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Palestinians:
Our Blood Is More Precious Than Jewish Blood
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"We reject all forms of
violence... Palestinian blood is like Israeli blood. It is human blood
and precious and no one wants anyone killed." — Mahmoud al-Habbash,
Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs
"If your blood is like the
blood of Zionists, our blood is not." — Zakariya Zubeidi, former
leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.
"We call for lifting his
[al-Habbash's] diplomatic immunity and for prosecuting him immediately
for his administrative, financial, and political corruption. We also call
on President Abbas to fire him immediately from the Palestinian
cabinet." — Mansour al-Sa'di, Fatah leader.
The angry reactions show that
there are many Palestinians who see no problem with a terrorist attack
against a Jewish family. Palestinian leaders can blame only themselves.
A Palestinian Authority [PA] minister who equated Jewish blood with
Palestinian blood has been strongly condemned by many Palestinians,
including his own family.
The attacks and threats against PA Minister of Religious Affairs
Mahmoud al-Habbash serve as a reminder of the extent to which
Palestinians have been radicalized over the past few decades.
The uproar began when al-Habbash, in a meeting with Israeli
journalists in Ramallah, was asked about the recent terrorist attack near
Hebron that killed police officer Baruch Mizrahi on Passover eve.
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Israeli police
officer Baruch Mizrahi (upper right) was shot and killed by a
Palestinian terrorist near Hebron on April 14, as he drove to a family
celebration with his wife and four of their children. His wife Hadas
Mizrahi was shot and wounded.
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In response, al-Habbash
said, "We reject all forms for violence, whether they are
directed against Israelis or Palestinians. Palestinian blood is like
Israeli blood. It is human blood and precious and no one wants anyone
killed."
Although al-Habbash did not specifically condemn the terrorist attack
near Hebron, the Israeli journalists reported that he had indeed
denounced the killing of Mizrahi.
The Palestinian Authority leadership has refrained from publicly
condemning the terrorist attack out of fear that such a move would draw
angry reactions from many Palestinians.
The report in the Israeli media about the minister's supposed
condemnation has triggered an unprecedented smear campaign against
al-Habbash.
Within minutes, a photograph
of the minister, dressed up as a Jewish rabbi, appeared on many
Palestinian websites, making him the public's number one enemy.
Al-Habbash's attempts to deny that he had condemned the terrorist
attack have fallen on deaf ears. Many Palestinians appealed
to PA President Mahmoud Abbas to fire him and bring him to trial for
causing damage to the Palestinian cause.
In a futile bid to contain the public outcry, the beleaguered
al-Habbash told a
Ramallah-based TV station, "I didn't use the word condemn. I only said
that the Palestinian leadership rejects all acts of violence."
The minister's family in the Gaza Strip rushed to issue a statement
"disowning" him over his purported condemnation of the
terrorist attack.
In the statement, the al-Habbash clan said,
"We are proud of the heroic operation in Hebron and of every man and
child fighting against the occupation. We disown him and anyone who
embraces the despicable Israeli enemy."
The family later issued another statement denying that it had disowned
the minister.
The attacks on al-Habbash have come from Palestinians representing all
walks of life, including the ruling Fatah faction in the West Bank.
Zakariya Zubeidi, a well-known former leader of Fatah's terrorist
group, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, called
on al-Habbash to apologize to the Palestinians. "If your blood is
like the blood of the Zionists, our blood is not," Zubeidi declared.
Fatah activists in Jenin strongly condemned
al-Habbash's controversial remarks. "The statements made by Mahmoud
al-Habbash about the Hebron operation reflect his own views and not those
of Fatah or the Palestinian Authority," said Fatah leader Mansour
al-Sa'di. "We call for lifting his diplomatic immunity and for
prosecuting him for administrative, financial and political corruption.
We also call on President Abbas to fire him immediately from the
Palestinian cabinet."
Hassan Khraisheh, Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative
Council, also joined
the chorus of critics by calling on Abbas to get rid of al-Habbash
"because his statements have caused damage to the
Palestinians."
In yet a further escalation, the minister was forced to cancel a visit to
the West Bank city of Tulkarem, where he was supposed to inaugurate a new
mosque, after Fatah activists declared him persona non grata.
The activists carried placards denouncing the minister on the pretext
that he had condemned the terrorist attack in Hebron. They also attacked
al-Habbash for equating Palestinian blood with Jewish blood. "Anyone
who equates the blood of Yasser Arafat and [Hamas founder] Ahmed Yassin
and [Islamic Jihad leader] Fathi Shikaki with Jewish blood is an alien
and unwelcome," read one banner.
Palestinian activists said this week that they were planning to step
up their campaign against the minister until Abbas succumbs to their
demand to remove him from office and bring him to trial.
Palestinian Authority leaders such as al-Habbash can only blame
themselves for such campaigns. The uproar over the minister's purported
condemnation of a terrorist attack should not come as a surprise to
anyone. By glorifying and embracing those who launch terrorist attacks
against Israel, the Palestinian Authority leaders lose the right to
complain when their people turn against them even when they make
ambiguous statements such as, "we reject all forms of violence
against anyone."
The minister is under attack because Palestinians are convinced that
he committed a crime by denouncing a terrorist attack (something the
minister himself has denied). He is also under attack for daring to say
that he sees no difference between Palestinian and Jewish blood. In other
words, the minister's critics are saying that Palestinian blood is more
precious than Jewish blood.
The angry reactions show that there are many Palestinians who see no
problem with a terrorist attack against a Jewish family on its way to
celebrate Passover. They also show that many Palestinians are capable of
devoting huge amounts of energy to disgorging their hatred and disdain
for anyone who dares to speak out against violence or express regret over
the spilling of Jewish blood.
With such sentiments, it is hard to see how U.S. efforts to achieve
peace and coexistence could ever bear fruit.
Anti-Israel
BDS Resolutions Seize Campuses in Ontario, Canada
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Hamas -- the terrorist group and
offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood -- has fueled and directed the BDS and
Israel Apartheid Week campaigns on campuses across North America.
"Islam is my life... Jihad
is my spirit... I will die to establish Islam." — from the Muslim
Student Association pledge of allegiance.
Under the guise of promoting peace and human rights, resolutions to
join Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] drives are being foisted on
Canadian university campuses to push the agenda of the Muslim terrorist
group, Hamas, to destroy Israel.
It is Hamas—an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood—that has fueled
and directed the BDS and Israel Apartheid Week campaigns on
university campuses across North America through chapters of the Muslim
Student Association and the Palestine Solidarity Network.
Despite drawing a negligible fraction of the student population, the
votes are gaining traction. According to the website of the Palestinian
BDS National Committee, BDS is a global campaign designed to pressure
Israel to end its so-called "occupation and colonization of all Arab
lands." Hidden is the real BDS agenda: to delegitimize and
ultimately obliterate Israel by destroying its economy.
Also concealed in these drives are Israel's reason for so-called
"occupation," and the fact that Palestinians are treated better
in Israel than by their own vicious leadership who
sometimes even use their own people as human shields.
Toronto's Ryerson University students reportedly
became the 11th student union to vote in support of the
anti-Israel BDS campaign, giving "student politicians" the
mandate to pressure the university administration to cut ties with all
companies that support what the BDS campaign asserts is "Israeli apartheid."
Not only do they invariably fail to provide any evidence to support that
allegation, they fail to mention the very real apartheid that still
exists against Palestinians in Lebanon and Kuwait, where they are
forbidden to hold a whole array of jobs and privileges enjoyed by other
residents. They also fail to mention the very real apartheid against
non-Muslims that exists in countries such as Saudi Arabia -- where there
are roads they may not travel on, cities they may not enter and books
they may not bring in; or Pakistan, where non-Muslims effectively receive
no protection from the law-enforcement agencies.
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Anti-Israel
students at Ryerson University in Toronto jeer Jewish students who
spoke out against a student council motion to support BDS.
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In addition to York University students voting for BDS a year ago, the
McMaster University student union in Hamilton voted
in favor of a BDS resolution this past March.
After the vote, Raphael Szajnfarber, McMaster Hillel's Director of
Jewish Student Life, commented, "I can tell you it was a toxic
environment in the room tonight. ... "I know that some students did
indeed feel targeted."
Students at the University of Windsor have also supported BDS by a
narrow vote. Apparent "discrepancies", however, prompted an
investigation by the university administration, and may yet see the vote
thrown out.
The Ontario Public Interest Research Group [OPIRG], through its
website "The ShakeUp," accused
Windsor University president Alan Wildeman of being undemocratic by threatening
to have the referendum "quashed." Before the referendum,
Wildeman expressed
in a letter the "well documented and detailed complaints"
about the student referendum, and stated that "the University cannot
allow student organizations to compromise the University's commitment to
provide a welcoming learning and living environment for each and every
student on our campus."
The ShakeUp report, however, blamed Wildeman for "a heavy-handed
attack leveled directly at the Palestinian Solidarity Group," and
also launched a tirade not only against Wildeman, but also "the
ignorant colonial mentality that tore apart First Nations in what is now
Canada."
All the while, however, the "The ShakeUp" report concealed
the real goals of the Muslim Student Association and Palestinian
Solidarity Group.
After the Windsor referendum, Member of Parliament Jeff Watson called
the BDS movement "hateful and deceitful" and denounced
"this new anti-Semitism poisoning our Canadian campuses."
Howard English, the Toronto-area President of the Centre for Israel
and Jewish Affairs [CIJA], stated that such campus resolutions and
boycotts are not really intended to promote peace and human rights but
are "ultimately opposed to Israel's existence as a state."
Meanwhile, a Muslim woman, Mais Ali-Saleh, who grew up in an Arab
village outside of Nazareth, Israel, was lauded in, "Guess
Who's Valedictorian at Israel's Top Medical School?" On trips to
Europe, Ali-Selah said that people are surprised to learn that in Israel,
Israeli Arabs can study medicine and engineering. Ali-Saleh opposes BDS
and the notion of Israel as an "apartheid state." She said that
movements such as BDS deny a fundamental truth: "Arabs," she
said, "and in particular Arab women, have more freedom, liberties
and academic opportunities in Israel than in any Arab country."
One well-known company targeted by BDS is SodaStream, where Israelis
and Palestinians have been working together, embodying real "peace
and human rights" for decades. It is also where, as referenced in
the not particularly pro-Israel publication, Haaretz,
"truth be told, the SodaStream workers and local Palestinians were
downright peeved when asked about the efforts of solidarity activists and
their own government to boycott SodaStream."
The propaganda and lies of the BDS movement on our campuses, combined
with Western naivety, is a potent brew that needs to be challenged by
university administrations and at every level of society. Far too many
are unaware that the Muslim Student Association's pledge of allegiance
is: "Allah is my Lord. Islam is my life. The Koran is my guide. The
Sunna is my practice. Jihad is my Spirit. Righteousness is my character
and paradise is my goal. I enjoin what is right. I forbid what is wrong.
I will fight against oppression and I will die to establish Islam."
The MSA pledge of allegiance is virtually one and the same as the Muslim
Brotherhood's motto, which states: "Allah is our objective. The
prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the
way of Allah is our highest hope."
Iran:
Brutal Attack on Political Prisoners in Evin Prison
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The "unprecedented raid is
the most violent action against political prisoners in the past 20
years." — Kalame News website.
Prisoners held include Mohammad
Davari, winner of the Committee to Protect Journalists' 2010
International Press Freedom Award; Saeed Matin-Pour; Omid Behroozi;
Hosseini Ronaghi Maleki; Siamak Ghadari; Saeed Haeri; Mohammad Sedigh
Kaboudvand, Ehamad Bavar and Abdolfatan Soltani.
"We should not pay attention
to reports by the anti-revolutionary media." — Gholemreza Esmaili,
head of Iran Prisons Organization.
There has been no statement thus
far from Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani.
Iranian security forces, in anti-riot gear and using metal batons,
beat political prisoners for approximately five hours on in Ward 350 of
Evin prison, according to HRANA News Agency.
About 100 Iranian security servicemen stormed the prison on April 17,
2014, they said "for inspection."
The prisoners, apparently fearing that their few belongings would be
confiscated, as before, asked that their possessions -- acquired with
difficulty and at high prices, given the prison restrictions -- be
inspected in their presence.
The security men then turned on them, seriously injuring dozens.
Reportedly more than 30 prisoners were injured, and at least four had to
be transferred to a hospital outside the prison -- a rare event, as
medical aid is vehemently withheld from prisoners.
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One of the
entrances to Evin Prison, in Tehran, Iran. (Image source:
Flickr/sabzphoto)
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Thirty-two prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement despite
grave injuries, while being further beaten with batons during their
transfer. Some prisoners reportedly sustained broken ribs and skull
fractures.
The Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ] reported that seven
journalists were among the badly beaten political prisoners: Mohammad
Davari, winner of CPJ's 2010 International Press Freedom Award; Saeed
Matin-Pour, a freelancer imprisoned since 2009; Omid Behroozi, website
journalist reporting on the persecution of the Gonabadi Dervish
community, and imprisoned since 2011; Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger
imprisoned since 2009; Siamak Ghadari, a blogger imprisoned since 2011;
Saeed Haeri, a member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters who
documented human rights violations inside Iran; and Mohammad Seddigh
Kaboudvand, head of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, and
imprisoned since 2007.
Sahamnews reported that blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki -- who
suffers from a debilitating kidney disease -- along with religious
activist Emad Bahvar were seriously wounded in the attack.
With the exception of Mr. Behroozi, who was apparently transferred to
hospital due to a ruptured vein in his arm, the rest are presently in
solitary confinement without medical aid, visitation or phone calls,
under dire conditions. [According to a subsequent report, apparently nine
of the prisoners in solitary were since returned to their cells.]
Maedeh Soltani, the daughter of jailed human rights lawyer Abdolfatan
Soltani, told Radio Farda, via a telephone interview from Iran, that her
father was one of those beaten in the attack and sent to solitary
confinement. "About 100 guards, members of anti-riot forces, entered
the prison. Under the excuse of inspecting Section 350, they brutally
attacked the prisoners and beat them up," she stated. She added that
she received the information from "reliable sources" inside
Iran.
Gholamreza Esmaili, the head of the Iran Prisons Organization has
dismissed the report as simply "rumors." He was quoted by ILNA
-- Iran's semiofficial news agency -- saying: "We should not pay
attention to reports by the anti-revolutionary media."
In addition to the reports of the raid having been confirmed by the
families of political prisoners, 74 political prisoners from Ward 350
wrote their eyewitness account of the attack in a signed letter to Kalame
News website. The letter was republished in Farsi on various
websites.
Amnesty International created an urgent action report and stated:
"[R]eports about the raid have raised fresh fears about the safety
of prisoners in Iran."
Kalame News, which broke the news, says the "unprecedented
raid is the most violent action against political prisoners in the past
20 years."
There has been no statement thus far from Iran's President, Hassan
Rouhani.
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