Tuesday, November 29. 2005
A New York Post editorial:
Last week's attempt by the Lebanese Hizballah to raid two military outposts and kidnap Israeli soldiers along the border - the worst clash there in five years - is a sobering lesson for those who insist that the best way to disarm terrorists is to welcome them into the political process. Hizbullah, after all, is a part of the Lebanese government, having won seats in the last parliamentary election. And many now argue that Hamas should be allowed to participate in Palestinian elections - rather than being forcibly disarmed. Hmm. If turning a terrorist group into a political party is the path to disarmament, what accounts for Hizbullah's continued, and increasing, terror attacks?
The answer, of course, is that terrorists can't be tamed. Welcoming them inside the tent will only embolden those committed to violence - and threaten the long-term viability of governments. See also:
Terrorists in Suits and Ties, by Gil Troy
When a terrorist organization decides to enter the political arena, does it automatically become legitimate? The truth is that terrorists by definition have entered the political arena from the start because terrorism is violence with a political agenda. Without the political context, bombing, kidnapping, and shooting are simply crimes. Terrorism, like war, is politics by other means.
The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which has long confused Westerners by distributing free food to Palestinians while merrily slaughtering Israelis, is building up to Palestinian elections slated for January. Western diplomats are now pressuring Israel to accept representatives of an organization committed to its destruction, as long as they are democratically elected.
Democracy requires more than periodic elections. It demands the rule of law, respect for others, basic rights for all. An organization that commits mass-murder with no compunction cannot wipe out its crimes by winning some votes.
From Palestine-Info (UK):
Speaking at a political seminar in Gaza city, former PA justice minister Nahed Al-Rayes affirmed that the PA is responsible for the "mushrooming corruption" rampant in its institutions.
"The PA security elements were setting up gangs inside their apparatuses in order to loot public and private funds, let alone terrorizing the citizens," the former minister charged.
From Haaretz:
Palestinians killed in the suicide bombings in Amman included Bashir Nafeh, who until recently was the commander of the Palestinian special forces, and Abed Allun, the liaison between the Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PSS) and foreign intelligence agencies. The death of the two, who in recent years were considered close allies, caused a sigh of relief among most of the heads of the West Bank security services.
Nafeh and the apparatus that he headed - which the Americans and British generously supported, mainly with equipment - caused a serious headache both for Nasser Yousef, the PA interior minister appointed to command the Palestinian security forces, and for Mahmoud Abbas. It is a well-known fact that the vast majority of incidents that create the chaotic security situation in the territories originate with the security forces themselves. Nafeh's men, about 1,000 policemen in the West Bank, were involved this year in dozens of serious gunbattles with PSS policemen as well as other security forces.
In practice, it turns out that Abbas is incapable of controlling the heads of the security services and imposing security reforms. One of the heads of the security forces said this week, only half jokingly, that the attacks in Amman and the deaths of Nafeh and Allun eliminated one of the main obstacles that prevented the PA from taking control of its security services. The assassination of Moussa Arafat in Gaza four months ago solved a problem with the security services in a similar manner.
From Haaretz:
Senior Fatah officials are trying to nullify the recent primary elections in the West Bank and Gaza, and set up a committee to create a list of the movement's parliamentary candidates. Sources close to Mahmoud Abbas reported that he would head a 35-strong panel of Fatah leaders to determine the final list.
The drive to cancel the primaries began after Monday's election fiasco in the Gaza Strip where gunmen took over several polling stations. Five polling booths were set ablaze and 10 others were fired at in Rafah. Mass brawls erupted between gunmen from various Fatah groups in Khan Yunis, Abasan, and Bani Suhila, while similar incidents took place in al-Bureij, Muasi, Dir al-Balah, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanun.
Monday, November 28. 2005
The International Herald Tribune published an op-ed on Friday by Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, who claimed that Israel boasts the "fifth-largest military in the world." Israel's army is not even the fifth largest in the Middle East.
Here is a column detailing Erekat's lies from 2002.
Source: CAMERA (highly recommended)
by David Hazony:
Ruth Gavison is, in many crucial ways, Aharon Barak's worst nightmare. Arguably Israel's most celebrated legal scholar, a lifelong activist for human and civil rights, a longtime proponent of peace negotiations with Israel's Arab neighbors, she is also the most eloquent and outspoken critic of the extreme judicial activism that the chief justice has made the hallmark of his tenure.
And now she is the government's leading candidate for a spot on the bench.
Judicial selection is an odd thing in Israel. Very few democratic countries allow the judges on the highest court any say in picking their own successors; it is perceived as a violation of the separation of powers, and of the people's fundamental right to choose who will rule over them in a relatively direct fashion.
In Israel, however, the sitting justices not only have a say, but carry the decisive bloc of three votes in the nine-person Judicial Selection Committee. Among those three, the chief justice - who not only sets the agenda of the court but also decides which justices will hear what cases - carries overwhelming authority. As a result, the Israeli Supreme Court has become insular and self-perpetuating, steadily advancing a particular ideology - universalist, deferential to international law, uninterested in Jewish legal tradition - and passing it on from one generation to the next.
But now Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, as representative of the elected government and chair of the selections committee, has decided to put a stop to this, and is refusing to convene the selections committee - leaving three slots on the High Court unfilled - as long as Barak maintains his opposition to Gavison's appointment.
Sunday, November 27. 2005
The winner of the Fatah primary in Jenin goes by the name "Hitler." He is wanted by Israel for the murder of several Arabs. Originally his name was Jamal Abu Rob.
He should not be confused with any of the at least 25 other "Hitlers" or "Abu Hitlers" in the PLO (as of 1993), such as one of the leaders of the elite Palestinian "Force 17" bodyguard unit, or his son "Hitler" (his official given name).
Here is an article about the strong pro-Nazi sentiments among the leadership of the Palestinians.
The overall winner of the Fatah primary was convicted mass-murderer Marwan Barghouti.
Update (Nov. 28): The Associated Press describes these results as "the rejuvenation of Fatah" and a "housecleaning" in a straight news piece titled Young Activists May Help Fatah Party. Hitler is not mentioned.
The article also says:
Hamas did well in local elections earlier this year, largely because its clean-government campaign resonated among Palestinians Here is a picture of Arabs examining a Hamas campaign mural:
Update 2 (Nov. 28): Another AP reporter has picked up the "Hamas clean-government" theme in an article containing significantly plagiarized elements from the one mentioned above:
The housecleaning in Fatah is crucial to the party's hope of beating back a strong showing by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which has wooed Palestinians in part with its image as an honest group that will not tolerate corruption and graft.
Update 3 (Dec. 5): AP Runs Third Story Whitewashing Hamas for its 'Clean Government' Campaign
See this must-read post for context: IRIS Exposes Reporters Stealing Others' Errors.
Saturday, November 26. 2005
Friday, November 25. 2005
I had predicted since August that the PA would pursue a two-pronged strategy of first filling Gaza with terror resources and then focusing on transferring them to Judea (the West Bank).
Last week, Israel made five major concessions to enable this in the guise of an "agreement" that would provide Israel one security protection--a security camera to enable Israel to prevent the entrance of terrorists. Yesterday I pointed out that the PA is now denying that a security monitor will be provided Israel. Today brings news that a senior Hamas terrorist wanted by Israel for more than a decade took advantage of a humanitarian gesture by Israel of opening the border crossing for a few hours.
Of course, the Palestinians are more concerned with "rubbing it in" than quietly going along with the charade, even until the official Rafah opening today:
Hundreds of Hamas activists chanting slogans in support of the Islamic movement welcomed Hasanat home. Get ready for a lot more terrorists and heavy weapons in Gaza and the West Bank.
by Victor Davis Hanson:
Almost every responsible U.S. government body had long warned about Saddam's links to al-Qaeda terrorists. In 1998, for example, when the Clinton Justice Department indicted bin Laden, the writ read: "In addition, al-Qaeda reached an understanding with the Government of Iraq that al-Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al-Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq."
Then in October 2002, George Tenet, the Clinton-appointed CIA director, warned the Senate in similar terms: "We have solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade." Seventy-seven senators apparently agreed ? including a majority of Democrats ? and cited just that connection a few days later as a cause to go to war against Saddam
From Yediot Aharonot (translated from Hebrew by the excellent Daily Alert):
At the end of last week, the French were notified of a "Red Alert" - the highest level warning, from concern with a wave of al-Qaeda attacks. Christof Shabu, the head of French counter-terrorism, told Yediot Ahronot that the terrorist groups may not have been behind the outburst in the suburbs, but they are going to profit from it. Shabu rejects the argument that France had not been attacked because of its policy on Iraq. He says there are hundreds of terrorists in France and the reason there have been no attacks is because of the French success in thwarting them.
"We have the toughest laws and enforcement policy against terrorism. Last year 120 individuals were stopped who belonged to radical Islamic groups and we thwarted many planned attacks." Shabu reveals that the next objective of global terrorism is a "dirty bomb" containing radiological material. "We are witnessing a constant effort by al-Qaeda and other organizations to obtain fissionable material in Eastern Europe. We know that they have developed certain strains of anthrax, but we are not sure of the extent of their success." Shabu has only praise for the Israeli security services.
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