Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, March 22, 2010

Followup: New Al Azhar sheikh appointed

The predictions of who will succeed the late Sheikh Tantawi as the head of Egypt's Al Azhar University were wrong.

It is not the expected Ali Gomaa and it is not Newsweek's rather laughable prediction of Yusuf Qaradawi.

The new head is Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb.

I cannot find too much about him except, like Tantawi, he is considered a "moderate" in many social issues. I did not find any statements by him for or against suicide bombings in Israel.

Abbas meets Mitchell - and says he supports violence

From Albawaba (also reported in Palestine Press Agency):

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said that "popular resistance" is the legitimate right of the Palestinian people under international conventions and international law. Speaking after his meeting with George Mitchell, the American envoy to the Middle East, he said: "The Israelis must pay attention not to drag us to what we don't love and accept, and what they do not like and pleased with."

Just to be clear, Abbas' idea of "popular resistance" includes Palestinian Arabs hurling boulders through the windows of innocent civilians in cars.

Would Abbas' call for violence immediately after meeting Mitchell be considered a slap in the face of the United States, or will it be ignored by the same people who were so keen to find Israelis announcing long-term civic plans a direct insult to the US?

Lady Ashton's cluelessness, part 2

If the first paragraph of Lady Catherine Ashton's NYT op-ed was the only problem, it would be bad enough. Unfortunately, it is only the beginning of a series of false facts that are considered received wisdom by many well-meaning Westerners.

For example:

What I found in Gaza confirmed my strong view that we must act now — not just to end the violence, but because peace will bring prosperity in Gaza and in the region. It will open up opportunities for growth and regional integration, the best antidote against the radical groups. That is the real prize.

While "occupation" has turned into a dirty word that is considered to be one of the worst injustices that man can be guilty of, Ashton is speaking specifically of "growth" and "prosperity" as being an inevitable outcome of an independent Palestinian Arab state that includes Gaza.

There is only one period of time over the past millenium when Gaza's economy improved significantly, and that was during the 38 years that Israel controlled the territory. It was during that time that Gaza's mortality rate plummeted and its life expectancy soared. It was while under Israeli control that an infrastructure was built - for water, electricity and fuel.

Similarly, in the West Bank, Israel's policies during "occupation" has resulted in huge growth in the economy of the Palestinian Authority. The only pauses in the West Bank's economic success since 1967 have been when Palestinian Arab leaders supported terrorism.

Once one wipes away the pejorative word "occupation" as inherently evil and looks at the actual quality of life of individual Palestinian Arabs - which should be, after all, the real goal - the golden age of Palestinian Arabs were while they were under Israeli responsibility. To be sure, mistakes were made and Israel could have done better, but the only metric that matters is how well individual Palestinian Arabs fared. When terror reigns, whether it was 1936 or 2002, their lives took a turn for the worse; when their leaders act in ways approaching maturity and responsibility, their people benefited - and the Zionists were more than happy to contribute to the better economic good of all.

A clear look at history shows that the Zionist leaders invariably look to find win-win solutions, while the Arab leaders look at it as a zero-sum game where any Zionist success is by definition at the expense of the Arabs. This zero-sum mentality might be difficult to erase from the Arab psyche but there is no excuse for supposedly knowledgeable Westerners to accept it as fact.

If prosperity is the "real prize," then the real solution is to treat Arab terror and intransigence as the most fundamental threat to that goal.

Extremism grows in rubble and refugee camps. These provide fertile territory not just for local warlords but for all those in the region with their own agendas, who profit from instability and assist it with shipments of arms.

"Local warlords"? What local warlords? Hamas has been controlling Gaza with an iron fist since its violent coup, and the other terror groups like Islamic Jihad and PFLP are cooperating with Hamas. There has been some infighting but Gaza, and a little trouble from so-called Salafist groups who disagree with Hamas from a religious perspective, but no part of Gaza is controlled by anyone besides Hamas. Gaza is not Somalia and Ashton does not seem to be able to even understand the basics about Hamas - a quasi government that she doesn't even deign to mention once in the entire op-ed about Gaza.

Throughout the region, from Egypt to Syria, from Lebanon to Jordan, I heard the same message from presidents, prime ministers and a king, and from ordinary people, too — they want their economies to grow, their people to prosper, their children to be educated. To achieve that, we need peace in the Middle East.

Ashton now accepts, without any critical thought, the idea that somehow peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and Lebanon depends on Palestinian Arabs being happy. The number of intra-Arab conflicts since 1948 shows this to be utterly false, but it is another example of how Arab leaders, by repeating the same lies over and over, eventually get credulous Westerners to believe them.

One factor that Ashton does not dare to even consider is how Arab leaders have treated their Palestinian Arab "brothers." The institutional discrimination against Palestinians, especially in terms of naturalization and citizenship, is only the most egregious example of this. Ashton, who is claiming that economic prosperity is the goal, should consider how many Palestinian Arabs would freely choose to move to Gulf states and get out of the limbo of statelessness. Not to mention the benefits that these new, hardworking and educated citizens would bring to their adopted countries. Yet that idea is never on the table - because the same Arab leaders who insist that all roads lead through Palestine are the ones who work hardest to ensure that they will keep their Palestinian brethren stateless and miserable for generations to come, just to pressure Israel.

We know the elements that are needed. The European Union set out its position in a statement of principles last December. A two-state solution with Israel and Palestine side by side in peace and security.

No, these aren't the elements that are needed - these are the elements that have been rejected by the Palestinian Arab side, again and again. Chaim Weizmann once famously said that the Jews would accept a state that was the size of a tablecloth. The fact that a supposedly disadvantaged Palestinian Arab people vetoes every offer given them without even a counteroffer indicates that, just perhaps, a state is not their end goal.

Their maximal demands have not changed one iota since before Oslo, in the same time period that Israel has given up Gaza and large areas of the West Bank. This simple fact shows that it is not Israel that is the intransigent party and it is not Israel that is seeking to perpetuate the conflict.

It is way past time for the West to wake up and start to pressure the Palestinian Arabs, and the Arab nations as a whole, to do their part to end the conflict. Op-eds like these, rather than contributing to a solution, are a large part of the problem.

Fatah celebrates Mothers Day by praising moms of "martyrs"

Yesterday was the Arab world's Mothers Day.

Fatah, that supposedly moderate movement that never seems to get any criticism from the enlightened Western world, put out a statement in praise of Palestinian Arab mothers.

The Palestinian mother has kept generations of Palestinians, generation after generation; they have strengthened the spirit of loyalty, dedication and sacrifice for the sacred homeland Palestine....

Go pay tribute and admiration for the mothers of martyrs and prisoners who walk on hot coals and their children who are enlightened through the blood and sacrifices of freedom for their people through an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Ashton in Gaza: When the "experts" are clueless

One of the more frustrating parts of watching the Middle East is when one sees that people who should have some basic knowledge, who present themselves as experts, and who urge actions based on their experience and expertise, are completely clueless.

Meet Catherine Ashton.

Lady Ashton is the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice president of the European Commission. She visited Gaza last week, and, armed with the latest on-the-ground intelligence, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times describing exactly what needs to be done to make the Middle East a happy place again.

Here is her first paragraph:

It is the process of entering the Gaza Strip that strikes you most. At the Erez checkpoint you go into what looks like a modern airport terminal. Leaving it you move through a winding maze of gates and walls and emerge, like a time-traveler transported backwards, on a dirt track. This is where the industrial center of Gaza used to be, before the shelling just over a year ago. Now, people with donkeys and carts carry stones from the rubble.

Ashton is stating as fact that the heartless Israelis, for no discernible reason, reduced the Erez area to rubble during Operation Cast Lead and bombed the formerly prosperous industrial area to the stone age.

The Erez Industrial Zone was a joint Israeli/Arab project that started in 1970, a scant three years after Israel took over Gaza in the Six Day War. It predated any negotiations. It started when the PLO was universally recognized as a purely terror organization. In other words, it was a triumph of Israeli optimism that was an early success in working together with the Palestinian Arab population under Israeli control. It provided thousands of jobs for Gazans - jobs that did not exist when they were under Egyptian control. It was an economic win-win.

By 2001, there were 187 businesses at Erez - carpentry shops, textile factories, metal works and garages, employing some 5000 Arabs who were able to provide for their families in dignity.

Then came the Intifada.

Between 2001 and 2004, at least 11 Israelis were killed at Erez by terror attacks. Hamas and Islamic Jihad specifically targeted this successful symbol of cooperation and peace. The companies that were there found it more and more difficult to keep their businesses open while providing a safe environment for their employees. Millions of dollars were lost because of the terror attacks.

Finally, in 2004, the Israeli government announced that it could no longer keep the industrial area open, and all Israeli companies withdrew. Hamas terror was successful, and in the years since, the Erez industrial zone has fallen into disuse. Some 500 mortars and rockets were shot from and to the area. A truck bomb caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

Of course, Gaza could still have grown economically even after the Israelis withdrew their citizens from the area. Read this optimistic editorial from Ma'an in 2005:

Nothing can stop in front of the strong will speaking through a number of voices; the occupation of Gaza is almost over, it will be as free as an unbound Arabian horse two weeks from now.

Theoretically, Gaza will be supported by $3 billion in assistance from donor countries. If this amount of money, "$3 billion," is used for national investment, in an honest and decent way, through professional hands, it will be enough to transform the economic situation in Gaza in a remarkable way.

Gaza is capable of producing agricultural products sufficient enough to supply both itself and the entire West Bank. Bearing witness to this is the fact that while Israel exports 1,500 tons of strawberries, Gaza exports 7,500 tons of them. According to the numbers, greenhouses in Gaza have nearly the same productive capability as all those in Israel, Syria and Jordan combined.

Also theoretically speaking, Gaza will have the industrial areas of Erez and Karni, which will allow for the creation of thousands of jobs, in addition to those jobs that will be created by the Gaza sea and airports.

Theoretically, Palestine will be supported by other Arab nations in the Gulf and throughout the Middle East in addition to a number of European countries. It is believed that many people will the wish to assist in the rebuilding of Gaza.

Officials will be receiving a marvelous area for investment and the Palestinian people are diligent workers, with their small population equivalent to that of Kuwaitis.

Practically, we will see, and we will witness that history will condemn those who place obstacles in the way of the area's development, and will write in golden letters about those who built the future of Gaza.

Unfortunately, the Erez Industrial Zone had not turned into an example of a self-sustaining Gaza business model. In fact, within a short time after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, it had ceased to be a serious source for employment.

The same forces that destroyed Erez now control Gaza.

Yet the EU foreign policy chief does not know these basic facts, and blames Israel for the economic problems of Gazans.

The rest of the op-ed betrays the same kind of ignorance and naivete that we see in the first paragraph. Arrogant diplomats prescribe the solution that "everyone knows" is the only possible one, without having a clue of the history of the area and who was responsible for previous failures. It is a stunning combination of hubris and willful blindness that is all too common from diplomats whose desire for "peace" trumps their ability to see simple facts.

Part 2 here.

Details on the "sorceror" sentenced to death

I recently reported about a Lebanese man who was sentenced to death by a Saudi court for "sorcery."

Amnesty International has details about the case.

It turns out that the man is not Saudi, but Lebanese - and he was arrested while doing a religious pilgrimage to Medina!

That's right - Saudi religious police might arrest you if you are in the country for a pilgrimage and you are suspected of "black magic," but other types of criminals can come and go to the anti-Magic Kingdom all they want.

Just some "stone throwing youths"

AFP shows us some of those pesky "stone-throwing youths" who, everybody knows, are not really a danger to anyone.

Check out the brave freedom-fighting youth who hurls a boulder through the window of a minivan filled with evil Zionist kids at 0:23, and the cheering that erupts for this act of bravery. (AFP doesn't allow me to show the video here, so click on the video box and it will take you to AFP's YouTube page, h/t Annie)

Not to mention the evil Zionist police who allow themselves to be pelted by stones at will - because throwing cement blocks is the Palestinian Arabs' natural right, while stopping violent riots must be done exactly according to the ever restrictive and exacting requirements and expectations of hundreds of NGOs, reporters and international law experts who will only criticize one side.
(h/t Israellycool)

"Siege" news: Israel allows construction material into Gaza

From Al Arabiya:

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees hopes that a housing project in the Gaza Strip approved by Israel can unlock reconstruction efforts in the Hamas-run territory.

The new apartments will house 150 families and could prove to Israeli authorities that the United Nations can undertake such projects without construction materials falling into the hands of Hamas and other armed groups.

"We have estimated very accurately all the quantities because we do not want to be accused by the Israelis of exaggerating," said Munir Manneh, head of construction in Gaza for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

"We will give an excellent example and prove that we will control the process 100 percent," he said, adding that all materials would be clearly documented from the moment they enter the territory.

Israel has said that if a mechanism could be found to bypass Hamas then more materials could be allowed in.

"If there could be a greater level of confidence that Hamas would not be siphoning off materials for its own military machine that would make things obviously much easier," government spokesman Mark Regev said.

YNet adds that the UNRWA project also includes a mill, an UNRWA school and sewage infrastructure.

But haven't we been told for years that Israel is only interested in collective punishment of Gazans and that the fears about Hamas using building materials were a Zionist sham?

The stories that contradict the "Gaza siege" and "collective punishment" memes get very little coverage in the mainstream media.

For example, did you know that flower exports from Gaza have now been going on regularly for three months?

Fatah chides Hamas for not being pro-terror enough

Yesterday, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said that the recent fatal rocket fire from Gaza was meant to undermine Hamas' authority and played into the hands of Israel. He stopped just short of saying that those behind the attacks were collaborators with Israel.

Today, he is being criticized for his public statements against rocket fire by the usual collection of terror groups -by Islamic Jihad, by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - and by Fatah, that purportedly moderate peace partner of Israel's.

A Fatah spokesman, Fayez Abu Eita, accused Hamas of abandoning terror ("resistance") in order to maintain its hold on power. He said that the people elected haams to be their leaders because they were shooting rockets into Israel, but unfortunately the treasonous Hamas has done a 180 degree turn and now is campaigning against the rockets.

This is hardly the first time that Fatah has criticized Hamas for not being violent enough. Yet the Western media never mentions these little facts, because they have their meme that "Hamas=terrorist, Fatah=peace partners" and they cannot afford to let people know that their wisdom has been somewhat lacking.

The latest kosher product

If this doesn't prove that the Elders are running the world, I don't know what does:

Photo taken at a local Wal-Mart.

I resisted the temptation to buy, and enjoy, the Kosher Candy Cross.

Libya upset over imports of Israeli goods

Firas Press reports that a Libyan governmental website revealed many Israeli goods being imported into Libya.

Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Abu Setta said that the Libya market has become filled with various Israeli goods.

He claimed that some 80% of the mobile phone accessories in the Libya market have origins in Israel.

A criminal investigation has not yet been opened.

Video of Abbas and his "adopted" kid

Last week I mentioned that Mahmoud Abbas had, perhaps cynically, adopted the surviving child of a horrific auto accident.

Here is a video of the press conference where Abbas, who turns 75 this week, hugs and kisses the poor kid as cameras click. The child looks like he is being tortured. See if you can find any hint that this was motivated by anything approaching human kindness.

The child's grandfather is thrilled, though.

Followup - did Dubai expel any spies?

On March 10,

Dubai Police have warned spies operating in the Gulf to leave the region within one week or face consequences.
"Those spies that are currently present in the Gulf must leave the region within one week — if not, then we will cross that bridge when we come to it," Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim told Gulf News.

The statement comes following the January 19 assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, which Dahi has blamed on Israel.

The ultimatum indicates that Dubai Police are aware of the identities of spies operating in the UAE and the Gulf region and appears to be a warning of exposure if they do not comply.

Well, the week deadline has passed. The chief received some praise from Asharq Al Awsat for his gutsy move of threatening unknown spies.

But, for some reason, we have not heard about any spies exposed or expelled from the UAE.

I guess his threat must have forced all the spies to leave, afraid that they'd be exposed.

Yeah, that must be it.

Hamas denies sending message to Egypt via fake congressman

Hamas has released a statement denying that they sent a message to Egypt via "Congressman" Jack Shepard.

The fake congressman, who visited Gaza last week, had told Egypt's Al Masry al-Youm newspaper that he was delivering a message from Hamas' Mahmoud al Zahar to Egypt's government.

Hamas, still unaware that Shepard is a convicted felon, a fraud and a nutcase, simply said that they do not need intermediaries to send messages to the Egyptians, especially not American messengers.

Obama to the left of Carter?

Last June, Jimmy Carter visited the small town of Neve Daniel, in the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements.

Speaking at the end of a meeting with Shaul Goldstein, the head of the Gush Etzion regional council, Carter said that the settlement bloc would remain under Israeli control.

"This particular settlement area is not one that I can envision ever being abandoned or changed over into Palestinian territory. This is part of settlements close to the 1967 (border) line that I think will be here for ever," he said in the garden of Goldstein's house.

Apparently the current US administration has gone beyond even the most implacably anti-Israel, anti-settlement ex-president, as they call into question not just the large settlement blocs near the Green Line with hundreds of thousands of residents but also organic parts of Jerusalem itself.

Maybe if Obama would deign to visit Israel he could see reality.

Perhaps he doesn't want to. After all, it is easier to make pronouncements and apply pressure from thousands of miles away when you don't know the facts.