Archaeology as a National Hobby

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Another New UNRWA Logo

After reading this:

The booby-trapped tunnel in question had its opening situated in a small health clinic run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. That fact alone should be shocking enough. But it comes just days after a cache of rockets was discovered at one of UNRWA’s schools. Worse still, this was the third such discovery since Israel’s operation Protective Edge began. The UN’s personnel in Gaza can no longer plead negligence; anyone considering the facts must inevitably conclude that UNRWA is actively collaborating with Hamas.

I thought this is how the UNRWA logo should look:

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Al-Aqsa Mosque Searched Shoeless

Finally, the police, after multiple times that the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount has been used to store rocks, projectiles, firebombs, roman candles and whatnot, decided a search was in order and they entered, sans shoes:

Who say we have no proper concerns for human rights?

And outside, this photographer saw Jews walking on the Temple Mount  and wrote:

قتلة الأطفال .. عبدة القردة والخنازير .. يدنسون المسجد

which translates as

Killers of children .. slave monkeys and pigs .. desecrate mosque

Cultured language, example of coexistence and tolerance?  Or am I missing something here?

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Can You Trust Your Media?

Based on this EOZ post, here are questions (and some I have reformulated and have also added to) that should be in your mind when watching TV, reading your newspapers or news sites or even listening to your radio and the subject of Gaza, Hamas and Israel come up:


Since Hamas rockets fall short or explode at launch at the rate of 10%-20% and hurt or kill Gaza civilians, why don't reporters in Gaza refer to that?


There has been heavy fighting in Gaza. Why do reporters assume all damage/casualties are from IDF?


The Gaza Interior Ministry has instructed Gazans not discuss certain things with reporters. How do you find out the truth?  Moreover, there have been stories about Gazans intimidating reporters who report Hamas rocket fire, for example. Can you trust your reporter fully?


Media reports indicate that Hamas has executed a number of unarmed protesters. Why is there neither confirmation or disavowal?


Palestinian media reports about 30 collaborators killed by Hamas so far. Have you heard any reporters on the scene or reproting on this?


Do any of the reporters in Gaza have any military experience? Actual combat experience? If not, do you think that is a problem?


All else being equal, do reporters in Gaza believe Hamas statements more than IDF statements?


Has any reporter in Gaza asked UNRWA any questions about how its material ends up in tunnels or how rockets end up in schools?


Why have journalists ignored statistical evidence that contradict Hamas claims re. # of civilians killed?


Why hasn't the presence of Hamas personnel in Al Shifa hospital been reported widely?


As a result of the previous engagements in Gaza, when Israel claimed that mosques and other civilian property have been used for purposes of terror, why have no reporters investigated?


Since reporters have done stories on the smuggling tunnels, why no stories on the attack tunneles leading towards Israel?


Can you trust your media?

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Hugs and Prayers

This I snapped hanging on the Jewish Agency building:

It reads 

We are hugging the IDF soldiers and pray for their return home in peace

Now, I may be reading into this too much but I don't think so.  I think this phrasing is unnecessarily 'soft'.  Borderline cootchie-cootchie.

One need not go over the top, like Hamas, with that extinct the Jews video. Or the one from Qatar


But something like this is not bad:

 I will pursue my enemies, and will overtake them; 

neither will I turn back till they are finished.

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Un-UNRWA

UNRWA Spokesman breaks down over deaths of children in the fighting:

Chris Gunness, whose job is in danger.

Children like these?

or him?

UNRWA:

and

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Found!!! Obama's Redline:Gaza's Civilians

On July 19th, Kol Yisrael reported that US President Barack Obama had set limit of 1,000 dead Gazans that after which he would intervene to stop Israel's military yactivity:

Here's the recording and the translation via IMRA:

"A senior source in the American Administration says that if the number of dead among the Palestinians in Gaza reaches 1,000 President Obama will demand that Israel immediately ceases fire - in a conversation with ourcorrespondent Oren Nahari."   Israel Radio News bulletin 14:00 19 July 2014

As a friend noted to me:

So Obama has drawn a redline that he’s actually enforcing.  No redlines enforced in Syria no matter how many die yet arbitrarily he chose 1000 Pals. Simply bizarre

and another friend commented:

And there is no way to assess the actual number of civilian casualties.  The only source is Hamas propaganda. 

So, Obama seems to be a bit of a bully and the only Arabs he really cares for are among the worse.

And if you are wondering 'but what about the civilians?', well, we all care for the innocents but the standard of innocence in Gaza is a problematic matter:

An example and there are many.

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As Gaza Goes, Judea and Samaria Assured

It's been said before recently

Now you can understand why I keep insisting that Israel's eastern security border will remain along the Jordan River. Who knows what the future holds?...The second challenge we face is to stabilize the area west of the Jordan River security line. In this area of the West Bank no force can guarantee Israel's security other than the IDF and our security services...[as] what happened in Gaza when the Palestinian Authority forces were defeated by Hamas after Israel's withdrawal;...We must understand that in any future settlement with the Palestinians, Israel will have to maintain long-term security control of the territory along the Jordan River.

---  Benjamin Netanyahu, June 30, 2014

“I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan...If we were to pull out of Judea and Samaria, like they tell us to, there’d be a possibility of thousands of tunnels [being dug by terrorists to attack Israel]”

--- Benjamin Netanyahu, July 18, 2014

but it's always good to hear it from Ha-Ha-Haaretz:

If before, it had been possible to fantasize about some sort of peace, now the fate of the West Bank has been sealed and the settlers can relax.

...Even if we do not succeed in demolishing all the tunnels and rockets continue to be buried underground, awaiting their launch, victory is already in our hands. Maybe not in Gaza, but certainly in the West Bank. In Greater Israel. As happened during the withdrawal from Gaza, the system of connected vessels has returned to the psyche — a system according to which the bigger the threat Gaza poses, the more Israeli control of the West Bank is assured. The more we struggle with Hamas, the more the threat of withdrawal from “Judea and Samaria” recedes.

...if [after the Disengagement] Gaza had become a perfect example of a thriving and prosperous mini-state, free of rockets and terrorism, Israel would have had a hard time claiming convincingly that withdrawal from the West Bank constituted a security threat.

Fortunately for the devotees of Greater Israel, the withdrawal from Gaza and its takeover by Hamas two years later gave them the perfect excuse to hold onto the West Bank and never let it go. There will never again be any need for messianic ideology or a divine promise. Gaza provided all the “right” excuses: Look at Gaza and you will know what not to do in the West Bank. In the name of security and because of the rockets, we must hold on to the West Bank, to East Jerusalem, to settle on every inch. Anyone who hesitated, anyone who asked questions, was referred to the horrific show that took place in Gaza. The “trauma of being uprooted” provided its own cure. A defensive shield against peace.

...But then, three boys were kidnapped and murdered...And then came the war...Gaza sealed the fate of the West Bank. If before, it had been possible to fantasize about some sort of peace, if for a second the settlers missed a slight beat because of the talks, now they can relax. Because who would dare mention the word “withdrawal” now? Who would agree to make himself a laughingstock by calling for peace talks? What a wonderful victory. We love you, Gaza.

Another strategic view.

What we need for defense.


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Lucky Mosque

A banner on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Temple Mount precinct in Jerusalem yesterday:

Yes.  Soldiers of Islam with green banners.

UPDATE:  The translation, after the holiday blessing, "May they have every year the ability and the victory". 

If that building would be in Gaza, it might be a target.

Lucky local Islamists.

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If They Don't Appreciate Our Humanitarian Care

Fact:

Reality:

Hamas is such a waste.

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Save the Arab Children from Hamas

Credit

Lucky he's in Jerusalem's Temple Mount; if in Gaza he might not be at all.

Nor him:

Of course, how the police allowed that toy up there is something i cannot fathom.

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Deep Pink

Here he is

There he goes:

Another snap.

As reported

Rice's remarks were briefly interrupted by a heckler, who later gave his name as Tighe Barry, 50, from Los Angeles. He said he had flown to Washington from California to attend the meeting and belonged to an organisation called Jewish Voices for Peace.  "The truth is, Israel is killing innocent people in Gaza," he yelled during Rice's speech, before he was quickly and forcefully wrestled out by security. "Stop the bombing, stop the killing, stop the hate."

JVP or

 Code Pink for Peace member Tighe Barry

(you can hear him hear) 

How radical is he?  He supported Al-Quds Day last year.  "There's a holocaust going on in Palestine" (2:01).

Radical?

Irrational.  Sick.  Uninformed.

He encourages the hate of Jews, assists the killing of Jews, facilitates the bombing of Jews.

His pinkness needs a very good washing out.

P.S.

Why pay attention?

His anti-Zionism has found a home at JVP, a most inimical group of Jews:

Jewish Voice for Peace. We are inspired by Jewish tradition to work for peace, social justice, human rights, respect for international law, and a U.S. foreign policy based on these ideals. We believe that any solution in Israel and Palestine must be built on a foundation of equality and fairness for both peoples

.

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50 More

Reported:

King directs gov’t to increase guards at Al Aqsa

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday directed the government to immediately begin with administrative procedures to appoint 50 new guards at Al Aqsa Mosque to bolster security there in light of the continuing Israeli assaults on Islam’s third holiest site.  The Monarch, the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites, had received letters from Sheikh Mohammad Azzam Khatib, the director of Jerusalem’s awqaf department, and  Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab, who heads the Jerusalem awqaf council, outlining the Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa and calling on His Majesty to increase the number of guards. 

My points:

1.  at least they are ultimately responsible to the King.

2.  so, who is sovereign there?  Jordan? Waqf? Palestinian Authority? Israel? 

3.  why add at all?  the number of Jews permitted to ascend is not that large and in small groups in any case.  perhaps more Jews will be allowed and therefore the number needs be increased?

4.  but the new custom of paid-for-by-Islamic Movement' Muslims 'sitting-around-and-learning' exactly in the path of the touring Jews must be eliminated.  and the procedures for entering Muslim needs be complete reorganized.  will those extra guards help?

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Christine's Foul Mouth

Meet Christine, Christine Habib:

Christine is a journalist, and a news anchor.

Yes, Christine is pretty.

But she sinks and is empty-headed:

On Friday, Christine Habib, a Lebanese reporter who, according to her Facebook profile, is a "Senior Reporter at Al Jadeed TV," issued a tweet calling for Iran to send nuclear weapons to Hamas for use against Israel, assuming the Islamic country has weapons to send.
"#Iran should send its nuclear weapons, if they exist, to #Hamas," she tweeted. Her message sparked a great deal of controversy on Twitter.

Now, I am not claiming her sex gender or her good looks are influencing my opinion but she's a dumb lady.

No, not because she hates Israel.  You don't have to be ugly, although that helps, to dislike Israel. But as many responders remarked, a nuclear weapon would kill more Arabs and Muslims and Christians (I am assuming she, too, is a believer in Jesus) than Israel has killed since 1948.  Her remark also assists Israel's public diplomacy in highlighting the total irrationality, immorality and insane approach Arabs have when Israel is the issue in promoting genocide and indiscriminate killing of ... civilians.

Her station seems to be a front for the most extreme political positions in Lebanon.

Front or not, she is a backward lady.

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Image Problem

I have blogged on the statement of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright admitting that the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria are actually legal.  Any question regarding their status is political.

She has now made a new statement.

Referring to talks and cease fires, she said 

no progress will be made until both Israelis and Palestinians want to end the attacks and begin to negotiate.  “What are the preconditions for even getting to discussing the conditions?” she said. “So it’s a tough sell for everybody.”

And continued:

While Israel has a right to defend itself, many are criticizing the country for killing so many Palestinian civilians. Israel, however, says it’s Hamas’ fault for using civilians to shield its weapons. Ms. Albright said that could harm the world’s view of Israel’s image.  “I am a great believer,” she said, “In the moral authority of the Israelis, but I am very worried about their image.”

Image?

Does our Prime Minister have an opinion?

Yes:

Netanyahu: Israel must not cede security for sake of good PR

Philip Elliott, The Associated Press, Published Sunday, July 27, 2014 

WASHINGTON -- Every Palestinian civilian's death costs Israel in its fight for world opinion but the Jewish state must not cede its security for the sake of public relations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said..."We're telling the civilians to leave, Hamas is telling them to stay," Netanyahu..."Why is it telling them to stay? Because it wants to pile up their own dead bodies." He said: "They not only want to kill our people, they want to sacrifice their own people."

Image, in essence, is ephemeral.  Life and death is real.  We prefer survival and we'll deal the best we can with our image.

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(Almost) Breaking News: Kerry Demands Ceasefire

United States Secretary of State John Kerry, our correspondent has been informed, is demanding an immediate ceasefire and requesting that Haaretz stop all scathing reports about his failed diplomacy as well as his clumsy negotiations style.

Additional sources claim that he is even asking Israel's Minister of Defense, Moshe ('Kerry is obsessive and messianic') Yaalon, to faciliate this.

According to the Haaretz report written by Barak Ravid, who writes in a scathing tone, Kerry’s was an “embarrassing” performance and apparently displayed dishonesty in the negotiations.

Some quotes:

The draft Kerry passed to Israel on Friday shocked the cabinet ministers not only because it was the opposite of what Kerry told them less than 24 hours earlier, but mostly because it might as well have been penned by Khaled Meshal. It was everything Hamas could have hoped for.

The document...demanded no dismantling of rockets, tunnels or other heavy weaponry at Hamas’ disposal. The document placed Israel and Hamas on the same level, as if the first is not a primary U.S. ally and as if the second isn’t a terror group which overtook part of the Palestinian Authority in a military coup and fired thousands of rockets at Israel.

The secretary of state’s draft empowered the most radical and problematic elements in the region – Qatar, Turkey, and Hamas – and was a slap on the face to the rapidly forming camp of Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, who have many shared interests. What Kerry’s draft spells for the internal Palestinian political arena is even direr: It crowns Hamas and issues Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a death warrant.

Kerry['s]...conduct in recent days over the Gaza cease-fire raises serious doubts over his judgment and perception of regional events. It’s as if he isn’t the foreign minister of the world’s most powerful nation, but an alien, who just disembarked his spaceship in the Mideast. For a few moments Friday, one could not avoid recalling the things Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said about Kerry, and admit that despite the fact that it wasn’t appropriate, he may have had a point.

If Kerry did anything on Friday it was to thwart the possibility of reaching a cease-fire in Gaza. Instead of promoting a cease-fire, Kerry pushed it away. If this failed diplomatic attempt leads Israel to escalate its operation in Gaza, the American secretary of state will be one of those responsible for every additional drop of blood that is spilled.

As this blog post goes to press, it has been learned that Kerry is so depressed that he has called up a senior Hamas commander asking if he would be accepted as a member of the training suicide bombers.

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What Did They Do With the Dirt?

I was wondering: what did Hamas do with all the dirt they dug out of the ground?

A friend sent me to the La Manche Tunnel experience:

On the UK side, of the expected 5 million cubic metres (6.5×10⁶ cu yd) of spoil, approximately 1 million cubic metres (1.3×10⁶ cu yd) was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acres (30 ha) of land. This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park. 

In Gaza, they could have extended themselves seawards and enabled better living conditions.

Oh, well.

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And If We Call Them "Jihadists"?

Reported:

Egypt's army spokesman Mohamed Samir said Saturday that military troops in North Sinai had raided a "terrorist den" killing 12 suspected militants. The attack, which took place near the restive town of Sheikh Zweid, also saw the arrest of 11 suspected militants and another six wanted by authorities. 
Around 36 houses and 40 huts allegedly belonging to jihadists were destroyed by the army.

If we call the Gazan Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Salafi terrorist as "jihadists", all is then okay?

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So, You Want Proportionality?

Thanks to Business Insider, with tunnel additons by yours-truly:

Feel better now?

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If It Looks & Smells Like Hamas, It Is Hamas

This is, again, going around:

Hamas Didn’t Kidnap and Kill the 3 Israeli Teens After All 

The kidnappers were Hamas members.

Netanyahu:

"Those who perpetrated the abduction of our youths were members of Hamas"

That sat in jail as Hamas.

Their family is Hamas and relatives died in clashes with the IDF as Hamas.

Hamas did not condemn the kidnapping.

There was praise:

And this:

In an interview with Al-Jazeera earlier this week, Mashaal called the abductions a heroic act on behalf of the Palestinians and claimed to not have any information on incident.
Mashaal insisted that Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel, who were hitchhiking on their way home for the Sabbath from school when they were kidnapped, were “settlers and soldiers in the Israeli army.”
“No one claimed responsibility so far. I can neither confirm [Hamas’s involvement] nor deny it,” Mashaal stated.
Mashaal was quick to point out that the circumstances of the kidnapping far exceed who is actually behind the abductions. Calling the kidnapping terror attack a common “disappearance,” Mashaal said the three kidnapped boys were not “youths, as Israel calls them, but first and foremost settlers…and not even regular settlers, but armed ones.”

Was their a direct order?

Was there a need for so?

There was a third man (from the phone call).

The two have not been arrested and interrogated.

Hamas has been announcing it wants to kidnap.

Multiple attempts had been made previously.

And in any case, Hamas, if it didn't kidnap, did not need to fire off rockets in increasing numbers during Operation "Bringing Them Home".

Give us a break.

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Who Kills Arab Children?

Four children were killed on Saturday in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula when a mortar round hit their home, in an apparent attack by militants targeting soldiers, security officials said.  The attack took place in the northern Sinai town of El-Joura, believed to be a bastion of Islamist militants who have killed scores of policemen and soldiers over the past year.

In case you didn't know:

Militants have been escalating attacks against security forces, especially in north Sinai, since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year. More than 500 members of the security forces have been killed in attacks over the last year.

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The Terrible Terror Tunnel Tragedy

Many are upset at the presumed lack of adequate attention paid to those terror tunnels of the Hamas in Gaza.

But let's look back:

Israel mounts air strike on Gaza tunnels overnightPA sources say 22 Gazans injured; strike comes after Gaza militants blow up dynamite-laden donkey cart near border with Israel.May 26, 2010 

IAF hits Gaza tunnels in wake of bombing attempt by seaPalestinians claim responsibility for attempted attack, say more explosive-laden barrels in sea.  Feb. 2, 2010

Air Force Bombs Gaza Tunnels after Rocket AttackThe IDF continues to execute government policy of bombing Gaza smuggling tunnels—but only after terrorists attack Israel with missiles.  May 5, 2010

And already in 2007:

Israeli aircraft have launched a bombing raid on a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, the country's military has said.
An army spokesman said the tunnel, on the border with Israel near the Karni crossing, was being used to carry out an attack. No casualties were reported. Secondary explosions seen after the air strike indicated explosives were hidden in the tunnel, the army spokesman said.  The move comes the day after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed three Israelis in the resort of Eilat.

And in 2006:

Terror Tunnel Found in Gaza 
August 28, 2006

A detonated tunnel, originally designed to facilitate terror attacks in Israeli territory, dug in the direction of the Karni humanitarian crossing between Israel and Gaza.

And

August 30, 2006

A detonated tunnel, originally designed to facilitate

terror attacks in Israeli territory, 

located near the Karni humanitarian crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Did humanitarian agencies assist in these matter, i.e., are Israeli citizens humans to deserve attention from terror?

Here:

The blockade prohibits most exports and restricts the entry of basic goods, including food and fuel. Much of the available food is provided by the UN and other aid agencies, or smuggled in through tunnels running under the Egypt-Gaza border and then sold on at exorbitantly high prices to Gaza’s beleaguered residents. The situation has been made worse by the Egyptian government’s construction of a steel wall along the border at Rafah to disrupt the cross-border smuggling that has become Gaza’s lifeline, as well as the bombing of tunnels by the Israeli airforce.

That was Amnesty International. 

I caught tonight the former Southern Front Commanding Officer Yoav Galant complaining, too.  But Hagai Humberman recounts in Matzav Ruach this week that back in July 2010, after another tunnel bombing, he asked Galant why, if Israel knows tunnels are being dug into Israel that it waits until some terror action to bomb them?

Galant responded that these tunnels are know, they really aren't that much of a danger, don't worry and we are taking care of them with or without a rocket being fired off.

More than a tragedy.

P.S.

IDF Spokesperson reconfirms to IMRA:  4 tunnels found today but no tunnelsdestroyed - as explosives cannot be detonated during the humanitarianceasefire    ---    Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 12:43 AM 27 July 2014
Following reports in the media that the IDF "handled" 4 tunnels on Saturdayduring the humanitarian ceasefire:
The IDF Spokesperson's Office reconfirmed to IMRA that the 4 tunnelsdiscovered on Saturday were discovered but not destroyed.   No tunnels havebeen destroyed during the course of the humanitarian ceasefire as the IDF detonates explosives to blow up the tunnels and the IDF does not detonate explosives during the ceasefire.

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First The Poster, Then The Pictures

Last April, this poster appeared:

Last night, Islamists entered the Temple Mount throught the gates, not through underground tunnels. and did some damage:

More here.

Here:

More:

and flew a flag:

Updating:

Did anyone praise the police for securing Israel's sovereignty over that holy site?

P.S.   (In Hebrew) Criticism directed against the police.

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