Sep
6
Palestinian Crimes against Christian Arabs and Their Manipulation against Israel
Filed Under Arab and Muslim World | 1 Comment
Interview with Justus Reid Weiner
Published August 2008
Institute for Global Jewish Affairs
No. 72, 1 September 2008 / 1 Elul 5768
www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=3&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=624&PID=0&IID=2406&TTL=Palestinian_Crimes_against_Christian_Arabs_and_Their_Manipulation_against_Israel
Under the Palestinian regime Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent
human rights abuses by Muslims. There are many examples of intimidation,
beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian
institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping,
forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion. Palestinian Authority
(PA) officials are directly responsible for many of the human rights
violations. Muslims who have converted to Christianity are in the greatest
danger. They are often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim
fundamentalists. Some have been murdered.
Christian Arabs also fall victim to the chaos and anarchy typical of PA
rule. This situation is fostered by societal rigidity, criminal gangs, lack
of education, absence of due process, incitement, unreliable courts, and the
denial of these problems-all running counter to Israel’s desire for a
prosperous and stable neighbor.
Muslim attitudes toward Christians and Jews are influenced by the concepts
and prejudices about their inferiority that the practice of dhimmitude has
spawned in Islamic society. As dhimmis, Christians living in
Palestinian-controlled territories are not treated as equals of Muslims and
are subjected to debilitating legal, political, cultural, and religious
restrictions.
The human rights violations against the Christian Arabs in the disputed
territories are committed by Muslims. Yet for political and economic reasons
many Palestinian Christian leaders blame Israel for these crimes rather than
the actual perpetrators. This motif of the transference of blame has been
adopted by several Christian leaders in the Western world. Others there who
are aware of the PA’s human rights abuses choose to remain silent.
“The disputed territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been
administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA)-and recently, in part, by
Hamas. As a result of the Oslo peace process, the Palestinians were able to
establish their own quasi-government. Under this regime the Christian Arabs
in these territories have been victims of frequent human rights abuses
including intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and
other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycott,
torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion.
“Muslims who have converted to Christianity are the ones most in danger.
They are often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim fundamentalists.
PA and Hamas officials are directly responsible for many of the human rights
violations. Christian Arabs also fall victim to the chaos and anarchy that
typifies PA rule.”
Justus Reid Weiner is an international human rights lawyer and a member of
the Israel and New York bar associations. His professional publications have
appeared in leading law journals and intellectual magazines. Weiner lectures
widely abroad and in Israel and teaches international law and business
courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He remarks: “The human rights crimes against the Christian Arabs in the
disputed territories are committed by Muslims. Yet many Palestinian
Christian leaders accuse Israel of these crimes rather than the actual
perpetrators. This motif has been adopted by a variety of Christian leaders
in the Western world. Others who are aware of the human rights crimes choose
to remain silent about them.”
Dhimmitude and Persecution
In Weiner’s view the crimes committed against Christian Arabs result from a
way of thinking that dates back to the earliest days of Islam.
“Traditionally, Christians and Jews were given an inferior social status
known as dhimmitude in Islam. The dhimma is a legal contract of submission
that was imposed upon the indigenous non-Muslim populations in regions
conquered by the spread of Islam. Although Jews and Christians were not
forced to convert to Islam, they were not treated as the equals of Muslims.
“As dhimmis, Jews and Christians were subjected to both legal and cultural
restrictions under Islamic law.[1] For example, Muslims could ride horses
whereas Christians and Jews were limited to donkeys. Or, Muslims were
permitted to wear garments of fine cloth while Christians and Jews were only
allowed to wear clothing made from coarse fabric.
“To this day, Muslim attitudes toward Christians and Jews are influenced by
the concepts and prejudices that dhimmitude has spawned in Islamic society.
In Iraq, for example, the ancestral community of Chaldean Christians has
recently become a target of vandalism, property theft, infringement of
privacy, harassment, arbitrary and prolonged detention, kidnapping, rape,
beatings, car bombings, torture, and even murder.
“There are many examples of Christian suffering in Islamic countries. In
November 2006, six Molotov cocktails damaged a Protestant place of worship
in western Turkey, breaking windows and scorching the exterior of the
building. This attack followed months of harassment of Christians in the
town of Odemis, sixty-five miles east of Izmir. In a town near Mosul (in
Iraq) in October 2006, a fifty-nine-year-old Syrian Orthodox priest named
Father Boulos Iskander was beheaded. His kidnappers had demanded $40,000 USD
and required that the priest’s church publicly repudiate Pope Benedict XVI’s
remarks on Islam.[2] It is interesting that this demand was directed at an
Orthodox Christian priest, who would have had nothing to do with any
statement by the Catholic Pope.
“In Egypt, in October 2006, a Christian teenager escaped her Muslim
kidnappers hours after they had drugged her on a public bus. They threatened
to rape her and convert her to Islam if her family didn’t leave their Nile
Delta city of El-Mahala el-Kobra. In a similar story, a fifteen-year-old
escaped from being held captive in Cairo’s southern suburb of Helwan while
her captors were away breaking their Ramadan fast.[3]
“Such attacks have evolved into an imminent crisis for the Christian
minority in every Muslim-ruled country of the Middle East, North Africa, and
Asia. Their Christian populations are in major decline, they are constantly
under threat of violence, and there is a general feeling that they have no
future. Some examples concern the Copts in Egypt and the Maronites in
Lebanon. The scholarship of Nina Shea and Paul Marshall on the persecution
of Christians in Islamic lands brings many proofs of this.[4]
“Israel is the only exception in the Middle East where the Christian
population since 1948 has increased. It has risen by more than 400 percent.
This also includes non-Arab Christians, such as Russian Christians who have
come here as spouses of Jews and otherwise.”
Weiner adds: “Similar troubles as for the Christians have emerged for a
whole range of nonconformists in the Islamic world. For example, in July
2005, two alleged homosexual teenage boys were publicly executed in Iran.[5]
The threats are affecting many throughout the region, including owners of
internet cafes, of restaurants or stores selling alcohol, land dealers,
independent journalists, and even authors such as Salman Rushdie. The
international human rights community has thus far done virtually nothing to
protect such nonconformists.”
A Culture of Intolerance
Weiner observes: “As dhimmis, Christians living in Palestinian-controlled
territories are not treated as the equals of Muslims. They are subjected to
debilitating legal, political, cultural, and religious restrictions. This
has become a critical problem for the Palestinian Christians in the West
Bank and Gaza. Muslim groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a
culture of hatred upon the age-old foundations of Islamic society. Moreover,
the PA has adopted Islamic law into its draft constitution.
“In 2006, Hassan El-Masalmeh, a member of the Bethlehem City Council and
local Hamas leader, publicly advocated implementing a discriminatory tax on
non-Muslim residents, known as al-jeziya. The Koran requires the imposition
of this tax on all dhimmis. It legalizes the second-class status of such
residents. El-Masalmeh stated that, ‘We in Hamas intend to implement this
tax someday. We say it openly and we welcome everyone to Palestine, but only
if they agree to live under our rules.’ One example occurred in late 2007
when an evangelical pastor was forced to leave Ramallah under threats from
Tanzim gunmen; soon after, his congregation dispersed. Clergy under threat
by gunmen should at least make a good-faith effort to use their media
connections to publicize their plight and thereby garner a degree of
protection for themselves and their followers.
“In such an environment, Christian Arabs have found themselves victims of
prejudice and hate crimes. Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians have
left their ancestral homes and emigrated to North America, Central America,
South America, Europe, and Australia. They flee to almost any country that
will issue them a visa.
“A majority of the Christians living under PA and Hamas rule are Greek
Catholic or Greek Melkite. Others are Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Anglicans,
Syriacs, Armenians, Copts, Maronites, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, as well
as several other denominations. The Palestinian Christian population has
always been concentrated in and around the cities of Jerusalem, Ramallah,
and Bethlehem.”
Developments in Bethlehem
“The demographics in these areas have changed drastically. Bethlehem is a
prime example. Estimates show a sharp demographic Christian-Muslim shift.
The Christian population went from an 80 percent majority in 1950, to a 60
percent majority in 1990, to approximately a 40 percent minority in 2000.
Today the population of Christian Arabs in Bethlehem is hovering at about 15
percent of the city’s total population. It is estimated that for the past
seven years over one thousand Christians have been emigrating from the
Bethlehem area annually. At present an estimated ten to thirteen thousand
Christians remain in the city.
“Neither the Palestinian Christian leaders nor the PA want to reveal
accurate statistics. That would mean the extent of the emigration would
become publicly known. They would then have to face questions about the
reasons for this decline.”
Weiner points out that Yasser Arafat determined the policy that led to this
demographic shift. “After the PA gained control of Bethlehem it redistricted
the municipal boundaries of the city. Arafat’s motivation for the change was
to ensure a Muslim majority in any elections to be held in the area. By
doing so, he annexed an additional thirty thousand Muslims and a few
thousand Muslim Bedouins in adjacent areas. This, combined with substantial
Muslim immigration from the nearby city of Hebron, dramatically transformed
the demographic reality.
“Arafat also defied tradition by appointing a Muslim governor of the city.
The Bethlehem City Council, which by Palestinian law must have a Christian
majority, has been taken over by Muslims. Eight of the fifteen seats on the
council are still reserved for Christians, but in the latest municipal
elections of May 2005 a coalition with crucial support from Hamas emerged
victorious.[6] Hamas today holds six of the fifteen council seats and their
Christian allies hold four.[7] Arafat crowned his efforts when he converted
the Greek Orthodox monastery next to the Church of Nativity into his
official Bethlehem residence.[8]
“The problems for Christians in Bethlehem are typical throughout the Middle
East. The Lebanese Christian community faced similar problems during the
1980s. The assassinated Christian prime minister of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel
summed up the situation: ‘A Christian, like a Jew . . . is not a full
citizen and cannot exercise political rights in any of the countries which
were once conquered by Islam.’[9]
“In Palestinian society Christian Arabs have no voice and no protection. It
is no wonder they have been leaving. Because of emigration-some of it dating
back two or three generations-seventy percent of Christian Arabs who
originally resided in the West Bank and Gaza now live abroad. Tens of
thousands live in Sydney, Berlin, Santiago, Detroit, and Toronto. The
emigration of Christian Arabs has multiplied over the last decade, with no
end in sight.
“It is currently estimated that the number of Christians living in Gaza
totals only 1,500-3,000 amid 1.2 million Muslims.[10] Probably less than
fifty thousand Christians remain in all of East Jerusalem, the West Bank,
and Gaza together.
“Taybeh, a village located deep in the West Bank, is the only all-Christian
village left in the PA. As a result of the perpetual violence, many
residents of Taybeh have gone abroad and only 1,300 remain.[11] The
situation of these Christians has become grim.”
The Abuse of Human Rights
Before giving examples of human rights abuses against Christians in the PA,
Weiner remarks: “Over this ten-year period, my research assistants and I
have interviewed scores of Christian victims. Many of those interviewed were
too terrified to tell their stories. In an effort to reassure them, I
promised to conceal their real names, professions, and places of residence.
“My first example concerns the routine extortion of Christian businessmen by
PA officials and street thugs. It involves an Armenian Christian jewelry-
store owner from Jerusalem. During a business trip to Gaza he was taken into
custody and extorted by the Palestinian police. He showed the officers the
necessary licenses and permits to sell his gold jewelry. Nevertheless, he
was forced to hand over all his money and gold jewelry and was subsequently
beaten for more than six hours.
Read more
Aug
29
Dead Sea Scrolls Go Digital
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
Innovative technologies developed by a NASA scientist will be applied in
monitoring scroll fragments on an ongoing basis for conservation purposes
Marking the 60th anniversary of the Dead Sea Scrolls’ discovery, the Israel
Antiquities Authority is initiating a project designed to document and
provide worldwide access to the Scrolls
A pilot project currently underway was presented today (Wednesday, August
27), in a press conference in Jerusalem. The ultimate goal is to image the
thousands of Scroll fragments in the State Collections in color and infra
red using the latest in digital cameras and placing them in a unique
internet data bank
The Dead Sea Scrolls will once again be revealed.
Two thousand years ago hundreds of scrolls, which include the oldest written
record of the Old Testament ever found, were buried in the caves of the
Judean Desert. Now, sixty years after the fortuitous discovery of the first
scrolls by Bedouin shepherds, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), to
whom they are entrusted and who diligently strives to preserve them, has
decided to provide researchers and the public worldwide access to them.
In a press conference that took place this morning in Jerusalem (August 27),
the IAA presented a pilot program that is being conducted this week,
involving the imaging of the Dead Sea Scrolls, using the latest in digital
cameras. The project will involve the documentation of all of the thousands
of Dead Sea Scrolls fragments belonging to about 900 manuscripts, and
placing them in an internet data bank that will be available to the public.
This will be accomplished by imaging the scrolls in color and infrared which
allow, among other things, the reading of scores of scroll fragments that
were blackened or ostensibly erased over the years and which were not
visible to the naked eye until now.
The pilot project is examining the means that were selected for imaging and
storing the information, and is also estimating the amount of time and
resources necessary for implementing a project such as this.
Participating in the pilot project together with the IAA staff are
international experts in the fields of imaging technologies and the
management of large image databases, amongst them Dr. Greg Bearman recently
retired as Principal Scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA,
Simon Tanner, Director, King’s Digital Consultancy Services, Dr Julia
Craig-Mc-Feely, a manuscript expert photographer, and Tom Lianza, Director
of Motion Picture and Television Technologies, X-rite Incorporated. Dr.
Bearman has previously worked with the IAA and other national libraries on
imaging of ancient texts, his group pioneered the application of modern
digital electronic and spectral imaging to archeological artifacts. Simon
Tanner has worked with some of the rarest artifacts around the world and
helped numerous digital projects to succeed in delivering public and
scholarly access to their treasures. Dr Craig-McFeely is Director of the
Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music and is internationally renowned for
her excellence in the digital photography of manuscript materials. Tom
Lianza has extensive experience in color and imaging. He is one of the early
pioneers in the field of Color Management and developed some of the earliest
digital flatbed color scanners.
As part of the pilot program the experts set up three separate imaging
stations in a sealed and specially painted gray room:
· A high resolution color imager that will capture the current state
of the fragments.
· A high resolution single wavelength infrared imager that will
provide significantly increased legibility to the texts in general and of
fragments that have deteriorated and have become illegible.
· A spectral imager with lower spatial resolution that covers the red
and infrared portions of the spectrum. Spectral imaging will be used on
fragments to monitor any changes in the manuscripts by measuring and
monitoring their spectral reflectance.
According to Pnina Shor, Head of the Department for the Treatment and
Conservation of Artifacts at the Israel Antiquities Authority, “In addition
to acquiring the test images, which will be used to analyze and evaluate the
quality control of the conservation, we are focusing on a workflow that will
minimize as much as possible the exposure of the scrolls to light and will
aid in determining the time and manpower needed for the complete imaging of
all of the thousands of scroll fragments. The innovative technology will
make it possible for the first time to scientifically measure changes in the
state of the scrolls’ preservation. The spectral imaging will graphically
record the condition of a scroll fragment and in several months we will
photograph it again under identical conditions at which time we will
ascertain if any changes at all have occurred in the graph. The fewer the
changes that are discovered the better we will know that the scrolls are in
an optimum state of preservation”.
Greg Bearman, a former senior scientist with NASA, put forth an innovative
idea at the press conference, “I believe that by using spectral photography
we will succeed, through non-invasive means, to determine the amount of
water present in the parchment from which the scrolls are made. Data such as
this has added value for conservation and preservation issues - if, for
example, we discover that the parchments are too dry, it will be necessary
to modify the conditions in which they are maintained”.
Background for the Dead Sea Scrolls Documentation Project
November 2007 was the sixtieth anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea
Scrolls, which are perhaps the most important archaeological find of the
twentieth century. Some 2,000 years have elapsed from time the scrolls were
buried in the caves until Bedouin shepherds found the first ones by chance
in 1947.
The scrolls are of great importance from a historical, religious and
cultural standpoint since they are the most ancient Hebrew record of the Old
Testament that has been found to date. They shed light on a time of great
upheaval in the history of the Jewish people at the end of the Second Temple
period as well as the history of Early Christianity.
Based on radiocarbon dating and paleographic analysis the earliest of the
scrolls can be dated to the end of the third century BCE. However, the
overwhelming majority of the manuscripts are dated to the first century
BCE-first century CE, to the time of the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties.
The texts include: biblical scrolls, apocryphal or pseudepigraphical
compositions and sectarian writings. The biblical scrolls contain sections
of all of the books of the Bible (with the exception of the Book of Esther)
and even a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah. Some of the fragments are
similar or identical to the Masoretic version and some are different.
Alongside a small number of large scrolls, many thousands of scroll
fragments were found which the first scholars assembled into approximately
1,200 plates.
Removal of the fragile scrolls from the caves in which they were hidden for
over 2,000 years interrupted the environmental stability that had ensured
their preservation. The ravages of time, as well as their handling and
treatment in the early years have taken their toll. Conservators have long
been concerned with the scrolls’ preservation and documentation. In 1991 the
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), advised by leading experts in the
conservation of manuscripts, parchment and papyrus, established a laboratory
dedicated solely to the conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The task is
ongoing, due to the scrolls’ extreme brittleness and the need to employ the
latest conservation methods known worldwide. Recently, the IAA, in
cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Culture, decided to reevaluate the
conservation procedures currently used, and to investigate methods of
preservation for issues still unresolved.
The thousands of scroll fragments were photographed in their entirety only
once, at the time of their discovery in the 1950s. Scholarly research and
publication are largely based on these infra-red photographs, although the
images represent the condition of the scrolls some fifty years ago, and even
the best of them rely on photographic technology that has since been
surpassed. Moreover, some of the images have themselves disintegrated. Since
its foundation the IAA Dead Sea Scrolls conservation lab has limited
photography to essential documentation and specific requests of images for
research and publication. Thus, there is a gap in the detailed image
information available to scholars, as well as a lack of an active image
record that can be used to assist in the conservation efforts
The IAA initiated the digitization project in its effort to monitor the
well-being of the scrolls, and to expand access to scholars and the public
worldwide, while preventing further damage from physical exposure. To this
end, in November 2007 the IAA convened an international committee of experts
for the purpose of evaluating the most advanced imaging technologies and the
management of large databases. The committee set a series of goals and
objectives for the documentation and imaging project including: spectral
imaging to improve monitoring for long term preservation in a non-invasive
and precise manner; creating both a high resolution colour and an infra-red
image of every fragment that is equal in physical quality to the scroll
fragments which will thereby prevent any need to re-expose them; and
documentation that will facilitate easy and uniform access to a data bank of
all the manuscripts which, as previously mentioned , are composed of
thousands of fragments.
Link for downloading images:
www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14
Aug
28
Releasing Terrorists: New Victims Pay the Price: 50% return to terror
Filed Under Terrorism | Leave a Comment
Jerusalem Issue Brief
Institute for Contemporary Affairs
founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation
Vol. 8, No. 8 24 August 2008
Releasing Terrorists: New Victims Pay the Price
Nadav Shragai
The Israeli Cabinet approved on August 17 the release of almost 200
Palestinian security prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” to Palestinian
Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. The list includes several prisoners “with
blood on their hands,” who, by definition, were involved in the murder of
Israelis.
According to an informal estimate by Israeli security bodies, about 50
percent of the terrorists freed for any reason whatsoever returned to the
path of terror, either as perpetrator, planner, or accomplice. In the terror
acts committed by these freed terrorists, hundreds of Israelis were
murdered, and thousands were wounded.
Israel freed 400 Palestinian prisoners and five other prisoners in return
for Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was held captive by Hizbullah, and for the
bodies of three soldiers kidnapped on Mount Dov. According to Knesset
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi, from the date
of the deal on January 29, 2004, until April 17, 2007, those freed in the
deal had murdered 35 Israelis.
An investigation by the Almagor Terror Victims Association in Israel
revealed that at least 30 of the terrorist attacks perpetrated since 2000
were committed by terrorists freed in deals with terror organizations. Many
were freed in the framework of goodwill gestures because they were defined
by Israel as “without blood on their hands.” The bloody swath cut by these
terrorists claimed the life of 177 persons, with many others wounded and
made invalids.
Another “Goodwill Gesture”
In anticipation of the return to the Middle East of U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, the Israeli Cabinet approved on August 17 the release of
almost 200 Palestinian security prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” to
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. The list includes several
prisoners “with blood on their hands,” who, by definition, were involved in
the murder of Israelis. Read more
Aug
10
By Michael Freund Jerusalem Post
After repeated delays, the trial of a Bangladeshi Muslim editor arrested
for advocating ties with Israel began in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Weekly Blitz, an
English-language newspaper published in the Bangladeshi capital, is
facing a series of charges that include sedition.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
In November 2003, Choudhury was arrested at Dhaka’s international
airport just prior to boarding a flight on his way to Israel, where he
was scheduled to deliver an address on promoting understanding between
Muslims and Jews. His visit to Israel would have been the first by a
Bangladeshi journalist.
Bangladesh does not recognize Israel’s existence.
Since his arrest, Choudhury has been subjected to various forms of
intimidation and harassment. Two years ago, the offices of his newspaper
were the target of an attempted bombing by unknown assailants.
In the first day of testimony this week, the prosecution called Abdul
Hanif, the officer in charge at the airport when Choudhury was detained.
Hanif accused Choudhury of being anti-Islamic, and said that he had
“praised Jews and Christians” and defamed Bangladesh. The hearings were
then adjourned.
Contacted by The Jerusalem Post, a spokeswoman for the Bangladeshi
Mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the case, saying
she was not familiar with the details.
Dr. Richard Benkin, an American Jewish activist who has been leading the
fight on Choudhury’s behalf, told the Post that while he was clearly
concerned about the trial, he nonetheless remains cautiously optimistic.
“The judge conducted himself in a judicially correct and professional
manner today, something we never experienced under the previous
government which initiated these charges,” Benkin said.
In a message sent to his supporters abroad after the conclusion of the
first day of hearings, Choudhury remained upbeat, declaring: “Now my
luck hangs in the balance of being either acquitted from the charges by
the court or accorded capital punishment.”
“But let us remain strong. Pray for me, for God is with us and we shall
win,” he said.
Aug
6
Members of the Egyptian Unique Moustache Association: We Respect the
Moustache of Hitler Because He Humiliated the World’s Most Despicable Sect
Following are excerpts from an interview with members of the Egyptian Unique
Moustache Association, which aired on Egyptian TV on July 11, 2008.
To view this clip, visit www.memritv.org/clip/en/1829.htm.
Interviewer: “I’m sure many people have pressured you to shave off your
moustache, saying, ‘What is this? Enough of that.’”
Association head Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “My personality forces
people to treat me with respect.”
Interviewer: “Didn’t your friends, relatives, your wife, or your children
say ‘Enough is enough?’”
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “They are all proud of me. My youngest boy,
Nader, calls himself ‘Nader Moustache.’ Get it? All his friends call him
‘Nader Moustache.’”
[…]
Interviewer: “Do you respect all types of moustaches - regardless of their
size, length, or width?”
Allam Muhammad Abdel Al-Halim: “Of course.”
Interviewer: “Even Hitler’s moustache?”
Captain Sayyed Shahada: “By the way, I respect the moustache of this Hitler,
because he humiliated the most despicable sect in the world. He subdued the
people who subdued the whole world - him with his ‘11′ moustache. By the
way, that kind of moustache is called ‘11.’ The generation of this Hitler…
When I was little, my father, may he rest in peace, grew that kind of
moustache, and so did all his classmates. They all had this ‘11′ moustache.
That was in the days of Hitler… My father… ”
Interviewer: “That was the fashion back then.”
Captain Sayyed Shahada: “Exactly. I should know - my father was a barber.”
[…]
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “We have different styles. One style is
‘the Douglas.’ Then there’s ‘the Pretzel,’ which is rolled like this… The
‘Two Swords’ style stands up like that… The ‘Mafroud’ is flat like a
ruler. Another style is the ‘Carter,’ which comes out from here and is very
wide.”
Interviewer: “What is it called?”
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “The ‘Carter.’ We have two special hair
designers, Muhammad Salomon and Yasser Imam. They are the association’s
designers. They designed all these styles.” […]
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “In the days of King Farouq, anybody who
grew a moustache would get a raise.”
Interviewer: “Really?”
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “Yes, they would get a raise.”
Memri
Aug
3
Son of Hamas leader who converted to Christianity slams Hamas
Filed Under Terrorism | Leave a Comment
Interview: Son of Hamas leader who converted to Christianity slams Hamas
“You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas.
Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a
peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the
Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must
continue to fight them to the death. They have to take revenge against
anyone who did not agree to accept the Prophet Mohammed, like the Jews who
are seen in the Koran as monkeys and the sons of pigs. They speak in terms
of historical rights that were taken from them. In the view of Hamas, peace
with Israel contradicts sharia and the Koran, and the Jews have no right to
remain in Palestine.”
Read more
Jul
29
IDF starts using new laser system near Gaza
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
Jul. 29, 2008 Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331128662&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Alongside production of the Iron Dome interceptor, Rafael is also in the
midst of developing a solid-based laser system that is believed to be the
future in short-range missile interception. The Jerusalem Post has learned
that a prototype of the model is already used by the IDF Southern Command to
detonate explosive devices planted alongside the border fence.
“With the laser, there is no need to send troops across the border to
destroy the bomb,” one official explained.
The Defense Ministry is also closely following the development of a Star
Wars-like laser beam system recently ordered by the United States government
to help defend troops operating in Iraq and Afghanistan under the threat of
short-range rockets and mortar shells.
Called the Laser Air Defense System (LADS), the platform is under
development by Raytheon in the US and was put on display earlier this month
at the Farnborough defense expo in England.
Israeli defense officials said that the Defense Ministry’s Research and
Development Directorate was closely tracking the development of the system
and that if it was operational before the Iron Dome - currently under
development by Rafael Defense Systems - it was possible that Israel would
purchase it to help defend against mortars and Kassam rockets fired from the
Gaza Strip.
In June, Raytheon tested a prototype solid-state laser weapon which it said
was designed to intercept rockets, mortars and missiles at significant
ranges. LADS, according to the company, may be operational within the coming
year and combines the capabilities of the 20-millimeter Phalanx rapid-fire
cannon with the power and effectiveness of lasers to provide fast and
precise direction of laser energy on target.
In static ground testing conducted with the US government, the LADS
demonstration used a proven, off-the-shelf solid-state laser coupled with
commercially available optics technology to detonate 60-millimeter mortars
at a range greater than 550 yards within the required time limit.
“In just six short months, Raytheon and government engineers went from an
idea to operational field-testing of a solid-state laser system that offers
the potential of near-term protection for our troops,” said Mike Booen,
Raytheon’s Missile Systems vice president of Advanced Missile Defense and
Directed Energy Weapons.
“Our solid-state LADS proves you don’t have to wait another three to five
years for solid-state lasers to have military utility on the battlefield.
They are ready now, with no chemicals required.”
Jul
28
Hamas: Al- Qassam website stopped from working on the World Wide Web after a fierce campaign by the Zionist lobby
Filed Under Terrorism | Leave a Comment
www.alqassam.ps/english/
Following the opening of Al Qassam Brigades website with the new design,
which marked by easily browsing and introducing update news services to the
thousands of participants and the great boom that the site has received by
the visitors, so the Zionists became angry. As a Zionist official parties
have launched a fierce campaign against Al Qassam website, which tried to
exhibit the website for the entire world that it is a web-terrorist
supporter. The Zionist lobby worked around the clock to put pressure on the
company which is hosting the site, instigating and accusing the company of
sponsoring and supporting terrorism, as the Zionists internet hackers tried
more than once to penetrate the website, but our engineers were able to
repel these attacks.
Several prominent Zionist officials in Russia have moved along with rights
institutions and two of the largest Zionist organizations upon there in
order to stop the website from working. Recently, a Zionist parliamentary
delegation includes eleven Knesset members visited Russia and they met with
members of Robert Aellatov Knesset (Israel Baituna) and Ze’ev Alkinim(
Kadima Party), with the Vice President of the Russian Federal Council
Alexandre Rocha, who promised the Zionists to stop hosting Al Qassam website
service provided by the Russian company Data Force, he said, “We and Israel
are in the same boat either we swim together or we sink together”. After all
these contacts and pressure, the company of Russian Data Force decided to
stop providing services to the website, considering the website as a danger
threat on the lives and the security of people in the world.
Al Qassam Brigades information office assure the visitors from the Arab,
Islamic world and the supporters of the Palestinian case people and his
resistance against the usurper Zionist occupation.
Our engineers are working for re-opening Al Qassam website to the World Wide
Web soon and we would say that these attacks and harassments will not deter
us from continuing our electronic resistance and delivering the voice and
the Palestinian resistance, which defends the Palestinian people, and it is
striving to recover the usurped rights, because we are aware that the battle
media battle is as important as the battle field with the Zionist
occupation.
Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades
Information Office
July 27th,2008
Jul
25
What asked Obama to G-d in the Wailing Wall?
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
The Israeli newspaper Maariv showed a picture of the message left by Barack Obama in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, during his visit in Israel this week. Here is the picture:
Jul
16
AMEX Bank Sued by Hizbollah Victims
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
First American Correspondent Bank to be Sued for Aiding Terrorist
Organization Facing $650 Million in Damages
85 Victims of Hizbollah Terrorist Rocket Attacks File Unprecedented Civil
Suit Against American Express Bank in New York Court
Eighty five American, Israeli and Canadian victims of Hizbollah terror
attacks have filed an historic civil action in the New York Supreme Court
in Manhattan against American Express Bank Ltd. (”AMEX Bank”) and the
Lebanese-Canadian Bank SAL (”LCB”). The suit, Licci v. American Express
Bank, requests $650 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified sum
of punitive damages.
Amex Bank, headquartered in New York, serves as one of LCB’s correspondent
banks the United States, and in that capacity processes LCB’s dollar
transactions. LCB’s main office is in Beirut, and it has branches
throughout Lebanon and a branch in Canada.
The plaintiffs, whose family members were killed or who were themselves
injured by rocket attacks fired at northern Israel by Hizbollah in the
summer of 2006, allege that AMEX Bank and LCB unlawfully executed millions
of dollars in wire transfers for Hizbollah between 2004 and 2006. The
plaintiffs assert that Hizbollah used the funds transferred by Amex Bank
and LCB to prepare and carry out the rocket attacks which the terrorist
organization rained on Israeli cities between July 12 and August 14, 2006.
The plaintiffs rest their claims in part on written findings issued by the
New York State Banking Department last year, which determined that AMEX
Bank had failed to establish adequate procedures to prevent terrorism
financing as demanded by state and federal law. This is the first lawsuit
brought by terror victims against an U.S. financial institution that
serves as a correspondent for a bank in Lebanon.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Robert J. Tolchin Esq. of New
York City, and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq. of Israel.
Attorney Darshan-Leitner stated that: “Hizbollah is a financial giant
which is deeply entrenched in the Lebanese banking system. Any U.S. bank
that serves as correspondent for a Lebanese bank may well be aiding and
abetting Hizbollah terrorism, and runs the risk of serious civil
liability. U.S. correspondents for Lebanese banks owe it to themselves and
to their shareholders to carefully examine and re-evaluate their
relationships with banks in Lebanon.”
According to attorney Tolchin: “There will be more suits to come against
Lebanese banks and their U.S. correspondents.”
A copy of the complaint is available here:
www.snapdrive.net/public.php?action=download&id=33e970e810c4