Mere Rhetoric

British Muslims Doing Their Best To Cleanse Britain Of Jews

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:03:22 -0800

Synagogues are being set on fire. Graffiti advocating the mass murder of Jews is appearing all over London. Literal pogroms - putting Jews in geographically discrete areas and then attacking them there - are happening all over London. And British sophisticates are tsk tsk'ing because a British terrorism expert - who also happens to be a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman who believes that Israeli children are legitimate military targets - says that it's because of Cast Lead:

For the record, this "British terrorism expert" also happens to be Egyptian-born, Muslim brotherhood spokesman, Kamal El-Helbawy, who once questioned whether Israeli children are legitimate targets -- this before Israel's latest "blame-all" incursion. One must wonder, therefore, whether his "expertise" in terrorism is a product of theoretic knowledge or hands-on experience... Gaza, 29 Dec. (AKI) - The latest Israeli attacks on Gaza could promote the growth of 'new Al-Qaeda' terror networks, a British terrorism expert warned on Monday. Kamal El-Helbawy, director of The Centre for the Study of Terrorism, said the raids had provoked widespread anger throughout the Middle East and many people, even children, were now talking about revenge.

Yeah. 4,000 UK Muslim terrorists being tracked by the CIA but Islamist anti-Semitism is Israel's fault. Of course it is. And so is the ethnic cleansing that's being planned for Britain's Jews:

An Islamic extremist Web site is believed to be drawing up a list of prominent British Jews to target over Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza, The Sun reported on Wednesday. According to the British newspaper, Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson and Foreign Secretary David Miliband were among names discussed on the online forum Ummah. The report came as a British Jewish watchdog group, the Community Security Trust, said there has been a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Britain since the upsurge of hostilities in Gaza.

Probably just overzealous anti-Zionism. Nothing that a strict regime of sensitivity training. References: * Synagogue set ablaze and anti-Semitic assaults soar in UK following Israel's invasion of Gaza [Mail Online] * Great News: Pogroms Returning To Europe [MR] * 5,000 demonstrators and riots in Londonistan over Gaza [Jihad Watch] * MEMRI: London Islamist - All Israeli Children Are Legitimate Targets [Solomonia] * British terrorism expert predicts dire reaction to Israeli incursion [Jihad Watch] * CIA tracking 4000 UK terror suspects [The Age] * Report: Islamist site compiling list of U.K. Jews to target over Gaza op [Ha'aretz] Previously: * I'm Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - Anglican Leader Advocates End Of Anglican Church, British Christians Generally Agnostic On Whether Christianity Is True * Britain Now Fighting Terrorism By Strip Searching Clowns, Implementing Sharia * British TV Letting Ahmadinejad Deliver Alternative Christmas Message In Response To The Queen

I Get (Often Inarticulate) Mail

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:55:26 -0800

"Hate mail" posts are the easiest posts ever:

you are the vilest sort of pustule laden cunt ever to steal oxygen on this here planet. may you and your damned naai cohorts suffer the most extreme torture ever to be conjured by the sickest human mind. to say "to hell with you" would be cursing the devil.......

Pustule, for MR's foreign audience, is "a small swelling similar to a blister or pimple." It's not often found in sentences that include the depreciated "this here" definite indicator. And I don't have to tell you that "naai" is as per the original. I assume he meant "Nazi." So do you think it's a college liberal, a political Islamist, or a white supremacist? I'm thinking college liberal: you can only trot out that last "cursing the devil" zinger if your social circle consists entirely of fashionably outraged stoners who'll giggle at that sort of thing. Previously: * We Get Mail - We're Forced To Explain Why Happiness Is Good * I Get (Unhelpful) Mail * We Get Mail - Pro-Holocaust YouTube Cretin Edition

Breaking: Israel Accepts Truce? (UPDATE: Effie Eitam Calls Bullshit)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:27:03 -0800

UPDATE: There's a One Jerusalem conference call going on with Effie Eitam right now - post to come up shortly - and I asked him about rumors that Israel had accepted the truce. He is... highly skeptical. The fact that Israel has just dropped leaflets over the Gaza-Egypt border - signs of an impending operation to dismantle the smuggling tunnels one by one - lends something above an iota of credibility to his intuition. Sarkozy says yes but fighting on the ground disagrees:

Clashes between Israel Defense Forces troops and Palestinian gunmen resumed in Gaza City on Wednesday afternoon, after the expiration of a three-hour truce to allow in humanitarian aid, residents said. Residents of the northern Gaza Strip had reported exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants during the 1 P.M. - 4 P.M. temporary truce period... Israeli ground forces battled with Palestinian gunmen throughout Gaza early Wednesday, as the army pressed on with its offensive against the coastal strip's Hamas rulers. The Israel Defense Forces used infantry, tanks, combat engineers, artillery, and intelligence units against the Palestinian militant group, on the twelfth day of Operation Cast Lead.

One of the x-factors is how much control Hamas's leadership has over facts on the ground. Their armed forces - filled with fanatics as it is - is not inclined to stop firing at Israeli civilians. Decision-making has already been devolved to commanders in the field - a gauranteed deterance breakdown since it seperates the forces doing the launching from the forces who are targeted in the retaliation. A truce now would put Israel in an analogous situation to Lebanon II and the worst years of Oslo: Israel is attacked and has to roll with it because there's no one to retaliate against. Better to use the next few weeks to firmly dismantle Hamas. Which is something the Israeli government knows. Which is why I'm highly skeptical that there will be a truce before, say, Friday. Although this kind of news is troubling:

Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday postponed a vote on whether to expand the Israel Defense Forces 12-day-old offensive in the Gaza Strip, political sources said. The sources said ministers discussed whether to implement the "third stage" of an operation launched on Dec. 27 but decided to defer the decision on whether to approve it to an undisclosed date. Israel's political leadership gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning to discuss widening the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip at a time when most of the aims of the operation have been met. In parallel, international diplomatic efforts are continuing, centering on an initiative to deploy an international force of combat engineers that would deal with the tunnels along the Philadelphi Route. The force would work in coordination with a naval force that would patrol the Gaza Strip shores.

In fairness: there are a lot of really smart people who think that an international force is the medium-term solution to radicalism in Hamas. But not for the next few weeks - not until there's a clear cut dismantling of Hamas. References: * Sarkozy: Israel and Palestinians agree to terms of Gaza truce [Ha'aretz] * Clashes resume in Gaza City after 3-hour humanitarian truce [Ha'aretz] * Defense sources: Even if Hamas agrees to truce, its armed wing may resist [Ha'aretz] * Hamas: We Will Murder Jewish Children All Over The World (Plus: Diplomats Trying To Stop The IDF From Winning) [MR] * Israel defers vote on expanding Gaza ground op amid growing truce bids [Ha'aretz] Previously: * Liberal Think Tanks, Majority Of Democratic Voters Condemn Israeli Self-Defense In Gaza * Diplomatic Pressure Means The IDF Has Less Than A Week To Win * Hamas Bombs Another Israeli School (Plus: What's Their Next "Surprise"?)

New Category Of Anti-Israel Photojournalism: Fauxtography By Omission

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:53:09 -0800

Real quick: an addition to Zombietime's mostly comprehensive taxonomy of anti-Israel photojournalism. Fauxtography by omission:

There are some 15,000 Hamas fighters and far fewer Israeli soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip (the number is not published), so why do two major photo services have countless photos of Israeli soldiers and virtually none of Hamas fighters? A search of Reuters and Associated Press photo services from Dec. 27 through today using the keywords "Gaza militant" and "Gaza fighter" turned up almost no pictures of Hamas fighters... In contrast, here were plenty of pictures of Israeli soldiers, Palestinian casualties, statesmen and diplomats, destruction in Gaza, and other related topics -- but almost nothing on Hamas fighters. This seems to be a repeat of the 2006 Lebanon war after which searches of the major photo services turned up not one picture of Hezbollah fighters (except at funerals) for the whole 34-day war.

Of course it's much easier to take pictures of Palestinian civilian casualties since Hamas operatives disgustingly display the corpses of babies:

One more thing, speaking of pornography - we've all seen endless pictures of dead Palestinian children now. It's a terrible, ghastly, horrible thing, the deaths of children, and for the parents it doesn't matter if they were killed by accident or by mistake. But ask yourselves this: Why are these pictures so omnipresent? I'll tell you why, again from firsthand, and repeated, experience: Hamas (and the Aksa Brigades, and Islamic Jihad, the whole bunch) prevents the burial, or even preparation of the bodies for burial, until the bodies are used as props in the Palestinian Passion Play. Once, in Khan Younis, I actually saw gunmen unwrap a shrouded body, carry it a hundred yards and position it atop a pile of rubble -- and then wait a half-hour until photographers showed. It was one of the more horrible things I've seen in my life. And it's typical of Hamas.

Gazans do love themselves some death porn. References: * Media Fauxtography Now In Full Swing [MR] * Where Have All the Fighters Gone? [CAMERA Snapshots] * The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure [Goldberg / Atlantic] * Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (2) "The Palestinians Are Really Pissed Off" - And The NYT Will Publish Death Porn To Prove It [MR] Previously: * Anti-Semitic Al Dura Blood Libel Spurred Daniel Pearl's Killers * Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (1) "Rage and Tears" - Apparently Theats Of Genocide Are OK If You're Really Upset * UN Finally Notices Hamas Bombing Of Israeli Civilians, Rushes To Condemn Israel For Responding (Update: The EU Too!)

Memo To Hamas Apologists: Tel Aviv Is More "Densely Packed" Than Gaza

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:52:47 -0800

Tel Aviv's population density: 7,533 people per square kilometer. Gaza's population density: 4,118 people per square kilometer. Almost double. Tel Aviv is one of the most vibrant cities in the world, the secular heart of a country where everything from art to technology to genuine tolerance is a part of everyday life. Gaza is a swamp of resentful conspiracy mongering where the ills of daily life - objectively limited as they are - are excused by reference to scheming Jewish forces. The artistic and military sensibilities of secular Israelis are deeply oriented towards peace. Gaza's cultural products are more likely to embrace century-old genocidal violence: Partial transcript:

Following are excerpts from speeches by Arab Islamic leaders expressing solidarity with Gaza, which aired on Al-Manar and Al-Aqsa TV, December 3 and 5, 2008. Sheik Himam Sa'id, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan: Oh noble Gaza, raise your head high. You have made the Muslims raise their heads high. And you, people of Hebron - you are now waging a war against the Jews. You are well-versed in this. We saw how, on a day in 1929, you slaughtered the Jews in Hebron. Today, slaughter them on the land of Hebron. Kill them in Palestine. Arise, oh people of Palestine, all the people of Palestine - arise in defense of your Al-Aqsa Mosque, arise in defense of Nablus and Hebron. Arise and face the [PA] Preventive Security forces. Fear them not, for they are rabbits. They are wolves, so fear them not, oh lions.

I wonder if these two dynamics - the cultural divergence on one hand and the hatred gap on the other - are in any way related. References: * Video: Hamas Pretty Psyched About Using Qassams To "Send Israeli Civilians To Hell" [MR] * Gay Anti-Israel Movements Very Sophisticated Indeed [MR] * Breathless HuffPo Headline About Gazans Eating Grass Contradicted By Rest Of Headline, Linked Picture, Reality (Plus: Anti-Semitic Comments Ensue Anyway) [MR] * Zionist Rappers Sing About Peace, Stopping Holy War [Video] [MR] * Israeli Soldiers Kick Back In A Bus Station, Jam About Peace [Videos] [MR] * 'Slaughter Jews like in 1929, blow yourselves up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv' [Israel Matzav] Previously: * Hamas Heavily Armed, Skeptical About Israeli Commitment To Self-Defense * Hamas Leaders Spent Last Month Bragging About War, Mocking Israeli Restraint * Hamas Seems Pretty Serious About The Whole "Divine Victory Over The Jews" Thing (Plus: Jimmy Carter's Pro-Hamas Propaganda Seems Rather Untenable)

Reminder: Hamas Uses Israeli Humanitarian Gestures To Rack Up Mass Civilian Casualties

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:00:46 -0800

Carl caught this story about how the IDF's humanitarian efforts are exploited by Hamas to increase civilian casualties:

Israel's notifications to civilians in Gaza to leave populated locations before they are bombed are cynically used by Hamas for organizing human shields, a new study says. The study by the Terror and Intelligence Information Center shows that when the IDF warns Arab civilians of an impending attack in their neighborhood, Hamas uses the information in order to organize the civilians into human shields in the hope of protecting the targets from the IDF's wrath. Hamas's de facto prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and other top terrorists, including Nizar Riyan, who was killed in the course of Operation Cast Lead, have publicly boasted of using the warnings as "intelligence" and then using civilians, including women and children, as human shields to protect the homes of terrorists.

Per Alan Dershowitz, this is par for the course:

In a recent incident related to me by the former head of the Israeli air force, Israeli intelligence learned that a family's house in Gaza was being used to manufacture rockets. The Israeli military gave the residents 30 minutes to leave. Instead, the owner called Hamas, which sent mothers carrying babies to the house.

Weird that Dershowitz can see the stakes of the conflict so clearly but - as Dennis Prager just querulously mused about - will still enthusiastically support a political faction that is stridently against Israeli self-defense. I don't mean to be judgmental - political identification among American Jews is the thing. But there has to be a point where reality intrudes and kind of says "come on, guy." References: * Shocka: 'Palestinians' using Israeli warnings to 'organize' human shields [Israel Matzav] * Study: Hamas Uses Israel's Warnings to Prepare Human Shields * Israel's Policy Is Perfectly 'Proportionate' [WSJ] * Prager to Dershowitz: How can you still be a liberal? [Hot Air] * Liberal Think Tanks, Majority Of Democratic Voters Condemn Israeli Self-Defense In Gaza [MR] * Social Science Confirms: Sheer Stupidity Only Explanation For Democratic Jews (Plus: Joe The Plumber Agrees: "A Vote For Obama Is A Vote For The Death Of Israel") [MR] Previously: * Video: Hamas Brags About Using Women And Children As Human Shields * Video: Hamas Prepares Army Of Women And Children To Be Suicide Bombers During Urban Warfare * Hamas Forcing Civilians To Stand On Roofs They Know Are About To Be Hit

NYT Continues Long Tradition Of Halfhearted Anti-Israel Bias, Cites Lack Of Evidence Of Pro-Hamas Sentiment As Proof Of Widespread Pro-Hamas Sentiment

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:24:29 -0800

What the hell?

Fewer than 100 people showed up on Monday in the busy center of Nablus for a demonstration in solidarity with the suffering Palestinians of Gaza. There were a few Palestinian flags, and some posters that featured bombs with Jewish stars and dripping blood and demanded, "Where is the conscience of the world?" But when an organizer asked passers-by to join the rally, only a handful responded. The lack of interest was not, for certain, lack of support for Hamas. Fury is rising here over the war in Gaza, as are support for Hamas and anger with the Palestinian Authority in this city, which has long been the beating heart of opposition to Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Many want the authority and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party, to do more to criticize Israel.

"For certain" joins "it's obvious" as a lady-doth-protest-too-much rhetorical giveaway that's made a pro-Hamas appearance during Cast Lead. And this whole tangled mess joins the NYT's "but what about Obama's wonderful dreams of peacemaking?" editorial as a banal hack job that's already been done better by other anti-Israel media outlets. Which I guess may be a point in the NYT's favor: they don't have the enthusiasm to be anything but conventionally biased. Cf. their late-to-the-dance May editorial about how Israel's wildly successful anti-terrorism fence was hurting Palestinians' feelings. In related news Nicholas Kristof is asking NYT readers for feedback about his groundbreaking insight that Cast Lead might be creating resentment in the Arab world. References: * In Fatah-Governed West Bank, Solidarity With Hamas [NYT] * UN Palestinian Stooge: "It's Obvious" That Israeli Attack Violated 48-Hour Truce That No One Knew About Until Now [MR] * Editorial - Incursion Into Gaza [NYT] * Predictable Media Meme Congealing: Israeli Self-Defense Is Bad For Obama [MR] * Israel's Tactics Thwart Attacks, With Trade-Off [NYT] * The Gaza mess, and a question for readers [Kristof / NYT] * Concise List Of Middle East Failures That Were Going To Happen Anyway But That Foreign Policy Experts Will Now Blame On Israel [MR] Previously: * Palestinian Witnesses: Of Course Hamas Fired Mortars From UN School * Hamas Blowing Out The Kneecaps Of Fatah-Linked Gaza Civilians, Executing Dozens * Hamas Expands Killing Spree Against Fatah-Linked Palestinian Civilians

Hamas Expands Killing Spree Against Fatah-Linked Palestinian Civilians

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:42:46 -0800

They're using "collaboration" as their excuse:

Six Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel have been executed in the past two days by Hamas security officers in the fighting zone in Jabalya... Among the alleged collaborators were three brothers, one of whom attempted before his arrest to swallow a cell phone's SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, which is believed to have documented his conversations with Israeli security officials. Ynet has learned that in recent days Hamas reached the suspects in the area where Israeli ground forces have been operating and where air strikes continue simultaneously. An eyewitness said that among the dead were three brothers executed on the street.

This is a replay of the absolutely barbaric crimes - done with cold, unblinking efficiency - that Hamas committed when they took over the Gaza Strip. No wonder West Bank Fatah operatives are talking about Cast Lead as "Allah's revenge." Let's see though. Coupled with the 35 civilians that they killed over the weekend that makes more than 40 Palestinian civilians murdered by Hamas in the last few days. That's an interesting number because it's also the inflated UN estimate from the school that Hamas transformed into a military base. And yet - no global outrage. It's almost like the world's concern for Palestinian civilians is selective. References: * Hamas Blowing Out The Kneecaps Of Fatah-Linked Gaza Civilians, Executing Dozens [MR] * Hamas executes 6 suspected collaborators [YNet] * Hamas Killing Babies And Wiping Out Fatah-Linked Families In Gaza, Preparing To Roll Fatah In The West Bank [MR] * A Fatah Friend Writes: I'm Supporting the Israeli Air Force [Jeffrey Goldberg] * Fatah loyalists: Gaza op is 'Allah's revenge' for Hamas actions [Ha'aretz] * Palestinian Witnesses: Of Course Hamas Fired Mortars From UN School [MR] Previously: * Palestinian Non-Civil War Watch - Worst Flare-Up That Won't Lead To A Civil War In Two Weeks * Palestinian Non-Civil War Watch (Bonus: It's the Jews' Fault. Of Course It Is) * Amidst Non-Civil War, Palestinians Find Time To Bomb Israeli School House

Palestinian Witnesses: Of Course Hamas Fired Mortars From UN School

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:25:52 -0800

The AP report by Ibrahim Barzak buries that little tidbit three paragraphs in, after 95% of readers have stopped reading. The phrases "Israel's onslaught" and "tearing bodies apart and staining streets with blood" - that's in the first paragraph. The part where it happened because Palestinians were using human shields - paragraph 3:

Two residents of the area who spoke by telephone said they saw a small group of militants firing mortar rounds from a street near the school, where 350 people had gathered to get away from the shelling. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Therein proceed 19 more paragraphs about the horrors of the Israeli attack - explosions, blood, literal gnashing of teeth and rending of garments - before we get more details about how "Cast Lead's Qana" was the result of Hamas's war crimes:

Two residents who spoke to an AP reporter by phone said the two brothers were known to be low-level Hamas militants. They said a group of militants -- one of them said four -- were firing mortar shells from near the school. An Israeli shell targeted the men, but missed and they fled, the witnesses said, refusing to allow their names to be published because they feared for their safety. Then another three shells landed nearby, exploding among civilians, they said.

Israel is considering complaining the the UN about how Hamas is using UN facilities for incitement and military operations. Upon hearing the news Hamas people were said to be confused because UNRWA has been facilitating their terrorism for years. Plus Hezbollah got to do the exact same thing during Lebanon II, using UN personnel as human shields and then having international media outlets blame the resulting deaths on Israel. So what's the big deal? (h/t: MR reader Matt) References: * Israel shells near UN school, killing at least 30 [AP] * IDF shell kills 30 in Gaza UN school; Israel mulls appeal over Hamas fire from UN facilities [Ha'aretz] * UNRWA Pours Millions Into Terrorism, Blames Israel (Plus: UNRWA Complains That Israel Is Blocking UNRWA Funding. Hmm) [MR] * UN Peacekeepers Begged Hezbollah to Stop Using Them As Human Shields. UN, LA Times Blame Israel Anyway. [MR] Previously: * Hamas Bombs Another Israeli School (Plus: What's Their Next "Surprise"?) * Hamas: We Will Murder Jewish Children All Over The World (Plus: Diplomats Trying To Stop The IDF From Winning) * France 2 Indulges In Some Fauxtography, Says "Dozens Of Dead Bodies" From 2005 Hamas Explosion Are Cast Lead Victims

France 2 Indulges In Some Fauxtography, Says "Dozens Of Dead Bodies" From 2005 Hamas Explosion Are Cast Lead Victims

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:26:36 -0800

Remember these tools? The ones who aired the Al-Dura hoax, inspired mass murder against non-Muslims, and then tried to bully skeptics into silence? Old habits die hard:

French public television network France 2 on Tuesday revealed they had aired photographs that allegedly showed destruction caused by the Israel Air Force during Operation Cast Lead, which were in fact taken during a different incident in 2005, one in which Gaza civilians were killed by an explosion caused by militants in the Strip. The footage aired on Channel 2 on Tuesday afternoon showed dozens of dead bodies, including Hamas gunmen and citizens, which the channel said were killed by an IAF bombing raid on January 1st. It later came to light that the channel had instead aired footage of the devastation caused after a truck full of explosives blew up in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp.

Wrong year, wrong cause. Though probably an honest mistake that has nothing to do with eager anti-Israel demonization in the France 2 newsroom. These things just happen. References: * French court rules in favor of journalist who called al-Dura video a hoax [Israel Insider] * France2 begins to sweat, tries to bully [Augean Stables] * French TV airs photos billed as damage from Cast Lead, actually from 2005 [Ha'aretz] Previously: * UN Palestinian Stooge: "It's Obvious" That Israeli Attack Violated 48-Hour Truce That No One Knew About Until Now * AFP Helpfully Provides Crisp Example Of Institutional Anti-Israel Media Bias * Predictable Media Meme Congealing: Israeli Self-Defense Is Bad For Obama

Video: UNRWA Explosion Was From Retaliatory Fire, Secondary Explosions

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:04:05 -0800

This incident has the potential to become Cast Lead's Qana: a humanitarian disaster, caused by the use of human shields, that leads the international community to force Israel into a ceasefire. It turns out that the Palestinians have been using that school as a mortar launching pad for years... ... and that's what happened this time. That and a bunch of secondary explosions from the weapons they were storing inside: Schools, hospitals, and holy places - three locations that are supposed to be sacrosanct and off-limits according to all civilized laws of warfare. Hamas already had the hospitals and mosques covered. Now the educational facilities that terrorists had long ago tangled up with weapons production and storage. References: * Hamas: We Will Murder Jewish Children All Over The World (Plus: Diplomats Trying To Stop The IDF From Winning) [MR] * US urges restraint after Qana but no ceasefire [Reuters] * UN School Used by Terrorists As a Weapons Dump [LGF] * Gaza Hospitals Overflowing With Hamas Weapons, Palestinian Vigilante Murder [MR] * Hamas's Militarized Mosques Not Immune From Israeli Jets [MR] * UN Schools Notorious for Shielding Terrorists [LGF] Previously: * Video: Hamas Brags About Using Women And Children As Human Shields * Video: Hamas Prepares Army Of Women And Children To Be Suicide Bombers During Urban Warfare * Hamas Forcing Civilians To Stand On Roofs They Know Are About To Be Hit

Friends Of Likud Conference Call - Gen. Moshe Ya'alon On Whether Hezbollah Will Open Up A Second Front

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:10:23 -0800

This morning's conference call - organized by Friends Of Likud - was with former Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon. He discussed a bunch of other things above and beyond Hezbollah: post-operation Gaza scenarios, Arab-Israel fifth column considerations, peace process strategy, etc. But I have a bunch of Hezbollah links that I need to dump and - since he's a recognized Lebanon expert - this is as good a hook as any. The good news is that he was unequivocal that Hezbollah doesn't have the wherewithal to attack Israel right now. It's not that they don't want to. It's just that they're deterred by a potential Israeli response. For all that the Lebanon II ground campaign was unsuccessful, the IAF proved that it can level urban infrastructure at will. Cast Lead, in turn, proved that the Israeli government is willing to let it. The bad news is that Ya'alon never thought Hezbollah would launch Lebanon II either. His famous line was that their Iranian-supplied missiles would rust in launchers. 4,000 strikes on Israeli cities later, not so much. Plus Israel's current Head of Military Intelligence, Amos Yadlin, thinks that Hezbollah intervention is a real possibility:

Head of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet Sunday that Hezbollah might carry out a limited attack in the north via a Palestinian terror group in response to the Israel Defense Forces ground operation now underway in Gaza. A government source in Jerusalem said that the military is on high alert in the north against a flare-up. The source said many reservists have been called up for service in the north... "Hezbollah might carry out a low-profile attack by means of a Palestinian organization that would be limited and not set the border alight," Yadlin said. He added that forces also remained on high alert in light of a possible Hezbollah strike against an Israeli target abroad." He said the date to watch for was February 14, the date last year on which senior Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated.

I didn't blog this report when it came out but a US army study concluded that Hezbollah is the very model of an effective post-conventional fighting force. And Nasrallah is painting himself into a corner: the more vociferously he demands Arab action against Israel the more striking it becomes that Hezbollah is sitting on the sidelines. If he keeps up his strutting Hezbollah will have to launch at least some token rockets. The domestic cost shouldn't be a factor: they're already functionally in control of Lebanon and, according to the logic of US foreign policy sophisticates, any Israeli retaliation would only help them. So why haven't they attacked? The x-factor is how much Iran wants to keep them in reserve as a deterrent against an IAF attack on Natanz. By all indications: a lot. The Israelis, meanwhile, might have their own reasons for wanting to take shots at Hezbollah - and not all of them are military. Any conflict between the two would nonetheless leave northern Israel and most of Lebanon devastated. Which is one of many, many reasons why the Lebanese government is trying to prevent Hezbollah from heating up the border. Lebanese officials say their efforts are working. But Barack also said that Israel wouldn't retaliate against Hamas - right up until Israel retaliated Hamas. So we're back where we started: they're a bunch of genocidal fanatics and anything is possible. References and previously after the jump...

Iran Wins Race For 2009's First Anti-Israel Photoshop?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:45:59 -0800

Rodger Thomas has what could well be the first 'shopped picture of 2009. And wouldn't you know it, the photo involves Israel's Gaza offensive and comes from some of the world's worst photoshoppers at FARS: I'm pretty bad at spotting these things - it took me multiple tries to see the cloned elements on the Lebanon II Hajj pics - but the debris in this picture does look awfully large. Stan - who does have a good eye for these things - agrees. Offered for your consideration. References: * FARS News [Are We Lumberjacks] * MSM Division Of Labor: NYT Provides The Misleading Anti-Israel Headlines, Hamas Stringers Provide The Fake Pictures [MR] * Iran: You Suck At Photoshop (updated) [Boing Boing] Previously: * Hamas Savages Publicly Mock Shalit Again * MSM Division Of Labor: NYT Provides The Misleading Anti-Israel Headlines, Hamas Stringers Provide The Fake Pictures * Israel Draws a Line in the Sand: Only Low-Ranking Terrorists To Be Freed. For Shalit. For Now. Maybe.

Turkey: Allah Will Personally Wipe Out Israel

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:15:52 -0800

A NATO country and EU candidate with 70 million Muslims that the US National Intelligence Council expects to be a nationalist, Islamist regional power by 2015? Good times:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's toxic comments Sunday that Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip would lead to punishment from Allah and Israel's "self-destruction" drew a protest from the Foreign Ministry, which told Turkey's ambassador to Israel that these words were "unacceptable" among friendly nations. Erdogan, speaking at a municipal election campaign rally in Anatolia, said Israel was "perpetrating inhuman actions which would bring it to self-destruction. Allah will sooner or later punish those who transgress the rights of innocents."

For the last few years Turkey has been at the center of US-Syrian peace talks. Though don't read anything into how their Prime Minister is willing now to call down divine wrath on Israel. Before this week their political echelon was totally impartial. But you know who's going to be particularly psyched about this? The Turkish military. References: * US intel agencies see stronger, Islamic Turkey in 2025 [Jihad Watch] * Israel: Erdogan's words 'unacceptable' [JPost] * Awww... Turkey's So Pissed Off At Israel That They Might Not Help Israel Give Syria Back The Golan [MR] Previously: * This Summer's War With Syria - Syria Calling Up Reservists? * Turkish Officials Working To Reinterpret Holy Books, Trigger Muslim Reformation (Plus: Uh Oh) * Awww... Turkey's So Pissed Off At Israel That They Might Not Help Israel Give Syria Back The Golan

Hamas: We Will Murder Jewish Children All Over The World (Plus: Diplomats Trying To Stop The IDF From Winning)

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:14:47 -0800

I think he just misspoke though. He obviously meant just the Zionist ones:

Zahar directed his message to Hamas' troops, and promised them victory over the IDF. "We must be patient until we are victorious, Allah will help us," he said. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists have been killed since the "Cast Lead" operation began last week, including 100 since the start of Israel's ground operation, and several of the group's senior leaders have been assassinated. Dozens have been taken prisoner as well. The Hamas leader called to murder Israelis and Jews worldwide, including children. "The Israelis have sentenced their children to death... They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world," he said. Hamas' platform calls for all Jews to convert to Islam or be killed, based on an Islamic saying (Hadith), and the group has not refrained from targeting children in the past. Hamas will destroy synagogues and Jewish schools as well, Zahar said, just as Israel destroyed mosques in Gaza. Israel bombed several mosques used to store rockets and ammunition.

When that happens, of course, billions of people will shake their heads and tsk tsk about the cycle of violence. The part where Hamas's mosques and schools are packed with explosives - in distinction to the synagogues and Jewish schools that aren't - that won't really come up. It's probably not a relevant distinction anyway. For what it's worth Hamas is actually doing pretty badly and may be on the verge of a complete meltdown:

As the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip entered its 10th day, Hamas has begun sending conflicting messages regarding its intentions. These contradictory messages, Palestinian political analysts said, reflected the state of confusion in Hamas and raised questions as to who was calling the shots in the Gaza Strip. While some Hamas leaders have been openly signaling their readiness to accept a new cease-fire, others are still calling for pursuing the fight against Israel "until victory." What is clear is that Hamas is now desperate for a lull in the fighting. But it is also eager to score some kind of a "military victory" before a cease-fire is reached.

The vast majority of Israeli casualties have been through the two separate friendly fire incidents that happened in the last 24 hours. Those are tragic deaths and they are in every way heroic battlefield deaths. But they weren't caused directly by the Hamas war machine so they're not a reason to believe that the IDF can't dismantle Hamas's army piece by piece - given enough time. But there was a gigantic explosion at a UN school in Gaza this morning. The IDF says it wasn't them yet Reuters has been running with the headline "Up to 40 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school" for hours. So the international community may step up and save Hamas yet. References and previously after the jump...