Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Hezbollah child abuse - recruiting 10 year olds as martyrs

MEMRI translated an article from an Egyptian newspaper that shows the sickening depths to which Hezbollah goes.

Don't hold your breath for Amnesty International to call it a war crime, or for the UN to call it immoral. They save such words for people they don't like.

Hizbullah Recruits Children Barely 10 Years Old
According to Roz Al-Yusuf, "Hizbullah has recruited over 2,000 innocent children aged 10-15 to form armed militias. Before the recent war with Israel, these children appeared only in the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations, and were referred to as the 'December 14 Units,' but today they are called istishhadiyun ['martyrs']..."
"Hizbullah has customarily recruited youths and children and trained them to fight from a very early age. These are children barely 10 years old, who wear camouflage uniforms, cover their faces with black [camouflage] paint, swear to wage jihad, and join the Mahdi Scouts [youth organization]...
"The children are selected by Hizbullah recruitment [officers] based on one criterion only: They must be willing to become martyrs."
The Children Train to Become Martyrs
"The children are educated from an early age to become martyrs in their youth, like their fathers, and their training is carried out by the Mahdi Scouts youth organization... [This organization], which is affiliated with Hizbullah, teaches the children the basic principles of Shi'ite ideology and of Hizbullah's ideology... The first lesson that the children are taught by Hizbullah is 'The Disappearance of Israel,' and it is always an important part of the [training] program...
"The Mahdi Scouts organization was founded in Lebanon on May 5, 1985... According to the organization's website, the number of [scouts] who had undergone training by the end of 2004 was 1,491, and the number of scout groups which had joined [the organization] was 449, with a membership of 41,960. According to the organization's most recent statistics, since 2004, 120 of its members have been ready to become martyrs.
"The organization's goal is to train an exemplary generation of Muslims based on the [principle of] 'the rule of the jurisprudent' [a founding principle of the Islamic Revolution in Iran], and to prepare for the coming of the Imam Mahdi [the Shi'ite messiah]. Its members, including the children, undertake to obey their commanders, to bring honor to the [Muslim] nation, and to prepare themselves for helping the Mahdi [when he comes]."

"A Nation With Child-Martyrs Will Be Victorious"
According to the article, Na'im Qasim, deputy to Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, said in an interview on Radio Canada: "A nation with child-martyrs will be victorious, no matter what difficulties lie in its path. Israel cannot conquer us or violate our territories, because we have martyr sons who will purge the land of the Zionist filth... This will be done through the blood of the martyrs, until we eventually achieve our goals."

TIME magazine mentioned the Mahdi scouts a few weeks ago. Wow, that salute looks familiar.

Extrajudicial Killing of PRC leader

Early this morning, Ra'ed Mohammad El-Nahhal was killed. El-Nahhal was a leader in the "Naser Salah El-Deen Brigades," which is the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.

While he was driving his car at the time, it was not a Zionist helicopter or drone that sent a missile down his throat, but some other PalArab pumped several bullets into his head.

Which means that the unfortunate El-Nahhal will not get a huge funeral with people waving terror flags; Reuters will not be sending any cameramen to photograph his remains; there will be no car swarm; his family will not get thousands of dollars from Iran or Saudi Arabia; no posters of El-Nahhal will be printed up and plastered all over "refugee camps"; he will have no streets or stadiums named after him; no international human rights organizations will scream about "extrajudicial killings" in their self-congratulatory press releases, no one will protest his killers. People who want to Google him will only find mention at the PCHR site and a Zionist blog.

Poor guy had the misfortune to be murdered by a Palestinian Arab. And no one cares when that happens - it is a dog-bites-man story.

We are now at 64 PalArabs killed by their own people (that I know of) in the two months since the Israeli incursion began.

UPDATE: The PRC is blaming the death on hitmen hired by Israel. So if any PalArab is stupid enough to believe that (is it even a question?) he still has a shot at fame and martyrdom!

Allah be praised!

Kofi's latest idiotic statement

From recent UN press releases:

Regarding the situation in South Lebanon, the Secreatry-General [sic] said that "both parties have to respect the ceasefire...Parties with complaints on the ground, they should come to General Pellegrini, not take matters into their own hands...It’s a bit like having a football match where one of the teams also attempts to play the referee. You cannot be a team in a football match and the referee at the same time."

Kofi Annan is a complete idiot, and his analogy is not only false but offensive.

When one is dealing with issues of life and death, you do not rely on a third party - you rely on yourself. To say that a war is like a football match is breathtaking in its naivete.

When the "referee" has a history of favoring one side over the other, he is no longer a referee - at best he is an ineffectual bystander, at worst he is an enemy.

Which is proven by the next day's press release:

On 30 August the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) withdrew from the general area of Bastra and the area south of the Kafr Shuba and Shaba villages along the Blue Line in the Eastern part of South Lebanon. UNIFIL has established checkpoints and will carry out intensive patrolling to confirm that the IDF are no longer present in this area. UNIFIL plans to handover the area to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Notice how UNIFIL defines its role - not to catch weapons smuggling from Syria, not to ensure that Hezbollah does not re-establish itself in the vacuum - but only to see if Israel is really gone. Which will require "intensive patrolling," as if the IDF is trying to hide.

After all of the sound and fury about 1701 and the Israeli hostages and the need to disarm Hezbollah and how important it is to stop illegal arms imports into Lebanon, in the end the UN is only concerned with one thing - getting Israel out of the way so that Hezbollah can be safely re-armed with no interference from the "referee."

Hezbollah apologist wins LA human relations award

From TNR:

In October 2000, Maher Hathout attended a rally in Lafayette Park across from the White House. His speech was captured on video for posterity by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. He told the assembled crowd that he was not surprised by what he called the "atrocities committed by the apartheid brutal state of Israel." After all, he reasoned, "butchers do what butchers do, and ... what is expected from a racist apartheid [state] is what is happening now."
Fast forward six years. The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations announced last Tuesday that Hathout, president of the Islamic Center of Southern California and a senior adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (mpac), would receive its prestigious John Allen Buggs Award in luncheon ceremonies on October 5. The award is given annually for what the commission describes as "outstanding human relations work."

A man who called Israel a nation of butchers (he didn't stop there; he has also accused the United States of committing state terrorism) is about to be honored with a major award for effective practices in human relations work. Is this any different than giving, say, David Duke an award for healing racial relations?

Read the whole thing.

UN hypocrisy shines through

The UN has no problem loudly condemning Israel over their use of cluster bombs as being "completely immoral."

I can't claim to know when or where Israel used those munitions, nor in what context. I am troubled that there are apparently some unexploded bombs still dotting Lebanon that can injure or kill innocents.

But the use of such bombs do have a place in war, and without the UN knowing the exact circumstances, their self-righteous posturing about morality comes off as more than hypocritical.

Especially since UNIFIL consistently supported Hezbollah during the war. Especially since the UN press releases would reveal Israeli troop movements and never discuss Hezbollah's. Especially since the UN would ignore some Hezbollah violations while highlighting Israel's.

But most hypocritical of all is that the UN is silent on the thousands of anti-personnel rockets that were built in Syria and shot by Hezbollah; built to maximize damage and aimed at the general population of Israel. To use the words "completely immoral" to describe Israel's activities aimed at Hezbollah when the UN itself turns a blind eye to what can only be described as attempted genocide against Jewish men, women and children shows once again that morality is not something that Kofi Annan is qualified in the least to speak about.

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs just came out with a preliminary report on the Hezbollah rocket war against Israeli civilians. A simple fact that the UN does not seem to be interested in is:

From July 13 to August 13, the Israel Police reported 4,228 rocket impacts inside Israel from rockets fired by Hizballah. No geographical area in the world has sustained such a large quantity of rocket strikes since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 1980s.

Here is a small amount of the damage done by just one of those 4,228 rockets (other pictures in the report):

When the UN finds in itself the ability to describe Hezbollah as "completely immoral," it will go a tiny way towards being able to be taken seriously when it condemns a nation that agonizes over every action that may kill an innocent human being.

Until then, at least in the context of Israel, it is simply a terrorist tool.

New template

I use Firefox, and I had not noticed that IE seems to get thoroughly hosed when viewing my page. I had been playing around a little with a three-column template that seems to be somewhat better behaved under IE so I am changing the blog to use that one. There are still some tweaks I wanted to do to this template but at least it seems to work for all users again.

Please let me know when and if you have problems viewing my blog so I can crank up IE and see if I can figure it out.

Hezbollah "charity box"

In Lebanon, the IDF found Hezbollah pamphlets aimed at children, as well as leaflets showing this lovely image:

[Hezbollah] raises large sums of money in private homes and public places in Lebanon: Businesses, mosques, education institution, petrol stations, shopping centers, roadblocks and more. It uses thousands of "charity boxes" spread among populations, as well as national fund raising campaigns.

Part of the activity is carried out in cooperation with other Hizbullah social-economic institutions.
For example, IDF soldiers captured in Hizbullah members' houses at the village of Aita al-Shaab leaflets distributed in homes, schools and stores, encouraging people to raise funds for the organization.
The leaflets feature a drawing with the message that the donations are aimed at purchasing weapons for the destruction of the State of Israel. The leaflets read: "In order for all of our houses to become part of the resistance (Hizbullah) – this is the resistance box – place it in your home."

The picture shows a charity box designed as the Dome of the Rock with a photo of the former Hizbullah secretary-general. Coins inserted into the box turn into bullets when they emerge from the box and smash a Star of David symbolizing Israel.

Islamic passion

The Times of London mentions:

MARTYRDOM videos found by police investigating the alleged airline terrorist plot contain chilling statements made by young men who are apparently willing to die as suicide bombers.

In one of the films, recorded shortly before a spate of arrests on August 10, a man is seen talking to the camera and stating: “As you bomb, you will be bombed; as you kill, you will be killed.”
The would-be martyr said he hoped that Allah would be “pleased with us and accept our deed”. He continued, reading from a script, citing verses from the Koran and listing his reasons for “action that I am going to undertake”.
In another search, police found a last will and testament that concluded: “What should I worry when I die a Muslim in the manner in which I am to die? I go to my death for the sake of my maker, whom if wishes can bless limbs torn away.”

I've seen people argue that Islam is inherently evil, and I've seen people argue that we shouldn't blame an entire group based on their fanatics and that Islam is a religion of peace. I've read opinions and articles from the gamut of opinion from the pro-jihadists to the most right-wingers. As a pure religion (as opposed to a political ideology), I admire Islam in many ways. I try very hard to give all people the benefit of the doubt, even as I read about polls where a large percentage of ordinary Muslims condone terror.

But the quotes above crystallized for me what has been bothering me since 9/11.

We have not yet seen a visceral, passionate outrage from the Muslim world against terror.

We have seen many examples of Islamic passion over the past five years. We've seen deadly riots and peaceful demonstrations over cartoons they deem blasphemous. Muslims pour into the streets over any perceived slight to their faith.

Their faith itself inspires passion, and in general this is an admirable thing. I wish that Jews would become much more passionate in the defense of their people and religion.

But, if Islam is truly as it represents itself to the Western world, how come there are not spontaneous demonstrations happening right now as a reaction to the quotes above? If Islam is a peaceful religion, Muslims should be far more insulted at the perversity shown above than Westerners.

Why is a cartoon comparing Mohammed to terrorists more objectionable than terrorists invoking Mohammed and Allah to justify mass murder?

By any reasonable standard, assuming that the peaceful definition of Islam is accurate, the terrorists are treating Islam far more insultingly than any non-Muslim could. They are quoting the Koran to justify what can only be termed a gross perversion of the faith. How can a people who are so keenly attuned to any slight be suddenly so deaf?

Since 9/11, every condemnation of terror that I've seen from the Muslim world has been devoid of passion. The words might be there but the feeling of true outrage at the hijacking of their very faith has been absent.

It just doesn't jive that a people so emotional in their defense of their faith from blasphemy can become so rational when condemning those who are supposedly hijacking that same faith to justify murder. Where is the visceral condemnation of terror?

I can think of two possible reasons:

Muslims are so paranoid and perceive themselves as so embattled that they will close ranks around their own against the outside world, no matter how disgusting the terrorists are.
The Islamic faith itself is not really nearly as peaceful as it pretends to be. (In this case, I mean the reality of Islam today, not the theoretical academic version. I am not qualified to critique Islam purely as a religion.)

I am reluctant to believe the latter one, but either option does not bode well for a true solution to Islamic terror. Daniel Pipes likes to say that "Radical Islam is the problem; moderate Islam is the solution." I would like to believe that, but if moderate Islam truly exists - and if it is truly Islam - its adherents need to show at least the same passion for life that the Islamists do regularly for death.

The lack of the visceral disgust of terror in the name of Islam, the failure of the "Muslim street" to rise up against those who are supposedly perverting their faith, means that these moderates do not exist in any meaningful way.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Wednesday that he refused to have any direct contact with Israel, and that Lebanon would be the last Arab country to ever sign a peace deal with it.

Today's staged Hezbollah photos 8/30

Many of the photographs from Beirut prominently show the results of a graphic artist:

Beirut, LEBANON: A Lebanese woman sits on the wreckage of her apartment in a flattened building in devastated Beirut's southern suburb, 28 August 2006. AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)

This is a bit more subtle than the egregious photo manipulations and stagings that were shown in Lebanon, but think about this:

Who is the intended audience for these posters?

The professional layout and especially the use of English all point to the obvious fact - that when Lebanon is no longer a war zone and Hezbollah can no longer control reporters directly, they can still create photo-ops that will be irresistable to some photographers. And the photographers are more than happy to take the bait.

That gigantic poster, with the picture of devastation followed by "Made in USA", was not cheap. It was not made in a garage. It was planned carefully and paid for with the entire purpose of not increasing Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon, but in manipulating world public opinion.

In fact, I imagine the Lebanese people would be quite insulted at a picture of their town in ruins followed by the words "The Divine Victory."

Don't foozle with homemade rockets!

From the always invaluable "Palestinian Centre for Human Rights:"

A Child Killed and His Brother Wounded When They Foozled with a Rocket in Beit Hanoun

On Monday noon, 28 August 2006, a child was killed and his brother was wounded as they foozled with a locally made rocket near their house in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. In another incident, unknown gunmen fired at an officer of the Palestinian National Security Forces in Beit Lahia, but no casualties were reported.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 13:15 on Monday, 28 August 2006, a heavy explosion occurred in a room near a house belonging to Khaled Mohammed al-Za’anin in al-Qaraman Street in Beit Hanoun. As a result, the owner’s son, 17-year-old Mohammed, was instantly killed, and his other son, 14-year-old Bilal, was injured by shrapnel throughout the body. The explosion occurred when the two brothers were foozling with a locally made rocket apparently stored in the room by Palestinian resistance activists.

Alas, no virgins for poor Mohammed. But it had been a couple of days since the last deadly "misuse of weapons" incident so I suppose that Mohammed's number was just up.

For the Palestinian Arabs, they can take solace in the fact that while Mohammed is not a martyr, they will make his death appear to be the result of Israeli actions when they issue press releases.

We now know of at least 63 dead Palestinian Arabs who were violently killed due to other PalArabs since the Israeli offensive began.

And, indeed, "foozle" is a real word!

foo·zle (fū'zəl)
tr.v., -zled, -zling, -zles.
To manage clumsily; bungle.
n.
The act of bungling, especially a poor stroke in golf.
[Perhaps from German dialectal fuseln, to work poorly or slowly.]
foozler foo'zler n.

Jesse doesn't need Hezbollah for his photos

Unlike other visitors taking the Hezbollah Guided Tour of Southern Beirut, Jesse Jackson does not seem to require the Party of God's assistance in looking for photogenic rubble to pose with. And this morning's featured AP Beirut photographer is a more than willing participant.

Veteran US civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, third right, and his son Jonathan, right, speak to an unidentified local Lebanese woman as they stand on the rubble of her apartment building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, which was destroyed during an attack by Israeli forces in the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

And here he is shortly afterwards, as his son and the Lebanese woman (and the Hezbollah handler) disappear so Jesse can get his close-up in front of the same building.

One can almost imagine the AP photographer and Jesse Jackson conferring over the lighting and composition.