THE
ARAB/PALESTINIAN/ISLAMIC POINT OF VIEW. What they say, write, publish and
argue about.
___________________________________________________________________
TV Program
on the Culture of Martyrdom and Suicide Bombers on Al-Arabiya,
August 25, 2005. The following are excerpts from a show about the culture of
martyrdom, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV. Reporter: "The
martyrdom-seeking campaign by Hamas and Islamic Jihad may have come as a
response to the Hebron massacre, but the ideological basis of this campaign is
deeply rooted in Hamas' declaration of Jihad against Israel. "These films were
not intended to be broadcast. Hamas made them for internal use, and they
provide a rare perspective on the movement's efforts to teach its principles
to new recruits." Children singing: "Rejoice, oh Bitah, cheer in
merriment, oh Nujud, our occupied homeland will be restored through Jihad."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar."
Male voice on loudspeaker: "What is your goal?" Crowd: "Allah."
Male voice on loudspeaker: "What is your constitution?" Crowd:
"The Koran." Male voice on loudspeaker: "Who is your leader?" Crowd:
"The Prophet Muhammad." Male voice on loudspeaker: "What is your
path?" Crowd: "Jihad." Male voice on loudspeaker: "What is your
greatest desire?" Crowd: "Death for the sake of Allah." Reporter:
"If Jihad is the goal, the self-sacrifice operations against the Israelis were
the weapon chosen in the mid-nineties. In a series of operations, Hamas and
Islamic Jihad hit the major Israeli cities and caused the deaths of dozens.
This was part of the strategy."
Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: "These operations do not target civilians.
The Israeli society is a military society. It is well known that they have
militarized their society. All Israeli society, its men and its women..."
Reporter: "Hamas' strategy of targeting Israelis has gained the support
of must Muslim clerics, to the point that Sheik Al-Qaradhawi appeared on Al-Jazeera
TV and issued a fatwa permitting the killing of Israelis in these operations."
Sheik Al-Qaradhawi: "...as I said, when a brother blows himself up
today... The brother who blows himself up at the bus station, where all the
soldiers who come back are gathering... He does not intend to kill a child or
anything, but rather tries to kill people who are soldiers - either soldiers
on active duty or soldiers on reserve duty."
Reporter: "Indeed, prominent scholars have described suicide operations
for the sake of the homeland as martyrdom operations."
Sheik Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah: "The martyrdom operations are a part
of the war movement, since the issue of war differs from the issue of suicide.
Suicide is the killing of oneself for personal reasons. On the other hand, the
martyrdom operation means that a person dies for a greater cause."
Reporter: "The culture of Hizbullah is the culture of martyrdom, with
which it nurtures the minds of others. Every year, Hizbullah celebrates
Martyr's Day. On Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV we see actors playing the role of
scared Israelis and Americans who are banished from the Middle East."
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah: "These martyrdom
operations are the shortest way to Allah. They are the must exalted and
magnificent way of martyrdom in our generation. The martyrdom operation is the
weapon Allah gave this nation, and no one can take it from us. They can take
away our cannons, our tanks, and our planes, but they cannot take away our
spirit, which yearns for Allah and which is determined to achieve martyrdom."
Reporter: "Salah Ghandour a soldier in Hizbullah's martyrdom army..."
Maha Ghandour, Salah Ghandour's widow: "I met Salah in 1990 and we got
engaged seven months later. We were married in 1991, early 1991. Even in his
final days he stayed at home with us and told me: 'Say goodbye to me. I am
bidding this world farewell.' From when I just married him, I expected his
martyrdom at any minute. When we had three children I told him that he was
taking his time. I didn't expect to live with him for five years."
Interviewer: "Was it important to you that he worked for the
resistance?"
Maha Ghandour: "Of course. Of course. If we had not defended our land,
who would have liberated it? Unless women sacrificed their husbands and
brothers, this land would never have been liberated. Praise Allah, our
homeland was liberated by the blood of the martyrs and the efforts of the
mujahideen, some of which are fighting the Jihad to this day."
Reporter: "Hizbullah filmed Salah's operation and final message, and
the entire program was aired on Al-Manar TV, which belongs to Hizbullah."
Salah Ghandour's son: "This is the operation that daddy carried out.
This is the convoy that came from here, from Palestine. This is his
operation..."
Salah Ghandour's daughter: "This is the place of the operation in which
he was gone."
Salah Ghandour's son: "This is the car daddy blew up."
Maha Ghandour: "Of course I miss him and remember his words. Sometimes
it saddens me, but I love to watch him." Sources: Al-Manar TV, IMRA, MEMRI,
International Herald Daily News., Al-Arabiya
English
Speaking Al-Qaeda Terrorist: Oh People of the West.... It IsTime for Us to Be
Equals – As You Kill Us, You Will be Killed.
The following are excerpts
from an Al-Qaeda tape featuring a Western Al-Qaeda terrorist, which
aired on Al-Arabiya TV on August 9, 2005. Al-Arabiya claims he is
Irish.
Terrorist: Oh people of
the West, don't be fooled by the lies of Blair and Bush that you are free
nations, for the only freedom that you have is the freedom to be slaves of
your whims and desires. Your children are free to be deprived of their
childhood and their innocence. Your women are free to be used as tools of
business and entertainment, and all of you as a whole are the slaves of con
men and women who rule you. They are your real enemies. If you only knew –
they are the ones who drag your countries to the pit of America's group of
scavengers, who seek to ravage the entire globe for the interests of a handful
of gangsters and corporate companies. Democracy, human rights, and freedom are
all but hollow illusions, with which they tranquilize inhabitants of the human
farms which they control. The Muslim world is not your backyard. The Muslim
world is not Germany, Japan, or South America. The honorable sons and
daughters of Islam will not sit down, watching you spread your evil and
immorality and infidelity to our land. The honorable sons of Islam will not
just let you kill our families in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the
Balkans, Indonesia, the Caucuses, and elsewhere. It is time for us to be
equals – as you kill us, you will be killed, as you bomb us, you will be
bombed. Source: Memri.
Egyptian
Professor Abd Al-Sabour Shahin: Muslims Had Nothing to Do with 9/11 Attack on
the Empire State Building
The following are excerpts
from an interview with Egyptian professor Abd Al-Sabour Shahin, which
aired on Saudi Channel 1 on August 8, 2005.
Shahin: I believe a dirty
Zionist hand carried out this act. Zionism has taken the opportunity to
escalate the war in Palestine, killing hundreds of thousands so far, while we
watch from the sidelines in astonishment and ask: What's going on ?
Our enemies weave many lies
about us, which we are not necessarily aware of. For example: One day, we
awoke to the crime of 9/11, which hit the tallest buildings in New York, the
Empire State Building (sic). There is no doubt that not a single Arab
or Muslim had anything to do with these events. The incident was fabricated as
a pretext to attack Islam and Muslims. The plan was to take over the world's
energy sources, and to achieve this control by force and not by agreement or
negotiations, by interests, free trade, or anything like that. This is what
they wanted. So this incident was fabricated - and Allah knows that the Arabs
and Muslims are innocent of it - in order to serve as a pretext to attack
Islam and the Muslims. All of a sudden, after we were used to consider America
to be a rational and balanced country... All of a sudden, it violates
international conventions, cancels treaties, ignores the U.N., acts on its own
accord, attacks nations, kills innocent people, and claims it has the right to
do so - and all this is based on lies. These were lies from beginning to end,
and we were not used to lying - not in policy, not in our discourse, and not
in the media. Imagine what crisis the Arab and Islam nation finds itself in,
in the midst of these peculiar events, which we cannot explain or believe. All
of a sudden, we were framed for an international crime, on the basis of lies.
Source: Memri.
Hamas Radio: Jaffa is
the same as Gaza, Tel Aviv the same as Rafah.
An Interview with Hamas
Leader Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahar
"We do not and will not
recognize a state called Israel. "..."Israel
has no right to any inch of Palestinian land. This is an important issue. Our
position stems from our religious convictions. This is a holy land. It is not
the property of the Palestinians or the Arabs. This land is the property of
all Muslims in all parts of the world. We regard the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem,
and the West Bank as a geographical unit, as mentioned by resolutions 242 and
338, which have not been implemented. We are currently talking about this
area.".
The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar
that appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat on August 18, 2005.
The following are the excepts from the interview(1): What Next in Gaza
Q: "Will Hamas continue the resistance after the disengagement plan is
implemented?"
A: "Our plan is not to liberate the Gaza Strip, nor is it to liberate the West
Bank or to liberate Jerusalem. Our plan in the first stage is to liberate the
lands occupied in 1967. Those who view it as a strategic solution and those
who view it as an interim solution have agreed upon this plan. Therefore, we
will not take over the Gaza Strip and live there peacefully while the Zionist
enemy is detaining thousands of our sons and occupying the West Bank. The
resistance must move to the West Bank to expel the occupation."
Q: "Will the calming down [Tahdiah] end with the completion of the Israeli
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip?"
A: "The tahdiah is scheduled to finish at the end of 2005. It was contingent
on the release of the prisoners and stopping the attacks. Israel has not
abided by these conditions. Our goal was not to hit Israel for the sake of
hitting Israel , but to attack the occupation. I stress that the resistance
was what drove the occupation out of the Gaza Strip."
Q: "Will Hamas resume its operations in Israeli towns after the withdrawal?"
A: "Firstly, there are no Israeli towns. These are settlements. If the
aggression and occupation continue, the Palestinian people will have no
alternative but to defend themselves. The Palestinian people are not killing
the occupiers or being killed out of fun or madness. The life spent by our
generation in killing, imprisonment, and exile is not the life that we want
for our sons. We want them to live in security and peace and to live in a
homeland in which they are able to move and not to live as slaves of the
Israeli enemy."
Q: "In other words, the resistance of Hamas in the future will be in response
to Israeli actions."
A: "No, our position depends on two things: the withdrawal from the
Palestinian territories and the extent of the aggression against the
Palestinian people." Our Position Stems from Our Religious Convictions
Q: "You talk about attacks on the Palestinian territories as if you recognize
the existence of Israel."
A: "I strongly disagree with your statement. We do not and will not recognize
a state called Israel. Israel has no right to any inch of Palestinian land.
This is an important issue. Our position stems from our religious convictions.
This is a holy land. It is not the property of the Palestinians or the Arabs.
This land is the property of all Muslims in all parts of the world. We regard
the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, and the West Bank as a geographical unit, as
mentioned by resolutions 242 and 338, which have not been implemented. We are
currently talking about this area."
PA-Hamas Reactions
Q: "Let us talk about the relationship between Hamas and the Palestinian
authority. Has there been friction recently?"
A: "When Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) was elected, we started talks. Some people
in Fatah and the Palestinian authority told Abu-Mazen that he was giving Hamas
more than it deserved at the expense of Fatah, and that his policy was leading
to the destruction of Fatah, as proven by the success of Hamas in the first
and second rounds of the municipal elections. They claimed that we fixed the
elections. This was a joke, because no opposition has been able to rig
elections. "Some officials of the Palestinian Authority told Abu-Mazen that
they could resolve the situation with Hamas militarily. The Interior Ministry,
under Nasr Yusuf, issued leaflets saying that anyone firing rockets at the
Zionist enemy will be shot. This was an attempt to repeat what happened in
1996 to protect the Israeli borders, arrest those who fire rockets, and
confiscate the weapons. Nasr Yusuf was engaged in a confrontation around the
Jabalya refugee camp area and deployed armoured vehicles, which the
Palestinian people had not seen before. However, he quickly realized that he
could not resolve the situation militarily. Now, they are seeking dialogue,
and we welcome that."
Q: "In his recent speech in the Palestinian Legislative Council, Abu Mazen
was unyielding."
A: "We responded to the speech. He said that only one authority should exist,
and we want one authority. However, regrettably, the only authority that
exists is the authority of Israel. Neither Abu-Mazen nor Nasr Yusuf can move
from here to there without the permission of the Israeli army. We want a
single Palestinian authority, but a strong authority can only exist through
elections. Do we have security services and ministries to form an alternative
authority? We want a single authority, but we do not want it to be corrupt.
"We want an elected authority that represents all the Palestinian people and
not an authority that disputes with the people about their livelihood. They
are excluding the members of Hamas from jobs in the educational, health, and
other fields. In such conditions, we cannot talk about an authority, but about
authoritarian rule. If the Palestinian people have rejected Israel's
oppression, do you think that they will accept Palestinian oppression? "There
is confusion between the resistance and the chaos caused by the struggle in
the Fatah movement. The only legitimate weapon is the weapon of resistance
which does not kill innocent people and it not used to resolve factional or
family disputes. This weapon forced the occupation to withdraw. We will keep
our weapons, because no one can guarantee that the occupation will not return.
We hear the threats of the occupation throughout the day and at night. Which
do you consider is the legitimate weapon? Is it the weapon that disappeared
during the confrontation period, and is used in celebrations, or is it the
weapon used to maintain steadfastness and defend the people? Is it the weapon
that has driven the enemy out or the weapon that is defending the enemy?"
Hamas Will Assume Power Only Though Elections
Q: "Is Hamas interested in seizing power?"
A: "I do not accept the word 'seize' On the issue of education, we want to
teach the people our history, and we insist that the people must learn the
Quran. Even if the Quran attacks the Jews in some of its verses, the people
must read it. We cannot agree to the manipulation of the Quran and the
religion. We are against any economic cooperation with Israel . We want a
local Palestinian economy so that others do not influence it. We want
investment, but without kickbacks, bribes, and commissions. If we can make the
interest rate zero in this economy, based on Arab, Islamic, and international
investment, then this would be an achievement. We want to spread the culture
of resistance. We want tourism, but tourism of a people that have dignity. We
will change the names of the settlements to represent the martyrs who died
attacking them. We will tell the tourists that the honest rifle was able to
achieve victory."
Q: "Does Hamas have a plan to assume power?"
A: "Only through elections."
Q: "Hamas did not participate in the first legislative elections because it
regarded them as the product of the Oslo Agreement. What changes have taken
place to prompt Hamas to change its position?"
A: "The Legislative Council used to be called the Palestinian Council. It was
not legislative. It consisted of 88 members. We were talking then about a
transitional period. Now we are talking about a liberation period and 132
representatives. I guess the current set up is the product of the Oslo Accords
and the situation we find ourselves in the product of the British Mandate and
the ongoing Israeli occupation. We will participate in the elections based on
a program to end the Oslo Accords."
Q: "Will Hamas participate in the presidential elections?"
A: "What is the problem in that? We represent an alternative to the Authority.
We want to serve the people, and the people want servants and not masters. We
are part of a larger movement called the international Islamic movement."
Israel Fears that Gaza Would Become Hamas Land; Let Israel Die
Q: "Israelis fear that Gaza could become the land of Hamas after the
withdrawal."
A: "Let Israel die."
Q: "Is this an encouragement for the Palestinian Authority to clamp down on
Hamas with an iron fist?"
A: "No one can crackdown on us with either an iron fist or a golden fist."
Q: "Have you prepared to enter the settlements?"
A: "We will enter the settlements and sully the dignity of Israel with our
feet. We will stand on the ruins of the Israeli settlements and tell our
people we have prevailed. This is nonnegotiable. We will secure the Gaza Strip
and prevent anyone from occupying it again. In past experiences, government
land was stolen. "The land of the evacuated settlements should serve as the
lungs for the economy to breath. Schools, playgrounds, agriculture, and
industry should be established on this land. This is our position, which we
expressed in the meeting of the national committee formed to oversee the
withdrawal. The government to be formed after the elections will determine the
future of this land. "
Q: "In other words, there is an agreement between the Palestinian Authority
and Hamas about the future of the settlements' land."
A: "Yes. The Palestinian Authority has the right to manage the land after
consulting with the committee which consists of representatives of the
national and Islamic factions. "
Q: "Is there a plan for Hamas leaders abroad to return to Gaza?"
A: "We will never give up our right of return. All of Palestine is our land.
When any part of it is liberated, any Palestinian and Muslim will have the
right to come. This does not mean that this is consistent with the current
Isralei withdrawal form Gaza."
Q: "Therefore, will the leaders of Hamas abroad return to Palestine?"
A: "This is up to them. However, the Hamas movement has international
dimensions and relations that it must maintain. Therefore, those who maintain
these relations must stay abroad. "
"We Do Not Consider the West as an Enemy but we Believe Christian Zionism is
Criminal"
Q: "What is the relationship. between Hamas and Europe?"
A: "All the Europeans that we have met admit that the European position is
hypocritical and subservient to U.S. pressure. They look forward to freeing
themselves from such pressures. If you want democracy to express the will of
the Palestinian people, wait for the results of the elections. If you regard
the Palestinian liberation movement, of which Hamas is part, as a terrorist
movement, you must look at history. Was De Gaulle a terrorist? Were those who
worked to liberate their countries from occupation terrorists? We do not
consider the West as an enemy but we believe Christian Zionism is criminal."
Source: Memri.
Endnote:
(1) http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=1294
AUGUST 2005
 
Photos from L to R: #1. The bodies of
Palestinians killed during the Israel army raids in Gaza lie in a morgue in
the town of Rafah, May 20, 2004. Defying international fury and a rare U.S.
rebuke, Israel expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years on Thursday
after killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee
camp. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters) . #2. Three Israeli bulldozers move towards
the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah, during an ongoing military operation,
May 20, 2004. Israel defied international fury at the killing of nearly 40
Palestinians in the Rafah camp, a militant stronghold, to expand its bloodiest
Gaza Strip raid in years on Thursday. (Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters).
Photos from L to R:
#1. A Palestinian passes homes destroyed
during an Israeli army raid at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza
Strip , May 20, 2004. Defying international fury and a rare U.S. rebuke,
Israel expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years on Thursday after
killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee camp. (Suhaib
Salem/Reuters) . #2. Palestinians gather around the bodies of six of eight
Palestinians killed in an Israeli missile strike at a mosque prior to prayer
during their funeral in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday,
May 20, 2004. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed or wounded in the last 2
days. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
 
Photos from L to R: #1. Palestinian sisters of Ragab Barhum mourn during his
funeral in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on the third day of a massive
Israeli military operation in the area near Gaza's border with Egypt.(AFP/Mahmud
Hams). #2. Israeli soldiers set down into a grave, the coffin of Israeli army
soldier Sergeant Alexei Hayat, during his funeral at the Mt. Herzl military
cemetery in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 20, 2004. Hayat was one of 11 Israeli
soldiers killed in two separate bomb attacks by Palestinian militants on
armored vehicles in Gaza last week. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty).
Photos from L to R: #1. sraeli left wing Peace Now activists holds signs
during a a demonstration against Israel's ongoing operation in the Rafah
refugee camp in the Gaza Strip he Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel,
Thursday May 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit). #2. Israeli police officers
detain a left-wing activist during a demonstration against Israel's ongoing
operation in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, across from the Defense
Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday May 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
 
Photos from L to R: #1. Israeli left wing Peace Now activists holds signs
during a a demonstration against Israel's ongoing operation in the Rafah
refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, across from the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv,
Israel, Thursday May 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit). #2. Israeli police
officers detain a left-wing activist during a demonstration against Israel's
ongoing operation in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, across from the
Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday May 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Ariel
Schalit). MORE PHOTOS
NEXT
Palestinians: "Gaza withdrawal is victory for Islam". Major and Dangerous
Campaigns Of hate Against the Jews!!
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
 Dr.
Ahmad Abu Halabiya, Sharia [Islamic Law] Rulings Council and Rector of
Advanced Studies, Islamic University: "We the Palestinian nation, our fate
from Allah is to be the vanguard of the war against the Jews until
resurrection as the prophet Muhammad said: 'Resurrection will not arrive until
you will fight the Jews and kill them.'
Photo:
The Palestinian Authority is inciting the current wave of violence through its
official media. Jews and Americans are the prime targets. Billboard on the
Palestinian Television Network.
Dr. Hassan Khater:
"Muhammad said in his Hadith: 'The Hour [of Resurrection] will not arrive
until you fight the Jews and the rock and the tree will say: O Muslim, servant
of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!'
"The Prophet said:
the Resurrection will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and
the Muslims kill them. The Muslims will kill the Jews, rejoice [in it],
rejoice in Allah's victory. The Muslims will kill the Jews, and he will
hide... "The Prophet said: the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and
the rock and tree will say: oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim this is a Jew
behind me, come and kill him!" [PA TV, September 10, 2004 - view this clip
here].
Israel's leaving the Gaza Strip is being presented by the Palestinian
Authority and the Hamas as a victory for Islam. Palestinian Authority
religious leaders and Hamas have for years been presenting their conflict
with Israel as part of an unbroken religious war, which Allah is waging
against Jews - a conflict whose climax will be the extermination of the
world's Jews. (Palestinian Media Watch has reported on this ideology. See
documentation below.) Within this context, Israel's leaving its towns in Gaza
now, is being presented as a victory of Islam in this war. Palestinian
Authority Television hosts and participants alike are calling the Israeli
moves from its towns as a 'great victory for Allah'. The Hamas website
publicized numerous posters that declare the same religious victory theme. The
Hamas poster below, showing a face of Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin laughing,
superimposed over a somber religious Jew, presents the Sharon evacuation plan
as a victory of the Koran over the Talmud. The words on the poster: "Our Koran
proves that we were right and your Talmud proves that you were wrong..."
Another Hamas poster shows a rifle and the Koran with the words: "With those
two together the victory has been achieved." One example from the Palestinian
Authority's official daily: "...The manager of the office of the Ministry of
the Waqf in northern Gaza, Farid Al-Nayard, said, '...last Friday's sermon
was under the title 'On that day the Believers will be glad with the victory
of Allah.''" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 13, 2005]. In June 2004 Palestinian
Authority religious leader Ibrahim Mudayris already preached the religious
significance he saw in Sharon's plan, connecting it to an event described in
the Koran, specifically focusing on Israel's plan to destroy the towns before
leaving. The Koranic event and the present expulsion, according to this senior
PA imam, have numerous parallels: 1. Attacks by Muslims against Jews 2. Jews
become fearful 3. Jews destroy their own homes 4. Jews flee their towns.
Mudayris' sermon of June 4, 2004. "If you [today] trust in Allah, like
Muhammad's companions, by Allah, it will not be impossible for Allah to expel
the Jews. "[Allah] fought against them [as is written in the Koran] through
their weak hearts because they are cowards. When they saw someone killed,
terror entered their hearts and they started destroying their own homes. "And
now the media reports that they will leave the settlements. Indeed, they will
leave Gaza. They will leave submissive, by Allah's will. They will leave
defeated, like it or not, in the face of this great victory." [Ibrahim
Mudayris, PA TV, June 4, 2004]. The following is the text Mudayris was
referring to in the Koran: "He [Allah] is the one who has caused those of the
People of the Book [i.e. Jews] who disbelieved to leave their homes unto the
first expulsion. You did not think that they would leave, whereas they [the
Jews] were certain that their fortresses would defend them against Allah. But
Allah reached them from a place where they did not expect, and cast terror in
their hearts so that they destroyed their homes with their own hands and the
hands of the believers...!" [Surat Al-Hashar]. Previously reported examples
of numerous Palestinian Authority religious and academic leaders presenting
the war against Israel as a religious war that will end with the
extermination of the Jews. 1. Muhammad Abd Al Hadi La'afi, responsible for
Religious Teaching and Instruction in the Office of the Wakf: "The battle
with the Jews will surely come... "The Prophet spoke about in more than one
Hadith and the Resurrection will not come without the victory of the
believers [the Muslims] over the descendants of the monkeys and pigs and with
their annihilation." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 18, 2001]. 2. Ibrahim Mudayris,
Head of the Association for Memorizing the Koran. "The Prophet said: the
Resurrection will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the
Muslims kill them. The Muslims will kill the Jews, rejoice [in it], rejoice
in Allah's victory. The Muslims will kill the Jews, and he will hide... "The
Prophet said: the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and
tree will say: oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim this is a Jew behind me, come
and kill him!" [PA TV, September 10, 2004 - view this clip here]. "The Jews
will not live under our rule agreeably permanently, since they have been
treacherous in nature throughout history. A day will come when all shall rest
from the Jews.. "Listen to your Beloved [Muhammad], who tells you about the
most dire end awaiting the Jews. The tree and the stone want the Muslim to
bring every Jew to his end. You all know the Hadith." [PA TV, May 13, 2005 -
view this clip here]. 3. Muhammad Ibrahim Madi. "All the weapons must be aimed
at the Jews, Allah's enemies, the cursed nation in the Koran, whom Allah
describes as monkeys and pigs, worshippers of the calf and idol worshippers.
"Nothing will deter them except the color of blood in their filthy nation .
unless we blow ourselves up, willingly and as our duty, in their midst. "We
will fight against them and rule over them until the Jew will hide behind the
tree and rock and the tree and rock will say: 'Muslim! Servant of Allah,
there is a Jew behind me, kill him." [PA TV, August 3, 2001]. 4. Dr. Ahmad Abu
Halabiya, Sharia [Islamic Law] Rulings Council and Rector of Advanced
Studies, Islamic University "We the Palestinian nation, our fate from Allah is
to be the vanguard of the war against the Jews until resurrection as the
prophet Muhammad said: 'Resurrection will not arrive until you will fight the
Jews and kill them.' We the Palestinians are the vanguard in this issue and
in this campaign whether or not we want this." [PA TV, July 28, 2000]. 5 .
Dr. Hassan Khater. "Muhammad said in his Hadith: 'The Hour [of Resurrection]
will not arrive until you fight the Jews and the rock and the tree will say:
O Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!'
"...Allah meant our land and our people and meant our trees and our stones."
[PA TV, December 27, 2004].
Preaching Anti-Jewish Hatred:
Transcript from Friday, October 13,
2000, sermon at the Zayed bin Sultan Aal Nahyan mosque in Gaza.
The speaker is Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya, Member of the PA appointed "Fatwa
Council" and former acting Rector of the Islamic University in Gaza.
Photos: Broadcast of
the message of hate on Palestinian Television.
Ahmad Abu
Halabiya: "Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are.."
"Don’t ever relinquish your rights. Whatever agreements may be signed, even if
agreements are signed on Gaza and the West Bank, we shall not forget Haifa,
Acre, the Galilee and Jaffa, the Triangle and the Negev and the rest of our
cities and villages! It is only a matter of time! The weak will not remain
forever weak. And the strong will not remain forever strong. With the help of
blessed Allah, that’s the way the Jews are! Have no mercy on the Jews, no
matter where they are, fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them,
kill them. Wherever you are, kill the Jews, the Americans, who are like them,
and those who stand by them. They are all in one trench against the Arabs and
the Moslems. ... It is forbidden to befriend Israelis or to aid them. Don’t
love them or enter into agreement with them, don’t help them or sign accords
with them. Anyone who does this is one of them. This is the word of Allah,
blessed be He. They, they are the terrorists. They should be slaughtered. They
should be murdered. Such is the word of Allah."
Hamas Radio: Jaffa is the same as Gaza, Tel Aviv the same as Rafah.
The
following is a translation of a hate mongering and terrorism inciting
anti-Israeli song broadcast on Sawt Al-Aqsa, , the Hamas radio station on
August 16, 2005: "Al-Qassam warriors, Al-Qassam warriors, Rain rockets on the
settlers! Prepare the [missile] launchers and aim them at the settlements,
Glorify the name of Allah, the lord of the world! Hero, improve the Qassam
rockets, Don't let any Jew sleep! Oh, Qassam, we want you to make land mines,
Prepare ambushes for the settlers! The fearless fighters descended upon the
settlements May Allah preserve them, the symbol of our honor. They carried the
bombs, girded themselves with explosive belts And sang songs of leave-taking
[as they made their way] to the highest heavens. Oh, Hamas, your army swears
that Millions of shaheeds are marching to Al-Aqsa! We, oh Qassam, swear
allegiance to death! Strap on the belts and load them with TNT! Oh, shaheed's
mother, be happy for the shaheed! Your son is in paradise, happy and blissful!
(Announcer: Listen, Sharon , to the Hamas announcement: Leave Haifa, Jerusalem
and Imwas [ancient Emmaeus, an abandoned Palestine village in the Ayalon
Vally on the road to Jerusalem ] We will be victorious, oh, Bush, We will be
victorious, oh, Sharon 2, And you will see that tomorrow If Allah so wills it.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades will make you tremble in Haifa and Tel Aviv They will
strike you in Safed and Acre , Because we, our dear ones, Do not distinguish
between [ Jewish] Palestine and [Arab] Palestine3, For [as] Jaffa is the same
as Gaza , Tel-al-Zuhour 4is the same as Rafah, And the Galilee is the same as
Hebron . We make no distinction between the parts of the earth of the
homeland. [i.e. the whole of Palestine is ours].
2 A quote from 'Abd al-'Aziz
al-Rantisi, who headed Hamas until he died in a
targeted killing on April 17, 2004.
3 Another 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Rantisi quote.
4 One of the Arabic names for Tel Aviv usually used by radical Islamic
Palestinian terrorists groups, mainly Hamas.
'Israel will eventually disappear'
Senior Hamas leader tells Italian newspaper pullout plan a temporary solution;
says Palestine will become a Muslim state. Hamas will not compromise on one
inch of Greater Palestine, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told an Italian
newspaper earlier this week. Speaking to the Corriere Della Sera newspaper,
al-Zahar said Hamas would "definitely not" be prepared for coexistence with
Israel should the IDF retreat to its 1967 borders. "It can be a temporary
solution, for a maximum of 5 to 10 years. But in the end Palestine must return
to become Muslim, and in the long term Israel will disappear from the face of
the earth."
Go to hell: Asked about Hamas's intentions to carry out terror attacks
in coordination with the disengagement plan, al-Zahar said Hamas has already
promised not to initiate violence, and that the group's actions would be in
response to Israeli actions. "We won't disrupt the Israeli withdrawal, let
them get out of here and go to hell," he said. "The problem will be
afterwards, because in the hearts of every Palestinian, the liberation of Gaza
must be accompanied by the liberation of Jerusalem and the West Bank."
 Hamas
has again demonstrated that it is mounting a major challenge.
Photo: Hamas is challenging Fatah's traditional
political monopoly.
Initial results suggest
that the traditional Palestinian party of power - Yasser Arafat's Fatah
faction - has emerged on top in an important round of local elections in the
West Bank and Gaza.
But the militant movement,
Hamas has again demonstrated that it is mounting a major challenge. Both say
they did better than the early results suggest, and there are serious disputes
over the outcome in two key Gaza constituencies. But election officials say
the initial indications are that Fatah won around 55% of the vote, to Hamas'
35%. According to the officials, Fatah won just over 52 of the municipalities
being fought for. Hamas took around 30. And these results matter. They shed
light on a process of significant change that is sweeping through the
Palestinian political system. Electoral test: The Fatah faction that Mr
Arafat founded and led dominated the political scene for decades. Under his
leadership elections were rare. But now a phase of democratisation has begun,
and Fatah is being put to the electoral test. These municipal polls are to be
followed by a general election in a few months time. And Fatah is locked in a
major contest with Hamas.
Israel
will eventually disappear
London attack: Al-Zahar said the London bombings, which occurred during
the interview, are to be expected in countries that support the United States.
"It's no wonder today they have found terror attacks in their home," he said.
"I am opposed to attacks against civilians, whoever they are, but why not tell
it like it is - if the British soldiers were not in Baghdad and Bazra - there
would be mercy for London today." However, al-Zahar stopped short of
supporting the attack on the London Underground, but tried to "explain" the
acts of suicide bombers. "There is a broad popular people's movement against
American arrogant hegemony. World leaders, headed by the Bush and Blair
governments, should have been more attentive to the voice of poorer
countries."
Foreign Ministry protests: In Israel, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom
provided a translation of part of the interview and parts of the Hamas
constitution Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom for European Union envoy Javier
Solana, in an attempt to explain Israel's rejection for negotiations with
Hamas. The Ministry has also embarked on a campaign to discourage Europeans
from dealing with Hamas, including an English translation of Hamas's
convention, to be distributed to diplomats in a bid to illustrate the
movement's radical and dangerous character to the attention of decision makers
throughout the world. "Now, when Europe has offered to recognize Hamas on a
political level, al-Zahar provides clear statements of what to expect from the
organization," Ministry officials told Ynet. "He does not even attempt to
speak ambiguously in an attempt to please Europe and finds it difficult to
hide the group's happiness at the London bombings."
Al-Qaeda urges attacks on
Canadians
A new al-Qaeda manual
posted on the Internet is calling for terrorist attacks against Canadians, and
specifies that businessmen, politicians, scientists, soldiers and tourists
should be targeted, according to U.S. researchers. Canada is one of six
nations whose citizens are identified as "human targets" in the
Arabic-language publication, which is reported to be the work of senior
Egyptian al-Qaeda figure Saif al-Adel. The manual, called The Al-Battar
Military Camp, ranks Canadians as the fifth most important "Christian"
terrorist targets, behind Americans, Britons, Spaniards and Australians.
Italians were ranked sixth. The manual was obtained and translated by the SITE
Institute, a terrorism research centre in Washington, D.C. It is the latest
edition of a publication that is said to be aimed at new al-Qaeda adherents
scattered around the world. "This al-Qaeda magazine is published and
circulated through the terrorist group's Web site, along with other
propaganda," said Rita Katz, executive director of the institute. "It contains
specific military guidance and instructions on how to effectively target al-
Qaeda's enemies. There are physical training programs, diagrams of weapons and
chapters dedicated to combat strategy. Canadians should take very seriously
the fact that their country is identified as a top potential target by
al-Qaeda."
THE ARAB POINT
OF VIEW. FROM AL JAZEERA
Settler-funding a billion dollar question
Now
that Israel plans to spend $2 billion to dismantle just 25 of these enclaves in
the West Bank and Gaza - for which US aid has been requested - raises the
question of how much money has been poured into the ambitious settlement
project, and exactly where it came from. The official answer: No one knows. Vice
Prime Minister Shimon Peres estimates Israel has spent about $50 billion since
1977, when the hardline Likud government took over from his Labour party. Other
former finance ministers and government officials do not discount a price tag -
commonly floated but never documented - of $60 billion.
|
 |
Despite the
Gaza pullout, some
settlements are being expanded
|
"No one eye in the world saw the
whole picture," says Labour Party lawmaker Danny Yatom, a confidant of the late
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "Most of it is not camouflaged, but it is not
possible to connect A to B to C to D to E to F to G." Calculating an exact
figure is impossible because much of the building was financed through winks and
nods, an opaque state budget and secret military spending that sometimes
violated Israel's laws and undercut international peacemaking efforts, according
to official Israeli inquiries as well as interviews with past and present
officials, settlers and their opponents. Among the methods used, the interviews
show, were government subsidies, shadowy land deals, loopholes in military
spending, and an auditing bait-and-switch in which US aid was used to free up
billions of dollars for spending on the settlements formally opposed by the
United States.
 |
Settlements have
carved up
occupied Palestinian land
|
Expansion continues: Even today, with preparations under
way for demolishing 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank, housing
and roads continue to be built in West Bank settlement blocs Israel wants to
keep in a final peace deal with the Palestinians. This contradicts the
internationally backed "road map" peace plan to halt settlement expansion. And a
government-commissioned inquiry in March revealed similar methods were used to
build and expand dozens of unauthorised West Bank "outposts" - set up as
flag-showing exercises and usually consisting of a handful of people in mobile
homes. It found widespread government complicity in establishing more than 100
such outposts, and the inquiry's chief, former prosecutor Talia Sasson, called
the government's actions "a blatant violation of the law". Last year, the
funding of the outposts came in for sharp criticism from the state controller,
the government's main watchdog. It found at least two cases where the Housing
Ministry funded outposts that the military had ordered demolished.
Government policy: Now
settler leaders, eager to embarrass Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over his Gaza
withdrawal plan, say they had official backing in all their ventures. "Let me be
very, very clear: It's not a question of dark-of-night grabs, or hide-and-seek
or deceit on anyone's part," said lawmaker Yitzhak Levy of the pro-settler
National Religious Party, who headed ministries in Likud and Labour governments.
"It is government policy," he said. The settlements started after 1967 under
Labour governments, which sought to confine them to border areas they considered
necessary for national security.
 |
Some
outposts, illegal under
Israeli law, are state-funded
|
Benefits for settlers: But then Likud came to
power in 1977, claiming a God-given right to the whole West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The chief settlement advocate was Ariel Sharon, the former general who - now as
prime minister - has ordered the Gaza pullback. Using his Cabinet posts between
1977 and 1992 - agriculture, defence and housing - he doled out government
grants, low-cost loans and tax breaks to settlers. He also gave birth to the
idea of advertising the enclaves as bedroom communities just minutes from
Israeli urban centres. Some settlements close to towns in Israel proper were
subsidised by giving the inhabitants tax cuts, cheap mortgages and grants of
between $6900 and $57,000 - perks ordinarily reserved for outlying areas. Maaleh
Adumim, the largest settlement with about 30,000 people, received this
"priority" status even though it is just 5km from Jerusalem. So did Elkana, an
affluent settlement 8km from Israel's economic hub, Tel Aviv.
Not legal: Settler leader
Adi Mintz said even some of the settlers thought the tax breaks for bedroom
communities were unfair. The state also picked up as much as half the tab for
hooking up utilities. And pro-settler lawmakers fought to control key ministries
such as Construction and Housing, National Infrastructure, and Transportation so
they could direct money to settlements. "When I was at the Ministry of Housing,
I set the objective of expanding [settlements in] outlying areas," said lawmaker
Levy. The classified defence budget further propelled expansion, funding troop
deployments to guard settlements, and building fences and wide roads for
settlers living among more than 2 million Palestinians who adamantly oppose
their presence. A government official conceded that some uses of military funds
"in hindsight ... aren't legal and shouldn't have been done". He spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was discussing possible violations of the law
by the government. Winks and nods:
At times, government watchdogs balked at the way government funds
were being used. Most recently, the Interior Ministry launched an investigation
into the transfer of $2.8 million in 2003 and 2004 from settlement
municipalities to a settlement lobby group, which is funding the fight against
the Gaza pullout.
|
 |
Washington has
indirectly
funded settlement projects
|
Because the state and separate
ministerial budgets do not break down outlays by region, it is difficult to
identify the flow of money to settlements. Supporters and detractors both say
this allowed Israeli governments to hide behind the budget when it came to
settlement financing - and forestall friction with Washington. "The state of
Israel didn't want a head-on confrontation with the United States ... therefore
Israel always did things with winks and nods," said Mintz, the settler leader.
Despite its declared opposition to settlements, Washington only began taking
action in the early 1990s, when Israel sought billions of dollars in US loan
guarantees. Washington said it would deduct sums that went into settlements
dollar for dollar.
US lobby: In 2003, when
Israel was granted $9 billion in loan guarantees over three years, the cut was
$289.5 million. Officials familiar with the issue, and speaking on condition of
anonymity, say that low figure was reached with the help of the influential
pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC.
AIPAC officials refused to discuss the issue on the record, but denied they
helped to negotiate the numbers. Israel also used private US donations for which
it secured US tax-exempt status, said David Newman, a political scientist at
Israel's Ben Gurion University who researched settlement funding. US tax laws do
not exempt donations for political activities such as settlements. Israel
separated the World Zionist Organisation from the quasi-governmental Jewish
Agency, a move that allowed donors to inject money into settlements without
losing tax exemptions. Land expropriated:
In reality, the two groups operate under one umbrella,
with the same officials, departments and administrators overseeing the
activities, Newman said.
Perhaps the greyest area is how Israel
expropriated, confiscated or purchased land for settlements. During the first 12
years of occupation, more than 4000 hectares of land confiscated by the military
for security needs were handed to settlers, according to Defence Ministry
statistics quoted in Lords of the Land, a book by Israeli authors Akiva Eldar
and Idit Zartel. Even after Israel's Supreme Court in 1979 raised the bar for
security-related land confiscations, the state seized thousands more hectares
(acres) of West Bank land on security grounds and turned it over for settlers,
some living in unauthorised enclaves. The state-funded Jewish National Fund,
along with settler groups and their supporters, also bought land from private
Palestinians, using middlemen to cloak the sellers' identity and shield them
from attack by other Arabs. Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion Regional
Council in the West Bank, said his council recently paid $10,000 for 990 square
metres of Palestinian land - about one-twentieth of the cost of land just over
the border.
Excerpts
from the Arab Media: Israel's Gaza trap...Terrorist blame elsewhere...Pressing
the press... U.S. Arab Bank funded terrorism.
Compiled by By Dr. Joseph Lerner.
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 18-24 Aug.'05: EDITORIAL: Behind the facade". [IMRA:
AAW's editorials enunciate official Egyptian positions.] QUOTES FROM TEXT":
"Arabs, more than most, should have learned by now to be able to see beyond
the fanfare surrounding Israel's withdrawal and instead address crucial
strategic concerns"..."dismantling its settlements in Gaza in the hope of
retaining the enormous settlement infrastructure it has already gobbled up".
FULL TEXT: Sharon has persuaded international opinion that the road to a
solution to the Palestinian cause passes through Gaza. So skillfully has he
raised hopes that many had looked forward to the withdrawal, oblivious to the
advantages he has to gain, not least the opportunity to tighten defences and
refresh his forces. Yet the Arabs, more than most, should have learned by now
to be able to see beyond the fanfare surrounding Israel's withdrawal and
instead address crucial strategic concerns. We must not evade discussion of
the possibility that the Gaza disengagement will become the first nail in the
coffin of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with defined borders and
territorial contiguity for this, whatever he may say to the contrary, is part
of Sharon's plan. Disengagement from Gaza is the obverse of his dream of
burying Palestinian statehood. The disengagement, first unveiled at the
Herzliya Conference in May 2003, could all too easily hamper the Palestinian
drive to statehood for however important the benefits that accrue to the
Palestinians it presents a difficult platform upon which to build a state.
Israel is in the process of pushing for a tradeoff. It is dismantling its
settlements in Gaza in the hope of retaining the enormous settlement
infrastructure that has already gobbled up nearly a third of the West Bank.
Sharon openly admitted as much when, in an attempt to appease Jewish
extremists who regard the withdrawal from Gaza as a betrayal of the Zionist
dream of a Greater Israel, he announced that Jewish settlement of the West
Bank would continue. Nor should we forget -- Sharon certainly never tires of
reminding his audiences -- that President George W Bush gave him his word that
Israel could hold on to the larger settlements in the West Bank. And those
settlements are an integral part of the plan to annex East Jerusalem. What
remains of the dream of a Palestinian state, then, should Israel succeed in
securing its control over the West Bank and the whole of Jerusalem? [IMRA: So
why is Egypt cooperating?]. Even the disengagement from Gaza is fraught with
contradictions. Israel wants to retain control over airspace, territorial
waters, borders and ports of entry. Even on this small patch of land
Palestinian control will only be partial. Sharon's version of disengagement is
clearly intended as a façade, disguising the lack of substance -- the
territorial sovereignty -- that is a condition of statehood.
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 18-24 Aug.'05:"Closing ranks". HEADING:"Terror will
never dent the unity of Egyptians, writes Ali Hefzi, former governor of North
Sinai". QUOTES FROM TEXT: "Terror was first introduced into the region by the
Zionist groups Stern and Ergun"..."Western countries offering refuge to
fundamentalist (Islamist) militants over the past two decades must also
shoulder part of the blame"..."individuals used in the attacks are mere tools
and their death during the operation is obviously convenient for the invisible
masterminds who plan the atrocities." EXCERPTS: The hand of terror
rocked the City of Peace on the very anniversary of the 1952 Revolution. The
cowardly attack on Sharm El-Sheikh is particularly painful, for the peninsula
has a history that borders on the divine, .... It is in Sinai that Egyptians
have defended themselves against invaders since Pharaonic times, and up to the
war of 1973. [IMRA: Also the Sinai for expansionist. . .We have every right
to take pride in the progress the peninsula has witnessed since ...the peace
agreement with Israel in 1979. Those who visited Sinai many years ago ... are
amazed by the scale of progress, the roads that have been built, the land that
has been reclaimed and tourism. The attacks on Taba (October 2004) and Sharm
El-Sheikh (July 2005) came as a shock to all Egyptians, ... But where did it
originate? Terror was first introduced into the region by the Zionist groups
Stern and Ergun, which used violence to expel the original inhabitants of
Palestine prior to 1948. As for the recent wave of violence, Western countries
offering refuge to fundamentalist militants over the past two decades or so
must also shoulder part of the blame. The repercussions of terror attacks
exceed the magnitude of the initial mayhem. Intelligence experts vouch that
most terror attacks involve prolonged planning, surveillance and coordination.
Major terror operations often involve financing and guidance from abroad.
Those who carry out the attacks are selected with care and in most cases the
perpetrators have no police record or known inclination to violence. The
individuals used in the attack are mere tools and their death during the
operation is obviously convenient for the invisible masterminds who plan the
atrocities. No security regime, however sophisticated, is foolproof. There is
always a chink in the armour that can be exploited to devastating effect.
Let's not forget that countries far more advanced than Egypt have been
frequent targets of terror. Investigations into the Sharm El-Sheikh bombings
are still underway and should not be prejudged. But it is plain to all that
the bombers, whoever they are, were seeking to undermine not only security but
our national unity. We cannot let them win. We must continue to fight terror
in all its forms, for this is the only way to keep the country safe. We must
make every effort to apprehend the perpetrators. But in doing so we must avoid
doing anything that our enemies may use to harm this country or divide our
ranks. We need, too, more international and regional cooperation to prevent a
repetition of such attacks. Any loopholes in our security must be closed. .
JORDAN TIMES 19 Aug.'05: "JPA starts taking measures against 'some' weekly
papers". HEADING" Association committee is tasked with monitoring
performance of country's weeklies and making monthly reports" By Alia Shukri
Hamzeh. QUOTES FROM TEXT: "started taking legal measures against editors and
publishers of 'a handful' of weekly newspapers for legal and ethical
violations"..."The association has authority only over its members. Non-JPA
members who practice the profession are considered illegal journalists,
according to the Press and Publications and the JPA laws."..."He and other
publishers and editors of weeklies expressed fear that the reaction to a
number of unprofessional weeklies could harm them or negatively affect freedom
of expression."..."unfair to subject all weeklies to the same treatment or to
label all as unprofessional because of a number of rotten apples on top of the
box".
EXCERPTS: AMMAN
- The Jordan Press Association (JPA) has started taking legal measures against
editors and publishers of "a handful" of weekly newspapers for legal and
ethical violations, JPA President Tareq Momani said Thursday. Momani told The
Jordan Times following a JPA council meeting that there were some weeklies
printing "slanderous material, rumours and false information.". . ."We are
going to take all measures to ensure that citizens' reputation is not harmed
and that practising journalists abide by the laws that govern their
performance," he added. Momani said the JPA council has tasked its six-member
professional committee with monitoring the performance of the country's
weeklies and making monthly reports of violations of the JPA Law and
journalists' code of ethics. . .The journalists' code of ethics requires a
journalist to be objective and precise in relaying information and to
double-check and verify any material before sending it to print. According to
JPA bylaws, a journalist who violates the law and code of ethics faces various
measures, starting with a warning, an ultimatum, being referred to
disciplinary councils or being banned from practising the profession for a
period no longer than three years and could be dismissed from the association.
The association has authority only over its members. Non-JPA members who
practise the profession are considered illegal journalists, according to the
Press and Publications and the JPA laws... JPA has sent a warning to the chief
editor of one weekly and referred the name of a writer (non-JPA journalist) at
the same weekly to the attorney general. Momani refused to elaborate but said
the weekly has been printing "slanderous information about a public figure."
The measures are seen as an overdue step against a majority of what many
perceive as "sensationalist tabloid publications working in an unprofessional
manner" and harm the country's image and its march towards greater democracy
and public freedom. A number of practising journalists expressed satisfaction
with the move... These journalists who were contacted by The Jordan Times also
hailed remarks by His Majesty King Abdullah on the matter in an address to
officials, deputies and senators on Tuesday. They also called for genuine
application to the law that govern the profession. In his speech, the King
said some weekly newspapers compete in spreading rumours and lies to achieve
financial gains, even at the expense of national interests. . ."Violators of
the law should be pointed out and measures should be taken against them
immediately and in accordance with the law. But this does not mean that all
weeklies should be persecuted in the process," said Al Hadath weekly's
publisher Nidal Mansour. He and other publishers and editors of weeklies
expressed fear that the reaction to a number of unprofessional weeklies could
harm them or negatively affect freedom of expression. Jordan has over 25
registered weeklies. According to Momani, around 7-8 weeklies are deemed as
violators of the law and disregard any professional standards or code of
ethics. Mansour, however, said the number was far greater and that a mere
handful of weeklies were professional. But, Mansour, who also heads the Centre
for Defending Freedom of Journalists, added that it would be unfair to subject
all weeklies to the same treatment or to label all as unprofessional because
of a number of rotten apples on top of the box. "The most dangerous issue here
is that the terms bad, unprofessional and even scandalous press are being used
against all weeklies. This makes people think that the industry does not
deserve or cannot handle freedom of expression, and that in turn is harmful to
the country," Mansour said. "In the end it's the public who decides to buy the
publication or not." Momani in turn insisted that the profession will be
protected and that those who abide by the laws and code of ethics will also be
supported and safeguarded.
Al-Jazeera and Al-Manar
Coverage of Armed Palestinian Factions in Gaza. The following are
excerpts about armed Palestinian factions celebrating in the sea, which aired on
Al-Jazeera TV on August 18, 2005
Today's first clip includes an
Al-Jazeera report of an interview with a fighter from Islamic Johad's Al-Quds
Squad. It is followed by a report from Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, with interviews
of armed PLFP terrorists.
Reporter: The siege on the Gaze strip from land, air, and sea has led the
Palestinian factions to take up positions that they had not been able to reach
throughout the Intifada, in order to mark the impending end of the occupation of
part of their homeland. The Al-Quds Squads, the military wing of the Islamic
Jihad movement, charged into the raging sea aboard boats, which were almost
completely destroyed by the bullets of the Israeli Navy. Their clear message was
that the Gaza Strip is still not entirely liberated, and that the West Bank is
groaning under the weight of the occupation and its settlers.
Al-Quds Squads fighter: We chose the sea to stress that our sovereignty
over the sea is like our sovereignty over the land, Allah willing, and that the
sea is our sea and the land is our land. We dedicate these celebrations to our
courageous martyrs, to the leaders of the Al-Quds Squads, to the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam
Brigades, to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, to all the national and Islamic
factions, and to the prisoners in the Zionist occupation jails.
Armed PLFP Terrorists on Al-Manar
TV
Reporter: They come from the orange and olive groves, and emerge from
dark corners. Their only option is resistance and confrontation. The aggression
has reached every corner of the occupied Palestinian lands and has even reached
PFLP Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa. The brigades that are named after him
carried out a revenge operation on October 7, 2001, killing the most senior
Israeli in the Intifada - the Intifada that culminated in Israel's announcement
of the disengagement plan, which ends its military and civilian presence in the
Gaza Strip settlements.
PFLP Fighter: This withdrawal is only because of the blows of the
Palestinian resistance, and the steadfastness of our courageous Palestinian
people. The Palestinian people insisted on delivering blow after blow, despite
the heavy losses and casualties we sustained due to our steadfastness.
Reporter: The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, like the other factions, have
deterred the occupation army. Their fighters carried out courageous operations,
including martyrdom operations. Their commanders were arrested and assassinated,
and PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sa'dat was was held prisoner in Jericho. But
this series of blows has not destroyed the spirit of resistance among the
fighters. Sources: Al Jazeera, Memri, Imra, Al-Manar.
ARAB MEDIA WATCH: INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
By Maximillien de Lafayette
ARAB JOURNALISTS ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED
Some 1,500 years ago,
Prophet Mohammad condemned the "people of the pen", the poets, writers and
messengers of the word. In his "HADITH AL SHARIF" (Noble Dialogues and Discourse
of the Prophet), Mohammad told his followers "WA INNA AL SHOUARA'AH MIN AHLI AL
NAR", meaning verbatim "Poets (or writers, in today's terminology "journalists")
are from the parents of fire". He meant by this that, poets and writers are
decadent, sinful and untrustworthy. And consequently, they will go to hell. He
knew, back then, that the Arab mind and the Arab pen are not to be trusted, for
they distort the truth, corrupt the masses and cause mass confusion. And today,
1,500 years after such a prophetic proclamation, the Muslim Arab mind did not
change a bit. Especially in the circle and milieux of educated and cultured
Muslims, in the Arab corporate world, science, media and broadcasting. By nature
and raison d'etre, the Arab media will never cease to attack Israel, will keep
on inciting and encouraging Arabs and Muslims to hate the Jews and the
Christians, and to disseminate false information about Israel and the United
States foreign policies. This Muslim intellectualism distortion and those hate
and vengeance campaigns against the Jews and Christians in the Arab media
negatively and dangerously affect the Arab and Muslim populace around the
globe. Muslims and Arabs who live and work in the United States are not immune.
For almost 20 years, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser kept on lying to his people and
to the immense Arab world, and continued to fabricate stories about the
imminent danger of world Zionism. In his weekly speeches at the Radio of Cairo
(HOUNA AL QAHIRA), and the daily political broadcast of "AKAZEEB WA HAKA'IK"
(LIES AND TRUTHS), the Egyptian president consistently and methodologically
disseminated false information about the military power of Egypt, the might of
the Arab League, and the danger of Zionism ("Sahayinah" in Arabic). His speeches
were printed in their entirety on the front page of all the Arab newspapers,
except in Tunisia. No rationale, analytical analysis and unbiased reporting are
to be found in official communiqués and statements issued by Arab officials, nor
in Arab editorials. And this week, I found an abundance of examples which
illustrate the biased, distorted and sick news reporting by the Arab media and
childish accusations scenarioed by top Arab officials. Here are some: |
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THE ISRAELI/JEWISH POINT OF VIEW.
What they say, write, publish and argue about.
________________________________________________
Give them the Death they
Revere
By
Arlene Peck
The
Arabs are bombing, murdering, mutilating, raping and wreaking havoc all over
the Judeo/Christian world. Israel has nothing to do with it…nothing!
The front pages have been completely filled with the latest catastrophic
actions from these savage, barbaric Arabs who tortured and slaughtered
hundreds of school children and their mothers during the past few days in the
horrific school bombings. Children! Babies, who were forced to drink their
own urine, because they were tortured and denied water and food for over two
days. One five or six year-old child was reported to have been killed by
having a bayonet thrust through his little body when he had the audacity to
ask for water from these "brave men" who were holding them hostage. Then if
that wasn't bad enough, over twenty of these small children were shot
in the back from snipers on the roof-tops as they were trying to break away
to run to the safety of their mothers arms.
The
Muslims are experts in killing babies. I remember the massacre of the
Kindergarten in Maaolat some years ago. More so, I remember covering the war
in June of '82 in Lebanon and saw what cowards these vermin were. They excel
in bombings and terror attacks on subways, planes and schools. But when they
have to fight man-to-man combat, they disappear or run out with their hands in
the air, waving white flags before the first shot is fired.
They also captured two French
journalists as hostages, so as to influence French domestic laws. This is
especially interesting since Mr. Jacques Chirac and France have gone out of
they’re way to alienate their western allies and welcome these thugs with open
arms into their country.
They want to pressure the French to
change their laws on headscarfs. Otherwise, they were going to use the
journalists to make a political statement. Folks, this is only the beginning.
Within five years the required fashion in Paris will be burqas.
Page two in the Times continued with a story of how a female “suicide” bomber
wearing an explosive device stuffed with metal bolts killed at least nine
people in a Moscow subway station in a blast and injured about a hundred more.
This, in addition to the two airplanes that the Muslim fundamentalist’s blew
up a few days ago, in Russia. Then over a hundred more countrymen were
killed. I can’t even look at the television and see the nightly death toll of
our soldiers in Iraq. We are paying a great price with our soldiers blood to
bring freedom to this modern day Babylon. The reality is, if we don't
root out terrorism in all it’s forms, wherever it is, this nightmare that we
are watching being played out on the nightly news will eventually reach our
shores again, as well as the free nations around the world.
Somewhere buried in the LA Times was a story about how these same subhuman
savage “militants” who had killed twelve Nepalese workers want more! More
concessions and more blood! Later in the day I received a graphic video of
them, beheading these poor civilians. We are dealing with a mentality that
only understands force.
I've seen it! The Russians aren't known for being very politically correct.
If I were living through the horror they've gone through these past few days,
I'd pressure my government into sending a "laser-guided missile"
dipped in pig blood into
every one of those mosques
where they plan, train and finance these attacks,
with a note attached reading, "Never again!" In fact, now would be a perfect
time to drop leaflets on the mosques that plan and train the terrorists that
from now on the next thing dropped on them are missiles dropped in pig oil. No
more 'restrained action' as they are regularly ordered by our government, the EU
and UN. When the next terrorists action happens, do it!
Somebody has to do something! President
Bush is out there trying to defend his policy in Iraq because of these very
same terrorists and we are still going on and on and on over locating the
WMD’s, when everyone and their Arab brother’s know that they have been moved
into Syria. Who do we think we're kidding? This effort must be worldwide.
Whether it's Afghanistan, Russia, the Philippines, United States or Israel!
It is the freedom of every individual that is at stake here! When are we
going to wake up! Our lives are being disrupted on a daily basis.
TODAY GAZA, TOMORROW?
By Micah HalpernThe Gaza Redeployment is not just
about Israel's withdrawal from the area. It is not just about the
relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. It never was. Israel's
withdrawal from Gaza has always been a measuring stick, a marker, a
barometric tool to determine the winds of change in the region. The fateful
day approaches. There are many interested parties and many agenda. Let's
examine them. The most important agenda to examine is that of the United
States. Plain and simple, the United States needs this redeployment to
happen and they are exerting a tremendous amount of energy to make it
happen. The United States is pressuring Israel not just to leave but to also
offer aid to the Palestinians on their way out. The United States is
pressuring the Palestinians to let this happen and to stop any provocateurs,
any acts of terror, from dismantling the process.
The United States envisions peace between Israelis and
Palestinians. They see the Gaza Redeployment as a massive step towards the
fulfillment of that vision. Today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank. And they
want to make certain that the transition takes place quietly. The
United States needs to prove that they can make good on their promise. They
promised to support Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas, they want to secure
his position. They believe in him, more than do many of his local
Palestinian constituents. They believe that Abbas wants to bring peace to
his people. They want the Palestinian people to view Abbas as a strong
leader and they think that the Gaza Redeployment will bring proof to the
people that with peace comes good, that if peace emerges and liberalization
occurs, their lives will be improved, their voices will be heard. The United
States also believes, I would say naively, that the best tactic against
Palestinian extremists is pelting them with examples of the good that is
gained through peace. The United States believes in good will
gestures. Egypt, on the other hand, wants to regain partial control of the
area. The Egyptians are lying low during this process of withdrawal and, as
a result, nobody is watching them very closely. They have issues and their
own very strong agenda for the Gaza Redeployment. Gaza is an area that for
many years was under Egyptian control. That control was vanquished by
Israel. The Egyptians do not see the Palestinians as strong and do not
believe that they will ever gain strength, even under the leadership of
Abbas. And that pleases the Egyptians. A weak Palestinian government leaves
the door open for more experienced Egyptians to enter in a pseudo-advisory
capacity and wield power in the area. With the Palestinians "in charge" and
with the Israelis out of the area, the Egyptians become the doorkeepers,
literally and figuratively, of Gaza. It is the Egyptians who will control
the border. It is the Egyptians who will observe from the outside what
happens on the inside of Gaza, and then determine their next moves. In
the Palestinian world, Egypt, not the United States, is big brother. The
Palestinians themselves are split into two groups. There are those
Palestinians who hope and those Palestinians who hope to sabotage the Gaza
Redeployment. One group of Palestinians believes strongly in Abbas and
they are hopeful that he can and will create a better life not just for
their children, but also for themselves. They are the silent majority of
Palestinians, not just silent, but silenced by the other group of
Palestinians, their louder, more enthusiastic brothers and cousins. This
group wants the withdrawal to fail and they intend to use the failure as a
metaphor for the leadership of Abbas and as a tool with which to topple his
government. This group thinks of Abbas not as their leader but as someone
who has sold them out, who by virtue of accepting this unilateral withdrawal
is collaborating with the enemy. And they want an all-out war with Israel.
The rest of the Arab world is watching, quietly,
care |
TERRORISM
AND THE RIGHT TO EXIST
