Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, May 26, 2006

Hamas ends up with smuggled money anyway

Remember last week when Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was caught trying to smuggle over $800,000 into Gaza?

Well, the European monitors confiscated the money. Abbas demanded the money so he could launch a full investigation. And now...Hamas is using it to buy weapons for its terror gangs.

The EU is strangely silent about their complicity in this crime. Perhaps their job at the border crossing is to ensure that RPGs and Katyushas have been built by companies that adhere to the Zionist boycott.

Some 640,000 Euros confiscated from a Hamas smuggler at Rafiach crossing last week have been given to the Hamas Authority. Some of it will pay for a militia manned by Izaddin Al-Kassam terrorists.

The cash, the equivalent of some $820,000, was discovered in the baggage of the Hamas spokesman as he made his way into Gaza from Egypt. European Union inspectors confiscated the money, which was over 400 times more than the amount permitted without declaration. A band of Hamas gunmen arrived on the scene demanding the return of the money, but they were soon dispersed.

PA Chairman Abu Mazen ordered the money transferred to the prosecution offices of the PA, and demanded an investigation into the Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhari, and his activities.

However, Abu Zuhari said this week that the money had in fact been officially given to the PA's interior minister on May 22. Speaking with the official Hamas publication, Abu Zuhari promised that the donations would reach their "correct destinations."

Earlier this week, PA affairs correspondent Dalit HaLevy reports, Hamas Authority officials said that economic aid would be partially used to pay for the interior ministry's special security force. Members of the force were recruited from the Popular Resistance Committees and Izaddin Al-Kassam terrorist groups.

The utter idiocy of the NYT and MSM

Others have trashed (or are planning to trash) this nonsensical editorial in today's NYT, and frankly Israel Matzav did a brilliant job. I am just wondering what planet the editorialists are from:

Mr. Olmert wants to go ahead with Ariel Sharon's misbegotten plan to unilaterally redraw the borders of what could eventually be Palestine. The key word here is unilaterally, because the Israelis are prepared to do this without any input from the Palestinians. They would be left to try to cobble together a country out of whatever remained behind.

The New York Times, along with the rest of the MSM, just cannot even conceive that their basic assumptions are wrong.

The pre-conceived notion that has attained Biblical status among the left is that Palestinian Arabs somehow "deserve" a state.

I am not quite sure what criteria are used to make this assumption. Why, for example, do the Kurds not "deserve" a state but Palestinian Arabs do? Exactly how does a people attain the status of "deserving" a state?

If Gaza has taught us anything, it is that Palestinian Arabs cannot responsibly govern themselves. I cannot say for how many generations they will continue acting like infants with grenades, but it is manifestly clear that today's Palestinian Arabs do not have the capability to act responsibly even regarding their own people, let alone other nations.

The question is not "how to make a viable state out of the West Bank and Gaza." The question is, why on earth is this desirable? Why is the world throwing hundreds millions of dollars to a group of people who have shown no ability to govern, no ability to act maturely, no ability to build, no ability to even distinguish between right and wrong?

Is it because the UN decided that there should be a Palestinian Arab state in 1947? Of course not - the Arabs themselves didn't want it.

Is it because the West Bank and Gaza are/were "occupied"? Of course not - hardly anyone cared when Jordan and Egypt occupied the same areas.

Is it because the Palestinian Arabs finally recognized Israel at Oslo? Of course not - because they have withdrawn that recognition and no one even blinks. A state is still assumed to be the Solution.

The only real reason why the world says that Palestinian Arabs deserve a state of their own is because the Arabs have scared the world into thinking that if Israel would just give them what they want, we won't have any more terror attacks. In other words, it is a reward for the airline hijackings of the '70s and the Al Qaeda pronouncements of the 2000's. It is a Mafia protection racket on a scale that has never been imagined.

It is easy for the world to offer Israel as a human sacrifice to appease the Arab gods - because the world doesn't much like Israel anyway. So everyone from Osama bin Laden to the New York Times blames Israel for a problem that is being framed as Israel's fault rather than as a logical continuance of Arab and Islamic terror towards the West. The Palestinian Arabs have no responsibility according to the morally retarded "elite":

To a significant degree, the Palestinians put themselves in this spot by electing Hamas to run their government, and the Bush administration is right to refuse to legitimize a government dedicated to the destruction of Israel. But Mr. Bush should not punish the Palestinian people by endorsing any unilateral proposal — doing that would punish them for exercising their democratic right to vote.

In other words, we can scold Palestinians for choosing a terror group to lead them, but to actually hold them responsible for it is just way too mean. No - it is Israel that needs to do everything the Palestinian Arabs demand, because, after all, it is somehow Israel's fault that they freely elected Hamas.

We have seen the Palestinian Arabs, over and over again, being handed an independent state on a platter. We have seen them, again and again, reject that state, always for absurd reasons that blame Israel. And we have seen, again and again, the New York Times swallow the Palestinian Arab narrative whole, so much so that their editors can no longer even notice the utter incompatibility of how Palestinian Arabs are acting today with statehood. Gaza is a brilliant lesson in how an ultimate Palestinian Arab state would look - but one cannot expect the New York Times to notice anything that obvious.

That would mean they'd have to admit they were wrong, and it is much easier to support another terror state than to admit that you are wrong when you are the Newspaper of Record.

UPDATE: See also AbbaGav's comments.

Earliest pictures of Jerusalem

For Yom Yerushalayim I wanted to find the earliest pictures of Jerusalem on the Internet from Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources. I didn't do an exhaustive search so if anyone can send me a link to earlier pictures I'll add modifications.

The earliest Christian picture is almost certainly the mosaic on the floor of a church in Madaba, Jordan from the 6th century CE(predating Islam altogether!) The map is of most Biblical places and the Jerusalem part is fascinating:

Many other ancient maps of Jerusalem, from the 12th through 19th centuries CE, can be found here.

Perhaps pre-dating this one is a map known as the Peutinger Map, drawn in the 12th or 13th century CE that was apparently an exact copy of a 4th century Roman road map that included Jerusalem. This is far more a map than a picture, though:

An Islamic map of the area from the 10th century is fascinating for how it represents Jerusalem (one of the upper circles):

The Arabs never regarded the Land of Israel, which they called Falastin, as a distinct geographical or political unit, and mapped it as an integral part of ash-Sham, Syria, as in the example shown here. Jerusalem is represented by one of the circles in the upper part of the map (which is directed towards the south-west and is named Bayt al-Maqdas (Hebrew: Bet haMiqdash, the Temple).

I imagine the earliest picture of Jerusalem in Jewish art would probably be in one of the famous illuminated Haggadahs from the 15th century CE on the page where it says "Next Year in Jerusalem," but the earliest I could find was this one from a this early printed Amsterdam Haggadah (1695):

One of the first photographs of Jerusalem was taken in 1844 by Jiro De Franje:

This picture is a mirror image of the way Jerusalem looks.

I cannot find any Muslim artwork of Jerusalem specifically before the 20th century. Again, if someone can point me to an earlier picture I will post it.

Hamas is seeking the ability to attack Israel using small airplanes laden with explosives to be flown September 11-style into important targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers, a leader of Hamas's so-called military wing, Abu Abdullah, told World Net Daily yesterday.

Palestinian security officials said they believe Hamas recently smuggled into Gaza three small airplanes that can carry explosives and be used to attack Israel.
They said the aircraft were purchased from Eastern European dealers and that Hamas members received flight training in Sudan, Iran, and Syria.

Sometimes it seems like a contest among terror groups as to who can be the most depraved.

UPDATE: Full story is here.

YNet scared of Hareidim in Jerusalem

An interesting article in YNet:

Most Israeli citizens are well-aware of the division between east and West Jerusalem, but there exists another border in the capital, that which runs from north to south and separates the secular part of the city (south) and the ultra-Orthodox.
Even some northern neighborhoods previously considered to be secular enclaves are becoming more and more religious.
“On Mishmar Hagvul Street, near the religious Sanhedria neighborhood, you won’t see any TV antennas on the rooftops,” ultra-Orthodox reporter Yisrael Gliss says.
The situation in neighborhoods such as Ramot Eshkol or Maalot Dafna is most indicative of the fact that north Jerusalem is becoming more and more ultra-Orthodox, so much so that the northern part of the city is attracting many religious couples, most of whom are Anglo-Saxon.

Architect David Kroyanker says “the ultra-Orthodox are settling predominantly in the north, but the problem is that the border continues to move south. At first traditional religious people arrive, then come the more modern ultra-Orthodox, but it is not long before the neighborhoods become completely ultra-Orthodox.”

Former Mayor Teddy Kollek, who understood in the early 1980s that something has to be done, initiated the construction of a sports complex in north Jerusalem to attract the secular population. The ultra-Orthodox protested against the plan, saying the cars traveling in the area would disrupt the Sabbath. Some haredim even went as far as throwing sand and stones in the tractors’ engines to interfere with the construction works.

Eventually the plan was foiled, and the city’s soccer stadium, which was named after mayor Kollek, was built in the southern Malcha neighborhood.

Each year the religious population takes control of additional Jerusalem neighborhoods and sites, such as the Schneller military base, which is set to be cleared in the coming year. According to an agreement between United Torah Judaism and Agudat Yisrael, the Gur hasidic sect will own the site, and 800 housing units will be built there for its members.

Across the street from Schneller is the Tnuva compound, which was also sold to haredi real estate entrepreneurs.

Kroyanker, who lives in Malcha, is not optimistic regarding Jerusalem’s future.

“The city’s story is one of simple demographics,” he says. “This is a natural process whereby the haredi population is growing at a rate ten times higher than the secular population.”

“There is no solution this problem,” he says.

Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the founder and chairman of the religious ZAKA organization, says “haredim are not taking control of the city because a few rabbis planned it. They are taking control because ultra-Orthodox couples have many children – that’s just how it is.

From the hysteria in this report one would think thatYNet would prefer Arabs taking over Jerusalem rather than thse Jews who are so....Jew-y.

Luckily, I have a solution to the "problem" of a Jerusalem without TV antennas: Encourage non-Hareidi Jewish families to have lots and lots of kids as well! I guarantee, no "ultra-Orthodox" will get upset at this, and as a bonus, the "demographic problem" that is convincing Olmert to give up parts of Israel to terrorists will no longer exist!

To start, donate money to Just One Life, an organization that finds Israeli women who want to have abortions because they cannot afford to have a baby and supports them monetarily and emotionally so they can safely give birth. Over 7200 children have been born to women who have been helped by this program, and most of these are not Hareidim.

It's the least you can do to help save Jerusalem!

Aaron's story, part 6

Elie at Elie's Expositions has finally finished telling his tragic story of his son's passing, exactly one year after the shiva was over.

Read it and then hug your loved ones.

In a staged shot worthy of the worst B-movie director, Palestinian Arab women pretend to be thrilled to give what appears to be a bag of garbage and a Hebrew National salami to a Hamas "militant". The reason appears to be that they want to show their appreciation that the Palestinian Arab security forces have increased in size yet again so they feel so much safer.

Since they didn't seem enthusiastic enough, the photographer instructed them to put a "thumbs up" sign to get the message across. Unfortunately, third-from-left Fatima's thumb had been sliced off by her husband when she was late giving him dinner one night so she can only show a fist.

Ahmadenijad: Thoughts will be punished

Today's GoozNews is yet another classic rant from the seemingly syphillic Ahmadenijad:

Even the mere thought of staging an aggression violating the rights of the Iranian nation will receive a stiff response from the nation, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday.
"Enemies should know that they cannot inflict the slightest harm to Iranians from the outside and that is why they are trying to create discord among the people," said the president in his address before a huge crowd in this southern city.
Saying Iranians "are on the eve of a great breakthrough," the president said "everyone has a responsibility to contribute to Iran's development and eventual rise as an advanced and powerful Islamic state."
He urged the nation to stay vigilant, and stressed that "our people have successfully conquered the highest peak of scientific progress with their resistance and unity."
"Unity, justice and hard work" have been major factors in the Iranian nation's achievement of its goals," he added.

They cannot refine their own oil but they are hellbent on getting nuclear "energy".

Israel arrests murderer of four Americans

One would think that the American media would be slightly interested in the names of the American victims of terror whose murderer was arrested by Israel yesterday.

It is also worth mentioning that the murderer is a member of Hamas, and that he is responsible for 78 deaths in terror attacks.

Here are the names and pictures of the American victims:

Marla Bennett

Benjamin Blutstein

Janis Ruth Coulter

David Gritz
Marla Bennett (24) of San Diego, California, David Gritz (24) of Peru, Massachusetts, Benjamin Blutstein (25) of Susquehanna Township, Pennsylvania and Janis Ruth Coulter (36) from New York were murdered when a remote-controlled bomb detonated in the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria on Jerusalem's Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus.

And here is a picture of the Hamas celebration at the news of the Hebrew University murders:

Meanwhile, the BBC just doesn't understand why Israel would consider arresting a mass murderer:

BBC correspondent Caroline Hawley in Jerusalem says it is not clear why the army moved against Hamad.
Hamas has not carried out any suicide attacks for 15 months and Israeli military operations in the past few months have focused instead on the militant Islamic Jihad group, which has been responsible for most of the recent bombs.

The clear implication is that when Israel even arrests a known terrorist, it is Israel that is escalating the conflict. The other BBC implication is that even though Hamas has been heavily involved in terror since the "truce," only suicide bombings are worth worrying about. The BBC even goes so far as to juxtapose Israel's arrest of a Hamas arch-terrorist with another meaningless Hamas pretense at flexibility towards peace, all to demonize Israel and boost Hamas.

Persian Jews 1502-1925

In the light of the recent controversy about whether Iran is considering instituting a national dress code that may or may not distinguish non-Muslims from Muslims (Amir Taheri stands by his original article); it is worth looking at how Shi'a Muslim leaders in Persia treated Jews in the time period before the Pahlavi dynasty. This time period, from the 16th through 20th centuries, may well indicate the direction that the current Shi'a Muslim Iranian leadership wants to move their nation.

From Wikipedia:

Safavid and Qajar dynasties (1502-1925)
Further deterioration in the treatment of Persian Jews occurred during the reign of the Safavids who proclaimed Shi'a Islam the state religion. Shi'ism assigns great importance to the issues of ritual purity — tahara, and non-Muslims, including Jews, are deemed to be ritually unclean — najis — so that physical contact with them would require Shi'as to undertake ritual purification before doing regular prayers. Thus, Persian rulers, and to an even larger extent, the populace, sought to limit physical contact between Muslims and Jews. Jews were not allowed to attend public baths with Muslims or even to go outside in rain or snow, ostensibly because some impurity could be washed from them upon a Muslim.^[11]

The reign of Shah Abbas I (1588–1629) was initially benign; Jews prospered throughout Persia and were even encouraged to settle in Isfahan, which was made a new capital. However, toward the end of his rule, the treatment of Jews became harsher; upon advice from a Jewish convert and Shi'a clergy, the shah forced Jews to wear a distinctive badge on clothing and headgear. In 1656, all Jews were expelled from Isfahan because of the common belief of their impurity and forced to convert to Islam. However, as it became known that the converts continued to practice Judaism in secret and because the treasury suffered from the loss of jizya collected from the Jews, in 1661 they were allowed to revert to Judaism, but were still required to wear a distinctive patch upon their clothings.^[9]

Under Sunni Muslim Nadir Shah (1736–1747), who abolished Shi'a Islam as state religion, Jews experienced a period of relative tolerance when they were allowed to settle in the Shi'ite holy city of Mashhad. Yet, the advent of a Shi'a Qajar dynasty in 1794 brought back the earlier persecutions. In the middle of the 19th century, a European traveller wrote about the life of Persian Jews: "...they are obliged to live in a separate part of town...; for they are considered as unclean creatures... Under the pretext of their being unclean, they are treated with the greatest severity and should they enter a street, inhabited by Mussulmans, they are pelted by the boys and mobs with stones and dirt... For the same reason, they are prohibited to go out when it rains; for it is said the rain would wash dirt off them, which would sully the feet of the Mussulmans... If a Jew is recognized as such in the streets, he is subjected to the greatest insults. The passers-by spit in his face, and sometimes beat him... unmercifully... If a Jew enters a shop for anything, he is forbidden to inspect the goods... Should his hand incautiously touch the goods, he must take them at any price the seller chooses to ask for them... Sometimes the Persians intrude into the dwellings of the Jews and take possession of whatever please them. Should the owner make the least opposition in defense of his property, he incurs the danger of atoning for it with his life... If... a Jew shows himself in the street during the three days of the Katel (Muharram)..., he is sure to be murdered."^[12]

Another European traveller reported a degrading ritual to which Jews were subjected for public amusement:

At every public festival-even at the royal salaam [salute], before the King’s face — the Jews are collected, and a number of them are flung into the hauz or tank, that King and mob may be amused by seeing them crawl out half-drowned and covered with mud. The same kindly ceremony is witnessed whenever a provincial governor holds high festival: there are fireworks and Jews.^[13]

In the 19th century there were many instances of forced conversions and massacres, usually inspired by the Shi'a clergy. A representative of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a Jewish humanitarian and educational organization, wrote from Tehran in 1894: "...every time that a priest wishes to emerge from obscurity and win a reputation for piety, he preaches war against the Jews". ^[14]. In 1830, the Jews of Tabriz were massacred; the same year saw a forcible conversion of the Jews of Shiraz. In 1839, many Jews were massacred in Mashhad and survivors were forcibly converted. However, European travellers later reported that the Jews of Tabriz and Shiraz continued to practice Judaism in secret despite a fear of further persecutions. Jews of Barforush were forcibly converted in 1866; when they were allowed to revert to Judaism thanks to an intervention by the French and British ambassadors, a mob killed 18 Jews of Barforush, burning two of them alive.^[15]^[16] In 1910, the Jews of Shiraz were accused of ritual murder of a Muslim girl. Muslim dwellers of the city plundered the whole Jewish quarter, the first to start looting were the soldiers sent by the local governor to defend the Jews against the enraged mob. Twelve Jews, who tried to defend their property, were killed, and many others were injured.^[17] Representatives of the Alliance Israélite Universelle recorded other numerous instances of persecution and debasement of Persian Jews.^[18]

Driven by persecutions, thousands of Persian Jews emigrated to Palestine in the late 19th – early 20th century.^[19]

Today's delusions by Jew-haters

Uruknet seems to blame Israel for the Darfur genocide in "Zionist rain [sic] of death on Sudan"
Iran accuses Israel of holding Iranian kidnapped diplomats at Aljazeera.com
AxisGlobe says that Israel's Declaration of Independence was written by a Communist spy
A Los Angeles Times op-ed ignores Israel's consistent giving away of land since 1977 as it claims that Israel keeps on taking "Palestinian" land. (OK, he doesn't ignore it - author Sandy Tolan threw in a 14-word parenthetical comment in an 1187 word article: [In the early 1980s, Israel withdrew from the Sinai, and last year from Gaza.] )
Australia's Green Left Weekly happily reports on a Nakba rally where 50 people attended.

The best defense...

Yesterday's Qassam rocket that hit a classroom in Sderot is only the latest in a series of slow escalations that the current Israeli administration seems willing to allow. Just like the settlers have been demonized for choosing to live in dangerous areas, so too will we see the leftist Israeli leaders blame residents of Sderot for staying in rocket range of Hamastan. The hollow words of "defense" minister Amir Peretz that "The lives of the children in the schools and kindergarten should be top priority" ring false when he is not willing to do anything to solve the problem.

His big plan? Make the walls of schools thicker!

Already, the Israeli government recommends that top floors of classrooms in rocket range not be used:

Home Front Command officials explained that there is an instruction not to teach in classrooms on the top floors of schools located around the Gaza Strip, for fear a rocket will directly hit the building.

Capitulation to terror is now becoming normal in the New Israel.

Instead of actually addressing the problem, Israel is looking towards spending billions of dollars to fortify some classrooms. Those who live in houses, well, tough luck. And when Katyushas replace Qassams, I guess that is just another few tens of billions of dollars to fortify a few more miles in.

I guess in a few years every Israeli will be told to walk around outside with suits of armor, as a normal defensive move against bloodthirsty Arab terrorists. And we will be reading articles about how brave Israelis live sort of normal lives underground.

This is insanity.

It is impossible to defend Israel against rockets and other attacks at the same time that Israel is giving land to the terrorists. Not only because giving land emboldens the terrorists, but also for the simple reason that land is the only defensive buffer that can effectively forestall rocket attacks.

I am not saying that Israel should abandon defensive mechanisms. Rocket interception and some fortification of course will be needed. But it is clear that the Gaza withdrawal has not enhanced Israel's security at all; it just pushed the defense line closer to the major population centers. And it is equally clear that continued withdrawals will also not make the Palestinian Arabs any more peaceful, despite all the leftist Jimmy Carter-ish wishful thinking that pervades not only Europe but much of Israel itself.

It is time for Israel to abandon its wishy-washy policy of tough words followed up by bombing empty fields, or at best a targeted assassination here and there. I am unaware of a single fact that would indicate that Palestinian Arabs are capable of acting responsibly or even rationally in valuing the lives of their own people or wishing for true independence. Unless this changes dramatically, Israel will have to militarily re-occupy parts of Gaza sooner or later.

And when one is speaking about defense, sooner is almost always better than later, saving a lot of money and many lives.

HH LXX

This week's Haveil Havalim is hosted by Soccer Dad.

I am honored that he chose two articles of mine; Tehran Lies and Israeli Morality and Canonical list of reasons idiots give to fund Palestinian Arabs.

Check it out - because as usual, it is an excellent round-up of the JBlogosphere.

Mother of all work accidents watch

Iran continues to get regular earthquakes. Just today there were three!

1. Quake hits eastern Iran

According to the seismological base of Birjand affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, the quake occurred at 10:49 hours local time (07:19 GMT).
The quake was felt in an area measuring 59.49 degrees in longitude and 32.49 degrees in latitude, the report added.

Saturday May 20, 2006 2. Quake hits southern Iran

Iran-Firouzabad-Quake
According to the seismological base of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, the quake occurred at 01:29 hours local time (21:59 GMT Friday).
The quake was felt in an area measuring 52.28 degrees in longitude and 28.6 degrees in latitude, the report added.

Saturday May 20, 2006 3. Quake jolts Dehdasht in midsouthern province

An earthquake measuring 3.5 degrees in the Richter scale jolted surrounding areas of Dehdasht in midsouthern province of Kohgilouyeh & Boyer Ahmad on Saturday.

As I mentioned before, building nuclear power plants in the most earthquake-prone region of the world is not the brightest idea. But on the bright side, it may end up that Iran's genocidal desires end up being foiled by a literal act of God.

Who wants a Palestinian Arab state?

One of the assumptions that have been made since at least Oslo is that it would be a Good Thing for Palestinian Arabs have their own state. Israel has subscribed to this idea, as has the US, and of course all of Europe.

Now that the Muslim-Brotherhood affiliated Hamas is running the show in the territories, it appears that the countries that are most against a Palestinian Arab state are its Arab neighbors!

Egypt has already had problems of its own with religious extremism in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood, which started there. And since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the Sinai has become a much more hospitable place for Al Qaeda and other sister groups that advocate a worldwide Islamic 'ummah. Not to mention Hamas shielding terrorists from Egypt.
Jordan has already acted against its local Hamas members. It has always straddled the line between Islam and the West, and it stands to lose a lot should it suddnly become neighbors with Hamas. In 1970 it showed the world how sympathetic it was to Palestinian nationalism, and the newer religious component is turning into a greater threat than the PLO was then.
Lebanon is still trying to get rid of its Hezbollah albatross, and Hezbollah is essentially the same as Hamas - and it has assisted Al Qaeda as well. Hamas would strengthen Hezbollah significantly.

So, interestingly, Israel's Arab neighbors are much less sympathetic and much more realistic about Hamastan than most of the West. While they will mumble platitudes of support for the Palestinian Arab people, they aren't actually acting as if they want to see a Palestine emerge anytime soon.

They see the lessons of Gaza, where any vacuum in the Middle East will be filled by the most radical elements who hate non-religious Arab regimes as much as they hate America.

It would behoove the West to take a second look at the desirability of the success of the Oslo experiment. Inertia is not a reason to continue to go forward towards supporting what would inevitably become the next chaotic center of international terror.