The Hamas-Fatah fake deal is falling through: I was pretty confident it wouldn’t last until September. Looks like I was right. Of course, the AP has already written one hagiography of how awesome Hamas is going to be in the unity government. Hands-off. Won’t impose any of their policies. Not at all. Nope. They’re just joining the cause so they can have a state called Palestine. After that, nothing. Just like the Muslim Brotherhood’s hagiography. Yes, the AP is that gullible. “Islamic group seeks place in a democratic Egypt”… sure. They want democracy. Their younger members are all about the Facebook, you see.

Bashar Assad falling down? Falling down? Falling down? Bashar Assad falling down? Awww, dorktator. (Actually, I have no sympathy at all for him, and hope that the Syrians don’t hate Israel in spite of the indoctrination they’ve had. Not that I think they do. I just hope.)

Just business: While looking at a news article about oil being in a bear market (WOOT!), I noticed that Microsoft is taking over Skype, and as a reward to the people who built Skype into such a desirable tool, they’re firing them now so they won’t have to pay more money if they’re fired when Microsoft takes over. Awesome. Stories like this is what makes me hate large businesses like Microsoft.

Nope.

The request, filed by the United States, was jointly submitted by 10 European states, as well as Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Senegal and Zambia.

Not a single Arab nation on the council joined in the request. A close personal friend of Muammar Khadaffy is—get this—a “council investigator on human rights violations by mercenaries,” thus explaining why Libya was never brought up on any human rights violations. All of the thugs on the council are in bed with one another regarding covering their own crimes. But don’t forget, Cuba and China are on the council.

The council has no problem finding fault with Israel on the subject of human rights. One might even say it seems to be the council’s raison d’etre. Fifty percent of all special sessions of the UNHRC so far have been devoted to Israel. Fifty percent of all resolutions of the UNHRC so far have been devoted to Israel.

So excuse me while I turn a jaundiced eye toward this new special session, as well as toward Ban Ki-Moon’s objections to Syria gunning down six-year-old children. Nothing will come of it. Bashar al-Assad will survive. And in a year or so, his representatives will be condemning Israel for violating human rights on something or other.

Palestinians to Obama: Our way or the highway, dude. Just watch the reaction if Obama actually does present his own peace plan, which is rumored to force Israel back to the 1949 Armistice lines, share Jerusalem, while making the Palestinians dump the “right of return” for second-, third-, and fourth-generation “refugees.” The Palestinian reaction? The “right of return” is non-negotiable. I eagerly await the condemnation of the PA by Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and members of the Obama administration for being an obstacle to peace. (Of course that was sarcasm. Haven’t you been reading me long enough to know?)

Syrians murdering protesters; Yourish.com readers awaiting UNHRC call of war crimes: Forty protesters were shot in Syria today. Navi Pillay has called Libya’s use of cluster bombs a war crime; where’s the condemnation of Syria? This is the most I can find. It’s not the UN Human Rights Council. I know, I know, you’re as shocked as I am. (Did you know the UN has a Special Rapporteur on arbitrary executions? Also a Special Rapporteur on the right to health. I kid you not.) Actually, I’m pretty sure we’ll be hearing how this is Israel’s fault, too, for not giving back the Golan or something. Also for not making peace with the Palestinians.

I read the interview, so you don’t have to: Mel Gibson is trying to redeem himself by not saying anything that makes you think he’s worth redemption. His latest interview is all about the new movie in which he dons a beaver puppet to express himself, and how life was so unfair to him lately. And here’s the sum total of his response to a question regarding his drunken, anti-Semitic tirade:

WEINER: Even when the drunk driving/anti-semitic incident happened and was splashed everywhere, you continued to work. Do you just compartmentalize things so you can keep working when you’re at the center of something like this?
GIBSON: You have to. There are a lot of people depending on you. There are deadlines to meet and fiscal responsibilities. There are the basics of supporting yourself and those who depend on you and those commitments that you have to co-workers.

It seems that there are plenty of Jews in Hollywood still willing to work with this jerk.

But it’s Libya we’re bombing: Syria is firing on its people. Syria is clamping down on rebellion. Syria is the state most closely aligned with Iran, and the state that would do the most damage to Iran’s hegemony if it fell, and yet we’re bombing—Libya. Smart power!

Happy Passover Jews! Time to burn down your synagogue! The Greek anti-Semites are at it again. (They’re particularly vicious and nasty; this is nothing new for the so-called cradle of civilization.)

Israeli “intellectuals” prove that an education doesn’t make you smart: Several dozen Israeli “intellectuals” are calling for a Palestinian state on the 1949 Armistice lines. I presume that means giving the Temple Mount back to the Arabs. Because that worked so well before. It’s not like the Jordanians would take the headstones out of Jewish cemeteries and pave latrines with them. Oh. Wait. They did. I have two words for them: Joseph’s Tomb.

Egyptian Muslims: Dhimmis can’t rule us. The Muslim Brotherhood is protesting the appointment of a Christian Copt as governor in an Egyptian city. Why? Because they want a Muslim. A Copt, they say, won’t enforce sharia law. So, where do you figure Egypt’s 8 million Christians will wind up?

This is what passes for history at Salon: Unbelievable.

Israel is a self-made entity that began when people emigrated to then-Palestine, now Israel, beginning in the early 20th century. The way in which the Jewish community in Palestine gained a foothold and then claimed sovereignty was by settling Jews on the land. In large part this was a zero sum game, in the sense that by claiming land, that land and those resources and the sovereign energy that the resources represented were made unavailable to Palestinians who also claimed this land as their own. That process works for Israel in the sense that land and settlement led to sovereignty and led to a claim on the land that Arabs and the rest of the world ultimately would have no choice but to recognize. It’s that history that informed Israel’s interest in continuing settlement when it came into control of the land in June ’67 — which many considered part of its God-given homeland. So in a sense what we’re seeing now is a continuation of the historical effort of the Jewish community in Palestine to expand its sovereign presence and by so doing undermine the ability of Palestinian Arabs to do the same.

What Justin Elliot should know about Israel: Apparently, everything.

Okay, maybe Baby Assad isn’t going anywhere: You didn’t see anything quite like this in Egypt. I’m thinking Assad may survive. Exit question: How many of his “supporters” are Lebanese?

Jew cooties: More British anti-Zionism. It’s Orwellian in scope. A festival called “Arts Music of Israel” refused to accept a grant from Israel, due to threats of disruption by pro-Palestinian groups. This is the ultimate in bullshit:

However, the Chronicle reported, pro-Palestinian groups said they still plan to hand out leaflets outside the conference, claiming it would be “impossible” to hold a conference on Palestinian music.

Sure. Impossible. Totally impossible. Nobody ever talks about Palestinian art.

Israel helps Japan: Israel is sending tons of humanitarian aid, as well as doctors and equipment to help the Japanese survivors of the tsunami and quake. They’ll be setting up a field hospital like they did in Haiti. And why are they doing it? Not to make the Japanese like them. They’re doing it because the Torah commands us to do so.

Legends in their own minds: Psst—NYTimes—it doesn’t matter how many times you say it is, J Street is not significant in the Jewish community. They have no significant membership, no support in Congress, and no support among the overwhelming majority of American Jews. And NYTimes staff: Wishing will not make it so. I learned that a long time ago.

Hard times in Syria: Another domino is falling. Of course, we have no idea what’s going to happen if the people of the Middle East actually do topple all their autocracies, dictatorships, and kleptocracies. But at least it’s awesome to hear the Syrian people tell Assad that they don’t want to be Iran’s tools. But don’t get cocky on this: Hezbollah has probably already sent thousands of their own to beat protesting Syrians, the way they did in Iran. Assad is no Ghaddaffy, and Syria isn’t Libya. I think it will be very, very blood there.

Oh, look. Another British anti-Israel media event. Yawn. But sure, they’re great friends of Israel. Just ask them.

It’s a rocket shower, just like those “crude, homemade” kassam things: Really, who writes the AP headlines? Seriously? “Gadhafi showers strategic oil port with rockets”? What’s wrong with the word “pounds”?

The new civil tone: Well, if you’re a Republican, apparently, this counts as civil behavior towards you:

Senate Republicans were harried by swarming crowds. “We tried to get out of the building after the vote, because they were rushing the chamber, and we were escorted by security through a tunnel system to another building. But, after being tipped off by a Democrat, they mobbed the exit at that building, and were literally trying to break the windows of the cars we were in as we were driving away,” Republican senator Randy Hopper tells NRO. Such tactics, he sighs, were hardly unexpected. “I got a phone call yesterday saying that we should be executed. I’ve had messages saying that they want to beat me with a billy club.”

Think it got much play in the Times? Imagine if these had been Tea Partiers mobbing Dems. Oh, the humanity!

BEIRUT – Syrians are organizing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a “day of rage” in Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping political reforms.

Like Egypt and Tunisia, Syria suffers from corruption, poverty and unemployment. All three nations have seen subsidy cuts on staples like bread and oil. Syria’s authoritarian president has resisted calls for political freedoms and jailed critics of his regime.

The main Syrian protest page on Facebook is urging people to protest in Damascus on Feb. 4 and 5 for “a day of rage.” It says the goal is to “end the state of emergency in Syria and end corruption.”

Baby Assad is going to have his hands full for a while. Let’s see, losing Egypt but gaining Syria… nah, it’s still a lose, but it sure will eff up Hezbollah and Iran for a bit.

Here’s hoping the protesters succeed in reforming the Syrian government. But I wouldn’t count on it. He’s got his daddy’s example of the Hama massacre.

The Hama massacre (Arabic: مجزرة حماة‎) occurred in February 1982, when the Syrian army bombarded the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood. An estimated 17,000 to 40,000 people were killed, including about 1,000 soldiers,[1] and large parts of the old city were destroyed. The attack has been described as possibly being “the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East”.[2]

By the way, who initiated the violence there? That’s right, the Muslim Brotherhood—those peaceful, peaceful guys who modeled their organization after the YMCA, and who mean Egypt no harm. (Sorry, couldn’t say that with a straight face.)

It isn’t racism if it’s anti-Semitism: I must have missed this a couple of weeks ago, but once again, proof that Europe isn’t interested in protecting Jews (so why should we believe the EU when they say that they’ll protect Israel?). At least this time, they’re just telling Jews to leave instead of stuffing them into cattle cars and sending them to death camps. And why should Jews leave? Because Dutch Muslims will continue to persecute them and the government won’t protect them. And why won’t the government protect them? Because they’re being stirred up by anti-Israel sentiments and, of course, the false narrative of Evil Israel vs. Pali Pureheart. All Jews are responsible for Israel’s actions, but only terrorists are responsible for Muslim terrorism. Say, kids, what time is it? That’s right, it’s Israeli Double Standard Time! But don’t worry, it only occurs on days that end with a “y.”

Obama foreign policy: Dumb, dumber, dumbest. President Obama has restored diplomatic relations with Syria, in effect, by appointing an ambassador after a six-year absence. Why was there no ambassador? Hm, let’s think. Syria has actively aided Iraqi terrorists against American forces, is allying with Iran, arming Hamas and Hezbollah, and built an illicit nuclear plant to make nuclear weapons. Yep, we should totally reward them by restoring an ambassadorship. Because it’s not like they’re a terrorist state or anything like that. Oh. Wait. To the argument that we can affect Syria more now because we’ll have an ambassador, I respond: BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Yes, and they’re also going to stop wearing stupid masks in pictures: Ha’aretz says that PIJ will stop firing rockets into Israel. Meryl says: Seriously? Ha’aretz knows that every one of these “promises” has a shorter expiration date than cotton candy in the rain.

However, he said, the agreement to halt the rocket attacks was only “temporary” and was “linked to the situation on the ground.”

Translation: “Look! A Zionist soldier is glaring at me! Ahmed, launch a rocket!”

It’s the Mad Mahmoudmobile! Let’s buy it! Seriously? Ahmadinejad is putting his 33-year-old Peugot up for auction. Because so many people care about his car? Egotist much? (Oh, if he’d only put it up on eBay. The comments he’d bring.)

Did you know? Three out of four Israelis are Jewish. How cool would it be to be in Israel for a major Jewish holiday? One of these days I’m going to make it for just that. I think I’ll try to come for one of the happy ones, though. Forget Yom Kippur.

Way to go, Stuxnet! The Iranian nuclear threat has receded somewhat, according to new data from Israel. They’re now three years away from getting a bomb. That’s the good news. The bad news? They’re still trying. And gee, the AP boilerplate has changed to reflect reality, at least in this article:

Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of its nuclear program, missile capability and frequent references by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the destruction of Israel.

But wait! What’s this? The last paragraph in the same article:

Israel considers Iran its most dangerous enemy because of its nuclear program, missiles and calls for Israel’s destruction. Iran also supports the anti-Israel Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups.

Two boilerplates for the price of one!

Awesome if true: A Syrian arrested as an Israeli spy says the senior officer in charge of Syria’s nuclear program was a spy for the Mossad. Ah, the culture of bribery—way to make it work for you! Of course, that would explain how Israel knew so much about the Syrian nuclear plant before it was bombed.

More members of Religion of Peace™ peacefully plotting to kill infidels: Five terrorists were arrested before they could murder staffers at a Danish newspaper, probably the one that published the Mohammed cartoons. And they were drawn from a wide variety of Islamists: Tunisia, Iraq, and Lebanon were represented.

Israeli Double Standard Time: Funny, I don’t remember international coverage of the Palestinians declaring the death penalty for anyone who sells land to Jews. I don’t remember the international coverage of the Palestinians constantly insisting that not a single Jew will be allowed to live in the future state of Palestine. And yet, we now have international coverage of a letter from a group of rabbis’ wives urging Israeli women not to date Arabs. Yep. If it’s Jews, it’s news.