Amkha Yisrael

The "Israel and Occupied Territories" chapter in the US State Department's 2005 International Religious Freedom Report "expands its criticisms of Israel's treatment of non-Orthodox Jewish denominations, and places Israel on notice that the United States is monitoring its treatment of other minorities, including 'messianic Jews' and faiths practiced by guest workers," according to this report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

David Saperstein, who directs the Reform movement's Religious Action Center in Washington, "said his group has raised these issues in meetings with Bush administration officials...."

Some comments by David Ashley:

Excuse me? What the hell? Why has he "raised these issues" with the Bushies? Since when do Jews take their religious problems with fellow Jews to Goyisher presidents to resolve? Oh, wait. I know since when. Ever since the age of the Jewish Hellenists in Jerusalem.....

Also, I wonder if the State Department report included criticism of the discrimination in favor of Muslims and against Israeli Jews who wish to pray on the Temple Mount, Judaism's primary holy site. Did it criticize Israel for forbidding Jewish prayer on the Mount? No? Oh, right. Jerusalem, according to the US State Department, is not really in Israel, is it?

And did the report include the discrimination giving Israeli Muslim Arabs an automatic exemption from military service? No?

The JTA story goes on to explain that the State Department report gave "special attention" to how the counter-terrorism security barrier "has kept Palestinian Muslims and Christians from reaching religious services in Jerusalem and Bethlehem."

I'd say that the US State Department report neglected yet another serious infringement of Muslim religious practice by Israel.

That so-called "security barrier" has also kept many "Palestinian Muslims", some of whom were later even captured or killed by Israel, from fulfilling their religious duty of Jihad and murdering infidel Jews. Terrible.

In a report filed by Scott Shiloh for the Israel National News web site a description of the elimination of two major Arab terrorists in an Israeli air strike included the following few informative paragraphs:

Two major Arab terrorists were killed Tuesday afternoon when Israeli Air Force planes fired a missile at a car in the town of Jebalia in Gaza.

One of the terrorists, Hassan Al Madhun, was active in the Al Aksa Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

Another terrorist killed in the vehicle, Fuazi Abu Kara, was a member of the military wing of the Hamas, the Al Kassam Brigades.

The two men were killed in a vehicle bearing a license plate belonging to the PA's official security apparatus.

There you have it: a Fatah terrorist, together with a Hamas terrorist, in an official Palestinian Authority vehicle. It was essentially the PA in miniature: Hamas, Abu Mazen's Fatah and the PA he leads are all in the same murderous boat (or car, in this case).

Even if they may be in conflict with each other over obtaining the power to oppress and extort their brethren, the PA, Fatah and Hamas are most definitely united in terrorizing and murdering Jews and in trying to exterminate Israel.

Anyone remember what we were told to expect after the Oslo Accords? The PLO of Yasser Arafat will fight the Islamist terrorists of Hamas "without the High Court and without [the human rights watchdog] B'tzelem," in the pathetic words of the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. And now? We are expected to believe, once again, that the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority will confront the Hamas. This time, at least, no one expects the PA chieftan to actually fight terrorism, but only to "disarm" the Hamas members. And even that can be accomplished by deputizing the lot of them into the PA "security forces" and then officially "issuing" them their own weapons.

Ah, maybe that is what the terrorists were doing riding in a PA security services vehicle - picking up their badges.