His blood is on Obama’s hands. The Obama administrations confrontation with Israel encouraged the Palestinians to think that they could strike without fear of world reaction. Of course, they’re right. Notice the condemnation issued by the EU’s representative currently trying to find starving Gazans for their “end the seige” propaganda campaign:

Thursday’s attack came on the same day as a visit to Gaza by Europe’s top diplomat, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who had just crossed into the territory when the rocket was fired.

“I condemn any kind of violence. We have got to find a peaceful solution to the issues and problems,” she said.

Wow. She condemns “any kind of violence.” So if I accidentally step on my cat’s tail, Ashton condemns that act of violence. Yeah, that’s a relevant statement. It’s not like she could, say, “We of the EU wholeheartedly condemn the death of this innocent farm worker at the hands of Palestinian terrorists launching rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas.” Because then she’d have to admit that it was a terrorist act, and there are no terrorists in “Palestine,” right?

Ban Ki-Moon had a better statement. Kudos to him.

The Secretary-General condemns today’s rocket attack from Gaza which killed a civilian in Israel. All such acts of terror and violence against civilians are totally unacceptable and contrary to international law.

By the way, since Obama told Fox News that he condemned the Palestinian riots “in the same way” that he condemned the announcement of 1600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, I searched the State Department website for an immediate condemnation of the two latest rocket attacks from Gaza. I found—nothing.

“Yesterday, when there were riots by the Palestinians against a synagogue that had been reopened we condemned them in the same way because what we need right now is both sides to recognize that it is in their interests to move this peace process forward,” Obama told Fox.

Really, the man lies every time he opens his mouth. There were no such condemnations. The best they had was this:

I would say that we also have some concerns today about the tensions regarding the rededication of a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. And we are urging all parties to act responsibly and do whatever is necessary to remain calm. We’re deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions that we see. And we call upon Palestinian officials to put an end to such incitement.

Not even the word “condemn.” Just “concerns.” Over riots. That were influenced by the Obama administration’s pounding of Israel last week.

Way to go, Smart Power.

Rockets in, missiles out: More kassams in Israel, so the IDF bombed a tunnel and a weapons lab. Watch for the screams from the Israel-haters. Oh, and the AP managed to put this in the last paragraph of its latest article about the 1600 new units in east Jerusalem:

In Gaza, ruled by the Islamic militants of Hamas, Israeli aircraft struck twice early Friday, retaliating for rocket fire into Israel on Thursday. No one was hurt in any of the incidents.

I will reiterate that the last graf of an article is the first to go when a newspaper needs the space.

A store opens in Israel, a protest opens in Europe: Filthy capitalists! Opening a store that was so much desired that Israelis nearly trampled two babies (!) to get in. Of course there will be protests throughout Europe and Canada. Listen to this brilliant protestor’s explanation:

“The Goldstone Report was published recently, and we think that one cannot open a store in Israel until it starts obeying international law.”

That’s what I like about Israel’s foes. They’re so smart, you have to wonder how they manage to dress themselves in the morning. Really, Israel-haters lead pretty pathetic lives. Imagine obsessing about something that really has nothing to do with living your life, to the point of gettting enraged by a store opening thousands of miles away in another country. Or a pro-Israel blog. To paraphrase, the vast majority of Israel haters have lives of pathetic desperation.

The Palestinian Authority has called off a ceremony honoring a woman involved in the deadly hijacking of an Israeli bus.

The Palestinians had planned on Thursday to name a square in the West Bank city of Ramallah after Dalal Mughrabi for her part in the 1978 hijacking on Israel’s coastal highway. Thirty-eight people were killed in the assault.

But they decided Wednesday to put it off. They offered no official explanation and it was not immediately clear if the ceremony would be rescheduled.

And here’s Ynet’s view:

On March 11, 1978, 11 Fatah terrorists infiltrated Israel’s coast using a rubber raft. They murdered photographer Gail Rubin and proceeded to hijack a bus while shooting at passing vehicles. They shot at the passengers and al-Mughrabi blew up the bus.

Altogether, 35 people were killed and 71 injured in the massacre, which to this day remains the deadliest terror attack in the State of Israel’s history.

Thirteen of the dead were children. I wonder why Joe Biden didn’t condemn the anniversary ceremony that was to take place today? He sure condemned Israel quickly for the crime of—building in east Jerusalem.

It is, as always, Israeli Double Standard Time. But not to worry: That only happens on days that end with a “y.”

Besides the wealth of information, there are the comments. Fred’s aren’t the only funny ones. (But they are the funniest.) All this, and classic movie stars (mostly women, but he added Cary Grant when I requested it).

During the summit, Mad Mahmoud called for a Middle East without Zionists (and let us not pretend that when he says Zionists, he doesn’t mean Jews).

In the meantime, Israelis are being mailed new gas masks in case the Axis chooses to use the chemical weapons they’ve been stockpiling. The IDF completed exercises for a two-front war (you may even count on three if the West Bank Palestinians jump in).

As for the rest of the world? Well, the UN General Assembly passed another resolution insisting that Israel respond to the Goldstone report with an “independent” investigation. Australia is so mad that forged passports were used in the Dubai hit that it deliberately didn’t vote against the resolution this time and warned that Israel’s ties with Australia are at risk. (It’s good to know that Australia has its priorities straight.) Spanish schoolteachers are indoctrinating their students with so much hatred for Israel that the Madrid embassy is receiving letters that say “How many Palestinian children have you murdered today?” And the EU released a letter condemning the Dubai hit without mentioning Israel by name, apparently after the heads of European intelligence got through to the political leadership that they are going to badly damage intelligence operations throughout the world if they don’t STFU about Dubai (can’t remember my source on this; link welcome if you read it, too).

Now we read that Hillary Clinton is telling Lebanon that there’s no way the U.S. could stop an Israeli strike on Lebanon if they continue to allow Hezbullah to arm itself. I do believe that the UN Security Council passed a binding resolution (1701) forbidding exactly that. Perhaps she might have mentioned that as the reason for Hezbullah to stop arming itself, instead of using the “I can’t control my crazy friend here” argument. But that would be asking for logic and fairness concerning Israel, which is utterly ridiculous.

Israel’s Axis of Evil continues its mission, unfettered by world opinion, and not impressed by the Obama administration. What could possibly go wrong?

A killer – or killers – may be on the loose in Europe after a Hamas operative was slain last month in Dubai. European nations, however, seem to be in no rush to find him, her or them. The spotlight is falling on those countries where police say the alleged assassins’ trails begin and end: Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Authorities there have either declined to say whether they are investigating, or told The Associated Press they have no reason to hunt down the 26 suspects implicated in the Jan. 19 killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Perhaps this is why they’re not bothering to investigate:

France, meanwhile, has said it is only probing the alleged use of three French passports in the crime. Two suspects landed in Paris on Jan. 20. Their trail ends there.

But here is the money graf, the buried lede, the most important piece of information that the AP chose to put in the third-to-last paragraph:

Only Austria has gone further and investigated whether Austrian SIM cards were used. Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia declined to provide details about the findings except to say there are no indications that there was a “command center” in Austria, as Dubai police have claimed.

In other words, the Dubai police are lying, the Austrians (no friends to Israel and Jews) have effectively said this, and the AP buries this evidence in a little-read story on the Saturday news cycle.

I’m shocked, shocked, to discover that the AP buries this information.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas commander assassinated in Dubai, used the same tradecraft – fraudulent passports and disguises – as his killers during secret missions to procure arms for the group, a confidant said on Thursday.

And that wasn’t his only fake passport.

“He had many passports of different nationalities – all Arab,” he added. “Recently he underwent surgery to reshape his nose. It became narrower.”

And what does Dubai’s famous police inspector, who simply cannot stop insisting that he’s found more and more Mossad agents sneaking into his country, say about the possibility that the terrorist, too, was on a fake passport?

Dubai police have not commented officially on the passport Mahbouh used to enter the emirate. Mabhouh’s brother said the Hamas commander arrived in Dubai on a Palestinian passport that listed his family name as Hassan.

Uh-huh. And of that new list of suspects, two of them supposedly left Dubai on a ship headed for Iran. Because that would be such deep, safe cover for Mossad agents, who wouldn’t suspect them of being, say, Iranians? You simply have to love the AP spin on this fact (buried, of course, in the next-to-last paragraph):

Although Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has said he was nearly “100 per cent” certain that Mossad masterminded the killing, the new details added at least one incongruous wrinkle: Two of the suspects allegedly left Dubai on a ship bound for Iran, Israel’s archenemy, a seemingly unlikely move for alleged Israeli agents.

To recap: The Dubai police chief says he now has nearly 30 suspects. He has submitted nothing other than passports and photos. There is no evidence whatsoever linking these people to the killing. But now, we have a description that two of them fled to Iran for safety after the killing. Who flees to Iran for safety? Well, Iranian and Iranian-backed terrorists, just to name two groups. Either that, or Inspector al-Clouseau is simply pulling names out of his ass and accusing them of being Mossad agents. The only people arrested so far are Palestinians, including two members of Hamas. And yet, the world media is whipping the “Israel Done It” story, serving as judge and jury:

So far, no one in Israel or abroad has come forward to identify themselves as the people who appear in the photographs and to assert their innocence, further suggesting the people in the photographs were indeed connected to the killing.

Or maybe they’re not going to come forward because it would make them targets for terrorists, what with the Dubai police insisting that they’re part of the team that assassinated Mabhouh. Not that it matters. The spin is still anti-Israel on this one, even though a known terrorist and arms dealer is dead.

Funny, but outside the media, world opinion is measured in other ways. Sales of Mossad-themed t-shirts are up worldwide. I’ve noticed that many comments threads on these news stories have far more support of Israel and far less Israel-bashers than the average. So maybe, just maybe, the people brainwashed by the anti-Israel media are starting to get it.

And in a final bit of irony, this news story just came to my notice:

Shark-filled aquarium in Dubai mall springs leak

One shark down. Many, many to go.

But here, I think, are the most relevant facts in the entire article. The reporter followed five different Palestinians on five different days. He starts with this woe-is-them description of how long the crossing takes:

Until a decade ago, his commute from his West Bank village 20 kilometers (12 miles) north would have taken less than hour. But after the Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000, border checkpoints started going up. The Qalandia crossing grew steadily more arduous, and now Abu Jalil has to get up at 4:30 a.m.

So his commute was less than an hour. The reporter doesn’t say how much less, but he does let us know how much time was added to the commute:

[...] It has taken him 22 minutes to get through.

In fact, here are the five summations of how long the crossing takes to get through for the five Palestinians the reporter traveled with:

(Sunday) It has taken him 22 minutes to get through.
(Monday) Today, his crossing takes the same as Abu Jalil’s – 22 minutes.
(Tuesday) Time crossing: 54 minutes.
(Wednesday) Time crossing: 33 minutes.
(Thursday) Time crossing: 25 minutes.

The evidence does not support the reporter’s contention that the checkpoints are daily humiliation and misery, taking hours and hours out of Palestinians’ lives while they wait to go through to Jerusalem.

The story includes slaps at soldiers for sleeping on the job (those are deserved), being rude to the Palestinians (oh, the horrors! They belched over the loudspeakers), being bored and unconcerned, and not saying anything to the Palestinians. Yeah, they really know how to humiliate people waiting in line. (Say, AP, how about an article about how our TSA workers daily humiliate Americans of every shape and size? There’d be material there for a whole series!)

The AP merely brushes past the real reason for the checkpoints. Witness:

“People forget that the crossing is there for a reason and not because Israel decided, ‘Let’s make Palestinians wait in line,’” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev says. He says the barrier and crossing were built after “a wave of very murderous suicide bombings that killed all too many innocent civilians.”

At the height of fighting in early 2002, suicide bombings were a near-daily occurrence in Israel, often in Jerusalem. There have been no bombings for two years, proving the crossings work, Regev says.

Here’s a list of those near-daily occurrences that killed hundreds and wounded thousands until the separation fence and Operation Defensive Shield. There were 242 deaths in 55 terror attacks in 2002. Publishing the numbers would legitimize the fence, though, so of course, the AP presents only one side of the story.

Last week we got a hagiography of a Hamas murderer. This week, we get a complaint about a device that was built to stop the machinations of people like the dead Hamas murderer. Don’t count on ever getting a story that follows up on the lives of Israelis affected by the suicide bombings. But you can pretty much count on the AP to whitewash the Palestinians and tar the Israelis.

Hey, at least they didn’t try to slip back in the phrase “traditionally Arab” in front of “east Jerusalem.”

The world is outraged, outraged! Let’s see, Paris demands clarification, the U.K. expects full cooperation from Israel, the Dubai hit may damage U.K.-Israel ties. Okay, that last one—really? Seriously? Damage ties between the nation that refuses to cancel its law that allows its citizens to charge Israeli politicians with war crimes, that refuses to sell Israel spare parts for weapons systems it already sold, and that has one of the most vocal anti-Israel boycott movements in the world? Relations are going to get worse? Don’t make me laugh.

Outrage for thee, but not for me: So, where’s the outrage that Pakistan is likely torturing the al Qaeda leader we snagged a few days ago? Just to compare and contrast, the world is freaking out because the Israeli spy agency (probably) took out a Hamas terrorist. I’m not hearing any complaints about how the ISI is getting Mullah Baradar to talk.

Just in case you thought they were kidding: Love the headline of this article. “Miliband denies going soft on Israel over ‘Mossad’ killing.” So, what was that about damaging relations between the U.K. and Israel again?

It’s now the “Great Recession”? That’s what the AP is calling it. And job losses are about to get worse. Huh. Go figure. I’m surprised, because Obama told me in the SOTU that two millions jobs were saved or created by his economic policies. Eight million jobs were lost, though, making me wonder if Scott Brown isn’t right when he says the stimulus didn’t create a single job. (Two great videos of his swearing-in and presser afterwards at the link.)

OHMIGOD! IT’S GONNA SNOW! Say, did you know there was a storm bearing down on us? (That’s the DC area, which is preparing for as much as two feet of snow.) I went to Kroger yesterday to stock up on the essentials (milk, produce, Tostitos). But not this one. And now I have to go to CVS to stock up on cold medicine. Bummer.

Anger management counselor is kinda an angry guy: This is just too perfect. An anger management counselor pulled a gun on two men he said were blocking his car. Awesome. I want that guy counseling me, boy. He’d probably give me tips to make the Snark Briefs even snarkier.