Israellycool

Islam Online has established an online Holocaust Museum - a palestinian one, that is.

Replete with black and white photos of palestinian children “martyrs” , it is an enormous insult to the real Holocaust victims.

The front page currently shows particularly gruesome photos of the palestinian children killed a few days ago, likely by explosives carried by their terrorist brethren.

Here’s the joke:

General Policies:

Balanced approach: adopting the middle ground of Islam, avoiding extremism or negligence, rejecting deviant or eccentric opinions.

Objective treatment: striving for accuracy, adopting neutrality and avoiding pre-judgments and preconceptions.

Moral approach: avoiding slander or praise of individuals, groups or states, avoiding propaganda and sensationalism, or provocation and incitement.

In the late ’90s, then 30-something pop-culture historian Bill Geerhart, posing as a curious 10-year-old named Billy, launched a letter-writing campaign to some of the most powerful and infamous figures in the USA, such as Charles Manson, the Unabomber, Dick Cheney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To his surprise, replies soon started pouring in. Everyone from Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld (on tree-fort diplomacy) to Oprah Winfrey, Mister Rogers, Janet Reno, and members of the Supreme Court had words of wisdom for Billy. (”I like the Egg McMuffin,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas when asked about his favorite McDonald’s food. “Actually, I like almost everything there.”) Responding to Billy’s idea for a “Hustler for kids,” Larry Flynt wrote back encouraging the fourth grader to “Hang in there. You’ll be 18 before you know it.”

As it turns out, no group hates to disappoint a child more than convicted killers, all of whom responded promptly to Billy’s questions about dropping out of school. Their letters, published here for the first time, range from criminally insane to downright sensible, offering snapshots of the personalities behind some of America’s most hideous crimes. Recently, Radar asked Billy to follow up with his mentors as a college student.

You can read it all here.

Holy completely random knife attack, Batman!

A man has been charged following a double knife attack on two Orthodox Jews in Golders Green.

Mohamed Jama Ahmed, 37, of North Circular Road, Cricklewood, was arrested after two stabbings which happened just meters apart in roads off Golders Green Road on Friday.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said the attacks, which happened at around 6pm, appear to have been random and unprovoked, but were not being treated as faith hate crimes.

Officers were alerted to a 47-year-old man in The Drive who was suffering from stab wounds to his arm and chest.

While at the scene, police were informed that a 43-year-old man had been stabbed in nearby Beverley Gardens.

Both victims were taken to hospital and are said to be in a stable condition.
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Ahmed was arrested on Sunday and charged with two counts of assault involving grievous bodily harm.

He is due to appear at Hendon Magistrates Court today.

In other random attack news, palestinian terrorists just happened to fire least 10 Qassam rockets and 3 mortar shells at the western Negev.

Brian of London adds: Let’s get this straight. A random man, with a random knife, randomly stabs a couple of random Jews in London’s best known Jewish neighbourhood.

I disagree with designating anything as a hate crime: a crime is a crime. But as we have these laws, how on earth can the Police jump to the conclusion that this particular random man just happened to stab not one, but two overtly Jewish men. Randomly.

If you follow Shire Network News you’ll know I’m in the process of moving from the UK to the US. Anyone else want to ask me why?

The Jerusalem Post reports on the latest Hamas threats against Israel, if Israel dares not accept their Egypt’s truce initiative.

Israel may have 200 nuclear warheads, but Hamas has 200,000 people who want to blow themselves up inside Israel, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Tuesday.

No doubt Zahar is not counting himself in that figure of 200,000. After all, I doubt he would blow himself up, given he won’t even bring himself to undergo a simply procedure to have that ugly wart removed.

Besides, those suitcases stuffed with millions dollars in cash don’t just move themselves.

Zahar, who was speaking to supporters at the Islamic University in Gaza City, said Israel would pay a heavy price if it rejected the Egyptian initiative for truce with the Palestinians.

“If Israel says no, it will pay a heavy price,” he said. “We are a besieged people and we will have to use all our tools to defend ourselves against Israel.”

Zahar said he expected Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to brief Israeli leaders next week on Cairo’s efforts to achieve a truce.

He said that once Israel accepted the Egyptian initiative, all the border crossings into the Gaza Strip would be reopened. “The issue of the truce initiative will be determined finally next week,” he added. “I believe Israel will accept the initiative, although it will try to drag its feet on some issues.”

The Hamas leader pointed out that his movement had accepted a cease-fire with Israel in 2005. “Hamas benefited from that truce and no one can deny this,” he said. “Even those who opposed the previous truce have admitted that it was useful.”

In other words, a combination of “accept our truce or else” with an admission that such truces benefit the terrorists. Our leadership would have to be pretty stupid to go along with that.

Here’s hoping they don’t anyway.

Leia? Looks like he did.

What would Chewbacca say? Hollywood legend Carrie Fisher reveals she got up close with Harrison Ford while filming the iconic Star Wars movies.

The 51-year-old actress is still best known for impressing millions of teenage boys with her buns as Princess Leia.

Now, after decades of rumours, she finally spills the beans on her relationship with ever-hunky Harrison, 63, who played Han Solo.

She tells Justin Lee Collins in new C4 show Bring Back . . . Star Wars: “I went on the film saying ‘I’m going to have an affair’, like it was a kiwi, an exotic fruit — because I’d never had one!”

She adds: “I had a crush on Harrison for sure. Harrison is great fun when he’s had a few drinks.”

Shaking her head and saying: “I’m going to get in so much trouble,” she adds: “Once I left the room and came back and he was in the closet not wearing a lot of clothes.”

At least there was no wookie involved. As far as we know.

Meanwhile, I’m never going to be able to watch those movies in the same light again.

It has been a few hours since Israel determined that the Gaza blast that killed most of a family was the result of a secondary explosion from targeted terrorists outside the house carrying munitions.

AP’s Ibrahim Barzak is now reporting Israel’s side of the story, but very skeptically:

In a statement, the military said explosives carried by the militants were detonated by an Israeli airstrike, and the blast from the explosives hit the house, not a tank shell, “and uninvolved civilians were hit.” Palestinians said the militants were at least 400 yards from the house and none of the fighters were killed near the structure.

But the most detailed Gaza based account of the events, from PCHR which blames Israel for the explosion, show that this last sentence is a lie:

At approximately 8:15, an IOF plane fired a rocket at a group of resistance members near Abdallah Azzam Mosque, southwest of Izbit Abd Rabbou, approximately 1000 meters away from the main area of the incursion. The rocket fell 10 meters away from the house of Ahmad Eid Hassan Abu Me’tiq, seriously injuring a resistance member. Less than a minute later two rockets were fired at the same area and landed at the door of the same house, killing another resistance member: Ibrahim Salem Suliman Hajouj (20). Shrapnel from the rockets destroyed the house door and spread inside the house. Meyasar Metliq Abu Me’tiq (40) and her 6 children were eating breakfast only 2 meters away from the door. The shrapnel killed four of the children immediately. The mother was seriously injured; and the other two children were moderately injured. The mother later died of her wounds. In addition, 10 bystanders were injured, some of them sustaining moderate to serious injuries.

The AP cannot do basic fact-checks to show that their Palestinian Arab sources are, simply, liars, and by quoting them credulously they make it appear that the evidence supports the Palestinian Arab story and not the Israeli version. They are doing a better job than the thousand-odd “news” stories that don’t even acknowledge Israel’s claims, but they still fail basic journalism principles.

Meanwhile, I cannot find any pictures of the house to see whether it looks like some shrapnel went through the door or if a major blast occurred right outside.

Cool doesn’t even begin to describe this.

Israel’s newest soldier can see at night, never nods off on sentry duty and can carry 300 kilograms (660 pounds) without complaining.

The Guardium, an unmanned ground vehicle commissioned by the Israel Defense Forces is essentially a robotic soldier, among the first in the world to be operational. It can replace human soldiers in dangerous roles, cutting casualty rates.

Like the pilot-less drones that have become a mainstay of air forces in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere, the four-wheeled Guardium is operated from a command room that can be far from the front line. It can be mounted with cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, as well as more lethal tools like machine guns.

Following pre-programmed routes, it can navigate alone through cities - the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings. It can patrol borders, its cameras scanning 360 degrees at all times, and alert operators if it spots anything suspicious.

The Guardium never mentally wanders or falls asleep, as soldiers have been known to do during mind-numbing guard or patrol missions. And it doesn’t have a family that will miss it when it’s away on reserve duty.

“Representatives of armies with troops who are taking high casualties in asymmetric warfare, from threats like roadside bombs, get excited about this product,” said Erez Peled, director general of G-Nius Unmanned Ground Systems, the company that developed the robot.

The control panel includes two large screens and a joystick. If the operator wants to take control, he can do so from a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals that lend the console the look of a video arcade game.

“Any kid who grew up with a PlayStation will be able to come in here and learn this in seconds,” Peled said.

A vehicle alone costs approximately $600,000 (385,000 euros). With the operating system, the price runs to several million dollars, depending on what equipment is installed on the robot.

The Israeli military said the Guardium has yet to enter operational service, and would provide no further comment.

John Pike, director of the Virginia-based military think tank Globalsecurity.org, said there is only one other similar vehicle operational - a South Korean robot used to patrol the demilitarized zone with North Korea. With the details of the Korean vehicle classified, Pike could not say which was more advanced.

“Robots like this are potentially the future of ground warfare,” Pike said.

“A robot does what it’s told, and you’ll be able to get them to advance in ways it’s hard to get human soldiers to do. They don’t have fear, and they kill without compunction.”

“But more importantly,” he added, “A robot means you don’t have to write a condolence letter.”

Click on image to see magnified version.

(Found here).

Despite the fact that the IDF investigated today’s deaths in Gaza and found that the explosion was caused after palestinian terrorists carrying large bags (presumably filled with ammunition) were shot, and despite the fact that AP were aware of this and actually changed their headline and report to reflect this (as I blogged here), they are still running pictures with the following caption:

An Israeli tank shell fired during a clash with Palestinian gunmen tore into a tiny Gaza Strip home on Monday, Palestinian officials said, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children and threatening efforts to arrange a truce between the warring sides.

No presentation of the IDF version of events, and bonus chutzpah points for mentioning Hamas’ so-called efforts to arrange a truce.

Meanwhile, Reuters are still not even reporting the IDF version.

After having attacked the lovable duo of Tom and Jerry, those Iraniacs have now set their sights on Barbie, Batman, and friends.

Iran’s toy market is being inundated by models of Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and the young must be protected from their harmful cultural effects, the prosecutor general was quoted as saying on Sunday.

“Promoting figures like Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and the uncontrolled import of CDs of video games and films should alarm all the country’s officials,” Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi was quoted as saying by the student ISNA news agency.

“We need to find substitutes to ward off this onslaught, which aims at children and young people whose personality is in the process of being formed,” he added.

Perhaps they can start with an Iranian police chief doll.*

* batteries and hookers sold separately

The mainstream media such as AP is having a field day reporting today’s deaths of 7 palestinians, including children.

Israeli strike kills 7 Palestinians

An Israeli tank shell slammed into a tiny Gaza Strip home Monday during a skirmish with gunmen, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children as they prepared to sit down for breakfast, officials and relatives said.

The new violence threatened to hobble Egyptian attempts to bring a cease-fire to the area.

A militant and an unidentified man were also killed in fighting in Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza border town Palestinian militants frequently use to fire rockets and mortars at southern Israel.

Palestinian medics identified the dead children as sisters Rudina and Hana Abu Meatak, ages 6 and 3; and their brothers 4-year-old Saleh and 15-month-old Mousad. Their mother, Miyasar, was in her late 30s. Her two older children were critically wounded in the strike, the officials said.

The Israeli military said forces entered the town early Monday after gunmen approached a border patrol. During ensuing clashes between gunmen and Israeli forces, tank shells were fired, and one struck the Abu Meatak home.

The force of the blast scattered clothes and other household items outside the two-room home. A single white children’s shoe, flattened by the explosion, lay on the ground near a blue pair of shorts covered in sand. A green baby chair also sat outside, one end bent by the force of the blast.

A large crowd of people gathered outside, milling about as rescue crews cleaned up the debris and washed away bloodstains in the sand.

“What a black day. They killed my family,” said Ahmad Abu Meatak, father of the children, wailing outside the local hospital where the bodies were taken. Abu Meatak, dressed in a traditional Arab white robe and headcovering, said he was on his way to a nearby market to shop when the tank shell hit.

Beit Hanoun farmer Omar Abdel Nabi said he was driving his tractor in a nearby field when two or three explosions shook the ground.

“People were screaming that a tank shell landed in the next street,” he told The Associated Press. “I carried two people covered in blood out of a house.”

The children were taken to a local hospital morgue, where family members stood over the bodies, wailing and flailing their hands in the air.

“I feel sick. I want to throw up the blood that is boiling inside me, into the face of the occupation,” said Ibrahim Abu Meatak, the children’s 24-year-old half-brother. He said Miyasar Meatak was fixing breakfast for the family when the tank shell struck.

Israeli officials said they were investigating the incident, but made clear that they held Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible for the bloodshed. Israel says Hamas permits militants to carry out attacks from residential areas, putting civilians at risk when Israel strikes back.

“We see Hamas as responsible for everything that happens there, for all injuries,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during a tour of an Israeli weapons factory. “The army is acting, and will continue to act, against Hamas, including inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also responsible, by way of its activity within the civilian population, for part of the casualties among uninvolved civilians.”

The Israeli army frequently operates in the Gaza Strip against Palestinian militants, who have fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel since the Hamas militant group took control of Gaza last June. Militants claimed to have fired rockets at Israel before the Abu Meatak house was hit.

And of course the Foreign Press photographers are there to publish gruesome photos like this to expedite Israel’s conviction in the court of public opinion.

What I am not seeing in the mainstream media is this version reported in the Jerusalem Post (hat tip: Shy Guy):

The Palestinian mother and her four children who were killed Monday during IDF ops in Beit Hanun were not hit by a tank shell but rather were killed when ammunition carried by gunmen exploded, Army Radio quoted an IDF source as saying.

According to the unofficial source, the forces operating in the Gaza Strip town identified two gunmen who were carrying large bags. When the soldiers opened fire on them the bags exploded, causing the deaths of the family members.

While this does not constitute proof regarding who killed the palestinians, it certainly provides an alternative explanation worthy of investigation. And given there is doubt regarding how they were killed, the mainstream media should not be reporting their death at the hands of Israel as fact (even if they are including the important IDF explanation that Hamas terrorists are putting civilians at risk by carrying out attacks from residential areas).

Elder of Ziyon adds: As a followup to Aussie Dave’s mentioning the Jerusalem Post’s cautious tone about the source of the fire that killed the Gaza family this morning…

First of all, Beit Hanoun has been the site of numerous Qassam rockets falling short of their targets, and they have damaged many houses and killed people as well.Secondly, Israel did target and kill two terrorists 400 meters from the family home. While sometimes Israel makes mistakes and misses its targets (as apparently happened with the Reuters photographer) this is a pretty wide miss, especially in a populated area where Israel is much more careful.

More interesting is the fact that there were many mortars and rockets shot today from Gaza towards Israel.

Most intriguing is this paragraph from a Ma’an dispatch (that is missing some words in the beginning):

Palestinian fighters unleash barrage of projectiles and mortars at Israeli targets

responsibility on Monday afternoon for launching five homemade projectiles and three mortar shells at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Netiv Ha’asara and at Israeli forces invading Beit Hanoun.

Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (PFLP) military wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said their fighters fired four homemade projectiles at Sderot. They also said they shot and injured an Israeli soldier.

Moreover, the PFLP’s and Fatah’s military wings said their fighters fired mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

For their part, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing five mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

At least four terror groups are claiming responsibility for shooting rockets and mortars in the northern Gaza Strip- which is exactly where Beit Hanoun is.

Right now, the only people claiming that this was an Israeli strike are Palestinian Arabs who are known to automatically blame Israel even when they are being killed by their own fire.

At the very least, it would seem premature to assume that this was Israel’s fault at all.

Update: AP has now made changes to the headline, as well as the report itself.

4 Palestinian children, mother killed in attack in Gaza

An Israeli tank shell slammed into a tiny Gaza Strip home Monday during a skirmish with gunmen, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children as they prepared to sit down for breakfast, Palestinian officials and relatives said.

But the Israeli military said explosives carried by militants were detonated in a clash with the Israelis and “and uninvolved civilians were hit.” Palestinians said the militants were at least 400 yards from the stricken house.

Reuters, however, is still reporting that Israel killed the children.

From commenter Mesow (from Gaza):

Well, I’m not Gazan, but I live here, and I think, being Christian, that Hamas is so close-minded, hateful and showing how strong it is by killing civilians either Israelis or Palestinians, dont think Hamas killed Israelis only, but everyone in its way, and uses little kids (3-15 years old) as shields, being poor, the kids accept to risk their lives and lunch a rocket for just 10-20 shekels! Also, Hamas does NOT show the world what Palestinians really want, they want a country and a peace with Israel, cuz along with Israel, we would live hapily, but Hamas’s authority, rank and forces will be erased, which is not wanted by Hamas people, they want their ranks and money!