk.

The Smoke

1. [44.53] They shall wear of fine and thick silk, (sitting) face to face;

The Beneficent

1. [55.54] Reclining on beds, the inner coverings of which are of silk brocade; and the fruits of the two gardens shall be within reach.

Time

1. [76.12] And reward them, because they were patient, with garden and silk,
2. [76.21] Upon them shall be garments of fine green silk and thick silk interwoven with gold, and they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver, and their Lord shall make them drink a pure drink.

So what is the reason for the prohibition? Islam Online gives us the inside info (after a discussion about how the reasons are irrelevant because one must follow Allah's will anyway):

As for the point in question, the scholars have discussed the reasons for silk being forbidden for men. For example, ibn Al-Qayyim suggested in his brilliant work, Provision of the Hereafter, that:

“Among those who believe that there is reason and wisdom (behind the rulings of Islam) – and they are the majority – are some who answer that Islam has forbidden silk so that people will keep away from it for the sake of Allah, so they will be rewarded for that. Others reply that it’s basically created for women, as is the case with gold jewelry, so it’s forbidden for men lest it corrupts them by making them resemble women. Some scholars maintain that silk is forbidden because of what it may lead to in the way of pride and showing-off. Others relate the ruling (prohibition) to its having effect of femininity on men, as it goes against his masculinity and manliness. This applies to all men, even the most masculine and chivalrous of them. Whoever is too dense to understand this should just submit to the Wise Law-maker.” (Provision of the Hereafter, 4/80)"

I could not find anyone to answer the next obvious question: if a man wants to disguise himself as a woman to perform a terror attack, is the prohibition against silk still in force?

And when will we be seeing the firebombing of stores that sell silk ties?

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Carter's love affair with Palestinian Arab terrorists continues

Fox News interviewed Jimmy Carter and asked at least one good question:

When asked whether he'd ever meet with Al Qaeda, Carter replied, "No, of course not."

"I don't see any redeeming features of Al Qaeda at all," he said.

But in defense of meeting with Hamas, Carter pointed out a Ha'aretz poll from February that said that 64% of Israelis supported direct talks with Hamas in order to free Gilad Shalit as well as the fact that Hamas was elected by the Palestinian Arab people.

But what Fox didn't ask him afterwards was, if Carter was so enamored of Hamas because of the poll and because they were elected, why he tried also to meet with Islamic Jihad which had none of those distinctions?

The fact that Carter wanted to meet with Islamic Jihad - a pure terror group - shows that his rationalizations to Fox News are just after-the-fact attempts to stave off criticism, and not deep-felt convictions.

Or perhaps he can enlighten us of the "redeeming features" that he feels that Islamic Jihad has?

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Chag kosher v'sameach! חג כשר ושמח!

For those who don't have a Haggadah - even the Maxwell House version - you can download one here or here.

Here is a detail from a late 15th century German haggadah:


You guys already gave me an afikoman present - I passed a quarter of a million visitors today. Thanks to all my readers!

Have a great holiday!

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Abbas shows again how little he cares for his people

Today, Mahmoud Abbas in Russia gave a stinging response to the suggestion that Palestinian Arabs living in Lebanon become Lebanese citizens I believe the statement is somewhere in this video but I did not look at the entire interview. Here is Palestine Press' description (autotranslated):

President Mahmoud Abbas denied today, the accuracy of the news reports about the possibility of settling Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

He said in an interview with satellite channel Russia Today that the idea was an "unacceptable and irreversible abrogation of the right to return, and we are guests in Lebanon, in the interest of us in the internal problems in this brotherly country, and assure the Lebanese brothers that the resettlement of refugees in their country is rejected. We will not accept it."

He explained that President Abbas Palestinian Lebanese relations entered in the task of reconciliation after being terminated bygone era.

Now, why exactly would citizenship in Lebanon abrogate the "right of return" for Palestinian Arabs? Is it impossible for them to become Lebanese citizens and then, should the opportunity arise, immigrate to a Palestinian Arab state under the "right of return?"

These people have lived for generations in miserable UNRWA camps, run by thugs, infiltrated by terrorists, with few human rights and sever restrictions on movement and jobs. If Lebanon would grant them full citizenship then they can become productive members of society while maintaining their identity as "Palestinian" and maintaining their "right of return." Why is Abbas so dead-set against this happening, and why is he fighting against justice for a significant proportion of the people he claims to represent as leader of the PLO?

The reason is obvious although rarely mentioned. Abbas knows that Palestinian identity is weak. If Palestinian Arabs had the opportunity to become full citizens in Arab countries, they would jump at the chance (as, indeed, Lebanese Palestinian Arabs did in 1994). They would never consider moving to a Palestinian Arab state afterwards, because most Arabs self-identify as merely Arabs, not by the artificial national boundaries imposed on them by the West after World War I.

And once they become happy Lebanese citiens they would be of no more use as political pawns and cannon fodder, and of no use to Mahmoud Abbas.

See my more elaborate posting from February when Abbas said something similar.

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Today's peaceful Gaza news you won't read anywhere else

One of the people injured in the "mysterious" Hamas house explosion earlier this week in Jabalya has died (maybe two of them, the autotranslation is not clear.)

Fatah held a rally in Rafah; Hamas showed its open-mindedness by arresting 30 of them.

Gaza hospitals claim that they have no anesthesia because of Israel's blockade and cannot do any more surgeries. The last time they claimed something similar, Israel responded that they never requested the supplies and Israel does not stop medical supplies from going to Gaza. And as one of the commenters in that article noted, Hamas has stolen many medicines, supplies and food from hospitals in Gaza.

There was a tunnel collapse, the three people in the tunnel managed to escape.

There are reports of secret meetings between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo.

This morning, Ma'an reported on a dead, burned body found in a car in northern Gaza. That story has disappeared.

Our 2008 count of Palestinian Arabs violently killed by their own actions is at 64.

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Reform Torah commentary not quite as innovative as they think

The Union of Reform Judaism Press just came out with "The Torah: A Women's Commentary" which they hail as "the first comprehensive commentary, authored only by women, on the Five Books of Moses, including individual Torah portions as well as the Hebrew and English translation."

It is possible that they meant to say "...that includes" instead of "...including" but the way that sentence is written one would think that this is the "first comprehensive commentary, authored only by women, on the Five Books of Moses." And that is not even close to being true.

The brilliant Orthodox Professor Nechama Leibowitz published her own commentary on the Torah beginning over fifty years ago, in 1954. Her depth of Torah study is undisputed, although the translation of this part seems lacking you can get an idea of her virtuosity (and get some ideas for some Seder discussions) on some of her commentaries to the Exodus here, with an index and appreciation of her work here.

Other published women's commentaries to the Torah, not only from Orthodox perspectives, can be found here.

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The Reuters photographer case gets curiouser

Many of the Palestinian Arab claims about how Reuters' photographer Fadel Shana were killed are getting more and more inconsistent.

Snapped Shot takes a critical look at the still photos of the scene and notices that things are not adding up.

Israellycool points out that the photographer had been involved himself in a fishy fauxtography incident in Lebanon two years ago.

And now Israel is not accepting responsibility for the attack:

THE Israeli Defence Force says it does not admit responsibility for killing a Reuters TV cameraman who died in the Gaza Strip moments after he filmed a tank firing in his direction....An Israeli military official expressed sorrow but said the IDF did not accept responsibility for the killing. The official said that Israeli forces had only fired at armed militants who were shooting at them from close range. It did not know what kind of missile had struck the press vehicle, and it was unaware of reports of a second attack minutes later. The incident is being investigated, the official said.

"Not accepting responsibility" is no the same as "denying," and I am skeptical that a Palestinian Arab missile or anti-tank gun hit Shana at the same time one would expect the Israeli tank shell he filmed to have hit somewhere.

What seems most unlikely though is the PalArab claim that he was killed by a flechette:

A medical examination yesterday revealed that metal darts from a tank shell that explodes in the air killed Shana. X-rays showed several of the controversial weapons, known as flechettes, in his chest and legs. Several of the three-centimetre darts were also in his flak jacket and vehicle.

There is nothing in the photographic evidence that points to this. As my commenter Tom W. points out:

The Palestinians claim that the cameraman was killed by a flechette round, which contains 5000 steel darts and is used at close ranges.

Here is a Reuters video:

http://tinyurl.com/5om2rg

At 1:23 you can see that the windshield is shattered, but the hood is absolutely untouched. Also, the driver's door is torn off.

This type of damage is entirely inconsistent with what a flechette round would do.

Whatever happened, the Palestinians are lying about the type of munition fired.

So far, to me I think that it was an errant Israeli tank round that killed him, but I do not believe any reports of a second strike two minutes later by Israel and I think there was at the very least some staging of the scene by people at the scene and certainly some lying by the Palestinian Arab medical examiners, who have been known to lie in the past.

See also Israel Matzav's wrap-up.

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Jimmy Carter gets more despicable by the hour

Jimmy Carter just gets more despicable by the hour:

Speaking at the American University in Cairo after talks with Hamas leaders from, Carter said Palestinians in Gaza were being "starved to death" and received fewer calories a day than people in the poorest parts of Africa.

I will say it again: I have been following the news very closely from Gaza, in Arabic as well as English, and I have not yet seen a single person reported or even rumored to have starved to death. If Jimmy the Dhimmi is going to slander Israel like this he needs to show some proof. Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago I did a quick visual comparison between starving Gazans and starving Africans. See if you can tell the difference.

"It's an atrocity what is being perpetrated as punishment on the people in Gaza. It's a crime... I think it is an abomination that this continues to go on," Carter said.

Here Carter makes clear that he regards Israeli defensive actions to kill terrorists as more immoral than thousands of Qassam rockets designed to kill civilians (which he called merely "criminal."

Carter said Israel and the US were trying to make the quality of life in Gaza markedly worse than in the West Bank, where the rival Fatah group is in control.

"I think politically speaking this has worked even to strengthen the popularity of Hamas and to the detriment of the popularity of Fatah," he added.

Carter, who has done more to legitimize and popularize Hamas than any other Western figure, now has the nerve to blame Israel and the US for doing that? Since when is he against strengthening Hamas? What a hypocritical tool.

..."If you live in Gaza, you know that for every Israeli killed in any kind of combat, between 30 to 40 Palestinians are killed because of the extreme military capability of Israel,'' Carter said.

Yes, Jimmy would be much happier if more Hamas terror attacks hit their marks more accurately, so Israel wouldn't be acting so disproportionately. What a sick, twisted, decrepit man.

Carter has no fear of being kidnapped or assassinated while visiting the Middle East. He has shown himself to be more anti-Israel and pro-terror than the EU and the UN, by orders of magnitude. No wonder he gets embraced and applauded by terrorists.

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A likely murder of a Palestinian Arab kid

The Palestinian Arab news media have reported about a Palestinian Arab teenager found dead near Nablus:

A Palestinian boy from the northern West bank village of Beit Fureik near Nablus was found dead on Wednesday afternoon near the Israeli settlement of Al-Hamra.

15-year-old Hamid Khatatba had been missing for tor two days before his body was found, his cousin told Ma'an. The boy was employed as an agricultural worker in the Jordan Valley northeast of Nablus.

His cousin accused Israeli settlers of the killing, pointing out that the boy's neck was broken and there were signs of torture and blood on the body. He also highlighted that the Israeli authorities have refused to hand over Hamid's body to his family.

Once you take away the notoriously unreliable "testimony" of his relative, you are left with a Palestinian kid tortured and murdered. It would be an extremely rare occurrence for settlers to do such an act, but it is a daily event in the territories by Arabs.

I was on the fence about adding this to the self-death count but PCHR, which zealously counts every person killed by Israel and a few who aren't, didn't include this kid in their weekly (Thursday to Wednesday) roundup even though reports of his body being found surfaced on Wednesday. And if settlers were seriously suspected in this crime, Ha'aretz would be all over this.

So I will count this as a self-death for now, bringing the year's total to 63 - 13 of them children.

In addition, after every major action "bodies" are found, which are blamed on Israel. But we've seen in the past that often Hamas will take advantage of Israeli actions and transport dead bodies from people they have killed to the areas of Israeli fire. But there is no real indication yet either way so these will not be counted yet.

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Terrorists fire at fuel trucks

YNet reports:

Only a week after the lethal terror attack at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, and after complaining of fuel shortages, terror groups are again targeting Israelis supplying fuel to the Gaza Strip.

Thursday afternoon, Palestinians opened fire at trucks transporting fuel to the Strip at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal. No injuries or damages were reported in the latest attack.

The fuel supply to Gaza was renewed on Wednesday, after the transport of diesel fuel was halted for a week. On Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered that the fuel supply to the Gaza power station be renewed. The decision was taken after Egyptian authorities requested the move.

Of course, terrorists have been firing at not only fuel trucks but also at crossings during deliveries of food and medicines. For months and months and months.

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