We have another “gates of hell” statement. Oh, and two more dead terrorists.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli forces fired a missile at a car in the northern Gaza Strip after nightfall Monday, witnesses said, killing two Palestinian militants - including a man described as a senior commander.

Paramedics and witnesses said the missile destroyed the yellow minibus at it traveled on a farm road and incinerated the two men inside.

The victims were identified as members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement. One victim was Hassan Asfour, described as a senior commander.

Wait. Wait. Where’s my “gates of hell” statement?

Outside the morgue where the charred bodies were taken, an Al Aqsa spokesman who called himself Abu Mohammed threatened revenge against Israel.

“The Zionists have opened the gates of hell, and this gate cannot be closed until we uproot them from our land,” he said.

There you go. Meanwhile, near the real gates of hell, someone is calling out, “Asfour, party of two? Asfour?”

For the last week or so, my traffic has been up due almost exclusively to searches for “Danish cartoons,” or variations on the theme (e.g., “mohammed cartoons”).

Some of my old posts are getting comments (I have got to fix that plug-in to close comments after one week), and some of the older ones here are getting them. It seems that my post titled The Danish cartoons: Opening Europe’s eyes is the one that keeps popping up on searches. I’ve deleted a few comments that have broken the no-flaming rules. Learn to be civil, or don’t be commenting here.

But I find it interesting that so many people are taking the time to go all over the Internet and lecture people about the true nature of Islam–while their co-religionists are torching Danish embassies, sending death threats to other bloggers, and threating general mayhem for any medium or country that publishes the cartoons.

Still waiting for the world-wide Christian and Jewish rioting over Monty Python’s Life of Brian (which, by the way, drew worldwide peaceful protests).

I’m guessing many of my Muslim guests are reading only the Danish cartoon posts. I’m basing this guess on the lack of hate mail about my being a Zionist. Then again, this post may have clued them in.

I’ll publish the best of the mail I receive.

Two PIJ terrorists will make rockets no more, and this was a big hit.

Two senior Islamic Jihad members have been killed in an IDF strike in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses reported that the Air Force attacked two vehicles traveling in the Sajaiya neighborhood.

A loud explosion was heard, apparently due to the fact that the cars were carrying large amounts of ammunition.

One of those killed in the attack is Islamic Jihad’s ‘rocket engineer’ Adnan Bustan, who became an expert at making al-Quds rockets, Islamic Jihad’s version of Hamas’ Qassam rocket.

Let us compare and contrast the threats of those involved. From the palestinian side:

Islamic Jihad said in response that it has “instructed all the activists in Gaza and the West Bank to attack the enemy everywhere. There will be no limit to our response.”

[...] The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades vowed to take ‘painful’ revenge within Israel, and Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas chief, said that “the Palestinian resistance had a right to respond to the assassination.”

From the Israeli side:

The IAF attack is the second in less than 24 hours, showing the army’s clear intent to hot on the heels of terror cells and rocket launchers.

Southern Command Chief Yoav Galant said, “If it will not be quiet on the Israeli side, it will be seven times as loud on the Palestinian side.”

Oh, and there’s also the BOOM part. That’s the part I find the most unanswerable. I think the terrorists do, too.

Thanks for the link to the article, Cynic.

Now the Danish cartoon protests have brought death to the Muslim world. And not to the Danes–but to Muslims protesting violently against the cartoons.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Hundreds of Afghans clashed with police and soldiers Monday during demonstrations against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Four people were killed and at least 19 wounded, officials said.

The worst of the violence was outside Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, with Afghan police firing on some 2,000 protesters as they tried to break into the heavily guarded facility, said Kabir Ahmed, the local government chief.

Two of the demonstrators were killed and five were injured, while eight police were also hurt, he said. No U.S. troops were involved in the incident, Ahmed said.

The protests are spreading, fanned, somehow, by, gee, I don’t know–could it be Islamists churning up the rage by spreading lies and misinformation? No. Couldn’t be.

Police investigating Sunday’s fire and riot at the building housing the Danish mission said that, contrary to previous reports, the mission offices were intact. The fire and wrecking of offices had been confined to Lebanese businesses on lower floors.

At least one person died, 30 were injured and about 200 people were detained in Sunday’s violence, officials said. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the arrested included 76 Syrians, 35 Palestinians and 38 Lebanese.

The Beirut violence came a day after violent protests in neighboring Syria, including the burning of the Danish and Norwegian missions. The United States accused the Syrian government of authorizing the protests in Lebanon and Syria, an accusation also made by anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians.

Gee, 76 Syrians were arrested in the protests. Imagine that. And the Danish embassy in Syria was torched. Syria, where there is no such thing as an uncontrolled mob.

Make no mistake, these protests are far more serious than any other protests that have hit the Muslim world. The Islamists are using them. The Syrians and Iranians are using them. Al Qaeda will be mentioning the Danish cartoons in their next tape; count on it.

Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Kashmir, Turkey, Gaza–the protests are spreading. Australian Muslims told the Australian press not to publish the cartoons; one did anyway.

The events that were started by the Danish cartoons will have echoes reverberating for decades to come. This isn’t just the so-called clash of civilizations. I believe this is the next step in the Terror War that began on 9/11. I also believe that the Islamists have tipped their hands too soon. If they had held off for a few more years, they’d have had all Europe behind them, cowering and afraid to publish the cartoons or stand up for the Western values of freedom. Instead, the Islamists have shown Europe what kind of intolerance they have in their own nations. If the protests don’t start getting ratcheted down, I think there is going to be massive bloodshed. I think there will be armed confrontations. And I don’t think that Europe’s Muslims are going to walk away the winners in this one.

Is it a civil war when one side lives in your country, but does not feel a part of it?

I don’t know. But we may be on the verge of finding out.

Don’t get me wrong: This isn’t a good thing. It is a very bad thing. But apparently, we’ve been heading for this clash for decades.

I wonder if an American newspaper will get the courage to print those cartoons.

Hamas, once again, has publicly declared it will never recognize Israel. Once again, I expect to see various politicos insisting that Hamas will “moderate” its stance now that it has to govern.

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - A top Hamas official said the militant group will not recognize Israel but will abide, for now, by past agreements Palestinian leaders made with the Jewish state. He also lashed out at the more moderate Fatah party for refusing to participate in a national unity Palestinian government.

The comments by Moussa Abu Marzouk, the right-hand man to Hamas’ political leader Khaled Mashaal, came as Hamas leaders from Syria and Palestinian areas gathered here and began talks Monday with Egyptian officials after the group’s stunning election victory.

In a statement, Abu Marzouk blamed the Fatah movement for refusing to participate in a national unity government, which Hamas wants to form to avoid an Israeli veto on it.

“We will act in the legal framework to get out from this deadlock, which our brothers in Fatah have put us in,” Abu Marzouk told reporters late Sunday.

Abu Marzouk said any government set up by Hamas “will not make security arrangements with Israeli or hand over (Palestinians) who fire rockets (on Israel).” He also insisted the group would not recognize Israel.

Say, New York Times. Say, Washington Post. Ya think maybe you’re wrong about these guys?

Shyeah.

Israel21C is a wonderful source of all things good about Israel. This week’s edition has some gloat-worthy news items about Israeli technology helping the world:

What if they gave a winter Olympics and there was no snow?

That was the dilemma facing organizers of this winter’s Olympic games taking place in Torino, Italy. And the solution they found, believe it or not, came from the hot and dry Middle East.

Israeli company Bermad has been charged with a key element of supplying man-made snow to the Games, which open on February 10.

Until last week, the organizers of the Games had a crisis on their hands: the quantity and the quality of snow was not up to the level necessary for world-class competition.

Yes, Israel rescues the Winter Olympics. Chalk up another one for the Zionists. But wait, there’s more:

In one of those cruel medical ironies, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is most commonly found in developing countries, where blood tests and other costly methods of detection are less available.

More than 170 million people are infected with the HCV virus around the world, including 4 million Americans and 9 million Europeans. Infection by the hepatitis C virus becomes persistent in about 70 percent of people afflicted, leading to problems such as cirrhosis and cancer of the liver.

That’s why the news that Israeli researchers have developed a test for the HCV based on a simple sample of saliva is so important and far-reaching. The findings of scientists at Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheva were recently published in the online edition of the Journal of Virological Methods. It suggests mass screening for the liver disease may be possible in the future in parts of the developing world where blood testing is less feasible.

“The procedure is entirely manual, you don’t even need electricity for illumination, just a pipette to take the drops of saliva and place in the testing kit. In developing countries, that could be a big deal,” said Dr. Arieh Yaari, head of the investigative team at Soroka.

Yes, Israeli doctors, trying to save lives. What a counterpoint to the lies in the Arab and Muslim media.

That’s Israel21C, folks. A good source.

Now that something happened in Israel other than Hamas saying seventy-five times that they’ll never recognize, have peace with, or negotiate with Israel (and the media pretending each time that they didn’t), we can once again illustrate our AP media bias against Israel.

First, Israel assassinated some palestinian terrorists. Notice that the headline, as usual, does not indicate that these were not civilians.

Israeli Airstrikes Kill 3 Palestinians
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli aircraft fired three missiles at a building used by militants in Gaza City early Sunday, killing three people and wounding five, Palestinian hospital officials said.

The three killed were senior field operatives of Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the hospital said. Field operatives plan and carry out rocket attacks and other assaults on Israeli targets.

The Israeli military said the strike was meant to deter rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, such as one that wounded an Israeli baby and two adults in southern Israel on Friday.

Once again, we have the ubiquitous “Israeli military” speaking, instead of a named spokesman. Like they always use for the palestinians’ point of view.

“God willing, our rockets, our self-sacrificing martyrs and all the means of resistance will chase out the Zionists from every corner of our occupied land,” Abu Mujahed said. “God willing, our revenge will come by deeds, and not by words.”

Now let’s look at the other article, which is all of six paragraphs long. It is absolutely an example of a terrorist attacking and killing civilians. How does the AP spin this one?

Palestinian Stabs 5 on Israeli Bus; 1 Dead

Notice that in the headline, the word “killed” is changed to the passive “dead.” Israelis kill. Palestinians cause people to be dead. Active. Passive. Big difference.

JERUSALEM (AP) - A Palestinian man stabbed five people on a minibus in central Israel, killing one woman before passengers subdued him, police and witnesses said.

Police said the attack in the central Israeli city of Petach Tikva was politically motivated, but did not elaborate. They said the attacker came from the West Bank, but it was unclear how the he had entered Israel.

In the second paragraph, the AP has attached a “political motive” to the stabbings. A palestinian terrorists boarded a minibus filled with elderly people, killed one, and stabbed four more. But it was a “political” stabbing. Why?

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have risen in recent days after Israel killed a top commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group.

PIJ is the group that has been conducing suicide bombings in spite of the so-called truce, and have been trying to murder Israelis all along. But it’s “political.” Tensions have “risen” because Israel killed a terrorist commander.

Once again, you have no names for the dead Israeli. The story is only six paragraphs, and will not be expanded–because dead Jews mean nothing to the media, apparently. Only dead terrorists.