The so called Army Of Islam, which in reality is just an elite group of Gazan businessmen (According to The Times, the Army of Islam is an offshoot of the powerful Dagmoush clan, which is renowned for extortion, smuggling, arms dealing and the ruthless dispatch of rivals, and has been dubbed the “Sopranos of Gaza City) has an interesting view on the ways to get on the good side of their deity.

A shadowy group holding a British correspondent for three months threatened on Sunday to kill him, in a video broadcast by the Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel. A spokesman for The Army of Islam, identified as Abu Khattab, told Al-Jazeera that there was no deal to release BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, and “If the situation gets more complicated concerning us and our group, then we will ingrate ourselves to Allah by slaying this journalist.”

Of course, that “ingrate” shall remain on the consciousness (yeah, right…) of AP or Ynet, but there is no difficulty to get the drift, is there? Allah the compassionate, apparently, is easily “ingrated” by a slaying or too. I believe he is happy as a clam with the latest goings-on is Gaza too…

Meanwhile, as an idle observation: the whole business around Alan Johnston, with Hamas issuing unspecified threats in the general direction of the kidnappers and the kidnappers, who are just another offshoot of the said Hamas, returning their threats, somehow reminds me that scene from the Blazing Saddles, where sheriff Bart threatens to shoot sheriff Bart, unless…

Unfortunately, there is a nuance - an innocent journalist’s life is involved. But, as mentioned above, slaying him will only “ingrate” Hamas and Hamas B with Allah…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

Take part in the massacre of over 300 Jews, and don’t sweat the punishment. If you live long enough, the authorities will let you out of house arrest to go to work every day, and even go out for lunch breaks.

Italian Jews protested on Monday outside the lawyer’s office at which a 93-year-old Nazi war criminal was starting work following a court ruling that allows him to leave house arrest every day.

About 100 people, some shouting “Murderer!”, gathered outside the Rome office where former SS Captain Erich Priebke, jailed for life for the massacre of 335 men and boys at the Ardeatine Caves near Rome during World War Two, was beginning his first day at work.

Yes, another Nazi war criminal who hid out in Argentina and lived a long, happy, and healthy life—unlike the men and boys that he murdered.

A military court ruled last week that Priebke, who is serving his sentence under house arrest for health reasons, can work for Giachini, who campaigned for his freedom and in whose Rome flat Priebke lives. The lawyer says Priebke will use his knowledge of German, Spanish, English and French to do translations and clerical work at his office.

Priebke was extradited to Italy in 1995 from Argentina, where he fled after the war and worked for decades as a schoolteacher.

“The law says that after a period in prison inmates have the right to certain benefits, because detention here in Italy isn’t just punitive, it tries to re-educate those who have been condemned,” Giachini told Reuters outside his office.

Sure. Re-education of a Nazi. Because he’s shown so much repentance for what he did, that he avoided justice for 50 years. And he gets to go out to lunch, too!

The ruling lets Priebke go to the office “every day, freely” and “go out to satisfy, at nearby places and for the time strictly necessary, the indispensable necessities of life” — meaning he can pop out for lunch.

It’s good to know that the Italian authorities care so much about the rights of mass murderers, as opposed, say, to the victims of the murderers.

“It’s an absolute disgrace, people forget,” Leone Sonnino, an 80-year-old Jewish man, told Reuters Television. “People say ‘It’s enough now’. Enough for what? Nothing should be enough, there can never be enough grief.”

Leone, you forget the primary rule of Jewish existence: Nobody but Jews really cares about dead Jews. The Holocaust rather proved that.

This week’s edition is hot off the presses, and once again, I have a contribution. I didn’t get to use your “I told you so’s” because once again, the podcast took off in its own direction. That’s the thing about writing. Sometimes you start with a very clear idea of what you want to say, and end with something you didn’t even know you wanted to say.

But it’s good. I haven’t heard the feature interview yet, but it looks great. I’ve been meaning to write about that strange locale for a Holocaust conference—Bali.

Doug’s got a bit in on the CAIR membership thing. Doug, you’re starting to horn in on my turf, and we’re going to have to have podcasts at twenty paces if this keeps up.

If you’re not listening, you’re missing a great podcast. Listen, link, and email the link to your friends.

The Telegraph shames itself in this editorial by saying Israel “may” be to blame for Hamas’ Jew-hatred.

The events this week in Gaza, with what passed for the authority there being overwhelmed by forces supporting an Islamic state, create a new, dangerous situation not merely in the Middle East but also for the world. Israel has long shared borders with potentially hostile forces, but never, until now, have they included Islamic fundamentalism. We have written before of the “franchising” nature of al-Qaeda’s spread of influence. Its agenda and that of Hamas - now in charge in Gaza - are horribly similar. Hatred not merely of the state of Israel, but of the very existence of Jews themselves, informs the new masters of this Palestinian territory. It may well be true that part of this wound has been inflicted by Israel itself, because of policy failures since 1967 and especially since the rule of Ariel Sharon. However, such apportioning of blame now becomes a secondary consideration.

And yet, the Telegraph editors make sure to apportion that blame in the first paragraph of their editorial. Blaming the Jews for incurring Jew-hatred.How very—British of them.

And then the editors get the vapors at the thought of a Hamas-IDF battle.

The rest of the world, many of whose states have themselves shown varying degrees of hostility to Israel over the years, now have to face what should be a straightforward choice. It is one between darkness and light. Israel, for all its faults, is a democracy. It stands at risk of aggression from various enemies, but now faces one on its very borders that is hell-bent, by its own admission, on Israel’s destruction. The short work Hamas has made of Fatah in Gaza bodes ill, even were it to be pitted against the strength of Israel’s forces. The memories of last August’s war against Hizbollah are still fresh.

Please. The IDF would have made even shorter work of Fatah, and would not have resorted to the barbarity of throwing people off buildings or outright murdering women. Fatah is not an army. The Telegraph appears to be fighting the last war, while the IDF has spent the past year analyzing what went wrong and moving to fix it.

Here’s the only part of the editorial worth reading:

But, equally, America, Europe and preferably the United Nations Security Council must do all in their power to assert Israel’s right to resist any Hamas aggression. This is no longer an abstract consideration, but one on which could hinge the survival of a nation, and the prevention of a conflagration throughout the whole region.

I will withhold judgment until I see what the Telegraph prints when that inevitable war breaks out.

I have to say, this made me smile.

Iran on Sunday condemned Britain’s decision to knight Salman Rushdie, the author who was forced into hiding for a decade after the leader of the Iranian revolution ordered his assassination.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said granting Britain’s highest honor to Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” sparked the death threat, insulted the Muslim world. His comments came during a time of especially tense relations between the Islamic republic and the West.

“Awarding a person who is among the most detested characters in the Islamic society is obvious proof of anti-Islamism by ranking British officials,” Hosseini said at his weekly press conference.

I think the appropriate answer here from the Brits would be, “Yeah, what-EVER.”

On the other hand, raise hands, those of you who have ever read The Satanic Verses.

I have not. And I ‘r’ a English major.

Really. Look at the demands Abbas is making.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas intends to demand that Israel immediately implement the American “benchmarks” proposal for increasing Palestinian freedom of movement in the territories.

In addition, he will ask Israel to release a massive number of Palestinian prisoners, first and foremost Marwan Barghouti, advisors to Abbas said Sunday.

The advisors said that these steps are necessary to strengthen Abbas’ Fatah movement in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The benchmarks proposal, prepared by U.S. security coordinator General Keith Dayton, demands a massive removal of Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank. According to the advisors, that would immediately improve life for every Palestinian.

Similarly, they said, a significant prisoner release would vastly increase Abbas’ popularity, while Barghouti in particular  being the most popular Fatah politician could do much to bolster chairman’s standing. Barghouti is currently serving five life terms in prison for the murder of five Israeli civilians.

In addition, the advisors said, Israel must not interfere with efforts to recruit, train and arm Fatah’s security forces. “Israel’s operations completely destroyed these forces in the West Bank,” said one. “[Israel] must allow freedom of movement to members of the Palestinian security services and not impede their training.”

And finally, they said, Israel must resume diplomatic negotiations with Abbas, in order to give the Palestinians a diplomatic horizon, and must hand over all the tax revenues it has collected on the PA’s behalf, so that Abbas can pay the authority’s employees.

What, exactly, is Abbas going to give Israel for all these concessions? Will he turn over terrorists that Israel has long sought, like Zakaria Zubedei? Will he stop the suicide bombers coming from Nablus and Jenin? Will he disband the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah terrorist arm? Will he shut down the weapons factories in the West Bank?

No. But here are more demands from Abbas:

The talks are aimed at reaching a series of understandings with Israel, including an Israeli commitment to stop hunting down wanted Palestinian suspects, mainly Fatah and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members, to refrain from sending IDF forces into West bank cities, as well as arresting activists, except for those defined as “ticking bombs.”

And here’s what Abbas says he’s willing to do:

The Palestinian security forces in Gaza on their part would commit to act against anyone involved in preparing suicide bombings, as well activists suspected of having ties with Hizbullah or Hamas’ military wing. Furthermore, Abbas’ forces would pledge to operate against Hamas’ special security force, which is expected to try and takeover the West bank as well.

According to PA sources, Jaber and the Israeli officials have already agreed in principle on the issues.

It’s apparently a done deal. They get to keep on manufacturing weapons and promise that they’ll stop suicide bombers. No, really, this time they mean it, and the fact that members of Fatah have been implicated in suicide bombings don’t matter at all, this time, really, honest, they’re going to be different.

As far as I can see, Abbas is asking Israel to strengthen Fatah, which will then use that strength to aid terrorists from Al-Aqsa and other organizations, against Israel. Fatah isn’t going to go back into Gaza. Hamas will not simply give up their aim of an Islamic state. The people of Gaza will not be asking for Hamas’ removal. They’re going to be a cowed and fearful populace, trying to survive.

So. If Olmert agrees to all of these “benchmarks”—will that finally get Israelis angry enough to dump him and call for new elections? Or are Israelis so stupid that they think the same thing, tried and failed over and over again, is going to have a different outcome this time?

Gracie says:

It’s Monday.

You will note that her belly fur has not fully grown back yet, but there is no more pink showing. All white, and very soft when she rolls over for a bellyrub.

She continues to be happy and healthy, and I’m calling the vet today to find out how much longer he wants me to give her the prednisone before we can try a drug-free Gracie. (He was on vacation last week.) I may torment her by insisting on a checkup one last time, mostly because I want to get her claws clipped too. Tig needs to have his belly clipped. He’s developed mats, and he won’t let me brush them out at the moment. But he’d have to be sedated for that, so, the mats remain.

I got a nice series of pictures last week that will go up eventually on their own page. Gracie was scared off by an ant. No, I’m not kidding. At least it was one of the bigger ants. She’s such a baby.

Looks like someone wants Israel to get back into Lebanon.

Two 107 millimeter-diameter Katyusha rockets landed in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported.

At around 5:20 pm, residents of the northern town reported the sound of explosions. Rescue teams were dispatched to both locations where the rockets landed. It remains unclear who launched the rockets towards Israel.

One of the rockets hit a car in the town’s northern industrial area, and the other landed in the southern part of town.

IDF officials said that the rockets were apparently launched from an area very close to UN outposts in southern Lebanon.

Yeah, it’s so comforting, having those UN peacekeepers out there, isn’t it? They’re so—effective.

Hizbullah says it wasn’t them.

Hizbullah denied it was behind the launching of two Katyusha rockets at Kiryat Shmona Sunday afternoon, the organization’s TV station al-Manar reported.

The station also said that the IDF was currently firing mortar shells at the Shebaa Farms area in southern Lebanon.

Shyeah. Hizbullah is just the kind of group to be believed. But this time, they may only be lying about the rockets.

The Northern Command estimated that the rockets were launched by a Palestinian organization operating in southern Lebanon, but did not rule out the possibility that the rockets belonged to Hizbullah. However, other military source said the rockets were not launched by Hizbullah, but by Palestinian organizations.

Lebanese journalists also estimated that a Palestinian organization was behind the attack as part of a struggle taking place near the border between extremist organizations and the Lebanese military.

They indicated that the “Fatah al-Islam” organization has said that its goal was to fight “the Zionists”.

Police sappers told Ynet the rockets launched were of a very primitive variety.

“During the Second Lebanon War, only a small number of these rockets were fired. Their range is short, so they were fired close to the fence,” police sources said.

The fact that there are so many terrorist groups that could have launched the rockets speaks so highly of the state of civilization in Lebanon. Say, how’s the disarmament of militias going there, folks? The one with the UNSC resolution behind it?

Shyeah.

But wait—the Lebanese army found another rocket set to go off in the same area. And they think they know who did it!

The Lebanese army discovered a rocket that was set to be launched Sunday on Israel and prevented it from being fired, shortly after three were launched and two landed in the Israel, Lebanon’s military said in a statement.

The army blamed the attack on “unknown elements”, the statement said.

Okay, I couldn’t resist. Here’s the official IDF explanation:

The IDF believes that the rockets were launched by a Palestinian organization in a bid to bring to an escalation in the situation on the border, either as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians, or as part of the struggle between the Fatah al-Islam organization and the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon.

Or maybe it was a member of the Lebanese army with ties to Hizbullah. So many enemies from which to chooose….