It's Almost Supernatural

15 Killed, 100 Wounded In Twin Bus Bombings In Be'er Sheva

After scores of failed attacks the vicious mass murderers from Hamas have eventually succeeded.
Via JPOST.

Two suicide bombers exploded almost simultaneously on two buses in central Be'er Sheva on Tuesday, Southern Command Police commander Dudi Cohen said. The explosions took place on buses numbers 12 and 63, traveling opposite the municipality building on Yitzhak Riger Street at 2:55 p.m. Magen David Adom said 12 people were killed in the attacks, all of whom died at the scene. 100 people were wounded and taken to Soroka Hospital not far from the site of the attack. Seven are listed as critical; 12 are listed as serious, and the rest of the wounded are listed in light-to moderate condition. One of those fighting for his life in Soroka's operating theatre is a three-year-old child, Channel 1 TV reported. ZAKA (disaster victims association) reported all the fatalities were on the buses. Hamas in Bethlehem issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks in the name of their Hebron Brigade, saying it was in response to the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will hold an emergency meeting with top Defense Ministry officials in Tel-Aviv later this evening to formulate Israel's response. Sharon said in response to the attack that "the war against terror will continue without letup. This is both the government's and my personal policy." Israeli officials said the attack was a further sign that terrorist groups, with the backing of Iran and Hizbullah, were trying to scuttle the disengagement plan, Israel Radio reported.

The two buses were full of mothers and kids doing last minute shopping before Israeli kids go back to school on Wednesday. I appeal to everyone to recite Psalm 20 every morning and evening.

The map shows Be’er Sheva is only few kilometers away from Hebron. Constructions on sections of the security fence designed to separate the two cities are yet to start. When the construction to separate the two cities does start, you can fully expect Jewish Voices SA to cry and moan about it. They consider the inconvenience caused to Palestinians a greater sin than the heinous murdering of Israeli civilians. I would love for Ivor Chipkin to have to catch an Israeli bus to work every day of his life.

Shhh...listen...can you hear that silence? Its the absence of any noise from the ICJ about terrorism in Israel.

Suicide Bomber Shot Dead

IDF forces shot and killed a would-be suicide bomber in the Western Negev on Sunday.

Soldiers from the Engineers Corps spotted three Palestinians crawling toward the border fence north of the Karni crossing around 7 A.M. Two turned back, but the third continued to advance. After seeing that he was armed, Engineering Corps sharpshooters fatally shot him when he reached a distance of 200 meters from the fence. A Kalashnikov rifle, ammunition clips, hand grenades, and an explosive belt were found on the body. IDF sources estimated that the assailant planned to get over the fence and sprint toward one of the nearby communities, open fire at residents and finally blow himself up.

Spy Allegations

I haven't had much time to concentrate on the spy allegation story developing in America but here are all the links you need to find out what has been happening. Be sure to read the Honest Reporting round up on the whole kerfuffle.

Jerusalem Denies Running Franklin

Israel Denies Spying on Ally America

The AIPAC kerfuffle

The Spy Allegations - Damage Done (From Honest Reporting)

Kidnapped Palestinian Boy Saved

A feel good story to end the week...

Palestinian and Israeli police cooperated Friday to rescue the kidnapped son of an Arab-Israeli woman living in Ramallah.

The Terror Attempts Continue

On Wednesday Naeem Jenna of the Media Review Network spoke on SAFM. Naeem responded to a caller's request that he acknowledge suicide bombings in Israel by asking the caller when last an Israeli civilian was killed by a Palestinian. "This has not happened for some time now" Naeem pointed out. But Naeem is trying to deceive us. Everyday Israel receives terror threats and hardly a day goes by without an attack being prevented. Or, in this case - unsuccesfully perpetrated.

Palestinians fired a mortar shell before dawn Friday at the Gaza Strip settlement bloc of Gush Katif, where it landed on a house. There were no injuries, although the house was damaged. In the Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom, Palestinians opened fire at an Israel Defense Forces post before dawn, and troops returned fire. No injuries were reported. On Thursday evening, an explosive device was detonated near an Egged bus traveling on the Jerusalem-Hebron road, near the Al-Arub refugee camp. No injuries were reported, although the bus, line 160, was damaged. In Sderot on Thursday, five residents were treated for shock after two Qassam rockets fired from Gaza landed in the city. In response to the launches, the IDF set up roadblocks to cut the Gaza Strip into three isolated sections. There were also other incidents in Gaza on Thursday: Four mortar shells were fired at the settlement of Morag; IDF forces found a 40-kilogram bomb south of the Karni checkpoint; and there were a few exchanges of gunfire with Palestinian forces. No one was hurt in these incidents.

Bush Haters

Cox & Forkum Editorial Cartoons point out that the anti-Bush protestors have a very good friend in North Korea.

North Korea hurled invective at President Bush for a second day Tuesday, calling him a political idiot and human trash, and said six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions appeared doomed. A day earlier, a Foreign Ministry spokesman for the isolated communist state described Bush as a tyrannical imbecile who put Adolf Hitler in the shade and said Pyongyang could see no justification to negotiate with his administration.

Progressive Columnist: Iran's Nuclear Build-Up Endangers its Neighbors More than it Endangers Israel

MEMRI have translated an op-ed from the London Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat written by its former editor, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, claiming that Israel is merely used as a pretext for Iran's nuclear build-up, and that in fact this build-up principally endangers the neighboring Arab countries. The following are excerpts from the article:

'All of the Countries in the Region Use Israel as a Pretext' "In early 1990 one of the American newspapers cited a Saudi diplomat as saying that his country saw the growth of Iraqi military power ... as a source of worry. "[Following this statement] the Iraqi government generated a commotion by claiming that its power is always [directed] against Israel and will always be so. Saudi Arabia was obliged to distance itself from the [diplomat's] statement. A mere few months after this episode, the entire world witnessed the Iraqi forces invading the city of Al-Khafji in Saudi Arabia after having completely taken over her sister country and ally, Kuwait. "Today Iran is saying the same thing, that its nuclear arsenal and its improved missiles are directed [only] against Israel. [This statement] plays on our emotions so that we will think that anyone who waves the banner of confrontation with Israel will be forgiven all his sins, deeds, and intentions, without any careful scrutiny of his public promises. "Iran is of course in a state of conflict with Israel as a result of its solidarity with the Palestinian problem, its support for Hizbullah [in its fight] against the former Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and what is left of it today, [and] its support for Syria for the same reason.

Zuma Snubs Israel

Business Day reports that SA Foreign Minister Nkosazana DIamini- Zuma has rejected claims by a former Israeli ambassador that SA had snubbed his country when it sent an official, instead of a minister, to Jerusalem.

"There is no change in our policy insofar as the Middle East is concerned." Alon Uel, a former Israeli ambassador to SA, was quoted in an AFP report on Tuesday as saying that the visit to his country by Ayanda Ntsaluba, the director-general of the foreign affairs department, was in effect a snub.

Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad was touring the Middle East at the time, but did not visit Israel.

"The visit to Jerusalem of the ministry`s director-general should be seen as an additional sign of the deterioration in diplomatic relations," Uel said.

Pahad was due to meet officials in Iran and Syria, Israel`s arch enemies, over the next few days. He is also due in Egypt and Jordan.

"SA regularly sends us messages expressing its discontent over our policies in the (Palestinian) territories. It is sending us a mere functionary while its deputy chief diplomat goes to four other countries in the Middle East," Uel said. ` SA has been a vocal critic of Israel`s West Bank security barrier, and was one of the countries that gave evidence on behalf of the Palestinians at a landmark world court hearing earlier this year.

What worried me most is what Dlamini Zuma said in response to the snub allegation. She said the visit by Ntsaluba, and not Pahad, "is not an expression of particular support to Israel as opposed to the Palestinians".

No-one was accusing her of giving particular support to Israel! Of course sending the official instead of the minister is not an expression of particular support to Israel! Zuma's confusion is far more worrying to me than the actual snubbing of Israel. This is the type of disoriented comment we should continue to expect from our FM.

Friends of Jewish Voices SA

Jewish Voices (JVSA) have boastingly sent out an e-mail detailing the support they have received from one Richard Kuper - head honcho of Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JFJFP). (This post is long and has many images, so be sure to click on the "continue reading" link to see it all.)

Jews for Justice for Palestinians regard it as very important that Jewish organisations are in the forefront of the struggle, with others, for a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are thus delighted to learn of your call for a broad coalition to protest against the so-called `security' wall on 24th August in Johannesburg.

We wish you every success on the day in question, and in general in working with a wide range of groups in civil society. We hope it will be the first of many actions organised along such lines, taking up the whole range of issues that Israel's continued occupation
Praises.
Richard Kuper
Chair, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, UK

Just what type of an organisation does Mr Kuper chair - and who does he hang out with?
Richard Kuper recently spoke at the 55th anniversary of the Nakba where thousands of British people converged on Trafalgar Square in London. The rally called for an end to the Zionist occupation of all of Palestine. The rally was organised by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. The first guest speaker was none other than John Pilger. He started by saying

The bad news is that never has the evil doers been as evil as they are today, never has some cynical leaders been as cynical as they are today conspiring against the most just cause of the 20th century and perhaps the 21st century

At the rally Kuper said that he wants Israel to be judged the same way as all other nations are judged. If only!

"...As Jews we are all too aware of how Israeli actions are often presented as being done on behalf of all Jews worldwide, and how the the holocaust is used as a moral shield to dismiss any criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic. It is precisely because we remember the holocaust that Jews in 'Jews for justice for Palestinians' reject this and insist that Israel be judged by the same criteria as any other state!..."

The posters at the rally reveal just what type of ideology JFJFP & JVSA support. Swastikas on Israeli flags were prominent. Flags of Palestinian terrorist group Hezbollah soared proudly alongside Palestinian flags. Worst of all, and I'm sure that JFJFP & JVSA would harp on about how this is not anti-Semitic - there were posters that accused the Jews of occupying Britain! Alleging that the Jews are so powerful that they are controlling Britain!

Click on the "continue reading" link to see more about this monstrous hateful event.

The Apartheid Charge

Yesterday I was thinking of coming up with a stock standard answer that should be used by defenders of Israel whenever they face the monstrous "Israeli apartheid" accusation. Lo and behold, today the Jerusalem Post have an op-ed piece on this topic.

Abusing 'apartheid' for the Palestinian cause

Although the comparison between Israel and the apartheid regime that ruled South Africa is entirely fictitious, demonization efforts that repeat this analogy are the embodiment of the new anti-Semitism that seeks to deny the Jewish people the right of equality and self-determination among the nations.

Zionism and the revival of national sovereignty in the Jewish homeland are not manifestations of European colonialism, in contrast to the white settlers who created Johannesburg and Pretoria.

While Black labor was exploited in slavery-like conditions under apartheid, in contrast, Palestinians were dependent on Israeli employment due to their own internal corruption and economic failures.

While South African apartheid was based on denial of sovereignty for the Black population, Israelis accepted the "two-state solution" from the beginning, including the 1947 UN partition plan.

Arab citizens of Israel have the same democratic rights as Israelis, including full parliamentary representation and free speech - in sharp contrast to the Blacks under apartheid, or minorities in most Arab countries.

The racism and denial of legitimacy characteristic of apartheid are actually applicable to Arab and Islamic rejection of Jewish rights. In the Middle East, Jews are a tiny and oppressed minority, struggling to maintain cultural identity and survive in a hostile and violent environment.

By screaming "apartheid" at every opportunity, the leaders of this campaign have succeeded in burying data showing that this barrier has saved the lives of many Israelis. In today's immoral political doublespeak, protecting Israelis from terror has become "apartheid."

It is necessary to expose the big lie at the center of the apartheid campaign. Beyond exposing the absurdity of the charges against Israel, it is time to put Arab and Islamic racism – as shown in Sudan and elsewhere – at the center of the international agenda. In political warfare just as on the military battlefield, the best defense is a good offense.

I have created an "Apartheid" category (link on the left) which can be used to view all apartheid related posts on Almost Supernatural. There are not many yet, but I want to try and build up a large collection. So please, whenever you come across a decent apartheid related article on Israel...send it my way.