Israel is swearing in more and more women judges.

A swearing-in ceremony for new judges at Beit Hanassi on Tuesday demonstrated that the the legal profession, once dominated by males, is gradually being taken over by women. Of the 36 judges appointed, 25 were female.

And they’re native-born, too. No more majority imports.

Whereas only a decade ago, most new judges were born abroad, only five of the judges appointed Tuesday were born outside Israel. Two American-born judges - Nava Ben-Or and Miriam Lifshitz - were appointed to the Jerusalem District Court, and a third, Pnina Lokitch, to the Haifa Magistrate’s Court.

Let’s see… about four years ago, I noted in a post that Egypt joined the 20th century by appointing its first female judge. I wonder if they’ve appointed any others since?

Once again, Israel proves itself a beacon of light in a region of darkness.

Update: Looky here, they are appointing more women judges in Egypt.

In a first for Egypt, last week saw a number of women appointed judges by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the country’s highest legal authority. Although a number of prominent judicial figures have spoken out against the decision, rights activists and SJC officials praised the move.

“This is a defining moment in Egyptian history,” SJC chairperson Moqbel Shaker was quoted as saying last Tuesday after 30 female judicial appointees publicly swore to “arbitrate justly between the people”.

The move follows a decision by the SJC last year to allow the appointment of women, for the first time, as adjudicators in the nation’s courts. The decision was supported by Egypt’s state-appointed Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, who ruled that the appointment of women to judicial positions did not contradict Islamic precepts.

In mid-March, the SJC accepted 124 applications from female candidates, with the stipulation that applicants must have previous experience working in judicial agencies. After extensive examinations, 31 were chosen to preside over family courts (although one, citing personal reasons, turned down the posting).

And how are the Egyptians taking this?

In mid-January, the prominent Judges Club for the Council of State declared that the mufti’s decision was “in contradiction to the rulings of most Islamic jurists” and represented mere “pandering to the government”.

“The appointment of female judges contradicts Islamic law and therefore contradicts the constitution,” club president Yehia Dakrouri was quoted as saying in the local press. Dakrouri went on to point out that article two of the national charter clearly cites Islamic law as “the primary source of legislation”.

In March, the judges club for the middle-Egyptian governorate of Beni Sueif went so far as to urge President Hosni Mubarak to reverse the appointments. “We refuse the appointment of women as judges,” the club said in a statement, “because this contradicts both the majority of jurists and the constitution.”

Something tells me you’re not going to find Israelis asking to reverse women’s progress in Israel. But then, hello, Israel’s in the 21st century, not still mired in the seventh.

This is the group that Jimmy Carter thinks we should negotiate with. Their tactics were apparently learned in the Saddam Hussein School of Government:

The near-perfect public order that reigned in Gaza this week can be attributed, at least in part, to the fear Hamas struck into residents’ hearts last week, during the Strip’s civil war. Testimony collected from the days of fighting indicates that Hamas imposed a methodical system of terror and scare tactics intended to deter, shock and frighten Fatah operatives and Gaza residents in general.

It began on a Monday 11 days ago, when a Fatah man was tossed off a multi-story building in the Strip; it subsequently came to light that Hamas operatives managed to shoot him in the legs before throwing him to his death. Although this method was used on only one other Fatah operative, it had the desired effect and became the talk of the town. A number of Fatah leaders, who knew that their names appeared on Hamas hit lists, decided to make their exit, with some heading to Ramallah and others crossing into Egypt.

[...] Hamas was not using a random hit list. Every Hamas patrol carried with it a laptop containing a list of Fatah operatives in Gaza, and an identity number and a star appeared next to each name. A red star meant the operative was to be executed and a blue one meant he was to be shot in the legs - a special, cruel tactic developed by Hamas, in which the shot is fired from the back of the knee so that the kneecap is shattered when the bullet exits the other side. A black star signaled arrest, and no star meant that the Fatah member was to be beaten and released. Hamas patrols took the list with them to hospitals, where they searched for wounded Fatah officials, some of whom they beat up and some of whom they abducted.

Aside from assassinating Fatah officials, Hamas also killed innocent Palestinians, with the intention of deterring the large clans from confronting the organization. Thus it was that 10 days ago, after an hours-long gun battle that ended with Hamas overpowering the Bakr clan from the Shati refugee camp - known as a large, well-armed and dangerous family that supports Fatah - the Hamas military wing removed all the family members from their compound and lined them up against a wall. Militants selected a 14-year-old girl, two women aged 19 and 75, and two elderly men, and shot them to death in cold blood to send a message to all the armed clans of Gaza.

I cannot believe that I am actually hoping the Durmush clan manages to hold off Hamas. Not that I think they will. Hamas will use RPGs on their homes, not caring if they kill non-combatants, because that is, apparently, the way of Islamic fanaticism.

I think I missed a step in my post about how to initiate a dictatorship: I forgot to elaborate on “Terrorize the populace into submission.” Hamas has successfully managed that.

It is times like this when I join in Mark Twain’s loathing of the human race, or at least, of certain parts of it.

Yesterday afternoon, I looked up and found Tig and Gracie performing their usual afternoon activity.

Of course, at that specific time, my camera battery chose to go out on me, and the spare, I discovered, had been needing a charge. So I grabbed the old camera to get this:

Didn’t wake either of them.

Life is so hard when you’re a cat.

Let’s see. First, they threw money at the Palestinians. That didn’t work. Then, they gave them weapons and training to stop terrorism. That didn’t work. Then, they let terrorists out of jail. That didn’t work. They held summits. Those didn’t work.

They gave the Palestinians control of the West Bank and Gaza. That didn’t work. They gave up land. That didn’t work.

So what is the grand new plan to stop Palestinian terror and get the Palestinians working towards joining civilized society?

Giving them more money, more weapons, letting terrorists out of prison, and giving them control of the West Bank and Gaza. Oh, and hold summits.

Because this all worked so well before.

The world is run by effing morons. Morons. Unbelievable morons. Especially this one:

“Some say it (the violence in the Strip) only proves we have no partner for peace. I choose to see the chances, not just the difficulties. I think things in Gaza are turning around for the better.

“Many Palestinians outside Gaza are looking forward to a new environment, both for them and for those of us willing to make the effort to restart the political process,” said Olmert.

Turns out the only man with a plan that seems halfway workable is the man who can’t seem to get back into Israeli politics. I really don’t understand why Israelis haven’t forced new elections yet. Olmert is amazingly adept at political survival. Which is a shame, because I think Bibi has some good ideas:

A Palestinian division of the Jordanian military should be deployed in the West Bank in order to bring law and order to the area , opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Thursday.

During a visit to Washington, Netanyahu told Israeli reporters that Palestinians will not be able to impose order alone and require international assistance to do so. “We can’t build up Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with Palestinian forces alone. We need Egyptian and Jordanian involvement,” he said.

“Egypt must block arms smuggling in the Philadelphi corridor, which is has not done to date. Jordan can and must support the effort with a measured security contribution in the West Bank,” he elaborated.

“We need to consider a new role for Jordan, one of Jordanian support,” he told Ynet. “Depending, of course, on the willingness of Abbas and (Jordanian king) Abdullah, we must begin to coordinate Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian security cooperation.”

Now that’s something that hasn’t been tried before. Make the Arabs take care of the mess they helped to create. What a novel idea.

Too bad Bibi isn’t in charge right now. Because I’ve changed my mind about him. I think he has a shot at fixing things. Or he would, if he could ever get back in office.

Religious Jews protesting the gay pride parade in Jerusalem set fires all around the city. Nice. Good time of year to set fires. When the rains have stopped and the dry season begins.

While Jerusalem police prepared to protect the pride parade in the center of town Thursday afternoon, anti-parade protestors seeming decided to relocate their demonstrations. Less than an hour before the parade began, a number of protestors are suspected of having set fire to various spots in forests around the city.

Ten fire crews from the Beit Shemesh station, as well as six firefighting helicopters, are working to put out a conflagration that developed in the Eshtaol forest, west of Jerusalem, and another fire near Beit Shemesh.

Beit Shemesh fire chief Eli Peretz said that the fire in Eshtaol could have been caused by deliberate arson or by accident. The fire in Beit Shemesh was determined to have been caused by arson, apparently in protest of the gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

Several small fires in Jerusalem also appeared to be the result of arson by anti-parade protestors. City resident Gil Shiloh said that he noticed four fires near the Valley of the Cross, in central Jerusalem, and heard people praying in the background.

Way to make us look like the Islamic nutcases. Way to be tolerant and holy.

I don’t usually criticize the religious Jews. We have different opinions about things. But two things I refuse to tolerate are bigotry and cruelty, and this is both. It’s as bad as the so-called religious Jews beating up women who dare to want to sit wherever they please on a bus. Or rioting when they don’t like the way the police investigate a case. Or when a gay pride parade is being held.

And do not get me started about gender separation. That’s why I will never, ever be Orthodox.

But all this aside: Really smart, setting fires. Because it’s not like they never get out of control and then, say, burn down your own homes. Who would they have blamed that on, hm?