This is Islam > Hamas shooters held up in hospital and school; ‘Mom, I’m fine, it’s just for the camera!’

 

UK Reporter Sees Hamas Shooting from

Inside Hospital and UNRWA School

NOV 12, 2023 2:00 PM BY HUGH FITZGERALD

In Gaza, Hamas terrorists have entirely taken over the “Indonesian” Hospital (so named because the government of Indonesia supplied the funds to build it), and a nearby UNRWA school, and they have been firing from inside both at IDF soldiers. Usually Western journalists fail to report on this use by Hamas of buildings emptied of their civilians, but in this case, a Telegraph reporter embedded with the IDF offered a truthful account. More on his report, and why the IDF sometimes has to limit its ruse of airstrikes in response to Hamas gunfire even when no civilians are around, can be found here: “Finally, a reporter actually reports about Hamas firing from hospitals and UNRWA schools,” Elder of Ziyon, November 8, 2023:

On Sunday, the IDF published evidence that Hamas tunnels were built during the construction of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza.

Indonesia strongly denied the accusation.

The IDF has the video clearly showing the tunnels had been built not afterwards, but at the same time as the Indonesian Hospital was built. The Indonesians of course deny that, but structural engineers are sure that the tunnels were not an afterthought; they were there from the beginning.

In a rare example of real journalism, The Telegraph (paywalled) reports:

Hamas terrorists were making a “last stand” in a hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday night in a showdown witnessed by a Telegraph reporter. 

To make clear that Israel was not attacking a working hospital with patients and medical personnel, it would be best for honest journalists to describe Hamas terrorists as making a “last stand in an empty building in northern Gaza that used to be a hospital.”

Israeli warplanes, tanks and infantry cornered the last remains of a 1,000 strong battalion of the terrorist group’s forces holed up in the Indonesian Hospital and a nearby school…in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

“They talk the talk, but they don’t walk so good,” said Lieutenant Colonel Blick of the Israeli 551 Reserve Paratroop Battalion, which escorted The Telegraph to the front line on Tuesday.

Pointing to the plumes of dust rising about 2km to the south, Lt Col Blick said fewer than 100 Hamas fighters were taking shelter in the Indonesian Hospital, the last survivors of a thousand-strong unit.

“They fought when we came in but folded after a day. Their command lines were cut. Now, where you can see the dust rising, in the hospital, they are making their last stand,” he said.

One of the soldiers took reporters to see a Hamas rocket launcher, dug into the garden of a house just a few yards from a pool where children would have played. The launcher was so hidden that it would have been close to impossible to spot by drone.

Most agree that the Indonesian Hospital is empty now of patients and is simply being used by Hamas to wage war. Taking it down with an air strike to finish the fighting must surely be tempting, but the IDF knows that would hand its enemy a propaganda coup….

This is the IDF’s dilemma. If it continues to trade fire with Hamas operatives inside the hospital, it is likely to lose some men. It could instead level the building, through airstrikes, killing all of the Hamas combatants. But to the wider world, ready to believe the worst about Israel, that would be reported as “IDF hits Indonesian hospital” without the key detail — that the building was empty at the time, except for Hamas fighters — being provided.

Remember, the Indonesian hospital has no patients, no doctors, no nurses. The only people inside are members of Hamas, firing at the IDF soldiers. Why doesn’t the IDF simply call in an airstrike to flatten the hospital and kill all the Hamas combatants, instead of risking the lives of its soldiers who are now engaged in firefights with the people inside the hospital? It’s because the world would react in fury if the IDF did so, with media screaming about “Israel destroys hospital,” even though the Indonesian Hospital was no longer a hospital, had no medical personnel or patients on site, and was peopled solely with terrorists. That wouldn’t stop Hamas from declaring: “Two doctors and 32 patients, including 13 children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Indonesian Hospital last night.” And the Hamas statement would be taken seriously, and appear in media reports around the world.

Like the Indonesian Hospital that is empty, the UNRWA school — which is also connected to the network of tunnels — no longer has any teachers or students inside; it has been taken over entirely by Hamas. There has already been a fierce battle between the IDF and the Hamas operatives in the school, and some Hamas members are apparently still alive and exchanging gunfire with the Israelis. As with the hospital building, the school building could simply be pulverized by an airstrike. But the IDF knows what the headlines would then read: “Israel bombs school, claims it is Hamas center. Hamas says one teacher, 16 children were killed.” Or something to that same hideous effect. So the IDF will fight on on, without calling for those airstrikes on the empty hospital and school, risking the lives of its soldiers in order to avoid a public relations nightmare.

The IDF shows journalists the tunnels that are built under schools, mosques, hospitals, apartment buildings, which is why the IDF finds it must hit those buildings, after warning their inhabitants to leave them, so that the weight of those buildings causes the tunnels just beneath to collapse. But despite being shown those tunnels, some journalists, determined to hide the truth about Hamas operations, and eager to place the IDF in a bad light, seldom report Israel’s justification for those airstrikes. Elder of Ziyon comments:

This is not just bad journalism but irresponsible journalism. If reporters did their jobs, Israel could flatten the Indonesian Hospital and newspapers would describe how Hamas cynically turned it into a military target. But because the media tries to be even-handed between a terror group and a democracy, soldiers’ lives are endangered by having to exchange fire with terrorists hiding in hospitals and schools.

The only reason Israel bombing the terror stronghold that formerly acted as a hospital would be a “propaganda coup” is because most media aren’t doing their jobs.

If reporters were to properly convey what is going on in Gaza, they would repeatedly describe the size of the tunnel network — 313 miles of tunnels, some dug to a depth of 70 feet, with vast spaces for hiding both weapons and fighters. They would explain that Hamas has chosen hospitals and schools as the ideal covers for tunnels dug underneath, for they are ordinarily filled with vulnerable civilians — patients and medical personnel in the hospitals, children in the schools — whose deaths would particularly tug at the heartstrings of the public.

They would also explain that by dint of constant warnings, the IDF makes sure that civilians stay away from, or leave, buildings about to be targeted — as apparently happened in the case of the UNRWA school and the Indonesian hospital. Only when the IDF is convinced that such buildings have been emptied of civilians will it allow an airstrike to hit them. And even when such buildings contain only Hamas fighters, if the target’s destruction is likely to lead to international condemnation — as would happen with such high-profile buildings as the Indonesian Hospital –the IDF will put airstrikes on hold, and rely instead on rifles, anti-tank missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades to put an end to the Hamas members inside.

The largest Hamas command-and-control center, weapons storehouse, and bunker for combatants is known to be in the nexus of tunnels to be found directly under the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City This is the target the IDF would most like to hit. But how does Israel get the medical personnel and patients to move to other hospitals, so that Israel can call down airstrikes on a building emptied of its civilians, and the tunnels underneath? The 150-bed field hospital the UAE is just now setting up in southern Gaza can take care of one-third of the Al-Shifa patients, but it would require two more field hospitals of similar size to accommodate the rest of Al-Shifa’s patients. The IDF must be thinking very hard as to how to deal with the problem of Shifa Hospital and the tunnels underneath where Hamas combatants are hiding. Having observed from afar how intelligently and creatively the IDF has dealt with the peculiar difficulties of this war, I am confident the Israel Defense Forces will find a way.

‘Palestinian’ victim: ‘Mom, I’m fine,

it’s just for the camera!’

NOV 12, 2023 2:30 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER

According to a hadith, Muhammad said, “War is deceit.” (Bukhari 4.52.268).

And Islam is always at war! And a godless media is always willing to lie.

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Bits and Bites from Around the World > Toddler Bites Snake back and Kills it; Moon Landing a Hoax?

..

Vengeful toddler sinks teeth into snake and kills it in revenge attack

after animal bit her on the lip

Katie Davis

16:12, 13 Aug 2022

A TODDLER unleashed a deadly hissy fit on a snake by killing it with her teeth in revenge for biting her.

The two-year-old was playing in the back garden of her family home in Bingol, Turkey, when she started screaming loudly as the slithery critter sank its fangs into her.

The tot got her revenge on the snake after it bit her. Credit: Newsflash

She was playing in her back garden in Turkey when the snake attacked. Stock pic. Credit: Getty

Neighbours dashed to help the tot and to their horror found her with the 20-inch snake clamped in her mouth.

The vengeful youngster managed to kill the unwanted garden guest with her teeth after it bit her on the lip.

It is understood she was playing with the snake on August 10 when it lashed out.

Neighbours performed first aid on the tot before rushing her to Bingol Maternity and Children's Hospital, where she was put under observation for 24 hours.

She is now reported to be well and recovering.

Her relieved dad Mehmet Ercan - who was at work when the snake struck - said: "Allah has protected her, really.

"Our neighbours have told me that the snake was in the hand of my child, she was playing with it and then it bit her. Then she has bitten the snake back as a reaction."

It comes after an eight-year-old girl had to be rushed to hospital after she was bitten by a venomous adder during a picnic with her family.

The little girl, who has not been named, went to probe the snake with her finger at Kinver Edge, Staffs.

To her shock, it bit her - causing her finger to "rapidly swell".

Paramedics later rushed the schoolgirl to Birmingham Children's Hospital where she was pumped with anti-venom serum.

Conspiracy theorists say they have new proof Apollo 17

moon landing was hoax

Postmedia News - 4h ago

Conspiracy theorists claim they have new proof that the Apollo 17 moon landing was a hoax by the U.S. government.  Claims that the moon landings were a hoax have been around since 1969, but a new one focuses on an odd figure found in the visor of one of the astronauts in a clip of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

© Provided by Toronto Sun

Conspiracy theorists claim they have new proof that the Apollo 17 moon landing was a hoax by the U.S. government. Claims that the moon landings were a hoax have been around since 1969, but a new one focuses on an odd figure found in the visor of one of the astronauts in a clip of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

Conspiracy theorists claim they have new proof that the Apollo 17 moon landing was a hoax by the U.S. government.

Claims that the moon landings were a hoax have been around since 1969, but a new one focuses on an odd figure found in the visor of one of the astronauts in a clip of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

On the last manned trip to the moon, the astronauts — commander Gene Cernan, lunar module pilot Harrison “Jack” Schmitt and command module pilot Ronald Evans — were the final people to touch down.

In a video titled “Reflection in a Visor. Where’s the reflection of the camera taking the photo?” user Streetcap1 claims the shot proves it was a hoax.

The YouTuber claims a reflection in the visor of one of the astronauts shows a “stagehand” — and, allegedly, the person is not wearing a spacesuit, according to the New York Post.

“You can see some sort of, it looks like a man, back in the early ’70s, long hair, wearing some sort of waistcoat-type thing … and a shadow of that figure, presumably,” the narrator claimed, using his mouse to outline the figure as he talks.

“Where’s this guy’s space suit?” he says.

The clip has been viewed nearly three million times since being uploaded in 2017.

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Astonishing - ’Fake Officer’ Lied His Way into Swedish Military Intel & NATO for Decade

‘Totally incomprehensible’: ’Fake officer’ lied his way into Swedish military intel & NATO, hid forged credentials for decade

Military patrol in Sweden. FILE PHOTO © Reuters / TT News Agency

A Swedish man with no official training faked his way into the top ranks of Swedish military intelligence, helming sensitive projects before he was posted to NATO and later the Coast Guard. How did this happen?

The Swedish Armed Forces – and now NATO, which only learned of the deception this week – are furious, demanding to know how the man was able to slip through the cracks even after he was discovered and booted from his high-ranking Coast Guard post in January 2019 – only to reemerge at the helm of Sweden’s UN mission to Mali.

The faker first bluffed his way into a supervisory role in the military in Kosovo and Afghanistan, forging a diploma from the Signal Troops Officers’ College in Enköping with a fake colonel’s signature, Dagens Nyheter revealed on Monday.

He later faked higher degrees and special training in order to take on more senior positions in military intelligence, supervising not only other soldiers but also information security. These were important positions, with the impersonator overseeing the development of cryptographic keys at the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST) – meaning responsibility for the military’s secure communications rested on his shoulders.

Amazing! Military intelligence security in the hands of a complete fraud! How ironic! 

In 2012, the fraudster was assigned to NATO in Brussels, the outlet revealed earlier this week. He even received a medal for his service, before crossing over to the private sector to work in information security with a subsidiary of defense contractor Saab.

The situation is “totally incomprehensible,” NATO expert Ann-Sofie Dahl lamented to DN, adding that it was “very, very worrying for Sweden’s cooperation with NATO.” It was a “feather in [Sweden’s] cap” to be permitted to work so closely with the alliance, Dahl said, and “it will take a very long time and great efforts to repair” trust in the country.

The impersonator wasn’t even found out during his time with NATO. In fact, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel so that he could work with more senior officers. He successfully hid for another five years, joining the Coast Guard in a high-ranking role with access to classified material. Only in December 2018 did the service find out he was lying about his credentials, removing him from his post the following month.

Somehow, though, that wasn’t the end of his military career. The Swedish Armed Forces is trying to figure out how he subsequently ended up as chief of staff for Sweden’s UN operation in Mali.

Lieutenant Colonel Carl-Axel Blomdahl, who is leading the official investigation into the case, insists they never got the warning from the Coast Guard about the man with the “doubtful CV.”

“Had we had access to the information, we would have acted on it,” he insisted. Blomdahl nevertheless waited to break the bad news to NATO until Monday, when DN published its own investigation exposing the man’s forged credentials. Needless to say, Brussels was not pleased.

“I don’t know exactly how to describe their reaction. But they don’t think this is particularly good,” Blomdahl told DN.

Armed Forces Commander-in-chief Micael Bydén demanded to know why the man’s deception was not shared with all branches of military command, ordering an investigation to “get to the bottom of this” in a written statement seen by DN.

Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson also demanded to know how the fraudster had gone undiscovered for a decade, likening the fiasco to the 2017 IT scandal at the Swedish Transport Agency, in which a huge trove of sensitive data was leaked, forcing several government ministers to resign in disgrace.

Maybe there's a clue in this report as to how he went undiscovered for a decade. You will note his name is being withheld, we have to wonder why? Is he a Muslim migrant, by any chance? Whether he is or not, his name and photo should be everywhere or else he is liable to end up as a minister in Stefan's cabinet.

Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist acknowledged that the ministry had received a notice from the Ministry of Justice about the faker. But since he had been removed from his Coast Guard position, explained Hultqvist’s press secretary, “the issue was… deemed to be resolved, and there was no reason to inform the Defense Ministry’s political leadership.” Hultqvist and Bydén have both been called before the Swedish parliament’s defense committee to answer questions about the case. 

Backlash From the Brutal Murder and Burning of Afghan Woman

Islam's invisible women pray invisible prayers at Afghan shrine

The savage lynching of an Afghan woman who railed openly against superstitious practices has stoked public anger over the treatment of women but also ignited revulsion against Kabul's ubiquitous shamans, forcing them to go underground.

Last month a furious mob turned on Farkhunda, 27, beating her in broad daylight and setting her body ablaze on the banks of the Kabul River after an amulet seller, whom she had castigated, falsely accused her of blasphemy.

Demonstrators rally in front of the Kabul supreme court on March 24, 2015,
to protest against the savage lynching of Afghan woman Farkhunda

Her killing, which triggered protests around Afghanistan and several world cities, drew global attention to the treatment of Afghan women, while her funeral procession saw female pallbearers bucking tradition to carry her casket.

Women carry the coffin bearing the body of Farkhunda,
who was savagely lynched by an angry mob on the banks of the Kabul River,
in central Kabul on March 22, 2015

But the "Justice for Farkhunda" movement, as it is known, is not about women's rights alone.

"Down with ignorance" has been a familiar chant at protests denouncing her killing, which has prompted public sentiment to turn against Kabul's "healers" peddling amulets, talismans and good luck charms.

"Not every man who wears a turban is a religious scholar," Daiulhaq Abid, Afghanistan's deputy minister for religious affairs, told reporters.

Of course, there is far more at play here beside women's rights - I don't see that as an issue in Farkhunda's murder; or superstition. The real issue seems to have been overlooked, and that is the instant madness that came upon the crowd at the mere suggestion that someone burned the Quran. It takes a very small spark to cause Islamic insanity to explode into a massive eruption.  That is the issue that western liberal governments fail to understand in relation to their immigration policies.

Abid said his investigation revealed that the amulet seller falsely accused Farkhunda -- a graduate in Islamic studies -- of burning the Koran as her anti-superstition advocacy had been driving away his customers.

Many of Kabul's divine healers went underground even before Abid's ministry launched an unprecedented crackdown in the wake of Farkhunda's killing, shutting down their shops and evicting them from roadside markets.

Padlocked stores and vacant roadside stalls have become a familiar sight in the meandering and congested lanes of Murad Khani in Kabul's Old City, one of several hubs where spiritual healers have thrived for decades.

The backlash highlights the angst of a post-Taliban generation in Afghanistan -- where nearly two-thirds of the population is under 25 -- that is often torn between conservatism and modernity as the country rebuilds itself after decades of war.

"Farkhunda's death brought a revolution," women's rights activist Belqis Osmani told AFP.

"It shocked everyone, awakened everyone. It warned the traditional-minded people that a new generation is emerging -- a generation that is more educated and open-minded. They are more liberal and they don't fall for tricks of fake mullahs," she said.

- 'Exploiting ignorance' -
Ahmad Jawad, a 37-year-old Kabul resident, said the "Justice for Farkhunda" movement marked a rare battle in Afghanistan against pervasive ignorance.

"I once went to a traditional healer because I was in love with my cousin and wanted to marry her. He gave me some perfume and paper amulets. He instructed me to sprinkle perfume on the amulets and burn them," he told AFP.

"I did that for a week and everyone around me got a headache because of the bad smell. I couldn't marry my cousin in the end, and realised that my ignorance had been exploited for a charlatan's monetary gain."

But the backlash seems to be limited to urban centres such as Kabul. Just a two-hour drive outside the capital, in the village of Shakar Dara, it is business as usual.

An Afghan religious healer (R) writes amulets for his clients at his home
 in the Surkh Rood district of Nangarhar province

Baba Sahib, in his 60s, sat at the edge of a shrine, surrounded by stacks of amulets, charts with Arabic verses and photocopies of what he called "talismans for all problems".

Traditional healers are much-revered in the deeply conservative countryside, where illiteracy remains rampant.

Several decades of war have destroyed infrastructure in Afghanistan, with rural denizens having little or no access to conventional health services.

Many are forced to rely on healers for a variety of problems -- from debilitating maladies and infertility to finding stolen items and uniting lost lovers. Frequently help is sought despite warnings by religious clerics that such practices are at odds with Islamic doctrines.

Since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban government, the United States and other foreign donors have invested millions of dollars in Afghanistan's public health system.

But most government hospitals are still bedevilled by poor quality of care, scarcity of equipment and pervasive corruption.

As the midday sun rose, a trickle of village clients called on Baba Sahib to seek remedies for health ailments, relationship issues and to ward off "evil spirits".

For a turbaned village elder who complained about a severe headache, he offered the same paper amulet he offered to another client worrying about memory loss.

"Wrap it in a white cloth and then in a red cloth, and then tuck it into your turban. Your headache will go away," Baba Sahib said.

The elder kissed the amulet and turned back, looking hopeful.