So how is this not arrogance?

Iran dismisses EU’s biased, meddlesome stances on sailors case
ran on Saturday dismissed EU’s “biased and interventionist” stances on capture of 15 British marines and sailors, who illegally trespassed into Iranian territorial waters, calling on Europe to avoid any “uncalculated and irresponsible” comments on the issue.

“While ruling out the biased and meddlesome stances of European Union on arrest of the 15 British marines for illegal entry into Iran’s territorial waters, Foreign Ministry asks European states to avoid any uncalculated and irresponsible comments on the issue,” said a Foreign Ministry statement in reaction to a statement, issued by the European Union (EU) in its informal meeting in Germany.

The Foreign Ministry statement, citing documented and authoritative proof and evidence on violation of Iran’s territorial waters by British marines, recommended European officials and European Union to take such evidences into consideration before offering any illogical support for London.

It warned the EU against issuance of “baseless” statements and against any unwise interference in an issue which fully concerns the Islamic Republic of Iran and the British government.

Or this:

Ahmad Khatami: No country should interfere in British sailors case
This week’s Friday Prayers Leader Hojatoleslam Seyed Ahmad Khatami said here that no third party, such as the United Nations Security Council or any country has the right to interfere in the case of arrested British sailors.

[...] Khatami said that no country does ever let its sovereignty be violated, adding that what has taken place actually marks the discord between the two countries.

“Britain is an aggressor and Iran has confronted it. Therefore, no third party — neither the United Nations Security Council nor any country — has the right to interfere in the issue. They should be aware that their interference will make the matter more difficult and complicated,” he said.

This is the man brought to speak at Harvard. The one they call a moderate. Yep, that’s a totally moderate stance I’m reading there. Uh-huh. Why, the man is a regular ambassador of peace, tranquility, and brotherhood among nations.

Following is a copy of an email I sent to the AP:

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Several months ago, after the controversy over the Temple Mount archeological dig, I wrote to you to correct your error in the boilerplate about the Western Wall of Solomon’s Temple, which you mistakenly labeled “the holiest site in Judaism.” It is not. The holiest site in Judaism is the Temple Mount, the site of the First and Second Temples.

Below is one example of your current article, which again misidentifies the Western Wall.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070331/D8O75FG80.html

Rep. Pelosi Tours Jerusalem Holy Sites

Email this Story
Mar 31, 8:43 AM (ET)

By DIAA HADID
(AP) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivers her remarks at the Radio and Television Correspondents …
Full Image

JERUSALEM (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi toured Jerusalem holy sites Saturday alongside a congressional delegation that included the first Muslim elected to Congress.

The tour was part of the congressional delegation’s first full day in Jerusalem, the first stop on their fact-finding trip to the Middle East. The group arrived here Friday.

Flanked by security guards, Pelosi, D-Calif., and the delegation toured the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christians believe Jesus’ body was buried, in Jerusalem’s Old City. They also visited the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, where Jews have gathered for centuries to pray.

Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison said his presence - as a Muslim - on the trip sent a message to Israelis and Palestinians that “people can come together.”

“Reconciliation is possible,” he said.

Ellison, a Minnesota congressman, said he hoped to visit the compound above the Western Wall known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. The compound, the site of the biblical temples as well as the third-holiest site in Islam, is one of the main points of friction between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict.

“I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope to, I’m really looking forward to it,” Ellison said of the compound, which is also home to the Dome of Rock shrine.

Pelosi’s delegation intends to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days.

On Sunday, Pelosi is to address the Israeli Knesset in her first address to a foreign legislature.

Wikipedia manages to get it right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount

It was the site of the first (c. 967 BCE, destroyed c. 587 BCE) and second (c. 515 BCE, destroyed in 70 CE ) Jewish Temples in Jerusalem and according to Judaism is to be the site of the third and final Temple to be rebuilt with the coming of the Messiah; and as such it is the holiest site in the world for Jews. It is also the site of two major Muslim religious shrines, the Dome of the Rock (c. 690) and Al-Aqsa Mosque (c. 710). It is thus one of the most contested religious sites in the world.

You corrected your mistake in your articles after my last letter. I don’t understand why the AP can’t get a simple fact straight: The Western Wall is part of what remains of the retaining wall. And while Jews pray there daily, and consider it the closest they can get to the Temple Mount, it is not the holiest site in Judaism. That would be the Temple Mount. It is not a “belief” that the Temple Mount is the site of the First and Second Temples. It is an archeological, proven fact: http://www.archaeology.org.il/newsticker.asp?id=17

Once again, you misinform your readers when you do not identify the Temple Mount as the holiest site in Judaism. Somehow, though, the AP always manages to identify the Al-Aqsa mosque as the “third-holiest site in Islam.” How is it that always seems to happen? Surely there is no religious bias to your reporting. You pride yourself on your unbiased reporting of the facts. Well, then, I would appreciate seeing the facts about the Temple Mount and the Western Wall portraying historical accuracy. In your current article, they do not.

Best,

Meryl Yourish

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Exit question: What can Keith Ellison do on a visit to Al-Aqsa that Joe Lieberman can’t do on a visit to the Temple Mount?

If you said, “Pray openly,” You are correct. Jews are forbidden to pray on the holiest site in Judaism, while Muslims have three mosques on the site. That would be due to the famous Muslim tolerance™ for other religions.

Longtime readers know how much I like to parody song lyrics. And I’m pretty damned good at it.

This guy is great at it.

“I’m Still Here” is a song that I’ve tried for years to write a parody for, featuring the history of the Jews. Jeff Stambovsky did it for Hillary Clinton, and it’s hilarious. And he did every. single. verse. Now that’s talent.

He parodies Al Gore in this one, to the tune of “I’m a Believer.” Too funny.

But this is the one that will appeal the most to my readers:

Intersting, isn’t it, that so many of the most beautiful Christmas songs were written by jews? And isn’t it just as interesting that gentile lyricists and composers haven’t written any songs for jewish holidays? Until Holiday For Heretics, that is. HFH showed the world what goyim songwriters could do, if given the chance. Dedicated to the memory of Allan Sherman, a true genius.

Holiday for Heretics. Thanks, Jeff.

I’ll be home for Pesach
Save some matzo brie
Two nights a year
I long to hear
How pharoah’s men all died.

This one got me laughing out loud while Mom’s watching n3mbrs. She’s here for Pesach. Now she wants to know why I’m laughing.

Thanks a lot, Jeff.

Iran, which is a signatory to the Geneva Convention, is blatantly violating it by showing the captured British sailors on TV. They’ve just published a “confession” that one of the sailors made, saying they were in Iraqi waters.

One of the 15 British service members held captive in Iran appeared Friday on state television and said he apologized “deeply” for entering Iranian waters, and the country released a third letter supposedly from the one woman in the crew saying she has been “sacrificed” by Britain.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose government has insisted that its navy personnel were captured in Iraqi waters, immediately condemned Iran’s treatment of the captives, saying it “doesn’t fool anyone.”

In the video Friday, Royal Marine rifleman Nathan Thomas Summers was shown sitting with another male serviceman and the female British sailor Faye Turney against a pink floral curtain. Both men wore camouflage fatigues with a label saying “Royal Navy” on their chests and a small British flag stitched to their left sleeves. Turney wore a blue jumpsuit and a black headscarf.

“We trespassed without permission,” Summers said, adding he knew that Iran had seized British military personnel who strayed into their waters three years ago.

“This happened back in 2004 and our government said that it wouldn’t happen again,” Summers said. “And, again, I deeply apologize for entering your waters.”

From Article 13:

Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.

One of the 15 British service members held captive in Iran appeared Friday on the government’s Arabic-language TV and said he apologized “deeply” for entering Iranian waters without permission.

Iran also released a third letter supposedly from the only woman in the group saying she has been “sacrificed” to the policies of the British and U.S. governments.

I fully expect to hear all the human rights watchdogs protesting this blatant violation of the captured sailors’ human rights.

Well, no, not really. Because I searched Human Rights Watch’s website, and found nothing at all regarding the illegal capture and holding of the British soldiers. I found nothing at all about forcing the only woman sailor to “confess” that she was in Iraqi water and write notes home. I saw nothing at all about the British sailors being repeatedly shown on TV in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.

We heard plenty about the Guantanamo detainees being pictured in the media, and we heard about it from every corner of the globe—yet we still have exactly zero calls by Human Rights Watch for the return of Gilad Shalit or Eldad Reged and Ehud Goldwasser, the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah. The Red Cross says it has been trying to get access to Gilad Shalit, but Hamas constantly denies them the right to visit the prisoner—another violation of the Geneva Conventions that goes overlooked by most of the world. Ditto for the soldiers being held by Hezbollah, an army that claims to speak for Lebanon—which makes Lebanon in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

I guess the Conventions only count when they are able to be used against the West.

Folks, I am switching hosts this week, and comments created here after 6 a.m. Monday morning won’t be transferred over to the new site. Some comments may disappear. Something about the DNS settling and all that.

More information later, and there will be a reminder posted Monday morning.

You know, this would be so much easier if only I didn’t procrastinate the big clean-up every time Mom comes to visit.

Well, last time she was here, she washed my kitchen floor because she was unhappy with the job I did.

Fine by me if she does it again.

Blogging will be light today. I’ve still got to finish the living room and the upstairs bathroom, then shower and drive to the airport.

That’s what the Arabs are telling Israel. And this is how it’s being spun.

Reuters:

Arab leaders urge Israel, world to take peace offer
Mar 29, 2007 — RIYADH (Reuters) - Arab leaders endorsed a peace plan to end decades-old conflict with Israel and the Palestinian president warned of more violence if the “hand of peace” was rejected.

Speaking at the end of an Arab summit in Riyadh, Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel not to waste the chance for peace, and called for a committee led by Saudi Arabia to pursue it.

“I reiterate the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people … We should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful cause,” Abbas told the closing ceremony of the two-day meeting.

“The entire region will be under renewed threats of war, explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one.”

Please note that in the very first paragraph, Reuters says the Arabs warn of violence if Israel does not accept the “peace” offer unconditionally. And yet, the headline is not “Arabs threaten Israel over summit deal,” it is about the Arabs “urging” Israel to take the “peace” offer. How is it peace if it offers no end to the terrorism? How is it peace when it is used as a threat, a prelude to war?

The AP:

Arab Leaders Agree on Appeal for Israel
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Mar 29, 2007 (AP)— Arab leaders at their summit Thursday agreed on a call for Israel to accept their land-for-peace offer and open direct negotiations with the Arabs. Unlike past summits that at times saw overt feuds break out, the gathering of Arab kings, emirs and presidents showed unusual public unity as it revived the peace offer, which they first made in 2002 only to meet rejection from Israel.

But still unknown is how the Arabs will persuade Israel to accept the initiative, which the United States and Europe hope can help build momentum for a resumption of the long-stalled peace process. Israel has said it could accept the offer with some changes, but the Arab leaders refused the amend it.

The AP utterly downplays the threat aspect. Well, actually, they leave it out completely from their reporting of the summit. Instead, they push the idea that “working groups” will be able to change the plan after Israel accepts it. Once more, I ask: What kind of negotiation is it when one side says “Accept this agreement as is and then you can negotiate changes”?

That is called “negotiating in bad faith.” That isn’t even a negotiation. It is an ultimatum. And once again, the Israelis will refuse it. The history of Israel is full of agreements made by other people without any Israeli input that she is expected to accept and then live by. Name any other sovereign nation that is expected to go by an agreement it had no input in making. You can’t. There are none. None that are accepted as legal, anyway.

And finally, we have the Israeli point of view, written from AP reports:

Abbas warns of violence if ‘peace’ rejected
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Thursday of violence if Israel rejected a Palestinian “hand of peace”, and called for an international conference on reaching a final peace agreement with the Jewish State.

Speaking at the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, Abbas accused Israel of evading peace by demanding that Arab states alter a land-for-peace initiative.

“Demanding that amendments be introduced to the Arab peace initiative, is seeking to avoid the realization of peace,” Abbas said at the summit’s closing ceremony.

Funny how nobody else seems to have captured that last quote from Abbas. By insisting that the Arabs actually negotiate, Israel is “avoiding the realization of peace,” or, in other words, choosing war. Which, in the bad old days of Yasser Arafat, would mean the terrorists are ramping up for Intifada 3. I wonder if that’s what this summit is really all about: Cover for the Arab world when Hamas, Syria, and Hezbullah start launching rockets into Israel as “retaliation” for not agreeing to the Saudi initiative.

After all, they warned us. If Israel doesn’t take “the hand of peace,” she will be under “renewed threats of war.”

Renewed? They’ve never stopped.

So the sum total of what the U.K. is doing to put a halt to current levels of anti-Semitism on U.K. campuses? They’re wagging their fingers and saying “shame.”

Although the government has again said that it “deplores” any attempts to target Jewish students at British universities, it stepped back from recommending any new hardline measures against student or academic activities deemed to be anti-semitic.

Instead ministers, responding to a report on anti-semitism published last year by the all-party parliamentary inquiry, have reiterated that universities should adopt existing guidance from both the government and Universities UK, the organisation that represents vice-chancellors, on how to tackle hate crime and incidents involving extremist groups.

The government also reminded university governing bodies that under race relations legislation they have a statutory duty to produce a race equality policy, which sets out how they intend to prevent racial discrimination and promote good race relations on campus.

That’ll show ‘em.

No wonder Iraq captured 15 British sailors. They knew the Lion of Britain has no teeth.

The report also agreed with the party’s conclusions that while the issue of anti-semitism is taken seriously by universities the “practice is not consistent across the sector.”

But the government failed to endorse the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia’s (EUMC) definition of anti-semitism on the grounds that it was a “work in progress.”

The EUMC, now the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, defines anti-semitism as the expression of hatred towards Jews, their property and Jewish community institutions and religious facilities. More contentiously, it adds “such manifestations could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity”.

The Union of Jewish Students’ campaign director, Mitch Simmons, said the government report was a “major step and valuable”.

But he was disappointed that the government and MPs had failed to address the issue that some universities fail to take up incidents of anti-semitism raised by the student union because they believe the organisation is separate to the university.

The British police don’t even report all incidents of anti-Semitism.

Time to go, Jews of Britain. The Jews of France are already fleeing by the thousands. (Holy crap! Joe updated his blog!)

The U.K. is telling its universities that they have to actually start clamping down on anti-Semitism on campus. Big job. I wonder if they can.

The government is due today to unveil steps universities must take to stamp out campus anti-semitism.

The communities minister, Phil Woolas, is expected to announce that the police should use existing powers under the Public Order Act 1986 to prosecute Islamic extremists, and others, if they make any speeches on campus which are anti-semitic.

Universities are expected to be told to keep a record of any complaints about anti-semitic behaviour, which would include statements or speeches made by students.

Here’s my favorite part:

The report said it was unreasonable for universities to boycott academics who work in Israel because that was an affront to academic freedom. The MPs added that university vice-chancellors’ response to dealing with the problem was “patchy” and it called on them to tackle the issue “vigorously”.

Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors and has been involved in discussions with the government about campus political extremism, refused to comment on any government proposals ahead of today’s announcement.

And here comes the Islamophobia whine:

But any attempt to recruit lecturers into a “policing” role is likely to be rejected after the University and College Union warned in October its members would not be “sucked into a kind of anti-Muslim McCarthyism”.

We’ll see if anything changes. I’m thinking not.

This is wrong on so many levels.

No WAY can Conan take on the Hulk.

Say, Queers for Palestine: Imagine if this event were held in Ramallah. What do you think would happen?

Arab lesbians quietly defied Islamist protesters and a social taboo to gather at a rare public event Wednesday in a northern Israeli city.

Many of the attendees said they were sad that the only place safe enough to hold a conference for gay Arab women was in a Jewish area of Haifa, which has a mixed Arab-Jewish population. Israel’s Jewish majority is generally tolerant of homosexuality.

I’m thinking the women would be arrested, harmed, or killed. Lucky for them, the event was in Israel.

You’re on the wrong side in this battle. Homosexuality is illegal in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and, well, just about every single Arab and Muslim country on the planet (except for Jordan). Gays are executed in some countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. In Israel, though some religious Jews are against homosexuality, gays are not persecuted, nor arrested, nor murdered—at least not by the state. Can you say the same about the Palestinian Territories?

I think not.

Driven deep underground for the most part, only 10 to 20 Arab lesbians attended the conference, organizers said. Most blended in with Israeli lesbians and heterosexual Arab female supporters without making their presence known.

“We’d like all women to come out of the closet that’s our role. We work for them,” said Samira, 31, a conference organizer who came with her Jewish Israeli girlfriend. Samira agreed to be identified only by her first name for fear of reprisals.

Outside the conference hall, 20 women protesters in headscarves and long, loose robes held up signs reading, “God, we ask you to guide these lesbians to the true path.”

Security was tight. Attendance was by invitation only, and reporters were not allowed to take photographs, use tape recorders or identify people.

Even in Israel, they have to hide from their Arab brothers and sisters.

Morcos said her car was vandalized repeatedly and she received threatening phone calls at her family home after her village in northern Israel found out she was a lesbian.

Wrong side, QUIT. You’re on the wrong side. Try looking at the Israelis, who do not murder homosexuals, who do not put them in prison for being homosexuals, and who do not discriminate against them for being homosexual.

But don’t let the facts get in the way of your Israel-hatred.

And New Jersey.

I would very much like to head up to NJ/NY for a visit sometime in early June, after religious school is over, and between busy times in my new job.

I would also very much like to see a show or three. I’m a huge Sondheim fan and would like to see Company. I’ve also never seen The Fantasticks and would like to. I’m also interested in Avenue Q, Wicked, and damn, I’ve seen Les Miz three times already, one more couldn’t hurt… nah. I’d rather see one I’ve never seen. Which is all of the others.

I also want to have lunch or dinner at Katz’s. And maybe spend some time in the Village.

So. Who’s up for dinner and a show sometime in June? I have to check my work schedule, but I really, really, really need to get back north. I have developed far too much of a twang since I moved to Richmond. I don’t say “sale.” I say “say-ull.” I need to be helped out of my twang. I don’t mind talking southern when necessary (and it always comes out when I’m talking to someone older or someone who had a pronounced southern accent), but really. I’ve lived nearly my entire life in the northeast, dammit, I’m going to die with a NJ accent if I have anything to say about it.

I love New York in June… how about you?

Update: And I have a date. My nephew’s concert is June 6. I will be there.

The ultimatums keep getting better and better. So this is what the Saudi princes think are negotiations: Telling Israel that she must accept the 2002 initiative as is, with zero changes, no matter what—and if she doesn’t accept, then obviously, she wants war, not peace.

Prince Saud said Israel should accept or reject this final offer.

“What we have the power to do in the Arab world, we think we have done,” he said. “So now it is up to the other side because if you want peace, it is not enough for one side only to want it. Both sides must want it equally.”

Speaking inside his whitewashed palace, surrounded by luxuriant lawns and manicured flower beds resembling a green oasis in the drabness of Riyadh, Prince Saud delivered an unequivocal warning to Israel.

“If Israel refuses, that means it doesn’t want peace and it places everything back into the hands of fate. They will be putting their future not in the hands of the peacemakers but in the hands of the lords of war,” he said.

Now that’s negotiation! That’s giving Israel a reason to want to agree to the initiative—because if she doesn’t, the Arabs will lob rockets at her, blow up her citizens with nail bombs, shoot them, stab them, and otherwise cause harm to them.

But wait. It gets worse.

Prince Saud dismissed any further diplomatic overtures towards Israel. “It has never been proven that reaching out to Israel achieves anything,” he said.

“Other Arab countries have recognised Israel and what has that achieved?

“The largest Arab country, Egypt, recognised Israel and what was the result? Not one iota of change happened in the attitude of Israel towards peace.”

The Egyptians got the Sinai back, but that isn’t enough. The Egyptians are legally at peace with Israel, but that isn’t enough. Apparently, the Saudis want—well, I don’t exactly know what they want, because nothing that Israel has done has stopped the cross-border rockets, kidnappings, murders, and aid to terrorists from the Arab and Muslim world. But Saud doesn’t seem to think there’s anything wrong with that. He and his family fund the murderers.

This current “peace” initiative is nothing less than another media attack on Israel by the Arabs, with the complicity of the mainstream media.

Saud’s words will not get wide play. Watch. Now imagine if an Israeli leader had said the same thing about, say, the Road Map. There’d have been at least hree thousand screaming headlines: “Israel wants war!”

Update: Forgot to add this earlier:

You and what five armies, Saud?

What do you do if you happen to find yourself knee-deep in sewage in your backyard? I guess you would get to a dry place first and then figure out a way to get rid of the flood and make sure it does not happen.

The recent tragic events in Gaza show that this simple logic is just not applicable in some places.

The earthen wall of a sewage pond in the northern Gaza Strip ruptured Tuesday, flooding a nearby village and killing at least four Palestinians, providing a tragic illustration of Gaza’s crumbling public works after years of neglect and recently curtailed foreign aid to the government.

A brief google shows that complaints about the lack of sewage processing are dated way before the last elections in Palestinian territories that brought about the cutting of foreign aid. No, the problem was known and clear to all. It is just that the powers that be in Gaza could not care less about the well-being of their subjects, when the first and foremost action item on their agenda is to get more and more arms to kill the hated Jooz.

And thus there is a line of business burgeoning in Gaza that has a direct impact on the issue of sewage treatment: the rocket science. You see, to build one Qassam rocket you must have about 2m of pipe. Multiply 1000 (which is roughly the number of Qassams launched on Israel) by 2m and you shall see how the dots connect. Clearly the iron will of the terrorists makes the sewage treatment even more of a pipe dream.

But of course, the Zionists will be blamed for that sewage disaster as well.

In related news:

12:38 IDF sends two pumps to Gaza to help lower level of sewage (AP)

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Saudi Arabia, having presented a so-called peace plan and insisted there will not be any changes made to the five-year-old plan that was rejected in 2002, then tells Israel she must be flexible. Yes, it truly is Israeli Double Standard Time all of the time.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Israel should accept a broad land-for-peace offer that Arab leaders plan to revive at a summit here this week, expressing frustration at Israel’s hesitation over the initiative.

Saudi Arabia and other U.S. Arab allies hope the peace plan can build momentum for a resumption of the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal took a tough stance, suggesting Israel must also show more flexibility.

Watch the juxtaposition here. The Arabs are being shown as utterly inflexible, and yet, Israel is the nation that needs to “show more flexibility.” Find the flexibility in the following:

Israel rejected the Arab initiative when it was first made in 2002, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week his country was willing to accept it with some changes, particularly if demands on Palestinian refugees were watered down.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal hinted on Monday that Arab leaders could consider amendments, saying they had to “take notice of new developments.”

But in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, al-Faisal appeared to back off, saying, “What has changed in order for the proposal to change?”

An Arab diplomat said Saudi Arabia had been hoping Olmert would show a stronger willingness to restart peace talks on the Arab proposal in order to give the Arabs leeway to show flexibility. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the diplomatic maneuvering.

Still haven’t found it? Okay. Let’s see if we can find any more flexibility.

Al-Faisal appeared disappointed with the Israel stance, saying Israel had to change its “fortress” mentality “that force will achieve what they need in terms of security.” He said the Arabs were serious and unanimous in their offer, and “now it depends on the other side to do the rest.”

“We want to have peace. That is the best solution for the problem,” he said.

“If Israel reaches an agreement on redeployment from Arab lands,” he said, “then there will be peace signed between all the Arab countries. But not before.”

Once again, let me interpret for you: “Israel, do everything we tell you to do, and then we will sign peace agreements with you.” Of course, never in the past have the Arab nations ever lied to Israel. Nope. Nuh-uh. Never. Not at all.

Now, you have all the text needed. Let’s start a pool on the first headline that blames Israeli inflexibility (or stubbornness, or intransigence, or refusal to budge, or any synomym of inflexibility), and watch for the Arab spokesmen to all blame Israel. And then watch for the terror attacks launched after “Israel refuses to have peace.”

And last, but not least, the AP buries this waaaaay down:

A draft of the final resolution to be approved by the summit relaunches the peace initiative without changes. But it also creates working groups that will meet with the United Nations, United States, Europe and Russia in an attempt to push the plan forward.

Nothing has changed, but the AP perpetuates the myth that the Arabs will “consider” making the changes necessary.

This is the history of all dealings between Israel and the Arab nations since Camp David. In the past sixty years, only Anwar Sadat dealt honestly with Israel. Every other Arab leader has played the same old bullshit: Do as we say, or no deal.

Which is why there has been one, and only one true peace agreement—and it was land for peace, the big deal to the Arabs—since 1948.

You would think they’d get a clue by now.

This is, of course, in reference to the inane headline So how dangerous is skunk? byIndy.

You would think that this dubious rag that for years propagated its own version of truth regarding cannabis (among other similar “truths”) will recognize its guilt and its complicity in the suffering of thousands of deluded youngsters and just quietly shut up. But what really tickles Indy’s fancy?

If you can see any sign of repentance in the above quote, please let me know. I shall visit my optician shortly. Meanwhile, there are all the necessary symptoms of unrepentant “in your face” idiocy in this quote, since the danger of skunk were widely known way before and are not restricted to schizophrenia alone.

Think about this:

Cannabis remains the most commonly-used drug in the UK with one in 10 people using it in the last year, according to the British Crime Survey.

How many of these (roughly) 7 million deluded dorks were influenced by the raving of Indy?

Imagine the stink Indy would have raised were cannabis marketed and advertised by a private company (well, the drug cartels, growers and dealers are somewhat private, but at least they have the decency not to advertise via the usual channels). In fact, the above mentioned supply chain owns Indy a great deal of appreciation, if not a hefty commission.

And to add insult to injury:

Alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than many illegal drugs including the hallucinogen LSD and the dance drug ecstasy, according to a new scale for assessing the dangers posed by recreational substances.

Please reassure me that this is not an attempt to start a new campaign in the name of social progress on the general lines of “a good trip is better than a bad hangover”. Please?

I hope some crafty lawyer is already drawing the lawsuit that will ruin this cesspool of a newspaper. In the name of all the people who were blindly led into the abyss by the relentless and self-assured idiocy.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Brian of London just sent me live photos of baby David via Skype. And it didn’t cost either of us a dime in transatlantic telephony.

That’s why the internet rules.

Plus, David is really cute.

Khaled Mashaal, the head of Hamas, the organization that has murdered or wounded thousands of Israelis, is in Algeria for something called the 5th International Conference on Qods. Qods is Jerusalem; I expect this conference is yet another gathering of Arab and Muslim forces arrayed against Israel to discuss “regaining” Jerusalem—known as the City of David, I should point out—to Muslim control. Besides threatening terror attacks on any nation that attacks Iran, the exiled leader of Hamas, who runs the terrorist organization from Damascus because he knows a Hellfire missile would find him if he returned to Gaza, also said this:

Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal said that the group had not abandoned its armed struggle against Israel, and that operatives in the field were already waiting to begin another intifada, Israel Radio reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference in Algeria on Monday, Mashaal called on Arab leaders to take advantage of the momentum in the region to push Israel into a corner and to develop a new strategy for retaking Jerusalem.

I guarantee you will not find that quote in any other non-Israeli publication, and you will especially not find it in the AP.

You will also not find these statements in the AP and Reuters pieces. They prefer to use phrase like “Saudia Arabia suggested it would consider changes” to the peace plan, even when they know those phrases are lies from teh Saudis. And yes, the wire service writers know it. They must, because the Arab press was chock-full of stories like this:

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal reaffirmed yesterday that the 2002 Arab peace plan which offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for full withdrawal from Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

“There will be no amendment to the Arab peace initiative. We have said this 20 times before in the past and this is the last time I will say this,” Prince Saud told reporters in Riyadh.

And here is the reasoning behind the sudden push for “momentum”: To force Israel into a bad agreement, and when Israel refuses, to get world opinion—already there, frankly—against Israel for refusing to agree to the “peace” plan.

The Saudi Foreign Minister also said on Monday that an Arab summit in Riyadh this week must produce a united stance on an Arab initiative for peace with Israel.

“If the Arabs have a clear and strong position on the initiative, the more the chance of it being adopted internationally and serious peace negotiations entered,” Prince Saud told the opening session of Arab foreign ministers meeting to prepare for the March 28-29 summit.

There will not be negotiations after an agreement has been accepted. There will only be the Arab and Muslim side insisting that Israel live up to its side of the agreement, just as they did with the Road Map, while providing excuse after excuse on why the Palestinians could not live up to theirs. One more time: There will be no change to the agreement. Mashaal is in Saudi Arabia to make sure of it.

”Meshaal called on Arab leaders meeting in Riyadh to adopt a strategy based on the right to self-defence,” the official Saudi news agency SPA said.

It added: “he said that conceding legitimate rights such as the right of return and the Palestinian people’s right to protection was unacceptable”.

And Mashaal is calling for more murders armed struggle:

Meshaal however said Monday that “Hamas will not renounce its armed resistance. Things are evolving in the favour of Arabs and Muslims, who should take advantage of the (current) situation” in the Middle East. The situation is not good neither for the Israelis nor for the Americans. The former are facing a profound domestic crisis of confidence while the United States is suffering one failure after another.”

You see, I can find these news pieces. There are reporters at these conferences, and you can be sure there are AP and Reuters reporters or stringers at this conference—but these quotes never make it into the main AP and Reuters pieces. Why not? It’s that anti-Israel bias. As long as you water down the threats from Hamas, you can make Israel look like the bad guy. If Hamas leaders were quoted regularly in the wire services as saying the things that they actually say, Hamas would no longer be the “reformed” terrorist group that the media is trying to make them out to be.

And last, we have the wire services, finally acknowledging the refusal to change the 2002 initiative, but still pushing it as something good for Israel.

Arab leaders arriving in Riyadh were expected to relaunch a peace initiative that offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for full withdrawal from land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel rejected the plan in 2002, but along with the United States has recently shown more interest.

[...] Draft resolutions for the March 28-29 summit, hammered out in only a few hours on Monday, are dominated by the Arab-Israeli conflict and appear designed to entice Israel into talks without altering the text of the 2002 peace initiative.

Israel has made clear its objections to some parts, including the proposed full return to 1967 borders, inclusion of East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel, in a Palestinian state and demands over the return of Palestinian refugees.

[...] The final draft also avoids any mention of the phrase “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has strongly argued against. The Arab peace initiative only talks of a just solution to the refugee question.

And there you have it: Reuters is using weasel words, because the reporter knows damned well that what the Saudi initiative means by a “just solution” is the return of all UN-declared Palestinian refugees to their former homes in the former Palestinian Mandate, much of which is now Israel proper.

And as we have now entered upon material that needs a whole other post to discuss, we will leave you with one more Reuters quote:

Summit must not give refugee concessions: Meshaal
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on Arab leaders at this week’s Arab summit not to make concessions on Palestinian refugees and the Palestinians right to defend themselves, Saudi media said on Tuesday.

Does Reuters never tire of lying to its readers?

Today’s lesson in media bias: Watch a wire service outright lie to its readers. First up, the Saudi peace initiative, which is essentially dead in the water due to the Arabs’ insistence that Israel agree to it before they can then begin to make changes to things they find objectionable. (And right now is a good time for a “WTF? You want me to sign the agreement and THEN say I don’t like it? WTF?”)

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa urged Israel on Sunday to accept a 2002 Arab peace initiative as a basis for peace negotiations, and insisted that Arab leaders meeting in Saudi Arabia later this week will not alter the proposal’s land-for-peace offer.

By the way, as to the AP’s contention that the Saudis keep hinting they’re going to change it: Uh, no.

Egyptian and Saudi leaders have said they want the offer to stand as is, and Syrian Vice President Farouk al Sharaa has been touring Arab countries urging no changes.

So now that we have the setup, let’s look at the latest AP story to see yet more out-and-out lies presented as truths.

JERUSALEM Mar 26, 2007 (AP)— Under U.S. pressure to answer increasing Arab flexibility on Mideast peace, Israel has agreed to resume face-to-face talks with a moderate, Western-backed Palestinian leader who is sharing power with Islamic Hamas militants, a U.S. official said Monday.

Someone needs to tell me where the increased flexibility is, because I seem to have missed the memo. However, the AP is lying in the second paragraph, too.

Also Monday, Israel welcomed the idea of a regional peace summit, although no such meeting is set, and Saudi Arabia suggested it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative that could make it more acceptable to Israel.

This article is dated Monday. The articles above were published on Sunday. So the AP is utterly ignoring what it published on Sunday and directly contradicting it in Monday’s stories. I can’t wait to see what Tuesday will bring. I’m going to take a guess: The Arabs are being flexible, but the Israelis are refusing to budge.

What anti-Israel media bias?

Part two of the interview with Adil Zeshan, ex-Muslim, the usual Blog News, and my piece on why the Saudi 2002 “peace” initiative is a trap for Israel. (Yes, that’s a common theme these days, because the meme pushing the plan is exploding.)

I have no idea why sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down. I assume it’s a server issue with Hosting Matters, and that they will fix it, as they always do.

It just sucks right royally that it’s happening during a noon Instalink.

Update: Apparently, it was the Instalink. Crashed the server.

Have you noticed the new meme in the media? There is a “growing international momentum for peace.”

It emerged quite suddenly. Its source? The so-called “unity government” of Fatah and Hamas. What has, in actuality, changed?

Nothing.

No, not nothing. Hamas spokesmen are being quiet at the moment. After previous agreements, Hamas could always be counted on to say “We will never recognize Israel.” They have finally understood that if they will only shut their mouths for a few weeks, pressure could be brought to bear on Israel so that blame could be put on Israeli intransigence, rather than the world having to recognize Israel’s refusal to deal with genocidal terrorists. If the Hamas leadership would only stop saying they’re going to continue to murder Jews, world opinion could once again focus on Israel’s refusal to resettle the five or six million officially-designated palestinian “refugees” (which include third-generation American citizens, their American-born spouses, and any children of that marriage as UN-recognized “refugees” that have the “right” to return to their homes in what is now Israel).

Well, now that Hamas terrorist leaders have finally shut their collective mouths, and the Arab world is getting on with its full-court press at getting public opinion to turn against Israel for refusing to negotiate a peace agreement. Already, the governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have declared that Israel must accept the Saudi agreement as is, with no changes whatsoever. After hinting for a period of a few hours that they may allow the Saudi initiative to be changed, the Arab League has once again insisted there will be no changes to the 2002 Saudi initiative. They have agreed to the initiative, and Israel must comply with their terms.
In other words, peace negotiations mean that Israel must say yes to everything the Arab side demands.

When Israel understandably refuses to agree to this, it will be spun in the world media as Israel’s refusal to negotiate. It will not be acknowledged as the Arab refusal to negotiate. “Accept these lists of demands” is not a negotiation. It is a diktat. Except in this case, it is a diktat by the defeated to the victor. Only Israel, in all of history, is expected to accept the terms of the nations they defeated. Only Israel, in all of history, is not given the right to negotiate settlements—her mission is to accept the orders of the world, based on what the Arab side insists is their “right.”

In this century of rights, from human rights to women’s rights to children’s rights to animal rights, only Israel has no rights on the world stage. Only Israel.

Even though the unity government is a sham, and everyone knows it, the “growing momentum for peace” steamroller is about to mow down Israeli objections. Abbas is urging the U.S. to pressure the Israelis into giving broad concessions. Jordan’s King Abdullah is urging the Israelis to “respond positively” to the plan. Some would say that they have already done so, with Ehud Olmert saying that the plan shows promise and is a basis with which to proceed further. But Olmert has rightly said the “right of return” clause is a nonstarter. But it will be Olmert, and not the Arabs, who will be blamed for refusing to negotiate.

The UN Secretary General is urging Israel to give the “unity government” time to perform. I have already given them time, and found the unity government wanting. In the last 48 hours alone, there have been bombings, firebombings, stabbings, weapons smuggling, and kassam rockets launched at Israel.

Where, pray tell, is the difference from last week, when pretty much the exact same things happened, but in different places? The difference is that the world has accepted the sham of the “unity government.” The difference is the world is using this sham to advance the cause of peace at all costs, because of course, if Israel were at peace with her neighbors, all would be right with the world.
Watch the meme gain momentum. Watch the results come in over the next few days. Watch, as Israel will be vilified for refusing “peace.”

It isn’t peace that Israel refuses. It is the terms of surrender, which once again the defeated Arab armies are trying to impose on the victors. In this topsy-turvy world, the world gets angry with Israel every time she insists on refusing the terms of defeat. One would think that it would finally sink in that Israel will not be a partner to her own destruction. But then, one would have to be ignorant of the history of the past sixty years.

Once more, what time is it? That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time.

Watch the meme momentum grow.

I really don’t tire of saying “I told you so” on Israel-related issues, because unfortunately, this glass-half-full girl sees a half-empty glass when she looks at Israel’s prospects of peace.

Reuters reports that the Arab League will not make the requested changes. Let’s see how long it takes AP to play catch-up.

RIYADH, March 26 (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers agreed on Monday to relaunch at their summit this week a five-year-old initiative for peace with Israel but without any of the alterations sought by the Jewish state.

“The Arabs have agreed to reactivate the Arab initiative without changes. We reiterated that all Arab nations will adhere to the initiative as it is,” Abdelelah al-Khatib told Reuters after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Saudi capital.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters the plan would be presented to the United Nations and the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers for their endorsement.

The 2002 peace plan to be reendorsed at the March 28-29 summit by heads of state offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for full withdrawal from all land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

A draft text of the resolutions obtained by Reuters reiterates a call “to all Israelis to accept the initiative and seize the current opportunity to return to the direct and serious negotiating process at all levels.”

Now, how will this be spun by the media? By blaming Israel’s refusal to negotiate with the Arabs. Watch for it.

First, we have a story written by Salah Nasrawi, regular AP Middle East correspondent, titled “Arabs Said Open to Peace Offer Changes.”

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister suggested Monday that Arab leaders would be willing to consider changes in their 2002 peace offer to Israel to make it “compatible” with new developments.

The statement from Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal came as Arab League foreign ministers convened Monday to prepare for a leaders summit later this week, expected to focus on how to revive Middle East peace efforts. Arab leaders have, until now, publicly rejected Israeli calls for them to make changes to the 2002 Arab peace offer.

But al-Faisal, in his opening remarks, suggested change was likely.

“It is expected from us to take notice of new developments, which require additions and developments in whatever is offered for our leaders about the issues and problems in order for their resolutions to be compatible with what is dire and new,” al-Faisal said.

“The kingdom is keen that this summit should come out with one Arab voice toward issues of destiny, and in particular the Palestinian issue,” he added.

And here’s what is reported going on behind the scenes:

Several other Arab diplomats said privately Monday that Arab leaders were seeking fresh ways to moderate their position without being seen as giving in to Israeli or American demands to change the 2002 offer.

The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia would be proposing “a repackaging” of the deal.

Under that repackaging, the Arab leaders would insist that Israel accept the 2002 Arab peace plan in principle before returning to any talks, but also would agree that the Palestinians and Arab countries would be ready to soften their conditions once negotiations began, the diplomats said.

And here’s yet another sign that the Arab nations may be ready to give up insisting on the “right” to flood Israel with millions of descendants of the 1948 refugees:

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who spoke Monday at the foreign ministers’ meeting in addition to al-Faisal, did not insist in his speech that the plan could never be changed. That was viewed as significant.

Wow. Is that true? The Arabs are finally ready to admit that the palestinians can’t return to their former homes, bringing with them three or four generations of descendants, and that they must find another solution?

Not so much. Because buried deep in this story, written by AP Diplomatic Writer Anne Gearan is one teeny, tiny paragraph that is of the utmost importance to the facts of both stories:

A senior Palestinian diplomat involved in preparations for the Arab summit said he didn’t expect major changes in the Saudi initiative.

And that is followed by the final paragraph of the story:

“These articles are going to be a direct call to Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative, as it is, and that Arab countries will commit themselves in front of the international community to start a mutual implementation of this Arab initiative,” he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

This is a rather important fact, and belies the headlines and angles of both articles. Buried in the final two paragraphs are the words of the palestinians, who are effectively saying they will not give up the so-called “right of return”—code for the influx of descendants of palestinian refugees that would overwhelm Israel and effectively destroy her. (A point that no one ever brings up, but that is quite salient, is: How the hell do they expect to clothe, feed, and house what would be a doubling of the Israeli population? It’s a nonstarter from every direction. But I digress.)

Don’t expect anything from the summit, if it occurs. Palestinian intransigence on the issue of refugees simply cannot be overestimated.

Let’s just keep track one day at a time.

Here’s what the peaceful palestinians did so far today.

Palestinian operatives set off a bomb by the security fence near the Gaza Strip on Monday.

No one was hurt in the incident.

And:

2 Palestinians arrested for transporting weapons
Border Police on Monday arrested two Palestinians near Bir Zeit who were transporting 200 knives, 15 axes, and nine sets of binoculars in their car, Israel Radio reported.

The two were transferred to security forces for questioning.

I’m sure the weapons were for peaceful purposes.

The best thing about being the number one search result for “Zionist blog“?

It puts me on top of a viciously anti-Israel blogger.

It’s because of this post from 2006 that I almost forgot about writing. (You see, I just take for granted the fact that people can figure out where my stance is regarding Israel in about, oh, one post. Sometimes two, if the one post is a non-political post.)

Update: Check that. He’s a viciously anti-Semitic mofo. Now I like even more that my blog comes up first.

This is a wonderful juxtaposition. I can’t make this stuff up.

First:

Abbas to UN chief: PA committed to peace
The Palestinians are committed to a truce and a comprehensive peace deal with Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Abbas said he is also committed to bringing about the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit who is being held by Hamas militants.

Abbas asked Ban to speed up the UN’s plan to register Palestinian damage claims, following the construction of Israel’s security fence in the West Bank.

Second:

Molotov cocktails thrown at IDF near Nablus
Several Molotov cocktails were thrown at IDF soldiers near Nablus on Sunday afternoon.

No one was injured, and no damage was caused.

Third:

Shin Bet arrest man suspected of stabbing attack
A Fatah Tanzim operative, suspected of stabbing an Israeli women near in the West Bank last December was arrested on Saturday, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Sunday afternoon.

Rajeb Salah is also believed to have been involved in several shooting attacks and Molotov cocktail attacks.

Last:

Two Kassams fired at Israel, none wounded
Two Kassam rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon.

One landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, while the second landed inside the Palestinian Authority.

No one was wounded and no damage caused by either rocket.

Yes, that’s right. The pals are a peaceful people, with peaceful intentions, delivered by explosive vests, rockets that have explosives and shrapnel, Molotov cocktails, and stabbings and shootings. But otherwise, they want peace.

Uh-huh.

My “niece” (who is my niece in all but blood) got into Interlochen summer music camp, not an easy place to get into. Here’s a picture that we could call portrait of the artist as a young girl:

Note the look of intense concentration. This was taken during a concert. I have pictures of that exact same expression on Sorena from when she was nine. She’s a teenager now.

And I’m even including a little bit of her audition songs, here and here.

I am very proud of her. She was talking so fast on the message she left me, I had to listen to it twice to hear anything other than “IgotinIgotinIgotin!”

When the left abandons you, you will naturally turn to the right, and even to the extreme right. Apparently, the Jews of France have had enough of the socalists who refuse to acknowledge Muslim anti-Semitism, and are turning to the parties who want to throw the Muslims out of France.

It is almost certain the extreme right headed by Jean-Marie Le Pen will benefit from the terror that has settled in the hearts of the Jews. In the past, Jews did not vote for Le Pen because they saw him as a racist and a xenophobe. As long as they felt protected, they condemned him and his opinions. But in light of their feeling that the state has abandoned them, some see him as a worthy address.

While the state has not admitted to the growth of extremist elements in the Muslim community, Le Pen more forcefully emphasizes his well-known opinions: Muslims, or most Muslims, should go back to their countries of origin. The enemy of my enemy has suddenly become a friend. A Jewish doctor in this picturesque town said a few days ago that many of his friends intended to vote for Le Pen. “Of course, because he is the best for the Jews of France,” he said. A friend of his, an economics professor who took part in the conversation, conceded that although things had improved, most of the Jews of Aix-en-Provence would vote either for the right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy or Le Pen. “I have a feeling that Le Pen will do very well in the coming elections,” he said.

In the last elections, in 2002, Le Pen got most of the votes in the mixed cities, where veteran French people live alongside Muslim immigrants. Sarkozy, the leading candidate, is for this reason trying with all his might to pull votes that have already leaked into Le Pen’s camp. Segolene Royal, the left-wing candidate, knows that hundreds of thousands of votes have gone to the margins, pursued by fears and insecurity.

These are frightening times indeed. Le Pen hates Jews nearly as much as he hates Muslims. I imagine that he’s perfectly happy taking on one group at a time, though I’m surprised he doesn’t go for the weaker minority first. Or perhaps he’s a realist, and knows that Jews have never been a threat to France. I don’t think you can say the same about its Muslims.

The wire services are doing their best to bury the fact that a two-year-old and a four-year-old child were killed by Hamas and Fatah over the past two days. You have to search long and hard to find any notice of it.

For instance, the AP buried it in the last paragraph—which almost always gets cut—in this story about Belgium recognizing the “unity” government. Seriously. That last paragraph reads:

Palestinian infighting persisted. A 4-year-old boy caught in the crossfire of a shootout between Fatah and Hamas forces died of his wounds Friday, while a pro-Fatah security man was abducted and killed, Palestinian security officials said.

Two toddlers in two days, as well as another “militant.” I challenge you to imagine the reaction if the IDF had killed two children in two separate attacks in two days. In fact, I’m surprised the terrorists haven’t tried to pin this one on the Israelis.

Funny how this story would have gotten so much more attention if only the names of the people doing the shooting had been changed.

A 4-year-old boy caught in the crossfire of a shootout between Fatah and Hamas forces died of his wounds yesterday, while a pro-Fatah security man was abducted and killed, Palestinian security officials said, raising tensions between the sides just days after the formation of their unity government.

Hassan Abu Nada, 4, was wounded during a gunfight Thursday in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. Relatives said the boy died from his wounds early Friday.

The boy’s father cradled the small body of the boy, wrapped in a green shroud, as he led hundreds of people in a funeral procession. Palestinian security officials said the family had not been targeted by the Hamas gunmen, but lived in the same building as a wanted Fatah militant commander.

More than 140 people have been killed in factional violence in the Gaza Strip since last May in the wake of Hamas’ election victory over Fatah. The two sides finalized a power-sharing deal last Saturday aimed in large part at ending the infighting.

Let’s take a look at an old AP story by the same author, shall we?

Palestinian Deaths in Gaza Raid Rises

No ambiguous headline there. Death toll rising, and we know who killed them. Note that they don’t “die” in the crossfire. They are killed.

One of the Palestinians killed in the clashes in the town of Beit Hanoun was a 70-year-old civilian, Palestinian hospital officials said. The other two were militants in their 20s, relatives and officials said.

Their deaths raised to 11 the number of Palestinians killed since the operation began on Wednesday. At least nine were militants.

What a difference the person on the end of the trigger makes, eh? But no. There’s no anti-Israel bias in the media. Not at all.

Yes, really. This guy is great. And you must click on these in order to get the full laugh.

The Fellowship of the Ring:

The Two Towers:

The Return of the King:

Titanic in five seconds. All you really need to know about the plot.

(But I confess to a secret liking for the theme song sung by Celine Dion. Hell, I confess to liking Celine.)