Behind the “civilian” casualties

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Meryl Yourish

There’s quite a telling paragraph in a Jerusalem Post article on the latest Gaza operation. The AP reported widely that the IDF took out a truck carrying about 160 kassam rockets. They also reported widely that several houses were destroyed by IDF missiles. Not as widely reported:

In the course of the operations over the weekend, the official said, the IAF also bombed the largest rocket factory in Gaza, killing the rocket-building technician and his family in a subsequent attack on their home.

There are rocket factories littered throughout Gaza. Der Spiegel profiled them in January.

The vehicle finally stops at a dirt track. The Islamic Jihad rocket factory is housed in a kind of garden shed. The hut measures five meters by five meters, metal pipes with small wings lean against the wall in the corner: Half finished Qassams. There are several tightly packed garbage bags on a shelf. “TNT,” says Abdul and produces a chunk. The explosive looks like lumpy sugar. A large cauldron is sitting ready on a gas cooker while bags with Hebrew writing are piled up high up against the wall. “Fertilizer for the rocket fuel,” Abdul says and grins. “We get it in Israel.”

Abdul is 22 but, tall and lanky as he is, he could still pass for 16. He has been making rockets for three and a half years and says he has finished hundreds of Qassams. A veteran with a double life: He studies geography during the day and makes his contribution to the Jihad at night.

If Abdul is killed in an IAF airstrike, he will doubtless be called a “youth,” when, in fact, he was a terrorist.

Also not widely reported: The IDF says that Hamas lost about 70 men in the Gaza operation. Funny how you never get the Israeli estimate of casulaties in the MSM reports—only the estimates from Palestinian “sources,” which leads to the boilerplate of “at least half of them civilians.”

Must be those layers and layers of editors that we poor little bloggers don’t have.

Posted in Israel | 7 Comments

A tale of two women-only workout rooms

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Harvard University is coming under fire for creating women-only hours at one of its gyms, at the request of Muslim students.

Since Jan. 28, the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center has been open only to women from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays.

The change was prompted by a request from the Harvard College Women’s Center, which was approached by six female Muslim students, said Robert Mitchell, communications director of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

“It was done for religious purposes, but it’s not closed to other women who may want to participate,” he said.

Ola Aljawhary, a student and a member of the Harvard Islamic Society, said the women-only gym is needed.

“These hours are necessary because there is a segment of the Harvard female population that is not found in gyms, not because they don’t want to work out, but because for them working out in a co-ed gym is uncomfortable, awkward or problematic in some way,” she told Boston University’s Daily Free Press.

Now, you can probably make a case that I’m comparing apples and oranges here, but I find it interesting that the Jewish community has similar problems, and yet seems to manage to find ways to handle them in the private community.

Skin-tight tank tops and spandex bike shorts have never been standard workout attire at the heavily Orthodox Bernard Horwich Jewish Community Center in West Rogers Park.

[…] Nonetheless, for religious reasons some people felt uncomfortable exercising at the center — until it became one of the few Jewish community centers in the country to open separate workout facilities for men and women.

The new workout areas were designed to address many members’ desire for modesty, a trait the Orthodox have traditionally valued highly.

Some particularly observant Orthodox do not so much as shake hands with someone of the opposite sex. And married women typically cover their hair and wear skirts with hems that fall below the knee.

The apparel issue is one reason that fewer women than men exercised at the center when its workout facility was co-ed. Even though certain hours were set aside for women or men only, there was always the possibility that someone of the opposite gender would walk past the workout room and glance in.

“So many wouldn’t come,” said fitness director Myra Orlinsky. “There wasn’t the comfort level. We had stopped reaching the community.”

Now, she said, “we are seeing a spike in membership,” with about 75 new people signing up for trial memberships during the facilities’ grand opening on Sunday.

I got the biggest kick out of this graf:

Said Minkow: “All of a sudden we’ve got rabbis here, studying on the treadmills.”

Now that would be fun to see. Oh. Wait. I wouldn’t be able to see it. Bummer.

Posted in Religion | 5 Comments

Hamas Iran is fighting the last war

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Meryl Yourish

I’ve been saying for a while now that Hamas and its Iranian patrons have not learned the right lessons from the Hizbullah war. Now the commanders of the Givati brigade prove it.

Officers in the brigade spoke about a combination of complex and sophisticated urban warfare and fighting principles such as commitment to the mission and pushing for contact with the enemy that stood out among the soldiers and commanders. They said soldiers implemented a considerable amount of the lessons learned in the Second Lebanon War.

And this is very, very good news:

With regards to the performance of Hamas gunmen in the clashes, the officers said that the militants fought fiercely during the initial stages of the operation.

However, after the IDF burst through their formations, many of them retreated and only fired at Givati troops and tanks from the 74th battalion from afar.

I hope Olmert doesn’t get talked out of the further operation to clear out the rockets by Condi Rice. Although the AP is up in arms because Condi and the White House actually blamed the right people for the latest “cycle of violence.”

The White House on Monday blamed the Palestinian militant group Hamas for sparking recent fighting between Israel and the Palestinians that has killed dozens and posed an obstacle to peace talks.

“The number one thing that has to happen is that Hamas has got to stop targeting Israeli citizens with rockets. It must stop,” Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for President George W. Bush’s National Security Council, told reporters traveling with the president back to Washington.

Yeah, he blamed Hezbullah for the Lebanon War, too. Which is, to bring this post full-circle, the war that Hamas—led by its Iranian sponsor—is still fighting.

Iranian technology and intelligence was used by Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip in the recent round of violence, said a senior official in Military Intelligence during a Monday meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

“Iran’s influence and effect is very clear,” said the official.

Terrorists fired at least 20 Iranian-assembled Grad-type rockets, which are significantly more damaging than the Kassam rockets that have been fired at Sderot and the western Negev for the past seven years, said the official.

Which is probably why Olmert said this today:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel had the power to defend itself against the Iranian threat.

Responding to the Security Council’s decision Monday to impose a new round of sanctions on Tehran, the prime minister said, “Israel can defend itself against any threat, but the Iranian threat is not just on Israel, and that is why Europe and the United States, and eventually Russia and China as well, agreed to the sanctions.”

Countdown to Iranian threat in response….

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Iran | Comments Off on Hamas Iran is fighting the last war

Expert advocates for Hamas

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Soccerdad

AFP reports UN should talk to Hamas to end Gaza violence: expert

The United Nations should talk directly to the Islamist Hamas movement in a bid to end the bloody violence in Gaza, the body’s advisor on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories said Monday.The world body can not currently hold direct talks with Hamas, which runs Gaza after winning Palestinian elections but which is considered an illegal extremist group by many UN member states.

“It is imperative that every effort be made to bring the violence to an end. This can be done only by negotiation and mediation,” said John Dugard, the special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.

“The United Nations is the obvious body to initiate such talks between Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah,” Dugard said in a statement.

This Ongoing War provided a personal glimpse of the UN “expert” John Dugard.

Those final words of Dugard, apart from their impact on me, were helpful in letting me put some perspective around the agenda-driven statements we all hear from people in high places. They sound like they know their subject but they are frequently as ill-informed as the most prejudiced partisan.Since his visit here and our meeting, I have closely read some of Dugard’s many reports and speeches as well as compilations (by invaluable watchdogs like Eye on the UN) of some of the outrageous and partisan pronouncements he’s made about Israel’s position and policies in this ongoing war. And I have come to the conclusion he meant what he said. The Israeli side, for him, truly is terra incognita. Completely unknown and mostly not understood.

That is, as Roth explains because Dugard’s job, by definition, is “looking exclusively at one side of a multi-sided conflict.”

Crossposted at Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel | Comments Off on Expert advocates for Hamas

Kind of like the Blues Brothers

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Soccerdad

via memeorandumReuters “reports”:

To Israel and its allies, Abu Mohammed and his comrades are Jew-hating terrorists. But Abu Mohammed sees himself on a mission from God to rescue his people from 60 years of misery as refugees since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.

Solomonia observes:

yes, they really do say that a Hamas fighter sees himself as being on a “mission from God”

Elder of Ziyon writes:

Reuters has outdone itself in lionizing Hamas terrorists. Anti-religion when that religion happens to be Judaism or Christianity, Reuters is all of a sudden quite objective when reporting on the Islamic beliefs of destroying the Jewish dhimmis.The headline didn’t even have scare quotes, as Reuters is reporting an established fact – that Hamas is inspired by God.

LGF writes:

I thought I’d seen the worst, most blatant propaganda possible from the pro-Palestinian wire service Reuters, but this article takes their bias to a completely new level.

To which I can only add, even if he views himself as being on a mission from God, that doesn’t negate the fact that he’s a Jew hating terrorist. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Comments Off on Kind of like the Blues Brothers

Missing the process for the peace

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Soccerdad

Daled Amos quotes from Contentions arguing that Secretary Rice would be better off using her clout to try an protect Lebanon instead of trying to save the “peace process.” Lebanon’s fragile democracy is under assault by Syria (and its master, Iran) and the United States is doing nothing.The NY Times reports: Rice Urges More Mideast Talks, but Won’t Mention a Cease-Fire

But highlighting the predicament in which the Bush administration finds itself as it tries to negotiate a Middle East peace deal, Ms. Rice took pains not to use the phrase “cease-fire,” even though several of America’s Arab allies, and even some Israelis, are pushing for a negotiated cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.“I’m saying that we want the violence to stop,” Ms. Rice said. “Call it what you will.”

Administration officials are concerned that a negotiated cease-fire between Israel and Hamas — which the United States views as a terrorist organization — would give Hamas even more legitimacy than it already has in the eyes of the Palestinian people.

Hamas of course, isn’t simply viewed as a terrorist organization. It is one by definition. But the bigger problem is not that a ceasefire will improve the image of Hamas, the problem is that it will leave it intact, free to upgrade its weaponry and infrastructure.

Unfortunately, Secretary Rice digs up some old, tired rhetoric:

“We need to continue to work to make sure that everyone understands that Hamas is doing what we expected — using attacks on Israel to try to arrest a peace process in which they have nothing to gain,” Ms. Rice said. “We need to keep the focus on that.”

No, Hamas isn’t trying to “arrest a peace process” it is attempting to destroy Israel. The firing of rockets at civilian targets isn’t a problem because it endangers talks, but because it is an act of war. Making the “peace process” a goal unto itself is one of the most counterproductive habits diplomats engage in. Sure talking is better than fighting. But if the conditions for a final settlement aren’t in place, talks will get nowhere and more likely give the bad guys the respite they need to to regroup and relaunch.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel | 1 Comment

Cold-stone killer IDF escorts Egyptians out of danger

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Those horrible IDF soldiers and airman. Imagine the nerve of them actually saving an Egyptian chopper crew’s lives.

The pilot of an Egyptian helicopter lost in the fog found himself over the Gaza Strip and under fire from Hamas militants Monday until Israeli warplanes escorted his aircraft back across the border, Egyptian and Israeli security officials said.

The red-and-white chopper strayed into the narrow coastal strip between Israel and Egypt shortly after Israeli forces withdrew from northern Gaza, concluding an offensive against rocket squads.

Hamas mistook the Egyptian aircraft for an Apache attack helicopter used by Israel in airstrikes and tried to shoot it down, the militant group said. There were no reports of injury to the pilot or any passengers.

The Israeli military said its radar picked up an unidentified aircraft crossing into Gaza airspace, which Israel controls. Fearing an attack, Israel scrambled jet fighters to investigate.

After a few tense minutes, Israeli radio operators contacted the pilot, who said he had lost his way. Israeli planes then escorted the wayward chopper back to the Egyptian border.

However, don’t worry about Israel’s reputation coming out of the media trashcan. The AP found a way to spin this article anti-Israel.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 but relations between them are cool.

Yeah. It’s not like Israeli pilots would risk their own skins to save Egyptians from a war zone or anything like that.

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

Dr. Manhattan is back

Posted on 03/03/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Who? Well, if you have to ask, you weren’t here back in the bleginning. Er, beginning of blogs.

Welcome back, Doc.

Posted in Bloggers | 3 Comments

Apples and space shuttles

Posted on 03/03/2008 by Meryl Yourish

The following is one of the reasons that a friend of mine goes crazy at work on a daily basis. And by “goes crazy at work” I mean, “Is driven utterly bananas by many of the people she has to deal with.” The situation is changed to protect our privacy, but the gist of it is true.

Friend: I’d like an apple, please.
Vendor: No problem. Here’s a gardener who can plant apple trees, prune them, and grow them.
Friend: Sorry, I’m only budgeted for an apple. Please sell me an apple.
Vendor: Okay, how about this one? He sets up apple farms, educates your people on how to set up and cultivate apple farms and keep them green and growing for a long, long time.
Friend: NO! I need an apple! ONE apple!
Vendor: How about this guy? He ate an apple once.

Posted in Work | 1 Comment

School’s not out

Posted on 03/03/2008 by Soccerdad

Elder of Ziyon notes that, today, schools in Gaza are expected to be open and comments.

It’s almost as if they don’t expect any indiscriminate and disproportionate rockets of the evil, genocidal, Nazi Zionists to be fired at their schools and endanger their lives while kids are in class.

Omri Keinan writes about how students at Sapir college have no similar reassurances.

In a country where students have gone on strike because of very small amounts of money, the students of Sapir are living in a mad reality that is not described in any academic literature (and by the way, this reality is only 40 minutes away from Tel Aviv.) I invite you to visit campus, so you can see it for yourself. What you will find if you come to Sapir is reinforced police presence, red signs that include instructions for cases of emergency, and loudspeakers that on occasion sound a hair-raising alarm that gives us less than 10 seconds to seek cover in the face of incoming rockets. At Sapir College you will not find students sitting on the grass. They are scared to be left without shelter should rockets land. But you will find great fear here.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Posted in Israel, Terrorism | Comments Off on School’s not out

No nearer the destination

Posted on 03/03/2008 by Soccerdad

The New York Times offers its advice about what to in the Middle East, in “Slipping Away”

For the first time, an Israeli leader and a Palestinian leader seem genuinely committed to peace. They set a deadline for a deal by year’s end. Yet the likelihood of achieving the two-state solution they have embraced diminishes with every rocket lobbed into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza and with every Israeli military strike or squeeze on civilian life in Gaza.

For the first time? I’m assuming that the Times means that both are committed to peace. Certainly, Yitzchak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak were committed to peace. And certainly Binyamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon did more to promote the peace process than anyone of the Palestinian side. (Though I doubt the Times would agree to the latter point.)

Of course the end of the paragraph is troubling. Israel’s civilians are being attacked and the Times is implying that Israel 1) not strike back militarily and not even 2) take non-military actions to defend its citizens and territories.

Does the Times then believe that a country under attack ought to allow its citizens to remain targets and not make any effort to defend its citizens? Or is this a demand it would only make on Israel?

The political and security situation is growing more desperate. Since last Wednesday, at least 100 Palestinians and 3 Israelis have been killed. On Sunday, the violence spilled over to the West Bank, as Palestinians there protested Israeli attacks on Gaza. A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said contacts with Israel would be temporarily suspended. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has rightly decided to go forward with a visit to the region this week. If she is to salvage the United States-led peace talks, she must push urgently for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. And she must press key Arab states to do a lot more to support Mr. Abbas and to pressure Hamas to halt the rocket attacks.

Abbas, of course, has condemned Israel for defending its citizens. He’s also done more than that, effectively repudiating the premise of the peace process. The reporter for the Times, Steven Erlanger, noted that Abbas was reserving “armed conflict” as an option. There’s no reason that his editors wouldn’t be aware of that outrageous remark.

But why is the suspension of the peace talks so catastrophic? Clearly Hamas didn’t much care about the talks and was targeting Israelis regardless. And why is the Times arguing for more support for Abbas, when Abbas’s sympathies are clearly with Hamas? That’s a much bigger problem than the lack of talks.

The violence is making it even harder for Mr. Abbas and Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, to negotiate the core issues. Right-wing members of Mr. Olmert’s government have threatened to bring down his coalition if he attempts to negotiate the sacrosanct issue of Jerusalem. Many Israelis who do support negotiations look at Gaza — from which Israeli forces withdrew in 2005 — and legitimately ask how Israel can surrender control of the West Bank under current conditions. Mr. Abbas’s security forces are weak and show little interest in, or capability of, disarming and detaining militants there.

Damn those “right wing members” of the Israeli government. If not for them, what? However, I can’t argue with the latter part of the paragraph. Why don’t the editors of the Times give it more importance? Abbas’s forces have no interest in disarming terrorists. Neither does Abbas. All the talks in the world won’t change that. And it’s more than just Israelis who can “legitimately” ask how Israel can surrender any more land given 1) Israel’s experience in withdrawing from Lebanon and Gaza and 2) the lack of commitment even the “moderate” Fatah has shown towards peace.

Israel must protect its people, but a sustained ground assault on Gaza could ensnare the army indefinitely. Mounting civilian casualties from Israeli strikes, and an Israeli embargo that has deepened the suffering in Gaza, only add to the desperation and Hamas’s popular support.

“Israel must protect its people” is directly contradicted by the rest of the paragraph. Elder of Ziyon notes that Gaza schools are expected to be open today showing that Israel’s attacks, while “sustained” have been limited. Nor do I believe that the Israeli embargo is the main motivation that feeds “Hamas’s popular support.” It’s Hamas’s goal of destroying Israel that makes it popular.

Egypt has sought to broker a possible cease-fire. Ms. Rice also must press Egypt to get serious about increasing military cooperation with Israel and developing a plan to stop Hamas from smuggling weapons and supplies into Gaza. Other Arab states, like Saudi Arabia, which for years urged President Bush to get involved, and Qatar, which provides some Hamas funding, also need to exert their influence. We have been told again and again that Ms. Rice considers a peace agreement her legacy. Time, and good will, is running out.

Why would Egypt start now? Egypt despite its “moderate” reputation has done all it can to undermine the peace process in recent years and paid no diplomatic price. In the end what the Times fails to understand is that while it may want peace, the Arab states it’s exhorting want Israeli withdrawals. If they get those withdrawals, then they might deign to make peace with Israel. (Might, but probably will just make more demands.)

What’s lacking is a change of heart in the Arab world. And no amount of good will from the Times or from Secretary Rice will change that.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias | 2 Comments

The AP acknowledges Israelis are civilians

Posted on 03/03/2008 by Meryl Yourish

Toldja they read my blog. The AP is finally admitting that Israeli casualties are civilian casualties. Of course, they still uncritically pass along the bullshit line that Palestinian deaths were at least half civilian. Yeah, right.

In all, 117 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the fighting erupted last Wednesday, according to militants and medical officials. Roughly half the dead were civilians, the officials said. One Israeli civilian was killed by a rocket, and two Israeli soldiers were killed in the Jebalya fighting.

The AP also says that the withdrawal is due to Condi Rice’s visit. But that’s not what the military is saying.

IDF officials did not rush to conclude the operation, hinting that it would be continued.

“It’s wrong to use statements of victories and occupation, but there is no doubt that the extent of casualties on the Palestinian side, among the terror organizations, is significant and sends a clear message,” a military source said.

Hamas is claiming victory. Uh-huh. Because they’re still firing Grads at Ashkelon.

The Hamas Islamists who control the coastal enclave declared “victory” and vowed to continue firing rockets into Israel, launching one into the main southern city of Ashkelon shortly after the troops withdrew. No one was hurt.

A senior Israeli government official said the conflict had entered a “two-day interval” for a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

I say, give it a few more weeks. So does the IDF.

A senior military source told Ynet on Monday morning that “one operation had ended, but many more are on their way.”

Addressing the rockets fired at Ashkelon and the Gaza vicinity communities after the end of the operation, the source said, “One operation cannot bring about a change in the situation. However, there is no doubt that in a series of activities, while exerting patience, the terror organizations will suffer a heavy blow and this will also bring a change in the situation, in terms of Qassams as well.”

Exit question: How long before the IDF heads back in?

Posted in Gaza, Israel | 1 Comment

The Holocaust experts are talking and more

Posted on 03/03/2008 by SnoopyTheGoon

The Holocaust envy syndrome has never been so frankly expressed as in the recent days.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal denounced Israeli attacks against civilians in the Gaza strip on Saturday, describing it as “the real holocaust.”
“Israel wants to exaggerate the holocaust and make from it a tragedy such that no other can have their own tragedy,” he said. “The Palestinian people are the victims and Israel is the hangman and killer.”

Fatah (Hamas-light) leader Mahmoud Abbas echoes the sentiment:

Denouncing the attacks as “more than a Holocaust,” Abbas called for “international protection for the Palestinian people,” claiming that IDF attacks were aimed at “innocent women, children and old people.”

Not to be forgotten: Abbas’ “scientific” career was made denying the Holocaust as the thesis of his doctoral degree.
Of course, the chief Holocaust expert, Mahmoud the Mad joins the unholy trinity:

“I already said last year that the real Holocaust was in Palestine,” Ahmadinejad told state television in an interview, alluding to his oft-repeated doubts about the magnitude of the mass slaughter of Jews in World War II.

But after this barrage of hateful nincompoopery, another wave of nauseating propaganda follows. And the Hamas’ chief ideologist, the under-assassinated vermin Khaled Mashaal, really takes the cake this time, leaving the other contenders in the dust:

“We are an occupied people,” he continued. “We did not attack anyone. We are the victims and Israel our executioner….we do not want to fight, or for our people to be killed, but we are acting in self-defense against an occupier that has forced this impossible situation on us.

We did not attack anyone… be a fitting epitaph for his tombstone.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

Posted in Gaza, Israel, Terrorism | Comments Off on The Holocaust experts are talking and more

Gaza, briefly

Posted on 03/02/2008 by Meryl Yourish

More Iranian-made Grad rockets are raining down on Ashkelon, causing damage and injuries.

At least 3 Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip Sunday afternoon landed in Ashkelon, marking the first time the large southern city was hit today. An Israeli girl sustained light shrapnel wounds in the attack and was taken to hospital. One rocket hit a home and caused great damage while several people suffered from anxiety as a result of the latest barrage.

More world condemnation on Israel for her “disproportionate” response, but still, there was no real outrage over Hamas launching rocket after rocket after rocket. No, the condemnation comes only when Israel acts to stop the rockets from falling.

The European Union on Sunday condemned what it called “disproportionate use of force” by the Israeli military in Gaza after dozens of Palestinians were killed in the highest single day toll since fighting erupted in 2000.

In a statement, the EU urged Israel to halt activities that endanger civilians saying they were “contrary to international law.”

I don’t recall the EU urging Hamas to stop sending rockets into Israel after Roni Yechiah was killed by one.

And of course, the wire services bias remains unchanged.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended peace negotiations with Israel on Sunday, demanding it end an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 100 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

The United States, sponsor of the recently revived peace process, said talks must continue. It also called for an end to violence between Israel and Abbas’s Palestinian rivals in Gaza.

But Israel’s defence minister said the assault would go on.

Eight people died on Sunday, a day after 61 were killed in the bloodiest day for Palestinians since their 1980s uprising.

Israel says it is acting in self-defence to curb rocket attacks by the Hamas Islamists who run the enclave. It shrugged off a U.N. accusation that it had used “excessive force.”

Let’s take a quick look at the reason for both “excessive force” and civilian casualties: Rockets launched from the heart of Gaza city, a Palestinian war crime.

Rockets from civilian areas in Gaza

The AP has dropped this from their articles. It’s apparently no longer important to explain why the IDF is firing on civilian areas.

The army said it was targeting rocket squads, and blamed militants for operating in populated areas. AP photos showed rockets being launched from densely populated areas in northern Gaza.

This is just the preliminary round. Ehud Barak is sending in a larger force in the next few weeks.

And the IDF is doing a lot of damage to terrorist infrastructure.

It’s a start.

Posted in Gaza, Israel, Media Bias | 2 Comments

Legal approaches to prevent offense to islam

Posted on 03/02/2008 by Soccerdad

Michelle Malkin has an item today about demands from the Gulf to pass laws forbidding the insulting of Islam.

Combined with the recent re-publication of the Danish Mo cartoons, these unacceptable acts of free speech have Muslim “scholars” demanding that heads roll.

About two years ago I saw a similar idea proposed by: A Jewish professor at an American university (under Jewish auspices)! Robert O. Freedman of the Baltimore Hebrew University recommended an International Religious Court of enforce civility among religions. LGF quoted from the article and wrote

It takes a lot to make my jaw drop these days, but here’s an op-ed in Baltimore’s Jewish Times that achieved this near-impossible feat.

The Volokh Conspiracy also quoted from the article, but was more clinical.

As you might gather, my reaction to this is much the same as my reaction to the “Defamation of Religions” argument I criticized below. Interestingly, unlike Prof. Ali Khan’s work, Dr. Friedman’s argument doesn’t even mention the possibility that the nation in which he lives might be constitutionally barred from going along with the orders of any such court.


My own problem with Dr. Freedman’s suggestion was whether this court could be a forum to take action against Muslims who destroyed shrines of other religions or if it was only meant to address Muslim sensitivities. And if it was the latter, would Muslims be able to take action against a country that allowed an apostate to live in its borders?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Blasts from the past, Miscellaneous, Religion | 3 Comments