Israellycool

British journalist and peace activist Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former British premier Tony Blair who is now an international Middle East peace envoy, shops at a grocery store in Gaza City on September 3, 2008. Booth said today she is trapped in Gaza as Israel refuses to let her leave the Palestinian territory she entered aboard a protest boat. ponders the devastating food shortage in Gaza.

(hat tip: SoccerDad)

But Booth needn’t worry for too long - help is on its way!

International human rights advocates plan to stage another siege-breaking voyage to the Gaza Strip on 22 September after two boats challenged an Israeli military blockade in August.

Palestinian lawmaker Jamal Al-Khudari, head of the Popular Campaign Against the Aiege, announced on Thursday that the activists will set sail from Cyprus, and that the new boat will have on board members of the European Parliament and doctors.

The Boat will also pick up nine international activists who are stranded in Gaza following the first voyage of the Free Gaza Movement. Among the stranded foreigners is British journalist Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

What makes this even more miraculous is that the first voyage alone has the Free Gaza tools $300,000 in debt. Lucky they are all socialists, I guess.

Update: Jamal Al-Khudari, the “Palestinian lawmaker” mentioned above who is obviously in touch with the Free Gaza tools and is helping to coordinate things, is a member of Hamas.

[source]

It’s a little wordy if you ask me.

I showed on my blog that Islamic Jihad graduated a class of terrorists this weekend, and noted how much empty space is in Gaza to allow live-fire demonstrations in front of an audience.

Well, PIJ was not the only terror group to graduate a class of masked terrorists this weekend. So did Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades. As Ma’an puts it:

The fighters are part of the Brigades controlled by Fatah, the party which also controls the caretaker government in the West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is also a member of the party.

The general commander of the Al-Aqsa Brigades and leaders of the Consultation Council (senior leadership of the party who discuss Fatah policy) attended the graduation along with members of other Palestinian factions.

Trainees practiced military shows and skills such as storming buildings and kidnapping soldiers, and demonstrated the launch of rocket-propelled grenades for the ceremony audience.

Al-Aqsa Brigades asserted that the graduation of a class of fighters sends a clear message to Israel that resistance is still a valid choice for freeing Palestinian lands and the Al-Aqsa mosque.

If Al-Aqsa has the freedom to have a public graduation ceremony in Gaza, that means that Hamas is allowing their supposed “sworn enemies” to train militarily. The fact that “other factions” attended the ceremony shows that it is probably not only allowed, but encouraged.

Before the Hamas takeover of Gaza, joint terror attacks between Hamas and Fatah were not unusual.

And while Hamas has shown no compunction about cracking down on groups that show too much independence, Fatah is still allowed to operate freely in some cases.

It seems that while the political wings of Hamas and Fatah are still at odds - Hamas arrests Fatah teachers and civil servants at will - their military wings have no problems with each other, and probably cooperate (along with Islamic Jihad.) This idea is reinforced by the fact that Fatah in Gaza still gets weapons, and all weapons smuggling in Gaza goes through Hamas.

Moreover, Abbas - who is not only a “member” of Fatah but its leader - neither instructs Al Aqsa to attack Hamas nor does he tell them to put down their weapons; rather he is quite happy letting them operate as a terror group together with Hamas and PIJ aimed at fighting Israel while keeping them far enough for plausible deniability so he can get Israel to give him more unilateral concessions.

Just like Arafat.

As Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh embraced the strange, pink-shirted foreign supporter, he instinctively reached down and confirmed his worst fears.

“Please tell me you carry a weapon.”

“We felt we were on a mission… and by the response – we hit a nerve.”

- Israeli terror-enabler Prof. Jeff Halper, who was on board one of the boats that sailed to Gaza yesterday

They sure did.

Update: This PR stunt was not just a waste of time. It was also a waste of money.

According to their website, the terror enablers are still $300,000 out of pocket.

Update: And here’s a picture of one of these terror-enablers hugging arch terrorist, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Pro-peace or anti-Israel? I think the answer is obvious.

Members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ security forces walk around with their guns pointed as they take part in a police training session, in the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

Beware Hamas! If Fatah ever engage you in a ballet dance-off, you will no doubt lose.

Meet Hamas’ handicapped terrorist arm.

Where not every member has one.

I guess one man’s work accident is another man’s recruiting tool.

Update: A potential recruit?

Having already claimed that Qassams fired at Sderot were the actions of “collaborators with Israel”, Hamas are now trying a different approach. Namely the What Qassams? approach.

Islamic Hamas movement said in a statement that Sunday’s rocket attack from Gaza at southern Israel “is an Israeli untrue claim to justify closing Gaza border crossing points.”

The Hamas statement came after Israel Radio’s Arabic service reported that unknown Gaza militants fired a homemade rocket from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip at southern Israel, causing no damages or injuries. No one claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.

The radio quoted Israeli army officials as saying that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, is fully responsible for Sunday’s rocket attack on southern Israel and might face adverse consequences.

“Announcing from time to time that rockets are still fired from Gaza at Israel, is just an untrue claim to justify keeping Gaza Strip border crossing points with Israel closed,” Hamas said in the statement sent to reporters.

Coming soon: Hamas claims the IDF is firing Qassams at Sderot.

Another Ma’an News goodie:

Those who launched homemade projectiles at Sderot on Monday are “collaborators with Israel,” senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar told Sawt Al-Quds radio station on Tuesday morning.

Zahhar was referring to the homemade rocket that struck the Israeli border town on Monday afternoon, triggering Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s decision to lock down the Gaza Strip’s borders. The projectile caused no injuries or physical damage.

“With regards to firing projectiles, I think those who were behind it are traitors because all Palestinian factions agreed to the ceasefire, and those who did that have contacts with Israel who wants to use that as a pretext to exert pressure on the Palestinian people,” said Zahhar.

“The Israelis want to combine this issue with the prisoners swap, and we refused that from the beginning. However, the Israelis are trying to maintain this policy, and that is serious because once it continues, people might be pushed out of the ceasefire agreement.” Zahhar added.

It’s genius, isn’t it? We hire palestinians to fire rockets at our cities and put our citizens in harms way, just so we can then use this as an excuse to blame the palestinians for breaking the “ceasefire.” Which you all know we react to with overwhelming force.

I guess our insidious plans were as clear to Zahar as the nose on his face wart on his nose.

With the events of the last week in Gaza, even a major newspaper of an enemy country like Lebanon’s The Daily Star sees Israel’s humanity and the palestinian’s brutality.

It is a damning indication of just how bad things have become in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip when Fatah militants there must look to Israel for protection from their Palestinian rivals. The Jewish state announced on Monday that it would help a group of 150 Fatah fighters who had fled weekend clashes in Gaza relocate to the West Bank, after determining that they would face “imminent danger” if they were to return home. The scenes of Israel coming to the rescue of Palestinians after a bout of Arab fratricide were reminiscent of the events of Black September, during which scores of Palestinians sought asylum in Israel to escape King Hussein’s crackdown on the Palestine Liberation Organization. The only difference this time around is that instead of seeking refuge from a heavy-handed Arab crackdown, Palestinians are fleeing from the murderous hands of their own Palestinian brothers.

Achievement of the Palestinian cause requires that all factions maintain a semblance of orderliness and keep their eyes on the price of independent statehood. In this both Fatah and Hamas have been miserable failures. Both have put partisan interests ahead of national ones and therefore have failed to maintain anything like a united Palestinian front. Even the mediation attempts of Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia have not been enough to curb the political infighting and internecine bloodshed that have served to further threaten the Palestinians’ very right to existence.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has been deteriorating since the international community callously decided to punish an entire people for having exercised their democratic rights in the legislative elections of January 2006. But the Hamas movement is now exacerbating the situation by undermining the rule of law in the territory. After accusing its Fatah rivals of carrying out a deadly bombing late last week that killed five Hamas leaders and a little girl, the Islamist party launched what can be only be described as a witch-hunt, rounding up some 200 Fatah activists. Fatah provided an equally bad example of governance in the West Bank when it retaliated against the move by rounding up scores of people it branded “Hamas activists,” including many judges, students and activists who have no known affiliation with the Islamist party. On both sides of divided Palestine, civilians must now add Fatah and Hamas to the long list of threats to their security and wellbeing.

The events of the last week are just the most recent example of how the situation in the Occupied Territories has gone from bad to worse under the watchful eyes of elected Palestinian “representatives.” Hundreds of people were killed last year when the two groups allowed their rivalry to degenerate into street violence. Hundreds more were prevented from going about their normal activities such as attending school, going to work or expressing political views.

Over the past few days the two Palestinian factions seem to be close to repeated the same disastrous mistakes. We have seen Palestinians denigrating the legitimacy of other Palestinians, Palestinians making war on other Palestinians, and Palestinians arresting other Palestinians, while the Jewish state has come to the rescue of those Palestinians who fear for their lives. Israel has never looked so good.

It’s been a Fatah vs Hamas bloodbath today, with 4 killed and 80 wounded, including 12 children.

But according to the palestinian Ma’an News Agency, the real news is the leg injury sustained by a Fatah clan member.

Hillis family shot in leg by Israel near Nahal Oz crossing after day of Hamas/Fatah clashes in Gaza City

According to Al-Jazira Ahmad Hillis, head of a Fatah-affiliated family in Gaza City, was shot in the leg during clashes next to Nahal Oz crossing. Reports say that Israeli soldiers shot him as he approached the crossing area.

Clashes between the family and the de facto Hamas-led government police lasted all day Saturday, and saw the deaths of two Hamas-affiliated security officers and two others who have not been identified. More than 80 people have been injured including more than 12 children, says Khalid Radi, the spokesperson of de facto ministry of health.

Because you can’t let a day go by without blaming Israel.

Despite the fact that this leg injury is hardly the important story of the day, there is another problem with it.

It’s not true.

In fact, not only did Israel not shoot Ahmad Hillis and his clan, but we actually allowed them into Israel.

More than two dozens members of the Fatah-linked Hilles clan fled the Gaza Strip on Saturday and entered Israel, after a day of clashes with the ruling Hamas faction had left at least four people dead and more than 80 wounded.

Israeli officials said Saturday that the Hilles clan members were allowed through a Gaza crossing into Israel, speaking on condition of anonymity since no official announcement had been made.

Clan leader and senior Fatah official Ahmed Hilles was among those who had reached Israel, according to a Palestinian official close to the events.

Meanwhile, notice how the usual voices condemning Israel when palestinians die after we target terrorists are silent while the palestinians kill each other. The reason is simple, really. They do not condemn Israel because of their great love for the palestinians, but rather because of their hate for Israel.

Come to think of it, I wonder if anyone is going to condemn Israel for Ahmad Hillis’ “leg injury.”

Ha’aretz has a fascinating article on the son of a Hamas leader who has turned his back on their murderous ways, converted to Christianity, and moved to California.

Needless to say, he’s also a big fan of Israel.

A moment before beginning his supper, Masab, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, glances at the friend who has accompanied him to the restaurant where we met. They whisper a few words and then say grace, thanking God and Jesus for putting food on their plates.

It takes a few seconds to digest this sight: The son of a Hamas MP who is also the most popular figure in that extremist Islamic organization, a young man who assisted his father for years in his political activities, has become a rank-and-file Christian. “I’m now called Joseph,” he says at the outset.

Masab knows that he has little hope of returning to visit the Holy Land in this lifetime.

“I know that I’m endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he’ll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I’ll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God.”

Nor does he attempt to hide his affection for Israel, or his abhorrence of everything representing the surroundings in which he grew up: the nation, the religion, the organization.

“Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country,” he says.

“You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death.”

Is that the justification for the suicide attacks?

“More than that. An entire society sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheikhs tell their students about the ‘heroism of the shaheeds.’”

And yet, in spite of the criticism of the place he left, California can’t make the longings disappear.

“I miss Ramallah,” he says. “People with an open mind. … I mainly miss my mother, my brothers and sisters, but I know that it will be very difficult for me to return to Ramallah soon.”

Of course, despite Masab’s credentials, I somehow doubt his acknowledgment of Hamas’ aims, as well as his admiration for Israel, will make a difference to Jimmy Carter and company.

Updates: Ma’an has now noticed Masab’s “rejection of Palestinian resistance.” Their report includes this picture of daddy.