The Vicious Babushka

Palestinians Drop Big Honking Cinder Blocks on Jews at "Disputed Holy Site," Claim It's Israel's Fault

Palestinians worship peacefully at the Harm Al Sharif, known to Jews as the "Temple Mount." AP Photo.

Palestinian president's office issues special statement following Temple Mount clashes, says Friday's events 'aimed at damaging the chances to resume the peace process.' PA calls on US to intervene in order to 'stop the adventure which may spark a religious war in the region.' Syria condemns 'desecration of Arab and Islamic sanctities'

The Palestinian Authority on Friday pointed a finger at Israel following clashes which broke out on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and left 60 Palestinians and about 20 police officers injured. Eight policemen were evacuated to hospitals in the capital. Five protestors were detained for questioning.

According to a special statement released by the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, "Today's events were aimed at damaging the chances of resuming the peace process and Israel is crossing all the red lines – after the Arab League's monitoring committee recommended that the negotiations between the sides be resumed."

The statement also said that Abbas, who was being updated on the events in Jerusalem, had called on the American administration to "stop the adventure which may ignite a religious war in the region" and demanded that the international community "take responsibility and stop the Israeli recklessness, which may have serious implications on the entire region and on peace and security in the entire world."

Syria said Friday it "condemns the Israeli aggression" at the Temple Mount which showed the Jewish state rejected efforts to relaunch the peace process.

"The desecration of Arab and Islamic sanctities comes as the Arab League accepted the launch of indirect negotiations... which is further evidence of the seriousness of Israel's quest for peace," said a foreign ministry statement.

"It's also proof that the Israeli policy rejects the peace process and seeks to liquidate the Palestinian cause."

Read more at YNet.

Bahrain Foreign Minister Admits Meeting with U.S. Jews

Bahrain Foreign Minister (right) at home of Rabbi Avraham Shemtov in Washington D.C.

Bahrain's foreign minister, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, has denied media reports that his meeting last month with Jews in the US was a secret, insisting that the American society was now ready to listen to Arab views.

"The meeting was never a secret. I have mentioned it on my Twitter, which allows many people around the world to follow and to interact with me," Shaikh Khalid said. "I received a dinner invitation from American citizens who were Jews. There was no Israeli present at the meeting," the minister told Al Wasat daily.

According to Shaikh Khalid, diplomats often receive invitations from all the components of the US society.

"I will not hesitate to hold similar meetings with Americans. Such meetings are not based on religion and a diplomat meets all components of society. At such meetings, we must have views to share with others. The US society is now ready to listen to the Arab view that is committed to the Arab League and to the Arab peace initiative," he said.

For the foreign minister, there is a strong need to convey the Arab view to all parties concerned with the conflict in the Middle East, and he blamed "attempts to abort putting across the Arab views on ways to achieve peace".

Newspapers and agencies have claimed that Shaikh Khalid made the secret visit to the office of a Rabbi to meet Israelis.

Read more at COLLive.com

If the Sheikh thinks that Chabad will help him promote the "Arab Peace Initiative" he has another think coming.

Epic Fail: "Queers For Palestine" at Apartheidapalooza

World's stupidest Hamas shills, ever.

Queers for Palestine on Wiki.

Also: Queers protest Israel at Victoria's Secret.

Dubai Using Racial Profiling to Ban Jews

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Following the assassination of a Hamas operative, Dubai police will attempt to identify Israelis traveling on foreign passports by assessing their physical features and manner of speaking upon arrival, the police chief said Monday.

Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim said travelers suspected of being Israeli will not be allowed into the Gulf country even if they arrive with alternative passports. The Emirates will "deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship," Tamim said.

The move follows the killing of a senior Hamas operative in Dubai, blamed by the Emirates authorities on Israel's Mossad spy agency.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in a Dubai hotel room Jan. 20. The authorities have identified at least 26 suspects of the alleged hit squad that traveled to Dubai on fake identities and forged European and Australian passports to kill al-Mabhouh.

At least 15 of the suspected killers share names with Israeli citizens, further fueling suspicions the Mossad was behind the hit.

"It is disgraceful how the killers abused European (and other) passports and UAE soil to assassinate," Tamim told reporters at the sidelines of a security conference in Abu Dhabi.

"We will not allow those who hold Israeli passports into the UAE no matter what other passport they have," Tamim said.

He did not explain what procedures would be used to identify the Israeli visitors, except that the police will "develop skills" to recognize Israelis by "physical features and the way they speak."

Read more at Associated Press.
 

Another Mossad Trick? Shark Tank in Dubai Mall Springs a Leak

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Water gushed from a leak in a shark-filled aquarium in a ritzy Dubai mall on Thursday, sending startled shoppers scattering and shutting down nearby shops in one of the city's proudest attractions.

Amateur video footage posted on the Web site of Dubai newspaper Gulf News showed what appeared to be hundreds of gallons of water showering down on the polished tiled floor of the Dubai Mall, which sits in the shadow of the world's tallest tower.

The timing is unfortunate for Dubai, which is trying to restore its once gilded image as it wades through a torrent of negative publicity generated by its burst property bubble, crippling debt pile and the assassination of a top Hamas commander in an airport hotel last month.

The incident also raises new questions about building safety in the city-state, which pushed through ever more extravagant and complicated construction projects until the economic downturn halted its rapid-fire growth. Less than three weeks ago, trapped tourists had to be pulled from a stuck elevator in the mall owner's record-breaking Burj Khalifa skyscraper nearby. The world's largest tower, due to accept its first permanent tenants in March, has yet to reopen to the public.

The breach in the 2.6 million gallon tank at the Dubai Mall, open little more than a year, was quickly plugged and caused no harm to the 33,000 fish inside, according to mall owner Emaar Properties. It was not clear when the attraction featuring an "underwater" tunnel would reopen.

Read more at Associated Press.

Doofus of the Day: Student Who Shouted "Slaughter the Jews!" at Oxford Says He Didn't Really Mean It

 
Oxford anti-Israel Demonstration

LONDON – The Oxford student who shouted “slaughter the Jews” in Arabic at Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon during his talk at the university last week says his remark was misunderstood.

The Oxford Student newspaper named the student as sophomore Noor Rashid and said that Rashid claimed he used a classical Arabic chant “Khaybar ya Yahod” which commemorates a seventh-century battle between Arabs and Jews.

The battle of Khaybar was an attack launched by the prophet Muhammad in 629. It led to the defeat of the Jewish community in the Arabian peninsula, forcing the Jews to pay half their income to the Muslim victors.

“My version went: ‘Khaybar, O Jews, we will win.’ This is in classical, Koranic Arabic and I doubt that apart from picking up on the word ‘Jew,’ that even the Arabic speakers in the room would have understood the phrase,” Rashid told The Oxford Student.

“As you can see, I made no reference to killing Jews,” he said, adding that the remark had “absolutely no derogatory or secondary meanings.”

Rashid – who on his Facebook page is a “fan” of Abdul Rahman al-Sudais – the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca – and veteran anti-Israel activist British MP George Galloway – claimed in the article that “Jew” and “Israel” were interchangeable terms and that he had been misunderstood.

Sudais has publicly prayed to God to “terminate” the Jews, and as a result has been barred from conferences in America, and been refused entry to Canada. In 2002, in a sermon, Sudais called the Jews “monkeys and pigs.” He was listed as an example of theological anti-Semitism by the Anti-Defamation League, when he called curses down upon Jews and labeled them the “scum of the earth” in his sermons.

Read more at Jerusalem Post.
 

Palestinian Caught With Pants Down, Blames the Jews

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has suspended one of his top aides under investigation for allegations of being involved in a sex scandal.

Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, said on Sunday that a three-member committee will check out the conduct of Rafiq Husseini, accused by a former Palestinian intelligence official of seeking to trade influence for sex.

Footage of Husseini undressing, getting into bed and calling a woman to join him were broadcast on Israeli TV last week, sending shock waves through conservative Palestinian society.

The report said Husseini will be suspended until the committee announces its findings in three weeks.

Husseini has said he was the victim of a conspiracy by Israelis and some Palestinians to discredit him and Abbas.

Read more at Jerusalem Post. 

Arab Groom Finds Big Surprise Underneath Bride's Niqab

 

DUBAI (AFP) – An Arab ambassador called off his wedding after discovering his wife-to-be, who had worn a face-covering veil whenever they met, was bearded and cross-eyed, the Gulf News reported Wednesday.

The envoy had only met the woman a few times, during which she had hidden her face behind a niqab, or face-covering veil, the paper said.

After the marriage contract was signed, the ambassador attempted to kiss his bride-to-be, upon which he discovered she had facial hair and was cross-eyed, it said.

The ambassador told an Islamic Sharia court in the United Arab Emirates that he was tricked into the marriage as the woman's mother had shown his own mother pictures of her sister instead of her, the report said.

He sued for the contract to be annulled and also demanded the woman pay him 500,000 dirhams (136,000 dollars) for clothes, jewelry and other gifts he had bought for her.

Read more at AFP. 

The Real Palestinian Beauty Queen: The One Who Kills The Most Jews

"Al Qaeda Lady" Demands Jews be Banned from Jury in Terror Trial

Jury selection in the "Lady Al Qaeda" trial got off to a bizarre start Wednesday with the accused terrorist telling jurors she was "boycotting" - and demanding Jews be excluded from the panel.

"If they have a Zionist or Israeli background...they are all mad at me," said Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-trained neuroscientist charged with attempted murder.

"I have a feeling everyone here is them - subject to genetic testing....They should be excluded if you want to be fair," she told Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Berman.

Prospective jurors weren't present for that outburst, but they were in the courtroom to hear her say, "I'm boycotting the trial...there are too many injustices."

At another point, Siddiqui repeatedly refused to talk to her own lawyers, saying she didn't trust them.

"I don't trust you either," she told Berman.

She even tried to toss a handwritten note to prosecutors requesting time each day to pray. Berman said time would be set aside.

Siddiqui, 37, is accused of picking up an M-4 Army rifle and firing two rounds at a team of Americans who tried to question her in Afghanistan on July 18, 2008.

Prosecutors argue she screamed, "Allah Akbar" and vowed to kill Americans before she was wrestled to the ground. She allegedly had two pounds of poisonous sodium cyanide and hundreds of pages of notes and documents on how to build chemical and biological weapons.

Read more at NY Daily News:

Doofus of the Day: Airline Passenger Screams "I Want to Kill Jews!"

MIAMI - An airline passenger in Miami proclaimed ``I want to kill all the Jews'' before police forced him off a Detroit-bound plane, authorities said Thursday.

Mansor Mohammad Asad, 43, of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested Wednesday night, according to a Miami-Dade Police Department statement. Asad was charged with threats against a public servant, disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said there were no indications the disturbance was related to terrorism. The bureau was initially brought in to look into the incident but is no longer involved in the investigation. She said the FBI is treating the disruption as a matter for local authorities.

The disturbance forced a taxiing Northwest Airlines flight to turn around at Miami International Airport, according to a news release. Witnesses told investigators who boarded the plane that Asad was loud, disruptive and claimed to be Palestinian.

Read more at NWFDailyNews.com

Why is it that whenever there is a disruption like this, the first thing the FBI says is "it's not terrorism"? How do they know enough to proclaim that it's "not terrorism"?
 

Spoiled Rotten Saudi Prince: "Israel is Like a Spoiled Child"

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The Saudi foreign minister on Saturday criticized Israel's settlement construction and said the country acts like a "spoiled child" because the international community is not tough enough in pressuring it to make concessions.

Prince Saud al-Faisal said Washington and other players in Mideast peace efforts should take a "firm and serious" stand to put an end to Israeli construction on land Palestinians want for a future state.

Israel's announcement Monday that it is building nearly 700 new apartments for Jews in east Jerusalem is "a source of worry, which we strongly condemn," he said.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as their capital and say each expansion of Jewish housing there is making partition as part of a future peace deal more difficult. The U.S., the Palestinians and the European Union condemned the new Israeli building plan.

Israeli-Palestinian talks broke off a year ago, and the Palestinians refuse to restart talks until all Israeli construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is halted. The Palestinians rejected a partial Israeli settlement freeze as not enough.

The Saudi foreign minister said the international community needed to get tougher with Israel.

Read more at Associated Press.

Isn't that the pot calling the Corningware black?
 

Al-Qaeda Video Warned of Attack on U.S. Before Detroit Plane Bombing

 

A VIDEO threatening revenge for a US attack on an al-Qaeda terrorist camp in Yemen was posted four days before a former British student's botched attempt to blow up an American airliner.

Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been transferred to prison and is due in court in Detroit today after his failed bid to destroy Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew, 20 minutes before landing in Detroit on Christmas Day.

As security was stepped up across airports and flights to and from the US, a second Nigerian man was taken into custody aboard a plane in Detroit yesterday. Police said the incident took place aboard the same Northwest service that was attacked on Christmas Day.

The man had raised concerns because he spent an unusually long time in the plane's toilet, but it later turned out he had a "legitimate illness", Department of Homeland Security officials said.

Abdulmutallab is said to have told US investigators he had been acting on instructions from al-Qaeda. Citing US officials, the Wall Street Journal said the Nigerian claimed al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen had given him the device and told him how to detonate it.

However, there is no firm evidence of a link between al-Qaeda and the Nigerian student, who studied mechanical engineering at University College London between 2005 and 2008.

The video warning was posted in Yemen, where he reportedly began his journey and where he has reportedly claimed to have been trained at an al-Qaeda camp.

In the al-Qaeda video, dated 21 December, a man identified as Mohammed al-Kalwi delivered a eulogy for militants killed in a Yemeni air strike on a militant training camp four days earlier. He said: "We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemies of God. O soldiers, you should learn that we do not want to fight you, nor do we have an issue with you. We only have an issue with America and its agents, and beware of standing in the ranks of America."

Read more at Scotsman.com.

Jews and Muslims Get Into the Christmas Spirit

DETROIT – Many Jews consider Christmas Day an opportunity to serve their community while Christian neighbors celebrate their holiday. This year, what's also known as Mitzvah Day in southeast Michigan is getting an added boost from Muslims.

For the first time, about 40 Muslims are expected to join 900 Jews for what they call their largest annual day of volunteering. Leaders say it's a small but significant step in defusing tensions and promoting good will between the religions _ particularly on a day that is sacred to Christianity, the third Abrahamic faith.

Mitzvah Day, a nearly 20-year tradition in the Detroit area also practiced in other communities, is so named because Mitzvah means "commandment" in Hebrew and is generally translated as a good deed.

The new partnership stemmed from a recent meeting between members of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit _ which said it was unaware of any similar Mitzvah Day alliances.

The Jewish groups organize Mitzvah Day, which consists of volunteers helping 48 local social service agencies with tasks such as feeding the hungry and delivering toys to children in need.

Victor Begg, chairman of the Islamic council, said he was seeking a public way for the two faith communities to "build bridges of understanding and cooperation," which led to joining the Mitzvah Day effort.

"The general public is what we need to give the message to, our entire community," he said.

Not only are most Muslims and Jews available to serve on Christmas Day, but leaders also recognized a shared commitment to community service. Charity in Judaism is known as "tzedakah." In Islam, it's called "zakat."

"It's an interesting parallel," said Robert Cohen, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council. "Both of our faiths predispose us to engaging in this sort of thing."

Muslim and Jewish volunteers will work together at the Gleaners Community Food Bank in Pontiac, about 25 miles north of Detroit.

Read more at Associated Press.

Instead of Babushka's usual snarky comments, I actually think this is very sweet. I always went in to work on Christmas and New Years, performing maintenance and backups.

I just hope these volunteers realize that they can also perform this Mitzvah on 364 other days of the year.
 

The Gollum of Austria: Muslim Bites off Jew's Finger During Hanukkah Candle-Lighting in Vienna

Tricksy Jewses! We hates them! We hates them, precioussss!   

 A Muslim man attacked a Chabad rabbi Saturday night as he was conducting the annual ceremony to light the public Chanukah menorah in Stefenfaltz Square in the city of Vienna, Austria.

The attacker hurled himself at Rabbi Dov Gruzman, principal of the city’s Jewish school run by the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement, and began punching him, a local resident told Arutz Sheva.

As the rabbi tried to hold off his attacker, the Muslim suddenly bit his victim, severing part of his finger in the process. The Muslim was caught and arrested by police, and was held for questioning. The rabbi was evacuated to the hospital where doctors rushed to reattach his finger.

Gruzman told Arutz Sheva that the Muslim had raced towards the entrance at the beginning of the ceremony and began to curse the Jews who were there and the Jewish people in general.

"I tried to hold him off, to keep him away from the entrance and he bit me really hard, and that’s how he injured me," he said.

The event itself did not discourage Rabbi Gruzman, and in fact strengthened his resolve. “We are glad that such an event occurred,” he said.

"Today, because of what happened, we are planning [a much larger event]. We increased the number of sufganiot [Chanukah jelly doughnuts] from 50 to 700 – and this is our answer to the attack and to anti-Semitism."

However, the rabbi himself will be unable to participate in Sunday evening’s ceremony due to the fact that he is still hospitalized, and being monitored for infection from the bite. Nevertheless, he emphasized, through the Chanukah lighting ceremony he sends his blessing to every Jew around the world.

Israel National News.

Iranian Men Wear Hijab in Unique Protest

 
Mahmoud Ahmadinahijab

Men in black (Hijab)

Young Iranians come up with original way to protest arrest of comrade, endorse feminism

Iranian-style protest: Members of Iran's reformist opposition came up with an original way to protest the arrest of their comrade – posting online photos of themselves and of Iran's top leaders dressed up as women.

Following reports that student leader Majid Tavakoli was detained while he was dressed up as a woman, his friends posted online photos, mostly on Facebook, where they are seen dressed up as women as well.

Other activists went further and pasted the faces of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on a Tavakoli's hijab-wearing figure.

The detained activist was arrested by authorities after delivering an impassioned speech against the government. He attempted to evade arrest by dressing up as a woman, and his photo, wearing a hijab, was subsequently published by official news agencies.

Read more at YNet.
 

Ninja Ringwraiths For Hamas

In the photo taken Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009, Islamic Jihad women militants run drills during their first training session in Gaza. Several Islamic Jihad women were suicide bombers during years of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. However, women generally have a muted role in the group, which is vowed to Israel's destruction, and rarely train as militants. Khader Habib, a senior Gaza leader of the militant group says women should take up teaching and cultural roles. However, Habib says they take women's requests for militant training seriously. AP Photo. 

In the photo taken Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009, Islamic Jihad women militants ask for instructions from their teacher, not seen, during their first training session in the Gaza Strip. Several Islamic Jihad women were suicide bombers during years of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. However, women generally have a muted role in the group, which is vowed to Israel's destruction, and rarely train as militants. Khader Habib, a senior Gaza leader of the militant group says women should take up teaching and cultural roles. However, Habib says they take women's requests for militant training seriously. AP Photo. 

In the photo taken Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009, an Islamic Jihad woman militant is seen during a drill in her first training session in the Gaza Strip. Several Islamic Jihad women were suicide bombers during years of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. However, women generally have a muted role in the group, which is vowed to Israel's destruction, and rarely train as militants. Khader Habib, a senior Gaza leader of the militant group says women should take up teaching and cultural roles. However, Habib says they take women's requests for militant training seriously. AP Photo. 

h/t Killgore Trout.

Saudi Graduate Student Accused of Stabbing Professor (Nothing to see here, just move along)

 

77 year-old Dr. Richard T. Antoun was a Fulbright Scholar and past president of the Middle East Studies Association.

Antoun was fatally stabbed yesterday by a Binghamton University anthropology student.

He had taught at Indiana University, the University of Chicago, Cairo University, the American University of Beirut and Manchester University, England.

His interests included comparative religion, peasant and post-peasant societies, and transnational migration.

An expert on Jordan and Iran as well as religious fundamentalist movements, Dr. Antoun was the author of five books and numerous journal articles and book chapters on a wide variety of topics related to the social, cultural, political, and religious dimensions of the Middle East region. Read more at WBNG.

The Broome County District Attorney has released more information on 46-year-old Abdulsalam S. Al-Zahrani.

The Broome DA says Al-Zahrani is a Saudi national who is a graduate student in the Anthropology department at Binghamton University.

Al-Zahrani and Professor Antoun knew each other through work in the graduate program.

The DA says there is no indication of religious or ethnic motivation. WBNG.com

Nothing to see here. Just move along.

The Eid Mass Animal Slaughter is Underway. Where is PETA?

Palestinians watch as butchers slaughter a calf on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in Gaza City November 27, 2009 Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail [Jewish and Christian scriptures say it was Isaac!] on God's command. Reuters.

A Palestinian man pulls a bull by its tail as he slaughters it in a slaughterhouse, on the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations, in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid-al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, with the sacrificial killing of sheep, goats, cows or camels. AP Photo.

A butcher's cleaver is seen leaning against a wall in a slaughterhouse, on the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations, in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid-al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, with the sacrificial killing of sheep, goats, cows or camels. AP Photo.

What a bunch of freaking cowards and stinking hypocrites PETA are.

Muslim Nations Demand International Ban on "Blasphemy"

 
This cartoon may become illegal according to "International Law"

GENEVA – Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect [Islamic] religious symbols and beliefs from mockery -- essentially, a ban on blasphemy.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that Algeria and Pakistan have taken the lead in lobbying to bring the matter to a vote in the U.N. General Assembly.

Such a ban would face great resistance in Western nations that enshrine freedom of expression as a fundamental right.

The countries that form the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference are currently lobbying a Geneva-based U.N. committee to accept its plan, a first step for it to eventually be put before the General Assembly.

If that occurs, Muslim countries and their allies in the developing world would stand a decent chance of mustering the simple majority needed in the General Assembly to adopt such a treaty.

Associated Press.