Muslim Terrorists Murder Four; Attack Others

Muslim terrorists murdered four Israeli civilians on Tuesday night on a road near Kiryat Arba. Those murdered, all from the community of Beit Haggai, were Yitzhak Ames, 47, his wife Talya Ames, 45, Kochava Even Chaim, 37, and Avishai Shindler, 24. The Ames were the parents of six children. Kochava Even-Chaim was married with one daughter and pregnant with her second child. A rescue volunteer at the scene of the terrorist attack told The Jerusalem Post, "We saw a crying volunteer, and at first we did not understand what was happening ? he has seen many disasters before. Then he started shouting, 'That's my wife! That's my wife!' We took him away from the scene immediately." The road they were traveling had previously included a roadblock aimed at preventing just this type of attack. However, that roadblock, along with 18 others, had been removed after demands made by the Barack Obama administration. George Mitchell, Special Middle East Envoy for the Obama White House specifically requested that Israel remove the roadblocks and checkpoints as a confidence building gesture to restart talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA/PLO), Israeli officials said. While the roadblocks and checkpoints do impede Arab movement ? a price the Arabs must pay for having terrorists as their leaders ? they have been credited with stopping scores of attacks. Previously, Israel had agreed in 2008 to former US President George W. Bush's demands to remove 61 roadblocks in Judea and Samaria. However, only 44 had been removed at the time. Later, following the same path as Bush and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Obama once again renewed the demand to remove the road blocks, which Israel began doing once again, despite advice from the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to the contrary. As Hamas claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack, thousands of citizens of Gaza joined in rallies in Gaza to celebrate the murders. Celebrations were also held in the UNRWA-run (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) Jabalya "refugee" camp in Gaza. Photos taken by Reuters and the Associated Press show Arab men, women and children waving Hamas flags, flashing "victory" signs and passing out candies to commemorate the murders. Pictures of the celebrations can be seen online. (Scroll down to see the photos.)

In another attack, an Israeli couple driving from Jerusalem to their home in the Jordan Valley region on Wednesday evening were the victims of a second Arab terrorist attack. Moshe Moreno, a teacher at a pre-military school in the Jewish town of Ma'aleh Ephraim, said he and his wife were driving on an empty road when suddenly another car started following them very closely. The second car turned on its bright lights and tailed Moreno. He tried to make signs that the other driver should pass, but the second car continued to tail and harass Moreno for some miles. Finally, the second car began to pass Moreno, but as it pulled alongside his vehicle, the occupants of the other car opened fire. Police later said that nine bullet holes were found in Moreno's driver-side door. However, only one hit Moreno in the leg, causing a moderate injury from which he is now fully recovering. After the initial burst of fire, Moreno pulled his car over and began to frantically unbuckle himself and his wife. But the terrorists also pulled over, and one approached Moreno's car to finish the job. But, miraculously, the terrorist's gun jammed, giving Moshe and his wife enough time to jump out the other side of the car and dive down a small hill next to the road. From their hiding place, the couple called the army and were rescued. The terrorists managed to flee the scene back into PA/PLO-controlled areas.

On Thursday, a 12-year-old Israeli girl was moderately wounded by rocks hurled at the vehicle she was traveling in, near the community of Revava, southeast of Qalqilya. IDF soldiers searched the area for suspects.

These terror attacks clearly show that the US-trained, Western-armed PA/PLO 'security force' is not able to do its job. It was not able to fight against Hamas in Gaza, and now its proven that it cannot even keep its road safe for Israeli citizens to travel on. In fact, in its report about the murder of the four Israelis, the PA/PLO referred to it as a "military operation" on its English language Web site. The official PA/PLO news agency WAFA reported that Arab leaders "condemned" what it called "the operation" because the PLO and the PA opposed "any acts against Palestinian [sic] or Israeli civilians." In essence, Arab leaders issued a limited and conditional warranty on the so-called peace process by issuing a limited official report that was billed as a condemnation, when it really was not a condemnation. The reports by the official PA/PLO news agency in Arabic and English, were more interesting for what they did not include: neither PA/PLO Prime Minister Sala'am Fayyad in Ram'Allah nor PA/PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Washington labeled the attack as either "terror" or "an attack", preferring instead to use the term "operation"; and neither statement condemned the perpetrators by name or as terrorists, but only said that the "operation" was "against Palestinian interests." The Voice Of Palestine radio station, meanwhile, also controlled by the PA/PLO, repeatedly referred to the four Israeli murder victims as "settlers from settlements built on Arab land." Abbas, who is considered a "moderate," is very hesitant to condemn Hamas directly for shooting at Israelis, and five years ago made a public statement in which he called on Hamas to unite with his Fatah organization, saying, "let our rifles, all our rifles be aimed at the occupation (i.e. Israel)".

In addition to the removal of several roadblocks and checkpoints, Israel has in recent days begun removing the defensive concrete wall it built in 2002 to protect residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo from Arab snipers shooting at (and sometimes killing) them from the adjoining Arab-occupied town of Beit Jala (a suburb of Beit Lechem). Cranes lifted the two-meter (6.5 feet) high slabs, each weighing two-and-a-half tons, and placed them on trucks to be driven to an army warehouse and storage depot. The IDF believes the 3-meter (10 foot) high barrier is no longer necessary since they have restored calm, confiscated weapons and arrested terrorists operating from Beit Jala. Growing prosperity on both sides of the wall and increased security cooperation has made terrorist attacks there almost non-existent in recent years. However, the decision has been criticized by some in Israel as premature. The IDF said that the cement panels are being placed in storage and can be reassembled if needed. [Gina Miller/Dakota Voice, WND, Israel Today, IDF Spokesperson, Tom Gross Media]

Talks Result in More Meetings

Meeting in Washington, DC last week, Israeli and Arab leaders agreed to a series of direct talks, seeking to forge the framework for a US-backed peace deal within a year. Despite widespread skepticism about the chances of this latest attempt to bring peace to the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA/PLO President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to meet again on September 14-15 with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also present. Diplomats said that meeting will take place in Egypt, which with Jordan is a key Arab backer of the current peace push. The two sides agreed to meet every two weeks thereafter, US Special Middle East Envoy George Mitchell said. The agreement to continue talks marked a small step forward, although a dispute over Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria could halt progress in its tracks. Both Netanyahu and Abbas have said they want a "two-state solution." US President Barack Obama has set a goal of striking a deal within 12 months to carve an independent Arab state out of the heartland of Israel.

Meanwhile, Danny Dayan, head of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, also traveled to Washington. He told Ha'aretz he was there in order to speak to the media and make the case against an Arab state, and to monitor the situation and initiate quick decisions if necessary. "The Palestinian Authority leadership is fully party to the murder [of four Jews from Beit Haggai on Tuesday night]," Dayan said, "and is not a partner for peace. They continue the incitement, continue to praise vile terrorists. Even the condemnation issued by the Palestinian Authority after the terrorist attack was completely propagandist and did not contain a single word of grief... For the last hundred years, terrorism has been the Palestinians' [sic] strategy... Abu Mazen, demonstratively, visited the grave of the female terrorist from the deadly attack on the bus on the coastal road. He named a square in Ram'Allah after her... The Palestinian youths learn from this what to believe in and how to act, much more than they do from the mere participation of the Palestinian leadership in the direct talks with Israel." He said there is no essential difference between Hamas and Fatah: "The different factions play the roles of the good cop and the bad cop. But they all share the same worldview. There are organizations that call for efforts in two stages: first establish a Palestinian state and then eliminate Israel, and there are others that argue that this has to be done in one fell swoop." [Reuters, Arutz Sheva]

Netanyahu Tells Clinton Building Freeze Will End

In a meeting Wednesday with US Secretary of State Clinton, PM Netanyahu said there was "no change to the cabinet decision to end" the freeze. He and Clinton spoke in prior to Netanyahu's meeting with Obama. "It is impossible to take the issue of settlements in Judea and Samaria, which is an issue for the permanent agreement and deal with it separately at the beginning of the direct talks," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by AFP. Israel has made no demands of the PA/PLO, he said. "We came here to find a real solution without preconditions," he stated. PA/PLO leaders have demanded that Israel cease all construction for Jews in Judea, Samaria and in the eastern section of Jerusalem. If Israel allows Jews to build in those areas the PA/PLO has stated they will drop out of the talks. The 10-month construction freeze is scheduled to end on September 26. PA/PLO spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Arabs "expect the international community to succeed in convincing Israel to stop the expansion of settlements. If the 'peace process' does not stop expansion of settlements, then, just as in all previous experiences, the settlement activities will kill the 'peace process'."

The Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that it would resume construction immediately, prior to the end of the freeze, in response to the terrorist shooting on Tuesday. Construction began on three new buildings at three different locations Wednesday evening, and another one was begun on Thursday. Concrete was poured for a new neighborhood's first building in Kiryat Arba, a sports hall was begun in Adam, just north of Jerusalem, and a kindergarten in Kedumim in central Samaria. Some 200-300 people took part in each. Construction on a private home in Beit Haggai, where the four victims of Tuesday's terrorist attack lived began on Thursday. Kiryat Arba's Chief Rabbi Dov Lior placed the first shovelfuls of cement in the Kiryat Arba building. "It is a pleasure to be here," he told the assembled, "amidst a healthy, vibrant public, healthy in spirit and mind. Despite the difficulties and suffering that we are undergoing, you are filled with faith, and you continue to build and take root.... Peace and security will not be achieved by giving in to these murderers and thieves. Rav Kook wrote around World War One that there cannot be peace in the world until the stolen land of Israel is returned to the Jewish people...." The Yesha Council explained in a statement why it is resuming construction now: "The terrorists identify our willingness to give in and make concessions, and this gives them a supportive tail-wind for their acts of murder. Every time there is a diplomatic summit of this sort, they wake up... Immediately upon learning of the murderous attack, we announced that it was not designed to thwart the peace talks, as was widely stated, but was rather a direct result of the talks. We called on the Prime Minister to return to Israel, and not take part in sham ceremonies with those who sent the murderers while their victims were being buried... He did not do so, and we then announced that the construction freeze is officially over and that construction would resume within hours.... Over the course of 120 years of Zionism, the yishuv [Jewish populace in the Land of Israel] always knew how to recover from such attacks; the Zionist answer is to build. They shoot and we build; everyone does what he believes in. [Arutz Sheva, Bloomberg]

Media Backtracks on Misrepresentation of Gaza, Judea and Samaria

In an effort to make it seem as if they weren't telling the truth when they uncritically carried statements like those from former US President Jimmy Carter, who said in 2009 that "the people in Gaza, who are literally starving" and in 2008 that Gazans are being "starved to death", all of a sudden the international media are trying to suggest that they had never been implying to readers and viewers that Gazans were suffering mass hunger of some kind. CNN's Middle East business correspondent, recently reporting from Gaza, admitted that "Gazan shops have always been well-stocked even in the worst days of unrest here." A Time magazine's reporter recently admitted that: "Gaza's residents will concede that there is no hunger crisis in the Strip. Residents do love the beach, and the store shelves are stocked. But if you're focused on starvation, they say, you're probably missing the point." Yet in 2008, Time magazine clearly wrote, "Please spare a thought for the starving Palestinians of Gaza. There are 1.5 million of them, most of them living hand to mouth." And New York Times correspondent Ethan Bronner has continually wrote of the "severe humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, but now, in a new article about the Gaza mall, he writes that "the poverty of Gaza is often misconstrued, willfully or inadvertently ... The despair here is not that of Haiti or Somalia ... The flotilla movement is not about material aid; it is about Palestinian freedom and defiance." Yet on at least 15 occasions the New York Times described the ships trying to sail to Gaza as "aid ships." Even the local citizens don't see the poverty as it has been portrayed in the media: "Gaza is not poor in the way outsiders think," said Nida Wishah, a 22-year-old information technology student who was at the [Gaza] mall one recent afternoon. "You can't compare our poverty with that of Africa." As Middle East analyst Tom Gross points out, "Obviously, there are many poor areas of Gaza too. There are also plenty of slums in Paris (and London and Rome and New York), but the media tend to focus their pictures on the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysee instead. Not so in Gaza where many journalists (who in private conversation, even more than in public, constantly disparage Israel) are doing their best to paint a distorted picture of the economic situation there, showing off the worst possible aspects ? and using words like 'devastated economy' (BBC) and 'dire humanitarian situation' (Sky News) ? in order to mislead everyone from the common reader right up to politicians such as British Prime Minister David Cameron into thinking conditions in Gaza resemble some kind of prison camp."

Things are also not as bad in the Arab-occupied areas of Judea and Samaria as the media has tried to male the world think it is. The New York Times recently reported that "movie theaters are opening and public parks are packed with families late into the summer nights". "I've never seen Nablus [Shechem] so alive," it quotes one local as saying. Gross also reports that while the mainstream media is reporting that the living conditions of Arabs in Judea and Samaria and deplorable, "nothing could be further from the truth. I had spent that day in the West Bank's largest city, Nablus. The city is bursting with energy, life and signs of prosperity, in a way I have not previously seen in many years of covering the region.... Wandering around downtown Nablus the shops and restaurants I saw were full. There were plenty of expensive cars on the streets. Indeed I counted considerably more BMWs and Mercedes than I've seen, for example, in downtown Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. And perhaps most importantly of all, we had driven from Jerusalem to Nablus without going through any Israeli checkpoints.... The shops and restaurants were also full when I visited [Arab-occupied] Hebron recently, and I was surprised to see villas comparable in size to those on the Cote d'Azur or Bel Air had sprung up on the hills around the city.... The official PLO WAFA news agency reported last week that the 3rd quarter of 2009 witnessed near-record tourism in the Palestinian Authority, with 135,939 overnight hotel stays in 89 hotels that are now open. Almost half the guests come from the U.S or Europe. [The local Arab economy has grown] an impressive 7% according to the IMF, though Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad, himself a former World Bank and IMF employee, says it is in fact 11%, partly helped along by strong economic performances in neighboring Israel."

In the PA/PLO capital city of Ram'Allah there are fancy restaurants, five-star hotels, glitzy bars, discotheques, luxury apartments and scores of new construction sites. Luxury apartments are on sale in most parts of the city. A three-room apartment in a new building was sold last week for $160,000. Three years ago, the same apartment would have been sold for half the price. Tareq Abu Shousheh, a carpenter from Jerusalem, said he bought a new apartment in the Al-Masyoun neighborhood last month. "I paid only $140,000 for a wonderful apartment," he said. "In Jerusalem I couldn't even find a smaller apartment that cost less than that. It's impossible to find a small apartment in an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem for less than $300,000." Abu Shousheh said many of his friends were now considering following suit and purchasing new homes in Ram'Allah or other Arab-occupied cities such as Jericho and Beit Lechem. The famous Nazareth-based Mahroum Oriental Sweets recently opened a branch in the city, offering yet more traditional Middle Eastern pastries, fragrant with honey, pistachio paste, almonds and spices. Sources in the Ram'Allah Municipality revealed that more than 100 Arab from Jerusalem have relocated their businesses to Ram'Allah in the past few months. "Here they pay less taxes and have more customers," the sources said. "East Jerusalem goes to sleep at sunset and the streets are completely deserted. East Jerusalem has become a ghost town, especially when you compare it with Ram'Allah." The Orjuwan restaurant and nightclub attracts a diverse crowd - young and old, Arab and Israeli, visitors from the US and Europeans, as well as Christians, Muslims and even Jews. The Orjuwan Lounge is among dozens of fancy restaurants, bars and discotheques that have cropped up in Ram'Allah in the past three years, in addition to scores of construction sites that may be seen in almost every neighborhood of the city. Another popular site is the Tche Tche Cafe and Restaurant, which has become a favorite spot among Ram'Allah's young men and women. Tche Tche has at least 20 operational branches in the Middle East and is considered one of the leading chains of cafes and restaurants in the region. Five-star hotels and gourmet restaurants are popping up like mushrooms. Many residents are already excited about the new Swiss-run Mövenpick Hotel, which is expected to open shortly. The new hotel is located about three kilometers from the city center and has a spectacular view overlooking the suburbs of Jerusalem. The hotel has 172 rooms and suites, as well as Italian restaurants, swimming pools and a shopping center. But the five-star hotel, like many businesses, is situated not far from the Al-Ama'ri 'refugee' camp, home to thousands of disgruntled and unemployed Arabs, who have been kept in poverty by their own Arab leaders as a PR tool. Some residents of the 'refugee' camp expressed anger over the PA/PLO government's failure to improve their living conditions. "They are building all these nice and expensive restaurants and bars for the rich people," said Jamal Abu Kwaik, a local Fatah activist. "The Palestinian Authority has forgotten about the three 'refugee' camps in the Ram'Allah area. You will never see a 'refugee' eating or drinking in these places because we can't afford to go there." Representative offices that serve as embassies of many foreign countries already operate in Ram'Allah. The presence of the "embassies" in Ram'Allah has only reinforced the feeling that the city has indeed become the internationally recognized capital of 'Palestine'. Among the countries that have "ambassadors" and "representative offices" in the city are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Korea, South Africa, Norway, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, China, Poland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Russia, Jordan, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, India, Japan, the Czech Republic, Canada and Mexico. "Whether we like it or not, Ram'Allah has become the real capital of 'Palestine'," said Munir Hamdan, a local businessman and Fatah operative [i.e., terrorist]. "The president and prime minister have their offices here. So do the parliament and all the government ministries." "I have to be honest with you and tell you that we have lost the battle for Jerusalem," Abdel Kader lamented. "One of the reasons is because the Palestinian government doesn't really care about Jerusalem." [Tom Gross Media, New York Times, Elder of Ziyon, Jerusalem Post]

As Humanitarian Organizations Continue Support of Hamas, Aid Continues to Pour in

In trying to find out why Hamas has failed to conduct investigations into massive violations of human rights during the 2009 Gaza war, Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher Fred Abrahams blames the "campaign waged by countries like the United States and Israel to deny the group legitimacy." As Abrahams told the Forward, "In its stance towards Hamas, the UN is pursuing the policies of Western states. But it puts them in a less forceful position to demand accountability from them." In other words, states the NGO Monitor Blog, in HRW's make-believe world, Hamas, which has no qualms about blatantly violating the rights of residents in Gaza or murdering citizens of the "enemy" Israel, would immediately punish the perpetrators of rocket and suicide attacks against Israelis, if only the US, Israel and the UN would grant recognition. HRW's patronizing policy towards terror groups, which excuses them from conforming to universal moral norms, is particularly strong in the Middle East and North Africa division. As shown in NGO Monitor's systematic analysis, this division, led by Sarah Leah Whitson and Joe Stork, displays a consistent bias that is antithetical to human rights.

The government of Japan, meanwhile, has announced a donation of 600 million Japanese yen ($6.88 million) towards food aid as part of UNRWA's social safety net program for 2010 and 2011. The program provides food aid and cash subsidies to more than a quarter of a million people in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The Japanese contribution will help UNRWA provide vulnerable 'refugees' with food including wheat flour and pulses. Families benefiting from the social safety net receive food packages every three months, including sugar, rice, oil and milk powder. [To readers in the United States: remember these facts and ask your Senators and Congressmen about them as they run for office this November. The United Nations has two refugee organizations: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Why have the non-existent 'Palestinian' people been singled out from all the refugees in the world? And why does the UN not recognize Jewish refugees who were driven from their homes in Arab countries when the Arab attacked Israel in 1948? It was that Arab leaders told their people to leave Israel ? Israel did not drive them out; rather it protected those who remained ? until they defeated the Jews, which, of course, did not happen, and they have since refused to absorb them into their own countries, as Israel did the Jews, choosing instead to leave them in 'refugee' camps. The UNRWA is also known to work with the Hamas terrorist organization, providing shelter and other support.?ed] [NGO Monitor, UNRWA Public Information]

Egypt Seizes Weapons Bound For Gaza

Egyptian police raided a number of arms depots in the Sinai Peninsula last weekend, seizing weapons caches including 190 fully assembled anti-aircraft missiles and rockets in addition to explosives and ammunition. One cache containing 100 anti-aircraft missiles was uncovered in Al-Hasana, and another, containing 90 of the missiles, was discovered in Ad-Daq'qaq. A third cache, holding 1,500 bullets of various sizes, was found in Nakhl, Ma'an reported. The news agency added that several additional secret depots were raided in the city of Rafah, some 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the border with Gaza, where ten anti-tank mines were seized. Drugs were also seized in the raids. 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of hashish were taken, and several suspected drug dealers detained. Besides the anti-aircraft weapons, huge anti-tank mines were also confiscated.

Egyptian security forces have also reportedly destroyed a dozen smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip. According to the report, the Egyptians had coordinated the demolition of the tunnels with the Arabs so that no one would be caught inside them during the process. The tunnels have lost a lot of their clout and significance since Israel eased up on the blockade last month following the maritime flotilla incident. [The Media Line, Ha'aretz, Ma'an]

Evidently You Can Teach Too Much of the Holocaust

A Jewish history teacher in France has been suspended from for spending too much time teaching her pupils about the Holocaust and for organizing trips to former Nazi death camps. A lawyer acting for Catherine Pederzoli, a 58-year-old secondary teacher in the eastern town of Nancy, said her client had been accused by administrators of teaching the World War II massacres with insufficient "neutrality". "If this teacher had been a Christian, no-one would have accused her of brain-washing," alleged lawyer Christine Tadic. "Isn't it the case that this teacher's fault is to have been Jewish?" Nancy local education authorities were not immediately available to respond to the charge, but a report compiled by school inspectors revealed that they did have concerns over Pederzoli's teaching of the Holocaust. The report, compiled last month, alleged the teacher took up too much time preparing pupils for annual school trips to Poland and the Czech Republic to visit sites like the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. A copy of the report, seen by AFP, accuses Pederzoli of "lacking distance, neutrality and secularism" in teaching the Holocaust and of manipulating her charges through a process of "brain-washing". In December some of the teacher's pupils staged a protest during a visit to the Henri-Loritz High School by Education Minister Luc Chatel, complaining that the number of places on the Holocaust field trips had been reduced. Tadic said that her client had organized the trips without facing any complaints for 15 years before she found herself unfairly targeted by a new school management team that arrived in 2007. The lawyer lodged a complaint on Tuesday seeking a court injunction to annul the suspension. Judges have two weeks to make a ruling.

Meanwhile, in the wake of California legislation requiring companies to disclose their activities during the Holocaust, the head of France's national railroad said lawmakers were welcome to review its archives. France's national railroad, known by the acronym SNCF, carried French Jews to Nazi concentration camps. Railroad chief Guillaume Pepe on Sunday told Radio France Internationale that the archives, which have been open for 20 years, are available to US lawmakers, UPI reported. The California Legislature last week passed The Holocaust Survivor Responsibility Act, which would require bidders to disclose their involvement in transporting victims to concentration camps during World War II. The measure requires the California High-Speed Rail Authority to consider that fact in its deliberation of contract awards. The legislation is awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature. SNCF is seeking part of a $43 billion project to build a high-speed rail line between Sacramento and San Diego. A Japanese firm that used American POWs for slave labor during WW II, leading to the deaths of more than 1,000 US POWs, also is vying for a piece of the project. The Simon Wiesenthal Center applauded the passage of the California legislation. [AFP, JTA]

Shamar Jewish News