New Palestinian "Concern" for International Conventions

Bassam Tawil  October 30, 2018 

Full article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13196/palestinians-prisoners-rights

While Hamas has been violating international laws by denying visits or any communication with the Israelis it holds captive, Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons continue to enjoy basic rights, including meeting with an attorney, receiving medical treatment, religious rights, basic living conditions (such as hot water, showers and sanitation), proper ventilation and electric infrastructure.

The families of the Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons know where their sons are. They also know that their sons receive proper medical treatment and while away their days reading, exercising and watching TV. But the Israelis held by Hamas can only dream of seeing daylight as they languish in captivity.

Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, does not like a bill making its way  through Israel's Knesset that would prevent visits by family members of terrorists in Israeli prisons. The bill, sponsored by MK Oren Hazan (Likud), would prevent such visits to terrorists who are members of groups that hold Israeli prisoners and deny them visits.     

The proposed Israeli law is a temporary measure, aimed at forcing Hamas to release information about the Israelis held in the Gaza Strip. There would be no need for the law were Hamas prepared to honor international and humanitarian conventions and allow visits by the Red Cross and other international agencies to the Israelis it is holding.

In response, Hamas denounced Israel's proposed law as "racist," and said in a statement that it was a "flagrant violation of all laws and humanitarian conventions." Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem claimed that the bill was "part of Israel's policy to impose restrictions on the prisoners."

Suddenly, Hamas is concerned about "international law and humanitarian conventions"? Not quite. There is a catch. Hamas is only concerned about them when Palestinian terrorists are involved. As for the rights of Israelis held by Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group apparently still believes they are not entitled to any rights.

"All Jews must die"

Such was the claim of the deranged shooter who massacred 11 Jews praying in their Synagogue in Pittsburgh this weekend. The following was written by Daniel Seaman formerly of the government Press Office

All Jews - not Orthodox or Reform, Conservative or Reconstructionist; ALL Jews. Not right wing or left wing; not liberal or conservative; not Democrat or Republican, Likud or Meretz. ALL Jews. 

Not Baby Boomers or Millennials, old or young; not Ashkenazi or Sephardic, European or African Jews; not white or black Jews; not American or Israeli. ALL Jews. Just like every single persecutor throughout our history. 

They never, ever, cared about the differences we attach to each other. Never saw any of us as better than the other. It never matters to them. They always saw us as Jews. JUST JEWS. All of us - Jews. That which unites us. Makes us who we are, makes us stronger. We are one people. We are ALL Jews. And tonight we mourn with the Jews of Pittsburgh and the Jewish families and the families of the police officers who came to their defense. 

We are ALL Jews. It could have been any one of us.

IDF strikes over 80 targets in Gaza amid flare-up

Israeli Air Force aircraft struck dozens of terror sites across the Gaza Strip early Saturday in response to some 39 rockets launched into Israel from Gaza, in the heaviest exchange of fire since August.

Despie recent reports that Egypt has forged understandings between Israel and Hamas, 18 Code Red rocket alert sirens sounded on Friday night and Saturday morning in Gaza border communities. 

Out of the 39 rockets launched into Israel, the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted 17. Two rockets landed inside the Gaza Strip and the rest landed in open areas in Israel. This was the heaviest barrage of rockets since early August, when 150 rockets were fired in two days.

 Iron Dome intercepts rockets

On Saturday morning, the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.

"The enemy must understand that the resistance will not accept the equations it imposes, based on killing from their side and silence on our side.

  

The IAF struck dozens of terror sites across the Gaza Strip in response to nearly 40 rockets launched into Israel from Gaza. One of the targets destroyed was a building that served as Hamas' general security headquarters in Gaza's al-Daraj neighborhood.

On Saturday morning, IAF aircraft bombed eight Islamic Jihad targets in response to early morning rockets.

Among the targets attacked were two main arms manufacturing sites in Al Atatra and the Netzarim area; a tunnel shaft in Khan Yunis; five military complexes in Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah, Tel al-Zaatar and Jabaliya; an integrated training complex in Rafah; and an observation post in Beit Lahia.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said in a statement that it “gravely views the rocket attack tonight (Friday) against Israeli communities. The attacks are carried out in a terror-enabling atmosphere led by Hamas near the border fence, which led terror groups in the strip to carry out tonight’s attack.”

The Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon, said in Arabic "Tonight the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip fired mortar shells towards the Erez Crossing and hit the ambulances' entrance."  

"How low could the terror organizations in Gaza go when striking the passage of the ambulances at the Erez Crossing, a crossing through which children in need of medical care enter Israel every day?" he continued.

"The terror organizations do not feel sorry for you, residents of the Gaza Strip. They have not even a drop of compassion for babies, the elderly, and the poor patients among you. These terror organizations harm you first and foremost," Rokon added.

On Friday, at least 16,000 Palestinians gathered at five locations along Gaza border fence, burning tires and throwing rocks, grenades and firebombs at Israeli troops who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.

Five Palestinians were killed Friday in the border riots.

One Of The Worst Chapters In PA Schoolbooks

So if it weren’t scary enough for the children to be told they have to go out and kill, PA educators teach them that “heroes” are willing to fearlessly die as martyrs.

Itamar Marcus October 24, 2018   https://tinyurl.com/ycd3aykw 

If you want to know why Palestinian children believe that killing Israelis is model behavior, all you have to do is look at a chapter in one of their schoolbooks.

PA schoolbooks have been criticized ever since Palestinian Media Watch wrote the first report on them in 1998, and the newest books in some respects are the worst ever. However, one chapter stands out in its overt promotion of terrorism. This chapter, appearing in the fifth-grade Arabic Language book published in 2017, serves as a window to understanding the PA leadership’s profoundly twisted values.

The chapter starts innocently by stressing the importance of heroes to national identity and national pride: “Heroes have an important position in every nation… the people – even if they are divided over many things – they all agree regarding the pride in their heroes…”

The schoolbook continues and teaches students that feeling pride is not enough. Society takes numerous active steps to honor its heroes: “[We] sing their praise, learn the history of their lives, name our children after them, and name streets, squares, and prominent cultural sites after them…”

The next message is most important: The children are taught that these heroes are not merely memories of the past they are the role models for the future: “Every one of us wishes to be like them.”

Until now this messaging is not problematic, however, all that changes when the schoolbook presents the 10 people who PA educators promote as the role models Palestinian children should emulate. The list of Palestinian heroes includes no scientists, no doctors, no engineers, no singers, no athletes, nor any artists. There have been three Muslim Nobel Prize laureates in science and two in literature, but they are not on the list of Palestinian heroes. 

Who are the Palestinian heroes then according to the PA schoolbook? They are 10 Muslim combatants from the first century of Islam through the 21st century. And possibly the worst name on this list of role models is terrorist mass-murderer Dalal Mughrabi.

Mughrabi led a team of terrorists who hijacked a bus in 1978 and murdered 25 adults and 12 children. Among those she murdered when she threw a hand grenade inside the bus was a young Israeli woman Rebecca Hohman and her two sons: Ilan, aged three and Roi, aged six. Mughrabi, a child murderer, is the person Palestinian educators are telling children to see as their role model, someone “everyone wants to be like.”

After naming the 10 heroes, the PA schoolbook stresses that there is no one better than these fighters: “These heroes are the crown of their nation, they are a symbol of its glory, they are the best of the best, the best of the noble people.”

That’s not all that is horrific. Mughrabi was killed during her terrorist attack and others on the list were killed in battle. The PA schoolbook focuses on their deaths and glorifies their willingness to die: “They took their lives in their hands and threw them at the dangers, without losing their determination and without weakening and surrendering. Some of them died as martyrs, some of them died on the way to fulfilling their obligations, as heroes.”

So if it weren’t scary enough for the children to be told they have to go out and kill, PA educators teach them that “heroes” are willing to fearlessly die as martyrs. The final sentence of the chapter they are taught what this means for them if they don’t want to adopt this heroic behavior: “Bravo to the heroes, and scorn to the cowards!”

This cult-like worship of murderers is fundamental to the depraved value system that Palestinian leaders have promoted since the PLO’s founding in 1965, and upon which the PA has indoctrinated its children since 1994. It is not surprising that so many of the Palestinian terrorists in recent years have been teenagers, including the recent murderer of Israeli-American father of four, Ari Fuld. The Palestinian leadership has been transmitting its “kill an Israeli – be a hero” message for decades, and judging by the results, it is clear that Palestinian children have been listening.

So these are the choices racing through the minds of Palestinian children who just studied one of the worst chapters in their schoolbooks: If I, Palestinian child, am willing to kill Israelis and be a martyr, then I will then be the best of the best, the crown of my nation, streets will be named after me and I will be a Palestinian hero; if I am not willing to kill Israelis and be a martyr, then I am a coward.

If you were an impressionable child, which path would you choose?

Non-accessible Holy Sites in PA areas

Under Oslo Agreements, PA obliged to ensure "free access" and worship - even bus stops - for 12 specified Jewish Holy Sites. Today, all remain completely unaccessible. Instead of free access & worship, they are just free of worship. Hello @UNESCO @UNHumanRights @hrw @AmnestyCIJ?

So What's Next?

This is a cross posting from Arlene Kushner an independent journalist                                                                        whose writings can be viewed at https://www.arlenefromisrael.info

This will be a “catch-up” posting to keep my readers in the loop during a  process with regard to Hamas that is still unfolding. During the night on Wednesday, two rockets were launched from Gaza.     Hamas later said their people did not launch them. But the IDF rejected       this out of hand: The rockets were Grad rockets, a powerful weapon in the possession of Hamas in Gaza and none of the other factions. One rocket destroyed a house in Be’ersheva.

Credit: Zehut International

A woman and her two children lived there. They had just entered their bomb shelter when the rocket hit. Hysterical at how razor-sharp close they had come to disaster, they had to be treated for shock.

The other rocket was aimed towards Tel Aviv but missed its mark and I believe landed in the sea.

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This represented a major escalation from Hamas and generated a great deal of anger in Israel; Defense Minister Lieberman was especially incensed.

In response, the IDF hit 20 Hamas targets across Gaza; according to IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis, these included an attack tunnel, a Hamas base, and a rocket manufacturing site. In one instance, a group was struck as it was attempting to launch another rocket.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-one-rocket-launched-from-gaza-hits-southern-israeli-town-of-be-er-sheva-1.6569091

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During the day yesterday, there was still talk about last minute efforts by Egypt to redeem the situation before it was too late.

A Security Cabinet meeting was delayed until very late because IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot was in the US and had to return home. In preparation for that Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu held meetings with officers of the Gaza Division and other military personnel, as well as with heads of municipalities and regional councils in the area adjacent to Gaza.

 As time for the meeting approached, there were reports that it was Lieberman’s intention to seek approval of the Cabinet for a military action in Gaza, and so many of us went to sleep expecting to awake to news of war.

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This morning, however, all was quiet. Everything was even ordered back to normal in the southern communities. For a short interval of time it was so quiet that I thought that this might be a ploy: that a decision might have been made to reveal nothing to the press, and to then attack.

But slowly, the leaks and comments began coming through: The Cabinet, it appears, opted for the position of Gadi Eisenkot (at left below, with Netanyahu and Lieberman), who recommended that the IDF respond according to what happens on the ground and not pro-actively.

Perhaps most significantly, Housing Minister Yoav Galant (Kulanu) said:

“I will not refer to the content of the cabinet discussions, but I can say one thing very explicitly - the rules of the game are about to change.

"We will no longer accept the arson terror and the fence terror."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/253443

Reportedly, the Cabinet has instructed the IDF to demonstrate a zero tolerance to violence at the fence, gradually intensifying the reaction to that violence.

I am unable to be more specific as to what this means. Shooting any adult who launches an incendiary device? Killing anyone who tears down the fence and enters Israel? I do not know.

It has not been specifically mentioned here, but I wonder about burning tires that spread toxic fumes into Israel communities adjacent to Gaza. Will that continue to be tolerated?

What I do know is that leaders in the communities adjacent to Gaza are not happy that the recommendation of Lieberman was not accepted. And that Netanyahu has said if the violence continues we will “react with great force.”

The first test comes tomorrow, as the big day for rioting at the fence is Friday.

You know what they do? They pray in the morning (it is their Sabbath), and riot in the afternoon and evening.

~~~~~~~~~~

Late this afternoon, a contingent of 60 tanks and armored personnel carriers, clearly visible from the main roads, were deployed along the Gaza fence. This is the largest deployment that has been observed since the Israeli-Hamas war in 2014.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-gaza/israel-steps-up-armored-deployment-on-gaza-border-idUSKCN1MS2B6 

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IF zero tolerance is actually exhibited, and IF Hamas knows we really mean business, then it is possible some measure of deterrence might be regained, and the violence might be contained for an interim of time.

~~~~~~~~~~

My first response to this is:

What the hell took so long? Why was there not a zero tolerance policy from the moment of the first violent confrontations at the fence six months ago??

Had there been an appropriately tough response from the beginning, we would not be contending with the current situation.

A certain military reticence is admirable. But excessive reticence is deeply troubling.

I have had direct communication with a soldier who just finished serving at the Gaza fence. I have heard first-hand about the frustration of the troops stationed there, and about the restrictive rules.

My contact told me that the soldiers were often afraid to shoot because they might get in trouble for having done it the wrong way. Afraid? These are loyal soldiers, facing down violent, Israel-hating creeps, and trying to follow the rules. The situation has undermined their morale.

~~~~~~~~~~

And while our guys were being careful, those violent, Israel-hating creeps, supported by Hamas, have been sending incendiary devices into Israeli territory.

This report came out recently:

“Over the past six months, since the outbreak of the arson attacks in the south, more than 1,100 fires have been caused in the forests of the Keren Kayemet Leyisrael Jewish National Fund, according to a just-released KKL-JNF report.

“The fires have covered about 12,000 dunams (3,000 acres) of natural woodlands and planted forests, more than half of the KKL-JNF forests in the Gaza perimeter.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/433868

I have been weeping inside about this for a long time, and I do not understand how it was permitted for so long!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Hopefully, the situation is about to change.

~~~~~~~~~~

One last comment: There is still talk about the possibility of a “long term truce.” I don’t believe it is possible. Lieberman indicated this week that every effort failed.

More importantly, I absolutely do not believe that it should be given a chance to succeed. Who has ever heard of a ceasefire with a time limit? This is the Muslim version of a ceasefire, a hudna, modeled after the behavior of Mohammad.

When there was talk of going to war now, Lieberman warned that it would be harder this time, because Hamas has better weapons. Should we then allow them to continue to increase the quality of their weapons, unhindered, for a period of years? Or until they decide they are strong enough to attack us?

We must have the latitude to move as we deem necessary without being accused of “breaking” a truce. Zero tolerance is for the short term. Ultimately, it is going to be necessary to do a military action of a more extensive nature to, at the very least, diminish Hamas capabilities.

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And so we must pray. For the wisdom and courage of our leaders. For our own courage in hard times. And ultimately, for peace.

It’s Time I Break My Silence

Here is a Christian Arab's view of the Israeli army vehemently opposed to the actions of the group Breaking the Silence, who he feels are distorting the truth with suspect testimonies. Read what Yosef Haddad  writes :-

Next week, Harvard University will be hosting the Israeli organization, Breaking the Silence, an organization funded by anti-Israel groups that incites against the State of Israel and defames the IDF. BTS members speak out against the IDF; they “testify” as former soldiers, but they do not tell the entire truth of situations– they distort the truth and they tell partial stories that provide a slanted and partial picture of reality. 

They do this to serve their only purpose: to slander and defame the State of Israel and the IDF. We have so many enemies all around us who want to destroy us and it is the most painful when this defamation comes from within us. BTS will be speaking before the students of Harvard University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world – a stronghold of future leaders in every field. Many of its students will go in to hold key positions of power and influence. In speaking before the students there, BTS will be shaping the outlook of these future leaders against the State of Israel, against our country. 

I cannot be silent, I must break my silence. I served in the IDF during the Second Intifada. It was a difficult time. I also stood at checkpoints, stood guard, arrested people and fought in the Second Lebanon War. As an Israeli Arab and IDF solider in the Golani Brigade, I served together with other Israelis: Jews of all backgrounds, Druze and Bedouin. We were all equal, we were all brothers fighting side by side and I can testify that I served in the most humane and moral army in the world, with the highest code of ethics and human values. The IDF is an army that faces complex challenges and dilemmas in an explosive region, but it is an army that is level headed and always keeps as its ultimate highest value human life. The IDF is an army that will bend over backwards to save lives and to ensure that innocent individuals are not harmed, even if it means complicating the military operation.

It is possible that there were incidents that did not live up to these standards, but these were the exceptions; they were not the norm and they were not the code by which the IDF is guided. They do not reflect the IDF nor the State of Israel. I am proud to have served under commanders who not only turned me into a better soldier but into a better person. One of the commanders who most impacted me was Israeli Major Roi Klein, who lost his life while trying to save the lives of his soldiers. During the Second Lebanese War, I was badly injured after I was hit by a cornet missile that was fired by Hezbollah. My fellow soldiers saved my life while under attack; they risked their own lives to save mine. After my injury, I received full medical care from the State of Israel until I was completely healed.

I will not let BTS spread untruths and lies against my country. Two days after BTS takes it stand at Harvard University, I will be there to speak to the students with Reservists on Duty. The truth will prevail.