Saturday 3 April 2010

Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Dead Boy Walking

Dead Boy Walking

Last week some official in the Hamas health ministry in Gaza announced that Israel had shot and killed a 15-year-old, whom they duly named so there's be no mistake. One assumes they had seen his dead body, or participated in his funeral, or something.

On Saturday he came home, unscathed. Apparently he'd tried to cross the border to Egypt (not Israel), but then turned back.

Hard to believe, huh?


Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Dead Boy Walking

Israel Matzav: 85.6% of Gazans: 'Death to collaborators'

85.6% of Gazans: 'Death to collaborators'

85.6% of Gazans surveyed believe that the death penalty should be implemented against 'collaborators' with Israel and with Fatah.

The Freedom Center for Research and Public Opinion Surveys has found that an overwhelming majority of 85% of Arabs in Gaza favors the death sentence for Arab collaborators with Israel.

Specifically, the Hamas government in Gaza has put to death, and intends to continue doing so, Arabs who have been found to have collaborated with Israel or worked with Fatah and have been convicted of espionage.

A full 85.6% of the Gazan Arabs polled believe it is a good idea, and only 14.4% oppose. In the Rafah region, 90% supported the idea, and in Khan Yunis – adjacent to the former site of Gush Katif capital N'vei Dekalim – it was 87%.

Several dozen are already assumed to have been killed in recent months - including some executions carried out in the Rafiah area in what used to be the Jewish community of Rafiah Yam.

These are the Hamas courts - in which Richard Richard Goldstone has such confidence - in action.

What could go wrong?

The picture at the top is a 'collaborator' on trial in Gaza.


Israel Matzav: 85.6% of Gazans: 'Death to collaborators'

Love of the Land: Today, Jerusalem. Tomorrow, security.

Today, Jerusalem. Tomorrow, security.


Fresnozionism.org
01 April '10

Today’s Wall Street Journal reports,

JERUSALEM—Several high-profile former U.S. officials, some with close ties to the Obama administration, met with leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in recent months, raising hope inside the group that its views are being heard at the White House.

White House officials and participants in the talks emphasize the meetings weren’t sanctioned by Washington. U.S. officials say there has been no change to Washington’s insistence that Hamas take a number of steps before official dialogue can begin.

Still, the talks have been interpreted by some officials inside Hamas, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which is run by the Palestinian Fatah party—a rival to Hamas—as a sign Washington may be softening its position toward Hamas…

Such informal “track two” meetings aren’t uncommon between former U.S. officials and Hamas. But the ex-officials involved in recent talks are seen as higher-profile figures in Washington’s diplomatic establishment. They are also seen as enjoying more foreign-policy heft with the administration than U.S. officials in the past.

“This administration is different from the previous administration,” said Hamas’ deputy foreign minister, Ahmed Yussuf, said in an interview. “We believe Hamas’s message is reaching its destination.”

“There were many meetings like this” in the past, Mr. Yussuf said. “But now, we know the people coming to see us are so much more connected to the White House.”


The US may also be planning to soften its stance toward Hizballah.

(Read full post)

Love of the Land: Today, Jerusalem. Tomorrow, security.

lisrael Matzav -Obama should read Son of Hamas

Obama should read Son of Hamas

Cliff May argues that if President Obama reads Mosab Hassan Yousef's Son of Hamas, he might understand why his Middle East policies are all wrong.

The problem for Hamas, writes Mosab Hassan Yousef, has never been “Israel’s policies.” The problem for Hamas is “Israel’s very existence.” Hamas, Yousef adds, is “animated by religious fervor and the theology of jihad,” and it is “dedicated to the extinction of Israel.”

...

Then came Camp David: In 2000, Pres. Bill Clinton put pressure on Israeli prime minister Ehud Barack, who offered Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority and leader of Fatah, “about 90 percent of the West Bank, the entire Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem as the capital of a new Palestinian state.” Additionally, Mosab writes, “a new international fund would be established to compensate Palestinians for property that had been taken from them. This ‘land for peace’ offer represented a historic opportunity for the long-suffering Palestinian people, something few Palestinians would have dared imagine possible. But even so, it was not enough for Arafat,” who rejected the offer, refused to negotiate further, and launched a bloody intifada against Israel.

Why? Yousef explains: “Yasser Arafat had grown extraordinarily wealthy as the international symbol of victimhood. He wasn’t about to surrender that status and take on the responsibility of actually building a functioning society. . . . For Arafat, there always seemed to be more to gain if Palestinians were bleeding. Another intifada would surely get the blood flowing and the Western news cameras rolling once again.”

...

He wrote Son of Hamas because, he writes, “When Middle Eastern nations — Jews and Arabs alike — start to understand some of what I understand, only then will there be peace.”

And it would help if President Obama were to read his book and realize that Israel’s policies — least of all its plans to build housing for growing families in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem — are the least of the obstacles standing in the way of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The problem is that Obama would probably just dismiss Yousef as a traitor.

Israel Matzav - Obama should read Son of Hamas

Israel Matzav: Steyn on Mississauga Muslims and 'Palestine House'

Steyn on Mississauga Muslims and 'Palestine House'

Mark Steyn wrote a short piece at National Review Online about the Mississauga Muslims and 'Palestine House' (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Tomorrow night, for example, they're hosting the editor of the London newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abd al-Bari Atwan. Mr Atwan is a celebrity eliminationist who declared on TV that "if the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight." Because Palestine House is government-funded, Mr Atwan's appearance to share this and other insights is effectively being underwritten by Canadian taxpayers.

Canadian taxpayers aren't the only ones who subsidize Mr. Atwan's activities. He's a regular on the BBC (which is paid for by British taxpayers) as well as on Sky News in London. Neither of them seems to have much of an issue with Mr. Atwan's activities.

Yet any attempt to roll back funding for such organizations would be met by howls of protest that the government was attacking "immigrant groups" and "human rights". Lenin famously said the west would "sell us the rope by which we will hang them". He was underestimating our suicidal stupidity: We're happy to give it away.

Maybe it's time to start ignoring the howls of protest and stand up to the political correctness.


Israel Matzav: Steyn on Mississauga Muslims and 'Palestine House'

Israel Matzav: C-130J's: Not so fast

C-130J's: Not so fast

Remember the C-130J military cargo planes that the United States was going to sell to Israel a couple of weeks ago? You know - the ones that made us all sigh with relief that maybe there really wasn't an arms embargo on Israel. Remember how I said that I believed that the whole thing was just a way to get Israel to use up its military aid money? (Go back to that link if you don't - you can also get a bigger picture of the chart in the top left corner there). Well, guess what: The sale is now awaiting a 'political decision' (Hat Tip: Jihad Watch).

"There is a signed agreement," an official said. "The announcement requires a political decision."

Under the accord, Israel would be able to purchase three C-130Js from manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The agreement called for an option of another six air transports for a total value of $1.9 billion. The Israeli request for the Super Hercules had been approved by the administration of then-President George W. Bush in 2007.

The administration of President Barack Obama has refused to approve any of Israel's military requests since it entered office in January 2009. The Pentagon did not announce any weapons contracts to Israel over the last 14 months.

Israel was expected to receive its first C-130J in 2013, officials said. They said the next step would be to sign a contract with Lockheed Martin, which has been processing requests from such Middle East countries as Iraq, Oman and Tunisia.

For all of you who tried to argue that Barack Hussein Obama was pro-Israel: We told you so.

Israel Matzav: C-130J's: Not so fast

Love of the Land: Exploiting the crisis with Washington

Exploiting the crisis with Washington


Caroline Glick
Carolineglick.com
03 April '10

There is an element of irony in the current crisis of relations between the Obama administration and Israel. On the one hand, although US President Barack Obama and his advisors deny there is anything wrong with US-Israel relations today, it is easy to understand why no one believes them.

On the other hand on most issues, there is substantive continuity between Obama's Middle East policies and those his immediate predecessor George W. Bush adopted during his second term in office. Yet, whereas Israelis viewed Bush as Israel's greatest friend in the White House, they view Obama as the most anti-Israel US president ever.

This contradiction requires us to consider two issues. First, why are relations with the US now steeped in crisis? And second, taking a page out of Obama's White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel's playbook, how can Israel make sure not to let this crisis go to waste?

The reason relations are so bad of course is because Obama has opted to attack Israel and its supporters. In the space of the past ten days alone, Israel has been subject to three malicious blows courtesy of Obama and his advisors. First, during his visit to the White House last Tuesday, Obama treated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu like a two-bit potentate. Rather than respectfully disagree with the elected leader of a key US ally, Obama walked out in the middle of their meeting to dine with his family and left the unfed Netanyahu to meditate on his grave offense of not agreeing to give up Israel's capital city as a precondition for indirect, US-orchestrated negotiations with an unelected, unpopular Palestinian leadership that supports terrorism and denies Israel's right to exist.

(Read full post)


Love of the Land: Exploiting the crisis with Washington

Love of the Land: A Blind Eye for Hamas’ Victims

A Blind Eye for Hamas’ Victims


Anav Silverman
Frontpagemag.com
29 March '10

It is not every day that Human Rights Watch (HRW) comes out with a report that accurately highlights Hamas war crimes against Israel, but in the case of the Thai worker killed by a Gaza rocket on March 18, 2009, HRW did just that.

The tragic story of Manee Singmueangphon , a Thai migrant worker who was killed when a rocket struck an Israeli greenhouse north of Gaza on Thursday March 18, was barely given any in-depth coverage in the mainstream media. Most news reports simply stated that a Thai migrant worker was killed in a rocket attack, not even giving the victim a name.

Indeed, almost no western leader or human rights organization directed words of condemnation to the Islamic terrorists who fired the rockets that killed Manee, a 33-year old husband and father with children back in Thailand, and sent shock waves among his fellow Thai and Nepalese workers. In an interview with Sderot Media Center, a friend and coworker of Manee indicated that the rocket attack made him question whether working in Israel was worth the money. “Money is not worth this kind of danger,” the Nepalese worker stated in shock.

Over 70 people around the site of the rocket attack sought therapy treatment for shock and trauma, including 20 workers from Sderot.

Those foreign officials who did voice condemnation glazed over very general statements that held no one in Gaza responsible for the rocket attack. Catherine Ashton, the top EU diplomat who happened to be entering Gaza at the time the rocket was fired at Israeli civilians on the other side, responded that she condemned “any kind of violence,” while UN Chief Ban Ki-moon stressed that all acts of violence are “totally unacceptable.”

(Read full story)

Love of the Land: A Blind Eye for Hamas’ Victims

Love of the Land: Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip

Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip

The Main Findings of the Goldstone Report Versus the Factual Findings


The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
March '10
Posted before Shabbat

(This report is more than 300 pages, authoritative, and a major resource. Y.)

Introduction: main findings

1. This document provides the main findings of a study which examined how the Goldstone Report dealt with the nature and activities of Hamas in the Gaza Strip before and during Operation Cast Lead .

2. The first part of the study examines how the Report relates to the terrorist threat as it developed in the Gaza Strip in the years before Operation Cast Lead . The subsequent parts deal with the various aspects of Hamas’ strategy and combat tactics during the operation , emphasizing the massive use it made of Gazan civilians as human shields. The study does not deal with specific cases of IDF actions, which the IDF has examined separately.

3. The study compares the findings of the Goldstone Report with the actual events on the ground. It is supported by a vast amount of reliable, varied information which originated in the Israeli intelligence community, as well as open-source information, including statements made by Hamas elements .

4. The comparison clearly indicates four basic flaws in the way the Goldstone Report relates to the period before Operation Cast Lead:

The Report does not deal with the nature of Hamas, particularly its terrorist aspects . It focuses on severe criticism of Israel and presents an openly pro-Palestinian version of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It does not deal with Hamas’ ideology , its strategy, the military-terrorist infrastructure it constructed, its radical Islamic nature, the way it relates to the West and the pro-Western Arab regimes, the brutality with which it treats its Palestinian opponents, the direction and aid it receives from its headquarters in Damascus, and its record as the terrorist organization which led suicide bombing terrorism against Israel and fired rockets at its civilians over a period of many years . The Report refers to the de facto Hamas administration as a governmental entity (“the Gaza authorities”), and adopts Hamas’ false claim that there is no connection between that entity and the military-terrorist wing . The facts unequivocally prove that Hamas is one integral system, with a hierarchical leadership which maintains close contact between its political, administrative, security and military-terrorist branches.

(To read full report)

Love of the Land: Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip

Love of the Land: [Fear of failing?] Akiva Eldar carefully avoids hard questions in interview with PA PM

[Fear of failing?] Akiva Eldar carefully avoids hard questions in interview with PA PM


Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
02 April '10
Posted before Shabbat

Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

If Akiva Eldar was certain that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad really had answers to the hard questions he would ask them. And he would follow up on PA PM Fayyad's soft answers.

But Akiva Eldar doesn't do this.

Now if Akiva Eldar genuinely believes that Fayyad can handle the hard questions he does him a disservice.

And if he avoids hard questions because he doesn't want to hurt the Palestinian cause he is doing a disservice to his readers.

Here are some questions:

(1) Throwing rocks and firebombs is a form of "peaceful protest"?

(2) You demand that all Palestinians held by Israel be released now. Israel is holding Palestinian cop Mahmoud al-Khatib who recently murdered an Israeli soldier. Are you saying that al-Khatib should also be freed?

(3) What is your position on the right of Jews to immigrate to Israel and become citizens while the same right is not provided for Arabs with family ties to locations within Israel?

And there's more.

=============================================

Palestinian PM to Haaretz: We will have a state next year
By Akiva Eldar Haaretz Last update - 11:44 02/04/2010
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1160513.html

RAMALLAH - Next year, "the birth of a Palestinian state will be celebrated as a day of joy by the entire community of nations," says Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in an exclusive interview to Haaretz.

Relaying Passover greetings to the Jewish community, Fayyad hopes Israelis will also participate in the celebrations for the birth of a new state.

"The time for this baby to be born will come," he says, "and we estimate it will come around 2011. That is our vision, and a reflection of our will to exercise our right to live in freedom and dignity in the country [where] we are born, alongside the State of Israel in complete harmony," says Fayyad, 58.

He also welcomed the Quartet's announcement of two weeks ago in Moscow, which supports the PA's August 2009 plan to establish a state within 24 months.

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: [Fear of failing?] Akiva Eldar carefully avoids hard questions in interview with PA PM

Love of the Land: Case Closed?

Case Closed?


Lee Smith
Tabletmag.com
01 April '10
Posted before Shabbat

“I wish they’d leave Bibi alone,” said my cab driver, an African-American born-again Christian in his mid-fifties. He was upset about the recent turn in U.S.-Israel relations over the last two weeks and complained all the way to Union Station. “What do they mean Jews can’t build in Jerusalem?” he asked. He grabbed his Bible from the dashboard and handed it to me. “You can find it right here.”

Europeans may believe that Palestine was settled by colonialist interlopers, but to many American ears this is akin to calling God a liar. Americans read the Bible as an authentic document detailing the eternal relationship between the Jews and their historical homeland. There are privileged sectors of the country that cannot comprehend the broad popularity of pro-Israel politics in America—corners of academia and the media that argue that Israel is a liability to U.S. interests. However, especially after 9/11, the rest of this vastly Christian country believes that American interests and those of the Jewish state are in sync, a conviction borne out not only in opinion polls, but electoral polls as well. There is no powerful coterie violating American laws to ensure that the U.S. Congress looks favorably on the Jewish state. If anti-Israel positions pleased voting constituencies, and campaign donors, our elected officials would adopt them as readily as they would spit at babies if such behavior ensured campaign victories.

For decades, those who work in academia or the news media have used plenty of methods to challenge and criticize the American consensus over Israel. But those who work in official Washington have taken up an even more meaningful weapon: the criminalization of policy disputes. Nowhere was this clearer that in the case of Steve Rosen, the former director of foreign policy issues for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who was the target of an FBI sting operation that cost him his job.

(Read full article)


Love of the Land: Case Closed?

Love of the Land: Hamas hangs on

Hamas hangs on

Hamas has done well to survive but it is threatened by rivalry among Islamists


Economist.com
31 March '10
Posted before Shabbat

AFTER four gruelling years under siege, the Gazans—and the Islamist movement, Hamas, that governs them—are still managing against the odds to survive. Some even prosper. The tunnels that snake under Gaza’s border with Egypt have multiplied so fast that supply sometimes exceeds demand. So stiff is commercial competition that tunnel-diggers complain that their work is no longer profitable. As a British parliamentary report recently noted, Israel officially allows Gaza to import only 73 of more than 4,000 items that are available in the strip. The rest is home-made—or acquired illicitly. For instance, cement, which cost 300 Israeli shekels ($80) a sack two years ago, has dropped almost tenfold in price, precipitating a spate of building for the first time since Israel’s attack a year ago reduced 4,000 houses to ruins. And eyewitnesses say that flashy 4x4 vehicles can actually drive through tunnels built from shipping containers.

Israel’s siege still causes misery. Yet some economists say the strip is growing faster than the West Bank run by Hamas’s rival Palestinian Authority (PA), albeit from a far lower base. The petrol pumped into Gaza by underground pipes and hoses from Egypt costs a third of what it does in Ramallah, the Palestinians’ West Bank capital, where Israel supplies it. Free health care is more widely available in Gaza. Imports travel faster through the tunnels than via Israel’s thickets of bureaucracy. The web of Israeli checkpoints that still impedes Palestinian movements and commerce on the West Bank is absent in Gaza.

As well as lower prices, Gazans benefit from civil-service payrolls. Several outfits pump cash into the strip’s economy: the local Hamas government; the UN, which employs 10,000 Gazans; and Salam Fayyad’s West Bank government, which is the largest employer of all. Payments to Hamas and its connected tunnel-operators boost the economy too. A car-dealer bringing in a new Hyundai saloon through the tunnels stands to make a profit of $13,000.

Above ground things look better, too. In the 14 months since the war ended, Hamas has swept up much of the wreckage. The Islamic University, bombed by Israel’s aircraft, sparkles again. New cafés have opened across Gaza City. Power cuts dog Gazan life, but Hamas profits from the taxes it collects on the fuel that powers a noisy surfeit of generators. America recently imposed sanctions on the main Hamas-owned bank, but the informal hawala banking system that straddles the border keeps the strip solvent. Whereas Gaza was once plugged into Western economies, the siege has forced it to find other financial moorings. So confident is Hamas that it can survive without the PA’s banking system that it has just, for the first time, sent its police to raid a bank that had obeyed a PA order preventing a Hamas-run charity from having access to deposits.

(Read full article)


Love of the Land: Hamas hangs on

Elder of Ziyon: A Gaza child "killed by Israel" miraculously comes to life

A Gaza child "killed by Israel" miraculously comes to life

From Ma'an, March 30:

A child was shot and killed east of the Yasser Arafat International Airport in Rafah on Tuesday, medics said.

Muawiya Hassanein, director of ambulance and emergency services in Gaza, said Muhammad Zen Ismail Al-Farmawi, 15, was shot dead near the southeasterly border by Israeli forces, while local sources who wished to remain anonymous said the death may have been an internal matter.

Hassanein said ambulances had been unable to retrieve the body because of ongoing clashes in the area, while an Israeli military spokesman said he had no knowledge of the incident.

DPA adds witnesses to those who claimed the boy was killed:

A 15-year-old Palestinian boy was killed Tuesday near the border area between the south-east Gaza Strip and Israel, witnesses and security sources said.

Witnesses said that Mohamed al-Farmawi, 15, of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah was shot dead by Israeli troops after he approached the fence along the border with Israel, which lies east of the town.

Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein told reporters in Gaza that medical teams and International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) coordinated with the Israeli army to collect the boy's body.

Multiple witnesses and Gaza officials all agree that the boy was killed and even that his body was recovered. You can't do better than that, can you?

Apparently, you can. From Ma'an today:

Palestinian teenager reportedly killed by Israeli forces has returned home alive and well, his family said Friday.

It turns out Al-Farmawi was among 17 Palestinians detained by Egyptian forces shortly after the infiltrated the Egyptian side of Rafah via one of Gaza's numerous underground smuggling tunnels. The detainees, among them 12 minors, were returned to security forces at the border on Friday.

Relatives expressed "overwhelming happiness" that their son was unharmed during the violence, our correspondent reported from Rafah.

Just more evidence that the veracity of Gaza "witnesses" and Hamas officials is approximately zero. Not that this will stop reporters and NGOs and UN fact-finding missions from believing them the next time they lie, and the time after that, and the time after that....

Elder of Ziyon: A Gaza child "killed by Israel" miraculously comes to life

Israel Matzav: The 'Palestinians' show their true face

The 'Palestinians' show their true face

On Friday, in Mississauga, Ontario, near Toronto, there was a protest against government funding for 'Palestine House.' Here's a video from that protest that will show you what the 'Palestinians' are really like.

Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).



But just give them a 'state' and they'll stop all that jihad stuff.

/sarc

UPDATE 9:34 PM

Much more on the protests here and here (Hat Tip: Memeorandum and Memeorandum).

And don't expect to find a whole lot about this protest in the mainstream media.

'Palestine house' receives substantial funding from the Canadian government. More here.


Israel Matzav: The 'Palestinians' show their true face

RubinReports: If You Think the Obama Administratiion's Middle East Policy is Bad Now, Just Consider This...

If You Think the Obama Administratiion's Middle East Policy is Bad Now, Just Consider This...

By Barry Rubin

Charles Freeman has just taken another step in revealing his out-of-control loathing of Israel, accusing it of being worse than South Africa. Who is he and why is this significant?

It matters because Freeman, with nothing more to lose from making public his true feelings, had been the Obama Administration nominee to be coordinator of Middle East intelligence. Freeman had to withdraw and though the real reason has never before been made public, it is this: he was involved in business with Saudi Arabia which came dangerously close to the borders of legality.

Freeman was also a client of the Saudis to such an extent that then Secretary of State James Baker apparently decided to get rid of him. Baker, who certainly couldn't be accused of being pro-Israel, described Freeman in scathing terms in his own autobiography for always taking the Saudi line in a way that interfered in the effort to force Iraq out of Kuwait in 1990-1991.

Since losing the nomination, Freeman has been more and more hysterical in expressing his hatred of Israel, with strong hints that his attitude extended to Jews generally. The story of how Freeman was kept out of office is an amazing tale of how a handful of bloggers--without support from any group or institution--forced the story into public attention. One day I might tell it to you.

Meanwhile, though, reflect on how things would be if Freeman was in a high administration position and ask yourself what kind of administration would have appointed such a man to a highly influential post.

RubinReports: If You Think the Obama Administratiion's Middle East Policy is Bad Now, Just Consider This...

Elder of Ziyon: Cleric on Egypt TV: "Heavy metal is Zionist"

Cleric on Egypt TV: "Heavy metal is Zionist"

A great clip from MEMRI, transcript here:

Interviewer: You like heavy metal music, but unfortunately, you have to deal with many misconceptions in our society, which views you, at times… Let’s be frank, people call you Satan worshippers. I am sure you’ve heard this. I was surprised to hear that some of your parties have developed into a national security issue.

[…]

Nirmin Magdi, fine arts student: Heavy metal is just music. It has nothing to do with Satan worshipping.

Bassem Ali, student of pharmaceutics: I would like to say something. It’s better to play guitar or have a hobby than watch porn films on the Internet.

Karim ‘Ammad, student of hotel management: Instead of accusing us of worshipping Satan or whatever, they should talk to us and try to understand the way we think.

[…]

Tuhami Muntasir, former advisor to the Mufti of Egypt: It has become clear that this is being funded, and that it is sponsored organized Zionist activity. They get money from various sources – maybe from Cyprus, maybe from Israel… What they do at their parties…

Interviewer: Do you get money from any source?

Karim ‘Ammad: If we did, would we be in such a poor state? What money? This is the first time I’m hearing this claim.

Tuhami Muntasir: I am talking about confessions of people who were caught…

Karim ‘Ammad: What you said sums it up. You’re talking about the past. Today there’s nothing…

Tuhami Muntasir: I am talking about confessions of people who were caught… I am not done yet.

Bassem Ali: Go ahead, finish.

Tuhami Muntasir: Let me tell you that the phenomenon that we are witnessing right now is a clear manifestation of a well-funded Zionist campaign, which is based on a “constitution” – The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. With your permission, I am not done yet. Protocols of the Elders of Zion – that founding constitution… What does Zionism want to accomplish? You are an intellectual, and you know this. It wants to rule the world.

Interviewer: Let’s be reasonable.

Tuhami Muntasir: It wants to rule the world. Let me finish. It wants to rule the world. Zionism has means to do so, and it has priorities. The Zionists say: We will establish clubs and we will draw people, who have certain characteristics and who are willing to collaborate, and we will bring them to the top of the pyramid…

Interviewer: But they are not spies…

Tuhami Muntasir: The third priority of the Elders of Zion is drug trafficking, and facilitating the spread of abomination, so that societies become enslaved to their desires and urges…

Interviewer: Let’s return to the heavy metal fans…

Tuhami Muntasir: That way, the countries will collapse with no need to resort to weapons. Ruling the world is the real and stated goal of global Zionism.

Interviewer: The question that needs to be asked is what this has to do with these young people, who like heavy metal music, wear these clothes, and perform these rites?

Tuhami Muntasir: How can they say they like heavy metal, if they haven’t listened to Umm Kulthum, Abd Al-Halim Hafez, Farid Al-Atrash, Amr Diab, and all the other singers? This is beyond the question of whether you like this music or not. This has become an ideology. There is an organized ideology aimed at alienating and dissolving one’s identity.

I am willing to share that the heavy metal branch of the International Zionist Web is active and thriving, but not nearly as much as the rap and hip-hop branches.

Although this goes without saying, Tuhami Muntasir is also on the Zionist payroll. In fact, we invent people like him just so MEMRI has a lot of wonderful clips of moronic Islamic clerics. I could show you a photocopy of his paycheck, but it might get him killed and he is a very, very valuable asset.



Elder of Ziyon: Cleric on Egypt TV: "Heavy metal is Zionist"

Elder of Ziyon: White House looking to engage Hezbollah

White House looking to engage Hezbollah

A very scary article by Barry Rubin indicates pretty strongly that the Obama administration is looking to mainstream Hezbollah.

Can things get worse with the Obama Administration's foreign-and especially Middle East--policy? Yes, it's not inevitable but I have just seen personally a dangerous example of what could be happening next.

I have received a letter asking me personally to help with a research project. I have spoken to well-informed people who tell me that the statements I am about to quote are accurate. It is highly possible that the link with the Obama Administration is exaggerated, but this indeed does come from the White House's favorite think tank.

While not mentioning the names of those involved they are known for supporting the idea that Hizballah is really quite moderate. The letter says that this is a project for the Center for American Progress and that the results "will be presented to senior U.S. policymakers in the administration."

I am asked to participate by giving my opinions on how the United States can deal with Hizballah "short of engagement" and "would Israeli leaders see benefit in the U.S. talking with Hizballah about issues which are of crucial importance to Israel?"

Answer to first question: Oppose it in every way possible.

Answer to second question: What the [insert obscene words I don't use] do you think they would say!

The letter continues:

"As you've noted, some like John Brennan [advisor to the president on terrorism] is already thinking about a more flexible policy towards Hizballah and it would be extremely useful to get your views on this to ensure anything decided is done properly."

I read this letter-and that impression is confirmed by those knowledgeable about this project and those involved-as saying that the Center for American Progress is going to issue a report calling for U.S. engagement with Hizballah, and that it has been encouraged to do so by important officials in the Obama Administration.

The phrase "to ensure anything decided is done properly," I take as a give-away to the fact that they are going to push for direct dealing with Hizballah but want to be able to say that they had listened to alternative views.

They merely, I am told by those who know about this project, intend to talk to some who disagree for appearances' sake and throw in a sentence or two to give the report the slightest tinge of balance.

The person heading this project has already endangered the lives of brave Lebanese. For example, he claimed without foundation that Christians were planning to launch a war on Hizballah, providing a splendid rationale for Hizballah to murder opponents on the excuse of doing so in self-defense. Accepting Hizballah rule is defined as the Christians recognizing they are a minority and trying to get along with their Muslim neighbors.

In other words, those opposing Hizballah are presented as aggressors while Hizballah is just the reasonable party that wants to get along. Moreover all this leaves out the community, about the same size as the Christians and Shia Muslims, that has been leading the resistance to Syria, Iran, and Hizballah: the Sunni Muslims.

In short, the person directing the project talks like a virtual agent of Hizballah and its allies, basically repeating what they tell him.

Read the whole thing.


Elder of Ziyon: White House looking to engage Hezbollah

Love of the Land: Obama's Foolish Settlements Ultimatum

Obama's Foolish Settlements Ultimatum


Steven Rosen
MEF
ForeignPolicy.com
01 April '10

U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to confront Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Israeli construction activity in East Jerusalem has been greeted by a hail of praise, especially from people impatient to proceed with peace negotiations with the Palestinians. The belief seems to be that meeting this issue head-on will accelerate progress toward an agreement ending a conflict that has festered for generations. The historical record suggests a different conclusion.

The assumption that a faceoff over construction in Jerusalem will advance negotiations has not been subjected to much scrutiny. But the last two decades show that progress has occurred not when this issue was put first, but when it was finessed and left for the final status negotiations on Jerusalem.

Consider this: If, 17 years ago, U.S. President Bill Clinton or Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat had insisted that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin freeze all settlement construction, including in Jerusalem, before Arafat would sit down with Rabin, there would have been no Oslo agreements. By Rabin's own account, in comments before the Knesset, Israel's parliament, he had to fudge the issue.

"I explained to the president of the United States," he said,"that I wouldn't forbid Jews from building privately in the area of Judea and Samaria ... I am sorry that within united Jerusalem construction is not more massive."

The same year as the famous handshake on the White House lawn, 1993, the Rabin government completed the construction of more than 6,000 units in the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood of East Jerusalem, out of a total of 13,000 units that were in various stages of completion in areas of the city that had been outside Israeli lines before 1967.

So Arafat did sit down with Rabin, even while Israel's construction in Jerusalem continued. And, on Sept. 13, 1993, the Oslo peace accord was signed -- by the same Mahmoud Abbas who refuses to sit down today. And on October 14, 1994, Rabin, who built homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Altogether, Israel completed 30,000 dwelling units in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem in the four years of Rabin's government. Even the Jan. 9, 1995, announcement of a plan to build 15,000 additional apartments in East Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the 1967 borders (especially Pisgat Zeev, Neve Yaacov, Gilo, and Har Homa) did not stop negotiations, which resulted in the Oslo II accord of September 28, 1995. Israeli construction continued while Abbas and Rabin signed an historic accord.

And what was the American policy toward Rabin's construction of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem? Mild annoyance.

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: Obama's Foolish Settlements Ultimatum

RubinReports: Is The Obama Administration Working Toward Engaging Terrorist Groups Hamas and Hizballah or Not?

Is The Obama Administration Working Toward Engaging Terrorist Groups Hamas and Hizballah or Not?

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By Barry Rubin

The widely read Cable, a publication of Foreign Policy magazine, responded to my article about apparent hints that the Obama Administration and its favorite think tank might be involved in pushing the idea of dealing with Hizballah, a revolutionary Islamist group in Lebanon which is terrorist, genocidally-intended toward Israel, and a client of Iran and Syria.

For my original article, see here.

Despite the fact that I was very careful and responsible, accurately quoting the letter I had received, the article’s headline was entitled, The nonexistent Obama conspiracy to engage Hezbollah,” as if the whole notion was ridiculous. But the only evidence that this isn't happening is a rather unpersuasive, or at least very strange, denial by the project's director.

The author, Josh Rogin, interviewed the head of the project, Thanassis Cambanis, a journalist who is also an adjunct professor (that means he teaches a course) at Columbia University on the story. But guess what? Rogin didn’t interview me. Isn’t that rather unfair, would you say?

According to Rogin, the project's official letter:

“Led Rubin, whose post got wide traction in the blogosphere yesterday, to speculate that `the Center for American Progress is going to issue a report calling for U.S. engagement with Hizballah, and that it has been encouraged to do so by important officials in the Obama Administration.’"

That’s not speculation; that’s what Cambanis’ assistant told me, as Rogin himself admits:

“The Cable reviewed the original email sent from the Columbia student to Rubin. It did state that the project was ‘for’’ the Center for American Progress and `will be presented to senior US policymakers in the administration,’ both of which were incorrect, Cambanis said.”

So let’s get that straight: My article was 100 percent accurate in describing the letter I received but Cambanis said his own assistant simply made up the claims that it was being done for the Center for American Progress and was being presented to Obama Administration officials.

Wouldn’t one expect that Cambanis reviewed the letter before it was sent? And if he did, isn't this a serious misrepresentation on his part? But if his assistant just made stuff up, one should ask if this student is being disciplined or fired. After all that is something pretty serious to make up and send out to mislead people, isn’t it?

Cambanis also rejects the idea that he intends to endorse engaging Hizballah in his report. But everything Cambanis has written shows that he is a strong advocate of the idea. The letter’s writing, as I quoted it, also indicates it. Did the student make that up also?

So we are left with two possibilities: Either the letter was describing a project being done for a research center close to the Obama Administration and it had been arranged to submit it to the U.S. government or Cambanis and his staff made it up.

The Cable seems content to accept Cambanis’ explanation which essentially said: Move along, nothing to see here. Yet that doesn’t satisfy me. Either Cambanis is guilty of a serious misdeed or my “speculation” was close to home. And Cambanis's record makes the idea that he is part of the pro-Hizballah lobby quite persuasive. Which is it?

If Rogin had contacted me, I could have told him some additional things that indicates my conclusions were based on other sources who are aware of this project.



And also, to understand the general framework of the situation, what could be more ironic that the same day this article in the Cable ran, the Wall Street Journal reported:

“Several high-profile former U.S. officials, some with close ties to the Obama administration, met with leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in recent months, raising hope inside the group that its views are being heard at the White House. White House officials and participants in the talks emphasize the meetings weren't sanctioned by Washington. U.S. officials say there has been no change to Washington's insistence that Hamas take a number of steps before official dialogue can begin. Still, the talks have been interpreted by some officials inside Hamas, Israel and the Palestinian Authority” as implying that the Obama Administration was exploring engaging Hamas.

Perhaps their assistants just put it on their schedules without informing them about the meeting? I don’t know if the Obama Administration is going to engage with Hamas—probably not—or Hizballah—more possible. Yet we know there are people lobbying for these moves who are on good terms with the administration or are themselves high-ranking officials. That's not a non-existent "conspiracy."

And, equally important, people in the region believe this is going to happen. What is the effect?

Israel: Can we trust a U.S. government that might be engaging terrorist groups that openly declare they want to destroy us.

Palestinian Authority: Are the Americans going to sell us out? How can we be more moderate? We better stick to a hardline position!

Lebanese moderates: The U.S. government is selling us out. We better cut our own deal with the Syrians and Hizballah!

Hamas, Hizballah, Iran, and Syria: The Americans are surrendering! Full speed ahead! Our strategy is working.

Now, even if the Obama Administration has no intention of such engagement by letting this stuff happen its behavior is having a terrible effect on the region.

Incidentally, you’ve probably forgotten the article I wrote reporting on Brennan’s statements about Hizballah. A left-wing reporter said to him conversationally—but at a public function—that Brennan had told him privtely that he wanted to engage Hizballah. Since Brennan is the advisor to President Barack Obama on terrorism-related issues that seems a matter for real concern.

Or to see this mentality at work, look at the State Department Press Briefing of April 2. Hamas attacks Israel, Israel responds. And the State Department briefer says that the better way to deal with Hamas attacks on Israel is to...negotiate!

"QUESTION: -- there were some Israeli strikes in response to rocket attacks. What’s the U.S. – what is the U.S. communicating to the two sides about this?

"MR. CROWLEY: Well, as we’ve said many times, I don’t know what the predicate was for the Israeli action. The Israelis have a right to self-defense. At the same time, as we have said many times, we don’t ultimately think that there is a military solution to this. It’s why we have been pressing the Palestinians and the Israelis to get into proximity talks that can lead to direct negotiations. But we are always concerned that steps taken by either side, legitimate or otherwise, can be misconstrued, can be twisted, and end up causing turbulence that can be an impediment to progress.

"So our message remains to the Israelis and Palestinians that we need to get the proximity talks going, focus on the substance, move to direct negotiations, and ultimately arrive at a settlement that ends the conflict once and for all."

Even if the Obama administration's goal is to reach a two-state solution real fast, does it make sense to suggest that this is going to solve the problem of Hamas, which continues to be a revolutionary Islamist group backed by Iran and Syria while seeking to commit genocide on Israel? And it also wants to overthrow Fatah and turn the PA into an Iranian-backed Islamist regime engaged in permanent war. Regarding U.S. policy, whatever happened to: PA good; Hamas bad?

So if the administration is thinking of opening contacts with two of the most important revolutionary Islamist and terrorist groups in the Middle East, which are also clients of Iran and Syria, it shouldn't just deny that, it should stop playing with the notion and move toward a much tougher position.


RubinReports: Is The Obama Administration Working Toward Engaging Terrorist Groups Hamas and Hizballah or Not?

Israel Matzav: This is what a Jewish army is about

This is what a Jewish army is about

Shavua tov v'moadim l'simcha (a good week and happy holidays).

This is how the IDF worries about new recruits in combat units (Hat Tip: Mrs. Carl).

I got a call today from someone named Shlomi. He asked if I was Chaim's mother...I was about to say no, or Chaim who...when I thought of my adopted son, Chaim. All sorts of thoughts came into my mind, and I knew to get answers to my questions, I had to answer that one first.

"Yes," I answered mostly because I didn't want to waste time explaining when I thought something was wrong, "did something happen? Is he okay?"

Shlomi explained that he was Chaim's commanding officer and was quick to assure me that everything was fine. He was calling because he wanted to come visit and explain to me all about how Chaim is doing in the army, what he is doing, and what he will do for the next few months. This happened during the early weeks of Elie's service (The Uniform and the Visit). The commanding officer comes to the parents and answers all their questions.

As soon as I realized the purpose of the call, I explained to Shlomi, "Wait, I'm not really his mother. His mother is in America. We adopted him." But then, I thought, that isn't a good enough explanation and so I explained that our children consider him like a brother, like one of the family...here, while he has a wonderful family there. I explained that I have a son who just finished artillery and my second son also just entered another Kfir unit.

I was trying to save Shlomi the visit, but he wants to come anyway. I told him straight out - you don't have to come. I'll hear about Kfir when Shmulik's commanding officer comes - "I want to tell you about Chaim," he explained.

Read the whole thing.

I hope Chaim's (real) mother gets to talk to Shlomi too.

Israel Matzav: This is what a Jewish army is about
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