Gaza Invasion: Debkafile Canard?

According to Debkafile: 

 Israel states new situation leaves no option but military action to halt weapons flow to Gaza

The warning was relayed to Cairo in the last 24 hours. DEBKAfile's military sources disclose that the message means Israeli armed forces are standing by for an order to recapture the Philadelphi route running along the southern Gaza border with Egypt.

 

The "new situation" does not refer to the upsurge of missile fire against Sderot, but the Egyptian security forces' discovery Sun., Sept. 2, of 2.7 tons of explosives in the el-Gefgafa area 100 km southwest of the northern Sinai town of El Arish The cache was destined for the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami in the Gaza Strip. Our sources reveal that it also contained for the first time several dozen 240 mm Katyusha rockets of the type used by Hizballah to blast northern Israel last year.

From Gaza, these rockets can reach the southern approaches of Beersheba, not just the towns of Ashkelon and Netivot.

According to intelligence input, the rockets were intended for immediate use by the two Palestinian groups. This information convinced Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak and chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi that radical military action can no longer be delayed.

They decided that the Philadelphi route - evacuated by Israel two years ago with the rest of the Gaza Strip - would have to be retaken.

The timing will be determined at the security cabinet session Wed. Sept. 5.

 

This flying duck ("canard" means duck) was shot down as soon as it took off.  The cabinet decided against a raid on Gaza. What a bummer for Debkafile! If Israel does ever raid Gaza, let's hope they don't use Debkafile to warn the Hamas in advance.

 

Ami Isseroff

Cross posted: Israel News  Middle East Analysis

Islamophobia from an unlikely source?

Rami Khouri, who usually never has a good word for the US and Israel, is for a change willing to recognize that Al-Qaeda terrorists just might be a problem:

 

This recent proliferation of militant Islamist groups that use violence and terror as a basic tool is to my mind the most significant development of our age. It reveals the existence of a very extensive foundation of fundamentalist youths who provide a steady stream of recruits for movements like Fatah al-Islam, which has been locked in battle with the Lebanese Army in North Lebanon for the past 100 days.

 

These movements are most often called "Salafist-Jihadists," reflecting their commitment to two key things: a return to interpretations of Islam allegedly from the days of the Prophet Mohammad, and a militant posture that includes attacking those who stand in the way of creating pure Islamic societies. A single movement like Al-Qaeda could, in theory, be contained, beaten or broken up to the point of being neutralized. But this is virtually impossible to do in the face of dozens or perhaps even hundreds of smaller movements, or cell-like groupings of a half-dozen people, that are loosely linked by shared ideologies, transferable technologies, and intermittent logistical assistance or coordination.

 

Lebanon has become the latest visible battleground between these Salafist-Jihadists and their opponents, who comprise just about everybody else in the region. The danger of the continuing proliferation of such groups is real and frightening, given their willingness and ability to fight against conventional forces and established governments. Yet this bad news should be offset somewhat by the fact that we actually know quite a lot about where these groups and their mindset came from. They are less mysterious than they are menacing.

 

What Rami doesn't want to understand, is that there is basically (I wanted to write "fundamentally") no difference between Al-Qaeda and groups like Hezbollah, which Khouri justifies, legitimizes and excuses, or Hamas or Islamic Jihad. The nuances of Shi'a bombs versus Sunni bombs and theories of Islamic governance really don't concern the rest of us. All these groups blow poeple up, and they all do it because, according to them, it is "God's will." The real difference between Hamas and Al-Qaeda, is that Al-Qaeda is killing Lebanese, whereas Hamas are still working on Israelis. Hezbollah are working on both Lebanese and Israelis.  

 

Yet Rami's newspaper and Rami try to view Hezbollah as working partners in the Lebanese government, and praise them for "liberating" Lebanon from the Israeli occupation and for their "resistance." Al Qaeda just want to "liberate" Lebanon from Khouri, and the Hamas, when they are done with Israel, will presumably move on to "liberating" other countries.

 

Ami Isseroff

 

Cross posted: Israel News  Middle East Analysis

Israel and Tolerance

Short, eloquent presentation is attached.  Gleaned from http://www.rufus.greenbaum.com/4.html

Abbas' group vows rocket attacks despite amnesty

Fatah terror organization claims debut of new, more deadly projectile

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Posted: August 31, 2007

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – A top leader of the so-called "military wing" of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party vowed in a WND interview his terror group would continue firing rockets from the Gaza Strip at nearby Jewish communities regardless of peace negotiations reportedly taking place between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed to WND they have a new rocket in Gaza that can travel further than those previously fired from the territory.

 

Complete article: Abbas' group vows rocket attacks despite amnesty