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Welcome to Hamastan

Reader comment on item: Thoughts on Hamas' Ascendance

Submitted by Fern Sidman (United States), Mar 5, 2006 at 23:26

WELCOME TO HAMASTAN

Speaking to an audience last night in Holon, Avi Dichter, who is number 5 on the Kadima list of Knesset candidates, outlined Kadima's plans to evacuate and demolish most of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and to relocate their residents in those that remain.

The new Kadima plan would leave Israel with four or five isolated pockets of Israeli presence; a narrow finger 20 kilometers long from Rosh HaAyin to Ariel in the Shomron; parts of the Jordan Valley; and strips to the north, east and south of Jerusalem. The rest of Judea and Samaria would fall under the control of Hamas.

The communities that are to remain, According to the plan Olmert wishes to implement if he wins the elections, have long been mentioned as the "settlement blocs" of Ariel, Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion. Karnei Shomron-Kedumim and the Jordan Valley have occasionally, also been included in what might remain Israeli territory.

Likud Knesset faction head MK Gideon Saar said the new Kadima plan is a "prize for Hamas." "The areas to be evacuated by Israel will immediately become new Hamas bases for attack against Israel and its citizens," Saar said.

Among the communities to be razed under Ehud Olmert's plan would be the following:
In the Binyamin Regional Council, north of Jerusalem: Shilo, Eli, Shvut Rachel, N'vei Tzuf, Psagot, Maaleh Michmas, and Maaleh Levonah.

In the eastern Gush Etzion: Tekoa, Nokdim (El-David). Maaleh Amos and Meitzad. In Samaria Council and northern Samaria: Kedumim, Itamar, Yitzhar, Elon Moreh, Har Bracha, Avnei Cheifetz, Mevo Dotan, Hermesh and Tapuach.

In southern Judea: Adora, Pnei Hever, Maon, Susia, Otniel, Negohot, and Mitzpeh Shalem.

And while this is happening, the intifada of Kassam rockets continues near the Gaza border.
One of five Kassam rockets landed near Kibbutz Carmiya, where dozens of expelled families from Gush Katif have been relocated. Another Kassam rocket caused damage to what is called "strategic installation" south of Ashkelon. Two people were hurt in the attack on the installation and were treated for shock. National infrastructures in Ashkelon include the following:

The Rotenberg Power Plant in southern Ashkelon is Israel's second largest electric station, and supplies about a quarter of the country's electricity. The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline company (EAPC) in Ashkelon operates three oil pipelines linking Ashkelon, Ashdod and Haifa.. The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant, the largest destination plant of its kind in the world, is set to ultimately provide an annual 100 million cubic meters of water, or some 15 percent of the country's domestic consumer demand.

And if we weren't already concerned about national security, it has been reported by the PA news agency Duniya Alwatan that a senior official in the Hamas military, known by his nom de guerre, Abu Huzaifa, told the news agency that since the disengagement from Gaza, the Hamas has set up military bases in every city in Gaza. The bases have been training a new cadre of highly motivated fighters for the Jihad, or holy war against non-Muslims and the Jewish state in particular. More specifically, Abu Huzaifa said PA soliders are taught a number of techniques including firing rifles, shooting Kassam rockets, crawling under fences, and climbing up and down buildings. The instructors are Hamas terrorists who received training abroad.

According to Al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a statement aired by Al-Jazeera, he urged the ruling Hamas terror group to continue terror attacks on Israelis. "Your only alternative is to pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of Palestine and the bilding of an Islamic state," al-Zawahiri told Al-Jazeera. He also exhorted, " Nothing wil do you good, buttoting arms and taking revenge against your enemies, the Americans and the Jews... The crusaders and the Jews do not understand but the language of killing and blood." Al-Zawahiri is believed to have masterminded the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks against America, as well as the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa.

Former Israeli UN Ambassador Dore Gold wrote an op ed piece Sunday outlining some of the extensive links that have been found linking Hamas and Al-Qaeda:

* In 2003, an Israeli ground unit in Gaza, seeking Hamas suspects, went into a school established by the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. Written materials that Israeli soldiers collected revealed the writings of a famous Saudi Wahabi religious authority, Sheikh Sulaiman al-Ulwan. His ideological entry into the world of Hamas immediately raised eyebrows. After all, his name was featured in a famous Osama bin Laden video clip from December 2001, when the al Qaeda leader entertained his entourage on camera by re-enacting with his hands the hijacked aircraft slamming into the World Trade Center on September 11th. In that video, one Saudi messenger entered the scene at the end, telling bin Laden that he brought with him a "beautiful fatwa" from al-Ulwan, who had justified the mass murder of Americans. Now his ideas have penetrated the Palestinians as well. And his Islamic religious ruling justifying suicide bombing attacks appeared on the Hamas Web site along with those of other al-Qaeda clerics.

* Bin Laden sent emissaries to Hamas in September 2000 and January 2001

* Israel arrested three Hamas terrorists in 2003 after they had returned from an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda chief Abu Zubaydah entered the world of terrorism through Hamas. And according to a 2004 FBI affidavit, Al Qaeda recruited Hamas members to conduct surveillance against potential targets in the United States.

* In 2003 and 2004, Israeli forces found Hamas posters that were distributed in West Bank cities that extolled the war being waged by Islamic militants in the Balkans, Chechnya and Kashmir. At the top was the portrait of Hamas leader Yassin alongside the portraits of bin Laden and Chechen militant leaders like Shamil Besayev, who took credit for the bloody attack on a Russian school in Beslan.

Gold also writes about Hamas and Al-Qaeda's common source of recruits and grassroots support of the Muslim Brotherhood present in every country in the Arab world.

And with all these facts glaring us in the face, the Olmert government still insists on carving up more of Israel, destroying more Jewish settlements, forcibly evicting more Jews from their homes, and demolishing more communities. Giving up more land and expelling more Jews is not going bring peace nor will it assist it setting up new boundaries that will maintain a Jewish majority. Just ask those folks who were evicted from Gush Katif and Amona.
Submitting....

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Reader comments (32) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Welcome to Hamastan [1083 words]Fern SidmanMar 5, 2006 23:2639014
Hamas Recognising Israel [52 words]Sidi MansurFeb 21, 2006 05:2736670
Back at you Sidi [84 words]RavDavMar 2, 2006 00:3236670
Hamas Recognizing Israel [73 words]Sidi MansurApr 23, 2006 06:1036670
Sidi rides again! [120 words]RavDavMay 22, 2006 13:3336670
1The Truth will set us free RavDav! [177 words]Sidi MansurJul 3, 2006 00:1036670
Life on Planet Sidi [195 words]RavDavSep 4, 2006 01:1136670
Agree [19 words]Zak MazurJan 31, 2006 10:1733248
1The track record of Hamas [1324 words]Fern SidmanJan 31, 2006 00:3933208
Whither Democracy [368 words]Taha Abdulla BaharoonJan 31, 2006 00:3633206
An answer to the question - "But what about Palestinian rights. . ." [55 words]SullyJan 31, 2006 09:0933206
Political Immaturity [197 words]Taha Abdulla BaharoonFeb 1, 2006 02:4233206
I don't blame Palestinians for the 9/11 attack [54 words]SullyFeb 2, 2006 21:5133206
Whither Democracy? Palestinian Rights? [173 words]Proud "Cowboy"Feb 4, 2006 11:4733206
Political immaturity? [196 words]Proud CowboyFeb 4, 2006 15:1533206
Elections vindicated [418 words]KurtJan 29, 2006 20:1333051
The Pope and Islam and the ascendance of Hamas [156 words]Steven lJan 29, 2006 20:0733050
Islam and it's power [282 words]F. ShakkiJan 29, 2006 17:3233035
Hamas Victory by far the best outcome for Israel [182 words]TedJan 29, 2006 08:5933000
No one else understands either! [234 words]Kenneth S. BesigJan 29, 2006 07:3732991
Calling a Spade a Spade [69 words]Helen Rauch-ElonekaveJan 29, 2006 06:3832987
Calling a Spade a ...shovel [177 words]Taha Abdulla BaharoonJan 31, 2006 02:1332987
What a load of rubbish [380 words]Proud "Cowboy"Feb 4, 2006 11:3932987
West Bank story :Hamas & Fatah rumble in 'The mother of all turf wars' ' [45 words]Ben van de PolderJan 27, 2006 14:5932768
better that the palestinian has now shed all of his clothes [139 words]SullyJan 29, 2006 15:4032768
Hamas History and Liberal Excuses [109 words]Dalia LauerJan 27, 2006 03:3332643
O Please, let's get real, shall we? [355 words]J.S.Jan 26, 2006 15:1332549
Eyes Wide Shut [85 words]KeithJan 26, 2006 14:1932542
Some Sanity, But Not Nearly Enough [93 words]Dan FriedmanJan 25, 2006 16:4332459
fatah-hamas power sharing [109 words]R.MitelmanJan 25, 2006 14:5832450
No Change [42 words]James BigaJan 25, 2006 12:5632438
A Clear Enemy? [62 words]AlexJan 25, 2006 01:2732390

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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