December 17, 2008 | Khaled Abu Toameh
PA Tortures Journalists

“This is not Israel, where you are allowed to see a lawyer.”

Over the past two years Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been subjected to a systematic campaign of intimidation that has resulted in the death of some and the detention of others.

The campaign, which is being waged by both Hamas and Fatah, has received almost no attention from human rights groups and advocates of the freedom of expression throughout the world.

By contrast, when a Palestinian journalist is accidentally wounded by Israeli gunfire during clashes with Palestinians, the incident makes headlines in major media outlets in the US and EU.

What is most disturbing about the campaign of intimidation is the fact that it’s being spearheaded by the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. This is the same authority that is receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from American and European taxpayers’ money every month to build a proper judicial system and promote democracy and transparency among the Palestinians.

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This is a more difficult post to write than the last one. This one means a wake up for me and many others who so far have managed to treat world events as academic. The realm of debate and moral and ethical games.

Israel has retaliated against Gaza by air strikes against military targets and limiting civilian damage to the best of its capabilities. Many posts will argue the rights and wrongs of it so no need for more of that here. I’m sure the vast vast majority have already made up their minds as to who is right and wrong and why.

I am writing on another aspect. Strategy and outcome.

So far, Islamist forces world wide (and Gaza is no exception) have overwhelmingly chosen to go after the softest targets possible and the ones which would garner the most outrage and horror. It is not at all unusual for example, for a Palestinian receiving free and excellent medical care in Israel to return to the hospital wrapped in explosives with hopes of murdering the very doctors nurses and destruction of the facilities which had treated her. We also have seen attacks going back decades in Argentina, France, and recently Bombay targeting Jews with no strategic value whatsoever but because they are Jews. More recently, The UK, Germany Scandinavia and frankly much of Europe where Muslims are moving in large numbers in the past year has seen anti semitic violent attacks grow.

Hamas will ‘retaliate’ (I put retaliate of course in quotes as the Israeli action was in fact retaliation for over 800 rockets fired at Israeli civilians over the past few years most of which was during an agreed ‘cease fire’) as will Hizbolah, Al Queda/Taliban and any number of Islamic groups which as usual will create a new name for themselves for each attack by targeting easy to access unsuspecting targets of Jews. It could as easily be Ottawa as Bombay or Pembrook Ontario as London England or Ipswich Mass. as easily as Madrid Spain. The only thing these attacks will have in common, will be that it is against Jewish people.

If you live as a Jew in most western nations, it is against the law to arm yourself. not just for jews of course but for all. The police or more likely politicians would prefer you get killed cleanly and quickly then get the police and ambulance to the scene so City councils can show how efficient they are. Outside of small pockets of the USA where there is still some sense of individual right to life and self defense this is the norm. However given the history of Islamic terrorist movements and the ascendancy of same, the moral relativism of the modern left who dominate the civil service of most western nations and the consequent ethical ambiguousness which has made terrorists the victims and victims the aggressors, Jewish people may want to start thinking about their own security. Predicting the future at some levels is imposable. At others is as easy as looking at the past.

Let’s have a look at what the official reaction has been from various bodies in order to better understand how officialdom may react to the deaths of Jews by Muslim attackers in their own cities and nations.

Here I borrow heavily from the excellent site, The Gates of Vienna…

Spokesman For Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General

“The secretary general is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel.

“[He] appeals for an immediate halt to all violence [and reiterates] previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population.”

Gordon Johndroe, White House Spokesman

“Hamas’ continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop. Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people.

“The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza.”

Spokesman For Javier Solana, EU Foreign Policy Chief

“We are very concerned at the events in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exert maximum restraint.”

British Foreign Office Statement

“The only way to achieve lasting peace in Gaza is through peaceful means. Whilst we understand the Israeli government’s obligation to protect its population we urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties.

“We also call on militants in the Gaza Strip to immediately cease all rocket attacks on Israel.”

Russian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Moscow considers it necessary to stop large-scale military action against Gaza, which has already led to major casualties and suffering among the civilian Palestinian population.

“At the same time, we call on the Hamas leadership to stop shelling Israeli territory.”

Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary General

“We are facing a continuing spectacle which has been carefully planned. So we have to expect that there will be many casualties. We face a major humanitarian catastrophe.”

Syrian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Syria is following with great anxiety the barbaric Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza… a horrific crime and terrorist act.

[…]

“Syria as president of the Arab League calls on Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to assess the dangerous situation in Gaza.”

Hasan Qashqavi, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman

“Iran strongly condemns the Zionist regime’s wide-ranging attacks against the civilians in Gaza.

“The raids against innocent people are unforgivable and unacceptable.”

And the most useless and mealy-mouthed reaction of all comes from — surprise! — the Vatican:

Rev Federico Lombardi, Vatican Spokesman

“Hamas is a prisoner to a logic of hate, Israel to a logic of faith in force as the best response to hate.

“One must continue to search for a different way out, even if that may seem impossible.”

So from this we get a fairly clear idea how our leaders will react to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets. A few words careful not to offend Islamic terrorists. Hence the responsibility ends where it should begin. In the hands of each individual Jewish person to decide how exactly they should protect themselves. The state will not be able to do it nor has the will.

Perhaps the radical sounding words of the founder of the JDL, Rabbi Meir David Kahane don’t sound so radical now. “Every Jew a .22″.

Frankly, I think a .45 would make a lot more sense.

Palestinian kills 3 in Jerusalem bulldozer attack

And it isn’t even “Pancakes for Rachel Corrie Day”!

A Palestinian construction worker rampaged in a bulldozer along one of west Jerusalem’s busiest streets on Wednesday, killing three Israelis as he crushed cars and overturned a bus before being shot dead.

There was no claim of responsibility from militant groups and police said they were trying to establish if 30-year-old Hosam Dwayyat had acted alone. At his family home in the Arab east of the city, there was no sign of the crowds and banners that normally accompany the funerals of Palestinian guerrillas.

Hmmm… a little over a week after a cease-fire is called, and a “lone madman” goes on a rampage? I expect to see many more “lone madmen” before Hamas gives up the charade and officially calls off the ceasefire.

A man in civilian clothes leapt aboard and fired a pistol into the cab, followed by a helmeted policeman in body armor who fired an automatic rifle. The officer later said he fired twice at the wounded driver to ensure he was no further threat.

“The only way to stop him was with a bullet to the head,” witness Moshe Oren said afterwards. “We were relieved.”

It’s like Texas, but the men are way hotter. If someone is going batshit crazy and killing people, a bullet to the head is always a welcome relief from the danger.

When the Natives do absolutely nothing except smoke, drink and fuck their daughters. This Friday will mark the Native Day of Action(tm) here in Canada. It’s their chance to whine and complain that us white guys who pay 45% in income tax to support their smoking, drinking and daughter-fucking are ripping them off. How they can justify that, we’re not entirely certain. But what we can be certain about is that it will cause a new committee or study group to be formed - also at our expense - and it will solve exactly nothing.

I have no sympathy for the plight of the Natives, any more than I do for the Palestinians. In both cases they have the choice to get the hell off the rez, become fully-functioning, voting members of democratic society, but instead they choose to live in concentration camps, hands out to the government, ever ready with a complaint on their lips for the shoddy treatment they chose for themselves. Shut up and get to work, losers. You can bang the drum (not a euphemism for daughters) on the weekends, the way some overgrown white boys still get together to rock out in a garage band. But Monday to Friday belongs to The Man, same as it does for the rest of us.

Which neatly segues into an article I read this morning, about the trouble with Native populations sniffing gasoline to get high.

Aboriginals in Labrador are hoping a new fuel that doesn’t intoxicate gas sniffers could help solve a persistent problem among young people in their communities.

But even though BP has offered the formula free to anyone who promises to produce it, it’s still not clear how Opal gas, developed in Australia, could be brought to the Canadian communities that want it.

“We’d love to have it available in Canada,” said BP spokeswoman Anita Perry. “The issue really is logistics.”

Opal gas was developed as a partial response to the problem of gas-sniffing in aboriginal communities in Australia.

Daniel Pottle, a member of the Nunatsiavut government created by the Labrador Inuit land claim, heard about the product last Christmas through contacts with a business development group at Newfoundland’s Memorial University. Intrigued, he travelled Down Under this spring with a delegation of Inuu, Inuit and government officials to see what Opal’s effect has been.

“Where the product is being used, gas sniffing is no longer an issue,” he said. “We came back with a very positive impression of this product.”

This is taking things a little bit too far. When we’re in the process of trying to stave off environmental damage, and reduce dependency on foreign oil, BP is wasting their time and energy creating a sniff-proof gasoline to deal with the huffing problem so common among native populations. And now Canadian natives from Newfoundland want in on it. Guess who pays?

Yup - that’s right. You and I, the whipped taxpayer. We’re not paying enough in gasoline taxes, now we’re expected to foot the bill so the notoriously substance-abusing natives will have one less thing to huff? Here’s a better idea: why not just remove petrol stations from reservations? Then when they complain that they can’t get around, can’t get out to bingo or whatever, can’t fill their snowmobiles, freeze to death in their Northern climes etc, we can remind them why. Bad enough most reservations have to lock innocuous substances like mouthwash and cough syrup behind the pharmacy counters. I, for one, do not wish to be buying these people snort-proof gas because they can’t take responsibility for their own lives.

Let’s not have just ONE day of Native Action. Let’s have 365 days of it. Maybe then they’d find they only have the same problems everybody else has, and not these bizarre problems that seem to proliferate while you sit collecting the dole and looking for something to complain about. You know what? Make it 364 days - they can have Christmas off like everybody else.

What the hell took them so long to catch on? The mainstream media has always been anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, and playing the woe-to-the-poor-uprooted-Palestinians violins all the damn time. But now that it looks like one of their own may never return from the clutches of evil in Gaza, the press may have finally cottoned on to the fact that Muslims can’t be trusted.

“Up until now there has always been the assumption that there will be protection from the Palestinian authority or from Arabic and Islamic customs on treating guests. Now that trust is gone.”

Isn’t there a fable that goes something like this?

Linda has a roundup of girls named Rachel murdered by Palestinians in Israel. Why? Because the brainwashed are busy canonizing the idiot Rachel Corrie - AKA St. Pancake.

Who knows. Maybe someday I’ll be crossing the street in downtown Toronto, busy traffic, not looking both ways, and I’ll be hit by an Iranian cab driver. And maybe someone will decide to celebrate me for being an idiot, and punish all Iranian cab drivers around the world for the misfortune that befell me when I walked in front of a cab. Why not? If someone can walk in front of a steamroller and be celebrated as a hero, surely the same applies to anyone who does something stupid in a dangerous situation?

Further to yesterday’s popular post about the “Apartheid” demonstration in front of Indigo last week, I have decided to have a little get-together at that self-same Bloor/Bay Idigo on Friday after work.

If anyone is up for it, I’ll meet you at the Starbucks. See ya!

But they don’t call themselves anti-Semetic. Oh no - they know there’s too much negative press attached to that. Instead they are “anti-Zionist”, and “against Israeli Apartheid”. These groups include Jews, much the way there were Jews in Nazi Germany willing to sell out their friends and family members, thinking they would be saved. In the end, everyone died.

This past Saturday there was a Kill the Jews March (oh wait, I’m told it was an End Apartheid March - tomayto, tomahto…) in front of Indigo at the corner of Bay and Bloor. Heather Reisman is a Jew, and her business was being targeted because she supports Israel. And so Arab-Canadian students and suicidal Jews picketed in front of her store, waving Palestinian flags.

I wasn’t there (aparently no one was - I guess the memo wasn’t in NOW or EYE Weekly, but there were only about 100 people), but thanks to Casey we have pictures.

I think on Friday I will loiter around that very Indigo and spend my paycheck on Heather’s books. Anyone care to join me for a coffee?

My only concern is that Heather has been known to bend with the prevailing breeze before - I hope she doesn’t become one of those Jews holding the flag of their own destruction.