Showing posts with label free gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free gaza. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 21, 2024



Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

The whole world blames Israel for the loss of life and devastation in Gaza. But the people of Gaza are having none of it. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, went so far as to compare Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler against the Jews and the president of Colombia, President Gustavo Petro, agreed with him. And still, the Gazan people know better. They know who bears the fault for laying waste to Gaza, and it's not Israel. The body responsible for destroying Gaza is Hamas. 

But try telling that to the Zionist- Jew-hating, Israel-hating world, and they’ll only double down. UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths, for example, said that he did not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group. In spite of the clamor from regular Gazans.

Michelle O’Neill, the recently elected First Minister of Northern Ireland, also does not care what the people of Gaza think, going so far as to claim that Hamas will come to be regarded as the future partner for peace in the Middle East! The people of Gaza, however, vehemently disagree with this naïve assessment, and now that Hamas is on the way to extinction, have begun to lose their fear of speaking out. They know that Israel not to blame for their suffering, and they’re pointing their collective finger at the real culprit, Hamas. 

The IDF, for example, posted a video compilation of Gazans speaking out against Hamas on December 15. One of the most striking moments in this video occurs during a news reporter’s interview of a Gazan man: “And if I told you that Hamas ruined Gaza? What would you respond?”

“Obviously. It’s obvious,” said the interview subject, “The reason of this destruction is Hamas.”

 


Here’s another IDF clip of a Gazan blaming Hamas for the war.

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center on December 13, published bulleted lists of Gazans criticizing Hamas in the media and on social networks. Some excerpts:

Criticism of Hamas in the media

·        The Palestinian Authority’s Wafa TV interviewed residents and evacuees from Khan Yunis who left the city for the Rafah area. One of them angrily claimed that they had been forced to evacuate Rafah to a place where there was no water, food or showers. He wondered why “they” [Hamas] were doing it to them. “Hamas, protect the people!” he said. Another resident who was riding in a horse-drawn cart, shouted “May Allah  disgrace the honor of Hamas and al-Sinwar” (Wafa YouTube channel, December 6, 2023).

·        Radio Alam, which broadcasts from Hebron, aired an interview with residents of the Gaza Strip who criticized Hamas and its leadership. One of the interviewees cursed Yahya al-Sinwar and claimed, “You destroyed us.” He said, “the Palestinian civilians speak without fear because they now know that death is everywhere, the leaders of Hamas must pay attention to the Gazans to protect what is left of the Gazan people and end the useless war.” He spoke of the civilians’ difficulties after they moved from Khan Yunis to Rafah, and emphasized that the Hamas leadership did not care. Another interviewee appealed to Yahya al-Sinwar in distress, saying there was no food or water and the number of evacuees was increasing, while there are 20,000 people in one school. He called for help for the children and expressed fear of epidemics spreading among the citizens (Assaf Mustafa’s X account, December 6, 2023).

Hamas rats hide in tunnels while Gazan civilians suffer (Issa Alris X account, November 23, 2023)

·        Al-Hadath TV, an Arab channel, played a recording of a Palestinian evacuee, which was originally broadcast on the local radio, who claimed Hamas had destroyed them and that everything happened because of al-Sinwar. He said they had gone from Gaza City to Khan Yunis and from there to Rafah. He said Hamas stole humanitarian aid meant for the Palestinian public, adding that the Hamas leadership, including al-Sinwar and Muhammad Deif, were underground and did not care about what was happening [to the Gazans above ground]. He also appealed to al-Sinwar to release the hostages (al-Hadath TV, December 6, 2023).

·        Ahmed Rifat Muheisen, an evacuee, was interviewed by QudsN channel TV, a Palestinian TV channel, from the tent camp of the evacuees in western Rafah, and complained that at night it rained on them. He complained there was no [central] entity in the Gaza Strip, not even a governmental entity [i.e., the Hamas administration] taking care of them. No one, he said, gave them answers about their situation (QudsN X account, December 6, 2023).

·        The American satellite Alhurra network broadcast a video of a Palestinian sheltering in al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, after members of her family were injured in an IDF attack. She shouts [at Hamas] to end the war in Gaza, stating that enough is enough, they do not want more destruction or a prisoner exchange deal (Alhurra TV X account, December 4, 2023).

A Palestinian woman calls for the end of the war in Gaza (Alhurra TV X account, December 4, 2023)


Criticism of Hamas on social networks

·        Kareem Jodha (4,300 followers) posted a quote from senior Hamas terrorist Osama Hamdan, which read, “Gaza was and will continue to be a cemetery for invaders and occupiers.” Jodha replied, “True, it was, but people like you turned it into a cemetery for its residents and genocide” (Kareem Jouda’s Facebook page, December 4, 2023).

·        Ghattas (1,012 followers) wrote, “When the war is futile and the defeats taste like massacres, retreat is courage, admitting defeat is chivalry, and the one who preserves the blood, honor and livelihood of the innocent is the winner. That is of course part of the morality of “the knights,” however, insane al-Sinwar and the other leaders of the tunnels and the Hamas Muslim Brothers who live in fancy hotels are not among them” (@Moraqeb2020 X account, December 4, 2023). He attached a photo of Yahya al-Sinwar.

·        Ghattas also retweeted a tweet by a Saudi journalist, who wrote, “With all the destruction and killing, where are Yahya al-Sinwar, Mashaal and Haniyeh, where is their offer of protection for their people? Maybe they enjoy the torture and bloodshed, as is the custom of the Muslim Brotherhood? Where is the wisdom of the leader and his compassion for his people? The world will not stand with you, because on October 7 you foolishly gave your enemy the chance to go down in history. So be brave and take action to stop the killing of your children and women Are the lives of some Israelis you bargain for more valuable than the lives of your own civilians?” After that he added, “Hamas is not only an armed movement, but a movement of seats [of power], rule and money. History has taught us that the Muslim Brotherhood does not leave the seat of power unless they and those who rule them are [forcibly removed], and Gaza will be no exception” (@Moraqeb2020’s X account, December 4, 2023).

·        Naama Hassan (7,431 followers) wrote that “Displacement and death will not stop unless the war stopped. The war in Gaza has to stop. The lives of the people of Gaza are more important than all your negotiations and demands. Share our demands, we have the right to choose life” (Naama Hassan’s Facebook page, December 2, 2023).

·        Amjad Abu Kush (6,387 followers) wrote, I hope that in a future prisoner exchange deal we will not see another dog being carried by an Israeli captive. It will hurt our hearts that he and the dogs that protect him are safe underground, while their people are being destroyed now. #Open_the_shelters, #Open_the_tunels, and #lead us to al-Sinwar, take our children somewhere safe, as the released hostage was told” (Abu Kush’ Facebook page, December 1, 2023). He added that whoever wants to create a flood must first build a ship to save his people, and not a submarine to save himself (Amjad Abu Kush’s Facebook page, December 5, 2023).

·        Marwan Abu Sharia wrote: “Protect us! If Hamas sees itself as the ruler, it must protect the homes of the displaced from thieves. The dogs stole from us” (@elthwrah X account, November 27, 2023).

·        Hani al-Hassan posted a video of a man wearing a yellow vest putting a tray of food in front of a child and then walking away with the tray in his hand. Alhassan wrote that Hamas members are seen in a shelter for the displaced, photographing a child they offer a meal to and then take it from him even though he reaches out to take it (@Hanialhasn1999 X account, November 27, 2023).

Hamas operatives beat civilians in the Shejaiya neighborhood and steal their food (IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Dec 9, 2023)

A Wall Street Journal piece from December 21 cites a survey from a Ramallah-based think tank, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which found that one in five Gazans blames Hamas for their suffering as a result of the war. The article quotes a 56-year-old Gaza businessman, “People are dying every minute. Hamas is the one that dragged us into this terrible vortex.”

A hairdresser from Gaza City, now taking refuge in Rafah was also quoted, “Damn Hamas. If I see Ismail Haniyeh, I will hit him with my slippers,” she said. In the Arab world, throwing shoes at a person is a serious insult.

The use of civilians as human shields, has not helped to endear Hamas to the people of Gaza. On February 12, for example, Gaza-based journalist Jehad Saftawi said that Hamas had sacrificed his family members and neighbors as cannon fodder in its war against Israel.  

"Hamas terrorists used my family and hundreds of our neighbors as human shields. Hamas continues to hold the people of Gaza captive," Saftawi wrote on X. "There should be no reconstruction of my family's home while a stockpile of weapons lies underneath.

"Goals rather than causes are what is behind Hamas's masterminds' wars. The case for removing Hamas is not to fuel escalation but to prevent it, which is why they should never be allowed to retake control of Gaza.”

The journalist also said that this was the first time in over 10 years that he felt “able to speak about this publicly,” adding that it’s "a cry for realignment for our Palestinian society as well as an appeal to the international community."

Saftawi further related that while his family home was being built, there were masked men who built a tunnel below. "In the years since my family or their neighbors heard sounds or movements from time to time. They wondered sometimes if there really were tunnels, if they were active. My family was too afraid to speak about this with anyone, so it was our secret. It felt shameful even though we knew we were deeply opposed to whatever Hamas had done on the other side of that cement slab."

Just after October 7, Saftawi and his family evacuated to southern Gaza, and his home and neighborhood are now reduced to rubble. "I may never know if the house was destroyed by Israeli strikes or fighting between Hamas and Israel. But the result is the same. Our home, and far too many in our community, were flattened alongside priceless history and memories.

"This is the legacy of Hamas. They began destroying my family home in 2013 when they built tunnels beneath it. They continued to threaten our safety for a decade—we always knew we might have to vacate at a moment’s notice. We always feared violence. Gazans deserve a true Palestinian government, which supports its citizens’ interests, not terrorists carrying out their own plans. Hamas is not fighting Israel. They’re destroying Gaza," concluded Saftawi.

The Gazan voices crying out against Hamas injustice grow louder by the day. Only yesterday, on the night of February 20, residents from Jabaliya in northern Gaza, and from Rafah in the south, took to the streets in protest against the leaders of Hamas, in particular calling out the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, who is living in the lap of luxury in Qatar. The people of Gaza protested against these Hamas leaders first and foremost for stealing the humanitarian aid meant for them, "We need food, we need flour, Sinwar and Haniyeh, stay away from us, you thieves.”

The Gazan protesters were also heard to condemn Hamas’ representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, "Hamdan, leave Lebanon; the people are the victims. With spirit and blood, we will redeem you, Gaza."

Even as the voices of the people of Gaza swell to ear-piercing decibels, the academics in their ivory towers continue to stick their fingers in the ears. They want to put the onus on Israel and the Zionists Jews for the leveling of Gaza. This is because like Hamas, these antisemites are two-legged beasts with black hearts of stone.

Someday the people of Gaza will curse not only Hamas, but these Jew-haters too, for misleading the world and pointing it in the wrong direction as so many Gazans lost their homes and died.

Not because of the Jews. But because of Hamas. Something the world would rather not know.



Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

Read all about it here!

 

 





Monday, July 24, 2023



Last night there were anti-Hamas demonstrations in various locations in Gaza.

The protesters reject the disastrous conditions that the Gaza Strip is going through, and demand as good a life as the children of Hamas leaders enjoy.




Here's one that was posted on TikTok this week although I don't know when it occurred:


There are actually two stories here. One is that there are demonstrations like these altogether, and the other is that the media roundly ignores them.

Hashtags accompanying videos of last night's demo say "Where is Al Jazeera?" nearly as often as they say the slogan of the demonstrations, "We want to live."

Earlier this month, the leaders of the protests issued a list of demands to Hamas to improve their lives. 




The word "Israel" is not mentioned - they blame Hamas and Hamas alone for their predicament.

They are demanding more hours of electricity, timely payment of Gaza government salaries, and for Hamas to stop taking out "taxes" on the money Qatar sends to Gazans (as well as an increase.)

If the demands aren't met, the protesters plan a huge set of demonstrations this coming Sunday, July 30. 

So why are these issues not being covered by the media, including Arabic media?

One major reason is that there is an unwritten rule: unless problems can be blamed on Israel, they must not be publicized. And even ordinary Palestinians have internalized this rule when they speak to reporters on the record. 

When they are assured anonymity, they are much freer to criticize their leaders, but most reporters aren't even interested in asking the right questions. The international media has its own narrative to uphold, and that one coincides with that of the PA and Hamas - always blame Israel and Israel alone. 

Yes, there is censorship from Hamas and the PA, and they routinely will insult their political opponents on their own media so we know about their own infighting. But popular protests like these do not benefit the PA, because they have their own critics and protesters, and the optics of showing Palestinians protest against their own leaders is problematic for both sides. 

These sorts of things only get any traction when they are too big to ignore. 

This Sunday's protests will probably not bother Hamas - they will repress them and try to keep them quiet. But any Middle East media that ignores those protests are clearly not media that can be trusted to report anything accurately.

Which is essentially all the media in the region.




Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

Read all about it here!

 

 



Thursday, February 23, 2023

From the UN's OCHA:

The number of exit permits for [Gaza] workers and traders issued by Israeli authorities increased from just over 10,000 in January 2022 to more than 18,000 in November 2022. This has allowed more exits of people compared with any time since the early 2000s. At the same time, the Egyptian authorities allowed more exits than any time since 2014.
This is an understatement. The number of Gazans allowed to cross into and Israel and back more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, and it was by far the most since Hamas took over Gaza.

Less authorized goods were brought in through Israel and more were imported through Egypt. Goods exiting through either border increased and, for the first time, exceeded the pre-blockade annual figures.
There are more Gaza exports than there were before the Hamas takeover of Gaza!

These are the exports (ignore the caption, this is for both Erez and Rafah crossings):


Israel is clearly trying to help the Gaza economy. 

When Israel acts the opposite of the narrative (which says they are starving Gazans in their open-air prison),  suddenly the news media loses all interest in reporting about movement and exports from Gaza.

Remember when the UN said Gaza was going to be uninhabitable by...2020?





Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

Read all about it here!

 

 

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Today, the PFLP announced it joins the Palestinian Authority in opposition to the Israeli plan to allow Palestinians to travel internationally through the Ramon Airport. 

One of its reasons it gave:
The passage of Palestinian citizens through this airport is aimed at striking the communicative and emotional depth with our brotherly people in Jordan, and its goal is also to provide support for the Zionist economy, and to confirm the apartheid policy practiced by the enemy against our people.
You see? Giving Palestinians more options in how to travel, and allowing them to travel from an Israeli airport sitting next to Israeli passengers, is apartheid!

Palestinians on social media have been showing intense interest in using Ramon Airport. They are not at all convinced by the arguments against it given by the Palestinian Authority and other leaders. 

One online poll shows 66% were looking forward to traveling via Ramon, while only 29% said that they were against it because of "normalization."

Ramallah Live compared the cost for West Bankers to travel through Jordan with Ramon, and found that the Jordanian fees were triple the cost of Ramon - 180 shekels to 60. This did not include the fees on returning, paying VIP fees the Allenby Bridge to reduce the number of hours of waiting. 

On August 16, the Palestinian minister of transportation said, "We will consider imposing procedures and sanctions against travelers through Ramon Airport, and we urge all Palestinians not to use this airport because it does not represent a Palestinian sovereignty."  

The Palestinian response on Facebook has been withering, with many pointing out that he personally has a VIP pass to travel through Ben Gurion Airport - why is that not violate Palestinian sovereignty?

There are nearly 10,000 comments like these:
Yes, I swear to God, we hate you
We wish to hear a statement that will benefit the people!!!
With the honor of your sister, shut up and beat yourself up
Spit on you and your authority
You are all illegitimate and your origin is not known, bastards
I swear to God that penalties and procedures must be against the officials who left the people to humiliate on the crossings. I am with the citizen who travels from anywhere to preserve his dignity.

Others point out the awful conditions and humiliation at the Jordanian crossings, asking how travel through Jordan helps "Palestinian sovereignty."

And there is another group of Palestinians who demand to be able to use Ramon Airport: Gazans!

The current plan is to only open it for West Bank Palestinians, but it is closer to Gaza and Gazans would jump at the chance to use that airport rather than try to make it to Cairo, which is very difficult. Some are demanding the right to use Ramon, and given that Israel already vets many of them to work in Israel, this would seem to be a possibility. Commenters there point out the humiliation they go through to even have a chance to travel to Egypt, the ability to fly out of Ramon would be a dream for Gazans. If for no other reason than PR, Israel should consider allowing those who pass security checks to use that airport as well. 

Ramon Airport continues to expose the pure hypocrisy of Palestinian and Arab leaders who, for decades, have made decisions for Palestinians and pretend that these decisions are for their own good. In the end, they are only for the good of the self-appointed leaders, and Palestinians suffer.

Israel is treating Palestinians with more respect than their own leaders do, and despite all the anti-Israel propaganda, the people know this very well.




Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

Read all about it here!

 

 

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

From Hamas' Qassam website:
The workgroup for Palestinians in Syria has said that 1038 Palestinians were killed in Syria since eruption of the popular revolution in that country almost two years ago.

It said in a statement on Sunday that 14 Palestinian refugees were killed last week due to the continued attacks and sniper fire in refugee camps.
Good luck finding a negative word about Syria in website of the "pro-Palestinian" International Solidarity Movement.

Or the "pro-Palestinian" BDS movement webpage.

Or "Students for Justice in Palestine."

Or the blog of the "Free Gaza" movement.

It makes you wonder what exactly "pro-Palestinian" means, doesn't it?

Friday, April 15, 2011

Vittorio Arrigoni, who was killed yesterday by a Muslim group in Gaza, was not a peace activist. He was not a human rights activist.

And, as Zvi points out in the comments to my last post, he was not even a "pro-Palestinian" activist.

A look at his Facebook page photos show nothing about how much he loves Palestinian Arabs. Barely any pictures of him smiling with his friends the Gazans. Unlike most Facebook pages, stuffed with photos of people smiling with their family and friends, Arrigoni's page is filled with hate.
In fact, one can see how he defined himself: not as pro-anything, but only as anti-Zionist:




He never had anything bad to say about Hamas. He never campaigned for Arab countries to stop their discrimination against Palestinian Arabs. He never spoke a word demanding that "refugee camps" in Gaza be dismantled and real homes built.

Here is how he was described by his Free Gaza friend, Mary Hughes Thompson (via email):

Words can't express the shock and sense of bereavement at the loss of this beautiful man, who considered himself Palestinian.  The videos we saw of him bloodied and blindfolded were chilling, nothing like the Vittorio we knew and loved, always smiling, always wearing a skipper's hat and holding his beloved pipe.  

The anti-Israel left might consider themselves "Palestinian," but clearly some Palestinian Arabs don't.

Imagine if Christian Zionists who visit Israel in solidarity were murdered - by Jews. You can bet that their enthusiasm for Israel would cool quite quickly.

But that is because their support is built on love, not hate.

So-called "Pro-Palestinian activists" are not motivated by love. If they were, they would act completely differently. So the murders of Arrigoni and Juliano Mer-Khamis - done by the people they supposedly love - will not make a dent in far leftist "support" for PalArabs, because they don't support them in any real way.

They only have a shared hate for Israel.

One last cartoon on Arrigoni's Facebook page is stunning in its irony, an irony that his fellow activists will never, ever get:





UPDATE: One more lovely photo that Vittorio thought was wonderful: (h/t Kramerica)


His heart was overflowing with love.

To be clear...he didn't deserve to die. But he doesn't deserve to be remembered as a person who cared one bit about peace or human rights, either.

 He was a hater.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

From the Free Gaza mailing list:
On November 7 and 8, The Free Gaza interim board of directors met in London to plan our strategy for 2010 as well as to schedule the next mission to Gaza.

...Israel’s use of force to stop our last 3 voyages has made it imperative to revise our strategy. Instead of sending one vessel to Gaza, we are working on a flotilla, or mini fleet with more boats, including at least one cargo ship, more people, more supplies, and more media on the high seas. And around the world, tens of thousands of people engaged in the mission. Our intention is to build a truly international fleet that will reach Gaza, or, if stopped, be politically costly for Israel.

...The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed established a Free Gaza fund and secured the money for us to obtain a cargo ship. On this cargo ship, we will take construction supplies to Gaza. We had wanted to travel in October / November so that at least some people in Gaza could start rebuilding their homes before the cold weather hit. Unfortunately we could not meet this deadline.

We have the funds for one cargo ship, and one passenger vessel. However, we need at least one more passenger vessel plus the operating expenses before we can go. In financial terms, we need about €300,000, or someone to donate a passenger vessel and €100,000 in operating expenses (fuel, port fees, crew wages, etc.)

The efforts of the Free Gaza Movement are vitally important; we need to end the blockade, not just deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. While many potential funders recognize the significance of our work, for various reasons they have not come through with funding. Most prefer their financial contributions go toward to humanitarian aid for Palestine. But Palestine is not a charity case! There are hundreds of millions being pumped into Palestine by aid agencies that are unable or unwilling to address the political issues, or by donor countries that shirk their political, legal, and moral obligations, by throwing money at Palestine.

This aid is paying for Israel’s occupation by alleviating Israel of the responsibility to care for the people it occupies. We firmly believe that activists and people who care about Palestine should not be raising money for humanitarian aid but should focus on direct action to confront the Israeli policies that leave Palestinians in need of this aid.
FGM is saying explicitly that "this aid" by the donor countries and aid agencies mentioned in the previous sentence "is paying for Israel's occupation."

It is very clear: FGM says that money should be spent on pressuring Israel instead of feeding Gazans and that the aid itself is part of the evil that is the nonexistent "occupation" of Gaza.

And, to FGM fanatics, if Gazans do actually starve to death in order to make that greater good happen, all the better. They just won't quite say that part out loud.

They are also very frustrated that money that could go to their vanity boats is going instead to feeding Gazans. They are a very sick class of people.

Something to keep in mind the next time your newspaper refers to Free Gaza as a "humanitarian" or "aid" group. It is nothing of the sort - it is an extremist political organization that is against the UN, Red Cross, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt giving aid to Gazans!

Notice also that these progressive people have no qualms accepting money from an anti-semite.

Monday, July 27, 2009

  • Monday, July 27, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
In a long, rambling article on the Free Gaza website, Ramzi Kysia (one of Free Gaza's leaders) shows that he and his movement really do support Palestinian Arab terror. He is careful to say that not all terror is good, but he all but says that some suicide bombings are.

Here are some excerpts:

On the Right of Resistance

We are often told that resistance is either unwarranted or impossible. Liberal apologists for Israel, such as Thomas Friedman, are constantly demanding that Palestinians lay down their arms, all the while exhorting Israelis to pick them up in ever increasing acts of violence and degradation.

...But even mainstream “peace” movements in the West try to delegitimize resistance by calling on both Palestinians and Israelis to renounce overt acts of violence, equating Palestinians who commit suicide bombings with Israelis who send F-16s, D9 military bulldozers, and Apache attack helicopters to level entire neighborhoods.

The problem is that the usually random and individual acts of violence by Palestinians against Israelis are not equal to the myriad structural oppressions and cruelties imposed on Palestinians through Israeli government policies. No Palestinian fighter jets bomb Israeli cities - because Palestine has no fighter jets....

Even immoral and self-defeating acts of violence against Israeli civilians (such as some suicide bombings are) cannot be equated with the daily humiliations, terror, and death that Israel inflicts on Palestinians by deliberate policy.

This is not to say that any and all acts of resistance are acceptable. Clearly they are not. But it grows tedious to continually hear well-meaning, but otherwise clueless, Westerners try to equate the two sides of this conflict. I am past tired of hearing white people passively whine, or shrilly demand, “Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?”

With respect, just because some people have chosen to remain ignorant of the long and deep history of Palestinian nonviolent resistance - from the 1936 Boycott to Bil’in today - does not mean that it does not exist.
The "non-violent" 1936 boycott was a three-year reign of terror killing many hundreds of people - mostly Arabs killing other Arabs, although they killed many Jews in that timeframe as well. In Bil'in today, some of the "nonviolent" protests include slinging large rocks at the heads of Israelis at high speed. This is what Kysia considers "non-violent."

But far worse is the fact that he is legitimizing "some" suicide bombings, probably every single rocket attack and a myriad of other deliberate attacks by Arabs against Israelis as being a "right." The Free Gaza movement is now explicitly condoning terrorism by Palestinian Arabs, using the logic that what Israel does is worse and therefore killing Israeli civilians is (sometimes) a praiseworthy endeavor. And he is upset that some people want both sides to stop violence.

There are of course multiple layers of illogic, absurdities and lies in this article, but the important point is that now we can say that Free Gaza, like the ISM that spawned it, is in no way, shape or form a "peace" movement. While it might not support its own members using violence, it welcomes Arabs to do all the violence against Israeli civilians that they think is needed. Additionally, Kysia has proven that when Free Gaza talks about "resistance," it is referring to violence no less than it is referring to non-violence.

Monday, May 04, 2009

An "urgent email" to the Free Gaza mailing list:
It's with heavy hearts that we have to inform you that the Free Gaza ship, the DIGNITY, has been lost outside Larnaca port in Cyprus. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident.

On 30 December 2008 the DIGNITY was rammed by the Israeli navy while on a mission of mercy to deliver critically needed medical supplies and doctors to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Thanks to the heroic efforts of its captain and crew, the DIGNITY was able to find safe harbor in Lebanon, later making its way to Cyprus for repairs. Early this morning we received a call from the Harbor Master in Larnaca, informing us that the ship was taking on water. While attempting to tow her to safety, the ship went down. An inquiry has begun into the circumstances surrounding her demise, possibly due to storm damage suffered during the night.
Maybe we should send this fake "humanitarian" organization some toothpicks to help rebuild the boat.

Their last boat had essentially no aid whatsoever.

Monday, April 13, 2009

  • Monday, April 13, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
From YNet:
A Palestinian fishing boat exploded as it neared the Israeli coast from the direction of Gaza.

IDF sources estimated that the booby-trapped boat was activated by remote control and meant to explode near an Israeli Navy vessel or a coastal community.

A naval patrol followed the boat for about an hour and spotted no people on board. As it was several hundred meters off the Gaza shore and heading north the boat exploded.

None of the soldiers was injured and no damage was reported.

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi said that the boat was loaded with a large amount of explosives.
The "Free Gaza" movement has been obsessing over Israel's patrols off the Gaza shore to ensure no weapons being smuggled into Gaza as well as to stop "fishing boats" like these from steering into Israeli ports. Not surprisingly, they have been silent about this incident.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

  • Sunday, March 22, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
The best thing I've seen yet about IDF morality doesn't talk about it at all. From Ami Isseroff:
Palestinian public opinion was in an uproar following revelations of possible war crimes committed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martys Brigades and the Hamas.

At a spiritual debriefing retreat for operators of rocket launchers and planners of suicide attacks, terrorists, Militants, resistance fighters revealed that not all targets hit by rocket attacks and suicide bombings involve only death and injury to Israeli military personnel. Furthermore, it was revealed that leaflets distributed by the organizations to their members, and signed by the prominent Imam, Nasrab Dam al Yahoud, did not caution the resistance fighters to take proper Islamic precautions to ensure the safety of women, children and other booty, as is prescribed in the Quran.

One rocket launch operator testified, "I was shocked. I thought that Sderot were Zionist terrorists. Who would have suspected that this evil looking soldier was actually a Zionist civilian?"

"Who could have imagined," exclaimed activist Jihad abu Idbach al Yahoud, "that buildings like the ones below, destroyed by resistance rockets, were not military installations!? They are not marked as civilian homes on the maps of course."

Resistance soldiers also related that they heard rumors that suicide bombing targets such as the Sbarro Pizzeria, the Jerusalem Super Market, and the Dolphinarium Discotheque may not have been frequented only by Zionist soldiers.

The sensational revelations were brought to light by a report of the crusading Palestinian journalist, Amus Arafat, in the newspaper, "Al-Ard" ("the land"). They were leaked to him by Nasr al Zamir, who had previously met with denials and coverup attempts by the heads of resistance organizations.

Said Ahmed ibn Khaybar of the Popular Resistance Committees, "Of course, we are going to investigate these allegations. We had no idea that our boys could commit such atrocities. We are sure that these are only false rumors."

UN Special Raporteur Richard Falk declared, "It is certain that the war criminals of the Hamas and other organizations committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The war crimes of the Palestinian war criminals are precisely like those of the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. I call for an immediate investigation by the UN, the ICC and the World Courts. The guilty must be punished."

A Belgian court issued an arrest warrant for Palestinian officials including Ismail Hanniyeh and Khaled Meshaal. In Teheran, angry members of the Muslims for Peace organization and the Not in My Name organizations demonstrated against government support for Hamas. "Hamas = Nazism" and "Free Gaza" were among the posters carried by demonstrators. Reform presidency candidate Moussavi noted, "It is outrageous that our government provides one-sided support for the Hamas. The rockets and suicide belts were paid for by the Iranian tax payer, and were meant only for defense of the Palestinians. My government will institute a policy of tough love for the Palestinians."

"It is possibly true," admitted moderate Palestinian leader of the moderate Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas, "that there have been deviations from the impeccable moral code of the Palestine resistance. Harming of civilians is a violation of Muslim religious law and must be punished."

A spokesman for the European Union, which provides extensive financing for the Gaza government, refused to comment.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

  • Wednesday, March 18, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
In a region filled with ironies, one that flies under the radar of the Western world is the fact that Hamas treats the people of Gaza horribly, and often sacrifices their interests for its own political or military advantage.

From hiding among the people to draw Israeli fire, to diverting needed aid towards Hamas members away from the population, to its utter indifference towards building or maintaining basic infrastructure (most of which is done by PA members nowadays, not Hamas,) to its decision to turn abandoned Jewish communities into terror training camps instead of moving Gazans into real homes, it is clear that Hamas only makes decisions based on what is best for Hamas, not what is best for Gaza.

The latest in this long line of examples happened just in the past few hours.

Ma'an reports:
Egypt reportedly stopped two Hamas officials from returning to the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Tuesday with night-vision goggles and some $900,000 in cash, the Reuters news agency reported.

The report quotes anonymous security officials, and also does not name the Hamas officials involved. Customs agents reportedly [found] 500,000 euros and 250,000 US dollars while searching the officials bags.

The Hamas members were returning from the Egyptian-brokered Palestinian unity talks in Cairo.
As in the past, the items they were trying to smuggle were not meant for Palestinian Arabs but for Hamas itself. Hamas' reaction is even more blatantly anti-Gazan:
The de facto Palestinian government in Gaza refused to open the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Wednesday in protest of what it called “humiliating regulations” on Palestinian travelers.

The Interior Ministry in the Hamas-led government issued this decision as Egypt said it would open the Rafah border on Wednesday and Thursday. The de facto government however denied that it had received official notification of this.
Egypt planned to open Rafah today for Gazans to cross - and Hamas is stopping them, because of the "humiliation" it suffered by Egypt's seizure of banned items. Hamas has made yet another decision to make Gazans suffer for its own gain.

The irony continues with the hundreds of rallies for "Gaza" that are really demonstrations for Hamas rule - which is anti-Gaza! People who claim to be pro-Gaza must necessarily be anti-Hamas, but the reverse is true. The "Free Gaza" movement members and the George Galloways of the world happily shake hands with Gaza officials and take pictures with a group that is not only anti-Israel and anti-semitic, but anti Gazan.

How many protests have there been for Gazans themselves and against Hamas? What percentage of human rights workers are openly anti-Hamas? How many UN resolutions have been passed against Hamas' treatment of Gazans?

People who advocate boosting Hamas politically are, by definition, against the people of Gaza.

Friday, March 06, 2009

  • Friday, March 06, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
Hamas police made a drug bust of methamphetamines and hashish smuggled in Gaza tunnels.

A Russian analyst is quoted in Palestine Today as saying that by 2011, the United States would break up into six separate nations and that a new world currency will emerge to replace the dollar as Russia and China will be the new superpowers. All media, not just Arab, like to quote "experts" that confirm their own wishful thinking no matter how nutty. (Here's the original article from Russia in English. The Arabs believe it more than the Russians themselves do.)

PalToday also has a photo essay from the funeral of the Islamic Jihad terrorist turned to worm food by the IDF.

A new English-language publication is supposed to start in Gaza any day now. Called the Palestine Telegraph, the Free Gaza people are already salivating over it.
The Palestine Telegraph editing team seeks the following types of articles:

1- Articles that tackle daring ideas and are controversial or unconventional; as long as they are supported by factual and logical evidence and do not violate general Arab cultural norms or common decency.

2- Articles that present unprecedented ideas.

3- Articles on current events and an analytical perspective that transcends the obvious and rises above superficial reasoning.

4- Dramatic or satirical articles with an interesting and entertaining style.
Hey, maybe I'll submit things to it when/if it appears! Oh, wait - I think my articles might violate general Arab cultural norms, because I do not support terrorism.

By the way, the "professional" who is starting this is a 23-year old Gazan with a bachelor's degree in English. If that doesn't scream "professional," I don't know what does.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Last night, Israel intercepted a freighter that was supposedly filled with 60 tons of aid for Gaza, that originated in Tripoli.

Predictably, the moonbats have been hysterical over this, saying that Israel was shooting at the people on the ship and then beating them.

Free Gaza's update on the ship last night was telling: its 8 PM (Central European Time) report said
The Israelis said the boat can not go to Gaza, and it appears they will try to force it to Arish, but the captain intends to push forward. (And having been aboard the TALI I think it will take more than a ramming to sink it)
In other words, the "peace activists" were really hoping for a fight.

From the times of the reports, it is clear that Israel warned the ship for several hours before boarding it.

The only reporter who is saying that Israel beat and threatened them is the embedded Al Jazeera reporter.

Israel took the ship to Ashdod to examine the contents and question the passengers. According to Haaretz, the "60 tons" of aid was imaginary:
The Israel Defense Forces said that troops found about 150 bottles of mineral water and a few dozen kilograms of food and medicine on board, despite earlier claims that it was carrying dozens of tons of humanitarian aid.

The Tali, a cargo vessel flying the flag of the West African state of Togo, was sent by the Palestinian National Committee Against the Siege in cooperation with the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement. Its cargo was claimed to have included about 60 tons of medicine, food and toys, plus 10,000 units of human blood plasma which requires constant refrigeration.
So these pro-terror "peace activists" are caught lying. Again.

And one of the "human rights" activists on the ship has a bit of a checkered history:
Military sources said that on board the vessel - dubbed the "Brotherhood Ship" - were nine people, including Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who was arrested in 1974 after being caught smuggling weapons from Lebanon to activists in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Which is exactly what one would expect a "peace activist" to do, right?

For context, here are the amounts of aid that Israel shipped into Gaza over the past few days:

February 1 - 4,656 tons of supplies
February 2 - 5,354 tons of supplies
February 3 -
6,106 tons of supplies
February 4 -
5,367 tons of supplies

So even though they were lying about the "60 tons," it is about what three trucks carry. This is hardly an efficient way to get aid to Gazans. (I have not heard about any shortage of blood plasma in Gaza, either.)

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

  • Tuesday, February 03, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
Egypt decided to close the Rafah crossings on Thursday, only to be opened for emergencies. The UN has yet to issue a statement accusing Egypt of imposing a "siege."

Egypt also blew up some 13 tunnels under Rafah yesterday.

The PRC, which has close ties with Hamas, threatened Israel to fully open the crossings or else the "truce is finished." They helpfully add that they will turn Israeli sites into hell. (These same people took responsibility for over a dozen mortars and rockets yesterday.)

A "Free Gaza" style boat has left Tripoli to go to Gaza via Cyprus.

Friday, January 30, 2009

  • Friday, January 30, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Fatah-linked Palestine Press Agency details some $400 million of fraud, money laundering and illegally redirecting government contracts to private companies run by Hamas members in Gaza. One example was that the late Siad Siam who apparently founded front companies in Turkey and Egypt to funnel goods to Gaza through tunnels he controlled.

Hamas has been denying the house arrests, tortures, shootings and killings of Fatah members, although Ma'an reports that the evidence is "overwhelming." Hamas placed Fatah members in Gaza under curfew, forcing them to shut their shops and stay home after 6 PM.

A previously unknown group took credit for launching a "projectile" at Israel this morning. No mention of this in the Israeli media.

A competitor to Free Gaza? A ship called the "Brotherhood" is due to leave Beirut for Gaza on Sunday.

Egypt is banning people from visiting injured Gazans in Egyptian hospitals after the Muslim Brotherhood started turning these visits into political events.

Monday, January 26, 2009

  • Monday, January 26, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Times of London buries some very good investigative journalism on the bottom of an article about US attempts to limit arms smuggling to Hamas:
A document circulated to ministers by Israeli military intelligence last week suggested that despite the bombardment, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is well advanced with a huge programme of arms resupply for Gaza.

According to the document, the Iranians are attempting to smuggle munitions from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, where the arms shipments are loaded onto commercial vessels.

In recent weeks at least two Iranian destroyers have been sent to the Gulf of Aden on the pretext of fighting piracy. The Israelis suspect that the destroyers, which are currently in port in Aseb in Eritrea, may have had some role in the shipments.

In January 2002, Israeli naval commandos stormed the Iranian cargo ship Karine A in the Red Sea. They found 50 tons of arms, long-range rockets and explosives being shipped to Yasser Arafat, then the Palestinian leader. Israeli defence sources believe the same route and methods are being used again.

According to the sources, once in the Red Sea the cargo is taken on one of two routes. The first is to dock in Somalia and Sudan, where professional smugglers carry the cargo overland to Sinai. In Sinai, Bedouin specialists smuggle the shipment into Gaza through the notorious border tunnels.

Despite intensive Israeli bombing, some tunnels remain open. Palestinian sources in Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s southern town, estimate that 100 tunnels are still in action, about 20% of the pre-war total.

A second arms smuggling route into Gaza has also been used by Tehran, according to well briefed sources. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has sent shipments through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean to anchor off the Gaza coast, inside Egyptian territorial waters, where the Israeli navy is barred.

After dark, Iranian frogmen transfer weapons in sealed containers to Palestinian fishing boats. This can prove dangerous as the Israeli navy may open fire without warning, but according to the sources it has worked well in the past.

The intelligence report suggested that Iran plans to ship Fajr rockets with a 50-mile range to Gaza. This would bring Tel Aviv, its international airport and the Dimona nuclear reactor within reach for the first time.

Maariv adds a couple of details on the Iranian frogman operation (via Daily Alert:)
According to an Israeli security source, the IDF has encountered Iranian-leased weapons ships anchored ten miles out to sea opposite Rafiah in Egyptian waters.

The weapons are packed in waterproof containers which travel under the surface. During the night, Iranian frogmen transport the containers and tie them to Palestinian fishing vessels located closer to shore.

The Palestinian vessels return to Gaza, towing the containers underwater to avoid detection.
Which means that the Free Gaza terror supporters are very possibly a part of a weapons smuggling ring when they board "fishing boats" to "protect the poor fishermen."

The Times also adds another tidbit, showing that Iran is repeating what it did in Lebanon after the 2006 war- trying to make Hamas into heroes by paying off the population:
Tehran has also promised to rebuild Gaza. Last week Hamas announced that every home-owner whose house had been destroyed would receive €4,000 (£3,820). The families of those who died will receive €1,000 and the wounded will receive €500.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

  • Thursday, January 15, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
Last time the Free Gaza freaks tried to reach Gaza in their worldwide publicity tour, they claimed that they were surrounded by a half-dozen Zionist warships who opened fire at them and then deliberately rammed their boat three times. None of those claims were ever verified by any of the journalists on board and no video was ever produced that corroborated the stories. Their public statements started backing off from the claims of being shot at with machine guns but they never admitted lying.

This time, they took repeated Israeli warnings that they will be stopped by "any means possible" as a threat to kill them. From their website:
The Israeli navy today threatened to kill unarmed civilians aboard a mercy ship on its way to deliver medical supplies and doctors to besieged Gaza.
As before, we can be sure that there will be no audio of these supposed threats ever released by the 17 journalists on board the boat, and that this lie will be quickly spread through the moonbat media outlets.

One more lie: in a recent newsletter, they said:
Once we set sail, we do not plan on turning back. We will stay at sea, insisting on access to Gaza, until we succeed or Israel gravely attacks or arrests us.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The FG moonbats have fixed their generator and started sailing again towards Gaza, where the Israeli navy will probably stop them sometime tomorrow.

According to their press release, they are bringing in "essential parts for ventilators, which will allow the only burn center in the Gaza Strip, at Shifa Hospital, to double its capacity."

Let's assume that the Free Gaza hypocrites really did uniquely identify a pressing need for Shifa Hospital, that the Red Cross and WHO and UNRWA are somehow not aware of or are ignoring.

Let's further assume that the doubling of Shifa's capacity will save tens of lives, especially since we must also assume that certain Norwegian and Arab doctors are accurate in stating categorically that Israel is burning Gazans with white phosphorus munitions, something that the Red Cross says is not happening.

If all these things are true, then the Free Gaza terror-supporters are purposefully putting Gazans in danger, because instead of coordinating with any number of NGOs, or Jordan, or Tunisia, or Brazil or Greece or Qatar or Egypt to bring these much-needed parts into Gaza as quickly as possible, they have consciously decided to deprive Gazans of these ventilators in order to have a showdown at sea with the Israeli navy instead.

How many Gazans will be permanently disfigured or will die because of this decision by the Free Gaza to delay the delivery of these "essential" parts?

Of course, all this is true only if you assume that the Free Gaza movement is telling the truth.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

  • Tuesday, January 13, 2009
  • Elder of Ziyon
I mentioned in this morning's roundup that an Iranian "aid" boat was trying to get to Gaza.

This morning, Reuters quotes Iranian sources that the boat was stopped:
"An Iranian ship that was carrying foodstuff and medicine was stopped by the Zionist regime's navy 20 miles off the coast of Gaza," the Iranian radio station reported, adding that the ship had left the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas 13 days earlier.
I wonder whether this ship existed at all, or was just an Iranian PR stunt. I could find no mention of the ship on the PressTV site this morning, although Ma'an quoted an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman about the ship. One would think that at the very least the Iranians would try to publicize this more in order to embarrass Israel.

The supposed Iranian boat and Free Gaza have lots in common, though. They both pretend to be helping Gazans when they in fact do nothing of the sort, they both support Hamas and they both want to see Israel destroyed.

UPDATE: The IDF denied that they stopped any Iranian boat.

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