Tuesday, January 08, 2008
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Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Elder of Ziyon
But Rice on Monday clarified that the US believes that portions of east Jerusalem are considered to be "settlements" and that Israel must stop building there as part of its commitment to implement the first phase of the road map.
The land that Har Homa is on was legally purchased by Jews from Sheikh Shehade al-Faghuri, through an Arab middleman named Ibrahim al-Dajani, in 1944. (source: Army of Shadows)
- Tuesday, January 08, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
The IslamOnline website published a poem last week, without attribution and without comment, in its "Arts and Culture" section, called "How to Behead.":
Now, IOL is asking readers to write their own poems in response. It still hasn't identified the author or why it decided to print it. IOL itself in the past has published fatwas that were unequivocally against beheading prisoners.
The "poem" itself was written by the self-described "Lyrical Terrorist," a woman who was convicted of a terrorism charge in the UK and received a suspended sentence. She loved downloading beheading videos as well.
Why would Islam Online publish such a poem anonymously, without comment, in its "Arts and Culture" section? If it wanted to editorialize about the justice or perceived injustice of the verdict it should have provided some context. From the furious reaction of readers, it does not appear to reflect IOL's own views at all (although it has published plenty of fatwas supporting suicide bombing in Israel.) As poetry, it is horrendous.
My guess is that this was just poor judgment on the part of the Arts and Culture editor, to try to stir up controversy or to prove that most mainstream Muslims are revolted by beheadings. So far, IOL hasn't explained itself even as it acknowledged the controversy.
Hold himThe reactions from Muslim readers on the site was mostly disgust and anger at Islam Online for publishing it. Some tried to say that the poem was intended to make Muslims think but the vast majority were clearly upset, just as much for the content as much as for the poor image it gives of Muslims altogether.
Tie the arms behind his back
And bandage his legs together
Just by the ankles
Blindfold the punk
So that he won't hesitate as much
For on seeing the sharp pointy knife
He'll begin to shake
And continuously scream like an eedyat
And jiggle like a jelly
Trust me–this will sure get you angry
It’s better to have at least two or three brothers by your side
Who can hold the fool
Because as soon as the warm sharp knife
Touches his naked flesh
He'll come to know what'll happen
It's not as messy or as hard as some may think,
It's all about the flow of the wrist.
No doubt that the punk will twitch and scream
But ignore the donkey's ass
And continue to slice back and forth
You'll feel the knife hit the wind and food pipe
But don't stop
Continue with all your might.
About now you should feel the knife vibrate,
You can feel the warm heat being given off,
But this is due to the friction being caused.
Now, IOL is asking readers to write their own poems in response. It still hasn't identified the author or why it decided to print it. IOL itself in the past has published fatwas that were unequivocally against beheading prisoners.
The "poem" itself was written by the self-described "Lyrical Terrorist," a woman who was convicted of a terrorism charge in the UK and received a suspended sentence. She loved downloading beheading videos as well.
Why would Islam Online publish such a poem anonymously, without comment, in its "Arts and Culture" section? If it wanted to editorialize about the justice or perceived injustice of the verdict it should have provided some context. From the furious reaction of readers, it does not appear to reflect IOL's own views at all (although it has published plenty of fatwas supporting suicide bombing in Israel.) As poetry, it is horrendous.
My guess is that this was just poor judgment on the part of the Arts and Culture editor, to try to stir up controversy or to prove that most mainstream Muslims are revolted by beheadings. So far, IOL hasn't explained itself even as it acknowledged the controversy.
Monday, January 07, 2008
- Monday, January 07, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Buried in the weekly UN report on Palestinian Arab civilians from December 25 comes this juicy tidbit:
So the net result is a lot of poorer Gaza farmers, a lot of rotting strawberries, and a lot more reasons to blame Israel rather than themselves for their own self-induced problems.
I wonder if the actual farmers whose incomes are affected by this decision had a vote in this matter or if it was another set of self-righteous and self-appointed "leaders" who pretend to speak on their behalf?
Kerem Shalom crossing was open on six days this week for the entry of commercial and humanitarian goods. On 20, 23, 24 and 25 December, the crossing was open for the export of flowers. Since 18 December, and for the second time this month, the Palestinian strawberries association has blocked all exports of strawberries to protest against the limited amounts Israel has allowed them to export through the crossing (the first strike was between 7 and 11 December).Israel allows the Gazans, supposedly under siege, to export flowers and strawberries to bring in much needed cash. The Gazan strawberry growers, however, are upset that they can't export as much as they want to.
So the net result is a lot of poorer Gaza farmers, a lot of rotting strawberries, and a lot more reasons to blame Israel rather than themselves for their own self-induced problems.
I wonder if the actual farmers whose incomes are affected by this decision had a vote in this matter or if it was another set of self-righteous and self-appointed "leaders" who pretend to speak on their behalf?
- Monday, January 07, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
In the transcript of the latest Bin Laden audiotape comes this interesting section:
By the way, my posting this is more evidence that the Zionists are actively creating divisions among the otherwise unified Muslims.
After the eloquent speeches on pride, dignity and support for Palestine and having challenged the whole world to impose its will on them, Lebanon accepted the UN Resolution Number 1701. A tool in the hands of America, by accepting this they are accepting the entrance of the crusader armies into the land of Lebanon.Jihad Unspun, who translated this, almost certainly (purposefully or accidentally) mistranslated the last sentence as plural rather than singular - Bin Laden calling infidel countries "traitors" makes no sense, but in context he is clearly calling Nasrallah a traitor.
Do people realize that these armies are the other face of the coin of the Zionist-American coalition? The Secretary General of the Hezbollah party, Hassan Nasrallah deceived the people. He welcomed these armies publicly and promised to make their mission easy despite the fact that he knows very well that those armies are coming to protect the Jews and to close the borders for the faithful Mujahideen. He has perpetrated all these crimes due to the desires of the countries that provide the “good” and “uncorrupt” funds that we mentioned before. So why are they not considered traitors?
By the way, my posting this is more evidence that the Zionists are actively creating divisions among the otherwise unified Muslims.
- Monday, January 07, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
From Al-Arabiya:
It's interesting that Al-Azhar University's job is censorship for the nation.
Religious scholars in Egypt are outraged by a lesbian scene in a new movie, telling audiences to stay away from the sinful flick and calling for the director and actresses to be prosecuted.Those cunning Zionists!
Preacher and Islamic Studies professor at Cairo University, Dr. Abdel-Sabour Shahin accused the new movie, Hina Maysara (Until Further Notice), of spreading homosexuality and promoting debauchery.
He called on authorities to prosecute the director of the movie and the two actresses, Ghada Abdel-Razeq and Sumaya Al-Khashab, who enacted the lesbian encounter on the big screen.
Shahin claimed the movie is part of "a Zionist and American conspiracy" which uses this sort of movie to destroy the moral fabric of society.
Islamic scholars at Al-Azhar University also expressed their indignation at the movie and supported Shahin's call for a clampdown.
Preacher Youssef Al-Badri told the Kuwaiti paper Al-Ray that the lesbian scene is proof of the moral disintegration of Egyptian cinema. He appealed to Al-Azhar to toughen censorship on art and media outlets, saying "This is its role, and it gave it up."
Professor of Islamic Law at Al-Azhar Elwi Amin said watching sex scenes -- whether gay or heterosexual -- in movies is considered a sin. Amin claimed there is no lesbianism in Egypt and said there would never be.
"Many people in Egypt do not even know what the word 'lesbianism' means. This is the influence of immoral Western culture which controls the media."
It's interesting that Al-Azhar University's job is censorship for the nation.
- Monday, January 07, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Multiculturalism breeds intolerance
A British Pakistani bishop ignites a firestorm by stating the obvious.
Montreal Gazette multiculturalism
Critiquing an op-ed that blames "society" for Aqsa Parvez' death
The Arab "Right of Return" to Israel
Rachel Neuwirth explodes myths
I'll try to update throughout the morning....
UPDATE:
Sometimes the middle of the road is just roadkill
Soccer Dad takes on Bradley Burston
A British Pakistani bishop ignites a firestorm by stating the obvious.
Montreal Gazette multiculturalism
Critiquing an op-ed that blames "society" for Aqsa Parvez' death
The Arab "Right of Return" to Israel
Rachel Neuwirth explodes myths
I'll try to update throughout the morning....
UPDATE:
Sometimes the middle of the road is just roadkill
Soccer Dad takes on Bradley Burston
Sunday, January 06, 2008
- Sunday, January 06, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
book review
When used in wartime, the word "collaborator" is a loaded term. Like the words "traitor" and "treason," "collaborator" is pejorative by its nature, but its negative implication is only in the subjective context of the labeler.
Hillel Cohen, in his fascinating book "Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948," consciously uses these words in the context that Palestinian Arabs use the words today. As a firm member of the post-Zionist historians, perhaps this is not surprising, nor his use of the word "Nakba." But to Cohen's credit, despite his constant use of these terms without scare quotes, he is an honest enough historian to show that the supposedly treasonous behavior done by countless Palestinian Arabs between the Balfour Declaration and the founding of Israel was often anything but.
Reading this book, with Arab appellations being applied to situations where the Arabs end up looking very bad, is an exercise in whiplash. The exact same facts could have been used in a book called "Arab-Zionist Friendship, 1917-1948" but Cohen's use of the pejorative lends a sense of unreality to his terminology.
The book itself is a remarkable historical work, with much use of recently declassified Israeli archives showing the extent of the early Zionist Shai intelligence operations and methods, together with the large numbers of Palestinian Arabs who, to some extent, decided to work with the Jews rather than shun them, often at the cost of their lives.
"Army of Shadows" follows a roughly chronological history of Arabs who willingly sold land to Zionists, who traded with them, who worked for them and who at times employed them, even who married them. It follows the rise of Hajj Amin al-Husseini and elaborates on how his anti-Jewish policies often alienated the silent majority of Arabs and sometimes drove them to become even closer to the Zionists. It shows an overlooked aspect of the messy history of the competing desires of the Husseini-style Arab absolutists, Nashashibi-style pragmatists (who were no less nationalist), the pro-Abdullah camp who wanted a federation with Transjordan, the Arab labor unions, farmers, village elders, land dealers, economic opportunists, criminals, loyal friends to Jews. Yet, again, Cohen's terminology is exclusively the one used by the most extreme Husseini camp, and is now considered normative by Husseini's political heirs of Fatah and Hamas. In some ways, that terminology is almost Orwellian newspeak where it has become forbidden for today's Palestinian Arabs to even think that there could be something positive about cooperating with Israel.
In the 1920s, there were some Arab parties who were explicitly Zionist - the Muslim National Associations and later the Farmers' Parties. Cohen brings some evidence that Zionists were instrumental in helping these parties start and grow, but he implies that there would not have been any pro-Zionist sentiment altogether without this outside influence, a much weaker argument (and one that is slightly demeaning to Arabs, that they could not possibly have been independently anything but anti-Zionist.)
Cohen irritatingly ascribes noble motives to Arabs who want to become and remain friends with Jews, but he almost never gives the Jews the same credit. He consistently emphasizes the Zionist intelligence organization and how it manipulated Arabs but doesn't seem to think that it was possible that Jews could honestly be friends with the Arabs without ulterior motive. The paradox is that Cohen himself grew up friends with neighboring Arabs and those friendships helped him to go into the field of history; his enlightened post-Zionism cannot admit the possibility that early Zionist Jews could possibly have been as open-minded as he himself is.
But for all his faults, Cohen is scrupulously honest - he does not hesitate to tell anecdotes and facts that contradict even his own assumptions and biases. Even as he describes Husseini-style nationalism as being normative he is quick to mention that their opponents also felt they were acting with the best interests of their people in mind, and that they even accused Husseini of being the traitor to their cause.
The 1929 riots ended the explicitly Zionist Arab parties but there remained a significant number who were willing to work more covertly with the Zionist establishment. Some were opportunistic or greedy, some were idealistic, some were simply loyal to their friends. The collaboration included finding land that was for sale, providing intelligence from the Husseini nationalist camp, and quietly championing a more pragmatic relationship with the Zionists who many thought were too powerful to defeat anyway. The Husseini clan was most concerned about land sales, yet they often engaged in such sales themselves.
It was a combination of the Husseinis' intransigence, hypocrisy and their own terror campaign against their political rivals that paradoxically ended up pushing more Palestinian Arabs away from the extremist nationalism of the Husseinis. They didn't become Zionist but they were more willing to accept partition and accommodation. Yet even during the darkest days where the Husseinis were assassinating political rivals and suspected collaborators based only on suspicion, land sales to Jews continued and even increased. Even after the White Paper severely resticted land transfers, the Arabs and Zionists found loopholes to continue to sell land to Jews.
Early in the book, Cohen appears to conflate pan-Arab nationalism with Palestinian Arab nationalism - the former of which was far better established than the latter - and somewhat weakens his case when he claims that most Palestinian Arabs were nationalists. But by the end, when he takes a closer look at Palestinian Arab nationalism and its failure to stop collaboration with the Jews, he gets closer to understanding the truth - that specifically Palestinian Arab nationalism was always a shallow movement that didn't interest Palestinian Arabs themselves enough to fight and die for their own cause. Palestinian Arabs were more loyal towards their clans and villages than towards any sort of national cause, and even the nationalists were split between the absolutists, the ones that favored partition, the pan-Arab Greater Syrians and the Abdullah-oriented "Jordan option" advocates. (The relative ease in which the West Bank Arabs allowed themselves to become annexed to Jordan shows that the purely Palestinian Arab nationalism was weak even in their epicenter.)
Often, the outside Arab armies seemed to be more interested in fighting Zionism than the supposed victims of Zionism themselves. Cohen brings a number of examples where Arab villages fought to keep outside forces away, and many made peace pacts with nearby Jewish settlements. These pacts are part of the reason many Arabs stayed safely in Israel.
Cohen's reasons for the failure of Palestinian Arab nationalism dwells on these divisive factors and the relative success of Zionist intelligence and organization. He is too post-Zionist to entertain the notion that Palestinian Arab nationalism's failure was because it was from the start a negative movement, not a positive one - it was always more to stop Zionism than to build an independent Palestinian state. This is the real reason that it was so shallow and vulnerable to so many divisions - it was not an ideology so much as a violent reaction to a different ideology. No national movement can sustain itself if it is based mostly on the negation of another national movement.
Despite its flaws, this well-researched book is a very important addition to the history of the Palestinian Arabs and of Zionism.
Hillel Cohen, in his fascinating book "Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948," consciously uses these words in the context that Palestinian Arabs use the words today. As a firm member of the post-Zionist historians, perhaps this is not surprising, nor his use of the word "Nakba." But to Cohen's credit, despite his constant use of these terms without scare quotes, he is an honest enough historian to show that the supposedly treasonous behavior done by countless Palestinian Arabs between the Balfour Declaration and the founding of Israel was often anything but.
Reading this book, with Arab appellations being applied to situations where the Arabs end up looking very bad, is an exercise in whiplash. The exact same facts could have been used in a book called "Arab-Zionist Friendship, 1917-1948" but Cohen's use of the pejorative lends a sense of unreality to his terminology.
The book itself is a remarkable historical work, with much use of recently declassified Israeli archives showing the extent of the early Zionist Shai intelligence operations and methods, together with the large numbers of Palestinian Arabs who, to some extent, decided to work with the Jews rather than shun them, often at the cost of their lives.
"Army of Shadows" follows a roughly chronological history of Arabs who willingly sold land to Zionists, who traded with them, who worked for them and who at times employed them, even who married them. It follows the rise of Hajj Amin al-Husseini and elaborates on how his anti-Jewish policies often alienated the silent majority of Arabs and sometimes drove them to become even closer to the Zionists. It shows an overlooked aspect of the messy history of the competing desires of the Husseini-style Arab absolutists, Nashashibi-style pragmatists (who were no less nationalist), the pro-Abdullah camp who wanted a federation with Transjordan, the Arab labor unions, farmers, village elders, land dealers, economic opportunists, criminals, loyal friends to Jews. Yet, again, Cohen's terminology is exclusively the one used by the most extreme Husseini camp, and is now considered normative by Husseini's political heirs of Fatah and Hamas. In some ways, that terminology is almost Orwellian newspeak where it has become forbidden for today's Palestinian Arabs to even think that there could be something positive about cooperating with Israel.
In the 1920s, there were some Arab parties who were explicitly Zionist - the Muslim National Associations and later the Farmers' Parties. Cohen brings some evidence that Zionists were instrumental in helping these parties start and grow, but he implies that there would not have been any pro-Zionist sentiment altogether without this outside influence, a much weaker argument (and one that is slightly demeaning to Arabs, that they could not possibly have been independently anything but anti-Zionist.)
Cohen irritatingly ascribes noble motives to Arabs who want to become and remain friends with Jews, but he almost never gives the Jews the same credit. He consistently emphasizes the Zionist intelligence organization and how it manipulated Arabs but doesn't seem to think that it was possible that Jews could honestly be friends with the Arabs without ulterior motive. The paradox is that Cohen himself grew up friends with neighboring Arabs and those friendships helped him to go into the field of history; his enlightened post-Zionism cannot admit the possibility that early Zionist Jews could possibly have been as open-minded as he himself is.
But for all his faults, Cohen is scrupulously honest - he does not hesitate to tell anecdotes and facts that contradict even his own assumptions and biases. Even as he describes Husseini-style nationalism as being normative he is quick to mention that their opponents also felt they were acting with the best interests of their people in mind, and that they even accused Husseini of being the traitor to their cause.
The 1929 riots ended the explicitly Zionist Arab parties but there remained a significant number who were willing to work more covertly with the Zionist establishment. Some were opportunistic or greedy, some were idealistic, some were simply loyal to their friends. The collaboration included finding land that was for sale, providing intelligence from the Husseini nationalist camp, and quietly championing a more pragmatic relationship with the Zionists who many thought were too powerful to defeat anyway. The Husseini clan was most concerned about land sales, yet they often engaged in such sales themselves.
It was a combination of the Husseinis' intransigence, hypocrisy and their own terror campaign against their political rivals that paradoxically ended up pushing more Palestinian Arabs away from the extremist nationalism of the Husseinis. They didn't become Zionist but they were more willing to accept partition and accommodation. Yet even during the darkest days where the Husseinis were assassinating political rivals and suspected collaborators based only on suspicion, land sales to Jews continued and even increased. Even after the White Paper severely resticted land transfers, the Arabs and Zionists found loopholes to continue to sell land to Jews.
Early in the book, Cohen appears to conflate pan-Arab nationalism with Palestinian Arab nationalism - the former of which was far better established than the latter - and somewhat weakens his case when he claims that most Palestinian Arabs were nationalists. But by the end, when he takes a closer look at Palestinian Arab nationalism and its failure to stop collaboration with the Jews, he gets closer to understanding the truth - that specifically Palestinian Arab nationalism was always a shallow movement that didn't interest Palestinian Arabs themselves enough to fight and die for their own cause. Palestinian Arabs were more loyal towards their clans and villages than towards any sort of national cause, and even the nationalists were split between the absolutists, the ones that favored partition, the pan-Arab Greater Syrians and the Abdullah-oriented "Jordan option" advocates. (The relative ease in which the West Bank Arabs allowed themselves to become annexed to Jordan shows that the purely Palestinian Arab nationalism was weak even in their epicenter.)
Often, the outside Arab armies seemed to be more interested in fighting Zionism than the supposed victims of Zionism themselves. Cohen brings a number of examples where Arab villages fought to keep outside forces away, and many made peace pacts with nearby Jewish settlements. These pacts are part of the reason many Arabs stayed safely in Israel.
Cohen's reasons for the failure of Palestinian Arab nationalism dwells on these divisive factors and the relative success of Zionist intelligence and organization. He is too post-Zionist to entertain the notion that Palestinian Arab nationalism's failure was because it was from the start a negative movement, not a positive one - it was always more to stop Zionism than to build an independent Palestinian state. This is the real reason that it was so shallow and vulnerable to so many divisions - it was not an ideology so much as a violent reaction to a different ideology. No national movement can sustain itself if it is based mostly on the negation of another national movement.
Despite its flaws, this well-researched book is a very important addition to the history of the Palestinian Arabs and of Zionism.
- Sunday, January 06, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- self-death
2008 has been relatively quiet since New Year's, but I still keep finding out about 2007 deaths. From Ma'an:
UPDATE: At least it doesn't appear to be an honor killing.
From PalToday (autotranslated):
A corpse found in a landfill in near the West Bank city of Hebron has still not been identified after nine days of investigation, police sources said.So the 2007 total goes to 612.
The body was found in the town of Nuba, west of Hebron.
Hebron Police Chief Majid Hawari said no one has reported a missing person in the area. The police plan to take a DNA sample before burying the body.
UPDATE: At least it doesn't appear to be an honor killing.
From PalToday (autotranslated):
Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian woman was killed by stray bullets during the evening today, Monday, as she and her husband were passing near a quarrel between two families in the path of Saladin leading Central Province [of Gaza.]This makes the 2008 self-death count 4 for 2008.
The sources said that Nagwa Abdel Al, 45 years old, mother of nine children, arrived in the city of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital Deir el-Balah central sector lifeless body after it was hit by two bullets in the chest and neck.
- Sunday, January 06, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- media bias
On January 3, Fatah accused Hamas of using arrested Fatah members as "human shields" against Israeli attacks. A Fatah member who fled Gaza during the Hamas takeover was caught by Hamas sneaking back in through Rafah; Hamas arrested him and placed him in an area in Tel Sultan where, with his hands and feet bound, he died in an Israeli attack while the Hamas members fled.
New details in the Palestinian Arab press show that other Fatah prisoners are being held in different locations in Gaza, seemingly for the purpose of increasing the number of casualties in case of Israeli airstrikes against Hamas buildings. (I wouldn't call them human shields; rather human statistic padders. Their purpose isn't to stop Israeli airstrikes but to score propaganda points.)
A Palestinian Arab human-rights organization confirmed Fatah's accusations today, adding that according to Palestinian law the only place in Gaza that prisoners can be held is the Gaza Central Prison.
Yet the only non-Israeli and non-Palestinian Arab reporting of this accusation is in a small UPI story that, as far as I can tell, wasn't picked up by any newspaper. AP, Reuters, AFP, the New York Times, the BBC - all quick to publish similar accusations against Israel - are silent.
New details in the Palestinian Arab press show that other Fatah prisoners are being held in different locations in Gaza, seemingly for the purpose of increasing the number of casualties in case of Israeli airstrikes against Hamas buildings. (I wouldn't call them human shields; rather human statistic padders. Their purpose isn't to stop Israeli airstrikes but to score propaganda points.)
A Palestinian Arab human-rights organization confirmed Fatah's accusations today, adding that according to Palestinian law the only place in Gaza that prisoners can be held is the Gaza Central Prison.
Yet the only non-Israeli and non-Palestinian Arab reporting of this accusation is in a small UPI story that, as far as I can tell, wasn't picked up by any newspaper. AP, Reuters, AFP, the New York Times, the BBC - all quick to publish similar accusations against Israel - are silent.
- Sunday, January 06, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
A recent book by Matthias Küntzel called "Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11" has caused a minor kerfuffle over at FrontPage Magazine where Andrew Bostom critiqued Küntzel's book, Küntzel responded and Bostom responded back.
The New York Times just reviewed the book as well. (I have not yet read it.)
It appears that Küntzel's thesis is that the virulent brand of anti-semitism that Islam has espoused since after the first World War was the result of Haj Amin al-Husseini's philo-Nazism, and the Nazi bankrolling of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Bostom seems to take exception to the implication that today's Jihad is of a more recent vintage, rather than a continuation of the ancient forms of jihad. Both of them seem to be talking past each other, as the point of Küntzel's book is specifically to discuss the influence of Nazism over current Islamism while Bostom wants to emphasize the continuous historic evolution of jihad.
It sounds to me that, from the specific viewpoint of anti-semitism, Küntzel has a valid point. Traditional Islamic anti-semitism was not nearly as hateful as Christian anti-semitism has traditionally been, and the current Islamist caricatures and accusations against Jews and Zionism are virtually identical to Nazi imagery. The Muslim Brotherhood does represent a newer strain of Islamism than had been prevalent beforehand, and even if they had ancient hadiths to back them up that doesn't mean that those same hadiths were given the same importance in Islamic thinking before the 20th century.
I think, with my tiny amount of research compared to both of Küntzel and Bostom, that the influence of Christian Palestinian Arabs cannot be ignored - they seemed to take the lead in the anti-semitism in early 1900s Palestine, and the Muslim Arabs took some of their ideas before the Brotherhood asserted its influence throughout the Arab world. Similarly, Husseini's Jew-hatred pre-dates Nazism but was no less toxic. In Egypt, though, Küntzel seems to have a valid point.
The NYT excerpts part of Chapter One, and it includes some fascinating tidbits about early Arab-Zionist relations that I hope to write about more in my upcoming review of Army of Shadows. Here is part of it:
The New York Times just reviewed the book as well. (I have not yet read it.)
It appears that Küntzel's thesis is that the virulent brand of anti-semitism that Islam has espoused since after the first World War was the result of Haj Amin al-Husseini's philo-Nazism, and the Nazi bankrolling of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Bostom seems to take exception to the implication that today's Jihad is of a more recent vintage, rather than a continuation of the ancient forms of jihad. Both of them seem to be talking past each other, as the point of Küntzel's book is specifically to discuss the influence of Nazism over current Islamism while Bostom wants to emphasize the continuous historic evolution of jihad.
It sounds to me that, from the specific viewpoint of anti-semitism, Küntzel has a valid point. Traditional Islamic anti-semitism was not nearly as hateful as Christian anti-semitism has traditionally been, and the current Islamist caricatures and accusations against Jews and Zionism are virtually identical to Nazi imagery. The Muslim Brotherhood does represent a newer strain of Islamism than had been prevalent beforehand, and even if they had ancient hadiths to back them up that doesn't mean that those same hadiths were given the same importance in Islamic thinking before the 20th century.
I think, with my tiny amount of research compared to both of Küntzel and Bostom, that the influence of Christian Palestinian Arabs cannot be ignored - they seemed to take the lead in the anti-semitism in early 1900s Palestine, and the Muslim Arabs took some of their ideas before the Brotherhood asserted its influence throughout the Arab world. Similarly, Husseini's Jew-hatred pre-dates Nazism but was no less toxic. In Egypt, though, Küntzel seems to have a valid point.
The NYT excerpts part of Chapter One, and it includes some fascinating tidbits about early Arab-Zionist relations that I hope to write about more in my upcoming review of Army of Shadows. Here is part of it:
It would be a bit simplistic to ascribe the sea change in Arab opinion towards Zionism to the Muslim Brotherhood, as it is a bit dishonest to represent the Arab world's reaction to Zionism, depicted here, as being wholly positive. Nevertheless, it appears that this is an important book in showing how Al Qaeda's antecedents may be just as much Hitlerian as Koranian.On November 2, 1917 the British government, through its Foreign Minister, Lord Balfour, announced its support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. The Balfour Declaration has since then been accepted as the starting point for the Jewish-Arab conflict.
This view, however, overlooks the fact that important representatives of the Arab world of the day supported the Zionist settlement process. They hoped that Jewish immigration would boost economic development thus bringing the Middle East closer to European levels. For example, Ziwar Pasha, later Egyptian Prime Minister, personally took part in the celebrations of the Balfour Declaration in 1917. Five years later Ahmed Zaki, a former Egyptian cabinet minister, congratulated the Zionist Executive in Palestine on its progress: "The victory of the Zionist idea is the turning point for the fulfilment of an ideal which is so dear to me, the revival of the Orient." Two years later the Chairman of the Zionist Executive, Frederick H. Kisch, travelled to Cairo for talks with three high-ranking Egyptian officials on future relations. These officials "were equally emphatic in their pro-Zionist declarations", noted Kisch in his diary. All three "recognized that the progress of Zionism might help to secure the development of a new Eastern civilization." In 1925 the Egyptian Interior Minister Ismail Sidqi took action against a group of Palestinians protesting against the Balfour Declaration in Cairo. He was at the time on his way to Jerusalem to take part in the opening of the first Hebrew university.
Twenty years later scarcely anything remained of this benevolent attitude. In 1945 the worst anti-Jewish pogroms in Egypt's history were perpetrated in Cairo. On November 2, 1945, on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, demonstrators "broke into the Jewish quarter, plundered houses and shops, attacked non-Muslims, and devastated the adjacent Ashkenazi synagogue before finally setting it on fire." The event left some 400 people injured and a policeman dead. Meanwhile in Alexandria, at least five people were killed in the course of even more violent riots "which according to a British embassy official were clearly anti-Jewish and, to his relief, not directed against the British." A few weeks later Islamist newspapers "launched a frontal attack against Egypt's Jews as being Zionists, Communists, capitalists, bloodsuckers, traffickers in arms, white slave-traders and, more generally, a 'subversive element' in all states and societies", and called for a boycott of Jewish goods.
In the following sections, we shall look at the reasons why, between 1925 and 1945, a shift in direction was effected in Egypt from a rather neutral or pro-Jewish mood to a rabidly anti-Zionist or anti-Jewish one, a shift which changed the whole Arab world and affects it to this day. The driving force behind this development was the "Society of Muslim Brothers" (Gamiyyat alikhwan al-muslimin), founded in 1928. The significance of this organization goes far beyond Egypt. For today's global Islamist movement the Muslim Brothers are what the Bolsheviks were for the Communist movement of the 1920s: the ideological reference point and organizational core which decisively inspired all the subsequent tendencies and continues to do so to this day.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
- Saturday, January 05, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
The EU-BAM press and public relations officer has responded to my inquiry:
UPDATE: According to a report in London Al-Quds al-Arabi, Israel has written letters to Washington and the EU requesting taking over Rafah again and giving the EU observers control again over people crossing over.
Dear (Elder, I used a fake name),I wasn't aware that Egypt was not part of the agreement, that this means that Egypt and Hamas can completely go around the EU's and international community's wishes for Rafah. It is interesting that the EU, so keenly interested in a Palestinian Arab state, seems to have nothing to say about this.
Thanks for your interest in EUBAM and to get in touch with us,
As you know and despite the RCP being closed since the 9th of June, the European Union decided to maintain the European Union Border Assistance Mission - Rafah (EUBAM) in the area. Due to the prevailing political and security situation the Mission has been downsizing even if it maintains its full operational capacity. At present moment EUBAM strength is a total of 42 composed by the 34 International staff from 17 different EU states members and 8 locally contracted staff members. In June 2007 the Mission had 96 Mission members in total.
Since the beginning of the Mission in November 2005 we have had our Headquarters in Ashkelon is still in here where the Mission is based and from we continue working. Our task nowadays consists in looked at ways to increase further the EU's support to the Palestinian Authority, and in particular in helping to build up an effective Palestinian civilian and border police force. As you know the EU is playing an important role in training and mentoring the Palestinian police and this is an essential element in developing the structures of a Palestinian state.
About the annual budget I’m afraid that this is not public information, but I can tell you that part of it is paid for each Member State . In this way part of my salary is paid by Spain and in this way it differs from my colleague’s salary.
Concerning the Hajj pilgrims who traveled trough Rafah it is obvious that is not our task to condemn any action in the area. In this regards I would like to remind you that our Mission is an operational one and all policy decisions are made in Brussels . I take the opportunity as well to inform you that we are not an executive Mission and the Rafah Agreement was signed between the EU the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority but not by Egypt .
I hope that this information will be useful for you if not, please feel free to contact me at any time.
About the late response and as you can probably understand most of the Mission member including myself belong to the catholic tradition and we have been celebrating Christmas and New Year with our families. In this respect I take the opportunity to wish you a happy New Year.
With my best regards,
Maria Telleria
Press & Public Information Officer
EU BAM Rafah
Mobile: +972-(0)54/2247250
Fax: +972-(0)8/6845740
E-mail: maria.telleria@eubam-rafah.org
Visiting address: Dan Gardens Ashkelon Hotel, Ashkelon
UPDATE: According to a report in London Al-Quds al-Arabi, Israel has written letters to Washington and the EU requesting taking over Rafah again and giving the EU observers control again over people crossing over.
Friday, January 04, 2008
- Friday, January 04, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Palestine Today (Arabic) says that onlookers did a double-take when they saw an Arafat look-alike at a Fatah rally:
Looks like he is already attracting the attention of those handsome young men that the real Arafat liked to spend so much time with.
Looks like he is already attracting the attention of those handsome young men that the real Arafat liked to spend so much time with.
- Friday, January 04, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Some of the presumably unemployed academics of Gaza decided to crunch some numbers to see which terror groups has done the most terrorizing between June 15 and November 30th (why they chose those dates will have to remain a mystery.
Here are the numbers, courtesy of Palestine Press Agency (Arabic):
760 armed attacks
30% Al Aqsa Brigades (Fatah)
24% Al Quds Brigades (Islamic Jihad)
18% Salah-Din Brigades (PRC)
11% al-Qassam (Hamas)
9% DFLP
8% PFLP
Number of joint operations: 165
They count: "Engagement with the occupation forces, launching missiles at settlements and military groupings and mechanisms, and blowing up bombs, sniper soldiers and settlers."
Of course, there are no "settlers" near Gaza, so they mean Jewish civilians.
Here are the numbers, courtesy of Palestine Press Agency (Arabic):
760 armed attacks
30% Al Aqsa Brigades (Fatah)
24% Al Quds Brigades (Islamic Jihad)
18% Salah-Din Brigades (PRC)
11% al-Qassam (Hamas)
9% DFLP
8% PFLP
Number of joint operations: 165
They count: "Engagement with the occupation forces, launching missiles at settlements and military groupings and mechanisms, and blowing up bombs, sniper soldiers and settlers."
Of course, there are no "settlers" near Gaza, so they mean Jewish civilians.
- Friday, January 04, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Yesterday, Israel revealed that it found two rockets being built in Nablus.
Israel's raids into Nablus has upset PA leader Fayyad. Palestine Press Agency reports:
It is with this background that we can read this story in Ma'an:
(Notice also how they exclusively blame Hamas for weapons and explosive caches in the West Bank and don't say a word about Fatah's terror cells there.)
Israel's raids into Nablus has upset PA leader Fayyad. Palestine Press Agency reports:
Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said "The Israeli military operations in Palestinian territories, especially in the governorate of Nablus, would destroy Palestinian efforts in the area of security."But the PA leadership is in a pickle - they claim that they have the ability to secure Nablus, and in fact have already done so, and yet Israel is discovering weapons that can significantly alter the status quo where the PA has some nominal autonomy.
Fayyad stressed that the Israeli attacks had a significant negative impact on the intensive efforts Palestinians and the Arab world and internationally to revive the peace process.
It is with this background that we can read this story in Ma'an:
Palestinian security services revealed on Friday that a new type of explosive material has been discovered in Nablus, believed to be part of a Hamas arsenal to be used in a coup against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.Ma'an Arabic adds:
Palestinian intelligence officer Abdullah Kamil said the explosives were discovered in a bomb-making factory in Nablus.
He added that Palestinian security services had also found a large quantity of weapons belonging to Hamas in Nablus. He said that "sleeping cells" belonging to Hamas in Nablus were planning to use the weapons and explosives to stage a coup in the West Bank.
Abdullah Kamil, Palestinian intelligence official, told Ma'an that Palestinian security services revealed the existence of explosive materials that is the most serious discovery of its kind in the history of the Palestinian National Authority in the governorate of Nablus in recent months, believed to be belonging to Hamas.This sounds very much like a couple of months ago when the PA claimed, to much fanfare, to have discovered rockets in the West Bank - that turned out to have been pipes kids set up to imitate rockets. They are trying very hard to falsely show effectiveness of their huge security services when it is politically convenient when in fact they have done nothing against terror, and only have acted against some crimes like car theft.
He told Ma'an that these explosive materials were found in one of the buildings in Nablus, which are used to manufacture bombs were designed to strike Israeli targets "serve partisan agenda contrary to the national interest" and the objectives of the National Authority.
He noted that a Palestinian Intelligence press conference will be held next Sunday to reveal details of what was carried out by the security services to detect cells and find weapons belonging to Hamas.
He pointed out that the Israeli daily incursions did not produce anything, so Israel decided to do a big, and thanks to the Authority and the security agencies and citizen awareness of the security agencies would continue to work to provide adequate internal security of the citizens of Nablus.
(Notice also how they exclusively blame Hamas for weapons and explosive caches in the West Bank and don't say a word about Fatah's terror cells there.)
- Friday, January 04, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- freedom of press palestinian style
People love to talk about how al-Jazeera changed the face of Arab journalism. This is no doubt true, but as the New York Times notes, this hardly a matter of press freedom:
(h/t EBoZ)
When a Saudi court sentenced a young woman to 200 lashes in November after she pressed charges against seven men who had raped her, the case provoked outrage and headlines around the world, including in the Middle East.One of the things that make interpreting news from Arab news outlets difficult is having to know the spin that these sources use to begin with and filtering out the lies. Minstream journalists don't even seem to try.
But not at Al Jazeera, the Arab world’s leading satellite television channel, seen by 40 million people. The station’s silence was especially noteworthy because until recently, and unlike almost all other Arab news outlets, Al Jazeera had long been willing — eager, in fact — to broadcast fierce criticisms of Saudi Arabia’s rulers.
For the past three months Al Jazeera, which once infuriated the Saudi royal family with its freewheeling newscasts, has treated the kingdom with kid gloves, media analysts say.
The newly cautious tone appears to have been dictated to Al Jazeera’s management by the rulers of Qatar, where Al Jazeera has its headquarters....
The policy also illustrates the way the Arab media, despite the new freedoms introduced by Al Jazeera itself a decade ago, are still often treated as political tools by the region’s autocratic rulers.
“The gulf nations now feel they are all in the same boat, because of the threat of Iran, and the chaos of Iraq and America’s weakness,” said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. “So the Qataris agreed to give the Saudis assurances about Al Jazeera’s coverage.”
Those assurances, Mr. Alani added, were given at a September meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, between King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and top officials in the Qatari government. For the meeting, aimed at resolving a long-simmering feud between the nations, the Qataris brought along an unusual guest: the chairman of Al Jazeera’s board, Sheik Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani.
Repercussions were soon felt at Al Jazeera.
“Orders were given not to tackle any Saudi issue without referring to the higher management,” one Jazeera newsroom employee wrote in an e-mail message. “All dissident voices disappeared from our screens.”
The employee noted that coverage of Saudi Arabia was always politically motivated at Al Jazeera — in the past, top management used to sometimes force-feed the reluctant news staff negative material about Saudi Arabia, apparently to placate the Qatari leadership. But he added that the recent changes were seen in the newsroom as an even more naked assertion of political will.
“To improve their relations with Qatar, the Saudis wanted to silence Al Jazeera,” he wrote. “They got what they wanted.”
(h/t EBoZ)
Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
From Ha'aretz:
But meanwhile, in the south, ten rockets were fired on Thursday, including a Katyusha. Estimates vary on how many Katyusha rockets have been smuggled into Gaza under the watchful eyes of our friends the Egyptians, so far the number appears "small," perhaps a dozen or so. Of course, a Katyusha is more than just a deadly weapon - it is a terror weapon and can place all of Ashkelon under the same intolerable situation that Sderot is now in.
The escalation is clear. Israel's long-term reaction is far muddier.
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the West Bank city of Nablus discovered Thursday evening two rockets that were in the process of being assembled.And last night:
The rockets, which resemble the Qassam rocket that has plagued communities along the Gaza Strip for years, already had fins and rods that were apparently intended to function as a launcher.
There have been several attempts in recent years to fire rockets at Israel from the West Bank, although in the past the rockets have only traveled a few dozen meters.
A military source said the secret cache was discovered thanks to IDF's freedom of operation in the West Bank, which has allowed it to thwart Palestinian attempts to develop rockets in the area.
The al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, announced on Wednesday evening that it had launched a rocket at the Shaked settlement in the northern West Bank. There has not been any report of a rocket falling in the area.It sounds like the second story is probably greatly exaggerated by the terrorists, but the first one sounds like it is only a matter of time before rockets hit Israel's center.
But meanwhile, in the south, ten rockets were fired on Thursday, including a Katyusha. Estimates vary on how many Katyusha rockets have been smuggled into Gaza under the watchful eyes of our friends the Egyptians, so far the number appears "small," perhaps a dozen or so. Of course, a Katyusha is more than just a deadly weapon - it is a terror weapon and can place all of Ashkelon under the same intolerable situation that Sderot is now in.
The escalation is clear. Israel's long-term reaction is far muddier.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
I've posted a bit about EU-BAM Rafah, the EU program to monitor the Rafah crossings. Its website has no press releases since September when it announced:
Anyone out there want to give it a try?
EUBAM Rafah maintains its full operational capability despite the closure of Rafah Crossing Point since 9 June 2007.I have been wondering what exactly these people are doing. I dug up one other document on the EU website from December concerning their current activities; mostly they are now helping out another EU group called EU-COPPS.In remarks to journalists after the meeting Mr. Solana congratulated mission members for their excellent and important work which constitutes an essential aspect of the EU's support to the Palestinian Authority.
And as of mid-November, they were still hiring.
It would be reasonable to get more details about this group that clearly has not done anything related to its mission for six months now, especially since there are multiple employees still on the EU payroll. So I emailed both the public relations head and deputy:
I am a blogger, following the news stories of Palestinians crossing the Rafah border in both directions since Hamas took over Gaza. My understanding from your website press release in July was that EUBAM has not completely given up on monitoring Rafah and keeps observers in the area. But I have been struck that there has been no official EUBAM comment on the reported violations of the original Rafah agreements between Israel, the EU, the PA and Egypt.I first emailed them on Sunday, and then twice more. The deputy email address bounces back. The main public relations person named Maria Telleria, who is living in the Dan Gardens Ashkelon Hotel on the Mediterranean, has not responded after repeated attempts. (Her number is 972 (0) 542 247 250.)
Specifically, I am referring to the Hajj pilgrims who traveled through Rafah to Egypt in mid-December, the possibility that they will return (since confirmed) through the same crossing (perhaps including known terrorists and millions of dollars,) as well as the reported movement of over a hundred members of Hamas and other militant groups from Egypt to Gaza through Rafah in September and October.
Is there any official EU-BAM comment on these activities? Are they condemned? In light of these activities, why are the observers still in the area? How many observers are there and who pays their salaries while they are waiting to re-deploy?
How many EU-BAM employees are there? What is the annual budget? Where are the EU-BAM employees still deployed in the Middle East staying?
Thank you very much for any response you can give.
Anyone out there want to give it a try?
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
This is an actual title of an article in the Yemen Times. To ensure that no one can accuse me of editing it to make it look worse than it is, here is the entire article - all I did was highlight some of the passages:
The author is too obtuse to ask whether, using his exact logic, women have the right to use violence against men who are straying from their upstanding, Islamic character or otherwise violating "social norms."
UPDATE: I didn't see that Jihad Watch had already taken this article apart very nicely.
There must be violence against womenHere we see justifications for wife beating, honor killings and child abuse, all in the name of "preserving morals."
By: Maged Thabet Al-Kholidy majed_thabet@hotmail.com
This title may sound strange, but it’s actually not just a way to attract readers to the topic because I really do mean what it indicates. Violence is a broad term, especially when used regarding women. In this piece, I want to shed light on those instances where violence against women is a must.
First, we should know the meaning of the word violence. Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English defines violence as “behavior that is intended to hurt other people physically.” However, the term violence mustn’t be confused with other concepts and terms such as gender inequality or absence of women rights.
Occasionally – if not daily – we hear about events occurring in Islamic and Arab societies. Some human rights organizations recently have attacked violent acts against women, standing against any type of violence – even that between a father and daughter – and citing the cases of some women as examples.
Consequently, they offer solutions such as complaining to the police, taking revenge or leaving them men, who are either their husbands, fathers or brothers – with no exceptions.
One such case involved a woman whose husband allegedly had beaten her. Without revealing the husband’s reasons for doing so, such human rights organizations immediately urged the wife to complain to the police and the courts, while at the same time generalizing the instance and other similar solutions to any type of violence.
If a man and woman are husband and wife, the Qur’an provides solutions, firstly reaffirming any logical and acceptable reasons for such punishment. These solutions are in gradual phases and not just for women, but for men also.
For men, it begins with abandoning the marital bed, by opting to sleep elsewhere in the house. After this, they may discuss the matter with any respected person for the husband’s or the wife’s family, who could be in a position to advise the wife. If this also does not work, then the husband yields to beating the wife slightly. They do this because of a misunderstanding in the Quran, as the word says Darban, which is commonly understood today as beating. However, in Classic Arabic it means to set examples or to announce and proclaim. The more accurate meaning of this last one is that the husband finally has to set forth, to make a clear statement or proclamation, and if these measures fail, then divorce is preferable.
Similarly, wives may take actions such as abandoning the marital bed, following by leaving the husband’s home for that of their parents, brothers or any other relatives. They may do this more than once, but if such action fails, they may not continue to live with their husband and via their relatives, they may request a divorce.
Despite such instructions, beating is considered a type of violence, according to human rights organizations, which urge women to complain to the police. I just wonder what kind of families our societies would have if Muslim women started doing this regarding their husbands.
Relationships between fathers and daughters or sisters and brothers also provoke argument from human rights organizations, which propose the suggested solutions for all relationships. Personally, I don’t think fathers or brothers would undertake such behavior unless there was a reason for it.
Fathers are responsible for their daughters’ behavior, but human rights organizations deny this too. Brothers also should take action regarding their sisters’ behavior, especially if their parents are too old or dead. If a daughter or sister makes a mistake – especially a moral one – that negatively affects the entire family and its reputation, what’s the solution by such organizations?
According to them, women should complain to the courts about any type of violence against them. Likewise, should fathers and brothers complain to police if their daughters or sisters violate moral, Islamic or social norms?
Fathers should handle their daughters via any means that suits their mistake; thus, is it better to use violence to a certain limit or complain to the police? Shall such women then complain to the police against their fathers or brothers? It’s really amazing to hear this.
In some cases, violence is necessary, but there must be limits. Those “good human rights organizations” don’t make any exceptions in their solutions because their aim is to serve society. Will it be a better society once we see wives, mothers, sisters and daughters going from one police station and one court to another, complaining against their husbands, fathers, brothers and even sons?
As the proverb goes, “If the speaker is mad, the listener should be mindful.” This proverb is good advice for every man and woman not only to keep their ears open, but also to avoid the misleading propaganda of such organizations, whose surface aims hide other destructive ones to destroy society’s religious, social and moral norms. This matter requires consideration.
Dear readers – especially women – don’t think that I hate or am against women; rather, I simply mean to preserve the morals and principles with which Islam has honored us.
I hope my message is clear, since it’s really quite relevant to the future of our societies, which must be protected from any kind of cultural invasion.
The author is too obtuse to ask whether, using his exact logic, women have the right to use violence against men who are straying from their upstanding, Islamic character or otherwise violating "social norms."
UPDATE: I didn't see that Jihad Watch had already taken this article apart very nicely.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
From AFP:
An Egyptian woman is seeking clarification from a court on whether her husband's declaration of divorce by text message is legally valid, a state-run newpsaper reported on Thursday.In case there are any women out there I might have accidentally married the last time I was in Vegas, I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you.After missing a call from her husband on her mobile phone, Iqbal Abul Nasr received a text message from him saying "I divorce you because you didn't answer your husband," Al-Akhbar said.
In line with sharia (Islamic law) men do not need to go to court to file for divorce. A unilateral declaration of divorce by a man, repeated three times, formally ends a marriage.
It was the third time Abul Nasr, an engineer from Cairo, received a divorce text message from her husband, prompting her to seek a legal decision from the a family court on the status of her marriage.
If the court declares the couple divorced, it would be the first reported case of divorce by SMS in Egypt.
The subject of divorce by SMS has been highly debated across the Muslim world and some Islamic countries like Malaysia have banned the practice.
According to Egypt's state-run statistics bureau, a couple files for divorce every six minutes in Egypt.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
As much as "moderate" Arab countries try to present the West with the impression that their problem with Israel is merely the "occupation" from 1967, it doesn't take too much digging to find out the true aim, even today - the utter destruction of Israel.
Today's proof comes from a throw-away sentence in the Yemen Times, mourning the loss of its parliamentary speaker Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar.
This is what can be found not far beneath the surface of all Arab thinking; perhaps as a temporary measure they will insist publicly for the end of the "occupation" but their real aims are pretty easy to still discern, as they were before 1967.
Today's proof comes from a throw-away sentence in the Yemen Times, mourning the loss of its parliamentary speaker Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar.
Sheikh Al-Ahmar is one of a few personalities that gained sincere respect and highest consideration from all the Yemeni people, as the deceased proved to be ‘a man of national compromise’, thanks to his key role and direct contribution to resolving multiple national issues and defending the Yemeni Revolution since its early stages....The idea of an Aryan-like "purification" of "Arab land" is not assumed to be objectionable or controversial; it is a given that the Yemen Times readership will, in total, agree with that aim. The existence of a Jewish state is considered a pollution of the great Arab nation, something that must be excised completely. Almost certainly, all Arabs would prefer to see the entire country uninhabited than to have Jews control it. It is not a political issue nor an issue of putative "justice" - one doesn't use the word "purification" in a political or judicial context. It is Arab shame that drives their thinking, and everything else is a smokescreen to justify what is in the end a visceral hatred.
Throughout his life of struggle, the late sheikh played an effective role in addressing issues of the Arab and Islamic nations. Despite difficulties encountering his efforts, the man has been ever present with an effective contribution to addressing all the vital issues of high concern to the Islamic world. Palestine, for instance, had been always present and immortalized in the man’s mind until he passed away. Over years, the man used to give a top priority to purifying the Arab land from the Zionist occupation and dominance.
This is what can be found not far beneath the surface of all Arab thinking; perhaps as a temporary measure they will insist publicly for the end of the "occupation" but their real aims are pretty easy to still discern, as they were before 1967.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- Temple Mount
A number of JBloggers have already talked about the outrageous ruling by public security minister Avi Dichter that Jews are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, or at least move their lips in prayer:
What Dichter doesn't understand is that by stopping these "provocations" he is not appeasing anybody, so not only does he hurt Jews who want to worship - an egregious human rights violation - he is not even accomplishing what he intends to.
The Arabic press is not reporting this as a victory - they are upset that Jews are allowed to go to the Temple Mount altogether. From Ma'an Arabic:
Dichter wrote his interpretation of Israeli law "is in line with the rationale that bans Jews from praying at the site, in light of serious concerns that this will serve as a provocation, resulting in disorder, with a near certain likelihood of subsequent bloodshed."This is eerily reminiscent of the British rulings in wake of the 1929 Arab riots that Jews blowing a shofar at the Western Wall after Yom Kippur was also a "provocation" and cannot be allowed (my images of newspaper clippings are missing but the posting is still there.) Not to mention the more recent arrest a year ago of Jews blowing a shofar at the Kotel haKatan on Rosh HaShanah.
What Dichter doesn't understand is that by stopping these "provocations" he is not appeasing anybody, so not only does he hurt Jews who want to worship - an egregious human rights violation - he is not even accomplishing what he intends to.
The Arabic press is not reporting this as a victory - they are upset that Jews are allowed to go to the Temple Mount altogether. From Ma'an Arabic:
warned Sheikh Mohammed Hussein General Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian - Preacher of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque - from the occupation authorities to allow any of the extremist Jewish settlers and prayer in the Al-Aqsa mosque yards.And from Palestine Today (Arabic):
This came in response to a request by two members of the Knesset, the Israeli occupation authorities to allow them to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and demonstrate linkages.
The Mufti told a press received "Together," a copy of which, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in all precincts and accompany the mosque to worship Muslims alone may not be the object of this was to change the situation or interfere in the affairs of the mosque to impose a new reality, the occupation authorities blaming the serious consequences of such These prayers, which comes in the context of repeated incursions to the mosque.
He called on citizens and Mufti Ebrahim Al-Aqsa mosque to take more caution and prudence of heroes and the failure of such schemes.
The Mufti rejection of this aggressive designs against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, reminding Balaguetham done by Sharon before eight years of Al-Aqsa Mosque and led to the occurrence of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, stressing that the Palestinians and Muslims will keep a firm barrier against any attempts to interfere with or harm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its facilities.
Mufti also called the Arab and Islamic leaders and peoples, governments need to move to shoulder their responsibilities religious and historical preservation of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and with the increasing Israeli attempts to attack by all ways and means of the occupation authorities against the Palestinians and sanctities.
For his part, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri warned President of the Supreme Islamic in the occupied Jerusalem in the press statement following the meeting the immediate urgency of the body yesterday of the imminent danger posed to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.By acceding to absurd Muslim demands in the name of religion, Dichter is giving Arabs veto power over anything that happens anywhere, as they use the fig leaf of "religion" to accomplish political goals. This is another way that terrorism has won - the supposed "Al Aqsa Intifada" has pushed Israeli leaders who don't care about their own religion to violate the human rights of Jews who do care to toe the line, accept second class status and keep the shtetl mentality of not upsetting the gentiles - all in the name of an illusory "peace" that will never, ever come.
Sheikh Sabri described this statement as a serious development betrays a right-wing Israeli government's intentions that are subject to the wishes of pressure groups and Jewish religious extremist, calling on the Palestinians to overcome their internal differences and pay heed to these threats to the Al Aqsa Mosque.
- Thursday, January 03, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- self-death
It turns out that the same day that 4 were killed during a funeral in Gaza by a grenade, two more Palestinian Arabs were murdered in a family feud that I had missed - including an 80-year old man.
From PHRMG's statistics:
So the presumably final total of Palestinian self-deaths in 2007 is 611.
From PHRMG's statistics:
They mention another death on the 24th that I'm not sure if I counted so I'm staying on the safe side.
Muhamad Abd El-Lateef Kana'an 80 / Hizma-Jerusalem shooting 14.12.2007 Killed by shooting from Unknown gunmen in family fight. Omar Abd El-Lateef Kana'an 35 / Gaza shooting 14.12.2007 Killed by shooting from Unknown gunmen in family fight.
So the presumably final total of Palestinian self-deaths in 2007 is 611.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
One of my co-bloggers over at Israellycool, Brian of London, just wrote a small, heartwarming post:
Only in Israel would the prize for the winning team in a weekly Survivor challenge be a Shabbat Dinner with Challah, honey, wine and Shabbat Candles for the whole team.Jews know a thing or two about surviving.
And only in Israel would the winning team share that prize with the losers because Jews don’t stop other Jews from eating a Shabbat dinner.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
A few interesting wrinkles on the story:
Did Abbas really appeal to open Rafah, or is he trying to take credit after the fact? My guess is the latter, especially given the Earthtimes report above.
There is no question that Hamas is the real winner in this whole sorry episode, but no matter how you slice it Egypt has consistently chosen to side with Hamas from early December to now.
The moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is in Cairo and raised the pilgrims' plight in a meeting with Mubarak, said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki."The Egyptians completely coordinated their return with the Israeli side," Malki said.
"We asked Egypt to help, and the president (Mubarak) said he would do his best, and he did," said Nabil Shaath, an Abbas aide who attended the meeting.PalPress, autotranslated:
In turn spokesman said Fatah Fahmi Azaaarir that President Abbas "Abu Mazen" made a great effort with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to solve the problem of pilgrims from the Gaza Strip and ensure their return to their homes as urgent humanitarian issues in the first degree.Earthtimes:
He added in a statement Azaaarir journalist arrived in Palestine Press News Agency a copy of "Hamas tried to exploit the issue politically and pilgrims rejected accusations put forward by officials in Hamas coup against Egypt despite all what Egypt for the Palestinian cause and humanity."
Meanwhile, Mubarak and Abbas also discussed the plight of more than 2,000 Palestinian pilgrims who were stranded on Egyptian territories pending authorization to return to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing point.Also from PalPress:
But as the leaders talked, the Egyptian authorities had already agreed to reopen the Rafah point ahead of allowing the pilgrims to make their passage.
Israeli political sources said today that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved quietly to Egypt for the opening of the Rafah crossing to solve the problem of pilgrims trapped in Egypt since week. "Debka:
And the relocation of Israeli military intelligence sources as saying that "Olmert does not want Hamas to exploit this crisis and the approaching visit of the American President George Bush to the region."
The sources added that "Egypt informed Israel intends to open the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip and pilgrims but Israel gave approval for a quiet opening to pilgrims."
These developments came pilgrims crossing and also following his talks Palestinian President who visited Cairo today and make unremitting efforts to end the crisis pilgrims.
Their return was similarly unmonitored. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has apparently decided not to kick up a fuss for fear of provoking violent Hamas outbreaks that would spoil US president George W. Bush’s visits to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, starting Jan. 8.Ma'an:
Cairo claims Israel was notified of its reversal but made no response, while Jerusalem denies being informed. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who flew to Cairo to press Egypt to give way to Hamas, Tuesday, Jan. 1, claims Israel was informed.
Israeli security sources further report that Egypt took advantage of Israel’s blind eye to get rid of 300 Palestinian terrorists, who were detained in Sinai - some of them al Qaeda and its allied Fatah al Islam activists, who were smuggled in from Lebanon. They entered Gaza under cover of the returning pilgrim group.
A security source in the Palestinian de facto government in Gaza Strip told Ma'an that dozens of Fatah activists who fled the Gaza Strip after the Hamas takeover in June 2006 have entered the coastal enclave along with the Hajj pilgrims.Things are very muddy, to say the least. Did Olmert tacitly agree to allow Rafah to be opened to avoid an embarrassing episode when Bush visits? Did Mubarak and Olmert set it up to give Olmert plausible deniability? It sounds like something Olmert would do, and his denials also sound like something he would do.
The security source told Ma'an that Hamas security forces arrested dozens of the Fatah fugitives for "security reasons," as several of them were suspected of crimes, including corruption.
Did Abbas really appeal to open Rafah, or is he trying to take credit after the fact? My guess is the latter, especially given the Earthtimes report above.
There is no question that Hamas is the real winner in this whole sorry episode, but no matter how you slice it Egypt has consistently chosen to side with Hamas from early December to now.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- self-death
An intriguing claim being made by the (anti-Hamas) Palestine Press Agency says that a Hamas leader that was announced today as having been killed by Israeli airstrikes was in fact killed by Fatah two days ago:
Confirmed and reliable local sources in the Gaza Strip said that "promised Mahmud Farraj north," one of the most prominent militia leaders Field Hamas lawless in Gaza City, which claimed that the movement quoted today in Israeli shelling that targeted the Shajaiyeh neighborhood at dawn today , deceased since the day before yesterday, which caused fired during clashes between the militias of Hamas and elements of the Fatah movement in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood two days ago.This isn't reliable enough to add to my self-death count but it is interesting. There is more honor in dying as a martyr by Israeli fire than in being killed by a Fatah terrorist.
The sources indicated that Hamas hid the body in the north of the hospital and did not announce the news of his murder ...and was found after examination that [he was killed] two days ago after being [shot] twice in the chest.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
From Ha'aretz:
Practically, if Debka's figures are accurate, it means that some $150 million dollars has just been added to terrorist coffers.
Egypt, of course, has been deeply offended by Israel's objections to Egyptian collusion with smugglers to Hamas. And Egypt's tender feelings, as well as Hamas' threats to create a humanitarian crisis among its own people in the Egyptian desert, are obviously more important to the world than Israel's security.
Another victory for terrorism. 2008 looks like it will be a great year for the "peace process" where real facts don't interfere with the illusion of progress.
Hundreds of Palestinians began pouring into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Wednesday despite Israeli objections, ending a five-day standoff that left them stranded in Egypt after returning from an Islamic pilgrimage.As I have mentioned in the past, this means that Egypt is legitimizing Hamas. It also means that Egypt is more concerned about Hamas' concerns than Israel's.
Two people, including one traveler holding a large cloth bag, were the first to pass through the Rafah terminal, greeted by green-vested representatives of Hamas, the Islamic group that rules Gaza. The two were followed by a flood of returning pilgrims walking across the border.
The pilgrims left Gaza last month to make a religious pilgrimage to Saudi
Arabia. They became trapped in Egypt on their way home last weekend when the Egyptian government said they would have to cross through Kerem Shalom, an Israel Defense Forces-controlled crossing, instead of going directly into Gaza through the Rafah terminal.
Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, fears that some of the
travelers are carrying large sums of money for Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Fearing capture by the Israelis, Hamas leaders among the pilgrims refused to go through the alternate crossing. The pilgrims rioted in temporary camps set up for them by Egypt and have threatened a hunger strike.
An Egyptian official said Wednesday that Israel had been informed of the
Egyptian decision to let the pilgrims back.
But Israeli defense officials said Israel hadn't approved their return and that Egypt's decision to let them back into Gaza contradicts understandings between Israel and Egypt. Officials in the foreign ministry said they had not been informed about Egypt's decision.
Practically, if Debka's figures are accurate, it means that some $150 million dollars has just been added to terrorist coffers.
Egypt, of course, has been deeply offended by Israel's objections to Egyptian collusion with smugglers to Hamas. And Egypt's tender feelings, as well as Hamas' threats to create a humanitarian crisis among its own people in the Egyptian desert, are obviously more important to the world than Israel's security.
Another victory for terrorism. 2008 looks like it will be a great year for the "peace process" where real facts don't interfere with the illusion of progress.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
The Palestine Center for Human Rights issued a press release a couple of days ago:
As I noted recently, the mortality rate for Palestinian Arabs between the West Bank and Gaza is roughly 3.8 per thousand. During 2007 there has been an average of about 10,000 PalArab prisoners in Israeli prisons. So if the 10,000 prisoners were home, if they mirror general PalArab demographics, one would expect about 38 of them to have died. So only 5 of them dying in Israeli prisons, and only 4 for medical reasons, sounds quite humane. I am certain that the Palestinian Arab prison mortality rate is a couple of orders of magnitude worse.
Even if we say that these mostly young men are healthy and are unlikely to have died from natural causes at those rates, if we generously assume some 100,000 terrorists altogether in the territories, about 350 were killed in Israeli operations this year and about 600 were killed by each other, the mortality rate for healthy male terrorists being violently killed is probably about 1%. Adding in traffic accidents, other medical emergencies and such, and we could probably assume 1.5% total annual mortality for young PalArab men. Which means we would expect some 15 of them to have died this year (and many more to have been injured.)
It sounds like, if PalArab youths are worried about their health, the best thing they can do is get arrested by Israel.
Twenty one year old Fadi Abd El-Latif Abu El-Rob died in the Israeli Jalbou' prison on the evening of 28 December, 2007. A Palestinian from the town of Qabatia, near Jenin, and a member of Islamic Jihad, Fadi Abu El-Rob had been detained in Jalbou' prison since 29 June, 2007.And here comes the fun part.
According to PCHR information, Fadi Abu El-Rob was suffering from an unspecified illness on the morning of December 28. He was transferred to the prison clinic, where his condition deteriorated.
The Israeli Prisons Authority (IPA) announced his death on the evening of December 28, without specifying the cause of death.
Fadi Abu El-Rob is the fifth Palestinian prisoner to die in an Israeli jail during 2007. Four Palestinians died as a result of medical negligence, and the fifth was shot in the head by an anti-riot unit who broke into Ketsa’ot Detention Center in the Negev on October 22, 2007.
PCHR notes with the utmost concern that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are being subjected to harsh and inhumane conditions as a direct result of deteriorating prison conditions, including deteriorating standards of healthcare. These conditions violate Articles 22 and 26 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
As I noted recently, the mortality rate for Palestinian Arabs between the West Bank and Gaza is roughly 3.8 per thousand. During 2007 there has been an average of about 10,000 PalArab prisoners in Israeli prisons. So if the 10,000 prisoners were home, if they mirror general PalArab demographics, one would expect about 38 of them to have died. So only 5 of them dying in Israeli prisons, and only 4 for medical reasons, sounds quite humane. I am certain that the Palestinian Arab prison mortality rate is a couple of orders of magnitude worse.
Even if we say that these mostly young men are healthy and are unlikely to have died from natural causes at those rates, if we generously assume some 100,000 terrorists altogether in the territories, about 350 were killed in Israeli operations this year and about 600 were killed by each other, the mortality rate for healthy male terrorists being violently killed is probably about 1%. Adding in traffic accidents, other medical emergencies and such, and we could probably assume 1.5% total annual mortality for young PalArab men. Which means we would expect some 15 of them to have died this year (and many more to have been injured.)
It sounds like, if PalArab youths are worried about their health, the best thing they can do is get arrested by Israel.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- media bias
Palestinian children watch an Israeli soldier during a routine patrol in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008.(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
And it's just a coincidence that the picture that Nasser Shiyoukhi submitted to AP happens to show an Israeli gun appearing to be inches from a child's head.
- Wednesday, January 02, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
Once again, the IDF has achieved perfection: four attacks, seven dead terrorists, no civilians, no IDF injuries. From Ma'an:
Six Palestinian activists were killed and several others injured on Wednesday morning in a series of Israeli air raids and a simultaneous ground incursion in the Gaza Strip.Which is more humane than shaving off their mustaches.
Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced the death of three of their members after Israeli warplanes fired three missiles at a group of activists in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood. Amongs the victims was Ahid Shamali, a leader in the Al-Qassam Brigades.
After a second Israeli strike, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced the death of activists Yousif Shamali and Mus'ab Jundiyya.
Israeli warplanes fired missiles a third time at another group of Al-Qassam Brigades fighters, killing Abdul-Karim Al-Hilou and Hammad Abu Amira, all fighters with the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades.
In fierce clashes between Palestinian resistance fighters and the invading Israeli forces in Ash-Shuja'iyya, an activist from Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades named Salim Al-Wadiyya was killed.
On Tuesday evening, a leader within Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, twenty-five-year-old Yahya Abu Talha was killed and five others were injured after the Israeli artillery bombarded a base in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
- jimmy carter
The long-time sentimental favorite, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner and, more importantly, the 2003 Fiskie Award winner, former President, peanut farmer and terrorist-sympathizer extraordinaire, Jimmy Carter!
While some (including myself) may dispute his status as a classic dhimmi, Mr. Carter did still manage to do some spectacularly dhimmi-type activities this year, including:
- The revelation that he might have advised his friend, Yasser Arafat, to reject Israel's Camp David offer in 2000;
- Declaring the mass murders in Darfur to not be genocide;
- Starting a pompously-named supergroup plagiarized from your humble host, which coincidentally includes mostly members that share his hatred of Israel;
- Not backtracking from his 2006 praise of Hamas on Larry King;
- Advising Jews to hate Christian evangelists, and advising Christian Evangelists to hate Israel;
- Telling Iowans to choose candidates who aren't so darn pro-Israel; and
- Quoting a fake "letter from Nelson Mandela" that was created on a virulently anti-Israel website calling Israel an apartheid state as if it was true.
If we add what we found out about this great humanitarian in December of 2006 we can add:
- It was revealed that Dhimmi Carter himself, when President of the United States, personally intervened on behalf of a Nazi war criminal.
- It was shown that in his "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" book, Carter purposefully plagiarized and misrepresented maps that came from Dennis Ross' book on Camp David.
Yes, it was a busy year for Jimmah, with much of his efforts going towards strengthening terrorists and demonizing Zionists.
So congratulations to Jimmy!
Honorable mention to Christiane Amanpour, our runner-up, who managed to equate a couple of abortion-clinic bombings and some decades-old Jewish settler actions with the purposeful murder of tens of thousands of people. Because, of course, all religions are equally likely to hurt people.
Perhaps she didn't win because she was accused of being a Zionist spy.
Honorable mentions to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the California congressional representatives, tied for third place. Full results here.
While some (including myself) may dispute his status as a classic dhimmi, Mr. Carter did still manage to do some spectacularly dhimmi-type activities this year, including:
- The revelation that he might have advised his friend, Yasser Arafat, to reject Israel's Camp David offer in 2000;
- Declaring the mass murders in Darfur to not be genocide;
- Starting a pompously-named supergroup plagiarized from your humble host, which coincidentally includes mostly members that share his hatred of Israel;
- Not backtracking from his 2006 praise of Hamas on Larry King;
- Advising Jews to hate Christian evangelists, and advising Christian Evangelists to hate Israel;
- Telling Iowans to choose candidates who aren't so darn pro-Israel; and
- Quoting a fake "letter from Nelson Mandela" that was created on a virulently anti-Israel website calling Israel an apartheid state as if it was true.
If we add what we found out about this great humanitarian in December of 2006 we can add:
- It was revealed that Dhimmi Carter himself, when President of the United States, personally intervened on behalf of a Nazi war criminal.
- It was shown that in his "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" book, Carter purposefully plagiarized and misrepresented maps that came from Dennis Ross' book on Camp David.
Yes, it was a busy year for Jimmah, with much of his efforts going towards strengthening terrorists and demonizing Zionists.
So congratulations to Jimmy!
Honorable mention to Christiane Amanpour, our runner-up, who managed to equate a couple of abortion-clinic bombings and some decades-old Jewish settler actions with the purposeful murder of tens of thousands of people. Because, of course, all religions are equally likely to hurt people.
Perhaps she didn't win because she was accused of being a Zionist spy.
Honorable mentions to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the California congressional representatives, tied for third place. Full results here.
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
From the Jerusalem Post:
The terrorists who gunned down two off-duty soldiers hiking near Hebron on Friday are both Palestinian Authority workers, and one of them is even a member of the official PA security forces, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) revealed Tuesday night.Ahikam Amihai (left) and Yehuda Rubin, who were killed in Friday's terror attack near Kiryat Arba.
Since the attack on Friday, the PA has claimed that the murderers of David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai were unaffiliated terrorists. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that at least two of them were Fatah operatives.
According to details of the attack released Tuesday, the gunmen - Ali Dandis, 24, and Amar Taha, 26, both residents of Hebron - surrendered on the day of the attack to the Palestinian security forces in Hebron out of fear that they would be caught by the IDF. They also handed over the soldiers' weapons.
At first the PA said that this was a "criminal offense" - LIE.
Then the PA said that it was a "dispute" between arms dealers -LIE.
The PA broadly hinted that the victims were selling weapons to Israel's enemies - OUTRAGEOUS SLANDEROUS LIE.
The PA has claimed - even after the murders - that they have disarmed the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank and that there are no more Fatah terrorists - LAUGHABLE LIE.
The PA made all of these claims after the terrorists already turned themselves in last Friday - so there is no wiggle room to say that the PA was making guesses, or was misinformed. They knowingly, repeatedly lied to protect the terrorists and to avoid "looking bad" to the world.
The PA, at the very least, has proven that:
-It actively protects murderers.
-It conspires to cover up murders.
-It repeatedly, knowingly and publicly lies to the world.
Someone please explain the wisdom of negotiating with this terrorist organization called the Palestinian Authority. In what universe does it make sense to cut deals with people who support murderers and whose words cannot be believed - ever?
This is not spin on the part of the PA. This is not politics. This is not an amateurish attempt to deflect blame. This is the pre-planned decision, a clear choice between admitting that their people were involved or blaming the victims, between choosing the side of the terrorists or the "peace partners."
The PA terror organization, the clear heir of the PLO in every respect, made that choice crystal clear.
And these sickening liars, these people who continue support and pay terrorists, these subhuman scum whose heroes are mass murderers - these are the people that Olmert wants to entrust biblical Jerusalem to.
(See also Israellycool and especially Boker Tov Boulder's reproduction of Naomi Ragen's essay.)
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
On January 1, 1948, a Jewish army killed two Nazis:
It was a marriage made in heaven: Nazis who were disappointed with their failure to utterly destroy world Jewry were getting a second chance, and Arabs who supported the Nazis could get people with military expertise to help them out:
And the Arab desire to wipe out the Jews resonated with other assorted anti-semites, Fascist sympathizers from Great Britain among them:
The Arabs, still stinging from their defeat at the UN, decided to hire the most effective murderers of Jews they could find to help them follow in Hitler's footsteps.
And the Arab desire to wipe out the Jews resonated with other assorted anti-semites, Fascist sympathizers from Great Britain among them:
It is ironic that the Arabs who love to call Zionists "Nazis" are the ones who were eager to hire real Nazis to kill as many Jews as possible.
See also this article about the saga of two Arab Nazi paratroopers who came to Palestine during World War II; one of them ended up being a faithful gang leader for Hajj Amin Husseini in 1948.
See also this article about the saga of two Arab Nazi paratroopers who came to Palestine during World War II; one of them ended up being a faithful gang leader for Hajj Amin Husseini in 1948.
- Tuesday, January 01, 2008
- Elder of Ziyon
From Arab News, a story meant to show the quirkier side of life in Saudi Arabia:
BAHA, 1 January 2008 — You’re out shopping with your wife and children and you get into a disagreement with your wife. What do you do? One man did the unthinkable, he announced to hundreds of shoppers that he was divorcing his wife, the Al-Riyadh daily reported yesterday.This is a funny story, emblematic of a place where all you need to do if you want a divorce is proclaim it. But things turn darker with the next, explanatory paragraph about what daily life is like in a theocracy where women are so highly honored that they have to cover themselves in public:According to the report, the man left his wife and children to do his own shopping. As he was coming back to rejoin his family, he saw a young man approach his wife and give her his cell phone number on a small piece of paper. The wife took the paper and put it inside her bag and continued shopping as usual, not aware that her husband saw what happened.
When he approached her and asked her to give him the bag, she refused. He forcefully took the bag and dug out the piece of paper.
Enraged, the man walked over to the cashier and grabbing hold of the store’s microphone, he announced to shoppers that he was divorcing his wife and had no intention of ever getting back with her.
He then stormed out of the shopping mall and left his wife and two children behind.
Women being harassed in public places is a common occurrence in Saudi Arabia and the harassers can often get very aggressive and insist that the women pay attention to their advances and take their telephone numbers. Women often resort to accepting telephone numbers so they will be left alone.Doesn't this demolish one of the major reasons that Muslims use to justify the hijab?
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