Smooth Stone

From The Rocket Threat from Gaza, 2001-2007:

Palestinian rocket fire at Israel from Gaza began in 2001. As of the end of November 2007, there have been a total of 2,383 identified rocket hits in Israel. Rocket fire has been directly responsible for the deaths of ten Israeli civilians , nine of them Sderot residents. In addition, 433 individuals have been wounded. Mortar fire has been responsible for the deaths of ten individuals, eight civilians and two IDF soldiers. Of the 150 wounded, 80 were civilians and 70 soldiers. More than 190,000 Israelis now live under the potential threat of daily rocket and mortar attacks.

Christians are reviled by Muslims as well. Via Muslim Gunmen Target Christian in Gaza:

Over the weekend, four masked gunmen tried to kidnap Palestinian Christian Nabil Fuad Ayad, who works as a guard at a Gaza City church. Nabil’s cousin, Rami, was kidnapped and murdered two months ago by the same group, members of the radical Islamic Salafi movement, local sources said. The gunmen tried to force Ayad into their car as he was walking in the street, but he managed to escape to a nearby shop. The assailants fired several shots into the air as they fled the scene. The Salafis, who have become very active in Gaza in recent months, are totally opposed to common Western concepts like economics, constitutions and political parties. They refer to the 2,500 Christians in Gaza as Crusaders and have vowed to drive them out. “The latest incident is aimed at sending a message to all the Christians here that we must leave,” said a Christian leader. “Radical Islamic groups are waging a campaign to get rid of us and no one seems to care.”

Rotting garbage is indeed the deserved and fitting image for Gaza, land stolen from the Jewish people, an image just in time to coincide with the anniversary of the death of the foul-smelling murderer Jew-hating Egyptian Yassir Arafat. From PHCR:

PCHR is extremely concerned by the accumulation of uncollected garbage throughout Gaza City as a result of a full strike by municipality employees who have not received their salaries for 8 months. The strike has stopped the provision of municipal services to the population, including health, environment, and garbage collection services throughout the city. Piles of uncollected garbage constitute a serious environmental and health risk threatening the population. While understanding that the right to strike is guaranteed by the law, the Centre calls upon the municipality workers to work to avert an environmental and health disaster that can cause additional maladies as a result of the uncollected garbage in neighborhoods, markets, and around hospitals and schools.

Gaza municipality workers have been on strike since Saturday, 10 November 2007, to demand the payment of their salaries that have not been paid since March 2007. Since then, uncollected garbage has been accumulating in and around bins in streets, markets, neighborhoods, and near institutions such as hospitals and schools.

PCHR considers the right to strike as a right that is protected by Palestinian law and International Humanitarian Law. However, the Centre calls for preserving the interests and welfare of the population, and to protect them from the environmental and health risks of the uncollected garbage. The Centre calls for forming emergency teams to collect garbage, and:

Calls upon municipality workers, especially those on the health, environment, and transportation departments to take into consideration the impact of the suspension of these basic services; and calls for forming emergency crews to work to reduce the dangers on the health and safety of the population.

Calls upon the Palestinian National Authority to meet the demands of the municipality workers through direct negotiation with their representatives so as to reach a viable solution to pay their salaries for the past 8 months and to ensure the regularity of payment in the future. This is essential in order to ensure a dignified life for these workers and their families, especially in light of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the OPT.

Calls upon the local community and the population to contribute towards solving this problem by paying any unpaid fees to the municipalities in order to enable them to pay the salaries of their employees.

Public Document
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Oh, those “peaceful palestinians”. You just want to – vomit. h/t Daily Alert. From Fatah Policemen in Gaza “Defect to Al-Qaeda”:

Scores of Fatah policemen who used to serve in the PA security forces in Gaza and who recently lost their jobs have now joined the al-Qaeda-affiliated Army of Islam, sources in the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said Thursday. The Army of Islam is headed by Abu Muhammad al-Ansari, also known as Mumtaz Dughmush.

A former PA Preventive Security Service officer, Ansari belongs to the Dughmush clan, whose members have kidnapped several foreign nationals, including BBC reporter Alan Johnston, and bombed Internet cafes, hair salons and restaurants.

The Army of Islam participated in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006, along with Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees.

After Hamas took over Gaza, the Army of Islam struck a deal permitting the group to retain its weapons on condition they only be used to attack Israel.

Over the past few months, the Army of Islam has been involved in the smuggling of large amounts of weapons and explosives into Gaza from Sinai, according to PA security officials, who said members of the group had established close ties with al-Qaeda operatives in Egypt and other Arab and Islamic countries.

See also “The Army of the Nation” – Another Al-Qaeda Affiliate in the Gaza Strip – Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi

From Egypt Says It Caught Palestinian Suicide Bomber Headed for Israel:

Three Palestinians caught entering Egypt through a tunnel from Gaza this month are members of an al-Qaeda-inspired group who planned to enter Israel to carry out suicide attacks, Egyptian police sources said on Tuesday. One of the men was wearing explosives around his waist and the group also had other explosives and hand grenades. The men said they were from the Army of Islam, which kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston in Gaza in March and took part in the abduction of an Israeli soldier last year. Police had advance warning of their plan and detained them on Oct. 16 as they were coming out of a tunnel on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border. A fourth man crawled back through the 950-meter tunnel. Egyptian authorities publicize their activities against smuggling and illegal crossings following repeated Israeli complaints that they are not doing enough to prevent arms and explosives reaching the Palestinians.

From Christians Are Persona Non Grata in Gaza:

The murder on Oct. 7 of Rami Ayad, who worked at Gaza’s Bible Society, has persuaded many in the 3,000-strong Christian community they are no longer welcome in Gaza. He had been stabbed several times and shot in the head. The Bible Society is primarily involved in offering charity to Muslim families, but Ayad had nevertheless been threatened several times.

Christians have been in Gaza since the fourth century, but Ayad’s murder follows a series of incidents that has shaken the community’s desire to stay. “Everything has changed. In the times of my father and grandfather, there was no difference between Muslims and Christians,” said Ibrahim Ayad, a brother of the victim. “The Islamic revival has also brought intolerance in its wake.” He estimated that 70% of the Christian community would leave when they had the opportunity. He said many Muslims perceived Christians as “kaffirs,” or unbelievers, which meant they were not subject to the same laws as Muslims.

From Israel’s Biggest Bank Cutting Gaza Ties:

“In light of the (Israeli) government’s decision to declare Gaza hostile territory, Bank Hapoalim has decided to terminate its banking activity with banks and branches in Gaza,” Israel’s biggest bank said on Tuesday. A Palestinian banking official said Bank Hapoalim’s move could force Gaza banks to shut down if other Israeli institutions follow suit and stop transferring shekel notes to them. Israel announced last Wednesday it would treat Gaza as an “enemy entity” in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

Using “international law” as a crutch. From Israel Retaliates:

Hamas, the murderous gang that rules Gaza, has declared permanent war on Israel, vowing never to accommodate to the reality of the Jewish state. But Hamas has not only declared war on Israel, the suicidal messianists and their allies in the struggle actually make war on Israel – continuously.

A short while ago a Kassam rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza wounded some 60 soldiers in training, only a bit after another rocket had hit a school with children in it.

Israel has now decided to cut off fuel and electrical power from Gaza. Not water, mind you, and not the totality of fuel and electricity hitherto delivered, either.

Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the UN, says that this would violate international law. What international law? There isn’t any that prohibits such action in these circumstances.

When does a country, which is attacked daily, supply an enemy population with provisions necessary to carry out aggressive action?

The Palestinians have demonstrated both homicidal and suicidal instincts. It is not the role of Israel to rescue them from these tendencies.

Tell us something we didn’t know, Peres. From Peres: Hamas Wants to Destroy Israel:

President Shimon Peres told Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer on Monday in Jerusalem: “We had a rough day in Sderot. Seven rockets fell and almost killed our children. It’s an intolerable situation and there is one address for it – Hamas. There is a limit to how much Israel is willing to tolerate….Israel left Gaza completely. There is not one Israeli citizen in its territory. Today I ask myself why? Why is Hamas shooting? What is its goal? There is only one answer. Hamas is a religious-fanatic organization that does not want a Palestinian state for its people, but wants to impose the dangerous radical religious hegemony that is taking over the entire Middle East and gives a green light to kill innocent people in its name.” “Hamas has one goal,” he said, “to destroy the State of Israel….While Israel is making great efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians, it has a greater duty to protect the lives of its citizens and its children. The terror must stop.”

Hamas has admitted that it has fired on Fatah demonstrators in Gaza because they threw stones at them. Seems like some Hamas members asked Reginald Denny if throwing stones could be painful. Thanks to Colin for sending in this excellent mirror of the hypocrisy embedded in the palestinian Muslim culture. The moral of the story? Jews can’t defend themselves when Muslims throw stones at them, but Muslims *can* defend themselves when other Muslims throw stones at them. From Reuters:

Hamas security men opened fire after protesters hurled rocks at them in the Gaza Strip on Friday [Aug 24, 2007] in the biggest demonstration against the Islamist group since it seized control of the territory in June.

No injuries were reported, but the confrontation between supporters of President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah faction and Hamas’s Executive Force policing the Gaza Strip underscored the volatility of the bitter rivalry between the two movements.

“Jihad, jihad! (Holy war),” demonstrators chanted as they marched down the streets of Gaza City, applauding as others smashed an unmanned Hamas security post on the roadside.