Op-ed: Open letter to Europeans, who killed Jews and are now contending with radical Islam
Avi Rath
Published: 10.07.10, 17:57 / Israel Opinion
Good evening Europe!
Hello to you, dear continent. For a while now I've been meaning to write you a few words, as a close neighbor here in the Middle East who loves traveling through your beautiful landscape, and whose roots lie deep within the continent.
You were our home for thousands of years, and especially for the past 1,000 years. We've known good times of neighborly relations as well as economic, cultural and spiritual prosperity. Yet we had also known difficult days of hatred, expulsions, humiliation, and blood libels. Oh, did we ever know such days.
Somehow, we survived; both you and us. To our regret, and shamefully for you, we were not the ones who chose to end our affair with you, dear continent. We could have maintained neighborly relations and cooperation for many more years, yet for reasons of your own you chose to put an end to this partnership, literally.
The plan was formulated on your soil, the camps were built there and the trains traveled there; the graves were dug on your soil, and
the blood flowed to your rivers. Within a short period of time, you cut off a significant, 1,000-year Jewish presence. You murdered and expelled millions of loyal Jewish citizens. You eliminated not only them, but also all their contributions to the culture, economy, art, humanities, academics, literature, medicine, education, commerce, banking, and life in general.
I've been meaning to write you for a long time, yet it hasn't worked out. However, this week, after seeing two things, I decided that I must say a few words.
First, I saw reports drafted by all sorts of demography and sociology experts, who claim that within a few years, you, Europe, will be turning Muslim. In some European states, 50% of all births at this time already are Muslim. If we add this to the low birthrates of non-Muslim European - where you, the white, Christian Europe, shall turn into a Muslim continent.
You are indeed trying to engage in rearguard battles against this phenomenon – against mosques in Switzerland, against burqas in France, against immigration, and against all sorts of other things. Yet you too realize that this train cannot be stopped. Nobody will be able to forbid a Muslim woman from putting on a veil. Indeed, the liberal, enlightened, and scantily-clad European women realize that a day may come where radical Islam gains enough strength to end the party.
The second thing I saw was the travel advisories issued by many states to warn their citizens against heading to Europe for fear of terrorism. Someone already noted (and it wasn't necessarily a Jew) that while not all Muslims are terrorists, for some reason most terrorists are Muslim.
Slowly, our dear continent, you are starting to understand what you're dealing with here. You are starting to understand the kind of religion and culture brought along by radical Islam. Suddenly, you discover hatred and the culture of martyrs, as well as intolerance and isolation, alienation in the face of real democracy, and the shunning of human and women's rights.
Suddenly, radical Islam is stuck like a bone in Europe's throat. You cannot eject it – because that would immediately raise cries of racism, human rights, and the usual babble – but you cannot swallow it either, because the white, democratic, liberal and Christian European culture cannot contain such radical cultural and religious elements. It will end with a major explosion, in more than one way.
Dear continent, there is no vacuum in the world. You expelled and exterminated us, and got the Muslim world instead. At first it was nice, getting a little Mideastern atmosphere and breeze, yet with the passage of time the radical Islamic storm arrived and now threatens to sweep you away, our dear neighbor.
Now you are starting to sleep in the bed you made. Suddenly you are discovering women wearing veils, zealous eyes, and mosques at every corner. Suddenly you need to contend with high birthrates, a culture with radical characteristics which you cultivated, and terrorism and violence which you ignored. You cannot deny this for much longer. The confrontation is already here. Unfortunately we are already experts on the issue, even though here too there is no shortage of naïve, self-righteous individuals.
The first time the Creator decided to raze the world as result of our conduct, he agreed to grant humanity another chance. He asked Noah to go into the ark in order to create a new basis for the world and produce a more decent humanity. The ark was the world's chance; a momentary shelter.
So dear Europe, will you be wise enough to prepare ahead of time a physical and cultural Noah's Ark in order to survive and preserve yourself? Or will your aggressiveness, arrogance, and hypocrisy not allow you to admit to the disaster you brought upon yourself, turning into a continent living on borrowed time?
Regards,
Your Jewish neighbor from the Middle East
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3966017,00.html
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The furious insignificance of Hamas – Part III
From Blog of Son of Hamas
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Many Middle East analysts point to Tehran as the power behind the Hamas throne. If the flow of Iranian money and weapons could be cut off, they believe, Hamas would wither and die.
But Hamas does not rely that heavily on Iran. It needs Iran’s weaponry and training, but it also receives substantial financial support from Qatar and other Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, as well as from individual deep pockets throughout the Arab world. During the Hajj, for example, (the annual season for pilgrimage to Mecca, November 14-18 this year) Hamas fundraisers, including exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, descend on Mecca, meet with Muslims from all over the globe and collect millions of dollars in donations.
Other observers wonder why Iran—a Shi’a Muslim nation—is helping Sunni Hamas in the first place.
From his perspective, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gains political currency by collaborating with Hamas. He needs the respect of the Sunni world if the Shi’a are to spread their doctrine and take control of the entire Middle East. So he supports Hamas, Syria and other Sunni in addition to Shi’a Hezbollah to show the Arab world that Iran’s concern extends to all Muslims, regardless of theological differences (of course, Hezbollah receives the lion’s share; Hamas receives only token support by comparison).
Nevertheless, Iran continues to play a key role in the destabilization of the region. So does the United States.
America, out of its own kind of ignorance, keeps the conflict burning between Israelis and Palestinians by supporting the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and enabling the PA to persecute Hamas.
Between FY 2007 and 2010, the U.S. government gave the PA $392 million to train and equip its security forces, oversee construction of related infrastructure projects and develop the capacity of the Palestinian Authority. And the State Department requested another $150 million for FY 2011.
When will Washington realize that it cannot join hands with people who do not believe in liberty and personal freedom? The PA does not believe in any concept in the American Constitution. Its security forces persecute and torture people for any reason, and people end up hating the United States because they know that it supports Abu Mazen* and his forces.
Like the PA, Egypt is considered a moderate regime and is supported by the U.S. It persecuted the Muslim Brotherhood for decades, and as a result we have to deal with Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri today. People fled persecution in Egypt, and they will flee persecution in the West Bank and find a place like Somalia, Afghanistan, Chechnya or Iraq where they can express their frustration and hatred and attack the United States.
This only fuels a deadly hatred in the heart of every Hamas member. And at some point, they will uproot Abu Mazen. But Hamas will not take over the West Bank as it did Gaza.
The worst case scenario in the West Bank is that Hamas will create underground cells, launch missiles into Israel, continue to kill Israeli settlers and perhaps assassinate key Fatah and PLO leaders. They do not have the weaponry for a coup or the tunnels through which to smuggle in the weapons. And, despite a huge base of people who sympathize with them, it would be virtually impossible for Hamas to recruit thousands of members to their military wing as they did in Gaza. The Gaza phenomenon was unique. It was a crime of opportunity that is unlikely to reoccur in the West Bank.
So, do I see any hope for my people?
Today, Hamas is doing the same thing it did 15 years ago, and I expect it will continue in the same disruptive and unproductive rut indefinitely. The unholy alliance of the U.S. and the PA will ensure that hatred continues to burn and spread in the West Bank.
There are now two Palestines. And the Bible says that a house that is divided cannot stand.
While peace-brokers continue to drag the same worn cards to the table, they leave the ace out of the deck. Islam has always been the chief obstacle to peace and reconciliation.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed before on independence, self-government and other important issues. There have been truces and ceasefires. Every intervention under the sun—military, diplomatic, economic, logistic—has been tried and failed.
And as long as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Salafis are part of the equation, dialogue and compromise and agreement are impossible. The god of the Qur’an stands in the way.
There can never be dialogue with Islam because every discussion begins and ends with “God said . . .”
Only if the people of the Middle East get rid of Islam, will they be able to deal with their problems and live in peace again with one another. Otherwise, Islam will continue to be the spoiler.
* Abu Mazen is a typical Arabic honorific that means “father of Mazen.” Abbas and his wife, Amina, have three sons: Mazen, Yaser and Tareq.
----------------------------------
Many Middle East analysts point to Tehran as the power behind the Hamas throne. If the flow of Iranian money and weapons could be cut off, they believe, Hamas would wither and die.
But Hamas does not rely that heavily on Iran. It needs Iran’s weaponry and training, but it also receives substantial financial support from Qatar and other Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, as well as from individual deep pockets throughout the Arab world. During the Hajj, for example, (the annual season for pilgrimage to Mecca, November 14-18 this year) Hamas fundraisers, including exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, descend on Mecca, meet with Muslims from all over the globe and collect millions of dollars in donations.
Other observers wonder why Iran—a Shi’a Muslim nation—is helping Sunni Hamas in the first place.
Nevertheless, Iran continues to play a key role in the destabilization of the region. So does the United States.
America, out of its own kind of ignorance, keeps the conflict burning between Israelis and Palestinians by supporting the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and enabling the PA to persecute Hamas.
Between FY 2007 and 2010, the U.S. government gave the PA $392 million to train and equip its security forces, oversee construction of related infrastructure projects and develop the capacity of the Palestinian Authority. And the State Department requested another $150 million for FY 2011.
When will Washington realize that it cannot join hands with people who do not believe in liberty and personal freedom? The PA does not believe in any concept in the American Constitution. Its security forces persecute and torture people for any reason, and people end up hating the United States because they know that it supports Abu Mazen* and his forces.
Like the PA, Egypt is considered a moderate regime and is supported by the U.S. It persecuted the Muslim Brotherhood for decades, and as a result we have to deal with Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri today. People fled persecution in Egypt, and they will flee persecution in the West Bank and find a place like Somalia, Afghanistan, Chechnya or Iraq where they can express their frustration and hatred and attack the United States.
This only fuels a deadly hatred in the heart of every Hamas member. And at some point, they will uproot Abu Mazen. But Hamas will not take over the West Bank as it did Gaza.
The worst case scenario in the West Bank is that Hamas will create underground cells, launch missiles into Israel, continue to kill Israeli settlers and perhaps assassinate key Fatah and PLO leaders. They do not have the weaponry for a coup or the tunnels through which to smuggle in the weapons. And, despite a huge base of people who sympathize with them, it would be virtually impossible for Hamas to recruit thousands of members to their military wing as they did in Gaza. The Gaza phenomenon was unique. It was a crime of opportunity that is unlikely to reoccur in the West Bank.
So, do I see any hope for my people?
Today, Hamas is doing the same thing it did 15 years ago, and I expect it will continue in the same disruptive and unproductive rut indefinitely. The unholy alliance of the U.S. and the PA will ensure that hatred continues to burn and spread in the West Bank.
There are now two Palestines. And the Bible says that a house that is divided cannot stand.
While peace-brokers continue to drag the same worn cards to the table, they leave the ace out of the deck. Islam has always been the chief obstacle to peace and reconciliation.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed before on independence, self-government and other important issues. There have been truces and ceasefires. Every intervention under the sun—military, diplomatic, economic, logistic—has been tried and failed.
And as long as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Salafis are part of the equation, dialogue and compromise and agreement are impossible. The god of the Qur’an stands in the way.
There can never be dialogue with Islam because every discussion begins and ends with “God said . . .”
Only if the people of the Middle East get rid of Islam, will they be able to deal with their problems and live in peace again with one another. Otherwise, Islam will continue to be the spoiler.
* Abu Mazen is a typical Arabic honorific that means “father of Mazen.” Abbas and his wife, Amina, have three sons: Mazen, Yaser and Tareq.
The furious insignificance of Hamas – Part II
From Blog of Son of Hamas
-----------------------------------
In addition to governing by kidnapping and torture, Hamas controls hundreds of tunnels that admit goods through Egypt into Gaza. Hamas gives the best to its own and sells the rest at black market prices to Palestinian families, half of whom are unemployed. It steals international medical aid and sells it in its own pharmacies. Hamas even bulldozed the homes of nearly 200 families and stole their land to build an Islamic religious center, similar to the proposed 9/11 mosque in New York City.
Last year, the UN was forced to stop all aid to Gaza because Hamas stole blankets and food meant for my people. This summer, Hamas broke into the offices of nongovernment charities, including United Nations partner organizations, and shut them down, cutting off resources to 80 percent of Gaza’s residents.
Fatah supporters carrying Abbas heir-apparent Mohammed Dahlan during a rally in Gaza City in 2007. (AP)
When Hamas campaigned in 2005, one of its two planks was to clean up PA corruption, especially the gangster rule of Fatah strongman Mohammad Dahlan. But Hamas is just as corrupt as the PLO was under Yasser Arafat and his cronies and the PA is today under Mahmoud Abbas.
During an interview with a Middle Eastern journalist, Abu Mohammed, a secular businessman with close family ties to the old Fatah security services, said, “After the takeover, people thought it might get better if the religious guys were in charge of the money, that security would improve and corruption would end. But they’re just as corrupt. If you’re not in Hamas, you get nothing. If anyone does anything, they are arrested, tortured or killed. Just like with the Israelis. Except the Jews always give you a lawyer.”
Yet, in an interview September 27 with CNN’s Nic Robertson in Damascus, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal shamelessly told the world that, “Hamas’ strategy relies on reaching a way of determining our own destiny, taking back our land, defending our people against the occupation and the settlements and then working on establishing a true Palestinian state that will have true sovereignty.”
Is this how you defend your people? By destroying their homes to build your mosques? By stealing their international aid to line your pockets? By kidnapping and torture and forcing your religion on them? Is how you allow them to determine their own destiny?
When Meshaal is not blaming Israel for everything bad in Gaza, he blames the international community who he accused of “stand[ing] in silence and do[ing] nothing while the Palestinian people suffer, while they get killed, and they get oppressed.”
The Israelis have a word for that. It’s called chutzpah!
Hamas doesn’t get it. It cannot see what lies ahead if it continues along its present course.
For 14 centuries, the Arab world has been a major contributor to the world in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, architecture, horticulture, philosophy, art, music, literature. But Hamas, now that it has its opportunity to show the world how it can govern, is using Islamic sharia law to crush the life, soul and creativity out of the people who gave it their trust.
Women are forbidden to ride on motorcycles with men. Male hairdressers are not allowed to work in women’s salons. “Modesty patrols” check cars for men riding with unrelated single women. A female Palestinian journalist was arrested at the beach for laughing in public and not wearing a head covering. Female lawyers are banned from courtrooms, unless they wear a hijab. Hamas has shut down Internet cafes, movie theaters and bars where young people hang out, as well as a hotel and restaurant whose owners refused to enforce the new law against women smoking nagilas (water pipes).
One reporter from Abu Dhabi wrote that people in Gaza “seem to be losing any sense of hope and increasingly, according to social workers, smugglers and even the police, turning in massive numbers to cheap narcotic tablets smuggled through tunnels from Egypt. A sense of lethargy and hopelessness now pervades almost every aspect of life here.”
If a government oppresses its people, if it makes a big deal out of petty things like this, how can it work together with the community to resolve bigger issues of health, education and the future of the Palestinian people?
Hamas has become the Taliban of Gaza. Since its emergence in 1994, the Taliban battled Afghan warlords and the Afghan government to gain power. But when it finally attained its objective, it was unable to build any society. Its culture was non-culture. Its modus operandi was to oppress and destroy. Its GNP was drugs and terrorism.
Even under the best conditions, Gaza will remain a hot spot on the Mediterranean, like Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Sunni Islam filled the void created by the revolutions and counter-revolutions that plagued Somalia since the early 1990s. Last year, the Somali parliament approved sharia law nationwide. As a result, the Islamists will control the country beyond the foreseeable future. And they too will produce only fear, hatred and destruction.
My next blog posting will examine the key issues in the Middle East. And they are not the ones you read in the daily headlines.
source:http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/the-furious-insignificance-of-hamas-%E2%80%93-part-ii/
-----------------------------------
In addition to governing by kidnapping and torture, Hamas controls hundreds of tunnels that admit goods through Egypt into Gaza. Hamas gives the best to its own and sells the rest at black market prices to Palestinian families, half of whom are unemployed. It steals international medical aid and sells it in its own pharmacies. Hamas even bulldozed the homes of nearly 200 families and stole their land to build an Islamic religious center, similar to the proposed 9/11 mosque in New York City.
Last year, the UN was forced to stop all aid to Gaza because Hamas stole blankets and food meant for my people. This summer, Hamas broke into the offices of nongovernment charities, including United Nations partner organizations, and shut them down, cutting off resources to 80 percent of Gaza’s residents.
Fatah supporters carrying Abbas heir-apparent Mohammed Dahlan during a rally in Gaza City in 2007. (AP)
When Hamas campaigned in 2005, one of its two planks was to clean up PA corruption, especially the gangster rule of Fatah strongman Mohammad Dahlan. But Hamas is just as corrupt as the PLO was under Yasser Arafat and his cronies and the PA is today under Mahmoud Abbas.
During an interview with a Middle Eastern journalist, Abu Mohammed, a secular businessman with close family ties to the old Fatah security services, said, “After the takeover, people thought it might get better if the religious guys were in charge of the money, that security would improve and corruption would end. But they’re just as corrupt. If you’re not in Hamas, you get nothing. If anyone does anything, they are arrested, tortured or killed. Just like with the Israelis. Except the Jews always give you a lawyer.”
Yet, in an interview September 27 with CNN’s Nic Robertson in Damascus, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal shamelessly told the world that, “Hamas’ strategy relies on reaching a way of determining our own destiny, taking back our land, defending our people against the occupation and the settlements and then working on establishing a true Palestinian state that will have true sovereignty.”
 |
| Khaled Meshaal |
Is this how you defend your people? By destroying their homes to build your mosques? By stealing their international aid to line your pockets? By kidnapping and torture and forcing your religion on them? Is how you allow them to determine their own destiny?
When Meshaal is not blaming Israel for everything bad in Gaza, he blames the international community who he accused of “stand[ing] in silence and do[ing] nothing while the Palestinian people suffer, while they get killed, and they get oppressed.”
The Israelis have a word for that. It’s called chutzpah!
Hamas doesn’t get it. It cannot see what lies ahead if it continues along its present course.
For 14 centuries, the Arab world has been a major contributor to the world in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, architecture, horticulture, philosophy, art, music, literature. But Hamas, now that it has its opportunity to show the world how it can govern, is using Islamic sharia law to crush the life, soul and creativity out of the people who gave it their trust.
Women are forbidden to ride on motorcycles with men. Male hairdressers are not allowed to work in women’s salons. “Modesty patrols” check cars for men riding with unrelated single women. A female Palestinian journalist was arrested at the beach for laughing in public and not wearing a head covering. Female lawyers are banned from courtrooms, unless they wear a hijab. Hamas has shut down Internet cafes, movie theaters and bars where young people hang out, as well as a hotel and restaurant whose owners refused to enforce the new law against women smoking nagilas (water pipes).
One reporter from Abu Dhabi wrote that people in Gaza “seem to be losing any sense of hope and increasingly, according to social workers, smugglers and even the police, turning in massive numbers to cheap narcotic tablets smuggled through tunnels from Egypt. A sense of lethargy and hopelessness now pervades almost every aspect of life here.”
If a government oppresses its people, if it makes a big deal out of petty things like this, how can it work together with the community to resolve bigger issues of health, education and the future of the Palestinian people?
Hamas has become the Taliban of Gaza. Since its emergence in 1994, the Taliban battled Afghan warlords and the Afghan government to gain power. But when it finally attained its objective, it was unable to build any society. Its culture was non-culture. Its modus operandi was to oppress and destroy. Its GNP was drugs and terrorism.
Even under the best conditions, Gaza will remain a hot spot on the Mediterranean, like Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Sunni Islam filled the void created by the revolutions and counter-revolutions that plagued Somalia since the early 1990s. Last year, the Somali parliament approved sharia law nationwide. As a result, the Islamists will control the country beyond the foreseeable future. And they too will produce only fear, hatred and destruction.
My next blog posting will examine the key issues in the Middle East. And they are not the ones you read in the daily headlines.
source:http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/the-furious-insignificance-of-hamas-%E2%80%93-part-ii/
2010 Statistics: Rocket and Mortar Fire from the Gaza Strip as of October 7th, 7 Oct 2010
Posted on October 7, 2010 by Israel Defense Forces
As of October 7th, 2010, 165 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip this year (107 Qassam rockets, 51 mortars, and 7 Grad rockets), including a Qassam rocket which was fired yesterday and a mortar launched on Friday (October 1st) from Gaza which landed in the Eshkol Regional Council. This year, September has been the month with the most rocket and mortar fire directed at Israel, as well as the month with the highest number of rocket attacks since April 2009.
However, 2010 has been the quietest year for Israel’s southern communities, which have suffered over 1,100 rocket and mortar attacks since 2002. The IDF will continue to operate against terror in order to protect the citizens of Israel. The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for rocket fire and any other terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.
Complete statistics including the amount of rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip since 2002, maps of rocket ranges and the targeted population, a comparison of rocket fire before and after Operation Cast Lead, and more are available in the Rocket Attacks section located under Facts & Figures.
source:http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/10/07/2010-statistics-rocket-and-mortar-fire-from-the-gaza-strip-as-of-october-7th-7-oct-2010/
As of October 7th, 2010, 165 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip this year (107 Qassam rockets, 51 mortars, and 7 Grad rockets), including a Qassam rocket which was fired yesterday and a mortar launched on Friday (October 1st) from Gaza which landed in the Eshkol Regional Council. This year, September has been the month with the most rocket and mortar fire directed at Israel, as well as the month with the highest number of rocket attacks since April 2009.
However, 2010 has been the quietest year for Israel’s southern communities, which have suffered over 1,100 rocket and mortar attacks since 2002. The IDF will continue to operate against terror in order to protect the citizens of Israel. The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for rocket fire and any other terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.
Complete statistics including the amount of rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip since 2002, maps of rocket ranges and the targeted population, a comparison of rocket fire before and after Operation Cast Lead, and more are available in the Rocket Attacks section located under Facts & Figures.
source:http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/10/07/2010-statistics-rocket-and-mortar-fire-from-the-gaza-strip-as-of-october-7th-7-oct-2010/
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