When even the Economist thinks there’s something that smells funny about the attempted academic boycott of Israel, well, there is.

But in Israel many academics, on both left and right, are as mystified as they are enraged. Israel at present has a centre-left government that proposes a two-state solution for the Palestine conflict. The Palestinians have voted into office an Islamist government under the Hamas movement that says it aims to end the existence of the Jewish state by a policy of armed struggle. By general consent, moreover, Israel’s universities enjoy far greater academic freedom than any in the Middle East. Why, in these circumstances, should Israeli academics be shunned while those from the other side are welcomed?

Because the vote is perceived as a generalised attack on all Israeli academia, it has also created some embarrassment for Israeli scholars on the political left. Gary Sussman, a social scientist at Tel Aviv University, said that in the new climate created by the vote, charges that the Israeli peace movement is a “fifth column” would have greater credibility. Among supporters of a boycott, there were probably some who wanted to change Israeli policy, and end the occupation of the West Bank, while others were simply against the existence of a Jewish state, Mr Sussman says. The British vote had lent credibility to those who put all external critics of Israel in the second camp.

That is almost certainly true. The Anti-Defamation League, a movement which fights anti-Semitism, has placed some dramatic newspaper advertisements to underline its case that the singling out of Israel by British academia—at a time of terrible misdeeds in Darfur, Zimbabwe and Iran—can only reflect prejudice. Menachem Klein, a political scientist and veteran of Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives, says academic boycotts are not always wrong—but Israel’s misdeeds had not merited such a harsh response. The more venerable parts of the British academic establishment seem to agree: there have been condemnations of the UCU vote from the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and Universities UK, which groups all universities’ vice-chancellors.

British supporters of a boycott cannot claim that they did not expect the swiftness of the reaction. In April Britain’s National Union of Journalists voted in favour of a boycott of Israeli goods, by 66 to 54—as part of a protest against last year’s war in Lebanon. Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate at the University of Texas, instantly dropped plans to visit London’s Imperial College in July, saying it was “hard to find any explanation other than anti-Semitism” for the union’s move.

The Economist is no fan of Israel. This article speaks volumes about the lack of merit of the case for boycotting Israel, and only Israel.

Former Nazi Kurt Waldheim is roasting in Hell alongside his buddy Hitler. Buh-bye, creep!

Kurt Waldheim, former UN Secretary General and president of Austria died of cardiovascular failure aged 88 in Vienna on Thursday.

Waldheim’s election as Austrian president was overshadowed by the controversy over his past in the Nazi Wehrmacht in the Second World War. During his presidency, Austria was internationally isolated.

Yet, with his refusal to come clean about this past, Waldheim involuntarily triggered a long overdue discussion about Austria’s role in the Third Reich.

The myth of Austria as the mere first victim of Hitler’s expansion policy was abandoned, and Austria’s complicity in Nazi crimes was admitted to.

As you can see, the whitewash has begun.

Waldheim remained a fixture in diplomatic and social circles after his presidency, but ceased to play a political role. Until his death, Waldheim continued to deny any allegations of wrongdoing.

The heated debates during the campaign and his term of office led however to an important change of mind in Austrian society. For the first time, Austria’s role as “Hitler’s first victim” was openly questioned.

Austria slowly came to accept it had also played the role of the willing accomplice in Nazi crimes. Historical views were revised, and Austrian politicians for the first time apologized publicly for Austria’s complicity.

Although he never admitted to any personal guilt, Waldheim brought about a profound change in Austria’s self-perception.

Yeah. Whatever.

No, it’s a gigantoraptor, a.k.a. Chickenosaur!

One of the world’s top fossil hunters has unveiled a previously unknown gigantic, chicken-like dinosaur that may change evolutionary theory on prehistoric animals.

The remains of the animal, thought to have weighed 1400 kilograms, was discovered by Professor Xing Xu, from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mongolia’s Erlian basin, an area rich with fossils.

The new species, named Gigantoraptor erlianensis, is the biggest bird-like dinosaur ever found and at a height of 5 metres is about the size of the famous Tyrannosaurus rex, Xing says.

The 85 million-year-old creature was 35 times heavier than other known similar species, and is thought to have had a beak and sporadic patches of feathers, according to a paper in today’s issue of the journal Nature.

Through analysing its skeleton, the researchers believe the Gigantoraptor shared the same ancestor and belonged to the same family as the Oviraptor.

With a beak and feathers, the Oviraptor is also bird-like and flightless, but weighed a mere 1-2 kilograms.

I totally had to steal the photo. It’s just too good to ignore. I do believe the Chickenosaur is going to become a frequent guest around here.

Don’t miss it.

“How to Take a Life.”

When Israel does this, headlines and editors around the world scream, “HUMILIATION!”

When the Palestinians do it: Not so much.

If Israel did this, the world would scream, “WAR CRIMES! MASSACRE!”

In all, 14 fighters and civilians were killed and 80 wounded in the battle for the complex, bringing the day’s death toll to 25, hospital and security officials said. About 90 people, most of them militants, have been killed since a spike in violence Sunday sent Gaza into civil war.

[...] Fatah said seven of its fighters were shot to death outside the Preventive Security building. A doctor at Shifa Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he examined two bodies that had been shot in the head at close range.

A witness, Jihad Abu Ayad, said men were killed in front of their wives and children.

“They are executing them one by one,” Abu Ayad said. “They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting.”

[...] Hospitals were operating without water, electricity and blood. Even holed up inside their homes, Gazans weren’t able to escape fighting that turned apartment buildings into battlefields.

Moean Hammad, 34, said life had become a nightmare at his high-rise building near the Preventive Security headquarters, where Fatah forces on the rooftop were battling Hamas fighters.

“We spent our night in the hallway outside the apartment because the building came under crossfire // one word in 2002,” Hammad said. “We haven’t had electricity for two days, and all we can hear is shooting and powerful, earthshaking explosions.

When the Palestinians do this: Not so much.

If Israel did this, the world would scream “WAR CRIMES!”

“The world is watching us dying and doing nothing to help. God help us, we feel like we are in a real-life horror movie,” he said.

Shaher Hatoum, a nurse at nearby Al Quds hospital, said the facility had no electricity, water or blood, and that wounded were propped up on ward floors. Hundreds of bullets flew through windows, and fighters ignored the hospital’s appeals to hold fire just long enough to have the generator and water pipes fixed, he said.

When the Palestinians do it, not so much.

If religious Israelis said this, the world would scream “BIGOTS!”

“We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return,” Islam Shahawan, a spokesman for Hamas’ militia, told Hamas radio. “The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived.”

When the Palestinians do it: Well, you get the idea.

These are the democratically elected rulers of the Palestinians who have brought war to Gaza. In other words, one party of the government just murdered scores of its own army, as well as civilians, in order to bring its agenda to the fore. This is the fruit of the “free and fair democratic elections” that the Bush Administration, led by Condi Rice and backed by fools like Jimmy Carter, allowed to happen. The Taliban was not allowed to run for election in Afghanistan. Ba’athists were not allowed to run for election in Iraq. Israelis warned what would happen if the U.S. forced Israel to allow Hamas to run in the Palestinian elections last year.

This is your democracy, Condi. This is your democracy, Jimmy. This is your democracy, Palestinians. Welcome to Gazastan.

I’m starting to see the words “at its worst level since 1936” in stories about European anti-Semitism. This is both frightening and depressing. The world just does not like the Jews.

A Jewish peer has warned that anti-Semitism is at its worst level in Britain since he fled here from Germany in 1936.

Lord Moser said he was particularly concerned about anti-Jewish feeling in Britain’s universities.

Addressing a House of Lords debate on anti-Semitism on university campuses, the crossbench peer said: “It is just over 70 years since I came to this country and I have to say that I’ve never been more concerned about the rising tide of anti-Semitism throughout Europe, including this country.

“This is evident in many ways and among my greatest worries is what is happening on university campuses where there have been many examples of anti-Semitic outbursts and discrimination.

“Leadership of the universities and the Government need to speak out in the strongest terms against such interference.”

The world does not like the Jews.

Apparently, Lord Moser wasn’t alone in his fears.

Student unions must be brought within the Race Relations Amendment Act to protect Jewish students and university leaders must crack down on anti-semitism on campus, Lady Deech, the independent adjudicator for higher education, urged last night.

She told the House of Lords that increasing anti-semitism posed a threat in British universities and strongly condemned the proposed academic boycott of Israel by members of the University and College Union.

[...] It should be a condition of funding and research grants that universities should explicitly oppose all discrimination and political sanctions against scholars on the ground of religion or ethnicity or nationality, she said.

“‘Zionist’ has become a word of opprobrium - all Jews are so labelled - and attacks on Jews rose with the occurrence of the Lebanon war - attacks on Jews in this country and elsewhere, not attacks on Israeli buildings,” Lady Deech told peers.

She added: “Once the equation is made between Zionism and Jews, anti-semites then feel free to attack all Jewish students without distinction. Protests start as attacks on Israel and conclude with threats to all Jews.”

Much has been written on the fact that the British academic boycott is being over-harshly reacted to by Israel and Jews. But that isn’t true. Every step forward for the boycott movement is a step they never go back. Every move against Israel is another tiny chink in the armor protecting the Jewish State from being delegitimized by the haters. And these movements are run by the Jew-haters, make no mistake about it. The point isn’t that the boycotters are going to fail, because they are in the minority. The point is that the boycotters have moved the goalposts again. The boycotters may have some people who honestly believe they are only acting in the interests of the “oppressed” Palestinians, but they are devised by, and run by, those who hate Israel, and Jews, with every breath they take. The true purpose of these boycotts is not to boycott, but to eventually utterly destroy the nation state of Israel—and replace it with a “binational” state called “Palestine.”

However, I have to say, on this one, Dershowitz needs to STFU. He’s over the top. I think the point can be made without threatening to “devastate and bankrupt” the boycotters. Way to shoot the ball into the wrong goal, Dersh.

And the winner is: Alvaro De Soto, now (thankfully) the former UN Middle East Envoy.

The United Nations’ former top Middle East envoy has sharply criticized U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian government, saying the policy has further radicalized Palestinian opinion and undercut long-term efforts to establish a viable Palestinian state.

Really? You mean the people who marched for peace in Gaza yesterday and who were fired on by Hamas terrorists? Those people were “radicalized” by Hamas? I think they were, um, “killed” by Hamas. At least one was.

Several hundred tribal leaders, women, children and Islamic Jihad militants turned out in Gaza City for a protest initiated by Egyptian mediators. Some demonstrators scattered after masked Hamas gunmen fired in the air, but others pushed on, carrying Palestinian flags and shouting, “Do not shoot” and “national unity” over a loudspeaker.

Witnesses said Hamas gunmen shot at the protesters as they approached the home of Fatah loyalists, trapping them.

Protester Bilal Qurashali said he saw a man shot in the head. “We are unable to get out. The place is closed,” he said.

Health officials said one protester was killed and 14 others were injured by bullets and brought to the hospital in civilian cars because ambulances couldn’t navigate the heavy fire.

Separately, Hamas gunmen opened fire from a high-rise building at about 1,000 protesters in Khan Younis, injuring one and breaking up the protest.

What else does De Soto get wrong? Well, just about everything. He calls the UN’s approach to Israel biased—towards Israel. Say, how many anti-Israel resolutions are there so far this year at the UN? Twenty-two? That’s all? And what’s that about the UN Human Wrongs Council?

In its first six months of existence, the Council only censured one country in the entire world for human rights violations—Israel. Between June and December 2006, it adopted six condemnatory resolutions and held three special sessions against the Jewish state. (One resolution against Israel was adopted at the Council’s first session, in June; two more at its resumed second session, in late November; and one each in the three special sessions on Israel, held on July 5-6, August 11, and November 15.) The only other resolution on a specific country situation adopted during this period was a soft text on Darfur, which did not find Sudan guilty of violations.

But wait. You have to read this:

De Soto said that the Quartet has grown increasingly biased in favor of Israel over the past two years. He said that it made a strategic mistake by imposing conditions on Hamas after its January 2006 electoral victory — that it renounce violence, recognize Israel and embrace prior peace agreements.

“Even handedness has been pummeled into submission,” De Soto wrote in the report, which was first reported by London’s Guardian newspaper and posted on its Web site. “The Quartet took all pressure off Israel. With all the focus on the failings of Hamas, the Israeli settlement enterprise and barrier construction has continued unabated.”

Do you see the moral depravity of this man? The “failings” of Hamas include its dedication to the destruction of Israel, use of terrorism to achieve its goals, and refusal to change either of these first two “failings” is seen as—a mistake. Because Israel wasn’t pressured to—what? Not build the fence to keep Hamas terrorists out?

This is the man the UN set as its “Special Envoy to the Middle East.”

Buh-bye, Al. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.