Gaza Water Park

Evidently all the Gazans aren’t starving.

Who are the Gazans? Who are the Westbankers?

Who are the Gazans?  Who are the Westbankers?

They are the descendants born in Gaza or the West Bank to those who chose to leave Israel during the 1948 Arab attacks against Israel.  It's about time that the world recognizes that the people born in Gaza and the West Bank are not refugees, but citizens of their respective areas.  The endless generations of "refugees" needs to come to an end and those people need to be recognized for who they really are.

As it stands now, there are two distinct political groups of Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza.  None of their Arab Muslim brethren want to allow them into their countries (mainly Egypt, Syria and Jordan).  So what to do with them.  Perhaps the solution is for the UN to unilaterally declare the independent countries of Gaza and the West Bank and make the people there responsible for their own care and welfare. 

By declaring Hamas and Fattah to be independent governments of independent countries, it would allow the world at large to hold them responsible for actions.  It would remove them from victim hood status and force them to enter the world at large or suffer the consequences.

By declaring them free and independent states, it would remove the excuse of endless billions of dollars in aid being thrown down a black hole.  It would give the people a sense of identity and reason to stand on their own feet.  It would give them the pride of belonging to a recognized nation and give them status to trade with and be a member of the international community.

And in the end, it might just mitigate the hatred of the Jews enough to allow a true peaceful coexistence.

The Gaza Strip Mall

Guess we know where the bilions of dollars in aid money to the Gazans has gone.

FROM FRONTPAGEMAG.COM:

The Gaza Strip Mall

Posted By Jacob Shrybman
July 23, 2010 @ 12:00 am

As the world continues to chastize Israel for allegedly causing material deprivation in the Gaza Strip, the residents of Gaza have just witnessed the grand opening of a new luxury shopping mall. The gigantic, futuristic complex is aptly called the “Strip Mall,” and in it, Gazans can peruse the finer amenities of the modern world in an atmosphere of comfort and security.

The day following the mall’s opening, the EU’s Senior Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, called on Israel to lift its “blockade” of the Gaza Strip.  Ashton’s call was no great surprise — coming from a person who, on her last visit to the region this past March, was in such a hurry to get to Gaza that she didn’t care to comment on Manee Singmueangphon, a Thai worker who was was murdered [1] by a Gaza qassam rocket in nearby Netiv Ha’asara that very same day.
READ IT ALL:

Hamas Panicked When Israel Eased Blockade

Now this is telling.  After years of crying that the Israeli "blockade" has created abject misery in Gaza, when Israel opens more crossings for trade, Gazans complain they can't compete with "cheap" Israeli merchandise.  Go figure.

FROM ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM:

Hamas Panicked When Israel Eased Blockade

by Hana Levi Julian

Israel's decision to ease its blockade on Gaza has had an odd effect on the region: it has apparently thrown Gaza retailers into a panic, causing them to pressure their rulers.

As a result, the Hamas terrorist organization is fighting the implementation of the crossing agreements proposed by the Palestinian Authority and Israel. This, despite years of bitter complaints from Hamas, albeit unsubstantiated, that the blockade by Israel was causing a humanitarian crisis in the region.
Hamas now says Israel's agreement to ease the blockade is “part of the plot by Israelis, Arabs and Europeans" to topple Hamas.

According to the Gaza-based Al Ayyam newspaper, clothing retailers are claiming that rather than a lack, there is now an overabundance of selections in their market.

The problem is that since Hamas has not paid salaries, there are few customers available to buy the goods.

Soft drink manufacturers and those in the furniture industry are also complaining, as they don't want to compete with the lower prices of Israeli goods.

Both have called on the de facto Hamas government to prevent the entry of Israeli products, citing their ability to meet the needs of the local market themselves and fears they may have to close their factories if they cannot meet the competition.

Due to the goods that continue to be “imported” through the Gaza smuggler tunnels, as well as those that enter the region by truck, there is now a surplus of products in the small market.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri claimed the agreement is “part of the plot by Israelis, Arabs and Europeans to restore the rule of the [Fatah-led] Palestinian Authority in Gaza.”

Aid to Gaza Up by 60%
While Hamas backpedals on its claims that Israel has been starving its population by limiting the flow of aid through the crossings, the new policy change has resulted in what Gaza retailers are calling a glut of goods in the region.

Data gleaned from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT) for June showed a 60 percent increase in aid transferred from Israel to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

A new joint task force comprised of personnel from the Palestinian Authority and the IDF's CoGAT was created to oversee the policy changes and work on advancing coordinated projects to be supervised by the international community. The task force also continues to work on finding ways to increase the capacity of goods being transferred daily through the crossings, according to a statement from the IDF Spokesman's Office.

More than 3,000 trucks crossed into Gaza through Kerem Shalom and the Karni Crossing last month. In addition, the Jewish State continued to supply the region with heating gas (4 million liters), cooking gas (4,000 tons) and diesel fuel (approximately 600,000 liters).

Some 2,500 PA residents of Gaza entered Israel as well during the month of June, passing through the Erez Crossing, which is specifically intended for human traffic. The number is a 25 percent jump over previous figures.

In total, the number of trucks making their way into Gaza through the Israeli crossings has increased by 12 percent, according to the CoGAT.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

In Islam, these are known as "peace activists".

FROM THERELIGIONOFPEACE.COM:

In Islam, these are known as "peace activists".

Starvation in Gaza

Palestinian women take a short break from starvation to shop at one of Gaza's thriving gold bazaars.

FROM THERELIGIONOFPEACE.COM:

Gaza Flotilla Choir Presents We Con the World

Fancy restaurants and Olympic-size pools: What the media won’t report about Gaza

An interesting look into some of the horrid conditions in Gaza.

Fancy restaurants and Olympic-size pools: What the media won’t report about Gaza

FROM FULLCOMMENT.NATIONALPOST.COM:

By Special to the National Post   May 25, 2010 – 9:44 am 
By Tom Gross

In recent days, the international media, particularly in Europe and the Mideast, has been full of stories about “activist boats sailing to Gaza carrying desperately-needed humanitarian aid and building materials.”

The BBC World Service even led its world news broadcasts with this story at one point over the weekend. (The BBC yesterday boasted that its global news audience has now risen to 220 million persons a week, making it by far the biggest news broadcaster in the world.)

Indeed the BBC and other prominent Western media regularly lead their viewers and readers astray with accounts of a non-existent “mass humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

What they won’t tell you about are the fancy new restaurants and swimming pools of Gaza, or about the wind surfing competitions on Gaza beaches, or the Strip’s crowded shops and markets. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live a middle class (and in some cases an upper class) lifestyle that western journalists refuse to report on because it doesn’t fit with the simplistic story they were sent to write.

Here, courtesy of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, is a report on Gaza’s new Olympic-sized swimming pool. (Most Israeli towns don’t have Olympic-size swimming pools. One wonders how an area that claims to be starved of water and building materials and depends on humanitarian aid builds an Olympic size swimming pool and creates a luxury lifestyle for some while others are forced to live in abject poverty as political pawn refugees?)

If you pop into the Roots Club in Gaza, according to the Lonely Planet guidebook, you can “dine on steak au poivre and chicken cordon bleu”.

The restaurant’s website in Arabic gives a window into middle class dining and the lifestyle of Hamas officials in Gaza. And here it is in English, for all the journalists, UN types and NGO staff who regularly frequent this and other nice Gaza restaurants (but don’t tell their readers about them).

And here is a promotional video of the club restaurant . In case anyone doubts the authenticity of this video, I just called the club in Gaza City and had a nice chat with the manager who proudly confirmed business is booming and many Palestinians and international guests are dining there.
READ IT ALL:

Send In The Girls

This article is titled "Send In The Girls" but should really be titled "Send in The Girls and Children".  The "Palestinians" in Gaza are systematically indoctrinating children and women to become suicide bombers.  These are the very people Obama wants to dialog with.  These are the people the UN refuses to cite for crimes against humanity.  


FROM STRATEGYPAGE.COM:

Send In The Girls

January 8, 2010
Palestinian terror groups are having a hard time recruiting suicide bombers. So they are making a pitch to women. Palestinian TV and news websites helped by recently honoring the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, Wafa Idris. She died in 2002, while murdering one Israeli and wounding another 150. The two major Palestinian political parties; Fatah (which controls the West Bank) and Hamas (which controls Gaza), both use their mass media to praise those who die while trying to kill Israelis. But these efforts have been increasingly unsuccessful, and Palestinians are less eager to volunteer for suicide bomber duty. Last year, for example, not a single Israeli was killed, inside Israel, by a Palestinian terrorist.

A similar trend occurred in Iraq a few years back, and for a while, the local Islamic terror groups had some success in recruiting women to do the suicide bombing work. But the women eventually noted that most of the victims were civilians, and lost enthusiasm for this sort of thing. Undeterred, Palestinian leaders have been amping up the suicide bomber recruiting propaganda directed at children. Terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have tried using kids as young as nine or ten as suicide bombers (often without telling the kids exactly what would happen to them).

Families of the bombers are usually paid at least a few thousand dollars, to "honor" the heroism of their child. Very poor families see this as a win-win situation (losing one of many children that were difficult to care for, and making a whole lot of money). There is also social pressure, with everyone encouraged to show respect to the families of suicide bombers. The reality is different, but in places like Iraq, Gaza and Afghanistan, reality doesn't count for much.

Hamas teaches kids to kill Jews

FROM PALESTINIANMEDIAWATCH.ORG:

Hamas teaches kids to kill Jews

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Sept. 23, 2009

The two hosts of a Hamas children's TV program use three different words for “slaughter” to describe how to rid Israel of Jews. The bear puppet Nassur explains that all Jews must be “erased from our land,” and the young host Saraa then specifies, "They'll be slaughtered."

Later in the conversation Nassur adds, "We want to slaughter them, Saraa, so they will be expelled from our land.” He repeats, “…We’ll have to [do it] by slaughter."

Three different Arabic expressions are used to describe the “slaughter” of the Jews: “Manhurin naher,” “Nidbah-hom” and “Shaht.”

The following is the transcript from the children’s program Tomorrow's Pioneers:

Nassur: “There won't be any Jews or Zionists, if Allah wills. They'll be erased.”
Saraa: “They'll be slaughtered.” (Manhurin naher)
Nassur: “And just like we will visit the Qaaba [in Mecca]... everyone will visit Jerusalem.”

[Seven-year old Palestinian child on phone tells how his father, a member of the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades, “died as a Shahid (Martyr).”]

Nassur to child on phone: “What do you want to do to the Jews who shot your father?”

Child on phone: “I want to kill them.”

Saraa: “We don't want to do anything to them, just expel them from our land.”

Nassur: “We want to slaughter (Nidbah-hom) them, so they will be expelled from our land, right?”

Saraa: “Yes. That's right. We will expel them from our land using all means.”

Nassur: “And if they don't want [to go] peacefully, by words or talking, we’ll have to [do it] by slaughter.”

(Shaht) [Al-Aqsa (Hamas) TV, Sept. 22, 2009]

Gaza Boat Expoldesm Near Israel Navy Ship

A little reported arena in the war by Hamas on Israel is the Israeli blockade of Gaza from the sea. This is the latest attempt by Hamas to use remotely piloted boats as floating bombs to attack Israeli ships and facilities. This attempt failed due to Israeli vigilance and pre-emptive action.

Gaza Boat Explodes Near Israel Navy Vessel
Posted by David Eshel

FROM AVIATIONWEEK.COM:

A booby-trapped fishing boat exploded on Monday near an Israel Navy vessel off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian vessel was laden with explosives, but was unmanned. Israel TV showed the Coastal Patrol Craft, accompanied by two Morena armed rigid-hulled inflatable boats, which apparently had been involved in the chase.

The naval patrol followed the boat for about an hour and spotted no people on board. When the suspected boat came within 600 meters of the patrol craft, it was fired on, at which point the explosion occurred. There were no casualties on any of the Israeli boats during the action.

IDF sources estimated that the booby-trapped boat may have been activated by remote control from the shore and meant to explode near an Israeli Navy vessel or a coastal community.
READ IT ALL:

Puzzled in Gaza

A Palestinian man holds bags of rice before their distribution to Palestinians at a United Nations food distribution center in Sha'ati refugee camp in Gaza City.
Photo: AP

Very interesting report of conditions in Gaza that debunks the Hamas propaganda of indiscriminate Israeli attacks and massive destruction. Most of the destruction of the Gaza infrastructure has been undertaken by Hamas, who cannot understand anything but their fanatical hatred of everything non-Muslim. An example is several square miles of greenhouses the Israelis built that were immediately torn down and sold as scrap by Hamas upon the Israeli withdrawal 3 years ago.

There is no reason whatsoever, save the barbaric dictatorial reign of Hamas that the people in Gaza could not thrive there like the Israelis did. With literally billions of dollars poured into the region, there should be a thriving economy and government.

FROM JPOST.COM:

Puzzled in Gaza
By YVONNE GREEN

I'm a poet, an English Jew and a frequent visitor to Israel. Deeply disturbed by the reports of wanton slaughter and destruction during Operation Cast Lead, I felt I had to see for myself. I flew to Tel Aviv and on Wednesday, January 28, using my press card to cross the Erez checkpoint, I walked across the border into Gaza where I was met by my guide, a Palestinian journalist. He asked if I wanted to meet with Hamas officials. I explained that I'd come to bear witness to the damage and civilian suffering, not to talk politics.

What I saw was that there had been precision attacks made on all of Hamas' infrastructure. Does UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticize the surgical destruction of the explosives cache in the Imad Akhel Mosque, of the National Forces compound, of the Shi Jaya police station, of the Ministry of Prisoners? The Gazans I met weren't mourning the police state. Neither were they radicalized. As Hamas blackshirts menaced the street corners, I witnessed how passersby ignored them.

THERE WERE empty beds at Shifa Hospital and a threatening atmosphere. Hamas is reduced to wielding its unchallengeable authority from extensive air raid shelters which, together with the hospital, were built by Israel 30 years ago. Terrorized Gazans used doublespeak when they told me most of the alleged 5,500 wounded were being treated in Egypt and Jordan. They want it known that the figure is a lie, and showed me that the wounded weren't in Gaza. No evidence exists of their presence in foreign hospitals, or of how they might have gotten there.

From the mansions of the Abu Ayida family at Jebala Rayes to Tallel Howa (Gaza City's densest residential area), Gazans contradicted allegations that Israel had murderously attacked civilians. They told me again and again that both civilians and Hamas fighters had evacuated safely from areas of Hamas activity in response to Israeli telephone calls, leaflets and megaphone warnings.

Seeing Al-Fakhora made it impossible to understand how UN and press reports could ever have alleged that the UNWRA school had been hit by Israeli shells. The school, like most of Gaza, was visibly intact. I was shown where Hamas had been firing from nearby, and the Israeli missile's marks on the road outside the school were unmistakeable. When I met Mona al-Ashkor, one of the 40 people injured running toward Al-Fakhora - rather than inside it as widely and persistently reported - I was told that Israel had warned people not to take shelter in the school because Hamas was operating in the area, and that some people had ignored the warning because UNWRA previously told them that the school would be safe. Press reports that fatalities numbered 40 were denied.

I WAS TOLD stories at Samouni Street which contradicted each other, what I saw and later media accounts. Examples of these inconsistencies are that 24, 31, 34 or more members of the Fatah Samouni family had died. That all the deaths occurred when Israel bombed the safe building it had told 160 family members to shelter in; the safe building was pointed out to me but looked externally intact and washing was still hanging on a line on one of its balconies. That some left the safe building and were shot in another house. That one was shot when outside collecting firewood. That there was no resistance - but the top right hand window of the safe building (which appears in a BBC Panorama film Out of the Ruins" aired February 8) has a black mark above it - a sign I was shown all day of weaponry having been fired from inside. That victims were left bleeding for two or three days.

I saw large scoured craters and a buckled container which appeared to have been damaged by an internal impact (its external surfaces were undamaged). Media accounts of Samouni Street don't mention these possible indications of explosive caches (although the container is visible on media footage). The Samouni family's elder told me during a taped interview that he had a CD film of the killings. As far as I'm aware, no such film has been made public. He also told me that there are members of his family who have still not been found.

The media have manufactured and examined allegations that Israel committed a war crime against the Samounis without mentioning that the family are Fatah and that some of its members are still missing. They have not considered what might flow from those facts: that Hamas might have been active not only in the Samouni killings but in the exertion of force on the Samounis to accuse Israel.
THE GAZA I saw was societally intact. There were no homeless, walking wounded, hungry or underdressed people. The streets were busy, shops were hung with embroidered dresses and gigantic cooking pots, the markets were full of fresh meat and beautiful produce - the red radishes were bigger than grapefruits. Mothers accompanied by a 13-year-old boy told me they were bored of leaving home to sit on rubble all day to tell the press how they'd survived. Women graduates I met in Shijaya spoke of education as power as old men watched over them.

No one praised their government as they showed me the sites of tunnels where fighters had melted away. No one declared Hamas victorious for creating a forced civilian front line as they showed me the remains of booby trapped homes and schools.
From what I saw and was told in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead pinpointed a totalitarian regime's power bases and largely neutralized Hamas's plans to make Israel its tool for the sacrifice of civilian life.

Corroboration of my account may be found in tardy and piecemeal retractions of claims concerning the UNWRA school at Al-Fakhora; an isolated acknowledgment that Gaza is substantially intact by The New York Times; Internet media watch corrections; and the unresolved discrepancy between the alleged wounded and their unreported whereabouts.

Terrorist Speaks My 8 Years in Hamas

A short history of a Palestinian child terrorist.
FROM ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM:

Terrorist Speaks My 8 Years in Hamas

by Maayana Miskinif (IsraelNN.com)
IDF soldiers managed to capture hundreds of terror suspects during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. One of them, 20-year-old Mohammed Amazi, was revealed to be one of Hamas' more senior fighters. Parts of Amazi's interrogation were published this week by the Hebrew-language Maariv.
Amazi told security forces that he was recruited by Hamas at age 12 as he left a mosque in his hometown of Jabalia. At first his participation in the group consisted only of daily Koran classes, he said. However, at age 13 he was officially sworn in to the terrorist group, and soon began actively supporting Hamas's armed forces as well.

At age 15, Amazi was an active member of one of Hamas's youth patrol groups. The groups patrolled Gaza in search of any evidence of impending IDF activities in the area.
"There were rumors that Israeli soldiers would invade Gaza, and we had to be ready to fight them at any price, to kill them,” he said.
At age 17, the young terrorist took a leave of absence from Hamas to study for his final high school exams. When he returned, he began military training, and was incorporated into a special suicide bombing unit trained to kill IDF soldiers.
Would-be suicide bombers underwent special training led by senior members of Hamas who had trained in Syria or Iran. The unit also helped Hamas prepare for the possibility of IDF operations in Gaza by hiding anti-tank bombs and testing explosives.

As Operation Cast Lead approached, members of Amazi's unit received uniforms similar in appearance to those worn by soldiers in the IDF's Givati brigades. Their plan was to confuse soldiers in order to draw close and carry out a kidnapping or suicide bombing.
Kidnapping a soldier was seen as “the most important thing, in order to stop the operation,” Amazi said.

Amazi and his companions ultimately failed in their mission. As he and a fellow Hamas terrorist fled from a Jabalia home after firing on soldiers, they came under fire, and Amazi was wounded while his companion was killed. Amazi took shelter in a local family's home and pretended to be a civilian engaged to the family's daughter, but was apprehended by soldiers despite the ruse.
Amazi admitted that he and other members of Hamas used civilian homes during the operation, even when the homeowners objected.
State prosecutors have filed an indictment against Amazi for murder, attempted murder and membership in a terrorist organization.

Hamas, Fatah Accused of Torture, Murder in Recent Deaths

File this under Rats In A Barrel.

Here's one more indication that Muslim sects cannot long ally with each other before they begin murdering each other. This in-born hatred among Islamic sects need to be exploited to the maximum by our counter intelligence agencies, as it is the greatest weakness of Islam.

FROM ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM:

Hamas, Fatah Accused of Torture, Murder in Recent Deaths

by Maayana Miskinif
(IsraelNN.com)

Hamas and its political rival, the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria, were both accused of torture and murder on Monday over the recent deaths of two men. Both died in custody, one in Gaza and the other in Jenin.
According to Hamas, members of the Fatah-led security forces killed Hamas member Abd Al-Haj in a Jenin prison on Sunday. Al-Haj was killed by hanging, two days after being arrested. His body bore signs of torture, members of the Al-Haj family argued.

Al-Haj's relatives accused the PA of arresting Al-Haj for “political reasons.” The accusation was picked up by Hamas legislators in Gaza, who accused the Fatah-led PA of political murder.
"The crime of torturing Mohammed al-Haj to death at the hands of the West Bank security service will have grave consequences and was an attempt to blow up all reconciliation efforts,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told foreign journalists.
PA officials agree that Al-Haj died in custody, but say he committed suicide.

Hamas Accused of Murder in Khan Yunis
At the same time, a PA-based human rights group has accused Hamas of torturing and killing a 51-year-old Gaza man. Jameel Shakura of Khan Yunis died from injuries sustained in a violent beating that took place in Hamas custody, the group argues.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) says Shakura was called in for questioning by armed Hamas men on January 30. The next day, he was delivered to a local hospital with serious injuries, and subsequently died of his wounds.
Shakura's brother said Jameel reported being beaten while in custody. Hamas legislators who paid the family condolences following the death implied that the group was responsible for the death, he said.

Charges to Affect Talks?
The charges of torture, particularly in the Al-Haj case, are expected to cause difficulties in talks between Fatah and Hamas. The rival groups held dual control over the PA until the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, and since then have sporadically held talks with the goal of reunification.
Egyptian officials proposed Monday that Fatah and Hamas renew their negotiations at a meeting in Cairo this month.

Samarians Train to Film the Enemy and Anti-Zionist Harassers

Well it's about time. At last the Israelis are taking positive steps to counter phony Palestinian propaganda news releases. They're organizing to video every Palestinian attack in order to provide accurate rebuttals to Palestinian charges of brutality.

This is certainly a good strategy for Counter Jihad groups everywhere. Ensuring total video coverage of the typical violence and hatred filled Islamic demonstrations will go a long way toward educating the Western "Man in the Street" to the incursions Muslims have already made into secular societies.

Such videos will give Counter-Jihad groups the evidence of Muslim violence that can be used to prosecute acts of violence and sedition and can be used to defend any charges of violence by Counter-Jihad groups. Such videos are also tools in the Information War with Islam. Information Warfare is one of the primary tools being used by Islamists, and is so far one of the weaker aspects of the Counter-Jihad.


FROM ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM:

Samarians Train to Film the Enemy and Anti-Zionist Harassers

by Gil Ronenif
(IsraelNN.com)

Jewish leaders in Samaria are launching a new initiative aimed at countering the successful media war that has been waged against them for years by Arabs and their anti-Zionist accomplices. The project, launched by the Shomron Settlers' Committee in cooperation with the Shomron Liaison Office, will train dozens of volunteers of all ages to film attacks and provocations by Arabs and anarchists, and to document anti-Zionist activists' harassment of IDF soldiers.

Camera teams will be trained in documenting the activities of Machsom Watch – an all-female pacifist group which sends its volunteers to harass IDF soldiers at security checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. Machsom Watch's volunteers stand a short distance away from IDF soldiers at the checkpoints and document what they claim are human rights abuses. According to eyewitnesses from Nadia Matar's “Women in Green,” they also routinely hurl abuse at soldiers and assist Arabs in circumventing the checkpoints.

Machsom Watch's activity includes photographing the soldiers' actions and filing legal complaints against them.
The Samaria video teams will “watch the watchers”: they will document harassment of soldiers and use the documentation to back up complaints against the Machsom Watch activists.

In addition, the video teams will be trained to film Arab attacks on Jewish motorists. While the unexpected nature of these ambushes makes it difficult to film them as they happen, some of the video volunteers will be embedded with rapid response teams and will be able to provide initial footage of the aftermath.

Shooting Back at 'Shooting Back'
The graduates will film demonstrations, police actions, Arab riots and activities by anarchists, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and similar groups. If needed, the materials will be used for legal support in cases where Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are wrongfully accused.

The more Jews who are armed with quality video cameras and know how to use them, the organizers believe, the greater the videos' potential effectiveness as a tool in the media war. “You never know where valuable footage can come from,” says David Ha'ivri, who heads the Liaison Office's North America desk. “Unfortunately, there is no shortage of Arab and leftist provocations and violence. Until now, however, it was the Left – through projects like B'tzelem's 'Shooting Back,' which armed Arabs with cameras – that organized more effectively on the media front. They film events from their angle and doctor the videos to show a slanted picture against the IDF and the settler enterprise. Our challenge will be to provide footage that shows the true character of the enemy and its collaborators. And if the mainstream media doesn't show the videos – at least we have the Internet.”

Ha'ivri returned from a North American fundraising tour last week in which he received anonymous donations for the first batch of cameras, which can be used for both videos and still photos. The organizers immediately launched a course for young video volunteers and intends to open a course for adults as well soon.

Time to Fight Back
At the first briefing for the volunteers held in Kedumim this week, Ester Karish of the Shomron Settlers' Committee told the would-be camera crews that “it is time to fight back.” She informed them that the course would give them professional tools in filming, editing and working with news media. Gamilel Shilo of Revava noted that the Internet is “open ground” that anyone can access to upload videos for the world to see. “We must learn how to use this platform to our advantage,” he said, and promised that activists who supply of a good flow of material will have their equipment upgraded.

Filmmaker Amatzia HaEitan told the group of his extensive experiences in supplying the media with footage of events and the influence his materials had on the end result of the stories broadcast on TV. A pilot course will be taught by filmmaker Hadas Ya'akobi and will include classes in scriptwriting, sound, production, practical exercises in film-making and more.
The organizers dream of setting up an editing facility in which they will train Shomron youth to produce short infomercials for video-sharing sites.

Gaza War Protest and Anti-Israel Rally

Here's Zombie's latest photo essay of an anti-Israel protest demonstration in San Francisco. It is amazing that every anti-Israel protest is dominated by hate filled calls for the elimination of Israel and the Jewish people.

On the other hand, Pro-Israel rallies never include any hint of hatred or calls for the elimination of Palestinians.

Lots more pictures (Here)

FROM ZOMBIETIME.COM:


Gaza War Protest and Anti-Israel Rally

San Francisco, January 10, 2009

On Saturday, January 10, 2009, a large rally and march took place in San Francisco to protest Israel's invasion of Gaza. The event was one of a series of similar events held in various cities around the country on the same day, and was organized by ANSWER along with several other far-left, Arab and Muslim groups.

The photos in this report represent what I personally saw that day in San Francisco. Because there were thousands of people in attendance, with innumerable signs, vignettes and scenes playing out every minute in many different locations, I can vouch only for what I myself witnessed.

Gaza's Rich Jewish History

Here's a history of the Jewish people in the Middle East, from Biblical times to the present. Islamic wishful thinking aside, the Jews have had a presence in the region for over 3,000 years.

Perhaps it's time for Israel to take a page from the Islamic play book and declare any land ever occupied by Jews will be Jewish for all time.

FROM THE AMERICANTHINKER.COM:

Gaza's Rich Jewish History
By Victor Sharpe

The four thousand year old association of Jewish life in Gaza is little remembered in today's world. Of course people know of the biblical story of Samson being blinded by the now extinct Philistines and how he brought down the temple to their gods in Gaza. But very few have any idea of the rich Jewish history in the following millennia.

In the Second millennium BC, Gaza served as an administrative city and residence of the Egyptian governor of Canaan. The bible tells us that the Jewish patriarch, Isaac, dug wells in Gerar, an ancient site between Beer Sheba and Gaza, and in the 13th century BC the Philistines or Caphorites (Cretans) annihilated the Avite inhabitants of Gaza and made the city the largest of their five centers. After the Israelite Exodus from Egypt and entry into the Promised Land, the tribe of Judah was given Gaza as a possession but did not include it fully in their territory. The bible reports in Joshua 15.47 and Judges 1:18 how the city of Gaza, and those of Ekron, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gat became a possession of Israel but how some of them were among those places ‘lying in the remaining country,' i.e., not fully possessed by the Israelites.

Down the centuries, Gaza was captured by Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, followed by Persians and later still by Alexander the Great who incorporated it into his growing empire in the 5th century BC. The strategic territory, lying as it does at the crossroads of two continents, Africa and Asia, has repeatedly fallen since earliest times to invading armies.
READ IT ALL:

Financed by the British taxpayer, brutal torturers of the West Bank

Crackdown: Palestinian forces seize a man on the West Bank

File this under rats in a barrel. Mindless violence against fellow Muslims is a hallmark of Islam. While the world focuses on Gaza, the PA in the West bank carry out kidnappings, torture and murder, much as Hamas does in Gaza.

It's not just British money that funds the endless violence by the Palestinians, every Western country must share the blame for perpetuating the abomination known as the Palestinian Authority. Until the West aids Israel in controlling the fanatical Hamas and Fatah, the attack, truce, attack scenario will go on and on.

So much for a "moderate" PA and Fatah.

The only thing that can stop, at least for a while, the endless series of Islamic attacks against Israel is for Israel to so kill so many fanatical Muslims that it will take decades for them to breed more Islamists. Israel must resign itself to occupying the Gaza strip and West Bank for the foreseeable future if there is to be any chance of stability in the region.

Again, Muslim sectarian violence is the West's best ally in the fight against the Global Jihad.

FROM DAILYMAIL.CO.UK:

Financed by the British taxpayer, brutal torturers of the West Bank
By David Rose

Last updated at 11:31 PM on 31st January 2009

The horrific torture of hundreds of people by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank is being funded by British taxpayers.
An investigation by The Mail on Sunday has found that the forces responsible get £20million a year from the UK.

The victims – some left maimed – are rounded up for alleged involvement with the militant Islamic group Hamas, yet many have nothing to do with it.

They are targeted because the Fatah party, which runs the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority (PA) on the West Bank, is the bitter rival of Hamas, which controls the war-torn Gaza strip.

Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) gave £76million in all to the PA last year for ‘security sector reform’ and fostering the rule of law.
About £3million goes directly to the PA police. Another £17million pays the salaries of the PA’s array of security organisations – including the Presidential Guard intelligence service and the feared Preventive Security Organisation.
Not only are PA forces carrying out torture, the authority ignores judges’ orders to release political detainees. Last month at least 30 journalists, teachers and students were arrested – as the crackdown on Hamas was praised by a senior Israeli defence official as a necessary ‘iron fist policy’.
READ IT ALL:

Mitchell: Open Borders Will Prevent Smuggling

George Mitchell is back at it, undermining Israeli security and screwing the only democracy in the Middle East. Of course open borders will prevent smuggling. But with open borders, Israel will cease to exist. Which is of course George Mitchell's goal.

It would behoove Israel to declare Mitchell persona non gratis and demand an American representative like John Bolton take his place.

If Mitchell really wants "a sustainable and durable ceasefire" between Hamas and Israel then he should get out on his own two feet and walk around the Gaza strip to stop Hamas' rocket fire into Israel. He might find that his Hamas "buddies" are not so nice as he claims.

FROM ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM:

Mitchell: Open Borders Will Prevent Smuggling

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katzif (IsraelNN.com)

Following a meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday, newly-appointed American Middle East envoy George Mitchell called for open crossings into Gaza and greater Fatah involvement there.

Talking to reporters after his discussions with Fatah leader Abbas and other PA officials, Mitchell said, "To be successful in preventing the illicit traffic of arms into Gaza, there must be a mechanism to allow the flow of legal goods. And that should be with the participation of the [Fatah-controlled] Palestinian Authority."

Fatah is the faction currently heading the Judea and Samaria half of the Authority, while the more jihadist Hamas controls the Gaza half of the PA. Hamas initially took legislative power in a landslide in PA-wide elections, and later carried out a successful coup in Gaza in order to obtain absolute control there.
The U.S. envoy further called for "a sustainable and durable ceasefire" between Hamas and Israel. Mitchell added that he had expressed to Abbas President Barack Obama's "deep concern over the killing of the Palestinians and the humanitarian situation in Gaza." The President is also committed to a Palestinian State and "lasting peace", according to Mitchell.

While Abbas did not address the media following his meeting with Mitchell, senior PA representative Saeb Erekat told journalists that the PA chairman discussed "humanitarian aid to Gaza, the importance of the truce, opening the crossings and lifting the blockade of Gaza." Abbas also claimed that "continued construction of Israeli settlements, creating facts on the ground... and construction of the wall are an attempt to separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip," according to Erekat. He added that Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza harmed the chances for peace in the region.

Touching on another matter, Erekat said that Abbas told Mitchell of his eagerness to form a unified regime with Hamas. Due to the American boycott of Hamas, which it officially recognizes as a terrorist entity, Mitchell is not going to visit Gaza during his current Middle Eastern tour.
Mitchell met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday, after meetings in Egypt. He also met with IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. On Friday, Mitchell is scheduled to meet with Knesset opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Mystery Dead Of Gaza

This is to be expected. The "mystery dead of Gaza" are really the inflated figures claimed by Hamas and pimped by the MSM. Now that the Israeli incursion into Gaza is over, the true death toll of "Palestinians" is coming out. It's not the 1,300 or so claimed by Hamas and their western dhimmis, but about 500, mostly young males killed in counter attacks to rocket and mortar fire.

We will find that there has been much less destruction of buildings than has been reported by the Hamas propaganda machine and leftist media. I suppose the billion dollar gift by the Saudis can be spent on more Iranian rocket instead of rebuilding the hovels that the "Palestinians" claim were destroyed by Israel.

FROM STRATEGYPAGE.COM:

The Mystery Dead Of Gaza

January 25, 2009: Palestinians have found, in their decades of fighting Israel, that well crafted lies can be an effective weapon. The recent 22 day battle in Gaza, between Hamas and Israel, ended with the Palestinians claiming they had lost 1,300 dead, and the Israelis admitting to 13 (including four soldiers from friendly fire.) Now, as reporters get into Gaza, and start asking questions, the Palestinian death toll is starting to shrink. Medical personnel at the Palestinian hospitals say that there appeared to be no more than about 500 dead, and most of them were young males (guys of fighting age). Civilian dead appear to have been no more than a hundred or so.

Gaza is not the first time this has happened. Take the 2002 battle in Jenin, in the West Bank. Jenin was a refugee camp that had been taken over by five terrorist groups (including Hamas) and used as a base for launching over a hundred attacks on Israelis (mostly civilians.) The fighting went on for nine days, and even before it was over (with a crushing defeat for the terrorists) it was being claimed that the Israelis had massacred over a thousand Arab civilians. But once a detailed investigation was conducted, outside experts (most of them pro-Arab) concluded that only 53 Arabs were killed (only five could be conclusively proven to be civilians), and 23 Israelis (who went to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties). The rest were armed Palestinians trying to kill Israelis. Some 200 Arab terrorists also surrendered, and a few escaped the camp.

When the Palestinians first made their claims of an Israeli massacre, the generally anti-Israeli Western media (especially in Europe, where anti-Semitism was awakening from its post-World War II slumber) accepted the claims and pumped out stories of the alleged Israeli barbarity. The Palestinians provided photo ops and trained witnesses to the alleged atrocities. Most Western media took all this at face value. Same thing happened recently in Gaza, although there were a few more Western, and Moslem, journalists who were skeptical. But they had to keep it down, as the Palestinian propaganda was still ascendant.

Back in 2002, it wasn't long before the edifice of lies began to crumble. Aerial photos of Jenin showed the area where the fighting took place was very small area. Efforts to identify victims kept coming up with only a few dozen dead. Some of more strident anti-Israeli groups insisted that this was all a clever Israeli cover-up, and that hundreds of dead Arabs were secretly carted away and disposed of. But no one could find anyone who knew any of these mystery dead. The same thing is happening in Gaza. And why wouldn't it.