Palestinian Papers Praise Killers Of 73-Year-Old Israeli Woman

Jerusalem – Mahmoud Abbas, AKA Abu Mazen, the head of the Palestinian Authority, oversees the editorial content of all three daily newspapers that appear on the Palestinian street – Al-Quds, Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat al-Jadida, all owned by members of Mr. Abbas’ ruling circle.

During the era of Yasser Arafat, Al-Quds published a photograph of the PLO leader virtually every day on the front page. When Arafat died, Al-Quds began doing the same thing for his successor, Mr. Abbas.

The Bulletin’s Jerusalem office subscribes to all of these three Arabic language newspapers of the Palestinian Authority.

The tenor of these papers belie the moderate image of Mr. Abbas, who most recently welcomed President Bush and the leaders of almost every democratically elected nation to his Ramallah headquarters.

It now appears that the terrorists who perpetrated Monday’s suicide bombing in Dimona, which resulted in the murder of a 73-year-old woman, were glorified in all three newspapers controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

“The perpetrators of the operation died as shahids … an Israeli was killed and eleven were wounded in the Dimona operation,” Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on Tuesday.

The Palestinian dailies Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds also defined the bombers as shahids, a term which connotes Holy Martyr.

“Shahid” status means the killers have achieved Islam’s highest honor, placing Mr. Abbas’ condemnation of the terror attack in quite another context.

Iranians Send Rockets For Self-Assembly To Gaza

The Iranian military industries have developed a unique assembly line that is used to manufacture weapons that are earmarked especially for Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The weapon systems in question can all be disassembled into small parts in order to facilitate smuggling them into the Gaza Strip via the tunnels, the sea or over the breached border along Philadelphi Road.

One of the best examples of these weaponry is the Iranian Grad rocket with a 16-kilometer range. The unique development of this rocket – which was designed specifically for the Gaza Strip – allows it to be broken down into four parts. After those parts are brought into the Gaza Strip, they can then be assembled into a perfect rocket.

It was precisely one of those DIY Grad rockets that was fired on Ashkelon on Jan. 3. Security officials examined the remnant of that rocket and drew an unequivocal conclusion: Ashkelon had been targeted by an Iranian Grad rocket and not an antiquated Russian Grad.

A few dozen such Iranian rockets have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

Israeli intelligence director Yuval Diskin said at the cabinet meeting two weeks ago that standard-grade military equipment had been smuggled into the Gaza Strip. Among others, the Palestinians were equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles, some of which are Iranian-made.

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2008