Islamist movement Hamas has announced the formation of a judicial committee whose work will be to administer justice in the Gaza Strip, which they took over last month.
Hamas' Executive Force militia spokesman Islam Shahwan says the committee was formed to "overcome the paralysis in the judicial system since the June 15 takeover".
...
It was not immediately clear whether the committee will base its procedures and rulings on existing Palestinian legislation, employ Islamic law, or use a mix of both.
Melanie Phillips takes up where this blog left off in an earlier posting concerning Gaza and the crossings.
Her lengthy posting is titled Guns and Butter, which discusses the looming humanitarian disaster awaiting Gaza supposedly because Israel is not allowing food through the crossings.
For those with a long enough memory, this warning of a looming humanitarian disaster comes on the heels of prior warnings of looming humanitarian disasters in Gaza.
These warnings were given by various interested parties (Hamas, UN staff, NGOs, fellow travellers) blaming Israeli actions. For example, 'the occupation', checkpoints, boycotting Hamas after their election win, last summer's conflict after Corporal Gilad Schalit's kidnapping to name a few.
Phillips really hits it out of the park (that's 'a six' for Aussies and Brits, and 'a home run' for Americans) about halfway through her piece:
So while Gazans are reportedly starving in a humanitarian crisis (caused by the fact that they themselves are preventing the arrival of food and essential supplies) they are nevertheless managing to supply themselves at the same time with ‘import’ dimensions of weapons with which to murder Israelis (and each other). And how are they managing to do this, since the crossing point from Israel is shut? Why, across the other border with Egypt (despite the fact that that crossing point is also officially shut). So if they can import the means to kill people from Egypt, why can’t they import the means to feed them by the same route? Why aren’t Mr Erlanger, the York Times, the UN and all the rest of them demanding that Egypt ensure that essential supplies go through? Why isn’t Egypt being accused of turning Gaza into a ‘prison’?
With that in mind, how timely is it to see Ha'aretz report the words of the one and only Palestinian spinmeister Saab Erekat:
Palestine Liberation Organization chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said over the weekend that all options must be examined for resolving the issue of thousands of Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.
...
Erekat said he personally asked Egypt's Assistant Intelligence Chief Mohammed Ibrahim to reopen the crossing, saying his request was denied on the grounds that Egypt cannot reopen the crossing without Israel's consent.
Erekat blames Egypt. Egypt blames Israel. Nothing unusual so far.
Until one reads the next couple of paragraphs:
On Tuesday, however, Haaretz reported that Palestinian sources said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas asked Israel and Egypt to prevent the movement of people from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, after Hamas' mid-June takeover of the coastal strip. The sources said that Abbas said if the crossing is opened, Hamas will be able to let in thousands of people without supervision into Gaza - including activists who could strengthen the group, which rival Abbas' Fatah movement.
So for Hamas, weapons to kill Jews trumps food for its own people.
Whereas for Abbas, stopping Hamas trumps food and his own people.
But for the UN, the New York Times and Australia's ABC, it still remains Israel's fault.
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East should find some way to talk to Hamas.
“I don’t think you can just cast them into outer darkness and try to find a solution to the problems of the region without taking to account the standing that Hamas has in the Palestinian community,” Powell said in a radio interview.
He said Hamas, which controls Gaza, is not going away and enjoys considerable support among the Palestinian people.
“They won an election that we insisted upon having,” Powell said. “And so, as unpleasant a group they may be and asdistasteful as I find some of their positions, I think through some means, the Middle East Quartet ... or through some means Hamas has to be engaged.
Terrorism works, because the will of the West does not outlast that of the terrorists.
LONDON (Reuters) - A man serving 30 years in jail for planning "dirty bomb" attacks in Britain and plotting to blow up U.S. financial institutions has been scarred for life after an attack in prison, his lawyer said on Monday.
Dhiren Barot, 35, considered by British and U.S. officials to be one of al Qaeda's most senior operatives in Europe after admitting conspiracy to murder last year, suffered a "horrific assault" last Friday, according to his lawyer Muddassar Arani.
She said a prisoner at the maximum security Frankland Prison in Durham had thrown boiling water on Barot's back which had led to a "physical punch up". Later while attending to his burns, another inmate poured boiling oil over his head.
"Eesa (Dhiren) Barot has suffered various burns to his hands, forehead, head, neck and back. Eesa Barot as a result of the boiling oil having been poured over him has lost all of his hair," Arani said in a statement.
"Barot is suffering from extensive pain and has been scarred for the rest of his life."
Hamas has decided that avoiding the purchase of fruit and vegetables from Zionist pigs and monkeys is more important than the health of the general populace in Gaza.
Hamas's Finance Ministry on Monday barred Israeli fruits and vegetables from entering the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the spokesman for the Fruit Growers Association.
The move is likely to cost Israeli fruit growers NIS 3-5 million a day, according to the association.
The Hamas decision will also make it harder for Palestinians to keep fruits and vegetables in their diet, particularly those items not grown in Gaza, according to Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
This is yet another example of Palestinians - Hamas members in this case - readily sacrificing the well-being of their own for attempted political gain.
How long before we see a headline on the ABC news website to the effect that 'Israel stops delivering fruit and vegetables to Gaza', with the reason buried deep within the article, if at all?
But more interestingly, the article continues (emphasis added):
Upon hearing that Palestinian private contractors on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing planned to adhere to the prohibition, Israeli businessmen did not send out the scheduled 60 trucks of produce, Dror told The Jerusalem Post. The fruit and vegetable ban is the latest in a set of anti-Israel moves by Hamas, including continued mortar fire on the crossing, to keep Kerem Shalom closed.
On Saturday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, "We are against opening the Zionist-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom." He added that its use was part of a conspiracy by Israeli and pro-American Fatah leadership in Ramallah against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Setting aside the tin-foil hat conspiracy spouted at the end of the above paragraphs, it's worth revisiting this article on the ABC's news website:
Israel fails to stem Gaza food crisis: UN
Aid agencies say food stocks could run out in the Hamas-held Gaza Strip within two weeks, creating a major humanitarian crisis if Israel does not ease a cargo blockade further.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says goods can only trickle through Kerem Shalom crossing, whose capacity is 15 trucks a day.
The words 'fails' and 'cargo blockade' directly accuse Israel as being the perpetrator. Spoken by the UN. Transcribed by the ABC. Written by Hamas, perhaps?
And yet, we now have direct from the mouth of the Hamas spokesman undeniable proof that they wish the Kerem Shalom crossing closed. It is reasonable to assume that Hamas applies the same Zionist-controlled label to the other crossings and wishes them closed too.
The UN have been dishonest in accusing Israel when it is clear that Hamas is the reason the crossings are closed.
This is not surprising, for the UN World Food Programme is more likely to side with the enemy of Israel. Every other UN-affiliated committee, council and organisation does, so why would this one be different?
The ABC - in its continued fawning to everything blue-helmetted - has either been fooled yet again or knowingly complicit in this falsehood.
Unfortunately, this is also not surprising. Not the first time, and unlikely to be the last.
Ha'aretz reports on the death of Israeli journalist Ze'ev Schiff:
Hundreds of friends and family members paid their final respects to military commentator and Haaretz defense editor Ze'ev Schiff, who was laid to rest Wednesday at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv. He died Tuesday night in Tel Aviv at the age of 74.
To his many friends, Schiff was known as Wolfy. To his readers in Israel and the world, he was a brand name, a guarantee for reliable information and authoritative analysis. More than anything else, Schiff was the quintessential Israeli military correspondent.
UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) called Sunday's Katyusha rocket attack from Lebanon into Israel a "serious breach" of cease-fire, and urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint.
"Today's rocket attack from south Lebanon is considered a serious violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and serious breach of cessation of hostilities agreement," said Yasmina Bouziane, a spokeswoman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.
The UN reaction coincided with a demand by a high ranking IDF officer in the Northern Command that UNIFIL take action and fulfill its mandate to prevent further attacks into Israel's sovereign territory.
Earlier Sunday evening, four Katyusha rockets were fired on Kiryat Shmona, causing damage but no injuries.
The Southern Front has Gaza turned into Hamastan, which could resume firing Qassams at any time, and possibly augment them with longer-range rockets smuggled across the Egypt-Gaza border.
The Northern Front now has Hizbollah (or was it a pro-Syrian terrorist group?) firing Katyushas into Israel.
It is always difficult to differentiate between sporadic attacks and the onset of a full-scale war.
But it's a pressure cooker around Israel waiting to explode.
For the benefit of the Six Day War revisionists, that's explode inwards, rather than outwards.
Palestinians run as they try to cross to the Israel side at the Erez Crossing, in the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, June 16, 2007. Dozens of Palestinians converged on the Erez crossing with Israel on Saturday, trying to leave the Gaza Strip following Hamas' takeover.
So much for Israel being evil Zionists. Faced with the prospect of a Hamas-run Gaza, these Palestinians - presumably aligned to Fatah in some way - choose the relative safety of Israel.
Why is that?
So Israel withdraws from Gaza. Palestinians vote in Hamas with their new-found freedom. Hamas (Islamofascist terrorists) and Fatah (secular nationalist terrorists) kill each other. Hamas eventually defeats Fatah in Gaza. And with it, so goes freedom for the Palestinians.
Reuters reports on more Palestinians, grateful to Israel, albeit temporarily (emphasis added):
For most Palestinians, black-hooded gunmen have long been respected symbols of resistance against Israeli occupation.
Now, frequent internal fighting and lawlessness gripping the Palestinian territories have transformed the militants into no more than gangsters in the eyes of many of those who once saw them as heroes.
"It's very ironic but I'm relieved the Israelis have started a bombing campaign. The gunmen killing each other on the streets were forced to go into hiding," said Mai, a Gaza housewife, referring to strikes aimed at halting rocket attacks on Israel.
Further on in the article:
[Fatah Legislator Nasser] Jum'a said ordinary Palestinians were so fed up with the armed groups "they now wish the Israeli occupation would take over in Gaza or hope for the return of Jordanian rule in the West Bank" to get rid of them.
Jum'a's life expectancy just went dramatically southward.
The article continues later on:
In a poll conducted by the Palestinian independent pollster NearEast Consulting in the West Bank and Gaza in May, 70 percent of those surveyed said they feel more insecure since Hamas came to power last year.
Vote in a religiously totalitarian terrorist organisation and you reap what you sow.
"The message is that people are tired of inter-Palestinian fighting. They are fed up with both Fatah and Hamas, and all they want is to live in security before any thought of fighting Israel," Palestinian analyst Bassem Izbedi told Reuters.
Prediction: once the internecine battles die down, expect this lack of desire to fight Israel to last as long as an electronic product functions after the warranty expires.
Glick laments the reversion of the US to James Bakeresque realpolitik and with it, in her opinion, a slide backwards for the forces of good and chances for victory in the Middle East.
Among other things, Glick assesses how Israel is faring (emphasis added):
This brings us back to Israel, which is situated smack in the middle of the regional chaos. How is Israel contending with this threatening state of affairs?
The IDF seems to be contending fairly well, at least with regard to Syria and Lebanon. The IDF's decision to have television crews film Israeli soldiers fighting in mock Syrian villages this week, like Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi's announcement that the IDF is prepared to fight on two fronts simultaneously, are signs that the IDF recognizes that its only safe bet is to prepare for all contingencies. Were the IDF to complement these actions with warnings to Iran and operational plans to attack Iran's nuclear installations and distribute gas masks to the public, the General Staff would go a long way toward proving that it is adopting the only reasonable strategic posture available, given the cards Israel has been dealt.
Peretz tells cabinet millions of shekels needed for gas masks
Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned during a cabinet meeting Sunday that the state was missing millions of shekels needed to refurbishing gas masks for civilians.
Peretz made the statements during a briefing about preparations works carried out by his Ministry ahead of the establishment of an emergency authority for the Home Front.
Things could be worse than Amir Peretz taking his cues from Caroline Glick.
Via Michael Totten's excellent blog, comes this true story that could be made into a Hollywood movie:
In the Gaza Strip's Jab aliya refugee camp, Aref Suleiman was raised on Palestinian struggle against the Jewish state. Today he lies in an Israeli hospital bed, his body riddled with Palestinian bullets, his wounds tended daily by Israeli nurses.
For the 22-year-old Mr Suleiman, who was shot five times point blank by Hamas militants last month during a renewed bout of Palestinian infighting, this is not the Arab-Israeli conflict he learnt about as a child growing up in Gaza's desperate, rubbish-strewn alleys.
"Palestinians shoot me and Jews treat me," he laughs bitterly. "It was supposed to be different."
The question is: will the story end with Suleiman learning to love the enemy or coming back to try kill his Jewish saviours?
Via Pajamas Media, the BBC reports approvingly about the robot that will recover injured soldiers from the battlefield:
The US military is developing a robot with a teddy bear-style head to help carry injured soldiers away from the battlefield.
The Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot (BEAR) can scoop up even the heaviest of casualties and transport them over long distances over rough terrain.
New Scientist magazine reports that the "friendly appearance" of the robot is designed to put the wounded at ease.
It is expected to be ready for testing within five years.
While it is important to get medical attention for injured soldiers as soon as possible, it is often difficult and dangerous for their comrades to reach them and carry them back.
The 6ft tall Bear can cross bumpy ground without toppling thanks to a combination of gyroscopes and computer controlled motors to maintain balance.
It is also narrow enough to squeeze through doorways, but can lift 135kg with its hydraulic arms in a single smooth movement, to avoid causing pain to wounded soldiers.
While the existing prototype slides its arms under its burden like a forklift, future versions will be fitted with manoeuvrable hands to gently scoop up casualties.
The reason why the pacifist BBC reports this robot favourably is that the positives (not combat-facing, recovers injured, far off into the future) more than offsets the negatives (it's American).
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is creating automated kill zones around the Gaza Strip aimed at halting infiltrations by terrorists, arms smugglers and other hostile individuals.
Now in final stages of operational testing, the “See-Shoot” system will add weapons to the network of overlapping sensors already deployed along the approximately 60-kilometer border separating Israel from the Palestinian coastal territory.
Developed by state-owned Rafael, See-Shoot consists of a series of remotely controlled weapon stations which receive fire-control information from ground sensors and manned and unmanned aircraft. Once a target is verified and authorized for destruction, operators sitting safely behind command center computers push a button to fire the weapon.
Let's see: it is Israeli, it kills enemies (Palestinian terrorists) and is soon to be a reality.
It should be interesting to see how BBC hyperventilate over this story.
As Ha'aretz reports, the UN looks like it might just possibly maybe potentially consider the scenario where they would bare their false teeth:
The United Nations Security Council will renew its deliberations on Monday regarding a press statement condemning remarks made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the effect that "the countdown to Israel's destruction had begun."
The drafted statement was shelved until Monday after Indonesia and Qatar, two of the council's 15 nations, were not ready to endorse it.
That's today's story on the replacement of Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilali, as described by the ABC in their online article:
Controversial muslim cleric, Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilali has declined the position of Mufti of Australia and a new mufti has been elected.
Imams from across the country were at Melbourne's Preston Mosque for a meeting of the National Imam's Council.
The Council has announced Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam as the Mufti of Australia for a two-year term.
The Council said Sheik Al Hilali was appointed first, however he declined the position and proposed Sheikh Fehmi to be appointed Mufti.
Israellycool's original post on the uncovered cat meat provides one good reason - among many - of why he is gone.
Within the same ABC article comes this perplexing picture and caption:
Sheikh Fehmi is in the middle? Of what? A political storm? A Hilaly bear-hug?
A good test of whether or not Sheikh Fehmi is moderate is to ask his opinions about (a) Jews, (b) Shari'a law vs Australian law, and (c) women wearing less than a burkha.
The outcome of those answers would not only reflect on Sheikh Fehmi but also the council who elected him.
Medics at a northern Gaza Strip hospital walked off their jobs for a few hours Saturday to protest the kidnapping and kneecapping of a doctor by Palestinian militants, the first physician targeted in months of deadly infighting.
Dr. Fayez al-Barrawi, a known Hamas supporter, was blindfolded, handcuffed and shot six times in the legs, including a kneecap, and then tossed on the street Thursday.
Hamas has said Fatah militants were behind the kidnapping. Al-Barrawi worked at Beit Hanoun hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.
Hundreds of Hamas and Fatah supporters have been kidnapped in recent months by rival gunmen. The treatment of the hostages, who are usually released after a few hours, has become increasingly harsh, and captives are often shot in the legs.
It is the first time a doctor was seized. However, militants often fire on paramedics and ambulances during gun battles.
I blame the Zionists.
Credit to Associated Press who covered this disgusting outrage.
Maybe one day Palestinian Arabs will be absorbed by the Arab countries in which they reside.
They should take the lead from another Middle Eastern country.
Israel made citizens those Arabs who ignored the call from Arab leaders to get out the way of impending attacks on the nascent Jewish state in 1948, but instead remained behind.
Israel has also absorbed millions of Jews who fled persecution in countries that were not free: the Soviet Union, Iraq, Iran and many other countries in the Middle East.
Israel tries to close and heal wounds.
With the possible exception of Jordan, Arab countries have allowed Palestinian wounds to fester.
Presumably as an effective demographic weapon against their sworn enemy.
Hizbullah has built a network of underground military bunkers under the noses of United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon close to the Israel-Lebanon border that can withstand air strikes, according to a report in Britain's Sunday Times.
The Times said that the guerilla group had replenished its weaponry and cited IDF intelligence estimates that it had stockpiled 20,000 rockets.
"Since the Israeli forces left, Hizbullah has been building formidable military underground posts under the noses of the UN," the Times quoted an IDF intelligence officer as saying.
Will those rockets and bunkers come into play soon?
Which means it's ... time for another UN Resolution.
Media group warns of Palestinian 'propaganda' on satellite TV
An Israeli-based media monitoring group says Australia should be concerned about the promotion of so-called martyrdom on Arabic satellite television.
Nowadays, so-called is one of the phrases of choice used by mainstream media (MSM). Usually delivered in a mocking tone. The word used on Palestinian TV for martyrdom is shahada, aspiring to death for Allah, which will become a familiar theme in the videos below.
Itamar Marcus, from the Palestinian Media Watch, is visiting Australia, discussing what he claims are disturbing trends on Palestinian television.
He claims is another one of those MSM phrases. Used either to morph facts into less certain accusations by one 'side', or to preempt journalist intimidation from the other 'side'.
Mr Marcus says some stations are promoting martyrdom or suicide bombing among young people, using subtle means such as music videos.
Mr Marcussays put your hands over your eyes. Mr Marcus says put your hands over your ears. Now MSM, try report the truth. Hey, the last command didn't have 'Mr Marcus says' so you don't have to heed!
He says there has been an increase in propaganda material promoting the practice, which is making its way to Australia and other countries through the many satellite services available.
"That's the danger, that we do have Internet, we do have satellite and these messages do go out," he said.
The Internet contains many examples of the Palestinian-manufactured jihadist hatred and will be seen below.
"This isn't necessarily what Islam is teaching but this is the way the [Palestinian faction] Hamas is teaching Islam."
Recall that Hamas is the Palestinian 'faction' that the majority of Palestinians voted for in the most recent free and fair election. And Hamas has not changed their tune, nor their Covenant which calls for the killing of all Jews in the world (emphasis added):
Article Seven
... the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).
Back to the article, which ends with the obligatory opportunity for a Palestinian apologist to refute the so-calledclaims by Mr Marcus:
But a member of the Palestinian community in Australia, Nasser Shaktour, says he does not believe there has been such a trend towards promoting suicide bombing on Arabic television.
Perhaps Mr Shaktour is talking about some other Arabic television. Perhaps Mr Shaktour doesn't believe over six years of incitement to jihad and aspiration to shahada is a trend.
Let's watch and listen to what the Palestinians in the Middle East say to see if they can provide any clarity on the matter:
Palestinian children on Palestinian TV state that shahada trumps peace and full rights for the Palestinian people. For Westerners puzzled why the Palestinians refused a Palestinian state in 2000, this may go some way to providing some explanation.
A Palestinian mother - a Hamas candidate in the elections - expresses her satisfaction that her sons have become shahids:
In case you were wondering if this was popular with the average Palestinian, the American ABC news network reported after the election:
Mariam Farahat, who was elected to the Palestinian parliament, can work a crowd like a veteran politician -- shaking hands and greeting supporters. When she gets on the stage at a Hamas rally, she is the star attraction. She was one of Hamas' most popular candidates in Wednesday's election.
In Gaza, Farahat is known as Um Nidal, or Mother of the Struggle -- a mother who sent three of her six sons on Hamas suicide missions against Israeli targets.
"We consider it holy duty," she told ABC News. "Our land is occupied. You take all the means to banish the occupier. I sacrificed my children for this holy, patriotic duty. I love my children, but as Muslims we pressure ourselves and sacrifice our emotions for the interest of the homeland. The greater interest takes precedence to the personal interest."
Indeed.
In a fictitious re-enactment of the real-life female suicide terrorist, Re'em Riyashi, the four-year-old daughter (played by an actor) starts by lamenting the loss of her mother. But then realises becoming a shahid is more important:
The video ends with the daughter picking up some of the explosive sticks herself. Perhaps the message is "like mother, like daughter"?
The video began playing on Palestinian TV in March 2007.
This is the PMW video of the real Re'em Riyashi (will open your media player):
In case you thought that the Palestinians would be not be so depraved as to bring the real children of Re'em Riyashi onto Palestinian TV, this clip comes to you from another media monitoring organisation, MEMRI:
As most people are now aware, a Mickey Mouse lookalike named Farfur gets a run on Palestinian TV in April 2007, promising Islamic domination and urging resistance of the Zionist occupation:
When Farfur gets caught cheating, the notorious Palestinian victimhood is played out:
It's the Jews' fault. By the way, Spaniards, you're next.
There is more Palestinian TV videos of child indoctrination at the PMW website here.
What about the religious leaders among the Palestinians? Are they preaching moral behaviour in the Friday sermons, which are broadcast on PA TV?
Here the Palestinian religious preacher Ibrahim Mudayris, Head of the Association for Memorizing the Quran, PA Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs encourages Islamic domination of the Western world:
This was shown on PA TV on 13 May 2005.
Here Mudayris explains one way to attain Islamic domination. By killing all Jews:
Jews are pigs in this video, which was shown on PA TV on 10 September 2004.
Not to be outdone, the acting speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr Ahmad Bahar, raises the "kill all Jews mantra" with "kill all Jews and Americans":
Jews are a cancer in this video, which was shown on PA TV on 20 April 2007.
Hamas spokesman, Dr Ismail Radwan, joins the Conga-line calling for genocide of the Jews:
In addition to calling on the killing of Jews and Americans, the idea of summits, international resolutions and negotiations are rejected in favour of the rifle.
This was shown on PA TV on 30 March 2007.
There are more videos of genocidal broadcasts on PA TV at the PMW website here.
For the whole range of hate videos on Palestinian TV, PMW has the following sections:
The Age's Ed O'Loughlin's recent article about the Six Day War is torn to shreds by David Singer in this excellent online piece:
Consider these five gems (and there are many more) in Mr O'Loughlin's article:
1. " A native of New Jersey, he is one of several hundred Jews who live under heavy military protection in the first and most extreme of all Jewish settlements on the West Bank, carved out of the historic heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron."
The author fails to mention that "the historic heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron" happens to include the ancient Jewish Quarter of Hebron built on land purchased by Jews in 1540.
Jews lived there until 24 August 1929 when 67 Jewish men women and children were slaughtered by a crowd of rampaging Arabs . The remaining Jewish population of 750 were forced to flee. Some returned in 1931 but were forced to leave when the Arabs rioted again in 1936. Jews returned to the Jewish Quarter after the Six Day War to a very hostile welcome from the Arab residents.
Hebron contains the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Leah and Rebecca - one of Jewry's holiest sites - which the Bible records was purchased by Abraham in 1753BC.
Hebron is therefore more than just a Palestinian city. It has a far longer Jewish history - one of great religious significance for Jews.
Any editor worth his salt should have taken steps to have the author correct this statement.
There's plenty more where that came from. Read on here.
Expect ad hominem rebuttal, which will prove substance is with Singer and not PalEdStinian.
