Israel & Palestinian

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There are many theories about the Ark of the Covenant. I have no clue to which, is correct. I just know the Lord always provides when the time is right.

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Fatah 'ready to unite with Hamas'

Top minister in Abbas' government says Fatah would join ranks with Islamist group if it agrees to share power in Gaza Strip or if Israel launches major attack there. 'We must stand together to fight the occupation,' he says
Aaron Klein, WND

JERUSALEM – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization would join ranks with the Hamas terror group if it agreed to share power in the Gaza Strip or if Israel launched a major attack in Gaza, a member of Abbas' government told WND on Thursday during an exclusive interview.

"If Hamas agrees to stop their coup in Gaza then why shouldn't we (Fatah) be together with them? We are open for dialogue and reconciliation," said Qadura Fares, a member of the PA parliament and a top minister in Abbas' government.

Fares' remarks come one week after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed at last week's US-sponsored Annapolis summit to aim at concluding an agreement with Abbas by next year in which the Jewish state is widely expected to evacuate swaths of the strategic West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, handing the territories to Abbas.

Fares' statements also come as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday asked Congress to approve a $400 million aid package, stating the massive new proposed funding was meant to boost Abbas against Hamas.

Fares told WND today if Israel launched an attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Fatah should come to Hamas' aid even if the group doesn't agree to a power share in Gaza.

"Fatah will try to defend Gaza if Hamas is attacked there by Israel. We must stand together to fight the occupation," said Fares.

'Begin non-conditional dialogue'

Hamas last year won a majority of Palestinian parliamentary seats and forged a national unity government with Abbas' Fatah party which was maintained until Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip this past summer, seizing all US-backed Fatah security compounds in the territory in less than seven days.

Since then, the US reportedly has provided emergency aid, including funds and weapons shipments, to bolster Abbas against Hamas in the West Bank.

But there have been reports Hamas and Fatah might reconcile.

According to Fatah political sources speaking to WND, the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian governments have been moderating between their party and Hamas in an attempt to reform a Palestinian unity government. The sources said Abbas set as a precondition for reconciliation Hamas giving up its seizure of Gaza and has expressed willingness to allow Egyptian forces to control Fatah's former compounds in Gaza instead of Fatah forces immediately entering the territory.

The Fatah sources said Abbas did not ask Hamas to recognize Israel or agree to commitments expressed at last week's Annapolis as a precondition for any reconciliation.

Meanwhile some Fatah officials are reportedly urging Abbas to rejoin Hamas without any preconditions. Yesterday, members of Fatah's revolutionary voted for Abbas to hold unconditional and immediate talks with Hamas aimed at a new unity government.

In response, Hamas leader in Gaza and deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh today renewed his previous calls for dialogue with Abbas.

"We believe it is necessary to immediately begin a non-conditional dialogue that will work to heal the Palestinian wounds," said Haniyeh.

Fatah 'ready to unite with Hamas'

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Israel livid as pilgrims cross Rafah
Yaakov Katz
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 6, 2007

Amid concerns that terrorists were allowed to leave Gaza and travel abroad for training in Iran, Israel has filed a complaint with Cairo after Egypt allowed 1,700 Palestinians to pass through the Rafah Crossing to make the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

On Monday, for the first time since Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza in June, Egypt unilaterally opened the Rafah border terminal and allowed 700 Palestinians, who claimed to be religious pilgrims on their way to Mecca, to pass through. On Tuesday, another 1,000 crossed through the terminal.

"This is a clear breach of agreements we have made with the Egyptians," a senior diplomatic official said Wednesday, in reference to the November 2005 agreement under which the Rafah Crossing was opened. The official said the unilateral opening of the border had been preceded by another breach of agreements in October, when Egypt allowed 85 Hamas operatives to cross back into Gaza after cutting a hole in the border fence.

IDF intelligence estimates released Wednesday indicated that up to a couple of dozen Hamas terrorists were among the so-called pilgrims Egypt allowed out of the Gaza Strip. In recent years, hundreds of Hamas terrorists have traveled abroad to Iran and Lebanon for military training, and officials said it was possible that these terrorists would do the same.

Once the 1,700 Palestinians return to the border to reenter Gaza, they will join another 2,000 Palestinians who have been waiting near the border crossing since Hamas seized control of the Strip in June. Military Intelligence believes there are a number of wanted terrorists within that group as well.

In response to the increasing number of violations, the Foreign Ministry filed a harsh complaint with Cairo, and senior defense officials are scheduled to travel to Egypt in the coming week for talks about the recent events.

In addition to allowing Palestinians to pass through the Rafah Crossing, Israel is also upset with the Egyptians' continued failure to curb the smuggling of weapons and explosives via tunnels into the Gaza Strip. According to recent assessments, since Hamas's takeover, the terror group has smuggled into Gaza 100 tons of explosives, millions of bullets, hundreds of anti-tank missiles and even a small number of Katyusha rockets.

A delegation of American military engineers recently toured the Egyptian side of the Philadelphi Corridor and was shown a number of tunnels that the Egyptians tried to portray as being too small for weapons-smuggling. According to Israeli officials, the delegation was not convinced and demanded that Cairo take more decisive action against the smuggling industry.

"We have no doubt that if they only wanted to, they are capable of curbing the smuggling," a defense official said.

Israel livid as pilgrims cross Rafah

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PLC passes law to make any concessions on J'lem illegal
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST    Dec. 6, 2007

The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council is pushing through a bill that would make it illegal to make any concessions on Jerusalem.

The bill, which passed its first reading on Thursday, also defines such concessions as a crime of high treason.

Presented by Hamas legislator Ahmed Abu Halbiyeh on behalf of two parliamentary committees - the judicial committee and the committee for Jerusalem affairs - the bill is expected to pass in second and third readings in the coming days.

The PLC session was boycotted by many members of the rival Fatah faction in protest of Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last June.

However, many Fatah legislators have made it known that they too support the law, which states that Jerusalem is a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic city and that it is totally forbidden to give up or conduct negotiations about any part of the city.

According to the proposed law, anyone who violates these prohibitions would be prosecuted as a traitor.

The bill still requires the approval of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said Ahmed Bahar, acting speaker of the PLC. He said the law would be presented to Abbas after it passed second and third readings.

The law is intended to embarrass Abbas and ties his hands on the eve of the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on core issues, including the future status of Jerusalem. Hamas officials said Abbas would have no other option but to endorse the law.

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a top aide to Abbas, said in response that, as far as the PA was concerned, Jerusalem was a "red line" that cannot be crossed.

Abbas told supporters in Ramallah Thursday that he did not go to Annapolis to make concessions. "There are some people who are trying to distort the truth," he said. "They are saying that we went to Annapolis to sell our cause, negotiate and sign agreements. But we went there to convey our principle and fixed positions."

Abbas said the Palestinian delegation to Annapolis faced many "obstacles." These included demands to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to relinquish the rights of the Palestinian refugees, he added.

Abbas also revealed that he and his team rejected the idea of establishing a Palestinian state with temporary borders for fear that the borders would one day become permanent.

"The Palestinian people want a state in the 1967 borders, including Jerusalem," he stressed. "We also want a solution to the problem of the refugees in accordance with the Arab peace initiative and United Nations resolution 194."

Abbas reiterated his readiness to talk to Hamas, but only after the Islamist movement relinquishes control over the Gaza Strip.

"What Hamas did [in the Gaza Strip] was a disaster for the Palestinians," he said. "This was an evil coup that was carried out by the prime minister and interior minister in the deposed [Hamas] government. But we are not opposed to dialogue with Hamas. Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian people."

PLC passes law to make any concessions on J'lem illegal

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Abbas told supporters in Ramallah Thursday that he did not go to Annapolis to make concessions. "There are some people who are trying to distort the truth," he said. "They are saying that we went to Annapolis to sell our cause, negotiate and sign agreements. But we went there to convey our principle and fixed positions."

Psalm 59:7 Behold, they belch out [insults] with their mouths; swords [of sarcasm, ridicule, slander, and lies] are in their lips, for who, they think, hears us?

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Hitler a Hero on Palestinian Authority Radio
 
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) A Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a laudatory biography of Adolf Hitler replete with his military victories, heroism and no mention of the Holocaust.

"His golden year was 1940, when his armies invaded Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Holland, and Belgium and defeated France…By mid 1942, his country controlled the largest land area in Europe…He refused to surrender and continued to fight for two more years, but, his bitter end came in the spring of 1945 when he took his own life…Who is he?" was the question broadcast as a Voice of Palestine radio contest on November 27.

The question was part of the official Palestinian Authority-run radio’s Ramadan quiz - rebroadcast this past week,  and documented by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

The broadcast presents Hitler heroically, detailing his two Medals of Honor in World War I, his rise to power, his launching of World War II and specifies country after country that he conquered.

“Not surprisingly, though citing his victories and 'bitter' fall in great detail, the Holocaust is not mentioned,” the latest PMW report states. “This is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history." A recent PMW report on the new 12th grade PA history schoolbook showed that many pages were dedicated to the history of World War II and even to Nazi racism, but neither Jews nor the Holocaust were mentioned.

According to the PMW report, “t is important to understand that the revulsion of Hitler expected in the West is not true in Palestinian society. Palestinians can be found who are named "Hitler" as a first name: Hitler Salah [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 28, 2005], Hitler Abu-Alrab [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Jan. 27, 2005], Hitler Mahmud Abu-Libda [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Dec.18, 2000.] Articles have appeared in both Fatah and Hamas newspapers which demonstrate Hitler's admired status.”

The Voice of Palestine contest offered a prize of 600 shekels to the person who guessed Hitler's name.

Long History of PA Adulation of Hitler
Admiration of Hitler in PA newspapers is nothing new. A PA newspaper which proudly listed the ways in which different foreign leaders singled out the Arabs of Israel as examples of ideal revolutionaries proudly began the article with a quote from Adolf Hitler:

"Adolf Hitler, while exciting the Germans of the Sudetenland - the Sudetenland is a German province that the Allies had annexed to Czechoslovakia after the First World War - told them in his broadcasts: Look at what the Palestinian revolutionaries are doing to Great Britain!!"
[Al-Rissala (Hamas Weekly), May 18, 2006]

The phenomenon of PA Arabs being named after Hitler was explained in an article in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah) on April 13, 2000:

"Even Adolf Hitler, who after the fall of Nazi Germany turned into a political horror for most of the writers and artists, during the last decades has started to return himself to his part of the picture. There are some in Britain who defended Hitler and tried to do justice for him. There are elderly people, among them Arabs, who still carry the name Hitler since their fathers, who were charmed by him, linked them [their children] with his name."

The admiration for Hitler is consistent with the status of Mein Kampf, which a PA daily cited as a best-seller in PA-controlled areas [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 2, 1999].

Historic Nazi Ties
The Hitler - Arab alliance during World War II is a factor in the continued admiration for Hitler apparent in PA society. Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Arab leader in pre-state Israel under the British Mandate, was a staunch ally of Hitler. The meetings between the Mufti and Hitler are well documented.

“Those Were the Days”
The PMW report closes with the translation of an interview from a PA daily of Sheikh Ali Hussein Abu-Ibrahim, a Palestinian resident of Lebanon who claims he is 116 years old and describing his professed friendship with Hitler, as well as his pride in fighting for the Nazi leader. “Whereas this is a personal account whose historical accuracy is not important, what is significant is the positive, even proud attitude about his friendship with Hitler, that is being expressed so routinely,” the report states:

"Question: What are the important events in your life that left the biggest impression?”

“Answer: The first was the Hitler event. I met him in Jerusalem in one of the Turkish Army camps, and the friendship between us was very tight. At the time, I was a sergeant while Hitler was a simple private. The relationship between us tightened even more once Turkey entered the war together with Germany. The second event was when I participated [with the Nazi army] in entering France and conquering it. I was in charge of the cannon that shelled Paris, which had an active influence on the fall of the French capital and its conquest without any notable resistance. Hitler congratulated me on this shelling and its consequences… As an artillery officer, I took part in many operations against the English and France, until the end of the Second World-War …"

Hitler a Hero on Palestinian Authority Radio

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Go west - or become Palestinian
By Lily Gal ili
December 06, 2007 Kislev 26, 5768

In the next few weeks, about 80,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, who have remained imprisoned on the eastern side of the separation barrier, will receive a surprising envelope. In it they will find a Palestinian passport issued by the One Home movement, which is promoting the idea of their returning to inside the Green Line (the pre-1967 Six-Day War border). More precisely, the letter originates in the consulting firm of Motti Morel and Ronen Tzur, who are in charge of One Home's campaign. Presumably many of the addressees will see the letter as a provocation. For others the passport will concretize their feeling that their country has left them on the wrong side of the fence.

In recent days the "evacuation-compensation" idea, which has been boiling beneath the surface ever since the law was first formulated by MKs Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) and Colette Avital (Labor), has erupted into public discourse. This fact in and of itself does not ensure the success or failure of the move. The fact that the initiative has now been adopted by Defense Minister Ehud Barak does afford it another dimension. Even if he did embrace the law in his role as a Labor Party chairman looking for an agenda, his position and status as defense minister accord more importance to the fate of 80,000 people.

"It isn't by chance that Barak has come out with this now of all times," says MK Vilan. "It's worth it to him. Instead of being pushed to evacuate settlements by force, here he has a plan for a larger voluntary evacuation. According to our measures, there are currently about 40,000 people who are prepared - and even want - to evacuate willingly. It is also possible to bear the price: It is a matter of a first stage amounting to $2 billion spread out over five years. There are already foreign donors for our movement, who are prepared to provide financial help for such a move."
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Incognito inquiry

In the shadow of the disengagement and the Second Lebanon War, the evacuation-compensation initiative dropped from the public agenda. But quiet activity continued behind the scenes. Vilan and Avital met with groups of settlers, and were sometimes subjected to curses. Presumably the 2005 disengagement from Gush Katif (the settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip), and afterward from Amona (in the West Bank) served as a catalyst: The state proved that not only was it capable of evacuating, but that it knows how to do so violently. The experience furthermore conveyed, and not only to the evacuees, that those who once were the state's darlings can become a nuisance to it in the blink of an eye. There was a quiet increase in the queries to the public movement One Home, which was established in 2005 in the wake of the legislation. Recently, the organization has received up to 2,000 queries - some letters, some e-mails - from people who want to learn more about the conditions for evacuation-compensation.

Michal Steinman, who has collected the applications and replied to them, has noticed two prominent phenomena: The majority of these queries have been unsigned, most likely because the writers are afraid of hostile or violent reactions from their neighbors, as has happened in the past to those who identified themselves. The other commonality concerns terminology: "We are being abandoned," "We are hostages," "They have turned us into bargaining chips." There is also a feeling of "living on packing crates," even if this is still metaphoric. Some describe at length the isolation to which the new reality condemns them, the friends who no longer come over and the alienation of being cut off from grandchildren who don't come to visit any more.

The Annapolis conference has brought this subject back to the center of the public arena. During the preparatory stages for the conference, when it was clear that Israel had to come up with "something," evacuation-compensation was pulled out as a worthy initiative that could be proposed. Vilan presented the law to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who promised to have a look at it; Vice Premier Haim Ramon, who had joined the initiative at the start of the One Home activity, spoke about it with Olmert. Minister Without Portfolio Ami Ayalon thought that bringing it up at Annapolis would have significance both for the Israeli public and for the international community. He made similar comments to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "It is better that you evaluate me according to the number of Israelis who move from east to west than according to the amount of force invested into an operation to evacuate three settlers from one illegal outpost," he told her. He also thinks that this kind of matter cannot come as a private members' bill, but should rather be in the form of a law proposed by the government.

Since embarking on his activity in One Home, Ayalon has become a Knesset member and now also serves as government minister. Yet he is not at all disturbed by the fact that instead of formulating a policy and acting in accordance with it, both the Knesset and the government are in fact tempting citizens. "I don't see what the problem is," he says, rejecting the accusation. "We tempted the settlers to go there and now the appropriate thing to do is to avoid forced evacuation. A country enforces its laws as a last resort. When we arrive at a diplomatic agreement, we will have to enforce. In the meantime, it is best to be 'wise' rather than 'justified.' Such a move also sends a message to Palestinian society - the Israelis are moving westward and not eastward."

Crisis of confidence

On Sunday of this week, a working meeting of the One Home team was convened at the Morel-Tzur offices. On the agenda was the continuation of the campaign. During the course of the discussion, an employee came in and put a piece of paper on the table. It was only after several minutes that someone took a look at the paper and identified the unexpected asset that had come into their hands: The paper was a printout from the government meeting that had occurred at the same time, during the course of which Barak had declared his support for a voluntary evacuation-compensation arrangement.

cont'd next post

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At first the strategic advisors were a bit scornful of Barak's uncharacteristic haste in adopting an agenda that the Labor Party had so lacked; then they were already imagining the settlers' requests for evacuation-compensation arriving at the defense minister's bureau, as part of a campaign they were now formulating. "Barak took an idea around which he can gather a consensus of left and center, and even parts of the right," says strategic advisor Tzur. "A form requesting compensation is being added to the Palestinian passport sent to the settlers in those areas. We will pass the completed forms on to the Defense Minister's Bureau."

However, the initiative is being promoted at a time of a profound crisis of confidence between the public and its government. The continuing neglect in finding housing solutions for the Gush Katif evacuees is proving corrosive, and not only at the level of the evacuees' trust. The crisis of confidence, which has grown more profound since the Second Lebanon War, comprises far larger public sectors. This atmosphere could deter even those settlers who do want to evacuate.

Vilan is not worried. According to him, the law he proposed together with Avital is much simpler than the evacuation-compensation that applied to Gush Katif and is not expected to cause problems of that sort. Morel sums up the difference with undisguised irony: "Precisely the opposite," he says. "The government has indeed proven that it is incapable of doing anything, apart from writing a check. And this is exactly what will be required of it in the evacuation-compensation law. A person will bring a note from the government, saying that he is evacuating a home and he will receive a check in retun. This process is so simple that even the present government can implement it."

This view is not shared by Lior Kalfa, the former chairman of the Gush Katif Settlers Committee and currently the chairman of the settlers' lobby. To this day he is living in the transit station at Nitzan and only now are they beginning to prepare the plot on which his home will be built. He is advising the settlers not to move, both because of his ideological perspective as well as from accumulated experience. "They should look at us," he says, "at families that are collapsing, at the psychological breakage. No money in the world can compensate for all of that."

He is advising the settlers on the other side of the separation fence not to hasten to be evacuated, for completely practical reasons, too: "The current reality as well as all the research studies show that even in a situation of expulsion, the struggle up until the last moment pays off psychologically. The settlers who fought until the bitter end are in better psychological shape than those who wanted to arrive at an arrangement with the state at an early stage." The argument is not limited to the realm of the psyche: "Settlements that insisted on staying until the last moment received more."

The Palestinian passport that will be sent to the settlers along with the evacuation-compensation application form will also be accompanied by a letter that will outline the emerging reality: evacuation-compensation or life under Palestinian rule. It will also contain a warning about the inability of the separation fence to protect the inhabitants on the other side of it. "If the Israel Defense Forces did not succeed in protecting Netzarim, are they going to defend 80,000 people?" the letter will ask.

What should have been the government's job is being handled by a public movement, which is basing its proposal on the government's inability to protect its citizens.

Go west - or become Palestinian

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Israel allows return of Bethlehem 'Nativity terrorists'
Jihadists took over believed birthplace of Jesus, accused of Christian persecution
Posted: December 6, 2007
12:49 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to a Palestinian request for senior terrorist leaders expelled to Europe after seizing Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in 2002 to return to Bethlehem, a top Palestinian negotiator told WND.

The terrorists, members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah militias, long have been accused of engaging in campaigns against Bethlehem's Christian population. The terrorists are accused of carrying out and planning multiple attacks, including suicide bombings and deadly shootings.

Olmert is strongly considering allowing the terrorists to return as a gesture toward Abbas following last month's U.S.-backed Annapolis summit, the Palestinian negotiator said. At Annapolis, Olmert committed to aim at concluding an agreement with the Palestinians by the end of next year in which Israel is widely expected to evacuate the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Mark Regev, Olmert's spokesman, said he could not confirm the report the Nativity terrorists could return, but he also refused to deny the information.

In 2002, members of Jaara's group and other terror organizations holed up inside the Church of the Nativity while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure. Gunmen inside included wanted senior Hamas, Tanzim and Brigades terrorists reportedly involved in suicide bombings and shooting attacks. More than 200 nuns and priests were trapped in the church after Israeli hostage negotiators failed to secure their release.

The siege ended after 39 days when mediators agreed the 13 most senior terrorists would be deported to European countries, 26 more junior terrorists would be transported to the Gaza Strip and the remaining gunmen would be freed.

The Nativity church, one of the most sacred sites in Christianity, is the believed birthplace of Jesus.

In August, Israeli media and WND reported Olmert agreed to eventually allow the 26 terrorists in Gaza to return to the West Bank.

According to the senior Palestinian negotiator speaking to WND today, Olmert has also agreed to allow the 13 senior terror leaders in Europe to return to the Palestinian areas; first the terrorists will reside in the Gaza Strip and eventually be allowed to reintegrate into the West Bank, the negotiator said.

One of the 13 exiled terrorists, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity, confirmed he received a call from the PA informing him he would soon be allowed to return to Gaza.

According to media reports, the terrorists holed up inside the Nativity church left the holy site in shambles.

Four Greek monks told the Washington Times the Palestinian gunmen holed up with them seized church stockpiles of food and "ate like greedy monsters" until the food ran out, while the trapped civilians went hungry. The terrorists also were accused of guzzling beer, wine and Johnny Walker scotch that they found in the priests' quarters.

A Roman Catholic priest told the Times some Bibles were torn up and used as toilet paper, and many valuable sacramental objects were removed.

The senior Nativity terrorists exiled to Europe who may return include:

Jihad Jaara: Served as chief of the Al Aqsa martyrs Brigades terror group in Bethlehem. The Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, took responsibility for scores of suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks. Jaara is accused of planning multiple bombings and has boasted to WND about sending a suicide bomber to Jerusalem's Malcha Mall, the city's largest shopping center. That bombing was foiled when the bomber's explosive belt detonated prematurely.

Ibrahim Moussa Salem Abayat: Abayat was born in 1973 and served as the chief of the Fatah Tanzim terrorist organization in Bethlehem. He boasted about orchestrating and participating in shooting and mortar attacks on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo and on Jewish-used Bethlehem bypass roads.

According to Israeli security officials, Abayat was involved in the following deadly terror attacks: Sept. 20, 2001, shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle near Tekoa in which Israeli Sarit Amrani was murdered; July 16, 2001, detonation of an explosive charge on the Beit Safafa-Talpiot bridge inside Jerusalem; Jan. 15, 2002, abduction and murder of Avi Boaz, a U.S. citizen residing in Israel. Feb, 18, 2002, detonation of a car bomb at the Zaim checkpoint, resulting in the death of an Israeli policeman; Feb. 25, 2002, shooting attack at an Israeli vehicle close to the Tekoa junction in which Israelis Avraham Fisch and Aharon Gorov of Nokdim were killed and Tamar Lipschitz, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was wounded; March 2, 2002, shooting attack at a vehicle south of Jerusalem, in which dental technician Devorah Friedman, mother of four, was murdered; June 14, 2002, murder of Israeli intelligence officer Yehuda Edri.

Ibrahim Mohammed Salem Abayat: Abayat, born in 1961, was an operative of both the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas. Israeli security officials tell WND Abayat's apartment was used to make bombs. They said he financed terrorist shootings and planned attacks against civilians in Jerusalem. Abayat also was personally involved in shooting at Gilo and at the IDF in Bethlehem.

Abdullah Daoud Mohammed Abdullah Khader: Daoud, born in 1962, served as the head of the Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence apparatus in the West Bank city of Nablus and as a senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader. He is accused of providing assistance and instructions to senior Fatah Tanzim operatives. He operated a terrorist cell in Nablus and took part in several attacks, including a Feb. 25, 2002, attack in which two men were murdered and a pregnant woman was severely wounded.

Mohammed Said Atallah Salem: Salem, born in 1979, was a senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander. Israel says he was directly involved in the following attacks: January 26, 2002, dispatch of a suicide bomber to the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem; Feb.18, 2002, detonation of a car bomb by a suicide bomber on a Maale Adumim road, killing an Israeli policeman; March 2, 2002, suicide bombing in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem killing 11 Israelis, among them four children, and wounding dozens more; and the March 29, 2002, suicide bombing of a supermarket in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel in which an Israeli security guard and a teenage Israeli girl were killed in the attack and about 12 more were wounded.

Mohammed Fouzi Mohammed Muhaneh: Muhaneh, born in 1980, was an Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terrorist. He served as a member of Fatah's Special Forces and received U.S. training. Muhaneh has been involved in numerous attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in the Bethlehem area, which have included shooting and mortar attacks at military and civilian targets. Israel says Muhaneh used his U.S. training to provide members of his terrorist cell with personal training and instruction in the use of firearms and taught them how to produce and use pipe bomb attacks.

Rami Kamel Eid Kamel: Kamel, a resident of Bethlehem, was born in 1980, and, according to Israel, was one of the primary Al Aqsa Brigades terrorists behind shooting attacks and mortar fire directed against civilian residents of southern Jerusalem. He carried out systematic sniper and mortar attacks against Gilo as well as shooting attacks against Israeli civilian and military vehicles on the Bethlehem bypass roads. Kamel took part in the murder of an IDF truck driver, Sgt. Max Hazan, Oct.2, 2000, at point-blank range and was personally involved in a Feb. 11, 2001, shooting attack against an Israeli civilian vehicle south of Gilo in which Israeli civilian Tzachi Sasson was murdered.

Khaled Mohammed Abd el Hamid Abu Najimeh: Abu Najimeh, born in 1968, was a Brigades leader based in Bethlehem responsible for a number of fatal terrorist attacks, including a Jerusalem suicide bombing that killed an Israeli woman. He dispatched two suicide bombers to attack an Israeli soccer game, but the terrorists detonated their charged before reaching their objective.

Annan Mohammed Hamis Tanjeh: Tanjeh, born in 1978, was a Bethlehem-based Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades leader responsible for carrying out shooting attacks against a Jerusalem tunnel route, against Gilo and IDF forces around Bethlehem.

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This is a crazy day for news today......................

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New PA Law: Negotiating Jerusalem is an Act of Treason
 
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) The PA legislature has passed the first reading of a law forbidding any concessions in, or even negotiations regarding, Jerusalem.

Ahmed Bahar, a leading Hamas member and the Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Authority parliament, announced Thursday that the body had passed a first reading of a "Jerusalem bill."  The legislation, proposed by Hamas parliament member Ahmed Abu Hilbiya, absolutely bans giving up any part of Jerusalem.

The bill states that Jerusalem, according to its "borders recognized during the period of the Islamic Khalifate," is "Palestinian, Arab, Islamic land."  It further avers that all of Jerusalem, "including its archaeological sites and the sites that are holy to Islam and Christianity, are waqf (dedicated in sanctity) for Palestinian, Arab and Islamic generations."  This would appear to include not only the Temple Mount, but also the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, and the City of David.

The new PA bill also states that it is forbidden to discuss, cede, or negotiate over any part of Jerusalem, or hold a referendum on this matter - and that if such negotiations or votes are held, they are null and void in advance.  Anyone who violates the above provisions on behalf of the PA will be considered guilty of treason, the bill states, and will be liable to the relevant punishments.

The PA legislature will convene "soon," Bahar said, to pass the law's second reading, after which it will be passed on to PA chairman and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas for his signature.

Jewish People and Jerusalem
The Jewish People have taken a similar stance regarding Jerusalem, even if Israel's government has lagged somewhat behind.  In July 1980, the Knesset approved the Jerusalem Law, determining that "complete and united Jerusalem is Israel's capital."  However, current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that "the Government of Israel has a sovereign right to negotiate anything on behalf of Israel." He made his position clear that Jews outside Israel had no right to participate in decisions about the future of Jerusalem.

At a prayer vigil in Chicago just prior to the Annapolis conference last week, religious Jews of all stripes stood together in prayer for Jerusalem.  The message, as stated by Young Israel's Rabbi Pesach Lerner, was clear: "Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] is not for discussion, Yerushalayim is not for sale, Yerushalayim must remain undivided forever."

Agudath Israel of America adopted a blunt resolution at its 85th national convention the day stating, "Israel must not relinquish parts of Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty, and the American government must not pressure the Israeli government into doing so."

The Orthodox Union (OU) declared it had no intention of dictating policy to Israel, but expressed its "resolute stand" that all Jews in the world have a share in "the holy city of Jerusalem."

The Coordinating Council on Jerusalem stated unequivocally, "World Jewry opposes Israeli negotiations which would include any discussion of ceding sovereignty over part or all of Jerusalem."

Before news of the new PA law was learned, Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz - somewhat of a hawk within Kadima - stated at a Kadima Party Chanukah candle lighting ceremony Thursday evening, "Jerusalem must remain united as Israel's capital forever."

Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu of the Likud said on Thursday, "The People of Israel has spilled blood and tears; it did not sacrifice its most precious sons in ancient times, nor now, just so the current government could give up Jerusalem.  We will not let such a thing happen.  The Temple Mount is in our hands, and must remain in our hands."

New PA Law: Negotiating Jerusalem is an Act of Treason
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God has His own way of dealing with the likes of this hamas leader, and his terrorist allies!!

[Shammu]

Israeli Arab leader to PA: Don't recognize Israel as Jewish state

Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Authority representatives gather in Nazareth Friday for Hadash party annual convention. Head of Higher Arab Monitoring Committee says Arabs in Israel pay heavy price for country's definition as Jewish state

Sharon Roffe-Ofir
Published: 12.07.07, 22:32
Israel News

The Palestinian Authority must not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, head of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee Shawki Khatib said Friday during a Hadash party annual convention in Nazareth.

Hundreds of the party's supporters, including PLO and Palestinian Authority representatives, attended the gathering, which marked 30 years since the movement's establishment.

According to Khatib, Israeli Arabs in Israel have been pushed to the margins due to the country's definition as Jewish state, and are paying a heavy price for this. He urged PA envoys who attended the event not to comply with Israel's demand for such recognition.

Responding to Khatib's statement, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who spoke at the event's opening ceremony, said that he would not "apply for membership in the Zionist movement."

"When Livni presented this demand," Erekat said, "I asked her, 'Why do you ask for such a thing when you can do this on your own using basic laws?' But some say that Israel is trying to get rid of the refugees issue before it is even discussed."

Erekat referred to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, saying that "the Hamas revolution will end once a Palestinian state is established, but if no such state is founded, the situation in the West Bank may become worrying."

Erekat also claimed that any recognition in Israel would be motivated by "pragmatic reasons" alone. 

Abbas: Palestinians must unite

One of the PA's representatives read out a message from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in which the leader stressed that the Palestinian people would not be able to regain their rights without first achieving internal unity.

"Hamas will realize that in order to renew negotiations, the Palestinian people had better be united again," Abbas wrote. Referring to Hadash, the president stated that the party was home to "the true and most prominent leadership of Palestinians in Israel. We trust you to continue influencing the political discourse in Israel, as you have done in the past."

Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti also sent a message to the convention's participants. According to Barghouti, "This convention takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing attack on the Arab population in Israel, and some believe that you are a strategic threat that must be eradicated.

"Your remaining in the homeland is the greatest and most important national treasure for you and the Palestinian people. Your struggle for national rights and your effort, alongside the progressive Israeli camp, to end the occupation is beyond measure," he added. 

Israeli Arab leader to PA: Don't recognize Israel as Jewish state

[Shammu]

Hamas ready to cede control

jpost staff and Khaled Abu Toameh
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 11, 2007

Damascus-based Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal confirmed that the Islamic group would return control of security and government institutions in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, Asharq Alawsat reported on Tuesday.

"The head of the Hamas political-bureau Khalad Mashaal agreed to transfer control of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas," Hassan Abu Qwaik, a senior Hamas member in Ramallah, told the London-based newspaper.

On Monday, PA officials in Ramallah expressed outrage with Saudi Arabia for hosting a senior Hamas delegation headed by Mashaal.

Earlier this week, PA officials strongly criticized Egypt for temporarily reopening the Rafah border crossing to allow Muslims to perform the ubgone86, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Egyptian decision is seen as a sign of increased rapprochement between Cairo and Hamas.

Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas and Fatah confirmed that representatives of the two parties had been holding secret talks in the Gaza Strip, Damascus and Beirut in a bid to resolve their differences.

According to the sources, the two sides discussed the possibility of holding new presidential and parliamentary elections as a first step toward ending their power struggle.

They also discussed the possibility of handing control over the border crossings in the Gaza Strip to Fatah loyalists, the sources said.

The Saudi invitation to the Hamas delegation was a "severe blow" to the PA's efforts to end the Hamas reign over the Gaza Strip, the PA officials had told The Jerusalem Post.

The officials were particularly enraged by the red-carpet welcome that Mashaal and his colleagues received upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The Hamas delegation has met with several top Saudi officials and members of the royal family, including Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.

"Saudi Arabia has made a huge mistake by inviting Mashaal and his friends," said an official close to Abbas. "The Arab states should boycott Hamas because of its violent coup in the Gaza Strip."

The official said the PA leadership had been "shocked" when it learned that Mashaal and senior Hamas officials had been invited to Saudi Arabia.

"Hamas is doing its utmost to undermine the authority of President Mahmoud Abbas," he said. "The timing of the visit - two weeks after the Annapolis peace conference - is also interesting. Hamas was strongly opposed to the conference and continues to issue threats to torpedo any peace process with Israel."

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been exerting pressure on Hamas and Fatah to patch up their differences and establish a new unity government.

Apart from Mashaal, the Hamas delegation included Musa Abu Marzuk, the No. 2 man in Hamas, as well as Muhammad Naser and Sami Khater, members of the Hamas politburo.

Naser said Monday the Saudis had invited him and his colleagues to brief them on the outcome of the Annapolis conference and to discuss ways of ending the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah.

"We discussed with our Saudi brothers the issue of national unity and reconciliation," he said. "We also discussed the ongoing Israeli aggression against our people and the measures that the Palestinian leadership has been taking against Hamas."

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Naser said, several other Arab countries were acting as mediators between Hamas and Fatah. He reiterated his movement's readiness to launch unconditional talks with Fatah. But he accused the Fatah leadership of placing obstacles on the path to reconciliation.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior aide to Abbas, expressed support for the idea of holding new elections in the Palestinian territories. He said a public opinion poll published last week showed that some 74 percent of Palestinians supported the idea. But, he added, the elections would be held only after Hamas relinquished control over the Gaza Strip.

"The only solution to the current crisis lies in ending the Hamas crime - the violent coup that they carried out against our institutions," Abdel Rahman said. "Only then will we be able to talk about reconciliation and harmony between all the Palestinian factions, a move that would be followed by elections."

The Fatah central committee, a key decision-making body headed by Abbas, also voiced its opposition to the resumption of talks with Hamas before it ends its rule in Gaza. The committee, which held a meeting in Ramallah late Sunday to discuss the outcome of the Annapolis conference and preparations to resume final-status talks with Israel this week, said Hamas's "black and bloody coup had caused grave damage to the Palestinian cause because it was being used by Israel as an excuse not to withdraw from any area" in the West Bank.

Hamas ready to cede control

[Soldier4Christ]

 Adolph Hitler of Nazi Germany is now a Hero on Palestinian Radio

A Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a biography of Adolph Hitler, complete with his military victories and his heroism during World War I & War World II and the broadcast never mentioned the Holocaust and the death of six million Jews.

This Palestinian Authority radio contest is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history, according to a recent report from the Palestinian Media Watch, which revealed that the new 12th grade Palestinian Authority history school books showed that many pages were dedicated to the history of World War II and even to Nazi racism, but neither the Jews nor the Holocaust is ever mentioned.

The fascination with Adolph Hitler among Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority radio broadcast that characterizes Hitler as a hero, and never mentions the Holocaust, is a precursor to a dreadful end time scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

During the days of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the Palestinian leader, the Haj Amin al Husseini was used by Hitler to rally the Moslem world to join his final solution for the Jews, death in the ovens and gas chambers.

From the times of the Holocaust, during World War II, there has been an unholy fascination of Hitler by the Palestinian people, evidenced by the fact that they have named their children, Hitler.

These developments are preparing the world for a coming Holocaust of the Jews that will be more horrific than the Holocaust of Hitler. The ancient Jewish prophet, Zechariah, revealed that two out of every three Jews will be killed during the coming Holocaust in the seven year Tribulation Period, Zechariah 13:8.

Daniel, another Jewish prophet, wrote in chapter 12 verse 1 of his prophecy that this time would be the worst time the Jews have ever faced in all of their history. Revelation 12:13-17 says that Satan and his evil forces will endeavor to eliminate the Jews from the earth.

The Palestinian Authority radio broadcast honoring Hitler is indeed a precursor to the end times scenario of Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy that will be fulfilled.

[Shammu]

Children on Hamas TV Children's Show: 'Liberate' Al-Aqsa by Force, 'Wipe Out' Zionists to the Last One

The following are excerpts from a children's show which aired on Hamas Al-Aqsa TV on December 3, 2007.

To view the clip, visit: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1625.htm. To view the MEMRI TV page devoted to Al-Aqsa TV clips, visit:http://memritv.org/content/en/tv_channel_indiv.htm?id=175

Boy: "My beloved brothers, as you know, today the Al-Aqsa Mosque is crying out: 'Where are the people of the frontline, the Palestinian people?' Yes, my dear brothers, that is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The subject of our lesson today is Jerusalem, to where your Prophet made his nocturnal journey - the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"Yes, my beloved brothers, as you know today, and as you knew yesterday and the day before, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has fallen into oppressing and malicious hands, the hands of those who know nothing but injustice. But let me tell you how the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be returned, how we shall rescue it from the shackles of the occupation, from the shackles of the Zionist entity.

"Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force.

"In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued. Balfour decided on the cleansing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. But look what the Zionist enemy has done, look what Israel and America have done. Look what the allies of Israel and America have done. They have dug tunnels underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the sheikhs and mujahideen of the Al-Aqsa Mosque have exposed these tunnels and called upon the Palestinian people: 'Look what has happened, look what has happened.'

"These calls have gone unheeded, my beloved brothers. But is it too late? No, it is not too late. If we all unite, the Al-Aqsa Mosque will not remain in the hands of the Zionist enemy, it will not remain in the hands of your enemy, despite all their conspiracies against the Palestinian people."

[...]

Girl: "To Al-Aqsa, to Al-Aqsa - we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them."

Children on Hamas TV Children's Show: 'Liberate' Al-Aqsa by Force, 'Wipe Out' Zionists to the Last One