So this supposedly reformed UN Council on Human Rights, the one that John Bolton said wasn’t good enough, but Kofi Annan said was much better than the previous one? It just voted to condemn Israel in every single council session.

The new UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session.

The resolution, which was sponsored by Islamic countries, was passed by a vote of 29-12, with five abstentions. It effectively revives a practice of the UN’s dissolved Human Rights Commission, which also reviewed alleged Israeli abuses every time it met.

Yes, that’s right: Every single time.

Arab and Muslim countries succeeded in obtaining the signatures of one-third of the 47 Council members in order to hold a special discussion on “human rights violations by Israel in the territories” during the Council’s first session.

In the temperamental discussion, the Arab and Muslim bloc proposed a resolution according to which the Council’s inspectors would prepare a report on the Israeli violations of human rights in the territories for the Council’s next session scheduled for September.

In addition, the Israeli violations issue will also be discussed on a permanent basis every time the Council convenes. The next sessions are expected in December and in March, but one-third of the members will be able to summon special discussions, as they did Friday.

So let’s see. The UN reforms are actually not reforms. There is no financial reform. There is no real reform of the Human Rights Commission, as this Council has already proven as corrupt and useless as the previous Commission. And Kofi Annan is counseling patience.

Yeah. Same-old, same-old. I wrote about the UN’s bias against Israel what, four years ago? The more things change….

Lawhawk wrote the post I’ve been meaning to write.

The media focus on the fate of Shalit fails to recognize the following:

1) the breach of the Israeli border along Gaza by Islamic terrorists with ties to Hamas with a 300 foot long tunnel;

2) in the ensuing battle, two Israeli soldiers were killed, and Shalit was captured;

3) the incessant missile and rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza by terrorist groups including Hamas, AAMB, PIJ, Fatah, and the PRCs;

4) the kidnapping and murder of at least one Israeli since Shalit was captured;

5) the ongoing refusal of Hamas to recognize Israel and continued calls for Israel’s destruction coming from both Hamas and Fatah;

Read the rest.

I am so stealing this for my podcast this week.

Say, New Yorkers: Get ready for even more annoying street people bothering you over the next month. The “Jews for Jesus” evangelists intend to be out in force during July, and they want—New York Jews.

NEW YORK - New York City, which some have called a microcosm of a Jewish universe, will be met with the most intensive evangelistic outreach to Jews in July.

“This will be one of the largest and most strategic outreaches to Jewish people in the history of the Jews For Jesus ministry,” said Susan Perlman, associate executive director for Jews For Jesus.

Jews for Jesus has gone out to the streets of New York, mainly Manhattan, for the past three decades in evangelistic efforts. But this summer’s outreach is “unique” to all preceding ones, according to Perlman.

I would so like to be a witness to one of these schmucks approaching a Hasidic Jew in New York.

“Jews for Jesus made a commitment … to have an evangelistic outreach that had an intensive evangelistic outreach with a follow-up component in every city in the world that had a Jewish population of 25,000 or more,” Perlman explained. “We were able to pinpoint 54 cities.”

Darn, and Richmond wasn’t one of them. I’m so bummed. I could use an exercise in illogic with a bunch of faux Jews.

And the Greater New York area, the “mother of American Judaism” as Dr. Gerhard Falk, author of numerous publications, labeled it, was left as the final region in the extensive effort called “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9).

So if New York is the mother, who’s the father? Richmond? We have the one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the nation here. So who are the offspring? Chicago? Newark? (Okay, Newark is the child who left home as a teen and never came back, or anyway, moved to Livingston, Short Hills, and probably Teaneck. Yes, these are all NJ inside jokes.)

Kicking off on July 1, the outreach will have nine simultaneous campaigns running throughout the entire month, including specific outreaches to the Israelis, a speaking campaign to the large Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn, and a special emphasis in Westchester County. The organization that began in New York in 1975 had never done anything extensive throughout the five boroughs and other counties until this summer.

Wow, nine simultaneous campaigns. That’s like, more than eight! And they’re going to speak to the Russians! Not, like, I dunno, sign to them, or hand them pamphlets. And Westchester. Okay, let me indulge myself in a little bit of stereotyping here. Gonna love to hear the results of the Fake Jews for Jesus’ encounters with the Westchester Jewish American Princesses. I predict death, destruction, and many “Oy, veys!”

Also unique to this year’s New York campaign is involvement at an international level, with Jews for Jesus staff from all over the world, and domestic level.

“It’s a very international campaign,” Perlman commented. “It also involves lots of local churches, messianic congregations and individuals who want to lovingly and boldly bring the Gospel to Jewish people.”

To boldly go where no faux Jew has gone before! To seek out new Christians, and tell them they’re really Jewish! To have congregations that are 75% Christian and pretend that they’re really Jewish! Now that’s a mission.

On a personal level, Perlman said, “I’m a Jewish New Yorker. I heard the Gospel for the first time on the streets of Manhattan many years ago. It was foreign to me. I think most Jewish people think that Christianity is not for the Jewish people.

That would be because, gee, how do I put this: Christianity isn’t Jewish.

“There are those that are really curious and want to know more [of the Gospel] and then there are those who say … ‘It’s impossible. You can’t be Jewish and be a Christian at the same time.’ But we’re living examples of the fact that it is possible.”

Well, no, you’re living examples that you’re, well stupid. If you accept the divinity of Jesus, you are a Christian. Religiously, there is no such thing as a Christian Jew. You may have been born a Jew, but once you accept Jesus as God, your religion is no longer the religion of the Jewish people. Doesn’t matter how many times you say it, you’re still lying.

By the way, let me put aside all semblance of joking for a moment, and point something out. This evangelical outreach is not coming from Jews. It is coming from Christians. This puff piece is from The Christian Post, a Christian newspaper. The overwhelming majority of members of “Jews for Jesus” churches are Christian. The few people who were born Jews that they have do much of the outreach. And here, we have a site that describes “Jews for Jesus” as an abusive organization that misuses its people—much like any other cult.

I could go on and on about the faux Jews, but, well, I already did, several times. I will doubtless do so again. I really, really, really hate liars, and “Jews for Jesus” is nothing if not an organization of liars.

So Judith: Heads up. They’re coming for you.

The death of the “lion” of Baghdad has so affected Osama bin Laden, that he is writing poetry to the [not-so-]dearly departed.

In the tape, bin Laden effusively praised the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, often in rhyming couplets.

“Al-Zarqawi’s story will live forever with the stories of the nobles, so don’t cry over one who is not missing,” bin Laden said. “He can teach the world a lesson on how to seize freedom … and how to resist tyrants.”

And he can also teach the world to sing! In rhyming couplets!

But you never get the full story from the mainstream media. It takes bloggers to dig out the rest of the facts. We here at yourish.com can offer our readers the exclusive first drafts of the rhyming couplets. The ones that didn’t make the cut. I think you’ll understand why as you read them.

Abu, Abu
I really miss you

---

Roses are red, violets are blue
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, I really miss you

---

There once was a man named Zarqawi
Who fought the infidels, and how-ee!

---

Wake up, Abu, I think I got something to say to you
It’s almost summer and the kufir may be getting you soon

---

Oh holy warrior, who chopped kufir head so well
Osama thinks you’re really, really swell!

---

al-Zarqawi, my sweet Abu,
I wish I could quit you

---

Just like that kufir Celine Dion
I have to say “My heart will go on.”
(But it really won’t.)

---

Regarding the poor quality of the above rhyming couplets, I am inclined to believe that Iseema bin Laden is ghostwriting Osama’s speeches these days. I’m going to see if I can’t check with my sources to see if I can perhaps get Iseema to admit it.

On the other hand, if anyone out there thinks s/he can do better, feel free to leave more Osama love poetry in the comments. No graphic sexual content, please. This is a family-oriented site.

The diary of Iseema bin Laden was first published on December 4, 2001

---

Editor’s note: The original entries in the diary of Iseema bin Laden were smuggled out of Afghanistan several weeks ago, through Pakistan, and then to a source in Saudi Arabia, rumored to be a brother of Iseema who once lost half a million dollars to him in a poker game. The hand-written entries have been verified and are definitely the work of Iseema Bin Laden. We are able to publish the excerpts and are working with our source to bring you more up-to-date entries, which we expect to arrive any day now. The problem is the Afghan version of Federal Express: traveling over the mountains via horseback. And that’s better than the Afghan Postal Service: donkeys.

A brief biography of Iseema: He is Osama bin Laden’s half-brother. They have the same father, different mothers, but apparently are nearly identical in appearance. They apparently also spent their youths in a similar fashion, although Osama is the elder of the two by about a decade. Iseema was attending Harvard University until shortly after the September 11th attacks, when his family sent a private plane to take all the bin Ladens home. Sources say that the family was unhappy with his young man’s behavior, particularly after having to pay for repairs on local hotel rooms after Iseema’s fraternity parties. Sources also report that the family was unhappy with Iseema’s reputation as a playboy.

---

13 September 2001: On a plane back to Riyadh. The Patriarch must have forgotten to bribe the inspectors back home; not a drop of liquor on the plane. Fortunately I always have a supply with me; vodka mixes with anything. There are no female flight attendants. This is going to be a boring flight. Think I’ll catch up on my sleep, the Delta-Delta party was a rough one.

15 September 2001: The Patriarch’s idea of a sick joke, I suppose. After I fell asleep on the plane, nobody woke me up when we got to Riyadh. Instead of flying to Jidda, they put me on a plane to Pakistan, a thousand curses on that benighted nation. Worse still, when I got off the plane, some of Osama’s men met me and “escorted” me to the religious center of town. There armed mujahadeen put me in the back of a truck and we started driving into the mountains. I’m apparently headed to Afghanistan to talk to Osama. I don’t know why; he always hated the way I trailed after him like a puppy when he was back home being the young, rich playboy. Perhaps the Patriarch thinks I will get religion. More likely he thinks I will get killed by one side or the other.

They confiscated my Scotch, but I convinced them my vodka is water. The Taliban guards are not great thinkers. I have two of them believing that waterfalls never empty rivers because when everyone is asleep, the water travels back uphill when no one can see it. This might not be such a bad time, after all. One has to make the best of things.

18 September 2001: We are at one of Osama’s hidden camps. I’ve found out why I’m here. Osama is surrounding himself with look-alikes in case the Americans catch up with him. I curse the day I was born! Why couldn’t I look like my mother? May the fleas of a thousand camels infest his beard and the Patriarch’s.

No one knows quite yet what the Americans will do, but there is great eagerness for the battle. The Taliban is filled with idiots. When I try to explain to them the kind of weapons the Americans have, the mujahadeen simply laugh and say that Allah will defeat the infidel. Yes, he could, with an American army and American weaponry. I learned to keep my opinions to myself after Mullah Omar overheard me praising the Americans. His stare reminded me of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. That, and his guards’ access to and fondness for using whips, is giving me pause.

21 September 2001: If any day is worse than the others, it is the Sabbath day. Not only must we pray, but we must listen to Omar drone on and on about our mission from Allah and the destruction of the infidel. Worse still, he seems to always be looking at me during the sermons, and so I may not nod off. Yesterday he caught me kissing Azra, and had his men give me twenty stripes with the whip. I asked him why they didn’t beat Azra; he insisted that I was the one corrupting her. He’s hated me since I got here. I’d never seen the man before, how could I know who he was? It was sheer habit to ask the first man I saw to take my bags to my room.

28 September 2001: Pulled through.

3 October 2001: It’s getting pretty ripe in these caves. Between moving from cave to cave, the drought, and Osama’s lousy hygiene, the only thing good I can say about the burqa is thank Allah it covers up body odors. I can’t tell who smells worst, the mujahadeen, the horses, or the women. My money is on the mujahadeen. Oh, for a single stick of deodorant!

5 October 2001: Fell asleep during Omar’s sermon. Couldn’t help it. There are only so many times you can listen to him vilify America before you automatically tune it out. Woke up chained to a wall in a small, dark room. Well, at least it’s quiet here.

6 October 2001: Out of solitary. Stable duty. Wish I was back in solitary.

7 October 2001: The bombing started today. Mullah Omar kept “accidentally” running into me. I said nothing. Went to talk to Osama late in the evening; found a woman in his room, excused myself. The woman removed her veil; it was Osama. Apparently he likes to dress in women’s clothing to relax, and the American bombs were distressing him. “Tell no one or you die,” he said. Let me tell you, seeing Osama bin Laden in a burqa makes one want to die.

12 October 2001: Made it through Omar’s entire sermon. The look of disappointment on his face was worth it. Made the mistake of smiling on my way out of the room. Mucking out stables again tomorrow.

16 October 2001: Got into trouble again today. Damn those all-covering burqas! I saw Azra in a side tunnel and slid my hand across her behind. It turned out to be Amarah, who was grateful for the attention, but is one of the prime reasons the burqa should be implemented: Her face could stop a battleship. Send her out to do battle with the Americans and we’d beat them without another shot fired. Alas, I had to pretend it was her I wanted in the first place, else she’d have alerted the guards and Osama would have had me beaten again. Now I’ll probably have to marry her, unless the Americans find us first. They should color-code the burqas. Perhaps I can find a packet of Post-it notes in my baggage, if I could only find my suitcases. Then I could label the women with them. But no, Omar would realize it was I and have his men beat me again.

The real problem is these damned caves. You can’t exactly lose yourself in a crowd when you can’t be in a crowd. Oh, sure, we’ve got lots of corridors and some small rooms, but it’s not like the market in Riyadh, or even in Kabul. Kabul. You know I’ve sunk low when I’m wishing I was in a backwater like Kabul. Next thing you know I’ll be praying they move us to Kandahar or Jalalabad.

17 October 2001: O Allah, in the name of the Prophet, peace be upon him: Please let us move to Kandahar or Jalalabad! The American bombs are dropping nearer and nearer; I know I wasn’t born to die with my fundamentalist big brother. I have places to go, people to meet, women to marry! Not to mention I think Amarah is going to tell my brother I asked for her hand in marriage. It isn’t her hand I want, and it wasn’t marriage I was thinking of.

To be continued

A lonely voice of sanity in the insane world of MSM editors:

The Toronto conference of the United Church yesterday joined the Ontario division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in calling for economic sanctions against Israel and a boycott of the Jewish state to protest its policies in the Palestinian territories.

Basically, both are calling on Canadians to choose sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Fair enough. We choose Israel, which cannot be expected to negotiate with a Palestinian government led by Hamas, a terrorist group whose founding charter calls not only for the destruction of Israel, but for the annihilation of the Jewish people.

Further, we urge Prime Minister Stephen Harper to continue Canada’s sensible policy of refusing to recognize Hamas and denying it foreign aid until it unequivocally recognizes Israel’s right to exist and renounces terrorism.

Read the rest.

H/T: Charles.

Send the Sun a note of thanks. Hey, we send too many complaints, not enough kudos.

Look what was dragged out of the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry building after the airstrike:

Burnt Korans! Oh no! The awfulness of this conflict!

Never mind the fact that no bodies were dragged out of it, since the airstrike was at night and after office hours… burnt Korans, that’s such a crime against humanity, you know.

Or all the priceless Christian artifacts burned or uses as toilet paper during the terrorist takeover of the Church of the Nativity.

Because it’s okay for Muslims to crap all over Bibles, but a little scorch-mark on a run-of-the-mill cheaply-bound Koran left in an office building constructed without basic fire codes… that’s a horrific crime!

The body count of the IDF operation in Gaza has risen to three, all terrorists. A PIJ slimeball was killed as he tried to shoot rockets at the IDF, which makes him a battle casualty.

Funny how the world is so quick to go after Israel on the pretense that there will be a horrible humanitarian crisis and a gazillion civilian casualties, and yet, the only death as a result of the IDF invasion so far is an enemy combatant.

Of course, there is also the death of Eliyahu Asheri, the 18-year-old boy who was kidnapped and murdered by the PRC before the IDF stuck so much as a toe over the Gaza border. Not that the world cares overmuch. He was just a “settler.”

Expect more whining when this plan comes to fruition (and approval):

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday rejected a proposal by Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the Israel Defense Forces for a ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip against the ongoing Qassam rocket fire.

Olmert demanded that they present him with an approved operational plan.

According to government sources, the operation, which will target Beit Hanun, will take place, but Olmert wants the operation to be “prolonged and exhausting,” and did not believe that the plan he was shown fit the bill.

Isn’t it amazing that the world is so up in arms about an operation that has killed only one person so far, and that person was a combatant trying to kill Israeli soldiers?

Well, no, not when you take into account Israel Derangement Syndrome (but that’s a topic for another day, or podcast).

Humanitarian crisis alert: Toldja so.

Gaza is three days away from a deadly humanitarian crisis unless Israel promptly restores fuel and electricity to the densely populated area after its offensive to free an abducted soldier, the United Nations aid chief warned on Thursday.

So, with all these tanks, mortars, and missiles going off, is anyone in Gaza dead yet?

Israeli warplanes struck more than a dozen times in Gaza in the hours after midnight, hitting the Palestinian Interior Ministry and a Fatah office in Gaza city, as well as a Hamas training camp in the city’s outskirts.

Israel Air Force aircraft early Friday struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza City, Palestinian witnesses said, setting it on fire.

Palestinian hospital officials said a 5-year-old girl was wounded in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza early Friday, the first casualty in more than two days of military action. Doctors said her condition was not serious.

But—but—I don’t understand! What about the humongous civilian casualty toll? Where are the bodies? WHERE ARE THE BODIES?!!?!?

Thousands gather to mourn teenage terror victim Eliyahu Asheri

Oh. That’s right. The only death so far has been an Israeli boy. Yes, boy. Child. Eighteen-year-old Eliyahu, which would be Elijah in English. Not a settler. A boy. Complete with baby fat, uncertainty, hopes, dreams, and a life ahead of him. Cut short by terrorists who kidnapped him and put a bullet in his brain within the hour, then held out his identity card and pretended he was alive and they were going to kill him, knowing full well they already had.

But nobody cares about Eliyahu, because he is a “settler.” Via Israellycool, Eliyahu’s mother said this:

Hours after she was notified of her son’s death, Miriam told Israel Radio, “The pain is great, almost too great to bear. But one thing I feel, despite all this…is that in the wake of disagreements between our brethren, with our different worldviews and different relationships to the land of Israel that creates a lot of conflict, a lot of anger, a lot of argument - many times, I’ve asked G-d that he should first of all grant me love for everyone in my heart, and … that He should show me the special quality of the nation of Israel, and that I should succeed - that we should all succeed in loving each other…truly from the heart.”

The difference between us and them: We love life, whereas they love death. They tell us this is our weakness. They are wrong. This is our strength. Miriam Asheri is an amazing woman.

If you don’t want your child to be traumatized for life, trust me when I tell you that it is not funny to pretend you’re going to throw your daughter into the alligator pit at the Staten Island Zoo.

I hate alligators. What a coincidence.

I’d like to make a request. Let’s stop calling for Hamas to acknowledge Israel’s “right” to exist. Let’s stop associating the delegitimization of Israel by various bodies (such as the WCC, PC-USA, most British lefties that read Comment Is Free) by asking why these idiots think Israel is the only country that has no “right” to exist.

Let us point out, as Menachem Begin did, that Israel exists. She exists, and she needs no special acknowledgement from a bunch of terrorists, anti-Semites, and Israel-haters. She existed long before any of us having these arguments was born. She will exist long after all of us are gone.

Screw them and their recognition or nonrecognition of Israel’s “right” to exist.

Israel exists. Let us have only one answer to the delegitimization of Israel crowd:

Am Yisrael chai. The people of Israel live.

Even my fourth graders know that.

Israel exists. Without explanation, without caveat—Israel exists.

The CSM has a relatively balanced piece on Israel’s targeting both sides of Hamas.

Israel’s message to Hamas and to regional supporters in countries such as Syria is that it will not accept Hamas’s claim that political figures - in Gaza or abroad - act separately from the military wing. Mr. Meshaal has vowed that Hamas would continue to fight Israel, despite more moderate statements coming from Palestinian leaders elected in January.

“It is a mirage to think that internal and external leadership of Hamas fundamentally represent some cataclysmic rift,” says Hamas expert Magnus Ranstorp, an analyst at the Swedish National Defense College.

“Yes, there are differences, but the movement is much larger than individual representatives. They play the inside-outside card very carefully, and they divorced the military wing from the rest, so they could say [militant activities] ‘are outside our control.’ But the inside-outside leadership is much closer than what [it] appears,” he says.

It’s a remarkably sensible piece, for the most part, though it devolves into the usual “settler” language towards the end, and focuses on how Operation Summer Rain is actually bringing the warring factions together. (That’s okay, as soon as the IDF is gone they’ll go back to gunning for each other.) But I’d give it a RIF reading. (Read in full)

I almost never quote FrontPage magazine, but I will make exceptions in the case of straight interview pieces. This is an interview with Ephraim Halevy, a former head of Mossad, on the current situation.

“The real question is whether the Palestine national movement has the power to create a structure of command, control and viable governance,” Halevy states. “Are they capable of setting up a system of governance?” While Halevy won’t predict the outcome, his analysis is that Hamas is now on the horns of a dilemma about the direction they will take. “All timetables have changed,” Halevy asserts, noting that the ruling party would now be pushed to go one way or the other because a faction had chosen to instigate the well-planned tunnel incursion into Israeli territory. “We’ll see all this unfold in the next 24-48 hours,” he predicts.

Halevy paints a scenario where Khalad Mashal, the Damascus based head of Hamas’ military wing could triumph over the so-called civil wing. There’s a “real possibility Mashal will succeed in leading Hamas into a spiral of destruction over this issue,” he asserts. If that should occur, the future will be an even greater question mark than ever, Halevy says.

But the former intelligence head posits that should the Gaza and Ramallah Hamasniks “get it together and overcome the threat from Damascus, Hamas could become a viable partner for negotiations with Israel.” If they resolve the kidnapping, “we’ll be in a new ball game,” Halevy asserts. At that point, Hamas will have some degree of credibility and if they show that they will adhere to some basic norms of how a responsible government acts, it will be possible to deal with them, Halevy maintains.

At the end of the day, Halevy insists, the ball is in the Hamas court. “Hamas has to decide how to resolve the issue of the kidnapped soldier. Israel doesn’t have to do anything. If they resolve it, a new situation will arise.” As far as Halevy is concerned, there’s no place for Israel to support one Hamas faction over another. “We don’t have to save Hamas in any way. This is a test of authority for Hamas leaders.”

Read the rest.

No worries, it is already out. Normal services are being resumed at this moment.

BBC rejects call to change terminology

The BBC has rejected a call made by an independent panel studying charges of bias in its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to change its editorial policies on the use of the word “terrorist” and appoint a senior editor to oversee its Middle East coverage.

Using the word “terrorist” to describe attacks on civilians, BBC management argued in a paper released June 19, would make the “very value judgments” it had been asked to eschew.

Indeed. Who knows, maybe killing a civilian or two is a vital bodily function without which these nice “militant” folks will simply wither away?

Still, for variety sake: I had a few options of non-judgmental terms offered sometimes ago to AP. Take a look here.

Otherwise: feh.

Israel has arrested some 60 Hamas legislators and ministers, and apparently threw in a few Fatah members for good measure. Ha’aretz says the arrests were planned before Cpl. Shalit was kidnapped.

The detention of dozens of Hamas lawmakers in the early hours of Thursday morning had been planned several weeks ago and received approval from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Wednesday. The same day, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin presented Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with the list of Hamas officials slated for detention.

The Group of Eight industrialized countries said Thursday that the Hamas arrests raised “particular concerns.”

Israel Defense Forces troops launched the major arrest operation overnight, detaining 64 of the ruling party’s cabinet ministers and parliamentarians in the West Bank, as well as another 23 military activists.

The move is part of Israel’s expanded military operation against the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority.

The arrests took place in Ramallah, Qalqilyah, Hebron, Jenin and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian reports. Soldiers carried arrest warrants signed by judges that were issued following cooperative preparatory work by the state prosecution and police.

This operation was not a surprise.

There appeared to be some confusion Thursday as to whether Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser a-Shaer, had been one of those detainees or whether he had evaded capture and gone into hiding in the West Bank.

The Hamas ministers had apparently expected the arrests. A-Shaer’s wife said Thursday that he had avoided the military arrest operation as he had not been sleeping at home when the sweep took place.

He reportedly had disconnected all his cellular telephones for fear Israeli security services would again attempt to track him down and arrest him.

I suppose the world is going to blather on about “democratically elected representatives,” yadda yadda yadda. The fact that these are democratically elected terrorists doesn’t seem to matter to anyone but Israel, but, well, Israel’s the one doing the arresting.

And these are three great quotes:

A Hamas official called the arrests an “open war against the Palestinian government and people,” and said that Israel must be prepared to pay their consequences.

As opposed to the secret war that Hamas has been waging against Israel?

“We have no government, we have nothing. They have all been taken,” Saeb Erekat, an ally of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said of the arrests. “This is absolutely unacceptable and we demand their release immediately.”

You can almost see Erekat crying those crocodile tears. “Wah, wah, you’re destroying Hamas, our bitterest political enemies, the ones who kicked our asses in the elections… oh, wait a minute.”

Israel Radio quoted Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin as having told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the day of the kidnapping: “If the soldier is not returned in 24 hours, Israel will not allow the Palestinian government to survive.”

Yes, but the story has already established that the arrests were planned weeks before Cpl. Shalit was abducted. Still, that is an awesome quote. If I had a random quote generator on this blog, I’d put it in. Hm….

Russia, for having the nerve to tell Israel to avoid harming civilians during Operation Summer Rain.

Moscow - Russia called on Israel on Thursday to avoid harming Palestinian civilians in any offensive in Gaza and urged militants to free an Israeli soldier, whose capture helped spark the current crisis.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mikhail Kamynin also criticised Israel for sending warplanes on Wednesday to buzz one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad palaces, saying it was “absolutely unacceptable” to breach the border or air space of any country.

“There is no doubt about the right and responsibility of the Israeli government to defend the lives and security of its citizens,” Kamynin said in a statement posted on the ministry Web site. “But it cannot be done at the cost of many lives and many peaceful Palestinians (and) heavy military strikes with grave consequences for the civilian population,” he added.

One word for you, Kamynin: Chechnya.

When the Russians attacked the Chechen capital of Grozny during the first weeks of January 1995, about 25,000 civilians died under a week-long air-raid and artillery fire in the sealed-off city. The Russians are reported to have lost some thousands of soldiers during their assault.

Goddamned hypocritical sons of bitches. They are part of the reason that Israel is in this situation to begin with. By funding Syria, Egypt, the PLO, and other Russian client-states during the sixties, Russia can lay claim to have fathered this situation with Hamas.

Don’t think that condemning Israel is going to stop the Jihadis from executing more Russians. They’ve got your number, Chechnya-boy.

Effing hypocrites. Russia, the nation that would not let its Jews practice Judaism. Russia, the nation from which nearly all of my grandparents fled, so that their children and grandchildren could lead safe, happy, and Jewish lives in America. Russia, the nation that bombed Chechnya indiscriminately, murdering thousands of civilians while chasing after the Islamist separatists.

Shut up, Russia, you effing hypocrites. Because Israel always tries to minimize harm to civilians, which is more than we can say for the idiots who gassed their own citizens in a hostage situation and then refused to tell doctors what kind of gas was used to help save lives after the crisis was over.

I think I’m going to be using this phrase a lot today: STFU.

The Russians have condemned the Israeli buzzing and sonic-booming of Bashar Assad’s palace:

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin criticized Israel on Thursday for sending warplanes to buzz one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad palaces early Wednesday.

In a predawn operation Wednesday morning, Israel Air Force warplanes carried out a low-altitude flight over Assad’s palace in the Mediterranean port city of Latakia in northwestern Syria.

Kamynin said it was “absolutely unacceptable” to breach the border or air space of any country.

The Syrians tried to counter the news of the buzzing with an announcement that anti-aircraft fire and defenses in Damascus “drove away the Israeli warplanes.” However, the defenses didn’t activate until the operation was well underway.
Of course, we all know who provided this hardware and technology to the Syrians which proved utterly ineffective against the Israeli operation and is wishing to provide further technology and hardware in exchange for Syrian port access… the Russians.

So, it’s very likely that the Russian condemnation has nothing to do with air space or borders or sovereignty, but the fact that the Israelis have proven in a big way to other wealthy clients in the Middle East that Russian hardware is totally incapable of detecting and defeating any operation by their obvious target.

The Los Angeles Times has the most typical of the calls for Israel’s restraint, utilizing the lie of Hamas “moderation:”

ONCE AGAIN, ESCALATING VIOLENCE threatens to derail any hope of a breakthrough between Israelis and Palestinians. It is a depressingly familiar theme in a depressingly familiar struggle, prompting a depressingly familiar response: These latest horrors should not be allowed to affect the prospects for peace.

Oh, look. Israel defends herself, the world rears up on its hind legs and screams “Nooooooooooooooooo!” in perfect George Lucas Star Wars fashion. Say, Mr. Times Editorial Writer, a question? What prospects for peace? You mean the fact that a terrorist organization was elected to govern the palestinians, refuses to deal with, make peace with, or recognize Israel, and praises terrorist attacks on Israel? That prospect for peace? No? How about the one that has sent hundreds of kassam rockets into Israel since the Gaza withdrawal? That one? No?

Make no mistake: The frustration that triggered the Israeli military’s incursion into Gaza on Wednesday is understandable. The Israeli public was aghast to see Palestinians react to the Israeli pullout from Gaza last year by electing the terrorist group Hamas in January.

[...] But there is a broader agenda to this act of violence. Hamas is split between hard-liners who continue to reject Israel’s right to exist (a position that has cost the Palestinian government much of its international support) and more moderate elements who understand that Hamas needs to alter its ways now that it is in power. Some Hamas leaders have even been negotiating with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of the more moderate Fatah party on an agreement that would implicitly recognize the fact, if not the right, of Israel’s existence. Radical Hamas leaders also may have worried about Abbas’ earlier talk of putting the question of Israel’s right to exist to Palestinian voters in a referendum.

What’s wrong with this editorial? Well, all of it. There are no moderates in Hamas. The prisoners’ document does not recognize, implicitly or otherwise, Israel’s existence. Mahmoud Abbas was never going to put up a referendum regarding Israel’s right to exist. He was going to put the prisoners’ document to a referendum, and oh yeah, for the millionth time: The prisoners’ document does not implicitly recognize the existence of Israel.

For these more intransigent leaders of Hamas, any accommodation with Israel is unacceptable. They must be ecstatic at Israel’s retaliatory incursion into Gaza. Regardless of whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government is justified, the Israeli military’s destruction of vital infrastructure in Gaza — and its detainment of several Palestinian cabinet ministers and lawmakers in Ramallah — runs the risk of further radicalizing the Palestinian population and further marginalizing more moderate voices within the Palestinian government.

Note how no matter what Israel does, she loses. If she doesn’t defend herself, she looks weak in the eyes of the “more intransigent leaders of Hamas” (and oh, yeah, nice way to say “Jew-murdering scum,” Times). Reread the Hamas charter. The one that quotes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and insists that “Palestine” is an Islamic waqf and may never be held by infidels. Try taking it seriously for a change.

Hence the calls, from the Bush administration and other governments, asking Olmert for restraint. It isn’t that the world questions Israelis’ right to feel frustrated, or to retaliate. It is simply that we cringe at the sight of a disproportionate response that could undermine prospects of ending the cycle of violence.

Notice the condescension of the words in bold. First, why is it that the Israeli reaction to being attacked on a daily basis is compared to a child’s reaction at being grounded? Rockets are falling in Sderot. Terrorists are attacking Israeli civilians and military. When Israel defends herself from these attacks, it isn’t “retaliation.” It isn’t “frustration.” It is a sovereign nation responding to acts of war by going after the people who attacked her.

And Mr. Times Editorial Writer? Shut the hell up. Because we cringe at the sight of yet another “Israel must use restraint!” editorial from yet another clueless editorial writer who can’t comprehend that when Hamas says they will never recognize Israel, they mean it.

Noun: deception
An illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers

This picture caused me to think about the birds and their use of colors:

The images do not leave any room for doubt. It is quite clear who are the good guys: the blue sky, the boy, the flag; and who are the villains: the monster of a tank, the yellow dust, no human beings. Just to be on the safe side, the images are strengthened by the captures for more stupid readers:

Israel lunches strikes on Gaza after crisis over captured soldier…

…but Hamas are on the verge of accepting two-state solution.

Now, unless you are terminally stupid, the message should be crystal clear. Ain’t it?

So what about the birds? It’s really simple. Birds, at least the males of the species, use colors to attract the opposite sex. Undoubtedly, the colors may compensate for lack in other departments, such a mental deficiency, lack of agility, some problems with reproductive organs etc.

So what can I say: great cover page!

Just an aside: surfing for birds and their habits, I have stumbled on the sentence here that is strangely fitting the topic of this post:

Similarly, the parrot was thought to have no cry of its own but can deceive us into thinking that a nobler bird is on the scene.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

The latest Guardian leader on the developments in Gaza probably caused its author (or authors, as the case might be - you never know with these people) a serious bout of indigestion. Trying to artificially balance the wobbly logical structure, throwing on the scales some truths, some evasions and some half-truths could harm the most robust stomach.

…there has always been a grim inevitability about the offensive - codenamed Summer Rain - that Ehud Olmert unleashed yesterday to try to free a soldier abducted by Palestinian fighters.

Why is that? Doesn’t the fact that the steady flow of Qassams started immediately after the disengagement have something to do with it?

Bombing bridges may have some military logic, but the destruction of a power station seems intended solely to intimidate and inflict collective punishment.

Please - stop that whining about collective punishment. The Palestinians themselves excel in the whining as it is. Hiding the “freedom fighters” after their individual crimes are perpetrated, allowing them to launch Qassams from the most populated neighborhoods counts as collective crime in my book. Imagine London being bombarded and tell us what would the enlightened Brits have done in our place. Just a second, London was bombarded actually? And? Oh, that Dresden story - no, we would not mention it, after all it was so looong ago. Besides, Jupiter and bull and all that stuff…

The brutal truth, though, is that Israel has killed many more Palestinians in its attacks on the Gaza Strip - the distinction between preemption and retaliation now bloodily blurred.

We can hardly teach Europeans anything about bloody. We should not mention all these tens of millions lying in mass graves all over the bloody continent. Must be sensitive, after all some of the graves are quite fresh. And again: Jupiter and bull, Jupiter and bull… Could we mention the word “war”? Please?

Ironically, at this menacing moment, prospects for negotiation may have improved - at least on paper - thanks to Mr Abbas’s agreement with Hamas.

The irony is sometimes is the eyes of the beholder, it looks like. Read “Palestinian Prisoners’ document may end the peace process” about the great sham called “Mr Abbas’s agreement with Hamas”. I shall just quote the ditty here:

There was a old gent named Abbas;
Who smiled as he rode on Hamas.
They came back from the ride;
With Abbas inside,
And the smile on the face of Hamas.

Somebody is selling some major bull here, and it is amazing how willing are some people to buy into it wholeheartedly. I wonder why.

But there can clearly be no negotiations until the guns fall silent and the harsh cycle of attack, retaliation and vengeance is broken.

Ditto. Something we could all agree with, at least. Now go and tell this to Hamas and all the other members of the alphabet soup of the gangs as well.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Chris Muir’s Day By Day, which has had a prominent spot in my sidebar for years, has made the big time. As of today, it’s in newspapers across the country. Check yours to see if you’ve got Chris’ latest strip.

You know what this means, don’t you? Sam and Zed and Jan and Damon on refrigerators across the country.

I’m very much looking forward to putting them on mine.

(By the way, if anyone knows a real-life Zed, send him my email address.)

((No, really.))

(((Yes, I know he’s a cartoon character. That’s why I said real life.)))

((((Oh, shut up.))))

Reports are coming in that Eliyahu Asheri, the 18-year-old high school boy, has been murdered by the PRC. Watch the difference in terminology in the stories. The non-Israeli media will call him a “settler,” but won’t use the word “youth” or “teen.” That’s reserved for dead or captured palestinians. Update: It’s confirmed. Bastards probably killed him straight off.

The IDF is rounding up Hamas legislators, and even got the Deputy Prime Minister in its net. This is the smartest damned thing that Israel has done in decades. NOW let’s talk trade.

Ilyka wrote a post about a topic that left me utterly speechless. Totally creeped out, but utterly speechless. Go over there and see for yourself what horrified me so much that I couldn’t write about it.

No, I’m not kidding.

Go. Read. Actually, much of her post is funny, so don’t be drinking. But go ahead. This is what good friends do for each other: They write the posts that the other can’t.

If I had a horror category, that’s what this post would go under.

And may I say, Ew. Ew to you, Dana Stevens. Just: Ew.

Update: And if you don’t click on the images at the bottom of the post, you will be missing the best part.

Hamas likes to lie about its “operations,” and the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit is no exception. The interesting thing about this story in AP is that they actually admit that Hamas lies about responsibility—in the news article.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Khaled Mashaal’s aides praised the capture of an Israeli soldier as a daring operation but claimed Wednesday that the Damascus-based Hamas leader played no role in it. Israel sees him as the brains behind the abduction and threatened to try to assassinate him.

[...] Hamas has adopted the same line after each suicide bombing and attack carried out in its name over the past decade. Key political leaders have always insisted Hamas’ military wing is an independent body they know nothing about and do not give orders to.

The 19-year-old Shalit’s capture is no exception. Hamas’ military wing was one of three groups that claimed responsibility, but Hamas officials have insisted they were not aware the operation was being planned.

“The military people, the resistance fighters and the mujahedeen are the decision-makers in everything that’s related to the prisoner,” said Abu Marzouk.

“It would be stupid for anyone to assume that anyone from outside … or inside the Gaza Strip can talk to the military people,” he added. “Their leadership is independent, their planning is independent, their decisions are independent.”

Still, the political wing of Hamas is believed to set the group’s general policies.

I’ll bet these paragraphs get elided in the update story about Hamas’ responsibility in the kidnapping. And there’s also this choice quote. Hamas utterly refuses to change a thing about themselves to end sanctions, so what do they say now? They’ll give back Cpl. Shalit if the world ends their boycott of Hamas.

The Damascus-based leadership clearly sees the benefits of the soldier’s abduction. Abu Marzouk said it would help push for an end to the international boycott on the Hamas-led government and for the release of Palestinians held by Israel.

“If they want calm, they have to break the sanctions,” he said.

“We don’t object to a political solution. But it’s up to Israel to accept the Egyptian mediation to talk about conditions for a deal regarding the Israeli prisoner.”

Yeah, that’s gonna happen.

The IAF did a bit of a flyover in Syria, giving Baby Assad a wakeup call:

Israel Air Force warplanes predawn Wednesday flew over the palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Mediterranean port city of Latakia in northwestern Syria.

Anti-aircraft guns opened fire long after the aircrafts left Syrian airspace.

Assad is believed to have been staying in the palace at the time of the flyover.

I wonder if the Dorktator wet the bed at the sound of the jets. Oh, okay, that’s mean. I wonder if the Dorktatorette wet the bed. No, I don’t mean his wife.

The BBC has suddenly discovered—hold onto your hat, here—that the prisoners’ document does not include Hamas recognition of Israel.

Rival Palestinian political factions Fatah and Hamas have reached agreement on a common political strategy to try to end a damaging power struggle.

However, Hamas negotiators have denied earlier reports that the deal meant the militants would implicitly recognise Israel - a major policy shift.

And there is much sadness at BBC headquarters today. The emperor has no clothes, and the loyal nobles of the BBC are feeling embarrassed.

The BBC’s James Reynolds in Gaza says that the central point of the joint manifesto is the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Traditionally that is one half of a two-state solution, but the existing drafts of the deal make no mention of the second half of this solution - the state of Israel.

This omission is deliberate, our correspondent says.

While some have argued that this means Hamas tacitly accepts Israel’s right to exist, it is becoming clear that that is not how Hamas sees it.

Hamas negotiators have told the BBC that the entire state of Israel has been built on occupied Palestinian land.

They believe that a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza is a first step - not a final step.

They believe that future generations of Palestinians will reclaim all their historic homeland. And that, in the end, there will be no room for what is now the Jewish state of Israel, our correspondent says.

Gee, I could have told them that. Oh, wait. I did. And did. And did. And did. And did. And there are probably more posts, but I’m too tired to link any more.

But cheer up, BBCers! You can always start lying about IDF war crimes in Gaza during Operation Summer Rains.

The United Nations has a new member, and it’s not some cesspool of terrorism using a batch of Jordanian flags they forgot to put the star on:

The UN General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday admitting the newly independent Republic of Montenegro as the 192nd member of the United Nations.

General Assembly President Jan Eliasson called for approval of the resolution by acclamation and when there was no objection he banged the gaval and said: “I declare the Republic of Montenegro admitted to membership in the United Nations.” Diplomats from many of the 191 other UN members seated in the General Assembly hall then burst into applause.

Um… many of?

Who wouldn’t applaud?

The Hamas government has finally torn off the mask and is calling for a prisoner exchange, which tells you all you need to know about their concern for the captured Israeli:

The Hamas-led Palestinian government on Wednesday called for a prisoner swap with Israel, saying Israel’s invasion of Gaza would not secure the release of a captured soldier.

[...] In a statement, the Palestinian Information Ministry said it is “natural logic” to carry out an exchange. “This has been exercised by previous Israeli governments with Hezbollah and the PLO, and this is what other countries do in conflict situations,” the statement said.

The EU has, wait, let me put this into UN-speak: Called on both parties to show restraint, and calls on the palestinians to release Cpl. Shalit and on the Israelis to stop, uh, shelling stuff.

Austria, the current president of the EU, also called for the IDF soldier’s “immediate and unconditional release.”

Austria urged “the Palestinian leadership to undertake all necessary efforts in this regard” and called on all parties to show restraint and to “avoid further escalation.”

And speaking of Cpl. Shalit, listen to what his father wants:

“The emphasis here is on an intelligent, rather than impassioned, operation,” Shalit said. “We would like no additional injuries, not among IDF troops and certainly not among innocent civilians on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian. This is of the utmost importance to us.”

That’s the difference between us and them. No calls to “open the gates of hell” or “make the earth shake” in vengeance. A call that neither side will suffer harm. Mr. Shalit is a mensch.

In Ynet, an article that says there is more to Operation Summer Rains than just finding the captives.

While the Israel Defense Forces’ Operation Summer Rains continued, Southern Command Chief Major-General Yoav Galant said that other concealed operations are also being carried out as part of the effort to return kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

“This operation has hidden and known aspects, which is characteristic of such events,” Galant said upon arriving Wednesday afternoon at an area near Kibbutz Mefalsim, where the Israel Defense Forces gathered ahead of entering the Strip as part of the operation.

[...] “It also enables us to control the Rafah crossing and what is happening in it, as well as carry out other operations. This is only one dimension of our overall effort,” he said.

This is why I don’t think Cpl. Shalit will be released:

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Many Palestinians think a captured Israeli soldier should not be released without major concessions from Israel - despite an Israeli ground and air assault on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday meant to recover him.

[...] “Even if they slaughter 100,000 Palestinians, this is a chance that can’t be lost. It’s the only way the prisoners will be able to get out,” said Bassem al Khoudry, 35, owner of a fast food stand in Gaza City. “If they release him with nothing in return, they would betray their nation, their prisoners.”

Aussie Dave is blogging from Israel. His latest post is here. Vital Perspective is also keeping track of things.

These words became an integral part of who we are. They were shouted by an unnamed commando 30 years ago in the terminal of Entebbe.

And this man is forever to remain an integral part of who we are.

And what happened to the terrorists is a lesson to all the wannabe martyrs.

The Gaza operation continues. In snark and brief:

Hamas stands pat on its blackmail: Free prisoners or you don’t get Cpl. Gilad. I should like to point out that Hamas isn’t even trying to hide its participation in the attack against Israel. That’s right, folks, the government of the palestinians sent its “military wing” into Israel to kill and kidnap soldiers, and yet, the world is still insisting that Hamas is ready for a two-state solution.

IAF hits terrorist training camp in Rafah: Too bad they didn’t get a few dozen terrorists while they were at it.

Maybe this will make reporters think differently:

Five minutes after the press conference, a Kassam rocket landed a few hundred meters from where reporters were standing.

Nah. They’d just blame Israel for not protecting them from the kassam hit.

THis, however, is an utter waste of time and resources:

At around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Israeli fighter jets struck the northern Gaza Strip, firing missiles at open areas. The strike is part of the army’s “pressure pot” tactic, meant to turn up pressure on Gaza by placement of troops and weapons fire with a minimum of casualties.

And gee, it’s working. Because the PRC presented the ID card of the missing Israeli teen, and threatened to kill him if the IDF does not withdraw from Gaza. Why does Israel think that not killing terrorists is the way to cow them, when they have already seen the result of killing terrorists when they gutted the Hamas ranks two years ago?

Let’s listen to the impotent president of the Palestinian Authority speak:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the operation as a crime. “This is an attack against our infrastructure and civilian targets,” he said.

Abbas said the operation is an act of collective punishment, but made it clear that the Palestinian Authority is doing all it can to convince the kidnappers to free Shalit.

“We were surprised by the violent Israeli escalation, which doesn’t serve a purpose but to destroy Palestinian lives,” he said.

Abu Merang, methinks you need a shot of Viagra. Go talk to Rush about getting some.

Say, this isn’t a biased headline at all: Israeli Forces Attack Gaza Power Station. What did that poor, defenseless power station do to the Israelis?

Quick, put on the Groucho nose and glasses! Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas currently hiding in Damascus, has been declared a target by the Israeli Justice Minister.

And that’s all for now. More later.

In an amazingly forthright interview with the Jerusalem Post, President Moshe Katsav blasts previous and current Israeli administrations for making enormous concessions and receiving nothing in return.

In a startling departure from his usual resolute non-intervention in the internal governance of Israel, President Moshe Katsav has launched a scathing attack on a series of Israel’s recent prime ministers and governments for failing to “get anything in return” for the historic concessions they made in signing the Oslo accords, endorsing the notion of independent Palestinian statehood, and pulling out of the Gaza Strip. Because of this cardinal error, he said, Israel was today further from peace with the Palestinians than it would otherwise likely have been.

Speaking exclusively to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, Katsav ascribed the record of incompetence to a consistent failure to carry out appropriate preparatory work ahead of major diplomatic moves, and to the abiding absence of an agreed “map of vital Israeli national and security interests” to guide policymakers.

Whoa. There’s going to be a storm when people wake up and read these comments this morning:

Failure to first agree on a blueprint for Israel’s vital interests, and then to carry out orderly staffwork, said the president, had led to “three big mistakes” in the past 13 years.

“We didn’t get anything in return for the Oslo accords,” he said, stressing that he was not saying he opposed the accords per se. Similarly, with the Road Map, “the Knesset and government declared that we support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. That is a major, historic concession and we didn’t get anything for it. And I’m not opposed to the road map.”

Finally, as regards last summer’s disengagement, which again he stressed he did not oppose in principle, “here too, there was a big mistake. We took the army out of Gaza, we evacuated 25 Jewish settlements and we got nothing in return.”

And he is right. Israel got nothing. The world is as quick as ever to blame Israel for anything that goes wrong, completely ignores the daily rocket attacks on Israel by palestinians from Gaza, insists that Hamas is moderating when Hamas states quite clearly that they want nothing less than the removal of the Jewish state and its replacement with an Islamic caliphate.

Here’s what Katsav thought should have been done:

Offering a particularly detailed critique of the preparation for disengagement, Katsav said that the pullout should have been coordinated with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Had this been done, “the problems in the Philadelphi corridor could have been avoided. The political crisis would not have occurred - the collapse of the [Israeli] government. Hamas might not have been victorious. The confrontation with the settlers would have been less intense.” The “massive arms smuggling” that went on “in the two or three weeks between the army’s departure and the entry of the Egyptians and the international force [might have been prevented]. Al Qaida might not have got into Gaza.”

Definitely worth the full read.

Actually, the article by Simon Tisdall is titled Shouting not talking. Its general drift is that talking is better than shouting. Unfortunately, while the idea itself is excellent, the article is less so.

The article, with its unforgettable imagery (that “sending barbed words crashing like unguided artillery shells” will be pretty hard to get rid off, I swear), says some thing that are easy to agree with, like:

Palestinian violence against Israelis, including rocket attacks launched from Gaza, is not and cannot be justified. It must cease - because it is wrong and because it hinders the realisation of Palestinian aspirations.

And:

The story is depressingly familiar: many deaths, disproportionately on the Palestinian side, both military and civilian; more destruction, more traumatised children, more ruined schools and broken homes; thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of refugees pushing across the border into Egypt; and, in all likelihood, the death of the very soldier Mr Olmert wants to save.

Otherwise, it is the usual mealy-mouthed jumble of platitudes and, yes, barbed words. True, they do not crash like artillery shells, but still… To start with the sentence that is chosen as a subtitle:

Israel is in danger not of obliteration by ‘Islamic extremists’ but of delegitimisation by its own polices and actions.

That’s one brilliant start of an article on peace and war. Do we need or ask for a confirmation of our legitimacy (even if it is to appear in Guardian)? I doubt, but Mr Tindall knows better how to start talking. And when started, he does not care much for logic or common sense:

But all the angry adjectives in the world cannot hide the fact that Mr Olmert also carries heavy responsibility for the latest mayhem, as well as the plight of Cpl Shalit.

To make it clear - this “latest mayhem” is the IDF incursion in Gaza that started today. Granted, it is Olmert’s ultimate responsibility. But how Olmert is framed as guilty for an attack on a border post inside the Israeli territory and the resulting killing and kidnapping - it is a mystery that only a Guardian scribe could possibly clear.

It is his policy that keeps Gaza under siege and almost constant bombardment.

Yep, and the steady rain of Qassams that already took 12 lives is also instigated by this pesky Olmert, of course. In Guardian book there is no chicken, only an egg…

And more and more of the same. So it is better to finish by this quote:

Mr Olmert should stop shouting and start talking.

Mr Olmert has decided that it is time to stop both shouting and talking. Cannot say I am happy with this decision, but I suspect that nobody is. Nobody is happy about a war.

Apparently Mr Olmert realized, unlike Mr Tisdall, that talk is cheap. Which the quoted article proves to my full satisfaction.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

There hasn’t been much news since the tanks rolled in. As usual, the t