יום חמישי, 5 באפריל 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

At least one Grad rocket hits Eilat

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:46 PM PDT

From JPost:
Israel Police officers discovered the shell of a Grad rocket fired at Eilat late Thursday night after residents heard explosions in the area.

Large forces of IDF and police are sweeping the city for additional rockets, focusing on the southern neighborhood of Shahmon, where the explosions were heard loudest. Bomb sappers are also on the scene, Army Radio reported.

No casualties were reported in the attack, but a number of citizens suffered shock symptoms and were treated by medical personnel on scene.

Eilat District Police commander Ron Gertner said that the southern city has been on full alert due to the upcoming Passover holiday, Israel Radio reported.

Gertner added that Eilat has been reinforced by additional forces that have arrived to assist police in handling the aftermath of the rocket fire incident.

Israeli authorities are coordinating with their counterparts in Jordan to discover the source of the rocket fire, according to Army Radio. The IDF stated that it is investigating the incident.

Rocket attacks in Eilat are rare but not unheard of.

In August 2010, five rockets landed in the area around Eilat, killing one Jordanian and injuring three more, in front of the Intercontinental Hotel. Two of the rockets exploded in Jordan, a third north of Eilat's hotel area, and two more in the Red Sea. The projectiles were thought to be Grad-type Katyushas launched from the Sinai Peninsula.
There was also a similar attack from Egypt in April 2010, where one rocket overshot and hit Jordan and two ended up in the Red Sea.

On the other hand, in 2005 there were several Katyushas that were fired by Islamist militants in Jordan, almost hitting two US Navy ships docked in Aqaba.

Algerian Muslims praising Merah (video)

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 02:18 PM PDT

From MEMRI:



Following are excerpts from an address by Algerian cleric Ali Belhadj, former vice-president of the Islamic Salvation Front, in the course of which a Muslim with dual nationality demonstratively tears up his French passport. The footage was posted on the Internet on March 30, 2012.
Ali Belhadj : Yesterday, I saw that despicable man, Sarkozy of France. Forgive me. I brought important things to talk about, but sometimes, there are things that make one go off on a tangent.
I saw the father of [Toulouse terrorist] Merah, Allah's mercy upon him...
Crowd : Allah's mercy upon him...
Ali Belhadj : He asked for his son to be buried in Algeria. True, he was a French citizen and was supposed to be buried in France, but if his father writes a letter to the president, asking that his son be buried in Algeria - why refuse?
Did his act warrant his excommunication? Is he a heretic? He should be buried in a Muslim graveyard, and prayers should be said for him.
[...]
French Muslim : Sheik, I would like to say something.
Ali Belhadj : Go ahead.
French Muslim : Sheik, this is my way of supporting... I would have like to have done it in front of Allah's enemies in France 24 TV, and in front of all the infidels. I want Allah's enemy Sarkozy to see this.
I have dual nationality. Sarkozy, Allah's curses upon you...
Tears up his French passport
Crowd : Allah Akbar... Allah Akbar...
French Muslim : I love you as a brother in Islam, Sheik... I am doing this in support of my brother in Islam, the mujahid Muhammad Merah.
Crowd : Allah Akbar... Allah Akbar...
French Muslim : By Allah, he was a lion, my brothers. Let me tell you, Sheik, he is not a kharijite. By Allah, he is a Sunni Salafi.
Sheik, I would like to tell you something.
Ali Belhadj : Go ahead.
French Muslim : I am not in a position of authority in matters of jurisprudence. You are a sheik, and I love you as a brother in Islam. By Allah, [Merah] was not in the wrong, because there are fatwas by great scholars who said: If they kill our women, kill their women, and if they kill our children, kill their children.
Sheik, he was not in the wrong. Sheik Ibn Al-Uthaymeen said this, and he was a great scholar, and Ibn Taymiyya and many others said it before. [Merah] was a God-fearing man, and I don't mind if they denounce me.
Sheik, let me say to that Sarkozy: Allah's curses upon you, you pig! You are a Jew. We know you all too well. I lived among you in France, you enemies of Allah. I was a lawyer, defending our brothers in Islam. Let me tell you something. I pray that Allah place [Merah] in Paradise. Sarkozy, you pig, may Allah freeze the blood in your veins.
Crowd : Amen.
French Muslim : Allah, bring a black day upon them.
Crowd : Amen.
French Muslim : I would also like to say to our brothers in the Forsane Alizza organization, headed by my brother Abu Hamza, who were taken to prison. Sheik, they sent 19 of them to prison, although they had nothing to do with it. They had nothing to do with those brothers. [the Forsane Alizza] are preachers, religious people, who wanted to defend women wearing the niqab.
Sheik, I'm not in a position to...
Ali Belhadj : May Allah bless you...
French Muslim : Sheik, may that lion [Merah] vouch for me on Judgment Day.
[...]

Day after anti-semitic sermon in Malaysia, an anti-Christian seminar

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 01:35 PM PDT

The day after the official Malaysian Friday sermon calling Jews a "brutal race" was broadcast, an anti-Christian seminar was held for teachers.

From Malaysia Insider:

The seminar with the theme "Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?" requires the attendance of two religious teachers from each of the 55 national schools across Johor.

The Johor Mufti Department has said its seminar on Saturday is to ensure young Muslims are not influenced by "the threat of Christianisation."

The officer in charge of the seminar told The Malaysian Insider yesterday the department was jointly organising the seminar with the state education authorities because they "fear young Muslims will be confused and not understand" when faced with attempts to convert them.

"Even if there is no threat, we must be careful so that the faith of Muslims will not be influenced," the official, who declined to be named, said when asked if he had proof of proselytising by Christians.

The Cabinet's interfaith panel head Datuk Azman Amin Hassan said the "provocatively-titled" seminar flies in the face of the government's school-level interfaith harmony week launched last month by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He added that while "it is fine to improve your faith", such seminars "will cause the [non-Muslim] community to feel uncomfortable."

Azman also said in a text message that he has informed the federal government's "education director-general for immediate action."

Pakatan Rakyat (PR)'s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday labelled the seminar as "a disgusting political manoeuvre to use religion to frighten the people".

But the Malaysian Ulama Association (PUM) and Malay rights organisation Perkasa supported the seminar as necessary, insisting that the threat is real.

The Johor Mufti Department officer also said that as part of their responsibilities to Muslims, similar seminars have been held to "educate (Muslim) youths and rural folks so there would be no misconception when these issues arise."

Christians form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia's 28.3 million-strong population.

Latma's "Happy Passover, Bro!"

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 12:18 PM PDT

A theme that is close to my heart:



(h/t Andreas)

Fatah official calls for "third intifada"

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:05 AM PDT

Hona Al Quds quotes Hatem Abdel-Qader, Fatah official in charge of Jerusalem affairs, as saying that while terrorism has taken a back seat for political reasons it is not off the table.

Abdel-Qader said, "The peaceful resistance has not been strategically successful in the Palestinian arena, and there must be a new vision of the concept that integrates the armed resistance and the Popular Resistance. I do not think that the option of armed resistance in the Fatah movement is currently possible because of political circumstances."

"We need a peaceful third intifada like the first intifada, including all the children and participation of all the Palestinian people, so that the peaceful resistance is not limited to certain segments; if it did not include all of us there is no point."

He added that "it is difficult to engage people in a third intifada. The existence of the PA is the largest impediment to them, because they are committed to the agreements, treaties and obligations with the Israelis."

This sounds like Fatah is trying to co-opt some of Marwan Barghouti's positions as their own.

By the way, the "peaceful" first intifada killed some 160 Israelis and wounded thousands more.

Video report on anti-semitism in Europe today

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:58 AM PDT

From CBN, via Daphne Anson:

This is a probing look at contemporary European antisemitism. Among the experts interviewed are Professor Robert Wistrich, who points out that Jewish communities feel more anxious now than at any time since the Holocaust, Dr Manfred Gerstenfeld, who speaks of "the new antisemitism against the collective Jew, Israel" that has been stirred by leftists and Muslims, and Melanie Phillips, who cites the contribution the media has made, with its constant demonisation of Israel. The video includes disturbing images and facts.


(h/t Jewess)

Barghouti's letter: Thomas Friedman and Ha'aretz whitewash a terrorist

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:28 AM PDT

The latest drivel from Tom Friedman in the NYT:
Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, reported last week that the imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti "released an unusual statement from his cell. He called on his people to start a popular uprising against Israel, to stop negotiations and security coordination and to boycott [Israel]. Barghouti recommended that his people choose nonviolent opposition." Barghouti, as Haaretz noted, "is the most authentic leader Fatah has produced, and he can lead his people to an agreement. ... If Israel had wanted an agreement with the Palestinians it would have released him from prison by now."

I had gotten to know Barghouti before his five life sentences for involvement in killing Israelis. His call for nonviolent resistance is noteworthy and the latest in a series of appeals to and by Palestinians — coming from all over — to summon their own "Arab Awakening," but do it nonviolently, with civil disobedience or boycotts of Israel, Israeli settlements or Israeli products.
The Ha'aretz quote is not a news article, but an editorial. But even its news coverage didn't properly report everything mentioned in Barghouti's letter.

Friedman, that journalist's journalist, of course cannot be bothered to fact check Ha'aretz editorials when they so neatly fit into his preconceived biases.

So without Friedman actually knowing the contents of the letter, he goes on to praise it and say it is consistent with his own strategy for Palestinian Arabs:
I can certainly see the efficacy of nonviolent resistance by Palestinians to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank — on one condition: They accompany any boycotts, sit-ins or hunger strikes with a detailed map of the final two-state settlement they are seeking. Just calling for "an end to occupation" won't cut it.

Palestinians need to accompany every boycott, hunger strike or rock they throw at Israel with a map delineating how, for peace, they would accept getting back 95 percent of the West Bank and all Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and would swap the other 5 percent for land inside pre-1967 Israel. Such an arrangement would allow some 75 percent of the Jewish settlers to remain in the West Bank, while still giving Palestinians 100 percent of the land back.

In reality, the divergence between Friedman's interpretation of Palestinian Arab supposed calls for "nonviolent resistance" and the reality is stark.

It is not easy to find the text of Barghouti's letter. Fatah websites minimized coverage of the missive, while Hamas websites were more expansive in their coverage. Why, of Barghouti's main message is to call for non-violent resistance, is Hamas so interested in pushing his agenda, even with his calls for a boycott of Israel?

The actual letter gives us the answer, and it is not nearly as peaceful as Ha'aretz and Friedman try to represent it.

In his letter, Barghouti urges a 17-point strategy for Palestinian Arabs to take. None of them accept the existence of Israel. Here are those points, paraphrased.

1. Unify the people, stop the infighting and have the Palestinian Arab leadership take the problems seriously, because there can be no victory for national liberation movements without victory.

2. Stop negotiating with Israel, as Israel is not a partner for peace, and it is still building settlements. However, he claims, the settlement enterprise was "paralyzed" during the first four years of the violent second intifada, it led to the dismantling of Gaza settlements, and he implies that this is an important fact to remember.

3. "Emphasis on the absolute right of our people to resist occupation by all forms and means and methods", concentrating on the territories. The form of resistance must be chosen as far as suitability for each stage of the resistance, and it should concentrate on large scale popular resistance "at this stage," but in no way does he denounce terror and in fact he says quite clearly that terrorism is a legitimate and absolute right.

4. A comprehensive boycott of all Israeli goods.

5. Renewal of the effort to get the UN to recognize "Palestine," if not through the Security Council then through the General Assembly and other UN agencies.

6. Urge Arab nations to participate in political, economic, and diplomatic sanctions against Israel, and reject all forms of normalization.

7. Recruit Palestinian Arabs in the West and elsewhere to get involved in the development of the "Palestinian national movement."

8. Stop all security coordination with Israel and stop the PA security services from preventing terror attacks against Israel, and instead use them to prevent attacks from Israel.

9. Force any visiting politician to meet Palestinian Arab officials in Jerusalem before going to Ramallah.

10. Strengthen the Palestinian Arab economy, concentrating on products that are now being provided by Israel.

11. Fight corruption in Palestinian Arab government and institutions, as corruption "represents another face to the occupation."

12. Take advantage of Arab revolts and urge Arab nations to support Palestinian Arabs.

13. Invite ordinary Arabs to support Palestinian Arab political goals and the people.

14. Insist on preconditions before any negotiations can resume: release of all prisoners, Israeli recognition of the "1967 borders," commitment to end the "occupation" on all "occupied" lands, total cessation of settlements and recognition of the "right to return."

15. Releasing the prisoners who were part of the PA and Hamas governments.

16. Releasing prisoners who are serving life sentences (like Barghouti.)

17. Push for a UN resolution declaring all prisoners to be prisoners of war and freedom fighters, presumably to fall under the Geneva Conventions, and to boycott all Israeli legal institutions and not to use them at all to gain justice.

He then reiterates his major points:
The belief in the absolute right to the land of our parents and grandparents, and our right to resist occupation by all means and methods, and our belief in the ability of our people to survive and emerge victorious with unwavering faith, and our absolute confidence in our people in all generations to continue the path of resistance and struggle.

There is nothing the least bit moderate about Barghouti's position. He supports terror in its proper time and place, he supports the complete destruction of Israel in stages, and he insists the Arab world today to go back to how it was before 1967 and create a constant state of war with Israel on all levels.

Romanticizing Barghouti is supporting a mass murdering terrorist who explicitly wants to destroy Israel.

This is Thomas Friedman's - and Ha'aretz's - hero.

PFLP accuses Hamas and Fatah of lying about unity

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:15 AM PDT

From AFP Arabic:
Rabah Muhanna, member of a political arm of the movement of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine accused Fatah and Hamas of "lying" at the expense of the Palestinian people on Tuesday.

Rabah Muhanna said in a press statement that "Fatah and Hamas are lying to each other and to the masses of our people; and any future meetings [between them] would be a lie to the masses and they should stop wasting everyone's time."

"The experience of dialogue and the bilateral agreements between the two groups confirms that this approach will not end the division. The Doha Declaration is a clear example of this," he said.

He called for "the masses of our people in the West Bank and Gaza," to "move to reject this division and polarization of mutual arrests and media [attacks], especially in the West Bank, where the arrests and security coordination are hateful and shameful to any nation."

Fatah responded predictably, slamming Muhamma. An official scoffed at Muhanna's statements, saying they were inflammatory and defamatory. He also said they were hypocritical and political deception and a "concealment of the truth." The official said it was unacceptable "to act in the the role of a professor carrying his red pen....the aim is really to gain narrow partisan advantage."

Of course, every sane person can see that Hamas and Fatah have still not done one concrete move towards unity since the original announcement last May and Ruhanna is just speaking out loud what most Palestinian Arabs know quite well but are too afraid to say. Hamas and Fatah like the status quo and the power they have in Gaza and the West Bank and they will not jeopardize that.

Gaza to finally receive fuel - through Israel

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 06:00 AM PDT

From Ma'an:
A delivery of fuel arrived in Gaza on Wednesday at the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Israeli border, a Palestinian official said.

Liaison officer Raed Fattouh said he expected around 400,000 liters of fuel to be delivered on Wednesday, adding that the terminal was equipped to receive double that amount.

The delivery follows a deal announced Tuesday between the Hamas-led government in Gaza and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to end the power crisis in the coastal enclave.

Gaza government spokesman Taher al-Nunu said the power authority had transferred 2 million shekels ($537,000) to the PA to pay for the fuel, purchased from Israel.

PA spokesman Ghassan al-Khatib confirmed receipt of the payment and said the PA would arrange delivery of 415,000 liters of fuel across the Israeli border.

Al-Khatib said daily deliveries of fuel would continue as long as the Gaza power authority continued to send payment.

It is hoped the interim deal, which allows Hamas to buy fuel from Israel through PA intermediaries, will ease the power crisis which has plagued the Gaza Strip since February.
All of this could have happened two months ago, and the only reason Gazans have been suffering since then is Hamas' refusal to accept fuel from Israel.

Yet Hamas is still blaming Israel. Hamas' Health Minister blamed Israel for all of Gazan suffering, saying that they have a shortage of medicines and fuel. However, Israel does not limit medicines to Gaza at all; the PA provides them and Israel sends every drop through.

I was wondering why Egypt was involved in the negotiations, but COGAT provides the answer - and it tells us more about what a joke Fatah/Hamas "unity" is than anything else:
COGAT approved and coordinated the movement of 410,000 liters of gas to the power plant in Gaza. The coordination of the gas movement will take place after an agreement was signed between the PA, Egypt and the "Dor-Alon" gas company for the movement of 500,000 liters of gas from Israel to the Gaza strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. The PA will pay for the gas to "Dor-Alon". The money necessary in order for the payment to take place shall be collected by Egypt from the Hamas authorities in the Gaza strip and will be transferred to the PA.

Hamas hates the PA so much that it refuses to pay the PA directly for the fuel! Instead it spent an extra couple of weeks in negotiations - and prolonging the suffering of Gazans.

I imagine that the large amount of fuel that is reportedly coming from Qatar via Egypt will end up going to Kerem Shalom as well, but we'll see.

Icelandic state broadcasters defend reading anti-semitic poem before Easter

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 03:22 AM PDT

In February, the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a letter to Iceland's Radio and TV director:

Dear Mr. Magnusson:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO dedicated to learning the lessons of the Nazi Holocaust and promoting tolerance and mutual respect and understanding. On behalf of our 400,000 constituent families, I am writing to you about a matter of deep distress to our community.

As you know, since 1944, the entire Hymns of the Passion by Hallgrimur Petursson have been broadcast by the State Broadcasting Service to the people in Iceland. We understand that one hymn is read each day for the 9-week period of Lent, and that it is considered a major honor to be asked to read one of these hymns over the air. Many of Iceland's most distinguished citizens, including the late President, Mrs. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, have accepted the invitation with pride.

While we deeply respect the Christian faith and faithful, we feel we must express our shock over the many blatantly anti-Semitic references that pervade Petursson's Hymns. There are over 50 references to Jews, all of them negative, most of which reinforce hateful notions about Jews that laid the theological groundwork for 20 centuries of anti-Semitic hatred and persecution.

It is inconceivable that such intolerance be expressed anywhere, but even more so over the airwaves of a modem democratic nation. The fact that such anti-Semitic references are read by some of the nation's most distinguished citizens over the air serves to only reinforce hateful notions about Jews and poison new generations of impressionable young people with onerous stereotypes of Jewish cunning, treachery, and of course, the toxic charge of deicide.

We are attaching a list of the anti-Semitic references included in Petursson's Hymns. Out of a sense of deep respect, but profound urging, we ask you and other officials of the State Broadcasting Service to once and for all, eliminate them from the airwaves of the RUV. The people of Iceland and the Jewish people deserve better.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Associate Dean

Here are some of the references to Jews in the Hymns of the Passion:
Page 26 Judas' Kiss and Christ's Arrest
It was the Jews who bound thee, They clung like cords around thee

Page 34 Christ's address to the Jews
But not a ray of Heaven's love could pierce their self-willed blindness

Page 64 The Soldiers mock Christ
Never an unknown man deride
Though he appear undignified.
Canst tell the butt of thine abuse
Better than did these foolish Jews?

Page 69 The Priest's Conference
Early the Jews decided Thee,
Saviour, to convict
And in their zeal misguided
Death's penalty inflict.

Page 100 The Demand for Crucifixion
The Jewish leaders all decide
That Jesus must be crucified
The Prince of Life their prey must be
The murd'rer set at liberty

Page 111-112 Christ led from the Judgment Hall
The Jewish crowd replied
"Away with Him!" they shouted,
Their enmity undoubted
"He must be crucified!"
The righteous law of Moses
The Jews here misapplied,
Which their deceit exposes,
Their hatred and their pride.

Page 125 Pilate's Unjust Judgment
Upon themselves and on their seed
The burden of their dreadful deed
The Jews assumed in thoughtless rage.
It dogs their steps from age to age

Page 132 Christ bears His cross
And on the Gentiles God will pour
The boundless riches of His grace.
What the Jew foolishly forswore
He makes of us -- a chosen race.


Page 149-151 The Superscription on the Cross
That all might know its meaning.
The Jews its truth would not admit,
lts message contravening.
"It must not stand!"
Was their demand,
Such honor would the Jews deny
To Jesus, Whom they hated.

Page 203 The Burial of Christ
Fearing the Jews harsh enmity

Page 248 The Guard on Watch
That Christ was risen the Jews denied.
The evidence they sought to hide.
But God's great wisdom could defeat
Their plan to cheat
And soon laid bare their vile deceit.

This is classic Christian anti-semitism that has been used as an excuse to murder countless souls over the centuries.

But Iceland's TV director sees no problem with this text being read by celebrities:

Dear Mr. Cooper

I have received and contemplated your letter of February 23'd , 2012. While I think that an enlightened discussion of the content and spirit of the Hymns of the Passion is both useful and interesting, I strongly believe that your somewhat harsh interpretation of what you call "anti-Semetic references" in the hymns is not justified.

In any case, I ask you to bear in mind that the hymns are written 350 years ago and they describe the poet's feelings about events that supposedly took place around 2000 years ago. The Hymns of the Passion are a valued and cherished part of Iceland's cultural history and heritage and the RUV will continue to broadcast them in a suitable and relevant context.

With best regards and respect,

Páll Magnússon

A number of neo-Nazi sites have seized onto this story and write things like "There are only 30 Jews in Iceland - 30 too many."

(h/t Tundra Tabloids)
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