The handiwork of Israel's 'peace partners' - and your Jizya tax £$¥€ - at work

Their mothers must be so proud. Another ‘give ‘em a state’ moment from those adorable ‘Palestinians’:

JERUSALEM – Palestinian gunmen opened fire Tuesday on an Israeli car in the West Bank and killed four passengers on the eve of a new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington. The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility.

Assailants firing from a passing car riddled the vehicle with bullets as it traveled near Hebron — a volatile city that has been a flash point of violence in the past. Some 500 ultranationalist Jewish settlers live in heavily fortified enclaves in the city amid more than 100,000 Palestinians.

One of the victims was pregnant, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Israel’s national rescue service said the victims were two men and two women, and Israeli media said everyone in the car was killed.

Video broadcast live on Israel TV late Tuesday showed a white Subaru station wagon standing at an angle at the side of a road, its windows shot out and its doors dotted with bullet holes. The car was flanked by army and police vehicles and dozens of soldiers.

The attackers fled and Israeli forces set up roadblocks and carried out searches to try to catch them.
About 3,000 people joined a rally in Gaza to celebrate the attack. Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida was among them and told The Associated Press: “The Qassam Brigades announces its full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron.”

Upon arriving in Washington for this week’s talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and said “terror will not determine Israel’s borders or the future of the settlements.” Borders and the fate of Jewish settlements on land Palestinians want for a future state are key issues in the negotiations.

President Barack Obama hopes to forge a peace agreement within one year.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was already in Washington meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton when the attack took place.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s office issued a statement charging the attack was aimed at undermining his government’s effort to build international support for “the Palestinian position and ending the (Israeli) occupation.”

Hamas, a fierce rival of the Western-backed Palestinian president, expelled Abbas’ forces from Gaza in 2007 and took over the territory. Abbas has been trying to limit the Islamic militants’ reach in the West Bank, jailing activists and even cracking down on mosque preachers.

Hamas, responsible for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, is considered a terrorist group by the U.S., Israel and European Union.

Asked about the shooting, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. is aware “there are those who will do whatever they can to disrupt or derail the process.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised a tough response to an attack he said was aimed at sabotaging the talks.

“Israel will not allow terrorists to raise their heads and will exact a price from the murderers and those who send them,” he said in a statement. U.N. envoy Robert Serry issued a statement condemning the attack and urging all parties “not to allow the enemies of peace to affect the negotiations about to be launched.”

There is widespread opposition to the resumption of the peace talks among Palestinians. Hamas opposes any contact with Israel and has harshly criticized Abbas for agreeing to resume the negotiations.

Opposition to resuming talks is also coming from within the Palestine Liberation Organization, an umbrella group headed by Abbas. Some Fatah activists threaten to try to depose him if he makes concessions, and several hard-line PLO groups plan a demonstration in the West Bank administrative capital of Ramallah on Wednesday to protest resumption of negotiations.

Netanyahu also faces some domestic opposition from elements of his hard-line coalition of religious and nationalist parties. He has said that protecting Israel’s security interests will be his top priority in the talks.
Heading into a meeting with Clinton, Netanyahu said in the statement he would tell her, “This criminal murder proves again the need to stand firmly on Israel’s stringent security demands, and there will be no compromise on them.”

The attack disrupted a relative lull in the West Bank. The last fatal attack occurred in June, when Palestinians opened fire on a police vehicle near Hebron and killed one officer.

It was the deadliest Palestinian attack against Israelis since March 2008, when a lone assailant gunned down eight students in a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary.

A previous U.S. launching of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks was also accompanied by deadly violence. Palestinian gunmen shot and killed an Israeli in the West Bank before then-President George W. Bush convened Israeli and Palestinian leaders for a summit in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007. The gunmen said the attack was “an act of protest against the Annapolis conference.”

Talking to reporters on his plane heading for Washington, Abbas called for decisive American involvement in the talks.

He said that if the two sides reach a deadlock, the Obama administration should “present bridging proposals to bridge the gap between the two positions.” In one major challenge to the first direct talks between the sides in two years, Abbas warned it would be difficult to continue negotiating if Israel fails to extend a 10-month curb on West Bank settlement construction that ends in late September. Netanyahu has not made a final decision.

One of the non-negotiable preconditions for any ‘Palestinian’ state settlement is that Israel has the right to live in peace, with secure borders. Yet one of Israel’s supposed ‘peace partners’ actually claimed responsibility for this brutal, depraved act of carnage.

They live in a dream world.

A purely peaceful activist (you understand), onboard the IHH Mavi Marmara - though not the one named in this article

According to the report, Erdinç Tekir, who was wounded during the fighting which occurred after the IDF raided the Mavi Marmara on May 31, participated in a terrorist attack on a Russian ferry in the Black Sea in 1996.

The purpose of the attack was to bargain for the release of Chechen prisoners in Russia, and as far as is known, it was carried out by an armed group of Abkhazian/Caucasian radical Islamists, which were supported by Turkish Islamists.

Tekir recently admitted during an interview he gave to the Islamic website Dünya Bülteni, that he had participated in the terrorist attack to bargain for the release prisoners as part of his activity to promote the Chechen-Abkhazian cause, this according to a report published by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

During the same interview, Tekir said that he had been an IHH volunteer for about ten years, and that he had been introduced to the organization by friends after his release from a Turkish prison. However, he said he became close to the organization when he participated in hijacking the ferry. Tekir also said that he “struggled hard” to become a passenger on the Mavi Marmara because he wanted to make a contribution. He falsely claimed that the ship was not carrying terrorists but volunteers and activists, and that the IDF soldiers boarded the ship from the sea and air while shooting live ammunition.

The IDF raided the Mavi Marmara on May 31, after it had attempted to break a naval blockade being imposed on the Gaza Strip, claiming it was bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. As the IDF commandos descended onto the deck of the ship by rope, they were assaulted by the activisits on the ship who were using metal clubs and knives. The activists snatched two pistols from the commandos and at them with them. Nine people were killed in the raid, most of them from Turkey, where the radical IHH group organized the flotilla.

It was later determined that there were no humanitarian supplies on the Marmara.

The report on Tekir is the first proof of the presence of a Turk with a terrorist past among the IHH operatives on board the Mavi Marmara. While there is no information indicating that the IHH was involved in the hijacking of the Russian ferry in 1996, Tekir admitted to the Islamic website that he became closer to IHH while he was active in the Abkhazian-Chechen cause.

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center added that its examination has shown that Tekir’s name appears on the list of names of those wounded on the Mavi Marmara, and also on the list of the hijackers of the Avrasya (the Russian ferry), a list appearing in a Wikipedia article on the attack.

This blog has been instrumental in exposing the Turkish terror-supporters of the Erdogan government-backed IHH, a supposed ‘humanitarian charity’, so we welcome this report from as further proof of what really lies behind them – and much of the so-called ‘Free Gaza’ movement.

The astounding lack of critical analysis from the media has meant that in the minds of most casual observers the people participating in these ‘flotillas’ are merely concerned, possibly slightly eccentric humanitarians, who wish nothing more than to make a stand about their perceived mistreatment of the ‘Palestinians’ by the Israelis; when in fact many are far-left radicals and hardline Islamists, who seek to delegitimise and terrorise the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

[Source: INN]

The Islamist 'flotilla' vessel, Miriam, has been prohibited form departing via Greece or Cyprus

One of two Lebanese ships due to sail to Gaza in order to break Israel’s naval blockade postponed its departure again on Sunday, amid assessments in Jerusalem that there was now only a “low probability” that it would indeed depart.

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said Sunday that both Cyprus and Greece had been “forthcoming” in keeping the cargo ship, the Bolivian-flagged Mariam, from setting sail from one of their ports.

AFP reported that Samar al-Hajj, one of the organizers of the new anti-blockade effort, told a news conference in Tripoli that the “trip has not been canceled but delayed.”

The organizers were still waiting for permission to use a third country as a transit point from which it could set sail for Gaza. Since Lebanon is officially at war with Israel, it is against Lebanese law for ships to sail from there directly to the Jewish state. For that reason, the organizers are looking for a third country that will allow it to use of one of its ports. So far, Greece and Cyprus have refused.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened a meeting on Sunday of his senior ministers, the forum known as the septet, to discuss the matter. Government sources said after the meeting that while Israel was “making all the preparations” to deal with the ship if it did indeed set sail, the feeling was that there was now only a low likelihood that this would take place.

Israel has linked the organizers, who have been talking about setting sail for Gaza since early June with some 50 women, a number of journalists and “humanitarian aid,” to Hizbullah.

Jerusalem has been working intensely behind the scenes to get the international community to place pressure on Lebanon and a number of third countries to prevent the ship from setting sail.

Time to stop this racket now – the game’s up.

When Muslims stop the terror, the rockets and the blind Jew-hatred, Israel will stop retaliating – it really is as simple as that.

[Source: Jerusalem Post]

RoP peace activists prepare for meaningful dialogue with Israel

Israel Air Force fighter pilots destroyed a variety of carefully selected terrorist targets in Gaza overnight in retaliation for a spate of terror attacks on Jewish communities in the western Negev, including two mortars fired at Israel from the region earlier in the day, and two Kassam rockets fired Monday.

Two IDF soldiers were wounded in Tuesday morning’s mortar fire while troops carried out engineering tasks along the Gaza security fence. The Salah ad-Din Brigades military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorist group subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack.

Full story at INN

Anyone doubting the fact that that Israel takes the peace initiative in the ‘West Bank’ (more correctly Judea & Samaria), should take a look at the video above.

Anyone doubting that the Palestinian Authority leaders who contol the area take the initiative in the inculcation of their children into terrorism, hatred of Israelis and, ultimately, the annihilation of the Jewish state; should watch the video below:

Feel comfortable knowing your money is going to help young Palestinian kids under the auspices of the UN? Think again

The Palestinian Authority continues to incite young schoolchildren to armed struggle against Israel in its textbooks – textbooks that are used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to teach incitement in Israel’s capital city, says investigative reporter David Bedein, who spoke in an interview with Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew-language news service.

The books in question include passages praising terrorists killed while attacking Israel as “martyrs”. They also teach children that Arabs descended from those who fled Israel during the War of Independence have a right to “return” to Israel.

Bedein’s finding that the textbooks in Arab schools in Jerusalem are as problematic as those used in PA schools elsewhere is backed by a frank interview with PA Minister of Education Lamis al-Alami, who spoke with a member of Bedein’s investigative team and told her that the textbooks provided by the PA for UNRWA schools are the precisely the same in Jerusalem as in Ramallah, Shechem and Gaza.

“These books discuss war against Israel, martyrs, the right of return. It’s the first education system since the Third Reich which prepares its pupils to demonize Jews and to wage war against the Jews ” Bedein said.

He invited listeners to verify his story for themselves, saying, “Go to book stores on Salah a-Din street [a major road in eastern Jerusalem - ed.] and compare the books you see there to those sold in Ramallah and Gaza. It’s the same thing, books engaged in racist incitement against the Jewish people.”

Arab schools in Jerusalem receive funding from the Jerusalem municipality. UNRWA schools in Jerusalem and elsewhere receive much of their funding from 38 nations, primarily from the United States and the European Union. Two UNRWA facilities are located inside Jerusalem – in the neighborhoods of Shuafat and Kalandia.

Bedein first raised the issue of incitement in Jerusalem schools 10 years ago. Among those he spoke to was former prime minister Ehud Olmert, then mayor of Jerusalem, who responded at a news conference to Bedein’s question with little concern. “They can teach what they want, and we’ll teach what we want,” Olmert said about incitement in the PA school books being used by Arab schools with funding from the Jerusalem municipality and the Israel Ministry of Education.

Bedein expressed hope that current Israeli leaders will now eact differently. Three officials have the power to change the situation, he said – Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Education Minister Gidon Saar and Education Committee head Zevulun Orlev.

A new film, “For the Sake of Nakba” [see Washington Times review here - Ed.], details the connection between the UNRWA and PA incitement. Bedein and the research agency that he heads, the Center For Near East Policy Research, www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com, produced the new movie in response to a challenge to prove the reports of incitement in UNRWA schools. The video was recently screened on Capitol Hill. It is based on first-hand testimony from PA leaders and teachers and students in UN schools. It will also be shown at the Orthodox Union’s Israel Center in Jerusalem Tuesday August 10th at 11:30 a.m., followed by “For the Sake of Allah”, Bedein’s film about what Hamas prisoners say they would do if released.

As we’ve pointed out before, the United Nations has proven time and again its incompetence in ‘Palestine’. Charged via UNWRA with providing schools, they have allowed them to become Hamas and PA fiefdoms, where funds are diverted to terror causes and Islamic jihad is taught to pupils as a matter of routine.

The UN is incompetent and its responsibility for the use of our money in this way should be taken from them. Islamic Jihad is being fomented, children are being inculcated in Jihad and your money is being stolen in order to pay for it.

[Source: Virtual Jerusalem/INN]

Those ‘humanitarian-crisis’ Palestinians once again strike at Israel with deadly missiles – this time managing to hit a hydrotherapy centre for disabled kids. Once again, the world ignores it – it doesn’t quite chime with the mainstream media’s narrative of the ‘oppressed Palestinians’ and ‘prison camp’ Gaza, you understand.

The article below – for the Jerusalem Post ‘First Person’ series, illustrates the what is really happening on the ground – Hamas are firing larger, longer-range and more deadly rockets into Israeli towns as fast as Iran can send the components. The piece also reveals just why the Israelis have been so careful to allow only certain materials into the strip:

On any other day, the facility on the Sapir campus would have been packed with kids, and the losses would have been devastating.

The child hydrotherapy rehabilitation center adjoining Sderot’s Sapir Academic College provides therapy and workshops for specialneeds children who live in the western Negev and is used by children from the entire country.

On Saturday night, an upgraded Qassam rocket scored a direct hit on the ceiling of the center.

The Qassam hit not far from where Sapir student Roni Yechiah was killed on February 27, 2008. The attack followed the explosion of a Iranian Grad missile that hit the city of Ashkelon on Friday morning.

We are approaching a total of 400 rocket attacks launched from Gaza since the cease-fire that halted Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in January 2009.

Palestinians from Hamas controlled Gaza have targeted Ashkelon, with a population of 125,000 Israelis, since March 2008.

A film crew from our Sderot Media Center arrived a few hours after Saturday’s attack, where an IDF Home Front Command officer was assessing the damage.

As the crew filmed, a childcare worker arrived at the destroyed office. She was overwhelmed by the devastation.

She walked through the rubble that had been her office and, looking through the mess, she picked up a photo of her two children that had been hanging on the wall.

Had the rocket struck on any other day, it would have been a catastrophe, killing and wounding the children at the center. During the week the center is open until 10 p.m. and is packed with hundreds of children and therapists.

Because there were no casualties the attack has not remained in the headlines for very long. In the eyes of the media and the public, again, because there were no causalities, it was of little importance. The incident came at the height of summer vacation, when weather reports on the expected high temperatures across the nation take precedence over the lethal missiles raining down on southern Israel.

But had there been children at this rehabilitation center during the Kassam strike, and had lives been lost, the IDF might have had no choice but to reenter Gaza, and we might then have witnessed the firing of thousands of upgraded missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

Israeli intelligence confirms that Hamas has assembled an arsenal of thousands of missiles including many with a range of 40 kilometers.

Yet until there is a human catastrophe that would seemingly justify an appropriate military response, Israel continues to supply the Hamas regime in Gaza with humanitarian aid, as well as the bills and coins it needs to maintain its enterprise.

It is common knowledge that everyday items such as fertilizer are used to manufacture fuel for Kassam rockets.

Cement intended for civilian reconstruction is instead used to build and reinforce bunkers and tunnels.

Metal intended for water pipes and streetlight poles ends up in the rocketmanufacturing facilities managed by Hamas.

Furthermore, Israel provides Gaza with electricity, water and sewerage, and has built the power plants in Ashkelon that provide over 70 percent of Gaza’s electricity, which have been a favorite target of Palestinian terrorists.

Ignoring these facts about Hamas, the world holds Israel totally responsible for the Gazan population of 1.4 million.

Yet, five years ago, Israel withdrew its key military and civilian presence from Gaza, giving land for the hope of peace – something that no other democracy in modern history has done.

The writer, Noam Bedein is a photojournalist, lecturer and founder/director of Sderot Media Center. He has conducted briefings and tours for government officials, diplomats, foreign press, and students from around the world.

The atrocities committed by Hamas against the people of Israel don't matter to the mainstream media or the political élite - British Tories included

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes fired missiles at five targets across Gaza overnight, killing a senior commander of the Hamas military wing and wounding 11 people, the group and the military said Saturday.

The Israeli military said the strikes were in response to a powerful rocket fired from Gaza that hit the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on Friday. The attack caused damage but no injuries.

Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers said their slain member was Issa Batran, 42, a commander of the groups’ military wing in central Gaza and a senior rocket maker.

Batran had survived several previous Israeli attempts to kill him, but his wife and five of his children were killed during Israel’s three-week war in Gaza that ended in January 2009.

The cross-border violence came after weeks of relative calm and raised concerns of further escalation. A Hamas spokesman said the militant group would avenge Batran’s killing.

“Hamas will not be quiet over the blood of its martyrs,” said Hamad al-Rakabi. “Israel is opening all the gates of fire. This blood will cascade into rage and fire,” al-Rakabi said.

Hamas says eight of its supporters and three civilians were also wounded in the overnight airstrikes.
The targets hit by missiles included a Hamas military training camp in Gaza City, smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border and Batran’s shack on the outskirts of the Nusseirat refugee camp, Hamas security officials said.

The Islamic militants have been building crude rockets for the past decade, and have fired hundreds of them at Israeli border towns. However, the group has largely held its fire since Israel’s military offensive against Gaza ended 19 months ago.

There was no claim of responsibility for Friday’s rocket strike against Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 located 11 miles (18 kilometers) to the north of Gaza and a short drive from Israel’s main population center in Tel Aviv.

Since Israel’s military offensive, small renegade groups in Gaza have occasionally fired crude short-range rockets. However, in Friday’s attack, Ashkelon was hit by a military-grade Grad rocket.

Hamas has ruled Gaza since seizing power in 2007, wresting control from their Fatah rivals of the internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Video above shows a Grad rocket attack by Hamas against Israel. This video was flagged and reported as ‘inappropriate content’ by various leftards and jihadis when it was first posted on YouTube – presumably because it didn’t chime with their victimology-based narrative. You will see these are clearly not the small shoulder-launched rockets so often denounced by Hamas apologists as ‘barely more than fireworks’.