GAZANS TORCH VACATED SYNAGOGUES

NYTIMES: "KISSUFIM CROSSING, Gaza Strip, Sept. 12 - Palestinians moved into the former settlement of Neve Dakalim today after Israel ended its 38-year presence in the Gaza Strip, setting fire to the main synagogue and ripping out aluminum window frames and metal ceiling fixtures. The Palestinian flag and the flag of the militant group Hamas flew from the synagogue roof. "

The Gazans did NOT choose to reclaim or recycle the religious buildings - as some Muslims have done in the past; for example, the beautiful Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul did not become a museum until 1935, as part of Ataturk's reformation of Turkey and Islam; it was built in 600AD as St. Sophia Cathedral -- and was Christendom's 2nd most imporant Cathedral - to St. Peter's in Rome - for 916 years; the cathedral only became the Suleymaniye Mosque in 1453, (and was a mosque for only 481 years); in other words: this edifice was "transformed" TWICE without arson!

OBVIOUSLY, the Gazans could not control their racist hatred, and the Gazan authorities could not control the Gazans. The Gazans torched the EMPTY synagogues and demolished them by HAND by swinging hateful sledge-hammers into concrete columns. This display of UNBRIDLED HATE AND GENOCIDAL DESTRUCTIVENESS reveals EVERYTHING you need to know about the chances Gazans have at establishing the rule of law in their own "space" and about the chances Israel has at peaceful relations with the Gazans. ZERO. NADA. BUPKUS. ZILCH. Only this time - as Mofaz and others in the IDF have WARNED: the response to an attack by the IDF will be more destructive then any other reprisal - ever.

But the Gazans will suffer on the home front, too. Because, HAMAS will do to Gaza what the Taliban did to Afghanistan - and they'll have plenty of help from the other jihadoterrorist groups and from Iran and Syria - (as Egypt turns a blind eye). Gazans now may have been handed their independence from Israel, but unless and until they win their indpendence from jihadism they will achieve neither democracy, nor freedom, nor prosperity.

UPDATE - JIHAD WATCH: "Rajoub: PA to fight terror only if IDF pulls back more." In other words, they will use terrorism until they attain ALL their goals. From the Jerusalem Post: The Palestinian Authority will take all necessary steps to fight terror in Gaza provided Israel withdraws completely and gives hope there will be negotiations over a Palestinian state and more pullbacks from the West Bank, Palestinian National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub told The Jerusalem Post.

UPDATE #2 (hat tip EURABIANTIMES): A Qassam rocket has been fired from Gaza into Israel. SO: General Mofaz, I'm waiting for the reprisal....

UPDATE #3 - (hat tip McCarthy/NRO/The Corner) - Condi Rice praises the turnover of Gaza and mentions not a word about the torching of the FOUR synagogues. WHEN WILL THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION HOLD ABBAS AND THE PNA TO THEIR COMMITTMENTS?!

UPDATE #4 - The BBC reports on the withdrawal and just MENTIONS IN PASSING THE ARSON ATTACKS AGAINST FORMER SYNAGOGUES:

"Palestinians celebrate Gaza exit - Jubilant Palestinians have taken control of the Gaza Strip following the withdrawal of Israeli troops more than 38 years after they captured the area. Thousands entered the former Jewish enclaves, some setting an abandoned synagogue ablaze in a settlement. Crowds celebrated in the town of Rafah, on the border between Gaza and Egypt. "

They make it sound as if the racist arson attacks (plural) were SINGULAR and just part of the jubilant fun: "OH, THOSE WACKY HAMAS BOYS ARE SUCH WILD FUNSTERS!" In fact, the growing lawlessness of Gaza bodes very VERY badly - for the Arabs and Israel. Gaza needs a few brave men - as brave as the Afghanis and Iraqis and Lebanese who are fighting to establish democracy and the rule of law in their own nations. And Abbas is no Karzai, no Jafrazi, and no Hariri. And there is NONE on the horizon, either. I think, perhaps, that between Arafat and Hamas every reasonable Gazan was either murdered or exiled.

UPDATE #5 - NYTIMES:

"Behind him, a settlement synagogue built in the shape of a huge Star of David was smoldering, fires inside sending smoke through the edges of the star. Atop the building, in the dim smoky moment before dawn, one could see a huge green flag of Hamas, with a smaller Palestinian flag flying below it. A few minutes later, a large black flag of Islamic Jihad was flying just under the Hamas flag, above the Palestinian one. Five minutes later, the Palestinian flag had been taken down altogether."

Sheesh, the NYTIMES makes it sound like the friggin' Star spangled banner! Can you IMAGINE THE OUTRAGE IF IT WAS JEWS BURNING MOSQUES!? I hardly think that they would wax poetic about smoldering smoky pre-dawn moments. They'd be calling for sanctions against Israel! Well, this is just more proof that the NYTIMES - like the Beeb and so much of the MSM is anti-Israel. We should be outraged at these acts of racist violence and we should be demanding that Abbas fulfil his obligations under ther Roadmap and crack down on the terrorists.