Lynn got me to find this site, which has the sunrise and sunsets in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Sunrise tomorrow is 11:13 a.m. Sunset is 3:31 p.m.

Quitcherbitchin, people. Just think how much it would suck to be in Iceland right now.

I’ve been saying for some time now that the IDF has learned many lessons from the Lebanon war of 2006, and that Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran have not.

Here’s what amounts to a throwaway graf at the end of an article about the Gaza rocket attacks that speaks volumes.

In a possible war with Syria, he said, the army would not combat rocket attacks on Israel’s home front as it had during the war in Lebanon. “So long as there are rockets falling on homes in Israel - we can not win the war. We will not fight as the army has in the past. We will not only operate against the rocket launchers themselves but also create a situation where the other side’s desire to launch these attacks sufferers, the price for these attacks will be steep – and the enemy will have to decide whether it can keep fighting.

“In a playground like Syria, we have the capability to strike them,” said Ashkenazi.

Something tells me that Baby Assad’s homes are high up on the list of places that will be bombed if Syria launches rockets toward Israel. But not just him. I’m quite sure the IDF has a list of targets to destroy should the Israeli homefront have to deal with a second barrage of rockets from an enemy.

Let’s look at the ledes on the various wire service articles about the current round of peace talks.

Earlier, Reuters:

Israel and Palestinians launch peace talks in discord
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinians said on Wednesday they had demanded a halt to Israeli plans to build on occupied land when negotiators launched peace talks aimed at reaching a deal on Palestinian statehood by the end of 2008.

No mention at all of the rocket attacks from Gaza, until about the thirteenth paragraph.

Later, Reuters:

Israel and Palestinians launch peace talks in discord
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The first peace talks in seven years between Israel and the Palestinians opened in discord on Wednesday with the Palestinians demanding a halt to settlement building and Israel calling for a crackdown on militants.

You would think that perhaps, based on that change in the lede, that Reuters would identify the rocket barrage that wounded a girl in Sderot this morning, and put it high up in the article. You would be wrong. The mention of the rocket barrage has not moved from the thirteenth graf.

The AP has changed the lede somewhat, too. Earlier:

JERUSALEM (AP) - The first formal peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years got off to a rocky start Wednesday, with the Palestinians lambasting Israel for a new construction project planned in disputed east Jerusalem and Israel accusing the Palestinians of creating a “tense atmosphere.”

The Palestinians have said the planned construction in the Har Homa neighborhood, along with Israeli military activity in the Gaza Strip, have threatened to undermine the new peace talks.

The Palestinian delegation “introduced the issue of Har Homa and expressed our outrage,” said negotiator Saeb Erekat.

No mention of the rocket attacks until the fifteenth paragraph of the story, and not a word about them in the lede.

But the AP editors must have decided they really need to mention the attack of the “crude, homemade” rockets, especially because someone got hurt. Later:

JERUSALEM—The highly anticipated renewal of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians got off to a rocky start Wednesday, with the Palestinians criticizing Israel for a construction project planned in disputed east Jerusalem, and Israel complaining about continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians have said the planned construction in the Har Homa neighborhood, along with Israeli military activity in the Gaza Strip, have threatened to undermine the new peace talks.

The Palestinian delegation “introduced the issue of Har Homa and expressed our outrage,” said negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Notice how the lede changes almost not at all. The rocket attacks stay unmentioned again until paragraph fourteen. The number of rockets has been upped to twenty, which indicates that the editors are, indeed, on top of the news—but that they are not willing to grant rocket attacks as high a priority as building houses on disputed (by the Palestinians) territory. The real threat to the peace talks? Not acts of war. Buildings. Not Palestinian terrorists. Israeli “settlers.” Not the PA. Israel. Always Israel.

It is a wonder that anyone in the world believes that Israel is at all in the right. Because it’s certain that the media never do.

Israel seems to have forgotten how to defend herself.

The security cabinet announced Wednesday it would recommend the government refrain from launching a wide-scale operation in Gaza, opting instead to continue with targeted IDF operations.

The cabinet thinks the small operations are successful.

Data given to the cabinet revealed that the IDF has held 115 operations aimed at destroying terror infrastructure and Qassam cells in the Strip since the beginning of the year, and killed 260 Palestinian terrorists.

They are wrong.

Still, some 970 Qassam rockets and 1,200 mortar shells were fired from Gaza towards Israel since the beginning of 2007. Israel suffered five related casualties – three IDF soldiers and two civilians.

Eighteen more rockets were launched today.

A Qassam barrage hit the western Negev Wednesday, as Palestinians fired 18 Qassam rockets at Sderot. One girl was lightly wounded in the leg by shrapnel, and several other people suffered shock.

The Palestinians are bragging, and why shouldn’t they? Their tactics are working. They murdered Israelis in Gaza, tried to murder Israelis from Gaza, and succeeded in driving out all Israelis from Gaza—from where they now launch attacks that wound and murder Israelis. And the Israelis are in utter denial about their ability to stop these attacks.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni briefed the cabinet on the political efforts made in regards to the situation in Gaza. The world, said Livni, understands Israel’s need to defend itself against terror.

Really? Tell that to the New York Times editors.

In the meantime, the Israeli generals that aren’t running for office and haven’t served in office, and are only concerned with protecting Israel, and not their reputations, say that there’s no way the current situation can continue.

The current situation in Gaza cannot continue, and ongoing Qassam attacks on Israel may force the IDF to launch a large-scale operation in the Strip, IDF Chief of Staff Lit.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday.

“You cannot defeat a terror organization without eventually taking control of the territory,” he said, “the only reason we have been successful in Judea and Samaria is because we control the area.”

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Institute for National Security Studies at the Tel Aviv University, Ashkenazi said that while the current limited army operations in Gaza impair the capabilities of terror organizations, they would never completely curb all attacks against Israel.

Funny how the generals in the trenches keep saying this, and the politicians keep on saying something else. It’s almost as if the politicians care more about their image than about their people’s safety. But no. That can’t be.

One final thought: When Israel went on the offensive against Hamas, and targeted their leadership, killing most of it, the Hamas suicide attacks ended. Why the current leadership seems to think that same tactic won’t work now is beyond me.

The world media spins against Israel yet again. And of course, here’s how it works. A barrage of rockets into Israel on the morning of the peace talks comes fifteen paragraphs into the main AP story released a few minutes ago. That’s right. It doesn’t come into the lede at all. It comes into the story 12 paragraphs in in the earlier version, which had the strange headline “Israel, Palestinians launch peace talks in discord” (now turned into “Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks Resume”

And here are paragraphs eleven and twelve of that strangely-headlined Reuters story:

Israel regularly launches raids into the Gaza Strip to try to stop militants firing rockets and mortar bombs into southern Israel. Olmert said late on Tuesday the Jewish state would “not stop” until it removed the rocket threat.

The militant group Islamic Jihad said it fired 14 rockets into Israel on Wednesday and vowed to keep up attacks. An army spokeswoman said at least 16 rockets and mortars were fired. There were no reports of casualties in southern Israel.

I say strange, because apparently the discord is all caused by this:

Palestinians said on Wednesday they had demanded a halt to Israeli plans to build on occupied land when negotiators launched peace talks aimed at reaching a deal on Palestinian statehood by the end of 2008.

[...] Wednesday’s talks, which lasted for about 90 minutes, went ahead despite calls by some Palestinians for a boycott over Israeli plans to build new houses on occupied land in the Jerusalem area. Palestinian leaders decided to attend the talks but to focus on pressing Israel to freeze settlement building.

The first half of the article is all about Har Homa. The media has learned its job well. Its job, of course, is to push the Palestinian agenda and ignore the deaths and injuries of Israelis.

And watch this comparison of “complaints.”

Discussing Wednesday’s talks, an Israeli official confirmed the Palestinians complained about Har Homa, Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and Israeli military activity in Gaza.

“We really wanted to see it as a procedural meeting in good spirit … They created a tense atmosphere,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the meeting with the media.

The official said Israel complained about ongoing Palestinian rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Early Wednesday, Palestinian militants fired 16 homemade rockets toward Israel, causing minor damage and lightly wounding one woman, Israeli officials said.

The barrage came hours after Israeli forces ended a broad incursion into the coastal strip that killed six militants and left a wide swath of damage in its wake.

You see? Israel is building new homes, and that’s harming the peace talks. The Palestinians are wounding and attempting to murder Israelis, and that’s harming the peace talks. Same thing, right?

It is in the eyes of the rest of the world, apparently.

Really, I know I’ve written this at least a thousand times before, but I cannot believe how the world utterly ignores the terrorism against Israel, and focuses instead on the “injustice” of the Palestinians. You know what the Palestinians need to do? Suck. It. Up.

But they never will, because the world keeps on handing them money and refusing to make them responsible for ending the incitement, terror, and murder that they’ve been doing for the past sixty years. The peace talks? Oh, they’re failing because Israel refuses to submit to the will of Fatah (and Hamas and PIJ and all the rest).

What time is it? That’s right, folks. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time. Only on a day of the week that ends with a “y.”

Here’s what the Dorktator took away as a lesson for his sending a representative to Annapolis:

A car bomb attack killed one of Lebanon’s top generals and at least two other people Wednesday, the military and state media said, putting even more pressure on the country’s delicate political situation.

The target of the attack, Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, a top Maronite Catholic in the command, was considered a leading candidate to succeed the head of the military, Gen. Michel Suleiman, if Suleiman is elected president.

Hajj, 55, also led a major military campaign against Islamic militants over the summer.

The lesson is clear: Syria can murder as many Christian politicians in Lebanon as their murderous regime wishes to, and the world will not punish them in any way. Lebanon is on the verge of being returned to Syrian client-state rule, and the world stands by and penalizes Israel for building houses in Jerusalem suburbs.

So, how’s that UN investigation going? The one into the death of Rafik Hariri? Oh, that’s right. Nothing’s gone in since the summer. For some reason, the investigation has been back-burnered.

These are the wages of terrorism. And terrorism, it pays off. Just ask Hezbollah, Hamas, PIJ, and especially, the Palestinian Authority.

The editors of the NYT are all for Starting the peace process

Israelis and Palestinians are supposed to begin serious negotiations tomorrow after last month’s long-on-optics, short-on-specifics Annapolis peace meeting. Despite all the smiles and handshakes, both sides went home and fell back into some familiar, counterproductive patterns.

And what might those “familiar. counterproductive patterns” be?

Days after the American-led conference prepared the ground for the first serious peace talks in seven years, Israel announced that it would be adding 307 new homes to a settlement south of East Jerusalem, a violation of the spirit of Israel’s commitments.

A “violation of the spirit?”

And on the other side?

The government-run Palestinian Authority TV also clearly hasn’t gotten the post-Annapolis message: broadcasting a map of the region soon after the meeting that pointedly erased Israel.Important Arab states were invited to Annapolis so that they could bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he confronts politically difficult choices. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, however, did Mr. Abbas no favors last week, arranging coveted pilgrimages for Palestinians on a Hamas-approved list.

Let’s be clear, these are no “violations of the spirit.” These violations are to the very assumptions of the peace process. The “no Israel” graphic of course is a confirmation of the statements of “moderate” PA officials that Israel can’t be a Jewish state. The idea that a Jewish state can exist in the Middle East is not accepted by Israel’s “peace partners.”

As far as Saudi Arabia and Egypt are concerned, I don’t know that they’re not doing Mr. Abbas any favors. He himself seems to be on the same page as Hamas.

Besides we’ve been down this road before.

‘Clinton said Israel compromised more than the Palestinians, but this is not accurate,” Helmi Barakat, a political analyst based in Washington, said in a Jezeera interview. ”According to international law, Jerusalem is occupied land and I do not believe the Arabs should be expected to compromise or give up their sovereignty over Jerusalem.”During the last few days, a number of Arab leaders like Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudia Arabia and President Mubarak have joined with Mr. Arafat’s domestic opponents in Islamic militant movements to weigh in on the issue. They all but threatened Mr. Arafat with political excommunication if he accepted Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s proposals for administrative control over parts of the city and access to — but not sovereignty over — the major Muslim sites.

Experts said, however, that Mr. Arafat did not need reminders.

”Arafat knew beforehand that any compromise on Jerusalem would be the end of Arafat,” said Tahsin Basheer, a former aide to Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president who was the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel, in 1979.

And what must each side do to help the other?

They will have more luck if both can show their citizens that life can be better — today. Israel must work with the Palestinians to expedite passage through border checkpoints that are a constant source of Palestinian frustration. Mr. Abbas should order a review of Palestinian textbooks and order his aides to curb rhetoric that Israelis say incite terrorism.

Israel must take risks with its security and the Palestinians must watch what they say. (And note the weaselly qualifier “…that Israelis say incite …”)

How about something like this instead?
“The Palestinians must become serious about fighting terror so that Israel can expedite passage through checkpoints.”
or
“The Palestinians must use the massive amounts of foreign aid they are receiving to build a viable economic infrastructure instead of on luxury condos for their leaders.”
or
“The Palestinians ought to stop complaining about so-called Israeli “settlements.” If “settlements” (really “communities”) were the problem, there would be no more terror from Gaza.”
or
“The Palestinians must finally observe the commitments they started making back in 1993 in order to show the Israeli people that they are finally serious about making peace”

Daled Amos has the impertinence to ask a pertinent question:

Ever notice that the only ones who seem to be successfully forced to do things to increase Abbas’ stature in the eyes of Palestinian Arabs is Israel?

The problem with the editorial is that the editors of the Times have fallen back into a familiar, unproductive pattern of equivalence.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

According to an article from JP:

A large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip has dropped to the back burner in recent days after an assessment within the defense establishment found that the daily border raids the IDF has been conducting have had an effect on Hamas’s military capabilities, senior defense officials said Tuesday.

If you are ready to believe this crapola, here is more:

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the operation had achieved “very important results” in the fight against the manufacture and firing of Kassam rockets and mortar shells. Speaking during a visit to a navy base in Haifa, Barak said that IDF operations like the one on Tuesday allowed Israelis to celebrate Hanukka and light candles in peace.

But hold the horses with the celebrations, here is some news for Barak:

As post-Annapolis talks were set to kick off around Wednesday noon, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two barrages of Kassam rockets at the western Negev. One person was lightly wounded and two very lightly wounded; one of the rockets landed on a sidewalk in the middle of a main street in the city.

Several salvoes fired in the early morning hours amounted to a total of 17 rockets fired in a space of less than two hours.

This immediately after the operation that “achieved very important results”…

Update: and more government-issue crap:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Tuesday to remove the threat of Qassam rockets from the southern part of the country.

Yeah… like we keep hearing for the last 7 years.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.