Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, February 23, 2009

Yemen Jews desperate to go to Israel

From that Zionist paper, The National (UAE):

AMRAN, YEMEN // Jewish community members in Amran who have been living in fear following a wave of threats and hate attacks have stepped up their efforts to migrate to Israel.

“We are all fed up. All of the Jews are willing now to migrate to Israel but some prefer not to speak up their desire,” said Yahia bin Yaish, the rabbi of the Jewish community in the northern governorate of Amran, about 60km north of the capital Sana’a.

“We have faced intimidation, attacks and threats. Some have even faced hand-grenade attacks. I myself have received SMS threats on my mobile.

“We are no longer secured. We are afraid to go to the market and even at home. We have reported this to the local authorities but they are lenient with the people behind the threats,” said Mr bin Yaish.

Last week, a Jewish Yemeni family was taken to Israel in a secret airlift organised by the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency for Israel.

Said bin Yisrael, the head of the Jewish community in Rydah, and his eight children and wife arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv last Thursday following attacks and death threats.

“Said went crazy after an attack on his house with a hand grenade last December,” a Jewish Yemeni, who is believed to have orchestrated Mr bin Yisrael’s migration, said on condition of anonymity.

“He was scared for his family. He will be back for his father and brothers who are still here.”

Mr bin Yaish said his family did not want to leave Yemen.

“This is our home and we prefer to live here, even on mountains if there is security. Life here is better because we can make sure that our kids are brought up well in line with our religious teachings.”

For those who do want to leave, Mr bin Yaish said about 150 of their passport applications have been held up in Sana’a for over two months.

“Whenever we go to them, they keep telling us the computers are not working,” he said.

Moshe Yaish al Nahari, a Jewish teacher and father of nine, was shot in Rydah’s market in Amran in December.

Abdulaziz Hamud al Abdi, a former military pilot whose family claims he is mentally ill, admitted in a hearing in December that he killed al Nahari following a warning that Jews should either leave the area or convert to Islam.

Attacks and threats against Yemeni Jews in Amran governorate flared up again following Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.

“The offensive was in Gaza and we were blamed. Some used to threaten me, telling me to stop the war. These attacks are meant to force us to leave our houses which tribesmen want for themselves,” Mr bin Yaish said.

After al Nahari’s murder, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, discussed with Jewish community leaders a plan to relocate Jews from Amran to Sana’a, where each Jewish family would receive a plot of land.

The Jewish community, however, said the government has taken no action.

Government officials declined to comment.

Mahmud Taha, an Amran-based journalist who has been following the issue of Yemeni Jews, said the migration of the Jewish family to Israel was not unexpected.

“There is no option for the Yemeni Jews but to migrate. The local authorities have failed to protect them and the promises of relocation have not been serious. The Jews are fed up and have reached intolerable situation,” Taha said.

Taha said the verdict against al Abdi, which the court has set for March 2, will likely absolve the defendant on mental health grounds.

“This will drive the Jews crazy and will be a driving force for their migration,” he said.

But I thought that dhimmi Jews were honored members of Arab society, that there was no discrimination, and that Arabs aren't anti-semitic but only anti-Zionist!

Al Arabiya reported that Leonardo DiCaprio may consider converting to Judaism to please girlfriend Bar Refaeli's father before marrying her.

And the Arab commenters are freaking out.

In English:

Leonardo you better get a lawyer and a prenup these MAGGOTS are after your money.

By doing so, he will get more success in a jew dominated hollywood, but does he know that judaisam is a religion not a political party, what an idiot !

But the Arabic page is where things get to be fun:

Jews used this method for a long time to attract men from other religions to Judaism and the Jews also sell to the sex trade in the occupied territory to the adolescent youth

This new evidence of Jewish racism

Would of course religion, it is weak and climber, who would want their future security in the world of cinema, representation and Hollywood, an industry dominated by Jews, fully 100%.

How are these topics to the benefit of the Arabs and Muslims? News is trivial and meaningless news channel, landing such topics

This is part of Protocoles of Elders of Zion To controle media and celebrities

He was an atheist and I think this is the Jewish conversion is an improvement in his career I hope to one day he will enter Islam

I know you're a wonderful actor and a world star is one of the star in the film in this era, but you manipulate religion, what is the use if converted to the Jewish conviction you really a hypocrite ...... But to be honest, at least your wife shows your taste in women.

Either half to give Israel bombs to buy or phosphorus release and the rear half of the wealth of the divorce

Sure after the change of religion in Palestine and Bistotun shall have the right to confiscate land for the Palestinians

Going through the responses to the frequent readers of the many Arab and world news events, has reached a conviction that the Arab peoples (Arabs) and the people stupid deserve. They do not know do not know that they do not know and think they know, and that is the seventh heaven of dementia and his country in mind. (Morocco)

It is known that the Jews falsely claim they are God's chosen people, they do not claim to profess their religion does not accept that he is not entitled to any of the Jewish people to be as Maktkdathm

Until the Jews would not Iradw by the Dean family Valehudyp closed on children Jacob (Israel) and believe they are God's children and the rest are animals, human beings like human beings created by God to serve them no rights, as was stated in the Torah that is the constitution of Israel, and Abu the first girl who knows and believes as long as intolerant. How can you be Jewish?

Although there are some commenters who don't see a big problem with it.

(h/t HuffPo)

New LG netbook feature: Built-in Quran!

From Middle East business site AMEInfo, a press release from LG Electronics:

LG Electronics, global leader and technology innovator, provides the LG Netbook X110 equipped with Holy Quran software and with the benefits of better, faster access to information and communications technology.

The software provides e- Holy Quran in 10 different languages. Recitation of the holy Quran is by Sheikh Abdul Rehman Sudas & Sheikh Saoud Al Shuraim. This software unites the requirements of every Muslims with high technology.

LG strives to improve the religious education, academic education, connectivity and access to technology.

It will be recalled that last year LG introduced a TV with the Quran built in as well.

And Nokia provides copies of the Quran for its mobile phones as well, although they are not built-in.

Once again we are seeing a multinational company specifically endorsing a single religion.

"Gas the Jews"

On Sunday, an IDF reserves captain spoke in Holland, and before he even said a word three protesters threw shoes at him. The venue for the speech had to be changed because the original hotel received threats about hosting it, and decided in that typically European way that anyone who threatens free speech is far more important than free speech itself. But one detail in the story that got overlooked by most media reporting it:

According to Edelheit, "The Palestinian organizations learned of the change, and then a rush of emails pressured the second hotel as well. There was a protest of some 50 people outside the hotel screaming, 'Gas the Jews'."

This has become a fashionable statement among the "pro-Palestinian" crowd. Even as they insist that they are not anti-semitic, the number of times that this or similar phrases have popped up at protests is increasing. In Germany last month:

The mass anti-Israel demonstrations in Germany in January were largely organized and supported by Arab, Turkish and Palestinian groups. Left Party politicians in the Bundestag urged their members to attend the rallies, which turned into displays of Jew and Israel hatred, including calls to "gas the Jews," "Jews out of Germany," "Kill, kill Jews," and "Kill, kill Israelis."

Also in Holland:

A court in Utrecht convicted two men on Friday for chanting the slogan 'Gas the Jews' (Joden aan het gas).
The 30-year-old Ibrahim I. was sentenced to 30 hours of community service plus a suspended three-week prison sentence. The 25-year-old Mohamed B. was fined 400 euros.

In Sweden:

Police in Sweden are on heightened alert following a spike in anti-Semitic attacks around the country in the wake of Israel's campaign against Gaza-based Hamas militants. A wooden staircase at a Jewish center in Helsingborg in southern Sweden was set alight twice in three days in the past week in a blaze police suspect was caused by flammable liquid spread over the stairs, according to the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

In Denmark:

A Muslim saying, "We want to kill all the Jews, all the Jews should be slain, they have no right to exist!" (at 1:10); and chants of "Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahoud, jaish Muhammad sawfa yaoud” -- that is, “Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return.” That chant is a reference to a celebrated incident in the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, when he massacred a town full of Jewish farmers.

Mere Rhetoric has many more.

There is no question that the impetus for the less politically-correct versions of pure anti-semitism in Europe comes mostly from Muslims, but it is being not only tolerated but encouraged by the European Left. (Not that we haven't seen similar feelings in the far-Left on the other side of the Atlantic.) Certainly there have been few public calls from the European Left against Muslim anti-semitism - we have yet to see any articles from them saying "yeah, we passionately hate Zionism and Israel and consider the Jewish state to be uniquely evil in the annals of history, but calling for Jews to be gassed crosses the line." The self-described liberals cannot seem to find a problem with public calls for genocide.

Perhaps they feel that to criticize them would be an unacceptable threat to free speech. Similar to the free speech exercised by those who call up hotels to threaten them with violence for hosting, um, a speech.

"Storming" Joseph's Tomb

Every once in a while, Jews in Israel get together to pray at the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus/Shechem.

Under the Oslo Accords, Joseph's Tomb was meant to stay under Israeli control, but the IDF evacuated it in 2000 when it was immediately ransacked and burned. It has since been rebuilt.

Because of the danger involved in traveling there, those who want to visit the holy site need to go under armed protection. So once a month or so, a group of Jews will go there, usually in the middle of the night, to pray, accompanied by IDF soldiers.

Inevitably, this visit is reported in the Arab media this way:

Palestinian security sources reported on Monday that dozens of Israeli settlers backed by the army stormed the tomb of Prophet Joseph near Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.

Eyewitnesses told Ma’an’s correspondent in Nablus that the settlers who came to the area were backed by Israeli soldiers late on Sunday, around midnight. The settlers, as reported; entered the tomb under the pretext of performing religious rituals.

The witnesses added that a number of Israeli military vehicles accompanied the buses by which settlers arrived to the area and waited two hours until they finished their rituals.

The imagery of a violent takeover of a supposed Muslim holy place, with the accompanying implicit dismissal of its importance to Jews, pretty much tells you what you need to know about the honesty of the Palestinian Arab media.

Ma'an uses the same terminology for Jews visiting the Temple Mount.

Hamas ghosts, and other Arab bedtime stories

The Jawa Report mentions bizarre Arab rumors about mysterious "white forces" who harassed the IDF in Gaza. Their article was only a tease, so I had to find the original.

I had earlier mentioned this rumor of Angels from Allah protecting Hamas terrorists in a news roundup on January 26, and variants of the story seem to be multiplying.

It was first mentioned in English at a really way-out Arab blog called Prisoner of Joy. The post, which is unintentionally hilarious, talks about these Hamas members wearing white uniforms that were only visible to Israeli soldiers:

The Israel forces broke into the house, the entire family members were huddled and forced to sit in one space, one of the sons was interrogated and asked about the identities of the Al-Qassam fighters.

The boy answered that the fighters of Al-Qassam wear black uniforms. However, the soldiers were angry instead and beat him senseless, and that happened continuously for three days. Every time he was asked, the boy replied that the fighters of Al-Qassam wear black uniforms.

In the end the soldiers were enraged and said angrily, “Hey liar! They wear white uniforms!”

These angels of Allah had a great sense of humor, playing practical jokes on the hapless IDF soldiers:

There was an ambulance driver who was stopped by the Israeli forces. He was asked of which camp he belonged to, the camp of Hamas or Fatah? And the unfortunate driver answered, “I am not from any camp, I am just an ambulance driver,” he said.

However, the Israeli forces still asked, “The group in white uniforms behind you just now, which camp did they join?” The driver was puzzled as he was sure that he did not see anyone else behind him. “I don’t know” was the only answer he could give.

Which is pretty much what one would expect an all-powerful enemy to do - why kill the soldiers when you can play hide and seek with them?

(If only Jews could see these supernatural beings, does it mean that Muslims agree that Jews are on a higher spiritual plane?)

But, who can blame the supposedly incompetent IDF for being scared? After all, as our blogger helpfully points out....

"The cost of the Israeli military aggression in Gaza at least reaches 10.5 trillion dollars," an Israel reporter said.

That's right - Ten TRILLION Dollars! Right out of the IDF soldier paychecks, coming to some half a billion per soldier! And that was stated by an Israeli reporter, so it must be true!

The same blogger has PROOF that Israel injected Arab prisoners with dangerous viruses!

And the George Bush family is not Christian, but Jewish, who study the dastardly Talmud!

Thank Allah for the Internut, or I wouldn't have learned so many fascinating facts!

Abu Dhabi in $20M deal with Israeli satellite company

From YNet:

Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' second largest member, stands to sign a multi-million dollar deal with Israel's ImageSat International, the American Defense News magazine reported recently.

ImageSat, which is co-owned by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and several private investors, owns and operates two EROS satellites, whose services will now be open to the Gulf state as well.

According to the report, Abu Dhabi and ImageSat signed their first imagery cooperation agreement back in 2006, enabling the country to subscribe to ImageSat's Eros-A satellite services. The new agreement will allow the UAE state access to images generated by Eros-B, which was launched into orbit in April of 2006.

Both satellites were manufactured by Israel – the frames by the IAI and the imagery cameras by Elbit Systems' subsidiary, Elop. The new contract is said to be worth $20 million a year.

According to the Defense News, ImageSat will allot Abu Dhabi a deciphering station and allow it to get images of pre-specified areas. The magazine further alleges that the contract will fortify Israel unofficial business ties with Abu Dhabi.

Perhaps they need to keep track of the UAE's suddenly worthless real estate.

UPDATE: Al Quds reports a new poll that 46% of the foreigners currently living in the UAE want to leave.

Let's hope that ImageSat gets paid in advance.

Another member of the Zionist Attack Zoo

Firas Press is reporting that a plague of vicious dogs has descended on Jericho, and the residents have no doubt who is behind it.

According to these "insiders," IDF dogs who are too old for work are being released into the West Bank to harass the poor Palestinian Arabs. They claim to have killed some 150 literal Zionist dogs so far, who seem to travel in packs.

Once again we must marvel at how Israel manages to train animals to distinguish between Jews in the West Bank and Palestinian Arabs.

These dogs join a long line of attack animals that Palestinian Arabs have blamed Israel for, including pigs, wolves, lions, rats and sheep.

Arab Cheesecake

I just read a brilliant post by The Other McCain on How to Get A Million Hits on Your Blog in Less than a Year. Since I have not yet gotten a million hits in four years, it sounded like this guy knows what he is doing.

Indeed he does, as he is entertaining as well as smart, and far less concerned with political correctness than I am.

Anyway, McCain has five rules on how to get more hits. My mind immediately focused on Rule 5, which is to gratuitously throw in pretty women.

But since my blog is so single-focused, I need some sort of flimsy excuse to post pictures of scantily-clad women that is consistent with my blog.

The easy way out would be to throw in pictures of hot Israeli babes, but others do that much better than I ever could.

And, let's face it, I just can't pull off the "gratuitous" part convincingly.

So, in the interests of fulfilling Rule 5 and yet keeping with my blog's themes, here is a Serious Post about Arab women.

It is easy to pigeonhole the Arab world as single-mindedly Islamist and opposed to any display of female flesh. But Egyptian, Jordanian and even Palestinian Arab newspapers will include Western-style features with models and actresses, both from the West and from the Middle East.

The PalArabic newspaper Al Quds, for example, shows this model from a recent Beirut fashion show:

Not exactly what one would find in a Hamas newspaper.

Similarly, this picture was taken at an Amman fashion show:

Not to my taste, but that ain't no chador either.

Here's one of a Lebanese actress from Firas Press:

And a final photo at Al Quds features this beauty:

OK, so maybe I'm not cut out for this type of blogging.

A few more interesting Arab articles

Arab News publishes a ridiculous analysis by a British writer trying to prove that IDF policies control everything that happens - in Pakistan.

In order to maintain its military dominance in the region, Israel has for years set about destabilizing any Muslim country that poses a threat to its dominance. Pakistan is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons and Israel is within range. So Pakistan must be weakened to the point at which it ceases to operate militarily as a nation. Pakistan is supposed to be the West’s foremost ally in the fight against Islamic militancy, so Israel cannot attack Pakistan directly, and, if Israel did, she would certainly be defeated. So what to do? Well, two strategies come to mind: One, use America to attack Pakistan for you; and two, train and send into the border regions of Pakistan gangs of thugs willing to commit atrocities that will then be blamed on “barbaric Muslim militants”, suggesting that Pakistan has lost control of its territory to dangerous extremists and so may lose control of its nuclear weapons. Is there any evidence that these policies are being pursued by Israel in Pakistan? Yes, though regrettably my sources must remain anonymous. Perhaps the best-informed person in Afghanistan has said that he knows for sure that the Israelis are training teams in Badakhshan and are sending them into Pakistan’s border regions to commit atrocities. Two British friends who have covered Afghan wars since 1980, tell me the same thing. Rumors of Israeli-trained provocateurs amongst the tribesmen in the Khyber Agency and in Swat are rife.

There ya go!

The Egyptian Information Minister has been banning free-speech advocates from appearing in the Egyptian media, thus proving the point.

A rich UAE playboy has apparently murdered his Egyptian lover and cut her up into eight pieces, which he stuffed in the garbage. He then fled back to the Emirates.

An Egyptian editorial is upset about the Shahar Peer incident in the UAE, and offers this amazing logic:

The UAE and the Arab world as a whole have nothing against Peer; she previously played in a tournament in Doha, Qatar. Ergo, it was nothing personal. And even if it was, can the UAE really be blamed? We'll say something the Dubai organizers did not: If the refusal to issue a visa to Peer violated WTA Tour rules, was not the three-week Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,300 Palestinians, a violation of every human right in the book?

There ya go!

Anti-Muslim video game sold in Saudi Arabia

From the Saudi Gazette:

A PlayStation game requiring players to kill Muslim characters and destroy mosques to reach higher levels is being sold to the public across the Kingdom.

A man said that he saw his son playing the game in which he had to kill Muslim characters and destroy the last mosque minaret to be a winner. The man said he bought the game from a shop in Batha in Riyadh.

The soundtrack of the game is the call for prayer, he said.

The man asked for the withdrawal of these offensive games from the Kingdom.

Last December, Sony delayed its game Little Big Planet after lines from the Qur’an were found to be included in the accompanying music. The game was scheduled to be re-programmed without the offending song – a track by Mali-born singer Toumani Diabate that contained two lines from the Qur’an. – Okaz/SG

Here's a neat example of the selective outrage that Muslims show against "insults "to Islam. A video game whose targets are Muslims and Muslim symbols barely gets any press at all, while at other times much smaller (or imaginary) provocations result in deadly rioting throughout the Muslim world.

The reason is that the Muslims aren't nearly as sensitive to insults as we think they are. They are only sensitive when the insults come from societies that they already loathe. The violent riots are not in defense of "the Prophet," they are against the West.

It all comes down, as it often does, to shame. Islam still has a self-image of being the vanguardin science, philosophy, art as well as military superiority, a position that has been in steady decline for six centuries. The world leaders in all those fields today are in the Western world. Our very existence as being pre-eminent in all these fields are a constant insult to Muslims who feel that this leadership is their right. Moreover, it is a not-so-subtle proof that Islam itself is a fundamental failure, as it envisions a world under Islamic rule that should have been completed by now.

So it is not that the occasional novel or cartoon grievously insults Islam; it is that these items remind Muslims how far they have fallen, and of their unrelented shame. The obvious reaction to being confronted with such shame is rage and violence - because Islam today is impotent to do anything constructive and stay within its ancient guidelines.

A video game found in Saudi Arabia might have been written by a Muslim apostate or maybe it was written by a Hindu and smuggled in, we don't know yet. By any objective measure, this game is far more insulting to Islam than anything that can be found in the mainstream of the West. But until the target is identified and found to belong to an already-identified enemy, there will be no huge outbreaks of outrage. The "prophet" and his god can take care of themselves, but their followers need a target for their pent-up anger, an anger that has nothing to do with defending their religion and eerything to do with reclaiming a tiny amount of relevance in a world that has passed them by.

Today's must-reads

There's really a lot of good stuff out there:

Israel Matzav has a damning look at President Obama's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Chas Freeman. He is simply another Jimmy Carter - supporting legitimizing Hamas and blaming all of America's international problems on Israel.

Pajamas Media points out the obvious - if Iran can propel a satellite into space, it can shoot a nuclear bomb pretty much anywhere it likes worldwide. Yet the world continues to treat the prospect of Iranian nuclear ambitions as being directed "only" towards Israel.

David Bogner looks at Tzipi Livni's attempts to become Prime Minister, and is happy that such a person won't get that chance so soon.

Natan Sharansky defines modern-day anti-semitism: "Live and be hated, or die and be loved."

Sultan Knish neatly demonstrates the hypocrisy of Muslims who are so thin-skinned about "Islamophobia" but happily defend routine Muslim violations of human rights.

I used to spend lots of time dissecting the Iranian press the same way I do the Arab press today. The main reason I don't anymore is because Judeopundit does such a nice job.

The Augean Stables reproduces an article about Taqqiya, the Muslim practice of institutionalized dishonesty, by Stuart Green.

He also points to an article by James Kirchick on how the world rationalizes terrorism against Israel.

Tunnel collapse, and more PalArab news

Ma'an seems to have backtracked from its bizarre claim yesterday that a tunnel collapse was due to Egyptian "gas bombs." Three more bodies were pulled from the rubble from the illegal tunnel, and one more was found later in the day.

In other PalArab self-death news, an Arab man was stabbed to death while “sitting together in a friendly atmosphere” with pals in Qalqiya.

There are reports that Hamas stole medicine from a PA Ministry of Health storage facility last week.

George Galloway's British aid convoy for Gaza, traveling through north Africa, crossed the border from Morocco to Algeria, the first time that any traffic has crossed between the two countries in 15 years. No word on whether that means that Morocco's closing of its border with Algeria means that Algeria is "occupied" by Morocco, which is apparently the UN definition of "occupation" - even when it isn't.

The PalArab self-death count climbs to 38.

PalArab news roundup 2-21-09

Work accident! Two Hamas members were killed in another of those "mysterious explosions" in Gaza.

Tunnel accident! One died, five injured in a Rafah smuggling tunnel. Ma'an claims that Egypt had fired something called "gas bombs" but the other PalArabic press just say that they suffocated. I will not count this as a self-death yet, but if Ma'an is correct, that means that Egypt just killed a Palestinian Arab and no one cares.

"Collaborators" no more: Two Gazans were executed for being suspected of collaborating with Israel. I couldn't find any mention of an arrest or trial. It's almost as if Hamas doesn't subscribe to normal standards of behavior and human rights!

When homemade projectiles turn deadly.... A Qassam rocket, invariably described as a mere nuisance when shot against Israel, fell short in Gaza - and now it is a big deal:

Two families said narrowly escaped death when a Palestinian homemade projectile hit their apartments in Al-Farahin, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday night.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted the owner of the apartments, Ahmad Abu Duqqa, as saying, “The projectile drilled through the roof causing serious damage."

"Only the heavens prevented a massacre," said Abu Duqqa, "as the projectile hit a bathroom next to my four grandchildren and their mother, who live with us after they fled their home because it is in the range of Israeli fire.”

Working to make Hamas respectable: Representatives from the Carter Center are working on reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. They met with Hamas leaders today in Ramallah. No doubt they are trying to find ways that Hamas can keep its desire to destroy Israel but can convince Europe that they don't really mean it.

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 32.

New mosque in Sri Lanka named after Arafat

Palestine Press Agency has a lengthy article about a new mosque in Sri Lanka named after the "martyr" Yassir Arafat.

In an interesting autotranslation, the article says

Ambassador Agha added that the Minister of Religious Endowments has made a statement on that occasion that he was happy with the overwhelming opening of the mosque which bears the name of the immortal martyr leader Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian suicide revolution and commander of the Palestinian national project, which has devoted his life to serving the Palestinian cause.

Do they mean that he oversaw the idea of using suicide bombers against kids in pizza shops, or that he started a suicidal Palestinian Arab movement?

And will the mosque start sporting a consistently three-day old beard?

More intrigue from Jabalya UNRWA school

The Jerusalem Post reports:

The IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), which earlier this week told The Jerusalem Post that 12 Palestinians were killed in the shelling near a UN school in Jabalya, north of Gaza City - and not 42 as claimed by Palestinian officials at the time - has now given the Post the names of seven of those fatalities.

The incident at the UN school was a key case in point, said the CLA's head, Col. Moshe Levi, since initial reports erroneously stating that the IDF had fired at the school, and putting the death toll at 42, were widely adopted at first by the UN and various NGOs. Earlier this month, the UN corrected its position and confirmed that the shelling and all of the fatalities had taken place outside the school compound.

Within hours of the incident on January 6, the IDF named two Hamas operatives, Immad Abu Askar and Hassan Abu Askar, as being among the dead.

Levi said nine Hamas operatives and three noncombatants died in the incident near the school. The seven names newly released by the CLA were: Ranin Abdullah Sameh, 12, Hadifa Jihad Kahloud, 17, Faris Mahmoud Faraj Allah, 21, Nafed Abu Abid, 22, Abed Muhammad Kadas, 25, Ayman Ahmad el-Khourd, 35, and Basem Abdel Gabin, 40.

The CLA would not specify how it had obtained the names. Officials said these names were being checked and categorized as combatants or noncombatants.

This sentence doesn't make much sense - if they already announced that 9 of them were combatants and three civilian, why don't they know which of the names are in each category?

But the next sentence is more intriguing:

On the day of the incident, officials further said, officers from the CLA contacted the Palestinian Health Ministry and were told that three Palestinian civilians had been killed and that Hamas was hiding the identities of the remaining casualties.

If the Palestinian Health Ministry never claimed the initial count of 42 deaths, then who did? The UN said 30, and PCHR said 27 civilians, so it wasn't either of them. Was this just another case of some reporter or bystander making up a number and having the world believe them without question? And if so, how many other times has this sort of thing happened?

And if the IDF turns out to be correct - and so far, they are the only ones to release names of the victims - then we have solid proof that the UN and PCHR are not reliable. All the other groups need to do to prove the IDF wrong would be to give us their own list of more than 12 victims.

PalArab news roundup 2-20-09

For the third time in two months, someone opened fire at the Fatah newspaper headquarters Al Hayat al-Jadida. And for the third time, Ma'an tries to imply that it came from a Jewish settlement, not from the many Hamas supporters in the West Bank.

An illegal fuel pipeline between Egypt and Gaza exploded, injuring two on the Egyptian side; the fire is still burning.

Islamic Jihad claims to have shot at a "settler" car on the West Bank.

Ten mortar shells shot from Gaza this morning. A rocket launched today was claimed by the "Hezbollah Brigades" of Gaza.

Things I didn't blog this week

Some stories that, for whatever reason, I didn't feel like going into this week, but that are still important or noteworthy. Many were sent to me either via email or comments.

The Park Slope Food Co-op, a major Brooklyn cooperative food store with 15,000 members that many Jews frequent, is considering boycotting Israeli products. The board has not brought it up yet as an official agenda item. (via email as well as Vicious Babushka)

Lots of blogs covered the case of Muzzammil Hassan, founder of Bridges TV, who apparently beheaded his wife in Buffalo. Bridges TV is meant to fight ugly stereotypes against Muslims, like the canard that Muslims like to behead people or support honor killings.

sshender via email points me to many more Pierre Rehov videos available online, including one about Arafat, The Road to Jenin (the truth about the Jenin "massacre,")and Suicide Killers (about the minds of suicide terrorists.) He has an entire YouTube channel as well (h/t ahoovah)

Bishop William Richardson, the Holocaust denying cleric who was reinstated to the Catholic Church last month, has been told to leave Argentina, officially for technical reasons but clearly because of his noxious views.

A number of rumors started swirling around Presidential Determination No. 2009-15 of January 27, 2009, "Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related To Gaza," which seem to imply that the US will be taking in Gaza refugees. WND researched it and found it to merely be a method for the US to authorize some $20 million for relief efforts in Gaza.

Multiculturalism now includes "put yourself in the terrorists' shoes."

US allowing Durban II to be like Durban I

A very troubling article in NRO:

President Obama had been warned to avoid having anything to do with the U.N.’s Durban II “anti-racism” conference this year. The U.S. walked out of the 2001 Durban I conference because it proved to be a U.N.-sanctioned platform for anti-Semitism. Its final Declaration singled out Israel for criticism, accusing the country of racism.

Ignoring these warnings, the U.S. sent a seven-person delegation to a preparatory meeting in Geneva this week — without asking anything of conference sponsors in return. The State Department explained the decision as an effort “to try to change the direction in which the Review Conference is heading.” But the delegation’s behavior during the week, which began by expressing “strong reservations about a document singling out Israel for criticism,” more closely resembles a double-cross.

...In other words, it didn’t take President Obama’s delegation two days before it sat in silence while Israel was singled out as guilty of racism — again.

Why would the delegation behave this way? The idea, seemingly, is to make it appear to an American audience that the Conference’s prospects are improving, that there are no intense disagreements. Just business as usual at the U.N., where multilateral engagement is always a force for good. The less said by the United States, the smoother multilateralism proceeds.

Read the whole thing. It is even worse than I predicted.

Peace rallies, Pakistani-style

The third paragraph of this story pushes the irony meter to 12.

Hundreds of journalists throughout Pakistan have protested against the murder of a reporter in the volatile Swat Valley.
Journalists rallied in cities across Pakistan to mourn the death of television reporter Musa Khan Khel.

The 28-year-old was kidnapped at gunpoint while covering a peace rally to celebrate the planned introduction of Sharia law in the Swat Valley.

His bullet-riddled body was found later outside the town of Matta.

That was some "peace rally!" But I guess the murder was perfectly halal according to Swat Valley Sharia.

What's so far right about Lieberman?

A guest post from EBoZ because I don't have time to write anything thoughtful:

The "far right" label is beginning to stick to Lieberman. See, for example, today's NYT which characterizes him as "ultranationalist," or NPR, AP and CBS who prefer the "far right" terminology.

But what is so far right about Lieberman? The loyalty oath he wants from Arab citizens? Every new US citizen must take a similar oath. Every member of congress must take a loyalty oath every time they are sworn into office. Every first grader in the country does it when they recite the pledge of allegiance.

Lieberman wants to cede Arab parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinian state. Normally, someone who wants to give up sovereignty over united Jerusalem is considered "left wing". He also wants to cede Umm el Fahm which is within the Israeli green line. Umm al Fahm residents are up in arms at the very thought of joining a Palestinian state, (while at the same demonstrating in
favor of Hamas).

The buttonholing of Lieberman into the far-right camp is part of the media's desire to oversimplify a nuanced election platform while at the same demonizing a large Israeli constituency.

UAE allows Israeli tennis player to compete

From AlBawaba (Jordan):

An entry permit has been issued to permit the Israeli tennis player Andy Ram to take part in next week's tennis tournament in Dubai, the Director of the Consular Affairs Department of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sultan Al Qertasi, said Thursday in a statement issued to the Emirates News Agency, WAM.

"The relevant Government department has issued a special entry permit to allow the tennis player Mr. Andy Ram to enter the country to take part in next week's international tennis tournament being held in Dubai," the statement said. "The decision to issue the permit is in line with the UAE's commitment to a policy of permitting any individual to take part in international sports, cultural and economic events or activities being held in the country, without any limitation being placed on participation by citizens of any member country of the United Nations," Al Qertasi said.

A commitment that is now approximately one day old.

The visa permit for the Israeli player came following stern international criticism against the organizers of Dubai women's tennis tournament after they failed to issue visa permit to Israeli player Shahar Peer.

But Dubai still has to make sure that the Arabs don't freak out and start slaughtering the collaborators/traitors/infidels who allow Israeli tennis players in the country:

"This is a well-established policy and has no political implications. Nor does this decision indicate any form of normalisation of relations with countries with whom the United Arab Emirates does not have diplomatic relations," the statement concluded.

Whew, glad they cleared that up!

Prisons and private homes have taken over from mosques as recruiting hubs for Islamist radicals in Europe, a shift that cannot be tackled simply by short-term government security measures, an academic said yesterday.
Under pressure from state surveillance and disapproval from local communities, activists who once trawled high-profile mosques for recruits increasingly use more discreet venues including makeshift prayer halls and bookshops, said Peter Neumann, a political scientist at Kings College, London.

"This pattern of withdrawal from open agitation is consistent across Western Europe," said Neumann, author of "Joining Al Qaeda," a report on radicalisation in Europe.

"A lot of open activities that used to go on at mosques are now taking place in private flats, as mosques themselves become more vigilant and restricted," he said.

"Recent years have seen the emergence of radical Islamic prison gangs which - although not always overtly political in outlook - are aggressive in their rhetoric."

Neumann said such gangs provided inmates with a protective social network and a sense of self-esteem, the report says.

I suppose that the fact that European mosques no longer openly advocate jihad is somewhat of an accomplishment.

Conspiracy theory of the day: Jews to colonize Iraq!

From the nutty Online Journal, January 30:

Israeli expansionists, their intentions to take full control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and permanently keep the Golan Heights of Syria and expand into southern Lebanon already well known, also have their eyes on parts of Iraq considered part of a biblical “Greater Israel.”

Israel reportedly has plans to relocate thousands of Kurdish Jews from Israel, including expatriates from Kurdish Iran, to the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Nineveh under the guise of religious pilgrimages to ancient Jewish religious shrines. According to Kurdish sources, the Israelis are secretly working with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to carry out the integration of Kurdish and other Jews into areas of Iraq under control of the KRG.

Kurdish, Iraqi Sunni Muslims, and Turkmen have noted that Kurdish Israelis began to buy land in Iraqi Kurdistan, after the U.S. invasion in 2003, that is considered historical Jewish “property.”

The Israelis are particularly interested in the shrine of the Jewish prophet Nahum in al Qush, the prophet Jonah in Mosul, and the tomb of the prophet Daniel in Kirkuk. Israelis are also trying to claim Jewish “properties” outside of the Kurdish region, including the shrine of Ezekiel in the village of al-Kifl in Babel Province near Najaf and the tomb of Ezra in al-Uzayr in Misan Province, near Basra, both in southern Iraq’s Shi’a-dominated territory. Israeli expansionists consider these shrines and tombs as much a part of “Greater Israel” as Jerusalem and the West Bank, which they call “Judea and Samaria.”

Reportedly assisting the Israelis are foreign mercenaries paid for by U.S. Christian evangelical circles that support the concept of “Christian Zionism.”

Iraqi nationalists charge that the Israeli expansion into Iraq is supported by both major Kurdish factions, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Iraq’s nominal President Jalal Talabani. Talabani’s son, Qubad Talabani, serves as the KRG’s representative in Washington, where he lives with his wife Sherri Kraham, who is Jewish.

Also supporting the Israeli land acquisition activities is the Kurdistan Democratic Party, headed by Massoud Barzani, the president of the KRG. One of Barzani’s five sons, Binjirfan Barzani, is reportedly heavily involved with the Israelis.

The Israelis and their Christian Zionist supporters enter Iraq not through Baghdad but through Turkey. In order to depopulate residents of lands the Israelis claim, Mossad operatives and Christian Zionist mercenaries are staging terrorist attacks against Chaldean Christians, particularly in Nineveh, Irbil, al-Hamdaniya, Bartalah, Talasqaf, Batnayah, Bashiqah, Elkosheven, Uqrah, and Mosul.

The ultimate aim of the Israelis is to depopulate the Christian population in and around Mosul and claim the land as biblical Jewish land that is part of “Greater Israel.” The Israeli/Christian Zionist operation is a replay of the depopulation of the Palestinians in the British mandate of Palestine after World War II.

Wow, these Joooz are amazing! I guess that since Israel's attempt to expand to the Nile was derailed by that damned peace agreement with Egypt, they are setting their sites on the Euphrates.

The author, not surprisingly, is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist as well.

Even though this is simply stupid, Iraqpundit points out that the fact that it has been translated into Arabic makes it potentially dangerous:

When talking about what might derail progress in Iraq, people rarely mention the power of the conspiracy theory. Rumours have traditionally done a great deal of damage in the Middle East, and Iraq was never spared from this exercise. Sometimes the talk can be so silly that it's harmless, such as Saddam Hussein wore a crucifix under his suit. And sometimes it can be so carefully constructed that it can persuade even the cynical. I used to think the stories were created only by locals. But here's an American-made conspiracy rumour that is spreading.....

The problem is his story was translated into Arabic, which makes it sound more credible. The the Middle East, if something is written by Americans, British, etc, it is more likely to be believed. Many times people start a rumour and attribute it to a western source.

On the surface, the story sounds so absurd that it should be dismissed, right? But Madsen wants to make sure he ignites something: "According to Kurdish sources, the Israelis are secretly working with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to carry out the integration of Kurdish and other Jews into areas of Iraq under control of the KRG."

Tensions are rising between Kurds and non-Kurds in Iraq. And when Madsen introduces such a conspiracy, he is bound to stir up trouble. The disagreement between the Kurds and non-Kurds centers on a land dispute. And when Madsen brings in Israel, he is playing with fire.

Whether wittingly or unwittingly, conspiracy theorists know to play with the Mideasterner who loves to find the most negative angle possible to explain any situation. Some pretty strange stuff has happened in our past, which is why conspiracy theories are not always so easy to disregard.

Conspiracies have been powerful in Iraq. Under the Baathists, access to information was so limited that people depended on gossip for news. Saddam Hussein used gossip to help control the population. Such habits, the belief in rumours, can be very difficult to break. But ignoring the problem is not a good idea. Serious news coverage in Iraq would be helpful. Maybe when people see that Israel does not colonise Iraq, they can figure out that such stories are not to be believed. If Madsen succeeds in persuading Iraqis that Israel is helping Kurds to take over, say, Mosul -- I don't even want to go there. All I can tell you is that it would be foolish to underestimate the power of the conspiracy rumour.

Iraqpundit is right on. No one knows which theories disappear and which gain traction, but the ones that get believed can have deadly results in the Arab world.

(h/t Suzanne)

Europe caves, starts talking with Hamas

From the Independent (UK):

European nations have opened a direct dialogue with Hamas as the US intensifies the search for Middle East peace under Barack Obama.
In the first meeting of its kind, two French senators travelled to Damascus two weeks ago to meet the leader of the Palestinian Islamist faction, Khaled Meshal, The Independent has learned. Two British MPs met three weeks ago in Beirut with the Hamas representative in Lebanon, Usamah Hamdan. “Far more people are talking to Hamas than anyone might think,” said a senior European diplomat. “It is the beginning of something new – although we are not negotiating.”
Mr Hamdan said yesterday that since the end of last year, MPs from Sweden, the Netherlands and three other western European nations, which he declined to identify, had consulted with Hamas representatives.
“They believe they made a mistake by blacklisting Hamas,” he said, referring to the EU decision in 2003 to add the political wing of the movement to its list of terrorist organisations. “Now they know they have to talk to Hamas.”
Political contacts with Hamas are banned under the rules of the international Quartet for Middle East peace – which groups the US, the EU, Russia and the UN – on the grounds that the Palestinian faction remains committed to the destruction of Israel. The international community insists that the ban will only be lifted once the Islamists agree to recognise Israel and renounce violence. But the policy, set out in 2006 following the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections, has been called into question since the three-week war in Gaza which is ruled by Hamas.

I guess that the EU believes that Hamas won, and want to reward them for their valiant ability to continue shooting rockets at women and children.

War crimes? Nah, they only apply to Israel.

Professor loses job in tough economy, blames Zionists

It would be tough to find a better example of how pure hatred dissolves the ability to think. From Inside Higher Ed:

Joel Kovel — one of the more outspoken professorial critics of Israel on American college campuses — is out of his job at Bard College. This week Kovel sent a letter to all Bard faculty members denouncing the way he has been treated and charging that his politics cost him the position.

Others suggest, however, that Kovel was treated the way many non-tenured professors are being treated these days as colleges retrench — and that mixed student reviews of his organizational skills in the classroom may have hurt him more than his politics.

And while the college is generally avoiding comment, some at Bard are angry at Kovel’s accusations that appear to link Israel’s treatment of Gaza with the college’s treatment of him.

His faculty letter concluded this way: “If the world stands outraged at Israeli aggression in Gaza, it should also be outraged at institutions in the United States that grant Israel impunity. In my view, Bard College is one such institution. It has suppressed critical engagement with Israel and Zionism, and therefore has enabled abuses such as have occurred and are occurring in Gaza. This notion is of course, not just descriptive of a place like Bard. It is also the context within which the critic of such a place and the Zionist ideology it enables becomes marginalized, and then removed.”

Kovel stands out among academic critics of Israel in that he does not just criticize actions of the government there, or advocate for a Palestinian state, but argues for the replacement of Israel with a secular state for Israelis and Palestinians. In interviews, he has called Israel an “abomination” and said that he understands “the desire to smash Zionism.” His book Overcoming Zionism set off a controversy last year when its American distributor — the University of Michigan Press — temporarily halted sales, and then ended its relationship with Pluto Press, the publisher.

In his letter, Kovel argues that his position at Bard deteriorated as his opposition to Zionism grew and became more public. ...(While Bard does have ties to Israel, it notably has ties to Palestinian higher ed that may be deeper than those of most institutions, just this week announcing a series of joint programs with Al Quds University.)

A Bard spokesman declined to comment on the situation, citing the confidentiality of personnel actions. But an evaluation of Kovel, which he released, suggests that his “long and productive career” at Bard has been problematic of late. The evaluation notes an increasing number of student complaints about Kovel’s lack of organization, which he has previously explained by saying that he likes his courses to focus on current material.

The concerns expressed in the evaluation focus on these issues, although the review also notes that Kovel has been teaching a course about his book Overcoming Zionism, despite some qualms from faculty colleagues. “It is possible that the pitch of controversy in regard to Zionism has impeded dialogue in this case. ...” the evaluation says. (Kovel says that the evaluation was biased because one of the three professors involved is a supporter of Israel.)

Kovel has taught at Bard since 1988, first holding the Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies, and later moving to a part-time professorship. He never had tenure, only renewable contracts, the last one of which will not be renewed. (He will receive emeritus status, however.)

While Bard officials did not respond to inquiries, President Botstein did send Kovel a letter that included in it permission to release it, which Kovel did at this reporter’s request. In the letter Botstein notes that Bard is eliminating a number of part-time positions to try to preserve full-time professorships, and that — had finances remained “flush” — Kovel’s contract probably would have been renewed.

“To take what is self-evidently a result of economic constraint and turn it into a trumped-up case of prejudice and political victimization insults not only your intelligence but the intelligence of your readers,” Botstein writes. He goes on to thank Kovel for teaching at Bard and to say that he was never offended by having someone with his views on the faculty. “I am delighted that you hold views that many consider wrong or dangerous. You are not as controversial as you would like to believe.”

And Botstein notes that he is proud that Bard is working with help improve Palestinian education through the Al Quds University effort, writing: “I’m sure that over the years ahead Bard will do much good on behalf of education and justice in the Middle East. Parenthetically, may I express my disappointment that you never inquired about this new program, which was announced to the faculty last spring.”

That last sentence speaks volumes.

If Kovel cared about Palestinian Arabs he would have jumped to work with Al Quds University. The fact that he showed zero interest proves that he doesn't care about Palestinian Arabs at all, but just hates Palestinian Jews.

And that hatred translates reflexively into the idea that anyone who finds fault with him must be one of those hated Zionists, and that the world revolves around himself and his "controversial views" which are a dime a dozen on college campuses. He finds it much easier to preach hate against Israel than to take even the smallest step to help Palestinian Arabs. (Kovel's ego is so wacky that even tried to become US President with the Green Party in 2000!) He has a victim mentality he learned well from the group that he identifies with and yet spurns.

Incidentally, his degrees were not in social studies or any related field, but in medicine and psychiatry. And he appears to be Jewish himself.

The Hostages of Hatred - full documentary

The video I posted earlier about UNRWA is in fact part of a full documentary by Pierre Rehov, called "The Hostages of Hatred," that was made in 2004. It is an excellent and accurate overview of Palestinian Arab history from 1948 onwards.

Here's the entire film:

Thanks to sshender for the link.

Sunni clerics declare new Jihad

From the BBC (h/t Andre):

At a weekend meeting in Istanbul, 200 religious scholars and clerics met senior Hamas officials to plot a new jihad centred on Gaza.

The BBC's Bill Law was the only Western journalist at the meeting.

In a hall crowded with conservative Sunni Muslim sheikhs and scholars, in a hotel close to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport speaker after speaker called for jihad against Israel in support of Hamas.

The choice of Turkey was significant. Arab hardliners were keen to put aside historic differences with the Turks.

As one organiser put it: "During the past 100 years relations have been strained but Palestine has brought us together."

The conference, dubbed the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign, also gave impetus to Sunni clerics concerned about the growing power of Hezbollah, the Shia movement backed by Iran, which rose to international prominence in its own war with Israel in 2006.

"Gaza is a gift," the Saudi religious scholar Mohsen al-Awajy told me. He and other delegates repeatedly referred to the Gaza war as "a victory".

"Gaza," he continued, "gives us power, it solves our differences. We are all now in a unified front against Zionism."

In closed meetings after sessions delegates focussed on the creation of a "third Jihadist front" - the first two being Afghanistan and Iraq. The intensity of the Israeli attack had "awakened all Muslims," Mr Awajy claimed.

"Palestine is a legitimate theatre of operations for jihad (holy war)," he added.

Mohammed Nazzal, a senior Hamas leader based in Damascus, challenged Arab governments to "open their borders and allow the fighters to come."

Delegates from all over the Middle East, and from Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan and Indonesia applauded as he stabbed the air with a raised finger and declared: "There will be no agreement with Israel... only weapons will bring respect."

Gaza has opened a gulf between Arab people and their regimes, clerics say

Mr Nazzal told his audience: "Don't worry about casualties."

The 23 days of bombardment of Gaza, in which some 1,300 people, many of them civilians and nearly 300 of them children, are believed to have died, was "just the beginning" of the struggle, Mr Nazzal said.

To laughter in the audience, another speaker noted that twice as many babies were born as children were killed during the war.

Every death, I was told, was a martyrdom on the road to liberation.

For the hardline sheikhs, it was an opportunity to underline what they see as the growing gulf between Arab regimes who are hesitant to back Hamas and the people of the region who, they say, embrace Hamas as heroes fighting against overwhelming odds.

More importantly, this conference represented something of a coup for Hamas. They were promised weapons, money and fighters.

This is not particularly new - it is not as if Muslim clerics were ever moderate towards Israel, as many Friday sermons through the years show.

However, this is noteworthy because the fact is that some of what they say is correct - the people were far more pro-Hamas than the governments, which were more pragmatic. Even Hezbollah, which had promised to send rockets in support of Hamas, decided against it.

One of the ironies from the pro-democracy push that George Bush advocated is that if there were free elections in the Arab world today, chances are that they would be the only elections in history - because the Islamists would win and would never give up their power. Democracy is meaningless without freedom, and the clerics might say they want democracy now but they certainly don't want freedom.

Every "friendly" Arab country is only one bullet away from becoming another Gaza, ruled by Islamic extremists and ready to turn their nations into theocracies. Sure, there would be plenty of average Arabs who would not be happy about it but none of them are as fanatic about freedom as the extremists are about political Islam, making the chances of Arabs getting rid of the mullahs on their own are very slim.

So while there is no additional danger yet to Israel from the Sunnis in Turkey letting off steam and celebrating the deaths of 1200 Arabs, their words do indicate that they have power that can blossom in their own countries if their current leaders make a mistake. And if they take power, all the weapons that we have sold them will immediately be earmarked for Israel - and the West.

Islamist threat forces Israelis to play tennis to empty house

From AP:

Sweden and Israel will play their first-round Davis Cup match in an empty arena next month because of security concerns.
Several anti-Israeli demonstrations are planned during the best-of-five series, which will be played March 6-8 at the 4,000-seat Baltic Hall.
Malmo officials announced the decision after a vote on the issue in the city's recreational committee. The Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Left Party won the vote 5-4 after a long debate.
The committee said it could not guarantee security for the fans.
``It's a high-risk match,'' committee chairman Bengt Forsberg was quoted as saying by Swedish news agency TT.
Only officials, some sponsors and journalists will be allowed to enter the arena.
Carlos Gonzales Ramos, the committee's vice chairman, wanted to call off the match.
``But since it was not possible to do so, this was best result,'' he told TT.

Now, what sort of security concerns could cause such a decision? Could it be because everyone knows that when normal people protest, it is not too disruptive, but when Muslims protest, there is always a decent chance for violence?

Nah. This is simply being careful, nothing to do with the possibility of Islamic rioting and destruction.

(h/t LGF)

Muslim women meet for equal rights

From BBC:

Campaigners from Afghanistan set out the country's new marriage contract. Activists from Morocco explained how they secured wholesale reform of family law.

These were just two of the issues discussed by hundreds of Muslim women who gathered in Malaysia to launch a new global campaign for equality.
Reform of family law is at the heart of the campaign, to tackle what organisers called the "untenable" treatment of some Islamic women.
Polygamy, consent to marry, inheritance rights, custody of children after divorce - all are areas where they want change.
Zainah Anwar is at the helm of the campaign.
She helped organise the conference in Kuala Lumpur, which culminated in the unveiling of a new organisation called Musawah, which means equality in Arabic.
"The disconnect between Muslim family laws that discriminate against women and the realities of women's lives today is untenable and unacceptable," she said. "Women can't take that any longer."
Change on such a grand scale may seem unachievable to some, but Musawah is aimed at connecting Muslim women all over the world and uniting their efforts.
Underpinning their campaign is a new interpretation of parts of the Koran, Islam's holy text.

They believe this is crucial to winning arguments with scholars and politicians.

Good luck convincing the imams to re-interpret the Quran. Here's what happened to two people who merely tried to translate it:

An appeals court in Afghanistan upheld 20-year prison sentences yesterday for two men who published a translation of the Holy Quran that drove religious leaders to call for their execution.

The controversial text is a translation of the holy book into an Afghan language without the original Arabic verses alongside.

There has long been a catch-22 in the idea of modernizing Islam: there is no way to change attitudes without re-interpreting the Quran, and there is no way to re-interpret the Quran without the approval of the most intransigent clerics.

And the most extreme clerics hold veto power over everyone else, because no one wants to be accused of being a kuffir and put their lives in danger.

NY Theatre Workshop interested in Jew-bashing play

From NYT:

Three years after New York Theater Workshop drew protests for canceling “My Name Is Rachel Corrie,” a play sympathetic to Palestinians, it is considering mounting a production of a new piece by Caryl Churchill, “Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza,” that at times contains images of heartless Israelis.

A spokesman for New York Theater Workshop — known for provocative work like Tony Kushner’s play “Homebody/Kabul” and the original production of the musical “Rent” — said on Tuesday that the workshop was “interested in the play” and was now considering whether a production could be mounted this season.

According to other people familiar with the discussions at the workshop, its artistic director, James C. Nicola, is pursuing the play while mindful of his bruising experience in 2006 with “My Name Is Rachel Corrie.”

The entire text of the play and my comments here; other comments here.

Notice that the article implies that the Rachel Corrie play was controversial because it is "sympathetic to Palestinians" rather than because it is slanderous towards Israelis. The implication is that critics of these sorts of "artistic" ventures simply hate Palestinian Arabs rather than have any legitimate problems with mindless and decontextualized Israel-bashing.

(h/t Tamzen via email)

US senators in Syria while Syria builds WMD plant

Jane's uncovers:

Satellite images from several commercial sources gathered from 2005 to 2008 have shed light on activity at the chemical weapons facility identified as Al Safir in northwest Syria. Imagery obtained by DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite indicates that the site contains not only a number of the defining features of a chemical weapons facility, but that significant levels of construction have taken place at the facility's production plant and adjacent missile base.

And yet the US continues to send major officials to genuflect at these active builders of WMDs:

A delegation of US senators headed by Benjamin Cardin, a member of the foreign relations committee, arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad.
Cardin's talks with the president on Wednesday will focus on bilateral relations, the peace process and regional questions, the US embassy said.

It is the second US Congressional delegation to visit Syria in less than a month and John Kerry, foreign relations committee chairman, is expected to make the country one of his stops on a current Middle East tour.

See Soccer Dad for more on the folly of senators sightseeing in Damascus.

Iranian official calls Bahrain a province of Iran

Bahrain isn't too happy with Iran:

PARLIAMENT yesterday condemned controversial statements by Iranian officials, who claimed Bahrain was actually part of the Persian state.
All 40 of Bahrain's MPs agreed to issue a statement dismissing the statements as a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, an international law that advocates mutual respect between sovereign states.

It follows comments by Hujjat Al Islam Ali Akbar Natiq Nuri, head of public inspection at the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, last week.

He revived the controversial claims during a speech in Mashhad marking the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, in which he described Bahrain as the 14th Iranian province.

On December 27 last year, IIam province MP Daryoush Ghanbari also claimed Bahrain was an integral part of Iran, questioning what he called the dubious role of the United Nations in establishing Bahrain's sovereignty.

Bahrain has suspended talks with Iran over natural gas imports.

Jordan has condemned the Iranian official's remarks as well, and reminded Iran that they still illegally occupy land that belongs to the UAE.

UNRWA is part of the problem (video)

I wish I knew who made this, but it is pretty good (h/t Israellycool):

Good news links

An Israeli company has signed the world's largest solar energy deal with a California electric company, to power nearly a million homes.

A Portuguese cheesemaker who is a descendant of Jews forced to convert to Christianity 500 years ago decides to get kosher certification.

Technion scientists invent an artificial "nose" that can detect and identify cancers early just from smelling the breath of the patients. The head of the team is an Arab.

An IDF soldier who died in a tragic accident becomes a successful shadchan (matchmaker) two years later. (See also Treppenwitz for a personal angle and observations.)

Now babies can have their own iPods before they are born - and it might save their lives.

The "James Bond" gadgetry of the IDF.

British libraries cave to Muslims

From the Daily Mail:

Librarians are being told to move the Bible to the top shelf to avoid giving offence to followers of Islam.
Muslims have complained of finding the Koran on lower shelves, saying it should be put above commonplace things.
So officials have responded with guidance, backed by ministers, that all holy books should be treated equally and go on the top shelf together.
This means that Christian works, which also have immense historical and literary value, will be kept out of the reach and sight of many readers.
The guidance was published by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a quango answering to Culture Secretary Andy Burnham.
It said Muslims in Leicester had moved copies of the Koran to the top shelves of libraries, in keeping with the belief that the Koran is the all-important word of God.
The report said the city’s librarians consulted the Federation of Muslim Organisations and were advised that all religious texts should be kept on the top shelf.
‘This meant that no offence is caused, as the scriptures of all the major faiths are given respect in this way, but none is higher than any other,’ the guidance added.
Critics said such a move implied religious works should be treated as objects of veneration rather than as books to be read. Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank said:

‘Libraries and museums are not places of worship. They should not be run in accordance with particular religious beliefs.
‘This is violating the principles of librarianship and it is part of an insidious trend.’

"410 children"

On the day that Israel declared a cease fire in Gaza, AFP quoted Palestinian "medical sources" - meaning the Ministry of Health - as saying that there were 1188 dead, including 410 children.

On that same day, Ma'an quoted a figure of 1205 killed - including 410 children.

And on January 19th, two days later, the Palestinian Ministry of Health was quoted by the UN and WHO as saying there were about 1300 deaths - including 410 children.

By February 1, the Arab press was saying that there were 1400 deaths - including 410 children.

It is truly amazing that during the cease fire, the ridiculous sources that reporters uncritically used raised the death toll by over 200 and no one noticed - and they also didn't notice that the children and women dead stayed the same.

I started researching this bizarre "410 children" figure when I saw it quoted as fact by the rabidly anti-Zionist Philip Weiss in his blog, today, even when the MoH figures have been proven to be absurd. Even if you don't accept the IDF figures of 300 total women and children (counting children as under 16, not under 18), the PCHR said that the number of children killed was 280 and at least tries to back up that number.

But why let facts get in the way of insane hate?

More details about the missing Gaza ordnance

I just got off the phone with Richard Miron, UN spokesman in Jerusalem for UNSCO who was quoted in the BBC report about the seven missing tons of unexploded ordnance in Gaza. He said that his only official statement was what he told the BBC, but he did answer a couple of questions.

Miron said that the YNet report was incorrect in saying that UNRWA officials examined the weaponry. The UN Mines Action Team was not the party that found, gathered nor stored the explosives; they did not own the warehouse and never took possession of them. Their job was simply to safely destroy of the material, and Miron did not tell me how exactly they found out about it to begin with.

He also refused to speculate who might have taken the explosives, although I think we all now who that was.

(Interestingly, I had emailed Chris Gunness about the UNRWA connection and he simply emailed back to call a certain number. I assumed the number belonged to Gunness himself, but it was Miron, Chief Public Information Officer of UNSCO, who answered the phone, and whom I had earlier emailed with similar questions.)

Followup: Terrorists recycling unexploded Israeli bombs

As a followup to yesterday's article about Hamas bragging that they got lots of free munitions from unexploded Israeli ordnance, the BBC explains exactly where they got it from:

A large stockpile of unexploded weapons has disappeared in Gaza, before United Nations experts were able to dispose of it safely, the BBC has learned.

The explosives, including aircraft bombs and white phosphorus shells, were fired by the Israeli military during its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip.
UN officials said they were urgently trying to establish where the arms had gone and have called for their return.
Israel has accused Hamas of taking the stockpile, which was under Hamas guard.
A UN Mines Action Team has been in Gaza since the end of the war, last month, its job to locate unexploded Israeli ordnance and to organise its safe disposal.
Two weeks ago, on 2 February, the UN team was given access to a storage site in Gaza City where more than 7,000kg of explosives were being housed.
They included three 2,000-pound bombs and eight 500-pound bombs, which had all been dropped from aircraft but failed to explode.
There was also a large number of 155mm shells for delivering the incendiary chemical white phosphorus.
Many of the explosives had been collected by the Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip.
The UN staff had been waiting for the Israeli army to allow them to bring specialist equipment into Gaza so they would be able to destroy the explosives safely.
In particular, the team needed explosives or flares to set off a controlled explosion and they needed tools to allow them to extract fuses from some of the bombs.
The UN staff were also waiting for permission from the Israeli military to use two safe areas to dispose of the munitions.
At a meeting last Thursday with the Israeli army, two areas were identified: one in the north, in a no-go area close to the border with Israel and the other near Khan Younis in the south, in a former Hamas training area.
On Sunday, when UN officials returned to the warehouse, which was under a Hamas police guard, they say they found most of the explosives had gone missing.
Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the stockpile had been "commandeered by Hamas".

And why exactly did the UN allow Hamas to "guard" seven tons of explosives?

(h/t Callie)

Guess who wrote these words?

Try to guess what organization wrote these words in their press releases during January:

Zionist killing machine aimed at medical staff and drug stores

The [Zionist] forces of Nazi oppression, which has taken upon itself to destroy crops and cattle, adding to its black record every minute a new shameful affront to civilization and humanity. A new Holocaust in Gaza, the indiscriminate targeting of elders, women and children.

Army of the Nazi occupation attacks children and women

Seems that there is no sanctity of anything in this war declared by the barbaric Zionist killing machine on the defenseless people of Gaza Strip...every hour there was a massacre.

Was it Hamas? Islamic Jihad? Iranian TV?

No, these press releases were from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, of the moderate PA, reporting to peacemaker Mahmoud Abbas, whose webpage is plastered with pictures of dead children.

Reading their words does not make one think that they would be the most reliable sources for objective information.

Yet it just so happens that the Palestinian Ministry of Health was the "official source" for most media outlets during the Gaza operation when they counted the number of casualties. They were the ones that insisted that one third of the dead were children. And they were also the source used by the UN's John Holmes when discussing how many casualties were civilians - even when the somewhat less biased PCHR reports were out that showed the MOH to be exaggerating.

Journalists can be forgiven for using MOH's figures as long as they identify the source and indicate the possible bias. But when they use them as fact, they are simply part of the problem.