Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Jihadis love their kiddie pr0n

I had missed this story from a couple of weeks ago, from the Times of London:

Paedophilia and terrorism seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. We think of men who prey on children, and those who are a step away, collecting child po-rnography over the internet, as depraved isolated individuals wallowing in their own obsessions.

By contrast, despite the destruction of innocent lives that they crave, the popular view is that terrorists are driven by some external, if distorted, ideology that they at least see as a noble cause. The illegal child porn images found on the computers of a number of extremists give the lie to this simple division.

It is probably sensible for the police to take stock before assuming there is an inevitable link between terrorism, especially the jihadi variety, and child pornography. But it is possible that an extreme interpretation of Islam that regards male sexual urges as so uncontrollable that all women have to cover themselves from head to toe generates in some men a confusion about their sexuality and appropriate sexual partners. An interest in child pornography may be one consequence.

In 2005 anti-terror police were monitoring Abdul Khalisadar, a Muslim preacher. They were astonished to find that his DNA came up on the national database for an unsolved rape in Whitechapel. His computer contained enough extreme child pornography for him to be charged with possession of this illegal material, but he was never convicted of terror offences.

Another religiously observant youth who was caught up in British anti-terror surveillance in 2006 was also found to have serious child po-rnography on his computer.

In Spain Abdelkader Ayachine, a man in his forties who is thought to be a leader of a terrorist cell, is awaiting trial accused of having thousands of extreme child po-rnography images. These files were on the same computers as videos of Osama bin Laden and other Islamic fundamentalist ideologues extolling jihad.

Just as anti-terror police have found that their investigations have led them to collectors of child po-rnography, so also have child protection officers found that their investigations have led them to people preparing to carry out terrorist acts. This overlap is seen as of such significance that Scotland Yard has considered whether child protection officers should be alerted to the possibilities of terrorists being among their suspects.

This story, also at the Times, gives more details.

More proof that immorality breeds immorality, even if the practitioners like to clothe it in religious terms.

Today, the Free Gaza leftards and terrorist-huggers gave out another of their endless supply of press releases where they lie about their goals:

We are returning to Gaza for exactly the same reasons we came in August: to deliver medical supplies, meet with civil society organizations, volunteer in hospitals, and visit Palestinians who have requested our presence.

But their mission statement gives the real reason they came:

We want to break the siege of Gaza. We want to raise international awareness about the prison-like closure of the Gaza Strip and pressure the international community to review its sanctions policy and end its support for continued Israeli occupation. We want to uphold Palestine's right to welcome internationals as visitors, human rights observers, humanitarian aid workers, journalists, or otherwise.

Not a single word about acually helping Gazans in their mission statement!

The goals of the FGM have nothing to do with helping Gazans, and their bringing small amounts of medical supplies and a few doctors is a show - to try to embarrass Israel and score brownie points in the international media. As we have seen, the terror-supporting FGM freaks have proven that helping Gazans is the last thing on their minds.

Egypt's siege of Gaza

Last week, CAMERA released a backgrounder aimed at the many media outlets that refer exclusively to an "Israeli siege" of Gaza without acknowledging that Egypt also chooses to severely restrict people and goods from entering Gaza.

A case in point can be seen in this story which has been ignored by the Western press.

Ma'an wrote last week:

A European group is organizing the largest-ever parliamentary visit to the Gaza Strip next month, aimed at breaking the ongoing Israeli siege.

The European Campaign to Lift the Siege of Gaza announced its preparations on Thursday, saying it intends to send legislators from all over the world to Gaza in November.

Several Arab and foreign parliamentarians expressed their wish to participate in the visit aiming at breaking the siege of the Gaza Strip, organizers said in a statement.

Leaders from Rights for All, a Swiss-based organization in Geneva, said that "parliamentarians from Algeria, Kuwait, Yemen, Jordan, Sudan and other Arab countries will join the international parliamentarian delegation."

The head of the European Campaign said that the group will also include leaders from various other countries, namely the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and Scotland, as well as Asia and Latin America.

Concerning the arrangements for entering the Gaza Strip, Al Gharbi said that “negotiations are ongoing with the Egyptian side."

He added that the movement has high hopes for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to enable the delegation to enter Gaza and "see the human and medical situation" there.

In an ironic twist that has gone completely unnoticed by the mainstream media, Egypt denied this delegation from crossing Rafah:

The "European Campaign to Lift the Siege on Gaza" condemned the decision of the Egyptian authorities to refuse to allow the group, which includes scores of Arab and foreign deputies, from entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing dividing Egypt and the Gaza Strip early next month.

The head of the delegation said in a press statement: "We strongly condemn the surprise decision refusing to enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt, although the objective of the visit was humanitarian."

Yes, a group of self-declared "humanitarians" who say that their objective it to stop the "Israeli siege" is stopped from entering - by Egypt.

The irony doesn't end there. The "Free Gaza" movement, which is set to sail their patched-up boat today from Cyprus to Gaza, got British MP Jeremy Corbyn to submit an absurdly anti-Israel motion to the British House of Commons (received via email):

This House applauds the excellent work of the Free Gaza Movement in highlighting the fact that Israel is imposing collective punishment on the 1.5 million people of Gaza, in contravention of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; acknowledges the considerable amount of pressure applied by the Israeli government on a previous (FG) voyage last August; wishes the latest boat travelling from the port of Cyprus to Gaza carrying both a large group of concerned human rights workers and, including among them Palestinian MP - Dr Mustafa Barghouti, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner - Mairead Maguire, as well as medical practitioners and supplies, a safe voyage with no outside interference, and calls upon her majesty's government to take action to ensure that the massive economic, political and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is brought to an end as a matter of urgency.

So the "Free Gaza" movement gets massive amounts of publicity and claims that Israel interfered with their non-humanitarian, PR-fueled voyage last August - when Israel allowed the boats through unimpeded - but when a much more prominent group actually does get stopped from entering Gaza by Egypt, the world media is utterly silent.

LG Electronics markets Quran TV set

The line between religion and commerce is nonexistent when it comes to Islam. Korea-based LG has released a TV with built-in Quran:

Keen to read the Quran on your TV set in the comfort of your home or bookmark your favourite phrases from the Holy Quran at the flick of your TV remote? You can now, with LG's latest Quran-enabled Time Machine TV.

Fresh from the success of its Qiblah mobile phone, digital leader LG Electronics has announced the Middle East-wide availability of the only TV in the world with built-in Quran, to honour the Holy Month of Ramadan.

LG's latest Time Machine plasma/LCD TV allows viewers to listen to the Quran, search and bookmark passages - all on the TV screen. The Holy Quran incorporated into the plasma/LCD TV includes all of the 114 suras, allowing users to search for specific sura or verse and bookmark up to 10 favourites with record and stop button on the remote control.

The innovative TV also allows viewers to listen to the Quran, an excellent feature for allowing several people to study and understand the scriptures together. A multilingual interface allows viewers to navigate and read the text in Arabic and Farsi. At the top of the screen is a status bar that displays the name of the sura, verse numbers and the time of day.

"The built-in Quran TV will provide believers in Allah and his Prophet (PBUH) a new and rewarding way to experience the Holy Scriptures during the most sacred time of the year," said Mr. H.S. Paik, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE. "As a brand that respects Muslims, LG is committed to ensuring that we offer solutions that meet local needs, and the built-in Quran TV comes as a part of this effort."

The latest innovation follows the unprecedented success of LG's Qiblah mobile handset, which notched up impressive sales especially in the GCC. The Qiblah Phone (LG-F7100) indicates the direction users should face in order to pray toward Mecca, even if they are in the desert with few reference points. Users simply input their location and the phone, which works in 500 cities worldwide, automatically points the way.

As was with Nokia, this is a case where a multinational company is endorsing a single religion.

If the Muslim market would demand that Nokia or LG boycott Israel, what are the chances they would resist? They've already shown that they bend over backwards to uniquely accommodate Muslims.

The peaceful Palestinian Arabs, 1834

I just saw this account of a Muslim riot against Jews in 1834 in Safed in a book called Eōthen by Alexander William Kinglake published in 1846:

At length I drew
near to the city of Safet. It sits as proud as a fortress upon the
summit of a craggy height ; yet because of its minarets, and stately
trees, the place looks happy and beautiful. It is one of the holy
cities of the Talmud, and according to this authority, the Messiah
will reign there for forty years before he takes possession of Sion.
The sanctity and historical importance thus attributed to the city
by anticipation render it a favourite place of retirement for Israelites,
of whom it contains, they say, about four thousand, a number
nearly balancing that of the Mahometan inhabitants. I knew
by my experience of Tabarieh that a "holy city" was sure to have
a population of vermin somewhat proportionate to the number of
its Israelites, and I therefore caused my tent to be pitched upon
a green spot of ground at a respectful distance from the walls of
the town.

When it had become quite dark (for there was no moon that
night,) I was informed that several Jews had secretly come from
the city, in the hope of obtaining some assistance from me in
circumstances of imminent danger...These men informed me that
the Jews of the place, who were
exceedingly wealthy, had lived peaceably in their retirement until
the insurrection which took place in 1834, but about the beginning
of that year a highly religious Mussulman called Mahommed
Damoor, went forth into the market-place, crying with aloud
voice, and prophesying, that on the fifteenth of the following June
the true Believers would rise up in just wrath against the Jews,
and despoil them of their gold, and their silver, and their jewels.
The earnestness of the prophet produced some impression at the
time, but all went on as usual, until at last the fifteenth of June
arrived. When that day dawned, the whole Mussulman population
of the place assembled in the streets, that they might see
the result of the prophecy.

Suddenly Mahommed Damoor rushed
furious into the crowd, and the fierce shout of the prophet soon
ensured the fulfilment of his prophecy. Some of the Jews fled,
and some remained, but they who fled, and they who remained,
alike and unresistingly left their property to the hands of the
spoilers. The most odious of all outrages , that of searching the
women for the base purpose of discovering such things as gold,
and silver concealed about their persons, was perpetrated without
shame. The poor Jews were so stricken with terror, that they
submitted to their fate, even where resistance would have been
easy. In several instances a young Mussulman boy, not more
than ten or twelve years of age, walked straight into the house of
a Jew, and stripped him of his property before his face, and in
the presence of his whole family.* When the insurrection was
put down, some of the Mussulmans (most probably those who
had got no spoil wherewith they might buy immunity), were punished,
but the greater part of them escaped; none of the booty
was restored, and the pecuniary redress which the Pasha had undertaken
to enforce for them, had been hitherto so carefully delayed,
that the hope of ever obtaining it had grown very faint.

And later, we see that the author harbored a little empathy for Jews himself - but only a little:

Mohammed Damoor had again gone forth into the market place, and lifted up
his voice, and prophesied a second spoliation of the Israelites.
This was grave matter; the words of such a practical man as
Mohammed Damoor were not to be despised. I fear I must have
smiled visibly, for I was greatly amused, and even, I think,
gratified at the account of this second prophecy. Nevertheless,
my heart warmed towards the poor oppressed Israelites, and I
was flattered, too, in the point of my national vanity at the notion
of the far-reaching link, by which a Jew in Syria, who had been
born on the rock of Gibraltar, was able to claim me as his fellow-
countryman. If I hesitated at all between the "improprietry" of
interfering in a matter which was no business of mine , and the "
infernal shame" of refusing my aid at such a conjecture, I soon
came to a very ungentlemanly decision — namely, that I would
be guilty of the "impropriety," and not of the "infernal shame."
It seemed to me that the immediate arrest of Mohammed Damoor
was the one thing needful to the safety of the Jews, and I felt
confident, (for reasons which I have already mentioned in speaking
of the Nablous affair) that I should be able to obtain this
result by making a formal application to the Governor. I told my
applicants that 1 would take this step on the following morning;
they were very grateful, and were for a moment much pleased at
the prospect of safely which might thus be opened to them, but
the deliberation of a minute entirely altered their views, and filled
them with new terror; they declared that any attempt, or pretended
attempt on the part of the Governor to arrest Mohammed
Damoor would certainly produce an immediate movement of the
whole Mussulman population, and a consequent massacre and
robbery of the Israelites. My visitors went out, and remained I
know not how long consulting with their brethren, but all at last
agreed that their present perilous, and painful position was better
than a certain, and immediate attack, and that if Mohammed
Damoor was seized, their second estate would be worse than their
first. I myself did not think that this would be the case, but I
could not of course force my aid upon the people against their
will, and moreover the day fixed for the fulfilment of this second
prophecy was not very close at hand ; a little delay, therefore, in
providing against the impending danger, would not necessarily
be fatal. The men now confessed that although they had come
with so much mystery, and, as they thought, at so great a risk
to ask my assistance, they were unable to suggest any mode in
which I could aid them, except, indeed, by mentioning their
grievances to the Consul-general at Damascus. This I promised
to do, and this I did.

My visitors were very thankful to me for the readiness which I
had shown to intermeddle in their affairs, and the grateful wives
of the principalJews sent to me many compliments, with choice
wines, and elaborate sweetmeats.

The course of my travels soon drew me so far from Safet, that
I never heard how the dreadful day passed off which had been
fixed for the accomplishment of the second prophecy. If the predicted
spoliation was prevented, poor Mohammed Damoor must
have been forced, I suppose, to say that he had prophesied in a
metaphorical sense. This would be a sad falling off from the
brilliant and substantial success of the first experiment.

How peacefully they lived together when the Jews were dhimmis!

By the way, I have a YouTube channel

Not that I've worked so hard on setting it up, but if you are interested, you can find it here. Some original material and some repackaging of things on Israeli websites that required Internet Explorer.

(This can be considered an open thread.)

Another heartless IDF restriction

Firas Press reports that the IDF decided to suspend deliveries of clothing to Gaza for a while.

It says that no official reason was given. What could possibly possess the Israelis to deprive Gazans of clothing?

Then we find out the reason: according to other sources, the IDF has discovered IDF uniforms being smuggled into Gaza in the clothing shipments, to be used by terrorists!

Israeli radiation blamed for birth defects. Who needs evidence?

From the ever-humorous Ma'an Palestinian Arab "news" agency:

Concern over earlier reports of increased rates of physical birth-defects and stillborn deliveries are heightened in the southern Gaza Strip after Director of Social Health Department in the de facto Health Ministry Salah Rantisi announced that he found an additional foetus with physical mutations in an ultrasound.

Rumors have been circulating that the defects are the result of nuclear materials dumped from the Israeli nuclear facility near Dimona.

In recent weeks the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority announced the beginning of a field survey to measure the effects of nuclear radiation, possibly emanating from Israeli military facilities, in the eastern Gaza Strip.

For their part, environment authorities in the Gaza Strip said in a statement on Monday that no radiation has been found in the air in Khuza’a. However, they suggested that radiation could be found in the earth or in water resources.

The statement explained that a technical team examined the area and found no radiation. The team encompassed experts from the power authorities, natural resources authorities and the Islamic University of Gaza.

Of course, in the Palestinian Arab psyche, if any kid is found with a birth defect it must be the fault of Zionists. Evidence really isn't necessary, because it is so blindingly obvious that Zionists are behind every natural problem.

For those who are interested, here is a map of the Negev:

The diabolical Zionists have managed to find a way for their radioactive materials to pass over Beersheba and countless other Jewish communities without causing any harm, and they only target pregnant Arab women in Gaza!

Perhaps because the Jews smear lamb's blood over their doors....

Hamas' top priority: releasing murderers of Jewish civilians

As Hamas continues to slowly grow in respectability in the West, it is instructive to see exactly who Hamas is demanding to be released from Israeli jails in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

Ma'an quotes Israel's Channel Two as saying that the list includes some of the most heinous terrorists responsible for scores of deaths of civilians. Hamas' heroes are in direct proportion to the number of Jews they killed.

At the top of the list is the person responsible for what may have been intended to be the first suicide attack on Jews in Israel. In 1989, a Gazan traveling on bus 405 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem grabbed the wheel of the driver and forced the bus to tumble down a cliff, killing 14. The terrorist survived and remains in jail.

Others that Hamas wants released were responsible for the Passover massacre at the Park Hotel in Netanya, where 29 were killed including 20 over the age of 70.

Most of the others on the list likewise were responsible for murdering Israeli civilians, including stabbings and shootings.

These are Hamas' heroes. These are the people they idolize, whom they hold up as role models to their children.

And their priorities in prisoners aren't, say, mothers in Israeli jails, or those who attacked soldiers. No, they mostly want the release of cold-blooded murderers.

Casual anti-semitism in Yemen Times

Incongruously placed at the top of an article about the Arab nations' place in the world comes these two paragraphs in the Yemen Times:

The whole world is currently undergoing an unprecedented financial crisis that reminds the elderly of what happened in 1929, which was also known as “Year of Economic Recession”. According to economic and political analysts, the economic recession of 1929 was caused by the Zionist Rochield [sic - Rothschild] family that originated from Germany with the intention to control stock markets and hit them whenever it wants.

Other Zionist families did the same thing with intention of achieving specific objectives that are clearly states in the books of “Invisible World Governments” or “Stones on the Chessboard”.

I could find no reference to either of these books anywhere.

However, anti-semites such as Father Coughlin have had no problem blaming the Great Depression on Jews since 1929.

Note also the replacement of "Jews" with "Zionists" that is almost subconscious among the Arab media as they reflexively use the Z-word to mean "Jewish," no more and no less.

The evil Zionists tried to get rid of good Palestinian malaria!

The hatred that so-called progressive intellectuals have of Israel and Zionism truly knows no bounds. A good example can be seen in this review of a book called "Healing the Land and the Nation: Malaria and the Zionist Project in Palestine, 1920-1947" by Sondra M. Sufian.

It is hard to know how much bias is from the author and how much from the reviewer, but the thesis of the book is, as the article states:

The Zionists imported European and U.S. medical technologies and foreign capital to restore the land to what was in their eyes its original state, with little concern for those who had long made their living from it. The Zionist settlers had no sense of the national rights of the Palestinian Arabs, who they believed had no real attachment to the land. Like European settlers elsewhere, the Zionists considered the indigenous population primitive and backward. The land was a swampy wasteland inhabited by an unproductive people. In this, the Zionists were merely drawing upon racial views of non-European, indigenous populations then prevalent among colonialists. As Sufian points out, Zionists, like other Europeans, saw malaria not as an environmental problem, but one caused by the neglectful, indifferent, and lazy lifestyles of the natives, whose watering holes and leaky irrigation ditches were ideal places for mosquitoes to breed. The Zionists' goal was to drain the swamps and pools of water to eradicate the disease, thereby expanding the land available for settlement and agricultural production. As the author notes, in many parts of world European settlers made this connection between disease eradication, immigration, and settlement. When the Zionists drained the swamps they also reduced the pasture land long used by Bedouins and other Arab agriculturalists for grazing their livestock. Despite stiff resistance, land formerly held collectively by Palestinian Arabs became private land owned by Zionist settlers.

Get it? By working to eradicate a deadly disease, the Zionists exhibited unbelievable selfishness and displacement! How dare they try to improve the land that they were buying at hugely inflated prices! How dare they try to improve the health of the natives - this is the very definition of self-absorption!

An interesting contradiction then comes up:

Sufian also illuminates other contentious aspects of the malaria eradication process. For example, she documents Arab participation in and contributions to such efforts, contradicting the Jewish Agency's claims that the great majority of the eradication schemes were carried out solely at that organization's expense. Much of this is illustrated through the work of Dr. Tawfiq Canaan, a Palestinian Arab and prominent physician before and during the Mandate era, who lectured about malaria in German and English to scientific audiences. In a report to the Mandatory authorities, he stated that Palestinian Arabs had done their share of the eradication work. They had carried out swamp drainage projects and worked as laborers in government malaria control measures.

Apparently, when Arabs drained the swamps it was because they were forward-thinking and modern, but when Jews drained the swamps it was because they were colonialist pigs hell-bent on turning mosquito-infested cesspools of disease into productive farmland. Arab swamp draining improved the lives of the natives, Zionist swamp draining destroyed them.

Clear as day!

You can file this in the same category of recent quasi-scholarly drivel that claims that the lack of Arabs raped by IDF soldiers indicates the Jews' barbarity or that Israeli archaeologists are unprofessional hacks who only work to advance the evil Zionist enterprise.

UPDATE: Commenter Womble points to a great blog post by Imshin that takes a quite different tack on the "colonialism" of draining swamps and fighting a horrendous disease.

Free Gaza freaks set to sail again

Last we looked, the Free Gaza leftards were trying desperately to find a new boat, willing to sell their old boats to anyone strange enough to want them.

Apparently, their please were less than successful, as their press release from a couple of days ago stated:

On October 28, 2008, the Free Gaza Movement will set sail again for Gaza. On board will be a Nobel Peace Prize winner, five physicians, a member of the Israeli Knesset, and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The boat will again carry 26 passengers and crew to the port of Gaza.

"We've spent the past month making sure that our boat is better and stronger, because the weather is getting more severe. Since we promised the people of Gaza we would return, we wanted to make sure we would return safely", said Derek Graham, first mate on board the boat.

The patched boat, now seemingly renamed"Waves of Hope," is supposed to arrive in Gaza on Thursday.

The freakazoids are trying to rectify a problem they had last time. In their first journey, they wanted to show that Gaza should be "free" so they sailed directly there without officially informing Israel. But now they realized that a great part of their narrative depends on the idea that Gaza is "occupied" by Israel, so this time they sent a letter to the Israeli government telling them of their peaceful intentions.

Apparently, Lauren Booth has decided not to visit this time. It seems that she ate enough Gaza food the first time she was there.

Ancient Palestine, according to Palestinian Arabs

The Democratic Front for the History of Palestine, a Marxist group that is part of the PLO, has a history of Palestine on its website that is says came from the Palestinian National Information Center, a part of the Palestinian Authority.

It is a bizarre mix of purposeful pseudo-scholarly lies and Quranic fantasy.

It is almost certain that this is the "history" taught in Palestinian Arab universities.

Here are some relevant parts:

▪ First: Palestine Denomination
Long ago Palestine was known “Canaan Land” as mentioned in the reports of military leaders at king (Marry). It was obviously mentioned on the spire of (Adreemi) king of ALALAKH (Tel Al Atshana) in the middle of the fifth century.

The origin of the word “Palestine” as in Assyrian records of the Assyrian king (Addizary The Third) about (800) B.C. was (Filastia). As he mentioned on his spire that in the fifth year of his regime, his forces subdued (Palasto) and forced the population to pay the tribute.

Almost certainly they are referring to Philistines, who lived in southern Canaan in roughly what is now Gaza, although I could not find this specific reference anywhere. Absolutely no one considers Palestinian Arabs to be descendents of Philistines, but (as we shall see) the Palestinian Arabs are anxious to pretend so, when it is convenient. (The Philistines were not Semitic.)

The denomination formulation (Palestine) was focused at Herodotus on Aramite bases. Sometimes it was known as a place called on the southern part of Syria or (Palestinian Syria) near Finithia to the borders of Egypt.

The Roman historians used this appellation, like A gather chides STRABO and DIODORU.
The name Palestine was called, in the Roman age on all the holy lands and became an official term since Hadrian time.

The truth, as Wikipedia says, is that "The term was first officially used to describe all the Land of Palestine Roman domination of the Hebrew nation. The Romans changed the region's name from Judaea in order to historically disconnect the Jews from their land as punishment for their rebellion against Roman imperialism.^[1] Jerusalem was also re-named to Aelia Capitolina, but this name change did not succeed."

The use of this name was extensively spread in the Christian Church and it was mentioned in the reports of the Christian pilgrims. But in the Islamic time, Palestine was a part of Great Syria.

This is a rare admission that Muslims never considered Palestine to be anything other than a part of Southern Syria.

Semites :
Owing to remnants discoveries in Egypt and Iraq, the Semites were obviously the most ancient peoples known in Palestine. Since the fourth thousand B.C. they have been living on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.

As for religious part, the Semites-in origin- were the descendant tribes of Sam, the eldest son of Noah, peace be upon him. The original ancient population of Palestine were all Arabs, as they immigrated from Arab peninsula due to the drought. So they lived in their new homeland (Cana’an) for more than two thousand years before the appearance of Moses, the prophet, with his followers, on the scene.

This is known as the Winckler-Caetani theory, and it is by no means universally held, but it is convenient for the purposes of this "history."

Incidentally, Caetani wrote a massive critique of Islam which I don't think the Palestinian Arabs would be teaching in their schools any time soon.

Anyway, the rest of this "history" changes at will the idea that the Philistines or Canaanites are the forebears of today's Palestinian Arabs, whichever is convenient:

Cana’anites were famous in agriculture and industry and excelled in mining as well as in the industry of pottery, glass, textiles, clothes and architecture. Music, and literature were at the top of the Cana’an civilization, as no other sematic peoples were interested in arts and music as the Cana’anites. They derived much of their musical elements from various peoples from the ancient far east because the rites of Cana’anite worship were musically based. Therefore their musical instruments and tones spread throughout the Mediterranean areas.

Nobody can argue that Art and Literature are the symbols of civilization, so it is not strange-through the Israeli writings- to find out the strenuous efforts the Israelis have been exerting to allege they were the founders of the original civilization and the chanters, choristers and singers. They were actually delusive, but the great trusted historians, like (Bristed), in his description of the flourishing Cana’anite cities, which the Hebrews entered, that there were cities with comfortable luxurious houses, and industries, trade, writing, temples and the civilization, which were soon imitated by the primitive herdsmen Hebrews.

In fact, "The urban development of Canaan lagged considerably behind that of Egypt and Mesopotamia and even that of Syria."

They left their tents and imitated them in building houses. Furthermore, they took off the leathers, they wore in the desert, and instead, they put on the colored woolen clothes. After a period of time, one couldn’t differentiate between Cana’anites and Hebrews in appearance, though, since five thousand years (the start of written history) Palestine, until the British Mandate in 1920, knew only three languages; the Cana’anite firstly, the Aramite secondly, (the language the Christ spoke) and the Arabic thirdly.

Notice that this "history" easily refers to ancient Hebrews but purposefully ignores ancient Hebrew!

1200-550 B.C (Mameluke Age “Iron Age”):
At that time, Palestinians considered themselves as legal successors to the Egyptian Authority on Palestine so, they dominated most parts of Palestine. They were often called the population of the Palestinian coast because they founded a number of main cities, as; Gaza, Askalan, Asdod, Akeer, Tal Al Safi and others.

Here again they are calling Philistines "Palestinians," as they do here:

The Judges Age lasted for a century and a half. During this period twelve Judges, ruled country and the last one, was Samue’l. The Israelis agreed to enthrone Sha’al Ben Qays”- according to the Samuel’s advice- to be their king in order to unify their tribes, but he was killed in war with the Palestinians. David succeeded him in (1010) B.C. then Solomon followed in (971-931B.C). Contrary to his father, his period was a time of peace, not war. He was prudent and active in trade.

When king Solomon died, the exorbitant taxes he had imposed, because of the high luxury living he was known during his time were unbearable. By his death, the descendents of Israeli tribe exterminated when the Assyrians defeated them in (724 B.C) . At the time of (Nobukaz Nass’ar) the kaldans replaced the Assyrians and ruled Palestine.

Nowhere in this entire "history" is the Kingdom of Judah mentioned!

The entire purpose of this "history" is to fabricate an ancient "Palestinian" civilization and to erase any vestiges of Jewish life in the area that was not mentioned in the Quran.

There is plenty more in this seemingly official "history" going up to modern times, so this is only a small indication of the indoctrination that occurs in Palestinian Arab schools.

PalArab news roundup

Three Gazans were killed in yet another smuggling tunnel collapse in Rafah.

Fatah plans to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Yasir Arafat's death in Gaza. Not sure yet what Hamas thinks about it.

A "former" Al Aqsa Brigades terrorist was shot multiple times in Nablus.

Supreme Palestinian Judge Sheikh Tayseer At-Tamimi and two other members of the "Islamic Christian Front" gave a long list of grievances about how badly Arabs in Jerusalem are treated - things like inadequate schools and declining house sales in East Jerusalem. Simultaneously, Tamimi gave a fatwa forbidding Jerusalem Arabs from voting in the upcoming municipal elections. This way, they can complain all they want and not have to take any responsibility for it, whuch is pretty much their entire raison d'etre.

A teachers' union in Gaza accuses the PA of firing 300 Gaza teachers for security reasons.

Yesterday, French officials said that a letter was delivered to Gilad Shalit from his parents. Today, Hamas refuses to confirm or deny that they delivered the letter.

Press reports that the Muslim Brotherhood would recognize Israel within the 1948 borders were called "nonsense" by that organization.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count climbs to 205.

UPDATE: On Monday a 32-year old Palarab was found murdered in the West Bank. 206.

18 weeks in a row

For the eighteenth consecutive week, Palestinian Arabs managed to die violently by their own actions in higher numbers than those that were killed by Israel.

According to PCHR, one Palestinian Arab was killed by the IDF this week, from Thursday to Wednesday.

In that same time period, three Palestinian Arabs were violently killed - one "training accident", one murder, and one smuggling tunnel electrocution.

The score since the beginning of September is 47-6.

Whiplash-inducing headline of the day

From the ever-humorous Palestinian Arab Ma'an website:

Israeli peace activists throw Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers in Ni'lin

Newspeak is alive and well!

Today's Sharia News

Iranian authorities have confirmed that they will continue to apply the death penalty to minors.

Deputy prosecutor general Hossein Zebhi told a newspaper that under Sharia law only a murder victim's family could commute a death sentence.
He had suggested last week that judges were being told to stop imposing the death penalty on young offenders.
Iran has been widely condemned for being one of the few remaining nations to execute offenders aged under 18.
Amnesty International says at least six youths have been executed in Iran this year alone.
Mr Zebhi was quoted by the daily Etemad-e Melli newspaper as saying: "The principle of retribution... is not up to the government, rather it is up to the private plaintiff."
"Only if the next of kin give their consent can there be a reduction in the punishment," he added.
Critics say Iran's practice of handing down the death penalty to juvenile offenders - those aged under 18 at the time of the crime - is explicitly banned by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Tehran is a signatory.
Many convicted juvenile offenders have been on death row for years, as negotiations continue over whether victims' families will accept blood money - cash to avoid execution.

In Saudi Arabia, foreigners who work there are playing Russian roulette as to whether they will be found guilty of a crime that has the death penalty.

On Oct. 14, Amnesty International issued its latest warning on Saudi Arabia where "poor foreign workers are literally paying with their lives when accused of capital crimes".
"The death penalty is not only applied unfairly and in a secretive manner, it is discriminatory and used against those who are least able to access their rights. It is little more than a macabre lottery whose consequences, for many, are lethal," Amnesty said.
Three days earlier, three Sri Lankans were sentenced by a Saudi court to public execution for allegedly killing a Yemeni national. Eight others, including two Sri Lankan women allegedly working for the Yemeni as prostitutes, were also sentenced to jail terms and floggings for being linked to the same crime.
All have the right of appeal -- if they can raise the tens of thousands of dollars needed to hire a local law firm to take on their cases.
The average rate of executions in Saudi Arabia is currently two a week. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed more than 143 people, a highly disproportionate number of whom were foreigners.
Pardons for foreign workers in Saudi Arabia are rare, one for every 30 executions. Saudi citizens are eight times more likely to get one, according to Amnesty.

Malaysia's religious authorities just banned women from wearing men's clothing as well as lesbianism:

According to the chairman of the National Fatwa Council, Abdul Shukor Husin, many young women admire the way men dress and behave, which is a denial of their femininity and a violation of human nature.
"It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear," he complained, adding, "(Masculine behaviour) becomes clearer when they start to have sex with someone of the same gender, that is woman and woman."

"In view of this," Dr Abdul explained, "the National Fatwa Council which met today have decided and taken the stand that such acts are forbidden and banned."

Don't worry, though - these cases represent only a tiny minority of Muslims. I'm sure the vast majority will be putting political and religious pressure on their co-religionists real soon now

The Phillies, Obama and Israel

I became a Phillies fan when the Philadelphia Phillies were pretty much the worst team in baseball.

In 1972, the Phillies ended up in last place in their division. Their lineup consisted of forgettable players who I was enamored with, like Roger Freed and Denny Doyle in the starting lineup.

The Phillies' ugly 59-97 record is most remarkable because a full 27 of those wins were due to a single pitcher, Steve Carlton, who racked up an amazing 27-10 record that season with an inept team. If it wasn't for Carlton, this team may have indeed been the worst ever. (And I remember being incensed after the 1971 season when the Phillies traded my favorite pitcher, Rick Wise, to St. Louis for Carlton, now recognized as one of the most lopsided trades in history.)

It is easy to be a Phillies fan today, as they are leading the World Series. It was much harder to be a fan in the early 1970s.

It is likewise easy in today's political environment to be considered "pro-Israel." Forgetting the infamous "Israel lobby," any US politician can easily claim to be pro-Israel. This is because positions that would have been considered anti-Israel only a few years ago have morphed into Israeli policy under the Kadima banner.

The idea that a Palestinian Arab state would somehow automatically bring peace, the idea that Israel is the only party that needs to make permanent concessions, the idea that the Saudi "peace plan" is seriously worth considering, the idea that Israel must give up the strategic Golan Heights on the one border that has been the most peaceful since 1973, the idea that abandoning the Shebaa Farms will magically make Hezbollah love Israel, the idea of talking with Syria, the idea of dividing Jerusalem, the idea of willingly giving up almost all major Jewish shrines - all considered patently ridiculous by mainstream Israeli politicians of all persuasions in relatively recent times - are now considered sacrosanct. The ideas of Israel's loony left have been co-opted as mainstream by a government that has no mandate, no support, and utter disregard for the wishes of ordinary Israelis.

If the Government of Israel holds these positions, how can they be considered anti-Israeli?

Israel's government has adopted the worldview of the European Left that "occupation" is the primary evil in the region and that surrendering land will inevitably bring peace. Giving Gaza to Hamas brought unprecedented (albeit temporary) levels of support from Europe - and unprecedented numbers of rockets to Sderot. Israel's reclaiming of victim status boosted its popularity among those who feel that strength is inherently immoral.

In such an environment, it is easy to claim to be pro-Israel while advocating positions that would seriously erode Israel's security and virtually eliminate Jewish sovereignty over her own holiest sites.

But as in baseball, the true test of friendship is how one acts when the other party is not so popular.

Every poll for the past couple of years shows that Likud, not Kadima, would win a general election. And Likud is not considered a "winner" in the eyes of the world. On the contrary, the word "Likud" conjures up adjectives that the media has hammered into the world's consciousness - adjectives like "hard-line," "intransigent," and "hawkish." To be pro-Likud, according to conventional wisdom, is to be against peace.

The question isn't which candidate for president supports the Israeli policies that are designed to appeal to world public opinion. It is which candidate would support the Israeli policies that a democratic Israel would support.

The answer to this question is certainly not Barack Obama.

Obama started his political career as highly supportive of an "even-handed" policy between a democratic, peace-thirsty state and people who to this day overwhelmingly support terror attacks. His friendships with radical Palestinian Arab intellectuals are well documented. Only when Obama considered running for national office did his public positions tilt towards Israel. As the co-founder of Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah says:

Over the years since I first saw Obama speak I met him about half a dozen times, often at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago including a May 1998 community fundraiser at which Edward Said was the keynote speaker. In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor. On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of US policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing.

As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front." He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, "Keep up the good work!"

In an unguarded moment, Obama stated what he felt about the Likud in February:

This is where I get to be honest and I hope I’m not out of school here. I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt a unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel and that can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have a honest dialogue about how do we achieve these goals, then we’re not going to make progress. And frankly some of the commentary that I’ve seen which suggests guilt by association or the notion that unless we are never ever going to ask any difficult questions about how we move peace forward or secure Israel that is non military or non belligerent or doesn’t talk about just crushing the opposition that that somehow is being soft or anti-Israel, I think we’re going to have problems moving forward.

In this quote, Obama betrays his opinion that the Likud - the party that orchestrated the peace treaty with Egypt - is purely militaristic and warmongering.

How would he act towards a Likud government, a very real possibility? His statement indicates that his "pro-Israel" posture is one that conveniently follows the liberal ideas that the only obstacle to peace is Israeli reticence to give back more and more land.

Yes, it is easy to say that you are pro-Israel when the Israeli government has been acting out of the same fear of terrorism as the EU, but how will he act when an Israeli government returns to power that is willing to fight terrorism, despite the criticism of the media and liberals? When Obama reportedly said that "the Israelis must be crazy not to accept" the Saudi "peace plan" that would turn Israel back into a nine-mile wide strip of land, where Ben Gurion Airport and Tel Aviv would be in Qassam rocket range, perhaps it may be considered "pro-Israel" in context of the reprehensible policies of Kadima, but is it pro-Israel according to the majority of Israel's citizens?

I have no problem with people rooting for the Phillies today who have hated them in the past, but I would not call those people "friends of the Phillies." They would just be considered opportunists, not friends. And that is how Barack Obama appears when it comes to Israel.

The US gave $700M to PA this year - so far

From IHT:

The U.S. has transferred $150 million to the Palestinians, exceeding its original pledge of aid to the moderate Palestinian government in the West Bank.
U.S. consul General Jake Walles says Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad asked for the additional assistance last month to help with the Palestinian budget.

A statement from the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem says American aid to the Palestinians in 2008 now totals over $700 million and exceeds the amount the U.S. pledged at a donors conference in December 2007.

We have already seen that 60% of the PA budget goes to Gaza, where Hamas benefits from the world's largess towards Palestinian Arabs.

So this year the US has effectively given Hamas $420 million this year.

Condoleeza must be so proud!

Do you think that any of the people who pretend to care about US aid to Israel are going to complain when huge amounts are given to Israel's enemies?

Murder of an 86-year old: "Heroic operation"

Palestine Today, a newspaper associated with Islamic Jihad, shows unanimous praise for this morning's terrorist murder of an 86-year old man in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem.

A number of Palestinian factions agreed unanimously that the Gilo attack in the occupied city of Jerusalem carried out by a Palestinian from the city of Bethlehem that it comes within the framework of the natural response to Israeli crimes which have increased in recent times against our people in the city of Acre, and the right of the occupied city of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The factions blessed this heroic operation to "Palestine Today," which comes to confirm that all security measures taken by the occupation authorities in the occupied West Bank and the city of Jerusalem will not discourage resistance to reach its objectives, nor will it discourage our people from the lifting of oppression and injustice themselves.

Daoud Shihab, leader of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, said the Jerusalem attack was a natural reaction to crimes of the occupation in the city of Jerusalem and other towns and villages in the occupied West Bank.

For its part, Hamas considered the incident to be a natural response to occupation practices in the city of Jerusalem itself.

The movement spokesman Ayman Taha said attempts by the occupation government and troops to deter resistance and the displacement of the population of Jerusalem and annex land to build settlements are doomed to fail, to the insistence of the Palestinians to continue resistance and jihad.

He added: "The occupation authorities take repressive measures every day against the population of the city of Jerusalem before and after a heroic operation, while noting that such measures will not discourage our people to continue in the path of resistance and liberation."

The Popular Resistance Committees said the heroic Gilo attackcame after increased Judaization of Jerusalem, and building Jewish synagogues in the Al-Aqsa mosque.

PRC spokesman Abu Mujahid said that any Palestinian and Muslim can not afford to see Msarri Allah bless him and the Jews, and defiles, adding that the process of "Gilo" came to make sure that a popular uprising against the occupation and the policy of arrogance is still on the table and will address all repressive measures in Jerusalem and the occupied city of Acre.

Abu Mujahid said that the occupation does not stop their continuing psychological war after each operation in occupied Jerusalem and threatening the demolition of houses and the withdrawal of citizenship and the displacement of the population, stressing that this war will not stop and heroic martyrdom operations may hit everywhere and at any time.

I commented in July about how the world doesn't consider it strange that Arabs consider murder to be "natural."

Terror attack in Jerusalem; Ma'an gets facts backwards

There was a terror attack this morning in Jerusalem where an Arab stabbed a policeman and a 86-year old man. The terrorist was shot by the injured policeman, and he then stabbed the older man to death before being arrested.

The Palestinian Arab news outlet Ma'an, naturally, gets the basic facts wrong. For the past hour both its Arabic and English sites are still saying that the attacker was shot to death by Israeli police, and its adds some more fanciful fiction as well:

Israeli police then shot the attacker, killing him. One eyewitness reported that the man was detained before he was shot.

Even the version updated at 12:50 PM does not include the fact that the victim died, which was reported an hour beforehand, nor that the attacker is still alive in serious condition but conscious.

Providing yet another example of how even the most Westernized of Palestinian Arab media is filled with baldfaced lies.

Jordanian poet arrested for apostasy

That moderate Arab friend of ours, Jordan, has just arrested a poet for "apostasy" two weeks after Jordan's Grand Mufti declared the artist as an "enemy of Islam."

The poet, 27-year old Islam Samhan, published a collection of his poems eight months ago. Only recently has this been noticed by the Grand Mufti, and Jordan now says that this publication was "illegal" as every published work must be registered with Jordan's Press and Publication Department. Samhan claims that it was registered.

All this comes as something of a surprise to Samhan, whose book, In a Slim Shadow, published eight months ago, is a collection of his best work over the past decade. The ministry of culture even bought 50 copies.

The offensive poems include:

One that compares the poet's loneliness to that of the biblical Joseph, called Yusuf in the Quran. (This one is the one that caught the Mufti's attention.)

In a second, Samhan has a character address God, which his critics say personifies God.

In another the woman is talking to God while lying beneath a see-through sheet. Samhan said he was referring to the gods of Greek mythology.

Again, this is not Saudi Arabia or Iran. This is the Jordan that is often described in the Western media as "cosmopolitan" with a thriving nightlife - and a plethora of massage parlors.

It is instructive that the Mufti made his accusations weeks ago, on literature published months ago, after the author has publicly read from his works to acclaim. Jordan's authorities clearly felt pressure from the religious establishment to cave to 7th century theocratic mores.

PalArab news roundup

An Islamic Jihad terrorist was accidentally killed during "training exercises" in Gaza.

A mortar was shot from Gaza to Israel on Tuesday night.

Hamas claims to have stopped an assassination attempt again one of their leaders in Gaza. "Unknown persons" tried to set a remote-controlled bomb near the leader's house.

A union leader says that Hamas has so far closed some 450 medical clinics in Gaza since the doctor strike started a couple of months ago. Still no word from Doctors Without Borders.

A breakaway Fatah movement has started in Syria called Fatah Uprising. Not surprisingly, this wing of the Fatah movement rejects all attempts at a peaceful resolution.

There is a tomato shortage in the West Bank. The reason? Jews were buying West Bank tomatoes at higher prices for the Sukkot holiday, tripling the prices. Even when Palestinian Arab farmers get rich from Jews, the story at Ma'an gets twisted as if Jews are forcing Palestinian Arab families to starve.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now 202.

It looks like Rice really did praise Hamas

In a story that I've been following for nearly two weeks, it appears that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice may have really sent a message to Hamas that praised them for their actions. From Al Jazeera:

The US state department has denied that Condoleezza Rice, the country's secretary of state, sent a message to Hamas' senior political adviser praising the Palestinian movement for its halt in firing rockets into Israel.

The so-called "verbal communication" between the US and Khaled Meshaal is said to have been received this month through mediators visiting the Gaza Strip.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas spokesman, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the message also stated US support for the inter-Palestinian dialogue mediated by Egypt.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said Hamas is not denying that communications with the US have taken place.

However, the organisation has said that they have not received anything official from the US, she said.

"I would like to inform you that your maintenance of the ceasefire is an absolute Palestinian interest and will be for the benefit of the people of Gaza and of course Hamas, which seized control of the strip," Rice was quoted by Ma'an, a Palestinian news agency, as saying.

"I would also like to commend the measures you have taken to protect the borders with Israel and prevent extremist terrorists from launching rockets at the south of the Jewish state," the message continued.

"I feel it is important for Hamas to be ready to renounce terrorism and to seriously consider living peacefully in two states, side by side in peace and security, allowing both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to live in peace and prosperity.

"I hope this can be the beginning of greater communication with Hamas, after your assimilation into the negotiation process and acceptance of the Quartet committee's demands."

Abu Marzouk said that Hamas considers the message a "recognition" of its existence, although the US still labels Hamas as a "terrorist" organisation.

Ahmed Youssef, a senior political adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed Palestinian prime minister and a key Hamas member, told the Al Ahram newspaper that the message does not herald a massive change in the current relationship between Hamas and the US.

"It certainly reflects the US administration's sense that the justifications upon which it has long grounded its antagonism towards Hamas and the Palestinian resistance are crumbling," he said.
According to Al Ahram, a source in the Haniyeh government said that communications have been taking place for more than a year between his government and the office of Tony Blair, the Quartet's Midde East envoy.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, the former Palestinian foreign minister from Hamas, confirmed that Hamas had received a message from Rice.

But "this cannot be regarded as a turning point in relations between the US administration and Hamas", he said.

Odeh said these messages are not new.

"Previous US administrations have constantly tried to nudge isolated political parties into mainstream politics," she said.

"It also indicates that the US government cannot deny the influence of Hamas in the region."

The US denials do not ring true - calling it "unofficial" gives plausible deniability - and the contents sound like State Department-speak to make this sound legit.

One more holiday

Home stretch on the holidays - here in the Diaspora we have two more days, for Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

Play nicely and have a good Yom Tov! I hope to be back Wednesday night.

Iran fears "spy pigeons"

From AFP (h/t Global Freezing):

Security forces in Natanz have arrested two suspected "spy pigeons" near Iran's controversial uranium enrichment facility, the reformist Etemad Melli newspaper reported on Monday.
One of the pigeons was caught near a rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, the report cited an unnamed informed source as saying, adding that some metal rings and invisible strings were attached to the bird.
"Early this month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings," the source was quoted as saying of the second pigeon.
The source gave no further description of the pigeons, neither their current status nor what their fate will be.

Good job, Zionist psy-ops! While you send the obvious pigeons to be caught, the real nano-technology spy gnats are gathering up petabytes of information!

Open thread

Here is how the New York Times described the current Jewish holidays in 1897. (Click to enlarge.)

Somewhat better than the 1902 description in this Colorado newspaper!

Odds and ends (updated)

Self-death number 200: An 18-year old Palestinian Arab was electrocuted in a tunnel Saturday night.

Flying pig moment: Ha'aretz quotes residents of Judea and Samaria in saying that Palestinian Arabs destroy their own olive groves and blame it on settlers:

"They benefit twice," he said. "Cutting the trees down benefits the groves, and they also benefit financially because the damage supposedly was caused by settlers."

Lieberman also recalled how leftists "torpedoed" an agreement between residents of the Itamar settlement and their Arab neighbors.

"Village representatives would have gone to the community and, along with Itamar residents, evaluated the crops' yield, and determined the sum Palestinians would receive for the harvest. The extreme left prevented this," he said.

Lieberman admits, however, that the so-called "hilltop youth" of the surrounding outposts often clash with the farmers.

"If we don't protect the individual rights of the Palestinians, our neighbors we will break our hold and our roots in Judea and Samaria. We have an interest in maintaining what belongs to them, and what belongs to us. They are human beings, and we must deal with them as with human beings," he said.

Orit Struk, the head of Judea and Samaria Human Rights Group, said the media's treatment of confrontations between settlers and Palestinians is hypocritical.

"More than a year ago we released a document describing hundreds of instances of Palestinians harming Jewish farmers and their property. The media wasn't interested at all, and the police weren't exactly excited either," she said.

Proving once again that Israeli "extremists" are people who want to live in peace with their neighbors, and Palestinian Arab "extremists" are people who want to blow up their Jewish neighbors.

Two PalArab women tried to commit suicide.

First there were reports that Condi Rice sent a message to Hamas praising them for the "calm," then Hamas denied it. Now Hamas says she did send a message through Arab foreign ministers, but not to praise them, apparently.

UPDATE:

Al-Azhar University is closing for the third time in a week because Hamas is attacking people there with bombs and guns. Ho hum.

A man in his twenties was found dead in Gaza of multiple gunshot wounds. Must be the Zionists' fault! (The 2008 PalArab self-death count rises to 201.)

And here's the latest news from "Jewish extremists," according to Firas Press:

They tried to go to the Temple Mount armed with - shudder - prayerbooks!

How extreme can you get?

Hello, world. Yahooers have noticed me.

Although I can't find any links, apparently Yahoo decided to link my critique of a Reuters article yesterday to many news articles today, bringing a couple of thousand of new readers. You can see some of them commented on the piece, some making more sense than others.

One of them caught my eye, because he copied my entire posting onto his blog as well. (He also commented.) In his blog, he doesn't bother to answer any of my points, apparently assuming that his audience will understand that I am a complete idiot just from my own words. He only comments with this unassailable logic:

Israel has to be the biggest nation of self-indulgent whiners, narcissists and gun wielding paranoid thugs on the planet.
And delusional to boot.

Sure enough, his audience rises to the occasion, with his first commenter posting this brilliant analysis:

Ok folks, i don't like to boast about myself a lot, because i like to be as humble as i can, i am not smart, nor a scientist nor a psychologist. However i think that am a very instinct-oriented person, and my instincts and senses tell me that Israelites want to control a great part of the world, if not the whole world.

He also has a graphic on his site to boycott Israeli goods and claiming that you can tell what products are made in Israel by UPC code, which even Muslim boycotters have found out is simply not true. But since he defines himself as being part of a "fact based reality" I suppose that this is irrelevant.

Anyway, this person also threw in this gem in his comment:

Funny, but I can't help but to remember that before Israel came into existence, the US had NO enemies in the ME.

Which is really funny, because the US had enemies in the Middle East since the 18th century!

Reuters again trivializes Israel's security concerns

More anti-Israel bias from Reuters, from a couple of days ago:

Filet mignon menu brightens fearsome West Bank wall

It might be a while before some future U.S. president prevails on Israel to "tear down this wall," so Palestinian restaurateur Joseph Hazboon printed his menu on it instead...in waterproof colors.
When Israel ran a towering concrete "security barrier" past the window of the Hazboon family's Bethlehem property a few years ago, it seemed liked the kiss of death commercially.

But Hazboon, 35, hit on the idea of transforming what was now a highly undesirable location into a lucrative attraction.

He renamed the place "The Wall Lounge" and, judging by the results, the setting is surprisingly popular with tourists.
...The barrier is made of razor wire-tipped fences, walls of the sort that block the sound from motorways, and mightier sections of concrete panels similar to those that East Germany once used to seal off the West, complete with watchtowers.
...Like the Berlin Wall, which Ronald Reagan famously demanded be torn down, the Israeli barrier has attracted artists, poets, spraypaint taggers and jokers, whose colorful works take some of the menace out of its hard gray concrete slabs.

Reuters again downplays Israeli reasons for building the fence, putting "security barrier" in scare quotes as if that could hardly be the reason Israel built the wall.

And taking its cue from the worst Israel bashers, Reuters explicitly compares the barrier to the Berlin Wall, when it is the exact opposite. The Berlin Wall was built by communist East Germany to stop East Germans from defecting to the West; the people it was meant to stop were the people seeking freedom. The people that Israel's barrier is meant to stop are terrorists. The barrier, over 90% of which is a fence, is meant to keep bad people out, not good people in. The sections that are concrete also help stop Palestinian Arab snipers from targeting Israeli citizens.

The comparison to the Berlin Wall is odious and obscene, and the positive results of the barrier are undeniable. In the three years before and while Israel started building the fence (2001-2003) about 450 Israelis were murdered in suicide bombing attacks alone; in the three years from 2005-2007 the number went down to 41. In 2002 alone the number of suicide bomb victims was 220; if it wasn't for the barrier and other Israeli countermeasures that are also roundly criticized there is no reason to think that we wouldn't be seeing hundreds such deaths every year.

As usual, the wire service trivializes Israeli security concerns - and real-life examples of the hundreds of lives that have been saved - and emphasizes the undeniable but comparatively minimal inconvenience to Palestinian Arabs that the barrier brings. (It also happens to be inconvenient to many Israelis, as are the checkpoints that Israelis have to endure in their daily lives when going to malls and other popular bombing targets, but that will never be reported.)

It would have been possible for Reuters to report on Joseph Hazboon's restaurant and his use of the wall in an accurate, fair and entertaining manner without its clear bias against legitimate Israeli security concerns. But why would Reuters want to do that?

Reuters blames Israel, again

Here's today's textbook example of Reuters' bias:

Harvesting olives is a laborious process, not made easier if teargas is drifting over the groves as it does most Fridays here in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli-Palestinian clashes are almost ritual.

Since this is the first paragraph of the article, it sets the tone for the piece: Israelis fire tear gas and Palestinian Arab farmers therefore cannot harvest their crops.

One has to read the entire article, and parse out the bias, to see the truth.

"This happens two or three times a week maybe. But with an emphasis on Fridays," says Ram Kaho, an Israeli border police officer whose squad of 40 patrols one of the many fault-lines on the tense interface between the two communities.

Kaho's sector is where the Jewish settlement of Hashmonaim rubs up close to the Arab village of Nilin -- soon to be cut off by the barrier Israel is building in the valley between.

So Reuters is saying that the problem is both Jews having the audacity of living near Arabs, which is of course considered provocative, and Jews wanting to separate from Arabs with a fence, which is considered a violation of international law. Either way, the Arabs can't be blamed for anything.

"This is an especially difficult place," he says. "In relation to other places we have lots of injuries. So it's a very problematic area."

Injuries? From what? Reuters has not yet told us. The only people at fault mentioned so far are Jews, so perhaps they are injuring themselves?

Israeli settlements on occupied land in the West Bank are perhaps the most contentious issue in the way of a peace settlement with the Palestinians ending decades of conflict.

This has been repeated so often that most people cannot notice the obvious absurdity: settlements don't stop peace; terrorism is what stops peace. Before the current Intifada, Israelis and Palestinian Arabs visited each other, shopped in each others' villages, and worked together, and the settlements weren't a factor in real-life interactions.

The Nilin clashes have been going on for about a year.

Again, we have yet to be told what exactly happens in these "clashes."

In 2004, the World Court in The Hague ruled that Israel's proposed 720-km (430-mile) barrier on occupied Palestinian land -- begun in 2002 -- was illegal.

Israel says the barrier, a mix of wire fence and concrete walls, keeps suicide bombers out of its cities.

But why believe them? Just because the number of successful suicide bombings has decreased dramatically since the barrier was started? Nah, it is just an unverified claim. And why should Israel's claim that lives are being saved be more important than a non-binding court ruling?

When Kaho's police hear the Friday Muslim call to prayer from the hill opposite, they brace for action. They are sure that as soon as prayers are over, some Palestinians backed by international activist supporters, will begin throwing rocks.

Rocks? Who said anything about rock throwing? No, in Reuters' universe, the (potentially lethal) rocks that are thrown at Israelis is in paragraph 9, but the (non-lethal) tear gas that Israel shoots in return is in paragraph 1. Causality is a bit less than obvious.

...Half-way up the hill, a couple of young Palestinian men and their father perch on ladders, stripping blue-black olives from a tree onto canvasses spread on the ground below.

They seem oblivious of the flying whiz and exploding pop of tear-gas canisters just up the slope. But the breeze soon blows acrid fumes over the small stony terrace of ochre soil where they are working.

Would anyone even dare to suggest that if the protesters would stop throwing rocks that perhaps there wouldn't be any tear gas? Or is the IDF more active against the olive harvesters?

"There would be more of us here harvesting, normally, but the soldiers make us go away. And we send our young kids home," said one of the men, who declined to give his name.

Ah, we have someone here saying that Israel stops the olive pickers. Sometimes. Although not when any reporter is around.

The protesters are no match for the Israelis, who have automatic weapons and armoured jeeps. Three Palestinians have been shot dead in the West Bank over the past four days, for aiming firebombs at troops, the army says.

The first sentence implies that only Israel uses deadly force and sets up the "David and Goliath" myth. The second sentence follows through, saying that Israel kills protesters, only incidentally mentioning that the "protesters" had deadly weapons themselves. The entire paragraph is structured to make Israel look as aggressive as possible and to give it no reason to defend itself against firebombs - perhaps because the IDF has jeeps?

"Here we really, really try to avoid any use of lethal force," says Kaho. He relies on an arsenal of gas and stun grenades, or "shock weapons" as he calls them, to keep the stone-throwing attackers at bay.

Here we start to get a little balance - when most readers have already moved to the comics page. The major part of the article demonizing Israel is finished, now Reuters can pretend to be fair. Allow that Israel tries to avoid using lethal force after accusing Israel of killing protesters for little reason.

The olive harvesters are allowed to get on with their work but when the protesters mingle among them "we start to worry".

You mean that the protesters - many from nowhere near the area - are perhaps the problem? You mean that the Palestinian Arab farmers would be allowed to harvest their olives without any problem if it wasn't for these outside troublemakers who encourage stone throwing and firebombs? Would real journalists perhaps try to expand upon this just a little bit?

Nah - that would place blame on someone other than Israel, and that just is not an acceptable position for this article. Move along, nothing to see here.

Many facts are here in this article, but Reuters skillfully highlights some and backpedals others to give an impression that is opposite the truth. Not that this is a great piece of writing anyway; it meanders between the tear gas, the olive pickers and the barrier, and it ignores the protesters almost completely. Since this is a "feature" article one would expect it to be a bit more expansive and organized, but that would defeat the theme of Israel's culpability.

Gaza tunnels exposed!

Every journalist and their brothers have been filing stories from the Gaza tunnel industry, so the Islamic Jihad-leaning Palestine Today joined the party.

After a number of photographs of two masked men transporting their booty from Egypt to Gaza, we finally get a chance to see what life-saving goods they brought for the starving Gazans stuck in their concentration-camp conditions. Medicines? Wheat? Rice?

Let's look a little closer....

So this is what they are starving for! The great taste of Gotcha!, a big hit of wafer layers, delicious caramel and crispy cereals in real milk chocolate!

Gotcha! - the official candy bar of Gaza tunnel rats!

Sony submits to Islam

From VentureBeat:

Sony has been touting LittleBigPlanet as one of its biggest holiday release titles. But the company announced it would delay the worldwide launch, which had been scheduled for Oct. 24, because one of the background music tracks in the game might be offensive to Muslims.
The company’s European games division put out a statement that said that the music, licensed from a record label, has “two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an.” It also apologizes for any offense. I’ve actually got a finished copy of the game and so it’s clear that Sony had already been moving ahead with manufacturing of disks for the launch. Now it will have to create new disks without the music.

That’s a big setback for Sony. game promises to be a mass market hit because of its appeal to both hardcore gamers. It isn’t clear when the new disks will be ready for launch. The game has a very high rank on GameRankings.com, which aggregates review scores, of 94.5 percent. It is the highest ranked recent game on the list.

The song in question can be downloaded from iTunes, as it is freely available and was sung by a devout Muslim. Although it has been out for a while, it had never been criticized before.

The original letter complaining to Sony about these lyrics can be found here:

To: Sony Computer Entertainment & Media Molecule

While playing your latest game, "LittleBigPlanet" in the first level of the third world in the game (titled "Swinging Safari"), I have noticed something strange in the lyrics of the music track of the level. When I listened carefully, I was surprised to hear some very familiar Arabic words from the Quran. You can listen to part of the track here:

http://mt14.quickshareit.com/share/preview/soundclip22503c0.wav

The words are:

1- In the 18th second: "كل نفس ذائقة الموت" ("kollo nafsin tha'iqatol mawt", literally: 'Every soul shall have the taste of death').

2- Almost immediately after, in the 27th second: "كل من عليها فان" ("kollo man alaiha fan", literally: 'All that is on earth will perish').

I asked many of my friends online and offline and they heard the exact same thing that I heard easily when I played that part of the track. Certain Arabic hardcore gaming forums are already discussing this, so we decided to take action by emailing you before this spreads to mainstream attention.

We Muslims consider the mixing of music and words from our Holy Quran deeply offending. We hope you would remove that track from the game immediately via an online update, and make sure that all future shipments of the game disk do not contain it.

We would also like to mention that this isn't the first time something like this happened in videogames. Nintendo's 1998 hit "Zelda: Ocarina of Time" contained a musical track with islamic phrases, but it was removed in later shipments of the game after Nintendo was contacted by Muslim organizations. Last year, Capcom's "Zack & Wiki" and Activision's "Call of Duty 4" also contained objectionable material offensive to Muslims that was spotted before the release of the final games, and both companies thankfully removed the content.

It is remarkable that the gaming industry, which has no concerns about offending anyone else with ultra-violent and sexual scenes in its games, is suddenly so sensitive to one segment of the population.

Would lyrics that are offensive to Jews or Christians or Hindus (or blondes, disabled people, the French or any other group you can name) have caused Sony to pull a highly-anticipated and fully ready game from release? I doubt it highly.

So why is Sony so uniquely sensitive to Muslim sensibilities? The unstated reason is obvious: because none of the other groups have a history of threatening the lives of those who offend them.

Islam has managed to force the world to submit to its dictates because a significant number of its adherents firmly believe that those who hurt their feelings must be killed.