Israellycool

The David “Terrortubby” Hicks circus continues, with his delightful father Terry “Dangerfield” Hicks providing us with this gem of an observation about his son:

He said his son’s concern to avoid detection was based on his lack of confidence and poor social skills after being held in military detention for so long.

David Hicks converted to Islam, undertook military training in al Qaeda-linked camps, and fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan, in order to ensure “the Western-Jewish domination is finished, so we live under Muslim law again” (his own words).

I’m thinking he wasn’t exactly the life of the party prior to his military detention.

B’Tselem just came out with its annual report on how horrible Israel is, and for purposes of “balance” it threw in some statistics on Palestinian Arabs killing each other.

It comes to the apparent conclusion that even with a reduction of Palestinian Arab deaths at the hands of Israel this year, Israel was responsible for more PalArab deaths than Palestinian Arabs themselves were. It counts 373 Palestinian Arabs killed by the IDF and 344 killed in internal fighting.

The press releases don’t go into the details of B’Tselem’s methodology, and its apparent attempt to keep track of intra-Palestinian Arab violence gives it a veneer of respectability and even-handedness. But look a bit deeper into how it claims to get its numbers, buried almost unnoticeably on its website:

Since the beginning of the current intifada, B’Tselem has published on its website the names of every person (Israeli, Palestinian, and foreign) who was killed in the violence.

The data include the person’s name, age, and place of residence, the date and place of death, and who killed the individual. The data on Israelis who were killed indicate whether they were a civilian or member of the security forces. Regarding Palestinians who were killed, the data state whether they took part in the fighting, in the event that B’Tselem has this information. In some cases, the data provide a short description of the circumstances in which the individual was killed.

B’Tselem emphasizes that the listing of a person as a civilian, or having not participated in the fighting, or the inclusion of any other details regarding the cause of death, does not indicate that the person or entity that killed the individual violated the law, or that the deceased was innocent, or that any other legal or moral conclusion can be drawn from the facts. The lists of fatalities relate to persons killed during incidents related to the al-Aqsa intifada, and are to be viewed solely in that light.

The problem is that B’Tselem uses a very expansive definition of deaths related to the intifada when counting Israeli killings and a very narrow one when counting Arab killings.

For example, it counts this as an Israeli killing related to the intifada (and as a killing of a minor):

Jihad ‘Alian Muhammad a-Nabahin, 17 year-old resident of al-Bureij Refugee Camp, Deir al-Balah district, killed on 09.11.2007 in al-Bureij Refugee Camp, Deir al-Balah district, by gunfire. Did not participate in hostilities when killed. Additional information: Killed when he and his friend tried to cross the perimeter fence and enter Israel.

If he was killed for only trying to cross a fence, and had no intent to do anything bad to Israelis (as B’Tselem implies when it says that he was not participating in hostilities), then what exactly does this death have to do with the intifada?

But when it comes to intra-Arab deaths, B’Tselem becomes much more restrictive in saying that they have to do with the intifada. While Hamas/Fatah battles do seem to count, tunnel collapses and “work accidents” and Arabs shooting other Arabs at checkpoints and Christians killed for being Christian and many other types of deaths do not make it into their list. So while over 600 Arabs were violently killed by each other this year, B’Tselem implies that the number is only 344, thereby neatly making it look like Israel is responsible for more Arab deaths than Arabs themselves are - a very wrong implication.

But B’Tselem’s dishonesty does not end there. They nicely list 53 minors and come to conclusions that most of them “did not participate in hostilities” when they were killed. Probably most of them didn’t, but again B’Tselem’s definition of “not participating in hostilities” includes minors who tried to cut through the fence around Gaza, trying to escape arrest, trying to “collect” Qassam rocket launchers, or throwing stones (the very definition of “intifada” according to Palestinian Arab propagandists.) Once again, B’Tselem interprets its own definitions in ways that maximize propaganda value and minimize adherence to a true picture.

One interesting statistic that B’Tselem doesn’t bother mentioning in its press release: the number of females killed. B’Tselem likes to count “minors” even though the majority killed were 16 and 17 years old. But its own list shows only 2 adult women (and 3 girls) killed by Israel during the year, as opposed to the 41 adult women and far more than 3 girls killed by PalArabs this year, statistics that B’Tselem doesn’t count in its quest for “human rights.”

In other words, B’Tselem will use statistics that seem to imply an Israeli policy of random shooting of non-combatants but that randomness falls apart when one sees that the minors are usually fully grown and the number of females killed is diminishingly small compared to men.

Publicizing those statistics as well as the others mentioned would make Arabs look more bloodthirsty than Israelis, and B’Tselem cannot countenance such a conclusion.

(cross-posted at Elder of Ziyon)

Almost a month ago, I brought to you the three different versions of the death of palestinian man Firas Qasqas, in order to show you the palestinian preoccupation with lying.

Now, I have found yet another multi-versioned story being reported exclusively in the palestinian and Arab media.

Version 1: Ma’an News

A Palestinian civilian died last night in the West Bank village of Qibya, of wounds sustained after an Israeli settler ran him over on the bypass road near the village of Ni’lin west of Ramallah, local sources said.

The sources said that 27-year-old Wasfi Al-Khatib sustained was seriously injured on Saturday evening after an Israeli car ran him over near the Hashmon’in settlement. They added that the man was transferred to the governmental hospital in Ramallah where he later died.

The incident came hours after two off-duty Israeli soldiers from the Qiriyat Arba settlement near Hebron were killed. Right wing settlers threatened to take revenge on Palestinians.

Version 2: Alalam

Furthermore, an Israeli settler ran over a Palestinian by his car in a village located northwest of Ramallah in a move widely speculated to be intentional.

Twenty-one year old Vasfi al-Kahtib succumbed to his severe injuries, before being taken to a nearby hospital in the West Bank, Palestinian medics said.

Kahatib was a resident of Nalin village near the Zionist-occupied Moadaim settlement.

Version 3: WAFA

Jewish colonizer ran over a citizen in the West Bank city of west Ramallah, local sources said.

The sources told WAFA that Wasfi al-Khateeb 21, died on Sunday due to his serious wounds as an extremist colonizer deliberately ran over him as he was heading home in the village of Na’alin.

Version 4: Indian Muslims

RAMALLAH, Dec 30 (KUNA) — A Palestinian citizen was deliberately killed on Sunday when an Israeli settler ran him over in Qabiya, near Ramallah.

Ramallah Hospital sources said the victim was identified as Wasfi Al-Khateeb, 25, who succumbed to serious injuries. An Israeli settler was driving his car towards Al-Khateeb and “deliberately” hit him, stressed eyewitnesses.

Bypasses constructed by the Israelis back in 1994 after the Oslo Agreement to secure settlers’ movements at certain points intersect with roads leading to Palestinian towns. Settlers often block these roads.

Settlers frequently attack residents of neighboring Palestinian towns and had recently attacked and injured two Palestinians near Tal Town, adjacent to Nablus.

Once again, I’ll summarize the versions in a handy table.

From Ma’an:

Hebron security commander Samih As-Sayfi said on Sunday that Friday’s killing of two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank was a criminal offense, not an act of political violence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Earlier, the military wings of Hamas, Fatah, and Islamic Jihad all claimed responsibility for the attack.

And since robbery wasn’t the motive, it must have only been old-fashioned anti-semitism. You know, the usual Jew target-practice. Anyone can understand that motive.

The commander said that statements by Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades, and Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades were attempts to curry favor with the Palestinian public and confuse the security services.

See? Just because the Palestinian Arab public overwhelmingly supports killing random Jews on a hike doesn’t mean it is, Allah-forbid, anything to worry about!

Who would ever think that general violence against Jews was political?

(cross-posted to Elder of Ziyon)

Yesterday, I predicted that former Al-Qaeda terrorist David Hicks would not offer a genuine apology for his role in terrorism, upon his release from prison today.

As it turns out, he did not even offer an insincere one.

A defiant David Hicks was in hiding last night after refusing to apologise for working with Islamic terror groups responsible for killing Australians.

Hicks, 32, looking robust and with shoulder-length hair, walked out of Adelaide’s Yatala Prison yesterday morning after nearly six years behind bars.

Almost a dozen police cars and motorbikes held back traffic and a no-fly zone grounded helicopters as Hicks made a quick getaway.

A relative in a Victorian-registered car took him to the first of a series of secret safe houses.

As he was taken away, federal police refused to say if they had authorised Hicks to move between addresses or even travel interstate.

Hicks made no apology for his actions in a statement read by his lawyer outside the prison after his client had left.

Asked if Hicks felt he had anything to be sorry for, his father, Terry, said: “I don’t think so.”

Mr Hicks later refused to say if Hicks was sorry for training with al-Qaida and serving alongside the Taliban.

“I think that’s probably irrelevant now. He’s out,” he said.

That’s Terry “Dangerfield” Hicks for you. Consider him to be the tree from which the rotten apple did not fall far.

Update: I take it back. Hicks did apologize for something.

Hicks apologised for not facing the media directly but said he felt unable to.

“I know you all hoped I might appear and answer some questions,” he said. “I had hoped to be able to speak to the media but I am just not strong enough at the moment. I am sorry for that.”

I dunno. He’s look rather robust these days, no doubt courtesy of his Guantanamo Bay days.

Update: According to the Sydney Morning Herald, our terrortubby friend may not be so jolly.

Mr Hicks’s family said that, despite his relief, he was crippled by fears that he would be a target for Muslim or far-right extremists, or inadvertently breach his plea bargain agreement and be sent back to Guantanamo Bay or be punished by the Australian or South Australian governments if he spoke out or be hounded by the media, exposing him to all these risks.

Mr McLeod said his client had concerns for himself and his family because extremist groups believed that, by renouncing his Islamic faith in 2002, he had dropped his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. His al-Qaeda training and capture among Taliban forces in Afghanistan could also anger nationalist groups, he said.

By the way, the title of that report was Hicks tastes freedom but fears for his life. It’s all about the eating, isn’t it.

He’s been called Rage Boy: Palestine and The Hand Gesture Man. But I prefer to call the terror-protest movement’s latest pin-up boy Hairstyle Man.

“I asked for a number 1 and look what I got! You people are CRUEL!”

“You see I can also get away with wearing a fringe!”

“You see what it looks like after I’ve just woken up? By the way, please tell me I didn’t forget to put my clothes on..”

“Ok, where did you put my hairbrush?!”

“I warned you I’d gel it back if you pushed me too far!”

(cross-posted on Elder of Ziyon)

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests attacked each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning on Thursday.

The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities.

Any perceived encroachment on one group’s turf can touch off vicious feuds.

On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners were scrubbing the church ahead of the Armenian and Orthodox Christmas, celebrated in early January. Thousands of tourists visited the church this week for Christmas celebrations.

But the clean-up turned ugly after some of the Orthodox faithful stepped inside the Armenian church’s section, touching off a scuffle between about 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 Armenians.

Palestinian police, armed with batons and shields, quickly formed a human cordon to separate the two sides so the cleaning could continue, then ordered an Associated Press photographer out of the church.

Four people, some with blood running from their faces, were slightly wounded.

So the Palestinian Arab Christians, who are more moderate than their Muslim counterparts, in the moderate West Bank, cannot stop themselves from beating each other up in their own holiest places.

But we can be sure that Palestinians would happily allow free access for Jews to worship in their own holy spots in a future Palestinian Arab state, right?

Former Al-Qaeda terrorist David Hicks is set to apologize for his crimes after his release from jail tomorrow.

Although something tells me his “apology” won’t be overly genuine.

David Hicks plans to head from the prison food line to the dole queue on his release from jail tomorrow, after an apology from the confessed terrorist supporter is read by his lawyer.

The nation’s most famous prison inmate has told his father Terry Hicks a trip to Centrelink to sign on for the “Newstart” allowance is at the top of his to-do list when he tastes freedom for the first time in six years.

Mr Hicks also revealed his son would briefly show his face to the waiting media at the front gates of Adelaide’s Yatala Prison before being whisked away to a secret location.

His lawyer David McLeod will read an apology to the nation on Hicks’ behalf for “what he’s supposed to have done”.

Mr Hicks said the apology to Australia was an important first step to rejoining society but indicated his son had little to feel ashamed of.

“There’ll be some sort of apology I suppose for what he’s supposed to have done and what people believed he’s done - he’ll cover that side of it,” Mr Hicks said.

Yep, that’s going to go down well. I suppose.

There’s also the question of what the former Muhammed Dawood is going to do with his life after his prison release.

Although Terry Hicks remains confident of his son’s mental state, questions remain over whether he will be fit to work any time soon.

Recent reports suggest Hicks suffers panic attacks and lacks self confidence and social skills.

Lack of self confidence? I guess not getting to kill enough infidels would do that to any self-respecting Jihadi.

Terry Hicks said his son had no income and no savings since leaving Australia to fight in Afghanistan.His capture in late 2001 led to five-and-a-half years in Camp X-ray at Guantanamo Bay before being returned to Australia in May to serve out the rest of his sentence for providing material support to terrorists.

Mr Hicks said his son was experienced in jackarooing, shearing, farm work, as well as “boning and skinning animals” but would consider whatever work he may be offered.

And I’m guessing he obtained this experience during his Taliban days.

According to one of Wikipedia’s senior editors, David Shankbone, who is the most popular and most recognizable leader in the world among Internet surfers under age 30?

Here’s a clue:

Source.

I guess he can add that accomplishment to his Nobel Peace Prize and being called “the sexiest man alive” (by actress Kathleen Turner).

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with a nugget of wisdom (taken from the linked article) from our popular and wise President.

Peres was asked his opinion of the younger generation of Israelis. “The 14- 15- and 16-year-olds need to participate in determining the world’s future,” the President explained. “If it were up to adults, they would want kids to keep dancing the hora or singing Slavic songs, but youngsters don’t listen and should not have to. Young women today also wear more risqué clothing than they did in the past and there is no problem with that since they look nicer.”

Tsk, tsk, Shimon. You know it was that kind of attitude that got your predecessor into all sorts of trouble.

From the Department of Don’t Even Bother Asking.

Customs officials in the Philippines have seized inflatable sex dolls meant to be used for an international campaign against animal cruelty, an animal rights group said.

Although one can understand why PETA believes animals are on the same level as humans. So would you if you hung out exclusively with PETA activists.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a terrorist attack.

Updates (Israel time)

3:50PM: It has been reported she was killed in a “gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally.”

A Reuters witness at the scene said he heard two shots moments before the blast.

“As party leaders, including Bhutto, started coming out a man tried to go close to them and then he fired some shots and blew himself up,” said Yaseen, a police officer, at the scene.

According to the CNN report, she died “following a bullet wound in the neck”, which indicates she died from the shots fired at her, rather than the suicide bomb attack.

3:57PM: She was shot in the neck and chest according to this report.

4:00PM: The Ha’aretz news ticker showed this item:

15:50: Russian Deputy FM: Bhutto death will trigger wave of terror

But wasn’t Bhutto killed in an act of terrorism, not long after she narrowly averted death in a separate terror attack? Looks to me like the wave of terror in Pakistan long preceded her death.

5:00PM: Al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for the attack.

Ma’an (Arabic) has an article about honor killing statistics this year, saying that the number of such killings has gone down this year to only 9 as opposed to somewhat higher numbers in years past.

One very interesting paragraph (autotranslated and cleaned up):

The study revealed that some of the murders, which are committed against women for reasons of honour, in reality are caused for a completely different reason. They are often related to the question of inheritance, in the refusal of many large families granting women their share of inheritance, being careful that the money not go to a strange man in the event of her marriage. As a result, the proportion of “spinsters” are high in wealthy families.

So not only are women’s lives worth less than “family honor,” but they are also worth less than family money as well. And the women who are unfortunate enough to have been born into wealthy families have a hard time getting married, as their families pressure them to remain single to keep the money in the family.

Perhaps some enterprising Islamic lawyer can create a sharia-compliant pre-nuptial agreement?

(cross-posted at Elder of Ziyon)