RUTHFULLY YOURS

The barbaric attack by a Palestinian Muslim on a Jewish family living in the West Bank settlement of Itamar on Saturday has been widely reported (see here–Atlas Shrugs has photos here). Five innocent people–two parents and three of their children–were savagely stabbed to death in their sleep. On the English section of the website of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, there was only the following short statement, denying any responsibility on the part of Hamas for the attack:

Palestinian National Movement Hamas official Ezzat Al-Rashak said that the movement is not responsible for the murder of the five family members from the Itamar settlement.

Al-Rashak confirmed that harming children is not part of Hamas’ policy, nor is it the policy of the resistance factions.

He also confirmed that the possibility that the incident was carried out by settlers for criminal motives should not be ruled out. [emphasis added]

But on the Arabic section of the website, an article was published praising the attacker as a ‘mujahid’ and deriding the slain Jews as “Zionist usurpers.” What’s worse, at the time I checked there were 34 comments on the article posted by readers, all praising the attack and the attacker (I translated the first 17 or so). Curiously, while the Hamas statement in the English article raised the possibility of the act being carried out by settlers, in the Arabic article there’s no doubt that the attacker was a Palestinian ‘mujahid’.

Keep in mind that this is the same Hamas that CAIR refuses to condemn:

Five Zionists Killed in Stabbing in the Usurper (Settlement) of Itamar

al-Qassam, 12 March 2011

Five Zionist usurpers were killed the morning of Saturday, 12 March 2011, in a knife-stabbing carried out by a Palestinian in the usurper (settlement) of Itamar east of the city of Nablus.

Our correspondent in Nablus reported that a Palestinian mujahid was able to break into the usurper (settlement) of “Itamar” south of Nablus in the occupied (West) Bank, and stabbed five Zionist usurpers.

Zionist media sources said that “A Palestinian broke into the usurper (settlement) between the hours of 9:30 – 11:00 PM, and killed five usurpers from one family while they were sleeping.” They confirmed that the perpetrator of the act was able to escape.

Powerful forces from the Zionist military and police arrived at the location, including the chief of staff of the Army, Benny Gantz, and the head of (Israeli) Central Command, Avi Mizrahi.

The Chairman of the Usurper (Settlement) Council, Danny Dayan, also arrived at the usurper (settlement) of “Itamar,” and said:  “This is one of the most serious attacks which has been committed in the last few years.”

The Closure of Nablus and the Imposition of Road-Blocks

Eye-witnesses informed our correspondents that Zionist airplanes, powerful forces from the military and police, and ambulances rushed to the scene and transported the wounded and slain, while occupation forces spread throughout the vicinity of the village of Awarta, and fired dozens of flares.

The witnesses added that powerful occupation forces cordoned off cities and villages, including Nablus, and began to sweep the area, searching for the perpetrators.

It is noteworthy that a similar operation occurred in June of 2002 led to deaths of five usurpers after being shot in the same usurper (settlement) of “Itamar.”

Also, the al-Qassam Brigades were able to execute a series of operations in August of last year, which were named “Stream of Fire,” by which the mujahideen of al-Qassam were able to kill four Zionists. Intelligence officials from both the military and Abbas’s militias in the West Bank were confounded by these operations, and worked with all diligence to try to discover the perpetrators