Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, July 29, 2011

A honor massacre in Pakistan: Father kills six daughters

From the Express Tribune (Pakistan):

A man gunned down six of his daughters on suspicion that two of them were in relationships with boys in the neighbourhood.

On Tuesday morning, Arif Mubashir called his teenage daughters to his room and shot them while the rest of the family, including their mother, watched. His wife Musarrat called the police after the incident.

Mubashir shot the girls after their brother said two of them were in a relationship. He told police officials that he had killed his daughters because they were both “without honour”. The man said his daughters Sameena, 14, and Razia, 16, were in a relationship with college boys from the neighbourhood and the sisters had helped each other. “I should have been told immediately but the girls sided with each other. They were both corrupt,” Mubashir told Tandlianwala Police Inspector Javed Sial.

Police officials have taken Mubashir into custody and filed a case against him. “He does not regret what he did. He boasted that he would do it all over again if he had to,” Sial told reporters.

And if the mother would have objected to the murders, there would be seven victims.

(h/t jzaik)

In Hamas, doesn't take much to reach martyrdom

The headline of the Hamas Al Qassam Brigades website laments the death of Nabil Zaig, 41, who was a part of the terror group since its inception in 1987 (which would have made him 17 at the time.)

The article calls him a "military martyr."

But how did he die?

He drowned, after going for a midnight swim.

Becoming a martyr ain't what it used to be.

Are there a "million missing Israelis"?

A few weeks ago, in Foreign Policy, an article by Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin claimed that there are a million Israelis - about one if five - who moved away from Israel and are living abroad. This caused a bit of a hullaboo, and even prompted Tony Karon of Time to use that statistic as a springboard to claim that not only is Israel not the Jewish state, but even Israelis are disillusioned with it.

Well, it turns out that the authors' statistics were misleading, and in some ways incorrect.

Yogev Karasenty and Shmuel Rosner respond to the article, also in FP:

We should start with this simple statement: There are not a "million missing Israelis." A study conducted under the auspices of our think tank, the Jewish People Policy Institute -- one that has not yet been released but will be published in a couple of weeks -- will put the real number of "missing" Israelis at a much lower number. According to Israel's Bureau of Statistics, since the establishment of the state up until the end of 2008, 674,000 Israelis left the country and did not return after more than a year abroad. An unknown number, estimated to be between 102,000 and 131,000, have died since, putting the number of living Israelis abroad at the end of 2008 at 543,000 to 572,000.

It goes on from there, including the fact that many of the "yordim" were Soviet Jews who were in Israel only a short time on their way to the US. And 100,000 others are Arabs.

Which makes the truth a bit less scary than the original story claimed.

Read the whole thing.

A Twitter conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg

There was an interesting Twitter discussion today between Israel's deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon and well-known writer Jeffrey Goldberg.

Ayalon had posted a popular YouTube video about the West Bank, and Goldberg wrote an article belittling it. Ayalon and Goldberg then went to Twitter to continue their argument.

It was so popular that no less than two articles have already been written about the thread, each drawing different conclusions.

I jumped in at something Goldberg wrote to Ayalon:

Keeping the WB will bring about the end of Israel as we know it.

The thread after that:

elderofziyon says:
@Goldberg3000 "Keeping the WB will bring about the end of Israel as we know it" This is an all-or-nothing fallacy. http://j.mp/q4FMIq

Goldberg3000 says:
@elderofziyon why?

elderofziyon says:
@Goldberg3000 Read the link. If Israel keeps Area C (for example) and the Pals declare state in A&B then demographic threat gone.

Goldberg3000 says:
@elderofziyon And endless war ensues. If you were Palestinian, would you accept less than 100 percent of West Bank, including land swaps?

elderofziyon says:
@Goldberg3000 If the point is independence, yes. But that isn't the point, is it? Remember Herzog's famous "size of a tablecloth" quote.
@Goldberg3000 And given the importance given to "right of return," why wouldn't endless war ensue even with 100%?

Goldberg3000 says:
@elderofziyon It very well might. I've never said there are great options on the table

elderofziyon says:
@Goldberg3000 Thanks.. Which is why to my mind the pressure should be on compromise so Israel has security and Pals have a state.

Goldberg3000 says:
@elderofziyon I believe, however, that Israel will become a pariah if the Palestinians aren't granted statehood, or the vote in Israel.

elderofziyon says:
@Goldberg3000 That is an issue, but one that probably can't be discussed effectively here. Goodwill towards Israel usually lasts a month.

I left it at that, for now.

Meanwhile, Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe jumped in:

Jeff_Jacoby:
@Goldberg3000 @elderofziyon And after Pal statehood or voting rights, there'll be 6 new demands Israel must fulfill or "become a pariah."
@Goldberg3000 @elderofziyon Left-wing Zionism would be healthier if it weren't so hungry for the goodwill of Israel's foes & critics.

Goldberg3000:
@Jeff_Jacoby @elderofziyon Why do you instantly assume left-wing Zionists are left-wing because they seek approval from Israel's enemies?

Jeff_Jacoby:
@Goldberg3000 @elderofziyon I assume nothing. But left-wing Zionists do evince a strange need to win their (non-Jewish) enemies' approval.

Goldberg3000:
Examples, please.

That thread is continuing as I write this, but it is not an avenue that I think is too fruitful. The fear of Israel becoming a pariah state is an important topic, though, and one that I would like to treat fairly - which means, not on Twitter.

As soon as I find the time.

Jordanian journalist union upset at "normalization"

Shimon Peres' office released a statement on Tuesday:

President Peres during a Special Press Conference with the Arabic Language media in honor of Ramadan: “Assad Must Go; I Admire the Very Brave Syrian Protesters”

President Shimon Peres held a special press conference today for members of the Arabic language media at Beit HaNassi in Jerusalem in honor of the upcoming month of Ramadan. The President delivered a message of peace and reconciliation during his remarks. More than 30 journalists and television crews participated in the event and represented Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabi, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the local Arabic language press in Israel.

The President discussed the regional situation, peace process, Iranian
nuclear issue, and Israel’s relations with the Arab world before answering
questions from the journalists.

This has upset the Jordanian Journalists' Union. They are now investigating which reporters from Jordan committed the perceived crime of meeting the president of Israel.

The journalists union is against any contacts with any Israelis, which is a strange position for journalists to take.

They are now in the process of verifying the authenticity of the news, and trying to identify the Jordanian reporter or reporters who attended, so they can expel them from the union. They said that "the committee will not hesitate to take a decisive stand against those wishing to exit the national consensus of rejecting any form of normalization with the Zionist entity."

Great new video on Palestinian refugees

From Free Middle East:

"Ethical" Lush Cosmetics refuses to open Israeli store, but Saudi Arabia is OK

From TheJC:

Skincare company Lush says concerns about the lack of a "mixed" workforce would prevent it opening a store in Israel - but it operates stores in Saudi Arabia.

And this week the company, which has just opened a new store in Brent Cross, north-west London, defended its decision to promote a pro-Palestinian song on its website.

Customers have been challenging staff in the Lush store in Brent Cross, about the company's support for Oneworld's single "Freedom for Palestine". The head office has received 223 emails to date on the issue.

On the Lush website, under "Our Ethical Campaigns" it says: "The catastrophe facing the Palestinian people is one of the defining global justice issues of our time."

Hilary Jones, the company's ethics director, admitted that Lush had been approached by the charity War on Want about putting the single online, but said it had not donated to the cause.

She said: "It was an easy decision. We trade with the region and forge links on both sides of the community. We buy olive oil from a Jewish-Arab project.

"But we don't feel it's a safe environment to have a store. Would we want a shop where we couldn't have a mix? We have a multicultural attitude to everything we do; we want everyone in the country where we are trading to be on an equal footing as far as basic human rights go. Some of the team would have to come through checkpoints and be treated differently on their way to work – that would be our worry."

I hadn't heard about those checkpoints that distinguish between Israeli Arabs and Jews in Israel. You can learn a lot from an ethics director!

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the fact that Saudi women are not allowed to even drive to the 2 Lush locations in Riyadh does not pose an ethical dilemma for this well-read director of ethics.

I think it might be time to drop a line to the Saudi Arabian Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the infamous religious police known as the Muttawa. After all, can they actually allow this product to be sold in their stores?

It seems to be more offensive than Valentine's Day roses!

Egypt hosts terror convention with Hamas, Hezbollah, more

From the ITIC:

On July 24-25 Egypt hosted a conference called the "Founding Conference of the Arab-Islamic Gathering to Support the Option of Resistance" [i.e., terrorism] to support the so-called "resistance" (i.e., terrorism and violence). It was held at the Egyptian Press Syndicate in Cairo. The Palestinian media reported that the conference was attended by representatives from 14 Islamic countries, among them Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Morocco, Sudan and Jordan. Also present were representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood and other Egyptian political establishment elements. In addition, there were representatives from Hezbollah, and Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations. The Hezbollah representative gave a speech in the name of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (Qudspress and Ma'an News Agency, July 24, 2011).

The conference attendees attempted to establish a link between the so-called "resistance" (i.e., the path of terrorism) and the popular protests in the Arab countries in recent months, stressing that the "resistance" was the only option for "liberating" Palestine. Osama Hamdan, responsible for Hamas' international relations, said in a speech that "the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict will never end unless Israel ceased to exist," and that Hamas would never recognize Israel (Al-Quds TV, July 24, 2011).

Syrian stats: 1,634 dead, 12,617 in jail, 2,918 missing

From AFP/NOW Lebanon:

Almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the start of anti-regime protests more than four months ago, the Avaaz non-governmental organization said in a statement on Thursday.

"Avaaz has today revealed the identities of 2,918 Syrians who have been arrested by Syrian security forces and whose whereabouts are now unknown," the organization said in statement received by AFP in Nicosia.

It said it was launching a campaign Thursday "to call for the release of the nearly 3,000 Syrians who have been forcibly 'disappeared' since the peaceful uprising began on March 15th of this year."

"The in-depth survey conducted by Avaaz estimates that one person is disappearing every hour.”

"In the past week alone there have been more than 1,000 arrests and the number of enforced disappearances has been rapidly rising on a daily basis, as the regime steps up its efforts to repress dissent in the build-up to Ramadan," the statement said.

According to the organization’s executive director, Ricken Patel, "hour by hour, peaceful protesters are plucked from crowds by Syria's infamously brutal security forces, never to be seen again."

Avaaz said 1,634 people have died in the crackdown, 26,000 have been arrested, of whom 12,617 are still in detention.

Others put the death toll at closer to 2,000.

Things might get more heated during Ramadan, which starts next week. From Bloomberg:

Activists, analysts and Syrian refugees say the uprising is set to intensify during the Muslim holy month. Opposition groups plan to shift from weekly rallies to nightly ones, held after the tarawih, an additional nighttime prayer recited during Ramadan, said Bashar Afandi and Mohammed al-Klesse, who fled Assad’s crackdown on northern Syria and are staying in Turkish camps.

“The mosques will play a pivotal role and every night, when people gather to pray, will resemble what we have seen after every Friday prayers,” said Mahmoud Merhi, of the Arab Organization for Human Rights. A surge in arrests in the past two weeks is probably aimed at heading off the momentum that Ramadan may give to protesters, he said by phone from Damascus.

Soccer team complains over Malaysian anti-semitic abuse

From the BBC:

Chelsea have complained to the Malaysian FA about what they believe was racist abuse directed at Yossi Benayoun during last week's friendly.

The 31-year-old Israeli was jeered each time he touched the ball in a match against a Malaysian XI on 21 July.

Chelsea said: "We believe Yossi was subjected to anti-semitic abuse by a number of supporters at the game.

"Such behaviour is offensive, totally unacceptable and has no place in football," added a club statement.

Agency reports from the match in Kuala Lumpur said the abuse directed at Benayoun - one of the few Israelis to have played in Malaysia, a country which does not recognise Israel - was anti-semitic.

Here is a description of the game by a fan:

I WENT to Bukit Jalil to watch football: A classy EPL football team against a spirited Malaysia team.

Although the match lived up to my expectation, I was shocked at the way Malaysian football fans treated Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun. Not just one or two fans but a vast majority of them!

It’s another black eye for Malaysia. Reports around the world stated “Benayoun Suffers Racial Abuse from Malaysian Fans” (Sky News).

We, in Malaysia, always pride ouselves on racial equality. Then, of all places, a friendly football match, Malaysians reared their ugly side and jeered a class footballer like Benayoun. I am ashamed.

Although I do not support Israel, I support football. I came to watch football.

Benayoun should be applauded for his courageous decision to travel to Malaysia.

EPL and Fifa (and other sporting bodies) would definitely think twice now about sending teams to Malaysia.

Malaysians, we not only lost to Chelsea FC last night, we also lost respect as well.

(h/t aparatchik)

Another "moderate" saying he wants to destroy the Jewish state

MEMRI released this interview with Nabil Sha'ath, a Fatah leader:

Nabil Shaath: The recognition of a [Palestinian] state is basically a bilateral action, which receives the blessing of the UN. This act, however, will make many things possible in the future. Eventually, we will be able to sign bilateral agreements with states, and this will enable us to exert pressure on Israel. At the end of the day, we want to exert pressure on Israel, in order to force it to recognize us and to leave our country. This is our long-term goal.
...

[The French initiative] reshaped the issue of the "Jewish state" into a formula that is also unacceptable to us – two states for two peoples. They can describe Israel itself as a state for two peoples, but we will be a state for one people. The story of "two states for two peoples" means that there will be a Jewish people over there and a Palestinian people here. We will never accept this – not as part of the French initiative and not as part of the American initiative. We will not sacrifice the 1.5 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship who live within the 1948 borders, and we will never agree to a clause preventing the Palestinian refugees from returning to their country. We will not accept this, whether the initiative is French, American, or Czechoslovakian.

Barry Rubin notes:

Supposedly, [Shaath] is the archetypal Palestinian moderate. There was a time when the Western media ridiculed the Israeli declaration that he was a secret Fatah member. When Israel agreed to negotiate with non-PLO Palestinians, the PLO put his name forward although it knew, of course, that he was no such thing. Peace processors ridiculed Israel’s refusal to accept him....It is reasonable to call Shaath as moderate as anyone in the PA’s leadership, more moderate than the Fatah leadership.

...In other words, Shaath, one of the most important and relatively moderate Palestinian Authority leaders, is against a two-state solution. First, there will be a Palestinian state “for one people,” that is an Arab, Muslim state. But there can be no recognition of Israel as a Jewish state because that implies a permanent peace. Shaath and the Palestinian leadership almost unanimously seek a second stage in which the “Palestinians with Israeli citizenship” plus the “returning…to their country” of Palestinian refugees will turn Israel into an Arab Muslim Palestinian part of Palestine.

This is merely a restatement of the “two-stage” solution of the PLO adopted forty years ago.

Also, note that Sha'ath is saying - by his own definition of what "a state for its people" means - that Jews will never be allowed to live in "Palestine!"

He is saying that Israel is racist because he misunderstands what a "state of the Jewish people" means - but he has no problem saying, explicitly, that "Palestine" will be a state of one people, which by his own definition means zero non-Palestinian Arabs living there.

Which sounds suspiciously like he is advocating ethnic cleansing and apartheid.

Jordan upset over Israel's opening Christian site on the river

From AP, July 12:

QASR EL-YAHUD, West Bank (AP) — Israel opened the traditional baptism site of Jesus to daily visits Tuesday, a move that required the cooperation of Israel's military and the removal of nearby mines in the West Bank along the border with Jordan.

The location, where many believe John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the waters of the Jordan River, is one of the most important sites in Christianity.

Until now, it was opened several times a year in coordination with the Israeli military, but because of its sensitive location, it had not been regularly open to the public since Israel captured the site from Jordan, along with the rest of the West Bank, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Jordan maintains that its site on the other side of the river is the actual place were Jesus was baptized, competing for Christian tourism.

So Jordan is complaining to the Vatican.

In a statement, Jordanian officials said that Israel's move was meant to provoke Jordan, that Israel has no right to open up the site in an area that is "occupied," and that a Vatican official has already said that the site was on the Jordanian side.

Hamas considering more kidnappings, says "Israel isn't in our dictionary"

Hamas's head of international relations, Osama Hamdan, has restated the official Hamas positions that the Western media loves to downplay.

Hamdan issued a press release where we learn these wonderful things:

Hamas does not rule out kidnapping more Israelis in order to better its bargaining position in a prisoner swap.
"Resistance will continue, God willing, in order to liberate the land of Palestine from the [river to the] sea."
Palestine has entered a fierce battle with Israel on two fronts. The first front is resistance against the occupation [i.e., Israel] continuing until its termination, and the second to preserve the unity of the Palestinian people.
Resistance will humiliate the Zionist enemy and liberate the land.
"We have made clear we will not recognize the occupation, and today I say more than that: There is no Israel in our political dictionary."

As usual, Western pundits will ignore and downplay any statements like these, while trumpeting vague statements by Hamas that could be badly misinterpreted as meaning that it is willing to accept Israel's existence.

Your tax dollars at work - for terrorists

I quoted Ma'an in March 2009:

An extra 800 shekels (190 US dollars) will be added to the stipend’s given to Palestinians in Israeli prisons this month, Head of Palestinian Prisoner Society in Nablus Ra’ed Amer confirmed on Tuesday.

Each prisoner receives 1000 shekels (238 US dollars) per month, plus an extra 300 shekels (71 US dollars) if they are married, and an extra 50 shekels (12 US dollars) for each child. The stipend is paid by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) each month.

There are currently 4,500 men and women registered as prisoners in Israeli prisons. The increase will be applied to February’s payment, set to go through banks this week.

Amer explained that the increase was made following the instructions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

And noted then:

Yes, every terrorist in an Israeli jail - people who drove suicide bombers to blow up women and children, people who ordered "martyrdom operations," people who attacked any Jew they could find - gets thousands of dollars annually from the cash-strapped PA, which of course gets its money from successful donors conferences like yesterday's. Every year they get about $16 million, assuming an average of $300 per prisoner per month. And in February alone, they get an additional $855,000.

This is money only for living terrorists. It does not count the stipend that the families of suicide bombers and other "martyrs" get in perpetuity, which together with the prisoner money was estimated in 2005 at being up to $100 million annually.

Palestinian Media Watch had just issued a report detailing this issue, and their head met with members of Congress to describe how US tax dollars are going to terrorists.

The Palestinian Authority spends more than $5 million a month paying salaries to terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons, according to a Palestinian Media Watch report presented to congressmen in Washington on Tuesday.

According to the report, written by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, such payments contravene US law, which prohibits funding of any person who “engages in, or has engaged in terrorist activity.

“The US funds the PA’s general budget,” the document reads. “Through the PA budget the US is paying the salaries of terrorist murderers in prison and funding the glorification and role modeling of terrorists.”

Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, met with Republican lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss the report, amid efforts to get US congressmen – on the eve of the Palestinian move to gain statehood recognition at the UN in September – to cut US funds to the PA, not because of the Hamas and Fatah reconciliation, but because of the PA’s support and glorification of terrorists.

According to the report, “A law signed and published in the official Palestinian Authority Registry in April 2011 puts all Palestinians and Israeli Arabs imprisoned in Israel for terror crimes on the PA payroll to receive a monthly salary from the PA.”

The report says this law “formalizes what has long been a PA practice.”

Those eligible for the payments, according to the report, are “anyone imprisoned in the occupation’s [Israel’s] prisons as a result of his participation in the struggle against the occupation.”

Quoting from Al-Hayat al- Jadida, an official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, the report said that more than 5,500 Palestinian prisoners receive these funds.

Palestinian car thieves in Israeli prisons will not receive a salary, but every terrorist in prison including murderers are on the PA payroll, the report said, adding that “the salary goes directly to the terrorist or the terrorist’s family.”

That last paragraph shows that the PA is not supporting prisoners - but terrorists.

The $5 million a month does not seem to include the additional special "life insurance" paid to families of suicide bombers and other dead terrorists.

If you are looking for a silver lining to this story, I am told that when PA workers were given only half their salaries earlier this month because of the wannabe state's severe cash crisis, the salaries for the terrorists were halved as well. So you should only be half as angry - this month.

Avian Open Thread

Here's how birds play their version of King of the Hill:

Speaking of tweeters, the Disqus comment system has added a new feature that seems cool if a bit buggy. If you type in an @ with a Twitter name in a comment, it will automatically tweet that person with the URL of the comment thread. (I have found it doesn't work great in Chrome; seemed OK in Firefox.)

I couldn't figure out why my most popular post of the day was the one about how to find images on the web. Maybe I need to turn this into a tech blog!

Anyway, here's an open thread to keep you guys busy overnight.

And if you want some links, check out Barry Rubin and Now Lebanon.

I am rooting for Iran to win a medal in the London 2012 Olympics

Remember in February and March when Iran complained that the London 2012 Olympics logo really spelled "Zion"? Here's how they broke that insidious Zionist code, in case you forgot:

Well, they now have a quandary.

Because the medals were revealed today, and they have that same super-evil-Illiminati-Freemason-Zionist symbol!

Iran has won medals in the last five summer Olympic games (weightlifting, wrestling and Taekwondo) so chances are one or more Iranians will be handed the hated symbol.

Will Iran ban its athletes from winning medals? Will they confiscate winning medals and melt them down, donating the proceeds to Hamas? Will they pretend that they didn't spend an entire month whining about the symbolism and grit their teeth if they win?

I'm now rooting for Iran to win third place in some obscure sport, just to see how they deal with this. No matter how they handle it, it will be funny.

Then again, there is a simple solution for Iranian athletes: Only enter competitions where Israel is also competing, and then they can come down with mysterious fictonal illnesses, forfeit the competition and not have to worry about winning!

You can still order the EoZ exclusive London Zionist Games T-Shirts! I already sold a bunch, and they'll be worth a fortune when the summer of 2012 comes around!

PalArab politicians really are crybabies

Many have noted that the actions of the Palestinian Authority often resembles that of a spoiled child, throwing a tantrum because he does not get his way. I even wrote about it in 2006, an article that applies today (except for my underestimating Hezbollah's ability to take over Lebanon.) And while in that year, read this great piece from Treppenwitz.

Mahmoud Abbas has made a career of saying that if he doesn't get his way, he'll take the ball home so no one can play. He has threatened to resign over a dozen times in order to make his puerile point.

Whining, blaming, threatening, refusing to play by the rules - yes, there is a lot that 3-year olds have in common with Palestinian Arab politicians.

And now, we can add one more example, one that is literal: Crying.

A routine Security Council debate on the Middle East and Palestine became Israel's and the Palestinian Authority's dress rehearsal for September's General Assembly conference where the Palestinians will seek UN recognition.

Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour called on the UN to recognize a Palestinian state. It's time to end the occupation, he said before bursting into tears.

Aw, isn't life in Ramallah so vewy vewy hawd that it forces grown diplomats to tears? Must be. The delegates from the Congo might be able to hold it together, but their people's challenges are nothing compared to the lives of Arabs in Ramallah, where they sometimes have to choose which restaurant to go to and, increasingly rarely, they are forced to wait in airport-style lines at checkpoints.

The infantilization of the Palestinian Arabs is no longer symbolic.

(h/t Missing Peace)

Meanwhile, in Syria...

From AFP/Now Lebanon:

Syrian security forces shot dead at least 11 people, including a child aged seven, in a "vengeance" raid on the town of Kanaker near Damascus early Wednesday, a human rights activist said.

"The security forces entered homes at dawn on Wednesday and during the operation 11 people were shot dead and more than 250 arrested," said Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights, reached by telephone from Nicosia.

He said the operation in Kanaker, a town of 25,000 people, was backed by "a bulldozer and army tanks" and targeted people aged between 15 and 40.

According to Qurabi, the raid was an "act of vengeance" because inhabitants had supplied provisions to anti-regime protesters in the southern city of Daraa, the main hub of protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Assad may be betting that if a dozen or so people are killed every day, it will no longer remain news.

And he may be right. This story is not exactly on the front pages.

Get your very own pair of anti-Zionist "occupation" glasses!

One of the more interesting themes I have noticed among the twitterati of the anti-Israel left is that, no matter what the news story is, they have to relate it to "occupation."

People in Tel Aviv protesting high housing costs? Why aren't they mentioning the "occupation"?

A new publicity initiative from the Foreign Ministry? Well, it is propaganda because it doesn't talk about "occupation!"

Another group making videos about Israel that make Israels look like normal human beings? Feh! The country is defined by "occupation!"

So for those of you who are jealous of people whose worldview can be simplified to a single word, I have the solution for you:

Occupation glasses!

Any time you look at a map of Israel, or photos of Israelis helping out poor people in Africa or victims of disasters, or the latest numbers at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, or a live performance of the Israel Philharmonic simulcast at movie theatres across the US tomorrow night, or a potential better alternative to mammography for women made by Israelis - just put these on, and all will make sense again.

Sure, it is a little difficult to discern reality when you are wearing these, but that isn't the point. Constantly reminding people how evil Israel is - now, there's a cause these guys can get behind!

A Gaza resort gets torched

Here is the Paris Gardens Resort - in Gaza:

Unlike many of the Gaza resorts we have highlighted in the past, this one is unpretentious and fairly small. It looks like the type of place for ordinary Gazans to hang out without spending too much money.

It was destroyed this morning:

Assailants burned a Gaza resort at dawn Wednesday, the manager said.

Imad Al-Wazeer told Ma'an a group of 30 armed and masked men arrived at the Rais resort in Gaza and threatened employees.

The resort was damaged in Israel's Operation Cast Lead but Al-Wazeer says he reopened the facility in order to show Israel that the people of Gaza would live their lives in spite of the attack.

"This time, unfortunately, my resort was damaged by Palestinian hands," he said.

The resort cost some $120,000 to establish and has swimming pools, restaurants and other facilities. After the attack, however, 13 employees have lost their jobs, Al-Wazeer says.

He held the police in Gaza responsible for the attack, saying they should provide security.

The Al Mezan Center adds that the armed mob tied up the guard, burned down four kitchens in the resort, trashed rooms, burned and smashed tables for about an hour and a half. One guard who escaped called police but they didn't arrive until over an hour later after the arsonists had left. The masked men had earlier warned the owners of the resort.

Previous similar attacks were done in the name of morality; presumably women swam at this resort, or maybe men and women ate together.

While this may be true, I think that this really happened because of the occupation, which has replaced Satan as the ultimate source for all evil on the planet.

Hezbollah threatens belly dancer for appearing with Israelis

From Israel HaYom:

A Lebanese belly dancer is facing death threats and cannot return to her homeland after embracing an Israeli musician at an international festival in France.

On June 19, Israeli heavy metal band Orphaned Land performed alongside Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhri at the Hellfest music festival in the western French town of Clisson. At the end of their performance, the Lebanese dancer held up her country’s flag while Orphaned Land's singer, Kobi Fahri, held up an Israeli flag. The two then hugged and clasped each other's hands.

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war and it is illegal under Lebanese law for any citizen to have public interactions with an Israeli. Media outlets around the world carried the image of Fakhri and Fahri brandishing their national flags, prompting a seething Hezbollah to declare Fakhri a traitor and issue a death warrant for her. The dancer has since been hiding out in France, fearing for her life if she returns to her homeland.

The threats against Fakhri have now spread from Lebanon. Last week, the French Muslim party PMF, which is closely tied to Hezbollah, carried a quote from Hezbollah on its website, declaring Fakhri “a traitor who collaborates with the Zionist enemy.”

In response, Fakhri released a statement calling her appearance with Fahri an act of peace.

Here's the performance:

That is not the limit of anti-Israel nuttiness, however. Dr. Azzaf Eshrat, an MD writing in the crazy-left Salem News, says that this entire show was orchestrated by the Israeli government in order to distract attention from the flotilla! (He also claims that Orphaned Land stole their song from an Egyptian pop song. And that there is no archaeological evidence that Jews ever lived in Israel.)

Which just goes to show that upper class Egyptians are not necessarily more sane than crazed Hezbollah terrorists.

A praying girl, and a quick lesson in photo research

Yisrael Medad, in My Right Word, noticed something interesting in a photo illustrating a Daily Mail story.

The story is titled "Christian girls who go to church are 'more tolerant of other faiths than their peers'" . Here is the photo that illustrates the story:

Yisrael noted that the girl looks quite Jewish, and she even looks like she is a Jewish resident of Yesha - a "settler." Which would be an interesting choice to illustrate a story about Christian girls!

So I found the original image, showing he was right:

The tool I used, and have used often for situations like this where I want to find an original photograph, is TinEye. It can find identical photographs (even if they are cropped, as here.)

Another good tool for researching photographs are Google Image Search, which now allow you to upload photos to find ones that are similar (but the results are often quite wrong, sometimes hilariously so.) Tineye finds results more accurately but it doesn't have the massive index of photos that Google has. (For example, I could not find the original Reuters photo, assuming that the Daily Mail caption is accurate.)

An essential way to research photographs is viewing the EXIF information on the photo, and the easiest on-line method is Jeffrey's EXIF Viewer. The information shown there can indicate if the photo was edited, when the picture was taken, and sometimes (especially with wire service photos) it will show the original caption and name of photographer actually embedded in the photo. Using this you can often see when news media uses old photos, for example, or identify edits. You do have to be careful with the EXIF information because sometimes cameras have not had their clocks set properly.

These tools can sometimes help create real news stories, especially in the area of media bias.

Time's Tony Karon relieved Breivik hates anti-Zionist Jews like him

Time magazine's Tony Karon looks at Anders Breivik's manifesto, and is happy that he isn't one of those Jews who Breivik admires:

Clearly, though, Breivik confines his philo-Semitism to Zionists, who he sees as fellow conservative nationalists in the war against Islam. As for the rest, adherents of multiculturalism, their fate should be the same as any other "traitors" to his Judeo-Christian Crusade.

"Never target a jew because he is a Jew," Breivik writes, "but rather because he is a ... traitor."

So Breivik doesn't hate all Jews. But he certainly hates most of us:

"So, are the current Jews in Europe and US disloyal? The multiculturalist (nation-wrecking) Jews ARE while the conservative Jews ARE NOT. Aprox. 75% of European/US Jews support multiculturalism while aprox. 50% of Israeli Jews does the same. This shows very clearly that we must embrace the remaining loyal Jews as brothers rather than repeating the mistake of the [Nazis]."

Of course, many right-wing Jews, while abhorring the terrorist violence used by the Breivik, nonetheless share his aversion to Islam and to multiculturalism....And some Zionist conservatives, while unreservedly condemning Breivik's action, were also concerned to prevent it from obscuring an underlying message they support....

Breivik and Bin Laden may seem like polar opposites, but in the end they're reading off the same "clash of cultures" script. It's a script in which, Breivik acknowledges, the majority of Jews -- and of Europeans -- want no part.

And conservative, Zionist Jews, Karon implies, share the same hateful ideology that Breivik and Bin Laden espouse.

This is a transparent attempt by Karon to paint Zionist Jews with the same brush as a mass murderer, and it is disgusting.

Karon of course is not alone - plenty of people are trying mightily to place Breivik among their enemies so they can feel better about themselves - but this is a particularly sickening essay that is meant to distinguish between the "good" anti-Zionist Jews (like Karon, naturally) and the abhorrent Zionists.

Indeed, Breivik wants to see liberal Jews destroyed, and that is disgusting. But Karon wants to see conservative Jews destroyed.

And if there is a cause-and-effect between articles written by right-wing conservative Jews and the actions of a madman, as Karon falsely implies, then Karon has just written justification for the next terror attack targeting Israeli or Zionist Jewish interests by the next madman.

His essay is at least as inciting as those he disparages.

Iranian swimmer suffers from pre-emptive Jew-cooties

From AP:

The Iranian swimmer who withdrew from a heat featuring an Israeli at the world championships maintains the move was not political.

"My flight was exactly the day before my race, so I was so tired and drowsy. Because I had to wait for my visa," Mohammed Alirezaei told The Associated Press two days after not starting a 100-meter breaststroke heat including Gal Nevo of Israel.

Speaking after completing his 50 breaststroke heat Tuesday, Alirezaei added that he had "no problem" competing against Israeli athletes, saying he did so at junior worlds.

However, Alirezaei also pulled out of an event against another Israeli, Tom Beeri, in the 100 breaststroke at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee accepted the explanation then that he was ill.

Alirezaei said the fact that both withdrawals came against Israelis was merely a coincidence.

Asked about the latest withdrawal, IOC president Jacques Rogge told the AP on Monday: "I'm sure knowing the rules of FINA, the athletes will have to explain why and that most likely the athletes will have to come up with very good reasons."

Is it merely a coincidence that Alirezaei always feels ill before competing against Israelis?

Or is this proof that time itself is an construct, and Israeli athletes can retroactively make him sick by planning to be in the room with him the next day?

Or perhaps the Mossad, fearful of losing face against the superior Iranian athletes, work overtime to shoot their patented Joo-Rays to their enemies ahead of time?

All of these are plausible, especially to the rules committee members. What certainly cannot be true is that Alirezaei withdrew for political reasons.

As was reported in the Iranian media:

A member of the Iranian swimming team at the Shanghai FINA World Championships refused to contest a heat because of the presence of an Israeli athlete.

Mohammed Alirezaei refused to compete in the 100-meter breaststroke race at the world swimming contest. Gal Nevo of Israel had been due to swim in the same race.

Alirezaei had also pulled out of an event against another Israeli, Tom Beeri, in the 100-meter breaststroke race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Iranian athletes have on various occasions shown strong support for the oppressed Palestinians nation by withdrawing from matches and games where Israeli sportspeople are present as well.

Chairman of Iran's National Olympic Committee Mohammad Ali Abadi said in an interview last year that Iranian sports organizations follow the government's policy towards the 'Zionist regime (Israel) and boycott all competitions in which Israeli athletes are present.

Nah, that's just posturing. He really, really was sick.

Video - 10 Unknown West Bank facts

This cute video has been going around...

Hamas having problems paying salaries too

It is not only the PA that suffers from a cash crunch. From JPost:

Hamas also seems to be facing a financial crisis and, like the Palestinian Authority, has not been able to pay full salaries to its civil servants in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas legislator Yahya Musa called on the Hamas government to “be frank with the people and tell them the truth about the financial situation.”

Musa expressed concern over the Hamas government’s failure to pay full salaries to its employees for the last few months.

“If there’s a financial crisis, then the government should say so,” Musa said. “And if there isn’t a crisis, the government should quickly pay full salaries to all its workers.”

Sources in the Gaza Strip said that because of the financial crisis, the Hamas government has in recent months paid only half salaries to its employees.

Ismail Mahfouz, a senior official with the Hamas-run Ministry of Finance, denied that his government was facing a financial crisis. He said that the delay in paying the salaries was due to lack of cash in the hands of the government.

Here is the Arabic article that this seems to be based on.

Some NGOs in Gaza may suspend operations due to Hamas audit

From IRIN, July 19:

Various international NGOs working in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) have questioned a demand by the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip to audit their books, saying the move could jeorpardize vital operations.

“We have nothing to hide but obviously there are concerns about what other information they may want to look at or have access to, including beneficiary lists and contact details for staff, which are normally kept in HR folders,” said one aid agency employee who requested anonymity.

According to aid workers, the motives behind the audit are unclear, particularly as the suspension of several major agencies in Gaza would place greater humanitarian responsibility on the shoulders of the Hamas authorities.

Some suspect the demand could be a pre-emptive move by Hamas to begin collecting income tax from agency staff in Gaza. Currently, under a presidential decree from Ramallah, Gaza humanitarian staff do not pay income tax.

Aid workers also say agreeing to the request would break the “no contact” policy held by some NGOs funded by governments, including the US, that list Hamas as a “terrorist” organization.

Should a compromise fail to be reached by 25 July, when the audit of many offices is scheduled to take place, at least 18 aid agencies are preparing to suspend their activities in the Gaza Strip, cutting off more than US$135million per year in aid, well-placed sources told IRIN.

At least 80 international agencies operate in Gaza, but due to the sensitivity of the situation, few will publicly disclose whether they have agreed to the audit or not.

It is now past the deadline, but I have not heard anything.

(h/t DF)

Norway remains utterly, hopelessly clueless (updated)

From JTA:

Norway's ambassador to Israel drew distinctions between the Oslo and Utoeya massacres and Palestinian terrorism.

Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to "outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases."

While Sevje voiced sympathy for Israeli terror victims, having experienced "the inferno" of such attacks during his posting, he saw little chance of Norway reviewing its Middle East policies.

"We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel," he said. "Those who believe this will not change their mind because of the attack in Oslo."

I wonder, Mr. Sevje, does Hezbollah exist because of "occupation" as well? Because Israel isn't occupying any Lebanese territory, and yet Hezbollah still threatens Israel. Explicitly.

Does Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror exist because of the "occupation?" Because their leaders say that they are against the existence of Israel altogether. Explicitly.

Are Hamas rocket attacks against southern Israeli communities because of "occupation?" Because they accelerated after Israel evicted all Jewish families from the area. If "occupation" causes terror, wouldn't one expect the attacks to disappear when the occupation disappears?

Is Fatah's history of terror because of the "occupation?" Because Fatah was founded before 1967. And their logo still shows a map of "Palestine" that insists that Palestine is on both sides of the Green Line.

Was the terror attack against the AMIA in Argentina, an attack roughly as deadly as the ones in Oslo, because of "occupation?" Because it is hard to imagine how an attack thousands of miles away is related to that.

Are the Palestinian Arabs who chant at rallies "Palestine is our country, and Jews are our dogs" referring to the areas on the Jordanian side of the "Green Line"?

Was the Ghriba synagogue bombing in Tunisia in 2002 because of "occupation?" Because it was, you know, a synagogue.

Were the hundreds of attacks against Israel before 1967, before anyone ever heard of "occupation," because of "occupation"?

Do the Muslim students in Norway who routinely express admiration for Hitler because he killed Jews - documented in a 2010 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation report - say that because of the "occupation?"

Did an Iranian general, just recently, call to destroy Israel altogether because of his opposition to "occupation?"

As an ambassador, you must be a bright guy, so I'm certain you can explain exactly how "occupation" is the common thread that runs through all these examples. Please, enlighten us with your astounding Norwegian wisdom.

(h/t AB)

UPDATE: The ambassador has sent out a complaint to Ma'ariv, where the interview was first published:

I spoke to your journalist off the record with a clear condition that any quotes would be sent to me for my approval. The interview, however, was printed without me having been presented with the quotes. This goes against the journalistic norms that I am used to both from this country and other postings, and I do not find it acceptable.

Regarding the substance of the interview, there are several problems and inaccuracies in the text. The most important one is this: When asked whether the terror attack in Norway would change Norwegian perception of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I told your journalist that many Norwegians would see terror actions in Israel in the context of both the occupation and religious extremism, and that this would not change after what happened at Utoya.

I did not seek to convey any personal or governmental position regarding the motivation behind terror attacks against Israel, nor to compare terror attacks in Israel and Norway. The Norwegian position has always been, as rightly stated in your article, that terror, regardless of motivation, is unacceptable.

It does not sound like he is denying the quote, although he is changing "we Norwegians" to "many Norwegians." It would be interesting to see how Ma'ariv responds.

(h/t Naftali)

So what's the deal with the Lebanon/Israel maritime dispute?

Now Lebanon had a good article on the basics of what looks to become a major issue between Israel and Lebanon:

At issue now between Lebanon and Israel is where their maritime borders should be fixed. Along the coast, the countries more or less agree where the line should start, but out in the Mediterranean, there is serious bickering. Lebanon wants to use Point 23 (see graphic) as the border’s southern limit, whereas Israel wants to use Point 1, several kilometers north of Point 23.

Lebanon, however, finds itself in a bit of a quandary. In 2007, Lebanon inked a deal with Cyprus on their mutual maritime boundaries. In that agreement, which was never ratified by Lebanon’s parliament and is therefore not in force, the two countries decided that the southern limit of the maritime border should be Point 1.

Mohammad Kabbani, head of parliament’s Public Works and Energy Committee, told NOW Lebanon that using Point 1 was a mistake. The agreement with Cyprus, he said, was supposed to be written in a way that left Lebanon’s southern boundary open for negotiation. Lebanon’s parliament never ratified the agreement for fear of angering Turkey, which occupies part of Cyprus and does not think the Cypriot government has the right to be negotiating such deals.

With the Cyprus agreement shelved, in both July and October 2010, Lebanon sent maps and coordinates to the UN (in line with UNCLOS) stating that the southern limit of its EEZ is Point 23.

Kabbani dismissed the idea that Lebanon sought to use the “facts on the ground” created by Israeli licensing to set the border. He maintains that Point 23 is the proper point to use, and added that a group of experts are still working with Lebanese authorities to finalize the boundary. Kabbani said there is some talk of the border possibly being still further south of Point 23.

Israel, for its part, signed an agreement with Cyprus in December 2010 defining their undersea borders, using Point 1 as the northernmost limit of Israel’s EEZ. The countries ratified the agreement, and it went into force in February 2011. Lebanon soon cried foul, and in June 2011, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour sent a letter to the UN calling the Israel-Cyprus agreement into question.

Today Israel is holding fast to Point 1 as the basis of a border, pointing to Lebanon’s agreement with Cyprus.

Over at Qifa Nakbi's blog, he summarizes this and the comments are fascinating.

He drew this map showing the disputed area:

And a commenter found this similar map that was printed at Makor Rishon:

The disputed area is roughly 1000 square kilometers.

This map shows that the current areas of Israeli exploration, drilling and most of their known reserves are well within an undisputed Israeli zone.

Globes notes this the issue is being greatly exaggerated:

However, the entire story has been taken out of all proportion. Even if the UN were to adopt the Lebanese version of the maritime border, there would be no serious harm to Israel's exploration licenses in the region.

A professional Israeli source that examined the border route under contention said that it involved the northern extremes of the Alon and Ruth licenses, in the northern part of Israel's licenses region. As far as is known, in these areas there are several structures that might contain gas or oil, but these structures are relatively small, and are not top of the agenda of Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) and Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) who own the licenses.

The only fallout from moving the Israel Lebanon maritime border south would thus be in the Ruth and Alon gas and oil fields, if there are discoveries in these licenses, and if they spill over the border into Lebanon. If that is the case then development of these fields, which are far from the top of the agenda, would be delayed.

So is it a big deal? Lebanon sure is posturing as if it is. The Shi'ite speaker of Lebanon's parliament was quite aggressive:

Speaker Nabih Berri said in an interview with As-Safir newspaper published on Tuesday that those who oppose Hezbollah’s weapons should stand by it at this time, especially because of the oil exploration file that “is a priority to all Lebanese.”

“The value of oil reserves, which fluctuates between $200 billion and $300 billion, is enough to pay off the public debt and move Lebanon into a stage of economic and financial affluence,” he added.

One of the commenters at Nabki's blog wrote an article about this issue a year ago, and quotes himself:

As the above map shows, the Tamar1 find is within Israel’s territorial exclusive economic zone. That is not an issue. The real problem arises if the Lebanese can show that a natural gas/oil field spans the territorial boundaries of the two states. In that case what is the accepted international procedure for determining who gets what?

Interestingly enough and maybe even surprising to some, there is no single standard principle. There are two principles:

(1) The Right Of Capture principle says that each side is permitted to lift as much as it can on its side of the border. This principle is in effect all throughout the state of Texas but more importantly it is what governs the relationship between the US and Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico.

(2) Both sides of the dispute would resort to international arbitration.

Keeping in mind that Lebanon and Israel are in a state of war and given that the Israeli side has already started the exploration and the construction of the required infrastructure which of the above two principles is going to apply if Lebanon can demonstrate that there are natural resources that span the internationally recognized boundary? You have guessed it, The Right of Capture is most likely to be applied.

In other words, if Lebanon was smart, they would be trying to work with Israel to demarcate the borders, as they are way behind in exploration and construction.

If it wasn't for the fact that Lebanon is now politically and militarily controlled by a terrorist group, this could have been a way to actually forge a peace agreement between the two states. Imagine a Mediterranean natural gas equivalent to OPEC!

Alas.

UNIFIL troops attacked

From Naharnet:

Three French soldiers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were wounded on Tuesday in a blast targeting their vehicle in the southern coastal city of Sidon, Agence France Presse reported.

The blast took place at the southern entrance of the city, an army spokesman told AFP.

Only two days ago, the Lebanese Army pledged to protect UNIFIL forces:

Lebanese army commander General Jean Kahwaji warned that France and other countries that are part of UNIFIL have fears regarding their abilities to carry out their tasks in South Lebanon, and their desire to strengthen the Lebanese army’s role, the National News Agency reported on Sunday.

During a meeting held in his honor in France, Kahwaji added that the Lebanese army will confront any attempt to harm UNIFIL.

Of course, Hezbollah restricts what the LAF can do in southern Lebanon.

Since they have their own army.

That is not happy with UNIFIL.

(h/t T34)

Is J-Street aiding the PA in its September UN stunt?

From Aaron Klein at WorldNetDaily, July 13:

The left-wing Jewish lobby J Street has been aiding the Palestinian Authority in its bid to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state at the United Nations, according to PA officials speaking to WND.

The officials said J Street has been helping the PA to set up Capitol Hill meetings with mostly Democratic lawmakers in a search for diplomatic support for their U.N. statehood move. Israel strongly opposes the plan to unilaterally declare a state in September.

J Street did not return WND email and phone requests for comment.

Strangely, the J-Street site is silent on the matter. My request for them to clarify went unanswered.

However, in a fawning interview of Jeremy Ben Ami, Michael Omer-Man writes that J-Street opposes the unilateral statehood bid:

In addition to not involving itself in Israel’s internal politics, J Street also opposes outside pressure on the Jewish state to make peace. [!!!!! - EoZ] J Street, Ben-Ami said, also opposes the Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood in the United Nations this September. He described a scenario where Palestinians’ false expectations and ultimate let-down upon declaration of statehood could lead to renewed violence.

“We are not in favor of UN action, we’re trying to put it off,” he explained. “We’re trying to avoid [it] and we’re trying to advocate for the US to do things that will avoid [Palestinian statehood recognition] coming to a UN vote.”

That's not exactly a condemnation of the statehood bid - one that attempts to take the Temple Mount, Western Wall and the entire Old City out of Jewish hands. It sounds more like J-Street wants to fine-tune how and when the PLO should stake their claim.

But if we are to believe Jeremy Ben-Ami, the WND report is not true. I believe, however, that it is entirely possible that J-Street is consulting with the PLO on strategy, and that the PLO calls up J-Street to arrange meetings.

J-Street's official position on Jerusalem is that it should be negotiated - but J-Street does not advocate that it should be recognized today as Israel's capital.

(The worst part of the article was where Omer-Man claims, falsely, that J-Street's position is virtually identical to Kadima and Labor. It isn't, and the Palestine Papers show that Kadima was way to the right of J-Street.)

The news about the small golden bell, possibly from a tunic worn by a high priest during the Second Temple period that was discovered in the sewage tunnel near the City of David, has angered Palestinian Arabs as the wire services have picked it up.

Various Arabic media are noting the story by quoting a Silwan official as saying that this "underlines the efforts of the occupation and the extremist Jewish groups to falsify history and planting Jewish history forged in the region."

But I thought that biblical history is Palestinian history as well!

Hamas increasing control of tunnel trade

Palestine Today reports that Hamas security forces have been active today in the vicinity of the Rafah tunnels - and even filling some of them in.

Sources say that Hamas wants to limit the kinds of items allowed in, and to increase "quality control" of smuggled items. The main purpose seems to be for Hamas to ensure that all goods that are smuggled in are taxed properly, as they are putting fences up around the tunnel areas so they can inspect the contents of all trucks exiting the area.

Hamas claims there are no honor killings!

Reuters reports:

Most safe-houses in the Gaza Strip are meant to provide protection for armed militants on Israel's target list. Now Gaza is offering protected shelter to battered Palestinian women.

Its lone women's safe-house, opened two months ago, has had eight clients, all guarded by police from the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the enclave and enforces a conservative though not radical Muslim religious code.

So-called 'honour killings' are rare but not unknown among religious Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank, and like every society it is not immune to wife-beating.

"In 2010 there was no record of killing under the motive of family honor and this is a positive development," said Huda Naeem, a Hamas lawmaker who backed the safe house as a way station for women at risk within their own families.

And of course Reuters believes her.

Assuming she is only referring to Gaza "honor killings," I know of specific cases in April and July in Gaza. (There were many more in the West Bank.) And, as Reuters goes on to say later:

Sobheya Joma, a woman lawyer at the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), said there was no way to know for sure if honor killings were really eradicated.

"The ICHR is worried because it has recently noticed that some deaths were listed as unexplained or accidental," Joma told Reuters in her Gaza city office.

Reuters being Reuters, of course, they need to blame Israel for some of the women being beaten by their husbands in Gaza:

At one stage, women under risk were transferred to the other Palestinian Territory - the West Bank - where they could be kept safe from angry relatives.

But it is now virtually impossible for Gazans to get to the West Bank because of an Israeli blockade, which is vigorously imposed following repeated Hamas attacks on the Jewish state.

That awful Israeli policy allows Gaza husbands to beat their wives!

(h/t jzaik)

Hamas executes two "collaborators"

From Ma'an:

The government in the Gaza Strip announced Tuesday that two residents accused of collaborating with the Israeli occupation have been executed.

Hamas officials told Reuters the two men, a father and son, had confessed to providing intelligence that helped Israel track down Palestinians including Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was killed in a 2004 airstrike on his car.

One of the crimes they were convicted of is that they "weakened the morale and spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people."

PCHR notes:

[T]he ratification of death sentences is an exclusive power of the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) under the Code of Criminal Procedures (3) of 2001; the implementation of any death sentences without the President's ratification constitutes a violation of the law and constitution. PCHR stresses that the ratification of such sentences is necessary especially following signing the Palestinian reconciliation agreement in May 2011.

So this is not only Hamas' attempt to scare potential "collaborators." It is also a slap in the face of the "unity" agreement.

Hamas is telling Abbas, quite plainly, that they do not recognize his authority or position at all.

The last time Hamas executed a "collaborator" was only hours before the "unity" agreement was signed. This is the first time Hamas has openly ignored this PA law since the agreement.

Erekat's threats of the day

His lies are getting surreal:

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat vigorously condemned both Israel and the United States during a briefing to over 90 Palestinian envoys in Istanbul on Sunday, saying the Oslo process was on the verge of failure.

Erekat said that if the United States continued to stymie the Palestinian efforts to get a state recognized by the United Nations, the Palestinian Authority should be dismantled.

"If the United States wants the Palestinian Authority to continue to exist, then the price is the establishment of a Palestinian state in keeping with the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital," Erekat told the envoys, according to a transcript of his remarks that appeared in the Al-Ayam newspaper.

"But if the United States vetoes accepting Palestine to the United Nations in the Security Council, uses its financial aid to the PA as political blackmail and leaves Israel as the source of authority, then in my opinion, the PA must cease to exist."

The very definition of the Palestinian Authority is an interim organization that only handles administrative, internal affairs until a final status agreement.

In other words, by definition, the PA will cease to exist anyway the minute a Palestinian Arab state would be established!

Moreover, Erekat is saying that Oslo is "on the verge of failure" if the US doesn't acquiesce to ripping up Oslo itself by bypassing any negotiations and giving the PLO everything it demands, at Israel's expense.

Erekat is threatening the US by saying that the PA should cease to exist unless the US allows it to cease to exist, and that Oslo will fail unless the US supports destroying Oslo.

Lewis Carroll couldn't come up with a character to say something so absurd.

Beyond that, his threat is a veiled threat to start a new intifada, because if the PA internal security (which employs tens of thousands) disappears, all those "policemen" will seek to use their American weapons in other ways, just as they did in 2001. This has been the usual modus operandi among Palestinian Arab leaders since 1920: "Give us what we want or terror will magically break out." They have always acted more like the mob than like political leaders when dealing with other countries.

What a peaceful guy!

(h/t DF)

Hezbollah blames Norway massacres on...well, take a guess

From the Daily Star (Lebanon):

Hezbollah condemned Monday the recent attack in Norway that left at least 76 dead as “proof” of the racism of Zionist culture.“

"The terrorist act committed by a right-wing extremist, who supports Zionists in Norway, is additional proof that the culture stemming from the Zionist enemy, or ideas that support it, is deeply tied to the racism of its leadership,” a statement released by the party said.

Hezbollah’s statement said “Zionist terrorism” poses a danger to Palestinians and Arabs as well as to Europeans and warned against “attempts to overlook terrorism tied to Zionism.”

“Concerning this assault, standards differ within the international community and positions are taken based on the identity of those accused of terrorism. If they were Muslims, then their culture and society would be condemned, whereas if they were close to Zionists, justifications and excuses would be sought,” it added.

Hezbollah said attempts to overlook the incident’s link to Zionist terrorism would encourage further attacks.

Hezbollah's Al Manar TV added:

The motive that urged the “Christian” fanatic to launch terror attacks in Norway was the source of terror in the world, Israel; and so, the first European country to declare the recognition of an independent Palestinian State and the right for Palestinians to have a good livelihood, was the first to witness a deadly terror attack since decades.

Beside the pro-Palestinian events, investigations revealed that Breivak was against “Muslim Domination in Europe”, and a supporter of Zionism. Furthermore, he was an admirer of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.

The extremist criminal was reportedly labeled as a “Shabbath Goy”: Hebrew for a non-Jewish individual who assists the Jews in performing an act that is forbidden for Jewish individuals according to their biblical law.

That last bit comes from rabid anti-semite Gilad Atzmon in a bizarre rant he penned earlier today.

If Hezbollah and their buddy Atzmon would try to create a list of bad things that Jews aren't responsible for, they'd be done in time for brunch.

Iranian general: "We have no option but to destroy Israel"

From Pajamas Media:

In reaction to the recent assassination of Iranian scientist Dariush Rezaiinejad, chief commander of the Basij Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Naghdi stated:

The main plot for this criminal act was conceived by the American government, and since it is scared of the reaction by the Muslim world due to the uprisings in the region, it had the Zionist regime commit the heinous act.
…
In order to protect the security of our country, we have no option but to have the Zionist regime wiped off the map.
Naghdi, who was born in Iraq, was a member of the Iranian Quds Force involved in international terrorism before he was appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei to the post of commander of the Basij in 2009. He has previously threatened to assassinate American generals in retaliation for the killings of the Iranian nuclear scientists.

I could be wrong, but I think it is a violation of international law to threaten to destroy an entire nation.

The magic pumpkins of the Qassams

From YNet:

Farmers from the community of Kfar Maimon in southern Israel presented huge pumpkins in a Beersheba market over the weekend, noting that the unusual vegetables were grown using old-time agricultural techniques and a special ingredient – Gaza rockets.

Three people had to join forces in order to lift one 140-pound round pumpkin and another 100-pound pumpkin and load them into a car Friday. The exceptionally large vegetables drew plenty of attention at the market, as well as skepticism, with some visitors wondering whether the pumpkins were real.

"My father is an old-time farmer, one who wakes up early every morning, arrives at the field and speaks to the pumpkins, Dotan Mines told Ynet. His father, Shimon, has been working in the field for more than 50 years. "He doesn't use new technologies to examine the soil, but rather, he feels the soil…this treatment enables the pumpkin to reach such dimensions."

Mines added that that the field in question was hit by two rockets in the past, attributing some of the pumpkin magic to the Qassam strikes.

"Some of the pumpkins were hit when the rocket landed. Maybe they became upset and that prompted them to grow like that," he said. "The really large one grew a few dozens of meters away from the landing site."

Palestine Press Agency reported on the "magic Gaza rockets" that produce large pumpkins. One of their more knowledgeable readers pointed out that the rockets use potassium nitrate for fuel - which is a fertilizer.

So if "Palestine" becomes a state, they can go to the International Court of Justice to demand compensation for fertilizing Israeli fields so well.