Palestinians celebrate today's terror attack in Beersheba

Today, at least four Israelis were killed in a Beersheba terror attack. Mohammad Ghaleb Abu al-Qi’an, a 34 year old former terror convict from the Negev town of  Hura stabbed and ran over multiple Israelis before he was finally neutralized.  Abu al-Qi'an was a former high school teacher previously jailed for supporting and promoting ISIS at the school.

Palestinian media was filled with praise for the attacker.  Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanou on official Hamas radio declared “We salute the executor of the heroic operation in occupied Beersheba

“The occupation’s crimes shall be met with heroic operations: stabbings, ramming and shooting,”  al-Qanou added

In Gaza, sweets were passed out in the streets to celebrate the murders.

Palestinian promotion of violence, glorification of violence and celebration of violence- these have always been the obstacles to peace in the region.  

Gaza: Land of 1230 Mosques. Gazans are asking "Why"?

Gaza, an area 25 miles long and 8 miles wide has 1,230 mosques, many ornate and extravagant.

The people of Gaza are begining to ask why.

Imam al-Shafei Mosque in the al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza was built at a cost of $3.5 million.

Imam al-Shafei Mosque in Gaza

Al-Hassayna Mosque in Gaza City cost over $2 million.

Al-Hassayna Mosque in Gaza

The Al-Khalidi and Salim Abu Muslim mosques in Gaza were built at a cost over  $1 million each.  More lavish mosques will be opening soon.

Gaza's Al-Khalidi Mosque

In improverished Gaza, citizens are begining to question the wisdom of such lavish expenses.
From Al-Monitor:
 
Mohammad al-Khalidi, a citizen from Gaza, poured out his resentment of such luxury mosques. “The Ministry of Endowments claims that the donors funding the construction of the mosques want to spend this much money on them. But why would it [the ministry] not inform the donors that there are other fields in Gaza where the donations could be more useful? Mosques can be built at a reasonable cost and the remainder of the donations could be used to build hospitals, schools or residences, for example.

Al Khalidi questioned these priorities:

“The opening of the Khalil al-Wazir Mosque in the coming months will stir an uproar among Gazans due to the large number of mosques already present in Gaza, in the absence of development projects, hospitals and sewage networks. For example, in the Beit Lahia area in northern Gaza, the Salim Abu Muslim Mosque was built at a cost of $1 million, while a nonregulated landfill in the area is endangering the health of the locals and the environment.”

The construction of these lavish mosques in Gaza is yet another indication of how out of touch the  Hamas leadership is to the needs of its people and how misplaced its priorities have been.

Read more here:
Gazans outraged over millions of dollars spent building mosques

(Cross-posted at Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers)

Meet Nader Rayan: another "child" killed by Isral

Last night, in Nablus’s Balata refugee camp a gunfight broke out when Israeli Border Police officers entered the camp to arrest a wanted criminal. Two terrorists arrived on a scooter and began to shoot at the police. Border Police officers fired back, killing them.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified one of the deceased as 17-year-old Nader Rayan, who will go down forever in statistics as a "child" killed by Israel.

Qatar affiliated AJ+ (Al Jazeera plus), a social media publisher owned by Al Jazeera Media Network the death, posted about Rayan's death, deliberately devoid of any context .

English language posts on social media show a well groomed young man in athletic wear.   The Arabic posts are quite different.

Images that aren't geared to a Western audience portray the  "martyr" Nader Haitham Rayan in a very different light.

When 17 years olds are given weapons and told to shoot policemen, 17 years olds will die.   Mourn for Nader Haitham Rayan, whose life was cut short by those cynically willing to sacrifice their young.  Mourn for his community, that values his death more than his life.   

Venerable Economist Intelligence Unit: Israel is the Only Democracy in the Middle east

 In a stunning rebuke to Amnestry International recent slander, the Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked Israel in 23rd place in the out of 167.    The index ranks Israel as the most democratic country in the Middle East, placing it ahead of even the United States.  Israel's overall score has been improving steadily over the years.

Israel scored 7.97 points out of a maximum of ten, just behind France (7.99 points) and Britain (8.1 points). Nations are rated on a variety of factors, including electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture.