(Moved to the top by Meryl)

While I’ve been an avid follower of Laurence’s Palestinian Bingo right now my need to show my love and appreciation of the IDF can’t wait.

I was about to send a Pizza to an IDF Patrol when I decided to see we could raise enough to send Pizza for a whole Company. (Or More!)

Laurence has already pledged $25.00, and will be making an appeal on IMAO. If you’d like to contribute, please Paypal your donation to ericjpp@gmail.com. If you’d like acknowlegement, please mention your donation in the comments. I’ll occaisionally bump this post up with a running total. Our goal is $269.75, which will buy pizza for 90 soldiers.

Please give, it’s the least we can do. These young men and women all have Jewish Mothers ringing their cell phones and asking “Are you eating?” Let’s help them respond with a hearty “Yes, Ma, I just had some pizza. It is too real food. Yes, I know Aunt Sadie’s birthday is tomorrow. I promise, I’ll call her.”
(And while you’re at it, you can throw some tzedakah to Magen David Adom. In fact, if you have to choose, choose MDA, and post your donation in the comments anyway.)

Am Yisrael Chai!

Update: As Shabbat is about to begin in Virginia, we have a current total of $195.94. (Plus, if I’m reading Andy’s comment correctly, pizza for a second Company!) Please keep donating - I’ll update tomorrow night after Shabbat is over.

Update from Meryl: Joshua Sharf has more links if you want to send donations to Israel.

Update: Saturday night we are up to $358.98 in contributions and pledges! Thank you all so much. I’m blown away by the response.

I’ve just sent in the money for one Company’s worth of pizza. I’ll wait another day or so for any stragglers, and send in the rest for pizza or ice cream within the next few days.

Dammit.

I was all set to settle in for the evening with a movie or something, or read for a while, and suddenly, I can’t see because there’s an aurora across my vision.

It’s the precursor to a migraine. Immediately upon seeing the aurora, I take a ton of ibuprofen. I have the lightest touch of migraines to hit my family, but I still get them.

You can’t watch TV with an aurora across your vision. You can’t read. You can’t blog. About the only thing you can do is listen with your eyes closed. I’d grab some podcasts, but I can barely see to type.

Funny. I don’t feel stressed, but I guess I am.

That’s it for me tonight, it seems. And I promised Brian I’d send out my podcast tonight. Damn. Hope this thing goes away.

Presented, for immediate snarking:

President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that he thinks Israel is pursuing wider goals in its military campaign than the return of abducted soldiers.

“However complicated the questions are, maximum efforts must be applied to resolve the situation in a peaceful way and I think all efforts have not been exhausted,” Putin said. “However, it is our impression that aside from seeking to return the abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing wider goals.”

Gee. Ya think?

And trying to eliminate a terrorist infrastructure that has been murdering and attacking your citizens for years is not a good thing because…?

Wow. Can he get any stupider on this topic? Snoopy? What do you think—you know Russians.

The rockets being fired at Israeli cities and towns are hidden in special rooms in civilian homes.

A senior IDF official revealed Saturday that Hizbullah has been hiding a large quantity of long-range rockets in specially-designed rooms built in houses in Southern Lebanon villages, operating under the assumption that the Israeli army will have difficulty in locating them and that it would prefer not to harm villages.

According to the official, the rockets that have been concealed are capable of reaching a range of 40-70 kilometers (roughly 25-43 miles).

“We took the gloves off in this confrontation, we targeted these places and will hit every convoy transporting arms, even if there are Iranian elements within it,” he stated.

You won’t see this information in the mainstream media accounts, but it’s part of what’s driving up the civilian casualty statistics.

According to the officer, civilians who were storing the rockets in their houses have been hit in some of the strikes. “We have no intention of hurting civilians, but those who live by the sword are bound to get hurt,” he stressed.

In fact, I doubt you’ll see this story at all anywhere but in Israeli media, and pro-Israeli blogs.

File this one under: Why I blog.

Look what I found in an old post while searching for something else:

Israel is mistaken in believing that, by withdrawing from Gaza, the international community will tolerate all types of military retaliation against rocket fire originating from Gaza, a senior western diplomatic official said Wednesday.

The diplomat’s comments came on the day that Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom warned visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos to expect a harsh response if Israel was attacked from Gaza following the complete IDF withdrawal. Also yesterday, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz hinted during an appearance at the Knesset’s Defense and Foreign Relations Committee that Israel would react to Kassams by firing back mortars of its own.

The senior diplomat said that the international reaction to IDF actions in Gaza would most likely depend on the extent of the military action and the number of innocent people killed.

Gee, it’s almost as if the world doesn’t really care when Jews die. Only when they fight back.

But no, I’m imagining things. I must be.

Just when you think that the New York Times can’t get any worse in its anti-Israel campaign, out comes Steve Erlanger with this despicable piece of news that doesn’t even have the courtesy label “analysis” that spins the deaths and capture of Israeli soldiers by Hezbullah as granting Ehud Olmert “a deeper political consensus.”

I kid you not.

War Gives Israeli Leader Political Capital
JERUSALEM, July 15 — The raid into Israel from southern Lebanon by the Shiite militia group Hezbollah has provided the new government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a deeper political consensus, allowing him to prosecute a war that is widely supported by the Israeli people.

[...] Freeing the soldier and stopping Qassam rocket fire into Israel were the stated goals, but neither had been accomplished, and international criticism was mounting.

So was internal criticism of Mr. Olmert and his inexperienced defense minister, Amir Peretz, the head of the Labor Party, after the initial surge of solidarity that followed the soldier’s capture, itself viewed as a humiliation for the army, which had received clear warnings of the plot from domestic intelligence.

Then Hezbollah killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two.

[...] “The Hezbollah issue helps the Olmert government a lot, because Hezbollah gave them a wonderful option to do something the army was already prepared to do, with a well-constructed operational plan on the shelf,” said Ron Pundak, director general of the Peres Center for Peace and a former Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians.

“Gaza looked to be what Lebanon was in the past, a swamp or pond with very deep mud, where once you’re back in it’s hard to get out,” Mr. Pundak said. “But now they have, not carte blanche, but a clean table.”

Lebanon has allowed Mr. Olmert, who did not hesitate to authorize the largest air campaign over Lebanon since the 1982 war, to broaden the issue for Israelis and the international community from captured soldiers to a two-front war against radical Islam. With Hezbollah a well-armed Iranian-sponsored militia to Israel’s north, and Hamas running Gaza, Israel is arguing that it is doing necessary work supported, quietly at least, by moderate Arab governments and many Lebanese.

Isn’t it just dandy that Hezbullah happened along to rescue the Olmert government from the swamp that is Gaza? Isn’t it wonderful that so many people have been killed or wounded, both in Lebanon and Israel, just to rescue Olmert’s “political capital”?

Could this reporter be any more post-modern? Could this article be any more depraved? Just imagine the conversation. I did.

“I’ve got an angle for the story. Let’s write an article that points out how great the Hezbullah action is for Olmert. The issues are clear-cut: A terrorist group crossed the border into Israel, killed some Israeli soldiers, captured the ones left alive, and brought them out of Israeli territory to hold them hostage for a prisoner exchange.”

“But that’s exactly what happened in Gaza.”

“No it’s not. Gaza is a swamp. No clear-cut boundaries, Hamas is part of the palestinian government, no quick end in sight. Don’t you see the differences?”

“No. It’s pretty much exactly the same. A terrorist group crossed the border into Israel, killed some soldiers, brought the survivor back over the border and is now holding him hostage for a prisoner exchange. What’s the difference?”

“Don’t you see! The world knows that Hezbullah is at fault here! There’s even a UN resolution demanding they disarm! It’s an absolute win for Olmert that Hezbullah was stupid enough to do this! Get it?”

“Uh, no. The world pretty much was blaming Hamas for what they did, too.”

“Yes, but don’t you see? There was no end in sight! Quagmire! Rockets falling anyway!”

“Uh, no, I don’t get it.”

“Oh, never mind. I’m going to pitch this one to Pinch. He’ll understand.”

Shyeah. The war with Hezbullah is a good thing politically. Only a northeastern media elite could think that way.

And my journey rightward continues.

In the “Cry me a river” category:

Lebanon PM demands ceasefire, appeals for aid
Following Israel’s military pressure on Lebanon, Fouad Siniora tells reporters, ‘we’ll work to extend state’s authority over all its territories, in cooperation with United Nations in south Lebanon’; adds ‘Lebanon is last to know what is happening, but first to pay price’

[...] “We call (for) … work to extend the state’s authority over all its territories, in cooperation with the United Nations in south Lebanon,” A visibly emotional Siniora said.

Hey, here’s an idea. How about the next time a terrorist organization takes over your country’s southern border, you say no?

How about the next time a terrorist organization wants to run for office in your country, you say no?

How about the next time a terrorist organization has its members appointed to your country’s cabinet, you say no?

How about the next time a terrorist organization sets up shop in your capital city, you say no?

All of these things would probably go a long way towards not having Israeli aircraft bombing the crap out of your infrastructure—which also happens to be the infrastructure that supportst Hezbullah.

You want it to stop? Lebanon should have done something about it a year ago, when they had the whole world ready to rush troops in and back them up if they wanted to get rid of the terrorists. You chose the path of least resistance, and now your country is paying the price.

Via Glenn Reynolds, two very funny YouTubes.

First, Michelle Malkin mocks the Cindy Sheehan fast. Y’know, I thought I’d get bored fairly quickly and turn it off, but it’s hilarious.

Next, my favorite X-Man in a new faux trailer by the guys who brought us Brokeback to the Future. It’s called “X-Men 3: The Last Standing Ovation,” and it mixes Broadway Hugh Jackman with X-Man Hugh Jackman. If you’re a Broadway, X-Man, and Hugh Jackman fan, it’s heavenly. And extremely funny.

Go. Watch. Laugh.

The threats seem to be getting more and more serious.

Tehran threatens. It seems that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement that “If Israel attacks Syrian it will get a crushing blow” was not said for nothing. Iranian sources told the Qatar-based newspaper al-Watan that “If Israel dares to attack Syria it will face a front from Tehran all the way to Gaza.”

Additionally they said: “There is a clear decision by the leadership and the people of Iran to protect Syria and face any threat it will be facing.”

The sources also said that Ahmadinejad told Assad during a phone conversation that “the Zionist-American threat on Damascus has reached a dangerous level, and there is no choice but to respond with a strong message so the aggressors will reconsider whether to launch a preventive attack against Syria.”

The prospect of a wider conflagration is emerging. Time to open up an “Iran” category.

Interesting tidbit in this JPost article about Israel bombing the Syrian/Lebanese border crossings:

Hizbullah leaders and operatives were also leaving Beirut on Saturday following a massive IAF strike on an 11-story building in south Beirut that served as the organization’s command center, initial intelligence indicated. Channel 2 reported that the move appeared to be made under heavy security.
A senior IDF officer reported that as a result of a similar strike on the same building on Friday, a large building collapsed, blocking the entrance to a command bunker where Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was believed to be located, Army Radio reported.

Does this mean Nasrallah is trapped in a hole like the rat that he is?

And how stupid are these people? The IAF dropped leaflets telling them their homes and offices would be bombed, and they stayed? Now that’s arrogance.

It wasn’t a UAV that hit the Israeli warship. It was an Iranian-made (and probably fired) missile.

An IDF investigation into the attack showed that Hizbullah had fired an Iranian-made missile at the vessel from the shores of Lebanon, said Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan.

A senior IDF intelligence official says that Iran has approximately 100 soldiers in Lebanon and that they helped Hizbullah hit an Israel Navy ship with an anti-ship missile.

It was first thought that an explosives-laden UAV caused the blast.

“We can confirm that it was hit by an Iranian-made missile launched by Hizbullah. We see this as very profound fingerprint of Iranian involvement in Hizbullah,” Nehushtan said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Just found confirmation that the missile was probably fired by Iranians.

A senior IDF intelligence official says that Iran has approximately 100 soldiers in Lebanon and that they helped Hizbullah hit an Israel Navy ship with an anti-ship missile.

Update: Counterterroism blog says it was a UAV-guided missile, and that Iran’s fingerprints were all over it.

Apparently, Iran has taken the place of the Soviet Union in the Arab nations. Soviet pilots actually flew against Israeli soldiers in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

This may be one of the reasons why I tell Vladimir Putin the STFU when it comes to Israel. His nation has already proven how much it loathes and works against the Jewish state. Then there was that Soviet policy of refusing to let Jews worship, and refusing to let them emigrate. As far as I’m concerned, Putin is still the KGB apparatchik that he was when Russia was the USSR. Two hundred protesters were arrested at the G8 talks—and so were two German journalists. Yeah, I’m going to listen to Vladimir Putin lecture Israel on disproportionate force. Tomorrow. Or maybe the day after. I’ll pencil him in right after “gargling with razor blades.”

Rockets are now falling on Tiberias. There’s a map on the link. Go see how serious the Hezbullah “barrages” have been.

The first strike on Tiberias represented a further extension of Hizbullah’s rockets’ range, since Haifa was struck on Thursday. Tiberias is located on the western shore of the Kinneret, some 35 kilometers south of the Lebanese border, which was previously assessed to be outside the area that would be hit by Katyushas.

Hezbullah must be destroyed. This war will not end until they are.

Update: The IDF denies an ultimatum was issued.

Word is that he’s been given an ultimatum by Israel to stop Hezbullah. It’s Baby Assad’s moment in the sun.

The London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that “Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.”

The report said “a senior Pentagon source warned that should the Arab world and international community fail in the efforts to convince
Syria to pressure Hizbullah into releasing the soldiers and halt the current escalation Israel may attack targets in the country.”

As of a few minutes ago, Israel bombed Lebanese/Syrian border crossings.

I think they’re serious.

The question is: Is Baby Assad as stupid as I think he is? Because I predict pictures of a column of Israeli tanks moving into Damascus in the next few days.

Israel did not ask for this war. Israel will win this war. But let’s not forget, that the moment it becomes a ground war, IDF casualties go way up. The enemies of Israel have been planting mines for years, using the specs developed by the terrorists groups in their constant attempts to destroy Israeli armored vehicles.

Israel will win this war, but there will be a cost. That’s part of the reason I don’t want to see bloodthirsty comments here. The other part is that innocent Lebanese and Syrians will be part of the cost as well.

The report also mentioned that President George W. Bush has repeatedly put much of the blame for the recent escalation on Syria.

“It is no coincidence that the Hizbullah operation comes at a time when the international community is working to impose sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear program and settle the score with Syria by establishing an international court to try those behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,” the Pentagon source said.

According to the source, Hizbullah made the same mistake as Hamas when it did not predict the ramifications of its actions and ignored the regional and international changes since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

That explains why Bush is so angry when he mentions Hezbullah. Well, that and the fact that W. really can tell the difference between terrorists and “freedom fighters,” which much of the world cannot.

President Bush has evidently remembered his stance against terrorists, “and all those who shelter them,” and is standing by Israel.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think you’ll find all parties here want the violence to stop. In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place. And that’s because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel, and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. That’s why we have violence.

And the best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms, and to stop attacking. And, therefore, I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hezbollah.

Now, here’s my concern — is that we were making good progress toward a two-state solution in the Middle East. The Israeli Prime Minister came to Washington and talked to me about his desire for there to be a democracy living side-by-side with another democracy, said this was part of his strategic vision for Israel and for peace.

And he was working toward that end. As you know, he made efforts to reach out to President Abbas, who we support. He made efforts to reach out to countries in the neighborhood to help achieve this vision. And as the vision was progressing, certain elements — certain terrorist elements began to act to stop the advance of democracy. The militant wing of Hamas made decisions to attack and to capture. Hezbollah has made decisions to stop the advance of a two-state solution.

The solution, short-term solution is for Hezbollah to stop the attacks. The longer-term solution is for nations around the world and nations in the neighborhood to support those who support the advance of democracy.

The first and last paragraphs quoted are the ones getting the most play on TV. If you don’t see a clip, you miss the absolute anger that comes across when the president blames Hezbullah. He is furious. If anyone knows of a YouTube or other clip, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll link it.

But for a change, Bush is doing the right thing and refusing to stop Israel’s offensive against the terrorists at her border. There doesn’t appear to be a danger of a UN resolution rescuing Hezbullah any time soon.

What do you do if you are a Zionist, an ardent supporter of the state of Israel - my Zionism right or wrong, blue on white, Hatikva before going to bed, in short - the whole enchilada? But with one difficult twist: you have to look just the opposite - an ardent supporter of Arab cause, right or wrong, whatever colors on the green of Islam, Bil’ady, Bil’ady, and all that is entailed. This is definitely a quandary, but the great minds of the Guardian know how to deal with it exceedingly well, and my heart goes out to them. After all, we, the Elders, provide only occasional guidance to this self-supporting publication. And we frequently quote it as an example of rotten anti-Israeli rag with not a lot of visible grey cells in action.

However, where there is a will, there is a way. And the way found by the Guardian works like a dream: find a terminally stupid supporter of Arab cause, preferably with some (phony or real) academic credentials and elicit from him a rant of a typical slanted type. Do not check any facts mentioned in that rant, publish it as it is, and voila: you have made a mighty powerful strike for the Zionist cause while ostensibly rooting for the other side.

Here is a typical sample of a successful implementation of this devious strategy: an “opinion” piece by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a learned assistant professor of political science at the Lebanese-America University. It starts with a strategic statement:

Israel’s response to its soldiers’ capture is part of a hamfisted attempt to redraw the region’s map

Aha! So all this hullabaloo was started by the devious Zionists to get themselves a chunk of Lebanon. Now it is clear, and Hizbullah is just an instrument of Zionist self-provocation. Good.

The capture of three Israeli soldiers by the Lebanese resistance movement, Hizbullah, to bargain for prisoner exchange should come as no surprise - least of all to Israel…

It is a surprise, especially for the fact that it is two soldiers that were captured. Oh well…

The prisoners Hizbullah wants released are hostages who were taken on Lebanese soil.These detentions have become a cause celebre in Lebanon.

Yep. Hostages indeed. Some cause celebre, just look at the darling Samir there. If you are too lazy, here is his bio (short but sufficient) version, again:

Samir Qantar was 17 when Israel Police arrested him after he burst into a flat in Israel’s northern city of Nahariya, killed a policeman and another man and his four-year-old daughter. An Israeli court sentenced Qantar to 542 years in jail, of which he has served more than a quarter of a century.

If this is how the people of Lebanon look at “hostage” problem, and this is their cause celebre, it is no surprise that Hizbullah got to be what it got to be…

The regional significance of the abductions has also been misconstrued.

Here you see the scientific mind in action. “Regional significance” that is “misconstrued”. Clearly the American taxpayer dollars at work. Feverish work, too. A band of thugs, inspired by the custom-made reading of Islam and armed to the teeth by the bosom buddies from Iran and Syria, pretends to regional significance on the blood of their Lebanese brethren. A great study case for political science, no question. But also a cause for an executioner, and don’t thank us - better do this yourselves before it becomes too late.

Ach, professor - it must be a thankless job to try to explain the unspeakable and to swallow the unpalatable. Especially when your mental prowess leaves a lot of room for improvement.

But back to the Guardian: good job, colleagues. Your medals are, as usual, put in a strongbox, to be shown to you in a private ceremony, never to be seen in public. Keep up the good work!

Cross-posted on SimplyJews