Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Muslims don't like anniversaries, except when they do

According to the MEMRI blog:

Saudi Mufti Abd Al-'Aziz bin 'Abdallah Aal Al-Sheikh has called marking anniversaries and birthdays a false Christian custom.
He said that a Muslim must thank Allah if his son is alive, healthy, and well, or if he has had a stable married life over the years.

It is one thing to say that it is an unIslamic custom; that implies that it is better for Muslims not to do it. But by calling celebrating anniversaries and birthdays "Christian" the Mufti is now saying explicitly that celebrating these occasions is an act of apostacy, and the implication is that it would be justified to kill Muslims who do this.

More amusing is the fact that the Palestinian Arab calendar is filled with anniversaries. Just this month:

8/5 Shefa-'Amr massacre anniversary
8/15 Anniversary of Hezbollah "victory"
8/21 Anniversary burning of Al Aqsa mosque
8/27 Anniversary of assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa (PFLP)

These anniversaries use the dhimmi Christian calendar to calculate the days, not the holy Muslim calendar.

Perhaps it is halal to celebrate only certain kinds of anniversaries....

Question for my readers

Since we are all about customer service...

One of the problems with this blog is that it takes a long time to load. If I cut out some of the more problematic sidebar functions, things will speed up at the possible expense of convenience. Could you please let me know which sidebar features you like to use and which you never look at?

Here's how I would answer:

Recent Comments - all the time
Wikio Rank - never
Browse Zioblogs - I don't use it
Jblogosphere Search - Occasionally
Favorite Links - Sometimes

Self Death Count - Always
Twitter - I like it for now
Recent Visitors - Not really
Giyus Widget - Never
Blogroll - Not really
TTLB Rank - Almost never

Thanks!

More proof that Palestinian Arabs don't want a state

Since the Israeli press "leaked" a description of what the Olmert government offered them for a state, there has been a steady diet of criticism by Palestinian Arab leaders about the plan saying it is wholly unacceptable. From Erekat to Fayyad to Abbas, all agree that nothing less than 100% of the West Bank and East Jerusalem is acceptable, period, not to mention the phony "right of return."

It is useful to compare the continued stonewalling and utter refusal to compromise with another plan that was once offered, the 1947 UN Partition Plan.

In 1947, the UN drew up a plan to divide up Palestine between Arabs and Jews. The Jewish section included three disconnected sections. While the Jewish section was to include some 5500 square miles, most of it was desert. It included no major Jewish historic or biblical sites. Over 40% of its residents would be potentially hostile Arabs. It was utterly indefensible.

Why didn't the Jews at the time reject this plan? Why didn't they demand to include Jerusalem and Hebron and Bethlehem, to make the sections all contiguous, to allow as many Jews as possible to immigrate freely (as a "right of return") to the Arab state?

The answer is obvious. The Jews truly wanted a state. Even a deeply flawed, indefensible, checkerboard solution was better than none at all. The Jews knew that they were in no position to "demand" anything because this was the best they could hope for in a negotiated settlement. The point of Zionism was to have a Jewish state, a safe haven where persecuted Jews worldwide could live in freedom and dignity, and even if it wasn't to include all of their dreams it was still a worthy goal.

The contrast with Palestinian Arab nationalism could not be starker. They don't want a state for their people, they don't want an end to the "refugee" problem, they don't want to build a nation. If they did, they would have been working on it tirelessly in the 15 years since Oslo when they have been enjoying far more autonomy than Jews did in Mandate Palestine. If they wanted a state, they would be building permanent housing to replace "refugee" camps in their territories.

If they did want a state, they would be making counteroffers to Israel rather than reject everything offered outright. They would do everything they could to build even an imperfect state to help their people.

But they don't. They only understand their supposed "rights", but none of the commensurate responsibilities (nor the rights of anyone else.) They care about slogans and honor, but not about their own people. They want the money and the recognition and the headlines but they don't want to work.

Chaim Weizmann once said that the Jews should accept a state even if it was the size of a tablecloth. That is how people who truly yearn for independence act.

And what the Palestinian Arabs want, from the "extremists" to the "moderates," is not the creation of a state for Palestinian Arabs but the destruction of a state for the Jews. That desire might be dressed up as a temporary compromise for Western consumption but it is as clear as the maps they publish to this day.

Peaceful PalArab news

There are reports that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal will be traveling to Jordan for talks; official Fatah reaction was positive but privately they are ticked off.

More explosives meant for Gaza found in the Sinai by Egypt.

Al-Jazeera is demanding that Ha'aretz apologize for saying that Al Jazeera apologized for their fawning coverage of Samir Kuntar. Al Jazeera said they violated their own code of ethics but denies apologizing for it.

So far this year, 260,000 Palestinian Arabs crossed from the territories into Jordan. 197,000 came back. The number of those coming back are expected to rise as school starts, however.

Israel opened up Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel allowed lumber to enter Gaza for the first time in a year. A Gaza cement factory re-started operations. And Islamic Jihad and other terror groups are claiming that the "calm" is only benefiting Israel and are threatening to increase their attacks. (Sorry, the last few were from yesterday and I don't have the links handy.)

UPDATE: A man was found murdered in his house in Qalqiya. The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 152.

Where welfare mentality and violent pathology mix

Palestinian Arabs in general, and Gazans in particular, have a strange mentality.

They firmly believe that the world owes them everything, that it should be handed to them on a silver platter, that they should not have to expend the slightest amount of effort to get anything. They "deserve" free food, medical attention, a salary independent of actual working, (plus, of course, a state or perhaps two.)

At the same time, they are taught from birth that the solution to their problems is in violence. The charter of the PLO says so explicitly, and their heroes are the people who have killed the most. They don't plaster pictures of soccer players on their walls and websites; rather they have pictures of terrorists.

Put the two pathological mentalities together and you see stories like this:

The popular committees in the refugee camps of the northern West Bank have decided to shut down the offices of UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, saying that UNRWA failed to fulfill a commitment to the committees regarding the distribution of aid.

“The agreement signed between the UNRWA and the refugee camps states resuming distribution of aid portions for refugees three times a year as follows: [Families with] (1-3) members get one portion, (4-6) members get two portions and (7) members above get two portions plus 200 shekels," the committees said in a statement.

The committees said that they would shut down the offices of UNRWA directors, UNRWA Social Affairs offices, but would exclude medical facilities from the protest.

The committees warned that they would escalate beyond this initial protest if their demands are not met.

If they aren't getting all the free food and money they demand, why, they'll shut down the offices of the people who are trying to give them free food and money!

This is not the first time that PalArabs have attacked UNRWA - the one agency who is dedicated to not only helping them forever but also to perpetuate their fake "refugee" status. They were attacked and threatened last April as well, but hushed it up.

To anyone in the civilized world, the idea that people who are dependent on an organization would attack that organization and hurt themselves in the process would be considered insane. To Palestinian Arabs who have been raised with the twin pathologies of violence and entitlement, it makes perfect sense.

The world is funding Hamas

One of the major reasons that Hamas remains in power despite the international "boycott" is because the boycott is a joke.

The infrastructure of Gaza is paid for by the PA, which gets its money from the same governments that pretend to not fund Hamas. Hamas is then free to do whatever it wants without worrying about people getting too upset.

A new study by the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (not yet available in English) shows some stunning numbers:

The PA employs 150,870 staff, of whom 78,000 employees are in the Gaza Strip, including 31,350 military personnel and 45,650 civilian staff. So more than half of the paid employees of the PA "work" in Gaza, which has roughly one third the population. Not only that, but the Gazans get paid more: right now 68.5% of the PA wages get paid to Gaza employees.

335 million shekels flow from the PA to Gaza every month, and Hamas gains tens of millions more from its own taxes - none of which go back to the PA. Outside donations give Hamas another 77 million shekels a month.

PECDAR goes on to estimate that the PA pays some $368 million dollars annually to employees in Gaza who do, literally, nothing.

When Israel still occupied Gaza, Gaza was responsible for 30% of the PA's GDP - because of the jobs that the evil Zionists provided to the Gazans. Now the number is virtually zero. Yet the percentage that the PA spends in Gaza has increased, from less than 50% in 2005 to the 68.5% now.

The reason Hamas prospers is because the world, via the PA, is funding it. Hamas is free to concentrate on weapons and smuggling because it doesn't have to worry about schools and water and all the normal civic responsibilities that every government has.

Is there any wonder that Arab nations are now balking at funding the PA?

Egypt: Hijab women get more harassment

The Sacramento Bee has a fluff piece about an Islamic booth at the California State Fair:

"Just out of curiosity – and I don't mean any disrespect," asked Cassidy, who lives in Cool, "but why do you (Muslim women) cover your heads?"
Salihah Bustamam, 25, smiled and answered that it is wrong to think that their religion subjugates women.
"It holds women in high regard," said Bustamam.
According to the WhyIslam Web site, for Muslim women who veil themselves or practice hijab, it represents an act of obedience to God. It also represents a step toward freedom from being judged by their looks rather than their intellect.

Well, this might not be quite true. From the Washington Post:

Surprisingly, some Egyptian women say that their veils don't protect against harassment..., but fuel it. A survey released this summer supports the view.

"These guys are animals. If they saw a female dog, they would harass it," Hind Sayed, a 20-year-old sidewalk vendor in Cairo's Mohandisseen district, said, staring coldly at a knot of male vendors who stood grinning a few feet from her.
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In accord with her interpretation of Islamic law, which says women should dress modestly, Sayed wore a flowing black robe and black veil. Together, they covered all but her hands and her pale face with its drawn-on, expressive eyebrows. Despite her attire, Sayed said, she daily endures suggestive comments from male customers and fellow vendors.

"I think a woman who wears hijab can be more provocative to them," Sayed said. "The more covered up you are, the more interesting you are to them."

Zuhair Mohammed, a 60-year-old shopper on the same street, said she long ago stopped wearing the traditional Islamic covering, in part for that reason.

"I feel like with the hijab, it makes them wonder, 'What are you hiding underneath?' " Mohammed said.

Mona Eltahawy, a 41-year-old Egyptian social commentator who now lives, unveiled, in the United States, said that as a Muslim woman who wore hijab for nine years and was harassed "countless times" in Egypt, she has concluded that the increase in veiling has somehow contributed to the increase in harassment.

"The more women veil the less men learn to behave as decent and civilized members of society," Eltahawy wrote in an interview via Facebook. "And the more women are harassed, the more they veil thinking it will 'protect' them."

Female travelers consider Egypt one of the worst countries in the world for harassment on the streets -- second only to Afghanistan, where the Taliban forced all women behind the veil and into seclusion in their homes.

And it's not just women's perceptions. The United States and Britain both warn female visitors in travel advisories that they may face unwanted attention, or sexual attacks, in Egypt.

When Egyptian lawmakers objected to Britain's advisory this summer, calling it a slur, Britain responded that more female British tourists were harassed and assaulted, even raped, while in Egypt than in any other country.

A new survey by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights makes harassment on the streets appear not a risk, but a virtual certainty. According to the center, 98 percent of the foreign women and 83 percent of the Egyptian women surveyed said they had been sexually harassed in the country.

About half of the women, Egyptian and non-Egyptian, said they were harassed every day as they went about the streets. The survey polled 2,020 Egyptian men and women and 109 non-Egyptian women.

Foreign women identified Egyptian policemen and other security officials as the most frequent harassers.

Two-thirds of the Egyptian men surveyed admitted to harassing women, in actions ranging from staring openly at their bodies, shouting explicit comments, touching the women or exposing themselves.

"It makes a woman happy when I call to her. It makes her know she's attractive," 20-year-old Alla Aldin Salem said on the sidewalk in Mohandisseen, after going out of earshot of the glaring fellow vendor in hijab.

"The woman herself is the one who makes men harass her," said Fawzi Tahbet, a 50-year-old man selling kitchenware on another stretch of the sidewalk, under the shade of a tree. "If she's walking, swinging as she goes, of course it will happen."

In fact, the survey's results challenged a stereotype, according to Nehad Komsan, chairwoman of the women's rights center.

While both men and women surveyed said that short skirts and tight clothes triggered harassment, the survey found that women in hijab were the most frequent targets of unwanted comments and touching on the street.

Among Egyptian women, 72 percent of those who described incidents of harassment said they were veiled at the time.

"It surprised me," said Komsan, who wears hijab. "It doesn't matter what you wear."

Egypt's most notorious case of harassment occurred last year when two fully veiled Gulf Arab women were surrounded by dozens of men on a street and molested.

Morning links

Al-Watan (Kuwait): Lebanon should spurn Syria and embrace Israel (h/t Israellycool)

Boker Tov Boulder on one-way "gestures"

YNet on the Italian government agreeing to allow the PLO and PFLP to roam free in Italy in exchange for agreeing not to target Italians. (Essentially, the world does that anyway even today, pushing Israel to make concessions thinking that this will reduce Arab terrorism against the West.)

Arutz-7: There will finally be a ceremony during the Olympics to mark the Munich massacre. It shall be recalled that the Munich attacks were organized and funded by people today considered Israel's "moderate" peace partners.

The Egyptian Mustache Club

I don't know how I missed this MEMRI clip earlier this month. Others have already blogged about it, but it is worth mentioning for those who hadn't seen it.

One great screen shot:

And the punchline, shown with much laughter on Egyptian TV:

Brief programming note

This blog, along with many other Israel-oriented blogs and news sources, is now listed in Alltop under the Israel page.

Alltop is an attempt to put lots of relevant links about particular topics in a single page. Check it out!

Open thread for Sunday

This is the easiest regular feature I ever tried!

In training : Palestinian militants from the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees take part in a training exercise in Beit Hanun in the Northern Gaza Strip. (AFP/Mahmud Hams)

We've seen Mahmoud Hams' propaganda before, specifically only taking photos that make terrorists look heroic and never taking pictures that make them look like terrorists. He has stated in the past that his purpose in working for AFP is to act as an unapologetic advocate of Palestinian Arabs, and AFP is happy to employ someone like that.

Do you think that AFP would ever frame a picture of US or Israeli soldiers in such a flattering light?

Abu Rish Brigades leader begs to get out of Gaza

Firas Press (autotranslated, cleaned up:)

Younis Oweidat, leader of the Ahmed Abu Rish Martyr Brigades, asked President Abbas to intervene to allow their people to enter the Palestinian territories of the West Bank after Hamas carried out various operations and attempted executions on more than one occasion, even knowing that they are wanted by the forces of Zionist occupation. [Apparently, a group of them are still in limbo between Gaza and Israel at the Erez crossing.]
He stated: "Yes, better to be behind bars in occupation jails than to return to the grip of Hamas, who sentenced me and seven of my militant brothers to death, they attacked my house...The culture of blood and murder that Hamas planted in the hearts of their sons made the blood of all the Palestinian people, especially militants, cheap. "
He ended by appealing to President Abbas as saying the immediate and rapid intervention to solve their problem, as they board the Erez crossing for more than ten days left homeless.

Isn't it great that some Palestinian Arabs prefer to be in those horrid Israeli prisons rather than being under Hamas rule?

Another update on Masab Yousef

The family of Masab Yousef, the son of a Hamas leader who converted to Christianity, has reacted to the proof that he indeed had converted (after their initial denials.)

In an interview, relative Suhayb al-Zaman says that the family is shocked, especially the father who is still in prison. He states that neighbors in Ramallah are ostracizing them and the extended family is also pressuring them.

Despite this, Suhayb says, the family has decided not to abandon Masab, and they bring in Islamic scholars of Christianity to debate with him for hours at a time over an Internet connection, saying they are redoubling their efforts to bring him back to Islam.

The family also denies that he converted while living in Ramallah.

They emphasize that they will continue to try to bring him back to Islam, so that he can be saved from going to hell.

Peaceful PalArab weekend

Hamas police violently broke up a protest by wives and children of detained Fatah members in Gaza. Reports state that Hamas threatened any media outlets from filming or reporting on the protest and Hamas' reaction.

A woman's body was found in Jericho; she was from Jerusalem and had been missing for two weeks.

Rhetoric between Egypt and Hamas is heating up, as Hamas accuses Egypt of working with Israel to keep Rafah closed.

Israel seized some weapons and ammunition from an Arab in Hebron.

Hamas fired on a 21-year old in Jabalya, injuring him.

One of the Church of the Nativity terrorists who was exiled to Gaza was abducted and apparently tortured by "unknown elements."

Al Aqsa Brigades members threatened the Fayyad government of the PA in Bethlehem.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 151.

Saudis pay $500 for Indonesian "wives"

From the Saudi Gazette:

Jakarta – ‘Tourist marriages’ have increased in Indonesia during the summer months when Saudis travel abroad.

Officials are saying during the summer months when there is an increase in Saudi tourists to a region, some men marry local women in ‘tourist marriages’ and then leave the country, abandoning them.

Faraj Al-Dawseri who heads a section at the Saudi Embassy caring for citizens said one case involved four young Saudis who married four Indonesian girls in Bandon, 220km from Jakarta.
The Saudi men alleged the marriages were unofficial because they did not acquire a permit from the Ministry of the Interior in Saudi Arabia and instead the marriages were officiated by a mosque’s Imam in the presence of the girls’ father. They alleged they did not deceive their father-in-law because they declared the marriages were only being conducted to “protect them from temptation.”

They also said they were being cautious not to father children with the women because the marriages were strictly “tourist marriages.”

Al-Dawseri said there were thousands of children in Indonesia abandoned by their Saudi fathers, Al-Watan reported. He said many of the cases go unreported because many of the victims do not approach the embassy. The embassy attempts to facilitate contact between the Saudis and the allegedly abandoned wives and children.

Al-Dawseri said many times Indonesian families have settled for payments of SR2,000 or 4 million Indonesian rupees. The increase in these marriages is associated with match makers offering their services to vacationers coming from Gulf countries in return for money.

These match makers often carry albums of the women they are promoting as wives and customers can select a ‘wife’ for SR2000, Al-Watan quoted a source as saying.

That's $534 for a "wife" who they abandon when they leave the country.

But it's OK, because they had to 'marry' them to protect themselves from temptation - from doing something worse.

Previous posts on the Saudis and their habits of "marrying" women for sex here and here. But in this case, the women don't seem to be in on the scam.

Clan clash!

A 17-year old Palestinian Arab (who would be called a "child" if killed by Israelis) was killed in a clan clash in Gaza.

Israellycool points out that he was killed by one of those harmless stones that Palestinian Arab youths love to throw at Jews during their "peaceful" demonstrations.

As in the photo on the right, described as "A Palestinian demonstrator holds stones, during clashes with Israeli border police, not seen, during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008."

That same weekly protest is described invariably in the Palestinian Arab press as "non-violent."

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 150.

Arab American News: "In Defense of Prejudice"

In an unbelievable move, the Arab American News - a leading newspaper that rails against perceived American prejudice against Arabs - has printed an article by the vile anti-semite "Israel Shamir" called "In Defense of Prejudice."

"Shamir" has been denounced as a fraud by even far left anti-Zionists and goes by many other names including Jöran Jermas and Adam Ermash and probably was never Jewish (he now happily says he is Christian and he advocates all Jews converting to Christianity.)

The article is typical "Shamir", where he says things like:

Stereotypes and prejudice are a legitimate part of our life. They are here to make our life easier. If you walk the dark streets of an urban ghetto and notice a gang of male teenagers without a single woman among them, your prejudice tells you to make a prudent detour. If a tramp in rags proposes to sell you a gold watch, your prejudice advises you to avoid the deal. If a charming stranger is eager to get bedded, your prejudice calls you to use a condom - or run away. ADL correctly states that there is a stereotype of a "malicious cabal of Jews" who are "pushing for war," as well as that of "Jewish media-lords" that "clinch the party line." A stereotype, or prejudice, usually is a result of many unpleasant experiences by persons who did not heed them....

A person unhappy with a stereotype or with prejudice may fight it. There is a good, hard way to fight a stereotype you dislike: act contrary to the stereotype....The Jews fought against prejudice a few times and won every time....They can do it now again. They may engage in work conducive to the general benefit, shy away from stock markets and banks, give Christmas presents, demand "troops out of Iraq, no aid to apartheid Israel." be friendly to their non-Jewish neighbors. Do not demonize nor threaten with legal action everybody who does not agree with you. Do not turn the media into your private reserve. Try this, and an old stereotype will wither and vanish.

The stereotyping of Jews is quite justifiable, and only their behavior change will change it.

"Shamir" of course can write whatever bigoted tripe he wants, but it is telling that the Arab-American News would choose to publish this pure hate - because that newspaper seems more interested in maintaining anti-Jewish stereotypes than in fighting against anti-Arab stereotypes.

All of "Shamir"'s arguments can be used against Arabs to stereotype them as terror supporters or as anti-semitic. This obvious point is lost to the editors of this periodical, whose apparent hatred of Jews overcomes their own sense of self-preservation.

There is as of yet not a single comment on the article decrying its premise nor the flip-side that it implies against Arabs.

Sick twist in Saudi pedophilia "marriage"

I blogged a few days ago about a Saudi man who sold his 8-year old daughter "in marriage" to another Saudi man in his 50s.

MEMRI Blog adds an even sicker detail:

A Saudi man in his 50s has announced that he refuses to annul his year-and-a half-long marriage to an eight-year-old girl, because he claims never to have done anything forbidden by Islamic law.
He said that Islamic law does not set a specific age for marriage, and that the Prophet Muhammad married 'Aisha when she was nine.

Source: Al-Hayat, London, August 13, 2008

So the father didn't just "marry off" his eight year old daughter - he sold his six and a half-year old daughter!

And even after a year and a half, the Saudi legal authorities have been unable to do anything about this while this little girls gets raped, probably nightly, by a pedophilic pervert.

Friday links

Jewish Standard on the Bnei Menashe from India

Soccer Dad on the Reuters reporter accidentally killed by the IDF and the hypocrisy of those who dismiss Israel's conclusions (also a nice example of how the blogosphere can work together)

The Egyptian ambassador who spied on Israel

Surprise! Fatah man who "pledged" not to be a terrorist anymore lied!

Al Jazeera denies apologizing to Israel for celebrating Kuntar

Israeli innovations in nanotechnology

Israeli "seaweed gel" could save thousands of lives of heart patients

Today's PalArab press roundup

Ma'an quotes the UNIFIL head in Lebanon as complaining that only Israel is violating UN Resolution 1701; saying that relations between UNIFIL and Hezbollah are "wonderful" and that the reason that UNIFIL doesnt attempt to stop weapons smuggling from Syria is because the Lebanese government never asked it to. The Hezbollah statement was confirmed in the Jerusalem Post (using the word "excellent" instead of "wonderful"); neither statement made it into the official press release from UNIFIL.

The news about the Hamas leader's son who converted to Christianity, and is now attacking Islam as a whole, is finally being believed by the PalArab press after his TV interviews.

PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo is now referring to Hamas leader Zahhar as "speaking like he is mentally ill". Apparently there is a dispute concerning the PA continuing to pay salaries to people in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad is bragging about new rockets that they have been developing during the "calm. " (They've also enlisted CNN in this PR push; here's how the CNN reporter described the "factory":

The "factory" is anything but; it's a tiny room with rockets lining the walls and masked men trying to light a fire from a gas canister to heat the explosives.
First, the lighter doesn't work, then there's a gas leak and the room becomes filled with suffocating gas.
You hear of unexplained explosions in Gaza from time to time, euphemistically called "workplace accidents." That thought is enough to make us squeeze out of the room and wonder whether we've gotten just a little too close to the story.

Egypt considers a planned rail line between Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat to be a threat to the Suez Canal, as freight trains can move huge amounts of material between the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aqaba in 6-12 hours.

More and more Muslims are warning against Jewish plots to take over and destroy the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, claiming that plans for the Third Temple by various religious groups are being studied by the Israeli government. One said despairingly that "it could be argued that the city of Jerusalem is already Jewish."

UPDATE: Another Helles family member died from his wounds from Hamas' attack two weeks ago. The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 149.

Four years

Four years, 4668 published posts, 317,000 visitors, 390,000 page loads, 5,441 comments.

Blogging is certainly an interesting pastime. As readership goes up, my sense of responsibility increases as well, leading - mostly - to less and less sleep.

The blog has changed over the years, and if there is any real pattern I think it is that I dislike doing what other bloggers are doing. More than anything I want to be original, to find stories that others miss or to find an angle on a story that others might have overlooked. I don't expect people to only read this blog; there are plenty of other excellent Zionist blogs that cover many other topics and I encourage everyone to read as many as they can. I will ignore some good stories because I see that they have been covered very well elsewhere, so I hope you are also reading elsewhere.

My major frustration has been the inability for many of my newsworthy "scoops" to ever make it to the media. I am not a natural at self-promotion and I need to get into the habit of sending some of my postings to superstar bloggers or to cultivate contacts in the MSM. Unfortunately, even after four years I cannot figure out which posts would strike a chord and become very popular and which will drop unnoticed.

I would like to thank those bloggers who link to me. To me, there is no greater compliment than to know that I am a resource that other bloggers use, including the foreign-language bloggers who spend the time translating some of my posts.

Thank you all for visiting, especially the regulars, both the commenters and the lurkers. I cannot say how gratifying it is to know that apparently a few hundred people make a daily habit out of reading what I have to say.

I hope I can keep you interested.

Women pictured on pharmaceuticals: Haraam!

The Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has a website, so we can see every day what they consider newly forbidden for all Saudi citizens.

Today's evil? It appears that some pharmaceutical companies try to make their packaging attractive, and some will put pictures of people on the packages. Of course there is nothing wrong with that, as long as the people pictures aren't - shhh! - women.

Eastern Conference [of the Muttawa?] demanded that the Ministry of Health needs to blur the images of Saudi girls on packages of medicines in circulation in the Saudi markets, according to an order issued by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

Issued by the Abdullah Al-Qahtani, resulting Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs in the Eastern Conference, addressed to the Saudi Minister of Health, the need to develop [means to cover up] outrageous photos on packages of medicine.

Attributing the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice of Saudi Chambers of resolution after noting the spread of the phenomenon of using pictures of girls in the pharmaceutical packaging principles that degrades the image of women of their dignity, pointing out that this matter is contrary to the provisions of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Ifta Saudi Arabia in the sixth paragraph of the Committee Legality of the controls.

He says «that the presentation of semi-nude pictures of women in the form of drug posters is an affront to women, not to mention it being a taboo with dignity, and participates in the men living, why make cheap commodity is traded and become designed this way, legitimate and consistent with our tradition to respect the feelings of people frequent and obscure Photo against morality and religion ».
The ads prompted major global pharmaceutical companies infuriated the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which called urgently to take the necessary precautions, and tighten control over the medical products offering semi-nude pictures of girls in indecent assault and public morals.

It sounds like they may be also upset over ads for drugs, not just packaging.

Those Jordanian "refugees"

Reuters decided to send this picture out over the wires:

A young Palestinian refugee walks near her school wall at al-Baqaa Refugees camp, outside of Amman, May 15, 2008. The graffiti reads 'I will not stay as a refugee forever'.(Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

We have discussed many times in the past how the definition of "refugee" is completely different for Palestinian Arabs than for any other group in the world, and how UNRWA operationally defines the descendants of Palestinian Arab refugees to be refugees themselves forever. This misuse of the word is so ingrained that wire services routinely refer to anyone with Palestinian Arab ancestry as "refugees."

What about American or Canadian citizens of PalArab origin? Are they "refugees" too? Of course not, because they have a nationality. Everyone recognizes inherently that those who gain citizenship in another country are no longer refugees - they are immigrants. (UNRWA's definition is operational, purely for the purpose of deciding who it should help; the rest of the world adapted that as a real definition for Palestinian Arabs alone.)

Jordan gave citizenship status to Palestinian Arab refugees when Jordan annexed the West Bank. According to this 1997 study, 95% of the Palestinian "refugees and displaced" who live in Jordan today are Jordanian citizens. Some 13% of Jordanian "Palestinian refugees" still live in "refugee camps" even though they don't have to - unlike those in Lebanon, Jordanian PalArabs have every right to move to real houses or apartments elsewhere in Jordan. They choose not to leave because they are getting free housing, schooling and medical care from UNRWA. The less-lazy majority got jobs, moved out of the camps, bought houses and became more self-sufficient.

So it is more than a bit ironic that some young Palestinian Arab graffiti artist who lives in a "refugee" camp, who is not a real refugee by any reasonable definition, and who could choose to leave the camp and raise a family in honor if he would just decide to get a job, would say that he "will not stay as a refugee forever." He in fact chooses to be considered a "refugee" and to live off the largesse of the UN - and to bitterly blame the rest of the world for his choice.

Nokia endorses Islam

From Trade Arabia (the press release is on a number of other sites as well):

Nokia said it has launched of a range of mobile applications and content for the holy month of Ramadan.
It said the new solutions are free and come preloaded in select Nokia devices or as downloadable applications.

’The overwhelming response and feedback that we received from last year’s offering allowed us to improve and expand this year’s application, making it a complete solution that gives Nokia users a single and easy access to many of the cherished experiences that Muslims like to be close to during the Holy Month,’ said Chris Braam, vice president, sales, Nokia Middle East and North Africa.

The 2008 Ramadan offering from Nokia includes the Holy Quran, which allows users to read, search, bookmark and listen to Quran recitation.

Other elements include Emsakya, Ramadaniat and Mozzaker.

Developed by ASGATech, the only Forum Nokia Premium Partner in the Middle East, all content of the Ramadan applications has been reviewed and approved by Al Azhar Al Shareef.

Building on Nokia’s existing Maps platform, the new mobile services also feature locations of major mosques in KSA, UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Pakistan, which can be navigated to using the Nokia Maps service.

’As the number one mobile device company in the world, we are now expanding into offering services and software that empower and enable Nokia device owners to fully realise the benefits of mobility, and the Ramadan applications come as part of this strategy.

’In 2007, 14 per cent of Nokia’s global net sales came from the Middle East and Africa, so this is a region that is greatly important to us and we have committed to ensuring that we are tailoring solutions that meet the local needs,’ added Braam.

Current users of the [supported devices] will be able to download the Ramadan applications, content and services, regardless of their location, through www.nokia.com/ramadan, which is available in English, Arabic and French.

The English Nokia Ramadan site is here.

This is not a third party Islamic site offering software for phones. This is Nokia specifically pushing a religion, advertising downloads of the Quran including "Audio Narrated by Sheikh Ali Al Hudhaify."

As far as I know, Nokia doesn't offer anything similar for Christians or Buddhists (although third parties do.) This is simply a multinational company choosing to endorse a single religion.

Jordanian contacts with Hamas continue during the marriage of Khaled Meshaal's son in Damascus.

Islamic Jihad released photos of their use of the "calm".

Egypt found another cache of ammunition and explosives in the Sinai to be smuggled into Gaza.

Egypt denied reports that Israel is opening up the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday.

Memorization versus understanding (expanded)

A ten year old boy, son of one of the terrorists who used the Church of the Nativity as a place to shoot from (as well as a toilet), has memorized the entire Quran in two months during summer camp.

While it is undeniably impressive, it is striking that Islam emphasizes the mindless memorization of the Quran while Christians and Jews emphasize study and understanding of their religious texts. To other religions, debate by ordinary people about the interpretation of a passage is praiseworthy; to Islam, it is seen as a threat.

Compare Quran memorization with Israel's annual International Bible Contest (not the best Wiki article...) The questions in the Bible contest are meant to test understanding, not mere memorization.

While Islam has taken a lot of its philosophy from Talmudic-era Judaism, here is one place where they crucially differ. The Talmud not only contains passionate discussions of how to interpret various Biblical verses; it also shows that these sorts of arguments are crucial for a belief system to grow and adapt.

This fundamental difference between Judaism and Islam can be seen in the Jewish concept of "chiddush." A chiddush is a novel interpretation or insight into source materials, consistent with basic principals, that had (seemingly) not been thought of before. The very word "chiddush" has the same root as "new." A student or rabbi is applauded for coming up with daring chiddushim.

The Muslim world does not seem to have anything analogous. The Muslims not only canonize the Quran but they shut the door for any new interpretations. Rather than emphasizing creativity and interpretation, Islam emphasizes rote and memorization.

Many of the problems the Western world faces from the Muslim world today can be traced to this mindset. Not only does Islam resist interpretation (which is necessary for modernization) but it set up a situation where those who even try to do so are ostracized or worse. Reform becomes impossible as the reformers are, almost by definition, deserving of death.

A photographic memory is a useful tool but it does not indicate wisdom. To praise memorization for its own sake is the same as trying to create a generation of unthinking robots. As the child himself said:

Asked how he feels about sitting inside and learning the Qu'ran while others are outside playing, he answered "I prefer learning the words of God instead of playing in the parks."

It isn't an either-or proposition, unless one has a peculiarly sick upbringing.

UPDATE: Reader L. King points out: "Islam does have a tradition called "itjihad" which appears to serve this role. One might be critical that this tradition has atrophied in general use but it is not entirely absent."

And fellow blogger Daled Amos adds a lot, with the upshot being that not only do Muslims memorize by rote but that most don't even understand what they are saying because essentially no one speaks classical Arabic nowadays. (I did just read about a parent who decided to speak to his son only in classical Arabic.) This is as opposed to modern Israel - while modern Hebrew is different from biblical Hebrew, modern Israelis can read the Dead Sea Scrolls today (those written in ktav Ashurit) and understand it.

Zionist Muslim editor on trial in Bangladesh

I have not yet blogged about the trial of Shoaib Choudhury, the pro-Israel editor of The Weekly Blitz, whose Zionist views may get him executed.

Details of the trial have not been forthcoming out of Bangladesh but I encourage you to read this article that nicely summarizes his precarious situation. Excerpts:

There lives in Dhaka one of the elusive souls for whom most of the world, or at least most Western politicians, have been searching: a true Islam-loving moderate Muslim who believes in brotherhood among all religions and respect for all nations by all nations. Unfortunately, it is possible that this priceless and endangered species may soon become extinct. At least since September 11, 2001, world and communal leaders have been touting the virtues of the "moderate Muslims." The express or implicit message is always that Islam has been hijacked by aberrant radicals but if we look to, nurture and promote the moderate Muslims, all will be well with the world. I've found a moderate Muslim, one who loves his religion and sincerely believes and steadfastly writes about his dreams for respect and understanding amongst all the great religions of the world. His name is Sallah Udin Shoaib Choudhury. He may well be executed for those beliefs soon. This Bangladeshi Muslim journalist dares to defy the party line of hatred towards Israel and contempt for all religions other than Islam. Not only does he write about the need for communication and understanding among Muslims, Christians and Jews in his newspaper The Weekly Blitz, but he dared to accept an invitation to attend and speak at a writers' conference in Israel. The topic of the conference was "Education Towards a Culture of Peace." On November 29, 2003, as he was about to board the plane in Dhaka on his way to that conference, Shoaib was dragged from the tarmac and arrested. His crime? He violated Bangladesh's Passport Act which forbids citizens from visiting countries such as Israel, with which it has no diplomatic relations. That law typically carries a fine of $8. What he found out the next day, however, when the magistrate announced it in court, was that he was accused of being a "spy for Israel."

...On September 18, 2006, the Bangladesh government ordered Shoaib to stand trial for sedition. The charges, as read to Shoaib by Judge Md. Momin Ullah on November 13, 2006, informed him that he "made offensive comments on [the] Muslim world, Islam and Muslims in Bangladesh and commented about the existence of al Qaeda and other Islamist militant groups, by which you have tarnished the image of Bangladesh in the outside world." Such sedition is punishable by death.

Finally, after years of delay coupled with repeated government-backed episodes of intimidation, brutal attacks and the repeated ransacking of his newspaper's offices, the case against Shoaib Choudhury began on August 6, 2008.

...for a glimpse into the rarified soul of Shoaib Choudhury, hear what I heard when he answered two very obvious questions he fields wherever he goes.

The first question is -- why he doesn't seek political asylum and get out of Bangladesh as soon as possible? His answer -- I heard it with my own ears -- is that if he were to leave, what kind of message would that send to his many silent supporters who want him to succeed, who want greater freedom and broader understanding, but who fear speaking out themselves. He says he won't abandon those people and leave them without any hope.

The second question I not only heard with my own ears, but felt right through my heart. When asked whether he was afraid that he was going to get killed, he said: "Look, everyone is going to die. The only issue is what you do while you are alive." And what he is doing is trumpeting his message, educating toward a world culture of peace. Imagine a world in which people like this were lionized instead of victimized, if they became world-renowned and lauded instead of being threatened and hounded.

Whether Shoaib Choudhury will be given a forum in which to speak and educate all citizens of his sublime worldview remains a question. The Islamic fundamentalists who, in Shoaib's conception of the universe pervert their religion and use it as a tool to oppress and even murder all those who disagree with their worldview, have imprisoned him, tortured him, threatened his children and threaten to kill him. If they remain steadfast in their position, Shoiab will be silenced forever.

Open thread II

Just in case people feel chatty....

Outraged Saudis spring into action!

Last week I mentioned a report that a delegation of Arab students, as part of a young leadership program sponsored by the US government, went to the Israel embassy for a briefing and had their pictures taken with the Israeli spokesperson.

The Saudi government, outraged, went to the original Yediot Aharonot article and examined the pictures closely. Today it triumphantly announced that none of the students that showed up were Saudi:

Officials, immediately upon receiving the news of the visit acted quickly to check the visiting dignitaries in the picture shown by the Israeli newspaper which published the news.

After careful scrutiny it was shown that there is no one who appeared in the newspaper picture that were Saudis, according to all the files of students studying the United States.

I'm just picturing a bunch of Saudi officials hunched over an Israeli newspaper with a magnifying glass, spending days carefully comparing the pictures there with those of hundreds or thousands of known Saudi students in America to ensure that no holy Saudi hands were dirtied by being shaken by an Israeli.

I wonder if they requested a copy of all the photos from the Israeli embassy to make sure that there weren't some pictures that Yediot didn't publish that might have shown otherwise.

No swimsuits in Kuwaiti Olympic coverage - Zionists next?

The MEMRI blog reports that Kuwait is censoring some Olympics competition because of the way the women dress.

It also mentions two Salafist MPs who were upset not only at the immodest dress but also wanted to make sure that no Israeli athletes pollute pure Kuwaiti airwaves.

The original article states:

The [MP] Al Omeir, who called the Information Ministry to reconsider the policy of transferring Games held in Beijing, pointed out that some sports are in violation of the law, ethics and public taste.

Al Omeir and wondered about the usefulness of the broadcast of such games "exercising clothes are a violation of taste and decency," stressing that "the best way to solve this is not to broadcast some games".

Al Omeir and warned that some sports involving Israel, where they raise the flag, which was raised as Muslims and Arabs reject normalization with the Israeli entity, calling on the TV station to take caution and attention to prevent the broadcast of any games involving Israel "so as not to contribute to promoting the participation of the enemy during which normalization with him ".

Jordan admits its citizens hate Jews

YNet reports that Jordanian authorities have been confiscating Jewish prayer books and tefillin from tourists. The reason given is that this "Jewish paraphernalia" could risk the lives of the tourists.

Jordan insists that this is not anti-semitism, just that it is a prudent move because these objects identify the people as being Jewish and therefore it puts them in danger. Even though Jews would generally pray in private when in Jordan, the Jordanian authorities still believe that this is the best way to ensure the tourists' security.

Of course, this means that religious Jews are effectively banned from travel to Jordan. And Jordan has a number of interesting Biblical and historic sites that appeal to religious Jewish tourists.

What is more interesting, though, is the underlying thinking. Jordan is admitting that the "terrorists" and their sympathizers aren't anti-Israel (after all, plenty of non-religious Israeli tourists visit Jordan) nearly as much as they are, in fact, anti-semitic. The targets aren't Jews, they are religious Jews. (I guess it goes without saying that wearing a kippah in Jordan is putting your life into your own hands, just as it is in most of the West Bank.)

For people who follow the conflict, this unadulterated anti-semitism that Jordan exhibits should not be a surprise. In 2006, a Pew Global Attitudes Survey put Jordan dead last in its question whether its citizens had a favorable attitude towards Jews (only 1% said "yes," 98% said "no.")

It is also notable that Jordan isn't offering to protect the tourists, but rather telling the tourists to either throw away their religion or not bother coming. This is one of the "moderate" Arab countries we hear so much about. The Jew-hatred in Jordan is so accepted as fact that it is not even worth trying to solve the problem.

A humorous example can be seen in this story from 1998, where a Jordanian newspaper claimed that Jews were trying to turn Jordan into a Jewish land; attempting to buy sites near Biblical landmarks and secretly burying Jewish coins and artifacts to be "rediscovered". Of course, patriotic Jordanians were seeing right through those evil Jewish schemes.

Compare to my previous story about how Bahrain is actively seeking Jews to move back into that country, and one can see that Jordan is not simply "anti-Zionist" but actively anti-semitic.

Today's PalArab press

A Fatah member who was tortured in Hamas prisons writes to Firas Press, saying that Hamas torture was even worse than Israel's. "We stood, blindfolded, even during prayers, flogging, humiliation and insults, without pity or mercy, without water or food or medicine, and complained he will get one of us following the strike in the same place him in pain..."

An Arab analysis of why Jordan started talking to Hamas concludes that Jordan wants more influence with the Palestinian Arabs in bringing about a truce between Fatah and Hamas as well as Jordan wanting to influence Hamas to dissuade the Muslim Brotherhood from acting against Jordanian interests. Meanwhile, Hamas is nervous about a Syrian peace treaty with Israel that might force it out of Syria and wants to re-open its office in Amman.

Bahrain's king, in London, called on Jews who left Bahrain to return either as citizens, investors or tourists. Bahrain's Jewish community is tiny but enjoys good relations with Bahrain's Arabs, and Bahrain is the only Gulf country with a synagogue.

A week ago Egypt opened up the Rafah crossing for a VIP - Sheikh Yassin's son. Yesterday, it opened it up for another VIP: Mahmoud Zahhar's son. Meanwhile, there are reports that Gaza still has hundreds of Egyptians who cannot cross Rafah into Egypt.

Mahmoud Zahhar himself rejected any dialogue with Fatah, claiming that Abbas is under the "robe of America" and that any dialogue is useless until Bush, Olmert and Abbas are out of office. (Hamas has previously said that it will not recognize Abbas' presidency after this year, citing the PA's own laws.)

On the "goodwill gesture" front, Israel decided to re-open the Kerem Shalom crossing for the first time in four months after a deadly terror attack there. Also, Israel decided to allow some prisoners with "blood on their hands" to be released. Goodwill gestures on the Palestinian Arab side includes a 16-year old boy with bombs who tried to go through the Huwara checkpoint.

Saudi Vice, episode 19: Sacrilegious sister

The lives of the prestigious members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice are not easy. All day they have to be on the alert, patrolling the streets of Saudi Arabia with an eagle eyes, tuned in the slightest hint of impropriety among the thankful Saudi populace.

But sometimes, the whiff of vice hits too close to home, and the results can be tragic.

In this case, one of our heroes, an upstanding member of the Muttawa, found out a terrible secret that his sister had been keeping from him:

She had converted to Christianity.

The woman, named Fatma Al-Matairi, confided in her brother about her terrible secret, secure in the knowledge that he would be understanding and supportive.

Little did the 26-year old know that her brother, as a member of the Commission, has a much higher moral code than just brotherhood and support. Converting to Christianity is blasphemy, and is punishable by death.

So he killed her.

Now, Saudi Arabia has one less blasphemer, and our hero can sleep well knowing he did the right thing.

UPDATE: It appears that it was her father that was a member of the Muttawa, and he cut out her tongue before burning her to death.

Quotable Quntar

Samir Kuntar, that child-murderer and hero of all Palestinian Arabs and Lebanese, just gave forth some more of his wisdom.

According to Aafaq.org, a relatively liberal Arab website based in Washington, DC, he said "Sadat's assassination was an excellent job and I hope to see more similar assassinations."

Calling for the assassination of Arab leaders may sour those leaders on him a little bit.

Open thread

The comment boards have been active lately but often the topic strays from the original post, so here is a place for people to discuss whatever is on their minds. I will ask my commenters to stick to the topic when commenting on posts, and use open threads otherwise.

Thanks!

Guess who's confiscating land?

There was a large rally in the town of Mughraqa, south of Gaza City, protesting Hamas' confiscating of land that belonged to the people of Gaza, some of it for generations.

The article is a little hard to decipher but it does mention a law that makes it illegal to sell land to non-Muslims.

As far as I can tell, none of the towns abandoned by Israel three years ago has ever been given to Gazans to build houses or apartments. Instead, Hamas uses at least some of them for military training and has shot rockets to Israel from them.

Today's PalArab news

The peaceful Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades in Gaza threatened to blow up the "calm" because Israel temporarily closed a couple of crossings - in response to rocket fire over the past few days.

Hamas leader Zahhar, in an amazing display of logic, said that those who shot the rocket yesterday (which landed in the center of Sderot) are "collaborators" with Israel. With friends like those....

Some Jewish Hebron residents were accused of saying derogatory things about Islam. When Arabs complained to the Israeli police, they were shocked to find out that the depraved Israelis don't have a law making insulting the Prophet illegal.

Windows were shattered at Al Quds University in Gaza because Hamas was practicing weapons and explosives training nearby, causing students to evacuate.

There was a huge explosion in Gaza City Sunday evening that has still not yet been explained.

No word yet on further casualties or finding the missing people from the two tunnel collapses over the past couple of days. Last I heard some five men were still missing.

Chief Palestinian Arab Liar Saeb Erekat denies a Haaretz report of a detailed "peace" plan that Olmert was reported to offer that includes 93% of the West Bank plus additional land in the Negev adjacent to Gaza. Erekat said, all of West Bank or nothing. Another PalArab spokesman said the same thing, that not one Jew can remain in the West Bank (and all the "refugees" must return to destroy Israel) for there to be "peace."

Hamas asked Gazans to call the police if any masked men pretending to be security forces try to confiscate their property or harass them. It is unclear how the citizens would know if the masked men harassing them are from Hamas or are imposters. (h/t Israellycool)

Video of Hamas leader's Christian son

Fox News interviewed Masab Yousef, the son of a West Bank Hamas leader who converted to Christianity and moved to California. Here's the video:

Pavlov and the Terrorists (Golden Oldie)

As my four year blogoversary approaches, I continue to look for interesting older articles that most of you haven't seen. (In fact, three years ago this blog had not yet hit 10,000 total visitors.)

Here is one of my better old postings, from July 25, 2005:

Pavlov and the Terrorists

Why do Palestinian leaders and press lie? Why did Palestinians switch from hijacking airplanes to package bombs to suicide bombs? Why did they seem to accept Camp David and then turn around and start the second intifada?

In short, why do Palestinian terrorists act so seemingly irrationally?

This question has been asked in various ways thousands of times over the decades. And in many cases, I have looked at these questions from a goal-oriented approach: if the Palestinian goal is to have an independent Palestinian state, none of the actions make sense. If the goal is the destruction of Israel, then all of their actions are consistent.

But one can also look at the problem, especially some of the specifics, with a behavioral approach. In short, actions that are rewarded tend to be repeated, while actions that cost more than their rewards tend to be abandoned.

As has been noted, Palestinian spokespeople and press lie continuously. Just to give two examples from the past week: they described the two murdered grandparents as "settlers" and they claimed that "witnesses" saw Gaza settlers kill a 12-year old Palestinian boy when it was later proved that it was Palestinians themselves who killed him.

If Israel's spokespeople lied, you can be sure that the world media would not hesitate to call them on it - and rightfully so. Israel's government and army have volumes of information on their websites and even a single purposeful error would make them useless.

But Palestinian media, even their English websites, are so full of holes that they are a joke. Their spokespeople have lied so often that they are completely unreliable. Yet the Western press continues to quote them seriously, without so much as a single caveat that they are known to have made up facts out of thin air in the past.

In short, lying works for Palestinians. It is rewarded with news stories that either never get retracted or get corrected so silently that the damage can never be undone. When a behavior is rewarded, it gets repeated; this is simple behavioral psychology.

On the flip side of the coin, Palestinian terrorists first made headlines with their famous series of airplane hijackings in the 1970s. For a while it got them rewarded with world press, and free publicity for their cause of destroying Israel. But soon, the reward turned into a punishment as the world governments who they wanted sympathy from turned against them. So they started their diplomatic offensive and abandoned explicit international terror, because the rewards had dried up.

For a while there, Israel could claim to have won the intifada war against Palestinian terrorists - Israel's building of the fence combined with pro-active targeted killings against terror leaders curtailed terror attacks dramatically. Terror leaders were in hiding and even the Palestinian people were turning against them in some circumstances.

But now, Israel has turned a punishment into a reward. The retreat from Gaza is the biggest reward that Palestinians could have asked for - it directly gives them a piece of what they always wanted, control over land that Jews had control over. No amount of doubletalk can deny that the Palestinian terrorists perceive that they are now being rewarded for terror. And as in countless other situations, the reward ensures that the behavior that caused the reward will continue.

The only way to stop terror, whether in Tel Aviv or London or Egypt, is to ensure that the cost is higher than the reward. "Proportional" and "measured"responses do not punish terror, it needs to be disproportionate and immediate.

This is how you train a dog, and this is how you train terrorists.

More Islamic science - Radiation from Mecca seen from space

It would be easy to say that the story I posted yesterday of the Muslim rumor that Apollo astronauts heard the Muslim call to prayer on the moon as being a bit unfair; that beliefs like these are not widespread and that one cannot blame a large number of people for the beliefs of an ignorant minority.

But what if you saw that Saudi Arabia TV had an Egyptian scientist saying similar things, in 2005?

From MEMRI TV:

The following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Abd Al-Baset Al-Sayyed of the Egyptian National Research Center. Al-Majd TV aired this interview on January 16, 2005
Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: The centrality [of Mecca] has been proven scientifically. How? When they traveled to outer space and took pictures of the earth, they saw that it is a dark, hanging sphere. The man said, "Earth is a dark hanging sphere – who hung it?"

Interviewer: Who said that?

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: [Neil] Armstrong. Armstrong was basically trying to say: Allah is the one who hung it. They discovered that Earth emits radiation, and they wrote about this on the web. They left the item there for 21 days, and then they made it disappear.

Interviewer: Why did they make it disappear?

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: There was intent there…

Interviewer: So it may be said that this suppression of information was significant.

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: It was very significant, since…the Ka'ba [in Mecca]… They said it emits radiation. This radiation is short-wave.

When they discovered this radiation, they started to zoom in, and they found that it emanates from Mecca – and, to be precise, from the Ka'ba.

Interviewer: My God!!

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: It was said…

Interviewer: Does this radiation have an effect?

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: They found that this radiation is infinite. When they reached Mars and began to take pictures, they found that the radiation continues beyond. They said that the wavelength known to us… or rather the shortness of the wavelength known to us… This radiation had a special characteristic: It is infinite, and I believe that the reason is that this radiation connects the [earthly] Ka'ba with the celestial Ka'ba.

Imagine that you are the North Pole and I am the South Pole – in the middle there's what is called the magnetic equilibrium zone. If you place a compass there, the needle won't move.

Interviewer: You mean that the pull is equal from both sides?

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: Yes, and that's why it's called zero-magnetism zone, since the magnetic force has no effect there. That's why if someone travels to Mecca or lives there, he lives longer, is healthier, and is less affected by Earth's gravity. That's why when you circle the Ka'ba, you get charged with energy.

Interviewer: Allah be praised.

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: Yes, this is a fact.
This is a scientific fact…
Interviewer: Because you are distant from…

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: Earth's magnetic fields have no effect on you in this case.

There's a study that proves that the black basalt rocks in Mecca are the oldest rocks in the world. This is the truth.

Interviewer: The oldest rocks? Yes. Has this been proved scientifically?

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: It's been scientifically proven, and the study has been published.

Interviewer: They took basalt rocks from Mecca…

Dr. 'Abd Al-Baset Sayyid: …Basalt rocks from Mecca, and investigated the places where they were formed.

In the British Museum there are three pieces of the black stone [from the Ka'ba] …and they said that this rock didn't come from our solar system.

Another sick Saudi marriage

It seems to be a daily event:

UNAIZAH: In order to settle his debts, a Saudi father here married his eight-year-old daughter to a man in his 50s, who already has two wives, a local newspaper reported yesterday.
Details of the case came to light when the mother of the girl took it to the court calling for an abrogation of the marriage contract. The mother, who is estranged from the father, urged all concerned parties and the National Society for Human Rights to support her in canceling the marriage.
“This is an unmatched marriage, which will deprive our daughter of her childhood,” the mother said.
A source at the court said this is not the first case of its kind.
A court in Asir is currently considering a similar case in which a man married his 10-year-old daughter to a man in his 70s for SR170,000.

Legal child slavery, prostitution and rape.

Saudi married off his three little girls to old men

From Arab News:

The Wadi Bin-Hasheel court has postponed the trial of a Saudi father who married his 10-year-old daughter to a man in his 70s, as the bride and bridegroom failed to appear in court, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday. The trial is now set for Sept. 10, as only the girl’s father, her divorced mother and her uncle attended the hearing. The judge ordered the police to bring the girl and her husband to the next session.

The newspaper said the girl’s uncle, who filed the case against the father, has refused all offers of mediation to drop the case, and said he would continue until justice was done.

The father had earlier married two of his young daughters to elderly men. A judge in the Grand Court of Riyadh divorced the first, who was 12, while the second ran away with her mother to a women’s shelter in Riyadh.

This does not appear to be the same as last month's story about the 64-year old man marrying a 10 year old in the Hail province. In that case, the father married the girl off on a dare.

I guess it isn't surprising that the girl gets to be raped nightly by her "husband" while the courts wait to see if the blissful newlyweds show up to the next hearing.