'Palestinians' seethe over delayed terrorist release
The 'Palestinians' are seething over a technical delay in the release of 26 terrorists that is now scheduled for 1:00 am Tuesday (it seems that someone forgot that the cabinet will not convene on the Sabbath to give 48 hours' notice of a terrorist release).
The
prisoners were scheduled to be released on Monday night at 1 a.m., but
technical issues forced the postponement to Tuesday at 1 a.m.
"The prisoner release is a right, and it is our people's right to see
its sons back with their families," PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs
Issa Karaka said.
Karka threatened to go to the International
Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in response to "the Israeli
government's postponement of the release of the third group of prisoners, as agreed on in a deal mediated by the Americans."
He
also accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government of "trying
to blackmail the Palestinian Authority using the prisoners issue."
Speaking
at a Ramallah rally for the release of the prisoners, Fatah Central
Committee member Mahmoud al-Aloul said the PA "paid a heavy price for
the release of the Palestinian prisoners."
While Aloul did not
elaborate on the aforementioned price, he stressed that "the prisoner
release is a Palestinian right, since these are the freedom fighters of
the Palestinian people."
However, PA officials who spoke to NRG/Maariv on Sunday said
that the PA negotiating team has received an unexpected message from
Kerry, according to which the next release - scheduled for the end of
December - will be postponed by one month.
According to these officials, Kerry is using the terrorist release as a means of pressuring Abbas, after the PA Chairman rejected all of Kerry’s offers regarding security in the Jordan Valley.
The officials added that Kerry is determined make progress in the
peace talks by January, and as such is planning to postpone the third
phase of the release of the prisoners, as a way of “persuading” the PA
to accept his proposed security arrangements.
Wow. That's the first time that anyone has pressured the 'Palestinians' to do anything since... wait for it... George W. Bush on June 24, 2002. (Don't tell Obama that or he'll make Kerry take it back).
Peace requires a new and different
Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born.
I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not
compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing
democracy, based on tolerance and liberty. If the Palestinian people
actively pursue these goals, America and the world will actively
support their efforts. If the Palestinian people meet these goals,
they will be able to reach agreement with Israel and Egypt and Jordan
on security and other arrangements for independence.
And when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions
and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States
of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state whose
borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional
until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East.
...
Today, Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing,
terrorism. This is unacceptable. And the United States will not
support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders
engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their
infrastructure. This will require an externally supervised effort to
rebuild and reform the Palestinian security services. The security
system must have clear lines of authority and accountability and a
unified chain of command.
Issa Karaka, PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs, said that while an
official confirmation of the postponement has yet to be made, there are
definite American pressures in that direction. Karaka added that Abbas
told Kerry in their meeting last week that he refuses the proposed
postponement, saying the matter could negatively impact peace talks with
Israel.
Kerry's delay is seen as meant to pressure the PA into accepting
Kerry's proposed Jordan Valley security arrangements made last week,
which PA officials say Abbas rejected as they would not have prevented Israelis from living in the area.
Meanwhile Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official, told AFP that Kerry's Jordan Valley proposals "will drive Kerry's efforts to an impasse and to total failure."
To date 52 of the 104 terrorists slated for release in "gestures" to
keep peace talks going have gone free. The third batch of terrorist
releases was set to occur in three weeks, although the new reports leave
the timing unclear.
In late November a senior Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official revealed that the PA is remaining in peace talks only to free all 104 terrorists.
On the flip side of Kerry's pressure on the PA, there are concerns
that the US may pressure Israel to concede to Jordan Valley arrangements
lessening or removing Israeli presence in the region.
I'm hoping that the 'Palestinians' walk away. I don't believe that the Obama administration will suddenly have an epiphany and support Israel if the 'Palestinians' walk away, but I do believe that it will at least force them to take time to regroup - time that could bring us to the end of the Obama administration.
Nothing the United Nations does to Israel should surprise us anymore. And so, this should come as no shock. The United Nations has sponsored an event at which Israel was equated to Nazis. Anne Bayefsky reports.
Over the past two days, the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has sponsored a two-day conference on the topic of Palestinian “political” prisoners held in Israeli prisons. The Committee was created by the U.N. General Assembly back in 1975 to implement the infamous Zionism-is-racism resolution. While the resolution was rescinded 16 years later, the committee marches on, boasting 49 U.N. states and observers as members and unending funds courtesy of the General Assembly [22% of which is paid for by the United States. CiJ].
...
The “keynote” address was delivered by Issa Qaraqe, the Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs of the Palestinian Authority. He blithely asserted that “there was a call at the highest level of the Israeli state for concentration camps to be set up for the rounding up and extermination of Palestinian people.” To ensure his message was widely available the U.N. posted on their website his speech claiming that “the Chief Rabbi of Israel” has called “for the establishment of extermination camps for Palestinians,” that Israelis advocate “prisoners should be gassed and exterminated,” and that “Israel is waging a war of ethnic cleansing against all humanity.” As to why there are any Palestinian prisoners, “the prisoners only crime is to struggle for freedom and independence,” said Qaraqe.
John Dugard, who served as U.N. “Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” from 2001 to 2008, openly embraced the destruction of the Jewish state by force, using the one-state-solution lexicon of “Palestine/Israel.” He referred to “Palestinian resistance fighters” as “freedom fighters.” He railed against Israel for using the term “terrorists” — which he put in quotation marks — to describe “those who engage in resistance activities as combatants” or who “take up arms in pursuance of the right of self-determination.”
...
When the combination of U.N. experts and officials, diplomats and non-governmental participants, had finished analogizing Israelis to Nazis and Palestinians to Holocaust victims, claiming Jews have no historical ties to the land of Israel, and declaring open season on Israeli men, women, and children in the name of self-determination, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian’s lead U.N. representative, was given a final word: “We thank the U.N. for organizing this very important conference in this very important location of the U.N. . . . the capital and center of human rights.”
'Palestinian' Minister of 'Prisoners' curses Jews, says murdering terrorist his idol
We have discussed 'Palestinian' Minister of 'Prisoners' Issa Karake on many occasions. Here's an interview with Karake in which Karake curses the Jews and says that his idol is Ahmed Saadat, the murderer of then-Israeli Minister of Tourism Rechavam Zeevi.
As you watch this video, please keep in mind that Saadat is a minister in the 'government' of the 'Palestinian Authority,' our supposed peace partner.
Mother of 4 terrorist murderers chosen to launch PA statehood campaign
What does this tell you about the chances that a future 'Palestinian state' will live in peace and tranquility with its neighbors (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
The Palestinian Authority chose the mother of 4 terrorist murderers, one of whom killed seven Israeli civilians and attempted to killed twelve others, as the person to launch their statehood campaign with the UN. In a widely publicized event, the PA had Latifa Abu Hmeid lead the procession to the UN offices in Ramallah and to hand over a letter for the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
The official PA daily reported that she launched the UN campaign last week, and noted that she is the "mother of seven prisoners and of the Shahid (Martyr) Abd Al-Mun'im Abu Hmeid." However, the paper did not mention that 4 of her imprisoned sons are murderers.
Palestinian Media Watch reported last year that Abu Hmeid then had 4 sons in Israeli prisons who were each serving between two and seven life sentences, a total of 18 life sentences. At that time she was in the news because the PA Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, decided to honor her with an award, "the Plaque of Resoluteness and Giving... inscribed with the names of her four sons who are imprisoned."
...
The four sons are serving a total of 18 life sentences for the following crimes:
Nasser Abu Hmeid - 7 life sentences + 50 years - commander in Fatah's military wing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Ramallah. Convicted of killing seven Israeli civilians and 12 attempted murders.
Nasr Abu Hmeid - 5 life sentences - Member of terror faction of Fatah, Tanzim, and convicted of involvement in two terror attacks and arms dealing.
Sharif Abu Hmeid - 4 life sentences - a member in one of the brothers' units carrying out terror attacks against civilians and soldiers. Accompanied a suicide bomber to his attack in March 2002.
Muhammad Abu Hmeid - 2 life sentences + 30 years - involvement in terror attacks.
A fifth son, Abd Al-Mun'im Muhammad Yusuf Naji Abu Hmeid, the one referred to as "Martyr," was a member of the military wing of Hamas, Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, and planned and carried out the ambush and murder of an Israeli intelligence officer.
PMW has not been able to determine for which crimes the rest of the sons are imprisoned.
In case you are wondering, here is a list of suicide bombings (only) that took place in March 2002:
Mar 2, 2002 - Eleven people were killed and over 50 were injured, 4 critically, in a suicide bombing at 19:15 on Saturday evening near a yeshiva in the ultra-Orthodox Beit Yisrael neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem where people had gathered for a bar-mitzva celebration. The terrorist detonated the bomb next to a group of women waiting with their baby carriages for their husbands to leave the nearby synagogue. The victims: Shlomo Nehmad (40), his wife Gafnit (32), and their daughters Shiraz (7) and Liran (3), of Rishon Lezion; Shaul Nehmad (15), of Rishon Lezion; Lidor Ilan (12) and his sister Oriah (18 months), of Rishon Lezion; Tzofia Ya'arit Eliyahu (23) and her son Ya'akov Avraham (7 months), of Jerusalem. Avi Hazan, 37, of Moshav Adora, died of his injuries on Monday morning (Mar 4). Avraham Eliahu Nehmad, 7, of Rishon Lezion, died of his injuries on June 20. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for the attack.
...
Mar 5, 2002 - Maharatu Tagana, 85, of Upper Nazareth was killed and a large number of people injured, most lightly, when a suicide bomber exploded in an Egged No. 823 bus as it entered the Afula central bus station. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
...
Mar 9, 2002 - Limor Ben-Shoham, 27, of Jerusalem; Nir Borochov, 22, of Givat Ze'ev; Danit Dagan, 25, of Tel-Aviv; Livnat Dvash, 28, of Jerusalem; Tali Eliyahu, 26, of Jerusalem; Uri Felix, 25, of Givat Ze'ev; Dan Imani, 23, of Jerusalem; Natanel Kochavi, 31, of Kiryat Ata; Baruch Lerner, 29, of Eli; Orit Ozarov, 28, of Jerusalem; Avraham Haim Rahamim, 28, of Jerusalem were killed and 54 injured, 10 of them seriously, when a suicide bomber exploded at 22:30 PM Saturday night in a crowded cafe at the corner of Aza and Ben-Maimon streets in the Rehavia neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
...
Mar 20, 2002 - Sgt. Michael Altfiro, 19, of Pardes Hanna; St.-Sgt. Shimon Edri, 20, of Pardes Hanna; SWO Meir Fahima, 40, of Hadera; Cpl. Aharon Revivo, 19, of Afula; Alon Goldenberg, 28, of Tel Aviv; Mogus Mahento, 75, of Holon; and Bella Schneider, 53, of Hadera were killed and about 30 people were wounded, several seriously, in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus No. 823 traveling from Tel Aviv to Nazareth at the Musmus junction on Highway 65 (Wadi Ara) near Afula. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mar 21, 2002 - Gadi (34) and Tzipi (29) Shemesh, of Jerusalem and Yitzhak Cohen, 48, of Modi'in were killed and 86 people injured, 3 of them seriously, in a suicide bombing on King George Street in the center of Jerusalem. The terrorist detonated the bomb, packed with metal spikes and nails, in the center of a crowd of shoppers. The Fatah al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
...
Mar 27, 2002 - 30 people were killed and 140 injured - 20 seriously - in a suicide bombing in the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya, in the midst of the Passover holiday seder with 250 guests. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Shula Abramovitch, 63, of Holon; David Anichovitch, 70, of Netanya; Sgt.-Maj. Avraham Beckerman, 25, of Ashdod; Shimon Ben-Aroya, 42, of Netanya; Andre Fried, 47, of Netanya; Idit Fried, 47, of Netanya; Miriam Gutenzgan, 82, Ramat Gan; Ami Hamami, 44, of Netanya; Perla Hermele, 79, of Sweden; Dvora Karim, 73, of Netanya; Michael Karim, 78, of Netanya; Yehudit Korman, 70, of Ramat Hasharon; Marianne Myriam Lehmann Zaoui, 77, of Netanya; Lola Levkovitch, 85, of Jerusalem; Furuk Na'imi, 62, of Netanya; Eliahu Nakash, 85, of Tel-Aviv; Irit Rashel, 45, of Moshav Herev La'et; Yulia Talmi, 87, of Tel-Aviv; St.-Sgt. Sivan Vider, 20, of Bekaot; Ernest Weiss, 79, of Petah Tikva; Eva Weiss, 75, of Petah Tikva; Meir (George) Yakobovitch, 76, of Holon. Chanah Rogan, 92, of Netanya; Zee'v Vider, 50, of Moshav Bekaot; Alter Britvich, 88, and his wife Frieda, 86, of Netanya died of their injuries on April 2-3, 2002. Sarah Levy-Hoffman, 89, of Tel-Aviv died of her injuries on April 7, 2002. Anna Yakobovitch, 78, of Holon died of her injuries on April 11, 2002. Eliezer Korman, 74, of Ramat Hasharon died of his wounds on May 5, 2002. Clara Rosenberger, 77, of Jerusalem died of her wounds on June 25, 2003.
...
Mar 29, 2002 - Rachel Levy, 17, and Haim Smadar, 55, the security guard, both of Jerusalem, were killed and 28 people were injured, two seriously, when a female suicide bomber blew herself up in the Kiryat Yovel supermarket in Jerusalem. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
...
Mar 31, 2002 - 16 people were killed and over 40 injured in a suicide bombing in Haifa, in the Matza restaurant of the gas station near the Grand Canyon shopping mall. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Suheil Adawi, 32, of Turan; Dov Chernobroda, 67, of Haifa; Shimon Koren, 55; his sons Ran, 18, and Gal, 15, of Haifa; Moshe Levin, 52, of Haifa; Danielle Menchel, 22, of Haifa; Orly Ofir, 16, of Haifa; Aviel Ron, 54; his son Ofer, 18, and daughter Anat, 21, of Haifa; Ya'akov Shani, 53, of Haifa; Adi Shiran, 17, of Haifa; Daniel Carlos Wegman, 50, of Haifa. Carlos Yerushalmi, 52, of Karkur, died on April 1 of wounds sustained in the attack. Shimon Shiran, 57, of Haifa, father of Adi, died of his wounds on April 11, 2009, having remained hospitalized for seven years.
Unfortunately, there are far too many attacks from which to choose, and I limited this only to that month and only to the suicide bombings that took place that month.
If terrorists and their mothers are the people that the 'Palestinians' continue to lionize as their heroes - even the 'moderate' Fatah movement - how can anyone really believe that they intend to live side by side in peace with Israel? Read the whole thing.
Video: 'Palestinian Authority' honors Seder night massacre mastermind
Earlier this week, I posted about 'Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs' Issa Qaraqi accusing Israel of harvesting 'Palestinians' organs. I mentioned some of Qaraqi's past misdeeds, including his honoring Abbas al-Sayid, the planner of the Seder Night massacre in which 30 Israelis were murdered and 140 wounded on the Seder night in 2002.
Now, I have video of Qaraqi's visit to al-Sayid's family. Machsom Watch has nothing on him, except that they're Jewish.
Let's go to the videotape.
Just to emphasize, in case you missed it: Qaraqi is Fatah, not Hamas. He is a member of our 'moderate' 'peace partner's organization. He's Abu Mazen's man.
Deja vu all over again: 'Palestinian' minister accuses Israel of harvesting 'Palestinian' organs
As Israeli's defenseless defense minister prepares to release 'Palestinian' terrorists from Israeli jails to 'ease tensions' in September (as if it will make a difference), the 'Palestinian Authority' minister of prisoner affairsuncontrollable rage Issa Qaraqi (pictured) accuses Israel of - what else - harvesting 'Palestinian' organs.
By contrast, the Saudi-based Arab News.com reported Sunday that Qaraqi’, “during the national day of Palestinian campaign to retrieve martyrs’ bodies,” accused Israel of harvesting parts from “the bodies of dead Palestinian martyrs without the consent of their families.” According to the website, Qaraqi’ said Israel was holding on to the remains of “Palestinian martyrs to conceal the crimes it committed against the martyrs’ bodies and to punish their families.”
Claiming that Israel was “holding the remains of 338 Arab and Palestinian fighters” in secret cemeteries, he said the “holding of the martyrs’ remains for many years casts doubts and accusations that Israel assassinated them after detention, or harvested their organs.”
The PA minister’s comments were swiftly denounced by Israel, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor saying that by “promoting heinous lies and blood libels, the Palestinians may score a few cheap points among the ignorant and the racists, but they will not be gaining any dignity and respect.
Dealing in hate mongering will not lead anyone to respect them,” Palmor said, adding that “they that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind.”
According to the story, the Defense Ministry is considering releasing 'Palestinian' terrorists and turning over bodies of terrorists buried in Israel for reburial by the 'Palestinians' in a bid to improve the atmosphere on the 'Palestinian street' in September. According to the report, none of the terrorists to be released are on Hamas' list for exchange for Gilad Shalit, and all of the terrorists to be released are affiliated with Fatah and not with Hamas. What could go wrong?
Qaraqi has a history of this sort of thing. Just two weeks ago, he complained bitterly because Israel is not letting 'Palestinians' complete their education (why should we when Gilad Shalit cannot even have a Red Cross visit after five years?). In March, he presented an award to the family of Abbas al-Sayid, who planned the Seder night massacre (note different spelling of last name, but it's the same person) and in 2010 he handed out a 'Mother of the Year' award to a woman who has four sons in Israeli jails for murdering Jews. In 2005, he accused Israel's prison authorities of allowing cancer to go untreated in Israeli prisons. And also in 2005, he claimed that 25% of 'Palestinians' (of which, as we know, there are 'millions') have been imprisoned in Israel.
One would think this would be enough for accusations by Qaraqi not to be taken seriously. But no. Any accusation against Israel will do.
Passover is coming up in a few weeks, and the 'Palestinians' are trying in their own unique way to get into the Holiday spirit: They are honoring the family of the imprisoned terrorist who planned the Seder night massacre nine years ago.
The photo in the PA daily shows the PA minister handing the family an honorary plaque from the PA. Terrorist Al-Sayid's name and the PA logo are visible on the plaque. (In the photo the rest of the print is too small to read.)
"Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, and a delegation from the Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs visited the home of [the family of] prisoner Abbas Al-Sayid in Tulkarem. Al-Sayid has maintained an unlimited hunger strike for the past 21 days, and has been transferred from solitary confinement at the Ramon prison to solitary confinement at the Israeli hospital in Ramle. Karake warned of the severity of prisoner Al-Sayid's condition, following a deterioration of his health in the wake of the strike. He placed the responsibility for [Sayid's] life and health upon the Israeli government and the prison administration, and called for a response to the demands for an end to his solitary confinement, which has continued for over six months, in difficult conditions." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 29, 2011]
Thirty Israelis were murdered in the Seder night massacre. You can read Naomi Regan's chilling account of it (she was there) starting here.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
