Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Who owns the keys to the Gaza "prison"?

Two interesting stories today, first from the Free Gaza mailing list, where they describe how two of their members who came on a boat last year have been continually denied in their attempts to go to Egypt via the Rafah crossing.

The two British women informed the Embassy that they would remain in the crossing until an explanation was given as to why they had been denied entry based on unjustifiable and potentially false grounds. The Egyptian officials at the border asked how they entered Gaza, and on explaining that they arrived on the Free Gaza Movement Boats they were told, “So, you don’t need us to answer. You already know why you’re not being allowed out.”

Of course, such a story does not make it onto the Free Gaza webpage, which is dedicated to only vilifying Israel.

The other story is from Ma'an:

The de facto government security forces confiscated the passports of a Fatah member in the Ministry of Finance and his wife and prevented to two from exiting the Strip via the Erez crossing, a Fatah statement said.

The incident was allegedly based on factional affiliation. Fatah officials have reported several cases where members were prevented from exiting the Strip.

So we see Egyptians not allowing people to leave Gaza, Hamas not allowing people to leave Gaza - and Israel blamed for running a "prison."

My letter to the Gaza fact-finding mission

I just wrote this letter to the UN Gaza fact-finding mission. We will see if they respond.

Unfortunately, I didn't know about this method of submitting information to them until today, and their deadline was June 30th.

Dear Dr. Goldstone:

I read yesterday in Ma'an that the UN Gaza fact-finding mission listened to lengthy testimony from the PCHR while in Jordan, and was asked specific questions about the legal status of the policemen killed during Operation Cast Lead as well as the PCHR's methodologies.

I am a blogger who has been looking at the PCHR's claims since it released its list of people killed in Gaza. I have been maintaining a list of people whom the PCHR called "civilian" but who have actually been members of various militant organizations.

So far I and my team has identified some 306 people who were labeled civilians by the PCHR who were, in fact, members of militant groups.

The raw research, including links to prove the militant status for each person, can be found here.

What is particularly interesting is that so far we have identified that fully two-thirds of the policemen killed in Gaza - 189 of them - were also members of the Al Qassam Brigades. Most of these are confirmed from the al-Qassam website itself, and Hamas' "military wing" has continued to add names to its list of "martyrs" weekly.

The inescapable conclusion is that Hamas makes no distinction between the members of its police force and members of its terror cells. As Hamas makes no distinction, the IDF is not obligated to make any such distinction itself, and the entire uniformed police of Gaza can legally be considered a legitimate military target.

PCHR's methodology was inconsistent with its own definitions of "civilian" and it double-counted a few victims. Also interestingly, the PCHR's list of "militants" did not correspond to Al Mezan's list of "resistors" killed during Cast Lead.

By my count, using the PCHR list as a base, some 647 of the dead were legitimate targets, not counting victims who died as a result of secondary explosions (which I do not have the resources to confirm) nor those who were effectively used as human shields, such as the family of Nizar Rayyan who he effectively forced to stay and die with him.

All of my information is online and verifiable. I believe that it shows a much different story about civilian casualties than that given by the PCHR.

I hope that this information is of value to your fact finding mission.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

"Elder of Ziyon"
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com

Gaza fake civilian update

Tonight I identified two more Hamas policemen, identified by the PCHR as "civilian," as being members of the Al Qassam Brigades (Hamas' "military wing." )

This brings the total number of Gaza policemen killed in Cast Lead who were also terrorists to 189.

The PCHR identified a total of 282 policemen in their English list of the dead, so this means that we have now proven that over two thirds of the Gaza policemen killed by Israel were terrorists.

The PCHR considers these people to be "civilian," and argued that very point to the UN fact-finding mission recently. But the fact that an overwhelming majority of them are admitted by Hamas to be members of the Al Qassam Brigades proves that, in Gaza, there is zero distinction between the police and the "militants."

The only conclusion you can come up with is that the entire Gaza police force is simply a front for the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades. As such, they are a legitimate military target.

Counting all the police, the other "civilians" killed who were members of terror groups and the "militants" that the PCHR counted, we have now identified, by name, that 647 of the people killed in Cast Lead were legitimate targets.

A double honor killing in Saudi Arabia

From the Arab News:

A man may face the death penalty if found guilty of gunning down his two sisters as they were being discharged by Social Affairs officials into the custody of their father.
The two women had been caught in suspicious circumstances with two unrelated men on Thursday.
Police believe the brother murdered his two sisters to save the family honor. The names and ages of the young women and their brother were not made public.
According to Riyadh police, the man followed his father to the social protection home and then waited until the women came out. He reportedly shot one sister in the head and discharged three bullets into the other. He then tossed the gun near the bodies. Guards at the Social Affairs shelter quickly apprehended the man.
The man will face the death penalty unless his family forgives him. If he is spared capital punishment he will still face jail time served in the name of the public right.
Women are usually turned over to Social Affairs shelters if they are caught with unrelated men until their guardians can get them out of custody.

This is another consequence of the honor/shame culture.

The brother didn't kill his sisters because he knew that they were acting suspiciously with unrelated men; he murdered them because they were accused of acting in such a manner. Being accused is just as shameful as being guilty. Facts aren't important, only perception.

But hey...he has a fair shot at being forgiven by his parents.

Using the honor/shame culture to everyone's benefit

Last month I reported that an Egyptian court made marrying Israelis illegal. The ruling mainly affected Egyptians who married Arab Israelis.

Now, the Egyptian government is appealing that ruling:

The Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs appealed the verdict with the Supreme Administrative Court and demanded an annulment of the ruling, according to the official daily al-Ahram.

They appealed arguing that the issue did not fall within the jurisdiction of the administrative court, the Egyptian daily independent al-Shorouk al-Gadid reported Sunday.

On the other hand, the appeal added, implementing the verdict will negatively impact Egypt's image on the international level as it will appear as a country that does not respect human rights and personal freedoms.

Notice that the argument is not that the ruling restricts personal freedoms - it is that it makes Egypt look like it restricts personal freedoms.

A corollary to the Arab honor/shame culture is that appearances are more important than facts. The perception of morality is more important than morality itself. That is how honor killings can occur to begin with. When one's honor is the most important factor in determining how one acts, it allows him to act immorally in order to maintain honor.

Of course Egypt doesn't care about human rights or personal freedoms. That's almost axiomatic. But the world does, and Egypt is not well served in appearing to be immoral. As a result, actions aren't done for the sake of morality, but for the sake of the appearance of morality.

This will not change.

What we can learn from this, though, is that as Western ideals of morality pervade the world, honor/shame cultures can be shamed into at least forcing the appearance of acting moral. When it can be hidden - when there is no shame - there will be no morality in the Western sense, but Arabs can be prodded into acting in moral ways in public by being shamed into it.

This is why it is terrifically important to place the issue of how the Arab world treats Palestinian Arabs as high as possible in the public sphere. There is no excuse for the Arab world perpetuating a fake "refugee" crisis for decades, and the hypocrisy of saying that they do it for the Palestinian Arabs' own good must be exposed. They will not start treating millions of Palestinian Arabs better; they will not give them full equal rights and citizenship rights, unless they are shamed into it.

If the West would start making this into an issue, it would have a dramatic impact. It needs to be framed as a human rights issue, plain and simple.The Arab world chooses to discriminate against Palestinians and will not allow third and fourth generation Palestinian Arabs born in their countries to become citizens, although they do allow other Arabs to become naturalized citizens. The issue needs to be raised as much as human rights are a part of the conversations around China, North Korea and elsewhere.

Once the naked hatred and bigotry against those of Palestinian origin in the Arab world is publicized, the Arab world will at first try to deflect the issue towards Israel, but they would fail. Perhaps Israel can be blamed for the condition of some Palestinian Arabs in 1949 but what has happened to them since is simply the Arab world' s responsibility.

They will never take this responsibility willingly. But, as we have seen, they can be shamed into it.

Women's rights, Saudi style

From the Arab News:

Police are searching for a 28-year-old woman who ran away from a Social Affairs-run women’s shelter in Jeddah on Friday.
Col. Misfar Al-Juaid, spokesman for Jeddah police, said the woman ran away while the police were preparing to take her to jail in line with a court order. He further urged the young woman to surrender and warned the public against giving her shelter.

She must have done something heinous to have an all-point bulletin issued by an entire Kingdom. What was her crime?

The court had ordered the police to take the woman to jail while it examined a case filed against her by her father. The woman fled her parents’ home after accusing them of abusing her and sought refuge at the shelter.

The woman had earlier complained against her father at a summary court. The father had then filed a counter-case against her, accusing her of disobeying her parents, a culpable offense under Saudi law. The court refused to entertain the woman’s petition and instead began examining the father’s complaint.
Before issuing a final verdict, the court ordered police to take the woman to jail. When police arrived to take her, the woman said she needed to use the toilet and on entering the ladies’ toilet she fled.

The woman accused her father of abusing her. The father responded to the court that she had done something much worse - she had disobeyed him. So the Saudi justice system, naturally, decided to drop the charges for the abuse crime and start a nationwide hunt for the 28 year old woman who disobeyed her father.

The Saudis aren't monsters, though. They have a solution:

Urging the young woman to return to her senses and surrender to the authorities, Dr. Ali Al-Hanaki, director of the Ministry of Social Affairs Ministry in Jeddah, said, “The solution now lies in her own hands. Each additional day she refuses to obey the authorities will only worsen her problem.”
He added that the ministry had pledged to resolve her problem without sending her to jail. “We have informed the court of our plans, which include arranging for her to marry and reconciling her with her family,” said Al-Hanaki.

See? They'll find her a husband! No doubt he will be a prize catch for her, arranged by the government itself.

Almost as much of a prize as her father evidently is:

He also requested her father to stop sending threatening messages to the authorities.

Its official. The world doesn't care about "Free Gaza."

The Free Gaza website and mailing list asked people to protest at Israeli embassies in Europe on Saturday.

Nobody showed up.

They asked people to go to a press conference in London today for the six members who arrived there after being deported from Israel.

Nobody showed up.

Their last "tweet" about the press conference was nine hours ago, and there are no news stories nor even followups on their own website about it.

Which could mean one of two things. Either the Jewish domination of the press is so all-encompassing that it can even shut up the Free Gaza website itself, or the world simply doesn't care about a group of self-centered hypocrites who deliberately try to get into confrontations with Israel and then whine when Israel treats them like irritating gnats.

They prefer the former explanation. When their website went down for a couple of hours last week they darkly implied they were "hacked." Until their system administrator said it was only a traffic spike that they couldn't handle.

Last year, the boats to Gaza were novel and interesting. Now, the world sees that Hamas has no interest in peace with Israel, peace with the PA nor in taking care of their own people and sympathy for Gazans have gone way down. The world sees that the moonbats are not saying a simgle bad word about rockets or Hamas abductions and torture. The world sees that hundreds of millions of dollars go to Gaza and no progress is made. The world sees that aid to Gaza gets taken over by Hamas.

Even the Israel-haters of the FGM are starting to realize that their Gaza message is getting stale. Now they are pushing a video about prisoners in Israeli prisons, an entirely different focus and one that dilutes their message about Gaza (but stays consistent with theie anti-Israel theme.)

Now they are begging for money, for volunteers, and for people to show up at their publicity stunts.

They're losing the battle that they themselves created the rules for.

And it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

UPDATE: Dov has pictures of the tiny turnout.

"Mazel Tov" and "L'Chaim!" in Black Eyed Peas song

A coworker just informed me that a song by the Black Eyed Peas includes the lyrics "Mazel Tov" and "L'Chaim."

Sure enough, they are there, horribly misspelled in various lyrics sites.

Fill up my cup (Drink)
Mozolotov (Lahyme)
Look at her dancing (Move it Move it)
Just take it off

Not exactly bubbe-friendly lyrics!

This song has been noticed by the Jewish Journal blog.

The song is pretty catchy, although the lyrics themselves are a bit more raunchy than the music I normally listen to. The video is borderline NSFW, at least in my prudish opinion.

But I acknowledge that I am ancient. I am the Elder, after all.

UPDATE: For a more bizarre use of Yiddish by pop stars, check out the Jackson brothers' (sans Michael) take on Bei Mir Bis Du Schoen (introduction starts around 2:22, song at 3:00)

More on Hamas' latest "martyr"

From Ma'an:

The militant wing of the Hamas movement on Monday announced the death of one of its fighters, Saleem Yaser Abo-Shenar, 18.

In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades said the young man from the As-Sabra quarter of Gaza City "was killed in the line of duty and jihadi preparation and training."

The group also said that he died following a long career of resistance in the brigades.

An 18-year old with a "long career" in terrorism?

I wonder at what age he began his illustrious career before ignominiously offing himself.

Also, I seem to have missed another Hebron clan-clash murder from last week, so the 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 114.

A peek behind the Free Gaza hypocrisy

Today, yet again, Hamas was accused by the PA of torturing many of the Fatah prisoners, beating them and depriving them of sleep.

No one seriously doubts that Hamas, and the PA, torture prisoners. The evidence - and body count - is testimony enough to that.

However, the Free Gaza group is utterly silent about that. To them, only Israel tortures anyone. This despite the fact that the Red Cross routinely visits Arab prisoners in Israel, as opposed to any Hamas or Fatah prisoners in the territories.

A Free Gaza email that was sent today by leader Greta Berlin again ignores Arab torture, instead accusing Israel of torturing 11,000 Palestinian Arabs and saying "Israel outdoes the U.S. in torture, imprisonment and brutality. Where do you think the U.S. learned how to torture?"

Another member accidentally responded to the entire list saying "I recommend to drop the last sentence."

After all, FGM is trying to put world pressure on Israel, not to reveal their anti-American feelings to the world. Saying bad things about the Obama-led US might impact their fundraising efforts.

And, of course, they have no interest in protecting the Palestinian Arabs they pretend to care about from the real torture that they receive from their own people.

So Free Gaza goes on its merry way, pretending to be a humanitarian organization while shielding real terrorists from scrutiny.

Today's PalArab news roundup (7-6-09)

There are reports that Israel approved the PA receiving 1000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

An 18-year old Hamas man was killed "while doing an act of jihad" in Gaza City. Work accident!

A 22-year old man was stabbed to death in Khan Younis. A suspect in another murder was caught trying to escape through a smuggling tunnel.

Hamas continues to arrest Fatah supporters in Gaza (just as Fatah is doing to Hamas members in the West Bank.)

On Saturday, PA "Prime Minister" Fayyad disingenuously said that the PA is willing to give rights to Jews who choose to live in "Palestine." Another leading PA figure who is negotiating with Hamas in Cairo, Dr. Abu Samhadana, responded that the Fatah position is not to allow a single Israeli to live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Neturei Karta wrote a letter to Hamas giving them advice on how to destroy Israel.

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 113.

Egyptian sheikh in trouble again

Remember last December, when there was an uproar in Egypt over published pictures of Al-Azhar Sheikh Tantawi shaking hands with Shimon Peres?

Reactions were furious that such an awful thing could have happened. Even the Western media soon took notice as Tantawi was advised to decontaminate his hands.

Well, Tantawi is in hot water again, this time for sitting near the same Shimon Peres at an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan.

Here is the incriminating picture. Tantawi is separated from Peres merely by the human mechitza, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Of course this is unacceptable, for as we all know Muslim clerics must be separated from unclean Jews by 30 kilometers.

The reaction in Egypt mirrors that from late last year.

Egyptian MP Mustafa Bakri described what happened as "a scandal in every sense of the word." He said that Tantawi should have withdrawn from the conference as soon as he knew that Peres was going to attend.

A deputy minister, Hazem Farouk, said that Tantawi "sat next to the blood-stained butcher of Arabs and Muslims."

Can't you feel the love?

Fayyad talks of Jews' rights in "Palestine"

From the Aspen Daily News:

Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday that Jews would enjoy freedom and civil rights in a future Palestinian state.

Fayyad addressed the subject in response to a question from former CIA director James Woolsey at the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Ideas Festival, which included a day of panels on different aspects of the current state of the Middle East.

Woolsey said there are a million Arabs in Israel, accounting for one-sixth of the Israeli population, and that “generally they enjoy the guarantees that Americans look for in the Bill of Rights.”

“Now, if there is to be the rule of law in a Palestinian state, and if Jews want to live in someplace like Hebron, or anyplace else in a Palestinian state, for whatever reasons or historical attachments, why should they not be treated the same way Israeli Arabs are?” Woolsey asked. “That would be, there could be a sixth of the population consisting of them. They could vote for real representatives in a real Palestinian legislature, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and most importantly, be able to go to the sleep at night without worrying someone is going to kick down the door and kill them.”

Fayyad responded by saying, “I’m not going to disagree with you. And I’m not someone who will say that they would or should be treated differently than Israeli Arabs are treated in Israel.

“In fact the kind of state that we want to have, that we aspire to have, is one that would definitely espouse high values of tolerance, co-existence, mutual respect and deference to all cultures, religions. No discrimination whatsoever, on any basis whatsoever.

“Jews to the extent they choose to stay and live in the state of Palestine will enjoy those rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights than Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the state of Israel,” Fayyad said.

The crowd at the Greenwald Pavilion applauded enthusiastically.

Anyone with eyes will see that the "equal rights' given to Jews would be the same "equal rights" that dhimmis have had in Muslim countries for centuries - meaning, they would be clearly second-class citizens with nothing close to equal rights.

But let's look at the Constitution of "Palestine" and see exactly what kinds of equal rights we are discussing here:

ARTICLE 1

Palestine is part of the large Arab World, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab Nation. Arab Unity is an objective which the Palestinian People shall work to achieve.

Meaning that non-Arabs are clearly excluded from being member of the "Palestinian People."

ARTICLE 2

The Palestinian People are the source of all power, which shall be exercised through the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities, based on the principle of separation of powers, and in the manner set forth in this Basic Law.

And if you are not a "Palestinian" by their definition - meaning, you are not an Arab - then you do not share in being the "source of all power."

ARTICLE 4

Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.
Arabic shall be the official language.

Well, that's pretty clear.

ARTICLE 9

All Palestinians are equal under the law and judiciary without discrimination because of race, sex, color, religion, political views, or disability.

Not "citizens of Palestine" but "Palestinians." Meaning, again, if you are not a "Palestinian" by their definition you do not enjoy these equal rights. Since we've already defined "Palestinian people" as being Arabs in Article 1, it is clear that Jews would not fit under this definition.

ARTICLE 18

Freedom of belief and the performance of religious rituals are guaranteed, provided that they do not violate public order or public morals.

And the definition of these public morals was given in Article 4 - Shari'a. Meaning that public shows of any religion besides Islam can be shut down according to this pretend-pluralistic constitution.

ARTICLE 24
4. Private school and educational institutions shall comply with the curriculum approved by the Palestinian National Authority, and shall be subject to its supervision.

So the chances that the Palestinian Authority would allow Jewish schools to teach Talmud, for example, are pretty much zero.

ARTICLE 27

Establishment of newspapers and all media means is a right for all, guaranteed by this Basic Law. However, their financing resources shall be subject to law.
Freedom to audio, visual, and written media, as well as freedom to print, publish, distribute, transit, together with the freedom of individuals working in this field, is guaranteed by this Basic Law, other related laws.
Censorship on media shall be prohibited. No warning, suspension, confiscation, cancellation, or restrictions, shall be imposed on media except by law, and in accordance with a judicial order.

We've seen dozens of examples of how this applies in practice, most recently with an Al Jazeera reporter whose videotape was erased by the PA because they didn't like what he was reporting.

ARTICLE 35

Before assuming the office, the President shall take the following oath before the Legislative Council, and in the presence of the Speaker of the Palestinian National Council, the Chief of Supreme Court “ I swear to Allah Almighty to be faithful to the Homeland and to its sacred places, and to the people and its national heritage, and to respect the Constitutional system and the law, and to safeguard the interests of the Palestinian people completely, as Allah is my witness “.

Sounds like a non-Muslim cannot become president of Palestine.

ARTICLE 49

Before taking on any responsibility, every Member [of the Palestinian Legislative Council] shall swear the following oath before the Council: "I swear by Allah Almighty to be faithful to the Homeland, and to preserve the rights and interests of the people and nation, and to respect law and perform my duties in the best manner, as Allah is my witness".

Sounds like a non-Muslim cannot become a member of the Legislature.

ARTICLE 97

The Judiciary branch shall be independent, and shall be assumed by the different types and level of courts. The structure, jurisdiction, and rulings of the courts shall be in accordance with law. The rulings shall be announced and executed in the name of the Palestinian Arab People.

Sounds like a non-Arab cannot become part of the Judiciary.

So even if Fayyad is only saying that Jews in "Palestine" would have rights similar to those of Arabs in Israel, the Palestinian Constitution shows him to be a liar. After all, Israel has had Arab members of Knesset, Arab Supreme Court justices and even, for a short time, an Arab President.

And the constitution is an idealized vision of the most liberal an Arab Palestine ever could be. In reality, such a state would not come close to anything resembling the Western concepts of freedom that it attempts to approximate, and history shows that any Jews who try to gain any political power in an Arab Palestine would be more likely to be massacred than accepted.

Today's PalArab news roundup 7-5-09

Hamas Vice: A female Arab journalist was arrested in Gaza for laughing in public and dressing immodestly. Hamas has a vice squad patterned after the religious police in Saudi Arabia.

Violence in Hebron, not a Jew in sight: Two unrelated murders in Hebron bring the self-death count up to 111. (There was also a clan clash in the Jerusalem, with one dead, but I don't count Arab murders in areas under Israeli control.)

Tit-for tat PalArab accusations: Hamas accused the PA of arresting 14 of its members, the PA accused Hamas of smuggling arms, cash and explosives to the West Bank.

UNRWA summer camps accused of being too tolerant: A Hamas official slammed UNRWA-run camps in Gaza, saying that they were attempting to corrupt an entire generation of Gaza children into accepting Israel as well as teaching boys and girls together.

Gaza cafe torched: Returning to the days before Cast Lead, Islamists in Gaza destroyed a cafe which presumably did not meet their standards for morality.

"Pro-Palestinian Paris bookstore attacked" - Al Arabiya reports a French Arab bookstore was "trashed" by Jewish extremists, possibly from the French Jewish Defense League. The photo of the store shows no damage at all.

Iranian woman flips off Ahmadinejad? UPDATE: No.

I just saw this photo in a Palestinian Arab newspaper:

I didn't see this anywhere else, the source is not given and it might very well be Photoshopped, but it is worth investigating.

UPDATE: Miriam from the Shearim blog knows the scoop - it is Photoshopped, and here is the original picture from FARS next to the altered one: