Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Update on Hezbollah and UN human shields

Every day, Hezbollah fires rockets from near UNIFIL positions, as they try to avoid Israeli retaliation, or try to get Israel to fire on UN forces.

These are hardly ever reported.

Here are excerpts from the most recent five UNIFIL daily reports:

8/5:

There was one incident of Hezbollah firing rockets from the vicinity of the UN position in the general area of Tibnin.

8/6:

Three members of the Chinese contingent with UNIFIL were lightly wounded this morning, when one mortar round from the Hezbollah side, according to UNIFIL’s preliminary reports, impacted inside the Headquarters of the Chinese contingent in the area of Hinniyah in the western sector.

There were three incidents of Hezbollah firing rockets from the vicinity of UNIFIL positions in the general area of Tibnin, At Tiri and Bayt Yahun.

8/7:

There were two incidents of firing close to a UNIFIL position by Hezbollah in the area of Hula. In another incident yesterday, two missiles from an unknown source impacted in the vicinity of a UNIFIL logistic convoy in El
Addaisseh. This morning, Hezbollah fired rockets from the vicinity of the UN position in Tibnin, and the IAF carried out air strikes on the areas from which the fire originated. There were no injuries or damage to UNIFIL property.

8/8:

There were two incidents of firing from the Israeli side close to a UNIFIL position in the area of El Meri, and one incident of firing close to a UNIFIL position by Hezbollah in the area of Hula yesterday. In another incident yesterday, one rocket missiles from an unknown source impacted in the vicinity of a UNIFIL position in the area of Hinniyah. This morning, Hezbollah fired rockets from the vicinity of the UN position in Tibnin, and the IAF carried out air strikes on the areas from which the fire originated.

8/9:

Hezbollah fired rockets from the vicinity of UN positions in At Tiri and Tibnin.

A real uncomfortable question

Last week, Egyptian Sandmonkey caused some ripples in the blogosphere when he posted an informal poll of his friends in the wake of Qana:

I asked him what he would've thought, if a Hezbollah rocket had attacked a building in Israel, killing 55 civillians, of which 30 were children. He responded immeidtely "I would've thought it was great! A7san!".

So I repeated the same question to 8 other co-workers, and the responses so far have been as follows: 7 said they would celebrate, and 2 said that such an attack would've been bad, but justified! Yeah! Not a single person said that the death of any civllian, on either side, is an equal tragedy. Civillians dead on our side is tragic, civillian deaths on their side cause for celebration. And if you think I am being unfair or demonizing arabs or whatever, do me a favor and try it at your work place and/or with members of your family. Conduct this little social experiment and see for yourself. The results are very interesting.

I have a better question for our Arab and Islamic friends and neighbors:

If the Muslim world had the capability to turn all of Israel into a nuclear wasteland, killing millions of Jews (as well as Palestinian Arabs), and if such a land would be uninhabitable for decades or centuries because of the radioactivity, would it be worth it to get rid of Israel?

I think I know the answer. And it puts the entire conflict in an entirely different light than what one sees in the newspapers and TV.

Video of PalArabs using kids as human shields

This is a must-see video. (H/T Jameel.)

Apparently not all PalArab kids want to willingly be part of the action. But then again, maybe he promised his mother he'd keep an eye on Junior.

Also, this picture came out yesterday:

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Tonight's fake news photo update

Zombietime has one of the better roundups of the photo fraud that is being exposed - from Reuters and the New York Times.

This is a major, and much-needed, blow to the arrogant mainstream media.

Meanwhile, in Tehran...

The Iranians seem ready to thumb their noses at any Western economic sanctions over Iranian nukes:

Tehran, 8 August (AKI) - by Ahmad Rafat - Iran has practically rejected a UN security council resolution threatening economic sanctions if it fails to suspend uranium enrichment by 31 August. And as a document obtained by Adnkronos International (AKI) suggests, Iran means to show how much the West has to loose [sic] if a boycott is imposed.

The 11-page document prepared by authorities in Tehran offers an analysis of Iran's economic relations with Western countries using data from Iran's central bank, the Bank Markazi. The document rethorically poses as its main question: "who will have the courage to boycott the Islamic Republic?"

Europe would lose some 13 billion euros in exports and 10 billion in imports a year, mainly in gas and petrol, the document estimates.

As far as Italy, Iran's main commercial partner in Europe is concerned, cutting ties with Iran would bring a loss amounting to two annual budgets, a fact recognised recently by Italian foreign minister Massimo D'Alema.

Relations between the Islamic Republic and the West however are not limited to commercial exchanges.

Iran has debts worth 27 billion dollars with European banks. Moreover, the Iranian government has 25 billion dollars deposited in banks in Europe which could be withdrawn any time soon, causing significant debts.

Ten major oil companies including Italy's ENI have invested 15 billion dollars in South Pars, the world's largest gas field in the Persian Gulf off Iran. China has signed investment accords in the energy sector worth 25 billion dollars.

Finally, the document talks about the 'oil weapon'. Today 40 oil companies, including three from Italy, import every day 2.5 million barrels of crude oil. Japan, with its 541,000 barrels imported each day, would be the hardest hit.

The economy of South Korea, whose exports to Iran in the past three years totalled 26 billion dollars, would be hugely damaged by a boycott on Tehran.

Overall, experts who drafted the document eestimated that were Iran to stop exporting crude oil and gas, the price of oil a barrel would amount to a minimum of 100 dollars but could reach 125 dollars.

Nothing would benefit the Western world more than $125/barrel oil. If that would happen, alternate fuels would become instantly affordable in comparison, which would help stop the petrodollar-fueled terror threat, as well as reduce pollution.

And Iran would stand to lose far more from sanctions than the West.

But shortsightedness will rule the day, as usual, and when Iran has the bomb there will be very little pleasure in "I told you so"s.

Baalbek was the site of a concentration camp for Jews (1948)

An interesting find as I browsed through the Palestine Post archives.

Apparently, the attitude of Lebanese towards Jews in 1948 was a bit different than that indicated in my blog post yesterday from 1946.

Contemporaneous articles on similar themes can be found here.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Nearly all Palestinians in the
West Bank and Gaza back Hezbollah against Israel and would oppose the unconditional release of captured Israeli soldiers to shorten the war, a poll has showed.

Hezbollah had the support of 97 percent of Palestinians, compared with three percent who said they were opposed to the group, according to the poll.

It said that 93 percent of Palestinians thought that two Israeli soldiers captured in a July 12 cross-border raid that sparked the war in Lebanon should not be released unconditionally even if it means an easing of the conflict.

Remember, previous polls showed only 4% of Palestinian Arabs opposed terror.

So no matter how the world wants to spin the Palestinian Arabs as a mostly peaceful people with a tiny minority of extremists, no matter how many politicians and clueless editorial writers say that Hamas' election was a fluke and most Palestinian Arabs only voted for them because of their social programs, just remember this.

When Arabs are killing Jewish innocents, they cheer.

MAJDEL KRUM, Israel (Reuters) - "Hizbollah has raised up our heads and lifted our spirits", said Israeli Arab Ali Manna as he mourned two nephews killed in a rocket attack by the Lebanese guerrilla group.

Despite the fact that Arabs make up a third of the 48 people killed by rocket fire on northern Israel, the sympathies of some of the Arab minority lie very much with the Lebanese group rather than the Jewish state.

Manna's nephews, Mohammad Manna, aged 25, and Baha Fayyad, 30, were killed when a rocket hit the town of Majdel Krum last week.

Although Arabs and Jews are coming under the same hail of rockets and sometimes share the same bomb shelters, the war has further strained ties between the communities.

"Hizbollah's popularity has increased immensely among the Arabs in Israel," said Rawda Atallah, head of the Arab Cultural Association in Haifa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city that has been one of the main targets of Hizbollah attacks.

"For the first time there is a sense of regained dignity. They feel for the first time a group is resisting and standing steadfast in the face of the Israeli army," she said.

Just after the start of the conflict with Hizbollah, sparked by the group's abduction of two Israeli soldiers on July 12, some Arabs would rush out and cheer when rockets fell on neighboring Jewish towns These days, they are more likely to take cover when the warning sirens sound. But the fear of coming under fire has not discouraged those who supported Hizbollah.
Some Israeli commentators have suggested that Arabs should be stripped of citizenship if they support Hizbollah.
Israeli media have published reports alleging that Israeli Arabs are colluding with Hizbollah and even helping the guerrillas direct their rocket fire through text messages.

What kind of a sick, depraved society cheers when their own people die, as long as innocent Jews die too?

How can anyone expect a real peace when there is such abject, naked hatred?

In one sense, this is even sicker than cheering suicide terror. At least suicide bombers chose to be "martyrs" - but here, some Arab Israelis celebrate the deaths of their own relatives who did not want to be killed. This is their "dignity."

Sick, twisted bigots.

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More wire service photo bias

Today, Amnesty International organized a series of rallies worldwide. Here is how Amnesty describs the rallies:

Civilians have been targeted in Lebanon by the Israeli Defence Forces and in northern Israel by Hizbullah leaving hundreds dead.

After weeks of fighting, bombs and rockets continue to fall indiscriminately on women, children, ambulances, rescue workers and other innocent victims of this escalating conflict. These deliberate attacks violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.

Only an immediate, full and effective ceasefire will protect civilians on both sides, but calls for the warring parties to obey the laws of war and protect civilians have fallen on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, governments that could exert their influence to end the crisis have chosen instead to prioritize their own political and military interests over innocent lives of civilians.

We, the international community, are not powerless in the face of this crisis. We must stand up together to protect the lives of civilians and to ensure no more war crimes are commited.

What can you do? Take action now!

1. Join Amnesty International in our Ceasefire vigil on Monday 7th August

We call for a ceasefire;
We demand that all governments stop the supply of arms to the conflict; and
We stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors on both sides of the Israel/Lebanon conflict.

I have posted before about why I believe that in the context of this conflict, even-handedness is stupid. I strongly object to Amnesty's slanderous charge that Israel is deliberately attacking civilians and is guilty of war crimes.

Nevertheless, from the text above Amnesty is exerting a lot of effort to make the rallies appear even-handed, and they are meant to protest the violence on both sides of the conflict.

Somehow, AP in Madrid interpreted the rallies a bit differently:

Candles spelling out the word Stop are seen on the ground during a vigil in central Madrid, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006 to protest Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The protest, organized by Amnesty International, called for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Most of the captions about rallies in other cities (Washington, Paris, Istanbul) reflected the intent of the Amnesty rallies, but the Madrid one was always described as "to protest Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories." Interestingly, the rally had nothing to do with the Palestinian conflict. So who writes the blurbs? If the AP editors wrote them they would not have been inconsistent, so this bolsters my theory that photo stringers themselves - who are not journalists - give descriptions of photo captions to wire services and they are printed without any editorial oversight.

One other way that pictures lie are from what they don't show.

Here, for example, are two of many pictures taken by Reuters at an anti-Israel rally today in Santiago:

Pedestrians walk along a street decorated with black and Palestine flags next to an orthodox church in the Patronato neighbourhood in Santiago August 7, 2006, where members of the Palestinian community attended a mass against Israel's military offensive in Lebanon and Gaza. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE)

And another:

From the pictures, it appears that perhaps a few dozen people were in attendance.

Compare this to this pro-Israel rally that happened in Denver today:

The article that accompanies this picture says that hundreds of people rallied for Israel. But I cannot show you the wire service caption.

Because not a single wire service bothered covering the pro-Israel rally.

I have seen pictures of dozens of anti-Israel rallies on the news wire services, and very few pro-Israel rallies. Yet I know there are plenty of pro-Israel rallies worldwide.

Now, why would wire services extensively cover one kind of rally and almost ignore the other kind?

And when newspaper editors are putting together their editions for the next day and need a photo to fill up some space - which one is more likely to be published?

Keep an eye on Houla hoopla

See update below.

This morning, something happened in the Lebanese border village of Houla. Some people probably died. But it looks like this may easily be another Qana, and news organizations should be more skeptical now before publishing outrageous claims.

Here are the claims, from the Lebanese prime minister:

An Israeli attack on a Lebanese border village killed more than 40 people Monday, the prime minister said, raising the day's death toll to 55 in heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas despite efforts toward a cease-fire.
Saniora said the attack occurred in the village of Houla, where heavy ground fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli has been raging in recent days. The Israel army said it is checking the claims about Houla but repeated that residents in villages in southern Lebanon had been warned to leave.

Local TV stations also had reported that about 40 people were buried under the rubble of houses that collapsed after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

"An hour ago, there was a horrific massacre in the village of Houla in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing," he said.

Saniora ripped Israel's attacks, saying: "If these horrific actions are not state terrorism then what is state terrorism?"

Right before his claims, the wire services were reporting the possibility that dozens were trapped underneath rubble from buildings that collapsed. To go from that to the certainty that more than 40 had died seems very, very fast.

Saniora has motive to exaggerate. It is clear that Hezbollah is pressuring him and his ministers to adhere to the terrorist line (notice his reference to the victims are "martyrs.") No information leaves southern Lebanon until Hezbollah allows it to leave. And, like Qana, Houla seems to be a center of Hezbollah activity, and inflating casualty figures can give Hezbollah fighters there a break from the constant battles over the past few days.

Also, with what we've learned about Hezbollah and its preparations over the past six years, along with Syrian activities, it is a reasonable assumption that Hezb is running an effective "secret service" operation throughout Lebanon, terrorizing those who disagree with it and setting itself up for a political takeover backed by KGB-like tactics.

No doubt, Sinioira's claims are newsworthy, but to accept them as fact until real reporters have a chance to go and see for themselves would be irresponsible journalism.

UPDATE:

U.N. peacekeepers at a post near Houla reported Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel twice Monday from positions near the UNIFIL base.

UPDATE 2:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Monday that one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Houla, not 40 as he had earlier reported.

"The massacre in Houla, it turned out that there was one person killed," Reuters quoted Siniora as saying. "They thought that the whole building smashed on the heads of about 40 people ... thank God they have been saved."

Siniora had earlier told Arab foreign ministers in Beirut that the attack "was a horrific massacre ... in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing."

Saniora said he had based the initial tally on unspecified information that he had received, The Associated Press reported. He offered no other explanation for the error.