Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Palestinian Arabs celebrate death of 6-year old Gazan

After ten frustrating days of not being able to provide the media with any pictures of dead kids that could be blamed on Israel, the Palestinian Arabs finally got their wish:

Never mind the fact that Israel had nothing to do with this explosion. Lying Palestinian Arabs claim that it was from Israel and gullible wire services are more than willing to believe it, because it fits in with their script. As AP reported in he caption for the picture above:

The Israeli military, backtracking on its previous denial of responsibility, said an airstrike in the area targeting a group of militants did not hit an open field, as it previously reported, but struck a street on the outskirts of Gaza City.

What AP failed to mention is that the two incidents have nothing to do with each other. So Israel has not backtracked at all on its denial - it has strengthened it.

So now the Palestinian Arabs who killed Ruwan Hajaj can smile as they blame Israel for her death, as they try to turn her into a new symbol of Jewish evil.

Meanwhile, something interesting happened in Reuters reporting in Australia. For some reason, the headline provided to every Australian source by Reuters was an unbelievably biased, while not for any other country:

Air strikes follow peace offer
Sunday Times.au, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Air strikes follow peace offer
Daily Telegraph, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Air strikes follow peace offer
Courier Mail, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Air strikes follow peace offer
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Air strikes follow peace offer
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Air strikes follow peace offer
Advertiser Adelaide, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Air strikes follow peace offer
The Australian, Australia - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. ISRAEL launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip overnight ...
Israel rejects Hamas ceasefire offer
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 4 hours ago
By Nidal al-Mughrabi. ... offensive, Israel's first incursion into Gaza since quitting the territory last year, has dashed hopes of renewing peace talks, stalled ...

I don't know exactly how wire services provide headlines, but someone at Reuters came up with a doozy to give Australians, making it look like warmongering Israel is rejecting Hamas' "peace" overture which doesn't include returning Gilad Shalit. Also not mentioned was what the peaceful Hamas thought of stopping rocket attacks:

Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday denounced Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' call for immediate stop of firing homemade rockets at southern Israeli target.

In a written statement, the ruling movement also condemned Abbas' call for releasing an Israeli soldier abducted by the three militant groups including Hamas armed wing during a deadly attack on an Israeli army post near Gaza border on June 25.

Go to shale

With oil prices hovering around $70 a barrel, Israel is looking for ways to reduce its near-total dependence on energy imports. It's pondering the use of the nation's huge reserves of oil shale - a dark, crumbly rock loaded with hydrocarbonslocated in the central and southern parts of the country. Thanks to a technical breakthrough, it should be possible to extract fuel oil from the shale for less than $20 a barrel. That could allow Israel eventually to cut its crude imports by up to one-third.
Shale is already used as a fuel for power plants in Israel and Estonia, where the rock is burned like coal to drive steam turbines. Israel's small shale-fired power plant was built nearly 20 years ago. But past attempts to extract liquid oil from shale weren't economically feasible: The process cost upwards of $50 per barrel at a time when oil was selling for less than half that.
Now, the tables have turned. A Russian-born Israeli immigrant named Moshe Gvirtz developed a technique in the 1990s to squeeze oil from shale by mixing the rock with a residue from conventional oil refining and putting it through a catalytic process. The dramatically improved results, coupled with soaring crude prices, have inverted the economics of oil shale. That could help not just Israel but dozens of other countries, including the U.S., that are rich in shale reserves.

And the best part is the byproduct: less money going to Arab terrorists laundered through Saudi Arabia, Iran and other oil-rich terror-supporting countries.

Ha'aretz-
Unknown assailants shot dead Dr. Hussein Abu Ajwa, 44, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, as he got out of his car outside his home on Wednesday night.
Sources in Gaza described Abu Ajwa as a leading promoter of religious and political reform in Hamas.

Palestinian Center for Human Rights -
Two members of the armed wing of Hamas were killed in a mysterious explosion in a house in the densely-populated Zaitun quarter of Gaza City.
It is believed they were preparing an explosive device that detonated by mistake.

Palestinian Center for Human Rights -
A 12-year old girl was killed Thursday in an armed clash within the Abu M'hadi clan in Nuseirat in Gaza.
An armed clash between the Foujo and El-Arja clan in Rafah on July 1 resulted in the injury of four people.

In fact, since the Israeli operation began, at least 15 Palestinian Arabs have been killed by work accidents, clan fighting, honor killings and the occasional bullet fired in the air that hits someone during a wedding.

Somehow, the 90,000 "security forces" haven't been able to make things safer for the ordinary Palestinian Arab.

Good luck finding this reported in the mainstream press.

I love my human shield

BEIT LAHIYA, -: A Palestinian masked and armed militant stands near graffiti art sprayed on a wall during fire fighting with Israeli soldiers in a part of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, 06 July 2006.

What are the odds that he wants the kid to run away to a safe place?

"Security forces"

Was it only a couple of months ago that the Palestinian Arabs demanded that the Western world pay their salaries?

Of course, most of the people who work for the welfare state of the PA work in the "security forces."

Now, what are the security forces, created and funded with Western tax dollars, doing today?

Interior Minister Said Siyyam of the Palestinians' ruling Hamas party issued the regime's first call to arms since Israel invaded last week, urging Gaza security forces to fulfill their "religious and moral duty to stand up to this aggression and cowardly Zionist invasion."

As everyone and their grandmother knew (besides the EU), the Palestinian Arabs were building an army, not a police force. But good luck finding any news sources that refer to them that way.

Ferris wheels in Paradise

Since 70 virgins don't hold any appeal for the pre-pubescent potential shaheed, the disgusting Palestinian Arab Islamic leaders need to find another angle to convince kids to blow themselves up.

Hence, the PA showed a video recently showing Mohammed al-Dura in Heaven, flying kites and going to an amusement park.

Palestinian Media Watch has the whole video.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, our friends and allies there also have a children's show where they encourage martyrdom and applaud kids who say that Jews are "the people of treachery, betrayal, and vileness." As MEMRI translates:

"Ruqaya, what did you learn from today's show?"
Voice of Ruqaya: "I learned that the Jews are the people of treachery and betrayal..."
Muhammad Sharaf Al-Din: "Allah Akbar! Say Allah Akbar! What did Ruqaya say? The Jews are the people of treachery and betrayal. May Allah give you success. We want mothers who teach their sons jihad, the love of Allah and His Messenger, sacrifice for the sake of Islam, and love for the countries of the Muslims. Loving the country of the Muslims. May Allah bless you, Ruqaya. That is the most beautiful thing I have heard - that the Jews are the people of treachery, betrayal, and vileness."

The utter depravity of a culture that brainwashes their children to hate and murder and blow themselves up is beyond description. The assumption made in the West that everybody is basically the same is soundly refuted here - there are entire large groups of people on this planet who do not share normal human values and dreams. We want our children to grow up and be successful, they incite their children to murder and die before they grow up. To even entertain the thought of celebrating this culture as somehow being equivalent to Western culture is sickening.

The $2 billion we spend annually in Egypt and the hundreds of millions that the world has sent Palestinian Arabs are paying dividends - we are bankrolling the next generation of jihadists and murderers.

Fireworks...

My family's Independence Day was exhausting and we had no plans to go a couple of miles away to see fireworks.

As we sat outside on our deck we saw what looked like, at first, to be a couple of not-bad fireworks that we assumed some kids were setting off at a school a block away from us.

They kept getting better.

I still don't know who sponsored this fireworks show, and it is hardly Macy's, but from the comfort of your own home sitting outside with an iced tea, this was pretty good.

Enjoy the snippet!

Two Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in an explosion in a house in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian eyewitnesses said.

The explosion ripped through the house of the Dahdouh family whose sons are members of the Islamic Jihad. Two family members were killed in an Israeli air strike. The IDF has denied involvement while Palestinian sources said the explosion was caused by a work accident. Three people were critically injured in the explosion.

The sources added the two brothers were probably preparing an explosive device which prematurely detonated.

As the number of Palestinian Arabs who accidentally kill themselves while planning to murder Jews increases, I have one question:

How come the wire services have photos of the aftermath of every Israeli rocket attack, but hardly ever show the blown-up buildings and cars from "work accidents?" There are clearly plenty of photographers covering every square inch of Gaza. So where are the photos that document Palestinian Arab depravity and recklessness towards their fellow Arabs?

Is it because the story doesn't fit into the MSM playbook of the conflict?

News and op-ed links

The Daily Mail has an op-ed by Melanie Phillips that hits the nail on the head. Quote:

Just as crucial is to address the hatred and lies that are driving this violence. In particular, what must be combated with the utmost vigour is the Muslim culture of grievance, the belief that the West is engaged in a conspiracy to attack and destroy the Islamic world.
This delusion has meant that many Muslims misrepresent Islamist aggression as self-defence, and the West's attempt to defend itself as aggression. This double-think means that Britain is itself blamed for the attacks mounted upon it.

David Gilmour is bemused by Roger Waters' graffiti.

Khilafah.com trots out yet another article saying that Muslims aren't anti-semitic, only anti-Zionist. Then they try to prove that Zionists have always been anti-Islam, using mostly fabricated and out-of-context quotes from Israel's founders. Yet all the pseudo-quotes talk about Arabs, not Muslims!

“The western mind and the Muslim mind are two different psychologies”

A must-read article about a reporter going undercover to a Jihad-infested suburb of Leeds, England.

But his kindness to me was coupled with a darker outlook on the wider world. I was shocked when one day at the Hamara centre he began explaining how the London bombers could be seen as martyrs.
“The western mind and the Muslim mind are two different psychologies,” he said. “The Muslim mind will see that this life means nothing unless I sacrifice myself for Allah.”
Inside I flinched, but outwardly I nodded with a look of sympathy. I did not want him to close up as much of the community had done after last summer’s attacks. I wanted him to speak honestly.
“My life means nothing, you know,” he continued. “I would give up this evil, two-seconds of a life.” Earthly experience, I think he meant, was but a moment compared with paradise to come.
Later he went on to eulogise Abdullah Faisal, a firebrand Islamic cleric who was imprisoned in 2003 for inciting the murder of Jews. Faisal, said to have been a strong influence on the 7/7 bombers, has advocated the spreading of Islam “by the Kalashnikov” and declared that one aim of jihad is to “lessen the population of unbelievers”.
To Ghani, the cleric was “one of the good ones” and he advised me where I might obtain recordings of his sermons.

Once again, I felt as if I had entered a strange bubble, a world where the reality I had known before had been suspended. Bham then asked me if I would ever blow myself up for Islam. I replied that the Koran says you should not harm innocent people.
“What Koran was that?” he countered. “Don’t fool yourself by saying jihad is a struggle within, to get on with life, to motivate myself to get up for prayers and that sort of thing,” he said. “That’s not jihad. Who told you that?”

Even after these experiences, the reporter looks atthis as merely a social problem. He doesn't seem to make the leap that the next 9/11 bomber is likely to come from a place like this, the middle of a Western town.

Indonesia pulls out of tennis match in Israel

From The Jakarta Post:

JAKARTA (AP): Indonesia has pulled out of a planned Fed Cup tennis match in Israel to protest against Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, an Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

"We are witnessing a military invasion by Israel and the arrest of scores of Palestinian officials," spokesman Desra Percaya said. "It is now impossible to play there," he said.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, earlier asked that the venue be changed to another country, because Jakarta has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

But in May, the Indonesian government said it would allow the team to travel to Israel to contest the tennis playoff, scheduled for July 15-16.

Indonesia strongly supports Palestine freedom from the Israel's occupation. The Zionist regime is supported unconditionally by the United States. The U.S. is Israel's main source of weapons being used to terrorize the Palestinians. (***)

I am fascinated by the last paragraph. While AP is credited for the story, clearly they didn't write the last paragraph. (Perhaps the three asterisks symbolizes that.) And if you look elsewhere for the story, lo and behold, we see much more information that the Jakarta Post did not bother to copy from the original AP article:

Indonesia has long supported Palestinian independence and suggestions that ties with the Jewish state be restored are routinely met by large street protests and criticism from religious leaders.

Israel and Indonesia have matched up in the women's Fed Cup twice -- in 1974 in Italy and in Japan in 1981. Israel defeated Indonesia both times.

Indonesia must win July's playoff to stay in World Group II.

An Indonesian tennis official said earlier this year that if the team did not play the match then it would be fined and banned from the competition for one year.

In London at Wimbledon, the International Tennis Federation said that it had not been officially informed of the Indonesian decision and would make no comment.

In 1997, Morocco refused to go to Israel to compete in a European-African zone Davis Cup match. Morocco was allowed to compete in the Davis Cup the following year after an ITF management committee said it took into account unrest in Israel at the time, which it said affected the Muslim community.

As a result of its withdrawal, Morocco had to forfeit its match against Israel and was relegated to a lower group in the zone.

Perhaps what was really bothering the Indonesians was this quote from Haaretz last month:

"The event is one of political importance, as a means of improving the relations between the two countries," Hefetz said.

Bizarre Reuters caption of the week

First, the picture:

Imagine how you would describe what is happening here.

Now here's what Reuters saw:

An Iranian student holds a piece of stone to show solidarity with the Palestinian uprising during the demonstration in front of Palestinian embassy in Tehran July 4, 2006. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN)

Well, if it wasn't for Reuters, I would have missed the stone.

Usually, wire service captions include at least one more sentence of clarifying or background material. You know, something like "The student is wearing the colors of the Hamas terror group."Or "Iranians often compare Zionism to Nazism at the same time that they deny any Nazi atrocities against Jews."

Or "The sign that takes up half of this photograph is irrelevant to the Reuters editors."