Presenting your virtual menorah

In this astonishingly insightful article, Reuters reports that Christmas is not very much celebrated in Israel. Huh. Imagine that. The Jewish state doesn’t have the Christmas spirit.

Dec 20, 2006 — TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A glimmer of tinsel, a miniature Santa Claus and a cluster of plastic fir trees in a shop window are among the few signs that Christmas is on its way in the land of Israel.

December 25, the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, is a regular working day in the Jewish state and passes with little fanfare.

While residents in Arab Christian areas such as Nazareth, Jesus’s home town, decorate trees and hang lights on homes and churches, and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank receives many pilgrims, life in most of Israel carries on as normal.

Of course, Reuters has to spin it in a negative way:

That makes it hard on the many Christians among large number of migrant laborers who have come to Israel to work. As most live in Jewish towns and cities, their main religious holiday arrives with barely any sense of Christmas.

“It is a little bit sad, a little bit lonely,” said Hilda Laconsay, 35, from the Philippines who works as a carer for the elderly. “There is no Christmas feeling here.”

I challenge anyone to find me a similar Reuters article on how Jews feel isolated on Christmas in countries like, say, the U.S. You simply will not find such an angle, because it can’t be spun anti-Jewish. Well, it could, but then the Rotters bias would be even more obvious.

So, why exactly would Israel celebrate Christmas?

There are an estimated 80,000 legal foreign workers inside Israel, and a further 100,000 living illegally whose permits have expired or been revoked by the authorities. A large percentage of them are Christians from Asia and Africa.

As far as Israeli citizens go, there are about 145,000 Christians in the Jewish state, most of them Arabs, of a population of just over 7 million. Almost 80 percent of Israelis are Jewish and the rest Muslim.

Uh-huh. Eighty percent of the country is Jewish. The Chanukah festivities commenced last Friday, quite probably unnoticed by Reuters, which also does not notice Passover, but sometimes mentions the High Holy Days (in as negative a way as possible).

Read the whole article. It gets even worse. And once again, eff you, Reuters, and your anti-Israel writers and editors.

By the way, a Google News search on Hanukka (in its various spellings) and Reuters came up with zero articles. Shock.

Al Bawaba, a Jordan - based publication with an English language outlet (London) is quite an anti-Israeli outfit. Even this Arabic media source feels a certain unease about the Hamas - Iran alliance. Take its article Hamas-Iran alliance—a blessing for the Palestinian people? as an example.

One of the starting sentences:

For the interest of Iran, the country’s leaders have sought to exploit Hamas’ isolation in order to become the number one factor influencing on Hamas’ policy making apparatus.

The article then goes into analysis of the financial, the military and the religious aspects of this cooperation.

On the financial front, Tehran is looking to fill the vacuum created in the wake of shrinking financial support from both Arab states and the West.

…

In such a situation, Iran has tried to portrait itself as a main financier of the Palestinians, enabling it to flex its muscles in terms of its involvement in regional affairs. Additionally, the move represents an assertion of Iran’s continued commitment to the “resistance,” as well as ideological solidarity with the Palestinians.

The next remark is highly significant:

Rather than ending up in the hands of Palestinians, donations from Iran have reportedly been transferred to those close to Hamas and to strengthen the da’wa mechanism of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

To remind you, the above does not come from Jerusalem Post or even New York Times… Now to the military part of the alliance:

In addition to financial support by Iran for Hamas, military cooperation was also discussed during Siyam’s visit to Tehran. The minister had pointed out that he requested the help of Iran in training the Palestinian police force - in essence, fortification of the new Hamas security force, currently numbering some 5,600 in the Gaza Strip. Siyam had reportedly requested that hundreds of the new Hamas unit be trained by Iranian experts, possibly in Tehran or Damascus. In addition, they would receive, as happened with Lebanon’s Hizbullah, a host of advanced weapons, including anti-tank missiles, communications equipment and night-vision systems. It was also reported that Iran is liable to send officers of its Revolutionary Guard to Gaza to train the Hamas fighters and create a new generation of developers of locally produced advanced armaments. With such advanced gear and training, Hamas’ military wing could likely overpower Fatah before long and develop into powerful “Hamas Army”.

Do the strategists of Hamas expect that Israel, not to mention other neighbours who are not necessarily in love with Iran and its Syria - Hezbollah - Hams axis, will keep quiet? Already Egypt offers arms to Hamas’ rival Fatah and, according to the rumors, some have been already provided by Israel.

On the religious aspect of the alliance, Al Bawaba also has a few things to say:

Iran was among the first countries to hail Hamas, following the latter’s victory in the elections. The close relations were exemplified following a subsequent visit in March by Hamas leaders to Iran, and the establishment of a Shiite organization in the Palestinian areas under the banner “The Supreme Islamic Shiite Council in Palestine.” The move raised concerns within the Palestinian public that the strengthening of ties between Hamas and Iran would also result in the ascension of Shiism in Palestine.

…

Many observers believe Hamas’ alliance with Iran will cost it the support of its Sunni hinterland, mainly Saudi Arabia and the other oil-rich states. As former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said it will be a mistake for Hamas to cement ties with Iran as Hamas’ only “gain” from its alliance with Tehran will be more isolation in the Arab and the international arena.

Amen.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Continuing my tradition from last week, I’m running late with the Haveil Havalim announcement. This week’s, Haveil Havalim #98 at Jerusalem Board Games has it all.

It features Professor Madcap and his grad students uncovering the secrets of cyber-archaeology, little rodents called wikis and a prophecy from a flock of seagulls.

What more could you ask for?

OK did you know that there’s an ongoing Carnival of Lights at Planck’s Constant in honor of Channukah until Friday? Or that the 13th edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival is up at Me-ander?

Thanks, as always, to Meryl for allowing this public service announcement!

AFP appears to have invented a document out of thin air: The Palestinian Constitution:

Haniya lashed out at the United States for backing a move by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, from the rival Fatah party, to call earlier elections in a bid to end a power struggle with Hamas.

Washington, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization, has supported the early election call even though the Palestinian constitution does not explicitely give Abbas the right to take the step.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Abbas about the issue on Sunday, McCormack said, without providing details of their conversation.

Haniya denounced the president’s move as “unconstitutional”.

The Palestinian Authority runs under a Basic Law that some may call a constitution and includes the equivalent of the word “constitution” in it, but it is not a true Constitution.

Odd… WikiPedia has references Israel’s Basic Law and the ongoing attempt to draft and ratify a formal Constitution, but magically assumes that the Constitution of the PA has not just been completed, but ratified.