I put a Wikipedia blurb about the synagogue below but it pales in comparison to seeing the video:

Gorgeous:

Gorgeous, but obviously bittersweet.

References:
* Kupa Synagogue Krakow [relationet / YouTube]
* Kupa Synagogue [Wikipedia]

Previously:
* Miri Ben-Ari and Subliminal: God Almighty When Will It End [Video]
* Shabbat Beauty - Rabbinical Commentary, Music [Video]
* Shabbat Beauty - Blossoming In Israel

Judea Pearl's article in the WSJ establishes that seething vicious "anti-Zionist" propaganda - the kind that is celebrated as brave sophistication on university campuses and in media newsrooms - is nothing but murderous anti-Semitism:

The answer was unveiled in 2004, when a friend told me that photos of Muhammad Al Dura were used as background in the video tape of Danny's murder. Al Dura, readers may recall, is the 12-year-old Palestinian boy who allegedly died from Israeli bullets in Gaza in September of 2001. As we now know, the whole scene is very likely to have been a fraud, choreographed by stringers and cameramen of France 2, the official news channel of France. France 2 aired the tape repeatedly and distributed it all over the world to anyone who needed an excuse to ratchet up anger or violence, among them Danny's killers. The Pakistani Consul was right. The media cannot be totally exonerated from responsibility for Daniel's murder, as well as for the "tsunami of hate" that has swept the world and continues to rise... Surely they have an obligation to expose villainy and excess. This is what journalism is all about. But in a world infected with fanatics who run around with lit matches, journalists cannot simply pour gasoline into the street and pretend they bear no responsibility for the inevitable explosion.

Nice to see that the Dreyfus Affair didn't really disrupt the comfortable anti-Semitism of the French establishment. At least the rest of the international press doesn't regularly publish vulgar anti-Israel death porn from Palestinian and Lebanese sources.

References:
* The Daniel Pearl Standard [WSJ]
* Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (2) "The Palestinians Are Really Pissed Off" - And The NYT Will Publish Death Porn To Prove It [MR]
* Siniora Asks International Media to Transmit Pictures of Israeli Atrocities. Which Is Kind of Like Asking Us to Keep Making Fun of Carter. [MR]

Previously:
* Pakistan's Chomsky
* Video: I Am Jewish: The Last Words of Daniel Pearl
* European Media Bias - Really?

Lots of priests and rabbis in Saudi Arabia say the same thing about Muslims. All the time:

Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz on Monday filed an indictment against Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, charging him with incitement to violence and racism in a speech he made last year protesting the archeological dig carried out by Israel at the Old City's Mughrabi Gate. During his sermon in Jerusalem's Wadi Joz neighborhood on February 16, Salah urged supporters to start a third intifada in order to "save al-Aksa Mosque, free Jerusalem and end the occupation." Salah's speech also attacked Jews, saying that "They want to build their temple at a time when our blood is on their clothes, on their doorsteps, in their food and in their drinks. Our blood has passed from one 'general terrorist' to another 'general terrorist.'" He also said, "We are not those who ate bread dipped in children's blood."

Those priests and rabbis would also get tons of state-mandated legal protection if they were prosecuted in, say, Iran.

References:
* Sheikh Salah charged with incitement [JPost]

Previously:
* Israeli-Arab Fifth Column Watch - Arab Knesset Member Calls For Uprising To Liberate Jerusalem
* Israeli-Arab Fifth Column Watch: Israeli-Arab Woman Spied For Hezbollah. This, Again, Does Not Bode Well For "Final Status"
* Israeli-Arab Fifth Column Watch: MKs Demand Israel Be Dismantled (So Much For "Final Status" Talks)

Classic State Department anti-Israel bait-and-switch:

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of giving in to French and Lebanese demands over the terms of the cease-fire that halted the 2006 Second Lebanon War... Carmon emphasized that Rice had agreed that the draft cease-fire resolution would stipulate that the international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon would operate under Chapter VI of the UN charter, which would give it observer status only. She also agreed that the disputed Shaba Farms, the border area claimed by Hezbollah as Lebanese territory but internationally recognized as Syrian, would be mentioned in the resolution. Israel opposed both clauses... "Bolton said tonight in a conversation with Gillerman that the secretary of state took the task of negotiations [over the resolution] upon herself, and she is personally involved in all of its details. Rice is the one who agreed to the last two changes that were discussed in talks tonight between [former undersecretary of state Nick] Burns and Jerusalem - Chapter VI and Shaba Farms... Bolton described with sorrow a situation in which the French surrendered to all of the Arab demands and the United States isn't prepared to give up on the 'holy alliance' with the Europeans."

The chapter VII controversy was obviously a total screwjob even at the time. But don't miss how elegantly this disadvantaged Israel. There are two moves here. The first is getting Israel to agree to a ceasefire in exchange for a more robust UNIFIL force. The second is getting Israel to agree to 15,000 new UNIFIL troops because they would be more robust. Rice got Olmert to agree to a ceasefire by promising that the new UNIFIL force would be able to militarily operate against Hezbollah. Once he halted Israeli military operations - and that's not the kind of thing that you can take back - she pulled the rug out and put 15,000 new de facto human shields in Lebanon. And Israel couldn't object to new human shields being put on the ground, because it had been worked out that more troops was what they were getting in exchange for the ceasefire.

There's only one way that UNIFIL's expansion could have worked out worse for Israel. And wouldn't you know it...

Naturally:

In a letter issued Monday, UN Watch urged UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour to clarify a recent endorsement of the Arab Charter of Human Rights, which it said "contains several provisions that promote classically anti-Semitic themes." The organization pointed to several sentences in the charter, such as "rejecting all forms of racism and Zionism, which constitute a violation of human rights and a threat to international peace and security," as well as "all forms of racism, Zionism and foreign occupation and domination constitute an impediment to human dignity…all such practices must be condemned and efforts must be deployed for their elimination."... "The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is committed and stands ready to support the States Parties to the Charter in ensuring that core values of human rights are upheld," Arbour said.

Consider for a moment the sheer delicate beauty of endorsing a "Zionism is racism" declaration from a group of countries that quite literally cleansed Jews from their borders within the last century. They'd be openly racist toward their Jewish minorities, except their don't have any.

Incidentally, anyone know when the "it's probably not OK for Saudi Arabia to kill people for apostasy" resolution coming up for a vote? Soon, right?

References:
* 'UNHRC endorsed Arab charter with anti-Semitic provisions' [JPost]

Previously:
* UN: Murder of Jews Not Really Our Problem
* UNIFIL Involvement in 2000 Kidnapping Not News. Involvement of UNIFIL Soldier Who Thought of Lebanon as "Second Homeland", However, Is.
* The UN Has Been Screwing Israel For Decades

Minus his anti-Semiticish foreign policy advisers and disastrous foreign policy choices, we're sure that the Senator is a perfectly nice guy. But his supporters are going to have to try a little harder than this:

You wouldn't know it from the flood of hysterical emails we have all seen, or from a fair amount of the commentary, but there is a groundswell of Jewish American support for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. That should hardly be surprising, for it is a reflection of the nature of our community. When he speaks - with eloquence, unmistakable authenticity, and passion - for the values we hold most dear, he renews our hope for America in these difficult times... he has epitomized the notion of tikkun olam ("repairing the world").

Oh, well say no more then. Because the political judgment of the average young Jewish American - that's something we have a ton of respect for.

References:
* Why I support Obama [JPost]
* Another Success For Reform Judaism - Half Of Young American Jews Untroubled By Potential Destruction Of Israel [MR]
* MR Has A Question For Democratic Jews: Are You Fucking Retarded? [MR]

Previously:
* This Week's Litany Of Reasons Why Democratic Jews Are Either Anti-Israel Or Lying To Themselves
* Memo To Democratic Jews: "US Engagement In The Peace Process" Is Bad For Israel, Barack Obama Edition
* Obama: "I'm Not Saying Israel Should Have To Take Risks For Peace, But..."

Back before their entire operational leadership was made dead for murdering sitting Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi, the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine invented airline hijackings and committed hundreds of terrorist attacks against Israeli and Western targets. Later they joined the PLO as the second-largest party, but scaled back their participation because Fatah didn't seem to wipe out Israel enough. Regarding contemporary Palestinian society, nothing really says "we're ready for peace" like handwringing panegyrics for intransigent arch-terrorists:

Thousands of Palestinians marched Monday in memory of George Habash, the legendary founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror organization, who was buried in Amman. The marchers in the west Bank city of Ramallah wore red scarves, symbol of the PFLP, chanting, "Your era is the era of Palestinian struggle." "It's the end of founders' generation," said Talal Okal, a local newspaper analyst.

George Habash founded the PFLP in 1951 with the explicit goal of modernizing Arab culture enough to wipe out Israel. Which makes people who say that Palestinian terrorism is a response to Israel's 1967 occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank - like the Ahmadinejad embracing foreign policy experts at the Council on Foreign Relations - pretty fucking stupid. Anyway, here's the promised grist for the Israeli-Arab Fifth Column mill:

We're posting this for two reasons. The first is to show that MR is not a blog where Israel can do no wrong. Quite the opposite, we'd be among the first to admit that the Jewish State's insulting treatment of the Fab Four represents nothing short of a crime against humanity. Quite possibly it's a crime against the fabric of the universe itself. The second is because the lede of this YNet story is spectacular in its understatement of how much Israel's Foreign Ministry totally sucks:

After accomplishing the mission of rehabilitating Israel's problematic image in the world, the Foreign Ministry has now found the time to deal with the real important issue: Extending an official apology to The Beatles, 43 years after the British band was banned from performing in the Jewish state. Israeli Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor was expected to meet Monday morning with John Lennon's sister, Julia Baird, at The Beatles museum in Liverpool and to present her with an official letter of apology from the State of Israel for banning the band's members from performing in the country in 1965... "Unfortunately, the State of Israel cancelled your performance in the country due to lack of budget and because several politicians... believed at the time that your performance might corrupt the minds of the Israeli youth."

Moral dilemma: if it turns out that Israel's contemporary crises are karmic payback for its outrages against the Fab Four, are we even allowed to side with the Jewish State? And if not, are we further obligated to embrace the anti-Israel cause? We think we're pretty good on the latter question since there's no way that the Beatles would want us to embrace genocidal lunacy - cf. Timothy Leary's demonstrably true observation that "the Beatles are mutants... prototypes of evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with a mysterious power to create a new human species, a young race of laughing freemen." The first part's a little murkier.

References:
* Israel apologizes to The Beatles [YNet]
* Do They Just Get To Make Things Up Now? [MR]

Previously:
* Fire And Brimstone Watch: Yoko Ono Still Refusing To Apologize For Breaking Up the Beatles
* Confirmed: Israeli Women Love Sex [Video, Mildly NSFW]
* Israeli Hottie Alexandra Loxsin Is Sad Because MR Is Getting Killed In The JIBs

Perfect:

Israel will not tolerate the continued threat to its security posed by Hamas militants' breach of the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, officials in Jerusalem told Haaretz on Sunday. "Israel will not allow the continuation of the current state where its security interests are being compromised," the officials said, days after the Hamas regime blew up the barrier along the Strip's border with Egypt. The officials added that Prime Minster Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas see eye to eye on what they perceive as the need to refrain from negotiations with Hamas.Following the border breach, Israeli defense officials have expressed concerns that militants from the Gaza Strip may attack towns along Israel's long border with Sinai. Meanwhile, Olmert told Abbas during their meeting Sunday that Israel would not let a humanitarian crisis develop in Gaza.

The rest of the article goes on to detail how Olmert and Abbas are hoping that the Egyptians will step in, meet their treaty obligations, and enforce security along the border. No really, that's exactly what's going to happen.

References:
* Officials: Israel won't let Gaza border breach threaten security [Ha'aretz]
* Camp David, Other Agreements With Egypt Working Out Great - Cairo "Working Against Israel For Years" [MR]

Previously:
* Egypt To Build Multiple Nuclear Reactors
* Egypt Opens Border Crossing, Allows Hamas To Smuggle In Money
* Turns Out, Egypt Not Pro Israeli Security

Obama is getting aggravated with the Jewish community:

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Monday that there is a "constant virulent campaign" being waged against him as he strives to win the party's nomination, aimed particularly at weakening support for him from within the Jewish community. Obama told Haaretz and writers from several Jewish-American newspapers that the campaign against him - calling him Muslim and accusing him of not pledging allegiance to the United States - is especially visible in the Jewish community. The presidential hopeful said he would ordinarily ignore such comments, but he fears that they have been "getting some traction" and are being tuned into by public ears. Thus he said, he has asked the Jewish newspapers and Ha'aretz to use their "megaphone" so people can hear "from the horse's mouth" that all such accusations against him are unfounded.

At first blush this looks like the standard insufferable line that Jewish Democrats often take: "don't point out when Democrats are anti-Israel because that will upset them and make them anti-Israel". So you get the insipid, petulant whiners at the NJDC insisting that "true pro-Israel advocates celebrate bi-partisan support" and "there are some in the Republican Party and conservative movement who are working hard to smash this political consensus". Denial plus ideology is apparently a powerful combination. This was while elected Democrats were strutting around condescendingly and imperiously ordering the Israeli government to "get its act together" because they were "getting tired" of having to listen to complaints about how they're anti-Israel.

Pro-Israel activists aren't allowed top point out that democrats are anti-Israel because that will make Democrats anti-Israel. Brilliant.

So no talking about how the votes of sitting Democratic Congresspeople have been objectively anti-Israel - because that will make Democrats cast anti-Israel votes. And no pointing out how even left-wing Ha'aretz political analysts admit that the Democratic Presidential field is anti-Israel - because that will make the Democratic Presidential candidates anti-Israel. And yet - and yet - Obama's frustration seems to be not entirely without foundation.

Remember that time when the State Department placed inordinate pressure on Israel to hand over security at the Gaza-Egypt crossing to the EU? And then - once Israel made that de facto irreversible concession and withdrew from the border - the EU backed out of that agreement? Wouldn't it be totally weird if the State Department now completed their standard anti-Israel bait and switch and reacted to Hamas's temper tantrum by demanding that the Palestinians control the border? Totally weird:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the United States wants a return to order along the border between Egypt and Hamas-held Gaza, and said the Palestinian Authority should have a role in policing the border. "We understand the complexity of that situation and want very much to see a resolution that would return order to that border," Rice said at the State Department.

With due respect to the Secretary, if there's one thing they have absolutely zero understanding of is the Israeli-Palestinian situation. But on the plus side, great news: the EU is thinking about maybe considering returning to their monitoring posts. So there's a very tiny possibility that the situation will revert to a near-total anti-Israel screwjob, rather than its current status as a mindbogglingly-surreal anti-Israel screwjob.

References:
* One Jerusalem Conference Call: Ambassador Dore Gold On How Current Limited Negotiations Are A Slippery Slope To Losing Jerusalem [MR]
* EU Again Backs Out of Monitoring Agreement, Endangers Israeli Security [MR]
* Annapolis As A Rosetta Stone For How Anti-Israel Bait And Switch Diplomacy Works [MR]
* Rice: PA should have Gaza border security role [JPost]
* 'EU considering returning its inspectors to Rafah crossing' [MR]

Previously:
* State Department Kills Congressional Instructions, Figures Out Way To Fund Hamas [Video]
* State Department, UN Make Things Up To Coerce Israeli Concessions, Scapegoat Israel When Plans Fail (Plus: Hezbollah Now Openly Bragging About Using Civilian Human Shields)
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

Perennial MR crush Sivan and that guy who's Israel's biggest hip hop star are Zionists who missed the memo that they're supposed to be insane and racist. Maybe they just don't consume enough international media or hang out in enough college seminar rooms:

The actual music video for this song is here. You don't have to agree with their left of center ideologies - they're artists so they're allowed to emote now and again - but it seems churlish to deny that social and moral concerns saturate Israelis' cultural and political lives. Also: Sivan.

References:
* Subliminal & Sivan Behnam - Perfect Place - Live [davy1031 / YouTube]
* Subliminal Video Features Sivan Being Hot, Hopes For Peace And Social Justice [Subtitled Video] [MR]

Previously:
* Shabbat Beauty - Zionist Hip Hop In Remembrance Of Yaakov Paz. A Momentary Song" [Video]
* Zionist Hip Hop - Shai 360 During Taglight 2007 [Video]
* Mere Rhetoric: New Israeli Hip Hop - Subliminal's New Single Is Not To Be Missed [Video]

After years of quietly violating agreements with Israel when it comes to border cooperation and security, the Egyptians are tired of being subtle:

Men in black clothing, some of them masked, stood atop the bulldozer as it knocked down a concrete slab under the watchful eyes of Egyptian forces on the other side who shot in the air in an attempt to hinder the flow of Gazans into Egypt. Thousands of Palestinians, many of them carrying empty fuel canisters, managed to push through several openings despite the presence of the Egyptians deployed nine rows deep in some places. At one point, guards aimed a water cannon above the heads of people, not at them, to keep them back... The border was breached Wednesday, when Palestinians blew down large sections of the border wall. Since then, Egypt has allowed tens of thousands of Palestinians to go back and forth, but has rejected any suggestion of assuming responsibility for the crowded, impoverished territory. In an interview published Friday, President Hosni Mubarak called the situation in Gaza "unacceptable" and called on Israel to "lift its siege" and "solve the problem."

Egypt will allow Gazans to bring as much ammunition and explosives as they want into Gaza - but they won't accept responsibility for what the Palestinians do with them. That seems reasonable.

And the State Department's nearly unprecedented pressure on Israel to fully withdraw from the Gaza-Egyptian border and hand over security control to the Egyptians and the Europeans? Working out totally awesome. But at least the EU was doing a really good job before they predictably bailed out. Or: at least you can't get frustrated becase all of this was totally unpredictable when the State Department was shoving the deal down Israel's throat.

UPDATE: We keep forgetting to link to this Jihad Watch post, which opens with an interesting question and emphasizes that Hamas has been working on destroying the Egyptian border wall for moths.

References:
* Camp David, Other Agreements With Egypt Working Out Great - Cairo "Working Against Israel For Years" [MR]
* Hamas bulldozer wrecks another section of Rafah fence [JPost]
* One Jerusalem Conference Call: Ambassador Dore Gold On How Current Limited Negotiations Are A Slippery Slope To Losing Jerusalem [MR]
* EU Lies, Allows Hamas Terrorists to Stream Into Gaza [MR]
* EU Again Backs Out of Monitoring Agreement, Endangers Israeli Security [MR]
* State Department: When We Say "Two Secure States", That's More a Motto than a Commitment [MR]

Previously:
* Persecution Of Baha'is In Egypt and Iran Fails To Gain International Attention [Video]
* Turns Out, Egypt Not Pro Israeli Security
* Egypt To Pursue Nuclear Program

Remember how yesterday Iranian reform was around the corner because Khamenei was publicly slapping Ahmadinejad around? Yeah, no:

When voters go to the polls on March 14 to select members of Parliament, they may be able to choose only between conservative candidates and other conservative candidates, leaders of Iran’s main reform party said Wednesday. With more than 7,200 candidates registered to run for 290 seats in Parliament, officials with the party, the Islamic Participation Front, said it appeared that 70 percent of reformist candidates had been disqualified. The decisions are not final and will not be completed until early March, but the early indications are that the religiously conservative forces in control of every branch of government will try to block a comeback by the reformists close to Mohammad Khatami, the former president. “Such a large number of disqualifications is unprecedented,” said a statement by the reformist party posted on the Emruz Web site.

The truth of this debate is that there is kind of a political battle in Iran. But it's a battle between clerics who want to destroy America by bringing about the end of the world and clerics who want to destroy America by seeing if proxy terrorism and demographic suffocation can do the job (although both sides are most definitely agreed that Israel needs to get nuked ASAP). Sometimes Ahmadinejad and his apocalyptic friends win and sometimes - like yesterday - the so-called conservative pragmatists win.

So the condescending Democratic sophisticates who insist that Iran should be engaged because moderates are winning - they're either idiots or dwell in a sunny and magical fantasy world. But even the foreign policy intellectuals - who have moved the goalposts from their 1990s faith in moderates to their 2000s gamble on conservative pragmatists - are wrong:

Hey, remember how Reuters parroted Fatah propaganda about how they were meeting their Roadmap obligations because they had totally dismantled the Al Aksa Brigades? Liars:

A Border Guard police officer was killed and three people were injured Thursday evening in two simultaneous terror attacks which took place in the Jerusalem area. Two Border Guard officers were shot at the northern entrance to the refugee camp of Shoafat, north of Jerusalem. Twenty-year-old Lance Corporal Rami Zuhari of Beersheva was critically injured, and later died of his wounds despite paramedics' attempts to resuscitate him. Another female officer sustained moderate to serious wounds and was evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in the capital... Fatah's military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack and said that the cell members behind it had the officer's weapon. A Fatah spokesman told Ynet that the organizations "Black September" activists carried out the attack.

They're promising more attacks, although they're insisting that those attacks aren't meant to derail peace negotiations. Which isn't really that outlandish: if the rest of the world expects Israel to negotiate with and supply energy to terrorists as those terrorists are launching attacks, why shouldn't Fatah?

Incidentally, now seems like exactly the right time to give the Palestinians a state. And they should definitely have a lot of access to Jerusalem, with soverignty in some areas and no Israeli roadblocks in any of the rest. And if the Israelis have any security concerns, the State Department and EU should certainly be able to keep the peace.

References:
* Fatah Security Chief: "There Is No Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Any More" Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: "Yes There Is" [MR]
* Police officer killed, 3 injured in terror attacks in J'lem area [YNet]
* Fatah: More attacks to come [YNet]
* One Jerusalem Conference Call: Ambassador Dore Gold On How Current Limited Negotiations Are A Slippery Slope To Losing Jerusalem [MR]

Previously:
* Love, Palestinian Style, Apparently Involves Terrorism
* Israel Captures Terrorist Who Was Leading Abbas's Anti-Terrorism Forces
* UNRWA Pours Millions Into Terrorism, Blames Israel (Plus: UNRWA Complains That Israel Is Blocking UNRWA Funding. Hmm)

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Prisoner releases are a popular low-cost way for the State Department and the EU to pressure Israel: such "goodwill gestures" don't cost money, and what's the worst that can happen?

The two armed Palestinians who infiltrated a yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Etzion on Thursday night, wounding three civilians, were recently released from an Israeli prison after serving time for criminal violations, Palestinian and Israeli security officials said Friday. The two terrorists Palestinians, later identified as Mohammad and Mahmoud Samarna, relatives from a West Bank village near Hebron, were freed several days ago. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Defense officials are still examining how the two managed to infiltrate the guarded Kfar Etzion yeshiva. In a separate incident that occurred around the same time, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Border Police officers stationed at the Ras Hamis checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, killing a Border Police officer and wounding another. In the Kfar Etzion incident, the two assailants, armed with knives and a pistol, entered the library of the Mekor Haim yeshiva near Jerusalem and attacked students and counselors. One of the counselors, Rafael Singer, grabbed the pistol from the terrorist and shot the intruders, killing them both.

Maybe releasing the most hardline Palestinians to organize and incite against Israel isn't the best way to reduce tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It's at least a theory worth considering.

The AFP headline on this, by the way, is "Two Palestinians Die In W Bank Settlement Attack". Because that's the salient detail that needs to be emphasized.

UPDATE: The gun that was grabbed from the terrorist was not the one used to make them dead.

References:
* Terrorists in yeshiva attack were recently released criminals [Ha'aretz]
* Officials:2 Palestinians Die In W Bank Settlement Attack -AFP [AFP]

Previously:
* Palestinians Going Global With Program To Demonize Israel For Deliberate, Hamas-Engineered Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (Updated: WaPo Hops On Board)
* AP's Ibrahim Barzak Publishes Least Subtle anti-Israel bias Yet
* European Media Bias - Really?

Spectacular:

The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed. When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins. The prayer asked of "Victory over those who disbelieve," and "Protection from the great Satan" among other things. Pastor Steve Smith of the Evangelical Free Church in Albert City is among those concerned about the Muslim prayer. Rev. Smith admits that he doesn't know about all the levels of Muslim but knows that the Jihadists believe those in the U.S. are the great Satan. Rev. Smith also wants to point out the mention of "victory over those who disbelieve." He feels "this is a request in the Iowa Legislature for God to grant the Muslims victory over every non-Muslim. Not a request for salvation." Smith takes it as a gesture not of prayer but more as a political statement, especially with the wars that have been going on in the Middle East.

If pushed to defend himself, would the imam: (a) accuse the questioners of Islamophobia (b) take the moral equivalence route and say that rabbis and priests also pray for people to have faith (c) find a sophisticated explanation where "protection" means "vegetables" and "the great Satan" means "supermarket" or (d) all of the above?

References:
* Muslim opening prayer at Iowa Statehouse raises concerns [ZWire]

Previously:
* If Britain Won't Stop Radical Islam, Why Should Radical Islam Stop Being Radical?
* MR Cracks the Code: Juan Cole Is Not "Wrong" - He's Just "Deploying the Technique of the Hermeneutical Circle"
* Islamic World Explodes Into Riots As Fatah Targets Hamas Mosques, Imams

And that's that. Now we know how Democrats feel when their guy loses. You want to blame the apathy of the media, the stupidity of voters, the fickleness of your base - everyone and everything except the candidate or the message. And you know what?

It feels good.

We officially hate everybody. But especially you people. Sigh.

UPDATE: Hot Air has a roundup of reactions. With complete justification, AP has gone ahead and busted out the anti-humpbot.

References:
* Day of Mourning [IMAO]
* Obligatory MR Iowa Reaction [MR]

Previously:
* Fred Thompson For President... Now
* Fred Thompson For President
* Fred And Jeri Thompson Rock Fox News (Plus: Romey Is Either Really Popular Or Really Unpopular) [Video]

Just kidding, obviously. Every country on the planet is allowed to open fire on a mob rushing at its border:

About 60 people were hurt, including one woman who was hit by gunfire, as Egyptian border guards fired in the air and used clubs and water cannons to drive back hundreds of Palestinian women who surged across the border from Gaza Tuesday. The protesting Palestinians were demanding that Egypt back their demands for the border to be opened for shipments of food and essential provisions, in short supply due to Israel's closure of its borders with the Strip.

Well, every country on the planet except Israel. Just imagine the propaganda that Reuters and AP stringers would produce after Israeli troops dealt similarly with similar mobs of Palestinian women. Actually, you don't have to imagine.

References:
* 60 wounded by Egyptians near Gaza [JPost]
* Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (Interlude) Convergence of Bias - With This Simple Formula, You Too Can Produce Solid Anti-Israel Journalism [MR]

Previously:
* Palestinians Going Global With Program To Demonize Israel For Deliberate, Hamas-Engineered Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (Updated: WaPo Hops On Board)
* AP's Ibrahim Barzak Publishes Least Subtle anti-Israel bias Yet
* European Media Bias - Really?

by Omri Ceren

Qassams have a 10km range and can pack up to 20kg of explosives and shrapnel. The time between the red alert siren and the rocket's impact is about 15 seconds. So the Palestinians routinely launch rockets at Sderot at around 7:45am to target kids who are walking to school and are too far from buildings to get to a shelter. Now that power is back on in Gaza, Palestinian soldiers are right back at it:

Two barrages were fired shortly before 8 am, as Sderot's children were making their way to school. Nine Qassam rockets and 13 mortar shells were fired at the western Negev communities on Monday afternoon. Three of the mortars landed in the Palestinian territories.

Surreal. No country on the planet would tolerate that for a day, let alone for the months upon months of that Israelis have been subjected to.

References:
* Missile fire from Gaza on Israeli civilian targets [Israel MFA]
* Palestinians open fire at farmers in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha [YNet]

Previously:
* Giving Gazans Food And Fuel Makes Them Launch Rockets And Mortars At Israel [MR]
* Sderot Media Center Documenting Horror Of Palestinian Rocket Attacks On Israeli Schools And Hospitals (Plus: Dozens Of Children Treated After Qassam Hits Near Daycare)
* Hamas Fires Five More Rockets At Israeli Schools And Hospitals, Shoots Up Israelis In The West Bank, Then Cries Pathetically About Limited Israeli Retaliation (Plus: Olmert: Of Course We Won't Punish Gaza)

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Which is weird, because we would have thought that between Hamas's not accepting fuel shipments last month and stealing fuel from hospitals and shutting down generators even though there's still enough fuel - well, you would have thought that some of that would have made it into a statement about the fuel situation in Gaza. But apparently not so much:

According to a draft of the statement obtained by Haaretz, the Security Council will express "its deep concern about the deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory... The Security Council also expresses concern in particular about the steep deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, due to the continued closure of all of the Gaza Strip border crossings and the recent decision by the Israeli government to reduce fuel supplies, to cut off electric power, and to prevent the delivery of food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip," the draft says. "The Security Council calls upon Israel to abide by its obligations under international law including humanitarian and human rights law and immediately cease all its illegal measures and practices against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip," continued the draft statement.

And even though the rest of the statement is about the food situation, the way that Hamas is shutting down bakeries that still have supplies is also missing. Wonder how that slipped through:

Reliable local sources in the Gaza Strip said that the illegal Hamas militia's supreme political leadership ordered bakery owners in the towns and camps sector prevent the sale of bread for citizens and closing doors, in a continuation in its scheme aimed to deepen the humanitarian crisis it is going through the Gaza Strip in order to achieve narrow partisan gains.

Also missing: any mention of the hundreds of Qassam rockets that Israel has had to roll with in the last few months. Maybe the UNSC was just having a really busy morning and got distracted midway through by something shiny.

References:
* U.S. pressure thwarts UN censure of Gaza blockade [Ha'aretz]
* Reports that Hamas closes Gaza bakeries [Elder of Ziyon]
* Palestinians Intentionally Creating Humanitarian Crises In Gaza By Refusing To Accept Israeli Fuel [MR]
* Hamas Intentionally Creating Humanitarian Crises In Gaza By Stealing Fuel From Hospitals For Their "Operations" Against Israel [MR]
* Palestinians Shut Down Generator To Create Gaza Humanitarian Crisis, UN Blames Israel [MR]

Previously:
* Palestinians Reject Israeli Humanitarian Efforts - Easier to Demonize Israel That Way
* Hamas Trying To Turn Gaza Into A Humanitarian Disaster - They're Stopping Gazans From Getting Medical Aid
* Hamas Intentionally Creating Humanitarian Disaster In Gaza - Now They're Shutting Down The Few Medical Clinics That Are Still Working

These people have more fun in 2 minutes than we have in a week:

And now you know. What? Too soon?

References:
* Dance Party Friday - Everybody Dance Now [Local12News / YouTube]

Previously:
* Friday Funny - Shopping In Israel [Video]
* Tuesday Stupid - Five Second Dramatic Chipmunk [Video]
* The Insanely Stupid Hebrew Aleph-Bet Song That Some People Apparently Want You To Know About [Video]

Just so we have something to link to the next time an "Israelis hate Israel" story gets pushed by a major media outlet - we have to go through this every once in a while because of nonsense like this - here's the latest poll measuring Israeli patriotism:

The number of Israelis expressing a willingness to fight for their country has held steady over the past two years at 92 percent, according to the Expressions of Patriotism Index presented at the Herzliya Conference this week. Similarly, the number of Israelis defining themselves as Israeli patriots held steady at about two-thirds at the start of 2008, compared to figures during the past few years... religious identification seems to be on the rise, indicated by a higher level of pride among Jewish Israelis in their Jewish identity than their Israeli identity. The national symbol that holds the most resonance for the broadest spectrum of Israelis is the siren on Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers, the study found.

In fairness, other parts of the study indicated a 10% decline in the number of young kids who want to hang around in the country. Since that's not because of an outright decline in patriotism or from anything religious, it could be that this is the beginning of the the mass migration that's expected to happen if Iran gets the bomb - it's psychologically impossible to live under the daily threat of another Holocaust. After the jump, what Israel is doing to convince citizens that that's less of a concern.

Because if you're a Sudanese student and you're protesting in front of the UN, obviously your biggest concerns are the Great Satan and the Jews. Because what else could you possibly have to worry about:

Several hundred Sudanese demonstrated Tuesday in front of a UN building here to show their solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and demand the United Nations intervene in the crisis. The protesters, many of whom were students, shouted slogans including "No for the killing of Palestinians. No for the killing of civilians."... Student demonstrators affiliated with the Khartoum State Students Union, which is controlled by pro-Islamist groups, dressed in their school uniforms and shouted "Down, down USA" and "Allahu akbar," which means "God is great" in Arabic. "We have taken part in this demonstration to express our discontent with the way the world community is standing by while Palestinian civilians are being massacred, humiliated and killed by the Zionists" Fatahi Khalil, who heads the pro-government Organization for the Support of the People, told The Associated Press.

And the AP was there to record it all and put out a press release? Isn't that just the darnedest coincidence as well? Oh well - at least they're not protesting about teddy bears.

References:
* Sudanese demonstrate in front of UN building in solidarity with Gaza [JPost]
* Sudan Preventing Reporters From Conveying True Extent Of Teddy Bear Riots [MR]

Previously:
* International Law: Protecting Those Who Violate It Since 1950
* AP Bias Alert Level: Obvious (Grandma Suicide Bomber Edition)
* Toronto Sun - Previously Unexplored Stupidity As A Justification For Anti-Papal Riots

Maybe "makes them" is a little strong. But there's certainly something in the way of an intriguing correlation:

Barak consented to ease the near-complete closure imposed on the Hamas-controlled territory, authorizing the entry of humanitarian aid and a one-time shipment of diesel fuel to power Gaza's electricity station less than a day after it was shut down. Shortly after Barak's pronouncements the relative respite in rocket attacks on southern Israel seemed over, with nine Qassam rockets and 13 mortar shells landing in and around communities in the western Negev.

On the day before the lockdown - which involved a less than staggering 30 percent energy cut and no fresh fruits or vegetables - the Palestinians launched forty rockets at Israeli schools and hospitals. Immediately after the lockdown, the number of Qassams dropped to one because Hamas got the message that the Israelis were serious about protecting Sderot.

Then Barak lifted the closure ever so slightly, and the Palestinians immediately launched over 20 more Qassams and mortars. This is surreal. These people are lunatics. And the UN is set to condemn Israel. Of course they are.

References:
* Sderot residents: Barak folded, now Qassams are back [YNet]
* Palestinians Shut Down Generator To Create Gaza Humanitarian Crisis, UN Blames Israel [MR]
* UN: Gazans Have More Than Enough Food, But Lack Of Fruits And Vegetables Is A Humanitarian Crisis [MR]
* 6 Palestinians killed in clashes with IDF [Ha'aretz]
* 'Hamas stopped launching Kassams for fear of Israeli attacks' [JPost]
* Israel trying to thwart UN condemnation of Gaza blockade [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Palestinians Embrace Peace By Dropping Dozens Of Rockets And Mortars On Israeli Schools And Hospitals
* Palestinians Fire 9 Kassam Rockets In 24 Hours At Israeli Schools and Hospitals
* Israel trying to thwart UN condemnation of Gaza blockade

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

We've begun posting some of the contributions that anti-Semites make on the YouTube videos we post. We've been just sending them into the ether, but people should have a small sense of the kind of cretins that inhabit YouTube. First up a couple nuked comments from the anti-Semitic Iranian cartoon:

Iranali786: I think what the cartoon shows is right. The Americans kicked Hitler's ass so hard Germany was reduced to rubble. But the clever Jews , always the businessmen , created a monster out of the rubble. The monster is ISRAEL.
ikfaldugod: No, theyre just stealing your money by charging absurdly high interest rates.

And now a sampling of the comments nuked from the clip we've got of Barbra Striesand singing the Hatikva. Because why shouldn't anti-Semitic cretins be literally everywhere?

sonya841: jewish spirit my ass.? . .u bastard u seem 2 have hate in u, thank God im not Jewish im Christian
sonya841: garbage garbage nothing but garbage. . .oh my goodness Barbara is so? ugly. . .

Just overflowing with charming, nuanced hate. And while we're on the subject of anti-Semitism: does anybody know what a "Kak-Jew" is? It keeps coming up in the anti-Semitic garbage that we receive from some group calling themselves The Akurians. And wow are these guys batshit crazy: [link goes through Google cache]:

Akurians are those Proven Knowers who choose to belong to the Spiritual Tribe of Akuria. Akurians obey and teach all Holy Laws and Statutes, and their lives are spent in devoted pursuit of all Great Mysteries, all Infinite Knowledge, and all Infallible Power of the Most High Lord God of All Creation. Their every breath is a living prayer of true service, for which they are become Beloved unto the Most High. We do everything the Salvation Army does, except preach Zeus

Etc etc. These guys aren't really on the radar, but we still hate being insulted when we don't even know how. So if this is a term of art, any clarifications would be much appreciated.

References:
* Today's Nuked YouTube Comments From MR's Iranian Anti-Semitism Post [MR]
* Video: Vicious Iranian Anti-Semitic Anti-Zionist Cartoon [MR]
* Tuesday Hatikva - Oh Yes, We've Posted A Clip Of Barbra Streisand Singing Hatikva [Video] [MR]

Previously:
* John Mearsheimer - Not Anti-Semitic. Just Anti-Semiticish [MR]
* Arab World Too Pathologically Anti-Semitic To Accept Israeli Water Tech And Expertise [MR]
* We Get Mail - Pro-Holocaust YouTube Cretin Edition [MR]

Anyone had a chance to review Ha'aretz's ranking of candidates and their positions on Israel? This is from the people on Israel's political left - and yet Obama and Edwards still get ranked as the absolute worst candidates for the Jewish State. Before Joe Biden and Chris Dodd dropped out, Democrats made up the four absolutely worst candidates on Israel. Obama - the champion of next generation's Democrats - remains dead last. The only Democrat who makes it out of the bottom is Hillary Clinton. That would be the same Hillary Clinton who embraced Suha Arafat after Arafat slandered Israel with a blood libel - she's the best the Democrats have when it comes to Israel.

On the other side of the political spectrum, McCain gets ranked as the most reliable Republican on Iran. And this is from panelists who hated Fred's objectively awesome "they would have been introduced to those virgins that they're looking forward to seeing" line because it was "too harsh." Even they seem unimpressed by the Democrats' "we should sit down and chat with the ayotallahs" foreign policy sophistication - on a 1 to 5 scale, the Republicans get 3.75 to the Democrats' 2.75.

So all those Democratic Jews condescendingly insisting that a Democratic vote is a pro-Israel vote? They must just be a lot smarter than the political observers at Israel's major left-wing newspaper. Or they're retarded. But definitely one of the two.

References:
* Ranking the Presidential Candidates
* Let McCain deal with Iran [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* This Week's Litany Of Reasons Why Democratic Jews Are Either Anti-Israel Or Lying To Themselves
* MR Has A Question For Democratic Jews: Are You Fucking Retarded?
* Isn't It About Time For Democratic Jews To Stop Electorally Empowering The Ahmadinejad-Supporting Left?

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Game on:

Sneaky, suspicious beasts.

References:
* Cat and ferret: Who will win the fight? [vivapets / YouTube]

Previously:
* Sunday Cute - Panda-monium
* Sunday Cute - Kittens Attack, Lull Each Other Into False Sense of Security, Attack Again [Video]
* Sunday Cute - Orphaned Owls Plus Stuffed Mama Owl Equals Cute

The President, the Secretary of State, and the representatives of major media outlets had the best time evuh in the Middle East:

Who knew that President Bush loves "bling-bling," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finds strawberry juice just dandy, and some White House journalists like to munch on goat brains? Oh yeah, and did you know there's some good-natured wagering among the press corps -- as well as some of the president's staff -- about whether Bush will be able to stay awake into the wee hours in a meeting with the night-owlish Saudi King Abdullah? These are just a few of the lighter insights gleaned during Bush's eight-day trip to the Mideast... But like any of Bush's other trips, there's plenty of levity that makes it a little easier to deal with sleep deprivation, jet lag and the far distance from home... Upon his arrival Sunday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Bush was presented with a gigantic bit of jewelry -- the kind of piece known by the slang term "bling" in the United States... Then there's Rice's beloved strawberry juice... "It's my favorite thing, I learned on my first trip here," Rice told reporters... For the media, it's fun to sample the local fare, whether it's strawberry juice or the hummus that's been ubiquitous on every stop of this tour... By now, the room was full of laughter.

Or you can read the AP writeup on the trip, which describes Bush as "well-fed" and "upbeat."

This is hardly fair. The Israelis could have totally have shown Bush and his media friends a great time - Israel's a fantastic place, with lots of laughter and parties and fun. Except the Israelis were probably too busy trying to protect their citizens from the Palestinian peace partners who the President is shoving down their throats and major media outlets are constantly exonerating. But at least the Saudis are reciprocating Bush's friendship.

References:
* Traveling with Bush: Bling, strawberry juice and goat brains? [CNN]
* Mubarak backs U.S. on Mideast pact [AP]
* Bush: Oh Hell Yes It's Peace Yet! [MR]
* CNN: Poor Hamas Victims Being Mourned Right This Moment By Long-Suffering Palestinians [MR]
* Saudis Respond To Billions In US Arms By Rejecting Israel, Embracing Iran [MR]

Previously:
* Saudis "Shocked" That Anyone Would Think They Fund Radical Mosques
* Saudi Arabia Identifies True Cause of US-Saudi Tension - Jews
* Saudi Arabia At Annapolis: Israel Has No Right To Exist (Plus: By A Strange Coincidence, Their Conditions For A Peace Deal Would Require Destruction Of Israel)

Remember that time when Hezbollah started a war with Israel and then went crawling to the rest of the world begging them to call off the IDF? If you do, then this might seem vaguely familiar:

The exiled leader of Hamas appealed to Arab leaders and his rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday asking them to forget their differences and help the beleaguered Gazans, who saw Gaza City plunge into darkness after Israel blocked a shipment of fuel that powers its only electrical plant. The plea was rare show of emotion for the hard-line Khaled Mashaal, who lives in exile in Damascus, Syria. "All Arab leaders, exercise real pressure to stop this Zionist crime..." In addition to the fuel it receives from Israel to power its electrical plant, Gaza gets about two-thirds of its electricity directly from Israel. Israeli officials said that supply would not be affected.

If Hamas returned Gilad Shalit and stopped dropping mortars and rockets on Israeli schools and hospitals, the fuel would get turned back on tomorrow.

References:
* Hezbollah to Arab Countries: We're Losing the War. Quick, Someone Impose a Ceasefire. [MR]
* Mashaal pleads to Arab world over Gaza [JPost]

Previously:
* No, Israel Is Not Planning To Wipe Out The Hamas Leadership Next Week
* IDF Colonel: Hamas Creating Humanitarian Crisis. No Kidding.
* CNN: Poor Hamas Victims Being Mourned Right This Moment By Long-Suffering Palestinians

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Just kidding, obviously. If you're a country that's not Israel, this is what you get to do when terrorists invade your capital city and murder your powerful politicians:

Pakistani artillery and helicopter gunships pounded militant positions Sunday close to the Afghan border, an extremist stronghold where a rebel leader blamed for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is believed to be hiding, officials and witnesses said. The strikes came after authorities said they had arrested a 15-year-old boy alleged to have been involved in the Dec. 27 slaying of Bhutto, an opposition leader critical of rising Islamic extremism in the country... Two civilians were killed and five others wounded in the attacks near the border close to the towns of Lhada and Makin in South Waziristan, said Fazal Subhan, a Makin resident. However, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said there were no reports of casualties in the operations.

If you're Israel, of course, the options you have in similar situations are a little more limited. Probably for totally understandable reasons that have nothing to do with anti-Semitism.

References:
* Pakistan pounds militant strongholds [JPost]
* International Media: "But Saadat is a Grandfather!" Also, BBC Tells Demonstrable Lie About Past Kidnappings, Makes Up Conspiracy Theory, and Says "Foreigners mostly live harmoniously among the Palestinian population" [MR]

Previously:
* Islamic World Explodes Into Riots As Fatah Targets Hamas Mosques, Imams
* Global Outcry As Palestinians Kill 13 Year Old Palestinian Boy
* World Just Fine With Israeli Utlimatum To Palestinian-Based Terrorists: Surrender Or Die

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Poor babies:

About 120 daily truckloads of basic foods and medicine have been allowed through the crossing into Gaza since the Hamas takeover in June, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a halt to all border traffic Thursday night in attempt to halt a surge of rocket fire on southern Israel... International air organizations expressed concern over the closure of the crossings... The UN Relief and Works Agency, which distributes cooking oil, flour and sugar to hundreds of thousands of Gazans, said it had about two months worth of supplies in its warehouses. However, Gazans need to supplement the basics with nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables and proteins, which have become increasingly expensive and hard to find, said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness... Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said Gazans had sufficient stocks of food so that no one would go hungry, adding that about 9,000 cows were allowed into the Strip in the past two months. "There is a government decision that there will not be a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Dror said.

In fairness to them, they did also complain about the lack of fuel. Which is a lie. But at least it's in the ballpark of what would actually constitute a humanitarian crisis. It's almost like they'll come up with utter nonsense if it's the only way to criticize Israeli self-defense measures. Meanwhile, the rest of the UN is also springing into action:

The UN Human Rights Council will hold an emergency meeting next week to examine whether Israel is committing abuses in the Palestinian territories, officials said Friday. The special session of the 47-member council was called after a petition was submitted by Syria and Pakistan, on behalf of Arab and Islamic countries, according to a UN memo obtained by The Associated Press.

Maybe they should spend a little less time actively helping the Palestinians manufacture a nonexistent humanitarian crisis and a little more time trying to figure out how their ostensibly malnourished wards have the time to launch barrages of rockets and bombs on Israeli schools and hospitals. Not that Syria really needs to ask, what with how they host the meetings where the attacks get planned.

References:
* Ban Ki-moon: End Gaza violence, blockades [JPost]
* Palestinians Shut Down Generator To Create Gaza Humanitarian Crisis, UN Blames Israel [MR]
* Iran, Hamas, And Islamic Jihad Meet In Syria To Plan Mideast Turmoil [MR]

Previously:
* Arab League: Israel Has To Move Behind 1967 Lines, Give Up Fence Protecting Itself Behind 1967 Lines
* UNRWA Pours Millions Into Terrorism, Blames Israel (Plus: UNRWA Complains That Israel Is Blocking UNRWA Funding. Hmm)
* Benny Elon's Israel Initiative Neglects Possibility That Arab States, UN Uninterested In Rehabilitating Palestinian Society

No worries folks, because the NIE said that the Iranians have nothing but the best intentions for their nuclear program. No one's really sure why they're enriching their own uranium even though Russia is supplying them with more than enough to keep their program going. But it's definitely definitely definitely not anything but peaceful:

The report said 11 tons of fuel arrived at the Bushehr power plant, just two days after Iran received its third Russian shipment on Friday. Russia has reportedly pledged to give Iran a total of 85 tons of fuel for the plant... Iran has said Bushehr, the country's first nuclear reactor, will begin operating in the summer of 2008, producing half of its 1,000 megawatt capacity of electricity. Teheran heralded the first shipment as a victory, saying it proved its nuclear program was peaceful and not a cover for weapons development as the US has claimed. The United States and Russia have said the supply of nuclear fuel meant Iran had no need to continue its uranium enrichment program - a process that can provide fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a bomb. Iran has agreed with Russia to return the spent fuel to ensure it doesn't extract plutonium to build a bomb. Iran insisted it would continue enriching uranium because it needed to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it was building in the southwestern town of Darkhovin.

This from a country that floats on a sea of oil.

References:
* 4th Russian fuel shipment reaches Iran [JPost]

Previously:
* Russia Gives Iran Cutting-Edge Anti-Ship Missiles To Give To Hezbollah
* Iran: Israeli Self-Defense is a Cause for War
* Purdue Nuclear Strategy Expert: Bomb Iran Now

Last October we wrote that "the UN is preparing to blame Israel" as the Palestinians laid the groundwork for a manufactured humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Turns out, that was true:

Gaza's only electrical plant shut down most of its turbines Sunday after an Israeli border closure blocked the entry of fuel that powers them, Palestinian officials said. But Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for Israel's defense ministry, said Gaza has enough fuel and accused Palestinian officials of trying to create the impression of a crisis that did not exist. The fuel shortage was a result of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision on Thursday to halt all shipments to the Strip... after Hamas renewed Kassam rocket fire last week, resulting in unusually heavy barrages on Sderot... In addition to the fuel it receives from Israel to power its electrical plant, Gaza gets about two-thirds of its electricity directly from Israel. Israeli officials said that supply would not be affected. The UN organization in charge of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned the move would drastically affect hospitals, sewage treatment plants and water facilities. "The logic of this defies basic humanitarian standards," said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency... "If they shut it down, it's not because of a fuel shortage, but because they want to create the impression of a crisis," Dror said. The power plant shutdown, he said, would "not be comfortable, but it's not a humanitarian crisis." Despite the damage the sanctions were causing Gaza's population, Hamas said its attacks on Israel would not cease.

Israel had actually fully restored fuel to Gaza before last week. Then came the newest Qassam barrage, which any country on the planet would have responded to with a full scale invasion. Instead, Israel modestly cut Gaza's energy - stopping the fuel that is fungible and that Hamas steals from hospitals to use in "operations" against Israel but keeping electricity flowing. And that's still somehow an intolerable imposition on the sainted Palestinian people who elected Hamas to wage unremitting war on Israel. The little darlings want to lash out in impotent but satisfying genocidal petulance, but they still expect Israel to supply them with the fuel to drive their jeeps back and forth from the border. It's quite simply surreal.

More on the intentionally-engineered Gaza humanitarian crisis after the jump.

We've been trying to come up with a sarcastic opening for the last couple of minutes, but - honestly - screw it:

The Palestinian Authority threatened on Tuesday to suspend negotiations with Israel in response to an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip that left 19 Palestinians - most of them Hamas gunmen - dead. The PA also called for deploying international forces in the Gaza Strip "to defend Palestinian civilians against recurring Israeli acts of aggression." The call was issued by the PA government in Ramallah and the ruling Fatah faction. PA officials strongly condemned the IDF raid, dubbing it a "massacre." The officials expressed outrage at its timing, coming five days after US President George W. Bush's visit to Ramallah and his meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

MR has some questions:

(1) So the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip get to drop dozens of rockets and bombs on Israeli schools and hospitals while Bush is actually in Ramallah, but responding to that five days later is a cause for outrage - yes?

(2) When mainstream media outlets run with the Palestinian "Israel brought Fatah and Hamas together" narrative, do you think they'll mention how Fatah and Hamas have been united diplomatically and militarily for months?

(3) Has there ever been a major Israeli military campaign - justified or not, limited or not - that wasn't a "massacre"? Cf. "stupid headline tricks" from a previous "massacre"?

(4) When the Palestinians call for an international force, do they know in advance that it'll become a bunch of human shields allowing Palestinians to attack Israel but restricting Israeli retaliation? Or does it just work out that way?

(5) How absurd is it that Israel is getting blamed for a surgical operation against rocket teams ostensibly unassociated from Hamas because the raid escalated after Hamas soldiers pinned down Israeli forces?

References:
* PA: Gaza 'massacre' threatens talks [JPost]
* Hamas And Fatah: Any Compromise On Any Part Of Jerusalem Is Treason (Plus: Blair: Peace Deal Within A Year) (Updated: Eloquent And Prescient Reuters Picture Of The Year) [MR]
* Fatah: We're Going To Use Our New US And Russian-Supplied Weapons To Fight With Hamas Against Israel (Plus: Hamas Upgrades, Stockpiles Their Qassams) [MR]
* Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (3) Stupid Headline Tricks - Hey Listen, Calling It A "Massacre" Is Still Bias, Even If You Think You're Being Clever By Quoting Someone [MR]
* State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank? [MR]

Previously:
* Fatah Discovers That Iran's Hamas Proxies Are Trying To Overthrow Abbas
* Mere Rhetoric: Palestinian Non-Civil War Watch - Hamas Kidnaps Senior Fatah Leader, Shaves His Mustache
* Fatah Security Forces: "Murderers Of Two Israelis Aren't Terrorists". Murderers Of Two Israelis: "We're Fatah Terrorists" (Plus: Fatah Hid Them From Israeli Security)

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Our friends the Saudis have responded to President Bush's multi-billion dollar sale of cutting-edge bombs by emphasizing that - actually - they kind of hate Israel:

The US president views the support of Arab neighbors as crucial to the ability of Palestinian leaders to strike and sustain a final peace deal with Israel, which Bush wants done by the end of the year. He also sees Arab acknowledgment of Israel's place in the region as vital to the process. But the US request seemed a tall order. At Rice's side, Saud said "I don't know what more outreach we can give the Israelis," he said, referring to an Arab peace plan and the sentiment in the region that Israel hasn't been meeting its obligations under an internationally sponsored roadmap, and that the US is too lenient on that point.

We're not foreign policy experts or anything, but since they're asking: something more they can do is endorse a peace plan that doesn't literally mandate that the Jewish State commit suicide. Just a thought. Or they could do something other than imply that they're willing to use US weapons to go to war with Israel if the Jewish State rejects their generous proposal of voluntary suicide. Also maybe an idea to throw around.

But at least the Saudis have been coming out strongly against Iran:

But Bush faced difficulty in convincing his Saudi hosts to wholeheartedly support the twin pillars of his Middle East tour -- greater backing from Arab states for the revived Middle East peace process and a willingness to confront the "threat" of Iran. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal gave a cool response to Bush's request, made in Jerusalem last week, that Arab countries "reach out" to israel to boost the revived Middle East peace talks. "I don't know what more outreach we can give to the Israelis," the minister told a press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Faisal, speaking through an interpreter, also said Saudi Arabia had "nothing bad" against its powerful neighbour Iran. "Iran is a neighbouring country, an important country in the region. Naturally we have nothing bad against Iran."

Honestly, the administration is doing an absolutely crackerjack job in the Middle East. Kudos are obviously due to whatever department is responsible for advising the President on foreign policy. They clearly have a sophisticated understanding of global politics and diplomacy.

References:
* Pentagon details bomb-guidance kit sale to Saudis [Reuters]
* Saudi Arabia has 'nothing bad' against Iran [AFP]
* The Saudi Peace Initiative: A Discrete Way to Destroy Israel, Based on an Ethical Lie [MR]
* US Ally Saudi Arabia Threatens Israel With Destruction If Israel Doesn't Agree To Commit Suicide [MR]

Previously:
* Saudi Arabia Identifies True Cause of US-Saudi Tension - Jews
* Saudi Arabia At Annapolis: Israel Has No Right To Exist (Plus: By A Strange Coincidence, Their Conditions For A Peace Deal Would Require Destruction Of Israel)
* Hey Saudi Arabia, Shove It

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Because what better way to deal with self-esteem issues than to voluntarily make yourself a second-class human being? It would be "a mark of respect" for the groom and his family, you see:

Singer Britney Spears will be ordered to cover her face with a veil and wear a full-length Islamic dress when she weds her British boyfriend, it was revealed last night. She is planning marriage No3 to Muslim Adnan Ghalib, 35... But the only way Brummie cameraman Adnan’s strictly religious family will accept her is if she converts to the Islamic faith.... The singer... has even told friends she plans to wear a burka, or even a naqib, which leaves only the eyes visible. One of her pals said: “She is really keen to do it. "It would be a mark of respect to Adnan and his family, and it would give her the anonymity she’s craving... Her relationship with Adnan has stunned his parents, too. His mum Saghar teaches the Koran at home, while his dad Hussain attends the mosque daily. A family friend said: "If Britney and Adnan are serious, she would have to change her religion. Even then they would have difficulty accepting her. "It is incredible to think Britney could end up taking the veil, but it would at least be a show of respect."

We declare this story false. Not the part about how she'd be expected to voluntarily debase herself as a sign of respect to her overlord husband and his... pious... family. That's obviously on the up and up. It's just that Adnan doesn't seem like the kind of guy who can credibly sell "ok Britney dear, now it's really important for both of us to act modestly like God wants us to." Then again, she's clinically psychotic so what do we know?

References:
* BRITNEY IN A BURKA [Daily Star]
* Adnan Has Left the Building! [TMZ]
* Commish Thinks Brit's a Little Meshuggah [TMZ]

Previously:
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - If Your Clothing "Violates Islamic Teachings" In Iraq, 40 Of You Might Have To Be Killed And Mutilated
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Muslim Women Divided On Whether To Obey Oppressive Or Really Oppressive Muslim Dress Codes [Video]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Feminism Sweeps Pakistan

Such charming people:

Israel Airports Authority security personnel on Monday thwarted an attempt to smuggle a chemical substance that can be used to manufacture explosives and rockets, from Israel into the Gaza Strip though the Kerem Shalom crossing. The IAA recovered two tons of the bomb-making material from a truck attempting to smuggle the material into Gaza in the guise of a humanitarian aid delivery. According to security sources, last week a larger amount of the material was found on a similar truck attempting to cross into Gaza.The source also said that the amount apprehended Monday, could have been used to produce 500 rockets.

Begging the question: have they already used up the 200 tons of US-supplied explosives that they captured when they predictably rolled over Fatah soldiers in the West Bank? Let's see - 500 rockets per 2 tons of explosives times 200 tons... carry the 1... that should've been enough for 50,000 rockets. You don't think they're saving it up for anything do you?

References:
* Israel foils bid to take explosive material into Gaza on aid truck [Ha'aretz]
* Hamas Has 200 Tons Of Explosives That The US Gave To Fatah (Plus: Egypt Says It's Israel's Fault) [MR]

Previously:
* Egypt Opens Border Crossing, Allows Hamas To Smuggle In Money
* Hamas Blocks Israeli Food Shipments, Intentionally Starves Gaza Civilians To Create A Humanitarian Disaster - Again!
* Hamas Smuggles Katyushas Into Gaza, Fires Them At Israeli Schools And Hospitals (Plus: Eight Mortars Fired At Israeli Civilians, One Scores Direct Hit)

No kidding:

An informal survey of community activists and leaders conducted a month ago showed "overwhelming" support for Obama, according to James Zogby, president of the [Arab-American Institute]. The number of those favoring Obama was double that of all other candidates combined... Like the Jewish community, Arab Americans, who are roughly 75% Christian and 25% Muslim, vote largely Democratic, said Zogby. "And we expect that trend to continue; I don't see anyone on the Republican side reversing policies people care about." "What made Bill Clinton different [from other candidates] is that both Jews and Arabs felt he didn't see a difference between the communities, and we are looking for a candidate [like Clinton] that doesn't see the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict as zero sum," Zogby said. "We find when we do polling, that our community likes to see their views converge with Jews on peace issues."

First of all, before we get to anything else: holy shit do you people piss us off. Now that that's out of the way, we should point out that you really fucking piss us off. And what's more, you've taken to being particularly retarded about it.

But Jews should definitely keep voting for Democrats. Because the much more prevalent and powerful leftist and Arab Democrats - who vote for what they think are anti-Israel political platforms - probably just haven't thought about it as much as you have. You're much more savvy. And besides, like Zogby says - it's not like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is zero-sum. It'd only be zero sum if the Palestinians were demanding something crazy, like that Israel has to expell West Bank Jews from their homes to make way for a future Palestinian state.

Oh, and one more thing - holy shit you people are stupid:

In any case, it appears that many Jews, liberal and young, have long been convinced that [Obama's] views on Israel put their minds at ease. His pledge to push the peace process forward ("It's in Israel's interest," he explained in one speech) certainly has not given them pause. Crown, who has supported Obama for some time, and who has been an Israel supporter for a longer time, promised the readers of his open letter: "As president, he will be the friend to Israel that we all want to see in the White House - stalwart in his defense of Israel's security, and committed to helping Israel achieve peace with its neighbors."

Our original punchline to that quote was "yeah, just like Carter did." But then we remembered that one of Obama's most significant foreign policy advisers is Zbigniew Brzezinski, and then it wasn't a punchline any more.

References:
* Poll: 'Overwhelming' support for Obama among Arab Americans [JPost]
* MR Has A Question For Democratic Jews: Are You Fucking Retarded? [MR]
* Isn't It About Time For Democratic Jews To Stop Electorally Empowering The Ahmadinejad-Supporting Left? [MR]
* Manufactured Scandal Of The Week: Media Matters Accuses Coulter Of Wanting To Wipe Out American Jews, Action Alerts To Pull Her Off The Air Immediately Follow [MR]
* Democrats woo Jewish, minority vote as primaries heat up [Ha'aretz]
* More Democrats Repeat Anti-Semitic Canards, Embrace Particularly Anti-Semitic Sounding Parts Of Walt And Mearsheimer [MR]

Previously:
* More Democrats Repeat Anti-Semitic Canards, Embrace Particularly Anti-Semitic Sounding Parts Of Walt And Mearsheimer
* This Week's Litany Of Reasons Why Democratic Jews Are Either Anti-Israel Or Lying To Themselves
* Batshit Crazy DKos Commenter: "Lieberman is a Likud German-Jew Fascist"

One Jerusalem 1 - Mere Rhetoric 0:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition appeared to be crumbling on Tuesday when Israel Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman held an ill-fated meeting with Olmert and Shas warned that it could leave soon, as well. Lieberman plans to convene the Israel Beiteinu faction and then a press conference (scheduled for 10:30 a.m.) at the Knesset on Wednesday. Barring a last-minute surprise, he will submit a resignation letter to Olmert that will take effect 48 hours later on Friday. "All the answers will be given at the press conference," Lieberman told The Jerusalem Post following a meeting of the Israel Beiteinu secretariat in the capital. Aware that Shas would soon be the only right-leaning member of the government, the party's mentor, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, issued a directive Tuesday for it to leave the coalition as soon as serious negotiations begin on the fate of Jerusalem.

Turns out when we said that Lieberman wouldn't leave the coalition because it would force Shas's hand and effectively bring down Olmert's government, we were right about everything except the part where we said Lieberman not leaving the coalition. Looks like we called that putt a little too early. We should have known that we were in for some bad karma when Arab MKs from openly treasonous parties came to the same conclusion about how the Gaza raid would affect Lieberman - although naturally they added a healthy dose of conspiratorial nonsense about Olmert's motives and conveniently left out the months and months of Palestinian rocket fire that forced Olmert's hand.

If you're looking for some inside baseball about how coalition negotiations will go down, make sure you check out Gil Hoffman's piece about internal Meretz and UTJ calculations. The money graf is all the way at the very bottom. Because where else would you put it?:

Gal-On said, "Meretz has an ethical obligation to insist that Olmert accept responsibility for his blunders and resign. Meretz can't join an Olmert-led government even if it negotiates a peace agreement," Gal-On said. "Another prime minister in an alternative government can make peace. The peace camp is not a refuge for failed leaders."

Actually it's kind of exactly that, but why quibble? And since we're kind of whores when it comes to pageviews, we've saved the most intriguing part of the article for after the jump. It's totally irrelevant to the coalitional calculations, so we don't feel too guilty about making you click through to see it:

Oh come on:

At no point - not once - is it mentioned that Israel was responding to months and months of rockets and mortars falling on Sderot. The absolutely closest is this perfunctory line in paragraph 12...

Israel's military cited its ongoing battle against Gaza's terrorist infrastructure as the reason for the Gaza City raid.

... or this inscrutable suggestion that something may be going on in Sderot, complete with the always lovely "Israeli X said" to imply that these facts are somehow in question:

Israeli ambulance services said five people sustained minor injuries when a dozen Qassam rockets struck southern Israel. Most of the rockets landed in and around the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a frequent target of such attacks.

Certainly conveys the gravity of months of daily bombing, doesn't it? There is in fact no quote about the attack from any Israeli politician, and nothing linking the daily bombardment of Sderot to today's raid. The only explanation for the raid is Hamas's murder of a kibbutz worker - which the article goes out of its way beforehand to point out happened after the raid started.

Maybe CNN just ran out of room after filling the article with paragraphs and paragraphs about Israeli "massacres," "spies," and "aggression against our people." You'd think they could have taken out one of the four "aggression" or "massacre" quotes to see what the Israeli Defense Ministry or Foreign Ministry had to say about the raid.

Oh well, at least the Israeli victims suffered only "minor injuries" and "light wounds" - which the article emphasizes twice just to make sure the message sinks in. Israeli sources had a different view of the injuries. The girl, by the by, is 5:

This is almost as good as the time CNN called Israel's Lebanon II Defense Minister a "war chief".

References:
* Hamas mourns Israeli raid victims [CNN]
* CNN Writers Tired Of Hiding Their True Feelings: They Kind Of Think Israelis Are Warmongers, And They Don't Care Who Knows [MR]

Previously:
* Cal Perry, This Week's CNN Mouthpiece For Hamas Propaganda, Is An Idiot
* CNN Wants You To Know That Lebanese Kids Are Suffering Because of Lebanon's Act of War. Israeli Kids Suffering for Lebanon's Act of War Not Discussed.
* Picture You Won't See on CNN

We were going to convert to Scientology because they assured us that they're smarter and morally superior to everyone else. But then we discovered that they think that Palestinian hatred for Israel can be solved through limited Israeli territorial concessions and confidence building measures and we thought "well they can't be that smart".

Coincidentally, the exact same thing happened when we considered becoming Democrats.

Anyway, Defamer has the video posted on Gawker's functionally impregnable server, safe from the lawsuit-happy copyright demons at Scientology headquarters. Verdict: he. crazy.

References:
* "We are the way to happiness" [Gawker]
* Peace and Understanding in the Middle East [Scientology Today]
* Secret Tom Cruise Scientology Indoctrination Video Finally Hits Web; Proves He Is Even Crazier Than We Ever Imagined [Defamer]

Previously:
* MR Crush #452 - Amy Winehouse (Bonus: Geek Crush On Rosario Dawson) [Videos]
* Israeli Hottie Moran Atias Reminds You: Vote For MR In The Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards
* LAPD Bomb Squad Called On Not Very Bright Army Recruiter's Suicide Bomber Costume

One Jerusalem says they've got the goods on the story:

One Jerusalem has learned that one of the Olmert Government's key coalition partners (the Yisrael Beiteniu Party with 11 seats) will be pulling out of Olmert's government today: A direct result of Olmert launching negotiations over "core" issues (which includes the division of Jerusalem) with the Palestinians to satisfy the Bush Administration. During the past month, as One Jerusalem provided a platform in Israel for Israelis to voice their support for a united Jerusalem, pressure has been building on Right-wing members of Olmert's coalition to leave the government. Today, we are told that Avigdor Lieberman will lead his political party out of the government.

It's not impossible because Olmert and Lieberman are in negotiations today. But all of the leaks leading up to that talk were going the other way. Plus Lieberman's core issue is Iran even more than it is Jerusalem, and Olmert may ask him not to leave right when the Iranian crisis is threatening to reach a boiling point (which it perennially is - another instance in which Israel's enemies do more to keep the country united than Israelis themselves might like).

That said, it doesn't look like Lieberman can pull out of the government for at least the next week. First, it would be perceived as abandoning the government in the face of what's about to become a firestorm of international criticism. Second, you expect that the Palestinians are going to huff and puff and suspend talks for the near future - because heaven forbid that Israel would demand the right to protect itself while making territorial and security concessions.

UPDATE: One more reason why Lieberman won't bail after what just happened in Gaza: if he leaves, Shas probably has to go with him and he would effectively bring down the government in a time of escalating conflict. He's got to get out some time - and we honestly thought it would happen months ago - but today's not looking too good.

References:
* Bush Contributes To Politcal Upheavel In Israel [One Jerusalem]
* PM, Lieberman discuss coalition [JPost]
* IDF kills 19 Palestinians in raids on Gaza Strip [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Hamas Smuggles Katyushas Into Gaza, Fires Them At Israeli Schools And Hospitals (Plus: Eight Mortars Fired At Israeli Civilians, One Scores Direct Hit)
* Israeli-Arab Fifth Column Watch - Conflicted Loyalty To Hezbollah Edition
* Israeli Politics Roundup - 2007-11-28 - Annapolis Edition (Plus: The Most Under-Appreciated Poll Of The Month)

We literally have no idea what this sentence means:

Launching a wide-scale operation in Gaza would be imprudent and ill-advised, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Monday. "I highly recommended that we do not get tangled up in operations and costs which are disproportionate to the constraints we are facing," he said. Olmert expressed his satisfaction with the IDF's performance in fighting terror organizations in the Gaza Strip. "I think that hundreds of dead terrorists in Gaza over the past year are a very significant loss for the terror organizations.," he said. Having said that, Olmert reiterated that in the future he might decide to approve a wide-scale operation.

"Constraints" has to be a mistranslation, but we can't imagine how the original sentence could have made sense. "Costs" maybe? Anyway, it's nonsense - the entire basis of unilateral Israeli territorial concessions is that a bargain is struck: Israel will leave the Palestinians alone, but if they persist in their blind genocidal lunacy then Israel will come back in and treat them like military enemies. So while Olmert is promising Israelis security, he's demonstrating to the Palestinians that the rock bottom, most basic Israeli expectation - that the Palestinians not respond to concessions with increased genocidal fervor - isn't an actual red line. Which makes sense given that the rest of his cabinet appears to think it's still the early 1990s:

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday that while Israel was willing to make significant territorial concessions in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, any deal reached would depend on the Palestinian Authority fulfilling all of its road map obligations. "I can not afford to sit on the wayside and wait for things to pass us by, wait for the pragmatists to be replaced ideological extremists and terrorists who see things this as a religious war," Livni stated. The negotiations themselves were not a concession, she said, and Israel was not approaching them from a weak or defeatist position.

(1) Actually, even the most abstract negotiations are functional concessions since they're used as the starting point for future talks even if they're inconclusive.

(2) Considering the recent polls that show plummeting Fatah support in the West Bank, it looks like a majority of Palestinians are already among those who "see this as a religious war." Except replace "majority" with "even bigger majority."

(3) You'd think that Oslo would have dissuaded people from making concessions to moderates right before they lose power. Or that Gaza would have done it. Or that common sense would have done it. Alas, no.

UPDATE: Might as well order a full scale invasion. He's going to catch the same kind of hell from the international community anyway.

References:
* PM: I don't recommend major Gaza op [JPost]
* One Jerusalem Conference Call: Ambassador Dore Gold On How Current Limited Negotiations Are A Slippery Slope To Losing Jerusalem [MR]
* Hey, How About Having Fatah Support Plummet In The West Bank? [MR]
* Hamas Victory - Don't Pretend to Be Shocked [MR]
* Hamas Has 200 Tons Of Explosives That The US Gave To Fatah (Plus: Egypt Says It's Israel's Fault) [MR]

Previously:
* Palestinian Non-Civil War Watch - Hamas Kidnaps Senior Fatah Leader, Shaves His Mustache
* Fatah Security Forces: "Murderers Of Two Israelis Aren't Terrorists". Murderers Of Two Israelis: "We're Fatah Terrorists" (Plus: Fatah Hid Them From Israeli Security)
* Fatah Moderates Respond To Billions In Aid By Stressing Unity With Terrorists

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

What do you think the tipoff was? We were ready to sign off on that theory after Iranian proxy Hamas soldiers rolled Fatah in the Gaza Strip and then promised to take over the West Bank and suspend Annapolis. But maybe they just needed another hint:

Syria and Iran have stepped up their efforts to overthrow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ruling Fatah party, PA officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post Monday. The officials accused the Syrians and Iranians of "encouraging" Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups to establish a new organization that would replace the PLO. They also accused the two countries of continuing to provide Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip with millions of dollars and weapons. The officials pointed out that in the context of their efforts to overthrow Abbas's regime in the West Bank, Damascus and Teheran have encouraged Hamas and 10 other radical groups to meet in the Syrian capital on January 23 to discuss forming a new PLO and increasing their terror attacks on Israel. "Syria and Iran are working toward undermining the PLO and President Abbas," a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told the Post. "They want to help Hamas extend its control to the West Bank. They are pouring millions of dollars into Hamas and its friends."

You know what's weird about this? It's that just a week ago Abbas was saying that he agrees that Fatah isn't an alternative to Hamas. And that, by the by, was only a week or so after high-ranking Fatah members explicitly embraced Hamas diplomatically and militarily. At least the Israelis aren't the only ones regularly aiding, supporting, and making concessions to people who want to kill them.

Incidentally - if even the Palestinians say that they're about to have a civil war, wouldn't it be a good idea for Israel to not make concessions for a few weeks? Just on the off-chance that Fatah soldiers get rolled by Hamas? Crazy as that sounds.

References:
* Hamas: Oh By The Way, We're Totally Going To Ignore Annapolis When We Roll Over The West Bank [MR]
* PA: Syria, Iran trying to overthrow Abbas and Fatah [JPost]
* Abbas Reverses Pre-Annapolis Position, Calls For Reconciliation With Hamas: "No Way" Fatah Is An Alternative To Hamas [MR]
* Hamas And Fatah: Any Compromise On Any Part Of Jerusalem Is Treason (Plus: Blair: Peace Deal Within A Year) (Updated: Eloquent And Prescient Reuters Picture Of The Year) [MR]
* Fatah: We're Going To Use Our New US And Russian-Supplied Weapons To Fight With Hamas Against Israel (Plus: Hamas Upgrades, Stockpiles Their Qassams) [MR]

Previously:
* British Intelligence: Iran Giving Bombs To The Taliban
* Egypt Opens Border Crossing, Allows Hamas To Smuggle In Money
* Iran, Hamas, And Islamic Jihad Meet In Syria To Plan Mideast Turmoil

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

This morning's One Jerusalem conference call was with Ambassador Dore Gold, former Sharon advisor and the current President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He's been at the forefront - along with Natan Sharansky and his folks at One Jerusalem - in trying to keep Jerusalem unified. His most specific book on the subject is The Fight for Jerusalem. Also on the call were: Jerry Gordon (IsraPundit), David Gerstman Soccer Dad), David Bogner (Treppenwitz), Rick Richman (Jewish Current Issues), and Anne Lieberman (Boker Tov, Boulder). OJ's Allen Roth was moderating the call and as always the audio should be up on the One Jerusalem frontpage within a few hours.

Ambassador Gold's message: "Only a free and democratic Israel will protect Jerusalem for all faiths". This is so demonstrably obvious that, honestly, we can't understand how it's even a debate. When Israel's Arab enemies took East Jerusalem in 1949, they quite literally ethnically cleansed the Old City of Jews. For decades, they denied all Jews all access to all Jewish holy sites - and while people watched from across the border, they very publicly desecrated Jewish cemeteries and relics. This was not an aberration: it was anti-Semitic venting that would be repeated every time Israel's Arab enemies took over Jewish holy sites from Israel. More recently Palestinians murdered Israelis in the process of taking over Joseph's Tomb, desecrating it, and painting it green to mark it as an exclusively Islamic holy site. The desecration of Jewish artifacts in Hebron, following what happened to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, is ongoing. And of course, the Rosetta Stone to how limited Palestinian sovereignty over holy places becomes diplomatically and internationally protected all-out destruction of Jewish holy sites, the Wakf's destruction of the Temple Mount

According to the ambassador, "the Israeli government got itself into this process through the back door" after Israel's foreign policy establishment tried to work out basic principles for a future deal. Then the classic anti-Israel diplomatic bait and switch kicked in: Israeli officials suggested a willingness to discuss limited concessions in the context of a shelf deal to be implemented later, and suddenly there were full blown peace talks. No matter how provisional they are, conditional suggestions somehow consistently end up as anti-Israel starting points. Under the Road Map Israel said "we'll embrace a Palestinian state as long as the Palestinians meet their obligations." The Palestinians - following Hezbollah's example in the context of Israel's UN-certified withdrawal from Lebanon - merely refused to meet their obligations while fantastically insisting that Israel hadn't made the necessary security and territorial concessions.

Worse, just hearing out positions lay the groundwork for future State Department and international pressure: "but you already agreed to this" -- "but you promised that was just in theory" -- "well we're past that now". And so the new round of negotiations is being done on the basis of the preliminary Clinton negotiating positions - the ones that Barak agreed to hear out as the maximum Palestinian demands that they would presumably negotiate on. Israel had been promised again and again that they should listen to all options - at least the beginning of negotiations - because they wouldn't be punished for merely hearing out the maximum Palestinian positions. Screwed again.

After the jump, how diplomatic pressure, Palestinian intransigence, and breathtakingly unreliable international assurances may end up with Jews and Christians being denied access to their holy places in Jerusalem - to say nothing of the slow military and cultural suffocation of all of Israel.

Why the Jerusalem Post prints Al-Hayat's shrill conspiratorial hysteria we'll never understand:

Israel is planning to assassinate exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal, deposed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and former PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, but is waiting to give the green light on the operation until after US President George W. Bush leaves the region, the London-based newspaper, Al-Hayat reported on Sunday. The report cites sources who were part of the former PA unity government with Hamas as saying that European states informed them that Israel was forming a "hit list," on which appears the names of the three Hamas leaders...

Meanwhile, Hamas claimed on Saturday that its security forces had thwarted an attempt to assassinate Haniyeh. Ihab Ghissin, spoke sman for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, said a man carrying a bag containing a four-kilogram TNT explosive device was arrested during a rally attended by Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders... While Haniyeh was addressing the crowd, Hamas security officials spotted a suspicious man carrying a big bag. When they arrested him, they were surprised to discover that the bag contained an explosive device that was supposed to be detonated by remote control... "We have no doubt that the target was Haniyeh," said a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip. "This assassination attempt is clearly linked to the visit of US President George W. Bush to the region."

So Hamas captured an Israeli agent trying to assassinate the democratically elected Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority and only Al-Hayat knows about it because Hamas is so good at keeping their "victories over Israel" on the DL? And the assassination attempt was timed to coincide with Bush's visit to Israel - which would have derailed peace talks, infuriated the Americans and torpedoed Olmert's crowning diplomatic achievement which is why the operation won't be green lighted until after Bush leaves the region? And Israel is sharing its hit lists with European powers who are leaking them to Hamas - which is earth shattering because Hamas leaders didn't know that they're on Israel's long-term hit list.

Presumably this would be meant to help the peace process by obliterating Hamas beyond recovery like Israel did to the PFLP. Or it would be meant to hurt the peace process by creating a Palestinian rally around the Hamas flag. And it would be meant to set up a Gaza invasion by causing disarray in the Gaza leadership. Or it would be meant to take the wind out of the sails of a Gaza invasion by ending the Qassam attacks that provide the justification for the invasion.

Or it's typical incoherent anti-Israel conspiracy-mongering from the pages a virulently anti-Semitic Arab newspaper.

References:
* Report: Israel planning to assassinate Haniyeh [JPost]

Previously:
* This Is Why Public Diplomacy Will Fail - 9/11 Conspiracy Theory Edition
* Israel And AIPAC: We'll Respond To Walt And Mearsheimer When Their Vicious Anti-Semitism Gets Sophisticated Or Relevant (Plus: MR Is Suspicious About Leftist Pro-Mearsheimer Enthusiasm)
* Arab and Muslim Conspiracy Theories - Iranian Holocaust Denial Edition

Someone at Arutz 7 had a little too much coffee this morning:

The issue of "Arab refugees" has long been a matter of widespread consensus in Israel, with even left-wing parties declaring that allowing them into Israel would endanger its very existence as a Jewish state. Nevertheless, the subject does not appear to be going away. Reports are that Prime Minister Olmert has now agreed to allow 50,000 Arabs who left Israel in 1948 - or are descendants of those who did - to enter and live in Israel. Channel Ten reported Thursday night that in a private meeting between Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen, the two agreed that in the final-status agreement, Israel would withdraw from 92% of Judea and Samaria, including all the non-Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. It was also agreed that 50,000 "refugees from 1948" would enter and live in the State of Israel.

Barring the possibility that Olmert is the cleverest right-wing politician in Israeli history, it strains credulity to assume that he put a poison pill in a comprehensive peace agreement. The point is presumably to get people to sign off on the deal, not to lose his coalition and get him banished him to the political wilderness because he turned out to be clinically insane.

On the other hand, we're agnostic about whether this is unilateral right-wing panic or whether it was genuinely helped along by a leak or two from the PMO. This is Sharon's old strategy - leak that you're going to make massive and unacceptable concessions, then watch the right burn their energy fighting to keep something you never really intended to give away (Sharon, by the by, was much better at it than Olmert). When Bush and the State Department brought up the so-called Right of Return last week, it may have been the State Department pulling the same nonsense on Olmert himself - suggest that the US is looking for massive concessions, then watch him burn his energy fighting to keep something that they never really expected him to give up.

Pro-Israel activists should keep their eyes on the ball: Jerusalem, the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank (because the Palestinians won't allow Jews in their new democratic state), and the proposed dismantling of Israel so the Palestinians can have a contiguous state between two politically distinct territories. While 50,000 of the world's most fanatic anti-Semites will not be flooding into Israel as a result of this round of negotiations, all of those proposals are actually on the table. Panicking about anything else is a distraction that does the far left's work for them.

References:
* Report: Olmert Agrees to Allow in 50,000 Arab 'Refugees' [INN]
* Bush: Let's Put The Palestinian Right Of Return On The Table [MR]

Previously:
* Islamists: Jews Not Good Enough to Be Lied To
* It's Official: State Department Positions More Anti-Israel Than What Palestinians Demand
* Holocaust Denier Complains to Israeli Traitors about Israelis

Wow. Just wow:

Jewish leaders are reeling after what they say was a decision by Ms. magazine to refuse to accept a full-page advertisement featuring three prominent Israeli women. The advertisement, submitted to the feminist publication by the American Jewish Congress, featured photographs of three women who hold leadership positions in Israel, including the president of the Israeli Supreme Court, Dorit Beinisch; Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, and speaker of the Knesset, Dalia Itzik. Underneath the photographs, the advertisement included the text, "This is Israel."...

"For a magazine that I believe has stood for empowerment and supporting women in high positions of society, it was just stunning," the group's president, Richard Gordon, said. "Clearly, there is an anti-Israel sentiment here that is being exhibited, because there is no other possible rationale for making a decision like this." The magazine's executive editor, Kathy Spillar, offered a different reason in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. She said that because two of the women photographed belong to the same political party, the advertisement showed favoritism... The director of the American Jewish Congress' Commission for Women's Empowerment, Harriet Kurlander, said a representative from the magazine told her the advertisement was too controversial and was likely to "cause a lot of opposition."

That's their argument? Really? That they couldn't print it because the speaker of the Knesset and the Foreign Minister are from the same party? This is like saying that they can't print a picture of Hillary Clinton standing next to Nancy Pelosi. That's the point - that the party that controls Israel has powerful women across executive and legislative leadership positions. As it so happens, women are also at the top of Israel's scientific and economic ladders - and, while we're talking about liberation, that's not all they're on top of. But an ad celebrating Israel's diversity and freedom would "cause a lot of opposition" in a leftist feminist magazine - because two of the women are from the same party. Right.

We'd ask about the actual basis for the leftist opposition to Israel - especially in the context of feminism - but we don't want to be accused of "using anti-Semitism" to "silence legitimate criticism of Israel." Still, we'd be interested to hear what that legitimate feminist criticism of Israel might look like, since our hunch is that it falls into the usual category of "they don't hate Israel because they believe anti-Israel lies; they believe anti-Israel lies because they already hate the Jewish State for other reasons."

And let's say that all of the anti-Israel lies are true - shouldn't feminists still be supporting Israel in spite of them, on account of the overwhelming net positives in the specific area of feminism? Or does being a female citizen of the Jewish State now automatically outweigh all over considerations?

While this isn't the first time that the American feminist left has choosen the wrong side in the global battle for eagalitarianism and equality, it's undoubtedly one of the dumbest.

References:
* Feminist Magazine Rejects Ad Featuring Israeli Women [NY Sun]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Israeli Biotech Industry Skyrockets As Women CEOs Lead the Way [Video] [MR]
* Confirmed: Israeli Women Love Sex [Video, Mildly NSFW] [MR]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - John McCain Responds To Code Pink's "We Should Surrender To The Most Vicious Sexists On The Planet" Platform [Videos] [MR]

Previously:
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Joyful Israeli Girls A Stark Contrast To Girls In Arab And Muslim World
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Your Saudi Husband Isn't Allowed To Beat You In The Face Because It "Makes Your Face Ugly"
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - You're Too Dirty To Walk On Saudi Arabia's Sidewalks

Congratulations to the Palestinians for successfully holding themselves hostage through their intentionally engineered Gaza humanitarian. The spectacle of them economically, politically, and literally starving themselves has forced Israel to supply more fuel to people who will use it to drive to the border, set up rockets and mortars, and launch them at Israeli schools and hospitals:

Diesel fuel supply to the Gaza Strip will return to previous levels, Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided late Thursday evening. Barak approved supplying 2.2 million liters per week - the amount supplied before Israel began taking steps to cut diesel fuel, fuel and other infrastructure essentials in an effort to stifle the terrorist group Hamas which is in control of the coastal territory. The decision is part of the state's reply to the Supreme Court on petitions submitted by the Gisha and Adala NGOs, that both requested the court issue an injunction forcing the state not to cut supplies to the Strip.

Now that Hamas soldiers have direct access to as much fuel as they need, maybe they won't go around stealing it from hospitals so that they can gas up their jeeps. We'd also like to congratulate the UN and the AP and Reuters and the Red Cross for helping Hamas sell the story that the fuel shortages were Israel's fault. We're sure that this will definitely help bring peace to the region.

References:
* Fuel supply to Gaza returns to normal [JPost]
* Palestinians Intentionally Creating Humanitarian Crises In Gaza By Refusing To Accept Israeli Fuel [MR]
* Hamas Intentionally Creating Humanitarian Crises In Gaza By Stealing Fuel From Hospitals For Their "Operations" Against Israel [MR]
* UN Set To Blame Israel For Intentional, Hamas-Engineered Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza [MR]
* AP: Yup, Humanitarian Crisis Intentionally Caused By Hamas Is Still Israel's Fault [MR]
* Vulgar Palestinian Propaganda Succeeds with International Media - Again! [MR]
* Palestinians Intentionally Create Humanitarian Crisis, Red Cross and Reuters Parrot Their Claims [MR]

Previously:
* IDF Colonel: Hamas Creating Humanitarian Crisis. No Kidding.
* Palestinians Going Global With Program To Demonize Israel For Deliberate, Hamas-Engineered Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (Updated: WaPo Hops On Board)
* Would Palestinian Officials Intentionally Starve Palestinian Civilians Just So They Could Demonize Israel? We Think They Would...

So when Bush choose the Church of the Nativity today to sing the virtues of Palestinian autonomy...

In a courtyard next to the centuries-old church in Manger Square, Bush voiced hope a future state would bring an end to Israeli security measures, allowing Palestinians far greater freedom. "Some day, I hope that as a result of the formation of a Palestinian state, there won't be walls, and checkpoints. People will move freely in a democratic [Palestinian] state," Bush said... After voicing confidence in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year, Bush traveled by helicopter to Bethlehem, a town whose lifeblood tourist industry has been hit hard by the past seven years of violence between the sides.

... do you think anyone mentioned how the democratically elected Hamas government actually does set up regular roadblocks to block people from getting medical care and to facilitate terrorism?

Or how the Palestinians desecrated and set fire to the Church of the Nativity, staying in there for 38 days, using the 40 or so priests and nuns as human shields, defecating everywhere and using Bibles as toilet paper, and packing it with weapons and explosives? Because that part is also kind of ironic.

References:
* A devout Christian, Bush makes pilgrimage to Jesus' birthplace [Ha'aretz]
* Hamas Sets Up Roadblocks In Gaza To Trap, Trapping And Wiping Out Fatah Supporters [MR]
* Roadblocks that Stop Terrorism Bad, Roadblocks that Help Terrorism So-So [MR]
* Yes, the Pope Is Catholic - Either You Believe 'The Pope Made Them Attack Churches' Or You Know History [MR]

Previously:
* Arab League Decision To Attend Annapolis Already Not Paying Any Dividends At All In Bahrain (Plus: It's The Whole "Touching Jews" Thing Again)
* PA Police Getting More Than $5 Billion In New Aid To Use Against Israeli Civilians, Lose To Hamas
* Hamas: Oh By The Way, We're Totally Going To Ignore Annapolis When We Roll Over The West Bank

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

We actually love the "previously unknown group" trick - see: here and here and here, among others - because there are few things as transparently stupid that major media outlets nonetheless uncritically parrot. At least wild Palestinian fabrications about Israeli massacres are in the ballpark because there are days when Israeli soldiers and Palestinian terrorists exchange fire. But letting Hamas or Islamic Jihad or Fatah get away with atrocities just because they make up new superhero names every few weeks - really? And yet, here you go:

A hitherto unknown group called Mujahideen of Beit al-Makdes [Holy Warriors of Jerusalem] said its men were behind Thursday's rocket attack on the American International School in the Gaza Strip. The group said the school was targeted because it was "the last symbol of the US Administration and its allies in the Gaza Strip." The pre-dawn attack took place only hours before the meeting in Ramallah between US President George W. Bush and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The attack also came shortly after thousands of Hamas supporters staged protests in the Gaza Strip against Bush's visit. At least three gunmen participated in the attack, using a rocket-propelled grenade and live ammunition... Salem condemned the attack, noting it was the second of its kind in the past year. "The school's staff and students are all Palestinians, and we are licensed by the Ministry of Education," he said. "Our mission is purely educational and we are not related to any form of political activity." The previous attack on the American school occurred last April, when a group of masked gunmen set fire to some classrooms. The attack was then claimed by another radical Islamist group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness.

Of course it was. Because why would it be the same vaguely familiar and well-armed Palestinian group? It's all so confusing, you know?

As for the principal's confusion, obviously he's a little naive: education of any form is a political activity when you're dealing with nihilistic religious fanatics. And even if it wasn't, they've got "American" in the name of their school so maybe some children are going to have to die. Worst case, we write this off as another one of those vague "distractions" that the UN says undermine Gaza education.

References:
* Wherein We Imagine Palestinian Negotiations [MR]
* Yes, the Pope Is Catholic - Either You Believe 'The Pope Made Them Attack Churches' Or You Know History [MR]
* Prisoner Ploy is So Transparent It's Sick [MR]
* Unknown group claims Gaza RPG attack [JPost]
* UN: "Distractions" Are Causing Gaza Students To Flunk Math And Arabic [Videos] [MR]

Previously:
* AP's Ibrahim Barzak Publishes Least Subtle anti-Israel bias Yet
* Memo to World - Israel Not Occupying Gaza Any More. Please Stop Using That Excuse.
* The Telegraph Celebrates, Excuses Palestinian Atrocities

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

No punchline. Just a little something to link to on December 31st to see how things are progressing:

US President George W. Bush on Thursday predicted that a Mideast peace treaty would be completed by the time he leaves office, but acknowledged the deadline would be difficult to meet because of Hamas's control of part of the land that would form an eventual independent Palestine. Bush said he's convinced that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders understand "the importance of democratic states living side by side" in peace, and noted that he has a one-year deadline for progress on his watch. "I'm on a timetable," he told reporters. "I've got 12 months."

Our bold prediction: no.

References:
* Bush predicts peace by end of '08 [JPost]

Previously:
* Syrian Peace Process Attracts Fools, Vultures
* Palestinians Embrace Peace By Dropping Dozens Of Rockets And Mortars On Israeli Schools And Hospitals
* Palestinians Hold Funeral For Peace Process [Video]

Here's how this game gets played:

(1) Israel accuses UNIFIL of allowing Hezbollah to operate in south Lebanon
(2) UNIFIL says "well we obviously don't see any of that - give us proof"
(3) Israel provides UNIFIL with details about all of the Hezbollah bases and operations that UNIFIL claims don't exist
(4) UNIFIL passes that information to Hezbollah, which then moves those bases and operations so Israel can't monitor or target them any more, in the process getting relatively precise information about the scope of Israel's intelligence gathering capabilities

We're so glad that the international community has shown up to bring peace to the region:

A day after two Katyusha rockets struck Shlomi in the Galilee, defense officials raised concerns Wednesday that information they were regularly passing on to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) was also making its way to Hizbullah. According to the officials, the IDF regularly updates UNIFIL and the LAF on its assessments concerning Hizbullah's military buildup in southern Lebanon... "This is a difficult scenario," one official in Jerusalem said. "On the one hand, we count on UNIFIL and the LAF and therefore need to update them. On the other hand, there is always a concern that the information we supply them with will fall into the wrong hands."

Amazing that these people - among whom are soldiers who describe Lebanon as a second homeland that must be defended from Israel and who then allow Hezbollah soldiers to somehow grab their van's license plate and use it to lure in and kidnap Israeli soldiers - amazing that they are leaking intel. Whatever could be their motive?

Open collaborators, human shields, and useful idiots - all of them. But you know what would be a great idea? To put a UNIFIL-style international peacekeeping force in the West Bank like Secretary Rice suggested earlier this week. Because the word "peace" is in the name, so how can that possibly turn out poorly?

References:
* UNIFIL leaks to Hizbullah worry IDF [JPost]
* UNIFIL Involvement in 2000 Kidnapping Not News. Involvement of UNIFIL Soldier Who Thought of Lebanon as "Second Homeland", However, Is. [MR]
* Take Away Hezbollah's Collaborators, Human Shields, And Useful Idiots. Disband UNIFIL Now. [MR]
* State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank? [MR]

Previously:
* The UN Should Stay the Hell Out of Israel's Way
* UN Building Hit in Lebanon. UN, AP blame Israel. Yawn.
* UNIFIL: We Suck. We Totally, Totally Suck.

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

That sound you hear is the din of conspiracy-maddened genocidal lunatics erupting with vicious resentment. Let's get these people a state shall we:

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza staged protests against George W. Bush on Wednesday, burning Bush in effigy and underscoring the deep political split with West Bank moderates who welcomed the visit of the US president as an important gesture to the Palestinians. Supporters of Hamas chanted "Death to America," and burned US and Israeli flags. A shadowy al-Qaida-inspired group appeared in public for the first time with rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and uttered vague threats against US targets.

Which do you think is a greater sign that they're ready for a peaceful state living side by side with Israel - burning the Israeli flag because they reject the idea or burning the American flag because they reject even talking about the idea? It's quite the semiotic quandary. If only we could get them to use their hackneyed Photoshop skills for good instead of evil:

Incidentally, you know how that AP article says that West Bank Palestinians - at least - are somewhat excited about Bush's visit? Yeah, that's not technically "true". But wouldn't it be great if it was?

References:
* Gazans stage anti-Bush protests [JPost]
* Mideast Conflict [Yahoo Photos]
* Excitement for Bush's visit low on the other side of the Green Line [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Palestinians Prepare For Peace Summit By Shooting Israeli Civilian In West Bank (Plus: Two Dozen Rockets And Mortars Hit Israel Monday)
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
* Palestinians Hold Funeral For Peace Process [Video]

It's not even top-5 for most insane ideas today:

Amid Israeli security concerns and in an apparent effort by US President George W. Bush to go to Riyadh next week bearing gifts, the Bush administration has moved up by a day the date on which it will formally notify Congress of plans for a $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Although the administration had originally planned to inform Congress of the deal on January 15, it will now do so on January 14. Bush, according to officials familiar with the issue, will be in Saudi Arabia on the 15th and wants to be able to tell the Saudis he is pushing the issue and working for its passage. After receiving formal notification of the proposed arms deal, including details of what the package includes, Congress will have 30 days to disapprove. If it does not do so, the plan will go through. Israel has expressed concern over inclusion in the deal of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS), commonly referred to as "smart bombs." Nevertheless, it has not actively fought the sale.

Eh. What's the worst thing that can happen? It's not like any Western-backed Arab state has ever crossed multiple borders to wipe out the Jewish state. Or been taken over by Islamic radicals and then undertaken a multi-decade campaign to wipe out the Jewish state.

And it's not like Saudi Arabia - a Muslim theocracy in which women have no rights, homosexuality is illegal, and Bibles are banned - threatened Israel with war last March if Israel didn't de facto give up its identity as a Jewish State.

This is awesome though: Bush greets Israelis with "maybe your country shouldn't exist" and he greets the Saudis with cutting edge weapons. Because the Saudis have been such great allies over the last decade or so.

References:
* Bush expedites Saudi smart bomb deal [JPost]
* US Ally Saudi Arabia Threatens Israel With Destruction If Israel Doesn't Agree To Commit Suicide [MR]
* Bush: Let's Put The Palestinian Right Of Return On The Table [MR]

Previously:
* Saudi Arabia At Annapolis: Israel Has No Right To Exist (Plus: By A Strange Coincidence, Their Conditions For A Peace Deal Would Require Destruction Of Israel)
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - You're Too Dirty To Walk On Saudi Arabia's Sidewalks
* Saudi Arabia Identifies True Cause of US-Saudi Tension - Jews

The Palestinians are certainly getting the message that it's peace now:

Gazans greeted US President George W. Bush with more than a dozen Kassam rockets and mortar shells on Wednesday, including one instance in which a mother and baby narrowly escaped death as a rocket slammed in to the Sderot house in which they were staying. Shortly thereafter, Palestinians said, two Gazans were killed and four were wounded by an IAF strike in Bet Hanun. Palestinians said the two fatalities were innocent bystanders - Hadra Wahdan, 52, and Muhammad Kfarneh, 15.

The Palestinians are the only people on the planet who consistently have "innocent bystanders" in close proximity to rockets and mortars being fired on civilians. These are presumably the same people who get killed because they innocently decide to fix their antennas in the middle of firefights - their antennas coincidentally located in what very much appear to be snipers' positions.

Ironically, we're pretty confident that Bush's peace overtures to stop the Palestinians from constantly dropping rockets on schools and hospitals in Sderot. If all goes according to his most recent plans, there won't be any Jews left anywhere near there. And what self-respecting Palestinian terrorist would waste a rocket on a town without any Jews in it?

Only vicious anti-Semites or delusional international sophisticates would suggest that Israel should make concessions to lunatics who are dropping bombs on mothers and babies at that very moment.

References:
* Sderot comes under fire, again [JPost]
* AP: IDF Murders Civilian Who Innocently Wandered Up To His Roof In the Middle Of A Firefight [MR]
* Bush: Let's Put The Palestinian Right Of Return On The Table [MR]

Previously:
* Sderot Media Center Documenting Horror Of Palestinian Rocket Attacks On Israeli Schools And Hospitals (Plus: Dozens Of Children Treated After Qassam Hits Near Daycare)
* Palestinians Fire 9 Kassam Rockets In 24 Hours At Israeli Schools and Hospitals
* UN Ignores Palestinian Attacks Explicitly Designed To Target Israeli Schoolchildren

Explicitly and shamelessly repudiating the deal he made with Sharon so Israel would leave the Gaza Strip - and isn't that just the most original thing ever - President Bush has just gone farther than any previous US President in suggesting that maybe Israel should just go ahead and commit national suicide:

Visiting US President George Bush called on Israel to remove "illegal outposts" in the West Bank, saying that "they simply ought to go" during an evening press conference shared by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday. At the same time Bush called for all issues to be addressed during negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians - including the Palestinian 'right of return.' Regarding an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution, the US president reiterated that although the US had a vital role in assisting in negotiations, "people must understand that America cannot dictate the terms of the [Palestinian] state." Bush said he believes Israeli and Palestinian leaders have willingness and desire to create a Palestinian state.

Oh we have no doubt about the push for a Palestinian state. It's the fate of a Jewish state - in the aftermath of being flooded by three million of the world's most vicious and violent anti-Semitic lunatics - that seems to be up for grabs. This visit is already totally super. Who knows how good tomorrow can get?

We can only imagine the sophistication behind the State Department's green light for this blindside: "if we start off talking about destroying Israel completely, it'll look like a concession when we only pressure them to divide Jerusalem and withdraw to indefensible borders." Because these people are really smart.

References:
* Annapolis As A Rosetta Stone For How Anti-Israel Bait And Switch Diplomacy Works [MR]
* Says 'Palestinian right of return' must be discussed [JPost]

Previously:
* State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank?
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
* State Department Tries To Cleanse Obviously Illegal "No Jews Allowed" Application But Is Too Fucking Stupid To Turn Off Track Changes

We were doing a search on "Ramadan" for reasons totally unrelated to MR and hit upon this charming little bit of Palestinian death porn from Gateway Pundit (picture behind the link). A useful reminder of what kinds of things State Department professionals are willing to ignore - or be persuaded by - when they make their calculations:

[Caption:] The bodies of two Palestinian boys Yahya Ramadan Ghazal, 12, and his cousin Mahmud Mussa Ghazal, 10, is seen in the morgue of the Kamal Radwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Israeli fire killed the two Palestinian boys and wounded two of their cousins, nine-year-old Sarah Suleiman Ghazal, who was critically wounded, and a fourth child who suffered less serious injuries as they played in a field in the northern Gaza Strip at the tail end of their summer holidays.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)

[Actually], the two children were sent to retrieve the rocket launchers. The media did the rest.

It's all but impossible to get most media sources to mention the Israeli kids who are targeted by daily Palestinian bombings. But pictures of two dead Palestinian kids - killed when they were sent to retrieve Palestinian rocket launchers for future use against Israeli kids - that's apparently copy gold. Well, you go with what you're good at.

References:
* Hamas Again Uses Children As Cannon Fodder [Gateway Pundit]
* Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (2) "The Palestinians Are Really Pissed Off" - And The NYT Will Publish Death Porn To Prove It [MR]

Previously:
* Palestinians Still Desecrating Holy Jewish Objects In Hebron. International Media Still Doesn't Care.
* Siniora Asks International Media to Transmit Pictures of Israeli Atrocities. Which Is Kind of Like Asking Us to Keep Making Fun of Carter.
* The Media Lies - Civilians In Gaza Mysteriously Appear In Desolate Warzones, Reappear In Media Coverage

It's just like Romeo and Juliet. Except instead of being torn apart by their families' animosity, they just really hate Jews:

Two armed Palestinians, a man and a woman, were shot and killed by IDF troops on Monday afternoon after they approached the soldiers near the Erez Crossing and started shooting, the army said. IDF soldiers patrol the Palestinian side of the fence between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF found additional ammunition at the scene, including an explosive device on the woman. Soldiers said the two were holding hands, apparently pretending to be a couple.... The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Erez Crossing incident, saying the woman died after she decided to detonate the explosives rather than be killed by the soldiers.

So maybe more Merchant of Venice.

References:
* Gaza Strip: IDF kills terrorist 'couple' [JPost]

Previously:
* Israel Captures Terrorist Who Was Leading Abbas's Anti-Terrorism Forces
* Islamic Jihad defines Terrorism, Threatens to Kill Civilians in Response to Israeli Military Action. Irony Goes Unnoticed
* Celebrity Concerts For Israeli-Palestinian Peace Canceled Because Of Terrorism Threats

The new truth:

The Israeli woman is liberal and daring (71.6%), knows what she wants in bed and says it (71%), enjoys her body and does not hide it under the blankets (87%)... According to the survey, a third of the women feel like having sex on a daily basis, while 45% are in the mood once or twice a week... Most Israeli women have positive feelings about their bodies, with almost half of them reporting they had sex with the lights are on regularly, while 40% of surveyed women said do so occasionally... Ninety percent of women said they had sexual fantasies and 65.5% of them described them to their partners... Most women (70%) enjoy performing oral sex... 77% of women enjoyed receiving oral sex.

Which also means that 7% of Israeli women are hopelessly selfish and 23% are shameless liars. Go figure.

We were going to do a little punchline about the contrast between these results and the shame that women across the Muslim world are expected to feel about their bodies. But we don't want to sully the beautiful, beautiful perfection of this post with unpleasantness. May we instead recommend MR's Israeli Hotties category?

References:
* Israeli Girls [utopia2800 / YouTube]
* Israeli women's sex habits exposed [JPost]

Previously:
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Shameless Montage Of Hot Israelis In Skimpy Bathing Suits From Israeli Tourism Board [Video] [MR]
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Very Hot and Somewhat Bitter Israeli Chicks Go Clubbing [Video] [MR]
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Michal Amdursky Is A Little Tied Up At The Moment [Video] [MR]

You know how Rice broadsided Israel yesterday by linking East Jerusalem settlements to West Bank settlements to the peace process? Turns out, even the Palestinians had delinked that position from the peace process:

At a previous meeting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem on Dec. 27, the Palestinians agreed to stop focusing negotiations on their demand that Israel halt plans to build hundreds of apartments in east Jerusalem. But while negotiations are no longer being stalled by the controversy, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said settlements would be brought up in the Abbas-Olmert talks on Tuesday. Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would raise security issues, and urge the Palestinian Authority to be more effective.

This visit is going to be awesome. We can't wait to see what else the lifelong Arabists at Foggy Bottom can come up with. Maybe Arab autonomy over northern Israel? Why not? We're sure there's at least one anti-Israel "expert" in Michigan or New York or DC who thinks it's "the key to peace". We're sure they've been invited to at least one State Department sinecure where they all got together around a conference table and read "academic" position papers that conveniently conclude things that they all already believe. So let's throw that at the wall too, just to see if it sticks. Because it's sophisticated.

References:
* Rice: East Jerusalem Is Palestinian [MR]
* Olmert, Abbas begin J'lem meeting [JPost]

Previously:
* Condi: Palestinians Are Like Oppressed Blacks In The Jim Crow South (Plus: Hamas: "No Room For Jews" In Israel)
* Saudi Arabia At Annapolis: Israel Has No Right To Exist (Plus: By A Strange Coincidence, Their Conditions For A Peace Deal Would Require Destruction Of Israel)
* Obligatory Post About The NIE Report - Anti-War Partisans Switch From Sophisticatedly Undermining War Effort To Being The Bestest And Most Objective Analysts Ever. Except Not.

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Who could it be? UNIFIL - which condescendingly instructed Israel to stop complaining because UN troops were "physically patrolling every corner of southern Lebanon" - is totally baffled:

The firing of two Katyushas at Shlomi is a "severe incident but we do not plan to change the status quo," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday, the day after two 107-millimeter rockets landed in the northern neighborhood... A senior defense official said Israel held Hizbullah responsible for the attack even if the group was not directly behind the launching of the rockets. "Nothing happens in southern Lebanon without Hizbullah knowing about it," he said. In addition, the official said Israel viewed the Lebanese government as being the ultimate authority for what happens in the country. A senior UNIFIL officer told the Jerusalem Post that the force was conducting its own investigation into the rocket fire and that at this stage, it did not rule out any suspects, including Hizbullah, al-Qaida and radical groups in southern Lebanon... On Monday night, Barak told the Council for Peace and Security that Hizbullah had more rockets than before the war in 2006.

Could be anyone, really. And isn't it nice that Israel can't respond because it would disrupt Bush's visit? Wouldn't want to disrupt the era of peace that he's about to usher in. We can only hope that it will be as good as the peace deal he worked out after Lebanon II. After he promised that the Lebanese government would enforce its authority over South Lebanon and disarm Hezbollah, we haven't heard a peep from those genocidal lunatics.

This comes exactly a day after the State Department floated the idea of putting a UNIFIL-like force in the West Bank. There's probably no truth to Israel's claim that international forces serve as de facto human shields for enemy soldiers, letting them fire off potshots at Israel's vulnerable and densely packed population centers before slinking away while the international peacekeepers "investigate".

References:
* Katyushas Hit Israel Two Days After UNIFIL Commander Promises Peace [MR]
* Katyusha attack 'severe' but we won't change status quo [JPost]
* State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank? [MR]

Previously:
* US Joins Rest Of World In Offering Biased Anti-Israel UN Resolutions
* Abbas Reverses Pre-Annapolis Position, Calls For Reconcilation With Hamas: "No Way" Fatah Is An Alternative To Hamas
* Rice Welcomes Israel's Decision To Cave On East Jerusalem. Well Fuck.

Peacemaker:

In comments that threaten Israel's hold on east Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the US does not consider it legitimate for Israel to build homes in some neighborhoods of the capital which are located beyond the Green Line. In a conversation held in the ornate antechamber of her office, she went further than US officials have previously gone toward clarifying her government's position on the matter. Her remarks set the stage for a confrontation over the issue... Rice on Monday clarified that the US believes that portions of east Jerusalem are considered to be "settlements" and that Israel must stop building there as part of its commitment to implement the first phase of the road map.

This is another fairly elegant bait and switch - get Olmert to make a vague commitment on West Bank settlements in anticipation of the Bush visit then hit him with an explicit equivalence between the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Then when he says "but I didn't mean East Jerusalem" do the diplomatic equivalent of an eyelash flutter and say "but you said settlements." This should have some lovely effects on Olmert's already unstable coalition: can even Barak stay in the coalition if the cost is having Gilo cleansed of Jews?

In the meantime - we could not be more excited about the upcoming Bush visit. He's going to bring peace, we hear.

References:
* 'W. Bank, e. J'lem settlements equal' [JPost]
* Annapolis As A Rosetta Stone For How Anti-Israel Bait And Switch Diplomacy Works [MR]
* Israel will act 'expeditiously' on outposts [JPost]

Previously:
* Karen Hughes - Public Diplomacy Chief, Utter Failure - Finally Resigns [Video]
* State Department Tries To Cleanse Obviously Illegal "No Jews Allowed" Application But Is Too Fucking Stupid To Turn Off Track Changes
* State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank?

Do you think they'll be like the UNIFIL force in Lebanon that collaborates with Hezbollah or the EU force in Gaza that allows Hamas free reign? Because those distinctions matter. Fuck:

The US is preparing a plan to station third party troops in the West Bank to secure the area after an Israeli withdrawal and before the Palestinian Authority can take over full security control, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Retired Marine Gen. James Jones accompanied by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaks at the State Department in Washington. The issue of how to deal with the period between when Israel leaves large swaths of the West Bank and the PA is able to take over control is likely to be discussed during talks President George W. Bush will hold in Jerusalem and in the PA on Wednesday and Thursday. US Special Envoy for Middle East Security James Jones has been assigned the task of preparing a plan on this issue within six moths.

We've actually got a post about James Jones that we have to finish up and push live, but in the meantime: IDF officials have been screaming for months that the Rice sent Jones to Israel just to screw them. So it's a shock that this is the policy he's come up with.

This Bush trip is going to work out great. We couldn't be more ecstatic.

References:
* Take Away Hezbollah's Collaborators, Human Shields, And Useful Idiots. Disband UNIFIL Now. [MR]
* EU Again Backs Out of Monitoring Agreement, Endangers Israeli Security [MR]
* US considers interim international force in West Bank [JPost]
* Officials: Jones will press Israel to take risks [JPost]

Previously:
* State Department Deliberately Circumvents Anti-Terrorism Laws, Funds Hamas
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
* State Department, UN Make Things Up To Coerce Israeli Concessions, Scapegoat Israel When Plans Fail (Plus: Hezbollah Now Openly Bragging About Using Civilian Human Shields)

Far fetched? You wish:

Islamic extremists have created "no-go" areas across Britain where it is too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter, one of the Church of England's most senior bishops warns today. The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester and the Church's only Asian bishop, says that people of a different race or faith face physical attack if they live or work in communities dominated by a strict Muslim ideology. Bishop Nazir-Ali warns that attempts are being made to give Britain an increasingly Islamic character... he compares the threat to the use of intimidation by the far-Right, and says that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christianity to be the nation's public religion in a multifaith, multicultural society. His comments come as a poll of the General Synod - the Church's parliament - shows that its senior leaders, including bishops, also believe that Britain is being damaged by large-scale immigration.

At least there's no history of Muslim populations taking over ancient Judeo-Christian holy sites, vandalizing them, and transforming them into Muslim-only mosques. At least sharia isn't being imposed across Britain.

References:
* Bishop warns of no-go zones for non-Muslims [Telegraph.co.uk]
* Palestinians Still Desecrating Holy Jewish Objects In Hebron. International Media Still Doesn't Care. [MR]
* We're Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - Sharia Courts Established In Britain [MR]

Previously:
* We're Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - British Catholic Suspended For "Provoking" Muslim Co-Workers By Hanging Picture Of Jesus
* We're Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - Teachers And Students Forced To Be Sexist, Dress Like "Asians" To Celebrate Muslim Holiday (Plus: British Mosques Filled With Hate Literature)
* We're Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - No Really, We're Going To Miss It

* Yes.
* Yup.
* Totally in bounds.

How about the US disengage from Iowa and let the Palestinians declare an independent state there? Or a confederation. Or whatever. At least the Palestinians are smart enough to elect candidates they agree with. Conservatives choosing Huckabee is like having the Palestinians elect Shas. Sure they disagree on every fundamental principle, but look how godly and populist Shas is!

Not even the Palestinians are that stupid, of course. Perhaps it's because Gaza probably has a better educational system than Iowa. Sad, but not entirely unlikely [PDF]. One of the six states worse than Iowa? Arkansas.

References:
* My Take on Huckabee's Win in Iowa [IMAO]
* Obligatory Rant About Iowa and Huckabee [IMAO]
* An Open Letter [Vodkapundit]
* UN: "Distractions" Are Causing Gaza Students To Flunk Math And Arabic [Videos] [MR]

Previously:
* Fred Thompson Is Serious - He Will Crush You In A Debate [Video]
* Fred And Jeri Thompson Rock Fox News (Plus: Romey Is Either Really Popular Or Really Unpopular) [Video]
* Fred Thompson For President

That would be totally unprecedented:

Despite international political and financial support, the popularity of the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declined over the past month, partially because of mistrust in the group's leaders, according to a poll published Friday. Fatah still commands a strong lead over the Islamic militant Hamas group that controls Gaza, with 39 percent of Palestinians trusting it, as opposed to 16 percent backing for Hamas. But in November, 46 percent of those surveyed for a similar poll favored Fatah, and 13 percent backed Hamas... In December, international donors pledged US $7.4 billion over the next three years to the Palestinians. The donations followed a U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland, where Israelis and Palestinians relaunched talks after seven years of violence.

Do you think that Hamas will wait for all $7.4 billion to be delivered before they take over, or will they be content will rolling over Fatah after only like $4 billion has been moved into PA coffers? Good thing Russia gave Fatah those 25 helicopter busting APCs so they can shoot Hamas helicopters out of the skies.

References:
* Poll: Fatah losing support among West Bank, Gaza Palestinians [Ha'aretz]
* PA To Get 25 Shiny Helicopter Busting APCs Next Week [MR]

Previously:
* Hamas Has Smuggled 112 Tons Of Explosives Into Gaza, Preparing Bunker System For All Out War (Plus: Israel Suspends Decision To Cut Fuel On Humanitarian Grounds)
* Hamas Smuggles Katyushas Into Gaza, Fires Them At Israeli Schools And Hospitals (Plus: Eight Mortars Fired At Israeli Civilians, One Scores Direct Hit)
* Hamas: When We Said That We're Going To Overrun The West Bank As Soon As Abbas Gets Land And Weapons, We Were Just Joking

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

In their rush to pretend that Fatah was fighting Hamas until last week - despite open diplomatic coordination and promises of military assistance over the past few months - the AP describes reality as such:

On Monday, Abbas took a conciliatory tone toward his Hamas rivals in a major policy speech, calling for a "new page" in relations between the bitter enemies. Fatah and Hamas have been at odds since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January 2006. Those differences boiled over into open warfare that peaked with Hamas' driving Fatah out of Gaza in June.

Hey, wouldn't be great if that was true and if Abbas hadn't at one point sworn in a Fatah-Hamas unity government? Answer: yes it would be great, because then there would be at least one reason to believe that Fatah can be bolstered as a permanent moderate force against Hamas. Unfortunately: lie.

But no honestly, it would be totally awesome if it was true.

References:
* Hamas And Fatah: Any Compromise On Any Part Of Jerusalem Is Treason (Plus: Blair: Peace Deal Within A Year) (Updated: Eloquent And Prescient Reuters Picture Of The Year) [MR]
* Fatah: We're Going To Use Our New US And Russian-Supplied Weapons To Fight With Hamas Against Israel (Plus: Hamas Upgrades, Stockpiles Their Qassams) [MR]
* Hamas: We spurned European truce offer [AP]
* Abbas swears in Hamas-Fatah unity government [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Abbas: "Killing Palestinian Soldiers Who Are Firing Rockets At Israeli Schools And Hospitals Is A Massacre"
* Done and Done: Abbas Takes US Money and Cutting Edge Weapons, Tells the US That He's Siding With Hamas Anyway
* Abbas: "If You Don't Give Me Everything I Won't Accept Anything"

A little while ago, Gaza-based US security coordinator Keith Dayton demanded that Israel make security concessions to the Palestinians because Hamas was weakening. When Israel refused he became a sarcastic prick in front of Congress and blamed Israel for undermining his obviously brilliant efforts. That was a couple weeks before the apparently-not-very-weak Hamas rolled over Fatah in the Gaza Strip.

The next week the State Department moved him to the West Bank, apparently so he could be an abject failure in a new place. Having failed to, you know, do his job, Dayton now implied that Gaza had never really been that important and that the "real test" was whether Fatah could impose order on Nablus. Interesting yardstick, that:

The massive IDF operation in Nablus has shown that, contrary to claims by the Palestinian Authority, Fatah's armed wing has not been dismantled. It has also proven that dozens of Fatah gunmen and activists in the West Bank have not surrendered their weapons and are continuing to plan attacks against Israel. During the operation, which began on Thursday, the IDF arrested 19 gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. The IDF has also arrested two security officers working for the PA's Military Intelligence Force: Shadi al-Sakhel and Ahmed Hisham. The two officers are suspected of helping the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the city. IDF soldiers discovered a workshop in Nablus's Old City where the group was said to have manufactured two rockets. The raid came days after PA Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yahya announced that the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank had ceased to exist.

You don't think that he'll either move the goalposts or blame Israel so that he can keep funneling money and weapons to Palestinian terrorists, do you? Not again right?

References:
* US To Bring Abject Failure Of Security Assistance To West Bank, Renew Pressure On Israel. What Could Go Wrong? [MR]
* US Security Envoy Blames Israel For Palestinian Rocket Attack On Israel. Or Something. [Video] [MR]
* Memo To Foreign Policy Sophisticates - You'd Sound A Lot Less Stupid If You Stopped Mixing Your Condescension With Demonstrably False Fantasies Of Competence [MR]
* State Dept Pushing Congress To Move Abject Failure Keith Dayton To West Bank [MR]
* Abject Failure Keith Dayton Moves Goalposts To Justify US Security Assistance, Lets Abbas Try Again [MR]
* Analysis: Fatah disarmed? Not in Nablus [JPost]
* State Department, UN Make Things Up To Coerce Israeli Concessions, Scapegoat Israel When Plans Fail (Plus: Hezbollah Now Openly Bragging About Using Civilian Human Shields) [MR]

Previously:
* PA To Get 25 Shiny Helicopter Busting APCs Next Week
* Fatah Moderates Respond To Billions In Aid By Stressing Unity With Terrorists
* Fatah Security Forces: "Murderers Of Two Israelis Aren't Terrorists". Murderers Of Two Israelis: "We're Fatah Terrorists" (Plus: Fatah Hid Them From Israeli Security)

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

The skills required to figure out this little logic puzzle are: basic literacy:

Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz refused to say on Thursday whether he will order a criminal investigation of Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, of Chabad's messianic stream, for incitement for telling an audience of rabbis in Tel Aviv that government leaders should be hanged for negotiating with the Palestinians. "The matter is being looked into, as is customary [in such cases,]" was his terse reply to a query from The Jerusalem Post. Mazuz is known to be reluctant to order police investigations when it comes to the use of inflammatory words, as opposed to illegal actions. Those who demand that Mazuz crack down on firebrands like Wolpe draw a parallel to the events leading up to the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, when some rabbis applied din rodef (the right to kill someone who oppresses the Jewish people,) to him over the Oslo Accords.

When religious zealots call for the lynching of elected Israeli leaders, it's incitement whether those lunatics are Jewish or Muslim. Which is not to equivocate completely between the two cultures, since it's only the Islamic ones who are crazy enough to actually go through with their thuggish political murders. With a very few filthy exceptions.

References:
* Mazuz checking Chabad rabbi's 'traitor Olmert' statements for incitement [JPost]
* How About No? [MR]

Previously:
* Olmert Announces He Has Prostate Cancer, Full Recovery Expected
* You Can't Say That - De Hartog Should Have Slapped Yacov Cohen Twice For Calling Him A Nazi
* Seriously, Get A Hobby

Not as blatant as their recent prisoner release, but still frustrating in that "they explicitly promised not to do this if Israel handed over the crossing" kind of way:

Hundreds of Palestinians began arriving at the Gaza-Egypt border on Wednesday and prepared to cross, signaling an end to a deadlock that had left them stranded in Egypt. A Hamas official in Gaza said they would cross into the besieged coastal territory later in the day... An Egyptian security official said the government had issued an order to let the Palestinian pilgrims cross through Rafah, though he did not say when. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Israel believes some of the pilgrims are carrying sums of money intended for Gaza's Hamas rulers. Israel has been blockading Gaza since Hamas, which openly calls for Israel's destruction, came to power there in June.

The genocidal darlings - with dozens of senior Hamas terrorists sprinkled among thousands of Hamas voters - are returning from their peaceful religious pilgrimage with millions of dollars. Also, this guy:

Israel is insisting that the Palestinians, among them at least a dozen senior Hamas operatives, including leader Khalil al-Haya, who traveled to Iran for military training, return to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing and only after undergoing security checks by the IDF. The money, officials said, was obtained during the Hamas operatives' trip abroad and most probably donated to the Hamas by countries such as Iran.

Egypt was in a "clear breach of agreements" last month when they let those Hamas murderers travel to Mecca by way of Tehran. Glad to see that Camp David - to say nothing of all the assurances that Sharon was given when he withdrew from the Gaza Strip and allowed the Palestinians a real chance at their own state - is working out so well. Israel should definitely exchange more land in exchange for security assurances from its Arab enemies. That always works.

References:
* It's Official: Egypt Embracing Hamas Through Contacts, Prisoner Releases [MR]
* Palestinian pilgrims stranded in Egypt prepare to enter Gaza [Ha'aretz]
* Israel: Hamas 'Pilgrims' carrying millions [JPost]
* Israel livid as pilgrims cross Rafah (JERUSALEM POST) By YAAKOV KATZ 12/06/07) [United J'lem]
* It Is Mind-Boggling That Arab and Muslim Countries Won't Sign Treaties With Israel [MR]

Previously:
* Hamas Has 200 Tons Of Explosives That The US Gave To Fatah (Plus: Egypt Says It's Israel's Fault)
* Hamas Blocks Israeli Food Shipments, Intentionally Starves Gaza Civilians To Create A Humanitarian Disaster - Again!
* Abbas Reverses Pre-Annapolis Position, Calls For Reconciliation With Hamas: "No Way" Fatah Is An Alternative To Hamas

These people are clowns. Clowns who viciously lash out in genocidal violence after having been turned into pathetic failures by decades of unblinking international apologism - but nonetheless still clowns:

A top Fatah official who was kidnapped on Monday has been released after his abductors shaved off his mustache. Fatah officials held Hamas responsible, saying the act was designed to humiliate Ibrahim Abu al-Naja, who is one of the most senior leaders of Fatah in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, however, said Abu al-Naja's kidnappers were former Fatah security officers who were angry because the Palestinian Authority had not paid them their salaries... A top Fatah leader in Ramallah expressed outrage over the abduction of Abu al-Naja, denying Hamas's claim that disgruntled Fatah officers were responsible. "As usual, Hamas is lying about its serious crimes," he told The Jerusalem Post. "Hamas's gangs are targeting all Fatah members in the Gaza Strip, including the leaders."... Over the past 48 hours, Hamas's security forces in the Gaza Strip have launched a massive crackdown on Fatah, arresting dozens of members.

Nice to see that Fatah is putting those billions of dollars of security assistance and decades of training to good use. Maybe if they'd take a break from shooting up Israeli civilians on a regular basis, they might be able to focus on reasserting their authority. Though we can see how that might be tough, since Fatah leaders have declared that they're going to unite with Hamas to, well, shoot up Israeli civilians.

References:
* Fatah leader loses mustache in power struggle with Hamas [JPost]
* PA Police Officers Rolling In Millions Of New US Aid, Murdering Israeli Civilians [MR]
* Fatah Security Forces: "Murderers Of Two Israelis Aren't Terrorists". Murderers Of Two Israelis: "We're Fatah Terrorists" (Plus: Fatah Hid Them From Israeli Security) [MR]
* Fatah: We're Going To Use Our New US And Russian-Supplied Weapons To Fight With Hamas Against Israel (Plus: Hamas Upgrades, Stockpiles Their Qassams) [MR]

Previously:
* Giving Land To Fatah Is Giving Land To Hamas - Fatah Still Losing In Gaza Edition (Plus: Giving Weapons To Fatah Is Giving Weapons To Hamas Too)
* US Unveils $410 Million's Worth Of Assistance That Will Shortly Be Seized By Hamas
* Smug Condescending Sophisticates Admit They've Been Lying Through Their Teeth About Israeli Security II - State Department Admits That Their Fatah Security Assistance Is An Abject Failure

Sure glad that Carter facilitated the transfer of the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for normalization between Israel and Egypt:

Egypt has worked to thwart Israel diplomatically in various international forums for years, so Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit's recent threat to turn up the diplomatic heat on Israel is nothing new, Israeli officials said Tuesday. Egypt's foreign minister warned in a television interview earlier this week that Cairo would "retaliate" diplomatically against Israel if its complaints against Egyptian inaction on arms smuggling into Gaza hurt US-Egyptian ties. "If they [Israelis] continue to push and affect US-Egyptian relations and harm Egyptian interests, Egypt will certainly retaliate and will harm their interests," Gheit said. "We have claws capable of retaliating in all directions and through diplomacy." He did not elaborate.

That's how international assurances work in the Middle East - Israel gives away something tangible in exchange for empty promises, those promises are never fulfilled, and then Israel is attacked for pointing out that the other side is in violation of signed agreements. This is how it always happens. Egypt itself has been in explicit violation of its treaty obligations for years.

But at least Cairo isn't normalizing ties with the genocidal regime in Tehran while sitting on three decades of cutting edge US weaponry, effectively putting them a disgruntled general away from being the most dangerous country in the Middle East. Fuck.

References:
* 'Egypt working against us for years' [JPost]
* Egypt Uncovers A Single Smuggling Tunnel, Basically Calls It A Day (Plus: Egypt In Explicit Violation Of Security Agreements?) [MR]
* It Is Mind-Boggling That Arab and Muslim Countries Won't Sign Treaties With Israel [MR]
* Egypt, Iran moving towards normalization [JPost]

Previously:
* Turns Out, Egypt Not Pro Israeli Security
* Egypt Violates The Camp David Accords. Again.
* It's Official: Egypt Embracing Hamas Through Contacts, Prisoner Releases

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Remember how Fatah said that the ambush and murder of two Israelis last week wasn't terrorism? Turns out, that was a bit of a fib:

The terrorists who gunned down two off-duty soldiers hiking near Hebron on Friday are both Palestinian Authority workers, and one of them is even a member of the official PA security forces, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) revealed Tuesday night. Since the attack on Friday, the PA has claimed that the murderers of David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai were unaffiliated terrorists. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that at least two of them were Fatah operatives... [They] surrendered on the day of the attack to the Palestinian security forces in Hebron out of fear that they would be caught by the IDF. They also handed over the soldiers' weapons. Dandis, a Fatah operative, worked as a clerk at the Sharia courts in the city, and Taha was a member of the PA National Security Force.... Defense officials were highly critical of the PA, which did not immediately report the terrorists' surrender to the IDF on Friday. Confirmation only came after the Shin Bet learned of the surrender and demanded that the PA hand over the slain soldiers' weapons. The weapons were transferred to Israel on Saturday.

No word on whether the terrorists' guns came from the billions in aid and weapons that the State Department condescendingly told Israel would of course be transfered "in a way that's monitored". Which is weird, because you'd think that they'd know these things since they're monitoring their security assistance so closely.

This is the second month in a row in which a Fatah soldier has murdered Israeli civilians. We should keep giving Fatah guns - it'll definitely moderate them.

References:
* PA: "Don't worry about murders, it was only Jew-hatred" [Elder]
* 'Hikers' killers were from Fatah' [JPost]
* Fatah: We're Going To Use Our New US And Russian-Supplied Weapons To Fight With Hamas Against Israel (Plus: Hamas Upgrades, Stockpiles Their Qassams) [MR]
* PA Police Getting More Than $5 Billion In New Aid To Use Against Israeli Civilians, Lose To Hamas [MR]
* PA Police Officers Rolling In Millions Of New US Aid, Murdering Israeli Civilians [MR]

Previously:
* Pro-Abbas Forces Unable To Stop Anti-Abbas Riots That Kill 1, Injure More Than 60
* PA To Get 25 Shiny Helicopter Busting APCs Next Week
* Rice Explicitly Sides With Palestinians On East J'lem, Lashes Out At Israel For "Prejudging"

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Because that's just what has to happen, ya know?

Bhutto was murdered because to her enemies she was Westernised, a traitor to her culture and an American stooge. She was murdered because she had vowed to bring secularism and democracy to Pakistan. She was murdered because she was all these things, and a woman. "I know I am a symbol of what the so-called jihadists, Taliban and al-Qa'ida, most fear," she wrote in her autobiography, Daughter of the East. "I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan." Yes, fear is the right word. The fear of women, of women's freedom, and most of all, of women's sexuality, runs through Islamism. It is a large part of Islamist hatred of the West. "The issue of women is not marginal," writes the Dutch scholar Ian Buruma. "It lies at the heart of Islamic occidentalism (anti-Westernism)." It is the "deep, ignored issue", writes Paul Berman, author of Terror and Liberalism. Why, I wonder, is it mainly men who are making these points?

It's because Western feminists are too busy defacing Marine recruiting stations and marching arm in arm with vicious anti-Semites. Or was that supposed to be a rhetorical question?

References:
* Assassinated because she was a woman [The Australian]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Feminists Are Defacing Marine Offices In Your Name (Plus: Tiny Reform Of Pakistani Rape Law Causes Major Rioting) [Video] [MR]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Palestinian Control Of Gaza Not Going Well For Women [MR]

Previously:
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Pathological Islamism in Germany
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - You're Too Dirty To Walk On Saudi Arabia's Sidewalks
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Literally Picturesque Underage Marriages In Afghanistan (Plus: The NYT's Take On Temporary Marriage Is As Awesome As It Is Predictable)

Looks like someone in New York used the default Word thesaurus after Taghreed El-Khodary or Isabel Kershner turned in copy with the word "activists". Idiots:

Separately, the Israeli government on Monday released details of two Palestinians in the custody of the Palestinian Authority who are said to have confessed to the Dec. 29 killing of two Israeli settlers who were hiking near Hebron in the West Bank. According to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office, the two are Fatah advocates in their 20s from Hebron. One is said to have been “in contact” with the Palestinian General Intelligence service, and the other, a member of Mr. Abbas’s national security force.

At the risk of needlessly casting aspersions on the NYT's multiple levels of rigorously unbiased editorial control, we don't think that that's actually what the PMO's statement said. Luckily, this is not a question beyond the horizon of human scrutiny:

It's like they're not even trying any more.

References:
* Gaza Tense as It Tallies Casualties [NYT]

Previously:
* Monday Morning Link Dump - NYT Blows Another Anti-Terrorism Investigation (??), Someone Stands Up For Hirsi Ali , More On Coulter, Etc.
* NYT: Just Because You Were Forced at Gunpoint to Convert To Islam Doesn't Mean You Were Harmed In Any Way
* NYT: US Support for Israeli Self-Defense Hurts Moderate Muslim Revolution That Was Just About to Happen

Atef Sa'ad - a Reuters reporter of such unflagging consistency that CAMERA had already identified him as an open terrorist propagandist half a decade ago - wants everybody to know that Fatah is meeting their Roadmap obligations and Israel is not:

The top Palestinian security official said on Saturday his government was dismantling militant groups, including those connected to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. The pledge by Interior Minister Abdel-Razak al-Yahya came one day after Palestinian militants killed two off-duty Israeli soldiers who were hiking near the West Bank city of Hebron... The Palestinians assert that they are meeting their security obligations in the West Bank by launching a security clampdown in some of the largest cities. "There is no al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades any more," Yahya told Voice of Palestine radio, referring to Fatah's largest armed group. He said Abbas's Western-backed government has started "working to dismantle" other militant groups, though he did not spell out how that would be accomplished... Western diplomats say Abbas's forces have taken serious steps in parts of the West Bank to impose law and order, and to crack down on Hamas militants... Israel has yet to meet its own "road map" obligations to halt all settlement activity and uproot Jewish outposts built in the West Bank without government authorisation. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Oh Nidal.

Anyway, it could be that the Palestinians are overstating the extent to which they've actually reigned in terrorists just a wee bit:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah movement's armed wing, al-Aqsa Brigades, slammed on Saturday an official statement by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) which said the group was dismantled. In a press release, al-Aqsa Brigades denied the statements of Abdel Razaq al-Yahia, interior minister of the interim government based in this West Bank city, who said the group was dismantled and doesn't exist any longer. "We tell al-Yahia that we are here and will never drop our arms or accept to be disarmed. We will continue being the pioneers of struggle on the front line to gain the dignity and freedom of our people back," said the group... Al-Yehia claimed that the members of the brigades were "cooperative" after the PNA assured them of their personal safety.

Remember that other time when Palestinian sources and State Department diplomats assured everyone that Fatah moderates were gaining the upper hand against terrorists on the Gaza Strip and West Bank? It was right before Hamas routed Fatah moderates in the Gaza Strip.

References:
* UPDATED: September 27, 2004--Reuters: News Agency or PR Firm for Terrorists? [CAMERA]
* Abbas's govt dismantling militant groups-minister [Reuters]
* Reuters Anti-Israel Absurdity Watch - "Being A Human Shield" Is A "Protest" [MR]
* Fatah armed wing rejects PNA declaration on its dissolution [Xinhua]
* State Department, UN Make Things Up To Coerce Israeli Concessions, Scapegoat Israel When Plans Fail (Plus: Hezbollah Now Openly Bragging About Using Civilian Human Shields) [MR]

Previously:
* Reuters Anti-Israel Demonization Now Just Silly: Israeli Jews Persecuting Palestinian Christians. Muslim Palestinians, On the Other Hand, Have Persecuted Nobody and Burned No Churches
* Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (8) "Israeli Terrorism" - Want To Guess Who Reuters Is Willing To Label A Terrorist?
* Reuters Has No Idea What's Going on in Israel

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

That's an actual display we stumbled across in a downtown LA supermarket. An elegant reminder that, even in the darkest of times, there's beauty to be found in the world.

Previously:
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Rona Kenan Likes Water. Awesome [Video]
* Israeli Model Wednesdays - Photos: Israeli Model Bar Refaeli In SI Swimsuit Edition
* Shabbat Beauty - Ofra Haza: Jerusalem of Gold [Subtitled Video]

The Thalamus Quartet is a Jerusalem group of four singers whose members are students and graduates of the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. They specialize in a capella music drawn from Renaissance madrigals and new Israeli music:

So apparently they've got some talent.

References:
* Thalamus Quartet
* Shir Ha Emek Thalamus Quartet [odedshomrony / YouTube]

Previously:
* Afternoon Zionist Hip Hop - Divided and Conquered [Video]
* Shabbat Beauty - Sarit Hadad Is Good At Singing [Video]
* Shabbat Beauty - Zionist Hip Hop In Remembrance Of Yaakov Paz. A Momentary Song" [Video]

We have no idea how they got hold of this video. This is one of the genuinely iconic moments in Israeli history, an image that perfectly captures Israelis' refusal to stop enjoying life in the face of genocidal Arab intentions. The scene is the Jerusalem Theater on Sat, Feb. 23, 1991 - the eve of Operation Desert Storm. The Arab state of Iraq has invaded and occupied the Arab state of Kuwait. A coalition of historically Christian and Muslim countries has issued an ultimatum to Iraq - set to expire within minutes - to withdraw. So naturally, everyone expects Iraq to start launching missiles, potentially tipped with chemical or biological warheads, at the Jewish State of Israeli. This was treated as something perfectly natural in the course of international relations. Israel was asked not to respond, lest the Arab states do something crazy (like attack Israel or each other without provocation - you know, something totally unprecedented).

Isaac Stern flies into Israel to show solidarity. He's performing a concert with the Israeli Philharmonic. Zubin Metha is conducting. In the middle of the concert the air raid sirens start wailin. The orchestra leaves in a rehearsed manner to get protective gear (yeah, artists have to rehearse that stuff in Israel), while the audience puts on gas masks. Stern refuses to leave the stage, and this happens:

It can't be emphasized enough: despite consistent insistence to the contrary by diplomats and journalists, Israelis really are vibrant and happy.

References:
* Isaac Stern vs. Saddam Hussein [AbrahamBenYehuda / YouTube]
* Newsflash: Israelis Are Happy [MR]

Previously:
* Reuters Has No Idea What's Going on in Israel
* Subliminal and The Shadow: Tikva About Terrorism [Video]
* New Palestinian Music Video Is Not Particularly Nice To Jews [Video]

MR's ranking in Google searches for "male eyecandy linkbait" are starting to decline, which means it's time for another Equal Opportunity Michael Lewis post. After the last one, a representative of the fairer sex emailed that she didn't find him hot. That is obviously insane, since the break-the-mold women in this video find him hot. And they're too gorgeous to ever be wrong. About anything. Ever:

That little flirtatious episode with the medicine balls would have been slightly hotter without Lewis in the frame.

References:
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Israeli Model Michael Lewis. Because MR Is An Equal Opportunity Link Baiter. [Video] [MR]
* michael lewis [zimbman / YouTube]

Previously:
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Very Hot and Somewhat Bitter Israeli Chicks Go Clubbing [Video]
* Early Morning Chuckle - Coulter On the Dem Debate Edition
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - The Pick Sisters Have Something For Everyone [Video]

We were a little worried that this would deviate from the "Hatikva played on weird instruments" theme that we've been building, but those shots of tubas at the end get it through the door:

From January 2007. And yes, obviously - it was a gorgeous day.

References:
* Israel Army General Graduation [jromanov / YouTube]

Previously:
* BREAKING: Major Injuries In Sderot Rocket Barrage. Children Wounded As Rockets Score Direct Hits On School and Home.
* Tuesday Hatikva On A Kinnor Lyre [Video]
* Shabbat Hatikva [Video]

Along with Israel, South Korea is on the short list of industrialized countries that share a border with enemies that would not hesitate to overrun and massacre them - if only they thought that they'd succeed. So it's not surprising that they're also interested in weapons that strongly convey their strong desire to be left alone. Ergo their newest robot soldier:

We, of course, are huge fans of any technology that help keeps Axis Of Evil members on their own side of a border. But are we the only ones who find the phrase "automated army by 2012" less than reassuring? Eh - it's not like we were doing anything useful at the top of the food chain anyway.

References:
* Korea Shows Off Robot Soldiers [Robot Gossip]

Previously:
* And In This Week's News Of Robots That Will Soon Enslave Us...
* Bad Week For The Future Of Humanity. Great Week For Future Robotic Overlords.
* Good Job Guys!

The military is developing invisibility shields that block the enemy's bullets but that our soldiers can shoot through. Oh, and the shields self-heal. Of course they do:

The page for DARPA's metamaterials project is here. About all we got from it is that project director Valerie Browning is very, very smart.

References:
* Shoot-Through, Invisible, Self-Healing Shields: Darpa Goal [Danger Room]
* MetaMaterials

Previously:
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Israeli Biotech Industry Skyrockets As Women CEOs Lead the Way [Video]
* Thursday Military Tech - Blowing Things Up From the Inside Of A Helicopter
* Thursday Military Tech - Zionist Robo-Snipers

A hot Israeli chick encouraging us to drink more. Yes please:

The lyrics might leave something to be desired. But we're confident that we'll be able to see our way past that.

References:
* Noa Golanski - "Drink with me" [asaflivni / YouTube]

Previously:
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Tammy and Yahel Stalker Fun [Video]
* Israeli Hottie Miri Bohadana Is Fed Up With You Not Voting For MR In Round 2 Of The JIBs
* Israeli Hottie Shirly Boganim Is Happy You Voted For MR In the JIB Prelims

Wikipedia does not seem to have an entry for hydraulophone (although they do define hydraulist - one who plays a hydraulophone). Apparently it's some kind of instrument that, when used to play the Hatikva, sounds incredible:

Knowing is half the battle.

References:
* Hatikva on Hydraulophone [hydraulist / YouTube]

Previously:
* Tuesday WTF - Japanese Tourists Singing At the Kotel [Video]
* Shabbat Beauty - Blossoming In Israel
* Tuesday Hatikva - Shiri Maimon Gets People Emotional [Video]

That Esther Ofarim YouTube channel that Eytan's been putting together has some really fantastic stuff. Here's a really fun performance of Mad About The Boy that from 1970 London:

If modern-day British intellectuals had their way, there wouldn't be any Israeli singers allowed to come to Britain. Because it would hurt the peace process, you see. Performances by people like Esther Ofarim hurt the peace process. Obviously.

References:
* Esther Ofarim [YouTube]
* Esther Ofarim - Mad About the Boy - London [Eytan / YouTube]

Previously:
* Miri Ben-Ari Interview and Music Videos: "I Bling My Violin"
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Hey, That Maya Bouskilla Girl Is Kind Of Steamy [Video]
* Israeli Hottie Wednesdays - Hey, That Maya Buskila Girl Is Kind Of Cute [Video]

Next week we'll try to go back to absurdly esoteric renditions. But in the meantime:

Quite professional.

References:
* Rivka Zohar- "HaTikva" [uzischnitzer / YouTube]

Previously:
* Tuesday Hatikva - Shiri Maimon Gets People Emotional [Video]
* Tuesday Hatikva On A Kinnor Lyre [Video]
* Tuesday Hatikva - Daniel Zamir Jazz [Video]

If this movie doesn't make you smile at least a little bit, you really should just give up on ever enjoying anything in life ever again:

Umcha umcha.

References:
* Lemurs [smorodina / YouTube]

Previously:
* Sunday Cute - Dolphin Lulls Naive Biped Into False Sense Of Security [Video]
* Sunday Cute - Bunnies [Video]
* Sunday Cute: Playful Kittens [Video]

Eventually, robots will get fed up with our feeble refusal to defend Western Civilization, and they will take it upon themselves to defend it for us. This may require what civil liberty hysterics will refer to as "enslaving us so we don't get in the way." During what will certainly be a quick transition, the robots will obviously need some kind of automated airplanes and helicopters to establish air superiority. Coincidentally...

It can stay in the air for up to 20 hours - just in case, you know, humans try to break their curfews. According to the Boeing Press Release about the A160T's successful test flight, they've named this thing the Hummingbird. Naturally.

References:
* Boeing Completes First Flight of A160T Hummingbird Unmanned Helicopter [Boeing]
* Flying Robot Straight From Area 51 is Turbine-powered [Gizmodo]

Previously:
* Thursday Military Tech - The IDF's Tavor Assault Rifle
* Thursday Military Tech - Sniper Rifle That Can "Say Hello To You At Over A Miles And A Half Away" [Video]
* Thursday Military Tech - DARPA Packmule Perfect Example Of the Hubris That Will Be the Death Of Us All