Just Plain Nuts

Rami, Rami, Rami

2008-04-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

I thought this would be a good time to bring myself out of blogging slumber. This article by Rami G. Khouri, Violent cults don't speak for all Muslims, is typical of his preaching to the Middle Eastern choir. Rami anoints himself messiah for showing America's "juvenile" and "immature" stereotype of the Arab-Islamic world by (drum roll) stereotyping Americans! His ending sentence:

A good starting point would be for Americans to distinguish between tiny fringe cults and mainstream majorities, both in Arab societies and in America itself.
Ok, let's use his examples, shall we? In Mr. Khouri's own words:

Osama bin Laden and colleagues reflect Islamic societies to the same degree that the cult of polygamous Christian nuts recently broken up in Texas represents American society. The Yearning for Zion Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a freak of American culture and society, not a symbol of it. Radical Muslims who wage war against the United States similarly represent a fringe of their societies, not its essence.
1) For Americans, this before now unheard of group "Yearning for Zion Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" is a fringe group of a fringe group of a fringe group who, though like mainstream Muslims themselves allow polygamy, are a threat to practically no one. Bin Laden, on the other hand, represents quite a large following of a monolithic Sunni brand of Islam stretching across the globe, unknown thousands of followers who are funded by unknown millions of dollars, and responsible for unknown hundreds of thousands of deaths.

2) Who in America supports "The Yearning for Zion Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"? Where are the rallies on their behalf, people speaking with solidarity for them, individuals rushing to join their ranks, or mobs wreaking havoc in the name of their cause? Why are most Americans glad that these not jobs are being dealt with? Followers of Bin Laden's form of violent jihad, on the other hand, are everywhere taking hostages, killing civilians with suicide murder, making their death videos that give credit to the Sheikh", civilians (or "the street") dancing and handing out sweets at the deaths of others, burning effigies and chanting death to the infidel of the moment, torching property and killing bystanders, and so on.

3) Rami selectively cites terror against America, while omitting Islamic terror against Europeans and Jews worldwide. Is that different? Should Americans nuance away the shredded bodies of Israeli women and children as understandable? If Islamic radicals have done these things to Israel, and then to America because of association, then there cannot be any distinction. Surely Rami can figure that one out.

4) While there is plenty of scoff about how America is handling the Mormon cult by Mr. Khouri, as well as his derision of how America handles the "fringe" elements of jihadi Islamists, there is no alternative word about what should be done. If the "nonviolent Arabs and Muslims who make up 99 percent of their societies" are completely impotent, unable, unwilling, and/or incompetent to deal with their own 1% jhadi problem, of what worth is there in listening to their criticism? One would argue that these "experts" actually contribute to the problem.

5) As many perversions that are proudly committed by Islamic radicals, where is the hate that burns in the breast of the American average Joe? How is the bitterness of disgust expressed by the citizenry of the Great Satan? How many moderate Muslims have been victims of the rage of the mindless western mobs? Compare that to the aforementioned Muslim "street", which frothily seethes worldwide on a daily basis. This can only make us wonder who is lecturing whom about what?

Rami intended to separate out the “fringe” from the “mainstream” in his argument, but he falls victim to his own criticisms of "over-simplifications", "pontifications", and "immaturity" that frustrate him about America so. Instead of adding clarity and sobriety to the debate, Mr. Khouri only succeeds in wallowing himself in the stagnant cesspool of that same ignorance.One final thought: What if Rami G. Khouri used his influence, position, and prestige to actually influence his own Middle Eastern readership in order to work to rid themselves of that “fringe” scourge that cripples every corner of the region and beyond, instead of courageously igniting the American/Israeli effigy on a regular basis? Methinks the answer to that lies somewhere out there in the “fringe”.

Values and Nature

2007-05-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

When you think of the word "Palestinian", what comes to mind? (Hint: TERROR!) Seeing how Palestinians invented and perfected modern Islamic terrorism, it takes a lot of hutzpah for the Lebanese government to actually say this:OnMonday evening, the Lebanese cabinet authorised the army to step up its efforts and "end the terrorist phenomenon that is alien to the values and nature of the Palestinian people".
I only wonder if they said it with a straight face.

News Roundup for May 23

2007-05-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hamas is giving Israel some free, friendly advice.
Hamas’ political leader and its representative in the joint factional office Ayman Taha has warned the Israeli occupation government that any attempt to assassinate any of the Movement’s political leaders would inflict adverse repercussion[sp] on the Hebrew state.
But reperucussions not nearly as adverse as they would experience.
However Hamas’ political leaders had repeatedly asserted that they aren’t afraid of the Israeli threats as they were and still are fighting for a noble and just cause.
They're not afraid, but they are all in hiding.
Many Hamas leaders and activists in the Gaza Strip have gone underground for fear of being targeted by Israel, sources close to Hamas said Monday.

Hamas urged its members to take precautionary measures following reports that Israel was planning to assassinate senior political and military officials of the Islamic movement. The measures include a ban on the use of cellphones and cars, as well as gathering in public places.
Funny way of showing one's bravery.

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Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing.
Israel has resumed a policy of "ethnic cleansing" through its "criminal acts" in the Gaza Strip, the Fatah spokesman in the occupied West Bank, Fahmi Za'arir, charged on Tuesday. Za'arir accused Israel of targeting "everything" in the Gaza Strip. "They kill people randomly, including civilians," he said.
And
For his part, PA information minister Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi described Israel’s brutal atrocities in Gaza Strip as “real war crimes that the world couldn’t ignore[.]” “The IOA gave itself the right to indiscriminately kill and destroy every thing Palestinian be it a child, a woman, or an elderly person”, Barghouthi affirmed.
Well, if that's true (and we KNOW the Palestinians would NEVER exaggerate), what should we make of this report from the same Palestinian news site?In Khan Younis city, seven Palestinian citizens of Kudaih family were kidnapped at the hands of the IOF troops believing they were resistance fighters after large numbers of IOF troops sneaked into Khuza’a town, east of the city, under intensive air cover and surrounded a number of Palestinian homes in the area.

Hebrew sources affirmed that the IOF troops had “mistakenly” apprehended seven Palestinians and briefly seized them before releasing them after intelligence reports affirmed they weren’t the wanted “catch”.
I thought that "ethnic cleansers" who gives "itself the right to indiscriminately kill and destroy every thing Palestinian be it a child, a woman, or an elderly person" would surely have taken this opportunity to slaughter these people indiscriminately.

That's the problem with the web of lies: it's hard to keep track of them all and, sooner or later, the truth comes out and makes you look stupid.

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And finally...

Either I have missed the news of the century or a very hot place has just frozen over, because the Palestinians talk as if they have been wanting peace.
Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, the PA information minister, has affirmed that the statement of Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni rejecting the ceasefire offer made by the Palestinians posed clear evidence that Israel was interested in military escalation.

The PA unity government had proposed a comprehensive, simultaneous, and reciprocal ceasefire, but the Israeli occupation government turned down the proposal.
Rockets have never ceased to fall on Israel since the withdrawal from Gaza in the summer of 2005, despite the many so-called "ceasefires" the Palestinians have offered. In light of the "ceasefires" that fall daily between factions in Gaza, who could possibly imagine that this has a single shred of credibility at all?He lashed out at Livni’s rejection of the proposal charging that the IOA threats of launching military operations against the Gaza Strip unveils that there was no Israeli peace partner.
Having a peace partner precludes the notion of wanting peace in the first place, which is contrary to the current Palestinian government's platform of exercising their "right" to "resist", or commit terror.
Moreover, Barghouthi condemned the Israeli threats of targeting Palestinian leaders and ministers, asserting, “Such unwarranted threats clearly reveal that the IOA wasn’t interested in reaching peace and stability in the region, and that it prefers the language of aggression and violence over the language of calm and rational[sp]”.
Well, leaving terror leaders alone has only increased the terror everywhere, so maybe ridding the world of the sources of hate and violence can't possibly do anything except create better conditions for peace, if there ever will be peace.

Maybe this is just a satire piece and I'm misreading it.

News Roundup for May 21

2007-05-22T00:13:00.000-07:00

Hamas is preaching hell fire again.
For his part, Hamas’ political leader MP Mushir Al-Masri affirmed that the IOF dream of hitting Hamas' military strength and popular base would certainly fail, warning that the IOF targeting of any of Hamas’ political leaders would open “hell fire” on Israel.
What is interesting is that Hellfire missiles are frequently used in the targeted killings of terrorists. Ah, the irony.

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Speaking of irony, Palestinians are suddenly interested in international law.
In a statement, [Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Ashraf] Jum'ah said the targeting of Palestinian leaders violates all the laws of conflict situations. He affirmed that the targeted killing is contradictory to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Terrorists quoting the rules of war. You can always count on them to see the speck in others' eye.

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The Palestinian government is at a loss to explain the obvious.
He [PA information minister Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi] also urged the international community and the Arab and Muslim worlds to immediately intervene to bridle the Israeli occupation government, charging that the unexplainable silence from those parties had encouraged the IOA to pursue its crimes against the Palestinian people.
Maybe, just maybe, everyone sees Palestinian "root causes" that brought the current Israeli response to their door. Sounds plausible.

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Which is worse: 30 dead or 50 dead?
The 30:It noted that more than 30 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the [Israeli] offensive 5 days ago.
The 50:Members of both Hamas and Fatah said Monday that internal infighting was far from over, just one day after Egyptian mediators announced a new cease-fire aimed at ending nine days of fighting that has left roughly 50 people dead.
According to the Palestinians, obviously the 30 killed by Israel is the "no brainer".
The minister [government spokesman, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi] said that many options were discussed including "raising the issue at the United Nations Security Council or the General Assembly, and at the Arab League, in addition to the Islamic Organization." He also said that the issue might be raised at the European Union and with the Middle East Quartet (UN, EU, USA and Russia) in addition to Arab countries in order to pressure Israel to stop its attacks and aggression.
If Israel does anything, take them to the highest court in the universe because only Palestinians are allowed to slaughter Palestinians.

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Hamas talks about the harmless rockets they are firing into Israel.
The political advisor of the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmad Yousif, on Monday refused to halt the launching of homemade projectiles at Israeli towns.

Yousif depicted the projectiles being hurled at Israeli targets as "fireworks which alert the world that there can be no solution except forcing Israel to halt its hostilities."

He considers the homemade projectiles part of the Palestinian right to self-defence. He said, "They represent a message which says 'no to siege and no hostility' and they do not contain nuclear heads."
Tell that to the woman killed today in Sderot by one of those harmless "fireworks".

Oh well, Israel is not bombing Gaza with nuclear bombs, so no real harm done there either.
Yousif told Ma'an that he does not expect Hamas to cease launching projectiles as long as Israeli aggression and the international embargo on the Palestinian people continue.
Like they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results. I guess it's safe to say that the inmates are running the asylum.

I'm Sure It Makes Sense in Arabic

2007-05-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Terrorist groups love to throw pity parties, and the PFLP-GC is no exception. In a recent attempt at describing their sad state of affairs, metaphors were mixed.
“It became obvious that stabbing Hamas in the back with treacherous bullets harmonizes with the IOF troops targeting of the Movement under the full blessing of the USA”.
At least they weren't being shot at with traitorous daggers.

The Legendary Non-Martyred Martyr

2007-05-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hamas is claiming a heroic martyrdom operation that is apparently reaching urban legend proportions. Even sifting through the braggadocio, what they claim happened seems highly unlikely. Not to mention the fact that no other news corroborates anything they claim.
Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades executed special martyrdom operation in Biet Lahia. Zionist executive forces [?] raided the eastern area of Biet Lahia. They entered inside the Palestinian land about three to four kilo meters[sp]. They began to destroy the private properties, farms, and houses. Further more[sp], the forces arrested many of the Palestinian civilians and tortured them.
And I'm sure the people that were arrested and "tortured" were simple Gazans doing nothing more than minding their own business. Right.
After five hours of monitoring the Zionist executive forces, which estimated about 20 soldiers in Biet Lahia. An executive force from Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades surrounded the Zionist force. At 21:00, the martyrdom began to move towards the Zionist forces.
What exactly is a "martyrdom" and how does one of those move?In that time, the Zionist executive forces thought that they were going into picnic.
Yes, I'm sure the Zionists were comparing torture stories over some pita and hummus.
Suddenly, he began firing at them. He was far from them about 20 meters.
Ah, so the "martyrdom" is an individual.
The Brigades added "He didn’t face a real resist from the Zionist forces despite they were had a lot of advanced weapons. He succeeded to pull out".
So the "martyr" didn't actually become a martyr. He lives to martyr again. The Voice of Palestine, however, elucidates picnic-crashing to maybe give us more clues as to what happened.
[T]he QB [Qasssam Brigades] affirmed that after five hours of monitoring and surveillance, a commando unit of the QB stationed in Beit Lahia city spotted a gathering of IOF troops north of the city and decided to attack them. One of the unit’s fighters, the statement explained, stormed the IOF base where at least 20 Israeli soldiers were relaxing after wreaking havoc in Palestinian lands.
Wreaking havoc is tiring work, let me tell you.
The resistance fighter attacked and peppered them with dozens of bullets and hand grenades, killing at least five of them and wounding others before safely withdrawing. The IOF command acknowledged the attack, but claimed that two Palestinian attackers were killed; the QB immediately denied such claims, affirming that the lone attacker succeeded in returning to base after 2 hours of continuous hiking in “very difficult circumstances”.
It seems the rest of the unit split and left "martyrdom" to fend for himself.
In addition, the QB underlined that the attack, which was dubbed as “stunning lightening”,[sp]”,
Stunning, except for the fact that this happened over 24 hours ago and still no report of any supposed Israeli deaths by any credible news report. But, considering the source of the news, this is to be expected.
This operation is just the beginning of the surprises.
I agree, but who surprises whom is probably not what they think.

News Roundup for May 18

2007-05-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

Across the Arab world there is despair at the Palestinian infighting.
Arab governments appeared at a loss Thursday over how to stop the stunning wave of bloodshed in Gaza, which threatens to wreck their already faltering efforts to resume the Arab-Israeli peace process.

The fighting sparked despair among Arabs watching television footage of what looked like open warfare between Palestinians. "May God curse you all," renowned Egyptian columnist Ahmed Ragab wrote,
A sentiment shared by many.

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For Hamas' part, it is time to dish out the blame.
The international community, Israel and Arab countries are to blame for the current inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip for failing to lif[t] an economic siege on the Palestinians, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday.
As usual, everyone in the world is at fault for the fighting except those doing the fighting.
[Deputy head of Hamas' political bureau] Abu Marzouk told The Associated Press by telephone in Damascus, "The continued financial and political siege has pushed matters to this simmering tension."
Hamas believes that it is their right for other nations to give them endless millions of dollars without any conditions or expectation to stop committing terror.
The major donors have demanded that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce violence and commit to past agreements before aid is restored. Hamas has rejected the demand.
And, therefore, international donors reject giving money to stubborn warmongers.
Abu Marzouk ruled out the possibility of a Palestinian civil war. "This is absolutely rejected by all Palestinian parties," he said.
Denial: it's not just a river in Egypt. They can reject the possibility of civil war all they want, but that hasn't yet stopped it from happening on their streets.

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And speaking of Hamas' hardline ideology, even Egypt, who has tirelessly tried to help the Palestinian government succeed, admits that peace with Hamas is impossible.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed great concern over the increasing strength of Hamas in talks with senior diplomatic officials on Wednesday, declaring that the organization will never sign a peace agreement with Israel, Haaretz has learned.

"With Hamas no way," he reportedly said.

Mubarak painted a dark picture of the situation with Hamas and said there was no chance for peace with the organization. "Hamas will never sign a peace agreement with Israel if it stays in power," the Egyptian president said.
Not exactly news, but it's good to hear voices of clarity from Middle Eastern leaders.

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On Iranian newssite FARS, a little Photoshopping helps to communicate the message. Here is the picture of Hizbullah's logo accompanying an article about the group.
Here's the entire logo.
Thank you, FARS, for sterilizing the news for us.

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And finally...

Likewise, Iran is quickly becoming the Shi'ite version of the Taliban. First, no social intermingling.
Owners of trendy internet cafes, as well as bars and restaurants popular with young Iranians have received a letter signed by national police authorities in which new measures are announced to enforce "the country's moral health." "Public places will not be allowed to use dark windows anymore or curtains which make it impossible to view from the outside what is going on inside," said the letter, which states in particular that men and women must not be allowed inside internet cafes together but in separate days or schedules "to avoid unpleasant promiscuity."
Nope, don't want that. Also, even fully burqa-ed women on bicycles are too provocative.
Iran is to start manufacturing "Islamic bicycles" for women that conceals their figure, the government newspaper Iran reported on Thursday.

"This bike has a cabin which conceals half of the cyclist's body," the newspaper said. Elaheh Sofali, an architect of the project, told Iran it would encourage women's sports in the Islamic republic.
This about sums it all up:How sex-obsessed is a culture that teaches a woman that she is basically a walking, sitting or reclining set of genitals? How over-aroused is a society in which men are expected to have no qualms about throwing themselves on any woman who happens to walk by, unless a powerful signal, in the form of a divinely ordained dress code, forbids them to do so?
I suggest a culture that has no concept of personal responsibility (see all iof my other posts). But, hey, what do I know?

There Is Nothing To Fear Except...

2007-05-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Terrorism: is there anything worse? According to the Saudi's, the answer is YES.
Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) yesterday expressed grave concern at the rising tide of discrimination and intolerance against Muslims, especially in Europe and North America. “It is something that has assumed xenophobic proportions,” they said in unison.

Speaking at a special brainstorming session on the sidelines of the 34th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM), the foreign ministers termed Islamophobia the worst form of terrorism and called for practical steps to counter it.

The ministers described Islamophobia as a deliberate defamation of Islam and discrimination and intolerance against Muslims.
So according to them, suicide murder bombings of thousands of innocent civilians that blow off limbs and shred bodies is not as bad as people being afraid of the Islamic terrorists who do such things.
“This campaign of calumny against Muslims resulted in the publication of the blasphemous cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a Danish newspaper and the issuance of the inflammatory statement by Pope Benedict XVI,” they said.
Yes, this is MUCH worse that killing hundreds of people weekly across the globe.
“The increasingly negative political and media discourse targeting Muslims and Islam in the United States and Europe has made things all the more difficult,” the foreign ministers said. “Islamophobia became a source of concern, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but the phenomenon was already there in Western societies in one form or the other,” they pointed out. “It gained further momentum after the Madrid and London bombings. The killing of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh in 2004 was used in a wicked manner by certain quarters to stir up a frenzy against Muslims,” the ministers pointed out.
How dare the media report these things that Muslims did in the name of Islam.
“The linkage of terrorists and extremists with Islam in a generalized manner is unacceptable,” they said. “This is further inciting negative sentiments and hatred in the West against Muslims,” they said.
They are saying that when terrorists make videos explaining why they commit the terror in the name of Islam, what is unacceptable is that anyone reveals this.
The ministers also pointed out that whenever the issue of Islamophobia was discussed in international forums, the Western bloc, particularly some members of the European Union, tried to avoid discussing the core issue and instead diverted the attention from their region to the situation of non-Muslims and human rights in the OIC member states.
Core issues = put the blame of the actions of Muslims everyone but the ones committing the terror.
“Because of Islamophobia, millions of Muslims in the Western countries, many of whom were already underprivileged in their societies for a variety of reasons, are further alienated and targeted by hatred and discrimination.”
Never mind the fact that those millions of Muslims are not openly repudiating the terrorists who commit the atrocities, but rather blame third parties.

Let's all rearrange our fears and put Islamic terror as an "unacceptable" and improper taboo to speak about, and rampage against those who have any negative thoughts against Islam.

News Roundup for May 16

2007-05-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hamas is not having a good day.
Hamas gunmen mistakenly ambushed on Wednesday a jeep carrying their own fighters, killing five of them, in the bloodiest day of Palestinian infighting since violence erupted in the Gaza Strip four days ago.
D'oh!But according to other accounts, the five victims were members of the Fatah-affiliated Preventive Security force.
Either way, 5 more terrorists are dead.

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Despite that, Hamas is standing firm.
Hamas Movement has affirmed that in spite of the OF troops’ threats to invade Gaza Strip and kill Palestinian resistance leaders...the resistance option will remain its strategic option.
No kidding.
Hamas’ affirmation came in a statement it issued on Tuesday and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, where it vowed to remain the "hard rock"...
Read: Stubborn as mules.
...that will foil Israeli conspiracies and expansionist projects.
Yes, in Hamas' alternate universe, Israel getting completely out of Gaza qualifies as "expansionist projects".

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Hizbullah makes more self-fulfilling prophecies.
Lebanon's Damascus-backed Hizbullah on Tuesday predicted "discord" in Lebanon if the United Nations imposes an international court to try suspects in the 2005 murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
And who will be the instigators of said "discord"? Hizbullah!"I warn the Security Council and the United Nations that international institutions should not be the means to sow divisions and discord," Hizbullah MP Ali Ammar told reporters.
All the UN and international community wants to do is support the will of the majority of Lebanese. What's wrong with that?"The United Nations will be held responsible for any Security Council resolution that pushes Lebanon into discord, and we warn against such a decision," he said.
More blaming others for your own actions.
"The sovereignty of international institutions stops at Lebanon's sovereignty. We reject any undermining of constitutional institutions."
Unless of course Syria and Iran are the ones undermining Lebanese sovereignty. Then it's ok.

News Roundup for May 15

2007-05-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that when Palestinians kill each other they can't help blaming others? Today, inter-terror killing occurred in Gaza with several terrorists dead by their own brothers. Here's how they described it:Headline: On Nakba day : 9 martyrs by IOF [Israeli Army] and Hamas fire
Notice how Israel always gets the lead billing. So how many terrorists did Israel actually kill?The number of Palestinian martyrs on hands of the Israeli Occupation Forces and Hamas , have risen to nine in Gaza today , where members of Hamas killed seven members of the national security service in cold blood next to Abu Joba oil station eastern of Gaza.

The Israeli army announced that they killed a Palestinian security man who approached the security fence eastern of Gaza while he was trying to flee the artilleries launched by Qassam members at a national security military site .
So Israeli killed one and Hamas killed 7 (never mind the math doesn't work). It's always Israel's fault anyway.

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Speaking of a people with zero personal responsibility, the mufti of Jerusalem plays Pilate and washes his hands of all violence that he calls for.
The warning came following a tour of the Al-Aqsa compound by extremist Israeli rabbis under police protection. The tour was on the occasion of the Israeli occupation of the mosque 40 years ago. Tamimi said "the Israeli government is responsible for any repercussions of the tour."
If Muslims riot and kill because Jews visit sovereign Israeli land, it won't be the fault of the rioters and killers.
The supreme judge said "the Al-Aqsa Mosque has always been part of the Islamic religion all over the world due to a heavenly decision." He quoted a verse from the holy Qur'an as evidence to support his argument.
Well then, that conveniently proves it.
Tamimi added that the mosque is a pure Muslim property, which is evident in its construction, domes, walls and yards. It is one of three mosques that Allah requires the Muslim worshippers to visit.
So, if the "construction, domes, walls and yards" were to change to, say, churches, would that then prove that it is then Christian property?[Murdered Arab taxi driver Tayseer] Al-Karaki was killed by a French-Israeli who admitted that his motive was the taxi driver's Arab nationality. Tamimi said "the cruelty of decapitating the Palestinian citizen reflects Jewish hatred and spitefulness towards the Arabs."
Then what does it say about Palestinians who lynched and disemboweled two Jews in Ramallah in the summer of 2000?

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Hamas mourns on of its lifelong terrorists (guess who is to blame).
Despite the agreement between Hamas and Fatah with the presence of the Prime Minister. The traitors still playing in the Palestinian arena and targeting Al Qassam members to satisfy the Zionists. The crimes committed with an American weapons, vehicles and equipment dedicated to this matter.
I guess they would be happier if Russian or Chinese equipment was used.
Yesterday, they assassinated the citizens under the charge of belonging to Hamas.
Fair enough, since Hamas is a terrorist organization.
They defiled the mosques and distributing barriers[?]. Today, they continued their work instead of the Zionist occupation in assassinating the wanted Qassam leaders.
So Israel took a break from the tedium of occupation and assassinated a terrorist. That's one way to look at it.
Ibrahim Salman Munia (Ghanim) 45 years from Shijaia area – east of Gaza city

He was martyred at dawn on the hands of those who call themselves "presidential security". They are in fact traitors to the Zionist occupation.
So if they are "traitors to the Zionist occupation", then that means they are loyal to Hamas-like terrorists. I think they mean something else, but with these people who knows?We confirm here that his blood will not be in vain[?] and they will be subjected to the judgment one day.
So just leave everyone alone and let Allah sort it out later. Can't these guys mind their own business?

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And Hamas is warning that Israel will continue the targeted killings, as opposed to just using their loyal Zionist Fatah boys.
The Zionist cabinet has decided to intensify military operations against the Palestinians particularly the assassination of leaders and members of Palestinian resistance factions.
"Palestinian resistance factions" = terrorists. What is the problem with this?On the other hand, Amir Peretz, the minister of war, alleged that any ground incursion into Gaza would be the last option the Zionist government might resort to.
Lucky for Hamas.
But Hamas from its side said that any incursion or assassination will be faced with the available sources.
Meaning?In the same frame, Hamas also added that may be[sp] there will be surprises.
Maybe Hamas could really surprise everyone and start making sense, for once.

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And finally...

On the homepage of the official Palestinian news site WAFA, in light of all of the violence and killings between factions, there is no mention of any of it. Except for one item.
IOF Wounds Youth in Jenin

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) wounded on Tuesday morning a youth in the West Bank city of Jenin, Security sources said. They added that Mohammed Ghanem 16, was shot with a live bullet when Israeli troops stormed the city and Jenin refugee camp amid intensive fire shooting at citizens' houses. His condition is reported to be moderate.
Now THAT'S news!

Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

2007-05-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

For those who need to be educated on the differences between men and women, here's a Saudi sheikh giving a 2.5 minute lesson (caution: you might feel dumber after watching it).

$20 says this guy is still sleeping on the couch.

Just Desserts

2007-05-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Iran passes moral judgment upon the unworthiness of the United States to host the United Nations on American soil.
A prominent Iranian lawmaker [Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaoddin Boroujerdi] stressed that the Untied States is not a proper host for the United Nations Organization and called on all member states to demand a transfer of the UN headquarters from New York.

Considering that the UN is in charge of grave affairs, any transfer of the headquarters should be carried out through a consensus of the member states and rectification of the articles of association, he said.
Grave affairs? Does he mean like putting Iran in charge of the U.N. Disarmament Commission? Or appointing Syria as its rapporteur?

Or appointing Zimbabwe as the U.N.'s Commission on Sustainable Development?

Or putting China[!!], Cuba[!!], Pakistan[!!], Russia[!] and Saudi Arabia[!!!] on the U.N.'s Human Rights Council?

Or is he talking about the gravest matters of Security Council resolutions, like the ones aimed at bringing to a halt Iran's nuclear program, which even today President Ahmadinejad said Iran would never do?"The US has proved that it does not deserve to host the United Nations member states," he [Boroujerdi] underlined.
He is exactly right: Get the U.N. off of American soil because America deserves better!

Road To Nowhere

2007-05-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Being the brave warriors they believe they are, Hamas takes pride in their "resistance" and steadfastness against the Zionists. They use their martyrs as examples of those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the cause.
Dr. Abdel Aziz El-Rantisi was elected the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He held a large rally to accept the nomination and vowed to continue to road of resistance.
Three years ago, however, Rantisi got what he had coming to him via a well-placed missle.
Abu Obaida , the spokesman of the Qassam Brigades declared that we are on the road of Rantisi which is the road of resistance.
In another story about Palestinian women who were suicide bombers, including a grandmother, we see the same metaphor.
The Palestinian woman [sp] improve the great sacrifice in the road of resistance against the occupation forces' aggression...
And Hamas leaders abroad vow to continue the struggle.
Osama Hamdan, Hamas deputy in Lebanon, confirmed yesterday that the movement will persist in resistance and will never give up this road till the withdrawal of the occupation , restoring the usurped rights and the return of the Palestinian refugees.

He said" Hamas will keep the promises, will be honest to the rights and the blood of martyrs , and will continue in the road of Jihad till the end of the occupation ,
That's an inspiring image, but now comes the predictable whining and crying about the price of their noble resistance.
The families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails leave their homes at 3:00am and return at midnight when they go to visit their sons in jail. ... The journey does not take more than two hours in normal circumstances, yet the families will not sleep the night before they visit their sons. They have to prepare for a long and exhausting journey, as they are forced to pass from one bus to another; from one checkpoint to another. ... The families often call that journey, "the road of humiliation",
The "road of resistance" = "road of humiliation". They chose it, so we say to them: Enjoy the ride!

News Roundup for May 12

2007-05-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

In the ocean next to Gaza, even the fish are martyrs.
Joy has filled the hearts of hundreds of Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip this week as they expressed their happiness over the most plentiful fishing season in 40 years, especially in the shadow of the Israeli navy restrictions on fishing off Gaza's coast.

This spring was a surprise for fishermen and drew smiles on their faces as their nets yielded sardines, which Gazans always crave for.

Rami Abu Hasirah, a fisherman, said: "Thanks to God, today fishermen netted tones of sardines, which will compensate all the losses over the past months."

Hamdi Baker, 42, fisherman, said: "Today the sardines broke the blockade!"
Yes, the sardines did an act of jihad and broke through the Zionist siege and sacrificed their little bodies in order to be eaten by the suffering Palestinian people as their contribution to the cause. Yeah, that's the ticket.

----------

Hamas is complaining again. This time it's about other Arab countries talking peace with Israel instead of striving to murder Jews by the hundreds.
The Hamas Movement on Saturday lashed out at Arab official meetings with Israel, saying that the Arab countries should rather focus their efforts on breaking the siege imposed on the Palestinian people. A West Bank spokesman for the Movement said in a press release that the Arabs should have rather opted to lift the political and economic siege imposed on the Palestinians.
So Hamas says that they prefer Arab countries give money and support to them instead of meeting with Israel about possible peace. Of course they do.
The spokesman recalled that Israel ever since the Arab peace initiative was voiced in the Beirut summit in 2002 had declared its absolute rejection of it as evident in former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon's words that the initiative was not "worth the ink it was written with".
Since then Sharon change 180 degrees and withdrew from Gaza, something he swore he would never do. Things are completely different now.
However, the present Israeli political leadership chose to invest the Arabs' insistence on this initiative to seek normalization of relations with the Arab and Islamic countries without having to pay any price in return, he opined.
Again, Israel withdrew from Gaza and many parts of the West Bank. Even Israel's Foreign Minister said today that Israel's withdrawals will continue, which proves Israel has paid, and will pay, a heavy price.
The spokesman advised the Arab countries to make use of the apparent weakness of American hegemony in the region and the deteriorating internal Israeli conditions and to seek other alternatives to achieve the Arab people's interests.
Being the bloodthirsty murderers they are, Hamas wants other countries to move in for the kill. How dare anyone look for peace when you can have wholesale slaughter.

----------

Even Nasrallah is upset and confused about why more Arab countries are more interested in talking more with loser Israel than the über-victorious Hizbullah leader.
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused the Arab world of running to Israel's rescue following its "defeat" at the hands of his group in last summer's war by renewing a land-for-peace offer to the Jewish State. I tell the Arab world, 'Israel is spread out before you. You are welcome to learn its strengths and weaknesses.' But at a time when Israel is so weak, the Arabs are renewing the Arab Peace Initiative in order to save (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert," Nasrallah said.
Wow Nasrallah; that's pretty bad when a weak Jewish Prime Minister is preferred over you.
Nasrallah vowed that his group would prove to be a tougher enemy if a new war broke out. "If another war breaks out we will fight better than we did in July,"
Is it possible for Hizbullah to fight any worse?Nasrallah said he would welcome the establishment of an Arab or Lebanese commission of inquiry to investigate whether his group had erred in launching the cross-border attack.
Be careful what you ask for, Nasrallah - you might just get it. Your ability to predict the future is not your strong suit.
He added that Israel erred when it believed that its mighty air force would be able to halt daily rocket attacks on northern Israel.
He's right. Instead, Israel's mighty air force simply flattened everything (and everyone) south of the Litani River.
"Israel's disrespect and arrogance in Lebanon lead to its defeat … by the willingness and wisdom of the resistance," he carried on.
Yes, Israel could use many more "disrespectful and arrogant" "defeats" at the hands of the "wisdom of the resistance", just like the one last year.

----------

The Salafist (Wahabbist) Islamists in Gaza are accusing Hamas of being too "soft".
Hossam Al Jazar , the Deputy Director of Al Baz charity association , accused the Palestinian Islamic factions by adopting a negative and escalating stance towards Salafi preachers . Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper quoted Al Jazar as saying " The Islamic organizations – in reference to Hamas – have adopted a negative stance against us and they struggled us .
They escalating stance and struggle us. Excellent news, this is.
" The Islamic organizations [Hamas] are currently busy with their political programs and we are now the only preachers ", Al Jazar said[.]
Ah, so Hamas is not murdering enough for their tastes.
He resumed " Many have started fighting us after they became aware of our strong religious authority among the public , for we are not being busy by anything except God's worship .
And what exactly is "God's worship"?He resumed " we have announced earlier that we are against violence in our preaching activities , we don't force any body to do anything we just advise those whom we believe are against the rules of the Islamic religion ".
Got that? They themselves are "against violence" in their "preaching activities", "don't force anybody to do anything" and "advise" those to follow Islamic rules, meaning they incite others to commit Islamic terror. Anybody see the problem with that?

News Roundup for May 9

2007-05-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

In Lebanon, the pro-Syrian cabinet members who resigned last year want to rejoin the government.
Six pro-Syrian Opposition cabinet ministers on Tuesday were reportedly considering rejoining Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government as caretakers, a move aimed at curtailing the ruling majority's continuity in power.
Heaven forbid that the majority in a country have the most say in what their government does.
"We don't want the country's destinies to lie in the hands of the ruling team," the [unnamed] resigned minister said.
In other words, instead of the representative majority of the Lebanese people determining Lebanon's future (you know, self-determination), the pro-Syrian (and therefore anti-Lebanese) minority wants the control of Lebanon. Typical.

----------

Hamas is again warning against peace with Israel, or with anyone else for that matter.
MP Mushir Al-Masri, secretary of the Hamas parliamentary bloc in the PLC, has warned that secret meetings between PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli premier Ehud Olmert posed great dangers to the Palestine cause.
He's admitting that peace is a danger to the Palestinian cause. It makes sense because how can the Jews be driven into the sea when there is peace?The Israelis are exploiting those meetings to beautify their image before the international community, Masri said, warning that the meetings would also provide a cover for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
Actually, the talks will result in the Palestinians acquiring huge amounts of land. But don't confuse them with the facts.
Masri rejected the allegation that such meetings are meant to discuss means of easing the siege on the Palestinian people, noting that many former meetings were held but the siege remained as is.
So they are choosing the guarantee of having a siege than the possibility of having it lifted. And all this time I believed them when they said the occupation is "brutal" and "unbearable". Silly me.

----------

Since Hamas opposes peace, naturally they are preparing for war.
Militant Hamas on Tuesday threatened Israel with a painful response should the Jewish state attack the Gaza Strip, a Hamas spokesperson said.
Yawn.
Hamas militants kidnapped [Gilad] Shalit 10 months ago, aiming to exchange him for Palestinian militants jailed in Israel. Shalit's abduction triggered the deadly month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas last year.
Actually, Shalit's abduction triggered the invasion of Gaza. The two soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah triggered the war in the north (I know how much terrorists like to take credit for all of the mayhem in the world).
Another Palestinian group, Popular Resistance Committees, warned that any Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip will "not be a field trip", according to media reports. Soldiers will return to their families "tidy, but in coffins", said Abu Abir, a spokesperson for the group.
That's big talk from people who, by the hundreds, usually end up in small pieces strewn across Gaza.

----------

And finally...

Iran is quickly becoming beyond parody.
The conservative head of Iran state-run television has said all homegrown drama programmes should feature scenes showing characters praying or they will be denied airtime, the ILNA news agency reported.

"In the current year, television productions that do not have prayer scenes will not be allowed to air," said Ezatollah Zarghami, who is appointed by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Something tells me that, for the first time in history, people will start to look forward to the commercials.
The new directive appears to apply to drama series and television films but it is not clear whether it also includes programmes such as game shows and sitcoms.
Since game show contestants already pray heavily, there should be no problem here.
He said children's programmes should also seek to teach the young about praying, which mature Muslims are required to perform five times a day as one of the five pillars of Islam.
Not to mention Islam's sixth pillar: obligatory open hatred of Jews. More than likely Iranian television will include the Muslim version of Mickey Mouse.

No doubt that from this suicide terror will increase, since after being forced to endure this programming Iranians will be looking for an escape from this imposed hell-on-earth.

Shafted. Or, How to Shaft.

2007-05-06T04:41:00.000-07:00

Masters of one-upsmanship, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity for revenge, even if it is of the diplomatic sort.
Palestinian officials in Bethlehem have alleged that the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, refused to meet mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarsi, during his tour of the Palestinian territories.
Alleged nothing. Since the German foreign minister didn't meet with the mayor, there is no "alleged" about anything. Anyway, here's the unforgivable crime.
According to the mayor's office, the FM described Bartarsi [sp] as an "undesirable personality".
Hard to imagine that Batarsi, who is a member of the arch-terrorist group PFLP, could be "undesirable" in any way. Regardless, in these parts a personal insult becomes a national crisis.
Batarsi described the German position as an insult to the Palestinian people.
Insulting a terrorist = insulting all Palestinians. He does have a point there, but it seems his fragile ego is a bit inflated. Now, let the revenge offensive begin.
He says "I address the whole world: telling them that Bethlehem has only one formal representative, the Mayor, and he who does not want to meet with the mayor is persona non grata because the municipality, which was elected democratically, represents all the people of Bethlehem."
You don't snub me! I snub YOU!!!A huge banner was erected in manger square, in the centre of Bethlehem, which said in Arabic, English and German: "Whoever boycotts Bethlehem Municipality is not welcomed in the Town of the Nativity."
You go, girl. That's tellin' him. But, of course, there's more.
Batarsi also affirmed that he will send a message to Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestinian leadership asking them to take a united position against the boycotting of municipalities.
In doing this, one will have no choice but to visit the little mayor, bless his heart.
Batarsi added, "The international community has to pay respect to the Palestinian democratic process and not boycott the municipality of Bethlehem."
You got that world? You must respect terrorists and you must meet with them. But what about the original charge that the German foreign minister made that supposedly started all of this?An official German source has denied that the German foreign minister dubbed the mayor of Bethlehem an "undesirable personality".
Oh well. But like they say, if the shoe fits...

Wasn't Meant To Be

2007-05-06T03:32:00.000-07:00

Sad news to report on a recent post which detailed the goat wedded to a Sudanese man.
A Sudanese man who married a goat was in mourning today after his wife died when she swallowed a plastic bag.
You could say she "gave up the goats".
She is said to have left a male kid - not a boy.
(Insert rim shot.) Thanks for the clarification there.

Moral of the story: When you're "feeling your oats", don't feel your goats.

Well, Isn't That Just Special? - Updated

2007-05-06T02:31:00.000-07:00

In Oslo, an interfaith soccer match to promote religious understanding between Christian and Muslim leaders was scrapped because Imams on the Muslim team refused to play a team that included women priests.
"Some say that bodily contact is the problem. It leads to special feelings that can lead to something forbidden," explained Imam Senaid Kobilica,
How naughty. Such kinds of interfaith dialogue must be forbidden.

UPDATE - And if you do not avoid participating in mixed sports, it will be observed for you. Severely.
Palestinian militants opened fire at a sports day at a United Nations-operated elementary school in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing a bodyguard of a local Fatah leader and wounding seven other people, medical officials said.

Local residents said the gunmen, whom they described as Muslim extremists, arrived at the school and warned through loudspeakers against letting boys and girls participate in the sports day.

The gunmen said the event "taught children immoral values."
Just feel the love (but don't get any "special feelings" or anything like that).

Be Careful How You Drink

2007-05-04T03:03:00.000-07:00

Arab News has their weekly exposition about their prophet Mohammed and what we can learn from him. If you thought that taking a drink of water was mundane, you are an ignorant heretic infidel because EVERYTHING in life has religious consequences.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) often taught by practical example. He might not state any recommendation, but he would make his conduct clearly visible so that people would learn and emulate his practice. Muslims have always been keen to follow his example, because they realized that whatever the Prophet did was good.
Or they had nothing better to do than to worship this man.
Moreover, even in ordinary matters that are not related to religion, we will earn reward from God if we intentionally follow the Prophet’s example.
You gotta love the diversity of thought in Islam.
There is, however, nothing religious about taking a drink in large gulps or short sips. Yet the Prophet’s companions were keen to follow his example in the way he drank water. Anas reports: “When the Prophet took a drink of water, he stopped to take a breath three times."
Not two. Not four. Three.
"He used to say that in this way, the drink is ‘more gratifying, enjoyable and helps healing.’ Therefore, I stop three times to take a breath when I drink water."
Naturally. But this is not a rule.
There is no doubt that drinking slowly, in small portions, and taking a breath each time is better and healthier. Moreover, there are a number of reports that the Prophet mentioned God’s name each time before resuming drinking, but these reports are rather poor in authenticity.
And it gets worse.
-People mention that drinking while standing is strongly discouraged by Islam. Yet there are several Hadiths that make clear that this is a misconception.

-Other reports also confirm that the Prophet used to take his drink of water standing...

-In another Hadith one of the Prophet’s companions reports: “I have seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) drinking when standing and when seated.”

-He [Mohammed] said: ‘The one pouring the drinks is the last to drink.’

-[Mohammed] said: ‘Take it in turn starting on the right side.’...The Prophet thus demonstrated that when there is a preferred way, it should be followed in all situations and should not be disregarded in order to appease someone of a senior position.

-Sahl ibn Saad reports: “One day the Prophet was brought something to drink. A young man was to his right and some older men were to his left. ... The Prophet put the drink into the young man’s hands.”
Only in Islam can there be disputes about drinking water. So much so that it is repressive.
Hence, we read about scholars refraining from doing some ordinary thing because they did not know how the Prophet did with such a matter. When they learned how he did, they performed that thing in the same way.
No doubt they drank no water until they learned the "correct" way to do it. It really makes you wonder about these people.

News Roundup for May 3

2007-05-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

**Breaking News**
Remember, you heard it here first.
Geoff Hoon, the British defence secretary during the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, admitted in an interview published on Wednesday that Britain and the United States had not properly planned what would happen after the invasion.
No way. Hoon, however, offers this equally-piercing analysis.
“Given what we know now, I suppose the answer is that we should have known, but we did not know that at the time.”
Look out Drudge, Abu Yussif is in da house!

-----------

More from the disgrace(d/ful) former Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara and his buddies, Hamas.
Hamas urged the world’s conscience to back the right of Bishara to return to his mother country, Palestine, because he is “the son of Palestine and not a foreign migrant who came from outside and occupied and settled in it”.
Seeing how Bishara refuses to return because Israel wants to prosecute him, it is strange why Hamas accuses Israel of not allowing him return. But this is Hamas, who dwell in an alternate reality from the rest of the world, speaking.
Finally, Hamas urged Bishara not to surrender to the Israeli will that want him to remain out of his country, and called on him to return to occupied Palestine the soonest in order to shoulder the national burden with his Palestinian brothers regardless of the consequences.
Yes, Bishara. Hamas doesn't care if you spend the rest of your life in jail. Go on, be a patriot!

-----------

And in case you were confused, Iran's president is setting the record straight.
Iranians are faithful people who wish peace, justice and welfare for the entire mankind, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said,
Oh, then that explains their bulldozer approach to acquiring nuclear weapons. But being the peace-loving people they are, Ahmadinejad leaves us with a peace-loving threat.
Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iranians are a peace-loving nation, but meantime warned, "Those who think that they can prevent the Iranian nation from making progress and finding access to advanced science and technology through resorting to certain bodies that they themselves have created are in deep mistake."
Get the hip boots - someone is going to be "in deep mistake" soon.
[He] meanwhile stressed that his people will never give up even an iota of their rights either.
Feel the love. Group hug anyone?

-----------

The Palestinians are keeping a nervous eye on Israeli armament.
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth stated on Thursday that Israel has trebled the range of its Prego missiles to 4800 km. These new missiles also have the capability of carrying nuclear heads.
I'm no geography expert, but that definitely puts the Palestinians within range of Israeli rockets. Somebody needs to tell the brave freedom fighters they might want to behave.

-----------

And finally...

Pakistani politics get nasty.
PPP leader Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday warned PML President Shujaat Hussain not to make baseless accusations against him.

He [Ahsan] claimed that Shujaat had used Sheikh Waqas for his “character assassination” in the National Assembly during his absence. Waqas responded that Ahsan thought of him as a child, which he was not.
No? Well, I'm glad the Daily Times cleared that up for us.

Jailhouse Shock

2007-05-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Palestinians in Israeli jails are (predictably) unhappy that their noble resistance has not brought them paradise on earth.
A Palestinian researcher specialized in prisoners' affairs accused Israel of practicing a policy of "slow death" on Palestinian prisoners, especially those in the isolation section of Israeli jails.
Maybe they would prefer a "quick death", much like the death from terror attacks the prisoners helped to inflict on Israelis.
Israel continues this policy in order to destroy the core of the human in the Palestinian people...turning him into a sick, depressed, lonely person, they execute him while alive".
As opposed to executing him while dead. But like they say, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime". Maybe it will give the prisoners time to think about the lives they destroyed and what awaits them in the afterlife (which will be rather hot, where they are going).
He says that there are 13 prisoners in the isolation sections...[of] the Israeli jails.
Only 13?? By the sound of their griping, you'd think there were hundreds. Oh well, just imagine how they'd complain if Israel had the death penalty like the Palestinians have.
He says that the prisoners are forced to stay in a tiny cell
What? That sounds like...prison!If the prisoner was to share the cell with another, it would be even more tragic, reported Al Khoffash,
Yes, that would be worse than...solitary confinement!!Most of the isolated prisoners are not allowed visits from their families.
How is a terrorist supposed to receive praise and gifts from their family for bringing honor and fame to it?The prisoner is allowed out of the cell for one hour in the yard and, he says, that time is not enough for the body to receive the necessary vitamin D from the sun,
But since Vitamin D has been supplemented in so many foods, exposure to sunlight is no longer necessary.
The researcher criticized the quality and quantity of food given to the prisoners saying that it is a very bad quality and that the prisoners are forced to purchase food from the canteen, which burdens more expenses on the family.
At least they have a canteen. Imagine the outcry if there were no such possibility. Look at it this way: the families of the prisoners don't pay for any living expenses (food, housing, medical, etc.) of the prisoners (paid for by Israel) so they actually come out ahead, financially.
Al Khoffash said that the Palestinian prisoners have attempted to resist the brutal Israeli measures and have even gone on hunger strike...
Makes sense: I don't get enough food, so I'll go on hunger strike.
...but he says, whatever forms of resistance the prisoners attempt, the harsh, oppressive practices of the Israeli authorities will continue.
Maybe if one would not resist so much, one might be left alone. Resistance, they should know by now, is not the way to go.

News Roundup for April 29

2007-04-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Disgrace(d/ful) former Arab Mk Azmi Bishara is stirring the conspiracies about his dilemma.
Israeli Member of Knesset, Azmi Bishra, has expressed concerns that he may be assassinated by Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.
Come now, Amzi. I think that you serve the Zionists best alive and with your mouth running. Shutting you up would ruin Israel's best advertisement against you. However, Azmi is not afraid.
Israeli news sites reported that Bishara told his friends and some journalists "despite my belief that the Israeli Mossad might consider assassinating me, I am not afraid as I am an Arab patriot." He added "I don’t exclude this possibility but I am not afraid".
Did he mention that he's not afraid? Gotta admire such bravery, which probably explains why he "fled Israel", according to the article.

----------

Palestinians can't handle criticism, as seen in reaction to an Egyptian delegation's comments against their firing rockets to Israel, who called it a "lost gamble".
The spokesperson of the Hamas movement, Ismail Radwan, said "resistance is not gambling, but a legal right for the Palestinian people, secured by all international laws and conventions."
If these people believe international law endorses terrorism, it's no wonder they believe receiving international aid is also a "right". The hurt feelings are evident, though.
A spokesperson for one of the groups, the Popular Resistance Committees, slammed the Egyptian official for his remarks: "The head of the Egyptian security delegation should speak positively about the rocket attacks or else shut up."
Talk to the hand, 'cause the terrorist ain't listening.

----------

And Hamas is not interested in removing the checkpoints into Israel, which they feel is their right to enter at will, because it will violate their rights.
Dr. Salah Al-Bardaweel, the spokesman of Hamas’ parliamentary bloc in the PLC, criticized on Sunday a new US plan dubbed “free crossing in exchange for security” that was handed over to the Israeli occupation government and the PA.

According to the plan, the Israeli occupation government would open crossing points in Gaza Strip before Gazans in addition to easing restrictions on free movement of Palestinians at roadblocks in the West Bank on condition the PA security forces would thwart Palestinian missile attacks on Israeli settlements.

“Free crossing of people is a right sanctioned by international laws and conventions for all peoples, and thus we demand it as a natural right and not in exchange for something else”, said Bardaweel in a press statement he made in reaction to the plan.
In other words, the right to commit terrorism supersedes the "natural rights" he just elucidated. In fact, the PFLP (another terrorist group) has a name for the proposal:The Front [PFLP] said in a statement that the plan blackmails the Palestinian people's simplest human rights and legitimate right of resisting occupation and establishing the fully independent, sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.
With priorities like that, no wonder Gaza is the cesspool it is.

----------

And with said priorities, it is no wonder that a fatwa has been issued over Palestinians about haircuts.
The Supreme Fatwa Council of Palestine has issued a fatwa permitting men's and women's hairdressers to operate on condition that they do not break Islamic law.
As you know, Islam has a law for everything.
The fatwa stated that women can be employed as hairdressers as long as they only cut the hair of women that want to look attractive for their husbands and not other men or foreigners; this would be Haram (forbidden).
So I suppose now every hairdresser must ask the question "Are you wanting this hairstyle to look good for your husband, or for other men or foreigners?"It also stated that if a foreign man is present in the hairdressers, women must be prohibited from entering it.
Because we all know how seductive and tempting watching haircuts can be.
The council urged the Palestinian Muslims to avoid "suspicion" and to follow the religious rules and rituals according to Islamic law.
And in order to avoid suspicion, one must have religious police (aka Taliban) patrolling everywhere. Yes, give 'em a state.

----------

One cannot speak of religious police without mentioning Iran and their pious president forcing Iranian women to cover their heads up in public.
One week after police started enforcing strict new Islamic dress code rules, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that his opponents were manipulating the moralization campaign so as to create discontent. "Our enemies want a limited group of people, mostly youth, to hit the streets dressed in a vulgar manner to provoke police intervention and then use against our country the bad feelings of young people who have been mistreated by security officials," said the president.
No, Mahmoud. Your moralization campaign creates the discontent all by itself. No need for any "manipulation".
"During the first four days [since the code came into effect] we have picked up 150,000 women who were not properly veiled, but many of them were released after they signed an admission of guilt and a formal apology," General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam [Iran's top police officer] said Thursday.
They are proud of this, mind you.
An unspecified number of the women taken into custody were also forced to undergo psychological counseling, Moghaddam said.
Yes, wanting to be free apparently is considered to be a mental problem with these people. No surprise, considering they deny the Holocaust happened and consider suicide terror to be a religious and national duty.
The leader of Tehran's prayer on Friday, ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, praised the new rules saying that "in the past week the great majority of the population has felt more secure and protected by police."
Whew! At last they can now leave their doors unlocked at night since women are now forced to wear their veils in public.
"Anyone criticizing police will attract the ire of the population."
Let's give this campaign a little time and see who it is that attracts "the ire of the population".

----------

And finally...

Only in Iran: Donkey Swallows 2 Lambs
In a rare incident a donkey swallowed two lambs and died a little after in a village in the vicinity of the town of Charam in Iran's western province of Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad on Sunday. The unprecedented incident not only surprised but also frightened all villagers in the area.
I'll say.
The donkey is reportedly dead.
Too bad that this official Iranian news outlet can't verify craziness before reporting it.

Lesson: stay away from Iran. Things are not normal there.

News Roundup for April 27

2007-04-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Disgraced Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara is getting support from his friends.
PA government spokesman Dr. Ghazi Hamad, Haneyya said: "These actions of the Zionist government are clear evidence of the extent of racism against our Palestinian people and attempts to obliterate their identity."
According to Hamas, bringing charges against someone who is believed to have broken laws = racism and obliterating their identity. Just a touch of hyperbole there, Mr. spokesman.
"We stress our solidarity with Dr. Bishara, who stood by his people and their cause, and we call upon all local and international organizations to declare their solidarity with him against this programmed campaign against him."
If I were Bishara, I don't think I'd want an internationally-recognized terrorist organization giving me support. But that's just me.
Dr. Bishara, who resigned his Knesset seat on Sunday in Cairo,
Not exactly what an innocent man would do, eh?In the past he has been questioned a number of times for visiting Syria and Lebanon,
Which he did with impunity, knowing that in doing so was an explicit violation of Israeli law.

Good luck, Bishara. You're probably gonna need it.

----------

Things in Gaza are getting so bad that Gazans are longing for the occupation.
[Gaza journalist "A."] adds: "There are two options today that could take us out of this situation: Someone strong in the Gaza Strip who does not care about a confrontation with the clans, or an Israeli occupation. Many people in the Strip hope that Israel will reoccupy it because these phenomena were not prevalent during the Israeli occupation."
I thought the occupation was "brutal" and "immoral"? Either the occupation really wasn't as bad as they whined it was, or Gaza is Mogadishu on the Med.

----------

And finally...

Live in Israel? Want to visit Syria? Looking for a good deal? Well, I hope you are feeling very lucky.
A sultry-eyed woman beckons from under her hijab, welcoming Israelis to the sandy hills and glittering ocean in the backdrop. "Dreamy weekend in Syria - only $390," advertises the billboard.
One problem: it is contingent on peace in the Middle East.
Israelis, or anyone with an Israel stamp in their passport, cannot currently travel to most member states of the Arab League,

Minor detail. What else is there?The billboards...offer the great weekend deals with only the fine print noting that the price is for one room, a double bed - and dependent on the Saudi peace plan.
The fine print might as well say "Offer good only when hell freezes over". Where do I sign?

The Incredible Edible Date

2007-04-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Since in Islam Mohammed can do no wrong and is the perfect example for everything, let's learn what religious legislation there is about dates.
It is against the backdrop of this Hadith that we should look at Hadiths that mention dates as part of the Prophet’s food. Lady Ayesha reports: “The Prophet never had two meals in one day unless one of them was dates.” Normally the Prophet ate dates one at a time, but some people would take two or more dates in one bite. This may not be pleasant to look at,
Remember, this is Islamic religious writings.
They would eat eagerly. The Prophet noticed that and he did not want to embarrass them. Therefore, he ate two together and told them so in order that they could do the same without feeling uneasy about it.
What a guy. Now, what is the religious teaching here?When he ate two at a time, he said to us: ‘I have eaten two together, and you do the same.’”
Them's prophecy words. Amazing. There's more...
Anas reports: “Dates were brought to the Prophet. He started to share it out as he sat close, and ate of it. His eating was fast.”
The mental image that comes to mind is that of a chain saw roaring. But wait, what are the health implications of eating too many dates?...severe muscle cramps...dental problems consisting of severe erosion of tooth enamel...and gum disease that required surgery...acid reflux ...as well as the usual symptoms of excess sugar consumption (fatigue, sugar highs/blues, excess urination, constant thirst, etc.).
Most of all, dates are one of the oldest natural laxatives. Maybe that had something to do with another Hadith about Mohammed and dates.
I remember a story from grade school about a kid who was eating too many dates. His mother took him to see Mohammad (The Prophet, not the 7-11 cashier) and asked him to give the boy some advice. Mohammad politely asked them to come back the next day. The mother pleaded; the day-long journey on the moody donkey had been most unpleasant. But Mohammad insisted they come back the following day. After much complaining the woman finally complied.

The following day Mohammad turned to the boy and advised him ["Don't eat too many dates."]. The puzzled woman asked why they had to make the same trip twice for this simple advice? The Prophet answered "I also had too many dates yesterday and couldn't possibly preach against something I was guilty of."
This is either the prophet having embarrassing gas problems (recall buzzing chain saw), or this was a case of "Do as I say, but not as I do". Either way, the prophet is to be praised.

It's Only Wrong If The Zionists Do It

2007-04-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

Palestinian information minister Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi is accusing Israel of unspeakable atrocities.
Barghouthi affirmed that his government has exerted, and still is exerting, tremendous efforts to stabilize a comprehensive and reciprocal truce between the Palestinian resistance factions and Israel, but Israel was the one that rebuffed the offer.
A "comprehensive and reciprocal truce", according to Palestinians includes almost daily rocket attacks on Israel, as well as the usual unsuccessful suicide bombing attempts. Can't imagine why Israel doesn't agree.
He charged that the IOF troops had met the Palestinian calm with 130 assassination attempts through which they wanted to provoke the Palestinians into retaliating to such crimes.
Israel attempts to kill terrorists, which is morally and legally obligatory, while in late February Palestinians were guilty of killing 130 of their own in terror groups' infighting. But, it seems, Palestinian deaths are only an outrage when Zionists do it. The fine doctor continues.
"Calm would never be feasible unless it was reciprocated", Barghouthi asserted,
He got that right, but one wonders when his government will begin to do its part. In fact, the Oslo accords are still waiting for the Palestinians to begin doing what they committed to do. But, then again, they are just exercising their "rights".

Palestinians Demonstrate Against Violence

2007-04-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Actual caption for both of these pictures: Palestinians attend a demonstration against violence in Gaza April 23, 2007.

link

Makes one wonder if they understand the notion of "peace".

Ahmed, Get Your Gun

2007-04-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Or rope because it sounds like it is time for some more of that Palestinian-style vigilante justice.
A Palestinian merchant from Hebron, in the southern West bank, on Tuesday disposed 2,000 sacks of chips because they were inappropriate for human consumption.
In case you're wondering, you're supposed to be outraged.
Dissatisfied with the chips supplier, Muhammad Al-Qawasmi, from Hebron telephoned the department for protecting consumers who disposed of the ruined goods.
Ah, the prestigious "Department for Protecting Consumers Who Disposed of the Ruined Goods".
He [Al-Qawasmi] said: "I received the chips two weeks ago, and the children complained about the bad taste."
I can vouch that this can be said of all Palestinian-produced snacks.
"Then I informed the company which produces the chips, who promised to come and dispose of them. However, they did not show, and so I disposed of the chips myself."
In other words, the unreliable "Department for Protecting Consumers Who Disposed of the Ruined Goods" didn't come and throw it in the trash for him, so he threw them in the trash himself. News, this is.
He added, "The phenomenon of ruined products has been widespread recently in the Palestinian market, and so we call on the government to use an iron fist against those merchants who target our kids."
This is indicative of the state of anarchy in Palestinian territory - bad snacks are the result of an intentional plot targeting children that should be punished with the utmost severity (hence, "iron fist"). One can only wonder why Israel is not suspected and accused of orchestrating the entire situation.

No Choice...

2007-04-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (a misnomer; should be called "Al-Aqsa future-Martyrs' Brigades") is itching for Israel to assist them in making their martyrdoms a reality.
The Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades have declared a level of high alert and given its members the green light to ''retaliate painfully and severely to the Israeli crimes."
Israeli crimes = existing.
The high alert is a response to the Israeli killings of many Al Aqsa Brigades' operatives...
i.e., neutralizing terrorists perpetrating terror.
...and the Israeli threats to invade the Gaza Strip.
This claim that Israel had dropped leaflets warning of invasion has been proven to be a rumor, mainly because "no one actually saw the leaflets". But with these people, once the rumor has been believed by enough people, it's as good as true.
[Spokesman] Abu Fuad said "Israel has announced war on the brigades and the brigades have declared war on Israel; the next stage will be the most dangerous, the brigades will not deal with any truce." He added "we have no choice except martyrdom or revenge."
No choice whatsoever. Forget talks, negotiations, peace, goodwill, forgiveness, understanding, respect, love, cooperation, reconciliation - who'd want any of that when you can murder?Bazur added that the Al-Aqsa Brigades will respond to the Israeli massacres in the "natural way,"
Let's hear it for barbarity.

Yes, let these people have their own state.

News Roundup for April 22

2007-04-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Syria is having "elections". The people have come out to "vote". Middle Eastern "democracy" in action.
Polling centers opened throughout Syria Sunday allowing voters to elect 250 new pro-regime Parliamentarians dominated by the ruling Baath Party amidst a declared boycott by the opposition.

According to Syrian law applied for more than three decades, the 12 million registered voters will have to elect 131 MPs from President Bashar Assad's Arab Socialist Baath Party, 83 "independent" MPs, who are usually businessmen affiliated with the ruling elite, and 36 MPs from leftist parties affiliated with the Baath in the so-called National Progressive Front (NPF).

Opposition parties are banned by Syrian law.
As Bashar says, "See, the people are free to choose in Syria.

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Disgraced/disgraceful (take your pick) Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara, who is being investigated for criminal wrongdoing (details unavailable because of a court-ordered gag order) decided to resign from the Knesset today.
"Since the last elections, I have had an urge to resign,"
So why did you bother to run, Azmi?

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Finally...

Kyrgyzstan. Have you heard much about it? There may be a reason you haven't.
“Why does the United States promote football everywhere? Because through football they spread American values, the American way of life. Here it’s the same with kok-boru,” said Kemir Dyushekeyev, assistant director of Kyrgyzstan’s National Kok-Boru Federation.
Oh yeah, kok-boru. Sounds like fun.
The ancient Central Asian sport of kok-boru, in which horsemen wrestle over a headless goat, may not have caught on in the West, but here it’s a source of national pride - and a wildcard in national politics.
A "source of national pride - and a wildcard in national politics". For KYRGYZSTAN, that is.
Exactly what are the values spread by a sport where the ball is a gutted goat carcass with its head removed and legs cut off at the knees? “Strength, bravery, competition, and camaraderie. There can be no kok-boru without camaraderie,” Dyushekeyev said.
Or without a gutted, headless, limbless goat carcass, too.
At the start of the game, eight players on horseback race to get their hands on a goat carcass...which they usually haul up by one of its truncated limbs. They whip and punch each other for control of the goat, sometimes passing it to teammates, until one player breaks away and gallops across a 200-metre field to toss it into a stone ring.
That sounds like fun. Where can I get me one of those goat carcasses?Play is supposed to stop if a fallen player is in danger of being trampled, but “there are serious injuries all the time”. Then there’s the whole goat carcass issue.
Ya think?“Some foreigners may turn up and say, ‘It’s so cruel! Cutting up a goat to play with - how awful!’” tournament organiser Tabakriyev said, his tone showing minimal sympathy for animal rights activists. “But we accept life as it is. We look at it as a sacrifice,” he said.
Not nearly as much as the goat.
“This game didn’t start yesterday, it started 2,000-3,000 years ago. It’s in our blood to play, it’s in our genes,” said Bakyt Tabakriyev.
And that's what happens when the gene pool gets a little too stagnant.

The Injustice

2007-04-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so let's indulge in some good old Palestinian-style victimization, ok? Just put in your favorite dirge cd, grab a box of tissues and maybe a bucket (in case the outrage causes you to puke) and prepare to feel the injustice.
Barhoum: US Military Supplies to Israel Mean More Massacres Against Palestinians

Fawzi Barhoum, the spokesman of Hamas Movement in Gaza Strip, has condemned the “persistent” US military supplies to Israel, affirming that such military aid encourages the Hebrew state to commit more massacres against the Palestinian people.

Barhoum charged, “The US military supplies to the Zionist occupation, including internationally-prohibited bombs...”

"...help[ing] Israel in committing more massacres against the unarmed Palestinian people,"

He also explained that the US and Israel are exploiting the “unjustified” Arab and Muslim silence and passiveness,"

He also urged those parties to rally behind the legitimate Palestinian resistance,

Where, oh, where is the justice? These people have the right to get exactly what they deserve.

Wanted: Therapists for Terrorists

2007-04-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

File this under "Terrorists have feelings, too".
Palestinian security forces have been seeking emotional counseling, following "internal infighting in Gaza". Dr. Riad al-Aqra, the director for the Gaza hospital for mental health, said that "although the occupation is a major cause for emotional depression for Gaza residents…Palestinian infighting plays a striking role in the increase of shock, tension and depression, present in previously unseen amounts."
Everyone felt great and had a healthy self-image back when killing Jews was the "in" thing to do.
"One member of the Hamas security force came to me suffering from high tension, which was causing physical problems. He said he felt fear from the fact that he would burn in hell forever if he fired even one bullet at someone," the doctor said.

He told of another case, in which a member of the security forces arrived with similar symptoms. "He said he couldn't fire at another Muslim, and that he felt pain and bitterness," al-Aqra said.
So, fire a bullet at a Muslim = burn in hell. Fire a bullet at a Jew = eternal group orgy in paradise. Maybe a frontal lobotomy would be more appropriate than therapy.
Hamas members were troubled by an additional issue this week: an altercation with the Egyptian branch of the hitherto supportive Muslim Brotherhood. The rift occurred after a senior leader in the organization, Abd al-Munam Abu al-Fatouh, announced that the Brotherhood supports the creation of a secular Palestinian state and a bi-national presence in Palestinian, as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Did he mean something along the lines of "peace"?? How dare anyone suggest anything other that killing every last Jew in the Holy Land! Talk about insulting and humiliating...
Hamas members were so incensed by al-Fatouh's announcement that the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Mahdi Akef, had to release a special statement refuting it.
Oh. My. Gosh. A SPECIAL STATEMENT?!?! I had no idea it was this severe.
"No Palestinian has the right to refute this…The Zionists have no choice but to live under the rule of a Palestinian nation in which they will be free to worship their God and enjoy full rights of citizenship," Akef added.
Hence the essence of the conflict. It begs the question, How can one "have no choice" but "be free" at the same time?"If the Zionists do not agree, our Palestinian brothers will have no choice but to resist and undertake all actions that are consistent with holy principles that were given to the Palestinians and that are in accordance with their national interests," he said.
And likewise the Zionists "will have no choice but to resist and undertake all actions that are consistent with" defending themselves against terrorists that stubbornly and insistently refuse to do anything but terrorize.

One thing is for sure: these people are messed up in a bad way because their idea of "therapy" is getting murderers back to killing the "appropriate" people.

Hypocritical British Journalists

2007-04-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

We saw previously how Gaza is living up to its image as the worst place in the world. Now the terrorist-endorsed friends of Palestinians are banned from reporting their self-induced "oppression".
The foreign press corps has abandoned the Gaza Strip in the five weeks since the kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, leading to a significant decrease in coverage. In a statement published on Thursday by the Foreign Press Association [FPA], it announced that "effectively, Gaza has become a 'no-go' zone for our members."
They just figured out what the entire world already knows.
[Bureau chief for ABC and chairman of the FPA Simon] McGregor-Wood acknowledged that "foreign press coverage from Gaza is almost gone; we just don't have the sort of personalized coverage we used to have."

Few foreign journalists are comfortable talking about the situation in Gaza. Those who have managed to make a quick trip there are extremely reluctant to explain how they went in,

Despite widely publicizing Johnston's plight, not all the details on his kidnapping and, more crucially, on the group holding him - the Durmish clan - its demands and methods have been reported by the mainstream news organizations.
I thought reporters were supposed to report the facts to the public?In some cases, this has been to protect Johnston from any possible reprisal and, but also out of fear of future retribution when reporters return to Gaza.
Ah, things like this just inspire one's confidence in whatever news that comes out of Gaza.
McGregor-Wood denied there was any attempt to hide information.
I thought that the article just said that "not all the details on his kidnapping...on the group holding him...its demands and methods have been reported by the mainstream news organizations". I guess we should just forget all of that. McGregor-Wood explains.
"The main problem is that no one really knows for sure even what group is holding him;"
I thought they knew which clan was holding...him.
"...obviously we wouldn't like to offend groups who might be helping him."
Oh well, reporters mustn't offend anyone (except for those who are Israeli or George Bush supporters, that is), especially the kidnappers who are "helping" him.

The real kicker is that the FPA has members in British Association of Journalists, which decided to boycott Israeli goods this week, although journalists in Israel claim they are ignoring the boycott. Fortunately, the FPA calls the British boycott for the bald hyopcrisy it is.
In its meeting on Tuesday, the FPA also condemned the decision by Britain's National Union of Journalists to boycott Israeli goods. In its statement, the FPA said the boycott "runs counter to the core journalistic values which we are here to uphold and defend, namely objectivity and balance" and that it "may prejudice our membership's already difficult task here in striving to interact effectively with all sectors of Israeli and Palestinian society."
Why? Let's see what they have to say about their fellow British BBC reporter Alan Johnston.
The Foreign Press Association also criticized the boycott resolution for failing to mention the plight of Johnston.
There's British journalistic credibility for you.

News Roundup for April 20

2007-04-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

The UN is at it again, poo-poo-ing Israel for more insensitivity toward child terrorists.
A UN envoy [special representative for children and armed conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy] Thursday said Israel's detention of Palestinian children and denial of proper trials are "a problem" that feeds the violence in the region.
And all this time I thought it was the 24-hour a day incitement against Zionists on Palestinian TV, in mosques, and in their school textbooks.
She said she urged Israeli officials to consider rehabilitation instead of detention for children detained on minor charges.
Yes, it's Israel's job to undo all those years of Jew-hating that UN money to the Palestinians funds and fuels.
"The process they are subject to is a military process ... and not a judicial process. That is something that we feel is a problem," she said. "I think children are getting very hard and bitter through this experience."
So is Ms Coomaraswamy saying that the children were not "hard and bitter" before they made the decision to try and kill Jews?Coomaraswamy met with four children in the prison, including one held without trial. A 12-year-old and a 16-year-old were jailed for throwing firebombs, she said. "My sense is this kind of detention practice is feeding the cycle of violence."
My sense is that whoever throws firebombs, or any other kind of terror, is feeding the so-called cycle of violence. But what do I know?

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Amnesty International, who was horrified at dictator Saddam Hussein's execution, is again horrified that Iraq is executing more terrorists (*gasp*).
Iraqi authorities executed at least 65 people - including two women - in 2006, a total surpassed only by China, Iran and Pakistan, the human rights organization said. "This represents a profoundly retrograde step," the report said, "one that should not be overlooked simply because far larger numbers of lives have been lost due to ongoing violence."
I guess they expect Iraq to treat mass murderers like Israel and put them in a country club prison. Anmesty should be horrified that it uses Israel as an example of something good, for once.

----------

Well, Hizbullah continues the 'good cop/bad cop' routine, except the way they do it more resembles 'dumb cop/stupid cop'. The UN is concerned about Hizbullah's rearming themselves with Iranian weapons through Syria, and Hizbullah is self-righteously taken aback.
Hizbullah lashed out at the U.N. Security Council, saying reports of illegal arms smuggling from Syria to Lebanon were "inaccurate," and assuring that the group has enough weapons that it need not be re-supplied.

Resigned Hizbullah Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish said the U.N. report was "definitely inaccurate and unrealistic … for merely political desires to distort the truth in favor of some states."
There he goes throwing his "definitely" around again, so you can be sure he is not telling the truth.
"The Resistance arms' supplies are enough to carry out required missions," Fneish said in remarks published by Lebanese newspapers on Friday. "Hence, it (resistance) is in no need for smuggled arms," Fneish added.
When one is lying, it is vital that one is able to have a good memory. From four days ago:Hizbullah has "enough weapons to defend Lebanon against Israel's aggressiveness," Hassan Nasrallah's advisor said in an interview published Monday by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Halil addressed the organization's rearming by smuggling arms to Lebanon through Syria. "We object the fact that the border between Syria and Lebanon is being supervised, but in any event the weapons possessed by Hizbullah will not run out if the border is closed," he said.
Given Hizbullah's pathological history and mentally unstable leadership, it is not hard to figure out the truth of what is going on in Lebanon.

----------

And finally...

Islam doesn't appreciate witch doctors soiling its image.
Witch doctors have “soiled the image of Islam” by prescribing harmful treatments in the guise of faith healing, according to Muslim clerics and doctors who gathered in Abu Dhabi to affirm the healing powers of the Quran.
Hmm, sounds like we may have a Muslim Benny Hinn soon.
Islam “is not opposed to reason, science and modern technological developments,” Ali Salem al-Kaabi, the head of Abu Dhabi’s Family Development Foundation said at a recent conference,

The conference followed several reports in the Belgian media about faith healing practices of some European Muslim communities which turned into tragedy, including the story of a Moroccan girl who died after drinking several litres (quarts) of water mixed with black cumin oil, which an exorcist had said would purge evil spirits.
Black cumin oil? What on earth is "black cumin oil" and what would possess someone to drink it?The herbal remedy predates Islam and has been administered in the Middle East since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) [Peace Be Upon Him- ed.] is said to have declared that “black cumin heals every disease except for death”.
Since the prophet (PBUH) can't possibly be wrong, this girl apparently just had a bad case of death.
Delegates agreed that the Quran has healing powers, with some going so far as to claim that the holy book can cure AIDS and some forms of cancer.
This is starting to sound a bit creepy.
Many Muslims believe the Koran can cure illness. The most common treatment consists of drinking water with pieces of paper bearing Quranic verses dissolved in it.
Uh, this is starting to sound a bit stupid.
In what he described as a blending of the longstanding practice with modern technology, Sharif Shukran, an Algerian biomedical engineer attending the conference, proposed transforming the sound of Koranic verses into electromagnetic waves and passing them through the water instead.
Ok, this is ridiculous. There's more, though.
In December 2006, a top Malaysian university published a report claiming that the postures used during Muslim prayers benefit the heart and spine, while increasing the capacity for memory and attention.
Of course, this is Islam! It has an answer for everything!Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the study affirmed the power of prayer in a person’s life, the New Straits Times reported in December. “The study investigates the physiological interactions and effects of the salat (prayer) postures on the human body,” Abdullah said.
More likely, it seems that all of that blood rushing to the heads of Muslims when they pray has caused something to go way wrong with their ability to think properly.

News Roundup for April 19

2007-04-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

Iran is promoting the Palestinian cause again, but in a way that does not help.
Venezuela's chare d'affair to Tehran described Palestinian nation as a victim of injustice and inequality, and called on the world countries to open their eyes to the ongoing catastrophe in Palestine.
Actually, the world's eyes see clearly what the Palestinians are doing to themselves, which is why Holland refused to let PM Haniyeh visit them, on the grounds he is a terrorist.

Hamas, of course, disagrees.
Palestinian legislator Dr. Salah Al-Bardaweel of Hamas Movement has scathingly condemned on Thursday the EU “selective” policy in dealing with PA ministers, affirming that attempts to isolate Hamas in the Palestinian arena will definitely fail.
It will definitely fail. Definitely. Definitely it will fail.

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In light of the media's parsing the syllables of whatever Hamas terrorists say to show their new-found "moderation" and acceptance of Israel, Hamas' own Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahar, deputy Palestinian Legislative Council member and the former Palestinian Foreign Minister, clarifies the meaning of the Mecca agreement for everyone.
Dr, Zahhar said that "what happened in Mecca agreement were four issues; firstly , the agreements and laws that are related with the Palestinian issue which was signed by Arab countries and the PLO, but we didn’t mean (Oslo agreements), because it is known here that we did not recognize the Oslo Agreement and we will not recognize it at all.
In other words, when Hamas agreed to "respect" all signed agreements, it meant that it would respect all agreements with Arab countries, but not agreements with Israel.
" regarding the word " respect" or " accept" .. if I respect your views , it doesn't mean that I accept your views. So , the saying that we are accepting the Oslo agreement is not true"
So, they "respect" Israel's view but will unconditionally continue to try to wipe it off of the map despite any agreements they said they would "respect". Is this possible? Al-Zahar explains.
What does commitment mean in Law ?? does respect mean commitment ?? If respect means commitment , then why the two words are different in Language ..they are surely different". If Hamas wanted to recognize "Israel" , we will say it frankly. Hamas does not have the intention to recognize "Israel" at all because we will contradict the Quran,
If anyone thought a signed agreement with these people means anything, think again.

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Hizbullah continues to be stubborn as a mule over the Hariri tribunal. They have major objections about the nature of the tribunal but, for some reason, refuse to say what those objections are.
Hizbullah has stood rigid in its stance, refusing to offer to the U.N.'s top legal adviser Nicolas Michel the group's "observations" on the international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes.

"Undoubtedly, we have remarks about the regulations of the tribunal, but we will only present them to a legitimate (Lebanese) government," he was quoted by An Nahar as saying on Thursday.
And, for Hizbullah, the only "legitimate Lebanese government" in their eyes is one that answers to the call of the foreign occupiers, Syria.
Fneish warned that establishment of the tribunal would "threaten and undermine stability in Lebanon,"
Meaning that Hizbullah is threatening to undermine the stability of Lebanon if they don't get their way.
...adding that international intervention will not solve the months' long political stalemate that has crippled the country.
Meaning that the "months' long political stalemate that has crippled the country" caused by Hizbullah will continue until they get their way.

Hizbullah has one goal: bring Lebanon under full Syrian control for Iranian purposes. They call themselves "Lebanese", but there is no greater enemy to Lebanon that these terrorists.

Terrorist is as terrorist does.

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And finally...

Another endorsement for the balanced, impartial, and fair BBC from a convicted terrorist.
Jailed Tanzim head Marwan Barghouti called for the release of kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who was abducted by gunmen in the Gaza Strip over a month ago.

“I call for the immediate release of the journalist in the name of 10,000 Palestinian prisoners.
I think he means, for the price of 10,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Johnston is a friend of the Palestinian people,” Barghouti said.
Palestinians understand who their friends are. Too bad for Alan Johnston that it didn't benefit him.

Don't Tell the Martyrs

2007-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Some honest Palestinian voices speak about how they feel about the idea of returning to Palestine and Israel if they had the choice.
A large and growing number of young Palestinians born abroad have no interest in coming to the Palestinian Authority or Israel, Palestinians in London have told Ynetnews.

They expressed anger at Palestinian leaders for continuing to trumpet a "right of return," a call which is neither desirable nor realistic, the men said, adding that the demand is merely an attempt to force concessions out of Israel during peace talks.
Is that so?"If we returned to the Palestinian territories, we would feel like second class citizens," he added. "We have different accents,"
But aren't they are your Palestinian "brothers"?"We don't have any homes in West Bank and Gaza. For us, it will be more desirable to live in Arab countries and Europe," he explained.
So much for the "We will redeem our homeland with every last drop of our blood" chants we hear from them on TV all of the time.
"No one wants to live there, not because we don't like our country Palestine, but because we can't live there," Rahim added. "If we all went, it would destroy the Palestinian economy. If we got an opportunity to live in Europe, we would enjoy a good standard of life. We can visit Palestine," he said.
This isn't going to sit well with the martyrs.
"I'm Muslim and I practice my religion and pray every day. I don't feel that talking about where refugees prefer to live will make me a traitor or that I'm working against the Palestinian case," Rahim said. "We want to have an independent Palestinian state, but a lot of refugees will prefer to live in the West if they got that opportunity. Actually, all of the second generation Palestinians born in Lebanese refugee camps don't think about returning to Palestine or living there permanently… from a religious point of view, we have the right to choose what we want if that will make our life better, including living outside of Palestine," he added.
Apparently this guy didn't get the memo.
"They [Arab and Palestinian leaders] want more from Israel - more land, and Jerusalem. We know and they knew that we will not be able to return to Israel or Palestinian territories. They are just using this issue to get more compromise," he argued.
In other words, it's not about peace (hence the formula "Land for Peace" - they want LAND).
"Palestinians do not love Lebanon, and Lebanon does not love us," he said. "We have no right to work, or access to schools and hospitals. We get no citizenship or passports. They do not want us in Lebanon," he said.
Arab brothers treating Palestinians worse that the evil Zionists? No way!"The leaders of Palestinian factions in the Lebanese camps are the only ones speaking," Ali said, but added that they were not representative of the views of many Palestinians. "Our leadership is corrupt... The Palestinian leaders just say what they say because they don't want to admit that the refugees don't want to return," he added.
I'll bet that whatever is left of the martyrs is probably spinning in their graves, or wherever they are strewn.

100

2007-04-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

In celebration of my 100th post I thought I'd do something completely different. Click on the picture, one of my favorites, to get the full effect.

It's a redneck family reunion, I think. I'd be willing to bet there were more than a few brewskis involved somewhere. Good times.

Can't Be Too Careful

2007-04-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

My last post showed that it's ok to marry a goat, but apparently it's not ok for vegetables to intermingle.
Soldiers say the most heinous crimes are committed by al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters, who have attacked hospitals, used female suicide bombers, raped and tortured. They are said to inflict their hard-line religious beliefs in bizarre ways, such as prohibiting shopkeepers from putting cucumbers (considered male) and tomatoes (female) in the same bins.
What exactly are they afraid of? That the cucumbers and tomatoes will give everyone immoral thoughts? Or maybe it's that are they afraid that there will be rampant veggie cohabitation? Just wait until they realize that all those cucumbers together in the same bin is trouble just waiting to happen.

I Wonder If The Honeymoon Is Over Yet

2007-04-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

You gotta wonder about these people (typical BBC does not relate that these are Muslims). From last year:A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal.

The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders.

They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi.
Um.
Mr Alifi, of Hai Malakal in Upper Nile State, told the Juba Post newspaper that he heard a loud noise around midnight on 13 February and immediately rushed outside to find Mr Tombe with his goat.

"When I asked him: 'What are you doing there?', he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up."

Mr Alifi then called elders to decide how to deal with the case.

"They said I should not take him to the police, but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife," Mr Alifi told the newspaper.
Er.
"We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together," Mr Alifi said.
Oy.

I don't think Mohammed had this in mind. Or did he?

And Now For Something Completely Similar

2007-04-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

And you thought that the hysteria over the supposed Zionist AIDS-infected melons story was ridiculous. Now viruses can be caught over cell phones.
Rumours of a deadly virus being transmitted by via mobile phones have caused some mosques in the country’s biggest city, Karachi, to announce that people are dying of a mobile virus and that they should be wary of God’s wrath.
Wow, I was not aware that stupidity is a sin.
Meanwhile, in Lahore, Jinnah Hospital doctors treated two patients claiming to be infected by the “deadly phone virus” after listening to phone calls on their cell phones. The patients said that they needed immediate medical attention. Tariq, one of the patients, said, “While talking to a relative, I couldn’t hear anything for a few moments. I think I’m infected with the mobile phone virus.” The doctor who treated him said they had found no signs of any thing wrong with him.
Obviously the doctor neglected to check the patient's head.
The cellular operators have moved to calm subscribers and said in a joint statement, “The rumours are baseless. They do not make any sense in technological terms.”
But what they don't understand is that the more wild and baseless the rumors, the more likely they will be believed.
Cell phone service providers stated that there was no scientific proof of such claims of deaths through calls. “There is no proof of a virus that can harm the human body after a person receives a call,” they said.
Yeah, just like there is no proof that the Mossad was involved in 9-11.

Oh well, things like this should be no surprise anymore. Apparently people who believe that it's ok to murder others by blowing one's self up in order to promote their faith and get them into an orgy in paradise find no problem believing things like this.

The World's Most Impossible Job

2007-04-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

You have to feel sorry for this woman in the Jerusalem Post article New PA tourism minister aims to 'rebrand' Palestine.
Making sure that local communities benefit from tourism is one of her main objectives as minister. [Ms. Khuloud] Daibes faces formidable challenges in her new job.
That is the understatement of the century.

While trying to market the world's most well-known international terrorist hideout and kidnapping capital as a tourist stop, her job seems to get more difficult with each week that passes. First, two weeks ago,Tuesday, 27 March 2007, four Palestinians, an elderly woman and 3 children, were killed and 20 others injured...when the earth barriers around a sewage disposal pool broke 150 meters to the north of the village. As a result, sewage water flooded...the village... The level of sewage water was 2 meters high in the village.
Now this,Mountains of garbage piled up across Gaza on Saturday and acrid smoke billowed from burning refuse bins as a municipal workers' strike over unpaid salaries spread to the territory's five biggest towns,
Terrorist anarchy, rampant kidnappings, extra-judicial street killings, rivers of sewage, and mountains of garbage. There's a tourism slogan in there somewhere.

Ms. Daibes acknowledges that she can't do it alone.
We are counting on cooperation with the outside world to give Palestine the image it deserves,
Actually, Ms. Daibes, that is exactly what you don't want.

Yes We Have No Fanatics

2007-04-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

I like this. On Wednesday, Israel let some religious Jews up on Temple Mount and everyone up there seemed to go berserk about it. The Palestinian Information Center website said this:Jordan on Wednesday condemned the recent Israeli fanatics' intrusion into the Aqsa Mosque's plazas...
And they show this picture:I guess that they already have plenty of fanatics up there, thank you very much.

Words Cannot Describe...

2007-04-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Absolutely breathtakingly unbelievable. If there was anything remotely redeemable about the UN, this moved it way beyond the point of no return.
On April 9, 2007 there was a United Nations believe-it-or-not moment extraordinaire. At the same time that Iran’s President Ahmadinejad declared his country was now capable of industrial-scale uranium enrichment, the U.N. reelected Iran as a vice chairman of the U.N. Disarmament Commission.

Yes Ripley, the very U.N. body charged with promoting nuclear nonproliferation installed in a senior position the state that the Security Council recently declared violated its nonproliferation resolutions.

So in Iran at the Natanz nuclear facility Ahmadinejad gloated: “With great pride, I announce as of today our dear country is among the countries of the world that produces nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.” And in New York, courtesy of his U.N. platform, Iranian Disarmament Vice-Chairman Seyed Mohammad Ali Robatjazi railed against “noncompliance with the NPT [nuclear nonproliferation treaty] by the United States” and “the Zionist lobby.”
So, Iran gets re-elected to the Disarmament Commission and immediately accuses America and Israel of no complying with the NPT. If that is not enough absurdity, here's more.
It took the U.N. a mere five days to rehabilitate Iran after the British kidnap victims made it home alive. Just the night before on April 8, Faye Turney, the only female victim, revealed her Iranian abductors stripped her to her underwear, caged her in a tiny, freezing cell, and subjected her to mental torture such as leading her to believe that her death was imminent.

But while this was actually happening to Faye Turney, Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico, the president of the U.N.’s lead human-rights body — the U.N. Human Rights Council — was making this announcement, March 26, 2006:

I would like to make the following statement adopted by the Council. One,…the Human Rights Council has in closed meetings examined the human rights situation in…the Islamic Republic of Iran…Two, the Human Rights Council has decided to discontinue the consideration of the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran…Three,…members of the Human Rights Council should make no reference in the public debate to the confidential decisions and material concerning [the Islamic Republic of Iran]…

As the world observed Iran breach and flaunt nearly every international convention of legislated decency for the civilized world, the UN Human Rights Council officially ended their inquiry into Iranian actions and closed the discussion on the subject.

And for the cherry on top:Following the election on Monday of Iran as vice chairman, the U.N. Disarmament Commission elected Syria as its rapporteur.
If you are wondering what it takes to receive criticism from the UN, just ask Israel, who is condemned on almost a daily basis.

News Roundup for April 11

2007-04-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

The first conspiracy of the day is headed by American Vice President Dick Cheney, according to the always dependable and well-informed Hizbullah.
"Dick Cheney has given orders for a covert war against Hizbullah... there is now an American program that is using Lebanon to further its goals in the region," Sheikh Naim Qasem, Hizbullah's deputy secretary general, told the Guardian in an interview published on Wednesday.
There is good reason for Hizbullah to fear Dick Cheney. If he shoots his friends in the face, just imagine how he will treat his enemies.

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Next conspiracy is courtesy of (yawn) the Zionists, whom Saudi Arabia believes controls the US Congress.
“The reasons for that are many, the first of which is the Zionist lobby in the United States,” Prince Turki [Al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to the United States] said... “The lobby supports and encourages Congress members to take hostile stances toward Saudi Arabia,” he said.
If that's the case, I don't know why the USA even bothers to hold elections since every decision is controlled by lobbyists. You'd think that the American voters would have caught on by now.
Prince Turki said that before Sept. 11, 2001, public surveys showed that 45 percent of Americans believed that the Kingdom was a friendly nation. “After it was announced that 15 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the attacks were Saudi, public surveys showed that 60 percent believed that Saudi Arabia was a hostile country,” he said.
Well that proves it. Only a Zionist conspiracy can explain such a shift of public opinion. If it weren't for that, Americans naturally would have all but converted to Wahabi Islam by the droves after 9/11.

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Also from ArabNews, talking about the possible hostage payment Palestinian PM Haniyeh mixes his metaphors.
“The ball is in Israel’s camp and everything now depends on the answer that Israel will give to the just Palestinian demand to free our prisoners,” he said.
Maybe he meant that the bomb is in Israel's camp. Could be.

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Speaking of prisoners, Hamas is appealing to the world over one of their leaders in Israeli jail.
Palestinian lawmakers from the change and reform bloc of Hamas Movement made appeals to the free world and legal and human rights organizations to seriously step in and pressure the IOA [sp] into releasing Dr. Aziz Dwaik, the PLC speaker.
Since when has Hamas ever shown the slightest interest, or even regard, for anything pertaining to freedom, respect for law, or human rights?“The IOF [sp] arrest of the symbol of Palestinian legitimacy and the second man in the PA hierarchy constitutes an unprecedented violation of international laws and conventions, which obviously indicates that the IOA is trampling on those laws”.
And since Hamas only ever made a mockery of all "international laws and conventions", why should anyone in the international community possibly object if this avowed terrorist remains in jail where he deserves to be?

----------

And finally...

Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails apparently don't understand what the concept of "jail" is.
The Palestinian captives in Israeli jails, including women and children, are set to go on a single day hunger strike en masse Wednesday to protest the IOA solitary confinement policy in those jails, Palestinian sources affirmed.
Last I checked, the very idea of jail was supposed to limit prisoners' freedom. maybe getting arrested isn't as fun as they thought it would be.
He [Suleiman Abu Sunaina, prisoners and ex-prisoners’ affairs minister in the PA] added that his ministry was and still is exerting all it could in order to bring the prisoners out of jail and fold their file once and for all.
Fold their file? Must be another metaphorically-challenged Palestinian.
For her part, Palestinian MP Khaleda Jarrar of the PFLP, who chairs the prisoners committee in the PA legislature, criticized statements uttered by a number of PA ministers over the exchange deal, adding, “Premature statements over the issue are indeed tampering with the prisoners’ feelings”.
Bwess their wittle hearts - terrorists have feewings, too, you know.
She also noted that the IOA is denying the captives their religious rights, including free time for prayer.
Actually, if prison and/or solitary confinement does anything, it is most conducive for prayer.
The IOA use the isolation policy as a mean to psychologically and physically torture the prisoners, and to break their determination and morale.
And for criminally insane terrorists, to "break their determination and morale" is just the ticket.

Massacre? Massacre!

2007-04-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Arab MK Mohammed Barakeh asks for a healthy dose of moral equivalence that is hard, if not impossible, to swallow by accusing Israel of
being persistent in committing "massacres" against the Palestinian people all over occupied Palestine although in different manners.
MASSACRES, he says. MASSACRES of "different manners". The MASSACRES are
-coercing Palestinian Jerusalemites and those living in the 1948-occupied lands to gather in specified communities,

-denies them cultivation of their land with the aim to confiscate it after forcing them out of it,

-isolation and confinement of Palestinian citizens dwelling in the Negev desert in Ghettos in preparation to seize their fertile agricultural lands,

-Millions of Palestinian refugees in occupied Palestine, neighboring Arab countries, and in diaspora are the living proof of the ugliness of the Zionist massacres against them over the past six decades,
(Got that? "Living proof" of MASSACRES.)-canceling residency IDs of scores of Palestinian Jerusalemites and demolishing their homes in order to frustrate and force them out of the city,
(Never mind that no proof is given, or if there happens to be a reasonable explanation behind any of these accusations, but) to sum up the MASSACRES: coercing, denying, isolating, confining, confiscating, seizing, canceling, demolishing, frustrating, forcing out.

MK Barakeh is correct that the MASSACRES are of a "different manner": they are the manner of MASSACRES in which no MASSACRE of any sort or stretch of the imagination takes place. Except a MASSACRE of the definition of the term "MASSACRE".

Holding Lebanon Hostage

2007-04-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hizbullah thinks the world should revolve around them. And they scream foul when it doesn't.
Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hizbullah's second in command, has accused the government majority of not wanting an international tribunal, but running Lebanon, instead. "They don't want the court, they want to control Lebanon,"
Isn't that how a government should rule, according to the will of the majority? Seeing how Hizbullah represents a small minority, it seems they are suggesting Lebanon should do what a minority wishes.

The UN Resolution on the Rafik Hariri assassination has a clause that if Lebanon cannot approve the international tribunal into who killed Hariri, the UN can implement the formation of the tribunal without the explicit approval of Lebanon's government and parliament under Chapter 7.
Addressing the ruling team, Qassem said: "If they are threatening us with Chapter 7, this means they don't want the court,"
Then how does he explain the fact that the majority of Lebanese parlaiment met today and overwhelmingly agreed to petition the UN to invoke Chapter 7 since pro-Hizbullah factions are blocking parlaiment convening to vote on it?"They hide behind the tribunal to prevent the opposition from taking part in decision making," he [Qassem] said.
Never mind the fact that he just contradicted himself. If the opposition would let parliament convene and vote, then there would be a decision. But Hizbullah doesn't want democracy to work; they want control.
Qassem also accused the ruling team of blocking "every solution we offer" in an attempt to end the political impasse that has gripped Lebanon for four months.
Every solution they offer gives Hizbullah undue, undemocratic, and (especially) undeserved power in the government. No wonder the majority doesn't accept the offers of the ones preventing the government from even meeting.

So Hizbullah is doing what Hizbullah does best: Terrorizing. This time it is by holding an entire nation hostage politically and economically. They don't care if they rip the country apart with yet another civil war as long as they get the power and control over the Lebanese population at the behest of their Syrian and Iranian masters who want to continue to wreak havoc in the Middle East.

Occupation: the Problem (and the Cure)

2007-04-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is a perfect example of how Palestinians blame Israel while admitting Israel actually helped in every way possible, despite Palestinian incompetence.
The Palestinian ministry of agriculture failed to announce the spread of foot and mouth disease from the north to the south of the West Bank. If the Israeli radio (Arabic language) had not reported the spread, Palestinians would not know.
Palestinians don't announce, but Israel makes aware.
Palestinian officials accused the Israeli occupation of spreading the disease in the West Bank by hindering Palestinian vets from attending to their work through the erection of checkpoints and barriers.
Why did this happen? It's the occupation, stupid!An Israeli civil representative refuted the accusations and claimed that Israel had given the Palestinian vets 500,000 medical doses to fight the disease in Beit Furik, near Nablus and then supplied another 100,000 samples of the serum. A Palestinian official acknowledge the receipt of medicines and expressed gratitude to the Israelis.
Erm, what was that about the "occupation"?However, he condemned the checkpoints and barriers, which obstructed the operating of vets and spread the disease from Nablus to Tulkarem and then Hebron.
Oh yes, it was the occupation. No, I mean it wasn't. Or was it?The Palestinian ministry of agriculture also informed the Israelis that they could not afford the medicines.
Thankfully for them, Israel is generous to those who even hate them to death. Otherwise the disease would be completely out of control and all herds would have to be destroyed.
After the spread of the news, Dr Jihad Beni 'Odeh, the veterinary director of Nablus governorate, admitted that foot and mouth disease had appeared in the governorate 40 days ago.
Good thing Israel was on top of the situation, Dr. Jihad.
He added that the situation nowadays is almost completely under control.
So why the hysterical overreaction about the "occupation" causing a problem? I guess they can't resist any possible opportunity to blame Israel, even if it makes them look stupid.
'Odeh assured citizens that there is no risk in buying meat.
That is, of course, unless he can think of some way the occupation can be accused of endangering the meat-buying process. Stay tuned because I'm sure they will think of something.

UPDATE - Another Palestinian news outlet makes observations on the foot and mouth disease problem in the PA and adds a suggestion of culpability.
...Palestinian ministry of agriculture which was designated to Hamas in the late Hamas led government and which Hamas has insisted on keeping it for another tour, is in a deep coma .
Also
DR. Najat Abu Bakir , a member in the Legislative council , called on the Palestinian ministry of agriculture to show more responsibility towards protecting a large scale of a main source of living for the Palestinian people .
Don't hold your breath waiting for Palestinians to do anything other than fight and kill Jews.

Sacrificially Redeeming That Homeland

2007-04-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

A recent post noted a common Palestinian complaint is that there is little, if any, concern for the nearly "12,000 Palestinian prisoners including women, children" etc. One reason for so many young Palestinians in detention is just good, old-fashioned hooky.
The Israel Prison Service conducted a study following a high rise in the number of Palestinian youths being held in security prisons.

The study showed that the boys would intentionally carry out light offences in order to be arrested so they can sit their matriculation exams from prison, where they get allowances on their exams.
The sad fact is that the youths know that committing crimes against Israel and being arrested will bring only benefits and prestige, and with the knowledge that nothing negative or bad will ever come of their incarceration in any way.

The message here is very clear: Crimes against Israel do pay, one way and another.

British Marines Actually AWOL

2007-04-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Iranian news makes the claim that the British Marines are not being held against their will.
British Marines Enjoying So-Called Captivity

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- While British Prime Minister Tony Blair still makes wrathful statements about the TV interviews of his country's marines, the latest series of photographs released by FNA display that British troops are enjoying their ideal conditions in Iran.
It's just like shore leave, except in a fundamentalist Islamic warmongering nation that may put them to trial and execute them.
Today's photographs show that the British troops are having fruit and coffee, speaking to each other, playing chess and on the whole spending their desirable leisure time in Iran instead of serving missions in the cumbersome conditions of the Persian Gulf.
Yeah, why would people who chose this line of work want to actually be doing that sort of thing?The 15 detainees, including 8 sailors and 7 British marines, were arrested by Iran's boarder guards on 23 of March, 2007.
Hence the title of the article "So-Called Captivity".
Despite allegation by some western media that the marines had made the confessions under duress, photographs, specially[sp] those taken today, prove that the British troops have acknowledged to their guilt freely and under an open atmosphere.
Right. Imagine this scenario - Iran to marines: "You have 2 choices: Admit you trespassed and we give you good food, clean clothes, and you'll live to see your family, friends, and homeland again soon; or if you would like to deny trespassing, the sweaty, muscled, hairy man behind you will chop off your head in front of this video camera after he has had his 'way' with you in front of the video camera, all of which will be distributed all over the internet and news media outlets. You are free to choose."

Who else would like to be a "so-called captive" of Iran? Any takers? Anyone?

More News from Balestinian Wepsites

2007-04-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

In a previous post we saw RBG's. Now we're seeing "pullets".
Palestinian medical sources said that Palestinian injured seriously after he received four pullets in his body.
Must have come from a bistol.

Weeping, Wailing, Gnashing Teeth

2007-04-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, dubbed the world's most powerful woman by Forbes magazine, visited Palestinian high-ranking "sources" and left them extremely disappointed. Get your big box of tissues ready.
-[Merkel] lacked all elements of common decency and respect,
And what exactly are the "elements of common decency and respect"?-was not polite as a high-ranking official like her should be,
Exactly how polite should a high-ranking official be?-failed to observe basic codes of conduct,
Where exactly does one find a listing of the "basic codes of conduct"?-did "everything possible to provoke the Palestinian people",
In other words, Merkel did not kiss up to them and empathize with them enough. Clear provocation.
-underestimated the suffering of these people,
And after this trip will never underestimate the Palestinian ability to complain and blame Israel for everything under the sun.
-interested only in the case of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit,
Who is a soldier kidnapped by terrorists.
-did not say a word about 12,000 Palestinian prisoners including women, children, old people and sick people, in Israeli jails,
The majority of whom were arrested for being involved in terror-related activities.
-visited the families of the three captured Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and Gaza she refused to meet any of the families of the Palestinian prisoners,
She refused to engage in moral equivalence between terrorists and non-terrorists.
-discrimination was obvious in her visit from the very beginning,
-refused to meet Abbas in Bethlehem to see the separation wall, which causes endless suffering to Palestinians,
Probably because the source of suffering from the wall is the terror which Palestinians refuse to oppose.
-refused, even during Easter to witness the Israeli measures of restriction on Christians, banning them from entering the holy city of Bethlehem,
Christians, who are pawns cynically used by the Palestinians for their propaganda purposes.
-cancelled a meeting with the representatives of the Palestinians Non-Government Organisation's[sp],
Which are repetitious anti-Israel boilerplate wastes of time events.
-concentrated only on the issue of Shalit and did not pay much attention to the issue of peace process or the Israeli measures on the ground, which make the lives of Palestinians unbearable,
Israeli "measures on the ground" are, in fact, controlled by Palestinian actions "on the ground".
-refused to meet any of the ministers despite the decisions of the Europeans to meet with some of the ministers, thus contradicting the trend of the EU,
Trends are not laws or obligations. It's a free world.

And under the heading "Holocaust Hangover", more complaints.
The result of the visit of Merkel, according to the sources, "raises the question about the impact of a biased Germany policy, how can such a policy play a role in reviving the peace process and how can Merkel be a fair party?"
Not "fair" in the moral equivalent sense of the term, but "fair" in the moral sense of the term.
Finally, the sources asked whether "the Palestinian people have to pay the price for the suffering of the Jews and the crimes committed against them?"
No, the Palestinian people have to pay the price for their own terrorist actions and the crimes committed by them.

I can understand their dilemma, but I do not see the problem. Kudos to Chancellor Merkel.

Legislating Unholy Gas

2007-04-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I kid you not. Islam has a rule for everything, according to a question/answer session on Arab News.
Q.1. It is reported by Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (peace be upon him) woke up at night, performed ablution and then offered some voluntary prayer, then he slept and snored before rising again and offering prayer, without performing ablution anew. Does not sleep invalidate ablution? If so, how should we understand this Hadith?
Confused? Read on.
A.1. Sleep in itself does not invalidate ablution. If you sleep while sitting on a chair, your ablution remains valid, even though your sleep may take an hour or longer.
Really?This is because while seated, wind cannot be discharged.
In other words, one supposedly can't fart while seated. That statement is obviously completely false.
No other way of invalidating ablution takes place.
Ah, the crux of the dilemma: apparently one's previous ablution is invalidated by the soiling action of farting. Did not know that.
Take the case of a person who lies down and gets to sleep, then wakes up later. If someone tells him that he was close to him throughout and he neither heard nor smelled any discharge of wind...
That's FART in layman's terms.
...from him during his sleep, he can perform prayer without having a fresh ablution. He relies on the information of this person to make sure that his ablution was still valid.
You better hope that the person is telling the truth. This is a good assumption to make because you better believe that if I heard someone fart in the middle of the night, they'd be sure to hear all about it the next day AND for many moons to come.
Some scholars, however, notably Ibn Hazm, maintain that any sleep invalidates ablution and we need to perform ablution after we wake up if we wish to pray.
Better safe than sorry, you know.
The Hadith does not say that the Prophet (peace be upon him) snored, nor has it ever been reported that the Prophet snored when asleep.
Apparently snoring is not apropros for a prophet.
The Hadith mentions that the Prophet lied down, then blew out his breath, then rose and prayed without ablution.
Nope, that definitely doesn't qualify as a "snore".
Ibn Abbas does not mention that the Prophet actually slept.
I'm sure he was just resting his eyes.
The overall impression we get is that the Prophet had a few minutes of rest, and that his breathing was audible at the time.
Maybe he was just pretending in order to raise the issue for future discussion. Who knows?The fact that he went to prayer without performing ablution suggests one of two possibilities:
Only two? Drumroll please.
either he was certain that he did not get to sleep, but merely relaxed so that his breathing was regular and audible, or he was informed by the angel Gabriel that his ablution remained valid.
There is yet a third possibility not raised: Mohammed (peace be upon him) fell asleep and floated a stanker.

Saying It Again

2007-04-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Yet more fine reporting from Hamas' website about a supposed invasion of Gaza by the IDF.
Abu Obiada , the spokesman of the Qassam Brigades said "we have nothing to lose, but this invasion will not be a walk in the park for the enemy. We will turn the Strip into a graveyard for soldiers of the occupation’
He further adds:"We have nothing to lose, but this invasion will not be a walk in the park for the enemy. We will turn the Strip into a graveyard for the soldiers of the occupation.”
I guess if you keep saying something, eventually you will come to believe it. Keep at it, Abu Obiada.

News Roundup for March 28

2007-03-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Two terrorist kidnappings, no connection at all claims terrorists in Gaza.

The spokesman [Abu Mujahid of the PRC] also charged that the Israeli attempt to connect between the two incidents was a “desperate” step on the part of Israel that aims at tarnishing the shiny image of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance.
The kidnappings do not tarnish their "shiny" image, but rather the attempt to make a connection between the two is what is damaging. The brilliance continues:“The Palestinian resistance isn’t harming friends of the Palestinian people or those supporting the Palestinian question like Johnston. They are our visitors and we deal with them in a distinguished hospitality”, the spokesman underlined.
Some distinguished hospitality that is. Anyway, I thought reporters like Johnston were supposed to be impartial transmitters of news, not reporting their bias as fact. Oh, silly me - he works for the BBC.

----------

Speaking of bias, Nasser Al-Lahham, the editor-in-chief of the Palestinian news agency Ma'an shares his thoughts.
However, the Arab summit in Riyadh will mark the last chance for Israel to survive in peace. There will be no new Arab generation to trust political solutions while Israel forcibly depends on military might.
With talk of "peace" like that, no wonder Israel relies on military might.
The issue is not only related to direct threats to the existence of Israel. It is a more comprehensive threat to the whole Arab political system which prevails in the Arab orient. Israel does not bear the elements for political cessation, and the Arab summit will be of great influence on the prevailing Arab system.
Now he's trying to sound smart. If you don't understand what he just said, it's because you are not as smart as him.
Israel has always gone to the extreme regarding time.
How does one go to an extreme with regard to time?
The Israelis have always undermined the time element, and depended on military power since their beginning in 1948.
What is the "time element" and how does Israel always undermine it?Then they occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967.
Maybe I'm just not smart enough to follow what he's saying.
In 1978, the Israeli prime minister at the time, Menachem Begin, abandoned the Camp David treaty after he signed it with the Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat.
Um, Israel gave the Sinai back completely. What is he talking about?

Now for the good news (for him).
The most important part is the belief amongst the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim new generation that Israel will not survive for more than 7 years even if it possesses the whole nuclear arsenal of the globe.
Big words, but is anyone willing to put money on that?

So, Mr. Editor-in-chief, if you were an Israeli, what would you do?If I were an Israeli, I would have apologized to Abu Mazen immediately and asked forgiveness from Ismail Haniyeh. I would have told the Saudi monarch: "Please, your majesty, help us and excuse our foolishness when we refused your peace initiative in 2002.
Hutzpah and ignorance - an embarrassing combination.

I wonder: how did this ridiculous guy get to be an editor-and-chief? Must be the occupation.

----------

The Palestinian government is all things to all people in the article Government of Resistance and Peace. And all this time I thought resistance and peace were mutually incompatible with each other.
The [Palestinian] government is already fostering an atmosphere of optimism among Palestinians and is already drawing generally positive reactions in the region and throughout the world.
If "generally positive reactions" means non-acceptance and no aid, then what would a negative reaction look like?And when the callous policy of starvation failed to achieve Israel’s goals, the Israeli government sought to implode Gaza by encouraging and inducing infighting among Palestinians.
Of course Israel is the only possible reason for all of the infighting.
Now, the Israeli government argues that it can’t recognize, let alone hold peace talks with the new government because it has failed to meet conditions imposed by the so-called Quartet (UN, US, EU and Russia).

Well, the Quartet conditions are not a holy text.
Neither is the Hamas charter, but they sure act like it is.
Moreover, the government, while asserting the legitimacy of resistance against a sinister military occupation, which is an enduring act of rape, has also voiced sincere willingness to consolidate and extend the present ceasefire with Israel and extend it to the West Bank.
Israel can do without any more Palestinian "ceasefires". It is hard to tell the difference between the actual fighting and the ceasefire.
As for adhering to outstanding agreements, the government platform says it will respect these agreements which successive Israeli governments never really respected or accepted in any genuine manner.
Israel evacuated from Gaza, not to mention all of the other territory it turned over to the Palestinians. And never mind that the Palestinians never did anything beyond "respect" (whatever that means) the less-than holy agreements.
The truth of the matter, however, is that Israel is using the Quartet conditions as a red herring, a cheap distraction and a kind of propagandistic excuse to blur and cover up its rejectionism and intransigence.
If so, then call Israel's bluff! They accuse all day but won't put their money where their mouth is.
Needless to say, the reason for this overwhelming insolence is Israel’s adamant refusal to pay the price for peace, namely giving up the stolen goods, the spoils of the 1967 war.
Let me get this straight - Muslim nations, who didn't want peace, fought a war and lost land to Israel, and will now give peace if Israel gives the same land up, putting Israel in the same situation as before.
Israel doesn’t tell the truth when it claims there is no Palestinian partner for peace. The new Palestinian government is the right partner and the right address.
Really? I guess they didn't listen to Hamas.
Hence, if Israel is truly interested in peace, not in public relations theatrics and futile prevarication, it should declare openly before the world its willingness to end the occupation and dismantle the Satanic colonies.
What a drama queen. Satanic colonies? Yes, settlements are worse than suicide terror aimed at women and children.
Israel may be dreaming of seeing a Palestinian Sa’ad Hadad or an Antoine Lahd or another similar quisling. But that won’t happen at all. Traitors in Palestine don’t live long.
That's for sure. They are taken out and shot in the street in the name of Islamic vigilante justice.

----------

And finally...

The deep and thoughtful Muammar al-Qaddafi shares his wisdom with us again.
The Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, has told Al-Jazeera satellite channel that the agenda of the Arab summit was prepared in the USA...
If only. That explains the condemnation of America and Israel, as well as forcing Israel to accept the Arab initiative for "peace" requiring Israel to accept Palestinian refugees into Israel. Yep, straight from America. However, the Colonel is deeply concerned about the plight of the poor Palestinian refugees, who are so dear to his heart.
He also said that he is planning to send all the Palestinians living in his country – some 30,000 – to Palestine to prove that there is no solution to the conflict and because he refuses to be part of the deal which intends to sell the Palestinian people and issue, which he said the Arab leaders are complicit in.
I'm sure the Palestinians in Algeria are thrilled to hear this.
Qaddafi also said that he admires US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice because of her colour and African origins, and because she has reached such a high position in the USA government.
Sounds like the Colonel might have a little case of Jungle Fever.
He told the channel that he feels sorry for the Arab leaders as they can do nothing in the face of American pressure.
Maybe the Arab leaders could take a few lessons from the Colonel on how to sweet talk the "colour"ful Condi into lessening the American pressure.

News Roundup for March 25

2007-03-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

The Jerusalem Mufti is sounding the alarm again.
Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, warned Sunday of the Israeli plans targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque.
And what might those plans be?He asserted that Israeli extremists have been calling for imposing new defacto inside al-Aqsa Mosque.
I do wonder, how exactly does one impose a new defacto?

Honestly, if Israel wanted to do something to that mosque, they would go right in and do it. If Israel wanted to destroy the mosque, that puppy would be nothing but a cloud of dust drifting over the Saudi peninsula. Forget about it.

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Iran cries foul over UN sanctions imposed on them.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman in reaction to the UN Security Council Resolution 1747 against Iran said that the decision by the UN Security Council is a blatant violation of the UN Charter which deprives the Iranian people of the right of development and education.
According to that logic, I guess suicide bombing terror is a fundamental right of "development and education" also protected by the UN charter: better suicide bomb belts still need to be developed to more effectively kill Zionists, and it educates impressionable Palestinian children how to best liberate their homeland for the sake of Allah.

Now them's Human Rights!

Arafat Un-hat-ed

2007-03-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

Anyone wonder what Arafat looked like without his kaffiyah?
Not much of an improvement.

Insh'allah

2007-03-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas responds to Israel's suggestion for a "mutual calm".
Abbas said that the mutual calm accord will be beneficial to both of the Palestinian and Israeli sides , rejecting the Israeli concerns that the military groups will make use of the calm agreement for re armament .
Absurd!...?President Abbas pointed out that Palestinians had committed earlier to a unilateral calm from one side but it did not work out .
Didn't work out? If you wonder what he's talking about then see this report from a month after the ceasefire began. An excerpt:In a time where the IDF is not returning fire, the Palestinians are firing more and more [!] Qassams. [...] In contrast, during the months of February, April, August, and September, the months where there was no calm, there were less Qassam attacks than during the ceasefire.

A few of the Qassams which hit Sderot

Well, that ceasefire just "didn't work out". Some things are just inevitable, I guess. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. It wasn't written in the stars. Can't argue with fate.

Ahmed Yassin: Rest in Pieces

2007-03-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

How could I have missed it? Yesterday is the third anniversary of Hamas-founder Ahmed Yassin and, as expected, the Palestinian press is wallowing in their fond memories of the death cult creator. It seems like it was only yesterday...
The date was dived in the heart of every Palestinian.
It was dived into my heart, as well.
People were very sad and voices were very loud morning the death of the number one leader of the Palestinian people.
I thought Yasser Arafat was their "number one" leader. Let's call it a tie and say that they are both "number two", as Beavis and Butthead would affectionately say (huh-huh, you said "number two", huh-huh).
It was not normal morning on Monday 22-3-2004.The sky covered with black smoke, ,[?] sounds of the homemade bombs were fired by the young children...
How unusual.
Men were going no where and women were crying behind the doors.
I'm confused because all that seems like a perfectly normal day in Gaza to me.
At five o'clock in the morning , thousands of Palestinians rushed from their sleep unbelieving the news. They were covering the entrance of the "dead refrigerators" in Shifa hospital in Gaza, where he is buried.
Hmmm. Another report gives a different account.
The scene was very bitter… everywhere there were relics of the blood and the flesh of Sheikh Yassin.
Sounds more like he was buried in a thermos.

Of course, the accusations and condemnations from Palestinians fly like an air to surface missile from an F-16.
Former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon ordered and personally supervised the assassination of the Sheikh.
Wait another few years and the story will evolve to say that Ariel Sharon was flying the F-16 and fired the missile himself.

Thankfully, everything bad that happens to Hamas doesn't even faze them, and actually strengthens them.
...the death of Hamas’ founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin had revived the Arab and Muslim Ummah, and the entire world.

...the Israeli assassination of Yassin had bolstered the world’s sympathy and support to the Palestinian question, and strengthened Hamas further rather than weakening it.

...losing Yassin was uneasy and painful for Hamas, yet, he asserted, a strong Movement like Hamas wasn’t affected by it leader’s assassination.

...“Hamas’ swift recovery, firmness, and steadfastness after the killing of its founder had confused the entire world in general, and the Israeli occupation government in particular, proving that Hamas was and still is a great and well-established organization”
So confused is Israel that they have become Hamas' greatest "supporter" because they, more than anyone, don't hesitate to "bolster" Hamas and their leadership any and every chance they get.

Way to confuse them, Hamas!

News Roundup for March 22

2007-03-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

America is doing what is not acceptable to the Palestinians.
Dr. Ziad Abu Amre, the PA foreign affairs minister, has criticized the USA “selective” policy in dealing with PA unity government ministers, affirming that such discriminatory policy is rejected by the PA unity government.
America is practicing "discrimination". Not of the racial sort, but between full-fledged terrorists and corrupt terror enablers. I agree with Dr. Amre that America shouldn't discriminate between the two.
Abu Amre affirmed that the PA unity government is one and integrated body reflecting the Palestinian unity, and therefore, he asserted, “dealing selectively with members of the government is something unacceptable”.
Ok, since America doesn't want to deal with Hamas, then America should make Dr. Amre happy and not deal with the unity government at all. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

----------

Iran is still upset at the silly Hollywood movie 300.
The statement released by the Iranian embassy in Paris further adds that all throughout history, the Iranian culture has proved to be the culture of friendship, peace seeking and avoiding war, a culture the symbols of which have been printed on the UN walls.
Well, after trashing the UN's authority and legitimacy last week, suddenly the Iranians are invoking the UN as a source of authority and legitimacy. Which is it Mahmoud?

Regardless, Iran's specific complaints are two-fold. First:The statement further adds that the film '300' lacks credit not only because of hostile fabrication of the Iranian culture...
It's not just the belligerent lies,...but also because of having employed an outdated and old fashion method in fabricating the cultures of other nations...
but also using lazy, uncreative methods for lying. That's the REAL problem here.

Iran really needs to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously.

----------

While on the subject of excessive self-esteem, the Palestinians don't want to be left out.
BAGHDAD, (PIC)-- Palestinian refugees in Iraq have accused the government of Iraqi premier Nuri Al-Maliki of intentionally defaming their image and attempting to instigate the Iraqi people against them.
All of those years of hard work building up the proud Palestinian image of prestige, honor, and respect - down the proverbial tubes.

----------

And finally...

The government in Gaza is expressing their "unity" again.
Hessian AL Wali , Fatah's information official northern of Gaza Strip claimed the responsibility of the events which shot out in northern Gaza yesterday on Hamas .
First, terror "happened", then it "broke out", now it is "shot out".
Wail told Palestine's voice radio that all the crimes which were committed against Fatah's leaders and members , were carried out by identified members from the Qassam brigades and the executive force , he added " I have updated the follow up national committee by all the events which took place " . He pointed out that all who had participated in killing Rami Sorour and launching RBG projectiles...
For the uninitiated, an "RBG" is a "Rocket Brobelled Grenade". The grammatical minefield continues.
...at Sameeh AL Madhoon's house were members from Hamas and the executive force , and those who killed Mohamed Itema were also members of Hamas and the executive force , in addition to those who prevail fear , tense , occupy citizens houses and burn them up were also members of Hamas and the Qassam brigades .
Uhhh, ok. That's about all I can take today.

News Roundup for March 21

2007-03-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

When Hamas fighting wing spokesman Abu Obaida was asked the ambiguous question "what you expect this resistance to comprise from the new government", he ambiguously answered:We don’t' expect the government to take any security action against resistance factions as with the case in previous governments but the government will not be involved directly in the resistance that is for the resistance factions to conduct .
Okay. It seems that his run-on sentence means that "government Hamas" will not commit terror because that is the job of "resistance Hamas'". Hamas claims that their aims represent the entire Palestinian people, yet they expect the international community to distinguish between the divisional nuances of Hamas.
Abu Obaida added that " I would expect that Palestinians as a whole are in support of resistance and trying to grow the wide between government and resistance factions is not something accurate."
Or understandable. One has to wonder why can't anyone "grow the wide".
"Palestinians people as a whole government , Palestinian factions , political parties are under occupation and the Palestinian people as a whole exercise their right to resist and so trying to divide government and people and factions is something that is very realistic."
I think he means "UNrealistic", but who knows with these people?

----------

For Hamas, when it comes to America, there is no love lost.
Deputy-head of Hamas’ bloc in the PLC Dr. Yahya Mousa has affirmed that the USA “satanic” policies against the Arabs and Muslims had generated waves of hatred against it across the Arab and Muslim world.
Satanic? Waves of hatred? Muslim Kurds would not agree. Iraqi polls show that Arabs don't want America to leave any time soon. Satanic indeed.
“The USA occupation of Iraq had indeed dragged the entire world 100 years backward, and revived the mentality of imperialism, colonialism, and slavery”
Yes, Hamas was so much more favorably disposed toward the United States before the Iraq invasion. But that's beside the point.
He also opined that the way the USA dealt with the democratically elected PA Hamas-led government serves as a paradigm for the way it would deal with Arab countries practicing real democracy...
The PA practices real democracy? Saddam and baby Assad hold "elections", too, but that doesn't mean that they have democracies.
He also confirmed that the USA policy in the Arab region won’t succeed, declaring that the Arab world won’t surrender under those US strikes, and that the strikes would strengthen the Arab world rather than weaken it...
Then they should hope and pray that America will strike harder, more frequently, and with less restraint in order to really strengthen the "Arab world".

So if America is "Satanic" how can Hamas possibly accept, much less beg for, such corrupt, tainted, and immoral money?

----------

In Lebanon, the Hizbullah-led "opposition" contradicts itself again when referring to the sit-in that has paralyzed the country for the last four months.
Hizbullah's number two, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said the "main goal" of the sit-in was to tell the world that Lebanon "is in trouble."
Well done, mission accomplished. Now get out of Beirut.
Rather than intending to "paralyze" Lebanon, Qassem said that "the sit-in is meant to denounce all attempts to paralyze Lebanon on the political, social and economic levels."

Got that? They are paralyzing Lebanon in order to "denounce all attempts to paralyze Lebanon".

Any questions?

----------

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wished the Iranians a happy Iranian new year (1386 for those of you keeping count) with a predictably optimistic message.
President Ahmadinejad said that Iran's foreign policy last year was dynamic and influential...
That's for sure. Just see all the attention Iran is getting from the UN's Security Council.
...while friendly ties with other nations were expanded and the rights of the Iranian nation preserved adding that last year tens of new agreements were signed with other countries and tens of joint projects went into operation.
Not hundreds, not scores, not dozens, but tens! Tens!!Making reference to the measures taken by some big powers to launch psychological war and propaganda against the Iranian and other nations of the world aimed at securing their illegitimate interests...
Uh oh.
...president Ahmadinejad stated, "They have experienced failure in the face of the strong logic of the Iranian nation while other nations of the world have risen to reject these powers..."
Yet another foolish victim falls before the face of that Iranian strong logic. When will they ever learn?"...therefore, they are now intending to launch a propaganda and psychological war..."
Didn't he just mention above "launch psychological war and propaganda"? I guess that's one effect of the countless "psychological war" attacks.
He further stated that the main problem of the present world is the result of the performance of a number of racist Zionists who have dominated the centers of power and the mass media and intend to keep the world people in the state of poverty, hardship and animosity in order to ultimately stabilize their sovereignty over the world, but the great nation of Iran is opposed to this trend and insists on its stances, however, those bullying powers are unaware of the fact that they have launched a war against nations, human values and civilization through already failed methods.
What is it with Middle Easterners and run-on sentences? Apparently they think they appear more formidable if they butcher the measly rules of pitiful grammar.

----------

And finally...

America just doesn't understand the Muslim mind despite efforts to win them over. What is the solution? One columnist has a solution.
Instead of championing the loud voices of the secular minority who are capturing media attention with their conferences, manifestos and memoirs, the United States would be wise instead to pay more attention to the far less loquacious majority.

Actually, America is listening. And for Muslims, that is the problem.

Pavlovistinians

2007-03-20T11:47:00.001-07:00

Hamas loves to portray themselves as a logical, calculating organization. And that they are. Except for one thing: they lack intelligence, which is key in avoiding stupid decisions and saying embarrassing things. Here is another example from their entertaining website titled: "The Zionist forces tried to trap the resistance men by exchanging glasses but failed".

The occupation forces tried many times to trap the resistance men in order to get their soldier without releasing any Palestinian prisoner [sp]. They searched a lot for the war arrested [?] soldier in the best tools [?] that they have. However, their intelligence attempts [?] falls down in front of the great will of the resistance men.

Horrible English aside, this simply means that Israel hasn't yet got a Palestinian "brother" to betray them. Yet.

Zionist Channel2 TV reported on Monday that representatives of the International Red Cross have been trying for over a week to contact the captors of the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in order to deliver spectacles to him upon his family's request, but they refused.

I guess this qualifies as treating him humanely according to the tenants of Islam, if you go by what Hamas leader Haniyeh said himself before. Regardless, Hamas stands firm.

According to Channel 2, the rejection to meet the Red Cross representatives is due to security concerns. The arrests are afraid [?] that the issue of spectacles is a trap to reveal the place where Shalit is being found [?].

Can you say "paranoia"?

the [sp] spokesman of the PRC, Abu Mujahid, said, "We refuse to receive anything from Shalit's parents and the Palestinian factions are taking good care of his needs."

Imagine the outcry if Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails took away just ONE of their privileges, such as cell phones, radios, family visits, televisions, mail.

It seems that Islam's version of being "treated well" falls rather short when compared to infidels.

Zionists have a history of incidents like this when they used Red Cross delegates as a Trojan horse. In one incident, they used Red Cross uniforms to storm an airplane which was hijacked by a group of Palestinians and forced it to land at Ben Gurion airport. That incident caused a huge crisis between the International Red Cross and the Palestinian resistance.

The Red Cross fell out of favor with terrorist for not going along with their terror. What was the Red Cross thinking?

In another incident, Israel assassinated a Palestinian leader, Wadi' Haddad, with a delivery of poisoned chocolate.

Oops.

They also sent an ambushed gun to a resistance leader in Bethlehem, who lost a leg when the gun exploded.

Oops. Gotta look out for those "ambushed" guns.

Also , our Qassam leader Yehaya Ayyash was trapped by a mobile sent to him by one Palestinian traitor and was assassinated by the Zionist planes in 1996.

Oops. No wonder they are worried about a pair of reading glasses.

Thus, the resistance men will not be caught in the Zionist trap more than a hundred times and will never defeated by such a mockery trick.

You can fool them 70, 80, 90, times, but you are dreaming if you think you can do it more than 100.

Pavlov's dog ain't got nothin' on Hamas.

Let Them Eat Letters

2007-03-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Palestinians are in full self-congratulation mode after agreeing to a unity government. Ever since influential Norway decided to recognize the terror government, the Palestinians have been just giddy about the scraps of attention they are getting for it.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has received many letters of congratulations for the formation of the new unity government.

Many. What constitutes "many"?

He received a letter from the Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, Ashraf Aqil, and another letter from the Palestinian ambassador to Yemen, in addition to a letter from the well known Islamic scholar, Sheikh Yousif Qaradawi.

Let's see, if you count the Norwegians you have 2 governments, 1 of their own ambassadors, and a sheikh. Now that's "many".

On one hand, the Palestinians complain about the boycott of international aid. But on the other hand, seeing how they refuse to renounce terror and, in fact, returned to business as usual, maybe they can just deep-fry some of those letters and serve them for dinner.

No reward for terror. Ever.

News Roundup for March 19

2007-03-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

Terrorist groups are bickering again over who is the big man in the refugee camp.
[Fatah's spokesman Jamal] Nazal described Dahlan's appointment as a smart blow and a test for the intentions of those who only want to talk about reconciliation but would not commit practically to it .
There's one of those "intentions of those who only want to talk about reconciliation but would not commit practically to it" tests again.
" Hamas had appointed ministers and MP who were involved in financial and administrative corruptions , but it is so funny that Hamas will now refer to the Basic Law which Hamas had accused earlier of including illegal and secular articles which are rejected from Hamas 's point of view ",.
Yuk yuk yuk, sooo funny.

----------

Hamas is the perfect organization and they have no problems.
Palestinian MP Mushir Al-Masri of Hamas has categorically denied any political rift within Hamas Movement over the political platform of the PA unity government, describing rumors in this regard as “splatters and imaginations”.
What dopes, thinking they can splatter Hamas.
...the Movement had experienced a lot of those “disquieting news” in the past; yet such lies strengthened Hamas rather than weakened it.
So why does Hamas speak out against lies that are a source of such strength?Masri affirmed that the PA unity government is an integrated government that couldn’t be dealt with selectively.
In other words, the unity government should be completely shunned altogether.
“We hope that the EU countries would be more prudent and would take rational steps away from the USA policy that blindly adopts Israel’s vision”, Masri concluded.
No Al-Masri, because the EU is being "prudent" and taking "rational steps" they adopt "Israel's vision" of shunning you with their eyes wide open.

----------

How to blame others for your failure while not failing at a job that no one could succeed at.
Former interior minister, Said Siyam, told Al Aqsa Satellite Channel, which is loyal to Hamas, that the year of his leadership has been full of hardships.
Bless his heart.
"I was very patient and have never investigated any patriotic person."
Glad to see he was doing his job. And he wonders why anarchy prevailed on Gaza under his watch?When asked about whether he failed in his job he said "I did not fail...
Of course he didn't, never mind that the security situation in Gaza has never been more abysmal. Ever. But remember: it was not his fault.
...they made me fail."
If it wasn't for people he would have been a complete success.
"I was not given the chance to work properly and that is why nobody can judge if I succeeded or if I failed."
You may see complete failure, but you are in no position to make that assessment.
He added that no other minister could succeed in this post.
If he was a failure in his post, then obviously no else could do better. It's not easy to be such a great and wonderful person.
He said that he feels happy for leaving the post.
Not as happy as everyone else in Gaza.

----------

Hamas, who agreed to the unity government that renounces violence against Israel, boasts about, um, violence against Israel.
Snipping [sp] a Zionist soldier near Karni Entrance and firing two mortar shells
The "Zionist soldier" that was "snipped" (sniped) was actually a civilian employee of an electric company.
In response to the occupation forces attacks on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades mujahedeen shot at a Zionist soldier and fired two mortar shells at the same group...
Way to renounce that violence.

----------

In Gaza, explosions just happen.
Security sources reported that a big explosion broke out in ALaa Al Hissi's house , a two floors [sp] house close from the supplies centre in the camp , th eexplosion [sp] resulted in severe damages [sp] to the house and the near by [sp] houses [.]
Imagine how this would be described if Israel had something to do with it.
The Islamic Jihad radio said that ALaa AL Hissi was one of it's members
Hmmm, a terrorist and an explosion.
...reasons for the explosion have not been revealed yet .
Gee, wonder what it could possibly be.
ALaa Al Hissi was seriously injured , then was submitted to a surgery operation at AL Shefaa hospital in Gaza in an attempt to save his life but unfortunately he died .
Call it a form of justice.

Ahmadinejad Answers His Own Mail

2007-03-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

The progressive Iranian President has his own blog. In it he answers fan mail obviously written by himself. Here's a letter from an American mother who supposedly lost her son serving in Iraq. If English is your first language, imagine the probability that this was written by an American.
2007/03/16

Mr. President

I am writing you this letter as a mother who her son was sent to Iraq forcibly and has been taken away from her for ever.

You may know it or not that most of the Americans do not like Bush. He is (….). We do not recognize him as our president. He entered the white house by cheating. He is not a legitimate president. Even a great number of American mothers who their sons were not sent to Iraq, are agree with me. They know Bush as (….).

Mr. President! As much as we hate war, we hate Bush and his gangs! I want you know that if you intend to attack U.S., most of the people are like me here. We can’t stop his stupid acts for now, but I am writing this letter, because I know you as a pious and logical man.

I am not scared of Bush and his gangs or his security forces, but since I do not want them to interrupt my battle and my fellow Americans’ struggle against this administration, please keep my name and identification anonymous.

With best wishes
This is a case of someone with a much too high of an opinion of himself. Let's just hope he continues to publicly embarrass himself like this.

More Fun with Palestinians and Numbers

2007-03-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Previously, we saw a 60-year old Palestinian described as a "boy". Now we see a 59 year-old Palestinian described as an "elderly" "old man".

It's so nice to see how that works.

The EU: Naive, Dumb, or Both?

2007-03-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

The Europeans are lining up to give their money to the Palestinians now that they have formed a unity government. But is that a good thing?Deputy-head of the EU parliament Luisa Morgantini has urged the EU and the international community to immediately recognize the PA unity government after winning the confidence of the PA legislature.

“This an important event that reflects maturity on the part of the Palestinian leadership, which placed national interests ahead of factional interests and avoided eminent civil war in the Palestinian territories”, [Deputy-head of the EU parliament Luisa] Morgantini said Saturday of the PA unity government.
In other words, two groups of terrorists stop fighting each other is reason to give them aid money. Obviously she doesn't see Hamas as a terrorist organization.
She also noted that Hamas Movement had accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders long time ago...
Apparently she is the only one who believes that. Hamas leaders themselves have a different story.
Mahmoud Al Zahar the previous foreign minister in the Hamas led government harshly criticized the new unity government's agenda.[...]
Al Ayam Palestinian newspaper reported that AlZahar had criticized the government's rejection for a temporary borders state, saying that the acceptance of permanent borders state within 1967 borders is a clear recognition of Israel which is also against Hams [sp] charter.
It seems that some intentionally vaguely worded unity government platform is to be taken more seriously that Hamas' uncompromising covenant charter that guides their every decision, which explicitly and unequivocally says otherwise.

The EU deputy-head continues.
She [Morgantini], furthermore, stressed that there is indeed a chance at hand, ... to start negotiating with parties that are seriously concerned with achieving peace in the Middle East.
One wonders who the "parties that are seriously concerned with achieving peace in the Middle East" are. The Palestinian unity government containing Hamas? Ask Mr. Al Zahar what he thinks about that.
Al Zahhar said in a statement before the Legislative Council where the vote f [sp] confidence session for the unity government was held that " the unity government's agenda calls for expanding the calm to include the West Bank in return of ending the Israeli practices , and this is not acceptable for Hamas[.]"
According to Mr. Al Zahar, stopping violence against Israel is out of the question. Hard to have peace when terror won't stop.

Thankfully, the brilliant deputy-head of the EU parliament brings her thoughts to a close.
Finally, she [Morgantini] emphasized that the Hebrew state must also prove its sincerity in achieving a lasting peace in the region by respecting international legitimacy, and halting military operations against the unarmed Palestinian people.
Israel proved its sincerity by pulling out of Gaza completely. This was welcomed by the Palestinians with unending barrages of rockets into the surrounding towns and cities of Israel ever since, as well as killing/capturing Israeli soldiers from Israeli territory. All this, courtesy of her "unarmed Palestinian people".

This is indicative of why the EU and other European officials should be summarily ignored whenever they pontificate about this situation which they know nothing about.

News Roundup for March 17

2007-03-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

"Human rights", Palestinian StyleActing PLC speaker Dr. Ahmad Bahar has urged the world to support the Palestinian people’s rights.
And what are the Palestinian's "rights"?...Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Islamist Hamas movement said the new coalition government upheld the right to "all forms" of resistance against Israel.
That is, the "right" to commit suicide terror against civilians.

-----------

High Crimes
Israel wants to build the first light-rail line that will be used by all residents of Jerusalem to help alleviate congestion in the city. The Palestinians, of course, are trying to stop this scandalous tram.
"If human rights groups and Palestinian solidarity campaigns can ensure that no country will train Israeli engineers and drivers, then perhaps we can help to 'derail' this criminal project entirely."
Maybe the thought of a tram that can carry both Jew and Muslim passengers is problematic for suicide terrorists who want to kill Jews exclusively.

-----------

New Category of Crimes
The excavations adjacent to the Western Wall of Temple Mount are, uh, criminal. Or something.
Headline: The Islamic movement emphasizes that the excavations which are taking place at the Mughrabi gate is a vague crime.
Maybe those responsible should be vaguely punished.

-----------

Terrorists CAN Be Reformed
And you thought a suicidal terrorist was a hopeless case? Think again.
Saudi Arabia said that 90 per cent of those who have been detained for holding "deviant thoughts" have reformed and announced their repentance.

[...]

At the end of 2005, Saudi Arabia announced it had released nearly 400 detainees held for security reasons after providing them with intense counselling and making sure they were free of deviant thoughts.
A little counseling, a few hugs, and viola! No more desire to murder infidels. Who would have thought?

-----------

Another Conspiracy?
Europeans are up to no good.
Headline: Solana : We will increase our aids for the Palestinian people during this year.
-----------

Something to Hide?
Scroll through recent stories on the Iranian FARS News website and notice the headlines of articles about their nuclear program: instead of the word "nuclear", the letter "N." is used instead.

Iran not to Withdraw from N. Stances

S. Africa Wants Iran N. Row to Lead to Political Ways

Iran Still hopeful about Diplomatic Solution to N. Issue

Iran will not Give Up an Iota of N. Rights

Iran Sees Talks Ending Russian N. Plant Row

And so on. One wonders why?

-----------

And finally...

Koranic Instruction of the Day
Muslim women are inferior. But they are not. A reader submits a question to a Saudi paper's Islamic affairs editor:Q. I read a Hadith [Islamic tradition] in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) describes women as deficient in faith and mental power. It also mentions that women will make up the majority of the dwellers of hell. Could you please explain this Hadith and whether it means that no matter how hard a woman tries, she cannot attain the same standard of faith as men.

A. This Hadith is authentic, but it has often been quoted out of context.
If you want to read for yourself how something both is and isn't, go right ahead. But, in order to understand, first turn off your brain.

The Palestinian "Unity" Government

2007-03-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Khaled Abu Taomeh has another excellent analysis of the Palestinain unity government deal.
The political program of the new Palestinian Authority unity government, which constitutes a compromise between the relatively pragmatist policies of Fatah and the radical ideology of Hamas, contains many contradictions and ambiguities.

The wording of the program has been drafted in such a way so as to allow both Hamas and Fatah to argue that neither party had totally abandoned its traditional position. [...] [T]he program leaves the door wide open for different interpretations.
Because Hamas wants to be Hamas and receive international handouts to fund their terror, they deliberately state their aims in a way that is unclear as to have multiple meanings, depending who the audience is.

So what is Hamas' "traditional position"? The destruction of Israel. Sounds like an overstatement? One should consider the three simple requirements of the Quartet (US, EU, UN, Russia) for the Palestinain government:
...renouncing terrorism, recognizing Israel and abiding by previous agreements with Israel...
If Palestinains wanted statehood so badly, these demands are hardly difficult and easy for any supposedly self-determined people.

First, do they renounce terror? Sadly, it is affirmed.
On the issue of terrorism, the program states, on the one hand, that the new government "stresses that resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people... and our people have the right to defend themselves against any Israeli aggression."
This means that they can continue terror because it is their "right". If Israel responds, then that will be considered "agression" and will justify further terror.
On the other hand, the program says that the new government will "work toward consolidating the tahdiya [period of calm] and extending it [to the West Bank] so that it becomes a comprehensive and mutual truce."
Tahdiya (declared calm) involves the Hudna, which is a limited truce (10 years maximum) during an Islamic war. The idea is that the clam period is a regrouping phase in a war fought to be won outright.

How about recognizing Israel? Let me guess.
Regarding recognition of Israel's right to exist, the program does not mention the name Israel. Instead, it refers to Israel as "The Occupation."
What about abiding by previous signed agreements with Israel?
It also makes no mention of the two-state solution. Rather, it reiterates the Palestinians' opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders.

[...]

Hamas leaders have already explained that there is a huge difference between "respecting" an agreement and making a pledge to fulfill it.
In other words, Hamas is saying that while it accepts the agreements with Israel as an established fact, it will not carry them out. Notice also that there is no mention of the two-state solution (purposely).

Could it be that they simply want the Palestinian state to have permanent borders?
Although the document declares that the "key to peace and stability is contingent on ending the occupation of Palestinian lands and recognizing the Palestinian people's right to self-determination," it does not specify which "lands" - those captured by Israel in 1967 or 1948.
1948 borders = ALL of Israel. Is that reading into what they are saying?
Hamas, on the other hand, will be able to argue that the phrase "Palestinian lands" applies also to all of Mandatory Palestine.
Which is their stated and affirmed position that has never changed.There's more ambiguity.
Elsewhere in the program, the new government says that it will abide by unspecified United Nations and Arab summit resolutions...
Fatah has one thing in mind:
...leaving the door open for Fatah to claim that this is tantamount to recognizing the two-state solution and all the agreements with Israel. Fatah will cite the 2002 Arab peace plan that implicitly recognizes Israel.
That's implicit, not explicit. What about Hamas' interpretation?
Hamas, on the other hand, can always claim that among the Arab summit resolutions that it intends to abide by is the one taken in Khartoum, Sudan, in September 1967. The resolution contains what became known as "the three no[']s" of Arab-Israel relations at that time: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel.
That's the exact opposite of the Quartet's demands. So what is Hamas' plans for ending the fighting?
The program sets a number of conditions for halting the "resistance," ending the "occupation" and achieving independence and the right of return for Palestinian refugees, as well as an end to Israeli security measures in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the construction of the security fence. In other words, Fatah and Hamas are saying that the violence will continue as long as Israel does not meet these demands.
The "right of return" for Palestinian "refugees" is not to the West Bank and Gaza, in case you were wondering.
The program, moreover, closes the door to any potential concessions on the problem of the refugees by emphasizing their "right of return to their lands and property inside Israel."
And the return of the now-millions of Palestinains inside Israel would be the end of Israel as a Jewish state. Just exactly as Hamas intends to do, one way or another.

So, in other words, this unity government is exactly what Hamas wanted. And they got everything without having to give up anything. in fact, they didn't even compromise a single item of their hard-line position. Pretty good result for them.

Terrorists Killing Terrorists

2007-03-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Headline: Iran Executes Man for "Terrorist" Acts
An Iranian man was hanged Thursday for his role in "terrorist operations", the Kayhan newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Based on Iran's actions lately, one has to wonder how the authorities determined this man's guilt.
The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, including a deadly bombing of a bus belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards last month. Bystanders chanted "death to America"...
The rather strained Iranian definition of "terrorism" is anyone that acts against Iran. Suicide bombing murders committed anywhere else in the world is obviously something completely different.

Guarantee? Think Again

2007-03-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Russian authorities, citing lack of payment from Iran, have delayed shipments of fuel to start their first nuclear power plant. Today Iran lashed out at Russia for causing an embarrassing delay.
"This (Russian decision) shows that there is no such thing as a guarantee to deliver nuclear fuel," [Chief nuclear negotiator Ali] Larijani said.
So, next time someone gives you a "guarantee to deliver nuclear fuel", beware! It probably won't work.

UPDATE - In a probably completely unrelated story, Iran may discuss suspension of enrichment.

Justice and Rights

2007-03-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

Contrast this story:In the Islamic world, there is a broad consensus, both popular and scholarly, that apostates deserve to be killed. A rich theological and intellectual tradition, stretching as far back as Muhammad and his companions, supports this position. ... [A]postasy is punishable by death in Afghanistan, Comoros, Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen.
with this story:Malaysian Muslim converts in the northern state of Perlis will now be allowed to retain their family names, instead of changing it to "Abdullah" following a state religious edict,

[...]

He said it was unfair for the converts and their families. "This should not be the case because they are actually being denied justice and their rights," [state mufti] Mohamad Asri said, according to Bernama [news agency].
So "Justice" and "Rights" according to Islam is: convert to Islam and you can keep your family name. Convert from Islam to something else, lose your life.

Nice Try, America

2007-03-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

In case the world's only superpower underestimates the mental prowess of Iran's leadership, this is a reminder to America of what she is up against:An Iranian official on Sunday lashed out at the Hollywood movie "300" for insulting the Persian civilization, local Fars News Agency reported.
Nonsense. Why would anyone feel the need to insult such a fine, upstanding, historically peace-loving people like the Iranians?Javad Shamqadri, an art advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,...
He has an art advisor? A true renaissance man, that Ahmadinejad is.
...accused the new movie of being "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture", said the report.
Iran's uncontrollable Pavlovian response to all their woes: the "conspiracy". After all, everyone knows that Hollywood dutifully waits for its orders from George W. Bush and his psychological war-mongering neo-con gang to bring the world under America's hegemony.
Shamqadri was quoted as saying "following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities [?] in the U.S. initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture,"
True. I actually audited that class when I was in college: "Post-Islamic Revolution Persian Culture Discreditation 101".
The movie's effort wound [?] be fruitless, because "values in Iranian culture and the Islamic Revolution are too strongly seated to be damaged by such plans", said the Iranin [sp] official.
It'll take more than a movie to make that resilient Iranian culture come crashing down, in case you were wondering.
Shamqadri, who is also a filmmaker, said that production of more domestic and artistic films which portray Iranian achievements is a proper response to movies like "300".
That's right, Bushitler. Prepare to be taught an artistic cinematographic lesson that will make you think twice next time you try you insult Iranian pieties! Think otherwise, and you got another thing comin'!

News Roundup for March 12

2007-03-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Difficulty in Investigating
A man who was stopped from looking at terrorist Web sites by the owners of an Internet cafe blew himself up with explosives hidden on his body, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said Monday.
How original.
Authorities, uncertain about the circumstances of the blast in a Casablanca slum, were holding off labeling it a suicide bombing, Achour said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
I'm sorry, but if this isn't a suicide bombing, then nothing is.

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Fired for Competency
The Palestinian ministry of interior has called for the dismissal of Palestinian attorney general Muhammad Al-Mughanni over his declarations against the interior minister, Sa'id Siyam. ...He called for the attorney general's dismissal, accusing him of being "impartial and indecent."
When it comes to Palestinain Islamic law, pre-determined outcomes are a required.

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Math, Palestinian Style

Title:ZOF arrested 37 Palestinians between them 18 students
First sentence:The Zionist forces arrested on Monday at morning seventy three Palestinian [sp] in different areas in the West Bank claiming that they are wanted.
Tricky, those numbers.

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The Eternal Victims. Again.
[Presidential-hopeful Senator Barack] Obama told the Muscatine-area party activists that he supports relaxing restrictions on aid to the Palestinian people. He said they have suffered the most as a result of stalled peace efforts with Israel.

"Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people,"
Too bad the "suffering" is self-inflicted.

Common Humanity

2007-03-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

An artist makes an attempt to get people in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict see the good in each other.
Reaching for peace, a French artist this week hung the same huge portraits of Israelis and Palestinians making silly faces across the cities of the two warring peoples.

The artist, known simply as JR, hoped his oversized portraits - hung in public squares and on both sides of Israel's controversial West Bank separation barrier - would send a message of coexistence, understanding and humanity.

He shot the photographs over 15 days in December after deciding that ordinary Israelis and Palestinians were being lost in the media's blinkered coverage of militants and soldiers.

[...]

"We realized these two peoples look the same, they eat the same, they drive crazy the same, but both sides think something about the other that is basically wrong," he told journalists. "So we decided to put them face to face."
The reactions to the same pictures are very different. First the Israelis:"When you have Israeli and Palestinian faces like that the spirit is about peace, not war."

"[T]hey're funny to look at."

"The photos are very beautiful,"

"They let people see that all of these kinds of people can live together."
Now the Palestinians:"We don't want to see Israelis' faces."

"We don't want to remember them."

"I feel like the Jews are laughing at us. The Jews are always laughing at us."

"With these pictures the wall has gone from ugly to uglier."

"Why didn't they put pictures of Haifa Wehbi," ...referring to the pretty Lebanese pop-music starlet, "instead of Israelis with crooked teeth."
The Palestinian goodwill just warms the heart, doesn't it?

Forever Young

2007-03-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

As noted previously, Palestinians are eternally young when it comes to portraying themselves as the victim.

In Jerusalem today, a Palestinian male was arrested and later died in custody. Hamas claims the Israeli police beat the child's head until he died.
The Occupation forces hit a Palestinian child at his head till he was died [sp] in Salah El-Deen street in the occupied land of Al-Quds. Witnessess [sp] reported that the boy was beaten in the head many times by the occupation forces.
The equally-reliable Palestinian Information Center (PIC) sheds a little more light.
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli policemen on Saturday killed a Palestinian young man after cruelly beating him in occupied Jerusalem, local sources said.

They identified the youth as Wael Karawi, 32 [!], who was beaten to death this afternoon at the hands of Israeli policemen who focused their beatings on his head and other sensitive areas of his body.
The child/youth is 32 years old. It seems that you're only as young as you feel. Now the beatings were done not just on the head, but also other places on his body. The Israeli news portal Ynet offers a different version.
Wa'al Qaraawi from West Jerusalem who was arrested for transporting an illegal resident, died in police custody. His family accused the police of beating him to death, while police reported that the man, after stating he felt unwell, collapsed and died.

Qaraawi was detained after being discovered transporting a Jordanian woman in Israel without a permit. According to police, "He was told to drive to the police station on Salah al-Din Street. When he arrived, there he felt ill.
Quite different stories. What evidence is there?
The uncle of the deceased, Jamal Qaraawi, said that the family heard from local residents that four police officers hit him in his chest with their guns. Another Palestinian witness, however, said that Qaraawi had not been beaten.
The only eyewitness said there was no beating. The claims of beatings (which were only in the chest, and not the head at all) appear to be uncorroborated rumors. But what about the body of the deceased?The emergency doctor who arrived at the scene said that there were no signs of violence on his body.
It is hard to know what actually is the truth based on these conflicting reports. Given the credibility of these reporting agencies based on their accuracy, history of factual claims and accuracy (like the "youthfulness" of the deceased), and inherent report bias one can get a relatively clear picture of what probably or probably didn't happened. But, as with everything, it is better to wait until the facts come out after something is actually known, instead of reporting rumor as a matter of fact.

Martyrs for "Leverage"

2007-03-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Attention all you Palestinian martyr-wanna-bees out there: Your "sacrifice" is not for the "liberation of your Palestinian land". Rather, it is all for political leverage.
The head of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Farouq Al-Qaddoumi, has stressed the need to continue the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. Al-Qaddoumi said, "Any government without resistance will not be able to strengthen its 'cards' in the negotiations".
Kill yourself so some crooked politician can barter more effectively. Sounds like a plan. A bad plan, but you are free to squander your life as you wish.

Palestinian "International Women's Day": Different

2007-03-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Here's another example on the contribution of good Muslim women to Palestinian society, courtesy of Hamas, entitled "International Woman's Day is different in Palestine" (boy, that's for sure).
Um Nidal bid her son Mohmmad [sp] farewell before his famous operation, and waited for his return as a martyr. She did not expect him to return alive. But she waited to hear news of victory and martyrdom. He infiltrated into a military academy and killed more than ten soldiers before his martyrdom.
How does one kill soldiers "before his martyrdom"? I digress.
Um-Nidal’s tears upon hearing the news were of happiness not sadness.
Her tears were "not sadness", just in case you were wondering. Get the very next paragraph entitled "Advocate of Morality and Ethics" (always a twisted definition of terms).
More important than the role in armed resistance is women’s role in spreading Islamic teaching and principles inside the Palestinian society. Women are very active in teaching the Holy Quran and Islamic conduct in various life issues. Women as mothers who carry the burden of caring for children have been able to educate future mothers on how to lead their lives, and how to raise their children.
Which, of course, includes teaching them Holy Quran's "Islamic values" how to hate, murder, and suicide.

As the title of the article says, "International Woman's Day is different in Palestine". Very different.

Celebrate International Women's Day, The Islamic Way

2007-03-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

Will it never end?SINGAPORE - Three Muslim mothers who persuaded their daughters to have sex with their father wept in a Singapore court when the rape victims pleaded for leniency for the women, news reports said on Thursday.

The three “wives” are charged with abetting the 46-year-old businessman and religious teacher in committing incest between December 2003 and June 2005.
Why in the world would the mothers help their husband rape their daughters? Maybe it is their religious duty.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Lee said the husband told his multiple wives and scores of children that according to the Quran, a father “owned” his children and this extended to having sex with his daughters, the report said.
There are your "women's rights", according to Islam. Thankfully, Singapore is not an Islamic state and the courts do not condone perversion, sanctioned by the Koran or not.
The father is serving a 32-year jail sentence with 24 strokes of the cane for raping his young daughters.
At least it is better than nothing.

So much for International Women's Day.

They Can Dish It Out...

2007-03-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reports on a warning issued by the Israeli government to its citizens about the danger of abduction if they are in certain Islamic countries. Notice the language used:The Israeli occupation government has urged Israeli settlers in three Arab countries to immediately leave them and return to the Hebrew state for mounting fears they might be kidnapped.

The so-called “anti-terrorism” bureau in the Israeli premier’s office issued an urgent “security warning” to Israeli settlers visiting Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco to quickly depart from those countries citing “specified warnings” on their safety.
Imagine if any news source characterized the Palestinians in similar fashion. For example, the above excerpt reworded accordingly:The Palestinian terrorist government has urged Palestinian terror supporters in three Western countries to immediately leave them and return to the Islamic state for mounting fears they might be kidnapped.

The so-called “pro-terrorism” bureau in the Palestinian premier’s office issued an urgent “security warning” to Palestinian terror enablers visiting Europe, Australia, and the USA to quickly depart from those countries citing “specified warnings” on their safety.
Talk about outrage and hurt feelings, we'd probably see suicide attacks galore to regain lost "honor" for such provocative language used by a news outlet.

Lost In Translation

2007-03-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Palestinian news agencies are not very professional, to say the least. Here is a news item reported by two different Palestinian outlets, quoting PA Information minister Dr. Yousef Rizqa/Rezka.

First Ma'an news:the siege in itself is not immoral and undemocratic.
Now the Palestinian Information Center:“The blockade per se was an unethical and undemocratic measure,"
Great job, guys!

Palestinian Women Want "Their Rights"

2007-03-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

Progressive Palestinians protest under the guise of "Women's Rights".
Commemorating International Women's Day, hundreds of Palestinian citizens, mostly women, organized a mass rally at Huwwara checkpoint on Wednesday, flying the banner 'no to checkpoints'.
According to this report, it sounds like checkpoints are random and oppressive.
The protestors chanted anti-checkpoint slogans and raised posters saying, among other things, 'Women rise above the level of checkpoints', and 'together against checkpoints'. They also shouted pro-Palestinian female maxims.
Women have rights, too. Especially Islamic women.
The statement read: "The entire population stretching from Rafah to Jenin are being subjected to the most brutal blockade, checkpoints and incursions and are deprived of the simplest right of access to hospitals."
Why would anyone keep poor women from unrestricted access to the human right of health care?The statement added that "hundreds of Palestinians were either killed or injured at these checkpoints, including women and children who were denied passage through the checkpoints to go to hospitals. This is an evident breach of human rights."
Why the restrictions? Here's but one example why.
Wafa Samir Ibraim Bas, a 21 year-old Palestinian woman from Jabalya, left her Gaza home with a permission pass to visit Soroka Hospital in Beersheba for a medical check-up. Attached to her clothing, her pants, was more than 22 pounds of explosives.

It was the perfect opportunity. A young woman. An entry permit into Israel for medical treatment. By her own admission and the admission of her handlers, it was assumed that Bas would only be cursorily surveyed at the Erez Crossing. It was assumed that Bas would easily reach her intended target and murder as many people - doctors, nurses, patients, visitors - as 22 pounds of explosives could handle.

Wafa Samir Ibraim Bas had a morning appointment in the Burn Unit of the hospital that had saved her life [!] several months ago. In December of 2004 Bas was badly injured and burned by a gas balloon explosion in her home. Israeli hospitals do not practice a policy of discrimination. All patients are treated alike. Some patients send thank-you notes. This one decided to detonate a bomb.
She was trying to kill the very people that saved her life and are working to make it better. Unfortunately this is all too typical.

So what about International Women's Day? Is Israel unjustly oppressing women?Since the year 2000, 8 Palestinian women have perpetrated suicide attacks killing 39 Israelis. The Israeli army and Security Forces have uncovered 45 acts of terror initiated by women. In the past year over 59 women have attempted attacks against Israelis.

One of those attempts took place on Monday [by Ms Bas].
[...]
Luckily, they were wrong, they miscalculated. The intended female suicide bomber was detected. The explosive device was safely detonated by sappers. No one was injured.

Even Ms Bas' own mother was disappointed she did not succeed in killing herself and the doctors who saved her life.

Should an entire population have to be subject to so-called "collective punishment" as checkpoints? When the alternative is suicide terror, and since the Palestinians spend their energy complaining about restrictions and encouraging terrorists like Ms Bas (instead of opposing them), then how can they expect otherwise?

(Ms Bas' explosive belt being detonated)

State of Extreme Disgruntlement

2007-03-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Don't look now, but Palestinian prisoners are not happy as "State of extreme disgruntlement engulfs Palestinian prisoners".
The [PA prisoners’ affairs] ministry, in a statement it issued on Wednesday and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, affirmed that the IOF [Israeli army] troops were “arbitrarily arresting tens of Palestinian citizens for rejecting the occupation..."
That is, taking part in terrorism.
"...with the aim to weaken their spirit of resistance”.
Or, in other words, enforcing the idea to terrorists that involvement in terrorism has a price.
The statement cited IOF storming of the PA general intelligence and military intelligence headquarters...
Oxymorons both.
...in Ramallah city earlier Wednesday and the subsequent arrest of tens of its cadres, marking the operation as “cowardly”.
"Cowardly", as opposed to "brave" Palestinian civilian-aimed suicide terrorists operations.

PA prisoners’ affairs minister in the caretaker government Wasfi Kabaha claims robbery on the high seas.
“This is an above-board and plain Israeli piracy against the Palestinian people”,
No, it is against the terrorists, unless, of course, the minister is making the assertion that the Palestinian people and terrorists are one in the same. Clarification is needed.
He, furthermore, unveiled that a state of extreme anger was prevailing among Palestinian captives in Israeli jails due to the “inhuman and humiliating treatment at the hands of Israeli jailors”.
One thing is for sure, Israel at least makes the attempt since the jails are open for external scrutiny. At least the prisoners in Israeli jails won't face Palestinian "justice" in the middle of a crowded street on the wrong end of the vigilante gun. Like they say, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime".
In this context, Kabaha urged the international community to immediately mobilize to force the Hebrew state halt those unsanctioned practices.
Yes, halt Israel so the "resistance" can continue unopposed. We know it must be frustrating for a terrorist to not be free to kill Israeli civilians at will.

And now for something completely related, the same article continues.
In a related matter, the Israeli military court in Ofer detention camp adjourned the trial of Palestinian lawmakers Dr. Ibrahim Abu Salem, and Mahmoud Abu Juhaisha of Hamas Movement to the 27th of this month.

The two MPs refused to recognize legality of the court being a court of an occupation force, insisting they were democratically elected Palestinian lawmakers and, thus, protected under international laws and conventions by their immunity.
Hypocritical moral equivalence at its finest:
1) They want recognition and legitimacy, but refuse to give it.
2) The legality of Israeli court has more credibility than the non-state election of unofficial Palestine.
3) If occupation delegitimizes the court, then so too the Palestinian elections and those elected.
4) An elected terrorist is still a terrorist and international law doesn't protect genocidal organizations (see "Article Seven: The Universality of Hamas" of the Hamas covenant, but read the whole thing for the full picture). Just ask the elected German government at the Nuremburg trials if international law was helpful for them.

Don't think so.

The Right To Be Raped

2007-03-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

As we saw before, the Syrian grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Ahmad Bader Eddin Hasson is doing more PR work. Speaking with the Russian Mufti, it's all about him.
Sheikh Hasson discussed with the Mufti of the Russian Federations ... means of developing bilateral relations and clergymens role in building good individual [?] and convey the best image of him through its students.
Well, not ALL about him because he has bravely announced the "truth" of Islam regarding women.
[The Mufti] underlined yesterday the importance of disseminating the culture of peace and love among people, stressing that Islam gives woman rights more than those given by law.
This is true: Islam gives women the right to be beaten by their husbands. You won't find that in any infidel's secular law.
[T]he Mufti noted the equal rights given by God to all people regardless of their colour and religion.
Too bad that his words contradict nearly 1,400 years of bloody and oppressive Islamic history. In fact, let's see how Islamic society is treating its women at this very moment.
A Saudi woman who was kidnapped at knifepoint, gang-raped and then beaten by her brother was sentenced to 90 lashes - for a meeting a man who was not a relative,
Gang raped and now sentenced to be beaten. Nice.
“G” [the rape victim] said one of the judges told she was lucky not to have been given jail time. “I was shocked at the verdict. I couldn't believe my ears,” said the woman, who has appealed against her sentence.
The Religion of Compassion.
The woman also told the paper she tried to commit suicide because of her ordeal and was beaten by her younger brother because the rape had brought shame on their family.
The fact that she endured the trauma of being raped is apparently completely irrelevant. I guess she should be glad she wasn't "honor" killed, though unfortunately that is still a very real possibility for her.
Fuziyah al-Ouni, described as an activist by the paper, said she was outraged by the case. “By sentencing her to 90 lashes they are sending a message that she is guilty. No rape victim is guilty,” she said.
Oh yes they are, if you are a woman living under Sharia law it is all your fault.
There are severe legal restrictions on women in Saudi Arabia, including a strict dress code required outside the home and a ban on driving.
But, as the Mufti himself said, "Islam gives woman rights more than those given by law."

Rights...right.

An Aggressive "Mea Culpa"

2007-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

Egypt is mad at Israel. Again. This time because of an Israeli documentary on an alleged massacre of Egyptian soldiers in the 1967 Six Day war with Israel.

...the foreign ministry is finalising a political and legal action against Israel.

[...]

The parliament members called for the distribution of a petition to the international Supreme Court of Justice and criminal courts, in order to sue the Israeli leaders involved in the slaughter of the Egyptian captives.

The wheels of justice are in full motion. All penalties are being called for.

Parliament members also called for the dismissal of the Israeli ambassador to Egypt and to summons the Egyptian ambassador to Israel.

In other words, the government is calling for the peace deal between Israel and Egypt to end over this alleged crime, even though the peace agreement was made nearly 12 years after the war.

...the foreign ministry have started to act following Israeli TV publishing a documentary, which showed the massacre of the Egyptian soldiers.

[...]

Israeli leaders confessing to the assassination of 250 Egyptian soldiers while Egypt was withdrawing from the Sinai Peninsular [sp] in 1967.

One minor detail: no leader has confessed all of this is alleged, so far. Nothing has been proven yet. The leader of the alleged massacre, Benyamin Ben-Eliezer, "confesses".

Ben-Eliezer, a former brigadier-general, told an Egyptian newspaper on Saturday that the accusations were inaccurate. Those killed, he said, were not Egyptian POWs, but rather Palestinian fedayun (suicide troops paid and trained by Egyptian intelligence) who were killed in battle.

Who knows? According to the Egyptians, a documentary on Israeli prime-time television is enough proof for them to scrap peace with Israel. If guilty of a massacre, then something must be done on some level. It must be emphasized that nothing here has been proven yet, either way.

Chief of the foreign relations committee, Dr Mustafa Al-Faqi, said that Israeli crimes cannot be forgotten just because time has lapsed since the event.

If that's the case, how about the Egyptian crimes toward the Hebrew slaves over 3000 years ago? Former (Israeli political party) Meretz leader Yossi Sarid put things in perspective.

"The killing of Egyptian captives in the Six Day War was a war crime … but the problem in the region is that war crimes are numerous."

That's for sure. If this lawsuit goes forward, then imagine the counter suits to follow. Remember that justice is a 2-way street, especially in this part of the world.

As usual, Israel's admission of possible wrongdoing is never without a conspiracy or two waiting in the wings. Chief of the foreign relations committee, Dr. Mustafa Al-Faqi, perceptively sees the Zionists' plot where your average dope sees none.

He [Al-Faqi] also said that the Israelis showed the documentary in an attempt to terrify Arab people and armies.

Admission of past sins = "attempt to terrify". If only Israel were this clever...

UPDATE - Already the Egyptians are swiftly taking action.

Egypt's deputy foreign minister for legal affairs, Abdel Aziz Seif al-Nasr, said Egypt had summoned Israeli ambassador Shalom Cohen to demand an explanation for the contents of the documentary, aired on Israel's Channel One television last week.

Egypt also asked its ambassador in Tel Aviv to obtain a copy of the film from the Israeli government, he said.

That was quick. I'm glad to see Egypt is keeping a level head about this.

"That dog of an Israeli ambassador must leave Egypt," said Mahmoud Salim, a lawmaker from President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.

You can just feel the love.

UPDATE 2 - Another Egyptian lawmaker, Salaam Al-Ruqi’i from the Sinai, weighs in.
The only way this can be eased is through a declaration of a state of war.
The Religion of Peace(TM).

News Roundup for February 24

2007-02-24T03:14:00.000-08:00

All is not well in Palestinian paradise. The civil war's civil truce is hanging by a thread.
...a Palestinian, who belonged to Hamas movement, was shot dead by gunmen from a rival clan amid a family feud...

...the killing triggered a clash in which a member of the rival clan, who was a Fatah supporter, was killed.

Both families said the fighting was an internal dispute and was not motivated by political rivalries.
Oh really? Hamas claims otherwise.
...Some odd persons don't want the calm to continue in our cities.

...by those [Fatah] traitors, who don't like to the promises to be committed.
They are making a list and checking it twice.
This is the second crime during Mecca agreement after killing Muhmmad Abu Kharesh from Al-Qassam Brigades near Dahalan's [Fatah strongman] house in the Gaza Strip.
The accusations are flying. Stay tuned.

UPDATE - Reports have the dead at 5 and wounded at 15. Lovely how those Palestinian truces work.

----------

The Palestinian peace movement is taking one on the chin. As the Ma'an news agency headline describes: Israeli army uses excessive force against peaceful demonstrators marking two years of Bil'in's struggle against the wall Some 400 demonstrators marked two years of non-violent struggle...
The protesters are frequently confronted by new forms of weapons under trial by the Israeli forces.
Introducing: the Blue Water Cannon! That blue water has got to be radioactive, or something.

Needless to say, the carnage left no protestor untouched.
Around 20 people were injured today, including an elderly Palestinian man targeted by the Israeli water cannon,
See above.
...which knocked the frail gentleman from his feet, raised stones around him and left him in a crumpled heap on the uneven ground.
That's a wordsmith-y way of saying the old man got sprayed. Sorry I can't find a picture - it must have been too graphically horrible for anyone to photograph.

----------

Hamas' leadership can claim victory where no one else can find one. Headline: Haneyya: USA position not in agreement with world stand

The world is against America and with Hamas. Sounds like prime conspiracy material.
[Haneyya] has underlined that the American administration's negative position vis-à-vis the Palestinian unity government was not in harmony with the world welcoming stand.
I think he means "the world welcoming stance". Adding insult to injury, Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal also announced that European aid was to resume for them. And he even accused Israel of issuing an Islamic ruling that the Europeans can't accept.
Meshaal said: "Neither Arabs nor Muslims are concerned by the Israeli fatwa and I think that the international community, for whom Israel has become a burden, will not pay attention either."
Well, according to the European Union themselves, the "welcoming stand" is dependent on certain expectations.
European Union's chief diplomat Javier Solana...."We cannot boycott what does not exist, the government still has not been formed," Solana said, but he stressed that the new administration would have to comply with the three Quartet principles. Solana cautioned that a Palestinian unity government would either be "part of a solution or ... be part of the problem."
Yes, "welcome" if Hamas does what they have explicitly refused to do.
But she [German Chancellor Merkel] returned to the conditions imposed by the Quartet, that any new government must give up violence, recognize Israel and accept existing agreements reached with Israel. The [Palestinian] power-sharing deal skirts those issues, and Hamas still refuses to recognize Israel.
If that's not enough, even the "unity government" partner, President Abbas, is also against Hamas on this.
Abbas was referring to the three principles drafted by the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

"We did not change our position, we did not change our principles," ... Abbas said that his Fatah party remained "committed to the principles of a two-state-solution, renouncing violence and terror and reiterating our commitment to agreements signed."
Never mind that Abbas made no such effort to do so when he took power after Arafat's death and before Hamas' election last year.

Regardless, Hamas' world wide "welcome" is still in the dock.

----------

And finally, the King of Pop might switch cults. Headline: Michael Jackson 'Could Convert to Islam,' Brother Says
Jermaine Jackson, who converted to Islam in 1989, said he thought it was "most probable" that his eccentric brother, known for hits including "Thriller" and "Bad," would follow his lead by converting to the faith.

"When I came back from Mecca, I got him a lot of books and he asked me lots of things about my religion and I told him that it's peaceful and beautiful,"
Yes, so peaceful

and so beautiful.

A little advice, Michael: Islam has ways of dealing with its own when it comes to minors and, uh, "touching", usually via separating parts of your body from the other. So, unless the "touching" is restricted to little girls, I'd steer clear of the Religion of Peace if I were you.

Choosing Misery

2007-02-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

The pressure is on.
The international aid agency Oxfam has urged the Quartet to end its boycott of the Palestinian Authority and pressurize Israel into releasing the Palestinians' confiscated tax monies.
Why? Because the situation in the West Bank and Gaza is dire.
-conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories were close to melt-down"
-Palestinian poverty levels rapidly increasing and basic services such as health and education crumbling
-creating a social crisis that is hitting families in the Occupied Territories
-recent internal conflicts in the occupied Palestinian territories have been greatly exacerbated by the inability of the PA to deliver essential services
-poverty has shot up. Two thirds of Palestinians now live in poverty, a rise of 30 per cent last year
-The number of families unable to get enough food has risen by 14 per cent
-More than half of all Palestinians are now are 'food insecure', unable to meet their families' daily requirements without assistance
-The health system is disintegrating
-Public servants, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers, are worst hit. They haven't had a regular income since February 2006
-Their poverty rate has risen from 35 per cent in 2005 to 71 per cent
According to Oxfam, it's all because of blinding blinkers.
"The Quartet needs to take off its blinkers and see the damage its policies are having on ordinary Palestinian families."
In other words, international aid should be given to terrorist-supporters with no strings attached. The West has the moral obligation and duty to give money to the Palestinians because it is their right to receive it.
Using international aid as a battering ram to force through political change is not only immoral but also counter-productive.
Listening to Oxfam, one would conclude that the West is just sadistic and loves to watch people suffer. The truth is that the Quartet is absolutely dying to give money to the Palestinians if they will only do three simple, peace-helping things to receive the charity:[R]ecognize the state of Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and adopt the previously signed peace agreements between Israel and the PA.
That's it. No more, no less. And as bad as the situation sounds, one would think that the Palestinians would do whatever it will take to improve their lot, even something as simple as what the Quartet asks. But, apparently it is a price too high for them and they flatly refuse.

They are free to make their own choices. As the saying goes, "You make your bed, you lie in it".

Math Obviously Isn't Their Strong Suit

2007-02-22T01:29:00.000-08:00

Hamas' three-month long ceasefire with Israel is now officially ending, or as they put it, in the "dead stage".
Abu Obayda , the spokesman of Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed today that the declared ceasefire with the occupation forces is now in its dead stage and it will surely end under the continuous aggression in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
If the ceasefire is in the "dead stage", it makes those who possess a brain wonder what a "living" ceasefire is because the term seems to have the opposite meaning for them (from late December):Since ceasefire began a month ago, Palestinian gunmen launched more Qassams than months when there was no calm.
So now that this "ceasefire" is in its death throes, Hamas will predictably increase attacks upon Israel. But is that such a good idea for the Palestinians, in general? According to their own tally, the Palestinians suffer four to five times the rate of deaths, six to seven times the number of wounded, and ten to eleven thousand times more captives than Israel incurs.

And since Israel's population is nearly double the Palestinian population, it seems like their move for more "resistance" is not a very bright one. But, then again, Palestinians have never been known for being very bright.

If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy

2007-02-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

From Down Under, convicted terrorist Saleh Jamal accepted the jury's verdict that he shot and injured a man almost 10 years ago very calmly. His mother, not so much.
Thanking her son's lawyers outside court, Mrs Jamal left the building where The Daily Telegraph attempted to capture her emotion.

With her family under intense scrutiny from authorities, it was all too much for Mrs Jamal.
Clearly distressed at the attention, she retaliated by throwing her handbag at photographer John Grainger, which struck him on the head and face causing him to bleed.

More of the Same

2007-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

Here we go again.
Palestinian police sources have revealed that a man from the village of Talfit, south-east of Nablus, has killed his 14 month old daughter, stabbing her to death... The man stabbed the 14-month child in the chest and the back, before throwing the body in the municipal dump area in the south of the village... The man also attacked his pregnant wife, in an attempt to forcibly abort her pregnancy and kill their unborn child...
Drumroll, please:...the investigation is looking into "honour killing" motivations for his crime.
In the alternate universe of the Islamic mind, killing a baby is an act of "honor".

Be assured that this man will get the lightest of sentences if found guilty.

We Always Knew They Acted Like Kids

2007-02-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Palestinians take every opportunity to make Israel look bad, even if it means pushing the limits of childhood.
An Israeli special unit kidnapped Monday a sixty-year-old boy in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, WAFA reporter said.
I'm sure Monday's parents are worried sick about him.

You Don't Speak For Me

2007-02-12T04:34:00.002-08:00

In these dangerous days of Palestinians murdering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a Roman Catholic priest there is worried about saving his own skin. You can't blame him. However, when it comes to making declarations on behalf of others, he would do well to keep his pie hole shut.
In the second visit to the Muslim mosques, Father Manuel Musllam , declared that the Christians are ready to die for the sake of Al-Aqsa mosque. Adding that , in the sake of Al-Aqsa , the arms will be two " The Christian arm and the Muslim arm" against the attack on Al-Aqsa mosque.
If you want to ingratiate yourself to the ones who want you dead by becoming a Muslim martyr, pappy, you go right ahead and throw your life away for nothing. More power to you. In fact, if the Islamo-terrorists are going to be the cause of your death anyway, one way or another, at least give the few poor remaining Christians that are left a little cover and not implicate them in your hypocrisy.

Speak for yourself!

Answers to Life's Questions

2007-02-11T05:12:00.002-08:00

Islam is the religion of peace. It is also the religion that prohibits things you couldn't ever imagine. If in doubt as what to do, fear not! One website has a place where you can Ask the Imam any question about Islamic practice/law. You will receive a fatwa [Islamic religious ruling] by which to live. In case you didn't know, there is a law for everything in Islam.

For those unfamiliar with "Ask the Imam", some sample questions and answers are as follows:Q: Is it ok for a Muslim to wear silk ties?
A: It is reprehensible for Muslims to wear any clothing that is associated with an un-Islamic culture.

Q: Is it very haram [sinful] to watch t.v and listen to music?
A: 1. According to Shariah, it is not permissible to watch TV due to the many un-Islamic issues in it.
2. It is also prohibited to listen to music.

Q: Is it allowed to obtain United States Citizenship so that travelling for deen [religion] becomes easier?
A: 1. If your intention is solely to facilitate easier travel, you are permitted to obtain US citizenship. Although the oath of allegiance is un-Islamic in nature, it will not be treated as an 'Islamic oath'. Therefore, you are not compelled to execute the oath.
Sounds to me like it's saying it's ok to lie (can a Muslim truly be trusted?). Interesting.
Q: Is It permissible to have relations with these slave-women without a formal marriage ceremony?
A: -It may, superficially, appear distasteful to copulate with a woman who is not a man's legal wife, but once Shariat makes something lawful, we have to accept it as lawful, whether it appeals to our taste, or not;
-This RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP was given to him by the “Ameerul-Mu'mineen” (Head of the Islamic state.) Due to this right of ownership, It became lawful for the owner of a slave girl to have intercourse with her.
-In short, permission to have intercourse with a slave woman was not something barbaric or uncivilised; on the contrary, it was almost as good as a marriage ceremony.
Get the picture? Here are a few random fatwas that you might not be familiar with:-It is not permissible to have any premarital contact with one’s future spouse. That includes any form of expression of love.

-It is not permissible for men to wear titanium rings.

-The use of emotional signs, for example, smile [:-)], sad
[:-(], etc. in a cellphone falls in the category of animate pictures. It is prohibited to make use of such emotional signs in a cellphone.

-Yes, bright red and orange clothing are colours normally worn by women. It is undesirable for men to wear such colours.

-If a Muslim wears Nike shoes and garments, he/she will be committing a major sin.
No wonder they call us "infidels". Everything we do is a sin.

One young unmarried Muslim asked the Imam what to do about lustful thoughts when he looks at women. The Imam offers several suggestions, but this one is a real beaut:
3. Consider the reality of the woman at whom one is gazing. If she does not groom herself or apply perfume for one day, she will look dreadful and stink. For a number of days every month she has impurity pouring out of her. If one had to just go near such impurity, one will wish to flee. Imagine if she went to the toilet and forget to flush and, if you had to enter the toilet, will you still have the desire to gaze at her? If this woman does not have Deen [religion], then by raising her arms and exposing her unsightly armpits, she will give out the smell of a skunk. These are some thoughts (although undignified), will assist one in taming the evil desire to look at women.
Got a question? Ask the Imam.

UPDATE - I apologize for missing this one from Ayatollah Khomeni:“There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious."
And Islam is deadly serious.

Shock and Horror

2007-02-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

Muslims at Cambridge are outraged and demand an apology from a student who published material from last year's infamous "Mohammed cartoon" hysteria in a local student magazine.
Asim Mumtaz, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said: "I'm horrified and shocked. In such a seat of learning, I am horrified that things could stoop to this level. I'm actually shocked that intelligent people know how offensive this cartoon is and that they have decided to reprint it in such a horrible manner."

"I am very shocked..."

[...]

Abdul Arain, co-ordinator of the Cambridge Muslims website and a leading member of the Abu Bakar Saddiq Mosque in Mawson Road, also reacted with shock.

He said: "I feel a mix of emotions, but I am absolutely abhorred this has happened on our backdoor."

"What this person has printed is highly offensive and it has caused abhorrence and distress to many people."
I wonder if they feel "horror" and "shock" when Muslims kill and maim in the name of Islam.
He [Arian] emphasised Islam was not a violent religion...

I doubt it.

UPDATE - The 19-year-old student who printed the cartoon has since gone into hiding...
Let's just be glad that Islam isn't a violent religion.

Sick Sick Sick

2007-02-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

Sick.
A four-year old girl was married to a 45-year-old man in a remote Pakistan town to settle a feud, leading to the arrest of 12 people from two families, police said Friday.

The minor, Sumaira, was given in marriage to the middle-aged man, Mahboob Ahmed, as a punishment because the girl’s maternal uncle, Mohammad Farooq, had eloped with the adult niece of the bridegroom, police said.
Why? Because women are objects for men's use.
“In order to meet demand of the punchayat, Farooq’s brother-in-law gave his four-year-old daughter in the marriage of Mahboob,” [police spokesman Malik] Ramazan said.
Uncle Mohammed does something wrong, little four-year old Sumaira pays.

(Not actual victim)

No one should be the least bit surprised since the prophet Mohammed himself took a pre-pubescent child, Aisha, as his bride. Although Aisha was only six when she was given to marriage, the ever-virtuous Mohammed waited until she was nine to consummate the marriage. Muslim scholars exonerate the prophet because they say Aisha underwent puberty prior to consummation. Riiight.

Thankfully, for the little Pakistani girl, the nightmare has ended.
Public and media pressure and threat of action by the police forced a man, 45, to divorce a four-year-old child whom he had married under a tribal custom in Dera Ismail Khan.
We can only pray that the poor little child does not suffer irreversible emotional and physical scars.

Makes you shudder

News Roundup for February 8

2007-02-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

To protest the excavations near Temple Mount by Israel, Palestinians in Gaza are "hurling homemade projectiles" at Israeli cities. And we don't mean they are throwing baked goods over the border fence.
-----

In Beirut, a news organization "discovered mysterious holes in the windows of its offices" which, after a meticulous official investigation by Lebanese authorities, were discovered to be from...bullets! Who would have thought?
-----

Lastly, Syrian Mufti Hassoun met with three Dutch diplomats on efforts to more effectively spread the truth that the "real image of Islam" is indeed THE unparalleled promoter of "love and peace in the world", as well as the "culture of dialogue and tolerance".

How does one prove this? The Mufti brings the most persuasive evidence he can muster: it's all Israel's fault, of course.
Hassoun pointed out the massacres perpetrated by Israeli forces against the Palestinian people, reiterating that Israel is pursuing state organized terrorism since the perpetration of atiocieties [sp] by the Zionist gangs in 1948 against the Palestinian people.
Yet further irrefutable proof of the greatness of Islam.

It's All In The Mind

2007-02-05T00:40:00.000-08:00

Hamas is all hot and bothered about an arms shipment to their rival faction, Fatah. According to the official spokesman, who wouldn't be angry?...lorries which were attacked were full of different types of weapons beginning with the soldiers shoes to the super kinds of weapons.
Oh, the humanity! Of course, the only explanation behind this has to be (drum roll) - a conspiracy!At the time of preventing salaries and the aids[?], the dirty conspiracy come out with its ugly face...
...when the big military weapons and equipment shipments as a support to the presidential guards.
Hmmm, we seem to be having verbal issues here. But never mind that because Hamas importantly affirms the following:
1- We consider these deals of the big treachery to the Palestinian people.
2- The presidential and some Arab country will take the responsibility of such deals. They should support the Palestinians of human aid instead of military aid.
4- The presidential and the mutiny trends will hold the responsibility of such clashes in the Gaza strip which happened as a result of the presidential guards spreading despite the agreement to give the interior forces to keep the security in the street.
Hmmm; seems we're a bit, how do you say, DEFICIENT in something else? Ok, while we're in the mood to affirm things, I would like to take this opportunity to affirm that these special Hamas boys might need to repeat first grade. At least until they master it.

Like they say in Gaza - A mind is a terrible thing, so waste it.

They Said It, Not Me

2007-02-04T03:27:00.000-08:00

Straight from the horse's mouth, quotes from Palestinians on their civil war:

A 30-year-old mother of three:"We are telling the world that we don't deserve a state because we are murdering each other and destroying our universities, colleges, mosques and hospitals." ...
So you were much more deserving when you were simply Jew-killing terrorists?"Today I'm ashamed to say that I'm a Palestinian."
Just now today? I was ashamed about the way you people behave a long time ago.

-----
A 40-year-old businessman:

"If the situation does not improve, I will take my family and go to Jordan. This is not the Palestine we want to live in."
Was the Palestine that celebrates the murders of Jews exclusively a preferable place to live?

-----
An editor of the PA-funded daily newspaper:"Tens of millions of people now look at us as worthless gangsters with no values," he complained.
What a waste. All those years of building the image of being the terrorist murderers of thousands of Israeli civilians, down the tubes!Addressing both Hamas and Fatah, he added: "Take Gaza and turn it into a state of the Muslim Brotherhood. Take the West Bank and establish a state of your own there with all the Abu's. Your people no longer want a state. We no longer like our killers and executioners."
Yes, your killers and executioners were much more lovable when they were spilling Jewish blood.

-----
A columnist:"The world is watching how the Palestinians are destroying their institutions and achievements with their own hands." ...
This may come as a surprise to them, but the world has been been watching that for quite some time now.
"They see how we are mercilessly slaughtering innocent people." ...
Like when you slaughter Israelis? We noticed that long ago.
"We are losing the sympathy of the world. I'm afraid the world will now view us differently."
Actually, this is what the world has come to expect from Palestinians. If anyone now views them differently, it is because they are seeing who and what Palestinians really are all about.

Palestinians celebrating terror

Black Is White

2007-02-02T10:07:00.001-08:00

Suppose two brothers kill their sister and her boyfriend by bashing them repeatedly over the head with bricks, spattering blood over the floors and walls, until they are dead. What one word would best describe what happened? Try honor.
"We know our homes have been ruined but we have done nothing wrong. We poor people only have our honour" to protect, Ahmad [one of the brothers] was quoted as saying.
Murder two people = respect. When a segment of humanity has no value and murder is a virtue, then the concepts of "right" and "wrong" cease to exist. This, compliments of radical Islamic society.

Honesty

2007-02-02T04:37:00.002-08:00

Like a breath of fresh air...
The Arabian predicament: One of our common traits, we the Arabs, is our difficulty to handle criticism. Try to point out our faults to your fellow Arab, very likely the fault will be justified because it also happens elsewhere, most likely in the West.
I'm sure Arabs will be insulted by saying that they can't handle criticism. Ah, the irony.
...we Arabs cannot manufacture even the drilling bit needed to drill for oil in our ground! Indeed, even drilling for the most precious item in our life, water, is only possible with equipment manufactured outside Arabia.
But, hey, they have the best darn jihad on the planet!Our refusal to take an inward look at ourselves in a critical way, to address our shortcomings openly, is as if we have made a covenant against ourselves and the future of our children.
As former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously said: "There will be peace when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us".
The most significant contributor to this dormant status, this lack of self sufficiency and meaningful progress in Arabia is the absence of freedom of thought and expression.
Ya think?
Despite arguments to the contrary, the main causes of the Arab predicament are inherently Arabian.
What?? Zionists aren't Arabs!Only Arabs can address this problem through re-establishing freedom of thought and expression and their ability to once again break through the boundaries of regionalism.
Ok, this honest guy is a dead man - doesn't he know what happens to those who dare imply that not every problem in the Middle East is because of Israel?

Read the whole thing. If you dare.

Another Gaza Truce Victim

2007-02-01T04:15:00.000-08:00

Gaza's civil war claims another innocent terrorist.
Despite of the calm agreement, Some out-law persons still insist to fulfill the Zionist and American planning.
He's talking about peace, right?They continue killing our innocent children and men to complete the Zionist crimes against our Palestinian people.
If Palestinians kill Palestinians, it is the Zionists fault. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, it is the Zionists fault.
After the delivered weapons from the American and Israeli governments to Dahalan's forces in the area, many clashes happened in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
There go those "clashes happening" again.
In these clashes, Al-Qassam Brigades mourn one of its members:
Mourn? I thought being a martyr was the highest honor a Muslim can attain? You know, paradise, 72 dark-eyed virgins, etc. Shouldn't they be dancing in the streets and handing out candy like they do for the other "martyrs"?

The terrorist in question was
(A sergeant in the Palestinian Navy)
He was martyred in firing on his head ,leg and chest with cold blood.
Wha?These incidents happened On Tuesday 31 January, 2007 with many incidents resulting a lot of Corruption in different parts of the Gaza Strip.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you once again, Official Hamas English website.

Worthless

2007-02-01T04:04:00.000-08:00

This is almost too unbelievable to be true. Unfortunately, it is reality in much of the world.
A woman in Saudi Arabia has no right to choose her husband; she is forced to marry whomever her family chooses and, what is most shocking of all, a Saudi woman can be divorced from her husband against her will if that is the wish of her family.
If only this were the unusual exception and not a fact of life.
She [Fatima] is the woman who was happily married to a husband whom her father approved of; after his [her father's] death, however, her half-brothers decided she should divorce Mansour since, in their eyes, he was not her social equal.
Absurd? Not in Saudi. Prejudiced? Not in Saudi.
And they [the half-brothers] set about going to the court and divorcing the couple even though Fatima and Mansour were happily married with two children.
Courtesy of the Saudi legal system.
The court has ruled in favor of the half-brothers so the couple is now “legally” divorced.
Believe it or not, she was divorced in absentia by a judge at the request of her half-brothers. Fatima is currently in jail for breaking the Saudi law of being alone with a man (her "ex-"husband Mansour) that now is not her husband.
The couple now have two young children, a one-year-old boy, who is with Fatima in prison, and a two-year-old girl, who is in Mansour’s custody.
If that is not enough, the half-brothers are in court to get legal custody of Fatima.
Now Fatima is facing being forced into her brothers’ custody who are threatening to revive the accusation of “khulwa”, or being alone with Mansour, for which they were originally arrested.
For which, whether actually guilty or not, they can justafiably kill her (a.k.a. "honor killing").
She now has to face being given over to her brothers, being charged for being alone with her husband (as the court ruled that they are divorced), and having to live with the feeling that her life has been taken away from her unjustifiably and by force..
Chances are she won't get the chance to live with that feeling. This gives new meaning to the notion of "being treated like a piece of property".
A woman is not secure in her marriage; she is at the mercy of her brother, or half-brother or any male relative who can tear her life apart and get a court to support the action.
At least there is outrage at the injustice in the article.
Where and when will this madness stop?
Not anytime soon.

Here's a similar story with a slightly better ending.
A young Saudi woman living in the UK went to a hospital with injuries and it turned out that she had been beaten by her husband. The woman doctor at the hospital was very sympathetic and supportive and listened carefully to the details of the assault; she did not hide her anger or disgust at the man who did this. She then alerted the social services and also reported the matter to the police. The police began investigating and used the woman’s own statement. No one told her, “We can’t believe you because you don’t have proof” which had happened to her previously in the Kingdom. The police sent a team to arrest the husband and the woman was absolutely incredulous. “I can’t believe that they are listening to me, believing what I said and actually acting,” she exclaimed.
She can't believe that, as a woman, she actually has a voice and rights.
Her amazement increased with each passing day with calls from social services and the police, checking to see that she was living comfortably and that her children were all right and offering any help that she needed.
Wow, she's being treated like a...PERSON. And now, the predictable backlash.
All of this support occurred at the same time she began to get threats from her husband’s family in Saudi Arabia. You see, she had dared to complain. His family has threatened to take her children away from her as soon as she returns to Saudi Arabia.
Why?And guess what? They can do exactly that if they feel like it. Not because they have a right to but because as a woman, she cannot demand her rights in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the world, busily obsessed with labeling Israel an "apartheid" state, is silent at the institutionalized gender apartheid practiced by Islamic countries and communities around the globe.

Obviously Israel is the root of all of the world's problems.