Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Iran rejoicing over US weapons sales to Arab states

Paris, 7 Aug. (IPS) Not only Iran must not be afraid of the big sale of American weapons to the Arab regimes of the Middle East, but it must rejoice, as they would end up in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists whom Iran is the main supporter.
This prediction was made by Mr. Hoseyn Shari’atmadari, an influential journalist regarded as the senior mouthpiece of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i and an ardent advocate of the “offensive policy” adopted by the fanatic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad.

Iran has no reason to feel concerned about the planned arms sale to Arab countries by the United States.
“One must consider the sale of American weapons to the Arab countries as a good omen, a divine gift offered to the Muslim fundamentalists by their enemies”, Mr. Shari’atmadari, a high-ranking intelligence officer appointed by the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran as Chief Editor of the radical daily “Keyhan”.

The article, published on 4 August and signed by was referring to the 20 billions US Dollars military hardware and package to Saudi Arabia and another 10 billions to the other members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council that comprises, besides Saudi Arabia, the Island of Bahrain, oil rich Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman.

Speaking of Qatar, Hamas leader Haniyeh praised that nation today for continuing to support Hamas after its split with Fatah.

Yup, they are a great nation to send weapons to.

Meanwhile, Iran is a little impatient waiting for US jets to land on its doorstep, so it has built its own homegrown fighter jet.

2 children killed in Gaza. Let the lies begin!

From Ma'an:

Gaza – Ma'an – Palestinian child, Hala Wael Abdalah, aged 7, and her brother, Islam, aged 9, were killed in an explosion on Tuesday morning in a housing estate, in the An Nada area of the northern Gaza Strip.

Eight others were injured in the incident.

The cause of the explosion has not been verified.

Palestinian medical sources from Kamal Adwan Hospital said that Hala arrived dead, with her body severely burnt and in pieces. Her brother, Islam, died shortly after arriving at hospital.

Ma'an contacted local residents in the area to decipher the cause of the incident. Many said they believe it was a Palestinian homemade projectile, launched by one of the factions and targeting Israel, which landed in the area and killed the two children.

None of the factions have as yet announced responsibility for launching the projectile.

A leader within the Palestinian resistance commented on Ma'an's report of the death of the children. He said "the investigation of the resistance revealed that the explosion resulted from an unexploded rocket, launched by the Israelis."

He added "the rocket was found by the children and while they were playing with it, it exploded and caused the disaster."

YNet has a different spin:

Witnesses said a group of children stumbled upon a homemade rocket or a mortar shell and began playing with it. The device exploded, injuring all seven children, two of whom died later of their wounds.

The area is a frequent launching pad for gunmen who fire rockets toward Israel.
No Palestinian group blamed the IDF for the explosion.

All evidence, including within the Ma'an article, is that this was a PalArab rocket and not an Israeli one. But how does Ma'an headline the article?

"Unexploded Israeli rocket detonates killing two children in Gaza."

Thus solidifying the fact that even the most unbiased Palestinian Arab news source is, in fact, incredibly biased. Or at the very least that the many Hamas threats against journalists is being taken very seriously and is affecting how the news is being reported out of Gaza.

The PalArab self-death count is now at 503.

UPDATE: This has been a banner day for PalArab kids, as a 13-year old gets killed by some other kids while on a fishing trip near Nablus. I guess when everyone has a gun, some of them might be discharged. 504.

UK: Violent anti-semitic attackers avoid jail

From Totally Jewish: (h/t zionist spy)

The Jewish community has accused the courts of not taking anti-semitism seriously after three teenagers escaped prison for attacking and threatening to kill two yeshiva students.

Two men aged 18 and 19 were given suspended sentences and a 17-year-old was handed a curfew and community service at Bolton Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to racially aggravated assault.

The teenagers initially pleaded not guilty at Bolton Magistrates Court last October when accused of attacking two 17-year-olds in Bury New Road, Prestwich, on 8 June 2006. But they changed their plea when appearing at the Crown Court this week.

The court heard that the defendants shouted anti-semitic abuse at the students as they walked home, telling them, “you are going to die tonight”. One victim received a broken tooth and needed 23 staples in his head after being hit with a metal bar by one of the attackers while the others kicked him while he was on the floor. The other victim was left with a pain in the leg.

The 19-year-old was given a 12-month youth offender’s sentence, suspended for two years, a 12-month supervision order and 200 hours unpaid community service. The 18-year-old was given eight months in a young offenders institute, suspended for two years and the 17-year-old received a 12-month community rehabilitation order.

Jewish leaders and MPs have condemned the verdict claiming it sends out ‘entirely the ‘wrong message’ about anti-semitism.

I'm sure that the court felt that it was partially the yeshiva students' fault, for walking around so provocatively wearing yarmulkas. It's almost as if they were asking for it.

It's OK - Olmert doesn't care about Christian feelings either

For all Jews who are insulted that Ehud Olmert is amazingly inconsiderate about the strong feelings that Jews have towards Hebron and other Jewish holy places, and that he appears to care more about pleasing Arab Muslims who want to see the entire Middle East to be Jew-free than about the citizens that he is supposed to be defending....

Don't worry; Olmert is equally inconsiderate about Christians.

One of the requests that Abbas made of Olmert today was to allow the terrorists who desecrated the Church of the Nativity in 2002 to return to the West Bank.

Abbas, according to sources in Olmert's office, called on the prime minister to release more security prisoners, beyond the 250 who were let go last month, and to allow the return of some 20 Palestinian gunmen who were deported in 2002 to Europe and the Gaza Strip after they holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.
Olmert, again according to his office, said he would consider these requests. Abbas also asked him to remove checkpoints in the West Bank and to allow Palestinians more freedom of movement, something Olmert said he would discuss with the defense establishment.

While this news may be buried in the bottom of the Israeli news stories, it is at the top of the Palestinian Arab news articles.

As usual, the West completely misses the importance of symbolism to Arabs.

If Olmert allows the Church of the Nativity terrorists back into the West Bank, he is thinking like a Westerner - it is a small, almost meaningless price to pay for some pretense of an illusory "peace."

But to the Arabs, it means that the terrorists end up not being punished at all; their five years of exile were just a tiny blip in a worldview where perceived slights from the 15th century still rankle. It means that in yet another battle between the West and Islam, Islam has won. It means that Arabs can get away with demeaning the Christian religion with impunity.

Symbolic victories, to Arabs, are indistinguishable from real victories - the entire point of a battle is honor, and the honor that was temporarily lost by these terrorists being sent away will be restored, and then some. They will be hailed as heroes if they return to their old homes, and no Palestinian Arab would even consider denouncing them.

While they remain abroad, there is a small deterrent against PalArabs desecrating Christian holy places. As soon as they return, that disincentive disappears, and we can expect that next time there will be no hesitation in using priests and nuns as human shields, or using church grounds as weapons repositories. On the contrary - we can expect that the terrorists will be celebrated and cheered by the Arab masses.

Symbolism intersects with reality because PalArabs will react in real terms to symbols. The Western idea that symbols are not important does not work when dealing with people for whom symbols are of supreme importance. As a result, the enemies will always be emboldened and heartened by their symbolic victories, making it much harder for the civilized world to win the real war. Every Western concession to "peace" almost inevitably turns into a new weapon of war.

Too many times, we fall into the trap of not understanding the enemy.

Fayyad: 50,000 policemen but no security

Nothing that we didn't know, but:

The Palestinian Authority's security organizations are unable to assume security control of cities in the West Bank, Prime Minister Salam Fayad told senior Israeli officials during recent meetings. Fayad told Israeli officials that the PA's security forces are unable "to impose law and order in the West Bank at this time."

During meetings with senior Israeli officials, the interim Palestinian prime minister and his interior minister, Abd al-Razek al-Yihiya, made it clear that the PA's security cannot at this time assume control of West Bank cities. Among those to whom this message was conveyed recently was Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin.

Originally, Fayad and al-Yihiya made the transfer of some West Bank cities to PA security control one of their prime requests of Israel. Israel did not immediately reject the request, but asked that the PA security forces be prepared to take action against any militants who may try to carry out a terror attack against Israel from areas in which Israel would surrender security control.

However, Palestinian security commanders admitted before the PA leadership that their forces are not currently capable of preventing terrorist attacks against Israel, or, as Israel defines it, of "combatting terrorism."

Fayad told Israel that the PA's security forces are unable to "impose law and order in the West Bank at this time."

We've made fun of the pathetic Palestinian Arab police forces mercilessly in the past, but in the context of this story it is important to revisit the issue.

The PA is effectively a giant public works project, with the difference being that in real public works projects something gets accomplished. But in the PA, the people who are being paid by international funds are not building anything - they are just slapped with the name "policemen" and then they go back to whatever they were doing before, usually nothing but often moonlighting as terrorists. And more terrorists are joining all the time.

At least Fayyad is being honest, but where is the logical Western reaction? Why isn't the EU and the US going to Abbas and saying - OK, we've given you billions, why can't you have a police force that can do basic tasks, as was required by Oslo for 14 years?

A similar question can be asked as to why exactly the Palestinian Arabs, the group of people who support terrorism more than any other group on the planet, deserve a state to begin with? Unfortunately, when Israel's PM runs interference and supports the idea of a terror state "as quickly as possible" why should the West be more pro-Israel than Israel seems to be?

From the New York Post:

Activists with ties to the principal of the city's controversial new Arabic-themed school are hawking T- shirts that glorify Palestinian terror, The Post has learned.
The inflammatory tees boldly declare "Intifada NYC" - apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple.
The organization selling the shirts, Arab Women Active in Art and Media, shares office space on Brooklyn's Third Avenue with the Saba Association of American Yemenis.
Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser, principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy - which is scheduled to open in Brooklyn next month - is a board member and spokeswoman for Saba.
Members of AWAAM refused to comment.
But Almontaser downplayed the significance of the T-shirts.
"The word [intifada] basically means 'shaking off.' That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic," she said.
"I understand it is developing a negative connotation due to the uprising in the Palestinian-Israeli areas. I don't believe the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City.
"I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society . . . and shaking off oppression."
AWAAM's co-founders, Rama Kased and Mona Eldahry, are also active in the more militant pro-Palestinian group, al-Awda, whose main U.S. office is in California.
That organization, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is an active supporter of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

The principal is engaging in unbelievable sophistry when she says that the word "intifada" in the T-shirt has a peaceful meaning, given the al-Awda's history.

Her connection with terror may be tenuous but her refusing to denounce a transparent call for violence by her co-religionists make her a very, very poor choice for a public school principal - especially a public school that caters only to Arabs.
(h/t: Eye on the World and Hot Air)

Penmanship exercise in England praises Allah

From the Sun (UK):

ANGRY parents have blasted a teacher for telling ten-year-olds to copy a Muslim prayer saying “There is no God but Allah”.
Helen Green is said to have picked the Muslim call to prayer as HAND-WRITING practice.

It includes the lines “Allah is the greatest” and “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah”.

Pupil Billy Darbyshire’s stepmum Hayley Clayton said: “The explanation was that the children were learning about Islam in RE.

“But this was like he was taking an oath. A Muslim child would never be asked to write a Bible passage.

“Why didn’t she choose a passage from a normal story book to teach handwriting?”

Hayley, 23, said Mrs Green — deputy head of Newlands Primary School in Wakefield, West Yorks — had acknowledged it was a “sensitive issue” because three of the 7/7 suicide bombers came from Leeds, 15 miles away.

Freedom of the press, PalArab style (VII)

The series continues...

An Al-Hayat reporter in Gaza was threatened by Hamas for reporting stories unfavorable to the terrorist organization. Here's the autotranslated article from Al-Hayat al-Jadidah - the words "new life" are the autotranslation of "Al-Hayat al-Jadidah."

threatening anonymous claimed that Abu Ubaydah Hamas yesterday morning colleague journalist improve Astal immediately stop the publication of any news affecting the Hamas movement, stressing that the movement will not hesitate to Deter if he continued to disseminate lies, according related.

Astal said that the threat came against the backdrop of news bulletin Hamas attacks against the Fatah movement in Khan Yunis, the latest of which was the abduction and torture of leadership in the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Yousef Abu Sabha and his companions.

He pointed out that the related threatened to stop the introduction of the newspaper as well as the new life of the Beit Hanoun crossing that did not stop spreading lies, according to him, as well as directly threatened him, saying "We will Baltevgues in Btank that did not stop and consider this latest warning."

I wouldn't be too happy if someone threatened me with being Baltevguesed in my Btank, either.

The symbolism of Hebron

Once again, the Jews of Hebron are being threatened with expulsion - but, this is not 1929 and the ones who want the Jews out of Hebron are Jews.

Others are blogging about the incredible hostility in the media toward's Hebron's Jews, as well as the absurdity of 3,000 IDF soldiers planning to evict 2 Hebron Jewish families.

A couple of years ago, I wrote:

Hebron is the second-holiest city in Judaism. Morally, Jews should have the right to move there if they wish with no limitations. The ones that moved back to Hebron after 1967 were nothing short of heroic. There certainly has been friction between the Jews and Arabs of Hebron. Nevertheless, there is a huge symbolic importance to maintaining - and increasing - the Jewish areas of Hebron.

The Arabs understand the symbolism of Israel giving up on historically Jewish land. That is why they fight, beyond all logic, for the tiniest slivers of land, far beyond its useful value. That is why they never compromise on land. If there were no Jews there, they wouldn't care in the least - they do not fight because it is Arab land but because it is Jewish land.

When Israel gives away the indisputably Jewish parts of Israel, then it loses part of its character. Israel's claim to the land is not based only on logic, it is not based only on the law - it is based on emotions. When the Jewish state suppresses its emotions and its historic ties to the land in the name of an illusory "peace process" it loses far more than land. Emotions and symbols are important, and Israel is at a disadvantage because the world expects the Jews to be logical and Arabs emotional. Logical people can compromise, emotional people cannot. Hebron is not a logical issue.

Some things are worth fighting for, and Hebron is one of them.

PalArab technological innovation: explosive sheep

Never let it be said that the Palestinian Arabs are technologically backward. Innovation just oozes from the territories, if you know where to look.

An IDF force operating in the West Bank on Monday morning uncovered an explosive device weighing 40 kilograms (88 pounds), which was hidden inside the corpse of a sheep.

The soldiers were led to the device by a Palestinian terrorist who was arrested and questioned by the defense establishment.

According to intelligence information, military sources believe that the device, which was found on a road near the settlement of Elon Moreh, was slated to be used in a terror attack in one of the settlements in the area – Elon Moreh, Kedumim, Itamar or Bracha.

Exploding sheep has been a popular meme in the computer gaming community for years, and the earliest pop-culture reference to an exploding sheep seems to date from this Johnny Carson Carnac clip.

This attack may have been inspired by this fake ad for a New Zealand meat pie:

And this is not the first Palestinian Arab innovation in using animals for blowing up Jews. Donkeys have been the animal of choice up until now, as the Jersualem Post helpfully explains:

In 2003, a donkey rigged with explosives blew up as a bus passed on the road from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, approximately 80 meters from a nearby IDF roadblock and the ascent to Har Gilo and Beit Jala on Sunday morning.
No one was wounded, though a bus passenger was treated for shock.
According to the army, a gas canister filled with explosives and metal rods was strapped to the donkey and a second, full of explosives, was placed next to it. The bombs were detonated simultaneously by two cellphones.
In the Gaza Strip in June 2001, a Palestinian drove a donkey cart laden with explosives toward a group of soldiers. At the last minute he jumped off the cart and detonated the bombs that exploded only partially. The cart had been loaded with four gas canisters, two mines, a bag of oil, and a bag of nails.
In January 2001, terrorists left a donkey cart laden with explosives unattended near the Netzarim junction. Soldiers fired at the cart, detonating the large amount of explosives and killing the donkey.
In June 1995, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a donkey-led cart rigged with explosives near an IDF base near Khan Yunis. No soldiers were wounded in the blast, but the Palestinian and the donkey were killed.

One must look at these incidents in context. After all, the jackasses at the Dubai-based Gulf News consider all of the thousands of terror attacks, including the innovative animal-based attacks, as evidence of the Arab world's desperate attempts to make peace with Israel (h/t Judeopundit at Soccer Dad):

Since 1991 the Arab world has been fixated on a peaceful Israel. For years, Arabs have been desperately waiting for Israel to give a nod of approval on accepting to live in peace with them.

You see? Arabs are so desperate for peace that they are willing to blow up their own animals for the cause! Every flying donkey kidney is nothing more than a cry for a more peaceful world.

This week's episode of Saudi Vice

In this week's episode of Saudi Vice....

Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal is a Nigerian student living in Saudi Arabia. He recently converted to Islam and he was enthusiastic about his new religion. He would spend time looking for ways to share his beliefs with others and to do good deeds.

He had a sickly 63-year old neighbor who needed help. Ibrahim tirelessly brought her to hospital after hospital, only to see her being rejected by all of them for treatment. He finally appealed to Sheikh Fawaz, director of Badiya Islamic Center, who took pity on the woman and admitted her.

This horrific behavior could not be condoned, and it was a stain on all believing Muslims and Saudis.

Thank Allah, the heroic Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice swooped in and arrested him, as he visited the apartment of the sick woman and checked up on her status with three other relatives who live there. They placed him and the three other women in jail, thus ensuring that such a horrendous crime would be publicized and never repeated.

It causes one to shudder to contemplate the very idea of a young man, actually secluded alone multiple times with a sick 63-year old woman!

Hamas reportedly kidnapped female professor, forced her to convert to Islam

From the Jerusalem Post:

Fatah officials in Ramallah claimed over the weekend that Professor Sana al-Sayegh, who teaches at Palestine University in Gaza City, was kidnapped by Hamas militiamen who forced her to convert to Islam against her will.

The officials said the president of the university, Dr. Zaher Khail, had assisted Hamas in kidnapping the professor.

They added that senior officials in the office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh played a major role in forcing her to convert to Islam.

"She was forced to convert to Islam against her will," the Fatah officials said. "She was kidnapped and held for two weeks during which time she was not allowed to contact her family." Sayegh is the dean of the Science and Technology Faculty at Palestine University. She has represented the university at numerous conferences around the world over the past few years and is considered one of the most prominent experts in her field.

According to the Fatah officials, she went missing in late June. When her family's attempts to find her failed, they sought the help of Haniyeh's office.

Two weeks later the family was summoned to a meeting with some of Haniyeh's aides, who were accompanied by the professor.

At the meeting, which was held at the home of Hamas official Rafik Makki, the family was told that the professor had converted to Islam and married a Muslim man.

When the professor's stunned mother asked her if this was true, she nodded her head, murmuring: "Yes, God has guided me through the right path." The mother later claimed that her daughter made the statement under threats from Hamas gunmen who were in the room.

The Hamas officials are also reported to have shown the family a document signed by the professor indicating that she had converted to Islam and married a man named Izz al-Arab Awur.

But the family claims that the man told them that he never married the professor.

Several attempts by the family to arrange a meeting with Haniyeh to find out the truth failed. At one point, said a relative, they found the professor's car parked outside Haniyeh's office.

"When we told them that we wanted to see her, we were ordered to leave immediately," he recounted. "We were told that we could take her car and go away. But we told them that we didn't come to get the car, but Professor al-Sayegh." Leaders of the tiny Christian minority in Gaza City who requested a meeting with Haniyeh to solve the problem were also turned down.

Some 3,000 Christians live in the Gaza Strip. Following the Hamas takeover of the Strip, many of them have expressed their desire to leave.

The board of directors of Palestine University confirmed Sunday that Sayegh had converted to Islam, but denied that the university was linked to the case in any way. "We won't allow anyone to exploit our name in political disputes," it said in a statement, referring to the Hamas-Fatah power struggle. "The case of Professor al-Sayegh is a personal one and does not reflect the policy of the university."

Hamas officials strongly denied that they had forced the professor to convert to Islam and accused Fatah of spreading lies designed to undermine Hamas's credibility. The officials said that Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar met with Sayegh, who told him that she had converted out of her own will to marry her colleague, Awur.

Ala Aklouk, a senior Muslim cleric in Gaza City who was entrusted by the Haniyeh government to look into the case, said the professor converted to Islam of her free will. "She was too afraid to inform her family that she had converted to Islam," he said. "So she asked me and other officials to inform her family. She also made it clear that she had no intention to return home unless all her family members converted to Islam." Aklouk claimed that the professor did not convert because she wanted to marry a Muslim man, but because she "really believed in Islam." "If you sit with her, you will feel as if you are sitting with a devout Muslim woman and not a Christian," he said. "She abandoned a good and easy life for the sake of Islam. She challenged everyone and did what she was supposed to do - become a devout Muslim."

Hanan Matar, a female activist working for the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, said she met with the professor over the weekend and heard from her that her decision to convert to Islam was not related to her marriage to a Muslim man. She said the professor was wearing the hijab and "behaved like any religious Muslim woman would."