The democratically-elected government of the Palestinian terrortories[sic] is declaring its intention to murder large numbers of Israelis and, indeed, to start an “offensive war” with Israel (like they’re not already doing that).

Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing, has said that the movement will strike in the heart of Israel in the near future, a senior Hamas member said Tuesday.

The man, Sheikh Ahmed Hamdan from the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, said that he recently met with Deif in his hiding place, and heard from him that Hamas will soon replace its defensive fighting policy with an offensive one.

According to Hamdan, “The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, plans to begin its attack against the Israeli occupation in the coming weeks, and will not settle for the defensive policy.”

Now, this could be a variation on the “opening the gates of hell” rhetoric that we hear every time the IDF take out a Hamas terrorist, but it’s important to note that these are Hamasniks openly threatening to murder Israeli civilians. Funny how the world media never manages to pick up on these stories, but if an IDF missile strike hits a bunch of terrorists, the news media pick it up in a heartbeat.

Something tells me, though, that it’s not just talk. There are too many reports of Hamas action going on right now. They’re threatening to take over the West Bank by next year. (And won’t that be a wonderful gift if Israel leaves the West Bank and Hamas moves in? It’ll be just like Gaza, only closer to more Israeli population centers.) They’ve smuggled 112 tons of explosives since the disengagement, most of it since Hamas took over. And even the so-called “moderates” (yeah, right) are threatening war if the Annapolis talks don’t lead to a significant step forward.

“If the summit fails – frustration will win out over everything else and it will have a negative affect on the region. I cannot predict exactly what will happen, but it may lead to more wars.

“I warn now against failure there, which will open the door for extremists and extremism – and that door will be very difficult to close,” said Qureia at a conference held by Meretz activists.

And what exactly is the situation now, with Hamas ruling Gaza and Abbas pretending that he’s cracking down on terror in the West Bank? They’re still attacking Israelis regularly. And Abbas still refuses to crack down on terror.

I hold out no hope whatsoever for this farce of a “peace” conference. The Palestinians are doing what they always do: Demanding land from Israel while promising absolutely nothing in return, and threatening war if their demands aren’t met. Same song, same tune, slightly different players. If President Bush and Condi Rice think they are going to leave a Palestinian state as their legacy, I think they’d better look for another legacy. As Omri often points out, since the world never makes the Palestinians own up to any of their own responsibilities, there’s no reason to think they’re going to start now.

I swear, we can just recycle our posts of previous years. I guarantee you you can search through my archives and find a post you could swap this with, event for event. I can’t believe I haven’t burned out on this crap yet.

Saudi King Abdullah spoke to the BBC before his trip to Britain and made some amazingly hypocritical statements. Of course, the Beeb couldn’t be expected to call him on them, as the formerly great kingdom submits to the current Kingdom, its largest trading partner. (The transcript in not online, but a small part of the video is.)

“We don’t want concessions. We are people with rights and we demand our rights,” the king told the BBC when asked whether he expected any Israeli concessions in order to reach a Middle East peace settlement….

Speaking about the US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, the king said he believed that the conference would fail unless the Palestinians’ needs were taken more seriously. He emphasized the return of Palestinian refugees to their country. “This is a humanitarian condition for peace.”

Too bad the interviewer was too ignorant to point out that it is a wee bit hypocritical for Abdullah to whine about Palestinian Arab rights when the Kingdom itself refuses to give citizenship to Palestinian Arabs, even as hundreds of thousands have helped build his country. It is truly bigotry.

And even so, he pretends to identify with them saying not that Palestinian Arabs have rights, but “we are people with rights.” For all the incessant whining that the US and Europe aren’t “evenhanded” when it comes to the Middle East, this basic standard is completely thrown out the window by his own words as he sheds even the pretext of objectivity on this issue.

Not to mention that to hear the Saudi king talk about “rights” from one of the most repressive regimes on Earth should cause anyone overhearing to vomit on the spot.

His insulting words didn’t end here, though:

In the BBC interview, King Abdullah said it would take 20 to 30 years to defeat terrorism. “My advice to all countries including Britain is that they should not show any leniency in fighting terrorism,” he said. The king also revealed the recent arrest of some terror financiers in the Kingdom and said Al-Qaeda continued to be a big problem for Saudi Arabia.
…The BBC also reported that King Abdullah is annoyed that the rest of the world has largely failed to act on his proposal to establish an international counterterrorism center. “Everybody has accepted the proposal but then did nothing to implement it,” the king said.

“This center, under the umbrella of the United Nations, will collect information related to terrorism. We have learned from our experience that the speedy dispatch of information is the main factor in combating terrorism,” he explained.

…King Abdullah also said that Saudi Arabia had provided intelligence information to British authorities about a possible terrorist attack in the UK. “We sent information to Great Britain before the terrorist attacks in Britain, but unfortunately no action was taken and you know what happened,” the king said about the deadly July 7, 2005 bombings.

One British newspaper, Bits of News, described the reaction to this last statement as “Whitehall officials have been almost as quick to offer embarrassed, low-key denials as government ministers have been to placate the King with sycophantic, simpering, clichéd words promising friendship and cooperation.”

Notice also the outlines of Abdullah’s proposal for a “counterterrorism” center. Under UN auspices, it would ensure that Islamic terror would be downplayed and nothing would be able to impede the spread of Saudi Wahhabi Islam that has inspired so many jihadists.

Then, with a straight face, Abdullah continued:

“Islam has given the most rights to women in the world and they are strong and important participants in our society,” he said when asked about the condition of women in Saudi Arabia.

Coming from a country where women are not allowed to drive, where they cannot testify in court, where they cannot vote and where they make up a tiny percentage of the workforce, this is a statement that an ordinary journalist would have demolished.

But the obnoxious King can say such absurd things with impunity, because his wealth and control over worldwide energy resources burnish the fiction that he is an ally in the war on terror, rather than the enemy.

Abdullah came to the UK with an entourage of 400 people, on four planes, taking 84 limousines from the airport. He personally gets rich off of Western petrodollars and uses his wealth skillfully to keep the West in permanent submission to his will. Saudi influence in First World governments far outweighs the fabled “Israel lobby”.

This rush to placate the Kingdom in its most wretched hypocritical glory is disgusting. But it will continue as long as we keep having to buy oil.

Rights groups challenge Gaza energy cuts

Human rights groups challenged Israel’s reduction of fuel supplies to Gaza and its intention to cut back on electricity, and Palestinians warned the measures could lead to a humanitarian crisis.The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday gave the state five days to respond to the appeal from human rights groups for an injunction to halt the energy cutbacks, said Sari Bashi of Gisha, one of the 10 groups that filed the petition.

I wonder if the same groups have petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of Sderot?

Palestinians said Israel cut fuel supplies by 30 percent on Sunday, though defense officials said the cut was only about 11 percent. Israel hopes the move will pressure Gaza’s Hamas rulers to halt near-daily rocket attacks by militants against Israeli towns.Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israel’s infrastructure minister, said Monday that the cutbacks were a final attempt to avoid a military operation that would cause scores of civilian casualties.

“What’s the alternative? The alternative is that tomorrow or the next day we’ll be forced to bring three or four divisions and go into Gaza,” Ben-Eliezer said in an interview on Israel Radio. “What will the results be then?”

“There’s nothing we haven’t tried,” he said.

So Israel’s restricting fuel instead of invading. If Israel invaded do you think these “human rights” groups would approve? Or would they be out protesting the indiscriminate Israeli use of force? (And ignore the Palestinian indiscriminate use of force.)

My Right Word brings historical parallels from World War II and asks:

Don’t Israel’s citizens have rights, too?

Judeopundit looks at the economic implications of the fuel cutoff. (satire)

Crossposted at Soccer Dad.

President Bush is awarding Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Bravo, Mr. President, and Brava, Ms. Lee.

From the press release:

Harper Lee has made an outstanding contribution to America’s literary tradition. At a critical moment in our history, her beautiful book, To Kill a Mockingbird, helped focus the Nation on the turbulent struggle for equality.

To Kill A Mockingbird is on my top ten favorite books list. I have read it dozens of times, and will doubtless read it dozens more. IMHO, it should be in the list of the top three American novels, with Huckleberry Finn in the number one slot and The Great Gatsby third. (Hemingway doesn’t come on the list at all. I think he’s an overhyped hack.)

So good for you, Ms. Lee. You deserve it.

George W Bush has announced that Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, is to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a civilian.

The medal, established in 1963, is awarded for an “especially meritorious contribution” to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or for their accomplishments in the areas of culture or “other significant public or private endeavours.”

Lee won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for the novel, which is credited with helping to focus the country at the height of the civil-rights movement by raising awareness of the injustices of discrimination.

It tells the story of a small-town Alabama lawyer, Atticus Finch, who defends a black man accused of raping a local white woman. The narrator of the story is six-year-old Scout, the daughter of Atticus.

Although downplaying the idea that To Kill A Mockingbird is semi-autobiographical, it bears a striking resemblance to her early life. She was born in Monroeville, a small town in Alabama, and her father was also a lawyer.

In 1931, when Lee was six, nine young black men in Scottsboro, Alabama, were accused of raping two white women, and, despite the lack of any evidence, the men were convicted by an all-white jury.

Meryl just mentioned “The lack of world condemnation of the Israeli raid on an nascent Syrian nuclear plant…“, and here it comes:

Mohamed ElBaradei accuses Jewish state of ‘taking the law into its own hands’, says ‘if countries have information that another country is working on a nuclear-related program, they should come to us’

Yes, them are strong words ElBaradei has for the jingoist Zionist pirates. Law and order, law and order, ladies and gentlemen! After all, this is what the mighty UN is for.

Let’s see what is it precisely that Mr Elbaradei has in mind for Syrians.

…if countries have information that the country is working on a nuclear-related program, they should come to us. We have the authority to go out and investigate,” he said.

Uhu. Got it? They will come and investigate.

Like they did with that reactor in Iraq.
Like they did in the Balkans.
Like they do in Darfur.
Like they do in Congo.
Like…

Thanks, but no thanks.

(From Ynet via Shimshon9).

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.