Phone -201.287.1959
Fax -201.287.1957
larkstreet@aol.com
larkstreet@aol.com
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*FENDER ESQUIRE, 1968, blonde with 60's-era hand-painted psychedelic design on top of original
finish, rare transition decal Esquire maple cap neck with nitrocellulose lacquer, refretted,
repro parchment pickguard, humbucker route, Duncan STL-1 pickup, original hardware
(including ashtray), original 3-way switch, replaced pots, real fine player, 7.8 lbs, OHSC.....$4850
*FENDER JAGUAR, 1965, Olympic White w/ matching peghead, finish is in beautiful
condition and has evenly yellowed, all original, ohsc, exc.........$4950
*FENDER MUSICMASTER, 1956, desert sand, finish around
edges worn/sanded down, all else original, vgc, ohsc.....$1250
*FENDER STRAT, 1956, sunburst, some wear, ash body,
new frets, nice guitar, tweed case ........................$29,000
*FENDER STRAT, 1962, Blonde, pro-refret on curved
rosewood board, all original otherwise, very cool aged color, bell like tone,
a pleasure to play, vgc....$21,900
*FENDER STRAT, 1963, Candy Apple Red, all original except spring cover, beautiful
unfaded color, green guard, fat neck, clay dot inlay, white case...........$33,500
*FENDER STRAT, 1965, Blonde, Ash body, very yellowed see-thru
finish, all original, great player, original case, vgc+.........................................$23,500
* FENDER Stratocaster 1955 Ltd. 2005, Sunburst, Master Built by Mark Kendrick,
grained Ash body, 9.5 radius, 6105 frets, Relic #R28154, 6.97 lbs, roundish V neck,
as new, black custom shop case.........................................................................$3250
*FENDER STRAT, '60 Relic, Daphne Blue, lightly aged, looks like a Brazilian board,
beautiful guitar, certificate, brown case, exc........$2295
*FENDER Custom Shop Clapton Strat, 2006, Gold leaf finish,
Master Built by Todd Krauss,figured maple neck, mint, tweed case,
just like the one Eric auctioned off which is up again at auction with a
pre-sale estimate of $31,000-$45,000, only......................$3950
*FENDER CLAPTON STRAT, c 1989, Pewter, maple neck, now has Fralin pickups, Boost
circuit is in the tweed case, some scratches, refretted with larger frets- plays great, ohsc...$895
*FENDER STRAT, 1989, Standard USA, Candy apple red with maple neck, exc-, ohsc.............$795
*FENDER STRAT, 2002, American Standard, see thru green on ash body,
maple neck, exc, plastic case.......................$795
*FENDER TELECASTER, 1954, Blonde, flat-pole pickup, all original, one
piece ash body, original center pocket tweed case, soft V neck, 7.65 lbs, great, great
playing guitar in very fine condition, late '54 with white guard and serial number on
neck plate, neck dated TG 11/54, Body 10/54, Pots 37th week of '54............ .........$33,500
*FENDER Rosewood Telecaster, ca 1969, all original, a few lacquer checks otherwise
absolutely beautiful, EXC+, ohsc... .......................$19,000
*FENDER TELECASTER CUSTOM, ca 1975, Black, original Fender humbucker has
been repaced with a Gibson humbucker, original single coil bridge pickup is
now a 20 year old Barden pickup, maple neck, 7.69 lbs, vgc, ohsc.....................$1995
*FENDER TELE CUSTOM, Road Worn, Black, humbucker at neck & single coil at bridge,
rosewood fingerboard, exc, gigbag.........$495
*FENDER TELECASTER LEFTY, 1978, Black, maple neck, brass nut, Duncan pickup
in bridge, 11 lbs, plays great, vgc+, original lefty case.........................................$1950
*FENDER TELECASTER Thinline Custom Shop Closet Classic, 2005, Black with
round maple neck, 2 single coil pickups, white pickguard, with certificate and papers,
black case, near mint...............................$1995
*FENDER Telecaster, Japan, Black with pearloid binding and pickguard, rosewood
board, gold hardware, exc, hsc.......................$550
*FENDER MUSICMASTER, 1963, sunburst, 1 pickup, rosewood fingerboard with
clay dots, original tan case, exc+......................$1695
*FENDER ESPRIT, Korea, used, like a Robben Ford model, sunburst, mahogany
body, neck-thru, 2 humbuckers, exc........$450
*FENDER Kluson Tuning Machines, ca 1965, double line logo, for Strats, Teles etc- 6-in-line,
original but no bushings, vgc+....................................$350
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*GIBSON LES PAUL Standard, 1954, Goldtop, wraparound tail piece, from the original
owner's daughter- this looks new!, brown case.........................................$40,000
*GIBSON LES PAUL Goldtop, 1968, one piece body, one piece neck, all original except
tuners are restored back to original- had Grovers, 8.5 lbs., vgc++, ohsc...$16,900
*GIBSON '57 Gold Top aged by Tom Murphy with papers, 2002,
exc, ohsc.......$3999
*GIBSON Les Paul '58 faded burst Reissue, 2008, faded 'iced chai' sunburst, 8.9 lbs,
near mint, papers and black book, black case............$2595
*GIBSON LES PAUL CUSTOM, 1969, Black, gold hardware, 1 piece body, 3-piece neck,
nylon saddles, 9.8 lbs, all original, some lacquer checks, vgc+, ohsc.....$8950
*LES PAUL 1960 CLASSIC, 2001, light sunburst, slim neck profile, exc, hsc.......$1495
*GIBSON LES PAUL/SG, 1961, Cherry, sideways tremelo, PAFs,
all original, real nice one, compare with other prices and you'll
see that this one is priced like it was 2006, exc, original case....................$18,500
*GIBSON SG Custom, 1963, White, gold parts, tremelo, all original, exc, ohsc...$15,000
*GIBSON SG 30th Anniversary '61 CUSTOM, 1991, Limited Edition of 300,
TV yellow, nitrocellulose lacquer, 3 Classic '57 PAFs, gold hardware, mint, ohsc....$2250
*GIBSON Les Paul Special '61 Re-issue, SG body, recent, Cherry finish, 2 P-90s,
dot inlay, nice Rosewood board, near mint, hsc............$1850
*GIBSON LES PAUL '60 CLASSIC, 2002, tobacco sunburst with real flame!
excellent playing, wild look, exc, hsc..........looky here...$1350
*GIBSON LES PAUL Deluxe, 1976, Goldtop, maple neck, rosewood board, 2mini-
humbuckers, all original, top is near mint, a little wear on the back, exc, ohsc...$2950
*GIBSON LES PAUL TV JR, 1955, pro refret, all other hardware and finish original but
repaired peghead and heel, very good condition, hsc...........................................................$5500
*GIBSON LES PAUL JR, 1961, SG body, trem removed, good refret, strong original P-90,
new wrap tailpiece, Les Paul Jr. silkscreen, vgc+, hsc... ....$3500...reduced....$2950
*GIBSON LES PAUL Jr. Plectrum "Special" (on tag) , 1959, cherry, double cutaway, has original
tag specifying model, 26 3/8" scale, 4 strings, pretty cool, exc, ssc............................$4500
*SG SPECIAL, 1965, Cherry red, 2 P-90 pickups, all original except for missing
trem comb/arm, 1 21/32" at nut, no breaks or repairs, frets have normal playing wear,
original black hard shell case w/ yellow lining, plays great, exc........................................$4100
*GIBSON MELODY MAKER, 1961, Sunburst, double cutaway, single pickup,
wide neck, all original, vgc+, ssc......................................................................................$1395
*GIBSON FIREBIRD 3, 1964, great "Reverse" Firebird III, 2 Firebird mini-
humbuckers, dot inlays in =Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, the tremelo assembly
was moved back 1/2" but that's invisible unless you remove the tailpiece,
original hard case, vgc+....................................................................$8950
*GIBSON FIREBIRD I, 1992, Custom Shop, sunburst, has original tuners
but Steinberger tuners are on it now with no modification to the wood, exc+, ohsc.............$2450
*Epiphone Olympic Special, 1965, Black, ca 1965, all original, 2 pickups, tremelo..$2500
WARNING ATTENTION HELLO THIS LES PAUL WAS STOLEN !!!!!
*LES PAUL '58 Re-issue, SN 88818, Amber tobacco sunburst, beautiful
FLAMES, excellent+, THIS GUITAR WAS STOLEN- SERIAL #88818
IF YOU SEE IT CALL US!
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*GIBSON SUPER 400 CES, 1960, refin Black
by Gibson ca 1969, sharp cutaway, 2 Gibson Pat. No. humbuckers, hsc, exc.... ..$9,950
*GIBSON ES-350T, 1956, sunburst, beautiful condition, curly maple
all around, 2 P-90s, re-necked by Gibson in 1962, 23 1/2" scale, exc+, brown case............$5250
*GIBSON ES-345 TD, 1979, Stereo with Varitone, Walnut brown, gold hardware,
all original, low action, frets fine, 1 11/16" at nut, exc+, hsc..........$3250
*GIBSON ES-335, 1968, Cherry, trapeze tailpiece, 1 9/16" at nut,
beautiful finish, exc, ohsc...........$5250
*GIBSON ES-325, ca 1974, walnut, 2 original Firebird mini-humbuckers,
dot inlay, chrome hardware, control plastic plate on top, vgc+....$1895
*GIBSON ES-295, 1956, all gold, exc+, nicest one we've had, ohsc....$9500
*GIBSON ES-295, 1954, all gold, all original, 2 white P-90s,
flowered pickguard, trapeze bridge, touchup near jack, exc-, ohsc.......$6950..reduced....$5950
*GIBSON ES-175, 1965, Sunburst, 1 11/16" wide at the nut, nickel hardware,
all original, slight wear spots on the back of the neck, exc, ohsc........$4450
*GIBSON ES-175D, 1968, Black, 2 Humbuckers, small almost
invisible 1/4' plugged mini-switch hole, exc, original hardshell case............... ...$4250
*GIBSON ES-165 Herb Ellis, 2001, an ES-175 with one pickup at the neck
position, great jazz guitar, 2 tone sunburst, curly maple top and back,
1 humbucker, gold hardware, brown case ...............$1995
*GIBSON ES-125 TCD, c 1964, Cherry sunburst, 2 black plastic
covered P-90s, figured top, vibrant cherry sunburst, all original, exc++, hsc..... ..$2950
*GUILD STARFIRE III, 1965, Cherry, see-thru cherry stain over mahogany body and neck,
slightly shrunken peghead overlay, Schaller tuners, original Bigsby ohsc........$1595
*GUILD STARFIRE III, 1961, Cherry, single cutaway, Bigsby, some finish flaking on
back and sides, has Waverly tuners but originals in case, 2 white DeArmond
pickups, vgc+, ohsc.....................................$2450
*FRAMUS AZ-10, ca '67, Lefty, sunburst Archtop, sharp single cutaway, ebony board
with pearl inlays, floating Johnny Smith pickup, after-market wooden pickguard,
spruce top, bound ƒ-holes, maple back & sides, 17 1/4" wide, 3 3/16" deep,
1 10/16" at nut, zero fret, hard case, exc.......................... .....$1350
*HERITAGE Prospect Standard Classic,ca 2002, Vintage Orange
curly maple body, smaller 14-1/2" 335 style body, double bound, bound rosewood
fretboard, dot inlays, 2 Duncan humbuckers, pearloid pickguard, 1-11/16" nut,
24-3/4" scale, ohsc, exc.......$1350
*HERITAGE EAGLE CLASSIC, ca 2000, 17" cutaway archtop, amber sunburst,
Bartolini floating pickup, curly maple back, sides and pickguard, exc, ohsc...$2450
*HOFNER 463/S/E3, ca 1959, triple
pickup with archtop bridge-like adjusters on each pickup, solid carved spuce top,
striped mahogany back, colorful top purfling, straight neck with fine action, vgc+, ohsc.. ..$2750
*HOFNER 12-String archtop- labelled Gagliano, ca 1967, sunburst,
2 staple top pickups, all original except for the missing pickguard, beautiful!, hsc......$1350
*McCURDY MODERNA, ca. 1997, by Rick McCurdy NYC, sunburst,
16" cutaway archtop, laminated spruce top & curly maple back & sides,
single humbucker, exc, ohsc..................................................................$2950
*COLLING I-35 Deluxe, Collings' 335 style, recent, sunburst, nice flamed
maple top, exc-, ohsc....$3850
*VEGA Archtop Electric, ca 1940, Black, Horseshoe pickup, 14 1/2" wide body,
repaired headstock crack, vgc...............$950
*IBANEZ ARTCORE AF75TDG, recent, White, 16" cutaway archtop, gold hardware,
Ibanez Bigsby style tremelo, 2 humbuckers, near mint, gigbag.........$425
*KAY 17" ARCHTOP, ca 1955, Blonde, curly maple back & sides, carved spruce top,
arrowhead bridge feet, eighth-notes on peghead, fancy tailpiece, DeArmond floating
pickup, fine playing, maybe a K-46, vgc+..............................................$1400
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*EPIPHONE RIVOLI BASS, 1967, Cherry, ES- 335 body style Bass, 1 pickup
at neck, tone button, original mute, fine playing, exc, hsc....$2100
*EPIPHONE TEXAN, 1964, Sunburst, Beatle guitar! all original Texan,
1 5/8" at nut, slightly faded sunburst top, original plastic bridge and ceramic
saddle, deep sound! exc, hsc.............$3750
*EPIPHONE '175', ca 1970, one of a kind? Howard Roberts style neck,
Gibson 175 body, frequensator tailpieve, 2 humbuckers, exc, hsc.....$2750
*EPIPHONE EN-546, recent, cutaway classical with pickup, exc, hsc..........$350
*EPIPHONE SHERATON, 1965, sunburst, gold hardware, 1 10/16" at nut, all original,
2 mini-humbuckers, frequensator tailpiece, 14 degree headstock angle, excellent, ohsc....$6000
*EPIPHONE DELUXE, ca 1944, 17" archtop, refinished Blond, original NY pickup in
case now replaced with a P-90 at the bridge position, cloud inlays, Grover Imperials, vgc+, hsc.....$1895
*EPIPHONE Olympic, 1943, 15 1/2" acoustic archtop, 1 11/16" at nut,
25 1/2" scale, all original except for "DON" in sparkle letters on peghead and a slight,
repaired crack at the bass ƒ-hole, partial re-fret, vgc++, ohsc......$1195
*EPIPHONE DELUXE ZEPHYR, ca 1940, Blonde, 17" Non cutaway archtop, 1 original
pickup, 2 knobs, had a neck set- plays perfectly, mother of pearl cloud inlays
in fingerboard, vine inlaid peghead, larger Epiphone logo, all original except
newer case, vgc+..................................$2750
*EPIPHONE EMPEROR, 1959, Thin Electric, Blonde, 3 NewYorker pickups, curly maple
body, exc++, orig. hard case..........$17,500
*Epiphone Olympic Special, 1965, Black, ca 1965, all original, 2 pickups, tremelo..$2500
*EPIPHONE OLYMPIC, ca 1965, cherry, stop tailpiece, 1 pickup, ossc, exc...$995
*EPIPHONE OLYMPIC, '60s, Orange, yow, Orange, all orig but tuners returned
to original from brief Schaller foray, 2 pickups, all else original, rare! vgc+....$2750
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*GRETSCH Double Anniversary, 1960, PAF pickup, Smoke green, near mint, ohsc...coming
*GRETSCH 6120, 1961, 2 1/8" thick, all original, nicely flamed body,
all original with Bigsby, 2 Filtertrons, white case.....
*GRETSCH 6130 ROUNDUP, 1955, G-Brand, Cows n Cactus
engraved block inlays, tooled leather sides with studs, 2 Dearmond pickups, "BeltBuckle"
tailpiece, arrow knobs, small repaired headstock crack, vgc++,
original tweed case................................................$11,500
*GRETSCH Nashville, 1963, Orange, 2 Filtertrons, pro re-fret, Bigsby,
gig-ready! exc, ohsc...$3500
*GRETSCH 6014 Sychromatic 100, 1962, Sunburst, 16" acoustic cutaway archtop,
Humbucker added at neck position, vgc+.....................................................$850
*RICKENBACKER 365, 1967, MapleGlo, got this one from the original owner
who bought it new, all original, 2 toaster-top pickups, vibrola, beautiful natural blonde finish,
crushed pearl shark's tooth inlay, silver case & strap near mint.... $4950
*RICKENBACKER Lap Steel B-6, ca 1947, Black Bakelite, white shields, horseshoe
magnet pickup, original hsc...............$1200
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*ARIA PRO II, '80S, nice Les Paul copy with glued in neck, cherry sunburst,
2 humbuckers, peghead personally autographed by..........Les Paul!, vgc+, hsc..........$750
*BAKER B-1, 2001 NAAM Show display model, Trans-black AAAA curly maple top,
LP Trapezoid fingerboard inlays, mahogany neck, VV PAF pickups, 24.625" scale, 1.6875 nut
width, 6155 frets, Grover rotomatics, mint, ohsc.............$2500
*BURNS VIBRASLIM, ca 1970, sunburst, 2 replaced pickups- originals in
case, tremelo, exc, ohsc..$995
*EVH Charvel, 2007, black/white, used on stage and signed in Portland Oregon,
December '07 by Eddie Van Halen, with picture, signed certificate, and all
documentation, mint, ohsc.................$9100
*COLLINGS CL Deluxe, New, (Les Paul) faded sunburst, flamed maple carved top, solid
mahogany body with cutout, Lollar humbuckers, dot-neck, Tone-Pro bridge
and tailpiece, custom grained ivroid knobs and rings, Sperzel tuners, ohsc...$3750
*COLLINGS SOCO DELUXE, recent, Sunburst, premium flamed maple top,
semi-hollow mahogany body, brazilian board, Lollar humbuckers, ivroid knobs,
neck & body binding, & trussrod cover mint, ohsc...................$4750
*COLLING I-35 Deluxe, Collings' 335 style, recent, sunburst, nice flamed
maple top, exc-, ohsc....$3850
*COLLINGS I-35 Deluxe, ca 2007, sunburst, premium hand carved quilted maple top,
carved solid mahogany back & sides, Lollar humbuckers, nicely figured Brazilian
rosewood pegehad and fingerboard, dot inlays, near mint, ohsc........$4450
*D'AQUISTO Solid Body, 1978, rare, sunburst, humbucking pickup at neck,
spruce top, the most elegant arched-top solid body, ebony fittings, purchased from the family
of the original owner, of all the modern makers Jimmie D'Aquisto is recognized
as being THE master, with original case....................................$22,500
*DANELECTRO DC-1, ca 1961, Black, 1 pickup, double cutaway,
missing pickguard, vgc, ohsc.....................................$795
*DILLION "Brian May" copy, New, cherry, with all the switching that these are famous for,
3 Burns Tri-sonic pickups, tremelo, gigbag, list $800..............$595
*DIPINTO GALAXY 4, recent, Red, 4 Vox style pickups, mint, gigbag...$595
*AUDITION, '60s Japan, 2 pickups, bolt on neck, tremelo, exc, ssc.......$375
*FRAMUS SORELLA, '60s Germany, Black, single cutaway archtop,
floating 'Ideal' pickup, vgc, ssc.......................................................$550
*G&L ASAT, '90s, metalflake green/ gold finish, maple neck,
7.9 lbs, exc-, ohsc....$795
*GUILD STARFIRE III, 1961, Cherry, single cutaway, Bigsby, some finish flaking on
back and sides, has Waverly tuners but originals in case, 2 white DeArmond
pickups, vgc+, ohsc....$2450
*GUILD STARFIRE III, ca 1997, Blonde, single cutaway, Bigsby, flamed maple
all over, straight neck, low action, 2 humbuckers, exc+........$1495
*HAMER 12 String, '90s, cherry stain, solid body, all mahogany, set neck,
2 Duncan mini humbuckers, exc, ohsc..........$1250
*HARMONY STRATOTONE MARS, '60s, 2 pickups, semi-hollow, stackpots, sunburst, exc...$695
*IBANEZ JEM, EM777VBK - vine inlay, Floral Black, American Basswood body, ca. 1989,
exc, ohsc.............$2950
*IBANEZ DOUBLE NECK, Model 2470, ca 1976,
the fanciest and rarest Twin Neck Ibanez, natural ash body, tree of life inlay on both
6-string and 12-string necks, no serial number on back of peghead, Ibanez embossed on
gold plate pickup covers, all original, exc+, hsc...................................$5900
*ITALIA, Red sparkle w/ white pearloid neck and back, 2 humbuckers, exc, gigbag.....$450
*JACKSON, 1987, Custom Shop Black/Vanilla stripes, San Dimas neck plate, 3 Jackson \
single coil pickups, Floyd Rose Trem, ebony board with pearl shark tooth inlays,
black hardware, new silver case, exc............................$1695...$1295
*JERRY JONES 12 String, New, Copperburst, 2 lipstick
tube pickups, double cutaway body, ohsc......................$1050
*JERRY JONES NEPTUNE BARITONE, New, Black, single cutaway, 2 pickups, hsc... $950
*JERRY JONES Baby Sitar, New, red alligatored finish, 1 pickup, ...$650
*JERRY JONES MASTER SITAR, new, alligator finish, just like the old Coral Danelectros, hsc...$950
*LINHOF SPECIAL, New, Kurt Linhof designed this "'52 Tele" and it's nitro finished & aged
by a former Custom Shop Master builder, this one is #17- Joe Walsh, John Mayer,
the Rolling Stones, and Jimmy Vivino have lower numbers on theirs. It has a lefty bridge for
smoother lead tone: the pickup facing left is a high output single coil specially designed by
Lindy Fralin for this guitar, the neck pickup is a Fralin specially designed 3 x 3 split coil humbucking,
body is contoured front and back like Jeff Beck's, aged finish and hardware, G&G tooled western
case.....................................$2950
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USAQUF28fmM
Watch The Boss on YouTube, playing a Linhof Special. We have 4 in stock
*LINHOF #122, New, Sunburst finish on ash body, sunburst peghead too,
rosewood fingerboard, deluxe case ...$3100
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Linhof+Guitars/Linhof+Special/10/1
*LsL TELECASTER, New, '51 Tele style with butterscotch finish and pine body, all
handmade in LA, hsc.........$1949 sold, more coming
*MONTELEONE CUSTOM SOLID BODY, 2007, Sunburst, Lefthanded, this magnificent
guitar does to a solid body what John does to an archtop- it's on another level,
this guitar was featured in the June 2008 issue of 20th Century Guitar on it's cover and
with an extensive photo shoot of the guitar itself, near mint, custom case.............$19,500
*MOSERITE of California Celebrity 12-String, Blue with biding, hollow body, ƒ-holes bound,
2 pickups, trapeze tailpiece, vgc+, non-orig hsc...............$1495
*MOSERITE JOE MAPHIS Model, ca 1970, natural, all original, Spruce top,
walnut body, some scratches, Mosely tremelo, 2 Moserite pickups, semi-hollow, vgc+...$1950
*NATIONAL VAL-PRO, 1963, off white, 2 pickups, resoglas map body,
no flaws, no repairs, exc, ohsc.....................$2500
*PRS SC250, 2009, sunburst, single cutaway, curly maple top, near mint, ohsc..$1650
*PRS Custom 24, 2000, Orange, 10 top, "regular" neck shape, HFS treble
humbucker, Vintage bass humbucker, tremelo, mint, papers, ohsc.....$1895
*PRS CUSTOM 24, 2002, Orange Amber, 10 top, birds, tremelo, exc...$1995
*PRS SE TREMONTI, New, natural mahogany, glued in neck, 2 humbuckers,
bound rosewood fingerboard, gigbag..................................................................$549
*RAMOS L P SPECIAL by Dom Ramos, Korina body, perfect guitar, 2 handmade
P-90s, all hand made guitar, near mint, hsc..................$2000
*ROBIN AVALON, ca 1996, Blue, Les Paul style model with a Bigsby, zebra Rio Grande
humbuckers, rosewood fingerboard w/ dots, exc, ohsc........$1450
*RON KIRN "Telecaster", New, sunburst, curly book matched maple veneer front
and back over swamp ash body, 6.3 lbs,
rosewood board, Neck Profile: Soft “V” Radius 7.25 Medium Frets.
Finished in Nitrocellulose, with hand burnished back.
Custom 5 way Plus wiring and Curtis Novak Calibrated pickups, hsc............$2500
*SILVERTONE, Jimmie Reed Twin, '50s, sunburst, 2 lipstick tube pickups
a bit rough, .........................$1150
*SUPRO, '60s, Red, resoglas, 1 pickup, tremelo, exc, gigbag......$850..reduced....$750
*STANDELL 420S, '60s, sunburst, 335 style, 2 D'Armond pickups,
1 5/8" at nut, near mint, ohsc..................................................$1350
*TOM HOLMES THC BILLY BO CADILLAC is what we call it,
used, Orange, 2 Tom Holmes humbuckers, looks like a Brazilian rosewood
fingerboared, near mint, ohsc..............$2295
*TAYLOR T-5 Standard, 2005, sunburst, all original, near mint.......$1195
*TRAVELLER SPEEDSTER, Escape model, compact electric solid body
classical, exc, gigbag................$269
*VENTURA DAN ARMSTRONG Plexi Guitar, '70s, says Ventura on peghead, body and
parts dead on Ampeg/Dan Armstrong, 1 pickup, exc, gigbag................$895
*VINTIQUE #26, Miss Universe Telecaster by Jay Monterose,
Custom hand done sparkle holoflake finish in nitrocellulose lacquer, the sparkles are by
far the most liquid sparkly sparkle finish we've ever seen, highly figured maple neck, exc, ohsc.....$3900
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*ALEMBIC BBSB4 "BROWN" BASS, 2008,
Stanley Clarke Model, flamed walnut top & back, mahogany, birch & walnut neck,
body wood is myrtle, hand rubbed oil finish, ebony fingerboard w/ abalone ovals,
30.75" scale, LEDs on side of neck in green with amber at 12th & 24th, 2 Volumes,
2 Filters, 2 Q-switches, mono/stereo switch, list $10,500, near mint, ohsc....$5500
*BURNS BALDWIN JAZZ BASS, '60s, sunburst, 3 pickups,
newer bridge, all else original, hsc, astounding!............$1195
*STEINBERGER P Series Bass, 1983, Black, composite neck and wedge body,
passive EMGs, one owner, exc, hsc.....................$1195
*DANELECTRO Longhorn Bass, ca 2001, import, copperburst, 2 lipstick tube pickups,
concentric knobs, exc, gigbag.....................................$299
*ENGELHARDT, formerly Kay, 3/4 Upright Bass, '60s, plywood, pickup,
no case....$1650
*EPIPHONE RIVOLI BASS, 1967, Cherry, ES- 335 body style Bass, 1 pickup
at neck, tone button, original mute, fine playing, exc, hsc....$2100
*FENDER P-BASS, 1954, contoured body, owned by Freddie Tavares best known as one of
Fenders chief designers- this bass was used as a sample for various colors in the shop and
later in the '60s had a nother decal applied. It has hints of gold, silver & red under the greenish/blue
finish currently on it, serial number on bridge is 0840, one newer pot the rest seems and looks
like old original parts with the pickguard being most peculiar, coffin case......$7500
*FENDER PRECISION BASS, 1956, sunburst, Sting rented this bass
for the Inaugural Ball (though he only played his Strat,) vgc, hsc.....$8900
*FENDER P-BASS, 1958, 3-tone Sunburst body, maple neck, anodized metal
pickguard, all original, vgc+, tweed case......$9500
*FENDER P-BASS, 1964, FIESTA RED, GORGEOUS CONDITION!, hsc..........CALL
*FENDER PRECISION BASS, 1966, sunburst, 100% original- no changes or mods-
it's as it came from the factory in 1966, vgc+, ohsc.........$4500
*FENDER PRECISION BASS, 1973, Black, Maple neck, 8.5 lbs,
all original, exc, ohsc, was $2500............$1950
*GIBSON THUNDERBIRD BASS, 2004, White, 2 pickups, exc, ohsc......$1595
*GIBSON EB0 BASS, ca 1969, Cherry, Jazz bass pickup professionally installed
in lead position, original single Gibson bass pickup still at neck, exc, ssc..$995
*JERRY JONES LONGHORN BASS, New, copper burst,
like an old Danelectro, 2 lipstick tube pickups $1330 list, hsc.....$950
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*MARTIN 5K Ukulele, New, magnificent recreation of the '30s classic top of the line Uke,
flamed Koa wood, pearl trimmed body, ebony board with snowflakes,
deluxe hard case, list $5199..........$4199
*MARTIN UKE, Model 3M, All mahogany, bound with white binding, friction pegs, white celluloid
ornament at base of top, stripe down center of ebony fingerboard,, ssc............$1950
*D-45V, 2001, 2 repaired top cracks, top of the line, exc-, ohsc.......$4250
*MARTIN 00-40H, 1930, several repairs, newer slight oversize bridge, new bridgeplate,
sounds great, vgc, hsc. .....$10,500
*MARTIN M-36, New.......
*MARTIN D-12-35, 1969, 12 -string, Brazilian rosewood back & sides & faceplate,
all original in excellent condition except for a wear spot down past the
pickguard and bridge, beautiful woods, perfect action, vgc++, hsc............$3950
*MARTIN D-12-20, 1971, 12-string Dreadnought with mahogany
sides and back, spruce top, 12 fret slotted pegehead, medium action, maybe factory overspray-
so good, exc, hsc.............$1000
*MARTIN D-35, New, classic D-35 dreadnought with 3-piece solid rosewood back and
sitka spruce top, bassier than a D-28, with ohsc........$3099 list ...MAP $2099
*MARTIN D-28, 1949, Brazilian rosewood back & sides, Adirondack spruce top,
tuner holes were never drilled out, the back has a few repaired cracks & 1 needing,
no side cracks, 1 slight "pickguard" crack, fine action, frets, was owned by the lead
guitar player for Osborne Brother's Band thus it's got Sonny & Bobby's autographs
along with Paul's whose guitar it was, vgc++, hsc.....$13,500
*MARTIN D-28S, 1971, 12 Fret slotted peghead neck, long body
dreadnought- Martin's largest guitar, all original with hardly any pickguard shrinkage,
no cracks, very nice finish, 4/32" at 12th fret low E, 2.5/32" at high E, exc, hsc...
*MARTIN HD-28, 1992, scalloped braces, herringbone trim, exc, ohsc..........$1875
*MARTIN HD-28VS, New, Vintage series- a 12 fret dreadnought that's got a huge sound
coming out of it- no need for amplification!........................$4549 list...Minimum Advertised $3399
*MARTIN D-28M, Merle Travis model copied from Merle's original that Paul Bigsby re-necked
and 'pickguarded', Adirondack spruce top, Madagascar rosewood b&s,
maple neck with Bigsby inlaid in peghead, card suit fingerboard inlays, 1 21/32" at nut,
#51 of 100, label signed by C.F. Martin IV, Thom Bresh (Merle's' son) and Fred Gretsch,
List is $7999.....Minimum Advertised $6399
*MARTIN HD-28-LSV, 1999, large sound hole, bound neck, original Kluson metal
button tuners, looks like Adirondack top, no inlays in ebony board, exc++, ohsc..$2750
*HD-28V, new, best '30s effort by Martin, all the good features
like slotted-thru bridge, forward X bracing, diamonds & squares inlay
pattern, squared peghead, ($4099 list), deluxe Geib case.....map price..$2999
*D-28, New, the classic dreadnought, $2849 list............$2149 min. adv price.
*MARTIN GPCPA1- Performing Artist Series, New, 15 7/16" wide, cutaway, solid Sitka
Spruce top, solid East Indian Rosewood back & sides, 25.4" scale, cutaway, all new
F1 Aura pickup system, in stock, MAP .........................$2999
*MARTIN D-18, New, Old reliable, you can't go wrong with a D-18, ohsc.......map.....$1999
*MARTIN OMC-28M Laurence Juber is like the original LJ model with Adirondack
Spruce top, but with Madagascar Rosewood back & sides that looks as good
as Brazilian, soft cutaway, $5599 list.......................... map $4499
*000-28VS, NEW, '30's re-issue 12 fret slot head, some say the
perfect finger picking guitar! w/ deluxe hsc...$4599 list..........m.a.p....$3399
*MARTIN 00-28G, 1956, beautiful Brazilian rosewood back and sides,
a few dings and dents on the top, perfect action, all original nylon
string classical/folk guitar, exc, ohsc...................$3650
*MARTIN 0-28K, 1927, beautifully figured all Koa wood body, old refin- could be by
Martin- the color is perfect and old, slightly oversized bridge
*D-21 Custom, 2008, tortoise binding, forward shifted scalloped bracing,
modified V neck, butterbean tuner knobs, 1 11/16" at nut, 25.4" scale, black
pickguard, very classy........$1795
*MARTIN 00-21, 1963, oversprayed/refinished, fine playing, great
sounding BRAZILIAN rosewood back and sides, small patch in spruce top,
new bridge plate, but sounds and plays beautifully, hsc.........$3750
*MARTIN D-18, 1940, pre-war cannon, old repaired headstock, shows
some playing wear, lots of belt buckle wear on back, great guitar, hsc.......$16,500
**MARTIN D-18, 1937 AUTHENTIC, #1210834 New, buy it-you won't look back, this is
the real deal of re-issues- Martin's painstakenly looked back and is using
old school construction techniques such as hide glue, tucked scalloped bracing,
Adirondack top with forward X-brace, ebony bridge with long saddle (2 5/16'' string spacing),
old style tortoise pickguard (not bit mapped!) huge old neck with non-adjustable T-bar truss rod,
ebony fretboard , 1 3/4'' nut, small abalone position dots, fossil ivory nut and saddle,
ebony bridge pins, 30's style hardshell case (brown vinyl covering) $8599 list....
Minimum Advertised Price ......$6899
*MARTIN D-18GE, 2001, Adirondack spruce top, mahogany back & sides,
normal wear and one cross grain scratch pictured, exc-, ohsc.....$2200
*MARTIN OM-18, 1933, this famous and wonderful instrument belonged to
the great American poet CARL SANDBURG. It's set up nicely and has it's original bar frets,
original pickguard, fingerboard, and bridge plate (repaired in 2001), perfect reproduction
ebony bridge, intonated bone saddle, dressed frets, and period-correct tuners (originals in case).
It is fully restored, with fresh neck set (2008) Restoration included the upper bouts (after
repairs in 2001) where small pickguards (in case) had lifted off the top, and the back, sides and
top were refinished with evidence pointing to that being done prior to Sandburg's purchase of the
guitar in 1958. Though having been restored it still has the patina of a '30s guitar.
Purchased in 1958 by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967) at a Los Angeles pawn shop, this OM is
accompanied by a packet of historic and original documents. These include: hand-written and
postmarked letters by Sandburg; previously unpublished beautiful love poems that are also hand
written; numerous photographs of Sandburg (one is autographed), pictures of Sandburg playing guitar,
Sandburg with famous friends including two with Marilyn Monroe, another in the Oval Office with JFK,
and other ephemera that connect the great American poet to this extraordinary instrument.
it's a great guitar, featherweight, responsive and loud! w/ newer hsc................$34,900
*MARTIN OM-CE Seafoam Green, New, 000 body size with cutaway, OM-scale,
herringbone trim, all solid maple back & sides, spruce top, Matrix Infinity Fishman pickup
w/ soundhole controls, lists for $4199......call for discount
*MARTIN 000-18, 1969, all original bought from the original owner,
wide grain Adirondack (?) top, pickguard crack but no other cracks, one
small abrasion in lower part of the top, 7/32" at low E, 5/32" at Hi E, nice
open sound- not thin like some 000-18s- this one has opened up, vgc+, ossc.........$2950
*MARTIN 00-18, 1955, vgc, hsc...............$2350
*MARTIN 00-18H Geoff Muldaur Model, new, Sunburst top, mahogany back & sides,
12 fret model with 24 .9" scale, Adirondack Spruce top, ebony fingerboard and bridge,
#54 of the run, hard shell case, list is $4999...........Minimum Advertised $3749
*MARTIN 00-17, 1939, all mahogany, no cracks on the top or sides, a couple of
repaired back cracks, 1 11/16" at nut, exc, hsc......................$3950
* 0-17, 1934, all mahogany, new repro bridge, '40s
decal top and back, exc, hsc.................................$3500
*MARTIN JC-16RE Aura, recent, jumbo 0000 cutaway body, rosewood back
and sides, spruce top, Fishman Aura pickup system,
$3099 list, exc, hsc......................$1595
*MARTIN T-18 Tiple, mahogany back & sides, spruce top, some finish
lifting on peghead, no cracks or repairs and plays great, exc.......................... $1350
*MARTIN T-15 TIPLE, 1950, all mahogany, some finish flaking south of the bridge,
vgc, gigbag............$650
*MARTIN SWOM16GT, New, Sustainable Woods series with spruce top
& cherry back & sides, ohsc.........$1399 MAP
*MARTIN D-1, New, all solid spruce top and Sapele back & sides, $1199 list......$899
*MARTIN DC-1E, New, all solid spruce top and Sapele back & sides, cutaway dreadnought
with built-in pickup, $1499 list.........................................$1099 map
*MARTIN 00C-XAE, recent, Black, laminates, cutaway, pickup, exc, gigbag................$395
*MARTIN LXM TRES, New, 3 pairs of strings, gigbag................. $449
*MARTIN FELIX III, THE CAT, New, $649 list, ............................$479
*MARTIN Elvis X, New, during Elvis' all too brief foray w/ Malcolm X, Martin has recreated a tribute
to that time period with a cheap little Martin with a photographically
enhanced leather jacket....................$529
*C-1, 1938, Sunburst, Classic pre-war Martin 15" archtop with
ƒ holes, spruce top, mahogany back & sides, missing pickguard, great neck and setup,
nice open woody sound, exc, ossc...........$2950
*MARTIN F-65, 1964, sunburst, double cutaway, 2 DeArmond pickups, Martin Bigsby,
Martin peghead has scratch, exc-, ohsc........................$1950
Old C-3, not for sale
*1934 000-45, sold
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*GIBSON ROY SMECK Stage Deluxe, ca 1935, sunburst,
new perfect repro bridge, neck trimmed and reset by Dom Ramos, billowing sound,
perfect playability, exc, hsc.....................$7500
*GIBSON SJ-200 Custom, 2005, Gibson Custom Shop SJ-200 with beautiful
Madagascar rosewood back & sides, moustache bridge, engraved painted pickguard
with outer line, natural spruce top , exc, ohsc..........$2850
*GIBSON J-185, 1953, sunburst, several repaired cracks, new
accurate bridge plate, iron crosses artfully replaced with matching brazilian rosewood
on bridge, original brown case, vgc.. .$8500, reduced............$7950
*GIBSON J-185N, 1956, Small Blonde Jumbo, beautiful curly
maple back & sides, top of bridge restored, all else original......$15,900
*GIBSON J-185, 2002, Blonde, Custom Shop, Custom order with pearl
and abalone Panda bears inlaid in figerboard and peghead, near mint, ohsc..$2495
*GIBSON J-45, 1946, Sunburst, script Gibson logo, all original inside and out except
for 2 repaired back cracks, no side or top cracks, perfect action, lightweight- sounds
crystal clear, open & full tone, a winner, vgc+, hsc...........$6900
*GIBSON SOUTHERN JUMBO, 1964, sunburst, all original, exc+, hsc.....$3950
*GIBSON B-45-12, 1966, trapeze tailpiece, beautiful, low action with good angle
over the bridge but there'sa rise in the fingerboard over the body so it frets
out past the 12 fret but seriously, who needs to play up there on a 12-string??
spruce top, mahogany back & sides, exc+, hsc.....................................$1195
*GIBSON LG-2, 1946, Sunburst, Script Gibson logo, several tightly repaired short
top cracks, Sunrise pickup, vgc+......$2450
*GIBSON L-00, c 1942, sunburst, spruce top, mahogany back & sides, maple sides,
no truss-rod, striped pickguard, 2 repaired top cracks, 2 repaired back cracks, some fogginess
in parts of the finish, finish lacquer checked and flaking, great sounding & playng, good+, ssc..$2850
*GIBSON GS-85, 1941, Sunburst, Rosewood (African?) back & sides, x braced conversion by
David Sheppard from original classical guitar, new faithful repro bridge (original in case)
with slanted saddle for steel strings, 1 7/8" at the nut, curved ebony board,
quite cool, exc, hsc.......$3500
*EPIPHONE TEXAN, 1964, Sunburst, Beatle guitar! all original Texan,
1 5/8" at nut, slightly faded sunburst top, original plastic bridge and ceramic
saddle, deep sound! exc, hsc.............$3750
STEEL STRING
*Bacon & Day Senorita, ca 1935, sunburst, 12 fret slotted peghead neck, 14 1/2" body,
all original except repro pickguard to original shape, mahogany back & sides, spruce top,
rosewood board, stunningly loud and great tone, exc, hsc........$5900
*B&D BACON, '30, #35328, dark sunburst, spruce top, mahogany back & sides,
pearloid peghead overlay, 15" wide, 3 7/8" deep at bridge, 25 1/8" scale,
X-braced, all original, one crack at pickguard, fresh neckset, have you ever
played one? exc, hsc...................................................$7500
*BLUERIDGE 180, Dreadnought, abalone purfling all around like a D-45, all solid woods,
Indian rosewood back & sides, spruce top, premium ebony board and bridge,
lists for $1495..Sold.....$1122
*BLUERIDGE 160, Dreadnought, Herringbone purfling, all solid woods,
Indian rosewood back & sides, spruce top, rosewood board and bridge,
lists for $949.Sold.......$713
*BLUERIDGE BR-60, Dreadnought with laminated choice rosewood back & sides, solid spruce top,
nickel plated Kluson style tuners, list price is $595, here for................$450
*BLUERIDGE BR-40, Dreadnought with laminated mahogany back & sides, solid spruce top,
nickel plated Kluson style tuners, list price is $495, here for................$425
*BLUERIDGE BR-73, 000 size, solid spruce top, laminated
Brazilian rosewood back & sides, abalone hollow hexagon fingerboard,
real bone saddle and nut, gold Waverly style butterbean
tuners these things are amazingly nice guitars!! $849 list...$650
*BLUERIDGE BR361, New, slope shoulder 12 fret parlor guitar, mahogany back & sides,
spruce top, $1395 list...................$995
*COLLINGS D-1A Varnish, ca 2008, Dreadnought with Mahogany
back & sides, Adirondack spruce top, varnish finish, 1 3/4" at nut, ivroid butterbean
Waverly tuners, about $6600 list, exc+, deluxe hsc.....................$4750
*COLLINGS D1-A, New, Adirondack Spruce top, mahogany back & sides,
1 3/4" at nut, hsc...call for big discount
*COLLINGS D-2H, New, Dreadnought, 1 11/16" at nut, Indian Rosewood back & sides,
Sitka Spruce top, herringbone trim, deluxe hsc................$3650 list.........$3285
*FAVILLA Dreadnought, ca 1968, mahogany back and sides, crack in top and back, vgc, $300
*FRAMUS Texan Flattop, '60s, sunburst, #36347, bolt on laminated neck,
maple back & sides, spruce top, bridge has sort of a J-200 look, vgc...............$450
*GUILD G212NT, 1978, 12 String Dreadnought, Westerly RI, with Rare Earth
soundhole pickup, ohsc.................$1000
*GURIAN S3B, ca 1969-70, Lefthanded, very early Gurian made in NYC before the move
to New Hampshire, size 3, 15 1/4" wide, beautiful Brazilian Rosewood back and sides,
no "G" on peghead, Spanish neck construction, 1 5/8" at nut, herringbone
trim and rosette, exc, hsc...............$3500
*GITANE JOHN JORGENSON Model, New, Black with pearloid trim,
Tuxedo model, $1395 list...............$750
*KNUTSEN, 1918, fanciest version, has period replaced tuners,
a couple of small top cracks, one back crack, sounds great, hsc................$3500
*KONA STYLE 4, ca 1925, Hawaiian guitar by Weissenborn, has the solid fretted round
neck with a high nut, beautiful Hawaiian Koa with striping and flame, rope binding
around top, back, soundhole, neck and peghead, 13 5/16" wide at lower
bout, 4 1/16" deep body, 1 7/8" at nut, 25" scale, all original
in excellent condition, original ssc and newer hard case............$4500
*KOVACIK 5-40, New, size 5 Martin style, rosewood back & sides, spruce top
with pearl trim, torch inlaid peghead, deluxe Martin hard shell case..........$2500
*LaPLANTE D-21S, 2000, 12 fret dreadnought, Martin top and pickguard,
BRAZILIAN rosewood back & sides,t he rosewood back and sides were bought directly
from Mike Longworth the late Martin historian. Sitka spruce top, bracing is straight tapered
similar to 1960's Martin, nitocellulose satin-gloss lacquer finish, great guitar
in every way, exc, hsc.................$3500, reduction...$3000
*LAPLANTE Custom "Martin" style 40, 2002, Drednought, quilted mahogany
back & sides, spruce top, pearl top, hexagon abalone fingerboard inlays,
gold Schallers with ebony buttons, scalloped braces, exc, hsc.............$1995, reduced to...$1795
*LARRIVEE OM-09, New, Brazilian rosewood back & sides.....
*LARRIVEE D-50, new, '30s style dreadnought with squared peghead,
mahogany back & sides, spruce top, engraved pre-war tuners,
herringbone trim, pearl soundhole rosette, diamond inlay in
ebony board, new model! ohsc $2298 list......................$1695
*Larson Brothers Euphonon "Arkie", '30s, 16" wide, 14 fret, curly maple back & sides,
pearl inlaid top border,
the Stephan Grossman Euphonon, same guitar as pictured on page 133 of the 2nd
edition of Hartman's "The Larson's Creations" ( Peter Kohman ),
some old cracks repaired on the back, beautiful guitar with perfect action.......$42k
*LYON & HEALY "Chase Guitar", ca 1920, probably by Lyon & Healy- many Washburn
attributes, wide abalone rosette, thick triple band purfling with herringbone in the
center, engraved pearl blocks on bridge wings, elaborate and exquisitely done tree-of-
life abalone fingerboard inlay, 13 7/6" across lower bout, Brazilian rosewood back & sides,
extra purfling on back and neck bindings, set up with silk and steel strings and
has medium-high action but still fun to play, "Chase" in pearl on peghead, label
says "Chase Guitar No. 55GC", exc+, hsc.........................$3950
*MONTELEONE OM-42, 1976, African blackwood sides, Brazilian
rosewood back, spruce top has 3 repaired cracks, pearl trimmed
'42' style top, hollow hexagon pearl fingerboard inlay, pearl
pegehead design, engraved tuners, old solid and subtle peghead
repair,rare Monteleone flat top! vgc+, hsc.....................$11,500
*MOSSMAN FLINT HILLS, 1975, Rosewood back & sides, some
milkiness on finish on back, fresh neck set, vgc+, hsc....$1850
*OVATION ADAMAS I, 1987, Black sparkle, cutaway, carbon/ graphite, pickup,
carved bridge and peghead, exc+, ohsc......$1950
*RAINSONG WS-1000, used, black graphite, cutaway, pickup internal, exc, ohsc...$1595
*RAINSONG WS-1000, New, all graphite w/ cutaway and pickup, list $2995...$2250
*RAINSONG BI-WS1000N2 6-string full body cutaway acoustic electric featuring N2 neck,
New, crazy quilt graphite top, The Black Ice Series embodies Artistry. Each instrument is unique.
The soundboard on each guitar is meticulously crafted to achieve an aesthetically pleasing
appearance without overbuilding it. Each soundboard is individually conceived so every
guitar is unique. Unique in design and unique in tone.
The WS is a wonderfully versatile guitar. Combining the best qualities of large and small bodied
guitars, this body shape is ideally suited for a variety of musical situations. A large, deep
chamber gives the WS strong projection and rich bass.
The N2 neck is a result of an extensive, long-term collaboration with the renowned artist
Steve Miller and Master Luthier John Bolin (www.bolinguitars.com). The neck design is based
on a modified "U" profile that has been popular in guitars since the 1950s. While the N2 has
a more substantial feel than the original RainSong 6-string neck, it is ergonomically sound
and actually results in better transfer of string vibration energy to the soundboard. The N2
features a truss rod that is accessible from the head stock. Graphite does not warp or bow
with changes in humidity and temperature. The purpose of a truss rod in the N2 is to allow
customization of the relief to suit individual preferences. Fishman Prefix Plus-Tlist $3295 , ohsc....$2295sold
*RECORDING KING RD-227, New, Dreadnought, all solid woods, pearl trimmed top, $795
*SANTA CRUZ H-13, New, German top, deep body, rosewood back & sides,
13 fret neck, deep Nick Lucas style ''00'' body, slotted peghead, deluxe hsc...$4695 list ..$4100
*SANTA CRUZ Baritone Custom, NEW, Rosewood back & sides, spruce top,
herringbone trim, DEEP DEEP TONE!, $5900 list, ohsc........ $4500
*SCHMIDT & MAUL, 1845, size 2 1/2, Brazilian rosewood, X braced, herringbone trim,
all original, 2 short top cracks, the big question is who inluenced who- both Martin and
Schmidt & Maul were German guitar builders contemporaneously and the design of this
guitar is very similar to a Martin, Jerome tuners, original coffin case....................$8500
*STAHL, Style 8, 1930, by Larson Brothers, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, abalone pearl
inlaid top and soundhole, pearl inlaid board and peghead, 13 1/2" across, exc+....$9500
*STEWART & BAUER Flat top, '20s, 14" across, extra fancy model, Brazilian rosewood
back and sides, double band of pearl purfling on the sides (!), pearl trimmed top,
pearl rosette, pearl center seam on back, gorgeous vase and vine inlay on the neck
and peghead,one top crack repaird, oversprayed top= all else original finish,
set up with silk and steel strings- some would want the neck reset, vgc+++, hsc...$3500
*TAYLOR 555 CE, 2002, 12-String, Mahogany back & sides, Fishman pickup with
side controls, exc, ohsc.............................................................$1500
*TAYLOR NS32CE, 2003, Nylon string cutaway with pickup, near mint, ohsc...$1000
*VOYAGE-AIR Fold-in-half guitar, Dreadnought, mahogany sides & back,
it really works! $899 list............$599
SOME UKULELES
*MAHALO "Les Paul Ukes", various colors, cutaway..............$69, w/ pickup... $89
CLASSICAL GUITARS
*LAPLANTE CLASSICAL, anniversary model, New, Brazilian rosewood back & sides, European
spruce top, 650mm scale with 50 mm nut width, Reischl (formerly Landstorfer) tuning
machines with Genuine Mother of Pearl buttons, French polish finish,
exquisite, hsc........$7500, Reduced......$5500
*Juan Alvarez, 1985 Madrid, 10 STRING CLASSICAL, spruce top, brazilian rosewood
back & sides, top notch, exc, ohsc.........$5000
*VELAZQUEZ Classical Guitar, 1955, Brazilian Rosewood back & sides, repolished,
bearclaw spruce top, several expertly repaired top cracks, stellar
sounding, exc, ohsc............................$8500
*TAKAMINE C128, 1976, Classical, solid spruce top, rosewood back & sides,
exc, hsc...........................$350
*OUD, Egypt, Gamel Georges, vgc+, original semi-hard case.......$395
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*LARRIVEE D-05 Cutaway, Lefty, NEW.....................................$1595
*GURIAN S3B, ca 1969-70, Lefthanded, very early Gurian made in NYC before the move
to New Hampshire, size 3, 15 1/4" wide, beautiful Brazilian Rosewood back and sides,
no "G" on peghead, Spanish neck construction, 1 5/8" at nut, herringbone
trim and rosette, exc, hsc..............................................................................$3500
*MONTELEONE CUSTOM SOLID BODY, 2007, Sunburst, Lefthanded, this magnificent
guitar does to a solid body what John does to an archtop- it's on another level,
this guitar was featured in the June 2008 issue of 20th Century Guitar on it's cover and
with an extensive photo shoot of the guitar itself, near mint, custom case....... ..$17,500
*DIPINTO, recent, black/white/silver sparkle...............................$650
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*DOBRO, Mississippi VooDoo, recent, sunburst, cutaway, Dobro poinsettia-pattern coverplate
(with no resonator), mahogany back- routed to create a tone chamber, solid curly
maple top, Gibson humbucking pickup in the bridge position and a custom-designed
humbucker in the neck position combine to create a gritty Delta blues sound that's
perfectly suited for rock or slide blues, Gibson tune-o-matic bridge
gold hardware, exc, hsc................$1100
*NATIONAL TRICONE Style 1 Squareneck, 1927, original square neck triple
resonator National, is dented on one side, has new cones and some tasty extra wood trim
on the peghead! vgc+, with original case, new cones, vgc+, ohsc.......................$2350
*NATIONAL TRIOLIAN, New, 14 fret, 2-tone old style brown/yellow sunburst,
captures the look and feel of the late 1930’s W-Series Triolians. The thin-gauge steel body is
highlighted by a formed back and traditional ribbed sieve-hole coverplate. Each body is hand
painted in walnut-burst. The maple neck clears 14 frets to the body and features an ivoroid-bound
rosewood fretboard complete with inlaid mother-of-pearl position markers. Tuners are
vintage-style engraved, open gears, hsc...$2150
*KNUTSEN, ca 1918, Koa wood all around, preceeds Weissenborn, rope binding,
one back crack, fanciest model, vgc++.. . ..$3500
*KONA STYLE 4, ca 1925, Hawaiian guitar by Weissenborn, has the solid fretted round
neck with a high nut, beautiful Hawaiian Koa with striping and flame, rope binding
around top, back, soundhole, neck and peghead, 13 5/16" wide at lower
bout, 4 1/16" deep body, 1 7/8" at nut, 25" scale, all original
in excellent condition, original ssc and newer hard case.........................$4750
*NATIONAL RESOROCKET, New, cutaway, New model- cutaway brass
body with single cone resonator, shined nickel finish, single cone with "tricone" cut-outs,
deluxe hsc, list price is $3500.........................................$2975
*NATIONAL ESTRALITA DELUXE, New, wood bodied resonator guitar, sunburst, biscuit bridge,
pearloid peghead, rosewood fretboard, flamed laminated Anagre top, walnut sides, laminated
walnut back, engraved tuners, 25" scale, hsc, $2700 list..................$2350
*NATIONAL WESTERN D DELUXE, ca 2005, Sunburst, round neck, engraved hardware.....$3650
*NATIONAL REPLICON, New, Style 0, aged finish, 12 frets to the body, $3500 list...$2975
*NATIONAL WESTERN D, New, sunburst, the distinctive Western Model D
spider cone-and-bridge has a figured anagre top, solid walnut sides and an exotic
quarter-matched walnut burl back. The top and back of the body as well as the fingerboard
are bound with maple/rosewood “rope” binding. Theround neck is walnut with
a lap-style flat ebony fingerboard inlaid with white mother-of-pearl “arrow” markers. The
headstock is overlaid with white pearloid into which the National logo has been engraved.
This guitar comes equipped with vintage style, open gear, three-on-a-plate tuners.
The coverplate, removable strap and tailpiece are plated with satin nickel sold
*JOHNSON UKE, steel body, resonator........$295
LAP STEEL GUITARS
*GIBSON ULTRATONE Lap Steel, 1953, exc, brown case........$900
*RICKENBACKER New Model Lap Steel, '50s, greyburst, metal, horseshoe pickup, vgc.....$595
*RICKENBACKER Lap Steel B-6, ca 1947, Black Bakelite, white shields, horseshoe
magnet pickup, original hsc...............$1100
*Fender Champion Lap Steel, early 1950s, yellow pearloid, all original, flatpole tele style
pickup, hsc......................................$1200
*HARMONY Steel Guitar, '50s/'60s, yellow/black, 6 string,
1 D'armond pickup, legs, exc........... .......$350
*LAP STEELS, some more- take a look
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
*COLLINGS MF-5, recent, beautiful F-5 w/ gorgeous cremona finish,
$8000 list, mint, ohsc.............$6500
*COLLINGS MT2, New, professional "A" style, curly maple back sides,
Full high-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish
-Select Red Spruce top
-Premium maple back and sides
-Grained ivoroid binding on body, neck, and peghead
-22 fret radiused ebony fingerboard
-Adjustable truss rod
-Tone Bar bracing
-Collings fully adjustable ebony bridge
-Mother-of-pearl Collings logo and dot fingerboard inlays
-Flourish peghead inlay
-Bone nut
-Nickel or gold tuners
-Collings original one-piece tailpiece.......$3500 list price-------$3150
*GIBSON A-1 Mandolin, 1924, Black, snakehead, exc, hsc.........$2750
*GIBSON A-3 Mandolin, 1916, Natural version, all original,
all seams tight, nice arch, all original, exc+, ohsc....$2000
*GIBSON A-4, 1916, reddish sunburst, 1 small top crack in upper bout otherwise
excellnt- tight seams, fin arch, all original parts, fleur-de-lis peghead inlay,
pearl inlaid Handel tuners,exc, hsc..............$2250
*MARTIN STYLE 4 , 1909, Brazlian rosewood bowlback, pearl top trim, pearl
pickguard inlay, ivory buttons and bindings, snowflake inlays in ebony board, exc...$3000
*B&J "The Serenader" Mandolin, ca 1960, ƒ holes, all original, plays great, ssc...$200
*MORGAN MONROE F-Style Mandolin, MMS-4, Black, F scroll -style Mandolin with ƒ-holes,
solid spruce top solid back and sides, solid cast tailpiece, gold hardware,
near mint, ohsc................$400
*FENDER F-Style Mandolin, sunburst, Fishman bridge pickup, fine gigbag, exc....$495
*WASHBURN Mandolin, MmS, A-style, solid top, gold hardware, DeArmond
floating mando pickup, gig-ready, ssc...............$369
*NATIONAL MANDOLIN, RM-1, New, aged brass hardware,
figured maple top, solid walnut sides, 9.5" spun cone, 14" scale, 1.25" nut,
you gotta hear it, $2098 list, hsc...........$1798.. sold
*ANTONIO GRAUSO, Mandolin, ca 1900, Naples/New York, extremely ornate bowlback
mandolin profusely inlaid with pearl, exc, hsc..........$2500
*VEGA, Lansing Special roundback, pearl inlaid pickguard, rosewood bowl, exc....$995
*RAMELECTRO, Electric MandoCello, new, white, handmade by Dom Ramos
top strings unison, bass strings octaved, 2 lipstick pu, gigbag.............$1295
*RAMELECTRO Electric Mandola, magenta, new, one lipstick tube pickup, ssc..$995
*TRINITY COLLEGE IRISH BOUZOUKI, new, hsc...........$695
*TRINITY COLLEGE Mandola, new, hsc................................$695
*DITSON MANDOLA, ca 1920, bowlback, label says "Stringed
Instrument Studios, Oliver Ditson & Co. Boston , Phila, NY"
alternating mahogany and rosewood staves, one top crack
along pickguard, otherwise excellent,.........................$795
*MARTIN UKE, Model 3M, All mahogany, bound with white binding, friction pegs, white celluloid
ornament at base of top, stripe down center of ebony fingerboard,, ssc............$1995
CLICK on ICON to the left of Listing for a PICTURE
5-STRING BANJOS
*RECORDING KING Banjo, RKR-60, New, like a Gibson RB-11,
pearloid clad resonator and peghead, hsc, $1599 list...........$995
*FAIRBANKS Whyte Laydie #2, 1909, 11x27, well repaired hairline crack at heel,
chicken hawk peghead, vgc+, hsc.........................................$3500
*DEERING GOLDEN ERA, New, 5-string banjo, Curly maple resonator and neck,
$4515 list, hsc..............................$3419
TENOR BANJOS
*B&D Senorita, '40s, pearloid peghead and board, simple tonering, resonator, vgc...$450
*Banjo-Uke, '20s, nice folk art drawing on head.......................$200
*DEERING 6-String Banjo, used, vgc+, ohsc...............$1195
*YAMAHA CLAVINOLA, '90s, 88 weighted keys w/ speakers, gigbag, vgc....$495
*IBANEZ AD-80 Analog Delay, purple, made in Japan.........$225
*Fender Strat Lefty Pickguard, ca 1974, white/black/white, intact, vgc+.......$85
*JMI TONEBENDER Mark II Pedal, New, UK, limited edition of 250..............$350
*IBANEZ TS-9 Tube Screamer, 1983, Japan, gc, works fine....$159
*IBANEZ AD-9 Analog Delay, Japan, Purple, gc....$149
*VOYAGE-AIR Fold-in-half guitar, Dreadnought, mahogany sides & back,
it really works! $899 list............$599
*TAYLOR K4 Equalizer, designed by Neve, exc.............$395
DUKE LEVINE's "Beneath The Blue" CD, with Kevin Barry, Jay Bellerose,
Paul Bryan, Kenny White, Dan Reiser & Mike Rivard available here or by mail-- $15
---->>> or for you kids- dowloads availbale at dukelevine.com
JUST JAZZ GUITAR Magazine--- we have the current issue. We also have many back issues at 20% off
Currently we have # 22, 28, 49, 51, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60 ,62
FRETBOARD JOURNAL--Also we carry the current issue #16, and back issues #6, 7, 11, 12, 14,
Both magazines are the best in their field
*MORLEY PRO Series II DISTORTON/WAH/VOLUME...$69
*GEORGE DENNIS CHORAL FLANGER......................$115
*GEORGE DENNIS Stereo Delay Reverb....................$175
*SOUR BOOST LOCK ROCK $179
*JMI pedals- Rangemaster Treble Booster, Limited Edition, made in UK by
Jennings Musical Industries, London, NOS OC-44 Transistor, limited to 100 units
worldwide .....$350 sold out, more coming
*ROCKMAN SOLOIST, Scholtz, '80s, w/ Rockman adaptor, exc..........$139
*Suzuki Q-Chord, New, electric autoharp, better than nothing!...$239
*Greed Tone Pedal, New, Seattle, $249
*MAD PROFESSOR DEEP BLUE DELAY....$339
Hand-made in Finland premium quality delay pedal.
– Deep Blue Delay is a natural sounding digital/analog delay, with analog direct signal path. The Deep Blue Delay has about the same bandwidth as the classic tape echo units, and it can be used in front of an amplifier or in amplifier effects loops.
– There are no noise reduction circuits, which keeps decay of echo as natural as possible.
– The direct signal path is short and made with analog amplifiers with no filtering.
– There should be no distortion or tone coloration as long as input level is in range below maximum allowed.
– The echo signal has a tuned filtering to allow extreme settings without interference.
The delay is specially designed to work well with distorted tone, as this is the most critical application, where delays often fail.
*Electro Harmonix Big Muff, ca 1979, black w/ maroon surrounding button,
original box and papers, great fuzz! exc...........$225
*MOOG Analog Delays- here now,
*FOXX Fuzz & wa, '70s, blue carpet finish.....$350
BRAND NEW-==== FULLTONE GT-500, brand new pedals, 8 in stock
*MXR Analog Delay, '80s, green box w/ cord, vgc+...$270
*VHT Valvulator 1, recent......
*NEW! Re-designed Fulltone Fulldrive 2, like the MOSfet edition, first batch..........$169
*FULLTONE OCDs, new lower factory price.....$159
ToneBone Radial LOOPBONE, like new...$189
We are now carrying DIAMOND Pedals. They are real good. Best analog delay-
the Memory Lane, also excellent distortion pedals.
*TREX REPLICA, mint, analog delay w/ tap tempo.....$350
*MOOG THERAMIN......in stock
TONE PUMP by Barber Electronics
MAXON AUTO FILTER AF-9, PHASE TONE
Also in stock..Moogerfoogers! Great pedals for guitar or keys
Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter...$249
Moogerfooger 12 stage Phaser..$299
AND...
Etherwave Theremin...................$399
Fulltone Distortion Pro..... $209
Fulltone Ultimate Octave, New, $189
Fulltone Fat Boost, New, $169
Fulltone Fulldrive 2, latest version, New $169
Fulltone Bass Drive, New.....$159
Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah, New..... $269
Fulltone Clyde Wah, New..... $229
Fulltone Octafuzz, New...........$169
Fulltone Supa Trem, New..... $215
Fulltone Choral Flange, New....$329
Z VEX EFFECTS
Z Vex FUZZ FACTORY, the most intense and insane fuzz anywhwere....$239
Z Vex Johnny Octave, analog octave up, $429 list... $319
Z Vex Lo Fi Loop Pedal, New..(list $469).....$339
Z-Vex Seek Wah, New..........(list $389)... $299
Z Vex Ooh Wah, a Seek Wah with a random program also, (list $439)....$339
Z Vex Machine, New, (list $369).................$279
Z Vex Super Duper 2 in 1, New, (list $369).........$279
Z Vex Octane 3, New.,(list $369)..............$279
Z Vex Super Hard On, New(list $219)....$189
Z Vex Wah Probe, New(list $369)....$279
Z Vex Nano Head tube Amplifier!, all tube palm size amp, 1/2 watt, will drive
4-12 cabinnet! $499 list..............$399
*CARL MARTIN ELECTRONICS DeLayla, new, limited edition, best analog delay...........$295
*CARL MARTIN HOT DRIVE 'N BOOST........$175
*CARL MARTIN ELECTRONICS COMPRESSOR/LIMITER.....$225
**RAMELECTRO, electric Octive mando/guitar, the OCTOPUSSY, a joint veture
by Dominick Ramos and Larkstreet Music 8 string, basses octaved. These are brand new, and
being glommed by both guitarist1s and mandolinists alike. Looking for a
totally gorgeous new sound? This is it! First batch of 10 will be priced
best............$1095
LARKSTREET MUSIC T-Shirts, w/ D'angelico logo, Purple,Green,Red, etc ..$12
Martin Backpacker, w/ pickup, gigbag..................................$250
Autoharps and Zithers, Tablas, Cellos, Violins
**********BOOKS*********
"Art That Sings the life and times of Steve Klein"
new book just published...............................$49
Electric Guitars & Basses-A Photographic History, by George Gruhn & Walter Carter, $39.95
Acoustic Guitars & Other Fretted Instruments-A Photographic History,
by George Gruhn & Walter Carter, $49.95
The Art of the Amplifier, by Michael Doyle, $23
The History of Marshall, by Michael Doyle, $33
Fender Amps- The First 50 Years, by Teagle & Sprung, $34.95
The Fender Telecaster, by A. R. Duchossoir, $14.95
Fender Stratocaster/Revised Edition, by A. R. Duchossoir, $14.95
The Story of the Fender Strat, by Ray Minhinnett & Bob Young, $24.95
Guitar Legends, by George Fullerton, $24.95
Gibson Electrics, by A. R. Duchossoir, $19.95
Gibson Electrics- The Classic Years, by A. R. Duchossoir, $34.95
Gibson's Fabulous Flattops, by Eldon Whitford, David Vinpol & Dan Erlewine, $49.95
The Gibson Les Paul Book, by Tony Bacon & Paul Day, $19.95
The Gibson Super 400, by Thomas Van Hoose, $44.95
The Guild Book, by Hans Moust, $39.95
Gretsch-The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Co. by Jay Scott, $35
The Gretsch Book, by Tony Bacon & Paul Day, $24.95
Complete History of Rickenbacker Guitars, by Richard Smith, $30
The Rickenbacker Book, by Bacon & Day, $19.95
The History & Artistry of National Resonator Instruments, by Bob Brozman $35
Martin Guitars, by Washburn & Johnson, $40
The Larson's Creations, by Robert Hartman, $40
The Eric Clapton Album, 30 years of Music and Memorabilia, $30
The Fender Inside Story, by Forest White, $22.95
Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery, $39.95
Fender Classic Moments "Fifty Years of Modern Music", $20
The Fender Bass, by Klaus Blasquiz, $9.95
WASHBURN, OVER 100 Years of Fine Stringed Instruments, by Teagle, $30
MAKING an Archtop Guitar, by Robert Benedetto, $40
Complete Guitar Repair, by Kamimoto, $17.95
Electric Guitar Setup, by Kamimoto, $17
Guitar Player repair Guide, by Dan Erlewine, $23
Complete Guide to Guitar and Amp Maintenance, by Richie Fliegler, $15
The Art of the Amplifier, by Michael Doyle, $22.95
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Just some current events down here, don't read it-
WATCH OUT BELOW-----
This is Middle East & World Political commentary. I don't really want to subject you to my personal opinions, as we all have opinions, but the times are perilous and these commentators don't get the exposure that their views deserve.
Hey, I warned you, stay away from this stuff, at your own peril-----
Hide the women and children
yowwwww, don't go beyond this POINT !!!!
Ben Yishai, Ron, "A Brutal Ambush at Sea," YnetNews, May 31, 2010, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896796,00.html
For Video Footage of the Gaza Flotilla
A Brutal Ambush at Sea
Ron Ben Yishai recounts bloody clash aboard Gaza-bound vessel: The lacking crowd-dispersal means, the brutal violence of ‘peace activists,’ and the attempt to bring down an IDF helicopter
Our Navy commandoes fell right into the hands of the Gaza mission members. A few minutes before the takeover attempt aboard the Marmara got underway, the operation commander was told that 20 people were waiting on the deck where a helicopter was to deploy the first team of the elite Flotilla 13 unit. The original plan was to disembark on the top deck, and from there rush to the vessel’s bridge and order the Marmara’s captain to stop.
Officials estimated that passengers will show slight resistance, and possibly minor violence; for that reason, the operation’s commander decided to bring the helicopter directly above the top deck. The first rope that soldiers used in order to descend down to the ship was wrested away by activists, most of them Turks, and tied to an antenna with the hopes of bringing the chopper down. However, Flotilla 13 fighters decided to carry on.
Navy commandoes slid down to the vessel one by one, yet then the unexpected occurred: The passengers that awaited them on the deck pulled out bats, clubs, and slingshots with glass marbles, assaulting each soldier as he disembarked. The fighters were nabbed one by one and were beaten up badly, yet they attempted to fight back.
However, to their misfortune, they were only equipped with paintball rifles used to disperse minor protests, such as the ones held in Bilin. The paintballs obviously made no impression on the activists, who kept on beating the troops up and even attempted to wrest away their weapons.
One soldier who came to the aid of a comrade was captured by the rioters and sustained severe blows. The commandoes were equipped with handguns but were told they should only use them in the face of life-threatening situations. When they came down from the chopper, they kept on shouting to each other “don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” even though they sustained numerous blows.
‘I saw the tip of a rifle’
The Navy commandoes were prepared to mostly encounter political activists seeking to hold a protest, rather than trained street fighters. The soldiers were told they were to verbally convince activists who offer resistance to give up, and only then use paintballs. They were permitted to use their handguns only under extreme circumstances.
The planned rush towards the vessel’s bridge became impossible, even when a second chopper was brought in with another crew of soldiers. “Throw stun grenades,” shouted Flotilla 13’s commander who monitored the operation. The Navy chief was not too far, on board a speedboat belonging to Flotilla 13, along with forces who attempted to climb into the back of the ship.
The forces hurled stun grenades, yet the rioters on the top deck, whose number swelled up to 30 by that time, kept on beating up about 30 commandoes who kept gliding their way one by one from the helicopter. At one point, the attackers nabbed one commando, wrested away his handgun, and threw him down from the top deck to the lower deck, 30 feet below. The soldier sustained a serious head wound and lost his consciousness.
Only after this injury did Flotilla 13 troops ask for permission to use live fire. The commander approved it: You can go ahead and fire. The soldiers pulled out their handguns and started shooting at the rioters’ legs, a move that ultimately neutralized them. Meanwhile, the rioters started to fire back at the commandoes.
“I saw the tip of a rifle sticking out of the stairwell,” one commando said. “He fired at us and we fired back. We didn’t see if we hit him. We looked for him later but couldn’t find him.” Two soldiers sustained gunshot wounds to their knee and stomach after rioters apparently fired at them using guns wrested away from troops.
During the commotion, another commando was stabbed with a knife. In a later search aboard the Marmara, soldiers found caches of bats, clubs, knives, and slingshots used by the rioters ahead of the IDF takeover. It appeared the activists were well prepared for a fight.
Some passengers on the ship stood at the back and pounded the soldiers’ hands as they attempted to climb on board. Only after a 30-minute shootout and brutal assaults using clubs and knifes did commandoes manage to reach the bridge and take over the Marmara.
It appears that the error in planning the operation was the estimate that passengers were indeed political activists and members of humanitarian groups who seek a political provocation, but would not resort to brutal violence. The soldiers thought they will encounter Bilin-style violence; instead, they got Bangkok. The forces that disembarked from the helicopters were few; just dozens of troops – not enough to contend with the large group awaiting them.
The second error was that commanders did not address seriously enough the fact that a group of men were expecting the soldiers on the top deck. Had they addressed this more seriously, they may have hurled tear-gas grenades and smoke grenades from the helicopter to create a screen that would have enabled them to carry out their mission, without the fighters falling right into the hands of the rioters, who severely assaulted them.
Feb 24th 2010, from Arutz Sheva
1. ABBAS WARNS OF ‘HOLY WAR’ OVER RACHEL’S TOMB
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warns of a “holy war” over Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Muslims claim it is a 1,000-year-old mosque, although Islam - only 1,300 years old itself - began publicly claiming the site only 44 years ago. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused Abbas of “hypocrisy.”
The Prime Minister announced earlier this week that the ancient tomb, located immediately south of Jerusalem, and the Patriarchs’ Cave (Me'arat HaMachpelah) in Hevron, are Jewish heritage sites that will be refurbished. Genesis Chapter 23 describes the purchase of the Patriarch's Cave by Abraham in order to bury his wife Sarah, and Genesis 35, 19 describes that Rachel "died and was buried on the road to Efrata which is Bethlehem...the sign of her grave stands until today."
The entire Muslim world has protested Israel’s initiative, and the United Nations has expressed “concerns.” Hizbullah, Iran, Egypt, Syria and Jordan warned that the move is a provocation, and Hamas outrightly called for violence. Abbas, visiting in Brussels, told the Belgian parliament in Brussels that the move is a “serious provocation which may lead to a religious war.”
The Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, broke out in 2000 after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Leftist and Arab protestors have rioted the past two days in Hevron, where the Patriarch’s Cave is located, throwing rocks at soldiers, one of whom was lightly wounded.
Abbas turned to the European Union, which heavily finances the PA, and said that the EU "understands the real nature of this Israeli provocation."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry accused Israel on Tuesday of “annexing two religious sites of the Palestinians, the Sanctuary of Abraham (Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, referring to the Machpelah Cave) and Bilal Ibn Ribah mosque [Rachel's Tomb] in Bethlehem." Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said, "Unfortunately, [the] Zionists' decision rises from the regime's strategy for cleaning all the sanctities of the Muslims and Christians in the occupied Palestine to give them a Zionist identity."
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office charged Abbas with conducting a “deceitful campaign of lies and hypocrisy" by referring to Jewish sites as Moslem mosques. The Arab world’s claims follow a campaign the past several years to deny the existence of any Jewish history at the Temple Mount site, including the Western Wall (Kotel) in the Old City of Jerusalem.
"The State of Israel is committed to freedom of religion for worshippers of all faiths at the holy places and thus it acts in practice,” said the office of the Prime Minister. “Rachel's Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the over 3,500-year old resting places of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish People - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel - certainly deserve preservation and rehabilitation.”
Hevron community spokesman Noam Arnon noted that the Patriarchs' Cave “was a Jewish site thousands of years before Islam ever existed.”
Hizbullah said that Israel’s declaration that the tombs are Jewish heritage sites represents "arrogance” and “is yet another example of aggression against Muslim holy sites and an attack on the dignity of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.”
Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement: "This new Israeli position will only feed extremism, confrontations and violence, and it does not serve US efforts to revive peace.” Jordanian Minister of State for Media and Information Nabil Sharif said, “The Israeli policies that also seek to alter the historical and religious features on the ground in the occupied territories are rejected and are against international legitimacy principles.”
Jews had free access to Rachel's Tomb under the rule of the Ottoman Empire since the 19th century, and Muslim references to a mosque at the site began to appear publicly only in 1966. Muslim history refers to Rachel's as far back as the Quran, which recounts Rachel’s death and burial, as stated in the Bible.
The Oslo Accords interim agreement in 1995 states that security arrangements must “ensure free, unimpeded and secure access to the relevant Jewish holy sites.” The agreement also defined Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem and the Shalom Al Israel synagogue in Jericho as “Jewish holy sites.
The Sharon government surrendered daily access to Joseph’s Tomb (pictured) following Arab terrorist attacks, and Jews have been barred from the Jericho synagogue since the PA took over full control of Jericho. Knesset Member Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) this week led a group of Jews past blockades and visited the synagogue, until the IDF removed them.
The Oslo Agreement also states, “The Palestinian side shall respect academic freedom and rights… [and] shall ensure free access to archaeological sites, open to the public without discrimination."
Among the sites are synagogues in Samoa and Yatta, south of Hevron, which have been closed to Jewish visitors, with the exception of rare visits under heavy IDF guard. Also listed is the synagogue in Gaza City, where Jews are not allowed. The Sharon government expelled more than 9,000 Jews from the area in 2005, destroyed all Jewish communities there and turned the area over to the PA, now controlled by Hamas in Gaza.
ISRAEL' DISPROPORTIONATE RESPONSE
Many countries and world leaders have accused Israel of responding disproportionately to aggression from Hizballah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza .
However, it is time that the world press and media speak of another disproportionate response from Israel .
The terrible disastrous earthquake in Haiti has generated responses from many nations. The US has sent supplies and personnel, Britain sent 64 firemen and 8 volunteers, France sent troops for Search and Rescue. Many large and wealthy nations of the world sent money. The Arab and Moslem world nothing.
Israel, a nation of 7.5 million people has sent a team of 220 people that include Medical personnel and will establish the largest field hospital in Haiti, treating up to 5000 people a day, an experienced Search and Rescue team and medical supplies. As in previous earthquake disasters, such as in Gujarat India in 2001 and in Turkey , in the bombings in Kenya , Israel has been one of the most generous givers of aid and assistance
Turkey seems to have forgotten this help as its extreme Moslem Government is cozying up to Iran .
Judge Goldstone, where are you now? Eating your heart out and hanging your head down in shame I hope.
The favorite occupation in the UN is Israel bashing. More resolutions have been passed condemning Israel than all the so called democratic nations such as Sudan , China , Russia and others for their crimes against their minorities.
I think it is time that the world should know about Israel 's disproportionate response.
Please forward this to as many people as you can.
--David Yehezkel
12/7/09
from Arutz Sheva
FEAR AND LOATHING IN PA OVER TEMPLE MOUNT LINK TO JEWS
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
An Arab university lecturer and writer is hiding underground out of fear for his life after shocking the Palestinian Authority with a book that links Jews with the Temple Mount. The Arab world has been conducting a campaign, including removal of tons of dirt containing archaeological evidence, to try to eliminate historical Jewish links with the Temple Mount.
Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, of Birzeit University in Ramallah, threw acid on the propaganda campaign that tries to convince Arabs that the First and Second Temples never existed. He wrote in a book, “The legendary Temple of Jerusalem may be the place of the Presence of the Almighty and where the High Priests served Him.”
PA officials are furious with Nusseibeh, a scion of a distinguished Arab family, who now is in hiding and cannot be contacted even by mobile phone.
However, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Middle East expert at Bar-Ilan University, told Arutz 7 that Nusseibeh actually is “small potatoes” compared to a Muslim grand mufti, in the days of the British Mandate, who wrote in 1929 that the Holy Temples on the Temple Mount were Jewish,
According to Dr. Kedar, Nusseibeh already had made enemies in the PA after declaring he is not interested in returning to his former home of Ramle, located near Ben Gurion Airport. He also was threatened with death several years ago after urging Arabs to stop suicide bombings and to abandon their claim to a "right of return" to Israel.
Although Nusseibeh fears for his life, Dr. Kedar says he will continue his often outspoken statements against the Arab propaganda machine without worrying about being targeted by Muslims. Dr. Kedar frequently has been interviewed by the Al Jazeera television network, where he boldly charged Muslims with lying and trying to make Jews a punching bag,
“Our aim is to turns things around and hit them back,” he said. “In order to succeed, we need to know Arabic, Arab politics and Arab history.”
9/11/09
from Arutz Sheva
1. FILM WARNS OF NON-VIOLENT MUSLIM TAKEOVER
by Hillel Fendel
A new film warns bleakly but dramatically that Islam has all but taken over Europe, and that radical Islam threatens to do the same in the United States.
The Third Jihad paints a dramatic picture, brushstroke by shocking brushstroke, depicting the non-violent methods by which radical Islam seeks to fulfill its goal of nothing short than conquering the world and establishing “the global Islamic state.” This is the goal set by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinajad, Lebanese Islamists on Al-Jazeera TV, Jordanian Sheikh Ali Ali-Faqir and Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal on Al-Aqsa TV in Hamas-run Gaza [they also appear in the movie], and countless other Islamic leaders.
The Third Jihad was released earlier this year by The Clarion Fund, the producers of another documentary film, Obsession. However, explains Alex Traiman of Clarion, “Obsession – which was viewed by over 30 million Americans – deals with the threat of Islamic terrorism, while the current film focuses more on the multifaceted strategy of non-violent, cultural jihad by which the radical Islamists actively seek to undermine and take over the American way of life.”
The 70-minute film is narrated by a devout Muslim American, Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, and opens with the following statement: “This is not a film about Islam. It is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims are radical. This film is about them.”
In honor of the 8th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, the full feature-length documentary - produced by the founder of HonestReporting.com, Rabbi Raphael Shore - is being made available to the public for free online viewing. Regularly priced at $19.95, the film is available for free streaming in its entirety until Tuesday, September 15, on the film's official website: www.TheThirdJihad.com.
Among the more frightening remarks made by many of the scholars and experts who appear in the film are these:
“If I had to sum up my message to the Americans in two words, I would say: Wake up.” – Bernard Lewis, renowned British-American historian at Princeton University who specializes in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam and the West.
“Islamicism is like cancer; you either defeat it or it will defeat you... The real war is not against a bunch of terrorists, but rather of the values of democracy and freedom against the values of barbarism.”– Dr. Tawfiq Hamid, a former Islamic-Egyptian extremist who has come to recognize the threat of radical Islam and the need for reformation.
‘Islam is coming to America the same way Christianity came to Rome... whether they like it or not. We talk about the Islamic State of North America by 2050... The people of Hamas and Hizbullah are good people; they don’t deserve condemnation, they do good things.” - Imam Abdul Musa of Washington, D.C.
“The battleground is that of ideas and ideologies, but the West hasn’t even woken up to the fact that this battleground exists.” – Melanie Phillips, Daily Mail columnist and author of Londonistan.
On the backdrop of a scene of a mother who proudly sent off three of her sons on suicide missions and said she would be willing to sacrifice even 100 of her children: “When you have Muslims who are willing to kill their own children and wrap a bomb around them, what prevents them from killing my children? Or from killing millions of children of other people?” - Manda Zand Ervin, Founder and President of Alliance of Iranian Women
Speaking with IsraelNationalRadio’s Yishai Fleisher, Traiman explained several aspects of the cultural jihad, including the zeroing-in on American sensitivity to freedom of religion and speech:
“They wage what we call ‘lawfare’ to sue people who use their own freedom of speech to complain against Islamists, essentially frightening them into shutting their mouths and allowing the Islamists to prevent them from doing anything they consider ‘offensive’ to Islam...
"They also spend millions of dollars in endowing university chairs – and they choose their universities very carefully. They choose those known as Title Six universities, such as Harvard and Georgetown, which receive federal funding to recommend school curricula and textbooks around the country. In other words, these Islamists have a strong say in what American children learn in public schools, using textbooks they choose. These books often have factual inaccuracies about the Middle East, and ‘whitewash’ what’s going on in the Middle East, such as calling jihad a ‘personal war,’ as opposed to its true definition as ‘holy war.’”
Another method is prison recruitment. In New York State, for instance, where 1% of the population is Muslim, 18% of the prison inmates are now Muslim – many of them newly-converted while in jail.
Narrator Dr. Jasser concluded with some practical things that Americans can still do to ward off the threat – though some may argue as to how practical these really are. His ideas: We have to get involved and be part of the solution. We have to educate ourselves, and others. We need to find an alternative to oil and stop the petrodollar spread of radical Islam. We must insist that the media tell the full story. We must demand an end to the incitement of children, and demand human rights and freedom for the citizens of Islamic countries. We must ask that Muslims and their leaders take a stand against Sharia [Islamic religious law] replacing Western law. And we have to support leaders that stand up to radical Islam. We will win this, if enough people stand up.
JULY 16, 2009 from HONEST REPORTING.COM
Will the media never learn?
In March 2009, Ha'aretz published a story alleging "war crimes" and serious ethical failures on the part of the IDF in Gaza. Predictably, many international media outlets repeated the allegations without bothering to do any rudimentary checks.
Subsequently, it was revealed that the soldiers' testimonies were based on nothing more than rumors and hearsay, causing acute embarrassment to Ha'aretz and serving up a salutary lesson for those media outlets that reproduced such shoddy journalism.
Now, Israeli non-governmental organization Breaking the Silence has published a new report reliant upon testimonials from soldiers who served in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Once again, allegations of "war crimes" and misdemeanors are based on second-hand evidence and hearsay. Once again, international media outlets rushed to publish a story from another flawed source.
While the BBC gleefully pushed the story to the top of its agenda, The Independent produced a two-page center spread with a screaming headline "Israeli soldiers reveal the brutal truth of Gaza attack". Others also covered the story, including CNN, The Guardian, Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, Financial Times, Times of London, Daily Telegraph, NPR, Toronto Star and the Globe & Mail.
The G & M's Orly Halpern even wrote on her personal Twitter page: "I'm reading a really moving report which I will be writing about for the Globe and Mail. It makes me sick to my stomach." Can an objective and balanced story emerge when emotions rather than facts are the driving force?
Defending the IDF operation against charges including the use of human shields, Golani Brigade commander Col. Avi Peled stated that one of the soldiers who testified in the report was not even in the field at the time: "He told his commander about a week [during] which he wasn't even in the field. He reported about what he heard happened."
NGO Monitor's Dan Kosky points to the Breaking the Silence report's central problems - flawed methodology and absence of any reasonable research standards:
By Breaking the Silence's own admission, the allegations are comprised of "the testimony of around 30 combatants" – a fraction of the thousands of Israeli combat troops deployed during the Gaza conflict. This extremely narrow and presumably hand-picked sample is an absurd basis on which to pass judgment, and even these limited testimonies were entirely unverifiable.
All statements are anonymous, and so-called "evidence" is further compromised by the absence of any details of where and when alleged incidents occurred. Consequently, were the report intended to prompt the IDF to investigate individual allegations, Breaking the Silence has made this impossible.
The IDF has issued an intial response to Breaking the Silence that can be viewed here.
As for Breaking the Silence's motivations, The Jerusalem Post's Amir Mizroch offers an insider's insight on his personal blog on how the group attempted to give Ha'aretz exclusive rights to the story. The paper, in light of its previous embarrassment, did not take the bait and sent the report to the IDF for response. Meanwhile, Breaking the Silence attempted to get the JPost's military correspondent off the story, fearing that the paper would take a critical look at their report. According to Mizroch:
Several days before all this, Breaking The Silence gave out their report to a wide array of foreign media, and not to the IDF to probe into itself, with the caveat that they observe the embargo until after Ha'aretz published the report first. All of which shows their original intent was to get as much uncritical worldwide publicity for their report. Legitimate, sure. Fair? Not so sure.
Breaking the Silence has succeeded in gaining the international publicity that it sought. Many media outlets have also demonstrated their propensity to uncritically publish unverifiable accounts from non-governmental organizations that feed their own unquestioning narrative of Israel and the IDF.
Please respond to your local media outlet if it has covered this story. Full media contact details can be found here.
FUNDRAISING IN SAUDI: HRW EXPOSED
The media and NGOs maintain a symbiotic relationship that feeds stories such as the one above. David Bernstein of the Wall St Journal, however, has exposed the politicized agenda and hypocrisy behind NGO superpower Human Rights Watch, a regular source of anti-Israel reports.
He writes about how HRW's Sarah Leah Whitson tried to fundraise from wealthy Saudis by highlighting battles with "pro-Israel pressure groups in the US, the European Union and the United Nations":
The point of my post, though, is not that HRW is pro-Saudi, but that it is maniacally anti-Israel. The most recent manifestation is that its officers see nothing unseemly about raising funds among the elite of one of the most totalitarian nations on earth, with a pitch about how the money is needed to fight "pro-Israel forces," without the felt need to discuss any of the Saudis' manifold human rights violations, and without apparent concern that becoming dependent on funds emanating from a brutal dictatorship leaves you vulnerable to that brutal dictatorship later cutting off the flow of funds, if you don't "behave."
The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg engaged in a e-mail exchange with HRW executive director Ken Roth on the issue. Roth responded:
We report on Israel. Its supporters fight back with lies and deception. It wasn't a pitch against the Israel lobby per se. Our standard spiel is to describe our work in the region. Telling the Israel story--part of that pitch--is in part telling about the lies and obfuscation that are inevitably thrown our way.
As Goldberg puts it:
In other words, yes, the director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East division is attempting to raise funds from Saudis, including a member of the Shura Council (which oversees, on behalf of the Saudi monarchy, the imposition in the Kingdom of the strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic law) in part by highlighting her organization's investigations of Israel, and its war with Israel's "supporters," who are liars and deceivers. It appears as if Human Rights Watch, in the pursuit of dollars, has compromised its integrity.
HonestReporting. com
July 5, 2009- for all who support the hip Hamas way of life-
. REPORT: GAZA RELIGIOUS POLICE NOW OFFICIAL
by Maayana Miskin
A violent group calling itself “The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” has carried out attacks in Gaza since shortly after Hamas took over the area in mid-2007. Now a female Arab journalist reports that the “unaffiliated” group is clearly an official branch of Hamas, charged with enforcing the group's strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The journalist, Asma abu-Ghul, told Al-Arabiya that she was stopped by the committee's policemen at the beach. Ghul said she was detained for allegedly laughing too loudly and appearing in public with uncovered hair.
The “prevention of vice” police body reports directly to Hamas's Ministry of Waqf Affairs, Ghul said. The force is increasingly visible on the streets of Gaza, she reported, and its officers patrol public beaches and parks as well as businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops.
Hamas Denies Connection
Hamas officials admit that Hamas police patrol beaches and may tell women who they believe are dressed immodestly to go elsewhere. However, Hamas has not claimed any affiliation to the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and has refused to even admit that the group exists.
The committee lists its goal as hunting down “slaves of the devil who commit blasphemy.” Its first public act, in late 2007, was to beat a local singer for giving a concert. Soon afterwards, members of the group carried out a vicious assault on two residents of southern Gaza accused of “disrespect for Allah.”
A similarly-named group exists in Saudi Arabia as an official government body. The Saudi Arabia organization is tasked with enforcing religious laws, such as ensuring that men and women who are not immediate family members do not interact and maintaining Islamic dress codes.
Police forces responsible for enforcing Islamic law exist in other Muslim states as well, among them Afghanistan and Iran.
Hamas Funds Koran Studies, Supports Covering Girls' Hair
Hamas recently announced that it would cut its employees' salaries by 1% in order to finance Koran studies in Gaza. Former Hamas terrorists and those imprisoned in Israel report that Koran study centers are often the place where young boys in Gaza are first recruited to Islamic terrorist groups.
Last year, the group officially adopted the traditional Muslim criminal code, which includes penalties such as lashes, amputation and crucifixion.
According to the Jerusalem Post, residents of Gaza believe Hamas plans to make hair covering mandatory for all girls in school in the near future. The requirement would affect girls as young as age five.
Israel Slams ‘War Crime’ Charges MArch 25, 2009 Arutzsheva.com
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu Israel Slams ‘War Crime’ Charges
Israel rebuked the United Nations on Tuesday for a “one-sided” report charging that the counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead may have been a war crime. The report is a "politicization of human rights [a a further example of the very one-sided, unbalanced and unfair attitude of the Human Rights Council," the prime minister’s spokesman Mark Regev told the French news agency AFP.
The author of the council report is Richard Falk, who is all but persona non grata in the government. He was prohibited from entering Israel last December when he tried to visit Gaza to complete a report on human rights. Israel previously opposed the Princeton University professor’s appointment as the United States' U.N. representative because of his harsh and continued verbal attacks on Israel.
Falk's report stated that if a probe shows that the IDF knew before entering Gaza that it could not differentiate between terrorists and civilians, “launching the attacks is inherently unlawful, and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told reporters on Monday that innocent civilians probably were killed during the counterterrorist campaign, but he added that they were exceptions under a policy that aimed only at terrorists, who often used civilians as shields.
Reuters headlined the report, “General Links Israeli Tactics to Gaza Civilian Toll,” implying that the Chief of Staff put the blame directly on army maneuvers. Reuters did not point out that half of Israel’s own 10 military casualties in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead were caused by “friendly fire,” underscoring the fact that mistakes almost always occur in combat.
Comment on this story
A View from the Target Zone
Haim Harari
January 2009
These words are written a short distance away from the most northern hit, so far,
of the Hamas missiles, which are methodically aimed only at civilian population in
Israel. You may refer to this message as "A View from the Target Zone".
For eight years, approximately 5000 rockets have been sent deliberately into Israeli
population centers, by the Hamas terrorists. The rockets are extremely inaccurate. T
he good news is that they often hit an empty field. The bad news is that, when they
do hit buildings and people, they kill, maim and destroy. It is a very ugly game of Iranian Roulette.
But the most significant fact is that the undisputed purpose of the rockets is
to kill civilians in a random manner. Since they miss entire towns, they could
not possibly be aimed at military or strategic targets. No claim is made
by the Hamas of anything other than a deliberate attempt to kill civilians
within Israel. The world knows about the rockets but rarely mentions
that they are aimed only at the civilian population and at nothing else.
The Hamas consistently refers to Israel itself as "the occupied territory"
. It refers to any town in Israel as an "illegal settlement". Its declared aim
is to destroy Israel. It has proudly endorsed, initiated and sent numerous
suicide murderers into Israeli buses, supermarkets, shopping malls,
weddings and other crowded places. It explicitly states that
it will continue to do so. Since Israel succeeded in preventing
the suicide murders by a combination of the protective wall,
other defensive measures and good intelligence penetration,
the missiles became the preferred way of killing Israeli civilians.
Hamas is declared to be a terrorist organization, not only by Israel,
not only by the US, but also by the European Union, who is not
suspected of being pro-Israeli. This is the same European Union
that refuses to label the Hizbullah as a terror organization, but
repeatedly and officially declares the Hamas as such. Hamas is
fully funded and largely controlled by Iran, a country openly
and totally committed to the destruction of Israel, while
continuing to enjoy trade with much of the western world.
The Hamas media, and especially its independent TV station,
carry daily children programs (including programs for kindergarten age)
depicting the Jews (and not only the Israelis) as pigs, dogs,
scum of the earth and creatures that must be killed. One of
these program features a rabbit which eats Jews. There is
plenty of documentation of these programs, including
animations and programs with child presenters. Major
western news media never report on this phenomenon,
while some of them publish op-ed pieces by declared Hamas leaders.
The favorite hour of launching the daily Hamas rockets during
the last eight years was 7:45 in the morning, but only on weekdays.
Why? Because this is the time in which the streets are full of Israeli
children, on their way to school. No one wants to waste rockets when
no children are in the streets, during the weekend.
Eight year old children in the Israeli town of Sderot, a few miles
from the Gaza border, live, since they were born, with these
rockets. They know no other life. When the alarm sounds,
they have exactly 15 seconds to reach an improvised cover.
Eighth grade children, age 13, have never gone to school,
since kindergarten, without the real threat of having a rocket hit
them on the way. Their parents have never felt safe about
sending their child to school. It is very difficult for anyone
living in a normal safe place, to imagine what it means to
send your child to school, every single day, for eight years,
with the fear that he or she may never reach school because
of a missile attack, aimed at killing the children. The world
seems to accept this.
Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip in 2005. Not one Israeli soldier
or civilian remained there. Everything was ready for the people of
Gaza to start a new life and economic development. There was
no blockade, border crossings were open. Instead came
increased shooting of rockets into Israel, a Hamas coup,
throwing Fatah Palestinians from roofs of buildings to their
death and torturing their own people in their prisons. It is
regrettable that Israel did not react with full force to the
very first rockets after its withdrawal from Gaza, but there
was always the naïve illusion that perhaps talks, discussions,
verbal threats and temporary closings of the border crossings,
might do the job. What Israel did not take into account was
that Iran, directly or through Hizbullah, was paying the
Hamas operatives, per rocket launch.
Through the elaborate system of tunnels dug by the Hamas
under the Gaza-Egypt border, thousands of tons of explosives
and larger and better Iranian missiles have been continuously
smuggled into Gaza. The Israeli Government stupidly agreed
in mid 2008, to a six-month cease fire. During the "mock cease fire",
many rockets were launched into Israel by a variety of real and
fictitious Palestinian organizations, with a clear Hamas sub-license,
pretending that the Hamas itself is observing the cease fire.
In the meantime, the Hamas could successfully prepare for the
next round. It acquired Iranian rockets that were equally inaccurate,
but carried larger warheads, had a longer range and contained
numerous tiny still balls, in order to increase the civilian
casualties over a larger radius. Again, the inaccuracy of the
rockets guaranteed that they could only be sent into random
civilian targets. But now the rocket range covered a population
of close to one million Israelis and the damage is much more significant.
Larger and better rockets were now stored in mosques, schools,
hospitals and normal apartment buildings. Mortars were added
to the menu of shooting at Israeli civilians. Schools financed by
the UN were used in order to launch mortar shells and missiles.
The greenhouses left intact by the withdrawing Israelis were
destroyed, their metal parts were converted to primitive rockets
and their locations became favorite launching areas. Launching
rockets at the Israeli population brings a much better income
than growing strawberries and flowers in greenhouses.
Whenever Israel opened the border crossings to supply Gaza with
basic food and fuel, the Hamas was attempting to blow up the
crossing points. Providing too much food and fuel would disturb
the flourishing black market totally controlled by the Hamas chiefs
and their allies. It would also spoil their propaganda machine.
Most supplies were transported through the tunnels from Egypt,
under Hamas auspices, creating a lucrative business for the Hamas "families".
The absurd notion that Israel must supply fuel, electricity, food
and medication to an outlaw region controlled by a terror
organization, became a permanent mantra in the western media.
Israel was supposed to provide the Hamas with raw materials
for the rockets launched at its citizens, with electricity for the
machinery used to produce these rockets, with food for its
designers and manufacturers, and with building materials in
order to construct safe bunkers for the Hamas leadership under
schools and hospitals. On one hand the Hamas was claimed to
have been the legitimate democratically elected government
of the majority of the population and on the other hand the
population, that allegedly elected these thugs, was declared
innocent and suffering. The inconsistency was never pointed out.
Once the border crossing was closed, as a result of the
repeated Hamas attacks, the international game of a
"humanitarian crisis" was successfully played, with full
cooperation of the western media. Famous incidents
included photographs of poor Gaza residents with
candles and (allegedly) no electricity, staged behind black
curtains in full outside daylight (visible through cracks between
the curtains). Most western media happily used these fake
pictures and, when the lie was exposed, never mentioned it.
Hamas leaders were never lacking food, fuel, electricity, luxurious
private vehicles and all amenities of well to do black market profiteers.
Very few western journalists remained in Gaza, after several were
kidnapped by the Hamas. Almost all reports to western media come
from Palestinians, who are either sympathetic to Hamas, or afraid of
it, or openly active in its ranks, or all of the above. The reader of the
New York Times, or the viewer of a European TV network, never notices
who provides him or her with the news. All photographs, both stills and
videos, are provided by Palestinian operatives, who would stop at
nothing in order to support the propaganda machine. On western TV,
Hamas rockets are launched only from empty fields, never from a school
or a crowded neighborhood, as it is in real life.
United Nation sources in Gaza are often quoted, condemning
Israel for the "Humanitarian Crisis". But these sources are
normally employees of UNRWA, the UN agency that, since
1948, makes every effort to perpetuate the "refugee"
status of the great-grandchildren of the 1948 refugees.
The grandparents of these "refugees" were displaced 60
years ago by a distance of a 20 minute drive and were
never resettled because they were receiving free food
from the UN. The UN objected vehemently to any attempt
at settling the refugees, their children and grandchildren.
The few real refugees, who remain alive today, and are 80
year old, were 18 year old when they were displaced. All the
terrorists are third or fourth generation "refugees" held as
such, courtesy of UNRWA.
These UN organizations employ, by their own admission,
numerous active Hamas members. When the latter make
statements on behalf of "UN sources in Gaza", the Palestinian
journalists never mention to us who these "UN sources" are.
The public gets the impression that these are truthful objective
sources, while being fed with standard Hamas lies. Western media
never disclose to us that the jobs of these people depend on
perpetuating the misery of the so-called "refugees".
A Headmaster and science teacher of one of the UNRWA school
s in Gaza was a leader in the rocket industry of the Islamic Jihad,
a satellite terror organization in Gaza, collaborating with Hamas.
The UN strongly denied the Israeli accusations that they are employing
such a person, until the man was killed by Israel and was eulogized by
his friends as a leader of the Islamic Jihad and a designer of rockets.
When Israeli truck drivers were bringing the humanitarian supplies
to Gaza, during the period of Hamas rocket fire, they were
frequently attacked by Hamas. At least one Israeli truck driver,
supplying the Palestinians, was deliberately murdered.
No protest was launched by the UN. But, when during the
current fighting, an Arab truck driver, employed by the UN,
was accidentally killed, the UN became indignant and stopped
all its "humanitarian" activity in protest, to the tune of loud
denunciations from all "UN sources".
The Israeli defense forces monitor every detail of this fantasyland
by using airborne drones and by a very successful intelligence
penetration of the Hamas ranks. They know which apartment
building serves as a missile storage place, the addresses and
phone numbers of Hamas leaders, which school serves as an
ammunition depot, etc.
When the six-month "ceasefire" ended, in mid December,
Hamas refused to continue it, launching 90 rockets into
Israeli towns and villages in one day. In retrospect, this
has prevented a much more dangerous future situation.
Had there been an additional "ceasefire", Hamas would
have acquired rockets covering all of Israel and possibly
much more accurate Iranian missiles. The Iranian supply
line of explosives and weapons, together with the flourishing
business of smuggled goods, went through the tunnels
under the Gaza-Egypt border with efficiency and regularity.
Had such efficiency been attempted in improving the lives
of the Palestinians in Gaza, the entire Middle East would
have been an entirely different place. But, coupled with
the weapon smuggling, it was essential to create the
charade of the "Humanitarian Crisis".
During the current operation, when the Israeli Air Force wants
to blow up a house which serves as a missile storage,
Israel phones every family in the house and gives
them 15 minutes to evacuate. The Hamas is then
sending the women and children to the roof of the
building in order to prevent the Israeli aircraft from
making the kill. Israel has now developed a tiny arrow-like
missile which can be sent to the corner of the roof,
making a loud noise and harming no one, in order
to scare away the women and children on the roof,
before the real bomb destroys the missile collection
or the explosive storage place. Often, the women
and children used by the Hamas as a human shield,
escape and the house is then blown up, with a
spectacular secondary explosion of the stored missiles
or other war materials. On other occasions, a Hamas
person gets to the roof and prevents the women and
children from leaving. In those cases, the operation
is not completed by the Israeli Air Force, in order
to spare civilian lives, at the risk of having the rockets
launched into Israel on the following day.
Never in history, has any country made such an enormous
effort to avoid civilian casualties, in fighting against
murderers who target only civilians and never anything else.
No one in Kosovo, Serbia, Georgia or Iraq, was offered such
a courtesy by the bombing and attacking powers. This fact
is never mentioned by the western media.
Many of the heroic commanders of the Hamas are hiding
in the central hospital of Gaza, in an elaborate network
of bunkers, trusting that Israel will not attack the hospital.
Hamas spokesmen issue proclamations from the maternity
ward of the same hospital, knowing that Israel will not hit
them there. Ironically, of all non-Israelis, the Hamas leaders
are the only ones who know for sure that Israel never
deliberately hurts civilians. They exploit this fact.
The rest of the world buys the Hamas lies and blames Israel for hurting civilians.
Repeated claims of "humanitarian crisis" are made from the
same hospital. The doctors in charge never tell us that the
hiding leaders of the Hamas are using them and the
patients as human shields. Whether the doctors
are only scared or are deliberate accomplices, we
do not know. Probably some are active Hamas members
and others are justifiably scared to speak up. We never hear
a word from the International Red Cross regarding the use of
the hospitals as the headquarters of terror leaders.
One of the most horrible "impartial" testimonies on the
humanitarian situation, in the hospital, is delivered repeatedly
to the western media by a "Norwegian Doctor" serving there.
The man is well known from his 2001 interviews with
Norwegian TV, in which he explicitly supported and
justified the 9/11 attacks. Needless to say, none of
the networks who bring us the righteous doctor, mention
this. He is just "A Norwegian Doctor" attending to the wounded.
Palestinian ambulances are routinely used to move terrorists
around. This has also been the Palestinian practice in the West
Bank during the terror wave in 2001-2002. An ambulance is
an ideal method of transporting a suicide murderer across
check points. In the unlucky case that the criminal is
caught, there is at least a good press photograph of the ugly
Israelis attacking or stopping an ambulance. It is a win-win
situation. If an ambulance full of healthy Hamas terrorists and
explosives is hit from the air, the pictures are even better for
the western media and for Al Jazeera.
Several Hamas leaders are moving around Gaza surrounded
by children, and often holding a child on their arms. There
are well documented cases in which Hamas terrorists were
pulling reluctant children by their ears to accompany them
when they move from one building to another. None of this
is mentioned by the western media.
Several Mosques, which were used as ammunition dumps, were
destroyed by Israel. In every one of these cases, the air photographs
showed a primary explosion, from the air missile or bomb, and
a much bigger secondary explosion, from the stored missiles
or other explosives in the mosque. The secondary explosion
is an absolute clear proof of what was hidden at the mosque.
The normal beautiful carpets in a mosque would not create a
secondary explosion. Western media have these videos, but
rarely show them or mention their existence.
But the same western media repeatedly show the pictures of
injured or dead children, some of whom were indeed accidentally
injured or killed by the Israeli attacks on military and terror targets,
and some are obviously fake pictures with red paint smeared on
children faces. At least in one case, the same child, obviously
painted and not injured, has been paraded in front of various
TV cameras by several different men, each declared to be his
father by a different network.
Children and innocent civilians are, indeed, killed and injured,
in spite of all the enormous precautions and efforts of the
Israeli forces. This is truly tragic. But the only alternative fo
r Israel is to sit still, absorb the thousands of missiles on its
civilian population and wait for bigger, deadlier and longer
range missiles to start destroying everything in Israel. Israel
is offered a choice between a complete national suicide, on
one hand, and an attack on the terrorists, with extraordinary
measures to avoid civilian casualties, but with the knowledge
that such casualties must occur when the other side is using
children as human shields, storing explosives in mosques,
shooting mortars from schools and hiding the perpetrators in hospitals.
Most Hamas terrorists hide in safe bunkers, leaving their families
in the war zone. They are happy to fight to the last Palestinian civilian,
not to the last Hamas terrorist. Women and children are moving
within the battlegrounds, with Hamas snipers shooting, using
them as cover. The women and children are not allowed into the
limited space of the Hamas bunkers. More than once, a woman is
observed carrying a suicide belt. Israeli soldiers, who are trying to
help these women to move safely away from the fighting area, are
at a very serious risk of a suicide murder.
When the Hamas terrorists are killed, they are counted by the "UN Sources"
as civilians. That is how the "UN sources" reach the huge numbers
of dead civilians they are reporting. Interestingly, Al Jazeera almost
never shows dead bodies of young males, and the western media,
being fed by Palestinian stringers, follow suit.
The Hamas TV ("Al Aksa TV") and Al Jazeera show, 24 hours a day,
repeated video clips with loud music, showing injured bloody children,
including some body parts. Some injuries are real, some are not,
but the videos are shown nonstop between every two news items.
The news items themselves are often lies, but that really does not
matter. What do matter are the video clips, edited like commercials,
brainwashing a worldwide audience and a new generation of future
terror sympathizers.
A video taken several years ago in Gaza, surfaced. The video documents
an accidental explosion of a Hamas truck, carrying a large number
of missiles, among celebrating Palestinians somewhere in Gaza. Many
were killed and injured in this accident, and the pictures were devastating.
There is no Israeli involvement whatsoever, and the event happened a
few years ago. European networks, including France 2, are showing
it now as evidence for the current "criminal" behavior of Israel. The French
channel apologized later, but the number of people who heard the
apology is significantly fewer than those who saw the horrible pictures
and believed the lies. In this case, at least, the hoax was delivered by
the Hamas and France 2 was apparently the victim, not the perpetrator,
as it definitely was in well known previous cases.
Israel opens the border crossings daily, during the fighting, in
order to provide basic food ingredients and medication to the
civilian population. No one can remember such a gesture in
any other war in history, certainly not toward the side that
attacks only civilians and repeatedly announces that its only
aim is to totally annihilate its opponent. Most of the supplies
are captured by the Hamas terrorists and used for their own
troops and their flourishing black market, never providing
them in an organized way to the population. "UN sources"
claim that not enough food is transmitted.
That the Hamas murderers use these tactics, lies and methods,
is not at all surprising. That the international community, with
all its investigative reporters, swallows these lies so eagerly,
without exposing them, is something which demands an explanation
The Six Months of the Lull Arrangement
Summary
1. On June 17, 2008 , after several months of indirect contacts between Israel and Hamas through Egyptian mediators, Egypt and Hamas individually announced that a lull arrangement ( tahadiya 1) had been reached between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and it would go into effect at 0600 hours on the morning of June 19 . Israel 's position was that the lull had no time limit. The position of Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations was that it would remain in force for six months and they then expected it to be extended to Judea and Samaria . Spokesmen of Hamas and other terrorist organizations later stated that it would end on Friday morning, December 19; in the field it had been seriously eroded since November 4.
2. The lull arrangement was based on unwritten understandings and called for the cessation of the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Hamas committed itself to enforce the arrangement on the other Palestinian terrorist organizations which had not expressed their opposition (some organizations opposed it, some were reserved). The cessation of the fighting was supposed to lead to the opening of the crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel , to initiate negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit , the abducted Israeli soldier, and to lead to discussions about the opening of the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt .
3. The lull arrangement brought relative quiet to the western Negev population and the Gaza Strip, especially during its first months, but it did not completely end the rocket and mortar shell attacks. In the six months the arrangement was in force, 329 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel , most of them during the month and a half after November 4. That was significantly fewer than the rockets and mortar shells fired during the six months preceding the lull, during which 2,278 rockets and mortar shells were launched (an average of 380 a month).
4. An analysis of the situation on the ground indicates two distinct periods:
i) A period of relative quiet between June 19 and November 4 : As of June 19, there was a marked reduction in the extent of attacks on the western Negev population. The lull was sporadically violated by rocket and mortar shell fire, carried out by rogue terrorist organizations, in some instance in defiance of Hamas (especially by Fatah and Al-Qaeda supporters). Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire. The IDF refrained from undertaking counterterrorism activities in the Gaza Strip, taking only routine defensive security measures along the border fence. Between June 19 and November 4, 20 rockets (three of which fell inside the Gaza Strip) and 18 mortar shells (five of which fell inside the Gaza Strip) were fired at Israel .
ii) The escalation and erosion of the lull arrangement, November 4 to the time of this writing, December 17 2: On November 4 the IDF carried out a military action close to the border security fence on the Gazan side to prevent an abduction planned by Hamas, which had dug a tunnel under the fence to that purpose. Seven Hamas terrorist operatives were killed during the action. In retaliation, Hamas and the other terrorist organizations attacked Israel with a massive barrage of rockets. Since then, 191 rockets and 138 mortar shells have been fired. The attacks have been continuous and some were carried out by weapons not previously used, such as 122mm standard Grad rockets and 120mm mortar shells. Hamas has been directly involved in the attacks in cooperation with the other terrorist organizations.
5. During the second period a new dynamic was created which replaced the former relative calm: Hamas and the other terrorist organizations extended their attacks (rocket and mortar shell fire, IEDs and light-arms fire), the IDF operated to prevent attacks within the Gaza Strip (Israeli Air Force attacks, firing at terrorist squads within the Gaza Strip near the border), the terrorist organizations responded with barrages of rocket and mortar shell fire to retaliate for their losses and continued daily sporadic fire, in response to which Israel closed the border crossings, exerting pressure on Hamas and the Gaza Strip residents.
6. During the first period the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip were open most of the time ( Israel closed them for short intervals in response to rocket fire). Scores of trucks delivered large quantities of consumer goods through the Karni and Sufa (and later Kerem Shalom) crossings on a daily basis, including supplies of commodities Israel had previously not permitted into the Gaza Strip, such as cement and iron. Hamas leaders admitted that there was an improvement in the supply of goods and that civilian life was returning to normal. Life also returned to normal in the western Negev towns and villages for the first time in the period preceding the lull.
7. With the escalation in rocket and mortar shell attacks which began on November 4, Israel began closing the crossings for longer periods . That led to shortages of basic goods in the Gaza Strip and to disruptions in the supply of various types of fuel (although electrical power was not cut off, since the plant in Ashqelon , which supplies 65% of the Gaza Strip's electricity, provided an uninterrupted flow of power).
8. Hamas did nothing to stop the attacks against Israel , preferring to deal with the problem of the closed crossings by instituting a propaganda campaign in the international media . Hamas hoped it would exert pressure on Israel (and Egypt ) and force it to open the crossings, even while the rocket and mortar shell attacks continued. At the same time, Hamas found alternatives to the crossings, institutionalizing the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border and setting up a maritime delivery service from abroad. The alternatives have eased the shortages but have not provided an appropriate solution for the problem of the closed crossings.
9. Israel 's expectations that the lull arrangement would speed up negotiations for the release of the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit , and Hamas's expectations that it would lead to discussions regarding the Rafah crossing, were not realized during the six months the arrangement was in force. When it came to Gilad Shalit, Hamas obstinately refused to budge from its former demand for the massive release of Palestinian murderers from Israeli jails. As to the issue of the Rafah crossing , Egypt does not seem eager to negotiate, possibly as a way of exerting pressure on Hamas because it is disappointed with Hamas's policies regarding a variety of internal Palestinian issues and because it fears Hamas will establish a radical Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip. In our assessment such an emirate might try to establish closer contact with the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood, its mother organization and a major, longstanding opposition group to the Egyptian secular-oriented regime.
10. During the lull, Hamas and the other terrorist organizations exploited the pause in IDF activity in the Gaza Strip to continue their military buildup and improve their preparedness for the expected confrontation with the IDF “the morning after.” 3 They smuggled vast quantities of weapons into the Gaza Strip through the tunnels, stepped up the pace of the military training of their operatives and continued developing their weapons-manufacturing capabilities. Hamas and the other terrorist organizations gave extensive media coverage to their activities to frighten both Israeli and internal Palestinian public opinion.
11. Conclusion : It is safe to say that the lull arrangement, especially its first period, provided a breathing-space in the daily fighting between Israel and Hamas. During that time there was also a significant increase in the amount of goods delivered to the Gaza Strip through the crossings. However, when the terrorist organizations began a policy of continuous rocket and mortar shell attacks against Israel , accompanied by other forms of terrorism, the lull arrangement was eroded to the point where it remained only on paper as its first six months drew to a close.
12. Contents:
i) Overview
ii) The situation on the ground during the lull arrangement
iii) The crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip
iv) The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip
v) The release of the abducted Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit
vi) The military buildup of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations during the lull
vii) The tunnel industry during the lull
viii) The increase in radical Islamic activity in the Gaza Strip
ix) Terrorism in Judea and Samaria during the lull
x) The influence of the lull arrangement on the residents of the western Negev population and the Gaza Strip
xi) The internal Palestinian arena during the lull
xii) Appendix : Data relating to lull arrangement violations carried out by the Palestinians
>> To the Full Document in PDF Format Click Here >>
1 The correct transliteration of the Arabic word is tahdi'a , but due to the difficulty of pronouncing the Arabic alif hamzah as a consonant, the word is usually transliterated “tahadiya.”
2 On December 17, 18 rockets and six mortar shells were fired; two or the rockets targeted Sderot and Ashqelon . Two civilians were wounded. The PIJ claimed responsibility for most of the rocket fire. In response, the IDF attacked rocket-launching squads and terrorist targets in the northern and southern Gaza strip.
3 Note: This assessment was written prior to the outbreak of Operation Cast Lead, December 27, 2008 .
Back to Top
MONDAY, DEC 29 2008
TO VIEW THE FOLLOWING IN COLOR W/ CHARTS, PICS ETC http://www.honestreporting.com/a/gaza2008primer.html
Israel at War: A Primer
by HonestReporting
Israel has launched a major military operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Over the coming days and beyond, Israel will come under intense pressure both in the mainstream media and in online forums and the blogosphere. HonestReporting presents a guide to the important talking points to enable you to answer the questions and issues that will appear.
Defending Israeli citizens from terrorist fire
*
A quarter of a million Israeli citizens have been living under incessant terror attacks from the Gaza Strip with thousands of missiles fired over the past eight years.
*
These missiles have been described as "home made" by the media. They are, in fact, deadly. Hamas has in its possession longer range Katyushas and Grad-type missiles which can cause devastation such as that on Monday 29 December as one Israeli was killed and 14 injured in a Grad attack on Ashkelon.
*
Israel left Gaza in 2005, giving Palestinians the chance to run their own lives. Despite this, more than 6300 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel since then.
*
During the past year alone, more than 3000 rockets and mortars have been launched into Israel.
*
Since the end of a formal ceasefire (during which terror attacks continued) with Hamas came to an end on Dec. 19, more than 170 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israeli civilians including a barrage of some 80 missiles on Dec. 24 alone.
*
As US President-elect Obama stated during a visit to Sderot five months ago, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing."
*
No other country in the world would have exercised the amount of restraint that Israel has shown for the past several years without responding.
Hamas bears responsibility
*
The deterioration in the situation is the direct result of Hamas policy. It violated the calm, is firing against and attacking Israeli citizens, and is investing all its resources in arming itself and gathering power.
*
If Hamas would renounce the path of terror, there would be no need for the Israeli action. Quiet will be answered with quiet, but terror will elicit a response.
*
"We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there." - US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
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"We talked to them [Hamas] and we told them 'please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened." - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
*
"For quite some time, Egypt has been warning. Whoever tried to confuse the understand of [ignore] this warning, must bear the responsibility. The Prime Minister of Israel warned the Hamas and said: "You must stop, otherwise we will take measures in response." In response to what? To not renewing the calm, to the rocket fire. Just before the arrival of [Israeli Foreign Minister] Livni to Egypt, 60 rockets were fired from Gaza!" - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Israel targets Hamas and the terrorist infrastructure
*
The goal of the Israeli military action is to strike the growing infrastructure of terror and ability of Hamas and its allied organizations to launch missiles and mortars at Israeli citizens and carry out terror attacks.
*
Hamas has used the ceasefire to massively arm itself with increasingly sophisticated weapons to expand the range of the threat against Israeli civilians.
*
Hamas has demonstrated its increased threat as the Ashdod area was hit by rockets, marking the northernmost point where Hamas rockets have reached, more than 40km north of Gaza.
Israel does not target Palestinian civilians
*
The terrorist organizations work out of the Palestinian population centers and cynically exploit them, so the responsibility for Palestinian civilians getting hurt rests on their shoulders. Israel, for its part directs its activity at terrorist elements and does its utmost to refrain from harming the innocent.
*
Those homes and buildings which are used for storing weapons caches and manufacturing weaponry are legitimate military targets.
*
The high casualty figures being fed to the media from (unreliable) Palestinian medical sources do not differentiate between terrorists and civilians. The vast majority of those killed in IDF actions have been terrorists. Hamas terrorists do not always wear uniforms to distinguish themselves from the general population.
*
As The Times of London reports: "Radio stations ordered all members of the security forces, who have borne the brunt of the attack, to slip into civilian clothes, stay away from their bases and avoid congregating in groups to escape death from above."
*
At the time of writing, even the United Nations is citing some 50 civilian deaths out of more than 300 Palestinian casualties.
*
Hamas TV has acknowledged this morning that the vast majority of those killed are from the Hamas military. A news ticker running repeatedly from 10:00 AM announced:
"More than 180 Palestinian policemen were killed including the [Police] Commander, General Tawfik Jaber."
In the background Hamas TV is repeatedly broadcasting the same scenes of dozens of bodies of the uniformed Hamas soldiers who were killed in Israel's first attack Saturday when Israel hit a Hamas officer's course graduation ceremony. (Source: Palestinian Media Watch)
*
In stark contrast to Israel, Hamas actively celebrates targeting Israeli civilians. A video on Hamas TV Sunday morning blended pictures of Hamas fighters shooting at Israel with pictures of injured Israelis and medical evacuation scenes. In addition, the visuals include pictures of skulls dripping with blood, captioned: "Let them taste violent death". Other narrations and texts include:
"Send them to Hell! Tear them to pieces!"
"Send them to Hell, Qassam missile!" (Source: Palestinian Media Watch)
*
Israel has collected intelligence on specific targets for the past year and has not indiscriminately attacked the Gaza Strip. For example, during the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas took control over many facilities in Gaza, including this building and the "Palestinian Prisoner Tower" located in southern Gaza City. The facility was being used as a central operational facility for Hamas security operations and as a weapons arsenal. Hamas offices were also located inside this building and and additionally, large amounts of weapons are also stored inside. The building was used only by Hamas and was not a residential building by any means.
Preventing a humanitarian crisis
*
Israel has continued to allow humanitarian aid to pass through Gaza's border crossings despite Hamas's rocket and mortar attacks, including upon the crossings themselves.
*
23 trucks bearing medical supplies, basic food commodities and other humanitarian goods passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza beginning at 10.30am on Sunday morning (28 Dec).
*
"As the prime minister said yesterday, we are not at war with the Palestinian people, but with the Hamas terrorists, and therefore we are bringing in the goods for the Palestinian people," said IDF Major Peter Lerner, Defense Ministry Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories.
*
Three humanitarian aid agencies are sending goods into the Gaza Strip: UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), WFA (World Food Agency) and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). All three agencies were notified Saturday evening that they would be allowed to send as many truckloads of supplies into the region as they could muster. "We didn't place any limit on the number of trucks," Lerner said. "There are only 30 truckloads because that was what they were able to get ready for today."
*
Israel also plans to allow some Palestinians wounded in Saturday's offensive on Hamas to enter Israel to receive medical treatment. Meanwhile, Hamas is preventing wounded Palestinians from crossing into Egypt to receive treatment.
Further sources
*
International Law & the Fighting in Gaza, Justus Reid Wiener & Avi Bell, JCPA, Justus Reid Wiener & Avi Bell, JCPA (PDF format)
*
Did Israel Use "Disproportionate Force" in Gaza?, Dore Gold, JCPA
What can you do?
*
Please use the above to counter some of the misreporting and disinformation that is already appearing in both the mainstream media and online.
*
Download our free Internet Activism Guide to help you respond to media bias online. As the Internet grows as a battleground for Israel’s legitimacy, we bring you the tools you need to join the fight. Our 24-page booklet covers the fundamental principles of online activism.
*
Join the Facebook group "I Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks From Gaza".
*
Keep updated on the latest events through Israeli news sites such as The Jerusalem Post, YNet News and Ha'aretz as well as Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
*
Forward this communique and encourage your friends and family to subscribe to HonestReporting to receive regular updates on media bias and where and how to respond, particularly during this crisis period.
Dec 14, 08
FITNA MOVIEMAKER WARNS WEST AGAINST ISLAM
by Hillel Fendel
Geert Wilders is a Dutch Member of Parliament who continues to receive Muslim death threats because of his anti-Islam film Fitna.
Wilders, who took part in the "Facing Jihad" conference in Jerusalem this week, goes nowhere without his bodyguards. “A lot of people do not like my political ideas about the threat of Islamic ideology," he explained to IsraelNationalRadio’s Yishai Fleisher, "and so unfortunately I have lost my freedom. This is the price I have to pay.”
The 15-minute film Fitna, which was screened at the conference, portrays the Koranic verses and teachings that inspire modern jihadist terrorism. Release of the video on the internet was accompanied by threats against Wilders, international debate about the limits of freedom of speech, and discussion of what Wilders called his “call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization."
Upon its release in March of this year, the movie was banned by the internet registrar Network Solutions. The video provider LiveLeak then screened it, but was forced to recall it by Islamic pressure after approximately one day. IsraelNationalNews/Arutz-7 then stepped in and hosted Fitna on its website, in order to “educate the Western world as to the dangers facing non-Muslims and Western democracies all around the world.”
The movie ends with a dramatic call for Europe to awake and defeat Islamic ideology, just as it defeated the threats of Nazism and Communism in the past.
The purpose of the movie, Wilders told Fleisher, “was to educate people in the Netherlands and around the world about what the Koran and Islam really stand for. So far, some 20 million people have seen it, so I hope I have been somewhat successful… What you in Israel face is not just a territorial conflict, but an ideological one, stemming from the fascist Kuran.”
As evidence, Wilders cites the recent massacre in Mumbai: “We saw that in a city of ten million people, the terrorists found the lone rabbi there and killed him, and separated the kafirs, the non-Muslims, from the Muslims and killed them. This is what we have to fight in order to preserve our Judeo-Christian culture, which I believe we should be proud of, and stop the biggest disease in Europe culture today: cultural relativism and political-correctness.”
Fleisher proposed that in addition to the Muslim threat, there is a political atmosphere that supports, justifies and protects the propagation of Islamic ideology. Wilders said: “Exactly. There are two big problems. One is Islam itself, and the second is the ruling elite. For instance, there was a recent poll in the Netherlands showing that 60% of the population feels that Islam is not compatible with democracy – yet at the same time, the government continues to let everyone in, subsidizing everyone, building more mosques, and acting as if Islam is just another religion. But it’s not a religion; it has religious symbols, but it’s actually an ideology.”
“The way for us to fight this,” Wilders said, “is that we need new leaders in Europe. We have no leaders; what we have today is a bunch of dhimmis who are selling out their own countries and their own identities. I am happy to see that other parties that are promoting these issues of immigration and Islamization are gaining momentum, so I hope that we will be able to work together against the [subservience] of the European ruling elite.”
Fleisher: “Do you think we can win?”
Wilders: “We can, but we have very little time left. It’s five minutes to 12… We have to be very tough in terms of immigration, building mosques and everything that has to do with the Islamization of the continent. Jews and Christians are beaten up on the streets of my own country, and in Belgium, for drinking water in public during Ramadan! … Someone has to get up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
About Israel, Wilders said, “I love Israel. I lived here when I was 17-18 in a moshav near Jericho. My most important message [to Israel] is to remember that this is not a territorial conflict, but ideological. You gave up Gaza, and what did it give you? Nothing good. [Regarding] a Palestinian state, I would say there already is one, and it’s called Jordan; but if you feel that this will help, I would tell you that this is an illusion. It will not bring about the end of the jihad; it’s rather the start of jihad. We see it here, and in Europe, and in the United States. However, whatever Israel decides, I will always be your friend - but make sure that you are not fooled by people who say it’s a territorial dispute. You must defend yourselves.”
Eldad's Anti-Islamization Legislation
MK Aryeh Eldad, who organized the Facing Jihad conference, used the opportunity to unveil details of the emergency anti-Islamization legislation he is planning to introduce in the next Knesset – if he wins a seat. Currently, polls show that his HaTikvah party will not have sufficient support in the coming elections.
“This legislation is aimed at confronting the enemy from within and without the State of Israel,” said Eldad at the conference. “What I am trying to accomplish is to preserve the State of Israel as a Jewish state and to continue the fight against those who say that we no longer need a Jewish state, but a bi-national state of Jews and Muslims.”
The new legislation calls for every Israeli citizen to pledge an oath of allegiance to the State of Israel, requires every citizen to serve the country either in the army or through national service, and aims to crack down on the illegal acquisition of land, illegal building and organized crime in the Arab sector as well as the preaching of hateful statements and doctrines in mosques.
Speakers at the conference included Prof. John Lewis, Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch, Daniel Pipes, and others.
PA MEDIA: 1948 REFUGEES DISPATCHED BY ARABS
by Ezra HaLevi
A recent report by a senior Palestinian Authority journalist in the PA daily Al-Ayyam documented the decision by masses of Arabs in 1948 to leave their homes in the hopes that they would return once Israel was defeated.
"The Arabs who became refugees in 1948 were not expelled by Israel but left on their own to facilitate the destruction of Israel," the senior PA journalist wrote, according to Palestinian Media Watch, which monitors the Arabic language PA media. "This plan to leave Israel was initiated by the Arab states fighting Israel, who promised the people they would be able to return to their homes in a few days once Israel was defeated."
PMW points out that the Al-Ayyam article's conclusion that Arab states are responsible for the Arab refugee problem undercuts a backbone of Arab propaganda claiming that Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of Arabs in 1948. "In recent years, PMW has documented an increasing willingness among Palestinians to openly blame the Arab states and not Israel," the report concludes, citing five sources and witnesses' accounts conveyed in the PA media to support the claim:Jawad Al Bashiti, PA Arab journalist in Jordan, writing in Al-Ayyam, May 13, 2008
"Remind me of one real cause from all the factors that have caused the "Palestinian Catastrophe" [the establishment of Israel and the creation of refugee problem], and I will remind you that it still exists... The reasons for the Palestinian Catastrophe are the same reasons that have produced and are still producing our Catastrophes today.
"During the Little Catastrophe, meaning the Palestinian Catastrophe, the following happened: the first war between Arabs and Israel had started and the "Arab Salvation Army" came and told the Palestinians: 'We have come to you in order to liquidate the Zionists and their state. Leave your houses and villages, you will return to them in a few days safely. Leave them so we can fulfill our mission (destroy Israel) in the best way and so you won't be hurt.' It became clear already then, when it was too late, that the support of the Arab states (against Israel) was a big illusion. Arabs fought as if intending to cause the "Palestinian Catastrophe"
Mahmoud Al-Habbash, PA Journalist in PA-run daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 13, 2006
"...The leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning of the "Catastrophe" in 1948, that the duration of the exile will not be long, and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the refugees will return to their homes, which most of them did not leave only until they put their trust in those 'Arkuvian' promises made by the leaders and the political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the promises were lost with the strain of the succession of events..." [Term "Arkuvian," is after Arkuv - a figure from Arab tradition - who was known for breaking his promises and for his lies."] "
Asmaa Jabir Balasimah, Woman who fled Israel in 1948, Al-Ayyam, May 16, 2006
"We heard sounds of explosions and of gunfire at the beginning of the summer in the year of the 'Catastrophe' [1948]. They told us: The Jews attacked our region and it is better to evacuate the village and return, after the battle is over. And indeed there were among us [who fled Israel] those who left a fire burning under the pot, those who left their flock [of sheep] and those who left their money and gold behind, based on the assumption that we would return after a few hours."
Son of man who fled in 1948, PA TV 1999
An Arab viewer called Palestinian Authority TV and quoted his father, saying that in 1948 the Arab District Officer ordered all Arabs to leave Palestine or be labeled traitors. In response, Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsur, then Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, cursed those leaders, thus acknowledging Israel's historical record.
"Mr. Ibrahim [Sarsur]. I address you as a Muslim. My father and grandfather told me that during the "Catastrophe" [in 1948], our district officer issued an order that whoever stays in Palestine and in Majdel [near Ashkelon - Southern Israel] is a traitor, he is a traitor."
Response from Ibrahim Sarsur, now MK, then Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel:
"The one who gave the order forbidding them to stay there bears guilt for this, in this life and the Afterlife throughout history until Resurrection Day."
Fuad Abu Higla, senior PA journalist, Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, March 19, 2001
Abu Higla, then a regular columnist in the official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida, wrote an article before an Arab Summit, which criticized the Arab leaders. One of the failures he cited, in the name of a prisoner, was that an earlier generation of Arab leaders "forced" them to leave Israel in 1948, again placing the blame for the flight on the Arab leaders.
"I have received a letter from a prisoner in Acre prison, to the Arab summit:
To the [Arab and Muslim] Kings and Presidents, poverty is killing us, the symptoms are exhausting us and the souls are leaving our body, yet you are still searching for the way to provide aid, like one who is looking for a needle in a haystack or like the armies of your predecessors in the year of 1948, who forced us to leave [Israel], on the pretext of clearing the battlefields of civilians...
So what will your summit do now?"
PMW Director Itamar Marcus believes it is critical that the admission of PA Arabs to the root causes of the refugee issue be brought to light, as the matter is not only at the heart of negotiations, but has become a rallying point for anti-Israel activists seeking to flood the Jewish state with the descendants of those who fled originally. "It is clear from these statements that there is general acknowledgement among Palestinians that Arab leaders bear responsibility for the mass flight of Arabs from Israel in 1948, and were the cause of the 'refugee' problem," Marcus said. "Furthermore, the fact that this information has been validated by public figures and refugees in the Palestinian Authority media itself confirms that this responsibility is well-known - even though for propaganda purposes its leaders continue to blame Israel publicly for 'the expulsion.' "
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Friday, March 28
You know, I hate to parade my feelings around, about what's going on in our world,
but things are just a little too weird these days. Some may say that the film below is a shallow, propagandist,
racist attempt at Mulim bashing, but take a look, these are real events
Just released, a film by Hollands Geert Wilders, http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d9_1206624103
Oh, whooops, forget it folks, I just went there and they've taken it down, due to the predictable death threats,
but hey, why let that stop the people who are blind to the threat? I saw the film last night, I don't know why
the Islamists objected- it's basically flicks of them using blood curdling speech, showing acts of
unspeakable violence, and juxtposing texts from the Quran. Ok, it also had the bomb in the turban cartoon
too. Either get used to this fascism or express your opposition.
\ Here's what ArutzSheva.com reported
Movie Portrays Islam as Violent and Bloodthirsty
by Hillel Fendel
The long-awaited and controversial movie Fitna, which graphically portrays Islam as a religion seeking to dominate the world and slaughter non-believers, finally debuted on the internet on Thursday night.
Within two hours of the film's release on Britain's LiveLeak.com video site, close to two million people had seen it. More than half of them were from Holland, home to the film's producer, Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
The screening of the movie had been in doubt after the world's largest website name registrar, Network Solutions, decided to block the movie's home site. The decision to censor the film bolstered concerns that the extent of the fear of Islamic violence has even affected WWW content.
On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution against the movie. Proposed by Islamic countries, the resolutiion passed by a 21-10 vote, over the opposition of Europe and Canada.
Despite all, LiveLeak stepped in to film the movie, at , explaining, "There was no legal reason to refuse Geert Wilders the right to post his film on LiveLeak.com, and it is not our place to censor people based on an emotive response." Many websites feared even to list the URL at which the movie could be seen.
Response to the film has not been as intense as feared - though Dutch police had upped security precautions to near-top levels. The movie was condemned by Iran, Indonesia, and the Netherlands, but no rioting or other reactions like those that followed the publication in Denmark of anti-Mohammed cartoons have broken out.
Fitna includes graphic footage of Moslem terror attacks around the world, including beheadings, disfigured bodies, destroyed buses, and the like. The scenes are accompanied by the relevant verses in the Koran, such as, "Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering to strike terror, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah and your enemies." This particular verse is followed by clips of a plane slamming into the World Trade Center and setting the building afire, and imams calling for the annihilation of all infidels.
One Moslem cleric is seen calling for the murder of Jews; he unsheathes a sword and cries out in nearly uncontrollable frenzy, "By Allah, we shall cut off the Jew's head! Allah is great! Allah is great! Jihad for the sake of Allah!" The audience, in a similar frenzy, cheers him on.
The film ends with the sound of a page being torn out of a book, followed by stark sentences on the screen reading, "It is not up to me, but up to Moslems themselves to tear out the hateful verses from the Koran. Muslims want you to make way for Islam, but Islam does not make way for you. The government insists that you respect Islam, but Islam has no respect for you. Islam wants to rule, submit, and seeks to destroy our Western civilization. In 1945, Nazism was defeated in Europe. In 1989, Communism was defeated in Europe. Now, the Islamic ideology has to be defeated."
Comment on This Story!
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Israel's moral war against Hamas
efraim inbar , THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 8, 2008
Over a quarter of a million Israelis in the south are subjected to a daily rain of Kassam and GRAD rockets. Some Jewish towns around the Gaza Strip have suffered over 4,000 rocket attacks in the past seven years. No state can tolerate a situation where a large part of its population is being terrorized by continuous rocket and mortar fire. The first obligation of any state is to provide security to its citizens. Therefore, Israeli military operations in Gaza are an imperative designed to prevent the launching of rockets into Israeli population centers and are clearly an act of self-defense sanctioned by international law.
It is important to note that the Palestinians have continued their terrorist attacks in recent years despite the complete Israel withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Instead of seizing he opportunity to engage in state-building and in improving the standard of living for Gazans, the Palestinians acted upon their hatred and continued to attack Israeli civilians, which is in itself a war crime.
In contrast, Israeli military activities have never targeted civilians. Civilians are hurt occasionally in urban warfare, particularly when Hamas cynically places missile launchers or weapons stockpiles in the heart of a civilian area. These sites are, nevertheless, lawful military objectives. Under the Geneva Conventions, the responsibility for civilian casualties arising from the "shielding" lies with the party that deliberately placed civilians at risk. Moreover, Israeli military units do their best to minimize the collateral damage when attacking military targets in the midst of civilian concentrations. The officers in the field are so instructed and they have great leeway even to abort missions in case the lives of too many civilians are at stake. More than once, IDF officers have risked their own troops to prevent Palestinian civilian casualties.
Israel follows strict legal standards for military procedures. Legal authorities are invariably consulted before the approval of military operational plans and all military actions are subject to stringent judicial review by the Israeli High Court of Justice - an institution with impeccable credentials.
THE OFTEN-AIRED charge of disproportionate use of force by the Israeli military betrays ignorance of international law or plain desire for Israel-bashing. The proportionality of the damage done in course of military action is measured in relation to the goal to be achieved by the use of force. The legitimate amount of force for the removal of the rocket threat from a quarter of a million of Israelis is the true test of proportionality. Causing the death of any number of armed Hamas terrorists is obviously a proportionate course of action. Even hundreds of Gazan civilians hurt in a defensive battle as collateral damage are worth the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians.
Moreover, the civilians in Gaza cannot claim immunity to the consequences of the war that their leadership is conducting against Israel. Hamas was popularly elected in 2006 and every public opinion poll continues to indicate substantial support by Gazans for Hamas, as well as for terrorist attacks on Israel. Unfortunately, killing Jews is popular among the Palestinians.
WE SHOULD not forget that the essence of war is a competition of inflicting pain in order to change patterns of behavior. Actually, pain may have a positive value in affecting the learning curve of the warring sides. Exacting a high cost from Hamas and the Palestinians may lead them to more peaceful behavior. It is true that it is difficult to influence the learning process of large collectives, but this has occurred before.
For example, it took a lot of suffering in World War I and World War II to transform German society into becoming less militaristic and less belligerent. While advocating such an approach is not politically correct, it might be the recipe for turning the Palestinians into peaceful neighbors.
Unless Hamas stops harassing Israeli civilians, Gaza and Israel are on a course of armed conflict. Israel owes its citizens relative security and it is only a question of time when Israeli troops will take over large parts of Gaza and apply the same type of treatment the West Bank received in March-April 2002.
A large-scale Israeli military operation to destroy the Hamas terrorist infrastructure is inevitable. The world should be prepared for the cynical use of civilians by Hamas and the subsequent casualties. The moral responsibility for these losses clearly falls on the Islamists of Hamas.
A military operation will in all probability not bring about a durable solution, however, it will drastically limit the harm Hamas can cause to Israel in the short term. If such an operation is not enough to affect the learning curve of the Gazans, additional operations are likely. Unfortunately, this is the destiny that terrorists have marked out for themselves.
The writer is professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University and the director of the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1204546432230=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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Palestinian indoctrination in problem solving
PA Children's Programming: 'Wipe Out the People of Zion'
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
The Palestinian Authority's Al-Aksa TV broadcasts, produced by Hamas, include children's programming that calls for the genocide of the "people of Zion."
The only way to "rescue" the Al-Aksa Mosque... is "by means of force."
On December 3, 2007, a Hamas children's show broadcast on PA TV featured an impassioned speech by a young boy of approximately nine years old. Speaking in the style of many Islamist preachers, and with an image of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as a background, the boy declared that the only way to "rescue" the Al-Aksa mosque from Israel, America and their allies is "by means of force."
According to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the boy told his presumably child viewers that "the Al-Aksa Mosque has fallen into oppressing and malicious hands, the hands of those who know nothing but injustice." Describing the Jerusalem mosque as in "the shackles of the occupation," despite the fact that it is under Muslim Wakf control, the boy went on to say:
"But let me tell you how the Al-Aksa Mosque will be returned, how we shall rescue it from the shackles of the occupation, from the shackles of the Zionist entity. Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force."
After an unclear reference to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which affirmed the United Kingdom's support for a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, the boy-preacher continued:
"But look what the Zionist enemy has done, look what Israel and America have done. Look what the allies of Israel and America have done. They have dug tunnels underneath the Al-Aksa Mosque, but the sheikhs and mujahideen of the Al-Aksa Mosque have exposed these tunnels and called upon the Palestinian people: 'Look what has happened, look what has happened.'
"These calls have gone unheeded, my beloved brothers. But is it too late? No, it is not too late. If we all unite, the Al-Aksa Mosque will not remain in the hands of the Zionist enemy, it will not remain in the hands of your enemy, despite all their conspiracies against the Palestinian people."
Later in the programming, a similarly young girl recited a poem that included the lines: "To Al-Aksa, to Al-Aksa - we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them."
Renewed Campaign to Promote Death Among PA Children
According to a recent MEMRI report, the Al-Aksa television network - best known for its "jihad Mickey Mouse" - has renewed its encouragement of children to attack Israel and its praise of their self-destruction while
"Our death is happiness." - from PA children's programming
doing so.
During a Friday broadcast in October, PA TV inaugurated a new program in which a girl sang in the background, "My little brothers, how long will we continue to let the occupier [rule] us by hunger and siege?" A chorus answered, "By killing and destruction."
Later in the program, a child was shown entering a cave, where he was told, "This is not just any cave. These are children who were martyred during the blessed Al-Aksa Intifada. I and a group of friends have cleaned this cave to make it fitting for the Intifada's child martyrs."
During that scene, a chorus of girls sang in the background, "We long for martyrdom. Our country is free and our death is happiness."
Comment on This Story
Nov 20, 2007 Jerusalem Post
Nov 19, 2007 19:09 | Updated Nov 20, 2007 10:52
Our World: From AMIA to Armageddon
By CAROLINE GLICK
According to foreign reports, Israel destroyed a nuclear weapons installation in Syria in September. Never has a larger story been pushed under the rug by so many so quickly. What are we to make of this?
Over the weekend former federal prosecutor and the head of the non-governmental International Intelligence Summit, John Loftus, released a report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. His report was based on a private study of captured Iraqi documents. These were the unread Arabic language documents that US forces seized, but had not managed to translate after overthrowing Saddam Hussein in 2003.
After a prolonged battle between Congress and then director of US National Intelligence John Negroponte, President George W. Bush ordered those documents posted on a public access Web site last year. They were taken down after it was discovered that among the Iraqi documents were precise descriptions of how to build nuclear weapons.
As Loftus summarized, "The gist of the new evidence is this: Roughly one-quarter of Saddam's WMD was destroyed under UN pressure during the early to mid 1990s. Saddam sold approximately another quarter of his weapons stockpile to his Arab neighbors during the mid-to-late-1990's. The Russians insisted on removing another quarter in the last few months before the war. The last remaining WMD, the contents of Saddam's nuclear weapons labs, were still inside Iraq on the day when the coalition forces arrived in 2003. His nuclear weapons equipment was hidden in enormous underwater warehouses beneath the Euphrates River. Saddam's entire nuclear inventory was later stolen from these warehouses right out from under the Americans' noses."
Loftus then cites Israeli sources who claim that the Iraqi nuclear program was transferred to the Deir az Zour province in Syria.
LOFTUS'S REPORT jibes with a report published on the Web site of Kuwait's Al Seyassah's newspaper on September 25, 2006. That report, which I noted last November, cited European intelligence sources and claimed that in late 2004 Syria began developing a nuclear program near its border with Turkey. Syria's program, which was run by President Bashar Assad's brother Maher and defended by an Iranian Revolutionary Guards brigade, had by mid-2006 "reached the stage of medium activity." The Kuwaiti report stated that the Syrian nuclear program was based "on equipment and materials that the sons of the deposed Iraqi leader, Uday and Qusai transferred to Syria by using dozens of civilian trucks and trains, before and after the US-British invasion in March 2003."
The program, which was run by Iranians with assistance from Iraqi scientists and scientists from the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union, "was originally built on the remains of the Iraqi program after it was wholly transferred to Syria." These reports and several others like them which have surfaced over the past several years tell us interesting and disturbing things.
FIRST, THEY show just how difficult it is to gather accurate information on the status of weapons of mass destruction programs.
From the 1991 Gulf War until the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs were a top issue on the international agenda. And yet, year in and year out, UN inspectors, who were on the ground throughout most of the period, failed to provide an accurate picture of those programs. Indeed, the documents and reports regarding the transfer of those programs to Syria show those inspection reports were wildly off the mark.
And not only did the UN fail. The US itself also failed. After invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam's regime, the US military and intelligence arms took almost no action to ensure that suspected sites were secured and searched. The US failed to pursue clear intelligence reports indicating that in the weeks before the invasion, suspicious truck convoys had traveled from Iraq to Syria carrying what were presumed to be weapons of mass destruction components.
As for Syria, still today, after Israel reportedly destroyed the Syrian nuclear installation at Deir az Zour, the US and the international community as a whole behave as though nothing is out of order. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Syrian counterpart Waleed Muallem on November 3 and invited Syria to demand the Golan Heights from Israel at her peace conference at Annapolis later this month.
THE SYRIAN and Iraqi cases also show that political courage and intellectual honesty are the keys to intelligence collection and analysis regarding weapons of mass destruction programs. When leaders and intelligence officials are uninterested in finding information about these programs, they are guaranteed to discover nothing. And when they wish to do nothing about information that they have, they can easily argue that their information was inconclusive. In contrast, if they decide to act on intelligence information that challenges preconceived notions and entrenched political interests, they are guaranteed to suffer the condemnations of those who have an interest in continuing to downplay or deny the dangers those programs manifest.
Against the backdrop of the international and American inability and unwillingness to handle the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear programs, the reports coming out from Iran regarding the mullocracy's nuclear program and the American and Israeli responses to it are nothing less than terrifying.
Last week, the IAEA acknowledged that Iran is currently operating 3,000 centrifuges. At this rate of uranium enrichment, Iran will be capable of producing an atomic bomb in a year. This means that diplomacy today is a dead letter. It is too late to talk Iran out of its nuclear program.
Perhaps more disturbing than the IAEA report - written by Muhammad ElBaradei, who with the exception of the mullahs themselves is probably the man least interested in taking action against Iran's program - were the Israeli and US responses to it. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly told his ministers that Israel needs to develop contingencies for the day after Iran joins the nuclear club.
THE US is not merely developing contingencies for the day after. It is working to whitewash Iran's role in fomenting the insurgency in Iraq in an effort to restart direct negotiations with Teheran. According to the New York Sun, Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates are so eager to ascribe a decrease in Iraqi violence to Iran that they are willing to pooh-pooh the US military's own achievements in its "surge" in Iraq.
The danger implicit in the US and Israeli decisions to plan for the day after Iran gets the bomb is made clear by two recent developments.
First, Sunday The New York Times reported that since Sept.11, the US has been assisting the Pakistanis in securing their nuclear facilities. Speaking to the Times, John E. McLaughlin, the former deputy director of the CIA, said, "I am confident of two things, that the Pakistanis are very serious about securing this material, but also that someone in Pakistan is very intent on getting their hands on it."
This story makes clear that even if a regime is considered trustworthy, if threatened by jihadists there is a danger that its nuclear weapons will fall into their hands. If that happens, the notion of deterrence is thrown out the window.
THE LATEST developments in the investigation of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires provide even more reason for worry. Thirteen years ago, Iran ordered its terror arm Hizbullah to attack the AMIA building. Eighty-five people were killed.
Two weeks ago, Argentina requested that Interpol issue international arrest warrants against five Iranians and one Lebanese man implicated in the bombing. Interpol complied. Last week, Iran responded to Interpol's move by demanding that Interpol issue arrest warrants against five Argentines involved in the investigation of the AMIA bombing. Iran accused them of the "crime" of insulting Iran.
This is an unsettling state of affairs on several levels. The AMIA bombing involved a state contracting a terror group to carry out a massive attack against innocent civilians simply because they were Jewish. For years, for political reasons, the Argentine government derailed its own investigation of the attack. Indeed, it took 14 long years for Argentina to request that Interpol issue arrest warrants.
And then, in a sign of contempt for the international community, Iran announced its counter-warrant demand. And the world has said nothing.
The point is, even if one believes the dubious argument that the Iranian regime can be trusted with nuclear weapons, given the AMIA precedent there is no reason to doubt that Iran would eventually transfer its weapons to Hizbullah or some other Iranian terror group to detonate in Israel.
What the Iranians learned, and indeed what Israel should have learned from the investigation of the AMIA bombing, is that no one will automatically point a finger at Iran for an attack carried out by Iran's terror proxies.
AND SO we return to Iran's nuclear bomb program, which like the Syrian and Iraqi programs, is partially hidden from view, but which the pro-Iranian IAEA claims is just one year away from completion. And we return to the US and Israel acting as though it is possible to live with a nuclear-armed Iran.
We look at all of this, and we ask: How can Washington and Jerusalem be so irresponsible? We look at Olmert's reported willingness to countenance a nuclear-armed Iran, and we wonder, how can he try to wish away an impending threat of nuclear annihilation?
FYI
Shoshana
"Root & Branch Association, Ltd." wrote:
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:40:05 +0200
From: "Root Branch Association, Ltd."
Subject: ANNAPOLIS by Dr. Asher Eder and Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi
To: rb@rb.org.il
ANNAPOLIS
copyright (c) 2007 by Dr. Asher Eder and Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi
YERUSHALIYIM, Israelite Tribal Territories of Judah and Benjamin, Kingdom of David and Solomon, United Israelite Kingdom of Judah and Joseph, Tenth Day, Ninth Month ("Kislev"), (Shmittah/Sabbatical Year) 5768; Yom Shlishi (Third Day of Week/"Tues"-day, November 20th, 2007) Root Branch Information Services [mailto:rb@rb.org.il] [www.rb.org.il]:
Respected Ladies and Gentlemen of the Planned Annapolis Conference,
May we, the undersigned, Jewish Muslim Co-Chairmen of the Islam-Israel Fellowship of the Root Branch Association, Ltd., bring to your attention the following:
1. Thinking and saying that Israel and the Western World are threatened by Islamic terrorism, is a fatal misnomer. It helps giving rise to the illusion that we are threatened merely by Salafi/Wahhabi "terrorist" groups such as that of Osama Bin Laden. This plays right into their hands as it lets most of the so-called "Islamic Fundamentalists" off the hook.
2. Groups such as "Islamic Jihad" and Abu Mazen's "el-Fatah" (in the West better known as the P.L.O./Palestine Liberation Organization) are integral parts of Islamic warfare against the very existence of Israel. In fact, they are the vanguard of such warfare. There is no sense in trying to make peace merely with the vanguard, regardless of what documents or treaties they sign.
3. Fostering the idea that bringing democracy to the Middle East will solve problems is another illusion. Democracy is a form of government, not an expression of the soul of a People. We should have learned this from examples such as:
A. Germany which elected Hitler in democratic elections in 1933.
B. Persia where its present President was elected in democratic elections.
C. Gaza with its democratically elected Salafi/Wahhabi Hamas "government".
Please note that it took Europe 400 years of revolutions and wars to move from the "Dark Middle Ages" to modern democracy. How can one expect the Arab/Muslim world (now, according to its own calendar, in the Fifteenth Century) to swallow democracy like a miracle pill, and be healed?
4. Jihad against Jews (sic!) was first demanded by Mufti Amin el-Husseini in a live broadcast from Radio Berlin in 1943 (!). Then the principles of "Jihad" against Israel and its supporters -- strategy and tactics -- were laid down by the "Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research" held at Cairo's Al Azhar University in 1969. It convened on the behest of Gamal Abd-el-Nassr, then President of Egypt. The Conference proceedings were published in Arabic and in English by Egypt's "Government Printing Office" in 1970. Our present situation is simply an outcome thereof.
5. Real peace will only be achieved when Arab/Muslim nations declare that Jihad against Israel is illegal according to the Qur'an and Islamic Tradition, educate their Peoples accordingly, and put offenders in jail. Please see "Peace is Possible Between Ishmael and Israel According to the Qur'an and the Tannach".
http://www.rb.org.il/RBIS/RBIS%202001/RBIS%202001.02.23.htm
6. Once the Arab/Muslim world adopts that stance, the suffering of both Peoples, Jews and Arabs, will end. Distrust will be dissolved and both Peoples can live side by side (to some degree comparable to Germany and France after World War Two; or to Serbia and Croatia).
7. Israel came into existence by Divine Decree, both according to the Qur'an and the Greek ("New") Testament, irrespective of adverse "theologies". Political attempts to achieve peace must take faith and theology into account.
Jerusalem is not meant to be a bone of contention. It should become the City of Peace for all nations.
May your efforts find Divine Guidance and Blessing.
Sincerely,
Dr. Asher Eder,
Jewish Co-Founder and Co-Chairman
Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi [www.amislam.com],
Muslim Co-Founder and Co-Chairman
Islam-Israel Fellowship,
http://www.rb.org.il/Islam-Israel/Islam-Israel%20Contents.htm
Root & Branch Association, Ltd.
www.rb.org.il
ERRORS IN CNN'S "G-D'S JEWISH WARRIORS" NOTED
by Hillel Fendel, Arutzsheva.com
CAMERA - the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America - has published a detailed, scathing attack on the two-hour television program "God's Jewish Warriors."
CNN's Christiane Amanpour is the creator of a three-part CNN television series entitled "G-d's Warriors." The segment on Jews is the "most poisonously biased and factually shoddy feature to air on mainstream American television in recent memory," writes CAMERA's Executive Director Andrea Levin - and supports her claim with examples and refutations.
Levin begins by attacking the basic premise of the series, which purports to examine how Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious beliefs impact on the Middle East and the world. It is "deeply false," she writes, to equate "Jewish (and Christian) religious fervency with that of Muslims heard endorsing 'martyrdom,' or suicide-killing. There is, of course, no counterpart among Jews and Christians to the violent jihadist Muslim campaigns underway across the globe... To demonstrate the supposed threat of Jewish fundamentalism, the few cases of Jewish terrorism - a handful spanning decades with each one overwhelmingly denounced by Israeli society and with those involved arrested, tried and jailed - are elaborated on at length and cast as a profound peril."
Illegal, Illegal
Levin then focuses on Amanpour's repeated emphasis on the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria and their supposed illegality - implying that just as extremist Moslems endanger the world with their terrorism, so do the Jews with their "settlements."
"Throughout," writes Levin, "Amanpour hammers the claim that Jewish settlements violate international law, and she seeks to paint this position as a universally accepted view with a lopsided parade of like-minded commentators. [However,] many legal scholars argue these communities are, in fact, legal... Such experts include Meir Shamgar, former Israeli Supreme Court Justice, internationally renowned legal scholar Professor Julius Stone and Former Under Secretary of State Eugene Rostow, among others. But not one scholar of this viewpoint is given voice in a two-hour feature largely devoted to decrying settlements and their residents."
Levin then moves on to Amanpour's presentation of US presidents speaking against the Jewish towns. "Ronald Reagan [is seen] making a tangential comment framed as agreeing" that "substantial resettlement of the Israeli civilian population in occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, is illegal," Levin writes - while in fact, Reagan did not agree at all. Levin quotes Reagan, based on a February 1981 New York Times story, as having said explicitly, "I believe the settlements there... they're not illegal."
More Errors
Others of the report's errors and deceptions noted by Levin:
* Jimmy Carter, whose recent incendiary allegations against Israel have been extensively debunked, declares that no Member of Congress could vote against aid to Israel "and hope to be reelected." Amanpour does not remind him or the viewers of the numerous Members who have opposed aid to Israel and have been repeatedly reelected, including Senate Majority leader Robert Byrd and more than a dozen Representatives.
* Amanpour claims that former Pres. Bush opposed loan guarantees for Israel but collapsed under the weight of Jewish pressure and backed down. In fact, however, when Yitzchak Rabin was elected prime minister, he offered concessions that satisfied the Administration - such that it was Israel that back-tracked, not Bush.
* Amanpour declares that "the 40-year tug of war over Jerusalem began when Israel bulldozed the Arab neighborhood next to the Western Wall and built a plaza where Jews now pray." Levin: "Obviously, the modern battle over Jerusalem "began" 60 years ago when the Arabs attacked in 1948 to destroy the newborn state of Israel, seizing the eastern side of Jerusalem, including the Jewish quarter of the old city. Every Jew was expelled or killed and all synagogues destroyed. Thereafter for 19 years, no Jew could pray at the Western Wall, and Christians had limited access to their holy sites."
"CNN needs to correct every error and slander against Israel and its American supporters," Levin demands. "More importantly, it needs to air an accurate and contextual documentary on these subjects, just as lavishly funded and promoted as Amanpour's, that will set the record straight."
Another CAMERA article comparing the "Warriors" programs on Jews and Muslims notes that while the former was heavily devoted to "the influence of pro-Israel activists in America, ... Amanpour utterly neglected to report on the powerful Oil Lobby, primarily Saudi-backed, and numerous other Muslim organizations seeking to influence American public opinion and foreign policy decisions."
Four Times More
CAMERA notes fascinatingly that Amanpour "harps on the phrase 'Jewish warriors,' repeating it 20 times in the first episode," while mentioning "Muslim warriors" only four times in the second program. "Why does she utter the words 'Jewish warrior' five times more often than 'Muslim warrior' when violent Muslims have inflicted thousands of times more death and destruction in the world than violent Jews have?"
Furthermore, "There was a noticeably gentler and more cordial tone toward Muslim extremists, in contrast to the often snide and hectoring tone displayed toward pro-Israel Americans and Israeli settlers."
"Amanpour included two apolitical segments with appealing devout Muslim women," CAMERA wrote, "who talked about why they wear a head covering and how Islam enriches their lives. No such apolitical segment about devout Jews appeared in 'God's Jewish Warriors.'"
THOUGH RATHER RAW THIS DESERVES THE MINUTE OR TWO TO READ AND FORWARD.
A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War Two owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
"Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."
We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.
Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and
meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.
It is the fanatics who march.
It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.
It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.
It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour kill.
It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.
It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.
The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority" the "silent majority" is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia comprised Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.
China 's huge population, it was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War 2 was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword,shovel and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peaceful & loving"?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.
Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awake one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.
As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, can contribute to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.
So,extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on!! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.
----------
June 08 2007; 07:06AM
Double Standard Watch: Bigoted British Boycott
Posted by Alan Dershowitz
The utter hypocrisy of the British National Union of Journalists, which
recently voted to boycott only Israel, has now become evident in the
face of the silence over the recent move by Venezuelan Dictator Hugo
Chavez to suppress dissent by the media in his leftist regime.
General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan too has now imposed massive press
censorship. In many other of the hard left’s favored countries – Cuba,
China, Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe – suppression of the press is
routine and imprisonment of journalist is common.
But there is not a peep about these countries from the British
National Union of Journalists who seem to admire tyranny and condemn
democracy and openness. Only Israel, which has among the freest presses
of the world, is being targeted for sanctions.
Even Arab and Muslim journalists have more freedom of the press in
Israel than in any Arab or Muslim nation. While Palestinian terrorist
groups murder, kidnap and threaten journalists, the British Union
exempts the Palestinian authority, run by the censorious Hamas from its
journalistic sanctions. The reason is obvious. The British Union cares
less about journalists or freedom of the press than it does about
blindly condemning the Jewish state.
The same can be said about the British University and College Union
which has voted to move forward with the boycott against only Israeli
academics. Israel has more academic freedom – for Jews and Muslims
alike – than any Arab or Muslim nation and then the vast majority of
countries in the world.
Israeli scientists have developed, on a per capita basis, more
life-saving medical technologies than any nation in the world. Yet the
British Union has singled out Israel alone for boycott. Again, this has
nothing to do with protecting academic freedom or scientific inquiry.
It has everything to do with anti-Israel bigotry.
Now academics around the world are fighting back against this British
bigotry. Led by more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners, thousands of
American academics have signed a petition declaring themselves to be
honorary Israelis for purposes of any academic boycott. They have
pledged to refuse to participate in any events from which Israeli
academics are boycotted. Any academic who wishes to join this moral
response to an immoral boycott can email ScholarsforPeace@aol.com.
Comment: The campaign to delegitimize Israel
David Horovitz, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 3, 2007
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180527989151=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A two-hour drive, at most, from here, in a lawless land, extortionists
are
holding a British journalist captive to try and delegitimize my
country.
The kidnapping of the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza, and now the
broadcast of
his taped denunciation of the fact of Israel's existence, are only one
small
part of a wider campaign. And it is working.
The international community is being drip-fed the toxic assertion that,
were
it not for Israel, ours would be a peaceful world, a harmonious
community of
nations, living in tranquility alongside each other, respecting
differences
and working out disagreements in a spirit of compromise. If it were not
for
Israel, the Original Sin, the bone in the Islamic throat.
In Alan Johnston's Britain, the campaign is proving particularly
effective.
So much so that the union that represents his own profession, the
National
Union of Journalists, along with many academics, members of the clergy
and
numerous other opinion-shapers, now subscribe to this notion of Israel
as
prime irritant, prompter of terrorism.
They will have nodded sagely this weekend when Johnston, in what must
be
regarded as a text scripted for him, lamented the fate of the
Palestinians,
purportedly "arrested, imprisoned for no reason... killed on a daily
basis,"
and forced into "absolute despair after nearly 40 years of Israeli
occupation which has been supported by the West," and when he
castigated
Britain for having "worked to bring about the State of Israel, which is
the
cause of all the suffering of the Palestinian people."
Willfully overlooked by those who seek to delegitimize Israel and,
appallingly by those who fall prey t
(All prices subject to change, up or down!)
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