Democratic Peace Partner or Another Islamic Fraud?

by Khaled Abu Toameh

Fatah appeared to be in turmoil on Thursday as a large number of its top representatives questioned the credibility of the elections that were held earlier this week for the faction's Central Committee. Former PA Prime minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) dropped a bombshell when he announced that the forgery in Iran's recent presidential election was nothing compared to what happened in Fatah. Qurei hinted that PA President Mahmoud Abbas and some of his loyalists had intervened to secure spots for their supporters in the Central Committee.

Every member of Fatah's Higher Committee in the Gaza Strip submitted their resignations, in protest against what one of them described as "massive fraud" in the election for the Central Committee. The resignations are seen as a serious embarrassment for Abbas and Fatah, whose representatives in the Gaza Strip have suffered one blow after another since Hamas seized control of the area two years ago.

Many Fatah members were shocked late Wednesday when they discovered that one of Abbas's old-time colleagues, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, was added to the list of winners at the last minute. Preliminary results had shown that Abdel Rahim, a prominent representative of the Fatah old guard, did not get enough votes.

Also on Thursday, dozens of Fatah members signed a petition rejecting the outcome of the Central Committee election and calling for an independent probe into allegations of fraud and deception, Abbas held a press conference in Ramallah during which he denied that Fatah was on the verge of a split. (They are all united with the same aim: Hamastan in Gaza, Fatahstan in Judea and Samaria with dozens of splinter terror groups in between – Destruction of Israel. Why are Jews still unable to unite behind our own goal – Erez-Israel, land of Israel, reunited and free from Arab occupation?)

Jewish self-Hate is Limitless. Fatah has elected a Jew to its Revolutionary Council. Uri Davis, a sociology professor at the Palestinian Al Quds University, told Ma'an that one of Fatah's weakest attributes has been its failure to establish ties with international parties, movements and human rights organizations, and promised to step up efforts, if elected. Born to Jewish parents in Jerusalem, Davis describes himself as a Palestinian Hebrew. (Jews do the PR work for Islamic terror organisation.)

Clashes between Hamas and Islamist Radicals. Local civil rights monitors put the death toll at 28, with some 100 people wounded in fighting on Friday after Hamas police stormed a mosque in Gaza where Islamic radicals had declared an Islamist "emirate" in the Hamas controlled territory. Following the prayers, a group of Palestinians announced the formation of the Islamist emirate, defying the authority of Hamas. (There is no limit to Islamic radicalism - Israel has no partner in peace! What would be the world reaction if Israel attacked a mosque after Muslim Friday prayer and cause so many casualties? But the world is mute now!)

Cycle of Terror Never Ends. Two Israelis were wounded last Wednesday night in a shooting 20 miles north of Jerusalem, in Binyamin. Local leaders blame US pressure to remove security checkpoints. The Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah, claimed responsibility for shooting.

Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

Soviet encyclopaedia, 1924 edition, described Zionism as a Jewish National independence movement. Why does the left side of the politic supports any national independence movement but not the Jewish one?

What Peace? What Negotiations? 1) The Fatah general assembly meeting in Bethlehem has adopted a resolution that negotiations with Israel will not be revived until all Palestinian prisoners are released. 2) Vice PM Eli Yishai offered an aggressive response to accusations by Fatah delegates about Israel's responsibility in the death of Yasser Arafat and the opening of another investigation. He called the resolution ''pitiful'' and said it was yet ''more proof that negotiations on Mars have more chance of happening than negotiations in our region.'' (In spite of medical and witness reports that Arafat died from AIDS, Fatah still blames Israel for the death of a known homosexual and paedophile. A while ago France warned that it is not in the interests of the PA to dig for details of Arafat’s death! Why don’t they ask the French hospital to release Arafat’s pathology records?)

Self-Defeating Discriminatory Policy. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Labor, has announced he will increase the number of inspectors in the West Bank who are checking for unauthorized Jewish construction. The decision is expected to cost Israeli taxpayers over a million dollars a year. (No such plans exist to inspect unauthorized Arab construction!)

Silence When Reality Contradicts US Policy. US officials say the Obama administration has decided to ignore comments made by Israeli ministers Eli Yishai and Avigdor Lieberman concerning construction in the West Bank and peace talks with the Palestinians. Particularly annoying was a comment by Lieberman that the new Fatah party dashed any hopes of real talks. (Fatah elected Barghouti, a criminal who is serving five life sentences in Israel, to its executive committee. Barghouti regularly outpolls current PA leader Mahmoud Abbas as the preferred leader by Palestinians even though he is in an Israeli jail. Palestinians are occupiers of Jewish land and they, the leadership and people, are not interested in peace!)

Quote of the Week: “His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.” - United States Office of Strategic Services wartime description of Hitler’s Psychological Profile – It seems that the political anti-Semites and Arab enemies have adopted the same strategies toward Israel!

Freedom of Speech under Attack. Aryeh Yerushalmi was wearing a T-shirt that said “Homos, We are Tired of You” to a rally by homosexuals at Tel Aviv’s main square. When he refused to leave police arrested him. It is not known what law Yerushalmi is suspected of breaking. (For many years Jewish patriots have been silenced when expressing their Zionist views in Israel. Now the repression against freedom of speech is spreading to other issues.)

EU Must Pay for Supporting of Israel’s Enemy. Eyal Katorza, who holds dual French and Israeli citizenship, claims in a lawsuit that the EU should pay for out-of-pocket costs he has incurred to fortify his home against Qassam rockets and mortars, which he says hit the area three or four times per day despite official cease-fires. (The EU proactively provides financial and moral support to the fake claim of a fake nation, allowing Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups to intimidate Jews in Israel. It is time for Jew-hater to pay!)

Saudi Arabia is not Pressured by the US. Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal knocked over US president Barack Obama's "incremental" plans for the Middle East peace and rejected appeals (not demands) by U.S. President Barack Obama that the Arab world make modest gestures to Israel to show that is interested in advancing a regional peace. (Arabs never were interested in advancing a regional peace, but what a difference belonging to a non-Jewish religion and oil reserves of a country make to US attitudes!)

Another Failed Policy of Obama. Washington sources report that their briefs reflect US president Barack Obama's new caution on his next Middle East steps. He has backed away from formulating a new Middle East plan, which he was widely reported as preparing to unveil at the end of July and shied away from a showdown with Israel on such touchy issues as settlement expansion. (First it was the nuclear program of North Korea, then ‘friendship’ with Iran. American soldiers are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan!)

Psychological Alternative on Fighting Lies.

by Israel Zwick

…I worked as a school psychologist for about 17 years. One of the basic rules that a school psychologist learns is that if an intervention isn’t working, then it needs to be modified or replaced by a new intervention. So if responding to accusations only seems to invite more of them, then a different strategy is in order. Again we can take a clue from school psychology. A common intervention that is used for inappropriate attention-seeking behavior is “tactical ignoring”. This strategy is used when a child displays inappropriate behavior to gain a reaction, even if the response is a negative one, like causing the teacher to get angry. The child’s behavior may be rewarded by the extra attention that he is getting from the teacher or he may get satisfaction from seeing the teacher being annoyed. Similarly, the media will publish articles accusing Israel of unethical behaviors, …thereby prolonging the discussion and increasing the controversy. That suggests that a lack of response will reduce the incentive for publishing the vitriolic accusations.

Tactical ignoring is not a quiescent response. It makes a strong statement to the accusers. It says, “Your accusations are based on ignorance, bias, or self-serving needs. They are malicious lies that don’t deserve my time and effort to respond.” This is a much stronger, more contemptuous response than a defensive response that cites contrary evidence. If the accusations “fall on deaf ears” then the incentive for repeated accusations is removed. (This technique is being successfully used by the Muslim world. Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, hardly bother themselves to defend their abuse of human rights, support for Islamic terrorism or inaction against it.)

…Everyday, advocates of Israel are publishing articles with historical and legal evidence asserting Jewish rights to settle in Judea and Samaria, noting that Arab intransigence and intolerance are the real obstacles to peace. Yet, if you read any of the “moderate” Arab English news sites, you will see daily articles claiming that Israel is stealing Palestinian lands and oppressing the people. Furthermore, the Arab press and its influence greatly surpasses the pro-Israel press. So what is being accomplished? The lies are only increasing in their vehemence. Jerusalem has suddenly become a city central to Arab culture. (Our enemies love when Jews waste time on rebuking their lies instead of pursuing our rightful goal, reuniting Eretz-Israel!)