Palestinian terrorism: 30th anniversary of Paris synagogue bombing

28 years later:
- Canadian professor (Hassan Diab, 54) held over deadly 1980 synagogue bombing in Paris, Haaretz, 13/08/08
- Friends shocked as Ottawa professor held in Paris bombing: The Ottawa university professor arrested in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue made his first court appearance yesterday as his former academic advisers expressed disbelief over allegations the "lively" scholar was once involved in a terrorist act. Canada.com, 15/11/08
- Justice delayed,  Shimon Samuels, Jerusalem Post, 10/01/10

The facts: Wikipedia

The 1980 Paris synagogue bombing was a terrorist attack on the synagogue of Union Libérale Israélite de France, located on rue Copernic, Paris, on October 3, 1980, the eve of Simchat Torah. About 10 kilograms (22 lb) of explosives hidden in the saddlebags of a motorcycle parked outside the synagogue detonated, killing four people and injuring dozens. [1][2]

The bombing was the first of a string of attacks against Jews in Europe. On August 29, 1981, a synagogue in Vienna, Austria, was attacked by Palestinian gunmen, who killed two people and wounded 30 in the 1981 Vienna synagogue attack. On October 20, 1981, also the eve of Simchat Torah, three people were killed and 94 injured in a truck bomb attack outside a synagogue in the diamond-trading centre of Antwerp, Belgium in the 1981 Antwerp bombing.[3][4]

1. "Canadian held in Paris synagogue bombing". The Toronto Star. November 14, 2008.
2. "File on 1980 Paris bombing revealed". The Globe and Mail. November 20, 2008.
3. "Jewish Targets: Recent Attacks". The New York Times. 1986-09-07.
4. Lewis, Paul (1981-10-21). "2 Killed By Bomb at Antwerp Synagogue". The New York Times.

Paris: Belgian citizen planned terror attack against Jews

Arutz Sheva: French officials said Saturday night that Egyptian authorities recently arrested an Islamic Jihad terrorist who planned to conduct an attack at an IDF fundraising event in Paris. A top official in the French security services said that the terrorist held Belgian and Tunisian citizenship. The terrorist was arrested in Sinai after he emerged from a smuggling tunnel under the Gaza border. Egypt deported him to Belgium, which in turn deported him to France, where he is now being held.

Suicide bomb belts used by Palestinian terroritst/human bombs.

15 European citizens living in Israel take legal action against the European Union

"... more than 50,000 EU citizens are living in towns and villages at the southern areas of Israel, nearby the border with Gaza, and they are exposed to consistent Palestinian terrorists’ rocket attacks. Most of the EU-Israelis, like all other Israeli civilians in these areas, are suffering from mental trauma and some of them have suffered severe property damages. The EU must take responsibility for them and prevent any EU financial assistance from getting to terrorist hands in Gaza."

In January, an amazing 350 NGOs filed complaints against Israel for war crimes - mostly were European and no doubt many received funds from the European Commission and European governments. Now the JC reports that :

"Fifteen European citizens living in Israel are taking legal action against the European Union for failing to protect them from Palestinian rocket fire while they are living in Israel".

The citizens, of Britain, France, Italy and Hungary, who are all currently living in Israel, have filed a claim with the European Commission demanding that the EU intervenes in the funding of terrorism in Gaza, and takes action to protect them from terrorists while they live in Israel.

They claim that the EU has a duty under Article 3.2 of the European Treaty to offer its citizens “an area of freedom, security and justice.”

All 15 litigants currently live in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, which has been an ongoing target of Kassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

They are supported by the European Initiative, Europe's pro-Israeli lobby organisation.

The group is demanding that the EU stops the transfer of European money to Hamas, prevents known terrorists and their leaders entering the EU, and prevents non-profit organisations misusing European funds. They also ask the EU to undertake “any means possible” to protect European citizens living in Israel against terrorism.

The European Commission has confirmed the complaint has been received from lawyers Mordechai Tzivin in Israel and Hugo and Roel Covaliers in Belgium. It has been sent to the Commission’s external relations department.

Mr Tzivin said: "The European Initiative estimates that more than 50,000 EU citizens are living in towns and villages at the southern areas of Israel, nearby the border with Gaza, and they are exposed to consistent Palestinian terrorists’ rocket attacks.

"Most of the EU-Israelis, like all other Israeli civilians in these areas, are suffering from mental trauma and some of them have suffered severe property damages.

"The EU must take responsibility for them and prevent any EU financial assistance from getting to terrorist hands in Gaza"."

Israeli seeks damages from EU over Hamas rocket attacks

"We plan to add to the claim any Israeli who holds a European passport and who lives within terrorist-rocket range. The EU grants hundreds of millions of euros a year in aid to Gaza, and it is inconceivable that European citizens should be harmed by money supplied by the EU. It's time that the EU takes responsibility." (Mordechai Tzivin)

Source: article by Bruno Waterfield in the Daily Telegraph

An Israeli man is mounting a landmark legal challenge to demand European Union compensation for damages caused by Hamas rocket attacks on his home.

Israeli and Belgian lawyers acting for Eyal Katorza, who is also a French citizen, are preparing a legal case demanding that the EU does more to protect the 300,000 Europeans living in Israel.

Legal documents, seen by The Daily Telegraph, have accused the EU of indirectly funding Palestinian terrorism because of a failure to "prevent the misuse of European funds by non-profit organisations which use these funds to finance terrorism". [Full text of draft legal complaint in Eyal Katorza case]

Mr Katorza has demanded EU "reparations for lost job income, reparations for physical and psychological damages, reparations for property damages, monies for reinforced buildings against missiles or any other military projectiles".

The dual French-Israeli citizen, from Sderot in Israel's Negev region, has lost his job and family business because of Qassam rocket attacks launched from the Gaza strip by Hamas.

His lawyers have cited clauses in the EU Treaties that offer protection to Europeans even while they are living abroad.

Mordechai Tzivin, Mr Katorza's Israeli lawyer, has appealed to other EU-Israeli citizens to join the action, to be launched later this week, a call that has been supported by the European Citizens Council in Israel.

"We plan to add to the claim any Israeli who holds a European passport and who lives within terrorist-rocket range," he said.

"The EU grants hundreds of millions of euros a year in aid to Gaza, and it is inconceivable that European citizens should be harmed by money supplied by the EU. It's time that the EU takes responsibility."

Nonie Darwish and Tawfik Hamid discuss Hamas at European Parliament

"We cannot continue to tolerate intolerance. It is not a virtue – it is gross negligence." (Nonie Darwish)

"Accepting and legitimizing Hamas is an obstacle to peace. If the international community tells Hamas that via terrorism and killing civilian we will still legitimatize you, why would they turn to the path of peace?" (Dr. Tawfik Hamid)

"Hamas obstacle to peace

On the 15th of April, MEP Nickolay Mladenov hosted a conference in the European Parliament dedicated to the Hamas Organization and the implications of European engagement with it on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Mr. Mladenov invited two distinguished guests from the United States, Mrs. Nonie Darwish and Dr. Tawfik Hamid, to share their deep understanding of the motives and goals of the fundamentalist Islamic Movements and the implications of it receiving legitimacy.

Nonie Darwish, daughter of Lt.-Gen. Mustafa Hafez, who founded the Palestinian fedayeen units, which launched terrorist raids across Israel's border during the 50s and 60s, grew up in Gaza. She told the audience of a number of her experiences there and how the spreading of hate towards Jews and Israel was a common day affair:

"The hatred was mainstream, it was preached in the Mosques, schools, in theater, TV, movies – everywhere we were taught to hate the Jews…"

"Money was never given to build housing or factories, it was always to fund organizations such as the fedayeen in the 1950's and Hamas today."

She further emphasized the dire consequences of Europe engaging Hamas:

"The conflict is not over land anymore. Listen to what they are saying in Arabic to their citizens. They are subjected to daily indoctrination to kill Jews wherever you find them."

"There are many moderates in the Arab world, who want to end the hate speech, but engaging Hamas would weaken them. By talking to Hamas we say that terrorism and violence are the way of doing things. If Hamas will receive legitimization, it will mean that the Hamas methods work."

"We cannot continue to tolerate intolerance. It is not a virtue – it is gross negligence."

Dr. Tawfik Hamid, a former member of an Egyptian terrorist organization (and former colleague of Dr. Aiman Al-Zawaherri, who later became the second in command of Al-Qaeda) is today an Islamic reformer and a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

Dr. Hamid's exceptional knowledge of the jihadi mindset led him to the following conclusions:

"Hamas are liars, they say they are not anti-Semitic and are not a religious organization, while the name of their organization is called the Islamic Resistance Movement and their flag says 'No God aside of Allah and Mohamed is a prophet of Allah' – the sentence one states to become a Muslim."

"Accepting and legitimizing Hamas is an obstacle to peace. If the international community tells Hamas that via terrorism and killing civilian we will still legitimatize you, why would they turn to the path of peace?"

"Only when the international community will have a clear a strong stance against Hamas demanding they hold to the three conditions, only then will Hamas turn to the path of peace."

Today, after recognizing the threat of Radical Islam and the need for a reformation based upon modern peaceful interpretations of classical Islamic core texts, Dr. Hamid has completed a fresh and theologically valid interpretation of the Quran to counterbalance radical teachings and has recently published a book named "Inside Jihad".

Following a heated and emotional Q&A, MEP Mladenov summarized the conference, stating:

"Hamas’ success would fan the flames of terrorists who will feel empowered that by randomly killing civilians they can achieve their goals. Its victory would be a victory for religious extremists who want to hijack an otherwise peaceful religion. Its triumph would not deliver the free and secular Palestine that people living in Gaza and the West Bank want.""

Source: European Friends of Israel

Choudary, Ghannouchi, Wilders and the "British malady", by Claude Moniquet

"Her Majesty’s Government might as well tolerate the activities of a Choudary – advocate ofthe Sharia. It might as well offer its protection to a Ghannouchi – propagandist of the Jihad. It is doing nothing other than preparing new "July 7" disasters and new defeats for democracy."

"There was a time when Great Britain was led by Sir Winston Churchill, and that was the Age of Resistance and of Glory. Today all we have is Gordon Brown and the time of capitulation has arrived.

One could have hoped that after the tragedy of 7 July 2005, Londonistan - this symbol of the age whereby the British capital serves as the place of refuge of all the Islamists of the world - belonged to the past. Don’t kid yourself ! Less than four years after the London massacre, those who plotted against democracy in Europe and against societal progress in the Muslim-Arab world are getting a warmer welcome from Westminster than ever before.

Let’s consider one fact, to begin with: in mid-February the Dutch populist deputy Geerts Wilders, who made a film critical of Islam – Fitna - was purely and simply expelled from Great Britain. He had been invited by a member of the House of Lords to speak before a group of parliamentarians during a private meeting at which his film was supposed to be screened. Another member of the honourable assembly, Lord Ahmed, who is of Pakistani origin, threatened to mobilize thousands of Muslims to prevent Geert Wilders from getting inside the Parliament building. The Labour Government, more precisely Madame Jacqui Smith, Interior Minister, then ordered the arrest of Mr. Wilders, who was taken, manu militari, to his plane and expelled from the country. One may like Mr. Wilders or not, but we are talking about the elected representative of a member country of the European Union. If some people, rightly or wrongly, believe themselves to be insulted by the views he holds of Islam, they have the possibility of taking the matter to the courts. But in London, they will not have to go so far: the Interior Minister has spared them the effort by censuring the troublemaker.

On the other hand, there is no censure for Anjem Choudary. He is a charming man, a true moderate: he has "forbidden" British Muslims to cooperate with the police in the struggle against terrorism and, in 2006, he called for the assassination of the Pope. Two groups which he created or directs - al-Muhajiroun and al-Ghurabaa - have been found to be "terrorist organizations" and banned. But on 28 February he was allowed to organize a demonstration in London in favour of the Sharia and against "the oppression of human law." For him, his British compatriots are "unbelievers" who, among their other vices, indulge in gambling, are alcoholics and worship false gods. A moderate, you say…

Neither is there censure for Rachid Ghannouchi, a Tunisian extremist who, in the 1980s, was the founder of the Islamic Tendency Movement, then of Ennahda, two movements which aimed to transform Tunisia into an "imamat," in the framework of a grand Islamic caliphate.

These past few weeks, he spoke out against Israel in the British media - which is his fundamental right. What is undoubtedly more debatable is that he acted as the advocate of Hamas, which is considered as a terrorist movement in Europe - and he believes Hamas is the spearhead of the Palestinian resistance. Better still, on 19 February he co-signed with several other Islamist leaders close to the Muslim Brotherhood a call for the creation of a "third Jihadist front." The document was adopted at the conclusion of a "summit" held in Istanbul during the course of which the same leaders called upon the Arab states to facilitate "the passage of combatants’ and arms" before hurling out the cry: "There will be no accord with Israel."

On 22 February, in an interview with the satellite television network Al-Hiwar (during a broadcast of "Taamoulat fiddine wal siyassa" - reflections on religion and politics), he said he admired the Qassam rockets, a "civilised weapon": "The word "terrorize" has, here, a magnificent meaning… That’s why I admire the Qassam rockets. The aim of those missiles being only to terrorize …".

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More recently, on 23 March, he cast doubt even on the right of the Jewish state to exist: "Israel is a temporary political reality. In the 1920s or 1960s, there was a state called Zanzibar. Where is it today, this state called Zanzibar?" Can one be clearer? We note that in the same interview the "moderate" Ghannouchi gave us quite directly his political plans for Tunisia: "A democratic state in a Muslim society like Tunisia can only be an Islamic state." Here again: can one be any clearer?

When you criticise the great degree of tolerance which they have shown for years when confronted with Islamism, the English authorities are used to responding that this is nothing more than respecting freedom of speech. That is a nice excuse for covering up a quite cynical calculation. Because the reality is quite different: London believes in fact that in order to protect itself against the Muslim-Arab world toppling into the hands of the Jihadist "extremists" they have no choice but to take sides and encourage the accession to power of the "moderates." They forget a few small details: in Pakistan it is the "moderate" Islamists who have encouraged the Afghan Taliban; in Algeria it is the "moderate" Islamists of the Islamic Salvation Front who gave rise to the killers of the GIA in the 1990s. And here and there around the world, it is the "moderates" of the Muslim Brotherhood who are currently preparing the establishment of the Caliphates which we will perhaps be confronting tomorrow.

Her Majesty’s Government might as well tolerate the activities of a Choudary - advocate of the Sharia. It might as well offer its protection to a Ghannouchi - propagandist of the Jihad. It is doing nothing other than preparing new "July 7" disasters and new defeats for democracy.

"You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You have chosen dishonour and you will get war," Winston Churchill told Neville Chamberlain the day after the Munich agreements.

But Great Britain is run by Mr. Gordon Brown in 2009, not by Mr. Churchill."

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Source: Editorial by Claude Moniquet, President of ESISC
Copyright© ESISC 2009

Palestinians threaten Europe with Muslim minority

Source: Islam in Europe blog

"Since when are European Muslims a weapon? Threatening that European Muslims will use violence to get their wishes is a very dangerous double edged sword. Unless they want to be seen and treated as a foreign weapon, it is a threat that European Muslims should strongly reject.

A couple of warnings from the Palestinians.

First, from the PLO representative in the EU, Leila Shahid [strangely enough Ms. Leila Shahid is ... the grand-niece of Hajj Amin al Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem*, and a niece of Yassir Arafat], regarding the compromise resolution accepted by the EU in Strasbourg. Shahid was concerned that the statement did not mention article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean agreement with Israel, which states the relations between the two will be based on respect for human rights.

Shahid deplored the compromise, saying that:

"A watered down text feeds the violence of the citizens of Arab origins living in Europe. They have the impression that the same rules don't apply to everybody when it comes to human rights."

This is not the first time that Shahid uses the Muslim citizens of Europe as a threat.

The second comes from Talal Nassar, the chief Hamas spokesman in Syria:

Mr Nassar warned that Europe's Muslim population would not forget the EU's lack of hard action.

"The European position through this was not good and effectively supported the Zionists," he said. "They should understand that Europe will be the first to get damaged by the Islamic movements there. Revolutions always arise out of injustice."

Now the Arabs see Europe as raising empty slogans while doing nothing on the ground. If these massacres had been done against animals Europe would have been upset about animal rights. When it is Arabs or Muslims being killed no one does anything."

Sources: La Libre (French), The National (English)

See also: Leila Shahid on the war in Gaza"

* On Hajj Amin al Husseini, see:
- Europe Reimports Jew Hatred, by Daniel Schwammenthal
- Jeffrey Herf: The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda during World War II and the Holocaust - Review by Karl Pfeifer (Engage)

The anti-Israel hysteria, by Pilar Rahola

"Does Hamas have anything to do with freedom, or rather, doesn't it have everything to do with Islamism of a fascist tendency? Is freedom defended by training children to commit suicide attacks and by enslaving women? Is freedom defended by Iran, which supports Hamas financially? Does freedom belong to the terrorists of Hezbollah?"

"I understand that you want to wipe us off the map, just don't expect us to help you attain that goal. The fact that this old sentiment - the gist of a line uttered by a caustic Golda Meir to the Palestinian leadership - is so relevant these days, gives us a sense of the scope of the tragedy the Holy Land has been suffering through for so many decades.

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In fact, this same idea - the need for continued efforts to curb the intended destruction of Israel - lies behind the dramatic military decision made by the Israeli government, one that has again made it an object of wrath for so many around the world.

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As Prof. Joan B. Culla said recently, there can be multiple reactions to the Israel Defense Forces' military incursion in the Gaza Strip, and some of these are justifiably critical. But, given the fact that hysterical reactions abound, lacking any semblance of calm reflection, and based strictly on Manichaeanism and prejudice, there are some questions that must be asked.
.

Ari Shavit wrote recently in Haaretz ("A Just but Tragic War," January 1) that "Operation Cast Lead is a just campaign" and that it is also a "tragic campaign." I disagree with the term "just," because, as Golda Meir also said, "We don't want wars, even when we win." A military incursion that causes dozens of deaths can never be considered just, even if it is aimed at the destruction of the Hamas military machine. But can it be considered inevitable?

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Some intellectuals, including Amos Oz, have already warned that the Gaza incursion will lead to a significant new wave of anti-Israel sentiment. But even the Israeli left has taken a very lukewarm position about the incursion. The decision to attack Hamas was made by an Israeli society suffering from fatigue, fed up of not being able to find a way out, or reason for hope. And fed up, too, of the knowledge that the other side is working tirelessly to destroy it.

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Here they are, then, the questions, directed particularly to those carrying signs proclaiming their hatred of Israel through the streets of our cities - most of them the usual suspects, from the certain ones belonging to the radical left, always ready to raise their fist against Israel, to the various sectors of Islamism. It's curious, in fact, this obscene partnership.

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Those who go into the streets claim to do so in favor of the freedom of Palestine. Well, where have they been all these years, as the fundamentalist phenomena that oppressed the Palestinians were on the rise? Does Hamas have anything to do with freedom, or rather, doesn't it have everything to do with Islamism of a fascist tendency? Is freedom defended by training children to commit suicide attacks and by enslaving women? Is freedom defended by Iran, which supports Hamas financially? Does freedom belong to the terrorists of Hezbollah?

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Those who protest in the streets also say they do so out of solidarity. Well, solidarity with whom? With Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, who has been less critical of the incursion than any European carrying a sign? With the Palestinians who do not agree with having the financial aid sent to their people being used to build armies and prepare bomb attacks? Do they wonder what happens to these funds? Does solidarity with the Palestinians mean defending terrorism and excusing Hamas' aggressions? Is peace defended by boosting Palestinian leaders who do not believe in it?

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It is true that the intolerant left lives better by being anti-Israel. And it is also true that, in the face of complex realities, the vociferous masses prefer the simplicity of the "good" and the "bad." But, beyond prejudice, facts are stubborn. Israel withdrew from Gaza, leaving intact the economic structures it had created. Hamas destroyed them all, and took advantage of the withdrawal to prepare an army of destruction. And hundreds of missiles later, it continues its preparations. The silence of this left, which is so loud today, has been very significant. What is happening in Gaza is tragic. But it did not start with the Israeli incursion. And to put all the blame on Israel is comfortable and simple, but useless. Because the main enemy of the Palestinian people comes from within."

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Source: Haaretz

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Pilar Rahola is a Spanish-Catalan journalist. She writes a regular column for the Barcelona paper La Vanguardia, where this article originally appeared in Spanish.

- Cross-eyed Europe. The Protocols of the Sages of Information, by Pilar Rahola (2003)

- Apology of evil, by Pilar Rahola

Israel is (always) wrong, stupid !, by Claude Moniquet

"No one is asking how Hamas was able to bring into Gaza "under absolute blockade" some tens of thousands of rockets and missiles or the components serving to manufacture them, arms, munitions, mines, rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft cannons, but… no food or medicine for the population."

"If you put aside the United States, the Czech Presidency of the European Union - which expressed the view on Saturday, January 3 that the Israeli operation was "defensive" and not "offensive" – as well as several politicians and media who are isolated and not in tune with the rest, Israel has been again, for the past dozen days or so, subjected to rapid fire criticisms, each more virulent than the others.

"Aggression", "a disproportionate response" leading (obviously) to a humanitarian crisis, and "massacre", are the words and the ideas that come up most often in print and in the mouths of commentators. Some will even go further and categorise as "cynical" or proofs of "mental cruelty" the warnings sent out (via flyers, the radio and even by telephone) to the inhabitants of buildings targeted for bombardment and enjoining their evacuation. It is perfectly clear that no one will make the effort to note that the Israeli Army is, without doubt, the only one in the world to operate in this manner. Just as no one will dwell too long on the fact that dozens of Palestinians from Gaza - including women and children who were victims of the bombardments - are presently being cared for in the hospital of Ashkelon, in … Israel.

No, it is easier to condemn Israel. Surely, it is customary, almost a Pavlovian reflex. Is Israel building a wall to defend itself against a wave of attacks that have caused hundreds of deaths since the start of this century ? It’s a crime. Is Israel practicing the "targeted elimination" of terrorists ? That’s assassination. Has Israel launched a massive offensive to force reason upon an organisation devoted to its destruction which has launched from its territory thousands of rockets and missiles since the evacuation of the Gaza Strip in 2005 ? That’s still worse !

This cheap sentimentalism would have it that Israel, a strong State, is always wrong and the Palestinians, a small and oppressed people, is right about everything. Such a position is very practical, since it avoids asking a lot of questions and having to deal with unpleasant realities. The good souls who have been marching in Europe for several days now under the flags of Hamas don't make an effort to read, for example, a document in which that organisation sets down in black and white that "Jihad [is] its path and death on God’s route is the most distinguished of their hopes" (article 8). The European diplomats who hasten to the bedside of this same terrorist organisation will certainly not read this passionate document in which the following is also stipulated: "The initiatives, the supposed peace solutions and the international conferences urged to settle the Palestinian question go against the profession of faith of the Islamic Resistance Movement" (article 13).

No one is asking how Hamas was able to bring into Gaza "under absolute blockade" some tens of thousands of rockets and missiles or the components serving to manufacture them, arms, munitions, mines, rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft cannons, but… no food or medicine for the population.

No one is asking what other State would have waited two and a half years and thousands of rockets before responding? France? Great Britain? Algeria? Russia?

No one is asking what has become of the 2,000 to 3,000 Palestinian Christians of the Gaza Strip. They are not interesting, since they have been trying to flee from the terror for months now - not the terror of Israel, alas, but that of the green fascists. They even dynamited the only Christian bookstore of the city before assassinating its owner (how about that? no demonstration on that occasion…).

No one is asking why the entourage of Mahmud Abbas put the blame for the conflict on Hamas and not on "the Zionist entity." It would be annoying in fact to recall, for example, that the terrorists of Hamas assassinated more than a hundred supporters of the elected President and members of Fatah when they took power in Gaza (how about that : there was no petition. When dozens of Palestinians were "executed" by their "brothers", that did not interest anyone. Strange, isn’t it ?)

No one is asking how a movement that spreads reports on women ready "to blow themselves up among the swine and monkeys" (broadcast on al-Aqsa, on December 30) and which encourages children to become martyrs can have the nerve to express indignation over their deaths. And no one makes us say what what we do not say: the death of a Palestinian child from Israeli bombs is a cause for suffering, but the real guilty party is Hamas, not Israel …

But all these questions (and plenty more) are in vain, uninteresting and rather stupid in the end. They in fact risk leading us to think that Hamas is a totalitarian and terrorist organisation which should be fought. And that is something we would absolutely not want to consider, right ? That is not the essential point. The essential fact is that Israel is wrong. When will you finally understand that ? Sleep on, you brave folk. The world is simple and the media create your dreams for you."

Source: ESISC (in pdf)

Belgian politician hints at bringing Israel’s leaders before international courts

"A Belgian politician said Israel’s government will have to account for what is happening in Gaza, hinting that it should one day be brought before international courts.

Speaking on RTL television, Elio Di Rupo, president of the French-speaking Belgian Socialist party, said Wednesday that even when you understand the Israeli desire to defend itself or to destroy Hamas, "nothing can justify the killing of civilians, women, children."

"When I see these images of civilian deaths, of children, I have tears in my eyes. It is unacceptable. I cannot understand why such a suffering," he said.

"The Israeli people has the right to leave in peace and security, the same for the Palestinian people," he added.

He said the Israeli government took advantage of the US presidential transition and of the EU measured attitude to act. (...)"

Source: EJP
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This is a translation of Mr. Di Rupo's words (extracts) :

Killing in cold blood

"What the Israeli government is doing in cold blood - killing innocent people, killing women and children - is totally unacceptable and I think that what happened in some parts of the world, I mean some people were dragged before international courts, should happen to those men and women who are responsible for what is being done [in Gaza]. There is nothing that can justify killing civilians. Nothing can justify killing children, women ... people like you and me. (...) I believe that one day or another they will be brought to justice. "

(...)

Jewish population - remorseless

"I must tell you that I have more than sympathy for the Jewish population, I feel a form of love for them. But I also wish that the Palestinians live in prosperity and peace. And this cold blooded and remorseless attitude, while witnessing schools being destroyed and all those deaths, is unacceptable. It is totally unacceptable. "

Sources :
- RTL (video in French: Elio Di Rupo sur Gaza : Trainer certains devant les tribunaux internationaux)
- Parti socialiste belge: traîner le gouvernement israélien devant les tribunaux internationaux
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See also :
NGO "Lawfare": The Exploitation of Courts in the Arab-Israeli Conflict (NGO Monitor monograph)
Belgium: Ariel Sharon and the Limits of Universal Jurisdiction (the case against Ariel Sharon in Belgium for his alleged responsibility for the Sabra and Shatila massacres, page 24)

European Commissioner Louis Michel: "Israel is ridiculing international humanitarian law"

"Even if it is true that Hamas is a terrorist organization..." .

"An EU official denounced the Israeli operation in Gaza as "unacceptable" and said "Israel is ridiculing international humanitarian law" which obliges states to protect the civilians.

EU Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Louis Michel, said in an interview published Wednesday in the Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure: "One must continue to put a maximal pressure to stop the operations and secure the access to humanitarian aid. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. No more drinking water, no more electricity, hospitals in very bad shape."

"I am indignant when I see that there is little notice of the side damages suffered by one and a half million people who live in a tiny strip of land," Michel added.

"More than 100 civilians have been killed," he said.

While expressing a positive view on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s action in the region, Michel denounced US President George Bush’s declarations "who is doing nothing to create a climate of appeasement propitious to peace." "Even if it is true that Hamas is a terrorist organization," he added.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has announced an extra 3 million euros (4.2 million dollars) of emergency aid to the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Michel said that "blocking access to people who are suffering and dying is also a breach of humanitarian law.""

Source: EJP
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Louis Michel's son, Charles Michel, who is the Belgian Minister for Cooperation, declared at a press conference in Ramallah on 4 March 2008 that he was "shocked" by Israel's conduct : "Israel's reaction is excessive and disproportionate. It is against international humanitarian law."

This is what had prompted Israel's "excessive and disproportionate" reaction, according to Charles Michel:

- During January 2008, 241 rockets and 136 mortar bombs were fired from Gaza at Sderot and the western Negev. (more details here)
- In February 2008, 257 rockets and 228 mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev. (more details here)
- In March 2008, 196 rockets and 103 mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev. From March 1-6, 300 Israelis were wounded by rocket fire. (More details here)
- April 2008: Two civilian employees were killed in a terror attack on the Nahal Oz fuel terminal (9 April). Four IDF soldiers were killed in clashes with terrorists in Gaza (9 and 16 April). Palestinian terrorists attack crossings which supply them with food, fuel and medicines. (More details here)

Why Israel had to carry out such an operation?, by Dimitri Dombret

Source: European Friends of Israel

"To better understand the ongoing situation in the Middle-east, a brief historical overview is necessary.

Since 2001 more than 7000 rockets and mortar shells deliberately targeting civilians have been fired onto Israeli cities neighboring the Gaza strip. This permanent threat to the Israeli population has tremendously changed the lives of thousands of citizens and caused the deaths of dozens while more than 1,000 were wounded.

In September 2005, Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza strip and dismantled all of its settlements.

In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections. Rule over Gaza passed to the Islamist organization government led by Ismael Haniyeh.

June 25, 2006, Gilad Shalit was abducted by the Hamas from Israeli soil – An act of aggression and provocation from Hamas to which Israel refrained from responding.

In June 2007, Hamas during a bloody putsch took control of the Gaza Strip, brutally killing dozens of Fatah members while chasing out the rest.

In June 2008, a 6 month truce negotiated by Egypt was expected to lead to calm, both for the inhabitants of the Negev and for the population of Gaza. This truce was not respected as many rockets and missiles were fired into Israel from Gaza.

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Hamas has exploited the six-month ceasefire to smuggle an enormous amounts of weapons through tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, including Iranian manufactured Grad-type rockets that have a range of up to 40 km. This kind of rocket has hit for the first time a school in Beersheba on December 31. There were no casualties since the school had been evacuated the day before.
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After the Israeli withdrawal, the Hamas – with total control over Gaza – could have improved the daily life of the Gaza’s citizens by concentrating its energy on the economic development of the region and ceasing its cross-border attacks. Such a step from the Islamic movement would certainly have convinced the Israeli government and the entire world community that it was capable to change. Then, it’s more likely that the Israeli authorities would have been willing to make a similar withdrawal from the West bank where most of the Palestinians reside which would subsequently lead to the constitution of a Palestinian State.
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Israel has tried, unsuccessfully, to send many signals to the Hamas in order it stops its attacks. Israel could more or less get along with a low amount of short range rockets, the constant increase of field of rockets finally left no choice but to intervene against the Hamas. Israel, as every Nation, has the duty to protect its citizens.
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It must be clear that not a single responsible Member State would sit back in silence and do nothing as its citizens and territory came under constant attack. They would not lay idle as the alarms in Sderot, Ashkelon, Beersheba and tomorrow possibly Tel-Aviv? - blare "Colour Red, Colour Red", giving Israeli civilians less than 15 seconds to protect themselves before the rocket slams into their lives, their homes, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and playgrounds.
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After 6 months of truce, Hamas decided unilaterally to break it and was not only willing to cease attacks. Instead, it mocked Israel’s inability to counter attacks, explaining that the Jewish State was paralyzed by its domestic politics. Hamas thought that Israel’s will to renew the truce was an acknowledgement of weakness that allowed it to continue firing and acquiring longer range rockets.
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The decision to launch Operation 'Cast Lead' was not easy for the Israeli authorities but they managed to carry out an operation that could obviously no longer be postponed.

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Yet, Israel has declared that it does not intend to reoccupy Gaza but only to make sure that all the military capacities of Hamas will be dismantled. The aim is to make the operation as short as possible. Unfortunately, Israel cannot allow pressures to freeze its operation as long as Hamas’ aggressions have not been eradicated. Israel cannot allow a return to the previous status quo ante or, worse, a victory for Hamas. This would be a catastrophic scenario which would weaken not only Israel in the long term but would certainly put the Middle-East into an era of unprecedented chaos, strengthening the conviction of Islamist extremists – including Iran – that Israel can be defeated.
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As Karel Schwarzenberg, the EU presidency’s Foreign Affairs Minister stated few days ago: "Let us realize one thing: Hamas increased steeply the number of rockets fired at Israel since the ceasefire ended on Dec. 19. That is not acceptable any more".

It is Israel’s interest; it is Palestinian’s interest and the world’s interest to make sure that Hamas – which is on the European terrorist organizations’ black list – will be neutralized."

To read more :

Humanitarian Aid in Gaza
Civilian casualties in Operation Cast Lead

(last updated 5 January)

Different values: Israeli soldier and Hamas/Hezbollah 'soldier'

Source: Der Terrorist blog

Nizar Rayyan: Hamas "Human Shield" strategist succumbs to his own stratagem, by Ely Karmon

"According to the Jerusalem Post of January 1, 2009, Sheikh Nizar Rayyan, 52, a senior Hamas leader and cleric, was killed along with several others on Thursday when an IAF aircraft dropped a bomb on the eight-story Jabalya apartment building he lived. Rayyan was not only the religious leader of Hamas's military wing, Izzadin Kassam, but also one of their military commanders. A lecturer at Gaza's Islamist University, Rayyan, had mentored suicide bombers and would sometimes go on patrol with Hamas fighters. He was an outspoken advocate of renewing suicide bombings against Israel.

Rayyan's house was serving as an arms and ammunition warehouse and as a Hamas communications center, a statement released by the government press office said. In addition, a tunnel was located under the house and was used for the escape of terror operatives.

He was both the director and the financier of the March 14, 2004 sophisticated terrorist attack at the strategic Ashdod port perpetrated by two terrorists hiding in a container with double walls specifically built for this operation. Israeli police evaluated at the time that this suicide attack using a highly sophisticated plastic explosive may have targeted tanks of dangerous chemicals, including bromine, causing far greater casualties. Ten Israelis were killed in the attack.

As a consequence of this strategic attack, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin the leader of Hamas, responsible for dozens of suicide attacks inside Israel during the second intifadah, was killed in a targeted helicopter gunship operation on March 22, 2004.

In the air attack on Nizar Rayyan, nine other people were killed, including Rayyan's four wives and four of his 12 children, and around 30 were wounded in the air strike. According to Palestinian sources, his family was warned before the attack but did not leave the building.

According to the Hamas website in English it was Rayyan, 'who took the initiative, two years ago, to protect homes against Israeli occupation air strikes by forming human shields'.

According to the Israeli Haaretz of January 2, 2009, in some cases residents of suspected houses have been able to prevent bombing by climbing up to the roof to show that they will not leave, prompting IDF commanders to call off the strike. The IDF has code named such operations 'roof knocking,' in which the army informs the residents of suspected building that they have 10 minutes to leave the premises. In these cases, the IAF sometimes launches a relatively harmless missile at the corner of the roof, avoiding casualties but successfully dispersing the crowd.

It seems therefore that for this time, the deliberated strategy of using human shields has not worked because the IDF opted to bomb the house anyway. The fact that his family was warned before the attack but did not leave the building, shows that Rayyan did not bother for more civilian victims even when they belonged to his family. He had already a history of family 'sacrifice': in October 2001, he sent his son to perpetrate a suicide attack in the Gush Katif settlement Elei Sinai, in which two young Israelis were killed.

Hamas spokesperson Mushir al-Masri responded to the attack saying, 'This is a new escalation in violence. We are taking every precaution to guard the Hamas leaders in order to ensure the enemy doesn't score further victories' and a Hamas statement threatened revenge on IDF soldiers."

Article by Dr. Ely Karmon, Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya and Senior Research Fellow at The Institute for Policy and Strategy at IDC.

Source: O Diplomata

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sides with Israel over Gaza operation

Source: EJP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed Hamas for the latest conflict with Israel and said Germany would do all it could to promote peace in the Middle East.

In her New Year's address, Merkel said that "the terror perpetrated by Hamas is unacceptable."
She placed the blame for Israel's military operation on Hamas's rocket attacks and stressed that Israel has the right to defend it territory and citizens.

"The causes and consequences of the current round of violence in the Gaza Strip should not be forgotten," she said.

"But we should also not forget there is no rational alternative to the peaceful co-existence of Palestinians and Israelis in two states. This is in the interests of people on both sides," she added.

Merkel spokesman Thomas Steg said Merkel stressed in a telephone conversation late Sunday that Israel must do everything possible to avoid civilian causalities and insisted that Hamas must immediately halt its rocket attacks on Israel.

Germany's Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is a member of the Socialist Democratic Party (SPD), Merkel’s coalition partner, urged Muslim nations to use their influence to help secure an end to Hamas's rocket attacks on Israel.

The Foreign Ministry said Steinmeier advocated a "humanitarian cease-fire" that would make it easier to get supplies to Gaza's civilians and open the way for diplomacy.

In response to the ongoing military operation in Gaza, a fresh wave of anti-Israel demonstrations fanned out across Germany on Friday and Saturday.

Around 8,000 protesters marched in Berlin and 10,000 in Frankfurt on Saturday, including members of the Left Party who waved party flags among banners equating Operation Cast Lead with a “second Holocaust,” some reading "Israel, go to hell", and others with a crossed-out Star of David with the words "Israel, child murderer."

A representiative of the 12,000-member Berlin Jewish community told the Jerusalem Post that the community has filed a criminal complaint asserting incitement against Jews.

Levi Salomon, who is in charge of monitoring and combating anti-Semitism, was present at the anti-Israeli protests and said, "We cannot accept anti-Semitic taunts" such as "Jews out."

Sacha Stawski, the editor-in-chief of Honestly Concerned, a German media watchdog monitoring anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, said he heard chants of "Gas the Jews" and "Merkel out," and witnessed the burning of an Israeli flag at the Frankfurt demonstration.

Merkel: The terror of Hamas cannot be accepted

Proportionality: international law and practice, Hamas' behavior, Israeli conduct

"This is the destiny of democracy, as not all means are acceptable to it and not all practices employed by its enemies are open before it. Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand."

Source: O Diplomata (information supplied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel)

On the Issues of Proportionality

International law

A military target remains a legitimate military target, even if it is located in a civilian area.

"Civilians do not enjoy absolute immunity. Their presence will not render military objects immune from attack for the mere reason that it is impossible to bombard them without causing injury to the non-combatants."
Oppenheim's 'International Law'

The use of civilians as shields to try to prevent attacks on military targets is prohibited.

"The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations."
Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 28

The armed forces are not liable where injury to civilians results from unavoidable collateral damage, provided it is proportionate to the military gain expected of the attack.

"Although they are not military objectives, civilians and civilian objects are subject to the general dangers of war in the sense that attacks on military personnel and military objectives may cause incidental damage… Members of the armed forces are not liable for such incidental damage, provided it is proportionate to the military gain expected of the attack."
Major General A.P.V. Rogers, a former Director of the British Army Legal Services

Terrorist organizations that hide behind civilians bear the primary responsibility for civilian casualties.

"Should civilian casualties ensue from an attempt to shield combatants or a military objective, the ultimate responsibility lies with the belligerent placing innocent civilians at risk."
Dinstein,' Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict'

The correct party to assess the proportionality of a military action is the military commander in the field.

"It is unlikely that a human rights lawyer and an experienced combat commander would assign the same relative values to military advantage and to injury to noncombatants.… It is suggested that the determination of relative values must be that of the 'reasonable military commander'."
Committee Established to Review NATO Bombings in Yugoslavia

The security of one's own forces is a relevant consideration in gauging proportionality.

"The concept of military advantage involves a variety of considerations including the security of the attacking force."
Bothe, Partsch and Solf, 'New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflict'

International practice

The above principles of the law of armed conflict have been adopted as the basis of military guidelines by most states. The following examples of military manuals are typical:

Australian Defence Force Manual:
The presence of non-combatants in or around a military objective does not change its nature as a military objective. Non-combatants in the vicinity of a military objective must share the danger to which the military objective is exposed.

Belgian Teaching Manual for Soldiers:
Objects occupied or used by enemy military forces are military objectives even if these objects were civilians at the outset (houses, schools or churches occupied by the enemy).

German Military Manual:
The term "military advantage" refers to the advantage which can be expected of an attack as a whole and not only of isolated or specific parts of the attack.

France's Law of Armed Conflict Manual:
The application of the principle of proportionality does not exclude that collateral damage may be suffered by the civilian population or civilian objects provided they are not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Spain's Law of Armed Conflict Manual:
The principle of proportionality… is based on recognition of the fact that it is difficult to limit the effects of modern weapons and methods of warfare exclusively to military objectives and that it is likely that they will cause collateral damage to civilians and civilian objects.

Israel - IDF Operational Planning and Orders:
In cases where there is doubt as to whether a civilian object has turned into a military objective ... one is to asusme that is not a military objective unless proven otherwise.

Even when it is not possible to isolate the civilians from an assault and there is no other recourse than to attack, the commander is required to refrain from an attack that is expected to inflict harm on the civilian population that is disproportionate to the expected military gain.

Hamas' behaviour

Hamas' modus operandi is characterized not only by deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians, but also its disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians. Making no attempt to comply with the humanitarian obligation to distinguish combatants from civilians, Hamas terrorists wear civilian clothes and hide weapons and fire missiles from the heart of populated civilian areas.

In recent months, the Hamas controlled media in Gaza has publicly called for civilians to act as human shields in an attempt to prevent terrorist leaders and infrastructure from being targeted.
The following are but a few of the documented examples of calls in the Hamas controlled Gaza media for Palestinians civilians to serve as human shields:

- Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV called upon children to form a human shield at the home of a terrorist in the a-Shouqaf quarter of Sajaiyeh in order to protect the building from an anticipated IDF air strike (March 1).

- Al-Aqsa TV News broadcast a story about how a crowd of civilians gathered on the roof of Abu Bilal al-Ja’abeer in the Northern Gaza strip, used for launching terrorist attacks, in order to cause the IDF to abort a threatened air strike against the structure.

- Al-Aqsa TV called upon the Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to go to the house of terrorist Othman al-Ruziana in order to protect it against an anticipated air strike (February 29, 2008).

- Al-Aqsa TV called upon the residents of Khan Yunis to gather at the house of Ma’amoun Abu ‘Amer due to an anticipated air strike. (February 28, 2008). An hour later dozens of Palestinians from Khan Yunis were reported to have gathered on the roof of Abu ‘Amer’s house to serve as human shields to prevent the house from being hit (Pal-today Website, February 29, 2008).

Israeli conduct

Israel makes significant efforts to avoid or minimize civilian casualties, by ensuring that its attacks are directed against legitimate military targets, and that in conducting its operations incidental injury to civilians is kept to a minimum. Every potential military operation is considered on an individual basis in order to ensure that it meets the test of proportionality.

In practice this means many proposed military operations are rejected when it appears that the likelihood of collateral damage to civilians and their property is too high. As Israel's High Court of Justice has held, in reviewing Israeli security actions:

This is the destiny of democracy, as not all means are acceptable to it and not all practices employed by its enemies are open before it. Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand.

The jihadis of Antwerp North

"They were found guilty of historical revisionism, minimising the Holocaust and inciting to racial hatred, in particular against Jews."

Source: Islam in Europe

"Belgian weekly Knack is coming out with a series of articles about radical Islam in Antwerp. The first article is titled "The Jihadis of Antwerp-North" (De jihadi's van Antwerpen-Noord).

A few days after this article appeared, the Belgian federal police moved to act against a suspected local terrorist cell. Abdessatar Dahmane's widow (the imam marrying them is mentioned in the article) was arrested this week. See Belgium: Al-Qaeda cell apprehended and Belgium: "Mother of al-Qaeda in Europe" saved by Belgian secret service."

Excerpts of Antwerp: The Jihadis of Antwerp North (2) translated by Esther

"International Brothers

Whoever went on a weekend to the Ardennes was written down in the notebook of Jemal Fellous, whose brothers Achmed and Nordine were also active at Rissala [a non-profit organization]. The Fellous family had already gotten in trouble with the law several times and were already sentenced for illegal trade and possession of weapons. In the notebooks which were found in Oma mosque you can see who of Jamaat Tabligh's members attended training in recent years outside Antwerp.

Countless weekends in sites both local and abroad are reported there, but also surprisingly many trip of forty days to Pakistan, the aspiration of every radical Muslim who grows up in the West.

The weekends begin mostly with a lecture at the Tulpstraat. The youth mostly don't know then yet where they are going. Often it's mosques in the Netherlands or the suburbs of Paris. But just as well the trip can lead to Liège or Brussels. For tourism there is no time. The youth stay the whole weekend inside the mosque. At night they sleep on the ground in the house of prayer, by the example of the prophet Muhammad. During the day they can expand their network through contact with like-minded people. The rest of the time is spent by praying and listening to the message of the local imam. The discourse is invariably anti-Western, for strengthening their own faith community and against any form of integration.

Two weeks ago the men of Jamaat Tabligh left Tulpstraat to Anderlecht, for a weekend in the mosque where the Centre Islamique Belge is set up. They got lessons from the followers of the famous French imam of Syrian origin, Bassam Ayachi. Ayachi, beter known as "Sheik Bassam" has been one of the most important radical preachers in Brussels for years. Two years ago his son Abdel Rahman Ayachi and webmaster Raphaël Gendron were sentenced to 10 months in prison, half deferred. Additionally both had to pay a fine of 15,000 euro each and 2,5000 euro to the Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism that had lodged a complaint. They were found guilty of historical revisionism, minimising the Holocaust and inciting to racial hatred, in particular against Jews. Meanwhile it isn't going well for the sheik too. He was arrested on November 11th in the Italian port city of Bari. He must answer for being an accomplice to illegal immigration. Five non-EU citizens were found in a hidden compartment of his camper, he had wanted to bring them from the Middle East through Greece into Western Europe. Bassam is known by the French security services as the man who conducted the marriage of Tunisian Abdessatar Dahmane in Brussels, the fake journalist who together with a companion murdered Afghan rebel leader Ahmed Shah Massoud on the eve of September 11."

Read the whole piece here and
Antwerp: The Jihadis of Antwerp North (1)

Antwerp: Youth leave for jihad training in Pakistan

"... youth were incited with anti-Jewish songs and considered the nightly trips as preparations for Holy War."

"Dozens of Muslim youth leave Antwerp every year for Pakistan [Pakistan - well, isn't this a surprise?]. There they are immersed in radical Islam. But also in Belgium they prepare in and out of the mosques for the war with the West.

There are five mosques in Antwerp-North barely several hundred meters from each other. Besides being prayer houses for thousands of moderate Muslims they are also the base for small extremist groups who spread expressly anti-Western ideas. A not unimportant portion of the younger Muslims often leave for Pakistan to be instructed in madrassas or Koran schools. The most important destination for the Antwerp youth is the Haqqania madrassa of Sami Ul-Haq, a head of the Pakistani Islamic Party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Ul-Haq visited the Khatim-Al-Anbia mosque in Antwerp a couple of years ago. In 2005 he declared in Asia Times that whenever the Taliban put out a call for fighters, he would simply close down the madrassa and send his students off to fight.

The majority of the Antwerp youth return to Belgium after forty days. But here and there there's one, such as Kirgies Abdul Aziz who never come back.

The Belgian security services are aware of the extremist danger of the groups. Some can easily get weapons in Belgium. They also organize "jihad trainings" in the Ardennes for the youth. When a few neighbors from Agimont (next to Dinant) complained about the acts last year and the local police arrived on site, there was little to do. Nonetheless the youth were incited with anti-Jewish songs and considered the nightly trips as preparations for Holy War.

Belgian extremist groups are not limited to Antwerp. In Liège and Brussels mostly young Muslims are occupied with Jihad. They are often led by seemingly well integrated colleagues or older imams. The French sheik of Syrian origin Bassam Ayachi of the Centre Islamique Belge in Anderlecht is one such man. The federal police is happy that they've gotten rid of this dangerous person for a while. Ayachi was arrested in the Italian port city Bari several weeks ago. Five non-EU citizens who had been smuggled from the Middle East to Western Europe were found in a hidden compartment of his camper. In Italy there are very strict punishments for such crimes.

Flemish P. (25) converted to Islam when he was 17. He quickly got in touch with recruiters who very actively sought young recruits for the Holy War. When P. was ready to depart to Pakistan, he finally saw straight. He contacted the Antwerp police and later also became an informant for the State Security Service."

Source: Knack (Dutch) - English version: Islam in Europe

Pakistan's Deal with the Devil, An Incubator of Radical Islamists, Der Spiegel
Belgium: "Mother of al-Qaeda in Europe" saved by Belgian secret service
Minister launches center for Islamic culture in Flanders
Antwerp: The Jihadis of Antwerp North (1)

Belgian police prevent terrorist attack in Brussels as EU leaders meet

"The investigation that lead to the arrest of about fifteen people from jihadist networks in Belgium early on Thursday, December 11, began about a year ago. In 2007, a developing cell had been identified near Malika El-Aroud, a Belgian national from Morocco who was well-known among European security services. Her first husband [Dahmane Abd al-Sattar] is indeed one of the murderers of Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud who was killed in September 2001, less than three days before the 9-11 attacks in New York and Washington. While she was still leaving in Afghanistan (in the same camp as Osama bin Laden…) at the time of the international coalition’s military intervention in October 2001, El-Aroud played it wisely – she pretended to be a victim and promised information – in order to receive support from the Belgian authorities to leave Afghanistan …" Read more
Source: ESISC
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"As European Union leaders gathered Thursday in Brussels for a end of the year two-day summit, Belgian police said they have thwarted an imminent al-Qaeda suicide bomb.

"It is more than likely that an attack in Brussels has been prevented," said a Belgian government statement.

According to media reports, the arrival of EU leaders and intelligence that a terror attack was on the way triggered a massive police operation, involving 242 officers, in overnight house raids in the Belgian cities of Brussels and Liège.

Police arrested 14 suspects, three of whom, including the suspected suicide bomber, who had just returned from Afghanistan, where it is thought they had received orders from al-Qaeda commanders.

Johan Delmulle, a Belgian federal prosecutor, told journalists that information in the hands of police indicated one of the 14 "was possibly planning a suicide attack." But he did not specify whether the target was among the presidents and prime ministers who were gathering Thursday afternoon for the two-day summit conference.

Police have been closely watching the suspected suicide bomber, one of four Belgian citizens in the group.

He returned from Afghanistan on Dec 4 and three days later police received information he was planning to send a video message to close relations.

Delmulle described the raids as "the most important" anti-terrorism operation in Belgium following a one year investigation of a Belgian Islamist group involved in training as well as fighting on the Pakistan-Afghan border.

The investigation centered on people linked to Nizar Trabelsi, a 37-year-old Tunisian sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2003 for planning to a drive a car bomb into the cafeteria of a Belgian air base where about 100 American military personnel are stationed.

Security services in several European nations suspect Trabelsi, who trained with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, had links with extremists in Britain, France and elsewhere in Europe."

Source: article by Yossi Lempkowicz, EJP

Rachel Corrie's ISM: CIA, ISI and Mossad behind Mumbai terrorist attacks

The French branch of the International Solidarity Movement has posted an "analysis" of the Mumbai terrorist attacks by a certain Awami Bharat.

The ISM is supposed to be a pacifist organization and their most famous "militant" was Rachel Corrie. After reading this, there can be no doubt that their ideas are total rubbish.

Here are some excerpts, translated from the French, which give a flavour of the type of harebrained and hateful conspiracies these peace-loving miliants believe in:

"In all likelihood, the terrorists who attacked Bombay were heavily indoctrinated and extremely well trained. They were determined to die for their "cause" and were essentially controlled by the American CIA, the Pakistani ISI and the Israeli Mossad."

"In our view, the Mossad and the CIA aided and abetted the BJP-RSS [two Indian political parties] to plan and carry out this terrorist attack. At the heart of this enormous tragedy was the sordid need for a genuine terrorist group of Pakistani origin to be found and which was then provided by the ISI, with the help of their masters at the CIA and the Mossad. The ISI is an organization of ruthless mercenaries which sells out to the highest bidder. In addition, there are different factions within the ISI, some of which are controlled and paid by the CIA and the Mossad."

"... they attacked the Nariman House in Colaba which is inhabited by Israeli-Jewish families, and took hostages. This incident will only serve to strengthen the links between Israeli Zionist elites and Indian Brahman elites.

The truth is that there are strong ideological links between Zionism and Brahmanism. Both are engaged in racial discrimination, religious and caste superiority. Both also have a history of collaboration with imperialism and exploitation of their people."