Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, September 25, 2008

This morning's peaceful PalArab news

Another clan clash in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of an 18-year old.

Hamas continues to harass, arrest and torture doctors in Gaza. Yesterday they arrested a pediatrician.

Doctors Without Borders still refuses to comment on Hamas' campaign of terror against doctors. The only mention I could find on their main website was just noting the strike, implicitly blaming the doctors, and not a word about the arrests and assaults that have been well documented.

Egypt found another ton of TNT, plus hand grenades and mortars, in the Sinai, meant for Gaza.

Mahmoud Zahaar imitated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, now saying that Israel has changed from an expansionist bullying state hellbent on enlarging its borders "from the Nile to the Euphrates" and instead it is a pathetically weak nation who is offering Jews money to leave territory, proving its imminent demise.

Firas quotes some Egyptian sources as saying that yesterday's tunnel blast was not the result of Egyptian explosions but because some fuel in the tunnel ignited. Although it quoted Reuters and AFP, I could not find any article in the MSM confirming that, so for now those deaths will not count in my self-death count.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 190.

Arabs upset that non-Muslims tour the Old City

An interesting, and telling, article in Palestine Today (Arabic):

Israel is preparing to launch tourist activities in the walled Old City of Jerusalem, which goes back to the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the legal and under a lot of effects and its holy places, Islamic and Arab Umayyad to the days of the first and entrusted warrior Saladin and the Mamelukes.

It appears that Israel wants to weave their own story about the history of Jerusalem and ignore the facts of history about the place of the city in the hearts of Muslims around the world, and the importance of Al-Aqsa mosque to them.

It is clear that Israel wants to interest Jewish, Christian and Western tourists and to marginalize the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and their contribution to the preservation of the heritage of the old city with distinction.

The article goes on to quote the press release about this tour, which I am reproducing here in the original English:

JERUSALEM'S OLD CITY BECOMES ISRAEL'S NEWEST NIGHTSPOT

Visitors to Jerusalem can now experience the holy city's remarkable sites in a whole new light with "Autumn Evenings in the Old City." The guided nighttime tours, combining live musical performances, stories and meetings with Jerusalem's fascinating inhabitants, take participants through the Muristan neighborhood, David's Citadel, Tekuma Park and the ancient "Jewish" and "Christian" Quarters on Mondays and Thursdays through October 30th.

Visitors are able to select from two tours- "The Storytelling Tour," featuring encounters with characters from the city's past and present, such as a British soldier and an "Effendi" and his followers; and "The City & A Song," a musical tour of the Old City including visits to the Cardo and Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue. Each tour culminates with a special musical performance with acts ranging in style from New Orleans jazz and Turkish folk to traditional Jewish and Arab songs.

"This is the very first time this kind of nighttime activity is taking place in the Old City," says Jerusalem Development Authority Director Reuven Pinsky. "I have no doubt that the awareness of the Old City as a place that can be enjoyed after dark will grow, bringing in many more visitors each and every day."

"Autumn Evenings in the Old City" is an initiative of the Jerusalem Development Authority in cooperation with the Jerusalem Municipality, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ariel Company. The tours begin at 6:30 p.m., free of charge.

It takes a bit of a stretch to imagine this night-time tour as being offensive to Muslims or Arabs. In fact, it includes mentions of Arab history and culture during the tour.

It is quite possible that the reason the Muslim quarter is not included in the tour is because there is additional danger to tourists at nighttime there.

Muslims often accuse Israel of "Judaizing" Jerusalem and of attempting to erase the history of Muslims there, but it simply isn't true. Archaeological sites as well as tours and history mention the Arab presence and history there prominently. To complain that the Al Aqsa mosque is not on the tour, when the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are not either, is ridiculous.

The only people who are trying to erase history from Jerusalem are the many Muslims who categorically deny any Jewish connection to the city. Here we have yet another example of Elder's First Rule of Arab Projection, where Arabs accuse Jews of doing something that Arabs are much more guilty of.

The nutty ramblings of a madman

From reading the news reports on Ahmadinejad's UN speech one gets the impression that it was just another political speech at the UN, with some pointed attacks towards America and Israel but not much else.

Only when you read the actual transcript can you appreciate the sheer messianic and twisted craziness that this man is filled with.

Here are some parts of the speech that the mainstream media doesn't feel is very important.

First, the entire first half of his speech was a messianic religious rant, with nothing to do with politics:

In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful, all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, and peace and blessing be upon our master and prophet, Mohammed, and his pure household and his noble companions. Oh, God, hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi, and grant him good health and victory, and make us his followers and those who attest to his rightfulness. [The UPI transcript had a comma between "make us" and "his followers" but the Mathaba.net version does not, and the comma doesn't make sense. Ahmadinejad is calling on everyone to become a Shiite. - EoZ]

...
Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, today I would like to talk to you about the main reasons behind the conditions ruling the world and the means to tackle them.

Of course, you're already aware of what I am talking about, but I think it is necessary to remind ourselves.

It seems that the roots of problems align the way one views and perceives the world and humankind, as well as in the important issues of freedom, obeisance to God, and justice.

The world, humankind, freedom, and obeisance to God, and justice have been the utmost importance to humans throughout history.

One, the world. God Almighty purposely created the world. This world is the bedrock for the evolution and growth of a creature called man. And the laws governing the world and all other creatures are at the service of man's quest for loftiness.

The world should provide the needed opportunities for the fulfillment of the purpose behind man's creation. No phenomenon, creature, or, indeed, anything has been created in vain.

Together, they all pave the ground for the flourishing of mankind in a complex and purposeful system. And they are each one of the signs of God Almighty. All are his creations, and he is the sole creator and ruler of the world. All existence, including power, knowledge, and wealth come from him.

Two, humankind. God created the world for humans and humans for himself. He created humans from mud and in the soil, but he did not want them to remain in the soil and with animal instincts.

He kindled the light of guidance in their souls and asked them to rise from the soil to the heavens and to him, with the help of wisdom, prophets, and perfect men.

The world will ultimately disappear, but God has created man for eternity and has made them a manifestation of himself.

Creativity, mercifulness, kindness, knowledge, wisdom, zeal, concealment of sins, splendor, justice, bounteousness, generosity, greatness, love, glory, dignity, forgiveness, insight, kingship, and all other goodness and beauty are attributes of God.

God has not created humans for aggression, bloodshed, ranker, selfishness, and destruction.

He made humans his ... servants on Earth and has asked them to, on the one hand, make Earth prosper by using their God-given potentials, and to prepare the ground for the growth of divine attributes in all humans, and to provide all with a life of beauty, amity, freedom, justice, and goodness, and, on the other hand, in pursuance of this path, to prepare for a prosperous everlasting life endowed by God's mercy.

God has obligated humans to live divinely and socially, for it is only through social life and interactions with others that divine attributes may emerge.

Three, obeisance to God. God Almighty has tied their perfection and true freedom of humans to their devotion and obedience to himself. True freedom and obedience to God are in balance and, in fact, are two sides of the same coin. Obeisance to God means confessing to monotheism and obeying his commands and to be free from ungodly worship. Obeisance to God means the acceptance of the absolute truth, the absolute light, and the absolute beauty.

Obeisance to God means abandoning selfishness and animal instincts, power-seeking and aggression, surrendering to righteousness, justice, love, and perfection.

And in this way, humans can achieve their true freedom and flourish. They can grow and manifest divine attributes, have affection for others, stand up for justice, and fear no power or threat, and defend the oppressed.

In such an environment, one's freedom -- one's freedom will not impinge on any other's. Contention and conflict are characteristic of materialistic freedom and animal instinct. The essence of all divine religions and obeisance to God and true freedom is disassociating from oppressors and instead obeying and worshiping God.

Four, God is omniscient and knows all that is revealed or kept secret, and he is kind and merciful. All creatures are humbled before him and resign to his will.

God is alive and is the creator of the universe and all life. God loves his creatures and desires nothing but goodness, blessings, and perfection for them, and is against bullying, injustice, selfishness, and domination.

Four, justice. Justice is the foundation of the creation of humankind and the whole universe. Justice is tantamount to placing every phenomenon in its own place and providing humans with opportunities to actualize all their divine capabilities.

Without it, the order of the universe will collapse and the opportunity for perfection will fade away.

Without justice, it would be impossible for human society to taste real peace, beauty, joy, and happiness.

Justice is the main pillar of social life, and without it social life cannot continue or grow.

Humans need to know God in order to realize a prosperous society in this world, as well as to strive for a beautiful eternal life. And to this end, they first have to know themselves and strive for loftiness in themselves and their societies.

However, as long as the world is construed as closed, limited, and aimless, as long as eternal life is considered imaginary and illusory, and afterlife and the Judgment Day, as well as reward and punishment, are thought of as fictional and unreal, as long as morals and commitment to them are called backwardness and immorality, lies, deceit, and selfishness are considered desirable, and humans are limited to a materialistic life in this world, as long as attempts are made to replace obedience to God, and following his prophets, and true freedom with servitude to materialistic tendencies, and animal instincts, and servitude to oppressing human beings and contention reaches its pinnacle, as long as the aggressors, because of their financial, political, and propaganda powers, not only escape punishment, but even claim righteousness; and as long as wars are started and nations are enslaved in order to win votes in elections, not only will the problems of the global community remain unsolved, but they will be increasingly exacerbated.

And his obsession with Zionism and Jews takes up a significant portion of the speech, not only the brief snippets quoted in the papers:

In Palestine, 60 years of carnage and invasion is still ongoing at the hands of some criminal and occupying Zionists. They have forged a regime through collecting people from various parts of the world and bringing them to other people's land by displacing, detaining, and killing the true owners of that land.

With advanced notice, they invade, assassinate, and maintain food and medicine blockades, while some hegemonic and bullying powers support them.

The Security Council cannot do anything, and sometimes, under pressure from a few bullying powers, even paves the way for supporting these Zionist murderers.

It is natural that some U.N. resolutions that have addressed the plight of the Palestinian people have been relegated to the archives unnoticed. ...

The dignity, integrity, and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a minuscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers, as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the U.S. in a deceitful, complex, and furtive manner.

It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premier nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and a commitment to their interests, in order to attain financial or media support.

This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people.

These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes, and occupations, and the threats of the Zionist network against their will.

Friends and colleagues, all these are due to the manner in which the immoral and the powerful view the world, humankind, freedom, obeisance to God, and justice, the thoughts and deeds of those who think they are superior to others and consider others as second-class and inferior, who intend to remain out of the divine circle, to be the absent slaves of their materialistic and selfish desires, who intend to expand their aggressive and domineering natures, constitute the roots of today's problems in human societies.

They are hindrances to the actualization of material and spiritual prosperity and security, peace, and brotherhood among nations. I explicitly state that the Iranian people and the overwhelming majority of the peoples and governments are against those deeds and perspectives of the world-domineering powers.

Establishment of justice requires people who achieve moderation and justice inside themselves and have restrained their domineering attitudes and actualized their attributes of self-sacrifice and are at the service of humanity.

The complete and full-scale manifestation of such characteristics can happen only under the rule of the righteous and the perfect human being, who is obedient to God and who was promised by the divine prophets.

Finally comes his implicit threats against America and his return to his messianic theme:

American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road. And its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit.

And now a few words with the expansionist governments' ruling global relations. Be aware that living with obedience to God and carrying out his orders, compassion for people, and striving for the fulfillment of justice is to your advantage, too.

I invite you to return to the path of God, the prophets, and to the path of the people of the world, and to the truth and justice. The only route to salvation is a divine, straight path.

Otherwise, God's hands of power will emerge from the sleeve of the oppressed nations and will make your life difficult and will put an end to your hegemony.

Let's love the people of the world and respect their rights, rectify past behavior. This will benefit you and the human community.

The Iranian people are prepared, along with other nations, to help you be rescued from your current situation and to establish peace and prosperity.

My friends, fortuitously, opportunities are accessible. With the grace of God Almighty, the existing pillars of the oppressive system are crumbling. Great developments in favor of humankind, as well as its true and real rights, are on the way.

A golden and brilliant future is awaiting mankind. A global community filled with justice, friendship, brotherhood, and welfare is at hand and, as I have elaborated, a community which will tread the path of beauty and love under the rule of the righteous and the perfect human being, the one promised by all divine prophets, and the one who is the true lover of humanity.

A community that will be devoid of any fear, despair, and privation, such a community will soon be ours, the community promised by the great divine prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Mohammed, peace be upon him, is about to materialize. Let us, hand in hand, expand the thought of resistance against evil and the minority of those who are ill-wishers.

Let's support goodness and the majority of people who are good and the embodiment of absolute good that Imam of Time, The Promised One who will come accompanied by Jesus Christ, and accordingly design and implement the just and humanistic mechanisms for regulating the constructive relationships between nations and governments.

Oh, Great Almighty, deliver the savior of nations and put an end to the sufferings of mankind and bring forth justice, beauty, and love.

Friends, let's have a proper share in the establishment of that illuminated and promised divine age.

I thank you all very much.

To describe this speech, as the media has, as anything other than a crazed, messianic, anti-semitic screed is tantamount to lying about it. This is not a political speech; it is pure hate clothed in religious garb. To even imagine that the author of this rant will soon have weapons of mass destruction available to hasten the coming of his Mahdi is incredibly frightening, and the MSM missing the point of this speech is mind-blowing.

Quickies

5 were killed in a tunnel explosion in Gaza. Since it appears that Egypt set the explosion, these will not be counted in my self-death counts.

In a move that symbolized the Gaza/West Bank split better than any other, both governments chose wildly different days to celebrate Eid at the end of Ramadan. The PA says it starts on September 30th, Hamas says the 25th.

Finally, a purely anti-semitic anti-Palin screed in the Pakistan Daily site.

Ahmadinejad's anti-semitism and the MSM

Yesterday's speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN was the most anti-semitic speech given there since the infamous 1975 UN resolution that equated Zionism (with a small z) to racism.

While most of the mainstream media reported (as in this AP example)

Ahmadinejad accused “a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists ... (of) dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the U.S.”

very, very few took the small step to mention that this is a classic anti-semitic belief. The three that I found, outside of Jewish and Israeli media, were:

The New York Daily News:

From there, Ahmadinejad called up classic anti-Semitic canards and - without ever mentioning Israel or Jews by name - he attacked "acquisitive and invasive people" who dominate "financial and monetary centers."

The New York Sun:

On Israel he used Europe's oldest anti-Semitic language to blame "a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists" for "dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers."

And, most surprisingly, the Times of London:

In a rambling speech punctuated by anti-Semitic bluster, an emboldened Mr Ahmadinejad vowed not to bow to “illegal demands” to halt Iran’s nuclear activities which he defended as the peaceful pursuit of civilian energy.

...A rambling religious treatise gave way to a series of startling attacks on Israel and Jews in general, blaming them for all the world’s ills. “The dignity, integrity and rights of American and European people are played with by a deceitful group of people called Zionists,” he said.
The global financial crisis was the fault of “a small number of acquisitive and evasive people” who had taken control of the whole world order, he said, but predicted that this would soon change.

A few more media did quote various others denouncing the speech as anti-semitic (including Barack Obama,) but a huge majority is so cowed by the idea that anti-Zionism has nothing to do with anti-semitism - even when they are presented in historically identical ways - that they will dispassionately report the fact that the leader of a large nation, on the verge of nuclear capability, is single-mindedly obsessed with ending the rights of Jews to national self-determination.

Kudos to the few exceptions, and shame to the MSM for not drawing the very short line between Ahmadinejad's speech and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Autotranslation of the day

From Saudi Arabia's Okaz news agency, an article about a car accident:

Path General Hospital announced a state of emergency and alert yesterday morning following a traffic accident on the road [[in] Mrbp near Brownish Discharge led to the death of one person and wounding of 17, according to the available details.

Not my idea of a place to have a nice family outing, but to each his own....

"Free Gaza" freaks continue to show utter disregard for Gazans

The latest "Free Gaza" ship, called the "SS Hope," is scheduled to set sail from Cyprus on Thursday.

Now, they are sending some doctors, which sounds like the Freaks might for once actually be interested in helping the people of Gaza. But, alas, it is not true. According to the FG site, "Doctors and lawyers are going to Gaza at the request of the people of Gaza to assess the medical tragedy there and to talk to the people."

So the doctors will not do anything that existing NGOs in Gaza (Doctors Without Borders, the many UNRWA doctors) are not doing already. The lawyers will do, pretty much, nothing except feel important. The Arab Knesset member will give interviews as will other other "human rights" activists to the two Al Jazeera reporters on board.

But perhaps the most valuable person on the entire ship will be "Joe Fallisi (Italy) Opera Singer, Composer." Gaza is suffering from a severe shortage of opera singers and the poor Palestinian Arabs stuck there have expressed their clear desire for an operatic tenor to entertain them and move them to tears. Fallisi has already entered the Free Gaza song contest, and Fallisi - who, we are helpfully told, is a vegan - sings lyrics such as "Zionists, oppressors, tyrants will fall."

One can only imagine how much he will lift the hearts of supposedly starving Gazans with his songs.

Because his ship sure isn't bringing any food.

Moderate Palestinian Arab negotiator threatens violence

From YNet:

The Palestinian chief negotiator with Israel cautioned on Tuesday that violence could erupt if peace talks collapse.

"The Palestinians will continue to negotiate. But, if the talks reached a dead end, what do we do? Capitulate? Resistance in all its forms is a legitimate right," said Ahmed Qureia in a message to newly-elected Kadima chairwoman, Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni.

So sweet that this moderate leader greeted the apparent next leader of Israel with such touching words, threatening that if she doesn't give in to all his demands, his people will resort to murdering innocent civilians, which he asserts is quite legitimate. In other contexts this would be considered blackmail, but in the Middle East this is business as usual.

One may be pedantic and recall the words of Yasir Arafat at the onset of Oslo:

The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security.

The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations.

The PLO considers that the signing of the Declaration of Principles constitutes a historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all other acts which endanger peace and stability. Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators.

It's almost as if the PLO and its PA subsidiary are filled with - violent liars whose promises are not worth the paper they are written on!

But, they are considered "moderate," so that makes it OK. Because, after all, Hamas and Islamic Jihad might act the exact same way but they are a bit more extreme in their initial demands, so of course the PLO and the PA are so very moderate and peace-loving in comparison.

The keffiyeh has become standard garb for anti-war activists across the globe and a chic accessory for urban hipsters -- a vaguely subversive, vaguely exotic all-weather neck warmer.

Do you think that Mahmoud's decision to join the hipsters will enhance or discourage the keffiyeh's use?

Tuesday PalArab press roundup

Another man was killed by falling into a smuggling tunnel. I believe that this makes 37 tunnel deaths this year.

One more was found dead of gunshot wounds in Deir al-Balah in Gaza.

An anti-Hamas news site is reporting more evidence that last July's beach bombing that killed 5 Hamas members and a girl was from internal fighting.

A previously unknown Gaza group is threatening to shoot rockets at the Rafah crossing and to kidnap Egyptian soldiers unless Palestinian Arab prisoners in Egyptian prisons are released.

All the Palestinian Arabic media is reporting that a website "funded by the Mossad" is offering a cash reward for the assassination of Samir Kuntar.

Once again, the priorities of people getting Eid gifts will not be poor people but children of terrorists, alive and dead.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 189.

Isn't it romantic?

The Israeli media is reporting on the apparent motivation of the driver in yesterday's terror attack: A broken heart!

The terrorist who rammed his BMW into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare late Monday night has been identified as Kasem Mugrabi, 19, from Jebl Mukaber in east Jerusalem.

Mugrabi, a resident of the same village as the Mercaz Harav terrorist who killed eight in March, wounded fifteen people before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer.

The assailant had no previous security record, police said Tuesday.

According to an initial police investigation, the 19-year-old wanted to marry his cousin, and when she refused his offer, he decided to carry out a terror attack, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

Unrequited love has led to many a suicide in the West, and it is tragic that the ideas of Romeo and Juliet are such a part of our culture that lovestruck victims will sometimes kill themselves.

The Palestinian Arab culture, however, doesn't romanticize suicide - it romanticizes self-destructive mass murder. It is unthinkable to just kill oneself, because that adds shame and dishonor to your family.

Our young, pained Kasem Mugrabi seems to have been jilted and he responded with the Palestinian Arab concept of ultimate self-sacrifice - to kill oneself while trying to murder as many of the enemy as possible. A shameful act is thus elevated to an act of martyrdom, and the loss of a love on Earth is replaced by the concept of unlimited sex in Paradise.

Rather than hoping that the object of his desires would cry for him and regret her rejection, the terrorist can hope that she will be jealous that she didn't fall for such an honorable man - the same type of man who Palestinian Arab culture considers heroes.

This is the idea of romance in Palestinian Arab culture - a society where mass murder is celebrated so routinely that it becomes an attractive alternative for shamed people to become heroes.

Buzzworthy Open Thread

I just tried to add Yahoo Buzz! to my template, but it is not working as nicely as I would like.

But since you guys asked, here is another open thread.....

PalArabs thrilled with terror attack

Here are some of the autotranslated comments at the Fatah-linked Palestine Press news agency to the article about the terror attack in Jerusalem today:

I hope more heroic operations

Yahya God all the freedom fighters in the city of Jerusalem, especially the bomber

We congratulate the process [operation] and wish [that the source was] the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and it is not with the [Hamas] resistance, the Iranian Hamas pigs who deliver [only] a paper resistance and we say [to Hamas] Go to hell

Thank God with us, which we thought that the beloved Palestine and the Palestinian issue still has insisted in Palestinian hearts and that despite all attempts to disperse the Palestinian thinking, but we can work to break the cover of occupation

Thank God for this work which God chose us Homnfz driver and the process is a martyr hero God bless his soul to God, what a bargain Jewish Lord violin and violin operations Aktar more, you know, I do not kill each other so you O Palestine, Fatah and Hamas miles Msolon us what is Sahhhhhhhhhhhhhawwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Ome fine fine Halina Unit Nationally supported in some yen Thank you, you Iarepettstjibwa Arabs

The name of God Rahamin Rahim Web and thrown and thrown, but God contact us thank God that we have made Islam and Muslims hail you a martyr and God Spoof you, hero of God you are happy and the Palestinian people in the holy month of Ramadan, God willing, and more heroic operations

But there was one commenter against the attack. Well, of course he praised the attack, but he thought that the timing was not the greatest, because it might delay the Israelis giving up more land to the Palestinian Arabs for free.

Another Ramadan terror attack

Ah, Ramadan. All about fasting, prayer, spiritual reflection, reading from the Koran - and attacking the dhimmis.

A terrorist driving a black BMW ran his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a busy intersection in central Jerusalem near the Old City on Monday evening.

At least 17 people were confirmed wounded at Zahal Square, all in light-to-moderate condition. Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated those wounded to the Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaare Zedek hospitals for treatment.

The JPost adds:

Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said that the attacker was shot dead "within seconds" by an off-duty IDF officer who was touring the city with his unit.

He added that there was no intelligence information ahead of the attack, but noted that Jerusalem was under heavy security alert due to Ramadan.

But why, oh why would anyone associate Ramadan, the holiest Muslim month, with terror attacks?

Could it be because a couple of days ago there was a Ramadan terror attack against a hotel in Pakistan, killing dozens?

If Islam is a religion of peace, wouldn't it be logical that their holiest month would be the most peaceful month?

Perhaps, unlike what we've been told by apologists for Islam, Ramadan is really the "month for Jihad," as this Christian Science Monitor article from 2003 discovered.

But Israelis know this very well. After all, the Yom Kippur War in 193 is known in the Arab world as "The Ramadan War."

So there is nothing unusual for terror attacks to occur during Ramadan. On the contrary, it is expected.

British Muslims celebrating 9/11 anniversary

From MEMRI:

Reporter: Islamic activists in the British capital have chosen to mark the seventh anniversary of 9/11 in their own way. Once again, they called the attacks, which caused thousands of casualties, the "New York Raid." They warned that new attacks would occur in the future, unless the U.S. reexamines its policy and attitude toward Islam and the Muslims.

Anjam Chaudhary, Secretary-General Al-Ghuraba Movement: Since the raid of Manhattan seven years ago, and the collapse of the twin towers in New York, many developments have taken place around the world. Many events similar to September 11, July 7, and November 3 [sic] have taken place in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, Iraq, and Afghanistan since then.

Reporter: The event took place after the fast-breaking meal at a religious center in east London, and was attended by dozens of participants. The speakers focused on the lessons to be drawn from the attacks, and they derided the war on terror waged by Washington, and by Western and Islamic countries, saying that it had managed to strengthen Al-Qaeda, rather than weaken it.

Muhammad Seif Al-Islam, The Salafi Youth Movement: This is the consequence of your own actions an of every step you take. Wake up, wake up. So many times we have heard the warning of Sheik Osama Bin Laden, as well as the warnings of Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda, calling upon the Western peoples to awaken from their slumber, and to be on their guard so that their governments will not lead them to war, causing violence and aggression. [These peoples] should prevent their governments from inciting them to become the enemies of Islam and the Muslims.

Reporter: Sheik Omar Bakri, whose return to British soil has been denied, addressed the participants by phone from Lebanon.

Omar Bakri: "Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: Some of them have died, and others await their turn, but they have not changed [their religion]."

Reporter: From the support for Bakri's words, it was clear that Bakri, founder of Hizb Al-Tahrir and the Muhajireen Movement, still enjoys the support and trust of his followers, who said their struggle against the British government's policy would continue, regardless of the measures taken against them.