Hamas not Observing Ceasefire as Usual

 

We all have likely seen the cartoon or the rephrasing of the main idea of the cartoon and Hamas observing a ceasefire. Well, they are at it again having launched over ninety rockets this otherwise quiet Shabbat morning. Saturdays are Hamas’s favorite time to launch broadsides at Israel as most troops are off base for the weekend and the ones remaining may not normally be assigned the positions they may be manning. This time it comes after sporadic firing on Friday afternoon along with continued rioting along the Gaza border which included shooting by Hamas into Israel at the IDF positions put in place to prevent Terrorists from infiltrating Israel and murdering Israelis. As we type this abbreviated report, we realize that this is not news, there are no big surprises and it goes without saying that Israel struck back eliminating two rocket launchers. We could list the places where warning sirens wailed, the casualties were one boy injured while dashing to make it to a shelter in time and a few cases of shock. There were reports that rockets struck highway 4 and inside one community doing minimal if any actual damage. In Israel some of the potholes on the roads are where rockets struck because they were not tracked to strike anywhere there were people. The Iron Dome did intercept dozens, let us stress, dozens of Hamas rockets which might have done inordinate amounts of damage and potentially killed or injured Israelis.

 

All of this from Hamas and Islamic Jihad comes possibly as an Iranian ordered increase in activity against Israel as a response to President Trump having cancelled the issuance of any further waivers for importation of Iranian oil. The Mullahs in Iran had threatened to attack Israel should the United States take such steps while also threatening to strike at American forces in Middle East including especially the Persian Gulf region as well as along the Strait of Hormuz which they also threatened to close to all outgoing oil shipments. This would terminate as much as thirty-percent of world oil shipments. The Iranians are not insane, they just act as if they were. They know that attacking the American fleet would bring horrific retaliation ordered by President Trump. Having Hamas and Islamic Jihad pound away at Israel causes minor resultant strikes by Israel at the usual targets more as an effort to calm the Israeli public by pretending to have actually done something. We have been writing slowly and reading social media and what few news reports we can find. Saturday, Shabbat, is not the easiest of times to receive reports, but some is getting through. There have been additional rockets fired, one home has been struck but fortunately the family has escaped, one woman has been reported to have been seriously injured and the barrage remains off the international radar. It is only Israelis being inconvenienced and there has been no war started against Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israel has obeyed the rules and not struck anything vital and has avoided hurting any of the world’s precious little Palestinian friends.

 

Let us talk about something which is seldom mentioned. That is the economics behind these attacks. These rockets being fired out of Gaza are inexpensive ranging from a mere tens of dollars to potentially possibly as high as a thousand dollars for their highest range and largest rockets. Then we look at the Israeli side of this economic equation and we find that each interceptor costs approximately fifty-thousand-dollars each. As Israel has very probably intercepted dozens of rockets, that would likely require anywhere from exactly two-dozen to as many as several dozens of these Iron Dome interceptors. This runs the cost of this one day of protection for all Israeli citizens from half-a-million-dollars to as high as two-and-a-half-million-dollars. Yes, what you read is accurate and is also the major differentiation between the two sides. Hamas and Islamic Jihad both receive or steal from supplies provided into Gaza by Israel after it has been checked for weapons and certain military use materials. Still, Israel is consistently forced to permit tons, literally tons, of building provisions such as cement, concrete, steel, aluminum and others which Hamas and Islamic Jihad take over ninety-percent of these provisions leaving the Gazans without sufficient materials to rebuild their shattered lives. Hamas and Islamic Jihad use these materials to construct bunkers, tunnels, underground rocket firing positions and infiltration tunnels which Israel largely (if not entirely) detected and destroyed which simply drove Hamas and Islamic Jihad to simply build more believing Israel has just been getting lucky.

 

This theft of material and other criminal activities conducted by the Gaza terrorists is what is causing the financial, economic, societal and environmental collapses and the destruction of those items most necessary for life. There have been reports that virtually all ground-water in Gaza has become undrinkable and may soon reach the tipping-point where it will become unable to support normative forms of life. This has been a direct result of a total disregard for the people, their health and the environment by those who rule in Gaza. This has nothing to do with Israel. Some Gazans, when they are assured of having total anonymity, have expressed their desire for Israel to takeover Gaza such that their lives would improve. Similar reports have also come from the areas under the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinians are becoming very sick and tired of having their lives destroyed by the very people who are supposed to care for them. In Israel there are some who also call for the retaking of Gaza and of all of Judea and Samaria removing the terrorist infrastructure and remove the terror leaders who are behind much of the terrorism. In Gaza the children are trained in school to hate Jews and Israel and are indoctrinated into believing that if they give their lives while murdering Israelis they will go to heaven and live a life they could only dream of living. Mahmoud Abbas has gone further by paying the Palestinians for murdering Israelis at such a rate that their family could live comfortably on such a stipend. This will eventually have two effects, numerous families, eventually a majority, will rely on these payments for their support. Both societies are dysfunctional and becoming worse and less stable. The governances are unstable as they steal from the economies slowly destroying the society and all which is dependent upon a solid and steady economic stability. These kleptocracies are destroying their societies through their steady theft of resources draining resources as the leadership enrich themselves. Despite the Palestinian Arabs being the most well-supported groups receiving far more aid than any other group (see graph below), despite the receipt of the greatest amount of aid by the Palestinian Arabs, outside of the terror leaders and criminal gangs, the people themselves are amongst some of the poorest. That is far more accurate in describing Gazans while there are some who have found a means of enriching themselves through shrewd dealings but the average Palestinian leads a meager life compared to their counterparts within Israel.

 

Graph of Aid Money to Palestinian Territories and other needful locations

 

What is further troubling about the rockets out of Gaza is that they are occurring in the immediate aftermath of the establishing of another ceasefire. It has become the signature of almost every Hamas agreement to the imposition of a ceasefire. For their firing rockets, launching incendiary kites and balloons, shooting at IDF units and other offensive attacks for hours beyond the official time set for the ceasefire, their hopes are that Israel will react strongly and then they will scream to the European Union, the United Nations and to countless NGO’s pointing at the Israeli breaking of the newly established ceasefire. The fact that Israel was responding to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other violence against Israel is considered inconsequential as attacking Israelis using terror is considered a normal activity and thus must be understood, not reacted upon. The world basically desires for Israel to simply take whatever punches are dealt to us; while were they attacked by one-thousandth the terror in a single attack on their nation, then they would be screaming war and demanding blood. But Israel is supposed to tolerate the terrorism against us. After all, did not Israel build the most awesome interception system called Iron Dome? That keeps you safe as we have noticed and the poor Gazans do not have such a device. This is not Israel’s fault as Hamas and Islamic Jihad have spent more on terrorism than Israel spent in the development of the Iron Dome; so it is obviously a matter of priorities. The Israeli priorities are the safety of their people and the preservation of life while Hamas and Islamic Jihad invest in destruction and deal in death, both their own people and Israelis. Hamas and Islamic Jihad use the death of Gazans as a weapon against Israel and use all their funds in attempts to develop means of destroying Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim they love the land but their every act appears to be attempts to completely destroy that same land. But what is the worst are the actions of the world in their demands that Israel absorb all the terrorism thrown at her while allowing every other nation to react militarily against any group perpetrating terror violence against them. That is the worst of all the double standards Israel receives. It is completely uncovered in that Israel is forced to accept rockets launched into her territory for the hours ensuing the initiation of a ceasefire as if the ceasefire actually states that Israel cease hostilities at some adopted time while the terrorists get to continue shooting at Israel for a number of hours after the onset of the ceasefire. This double standard is unsustainable.

 

What the world is unaware of is that many Israelis are becoming sick and tired of the double standards and being a punching bag. Many have come close to the end of their patience and others have reached the end of our wits. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Bibi, is the master at doing as little as required to get around actually addressing the situation. His reluctance to act has thus far worked to continue to allow him to remain as the Israeli Prime Minister. The fact is that Bibi is seen as the most capable to protect Israel from much of the world including those hotbeds of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic activists such as the United Nations and the plethora of organizations it supports. While Bibi is pretty much safe from any challenge from the left, something this past election proved as he faced what many in the media predicted was going to be his final comeuppance. Where Bibi is vulnerable is from a competent leader with the correct view willing to propose ending the terrorist governances threatening Israel from within her borders. A candidate who would inform Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad that no longer would Israel tolerate their terrorism nor would it tolerate their subjugating their people to line their pockets. A leader who promised a new day where Israel would no longer tolerate terrorism of any nature and if necessary was willing to take over the regions and replace their terrorist leadership. The main idea which would cause a challenge for Bibi is somebody finally coming out and credibly laiding out the plan to address and end terrorism either by the Palestinian Arab leadership otherwise Israel will take all the steps required to end these threats. All Israel requires is just such a leader, if only we knew where to find such a person.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

When Normalcy Takes a Holiday

 

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday called on Israel not to waste new opportunities for a peace agreement based on the “two-state solution”. Abbas’s comments came at a press conference in Brussels with European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini. “Our meeting today was important to discuss the latest developments in international efforts to find the best way to reach a just and comprehensive peace between us and the Israelis in light of the intention of the U.S. administration under President Trump to work for peace. There were many contacts and meetings, and we are continuing discussions for the success of the American and international efforts, and I have assured President Trump that we are ready for a peace deal,” said Abbas, according to the PA-based WAFA news agency.

 

Mahmoud Abbas does a few things and he does them very well. He can dress in a suit where every part is properly positioned and every tie knot tied perfectly, the tie clasp is perfectly positioned as are the buttons fastened properly for the two or three button suit. The creases in his pants are crisp and the coat and shirt perfectly aligned and centered as if positioned by an engineer. The man can dress for success. Another thing he can do extremely well is smile, even when a smile is completely out of place, he smiles perfectly as a good smile means you are in control, happy and nothing in your world is out of place and most of all, you can trust a man with a smile, well, unless the smile is completely out of place as when at the ceremony to mourn and honor those lost in the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher memorial march in Paris, France in January 2015. Everybody has an expected somber look as they honor and mourn those murdered in two horrific terror attacks and following shootout capturing two of the terrorists all of which stole twenty lives and wounded, many seriously, another nineteen individuals. Somber appearances were the norm of the day, well, except for the man who does not understand that Islamists murdering innocents and wounding a near equal number all in cold blood with them either at their job or shopping for food for the weekend is an evil event and not something the world is supposed to simply accept and expect as the price of being infidel.

 

The reality for Mahmoud Abbas is that he deals with Israel where the world has accepted the murder of Israelis daily by Muslim terrorists because they are merely Jews who should expect that they be murdered by anyone desiring to do so. That has been the truth throughout both Europe and the MENA states (Middle East and North Africa) because, after all, they are Jews whose definition is they are interlopers in other people’s lands and have been the target of every civilization for as long as anybody can remember and just because they were given their own nation, imagine that, a Jew nation, they still should expect that their situation could not have changed, they should continue to understand that nobody cares when they are murdered. But Abbas believes that what applied to the Jews in Israel or elsewhere should apply just as equally to French citizens who mocked Muhammad and those shopping in a Jew supermarket because they too are infidel making them justified targets. Abbas is so used to his terrorists being accepted in their actions when they murder Israelis, or as he sees all Israelis, Jews, because the world has decided that Jews, even in Israel, are simply Jews and thus can be murdered by whomever feels the urge and why should anybody care now just because this is in Israel instead of outside Champagne or Toledo or Stuttgart by Crusaders or Inquisitors or by the local Caliph in order to settle disruptions in his district as these were common practices for centuries, for as long as anybody was able to remember, why should now be different. He thinks Jew, Christian, whatever, all infidel and thus their lives are equal to the Jews he has always murdered with the world’s approval, or at least their looking away. Why should these twenty infidel be different and this is a parade and there are news cameras from the world over, this is the reason for Abbas for the gathering, to parade before the world’s media and cameras and this is the reason for one to smile as if all is well and happy. That is why Mahmoud Abbas looks like a harpy amongst normal people in the picture from that gathering to mourn the losses from the terror attack targeting Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher shown below.

 

Mahmoud Abbas smirking while at remembrance rally for Charlie Hebdo in Paris after terror slaughter of a dozen writers and cartoonists for the satirical magazine.

 

When it comes to Israel and terrorism where Israel is the target, the truth is that normalcy takes a holiday. The world takes their historic position that it is only Jewish lives and thus completely understandable. This is true across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and surprisingly also Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, Oceana and even more and more of North America where the United States and Canada had been the exceptions to this rule, but that is changing and not for the better. The initial changes are appearing as is usually the case, in academia and on the college and university campuses. This is made evident with the Israel Apartheid Week demonstrations, anti-Israel demonstrations, anti-Zionist speakers, and all kinds of attacks which start against Israel and then slowly have started to include Jews who are not sufficiently hostile against Israel, the Jewish State. If you find yourself saying the normative, “So what? They should oppose those crazy Zionists just like all good-thinking, progressive, liberal leftists,” then you have joined the silent anti-Semites, most of whom do not believe hating Israel and expecting Jews to join in that hate makes them anti-Semites. Well, here is the truth which you may not have stopped to reason through. Denying that the Jewish State should exist and only the Jewish State must meet overt demands and place itself in mortal danger and nowhere else, then you are an anti-Semite. Would you challenge an Indian student from Mumbai to protest against India’s war with Pakistan over who gets to control Kashmir? How about a Spanish student from Colorado, do they have to protest against Spain over the oppression of the Basque? Would you demand a Chinese student to protest China’s illegal conquest and occupation of Tibet? How about a Russian student because Russia occupies parts of Georgia; a Canadian for Canada’s oppression of the Inuit; a Turk for Turkey’s oppression of the Kurds; an Iranian for their oppression of the Kurds; an Iraqi for their oppression of the Kurds; a British subject for the British for their broken promises to the Jews, Kurds, Irish and countless others throughout their history of conquest and colonialism as well as the French, Spanish, Zulu, Mongols, Chinese, and Arabs for their conquests and colonialisms. If the initial concerns over Israeli evils seemed normative and all of these others simply brought forth more of a giggle than serious self-criticism, then you may be an irretrievable anti-Semite. Meanwhile, how about we take another look at Abbas when a camera occupies a near proximity, in the picture below.

 

Mahmoud Abbas as Almost Always Pictured

 

There was more that Mahmoud Abbas had to say before his meetings with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and United States President Trump with Administration Officials and Abbas also will bring along his entourage of fellow advocates. His further encouraging comments to the media included, “There were many contacts and meetings, and we are continuing discussions for the success of the American and international efforts, and I have assured President Trump that we are ready for a peace deal. We are committed to a just, comprehensive and permanent peace with our Israeli neighbors based on international and United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative that would end the Israeli occupation of the territory of the State of Palestine occupied since 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, which we want to keep as an open city for the followers of the three monotheistic religions (Jordan made the same promise in exactly the same words right before closing the entirety of the Old City of Jerusalem to all religions other than Islam and proceeded to destroy every synagogue and every Jewish cemetery within the areas of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria they controlled).” Abbas continued speaking out against Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria with the warning that “continuation of settlement activities and expropriation of Palestinian land will lead to the one-state situation with an apartheid system.” But what does all this oft repeated gobbled-goop really mean in plain, easy to understand language, the kind of language that advocates of such terms deny because once the truth of their positions are known, they lose supporters because the truth comes out and their real intended end results become evident.

 

As we pointed out above, Jordan also made the promise that they would, we quote, “East Jerusalem as its capital, which we want to keep as an open city for the followers of the three monotheistic religions.” This is a bald faced deceit as they have no intention of doing so. Just as Jordan stated this claiming, honestly, that the Quran demands that they treat the other two Abrahamic religions with respect and would honor their traditional relation and requirements to their holy sites in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. What the Palestinians mean, just as the Jordanians before them, is that every last religious holy site of the other two Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity, are actually Islamic holy sites and will be named as such. Just as Mahmoud Abbas has sworn to protect their holy sites on the Temple Mount (known to Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif or in Arabic it is الحرم الشريف‎‎) from the Jews listing the Dome of the Rock, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as all as being Islamic holy sites. The video below depicts exactly how Mahmoud Abbas plans on permitting Jews to ever visit the Temple Mount and with his claim of the reason for the Christians to visit as being claimed by Islam, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which should whisper loudly exactly the view and lack of respect that Abbas and his fellow Palestinians have for other religions and people.

 

 

Another video from this timeframe depicts the story of what was actually occurring and was behind the violence and led to these claims by Abbas which were actually a bravo and carry on as we love you and you will be rewarded by Allah, the Islamic deity. The following video also gives further evidence of the wonderful Israeli peace partner which the world claims would not have snow melt in his mouth. Of course they deny that he ever speaks with flames stoking violence using that same mouth as that would make a mockery of the “peace process” and the blame Israel and always Israel meme. Another thing you might want to notice, Mahmoud Abbas does not smile anywhere near as he does when meeting with Western leaders or standing before their cameras, but talking to his people he is expressive and in a completely different manner than most are used to seeing when there are news reports in America, Canada, Europe or virtually anywhere outside his own people. This is a sign to the Palestinian people, when he is smiling he is speaking lies while when he is speaking truthfully, his emotions show through. It is very easy to understand, smiling equals with telling lies while changing expressions usually means speaking the truth. Here is the news report from what many will tell you is a biased news service, the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN). Perhaps that is considered to be biased because they speak truths nobody wants to admit, you decide.

 

 

Let’s take a look at another person who you might initially not believe would support Israel. The following is about a Canadian human rights activist born in Samaria and raised in Saudi Arabia. Sandra Solomon has received death threats for her work against the spread of radical Islam in Canada and her pro-Israel message. “I am Palestinian, but I stand with Israel,” Solomon said at the counter-demonstration. “We are the Arabs. We occupy the land of the Jews. This (is) Jewish land. It’s going to be there for ever and ever. I used to be a Muslim. They taught me to hate Israel and the Jewish people. There is no Palestine. It’s a lie. They are using Palestine just to kill the Jewish people. Just to hate the Jews. They teach me to ‘purify al-Aqsa mosque from the filthy Jews’. Palestinians are liars.”

 

How about some of what a Bedouin raised in the village of Kabiya, named after his family. His name is Muhammad Kabiya, the last name not much of a surprise, but he is a recently demobilized IDF soldier and has decided to join the fight on behalf of Israel and to do so outside of Israel starting in the United States and Canada. With any fortune, he will have sufficient success and feel a sense of accomplishment and continue on to the more difficult challenge of Europe, we would love to find that Europe is not a lost cause. He had the following to say to Israel Channel 10, “People don’t know anything about what goes on here. I’m defending the image of the state that they are trying to destroy. When I arrived for an address, ‘Israel Apartheid Week’ had just started. I confronted Jewish students who claimed that Zionism is racism. I told them that they should be embarrassed. I, Muhammad, an Israeli-Arab, was the one who needed to go out and confront anti-Israel Jews. It drove them nuts.”
“On the first day (of the speaking tour) a Jewish student gave me a flyer for an address which claimed ‘Zionism is racism’,” said Kabiya. “I told him ‘you should be ashamed of yourself’, you don’t need to be working with groups whose goal is to spread hatred and lies against the State of Israel, against your state, the state of the Jews – and I’m telling you that as an Israeli Arab.”

 

Bedouin soldier turned Israel advocate Muhammad Kabiya
(Courtesy of Muhammad Kabiya and Arutz Sheva)

 

There is more Muhammad Kabiya had to say which can be read here, along with the entirety from Sandra Solomon, our Canadian human rights activist born in Samaria and raised in Saudi Arabia. More information on Sandra Solomon and her efforts can be read here. This tells of her efforts during the recent AIPAC Convention in Washington D.C. recently.

 

Probably the most important things one need remember from this article are the people who defend Israel will sometimes amaze you. In this article alone we have an Arab Bedouin who resides in Israel in his family’s hometown, a hometown named after his family itself and a community which fought with the Israelis during the 1948 war where the surrounding six Arab nations, including a division of Bedouins as part of the Jordanian Army, invaded with the intent of slaughtering every single Jew, and his family history includes a dedication to the State of Israel which would be extremely admirable of any family in Israel. We also had a former Muslim who was born in Samaria and raised in Saudi Arabia who as a Palestinian admits that there is no such entity as a Palestinian and that the claimed existence that there once was a Palestinian nation is a lie and is used in order to murder Jews and deny Israeli existence. The one other item to remember is that Mahmoud Abbas smiles when he lies and actually shows a variety of emotions when speaking truthfully to his people. Abbas adds to the incitement and advocates violence against Israelis, Jews in particular. Further, try and remember that picture of Abbas from the beginning of the memorial procession for Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher in Paris, France and how he muscled himself to the front despite not being granted such a place such that he would be right in front of the cameras. He targeted and attained a relatively central location and despite being amongst a sea of somber faces on people seriously considering the reason they had gathered while Mahmoud Abbas had a completely separate reason for his attendance which had absolutely nothing to do with honoring the deceased people from two heinous terror attacks, he was there to show he is an upbeat and amiable person who one can trust and like and that he should be accepted as an honest and decent person. This is what a smile would normally mean; here is an honest and friendly person. In this instance, that harpy-like smirk, that leering grin is completely wrong and insulting to the people whose lives were snuffed-out by Islamist terror violence and another nineteen seriously injured stating that my image and need to be seen smiling no matter the reality around me is the most important thing in the world. I must be seen smiling in front of Western cameras trumps the memory of those murdered violently and is more important that the recovery of the near twenty people hospitalized, some bordering on death and one who did succumb in the next couple of days, but Abbas smiles on as there are cameras recording him, Western cameras.

 

Beyond the Cusp