Daraa Syria is Worse off than Cast Lead Gaza

May 8: Twitter user @SyrianJasmine tweets that Daraa is in need of food, medicine and milk for children, and so far there are 6,000 detainees being held in schools.

May 9: Daraa is still under siege and the army and tanks are on the streets in Daraa al-Mahatta. The situation is slightly improved, since women are being allowed to go down to the market for three hours, but there is nothing in the market. The shops are all closed. Electricity is only available for three hours per day at the most. There is water available in Daraa al-Mahatta. Telecommunications are cut in the entire province of Daraa without exception. Electricity, water, food, and communications are still cut in Daraa al-Balad. Trash is lying around uncollected and the snipers are still deployed in the mosque minarets and on buildings’ rooftops. The army and security forces have not withdrawn from Daraa.


By any objective measure, the residents of Daraa are being treated by their own government worse than Gazans were treated by their sworn enemy during a war.

Where are the flotillas? Where are the human rights activists? Where are the anguished op-eds?

As of this writing (11:00 AM EDT) , Syria is not one of the top 14 stories listed at MSNBC. It didn't make the top 30 stories at Reuters. It was number 19 at Fox News (a story from Friday.)

Do We Detect Bias from Palestinian Center for Human Rights?

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights put out a statement condemning the murder of Vittorio Arragoni, the terror-supporting member of ISM (but I repeat myself) who was killed on Friday.

If you believe that the PCHR has any objectivity left after its willful labeling of Hamas terrorists as "civilians" in Gaza, check this out:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, on Thursday evening, 14 April 2011, a group named "Group of the Companion Mohammed Bin Maslamah" announced the kidnapping of the Italian journalist, Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, a prominent member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and a human rights defender. In a video posted on the Youtube website, the group demanded the release of detained members of the group, affiliates of the so-called "Salafist Jihadist Group". The kidnappers threatened to kill Arrigoni if the government in Gaza did not meet their demands within 30 hours.

In a grave development, contrary to fundamental values shared by all Palestinians, the group carried out their threat. On Friday morning, 15 April 2011, security services found the body of Arrigoni in a house located in the 'Amer project area, west of al-Karamah building in the west of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip. In his testimony, a PCHR staff-member reported signs of beating on the victim's face, signs of handcuffs on his hands, and signs of strangulation around his neck.

Yes, a so-called human rights organization is stating as a fact that all Palestinian Arabs are against murdering innocent people.

This same PCHR had, up until a couple of years ago, prominently detailed hundreds of instances of Palestinian Arabs being murdered by other PalArabs. It know quite well what Fatah and Hamas did to each other. It knows what Hamas did the the Salafist group in Gaza. Yet PCHR states as a fact that all Palestinian Arabs share fundamental values against murder!

Do we detect a wee bit of bias here?

Elder of Ziyon

Hamas Claims Israelis Murdered Arrigoni

The Islamic 'radical groups' (are there any other kind?), including al-Qaeda affiliated Tawhid wal-Jihad, have denied that they had anything to do with the death of Vittorio Arrigoni. Can you guess what comes next? But of course: Blame the Jews (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).

Hamas also condemned the killing, saying that it was a shameful act, contrary to the tradition of the Palestinian people. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the "goal of this depraved band of outlaws was to spread chaos and anarchy in the Gaza Strip, a desperate attempt to strike at the stable security situation."

He added that the kidnapping and murder of Arrigoni was intended to prevent the next flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip, expected to depart next month. Barhoum explained that he believed the murder was meant to dissuade other foreign activists from arriving in the Strip.

Accordingly, Hamas accused Israel of being behind the attack, noting that Arrigoni had often spoken out against Israeli policies in Gaza, going so far as to compare what he called "Israeli crimes against Palestinians" to Nazi crimes. Additionally, he was twice arrested by Israeli authorities.

Actually, Hamas is just employing Goldstone logic. Someone was killed. We don't know who killed them. Israel has an army. Therefore, Israel must have done it.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Tawhid wal-Jihad, Vittorio Arrigoni

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:28 PM

Iron Dome System Bags 10 More PalArab Projectiles

The Iron Dome anti-missile system shot down 10 more rockets over the weekend - out of 120 shot by the 'Palestinians.'

The Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system intercepted 10 Katyusha and Kassam rockets over the weekend that were fired in the direction of Ashkelon and Beersheba, where the two batteries are deployed.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the successful interception by the missile defense system “an extraordinary achievement for the IDF.”

Defense officials said more than 20 Hamas operatives were killed over the weekend and that dozens of others were wounded by a series of air strikes against Hamas positions, bases and launch sites.

The IAF carried out at least 46 strikes in Gaza.

“They have been hit hard and we will continue to strike at them as long as the rocket and terrorist attacks continue,” a senior defense official said on Saturday night.

Everyone here seems to be thrilled. This is JPost's Yaakov Katz.

There are two main differences between this current escalation and the one that led to Operation Cast Lead two years ago.

First, Israel is not agreeing so quickly to a cease-fire, and has made clear that it will not accept one in which Hamas fires rockets and Israel refrains from firing back.

“It will either have to be a full cease-fire, or nothing,” a senior defense official explained Saturday night.

The second difference is the successful operation of the Iron Dome counter-rocket system.

Many people from within and outside the defense establishment had questioned its capabilities.

They were wrong. Based on the 10 interceptions since Thursday, Iron Dome works.

While it does not intercept every rocket fired into Israel, that is because it is designed to intercept only those set to strike populated areas. If the system detects a rocket falling in an open field, it will not fire an interceptor. At the same time, there are still only two batteries – deployed outside Beersheba and Ashkelon, respectively – hardly enough to provide an adequate defense for southern Israel.

Nevertheless, this does provide Israeli leaders with unprecedented diplomatic maneuverability.

While rockets are hitting within Israel, the damage and number of casualties is lower than it would have been in the past, due to Iron Dome. This means the government does not feel as much domestic pressure to launch a larger offensive against Hamas, and can consider its options more slowly and more carefully.

It also means that the government feels it can continue to strike at terrorists it detects in Gaza, even at the risk of more rocket attacks.

And this is JPost editor David Horovitz satirizing Hamas.

But, damn them and their clever innovations, they haven’t stopped with the alarms and the shelters. Now they’ve come up with this “Iron Dome” gadget.

In a million years, we didn’t think it would work. They’re going to fire rockets at our rockets and shoot them out of the sky?

Yeah, right. This isn’t Xbox or PlayStation. Last time I looked, it was a pretty big sky out there.

But bless my soul, they’ve managed it. Ten of our rockets blasted out of the air in the past two days alone. Nauseating. We were sure we’d have some meaty kills out of those salvoes.

I mean, it’s not even supposed to be working properly yet; it’s still in the experimental stage; the Israeli media were laughing at its developers; they were certain it was useless.

Sometimes, I swear, I start to wonder if God’s on their side. Crazy, huh? I don’t know what’s getting into me. But look at the evidence: This weekend we had a Grad land near a kibbutz administration building. We got one right next to a school in Ofakim. Not a single fatality. A few minutes earlier on Thursday, we might have had a bus full of schoolkids near Kibbutz Sa’ad. But no, they got off just before we hit that bright yellow, sitting- duck target, and all we got was one teenager and the driver.

What? What’s that you say? Put the weapons away? Internalize the sanctity of human life?

That’s ridiculous talk. Next you’ll be telling me to make peace with them. To acknowledge that they have the right to live here. To build a state alongside theirs. To give our people a better future. To turn our attention away from war and violence and death and killing, toward something productive.

Never, I tell you. Never.

And all we have to do is come up with another 20 or so of these systems, and pull back the people who are too close to Gaza for Iron Dome to protect them.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Gaza, Iron Dome

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

Did the IDF Kill the 12th Imam?

Israel Radio reports that both Hamas and Iran are denying that the two people killed in a mysterious attack in Sudan on Wednesday were their operatives.

Nevertheless, Israel is being blamed for the attack.

Maybe the IDF killed the 12th Imam?

Heh.

Labels: 12th Imam, Gaza, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Sudan, weapons smuggling

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

Has the Arab Spring Already Failed?

Phyllis Chesler sheds light on an area where the promise of the Arab spring may already be declared a failure.

It did not happen, it is not important. The mainstream media does not really care about what happens to Arabs, Muslims, or Palestinians—not even when they are fellow or sister journalists, women, and feminists. The media only cares when and if Israelis are allegedly the perpetrators, the murderers, the checkpoint “humiliators.” Even when Israelis kill an armed Iranian-backed Palestinian member of Hamas in self-defense, even when Israelis accidentally, with no malice aforethought, kill a British journalist or an American “activist,” the Israelis are not only blamed—films, plays, and documentaries are made about the “martyred” American Rachel Corrie or the “martyred” British filmmaker James Miller or British “anti-war” activist Tom Hurndall. Countless demonstrations have been held. In Miller’s case the British government insisted on an investigation, and his family brought a civil lawsuit against an Israeli soldier.

The media was all over this even though an investigation strongly suggested that James Miller was killed by Palestinians “from the direction of the populated Rafah.” Although people know that Palestinians routinely hide behind civilian hostages, deliberately target Israeli civilians, especially children, create their own “martyrs” (the Muhammad al-Dura case as well as the Rachel Corrie case immediately come to mind)—nevertheless, the media refuses to hold Palestinians accountable and refuses to believe that the Israelis are innocent. The media knows full well that they will be killed or not allowed to “report” in Palestinian areas if they publish anything negative, anything true. By now, this habit is ingrained.

One of the recently beaten, tortured, and arrested Palestinian female journalists, Asma Al-Ghoul, is someone whom I first interviewed in 2009. Al-Ghoul is a secular feminist and a journalist who has written brave articles about honor killings on the West Bank and in Gaza. She asked me to edit and publish some of her work and I proudly did so. Al-Ghoul has been harassed and arrested by Hamas before. Why? Ostensibly because she dared to laugh, wear jeans on the beach, and entered the sea, fully clothed, to swim. These were her crimes—plus the fact that she was a single woman (divorced, actually), out in public, not wearing hijab, and relaxing on the beach with—unbelievably—male friends.

Read the whole thing.

Almost no one is interested in the plight of women under Hamas. After all, they're being persecuted by Muslims and not by Jews, so there's nothing to see.

I wonder if there's any chance that Asma al-Ghoul (pictured) would become another Khaled Abu-Toameh if she wrote in English and was allowed to freely express herself. Now there's a thought.

Labels: Asma al-Ghoul, Gaza, Hamas, Khaled Abu Toameh

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

Western Darling El Baradei Defends Gaza

Egypt's Masrawy and other Arabic media outlets are quoting Egyptian presidential hopeful Mohammed ElBaradei as saying that Egypt may go to war if Israel attacks Gaza.

He is quoted as saying that if he becomes President, in the event of any future attack on Gaza he would discuss ways to implement the joint Arab defense agreement, for all Arab atates to respond "in the face of Israeli aggression."

ElBaradei is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Many Arab Missiles Fall on Gaza

A Palestinian human rights group in Gaza took the unusual step this week of condemning the building and storage of anti-Israel rockets in densely populated areas, a practice that has led to injuries and deaths of civilians.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that it had investigated recent rocket explosions and found that locally produced projectiles had fallen on homes in Gaza or exploded in factories where they were made or stored. Shrapnel severely wounded several people, including a 22-year-old woman and her 7-month-old baby.

It called on the Hamas government, which controls Gaza, to investigate “and take measures to protect Palestinians and their property.” It added that “members of the Palestinian resistance continue to store explosives or to treat such explosives in locations close to populated areas.”

“This poses a major threat to the lives of the Palestinian civilians,” it said.

Israel has long accused Hamas and other groups of endangering Palestinian civilians by carrying out militant activities in densely populated areas.

But only now does the New York Times bother to report about it - when Palestinian Arabs admit it is true.

Well, I have a tip for the New York Times.

There is a Gaza consortium of NGOs called GANSO (Gaza NGO Safety Office) that is tasked with keeping internationals in Gaza safe. So they actually keep track of Gaza rocket fire. And according to them, some 30% of all Qassams and mortars fall short in Gaza!

In one two week period late last year, 42% of rockets and 57% of mortars exploded prematurely or fell short in Gaza.

While that was an especially bad week for Gazans, this phenomenon happens all the time. Too bad that the media that has reporters on the ground in Gaza couldn't figure out what I have been able to document for so long.

The NYT is one of the very few media outlets that even noticed the PCHR report to begin with. The blame goes to the media altogether. If one out of every three rockets explodes in Gaza, and if Gazans are injured and killed by those rockets, shouldn't that fact be mentioned occasionally from the thousands of reports that come out of the area?

Yet even the PCHR and the NYT didn't mention the Gazan that was killed by a Qassam on January 21.

Oh, one other thing: The Palestinian Center for Human Rights may have condemned the rocket launches from populated areas, but they didn't have a word to say about the morality of shooting the rockets at Israeli civilians.

I guess they don't consider Israeli civilians to be human.

(h/t Mike and T34)

Where Would Abbas Stay in Gaza?

From Ma'an:

President Mahmoud Abbas has sent three delegates to the Gaza Strip in order to arrange for his stay in the besieged enclave, Palestinian officials said Saturday.

Abbas announced Wednesday that he was ready to travel to Gaza to negotiate a unity agreement with his rival party Hamas, which has been in control on the coastal strip since 2007.

Immediately after the announcement, the Hamas leadership welcomed the initiative saying they would make the needed arrangements for the visit.

But given that most the Palestinian Authority’s institutions in Gaza are under Hamas’ control including the presidential headquarters, Abbas may have a hard time finding a place to stay.

May I suggest the Grand Palace Hotel, which may be visited at www.grandpalace.ps?

The 100th International Women's Day in Gaza

Today is the hundredth anniversary of International Women's Day.

Naturally, Palestinian Arabs are celebrating along with the rest of the world. For example, the Guardian published an article about how a Gaza women's advocate marks the day:

Women in Gaza love life as much as other women across the world. Although we lack basic rights, partly due to the blockade and unfair policies, we are strong. We hope the world will pay extra attention so that Gaza's women can help rebuild Palestinian society.

The celebrations have a bit of a different flavor in the Arabic media, however.

Palestine Today marks the occasion by profiling a woman, Mrs. Dadhouh (not sure of her first name), whose main claim to fame is the fact that three of her children were Islamic Jihad terrorists that were killed by Israel.

Mohammad Al Dahdouh was a senior Islamic Jihad member killed in May, 2006. His brother Khalid Al Dahdouh, also known as Abu Walid, was killed three months earlier, and a third brother Ayman was killed in 2005.

Mrs. Dadhouh is, of course, proud of her sons:

I do not regret that three of my children are martyrs; we all must have the Certificate [of martyrdom], and be ready to continue on this path for Palestine and for the redemption of Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque....Palestinian women are willing to sacrifice and give all that they possess for Jerusalem and to walk on the path of the martyrs.

I wonder why the Guardian didn't interview Mrs. Dadhouh?
Elder of Ziyon

Gaza Got Exactly What It Deserved

Earlier this week, I reported on the release of a Wikileaks cable that set out Israel's strategy for dealing with Gaza.

"As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to (U.S. embassy economic officers) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge," one of the cables read.

Israel wanted the coastal territory's economy "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis", according to the Nov. 3, 2008 cable.

Writing in the National Post, Barbara Kay agrees with me that Israel had every right to keep Gaza 'on the verge' of a humanitarian crisis.

There should be nothing controversial or newsworthy in that statement. All it tells us is that Israel treats dangerous, sworn enemies on its borders with a lot more compassion than other countries would in the same circumstances. Of course Israel wants Gaza to suffer, as well Gaza should suffer.

The full 2007 blockade came about for a good reason. Hamas still refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist; its militants have fired thousands of rockets inside Israeli territory, wounding and even killing Israeli citizens and demoralizing the country; Hamas refuses to return soldier Gilad Shalit, abducted from an Israeli border post in 2006. Most important, Hamas has given the world no assurances whatsoever that their ambition to drive every Israeli into the sea has abated.

In keeping Gaza “on the brink of collapse,” a phrase also cited in the leaks, Israel was acting in its own self-interest, as any normal state would and should. What Israel did for three years on Gaza’s borders is precisely what U.S. and EU sanctions aim to do with Iran in order to make them back down from nuclear weaponization: starve the economy without actually starving people. Rational people tend to get a message when their economy is suffocating, and surely economic pressures are preferable to bombs.

In fact this “news” should redound to Israel’s credit. Clearly it is well within Israel’s power to cause a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Contrary to international accusations, this it refuses to do, and never wanted to do. The cable backs up that claim. So much for the Israel-haters’ frequent, favourite comparison of Israel with Nazi Germany.

Indeed. We have nothing of which to be ashamed.

Labels: Barbara Kay, Gaza plenty, Wikileaks

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:08 AM

Fox Business: Pamela Geller on Obama's Foreign Campaign Contributions

I appeared on David Asman's show this evening to discuss the hypocrisy of the Obama gang's new fallacious attack on the US Chamber of Commerce, projecting Democrat crimes on unsuspecting decent orgs.

Obama received donations from people in Gaza and other foreign entities. He claimed to have returned the contributions from Gaza, but there is no record of his having done so. Apparently Obama's clean-up crew sent Asman a record of "refunds" -- something he claimed in '08 but which never appeared in the records. They claim that the money has been returned, but the donors in Gaza said it wasn't. When we reviewed the records it wasn't. The fixers had two years to wash these dirty donations clean. Dirty pool.

The White House sent David Asman this link showing a refund, but you'll notice it doesn't come near the $33,000 donated to Obama from Gaza; nor does it list Osama Monin's refund. Where's Osama, Obama?

Scrub a dub dub.

His FEC records were full of donations from people with obviously fake names, and other questionable material. In contrast, McCain's were squeaky clean.

More here.

Obama's foreign and fraudulent campaign contributions were covered extensively in my book: The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America

The White House is fanatically partisan, bent on destroying the Republicans, and they don't care about their hypocrisy on this issue because they know that the leftwing lapdog media will be carrying water for them.

UPDATE: Mark Levi read from one of my American Thinker articles. Shawn sent me the audio and included the whole first segment for context but he starts reading from me article around
8 min in. (thanks Sean!)

Download Levin10112010-PamelaGellerarticle

When Will Anybody Investigate Contributions from Gaza?

Foreign Contributions: Investigating Obama It took years, but there is something I finally agree with Barack Obama and Al Franken on. Obama and his propaganda machine in the mainstream media, not to mention his party of corruption, are calling for an investigation of “foreign money” in campaigns.

Finally.

I have been calling for a special prosecutor for years, ever since I exposed the millions Obama received from Muslim nations, Hamas-controlled Gaza and other foreign countries.

Obama warned Thursday that “groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections, and they won’t tell you where the money for their ads come from.” He also said that “just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations.” Franken then duly hurried to do Obama’s bidding, calling on the Federal Election Commission to investigate the Chamber of Commerce, the group to which Obama was referring.

We move to a theater of the absurd upon hearing Al Franken, who lost his election on election night and began pulling votes out of car trunks to steal that election, calling for an investigation of foreign money.

Nonetheless, the Democrats’ mainstream media shills then took up the cause. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow confronted Oregon Republican Congressional candidate Art Robinson with accusations about foreign contributions: “If you get elected in part because of this spending and you find out that it’s from criminals, or foreign interests, or communists or something, wouldn’t that bother you?”

Whether or not it should bother Robinson, it should bother Obama. While he is calling for an investigation into the Chamber of Commerce, there should be a full investigation into the foreign millions Obama received for his campaign. As I show in great detail in my book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War On America (Simon & Schuster), Obama’s 2008 campaign finance records are full of riddles, mysteries, and unanswered questions. It was I who broke the explosive news stories of Obama’s contributions from Gaza (Hamas-controlled Rafah) (documentation here), and of how he lied about refunding those jihad donations -- not to mention the tens of millions of dollars Obama received in donations from foreign countries (scroll this link).
Yes, I checked over John McCain’s FEC records, too. They were so clean, you could eat dinner of them. Not Obama’s. Contributing nearly $25,000 to the Obama campaign was Monir Edwan, who was listed on FEC documents as contributing from the city of Rafah in the state “GA.” Georgia? No – there is no Rafah in the Peach State. Monir Edwan sent money to Obama from Rafah, Gaza. Rafah is a Gaza refugee camp.

According to the FEC, contributions to the Obama campaign from three brothers, Osama, Monir and Hossam Edwan, all from Rafah, totaled $33,000. And they weren’t alone. Al-Jazeera reported on March 31, 2008 that Gazans were manning phone banks for the Obama campaign. Here is video of those Gaza phone banks.

The Obama campaign claimed that they had returned $33,500 in illegal contributions from Gaza – despite the fact that records do not show that it was returned, and the brothers said they did not receive any money. And indeed, Obama’s refunds and redesignations on file with the FEC show no refund to Osama, Hossam, or Monir Edwan in the Rafah refugee camp.

When I confronted Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) about the Gaza phone banks issue in South Florida in early November 2008, he said that if there “really were phone banks in Gaza, that would be a major campaign issue.” But he laughed at the idea that Obama was receiving campaign contributions from Gaza. The mainstream media laughed with him, continuing its refusal to cover this explosive story.


[Play YouTube video]



And to this day Obama’s foreign contributions have never been investigated.

The Democrat party today is so corrupt that Boss Tweed is blushing. The Democrats are so contemptuous of the American people, they think they can pull a stunt like this while being unequivocally guilty of what they’re accusing the Chamber of Commerce of doing.

As for the Chamber of Commerce, spokesperson Tita Freeman said: “We’re careful to ensure that we comply with all applicable laws. No foreign money is used to fund political activities.”

Remember when Obama said, “We are the ones we have been waiting for”? Yes, indeedy. And today, he is the one he is looking for.

This is our moment. This is the moment we have been waiting for. This is the time to investigate Obama’s contributions. It could, and should, mean the end of Obama’s presidency.

Hamas Revelation

It never ceases to amaze me how eagerly the media - even the Israeli media which ought to know better - eats up the pungently odored garbage spewed out by the 'Palestinian' terror groups. Take Hamas for instance.

On Monday, Israel Radio reported that Hamas notes in its annual report that it has sent messages to the US in the past that it does not oppose the formation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. On that basis, Hamas wishes to begin a 'dialogue' with the United States. You've got to be kidding.

In the organization's biannual report, it was stated that these messages were relayed to officials in Washington through American political figures and academics that visited in Gaza.

The organization's Gaza leadership also asked the US to relax its restrictions preventing reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.

Now, here's what they're not telling you. Yes, of course Hamas does not oppose the creation of a 'Palestinian state' within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. But as a first step toward destroying the State of Israel (God forbid). In return for that 'state,' they are willing to give nothing. Not recognition of the State of Israel as a Jewish state or as anything else. Not an end of conflict statement. Not even a false exchange of ambassadors. In return, Hamas is willing to give a hudna, a temporary cease fire for about ten years, which can be broken when and if Hamas decides that it is strong enough to defeat Israel militarily.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

THE Jew Haters of Gaza have One Hostage Gilad Shalit

Hamas posted a video of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit on YouTube on Monday, suggesting he would be killed if a deal was not soon reached.
In the animated video, two masked men are show standing on either side of Gilad Schalit in a dark room, with one of them holding an AK-47 assault rifle. At the end of the 24-second video, gun shots are heard as the movie goes black and the words “Is the mission completed?” are seen written in Arabic.

That Hamas is depraved enough to produce and distribute such a vile video is not surprising but still should sicken anyone with a modicum of moral decency. In other words, expect more pimping for the terrorist group by the likes of Laila El-Haddad and her fellow columnists at the Guardian.

Mitchell's Northern Irelad Solution Won't Work in Gaza

Jackson Diehl reviews all the evidence that US Special Middle East envoy George Mitchell is still obsessed with his 'success' in resolving the ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland. Diehl then dismisses the Irish experience as irrelevant to what is currently going on in the Middle East. Mitchell is apparently assuming that Hamas will follow the path of Sinn Fein and the IRA and lay down their weapons.

So Hamas will follow the path of Sinn Fein and the IRA? That seems a bit of a stretch for a movement that two weeks ago proudly claimed credit for the murder of six Israeli civilians in the West Bank. Mitchell's observation about the leaders' embrace of serious issues also appears a little strained: After all, Israelis and Palestinians have already discussed those same issues in multiple sets of negotiations dating back to 1992 -- most of them involving Abbas, Netanyahu, or both. The problem has not been that they won't take on the issues, but that they have been chronically unable to bridge their differences on them.

Mitchell himself has taken to pointing out that "circumstances are very different" between the Middle East and Ireland and that "one must be careful about transferring principles," as he put it Wednesday. Yet he keeps doing it. I can't help but wonder if his memories of past glories are clouding his judgment of current events.

On the day Mitchell was appointed, I wrote a lengthy post indicating why the comparison with Northern Ireland is a bad one. That post included this:

This prophetic article from 2004 shows how the British (and Tony Blair in particular) have been trying to bring Northern Ireland-type 'conflict resolution' to the Israeli-Arab 'Palestinian' conflict and why all Israelis had better pray that it not work here. Here's the bottom line with some comments about why it's so bad for Israel interspersed.

The arguments for indulging insurgent, revolutionary movements are wonderfully flexible. In the first phase, the "oppressors" must indulge the "moderates." [That would be Fatah. CiJ] As time goes on, that changes to the "pragmatic hardliners," [Hamas. CiJ] who are the only faction that can deliver. There are vague echoes here of the mission of Alistair Crooke, the former MI6 officer who served in Northern Ireland and who has been seeking to bring Hamas into the fold as the only people who can "deliver" on a settlement. Judging by past form, future British and EU diplomatic efforts may focus increasingly upon influencing the less "ideological" element within Likud [That would be Kadima. This was written a year before Kadima broke off from the Likud. CiJ]. Many British officials see Hamas and Likud as mutually reinforcing "hardliners."

A key theme in this mindset is that there can be no purely military defeat of insurgents [Is this why Israel was pressured not to finish the job in Gaza? CiJ]. If this is true, then one has to make a massive number of political concessions. Some of the more robust elements within the British system believe that the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the police force which was at the cutting edge of the struggle against terrorism, was stopping between 7 and 8, and in some cases even 9 out of 10 IRA operations during the latter years of the Troubles. Indeed, year by year we learn just how riddled the IRA was with British informers [Just like Israel has put an almost total stop to 'Palestinian' terror originating in Judea and Samaria since 2003. CiJ]. But notwithstanding that achievement, the British government decided to give disproportionate political concessions to ensure that the IRA never had "an excuse" to go back to armed struggle. In other words, they believe that the IRA, like the Palestinians, has a great number of very good excuses to go back "to war." That process, of depriving the insurgents of "excuses," inevitably comes at the expense of Unionists and the Israelis.

But what is the definition of victory in Northern Ireland? The British do not define "victory" as the military defeat of the IRA. Firstly, they do not believe it was possible, but even if it was possible, they do not believe in such a defeat as a matter of principle. Victory, as far as they see it in Northern Ireland, is to persuade Sinn Fein/IRA to accept the use of democratic methods. In other words, they have a methodological definition of victory, but have no particular end point of a settlement in mind (which reinforces instability by convincing Republicans that "one last heave," whether politically or militarily, will do the trick).

Indeed, one unique aspect of policy in Northern Ireland is that the British state is well-nigh unique in advertising, quite openly, that it does not really mind if it is dismembered - subject, of course, to the consent principle. All it wants is that the IRA and the Republican movement - in the main - abandon full-scale violence, and then all other roads are open. To ensure that abandonment of violence, the British will maintain the pace of concessions, at least for as long as the Unionists are prepared to tolerate them. And because the British have been working on the Unionist community for so long, they reckon that they have a very good chance of maintaining that grip on events.

This all sounds familiar, doesn't it? If it doesn't, I think I have pointed out enough striking similarities for you. Do we really want Israel dismembered?

Let's hope that Mitchell keeps beating his head against the wall until he gives up. The real reason he's not succeeding is that so far - at least - Israel still has a survival instinct. Israel Radio reported on Saturday night that there is 'still no agreement' on extending the 'settlement freeze.'

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:45 PM

America Has Her Head in the Gaza Sand

Ostrich-like, the Obama administration is ignoring the biggest issues in the current 'peace process' says JPost columnist Khaled Abu Toameh.

Have Obama and Clinton ever given a thought as to whether the Palestinian president has the power to enforce a peace agreement in the "southern part of Palestine" - the Gaza Strip?

Any peace agreement Abbas reaches with Israel will apply only to those areas in the West Bank that are under the jurisdiction or control of the Palestinian Authority.

By being forced out of the Gaza Strip, Abbas lost direct control over some 1.5 million Palestinians, roughly half the Palestinians living in the Palestinian territories.

There are also doubts as to whether Abbas would even be able to impose, or sell, a peace agreement to many of his constituents in the West Bank, particularly those living in refugee camps.

So if Abbas cannot go to the Gaza Strip and has limited control over the West Bank, where is he supposed to implement a peace agreement? In downtown Ramallah? In Tel Aviv?

The way matters seem to be these days, it is highly unlikely that Abbas and Fatah would be returning to the Gaza Strip, at least not in the foreseeable future.

In the title of his post, Abu Toameh asks, but does not answer, an important question: Why is Washington sticking its head in the sand? The answer is quite simple. The Obama administration sees a 'fierce moral urgency' to make peace, because it sees Israel as "an aggressive, Western imperialist power exploiting indigenous people of color who simply wish to be free." And like the Israelis from 1993-2009 who could not accept that their wanting peace didn't necessarily mean that the other side wanted it, so too the Obama administration, which so desperately wants peace that it cannot understand that one of the sides is not interested and the other has given up.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:41 PM

Gaza Exports Sewerage

Sewage flowing into the sea at Gaza. (Anne Paq/ActiveStills)

Three Palestinian farmers were killed by Israeli tank shelling late at night 12 September in the northernmost occupied Gaza Strip, along the no-go "buffer zone" enforced by the Israeli military. Al-Jazeera reported that a 91-year-old farmer, Ibrahim Abdullah Abu Saeed, and 20-year-old Ismael Walid Abu Audeh were killed immediately. Abu Saeed's 17-year-old grandson, Hossam Khaled Abu Saeed, was critically injured and died shortly afterwards ("Israeli shelling kills Palestinians," 12 September 2010). - Electronic Intifada

Hamas has committed Gaza to another 62 years of poverty and warfare. The Palestinians are slow to realize someone is taking advantage of their hatred.

Explosion in Hamas commander's house

Gazans tiring of being human shields?

On Monday, an explosion in the home of a senior Hamas commander destroyed eight homes, damaged 30 more, and wounded more than 50 people. The home, in the Dir el-Balach 'refugee camp,' was being used to manufacture weapons. Local residents knew about the home-based weapons factory and had begged that it be removed.
A fair number of camp residents actually complained to the Media Line about this incident.

“Usually when such explosions occur the armed groups in Gaza announce it’s Israel’s fault,” Hamdi Shaqqura, deputy director for program affairs at the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, told The Media Line.

“But our investigations often find that this is not the case.”

Shaqqura said armed groups try to hide the existence of bombs in residential areas, because local residents “would not agree to live on a barrel of explosives.”

The rights group sent a team of field researchers and attorneys to collect testimony from victims and eyewitnesses following the explosion. Witnesses told the rights group they saw a red glow emanating from the house before the explosion.

Isma’il Younis, 12, a neighbor, told The Media Line he was home watching TV when a red ray appeared, followed by a huge boom that rocked the house, cutting electricity and sending plumes of smoke into the air.

Another neighbor added that the moment of the explosion felt like an earthquake, and she was unable to see her children due to the density of smoke and dust.

Early in the morning following the blast, eyewitnesses in Deir el-Balah told The Media Line, six Hamas minivans arrived to collect debris from the site. Witnesses also told the Palestinian Center for Human Rights that they saw Hamas activists surround the house in question and collect shrapnel and bombs, removing any evidence of weapons.

The rights group concluded that the explosion ignited within the house and occurred “for no apparent reason, similar to some incidents in the past.”

The group speculated that the explosion was caused by faulty manufacturing or bad storage of bombs.

But Hamas could care less about their own people, and are more than happy to endanger them. I'm sure that there are many who would like to leave. If western countries could be found who would take them, maybe the next war we can help Gazans leave instead of having them wander around from place to place in Gaza.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

Hamas in Panic about Lifting the Blockade

If we'd known this would work out so well, maybe we would have lifted the 'blockade' sooner. It seems that not everyone in Hamastan is thrilled about Israel having lifted its 'blockade' of the Gaza Strip. In fact, the Hamas rulers themselves may want the 'blockade' back.

According to the Gaza-based Al Ayyam newspaper, clothing retailers are claiming that rather than a lack, there is now an overabundance of selections in their market.

The problem is that since Hamas has not paid salaries, there are few customers available to buy the goods.

Soft drink manufacturers and those in the furniture industry are also complaining, as they don't want to compete with the lower prices of Israeli goods.

Both have called on the de facto Hamas government to prevent the entry of Israeli products, citing their ability to meet the needs of the local market themselves and fears they may have to close their factories if they cannot meet the competition.

Due to the goods that continue to be “imported” through the Gaza smuggler tunnels, as well as those that enter the region by truck, there is now a surplus of products in the small market.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri claimed the agreement is “part of the plot by Israelis, Arabs and Europeans to restore the rule of the [Fatah-led] Palestinian Authority in Gaza.”

We can't do anything right for these people, can we? Heh. posted by Carl in Jerusalem