יום רביעי, 24 באוגוסט 2011

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Israel kills another terror leader in Gaza

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 04:29 PM PDT

Ma'an Arabic reports that Israel finally struck back after the rockets never ceased during the "cease fire."

A drone hit a car, killing Ismail Asmar, an Islamic Jihad leader.

This means that now 12 out of the 15 killed by Israel in Gaza were terrorists, and the three others were human shields. And a 16th, a 13 year old boy, was killed by the terrorists themselves.

Incidentally, the child killed along with another Islamic Jihad leader is eulogized in Palestine Today, as they discuss how much he wanted to kill Jews and be a shahid. He was just turning two years old. How cute!

St Andrews student guilty of racism in Israel flag incident

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 01:01 PM PDT

In April, I posted about an incident at St. Andrews University where a student acted disgustingly towards an Israeli flag in the presence of its owner in his dorm room.

Here's the followup, from the BBC:
A student at St Andrews University has been found guilty of a racist breach of the peace after he insulted the flag of Israel.

Paul Donnachie, 19, put his hands down his trousers then rubbed them on a flag belonging to Jewish student Chanan Reitblat.

Donnachie also accused Mr Reitblat of being a terrorist during the incident at the halls of residence in March.

The case against his co-accused Samuel Colchester, 20, was found not proven.

Donnachie has been expelled from St Andrews and Mr Colchester has been suspended for one year.

Cupar Sheriff Court had earlier heard evidence from Mr Reitblat, a chemistry student on a one-term exchange from the Jewish Yeshiva University in New York, who said he felt "violated and devastated" by the incident.

The court heard that Donnachie and Mr Colchester entered the halls at 01:30 on 12 March to see another student who shared the flat.

Lithuanian-born Mr Reitblat said he had the 4ft by 3ft (1.2m by 0.9m) flag on the wall after being given it by his brother, an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier.

He said Donnachie noticed the flag, and said Israel was a terrorist state and the flag was a terrorist symbol.

He then unbuttoned his trousers, put his hands down his pants, pulled off a pubic hair and rubbed it over the flag.

Mr Reitblat said he then threw the pair out.

Sheriff Charlie Macnair told Donnachie, a history student and member of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, that he was satisfied he had behaved the way he had towards the Jewish student because Mr Reitblat was a citizen of the State of Israel.

He said: "This flag was his personal property. I consider that your behaviour did evince malice towards Mr Reitblat because of his presumed membership of Israel.

"I'm satisfied that you said Israel was a terrorist state and the flag was a terrorist symbol and I also hold that you said that Mr Reitblat was a terrorist."

Sentence on Donnachie was deferred for background reports.

Members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who packed the public benches in the courtroom, booed, tutted and shouted "scandalous" as the sheriff rose to leave.

Outside the court, a tearful Donnachie said he would appeal.

He said: "This is a ridiculous conviction. I'm a member of anti-racism campaigns, and I am devastated that as someone who was fought against racism I have been tarnished in this way."

Mr Reitblat, who was also booed as he left the court, said he "welcomed" the conviction.

St Andrew University conducted its own investigation into the incident back in June but reserved its findings to avoid prejudicing the court proceedings.

A spokesman for the university said it had a long tradition of tolerance, respect and the right to freedom of expression, but was also a community which "abhors racial intolerance".

He added: "Mr Donnachie was informed this afternoon that his studies at St Andrews have been terminated and he will leave the university with immediate effect.

"Mr Colchester has been informed that he has been suspended for one year and excluded from university halls of residence. Any further misconduct on his part will lead to automatic termination of studies."

History of earthquakes in Palestine

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 11:51 AM PDT

Just trying to stay topical while the East Coast recovers from a minute of swaying...


64 BC Strong earthquake in Jerusalem; damage to temple and city walls

31 BC Severe earthquake in Galilee and Judea. Josephus reports "30,000 people and many animals killed in Judea"—serious damage at Jericho, Qumran and Masada.

30 AD, 33 AD Slight damage in Jerusalem

115 AD Destructive earthquake in Syria; possible tidal wave damage at Caesarea.

306 AD Destructive earthquake in Palestine; tsunami at Caesarea, destruction at Jerusalem.

363 AD Severe earthquake affecting most of Palestine and Jordan; Severe damage at Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, Tiberias, Gadara, Sepphoris, Scythopolis, Sebaste, Gophnia, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Ptolmais, and Petra of the Nabataeans.

419 AD Moderate to severe earthquake in Palestine; Many towns and villages destroyed; Antipatris destroyed; severe damage in Jerusalem.

447 AD Thermal baths at Gadara destroyed; many people killed.

631 or 632 AD Earthquake in Palestine with aftershocks continuing for 30 days; widespread destruction.

749 AD Severe earthquake in Palestine; tens of thousands of deaths. Capernaum destroyed. Susita destroyed. Great destruction in Tiberias. Gadara thermal baths completely destroyed. Severe damage at Pella, Scythopolis and Jerusalem. Many of the greatest buildings in Jerash destroyed. Great destruction at Philadelphia. Tsunami on Mediterranean coast. Seiche in the Dead Sea.

1033 AD Swarm of severe earthquakes centered in the Jordan Valley which continued for some 40 days. Felt from Syria to Egypt and in the Negev. Much damage and loss of life in Ptolmais -- port reported to have gone dry for an hour before onset of destructive tsunami. Much destruction in Judea; damage to walls of Jerusalem; Much destruction at Tiberias. Jericho destroyed. Much damage at Hebron.

1182 AD Galilee and Judea; moderate to severe.

1202 AD Severe earthquake felt from Syria to Egypt. Severe damage in Caesarea Philippi, Scythopolis, Jerusalem, 'Sechem completely ruined', severe tsunami on Levant coast apparently causing serious damage at Ptolmais.

1546 AD Severe earthquake in Palestine; hundreds killed; flow of Jordan river stopped for two days by a landslide; tsunami on Mediterranean coast from Ptolmais south to Gaza. The Mediterranean receded "a long day's walk"; seiche in the Dead Sea.

1759 AD Severe earthquake affecting most of Palestine and Syria; between 10,000 and 40,000 people killed; severe damage at Nazareth; walls of Tiberias collapsed; seiche on the Sea of Galilee; tsunami at Ptolmais flooding city streets to a depth of 2 meters and throwing ships onto the shore.

1837 AD Severe earthquake with epicenter near Safed. Many thousands of deaths with entire towns destroyed. Rockfalls at Caesarea Philippi; 28% of the population of Tiberias killed -- city walls destroyed; seiche swept shores of Sea of Galilee killing many people. Moderate damage at Nazareth, Bethlehem, Hebron and Jerusalem.

1927 AD Destructive earthquake with 250-500 casualties; flow of Jordan river stopped for 21 1/2 hours by landslides; seiches in northern basin of Dead Sea.

1943 AD Strong earthquake throughout Palestine -- 1943 and 1927 earthquakes strongest in region during 20th century.

(from here)

A scholarly paper that looks at evidence of earthquakes using ancient Jewish sources can be seen here. There was one in 92 BCE as well.

The legal wonks that stopped the flotilla (Commentary)

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 11:19 AM PDT

From Alana Goodman at Commentary:

At a radical left-wing coffee shop in Washington, D.C. last month, Code Pink founder and "Freedom Flotilla II" passenger Medea Benjamin woefully recounted the moment she realized her boat, the Audacity of Hope, wouldn't be legally permitted to leave a port in Greece to sail to Gaza.

"There was something called a 'complaint' that was put against our boat," Benjamin explained to a crowd of anti-Israel activists stuffed into the back room of the restaurant. "Well, it didn't take long for somebody to uncover that the person, or entity, that lodged the complaint was none other than this right-wing Israeli law center based in Tel Aviv, that knew nothing about our boat and certainly had no interest in the passengers' safety."

The "right-wing" law center that caused Benjamin so much grief is Shurat HaDin – the Israeli group that single-handedly took down the "Freedom Flotilla II" simply by filing creative lawsuits. In total, nine out of the 10 boats in the flotilla never touched Israeli waters, largely due to Shurat HaDin's work.

Led by Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and her husband Avi Leitner, the legal center is pioneering a new strategy of Israeli-self defense: Pro-Israel Lawfare.

"There is a way of fighting back, we just have to start thinking like Jews again," Avi Leitner told me during the Leitners' recent visit to D.C. "And remember, the Jews invented lawfare, the Jews invented law. So you don't sit on your hands."

The first step the legal center took against the flotilla was to target private companies that may have been assisting it. "We thought, what do boats need in order to sail?" Darshan-Leitner told me. "And we realized that all boats must have insurance." Shurat HaDin began by contacting the major maritime insurance agencies, and informing them they might be criminally liable for "aiding and abetting" a terrorist organization if they provided insurance.

The response was very positive: some of the companies even said they were aware of the legal consequences, and had already made the decision not to work with the flotilla. 
...So with Attorney General Holder on notice – and a Neutrality Act lawsuit filed in New York federal court – Shurat HaDin turned its attention toward Greece. The group discovered the country had a Neutrality Act similar to the one in the U.S., and it prohibited boats from leaving Greece to sail to illegal ports, including Gaza.

Shurat HaDin notified the Greek minister of civil protection about the flotilla, and he immediately blocked the ships from leaving Greece.

"The second thing he did was order the port authorities in Greece to raid the boats and to find what's wrong with each and every boat – to be very, very particular," said Darshan-Leitner, clearly amused. "And at that point, an additional six or seven boats were grounded. Because they found a lot of [problems] there."

This was around the time Code Pink's Medea Benjamin and her fellow flotilla activists finally caught on to the scheme. But by that point, there wasn't much they could do.

"When the activists found that [the Audacity of Hope ship was] grounded, they came and they did a press conference, blaming us: 'How dare this lawfare organization use lawfare against our boat,'" said Darshan-Leitner, laughing.

..."It evens the playing field. You can either sit there and moan about it, or you can actually try to do something about it," said Leitner. "There is a way to fight back, there is a way to get good media, and there is a way to get the world to respect you."

Egypt bans selling "lulavim" to Israel

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 10:05 AM PDT

From Al Masry al Youm:

Egypt's Agriculture Ministry has announced a ban on the export of palm leaves to Israel starting this year and for the coming two years, a decision that some news reports have linked with recent violence along the Egyptian border with Israel in the past week.

The decision to ban the sale of Egyptian palm leaves to Israel has been hailed as an act of defiance on the part of the minister of agriculture, Salah Youssef. However, the minster's decision is not aimed entirely at Israel, but includes a ban on harvesting and exporting palm leaves and hearts nationwide, and reflects growing concern at the poor state of Egypt's population of palm trees, which is under pressure from over-harvesting and disease.

The need to protect the trees has been highlighted before but never enacted, most recently on 26 July this year, when the governor of North Sinai called for a ban on exports to Israel.

In 2010, Egypt exported 600,000 palm leaves to Israel, and around 300,000 palm leaves to Europe.

Israelis use the palm leaves in the ritual celebration of a Jewish holiday known as the Feast of Tabernacles.
It's interesting that the minister is using the excuse of "saving the palm trees" when in fact it is obvious that his decision is meant specifically against Israel and Jews worldwide. But when the Northern Sinai governor floated the plan, he didn't mention anything about tree disease.

Egyptian palm trees are mostly grown in the Sinai in the area around El Arish.

The palm harvesters aren't happy. A delegation of palm farmers visited Youssef, demanding compensation for the money they will lose.

Christians use palm leaves on Palm Sunday, but they can substitute other branches when palms aren't available. Jews are obligated to use a palm frond, called a lulav, on the holiday of Sukkot, coming up in October this year.

In other words, this decision is aimed specifically against religious Jews. Not that we can expect any human rights organization to denounce this state-sanctioned anti-semitism.

Egypt's economy must be doing great for them to decide that they can lose yet another source of revenue.

Muslim shop-owner defends himself for selling Israeli dates (updated)

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 08:59 AM PDT

This video is great:

An obnoxious British Muslim woman berates a Muslim shop owner in London for selling Israeli dates (alongside Palestinian Arab dates) on Ramadan. He points out, reasonably, that he is offering a choice for his customers and that if no Muslim would buy them he would stop selling them, and if she cared so much about Palestine she should go there and fight. She then causes a scene, he calls the police, and she gets even more hysterical.

(h/t jzaik)

UPDATE: Commenter Right sends us the store details, for those who want to thank him:

Sunfresh
Carlton Terrace
11-13 Green Street, Upton
London, E7

020 8470 3031

How to simultaneously adhere to and breach a cease fire

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 07:55 AM PDT

On Sunday night, Palestinian Arab terror groups in Gaza agreed to stop shooting rockets at Israel and Israel agreed to stop retaliating.

Yet there have still been rockets fired, some four rockets last night.

It seems that even though Islamic Jihad, Hamas and even the PRC whose leaders Israel incinerated signed on, one group conveniently refused: the PFLP.

They are now taking sole credit for rocket fire.

So Hamas can claim that it is against rocket fire to make human rights groups happy, and wink at the rogue militants who are so zealous in their hate that they just can't stop themselves. And they know that Israel will be reluctant to respond to comparatively limited rockets if they don't hurt anyone directly, and merely cause a million people to fear going to sleep - which is, after all, what terrorism is.

I have seen no indication that Hamas is trying to stop the rocket fire, while in the past they had - when convenient - arrested members of militant groups who were firing rockets at Israel.

A win-win for Hamas.

Egyptian fatwa: Kill all Israelis in Egypt

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 07:05 AM PDT

From Palestine Today:

An Egyptian cleric issued a fatwa to kill any Israeli who resides within the Egyptian territory, in response to the killing of an officer and two soldiers from the army near the Egyptian border with Israel.

Dr. Salah Sultan, professor of Islamic law at Cairo University and Chairman of the World Federation of Muslim Scholars, told El Chorouk that Egyptians have the right to kill any Zionist attacking him, after Israel ended the Camp David accords by killing Egyptian army soldiers from a military aircraft yesterday.

The newspaper quoted Sultan during a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo as saying that "the Egyptian people will not differentiate anymore between the Egyptian and Palestinian blood."
Do you think he is including the Israeli Arabs who have continued to vacation in Sharm el-Sheikh?

Because if not, then he should clarify his statement and say he only means Jews.


A Jihadist doctor dies in Gaza

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 06:49 AM PDT

From Ma'an:
A Gaza doctor died on Wednesday night after suffering from an electric shock, a spokesman from the emergency services said.

Maher Dalloul, 36, was electrocuted while turning on an electric generator in his house in Gaza City.

Dalloul had worked as a surgeon at Ash-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said.
Just another tragic story from Gaza.

Except for the fact that he was a member of Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades.

From the English Al Qassam website:
Al Qassam Brigades mourns the death of Maher Dalul

As Al Aqsa Intifada against the occupation assault on the Gaza Strip continues, Ezzeddeen Al-Qassam Brigades has its best men to be in the playground of death to defend their people from any attack by the enemy ... Today, Al-Qassam Brigades mourn the death of the Mujahed: Maher Said Dalul [38 years old]

The Mujahed martyred of electric shock on 18-08-2011. He was martyred after a long bright path of jihad, hard work, struggle and sacrifice.

Al Qassam Brigades mourn the death of the Mujahed, reaffirms the commitment and determination to continue the resistance against the belligerent occupation forces.

Finally, may Allah (swt) accept him and his blessed efforts for the path of Jihad and may Allah grant his family patience and solace for his lose.
Dalul even had a nom de guerre, Abu Anas.

Being a doctor doesn't mean you are not a terrorist or terrorist supporter.

Lebanon thwarts UNSC condemnation of Eilat attacks

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:27 AM PDT

From Ya Libnan (Saturday):
Lebanon blocked the U.N. Security Council on Friday from condemning a series of terrorist attacks in Israel.

The United States had circulated a draft press statement to the Security Council that would have condemned the attacks by gunmen who crossed into southern Israel from Egypt on Thursday and killed eight Israelis. Israel blamed an armed Palestinian group from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and launched retaliatory airstrikes.

During a closed council meeting, diplomats said Lebanon refused to sign on to the statement, which requires the support of all 15 council nations.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Rosemary DiCarlo, told reporters afterward that the statement used "standard language on terrorist acts," which the council has adopted many times.

"We think the council needs to speak out on this issue," she said. "We find it regrettable that because of one delegation we couldn't issue that in a timely way."

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor called the Security Council's actions "outrageous," calling it a "sad reminder that the United Nations is too often deaf and blind when it comes to acts of terror committed against the people of Israel."
And what was the official reason that Lebanon refused to denounce a terror attack?

Kuwait News Agency tells us:
Lebanon and other Non-Aligned members on the Council, diplomats said, did not accept the use of "terrorist attacks" because the gunmen were after a military target - soldiers.
Hey, why should the truth enter into any UN decisions? It just gets in the way of its main job of condemning Israel.

And isn't it comforting to know that Hezbollah has full veto power at the UN Security Council?

(h/t Israel HaYom)

UN report proves Gazans lie to media

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 03:24 AM PDT

In my last post, I wrote that Ma'an credulously quoted a Gaza doctor who said  that Israel was using new, advanced weapons that incinerated Gaza victims in a much more horrific fashion than in previous raids. As "proof," the doctor said "Israeli weapons made no distinction between women, children and the elderly, pointing out that a two-year-old toddler and a 13-year-old boy were among those killed in the latest escalation."

A UN report from OCHA shows that this 13 year old boy was killed by a Grad terror rocket that fell short, not Israeli fire:

Between Friday, 19 August and Sunday, 21 August, initial reports indicate that the Israeli Air Force carried out approximately 30 air strikes on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of seven Palestinians, and the injury of approximately 30 additional Palestinians. Tank fire from Israel forces stationed along the border and at sea was also reported, without casualty or damage. During the same period, tens of rockets and mortars fired by Palestinian armed groups towards cities in southern Israel resulted in the death of one Israeli civilian and the injury of six, including a baby and a nine-yearold child. One Palestinian child, 13-years-old, was also killed, and six others injured, when a GRAD rocket fired by Palestinian armed groups fell short.
We've seen in the past that Palestinian Arab "eyewitnesses" will knowingly lie to the media, and this is yet another example. The question is why the media continues to report their lies with no skepticism at all.

Another recent example is Al Jazeera publishing an op-ed by a Gazan "eyewitness" who wrote:

On Thursday, and after a rough night full of Israeli air attacks on different locations in the Gaza Strip, we woke up to another hot Ramadan day which was interrupted by news about a shooting operation in Eilat, whereby five Israeli soldiers were killed and 36 others were injured.

The first obvious lie is that the Eilat attacks didn't kill 5 Israeli soldiers, but rather killed 6 Israeli civilians and two soldiers.

Far worse, though, is that this Gaza "eyewitness" is claiming that there were Israeli airstrikes over Wednesday night in Gaza preceding the terror attack - and there were none! Al Jazeera and other Arab media publish these lies without the slightest bit of embarrassment or interest in setting the record straight.


One other fact that becomes clear from reading the UN report: Israel's reaction to the terror attack was very limited. In fact, while Gaza terrorists shot some 100 Grad and Qassam rockets at Israeli civilians, Israel's response included only 30 airstrikes. Which means that by the bizarre definitions of the world human rights community, Gaza terror groups are guilty of using disproportionate force.

(h/t IsReal1948, Dan)
פורסם על ידי zoom ב- 0:06

אין תגובות:

הוסף רשומת תגובה

הירשם ל- תגובות לפרסום (Atom)