Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Leftists blaming religious soldiers for misconduct

At the end of a lengthy Ha'aretz description of the "testimonies" of IDF soldiers who are alleged to have acted immorally in Gaza comes this elliptic statement from Danny Zamir, who heads the Oranim Academic College from where this controversy erupted:

"It is quite possible that Hamas and the Syrian army would behave differently from me. The point is that we aren't Hamas and we aren't the Syrian army or the Egyptian army, and if clerics are anointing us with oil and sticking holy books in our hands, and if the soldiers in these units aren't representative of the whole spectrum in the Jewish people, but rather of certain segments of the population - what are we expecting? To whom are we complaining? "

It sounds like he is saying that the soldiers who allegedly acted badly in Gaza were predominantly religious soldiers, an interesting statement because none of the testimonies mentioned anything about religious soldiers doing anything wrong and Zamir himself was not in Gaza. Not only that, he is saying that it is obvious that religious soldiers are less moral than their secular counterparts. (The only complaint about religion in the testimonies was that the IDF rabbinate gave them too many books of Psalms.)

This underlying hatred that leftists in the IDF have towards the religious soldiers is placed in a fairly twisted context by the New York Times' Ethan Bronner, who interviews a number of leftists and records their unsubstantiated claims without bothering to get even a token interview from the other side:

Immediately after Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 and then from several West Bank settlements, there was a call to disband certain religious programs in the army because some soldiers in them said they would refuse to obey future orders to disband settlements. After the rise of Hamas in Gaza and the increase in rocket attacks on Israel, that discussion died down.

But Yaron Ezrahi, a leftist political scientist at Hebrew University who has been lecturing to military commanders, said that the call to close those programs should now be revived because what was evident in Gaza was that the humanistic tradition from which a code of ethics is derived was not being sufficiently observed there.

And the religious military colleges directly compete with people like - Danny Zamir:

In many cases, the religious nationalists have ascended to command positions from precisely the kind of premilitary college course that Mr. Zamir runs — but theirs are run by the religious movements rather than his secular one, meaning that the competition between him and them is both ideological and careerist.

And, incidentally, the only officer who is known to have refused orders in the NYT story was not a religious soldier, but - Danny Zamir:

In 1990, Mr. Zamir, then a parachute company commander in the reserves, was sentenced to prison for refusing to guard a ceremony involving religious Jews visiting the West Bank city of Nablus.

Clearly, Zamir is someone who holds deep-seated antipathy for religious Jews. The Israeli Left is making accusations against religious soldiers, which have not yet been confirmed by any facts as far as I can tell. It sounds like these accusations might just be a springboard for starting an internal fight for the IDF's soul between the old-time kibbutzniks who were instrumental in building the state and the religious Zionists who are now in the vanguard of Israeli nationalism, a pursuit which seems to have become somewhat distasteful among the Left.

The accusations must be investigated thoroughly and, if proven, dealt with on all levels of the IDF. But it would be reprehensible if they are being exaggerated or made up as a way to demonize part of the Israeli population and divide the nation.

The NYT's Bronner has written his story from a viewpoint that is entirely sympathetic towards the leftists.

UPDATE: See this article by Yaacov Lozowick as well.

PalArab media roundup 3-20-09

For the third day in a row, Egypt opened the Rafah border - and Hamas kept it closed. Yet there have been no protests against Hamas' illegal siege of the Gazan people.

Egypt has found another cache of weapons in a warehouse near Rafah, including a half ton of explosives.

PCHR has released their list of fatalities in Gaza, in Arabic. Interestingly, they list 1417 people, not the 1434 they mentioned in last week's press release. When it comes out in English I will look more closely at how they categorize "civilians."

Shimon Peres sent New Year's greetings to the people of Iran.

Tunnels collapse!

Two more Palestinian Arabs were killed in separate tunnel accidents, bringing the self-death count to 58.

I cannot find it, but a couple of days ago I saw an article in a Palestinian Arab newspaper saying that the tunnel smugglers are using boys as young as 10 or 11 to shepherd smuggled goods through tunnels, and Egypt arrested a number of them. The story was spinning it by saying how desperate the boys families are to force them to work in the tunnels, and how they were ideal for the work because they are small and can make it through partially collapsed tunnels. There was nothing in the article about how the smugglers and the boys' families were concerned over endangering their lives.

Falk's Law: Israelis must be sitting ducks

Richard Falk, the serial liar who leaves no stone unturned in his relentless quest to demonize Israel, has a new report for the UN:

A United Nations human rights investigator said on Thursday that Israel's military assault on densely populated Gaza appeared to constitute a grave war crime.

Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required warring forces to distinguish between military targets and surrounding civilians.

"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," Falk said.

Let's be clear. The IDF went above and beyond in its attempts to minimize hurting the civilians of Gaza - phone calls warning civilians [and terrorists] to leave, dropping leaflets, rerouting rockets in mid-air to avoid innocents, risking soldiers' lives to avoid civilian deaths, the use of drones to watch where civilians were. No army in history has worked harder to avoid civilian deaths. The death of Gazans served the purpose of only one party: Hamas, which worked hard to endanger the people that Israel worked to save.

For now, though, let us take Falk's statement at face value. He says that if it is impossible to distinguish between militants and civilians, then it is not only illegal to attack the terrorists to begin with - it is a "war crime of the greatest magnitude."

The Geneva Conventions, of course, say no such thing. They are clear that military targets within civilian areas are lawful to attack as long as the damage to civilians is minimized. It disallows:

an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Geneva allows for a nation to do what is necessary to defend itself as long as it minimizes civilian casualties. One can argue over the definition of "excessive" but the basic legality of attacking legitimate military targets, even in civilian areas, is unquestioned. Falk, however, the supposed expert in international law, has now declared illegal what Geneva explicitly allows. Not only that, but he has given Hamas and other terror groups a formula to be able to operate against civilians at will.

According to Falk, Hamas can fire rockets and send suicide bombers into Israel with impunity and Israel is legally barred from defending herself as long as Hamas hides among civilians. To be sure, he would consider terror activity to be illegal as well, but terrorists by definition don't sign nor care about international agreements, so there is no legal recourse against terrorists as there is against nations being attacked by terrorists.

Falk, in his insatiable hatred for Israel, twists the law that he pretends to uphold, to transform it into an ugly club that is meant to bash a single target.

IDF soldiers defend their actions

From YNet:

IDF soldiers who took part in January's offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza refuted on Thursday claims of immoral conduct on the military's part.

"I don’t believe there were soldiers who were looking to kill (Palestinians) for no reason," said 21-year-old Givati Brigade soldier Assaf Danziger, who was lightly injured three days before the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead.

"What happened there was not enjoyable to anyone; we wanted it to end as soon as possible and tried to avoid contact with innocent civilians," he said.

According to Danziger, soldiers were given specific orders to open fire only at armed terrorists or people who posed a threat. "There were no incidents of vandalism at any of the buildings we occupied. We did only what was justified and acted out of necessity. No one shot at civilians. People walked by us freely," he recounted.

A Paratroopers Brigade soldier who also participated in the war called the claims "nonsense". Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said "It is true that in war morality can be interpreted in many different ways, and there are always a few idiots who act inappropriately, but most of the soldiers represented Israel honorably and with a high degree of morality.

"For instance, on three separate occasions my company commander checked soldiers' bags for stolen goods. Those who stole the smallest things, like candy, were severely punished," he said.

"We were forbidden from sleeping in Palestinians' beds even when we had no alternate accommodations, and we didn’t touch any of their food even after we hadn't had enough to eat for two days."

According to a reservist who spent a week in Gaza during the offensive, the claims of immoral behavior on the soldiers' part were "fictitious".

"Wherever we were we tried to cause minimum damage," said the paratrooper, who also asked to remain nameless. "We left some of the homes cleaner than they were before we occupied them. We even cleaned a refrigerator that really stunk.

"During one incident, we were informed that a female suicide bomber was heading in our direction, but even when women approached us and crossed a certain point we made do with firing in the air, or near the women," the soldier recalled. "Even when we came across deserted stores, we didn’t even think of taking anything. One soldier took a can of food, but he immediately returned it after everyone yelled at him."

Major (res.) Idan Zuaretz of Givati said "in every war there is a small percentage of problematic soldiers, but we must look at it from a broad perspective and not focus on isolated incidents."

Zuaretz, a company commander, also questioned the integrity of the soldiers who made the controversial claims, saying "if this was such a burning issue for them, why have they remained silent until now? On an ethical and moral level, they were obligated to stop what they claimed had occurred and not wait two months to be heard at some esoteric debate".

According to the officer, the IDF went to great lengths and employed the most advanced technology to avoid harming civilian population.

"I've seen a few things in my time, but even I was blown away by the level of professionalism displayed by the army," Zuaretz said. "I personally gave my soldiers an order on the day we withdrew from Gaza to leave all of our goodies in the last house we occupied. Some reservists even left an envelope full of money to one Palestinian family."

The next few days will be interesting, as we will see if any IDF soldiers step up to corroborate the stories told earlier. What is clear, however, is that if there were any lapses it was not because of IDF policy nor from the conduct of the vast majority of soldiers.

Equally clear is that the world will harshly judge an entire people based on the the slightest, out-of-context and possibly fictional claims. Certainly they should be investigated but not by a world that has already convicted Israel.

On Israeli accusations of IDF immorality

YNet reports:

The IDF did not behave morally during Operation Cast Lead, soldiers who had participated in the operation said during a post-op conference at the military academy at Oranim. The conference protocol was published Thursday.

One NCO told of the experiences that bothered him during the operation. "Prior to going into a crowded area… we had a meeting about the rules of engagement and opening fire within a city, because as you know we fired a lot of rounds and killed a lot of people in order for us not to be injured or shot at."

"When we entered a house, we were supposed to bust down the door and start shooting inside and just go up story by story… I call that murder. Each story, if we identify a person, we shoot them. I asked myself – how is this reasonable?"

The NCO also related a story about an old woman who was crossing a main route who was shot by the soldiers. "I don't know whether she was suspicious, not suspicious, I don't know her story… I do know that my officer sent people to the roof in order to take her out… It was cold-blooded murder."

Another NCO told of an incident in which a family was killed. "We had taken over the house… and the family was released and told to go right. A mother and two children got confused and went left… The sniper on the roof wasn't told that this was okay and that he shouldn't shoot… you can say he just did what he was told… he was told not to let anyone approach the left flank and he shot at them."

"I don't know whether he first shot at their feet or not (per IDF engagement instructions), but he killed them," the NCO said.

"We expected to hold a discussion about the war, in which we would hear about the personal experiences and lessons of the soldiers, but we did not expect the testimonies that we heard," Academy Head Danny Mazir told Ynet. "We were in total shock."

Mazor informed IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi of the experience. "It's definitely not easy for an institution like the IDF to hear things like this and the officers I spoke with were very surprised. Up until now, post-op investigations had not demonstrated such violations of ethics," he said.

The IDF Spokesman's Unit reported that, pursuant to Mazor's communication, "a meeting was immediately set up with Chief Education Officer Brig. General Eli Shirmeister."

"He explained that the IDF was currently in the middle of thorough investigations of these issues. The IDF has no previous information about these incidents and will investigate their accuracy. The head of the military academy was asked to transfer any additional information he receives to the IDF so that it could checked thoroughly," they said in a statement.

Later Thursday, Military Judge Advocate General Brigadier-General Avi announced he would launch a formal inquiry into the allegations. According to Mandelblit, the publications "paint a picture of unacceptable behavior, if true."

Ha'aretz plans to publish more testimonies from IDF officers in coming days.

These stories are troubling and should be taken seriously. Even though Israel's enemies will always say that Israel commits war crimes, Israel should not react to the slander but it should honestly look at her own actions and always strive to fix problems.

In the days of the first Intifada, the IDF was faced with an unprecedented situation of open revolt. Clearly, at the time, there were no standards on how to react to such a situation and some of the decisions made were (in retrospect) much more violent towards the Palestinian Arab fighter/protesters than they should have been. It is easy to criticize them now, but at the time no one knew how things would play out and it seemed to be just as valid a decision to crack down harder in the interests of cutting the revolt short rather than let it play out and possibly escalate.

The second intifada showed that Israel erred in the other direction, passively absorbing large numbers of terror attacks for two years before deciding to go on the offensive and pro-actively dismantling the terror infrastructure. Many Israeli lives were lost in those two years who might have been saved had Israel taken more decisive action earlier - and the world would have been much less forgiving.

Any war involves very tough decisions. One of the toughest, for a moral people, is to calculate the relative value of the lives of your own soldiers and your own civilians against the enemy soldiers(/fighters/terrorists) and the enemy civilians. It is just as immoral to place your own soldiers and citizens at risk to avoid hurting the enemy as it is to wantonly kill civilians in the interests of protecting your own. Jenin appears to have been a textbook case of the IDF being too worried about public opinion and not enough about the lives of its own soldiers.

Every new situation brings new challenges and issues that have not been dealt with before. The IDF was clearly prepared not to repeat mistakes made in Lebanon, but there were challenges in Gaza that they did not have against Hezbollah, most notably Hamas' decision to hide among civilians and avoid open fighting and the booby traps Hamas laid among the civilian neighborhoods, schools and houses. Hamas' strategy was to draw IDF soldiers into killing Gaza civilians as well as to kidnap more IDF soldiers. This was not, in any sense, a classic military confrontation.

The stories related above appear to have been situations that should have been foreseen and planned for, but we don't know for sure. Perhaps there was faulty intelligence that informed bad decisions, perhaps commanders ignored protocol, perhaps the IDF leaders consciously moved the moral dial more towards "save our lives and don't let yourself be kidnapped" and away from "avoid killing civilians at all costs" - a decision that might very well be justified in a world where every Gilad Shalit is worth some 500 terrorists.

The IDF has a history of learning from its mistakes, and the Palestinian Arab terrorists have a history of coming up with new creative ways to kill. Israel needs to honestly investigate every case of possible abuses and immoral behavior (including the unconscionable graffiti that some soldiers left in the houses of civilians.) There will always be new challenges, and there will always be mistakes and inconsistencies in how individual soldiers act, but an effective army needs discipline and as clear a set of rules as possible, rules that can be defended without apology.

And even though the IDF continues to behave more morally than any army in history, it should always be willing and eager to raise the bar.

UPDATE: Questions are being raised about the accusations to begin with. Jameel reports that "Channel 2 TV Army correspondent Roni Daniel stated at 6:30 PM this evening, that he personally tracked down one of the soldiers interviewed for the Haaretz article. Apparently the soldier's testimony to Haaretz wasn't based on anything he personally saw or witnessed, rather based on rumors and hearsay he heard (and the soldier wasn't even in Gaza!)" (h/t joem)

(h/t Isy - I wasn't going to blog this, and I have no time to blog, but my weakness is when people make requests...)

Links

As my work schedule gets more and more hectic, here are some things you can read.

Soccer Dad hits a trifecta with The Anti-Zionist Elephant, The Daily Kristof and an article in The American Thinker on the Chas Freeman controversy.

Speaking of, the Huffington Post talks about the virulent opposition to Freeman - from Chinese democracy advocates.

An interesting op-ed in The National Post about replacing the moribund "peace process with more realistic "conflict management."

PalArab media roundup 3-19-09

Two Fatah members were killed in Central Gaza in another apparent "work accident." Fatah said they were on a "special mission" and were killed by Israeli shells, but Israel denied any activity in the area.

Israel arrested ten Hamas leaders in the West Bank in an apparent attempt to use them as leverage for Gilad Shalit. Hamas responded that this endangers the life of Shalit, which effectively means that they are threatening to kill him. No comment yet from "human rights" organizations.

Have you noticed that none of the families of PalArab prisoners in Israeli prisons ever protest the Hamas government to release Shalit so their relatives could get released?

Members of the "World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace" have entered Gaza to distribute aid and try to teach Gazans about peace. I don't know much about them but they also visited Sderot and met with children there, so at least they have the appearance of being sincere.

Here is why autotranslation does not work well for sports stories:

a leading Jaisp - matches concluded yesterday, the fifth week in a deferred annexation of neighboring institution beer and Orthodox Ramallah in the Premier Basketball League, organized by the Union of the Palestinian basketball sponsored by a mobile terminal and the martyr Ibrahim Ahtdhantha Lion in Far'a In the meeting on the progress of the outcome of the Orthodox versus 66 49 of the beer was cool and the game was marked by tension and lack of excitement.

At least the beer was cool.

A an Arab baby was born in Hebron with some baby teeth; Palestine Today regards this as a miracle and says "praise God." Natal teeth occur in about 1 in every 2000 births and could indicate a problem.

The 2009 Palestinian Arab self-death count is now at 56.

Starbucks protest in Beirut

From the Lebanon Daily Star:

About 25 young activists belonging to the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth (ULDY) demonstrated outside a Beirut Starbucks Monday evening to protest the Seattle-based coffee shop's ties to Israel. Members handed out leaflets and shouted slogans outside the store, catching the attention of passers-by and virtually ending all traffic heading in for a drink. A handful of police officers guarded the entrance of the store while two army trucks unloaded about a dozen soldiers across the street in anticipation of violence.

"It's not just Starbucks that we're demonstrating against," 25-year-old ULDY member Hassan Zeitouny said. "It's a demonstration against all that send aid to Israel, especially those that give money to Israelis to return back to Israel."

ULDY - a leftist organization with ties to the Lebanese Communist Party - organized a similar demonstration outside the Hamra Starbucks during Israel's devastating 22-day assault on Gaza in January. The group is also active in the larger campaign to boycott other American products and companies which it accuses of supporting Israel such as CocaCola and Phillip Morris.

The activists held signs up to the cafe's windows with one displaying a drawing of a Starbucks' cup overflowing with blood while another carried a mock-menu offering "coffee to kill my family," and "espresso to knock down my house."

Cheers were sung as each customer left the shop. After the last customers exited quietly, the cafe was left empty except for a few discouraged-looking employees sitting around a table drinking their own product.

The interesting part of this article isn't that there was yet another Starbucks protest. It isn't whether the protesters believe that the Starbucks mermaid is Queen Esther.

The interesting part is that the reporter from the major English-language newspaper in cosmopolitan, modern Lebanon completely believes all the lies about Starbucks giving its profits to the IDF and Israeli causes.

A quick fisking of Amy Goodman

Veet in the comments wanted me to fisk Amy Goodman, a popular left-wing host of "Democracy Now!" which runs on many radio stations across the country, including many college stations.

From what I could tell from a quick look, she is just another moonbat, without much original or interesting to say, pretty much sticking to the party line.

Yesterday, she had a special guest, the tiredly predictable Juan Cole.

Here are some of the lies I caught from the transcript:

AMY: In Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Obama administration has continued the US government’s unwavering support for Israel.

Well, except for trying to open dialogue with Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah, telling Israel not to attack Iran, trying to appoint officials with anti-Israel views, and Obama saying that he is anti-Likud - sure, he is "unwavering."

The administration recently announced it will withdraw its entire $900 million aid pledge if the pending Palestinian unity government does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. No such conditions have been imposed on Israel.

Um, perhaps because Israel already has recognized the Palestinian Arabs' right to exist at Oslo, 16 years ago?

Notice also that she doesn't say a word about the other precondition - that Hamas renounce terror. Apparently, Goodman believes that this is also an unacceptable restriction on her heroes in Hamas.

She also doesn't seem to find it strange to force Israel to negotiate with people who wish it to disappear. Perhaps she is not familiar with what "negotiations" mean - one does not negotiate their own demise, as much as Goodman might desire that to happen.

This comes in the wake of Israel’s brutal three-week assault on Gaza that left over 1,400 Palestinians dead, more than 900 of them civilians.

Actually, even according to PCHR, the 900 were "noncombatants," which is a very different thing. Israel has determined that no more than one third of the dead were civilians. You might argue over which is correct, but you do not accept the words of one biased party as fact and reject the other based on nothing but your own biases.

COLE: You know, there is a ban on politicians in the United States being critical of Israeli policy. And if you have anything serious to do with the US Congress, in particular, it’s not allowed to be critical, and you’ll have a lot of enemies who will try to shoot you down, try to get you unelected if you’re elected, try to get you unappointed if you’re appointed. And it’s a concerted effort on the part of a whole range of people. They include evangelical Christians on the right. They include right-wing Zionists in the Jewish community. It’s a very odd set of alliances, but it’s very effective.

A ban? There is no question that the Israel lobby is effective in...lobbying, just as the NRA and AARP are at least as effective in their own efforts to influence Congress. Saudi Arabia has an effective lobby as well. And there are even politicians - a minority, to be sure - who built their careers on being anti-Israel.

AMY: In our headlines today, reading that Netanyahu has formed a pact with the far-right politician Avigdor Lieberman, an attempt to form a right-wing government in which Lieberman would become Israel’s foreign minister. He’s called for laws to require Palestinians living in Israel to swear loyalty to the Jewish state.
JUAN COLE: He’s called for laws for Israelis, Israeli citizens, to have a loyalty test. These are—
AMY GOODMAN: Not singling out Israeli Arabs?
JUAN COLE: They’re singling out Israeli Arabs.

This is simply a lie. The loyalty oath that makes everyone so upset is for all Israeli citizens.

Can't you feel the sanctity?

From Photo Polygon.

UPDATE: I don't know anything about the site, which is in Russian, so maybe this is a Photoshop. The other photos at the site seem legit, though.

Links from my mailbox

I really appreciate when you send me links to comment on. I don't always have time to write a full post, but here are some recent links sent to me that you should check out.

Tom Gross: (Former?) CNN reporter goes on anti-Israel tirade during a press conference. (Many more details here.) Plus, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness is a former BBC reporter and a pal of notoriously anti-Israel Jeremy Bowen. (h/t Brad Brzezinski)

An on-line anti-Hamas petition. I'm skeptical about the effectiveness of these things, but worth checking out. (h/t Renaud)

Seven Jewish Children: a modern passion play (h/t Ami Isseroff )

Jihadis question Al Qaeda links to Israel (h/t Bubbe)

Video: Vilified: Telling Lies about Israel (h/t sshender)

How terrorists define "torture"

From Ma'an:

Israel is torturing Ahmad Sa’dat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in prison, the group said on Wednesday.

Good heavens! What terrible torture is Israel doing? Waterboarding? Breaking his fingers? Pulling out his toenails?

In a statement the PFLP said the “Israeli prison service keeps transferring Sa’adat from one jail to another, under dire conditions in light of his bad health condition. He has been suffering pains in his back and stomach in Israel’s custody as a result of bad conditions in detention.”

Ah, it must all that packing and unpacking is pushing him to his physical and psychological limits.

These tough terrorists really turn into babies when they have the slightest inconvenience.

And what was he guilty of again?

Israel seized Sa’dat from a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison in Jericho in 2006. He was held in PA custody after he was accused by Israel of arranging the assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001. In 2008 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Just murder.

Gaza man tortured to death. Yawn.

From PCHR:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 15:00pm on Monday, 16 March 2009, Zayed Jaradat was pronounced dead on arrival at Martyr Mohammed Yousif al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah city. The body was then transferred to the forensic department at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for further examination. Jaradat had been arrested by members of the police in the morning of Monday 15 March 2009. Police sources told PCHR that Jaradat had been detained in al-Quds Girls’ Secondary School, near al-‘Awda Square in the centre of Rafah. The police have been using the school as their headquarters since Israeli warplanes destroyed Rafah police station during their latest offensive on Gaza. According to the police sources, Jaradat was arrested on charges of drug possession.

A PCHR field worker, who visited the forensic department at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and took photographs of the body, witnessed traces of bruising throughout the body. The bruises were concentrated in the area around the neck and shoulders. The PCHR field worker also reported that Jaradat’s toenails had been removed. This indicates that Jaradat had been subject to torture during his detention.

Just another average day in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Perhaps George Galloway can add "toenail clipping"to his list of wonderful things Hamas does for Gazans.

The 2009 PalArab self-death count is now at 54.

How to boost traffic to your website

At the moment, I'm getting about 60 hits a day from a posting I wrote last week called "Tunisian sees wife in po-rn video", all of them from search engines looking for things like "wife po-rn" and "tunusian [sic] po-rn" and similar queries. Apparently I am now on the first page of Google searches for "wife po-rn."

Not quite my normal readership.