Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Ma'an blames Israel for Itamar attack

Ma'an Arabic uses yet another of the oldest journalism tricks in the book to publish incitement and lies in a newspaper:

Quote somebody whose positions who you agree with.

In this case, it quotes some person on Facebook named Elif Sabbagh. (Ma'an has been obsessed with Facebook lately.) Sabbagh's Facebook page isn't even public, so it is not as if his original posting had gained any serious readership.

Sabbagh, who apparently lives in Acre, wrote about the story in YNet of the Jewish settlers who saved the life of an Arab baby yesterday while the Fogels were mourning the murders of their family nearby. He dismisses the story, claiming that there have been so many Arab babies who died because they were born at checkpoints. (Why the mothers in these probably apocryphal stories were trying to get into the evil Zionist entity to give birth is not really an issue for discussion.)

Sabbagh then goes on to quote Ma'an's thoroughly discredited story suggesting that it was actually Thai workers who slaughtered the Fogels. Ma'an, which knows that story was never true, therefore puts support behind its lie rather than admit that its sources are liars. (There aren't even any Thai workers in Itamar.)

Sabbagh goes further, saying that the settlements are dangerous places, and how irresponsible it is for Jews to live in the West Bank - putting their own children at risk. In fact, Sabbagh says, Netanyahu should be apologizing to the Fogels for allowing them to live in an area where Arabs are likely to come along and want to slaughter them! Sabbagh concludes dramatically - who should apologize to whom?

Ma'an, pretending to merely quote Sabbagh, is obviously showing its own position: that Arabs are inherently violent and cannot be blamed for murdering Jews in their midst, and Jews who want to live in their own historic homeland are to blame when (not if) they get massacred. Arabs, of course, cannot be held responsible for murder. That's natural.

How about this idea: Since Israel is obviously such a militaristic and genocidal state, isn't it irresponsible to want to live next to it? Shouldn't Palestinian Arabs move elsewhere in the Arab world so that their children are not put in danger from the IDF and the wildly rampaging settlers we hear so much about? In fact, when an Arab olive tree is allegedly uprooted by those evil Jews, doesn't that mean that it is time to move?

There is a reason I spend so much time talking about Ma'an: it is the only independent newspaper in the Palestinian Arab territories. It does not officially reflect the position of Fatah or Hamas. It prides itself on its professional journalistic standards. And it possibly reflects the opinions of the many Palestinian Arabs who really don't care for Fatah or Hamas or their more extreme cousins.

Yet here we see how Ma'an in Arabic is happy to publish lies and bigotry, blaming the victims and abandoning all journalistic standards.

And as of 1 PM Israel time, it is the top story on Ma'an's Arabic page.

The bias of the Arab world's "most credible news source"

From Babylon and Beyond:

On Monday, Qatar's prime minister, Sheik Hamad Jassim ibn Jaber al Thani, held a phone interview with Al Jazeera's Khadija Bin Qinna and Mohammad Kurayshan in which he characterized the deployment of security forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Bahrain as "assistance and support" within the framework of existing agreements.

...Al Jazeera is considered among the most credible Arabic news sources, but it has been accused at certain times of allowing its royal backer's political affiliations to skew its coverage. Al Jazeera Arabic, in particular, has recently been criticized for what some see as its overly careful handling of violent clashes between Bahraini protesters and government forces.

This does not mean that the world should automatically support Bahrain's opposition, but it does indicate that Al Jazeera should not be assumed to be a Western-style independent news source.

(h/t David G)

Morning links

CAMERA notes how churches who love to condemn everything Israel does have been eerily silent after Itamar.

Also at CAMERA, a Ha'aretz editor's tweets show incredible contempt for Israelis mourning the slaughter of the Fogels.

Speaking of tweets, police are investigating a McGill University student who tweeted that he wanted to kill everyone who was watching a movie because they were all part of a Zionist satanic ritual. (It was not even a Zionist film.)

Israeligirl asks: Did you know that Israel transfers pension payments to eligable Gazans?

FresnoZionism fisks a ridiculous LA Times op-ed.

Someone else made a video out of my posters:

The poster page now has over 10,000 views, making it the most popular page ever on this blog (beating out Gabriel Latner's speech.)

Evil, extremist settlers save Arab baby's life. Leftists don't notice.

Only meters from where a Jewish baby's life was snuffed out by Palestinian Arabs, an Arab baby's life was saved by the community's Jews:

IDF forces and local paramedics helped save the life of a Palestinian woman and her newly born infant Wednesday, at the settlement where Fogel relatives are sitting Shiva for the five Israelis brutally murdered last week.

Just as IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz arrived in Neve Tzuf to offer his condolences, a Palestinian cab raced towards the community's entrance. In it, soldiers and paramedics discovered a Palestinian woman in her 20s in advanced stages of labor and facing a life-threatening situation: The umbilical cord was wrapped around the young baby girl's neck, endangering both her and her mother.

The quick action of settler paramedics and IDF troops deployed in the area saved the mother's and baby's life, prompting great excitement and emotions at the site where residents are still mourning the brutal death of five local family members.

Corporal Haim Levin, 19, an IDF paramedic, was the first medical team member at the scene and recounted the dramatic situation he faced.

"When I arrived, I saw a woman covered by a blanket in a yellow Palestinian van. I moved closer and saw the baby's head and upper body," he told Ynet. "The umbilical cord was around the baby's neck; the baby was grey and didn't move."

"I first removed the cord from the neck and at the same time asked paramedics to prepare the baby resuscitation kit. I pinched her to see if she's responding, and she started to cry," he said. Paramedics also treated the mother, who was in good condition at that point, Levin said.

Meanwhile, ambulance driver Orly Shlomo raced to the scene. "We joined the military paramedic and helped him cut off the umbilical cord…without the medical treatment, the fetus and woman faced genuine life danger," she told Ynet.

"It was touching, but I couldn't help but think that a few meters from there, people were sitting Shiva for another baby, who was murdered," she said. "I was touched to see the face of the new baby, but I also thought about the face of the murdered baby."

Gadi Amitun, who heads the Magen David Adom team at Neve Tzuf, said this was not the first time settlers assist Palestinians in distress.

"They know we have a skilled medical team here, and in any case of accident or injury they arrive and we help them," he said.

The paramedic noted that on the day of the Fogel massacre, settlers saw fireworks and celebrations in nearby Palestinian communities, but added that the local medical team is committed to assisting anyone in need.

Palestinians from the nearby village of Nabi Salah gathered around the paramedics along with the new grandmother and could not hide their joy.

"They thanked us and told us they named the girl Jude," Corporal Levin said.

Compare this article to how a Mondoweiss writer named Max Ajl describes what he think the left's reaction should be to the Itamar murders:

You want my condemnation? You will not have it. No one should respond to such demagogic moral blackmail. We killed those children. There are those who will warp my words. Good luck. I do not want children to die, no child deserves to die or deserves such parents or deserves to be born into such a society or such a state.

It is amazing that the Jewish anti-Israel left is less sympathetic to the Itamar victims than the neighboring Arabs whose land is supposedly being stolen. And to these sickening leftists, Jews who want to live in Judea and Samaria do not have the right to life.

I have news for Ajl: No child deserves to be born into his household, one that is filled with such hate. As we can see from the article above, a child born in the communities of Itamar and Neve Tzuf will be infinitely more kind, caring - and liberal - than sick moral midgets like Ajl.

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

(corrected community name)

Iran's "flying saucer"

From FARS News:

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran unveiled a home-made unmanned flying saucer as well as a light sports aircraft in an exhibition of strategic technologies.

The unmanned flying saucer, named "Zohal", was unveiled in a ceremony attended by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Zohal, designed and developed jointly by Farnas Aerospace Company and Iranian Aviation and Space Industries Association (IASIA), can be used for various missions, specially for aerial imaging.

The flying machine is equipped with an auto-pilot system, GPS (Global Positioning System) and two separate imaging systems with full HD 10 mega-pixel picture quality and is able to take and send images simultaneously.

They illustrate the article with this picture:

Looks cool! Also, surprisingly fake!

It turns out that the actual device looks like this:

I'm bummed. I was hoping that Iran's leaders were getting some alien anal probes in exchange for the nifty flying saucer technology.

After all, Iran has said publicly that it shot down several UFOs in 2009. Really.

Video of clashes at Gaza "unity" rally yesterday (updated)

This video actually comes from a Hamas website, where they are claiming that the people attacking the demonstrators are Fatah!

Hamas also attacked students at Al Azhar University in Gaza yesterday.

The Foreign Press Association described the scene like this:

On a day ostensibly devoted to Palestinian unity, police brutally attacked photographers and cameramen, beating them, breaking equipment and confiscating photos and video footage.

Time magazine's disgusting Itamar story: "Murder by knife"

Time magazine's Karl Vick writes an article that is supposedly about the Itamar slaughter - but is in fact about how much he hates Israel.

Here's every word Vick wrote about the massacre:

The murder by knife of three children, including an infant of 3 months, and both parents in a West Bank settlement late Friday night rocked Israel terribly.

...The slaughter did not eradicate the family. Three of the Fogel children survived — two brothers who were asleep in another bedroom, and their 12-year-old sister, who discovered the scene when she arrived home at midnight from a meeting of a youth group. The means of entry into the settlement was apparently a hole cut in the perimeter fence, undetected by civilian guards. But the identity of the attackers remains unknown.

See? It wasn't so bad - three children survived! What are those Jews getting all hot and bothered about?

Out of a 922 word story, the actual murders, dealt with only peripherally, take up a mere 97 words. All without a single detail on what actually happened outside the two words "by knife."

By contrast, saying that Israel was consumed with revenge took 87 words.

240 words were about Israel's settlements and how they are the main obstacle to peace.

77 words about the release of gruesome photos of the victims and supposedly tasteless banner ads by victim aid organizations that referred to the attacks.

97 words were written on the "cycle of violence" between Palestinian Arabs who have killed settlers and reprisal attacks by Jews.

And 94 words on the funeral.

I searched Time's site and did not find any other articles that described the murders at all, so it is not as if this story was assuming that the readers knew about the details. These are all the details that Time felt necessary to give. In other words, the settlements and Israeli politicization of the murders are the story; the murders themselves are just a minor detail.

Vick also writes about the smallish, largely ineffective unity protests in the West Bank and Gaza yesterday.

While he didn't fall for the absurd estimate from Ma'an of between 200,000 and 300,000 protesters in Gaza, more accurately saying 10,000, he downplays the Hamas attacks on the protesters with the passive-voice trick:

Scuffles and injuries were reported.

However, check out this part:

Part of the problem Tuesday was the number of venues. Gaza had to demonstrate separately — it's separated from the West Bank by miles and Israeli barricades.

That's like saying that Canada is separated from Mexico by miles and American checkpoints.

Vick cannot even bring himself to mention that an entire country separates Gaza from the West Bank.

To him, Israel is merely an unjust obstacle stopping Palestinian Arabs from freely traveling to each other.

(h/t BtB)

Mid-day links

A surprising op-ed from Turkey:

Addressing Israel’s leaders from a public rally in Turkey, Mr. Erdoğan said in both Turkish and English: “You shall not kill.” Then he showed his linguistic capabilities and went on: “You still don’t get it? Then I shall speak to you in your own language: Lo tir’tsach!”

In various other speeches, Mr. Erdoğan claimed that his fits of anger toward the death of children were “indiscriminative” of race and religion. “Wherever, whenever,” he often said, “a child has been killed,” he would fiercely stand against the murderers. All the same, he has been mute since Saturday.
...
Most predictably, we have not heard Mr. Erdoğan saying "You shall not kill" in Arabic, and we probably never will. That’s hardly surprising since we have never heard Mr. Erdoğan speaking “indiscriminately” in the past against the killing of children and defenseless people in Itamar, or elsewhere in Israel – for Saturday’s attack in Itamar was not the first of its kind.

However, Turkey's Foreign Ministry did condemn the slaughter on Saturday night (not Tuesday as Ha'aretz writes) - even referring to it as terror (along with the compulsory mention of the settlements being "a clear breach of international law.")

I had missed this important article by Martin Sherman in YNet last week.

[T]he unpalatable - and unfashionable - truth is that between the (Jordan) River and the (Mediterranean) Sea, there can prevail (and eventually will prevail) either total Jewish sovereignty or total Arab sovereignty.

From JPost:

A think-tank affiliated with Germany’s Social Democratic Party issued a new report last week that revealed high levels of anti-Semitism in Germany, Poland and Hungary, as well as varying manifestations of racism, homophobia and prejudice in eight European countries.

CIFWatch on anti-Israel bias from the BBC.

(h/t O, PostWest)

Incredible story from the Fogel shiva home

From A Soldier's Mother blog:

For now, the Fogel family is sitting Shiva, the hardest, most intense part of the mourning. People come to visit and usually, food is put out somewhere. Some people spend hours sitting and talking - and many try to encourage the family to eat something. You talk of the loved ones, you see pictures. People come and tell you stories you had never heard before about how special they were. Your heart breaks a thousand times, and then a thousand times more.

Quietly, over the last few days, a man has been coming to the house bringing food and stocking the kitchen. His name is Rami Levy and he owns a chain of supermarkets. I've heard amazing stories about him in the past but this one beats all I have ever heard.

Every day, Rami Levy comes by the shiva house to the Fogel family and fills the cupboards and refrigerator himself with food for the family and guests. Today, one of the relatives thanked him for this incredible kindness and his response brought me to tears,"You will get used to my face," he told this family in mourning, "I have committed myself that every week I will deliver food and stock your home until the youngest orphan turns 18 years old."

The youngest orphan of this tragedy is a young 2 year old boy...

What Rami Levy has done is commit to 16 years of kindness. If this was a week in which the Palestinians should be ashamed, and it was, than this is a week in which we Jews have the right to be so proud.

Iran denies arms shipment, says Israel will drown (UPDATED)

From UPI:

Iranian military commander Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi denied Israeli charges a ship seized by Israeli commandos carried 50 tons of Iranian weapons.

"Israel is a regime made of lie, making lies and fabrications," Salehi told the Iranian state news agency IRNA Wednesday.

"The Zionist regime will drown in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, God willing, after the collapse of the Egyptian pharaoh," Salehi said, rejecting Israel's claims the weapons found aboard the ship headed for Gaza were from Iran.

He also insulted Europe and the US, but that part didn't make it into the UPI report:

"The arrogant countries of the nineteen century condemned militarism, but now, they all resort to militaristic means and seek to repress regional wronged nations," he said referring to the regional turmoil.

But not to worry. Iran's message is one of peace!

"Last year we successfully sent our vessels to the Mediterranean Sea and we expect our navy will navigate in the oceans which will manifest our power carrying a message of peace and friendship," he added.

Meanwhile, an intriguing report:

Turkey's government says a cargo plane from Iran has been required to land in Turkey so its shipment could be searched.

But the Foreign Ministry denied a Dogan news agency report that Turkish military jets forced the plane to land at Diyarbakir airport on Tuesday night to search it for an alleged cargo of arms from Iran to Syria.

The ministry says it is standard procedure for Iranian cargo planes to request permission to fly over Turkey and sometimes be required to make unscheduled landings to be searched.

Turkey's official Anatolia news agency confirmed that the plane, heading from Tehran to Aleppo, Syria, was searched Wednesday.

But Anatolia and the government did not say what the cargo plane was found to be carrying.

I can't wait for the peaceful Iranian regime to extend its benevolent hegemony over the entire world!

UPDATE: From Ha'aretz:

The plane, which allegedly contained weapons connected to Iran's nuclear program, was forced to landed in the city of Diyarbakir. Security officials arrived at the airport to check the plane's contents, Turkish news agencies reported.

From Trend.AZ:

Turkish air forces forced a cargo plane carrying military supplies from Iran to Syria to land in southeast Turkey on Wednesday after receiving a tip-off warning of nuclear weapons onboard, local media reported.

But the latest from Zawya:

The plane, instructed to land at Diyarbakir airport as it overflew eastern Turkey on its way to Syria, was found to be carrying 150 tons of food but no "material contrary to international standards," the sources added.

After several hours of search on the plane for military or nuclear related cargo onboard, the aircraft took off at 1330 GMT, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw.

Anti-nuclear, biological and chemical material unit of civilian defence teams took part in the inspection of the plane as well, Anatolia news agency reported.

Egypt claims to have uncovered a Mossad spy ring

From Al Masry al-Youm's daily newspaper roundup:

Al-Wafd’s front page sheds light on the first case of uncovering an Israeli spy network in Egypt since the 25 January uprising.

The opposition newspaper says that Egyptian security forces have arrested an Egyptian and two Israelis on suspicion of belonging to Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Agency.

The public prosecution is currently conducting extensive investigations, which show that the Israeli-spy ring is accused of harming Egypt’s public interest and its national economy.

The report says the prosecutor refused to reveal more details about the case to the paper until the investigation finishes.

Bloomberg adds:

Egyptian prosecutors ordered the detention for 15 days of a foreign citizen accused of spying for Israel, the state-run Al Ahram newspaper reported today without saying how it got the information.

The suspect entered the country after the Jan. 25 uprising to “collect information related to the security of the country,” the newspaper said. He confessed to spying, the paper said. Investigators are looking into the possibility of partners working with the suspect, it said. The newspaper didn’t identify the nationality of the suspect.

Egypt had announced in December that it had arrested an Egyptian who had been giving information to Israel in August, 2010.

Real PalArabs seem genuinely upset at Itamar slaughter

I mentioned in passing on Sunday that I did not see too much support for the slaughter of the Fogel family on Palestinian Arabic forums, even those that are pro-Hamas. This is in great contrast to the universal reactions of joy that we've seen after other terror attacks.

This observation has been strengthened by a Hebrew video report by Shlomi Eldar in Shechem (Nablus.) Yaakov Lozowick summarizes:

I've been reporting in the Palestinian territories for many years, and the responses I recorded today in Shchem (Nablus) really surprised me. They seem to show a substantial distance between the PA leadership and regular people. The leadership (he cites Abbas and others) are muttering a condemnation of the murder, mostly not in Arabic and not in front of their public, and then they're condemning Israeli settlements. Nothing new here. On the other hand, I went to Shchem today, and was very surprised. People on the street were willing to condemn the murder unequivocally, in Arabic and in Hebrew, with no embarrassment, in front of the camera, and even identify themselves. [He shows some examples]. I've been covering the Palestinian territories for years, but this I've never seen before. In the middle of town, publicly, people had no compunctions openly to condemn the murder of children.

At this point one of the two anchormen asks if this is real, or perhaps a one-off encounter with unusual townsmen. Eldar insists: the interviews I've just shown were representative, and I made lots of them, not only the snippets I just screened. Moreover, I didn't find anyone saying the usual things about how it's settlers and Israelis and IDF violence and all that. The atmosphere in Shchem today is that the murder of the Fogel family was a terrible crime.

Yaacov goes on to give possible reasons for the change, including:

1. Netanyahu's economic peace is working. Look at the store fronts of Shchem: the economy is obviously booming, people are beginning to live normal lives, and this allows them to think normal thoughts. The fact that the IDF has largely moved out of the West Bank and has dismantled most of the roadblocks, even as the settlements aren't growing, no matter what the international media reports, is creating a new breathing space for the Palestinians, and they're beginning to breathe normally.

...

4. Settlements aren't as aggravating as we've endlessly been told. If there really is a sea change underway in the West Bank, it has started even though the Jewish settlements are still there. This doesn't necessarily mean the Palestinian populace is willing to have them stay there, but it may mean they're open to a process where reconciliation happens in the minds before the reality is foolishly and irrevocably changed.

He concludes:

Over the past few months, perhaps a year, I've been wandering a lot through East Jerusalem, and occasionally through parts of the West Bank, and the calm and normality have been striking. I've also had more simply normal human interactions with Palestinians than in many years. Something may be happening - unreported in the media, in a dynamic which contradicts the endless chatter of the diplomats - but potentially very important.

If so, it needs to be carefully and warily nurtured. Carefully, warily, and nurtured. And patiently. Not words that are easily compatible with the instincts of the people who've got it wrong so far, who need to see their pet solutions applied NOW, and are intoxicated with their certainties.

It would be nice if this represents a change in attitude. I'm not quite so optimistic.

It may be as simple as the mental image of a baby being slashed to death is a lot more gut-wrenching - more personal - than a bomb or bullet is.

Also, keep in mind that unlike the August 2010 murder of a carload of Jews near Kiryat Arba, including a pregnant woman, this attack was not claimed by any major terror group. Since there was a vacuum where the bragging used to be, there was no reason for the public to follow their leaders' party line and support the attack - and no reason to fear publicly condemning it.

Did the weapons on the Victoria come from Iranian ships last month?

From the IDF:

Below is a preliminary list of weaponry and weaponry systems discovered and unloaded this morning at the Ashdod Port hidden in the cargo of the “Victoria” vessel.
230 mortar shells, 120 mm

2,270 mortar shells, 60 mm

6 C-704 anti-ship missiles

2 radar systems manufactured in England

2 launchers

2 hydraulic mounting cranes for radar system

66,960 bullets for the Kalashnikov, 7.62 millimeter

It is important to note that the C-704 shore-to-sea missiles have a range of 35 kilometers and according to assessments, their intended destination to the Gaza Strip would have constituted a significant gain in the weapons capabilities of terror organizations operating there.
The identification document for the anti-ship missiles was in Persian and contained emblems of the Iranian government throughout. In addition, the ship left from the Syrian port of Lattakia before stopping in Turkey to make its way to Egypt. To the IDF’s understanding, Egypt and Turkey had no prior knowledge of the weaponry.
This incident further demonstrates Iranian and Syrian involvement in strengthening and arming terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.

It is notable that the Iranian ships that went through the Suez Canal last month docked at the same Syrian port. Here's how Iran's PressTV described it:

Two Iranian ships, Khark and Alvand, docked at Syria's Lattakia Port following their passage through the Suez Canal, a strategic international shipping route in Egypt, for the first time since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.

The 1,500-ton patrol frigate Alvand is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-ton supply vessel Khark has 250 crewmembers and can carry three helicopters.

Tehran has announced that the two Iranian warships in Lattakia are “on a routine and friendly visit and carry the message of peace and friendship to world countries.”

On Friday, Sayyari signed a navy cooperation deal with his Syrian counterpart General Taleb al-Barri aboard Iranian vessel Khark.

Syrian navy officials toured the two Iranian ships on the same day.

Are the 50 tons of weapons on the Victoria part of the "message of peace and friendship" that was carried by the Khark?

More weapons caught en route to Gaza

It is nice to know that Egypt seems to still be adhering to its security policies:

Egyptian security officials said Tuesday that Egypt's armed forces have seized five vehicles carrying weapons into the country from Sudan, apparently headed for Gaza.

The officials say the vehicles were intercepted inside Egypt Sunday near the border with Sudan, following a shootout during which the truck drivers fled. They said the trucks were carrying large quantities of mortars, rocket propelled grenades, rifles and explosives.

They said they were headed to Hamas-ruled Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

The officials spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity under government regulations.

Israeli intelligence officials say Sudan is a major route for Hamas weapons.

J-Street co-founder: Maybe Israel isn't a good idea if Arabs reject it

From Lori Lowenthal Marcus at The American Thinker:

"Maybe, if this collective Jewish presence" -- that is, the Jewish State in the Middle East -- "can only survive by the sword, then Israel really ain't a good idea." So said Daniel Levy, one of J Street's founders, at the 2011 J Street Conference. You can hear him, and the lack of any objection from even one of the 2000-strong audience, here, at 1:26:15 on the J Street Conference video, on J Street's own website.

Are we there yet? Is this clear statement by one of J Street's founders -- that if the Arabs will force Israel to defend herself, then the Jews should abandon the Middle East -- enough to prove that J Street is not "pro-Israel" at all? Is this confession enough to enable (or force) people to see that it is this belief: that the Jews are simply wrong to defend themselves ever, including against Gazan terrorism or a nuclear Iran, that constitutes the foundation of J Street?

I clipped the quote itself from the much longer video:

Ma'an claims up to 300,000 Gaza protesters. Photos disagree.

From Ma'an:

Estimates said between 200,000 and 300,000 Palestinians in Gaza gathered in Al-Khatib Square after Hamas protesters drove those calling for unity out of the Square of the Unknown Soldier.

Ma'an doesn't tell us who said there were so many people, but it does provide us with photos. Here's the photo that shows the most people:

Based on this and other photos at the site, it looks like an estimate of 10,000 would be an exaggeration.

Meanwhile, Reuters has noticed Hamas attacking the protesters.

Glenn Beck on Itamar

Whatever you think of Glenn Beck, he at least puts the horror of Itamar into words.

Photos of the weapons Iran/Syria tried to send to Gaza

From the IDF Spokesperson's office:

"Canada is also an apartheid state"

From Richard Klagsbrun at the National Post:

At Toronto’s Israel Apartheid Week hate event this year, Chadni Desai, speaking on behalf of the organizers, announced:

“We as the organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week in Toronto believe that we cannot speak meaningfully about Israeli apartheid without speaking first about the realities of apartheid here in Canada. Canada’s reservation system and the treatment of indigenous peoples is (sic) closely studied by the planners of apartheid in South Africa, although this is a hidden chapter of our history. From its very foundations, Canada has been based on the theft of indigenous land and the genocide and displacement of indigenous peoples. In crucial ways, the Canadian state’s treatment of indigenous peoples, historically and currently, can be described as an apartheid system.

.. As non-natives, we have a role within our communities to further the process of decolonizing Canada. If you are with us in opposition to Israeli Apartheid, we encourage your consistent opposition to apartheid right here in Canada. .. From Palestine to Turtle Island* there is no justice on stolen land.”

So there you have it. They have proclaimed that ‘Canadian apartheid’ was the inspiration for South African apartheid, except our version is still going on.

It’s possible the supporters of IAW think that formally declaring Canada an “apartheid” country absolves them of charges of hypocrisy. Actually, it makes it worse. Not only are they hypocrites and irrational anti-Semites, but they also establish themselves as willing contributors to apartheid.

Virtually every country in the world has had prior occupants with some sort of land grievances. But if contemporary Canada is the living spirit of apartheid, what are these self-declared “anti-apartheid” activists doing here, continuing to colonize, settle and steal native land? If they honestly believe the foolishness they put forward, why don’t they live up to their commitment of “decolonizing Canada” by packing up their bags and taking Helen Thomas’ advice to Israelis to ”go back where they came from”?

It gets better. Read the whole thing.

Hamas attacks "unity" rally in Gaza

From Ma'an:

Thousands of pro-unity protesters in Gaza City's Unknown Soldier Square moved to the city's Khatib Square on Monday, when a Hamas-organized rally arrived at the scene, dampening the calls for a non-factional call for Palestinian unity.

A much smaller protest in Ramallah, with estimates of about 3,000, gathered in the Manara Circle, called in tandem with Gaza for an end to Palestinian political division, which fissured that Palestinian leadership in 2007.

Organizers of the 15 March protests, which include a loose coalition of youth groups in the West Bank and Gaza, have called for the protests to remain focused on unity. The aim of the demonstration, they say, is the end of Palestinian political division through elections that include all Palestinians.

Speaking by phone from the protest one man, who asked not to be identified, said about 200 Hamas members carrying flags and chanting Hamas slogans entered the square shortly before 11:30 a.m.

He said two demonstrators were hit with Taser guns and fainted as they shouted demanding the removal of all politically-affiliated paraphernalia from the area.

In Ramallah, 3,000 gathered the Manara Circle, with early reports of Palestinian Authority security presence and some Fatah flags being raised.

Palestine Press Agency adds:

30 people were admitted to hospitals on Tuesday in Gaza City as a result of Hamas elements assaulting the demonstration to 'end the division'.

Mohammed Ghareeb, a participant in the demonstration, said "A group of young people that were chanting 'People want to end the division' was attacked by a large group of Hamas members who were chanting 'Hamas is the Solution' and [the Hamas members] beat them with batons and sharp tools and opened fire during the withdrawal from the site after the rush the masses of young people on them."

Latest "Apartheid?" poster

Judge George Kara:

Entire "apartheid" poster series here.

The Deadliest 'Zation (Zak Meyers)

An essay sent to me via email:

The Deadliest “Zation”
By Zak Meyers

On the evening of Friday, March 11, five members of the Fogel family, residents of the West Bank town of Itamar were brutally slain while they slept. The victims were: parents Udi (37) and Ruth (36), and their three children, Yoav (10), Elad (4), and Hadas (3 months).

I write this in their blessed memory…

In light of the most recent in a long history of Arab barbarism perpetrated against Israeli civilians, we must widen the lens through which we see Israel’s place in the world. What happened this past weekend is not a political issue. It is a human issue.

There is no political stance one can take that would warrant this savagery. The roots of such a profound level of hate are not buried in the dirt of political disagreement. There is no crime egregious enough to demand as punishment the coldblooded stabbing of three children. That is unless, of course, one perceives the subjects of such heinous acts to be less than human. If so, one might be inclined to slaughter them, like animals, and slit their throats, which was done. The concept of “human rights” is about how people should be treated, both in life and in death.

In the chronology of Israel’s subjugation, “delegitimization” is but the most recent tactic employed by Israel’s detractors. This effort attacks the very legitimacy Israel enjoys as a sovereign nation by questioning the “legality” of its foundation. As audacious as this movement is, there is one greater in both prominence and consequence: dehumanization.

Both prior and subsequent to the brutal massacre of five members of the Fogel family, key events transpired that provide those willing to see it with a sobering look at the reality of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Though, given the deep-rooted, venomous hatred of Jews rampant in the Middle East, it would be shortsighted to designate anything but the collective psyche of Muslim Arab world as the catalyst.

Less than a month prior to this weekend’s attack, Palestinian Authority TV broadcasted yet another video celebrating the “[Martyrs] of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Nablus.” One of the terrorists to whom the video paid tribute was Habash Hanani, who, in 2002, murdered three high school students in the West Bank town of Itamar.

Commemorative videos are but a fragment of the dehumanizing efforts employed by the Palestinians. The Palestinians are but a fragment of those propagating these detestable messages. The description of Jews as “sons of monkeys and pigs” is a common thread woven throughout sermons not only in the West Bank and Gaza, but throughout the Middle East. In fact, leaders of the Arab world have not uttered a whisper of condemnation regarding the brutality of the killings. Rather than recognizing the heinousness of the attack, residents of Rafah in Gaza flooded into the streets in celebration, handing out candies. This is not simply the absence of sympathy, which is callous enough; it represents the glorification of barbarism, ingrained in their psyches from childhood.

Though the blood of the Fogel family stains the hands of Western media, as well. CNN referred to the atrocity by adding quotation marks around Israel’s report of the event as a “terrorist attack,” thereby downplaying terrorism as a motive. It continued with its mendacious coverage by referring to the murderer as an “intruder,” likening his actions to the consequences of a botched robbery.

Likewise, as if needing to contextualize the crime, the BBC politely reminded its readers of the ongoing conflict over the settlements in which this took place. In its estimation, the ability to slaughter children is a direct result of Israel’s policies. Ergo, if Israel withdraws its forces, everyone would live in peace; any and all ability or desire to perpetrate such a heinous act would be alleviated with the presence of military forces.

The equation being promoted is thus: create a Palestinian state and the hatred of Jews will cease. Are we truly to believe that the ability to slit the throat of a three month-old child will dissipate if the perpetrators are members of a sovereign nation? Will the willingness to massacre a family of five, including three children, in the most intimate of manners cease if one’s passport states a particular nationality? Not only is this delusional stance an unabashed attempt at simplifying the situation, but it prevents us from addressing the root cause: dehumanization of Jews.

Bookending the tragedy is the UN’s screening of the virulently anti-Israel film, Miral, which essentially rattles off one Israeli “massacre” after another. As part of their modus operandi, those who propagandize on behalf of the Palestinian cause tend to portray historical events in a vacuum, furthermore trying desperately to link the past to current events.

Such is the example of Deir Yassin, which is mentioned in Miral (2011). For those unfamiliar, Deir Yassin is the centerpiece in the Palestinians’ effort to demonize the Israel Defense Forces as bloodthirsty criminals. Briefly, what transpired there was the result of an Irgun military operation in 1948 to end the blockade of Jerusalem during British rule in Palestine. Even after multiple calls by the Jews for Arabs to leave their homes, some residents decided to stay, which resulted in a battle that left approximately 100 Arabs dead. However, according to champions of the Palestinian cause, Jews went from house-to-house in Deir Yassin, cutting down anything that moved.

This gross misrepresentation of events was replayed during the “Jenin massacre” in 2002. Palestinians sought to replace Deir Yassin in this capacity, with the hopes of demonstrating Israel’s long history of slaughtering Arabs. However, that plan was scrapped when it was revealed that Palestinian authorities may have exaggerated the number of casualties: from the hundreds (even thousands) initially reported…to 53. The number of combatants included in that figure ranges from 48, according to the IDF, to 27 according to Human Rights Watch. Meanwhile, Israel lost 23 soldiers. So, from “massacre,” we quickly move to “battle.”

Even after the audacious claims of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” were refuted, no apologies were made, no retractions were issued. The stain had already soaked deep into the moral fabric of society. Yet, even still, there are those who cite “the massacre in Jenin” as further evidence of the IDF’s brutality.

Maybe the world should be reminded of the Arab Riots of 1920-1921? Perhaps the 1929 Hebron Massacre? Or possibly the Arab Riots of 1936-1939?

Since the UN is now a venue for movie premieres, I submit they host a screening of What I Saw in Hebron (1999). With interviews of 13 people who survived the Hebron Massacre, this documentary illustrates the gruesome consequences of dehumanization in one isolated incident. Though detailing an event that occurred more than 80 years ago, the message is evidently just as relevant as ever.

I agree with those who say this massacre is the direct result of policy. It is the direct result of international pressure on Israel to acquiesce to its demands, while completely disregarding the reality on the ground set forth by the Palestinian Authority. The removal of roadblocks in the West Bank, which were in place to prevent such atrocities, should be directly correlated to the removal of the Palestinians’ campaign of dehumanization.

The efforts of delegitimization are taking place in colleges and courts, while that of dehumanization are taking place in schools and mosques. The results of the former are seen in the UN, while that of the latter are seen in headlines. Until Arabs are taught to perceive Jews in their rightful manner, as human beings, these attacks will continue.

How could Arabs possibly be expected to consider Israel “legitimate” if it is inhabited by “creatures” that are perceived to be less than human? How could the Palestinians ever seek to make peace with “sons of pigs and monkeys?” Why treat them with a degree of dignity one would reserve for fellow members of mankind?

The brutal slaying of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their children was not about settlements. It was not about politics. By putting it in this context, we are simply dulling the tip of the sword. Under the guise of “fighting oppression,” the Palestinians are offered carte blanche vis-à-vis Israel. In painting Israel’s military presence in the West Bank with such exaggerated strokes of oppression, the international community effectively absolves the Palestinians of the responsibility to act with human decency. That is why slitting the throat of a three month-old child is considered a natural response to “occupation” by the “brutal Zionist regime.”

Political turmoil has always been and will always be a permanent fixture of civilization. It is a natural result of the pursuit of self-determination. However, dehumanization involves the abandonment of civility, which should not validate a people’s right to self-governance. On the converse, it should raise red flags as to what kind of society would be created. Only when a people demonstrate a willingness to treat fellow citizens and fellow humans with dignity, should this people be granted a state of their own.

The abomination to civilization that transpired Friday evening was about one simple fact: the victims were Jews.

IDF seizes weapons ship from Iran to Gaza via Turkey, Egypt

From JPost:

The IDF seized a freighter ship with dozens of tons of weaponry from Iran headed for Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The ship, known as Victoria, was flying a Liberian flag, and was seized by the navy in the Meditteranean Sea, 200 miles off of Israel's coast.

The Victoria was boarded by commandos from the Israely Navy's Flotilla 13, also known as the Shayetet, and is expected to arrive in the Ashdod port on Tuesday evening.

An initial inspection of the cargo revealed the ship was carrying weapons. The exact amount is to be determined.

The crew, questioned by the Navy Commando, was not aware that the cargo contained weaponry.

The ship set sail last night from Turkey, and was expected to dock in Alexandria. There, it was supposed to unload the weapons, which would travel by land to Gaza. The IDF's assessment is that the weapons did not originate in Turkey, but that the containers were unloaded there and transferred onto the Victoria.

"The operation was approved as necessary in accordance with government directives in light of Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz's recommendations," an IDF statement read.

Gantz updated Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the findings on-board the vessel earlier in the morning.

"The IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted German authorities about the interception of the "Victoria" due to the German ownership of the ship," the statement said.

In addition, the government of Liberia, whose flag it was flying under, was notified, as well as France, due to the French shipping company.

In November 2009, the Israeli Navy seized the Francop cargo ship, which was carrying 500 tons of weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including Katyusha rockets and grenades. At the time, IDF officers said the amount was enough to sustain Hezbollah for several weeks of war.

This means that Turkey was at least somewhat complicit as the weapons were reloaded there and allowed to ship from there.

And that the assumption in this episode is that was that the new Egyptian authorities would not be checking shipments going through Rafah for weapons, the way that Mubarak's regime did. Whether they would actively assist Hamas is unclear.

Welcome to the new, democratic Middle East.

UPDATE: YNet says:

A preliminary probe suggests the ship's crew was not aware of the weapons concealed on board the vessel.

On its way from Syria to Alexandria, Egypt the ship docked at Turkey's Mersin Port. It is estimated that the weapons on board were intended for terror groups operating in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey was in no way connected to the ship as far as the IDF is aware. The seizure of the vessel was authorized by the government.

Turkey's reaction will speak volumes.

"Apartheid" posters still spreading (updated)

My "Apartheid" posters can be seen in the Philadelphia Jewish Voice online newspaper.

The poster webpage is up to 7000 pageviews.

And things are not slowing down.

UPDATE: The posters page was featured in JCPA's Daily Alert.

The Palestinian Authority: Where terrorism is idealism (Zvi)

Zvi wrote, in response to my post about how the PA has reacted to Itamar by honoring terrorists:

It comes down to the artificial perpetuation of a climate of extreme hatred and the glorification of terrorism. That is what the PA provides - and in fact, Palestinian society at all official levels in both Gaza and the WB is overtly, officially and violently hostile to attempts to reduce the level of incitement and hatred.

When there is no interference by the regime (e.g. the PA), violence typically falls along a bell curve. Psychopaths and violent people exist in any society, and it is impossible to prevent evil or deeply troubled people from committing violent crimes or even murders.

However, it is possible for government or society to shift and distort the bell curve. A society that puts a premium on non-violent means of resolving conflicts - and which makes an effort to identify and treat mental illness and which practices what it preaches - can not only shift the bell curve toward non-violence but can distort even the "hump" and the "long tails" in that direction.

On the other hand, you have the Palestinian Authority. The regime makes every effort - one could even call it a comprehensive program - to shift the bell curve and distort it toward terrorism and violence against civilians.

* Palestinian regimes and "civil" society in both the WB and Gaza aggressively lionizes terrorists for murdering civilians. Both name institutions and streets after the worst of their terrorists, and both endlessly celebrate the worst of their terrorists in the media. If a neo-Nazi group in the US celebrated the murderers of African Americans or Jews in this fashion, the NYT would have no question about what was going on.

* Islam is explicitly utilized not only to promote a Palestinian viewpoint but - very openly - to promote the idea that it is okay to murder not just Jewish soldiers, not just Jewish civilians, but ALL JEWISH CIVILIANS. Or rather, that it is DIVINELY COMMANDED that this be done.

* Palestinian society, in many different forums, aggressively condemns non-violent resolution of conflicts, particularly those involving Jews.

* The Palestinian Authority in particular has been refusing for years to talk with the Israeli government about resolution of the conflict. Fatah and Hamas both use repression, force and the shaping of Arab public opinion to prevent any more moderate or compromise-oriented group from emerging. Fatah has been doing this since the PLO was founded. There are reason why sane relative moderates - they do exist - have essentially no influence in Palestinian society. Fatah and Hamas have a habit of breaking their rivals' legs - or shooting them in the head - and non-violent, sane people have a hard time resisting that kind of "pressure."

* Palestinian society historically - and presently - offers little mental health care for severely disturbed people; instead, terrorist groups target these people as potential recruits.

* Palestinian society spares no effort to desensitize its own population to the murder of Jews.

* Palestinian society fosters the persistent fiction that the Jews are responsible for everything bad that happens, as well as all manner of anti-Semitic, xenophobic fictions about Jews. There is a reason why younger Palestinians - who grew up with this propaganda, who see which way the wind is blowing and who don't know Jews personally - are significantly more extreme in their views than are their somewhat more informed elders.

* The PA regime even invents fictitious current or historical events that are intended to whip up a high level of hatred.

* The PA and Hamas practice what they preache, maintaining "house terror organizations" (such as the AAMB, in Fatah's case) that report in to the leadership and which are essentially ignored by the international community.

* The PA and Hamas practice what they preach, by executing citizens for "collaborating with Israel" at the drop of a hat.

It is disturbing that western institutions that pretend to support Palestinians - particularly governments, unions and media organizations - refuse to acknowledge this deep-rooted program and refuse to hold the Palestinian leadership - the PA as well as Hamas - to account for it when terrorist attacks occur. To do so is the ONLY way to begin to make a dent in the craziness being inculcated by the Palestinian regimes.

It is even more disturbing that in all of these pro-terror activities, the PA is assisted by foreign aid from western societies and by the continual ideological support from Arab/Muslim countries. Palestinian society has become increasingly toxic since Arafat returned after Oslo. These powers have a direct and straightforward ability to require that the PA and Hamas begin to correct this situation - but they refuse outright to do so.

Israel reported to have made arrests in Itamar slaughter (updated)

From Aaron Klein at WorldNetDaily:

Two members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' official security forces were arrested in conjunction with this past weekend's bloody massacre in which five family members were brutally stabbed to death inside their home in the Jewish village of Itamar, WND has learned.

The names of the apprehended suspects will be released to the Israeli media within hours but were revealed to WND by security officials working on the murder.

Two cousins are now in Israeli custody and are suspected in the slayings. Ahmed Awad is an officer in Abbas' Preventative Security Services in the northern West Bank city of Nablis. Iyad Awad is an officer in Abbas' General Intelligence services in Ramallah.

Both the Preventative and General Intelligence services of Fatah are armed, trained and funded by the U.S.

It was not immediately clear whether the duo were arrested for planning the attack or for personally carrying out the murders.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party, at first released a pamphlet taking responsibility for the attack and then quickly retracted the statement.

Many Brigades members, including much of the group's senior leadership, double as members of Fatah's U.S.-backed security forces.

Top sources in the Brigades leadership in the northern West Bank city of Nablus confirmed to WND that members of the Fatah group planned and helped to carry out the attack.

The sources claimed the attack was not sanctioned by the Fatah leadership but was planned by Brigades members who were acting on their own.

Also, the sources said the actual perpetrators of the attack were sleeper cells from Hamas, while the Brigades leaders planned the attack, provided logistical support and aided in the Hamas agents' escape.

If accurate, this would demonstrate unusual cooperation between Hamas and Fatah rivals.

Klein has the best contacts within the terror organizations of any non-Arab reporter, so this is almost certainly a solid report.

(h/t Alex S)

UPDATE: Nothing has materialized in the 12 or so hours since the WND story came out, and The Muqata says that it is not true. (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Ma'an's attempt to pretend Fogels were not killed by Arabs

Ma'an has an Arabic-only article that tries to draw an equivalence between the murder of the Fogels and a brutal October 2009 attack in Rishon LeZion where six members of the Oshrenko family were stabbed to death, including a 3-year old and a three-month old baby. The implication is that Israelis have a knee-jerk reaction to automatically blame Palestinian Arabs for all murders, even though that one was found to have been allegedly done by Israelis (the trial for the accused murderers has not yet taken place.)

However, the Oshrenko case proves the opposite.

At no time was that massacre ever assumed to be terrorism. From the beginning, police knew that the Oshrenkos owned a restaurant and had business dealings that could have, and evidently did, lead them to the murderers.

The Rishon LeZion murders prove that Israelis are not blinded by bias when confronted with evil. And any implication that the Fogels, part of a small, tight-knit religious community, were killed by members of that same community - on a Friday night, no less - is simply the worst example of deflecting the blame for the crime to the victims.

After I wrote this, Ma'an "reported"

Israeli forces on Monday afternoon rounded up all Thai workers employed in the Itamar settlement, site of the murder of five members of the Fogel family, and held them for questioning, informed sources told Ma'an.

Though Palestinians have been forbidden from working in the settlements of the northern West Bank, foreign workers, mostly from Thailand and the Philippines, have been contracted for labor in the area.

Sources close to some of the Thai laborers said that all of the workers had been gathered and taken for questioning in relation to the stabbing deaths of a settler family on Friday night.

So I held off on posting this until I could get confirmation or denial of this story.

And while I cannot give full attribution, security forces in Israel have informed me that the Ma'an story is, and I am unofficially quoting here, "total bullshit." No Thai workers have been arrested in connection with the Itamar murders.

Classic misdirection, times two, courtesy of Ma'an.

Leading Egyptian archaeologist in hot water

From Al Masry al Youm:

Former Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass said allegations submitted to the attorney general, accusing the former of covering up the theft of antiquities, are unfounded.

Abdel Rahman al-Aidy, chairman of the Central Administration of Middle Egypt Antiquities, and Nour Eddin Abd al-Samad, director general of the Department of Archaeological Sites, had submitted notifications to Egypt’s prosecution, accusing Hawass, the primary official responsible for Egypt’s antiquities since 2002, of covering up thefts of archaeological sites, wasting public funds, and signing an agreement with an American association that threatened the national security of Egypt by allowing the association to conduct studies on certain ancient Egyptian kings.

Hawass is the guy that said that he would not allow any Jew to worship in the restored Maimonides Synagogue in Cairo.

He has also said about Jews:

They went to America and took control of its economy. They have a plan. Although they are few in number, they control the entire world.

So for all of Hawass' new troubles, let's all give a collective "Awwwww."

The real Palestinian Arab reaction to Itamar: honoring terrorism

While the leaders of the PA mouthed their meaningless words of condemnation for the Itamar massacre of the Fogel family, here is is their real reaction:

Palestinians have named a town square after a female terrorist who killed 37 Israelis in 1978.

The official dedication of the Dalal Mughrabi square near Ramallah took place just two days after a Palestinian terrorist group claimed responsibility for the brutal murder of five Israelis from the same family, three of whom were children.

Mughrabi is celebrated by some Palestinians for her role in a bus hijacking on the road between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Thirteen children were among those killed in that attack.

Although there were no government officials in attendance at the ceremony, members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party were present.

Also this weekend a sports contest at a Fatah-run youth centre in the West Bank was named in honour of the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, Wafa Idris.

Idris murdered an 81-year-old man when she blew herself up outside a busy shoe shop in Jerusalem nine years ago. The attack also left 150 people injured.

The New York Times writes perhaps the most inane comment possible about this:

Israel has long contended that Palestinian textbooks and official media preach hatred toward Israel and that the killers of Israelis are often glorified.

On Sunday, a group of activists from Abbas' Fatah movement dedicated a square in the West Bank city of Ramallah after Dalal Mughrabi, a female militant who carried out a 1978 bus attack that killed 37 Israelis. Aides to Abbas said they tried to stop the ceremony and the move was not officially sanctioned.

Still, Israel has not produced evidence that incitement contributed to the killings.

Evidence? Does israel need to catch the murderer and dissect his brain to prove it to the NYT's satisfaction?

Here's a music video shown this year praising Mughrabi, shown on official PA TV. The type of incitement that the NYT cannot imagine would encourage others to kill Jews.

(h/t YM)

Stephen Walt's disgusting moral equivalence on Itamar

The sickness of the Left:

To say that I am appalled by the brutal murder of an Israeli family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar (near Nablus) is an understatement.

OK, he is appalled. Why?

Israel's occupation of the West Bank is universally recognized as a violation of international law and depends on force, intimidation, and violence, but there is no justification for anyone to take the lives of an entire family in this way. No good can possibly come from such a senseless act -- not for Palestinians, not for Israelis, and not for anyone else -- and it should be universally condemned.

To Walt, the self-styled realist, the massacre of the Fogels is simply a counterproductive method of protest. He cannot bring himself to say that the murders are immoral, or sickening, or reflective of constant Palestinian Arab incitement to hate and murder. He cannot be bothered to mention the names of the victims. He cannot even make a passing mention of a baby girl whose throat was slashed in her crib.

And Walt cannot stop himself from implying that the settlers deserved it for somehow being "illegal" before he even pretends to condemn their murder, which, he implied, might have been justified if they were killed in a less brutal manner. Like maybe a suicide bombing that was a little less personal.

Now that Walt got his perfunctory "condemnation" out of the way, he can get to what he really wants to condemn, and what he cynically uses the Itamar massacre to hang his own sick hate on:

But while we are at it, we should not spare the other parties who have helped create and perpetuate the circumstances where such crimes are likely to occur.

Let us therefore condemn every Israeli government since 1967, for actively promoting the illegal effort to colonize these lands.

Let us condemn those Palestinian leaders who have glorified violence in the past or who continue to do so today.

Let us condemn the settlers themselves, some of whom routinely use violence to intimidate the Palestinians who live in the lands they covet.

Let us condemn Israel's policy of targeted assassinations and the war crimes it has committed in Gaza and Lebanon.

Let us condemn the hypocrisy of governments throughout the Arab world, who mouth solidarity with the Palestinians yet do little to improve their lives or advance the goal of an independent Palestinian state.

Let us condemn the craven passivity of U.S. politicians, whose deference to the Israel lobby has enabled the occupation for more than four decades, squandered the opportunity afforded by the Oslo Accords, and undermined efforts to create a viable Palestinian state.

Let us condemn the misguided fervor of Christian Zionists, who turn a blind eye to injustice against the Palestinians in the belief that it will hasten the "end times" tomorrow.

Let us condemn the cynicism of the Netanyahu government, which used this latest tragedy to announce the construction of 500 more housing units in the Occupied Territories.

Walt is pretending to be even-handed in his condemnations, but in the end you can see that his real priority is to condemn the victims themselves for "perpetuate the circumstances where such crimes are likely to occur."

And the real sickness of Walt can be seen in the original title of his disgusting piece. While it is now called "On the murders at Itamar," from the title bar we can see that he originally titled it "Who is to blame for the killings at Itamar?"

And here is the root of Walt's reprehensible worldview. Because he truly believes that the Israelis and the Jews who voluntarily choose to live in their own historic homeland are to blame for their own deaths, and that Arab terrorism is a natural reaction to Israeli actions. Which is exactly what Islamic Jihad says.

Because not once does he condemn the actual terror groups themselves for their own actions. Not once.

Walt's piece proves beyond any doubt that the left does not have any empathy for the Fogels, and not the least desire to consider them human beings. Their murders are, to Walt and his "blame Israel" compatriots, nothing more than a prop to hang another excuse to bash Israel.

(h/t YM)

Israel details some PA incitement to terror

While those of us who follow Palestinian Media Watch know about a lot of the incitement that comes out of PA media and actions, it is significant that Israel's Prime Minister's office is releasing this information:

Incitement against Israel, which frequently turns into genuine anti-Semitic incitement, is an inseparable part of the fabric of life in the Palestinian Authority. Thus, anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic messages are regularly heard in both the private and official media and in mosque sermons, and are studied in school textbooks.

Terrorists are given an honored status and become models for emulation in Palestinian society, both in the media and via ceremonies held by insitutions affiliated with the PA. Institutionalized and systematic incitement against Israel has never ceased in the PA,even during the height of the diplomatic process in the 1990s. Examples from Recent Months
On 9.3.11, Abu Mazen's advisor Sabri Saidam, delivered a speech in which he emphasized that Palestinian weapons must be turned towards Israel. He demanded that the Palestinian people be attentive to the living conditions of martyrs' families and said that the anniversary of the death of Dalal Mughrabi (one of the perpetrators of 1978 coastal highway massacre) should be marked by inaugurating a square in her name in the city of El-Bireh. On 6.3.11, the PA's official newspaper, Al Hayat Al-Jadida, published an item to the effect that the management of a youth club in Ramallah planned to hold a soccer tournament in memory of Wafa Idris, a suicide bomber.
On 9.2.11, the official Palestinian television station broadcast a clip from a campaign entitled "Women as Exemplars", during which Dalal Mughrabi (see above) was extolled. In the summer of 2010, several children's summer camps were named after her.
On 24.1.11, the Governor of Jenin issued a Presidential Grant worth $2,000 to the family of Palestinian terrorist, Khaldoun Samoudi, who was killed while trying to detonate two bombs against IDF soldiers at the Beka'ot Crossing.
On 2.1.11, Al Hayat Al-Jadida reported that Azzam Al-Ahmed, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, attended a gathering on the 46th anniversary of the establishment of Fatah, held in the village of Turah, south-west of Jenin, during which models of settlement buildings were blown up. He reviewed terrorist attacks that had been perpetrated by Fatah and said that, " Fatah is a mass movement which believed in popular revolution and wrested its right to use all means of resistance in order to achieve its aim."
On 30.12.10, Al Hayat Al-Jadida reported that Israel aspired to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to build the Third Temple on its ruins.
On 26.10.10, Palestinian television broadcast a documentary about the work of Palestinian medical teams including a fictitious scene in which an Israeli soldier shoots a Palestinian in the head.
On 6.10.10, Al Hayat Al-Jadida carried an interview with Palestinian Minister Amr Aloul in which the latter said that Israel is, "An apartheid state that carries out state terrorism against the Palestinians.
On 10.9.10, official Palestinian television broadcast a short film in which it was said that Jewish prayer at the Western Wall is, "a sin and impurity."
On 21.6.10, official Palestinian television broadcast a children's program in which it was saoid that, "The Jews are our enemies," and that, "Israeli soldiers are wild animals."
On 28.5.10, official Palestinian television broadcast a report on the family of a Palestinian security prisoner, during which her nieces were interviewed and said that they wanted to bear arms against Israel.
The "History of the Arabs and the World in the 20th Century" 12th-grade textbook, used in the PA, teaches about World War II. It includes Nazi ideology but does not mention the Holocaust at all.
On 10.3.10, Al Hayat Al-Jadida reported that the Palestinian Authority had postponed the inauguration of the Dalal Mughrabi Square in Ramallah following an official Israeli protest. This did not prevent dozens of young people from unofficially dedicating the square.A spokesman for the Palestinian security services said that the dedication of the Square had been postponed, "for technical reasons and not at Israel's request." He added that, "Neither israel nor anyone else is capable of preventing us from being proud of our history." PA Minister of Culture Saham Al-Barghouti said that, "It is our right to honor our martyrs and name a street after the martyr Dalal Mughrabi on the anniversary of her martyrdom. It is the right of the Palestinian people. However, the Israelis' interference with this right indicates how the Israelis violate our rights."
On 27.12.09, official Palestinian television reported that President's Office Director-General Tayib Abd A-Rahim presented condolences, on behalf of PA Chairman Abu Mazen, to the families of the three terrorists who were killed by the IDF after murdering Rabbi Meir Avshalom Chai. He gave the families condolence telegrams from Abu Mazen and told them to acknowledge them as martyrs of the Palestinian revolution. He said, on Abu Mazen's behalf, that "The occupation authorities perpetrated an action that had been planned for some time and was the cold-blooded assassination of Fatah activists, which contravenes morality and the repeated, false claims about the apparent morality of the IDF. Without doubt, the occupation authorities perpetrated a wild and barbaric assassination, maliciously and in cold blood."

(h/t O)

Overnight mazel tov open thread

Well, Daughter of Ziyon got married Sunday, in what I can honestly and objectively say was a beautiful, lively wedding.

Still lots to do this week as the couple celebrates with family and friends. I also have hundreds of comments and emails to go through, so blogging will still be sporadic for the next day or two.

So here's an open thread, dedicated to the happy couple!

Extremists disrupt Riyadh International Book Fair

From Asharq al-Awsat, March 4:

Dozens of Saudi extremists descended on the Riyadh International Book Fair late Wednesday night denouncing the sale of books "contrary to Islam," witnesses said.

Turki al-Shalil, a spokesman for the powerful Saudi religious police, told reporters that his men were not involved in the incident.

According to one witness, dozens of bearded young men entered the venue in the capital as the Saudi information minister, Abdel Aziz Khoja, was touring the fair on the first day it was open to the public.

They asked Khoja "how he could allow such a fair," and said that certain books on display were the work "of infidels who would go to hell," the witness said.

Another witness said that the men went around the fair harassing women, a number of whom then departed, and also prevented a female television presenter from doing her job.