Well this got real big real fast. It's now on Israel At Level Ground, BtB, Daled Amos, Solomonia, and a whole bunch of others.

There were three action alerts in my inbox this morning, each of increasing vehemence. I deleted the first one after I realized that it was accusing Google of anti-Semitism and the second and third ones based on their subject lines. Because if the hysterical accusations during the "Jew" Googlebombing dustup demonstrated anything - good intentions do not necessarily grant bloggers a robust grasp of new media technology). I figured that this was more of the same - pathologically anti-Israel users create content, a Google technology automatically indexes the content and makes it available, Google as a corporation gets blamed. Close. The article is written by Andre Oboler a social media expert and comp sci professor - so he knows the difference between platform and content. His concern is at the bottom:

Virtual Israel, as represented by Google Earth, is littered with orange dots, many of which claim to represent "Palestinian localities evacuated and destroyed after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war." Thus, Israel is depicted as a state born out of colonial conquest rather than the return of a people from exile. Each dot links to the "Palestine Remembered" site, where further information advancing this narrative can be obtained. Many of the claims staked out in Google Earth present misinformation... The inclusion of virtual Palestine, superimposed on Israel in the core layer of Google Earth, is an example of replacement geography advanced by technology. Those wishing to explore Israel in Google Earth are immediately taken to a politically motivated narrative unrelated to their quest. Google should remove the narrative and treat Israel as it treats every other country on the globe. The core layer of Google Earth should be ideology free and not serve as a platform for indoctrination or a campaign to wipe Israel off the virtual map... Disturbingly, Google has incorporated the Palestinians' overlays and their accompanying narrative into its core maps of Israel. As Google maintains editorial control over its core layer, it has responsibility for its content, which it clearly has not adequately exercised.

Yes and no. First a little background: Google Earth is a GIS platform. It takes arbitrary data inside a layer - provided it's in the right format and says where it's supposed to go - and then projects it on a map. Any user of sufficient skill can create a layer with anything they want and then make it available to everybody else. The layer in question - this "Virtual Israel" thing - has points representing a bunch of Arab villages that either never existed, were never destroyed, or were destroyed long before Israel existed. Vicious and false - but not Google's fault any more than a webpage saying the same thing is Google's fault. Oboler's claim seems to be that Google incorporated this layer into their default installation of Google Earth - almost as if when you searched for "Israel" on Google itself you got a sponsored anti-Israel page at the very top. The problem is that - as near as I can tell - there is no "Virtual Israel" layer in the Google default. The misleading information that's pissing everybody off is there, but it seems to be in a different layer - and not one that there's an easy solution for.

Charming:

Bowing to pressure from pro-Palestinian Arab activists in America, the United Nations Children's Fund is cutting ties with a billionaire Israeli donor, Lev Leviev, in response to allegations that one of his companies is financing the construction of settlements in the West Bank. Activists had campaigned for several months for the aid organization to reject financial donations and other assistance from Mr. Leviev... UNICEF said it had reviewed the matter at [Adalah-NY's] request and would meet its demands... The letter was posted on Adalah-NY's Web site, alongside... Other groups opposed to Israel's presence in the West Bank, such as Defence for Children International, have also issued statements lauding the decision. Mr. de Bono told The New York Sun that UNICEF usually screens only formal partnerships with corporate and nonprofit partners, not individual donors such as Mr. Leviev, for violations of U.N. resolutions or regulations. The agency decided to investigate Mr. Leviev, who was born in Uzbekistan and made his fortune in diamonds after immigrating to Israel, following complaints from advocacy groups, Mr. de Bono said.

Several months of activist, human rights, and United Nations resources spent in the interest of an unorthodox investigation directed at a single individual - explicitly because his Israel-related activities were so heinous as to warrant personal demonization and ostracism. No word on how the UNICEF board members representing Burma and Zimbabwe came down on the issue. I have no doubt that any representatives from either of those countries only have the best interests of the world's children at heart. It's not like UNICEF won't be able to make up the difference with Saudi terror money.

Also too Jewish for the United Nations: the ultra-leftwing World Union of Progressive Judaism:

Last week, the United Nations Committee on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) met in New York to consider what was for them an important issue: redeeming the tarnished honor of their organization from the "insults" of its critics. The object of their concern was the World Union of Progressive Judaism, the Reform movement's international arm, which has had observer NGO status at the world body since 1972. It now stands liable to lose its U.N. status for "insulting" the world body. This committee is comprised of such exemplary democracies as China, Cuba, Pakistan and Egypt as well as other countries. The current chair of the group is Sudan. Despite the fact that its government is responsible for genocide in Darfur, Sudan still parades around international forums as if it were not a pariah regime. What did the Reform movement do to put itself in such hot water? At a recent meeting of the U.N.'s Human Rights Council in Geneva, David Littman, a representative of Reform attempted to read from the Hamas charter calling for Israel's destruction.

Just as a hypothetical: do you think putting Muslim countries on the UNSC will make these kinds of absurdities more or less common?

References:
* UNICEF Vows To Spurn an Israeli Donor [NY Sun]
* UNICEF Cuts Ties With Leviev, Joins With Moslem Terror Group [INN]
* UNRWA and NGOs: The Real U.N. ‘Insult’ [JWR]
* Islamic Nations Eye UN Security Council Seats [CNS]

Previously:
* The UN Has Been Screwing Israel For Decades
* UN Report On Security Fence Predictable In Every Way: Aggressively Contradictory, Blames Israel
* 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)

There are progressives for whom gay rights is the single issue that determines their votes in domestic elections. Fair enough - human rights are certainly nowhere near the dumbest single issue that single issue voters choose. But its weird how the overwhelming priority of gay rights - what countries enforce human rights vs. where do governments actively sanction the murder of homosexuals - rarely penetrates leftist foreign policy thinking. Very, very weird:

At least 2,000 people marched Thursday in Jerusalem's gay pride parade. The event, which has repeatedly riled religious city residents and caused friction in the past, was mostly uneventful. Some two hours before the parade, police detained a haredi man for holding an insulting sign against the parade. Several hundred demonstrators protested the parade in Kikar Hashabbat, far from the event's route. Several dumpsters were set ablaze in haredi neighborhoods.

An insulting sign removed from the route and a couple of trash fires kilometers away from the marchers. That's just like what happens in that Islamic Republic with which foreign policy progressives have lately become so enamored:

Incidentally, how do you think the politicized gay rights groups on the left approach Israel in general? Do you think that there's something called the "Coalition To Boycott World Pride Jerusalem" that is insanely and pathologically anti-Israel? Because that would be revelatory. It would also be revelatory if Israel was granting asylum to the gay Palestinians who are fleeing from the Palestinian state that the international community is trying to set up in the name of human rights.

Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that actively enforces the human rights of homosexuals. The vast majority of the region - from the Palestinian Authority to Iran to Saudi Arabia [MR] - is on the other side of the spectrum. When their governments are only ignoring vicious anti-gay murders - that's a relatively good human rights day. The rest of the time the governments are the ones lashing or hanging or crushing to death their gay citizens.

You'd think that this would make the security of Israel a progressive cause, at the very least for the parts of the left that claim to speak for homosexual communities. But apparently there's some kind of sensibility on the left - some deep seated and almost visceral antipathy - that's preventing activist identity groups from gravitating towards their objective interests. Like I said: weird.

References:
* Thousands attend J'lem pride parade [JPost]
* Photographs To Help Explain Why There Are No Homosexuals In Iran [Content Warning: Graphic Photos] (Updated: Video Added) [MR]
* Treating Genocidal Fanatics Like Statesmen Is A Bad Idea (When Did This Become Controversial?) [MR]
* Israel grants visa to gay Palestinian [Pink News]
* Saudi Arabia Sentences Men To 7000 Lashes For Being Gay [MR]

Previously:
* In Contrast To Iran, Israel Has That Phenomenon Of Gay People
* IHT Publishes Repugnant Sophisticated Excuses For Legally Mandated Iranian Sexism
* Wilders's US Internet Provider Officially Nukes His Site - Because It's Just Too Interesting

Because that way they'll become wards of the Iranian state instead of the Israeli state? Generally when Israel makes these "A Single Israeli Boy Is Worth 1,000 Palestinians" swaps, the released terrorists and murderers have to sign oaths saying they won't go back to terrorizing and murdering. Apparently Israel isn't sure they'll take those seriously:

Israel prefers to release Palestinian prisoners to the Gaza Strip rather than the West Bank as part of its swap with Hamas in exchange for abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Army Radio reported on Thursday. Defense officials fear that freeing the jailed militants into the West Bank could weaken Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and strengthen Hamas in Fatah territory, the radio said. Israel also wants the authority to determine which of the prisoners will be released to Gaza and which to the West Bank, the radio said.

Not the worst point: what are they going to do in Gaza? Ruin the place? Even rich Gazans - are heartbreakingly unable to find solace in their Rolexes and Ray Bans these days. Except for the whole "they'll go back to being terrorists and murderers" thing. That might be a sticking point. Although it looks like freed Gitmo detainees are about to corner that market anyway:

Revisit the exit question to that post. If Roggio’s right — and I say if because I’m not sure how he and Nibras Kazimi can be so sure the guy in the vid is the same Abdullah al-Ajmi — then the poor dear’s choice of target to supposedly avenge the hard time he had at Gitmo was curious indeed. 13 dead, 42 wounded in a truck bomb attack … on an Iraqi Army base. So much for grievance.

Super.

References:
* Report: Israel prefers Hamas prisoners be released to Gaza, not West Bank [Ha'aretz]
* News Report from Gaza: "Mr. Gosh's Rolex, Ray Ban sunglasses and tailor-made Italian clothing provide him no solace" [BtB]
* New Al Qaeda truck bomb video features … freed Gitmo jihadi [Hot Air]

Previously:
* Gilad Shalit Is Alive, Forced To Say That Hamas Is Letting Him Die (Updated: Shas Leader Calls For Direct Prisoner Talks With Hamas)
* Abbas: Hamas Will Free Shalit Soon. Hamas: No We Won't.
* Palestinians Say They Won't Release Shalit Because of Qana - Asks World to Forget That They Weren't Going to Release Him Anyway

So while you can have your special princess fantasy wedding at the tender age of 1 - provided your father agrees, natch - your husband still has to wait until you're 9 to have sex with you. Because that's the example provided by Mohammed. Seriously:

How unromantic.

It's always a little disconcerting to see cutting edge media technologies juxtaposed with out and out primitiveness. Not as violent as cell phone pics fueling honor killings - but, if anything, more surreal. It almost calls into question the sanguine assurances of foreign policy experts who promise that technology and capitalism will modernize the Muslim world.

References:
* It Is Allowed to Marry a Girl at the Age of One [abdull1425 / YouTube]
* How picture phones have fuelled frenzy of honour killing in Iraq [The Independent]

Previously:
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Islamists Really Hate Women
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - You're Too Dirty To Walk On Saudi Arabia's Sidewalks
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Israeli Arab Girl Victim of Honor Killing

Sure, you can get the PA to explicit reject Israel in response to a mere $150 million in new aid. But for only $100 million more - for $250 million in international aid...

An international conference aimed at strengthening the Palestinian police force and judicial system has secured commitments of US$242 million for specific projects, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday. The outcome of the one-day conference... "exceeded our expectations," Steinmeier said. "The result, I must say, is that a clear signal of support for the building of a Palestinian state was sent from here today," Steinmeier said.

... Fatah will happily try to murder Israelis right now:

Earlier Thursday the Gaza truce was violated again as Palestinians fired a Kassam rocket at the western Negev. The rocket landed near a gas station in the Sha'ar Hanegev region, causing no casualties or damage. The Fatah-affiliated Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. In a text message sent to reporters, it said "the truce must include the West Bank and all sorts of aggression must stop."

So remember international donors: $150 million only buys you lip service from Palestinians trying to wiping out the Jewish State. Less than double that gets you actual Palestinian war crimes today. A bargain at twice the price.

References:
* PA Responds To $150M In New US Funding By Explicitly Rejecting Israel's Right To Exist. Again. [MR]
* Conference secures US$242 million commitment to strengthen Palestinian police, courts [AP]
* Livni: Truce violations demand immediate military response [JPost]

Previously:
* Abbas Aide Caught In Corruption Scandal (Plus: Whatever Happened To Transparency?)
* Not Content With Not Cutting Off Palestinian Aid, US Will Actually Increase Funding to Supporters of Terrorism
* How Much Did Palestinian Aid Increase After the Hamas Election?

That obnoxious show aggrieved confusion that the JStreet tools faked - "why oh why won't American Jews stake their credibility and reputation on the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire" - took less than a week to answer:

Another ceasefire violation: A Qassam rocket was fired Thursday afternoon from the Gaza Strip into Israel, exploding in an open area in Sderot's industrial zone. There were no reports of injuries or damage... On Tuesday, Palestinians launched three rockets towards Sderot. One of the Qassams landed in a house's backyard, causing great damage. Two women suffered from shock. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded to the barrage angrily, saying "this is a blatant and unequivocal violation of the understandings reached as part of the truce."

Hamas is now bragging about how they're not going to stop Palestinians from firing at Israeli schools and hospitals - an explicit violation of their obligations under the truce. This follows their earlier bragging about how they're not going to stop weapons smuggling - an explicit violation of their other obligations under the truce. It's true that Hamas hasn't actively gone back to dropping rockets on Israeli schoolchildren - but that's probably because took busy this week trying to kill each other.

It's cute that Olmert thinks he's going to be around long enough to respond to Hamas's genocidal intransigence. all the tough talk from Olmert. I don't think it'll be Livni either, but for what it's worth:

Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni addressed the launching of a Qassam rocket from Gaza towards Sderot on Thursday with sharp, stinging rhetoric aimed at differentiating herself from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "I don't care who fired. There must be an immediate military response to every violation," said Livni upon the commencement of her meeting with Norwegian Jonas Gahr Store. "I have made my position clear to both the prime minister and the minister of defense after the first infringement. And I intend to make this clear to my foreign counterparts as well," said Livni.

In other news, Barak just gave a rousing speech about how Israel needs to retain its deterrent. That was touching.

References:
* JStreet Tools Proudly Declare Their Inability To Distinguish Between Reality And What They'd Like Reality To Be [MR]
* Barak: Only deterrent military power will bring peace [YNet]
* Qassam hits western Negev [YNet]
* Hamas says it will not police truce with Israel [AP]
* Hamas Fires Rockets At Israeli Schools And Hospitals, Breaks Only Part Of Truce That They Hadn't Already Broken [MR]
* Attempted coup splits Hamas military wing in two [Ha'aretz]
* Livni: Military must respond to every Qassam [YNet]
* Barak: Only deterrent military power will bring peace [YNet]

Previously:
* Nazi Zionist Regime Responds To Hamas Terrorism Attempts, Deadly Ambushes, And Rocket Fire By Renewing Fuel Supplies To Gaza
* Peres Notifies Carter: Actually You're Kind Of A Vicious Tool
* Media Consensus Forming: Israeli West Bank Ops Violate Gaza Ceasefire (Plus: Palestinians Shot West Bank Israelis On Day 2)

AFP got the ball rolling this morning by lining up Israeli West Bank operations and Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. Because it would be an outright lie to suggest that Israel was in violation of the ceasefire, their intrepid staff settled settled for lining up the two events and linking them with the oh-so-subtle "meanwhile." Not particularly restrained, but still not as blisteringly stupid as what the MSNBC people managed to come up with:

Militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip fired at least two rockets into southern Israel on Tuesday, breaching a five-day-old cease-fire. The attack came hours after Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in a West Bank raid. The victims included an Islamic Jihad commander. The militant group later claimed responsibility for firing the rockets, saying the attack was intended to avenge the Israeli operation. The West Bank is not formally part of the Gaza truce. But the Israeli raid could be seen as violating the spirit of the cease-fire.

No it can't. Because when the Gaza truce was arranged last week, everybody agreed that the West Bank was outside the scope of the agreement. The differences seemed plain enough to media outlets when Israeli civilians were getting shot up in the West Bank last Friday:

But at a Friday sermon in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the deal did not include a ban on smuggling, and he would not enforce it on militants in the coastal strip. In the West Bank, which is not covered by the truce, Palestinian gunmen shot and wounded three Israeli hikers near the settlement of Neve Tsuf, 12 miles northwest of Jerusalem. one of the men was in moderate condition and other two were lightly injured. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Someone should ask MSNBC if that violated "the spirit of the cease-fire." Maybe they just forgot. Anyway, after the jump, more great news about the truce.

ElBaradei says they're is six months out from the bomb. The mullahs have repeatedly declared - most recently this morning - that not hell, high-water, nor economic pressure will stop them. So naturally the State Department has chosen now to start giving away diplomatic carrots:

With the U.S. and Iran barely on speaking terms for nearly three decades, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dropped an eyepopping hint Monday that the U.S. is considering a visa office in Iran to draw more Iranian visitors to the United States. The opening of a U.S. interests section, similar to the one the United States maintains in Cuba, would be the first U.S. diplomatic presence in the Iranian capital since Iran freed 52 American hostages in 1981 after 444 days at the former U.S. Embassy... [A] U.S. diplomatic mission in Iran to issue visas? Miss Rice declined to comment on what she called "internal deliberations" at Foggy Bottom... How could the U.S. reconcile the practical benefits of opening an office in Tehran with its policy of trying to isolate the hard-line Islamist regime? Current and former officials said the idea of opening an "interests section" in Tehran - a mission much smaller and lower-profile than an embassy - was first discussed a couple of years ago as an incentive for Iran to stop enriching uranium,... "It didn't get beyond how you do that without implying greater legitimacy for the regime while actually trying to do the opposite," the official said.

We've got some real captains of statecraft navigating the waters over there. Each a more exacting and calculating expert than the next. Not that it matters - it's now or six months from now away.

References:
* Video: ElBaradei says Iran could make a bomb in six months to a year [Hot Air]
* Iran says new EU sanctions on Tehran won't affect its nuclear activities [IHT]
* U.S. considers Tehran office to issue visas [Wash Times]

Previously:
* State Department Discovers Iran Supports Terrorism
* State Department Spouts Utter Nonsense, Undermines Israeli Self-Defense
* State Department And Pentagon Plotting Insubordination, Pretty Much Lying To Prevent Action Against Iran

I'd prefer not to lend the JStreet people even one second more than the 900 they've got coming. Plus Anne's already covered these tools' faked public confusion when it comes to the Israeli-Hamas truce. But still: I understand why Walt, Mearsheimer, and Obama need to put on airs about how aggressive appeasement will cause the Arab world to accept the values of the US and the existence of Israel. I've always taken it for granted that they've concluded that the benefits of selling out Israel outweigh the costs - but that they can't admit their agenda because there's something kind of unseemly and largely untenable about it.

But could it be that morons behind JStreet actually believe their own propaganda? Could they really be so enamored with their self-styled purity that they just don't get really basic things? Could they really be so pretentious and vapid that they'd make a big public show of sophistication by bragging that they're too stupid to know that the Gaza truce will be lucky to last a week:

Three Kassam rockets hit the western Negev on Tuesday afternoon, in a second violation of a cease-fire that Hamas has been abiding by since it went into effect last Thursday. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that the attack was to avenge an IDF raid that killed one of its members in the West Bank early Tuesday. "We cannot keep our hands tied when this is happening to our brothers in the West Bank," the group said in a statement. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the rocket attack "came as result of Israeli provocation this morning." He added, however, that Hamas was "committed to the calm"

"JStreet: Sure We're Obnoxious And Wrong - But At Least We're Not Unsophisticated! Join Us!"

References:
* poorpalestinian Hamasniks broke the "truce" [BtB]
* JStreet's Public Declaration Of Sophistication And Stupidity
* End of truce? 3 Kassams hit w. Negev [JPost]

Previously:
* Turkey Won't Accept PKK Ceasefire. World Reacts Exactly the Opposite Way They'd React If Israel Refused To Accept Hamas Ceasefire.
* Hamas Responds To Ceasefire Proposal By Lobbing Missiles On Sderot Schoolchildren
* Hamas Fires Rockets At Israeli Schools And Hospitals, Breaks Only Part Of Truce That They Hadn't Already Broken

Large-scale IAF exercises - involving, among other things, more than 100 fighter jets. Meetings between Olmert and the architect of the Osirak attack - discussing, in all probability, a discussion on in-flight warplane refueling. Preparations for massive Iranian retaliation - against both Israeli and international targets. Very, very subtle:

Israel is likely to attack Iran in the time between the November presidential election in the US and the inauguration of the new president, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the Daily Telegraph in an interview published Tuesday. But he said he did not believe the US would take part in such a strike. "It's clear that the administration has essentially given up that possibility," he said. "I don't think it's serious any more. If you had asked me a year ago I would have said I thought it was a real possibility. I just don't think it's in the cards." "The Israelis have one eye on the calendar because of the pace at which the Iranians are proceeding both to develop their nuclear weapons capability and to do things like increase their defenses," Bolton said.

Amazing that Israel has no faith in the EU's latest sanctions. It might have something to do with how Iran withdrew their assets before the freeze went into effect and that Obama's impending appeasement of Iran is even scaring the Europeans:

One might think that Europe would welcome Barack Obama with open arms, but according to Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post, Obama has them worried. Key European allies fear a rupture between the US and the Continent if Obama attempts to waive the precondition of enrichment cessation in dealing with Iran. While they would like to see a heavier emphasis on team play rather than American hegemony, Obama’s insistence on cozying up to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is far out of step with the rest of the West... Europe likes to remind people that the preconditions of cessation are European demands, not American, although the US has supported it wholeheartedly. Obama’s insistence on dropping this precondition in order to score PR points with MoveOn and Ahmadinejad looks a lot less like multilateralism and much more like cowboy diplomacy than anything Bush has done on Iran thus far. If Obama is to Europe’s left on Iran, what does that say about his foreign policy?

Or it could be that the Israelis are warmongers. Who can tell?

Israeli leaders are quite aware that the cost of attacking Iran - in human lives, economic infrastructure, and global reputation - will be all but existential. That's also, unfortunately, all they've got left to count on.

References:
* U.S. Says Israeli Exercise Seemed Directed at Iran [NYT]
* Report: Olmert met with Osirak attack planner [JPost]
* Iran's 'Nightmare Scenarios' Mulled [NY Sun]
* 'Israel to strike Iran after elections' [JPost]
* EU approves sanctions against Iran's biggest bank [AP]
* Iran Withdraws Money From European Banks [The Trumpet]
* Europe fears Obama on Iran [Hot Air]

Previously:
* IAEA: Maybe Iran Is Developing Nukes and Maybe They're Not
* Russia Gives Iran Cutting-Edge Anti-Ship Missiles To Give To Hezbollah
* Iran: Israeli Self-Defense is a Cause for War

Probably just very exuberant anti-Zionism:

A 17-year-old French Jew was attacked Saturday night in Paris, a violent assault condemned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and described by Jewish organizations as motivated by anti-Semitism. The young man, identified as Rudy Haddad by one Jewish organization, was attacked by youths of African origin, according to a police source and a statement from the National Agency of Vigilance Against Antisemitism. The agency cited the use of iron bars in the attack. Haddad is suffering from "serious neurological problems," a police source said. Another Jewish group, the Union of French Jewish Students, said Haddad had been identified as Jewish because he was wearing a kippa, and had suffered several broken ribs, a fractured skull and was now in intensive care at a hospital in central Paris. "The victim was wearing a kippa and was on his way back home when his attackers, after identifying him as Jewish, started to beat him," the union said.

No responsibility is to be borne by academics or activists who froth at the mouth while screaming that shadowy cabals of Jewish bankers, journalists, and merchants are undermining the West and must be excised from decent society. Because their accusations are aimed at Zionist Jews. So that's OK.

References:
* Concerns rise in France after Jewish teen is attacked [AP]

Previously:
* Even 40 Years Ago, Anti-Zionism was Already Anti-Semitism
* USC Muslim Student Union Slips Into Open Anti-Semitism
* The Orwellian Origin and Development of the Term "Anti-Semitism"

Consider this the first of what will undoubtedly be many Fragile Ceasefire Watches:

In the first such strike since a cease-fire went into effect in the Gaza Strip last week, Palestinian militants from the coastal territory fired a mortar shell at the western Negev late Monday night. No injuries or damage were caused. Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the West Bank city of Nablus killed two Palestinian militants early Tuesday morning. One of the dead was a senior Islamic Jihad militant, and the other belonged to Hamas... Troops discovered ammunition, explosives and rifles in his apartment. In a statement released from the West Bank following the raid, Islamic Jihad said that "the reprisal for this noble blood will be in the depths of the Zionist entity, God willing."

Now without peeking at your neighbors' papers, can anyone tell the class why there's a difference between Palestinian-initiated fighting in Gaza and Israeli operations in the West Bank? Besides the difference in the number of letters and stuff. It's almost like the AFP is trying to obfuscate how the Palestinians are unilaterally violating the ceasefire. To be totally honest I'm kind of surprised that they're already back to bombarding Israeli schoolchildren. I thought they'd spend at least a couple weeks honoring the ceasefire while openly violating the truce:

Smuggling into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip will not stop, the head of the territory's government, Ismail Haniya, said on Friday, threatening an already tenuous two-day-old truce with Israel. During Egyptian-mediated negotiations, Israel "wanted to force Hamas to stop what they call the smuggling of contraband across land and sea borders," Haniya told worshippers before Friday prayers. "They also said that (the release of detained Israeli soldier) Shalit must be part of the truce deal. But we have not agreed to these demands because they are unjust and go beyond the capabilities of this government," he said. Reacting to Haniya's remarks, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert underlined that the Egyptian-brokered truce explicitly stated that arms smuggling into the impoverished territory must halt.

It's a neat trick. Hamas violates their part of the truce by rearming. The only response open to the IDF - suspending the ceasefire - will get the Israelis blamed for the collapse of the whole deal. At least Israel didn't rope Egypt into this ever-so-fleeting truce. Because that would make it really complicated when the IDF has to respond to the Palestinians' drip drip drip of attacks.

References:
* Gaza truce tensely holds after mortar fire, two West Bank militants killed [Ha'aretz]
* Egypt brokering Hamas-Israel deal on long-term Gaza truce [Ha'aretz]
* Hamas says smuggling to Gaza will continue [AFP]

Previously:
* Hamas Fires Over 40 Rockets At Israeli Civilians, Kill Palestinian Baby In The Process
* Hamas Blocks Israeli Food Shipments, Intentionally Starves Gaza Civilians To Create A Humanitarian Disaster - Again!
* Ceasefire Set To Increase Hamas Popularity From Merely Overwhelming To Totally Awesome

A year ago Congress had to clean out Al Hurra's stables because their newsroom was having trouble distinguishing between "reporting" and "broadcasting hours and hours of unfiltered Hezbollah propaganda." The State Department's Arab TV station - modeled on the VOA because presumably the same historical values that appealed to Cold War Europe operate in the Middle East today - was also faulted for their fawning coverage of Iran's Holocaust Revisionism conference. Al Hurra director Larry Register had to resign before Congress would sign off on more Al Hurra funding. Luckily new director Brian Conniff has put a monitoring system in place:

American taxpayers are paying for a Middle Eastern television network that broadcast an anti-Israeli diatribe as recently as last month, a joint investigation by 60 Minutes and ProPublica reveals. This, despite the fact that Al Hurra management promised Congress nearly two years ago that they would take measures to prevent such mistakes, which had occurred repeatedly before. The joint investigation will be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday, June 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT and be detailed on ProPublica's Web site simultaneously. Al Hurra is headquartered in Springfield, Va.; it was created four years ago by the Bush Administration to counter what was seen as an anti-American bias at Arab satellite news channels like the Qatar-based Al Jazeera. Nearly half a billion dollars has been spent since its inception and its top executive, Brian Conniff, assures Scott Pelley things have improved editorially. "We now have a fully functioning assignment desk that views all packages and scripts... I have an independent monitoring system..."

But 60 Minutes and ProPublica monitored the broadcast last month and found a Palestinian guest named Hani El-Masri on its flagship show "Free Hour" calling Israel a "racist" state that is conducting its own "Holocaust" against Palestinians. His exact quote, unchallenged by the host or balanced by another panel member, was "[Israel] is the occupying and racist state that imposes the stifling and deadly blockade and perpetrates a holocaust against 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza."... Soon afterward, irate members of Congress were assured that Ahmed Amin would be fired. ProPublica and 60 Minutes have learned that, 18 months later, he was still on the U.S. government payroll. He was fired only after 60 Minutes and ProPublica began inquiring. The news director of Al Hurra who made the decisions to cover both the conference and Hezbollah speech was forced to resign. In his first interview since this controversy, Larry Register defends his decisions, telling Pelley he was trying to make Al Hurra more credible and relevant to people in the Middle East, where, according to a public opinion pollster, it gets just two percent of the audience.

In fairness to Register, Conniff, and the rest of the Al Hurra staff, they really are in an impossible situation. State Department department public diplomacy operates under the principle that Islamist supporters of jihadism will like us more if they only understood us better. It's the left's obsession with framing carried over into government-to-people rather than party-to-people communication. Never considered: the possibility that the US's enemies might hate us not because they don't know about America but because they understand US values all too well.

So Register's spineless excuse for using US dollars for Hezbollah propaganda and Holocaust denial is at least half right: it's functionally impossible to build a credible Middle East media presence without wallowing in the same insane conspiracy theories that dominate the rest of Arab public discourse. What I'm a fuzzy on is why this is supposed to be an argument in favor of Al Hurra continuing to fund Al Hurra.

References:
* US Public Diplomacy TV News Chief Quits Over Al-Hurra's Striking Resemblance To Al-Jazeera [MR]
* This Is Why Public Diplomacy Will Fail - Islamists Take It Over And Use It For Propaganda [MR]
* U.S.-Funded Arab TV Channel Slams Israel [CBS News]

Previously:
* Public Diplomacy Means Always Having to Say You're Sorry
* Karen Hughes - Public Diplomacy Chief, Utter Failure - Finally Resigns [Video]
* MR Reacts to Bloggers' Conference Call With Israeli Ambassador Uri Lubrani - Public Diplomacy Probably Won't Work, and Counting On It Is Probably a Bad Idea

About two-thirds of Israelis object to returning the Golan to Syria. So while this might be a noble effort - not so much:

Israeli envoys holding a new round of indirect peace talks with Syrian counterparts in Turkey will propose the leaders of the two states meet at a conference in France next month, Israeli political sources said on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad launched Turkish-mediated negotiations last month but there has been no word on prospects for a summit given the outstanding gaps between the sides' bedrock demands.

Even President Peres is rolling his eyes. Although about two-thirds of Israelis also oppose a Hamas ceasefire without Shalit's return and that pretty much looks good to go. So there's actually a chance that Olmert has - incredibly - stumbled into a way to decrease his popularity.

Which is not to say that Israeli-Syrian talks aren't seriously eroding Israel's diplomatic position:

Israel's indirect negotiations with Syria through Turkish mediators are making it harder for Jerusalem to argue against high-level European contacts with Damascus, diplomatic officials said Sunday. The officials' comments came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's chief of staff, Yoram Turbowicz, and his foreign policy adviser, Shalom Turgeman, traveled to Turkey for another round of indirect talks with the Syrians. Neither the locale nor the framework of the talks were formally confirmed by the Prime Minister's Office. Also Sunday, two top advisers to French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the latest sign of a thaw in ties between the two nations.

Think of this as an international version of what pro-Israel activists go through the Hill: they walk in into a Congressional office, explain why giving guns to the Palestinians is a bad idea, get enthusiastic agreements, and then totally fail. Because - as the Congresspeople glumly explain - they can't oppose objectively anti-Israel measures when it's the Israeli government itself that's lobbying for the bills. At least Olmert's keeping busy these last few months in office.

References:
* Poll: More Israelis object to Golan accord than to Jerusalem deal [Ha'aretz]
* Israel to propose Olmert-Assad talks, sources say [YNet]
* Peres: If Assad is serious – let him meet with Olmert [YNet]
* 68% oppose truce without Schalit [JPost]
* 'Talks harm efforts to isolate Damascus' [JPost]

Previously:
* This Summer's War With Syria - Peace Deal Rumors Are Suspiciously Incoherent
* Syria Modernizing Its Airforce With Russian Help - War With Israel On The Horizon
* Syria's Been Building Their Nuclear Reactor Since 2003 And The State Department Still Tried To Stop Israel From Taking It Out (Plus: Awesome IDF Bombing Raid Just Got Filled With Even More Awesome)

In January the US promised that they'd have the Palestinians signing a peace agreement by the end of the year. I demurely expressed skepticism and fearlessly predicted that the State Department would go out of its way to blame Israel for the failure. Surprise:

The source said that Rice's particularly stern comments about the construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem were an indication of frustration that after 21 visits to the region as secretary of state, she was facing the prospect of leaving office in January without an agreement here. Rice, during each of her public appearances on Sunday, criticized Israeli construction activity.... after meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, she said that while the US remained committed to the target date of completing a shelf agreement by the end of 2008, Israeli construction plans were hurting the negotiations.

The awesome thing about blaming Israel's East Jerusalem construction is that it's only a deal breaker because the State Department convinced the PA to make it a deal breaker. Of course the Palestinians will never sign a final status agreement without East Jerusalem. But in the meantime - for the sake of the vaunted 2008 date - they were at least willing to focus on other issues. Then the State Department unilaterally declared that - actually - East Jerusalem construction isa huge deal and it is tanking the peace process. So of course the Palestinians followed suit. Almost as if it was somewhat predictable US peacemaking would fail and that Israel would get blamed.

References:
* Bush: Oh Hell Yes It's Peace Yet! [MR]
* Fatah Weapons Champion, Abject Failure Keith Dayton Said Nablus Was Fatah's "First Real Test" How's That Going? (Plus: Dozens Of Fatah Soldiers Building Rockets, Targeting Israelis) [MR]
* 'Rice's criticism ruffles few feathers' [JPost]
* It's Official: State Department Positions More Anti-Israel Than What Palestinians Demand [MR]

Previously:
* Hamas-Led Palestinians Pretty Much Having Their Way With Egyptian Border Gaurds
* Abbas: Good Chance We'll Use Our US Security Assistance To Go Back To Killing Israelis
* State Dept: Sure Abbas Just Promised To Attack Israelis. How About We Give Him $25 Million For New Weapons?

Well, they are inspired by God. So it makes sense that these genocidal lunatics would have broad support across Palestinian society:

Hamas appears to be as strong and popular as ever with residents of the Gaza Strip. Various public opinion polls published in recent weeks have even shown that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is more popular than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Of course there have also been polls that showed the exact opposite. But notwithstanding the contradictory surveys, the fact that Hamas is still in power one year after the "coup" speaks for itself.

Just as a matter of curiosity - how do you think the impending Israeli-Hamas ceasefire and prisoner swap - which won't include Shalit - will affect their popularity?

Defense sources in Israel said Sunday night that "it is important to understand that the meaning of the agreement with the Egyptians is that within several days after the cease-fire goes into effect, intensive negotiations begin over Gilad Shalit's release. This will be a tough deal to complete - therefore the government will be called upon to make tough decisions to bring Gilad home." The sources hinted at the heavy price Hamas will demand: releasing hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, many of whom were convicted of murder for their involvement in major terror attacks.

You know what's been working out really great? Palestinian democracy.

References:
* Hamas Thanks "The Media" For Glorious "Victory" In Gaza [Video] [MR]
* Analysis: One year after 'coup,' Hamas still favored [JPost]
* Israel awaiting Egypt's answer to remaining issues on Gaza truce [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Hamas Creates Humanitarian Crisis By Stealing Fuel For Terrorism, Preventing Israeli Gas Shipments, And Cutting Off Gaza Civilians. Again. (Plus: International Press, Human Rights Groups Blame Israel. Again)
* Hamas Has 200 Tons Of Explosives That The US Gave To Fatah (Plus: Egypt Says It's Israel's Fault)
* Carter "Understands" Why Hamas Has To Bomb Israeli Schools And Hospitals

The magical thing about pro-Israel blogging is that its abjectly depressing content is totally unredeemed by even the slightest hint of new or interesting anti-Israel outrages. I take a blissful month away from blogging only to return to this disgusting decade-old proposal and this incredibly predictable screwjob:

Lebanese officials reported of a significant turnaround in the United State's position regarding the Shebaa Farms and said that the Bush administration is now in favor of Israel's withdrawal from the eight square mile disputed area in the Golan Heights in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 170... Sources in Lebanon were quoted by Al-Hayat as saying that Israel's possible withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms area, which was captured by Israel from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967, was one of the focal points during the recent meetings US President George W. Bush held with German, Italian, British and French leaders while touring Europe.

Incredibly. Predictable. Screwjob:

As part of the Lebanon-II withdrawal, the US promised that it would never pressure Israel to withdraw from Har Dov, the so-called Shebaa Farms region that Israel took from Syria in 1967, based on Hezbollah's absurd claims that it was Lebanese land. At the time we wrote that we'd need that post in the future because the international community routinely pulls this kind of moving the goalposts bait and switch on Israel... Here's Alberto Fernandez (Director of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department) - a guy whose job it is to win Arab hearts and minds - responding to Arab-Americans trying to get him to endorse Hezbollah's absurd position: "Oh come on, the 'Lebanese Resistance', if I may use that term sarcastically, didn't know the Shebaa Farms was occupied until the Syrians told them so. That is just ridiculous." First the UN walked over every inch of the Lebanese border and certified that Israel had fully withdrawn. Hezbollah simply ignored that decision.

The most basic land-for-peace fantasy is that Arabs murder Israelis because of territorial disputes. Once Israel meets Hezbollah's "legitimate claims" - Obama's lovely phrase - intransigent and genocidal Arab anti-Semitism is supposed to subside. Land-for-peace skeptics - on the other hand - have always claimed that Israel's Arab enemies will just pocket Israel concessions and use them as platforms for even more insane demands.

Israel gambles on some diplomatic agreement or assurance in the context of a land-for-peace swap. Its concessions are met with unblinking hysterical fantasizing and unremitting genocidal hatred. The diplomatic community inevitably insists that Israel give in to just one more insane claim on its territory. It's the same bait and switch over and over again.

References:
* Vicious Child Murderer Samir Kuntar To Be Traded Next Week? [MR]
* Report: US backs Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa Farms [YNet]
* The UN Makes It Official: There Is Absolutely No Agreement That Won't Be Changed If Israel's Genocidal Enemies Refuse To Accept For Long Enough [MR]
* Oh, THOSE Legitimate Claims [Power Line]
* Annapolis As A Rosetta Stone For How Anti-Israel Bait And Switch Diplomacy Works [MR]

Previously:
* Are They Really that Stupid?
* Smug Condescending Sophisticates Admit They've Been Lying Through Their Teeth About Israeli Security I - UN Admits Hezbollah Is Rearming
* One Jerusalem Conference Call: Ambassador Dore Gold On How Current Limited Negotiations Are A Slippery Slope To Losing Jerusalem

This rumor goes around once every few weeks. But with Olmert desperate to leave office with any accomplishment - no matter how costly - well, fuck:

Military sources in Lebanon expect Hezbollah next week to return to Israel abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev as part of an exchange deal, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir... the deal will take place between June 20-25... no proof has been offered that [Goldwasser and Regev] are alive... the family of jailed Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar have begun to prepare for his imminent return to Lebanon. Kuntar's return to Lebanon is considered to constitute one of Israel's commitments in the deal. Kuntar is serving multiple life sentences for killing four Israelis in a 1979 infiltration of an apartment building in northern Israel. Among the victims were a 28-year-old man and his four-year-old daughter, whose head Kuntar repeatedly smashed against a rock before crushing her skull with a rifle butt.

That's an interesting way to phrase what that cretin did:

The terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat, so that his death would be the last thing she would ever see. Then, he smashed my little girl’s skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar. Just like last time, the deal being proposed also doesn't include Ron Arad, which means that Israel would be effectively giving up hope of ever getting him back.

At least Kuntar hasn't just sworn to immediately go back to killing Israeli toddlers. And at least the AP will have another chance to actively mislead readers about Kuntar's savageness. So everyone's going with what they're good at.

References:
* Report: Hezbollah to return abducted IDF soldiers next week [Ha'aretz]
* Israel Considers Releasing Murderous Animal Filth In Exchange For Kidnapped Israeli Soldiers [MR]
* Terrorist Samir Kuntar Vows to Continue Terrorism if Freed....... [Tundra Tabloids]
* AP misinforms the world [Yourish]

Previously:
* Israeli Government Works To Unite Entire J-Blogosphere In Total Opposition to Israeli Government
* Hey, Let's Just Let All the Terrorists Out
* Prisoner Exchange: I Don't Know, and You Don't Know Either