Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Gaza university closes in protest of Hamas

Al Azhar University in Gaza announced it is suspending classes on Wednesday, in reaction to Hamas actions that occurred on campus.

Contrary to university policy, Hamas supporters and members "stormed" the university and placed Hamas flags on walls and gates. Since the Hamas coup, the university has banned political activities to minimize the friction between students who support different factions.

The university's statement said "While our students prepare for final exams for the first semester of 2009/2010, the university is attempting to provide an appropriate learning atmosphere that helps students achieve their goals and build their future, and to distance them from any activities that may create confusion for the educational process. Members of the Islamic bloc at the university insist on actions that emphasize problems and differences between students through their insistence on political festivals that raise sensitivity among the student blocs, and pit them against each other. We are trying as much as possible to avoid these provocations."

(I took slight liberties in interpreting the autotranslation but this appears correct.)

Axis of Evil

Hamas political head Khaled Meshal, during his visit to Iran, declared that Hamas and Hezbollah will shower Israeli towns with rockets if Israel attacks Iran's nuclear plants.

Meshal had previously pointedly met with Iran's nuclear negotiator, indicating that Islamic terror groups are a specific part of Iran's strategy of controlling the Middle East by terror.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Lebanon, as the Lebanese parliament just reiterated its support for Hezbollah keeping its own independent army and, effectively, supporting Hezbollah against UN resolution 1701 which called for all non-government groups to give up any weapons in southern Lebanon.

This all makes President Obama's praise for Lebanese president Michel Suleiman appear somewhat tone-deaf:

"What [the US and Lebanese governments] do share is a commitment to resolve these issues through dialogue and negotiations, as opposed to through violence."

One can sympathize with Lebanon's difficulties in maintaining any sort of government altogether, but the reality is that there is a direct line between Iran and Hezbollah, and Lebanon's government supports the Iranian side, not only tolerating Hezbollah but tacitly supporting it.

All but forgotten is the smoking gun of a huge weapons ship that proved conclusively that Iran is arming Hezbollah on a massive scale and tried mightily to hide it. Obama noted the US concern with Lebanon not stopping such arms smuggling but that severely understates Lebanon's undeclared role in supporting such smuggling.

The result is that Iran can confidently rely on Hezbollah to act as a proxy army for it, much as Syria has done in the past. Its support for terror groups is open and unapologetic, and most of those terror groups are singlemindedly focused on Israel.

Another meeting between Hamas and Iran nuke head

Right after Iran's nuclear negotiator met with a series of Palestinian Arab terrorists in Damascus, he follows up with another meeting with Hamas leaders in Tehran:

The political leadership of Hamas Movement on Monday met with Sa’eed Jalili, the chief negotiator of Iran’s nuclear file, Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the expediency discernment council, and Manouchehr Mottaki, the minister of foreign affairs.

Ezzat Al-Resheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said that the Hamas delegates briefed the Iranian officials on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and discussed with them the failure of the settlement process.

He pointed out that the Iranian officials congratulated the delegation on the 22nd anniversary of its Movement’s inception and hailed its steadfastness and adherence to the rights of the Palestinian people, adding that the officials promised to increase Iran’s support for the Palestinian people.

In the same context, Khaled Mishaal, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, said during his meeting with Jalili that the steadfastness and fortitude of the Palestinian resistance would never hold back until the achievement of victory and expressed his appreciation to Iran for its ongoing support for the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation.

For his part, Jalili said that the resistance is the only way to restore the usurped rights of the Palestinian people, describing it as the good tree that blossoms day by day.

Hmmm. Iran's nuclear negotiator openly supports terrorism.

I'm sure that soon, a useful idiot in the West will use his honesty as a compelling reason that we should believe him when he says that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful.

Notable ElBaradei interview

A video of an interview that Mohamed ElBaradei, outgoing head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and prospective candidate for Egyptian president, has just surfaced. ElBaradei made this interview last summer.

I do not understand Arabic (and Google doesn't yet offer real-time voice translation) but two articles point out interesting things about the interview.

Firas Press says that ElBaradei stated that humanity could be destroyed by nuclear weapons in 5-10 years. Yet in their description of the interview, he doesn't once mention Iran in connection with this observation and only talks about Israel's nuclear arsenal.

An Egyptian writer in Global Voices likes what he hears in the interview, including that ElBaradei is a supporter of pan-Arabism, and that he liked the idea of the old United Arab Republic where Egypt joined Syria, but he said there were mistakes as to how it was implemented.

And while he supports peace, he was against the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, saying that Egypt should not have done it alone and saying that is caused serious isolation from the Arab world.

That's what I'm talking about.

Touring Israel is wonderful, of course, but I get just as much pleasure - and sometimes more - out of just soaking up the ambiance of being in a Jewish state. Listening to Hebrew and poorly attempting to speak it, being able to walk around with a yarmulka without a second thought of how people are perceiving me, noticing a Biblical reference on a truck, ordering a delightfully messy shwarma at a random kosher joint - this is what I love about Israel.

UNRWA commissioner decries Egyptian wall

You know how people like to say that their problem with Israel building a security fence is because it is a "land grab" and that if that wall would be built on the Green Line, they would have no objections? Do you also notice how those same people seem to criticize every single other action that Israel does to defend itself?

Well, Egypt is building a wall now on its border with Hamastan, and Karen Abu-Zayd, the outgoing Commissioner General of UNRWA, is apparently not happy.

According to Palestine Today, she confirmed that the wall is being built (Egypt is still denying it.) She is claiming that the idea for the wall actually came from the despised George Bush administration.

She broadly implied that the purpose of the wall is for Israel to be able to attack Gaza. I'm not quite sure how that helps Israel except for making it more difficult for Hamas to bring in rockets and bombs. She specifically called the wall "notorious" and said that it "serves only Israel," which is an interesting thing for a UN leader to say.

Evidently, if Egypt wants to build a wall on its own territory, it can and is going to be castigated by the UN. And the reason is because it is perceived as helping Israel, which is automatically bad in the eyes of some UN agencies.

Yesterday, I met a fascinating woman who works for the UN, who is Jewish and was born in the Ivory Coast. She had some very interesting stories about anti-semitism at the UN that she sees up close because her coworkers do not know that she is an observant Jew. (One story even involves an attempt on her life in an area far away from Israel.) One thing she mentioned was that when Karen Abu Zayd became head of UNRWA, she asked her for a job. Abu Zayd answered that she was only going to hire Palestinians.

This explains a lot.

Travel blog day 1

Experiencing the usual travel problems... So no real blogging for a bit.

It's not like I can't find other things to do.

Meanwhile, the Chanukah party I went to last night was a blast, and I even met a frequent commenter, whom I didn't know is actually a "cousin in law."

One of the things I love about Israel is seeing how Judaism is integrated into everyday life. It may seem trivial, but to know that I can order kosher room service at my hotel, or to see the words "chag sameach" on a bottle of Coke, just makes Israel feel more like a home than anything in America in a very fundamental way.

It is a nice feeling.

Another open thread

Arrived in Israel safely but attending a Chanukah party and don't see myself blogging tonight, as I am going on no sleep.

So keep on doing what you do so well....

We've seen this happen before, but the Arabic Al Quds newspaper recently published the most provocative model picture yet, showing women at what is apparently an underwear fashion show in Mumbai.

The readers aren't amused. More than one mentions that a newspaper named after Jerusalem should stay away from such filth.

Purely in the interests of properly informing my readers, you can gaze at the offending picture and form your own opinion.

Great moments in autotranslation, Hamas edition

Hamas is planning to celebrate its 22nd anniversary on Monday. Its Al Qassam Website headlines its article on the occasion this way:

ذكرى انطلاقة المارد الحمساوي الأخضر تتزين غزة بثوب العزة
Anniversary of the establishment quality porn giant green gown festooned with Gaza Dignity

Usually when this happens, I'll try to isolate the specific Arabic word that seems to have been mistranslated; often without context one can determine what the real word was meant to be. But in this case, I came up empty. Google translates the exact word الحمساوي to "High-quality porn."

Well, let no one accuse Hamas of pushing low-quality porn!

Just another data point for the many Hamas apologists who manage to twist Hamas leaders' words into something that can possibly be construed as approaching a slight semblance to moderation:

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Friday again vowed not to compromise on a single inch of "Palestine".

He spoke at a rally that featured a motocade of hundreds of motorcycles, proving once again the major fuel shortages Gazans are suffering.

In another rally, Hamas displayed a coffin symbolizing the death of Israel, pictured to the right.

Travel open thread

As I pray that I and my luggage don't miss our connection to the Holy Land, here is an open thread.

I think I have three posts queued up for while I am in the air. No idea about how much I will blog once I arrive.

Oh, and a freilichen Chanukah!

Hamas' West Bank ambitions alive and well

From Ma'an:

The military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, says it is attempting to regroup in the West Bank and resume its resistance of the Israeli occupation.

"Nobody will be able to uproot resistance, and if they affect us, that will not last long … The Mujahidin [religious combatants] of Al-Qassam Brigades will remain positioned in their bunkers, protecting the Gaza borders during the central festival commemorating Hamas' 22nd anniversary," the group's spokesman Abu Ubayda also told reporters on Sunday.

Meanwhile, another Hamas member has managed to get himself killed in Gaza last Friday while doing a "Jihad task."

Iranian leaders meeting terrorists - discussing nukes?

Iran continues to show its unparalleled and unapologetic support for terrorism.

Recently, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili met with not only Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus, but also leading representatives from the PFLP and Hezbollah. Now, why should Palestinian Arab and Lebanese terrorists be interested in Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program supposedly meant purely for energy? Do they also discuss Iranian sewage utilities and train service?

Today, Iranian officials in Damascus met with Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah, and there were many other similar meetings in the past week as Syria[!] celebrates "Iranian-Palestinian Cultural Week."

Additionally, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal is visiting Tehran this week.

Is there a pattern emerging? And are these types of meetings even on the UN's and EU's radar when discussing Iranian nuclear ambitions?

Evil extremist Zionists to visit torched mosque

From YNet:

Dozens of rabbis and activists from the Religious Zionist camp will visit Sunday the West Bank Palestinian village of Yasuf to protest against the torching of the village's main mosque and to send a message of reconciliation to the Muslim population, Ynet has learned.

During their visit, they will lend a hand in the clean-up and refurbishing efforts at the mosque. They will also donate a number of Korans in place of those that were burned in the fire.

Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, who heads the yeshiva on the religious kibbutz Maale Gilboa, initiated the event together with Rabbi Avia Rosen from Ein Hanatziv and Rabbi Shmuel Reiner. Rabbi Gilad said, "We came to expel darkness, especially during the days of Hannukah. Light is not added by hurting our brothers, the Muslims, who are the servants of God just as we are. This is an important message to relay."

According to Rabbi Gilad, rabbis from across the spectrum of Religious Zionism and from areas throughout Israel are expected to partake in the event that was put together just Sunday morning. "This is not a political protest, but a humanitarian, moral, and religious issue. We have seen and heard condemnations (of the mosque arson) from both ends of the political spectrum," said Rabbi Gilad.

These are the very types of Jews who are almost invariably portrayed in the world media as "extremist," "ultra-religious," "and "fanatics." They are vilified as venomously hating Muslims and Arabs. They are the ones who are either settlers themselves or support the settler movement wholeheartedly.

JPost adds:

Dani Dayan, who heads the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, condemned the attack as "outrageous" and "morally wrong."

I have yet to see, ever, a single Palestinian Arab leader publicly call any of thousands of terror attacks on Jews in Israel to be "morally wrong." Their English-language condemnations are invariably leavened with the explanation that the attacks are bad for their cause, but never that they are immoral.

So far I have counted 340 stories in Google News that have mentioned the attack. It will be instructive to see how many will bother mentioning this extraordinary protest.

I predict that it will be significantly fewer, or a wire service that mentions it will spin it so as to make the arsonists look like the mainstream and the outraged leaders the tiny minority.

The main reason is that this story directly contradicts the "extremist settler" meme that that the mass media has relied upon to "explain" the conflict to ignorant Westerners. Reporters will usually choose to ignore a story rather than report on facts that contradict their lazy shorthand that they pretend represents a higher truth.