Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, January 09, 2010

More on Scheuer and his opinions

I have been getting a lot of hits from my post about Michael Scheuer on C-SPAN (linked from Adam Holland's blog) and the video clip that I posted.

Some of the links are coming from places like David Duke's site, or like this comment from Canadian Spectator site that says

Note that elderofziyon.blogspot makes no effort to deny Israeli influence over American foreign policy, indicating that it is criticism of such control that must be deemed anti-Semitic.

This is a pretty good indication of the intelligence of the critics, as I did not call Scheuer an anti-semite, rather the caller that said that the US was "jewed" into Iraq and that Jews were spilling American blood for their interests.

However, it seems to be an appropriate time to talk a little about what Scheuer himself said, especially since some commenters are of the opinion that Scheuer's arguments have not been refuted. On C-SPAN, he had no problem with the caller's Jew-hatred, but the essence of his response was

Ultimately Israel is a country that is of no particular worth the United States....They have no resources we need. Their manpower is minimal. Their association with us is a negative for the United States. Now that's a fact.

Scheuer has stated similar opinions before. In other arguments, he often using the same terminology of proof by assertion, insisting that his opinions are facts. For example,

[O]ne of the reasons America is attacked by Islamists is because of Washington's unlimited and unqaulified [sic] support for Israel. This is a staemnt [sic] of fact, not opinion or analysis.

Scheuer's penchant for backing up his statements by simple assertion indicates that he knows himself that his arguments are tendentious.

As for his statement that it is a "fact" that Israel has no particular worth to the US, that is absurd. Israel has provided the US with peerless intelligence (most obviously during the Cold War, when Israeli analysis of downed MiG fighters and Soviet military capabilities helped the US tremendously.) Israel's bombing of the Osirak reactor helped ensure that the US did not face a nuclear adversary during the Gulf War. Israeli inventions and innovations save US army lives, for example unmanned drones, active defense systems for military vehicles and medical inventions. Israeli use of US weapons in the field also help the US make their own weapons better.

Outside the military field, there is a good reason why Microsoft, Intel, Motorola, IBM and other high-tech superstars have R&D labs in Israel - because they see the value that Israel provides. The entire current generation of Intel microprocessors were designed in Israel. Doesn't that help the US?

To the other assertion of "fact" cited above, it is fantasy. Islamists don't hate America because of Israel - they hate Israel because it is a manifestation of America that is on their doorstep. The things they hate about Israel are exactly the same things they hate about America. If Israel didn't exist their hatred for the US would not decrease at all. There is a good reason why Israel is only considered the "little Satan."

Now, I didn't call Scheuer an anti-semite, because I had not researched other things he had said in the past. However, his hate of Israel and American Jews who support Israel indicates that this characterization would not be far off. At a debate with Alan Dershowitz, Scheuer said explicitly that American Jews led the US into war with Iraq (after Dershowitz said, accurately, that Jews on the whole opposed that war.)

Similarly, as Jeffrey Goldberg notes,

Scheuer is the man who once told an appropriately-shocked gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations that the Holocaust Museum is part of a clandestine Jewish operation to control American foreign policy: "Well, the clandestine aspect is that, clearly, the ability to influence the Congress--that's a clandestine activity, a covert activity.

There are a lot more examples of how Scheuer chooses only Jews who support Israel as worthy of his hate, not to mention other interesting opinions he has.

In his defense, Scheuer did come up with this gem, that could prove his hatred for the Jewish State is more ecumenical:

I forthrightly damn, and pray that God damns, any American –– Jew, Catholic, Evangelical, Irish, German, Hindu, hermaphrodite, thespian, or otherwise – who flogs the insane idea that American and Israeli interests are one and the same.

Well, I'll be damned!

"Intransigent"

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian Authority rejected US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call for the resumption of peace talks without prerequisites, Agence France Presse and Israeli media reported on Saturday.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat stressed that peace talks can only be renewed on the condition that Israel realizes a settlement standstill across the West Bank and occupied east Jerusalem. "A resumption of peace talks requires the complete halt of settlements," Erekat told the AFP.

Negotiations, he added, could only be reinitiated from the point at which they were stopped in December 2008, when Israel launched Operation Cast Lead. [when settlement activity was not a pre-condition - EoZ.]

It was announced on Friday that the US and Jordan would urge Palestinians and Israel to discuss Jerusalem and borders – issues that have been relegated to final status talks in previous negotiations. Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas declared eight preconditions which must be met by Israel in order to bring the Palestinian side back to the negotiation table, including a total settlement freeze and Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders.

So Abbas is adding more and more pre-conditions before agreeing to peace talks.

Yet if you do a Google News search on the word "intransigent" in reference to the conflict, for some reason it is applied to Israel nearly exclusively. (Occasionally Hamas is thus described, but the PA is never labeled with that term in the mainstream media.) We've noticed similar words and phrases in the past that are exclusively associated with Israeli government - "hawkish," "right-wing," "hardliner," "extremist" - even though, objectively speaking, the Palestinian Arab positions and actions have been more extreme than the government of Israel's.

This is perhaps the most damaging part of the false narrative that the world swallows whole about the situation. When supposedly unbiased newspapers keep using these very biased terms in very biased ways, it is no surprise that an entire generation is growing up hating Israel and believing that the PA is being reasonable and "moderate" (a term that is never used for Menachem Begin or Ariel Sharon, both of whom made incredible concessions for peace.)

There is a cumulative effect of this use of language that, over the years, makes the conventional wisdom in the Middle East a sort of funhouse mirror reflection of the truth.

Israel has been losing the language war for way too long.

Terrorists trying to stop Gaza exports?

Yesterday, the Popular Resistance Committees took responsibility for some 12 mortars (Israel confirmed about 7 of them.) This is by far the biggest one-day total of projectiles fired from Gaza since the end of Cast Lead.

Why is there a sudden upsurge of mortar and rocket attacks on Israel?

The answer may be found in the choice of targets. For the first time since in many months, as far as I can recall, some of the mortars were shot at the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Egyptian border.

Before Cast Lead, the crossings were a regular target. Israel would always shut down crossings after these incidents for safety reasons.

Sure enough, in response to the attacks, the IDF did shut down Kerem Shalom.

Who did this hurt the most?

Israel has recently, without any fanfare, allowed semi-regular exports of strawberries and flowers from Gaza. Maybe it was because of the relatively small amount of rocket fire; maybe it was part of the Shalit negotiations, or maybe it was a deal that Israel made with Holland which has been supporting the Gaza farmers of those products.

Now that the crossings are closed again, piles of the crops that had been waiting at the crossing are going to waste.

Of course, Israel will be blamed for this, rather than the PRC. But it is hard to not conclude that the flower and strawberry exports were the real target of the terrorists.

It is also notable that the PRC is loosely aligned with Hamas, and has done a number of terror attacks with them. I have yet to see any word that Hamas has gone after the PRC for these attacks, as they have gone after some smaller groups in the past.

Israeli Arab town smashes hummus record

From AP:

Israel has taken the upper hand in a new kind of Mideast conflict, one fought with chickpeas instead of bullets.

A Guinness World Records adjudicator has confirmed that Israeli chefs in an Arab town outside Jerusalem now hold the world record for the biggest serving of hummus, the chickpea paste that is a staple and a near-religious obsession for many in the Middle East.

Jack Brockbank put the amount of hummus prepared by the chefs Friday at 9,017 pounds (4,090 kilograms).

The record doubles the previous one set in October by cooks in Lebanon.

Lebanon and Israel have officially been at war for decades. When the Lebanese chefs prepared their dish, they called it a move to reaffirm ownership of a food they say has been appropriated by Israelis.

According to Sky News, the record-breaking dish was created by a combination of Jewish and Arab Israelis, and the restaurant owner decided to go for this record to symbolize peace between Arabs and Jews. (The Sky News article says that Jews claim to have invented the dish, although I have never seen any such claims.)

The Israeli author of The Hummus Blog had responded to last year's Lebanese record by jokingly claiming to have created the world's smallest hummus dish, "since we Israelis were always pioneers in miniaturization."

British rape victim jailed in Dubai

From the Sun (UK):

A BRITISH woman on a break in Dubai went to police after being raped - but SHE was arrested for having illegal sex.
The 23-year-old Londoner was attacked by a waiter in a hotel toilet after celebrating her engagement to her boyfriend with drinks.
But after she admitted boozing and sharing a hotel room with her fiancé, cops in the strict Islamic state arrested her for "illegal drinking" outside licensed premises and having sex outside marriage.
Her 44-year-old fiancé, also from London, was charged with the same offences. And both were thrown in police cells by officers who paid little heed to the rape.
The devastated couple were last night understood to be on bail awaiting trial and have had their passports confiscated. They could be jailed for up to six years if found guilty of the illicit sex charge.
British embassy officials in the desert emirate are helping them.
A diplomatic source said: "There have been some truly appalling injustices in Dubai but this one tops the lot.
"A desperate, distressed rape victim went with her boyfriend to report the attack to police. And both wound up behind bars.
"The police and authorities in Dubai have shamed themselves by yet again displaying a breathtaking lack of compassion and humanity."
The ordeal of the rape victim, a pretty Muslim of Pakistani descent, began after she joyfully accepted a marriage proposal from her boyfriend during a three-day New Year break.
She admitted drinking too much afterwards as they celebrated at Dubai Marina's luxurious Address Hotel - and passed out in a ladies' loo.
The waiter is said to have followed her into the toilets and raped her while she was semi-conscious.
Her fiancé was initially unaware of the attack and helped her to their room, where they slept until the next day.
But the horror of the rape came back to her when she woke - and the pair went to Jebel Ali police station to report it.
Yet unsympathetic cops immediately quizzed them about breaking the emirate's severe decency rules, which contain elements of Sharia law.
Medics were said to have shunned rape case procedures - but made sure they obtained a blood sample from the woman to prove she had been drinking.
After being locked up, she told a cellmate she was terrified the rapist had made her pregnant or given her a sexually transmitted disease.
She was given access to proper medical checks and a morning-after pill only after an appeal from British embassy staff.
She and her fiancé spent several days behind bars before being freed.
The cellmate, held for alleged cheque fraud, said: "She's a British girl but a Muslim, so I think they were tougher on her because of that.
"She was trying to report the rape but soon realised the policemen were more interested in how often she has sex with her boyfriend.
"They even asked if she did just normal sex or anything else in bed."
Her attacker, who is understood to be Syrian, is believed to have denied rape.
He claimed the Briton consented but has also been charged with "illegal sex".
A spokesman for the Address Hotel said: "The matter is being investigated by the authorities."

Future Martyr

Firas Press has an ongoing feature where it republishes pictures of Palestinian Arab children sent in by their parents. Usually the pictures are just cute, but sometimes, the pictures are edited in ways similar to "martyr" posters.

Today's kid is definitely being set up by his parents to be a martyr, if only because he is wrapped in the flag of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades:

I happened to find the original background picture, from Reuters:

As far as I can tell, none of the commenters on the page have anything but praise for the picture.

Galloway deported from Egypt

Too funny: (h/t PTWatch)

Leader of the Viva Palestinan convoy and British MP George Galloway was deported from Egyptian soil moments after he set foot on it, crossing the border at Rafah from Gaza, organizers of the convoy said.

A statement from the group said Galloway and a colleague "were forcibly pushed into a van, refused exit and told that they were leaving the country," as they entered Egypt.

Egyptian security sources confirmed the decision to deport Galloway, saying officials had decided to bar the British MP from entering Egypt in the future and added the country would "also put all the convoy members on the black list after they leave." Officials were upset over the protests launched by the convoy, which spurred riots at the Rafah border, which lead to the death of an Egyptian police officer.

In a related story, Egypt is demanding that Hamas hand over the person who shot and killed an Egyptian guard during riots at the Rafah border over the convoy, and a "decent" apology.

PLO hypocrisy on "Right of Return"

Looking a little further at the PLO's official positions as mentioned in their Mission to the US website, we see this stunning piece of hypocrisy:

Refugees and the Right of Return

Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed upon them.

If Option (iii) is on the table, then why does there have to be a Palestinian Arab state beforehand? The stateless Palestinian Arabs could simply choose to become residents of their host countries today!

There are two groups of people that prevent that from happening: Arab leaders and Palestinian Arab leaders, including the leader of the PLO today.

The Arab League specified in 1959 that Palestinian Arabs, alone among all Arabs, were excluded from becoming citizens of Arab countries (see page 144-145 here.)

And how does the PLO leader react to this obvious case of injustice and discrimination? By agreeing with it, of course. On at least three occasions in the past couple of years, Mahmoud Abbas confirmed that he does not want Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon to have the option of becoming full citizens of the country they were born in.

The only recognized Palestinian Arab leader has said many times that he does not want Palestinian "refugees" to have the option of becoming citizens in their host countries. Yet the PLO website lies, to a Western audience, by claiming that they want to give the refugees a choice as to where they want to live!

See also this article where we learn that Arafat had zero interest in helping out the "refugees." The only time that Palestinian Arab leaders show interest in the refugees is if they think that they can help destroy Israel - otherwise, they like to see them rot.

"Historic Palestine"

One of the well-worn memes of the anti-Israel crowd is that Israel is only offering 14%, or 12%, of "Historic Palestine" to the Palestinian Arabs. For example, here is a small sample of how the phrase has been used in recent days:

What remains to the Palestinians now is less than 14% of Historic Palestine, all of it as isolated Bantustans, shrinking ghettos, walls, fences, checkpoints with surly soldiers,and the perpetual encroachment of expanding illegal Israeli colonies.

[In 1948 Israel] stole 78% of historic Palestine as the first step toward seizing it all for exclusive Jewish use.

And the Guardian defines "historic Palestine" for us:

[Islamil Haniyeh's] defiant rhetoric celebrated the movement's 22nd year, pledged never to recognise Israel and claimed the whole of historic Palestine for the Palestinians. "Palestine from the sea to the river, we won't surrender it," he told the crowd.

So does the PLO on its new US Mission website:

The problem is that historical Palestine never looked like this, unless your concept of "history" starts after World War One. This is a historic map of the Western-designed British Mandate for Palestine since 1922 or so, not in any real sense "historic" (more properly, "historical.")

Here is what Palestine looked like in a few random maps from before the British Mandate:

The Negev region is almost never included, and significant parts of today's Jordan are. (Egypt claims that Eilat is part of its own historic land.) The Jordan River is never a boundary for any conception of Palestine before the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

In terms of "Historic Palestine," the 1948 armistice lines probably includes perhaps 30% or maybe 40% - certainly not 78%.

The question that no Palestinian Arab or supporter has yet answered is why their claims always coincide with the parts of Palestine that are under Jewish rule, and not the parts that are under Arab rule? Why did the PLO in 1964 explicitly exclude the West Bank from its desired nation? Why doesn't Hamas today say that parts of Jordan should be within the boundaries of the state they demand?

If "Palestine" is so important to them, why don't they claim it all? Why do they accept the arbitrary, imperialistic Western division of their "historic nation" as a basis of their supposedly ancient historic claims?

The answer is simple - they don't care about historic Palestine. They care about the ultimate destruction of any Jewish state on what they consider Arab or Muslim land. All of the rhetoric about "historic Palestine" is a lie that is meant to mislead the West.

From the Guardian link mentioned above, it is a lie that has been extraordinarily successful.

(See also my previous post on "Eastern Palestine".)

PLO spells out its positions on Jerusalem

For those who naively think that the PA "only" wants Israel to withdraw to the Green Line and then peace will reign supreme, the new "PLO Mission to the United States" website spells out otherwise.

This website is meant to portray a moderate front to Western audiences, but it is filled with half-lies and outright lies that would take a month of fisking to flesh out. Here is just what they say about Jerusalem:

Israel has no legal right to any part of East Jerusalem since East Jerusalem was part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. East Jerusalem is part of the territory over which the indigenous Palestinian population shall exercise sovereignty upon Israeli withdrawal.

In 1967, there were no legally recognized "Palestinian territories" and Israel's acquisition of them in a defensive war with Jordan is not a legal "occupation" according to the only definition of occupation listed in international law, the 1907 Hague Conventions.

In conformity with international law and as stated in the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, all of Jerusalem (and not merely East Jerusalem) is the subject of permanent status negotiations.

The PLO here is formally stating that they want to go beyond the Green Line and claim a stake in the western part of Jerusalem as well. When Oslo says in 1993 that "Jerusalem" will be a part of the permanent status negotiations, the PLO is interpreting that as if all of Jerusalem is on the table - a gross misintepretation of the 1993 agreement, which is only saying that Jerusalem will be discussed at a later time, not that the western part is up for negotiations.

Jerusalem should be an open city. Within Jerusalem, irrespective of the resolution of the question of sovereignty, there should be no physical partition that would prevent the free circulation of persons within it.

Here is where they are solidifying their claim above - saying that they want full rights to allow terrorists to freely enter Jewish areas of the city, and beyond.

Palestine and Israel shall be committed to guaranteeing freedom of worship at and access to religious sites within Jerusalem. Both states will take all possible measures to protect such sites and preserve their dignity.

This is a joke meant as a sop to the West. The PLO officially does not want any Jewish access to Jewish holy sites in Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem, and the only reason there is any access today is because of Israel's "illegal occupation," not because of any liberal thinking on the PLO's part. Jerusalem would be the same in short order if the PLO would convince the West of its "peaceful intentions." Moreover, the idea that the PLO would ever allow Jewish free access to the Temple Mount is beyond absurd.

The PLO is who Israel is officially negotiating with, not the PA, so this is not an extreme, splinter position. This is what the "moderate" Palestinian wing is demanding, in English.

In Arabic, you will still be hard-pressed to find a map of "Palestine" that shows Israel at all.

Muslims massacre 7 Coptic Christians in Egypt

From Time:

Three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers in southern Egyptian as they left a midnight Mass for Coptic Christmas, killing at least seven people in a drive-by shooting, the church bishop and security officials said.

Muslims are fearful that Christians worldwide will riot and threaten their communities in retaliation for the massacre.

Just kidding!

Hamas terror training in Lebanon; Hezbollah upset

From Naharnet:

The explosion that rocked Beirut's southern suburbs over the weekend has reportedly took place during live ammunition training of Hamas members.
Pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, citing Lebanese sources, said Wednesday the blast occurred as Hamas members exercised with live ammunition in the basement of Hamas headquarters in Haret Hreik neighborhood in Dahiyeh.

Beirut media agreed that the explosion took place inside a room used by Hamas members in the basement of a building that houses Bank of Kuwait and the Arab World on the main road between Haret Hreik and Bir Abed.

Asharq al-Awsat said Hizbullah was displeased with Hamas.

It said Hizbullah has informed Hamas leadership that the Shiite group was "deeply dismayed at what had happened, particularly that training took place without the knowledge of the party and inside a residential building."

How dare Hamas store and test weapons in civilian areas in Lebanon? Hezbollah has the exclusive franchise on that business!

The Guardian makes a slight correction; still wrong

The Guardian article I quoted this morning has been updated to include the death of an Egyptian guard from rioting Gazans. It took out its self-contradictory part, but kept a flat-out lie:

Israel's strict blockade of Gaza, which has been in place for more than two years, prevents all exports and limits imports to a few humanitarian items. Egypt has also kept its one border crossing with Gaza, at Rafah, largely closed.

The number of items that Israel allows into Gaza, while not a comprehensive list of everything needed, has included a wide variety of categories, way beyond a "few" items. And, as I noted, Israel has allowed flowers and strawberries to be exported from Gaza, both last spring for the flowers (if I recall correctly) and in the past week for both items.

Notice also that Israel "blockades" while Egypt simply "largely closes" its border. The Guardian could not bother to mention that 99% of all goods that enter Gaza is through the party doing the "blockading."

Anti-semitic C-SPAN video clip with Michael Scheuer

A helpful tipster managed to download the C-SPAN interview I mentioned yesterday. Here is the section with the unbelievably anti-semitic question by the caller, the clueless C-SPAN anchor not even blinking as he asks for comments, and then Michael Scheuer pretty much telling the world how Israel deserves to be the target of terror attacks.

Gazans recycling rubble

After a year of using rubble from Cast Lead as a huge prop for TV cameras, Gazans are finally starting to do something constructive:

They are recycling the rubble into new cement blocks.

This photo essay from Palestine Today shows how:

Which means that Hamas is now back building weapons bunkers under Gaza homes and schools.

Arab warns of Israeli rumors

An article in the Islamic Jihad-aligned Palestine Today warns that Israelis are trying to destroy the fabric of Palestinian Arab society by planting rumors. Ironically, the author brings no specific examples of an Israeli-started rumor, meaning that he is starting a rumor himself.

We should cut him some slack, though. After all, I hear that he acts as a collaborator for the Mossad and suffers from erectile dysfunction.

"Peace" protestors riot in Egypt

George Galloway's "Viva Palestina" convoy members started rioting in El Arish when the Egyptian government told them that some of the items that they planned to bring to Gaza must go through Israel.

A security official said the vehicles in question are carrying pickup trucks, sedans, generators and other equipment, which are not allowed to pass through the Egyptian crossing at Rafah and had to go via Israel. Only medical aid and passengers are allowed through, the official said.

While the Galloway group insists that the rioting was started by plainclothes Egyptian policemen throwing rocks at the group, other reports have the group abducting four harbor police officers. As many as 15 police were injured.

Palestine Press Agency reports that Egyptian TV showed injured Egyptian police, and said that police were injured by members of the convoy pelting them with rocks. It also adds that the agreement between the convoy and Egyptian authorities were that only buses would be allowed to enter, not private cars.

Non-violence!

The Guardian throws in this very inaccurate paragraph as background information:

Israel's strict blockade of Gaza, which has been in place for more than two years, prevents all exports and limits imports to a few humanitarian items. The policy has grown ever tighter since Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, won parliamentary elections in early 2006 and then seized full security control of Gaza a year later. Israel now regards the strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, as a "hostile entity".

I emailed to them, saying:

The two sentences contradict each other - the first says the blockade began in 2007 and the second says it began much earlier.

Besides that, Israel has recently allowed exports of flowers and strawberries from Gaza, and they also allowed a shipment of flowers last spring.

We will see if they correct the story.

Iraq seeking compensation for Osirak bombing

Palestine Press Agency quotes Maariv as saying that the current Iraqi government is seeking financial compensation from Israel for the damage caused by the bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981.

Would the Iraqis agree to also pay Israel for the damage caused by their Scud missiles, the cost of gas masks for every Israeli citizen and compensation for the cost of every "safe room" in all Israeli houses and buildings that were built directly because of Iraqi actions and threats? Will they compensate Iraqi Jews whose property they expropriated in the 1950s and after the Six Day War? And once we are looking at compensation, how about compensation for the lives of 180 Jews murdered in the Farhud pogrom of 1941 during Shavuot?

Arabs: Don't visit our third holiest site!

From the Jordan Times:

Anti-normalisation activists on Saturday urged Jordanians to refrain from visiting Jerusalem and other sites in Palestine for religious purposes, but travel agents insisted they were within their rights to offer tour packages to these sites.
Hamzah Mansour, president of the National Committee for Anti-Normalisation, said the committee is considering holding a public event to condemn tourism to Palestine.

In a statement posted on the Islamic Action Front website, Mansour criticised travel agents who promote tours to Jerusalem and called for an end to this practice.

"We noticed an increase in the number of visits to Israel under the pretext of seeing holy sites in Jerusalem and other places. This must stop because it is an act of normalisation," said Mansour, who insists that obtaining a visa from the Israeli embassy in Amman is recognition of Israel's existence.

The Islamist movement opposes peace with Israel and refuses to recognise it.

Mansour, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood shura council and a former MP, accused travel agents of "preying on religious sentiments" by promoting travel to Israel.

Jerusalem is holy to all three monotheistic religions, being home to Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe to be the site of Christ's death and resurrection.

This is the second time in less than two months that activists have spoken out against visits to Israel through tour packages.

There are no official figures on the number of Jordanians who visited Israel for religious purposes, but activists say more such trips were organised last year than in 2008.

Travel agents, however, insist they have committed no wrongdoing.

A travel agent from the city of Fuheis, who preferred not to be named, said the decision whether or not to travel to Palestine should be left up to individual people.

"We don’t force anybody. This is a personal decision. People have the freedom to do what they want. Moreover, even if these places are under Israeli occupation, we must see them because they belong to us, not the Jews," he told The Jordan Times.

The Al Jazeera version of the story was republished in Al Quds with some additional detail.

The entire story points to a basic truth about many Arabs that needs to be stressed: they hate Israel far more than they love Jerusalem. (And, as we have seen throughout history, their stated love of Jerusalem is directly proportional to the number of Jews there.)

This initiative to stop Arab tourism to holy sites also impacts some other people: the many Arabs who make their livings in the souks of the Old City. Ask them whether they would prefer to see Jordanian tourists or not. The supposed defenders of Islam who are railing against visits to Jerusalem do not care at all about the Palestinian Arabs who are hurt by their decision, showing again that they hate Israel more than they love their Arab brethren.

Former CIA analyst throws Israel to the dogs on C-SPAN

Incredible anti-semitism and Israel loathing on C-SPAN, noticed by Adam Holland:

In an interview televised on C-SPAN on January 4, former CIA bin Laden Unit Chief Michael Scheuer advocated that the United States should "dissuade" terrorists from focusing their anger on the U.S. by "persuad(ing) them to focus their anger on what they themselves perceive as their enemy: the governments that ... oppress them and Israel". His comment is viewable at 10:30 of the below-linked video:

C-SPAN Video Player - Michael Scheuer, Former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief (1996-99)

Following this modest proposal to throw Israel to the wolves, Scheuer received the following grossly anti-Semitic question from a caller called John from Franklin, NY who identified himself as a political independent (viewable at 15:00 of the above-linked video). Question and answer are presented below in their entirety. Scheuer's response is instructive:

John from Franklin: I for one am sick and tired of all these Jews coming on C-SPAN and other stations and pushing us to go to war against our Muslim friends. They're willing to spend the last drop of American blood and treasure to get their way in the world. They have way too much power in this country. People like Wolfowitz and Feith an the other neo-cons -- that jewed us into Iraq -- and now we're going to spend the next 60 years rehabilitating our soldiers -- I'm sick and tired of it.

C-SPAN host: Any comments?

Scheuer: Yeah. I think that American foreign policy is ultimately up to the American people. One of the big things we have not been able to discuss for the past 30 years is the Israelis. Whether we want to be involved in fighting Israel's wars in the future is something that Americans should be able to talk about. They may vote yes. They may want to see their kids killed in Iraq or Yemen or somewhere else to defend Israel. But the question is: we need to talk about it. Ultimately Israel is a country that is of no particular worth the United States.

C-SPAN host: You mean strategically?

Scheuer: Strategically. They have no resources we need. Their manpower is minimal. Their association with us is a negative for the United States. Now that's a fact. What you want to do about that fact is entirely different. But for anyone to stand up in the United States and say that support for Israel doesn't hurt us in the Muslim world is to just defy reality.

Read the whole thing. I cannot figure out an easy way to capture the C-SPAN video, so you have to go there to see it.

UPDATE: Got the clip.

Abbas consolidates his power

Even though the West seems obsessed with Mahmoud Abbas' pretense of wanting to quit his job as PA President (saying that he will not run for elections that he knows will not happen anytime soon,) he has been quietly strengthening his own hold on power.

His latest move was to essentially depose Farouk Kaddoumi, who had been acting as the chairman of the political department of the PLO in Tunis. For years, Kaddoumi and his staff have been getting paid salaries for doing, apparently, nothing, and now Abbas has told them to move out of their offices and into the "Palestine" embassy, where Kaddoumi will continue to work as a PA minister but have apparently no role in the PLO.

And if you think that the PA elections are meant to decide who the leaders of "Palestine" are, you are sadly misinformed. The PLO controls the PA, Fatah dominates the PLO, and Abbas now officially leads all three.

"Siege" news

Israel today again allowed trucks full of strawberries and flowers to be exported out of Gaza, mostly for the European market.

On Sunday, Israel allowed a shipment of strawberries out, and it appears that this is going to become a regular occurrence.

Just like the Warsaw Ghetto, right?

One and a half million human shields (video)

Goldstone said there is "no evidence" that Hamas deliberately hid among civilians.

CNN and other videos prove otherwise.

Egypt calls George Galloway a liar

From The Daily News Egypt:

The Viva Palestina convoy intended for the Gaza Strip finally docked in the port of Al-Arish some 40 km away from the Rafah border crossing after a protracted delay due to a disagreement over its appropriate landing destination between convoy members and the Egyptian government....

[T]he Egyptian foreign ministry launched a scathing attack on convoy leader British Respect MP George Galloway, claiming that his comments regarding the hold up of the convoy defied “honesty and facts.”
“Being aware that Mr. Galloway loves media exposure, for various reasons, the ministry refrains from engaging in media arguments with someone who deliberately changes facts for personal objectives and masters the promotion of false championships that are based on wrong impressions leading to wrong conclusions,” it said.
In a fact sheet disseminated by Egypt’s State Information Service, the authorities said that the foreign ministry had sent at least four messages to Mr. Galloway starting Dec. 10, 2009, briefing him on “the Egyptian mechanism for receiving relief assistance convoys to the Gaza Strip,” through its London embassy, but that they were all ignored.

In this case, I tend to believe the Egyptians.

Iranian apology for horrible crime

From the Tehran Times:

President of Iran Football Federation (IFF) Ali Kaffashian apologized to the Iranian people over a New Year greeting email sent to Israel’s football federation.

Director of IFF foreign relations’ office Mohammad-Mansour Azimzadeh Ardebili inadvertently sent a New Year greeting message to his Israeli counterpart and was forced to resign because of it.

“It was a big mistake sending an email to Israel football federation, however I am sure the director of the foreign relations’ office didn’t do it on purpose,” Kaffashian said.

“IFF sends New Year greeting messages to all member federations of the world football governing body FIFA except the football federation of the Zionist regime. Nonetheless, some senior officials believe the email was sent intentionally,” the IFF president added.

Israel should go out of their way to send greetings to Iranian officials at every opportunity. They should call them up and just start shooting the breeze for five minutes before revealing who they are (recording the entire conversation, naturally.)

This would be especially effective if they call senior Iranian nuclear scientists and missile designers.

Who needs the Mossad when the Iranians will do the same job for free?

Israeli ISM co-founder admits she supports "armed resistance"

Neta Golan is the Israeli co-founder of the pro-terror (but ostensibly peaceful) International Solidarity Movement.

She lives in Ramallah with her Palestinian Arab husband and two kids.

An article in Palestine Today details how she wants to become a "Palestinian" citizen. One has to wonder why she wants to become a citizen of a Palestinian Arab state, but a million Israeli Arabs have no such desire.

The Arabic article also confirms that Golan believes the "Palestinian right to armed resistance," meaning terror attacks against Israelis, thus showing yet again that the ISM is not a "peace" organization.

Israel's PR failure

From Jonathan Dahoah Halevi in YNet:

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) published in its weekly summary a report on an incident in which three Palestinians were killed by IDF fire: “On Saturday, December 26, 2009 at around 00:30 Israeli forces opened fire on a number of Palestinians who approached the border. As a result, three of them were killed. They were unarmed and apparently trying to infiltrate Israel in order to look for work.”
The organization thus accuses the IDF of killing three innocent Palestinian civilians. In order to further exacerbate the Israeli “crime”, the organization added details in the service of Palestinian propaganda in relation to the economic distress in the Gaza Strip, which it claims is the reason that the group of Palestinians attempted to enter to find work.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office issued a statement on December 29, 2009, which sheds some light on the incident:

“On Friday night an IDF force identified four terrorists approaching the border fence in northern Gaza in a military crawl, apparently in order to carry out an attack in Israel. The force fired at them using the ‘see and fire’ system, with the help of Air Force jets and forces from the Golani Brigade. The fire killed three terrorists and an additional terrorist was injured… In patrols held after the incident soldiers discovered a rope ladder and three explosive devices, among them a powerful device.”
The devices could have been intended for attacks on Israeli vehicles traveling on the road near the border, or as preparation for an attack intended to attract IDF forces to an area full of explosive devices near the border.
The story of the incident, as it is revealed by the IDF’s version, is totally different from the report published by the Palestinian human rights group. The four Palestinian youths, three of whom were killed by IDF fire, were not trying to find work in Israel due to economic distress, but were sent either by a Palestinian terror organization or the Hamas government’s security forces on a mission – to plant powerful explosive devices on the border with Israel.

PCHR is doing extensive damage to Israel in the international arena. The data it publishes are accepted as reliable by UN agencies, which use them to condemn Israel. It also played an important role in feeding figures to the Goldstone committee on Operation Cast Lead, and influenced its conclusions. In addition, in recent years the organization’s management has been conducting international legal battles against state and army officials in Israel, and was also responsible for filing legal claims against military officials in Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and other countries.

Israeli public relations organizations have so far refrained from contradicting the data published by PCHR, or confronting it with facts held by the IDF in order to harm its credibility. In the case of the four Palestinian youths all of the facts needed for a PR campaign exist, and according to the description in the IDF statement it can be deduced that the forces possess filmed proof of the gathering of weaponry from the incident.

So why doesn’t Israel take advantage of the opportunity before it to attack one of the organizations held responsible for the damage done to the state and its image? The answer to this is simple and unfortunate. No proper Israeli PR plan exists, and there is no PR strategy but for occasional ad-hoc treatment of momentary crises.

Read the whole thing.

HRW's Ken Roth shows his bias against Israel

HRW's Ken Roth goes out of his way to bash Israel in the latest proof (as if any was needed) that HRW has lost all sense of objectivity concerning the Jewish state.

The Geneva Conventions—the bedrock of the laws of war and one of the world’s most widely ratified treaties— turned 60 this month. But one government was not celebrating. In fact, Israel had already launched a campaign to undermine these essential rules for protecting civilians caught in war.

Notice how he writes that "one government was not celebrating," implying that Israel is the world's biggest violator of human rights and every other government besides Israel was celebrating the Geneva Conventions.

In fact, the ICRC has a page showing various countries' markings of the anniversary. Israel is represented there. But Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Qatar, the UAE and practically every other Arab state save Lebanon and Iraq are not listed. His rhetorical excess in the very first paragraph of this screed is simply a lie.

Shortly after a UN fact-finding mission led by former South African Justice Richard Goldstone issued a report this fall lambasting Israel (and Hamas) for war crimes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his government “to examine the facilitating of an international initiative to change the laws of war in keeping with the spread of terrorism throughout the world.” Israeli officials said the laws of war tied the hands of democratic governments.

There may be an argument that international law does not stop democratic governments from defending their citizens appropriately, but NGOs like HRW consistently choose to interpret those laws in ways that indeed do hamstring free governments. Either way, the idea that international law does not account for modern terrorism is not unique to Israel, unlike Roth's implication.

Israel is understandably frustrated by the difficulty of fighting Hamas, an urban-based armed group that indiscriminately attacks Israeli civilians. But the kind of asymmetric warfare that typifies combat with terrorist and other armed groups is nothing new. It was widespread at the time of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions in 1949, as illustrated by the militant Zionist group Irgun’s fight against the British colonial rule of what was then Palestine. And it continued during the many wars of national liberation of the 1950s to 1970s.

Roth has a plethora of examples of terrorist groups to choose that existed before 1949 - and he specifically chooses the Jewish Irgun. And while the Irgun did perform some horrible terror attacks against civilians, they were not the cornerstone of the organization's efforts, unlike modern Arab terror.

And as Yisrael Medad points out, a much more appropriate example would be the Arab terror wave of the 1930s. This terror was met with a huge British response, of dynamiting entire areas of the old cities of Jerusalem and Jaffa to facilitate fighting the terrorists - and making thousands of Arabs homeless.

The Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols have long imposed strict rules on the conduct of hostilities designed to protect civilians from the hazards of these conflicts. These rules apply to governments and armed groups alike, regardless of who is the defender or the aggressor.

And what provisions, pray tell, does international law have to punish armed groups who are not signatories to any of the international law conventions? Declaring that Geneva applies to Hamas or Al Qaeda as much as it applies to the United States or Britain or Israel is simply not true, because there is no way to enforce it, and therefore it can be ignored with impunity. Moreover, terror groups are not even subject to moral pressure, as they justify their very terror with moral arguments. This statement is either breathtakingly naive or an outright lie.

In fact, Israel’s problem is not that the rules are inappropriate for asymmetric conflict, but that the government chose to ignore them in Gaza. As the Goldstone report pointed out, when the Israeli military used such weapons as heavy artillery, flechettes, and white phosphorous (which causes horrible burns) in densely populated areas of Gaza, and when it authorized the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, it flouted the law. No other Western military doctrine today would permit such indiscriminate attacks or deliberate destruction.

The IDF released a 159 page report on Cast Lead, and that was just an initial response. Notwithstanding what Netanyahu asked his government to investigate (which is very ambiguous), the IDF's report was based exactly on international law and it described many of the major incidents of the war in that very context. In other words, the IDF didn't argue that international law did not apply to Gaza - it argued that it did not violate international law at all.

Goldstone only selectively quoted the IDF document and did not address the IDF's legal defense of its actions at all. As far as I can tell, HRW never wrote a paper showing the flaws in the IDF's legal reasoning.

From the IDF perspective, the problem is not international law - the problem is the narrow way that groups like the UNHRC and HRW choose to interpret that law, invariably to the detriment of democratic actors.

If Roth would have spent his time actually answering those arguments, this essay might have had some value. Instead, he reverts to flawed HRW arguments - and he falls back on equally flawed Goldstone arguments - that use international law to single out and demonize one nation.

It is hardly worth mentioning that the US and allied actions in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in far more civilian deaths, on a wider scale, than anything Israel has done.

...[A]s the foreign minister at the time, Tzipi Livni, said during a wartime debate in parliament: “On my way here I heard that Hamas declared the man killed by a rocket in Ashkelon ‘one of the Zionists’ despite being an Israeli Arab. They don't make a distinction, and neither should we." With culpability running to such senior levels of government, it is no surprise that Israel wants to rewrite the rules.

Here we see Roth's bias, and disregard for the truth, in a clear light. The article he quotes indicates that Livni's comments were towards Arab MK Ahmad Tibi, who had just said that he is more saddened by innocent Arabs being killed by the Hamas attack than he is for Jews being killed, because he is an Arab. Roth tries to make it sound as if Livni is saying that the IDF should not distinguish between civilians and terrorists.

Israel’s view that one prevails in asymmetric warfare by pummeling rather than protecting civilians is not only illegal but also counterproductive.

This is again a purposeful lie, one that ignores and almost belittles Israel's almost superhuman attempts to avoid civilian casualties in a war that Hamas deliberately started to maximize the deaths of its own people. The cell phone calls, the flyers warning civilians (and terrorists) what targets are coming next, the rockets redirected away from civilians at the last second - all of those show Roth to be a liar, and his characterization of Israel in this sentence as having a policy of "pummeling civilians" is nothing short of slander.

This piece is simply a hatchet job by an organization that long ago has lost its own moral compass in regards to Israel.

Fatah synonymous with violence

I already mentioned how PA president Abbas celebrated the this weekend the 45th anniversary of Fatah's first terror attack, not the 45th anniversary of Fatah, proving that for Palestinian Arabs, Fatah is synonymous with terrorism - and celebrating one is to celebrate the other.

More evidence for the tautology between Fatah and violence can be seen in this Reuters picture showing a woman celebrating the same anniversary:

A Palestinian woman (L) holds a rifle during a rally marking the anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement, in the West Bank city of Hebron January 3, 2010.

Remember when Abbas told the world back in 2005 that he had made the public display of weapons illegal?

Gadget open thread

My cell phone contract runs out in mid-January, and I was already looking at Android phones to replace my old Blackberry. (I was leaning towards the Motorola Cliq on T-Mobile.)

But this week Google is planning to announce their own branded mobile phone, and it looks sweet. So for once I might get to be at the bleeding edge of technology, at least for a week or two until Apple's tablet comes out.

(I would have gone for the iPhone, as I already have an iPod Touch and like it, but I hate AT&T. T-Mobile seems to be the best combination of low cost and reliability, and with a family plan it gets very inexpensive for unlimited voice and data.)

You are never too old for toys.

Anyway, I'll be busy the rest of the day, so feel free to take a break from the usual stuff and go crazy on discussing your favorite high-tech gadgets.

Saudis fearful of maids' "black magic"

From Arab News:

Allegations about maids casting spells and being involved in black magic has driven fearful housewives to call on the help of investigators. The main purpose of calling these women is to investigate maids before they go back to their countries.
The majority of investigators are non-Saudis who have lately been joined by some Saudi graduates unable to find proper jobs. The job of the investigators involves checking the personal property of maids in search of sponsors’ photographs, hair or clothes that can then be used for magic when the maid returns home.
Googling “maid investigator” in Arabic brings up over 1,800 results of women looking for maid investigators. Housewives exchange names and contact details on Internet forums, and warn each other about maids who do magic.
Most Saudis, it seems, are more concerned with maids dabbling in black magic rather than stealing valuables. Suad Afif, a sociologist and professor at King Abdulaziz University, asked why housewives use people who they do not know to investigate their maids, adding that such women are not even specialists in such work.
Afif said that Islamic morals prevent women from checking their maids’ personal stuff and that they look for others to do this. Some also fear their maids may lash out or have little experience in how to check on their maids. Afif said if checking maids before their final exit has become a necessity then there needs to be an official body that can do this job. This would ensure housewives remain safe.
“Black magic and the evil eye are there, but in the end it is as Allah says. Nothing can ever reach us except what Allah has destined for us,” said Afif, adding, “We should not become anxious all the time. Not every maid comes into our homes to perform black magic.”

I am not certain why the pampered housewives (who typically have multiple maids) are concerned only over black magic that might occur after the maids go back home and not for any spells they might be casting in their very houses.

I wonder if I can cast any spells from this blog?

Iranian soccer official resigns after email gaffe

As I previously mentioned, Iran's football federation accidentally sent New Year's greetings to Israel, causing the author to panic when he found out ("This is a mistake, this is a mistake!")

Well, the horrendous crime of wishing a Happy New Year to Israelis is being appropriately handled:

A top official in the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) was forced to resign after an email was accidentally sent to the Israeli Football Association wishing them a Happy New Year, Iranian press said on Sunday.

The official in question is the IFF's director of foreign relations, Mohammad-Mansour Azimzadeh, who was shamed after the email was sent on his behalf to Israeli officials, prompting the federation's president, Ali Kafashian, to express "deep remorse."

"The Iranian Football Federation has said that messages of congratulations are sent each year to all members of FIFA except the Zionist regime, which is why it was removed from the list of addresses for New Year messages," an IFF statement published by the Fars news agency said.

The email was sent on Friday, New Years Day, and prompted Israel to respond with a letter saying: "We thank you for you Happy New Year greeting and wish all of the good people in Iran a happy new year" with a wink added in the email.

For some strange reason, I have not heard about any Israelis being punished for responding to Iran with their own New Year's greetings.

Dueling Wall Fatwas

Last week, noted pro-terror sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa saying that Egyptians are forbidding from building an iron wall to stop smuggling between Gaza and Egypt. Yemeni sheikh Abdul Majid agreed.

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is planning legal action to stop the construction of the wall as well.

But Al Azhar University held a sharia council to discuss the matter, and announced that Egypt is perfectly within its rights to build the wall, and even said that those opposing the wall are going against Islamic law.

Notable

A right of return to what? (h/t Yaacov Lozowick)

British surgeon ostracized by supporting Israel

Famed pianist decries BBC bias against Israel (h/t AE)

Anniverary of Maqadmah Mosque episode

Ma'an is providing a series of articles about Operation Cast Lead that looks at events through the prism of the Goldstone Report one year after they occurred. Today they are reproducing and embellishing Goldstone's extremely flawed analysis of the incident at the Al Maqadmah Mosque from January 3rd, 2009.

All of the news stories from the time claimed that Israel bombed the mosque itself, although a careful reading of the Goldstone report and other sources shows that the IDf bombed the entrance to the mosque and that most of the casualties occurred on the outside.

I have already noted some severe problems with Goldstone's account. Besides the fact that it appeared that the countthat Goldstone used of 15 victims may be an exaggeration,

Goldstone doesn't bother to point out that 6 of the dead were actually terrorists: (numbers are PCHR list numbers)

458 ‘Umar Abdul Hafez Mousa al-Silawi Al Qassam Brigades
459 Ra’ed Abdul Rahman Mohammed al-Msamha
462 Sa’id Salah Sa’id Battah Al Qassam Brigades
478 Muhannad Ibrahim ‘Ata al-Tannani Al Quds Brigades member
484 Ibrahim Mousa Issa al-Silawi Al Qassam Brigades
987 Ahmed Hamed Hassan Abu ‘Eita Al Qassam Brigades

It seems to be very unlikely that 6 of the 15 known dead in a mosque crowded with hundreds of civilians would be terrorists. Either the mosque itself had a hundred terrorists or so, or something else is going on.

And where exactly did the blast hit? Apparently, it hit outside the mosque, not inside as Goldstone implies. So it seems more likely that the IDF hit a gathering of terrorists outside the mosque rather than a few hundred worshipers.

Unfortunately, fairness does not seem to have been a part of the Goldstone mandate, and when the evidence supports the commissions preconceived notions of the truth, they have had little incentive to look beyond the biased testimonies they eagerly accepted.

Testimony from people like the sheikh of the mosque - who happens to share the same last name as two of the Al Qassam Brigades members listed above.

Jonathan Dahoah Halevi has a more detailed analysis: (he came up with a slightly different list than mine.)

An examination of freely accessible Palestinian sources shows that the casualties in this incident were terrorist operatives and included members of the al-Silawi family, who were represented to the commission as innocent civilians.
The terrorists killed in the attack included:

Ibrahim Moussa Issa al-Silawi, an operative in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military-terrorist wing. Born December 1, 1946, in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades website, Ibrahim "received his love of jihad and hatred for the Zionist enemy with his mother's milk." In 1984 he joined the Islamic Movement (which later became Hamas) and was a Muslim Brotherhood operative. He had close relations with Nizar Riyyan, a senior Hamas terrorist operative, and joined the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in 2003, at the age of 38. He was posted to the northern Gaza Strip brigade and participated in military missions: manning front-line positions in Jabaliya, fighting IDF forces, and digging and preparing tunnels for Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades use.³

Omar Abd al-Hafez Moussa al-Silawi (Abu Souheib), an Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative. Born in Saudi Arabia on September 29, 1981, and joined Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2004 he joined the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and was posted to front-line positions on the eastern border of Jabaliya. He also prepared and planted IEDs, participated in fighting the IDF, and launched mortar shells and Kassam rockets at Israeli towns and villages.⁴

Sayid Salah Sayid Batah, an Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative. Born on April 7, 1986, in Jabaliya. A Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood operative, he joined the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and was deployed in the northern Gaza Strip brigade. He was posted to front-line positions in Jabaliya, prepared and planted IEDs, and dug and prepared tunnels for Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades use.⁵

Ahmed Hamad Hassan Abu Ita, an Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative. Born in Saudi Arabia on February 15, 1984. A Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood operative, he joined the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in 2006 and was posted to front-line positions. He fought the IDF in the Jabaliya, al-Salatin and al-Atatra regions, prepared and planted IEDs, was deployed in the suicide bombers' unit, and regularly participated in ambushes against IDF soldiers. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades website reported that he was one of the operatives who received instructions, after the initial Israeli air attack on December 27, to deploy in accordance with previous instructions. According to the website report, on January 3 he went to the Ibrahim al-Maqadma mosque to meet "young people" and was killed in the IDF attack there.⁶ [Note: The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades version clearly shows that Hamas uses mosques as meeting places for its operatives to coordinate their fighting against the IDF.] His father said that during the first week of the fighting his son launched rockets into Israeli territory every day.⁷

Muhanad Ibrahim al-Tanani (Abu Islam), an operative in the Al-Quds Battalions, the military-terrorist wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, born April 23, 1988. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad website reported that his parents brought him up to love jihad. When the Second Intifada broke out he was 12, and often went to the Erez crossing with other children to throw rocks at the IDF post and confront the soldiers. In 2002 he joined the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and later its military-terrorist wing. He underwent military training and was posted to front-line positions on the northern border of the Gaza Strip. In addition to his military activities he participated in Palestinian Islamic Jihad meetings and events, and led the organization's Internet forums.⁸

Rajah Nahad Rajah Ziyyada, 18, an Al-Quds Battalions operative.⁹

Ahmed Assad Diyab Tabil, 16, a Hamas operative, was a member of the Hamas student organization, which recruited him into the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.¹⁰

Halevi wrote a different article on YNet that looked at the case further:

What really happened at the Ibrahim al-Maqadmah mosque, named for one of the heads of Hamas’ military-terrorist wing? The Goldstone Committee version is problematic because of its many essential failures and weak spots. The committee members relied exclusively on reports from “eyewitnesses” who did not see what was happening outside, especially at the entrance where the missile hit. Moreover, the committee was aware that all the Palestinian witnesses deliberately did not give any information about the activities of the terrorist organizations, because they were afraid of Hamas.

Therefore it is logically impossible to determine unequivocally that the Palestinian statements were “credible and reliable.” Another source of wonder is the dubious methodology used by the Committee in examining the circumstances of the event. The recorded statements of the Palestinian “eyewitnesses” posted on the UN website reveal that Committee members did not ask the Palestinians even one question about armed men or weapons in the mosque, or about what was happening in the open space in front of it.
Without noticing it, Committee member Desmond Travers exposed (harpers.org) the political agenda when he said that the claims regarding the use of mosques for military purposes reflected the Western perception in certain circles that Islam was a violent religion: “We also found no evidence that mosques were used to store munitions. Those charges reflect Western perceptions in some quarters that Islam is a violent religion… If I were a Hamas operative the last place I’d store munitions would be in a mosque.”
He is apparently saying that it is wrong to even mention the claim without examining the facts. The facts, which he and the rest of the Committee never examined, contradict his position. For Hamas, the most important function of the mosques in the jihad against Israel is repeatedly mentioned, beginning with its charter, through the remarks made by the organization’s senior figures, to the documentation of the military-terrorist activities of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
During the first and second Intifadas the mosques were used to identify and recruit suicide bombers and operatives for the various military-terrorist wings, to store weapons, and as meeting places for terrorist operatives, for pre-attack briefings and as stations from which to attack IDF forces.
Two particular events which were widely covered by the media should have been a heads-up for the members of the Goldstone Committee. In August 2007 Hamas “police” attacked the Ard al-Ribat mosque, located in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City and controlled by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Two years later, and one month before the Report was issued, Hamas “police” and Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives attacked the Ibn Taymmiyah mosque in Rafah, where armed operatives of the Jund Ansar Allah, a network affiliated with the global jihad, were located. The two attacks caused the deaths of dozens of Palestinians.
Moreover, the mosques in the Gaza Strip are engaged in a “suicide bombing competition” to determine which one bred the greatest number of bombers. The dubious title is held, apparently, by the Al-Khufla al-Rashidoun mosque in Jabaliya (not far from the Maqadmah mosque), which for years has been called the “fortress of the suicide bombers fighting for the sake of Allah.” According to the official Hamas forum, among the members of the mosque who were killed in 2000, 12 were Hamas suicide bombers and between 50 and 90 were Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives. One of the most famous was Ibrahim Nizar Rayyan, who was trained and sent by his father the imam to carry out a suicide bombing attack in Israel. The Goldstone Committee also closed its eyes to that information.
Seven of the 15 Palestinians killed at the mosque were members of terrorist organizations who had participated in fighting the IDF, most of them members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, and a few of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Regarding one of them (Ahmed Abu Ita of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades), it was reported that he had gone to the Maqadmah mosque to meet “friends,” i.e., other armed terrorist operatives.
In light of the foregoing information, there is another scenario which can explain the circumstances of the attack on the mosque and bridge the gap between the positions of the IDF and the Goldstone Committee: Israeli intelligence discovered the intention of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative Ahmed Abu Ita to go to the Maqadmah mosque to meet other terrorist operatives there or nearby. The Israeli Air Force drone located him as he and the others arrived, but did not spot the civilians because they were inside the mosque praying.
During the narrow window of time the decision was made to attack the groups of armed terrorists near the mosque entrance. The missile launched hit them, killing some outright and damaging the mosque wall, killing Palestinians inside.

The Goldstone Committee, which did not accuse Hamas of war crimes (rather, it mentioned “Palestinian armed groups”) and rocket attacks, also did not examine the aforementioned scenario , which can easily be found in open sources, and did not even try to ask Palestinians witnesses if such a possibility could exist. Based on partial, biased information and without making an attempt to reach the truth, the Committee accused Israel of the deliberate murder of Palestinian civilians.

Ma'an, whose reporters do read Yediot Aharonot, doesn't bother to look for any evidence that could contradict the deeply flawed Goldstone fact-finding procedures. And of course it does not mention any of the victims as being known terrorists.

Gaza's $2 billion a year budget

From AP:

Gaza's Hamas parliament approved a government budget of $540 million for 2010, legislators said Saturday, suggesting that a tight border blockade isn't stopping the cash flow to the Islamic militants.

Up to $60 million stems from local taxes and the rest from "gifts and outside assistance," said legislator Jamal Nassar. Iran is believed to be one of Hamas' main financial backers, with cash assistance hauled through smuggling tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt.

...The Abbas government's budget for 2009 was $2.78 billion, funded in large part by foreign aid. Abbas' Palestinian Authority continues to pay the salaries for tens of thousands of Gaza civil servants and security officers who were sent home after the Hamas takeover. It also pays for fuel to run Gaza's power plant and supports hospitals and schools.

The Hamas government is also relieved of much responsibility because the United Nations runs dozens of schools, health clinics and gives food aid to around 1 million Gazans.

So Hamas has a budget of over a half billion dollars, mostly from Iran.

But we already know from numerous statements by Mahmoud Abbas that 58% of the PA budget goes to...Gaza.

That means that poor, impoverished Gaza is getting over $2 billion annually, not counting the money and other aid it gets from UNRWA and other NGOs.

And Hamas' hundreds of millions are free for buying weapons because they have never taken financial responsibility for the actual running of Gaza's infrastructure. The West still does that via the PA.

I wonder if those people who claim they hate Israel because it is a drain on their tax dollars are equally concerned with Gaza?

Iran's soccer team wishes Israel a happy New Year

From Al Arabiya:

The Iranian Football Federation accidentally sent a New Year’s greeting to its Israeli counterpart, which responded wishing “all of the good people in Iran a happy new year,” Israeli media reported late on Thursday.

Mohammad Ali Ardebili, head of Iranian football union’s foreign relations, told Israel’s Army Radio he sent the letter to all football unions around the world but he did not intend to send it to the Israel Football Association.

Ardebili sent the greeting letter by email and the Army Radio managed to reach him for comment by phone.

"This is a greeting sent to the entire world," he said, then he inquired quickly, "Are you speaking from Israel? I can't speak to you. This is a mistake, this is a mistake."

The Israeli Football Association (IFA) received the letter with surprise but did not hesitate to send a response, the union’s spokesman Gil Lebanony told the radio station.

The Iranian letter was received by the head of the IFA’s legal department, Amir Navon.

"He came into my office and asked me if it was a mistake. I said, 'I don't know, but let's send a response'," Lebanony said.

"So, we responded, 'We thank you for you Happy New Year greeting and wish all of the good people in Iran a happy new year,' and added a wink in the mail," Lebanony said. "We also expressed our hopes that they will have a good year for soccer."

The first comment on Al Arabiya's English site wishes for Iran to destroy Israel in this new year.

Fewer Arabs in Israeli prisons

A Palestinian Arab agency says that the number of Arab prisoners in Israeli custody has decreased this year to 7350.

6124 are from the West Bank, 768 from Gaza and 458 from within Israel.

3600 of the prisoners are affilitated with Fatah, 1840 with Hamas, 1150 from Islamic Jihad, 450 from the PFLP, and 110 from the DFLP.

In July, the group Adalah reported that there were some 13000 Arabs in Israeli prisons. However, looking at their data a little closer it appears that if we only count the prisoners who are classified as security prisoners (as opposed to criminals) the numbers are pretty close. (In fact, Adalah mentions that there are 6500 Jewish prisoners as well.)

In June, 2008, the Israeli Prison Service said that there were 10,000 security prisoners.

The Gazan slave trade

Firas Press has a lengthy article on how Gazans are taking advantage of poor Egyptian families.

Acting as middlemen, Gazans offer to smuggle underage Egyptian girls through tunnels to Gaza to get married to the better-off Gazans. For this service, they charge $1000.

Once the girls come over, more often than not they get married as second or third wives to Gaza men who treat them as maids for their extended families. These are the lucky ones: others are forced into prostitution or to work for drug dealers. One smuggler who was interviewed is getting so wealthy from the slave trade that he has bought a house in Rafah to facilitate the smuggling of more Egyptian girls.

The article claims that hundreds of girls have been taken advantage of this way, and they cannot afford to pay to escape back to Egypt.

Clearly, the poor, starving Gazans are being driven by sheer desperation to resort to taking advantage of even poorer Egyptian girls.

More on the 45th anniversary of Fatah terror

It turns out that the major speech that Abbas was to deliver last night commemorating the 45th anniversary of the first Fatah terror attack had nothing new. He reiterated that peace would be impossible without Jerusalem becoming the capital of a Palestinian state and that "there is now no country in the world, including the United States of America, defending the positions of the Israeli government."

He also again rejected the idea of a Palestinian Arab state with temporary borders and mentioned yet again that 58% of the PA budget goes to Gaza (where it effectively but indirectly bankrolls Hamas.)

In Gaza, meanwhile, Fatah activists who also wanted to commemorate the anniversary were beaten and arrested by Hamas.

I have just been looking over the Time magazine archives, and they mention that what really happened on January 1, 1965 was the creation of a "military wing" of Fatah, called Asifa, or "stormtroopers." As we have seen countless times, history shows that there is no real distinction between Arab terrorist group "political wings" and "military wings" and the fact that Asifa has not existed since the 1960s while Fatah terrorist attacks still happen today shows this to be the case. (It is interesting to note that Asifa was helped by a fifth column of Israeli Arabs called "Al Ard" in 1965.)

Fatah's penchant for lying has not changed either in the past 45 years. Here is how Time described them in 1968:

El Fatah has publicly taken credit for blasting the garage of former Israeli Chief of Staff Itzhak Rabin, even though he has no garage, and for wounding Defense Minister Moshe Dayan last March, who was actually hurt in an archeological cave-in. After Israel's independence day parade last May, El Fatah crowed that "a suicide force managed to reach the rear of the parade and shell it with rockets and mortars. Our forces destroyed a number of tanks that were seen to go up in flames." This remarkable event was entirely invisible to Israelis and foreign dignitaries watching the parade. When a $1,000,000 fire damaged Tel Aviv's Lydda Airport in October, El Fatah promptly took credit for setting it. The Israelis insist that the blaze was started accidentally by a welder's torch.