I saw this on Rivero's Whatreallyhappened site, followed the link and was shocked, truly shocked.
Stop the ISM
Needless to say it gives Muslims Against Sharia a run for their money!!
These guys offer a $25,000 reward to the locations of humanitarian workers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Gaza - so the IDF can KILL them!! One of the men on their 'hit' list is the Italian, VITTORIO ARRIGONI, who is also involved in the Free Gaza group.
So, I wondered - this Kaplan fellow - who is he? Could he be just some complete and utter freak, with little influence? Seems not:
Kaplan writes for Front Page Magazine, which is certainly not considered to be out in the 'fringes'. No, it's considered a respectable Jewish Rag. From the link above, you can see Mr. Kaplan's bio and enjoy the fact that not only does this man order 'hits' on folks, but he also writes for the Israeli National News, and hold on now.... The Canada Free Press!! That's right folks. I had thought the name sounded familiar.
Here's the bio from the site (in case you can't bring yourself to click on FPM:
Lee Kaplan
Lee Kaplan is an undercover investigative journalist and a contributor to Front Page Magazine. He is also a regular columnist for the Israel National News and Canada Free Press and a senior intelligence analyst and communications director for the Northeast Intelligence Network. He heads the organizations Defending America for Knowledge and Action (DAFKA) and Stop the ISM. He has been interviewed on over one hundred nationally and internationally syndicated radio shows and been a guest on Fox Cable TV’s Dayside with Linda Vester and Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor. He is a guest every Tuesday on the Jim Kirkwood Show on Utah's K-Talk Radio am630. He is currently working on a book about America's colleges in the War on Terror and the International Solidarity Movement.
Okay - isn't this against the law? I would imagine that putting up a reward for the murder of someone is illegal? Perhaps not in some lands, but certainly it must be in the US and Canada? Where is the ADL in all of this? Why aren't the screaming from the rooftops? How is this different than the 'price on Rushdie's head'? Answer: it isn't.
So, this man is interviewed in the MAINSTREAM MEDIA! If this doesn't show the bias of these talking heads and their puppet masters I don't know what does.
Shame on Canada Free Press to ever allow this instigator air time - without at least letting readers know from what radical stance this man is advocating.
Here's just a little taste of what you can find at this site operated by Mr. Kaplan (shame on him):
ALERT THE IDF MILITARY TO TARGET ISM
Number to call if you can pinpoint the locations of Hamas with their ISM members with them. From the US call 011-972-2-5839749. From other countries drop the 011. Help us neutralize the ISM that is now definitely a part of Hamas since the war began.
Hmmm since two can play at the 'victim' game why not alert the CHRC to this dude? Let's get this ALL out in the air. Mind you, I don't want him silenced - in fact I'd like everyone to know what kind of disgusting behaviour this Lee Kaplan is involved in - that way when the sleeping public sees him they know what he REALLY is.
And he ain't an Honest Broker.
10 comments:
Hi Maggie
I just tried to pop over to the hit-site, it's gone. Comes up to KoiMedia. Their provider maybe? LOL Nice touch!
I really hate organizations like that. They can't fight the truth with truths so they try to fight it with death threats. Very very sad that our world is going back to this brute force over considered reason and communication.
Whatever happened to having a difference of opinion and agreeing that you differ and leaving it at that?
Great articles. :)
Dee
Hi Dee,
Thanks for popping in!
I must say I am not surprised about Kaplan's site. I imagine it was illegal and as such - he was exposed. It was pretty bad,
I agree with you about differing opinions, and will add that too many won't even entertain changing theirs in light of new info. There was a time years ago where I was rabidly pro-Israel. Then I learned a few new things and changed my mind.
If only others would keep their hearts open, and they minds flexible enough to allow for change!
Ta, for you comment!
Buff
Hi, Maggie--
I did not advocate for murder, but I did urge civilians in Gaza to point out human shields for Hamas aiding the armed terrorists in combat zones (Mr.Arrigoni is one). The website is being improved and will be back soon.
You seem to call it "murder" if I suggest innocent Palestinians report terrorist enablers doing human shield work for Hamas, but it's not murder when Hamas fires missiles into kindergartens in Sderot and uses Palestinian children as human shields. I think you need to grow up.The ISM by its own admission works with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, all designated terror groups.
Stop the ISM will be back soon. What Really Happened is a blog run by the ISM webmaster who never tells the WHat Really Happened Anyway. You can play anarchist all you want, the PLO, Hamas etc are terrorist groups that help neither the Palestinian people nor Israelis. ISMers who are scared of being targeted in a warzone during a war can simply go home if they are afraid, as Vittotior Arrigoni own embassy advised him when he was running around with Hamas terrorists.
Let's see if you print this.
Hello Lee,
You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on a few things.
Your remark at the end of the post "Let's see if you print this", assumes that I censor opinions which I don't agree with. Nothing could be further from the truth, Lee.
I'm glad you stopped by actually. For I was truly shocked at your website - it is hateful beyond words. This is sad, because the last thing anyone needs is more bigotted hatred in this world.
While Hamas as employed rather questionable tactics at times, so has everyone else Lee. There is no one group, or ethnicity which has corner of the market on being assholes - sad but true.
By advocating murder - which you did with your 25,000$ reward - you, as a Jew, are maligning all the rest. Just as when some nutbar Imam, or whacko paster advocates ill will against others. All this does is fuel more resentment and offer a target to back up the hatred.
Also, you seem say Hamas is firing rockets into Kindergartens in Sderot - what I understand is that the majority of the rocket fire (over 99% of which hits NOTHING) is due to quite radical factions, often aligned more with FATAH than Hamas. Not that it really matters as these rockets are more of and inconvenience than any real threat.
Now, the rockets fired by Israel, the phosphorous bombs and extrajudicial assassination bring nothing but more hatred and insecurity to the Israeli populace. The stealing of land and water resources furthers this problem - as it was intended to - as Israel cannot survive in her current incarnation without the terrorism she herself has invented.
It is very sad for me, with the mixed background I have to see the monsters guiding Israel to her certain destruction.
Bitch all you want Lee - but until all people realise that underneath it all we are ONE BIG FAMILY of HUMANS, this will never end.
Thanks though for dropping in. Please do so again when you have your new and improved (taken out the clearly illegal elements) site all ready - heck I might even link it in the sidebar!!
Cheers and have a great weekend.
Maggie-
I have responded to your posting in the areas below after the parenthesis with my initials (LK).
Hello Lee,
You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on a few things.
(LK) No problem there. However, if your disagreements are based on errorneous or untrue information, it is unfortunate for you and your readers. The links you ahve to the right are all ISM affiliates that ultimately want Israel dismantled as a Jewish state. So off the bat, you get information from organizations that are less than truthful and use the word "peace" as subterfuge to make war on Israel.--
Your remark at the end of the post "Let's see if you print this", assumes that I censor opinions which I don't agree with. Nothing could be further from the truth, Lee.
(LK) Glad to hear it. Your colleagues at the links on right all censor material and rely on smears (that is how you came to mention me, no? I advocate for murder? Not so).
I'm glad you stopped by actually. For I was truly shocked at your website - it is hateful beyond words. This is sad, because the last thing anyone needs is more bigotted hatred in this world.
(LK) "The last thing needed is more bigoted hatred in the world."
Obviously you never read the Hamas Charter (or the PLO one either) both of which call for the annihilation of Israel, the Hamas one calling for the annihilation of world Jewry. ISM supports Hizballah that also calls for annihilation of word's Jews. I can suggest here you are misinformed and assume because these people claim they are "peace activists" instead of human shields for terror groups that they want peace. I suggest you do some intelligent research and not take them for their word:
http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/ISM_info.htm
http://www.memri.org (Watch daily Palestinian children's programming and religious fare calling for the extrmination of Jews, no such fare exists in Israeli media).
While Hamas as employed rather questionable tactics at times, so has everyone else Lee.
(LK) Such a tactic reveals abysmal ignorance of Hamas and engages in equivalency to justify terror. Let me see you write in here that Hamas firing missiles on schools in Sderot caused OpPeration Cast Lead then maybe I can beleive you are sincere. None of your allies has openly said the missiles fired on Israel by Hamas must stop.--
There is no one group, or ethnicity which has corner of the market on being assholes - sad but true.
(LK) Again, the IDF protects Israeli women and children. Hamas engges in terror attacks on Israelis. ISM in private cal Hamas actions legitimate resistance and encourage the real bigotry and violence.
By advocating murder - which you did with your 25,000$ reward - you, as a Jew, are maligning all the rest.
Hamas and all the Arab allies of the ISM and PLO pay terrorists to murder Jews. I offered information in war time to aid the IDF to target people who were aiding the heads of terror groups as human shields. This is to protect Israelis and Jews.heir own admission those who were given a bounty for information were aiding the heads of Hamas--bigots and murderers. In ar time this is perfectly legal. By the way, if those with a price on their heads felt threatened, they could have gone home as Vittorio Arrigoni's embassy told him to do, to leave Gaza. "Murder" is hyperbole for requesting information to get the ISMers out of a combat zone where they assist potentially harming Israeli soldiers. It was a ISM activsit by the way, who gave us great information to claim the reward, but sadly just as the war ended.
Just as when some nutbar Imam, or whacko paster advocates ill will against others. All this does is fuel more resentment and offer a target to back up the hatred.
(LK) LIke I said, read the Hamas Charter, watch PA sermons at MEMRI.org. Abbas jsut said Israel cannot exist as a Jewish state and he named streets after suicide bombers. Are you naive of these things or do you intend to obfuscate Arab bigtory and anti-Semitism against Israel's Jews?--
Also, you seem say Hamas is firing rockets into Kindergartens in Sderot - what I understand is that the majority of the rocket fire (over 99% of which hits NOTHING) is due to quite radical factions, often aligned more with FATAH than Hamas.
(LK) Perhaps this is why your view is so skewed. Israel deported all Jews from Gaza. 8,00o missiles fired on sderot and Ashkelon since then. May Jews killed, including 4 year-old Afik Zahavi. Homes destroyed, businesses, schools. 15 seconds to get to a shelter. Just two weeks ago a father of two killed driging to work. Here:
learn something: http://www.sderotmedia.com/
Not that it really matters as these rockets are more of and inconvenience than any real threat.
(LK) Statement above is ignorant and cruel. Men, women and children killed by them, Arabs and Jews alike. Now who is suborning murder?
I just tried to stop the human shields who aid the murderers. You excuse them completely.
Now, the rockets fired by Israel, the phosphorous bombs and extrajudicial assassination bring nothing but more hatred and insecurity to the Israeli populace.
(LK) It has been proven Israel did not use phosphorous despite false accusations. Israel targets the Hamas leadership so as to avoid "innocent civilian" casualties. According to you, the leaders of Hamas shuld be left alone, hence you are again suborning murder. Is this being cagey or are you just following the propaganda dished out by your friends?
The stealing of land and water resources furthers this problem - as it was intended to - as Israel cannot survive in her current incarnation without the terrorism she herself has invented.
(LK) Israel has stolen no land. Israel was created by UN. Israel lost land to Jordan and Egypt in 1948 that it regained in 1967. Israel has offered 50% of territory it legally controls to make peace. Arabs still insist Israel cannot exist at all. Terrorism was not invented by Israel. You spout mindless rhetoric and apparently refuse to research historical facts. You suborn murder as "resistance" I bet also. Israel is the only non-apartheid state in the region with 20% population Arabs with equal rights, democracy. The PA and Hamas require Shariah Law. Please stop repeating the pat lines and get your facts straight.
It is very sad for me, with the mixed background I have to see the monsters guiding Israel to her certain destruction.
(LK) If you cannot see the monsters are Hamas and the PLO, even hurting Arabs, then you are being deceptive at best. Israel will survive, but a Palestinian state will never be because it is predicated on wiping the Jewish state out and foreigners like you encourage this under twisted ideas of being progressive (Or ignorant)
Bitch all you want Lee - but until all people realise that underneath it all we are ONE BIG FAMILY of HUMANS, this will never end.
Go read the Hamas charter, available at Cornell University, then get back to me. You support bigotry murder and fascism then cynically claim peace activism.
Thanks though for dropping in. Please do so again when you have your new and improved (taken out the clearly illegal elements) site all ready - heck I might even link it in the sidebar!!
(LK) I'll do that. and if you seriously have no ulterior motives I'll expect to see that. Meanwhile, show your sincerity and link to www.dafka.org . Who knows? You might learn you've been aiding the wrong side that doesn't want peace, democracy or the best for all, but will claim it does to act as human shields for murders. Do visit the sites I recommended. Note also how your links always make ad hominem attacks on me and cannot carry on a useful debate as done here...
Cheers and have a great weekend.
Maggie-S
Still waiting for you to post DAFKA.org link and StoptheISM.com as soon as its back up. Meanwhile, I note you have Urukunet as a link. Are you aware they are a website of former Saddam Hussein Ba'Ath Party loyalists? IF you worry about murder, Saddam Hussein, their hero murdered 5,000 Iraqis a month...Read the Hamas Charter yet?
Maggie-
Watch this from 30 years ago:
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/video/netanyahu_28.htm
Here Maggie:
Let's discuss murder then your dismissal of Hamas rockets as harmless:
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
May 11, 2009
Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al has recently addressed the issue of rocket fire and of terrorism (“resistance”) in general. In an interview geared towards Americans, he admitted that Hamas is currently exercising restraint in firing rockets, whereas when speaking to Palestinians, he stressed that “resistance” remained the strategic option of Hamas.
Gaza Strip memorial rally for two Hamas leaders
Gaza Strip memorial rally for two Hamas leaders, Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan, killed in Operation Cast Lead. In a live televised address to the participants, Khaled Mash’al stressed that “resistance” was still Hamas’s strategic option until the “liberation” (of Palestine) and the restoration of “Palestinian rights”.
Overview
1. The issue of using the strategy of terrorism (“resistance”) and, more specifically, the rocket fire policy, have recently been publicly addressed by Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al. In an interview to the New York Times, geared towards an American target audience, Mash'al chose to present a “pragmatic” approach, stressing the policy of restraint Hamas has lately been following with regard to firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. However, in a speech for Hamas's supporters in the Gaza Strip, who took part in a memorial rally for two Hamas leaders killed in Operation Cast Lead, Khaled Mash'al stressed that “resistance” has been and will remain the movement's strategic option for restoring “Palestinian rights”, and that Hamas will make no concessions about the “resistance” (see Appendix for details).
2. What Khaled Mash'al said about firing rockets in the New York Times interview (even though one day later he said that he had been misunderstood) and to the participants of the rally in the Gaza Strip reflects, in our assessment, two sides of the same coin: ideologically and strategically, Hamas was and still remains committed to using violence and terrorism (“resistance”) as the preferred strategy of obtaining “Palestinian rights” (that is, the destruction of the State of Israel as a political entity). At the same time, however, it does not rule out a cessation or reduction of terrorist activities for limited periods of time, if it receives something worthwhile in exchange from Israel and when it believes that Palestinian (or its own) interests call for such a lull in the fighting.
3. In the New York Times interview, Khaled Mash'al said that Hamas operatives had for the time being ceased firing on Israel due to the “Palestinians' interest”. Similar statements attributed to Hamas have recently been published on Palestinian and Arab media. Indeed, the extent of rocket fire and mortar shelling from the Gaza Strip has dropped considerably over the past two months, since mid-March 2009. During that time, the extent of such attacks was reduced to a “trickle” of several mortar shells or rockets per week, at times even coming to a complete halt (in comparison, attacks were considerably more frequent following Operation Cast Lead, with 10 to 30 rockets or mortar shells fired per week). Over the past several weeks, the terrorist organizations' activities have focused mostly on setting IEDs and occasionally firing mortar shells at IDF patrols near the border. It is our assessment that the relative calm is a result not just of Hamas's reluctance to fire rocket, but also of its readiness to extend that restraint to other terrorist organizations, going as far as to impose some level of enforcement when necessary. 1
Rocket fire and mortar shelling since the end of Operation Cast Lead
Rocket fire and mortar shelling since the end of Operation Cast Lead
4. It is our assessment that Hamas's policy of restraint on rocket fire stems mostly from the fact that its current top priority is to undo the damage caused in Operation Cast Lead, which it perceives as a basic, fundamental interest of the movement and of the population in general. While repairing the physical damage caused to the civilian population, Hamas is hard at work on rebuilding its military infrastructure and reinforcing its control mechanisms over the population. At the same time, Khaled Mash'al and other Hamas spokesmen (who have the support of the Iranians 2) emphasize that the current policy of restraint is the result of various circumstances and consideration for the population's interests, and that Hamas's fundamental adherence to the path of “resistance” (violence and terrorism) as the strategic alternative for achieving its goals still stands. In addition, while espousing a policy of restraint in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is running an incitement campaign to encourage individuals to perpetrate terrorist attacks in the West Bank and in Israel , expecting them to eventually become an all-out military uprising, “the third intifada”. 3
Appendix
Khaled Mash'al's interview to the New York Times and reactions to the interview
1. Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al has recently (and uncharacteristically) granted an interview to the New York Times, geared towards the American target audience. In the interview, given from Damascus , he addressed, among other subjects, the issue of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip at Israel , saying that Hamas operatives had currently stopped firing rockets at Israel . Khaled Mash'al also made an effort to demonstrate that Hamas was able to control its own operatives as well as operatives belonging to other organizations (New York Times, May 4, 2009). Following is an excerpt in which Khaled Mash'al addressed the cessation of rocket attacks and the reasoning behind it: “Not firing the rockets currently is part of an evaluation from the movement which serves the Palestinians' interest. After all, the firing is a method, not a goal. Resistance is legitimate right, but practicing such a right comes under an evaluation by the movement's leaders.”
2. Khaled Mash'al's statement about the rocket fire is part of his attempt to present a pragmatic approach to the American public opinion and to President Obama's new administration. Following are additional issues brought up in the interview:
a. Early in the interview, Khaled Mash'al assured the American administration and the international community that Hamas would be “part of the solution, period”. Mash'al noted that President Obama spoke positively, unlike his predecessor, but was not pleased with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that her statements reflected the policies of the previous American administration.
b. According to Khaled Mash'al, there is only one enemy in the Middle East, that enemy being Israel , the existence of which he is not willing to recognize. He said that Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas gained nothing from their willingness to recognize Israel . Nevertheless, Hamas will be willing for a long-term ten-year truce with Israel, provided that its fundamental demands are fulfilled: “On the two-state solution sought by the Americans, he said: ‘We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes East Jerusalem , the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.' Asked what ‘long-term' meant, he said 10 years.”
c. Following up on his statement on Hamas's current avoidance of rocket fire (as cited above), Khaled Mash'al said that Hamas was “eager for a ceasefire with Israel ” (i.e., a new lull agreement). Hamas is also eager to exchange the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for “many Palestinian prisoners”.
d. Khaled Mash'al confirmed that Hamas was assisted by Iran , claiming, however, that the assistance was “not conditioned” and that it did not control or affect the movement's policies.
e. Asked if Hamas was a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and if it wanted to bring strict Muslim law to Gaza and the West Bank, Khaled Mash'al answered that Hamas's priority was “ending the occupation” and “achieving the [Palestinian] national project.” As for the nature of the future Palestinian state, “it's to be determined by the people. It will never be imposed upon them” (in practice, in its day-to-day policy in the Gaza Strip, Hamas imposes the Islamic law and the Islamic code on the local population under its control).
Reactions to Khaled Mash'al's interview to the New York Times
3. The day after the interview was published, Khaled Mash'al claimed that the New York Times misrepresented his statements about Hamas's decision to cease firing rockets at present. According to Mash'al, he meant to say that the decision whether to fire or to cease fire depended on Hamas's strategic decision, made based on a variety of considerations. He stressed that Israel (“the Zionist entity”) was the one always initiating the “aggression”, and that firing rockets was a “defense measure” of the Palestinian people, used while taking into consideration the circumstances of the Palestinian people (Palestine-info, May 5).
4. Top PIJ official Nafez Azzam granted an interview in which he commented on Khaled Mash'al's New York Times interview. He said that his organization would discuss the issue of the lull in bi-lateral talks with the Hamas leadership, as well as with the other organizations. He made it clear that the PIJ refused a long-term ceasefire with Israel but it may agree to a “tactical lull for a certain period of time”, just as it agreed to the 18-month lull offered by Egypt following Operation Cast Lead, which, as he claimed, was undermined by Israel (Pal-today website, May 3).
Khaled Mash'al's statement at a memorial rally for Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan
5. On May 7, a memorial rally for Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan, two Hamas leaders killed in Operation Cast Lead, was held in the Gaza City Rashad al-Shawa Culture Center. Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al gave a speech from Damascus , broadcasted live to the memorial rally's participants. The rally was attended by the senior leadership of the Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip, which is an inseparable part of Hamas's military-security infrastructure.
6. In his speech, Khaled Mash'al noted that no one (referring to the Palestinian Authority) had the right to negotiate the “rights” and “principles” of the Palestinian people. Portraying Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan as model jihad warriors, he stressed that the “resistance” was Hamas's strategic option for “liberation” (i.e., the “liberation of Palestine”) and for “restoring the rights”, and that Hamas would make no concessions regarding the “resistance” under its leadership. Referring to the issue of smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip, he stressed that “resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people, and no one has the right to keep the Gaza Strip from arming itself or to choke it in order to prevent weapons from coming in” (a broad hint at Egypt, which stepped up its activities to prevent weapons smuggling following the exposure of the Hezbollah network on its territory) (Palestine-info, May 7, 2009; Al-Aqsa TV, May 7; other Palestinian media).
Palestine-info, May 7, 2009
The personal belongings of Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas operative killed in Operation Cast Lead
and portrayed by Khaled Mash'al as a model jihad commander (Palestine-info, May 7, 2009)
1 Palestinian media have published reports on enforcement measures taken by Hamas, even though Hamas denied those out of internal Palestinian considerations. For example, Fatah elements claimed that the Hamas police deployed vehicle checkpoints in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent rocket fire (Pal Press, May 5). Hamas denied the reports and claimed that those were fabrications designed to tarnish the movement, adding that Hamas would not become “ Israel 's protector” (Maan, May 6). The Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida wrote that PIJ leader Ramadan Shalah complained to Iran 's President Ahmadinejad, during the latter's visit in Damascus , about the attitude of Hamas operatives to PIJ operatives in the Gaza Strip. He complained about the detention of PIJ operatives and said that they were “intolerable”. Khaled Mash'al, on his part, talked (to the Iranian President?) about “an agreement shared by the PIJ to stop firing rockets at Israel ” so that the PIJ would not have excuses (to fire rockets from the Gaza Strip) (Al-Jarida, May 17, 2009).
2 During his visit in Damascus , Iran 's President Ahmadinejad met with the Hamas Political Bureau chief, Khaled Mash'al (May 5). Iran's Fars News Agency reported that the Iranian President stressed the importance of finding a “solution” to the problem of Palestine through “resistance” (i.e., violence and terrorism) and called upon the Islamic countries to support the Palestinian people and the “resistance” (Fars, May 6). A “top Iranian official” said that Iran would soon hold a conference for the support of the “resistance” ( Al-Khaleej , Iran , May 10).
3 An Information Bulletin on this issue will soon be published in English.
Rational people support Israel, not the ISM whch is run by Hamas and the PLO.
Here Maggie-
If you really want to learn:
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
May 11, 2009
Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al has recently addressed the issue of rocket fire and of terrorism (“resistance”) in general. In an interview geared towards Americans, he admitted that Hamas is currently exercising restraint in firing rockets, whereas when speaking to Palestinians, he stressed that “resistance” remained the strategic option of Hamas.
Gaza Strip memorial rally for two Hamas leaders
Gaza Strip memorial rally for two Hamas leaders, Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan, killed in Operation Cast Lead. In a live televised address to the participants, Khaled Mash’al stressed that “resistance” was still Hamas’s strategic option until the “liberation” (of Palestine) and the restoration of “Palestinian rights”.
Overview
1. The issue of using the strategy of terrorism (“resistance”) and, more specifically, the rocket fire policy, have recently been publicly addressed by Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al. In an interview to the New York Times, geared towards an American target audience, Mash'al chose to present a “pragmatic” approach, stressing the policy of restraint Hamas has lately been following with regard to firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. However, in a speech for Hamas's supporters in the Gaza Strip, who took part in a memorial rally for two Hamas leaders killed in Operation Cast Lead, Khaled Mash'al stressed that “resistance” has been and will remain the movement's strategic option for restoring “Palestinian rights”, and that Hamas will make no concessions about the “resistance” (see Appendix for details).
2. What Khaled Mash'al said about firing rockets in the New York Times interview (even though one day later he said that he had been misunderstood) and to the participants of the rally in the Gaza Strip reflects, in our assessment, two sides of the same coin: ideologically and strategically, Hamas was and still remains committed to using violence and terrorism (“resistance”) as the preferred strategy of obtaining “Palestinian rights” (that is, the destruction of the State of Israel as a political entity). At the same time, however, it does not rule out a cessation or reduction of terrorist activities for limited periods of time, if it receives something worthwhile in exchange from Israel and when it believes that Palestinian (or its own) interests call for such a lull in the fighting.
3. In the New York Times interview, Khaled Mash'al said that Hamas operatives had for the time being ceased firing on Israel due to the “Palestinians' interest”. Similar statements attributed to Hamas have recently been published on Palestinian and Arab media. Indeed, the extent of rocket fire and mortar shelling from the Gaza Strip has dropped considerably over the past two months, since mid-March 2009. During that time, the extent of such attacks was reduced to a “trickle” of several mortar shells or rockets per week, at times even coming to a complete halt (in comparison, attacks were considerably more frequent following Operation Cast Lead, with 10 to 30 rockets or mortar shells fired per week). Over the past several weeks, the terrorist organizations' activities have focused mostly on setting IEDs and occasionally firing mortar shells at IDF patrols near the border. It is our assessment that the relative calm is a result not just of Hamas's reluctance to fire rocket, but also of its readiness to extend that restraint to other terrorist organizations, going as far as to impose some level of enforcement when necessary. 1
Rocket fire and mortar shelling since the end of Operation Cast Lead
Rocket fire and mortar shelling since the end of Operation Cast Lead
4. It is our assessment that Hamas's policy of restraint on rocket fire stems mostly from the fact that its current top priority is to undo the damage caused in Operation Cast Lead, which it perceives as a basic, fundamental interest of the movement and of the population in general. While repairing the physical damage caused to the civilian population, Hamas is hard at work on rebuilding its military infrastructure and reinforcing its control mechanisms over the population. At the same time, Khaled Mash'al and other Hamas spokesmen (who have the support of the Iranians 2) emphasize that the current policy of restraint is the result of various circumstances and consideration for the population's interests, and that Hamas's fundamental adherence to the path of “resistance” (violence and terrorism) as the strategic alternative for achieving its goals still stands. In addition, while espousing a policy of restraint in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is running an incitement campaign to encourage individuals to perpetrate terrorist attacks in the West Bank and in Israel , expecting them to eventually become an all-out military uprising, “the third intifada”. 3
Appendix
Khaled Mash'al's interview to the New York Times and reactions to the interview
1. Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al has recently (and uncharacteristically) granted an interview to the New York Times, geared towards the American target audience. In the interview, given from Damascus , he addressed, among other subjects, the issue of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip at Israel , saying that Hamas operatives had currently stopped firing rockets at Israel . Khaled Mash'al also made an effort to demonstrate that Hamas was able to control its own operatives as well as operatives belonging to other organizations (New York Times, May 4, 2009). Following is an excerpt in which Khaled Mash'al addressed the cessation of rocket attacks and the reasoning behind it: “Not firing the rockets currently is part of an evaluation from the movement which serves the Palestinians' interest. After all, the firing is a method, not a goal. Resistance is legitimate right, but practicing such a right comes under an evaluation by the movement's leaders.”
2. Khaled Mash'al's statement about the rocket fire is part of his attempt to present a pragmatic approach to the American public opinion and to President Obama's new administration. Following are additional issues brought up in the interview:
a. Early in the interview, Khaled Mash'al assured the American administration and the international community that Hamas would be “part of the solution, period”. Mash'al noted that President Obama spoke positively, unlike his predecessor, but was not pleased with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that her statements reflected the policies of the previous American administration.
b. According to Khaled Mash'al, there is only one enemy in the Middle East, that enemy being Israel , the existence of which he is not willing to recognize. He said that Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas gained nothing from their willingness to recognize Israel . Nevertheless, Hamas will be willing for a long-term ten-year truce with Israel, provided that its fundamental demands are fulfilled: “On the two-state solution sought by the Americans, he said: ‘We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes East Jerusalem , the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.' Asked what ‘long-term' meant, he said 10 years.”
c. Following up on his statement on Hamas's current avoidance of rocket fire (as cited above), Khaled Mash'al said that Hamas was “eager for a ceasefire with Israel ” (i.e., a new lull agreement). Hamas is also eager to exchange the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for “many Palestinian prisoners”.
d. Khaled Mash'al confirmed that Hamas was assisted by Iran , claiming, however, that the assistance was “not conditioned” and that it did not control or affect the movement's policies.
e. Asked if Hamas was a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and if it wanted to bring strict Muslim law to Gaza and the West Bank, Khaled Mash'al answered that Hamas's priority was “ending the occupation” and “achieving the [Palestinian] national project.” As for the nature of the future Palestinian state, “it's to be determined by the people. It will never be imposed upon them” (in practice, in its day-to-day policy in the Gaza Strip, Hamas imposes the Islamic law and the Islamic code on the local population under its control).
Reactions to Khaled Mash'al's interview to the New York Times
3. The day after the interview was published, Khaled Mash'al claimed that the New York Times misrepresented his statements about Hamas's decision to cease firing rockets at present. According to Mash'al, he meant to say that the decision whether to fire or to cease fire depended on Hamas's strategic decision, made based on a variety of considerations. He stressed that Israel (“the Zionist entity”) was the one always initiating the “aggression”, and that firing rockets was a “defense measure” of the Palestinian people, used while taking into consideration the circumstances of the Palestinian people (Palestine-info, May 5).
4. Top PIJ official Nafez Azzam granted an interview in which he commented on Khaled Mash'al's New York Times interview. He said that his organization would discuss the issue of the lull in bi-lateral talks with the Hamas leadership, as well as with the other organizations. He made it clear that the PIJ refused a long-term ceasefire with Israel but it may agree to a “tactical lull for a certain period of time”, just as it agreed to the 18-month lull offered by Egypt following Operation Cast Lead, which, as he claimed, was undermined by Israel (Pal-today website, May 3).
Khaled Mash'al's statement at a memorial rally for Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan
5. On May 7, a memorial rally for Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan, two Hamas leaders killed in Operation Cast Lead, was held in the Gaza City Rashad al-Shawa Culture Center. Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al gave a speech from Damascus , broadcasted live to the memorial rally's participants. The rally was attended by the senior leadership of the Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip, which is an inseparable part of Hamas's military-security infrastructure.
6. In his speech, Khaled Mash'al noted that no one (referring to the Palestinian Authority) had the right to negotiate the “rights” and “principles” of the Palestinian people. Portraying Said Siyam and Nizar Rayan as model jihad warriors, he stressed that the “resistance” was Hamas's strategic option for “liberation” (i.e., the “liberation of Palestine”) and for “restoring the rights”, and that Hamas would make no concessions regarding the “resistance” under its leadership. Referring to the issue of smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip, he stressed that “resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people, and no one has the right to keep the Gaza Strip from arming itself or to choke it in order to prevent weapons from coming in” (a broad hint at Egypt, which stepped up its activities to prevent weapons smuggling following the exposure of the Hezbollah network on its territory) (Palestine-info, May 7, 2009; Al-Aqsa TV, May 7; other Palestinian media).
Palestine-info, May 7, 2009
The personal belongings of Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas operative killed in Operation Cast Lead
and portrayed by Khaled Mash'al as a model jihad commander (Palestine-info, May 7, 2009)
1 Palestinian media have published reports on enforcement measures taken by Hamas, even though Hamas denied those out of internal Palestinian considerations. For example, Fatah elements claimed that the Hamas police deployed vehicle checkpoints in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent rocket fire (Pal Press, May 5). Hamas denied the reports and claimed that those were fabrications designed to tarnish the movement, adding that Hamas would not become “ Israel 's protector” (Maan, May 6). The Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida wrote that PIJ leader Ramadan Shalah complained to Iran 's President Ahmadinejad, during the latter's visit in Damascus , about the attitude of Hamas operatives to PIJ operatives in the Gaza Strip. He complained about the detention of PIJ operatives and said that they were “intolerable”. Khaled Mash'al, on his part, talked (to the Iranian President?) about “an agreement shared by the PIJ to stop firing rockets at Israel ” so that the PIJ would not have excuses (to fire rockets from the Gaza Strip) (Al-Jarida, May 17, 2009).
2 During his visit in Damascus , Iran 's President Ahmadinejad met with the Hamas Political Bureau chief, Khaled Mash'al (May 5). Iran's Fars News Agency reported that the Iranian President stressed the importance of finding a “solution” to the problem of Palestine through “resistance” (i.e., violence and terrorism) and called upon the Islamic countries to support the Palestinian people and the “resistance” (Fars, May 6). A “top Iranian official” said that Iran would soon hold a conference for the support of the “resistance” ( Al-Khaleej , Iran , May 10).
3 An Information Bulletin on this issue will soon be published in English. Rational people support Israel. Groups supporting Hamas and the ISM are not peace activists.
I'll get around to addressing some of your points - but I'm moving it to this thread:
Who is Lee Kaplan v2.0This way those following along in the recent repost can also see your answers.
Also, Lee there is no need to repost the same comment more than once.
I'm going to have my coffee now.
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