Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Islamist newspaper cheering, exaggerating Israeli civilian deaths

A very good look into the mind of a depraved people can be found at kavkazcenter.com, a Chechen "news" website that is far enough away from the Middle East as to not be concerned about saying things that are politically correct. In other words, it is a rare unvarnished look at Islamic depravity in English (although much of the news comes from an Iranian "news" agency.)

For example, here's a bit of wishful thinking about the number of innocent civilians murdered in Haifa:

Hezbollah Rockets Kill Dozens of Zionists in Haifa, Scores Wounded
In retaliation to the unabated brutalities of the illegal Zionist entity, a rocket barrage by the Hezbollah defenders of Lebanon on Haifa in the northern part of the usurper state of "Israel" reportedly killed two Zionists and wounded 14 others on Sunday.
The actual fatality of Sunday's defensive missile barrage on Haifa is, however, believed to be in several dozens including the wounded. Because of tight censorship by Israel the exact casualty figures in the Zionist entity has been ignored by the Western media.

In a similar vein:

More Than 40 Zionists Killed, 90 Wounded on Sunday

In retaliation to the unabated atrocities of the Zionist entity against the civilians of Lebanon, the Hezbollah movement fired a barrage of 170 missiles on Sunday on mostly military and industrial sites in the northern part of Occupied Palestine inflicting considerable damage and resulting in the death of over 40 Zionists and injury to over 90 others.

It's hard not to see the pride that the Islamists feel at the mythical murder of dozens of civilians, even though in the next breath they castigate Israel for doing exactly that.

The amount of time they spend trying to spin shooting rockets into Haifa as "defensive" is pretty funny, too.

A short BBC note

From Stephen Pollard:

If you watched yesterday’s Andrew Marr programme on BBC1, you would have seen a British TV landmark. To judge from its contents, the programme was the first to have been edited by the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

Most of it was, rightly, given over to the events in the Middle East. But of the four guests interviewed, not one had anything but bile to pour over Israel. Up first was Glenys Kinnock MEP, remarking how “heartening” it is that the Middle East minister, Kim Howells, has begun “a shifting of ground away from defence of Israel”. Alongside her was Matthew Parris, who repeated the hostile views he has already made clear to Times readers. A Lebanese minister followed. Then Sir Menzies Campbell, a man whose entire career has been spent attacking Israeli policy, whatever it happens to be.

All were treated with deference by Andrew Marr, as he invited them to honour us with their sagacity.
Not that we should be surprised. The BBC’s coverage has been overwhelmingly one-sided, with presenters and reporters editorialising against what they universally refer to as “Israeli attacks on Lebanon”.

Right at the beginning it was clear how the BBC would cover the operation, when a film on Newsnight concluded with the reporter, Peter Marshall, remarking across a picture of a blown-up bridge: “All this destruction. And still more threatened” — as if the Israelis are on some kind of wilful destruction spree, dropping bombs for the sheer hell of it, rather than taking action to destroy Hezbollah’s capacity to murder any more Israelis.

On Saturday the BBC’s website helpfully carried full details of the assembly points for that day’s anti-Israel march. Nowhere did it give the same detail for yesterday’s rally in support of Israel.

See also this response from a BBC secret Zionist.

Outrageous bias at AFP

A Palestinian boy stands on the rubble of his apartment destroyed overnight by Israeli air attack in Gaza City. The US government views the conflict in Lebanon through the "war on terror" context, ignoring any nationalist goals of Hezbollah and Hamas, which could re-emerge strengthened by the crisis.(AFP/Hrvoje Polan)

The first thing that AFP didn't bother telling the readers is that the apartment building had a missile factory and that Israel dropped leaflets to tell residents to leave.

But the second sentence is astonishing. Hezbollah sends thousands of rockets towards civilians in Israel and AFP is castigating the US for not seeing the big picture, that Hezbollah only wants a state - that just happens to be in exactly the same place that Israel is?

The US has consistently called for a two-state solution, so to say that it ignores "nationalist goals" of terror groups means that AFP supports the destruction of Israel.

Because those are the nationalist goals of Hamas and Hezbollah.

And the comment that the terror groups "could re-emerge strengthened by the crisis" sounds like nothing less than wishful thinking.

Israel's 9/11 moment?

After reading this article, I can't help but think that the Hizbollah attacks against Israel is doing to the Israeli Left what 9/11 did to the American Left - make them look like fools.

In every other terror attack the Israeli Left (which is as wacky as anything the Americans or Europeans can come up with) would always find some reason to justify the attack - and almost always it was the magic word "occupation," the mantra that could be repeated over and over without any thought, the reason to end all reasons. The poor Palestinian Arabs who had to live under such brutal conditions lost their very free will - they had no choice but to enter ice cream shops and pizza parlors and blow themselves up!

The argument is idiotic but that's not the point - it was an accepted fact among the Left and it neatly justified any level of depravity the Palestinian Arabs could come up with. I often thought that if they would turn their own children into human Molotov Cocktails, tossing them at Israeli civilians, the Left would still write articles about how the "occupation" is so horrendous that they had no choice.

The Right would point out that radical Islam aims to take over the world, that it is not occupation that rankles Arabs as much as the very existence of Israel, that ordinary Arabs fared far better under the "occupation" than they ever did under Arab rule - and would be dismissed as crackpots, lacking in nuance.

In the wake of 9/11 there was born a new generation of "9/11 Republicans" - people who are still liberal on topics such as abortion and women's rights and other social issues, but who became hawkish when it came down to defending the lives of Americans. They realized that no American policy brought about 9/11, but the responsibility belongs wholly to the jihadists. They realized that in the end, people are responsible for their own actions and some people really are evil and malicious.

Now, the Left at large can be divided into two parts - those who actually think and those who embrace the movement out of ulterior motives, usually self-hate. A large percentage of the Left's thinkers broke ranks with the airhead, Vanity Fair-reading, Hollywood worshipping, vacuous twits who blame America for every perceived evil in the world and congratulate themselves on having the guts to criticize America in a free society.

It very well may be that Hizbollah's attacks on Israel, without the fig leaf of "occupation" as a motive, is doing the very same to Israel's Left. Here Israel played by the liberal playbook to the letter - withdrawing from Lebanon, behind UN-drawn lines. By the rules of the game written by the Left themselves, that should have been that - Hizbollah would become a gardening club and Lebanon will be able to build a strong state. The Left was convinced that Hizbollah had no more motive to attack Israel, and the Hizbollah charter that calls for Israel to be destroyed is just so much exaggerated rhetoric that the cute Arabs like to engage in, a cute cultural habit like bargaining at the souk.

The current terror war shows that such thinking was not just naive, but it was deadly. And as a result, Israel may see the same kind of schism that the US sees - a fringe, unrepentant Left who gets more and more loony and deluded, and a new center-right that just woke up and will be re-examining the wisdom of surrendering land when the vacumms created are invariably filled with the most foul, immoral terrorists that exist.

This sums it up

Hat tip to commenter jhrhv for pointing me to this excellent graphic (origin unknown):

Today's wire service bias

Yesterday, there was an anti-Israel demonstration in London, attended by thousands of people.

Today, there was a pro-Israel demonstration in London, attended by thousands of people.

So one would think that the media coverage of both demonstrations would be roughly similar?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Compare for yourself:
Yahoo photos with keywords "israel london"
Google news with keywords "israel london demonstration"

There is some coverage of the demonstration for Israel - in British news sources and in Israel. Very few other sources could be found.

But the coverage of the pro-terror, pro-Hizbollah rallies in London are plentiful - almost invariably called "peace" rallies. For example, a few paragraphs into this Australian news story "Global protests held for peace" comes this telling detail:

"Stop the killing, stop to the bombs. Israel out of Lebanon," shouted the peaceful protesters, many draped in Lebanese or Palestinian flags, while others yelled: "Hizbollah is here to stay. Zionism go away."

Calling that a "peace" rally is something only news editors can do with a straight face.

Elder Tzedakah challenge expanded - 6 more charities for matching contributions

First of all, thank to my readers. As you can see in the sidebar, we have already raised over $360 for Israel and I have matched each amount donated.

Thanks to Backspin, I have a list of a few more worthy organizations that need our help. Here are the ones that had easy-to-access web forms and can take credit cards:

One Family Fund - directly helps victims of terror and their families.
JNF Operation Security Blanket - send kids from the North to summer camps in central Israel for a few days at a time
WIZO Emergency Fund - provides shelters and food for displaced families
Meir Panim - feeds many poor Israelis; providing emergency food and medical equipment to victims
Israel Free Loan Association - helps families get back on their feet with dignity
Kids 4 Kids - program for kids worldwide to help Israeli child victims of terror

These are in addition to the five charities I listed before that you can see on the sidebar. Go to their websites, give generously, and email me at elderchallenge-at-gmail.com and I will match it until we hit our limit (currently $1000.)

Israelis leaving their homes in the north to avoid rockets being referred to as "refugees."
Any call for international aid to repair damage to Israeli cities from thousands of Hezbollah rockets.
"We support the goal of removing Hezbollah from Lebanon."

One Israeli's View (Bob Rosenschein)

Buried in the Washington Post's blog is this great posting: (H/T Rishon Rishon)

The great Yogi Berra once said, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

I am not a columnist - just an ordinary American citizen living in Israel - but I have gained some insight into both cultures, some might say mentalities. Here is what many Israelis are feeling nowadays.

The first point concerns some unwritten American values I grew up with:

* Problems are solvable.
* Good will is returned in kind.
* In general, favor the underdog over the top dog (unless you're the top dog).
* If two sides are fighting, they must both have some justification.
* Be reasonable; split the difference.

But what if you are living in a neighborhood where they are not quite as reasonable as you? Where your attempts to reason and split the difference backfire? Or worse, where concession is laughed at as weakness.

The second point concerns Israel in particular. We are 6.6 million people, toughened but pragmatic. At 8,020 square miles, we have an area 25% smaller than Maryland. The difference is that, unlike America's vast power, with oceans and peaceful neighbors on all sides, the Jewish state is surrounded on several sides with people who actually want to kill us. Not subdue us - destroy our country.

It would be convenient to think that this must be because of something we did. But Hamas and Hezbollah say it out loud and crystal clear. The "occupation" is the whole works. Their final solution is the total destruction of Israel. Iran, a member state of the UN, holds conferences called "A World Without Israel."

This is the backdrop against which most civilized countries would have us turn the other cheek. As social writer Eric Hoffer once said, "We really do expect the Jews to be the only good Christians in the world."

To put things in perspective, imagine, if you can, that Arlington lobbed 1,000 shells at Georgetown. Or sent suicide bombers. How exactly would you react? Imagine that Mexico was calling for the destruction of the United States, backing it up with cross-border raids and missiles.

The third point is that Israel already withdrew from every last inch of southern Lebanon and Gaza, as the international community demanded. But the provocations and terror - violence aimed intentionally against civilian targets - continued. This is why we entered this conflict. Enough is enough.

This is a horrible situation to be in, fighting Hezbollah behind its human shields. But before bombing southern Lebanon and the Hezbollah neighborhoods of Beirut, Israel dropped leaflets encouraging evacuation. Confronted with terrible choices, we are trying to fight while minimizing civilian casualties.

It was wishful thinking to hope that joining the government would make Hamas and Hezbollah more responsible. Sometimes putting the bully in charge of the playground works, and sometimes it doesn't.

The operative emotion in Israel right now is sadness, sadness for what is being done to us, sadness for what we must do to defend ourselves. The missiles shot at Haifa landed a few miles from the research labs of Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Google. Israelis would much rather continue working on desalination, stroke treatment, and alternative fuels (see www.israel21c.org). We would rather that our adversaries developed their own economies pragmatically.

We hate this conflict, but we will not commit suicide. As Golda Meir said, "We will have peace when our enemies love their children more than they hate ours."

My father was a survivor of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, was the most optimistic person I ever knew, but he once taught me, "Above all else, when someone threatens to kill you or your loved ones - just believe him!"

The lesson for America is simple. Do not hide from international responsibility. Do not assume the oceans offer protection. Iran is behind Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, and, of course, the insurgents in Iraq. If Iran gets nuclear bombs, do you want to bet they won't sponsor a radical Islamic group to eradicate American cities?

You want to know what Israelis are thinking? Theory and practice are intertwined. We are on the front line, but we will show patience and strength. That's why 89% of Israelis, Left, Right and Center, support the army right now. A mere 61 years and 10 weeks after V-E day, we know that evil and blind hatred exist. And that they can be beaten.

-- Bob Rosenschein is CEO of Answers.com (NASD:ANSW); he can be reached at rrosenschein at gmail.com; this piece reflects his own views

HH LXXIX is out!

Life-of-Rubin hosts this weeks' Haveil Havalim 79, best of the JBlogosphere. Lots of links including many to postings about the current "matzav."

He links to my fundraising campaign for Israel where I will match your donations this week to 5 Israeli charities, up to $1000. The running total of donations is on my sidebar.

It's a great round-up, so check it out!

Mosques used to store weapons. But don't touch the Korans!

From Arutz Sheva:

The Meron A-Ras area of southern Lebanon has been taken by IDF ground troops. The Hizbullah bunkers in, around and below the village have all been raided and the IDF has now stationed troops in the village. Security forces in the area report scores of Katyusha shells, missile storage areas and missile-launchers, which were concealed in the village's mosque.

From YNet:

“We searched through the village carefully, we went house to house, and we found three sites where Hizbullah operatives had been hiding out. We could tell by the flak jackets, helmets, and even the cups of coffee still sitting on the table – but the Hizbullah men apparently fled when we entered. We also found a lot of ammunitions, including weapons, Lau rocket launchers in the yard of a mosque, binoculars, and various rockets,” said battalion commander Lt. Col. Wajadee.

Wajadee said the terrorists used sites in the village to survey and collect information on Israeli communities across the border. An 80-year-old Lebanese man, who remained nearly alone in the town, told soldiers that residents did not cooperate with Hizbullah, but Hizbullah forced themselves on the village and used the residents in operations against Israel.

Just waiting for the massive worldwide Muslim protests in Pakistan and Indonesia that people actually use mosques for storing deadly weapons.

Just waiting for the freedom-loving protesters in Canada and Europe to show outrage over Hezbollah taking an entire town hostage.

I'm sure the protests are being organized right now. Any minute we will be seeing lots of photos and news coverage. Right?

Elder Tzedakah Challenge extended!

I only received one reply to my Tzedakah Challenge, so my ego from the thousands of page hits I got in the past ten days has been properly deflated.

Nevertheless, I am serious about wanting to match $1000 in contributions given to the Israeli charities listed by any readers. Other bloggers, feel free to repost the modified posting below:
-----------------------------------------

Between now and July 28, for any money that you donate to one of the Israeli charities listed below, I will match it, up until we get to a total of $1000.

After you donate, copy your receipt and email it to elderchallenge-at-gmail.com (you should XXX out the credit card number.) Or we can use the honor system if you are paranoid; just let me know. Afterwards, I will match your contributions to the charity or charities you chose. I will try to keep updated blog entries throughout the week showing a running total.

At this time, the total is only $50, so let's please get moving!

Here are the organizations you can donate to, all via the web:

BurgerIDF.org and PizzaIDF.org delivers great food and morale to the brave soldiers defending their land.

Zaka is the world famous organization that offers first response service to terror attacks.

American Friends of Magen David Adom.

Yad Sarah is bringing medical equipment to the northern communities that are under attack.

Friends of the IDF provides equipment and morale-boosting for the soldiers.

Special note to readers who claim to be anti-Zionist but not anti-Jewish: you should have no problem contributing to Zaka, Yad Sarah and MDA. Let's see you put your money where your mouth is!

תזכו למצוות

(The email address will be disabled after the challenge is over.)

A stomach-turning post

The sickening face of the mass-murderer Nasrallah is popping up all over the world. He has no shortage of people who love him and his genocidal plans.

In Berlin...

Pakistan...

Switzerland...

Ramallah....

Iraq....

Syria...

Tehran...

Bahrain...

Caracas....

Sudan...

Egypt....

San Francisco seemed to avoid showing pictures of Nasrallah, but their sentiments were clear as well...

But sometimes I don't mind seeing his picture. Like this one, found in the ruins of a building in Beirut hit by Israeli warplanes:

International peacekeepers?

As the UN and the EU call for international peacekeepers in Lebanon, a simple fact seem to have been forgotten:

They are already there.

Since 1978, the UN has had UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) set up. And since 1978, they have not lifted a single finger to stop rocket attacks towards Israel.

Since then, they have not lifted a finger to stop Hizbollah from building a full army under their noses.

Since then, they have not lifted a finger when Hizbollah built military posts right next to UNIFIL posts.

Since then, they have been sipping tea with Hizbollah, they witnessed the fatal kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in 2000 and refused to even help in the investigation, and they have failed miserably to live up to their mandate:

* Confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon;
* Restore international peace and security;
* Assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

In other words, they have been firm supporters of the terrorist Hizbollah organization and firm enemies of Israel (as well as Lebanon.) But Lebanon found them useful as well, because as long as they were in Southern Lebanon the Lebanese army could pretend that Hizbollah was not their problem.

Combine this with the fact that the UN refuses to declare Hizbollah a terrorist organization (perhaps they are a origami club?) and you have a completely immoral organization lecturing Israel about morality.

H/T Atlas Shrugs

As Jed Babbin writes:

The U.N.'s years-long record on the Israel-Lebanon border makes mockery of the term "peacekeeping." On page 155 of my book, "Inside the Asylum," is a picture of a U.N. outpost on that border. The U.N. flag and the Hezbollah flag fly side by side. Observers told me the U.N. and Hezbollah personnel share water and telephones, and that the U.N. presence serves as a shield against Israeli strikes against the terrorists.

This picture is all you need to know about the utterly sickening moral posture at the UN.

Canary in a coal mine

Once again Israel is expected to do what the civilized world tries so hard to avoid - tackle terror head-on.

Once again Israel will be the first to take on a new kind of warfare:

Where every single battle is a potential ambush
Where there is no front line
Where the enemy ignores the rules of war, but the army must adhere to them
Where the enemy maintains the legal fiction of not being an organized national army yet is fully supported and directed by sovereign nations
Where one side is unquestioningly doing the right thing but does not have the support of the world to actually win decisively

The lessons learned from this battle will translate to thousand of lives saved in future battles against Islamic terror, as the hypocrites from Europe act dismayed at Israeli actions yet they will eagerly study their methods.

Once again, Israel must do the right thing even while being criticized by the very people who will benefit most from this war. Secretly there is rejoicing in the European world capitals but publicly they must adhere to their dhimmified Eurabian worldview out of fear of the same terror that Israel must face daily.

Once again, Israeli blood is being shed so that the world will do a better job when the real Islamist world war starts.

Elder of Ziyon 24-hour Tzedakah Matching Challenge

Between now and Shabbos/Shabbat, for any money that you donate to one of the Israeli charities listed below, I will match it, up until we get to a total of $1000.

After you donate, copy your receipt and email it to elderchallenge-at-gmail.com . After Shabbos I will match your contributions to the charity or charities you chose. I will try to keep updated blog entries throughout the day showing a running total.

You can donate up until Shabbat in your time zone.

I also challenge other bloggers to make similar matching challenges to their readers. We're here in the blogosphere and people are reading - let's get the lurkers involved!

Here are the organizations you can donate to, all via the web:

BurgerIDF.org and PizzaIDF.org delivers great food and morale to the brave soldiers defending their land.

Zaka is the world famous organization that offers first response service to terror attacks.

American Friends of Magen David Adom.

Yad Sarah is bringing medical equipment to the northern communities that are under attack.

Friends of the IDF provides equipment and morale-boosting for the soldiers.

תזכו למצוות

(The email address will be disabled after the challenge is over.)
UPDATES: Here and Here - the challenge has been extended and expanded.

Results of Palestinian Public Opinion Poll 3-5 November 2004
An-Najah National University
Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies

If Israel withdraws from the Strip do you support or reject launching attacks against Israel from inside the Strip?
I strongly support 22.5 [Gaza Strip 30.2]
I support 33.8 [Gaza Strip 20.8]
I reject 26.5 [Gaza Strip 24.6]
I strongly reject 10.4 [Gaza Strip 17.6]
No opinion; I do not know 6.8 [Gaza Strip 6.8]

So 56.3% of Palestinian Arabs supported attacking Israel from Gaza at the time even after an Israeli withdrawal.

It's not like they didn't give adequate warning of their plans....

"Well, that wasn't there yesterday."

From Pixane.net:

Listened to an interesting audio blog post from Stuart Hughes, a journalist for the Beeb who is in Beirut now, covering the war. He woke up to find a larger-than-normal SUV in his hotel parking lot:
A new arrival in the parking lot next, to my hotel, in the form of a Lebanese Army rocket launcher, I came out to work this morning to find a camouflaged rocket launcher sitting in the car park, pointing at the sky, and I thought “Well, that wasn’t there yesterday”. I think that tells you everything you need to know about the situation here.

Whether or not the launcher is Lebanese army or Hezbollah (no pictures to tell the difference, and it might be a loaner to Hezbollah or perhaps simply stolen) — the fact that it’s parked next to a hotel housing journalists speaks volumes about the kinds of tactics used to ensure civilian casualties.

What, precisely, is Israel supposed to do? Sit back and let the rockets be launched? Attack the missile battery, and risk hitting a hotel full of journalists? I’m sure this launcher is positioned next to journalists for all of the cynical reasons I can imagine.

Also consider: unless Israel uses a large enough explosive charge to ignite the warhead in place and destroy the missiles without igniting their propulsion element, the damage will be even greater as the missile fuel ignites and the rockets launch. Short of sending somebody down there to manually disarm the missiles, it’s actually worse to underuse munitions in destroying these missiles.

My question is, why a hotel full of journalists don't feel this is newsworthy and only one of them mentions it in passing on his personal blog?

(H/T: Israellycool)

Iran boycotting "Zionist" products - like Pepsi and Calvin Klein

More idiocy from the Islamic Republic:

TEHRAN –– Iran on Wednesday launched a major campaign urging consumers to stop buying "Zionist" products, ranging from Coca-Cola and Pepsi soft drinks, to Calvin Klein clothing and Nestle food products.

"Pepsi stands for 'Pay Each Penny to Save Israel", viewers in the Islamic republic have been warned in an oft-repeated three-minute infomercial on state television, prompted by Israel's ongoing assault against the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

"Zionists are the biggest shareholders in the soft drinks industry, and each year they make billions of dollars for their colonialist aims," consumers with a thirst for fizz have been told. Coca-Cola is also not left unscathed by the new twist to the cola wars.

"This firm openly supports Israel and has even said that it is ready to allocate great deal of money to topple the Islamic republic," state television said.

Both Pepsi and Coca-Cola have factories in Iran, although state television gave no indication over whether their operations would be affected. (This may explain the cola boycott a bit more fully - EoZ)

A popular British high-street retailer, as well as a number of multinational firms, were also singled out for their links to the alleged international Jewish conspiracy to control the world. "Marks and Spencer has very close relations with the Israeli regime and one its primary aims is to help the development of the Israeli economy," the infomercial claimed.

"Nestle is a Swiss food processing firm which in 2000 announced that it will invest millions of dollars in Israel to build a factory there," it added, while neglecting to mention that Nestle also has a factory in Iran.

The world's largest chip maker Intel was also branded as "one of Israel's biggest supporters".

"Its first overseas branch was set up in Haifa in 1974. In 2000 it employed more that 4,000 Israelis. Its top managers have said that they are going to invest 6.5 billion dollars in Israel," would-be Intel customers have been told.

"McDonalds, Timberland, Revlon, Garnier, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and L'Oreal are only some of the firms which belong to the Zionist regime," state television said, before taking a swipe at what it said were less vigilant Arab nations.

"Unfortunately most of the streets of Arab nations are filled with commercials which advertise Israeli products. For each purchase, the money is converted into bullets piercing the chests of the Lebanese and Palestinian kids," it fumed. –– AFP

As a public service, I would like to add a few companies to Iran's list that do business in Israel:

Microsoft - better stop using Windows!
Motorola - all your cell phones are Zionist plants, recording your every move!
Digital Equipment
Sara Lee
IBM
General Motors
Holiday Inn
Hyatt
Cisco - how can Iran be on the Internet, anyway?
Johnson & Johnson
AT&T
Chase Manhattan
Citibank - they charge interest, anyway.
Compaq
Boeing
General Electric
Eastman Kodak

Oh, hell, just look at this page and this page - you will find lots and lots of companies to boycott.

Don't be hypocritical, Iran - better boycott them all!

Morality, collective punishment and collective responsibility

One of the favorite memes of Palestinian Arabs is the notion that Israel engages in "collective punishment." This is viewed as immoral and illegal and de facto wrong.

One can sympathize with this viewpoint. After all, one would naturally think that innocent people should not suffer for the crimes of others. The idea of people being individually responsible for their actions is a strong one (and, I would argue, a Western one.)

There is a flip side though that those who trot out this argument will never address: Do the Palestinian Arab people have any collective responsibility?

Not only must people act responsibly, but nations (and other groups of people) must as well. This is not an unreasonable expectation. It also makes sense that the larger group will be inconvenienced as a result of the criminals' actions.

If a nation decides to act aggressively against another, one cannot expect the victim to keep the same level of economic or diplomatic ties. Even if the first nation is dependent on a specific product or service of the second, and the people of the first nation will suffer from its loss, that doesn't mean that the second nation has any reason to take that into consideration.

In other words, the idea of "collective punishment" being inherently bad is not so cut and dried. The US didn't allow high-tech equipment to be exported to the Soviet Union in the 1970s, depriving them of most computers. Isn't that a form of collective punishment?

Let's look at another angle. One group of people votes to eradicate the other group of people. If the vote was 90%-10%, the second group has every right to defend itself - even if the 10% suffers.

What percentage of a people acting immorally makes collective punishment a moral choice in response? And if the threat to the second group is imminent or present, how should the second group react?

I spent the better part of two years on this blog carefully differentiating between the Palestinian Arab people and their corrupt, terrorist leaders. My theory was that for the better part of their existence, most ordinary Palestinian Arabs didn't care about geopolitics or land or occupation or nationhood - they only cared to be able to provide a safe and secure place to raise their families.

As a result of years of propaganda, though, it is hard to argue that anymore. I recently posted the results of a few polls of Palestinian Arabs and the number that support terror against Jews is not only a majority, but a large majority (depending on how the question was asked.) No matter how hard one tries to spin it, Israel's neighbors want to see it destroyed and the Jews dispersed or killed or subjugated. In other words, no matter what you think, most Palestinian Arabs are in fact immoral.

Does this mean that collective punishment is always justified? Of course not. I cannot see justification for purely punitive actions that serve no defensive purpose. I also admit to feeling uneasy at punitive actions designed to compel a population to act in certain ways. The sentiment may be correct but the probability of success is rather low, IMHO.

So while deliberate collective punishment is problematic, there are fewer moral qualms about doing defensive actions like striking at terrorists in ways that can peripherally hurt the population at large. The complicity of the host population to the terror is a significant factor. Going after hostage takers, for example in Beslan, obviously requires more care than going after a terrorist in a building where the other people are aware of and condone his activities.

It is a tricky ethical problem trying to minimize casualties while trying to aggressively eliminate a threat to your own people. It may an ethical problem that the Palestinian Arabs do not spend one minute worrying about, but Israel should not take morality lessons from those who celebrate murderers.

Even so, it is worthwhile not only to explore the parameters of not only collective punishment but also collective guilt and collective responsibility. Taking responsibility for one's actions is what distinguishes a mature person from an immature one - and taking responsibility for one's people is an even greater level. It is a shame that Palestinian Arabs have shown no ability to even take that first step.

And it is a bigger shame that most of the world community doesn't expect them to.

One of the Israeli accidental bombings

Here is a rocket launcher:

Here is a water driller:

Beirut Spring asks sarcastically whether you can tell the difference between them, because Israel bombed two water drillers in a Christian neighborhood and apparently thought it was a rocket launcher.

I would guess that from a thousand feet up, they look very similar. And I would rather see Israel bomb the truck (apparently no civilians died) and play it safe rather than let it go.

Also this came after Israel dropped leaflets asking Lebanese not to drive certain types of trucks so Israel would have a better chance to target Hizbollah weapons smuggling trucks - and not kill civilians.

Beirut Spring may have been trying to show Israelis to be bumbling idiots, but to me it proves their unprecedented morality during an especially difficult war against those who use innocents as human shields. They hit a seemingly legitimate target, accurately, without human life being lost.

All mistakes should be like this.

Pigs are flying - Arab Times editorial

H/T Pastorius:

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

PEOPLE of Arab countries, especially the Lebanese and Palestinians, have been held hostage for a long time in the name of “resisting Israel.” Arab governments have been caught between political obligations and public opinion leading to more corruption in politics and economics. Forgetting the interests of their own countries the Hamas Movement and Hezbollah have gone to the extent of representing the interests of Iran and Syrian in their countries. These organizations have become the representatives of Syria and Iran without worrying about the consequences of their action.

Recently Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier and bombed Israeli settlements with locally manufactured missiles. Soon Hezbollah followed suit, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. Both these organizations claimed they had kidnapped Israeli soldiers to exchange them for Arab prisoners who are being held in Israeli jails. The fact that Hamas and Hezbollah gave the same reason for kidnapping Israeli soldiers gives us a glimpse their agenda, which is similar to the one followed by Syria and Iran in their conflict with the United States.

While the people of Palestine and Lebanon are paying the price of this bloody conflict, the main players, who caused this conflict, are living in peace and asking for more oil from Arab countries to support the facade of resisting Israel. With the Palestinian Authority close to collapse and the Lebanese government beginning to give up responsibility for what is happening in its territory, Saudi Arabia has been forced to come out of its diplomatic routine and indirectly hold Hezbollah responsible for what is happening Lebanon.

Without mentioning Hezbollah by name Saudi Arabia blamed certain “elements” inside Lebanon for the violence with Israel and said “it is necessary to make a distinction between legitimate resistance and uncalculated adventures adopted by certain elements within Lebanon without the knowledge of legal Lebanese authorities.” While reiterating its support for Palestinian and Lebanese resistance against Israeli occupation, Saudi Arabia has clearly said it is against irresponsible adventures undertaken by certain elements in the region without consulting the legal authorities putting all Arab nations at risk. The Kingdom has also said “these elements must take responsibility for their irresponsible actions and they alone should end the crisis created by them.”
This angry response from Saudi Arabia has politically isolated Hezbollah and Hamas besides holding them responsible for their actions.

This attitude of Saudi Arabia, which has been doing all it can to protect the Arab world from Israeli aggression, is enough to unmask the adventurers, who have violated the rights of their own countries and tried put their people under the guardianship of foreign countries like Iran and Syria. A battle between supporters and opponents of these adventurers has begun, starting from Palestine to Tehran passing through Syria and Lebanon. This war was inevitable as the Lebanese government couldn’t bring Hezbollah within its authority and make it work for the interests of Lebanon. Similarly leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has been unable to rein in the Hamas Movement.

Unfortunately we must admit that in such a war the only way to get rid of “these irregular phenomena” is what Israel is doing. The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community.

While this is hardly pro-Israel, it shows some clear thinking that is sorely lacking in the Arab world. More importantly, it shows that the Arab world does not have to be held hostage to their terrorists - it is all too rare to see any real criticism in the Arab world towards the extremist elements.

One can hope that what an editor says clearly in Kuwait is in fact what many Arabs are thinking in Jordan or Egypt. And one can hope that this would empower them to spit out the terrorists from their midst, and then act as real partners for peace.

Arab death porn

I noticed a number of Arab blogs and websites, while arguing that Israel is barbarian and pure evil and all that crap, will use lots of images of dead children (don't click if you don't want to see dead kids.) The sources are rarely given but the pictures themselves zoom through the terror-supporting blogosphere, and people such as Juan Cole link to them.

For some reason, the West doesn't need to see pictures of dead people to get upset. We didn't need to see pictures of the bodies on the ground outside Ground Zero - the pictures of the planes smashing in the buildings were enough.

Why is this?

Let's ask a couple of other questions. If it is a cultural thing that Arabs are just used to seeing pictures of dead people, how come there are so few pictures of Arabs who have been killed by other Arabs?

And, finally - why do Arab terrorists like to take videos of decapitations?

The answer is that these photos aren't meant to inform - they is the Arab equivalent to pornography. Both the pictures of dead kids and the videos of chopping heads off are meant to incite hatred - against Jews, against America, whatever. Combine that with a culture that celebrates death, that proudly pretends to desire death (just not for the leaders, only the hapless martyrs), and you have photos whose entire purpose is to create lust - lust for revenge, lust for murder.

There's also a faux macho component to these photos - just like insecure men flock to hardcore porn to make themselves feel superior to women, so do Jew-haters and Arabs surreptitiously enjoy the hardcore sight of dead kids to make themselves feel a little less self-hate for their own, purposeful and deliberate terror attacks aimed at civilians.

The pictures are never shown in the context of "oh this is so sad." They are without exception shown as a means to create strong emotion without having to think about context or motive or anything else that could end up showing the truth: that by any objective measure, the Arabs are far more depraved than the people they are trying to demonize. (This guy is so thrilled to have some dead-kid pictures that he repeats each picture 5 times on his website!)

Not once will you see Israelis celebrate the deaths of Lebanese or Palestinian Arab kids. Once again, the only people who gain anything by the death of Arab kids are Arabs themselves. And too many of them are more than happy to show off their latest bonanza of pornographic pictures (whether they are real or not) on the Internet.

Genocide? Ethnic cleansing? No, just Arabs killing Arabs

The PalArab self-death count is now at 32, with the latest additions:

At approximately 14:10 on Sunday, 16 July 2006, masked gunmen traveling in a car fired at Mohammad Zaki Dahalan, a 24-year old member of the Preventive Security Apparatus. He was hit by several bullets in the chest and abdomen as he was standing near his house in the Jorit El-Aqad area in Khan Yunis. He was taken to Naser Hospital for treatment, but died shortly after arrival in the hospital.

In a related development at approximately 16:00 on the same day, a number of Dahlan's friends and colleagues gathered near his house and fired bullets and threw bombs at the house of Dr. Walid Amer, a lecturer in the Islamic University and a senior figure in Hamas. No injuries were reported in the house, which sustained material damages to the windows and outside walls.

Yesterday afternoon, a guard was killed at the house of a Preventive Security officer, Nabil Tammous, and two others were injured when unknown gunmen detonated explosives in the officer's house in Naser Quarter in Gaza City. The house was partially destroyed.

And the world headlines screamed "Genocide! House demolitions! Ethnic cleansing! Nazi-like methods!"

Oh, sorry. The world ignores Arabs killing Arabs, because that doesn't fit in with the meme of Israel being the source of all the problems and terror and bloodshed in the Middle East - the latest proponent of this absurd view being none other than CNN's Lou Dobbs.

Hint to Lou - Between the Lebanese civil war, the Hama massacre, Black September, the Iran/Iraq war, the North Yemen civil war (complete with Egyptian chemical weapons) and the internal Palestinian Arabs killing each other, the amount of bloodshed attributable to Israel is a drop in the bucket.

Clueless Reuters Caption of the Day

Supporters of Lebanon protest outside the Israeli consulate in New York, July 18, 2006.

Let's take a closer look at the poster in the background. I recognize it from a previous blog post where there was a similar protest at Ground Zero:

These protesters are not supporters of Lebanon - they are crazed Muslim fanatics who want to subjugate the world! They are from the "Islamic Thinkers Society" and they represent the vilest, most violent Muslims on the planet. The only Lebanon they support is a Jihadist Lebanon with nary a Christian in sight, except to pay the Jizya.

Here they are peacefully protesting a cartoon and threatening to exterminate all of Europe:

Reading material

There have been many great articles and postings over the past few days. Here some good ones:

Eurasia.net - Iran talks tough, but
Treppenwitz - A difficult lesson
Soccer Dad - Cohen's mistake
Ha'aretz - New army of women suicide bombers (what I would call a "target-rich environment")
National Review - Eradication first before diplomacy, also Fight to the Finish

Welcome also to the many, many readers who came from the Truth Laid Bear. I feel guilty because I am not an Israeli blogger as TTLB indicates, but I hope that I have something to contribute anyway.

Arab American organizations support Hizbollah

Here's the press release from the Congress of Arab-American Organizations in an article at the Arab American News:

"CAAO members strongly condemn the indiscriminate killing of civilians, especially of children," said CAAO Chair Abed Hammoud. "Over the past few days, the Israeli Army has launched an aggressive campaign in Gaza, then expanded this campaign of terror on a more severe level into Lebanon. So far, the U.S government has justified and supported the Israeli crimes under the guise of 'self defense', although Israeli leaders have bluntly stated that the objective of their bombings by air, land, and sea is to destroy the country of Lebanon and its infrastructure and collectively punish its people."

"CAAO members are appalled that, while the international community has condemned the Israeli actions and called for a cessation of its criminal behavior, our own government is not only supporting the killing of hundreds of civilians, but it is also encouraging the systematic destruction of two blooming democracies in the Middle East," said Osama Siblani, head of media relations for CAAO. "U.S. officials also do not seem to care that tens of thousands of the civilians under attack by Israel are U.S. citizens currently visiting Lebanon on vacation.".....
Alluding to an incorrect version of an eye for an eye, Imam Mohamed Ali Elahi said that the Israelis are "making millions blind, just for two Israeli eyes."

Even Palestinian Arabs would mouth words of condemnation when their co-patriots blew up innocent Jews in Israel. These Arab-Americans, on the other hand, don't have a single word of condemnation for Hizbollah's kidnapping, nor for rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. They have plenty of time to lie and claim that Israeli leaders have specified a goal of destroying Lebanon.

Of course, this is not the first time that Arab Americans have publicly supported Hizbollah. And this link has the classic quote:

I have never been to the South of Lebanon until my recent trip earlier this month. I went from Beirut all the way to the border in the South. I want all of the American officials to know that I did not see a single person with a firearm from Beirut all the way to the border, except at one Lebanese Army checkpoint. What I have seen calls for us to be proud: people living their lives, smoking the water pipe, playing cards, watching their kids play on both sides of the border without threat! So why are you calling Hizbullah a terrorist organization, and why do you want to take their arms? I didn’t see any arms.”

It is mind-blowing that the culture of death and lies can flourish in the United States.

Iranian hate rhetoric - bluster or strategy?

Yesterday, the Iranian parliament speaker spoke:

The Iranian parliament speaker said on Tuesday the war against Israel has only just begun and there is nowhere in Israel safe from Hezbollah attacks.

“The war has just begun, today is the day of resistance, today is the day of liberation of Palestine and there will be no safe spot in the occupied territories (Israel) anymore from Hezbollah attacks,” Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel said at a anti-Israeli gathering in the Palestine Square in downtown Tehran.

“The day has come when everybody returns home, the day when Palestinians return home, return to the land of their origins and its is also the day when the Israelis have to return to the countries where they originally came from,” the speaker added.

Thousands of Iranians attended the state-organized gathering and declared their readiness to be dispatched to Lebanon to fight against Israel.

“We call on the United States and the West to cut their support for the Zionist regime, otherwise there would never ever be peace and reconciliation with over 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide,” the speaker said.

Hadad-Adel, who is head of the Abadgaran (Development) party which currently dominates parliament and of which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a leading member, once again declared Iran’s full solidarity with Lebanon and the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah.

“There will be no help which we would not render to Lebanon and the resistance (Hezbollah),” the speaker said.

He compared Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and said that ”the Ayatollah’s blood was running in Nasrallah’s veins.”

“Inshallah (so God wills), we will soon hold our thankfulness prayers in Qods (Jerusalem),” Hadad-Adel said.

Iran has ratcheted up its non-stop Israel bashing in the past week, with many daily speeches inciting the Muslim world to war, even during speeches about other topics. What interests me about this speech is that it could be interpreted two ways.

So far, even though everyone knows that Iran calls the shots for Hizbollah, Iran has publicly made it appear that they only support Hizbollah but are not the ones making the decisions. Otherwise, Iran would be admitting that they declared war on Israel, something they are not prepared to do.

But this speech can be interpreted as more than just support, rather as a description of Iranian plans for how Hizbollah should act. This comes very close to admitting that Hizbollah is an Iranian proxy.

The speaker added another twist of rabid, slobbering hate, from a different article:

"The Americans should know that as long as this filthy tumor lies in the body of the Islamic world, Muslims will not stop hating America," Hadad-Adel told thousands of regime supporters. "Either stop this support or do not expect any peace with the Islamic world."

This is almost comical, as he pathetically tries to convince the West that Israel is the only reason radical Muslims hate them. He also puts in a hint of the old "Arab street" (now "Muslim street") argument that has been used for decades as a blunt instrument to get Western powers to bend to Muslim will. (Not to mention he vastly exaggerates the number of Muslims in the world as a means of scaring the West.)

Because he knows that there is no shortage of Western dhimmis who are eager to believe his arguments and to submit to second-class status under an worldwide Islamic 'ummah.

Yet another example of Arab projection

A Palestinian Arab blog called "Sabbah's Blog" is indignant over a few wire service photos: (sorry, the permalink doesn't work, this is a link to the main blog)

Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006.

He comments:

Dear Lebanese/Palestinian/Arab/Muslim/Christians - Kids,
Die with love.
Yours,
Israeli Kids

Hate, disgust, extreme…. I don’t know what word can describe these photos.

And they say that we are teaching our kids hate to Israelis!

He then goes on to a popular Palestinian Arab pastime - showing gruesome photos of dead children.

What righteous indignation! What a defense of the Lebanese!

What a crock!

Palestinian Arabs have a long and colorful history of celebrating the murders of innocents. Hell, they have a long history of murdering innocents. Just today, a crowd showed great happiness in front of cameras while playing with the body parts of a dead Israeli soldier. Palestinian Arabs celebrated 9/11, they created shrines to the Sbarro's pizza bombing, they put up posters of their heroes the murderers, they name sports stadiums and town squares after people who specifically targeted children, they encourage hteir own children to die as martyrs and hand out sweets when the martyrs manage to kill a few Jewish kids along the way.

Moreover, Palestinian Arabs were responsible for the murders of tens of thousands of Lebanese Christians during the civil war there. They killed more innocent women and children, on purpose, than Israel ever will accidentally. The sudden pretense of pain on behalf of the Lebanese is more than a little hypocritical on behalf of this suddenly moral blogger.

Here's where the fun psycho-analysis comes in.

Ask the children in the pictures who the rockets are earmarked for, and ten out of ten will answer the same thing: The Hizbollah murderers who are shooting rockets at these very children.

Who live in the same town that is on the front line, within reach of the shortest-range terrorist missiles.

Which are aimed squarely at these very children.

Not one will say they want to see innocent Lebanese children die. Not one of these girls would even crack a smile when they see the gruesome pictures that Sabbah likes to plaster all over. Not one of them would dream of celebrating the deaths of children the way that Sabbah's people do routinely.

In other words, Sabbah is projecting the behaviors and attitudes of his own disgusting people onto these Jewish kids for whom such thoughts are utterly foreign and repulsive.

One of the goals of the Hizbollah thugs is to make Israelis - specifically, Jewish Israelis - feel helpless. Whoever asked these girls to write messages on the rockets that will ultimately save them from terror was a genius. Israel changed the natural feelings of helplessness into action, into involving everyone in the nation to be a part of the solution.

The solution that will wipe the terrorists off the face of the planet.

UPDATE (7/1): I noticed that Slate just linked here, implying that the message is quite the opposite of what I am saying. But since you're reading, look closely at what the handwriting on the rocket says (I didn't notice this initially):

Dear Nazralah (sic)
From Israel
and Danielle

I wholeheartedly support sending personal messages to terrorists in this fashion. And it neatly proves that I was right, notwithstanding the funny Daily Show piece.

Whoops!

Hizbollah (via their partners at Al-Jazeerah) claimed earlier today that they had shot down an Israeli airplane, and that they had the plane parts to prove it.

It turns out that the parts they saw fall out of the sky were from their best Iranian Zelzal missile (reportedly 200 km range). Israeli planes struck a truck carrying these missiles en route to a genocidal attempt by Hizbollah to mass murder Jews, perhaps in Tel Aviv.

As a result of the bombing, one of the missiles flew up in the air and then came crashing down again - and that was what the Arabs saw.

Of course, a Syrian commenter on the Jerusalem Post article linked to above is certain that Hezbollah really did shoot down an IAF plane - with a Katyusha. Showing once again the amazing ability of Arabs to disregard facts when they interfere with their own fantasies.

France's disproportionate response in 2004

This happened less than two years ago:

Ivory Coast’s latest crisis began when Gbagbo’s military broke a more than year-old cease-fire in the country’s 2-year-old civil war with airstrikes on the rebel-held north.
Warplanes bombed a French peacekeeping post in the north on Nov. 6, killing nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker and plunging the country into chaos.
France wiped out Ivory Coast’s newly built-up small air force on the tarmac. The retaliation unleashed a violent loyalist uprising, with Gbagbo-allied Young Patriots popular militia leading looting, burning and attacks that targeted the French.
No deaths have been reported among French or other non-African foreigners targeted by the militia. France says attackers raped several expatriates.
The Associated Press and hospitals confirmed at least 17 deaths in the rioting, all or most among Ivorians.
Gbagbo’s government claims 62 of its supporters were killed, many of them when French forces opened fire on anti-French demonstrations in Abidjan.

France initially denied shooting protesters, but admitted it a couple of weeks later:

France has acknowledged that its troops in Ivory Coast killed about 20 people in early November during clashes with supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo.

A French defence ministry spokesman said the victims included both civilians and Ivorian soldiers.

The Ivory Coast government has put the number of Ivorians killed at 60 and condemned the French actions.

I don't know enough about the situation then to say whether the French actions were justified, but killing 20-60 people and destroying an entire air force in response to the killings of 9 sounds disproportionate to me! Why, it is a ratio of up to 6-1! And innocent civilians lost their lives!

Amazingly, the UN didn't condemn the French then.

Today, Chirac went beyond the "disproportionate" tripe and called Israeli actions "aberrant."

Arab life really is cheaper - to Arabs

Terror apologists in Britain are up in arms over a statement made by a British columnist and actress on the BBC:

Press release: CAABU condemns Maureen Lipman’s comments on the BBC

The director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), Chris Doyle, has written to the BBC to condemn the comments on the BBC television programme "This Week" by leading British columnist Maureen Lipman.

Unchallenged by the presenter, Andrew Neil, Lipman commented on the situation in the Middle East and denied that the Israeli actions were disproportionate.

"What’s proportion got to do with it. It’s not about proportion, is it? Human life is not cheap to the Israelis. And human life on the other side is quite cheap actually because they strap bombs to people and send them to blow themselves up."

The idea that somehow Arabs, whether Palestinians or Lebanese, do not value human life as much as anyone else is disgraceful.

In the letter, Doyle wrote:

"Is it acceptable that what most people would consider a racist comment is merely allowed to pass like this? It is simply outrageous. The comments were made in the context of discussing proportionality; therefore, implicitly she is saying that you could not measure proportion because there was no equivalence between an Israeli and an Arab life. All Arabs, like all other people, value human life.

Of course, Lipman is entirely correct. Arab life is, by their own definition, cheaper than Jewish lives.

Why else would they be asking to trade 1000 Arab prisoners for 1 Israeli?
Why else would they be killing their own civilians on the same scale that Israel is?
Why else would they produce TV shows encouraging their children to want to die?
Why else would they celebrate whenever they kill Jewish civilians in Israel, while no Jews celebrate the death of Arab civilians? (Here's Hamas' celebration of the Hebrew University massacre:

Why do they teach Palestinian Arab mothers to rejoice when their sons die while killing Jews?
Why does the Arab culture even consider the idea of honor killings?
When have the Arabs ever mobilized an entire country for the sake of a single soldier's life?

In fact, the one nation that seems to care the most about Arab lives is Israel. Israel spends enormous effort and money to minimize civilian deaths in its operations. Israel is still sending medical aid and food and electricity and water to Gaza even while at war with its people who overwhelmingly want to see Israel destroyed.

It is because of Israel that the Palestinian Arab mortality rate in the territories dropped a huge amount from 1967 to 2000 and the Palestinian Arab life expectancy shot up in the same time period. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs are alive today because of Israel that would have been dead or never born had Jordan and Egypt kept the territories in 1967.

Above all - why do Arab terrorists like to hide their activities and weapons among the Arab civilians that you pretend that they love so much? It is because they themselves know that Israel values Arab lives more than Arabs do!

Mr. Doyle, as someone who claims to value Arab life, can you provide me with any press release or interview where you condemned Hamas and Hizbollah for hiding among civilians and endangering their lives?

So yes, Mr. Doyle. Arab life is cheap - to Arabs and to people like you. And because people like you blame the Jews for this phenomenon rather than do any serious self-examination about the psychotic culture of death in many Arab societies, you are part of the problem.

PalArab self-death count now at 30

Those people who love wailing and shooting at funerals have added seven more self-inflicted deaths since my last update. These include:

A 12-year old girl who died from a PalArab rocket;
A 45-year old man who was shot during a wedding celebration;
A 16 year old boy who was shot during a funeral celebration;
3 killed in a Clan Clash®;
and one more who was killed in a different Clan Clash®.

So we now have 30 PalArab civilians killed by other Palestinian Arabs since Israel's incursion began.

None of which will ever be mentioned on CNN or the BBC. Because Arabs killing Arabs are like Israelis dying in auto accidents - it is just par for the course and hardly newsworthy.

Unless they blame the Jews, of course.

Is there a Trojan horse waiting?

As many people have already concluded, Iranian fingerprints are all over this Hizbollah operation. The Iranian missile attack on the Israeli navy boat as well as the Iranian rocket attack this morning in Haifa shows that pretty clearly.

What worries me is that Hezbollah/Iran are not yet showing all their cards. The initial attack was not just a kidnapping, but also an ambush. If this morning's rockets were Fajrs, their range extends far beyond Haifa. And from all accounts, Israel has not managed to kill too many terrorists yet by air.

Almost inevitably, Israel will commit ground troops to this operation. So far, Israel has been caught by surprise at least twice. Iranian war strategists are far more sophisticated than the enemies Israel has faced so far. And the Muslim definition of "victory" at this time is to inflict heavy casualties, not necessarily to win. Iran may also have a completely different agenda in which this entire theatre is a diversion - or bait.

I am no expert, but under these circumstances I hope that Israel is fully aware of what she is getting into before starting the ground war.

Map of Hezbollah and Hamas rocket coverage

Based on the reports that the terror rockets that hit Haifa this morning were Iranian Fajrs, and the report from al-Sharq al-Awsat that Iran has provided also 150 km. range missiles and rockets, here is my graphic of what parts of Israel are under direct threat from the terrorists.

One can draw one's own conclusions about the wisdom of giving up control of territory when the result looks like this.

GoozNews: Iranian whining hits new levels

Iran has been increasing its insane rhetoric about Israel even more, if that is possible. Here's a sampling of the latest GoozNews:

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said, Israelis aggressive behavior has no conformity with any logic or principle.

Imam's grandson Seyed Hassan Khomeini said here Saturday the Zionist regime has proved that it is not committed to any international and human laws.

Ahmadinejad said the Zionist regime arrests and tortures defenseless people adding the powers, who claim to support democracy, independence and sovereignty are undermining all these cases in Lebanon and Palestine.

In a ceremony to open the traffic tunnel in Tehran which was held before a number of country's officials and foreign envoys on Saturday, President Ahmadinejad said, "The Zionists think that they are victims of Hitler, but they act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan."

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel here Saturday said that as an Islamic country Iran should enter the world equations, given its advanced technology....Turning to the crimes of the usurper Zionist regime in Gaza and Lebanon, he said that today technology has turned into an effective weapon in the hands of the Zionist vampires to shed the blood of ordinary people.

What you can do

UPDATE 2: See my sidebar about the Elder Challenge - donate to the named charities and get matching funds!

BurgerIDF.org and PizzaIDF.org delivers great food and morale to the brave soldiers defending their land.

Zaka is the world famous organization that offers first response service to terror attacks.

American Friends of Magen David Adom.

Treppenwitz has much more, both monetarily and free, that you can do to help.

UPDATE:
Yad Sarah is bringing medical equipment to the north. (H/T Muqata.)

Friends of the IDF provides equipment and morale-boosting (H/T View from a Height)

(To all the Truth Laid Bear visitors - sorry, but I cannot claim to be an Israeli blogger. I'm in the US.)

UPDATE 2: See my sidebar about the Elder Challenge - donate to the named charities and get matching funds!

Islamic leader of Australia: Holocaust a Zionist lie

But wait...it gets better!

THE nation's Islamic leader, Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, has dismissed the Holocaust as a 'Zionist lie' in a series of fiery sermons in which he also lashed out at the West and the US-led occupation of Iraq.

Revelations that the nation's most senior Islamic cleric has been openly preaching extreme messages to his mainstream followers will be a major setback for the Howard Government.

Sheik Hilali is a senior member of the Prime Minister's Muslim advisory board.
In a February sermon, Sheik Hilali attacked the Western press for being afraid to admit that the Holocaust was "a ploy made by the Zionists".

He also trivialised the number of Jews killed by the Nazis.

"What's that six million all about? Is there six million?", said the Egyptian-born cleric, before calling on Muslims worldwide to boycott Danish goods over the publication of cartoons that offended Muslims for their depiction of the prophet Mohammed.

"The West say we have freedom and freedom of speech," he told thousands of his followers on February 3. "But journalism stops and shuts up when it discusses the burning of the Jews - the Holocaust -- the Zionist lie and the industry that the West deals in."

In another Friday sermon, delivered two weeks ago at Lakemba Mosque - titled The Zionists Murder Palestinians and the World Watches and the Muslims Are Silent - he called the US the breeders of oppression and labelled Israel a "cancer that is planted in the heart of the Ummah (Muslim community)".

Yes - this is one of those "moderate Muslims" we are always hearing about! At least, as long as he's not speaking Arabic.

Chirac is a disgrace

Here is part of the current Ha'aretz news ticker:

17:24 Man seriously hurt when rocket hits Galilee village of Yesod Hama`alah (Channel 10)
17:20 Hezbollah anti-aircraft guns fire at IDF helicopters along Lebanon border (Channel 2)
16:31 Home Front Command to residents of Acre, Carmiel: Stay in bomb shelters (Haaretz)
16:26 Qassam rocket lands in western Negev; no injuries reported (Haaretz)
15:58 Three Katyusha rockets land in Kiryat Shmona; no injuries reported (Haaretz)
15:21 2 people moderately hurt, 8 lightly wounded in Katyusha strike in Safed (Haaretz)
14:49 Four Katyusha rockets hit Peki`in, several casualties reported (Haaretz)
14:45 Several casualties in Hatzor Haglilit lightly wounded by Katyusha rockets (Channel 1)
14:40 Three Katyusha rockets hit central Nahariya; several people treated for shock (Ch. 1)
14:25 Safed mayor: State should declare emergency situation here due to rocket fire (Ch. 1)
14:18 Two people lightly injured by rocket hits in Nahariya (Haaretz)
14:17 At least three people hurt, residential building damaged by rocket in Safed (Haaretz)
14:16 French President Chirac: Israel`s attack on Lebanon is `disproportionate` (Reuters)
14:12 Initial report: No casualties in latest Katyusha attack on Nahariya (Haaretz)
14:10 Katyusha rockets slam into Nahariya; sirens heard across the town (Haaretz)
14:08 Five Katyusha rockets land in Safed (Haaretz)
13:39 Five fires raging in Naharia environs following Katyusha hits (Haaretz)
13:18 Qassam rocket lands in an open area in western Negev; no casualties, damage (Itim)
13:06 Rockets near Naharia land in open areas (Haaretz)
12:53 Katyusha rockets hit Nahariya; no immediate report of casualties (Haaretz)

With enemies like these...

One of the overarching ironies of the Israel/Palestinian Arab conflict is the fact that Israel helps the day-to-day life of Palestinian Arabs more than any other nation on the planet. For all the Jew-hating morons who love to write articles about Israel's supposed "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide" against "Palestinians", Israel - even when it is at war with them - still bends over backwards to help the people who want to see it destroyed.

From Vital Perspective:

Despite ongoing terror attacks from Gaza aimed at the civilian population of Israel, supplies continue to be transferred to the Palestinians through several crossings. Today, reports are that over 30 containers and 140 trucks brought in the following supplies:

1080 tons of grains
800 tons of sugar
140 tons of dairy products
520 tons of flour
420 tons of fruit
169 tons of oil
120 tons of salt
160 tons of rice
40 tons of eggs
100 tons of meat and fish
7 truckloads of medicine and medical equipment
Several heavy duty generators
25,000 liters of chloride
350,000 liters of diesel
50,000 liters of gasoline
100 tons of cooking gas

People on the ground tell us that water and electricity supply remains uninterrupted.

As I've said before, never in history has a nation cared so much about the civilian population of its enemy than Israel is today.

And the final irony is that Israel's enemies truly do intend to perform a complete and total ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Jews in the Middle East.

Photo bias

When looking through Yahoo's list of wire service photos from the Middle East, the ratio of pictures evoking sympathy for Arab civilians outnumbers those that show Israeli civilians under siege by a ratio of about 30-1.

Most of the pictures from the Israeli side show soldiers preparing to do battle with large weapons; most of the pictures from the Lebanese and Gaza side show families and civilians "inspecting damage." One would get the clear impression that Israel is a warmongering state hell-bent on punishing innocent people.

Any moment now....

Any moment now, I'm sure that those noble folks who volunteered to be human shields to protect Saddam's Iraq are flying to Israel as we speak to protect Israeli citizens from Hizbollah rockets. These are, after all, fearless people with a strong sense of justice, who are against all forms of aggression.

Any moment now, I expect we'll be hearing about peace rallies against Hizbollah's unprovoked attack, where the masses of moderate Arabs will be speaking for justice.

Any moment now, op-ed pages will be filled with strong words from famous leftists and peace activists strongly condemning Hizbollah, and Lebanon for not acting against them in accordance with UN resolutions.

All these things are imminent, I just know it. Because these people truly care about all humanity.

UPDATE: I've got to give credit where credit is due. Israel's Peace Now members will spend the weekend in the north in order to support residents on the frontline. Saudi Arabia has rebuked Hizbollah.

Eliminating the root cause

I heard on the radio tonight that the US was doing everything they could to pressure Hizbollah to release the soldiers.

This is laughable. Even if the US could pressure "moderate" Arab nations like Jordan to help out, no Western nation is going to convince any Islamist government (Iran, Hizbollah, Hamas) to do anything, directly or indirectly.

And the US is not going to enter a third war without a serious provocation.

Yet the US, and the West, has one weapon that can solve many, many problems without spilling any blood. It won't be easy but it would be far better to do this sooner rather than later.

Cut off all economic ties with any state that supports Islamist terror. More importantly, cut off any ties with any state that trades with any state that supports Islamist terror.

The US needs to say to Europe, to the third world and to everyone else: You are either with us or against us. If this means another oil boycott, so be it - we can survive without them far better than they can survive without us.

Islamist ideology cannot and will not be changed. No charismatic Islamic leader is going to show up and prove to the terrorists that they are wrong according to the Koran. No one in the Islamic world is going to face down the Islamists. The hope that Islam can modernize is a false hope that comes from not being willing to face the problem head on.

And, I hate to say it, but one cannot soundly defeat a fragmented enemy militarily. You may be able to destroy the Taliban or Hamas or Hizbollah, but you cannot defeat Islamism in the field of war. When the war is asymmetric, where the people down the block from you can one day blow up a building with easily-obtained materials, one can never declare victory.

But the enemy is thoroughly and completely dependent on the West - for our technology, for our petrodollars, for every material need they have, including their weapons. Without money, without our money, they will change from a threat to world pace to a nuisance. They won't disappear but enough of them will happily back the winning horse and turn their backs on the terrorist leaders.

The US' major strength is not its military - it is its sheer economic might. It is past time we use it correctly.