WorldNetDaily is reporting that American weapons to be transferred to 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen may be used against Israel, and I have to wonder why they sound so surprised.
Last week, I blogged a New York Times report that indicated that the US that indicated that the US wanted to expand Abu Mazen's 'Presidential guard' - known as Force 17 - as a means of strengthening Abu Mazen. I explained that Force 17 is a terrorist organization through and through. Until his capture one month ago, Force 17 was headed by Mahmoud Damra, who is a wanted murderer. I even indicated that there was little Israel could do to complain since the Olmert government had given weapons to Force 17 that were used against Israelis. So WorldNetDaily's current report should come as no surprise:
Weapons and financial aid the U.S. is considering giving to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Force 17 security detail to bolster it against Hamas might be used instead to attack Jews and "fight Israeli occupation," a senior Force 17 officer told WND in an exclusive interview.
The militant, Abu Yousuf, hinted any new weapons provided by the U.S. to his group could be shared with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party. Abu Yousuf, like several Force 17 members, is also a member of the Brigades. [I keep telling people that all the terrorists - Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, etc. are the same - they just keep changing their uniforms. Perhaps I will convince some skeptics with this post. CiJ]
"There is no chance that we will use force and violence against our brothers in Hamas unless they will endanger [Abbas]. There is a chance that Israel will attack the Palestinian territories, and in this case, these weapons and others provided [by the U.S. to Force 17] will be directed towards the (Israeli) occupation," Abu Yousuf said.
Abu Yousuf was responding to reports the U.S. is planning to transfer weapons and aid to Force 17, which protects Abbas and also serves as a special security force on behalf of the Fatah party.
This all is apparently slated to happen very soon:
Senior Palestinian officials told WND the U.S. is planning to transfer ammunition and new assault rifles to Force 17 within days and has pledged to procure about $28 million in aid to Abbas. They said the U.S. would help train Force 17 members in the operation of the new weapons and in advanced combat techniques in facilities already in use in Jericho.
The State Department did not return calls for comment before press time.
David Baker, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Olmert's office had no comment on reports of new U.S. aid to Abbas. Sources in Olmert's office confirmed the U.S. aid package reportedly offered to Abbas.
The Americans are arming Palestinian terrorists and Olmert has no comment!!!!
The last known weapons transfer to Force 17 took place in May and reportedly consisted of 3,000 assault rifles and more than 1 million rounds of ammunition.
At first, the U.S., Israel and the PA denied the reports of the weapons transfer, but Olmert in June announced he had approved the shipment of U.S. weapons and ammunition, explaining the transfer was meant for Abbas' personal protection.
"I did this because we are running out of time and we need to help Abu Mazen," Olmert told reporters.
The shipment required Israeli consent to pass through checkpoints. It was delivered by a convoy protected by the Israeli Defense Forces, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials involved in the transfer.
Olmert said that the weapons shipment was meant to bolster Abu Mazen's security forces amid an increasingly violent power struggle between Fatah and Hamas.
"I did this because we are running out of time and we need to help Abu Mazen," Olmert told reporters Tuesday.
The weapons reportedly were escorted by Israel to Ramallah and to the Gaza border where they were received by Force 17 members.
Abu Yousuf said that the weapons will be fired at Israelis.
"These weapons will not be used in an internal war [with Hamas] but against Israelis," he said. "Force 17 is proud that we were the first to lead the Palestinian people during tough times such as resistance operations [against the Israeli army during large-scale operations in northern Samaria in 2002]. We will also be the first to lead the Palestinians in the current struggle against Israeli occupation."
Several Force 17 members, including Yousuf himself, also are members of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. As I keep on telling you, don't think of these organizations as being different. Think of them as all being 'baseball players' who sometimes change to another team's uniform.
WorldNetDaily continues:
Yousuf himself previously participated in anti-Israel terrorism, including recent shootings, attacks last month against Israeli forces operating in Ramallah and a shooting attack in northern Samaria in December 2000 that killed Benyamin Kahane [and his wife Talia CiJ], leader of the ultranationalist Kahane Chai organization.
After the Kahane murder, Yousuf was extended refuge by Yasser Arafat to live in the late PLO leader's Ramallah compound, widely known as the Muqata. Yousuf still lives in the compound.
Abbas earlier this week appointed Mahmoud Damra to head Force 17. Damra, who is on Israel's most wanted list of terrorists, was offered shelter in Arafat's compound in Ramallah in 2002 after Israel accused him of masterminding a string of terrorist attacks.
Israeli security officials say that since September 2000, Damra has led a terror cell based in Ramallah that has carried out deadly attacks, including shootings at Israeli vehicles, attacks against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the planting of roadside bombs.
Yousuf told WorldNetDaily Israel transferred the weapons to his Force 17 unit "for its own political purposes. We are not concerned with the reasons. The weapons will not be used against our brothers, only [against] Israelis."
Sources close to the Al Aqsa Brigades told WND assault rifles transferred by Israel to Force 17 already were used in two separate anti-Israel shooting attacks in recent days. One attack killed a 35-year-old Israeli Arab on a major West Bank highway on the outskirts of Jerusalem this past Sunday. Israeli security officials say the shooters likely mistook the victim for a Jew. The second attack, which occurred Tuesday on the same highway, lightly wounded an Israeli.
Yousuf refused to confirm whether Israeli weapons were used in the recent spate of highway shootings, but he hinted the information was accurate. He told WND members of Al Aqsa Brigades live with him in the Muqata and that "resistance tools" are shared regularly.
The Times of London reports today that several 'diplomats' of other countries are opposed to the US plan to arm 'Force 17,' Arafat'sAbu Mazen's 'Presidential guard'. The dipolmats argue that it would be like "supporting one faction in a potential civil war." I think there's no question that's what it would be. The US wants to arm Force 17 so that it can confront Hamas in the event that the current 'unity talks' fail.
The divisions have led to a stand-off over the past month, with US officials saying that the unity government proposal had “no legs”. Other members of the “quartet” of international mediators — made up of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — say that it should be given a chance instead of arming one of the Palestinian factions.
I cannot disagree with the assessment that the 'unity government' has no legs. The problem is that arming Fatah is no better as an alternative. Force 17 was headed by a wanted murderer until Israel captured him, and when Israel has armed Force 17 in the past, the arms have been used against Israelis. In other words, there is no lesser of two evils here, and letting the two groups murder each other may actually be the best (and only) choice.
Exclusive: US to train and arm terrorist responsible for Wultz murder
There's a story today on WorldNetDaily which describes how the US government - going back to the late 1990's - has been training 'Palestinian' terrorists who are members of 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's 'Preventive Security Services' and Force 17. As documented by World Net Daily's Jerusalem editor Aaron Klein in his book, Schmoozing with terrorists, many of the members of Force 17 and the 'Preventive Security Services' are also members of the 'al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades'. The 'Brigades' are Abu Mazen's Fatah's 'armed wing' that has carried out hundreds of terror attacks in the last seven years. As you may recall, over the course of the past year, the United States has decided to increase training and arms for Force 17, so as to strengthen the 'good terrorist' Abu Mazen against the 'bad terrorists' of Hamas. Congress specifically allocated funding for that purpose.
I'm sure many of you also recall the murder of 16-year old American Daniel Wultz from Florida (pictured, top left) HY"D (may God avenge his blood) in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing in April 2006. You may recall that a 'Palestinian' terror leader referred to Wultz as "the best target we can dream of."
Within a few weeks, a new American-run 'training course' is starting in Jericho. One of the 'students' is going to be a member of the terror cell that pulled off that suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in April 2006 and murdered 16-year old American Daniel Wultz. Here's what I was told in an email received this afternoon:
There's a new US-led, US-funded training course coming up within a few weeks in Jericho. It's for the "official" Pal. security services. One of those in attendance is a member of the Al Aqsa Martyr's cell that did the Passover bombing in 2006 that killed American Daniel Wultz.
So, in effect, the US is training one of the terrorists responsible for the murder of an American just last year.
- Further: the US is sending gear, including assault rifles, to Jericho within a few weeks. Numerous members of Al Aqsa will receive the weapons (as they will receive them in their Force 17 or PSS [Preventive Security Services. CiJ] roles). Again, one of those to receive the weapons is the member of Al Aqsa who belongs to the Passover bombing cell and will be training in Jericho.
As some of you may recall, the suicide bombing in which Daniel Wultz was murdered was carried out by a cell led by Nasser Abu Aziz, who is the number 2 in the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the main deputy of Ala Senakreh, the overall chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank. Senakreh is based in the Balata refugee camp in the northern Samaria town of Nablus. As was noted in the article linked above,
Aziz's group is suspected of directing all suicide bombings in Israel the past three years together with Islamic Jihad, including the Tel Aviv attack that killed Wultz and nine others. Although Islamic Jihad and the Brigades took joint credit for the Tel Aviv attack, Brigades sources told WND their group directed the suicide bombing, supplying the bomber and infiltrating him into Tel Aviv. The sources said Islamic Jihad provided the explosives belt as a symbolic act so the terror group could also take part in the attack.
So if my source could find out that a member of Aziz's cell (not Aziz himself - I asked that question) is going to be part of this training course, why can't the CIA? Or if the CIA has figured it out, why don't they care? We're not talking about someone who committed an act of terrorism in the pre-Oslo period. We're talking about someone who was part of a group that murdered ten people, including a 16-year old American, in April 2006.
If I'm Tuly Wultz (Daniel's father) and I see this post, I'd be on the phone to my Representative and Senators immediately. In fact, all of you in the US should be on the phone to your Representatives and Senators immediately. This is outrageous!
Is there any difference between when Israel is threatened by 'militant' 'Palestinians' and when it is threatened by 'moderate' 'Palestinians'? Not as far as I can tell. Yesterday, 'our friends the Saudis' threatened Israel with war if we do not commit national suicide by accepting the 'Saudi plan' as is. Today, it was the 'Palestinians' turn. 'Moderate' 'Palestinian president' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen threatened violence if Israel rejects the 'hand of peace' offered by the 'Palestinians.' Here are some quotes from Abu Mazen at the closing ceremony of the Arab League summit in Riyadh today as reported by al-AP:
Demanding that amendments be introduced to the Arab peace initiative, is seeking to avoid the realization of peace.
I reiterate the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people ... we should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful cause.
The entire region will be under renewed threats of war, explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one.
We hope our summit would result in the formation of an Arab committee headed by the Saudi Arabian monarchy, the head of the summit, to follow up implementation of the Arab initiative.
Abu Mazen also called for a "negotiated settlement that will be sponsored by the international community and within the framework of an international peace conference in the region."
In the meantime, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the 'military wing' of 'moderate' Abu Mazen's 'moderate' Fatah movement has bragged that it shot two of the seven Kassam rockets that were shot at Israel from northern Gaza yesterday. And they promised that the $59 million (reduced from $86 million) that the Bush administration is sending to Abu Mazen, to strengthen his 'security forces,' will be used to attack Israel:
"Even if the American money and weapons reach only members of Fatah who are not involved in the resistance, it will find its way to the Palestinian resistance and be utilized for attacks against the Zionists," said Abu Ahmed, the northern Gaza commander of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.
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"This money is an attempt to generate civil war between Hamas and Fatah and to buy off Fatah. But we will never leave the political line of Yasser Arafat, who would not give up even one inch of Palestine," charged Abu Ahmed.
The terror leader said the infighting between Fatah and Hamas "was over." "Now there are only a few dozens who want it to continue, so maybe there will be localized infighting but we will not fall into this Zionist-American conspiracy of civil war," he said.
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Earlier [yesterday], seven rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish communities.
Abu Ahmed told WND his group fired two of the projectiles while the other five were launched by Islamic Jihad. He said the two rockets fired today were "dedicated to Yasser Arafat."
Abu Ahmed claimed his group launched the rockets in response to "Israeli threats to the Al Aqsa Mosque and criminal Israeli operations in the West Bank against our fighters."
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Abu Ahmed's threats come as the Bush administration announced plans to ask Congress to approve $59 million for Fatah forces. The U.S. said the bulk of the new aid package – $43.4 million – will be used to strengthen Abbas' Force 17 presidential guard units.
According to the announcement, the sum includes $14.5 million for "basic and advanced training," $23 million for equipment, $2.9 million to upgrade the guard's facilities and $3 million to provide "capacity building and technical assistance" to the office of Mahmoud Dahlan, Fatah's strongman in Gaza.
The Bush administration in January pledged $86.4 million to strengthen the Fatah forces, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
At the time, Abu Yousuf, a Fatah militant from Abba's Force 17 security forces, told WND U.S. funds and weapons being transferred to his group would be utilized to "hit the Zionists."
Many Fatah security members from Force 17 are also openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. All Brigades leaders are members of Fatah.
Someone please remind me what the difference is supposed to be between Abu Mazen and Haniyeh and between Hamas and Fatah. I don't see any.
I have noted several times that the United States has decided, with Israel's approval, to arm 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's Fatah group, in a bid to help the 'moderate' Fatah win its power struggle with Hamas. I have also noted that those weapons have been used against Israelis by Fatah.
Now, WorldNetDaily is reporting, based on conversations with "top Hamas officials," that Hamas carried out an ambush last night in which it obtained American weapons that had been transferred to 'militias' that are 'associated' with 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's Fatah group.
Will someone please remind me why the United States or Israel is taking sides in the 'Palestinian' civil war?
Palestinian officials and sources in the Israeli Defense Forces told WND four trucks filled with U.S. weapons were transported last night from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel and from there delivered by an IDF convoy to Fatah security officials.
The American weapons shipment, the sources said, contained rocket-propelled grenades, more than 1 million rounds of ammunition and bullet-proof vests.
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Today, while Force 17 were transporting the American weapons shipment for distribution to militias, Hamas ambushed the convoy and obtained the shipment, Hamas officials said.
A battle raged between Hamas gunmen and Force 17 guards accompanying the convoy, according to residents in the area who said a civilian was killed.
Hospital officials said 17 people, including two children, were wounded in the clash, the fiercest since violence this weekend in which 33 Palestinians were killed.
"We are in possession of American rocket-propelled grenades," a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing told WND.
"This will prove to the Americans their conspiracy of toppling our government will be used against them."
Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa told reporters the attacked convoy was carrying generators, tents and medical equipment.
"There are no weapons at all," said Abu Khoussa, adding the ambush "represented a grave danger to the continuation of the (cease-fire) agreement."
Abu Khoussa did not explain why Fatah would transport tents and medical supplies in protected convoys.
Fatah sources confirmed to WND prior to the ambush that the U.S. weapons were received last night and were being transported today for distribution.
Hamas leaders told WND they will "prove to the world we obtained weapons."
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During a WND interview last week, Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida told WND his terror group will obtain any American weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using the incoming $86.4 million in U.S. aid.
"I am sure that like in the past, this $86 million from America will find its way to the Hamas resistance via the honorable persons in the Fatah security organizations, including in Force 17. I can confirm 100 percent that this money and purchased weapons will find its way to Hamas," said Abu Oubaida.
'Palestinian' civil war update: Hamas gets more weapons
The 'Palestinian' civil war is back on in the Gaza Strip with six 'Palestinians' having been killed in the last twenty-four hours. Eight 'Palestinians' have been killed and seventy have been wounded in the last two days. More significantly, 'moderate' 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas today accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh (pictured at top left). Some of you may recall that the interior ministry was one of the more difficult positions to fill in the 'Palestinian unity government' and it would not be surprising if Hamas now tries to reinstall Said Siam, who established Hamas' 'executive force' or someone else who is much more clearly a Hamas lackey than Kawasmeh.
Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh had offered his resignation two weeks ago to protest the deteriorating security situation in Gaza. But Haniyeh had tried to persuade Kawasmeh to stay on.
Kawasmeh, as interior minister, was in charge of PA security forces loyal to Hamas.
After a new wave of fighting left six people dead, Haniyeh on Monday accepted the resignation, said two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media. Kawasmeh recently proposed a security plan aimed at bringing law and order to Gaza, but the plan was never implemented.
Meanwhile the Bush administration's efforts to prop up 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen hit a snag on Sunday when Hamas yet againintercepted an arms shipment:
"We obtained the U.S. weapons and will keep hijacking any assistance the Americans provide to Fatah. Our fighters are aware of the American and Israeli conspiracies to topple our government. We're trained and well prepared to defeat the American-backed (Palestinian) agents," said a top member of Hamas' so-called military wing in the Gaza Strip.
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Yesterday, after a Fatah gunman shot a Hamas member, a Fatah convoy of three trucks was stopped by Hamas at a makeshift checkpoint at Dabit Circle, a northern Gaza town, according to Hamas sources. Hamas abducted 18 Fatah gunmen and seized stockpiles of American weapons that were in the vans, the sources said.
In fact, Hamas has apparently taken complete control of the northern Gaza Strip:
According to Israeli and Palestinian security officials and Hamas sources, Hamas militias in recent months have taken almost complete control of the northern Gaza Strip, including areas from which rockets are launched regularly into nearby Jewish communities. The officials said Fatah, which is backed by the U.S., is restricted to acting within a half-mile radius of a major Fatah military compound. Hamas has set up roadblocks and checkpoints throughout northern Gaza to ensure Fatah militias remain near their compound.
Not that Fatah - which the US tried to help once again last week with its 'benchmarks' plan - is any better:
US urging bigger force for Abu Mazengiving money to and fundraising for terrorists
Two weeks ago, I reported that the US was downgrading its strategic relationship with Israel as a result of the poor performance of the IDF in Lebanon this summer - the result of the hesitancy of the Olmert-Peretz-Livni government. Tonight, unfortunately, there is more concrete evidence of the downgrade.
The New York Times is reporting that the US wants to expand the 'Presidential guard' of 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen from 3500 to 6000 men, as a part of a $26 million plan to shore up Mr. Abbas’s position and reduce the security chaos in the Palestinian Authority.
The Americans are pressing Israel and the Palestinians to agree by Nov. 1 on how to reorganize and reconstruct the Palestinian side of the main border crossing for goods shipped between Gaza and Israel, known as the Karni crossing.
Israel has often shut Karni because of security threats. General Dayton has proposed spending about $25.5 million to build a modern facility for checking and scanning trucks on the Palestinian side, with the goal of allowing up to 400 trucks a day to leave Gaza loaded with exports.
The Americans hope to have the new procedures working at Karni by early November, in time for the harvest, when Gazan farmers hope to ship consignments of cherry tomatoes, persimmons and other produce through Israel to markets in Europe.
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General Dayton’s plan, the details of which were confirmed by American officials, calls for some 90 international monitors to work with the Palestinians, including an expanded Presidential Guard, in order, the plan says, “for Palestinians to take responsibility for security and increase Israeli confidence and trust.”
A donor briefed on the plan quoted General Dayton as having said the plan has received “tacit agreement” from the Palestinians, including from Hamas. Israeli officials have discussed the plan but have not yet approved it, an Israeli official said.
The American intention is that the Presidential Guard control the Karni crossing from Gaza, as it currently does at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and that international monitors work with them at each crossing.
There are European Union monitors stationed at Rafah, but they are threatening to leave, both because of Palestinian violations of customs rules and because of the Israeli army’s activities in Gaza, which has kept the crossing shut for most of the last few months. The European monitors are insisting first that Rafah be opened normally, and then that it also be opened for the shipment of exports from Gaza.
Because of congressional restrictions on aid to the Palestinian Authority while it is run by Hamas, which the United States, Israel and others regard as a terrorist group, General Dayton has approached international donors — countries and multilateral institutions — to provide the funds for overhauling the Karni crossing.
Because the Presidential Guard works directly for Mr. Abbas, who belongs to the Fatah political movement and not Hamas, it may be possible to use American funds for that purpose, American officials say, but a specific appropriation from Congress would be required. General Dayton is hoping that Washington will provide some $9 million.
The general’s plan estimates that $20 million will go to equip the Presidential Guard and $2 million to add to its numbers, with $4 million spent to build a training facility in Gaza and to complete one already under construction in Jericho in the West Bank.
General Dayton has assembled a team at the American Consulate in Jerusalem to solicit and receive contributions, to manage projects and to satisfy donors that their money is being used properly. Past problems with corruption have made some potential donors hesitant about contributing to projects in the Palestinian territories without safeguards on accountability.
This sounds like we are going back to the days when the CIA trained the 'Palestinian police' and then the 'Palestinian police' turned their guns on Israeli civilians.
The Border Police (Mishmar HaGvul) caught a big fish at a roadblock outside Shchem (Nablus) today. You know, one of those roadblocks that everyone else says Israel should take down.
The fish is Mahmoud Damra, the head of Force 17, 'moderate' Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's elite special guard.
Damra has been wanted by Israel for six years, for his role as leader in a terror cell responsible for carrying out attacks in Israel which killed eight Israelis and wounded 20 others.
The cell comprised 25 members, from Hamas, Fatah, the Democratic Front, and Force 17. Damra is suspected of choosing the locations of the terror attacks, training the militants and supplying them with weapons belonging to his force.
Israel suspects Damra to have been involved in numerous attacks, including the murder of an Israeli security guard outside a National Insurance Institute branch in East Jerusalem in October 2000, the murder of extremist Meir Kahane's son and daughter-in-law in the West Bank in December 2000, and for shooting two death two IDF soldiers and a female settler.
Damra escaped an Israeli assassination attempt in May 2001, and went into hiding near Ramallah. He emerged only recently to play a more visible role as a senior security official for Abbas, Palestinian sources said.
'Moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has named Mahmoud Damra as the head of the elite Force 17 which is Abu Mazen's personal police force.
Damra is a senior Fatah terrorist who led shooting and roadside bomb attacks against Israelis, including the killing of IDF soldiers near Neve Tzuf in 2000 and of an Israeli citizen near Tapuach, in Samaria, the following year. He served under Yasser Arafat in order to escape Israeli arrest.
US demands Abu Mazen appoint murderer of Americans as his deputy
If this story had come from the National Enquirer, I would be able to discount it. Coming from Khaled Abu Toameh, the Post writer with his ear closest to the ground among the 'Palestinians' it cannot be discounted. But it's incomprehensible.
Abu Toameh reports this morning that the United States has demanded that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen appoint Muhammed Dahlan (pictured, top left) as his deputy. Abu Mazen is 'resisting' the demand because much of Fatah holds Dahlan, who was out of the country at the time, responsible for the collapse of Fatah's forces in Gaza and the subsequent takeover of the Strip by Hamas back in June. That's not why this appointment is incomprehensible. This appointment is incomprehensible because Dahlan is widely regarded as responsible for the murder of three American consular officers in an ambush in the Gaza Strip on October 15. 2003. What's worse, Dahlan's appointment is meant to lay the groundwork for Dahlan to take over as the head of the 'Palestinian Authority' after Abu Mazen's 'retirement.'
For those who have forgotten, here's part of what I posted one week ago today on the fourth anniversary of the murder of John Branchizio, Mark Parson, and John Linde in the Gaza Strip:
Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner has written to United States Attorney General John Ashcroft alerting him to the fact the Palestinian Security Service commander assigned to investigate the October bombing attack on American personnel in Gaza was very likely the terrorist who planned it.
Gaza Commander Col. Rashid Abu Shabak's has been entrusted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation with hunting down the terrorist cell responsible for the October 15, 2003 bombing which left three Americans dead.
The three Americans, John Branchizio, 37, of Texas, John Linde Jr., 30, of Missouri, and Mark Parsons, 31, of New Jersey, were security personnel guarding a convoy of diplomatic vehicles which was attacked by Palestinian Arab terrorists who detonated a powerful roadside bomb at the Beit Hanoun junction in Gaza. The Americans were visiting Gaza to interview candidates for Fulbright scholarships.
Darshan-Leitner's letter accuses the Palestinian commander of being the mastermind behind numerous terror attacks perpetrated by Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization in Gaza. Shurat HaDin urges the Department of Justice to investigate Abu Shabak's involvement in prior roadside bombings.
Not surprisingly, there have been no arrests made by the Palestinians in the current investigation.
According to the Shurat HaDin letter, Abu Shabak, a protege of Palestinian leader Mohammed Dahlan, has an extensive terrorist past. Abu Shabak, along with Dahlan are the leading suspects in several other Gaza terror attacks.
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In her letter, Darshan-Leitner writes: "It is a disgraceful that the individual assigned by the Palestinian Authority to investigate the murders of Branchizio, Linde and Parsons is himself a leading terrorist suspected of numerous other roadside bombings in Gaza. If the United States is sincere about making arrests then it must not tolerate Rashid Abu Shabak heading up this crucial inquiry. The similarities between the October 15th roadside bombing and the roadside bombing of the Kfar Darom school bus in November 2000 cannot be ignored. We urge the Department of Justice to initiate its own investigation of Abu Shabak and his role in prior Gaza terror attacks, some of which have seriously injured American citizens."
Dahlan and Abu Shbak were responsible for the roadside bombing of the Kfar Darom school bus - follow the link above.
Dahlan was also the commander of Force 17 (after Israel arrested convicted murderer Mahmoud Damra, who was Abu Mazen's first choice to head Force 17), which was allegedly recently disbanded by Abu Mazen. Force 17 carried out many terror attacks against Israel and has repeatedly threatened that any weapons that come into its hands will be used against Israel.
Just to complete the circle of insanity that currently passes as American foreign policy, YNet reports that Abu Mazen spoke today in Jakarta, where he assured his listeners that there will be a 'solution' to the 'Middle East crisis' by the end of 2008, and that Fatah will reconcile with Hamas.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed confidence Monday a solution would be found to the Middle East crisis before the end of 2008. He also stressed the importance of reconciliation with Hamas.
Has George Bush ceded the White House to his father? Has Rice morphed into Brent Scowcroft and James 'F**k the Jews they don't vote for us anyway' Baker? Inquiring minds want to know.
ChristmasId el-Fitr in June: Olmert to join shower of money to 'Palestinians'
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert will be meeting with 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen on Thursday in Jericho.
The 'Palestinians' are enjoying ChristmasId el-Fitr in June right now, with Saudi Arabia ($50 million), Qatar ($44 million), the United Arab Emirates ($80 million) and Norway ($10 million) all having transferred money to the Hamas-led government. The money is allegedly to be used to pay 'salaries' to 'Palestinian' 'civil servants,' half of whom are members of the 'security forces' like Fatah's Force 17 and the office of murderer Muhammed Dahlan.
The US and the EU are said to be 'considering' joining the party; on Saturday the Dutch foreign ministry announced that it would be sending the 'Palestinians' a 'special grant' of $8.4 million in the coming months, claiming that this is also in Israel's best interests:
Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen insisted that the funding is "also in Israel's best interests," as the money would improve the humanitarian situation for 17,000 policemen and their families.
"This allowance will not only help increase safety in the territories, but also will improve living conditions for police officers and their families," the Dutch ministry stated in a press release.
"The Palestinian civilian police have played an important role in recent months in containing and calming disturbances among Palestinians, notably in the Gaza Strip; the police must be strengthened to maintain and enhance safety and public order in the Palestinian territories."
Yes, of course. Fat and happy 'Palestinian policemen' are much more likely to lift a finger to stop Kassam attacks than skinny and hungry ones, aren't they?
But what's worse is that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert, whose government is holding some $700 million in 'tax money' that it has been withholding since the Hamas-led government took power in March 2006 - an amount that dwarfs the amounts cited above - is now planning to join the party:
"We'll see what they ask for," a senior government official said when asked whether Israel would release some of the estimated $700 million in Palestinian tax and tariff revenues it has been withholding since Hamas formed its first government in March 2006.
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"Israel is willing to check to see whether it is able, within the existing mechanism, to release some of the funds," the official said.
Israel is under increasing pressure to release at least some of the money, and government officials said the issue came up in nearly every meeting Olmert held with foreign leaders. For instance, visiting US Sen. Joe Lieberman brought it up on Sunday when he met with Olmert after meeting with Abbas in Ramallah. [Et tu Joe? CiJ]
The Middle East Quartet, in a statement released after its meeting in Berlin last week, said, "The resumption of transfers of tax and customs revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority would have a significant impact on the Palestinian economy. The Quartet encouraged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to consider resumption of such transfers via the Temporary International Mechanism to improve the economic and humanitarian conditions in the West Bank and Gaza."
Israel transferred some $100 million to the Palestinians earlier this year, but government officials said Jerusalem was not satisfied that the mechanism had worked effectively and that all the money had gone - as earmarked - for humanitarian needs or to beef upAbbas's Force 17 "Presidential Guard."
"We are still waiting to see an improved mechanism," one government official said.
Israel has made the mistake already of transferring weapons to Force 17. The weapons were then used against us. If Olmert releases money to the 'Palestinians' now, it will be removing the finger from the dike that's holding back the flood waters of cash. And the more cash the 'Palestinians' get, the more of it is likely to go to weapons.
State Department trying to take advantage of Olmert's weakness
The US State Department is apparently trying to take advantage of the Olmert-Peretz-Livni government's weakness and has presented a series of "acceleration benchmarks" for an "Agreement on Movement and Access" (AMA) between Israel and the 'Palestinian' Authority. The benchmarks include specific, inflexible dates and have no requirement for one party to comply with its obligations before the other has to act.
The officials raised concerns Israel was being asked to ease restrictions on Palestinian movements without assurances that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has completed his own commitments on security.
While Israel appeared prepared to lift restrictions in the West Bank starting in mid-May, it has serious reservations about other demands, including one that would allow Palestinian bus convoys to travel between Gaza and the West Bank by July 1, officials said.
"Some of the ideas Israel is already implementing, others are already well advanced, and there are some that Israel will not be able to address in the present because of security concerns," an official in Olmert's office said.
Officials in the defense establishment object to several issues in the document, especially the demand to expand the operation of the passages in the Gaza Strip and the removal of many roadblocks in the West Bank.
These officials believe that the benchmarks involve security risks.
Israel has not responded officially to the document and an inter-ministerial discussion on it was postponed on Thursday.
...
The document was written by the U.S. security coordinator, Major General Keith Dayton, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dick Jones and U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles.
It was sent to Washington, where it was approved by Secretary of State Rice before it was presented to Israel and the PA. However, both Israel and the PA's official answer to the document is still pending.
Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the PA has accepted the document, but it fears that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will sabotage the turning of it into an agreement due to his precarious political situation.
If both sides accept the document it will become a binding agreement.
...
The document demands, among other things, that Israel approve and support in an "immediate and ongoing" manner the requests of U.S. security coordinator Dayton for the provision of required armaments, ammunition and equipment for security forces under the control of and reporting to the PA chairman in the West Bank and Gaza.
Each clause is accompanied by a precise timetable for implementation. For example, Israel and the PA are required to establish, no later than July 1, 2007, a bus convoy service operating five days a week between the Erez checkpoint at the entrance to the Gaza Strip and the Tarqumiya roadblock at the entrance to Hebron for passengers from Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel is required to remove specific roadblocks and other traffic and movement restrictions in the West Bank at specified dates. For example, Israel must remove restrictions and provide access no later than June 1, 2007 in the Bethlehem 1 and 2 clusters, in the Hebron clusters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, in Nablus clusters 1, 2, 3 and 4 and in the Tubas 1 cluster.
It must remove roadblocks in the Nablus area and specifically the ones in Beit Iba, Hawara, Awarta, Shavei Shmoron and Beit Foriq no later than June 15.
However, the timetable in the document is not entirely relevant as the measures in it were scheduled to begin on May 1.
Rice agreed on formulating the document during her last visit in Israel and the PA. The Palestinians received the document last Wednesday, April 25. Senior Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the PA accepts its principles, although the PA has not given Washington an official answer yet.
The PA and mainly its defense forces and national security adviser Mohammed Dahlan are required to take a series of clear steps, limited by a timetable.
Dahlan is required to develop a plan against Qassam rockets with the support of Abbas no later than June 21, 2007. The president must deploy these forces no later than that date.
The Palestinian forces are required to act to prevent arms smuggling in the Rafah area in coordination with Israel.
Abbas and Dahlan must subject the defense forces to the PA chairman by June 15.
Both Israel and the Palestinians are required to reestablish the coordination and liaison headquarters in the West Bank.
The full original document may be found here. Rice is scheduled to return to Israel on May 15 to 'discuss' it.
Arutz Sheva calls the plan a 'timeline to terror' and fears that Israel will be required to fulfill its obligations even if the 'Palestinians' do not fulfill theirs (which is what has happened in every 'agreement' until now). Arutz Sheva notes that the actions in the AMA are essentially a rehashing of the now-tattered 'road map.'
The Bush administration nonetheless insists that the eight-month plan will bring a win-win situation for all parties.
Secretary Rice expresses confidence that the specific deadlines will create a firm structure in a process that has not moved forward despite years of efforts by various U.S. governments.
A senior U.S. official commented the plan provides incentives on both sides – “One side gets security. The other side gets greater [freedom] of movement.”
Israeli officials aren’t so sure; Jerusalem noted that Israel is being told to erase security measures without first making sure that Abbas can keep his promises to ensure security for Israelis at the same time.
As an unnamed Israeli official pointed out, “There is not (sic) conditionality. Even if they don’t complete their obligations, we’ll have to complete ours.”
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to 'protect' Bush visit to Ramallah
When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert announced three weeks ago that President Bush was going to visit Israel and the 'Palestinian Authority' in January, I asked whether Bush would lay a wreath at Yasser Arafat's mausoleum (pictured, top left). I asked the question a bit facetiously - I didn't really believe that President Bush would actually go to Ramallah and it certainly never occurred to me that he would allow a group of terrorists to protect him. I guess I underestimated the dhimmitude of the current American administration.
WorldNetDaily is reporting that not only is Bush planning to visit Ramallah, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the 'armed wing' of 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah group of 'good terrorists' is going to 'protect' him. We can only hope and pray that today's murder of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will convince the President to reconsider. I cannot imagine a more attractive target for Hamas and other 'bad terrorists' than the President of the United States being protected by Fatah.
According to Israeli security officials coordinating deployments of forces with the PA for Bush's Ramallah visit, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, have been called upon by the PA to participate in the protection of Bush's convoy and in securing the parameter during the meeting with Abbas.
The Brigades is listed as a terror organization by the U.S. State Department. The group took credit along with the Islamic Jihad terror organization for every suicide bombing in Israel between 2005 and 2006, and is responsible for thousands of shootings and rocket firings. Statistically, the Al Aqsa Brigades perpetuated more terrorism from the West Bank than Hamas, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.
Many Brigades members, including the group's chiefs, serve openly in Fatah's Force 17 presidential guard units and the Palestinian Preventative Security Services; thousands of Force 17 and Preventative officers are slated to secure Ramallah during Bush's visit there.
A chief of the Al Aqsa Brigades in Ramallah who also serves as a senior officer in Force 17 confirmed to WND he has been tapped to participate in Bush's security. The chief, who spoke on condition his name be withheld, said he is slated to patrol the road outside Abbas' compound during the Palestinian leader's meeting with Bush.
The Israeli Defense Forces will protect the main West Bank highway Bush's convoy will use to approach Ramallah. Security for Bush will be largely turned over to the Palestinians once he enters Ramallah, although security plans are being heavily coordinated with the U.S.
According to Israeli security officials, over 6,000 Fatah forces will be deployed in three rings in central Ramallah to secure the area during Bush's brief stay, including Palestinian security officers who also serve in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
About 40 Ramallah-based Brigades leaders, including the Brigades chief scheduled to participate in Bush's security, were granted amnesty by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in June as a gesture to Abbas, but many Brigades members, including the Ramallah-based leadership, are accused of violating the agreement by failing to disarm and by carrying out a spate of terror attacks.
What moron thought of this stunt? The only thing I can recall a President doing that was nearly as stupid was Richard Nixon's ride through Egypt standing in an open car in June 1974 and then waded into the crowd in Cairo with phlebitis in his leg (described in Woodward and Bernstein's The Final Days on page 218). Nixon had an excuse - he was six weeks from being forced to resign because of Watergate.
I'm still wondering whether Bush will lay a wreath for Arafat. Anyone want to take bets?
Al-Jazeera's English news did a special report on the Golan Heights this week.
Hat Tip: Syria News (that ought to get me some mail :-) (No, Mr. Chinless Ophthalmologist, the blog owner does not know me, has no idea who I am and probably never realized that blogspot accounts in Syria can be accessed from Israel, so please do not harass him or throw him in jail. I am old enough to be his father)!
The first part of this 'documentary' is almost fair, while the second part has a lot more references to 'Israeli propaganda' thrown in as if ruins from 2000-3000 years ago could be manufactured. But they show a bunch of scenes from Katzrin (the main town in the Israeli Golan) including the new IMax theater. There's a fair amount of interview time with Avigdor Kahalani, whom they describe as a "Six Day War veteran" without noting that he was an MK for several years and that he is a war hero for single-handedly holding off tens of Syrian tanks at the Valley of Tears (Emek Habacha) at the outbreak of the 1973 war. Wikipedia's description - linked above - is grossly understated. Here's a much better one from an online forum:
In the northern half of the front, there was the 7th brigade, and at the place of the main syrian effort, along the main road from Damascus to the Jordan valley, a huge Syrian force was stopped by the 77 tank battalion of Lt. Col. Avigdor Kahalani (Now Brig. Gen. Ret.) Kahalani's tanks, dug in high placed firing positions, destroyed hundreds of Syrian targets in about 48 hours of fierce fighting, massively outnumbered. the huge Syrian force kept advancing towards the smaller Israeli force, and at some point, at the peak of battle, Kahalani noticed that some of his tanks, afraid of being overrun by the approaching enemy, started retreating. Knowing that if the enemy force would capture the high hills line which his force held, they would quickly destroy all the retreating force. Since radio chat failed to persuade the tanks (some of them already with no more ammo. After many hours of firing) to stop retreating, Kahalani made an act of brave self-example, he called his tanks by radio again, and said "we are better than they are, let's storm them" and then moved his tank to the highest position, and there, fully exposed to the enemy force started firing directly at the approaching enemy tanks. This act of tremendous bravery and leadership, worked both ways. The Syrian force, which so far suffered heavy losses but knew that they're fighting an un-backed Israeli front line force, thought that an Israeli re-inforcement force has arrived and begins to take positions on top of the ridge, and the retreating tanks, returned and re-took their firing positions. Seeing "new" tanks firing from the ridge top. the Syrian force decided that it's time to retreat due to the heavy losses suffered so far. It was the "straw that broke the camel's back" and the Syrian force, the main invading force, started retreating, leaving about 300 burned tanks and armored vehicles behind. For these acts of bravery, leadership, and the tremendous fighting performance of his battalion, Lt. Col. Kahalani was also awarded the highest medal. Kahalani's gunner himself destroyed 17 Syrian tanks in this battle, one of them from range of 3 meters. however there was a problem with aiming. It was in the middle of the night, and the gunner just didn't see anything, Because the sights were filled with darkness, which was the Syrian tank. The gunner asked twice for range and directions, and was answered by kahalani "CLOSE!!!", seeing that the gunner is not firing, kahalani, who remembered being hit and suffering 60% skin burns when his tank was hit in the 1967 six days war, finally kicked the gunner's back and shouted "JUST FIRE!!!" (and was temporarily blinded by the flash of the close hit at the enemy's turret.)
A couple of observations about the report. First, while I knew that the Golan provides about 30% of Israel's water, I had no idea that most of the water actually goes to Syria and Jordan (not to mention the Lebanese diversion of the Hezbani River further north which goes unmentioned). Water is a major source of conflict in these parts. Second, you will note that Israel allows its Golan Druze to visit Syria, but what is left unsaid is that Syria does not allow its Golan Druze to visit family in Israel. The Quneitra story is something I discussed a bit earlier this week. And finally, given the current border lines, other than access to water sources, it's not clear to me what the strategic value of the Golan is to Syria, whereas the strategic value of the Golan to Israel should be obvious to anyone who stands on the eastern edge of the Kineret and looks eastward.
I know that there are at least one or two people from the Golan who hit this site regularly. Please feel free to comment on anything I missed. And without further ado, here are the videos:
Palestinian Civil War Watch: Mercenaries arriving to help Hamas
DEBKAfile is reporting that Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian, Lebanese and Hizballah mercenaries are streaming through the porous border between Gaza and Egypt in order to assist Hamas in its coming showdown with the more 'moderate' Fatah.
The influx aims to 1. Assure Hamas of a quick victory over Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority security services. The final Hamas-Fatah confrontation is planned to go ahead in both territories straight after the Eid festival Wednesday, Oct.25 and is expected to expand into a full-blown civil war. 2. Position Hizballah-style ambush squads armed with missiles for waylaying Israeli ground units, in the event a large-scale ground offensive is launched to stem Palestinian attacks and the smuggling of upgraded weaponry through the Gaza Strip tunnels.
DEBKAfile also looks on Wednesday as the deadline for an IDF strike in Gaza - a strike that appears increasingly unlikely despite lots of talk at today's cabinet meeting about 'recapturing' the Philadelphi route.
DEBKAfile’s military sources add: Because of the vacillations of the Olmert government, the IDF may have missed the boat for an offensive of this kind being surgical enough to avoid large-scale casualties. This week’s cabinet meeting Sunday Oct. 22 ended again without operational decisions.
In the meantime, what's going on in Gaza sounds like a fraternity rush:
The rival Palestinian factions are in the midst of a feverish arms-and-recruitment race. In Gaza, Hamas backed by the PRC, the Popular Front and al Qaeda followers has raised an estimated 15,000 recruits. The Iran-backed Jihad Islami is keeping its options open to see which side comes out on top. Hamas’ first ever-enlistment campaign on the West Bank, the traditional Fatah stronghold, has yielded several hundred recruits in its first stage. Several thousand joiners, many of them defectors from Abbas’ Presidential Force 17 and other Fatah frameworks, are to be fielded in a new “Independent Intervention Force.” Hamas scouts are handing out grants of thousands of dollars to defectors. Their object is to deplete the military strength available to Abu Mazen and assemble a military force able to stand up to the Israeli army on the West Bank.
It should be noted here that both Israel and the United States have either armed or promised to arm Force 17. That looks like a real effective strategy now, doesn't it?
I've just picked up a report on the Internet that Imad Fayez Mugniyah, Hezbullah's master terrorist was killed today (actually last night) in a mysterious explosion in Damascus.
Imad Fayez Mugniyah was indicted for his role in planning and participating in the June 14, 1985, hijacking of a commercial airliner which resulted in the assault on various passengers and crew members, and the murder of one United States citizen.
That US citizen was Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, who was shot while the hijacked plane (TWA Flight 847) sat on the tarmac at Beirut Airport and his body was dumped out of the plane.
Imad Mughniyeh, Hizbullah's top commander in southern Lebanon, who was killed Tuesday night in a Damascus bombing is a veteran Fatah operative who was very close to former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat when the PLO was based in Beirut, Fatah officials told The Jerusalem Post in 2006.
Mughniyeh, a former officer in Arafat's Force 17 presidential guard, has been in charge of Hizbullah's military operations in south Lebanon for the past decade.
"Imad Mughniyeh is the overall commander of the Islamic Resistance [Hizbullah's armed wing] in southern Lebanon," said a Fatah official who said he knew Mughniyeh well during the '70s and '80s.
"He's nicknamed tha'lab [the fox], and today he's considered the second important figure in Hizbullah after Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. We're very proud to have a Palestinian holding such a high position in Hizbullah," the Fatah official said.
Mughniyeh, who is believed to have been behind the abduction of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser on July 12 2006, is also reported to be in charge of Hizbullah's rocket unit in south Lebanon, which fired more than 1,600 rockets at Israel during the Second Lebanon War.
When the IDF forced the PLO to leave Lebanon in 1982, Arafat entrusted Mughniyeh with transferring the organization's weapons to Lebanese militias allied with the Palestinians.
Mughniyeh, who refused to leave Beirut with the PLO leadership, joined the the Shi'ite Amal militia headed by Nabih Berri. He and Nasrallah, who was then a member of Amal, later left the movement to form Hizbullah.
Born in the Lebanese city of Tyre in 1962, Mughniyeh did not attract attention until 1976, when he joined Force 17 as a sniper targeting Christians on the Green Line dividing West and East Beirut.
Mugniyah has since been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks against the US, France and Israel in which hundreds of people were killed. These include three in 1983: the bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut and barracks housing US Marines and French paratroopers who were part of the Multinational Force in Lebanon.
He has also been linked to the Karine A weapons ship that Arafat tried to use to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip in 2001.
Hezbullah is accusing Israel of being behind the bombing. If so, kol hakavod l'Tzahal (congratulations IDF - or more likely the Mossad in this case).
A spokesman for Hezbollah said on its TV channel, al-Manar, Mugniyah was on Israel's hit list, according to al-Arabiya reports.
The blast in an upmarket area in central Damascus overnight left one man dead and two people injured, according to earlier reports.
A four-wheel drive Mitsubishi Pajero, which was parked in a street at a square, 300 metres away from an Iranian school, caused the blast, witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The blast occurred at 10.30 pm local time in the district that also houses offices of the Syrian intelligence services.
Mugniyah was reportedly a mysterious figure who did not make public appearances and worked secretly. He was accused of being the mastermind behind major terror attacks in the 1980s, mainly the attack on the US marines in Lebanon.
The blast comes ahead of the arrival of Iranian foreign minister, Manuchehr Mottaki, in Damascus where he was expected to meet Syrian officials as well as members of Hezbollah - one of Iran's main allies in the region.
Syria is a haven for senior members of radical Palestinian and Arab groups.
Terror attacks in Syria are rare as the country's security and intelligence bodies tighten the noose on all forms of opposition. A 2006 attack on the US embassy in Damsacus came as a shock to many Syrians.
'Palestinian' Civil War: Pre-dawn Hamas attack on 'Presidential Guard' base kills 1
The 'Palestinian' Civil War continued early this morning with Hamas 'gunmen' attacking a 'Palestinian'Fatah 'Presidential Guard' base just before dawn in Gaza City this morning. The Presidential Guard is also known as 'Force 17' and was headed by wanted murderer Mahmoud Damra, who was chosen by 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen, until Israel caught Damra. I wonder if Hamas will try to spring Damra for Gilad Shalit.... Of course, that has not stopped Israel, or the US from trying to arm Force 17.
Anyway, one Fatah member 'elite Presidential Guard' officer' was killed in this morning's attack according to al-AP:
A fierce, 20-minute battle ensued, and the sound of fire from guns and grenades mingled with the call for morning prayer. The gunmen fled after reinforcements were sent to the base from other Presidential Guard camps.
Security officials were searching the camp and surrounding area for the gunmen.
A Presidential Guard official denounced the attack as an assault on the "symbol of Palestinian legitimacy." [BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! CiJ]
Because it is a training facility, only about a dozen people were inside the base when the gunmen pulled up in jeeps and launched their attack, security officials said.
The base is located about 700 meters from the president's residence and office in Gaza City. Abbas was in the West Bank town of Ramallah at the time of the attack.
Before arriving at the base, the gunmen attacked an electricity transformer in the area, cutting off power to the base and nearby houses, the presidential guard said. [I'm waiting (not silly enough to hold my breath) for them to be condemned like Israel was last summer for shooting out all the transformers in Gaza. CiJ]
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, denied the group had been involved in the attack, the first of its kind against the US-backed 3,500-strong force, saying: "This is a wrong and irresponsible accusation."
And just to prove to you that they're all the same terrorists - they just change uniforms every so often:
Dozens of masked gunmen in uniforms similar to those worn by Hamas gunmen shot and wounded a guard at the entrance to the camp in Gaza City and then fired and killed him at close range, a senior officer from the presidential guard told Reuters. [It's so consoling to see them doing to their own what they usually try to do to us. CiJ]
The gunmen then stormed the camp and set fire to dozens of tents and traded gunfire with several presidential guards stationed inside, wounding at least five of them, the officer and a Palestinian security source said.
Al-Reuters also reports that Hamas used a rocket propelled grenade to take out that transformer. I wonder where they got an RPG from....
But give the 'Palestinians' a statereichlet and all of the world's problems will be solved. /sarcasm
'Palestinian' Civil War Update - Hamas burns down Fatah 'Preventive Security' headquarters; US to increase aid to Abu Mazen
For those who didn't notice the telltale writing along the top of your screen, Blogspot forced me into "New Blogger" yesterday. I put it off as long as I could, because there are things about it that I don't like.... But that's another topic for another time....
The powers that be apparently differ on how to solve these 'problems.' The United States plans to increase its assistance to 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen, going beyond Force 17 to "[P]roviding non-lethal equipment and training to units of Abbas's National Security Forces, and possibly the Jordan-based Badr Brigade." The European Union, on the other hand, believes that the so-called quartet has to be more 'flexible' in "should be flexible regarding the international community's three conditions for granting Hamas legitimacy: recognition of Israel, forswearing terrorism, and accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements." The 'quartet' met on Friday.
All I can say to the 'Palestinians' is faster, faster....
Earlier today, I claimed that CIA director George Tenet missed the boat on 9/11 because he was too busy trying to help the 'Palestinians.' Much of the 'help' consisted of providing CIA training to 'Palestinian' policementerrorists who went on to murder Jews as part of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. As I reported two and a half months ago, in an inexplicable move, the Bush Administration wants to give more 'Palestinians' that kind of training.
Today's New York Sun includes an interview with 'Palestinian' terrorist Abu Yousuf, who has been living in the Mukata (Arafat's former headquarters) in Ramallah since he murdered Binyamin and Talia Kahane HY"D in December 2000. In the interview in the Sun, Yousuf describes Tenet's training and why the 'Palestinian' terrorists found it so valuable.
Abu Yousuf, the Force 17 officer, received American training in Jericho in 1999 as a member of the Preventative Security Services. He is a chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Ramallah, where he is accused of participating in anti- Israel terrorism, including recent shootings, attacks against Israeli forces operating in the city, and a shooting attack in northern Samaria in December 2000 that killed the leader of the ultranationalist Kahane Chai organization, Benyamin Kahane.
After the Kahane murder, Mr. Yousuf was extended refuge by Yasser Arafat to live in the late Palestine Liberation Organization leader's Ramallah compound, widely known as the Muqata. Mr. Yousuf still lives in the compound.
Prime Minister Olmert last month granted Mr. Yousuf amnesty along with 178 other Brigades leaders reportedly in a gesture to Mr. Abbas.
Speaking during an interview for the upcoming book "Schmoozing with Terrorists," Mr. Yousuf said his American trainings were instrumental in attacks on Israelis. "All the methods and techniques that we studied in these trainings, we applied them against the Israelis," he said.
"We sniped at Israeli settlers and soldiers. We broke into settlements and Israeli army bases and posts. We collected information on the movements of soldiers and settlers. We collected information about the best timing to infiltrate our bombers inside Israel. We used weapons and we produced explosives, and of course the trainings we received from the Americans and the Europeans were a great help to the resistance."
Mr. Yousuf said the training included both intelligence and military tactics.
"In the intelligence part, we learned collection of information regarding suspected persons, how to follow suspected guys, how to infiltrate organizations and penetrate cells of groups that we were working on and how to prevent attacks and to steal in places," he said.
"On the military level, we received trainings on the use of weapons, all kind of weapons and explosives. We received sniping trainings, work of special units especially as part as what they call the fight against terror. We learned how to put siege, how to break into places where our enemies closed themselves in, how to oppress protest movements, demonstrations, and other activities of opposition."
Mr. Yousuf seemed to anticipate criticism for speaking publicly about the training. He's not "talking about U.S. training in order to irritate the Americans or the Israelis and not in order to create provocations," he said. "I'm just telling you the truth."
This is what George Tenet was busy doing in the run-up to 9/11 instead of pursuing Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
The saga began one night not long ago, when thieves picked two fairly sophisticated locks on our house and came in without a rustle while we were still awake. They took car keys, credit cards, cell phones, and other valuables. We later learned that operatives from Arafat’s personal security guard, Force 17, were seen driving our car and had been involved in the theft. They’d reportedly been trained in sterile break-in techniques, sniper shooting, and other such skills by the CIA. The idea was to make Arafat’s forces better able to fight terrorism, but the Palestinians are putting their know-how to other purposes.
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
