Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades: the terrifying glory of the martyrs

The braves of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades have apparently decided to communicate the sheer terror of their existence in Hebrew, so we could all taste what is coming to us in advance. They have created a Twitter ID @alqasamhebrew* for all of us to follow and to keep the horrors in mind.

Here is an example of their visual aids:

I hope you are being sufficiently terrorized by this picture of a martyr. But I am not sure you have fully appraised the artistic qualities of the uniform and its fine design. You should also notice how useful it will be in (to take one example) the wilderness of Black Forest in Germany or somewhere in the dense woods of Maine. Not so much in the local deserts, but this is Izz ad-Din al-Qassam folks, who think big and think ahead.

Back to the specific martyr depicted above: judging by his pose and the tortured expression on his face, he may have been chosen by his commanders to test a BM in field conditions, and so far not very successful at that. But I have no doubts whatsoever that a shot or two from his big gun (ooh!), and the resulting kickback will go a long way to resolve the trouble.

Good job, all in all. Absolutely terrifying indeed. Oh, and one last thing: the caption in Hebrew under the picture says: "So who is stronger? The cowards from the Shayetet 13 or the elite fighters of Hamas? You decide."

I really don't know how to answer this one. The main problem with the answer is that the guys from Shayetet 13 are not very talkative. So I propose that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam martyrs ask them next time they meet a few. Allah willing, that is...

(*) I am not totally sure it ain't a spoof. If it is - kudos to the author, then.

Is the market price of Hudna going down?

Yeah... hudna... now I see that I'll have to explain stuff. OK, back to an old post of mine for some quick copy and paste:

HUDNA - Arabic word often translated as "cease-fire.- Historically used as a tactic aimed at allowing the party declaring the hudna to regroup while tricking an enemy into lowering its guard. When the hudna expires, the party that declared it is stronger and the enemy weaker. The term comes from the story of the Muslim conquest of Mecca. Instead of a rapid victory, Muhammad made a ten-year treaty with the Kuraysh tribe. In 628 AD, after only two years of the ten-year treaty, Muhammad and his forces concluded that the Kuraysh were too weak to resist. The Muslims broke the treaty and took over all of Mecca without opposition.

Notice that the initially agreed upon ten year treaty was reduced by Muhammad to only two - for convenience. Interestingly, the various versions of hudna, offered by Hamas to Israel, are also of 10 years duration - is it a coincidence, a nod to tradition or some secret instruction in Qur'an that enforces the 10 years standard?

Whatever, but looking into this old post brought up an interesting comparison. You see, the post was written a bit more than 8 years ago, and it  mentions an even older (10 years) hudna proposal by Hamas:

In January 2004, senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year hudna in return for complete withdrawal from all territories captured in the Six Day War, and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Rantissi said the hudna was limited to ten years and represented a decision by the movement because it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage; the hudna would however not signal a recognition of the state of Israel."

Aside of a (trivial) observation that only a suicidal idiot would sign such a proposal, I couldn't miss another point. Compare the above offer with the list of current demands voiced by Hamas delegation in Cairo:

• Immediate ceasefire and Israel withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
• End to blockade and opening of crossings for people and merchandise
• Extending the freedom of movement for sailors to 12 nautical miles
• Cancelling the 'safety strip' around the Gaza border
• Establishment of an airport and a seaport in Gaza
• Rehabilitation of the Strip and a promise of emergency aid with the help of an international committee of donors to be convened by the Palestinian unity government
• The release of the fourth wave of Palestinian security detainees originally promised by Israel to PA
• Release of Shalit deal prisoners who were rearrested during IDF Operation Brother's Keeper and the release of Palestinian Legislative Council members also arrested in the op

All in all, the hudna of today looks much cheaper than the one grudgingly offered 10 years ago. Interesting, ain't it?

The only reasonable conclusion from that trend could be: if we pound Hamas a bit more, they might yet offer to jump into the Med and spend there these ten years submerged. Be a good deal for everyone, methinks.

P.S. And since that old post was mentioned, and I have already used much of it, here is the rest:

And in simple words for our friends who don't like long sentences. Hudna is akin to a following situation: you have a fight with a fellow (in a pub, say). Then the fellow offers you his hand and adds that he is going for an hour of R&R and then will come back (he intends to do it in ten minutes, of course) with a stone to bash your head in - that is precisely an offer of Hudna.

If you are stupid enough to take this offer, at least make sure you have a bigger and better stone prepared in advance...

 Yup. the old text above was amended a bit, since I have missed the point of 10 years becoming 2 in the Wiki story...

Mushir Al-Masri - playing Fuhrer?

Mushir Al-Masri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, appeared today (August 7, 2014) at a rally in Gaza.

Listen to the style of his speech. Even if you, like I, don't grok Arabic, it's difficult not to suspect that the man suffers from some painful stomach disease.


Who will bring him succor and delivery from his suffering?
One guess only allowed.

P.S. The only other sound (aside of the Fuhrer's) that comes to mind:

Hamas Spokesman: Palestinian factions refuse to extend calm but are continuing ceasefire talks

Yeah: taking a page from the old and unlamented Yasser Arafat's book: negotiations with some shooting and killing on the side.

And they were so eager to try the formula, they couldn't even wait for expiration of the ceasefire:

Two rockets fired from Gaza landed in open areas in Eshkol Regional Council at 4 am, hours ahead of the expiration of the 72-hour ceasefire that ended a month of violence, the IDF said.

All that remains is to see how our government will respond.

About Hamas' "conditions" for ceasefire

Just a stray thought while I am looking at the list of Hamas' demands (the mere chutzpa of the word "demands"...):

• Immediate ceasefire and Israel withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
• End to blockade and opening of crossings for people and merchandise
• Extending the freedom of movement for sailors to 12 nautical miles
• Cancelling the 'safety strip' around the Gaza border
• Establishment of an airport and a seaport in Gaza
• Rehabilitation of the Strip and a promise of emergency aid with the help of an international committee of donors to be convened by the Palestinian unity government
• The release of the fourth wave of Palestinian security detainees originally promised by Israel to PA
• Release of Shalit deal prisoners who were rearrested during IDF Operation Brother's Keeper and the release of Palestinian Legislative Council members also arrested in the op

Strangely, if we leave aside the last two points (that wouldn't have been relevant anyway), Gazans could have had all the others for free in 2005, without strife and without bloodshed.

Had they only decided to turn their thoughts to peaceful coexistence instead of maniacal urge to kill more Jews.

Thanks, Hamas...

It's all about the goblin - for lovers of fantasy

A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.

The author of this fantasy is Petr Borisovich Mordkovich, an author and an Israeli citizen. For reasons unnecessary to explain, he writes in Russian. He keeps a blog under pseudonim Bormor.

The fairy tale is butchered translated using Google Translate with some assistance from yours truly.

A word of caution: don't start reading if you don't intend to get to the end of the story, since the lesson (every fairy tale has a lesson, you know) is in the last sentence. So:

***

- The ad says that you have a quest to offer - half-elf said to the Burgomeister, - But it doesn't explain the essence of the quest. Could you clarify?
- Well, everything is simple - the Burgomeister shrugged . - Do you see that hill? There is a goblin there with a mortar. And he shells the city periodically. That's the whole problem.
- Yeah, of course, I see. So we have to kill the goblin ...
- What you are saying, no, G_d forbid!? - Burgomeister waved his arms in panic. - In no case could the goblin be killed!
- Why? - the Dwarf asked, surprised. - It's just a goblin!
- That's it exactly! If we kill him, the world community will say that it is genocide, and that we are racists...
- So what? Let the world community say what it wants.
- And send troops - grimly added Burgomeister.
- Hmm ... thought the half-elf aloud. - You mean, this motherfucker is shooting at you from a grenade launcher, and you suffer and do not dare to fight back?
- We don't dare - shrugged Burgomeister. - Otherwise, we'll be called aggressors.
- Well, and if, for example, instead of killing the goblin, you drive him away somewhere far enough?
- From his hill? Impossible. They will call us occupiers.
- Catch him and take away the launcher?
- Robbers.
- Lock him up with his mortar? .. Okay, okay, do not answer, - half-elf added quickly when Burgomeister opened his mouth. - I get it. Indeed, an interesting case.
- Well, what do you want from us? - Princess broke into the conversation. - You can't kill, can't disarm, to catch or to chase impossible too, so what is left? Re-education? It is not our profile.
- No, of course not... For re-education to work we would have called a psychologist. But, by the way, then the world community would blame us in applying psychological pressure.
- And desecrating indigenous traditions - added Gnome, shaking his head. - Shooting at humans from a grenade launcher - it's goblins' holy and sacred tradition!
- That's it - happily exclaimed Burgomeister - now you see what I mean.
- Well, so what is required by the quest then? - The Princess barged in again.
- Deliver the parcel - Burgomeister sighed.
- To whom? To the Goblin?
- Well, yes. For there, on the hill, there are no food reserves. So about an hour from now, the goblin will get hungry, declare a truce and begin negotiations. He does so every day. Demands that he be brought food, wine, weapons, sometimes other things... And then, when he feels full, he declares that the peace talks have stalled and he was forced to resume fire. World public opinion is very sympathetic to him. The world community believes he is a goblin of principle.
- And if you refuse to provide him with food and weapons...
- Then the world community will...
- Okay, okay, we see - waved his hands half-elf.
- ... and send troops - Burgomeister mumbled.
- Fine, but why do you need us? Why don't you send one of yours to carry that bag?
- We've sent ours already. Nobody returned.
- What, the goblin killed them all?
- He claims that he hadn't.
- Oh...
- And the world community believes him.
- Ah...
- And they say that we are provocateurs. You see, apparently he, the goblin, comes up with these peace initiatives, it is his gesture of goodwill. And if something goes wrong, it is only our fault. It is obvious! And you are... well, sort of like outsiders, he can't touch you.
- Well, - summed up the half-elf. - If we discard the political crapola, all we are required to do is to pick up the package at the customer's premises and take it to the addressee, right? A normal postal quest. But everything else is your problem. Correct?
- That's right - confirmed Burgomeister - so it's okay, then?
- It's a deal - half-elf nodded. Burgomeister breathed a sigh of relief.
- Can I ask a question? - The Princess raised her hand. - Here you are, so afraid that the world community will call you aggressors or warlords or even worse than that - So how do they call you now?
- Idiots - replied the Burgomeister sadly.

***

Scientists baffled by gigantic 262ft hole - Hamas officially denies involvement

While the scientists, as their custom, remain baffled and Hamas denies any link to the whole, the word of mouth is that their digging team got lost, losing in addition their link to the Hamas HQ under the Gaza City main hospital. The team decided to blow themselves up, when it became clear they are digging through permafrost.

One mystery less.

A clarification of Khaled Mashal's rejection of ceasefire

Khaled Mashal, the underassassinated Hamas mouthpiece that resides in a plushy residence in Qatar, continues to play with lives of his brethren. Which is not unexpected.

There remains one unclear point in his rhetoric:

"No one will break the resistance with Allah's help. Under the table they talk about disarming the resistance of its weapons. No one can disarm the resistance with Allah's help."

I am not at all sure that the IDF general staff (or government for that matter) appealed or intends to appeal at any point in time for Allah's help. Just wondering.

Oh, and one other point:

“Our victims are civilians and theirs are soldiers,” he charged. “We are the victims, despite our steadfastness.”

Sure, sure.

Egyptian TV hosts take Hamas apart

This is priceless, so get a beer (one will suffice, it's only 5 minutes or so) and enjoy:



A word of caution: the people talking in this clip are far from being Zionists: you may notice that not a single one has much to say about the terrorist nature of Hamas' activities, being rather concerned about inability of Hamas to bring a victory...

"Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks and the Magna Carta are all alien to our culture"

Straight talk from Hamas: ain't it refreshing?

The Hamas government in Gaza accused a UN agency on Tuesday of unlawfully printing and disseminating school textbooks dealing with human rights in a way that offends Palestinian cultural sensitivities.

And before you wade into Hamas with your trusty 2x4, read this:

Fatah and Hamas have made significant progress in reconciliation talks held in Gaza and are now on the verge of implementing previously signed agreements, Palestinian media reported on Tuesday.

Not that far away, these two, it seems.

The Shalit deal and Ban Ki-moon's epiphany

This is what UN's Ban Ki-moon had to say about Shalit's homecoming:

"With this release, it will have a far-reaching positive impact to the stalled Middle East peace process," Ban told Reuters at the end of a three-day trip to Switzerland.

Er...the stalled peace process is (not) taking place between Israel and the PA in the West Bank, not the Hamas in Gaza, Mr. UN's President. How exactly is playing into Hamas hands going to have a positive impact on anything? We know all about impact when it comes from the Hamas ruled Gaza, and I assure you that on the ground it ain't what it seems to be.



There's more:

"I am very encouraged by the prisoner exchange today after many many years of negotiation," Ban said. "The United Nations has been calling for (an end to) the unacceptable detention of Gilad Schalit and also the release of all Palestinians whose human rights have been abused all the time."

I was awake half of last night trying to figure out what was about the prisoner exchange that could make the world's organization leader to feel very encouraged. Was it the joy of seeing so many criminals finally getting their basic human right of killing Israelis back?

Maybe he just realized that what the world he's leading really needs are more terrorists bent on destroying the one tiny stubborn country that just won't go away quietly.

Sheik Raed Saleh and his connection with the truth...or not.

So, Snoopy, off on his vacation (he's allowed time off?), suggested that I, among others, might help to keep the show on the road. Well, that's a mighty tall order, especially when you've just come back from a short break yourself (to visit the offspring in another country).

Still, in my wanderings around the blogosphere, I came across the following from the Community Security Trust blog. It concerns one Sheikh Raed Salah who, you may or may not recall, entered Britain against the express instructions of the UK Home Secretary, Teresa May. Now, neither the Government of which she is a part nor her in particular are exactly favourites of mine, but still...they did good here. This was because of the Sheik's record (and it is on the record - he still has charges against him outstanding in Israel, where he lives) of antisemitic statements and writings.

It took them three days, but, finally and despite a well-advertised itinerary, the police caught up with him and issued a deportation order against him. He's appealed this, for reasons that need not detain us here. In the article below, the CST acknowledges that it provided the UK government with evidence of the Sheik's antisemitism and other undesirable activities.

It appears that Saleh's defence team have alleged that the CST have, in various ways, distorted the (un)good Sheik's writings and other sayings, by having him say or write things he (they claim) didn't write or say. So the CST people show in this article how the charges against them are nonsense, through a description of their meticulous research to substantiate their claims. Sheikh Raed Saleh lives in Northern Israel and is Hamas's representative in Israel. Now that's a dubious occupation if ever I heard of one.

Read the detail below:

http://blog.thecst.org.uk/?p=3072

Posted by: Brian Goldfarb

Hamas, Holocaust and the yellow school bus

A keen mind wouldn't take long to establish the link between the three entities named in the headline of this post. Still, a keen mind could take a break from time to time, and for these I am translating (using Google, of course) an article that so far appears only in Russian.

HAMAS: Israel is lying about the missile that hit the school bus

Hamas has compared the missile fired last week on a bus with Israeli schoolchildren with the Holocaust ... but in the negative, anti-Israeli sense.

In an article published in Hamas daily "Palestine", someone named Ahmad al-Hadidi said that reports of Israeli and other media that the missile hit the bus which transported students after school, are false.

According to the author, the school bus with students couldn't be traveling so far from the location of the settlement. Also, the pictures of wounded students or ambulances that took away the victims were not published.

"Israel is engaged in fraud and making up stories, squeezing out a tear, in order to induce sympathy, just as they exaggerate the Holocaust," - says Al-Hadidi.

Should I add my worthless comments to that? Nah...

Allah, kill Christians, Jews and Communists to the last one!

That's real confusing. Christians and Jews kinda make sense.

But Communists?

Are you confused? I am confused. So there:



P.S. But I like the song, so I'll repeat it here:

"Allah, oh our Lord, vanquish Your enemies, enemies of the religion
[Islam] in all places.
Allah, strike the Jews and their sympathizers,
the Christians and their supporters,
the Communists and their adherents.
Allah, count them and kill them to the last one, and don't leave even one."

Now, all together!!!

Er... a question, though: why should Allah, in his infinite wisdom, count them before killing them? Wouldn't it slow down the process? After all, being omnipotent, he knows exactly how many there are of these three kinds without counting... Or not?

Another wall of Goldstone report crumbles. What now?

During Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, Israel targeted the Hamas police infrastructure, killing approximately 250 officers on 27 December 2008. Their status as combatants was disputed and Israel’s actions were widely condemned. The UN investigation into Cast Lead headed by Richard Goldstone stated that:

…[the mission] believes that the assertion on the part of the Government of Israel that ‘an overwhelming majority of the police forces were also members of the Hamas military wing or activists of Hamas or other terrorist organizations’ appears to be an overstatement that has led to prejudicial presumptions against the nature of the police force that may not be justified…

This finally appears to be based on same bullshit as many other pieces of Hamas propaganda.

What now, Judge Goldstone?

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

You're filth, Europe. Besides, stop supporting the Jews...

Says our favorite* Hamas chieftain, Mahmoud al-Zahar:

Let's see what he has to say to Europe:

1. You are promoting promiscuity and political hypocrisy.
2. You have no religion - you are secular.
3. You do not live like human beings.
4. You do not [even] live like animals. [Is it like 20 questions?]
5. You accept homosexuality.
6. You use women as an animal. She has one husband and hundreds of thousands of boyfriends.
7. You don't know who is the father of your sons because of the way you respect women.
8. You are poor people. Morally poor.

And now, stop supporting Israel, you sons of...

(*) Just to remind you why he is Simply Jews' favorite.

World, meet Hamas: Gilad Shalit clip

There is no English translation, but it's hardly required.



No comments.

Latest Hamas Poster

Tee hee... incomparable, as usual.

Hamas Backtracks on Apology for Israeli Rocket Attacks

Good. I've been already worried about having to kiss with this troika. Brr...

Seriosly, though: the best explanation for the retraction of the apology could be found in this quote:

Hamas likely came under domestic pressure to retract the apology after it became public, said Gaza analyst Naji Sharrab. "They are addressing two different audiences," Sharrab said of Hamas.

Since the days of the late and unlamented here Yasser A., widely known for his forked tongue, used to convey two completely different messages - one for the "home consumption" and one to the useful idiots abroad - Hamas is having a bit of trouble to follow in his steps.

So my best advice to the terrorists will be: never apologize, never explain...

Jon Stewart on Hamas' art

Whatever you say about Jon Stewart (and you do say things), when he's good he's damn good. Watch this.