Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Canada gives welfare for Muslim polygamists?

I missed this story from a couple of weeks ago, originally in the Toronto Sun:

Hundreds of GTA [Greater Toronto Area] Muslim men in polygamous marriages -- some with a harem of wives -- are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say.

Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, said wives in polygamous marriages are recognized as spouses under the Ontario Family Law Act, providing they were legally married under Muslim laws abroad.

"Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims," Ali said yesterday. "Ontario recognizes religious marriages for Muslims and others."

He estimates "several hundred" GTA husbands in polygamous marriages are receiving benefits. Under Islamic law, a Muslim man is permitted to have up to four spouses.

However, city and provincial officials said legally a welfare applicant can claim only one spouse. Other adults living in the same household can apply for welfare independently.

The average recipient with a child can receive about $1,500 monthly, city officials said.

In addressing the issue of polygamous marriages, the preamble to the Ontario Family Law Act states: "In the definition of 'spouse,' a reference to marriage includes a marriage that is actually or potentially polygamous, if it was celebrated in a jurisdiction whose system of law recognizes it as valid. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3, s. 1 (2)."

"There are many people in the community who are taking advantage of this," Ali said. "This is a law and there's nothing wrong with it."

Immigration officials said yesterday that polygamous marriages aren't allowed in Canada, but that contradicts the provincial law.

"Canada is a very liberal-minded country," Ali said. "Canada is way ahead of Britain in this respect."

He said Britain recently began permitting husbands to collect benefits for each of their wives.

The British government recently admitted that nearly a thousand men are living legally with multiple wives in Britain. Although the families are entitled to claim social security for each wife, the department for work and pensions said it has not counted how many are on benefits.

In Canada, Ali said, the man and his main wife and children enter Canada as landed immigrants. The other spouses are sponsored or arrive as visitors to join their husband to share one home.

The families receiving benefits didn't want their identities released because it can lead to questions by authorities on how they entered Canada and can mean an end to their benefits, Ali said.

Brenda Nesbitt, the city's director of social services, said benefits are only paid to one spouse and names and addresses are cross-checked for possible fraud.

"There may be polygamous cases we are not aware off," Nesbitt said yesterday. "They can apply as single people and we won't know."

Palestinian children take part in a human chain protest near Erez crossing with Gaza, calling for an end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip February 25, 2008. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Palestinian youths gather at a fence during a protest calling for the end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip near the Erez Crossing in Beit Hanoun, Monday, Feb. 25, 2008. Israel deployed thousands of troops and police officers along the volatile border with the Gaza Strip on Monday, fearing a mass demonstration by the Hamas militant group against Israel's blockade of Gaza would turn violent and spill into Israel. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Quick - where do you think this fence is?

If you answer that it is obviously the border fence between Gaza and Israel, you lose. While this is clearly the what the photographers want to imply in showing poor, photogenic Palestinian Arab kids on the "other side" of some fence, this is clearly not the border. It was certainly easy enough for the photographers to walk around to the other side of this fence.

In the unbelievably sickening LA Times article about the fizzled "human chain" protest yesterday ("The demonstration is mostly peaceful, though 11 rockets are fired into Israel.") it mentions that "Palestinian organizers ... ordered demonstrators to stay at least 1,100 yards from the border."

So this fence that the wire service photographers are showing was over a half mile away from Israel. While the captions did not explicitly say that this was the border fence that handsome Arab boys were pasting their faces against, the implication is obvious.

Yet another way that pictures can lie.

Satellite channel to "defend the Prophet"

Saba News says,in broken English:

Prime Minister Ali Mujawar called for international resolution that criminates any insult against religions and enhances the respect for beliefs of peoples.

...Mujawar added that publishing the drawings is not among concepts of freedom of expression and insults regions of others under this pretext which is against human values and laws of human rights.

He urged scholars, academicians and media to highlight life of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) among society.

Scholar Mohammed al-Hajari delivered a speech on behalf of Yemeni scholars saying hat any insult against prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is an insult for other prophets too, calling on Parliament to issue decision to ban any ties with any one insults Islam.

For his part, chairman of the Al-Iman University, sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zandani revealed that the university is working to set up a satellite channel in Arabic and English to highlight features of Islam.

This satellite channel will not only preach, though. From Al-Yemen.org (autotranslated):

Yemen announced on Monday, the inauguration of the satellite channel to defend the Holy Prophet peace be upon him, and to monitor all the abuses and coordination with the Islamic and international response thereto.

Al-Sheikh said: "The waiting abusers of the Arab nation and the Islamic answer, in order to be useful and answer reactions are safe and permanent, we announced the formation of the Yemeni defence of the Prophet peace be upon him; to monitor abuses and coordination with the Islamic and international response to the to be moving at the cultural and media in each incident, in addition to try to cause boycotting Danish. "

So the channel will dig through all Western sources it can find to look for insults of Islam, and plan appropriate responses - like riots, or boycotts.

Because nothing shows the glory and power of your god than to have to defend him from some cartoons.

The biggest recent events in the political JBlogosphere

Members of the political JBlogosphere often are frustrated that our message is not "getting out" to a larger audience, and that we are preaching to the choir (so to speak.) While sometimes one of us hits a "home run", for the most part we are part of an echo chamber.

In the past few weeks, while there has been no sea-change, the echo chamber has expanded significantly. The reason? The new feature at Little Green Footballs that allows any registered user there to post interesting links.

I don't know about others, but my hit count has roughly doubled since I started posting links to selected articles here, and judging from the number of links I'm seeing by many other JBloggers I suspect that their numbers have been impacted as well.

Now, LGF mostly attracts readers who are pro-Israel anyway, but it does become a showcase for news stories and original posts that otherwise would have a much more limited audience. The links there have become a great place to find other news items as well.

For me, there is a slight downside, as I see that my postings now tend more towards unearthing news stories that most wouldn't have seen and only posting brief comments, as opposed to longer articles. I'm not sure if this is because of LGF or just me being busier with other things. Both types of posts are, I think, valuable.

Another recent event of note is the start of Israel ENews, an on-line magazine that showcases a large number of authors from the far right to the far left, and one where a few JBloggers have gotten to write articles as well. (They offered to have me write for them, but I am trying to figure out how to do it while staying anonymous.) I do not see too much discussion in the articles listed there and I don't know if it has gained any traction, but it is listed as a news source in Google News which ensures a more eclectic readership.

Writing a blog is great and rewarding, but we need to come up with ways of increasing our influence and making a difference. G-d knows Israel is clueless in making its own case.

The Incredible Stretching Palestinian Arabs

From Arab News:

Thousands of Palestinians formed a human chain yesterday morning, stretching 41 kilometers along the border with Israel from north to south, in protest against a crushing Israeli blockade.
The human chain extended from the Salah Al-Deen Gate on the border between Gaza and Egypt in the south until the “Eretz” crossing point in the north of the Strip.
Organizers had forecast 40,000 to 50,000 participants but only about 4,500 people turned out in inclement weather.

So first the Arab News says that the "human chain" stretched for 41 kilometers, and then it says that 4500 people showed up.

Which means that each person must have taken up over 9 meters of linear space (about 30 feet.)

Now, that's flexible!

Also, for context:
Hamas got 4000 protesters last Friday in an anti-Mohammed cartoon rally.
Tens of thousands protested the Annapolis talks late last year.
Thousands typically come out for funerals.
Fatah's rally last November attracted 250,000 people.
Hamas' rally in December got 200,000 participants.

And the 4500 included thousands of children bussed in by their schools.

Which means that Gazans pretty much choose to protest only when the rallies are close to home.

Blood on his hands - literally

Ma'an Arabic, in a story about a possible reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas yesterday being negotiated by Yemen, bizarrely illustrated the article with this picture:

The caption was: "Palestinian on his hands the blood of sacrificial lamb."

But, besides that, they are just like us!

Even when Israel does hasbara, it stinks

I saw this article in the Arabic Palestine Press Agency: (autotranslated)

In light of the presence of dozens of foreign journalists near the crossing "Sufa" which is scheduled to be launched from smooth human blockade to protest the Gaza invitation of the People's Committee to meet the siege, the occupation authorities this morning, cargo trucks entering into the sector.

The Hebrew radio Assembly to the Israeli army located at the Sufa crossing allowed sixty truck packed goods pass to the Gaza Strip.

At first, I thought, "Finally! Israel is actually being pro-active!" It is high time that Israel gets journalists to see trucks filled with goods being shipped into Gaza, showing that the "siege" is not a siege. Why can Hamas and Hezbollah bring journalists to handpicked news events and not Israel? While it is hardly a huge story, it should deserve some exposure, right?

It was covered by Infolive TV and Arutz-7 , both Israeli news outlets. Indirectly, EuropeNews picked up on the InfoLive TV story.

And that's it. Even though there were journalists there, practically none converted it into a story.

Now, I don't know if PalPress is accurate in describing "dozens" of journalists there, but clearly there was a disconnect between what Israel tried to show and what the journalists saw. Palestinian Arabs can always find a "hook" that intrigues journalists - children holding candles or other made-for-the-camera staged events or protests. Every two-bit masked terrorist can call a press conference and guarantee a turnout of lazy journalists willing to take notes and photos.

Here, a real event occurred - not earthshaking, but certainly newsworthy - and it was ignored.

Is anyone in the Israeli government noticing things like this and following up?

The EuropeNews article points out indirectly part of the problem. It mentions:

Since June 16, 2007, when partial restrictions were imposed after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, 16,778 trucks have passed through the border crossings delivering 385,361 tons of goods and more than 29.3 million gallons (112 million liters) of fuel. [7]

Israel facilitates the transfer of supplies into Gaza, including food, medicine and fuel via five crossing terminals into the Gaza Strip: Erez, Karni, Nahal-Oz, Sufa and Kerem Shalom (see map below).

The crossings continued to operate on Feb. 21. During that time 3,649 tons were transferred through the crossings into Gaza including:

* 164 tons of rice;
* 293 tons of fruit and vegetables;
* 106 tons of flour and yeast;
* 1,872 tons of wheat;
* 504 tons of animal feed;
* 16 tons of medical supplies;
* 160,088 gallons (606.000 liters) of fuel;
* 306 tons of heating gas.[8]

The following goods have been transferred through the various crossings into Gaza since June 16, 2007 (information correct as of Feb. 21):[9]

Karni Crossing (goods): 132,786 tons, principally wheat and animal feed and also other raw commodities such as barley, corn and soya beans.

Sufa Crossing (goods): 155,539 tons, including general food products such as flour, rice, milk powder, fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy products, sugar and medicines.

Kerem Shalom Crossing (goods): 97,037 tons

Nahal Oz Crossing (fuel): 3,449 tankers with 32,429 tons of heating gas; more than 2.4 million gallons (9 million liters) of benzine (gasoline); more than 13.2 million gallons (50.1 million liters) of diesel for automobiles; and 16.7 million gallons (63.2 million liters) of diesel for the Gaza power station.

From Nov. 2007 - Jan. 18, 2008, 71 truckloads of flowers were exported from Gaza into Israel.

The reference it gives is to this website - in Hebrew only, hard to navigate, and one has to really dig to find out this information.

Why does the Government of Israel make good information so hard to find? This is a hasbara failure of massive proportions. As we have seen countless times when looking at media bias inthe Middle East, reporters will report news that is handed to them; most of them will not work hard for stories when they can be drinking instead.

AFP can't find a good photo, so it posts an old one

Today, Hamas staged what was meant to be a huge rally on the Gaza border with Israel. There was a lot of publicity and many people got very nervous, but it sort of fizzled out:

Despite concerns that Palestinian demonstrators against the continued blockade of the Gaza Strip would attempt to storm the border with Israel during a "human chain" demonstration Monday, the event itself proved an anticlimax and the thousands of Israeli security personnel manning the Israeli side of the border were not forced to cope with the nightmare scenario.

About 5,000 people, many of them schoolchildren released from school early to attend the event and university students, joined the "human chain" outside the town of Beit Hanun, about six kilometers from the border.

The crowd hoisted banners in English and Arabic, saying "End the siege of Gaza now," and "Your siege will not break our will."

Organizers had hoped to form a chain running the length of the 40-kilometer Gaza Strip, but turnout was well below expectations.

Not only was Hamas disappointed, but also the teams of wire-service photographers who were hoping for some juicy, Pulitzer-caliber stuff.

Reuters' picture was underwhelming:

So was AP's:

AFP was so upset that they decided to use an old photo to add the pathos that they felt was necessary to augment the story:

Palestinian children in the West Bank city of Jenin hold candles during a sit-in against the blockade on the Gaza Strip. Palestinians are forming a human chain the length of the Gaza Strip in protest at a crushing Israeli blockade, with Israeli forces on alert for any rush on the border.(AFP/File/Saif Dahlah)

See? That's much more likely to tug at the heartstrings, especially when AFP adds the "crushing" adjective to describe a group of apparently quite well-fed people.

Who cares when the photo was taken? Who cares what the signs say? As long as cute-looking PalArab kids are holding candles and AFP can claim some connection with events (or non-events) from today, then all is well.
(h/t Callie)

Looks like the PA did torture the Hamas imam to death

From PCHR:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 17:30 on Thursday, 14 February, two civilian vehicles with Palestinian registration plates moved into Koubar village, northwest of Ramallah. When Sheikh Majd ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Mustafa al-Barghouthi, emerged from the local mosque, he was confronted by four masked persons. Al-Bargouthi called for help, at which point a man got out of one of the vehicles and introduced himself as an officer of the Palestinian GIS. He claimed he had a warrant to arrest al-Barghouthi, who was immediately transferred to the GIS Headquarters in the north of al-Bireh for interrogation. During his detention, Majd al-Bargouthi was denied visitors.

On the evening of Friday, 22 February, Majd al-Barghouthi's body was transferred to Khaled Hospital in Ramallah. The Palestinian Attorney General ordered an autopsy to be performed at the forensic medicine institute in Abu Dis. According to the forensic report – a copy of which has been obtained by PCHR – “the cause of death was the inflation and subsequent failure of the heart. Having inflated to a size above normal, the heart failed, and under these circumstances, death is often sudden.”

However, in an affidavit given to PCHR, a Palestinian who had been detained by the GIS at the same time as Majd al-Barghouthi alleged that al-Barghouthi was violently beaten whilst in detention. The detainee claimed he recognized al-Bargouthi's voice calling for help from an interrogation room opposite his own cell. He also alleged that he could hear al-Bargouthi being interrogated about his relationship with the Executive Force of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior in the dismissed government in the Gaza Strip.

The detainee further alleged he could see al-Barghouthi through a hole in the wall of his cell, and that al-Barghouthi was handcuffed by an iron chain which was connected to the top of the window pane, suspending his body above the ground. On the third day of al-Bargouthi's detention, the detainee said he heard an interrogator asking

Al-Barghouthi if he was vomiting before moving him to another cell.

The detainee indicated that al-Barghouthi was beaten about the abdomen during the early stages of his detention, and said he was screaming. The detainee also alleged that he was personally tortured whilst in detention. The PCHR field worker saw marks on al-Bargouthi's hands that were consistent with being chained and suspended for a lengthy period.

The detainee eyewitness stated:

“… At approximately 08:30 on Thursday, 21 February, an officer came and asked Sheikh Majd al-Barghouthi to eat, and to drink water and juice, but he [Al-Barghouthi] vomited. I then heard the cell door being opened. Through a small hole in the wall, I saw the officer pulling Sheikh al-Barghouthi, with his hands under the Sheikh’s shoulders. When the officer asked him to stand up, Al-Bargouthi replied that he could not stand anymore. In the afternoon, he was taken to the balcony, and I could hear him groaning until 08:30 on Friday morning (22 February). He then became silent.”

Al-Barghouthi was married with eight children. He was the Imam of the Koubar village mosque. His family denies that he was suffering from any of the symptoms identified in the autopsy report as causing his death.

I was reluctant to consider this a murder based only on Hamas accusations, but it seems clear here that Barghouti was tortured and left without medical attention.

The 2008 self-death count is now at 26.

There was also a "collaborator" killing today but it occurred in Israeli territory.

Hamas kidTV: Kill the cartoonists!

The latest MEMRI transcript of the "Pioneers of Tomorrow" Hamas children's show includes:

Child host Saraa Barhoum: Amani, you've seen the kind of attack that the West launched against the Prophet Muhammad. What do you have to say on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad?
Amani, by phone: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, I say to those cowardly infidels...

Assud the Bunny: Those criminals...

Amani: Yes, those criminals... You mock our Prophet Muhammad, but look, my beloved Prophet Muhammad, how Allah responded to them: "Allah shall pay them back for their mockery, and He leaves them alone in their excess, blindly wandering on." My beloved Messenger of Allah, they mocked you with their drawings, because they do not know the mercy in your heart. My beloved Muhammad, if they had known the mercy in your heart, they would not have done this to you. Allah knows that we love you, and that we will redeem you with our souls, our blood, and our hearts.

[...]
Saraa: How did these Danes have the audacity to affront the Messenger of Allah? Do you have an answer to that, Assud?
Assud: No, I don't. Maybe because the Arabs and Muslims keep silent, [the Danes] humiliated them and did these things to them.

Saraa: That's one reason, but there is an even more important reason, Assud.

Assud: I have no idea.

Saraa: It's because the West has seen that we've moved away from the religion of Allah, and from the Sunna of our Prophet Muhammad. They have also seen that we have forsaken the religion of Allah, and therefore, they could affront the Prophet, because... We have done nothing to redeem the Prophet Muhammad. But I say to them: You haven't seen anything yet. Allah willing, the soldiers of the Pioneers of Tomorrow will redeem the Prophet Muhammad with all that they possess, and even with their blood, Assud. They will not allow them to do this again.

Assud: If they do it again, Saraa, we will kill them, right?

Saraa: Allah willing.

Assud: I will bite them and eat them up.

Saraa: Yes.

[...]

Assud, we are not terrorists. All we want is to get our beloved homeland, Palestine, back. We want all of Palestine to be ours. We are not terrorists...

Assud: Because it was ours to begin with, right?

Saraa: Right. They say we are terrorists merely because we want this, but of course, we're not terrorists...,/p>
Assud: They are the terrorists.

Saraa: Yes, Assud. Allah willing, we will regain the cities under Zionist occupation, such as Jaffe, Haifa, Acre, Ashdod, the village of Hoj, and all the Palestinian cities.

Assud: Saraa, do you know what I'm hoping for? I want us to take Jaffe, Acre, Haifa, and all of Palestine, Allah willing, and then we'll go to Iraq. All the borders will be opened. Between Egypt and us, there will be no barriers, and the same goes for Jordan and Saudi Arabia. We'll come and go by car. I hope this comes true. Do you think this will come true?

Saraa: Allah willing, this will come true soon.

Assud: Allah willing, when I am martyred, a tiger will take my place... Allah willing, I will be the one to fix things, and there won't be any tiger. The "Pioneers of Tomorrow" and I will make this dream come true.

[...]

Who will host this show if you are martyred? Will 100,000 Saraas take your place?

Saraa: Allah willing, Assud.

Assud: We'll take them from among the Pioneers of Tomorrow, Allah willing.

Saraa: Allah willing, there are thousands of soldiers of the Pioneers of Tomorrow.

Assud: Martyrdom for the sake of Allah is what we hope for, right?

Saraa: Right, Assud.

[...]

Saraa: What do you have to say to the cartoonist who started all this, and affronted the Prophet by drawing him?

Assud: He's a criminal...

Saraa: Yes, a criminal.

Tasnim, by phone: I say to him, and to all of them, that no matter how much they try to hide him, we will manage to kill him, to assassinate him.

Assud: Allah willing.

Saraa: I pray that Allah makes the earth swallow him up, so that he serves as a lesson to others like him, Tasnim.

[...]

Assud, it appears that our show is coming to an end. What do you have to say to this criminal, the cartoonist who affronted the Prophet by drawing him?
Assud: I say to him what you already said: You criminal, you lowlife, you scum of the earth – right, Saraa? Allah willing, the day will come when you will regret what you did

It's nice to know that Assud is already preparing for his death, as is the habit of this show's mascots.

Counting the days until his cousin the tiger takes over....

Iran's Tae Kwon Do follies

Iranian competitors continue to be coerced into refusing to go up against Israeli opponents, resulting in funny articles like this one from Iran's PressTV:

Iran's team has pocketed seven medals during the second day of competitions at the 35th Dutch Open Taekwondo Championships in Eindhoven.

...Alireza Shakouri settled for bronze in the men's 54-kilo competition after refusing to face a contestant representing the Zionist regime in the semi-finals. Hadi Mosta'an also made the same decision when he came up against an Israeli opponent in the finals and opted for the silver.

In the women's competitions, Fatima Ne'mati took bronze after losing in a semi-final match against a British practitioner. However, Aitak Me'marzadeh, who could have walked away with the gold, decided not to face her Israeli rival and placed second.

What is noteworthy is that the international sports bodies refuse to penalize Iran for its behavior.

In 2004, an Iranian judo competitor refused to go up against an Israeli opponent in the Olympics, but he purposefully missed his weight so as to have a legitimate excuse to avoid sanctions from the International Judo Federation. Iran rewarded his scam with a $125,000 reward, the same amount it gives its gold medal winners, and praised him for his cowardice.

Mecca. The holiest of all cities. Where one cannot walk a cubit without thinking about Allah. Where infidels and dhimmis are strictly prohibited to pollute with their presence.

It is also the land of shopping malls.

Our heroes, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, know very well about the dangers of malls.

After all, they must be extra vigilant to guard against that most hideous of Western-style creatures - the mall rat.

The appropriately-named mall rat is a subhuman who goes to the mall, but not to shop for items that increase his holiness and piety. No, this rat has far more nefarious ideas in mind:

To use the mall to meet women.

Our ever-watchful heroes know where to look, and what to do:

Saudi Arabia began interrogating 57 men Saturday who were arrested after allegedly flirting with women in front of a shopping mall in the holy city of Mecca, a local newspaper reported.

The country's religious police arrested the men Thursday night, alleging behavior that included dancing to pop music blaring from their cars and wearing improper clothing, according to the Okaz newspaper, which is deemed close to the government.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice runs the religious police, who are charged with enforcing Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic lifestyle.

Its members patrol public places to make sure women are covered and not wearing make up, the sexes don't mingle, shops close five times a day for Muslim prayers and men go to the mosque and worship.

The police _ informally known as the muttawa, literally "enforcer" _ don't wear uniforms. But they are recognizable by their long beards and their robes, shorter than the ones normally worn by Saudi men. They also shun the black cord that sits atop the headdress worn by most Saudi men.

Women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear a long, enveloping black cloak called an abaya and to cover their hair with a headscarf.

The newspaper report said the men who were arrested Thursday could be released if they could prove they did not flirt with any women. Otherwise, they will be transferred to court and stand trial, the paper added.

The Muttawa arrested the men on Thursday, kept them in jail of course for the Friday day of prayer, and started asking them questions about what they were doing after two nights in jail. And, obviously, if they cannot prove that they were not flirting with women - well, they will stay in jail indefinitely.

Because how else can the Commission keep the holy kingdom moral?

The streets of Mecca are now a bit safer without the improperly dressed dancing men. Thanks, once again, to our heroes.

Earlier episodes:

Episode 8: Seeing red on Valentine's Day
Episode 7: Depravity at Starbucks
Episode 6: Protecting Saudi Women
Episode 5: What's ummah, Doc?
Episode 4: The car washer
Episode 3: Holy Shi'ite
Episode 2: Alone with a strange, sick woman
Episode 1: Introduction, plus A Gang of Magicians