Disguised as a haredi (religious Jew), a palestinian got himself picked up by three Jews on their way back to their town in the West Bank. He blew himself up, killing the three haredim, at the entrance to the settlement.

Scum.

Fatah claimed the killing. That would be the party that Arafat founded, the party that Abbas supposedly leads. Once again, there is no palestinian peace partner, because they don’t want “the peace of the brave.” They want the peace of the grave.

Bastards.

Counting down to the celebrations by the new Hamas-led PA.

You know, you’re right, Lair. This blog doesn’t have enough kitty pictures.

Tig reads my books. This one is Michael Oren’s “Six Days of War.”

This is what Gracie’s belly used to look like before she licked off half the fur. No, I haven’t figured out how to stop her, yet. A trip to the vet is in order.

These are a few things in news writing that have struck me as just plain stupid today:

Abramoff free, despite sentence
FORSAKING his trademark fedora for a baseball cap, lobbyist extraordinaire Jack Abramoff walked out of a Florida courtroom, despite having just been sentenced to five years’ jail for conspiracy and fraud.

Wearing a double-breasted suit and the cap, with his wife on his arm, the one-time King of K Street — Washington’s lobbying centre — was allowed to stay free for the next few months because of his co-operation with an investigation into the buying of congressmen.

Hey, stupid: He’s walking free because that was part of the plea deal. Get a better grip on the American legal system, willya?

Iran Defiantly Rejects U.N. Demands

I’m sorry, this is just plain stupid. Like we’re ever going to see a headline that says, “Iran Timidly Rejects U.N. Demands.” Duh.

When this story first appeared, the headline and page title both said that McCloy was a minor: “Rescued minor McCloy speaks out for first time.” Annoying. Nope, no screenshot. Way to go, though, MSNBC copy editors! Too much overreliance on Microsoft’s spellchecking? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Wow, I’m crabby today. Don’t know why; the boss walked out of here smiling after a meeting about the state of the tech manual I’ve been working on.

It seems that Israeli government, when it is formed, has its work cut out for it.

As Jerusalem Post reports, Hamas wants to negotiate:

Hamas sources warned on Thursday that if Israel did not begin its negotiations with the Palestinians, they would return to their armed struggle.

apparently their will to make peace is so strong they will not hesitate to kill for it.

Furthermore, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced in his inauguration on Wednesday that all members of his government were “potential shahids (martyrs).”

That is an announcement to be applauded. So, let’s go for peace negotiations, why don’t we?

But, on the other hand, as Haaretz says:

Meanwhile, the armed groups in Gaza, including ones from Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, announced they would continue their armed struggle against Israel. Islamic Jihad, which launched a Katyusha rocket into Israel on Tuesday, announced it also had Russian-made Grad missiles, and that it intended to increase its launches into Israel.

Quite a quandary, isn’t it? Kill you if you wouldn’t negotiate, kill you if you would.

Go figure…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Hamas’ cabinet has been sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas, and they’ve hit the ground running at the mouth:

Newly-installed PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar said the United States is biased toward Israel, guilty of crimes against the Muslim and Arab world and is widening the rift between the American people and those of the Middle East.

Zahar, considered one of the more hard-line officials in the Palestinians’ new Hamas-led government, also said his group would not cave in to international pressure to change its ways and that it had no plans to negotiate with Israel.

Responding to a statement by U.S. President George W. Bush, that Washington would provide no aid to a Palestinian government headed by Hamas unless it changes its extremist policies, Zahar said Bush’s comments were in line with American support for Israel in the United Nations, and its massive aid to Israel.

“America is committing big crimes against the Arab and Islamic countries,” Zahar told The Associated Press late Wednesday at his Gaza home. “This new decision will intensify the gap between the American people, American interests and the Middle East in general,” Zahar said.

Just in case you’re wondering about this Mahmoud Zahar’s goals, here’s a hint in his own words from January 15, 2004:

“She [Hamas suicide bomber Re'em Al-Riyashi] is not going to be the last because the march of resistance will continue until the Islamic flag is raised, not only over the minarets of Jerusalem, but over the whole universe.”7

This is the man that Hamas has decided to represent the embodiment of the Palestinian Authority’s foreign policy, and Mahmoud Abbas has sworn the man in.

Anyone want to guess how long it is before he ends up in the parking lot in Ramallah, or will the Israelis not even allow the body to leave Gaza?

The U.S. has cut off ties with Hamas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States ordered its diplomats and contractors on Wednesday to cut off contacts with Palestinian ministries after a Hamas-led government was sworn in, the State Department said.

A directive, distributed to diplomats and other officials in the region by e-mail, instructed them with immediate effect not to have contacts with Hamas-appointed government ministers or those who work for them, whether they are members of the Islamic militant group or not, officials said.

Hamas is formally committed to the destruction of Israel and is classed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organisation. It won a landslide victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.

“We will not have contact with members of Hamas, no matter what title they may have,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

And Canada has cut off ties and aid.

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada is cutting assistance and diplomatic ties to the Palestinian Authority because the new Hamas government has not renounced violence.

However, Ottawa will still provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people through the United Nations and other organizations.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay announced the news Wednesday after the Palestinian Legislative Council approved the formation of a Hamas-led government.

“The stated platform of this government has not addressed the concerns raised by Canada and others concerning non-violence, the recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap for Peace,” MacKay said in a statement.

“As a result, Canada will have no contact with the members of the Hamas cabinet and is suspending assistance to the Palestinian Authority.”

Those are two good steps in the right direction. It remains to be seen how much aid from humanitarian organizations winds up being funneled to the Hamas-led PA, but for now, I’m going to see the glass as half-full.

Not that anyone didn’t already know this, but they’re getting bolder and bolder about admitting how much they are stirring the pot against Israel. And, oh, yeah, the IDF hasn’t got a chance against them.

TEHRAN (AFP) - The head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards warned that Hamas-led Palestinians would be victorious in any confrontation with Israel under premier-elect Ehud Olmert.

“Today we have on one side the revolutionary and Islamic Hamas and on the other the new party of Kadima,” General Yahya Rahim Safavi said Wednesday in reaction to Olmert’s election win Tuesday and the imminent investiture of the new Hamas administration.

“(If) they confront one another, with the Muslims’ support for the revolutionary Palestinians, great victories will definitely be for the Palestinians,” he told state television.

[...] “Today the Iranians are hand-in-hand with the Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis and Palestinians initiating a new trend that will free Palestine and will see the defeat of the Zionists and the US’s greater Middle East plan,” Savafi said.

Gotta love this AFP description of Iran’s army, though:

The elite Revolutionary Guards corps is one of the most powerful institutions set up after the 1979 Islamic revolution to defend Iran from internal and external threats.

Yeah, they were fearsome against the Iraqi army in the eighties. And they’re hell-on-wheels against unarmed student protesters. I’m thinking they’d fare pretty poorly against the IDF, but for that, they’d have to invade Israel. Not gonna happen. They work best as puppetmasters, apparently, running their proxy war through Hezbullah.

Hamas says if Israel doesn’t start negotiating with them, they’re going to start blowing up Israelis — which, of course, will lead to more negotiation. Oh, wait, no. It leads to Israel killing Hamas members.

Yeah, that’s some moderation Hamas is showing. You can catch all the conflicted viewpoints of the killers in this short piece:

Hamas sources warned on Thursday that if Israel did not begin its negotiations with the Palestinians, they would return to their armed struggle.

Furthermore, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced in his inauguration on Wednesday that all members of his government were “potential shahids (martyrs).”

On the other hand, a Hamas spokesman told the British Guardian on Thursday that the terrorist organization did not intend to return to committing suicide bombing against Israel, as it only gave the IDF an excuse to kill Palestinians, according to the spokesman.