Palestinians reject BDS, flock to Israeli beaches

During the month of Ramadan Israeli authorities granted permits to tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank to visit Israel. The visitors converged on the beaches and in parks and shopping malls.

Photos from Getty

From an article at Gatestone Institute by Khaled Abu Toameh

For many years, the Palestinians had been complaining about Israeli restrictions that ban them from entering Israel, but during the holy month of Ramadan, in an unprecedented move, the Israeli authorities granted permits to tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank to visit Israel during the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims from the West Bank have been entering Jerusalem for Friday prayers at the Aqsa Mosque without permits.

Many Palestinians, particularly shopkeepers in the city, welcomed the Israeli move, noting that it boosted the local economy.

Then, in a move that angered Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinians, the Israeli authorities went a step farther by allowing tens of thousands of West Bank Palestinians to enter the rest of Israel.

For the first time in many years, in scenes reminiscent of the good old days before the peace process when Palestinians were able to enter Israel freely, the beaches of Tel Aviv and Jaffa were full of Palestinian Muslims who also converged on shopping malls and water parks in different parts of the country.

But the scenes of Palestinians enjoying themselves on Israeli beaches and shopping in Israeli malls have angered Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas also fears that the easing of restrictions may have a moderating effect on Palestinians at a time when the Islamist movement is working hard to recruit more followers, especially in the West Bank.

Hamas does not want to see Palestinians happy and enjoying themselves, especially not in Israel. Hamas would prefer to see Palestinians live in misery and poverty so that it could find fertile soil for recruiting terrorists.

The Palestinian Authority, for its part, is now accusing Israel of seeking to damage the Palestinian economy by opening its doors to Palestinian vacationers and shoppers.

Some Palestinian officials in Ramallah are even talking about an Israeli "conspiracy" to undermine the Palestinian Authority. Other officials are opposed to the new Israeli policy because they believe it is aimed at promoting "normalization" with Israel -- something the Palestinian Authority leadership considers a crime...

For years, the Palestinian Authority has been demanding that Israel lift travel restrictions imposed on West Bank Palestinians. But now that Israel has permitted tens of thousands of Muslims to visit its beaches and malls, Israel is being denounced for trying to damage the Palestinian economy.

What is clear is that neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas wants to see Palestinians living a good life. Improving the living standards of Palestinians is something that these two parties are not interested in. They would rather see Palestinians direct all their anger and frustration only toward Israel.

Otherwise, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority fear, Palestinians may vent their anger against their own leaders

Greg Grunberg: ISRAEL=LOVE+PEACE+HISTORY

America’s Voices in Israel program brings well known Americans to Israel- to relate what they've seen to their followers,

A group of stars recently returned from Israel:

Mary Lynn Rajskub who played Chloe O’Brian on 24.
Shaun Sipos,starred as David Breck on Melrose Place.
Greg Grunberg who played Matt Parkman on Heroes.
Justin Chatwin from The Invisible, Dragonball Evolution.
Austin Nichols from One Tree Hill.

And yes. They loved it. Effusively. They loved the history and they loved the people.

And they've been tweeting about it, too. Did you happen to notice this tweet from Greg Grunberg: SHALOM & Thank You to ALL the amazing PEOPLE of #Israel who made us feel SO at HOME. ISRAEL=LOVE+PEACE+HISTORY



Israel "History that will blow you away." Thanks, Greg!
And to JVP, Code Pink, PACBI, and all you other BDS'ers: Why yes, this counts as a great big juicy BDS Fail.

Hows that "secular democractic state" going for you, btw?

So, How's that "secular democratic state in Palestine " working out for you?

From the MAAN News Agency


AZA CITY (Ma'an) Police shut down the Gaza branch of a social media conference on Sunday, days after another video conference was closed by authorities in the coastal strip.

Billed as the first Palestinian social media conference, the three-day event opened Sunday in Ramallah's Cultural Palace with a video link to the Light House Hotel in Gaza City.

Mohammad Abu Sharkh, Gaza office director of conference organizers Amin, said police entered the conference venue and ordered it shut as it had failed to obtain requisite licenses.

Abu Sharkh said in a press statement that the group had sent a formal letter to authorities notifying them of the conference.

"They told us there was no problem," he said.

When police arrived, the organizers complained to Gaza's media ministry who tried to intervene, but without success, Abu Sharkh said.

They were informed the conference could proceed as soon as the necessary licenses were obtained, he added.

On Thursday, police shut down the Gaza venue of a conference on labor rights for women organized by the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (Musawa), the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said.

PCHR said the event coordinator had notified police of the event two days prior and called on the government and security services to stop interfering in private meetings.

The law on prior police notification applies only to meetings of more than 50 people in an open place, and thus not to Musawa's event, PCHR said at the time.

The rights group said closing down the conference "constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly which are ensured under the constitution."



Gaza Police (MaanImages/Wissam Nassar, File)

Israel Under Assault from Gaza

Over 35 rockets and mortars have been launched from Gaza against the civilian population of Israel today. One Israeli was killed by shrapnel from a rocket fired at a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon and 4 others were wounded. A second rocket fired at Ashkelon directly struck a home, setting it on fire. Ashdod was targeted by at least three Grad rockets, with one slamming into an empty school.




Shrapnel hit school in Ashdod (Photo: Zeev Trachtman)





Fire in Ashdod (Photo: Shai Ben-Yishai)


Schools in Ashdod, Beersheba and Kiryat Malachi were cancelled by local officials, and the IDF Home Front Command has asked people who live in areas up to 40 kilometers from Gaza to stay within close range of bomb shelters. All public events are canceled by order of IDF, including a rally for social justice scheduled for Beersheba.

Palestinian sources reported Saturday that at five terrorists were killed and 11 others were wounded after the Air Force struck an Islamic Jihad cell in the Gaza Strip Saturday. The terrorists were members of a cell that fired a Grad rocket at Israel earlier this week.

One of the terrorists killed is Ahmed Sheikh Khalil, a senior commander in the al-Quds Brigades.

WikiLeaks: Syria Aimed Chemical Weapons at Israel

From WikiLeaks: via Ronen Bergman at Ynet News
Syria Aimed Chemical Weapons at Israel

Syria placed long-range missiles equipped with chemical warheads on high alert after an attack on a Syrian nuclear plant in 2007, WikiLeaks documents obtained by Yediot Ahronot indicate.

In March 2008, then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a group of U.S. congressmen that Syria's mobile missile system was on full alert after the 2007 incident.

Syria has a large number of Scud missiles able to hit all parts of Israel. Some of those missiles are armed with chemical warheads.

According to foreign reports, Israel's Mossad obtained information on the nuclear plant, built for Syria by North Korea, from a laptop stolen from a senior Syrian official.

Attack of the Killer "homemade resistance rockets"

This week alone, there have been over 70 attacks on Israeli soil, using what American Muslims for Palestine has called "homemade resistance rockets". Some of the "resistance rockets", are Grad missiles from Iran, home to 73 million. (Is that what they mean by "homemade"?) On March 22, a Grad missile fired from the Gaza Strip landed near Ashdod - a port city in southern Israel with a population of over 200,000.On March 23, a Grad missile fired from Gaza landed in the city of Beer Sheba, causing damage to infrastructure and a residential building. One man was injured by shrapnel and transferred to the Soroka Hospital. Three other people were treated for shock. On 21 March, in response to a barrage of mortar shells, Kassam and Grad missiles (er, um "homemade resistance rockets") fired from Gaza, IAF aircraft targeted two terror tunnels, two weapons manufacturing and storage facilities and other terror sites in Gaza.

Why is there an escalation in attacks from Gaza? Are the narcissistic Palestinians simply looking for a way return to the center of the world stage after its domination by the Japanese? (How dare they distract the world from the suffering of the Palestinians!). Are they trying to galvanize public attention before the next ship of fools sails to Gaza at the end of May? Or is this the start of a new intifada against Israel?

And it case you've forgotten, "Homemade resistance rockets" kill. They main. And they terrorize.
From the Israel Project
June 5, 2008 - Amnon Rosenberg, 51, killed by a mortar bomb which struck Moshav Yesha
May 12, 2008 - Shuli Katz, 70, killed by a Qassam rocket which struck Moshav Yesha
May 9, 2008 - Jimmy Kedoshim from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, aged 48, killed by a mortar shell fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip
Feb 27, 2008 – Roni Yihye, 47, a student, killed on Sapir College campus while sitting in his car
May 27, 2007 - Oshri Oz, 36, from Hod Hasharon. Killed in Sderot when a rocket hit his vehicle as he was driving.
May 21, 2007 - Shirel Friedman, 32, from Sderot, killed when standing near a car that was struck by a rocket
Nov. 21, 2006 - Yaakov Yaakobov, 43, from Sderot. Severely injured while at work in a Sderot poultry processing plant and died from his wounds one day later.
Nov. 11, 2006 - Faina Slutzker, 57, killed when a rocket hits the street where she is walking.
March 28, 2006 - Salam Ziadin and Khalid, 16, a Bedouin father and son, killed when a Qassam rocket they find in the Nahal Oz area explodes.
July 15, 2005 - Dana Gelkowitz, 22, killed by a Qassam that strikes a home in Moshav Nativ Ha'asara.
Jan. 15, 2005 - Ayala Haya Abukasis, 17, killed when a rocket hits Sderot.
Sept. 29, 2004 - Dorit Inso, 2, killed when two rockets hit her residence building.
Sept. 29, 2004 - Yuval Abeva, 4, killed when two rockets hit his residence building.
June 28, 2004 - Afik Ohion Zehavi, 4, killed when a rocket lands in his nursery school in Sderot.
June 28, 2004 - Mordechai Yosephus, 49, killed when a rocket lands in a kindergarten in Sderot.

Total Deaths from Mortar Fire in the Former Israeli Settlements in Gaza: 8
Dec. 14, 2005 - Jitladda Tap-arsa, 20, a female Thai national, was killed while working in a greenhouse in the Gush Katif settlement of Ganei Tal.
June 7, 2005 - Bi Shude, 46, a Chinese national, was killed while working in a greenhouse in the Gush Katif settlement of Ganei Tal.
June 7, 2005 - Muhammad Mahmoud Jaroum, a Palestinian worker, was killed while working in a greenhouse in the Gush Katif settlement of Ganei Tal.
June 7, 2005 - Muslah Umran, a Palestinian worker, was killed while working in a greenhouse in the Gush Katif settlement of Ganei Tal.
Jan. 2, 2005 - Nissim Arbiv, 26, of Nissanit, was severely injured by a mortar shell in the Erez industrial zone. He died from his injuries ten days later.
Oct. 28, 2004 - Sgt. Michael Chizik, 21, of Tiberias, was killed when a mortar shell landed in the Morag outpost in Gush Katif.
Sept. 24, 2004: Tiferet Tratner, 24, of Neve Dekalim, was killed in her home by a mortar attack on the Gush Katif settlement bloc.
Nov. 24, 2001 - St.-Sgt. Barak Madmon, from Holon, 26, was killed by a mortar strike while on reserve duty in Kfar Darom.