P.A./PLO/  Hamastan World

The "New" P.A. = HAMAS 

Palestinian "Elections" - January 2006

We will post stories here on/about the HAMAS/PA/PLO

(as we have time)

For regular page on Israel, click here

http://www.israelnn.com/tv.php

Map of Israel Showing Who Wants What for Land

News about ISLAM

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We Looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold   Trouble !  (Jer 8:11)

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HAMAS IS A BRANCH OF A GROUP CALLED THE MOSLEM BROTHERHOOD.

WHEN THEY WIN THE PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS, This will be the first Country that they will

Control, claming Victory through a Democratic Election Process, (even if their goal is

to erase both the Jewish State, and Jews from Israel).
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Iran: Tehran To Donate $50 Million To Hamas-Led Palestinian Government 

By Valentinas Mite

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei (right) meeting with Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal in February 
(Fars) 

Iranian officials announced at the end of an international conference on aid to Palestinians on April 16 that Tehran is donating $50 million to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to fill gaps left by Western aid cuts. The United States and the European Union have cut off financial support to the newly elected Hamas-led government, and Israel has frozen the transfer of tax and customs revenues. That has left the already stretched Palestinian Authority desperately short of funding.


PRAGUE, April 17, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The Palestinian Authority is reportedly nearing bankruptcy following Western powers' refusal to support a government led by Hamas, which they consider a terrorist organization. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki announced the move at the conclusion of a conference on assistance to the Palestinian people, which Tehran hosted. 

"I am honored to announce that Iran has donated $50 million to help the Palestinian nation," Mottaki said. 

Mottaki said the gift was Iran's duty as a friend of the Palestinians, but he did not say how or when it would reach them. 

From Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri expressed Palestinian appreciation for the move. 

"Today Iran announced its support for the Palestinian people," Zahri said. "We [in the Hamas movement] value the Iranian decision to financially support the Palestinian people. This Arab and Islamic support represents the natural position and the natural reaction to the Western siege on our Palestinian people and against the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people." 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki also called for broader support from the Islamic world to the new Palestinian government. "The international community and Islamic world should help the new Palestinian government to overcome its current problems," he said. 

Bringing Hamas, Iran Closer? 

Mustafa Alani, a regional expert at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, commented on the Iranian move by saying it indicates that the Western decision to isolate Hamas is leading to the increased influence of Iran in the region. 

"This is the outcome and you're going to push Hamas into the hands of the Iranians," Alani said. "And the cost of it in long terms will be huge in the Palestinian issue. The Iranians now have basically some sort of influence over Hamas." 

Alani said Arab countries should be concerned with the growing influence of the Shi'ite Iran in the region. He said strategic interests, not religion, are at stake. 

"I don't look at it [Iranian move] as Islamic solidarity. I look at it as a strategic decision of Iranians," Alani said. "I don't think the question is of Islamic solidarity. Hamas is a Sunni fundamentalist movement. Iran is a fundamentalist Shi'ite state. So, I don't think there is a meeting of minds here, but the question is strategic more that it is religious in a dimension." 

Alani said growing Iranian influence over Hamas is not "happy news" -- for either the West or Arab countries in the region. 

More Allies Outside The Region 

On April 15, Russia pledged urgent financial assistance to the Palestinian government. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas that Russia would "offer urgent financial assistance" in the near future. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not specify the amount of Russian aid. 

In March, Moscow hosted the high-level Hamas delegation -- frustrating some governments' efforts to ensure the continued international isolation of the group. The move is generally regarded as a bid by President Vladimir Putin to invigorate Russia's role in the Middle East peace process.

Putin Calls For Fair Resolution Of Palestinian-Israeli Conflict 

Hamas political bureau chief Khalid Mish'al with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow in March 
(epa) 
April 13, 2006 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling for what he described as a "fair and comprehensive" solution to the Middle East conflict.


Addressing a gathering of foreign ambassadors at the Kremlin today, Putin said peace talks should resume with a view to creating an independent Palestinian state that would peacefully coexist with Israel. He also vowed to help the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmud Abbas, reach this objective. 

Russia this week said it would continue financially helping the Palestinian government, led by the radical Hamas group. It also criticized a European Union decision to freeze all direct aid shipments to the Palestinian leadership until Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel. 

Russia -- a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the EU, the United Nations, and the United States -- says the best way to achieve peace in the region is to work with Hamas.

(ITAR-TASS, Interfx)

Russia To Continue Direct Aid To Palestinian Government 

Sergei Lavrov (file photo) 
(epa) 
April 11, 2006 -- Russia today pledged to continue sending financial help to the Palestinian government led by the Islamic militant group Hamas.


Addressing reporters in Moscow after talks with his Jordanian counterpart Adbedelah al-Khatib, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized a European Union decision to freeze all direct aid to the Palestinian leadership, calling it a "mistake."

Hamas, which won January's legislative elections, is on the EU's list of terrorist organizations. 

Brussels says it will resume all direct aid shipments to the Palestinian government only when Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel. 

But Lavrov said the best way to achieve this objective is "to work with Hamas, not boycott it."

Russia, which is a member of the Middle East Quartet, does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group. 

(Interfx, ITAR-TASS) 

Palestinian Leaders Criticize EU, U.S. Decision To Stop Aid 

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (file photo) 
(RFE/RL) 
April 8, 2006 -- The Palestinian leadership has criticized as unjust the decision by the United States and the European Union to suspend direct aid payments to the Palestinian Authority.


Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas said yesterday that the Palestinian people should not be punished for exercising their democratic rights to elect the Hamas militant group to power in January's elections. 

The decision by the U.S. and EU to halt direct aid pushes the Palestinian government closer to financial collapse.

The United States and EU say they will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians, but say they will not provide assistance to the new Hamas-led government untill Hamas recognizes the state of Israel, renounces violence and accepts previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Iran: Intifada Conference In Tehran Has Multiple Objectives 
By Bill Samii

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (left) with Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al (file photo) 
(Fars) 
Strategic, ideological, and political factors explain why Tehran is currently hosting a conference in support of the Palestinians.


RFERL - Feb 14/06 - Tehran is hosting, on April 14-16, a conference entitled "Support for the Palestinian Intifada conference." This is the third time it has organized the conference -- and with talk that Iran may face a military strike against its nuclear facilities, Tehran's association with the new Hamas government in Palestine and other Palestinian rejectionist groups is even more relevant to global affairs than it was when it held the conference in 2001 and 2002.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to Iran, during a March 9 roundtable in Washington, as "a kind of central banker for terrorism in important regions, like Lebanon, through Hizballah in the Middle East, in the Palestinian territories, and we have deep concern about what Iran is doing in the south of Iraq." The U.S. State Department has classified Iran as a "state sponsor" of terrorism since 1984, and it lists a number of the groups that participated in previous conferences -- such as Hamas, Hizballah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- as "terrorist organizations" backed by Iran.

"If you destroy Israel, you will be doing so over our heads." Khalid Mish'alIran's frame of reference is a requirement in the country's constitution that calls on the government to support "the just struggles of the oppressed against the oppressors in every corner of the globe." The secretary-general of the conference series, Hojatoleslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pur, referred to this requirement in an interview that appeared in the April 6 issue of "Iran" newspaper. He went on to speak of the ways in which Palestinians will benefit from the weekend's event. The more than 500 participants, he said, "will discuss the dangers of the anti-human activities and policies of Israel, which have the backing of America, and they will think of some ways of countering those policies." 

The Hamas Factor 

A Hamas supporter at a rally on April 5 (epa)It is not just ideology or charity that motivates Iran. Mohtashami-Pur suggested that the creation of a Palestinian state would contribute to Iranian security. "Naturally, if the Palestinian nation restores its legitimate right, even the threats [against] the Islamic Republic of Iran, which come from abroad, will be reduced substantially," he said.

Security interests, furthermore, explain meetings held in Damascus on April 13 between one of Iran's top officials and leaders of Hizballah and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Council, which oversees the workings of government, met with the secretary-general Hizballah, Hassan Nasrallah, and told him that unity is a key factor in ensuring survival, IRNA reported. He repeated that message in a meeting with Ramadan Abdallah al-Shallah, the head of Islamic Jihad.

Given this perspective, one would expect success for the Hamas delegation that came to Tehran on April 11 to secure funding. Hamas needs to compensate for the refusal of Israel, the European Union, and the United States to sponsor the Palestinians until Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist. Indeed, Tehran welcomed the Hamas victory in Palestinian legislative elections earlier this year. At that time, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei encouraged the Muslim community to come forward with funding, and the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khalid Mish'al, reportedly secured a pledge of financial assistance when he visited Tehran in February. More recently, on April 12, Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister who now serves as a foreign affairs adviser to Supreme Leader Khamenei, urged Muslim countries to fulfill their promises to fund a Hamas-led government, IRNA reported. 

Superficially, then, it would appear that Iranian support for Hamas will be overwhelming. But there are indications that Hamas would not be similarly supportive of Iran. When Khalid Mish'al spoke at Tehran University on February 21, he was asked how Hamas would react if Israel attacked Iran, "Etemad-i Melli" reported. "Have no fear," he responded, "we will pray for you." When one of the students retorted that Israel would be destroyed if it attacked Iran, Mish'al laughed and said, "if you destroy Israel, you will be doing so over our heads." He went on to criticize U.S. polices, but added that this disapproval does not mean Hamas should go to war with the United States. This level of commitment is likely to give decision-makers in Tehran pause when it comes to aiding Hamas. 

There may be another reason to wonder about the level of Iranian support for Hamas. U.S. Secretary of State Rice questioned Iran's willingness to fund the $1.9 billion that the Palestinian Authority needs annually, "Al-Hayah" reported on February 18. "We will wait and see whether Iran will provide aid of this magnitude," she said.

Hizballah, A Better Return On Investment? 

"Iran has a lot of supporters in other countries and once our interests are endangered, the enemy's [interests] in other countries will also be endangered."When it comes to return on investment, Iran's relationship with Hizballah may be more likely to pay off. Iran was once Hizballah's main sponsor, and Mohtashami-Pur, the secretary-general of the Intifada conference, was instrumental in Hizballah's creation when he served as ambassador to Syria in the 1980s. Iran's Martyrs Foundation (Bonyad-i Shahid), a semi-governmental charity, continues to openly fund Hizballah activities, such as schools and hospitals. Hizballah, furthermore, seeks to recreate the Iranian model of a theocratic state and continues to regard Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei as a leader. The importance of the relationship was made clear when Hamas's Hassan Nasrallah visited Tehran in August 2005 to meet with the newly inaugurated President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, and the two met again in Damascus on January 20.

In Lebanon, a number of political actors are expressing concern about an Iran-Syria-Hizballah axis. The Supreme Leader's representative in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Mujtaba Zolnur, referred to potential Hizballah support when discussing the possibility a U.S. attack. He said, "Iran has a lot of supporters in other countries and once our interests are endangered, the enemy's [interests] in other countries will also be endangered," "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on January 23.

Aside from strategic interests and constitutional requirements, Iran probably has another reason for hosting Support for the Palestinian Intifada conferences. It is a Shi'ite state, whereas Sunnism is the predominant school of Islam in the world. Moreover, the Persians are a distinct minority in the predominantly Arab Middle East. Through its activism on this issue, Iran is portraying itself as a committed leader -- more Palestinian than the Arabs, and more Muslim than the Sunnis.

Hamas Government Sworn In 

Minister of Finance Mohamed Abd Alrazeq (left), Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Nasser Asaeer (center), and Minister of Women's Affairs Mream Salaeh (right) at the swearing-in ceremony for the new Hamas government in Ramallah today 
(epa) 
March 29 2006 -- Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas swore in a Hamas government today amid concerns the Palestinian administration was on the brink of financial collapse and faced Western isolation. 

The 24-member Palestinian cabinet is dominated by Hamas loyalists after other factions refused to join in the wake of the group's shock victory in elections in January. 

Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, Canada announced it was suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority. Other Western nations are expected to follow suit.

The "Quartet" of Middle East mediators -- the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations -- has said Hamas must recognize Israel, give up violence, and accept past peace deals, or risk losing aid to the Palestinian Authority. 

(Reuters)

EU Gives Urgent Aid To Palestinians, Warns Hamas 

Ferrero-Waldner said a Hamas-led government must recognize Israel 
(epa) 
March 20, 2006 -- The European Union handed the United Nations a check today for 64 million euros ($78 million) in urgent aid for the Palestinians, but warned that future aid is at risk.


EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said a Hamas-led government must recognize Israel and its past accords with the Palestinians.

Separately, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels considered the bloc's future financial aid to the Palestinians after Hamas on March 19 put forward a new cabinet list dominated by members of the militant group.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said Hamas will have to decide which road to take for the sake of the well-being of the Palestinians.

EU officials say the emergence of a Hamas government may jeopardize up to 80 percent of the EU's 500 million euros ($609 million) in annual aid for the Palestinians.

(AP)

Aid for Hamas: everyone takes Turns...

The Condi Rice "Denial" of Aid to Hamas - Just another Fake Show

Condi Rice recently came out and said that the U.S. would not support giving Aid to Hamas with the current Hamas stance towards Israel. But do not be deceived: the U.S. has been sponsoring and facilitating the development of Islamic Groups in the Middle East as a tool of Foreign Policy for several decades. 

This does not mean that those groups are Not sincere. To the contrary, most of them are STILL sincere, despite U.S. Aid. Most of those groups are STILL committed to the destruction of Jews First, and then Christians right after (which is what they have publicly stated over and over). However, they are still willing to use U.S. Aid.

When Condi Rice speaks of not giving Hamas any U.S. Aid (funds), this means OFFICIAL AID, in an OFFICIAL Capacity. But the State Department has made sure that many Islamic Groups in the Middle East have access to U.S. Funds from several sources, and through several intermediaries. This is not a secret, and most people who study U.S. Foreign policy, the MIddle East and Israel are aware of this. 

U. S Aid is distributed through the following channels:

1. The United Nations

2. The United Nations agencies in the Middle East

3. The Word Bank

4. NGOs 

5. Private Contractors (such as those who have contracts funded or approved through the State Department or other U.S Channels) (Take a look at Egypt here). 

Congress investigated the Channels of U.S. Aid to Palestinian groups in the Middle East, but were blocked - for the most part - by the State Department. Despite this, they did manage to confirm and verify several Federal sources of funding that is given to Palestinian groups. This is the same practice as the U.S. funding Stalin during World War II. 

HAMAS has said that they were not concerned about Not receiving U.S. Aid. They have also said that if the U.S. does Not provide Funds (which the U.S. had been previously giving to the PLO and ABBAS) - that Hamas will look to find sources of funding ELSEWHERE. Diplomatically, this means Syria and Iran. That is not a surprise. Hamas has received funds and training from Iran already in the Past. Hamas has long ties to Iran, and the head of Hamas promised Iran an Embassy in Gaza soon after the Election (which just took place). 

Don't believe the Condi Rice statements about the U.S not giving funds to Hamas. 

A Good example of the Hidden Funding of Events in the Middle East - How to Betray Israel while publicly looking as though you are supporting Israel:

Recently, great pressure was brought to bear on Israel in order to allow an open door between EGYPT and GAZA. The opening of this border would allow Palestinian terrorists and new weapons to cross into Gaza and then to be used against Israel. 

The Palestinians (the PA & ABBAS) insisted on this as a condition of their new Sovereignty, along with their new PORT, which will give them access to offloading materials arriving by Ship into Judea, Galilee and Samaria

The Egyptians were at least supposed to PRETEND to care about who they were letting in...to Gaza. But the Egyptians did not want to pretend to care, because they did not actually care about who they were letting into Gaza. What the Egyptians cared about, was that the State Department was actually Paying the Egyptians in order to operate this Border crossing. The U.S. however became concerned that Egypt was not "putting on a good show". 

In other words, the U.S. had a problem because the Egyptians were not Pretending to care about who came into Gaza. The State Department then decided to withdraw the U.S. funds from the Egyptians. THAT action actually DID upset the Egyptians, who then let it be known that this "border project" of letting in thousands of Arabs (which also included formerly Exiled and Banned Terrorists) - was FUNDED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT !!

That is an example, of how the U.S. can DENY giving funds to certain people, and yet still continues to fund them. In this case, the Administration was giving funds to those committed to the destruction of Israel, while Bush was making statements that his administration was in favor of helping Israel. 

Hamas official: Group will make Islamic law [SHARIA] a source for legislation 



Jan 29/06 - Haaretz - A senior Hamas official has said that the if his movement forms the next Palestinian government, it will make sharia, or Islamic law, a source of law in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. 

Abu Tir said that the first act of the newly elected Palestinian Legislative Council would be the introduction of sharia as a source for legislation. 

He told the paper that by setting an example, Hamas would persuade Palestinians to follow the teachings of Islam more closely. 

Full Story Here

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 

 So-Called PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (Judea/Samaria/Galilee) PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - 

2. WHAT NOW FOR THE CHRISTIANS OF HAMASTAN ?

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service 

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (ANS) - Feb 8/06 - Question: What sort of life are Palestinian Christians to expect now that Hamas has been elected to govern the Palestinian Territories? Answer: more of the same, and worse. 

MORE OF THE SAME... 

Hamas' electoral win is not a surprise result that cannot be explained. Hamas will not radicalise Palestinian Muslims. Hamas won the elections because the Palestinian Authority has already radicalised Muslim society to the extent that it freely elected a terrorist organisation as its government. Hamas' win is the culmination of decades of growing discontent – with the economy, violence and corruption – coupled with the increased radicalisation of Palestinian Muslim society.

Institutionalised discrimination, inequality, and pervasive persecution of Christians have been escalating in the Palestinian Territories for decades. When the Palestinian Territories came under Palestinian Authority (PA) administration after the Oslo Accords, security deteriorated and Islamic zeal and radicalisation increased. This has made life in the Palestinian Territories increasingly difficult for Christians. They live in a state of fear. Those who are able, emigrate. For a detailed scholarly description of the conditions suffered by Christians in the Palestinian Territories see "Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society" by Prof. Justus Reid Weiner. (Link 1)

...AND WORSE 
SECULAR ARAB NATIONALISM IS DEAD – ISLAM  RULES

In a 31 January Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report, George Friedman comments on Fatah's loss of power in the recent Palestinian National Authority (PNA) elections. "It was not simply internal Palestinian politics that drove the Hamas victory. A wave of Islamist politics is sweeping the Muslim and Arab worlds, and the Palestinians are far from immune. The Islamist movement is doing far more than simply challenging the West: It is challenging the secular Arabists who were the heirs of the Nasserite tradition... In many ways, Fatah was the embodiment of secular Arabism -- the purest form of Nasserism. The Palestinians were among the most secular in the Arab world. Therefore, challenging and defeating Fatah represents a critical moment in the history of the Arab and Muslim world. It represents a new high-water mark for Islamists."

Friedman suggests that Hamas will be primarily concerned with internal, not international politics, as it works to consolidate its position. Hamas will therefore say and do those things that will increase the fervor of their followers and discourage their opponents. They will look to the Islamic world while provoking the West. The West will react to the benefit of Hamas which, as Friedman says, "benefits from a sense of embattlement – the sense that it is confronting the enemies of Islam. As it backs the Israelis and Americans into a corner, and both start reacting, Hamas will increase its strength and authority." 

Even before its election victory, Hamas was preparing to further the Islamisation of the Palestinian Territories. In December 2005 the leader of the Hamas contingent at the municipal council of Bethlehem, Hassam El-Masalmeh, told The Wall Street Journal that Hamas intends to re-institute the "jizya", a tax mandated by the Qur'an (sura 9:29) to be imposed on non-Muslims who have chosen not to convert to Islam and must now pay for their right to life. (Jizya is a form of systematic religious humiliation, persecution and extortion). (Link 2)

On 3 February 2006, Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al gave a fiery speech at a mosque in Damascus that demonstrated clearly Hamas is not interested in peace or any dilution of Sharia (Islamic Law). In his speech Mash'al warns that "...the law of Allah cannot be changed or replaced", and threatens that Hamas is prepared "...to place the entire Palestinian people at the disposal of the resistance and its weapons". (Link 3) We need to ask: what will this mean for Palestinian Christians who do not support Islamic jihad?

SO WHAT NOW?

For years, the institutionalised discrimination against and persecution of Palestinian Christians has been covered up by Christian leaders who are either afraid of the consequences of upsetting the status quo, or afraid of losing their good standing with the PA; and by Western nations and human rights organisation that are only interested in appeasing and coaxing the Palestinian Authority into peace negotiations. Well the "status quo" (as intolerable as that was) has ended, and peace is not on the table. 

Writing prior to the elections, Professor Justus Reid Weiner called on the PA to crack down on Hamas and eliminate its influence and role as an enforcer of Sharia. It is too late for that now that Hamas controls the PA. But as Friedman notes in his Stratfor commentary, "Since peace is always made with enemies, better to deal with your worst enemy than with hapless moderates." This is as good a time as any to commence advocacy on behalf of the persecuted Christians of the Palestinian Territories.



Links

1) "Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society" 
by Prof. Justus Reid Weiner, Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs.
http://www.jcpa.org/christian-persecution.htm  

2) "Democrats" For Jihad and Jizya
by Andrew G. Bostrom. 30 Dec 2005
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5116  

3) Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al at a Damascus Mosque 
MEMRI (No 1087). 7 Feb 2006
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD108706  

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 

 So-Called PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (Judea/Samaria/Galilee)

 - 1. THE PERSECUTION OF PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service 

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- A detailed and scholarly description of the suffering of Palestinian Christians can be found in a recently published work entitled "Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society" by Prof. Justus Reid Weiner, under the auspices of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs. http://www.jcpa.org/christian-persecution.htm 

 (The monograph may be downloaded from the site mentioned, but it is also availablethrough Amazon.) 

Professor Weiner commences his monograph with a brief look at the wider issue of "Christians living in a Muslim world". He notes, "Despite the liberal and secular trends that gained strength from the middle of the nineteenth century, this statute [Islam] continues, to this day, to influence cultural, social, and legal practices. Moreover, the recent resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism entails a reversion to historical, cultural, and religious traditions that do not reflect modern social standards."

Pros. Weiner then narrows his focus to examine the plight of Christians under Palestinian Authority (PA) rule. He notes that the Palestinian Authority's Draft Constitution declares that "...in the State of Palestine... the religion of Islam will be the official religion", and "the Sharia will be the primary source of legislation". As Weiner explains, the PA's promotion of Sharia (Islamic Law) immediately placed Christians in a precarious position, as Sharia does not afford them equality before the law. Escalating hardship and lawlessness, combined with the inequity of Sharia, makes Palestinian Christians exceedingly vulnerable, and their life increasingly unbearable. According to Prof. Weiner, while the intifada and the economy are significant factors forcing Christians to flee the Palestinian Territories, religious persecution at the hands of increasingly intolerant Muslims is the primary catalyst. 

Prof. Weiner's research indicates that the present high rate of Christian emigration out of the Palestinian Territories is not normative, but a response to a phenomenon. He believes that the phenomenon that is driving Palestinian Christians from their homeland is the escalating hostility and persecution they are experiencing due to the dramatic escalation of Islamic extremism in the PA-administered territories. He says this is a direct result of the systematic and pervasive radicalisation of Palestinian Muslim society.

School curriculum in PA-run schools is infamous for its glorification of suicide bombers, its radical Islamic fundamentalism, its denial of Israel's right to exist, and its denigration of non-Muslims. As a pre-election Hamas video boasts, "We succeeded, with Allah's grace, to raise an ideological generation that loves death like our enemies love life." (Link 1) For more information on what Palestinian children and youths have been fed through PA-run schools and media, see links below. 

Weirner describes the persecution of Christians as "diverse and widespread", adding that "institutionalised discrimination pervades virtually all realms of life and has become an inexorable part of Palestinian Christian existence".

In his monograph Prof. Weirner details the various forms this diverse, widespread, institutionalised discrimination and persecution takes. In summary, Christian communities and individuals suffer the following:

MARGINALISATION 

The deliberate and strategic marginalisation of Christians in the Palestinian Territories is achieved by means of gerrymanders combined with Muslim immigration that alter the demographics of a formerly majority Christian area. This of course has drastic implications for local elections. 

Bethlehem is a classic case. In 1990 Bethlehem was 60 percent Christian. After the PA acquired control of Bethlehem in 1994, Chairman Arafat extended the city's municipal borders to include the 30,000 Muslims living in nearby refugee camps. He also encouraged Muslims in Hebron to immigrate to Bethlehem. After nine Christians members of the Bethlehem City Council were driven to resign their posts in protest of Islamisationist policies, Arafat appointed a Muslim from Hebron as Governor of the Bethlehem District. The entire political structure of Bethlehem was then gradually cleansed of Christians. Christians are leaving. By 2001, Bethlehem was only 20 percent Christian. 

BOYCOTTS AND EXTORTION 

Christians suffer economic hardship as Muslims boycott their businesses. Islamic militants have also forced some Christians to close their businesses. The practice of extortion of Christian businesses is so widespread that one Christian businessman interviewed told Prof. Weiner, "There isn't a Christian businessman exempt." He said that around 90 percent of Christian businesses in Bethlehem have been forced to close. Those that remain in business are paying protection money to militants. 

Christians in business in the Palestinian Territories are also harassed, beaten and robbed by PA police. They are targeted simply because they are Christian. Refusal or inability to pay bribes can lead to torture and even death. These atrocities are committed with impunity.

NO PROPERTY RIGHTS

Prof. Weiner also explains that, in violation of international human rights norms, Palestinian Land Law prescribes the death penalty to anyone selling land to Jews. According to Weiner, Jerusalem's Arafat-appointed mufti, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri has issued a fatwa to the effect that death will be the penalty to anyone selling land to any non-Muslim. This law extends to Christians, so that they cannot sell land to each other. 

In addition, adds Weiner, "...internationally recognised holy sites in the West Bank are threatened, being vandalised and desecrated by the PA without consequence." The impunity granted to those who attack Christians and Christian property only encourages Muslim criminals to break in to churches and monasteries to steal valuable items.

RAPE OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN

According to Weiner's research, violence against Christian women in the Palestinian Territories was rare before the PA took control. Christian women testify that before 1993, security was such that they could walk the streets in safety. However, after the PA took control, Christian women could be attacked with impunity. Weiner gives several reasons for the sharp rise in sexual violence against Christian women since the PA took control of the Palestinian Territories: the rise is Islamist attitudes (such as Muslim superiority and contempt of infidels); the denigration and relegation of Christians to dhimmi (second class citizen) status with limited rights and no equality before the law; combined with the PA's inaction, regardless of whether that is due to lack of authority or lack of will. 

Once again, Muslim criminals know they can rape Christian women without fear of retaliation or legal consequence. Weiner reports that many Christian girls are being advised to dress as Muslims to avoid problems. "The abuse of Palestinian Christian women," writes Weiner, "extends well beyond verbal harassment and intimidation. The widespread occurrence of rape by Muslim men against Christian women exemplifies perhaps the most blatant denial of basic human rights as a result of religious identity." 

One Palestinian Christian girl (aged 23) told Prof. Weiner that Muslim men often rape Christian women purely to render them undesirable to Christian men. "She can't get married, at all, after that," she said.

According to Weiner, Christian girls are also being forced into marriages with Muslim men. He retells the story of a wealthy Christian family man who had to resort to force to protect his daughter. A Muslim family came to his home, their son dressed for a wedding and accompanied by a sheikh and 15 Muslim men. They demanded that he hand his daughter over for marriage. After opening fire on the Muslim entourage, the Christian family had to immediately flee the Palestinian Territories. Other girls are less fortunate. There are even reports of PA officials leveling death threats at Christian families to force them to hand over their daughters for marriage to a Muslim. 

PERVASIVE PA INCITEMENT 

Prof. Weiner's research makes it clear that the negative attitudes held by Palestinian Muslims against their Christian counterparts are supported by the overwhelmingly Muslim PA leadership. Mosques broadcast sermons that drive home the Quranic injunction not to partner with, trust or befriend Jews or Christians, providing Muslims with religious justification for their religious intolerance.

Weiner quotes Joseph Farah, a Lebanese-American Christan editor of the WorldNetDaily online, as saying of Christians under the PA, "They are being driven out. They are being murdered. They are being raped. They are being systematically persecuted. They are being harassed. They are being intimidated." Weiner reports that Palestinian Christians under PA authority are discriminated against "...in the field of education, the receipt of medical benefits, and other government aid". A Lutheran pastor told Weiner, "...if food aid is brought in from Saudi Arabia, Christians are told that they are not entitled to receive any because they are not Muslims." 

According to Prof. Weiner, PA security personnel frequently combine ignorance of the law with Islamist sentiment to become persecutors rather than protectors. Christians are often imprisoned on trumped up charges of collaborating with Israel. Apostates can expect to be punished mercilessly through torture in PA prisons. Weiner writes, "The attitude of the police toward Christians constitutes one of the most egregious forms of institutional persecution... When subjected to harassment and worse by Muslim extremists, Palestinian Christians usually opt not to report incidents to the PA police... Palestinian Christians remain silent because they consider the PA police to be hostile to them." 

ABUSE OF PHYSICAL CHRISTIAN SITES 

As has been well documented before, Islamic militants frequently choose to launch their attacks on Israel from Christian churches and homes, in order to draw the Israeli response to those sites. 

CHRISTIAN DENIAL

Prof. Weiner's monograph contains material that will help people understand why Palestinian Christians are often quick to deny their suffering. Some Christian leaders deny the sufferings of Christians in order to retain privileges from the PA: for example, access to the media, or permission to travel – privileges that are granted in exchange of the dissemination of PA propaganda. Some deny the sufferings of Christians because they are simply blinded by Palestinian nationalist aspirations. But most are simply acting (or rather, not acting) out of fear of violent retribution – they are paralysed into silence by threat of terror. Weiner reports that one Christian cleric in Jerusalem compared the behaviour of Christian dhimmis to that of battered wives and children. A vulnerable, trapped, battered wife knows she cannot afford to provoke her abuser's wrath. For the victim it is easier, psychologically, to blame oneself (or to gain the approval of the abuser, blame the abuser's "enemy") and it is easier, physically, to avoid confrontation all together.

PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS: "SACRIFICIAL PAWNS" 

Weiner recounts one horrific case of a Palestinian apostate and persistent evangelist named Ahmad El-Achwal, a married father of eight, who struggled for seven years with persecution that included severe torture in PA prisons (the horror of which is described in Weiner's text), as well as frequent severe beatings and death threats from Hamas. Ahmad El-Achwal was murdered on his doorstep by Islamic militants, on 21 January 2004. US State Department officials, who were fully informed, had persistently refused to address his case. 

Weiner regards Palestinian Christians as the sacrificial pawns of the Middle East peace process. He writes, "The importance of monitoring the PA's record, even during the ongoing violent intifada, cannot be overstated... The future of the Palestinian Christian community and any other religious minority living under the PA will rest on the potential for religious tolerance...," something Weiner fears is unlikely, at least in the short term. 

Links

Teach Kids Peace. http://www.teachkidspeace.com/  

Teach Kids Peace is affiliated with Middle East Media Watch. It monitors and documents progress in children's education for peace. This site contains analysis of Israeli and PA educational materials.
ALSO

2003 Palestinian Authority Textbook Calls for Jihad and Martyrdom http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sr&ID=SR2203  

Incitement in the Palestinian Authority After the Aqaba Summit http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sr&ID=SR2003  

HORRIFYING STATEMENT ON HAMAS MILITARY WING WEBSITE
“We will Continue Fighting Zionists until either the Last Drop of our Blood or the End of Zionist Occupation. It is Jihad to Victory or Martyrdom.” 

By Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) - Friday, January 27, 2006 - A recent headline on a major news site read, “Hamas victory legitimizes party in Palestine.”

But does the installation into power of a radical Islamic terrorist organization with an avowed agenda of extinguishing Israel legitimize the group? Many people say “no.”


From  alqassam.com

While some people may say that Hamas will change, a look at its cyber home would seem to indicate otherwise. The web site is still on line for all to see, touting radical Islamic rhetoric. With such an election shocker, if there was an impending change of philosophy, it would seem that now would be the time to make it clear.

Here are some examples from past and present web sites of the Al Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas.

A Sept. 27 2005 statement on  alqassam.com read in part, “The ‘Prisoners Liberation Unit’ in Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades announced its responsibility for kidnaping the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) Agent Nuriel Sasson. He was a settler in occupied Al-Quds ... The ‘Prisoners Liberation Unit’ kidnaped the 50-years old agent ... The Unit had planned to hold the agent and exchange him for Palestinian prisoners. But in light of the occupations campaign of massive arbitrary arrests, the Unit decided to kill the agent.” 

The statement continued. “Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades affirms that this is the first step towards liberating the Palestinian prisoners from occupation jails. And Al-Qassam Brigades stress the following points. 

“To our prisoners, we state our determination to release all prisoners; and “God-willing” this operation is only a first step. We gave the enemy a chance to release the Palestinian prisoners during the cease fire. However, they maintained their arrogance and arrested more Palestinians. We hold the occupation’s government headed by the war criminal Sharon for the developments (responsible) regarding the kidnaping operations ... Finally, the enemy should prepare for a long battle where, “God-willing” they will pay a heavy price. The Zionists settlers and soldiers will not rest or feel secure on our occupied land till the full restoration of Palestinian rights.”

A statement issued in late 2004 on alqassam.com read in part, “By the support and grace of Allah, the enemy admitted today that there were six Zionists injured two of them were in a serious condition by the mortar that was fired by the hands of the Qassamy Soldiers ... ” 

Many statements on the Al Qassam site end with this statement. “We will continue fighting Zionists until either the last drop of our blood or the end of Zionist occupation. It is Jihad to Victory or Martyrdom.” 

HAMAS WEB SITE ASKED FOR DONATIONS TO KILL ZIONISTS 



From alqassam.com

However, some of the most chilling statements from Hamas were found on a now defunct Al Qassam site back in 2002. It was headlined “A call for donation from Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes” and addressed to “Muslim brothers all over the world.”

Because of its ongoing anti-Semitism, there is no reason to believe the Hamas leadership feel any different about Israel, or the Jews than they did back in 2002. As such I have reproduced the chilling call for donations mostly in entirety.

It read,

“At the time that the land of ‘Al-Isra’ and Al-Mi'raj (Prophet's miraculous Night Journey to Jerusalem and Ascension to the heavens), land of Jihad and determination is being exposed to the most cruel massacres with the hands of the occupying Zionists, the vilest and most low-down creatures, supported by weapons and money from all the plotters against the case of all Muslims and Arabs: Palestine.

“Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes, your own defending phalanxes, the military wing of Hamas movement in Palestine, is calling upon you to donate with what you can to assist the cause of Jihad and resistance until the occupation is eliminated and every span of the Muslim Palestine is liberated.

“While Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes is calling upon you for donation, we put between your hands some of the difficulties that your mujahideen brothers are facing to get the equipments and logistics.

“The price of Kalashnicov bullet is $3 and the price of the Kalashnicov gun itself now is $2,000 and it was $3,500 couple of months ago, and do you know that the the price of R-B-G is $12,000 and the price of T.N.T that's used by your mujahideen brothers is $100 a kilo, also Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes now manufactures Al-Qassam land-to-land missiles in different sizes and also the anti-shields Al-Banna bomber, Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes also supervises the development of fighting, defensive and attacking weapons and other much projects mustn't be elaborated for confidentiality purposes.

“Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes after getting you informed of what Palestine is facing, we call upon all Muslims all over the world to give a hand to their mujahideen brothers in Palestine who sacrifice their bloods and persons for your dignity and guard the front line to defend the Arab and Muslim Ummah.

“With Allah's support, Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes managed, through its Mujahedeen operations, to kill 65 percent of what has been killed of Zionists since the start of the intifada (uprise) of Al-Aqsa.

My Mujahideen brothers all over the world, Now you can equip a mujahid, Now you can contribute to building a strong Islamic army. Thousands and thousands of mujahid youth in Palestine long for carrying any kind of weapons to defend the Ummah's dignity, but no one is giving a hand. Now you can contribute in providing weapons to the mujahideen whose ammunition run out while facing the Zionists. Hundreds of men sold the jewelry of their wives and sisters to equip as many fighters as possible to defend your honor and dignity. 

“My mujahideen brothers ... you'll have no excuse in front of Allah, So contribute with what you can. Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes is calling upon the righteous people from the Arab and Muslim Ummah to collect donations in Mosques, and from those who are financially able to donate, then send these donations to the mujahideen in Palestine. Dear donator brother, send us at the e-mail available at Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes's web site and send us a fake name and the amount that you want to donate and we will secure handing this money to the mujahideen. And may Allah bless you 

“Your brothers, Martyr Izz el-Deen el-Qassam Phalanxes. The military wing of Hamas movement- Palestine.”

Hamas Pledges to Form Army, Promises to Continue Terror Attacks 


INN - Jan 29/06 - The Hamas terrorist group, days after winning a landslide victory in the PA elections, is calling for the creation of an army even larger than the current 60,000-man force. 


"We will form an army like every other country," Hamas chief Khaled Meshal said Saturday at a press conference in Syria. "This army will defend our people against aggression." Explaining what he meant by defending against aggression, Meshal said that Hamas would continue to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians. "Our presence in the legislature will strengthen the resistance," he said.

Hamas, which popularized the tactic of suicide bombing to the Middle East, won 76 of the 132 seats last week in elections to the Palestinian Authority (PA) parliament.

Meshal said that Hamas would honor commitments made by the PA to Israel, provided that those commitments "serve Palestinian interests." Meshal made the statement in response to a direct question regarding the possibility of ammending the Hamas charter, which calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state and its replacement with a state run according to Islamic law.

The Hamas spokesman also expressed what is being lauded in the world media as a hint of moderation. "We are realistic and we know things are done gradually," Meshal said. "Being against the occupation does not mean that I can eliminate Israel in mere seconds." 

He invited Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group to join a Hamas-led government. "We believe it is in everybody's interest to ride the Hamas train, because this train will reach its destination," he said. "We extend our hand to everyone. We need each other."

Haniyeh made his statement after the US threatened to eliminate the [Official] $234 million in funds [Note: Actually Much Much Higher ]  that it gives each year to the PA. "They've got to get rid of that arm of their party which is armed and violent and secondly, they've got to get rid of that part of their platform that says they want to destroy Israel," U.S. President George W. Bush said in an interview Friday with CBS News.

Meshal attacked international governments for criticizing the democratic choice of the Arabs of the PA. "The world should respect the results of democracy," Meshal said. If you want to punish the Palestinian people for practicing democracy then the Americans should be punished for choosing President Bush."

The European Union, which gave the PA $612 million last year [Officially], has also indicated that Hamas's goal of destroying the Jewish State may affect funding for the PA.

Oslo architect Yossi Beilin told Israel Radio that Israel was to blame for the Hamas victory. "Israel played a large role in weakening the Palestinian Authority and strengthening Hamas," Beilin said. "The unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, not as a part of an agreement with Abu Mazen, greatly strengthened Hamas," he said. 


htp://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=97434

HAMAS HAS SUBSIDIARY IN GERMANY
300 Activists of Radical Islamic Organization Raise Funds

By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service 

BERLIN (ANS) - Jan 30/06 - The radical Islamic organization Hamas, winner of the recent Palestinian elections, has a subsidiary in Germany. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution the organization has approximately 300 activists and centers in Berlin, Munich and Aachen.

The federation rejects peace accords with Israel and endorses attacks on Israeli targets in the Holy Land. The Protestant Center for Religious and Ideological Issues in Berlin informs about the federation in the February issue of its magazine. 

According to the church institute the Hamas subsidiary has not been involved in any violence in Germany so far. It raises funds, organizes religious events and participates in demonstrations concerned with the Middle East conflict. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution regards the organization not as dangerous. 

Hamas wants to eliminate the state of Israel and is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks on Israeli targets. The organization won 76 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Parliament, reducing the former majority group Fatah to 43 seats. 

The United States and the European Union have threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinians if Hamas does not abandon violence. On her visit to Israel German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that financial aid will only be continued, if Hamas denounces violence and recognizes the state of Israel. 

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders have announced changes in internal politics. They would introduce, for instance, the Islamic religious law, the Sharia. An Islamic curriculum will be devised for Palestinian schools and co-education discontinued. 

Palestinian Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan has called on Christians not to panic. Christians will continue to work for justice, peace, and reconciliation and remain an integral part of the Palestinian people, he said. 

According to Ecumenical News International (ENI) Bishop Younan's comments indicate concern that the Hamas victory could speed up Christian emigration from the Holy Land. Already, the 50,000 Christians make up less than two per cent of the Palestinian population.

Victor Bartaseh, mayor of Bethlehem, paid tribute to the smooth cooperation with Hamas in the town where Jesus was born. The town council consists of five members of Hamas, two representatives of other Muslim organizations and eight Christians. 

The Catholic mayor describes Hamas adherents as “straightforward, honest and hard working”. Bartaseh is a member of the Marxist People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 

HAMAS PROPOSES TO PLACE ITS ISLAMIC MILITANTS WITHIN FORMAL NEW PALESTINIAN-STATE ARMY

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Jan 29/06 - The leader of Hamas suggested Saturday that the Islamic group could create a Palestinian army that would include its militant wing - responsible for scores of deadly attacks on Israelis - in the aftermath of its crushing victory in parliamentary elections.

Israeli officials condemned the plan, demanding that Hamas renounce violence. Palestinian security officers, including loyalists from the defeated Fatah Party, said they would never submit to Hamas control.

"Hamas has no power to meddle with the security forces," said Jibril Rajoub, a Palestinian strongman.

Hamas won 74 out of 132 seats in parliamentary elections Wednesday to Fatah's 45.  

Full Story Here 

PLO (PA) TERRORIST RESPONSIBLE FOR MUNICH 1972 MASSACRE "REGRETS NOTHING"

BERLIN - Jan 29/06 - A former Palestine Liberation Organization guerrilla who was one of the masterminds of the 1972 terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed said he "regrets nothing" about the incident. 

Speaking to Germany's Spiegel TV in an interview released Saturday, Mohammed Oudeh, better known as Abu Daoud, said it was up to Palestinians to "fight as long as it takes Israel to recognize our rights."

"I regret nothing," of the Munich attacks, he said, according to a transcript of the interview released ahead of its broadcast. "You can only dream that I would apologize."
 

Full Story Here


 



SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG

"I Would Die For Israel"

htp://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,397378,00.html

Hamas Wins PA Election 
12:06 Jan 26, '06 / 26 Tevet 5766


INN - Jan 26 - Unofficial but nearly final results show that Hamas, a terror organization dedicated to Israel's destruction, has won a majority of the seats in the PA legislature, and will form its next gov't.



It appears that Hamas has won a majority in almost every one of the 16 districts in the PA-controlled areas, including Jerusalem. Some 70 seats of the 132-seat legislature will go to Hamas. Fatah Prime Minister Abu Alla has resigned.

According to PA law, Chairman Abu Mazen must turn to the largest party and ask it to form the next government. 

Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahar said, "The armed struggle will continue, and it will cause Israel to make great concessions, and will change the way Egypt and Jordan relate to Israel as well."

MK Ehud Yatom (Likud) said, "The Palestinian people decided that terrorism is the tool and the way to implement its strategy for us not to be here in this region. Our government also made its decisive contribution to this development by allowing PA elections [in this format]." 

"Hamas might want to negotiate with us," Yatom said, "but we are not allowed to speak with any organization that is dedicated to our destruction."

Asked if in his estimation, the left-wing might want to negotiate with Hamas despite its goal of destroying Israel, Yatom said, "The only thing that interests them [those on the left] is to return to the 1967 borders."

Other reactions:

Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said, "Israel made a very grave mistake when it allowed Hamas to participate in these elections... The international community will now find every justification to have dialogue with Hamas, claiming that they won democratic elections, even though we invested such great efforts to have the world include Hamas on its outlawed list of terror organizations."

A Likud Party statement: 
"The Hamas victory is a direct result of the Disengagement, and the realization of the Palestinians that the use of terror and violence is the way to achieve diplomatic gains from Israel. The plans of Kadima and Labor for another widespread withdrawal, for nothing in return, shows us their total blindness in viewing the security reality."

MK Effie Eitam (National Union): 
"[Hamas chief] Mahmoud A-Zahar should send a large bouquet of roses this morning to Ehud Olmert and his government, who preferred to surrender in the war against terrorism, and instead of dealing with eliminating the Hamas leaders, chose to expel Jews from their homes. They thus proved to every PA voter that the way of Hamas and terrorism is the way to victory over Israel."

Former IDF Central District Commander Maj.-Gen. (res.) Uzi Dayan, head of a small new anti-corruption political party, said, "This show we have no one to rely on except ourselves. We must compete the partition as quickly as possible and withdraw from Judea and Samaria."

Shimon Peres: "I don't know how Hamas will run the Palestinian Authority and pay salaries after the world community cuts off international aid."

htp://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=97358# 

Dr. Dore Gold: Hamas is World-Jihad Motivated 


INN - Jan 25/06 - Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the UN, says that if Israel does not get the message out about Hamas' connections and identification with world jihad, no one will. 


Dr. Gold, the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, appeared on Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine this afternoon. Host Amatzia HaEitan asked him whether the expected ascent of Hamas following the Palestinian Authority elections will hurt the PA in the international arena. 

Gold responded: 
"There will be a great struggle of media spins and public relations in the coming days. Hamas and its parent organization, the Islamic Brotherhood, are viewed differently in various Middle Eastern countries. In Jordan, the Brotherhood is legal, while in Eygpt, it's outlawed. The question is whether Hamas will be perceived as part of the world jihad - or as an organization that can become moderate... 

"Israel's position helps mold the world's reaction; the Americans and Europeans first read what is written on the Israeli sites, and then they make their decision. The world certainly won't be more stringent than Israel."

The Hamas terror organization is committed to the destruction of Israel, and has murdered hundreds of Israelis over the past five years. 

"It is important to say," Dr. Gold emphasized, "that Hamas is an organization that identifies with the goals of world jihad. [Hamas leader] Mahmoud A-Zahar has said that Hamas victories are supposed to strengthen the mujahidin i [Islamic terrorists] in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Hamas sheikhs provide inspiration for Al-Qaeda... 

"Israel [can affect] world considerations, depending on what information it publicizes... For instance, one Israeli site, intelligence.org, shows important information on Hamas, such as the fact that Hamas sees itself as connected with Osama Bin-Laden and the rebels in Chechnya; the world must know this." 

Q. "How then must Israel relate to a situation in which Hamas becomes an integral part of the Palestinian Authority? We see that Israel continues to give in in this area."

Gold: "Israel has already dealt with a similar question in the past, and there are strict standards [for contacts with terror organizations]. Even though we allowed the PLO and Arafat in the past to be part of the diplomatic process without giving up terrorism, the standards still exist. The charters calling for Israel's destruction must be changed, and they must give up and condemn the use of terrorism. I don't see Hamas fulfilling these conditions, but Israel must insist on it. Otherwise, there will be those who will try to explain to us that Hamas can become more moderate."

Gold provided a specific example of the tendency to see potential moderation in Hamas: 
"In late September 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice appeared in Princeton University and tried to compare Hamas to the IRA in northern Ireland. She said that just like the IRA became more moderate after entering the political process, the same could happen with Hamas. 

"In my opinion, this comparison is not at all accurate, since the IRA wanted only to banish the British from Ireland, and did not want to destroy London - while Hamas has a clear agenda for an Islamic contiguity from Egypt to Iraq... Recent statements by Hamas leaders show that it has not given up its principle goal of destroying the State of Israel."

Gold told CNN of Israeli concern that if Hamas gains power, it could "form the basis for a militant Islamic threat against Israel that we have never known before... It simply doesn't work when you have a committed ideological movement like Hamas, which in addition has religious motivation. They can't be tamed by garbage collection."



htp://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=97296

Fatah Favors Armed Struggle to Liberate ‘Palestine´ 

INN - Jan 24/06 -The Al-Aksa Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah party, has called for continuing the armed struggle to “liberate all of Palestine.” 


The terror group, which took its name from the mosque on the Temple Mount, has also called for boycotting Wednesday’s election in the PA.

The Brigades’ call to boycott the election ironically may weaken the standing of Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas, the current ruler of the PA, at the polls. On the other hand the Hamas, a terror group driven by radical Islam, that is participating for the first time in a PA election, is encouraging supporters to get out the vote.

The Hamas, which according to a recent poll, is expected to garner nearly 29% of the vote, has not ruled out joining a future PA government coalition. The party said that after the election, it will demand the establishment of a full-fledged Palestinian army that will continue the jihad, or holy war, against Israel.

In an effort to outflank the Hamas and other radical parties, the Brigades accused the various groups running in the election of not sufficiently dealing with the issue of the struggle against Israel. Instead, said the Brigades, those parties are serving the interests of Zionism and the United States, on the basis of the Oslo agreements. As a result, the parties’ policies are liable to be influenced by foreign political pressure.

The Brigades teamed up with the Islamic Jihad, one of the most fanatic terrorist groups operating out the PA, at a rally Monday night in Gaza. A speaker for Islamic Jihad echoed the Brigades’ call to liberate all Israeli territory, and effectively eliminate the Jewish state. “We stand here today on the just road of struggle until the liberation of the last inch of Palestine,” he said.

At a press conference, leading officials of the Islamic Jihad, Nafez Azam and Khaled Albatash also called for boycotting the PA election and for remaining loyal to the armed struggle and to the jihad for liberating “all of Palestine.”

Azam said his group was opposed to holding elections based on the Oslo accords, and establishing a Palestinian state only in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Albatash said that violent opposition to Israel will ultimately succeed in removing the Zionist occupier from Palestine.

One day before the election, the Hamas pressed forward with a media blitz accusing the Fatah with receiving campaign financing from the United States. The group also attempted to project a more pragmatic line in order to expand its voter base.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashal did not negate the possibility of having the terror group join the PA governing coalition. He said he was ready for the Hamas’ own military wing, the Al-Kassam Brigades, to be integrated into a new Palestinian national army that would have as its first priority, the liberation of all Palestinian territory.



htp://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=97219

Seeing the support of the American State Department (Condi Rice) for HAMAS, ABBAS announces he will be QUITTING !

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says he won't run for another term 
By Associated Press 


AP - Jan 16/06 - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday he has no intention of running again after his current term as president of the Palestinian Authority expires in 2008, also predicting sweeping changes from this month's parliamentary election. 

Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, Abbas said the new Palestinian parliament to be elected on Jan. 25 will offer a "new type" of democracy, welcoming the participation of other factions in the race. His ruling party Fatah has controlled the Palestinian Authority since the first parliamentary election in 1996. 

But 10 years of inefficient and corrupt Fatah rule, along with burgeoning internal violence, has given a boost to the militant Islamic Hamas, which is running in a parliamentary election for the first time. 

Polls indicate a strong showing for Hamas, possibly even an overall victory. Hamas leaders have said they would want to take part in the new government, or form it themselves if they win. 

Israel and the U.S. brand Hamas as a terrorist organization, pointing to dozens of Hamas suicide bombings over the past five years of violence that have killed hundreds of Israelis. Hamas ideology does not recognize the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. 

Hamas participation in a Palestinian government would change its entire outlook, as well as the way Israel, the U.S. and others relate to it. The U.S. is warning it might cut funding if Hamas joins the government. 

Abbas was elected a year ago to replace Yasser Arafat, who died Nov. 11. "The presidency is four years, and it is possible (legally) to go for another term," Abbas told reporters. "But from now, I say, this ... will not happen." 

Full Story Here

Jenin Terrorist Blows Up to Avoid Arrest

ICEJ- Jan 13/06 - Mu'atazzam Khalil and Ali Abu-Hizme - two of the most-wanted Islamic Jihad terrorists in the West Bank were killed on Thursday afternoon during an Israeli army raid in Jenin, one of them shot dead by soldiers while the other blew himself up close to the troops, Ha'aretz reports. There were no IDF casualties in the raid which came as part of a stepped-up military offensive against the Islamic Jihad network in Jenin and Tulkarm - a group responsible for the murder of some 24 Israelis and a number suicide bombings in Israel during last year's loosely observed Palestinian 'ceasefire'. Meanwhile in the south of the country the IDF continued to shell Palestinian rocket launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, in reaction to early morning Palestinian missile fire towards Ashkelon. Two rocket explosions were heard in the area of Kibbutz Carmia, south of the populous industrial city, and two people treated for shock.

World Bank: PA Corruption Leading to Bankruptcy

ICEJ- Jan 13/06 - The Palestinian Authority is facing a fiscal crisis that could result, as early as next month, in it being unable to pay the salaries of its 130,000-plus officials and security staff, Nigel Roberts, the World Bank envoy to the Palestinian territories has told Ha'aretz. "The Palestinian government needs the continued assistance of the international community," Roberts said "and to secure that, it must begin to assume its responsibilities." Noting that the $5 billion received by the Palestinians in the past five years amounts to the highest amount of funds ever received by any national entity since World War II, Roberts accused the PA of failing to tackle the endemic corruption of the Arafat-era.

Hamas Victory Could Signal End to PA Aid (IF that Happens, the Europeans will Step in with Aid)

ICEJ- Jan 16/06 - American aid to the Palestinian Authority would be reviewed and possibly reduced if Hamas achieves a cabinet role after this month's Palestinian election, US diplomatic sources told Ha'aretz on Friday. The sources warned of existing US prohibitions on providing any "material support" to groups on Washington's terrorism list. Meanwhile the group's Gaza-based leader Mahmoud Zahar told a Hamas election rally in Khan Yunis that his movement would not abandon the armed struggle against Israel or negotiate with any Israeli after, when and if, it wins the elections. He disclosed that a Hamas-controlled cabinet would incorporate Palestinian Authority policemen into armed groups that are fighting against Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post. "Israel is an enemy, not a partner or a friend or a neighbor. We won't negotiate with them and this is our final position. Palestine, all of Palestine, belongs to the Muslims and the Arabs and no one has the right to give up one inch of its land," he said.

NOW ITS OFFICIAL: JERUSALEM ARABS ALLOWED TO VOTE IN PALESTINIAN ELECTION

     Ignoring JEHOVAH ?      Abbas Receives USA Assurances; Hamas intent on defying campaign ban

ICEJ- Jan 10/06 - Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Tuesday said Israel would permit Arab residents of East Jerusalem to vote in upcoming Palestinian elections - a key step toward resolving a standoff that the Palestinian Authority said could cause the ballot to be postponed.

Mofaz's comments follow a statement by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that confirmed that the PA legislative elections would take place as scheduled, on January 25. Abbas issued the go-ahead only after receiving assurances from the US administration that Arab residents of Jerusalem will be able to cast their ballots in the city, despite Israeli misgivings.

"Today, for the first time, we received from the Americans assurances that the elections will be held in Jerusalem," he said during a press conference in Gaza City. 

Mofaz, touring the security fence near the capital, confirmed that Israel would follow the policy of previous Palestinian elections, including last year's presidential vote, when it permitted a small number of Jerusalem Arabs to cast votes in local post offices. The remainder were permitted to vote in outlying suburbs in the West Bank, Ha'aretz reports.

"Israel's policy regarding elections in east Jerusalem will stay like it was," Mofaz told reporters referring to arrangements reached under interim peace agreements in the mid-1990s. Despite Israeli's initial opposition to being seen to endorse the inclusion of Hamas on the ballot, government sources in Jerusalem said on Monday that Israel would not give Abbas an excuse to postpone the elections. 

Israeli Security Minister Gideon Ezra also said on Monday said Israel is allowing candidates for Palestinian legislative elections to campaign in East Jerusalem as long as they do not belong to terrorist groups. "Every candidate for the Palestinian parliament can campaign as long as he is not a member of an extreme and radical gun-wielding organization," he said. 

The ease on campaign restrictions does not include Hamas, who vowed to defy the Israeli ban on its group's campaign. "We will carry out our electioneering campaign whether the occupation agrees or not. We have the means and the ways to do so despite of the Israeli decision," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. 

Meanwhile near the Palestinian militant stronghold of Jenin the PA-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades ordered all international election observers to leave. "We are sorry to tell you that you must leave Jenin as soon as possible," said a statement from the Jenin branch of the Brigades received by AFP news agency.

"We ask you to understand that this step is not against you. It is against the occupation and against the international community which has done nothing to stop the Israeli army's escalations against our people."

Despite their close affiliation to Abbas' governing Fatah movement the al-Aqsa Brigades have previously threatened to kidnap monitors in the Gaza Strip unless a series of demands are met, among them Israeli guarantees that the January PA elections are allowed to take place in the Israeli capital.




Jordan Bomb Plot Forces Western Embassies to Close

ICEJ- Jan 10/06 - Britain on Saturday closed its embassy in Jordan after receiving specific intelligence of an al-Qaeda suicide plot to blow up the building along with American targets in the country, the Sunday Times reports. The move prompted the Australian and Canadian embassies to follow suit the next day. Counter-terrorism sources said the prime suspect was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist who is now head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. On Monday al-Zarqawi's group issued a web statement indicating that Osama Bin Laden had instructed the Iraqi terror group to turn its sights on Israel, claiming responsibility for a series of Katuysha rocket attacks against Israeli communities near the Lebanese border late last month. 

Hamas Launches Gaza-based 'Al-Aqsa TV'

ICEJ- Jan 10/06 - The Hamas terror group has launched a TV station in the Gaza Strip, a first step toward setting up a satellite station like the one Hizb'Allah runs in Lebanon, Hamas officials said Monday. The Al-Aqsa Television station is being set up just weeks before the Palestinians' January 25 parliamentary election, and if up and running in time, could help Hamas in its campaign, analysts said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Rocket-makers Enter Gaza; Israeli Arab Caught Spying for Iran

ICEJ- Jan 9/06 - Weapons experts in Palestinian terror groups who have undergone training in Lebanon, Syria, and possibly Iran have recently infiltrated the Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli security official said on Sunday. Most of the experts are Hamas members who specialize in making explosive devices and improving the accuracy and payload of the group's Kassam rocket and missile stock. Meanwhile Israeli Shin Bet sources said Saturday that there has been a significant increase in attempts by Iran to infiltrate Israel and link up with Palestinian terror groups. The statement follows the arrest of Jaris Jaris, an Israeli Arab former Galilee council head arrested recently on suspicion of spying on Israel for Iran.

PA Editor: We Must Admit Our Gaza Failure

ICEJ- Jan 9/06 - "It appears we are neither prepared to change, nor admit that we have failed in running our own affairs," Hafiz Barghouti, the Gaza-based editor the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeed, admitted over the weekend, according to the BBC. "Everyone is busy calculating how to make the biggest possible gains at the homeland's expense. While most Palestinians find it easy to blame the [Israeli] occupation for all our ills," Barghouti continued, making reference to Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip this summer, "it is a fact that the occupation was not as bad as the lawlessness and corruption that we are 

ISLAMIC AL-AQSA BRIGADES PLANNED STRIKE AGAINST DIMONA

Plot Against Israeli Nuclear Reactor an Ominous Sign of Escalating Terror 

ICEJ- Jan 9/06 - Ramzi Salah, a 22-year old member of the Palestinian Authority-linked Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza, was arrested in December on the Gaza border carrying a suicide bomb belt that he planned to detonate near the Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor. 

Authorities last week lifted a gag order on the case as Salah was brought before Beersheva District Court. He was charged with planning a string of "strategic" terrorist strikes in addition to the Dimona attack, including simultaneous suicide bombings in a number of different Israeli cities.

The publication of the circumstances of Salah's arrest appears to have given added weight to Israeli intelligence predictions that 2006 will see an escalation of terrorism in Israel, from both the global and Palestinian Jihadist movements. Speaking to Ynet News shortly after the New Year, a senior Israeli Military Intelligence official warned of both an "escalation and deterioration" in the security situation in the coming year.

At the same time Israel's Shin Bet secret service has also reported that the 10 fold decrease in Israeli terrorist fatalities between 2002 - at the height of the intifada - and 2005. In the past year terrorist attacks claimed the lives of 45 Israelis, compared to 117 in 2004.

Although the security fence is in part held responsible for the significant fall in fatal terrorist attacks, the Shin Bet warned that flawed inspection procedures and the failure of Israel to complete the barrier left it far more vulnerable than most Israelis believe, attributing much of the fall in fatalities last year to the decision by Hamas to observe a year-long intra-Palestinian ceasefire. 

In the meantime, the Shin Bet argued, Islamic Jihad upgraded its capabilities in the West Bank, taking responsibility half those killed by terror in 2005.

PA Interior Ministry Warns of Fiery Statements spurring Sedition by Hamas & Others


GAZA, Palestine, January 8,2006 (IPC+Agencies) -[Official PA website]
-Interior Ministry, in a statement, warned Saturday of the
intimidating phrases by Hamas movement to spin out feeling of fears
and terror in the Palestinian street to misinform and horrify the
electorates.

The ministry also asserted that the ministry gears up highly to go
ahead through PLC elections orderly and quietly and requisite
security plans were introduced in this regard, which includes all the
Palestinian security services.

Key leader of Hams Mahmoud Al Zahar to Maanna New Agency warned
yesterday of getting in the way of preceding the elections, otherwise
the Palestinian interior situation will be inflamed and push thing
towards a civil war.

In response, the statement of Interior Ministry strongly rebuked such
a threat as it purportedly endangers the future of the Palestinian
people.

"If there is a Palestinian thinks so, God Forbids, it will goad the
Palestinian society into a calamity that is a perpetual dream of the
Israeli occupation, at a time the Palestinian people and its
political echelon agreed to the tenet of dialogue as a mere solution
for common interest issues" Interior Ministry warned.

In a related development, the Islamic resistance Movement "Hamas"
asked the PNA cabinet and the Interior ministry to bring a halt to
"blatant interference" in the business of Central Election
Commission, which monitors the upcoming PLC elections.

Hamas opposed the amendments on the electoral rules which allow the
Palestinian policemen to vote in their posts, a thing that motivated
the Central Election commission two days ago to submit a letter to
President Mahmoud Abbas asking him to the exempt the CEC from its
monitoring missions.

Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas's spokesperson deemed, in a press release, the
stance of the cabinet and interior ministry "impinge on the fairness
of PLC elections and cast more doubts on PNA readiness to ensure
election integrity".

     Ignoring JEHOVAH ?      BUSH ADMINISTRATION PRESSURES OLMERT TO FORCE HAMAS ONTO POLITICAL ELECTIONS

Under threat of Dissolution and Bankruptcy, Fatah Allowed Alternative:  Campaign in Eastern Part of City of Jerusalem 
Jan 09 2006
By Hillel Fendel



INN - Jan  9/06 - The Government of Israel, at the behest [read "insistence"] of the U.S., has decided to allow some PA political campaigning in eastern Jerusalem - even though the Oslo Accords forbid PA political activity in the city. 


The decision was made in the Prime Minister's Office, at a consultation including Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra, and heads of the security establishment.

The Palestinian Authority is scheduled to hold elections for its legislature on January 25 [2006]. Minister Ezra (Kadima) explained today that only independent candidates or groups not associated with terrorist organizations will be allowed to campaign in eastern Jerusalem. "Israel will not permit parties that still bear weapons to campaign in eastern Jerusalem for the PLC elections," Ezra said. 

Later in the day, he changed his line: "Extremist organizations working against peace will not be permitted to campaign. Fatah will be allowed to campaign, but not Hamas."

Ezra said that anyone who wants to campaign in Jerusalem must submit a request to the police and the General Security Service. "If they do not submit such a request," he said, "or if the request is turned down, the police will arrive and disband the gathering."

Former GSS head Ami Ayalon, a new member of the Labor Party, said that even Minister Ezra knows that the police will not have an easy time enforcing the new policy.

Israeli police barred PA candidates from Jerusalem last week, drawing a United States call for Israel to allow Jerusalem Arabs to take part in the election.

Israel Radio Arab affairs commentator Avi Yisacharov said that Hamas "will not want to leave the streets open only to Fatah, and clashes can be expected." 

INN spoke with Yehuda Maman, Minister Ezra's spokesman, and asked if the decision does not negate the Oslo Accords, which ban Palestinian Authority activity in Jerusalem. He said, "The new decision does not permit voting to be held there, but only campaigning... It was decided that this is something that is acceptable."

Asked why Fatah is being permitted to campaign, despite the many terrorist attacks its members have carried out, the spokesman said, "Fatah has a status that is different than Hamas; in this area, Fatah is not defined as a terrorist organization."

INN contacted David Baker, an official spokesman for the Prime Minister's Bureau, regarding on the issue of the decision permitting PA election propaganda in Jerusalem. He said, "My office has no comment on this issue. Thank you," and hung up.



Full Story Here






    Ignoring JEHOVAH ?      Abbas Says: U.S. gave assurances on Palestinian vote in Jerusalem 



Haaretz - Jan 10/05 - Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said the United States has assured him that, despite Israeli misgivings, East Jerusalem Palestinians will be allowed to vote in the city and the Palestinian Authority elections will therefore go ahead as scheduled on January 25.

He added, however, that the elections would not take place if Israel decides to prevent voting in Jerusalem. 

"We are on the way to elections and there's no doubt about it, but if something happens along the way, we'll decide how to act. We have not heard from the Israeli side anything to make us certain voting will take place in Jerusalem. We've only heard vague things from them," Abbas said.


Contrary to the statements of various Palestinian factions, Abbas said the security truce is not for a limited period and should continue in 2006.

Abbas' announcement confirmed a previous statment made by Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath earlier Monday.

The United States, however, refused to confirm or deny Abbas' statements, Israel Radio reported before dawn Tuesday morning.

Israel has said it may block voting in East Jerusalem because Hamas is running in the election. The militant group is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state.

However, government sources in Jerusalem said on Monday that Israel would not give Abbas an excuse to postpone the elections. If it appears that Israeli objections to voting in East Jerusalem are the only reason for postponement, then Israel will reconsider its position, they said.

Israeli sources added that they had never mentioned preventing voting in East Jerusalem during talks with the Americans, and downplayed the importance of the American-Palestinian agreement.

Israel assumes that Abbas will put off the elections, and therefore the issue will not be put to the test.


Haaretz has learned that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's adviser, Dov Weissglas, met last week with the American envoys supervising the elections to clarify Israel's position. 

The United States has discreetly resumed its efforts to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. U.S. officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had spoken to Abbas and discussed the region with other international powerbrokers.

On Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams will begin a trip to the region that they postponed after Sharon went into hospital on Wednesday for preparation talks on the elections. The U.S. is exerting heavy pressure on Abbas to hold the elections on schedule.

"In terms of contacts at the working level, those do continue... there are still agreements in place that require follow-up. We are following up," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Israel to allow some E. Jerusalem campaigning...

More of the Story Here

PA Gunmen Kill Egyptian Border Guards

ICEJ- Jan 6/06 - Two Egyptian border guards were killed and at least 30 wounded when scores of gunmen from the Palestinian Authority's governing Fatah movement opened fire at Egyptian army posts after demolishing parts of the concrete slabs along the Gaza-Egypt border, Wednesday. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen used a bulldozer and explosives to create a hole in the wall to enable Palestinians to breach the porous southern border. According to The Jerusalem Post, the gunmen were protesting the arrest of Ala al-Hams, a senior commander of Fatah's armed wing in southern Gaza, on charges of kidnapping three British nationals in Rafah last week. In a separate incident, several Palestinian gunmen also tried to kidnap the parents of Rachel Corrie, a US pro-Palestinian activist killed in 2003 standing in front of an IDF bulldozer trying to destroy weapons-smuggling tunnels. The kidnapping attempt failed, but the Corries later left the Gaza Strip out of fear for their lives.

Hamas Man Killed in Firefight (& Election Fight) Despite New Poll Favoring Fatah

Control of the Ballot Box - Palestian Factions turn on Each Other

ICEJ - Jan 6/06 -Rami al-Dalou, a 24-year old Hamas supporter was killed in a firefight by activists of the rival Fatah Party on Thursday. The altercation took place while the opposing factions were hanging election posters in Gaza City and added to the impending sense of lawlessness in Gaza ahead of the January 25 Palestinian Legislative Council ballot. According to the results of the latest opinion poll released Wednesday by Dr. Nabil Kukali of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, the fortunes of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' governing Fatah movement SEEM to have improved scoring 38.1% in the poll next to Hamas' strong second place showing at 26.6%. Some 83.4% of eligible Palestinian voters, meanwhile, plan to turn out for the ballot with over 60% confident the election will be fair.

    Ignoring JEHOVAH ?      Bush Presses AGAINST Israel National Interest on East Jerusalem Palestianian Election Upcoming Vote

ICEJ- Jan 4/06 - US President George W. Bush "wants Palestinian elections to go forward as scheduled" on Jan. 25, a White House official said on Tuesday, and that Israel should not bar Palestinians from voting in East Jerusalem. "We believe that people must have access to the ballot," the official said. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other officials have said that the election might be postponed if Israel does not allow East Jerusalemites to participate. Israel has been reluctant to facilitate any ballot which is being competed by the extremist Islamic terrorist group Hamas, arguing that their participation breaches the Oslo Accords. Nevertheless Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin says the government will not stand in the way of Palestinians living in Jerusalem from casting ballots. "We will find a way to fulfill our obligations to allow them to exercise their right to vote," he said. "The Palestinians are looking for an excuse to blame Israel because they are incapable of controlling their own streets," Gissin continued. "If they decide they want to cancel the election, they do it on their own merit, they can't hang it on us."

SHIN BET Diskin: Hamas Win Would Spell Deep Trouble for Israel

ICEJ- Jan 4/06 - Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin said on Tuesday that Israel would be in "deep trouble" if Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for late January. Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Diskin predicted that following a victory or strong showing, Hamas would install its people in key positions in the Palestinian security forces thus assuring that there would be no efforts made to head off terrorism launched from Palestinian-controlled areas. A Hamas triumph could also affect the educational curriculum taught in Palestinian schools, Diskin said. 

PALESTINIAN ROCKETS TRIGGER AIRSTRIKES ON GAZA 'NO-GO' ZONE

Jan 06 - ICEJ - Barrage Follows Monday Killing of Islamic Jihad Kassam Squad Leader

The Israeli air force bombed access routes in northern Gaza before dawn on Wednesday targeting roads that the army claimed were being used by terrorists to reach Kassam rocket launching-sites in the newly established 'no-go' buffer zone on the northern edge of the Strip. 

The strikes came after heavy IDF artillery fire directed at the 'no-go' zone on Tuesday failed to deter Palestinians from firing nearly a dozen Kassam rockets at Israeli communities in the western Negev. 

Although half the missiles landed harmlessly in Palestinian territory at least six exploded inside Israel, one hitting a factory and one striking close to a gas station in the southern town of Sderot. "I don't want to think what would have happened had the rocket, God forbid, landed inside the station, blowing up fuel tanks," Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal told Ynet News.

No casualties were reported as a result of the rocket barrage, itself a retaliation for an Israeli air strike on Monday that killed three Islamic Jihad members involved in rocket launchings, including senior Jihad commander Sayid Judyan and his aide, Akram Gadasas. 

According to the IDF Judyan, 41, was involved in the planning and implementation of suicide attacks, infiltration of Israeli facilities, and detonation of explosive devices against IDF forces. In recent weeks Judyan headed an Islamic Jihad terror cell responsible for numerous rocket launchings at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip. 

Elsewhere in the territories, IDF troops killed a wanted Palestinian weapons dealer south of Hebron late Tuesday night. Infantry troops on a mission to arrest him searched for him at his home and then at a store he owns. At the store they saw him armed with a Kalachnikov rifle, wearing a combat vest and helmet, and shot him dead. 

QUARTET WARNING AS HAMAS TAKES POLL LEAD 

USA & World Policy Leaders Pretend to Distance themselves from Palestinian Terrorist Groups

Dec 28/06 -  A series of Palestinian pre-election polls show Hamas taking control of the Palestinian Authority following January's parliamentary elections, forcing Quartet members - the US, EU, UN and Russia - to issue a strong statement against the inclusion the Islamic terrorist group in government. A future PA Cabinet "should include no member who has not committed to the principles of Israel's right to exist in peace and security and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism," the Quartet says. Polls give Hamas a narrow lead over Mahmoud Abbas' governing Fatah movement - currently split with two competing lists of candidates. Fatah's only hope of remaining in power seems to lie with the breakaway list of jailed Tanzim terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti - seen by many as the natural heir of former PLO chief Yasser Arafat. 

ROADBLOCK SUICIDE BOMBING KILLS THREE

ICEJ - Dec 29/05 - A Palestinian suicide bomber planning to target Israeli children at a Tel Aviv Hannukah party blows himself up at an army roadblock south of Tulkarm killing Lt. Ori Binamo, the 21-year old IDF soldier who stopped to search him and two Palestinian bystanders. Three other soldiers and six Palestinians are wounded in the attack attributed by Israel to Islamic Jihad. "With all my sorrow over Ori," IDF commander Col. Aharon Haliba, says after the blast, "I have to tell the truth: He and his soldiers, with their bodies, prevented [a far more serious] attack. That is their job; that is our job." The Palestinian Authority's official radio station repeatedly praises the bombing in its main news shows, calling the bomber and his two Palestinian victims "heroic martyrs." 

ZARQAWI CLAIMS NORTHERN KATUYSHA STRIKE

ICEJ - Dec 29/05 - Al-Qaeda in Iraq says it fired a barrage of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel two days earlier, in a rare claim by the group of a direct attack against the Jewish state. The statement, on an Islamic Web could not be independently verified, but fits with longstanding Israeli intelligence warnings that the global jihad is intent on establishing a base in Gaza for launching attacks against Israel and neighboring pro-American Arab regimes. "Israel is a preferred target, whether on its own merits or as a symbol of the West," says former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon in an interview with the American magazine Forward. According to Israeli counter-terrorist specialist Yoram Kahati Israel is becoming a more attractive target for al-Qaeda with the growing influence of the organization's Jordanian-born leader in Iraq, Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi. "The battle for Palestine, as Zarqawi sees it, is the ultimate one," says Kahati. 

Palestinian Civilians Applaud Terror Attacks on US and Europe

65% of Palestinians Applaud Terror Attacks on US and Europe


Ezra HaLevi - Dec 27, 2005



INN- Dec 27/05 - A poll carried out in the Palestinian Authority shows 65% support for
Al Qaeda terror attacks on the United States and European countries -
the biggest donors to the PA.

The poll comes at a time when US and European funding of the
Palestinian Authority is at an all-time high.

With elections due to be held next month and the Hamas terror group
gaining significantly in municipal elections and polls, the survey
further illustrates the desire of a majority of PA Arabs to establish
an Islamic state, similar to Iran. A whopping 79.9% of Palestinians
would like the PA to follow Shari'a - Islamic religious law. Included
in the figure are 11.3% of the respondents, who would like to see
Shari'a supplemented by the laws of a PA Legislature.

"What is striking is the willingness of Palestinians to turn against
even the Western countries upon whom they are so totally dependent in
order to progress," said Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Director
Itamar Marcus. "The poll underscores what PMW has been documenting
for years - the profoundly negative impact hate education has had on
PA society…Palestinians are not in direct conflict with the US, and
certainly have counted on the Europeans as active allies. And yet an
overwhelming majority desire to see Europeans and Americans killed by
a religion-based terror organization."

The poll was conducted by FAFO - a Norwegian-based NGO not known for
sympathy toward Israel or antipathy toward the PA. FAFO says it
conducted the polling among the Palestinian population "in order to
assess political feelings after Israel's voluntary withdrawal from
Gaza in late-summer 2005." The poll results were reported in the PA
newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida last Friday.

Last month (November 18th), in a sermon broadcast on PA-controlled
television, Islamic leader Suleiman Satari offered the following
prayer:

"Destroy the Infidels and the Polytheists! Your [i.e. Allah's]
enemies are the enemies of the religion! Count them and kill them to
the last one, and don't leave even one."

According to PMW, prayers to annihilate all "infidels" have been
included in Friday prayers on PA TV at least six times in recent
months. Two such sermons were delivered by Yusuf Jum'a Salamah, PA
Minister of the Waqf Religious Authority - the most important
religious office in the PA. Even though PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas was
present on at least one of these occasions, similar prayers for
genocide continued on the PA-owned and controlled TV in subsequent
weeks.

Just weeks before the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001, Dr.
Ikrime Sabri, the Mufti of Jerusalem and the highest-ranking Islamic
figure in the Palestinian Authority said on PA radio: "O Allah,
destroy America and its supporters and collaborators. O Allah,
destroy Britain and its supporters and collaborators."

Palestinians Threaten to Cancel Elections

Dec21/05


JERUSALEM - Dec 21/05 - AP- The Palestinian Authority will cancel Jan. 25 parliamentary elections if Israel goes ahead with its plan to bar Palestinians from voting in disputed Jerusalem, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday. 

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been under pressure from his Fatah Party to postpone the vote, amid concerns about the growing political clout of the Islamic militant group Hamas. But Palestinian officials denied Abbas was using Israel's threat as a pretext to call off the vote.

Abbas said he hasn't decided yet whether to delay the vote. In the past, Abbas has insisted the vote will take place as scheduled, but on Wednesday he hinted for the first time it might not. "This is a big responsibility that must be studied carefully," Abbas said.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian gunmen abducted a Dutch school principal and his Australian deputy as they drove to work at a private American school north of Gaza City. The hostages were freed several hours later, just as a radical PLO faction claimed responsibility and demanded the release of their jailed leader. It was not clear what deal, if any, was struck with the kidnappers.


In Israel, two senior government officials said Israel would not let Palestinians vote in Jerusalem because it objects to Hamas' participation in the race. Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction, is running for the first time in parliamentary elections, and poses a strong challenge to Abbas, a "moderate".

"There will be no voting in sovereign Jerusalem," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss policy with the media. "Our role is not to help Hamas get elected — certainly not in sovereign Jerusalem."

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath said barring the vote in Jerusalem would be grounds for calling off the ballot. "If the Israelis insist on not allowing us to conduct the elections in Jerusalem, then there will be no elections at all," Shaath said.

While ostensibly a minor procedural matter, voting in Jerusalem is of great symbolic importance for Israel and the Palestinians, as a measure of claims to the eastern sector. The Palestinians want to establish their capital in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War and later annexed to its capital.

Full Story Here








PA Refuses Israeli Threats to Set up Buffer Zone along North of GS


http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?id=4991

GAZA, December 24, 2005, (WAFA- PLO news agency)- Ministry of Interior 
(MOI) refused Saturday Israeli threats to set up a buffer zone along 
the north and the east of Gaza Strip (GS).

In a press release, MOI revealed that it issued tight orders to 
national security forces to stay at their positions, saying that the 
Palestinians have the sovereignty rights and they will keep practicing this 
right without any Israeli interference.

The MOI also called on citizens to stay at their homes and not submit 
to Israeli threats, adding that such Israeli acts do not help in 
reaching stability and security in the region.

Recently, Israeli army approved a plan to establish a buffer zone of 
2.3 KM deep in north GS to stop what they claimed "the fire of rockets 
towards Israeli areas."