Get psyched: Here are the Thursday links!

From Ian:

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Barry Rubin Romney Tells the Key Truth Needed to Comprehend the Israel-Palestinian Conflict

"So, of course, Romney was correct in what he said. Indeed, he was merely stating the obvious. In the current upside-down era, telling the truth is heresy, or at least there are powerful establishment figures who try to make it seem so.
What’s most important here, though, is not just this specific statement or this particular issue but a basic principle absolutely vital to the survival of the United States: If we are barred from recognizing the nature of our problems we will surely find no solutions."

Friedman has a broken clock moment: Look in Your Mirror by Thomas Friedman

"They might want to look at the chauvinistic bile that is pumped out by some of their own media — on satellite television stations and Web sites or sold in sidewalk bookstores outside of mosques — insulting Shiites, Jews, Christians, Sufis and anyone else who is not a Sunni, or fundamentalist, Muslim. There are people in their countries for whom hating “the other” has become a source of identity and a collective excuse for failing to realize their own potential."

Are Radical Imams Going to Redefine Freedom of Speech? by Alan M. Dershowitz

“Individuals have the right to pick and choose which expressions to condemn, which to praise and which to say nothing about. Governments, however, must remain neutral as to the content of expression. And governments must protect the rights of all to express even the most despicable of views. Finally, the international community must use its collective power to apprehend and punish anyone who commits violence in reaction to expressions with which they disagree. Being offended by freedom of speech should never be regarded as a justification for violence.”

Mideast carnage: Appeasement and history's lessons By ISI LEIBLER

"Today, the forces of Islamic extremism are testing our resolve to stand up and resist their efforts to globally extend their evil totalitarian ideology. If we continue burying our heads in the sand and minimizing the threat emanating from these barbaric reincarnations of the Dark Ages, we will be paving the way for our children to inherit a world which has reversed the great advances of Western civilization, especially the Judeo-Christian heritage."

The Peace Process: View from the West Bank by Hisham Jarallah

"The actions and words of Abbas and his aides over the past three years prove beyond any doubt that they have chosen to abandon the path of peace in favor of a huge diplomatic effort to delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the international community.
Romney should be commended for understanding that the conflict in the Middle East is not over a settlement or a checkpoint. Rather, this is a conflict over the very existence of Israel. In the Arab and Islamic world, there is still a majority of people who have not come to terms with Israel's right to exist.
Unlike Barack Obama, Romney appears to have understood where the real problem lies."

PCC rules that Guardian’s Conal Urquhart ‘significantly misled’ readers in flotilla story

"The Guardian’s initial coverage of the 2010 incident was as obsessive as it was one-sided, and included 71 separate pieces published in the first four days following the incident – most of which was based on the presumption that the passengers were innocent victims of Israeli aggression.
Urquhart’s grossly misleading claim – running interference for violent IHH terrorist peratives - was thoroughly consistent with the Guardian’s ongoing ideologically motivated script regarding Israel’s immutable guilt."

The Attacks on Israelis You Won’t Read About Anywhere Else, September 9-13

IAF kills Hamas operatives in Gaza airstrike

Army Radio says targets were planning major terrorist attack

Firebombing of kosher store outside Paris injures four

Motives of two men, dressed in black, who tossed Molotov cocktail into Sarcelles supermarket are still unclear.

Libyan preacher urges followers to ‘detonate wrath’ against West for anti-Islam film

Call in Benghazi mosque for economic boycott of West, and for ‘Allah to destroy’ Christians and Jews, comes days after mob kills US ambassador, torches consulate in city.

Pakistani man accused of blasphemy for not protesting Muhammad film

A Pakistani businessman who declined to take part in protests over an anti-Islam film now faces charges of blasphemy, which in Pakistan carries a death sentence.

Pakistan declares Friday a day of protest against anti-Islam film

Hebrew U — now anytime, anywhere, and for free

Israel’s premier higher education institution will be enrolling students from around the world over the Internet

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Also:

18 Palestinians killed in Damascus

Eli Lake: Who’s Sabotaging Iran’s Nuclear Program?

The chief of Iran’s nuclear program says the power lines to his nuclear facilities were sabotaged. U.S. Special Forces have trained for operations inside Iran for years. Do these latest disclosures suggest they are already on the ground?

David Keyes: Hamas Advances Peace

How unfortunate that many will try to drown out the great news about Hamas by using logic, reason, fact and sensibility. They are missing the point: Hamas may be stopping rocket fire and that cannot be bad. If Hamas wanted war, it would wage war. Can anyone think of an example when a regime bided its time waiting until the right moment to attack? Besides Germany in 1938, Japan in 1941, North Korea in 1950, the Soviet Union in 1956, Egypt and Syria in 1973, Iraq in 1990, Gaza in 2009 and a few hundred other cases, I can’t think of a single one!

EJP: EU parliament committee vote on Israeli pharmaceuticals is step towards EU ACAA agreement

Warnings ahead of Yom Kippur War did not reach prime minister (h/t Yoel)

Israel's team of American (Jewish) ringers beats South Africa in the World Baseball Classic

Commentary notes what I've been saying for years - the PA budget crisis is because of Gaza, not Israel