Meryl’s alternative Christmas message to Britain

Posted on 12/25/2008 by Meryl Yourish

It’s an easy one.

Ignore everything Mad Mahmoud said.

Happy Christmas, Britain.

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All I want for Christmas is a mosque

Posted on 12/25/2008 by Meryl Yourish

I’m sure the OIC will rush to embrace this idea, and by next Christmas, we’ll see foreign workers in Saudi Arabia holding Mass.

EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering called on Arab governments on Tuesday to allow Christian churches to be built in their countries in the same way that mosques can be built in Europe.

In Saudi Arabia, at the end of a tour of Gulf countries to boost cooperation between the two regions, Poettering said Arab governments need to be more tolerant of other religions.

“It is vital that we get a better understanding of the Islamic culture,” he said.

“But it’s a two-way road. We ask for tolerance for Christians … in the Arab world. It’s mutual.”

Actually, it’s not. Just ask our buddy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who gave the “alternative” Christmas message in England. (And excuse me, but WTF is an “alternative” Christmas message, and why, exactly, is there one? Do you think I care that the Queen wishes her subjects a happy Christmas but doesn’t speak to me on Hanukkah? It’s not my religion. Go about your business and be happy, just leave me out of it, is my motto.)

On this difficult and challenging journey of man from dust to the divine, He did not leave humanity to its own devices. He chose from those He created the most excellent as His Prophets to guide humanity.

[…] We believe, Jesus Christ will return, together with one of the children of the revered Messenger of Islam and will lead the world to love, brotherhood and justice. The responsibility of all followers of Christ and Abrahamic faiths is to prepare the way for the fulfilment of this divine promise and the arrival of that joyful, shining and wonderful age. I hope that the collective will of nations will unite in the not too distant future and with the grace of the Almighty Lord, that shining age will come to rule the earth.

In spite of it looking like Mad Mahmoud is talking about Jesus in Christian terms, he is not. And please note that when he says “Abrahamic faiths,” he does not mean the people of Israel, or Jews that support them. Because in his address to the UN he quite plainly stated that Zionists have no religion. He is talking about it from the Islamic point of view, specifically, from his belief in the return of the Mahdi, in which Jesus is subordinate to him.

And there’s also this part of his speech, which, if I’m not mistaken, is telling me that I’m not part of the world community because I don’t accept the teachings of Jesus. And, gee, now that I think about it, there’s a whole country full of people who don’t accept the teachings of Jesus or that nameless other prophet that he keeps talking about in this speech. Of course, he could be talking about Buddhists and Hindus, but I suspect he’s not thinking about them when he says this:

Now as human society faces a myriad of problems and a succession of complex crises, the root causes can be found in humanity’s rejection of that message, in particular the indifference of some governments and powers towards the teachings of the divine Prophets, especially those of Jesus Christ.

If you did not already know, Muslims believe that Jews rejected the teachings of the prophets, and when they say that, they mean the Hebrew prophets that Islam has claimed for its own. If only those pesky Jews had converted to some other religion, we wouldn’t have the troubles of the world today. Where have I heard that before? Oh, that’s right. On the neo-Nazi sites. But he also slams any government that has not accepted the teachings of Mohammed, in a way that is subtle enough that the Juan Cole’s of the world will be able to call the Robert Spencers paranoid and disingenuous. As for me, I’ll put myself squarely in Spencer’s camp.

The other part of the speech that got wide play is this one:

If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.

Yeah, those “bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers”? They’re the U.S. and Israel. If Jesus were alive today, he’d be living in Israel, but not in Bethlehem or Nazareth. Jews aren’t allowed to live there. My guess is he’d be in Jerusalem, and a Likudnik, as he was a religious Jew. (Ill-tempered? Say what? Did he just call Americans and Israelis crabby?)

Overall, Mad Mahmoud scored yet another propaganda victory. His proponents will insist that I’m misreading his speech, that Robert Spencer is an Islamphobe and by quoting him I’m an Islamophobe, too, and that Ahmadinejad really doesn’t want the destruction of Israel and the conversion to the whole world of Islam.

They will be wrong.

As to the EU parliament president on a response from Islamic nations about building churches there? Not in your lifetime, pal. Or your children’s. Or your children’s children’s. In other words: Merry Christmas, infidel.

Posted in Iran, Religion | Tagged , | 2 Comments

“Alleged”

Posted on 12/25/2008 by Soccerdad

I’ve already complained about David Ignatius’s glowing puff piece about the chinless ophthalmologist of Damascus, but there was one point I missed:

A relaxed Assad clearly believes that Syria is emerging from its pariah status. An international tribunal is still scheduled to meet in The Hague to weigh Syria’s alleged role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. But in the meantime, Assad is receiving a stream of visiting diplomats. He looks like a ready partner for Obama’s diplomacy, but a cautious one — waiting to see what’s on offer before he shows more of his hand.

(emphasis mine) Alleged?!

Here’s Benny Avni:

The UN named an investigation team soon after the killing. Its first head investigator, tough German cop Detlev Mehlis, shocked the region by conducting the closest thing to a perp walk ever attempted by a UN official.

Mehlis wrote a report that implicated the innermost circles around Syrian President Bashar Assad in Hariri’s assassination. In the report it released to the Security Council, the UN Secretariat redacted names like Assad’s brother Maher and brother-in-law Assef Shawkat. But the full text was leaked to the public, and to this day it remains the most solid indictment of the Assad clan.

I think that Assad’s role in the assassination is more like “confirmed.” The question is to what degree the UN will cower before him instead of confronting him. Ignatius apparently decided that the proper course of action is to provide cover for Assad.

Another point worth emphasizing is this. Ignatius wrote:

Assad’s easy demeanor suggested that he’s more firmly in charge now. The Bush administration’s attempt to isolate Syria has failed, even in the judgment of senior White House officials. That leaves Assad in the catbird seat, courted by European and Arab nations and conducting back-channel talks through Turkey with his erstwhile enemy Israel.

(emphasis mine)
Danielle Pletka:

Nor does Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, seem cut out for the role of a 21st-century Anwar Sadat. Insecure in his own palace, erratic in his statements and crude in his stewardship, Mr. Assad seems more likely to be the victim of a coup than a champion of peace.
…
Mr. Assad — broadly disliked at home, a member of a mistrusted Alawite minority, comically inept at managing his country’s resources — can maintain his grip on power only as long as he is seen as a vital instrument of Israel’s defeat.

May I suggest that the reason Ignatius observed Assad’s “easy demeanor” is because the interview took place in Damascus. Assad knew that Ignatius wouldn’t dare write anything critical, having been granted an exclusive audience. I suspect he also realized that Ignatius’s purpose was to score cheap points against the outgoing administration and that he’d benefit from some free PR. That “easy demeanor” was probably despite Assad’s standing in his own country.

In writing about the interview Powerline concludes:

But even if Assad could be trusted to do so (a huge leap of faith), what does he have to offer when it comes to limiting Iran’s influence? It is Iran, not Syria, that influences/directs Hezbollah. More generally, Iran’s power and influence are a function of ithe inspiration supplied by its ideology, the wealth (now diminished) produced by its oil industry, and its military strength, soon to be bolstered in all likelihood by nuclear weapons. Syria doesn’t add (or potentially subtract) much from this equation.

Obama may be naive, but we can reasonably hope that he is not naive enough to enter into any sort of partnership with the likes of Bashar al-Assad. Making concessions to evil tyrants is bad enough. Making them to evil tyrants of no major importance is senseless.

But that naivete is manifest in the Ignatius column. Ignatius represents foreign policy sophistication of the type that will appeal to President-elect Obama.

(via memeorandum)

There will, no doubt, be plenty of wise men and women advising Obama who will tell him that Assad is the key to peace in the Middle East. And clearing the way for them is David Ignatius who whitewashes the dictator.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

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Kittypalooza

Posted on 12/25/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Since it’s a holiday for most of us, we’re going to take a break for some cat pictures.

First, we have Tig on the sofa, in his standard position, with that beautiful, fluffy tail hanging down.

Tig on the sofa

Next, Miss Gracie, taking a yawn and a stretch near one of her favorite places: The railing near my office. She’s taken to sleeping near me while I work.

Gracie at the rail

Over to Mr. Tig, who is helping me make the bed.

Tig on the bed

He helps me do that a lot, and then I have to dig him out from under the covers.

Tig under the covers

Gracie doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. She waits until the bed is made, then luxuriates in it.

Gracie on the bed

After a while, Tig gets over wanting to dig under the blankets and we get a two bedcat picture.

Tig joins Gracie on the bed

Last, but not least, this is a sight I see pretty much every day: Tig lying in wait for me on the steps. He wants me to throw a toy up or down, or if that doesn’t happen, he’s perfectly fine trying to grab my leg as I step over him. I think he’s looking at a twist-tie in this picture.

Tig on the stairs

I see I really have been remiss in putting up cat pictures. These ought to hold even Rahel for a while.

Posted in Cats | 5 Comments

Fourth light

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Fourth light

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News media can’t slam Israel for Bethlehem this year—oh. Wait.

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Instead of the “Israel is killing Christmas” stories this year, the news services are serving up a plate of “Bethlehem is going like gangbusters, BUT—Gaza really sucks, d00dz.”

Witness:

Christmas in Bethlehem festive, Gaza violent
Christians celebrated Bethlehem’s merriest Christmas in eight years Wednesday, with hotels booked solid, Manger Square bustling with families and Israeli and Palestinian forces cooperating to make things run smoothly.

The festivities in the West Bank town contrasted sharply with Hamas-run Gaza. While revelers in Bethlehem launched pink fireworks from a rooftop, militants fired more than 80 rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and villages, sending people scrambling for bomb shelters.

The latest attacks, and an Israeli air strike on rocket-firers that killed one person and wounded two, appeared to have buried an unwieldy six-month cease-fire that expired last week.

But 45 miles away, outside the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, good-natured crowds of pilgrims and townspeople gathered ahead of the midnight Catholic mass that is the holiday’s highlight.

Witness:

While Gaza teeters on the brink of a major crisis following the end of a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas Islamists in control of the strip, a decline in violence in the West Bank has tempted back tourists who no longer fear gun battles in the streets.

Israel attributes this partly to the barrier it is building in and around the occupied West Bank. For Bethlehem, the barrier takes the form of a daunting concrete wall 4 meters (13 feet) high with watchtowers.

Tourism collapsed here when a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in 2000. But this Christmas, the Palestinian tourism minister says, hotel occupancy is rising.

And in a stellar example of a writer denying the evidence of his own facts, Reuters adds this paragraph to the above story:

Palestinians say the Israeli barrier is a major obstacle to peace that cripples trade and turns off foreign tourists.

Witness:

Crowds gathered around nightfall outside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, ahead of the midnight Catholic mass that is the holiday’s highlight. A dozen pilgrims from India, Canada, Britain, the U.S. and other countries sung impromptu renditions of Christmas carols.

“Jesus was the prince of peace, and he can bring that peace to you. We pray for you,” David Bogenrief, a 57-year-old trumpet player from Sioux City, Iowa, told a gaggle of local children who gathered to listen.

Not long afterward, Israeli aircraft over southern Gaza targeted militants firing rockets, killing one and wounding two others.

The AP also offers Hamas propaganda about how the rockets aren’t really all that dangerous.

The situation is dramatically different in Gaza, controlled by the Islamic militant group Hamas which seized the territory by force in June last year. An Israeli blockade prevents Gazans from leaving the territory and causes shortages of fuel and basic supplies.

The missiles fired from Gaza are inaccurate and Israelis are well drilled in taking cover, so no one was injured Wednesday, though dozens were treated for shock.

Right. I love the way the AP offers up more explanation of why the rockets aren’t dangerous, and yet drops the following information (which was in one of their editions earlier today). The lack of casualties is due to luck and the hand of God.

The lives of three children – aged four, five and eight – were saved Wednesday, as a Grad missile fired from northern Gaza hit their home, moments after they managed to run into the fortified room of the house.

Arie Lazar, the children’s father, told Ynet that “this was definitely a miracle. Were suffered a direct hit to the house. We were in the living room when the Color Red alert sounded and the kids ran right in the fortified room.

So while aren’t getting “Israel is killing Christmas” stories the way we did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that (really, go check my archives around Dec. 23-25th each year. You’ll see), we are still getting the usual anti-Israel media drek.

Merry Christmas from the mainstream media, hey?

Posted in Gaza, Israel, Media Bias | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Flying pig alert: UNSG chastens Hamas

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

The UN SecGen actually issued a statement calling for Hamas to stop rocketing Israel without calling for the reduction of violence “on both sides.” He does, of course, condemn the Gaza blockade.

The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the situation in Gaza and southern Israel and the potential for further violence and civilian suffering if calm is not restored.

He condemns today’s rocket attacks on southern Israel and calls on Hamas to ensure that rocket attacks from Gaza cease immediately. He urges all parties to work to secure the immediate restoration of the calm and an urgent easing of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, including the continuous provision of humanitarian supplies. He calls for respect by all parties of international humanitarian law.

Yeah, that last line is a laff-riot. Hamas, respect humanitarian law? By definition, they’re violating it every time they act.

Of course, during his press briefing, Ban Ki-Moon had more to say about Israel than Hamas, but hey—we’ll take it where we get it.

Meantime, Hamas went underground—like, all of Hamas, not just the leadership—waiting for the IDF. And we probably mean that literally. I suspect they’re in their ratholes and will be trying the Hezbullah tactics that they learned from Iran over the last two years.

Most Hamas gunmen in Gaza have gone into hiding on Wednesday for fear of a harsh Israeli response to the heavy rocket and mortar barrages emanating from the Strip, Ynet has learned.

You ask me, Israel should put a few hellfire missiles into the next Hamas rally, and take out the leadership with one shot. Collateral damage? Well, around the leaders are generally more “gunmen,” so all the collateral damage will be terrorists. But no, Israel always has to do it the hard way.

In the meantime, if you live within 15 miles of the Gaza Strip, you’re considered to be in the rocket zone.

The barrage of artillery fired at Israel from Gaza throughout Wednesday caused defense officials to order the activation of the Color Red alert system in all cities within a 30 km radius of the Strip, including Ashdod and Rahat.

“I never thought we’d come to this,” Yechiel Lasry, the mayor of Ashdod, told Ynet. “I thought the state would do something to stop the fire but that hasn’t been done. I don’t like the idea of activating the alert system in the city, but we need to be prepared.”

It wouldn’t have come to this, if Ehud Olmert wasn’t a corrupt politician who is more interested in his own enrichment and reputation than in the safety of his people. And Tzipi Livni? When she made the deal with Olmert and stopped calling for his resignation after the Winograd report, I lost all respect for her. She was bought and paid for.

Thank goodness new elections are around the corner.

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To all my Christian readers

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

(Okay, I’ll be posting later, probably. But the sentence really works, y’know?)

Posted in Holidays | 2 Comments

To all my atheist readers

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

You have no excuse not to add comments to posts tonight and tomorrow.

Posted in Holidays, Humor | 6 Comments

The other side of “No one was killed in the rocket barrage”

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

The miracle of Hanukkah, 2008: Three children were saved from terrorist rocket fire.

The lives of three children – aged four, five and eight – were saved Wednesday, as a Grad missile fired from northern Gaza hit their home, moments after they managed to run into the fortified room of the house.

Arie Lazar, the children’s father, told Ynet that “this was definitely a miracle. Were suffered a direct hit to the house. We were in the living room when the Color Red alert sounded and the kids ran right in the fortified room.

“When the rocket hit, the entire house filled with white smoke… luckily, the children and myself are unharmed.” He said.

These are the stories you don’t read when the lead of the mainstream media pieces on the rocket fire all say “No one was hurt in the attacks.” No, no one was hurt—yet.

One of the rocket which landed in Netivot crashed just outside a local community center, which was full of children enjoying Hanukkah activities at the time.

Another miracle. How many more can we count on before the cabinet decides that it’s time for Israel to defend herself?

There’s word that Egypt is quietly supporting a Gaza invasion. Of course, they’ll deny it in the next breath. Mahmoud Abbas has already come out against any action from Israel. Nobody really noticed that he was speaking.

The AFP has found our latest “open the gates of Hell” promise from Hamas, which makes me think they’re going to get their wish about the gates opening up, but not in the direction they’re thinking.

Here’s the big tip-off that a large operation will occur: If Israel starts evacuating Sderot and the communities surrounding Gaza, they’re going in in force. If there is no evacuation, there will be “pinpoint” attacks, which do little more than take out a few dozen terrorists and some rocket shops. I strongly suspect it’s going to be the latter. Olmert is the lamest of lame ducks, and some say Ehud Barak is blocking a broader Gaza action.

The tip-off that a pinpoint attack is imminent: A buildup of troops along the Gaza border, and the tanks rolling in. Unfortunately, the world media will be only too happy to inform Hamas of exactly where and when the IDF is coming.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

More Mideast euphemisms

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Soccerdad

There’s another entry in the annals of euphemism in Middle East reporting.

The word is “study” as in:

Hamas ready to study new Gaza cease-fire with Israel

A headline seen in many online news stories yesterday.

Here’s what it really means:

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip bombarded the western Negev with dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar shells on Wednesday, burdening diplomatic efforts to revive a truce that expired over the weekend.

The Magen David Adom rescue service declared its highest level of alert by late morning, after nearly 60 Qassam rockets and mortar shells were fired at southern Israel. Some 40 of these were launched between 9 A.M. and 1 P.M.

Maybe “burdening diplomatic efforts” is a euphemism for “Hamas launched an all out war.”

Here’s another euphemism:

Domestic politics fuels Gaza conflict

Mere Rhetoric neatly disposes of that characterization on the Israeli side. On the other side, the conflict arises from Hamas’s stated goal of destroying Israel. I suppose that given the public support for such a goal, domestic politics may well be fueling the conflict against Israel. But on Israel’s side the conflict stems from self-defense, not political calculations.

Welcome to the Middle East, region of the euphemisms.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

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Rocket barrages from Hamas: The Blame Israel Media steps up

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Someone in the AP decided that even that news service can’t keep ignoring dozens of missiles fired at Israeli civilians.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with dozens of mortars and rockets on Wednesday, sowing panic and despair there and burdening diplomatic efforts to revive a truce that expired over the weekend.

No Israelis were injured in the barrages. The attacks took a steeper toll in Gaza as explosives apparently misfired, wounding three civilians and killing two militants. One of the injured civilians works for a conflict resolution center.

But of course, they have to blame Israel for bringing it on herself.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, said the bombardment came in retaliation for the deaths of three of its fighters in a clash with Israeli troops late Tuesday. Israel said the militants were planting explosives in northern Gaza along the border fence.

Because after all, why not equate the death of terrorists with the bombing of civilians twelve miles away—who were killed while trying to plant explosives to keep the IDF from coming in andstopping terrorists from firing rockets).

Interesting how the lead changed in half an hour. Take a look at the previous edition of this story:

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with mortars and rockets early Wednesday, burdening diplomatic efforts to revive a truce that expired over the weekend.

Separately, a civilian was badly wounded in an explosion at a house in Gaza City. Two other civilians were lightly wounded when a rocket failed to clear the border and landed on a house in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Gaza health officials said.

Meanwhile, two militants were killed when an explosive they were preparing went off prematurely.

Note how in the first report, the rockets that wounded civilians were given more prominence, and a separate paragraph, in the lead. Also notice that the AP dropped the description of the death of two terrorists during a “work accident,” and made it look like it was part of the misfired rockets. And of course, in the update, the blaming of Israel was moved up to the first three paragraphs, just to make sure nobody reading the three paragraphs that get published in their local World News section of the newspaper don’t misunderstand whose fault this rocket barrage really is.

CNN equates Hamas firing missiles at civilians with Israel “threatening” to respond to such firings. And CNN acts as Hamas’ press agency, passing along their propaganda uncritically in the lead.

Palestinian militants fired more than 30 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel on Wednesday days after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened to respond to the ongoing attacks.

Izzedine Al Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, announced in a statement on its Web site it had fired four rockets in revenge for what it called the “assassination” of five of its members by the Israeli military.

CNN is also forgetting that “jihad” means “inner struggle,” and that Islam is the religion of peace. Funny how CNN won’t use the word terrorist, but they will publish this:

Sources with the military wing of Hamas said the group fired a number of mortars into Israel from an area east of Khan Younes in southern Gaza. The sources also said two members of the military wing were killed Wednesday morning during a “work” related accident, while on a Jihad mission.

What, not even quotes?

The BBC is the winner of the Most Biased Award, of course.

Gaza rocket fire follows shooting
Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired mortars and rockets into southern Israel, without causing any injuries.

The Islamist militant group, Hamas, said the attack was in retaliation for three of their men being killed by Israeli forces on Tuesday.

More than 50 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip since Hamas ended a six-month ceasefire last week.

Actually, the toll is far higher than that. Not counting today, there have been 47 kassams and 37 mortars fired at Israel since December 19th—the end of the truce. Sure, it’s “more than 50,” but so is a million. Nice counting there, BBC. The BBC also knows whom to blame for the ending of the “truce”:

Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire on Friday, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed in.

Most media reports will then add a paragraph in which the entity accused responds, something like “Israel says Hamas had continuously fired rockets into Gaza in violation of the truce,” but the BBC does not do that. I wonder why that is?

Meantime, Xinhua, the Chinese news service that is no friend to Israel, at least reports what the other news services won’t: That Hamas is firing Grad rockets into Israel.

Gaza ruler Hamas fired longer-range rockets into Israel on Wednesday amid continuous makeshift rockets attacks, escalating violence around the besieged Gaza Strip.

Hamas confirmed that its militants have fired Grads (military-grade rockets) from northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning in response to the killing of five of its militants.

The two Soviet-made Grads landed near a factory and a parking lot in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon respectively, causing damage to several cars, according to Israeli sources.

There’s no mention of the longer-range rockets—which Hamas smuggled in during the “truce”—in most of the other wire reports. The New York Times noticed, however.

Most of the rockets fired out of Gaza are locally made, short range projectiles that fall close to the border. Several of those fired on Wednesday were imported Katyusha-type rockets with a longer range. Ashkelon, which lies about 10 miles north of Gaza, has been hit occasionally. Attacks on Netivot, which lies about six miles east of the Gaza border, have been rare.

News flash: Reuters just took the Most-Biased crown away from the BBC with this headline and lead:

Flare-up dims truce hopes along Israel-Gaza border
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets into Israel on Wednesday to avenge the killing of three gunmen by Israeli troops, dampening hopes of a renewed truce.

Right. What’s most important here is that the “flare-up” (rockets trying to murder Israeli civilians) is messing with a new truce—which of course, will be used to get even more, better rockets to fire at civilians. Note the description of the harmless little projectiles currently tearing giant holes in Israeli houses and wounding Palestinian civilians unlucky enough to be under a misfired rocket:

An Israeli army spokesman said one of the rockets — most of which fall in open ground — struck a house in Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip. Another hit a house in a farming community east of Gaza. No injuries were reported.

And of course, it’s all Israel’s fault.

The latest round of violence erupted on Tuesday when Israeli soldiers killed three gunmen of the Islamist Hamas group which controls Gaza. Militants responded by showering southern Israel with rockets and mortar shells.

Meantime, the Israeli Cabinet is meeting. Something will be done. Grad rockets in Ashkelon are supposed to be a “red line” (I so hate that phrase) that cannot be crossed.

Watch for the world condemnation of Israel’s response, immediately upon seeing what the response is, and no matter what the response. Guaranteed.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Media Bias | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

The truth about David Ignatius

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Soccerdad

At the end of his post about a Washington Post editorial yesterday, Daled Amos writes:

Maybe they should just go back to having terrorists writing op-eds.

Maybe someone in the Post’s editorial department was listening because today, op-ed columnist David Ignatius acted as a PR flack published an interview with President Bashar Assad of Syria, A New Partner in Syria?.

Assad is apparently an apt observer of the American scene.

In all three “hopes,” Assad seemed to be looking for a new start with Obama after years of chilly relations with Bush. Assad said he knew little about Obama or his policies but has heard that he is more in contact with ordinary people than Bush has been, which, Assad contended, would give Obama a better understanding of America.

The three hopesare part of a list of demands Syria published right after the election in order for Assad to “receive Obama.” In other words, Ignatius is serving the purpose of the official Syrian media.

On the trick question of Syria and Iran how does Assad deal with it?

On the crucial question of Syria’s future relations with Iran, Assad was noncommittal. He said the relationship with Iran wasn’t about the “kind of statehood” Syria has or its cultural affinities but about protecting Syrian interests against hostile neighbors. “It’s about who plays a role in this region, who supports my rights,” he said. “It’s not that complicated.”

Supports his rights? Surely this ought to have inspired a followup question from Ignatius. But it didn’t.

Here’s what a more serious observer, Danielle Pletka, just wrote about Iran and Syria.

Yet Iran and Syria’s ties have only deepened. Indeed, Iran most likely had a role in financing Syria’s construction of the illicit North Korean nuclear reactor, remains one of the largest foreign investors in the country and conducts joint training with the Syrian military on advanced Russian-supplied weaponry.

It is not inconceivable that the regime in Damascus might throw its supporters in Tehran under the bus in exchange for prestige, cash and a free hand in Lebanon.

Ignatius didn’t ask anything about Syria’s nuclear program. And Pletka’s observation about what it would take to draw Syria away from Iran is chilling. Again all Ignatius is doing is flacking for Assad, not interviewing him.

Ignatius also asked Assad about Hezbollah:

Asked whether Syria was prepared to restrain Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Lebanon, Assad said this was a matter the Israelis should sort out in separate negotiations with the Lebanese. Indeed, he promoted the idea of the other negotiating tracks — which would draw in, at least indirectly, Hezbollah and Hamas.

“The longer the border, the bigger the peace,” Assad said. “Hezbollah is on the Lebanese border, not Syrian. Hamas is on the Palestinian border. . . . They should look at those other tracks. They should be comprehensive. If you want peace, you need three peace treaties, on three tracks.”

Again, no follow up. Just acting as a megaphone for Assad. Pletka, though, writes:

But it is unrealistic to expect President Assad to dispose of Hezbollah and Hamas in the same way. Mr. Assad — broadly disliked at home, a member of a mistrusted Alawite minority, comically inept at managing his country’s resources — can maintain his grip on power only as long as he is seen as a vital instrument of Israel’s defeat.

More generally:

Herein lies the fatal flaw of this transformational vision. It assumes that Syria’s leaders want Syria to become a normal state, when in fact, it is essential to the regime’s survival that it remain a pariah. Mr. Assad and his mafia have made an art of extorting subsistence assistance from the outside world, most recently by holding out prospects for better relations with the West and Israel. But a new Middle East would mean the end of Mr. Assad, which is why he will always turn back to Iran, and why the road to peace in the Middle East will never run through Damascus.

Pletka’s assessment is in line with that of Barry Rubin in his book “The Truth About Syria” In an interview with Michael Totten this is how Dr. Rubin describes people like David Ignatius.

To begin with, to understand Syria—like other regional forces—one must first examine the nature of the regime and its real interests. The way to do this is not to cite the latest interview or op-eds by Syrian leaders or propagandists in the Western media or what one of them told some naïve Western “useful idiot” who traveled to Damascus but rather to look at what the Syrian rulers say among themselves, what they do, how they structure the regime and perceive of their interests.

Syria is not a radical regime because it has been mistreated by the West or Israel but because the regime needs radicalism to survive. It is a minority dictatorship of a small non-Muslim minority and it offers neither freedoms nor material benefit. It needs demagoguery, the scapegoats of America and Israel, massive loot taken from Lebanon, an Iraq which is either destabilized or a satellite, and so on.

No matter how generous, gracious or accommodating Ignatius portrays Assad, Assad is interested in only one thing: perpetuating his own rule over Syria. Getting more direct control over Lebanon would also be to the dictator’s liking. Portraying him as some sort of Middle Eastern Mr. Rogers as Ignatius does shows how little he understand the subject of his interview. Ignatius assumes (or pretends) that Assad is like him holding the same hopes and same premises about what constitutes peace. But Assad is motivated by his own ambition, not by any hopes for a peaceful Middle East.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Syria | Tagged | 3 Comments

Hottest search phrase of the year: Obama shirtless

Posted on 12/24/2008 by Meryl Yourish

I wonder if Obama shitless would do as well?

Obama shirtleds?

Put this one under “whoring for hits”.

Sorry. Should have put a language warning on this post.

By the way, I will not subject you to pictures of Obama without his shitr. He is skinny and hairless, two things I find most unattractive in a man, particularly when looking at his chest.

Now this is more my style.

Although there is something to be said for the bare chest when it looks great.

Daniel Dae Kim

Daniel Dae Kim: Yes. Obama: No.

Posted in Bloggers | 4 Comments

Third light

Posted on 12/23/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Third light

Chag sameach!

Posted in Holidays | Comments Off on Third light