Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

What a difference a day makes for Hamas

Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday the "obvious" progress achieved during recent talks between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas warranted the lifting of the economic embargo on the Palestinians.

"Progress is obvious... We are convinced that the progress is enough to mitigate the economic restrictions imposed on the Palestinians," the minister, Sergei Lavrov, told a news conference in Moscow.

Lavrov, who earlier held talks with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal, said the two sides "identified the aspects most important to paving the way for a settlement of the Middle East conflict," he said.

"The Mecca accord proved that consolidation of all Palestinians was possible. The Mecca accord is a move towards implementing the demands of the Quartet of international mediators," he said. He pledged to continue work on Hamas.

Speaking at a separate news conference, Lavrov said Hamas has pledged to stop missile attacks on Israel.

"Hamas must use all its authority on the Palestinian territories to stop firing Kassam rockets at Israel. We have been assured that such steps will be taken," he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

And today:

Earlier Wednesday, six rockets fell on southern Israel, causing no injuries but damaging a security fence. The rockets came despite promises by Hamas leaders to halt the attacks.

Also today:

Abu Obaida, the spokesman of the Qassam Brigades the armed wing of Hamas Movement, on Wednesday vowed an "earthshaking reprisal" to the Israeli occupation's crimes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The spokesman affirmed that the Palestinian people never accepted "oppression", and stressed that the Palestinian resistance would "teach the enemy a bitter lesson".

He said that IOF practices in Nablus and Jenin, the murder, siege of hospitals, arrests, closure of schools, terrorizing and starving civilians were part of the "Zionist terrorism against the Palestinian people" that would entail devastation on the "Zionists themselves".

He charged that Israel wants to drench the Palestinian arena in a pool of blood and to create chaos in a bid to hamper the implementation of the Makkah agreement that brought calm back to that arena.

I wonder if Lavrov has withdrawn his recommendation to fund these lovely people yet.

One valuable lesson that Palestinian Arabs have learned very well: while lies repeated often enough do indeed become thought of as the truth, you only have to lie once to people who want to believe your lies.

Martyr matters at Ma'an

Palestinian Media Watch came out with a report yesterday comparing the reporting done by the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News in English and Arabic, and accusing Ma'an of using the terminology of terror in Arabic but not in English:

Ma'an releases in Arabic include the hate ideology espoused by the terror organizations that deny Israel's right to exist, express reverence for suicide terrorists and justify terrorist murder as "resistance." But when translated into English, the same stories go through a sterilization process to hide from the English readers – and possibly from the two Western countries, the Netherlands and Denmark, who give them funding – the terrorist ideology Ma'an is helping to propagate.

They go on to give two examples.

Ma'an News responded to the charges. One of the points they made was of interest:

When Ma'an was established at the beginning of 2005, Ma'an News Agency hosted media experts from all over the world, including Israel, in order to discuss the terminology. Among the guests were the Israeli journalists, Miron Ropot and Zvika Yehezkely, along with dozens of media professors from Britain, Iran, Europe and the United States. All agreed that each language has its own terminology and special meanings, and that Ma'an will not stop using terms such as "martyr", "resistance" and equivalent terms, in Arabic.

Philippa N., chief English editor, said: "We have never tried to hide the fact that we cater to a different audience and therefore need to employ a different language. The most important thing for us is to deliver the facts and to portray the full extent of the harsh reality of life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, without causing incitement. The coverage is more important than the language. In regards to our choice of terminology, we aim to stick as close as possible to UN-accepted terms, while maintaining our Palestinian perspective."

Compared to every other PalArab media outlet, English or Arabic, Ma'an is the one that adheres closest to accepted journalistic standards. This is not to say that it has reached that level but within its own framework it is the fairest.

However, as can be seen in the quotes above, being better than the usual Arab media crap is not the same as being satisfactory.

The chief English editor admits that Ma'an has an agenda, and that agenda is not truth but propaganda -"to portray the full extent of the harsh reality of life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation." So while Ma'an has more stories about Palestinian Arabs killing each other than any other PalArab media outlet, it will devote most of its stories on Israeli actions even though they have been resulting in far fewer deaths this year (the latest ratio is roughly 130 PalArabs killed by their own this year versus 23 killed by Israel, a ratio that is simply not reflected in Ma'an's articles.)

Beyond that is a more fundamental problem. They assert that "each language has its own terminology and special meanings," and this is undoubtedly true. But when the terminology itself becomes a means of incitement, then it becomes problematic. The fact that a supposedly secular, neutral news source refers to dead PalArabs as "martyrs" and refers to suicide bombers as part of a "resistance" doesn't just mean it is reflecting normal use of the terms - it is influencing its readers to think that blowing themselves up is a noble deed. To hide behind the "everybody's doing it" defense is a cop-out.

The other statement that "the coverage is more important than the language" is simply false, for the same reasons. The language helps dictate the coverage.

Saying that these are "UN-accepted terms" is very interesting. I only found one case where a UN document referred to martyrs in English, and it was indeed a translation from an Arabic attachment to the report on the Jenin operation in 2002:

The present report contains a number of eyewitness accounts by casualties who survived the massacre and close relatives and friends of martyrs, inhabitants of the camp, volunteers who participated in the relief operations and journalists.

This seems to indicate that the UN itself may use the same terror terminology in its Arabic documents, which would be a much bigger story than just what a Palestinian Arab newspaper does.

PalArab "eyewitnesses" lie again

The wire services are reporting this morning on Israel's killing of three Islamic Jihad terrorists in Jenin, including a leader behind last weeks' aborted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. This is from AFP:

The undercover force in Jenin opened fire on the car carrying the militants, killing Ashraf al-Saadi, 25, a senior Jihad leader in the West Bank, and Alaa Breiki, 26, Palestinian security sources said.
A third militant, Mohammad Abu Naasa, 22, was wounded in the shooting, but a soldier finished him off with a bullet to the head, witnesses said.

"The soldiers came to the car, opened the back door, saw that one of the guys was injured in the back. One of the soldiers took out his pistol and shot him in the head," said one witness, declining to be named.

Yet again, Palestinian "witnesses" and "security officials" who have a track record of lying are quoted, and Israel's account of the operation is either not mentioned or mentioned as a footnote later in the article.

The IDF says:

In a joint ISA, IDF and special Border Police force arrest operation earlier this morning in Jenin, two senior Islamic Jihad terrorists and their assistant were killed. Security forces arrived at the site of their location in order to arrest the wanted men when one of them, Ashraf Saadi, opened fire at the forces, lightly injuring a Border Policeman. In the ensuing exchanges of fire the three wanted men were killed.

Ashraf Mahmoud Nafaa Saadi, a 29-year old resident of the Jenin refugee camp, had been wanted by security forces for a significant period of time. Saadi was responsible for many shooting and bombing attacks in the region and cooperated with senior members of Islamic Jihad involved in the deadly suicide bombing attacks in Israel during 2005-2006.

Muhammad Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmad "Abu Nassa", a 34 year old resident of the Jenin refugee camp, was one of the senior commanders of Islamic Jihad in the Jenin refugee camp. Abu-Nassa was involved in the transferring of funds to Islamic Jihad terror cells. In the past Abu-Nassa served as a close assistant to Husam Jaradat, who headed Islamic Jihad's activities in Jenin until his death in August 2006.

Al'aa Rafik Da'ud Jabali served as an assistant of the two terrorists.

Last week this very infrastructure dispatched Ummar Abu Roub to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, an attack which was thwarted by security forces. The infrastructure continues to operate via different channels to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.

Now, I don't know for certain that the IDF account is 100% accurate either (AFP reported that an Israeli source gave a somewhat different account.) There have been times that the IDF didn't have complete information, or made errors that were corrected later.

But the IDF track record is far, far better than these unnamed "witnesses" who invariably talk with Arab stringers or reporters with tales of horrid Israeli crimes that don't pan out. Wouldn't a "news" service take this into account when reporting - if they are interested in accuracy? Shouldn't the IDF account be given more weight to begin with, based on past history?

Previous EoZ stories on PalArab lies:
Pavlov and the Terrorists
"Soccer-playing" weapons smugglers
News flash: Palestinian leaders lie!

Arab terrorist rapists attack Jewish women

From The Jerusalem Post:

A gang of serial rapists has been prowling the North, raping Jewish women as revenge for IDF actions in the West Bank, police revealed Tuesday after arresting six suspects.

"We are raping Jews because of what the IDF is doing to the Palestinians in the territories," one of the six suspects told investigators from the Northern District Central Investigative Unit (CIU) during questioning. During their questioning and their brief appearance at the Nazareth Magistrate's Court Tuesday, none of the four main suspects indicated that they felt remorse for their actions.

Police said they were aware of four attacks carried out by the gang, but they believed there were probably other incidents that had gone unreported by the victims.

In all four cases, police said, the rapists' modus operandi were strikingly similar - all of the attacks were directed against young women who were waiting at bus stops or designated hitchhiking points in the western Galilee and the Haifa area.

...The suspects' arrests were released for publication by the Nazareth Magistrate's Court, which also extended the four key suspects' remands by 10 days. The remand of an additional suspect was extended by five days. A young woman from the village who is suspected of collaborating with the suspects was released on restricted terms.

A tiny silver lining - the Bedouin village that these animals came from seems genuinely upset:

Hasan Gadir, a village leader, said he called an urgent meeting with all northern local council representatives to be held Wednesday, in order to decide how to address the issue.

"We are shocked and horrified," he said. "This was a dark day for all of us and we cannot take its implications seriously enough. Our tribe is known for its good temper and spirit, and we denounce those youths' actions. We will never accept this sort of behavior. For us, this is worse than a murder."

Gadir said he spent the day Tuesday with Cmdr. Dan Ronen, Northern District Police chief, and at the detention center, where he met with the suspects and their parents.

"I don't know the suspects personally but I know their parents. They are all from good families, but none of us can even think why and how it happened," he said. "We are going to examine the cases more deeply and draw conclusions, so that this will never happen again. I took it personally and it made me sad and shocked. This village has made me proud in the past, and I hope I will be proud of it again."

Gadir's reaction was echoed by other members of the town.

"I read about it on the Internet and it made me upset," said Adel Hareb, manager of the Bir al-Maksur Education Department. "That doesn't add respect to our community and this kind of behavior is against our belief, culture and tradition as Beduins."

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, Hareb said the village members "will support any punishment they receive, but I hope this turns out to be a mistake. I am sure that their family members denounce their actions just as we do," Hareb added.

While the crimes are reprehensible beyond belief, and perfectly consistent with Arab terrorism where the only morality is to be able to hurt Jews, it is refreshing to see condemnations of Arab terror acts by other Arabs that don't have that "but..." that is always attached when Palestinian Arabs or their supporters speak.

UPDATE: Sultan Knish puts it in perspective - and it isn't pretty.
Israel Matzav as well.

Two Gaza women murdered. But not by Israel, so who cares?

Maan News updates us on how well that unity government is working:

Gaza - Ma'an - The Gaza Strip witnessed a number of violent and suspicious incidents over the last 24 hours, Palestinian security sources told Ma'an News Agency. The police are currently investigating these incidents.

In one incident, the bullet-ridden body of a woman in her twenties was found in the Atatra area, west of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. She had been shot at least ten times, the sources said. She is suspected to have been killed due to reasons of a family dispute.

Another female in her forties was found dead in Tunnel Street in the east of Gaza City, the sources said.

In a third case, the police were informed that a Palestinian man, Raed Qishtah, 25, was abducted in the Rafah area. The sources believe that the pro-Hamas Executive Force, the armed group under the command of the interior ministry, is responsible for the abduction.

While in the Rimal area of south Gaza City, an explosive device was planted outside the gate of the house of a university lecturer. It exploded but did not cause any casualties or injuries.

The police also learned that the car of Gen. Afif Sheikh was stolen on Tuesday morning.

Of course, no mainstream news source mentions this because everyone knows that Palestinian Arab women are expendable when they are killed by Arabs. "Honor killings" are not of interest.

I had already counted the first death last night, so our count of Palestinian Arabs violently killed by each other is now at 333 since late July and 128 since January 1.

UPDATE 1: A body of a 22-year old terrorist was found in a tunnel between Gaza and Egypt that collapsed three days ago. 334 and 129.

UPDATE 2: It was 3 women murdered in Gaza in 24 hours, according to PCHR. One was 31, one was 40 and the other was 45. All were shot multiple times. 335 and 130.

Qassam Rocket calendar - February

Here is my best shot at keeping track of when rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza so far this month. On the 8th, 10 were claimed to have been shot by Islamic Jihad but only four or so were recorded as having landed.

The numbers in parentheses are from Palestinian terror group claims, not from Israeli confirmed sources.

Remember that Israel still regards this as being "calm" and has only rarely responded to Gaza terror since the "cease fire" announced in November.

February 2007 Qassam attacks

March calendar here.

The Cotton Market

As we mentioned last month, Palestinian Arabs are protesting a synagogue that is apparently being built on the site of the Cotton Market in the Old City.

I have not found any mention of this being built in any Jewish or Israeli sources, but it would be between the Kotel and the Kotel HaKatan and 50-100 meters away from the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.

The Cotton Market was originally built in the 14th century and was for a time an important commercial center. But it fell into disuse and was abandoned for centuries, through Ottoman rule and through Jordanian rule.

Here's a picture of the market from National Geographic in 1917:

It was rebuilt only after Israel ruled the area, possibly as late as 1995, by the Waqf and paid for by the UN.

The Cotton Market mirrors the history of Jerusalem as a whole: when no Jews were there, no one cared about it or its historic value. Even when Jordan ruled Jerusalem nothing was done to rebuild this area. Only under Jewish rule was Arab interest rekindled in the Cotton Market and Jerusalem as a whole.

Remember this whenever you read an article about how sacred every stone of Jerusalem is to Muslims. The Cotton Market is undeniably a beautiful piece of architecture, ending in an impressive gate to the Temple Mount - but even so, it was abandoned and ignored by the very people who claim to love it the most today.

As with Palestine altogether, Arab and Muslim interest has traditionally been not so much in a homeland for Palestinian Arabs as in a place where infidels and dhimmis must not have any influence.

Here's a small experiment. Right now, the number of Palestinian websites that mention the Cotton Market (al-Qattanin) is relatively small. If in fact a synagogue will be built there, Google it in a few years and see how many websites will extol the supreme importance the Cotton Market has to Islamic history, all the while complaining about how the wicked "Zionists" have been working overtime to "Judaize" the city and threaten the mosques there.

Erez Levanon was a 42-year old devout Breslover chassid from Bat Ayin. He was the father of three, played the guitar and even released a CD - you can hear him here:

An intensely spiritual man, he had spent much time in India speaking to Israeli backpackers there about their own religion.

Levanon would go out in the fields near his home and pray for an hour every day. Yesterday, his routine was watched by two Palestinian Arabs who, during his prayers, brutally stabbed him many times.

The Palestinian Arab press is treating the murder of a man praying in the field as some sort of great victory, happening in a "well guarded" area, and it characterizes Israel's subsequent search and arrest of the two murderers as a heinous crime. Originally the PalArabs claimed that Palestinian Arabs found him and informed Israeli authorities; that people in their town of Beit Ummar were punished in retaliation, that Israel arrested two 17-year old "children." In fact, he was found by his neighbors who were looking for him and it is remarkable that the IDF found the apparent murderers so quickly.

The Israeli press is reporting that the youths were 18 and that they confessed to the crime, although they claimed that they did not belong to a terror organization.

Yet Islamic Jihad has taken responsibility for the murder.

(Even if you take the PalArab press at face value, it means that Islamic Jihad has trained "children" to be murderers and encourages them to kill any Jew they can find. )

Another peaceful PalArab weekend

The latest, all from Sunday:

At approximately 20:30 on Sunday, 25 February 2007, the body of Khalil Sufian El-Mathloum (16-year old resident of Sabra Quarter in Gaza City) was brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The boy was killed by a bullet to the chest which was accidentally fired from a firearm mishandled by one of his friends in Remal Quarter in the city.

At approximately 19:30 on the same day, Mohammad Abdel Rahman Ali (6) from Zaitoon Quarter in Gaza City was injured by a bullet in the right thigh. The boy was walking with his father; and was injured when a bullet was accidentally fired from a firearm mishandled by a friend of the boy’s father. He was taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment, where the injury was listed as moderate.

At approximately 13:00 on the same day, Basel Fathi Dawoud, a 24-year old resident of Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, was seriously injured by a bullet in the head. The bullet was accidentally fired by a friend of the victim who mishandled his weapon.

There sure do seem to be a lot of people in the PA playing with guns and accidentally shooting their friends. Perhaps the NRA should go there and teach some basic gun safety tips?

And, as mentioned before, there were 6 other deaths since Friday morning, making this another wild weekend in the PA, although most of the killings seemed to be more clan clash rather than Fatah/Hamas murders. (It gets hard to tell because some families identify with one of the terrorist sides.)

Oh, and another three were injured when a terror tunnel collapsed between Gaza and Egypt.

So our count of Palestinian Arabs violently killed by each other since Operation Summer Rains is now up to 331 and the number killed this year is at 126.

UPDATE (Monday): Maan News (Arabic only so far) has news of an apparent honor killing. A young woman was found in northern Gaza, dead with 10 bullet holes in her body. We are now at 332 and 127, and for those who are counting all of the Israeli casualties in Operation Hot Winter and want to compare, the score is now 2 killed by PalArabs and one killed by the IDF.

It's only a big deal when Jews do it

Two posts on the same theme from Life in Israel and My Right Word.

2500 posts

This is post number 2500.

Which makes me wonder - if I want to help Israel, is this the most effective use of my free time? Am I only preaching to the choir?

This poll made it sound like blogging is somewhat useful, and I try not to repeat what others are doing.

But I still wonder.

Hungry PalArab update

I mentioned last week a UN study that claimed that many Palestinian Arabs are not getting the nutrition they need.

Today, in Maan News (Arabic only) I see that vegetable prices in the PA have plummeted due to lack of demand and too much supply.

Something is not adding up....