A truly hilarious, deliberate mistranslation of an Indian pop song.

Note: Absolutely NOT safe for work. And more than a little risque. Language and dirty joke warnings.

Via Charles.

(An addendum to that excellent compilation by Soccer Dad.)

The case of Muhammad Al Durrah, the Gazan boy allegedly killed by IDF during a stone-throwing episode and made into a symbol of Intifada, is slowly unraveling, it seems. The raw footage of the “27 minutes” fame was seen in the court for the first time (although - see the above link in Wiki - a few independent journalists viewed it with quite an unequivocal conclusion).

From JP:

Toward the end, the footage appeared to show Dura briefly putting his hand to his forehead to check what was happening around him, and moving his leg.

More interesting findings in a Russian source (Google translation):

The original video recording showed that after 15 minutes of recording in which Palestinians stoned Israeli military, the boy lying on his father’s knees raises his head. That was the frame that forced Karsenty to sue, arguing that the coverage does not contain any evidence of the death of the child.

In the original frames a scrap of red cloth could be seen on the boy’s body, likely to be mistaken for blood. Karsenty argues that it is a usual trick used by Palestinians for the simulation of killing or wounding.

At one point, the father cries: “The boy was killed!”, But after that Muhammad ad-Dur looks alive. After the viewing Enderlin said that the father warned that his son may be dying.

Moreover, the judges have not been able to understand where have disappeared nine more minutes of the original recording. Karsenty left the courtroom with a smile on his face. “Everyone knows that, it was 27 minutes. I wonder where the remaining 9 minutes are”, he said.

According to Karsenty, videotape does not contain a single frame evidencing that the Israeli military fired: “The Palestinian reporter claims that there were 45 wounded, while the film shows only one person, wounded in the leg. Boy covers the abdomen with a red scrap. They cut the film . France 2 is beginning to understand that it becomes a laughingstock. “

It is early days so far, but we may be witnessing an unmaking of a myth here.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

We’re tooling right along, and our Desk Fund is increasing. Thanks all who have contributed, and if you haven’t, and have a few bucks to spare, think about sparing them. Anything left over from the Desk Fund will go to other areas of the school. We’re a tiny congregation—only about 200 families—and we’re only about 20 years old, so we don’t have a lot of bequests, etc., sitting in the bank waiting for us to draw on them.

Total so far is $583. New desks of the kind my students need are $75-$125 each. I’m not sure what the used price is. I’m looking for an initial lot of 10-15 desks. That will cover the current third and fourth grades, and probably leave enough extra to cover the changeover for next year. Third grade is tiny—only three students—but this year’s second grade is a normal-sized class, and third grade will need more desks in 2008.

Yeah, I’m thinking ahead. I always keep an eye on the younger kids. It’s partly self-interest, partly because, well, I like kids. They make me smile. A lot.

I’m never going to get tired of referring to this lying op-ed the New York Times published:

“Palestinians want, on their terms, the same thing Western societies want: self-determination, modernity, access to markets and their own economic power, and freedom for civil society to evolve.”

[…] Our stated aim when we won the election was to effect reform, end corruption and bring economic prosperity to our people. Our sole focus is Palestinian rights and good governance. We now hope to create a climate of peace and tranquillity within our community

And I mean never. Because this is the “freedom” that Hamas has brought to Gaza:

Gaza’s Hamas rulers issued an edict Wednesday banning journalists from working in the coastal strip unless they submit to sweeping press restrictions, and it said it would soon impose new restraints on public gatherings.

The moves, which follow the arrests of hundreds of opposition activists, appeared to be part of an intensifying clampdown after the Islamic militant group was confronted with a mass demonstration called by the rival Fatah movement that led to violence.

I love it. They’re managing to make themselves more hated than the kleptocrats of Fatah. One of the things that the Palestinian-on-the-street keeps saying is that at least Fatah didn’t kill their own people. (Not really true, but hey, I’m not going to argue with anything that lowers Hamas’ stock in the eyes of Gazans.) It looks like the average Mahmoud and Mariam may soon have their fill of Hamas tyranny.

The crackdown began toward the end of Monday’s protest, when Hamas police fired on hundreds of people throwing stones. Eight civilians were killed and dozens wounded by gunfire.

Hamas later rounded up more than 400 Fatah activists, and it followed up Wednesday by announcing media restrictions and saying it planned to curb public assemblies.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry said journalists who do not hold Hamas-issued press cards would not be allowed to work in the territory.

[...] Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Ghussen said the government also planned to impose as yet undefined restrictions on “any rally, march or public event” in Gaza.

Can’t you just hear Richie Havens in the background? The sounds of freedom in Gaza apparently equal the sounds of gunshots, screams of civilians, and the howls of protest at being unable to report the news or attend public gatherings.

And there’s this lovely bit of irony about the location of the Gaza Foreign Press Association:

The Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association, representing foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian areas, condemned what it called “harassment of Palestinian journalists in Gaza by Hamas security forces.”

That’s right. They’re based in Israel, because they know damned well what would happen to them if they were in the Palestinian areas. Kneecapping is rather a frequent occupational hazard for Palestinian journalists. Then there’s always the Alan Johnston example. Foreign reporters hightailed it out of Gaza and never went back. Not that I blame them. But the Hamas point was made. They manufacture the news.

Freedom… freedom… I can hear Richie in my head… yep. Hamas just wants the Palestinians to be free. It’s just that some people are more free than others.

Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four. Part five.

In honor of my fiftieth birthday, which is today, I am finishing my 50 Things About Me series.

41. I have a tendency to mark my birthdays these days with things that make me feel young. Four years ago, I went indoor rock climbing because I’m afraid of heights. I managed to make it to the top of the fifty-foot-wall, which, come to think of it, I should do today. I’m totally out of shape and still scared to death of heights. But maybe I’ll sneak over to the gym and try it.

This year, of course, I decided to have my adult bat mitzvah for my birthday. I did it on my Hebrew birthday, on what would have been my original bat mitzvah date. Due to a change in rabbis, I did not study long enough ahead of time to do both haftarah and Torah readings. But I’m going to work with Elisson to learn haftarah trope the right way, and do it again next year.

42. I don’t usually profit from other people’s mistakes. I’ve always handed back the extra cash I get from a bank teller or a cashier who miscounts and gives me one bill too many. I feel terribly guilty if I do. The one time I didn’t was back in 1977, when I was driving from Seattle to San Diego with about $50 in my pocket, and someone at a rest stop restaurant gave me an extra $20 bill in my change. Actually, I felt a little guilty about it, but I also felt a little grateful, because I needed that extra twenty to get me where I was going.

43. I have a tendency to do things that people think are courageous, but I think are just taking advantage of my options. Like flying across the country to live with my cousins to see if I like Seattle enough to move there, or changing careers because typesetting was dead-ending and web work needed to be extended into programming. Or moving to a new state at the age of 44 because, well, what the hell—my old life was changing so extensively that it wasn’t much of a change to also change locations. Old friendships were ending; I’d been laid off from my entry-level programming jobs due to the tech bubble bursting, and my roots were as shallow as they had ever been in New Jersey. So I gave Richmond a try. And here I am, five and a half years later, with roots deeper here than they’d ever been in New Jersey. And mostly happy. Can’t complain. (But of course, I will. I am only human.)

44. Self-improvement is a standard in my life. You can delve into the psychological reasons for it all you want, the fact is, I am constantly trying to change, move forward, and be as happy and satisfied with myself and my life as I can be. This weblog reflects that tendency of mine. I don’t know if I still have anyone here who’s been reading me since the beginning (spring/summer of 2001), but this weblog has undergone as many changes in the past six years as I have.

45. I will admit when I am wrong. I know this seems like a no-brainer, but stop and realize that almost nobody ever admits they are wrong, particularly in the blogosphere. Think about the people in your life, at work, at school, wherever: Nobody ever takes responsibility for screwing up. People rarely apologize. Well. I do.

46. I hold grudges. It’s not something I’m proud of, and I’m trying to change that part of me. But if you piss me off badly enough, you’re done. I have a tough time forgiving. But I will say that forgiveness is a hell of a lot easier if the person I’m angry with actually apologizes. Yeah, that apology thing—it works wonders.

47. The only real regret of my life is that I won’t have a child. Hey, I’m fifty, and the pre-menopausal hot flashes started a year ago. That ship has sailed, that bird has flown, Elvis has left the building. As to adoption, I don’t know. I really don’t want to be a single mother. I was the child of a single mother, and it kinda sucked. On the other hand, I have a legacy. I’m teaching little Jews to become big Jews. Students from every year I taught (and even students who were never my students or assistants) came to my bat mitzvah. So I think that I’m making up for not having one of my own. And then there are all my “nieces” and “nephews” that aren’t blood relations. Yeah, I have kids. They’re just not mine.

48. I make terrible choices in men. That’s why I’m still single. I don’t trust my choices any more, and you know, life’s too short to be constantly hurt by someone who’s supposed to care for you. So I think it’s highly likely I will not be getting married anytime soon.

49. Birthdays tend to make me reflective. This list would probably be a lot less personal if I hadn’t waited until my fiftieth birthday to complete it. On that note, let me assure you that although I have given out a fair amount of personal information in these fifty items, that doesn’t translate into your knowing me well. I have always been offended by people who presume to know me when they don’t. There is a shortening of my name that only my family and very close friends are allowed to use. I get especially annoyed when a new acquaintance shortens my name, and I say in a very frosty tone at its use, “My family calls me that. YOU may call me Meryl.” (I know, I know, it’s petty and stupid, but I really hate presumption. What can I say.)

50. I am still the same dreamer I have always been. I still think I’ll finish and sell that novel that’s been kicking around in my head (and in notes) for years, and then move onto the others. I still think that I will accomplish anything that I set out to accomplish, providing I make a plan and work for it. I believe that the heart has enough room for as many friends as you can make during your lifetime, and then some. And I am still constantly surprised and delighted by the good things that happen. I’ve always been a glass-half-full person. I agree that a cynic is a disappointed optimist, and I have always been cynical—but I’ve also always been optimistic, except during the worst of times. But I recover from the worst of times. Two years ago, I was working three jobs, seven days a week, and still not making enough money to cover my monthly expenses. Today, I have an excellent job with great prospects, I’m getting out of debt, and I discovered this fall how many friends I have made over the last five years. It was a great discovery to make. And best of all, last night I discovered that I fit into my size eight jeans for the first time in months.

So I’m looking at fifty, and life is looking damned good to me. Screw that half-century talk. My grandfather lived to be 98, and he was all there and mostly healthy. The second act of my life awaits. I’m sure it’s going to be better than the first. I’m not too worried. This is a picture of me, Rob (NZ Bear, on the right) and Scott (Citizen Smash) from late January. Try to pick the one who is ten years older than the other two. Yeah, that would be the one surrounded by two hot guys.

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m fifty and lovin’ it.

The true Fifth Column in Israel: An Israeli Arab member of the Knesset (yeah, that apartheid Israel, they have Arab members of Israel’s version of Congress) says that Israel has no legal jurisdiction over the Temple Mount.

The digs, replied Majadele, have been supervised by the IAA since their beginning, adding he has been working on “creating an understanding and cooperation between the Waqf and the IAA, which I hope will continue for a long time.”

But does the State of Israel have any legal pull on Temple Mount, asked Eldad. “In my opinion,” answered Majadele, “absolutely not.”

Eldad went on to wonder if Majadele’s reply was a testament to the government’s opinion on the matter. “I can only speak my mind… I am a Muslim first and a minister second.

“Al-Aqsa (Mosque) is a holy site for Muslims and we are keeping the status-quo… but with all due respect, laws exist to honor man and his religion, not to enslave them. Al-Aqsa cannot be under Israel’s legali jurisdiction.”

Isn’t it amazing how Muslims can flat-out make statements like the boldface above, and it passes virtually unnoticed, whereas Saab Erekat actually thinks it’s okay for him to say that the Palestinians will not only never recognize the Jewish State, but that there is “no country in the in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined.”

Really? Because, um: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, etc., etc., etc. And has he taken a look at his own laws lately?

And I say the Temple Mount cannot be under Muslim jurisdiction. And he ends, of course, with a threat:

Should the law contradict his religious beliefs, added Majadele, his choice is clear: “I’m a man of law and I will respect the State law, but if I have to choose between them and my faith, I will know where my choice lies.”

These are the things that are totally ignored by negotiators, journalists, essayists, morons like Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu, the UN, etc., etc., etc. They are, of course, the things that Israel is always accused of, and chastized for. But when a Palestinian, or an Israeli Arab does it, well, that’s okay. They’re allowed.

What time is it? That’s right. Israeli Double Standard Time. That would be during every day that ends with a Y.

(h/t Media Backspin)

In Palestinian Security Paradox, David Ignatius writes:

Security is the magic word. No peace deal will work until the Palestinians are able to provide security that Israelis can trust. But right now, people are paying lip service to this idea rather than actually helping the Palestinians build a credible force.If Annapolis is to be anything more than another exercise in frustration, Americans, Israelis and Palestinians should face this problem directly. The peace conference is premised on expectations about security that are unrealistic and can’t be fulfilled. If the Israelis really want the Palestinians to take more responsibility for curbing terror and maintaining order, they will have to allow them the resources and training to learn how. That’s risky, but the alternative is permanent Israeli occupation, which nobody wants.

The new Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, understands that Israelis want evidence of security in exchange for creating a Palestinian state. So this month he deployed 300 members of his National Security Forces to Nablus, the biggest and toughest city in the West Bank. He wants them to impose order, as the Israelis demand. But so far, the Israelis have hindered parts of this effort.

It’s easy for Ignatius to blame Israel for failing to give the Palestinians too much leeway in creating their own security forces. It’s easy, because he doesn’t look at the record.

In the past specially trained Palestinian security forces have been shooting and robbing Israelis. The training they received did nothing to change their motivation to harm Israel. Why a new crop might be more committed to ensuring security for Israel instead of fostering even more insecurity is a very good question.

Given the record, Israel’s caution is prudent.

UPDATE: via buzztracker

Prairie Pundit offers a rebuttal, the key sentences are:

The Palestinians have never demonstrated commitment to stopping other Palestinians who are intent on murdering Israelis. That is why there has never been a real chance for peace.

David Frum writes:

Hey, here’s a wild suggestion: What if we tried the other way around? What if we said to the Palestinians - OK, you want the benefits of peace? A state, a well-paid civil service supported by lavish foreign aid, jobs at the United Nations for the nephews of your president for life? Great. Make peace. Your soldiers want to be trusted? Great. First let them show themselves trustworthy.

It’s a line picked up by Noah Pollak who also wrote:

Arafat’s goons did not work toward establishing a Palestinian state. They didn’t serve the Palestinian people or attempt to impose law and order. These men worked for Yasir Arafat, and only for Arafat, in order that he could more thoroughly solidify his corrupt autocracy. The things Ignatius mentions—Israeli security concessions, or the latest package of aid money, or American support—have all been tweaked and modified and adjusted countless times. A competent security service, be it police or military, must be possessed of a unity of purpose and must show dedication to a mission. It is precisely these cultural components that have been so elusive when it has come to the role that Palestinian security services have played in the many abortive attempts at creating a Palestinian state. The only Arab security forces in recent history that have displayed any such qualities are those of Islamist groups such as Hamas and Hizballah.

(Pollak also quotes from and links to Daniel Polisar’s classic “Arafat and the myth of legitimacy” which is well worth reading in its own right.)

One thing these critiques of Ignatius point to is a lack of Palestinian performance when it comes to their obligations towards Israel. Given this lack of performance it’s worth recalling that “the roadmap” was officially called A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

As long as the Palestinians won’t perform, there will be no peace. Changing the terms of the Roadmap, or asking for more Israeli “confidence building measures” or anything else simply avoids the central problem.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

The natives of Gaza are getting very, very tired of Hamas tyranny and brutality.

As the mourners sat on a long row of plastic chairs in the alley next to Ibrahim’s home, his father was too distraught to join in the increasingly political family discussion raging round him about the meaning of Monday’s events. “He went to the rally and he did not come back,” he said. “He’s a kid. He had no weapons or anything else. I blame the security forces. They’re the ones supposed be in charge of security.”

He meant the uniformed Hamas men who had opened fire. But other relatives were less reticent. “Even the Israelis do not do this,” said Ibrahim’s uncle, Jihad Auda, 52, adding of the rally: “It was like a party, a wedding. They know that these weapons will kill. Why do they use it against their own people?”

Mr Auda was also highly sceptical of the Hamas explanation that its force had been first fired on by Fatah gunmen posted at the nearby al Azhar university – denied both by the rally’s organisers, officials of the Fatah-linked university, and students who had been on the campus at the time. Even if it were true, he said “they should react by shooting at the people who are shooting them, not by shooting at the masses”.

More tales of barbarism:

Khaled al Nouri, 18, his head heavily bandaged, took refuge from the gunfire in the electoral commission building. He said: “When I came out, a policeman hit me. I said, ‘Why are you hitting me? I have no AK-47.’ But he got other policemen and they hit me again. I am not Fatah and Hamas. I just went to support my president who died three years ago. I liked him.”

[...] Dr Walid abu Ramadan, the medical director at the Al Quds hospital, said that apart from a few women suffering from hysteria and shock, almost all the 40 injured had bullet wounds. Nearby, Taher Nasser, 20, was lying on a stretcher as a friend held a drip for him. He said: “We were shouting ‘Abu Ammar, Abu Ammar’ [Yasser Arafat's nom de guerre] and Hamas started throwing sound grenades. Then I got shot in the back. They were shooting from the Islamic University.”

Hamas may very well have gone one step too far. I don’t think they can continue to keep the populace beaten down. There aren’t any jobs, and the people aren’t fools. They know who’s keeping the crossings closed, and how—because they know the mortars are being fired by Hamas. And then we have this very damning article in Ha’aretz.

“Armed Hamas policemen who were stationed in the streets and watching the masses of people marching toward the square, gazed down at the ground. Out of shame. They saw themselves the way the marchers to the memorial rally for Yasser Arafat saw them - like Israeli policemen on the first Land Day in Israel. It was women whose votes had led to the defeat of Fatah in 2006, so it was significant now that many women came to the rally. I saw one woman go up to an armed policeman and dare him: Kill me, you Shi’ite.”

[...] “The masses who came to the rally did not come for Abu Amar [Arafat] or for Mohammad Dahlan, or because they were promised NIS 200 or a phone card. They came out of hatred for Hamas,” says the former movement activist. A friend of his, who has remained a Hamas activist, agrees: “There has been a consolidation among some of the Fatah activists, because of anger and hatred for Hamas, after mistakes of ours that are impossible to ignore.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Palestinians don’t paint giant arrows and signs saying “Hamas this way” when Ehud Barak brings in the IDF to finally clean out the terrorists’ nest.

There is precious little coverage of what ought to be considered Watergate for the international media, but yesterday brought some dramatic news. After telling the court that he had 27 minutes of video of the conflict near Netzarim junction the day that Mohammed al-Dura was supposedly killed by Israeli bullets, France 2’s Charles Enderlin produces only 18 minutes.

Last year France 2 successfully sued media critic Philippe Karsenty for libel by claiming that the al-Dura incident was staged. Now during his appeal Karsenty has apparently shifted the momentum by making the actual video shot that day the central focus of the case.

Media Backspin:

There was a dispute over how much footage was to be screened. Was the full video shown? Charles Enderlin submitted 18 minutes of footage. The judge, without any prompting from Philippe’s lawyers, asked what happened to the 27 minutes. Enderlin said on record in court that he had to manipulate some footage that was not relevant to that day. He said he transferred the footage onto DVD for the court. That was amazing. France_2_2So she asked if anyone in attendance had seen the full footage. Luc Rosenzweig was there, stood up , and said he saw a tape that was more than 20 minutes long. Richard Landes also stood up. He saw the footage at Enderlin’s office. He said the timer he saw was at least 21 minutes long. The judge basically let that issue rest, but there was serious doubt hanging over the room that the footage was tampered or doctored.

Augean Stables:

Today Charles Enderlin presented in court the “rushes” of Talal abu Rahmah which the Judge had requested from him. And he presented an edited version in which he took out at least three minutes, and several scenes that I distinctly remember seeing. In the United States that’s called tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, and perjury. In France, we’ll find out what it’s called.

Melanie Phillips:

The drama of today’s hearing was enhanced by the appearance of Enderlin himself, who until today had not graced this case with his presence. As the film was shown to a packed and overheated (in every sense) courtroom, Enderlin and Karsenty offered rival interpretations of the images on the screen. If Enderlin thought he would thus demonstrate the inadequacy of Karsenty’s case, he was very much mistaken. On the contrary, parts of his commentary were so absurd that the courtroom several times burst into incredulous laughter.

(h/t Yid with Lid)

Al Jazeera:

Although the actual moment of Muhammad’s death wasn’t caught on film, Mr Enderlin is convinced that the boy was killed that day.

Nidra Poller:

Charles Enderlin came to court personally today to defend the images shot by his trusted cameraman Talal Abu Rahma at Netzarim Junction in the Gaza Strip on September 30, 2000. The cameraman had declared under oath that he filmed 27 minutes of the ordeal of Mohamed al Dura and his father Jamal, pinned down by Israeli gunfire. France 2 turned over to the court a CDRom certified as an authentic copy of the raw footage, of a total duration of 18 minutes. Despite those statements the pertinent al Dura scenes contained in the rushes lasted one short minute. Nothing more.

Daled Amos has interviews with 3 observers and Philippe Karsenty.

Solomonia has an excellent round-up including pre-trial impressions.

FresnoZionism -

The judge will render her decision of February 27. But whether justice will be done and Enderlin will lose his case, or not — Enderlin is very well-connected, an acquaintance of Jacques Chirac — the case illustrates the power of the media and the importance of the information war. It also illustrates the cynicism of many in the media, who understand the Palestinian fake news industry, but exploit it anyway because it provides sensational footage.

Though things sound good right now, In-Context (in an e-mail, but whose site is down right now) warned that despite how things seem right now, it’s no foregone conclusion that the judge will rule in Karsenty’s favor. Still one would have to assume that France 2’s credibility (and the credibility of everyone who relied on them) has taken a big hit.

Even though nearly every media organization covering Israel used the al-Dura image, few seem much interested in this trial. Don’t they care about their own credibility?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.