Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Work accident....kid killed

Palestine Today (from Islamic Jihad) says that there was a massive explosion in a house in Khan Younis, killing a seven year old girl and injuring two others.

Palestine Times says that there were aircraft in the sky at the time, but doesn't quite say they shot anything.

Libya update

Some updates, mostly from Al Jazeera:

A number of cities seem to be in the hands of the people, including Kufra, Benghazi, Derna and Tobruk. News organizations are getting into those cities and broadcasting anti-government rallies.

Gaddafi's TV claimed that Derna was taken over by Al Qaeda, a cliam that the residents ridiculed.

Tripoli is still a Gaddafi stronghold, with horrific stories about killings there, and even plain clothed men with swords in the streets.

Many nations are trying to evacuate their citizens from Libya. Turkey has some 25,000 nationals there.

A flight that was reportedly carrying Gaddafi's daughter was refused by Malta. Similarly, a private Libyan jet that was prevented from landing at Beirut's airport reportedly held the wife of one of Gaddafi's sons.

The number of dead has passed 640, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.

There are reports that a Libyan airforce crew bailed out and crashed a plane rather than bomb civilians.

Hundreds of Libyans are fleeing on foot to Egypt and Tunisia.

The London Times says it has gruesome footage of people injured and killed in Libya that proves that heavy weapons were used, such as helicopter gunships or mortars.

A former Libyan justice minister told Aftenposten that Gaddafi had personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.

Italy is afraid that some 300,000 Libyans might flee to Europe if Gaddafi falls.

A video showing mass burials in Tripoli has been released.

Libya's former interior minister has joined the uprising, and he claims that one of Gaddafi's aides had already tried to kill him, unsuccessfully. He predicted Gaddafi would commit suicide. Not sure how believable he is - because he might be blamed for some of the violence, and he might be trying to save his skin.

Netanyahu is allowing 300 Libyan Palestinians to go to the PA.

You know the UN is useless when....

Yesterday, the UN Security Council condemned Libya's use of violence in killing its own people.

The members of the Security Council expressed grave concern at the situation in Libya. They condemned the violence and use of force against civilians, deplored the repression against peaceful demonstrators, and expressed deep regret at the deaths of hundreds of civilians. They called for an immediate end to the violence and for steps to address the legitimate demands of the population, including through national dialogue.

The members of the Security Council called on the Government of Libya to meet its responsibility to protect its population. They called upon the Libyan authorities to act with restraint, to respect human rights and international humanitarian law, and to allow immediate access for international human rights monitors and humanitarian agencies.

The members of the Security Council called for international humanitarian assistance to the people of Libya and expressed concern at the reports of shortages of medical supplies to treat the wounded. They strongly urged the Libyan authorities to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian and medical supplies and humanitarian workers into the country.

The members of the Security Council underlined the need for the Government of Libya to respect the freedom of peaceful assembly and of expression, including freedom of the press. They called for the immediate lifting of restrictions on all forms of the media.

The members of the Security Council stressed the importance of accountability. They underscored the need to hold to account those responsible for attacks, including by forces under their control, on civilians.

The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern about the safety of foreign nationals in Libya. They urged the Libyan authorities and all relevant parties to ensure the safety of all foreign nationals and facilitate the departure of those wishing to leave the country.

The members of the Security Council will continue to follow the situation closely.

At the same time, the Arab League was meeting in Cairo. Their statement:

"The Arab League condemns crimes against the current peaceful popular protests and demonstrations in several Libyan cities," Secretary General Amr Moussa told reporters in Cairo after the group met.

He said the security forces use of live rounds, heavy weapons and foreign mercenaries is a grave breach of human rights.

"The organization calls for respecting Libyans' right to freedom of protest and expression as they demand democratic change," he said.

"Humanitarian aid must be allowed into the country," the Arab League leader said.

"Libya will be barred from taking part in the Arab League's meetings until leader Muammar Gaddafi responds to the organization's demands," Moussa said.

The UN did not decide to kick Libya off of the Human Rights Council or any other important committee. It did not do anything concrete besides empty words.

At least the Arab League banned Libya.

You know the UN has turned into a useless organization when the Arab League is more critical, and more willing to do something, concerning of one of their its members - than the UN is.

NYT discovers that the Gaddafis are not wonderful people

The New York Times has an editorial today called Libya's Butcher:

Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya vowed on Tuesday that he would “fight on to the last drop of my blood” and die a “martyr.” We have no doubt that what he really meant is that he will butcher and martyr his own people in his desperation to hold on to power. He must be condemned and punished by the international community.

Colonel Qaddafi, who took power in a 1969 coup, has a long, ruthless and erratic history. Among his many crimes: He was responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. In 2003, after years of international sanctions, he announced that he had given up terrorism and his pursuit of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

We applauded those changes, and we are not eager to see Libya once again isolated. But Colonel Qaddafi’s brutal suppression of antigovernment demonstrations has left no doubt that he is still an international criminal.

But the Times has consciously done everything they could to make the Gaddafi family look like reasonable people over the years.

They published an op-ed by Gaddafi in 2009, pushing for the Jewish state to be subsumed in a larger Arab state.

They published Saif Gaddafi's whitewash of Libya's welcome to an arch terrorist. (Remember, Saif was the one who threatened all protesters on Libya TV on Sunday.)

And here is an unreal puff piece on Saif as well, from 2007:

The man — part scholar, part monk, part model, part policy wonk — was Saif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the powerful 33-year-old son of Libya’s extroverted and impulsive president, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. He is, in short, the un-Qaddafi.

The younger Qaddafi is in the final stages of his Ph.D. program in governance at the London School of Economics, and his meticulous training showed itself in Cyrene, a rare appearance for him at a large public event. He reeled off statistics about the rate of desertification and calculations of the tens of thousands of jobs that could be created in fisheries, architecture and ecotourism in the region with his project.

Speaking with a small group of journalists after his presentation, he listened carefully to questions in Arabic and English, thinking before each answer. Although his handlers had announced that journalists should confine their questions to the ecotourism project, the queries inevitably got broader, having not been screened in advance.

“What about democracy in Libya?” someone asked.

“Of course we are going toward more democracy,” Mr. Qaddafi said carefully. “But this project is not about democracy.”

It is easy for the NYT to be against the crazed regime once they start bombing their own citizens, or once the inevitable stories of their support for terrorism (including reports that Gaddafi himself ordered the Lockerbie bombing) surface.

But where were they in the years beforehand?

They were the Gaddafi's main cheerleaders in the West.

Which makes this editorial taste very bitter indeed.

(h/t and all research David G, plus Zach N)

2003 Turkish cartoon that applies to Egypt

The Hamas site Palestine Times says that some members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood are looking at the experience of the Turkish AKP party in how, over time, they could become the major ruling party in Egypt, by adopting a more secular public stance and emphasizing issues like the economy.

I found this Turkish political cartoon from 2003 about the AKP that describes this situation pretty well (I translated it, click to enlarge.)

Hypocrite Ahmadinejad condemns Libyan violence!

From AP:

Iran's president said Wednesday he is certain the wave of unrest in the Middle East will spread to Europe and North America, bringing an end to governments he accused of oppressing and humiliating people.

"This is very grotesque. It is unimaginable that there is someone who kills and bombards his own people. I strongly advise them to let nations have their say and meet their nations' demands if they claim to be the officials of those nations," Ahmadinejad said.

"Of course anyone who does not heed the demands of his own nation will have a clear fate," he added.

Iranian police and paramilitary groups brutally put down protests on their own streets after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009.

Here is an often gruesome document listing 150 protesters killed in Iran from June 2009 to July 2010.

Coptic priest murdered in Egypt

From AP:

A Coptic Christian priest has been killed in southern Egypt, triggering street demonstrations by several thousand Christians.

The priest was found dead in his home. A fellow clergyman, Danoub Thabet, says his body had several stab wounds. He says neighbours reported seeing several masked men leaving the apartment and shouting "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," suggesting the killing was motivated by the divide between Egypt's Muslims and its minority Coptic community.

About 3,000 protesters scuffled with Muslim shop owners Tuesday night and smashed the windows of a police car in the city, Assiut.

(h/t MP, AR)

WaPo deja vu: Hamas 2005 and Muslim Brotherhood 2011 (David G)

From David G:

Yesterday the Washington Post featured an article, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood faces prospect of democracy amid internal discord

The gist of the article is, now that they have the obligation of running for office they'll be too busy to be extreme, not that they were extreme in the first place.

It was reminiscent of the sort of article you'd find about Hamas before the elections of 2006.

For example in late 2004 and early 2005, Hamas participated in several rounds of municipal elections and this is what the Washngton Post reported then.

In Gaza, New Hamas-Dominated Council Attends to Basics

Certain elements appear in each story.

1) Hamas is misunderstood by (Israel and) the West; but it is appreciated by the locals

1a) Gaza 2005

Hamas -- with its armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades -- is condemned by the United States as a terrorist organization and reviled by Israel as the perpetrator of some of the deadliest suicide bombings of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. At the same time, Hamas has won respect among Palestinians by providing education and health programs. Now, when the U.S. and Israeli governments are demanding greater democratization of the Palestinian Authority, voters in the West Bank and Gaza are handing a sizable share of power to a group that many U.S. and Israeli leaders associate more closely with terrorism than with political reform

.
1b) Egypt 2011

Secular Egyptians and many in the West view the Brotherhood warily because it seeks to deepen the role of Islam in people's lives. Deeply religious Egyptians, meanwhile, view it as too liberal.

2) It is only one of the competing factions.

2a) Gaza 2005

Candidates aligned with Fatah, which has been the dominant Palestinian party for decades, have won the most local council seats overall in both Gaza and the West Bank. But Hamas has been victorious in the larger, more influential cities where it has capitalized on disorganization and bickering within Fatah, as well as its reputation for corruption.

2b) Egypt 2011

After decades of fighting for the right to participate openly in politics, Egypt's largest opposition movement soon will face competition from emerging political factions, led by tech-savvy young Egyptians, as the country gears up for what could be its first fair election.
The Islamist group also is facing internal discord, with a handful of young members breaking away. Some say they disapprove of its rigid top-down leadership structure and its politics.

3) De-emphasis of religion

3a) Gaza 2005

In Beit Hanoun, and in communities across Gaza and the West Bank, Islamic politicians are earning wide support using old-fashioned tactics valued the world over: fixing potholes, picking up garbage and turning on the lights.

3b) Egypt 2011

Since Mubarak's ouster, the Brotherhood has offered few signs that it aspires to transform Egypt into a repressive Islamic state. The group bills itself as a moderate movement that seeks to broaden the appeal of Islam from the ground up. It also has long lobbied for a democratic system that ensures freedom of expression and term limits.

Luckily, we have the benefit of hindsight to see how Hamas ended up.

Too bad reporters cannot seem to learn from their mistakes.

Morning linkdump

Things that crossed my desk recently...

Khaled Abu Toameh on how the PLO is using the US veto to bolster its image

An Arab MK says Obama can go to hell. Which means that the US has to redouble its efforts to make Arabs happy, in the current logic of the administration.

And speaking of the UN vote, Melanie Phillips goes after Britain for voting in favor of the resolution.

The Irish Independent has an op-ed that is skeptical of real freedoms breaking out in the Arab world.

The MERIA Journal on Syria's triumph in Lebanon (you do remember Lebanon, don't you?)

WSJ has a good analysis on the latest in Libya.

Michael Totten has a great piece on Libya as well in TNR.

Lee Hiromoto writes about what Israel is really like in the Harvard Crimson. This article should be published in every college newspaper in the US and UK.

Barry Rubin analyzes tweets by Egypt's famed Sandmonkey blogger.

Hate for Israel might be the only thing Egyptians can agree on.

Jeff Jacoby on the larger lessons of the Lara Logan episode.

Michael Ledeen discusses the back door being used from Germany to Turkey to Iran.

Why Israel worries about Jordan.

A German soccer fans seem to really like an Israeli player.

(h/t T34, Silke, Zach N., Joel, DM, Richard)

Tweets on Gaddafi's speech

Here are some of my tweets during Gaddafi's bizarre rant yesterday:

#Gaddafi's internal microchip just rebooted. (During a long pause)

Gaddafi: "I built Benghazi block by block. And now they are destroying it." Awwww.

Nothing says "strong national leader" than screaming like a homeless lunatic from a ruined house.

The transcript from #Gaddafi's speech should be turned into performance art. Better than "Seven Jewish Children."

The Partnership For a Drug-Free America really needs to record #gaddafi's speech and make a PSA out of it.

Did the translator just commit suicide? (during one section where the translation stopped...after about 50 minutes, the translator was indeed replaced, probably because of a nervous breakdown)

T-shirt: "I survived the first hour of Gaddafi's speech"

And others had some good lines as well:

Inventing a drink. Pour every type of alcohol you own into a glass.. Add bleach. Voilà! Le Gaddafi. Best served in a tent or w/ umbrella.

bloody hell, where's Kanye when you need him?

Gaddafi's cell phone bills must be a nightmare.