Love of the Land: Burned Mosque Is a Mystery, Nearby Burned Synagogue Wasn’t

Burned Mosque Is a Mystery, Nearby Burned Synagogue Wasn’t

Jonathan Tobin
Contentions/Commentary
05 May '10

The New York Times reported today about a fire in a mosque in the Palestinian village of Luban al Sharqiya, but the point of the article wasn’t the tragedy of the conflagration but the theoretical possibility that a Jew was the arsonist.

The problem is, while there have been a few isolated incidents of Jewish extremists attacking Palestinian villages (and numerous, far-from-isolated instances of Palestinians attacking Jews in and around settlements), as the Times reports, there is absolutely no evidence that the mosque fire was started by a Jewish extremist and not even proof that arson started the fire. But that doesn’t stop Palestinians from making such accusations and using them as an excuse to avoid peace with Israel. Nor does anything prevent the Times from reporting unfounded accusations as though they were reasonable opinions.

But in reading about the mystery of the fire in the mosque in this village south of Nablus, one couldn’t help but remember the burning of another house of worship not far away. Less than 10 years ago, in the fall of 2000, a Palestinian mob, aided and abetted by Palestinian Authority “policemen,” attacked the Tomb of Joseph, a Jewish shrine and synagogue inside Nablus. The mob sacked the Jewish institution, desecrated sacred Jewish objects, and then burned it to the ground.

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Love of the Land: Burned Mosque Is a Mystery, Nearby Burned Synagogue Wasn’t

Love of the Land: Pallywood Returns: Palestinian Doctors and Human Rights Group B’Tselem Smear Israel with a Likely Faked X-Ray (PJM Exclusive)

Pallywood Returns: Palestinian Doctors and Human Rights Group B’Tselem Smear Israel with a Likely Faked X-Ray (PJM Exclusive)

They want an investigation, claiming the IDF fired real bullets into a crowd. Instead, the investigation should be of the accusers — the evidence is almost assuredly a fraud.


Bob Owens
Pajamasmedia.com
23 March '10

An Israeli human rights group is calling for an investigation into the deaths of two Palestinians who died as a results of wounds they sustained during a riot in Nablus. Israeli forces claim they fired rubber-coated bullets in an attempt to disperse a violent crowd. But B’Tselem claims that an X-ray of the skull of Osayed Qadus clearly shows a regular rifle bullet in his head. And a claim that live bullets were fired at Palestinian protesters is nothing more or less than an accusation of attempted murder.

Indeed, the image released to the media does seem to show what may be a bullet in what is purported to be the skull of Osayed Qadus. Unfortunately for B’Tselem and for the credibility of the Palestinian doctors at Nablus Specialty Hospital, the identity of who put the bullet in Qadus’ head is very much in doubt.

Almost certainly, the bullet depicted in the X-ray did not come from an Israeli rifle.

To understand the problem with B’Tselem’s claim, it helps to have an understanding of both the rubber-coated steel projectiles used as less-lethal weapons by Israel and the very deadly bullets used to kill by armed forces in both sides of the ongoing conflict.

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Love of the Land: Pallywood Returns: Palestinian Doctors and Human Rights Group B’Tselem Smear Israel with a Likely Faked X-Ray (PJM Exclusive)

Love of the Land: The Palestinians lied

The Palestinians lied

Hagai Segal
Israel Opinion/Ynet
08 January '10

“We gave up Haifa, so now you should give up Nablus” – this is how senior Palestinian figure Sufian Abu Zeida’s speech at an academic conference in Jerusalem was summed up on the radio.

Seemingly, this is so logical and so symmetric. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may even make use of the very same idea himself, just like many other Palestinian ideas, when he delivers his speech in Washington in two years on the occasion of signing the final-status agreement with the Palestinians: “You gave up Haifa, and we gave up Nablus.”

However, there is a hidden factual flaw in Abu Zeida’s words: The Palestinians never gave up Haifa. In fact, they lost it.

In 1948, our neighbors rejected the United Nations’ proposal on partitioning the land and instead planned to take Haifa by force. At the last moment, something went wrong with their plans, and they ended up without Haifa.

Moreover, there is yet another factual flaw in Abu Zeida’s words: The State of Israel has already given up Nablus. On December 12, 1995, we lowered our flag in the town and went on to hand it over to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yasser Arafat.

Deal will prompt more rockets

At the time, he promised us peace and quiet in exchange for Nablus. America also made the same pledge. On paper at least, everything was working out very well. The basic assumption those days was that the Palestinians are shelving their dream to return to the 1948 borders, while we are gradually giving up the land of our forefathers at the back of the Mount Hebron area.

By now, it is already clear that the Palestinians lied. The Haifa challenge continued to preoccupy them. They blew up buses on Haifa’s Carmel Mount and restaurants downtown.

Even our decision to renounce the Gaza Strip did not prompt them to give up anything, as can be attested to by residents of Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot, and other southern Israel communities.

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Love of the Land: The Palestinians lied

Love of the Land: Ha'aretz's Ode to an 'Apartheid Road'

Ha'aretz's Ode to an 'Apartheid Road'

CAMERA
24 November 09

“An oud to Nablus” is a fitting title in one sense for Noam Ben-Zeev’s Nov. 17 article in Ha’aretz about a classical music concert in that Palestinian city. It suggests creative invention. Unfortunately, though, the story isn't in the fiction section, but is supposedly a news article (in the Gallery, or culture, section) presenting facts. In the writer's fabricated landscape Nablus is an “encircled city” with no theater and few performances, reached by an “exemplary apartheid road – for Jews only.” Residents of this imaginary place nevertheless overcome the obstacles of occupation to produce an enchanting Arab music festival, replete with the “friendly charm” of Arab musician Simon Shaheen.

Noam Ben-Zeev’s pseudo-poetic portrait of Nablus begins with his journey from Tel Aviv to the Palestinian city, which he describes as follows:

Before you know it, you’re on the best road between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean – Route 505, well-lit and with the highest-quality asphalt, wide shoulders and clear signage. This road cuts east through the West Bank and reaches the Jordan Valley. The fences on either side, separating it from the lands of Palestinian villages in the area, make it an exemplary apartheid road – for Jews only. And you can fly along at 140 kilometers per hour, from one Jewish settlement to the next.

Route 505 – Open to Palestinians

Route 505, which Ben-Zeev describes as “an exemplary apartheid road -- for Jews only,” is not only open to Muslim and Christian Israelis, but is also open to Palestinian traffic, a fact confirmed by Palestinian sources. For instance, Table 3 of a November 1, 2009 report issued by the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ), a Palestinian outfit, states that an earth mound barrier was recently removed from Haris, thereby connecting that Palestinian town south of Nablus to Route 505.

An August 2009 B’Tselem spreadsheet about freedom of movement and checkpoints in the West Bank notes which checkpoints do not permit Palestinian passage and which roads are closed to Palestinians. The chart makes clear that 505 is open to Palestinian traffic. Referring to the Tapuach (Za’tara) checkpoint in the Nablus district, B’Tselem writes:

The checkpoint separates the northern section of the West Bank from the southern section. Open around the clock. Vehicles traveling south on Routes 60 and 505 are checked. Since mid-June 2009, the checks have been random, and delays at the checkppoint [sic] have not been especially long.

Likewise, B’Tselem refers to the ‘Aqraba/Majdal Bani Fadil-Migdalim checkpoint, stating: “located on Route 505, on the turn-off to ‘Aqraba, Majdal Bani Fadil. When staffed, checks are made randomly.”

While Palestinian traffic is permitted to travel freely on Route 505 in the West Bank, it is Israeli traffic which is prohibited for a 5.5 kilometer stretch from Elkana to Kiryat Netafim.

‘Encircled Nablus’

In a related fabrication, Ben-Zeev imagines that Nablus is an “encircled city” which residents may exit and enter only on weekends. He writes:

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Love of the Land: Ha'aretz's Ode to an 'Apartheid Road'