From the Editor

RENAMING GAZA COMMUNITIES

The Palestinian Authority is planning to rename the 24 Gaza communities Israel has ethnically cleansed of Jews. While the PA says it is certain that one settlement will be called "Arafat" it is mulling over proposals to name Netzarim or Kfar Darom after slain Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin and Atzmona after a Palestinian "martyr." We at AFSI have come up with additional suitable suggestions: for Nevei Dekalim (the largest of the Jewish communities) Bin Ladenville, for Netzer Hazani, Qaedatown and for Elei Sinai, Jihadville.

A NEW BASE FOR AL QAEDA?

While President Bush fantasizes about liberal democracy coming to Gaza, in the real world al-Qaeda is setting up shop there. On World Net Daily Aaron Klein reports that a group called Jundallah or "Allah's Brigade," which boasts of close ties to al-Qaeda, claimed in May that it had begun operating in Gaza. It is composed primarily of former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members who believe Palestinian terror groups are "too moderate."
Klein quotes former Israeli military intelligence chief Yaacov Amidror: "It's becoming clear Hamas will take over Gaza when Israel leaves...The Gaza Strip will become a paradise [for terror groups] because it will be an area in which the population and the terror groups in power, especially Hamas, share the same ideology as Al-Qaeda. Today, one of the weaknesses of Al-Qaeda is its lack of a safe haven in the Middle East....Al-Qaeda isn't seeking control of Gaza. Hamas emphasizes the war against Israel...Al -Qaeda would use its Gaza base to fight against infidels around the world."

JUDEA AND SAMARIA NEXT

As Hamas and al-Qaeda prepare to take over Gaza, the Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of armed militias now in Gaza, has announced it would move operations to "the West Bank" immediately after Israel's Gaza retreat. Jamal Abu Samhadaneh, commander of the group, wanted by Israel for his role in a series of terror attacks, says he is mulling over an offer by the Palestinian Authority to assume a senior position in its Military Intelligence Force.

Samhadaneh reports that the Israeli pullout from Lebanon "enhanced our belief that the option of resistance can succeed, especially through qualitative operations against the occupation." ("Qualitative operations" are his euphemism for the suicide bombings, drive-by shootings and rocket attacks employed by Hezbollah.) "We learned from Hezbollah and started establishing armed cells that have carried out special operations against settlements....Thank God, the withdrawal [from Gaza and northern Samaria] has been achieved through the blood of our martyrs."

Now Samhadaneh promises his group will use the same "fighting tactics" in Judea and Samaria. "We will transfer all our fighting methods and capabilities to the West Bank."

ENDING HOPE

The following is from an article by Ariel Sharon "Truth in the Wilderness" in The Jerusalem Post (International Edition) of March 10, 1995: "There's just one ray of light in the national camp, and that's the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Settlers' Council. I have been part of their campaign for years, setting up an information network in the US and Europe. For years the settlers have been defamed by the government, as well as by the media here and abroad...the great majority are quiet, strongly motivated, idealistic and self-controlled. And as long as they're there, there's hope."

This and the many similar statements from Sharon over the years explains why the Gaza communities felt so staggered by his betrayal. Sharon, by his own account, is destroying Israel's hope for survival.

WINSTON CHURCHILL ON ISLAM

Our thanks to Andrew Bostom M.D, author of the new book The Legacy of Jihad for bringing the following passage from an early Churchill book to our attention:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live...The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities...but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa...and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome." (Sir Winston Churchill, The River War, Vol. II, pp. 248-50, London: Longman, Green & Co., 1899)

SAUDI DOUBLESPEAK

In February Saudi Arabia hosted an international counter-terrorism conference producing the so-called Riyadh Declaration. It spoke of "the importance of enhancing the values of understanding, tolerance, dialogue...bringing cultures together...combating any ideology that calls for hatred, instigates violence, or justifies the terrorism crimes that are denounced by all religions."

In July, on Capitol Hill, MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute) showed an hour long collection of clips from the last year compiled from TV stations funded and controlled by the Saudi government. As Steven Stalinsky reports on FrontPage, most of the clips MEMRI assembled wound up on the cutting room floor for it would have taken all day to view the examples of hatred it had gathered from Saudi religious figures, professors, members of the royal family and assorted intellectuals. Certain themes surfaced again and again, writes Stalinsky: "calls for the annihilation of Christians and Jews; anti-American and anti-Semitic declarations; rallying cries for jihad and terrorism; and incitement against American troops in Iraq."

"VICTORY" POEMS

In The Jerusalem Post Khaled Abu Toameh reports on some of the popular poetry being recited during celebrations in the wake of Israel’s ignominious retreat from Gaza. Here is poet Khamis Lutfi: “Today, tomorrow and the memories are ours. So are Jerusalem, Hebron, Jaffa and Haifa and the Galilee. All of Palestine is ours, from the river to the sea. O modern barbarians, go away!....We will destroy you and we will chase you forever.”

Then there is Fida Awni’s “Victory Wedding.” “Oh Gaza, after you it will be Haifa and all the other cities. O Jaffa, we promise you that we will come.”

Equally lyrical is Khalil Amr whose song describes Israel’s retreat from Gaza under fire: “O brothers listen — I have something to tell you about Gaza. The enemy is being wiped out. They are leaving proud Gaza in panic and to the noises of explosions and gunshots.”

And then there is songwriter Ibtisam Mustafa who calls upon all the armed groups to liberate Palestine: “O brigades be prepared, Gaza has been restored! Start preparing to liberate the rest of the land. Drive the Zionist out. O Hamas, let’s liberate Jerusalem with the help of your soldiers and glorious rockets.”