Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Some symbols are worth dying for

Let's pretend that somehow, a terrorist group manages to place a series of impossible-to-defuse remote-controlled bombs at the Mall of America. Their demands are simple - if the United States wants to save the lives of the shoppers at the mall, we must concede a tiny island to the terrorists, irrevocably. The United Nations would ensure that this island becomes part of the terrorist state, legally, under international law.

The island just has one major feature - the Statue of Liberty.

Logically, this is a no-brainer. What good is a hunk of copper compared to hundreds of human lives?

Yet most patriotic Americans would be loathe to submit to such a plan. Of course, we would try to do everything possible to avoid either losing Lady Liberty or human lives, but it is inconceivable that we would give up the Statue without a fight.

Symbolism might be pooh-poohed by "progressive" thinkers as meaningless primitivism, but it is important in the coherence of any group of people. The flag, the anthems and the symbols are part of what gives a people their collective identity.

For Jews, there is no more important symbol than Jerusalem. The very idea of compromising on the holy city, the singular object of nearly two thousand years of longing, is anathema. Yet the Jews aren't the people who are saying this explicitly - we have ceded the emotional attachment to Jerusalem to the Arabs.

We have recently seen some reactions to Bibi Netanyahu's statement that Jerusalem will remain undivided and under Israeli rule:

The Palestinians warn that Israel's "continued construction and appropriation of land" in east Jerusalem may be grounds for another uprising.

France accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of prejudicing the outcome of the Middle East peace process by declaring that Jerusalem would forever be Israel's undivided capital.

"Jerusalem is a final status issue. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues," a State Department spokesman said when asked to respond to Netanyahu's proclamation that Jerusalem would always remain under Israeli sovereignty.

For years, the world has stood by, mute, when Palestinian Arabs make absurd claims such as the idea that a Palestinian Arab state is impossible without Jerusalem, and their threats of violence if they don't get their way. It is far past time to take a page from their playbook.

If Netanyahu is serious, this is the time to push back. He should declare in no uncertain terms that Jerusalem is a red line, and that if anyone tries to take it away - Arabs, the UN, the EU or the US - they should expect a fight. It should be clear that Jews are willing, and eager, to die for the heart and soul of their nation.

The past decade of allowing the thought of Jerusalem being up for negotiation was an aberration and a travesty, and now is the time to repair the damage. The argument for Jerusalem is not logical and Jews should not be put in a position of defending their love of the city logically any more than anyone should have to justify love, loss, and millennia of longing. The fact is that it is simply inconceivable that any representative of Jews in any capacity can bargain away our capital. No other people gave a damn about rebuilding Jerusalem for over 1800 years.

The idea that Muslims have a significant claim on the city is historically laughable and provably recent. Their supposed ties to the city are derivative of the deep Jewish historical and religious ties; a claim based on jealousy rather than anything real.

It is well past time for Israeli politicians to start speaking in this language. If we are to learn anything from the Palestinian Arabs, it is that the world will not try to reason with people who are not open to reason.

And the Jewish ties to Jerusalem are not open to reason.

Report: Vast majority of Hamas "police" terrorists

From YNet (h/t t34zakat):

An independent research company revealed Sunday that 90% of the Palestinian "security personnel" killed in Gaza during the IDF offensive there in January were members of terror organizations.

The IDF says 709 gunmen were killed in the fighting, of which Hamas has claimed 343 were innocent police officers.

But the independent Israeli 'Orient Research Group', hired by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to investigate the identities of those killed, has released a report challenging Hamas' claim.

The report says 286 of the 343 "police officers" killed were members of terror organizations, the vast majority of them belonging to Hamas' military wings.

It also states that the official list of names provided by Hamas includes one traffic officer, who was a member of the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and 27 members of various forces trained to battle Israel.

"The statement that Israel attacked innocent policemen was apparently rushed and made without an investigation by the organizations into the identities of the slain policemen," the report says, adding that the organizations did not wait until the publication of the IDF's report on the matter, "which relies on intelligence regarding the targets that were struck".

The report also refers to the claim that the first Air Force strike of the Gaza offensive hit a ceremony attended by members of a Hamas traffic police training course.

It says almost 88% of those present were terror operatives, many of them belonging to the al-Qassam Brigades. Altogether they numbered 78 of the 89 Hamas reported dead.

The report also goes into detail regarding the names published in Hamas' report. For example Mohammad al-Dasuki, said to have served as a "naval police officer", was also a member of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and was suspected to have been involved in a terror attack against American security guards in Gaza in October 2003.

Another victim mentioned, Khamza al-Khaledi, who was listed as a "captain of police", was also active in an al-Qaeda affiliated terror organization.

"The claims against the IDF, by which it had killed 'traffic officers' and 'innocent' officers fulfilling civilian roles, are incorrect," the report says. "The vast majority of the Palestinian 'officers' were active in the military wings of Palestinian terror organizations and warriors who underwent military training."

It adds, "The enlistment of al-Qassam Brigades operatives to official security positions allows the Hamas government to pay their wages with the government budget, thus increasing Hamas' manpower and permitting the investment of private funds in other needs such as weaponry."

I can't find this group online, and would love to see the detailed report. It does dovetail with our own research, where we had already identified some 62% of Hamas policemen as being members of terror groups.

An email correspondent has sent me the legal justification for the IDF targeting the Hamas policemen, from Yoram Dinstein's "The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict," where he writes:

Can police officers and other law enforcement agents be subsumed under the heading of armed forces (who are legitimately subject to attack)? The answer to the question depends on whether the policemen have officially incorporated into the armed forces or (despite the absence of official incorporation) have taken part in hostilities. If integrated into the armed forces, policemen - like all combatants - 'may be attacked at any time simply because they have that particular status'.

My correspondent asked Dinstein in an email

1) In the case of Hamas police would it be enough to constitute that all police could be targeted? and 2) where is the line of 'taking part in hostilities'?"

to which Dinstein replied

1. In a non-State entity the difference between police and other armed groups is hardly perceptible. This is true not only of Hamas. In the Palestinian Authority, the "police" is the army.

2. In any event, direct participation in hostilities (the alternative) includes also training prior to combat engagement.
- (email Dated: 27/01/2009)

And we have definitely seen pictures like these from Hamas "security forces":

Members of the Hamas-led Government Executive security force participate in war games as some 1200 new members participate in a graduation ceremony on March 25, 2007 in Rafah, Gaza Strip. The executive Force was created by the Hamas-led Government to support the police with Gaza Strip security.

So are these people practicing "war games" considered civilians because they are supporting the police? Is there a reason why the "police" wear camouflage?

The legal basis for attacking the Hamas "police" seems to get clearer and clearer.

More proof of my bigotry

I just saw an article that included this:

Whether it’s a tsunami in southeast Asia or a volcano in Latin America, an earthquake or a flood, there are always people in Syria – and other parts of the Arab world – who swear it’s part of an international conspiracy. Perhaps the most shocking was when a university professor in Amman, Jordan, said with a straight face: “The tsunami that hit Aceh was part of an American conspiracy to get rid of poor people, because they don’t have the money to be consumers of American products.” I know too many people in the Arab world who subscribe to such logic.

Indeed, people often dismiss events unfolding before their eyes on the TV news as “part of the international Zionist conspiracy”. And the culprits don’t even have to be western. The latest conspiracy theory is that the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be working with the West on behalf of Israel. “Why else would he mention during the most vulnerable times in East-West diplomacy that Iran will defy everyone and embrace nuclear power? Or say things about the Holocaust that will be held against him?” the respected father of an Arab friend asked me.

Of course, it was written by an Arab woman who grew up in Saudi Arabia, who is also anti-Israel. It is also important because no matter how many Arabic articles I read, they don't approach the level of ignorance and bigotry that average Arabs seem to have (based on anecdotes like these.)

British Foreign Secretary: "Hamas and Hezbollah not like Al Qaeda"

The British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband, has come out with his own initiative of outreach to the Muslim world ahead of President Obama's similar public initiative, and it is a prime example of wishful thinking as a substitute for reality.

He started off with a major policy speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies last Thursday. The speech looks very similar to what an Obama foreign policy may look like, with serious engagement with the Muslim world even when some countries do not share Western ideas of morality:

Respect is never enough alone. It is only ever a precondition. A change in tone must lead to a change in substance. Broadening coalitions will require a more active effort to reach out, a greater effort for reconciliation with those who do not share our values or adhere to our world view, but who have more in common with us than those who preach that we are the enemy.

That is why Britain, with Embassies in 38 Muslim majority countries, maintains diplomatic engagement with countries with whom we have major disagreements on human rights, nuclear proliferation or conflict, like Iran, Sudan or Uzbekistan. In each case, we seek to influence through engagement and dialogue, and to do so on the full range of challenges we have in common: climate change; Millennium Development Goals and the economic crisis for instance.

Where it is harder to draw the line and determine who we can and should work with, is in relation to those political movements that are not in government. And conflict situations are the most difficult of all. Every case is different. In some cases our troops are at risk and we will not jeopardise their security. And the commitment to politics and violence are shifting and blurred. There are no easy cases.

...as long as those values we hold in common are respected in the course of the election, then its outcome is legitimate.

I know that at this stage many people will be leaping out of their seats to ask “what about Hamas?”

Let me address that by first reminding you that in 2000 we and many of our EU partners shunned the Austrian government not because of the way it had come to power but because of the far-right views and policies it espoused. When it comes to Hamas, no one disputes that they won the most seats. We are not claiming that their election was “illegitimate”. We are saying the failure to embrace a political process towards a two-state solution makes normal political relations impossible.

Also, elections are not the end of the matter. Democracy requires the ballot box but is not reducible to it. It also requires a thriving civil society. So, in places where power is closely guarded we must continue our efforts to promote reform from the bottom-up - training journalists and judges, or funding civil society groups working to protect women or minority rights. At the same time, we will use our influence to defend the institutions that protect freedoms and uphold justice for all and to stand up for individual rights. The accountability of power is the way to reinforce authority and legitimacy.

At first glance, this looks liberal but realistic, reflecting the difficulty of differentiating between terrorists and groups who can be partners for peace. It is a defensible position.

The problem is that Miliband granted an interview to London-based Al-Hayat over the weekend, where he shows his biases are towards accepting Hamas and Hezbollah:

British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband said that both Hizbullah and Hamas could be seen among groups that have a patriotic aim.

In an interview with the daily pan-Arab al-Hayat on Sunday Miliband said "our stance has always been up to the assassination of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafik Hariri in 2005 was to dialogue with Hizbullah MPs. However, this stopped following the Hariri assassination."

He added that the military wing of the party continues to be regarded as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom."But we agreed to resume our dialogue with Hizbullah MPs partially because they have a cabinet minister in Lebanon and the fact that the Lebanese government is committed to the Arab peace process," Miliband said.

In the Arabic interview, Miliband says that one of the mistakes that the West has made in dealing with the Muslim world was to not distinguish between groups like Al Qaeda and groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, who have national aims. He admits that Hamas' constitution has some problematic elements but insists that this does not necessarily reflect Hamas' reality.

It is worthwhile to remind the minister that Hamas' charter is virtually indistinguishable from what Al-Qaeda says:

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Moslem generations until Judgement Day. This being so, who could claim to have the right to represent Moslem generations till Judgement Day?

This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force, because during the times of (Islamic) conquests, the Moslems consecrated these lands to Moslem generations till the Day of Judgement.

What this means is that Hamas holds that Andalusia, Spain is indeed Muslim land and must be reconquered by force - exactly what Al Qaeda says. Hamas holds that all Muslim nations should coalesce into a single Islamic 'Ummah - exactly what al-Qaeda says. Hamas does not distinguish between Islam as a religion or as a political movement - just like al-Qaeda. And as far as I can tell, every Islamic movement that descended from the Muslim Brotherhood, including Hezbollah, shares these exact sentiments.

If there is a philosophical difference between Al Qaeda and Hamas, I would love to see some real evidence of it, not the hopeful interpretation of Hamas' PR department's English-language statements.

NGO claims they found depleted uranium in Gaza

A tiny NGO is claiming they have evidence that Israel used depleted uranium in Gaza - and lots more. Here's their full press release

In the Gaza Strip between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, the Israeli army conducted a ground and air offensive nicknamed « Operation Cast Lead ».

During the first few days a Norwegian doctor doing humanitarian service in the hospital at Shifa, Dr Mads Gilbert, denounced the presence of radioactive matter, possibly Depleted Uranium, in the bodies of victims. On 4 January 2009, after investigation, ACDN (Action of Citizens for the total Dismantling of Nukes) alerted the press and public opinion with a media release: "In Gaza, the genocide with Depleted Uranium has begun, using GBU-39 bombs provided by the USA".

So even from this press release we already have a good idea that the ACDN has no credibility. First of all, Dr. Mads Gilbert has said that the 9/11 attackers were justified and he is an apologist for Hamas. Secondly, the ACDN put out a press release accusing Israel of some very specific things on January 4th when they had no access to Gaza altogether and were pretty much reading Hamas propaganda as their major source. Since they called it a "genocide" that early, it is clear that they are far from objective and indeed that they have a specific agenda which is hardly fact-based.

This helps us understand the second part of the press release:

This accusation has now emerged with greater strength after several months of investigation carried out in close liaison with the people concerned and with the help of Jean-François Fechino, a consultant on diffuse pollution and an expert accredited to the UN Environment (UNEP). ACDN has just produced a 33-page report concluding that the presence of dozens of tonnes of Depleted Uranium (perhaps as much as 75 tonnes) in the soil and subsoil of Gaza is highly probable.

In April 2009, a four-person mission including Jean-François Fechino went to Gaza under the auspices of the Arab Commission for Human Rights. The samples of earth and dust that they brought back from Gaza were then analysed by a specialist laboratory, which found in them elements of Depleted Uranium (which is radioactive, carcinogenic, teratogenic), particles of Cesium (which is radioactive and carcinogenic), asbestos dust (which is carcinogenic), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs, which are fine particles which endanger health, especially the health of children, asthmatics and old people), phosphates (from oxidation of white phosphorus), tungsten (which is carcinogenic), copper, aluminium oxide (which is carcinogenic), and Thorium Oxide (ThO2, which is radioactive)...

The detailed results will soon be made public. Journalists or other persons wishing to learn more are invited to contact ACDN or visit its Website www.acdn.net.

I of course emailed them immediately to get a copy of their report. I'm anxiously awaiting their reply showing their methods of estimating that the IDF dropped 150,000 pounds of depleted uranium on Gaza - a hundred pounds per fatality. Not to mention - copper! And asbestos!

The shocking AIPAC connection to Free Gaza

I just got this email from the Free Gaza mailing list:

Dear Friends,

It is with deep regret and sadness that we have to announce a separation within the Free Gaza Movement.

Free Gaza Movement was formed in the fall of 2006 by five individuals....A year later, a non-profit called the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees (AIPAC) was created in California as a means of accepting U.S. tax-deductible donations on behalf of Free Gaza.

With volunteers from AIPAC, and others, we were responsible for the first, successful voyage to Gaza in August 2008.

For the last, several months, we attempted to negotiate an affiliate and funding agreement with AIPAC. Unfortunately, this has not been successful, and we have decided to separate. AIPAC has decided to call itself "The Free Gaza Movement." They have reserved the new URL "http://www.freegazamovement.org/" for themselves, and have set up a new email address, "friendstogaza@gmail.com," for their use. Our web address is the original "http://www.freegaza.org/," and our existing email address is "friendofgaza@gmail.com." Please make a note of these distinctions. Also, please note that we do not have a funding agreement with AIPAC. Any donations made to California since September 2008 have not and will not be sent to us in order to run boat missions out of Cyprus.

AIPAC? Does that sound like a coincidence to you?

And isn't it a shame when moonbats can't get along with each other?

What "peace" means to Egyptians

A new poll in Egypt, reported by Firas Press, explains exactly what Arabs mean when they say they want to see "peace" in the region.

The poll was titled "What are your dreams?" and was conducted by the "National Center for Social and Criminal Research in collaboration with the Center for Information and Decision Support Council of Ministers."

According to the poll, 71% of Egyptians dream of peace in the region.

The same poll found that 58% dream of the destruction of Israel.

Which means, of course, that the Arab concept of peace is what most people would call "war." But it's OK as long as the victims of the war are those undesirable Jews.

You know - Egypt's "peace partners."

The liberation of Jerusalem, 1967

Here's part of the English transcript of the radio broadcast describing the Israeli soldiers liberating the Old City. You can here the actual broadcast in Hebrew here.

Colonel Motta Gur announces on the army wireless: The Temple Mount is in our hands! I repeat, the Temple Mount is in our hands!
All forces, stop firing! This is the David Operations Room. All forces, stop firing! I repeat, all forces, stop firing! Over.

Commander eight-nine here, is this Motta (Gur) talking? Over.

[Inaudible response on the army wireless by Motta Gur.]

Uzi Narkiss: Motta, there isn’t anybody like you. You’re next to the Mosque of Omar.

Yossi Ronen: I’m driving fast through the Lion’s Gate all the way inside the Old City.

Command on the army wireless: Search the area, destroy all pockets of resistance [but don't touch anything in the houses], especially the holy places.

[Lt.- Col. Uzi Eilam blows the Shofar. Soldiers are singing ‘Jerusalem of Gold’.]

Uzi Narkiss: Tell me, where is the Western Wall? How do we get there?

Yossi Ronen: I’m walking right now down the steps towards the Western Wall. I’m not a religious man, I never have been, but this is the Western Wall and I’m touching the stones of the Western Wall.

Soldiers: [reciting the ‘Shehechianu’ blessing]: Baruch ata Hashem, elokeinu melech haolam, she-hechianu ve-kiemanu ve-hegianu la-zman ha-zeh. [Translation: Blessed art Thou L-rd G-d King of the Universe who has sustained us and kept us and has brought us to this day]

Rabbi Shlomo Goren: Baruch ata Hashem, menachem tsion u-voneh Yerushalayim. [Translation: Blessed are thou, who comforts Zion and bulids Jerusalem]

Soldiers: Amen!

[Soldiers sing ‘Hatikva’ next to the Western Wall.]

Rabbi Goren: We’re now going to recite the prayer for the fallen soldiers of this war against all of the enemies of Israel:

[Soldiers weeping]

El male rahamim, shohen ba-meromim. Hamtse menuha nahona al kanfei hashina, be-maalot kedoshim, giborim ve-tehorim, kezohar harakiya meirim u-mazhirim. Ve-nishmot halalei tsava hagana le-yisrael, she-naflu be-maaraha zot, neged oievei yisrael, ve-shnaflu al kedushat Hashem ha-am ve-ha’arets, ve-shichrur Beit Hamikdash, Har Habayit, Hakotel ha-ma’aravi veyerushalayim ir ha-elokim. Be-gan eden tehe menuhatam. Lahen ba’al ha-rahamim, yastirem beseter knafav le-olamim. Ve-yitsror be-tsror ha-hayim et nishmatam adoshem hu nahlatam, ve-yanuhu be-shalom al mishkavam [soldiers weeping loud]ve-ya’amdu le-goralam le-kets ha-yamim ve-nomar amen!

[Translation: Merciful G-d in heaven, may the heroes and the pure, be under thy Divine wings, among the holy and the pure who shine bright as the sky, and the souls of soldiers of the Israeli army who fell in this war against the enemies of Israel, who fell for their loyalty to G-d and the land of Israel, who fell for the liberation of the Temple, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and Jerusalem the city of the Lord. May their place of rest be in paradise. Merciful One, O keep their souls forever alive under Thy protective wings. The Lord being their heritage, may they rest in peace, for they shalt rest and stand up for their allotted portion at the end of the days, and let us say, Amen.]

[Soldiers are weeping. Rabbi Goren sounds the shofar. Sound of gunfire in the background.]

Rabbi Goren: Le-shana HA-ZOT be-Yerushalayim ha-b’nuya, be-yerushalayim ha-atika! [Translation: This year in a rebuilt Jerusalem! In the Jerusalem of old!]

h/t Treppenwitz from 2005...

UPDATE: Video of the liberation (h/t Jack's Shack)

I've been wondering why my Yahoo email account gets so many banner ads like the one pictured on the right.

After all, Yahoo and Google mail will automatically generate ads based on the content of the emails - and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what my emails included that would prompt ads for women looking for sugar daddies.

Then it hit me...my email box is filled of stuff with the word Elder in it! "Elder" must be one of the keywords that prompts this particular style of ad.

I guess I just have to get used to it...

1922 House Resolution 360 on Palestine

From Eli. E. Hertz of Myths and Facts via Jihad Watch:

The United States Congressional Record
1922 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
National Home for
THE JEWISH PEOPLE JUNE 30, 1922
HOUSE RESOLUTION 360 - UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED

"Palestine of today, the land we now know as Palestine, was peopled by the Jews from the dawn of history until the Roman era. It is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. They were driven from it by force by the relentless Roman military machine and for centuries prevented from returning. At different periods various alien people succeeded them but the Jewish race had left an indelible impress upon the land.

Today it is a Jewish country. Every name, every landmark, every monument and every trace of whatever civilization remaining there is still Jewish. And it has ever since remained a hope, a longing, as expressed in their prayers for these nearly 2,000 years. No other people has ever claimed Palestine as their national home. No other people has ever shown an aptitude or indicated a genuine desire to make it their homeland. The land has been ruled by foreigners. Only since the beginning of the modern Zionist effort may it be said that a creative, cultural, and economic force has entered Palestine. The Jewish Nation was forced from its natural home. It did not go because it wanted to.

A perusal of Jewish history, a reading of Josephus, will convince the most skeptical that the grandest fight that was ever put up against an enemy was put up by the Jew. He never thought of leaving Palestine. But he was driven out. But did he, when driven out, give up his hope of getting back? Jewish history and Jewish literature give the answer to the question. The Jew even has a fast day devoted to the day of destruction of the Jewish homeland.

Never throughout history did they give up hope of returning there. I am told that 90 per cent of the Jews today are praying for the return of the Jewish people to its own home. The best minds among them believe in the necessity of reestablishing their Jewish land. To my mind there is something prophetic in the fact that during the ages no other nation has taken over Palestine and held it in the sense of a homeland; and there is something providential in the fact that for 1,800 years it has remained in desolation as if waiting for the return of the people."

Congressman Frank Appleby N.J.

For fascinating reading, which would not be considered at all politically correct today, check out the discussion in the Congressional Record around this resolution:

Part 1

Part 2

Today's PalArab news

What do Hamas and I have in common? Hamas is also upset about the PCHR being biased! Of course, the bias is against Hamas... "We put big question marks around their credibility and fairness."

What does Binyomin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas have in common? Neither of them will agree to placing any part of Jerusalem under third-party control!

Firas Press reports that Hamas is sending a computer virus to people in the West Bank through fake emails. Not sure how they know it is Hamas, sounds like regular malicious spam.

There are increasing reports of internal divisions in Hamas, as well as pressure on them as Egypt identified some of Hamas' money sources and shut off the spigot.

A Gazan was injured by an explosion inside his house. Just another work accident....

One of those ubiquitous keys

I just saw this picture at Palestine Today:

It sure looks like a Palestinian Arab holding a deed to a house, presumably inside Israel, with the key to that house.

Now, I'm no locksmith, but if old Palestinian keys looked like that, it looks like anyone could get into anyone else's house. No grooves or teeth in the key?

And if the key is fake...what does that say about the deed?

The siege of Gaza - by Hamas

Palestine Press Agency has an interesting story this morning from Gaza.

Last Saturday, 85 women from Gaza were slated to go to Ramallah to participate in a conference from the General Union of Palestinian Women, a PLO-based organization. At the Erez crossing, Hamas stopped them and confiscated their conference materials and papers.

This is not the first time we are reading about Hamas limiting movement between Gaza and the rest of the world; they also stopped Gazans from traveling to Egypt through Rafah two months ago when Egypt opened the crossing.

Will the Free Gaza movement protest this siege of Gaza by Hamas? Will any media characterize Gaza as a prison or concentration camp - whose guards are Islamic extremists? Will human rights groups complain?

And will anyone notice that, apparently, Israel gives permission for even non-medical cases to leave Gaza and travel to the West Bank?

US media reluctant to call terrorists "Muslim"

It is a top story across many US news sites this morning:

Four men arrested for an alleged plot to bomb a New York synagogue and Jewish community center are expected to appear in federal court Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, according to a criminal complaint filed in White Plains, New York.

James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen are accused of plotting to detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of Bronx, New York.

Each man had at least one alias, according to the office. Three of them are U.S. citizens and one is a Haitian, a statement from the New York governor's office said, citing the U.S. Attorney's office.

The statement said the informant met with Cromitie in June 2008 in Newburgh, New York. During that meeting, Cromitie said his parents live in Afghanistan, that he was angry over the U.S. war there and that he expressed interest in "doing something to America."

They also conducted surveillance, including photographs, of an Air National Guard base where they wanted to blow up planes, the statement said. The informant provided the men with a surface-to-air guided missile and C-4 plastic explosives, none of which could actually be used.

From stories like this one it is very hard to understand motive. At first it sounds vaguely like some sort of skinhead-type group wanting to kill Jews, but why would they also want to blow up military planes? CNN's article only gives a slight hint when it said that the ringleader's parents live in Afghanistan.

Nothing adds up...unless you look for other sources of news. The London Evening Standard puts things in perspective from the first paragraph:

Four Muslims have been arrested over a plot to shoot down US military aircraft and simultaneously blow up two synagogues in New York.

The Daily Mail even puts the dreaded "M" word in its headline:

Four Muslim extremists arrested over plot to bomb synagogue and shoot down planes

One can understand why US media would be reluctant to identify someone's religion for, say, a random murder or a robbery, but in a case like this, their religion is a critical part of understanding the story.

The Evening Standard continues, adding details about the men's aliases and statements that CNN and AP deemed irrelevant:

The alleged plotters were named today as James Cromitie (also known as Abdul Rahman), David Williams (aka Daoud and DL), Onta Williams (aka Hamza) and Laguerre Payen (aka Amin and Almondo). They are all thought to have been born in the US. Cromitie, the apparent ringleader, told an FBI informant he was upset by the war in Afghanistan, where his parents were born, and wanted to “do something to America”.

He was caught on tape complaining that the “best target [the World Trade Center] was hit already”. In the same conversation Cromitie, who has been arrested 27 times, said: “I hate those motherf***ers, those f***ing Jewish bastards ... I would like to get a synagogue.”

At one stage he told the informant as they watched Jews in the street that if he had a gun he “would shoot each one in the head”. He also said that if he died a martyr he would go to paradise.

The plotters allegedly planted one fake bomb in the boot of a car outside the Riverdale Temple and two on the seat of another car outside the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx last night. The gang then planned to drive 60 miles north of New York to Newburgh to collect mobile phone detonating devices.

The next stage was to go to Stewart International Airport, also in Newburgh, where they would shoot down a military jet while simultaneously exploding the synagogue bombs. The airport is used by the New York Air National Guard and the US Air Force. But the weapons were supplied by an FBI informant and the gang's movements had been monitored since June last year.

And the Daily Mail adds:

One, of Afghan descent, was Muslim-born while the other three converted in prison, officials said, adding that some were of Arabic descent and one is of Haitian descent.

All of the relevant facts in the London papers were clearly available to the US news outlets - and they were consciously suppressed by the editors as not being an important part of the story.

The American media has spent lots of time in the effort to paint Islam as being just another religion, a highly personal aspect of people's lives that has only a tiny influence on their activities (except when the activities are wholesome and charitable.) News editors so not want to be accused of incitement and Islamophobia, so they play it safe. In this case, it is clear that their refusal to highlight the obvious makes the news suffer.

Once religion becomes part of the story, other uncomfortable questions naturally come up: why would people who choose to be Muslim also choose to bomb Jewish targets in America? Is their anti-semitism a result of their religion, or did they choose the religion because of their existing Jew-hatred? The usual implied reason, anti-Zionism (which for some reason is deemed an understandable and acceptable reason for terror attacks in other cases) does not fit into this story at all. The American press mentions a vague motive about US involvement in Afghanistan, but targeting US synagogues doesn't fit in.

These people hated Jews and America. The most relevant fact about the case is being suppressed. The all important question - motive - is therefore being ignored. And the secondary question of how to connect the dots between their religion and their motive cannot even be asked without this information.

UPDATE: The New York police commissioner, when asked about motive at a press conference a few minutes ago, said, simply, "jihad."

The Zionist Occupied Government, 2009 edition

Today I took my second trip to Washington DC with Norpac, a PAC based in the New York area dedicated to strengthening the US-Israel relationship.

Over 800 people took a day off of work to advocate the importance of this relationship to our lawmakers and to request help on specific bills.

Capitol Hill was crawling with mostly religious Jews, talking to nearly every senator and member of Congress or their aides. As I mentioned last year, for today at least it really was a Zionist-occupied government.

Norpac organizes the logistics brilliantly, training hundreds of laymen with talking points and providing background information, scheduling all the appointments and arranging for followup.

My group first visited a congresswoman froma southern state. We were scheduled to meet her aide but as soon as we started talking to him she entered the room. She is strongly pro-Israel and very much against giving money that could go towards terrorism, and indeed even against the US giving money to the UN.

She spoke to us for so long that we we almost late to the next meeting, with a southwestern congressman. His voting record is spotty on issues that the pro-Israel crowd supports, but it appeared that his objections were more technical - he is a stickler for agreeing to all the amendments and riders and if he has a problem with one, he might not vote for it.

My talking point was about the concerns of funding the PA while we cannot guarantee that Hamas doesn't benefit. He asked, very reasonably, how we could ensure that the money won't be misappropriated, while still giving support to the "moderates" supposedly on our side. (This is not the place to argue with that, if the Israeli leaders support the PA we are not going to tell politicians not to.)

Our third meeting was with an aide for a Western congressman. He is also very pro-Israel and informed us that IDF pilots train in his state.

I had a little time to sightsee afterwards. I got a ticket from my local representative to visit the House gallery and watch a pretty boring session. I was a bit taken aback that the seats in the gallery have a pattern on them that include a backwards swastika. No cameras or any electronics are allowed there so I couldn't take a picture, but it was disconcerting to see. Maybe I'll call my congressperson...

Altogether, it was a very fruitful day. It is vital for our leaders to know that this issue is important to us, and it makes a big impression on them to welcome a delegation of 6 or 8 ordinary people who are passionate about Israel. There is no doubt that Norpac brings results, and I highly recommend that any New York/New Jersey area readers join the mission next year.

Mr. Elder goes to Washington

Today blogging will be light as I am going to Washington with some 800 other people from NORPAC to advocate for a strong relationship between the US and Israel with members of Congress and their aides.

I am putting updates on my elderofziyon Twitter channel, and you can read the updates on the sidebar. Later I will try to blog a wrapup.

Hamas stealing medical equipment, medicines

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has charged Hamas with stealing ambulances donated by Arab countries, painting them black and taking expensive medical equipment on board for their own purposes.

Moreover, Hamas has taken tons of medicines and given them to medical clinics aligned with their movement to the exclusion of public hospitals. They have also sold the medicines at huge profits. Beyond that, Hamas is claiming not to have enough medicine even though a four month supply is sitting in warehouses.

The spokesman charged Hamas with destroying the health infrastructure in Gaza, replacing experienced doctors with Hamas lackeys who have little medical knowledge, causing many patients to die.

I think that I might mention this to the members of Congress and their aides I'm seeing today on the NORPAC trip.

Obama's choice of venue in Egypt

It has been reported that Barack Obama will make his much anticipated speech to the Muslim world from Cairo University.

Here are a couple of tidbits from Cairo University's recent history.

In April 2000, some Israeli Embassy officials in Cairo went to Cairo University to attend a lecture on "Jews, Judaism and Zionism." They were banned from attending the lecture, because even then, 21 years after Camp David and before the Intifada broke out, Cairo University did not want to make it appear that they were supporting "normalization" with Israel. Egyptian intellectuals applauded the move.

More recently, an Egyptian movie included a lesbian scene. A professor at Cairo University decried the movie:

Preacher and Islamic Studies professor at Cairo University, Dr. Abdel-Sabour Shahin accused the new movie, Heena Maysara (Until Further Notice), of spreading homosexuality and promoting debauchery.

He called on authorities to prosecute the director of the movie and the two actresses, Ghada Abdel-Razeq and Sumaya Al-Khashab, who enacted the lesbian encounter on the big screen.

Shahin claimed the movie is part of "a Zionist and American conspiracy" which uses this sort of movie to destroy the moral fabric of society.

Even with these stories, Cairo University is probably still the least inappropriate place for an American president to speak in Egypt. Which is not saying much.

Saudis lead world in camel urine research

You can make fun of the Arabs all you want, but they sure know how to find good uses for camel urine. This article in AKI last year gives the gruesome details:

Camel urine, considered an ancient Islamic 'remedy' from the time of the Prophet Mohammed, has become big business for men and women in Yemen.

The urine has become fashionable recently among Yemen's young people, who claim that it strengthens the scalp, slows hair loss and promotes healthy hair.

According to the Arab TV network al-Arabiya, hair salons throughout the country are requesting this precious 'tonic' and selling it at four dollars a litre - a high price considering the income level of most of the buyers.

"I have been using camel urine since I have been going to elementary school," said Amal, a university student in Sanaa.

"The first time a neighbour told me that she had been using it (urine) for many years, because it made her hair more beautiful and shiny. Now everyone in my home uses it."

The use of the urine is not just limited to women. Men have reportedly also been using it to prevent or stop hair loss.

"Many young men use the camel's urine. I am forced to buy large quantities for my business," said Hasan, a barber.

A boom in the sale of camel urine has prompted people to begin breeding more camels, and they are constantly being given liquids in order to collect more urine.

Nomadic camel breeders have benefited the most from the sale of urine. The breeders are usually in the most remote areas of the country such as Hudeida and Mukallah provinces.

Some people also claim that camel urine is good for the liver, a claim discredited by the University of Sanaa that said it was harmful for the digestive system.

The use of camel urine could have its roots in Islamic religion. In the Prophet Mohammed's "sunna" (or tradition), it talks about the benefits of camel milk and urine.

In a "hadith" (or narrative), foreigners are said to have gone to the holy city of Medina with high fever and the Prophet Mohammed ordered them to leave the city and drink urine and milk from a camel to help them recover.

So it is only natural that camel urine would be a cornerstone of research by Arabs to find every miraculous use possible. Which is perhaps why it was a Saudi who found that camel urine can possibly cure cancer:

Saudi inventors received eight awards in the ITEX 2009 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur between 15 and 17 May, with one of the winning inventions - microparticles in camel’s urine to treat cancer by Dr. Faten Khorsheed from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah – chosen as one of the six best out of 600 inventions presented to win the exhibition’s Asia Cup.

Who said that Arabs aren't any good at science?

(I must confess I don't understand why a potential cancer cure is being exhibited at an inventors' fair rather than being presented as a paper in a medical journal. But who am I to judge Dr. Khorsheed's priorities?)

Hezbollah trying to make inroads in Egypt

From Al-Arabiya:

Egypt's parliament has opened an investigation into the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah's reported distribution of money to the poor in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country, according to press reports Monday.

Mohamed Sherdi, MP of al-Wafd opposition party for the northeastern governorate of Port Said, accused Hezbollah of distributing five and 10 Egyptian pound bills with the Shiite party's stamp.

"We found one pound, five pound and 10 pound bills with the Hezbollah stamp on them," Sherdi told Al Arabiya. "These small bills are what people on the lower end of society commonly use so we fear that Hezbollah members in Egypt are distributing money to the poor," he explained.

The stamp printed on the bills says "Hezbollah-Ahl al-Beit- God's bond." Ahl al-Beit refers to the prophet's family and is a common expression used in the Shiite faith.

There has been increasing friction between Egypt and Hezbollah/Iran in recent months, after Egypt caught Hezbollah terrorists planning attacks.

Islamists often use "charity" in order to gain a foothold in areas they want to subvert.

"Breastfeeding" sheikh returns to Al Azhar U.

From Al-Arabiya:

The case of the male breastfeeding fatwa, or religious ruling, just took another strange turn as the scholar who issued the controversial opinion was rehired after being fired by Egypt’s al-Azhar University.

The Cairo Administrative Court overturned the decision by al-Azhar's disciplinary committee to expel Ezzat Attiya, the president of the hadith department, for issuing a fatwa condoning the symbolic breastfeeding of grown men in 2007.

The court annulled the university’s decision to expel Attiya after he issued a fatwa permitting symbolic breastfeeding of men as a way to loosen the customs of segregation between the sexes in Egypt.

Islam prohibits sexual relations between a man and the woman who breastfed him in infancy. Attiya said that if a woman were to symbolically breastfeed a male colleague, she could be alone with him since he would no longer be considered a potential mate.

Attiya's unusual opinion was widely publicized by Arabic language satellite channels and largely ridiculed in the Western press. It was even discussed in the Egyptian parliament.

In 2007 Attiya made his statement on Al Arabiya, saying that after five breastfeedings the man and woman could be alone together without violating Islamic law because the man becomes a symbolic relative of the woman, and therefore they could be alone and the woman could remove her headscarf to reveal her hair.

He later retracted his statement and apologized saying his interpretation war reserved for exceptional cases.

Iran shows Hamas who's boss

Ma'an reports:

Senior Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al dismissed his deputy, Mousa Abu Marzouq and another leader because of their reported opposition to the dictates of Syria and Iran, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper “Politics.”

Quoting anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that Mash’al had Abu Marzouq and Imad Al-Alami replaced during Hamas’ internal elections over two weeks ago, specifically because they opposed Tehran and Damascus over the issue of reconciliation with Fatah.

“The elections have many changes but still many details are hidden by Hamas … the removal of Abu Marzouk and Al-Alami were the result of pressure from Syria and Iran on Mash’al,” the newspaper’s source said.

The report also states that Mash’al had the two leaders dismissed in exchange for a promise of continued support from Iran.

Kuwaiti sources aren't always the most accurate, but if this is true it shows (once again) that Hamas is simply a client of Iran and not a representative of Palestinian Arabs, who overwhelmingly want to see a Hamas/Fatah reconciliation.

The natural consequence is that all the moonbats who pretend to love Palestinian Arabs and who support Hamas are really, effectively, lackeys of Iran in its fight against the more moderate Arabs in the region.

Followup 2 on Yemen "blasphemer" case

Last month, a mob burned down the house of a man in Yemen after a rumor was started that he had torn a Quran.

A week later Yemeni politicians were very upset that some of the mob were arrested for burning the man's house down. They called for the accused blasphemer to be arrested and put on trial instead.

Apparently, they got their wish. From The Yemen Observer:

In the first case of its kind in Yemen, the lawyer of the Yemeni citizen AbdulMalik al-Beidhani withdrew from the court after the judge refused to allow him access to the file of the case, or listen to the witnesses and ask them questions in the session held on Monday May 11.
The Lawyer Yasin al-Azizi told journalists that the court had dealt with his client as if he was condemned prior to his trial. “The court did not respond to my requests as a lawyer of the defendant,” said al-Azizi. He also accused the judge of administrating the trial based on prior beliefs and neglecting the defendant’s right of defense.

Al-Azizi called for the application of the law and to give the suspect legal protection as the accusations are weak and his case is of a crime that threatens public security since his home was destroyed, his property was confiscated, and his family was abused. Al-Azizi wondered what the judiciary has done about the case for those responsible for burning and completely destroying the house of the defendant’s family.

At the first session the suspect did not have a lawyer as his family had asked to defend him, but they withdrew at the last minute. However, at the first session, the suspect denied all of the accusations saying that they were fabricated by some people he had problems with. He said he believed in God, his Holy book, and the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammed.

He strongly denied tearing or disrespecting the Holy Quran and said that the Quran is protected by Allah forever until the judgment day.

The suspect’s family complained that the prosecution and judiciary have refused to accept their complaint about the burning and destroying of their home by extremists who, according to the family, were incited by preachers of mosques particularly by the preacher of al-Anqa mosque which is located a few meters away from their home.

Over 150 extremists and citizens took part in burning and destroying the suspect family’s three storey house in al-Anqa quarter in al-Hasaba zone of Sana’a last month. On the day they destroyed the house, mosque preachers in al-Hasaba zone accused the suspect of tearing the Quran and stepping on it. They also accused him of raping several young girls, killing them and burying them in his home. They also accused his mother of running a prostitution ring in her home.

After destroying the house and the suspect was brought to the court, the attackers, headed by mosque preachers, unanimously decided to confiscate the property which the house was built on and claimed it as waqf for the al-Anqa mosque.

Yemen - where anyone with a grudge can get a mob to take care of your enemy, and get the court system to support them as well.

Honor killing in West Bank

The woman whose body was found stabbed to death last week was apparently the victim of an "honor killing."

Palestinian police said on Monday they arrested a 24-year-old who allegedly killed his aunt, whose body was found in the West Bank city of Ramallah six days ago.

According to Palestinian Authority security spokesperson Major Adnan Ad-Dimeiri, the alleged murderer of 30-year-old Halimah Ahmad Ash-Sheikh was arrested on evidence that he was responsible for the killing.

Ad-Dimeiri also said that the suspected confessed to the charges, and said that he killed her for reasons of so-called “family honor.”

Ad-Dimeiri said that, according to his affidavit, the suspect rented a car, drove his aunt to the city of Nablus, stopping in the village of An-Nabi Saleh to buy food, and stopped again to get out of the car to eat. He said the suspect stabbed his aunt and left the body in Ramallah, before driving home to the West Bank city of Qalqiliya. The suspect then went the same day to the police station with the victim’s husband to report her missing.

The spokesperson also said that, after finding the body and receiving information from the person who found it, police arrested the suspect 30 hours later with an estimated 4,000 Jordanian dinars (5,648 US dollars) in jewelry he stole from the victim, though he claimed that she had given them to him recently.

The victim, police said, was married six years ago and was a mother of seven.

Now, why would anyone think this was a true "honor killing" when the murderer was caught with the victim's jewelry? Do "honor killers" normally also act as "honor thieves?"

Either the murderer claimed it was an "honor killing" in order to be able to have a lighter sentence, or the hatred of women is so ingrained in the Palestinian Arab psyche that every case of femicide is, by definition, an "honor killing."

The husband also has some explaining to do...

NORPAC trip coming up Wednesday

The NORPAC trip to Washington is this Wednesday. My group is scheduled to meet one member of Congress and two Congressional aides. Altogether, the mission will meet with nearly every senator and congressperson.

The talking points are heavy on Iran as well as to talk about concerns about funding the PA.

I plan to Twitter things as they happen, although I will not get into details as to whom I am meeting. Blog visitors can keep track of things by reading my Twitter gadget on the right sidebar.

Cleveland Indymedia moonbats unhappy with free speech

It is no surprise that so-called "citizen journalism" sites like Indymedia are filled with anti-Israel screeds.

Something interesting has been happening at the Cleveland Indymedia site, however.

Someone has been taking pro-Israel blog posts, including mine, and posting them. This has had the effect of blunting the constant, hateful anti-Zionist propaganda that usually make up a large percentage of their articles.

One of the usual suspects at Indymedia has noticed, and is not happy about it:

Cleveland IMC Under Zionist Assault
by Sheepdog Sunday, May. 17, 2009 at 11:05 AM
This is the tactic: Inundate the newswire with spam, and Zionist propaganda by petulant, bitter reactionaries that border upon psychotic, who are dedicated and organized to conflate the theme of Zionism to Judaism, dependent on the cloak of ‘Jewishness’ to hide the blatant horror of occupation and genocide the leadership of Israel has perpetrated since the Zionist and the Nazis formed a partnership to seize the lands of the Middle East for a “Greater Israel”

Since Indymedia is ostensibly about free speech, this is more than amusing. (Not to mention the fact that I am apparently borderline psychotic.)

The incident also shows that it is possible to fight back against the haters without too much effort, even on their own home turf. So whoever you are doing this - good job!

Google still accepting ads from Nazis

Last month I mentioned that Google was accepting ads from a racist, neo-Nazi webstore called NSM88 Records. For a while the ads disappeared, but now they are back.

Since the references to Hitler didn't upset our lefty friends at Google, perhaps this lovely T-shirt will get their attention?

As I wrote then, Google's AdWords policy does not seem to have any real prohibition against these sorts of ads. The closest I could find was this section on "inappropriate phrases."

The best page I could find to complain to Google was this one.

Allah manifesting himself in odd ways

Allah works in mysterious ways.

Sometimes, he decides to reveal himself with strange natural phenomena:

In Dura, the Arabic word Allah (God) was found written in honeycomb.

The honeycomb with Allah apparently inscribed in it was found in an apiary owned by Akram Al-Arab.

Here's the holy honeycomb:

And here's Allah's name:

Other miracles have included the Allah fish:

And the Allah ear:

Not only that, but Muslims have discerned Allah's name in clouds:

And, Allah be praised, in the waves accompanying the horrific tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands:

Other examples include anthills, cantaloupes, watermelons, tomatoes, outer space, the human hand. And for each occurrence, there is much rejoicing at Allah's munificence.

Yet for some reason, when Allah's name miraculously appears on an ice cream logo or a sneaker logo, that is not cause for rejoicing, but for seething.

AP propaganda in overdrive for PalArabs

AP brings us this absurd staged picture:

A Palestinian passed out from tear gas fired by Israeli troops, holds a key symbolizing the keys to houses left by Palestinians in 1948, during a demonstration marking the 61st anniversary of "Nakba," Arabic for catastrophe, in the West Bank village Bilin, near Ramallah, Friday, May 15, 2008.

Wow - a Palestinian Arab man tragically passes out from Zionist tear gas and yet manages to heroically hold his fist in the air, maintain his grip on a fake key shoved towards the cameraman, all in front of dramatic barbed wire.

What are the odds that the photographer would be so lucky?
(h/t LGF)

A fake academic questions the Holocaust

The top story in the "Palestine Telegraph," and English Gaza-based publication, is a little piece of Holocaust denial, by "Professor Dr. Stanley Collymore."

If the number of Ashkenazi Jews that died in any circumstance whatsoever, so long as these deaths were unquestionably linked to the actions of the Third Reich and those of its associates, when added to those that are known to have been slaughtered in the many concentration and death camps throughout Europe, comes to six million or more I'll be the first to publicly abandon my scepticism and wholeheartedly embrace that figure; but over the years the overt posturing and highly intimidating conduct of those that have set themselves up as the sole guardians of this contentious issue, and doing a rather poor job of it I must add, and when legitimate issues are raised have nothing to contribute and can only resort to hectoring, using the worst kind of disparagement they can think of and back this up in the most infantile way by employing the old and disingenuous chestnut of anti-Semitism in respect of a faith sect that isn't even Semitic: Ashkenazi Jews are the direct descendants of white (Caucasian) Europeans that converted to Judaism in the 10 century in the same way that their white Christian counterparts did in relation to their religion - and dishonestly using the legal process and questionable laws to get their way and silence critics or even those whose only purpose it is to impartially seek out the truth, only serves to reinforce my reservations about the iconic figure of six million Ashkenazi Jews being killed at the time of Europe's holocaust, as those that would like for everyone to slavishly believe and accept this version of events, because they say so, hope for and even demand.

...if this malicious falsehood is to be believed about the Nazis wanting to eradicate all Jews from the earth, how come that not a single Falasha or Sephardic Jew ended up in concentration or death camp anywhere while allegedly six million of their European counterparts were being toasted on a regular basis? The truth is Adolf Hitler and his Nazis had it in for white, European Jews but the post-war white spin doctors along with their propagandists can bring themselves to accept that no Falasha or Sephardic Jews were on the Nazis' death list.

If, in that amazingly run-on sentence that takes up the entire first paragraph, the "professor" is trying to say that the actual number of Jews killed in World War II was closer to 5 million than 6 million, that might be a defensible position - some Holocaust researchers do believe the number is closer to 5 million, and the proof that he craves for that somewhat lower number can be found here. The implication of the article is that he believes the number is far, far less.

He is on less sure ground in his other claim of not a single Sephardic Jew being killed or imprisoned in the Holocaust. While European Jews took the brunt of Hitler's Final Solution, thousands of Jews from Northern Africa were rounded up and placed in concentration camps and truckloads were sent to Europe for their deaths.

Not that we need any more proof for the most documented crime in history.

More interestingly, for someone who is so interested in the truth, "Professor Dr. Stanley Collymore" seems to be a fiction. The only place he exists on the Internet is in articles and emails; there is no indication of any professor at any university with that name, and no real academic would refers to himself as "Professor Doctor".

Which just goes to show the level of scholarship and veracity one can expect from "The Palestine Telegraph."

Three more PalArabs killed - none by Israel

Over the weekend, a Gaza man's body was found in the smuggling tunnels under Rafah.

A woman in her 20s was found stabbed to death near Ramallah.

An 11-year old Gaza boy was killed in one of those "mysterious explosions" we hear about every so often.

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 79.

Erekat shows his hatred for his people

From The Tehran Times:

AMMAN -- Israel is promoting Iranophobia in the Middle East, but the Zionist regime is the real threat to the region not Iran, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said on Saturday.

“I have come to the World Economic Forum to say that Israel is behind the Iranophobia plot and is seeking to depict Iran as the main threat to the security and economy of the region. Everybody should be aware that the only threat in the region is Israel’s occupation and not Iran,” he told the Mehr News Agency correspondent in Shuneh, Jordan.

“Although this meeting is an economic event, as you see, the dispute between Israel and Palestine is the focus of the discussions,” he added.

The 2009 World Economic Forum meeting on the Middle East opened at the Dead Sea port of Shuneh, Jordan on Friday.

He also said, “One might wonder what a Palestinian is doing among businessmen at a meeting on economy. We are here to deliver a message, and that is peace, security, and economic development in the region can only be realized after the end of the Israeli occupation.”

Before the end of the occupation of Palestine, any economic development in the region would be unreal, he noted.

Here we have a classic example of how little Palestinian Arab "leaders" care about their own people, and indeed how "hawks" such as Binyomin Netanyahu care more about ordinary Palestinian Arabs than people who claim to represent them.

Erekat, an accomplished hypocrite and liar, is showing his love for Iran even as many Arab leaders (including Abbas) are increasingly skittish about the mad mullahs who openly support Islamic radicals like Hamas and Hezbollah and oppose obstinately secular movements like Fatah.

Moreover, he is telling his people that they should sit still, continue to take money from the West and do everything they can to avoid prosperity and economic growth because his concept of "peace" is more important than their everyday lives.

This, of course, is all happening at the same time that PA leaders and their relatives grow rich at the expense of these same people with their corruption and nepotism. Apparently, some Palestinian Arabs can take advantage of economic opportunities, as long as they are the right ones in high places. The ones who inexplicably still live in so-called "refugee camps" as well as those who try to make a decent living in Bethlehem and Ramallah must remain patsies of people like Erekat forever, because to him and the rest of their so-called leadership these people are far more valuable as pawns and statistics whose entire purpose is to be used as photo-ops to pressure Israel.

Netanyahu wants to improve the lives of Palestinian Arabs before tackling issues like statehood. One could naively make an argument that the two issues should go forward simultaneously. Erekat's position, however, is that the 61 years of enforced Palestinian Arab misery is an optimal situation and must be prolonged, and his people are only there to be used so he and his fellow "moderate" leaders can continue to make asinine statements like these and still retain the respect of the world.

Some research avenues for Gaza "civilians"

Some notes on Gaza alleged victims, if anyone wants to follow these avenues of inquiry, please let me know:

#387, Ayman Yousif Khalil al-Majayda, was apparently a cook for the Al Qassam Brigades. He was killed along with a terrorist at a al-Qassam site in Khan Younis on December 27th, 2008. No one on his memory page calls him anything but a martyr. Are support personnel for military targets legitimate targets themselves under Geneva?

#659, Kamla Ali Mustafa al-‘Attar , an 82-year old woman who died in an alleged Israeli attack in the 'Alatatra area on January 5th. No one else was killed at that time in that area - could she have died from natural causes?

There is a list of 1278 "martyrs" that was widely circulated; one of the Arabic lists can be seen here. In the space of a few weeks the number of "martyrs" that the PCHR said died in Gaza went from roughly 1250 to over 1400. Can anyone try to line up this list with PCHR and see if there are any patterns of the ones who don't match up? If they were mostly males 20-30, it might indicate Hamas trying to hide its casualties; if they are disproportionalty elderly or very young it might indicate that the PCHR was counting natural deaths as victims.

It seems worthwhile to go through the PCHR list based on the location the people were allegedly killed. It can indicate who is a likely militant (if someone was killed at the same time/place as many terrorists) as well as other anomalies, especially people who died in a place/time that no one else died.

#6000

This is my 6000th post published on this blog.

Cool!

Some more about Gaza deaths

Isaac's Dad brings up some very good points in the comments, and while they have been said in passing, they are important to mention explicitly:

1. Excuse me if I missed it, but can you put a permalink to the PCHR study in a prominent place on your sidebar?

I was thinking about doing something similar to the self-death count. When I find some time....

2. With regards to that study, it struck me that the IDF's explanation for the discrepancy on the total number dead (natural deaths) was insufficient, leading to some further questions:

a. How does the PCHR treat "friendly fire" deaths? It strikes me as odd that I have not seen any reporting on how many Palestinians were killed by Hamas fire during the conflict.

We of course have no evidence either way. The PCHR's methods are to interview families of the dead. The families have incentive to say that their loved ones were "martyred" by Israel because the dead become heroes and the families get money from Palestinian Arab leaders for the rest of their lives. The PCHR also has incentive to demonize Israel. Without being there, we cannot prove that there were friendly fire incidents, but it seems certain that such incidents occurred.

b. How does the PCHR treat casualties as a result of "secondary explosions." We know that Hamas, and other factions, hid reams of explosive material that were targeted by the IDF and have seen the secondary explosions. I assume the IDF does not count deaths as a result of secondary explosions (intentional and unintentional) as their responsibility, and rightly so.

We've mentioned that as well, and it is equally certain that there were deaths from such explosions (not to mention Hamas booby traps that were accidentally tripped by Gazan civilians.) Unfortunately, we don't have anything to prove it. The PCHR says it uses "customary humanitarian law" to determine human rights violations and I don't think secondary explosions are mentioned. Most human rights organizations would lay the blame on the people who caused the initial explosion, not distinguishing between bombing a weapons depot and a fuel depot when assigning blame for deaths. Of course, the weapons depot is a legitimate target but HR activists would probably say that the expected civilian damage has to be proportionate to the miliitary advantage of the attack. It is one of the grey areas that need to be clarified.

3. With regards to Rayyan and his family, I understand that they are counted as civilian casualties by PCHR and that you and the IDF have said Rayyan was a legitimate target (I agree), but the argument should not end there. It was acknowledged in the Palestinian press that Rayyan and his family were aware his compound was to be bombed and had time to leave. It was alleged, and has not been denied by the Palestinians, that his compound was used to store weapons and explosives. Consequently, his home, and those that would protect it were combatatants, but, more importantly, even if his home was mistakenly targeted, Rayyan, and his family members who chose to remain, are responsible for their own deaths, because they chose to stay. In essence they performed a suicide mission by staying, with the media as the target. It should be noted on this point that, unlike many Palestinians in camps who may have had some difficulty finding a place to stay, the Rayyan family is a very large clan with multiple homes, and at least one family member stayed away.

To me, the Rayyan case was a classic case of human shields. Israel dropped leaflets and "knocked" on the roof, and Rayyan pretty much forced his wives and children to stay with him. If we ever get to phase 2 of the analysis of the PCHR figures, we would try to identify human shield cases by comparing last names of militants and last names of women and children killed at the same place on the same day. It would be interesting to know how the IDF classified Rayyan's family, however.

Egypt to check Obama delegation for swine flu

I couldn't find the original story, but Palestine Today quotes an Egyptian newspaper saying that President Obama and his delegation will be "checked" for swine flu upon entering Egypt.

The report by «Egypt Today» Wednesday quoted an anonymous Egyptian official saying that Obama, and the accompanying delegation, which is estimated about one thousand people, would be subject to the procedures established by the Presidency of the Republic. The newspaper did not mention the nature of the checks, but it quoted an Egyptian expert that they will pose questions regarding the extent of the seriousness of the visit and the entry of the virus causing «swine flu» to Egypt as the United States as the top of the list of countries hit by the virus.

UPDATE: Here's the story (h/t A.L.)

Hamas prevents "Nakba" rallies

In a little-reported story even among the Palestinian Arabic press, Hamas has prevented groups from holding rallies to mark "Nakba day" in Gaza.

The Popular Struggle Front put out a statement saying

Such practices by the security forces of the Hamas movement of preventing the national marches to commemorate the Nakba show the state of division in the Palestinian street, which has overshadowed the work on national unity.

The decision is blow to all efforts to end the division and reconciliation and the restoration of unity.

Leftists across the world denounced Hamas' anti-democratic and anti-freedom actions.

And if you believe that one...

Jay Leno joke

Saudi Arabia held its first beauty pageant over the weekend and already they're embroiled in their own scandal.

Topless photos of Miss Saudi Arabia have surfaced ... you can see her entire forehead.

(from Giglish)

Go for it.

The heinous criminals have been arrested

From Iran's PressTV:

Iran has arrested individuals behind a scheme to 'smear the government' through importing alleged Israeli oranges into the country.

"We are absolutely certain that the oranges were not imported from Israel and that the stickers were fabricated," Iran's Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"It is obvious that the move was aimed to smear the government and overshadow its anti-racism activities," he explained.

"[In addition to those detained,] some people have been summoned or invited for further study of the case, the result of which will be announced accordingly," the minister went on to say.

The oranges which were allegedly imported from Israel sparked controversy in Iran, as Tehran bans any sort of dealings with Tel Aviv.

The oranges had stickers with a sign that read Jaffa Sweetie Israel PO. However, they were distributed in boxes bearing 'made in China' imprints.

I like the "anti-racism" line.

(Actually, the Jaffa Sweetie is not an orange, but a pomelit.)

Small victories in publicizing PCHR lies

NGO Monitor has linked to our results along with other researchers. The Backspin blog of Honest Reporting had also linked to our research. Someone had posted many of my articles about the PCHR at Cleveland Indymedia. Richard Landes at The Augean Stables republished my Casualties of Truth article. Now I have to find the time to learn a content management system so I can create a nice looking website to show our research....and while I am computer literate, even the simple ones take hours to learn and configure.

Hamas terrorist killed "on special Jihad mission"

Ma'an Arabic reports:

The Al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on Thursday morning, announced the death of 20-year-old Khaled Ghalban of Khan Younis during his "mission of jihad in particular."

The announcement said Qassam Ghalbanwas killed in the performance of his duty of jihad, particularly in the task, without giving any details.

That means either he blew himself up or another Hamas member killed him. There have been recent reports of Hamas infighting.

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 76.

Hamas leader: "I hate all weapons"

Hamas' PR machine chugs along, with credulous Westerners believing any old lie as long as it gives them hope. Here's a particularly laughable example:

GAZA CITY, May 14 (IPS) - A founding member of Hamas says he hates all weapons and insists that his organisation is not anti-Jewish.

In an interview with IPS, Sayed Abu Musameh described frequent claims in the European and U.S. press that Hamas's charter is based on enmity towards Jews as a "big lie".

"In our culture, we respect every foreigner, especially Jews and Christians," he said. "But we are against Zionists, not as nationalists but as fascists and racists."

Musameh also contended that Hamas has long been ready to agree a truce - known in Arabic as a hudna - with Israel but that Israel had refused all offers and imposed a crippling economic blockade on Gaza. The firing of Qassam rockets on the Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Sderot was designed "not to destroy Israel or to destroy Israeli people" but to "make them notice our siege."

"I hate all kinds of weapons," said Musameh. "I dream of seeing every weapon from the atomic bomb to small guns banned everywhere."

The Hamas Charter includes such loving statements towards Jews as:

...our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave...

The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)."

The Nazism of the Jews does not skip women and children, it scares everyone.

The other Arab and Islamic states are required, at the very least, to facilitate the movement of the Jihad fighters from and to them. We cannot fail to remind every Muslim that when the Jews occupied Holy Jerusalem in 1967 and stood at the doorstep of the Blessed Aqsa Mosque, they shouted with joy: "Muhammad is dead, he left daughters behind." Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.

...more steps need to be taken by the Arab and Islamic peoples and Islamic associations throughout the Arab and Islamic world in order to make possible the next round with the Jews, the merchants of war.

As far as that "hudna" that Hamas has offered, it had a few small preconditions - like Israel surrendering Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria first.

Hamas' respect for Christians is so all-embracing that the few remaining Christians in Gaza live in fear of attacks and often choose to prostrate themselves to Hamas in the vain hopes of being left alone. And Hamas members are not shy about their naked hate of Jews and Christians.

As far as Hamas' aversion to all weapons, well...