Thursday, December 11, 2008

  • Thursday, December 11, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
An op-ed in Le Monde, written by a former French official, shows that there are still plenty of very stupid people in Europe:
Hamas is known as as "terrorist" or "resistant", the movement has become the central part of the dispute with Israel. The Islamist movement, this durable, politically and socially in the territories, will partner in the peace process.

I stayed in Gaza twice during which I met the political leadership of Hamas. I came away with the impression that the Islamist movement continues its transformation began in 2005 through its participation in municipal elections, then legislative elections in 2006 he won everything provided by membership in response to the failure of the Palestinian Authority and corruption which undermines Fatah. This commitment in the electoral process that previously excluded in the name of Islamic ideology has created tensions within the movement and is now considered anathema to Al Qaeda.

Since then, Hamas has evolved significantly in terms of ideology. It no longer refers to its charter inspired Islamist radical nor does the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews, but contains anti-Semitic references on the topic of global conspiracy that would have created the Hebrew state. When we suggest the abolition of the charter (written in 1987), leaders of the movement say that it "was not adopted by a Hamas" and that "only references are the platform and the election policy, "presented by Ismail Haniyeh during his investiture by the Palestinian parliament in January 2006.

Reading these two texts confirms the movement's ideological evolution in a more Islamist nationalism. The failure of national unity government in March 2007 and control by force the territory of Gaza in June led by radical Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, did not upset this trend .

The Europeans have put three conditions: renouncing violence, accepting past agreements between the PLO and recognition of the State of Israel. This is the dogma that closes any prospect....

You see? Murderers from Hamas told a French diplomat that they really don't hate the blood-sucking Jews, that their still-extant charter is not really very important, and that Haniyeh is just a cuddly teddy bear - so why shouldn't he believe them?

And how dare the stupid EU insist that Hamas recognize Israel, accept past agreements and renounce terror! That's just crazy talk, meant to punish the wonderful people of Hamas, and utterly unrealistic. Hamas is plenty moderate already - to ask them to stop murdering women and children is just humiliation!

When you are already infected with vile misozionistic or anti-semitic tendencies, the tiniest whispers of "moderation" take on huge new meanings and the pesky counterproofs are dismissed. For an example of the latter, here is what a cleric said on Hamas' own TV channel last month:

The Koran warns against the hostility of the Jews, whom it presents as the worst enemies of the Muslims: "You will find that the people strongest in enmity for those who believe are the Jews and the polytheists."

This verse exemplifies how deeply rooted is the Jewish enmity toward Islam and the Muslims. The fire of hatred was ignited in their hearts, when they realized that the Prophet who was sent was not one of their own. Beforehand, "they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieve," but when he was sent, they denied him. Therefore, the Prophet waged a lengthy Jihad against them, which continues to this day, and will continue until the day of their annihilation, Allah willing.

The Jews are known to be treacherous
. They murdered their own prophets. Ibn Mas'oud said: The Israelites would kill 300 Prophets in a single day, and then they would go shopping for vegetables. After killing 300 men, they would go to the market, as if nothing happened. Ibn Mas'oud said that the Israelites killed 43 Prophets in a single hour, first thing in the morning. When 170 Israelites enjoined the killers to be virtuous and to refrain from vice, they were all killed in a single hour at the end of the day. Killing comes naturally to them. We're talking about a time when they didn't possess the enormous military arsenal that they have today. All they had were swords. When the Prophet Muhammad went to Al-Madina... We don't harbor hatred toward anyone. We are hostile to the Jews only because they occupied our land and defiled our holy places. That's why we declared war against them.

We are honored to be the spearhead in defense of the honor of the Arab and Islamic nation in the face of these apes and pigs. This, however, does not exempt the Arabs from their responsibility, about which Allah will reckon with them on the Day of Judgment.
You see, since Hamas leaders didn't quote these words to him verbatim, and the words that they have written down that say the same thing were written in 1987, our brilliant writer just knows, deep in his heart, that Hamas doesn't agree with what it shows on the TV stations it owns and controls. We just need to show a little more trust with the terrorists, to understand them a bit better, to read their minds and between their words to know that they are really moderates who shout their Jew-hatred only to keep up appearances.

Don't believe what they say to their own people dozens of times a day - believe what they tell a gullible French sycophant who is just itching to show that he is relevant.

  • Thursday, December 11, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Folly #1:

Yesterday, the UN gave out a series of Human Rights Prizes, an event that happens every five years. One of the recipients is Ramsay Clark, who has been described as "the war criminal's best friend," for defending Nazi murderers, PLO terrorists (in the Leon Klinghoffer lawsuit), Slobodan Milošević, and Saddam Hussein.

Folly #2:

The current General Assembly President, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, upon learning that Israel's ambassador to the UN would be speaking on Human Rights Day as the rotating representative of Western nations, tried to stop her speech. When Europeans objected strongly, he decided to add speakers who are openly hostile to Israel.

This same person hugged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he visited the UN, and has called for a
global campaign of "boycott, divestment, and sanctions" against Israel. He has never publicly condemned Hamas rocket attacks aganst Israel.

Folly #3:

In yesterday's UN press conference, the General Assembly President's spokesperson made very clear that Brockmann is attempting to restructure the UN so that the General Assembly resolutions become mandatory, not recommendations, thus rendering the Security Council ineffective and turning the UN into an even bigger joke than it already is, as it would be utterly hijacked by despotic regimes.
  • Thursday, December 11, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
A 22-year old died from injuries he received in a tunnel fire under Rafah three days ago.

Israel is sending some 110 trucks of aid to Gaza today, marking the third day in a row that humanitarian aid is allowed to Gaza. This despite a Qassam rocket yesterday and a mortar the day before shot from Gaza to Israel.

Iran claims that they are sending a ship to Gaza.

And here are some pictures of poor, oppressed, starving Gaza kids celebrating Eid al Adha. Since the pictures were a little too happy, the photographer made sure he framed a picture to make it look like the amusement park was inside a prison.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 218.
  • Thursday, December 11, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Here are some stories in the world press that you may have missed:

Rachel Ehrenfeld and Samuel Abady write the best case against Islamic ("sharia") banking I have seen yet, in the Washington Times.

While some Israel-bashing British academics frolic in Gaza, the University of College Union (UCU) in Britain voted against any boycott of Israeli universities:
Instead of pushing for a boycott of Israel, the UCU says that it will now research and publish a report on academic freedom in a number of countries, including the Palestinian territories.
Besides the third day in a row of humanitarian aid, Israel also approved transferring 100 million shekels to Gaza to stem their cash flow crisis.
  • Thursday, December 11, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
In a long interview with the Palestine Press Agency, Mahmoud Abbas was asked about the "Free Gaza" ships to break the "siege" around Gaza. Here was his answer:

This is a ridiculous game called "break the siege" ... Yes, there are ships that sail off the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. First the Israeli embassy takes all passports of the passengers of the vessel to ensure the identities of the passengers and then examine what assistance will be on the ship. Secondly the Israeli navy ensures those on the ship and cargo loaded, before allowing them to continue the trip to Gaza .. Where is the blockade being broken?. Some States said they would send ships .. Where are those ships?

... If you want to send aid to Gaza, why not Tersloha[?] via Egypt or Jordan .. Egypt reaches everything as well as Jordan. Consequently, this is cheap, false propaganda and not the first nor the last time.
He also admitted yet again that 58% of the PA budget goes to Gaza, something which surprised the interviewer:
Q: 58 per cent of the [PA] budget is spent on the Strip?

A: Yes, 58 per cent of our budget goes to Gaza, including the salaries of 77 thousand employees. A few days before, "one Hamas leader« island », Israel prevented the introduction of 240 million shekels to the Gaza Strip and the source of these millions is power. We say to them that there Kerem Shalom crossing, Karni and Erez and Sofer .. To work to open the crossings and keeping them open .. The Rafah crossing, we will try to reopen the agreement with all parties .. And respond to either open the Rafah crossing or all crossings remain closed .. Such as what happened in the case of pilgrims .. Their own logic was either go out to her Hajj Visa or one would not even carry the Visa ..
Which means that Gazans get twice as much of our tax dollars, per capita, than West Bankers.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Remember how Islamists always say to Western audiences that they are not against Jews, but only Zionists?

From MEMRI:


Following are excerpts from speeches by Arab Islamic leaders expressing solidarity with Gaza, which aired on Al-Manar and Al-Aqsa TV, December 3 and 5, 2008.

Sheik Himam Sa'id, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan: Oh noble Gaza, raise your head high. You have made the Muslims raise their heads high. And you, people of Hebron – you are now waging a war against the Jews. You are well-versed in this. We saw how, on a day in 1929, you slaughtered the Jews in Hebron. Today, slaughter them on the land of Hebron. Kill them in Palestine. Arise, oh people of Palestine, all the people of Palestine – arise in defense of your Al-Aqsa Mosque, arise in defense of Nablus and Hebron. Arise and face the [PA] Preventive Security forces. Fear them not, for they are rabbits. They are wolves, so fear them not, oh lions.

[...]

Oh young men, what will you say to the Jordanian government? Expel the Jewish ambassador from Amman. Amman is pure, and the Jewish ambassador must not defile its soil. Recall the Jordanian ambassador from Palestine. Only mujahideen should be in Palestine - not ambassadors, not ministers, or any representative of this nation. Do not recognize the ambassador of this nation in Palestine. Palestine is the land of Jihad, of sacrifice, and of preparation. We say to this government: Stop normalization with the Jews. Stop all imports and exports with the Jews. Our markets are full of Jewish vegetables and Jewish fruits. Traders who bring these fruits and vegetables are traitors, collaborators. Tell them this. Make them hear our voice. The position of the religious scholars is that anyone who trades with the Jews is a traitor and collaborator.

[...]

Husan Abdallah, Lebanese Association of Islamic Scholars: I say on behalf of the Association of Islamic Scholars: The truce with the Zionist entity is meaningless. The solution is to renew the resistance in a stronger and more effective way. Let pure bodies blow up again in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and in all the cities of occupied Palestine, because this enemy understands nothing but the language of force.

[...]

To the courageous Egyptian people we say: Arise and bring down the artificial border, and bring food and medicine to your besieged brothers in Gaza. The Egyptian people is required to display an act of violence, even if they go to jail, even if they die – they will be martyrs for the sake of Allah.

[...]

Osama Hamdan, Hamas Representative in Lebanon: Our goal is to liberate all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, from Rosh Hanikra to Umm Al-Rashrash [Eilat]. From Gaza, gentlemen... We do not want a state 364 square kilometers in size, nor do we want a state which we had to beg for at the negotiating table. Such a state will never come to be. What we want is a free state, which maintains its dignity, 27,000 square kilometers in size – the size of Palestine in its entirety.


(h/t Israel Matzav via jhrhv)
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
In Palestine Today's photo essay of Palestinian Arabs thronging to the courtyard of the Al Aqsa mosque during Eid al Adha, we see this giant banner draped over the entrance:
Looking closer, we see:

A map of "Palestine".

Which does not show Israel as existing.

Neither does it show any of historic Eastern Palestine, on the other side of the Jordan.

So no one can argue that they are just depicting a map of "Palestine" as it existed for centuries, because that map would look something like this the picture on the right.

The Negev isn't a part of it, and the western parts of Jordan are.

Once again, we see that the definition of "Palestine", according to "Palestinians," is whatever territory Israel happens to control at that point in time. It has nothing to do with age-old conflict nor does it have anything to do with historical facts - the desire for a Palestinian Arab state is simply the desire to destroy the Jewish state. Otherwise, they would be pining for much of Jordan.

The Palestinian Arabs have not the least compunction about publicly declaring their desire to see Israel destroyed, using huge signs, in full view of tens of thousands of people. (This is not even mentioning the Fatah logo, the maps shown in schools, and so on, which all echo the same desire to annihilate Israel.)

And the West refuses to notice.
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
For once, Israel did something right:
The European Union's 27 foreign ministers unanimously approved upgrading relations with Israel on Monday, despite vigorous efforts by the Palestinian Authority and Egypt to thwart the move.

The first expression of this decision will be a first-of-its-kind meeting between Israel's prime minister and all the leaders of the EU member states in Brussels this April.

Separately, the ministers decided to shelve a proposed action plan for the peace process in 2009, in response to Israeli pressure.

Throughout some 18 months of talks on the upgraded relationship, Egypt, the PA and other Arab countries lobbied against it. At the least, the Arabs argued, the upgrade should be conditioned on an Israeli settlement freeze.

As a result of the upgrade in relations, Israel's foreign minister will start meeting three times a year with all 27 EU foreign ministers. Other ministers will meet once a year with their European counterparts. Israel and the EU will also conduct a strategic dialogue on issues such as the peace process, the Iranian threat, counterterrorism and organized crime. In addition, the EU pledged to help Israel integrate into UN agencies and to include Israeli experts in EU peacekeeping forces.
If I had to guess, Livni probably managed to convince the Europeans by saying that it would prop up her chances of staying in power rather than a more right-wing government.

Anyway, PA prime minster Fayyad is not happy:
Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad expressed disappointment at the decision of the European Council of Ministers on upgrading relations between the European Union and Israel.

Fayyad said 'appreciate that this decision missed a very important opportunity by the European Union to positively influence Israel towards the rules of international law, as well as abide by the agreement and the spirit of partnership between the EU and Israel, in terms of respect for human rights'
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Was this picture drawn by:

A) A precocious fourth grader?
B) A mentally challenged 35-year old?
C) A prisoner taking an art class?

The answer is, of course, none of the above (although B is a possibility.) It is from our old friend Anis, proudly displayed on his website!

And if I know Anis, he'll threaten me for "copyright violation" by reproducing his "art" here.
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
It looks like Israel's decision to ignore the "Free Gaza" freaks is paying off. Their fourth boat of publicity hounds arrived in Gaza yesterday to the collective apathy of Gazans themselves, let alone the world.

Their "ton of medical supplies and high-protein baby formula" that it brought is dwarfed by the aid that evil Israel brought in to Gaza yesterday as well - some 70 truckfuls of food and other supplies, along with fuel pumped through Nahal Oz. (Another 55 trucks are due today. Each truck probably holds at least 3 tons.)

Only a couple of dozen Gazans came to watch the circus, and the only TV coverage came from Iran's Press TV.

Meanwhile, Free Gaza's debt continues to grow. They seem to be "cooking the books" - if you compare their bizarre thermometer graphic from October to the one on their website today, you will see that they are now claiming to have spent less total money than they had two months ago!

October:


Today:
Somehow, through the miracle of modern accounting, the total amount the have spent went from $740,000 down to $654,000!

If you assume that they really mean that they spent $866,000 that the graphic indicates, this means that their debt has increased to $430,000 today from $415,000 indicated in the October chart. Their business model, which is that they would make money from a combination of leftists and "passenger fees" (which seem to have disappeared - I doubt that the UK moonbat teachers on this boat ponied up $1,000 each for the voyage) is falling apart.

But given that they are now linking to Iranian news stories, and Iran is the only country that pretends to care about Gazans as much as the Freaks do, perhaps they are working on a deal with their tolerant pals in Tehran.
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
The LA Daily points out some of the comments being made at "White Power" sites like Stormfront and Vanguard News Network in response to today's news that the Chicago Tribune is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Most interesting is this comments from "Bob R." which I reproduce in all its glory:
what this means is, this guy was nothing more than a front person for Jewish Bankers to buy up the media conglomeration that owns TV stations across the country. The Jew bankers are the ones who decided his 300 million dollars was enough equity to loan him 8 billion dollars, it's all a fictional, fairy tale rationalization for laundering money, but soon the Jews won't need to come up with any excuse for flooding the economy will bullshit money, because Americans will all be mulattos and MTV retards who don't understand anything I"m saying.

Jews do this to every business that gets fairly large, they simply have some rich, swaggering guy, as a front man go around and buy them up in 'leveraged' buyouts, but they are simply frontmen for the Jews, and they immediately fire all the white males, ship the factories to Mexico, start importing all their parts from Asia, begin using the corporation to hire niggers and hot white women and put them in the same room all day, and they slap their occult satanic logos all over the company.

John McCain's wife said her favorite show is the X-files. This show is mind scrambling non-sense that has very little plot continuity, soon we will have female governors and senators who can't figure out that the show doesn't actually make any sense.
He's got it all figured out!

Bob R. seems to be a regular commenter, with dozens of posts just today; here's another prime example of the mentality of today's deranged racists:
women have been driven insane by Jew/Nigger culture. White males don't go out having sex with black women in Britain, white women do, so of course they will have more 'partners'. 'Partners' is a totally faggified term , btw, homosexuals have destroyed our culture. These people belong in padded rooms in straight jackets so they cannot masterbate.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From the Daily News Egypt:
More than 50 men were arrested on Monday, the first day of Eid Al-Adha, in downtown Cairo for alleged acts of sexual harassment targeting women in the street.

Fearing a repeat of acts that tend to happen on the first day every Eid, the Interior Ministry ordered a campaign to crack down on any further incidents, which led to the arrests.

The 50 were taken in and police reports filed against them for various offences including verbal harassment and catcalling, according to the local press. The men are currently in custody and will soon be referred to the prosecutor’s office.

Apparently, 15 of the men arrested are from governorates outside Cairo, including Menufia and Kafr El Sheikh, and had come to Cairo for the holidays.

On the first day of Eid El Fitr in October in Mohandiseen, 150 young men aged 15-22, physically attacked female pedestrians, tearing off some of their clothes. Thirty-eight of them were arrested; last month a teenager was sentenced to a year in prison for assaulting two women.

Two years ago the first case of organized sexual harassment occurred Downtown after a film premier, triggering a public debate over women’s safety on Egyptian streets and the inaction of police.

According to a survey conducted and released by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Egypt have been subjected to some form of sexual harassment.

Previous stories:
Hijab women get harassed more in Egypt
Honor/shame and sexual harassment in Egypt
40% of Egyptian women have been sexually abused
  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
An interesting article in Palestine Today that shows the real hatred that Egyptians have for Jews:
With the advent of the month of December each year comes the renewed desire of Jews to converge on the village of Dmitoh, in a province north of the lake Egypt, to the grave of "Abu Hatezira". Israelis and Jews come from Europe and the United States to commemorate the birth of the Jewish rabbi, blessed him and asking for miraculous cures.

The cause of headaches suffered by the people of the village is the strict security measures by the security forces to protect the Jewish revelers that anger the villagers, who doubt the existence of the Jewish Rabbi Abuhatzeira altogether, describing it as "another foothold of Jews in Egypt", as described, as well complaints about practices of the Jewish revelers from the "slaughter of pigs and drinking, dance and exercising unethical behavior," according to reports.

Politicians and activists and MPs are trying to collect one million signatures to demand a halt to the celebration of the birth of Abuhatzeira, to be held in the twenty-fifth month of January next year. A number of lawmakers involved in the campaign, their intention to progress a memo of protest to Dr. Ahmed Fathy Sorour, President of the People's Assembly, to stop this ceremony.

A number of bloggers, for the second consecutive year, also launched an online campaign against the celebration of the birth of Abuhatzeira,

The bloggers who are demanding to prevent celebrations by the Jews in Egypt said that the tomb of Abuhatezira had no visitors for a hundred years. A court ruling five years ago to abolish this celebration has still not been implemented.

A second group , in which the young owners of the Egyptians refused to establish a "birth of the alleged Abu Hasira," rejected "the Zionist set foot on Egyptian soil to the orgy," according to the expression.

Has announced a number of lawyers who succeeded in obtaining judicial rulings preventing stop-born Jews from the assembly; their intention to renew their jurisdiction to compel the government to implement judicial decisions, and to prevent "this harassment and moral pollution" caused by the Israelis and the Jews of Europe to the people of the village.

According to Jewish sources; Abuhatzeira is a Jewish cleric named Jacob Aharon, was born in Morocco in 1807 who came to Egypt and lived there, and died in 1880, which has the respect and appreciation of many sectors of the Jews.

But Mustafa Raslan, a lawyer and a son of the village of Dmitoh, filed a lawsuit in which he called for cessation of Jewish celebrations on the ground of his home town, which claims that Abuhatzeira was not Jewish, but a Muslim who lived in Marrakech, Morocco named Mohammed bin Yousef bin Yacob, who was a cobbler of shoes for the Egyptians, and completed seven of the Kaaba Hjat supervisor, according to his assertions.

But only since 1978, following the signing of the "Camp David", have the religious Israelis been seeking to formally organize trips to the village to celebrate the birth of Abuhatzeira that they allege to be "a man of blessings", sometime between December and February evey year.

The number of visitors has increased from a few dozen to a few hundreds and then thousands, arriving each year from occupied Palestine and the West and other countries, despite protests by Egyptian people about the unwanted visitors, which turned the lives of peasants in this village to "hell" because of the security measures that turn the village into a closed area involving searching every car.

And often start the celebration on 25 December get out of hand, where there is an auction for who will enter his tomb first [guess at translation - EoZ], followed by alcoholic operations spilled over the cemetery, and then the slaughter of sacrifices that are often sheep or pigs, roasting meat, and dancing. Celebrants then hysterically sing Jewish melodies as they become almost naked, and then say some prayers, entreaties and tears to the tomb, burning, beating their heads in the Wailing Wall and asked for their needs, according to witnesses.

The cemetery has seen some expansion with the increasing number of arrivals, and the covering of marble shrine, Jewish and fees, especially at the entrance to the tomb. Then he started annexation of some land and build a fence around it, and then the facilities like Balastrahat, a room equipped, and expanded the cemetery from 350 square meters to 8400 square meters. The Jewish parties also sought to purchase five acres adjacent to the cemetery, in order to build a hotel for the visitors to sleep during the celebration.

Observers believe that the Israeli government is keen via its embassy in Egypt to amplify and expand the size of the celebration, with the participation of diplomats, is bringing special planes carrying a large delegation of rabbis, as well as requests for financial aid to the Egyptian government to establish a bridge linking the village, where the shrine by Alawi access to the nearby city of Damanhour, so that the Jews access to it, and fired on the bridge also the name of Abu Hasira.

What increased the anger of the people of the village, a decision by the Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, was No. 75 of 2001, to incorporate the cemetery Abu Hasira to the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, which make the disposal or transfer as demanded by the people of the village difficult.

The lawyers opposed this decision in the courts, rendering the Administrative Judicial Court in Alexandria, the lake, on 9 December 2001 ruling to stop the Culture Minister's decision as the tomb of Abu Hasira and cemeteries around the village Dmitoh and stop the annual celebrations of the birth of Abu Hasira.
I cannot tell how exaggerated this article is; I could find very few references to pilgrimages to visit that grave and the numbers of people were far smaller. And slaughtering pigs?

From Arutz-7 in 2002:
Seventy Jews, attempting to pray at the graveside of the renowned Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira in Alexandria, Egypt, have been denied permission by the Egyptian authorities.

It is Jewish custom to visit the gravesite of a righteous man on the anniversary of his death. In years past, Islamic groups in Egypt insisted that the government prohibit Jews from visiting the grave. They claimed that the Jews behave in unbecoming ways and corrupt the local Muslims. Abuhatzeira is the father of the "Baba Sali" -- Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira -- who was a renowned kabbalist revered by millions in Israel and around the world.
And from the Jerusalem Post in 2007:
Hundreds of Israeli pilgrims motored in police-escorted convoys across the Nile Delta on Tuesday to pray at a 19th century Jewish holy man's tomb, where people received them with curious stares and a little resentment.

Egypt laid on exceptional security. Police special force troops with automatic rifles guarded the convoys of luxury coaches. The Israelis were not allowed to mingle with the residents of this western Delta town, 170 kilometers northwest of Cairo, but were confined to a cordoned-off parking area next to the shrine.

State Security officers refused to admit The Associated Press, and the government press office in Cairo, reached by cell phone, endorsed the refusal.

The pilgrims, some singing and clapping, made the two-hour drive from Cairo to see the tomb of Yaakov Abuhatzeira, a Moroccan rabbi who earned a reputation for healing people and died in 1880. His grandson, called "Baba Sali," is better known and his tomb in Netivot is a popular pilgrimage site.

Residents gawked from their windows and balconies as the big coaches slowly wound their way along the muddy road to the shrine. The authorities had just widened the road, leaving piles of rubble and freshly turned earth on the side, and had created a parking area in what had been a field of lush clover. A steamroller was leveling it as the first coaches arrived.

"I don't want to see them here," tire-repairman Mohammed Sharqawi said of the Israelis. "I watch television and I see what is happening in Palestine."

But, two stores along the main road, Ali Mohammed Tanani said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was one thing, the pilgrims were another.

"We have our sacred places. If they think it's a sacred place, they have the right to visit. They are our guests," said Tanani, who runs a small grocery shop.

Egypt guards the stone tomb, which stands in a small chamber, and allows visitors only for the January anniversary of Abuhatzeira's death. The pilgrims do not walk around Nekraha; they go to the shrine and leave.

But in 2003 a small group of pilgrims stopped at Tanani's shop and, using their interpreter, bought fizzy drinks and chocolates. "They were polite," Tanani recalled.
  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Palestine Press Agency (Arabic):
President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a strongly-worded attack on the Islamic Resistance Movement 'Hamas', likening them infidels and heretics, in a speech from Mecca today, Tuesday.

President Abbas, in his Eid al-Adha speech, accused Hamas of preventing pilgrims from the Gaza Strip to go to the performance of their religious duty, saying that 'Hamas is responsible for those [Gazans] not coming to the Hajj.'

Mahmoud Abbas said in his speech 'Of course everyone here is in pain, and we know that it hurts everybody that these pilgrims cannot come to Mecca and Medina.'

The Palestinian President noted 'that Israel never stopped the pilgrims to come to the pilgrimage for a single day, but this was done by Hamas. Just as in the past when the Quraish infidels denied the Prophet, peace be upon him, to come to Mecca, as well as Alaqramtp , Who prevented the pilgrims for many years to come here, 'he said.

The Palestinian Authority President accused Hamas for being responsible for the siege, saying, 'We know that the siege of our people who live there is due to the Israeli government and Hamas'.
But what does he know? He's a "collaborator!"
  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Reuters:
Leaders of the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah have turned down a request to meet former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit to Lebanon that began on Tuesday, a Carter spokesman said.

Carter had requested a meeting with the Iran-backed political and military movement, which is listed as a terrorist group by Washington, as part of a visit to assess whether his Carter Center will monitor a legislative election next year.

"I understand that some of the leaders of Hezbollah have said they were not going to meet with any president or former presidents of the United States," Carter said upon his arrival at Beirut airport, adding that he would meet other leaders.

A Carter spokesman confirmed a meeting had been requested with Hezbollah, whose guerrilla army fought a 34-day war with U.S. ally Israel in 2006. "They said they were not able to meet," Carter spokesman Rick Jafculca said.
Compared to Carter, it appears that Hezbollah actually has principles.
  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Xinhua:
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Iranian diplomatic representative in Cairo in protest against recent anti-Egypt demonstrations in Iran.

In a statement issued Tuesday by the Foreign Ministry, Egypt voiced its complaints on the demonstrations staged from time to time outside the office of the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Tehran.

The Egyptian ministry also criticized some Iranian newspapers that have repeatedly insulted Egyptian policies and leadership recently, said the statement, without elaborating.

In a similar incident, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned Iranian envoy in Cairo this July over an Iranian film on the assassination of late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, which Egypt said "insults the relations between the two countries."

A story I had been meaning to blog:
The Palestinian Authority has decided to ban a number of journalists from entering the presidential Mukata compound in Ramallah.

The decision is aimed at punishing the journalists because of their criticism of the PA leadership or for reporting about the activities of Hamas leaders.

Al-Jazeera reporters and TV crews are among those who now appear on the PA's blacklist. They have been denied access to the Mukata for the past two weeks.

Other journalists working for Arab and Western media outlets have also been told that they are no longer welcome to visit the compound.

The decision to ban Al-Jazeera came after the popular TV station failed to carry a live broadcast of a speech given by PA President Mahmoud Abbas in front of the PLO Central Council in Ramallah.

Instead, the station broadcast live from Damascus, where Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was addressing a conference of radical groups.

Al-Jazeera has thus far refrained from reporting about the PA's decision to boycott the station. A source in the station said that the decision not to report about the ban was taken after the PA warned Al-Jazeera that publicizing the issue would only cause more damage to its reporters.

PA officials accused Al-Jazeera of being biased in favor of Hamas, noting that this was not the first time that the station had served as a platform for Hamas and other radical Islamic groups.

Some PA officials even went as far as demanding the closure of the Al-Jazeera offices in the West Bank. The homes and vehicles of some Al-Jazeera reporters have been either torched or stoned by Fatah activists in the West Bank in the past two years.

Earlier this week, the largest Palestinian news agency, Ramattan, decided to suspend its work in the West Bank after the PA leadership also banned its reporters from entering the Mukata.

The agency also accused the PA security forces of raiding its Ramallah offices, arresting its workers and confiscating a mobile broadcast truck.

Another journalist who has been denied access to the Mukata is Nael Nakhleh, a resident of Al-Bireh who writes from newspapers in the Gulf. Nakhleh was arrested by the PA's General Intelligence for allegedly publishing reports that reflect negatively on the PA leaders.

The PA has, over the past few years, become less tolerant toward "unfriendly" journalists, especially Palestinian newsmen who report about financial corruption and abuse of human rights in PA-controlled areas.

Seven Palestinian reporters have been arrested by Abbas's security forces in the past few months for allegedly expressing sympathy with Hamas. Most were released after being warned against publishing material that reflects negatively on Abbas and the PA leadership.
This is exactly how things were under Arafat.

As far as I can tell, Al Jazeerah has still not reported on its being blacklisted, thus buckling under to the PA's demands.

By the way, here is a picture of an al-Jazeera reporter - reporting from Jaffa in a typically anti-Israel article. He doesn't seem to have been kicked out.
  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From AP:
Israel has reopened its crossings with Gaza to shipments of humanitarian aid and fuel. International journalists are also being allowed in.

The Israeli military says 45 trucks of food and medical supplies are to pass through on Tuesday, along with shipments of cooking gas and fuel for Gaza's power plant.

The military says cargo and passenger crossings were reopened because of a lull Monday in attacks by Gaza militants on Israel.

The reopening of the crossings also means international journalists can again enter Gaza. This is just the second time reporters have been allowed in since fighting erupted on Nov. 5. The violence has left a 6-month-old truce in doubt.
Actually, yesterday Gazan terrorists did shoot a rocket towards Israel, but it landed short.

I suppose that deserves an award.

All Hamas has to do is shoot dozens of rockets at Israel whenever they want, as they did this past weekend, and then slow down for a day to get their "humanitarian aid."
  • Tuesday, December 09, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Infolive.tv:
The wife of Iran's former deputy defense minister Ali Reza Asghari protested in front of the Turkish embassy in Tehran on Monday, claiming her husband was kidnapped by Israelis while in Turkey two years ago, Iranian news agency Faras reported. Asghari denied rumors that her husband had defected to the west and claimed that he "was in the Zionist prison." She vowed to protest again next year.
Of course, Asghari did defect, and may have even provided intelligence to Israel about the secret Syrian nuclear reactor that Israel bombed.

Doesn't look like he misses his wife too much, either.

Monday, December 08, 2008

  • Monday, December 08, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Morocco’s Rajaa Houlla, 29, reacts after discovering that she had been divorced by her Saudi husband. She only learnt of the divorce when police came to her house to deport her in Jeddah on Friday.

I guess the husband doesn't have to worry about lengthy court proceedings - he just got his local police to get rid of his wife, literally.
  • Monday, December 08, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
JTA has an op-ed by the orthodox Union's Steven Savitsky imploring the incoming US administration to move the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

I cannot argue with his goal:
At this crucial time for Jews throughout the world, the Orthodox Union proclaims loud and clear that Jerusalem must be off the table. Any peace negotiations must be predicated upon the fact that Jerusalem will remain Israel’s undivided capital. We pray for it, yearn for it, fast because of its destruction, and remember it at our most joyous times under the chupah.
And the article makes it clear that the entire purpose of moving the embassy is to be a part of a declaration by the US that Jerusalem is Israel's undivided capital.

Last night, I heard Israel's former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau speak. He mentioned that in 1987 he spoke with a high-ranking US official, who told him that the reason that the United States didn't bother bringing up the question of Jerusalem because everyone knew that the Knesset was against dividing Jerusalem by roughly 116-4 seats. Against such a consensus, the US wouldn't bother wasting its time to pressure Israel to make concessions.

However, if there is a cleavage in Israeli society, the US will be happy to use leverage to exact concessions from the state.

Rabbi Lau went on to say that in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, all Israelis - religious or not - stood together as one. The unity is there in the face of terror, but not so much at any other time lately. And it is this lack of unity that gives the world a toehold into trying to shrink Israel.

The US is not going to be more Zionist than Israel itself is. The most left-wing Israeli governments will continue to move their "red lines" back while negotiating away Israel's strategic interests, and as soon as something new is on the table, it is difficult to remove it.

In this environment, if American Zionists insist on making the embassy a slogan, it is entirely conceivable that a US administration will say that they will be happy to move the embassy to western Jerusalem but insist that Jerusalem be divided as part of the deal. Emphasizing the embassy - a purely symbolic gesture - could end up facilitating the loss of much of Jerusalem on the ground.

The embassy is not the issue. Jerusalem as a unified capital of the Jewish state is the real issue. This is far more important than the symbolism - and likely resultant pressure - that would accompany any US move of its embassy.
  • Monday, December 08, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Firas Press breathlessly reports on the latest nefarious Israeli plot to debase and twist the Holy Koran:
A report of the Monitoring Committee of the Islamic Research Academy in Egypt warned that Israel is expanding in the perversion of the Koran and issued editions distributed to many African countries including Kenya and Niger.

The recent report says that 'The Israelis were distorting the Koran and deleted verses that talk about Jews and signs calling for Jihad'.
Brilliant! All the miscreant Jews need to do to solve the problems of Islamic terror is to change the Koran itself!

That's not the only thing that Israelis are doing with the Koran. They are now making money from it:
For Muslims who just can't fit the five-times-a-day Salah prayer routine into their busy schedules, an Israeli mobile phone provider has a new solution: Mobile Koran.

Pelephone has begun offering a Koran text service that enables users to tap into verses of choice from the Muslim Holy Book at will.

For the modest sum of $1.50 per month, subscribers can download what appears onscreen as an actual book of Koran, and scroll through chapter and verse.

"We are providing something to subscribers who want to be connected to these texts any time and any place," said Pelephone Product Content Director Moti Cohen. "So naturally we are targeting a population that would use this type of service. Our Arab sector customers are very enthusiastic."
And we mustn't forget the other Israeli Koran project, Quranet, which has just gone on-line although all of its features are not available yet.
A new Web site launched by an Israeli university professor and his Bedouin students aims to address life's everyday quandaries from the perspective of an ancient sacred text: the Quran.

Organizers of the site, Quranet.net, say they hope it will serve as a "bridge between Islam and the West" by applying the wisdom of Islam's holiest book to modern-day problems.

"We try to transform the Quran into a modern and useful tool, so that every person can find a Quranic answer to modern psychological and educational queries," said Ofer Grosbard, professor at the Academic Arab College for Education, affiliated with Haifa University.

Quranet divides chapters of the Quran into topics such as "Loss, Illness and Tragedy," and provides answers to such questions as, "Is loss an excuse for aggression?" and "What can we say to someone who refuses to accept a gesture of peace?"

The questions are answered with a relevant Quranic verse, followed by an educational-psychological explanation of the issue.

Quranet seeks to illustrate "the beauty of the Quran," said Grosbard, who believes the book's positive messages have been overshadowed by Islamic fundamentalists who've manipulated the text as a justification for terrorism.
We spoke about Quranet a few months ago, with many Muslims freaking out that Israelis could dare publicly claim that he Koran teaches love and respect.

Obviously, Israel is trying to destroy the Holy Quran/Koran with a multi-pronged attack.

What chutzpah!
  • Monday, December 08, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Dion Nissenbaum of McClatchy Newspapers:
Israel is taking unusual new steps to discourage Arab and Muslim nations from challenging its prolonged economic siege of the Hamas-led Gaza Strip by sending aid ships to ease the desperate circumstances of the 1.5 million Gaza Palestinians.

In recent days, Israel prodded Qatar, a friendly Persian Gulf nation, into calling off a delegation preparing to transport aid from Cyprus to Gaza, according to officials briefed on what they said were high-level talks.

Hours before a Qatar aid group was scheduled to board a boat Thursday with $2 million in cancer medication, they abruptly canceled the trip.

The Qatar charity would have been the first such Arab aid group to challenge Israel's ban on international boats traveling to Gaza.

Instead, Israel urged Qatar officials to send any Gaza-bound aid via Israel, Israeli government officials said.

"The message was delivered, not only to them, but to anybody else that wanted to transfer aid to Gaza, that there is a mechanism on how to do it," said Andy David, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry. "We will not change our policy, which gives us the option on how to do it, while not allowing unauthorized boats to reach Gaza."

If everyone really cared about helping Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, here's what would happen:

Qatar would avail themselves of Israel's offer. They would transfer their aid, perhaps through Jordan, with the following conditions:

* Israel has the right to inspect the aid and stop anything that could be dangerous to Israeli citizens

* A small Qatari delegation would travel with the aid convoy to ensure that it gets distributed directly to qualified aid agencies and not to terrorists

Here, everyone wins: Israel can maintain its security; Qatar can become a bigger player in helping Palestinian Arabs, Israeli relations improves with the Arab world, and Gazans get the aid they need. (Tzipi Livni visited Qatar earlier this year, there is no reason that Qataris cannot go through Israel to reach Gaza.)

Of course, this only works if we assume that the Arab world really cares about helping Gazans.

  • Monday, December 08, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Christians detained and beaten in Muslim Indian Ocean nations

This year's gruesome Eid al Adha photos from Gaza. Let's play in the blood!

Desertification conference - Israel saving the world again:
This is a crisis that has actually been defined by the United Nations and World Bank "Millennium Assessment" as the environmental problem which affects more people than any other worldwide.

Israel's climate is of course largely a desiccated one. Indeed 93 percent of its lands are defined as drylands. In 1948, the country's soils showed dramatic deterioration, and conditions were growing worse quickly. The causes involved overgrazing, deforestation and agriculture that was not sustainable. The notion of a 'desolate,' 'neglected' homeland - was not just Zionist propaganda. It was born out by aerial photographs and reports by international soil scientists.

Since that time, however, a combination of grazing regulations, agricultural innovations, ambitious water management projects, aggressive afforestation efforts and a national commitment to making the Negev a productive region produced impressive results. Entire regions have been transformed and for the better.
  • Monday, December 08, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon

Swing your partner ‘round and ‘round,

And turn your corner upside down.

And turn your corner like swingin’ on a gate,

And meet your partner for a grand chain eight,

And hurry up boys and don’t be late.

Chew your tobacco and rub your snuff,

And meet your honey and strut your stuff.

Right foot up and a left foot down,

And make that big foot jar the ground,

And promenade your partner around.


Perhaps this was one of the contestants in the latest Saudi beauty pageant?

Sunday, December 07, 2008

  • Sunday, December 07, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Palestine Today:
MPs from the Egyptian Shura Council warned of the seriousness of Israel to harm the Egyptian national security, pointing out that Israel still has ambitions in Sinai with the displacement of Palestinians to Sinai from Gaza.
Isn't it interesting that Palestinian Arabs are considered a national security threat to their fellow Arabs, but the world expects Israel not to treat them as such?
Amira Hass, Ha'aretz' Arab affairs reporter, went into Gaza with the last "Free Gaza" moonbat boat and stayed for three weeks. Today, she spoke to her friends in Ramallah about her experience in Gaza.

Although she predictably slams Israel at every possible opportunity, a couple of salient facts manage to sneak out during her tirade:
On entering Gaza Hass said she was accompanied by Hamas-appointed security personnel at all hours, and was prevented from entering any of the Strip’s refugee camps. She said she had been warned by the security men that there was a chance that she would be abducted by extremists during her time in Gaza. After three weeks, she said, the security officials told her they got wind of a plan by one of the factions to kidnap her, which she called a pretext, and forced her to leave the area.
So this independent journalist happily filed reports that were effectively censored by Hamas, which only allowed her to enter certain parts of Gaza. Hass eagerly accepted the role of propagandist.
During her time in Gaza Hass visited the southern town of Rafah where the hundreds of tunnels to Egypt snake below the earth, and described the full markets and influx of people that the new industry had spurred in the area. Hass described seeing many goods, even weapons, available in the Rafah souq, and remarked at the change in what she called a ‘once very poor town.’
From a quick Google search, I could not find a single Hass report for Ha'aretz where she mentioned seeing weapons in Rafah. In fact, out of the many reports that talk about the goods that get smuggled into Rafah through tunnels, the most obvious - weapons - is not mentioned anywhere. TVs, motorcycles, cattle, zoo animals, candy, shoes - we see them all from Western reports, but never a mention of weapons.

The only way to know that weapons are still being smuggled is because Egypt regularly intercepts weapons and explosives caches on their way to Rafah. Gaza reporters, however, cannot bring themselves to mention that fact.

Hass mentions it here - but to a Palestinian Arab audience, and not as a reporter but as an advocate.

Isn't the presence of weapons for sale in Rafah an important fact? Apparently, not to the Western reporters who love filing tunnel stories, and apparently not to Amira Hass herself.

The MSM meme of starving Gazans is too important. If reporters would mention that weapons are getting smuggled into Gaza and sold (as well as given to terror groups), some stupid readers might start thinking that perhaps food is not the most important thing to Gazans - and we can't have that, can we?
  • Sunday, December 07, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
I went to a wedding this morning and I'm at a dinner to raise money for a Jewish community that most of the world would like to see destroyed this evening, so this is a good time to create an open thread on my Blackberry.

While I overeat.
  • Sunday, December 07, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Jew Cooties issue is getting more play in the mainstream media, a week after I became perhaps the first English-language blogger to publish the picture of Al Azhar Sheikh Tantawi shaking hands with Shimon Peres.

Ha'aretz says a major Egyptian paper is demanding that Tantawi "ritually purify his hands" after this awful event. I am not clear what that means; Muslims ritually wash their hands numerous times a day, so perhaps it really does mean that the hand should be cut off.

YNet mentions that Tantawi, after initially denying knowing who Peres was, now admits that he shook his hand on purpose and spoke to him for a few minutes, although saying that they didn't speak about anything important. Perhaps sealing Tantawi's fate, YNet adds:
Contrary to Tantawi's claims, Ynet has learned that during the New York conference it was actually the sheikh who approached Peres, and knowing who he was, shook his hand and talked with him for several minutes.

Tantawi reportedly told Peres, "Preachers play a very important role in calming the situation and creating an atmosphere of peace."
Which is of course the very problem - while Egypt has been at "peace" with Israel for thirty years, it never tried to stop the incitement in its media against the Jewish state. The "peace" is paper-thin, and it was represented to Egyptian citizens as merely a ruse to regain the Sinai and erase the shame of losing in 1967.

The Tantawi kerfuffle shows how much loathing Egyptians continue to have for Israel, including Israel's most dovish leaders. From Egypt's perspective, Camp David was not a peace agreement, but merely a long-term cease fire that is a single bullet away from being destroyed.

And the fact that Tantawi caused a similar stir ten years ago by meeting with Israel's chief rabbi shows that old fashioned anti-semitism is also a major factor here.
  • Sunday, December 07, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Today's Qassams marks 26 consecutive days of rocket or mortar fire from Gaza towards Israel.

There has been fire from Gaza 34 out of the 35 days since November 4.

The previous longest streak, according to my records, is 36 days in a row spanning last April, May and June.

Yet, the media still refers to Israel and Hamas as having a "shaky ceasefire."

Saturday, December 06, 2008

  • Saturday, December 06, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
There are rumors that Barack Obama will make a major foreign policy speech in a Muslim capital during his first hundred days in office, and many think it will be in Cairo.

It would be interesting to see if he goes there as a way to pander to Muslims, or as a proud Christian who is also the US President. Because things have not been too great for Christians in Egypt lately.

I did not see this reported in any English-language press, but according to an article in Al Masry al-Youm:
In the "District of Rain" in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, an ugly scene of Muslim militants burned a church, after prayers Friday (29/11), chanting "God is great ...! God is great!", as if they had infiltrated by Bar-Lev line or regained Jerusalem!
An AP article mentions some other incidents:
Early in the morning two Sundays ago, hundreds of Christian Egyptians quietly slipped into a former underwear factory where they had discreetly set up a church and held their first service. Bells rang and hymns were sung.

A crowd of angry Muslims quickly gathered, threw stones at the building and burned banners that said, “No to the church.” They tried to storm the gates, clashed with police and chanted, “The church has fallen, the priest is dead,” according to witnesses.

In fact, no one died, but 13 people were reported injured. For Egyptians in general, the incident in the blue-collar district of Ain Shams served as a warning that Muslim-Christian clashes, largely confined to the south of the country in recent years, have seeped into the capital.

Two incidents this summer underscore the problem. In one southern city, a Muslim man was killed in clashes over the expansion of a Coptic Orthodox monastery, and Muslims torched Christian villagers’ homes because a priest was seen holding Mass inside a house, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a rights group.

Christians, an estimated 10 percent of Egypt’s 79 million people, long have complained of government restrictions on building new churches.

To build a church or even renovate an existing one, clearance is needed from several security agencies and government bodies, and often is refused.

A church can’t be built near a mosque, but “near” is not defined. And nothing prevents Muslims from building a mosque near a church, even without a permit. As a result, most of Cairo’s churches are surrounded by mosques, often bigger and taller.

Egyptian Christians don’t have enough churches to accommodate their numbers, so they hold informal services in community centers, bookstores or homes.

“There is this psychological terrorism from Islamists that prevents local authorities from demolishing illegally built mosques and complicates permit procedures for Copts,” said Youssef Sidhom, the editor of Watani, a newspaper run by members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Egypt’s main Christian denomination.

In Ain Shams, where about 4,000 Christian families are vastly outnumbered by Muslims, congregants bought the factory three years ago and quietly began setting up their church.

Muslims bought a parking lot across the street and started building a mosque — one of about five within a few blocks. It was from these mosques that the angry crowd rallied when word spread that the Copts were at prayer.

But at their first service, the Christians announced their presence with bells and hymns — even distributing chocolates outside the building — apparently hoping the church would be accepted as a fait accompli. Instead, the riot erupted.

Anthony ended up being led out of the church protected by police while the mob hurled insults and stones.

The factory building’s doors are chained shut, and the Coptic Church has said that to avoid further trouble it will not seek to hold services there. But Father Anthony still is shocked at the Muslim reaction.

“Would they tear the factory down if it was turned into a theater or a nightclub?” he said.

  • Saturday, December 06, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ma'an:
20-year-old Nidal As’ad Abu Jami was electrocuted on Saturday morning inside a tunnel under the border between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, local medical sources said.
Apparently, Gaza has enough electricity for smuggling tunnels!

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 217.

Friday, December 05, 2008

The media has been spending a great deal of time in anguish over the situation of Palestinian Arabs in Gaza. There are a few million other PalArabs, however, in the West Bank. And while life in Gaza gets worse, things in the West Bank are getting markedly better:
Unprecedented military coordination and a sincere effort by the Palestinian Authority to crack down on Hamas has led to a unique economic surge in the West Bank in the past year, according to an internal Defense Ministry report obtained on Monday by The Jerusalem Post. Prepared by the IDF's Civil Administration, the report cites a three percent drop to 16% in Palestinian unemployment since the beginning of the year. In addition, the report cites a 24% increase in Palestinian average daily wages, up from NIS 70 in 2007 to NIS 86.9. The stats were collected in recent months from a variety of sources, including the PA and the United Nations International Labor Organization. Since the beginning of the year, the IDF has also removed 113 roadblocks and dirt mounds throughout the West Bank, enabling easier travel between Palestinian cities. Officers in the Civil Administration said the economic surge was the result of a number of parallel factors but was mainly due to improved coordination between Israel and the PA, as well as a decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to make a concerted effort to stop Hamas' build-up in the West Bank. There was also a 10% increase in the number of workers employed in settlements - up from 23,000 in 2007 to 26,000 in 2008, as well as a 10% increase in the permits issued for Palestinians working in Israel - 23,000 compared to 21,000 in 2007. [The percent increase for workers in the settlements is actually 13% - EoZ]
Does this mean that Palestinian Arabs who fight against terror benefit, and those who support terror lose out? Another report:
In Ramallah, site of the Palestinian National Authority, business booms and street life is vibrant. Housing construction, which enjoyed a big boom in the 90s when peace seemed imminent, only to collapse with the advent of the 2000 intifada, appears back in business. Cafe life, especially in the more Christian districts, has regained some of the European-style the city was famous for prior to the 1987 intifada. Several boutique hotels do a fine trade and a mighty Movenpick hotel (after several false starts) is due to open in the new year. ...Many shops in Ramallah are superior to anything found in Arab east Jerusalem, so a large number of Jerusalemites are actually going to Ramallah to shop. In another Palestinian city, Hebron, living conditions also are surprisingly healthy, at least for the 80 per cent of Palestinians fortunate enough to live in area H1. Shops flourish, people are working, and the roads are remarkably efficient. There even are traffic lights, carefully obeyed, in neighbourhoods where chaos reigned supreme just a few years ago. Hebron also was famous for the grilled chicken restaurants that line the main street, and some of the best have now moved to luxurious new premises.
More statistics:
35% Increase in trade between Israel and the PA 87% Increase in tourism to Bethlehem 953% increase of importing vehicles to the PA A sharp increase in export of agricultural produce from the West Bank to the Israeli market. 92,000 tons, compared to 30,000 in 2007. (much of it due to Shmitah) Signing of the allocation agreement between Israel and the PA for a second cellular company ("Watania").
For those who are not congenitally anti-Israel, it is obvious that Israel doesn't want to make Palestinian Arab lives miserable. Israelis want to find a win-win solution where everyone benefits. The PA, for all its faults, has been acting more responsibly lately - more in its own self-interest than in Israel's - and the results are clear. Hamas acts much worse, and it gets treated worse - not only by Israel but by Egypt as well. The West Bank gains are proof that all of the Israel-bashers who keep trotting out their calumnies about Zionist ethnic cleansing are simply liars. Israel has no obligation to help a territory/statelet that is sworn to its destruction, but it has every interest in helping Palestinian Arabs succeed economically and securely. The Palestinian Arabs themselves see this much more clearly than those sophisticated Western analysts. The biased audio report I linked to this morning from NPR, where a former Hamas supporter in Gaza rues her vote, is a voice that the MSM does not want us to hear because the "Israeli siege" meme is the accepted narrative. Ordinary Palestinian Arabs are the major beneficiaries of peace - real peace, real cooperation, on the ground. Israel, even in the midst of rocket barrages from the south, is working hard to improve the lives of those in the east. The economy was booming before the Intifada as well. Those who blame Israel for defending herself from terror are not being "pro-Palestinian" - they are Jew-haters who are, at best, indifferent to the plight of the Palestinian Arabs they pretend to love so much. It is not Israel that stops Palestinian Arabs from thriving and succeeding - it is a direct result of how their leadership chooses to act. Why is this so hard for the mainstream media to understand?
  • Friday, December 05, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
My post Islamist strategy vs. Western tactics has won the weekly Watcher of Weasels award for best non-Council post. Thanks to Soccer Dad for nominating it.

In other link news, my joke Am Yisrael Chai page on Fateh.net got some attention from Global Voices. The page has already received hundreds of hits, including from the Palestinian Arab territories and Egypt.

In commemoration, I hereby dedicate this Open Thread!
  • Friday, December 05, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Iran's IRNA:
Total German-Iranian trade volume rose 7.8 percent between January and September of this year compared to same the corresponding period in 2007, the Federal Statistical Office based in the south German city of Wiesbaden reported Tuesday.

The overall bilateral trade volume until the end of September stood at 3.233865 billion euros, compared to 2.980734 billion euros last year.

German exports to Iran increased 8.9 percent and comprised 84.7 percent of the total German-Iranian trade volume.

The expanding bilateral economic ties come amid fierce political pressure by the German Zionist lobby to force Berlin to cut its business relations with Tehran over the impasse in the Iranian nuclear dispute.

German companies have stepped up their criticism of the German government for backing UN financial sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran, saying their business interests have been severely affected by the controversial political move.

The Managing Director of the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA) Jens Nagel has repeatedly lambasted "unilateral sanctions on Iran as totally incomprehensible."

Several renowned German companies are involved in major Iranian infrastructure projects, especially in the petrochemical sector, like Linde, BASF, Lurgi, Krupp, Siemens, ZF Friedrichshafen, Mercedes, Volkswagen and MAN.

Around 50 German firms have their own branch offices in Iran and more than 12,000 firms have their own trade representatives in the country.

Extrapolating the numbers through September to the end of the year shows that the trade between Iran and Germany is now at $5.5 billion annually.

Practically all of the companies mentioned are part of the Forced/Slave Labor Compensation Fund, set up by the German government to help pay Holocaust survivors and others for the labor they were forced to do during World War II. It also includes a foundation for human rights - and immunity from lawsuits from during the Nazi era.

While some of these companies didn't exist during the Holocaust, it is more than a little unsettling that the German industries that enthusiastically participated in atrocities are now just as enthusiastically bankrolling another genocidal regime, and justifying it in a similar manner.
  • Friday, December 05, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
Last week, Israel's Foreign Press Association protested Israel's blocking reporters from entering Gaza. One of the reasons it gave was that "This blackout of the Gaza Strip is hurting Israel's image in the eyes of the world."

And Reporters Sans Frontieres wrote a letter to Olmert claiming that “In fact, a foreign media presence is all the more indispensible as its reporters represent an independent source of information. The mounting threats to Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized power in June 2007 force them to censor themselves. But that is not the case with foreign journalists, who can talk about the Hamas government without fear.”

I pointed out then that the Palestinian Arab reporters from Gaza were truly the only source of unbiased information. As bad as they are, they are brave enough to criticize Hamas, something that those objective foreign reporters shy away from while they have no hesitation bashing Israel.

A case in point is NPR's Lisa Gradstein, who wasted no time going into Gaza to file this audio report. She interviews a woman, a long-time supporter of Hamas, who tried to persuade other women to vote for Hamas as well. But now, Gradstein continues incredulously, she blames Hamas for the current situation, and says she wishes she never voted for them.

So does Gradstein go on to find out why Gazans blame Hamas? Of course not - she goes on to say how "other people" say that life is better under Hamas - better security, and less traffic congestion! Then she says "many people" blame Israel's siege for their predicament, and goes on to find those people - people like the UNRWA's John Ging. The next two minutes is all about Israel's culpability, and not a word critical of Hamas.

In other words, Gradstein already had the narrative she wanted to tell - that Gazans blame Israel exclusively - and she didn't let facts get in her way.

(h/t EBoZ)

Thursday, December 04, 2008

  • Thursday, December 04, 2008
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Inside Desi:
The remix of Busta Rhymes’ song Arab Money has caused a bit of a commotion among British and U.S. Muslims. The song, which features some of the biggest names in Hip Hop - including P Diddy, Lil Wayne and Akon, and produced by hip hop powerhouse Swiss Beats - features vocals which consist of lines off Surah Fateha, from the Holy Quran. To cause further anguish, the song is a very typical hip hop club anthem, with the rappers openly boasting about their girls, gambling, drinking and money. Blogs, forums, and social networks have been fervouring with the spread of the track, with many Muslims calling the song racist, disrespectful and offensive.

Further to using the line “Bismillahi r-rahmani r-rahim. Al hamdu lillahi rabbi l-’ālamin” (translated to: “in the name of Allah, most gracious most merciful. All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds”) as the chorus, the song contains lyrics such as “…dropping bombs like the Taleban“, “sitting in casinos while I’m gambling with Arafat…“, “…while I make you bow down and make Salaat like a Muslim“, “all the girls love me, yeah pop some bubbly“.

It seems that many Muslims are angry because the verses in the Quran are very sacred, and saying such things within the same breath comes across as nothing short of inflammatory.

The casualties so far have been award winning DJ, DJ Steve Sutherland, who was temporarily suspended after Galaxy FM received a string of complaints from it’s listeners after he played the song live on his radio programme on Saturday night. The radio station has since released a formal apology, both live on air and on its website, acknowledging that the song is offensive to Muslims, and that a “full internal investigation” is taking place.

No other major UK radio station has played the song, and from the reaction received to Galaxy FM, it would be very surprising if they did. Busta Rhymes nor his record label, Universal Motown, have yet made any official comments.

Here is the video:


And the lyrics are:

Ron Browz, yes!
Oh, we back in the most amazin' way
Well, lemme introduce you to the new talk
Let's get straight to it
C'mon!

[Chorus: Ron Browz]
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!

[Verse 1: Busta Rhymes]
Now, there ain't no way that you could kill the beast dead
I got Middle East women and Middle East bread
I got oil well money in the desert playing golf
Dolce shorts, dashiki with a Louie Scarf
Chest cold, diamonds make a nigga wanna cough
In Dubai, 20 million on the villa loft
And then I step up in the club and then these other niggas mad as shit
The way I make the people wanna sing the hook in Arabic!

[Chorus: Ron Browz]
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!

[Verse 2: Busta Rhymes]
Seven star hotels, Maybach, movie sick
Big bitches, knock-kneed camel-toed groupie shit
Women walk around while security on camelback
Club on fire now, niggas don't know how to act
Sittin' in casinos while I'm gamblin' with Arafat
Money long, watch me purchase pieces of the Almanac
Y'all already know, I got the streets buzzin'
While I make you bow down and make Salaat like a Muslim

[Chorus: Ron Browz]
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!

[Verse 3: Busta Rhymes]
See, now I take trips to Baghdad dummy
While I use stacked chips and count Arab money now
I don't need to get fresh, about to grow a beard duke
So much cake even the money look weird too
Domestic bread, and I'm broad, I'm tryna eat right
Prince Alwali, Bin Talal, Al Saul
They respect the value of my worth in Maui, Malaysia
Iran and Iraq, Saudi Arabia!

[Chorus: Ron Browz]
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,
Alhumdulillahi Rabil A’lameen
We gettin' Arab money!
We gettin' Arab money!

From Vos iz Neias (via LGF):
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) and New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson today denounced the Shnayder family, owners of the value import store, Net Cost Market, for stocking and selling dozens of packages of roasted sunflower seeds featuring a caricature of a greedy-and-sinister-looking Jew, complete with skullcap, on the label. The Cyrillic letters on the left of the label read, “Shalom, from Israel,” while the right side employs a slang phrase meaning “spit them out everywhere,” alluding to “dirty Jews.” The seeds are available in both 5.5 and 10.5 ounce bags. A survey conducted by Hikind’s office revealed that the seed bags are being sold in all four of Net Cost Market’s Brooklyn locations for a mere $0.99 to $1.99 per bag depending on size.

“I was absolutely appalled when I saw this label,” said an outraged Hikind. “Net Cost Market has become a complicit partner in the dissemination of hatred against Jews. With each bag sold, the Shnayders are literally sowing seeds of hate.” At three of the four locations, consumers who spent $50 or more were given the package of seeds as a promotional gift right at the checkout counter.

Net Cost Market bills itself as the “Costco of the ethnic Eastern European market,” and offers a wide assortment of imports from all over Eastern Europe. The roasted sunflower seeds are produced in the Former Soviet Union by Kremlin Kitchen. “I was not surprised to learn that this anti-Semitic product is being made in Russia,” said Hikind. “

(Update)
Hikind just received word from Edward Shnayder of Net Cost Market that all packages of the roasted sunflower seeds featuring a caricature of a greedy-and-sinister-looking Jew, complete with skullcap, on the label are being pulled from the shelves in all four stores effectively immediately.
This was noticed in Canada last month.

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