Netanyahu's peace plan

The Financial Times publishes an extremely skeptical interview of Binyamin Netanyahu where he outlines his peace plan with Palestinian Arabs. I have italicized the bias and bolded the actual plan:

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu grabs a green marker and jumps from his seat to sketch a map of the West Bank on a whiteboard. With vigorous strokes, the former Israeli prime minister and current leader of the rightwing Likud party outlines his plan for tackling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What emerges is not what the Palestinians and almost the entire international community have in mind, which is a contiguous Palestinian state that follows broadly the borders in place before the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation. Instead, Mr Netanyahu wants to see the West Bank divided into a collection of disconnected economic zones with dedicated business projects.

The ancient town of Jericho, for instance, should capitalise on its proximity to the Jordan River to attract Baptist tourists from the US – a location which the hawkish leader of the Israeli opposition says is “easily worth tens of thousands of jobs”.

The Palestinians, Mr Netanyahu adds, would be allowed to hold on to their population centres. Other parts of the West Bank, such as the Judean desert and the Jordan Valley, should not leave Israeli control: “These areas are very significant for us because they are our strategic security belt,” he says.

Mr Netanyahu says he does not want to stop the current peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. But he would shift the emphasis away from a comprehensive settlement aimed at the creation of a Palestinian state towards practical steps designed to bolster living standards in the West Bank. “It is not so much that peace brings prosperity – it is that prosperity brings peace,” he says.

Such hawkish views, which run counter to current Israeli policy, infuriate Palestinian leaders, who reject Mr Netanyahu’s plan as an attempt to confine them into Bantustans – partially self-governing areas.

They may also exasperate many of Israel’s allies abroad, which overwhelmingly support the idea of an independent – and contiguous – Palestinian state.

Mr Netanyahu does not have the opportunity to put his plans into practice quite yet. For the moment, he has to contend with the indignities of life as an ordinary legislator in a tiny office.

It is from this modest perch that Mr Netanyahu has watched Israel’s current political crisis unfold, beginning with the publication of new corruption allegations against Ehud Olmert and his resignation as Israeli prime minister, right up to the current struggle of Tzipi Livni, his designated successor, to form a new government.

He makes clear that a second Netanyahu-led government would be guided by much the same worldviews that turned him into such a polarising figure in the first place: a Reaganesque belief in low taxes, small government and free markets, coupled with a Bushian commitment to defeat “radical Islam” as the shared enemy of Israel, the US and Europe.

Resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians – the focus of both Mr Olmert’s and Ms Livni’s attention – is a second-order issue for the Likud leader: “The issue for me is not the Palestinian problem. I think that conflict has been replaced by the battle between radical Islam and the western world,” he says.

Handing back control of the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the Palestinians as part of a peace deal, argues Mr Netanyahu, would simply strengthen the hand of Israel’s Iranian foe. “Any area we withdraw from will be taken over by Iran and its proxies,” he claims, pointing to the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, last year. “Both Lebanon and Gaza have become Iranian bases, and they would get a third one if we retreat from the West Bank.”

With the bias against Netanyahu dripping from the FT's pages, a reader would be tempted to dismiss Netanyahu's plans as just the ravings of an extremist lunatic.

Why, exactly, is emphasizing the ability for Palestinian Arabs to build their own economy - independent of Israel, to which it is now completely dependent - considered "hawkish?" What exactly is "rightwing" about emphasizing improving the lives of ordinary PalArabs to be much better than they are now after 15 years of a failed "peace plan" and roadmap to an inevitable - and inevitable failure - of a state? Why is it considered beyond the pale for an Israeli leader to prioritize the safety of Israelis?

(The "bantustan" argument is also absurd. The different economic areas would be no more disconnected than Manhattan is from Brooklyn, where oppressed New Yorkers are forced not only to go through manned checkpoints - but they have to pay for the privilege!)

Human rights for Palestinian Arabs, who have been screwed by the entire world for decades, are important. Those who are stuck in so-called "refugee camps" in Lebanon and Syria and Jordan should be integrated as full citizens into the countries they have lived in for two generations. The ones in the territories should have the ability to live in dignity - with their own jobs and their own independent economy. They should have control over their day-to-day affairs.

However, an independent "Palestine" which is likely to be co-opted by radical Islamists is not a human right. And the human rights of Israelis who would be the victims of another Iranian-backed Hamastan in the West Bank are no less important than the human rights of West Bank Arabs. (Neither, for that matter, are the human rights of the Jews who have also raised families in the West Bank to live in peace and security in their homes.)

There is nothing hawkish about emphasizing real human rights for Palestinian Arabs, in pushing for them to become prosperous and no longer dependent on billions of dollars from the international community. And given the track record of Oslo and its progeny, a prestigious economic newspaper should not be so dismissive of a plan that focuses on building an independent economy where none exists today.

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Prisoners get expensive operations for free, PalArabs upset

Usually, a newspaper story will say something and then back it up with some background information.

Instead, Ma'an says something that demolishes its background information:

Bethlehem – Ma’an – A Palestinian sentenced to life imprisonment in an Israeli jail underwent his third major operation since his sentencing 16 years ago.

Relatives of prisoner Rizaq Salah, who is from the town of Al-Khadr near Bethlehem, said doctors performed a cholecystectomy on the man as treatment for severe stomach pain.

Doctors performed an appendectomy on the prisoner in 1995, which was shortly after they extracted liquids from his knee.

Sounds pretty humane, doesn't it? But wait:

Bethlehem-based Prisoners’ Society demanded in a statement received by Ma’an that Israel release Palestinians suffering from serious illness. The society estimated that around 1,000 Palestinians need urgent operations or are disabled as the result of being shot by Israeli soldiers during apprehension.

If the Prisoners' Society wants to see prisoners get needed surgery, they should want them to stay in Israeli jails!

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The latest make-out spot: Al Aqsa Mosque!

Sheikh Raed Salah, publicity-hungry radical head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, regularly comes out with statements accusing Israel of secret plans to build huge synagogues on the Temple Mount or of digging a huge network of tunnels underneath it. Since these stories get old, though, he is forced to constinuously embellish them further in order to keep grabbing headlines.

So it is amusing to see his latest accusations.

According to Ramattan (Arabic), Salah is accusing Israeli Jewish police of drinking - and committing adultery - in the Al Aqsa Mosque!

Not too many salacious details are available but it will be sure to attract many more tourists to Al Aqsa; any new pick-up joint in Jerusalem will become instantly popular.

In addition, Saleh accuses Israel of building museums and synagogues underneath the Temple Mount. I'd love to know where they are, and how they manage to find tourists and worshippers if they are such a big secret.

Thanks to Salah, many more Jews will flock to Jerusalem to partake of the new cultural, religious and social opportunities that he has nicely informed us about!

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Today's PalArab press roundup

It took a couple days longer than expected, but Hamas finally blamed the world economic crisis on those Jewish bankers and the Jewish lobby.

Hamas also took over a mosque in Beit Hanoun and replaced its imam with a Hamas sympathizer. I think they're getting this politics thing down pat.

As if to stress the point, Hamas militia entered the Beit Hanoun camp and tore down pictures of Yasir Arafat, replacing them with posters of Hamas "martyrs."

An Egyptian convoy that was the Muslim Brotherhood's version of "Free Gaza" made it relatively close to Egyptian Rafah and was to be greeted with a nice reception. However, that reception ended up being Egyptian police who arrested them.

Palestinian Arab newspapers noticed the "secular Neturei Karta" group I wrote about yesterday. No doubt these assimilated anti-Zionist Jews would be aghast to see the picture that Palestine Today used to illustrate its story.

But you can't blame them. After all, don't all Jews look the same?

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Saudi Vice, episode 21: Marriage is no defense

Our heroes at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice know well how devious sinners can be. Some unmarried couples who may want to spend time together alone - which is the grievous sin of khulwa - will pretend to be married in order to keep the virtuous vice police off their backs.

So it is simple Muttawa logic that any man and woman who are alone must be unmarried!

This is why the Commission dispatched one of their ubiquitous white SUVs to Al-Jurf, west of Medina, to chase a couple in a car who were acting suspiciously - by being alone with each other at 1 AM.

As the Arab News reports:

“As we were driving home, my husband and I realized we were being followed by three men in a car,” said the woman, who did not want her name published. “They were coming from both sides of the car and (at one point in the chase) were also in front of our car. I was afraid of having an accident. The whole scene looked just like something in a movie.”

She also said that because no police officer was accompanying the three members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, her husband was afraid to stop. Eventually, the commission vehicle got in front of the car they were pursuing and forced the couple to stop, according to the woman.

Abdullah Al-Zahrani, the head of the Madinah branch of the commission, confirmed to Arab News yesterday that the commission was tailing the couple, but he maintains that the three commission members did not abuse the suspects. He also claims that the two are not married.

“The woman is neither his wife nor his cousin,” said Al-Zahrani.

According to the woman, she and her husband had been visiting her husband’s family and decided to return home late at night.

After the two were pulled over, said the woman, “one of them pulled my arm and was shouting at me, telling me to get into their car. I was shocked. How could a man from the commission touch a woman when he is not her mahram (a woman’s legal male escort or guardian)? He ordered me to get into the commission car and said they would keep everything secret in order to protect my reputation.”

The commission considers unrelated men and women in cars to be committing the moral crime of khulwa.

The woman said that her husband objected to her treatment, and asked the men to take him in custody instead. At that point, the woman said an older man who happened to be passing by intervened and protested against the commission members touching a woman, “but the commission member told him that I had forced him to do so.”

The woman says that two of the commission members got into her husband’s car with her and accused her of being an immoral woman for being out late at night with an unrelated man. The members of the commission also said that the woman had committed a crime and that she therefore deserved to be punished.

“This is the first time I have seen anything like this,” she said. “The members refused to come to the police during the investigation and said that I had insulted them. I did no such thing; I simply told them over and over: ‘I swear to God that I am this man’s wife.’”

The woman said that after hearing what had happened, her brothers went to the commission branch in Al-Jurf, furious and telling the commission members to stay away from their sister.

She said a commission member then hit one of her brothers and broke his nose.

“My brother became unconscious and an ambulance came and took him to the hospital,” she said.

Stupid unmarried woman! Doesn't she realize that the Commission is allowed to break Islamic law in order to uphold Islamic law?

It would be outrageous to think that Muttawa members go into that profession because they are a bunch of perverts who want to project their own desires and actions on others. Injuring, lying, khulwa, touching women - all are perfectly allowed for Commission members in their zeal to stop others from khulwa and touching women.

Our heroes have prevented another moral crime, and Saudi Arabia is a better place today because of their love of Sharia.

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Open thread

It's been a while....post links to any interesting stories you've seen.

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Yemen blames Mossad for US Embassy attack

Last month there was a deadly attack against the US Embassy in Yemen, killing 18.

Now, Yemen authorities are claiming that they found the bombers, and guess what - they were Israeli spies!

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on Monday the dismantling of a "terrorist cell" which he said was linked to Israeli intelligence services.

Saleh gave no details but sources close to the investigation said he was apparently referring to a six-member cell arrested on suspicion of involvement in a deadly attack against the US embassy in the Yemeni capital last month.

"A terrorist cell was arrested five days ago and will be referred to the judicial authorities for its links with the Israeli intelligence services," Saleh was quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency.

He said the group operated under the "slogan of Islam."

The Yemeni president made the statement during a meeting with politicians, tribal leaders, security and military officials at Al-Mukalla University in the southeastern province of Hadramawt.

Saleh did not say how many people were arrested or detail his allegation that the cell was linked to Israeli intelligence.

The Yemen Observer adds:

The network was comprised of 40 people from different Arab nationalities spying for Mossad, the Israeli international intelligence said sources from National and Political Security Units. The members of the espionage network entered Yemen on the premise of conducting business, tourism and even for preaching in mosques. Saleh said that the suspected spies form a terrorism cell that uses also Islam to reach their targets.Members were arrested individually and found to be in possession of detailed maps for sensitive security sites, intelligence telecommunication units and advanced tracking devices.

This is pretty funny, considering that last month Yemen was blaming al-Qaeda:

Yemeni authorities have arrested six people believed to have issued statements claiming responsibility for the last week's car bombing against the US embassy in Sanaa, the defence ministry has said.

In a statement posted on its web site on Sunday, the ministry said that among the detained suspects was a man identified as Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani, who signed two statements claiming responsibility for the bombing, which killed 18 people, and threatening more attacks.

The ministry said that al-Yamani and five other people were arrested for disseminating statements "in the name of the Jihad Organisation, threatening to target Arab and Western embassies in Sanaa".

A group calling itself the Jihad Organisation in Yemen said on Thursday that it was behind the bombing outside the US embassy and threatened to attack the British and Saudi embassies.

The police have said the statements could not be authenticated.

Sixteen people including six suspected al-Qaeda attackers were killed at the scene of the attack on the embassy compound, in which two car bombs and automatic weapons were used. The attackers were unable to penetrate the embassy wall.

Apparently, the six people arrested last month, who were apparently from al-Qaeda, "admitted" being Mossad agents!

Which just goes to prove how you can't trust the Mossad - they'll become Islamic preachers, turn people into Islamic fanatics and attack US interests, just to make Yemenis look bad.

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Another remarkable archaeological find

From Arutz-7:

Archaeologists excavating north of Jerusalem have found a piece of a sarcofagus - a stone coffin - belonging to a son of a High Priest. The visible inscription reads, "the son of the High Priest" - but the words before it are broken off. It thus cannot be ascertained which High Priest is referred to, nor the name or age of the deceased.

Many other findings in the excavation are from the late Second Temple period, and archaeologists assume that the High Priest in question lived between 30 and 70 C.E.

The sarcophagus cover fragment - 60 centimeters (2 feet) long by 48 centimeters (19 inches) wide - is made of hard limestone, is meticulously fashioned, and bears a carved inscription in Hebrew letters that are both similar to today's script and typical of the Second Temple period.

AFP adds:

The discovery was made along the West Bank separation barrier north of Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

"It seems that the fragment was plundered from its original location approximately one thousand years ago and was used in the construction of a later Muslim building that was erected atop the ruins of the houses from the Second Temple period," the statement said.

The use of the "k'tav ashuri" proves that it is from the Second Temple period.

But Muslims plundering ancient Jewish cemeteries to build their own buildings on top of Jewish cities? Nah.....

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10,000 Israeli medical permits for Gazans this year

The JCPA has an enlightening table:

Table 1 Referrals and Permits to Enter Israel for Medical Care, Gaza, 2006-2008
Month	No. of patients applied for permits	No. of patients given permits	Proportion of patients given permits
2006
January	741	719	97.0%
February	769	716	93.1%
March	562	485	86.3%
April	274	209	76.3%
May	453	404	89.2%
June	474	400	84.4%
July	185	171	92.4%
August	293	267	91.1%
September	438	402	91.8%
October	380	345	90.8%
November	509	455	89.4%
December	392	359	91.6%
Total 2006	5470	4932	90.2%
2007
January	506	452	89.3%
February	595	540	90.8%
March	681	607	89.1%
April	515	460	89.3%
May	737	665	90.2%
June	412	368	89.3%
July	859	765	89.1%
August	985	787	79.9%
September	715	591	82.7%
October	1103	850	77.1%
November	654	422	64.5%
December	1041	669	64.3%
Total 2007	8803	7176	81.5%
2008
January	2590	1618	62%
February	2324	1670	72%
March	2569	1747	68%
April	1959	1263	64%
May	1908	1346	70%
June	1851	1152	62%
Total (6M) 2008	13201	8796	66%
Sources: COGAT and WHO, Jerusalem Office 2008. Data from Jan. 2008 ff not yet confirmed by WHO.

Which means that during this horrible "siege," Israel has been doubling and re-doubling the number of patients allowed from Gaza to Israel or the PA for treatment.

While the percentage of permit approvals has dropped, the number of permits has increased dramatically, despite these salient facts:

During this period there were some 30 foiled attempts at terrorist infiltration, including at least 20 incidents where Palestinians used medical missions to attempt terror attacks. In June 2006, a female suicide terrorist was arrested at the Erez crossing while on her way to carry out an attack on an Israeli hospital. In May 2007, two female bombers received permits but were caught after slipping through security checks.⁷ On May 22, 2008, a truck loaded with 4.5 tons of explosives exploded just before reaching the crossing.

The ISA published reports on 11 individuals, including those just cited, who used permits for medical care or for family visits to patients already in Israel for the purpose of carrying out terror-related activities. At Erez, three patients admitted under questioning that they had purchased referral notes with bogus medical information from doctors in Gaza. According to the ISA, terror organizations were making a special effort to recruit women, including those who are pregnant, who are less likely to be closely examined and whose heavy clothing more readily conceals suspicious objects.⁸ PHR-I forwarded these patients for approval, unaware of their true status.

Another point is that the number of patients traveling to Israel via Gaza dwarfs the number who go to Egypt.

Here we have another example where Israel's humanitarianism towards a hostile Gaza population, which is is under no obligation to provide, is used as a weapon against it.

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The secular Neturei Karta

What do you do if you are ethnically Jewish, hate Israel but hate the Jewish religion too?

You make your own tiny, ineffective organization to find people like you so you can kvetch about Israeli crimes!

The "International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network" just started and it is a funny case study on wacky Israel bashers:

For the past two years, we have been building an international network of anti-Zionist Jews to support existing and seed new Jewish anti-Zionist organizing in solidarity with Palestinian resistance. The enemy we face is international, and what we can do is limited unless we find ways to work together across boundaries and regions.

We are building an international voice which challenges Zionism and its claim to speak on behalf of Jews worldwide. As an international force, we can contribute to the movement to defeat Israeli colonialism. Click here to read more about the history of IJAN.

The site, which has more than its share of broken links, naturally has nothing "Jewish" about it, as to these people the only purpose of Judaism is to use it to gain legitimacy in their joining the masses of anti-semites in their quest to destroy Jewish self-determination.

Just like the Neturei Karta, only without the black hats.

So you will not find reference to anything Jewish at all on this site; nor will you find anyone who also wants to fight for human rights in the Arab world (for Jews or anyone else.) Although they will pretend to have a vague sort of "spirituality."

It used to be called the "International Jewish Solidarity Network" but apparently that was too generic for these wackos, plus it is easier to pronounce IJAN than IJSN or IJAZN.

But the funniest part of this organization is the new niche in Jewish Israel-bashing that it attempts: it pretends to be fighting for the rights of Mizrachi Jews (from Arab countries) in Israel!

Yes, the IJAN is dredging up Israeli racism from five decades ago in an attempt to say that Israel is racist against some Jews today.

We are a network of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of Arab and African descent), Jews from the global South, and Jews of Color living in Western countries. The IJAZ Network is committed to challenging the white racism within Jewish communities and the privileging of Ashkenazi Jewish traditions, history and culture.

As such, the JoC-Mizrahi Network seeks to promote the voices, cultural work, writing and activism of Jews of Color, Jews from the global South and Mizrahi Jews. IJAZ is committed to confronting the role of white anti-Zionist Jewish activists and activism in undermining alliances between Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians in their struggles against Zionism.

Purpose and goals: Some of the project ideas have included:

• Increase visibility of the voices, cultural work, writing and activism of Jews of Color, Jews from the global South and Mizrahi Jews

• Support the building of joint Mizrahi-Palestinian struggles against Zionist colonialism and racism

• Support the inclusion of Mizrahi anti-Zionist voices and perspectives in anti-imperialist movements

Current projects: Building of off interest from our Mizrahi Jewish organizers in Israel, there is interest in an international digital storytelling project to capture the histories and perspectives of Mizrahi anti-Zionists, anti-Zionist Jews of Color and anti-Zionist Jews from the global South.

As far as I can tell, this "network" has approximately one person, give or take one.

If any segment of Jewish society in Israel is anti-Arab, it is the Jews from Arab countries. They are the ones who know what it is like living as real second class citizens in Arab countries and the idea that they would prefer to live in an Arab-dominated "Palestine" is beyond absurd.

There are, unfortunately, no shortage of Jews who care nothing about their own culture except to use it as ammunition against their own people. Watching them flail is amusing but ultimately these people end up sinking and disappearing in their own sea of hate.

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Lebanon to sue Israel for selling falafel, hummus and tabouleh

A few years ago, Greece won a motion in the EU's highest court saying that only Greek feta cheese may be called "feta" in Europe.

The Palestinian Arabic media is reporting that Lebanon is trying to sue Israel for selling traditional Lebanese foods as well.

The autotranslation is a little muddled, but it appears that Lebanon is upset over Israel marketing hummus, falafel, tabouleh and fattoush.

The president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association claims that Lebanese losses over Israel selling these foods rather than Lebanese is in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

For the record, falafel is supposed to have been invented in Egypt, the earliest verifiable use of hummus was in Syria, and tabouleh and fattoush are both from the Levant as well.

So, will Lebanese food manufacturers be suing any other Arab or Levantine countries who market these foods as well?

Apparently not. The articles about this refer to this lawsuit as a new type of "resistance" - meaning it is just like terrorism against Israel, but meant to take place in various legal venues for the purpose of hurting Israelis economically rather than physically.

(We've seen Arabs upset over Israelis making falafel in the past, and it is always good for a laugh.)

UPDATE: I scooped YNet.

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Iran's interior minister faked his degrees

I had missed this article in the NYT (h/t EBoZ):

Iran’s interior minister admitted Tuesday that a doctorate he said he had earned from Oxford was a fake, and said that he was pressing charges against an intermediary who had forged it without his knowledge.

Later on Tuesday, the leader of a parliamentary investigation of the matter said it appeared that the minister, Ali Kordan, had lied about his bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well, the ILNA news agency reported.

In a letter released to the public, Mr. Kordan informed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he doubted the validity of the degree only after members of Parliament raised questions about it during a vote of confidence in August, the state newspaper, Iran, reported.

Mr. Kordan said he had been victimized by a man who introduced himself eight years ago as a representative of Oxford and had given him the fake degree in return for a thesis he had written previously. “My degree was issued, based on my management and executive experience and in return for a thesis, by a man who had opened an English-language school in Tehran,” Mr. Kordan wrote.

Mr. Kordan said that he reacted with “utter disbelief” when he discovered that his doctorate was a fake. He said that he had filed a complaint against the man, but had not been able to trace him. He did not give the man’s name.

Mr. Ahmadinejad appointed Mr. Kordan as the interior minister in August. But one of the president’s opponents in Parliament, Ahmad Tavakoli, later posted on his Web site a letter from Oxford denying that it had granted Mr. Kordan a degree, honorary or otherwise.

A member of Parliament, Ali Abbaspour, who was in charge of the investigation, told reporters that a decision on Mr. Kordan’s status was the responsibility of the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, and other members of the presiding board.

Mr. Abbaspour added that Mr. Kordan, who has taught at the university level, had taken courses at Iran’s Open University, but that the dean there said Mr. Kordan had not been granted the bachelor’s and master’s degrees he claimed he had, ILNA reported.

I found a copy of the "degree" online and it is a hilariously poor forgery, filled with grammatical and typographical mistakes:
Let's hope that Iran's nuclear scientists have similar qualifications as their interior minister.

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Saudi cleric on women: Two eyes = too much

From BBC:

A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd.

Because why would women need depth perception anyway? It's not like they can drive or anything!

A Bahraini commented on this story in Mideast Youth:

I have a more fitting proposal for clerics in favor of this bogus call; gouge your eyes out with a tack hammer if you wish to refrain from being seduced. Women should no longer pay the price of your disturbing and sickening mentalities.

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Tunnel vision

Hamas, proving again that it controls the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, demanded that the tunnel operators pay a penalty for each death as a way to ensure that the diggers are in safe working conditions.

Al Jazeera English had a story about the Rafah tunnel industry, both in print and in video, where they claim that Hamas doesn't allow the tunnel operators to smuggle in people, drugs or weapons. Al Jizz romaticizes the smuggler, saying that they are necessary for Gazans to survive, and that they only bring in things like "shoes, chocolate and 7-Up."

Of course, the esteemed journalist doesn't bother finding out if Hamas operates any of its own tunnels to smuggle weapons. Clearly, the tons of weapons and explosives that Egyptian authorities are finding constantly are meant for Gaza, so the Jazeera reporter is being more than a little disingenuous.

Meanwhile, there was another tunnel death, this time by "electrocution," in Rafah.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 193.

UPDATE: A trader was murdered in Gaza. 194.

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A couple of notes on Biden and Hamas

Last night, during the debate, Joe Biden claimed:

[Bush] insisted on elections on the West Bank, when I said, and others said, and Barack Obama said, "Big mistake. Hamas will win. You'll legitimize them." What happened? Hamas won.

Practically no one expected Hamas to win those elections, and I cannot find any record of Biden or Obama saying any such thing. All polls from before the elections has Fatah winning by double-digits.

But here's what I did find:

There was a letter with 73 Senate co-signers urging Bush to press Palestinian leadership to bar terrorist groups from participating in Palestinian legislative elections in December, 2005. Joe Biden did not sign it (although Obama did.)

And Joe Biden helped monitor the 2006 elections, and was quoted as saying:

I have just returned from observing yesterday’s Palestinian legislative elections. The process was free and fair. But the apparent results – a victory by the terrorist organization Hamas – are very sobering.

If he was so certain that Hamas was going to win, why would he have been so eager to legitimize the elections by monitoring them (as he did the previous year with the 2005 elections that Fatah won?)

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Saudi Vice, episode 20: Wear any color as long as it is black

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has been under pressure lately. Saudi newspapers have been criticizing it, their members have been associated with murdering and fatal high speed chases, and in general the religious police have felt that their grip on power has been slipping, and with it the morals of the entire great country of Saudi Arabia.

To counteract this, they have been stepping up their activities against the most immoral and depraved of Saudi society - the shopkeepers who sell adorned abayas:

In an attempt to reassert their power, Saudi Arabia’s religious police have ordered shopkeepers in downtown Riyadh to get rid of all adorned abayas, the black robes worn by women in the kingdom, as shopping picks up ahead of the Eid religious holidays next week.

Salesmen in Al-Maagaliah market, just across the block from the headquarters of the religious police, or mutawa’a, this week were turning away frustrated shoppers who wanted abayas with a hint of colour or decoration, telling them that shopowners could face fines or prison.

In recent years, the signature flowing robe that covers Saudi women from head to toe started to show some form with trimmed sleeves, beads or colour, a sign of relaxation of the strict social norms in the conservative kingdom.

Though the changes were subtle, abayas provoked a tug of war between the liberal voices lobbying to give women more choice and conservative religious institutions determined to impose their austere ways through the religious police.

Liberal commentators say the religious police who roam shopping malls and public places are using the crackdown to demonstrate their continued authority after recent moves that have curbed their arbitrary powers.

After allegations of gross violations of human rights led to media uproar, the mutawa’a have been banned from chasing suspects without an escort from the regular police. They have also been forced to carry government-issued identification cards.

Women’s rights activists, however, are concerned that the crackdown on the abaya marks a setback after early symbolic gains achieved since King Abdullah came to power in 2005.

“They [the mutawa’a] want women to be faceless, nameless and shrouded in blackness,’’ said Samar Falan, a women’s rights activist and writer based in the city of Jeddah.

“We kept quiet when we should have confronted the radicals. I believe Muslim women should dress modestly and cover their hair, but they do not have to look gruesome.”

“They should focus on fighting vices, not women,’’ says Buthaina Nassr, another activist. “I do not understand why they force us to wear black in such a hot country while men can wear white.”

In other Sharia news, Saudi Arabia announced that terrorism suspects will be tried in Sharia courts.

Which means that if the terrorists memorize enough of the Quran, they should be able to get out of jail earlier.

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More pain and humiliation in Gaza

Palestinian children enjoy the last day of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at an amusement park in Gaza City.

The first thing I think when I see pictures like these is, wow, Gaza is just like Darfur!

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Today's PalArab press roundup

A young man, whose age is being variously given as 17, 19 or 20, was shot and killed in Khan Younis. According to Palestine Today, he was a member of Islamic Jihad. A bus full of Hamas supporters were passing by, clapping and singing, and the victim asked them to stop singing because they were passing a funeral home. An altercation broke out, starting with rock throwing but escalating quickly into gunfire.

Hamas is calling reports out of Israel that Americans are helping Egyptians find tunnels - 42 in September alone - "fabricated," saying it is a Zionist plot to cause division between Hamas and Egypt.

Members of Hamas met with Mahmoud Abbas for two hours last night to discuss re-unification - in other words, ways that the PA can become even more terrorist than it already is.

"Lofa", which seemes to be a PA-aligned "human rights" monitoring group, accused Hamas of 21 human rights violations between September 19-28. These include murder, abductions, torture and attacking worshippers at a mosque.

The PCHR, which normally publishes its own exhaustive list of supposed Zionist crimes every Thursday, has not done so this week as of yet. However, it completely believed "eyewitnesses" who lied saying that "settlers" murdered a Palestinian Arab shepherd a few days ago.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 192.

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Two lame ducks

One of the frustrating parts about Olmert's public announcements of abject surrender to everything Palestinian Arabs are demanding, with no real quid pro quo, is that Olmert represents no one. He is still legally the prime minister but he has no mandate; yet he is hell-bent on achieving this great Zionist defeat and victory for terrorism.

Less reported, though, is the fact that Abbas has no mandate either. According to PA law, since amended by the truncated PA parliament, Abbas' term ends in January 2009, and Hamas has already stated that they will no longer recognize Abbas as president after that date. Since much of Olmert's surrender involves doubling the size of Hamastan into the Negev, this is no small matter.

It is ironic that Israel's greatest hope to not make a catastrophically stupid capitulation is the disunity and weakness of their enemies.

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Meanwhile, in Lebanon....

Thousands of Syrian troops are massed at the northern border of Lebanon.

The Lebanese that still care about their independence from Syria are not happy:

In recent declarations following Monday’s explosion in Tripoli, former President Amine Gemayel and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea have both expressed their worries concerning Syria’s heavy military deployment and President Bachar al Assad’s recent declarations comparing Lebanon to Georgia.

Amine Gemayel insisted that the deployment of Syrian troops along the northern border of Lebanon is “not innocent”.

Samir Geagea considered that Assad’s statement following Monday’s explosion in Tripoli is “extremely dangerous”. Lebanese Forces added that the statement “clearly shows that (Assad) is preparing Syria for another military interference in Lebanon. Some of the cells of Fatah al Islam, which are the making of Syrian intelligence are still active in Tripoli and wanted to take revenge from the army”.

Other Lebanese think that Syria will attack under the pretext of stopping Islamist groups in northern Lebanon.

The Syrians have given different reasons for the buildup - first to say that they were to stop smugglers (which Amir Taheri finds laughable), and then to say that it was part of a deal with Lebanon to "avert problems."

Say goodbye to any chance for a truly independent Lebanon.

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That Arab yearning for peace

In Bahrain, a surprising proposal:

The foreign minister of staunch US ally Bahrain has called for the creation of a regional grouping of Arab states with historic foe Israel, as well as Iran and Turkey, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

"Israel, Iran, Turkey and Arab states should sit together in one organisation," Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa was quoted in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat as saying.

"Aren't we all members of a global organisation called the United Nations? Why not (come together) on a regional basis? This is the only way to solve our problems. There's no other way to solve them, now or in 200 years."

Al-Hayat, which interviewed the Bahraini chief diplomat in New York, said he had proposed the establishment of a regional bloc in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

And an unsurprising response:

an NGO yesterday slammed the Foreign Minister's comments.

"We are dismayed and outraged at such repeated normalisation overtures with the Zionist enemy,"

Bahrain Anti-Normalisation Organisation's secretary general Abdulla Abdulmalik said.

"Such moves represent an affront to our parliament and public opinion, who are totally inimical to any form of normalisation."

He accused the minister of disregarding MPs, Bahraini people and civil society, who unflinching support the Palestinian struggle.

He described it as the translation of the American pro-Israel project in the Middle East, also known as the Greater Middle East.

"The moribund Arab League Peace Initiative at least acknowledges the Palestinians' basic legitimate rights," he said, accusing the minister of seeking to normalise with Israel for free.

Media Line notes:

While Bahrain's leadership has been willing to meet with Israeli officials, it is a nation led by a Sunni dynasty ruling a Shi’ite majority, making greater change unlikely.

We have heard from this Bahraini organization before.

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Allah Akhbar - BOOM!

Via Weasel Zippers comes this awesome video - meant as propaganda for "Hamas in Iraq" - that shows jihadis trying to shoot a rocket at US soldiers and blowing themselves up instead.

Why they packaged this up as some sort of victory is anyone's guess. I imagine if death is so wonderful, it doesn't matter much how it is achieved...



WARNING: This video includes a dying jihadi - with an instant replay in slow motion, no less - and really obnoxious jihadi singing.

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The New York Sun, 2002-2008

The New York Sun folded on October 1. Here is part of an article about its demise by Sol Stern at the City Journal:

As I have done every weekday morning for the past few years, I opened the door of my apartment yesterday to pick up my copy of the New York Sun. Immediately, I spotted the headline above the fold announcing the paper’s demise. No surprise, of course. All of us who counted ourselves as the Sun’s friends knew this day was coming. Still, the paper’s demise is a profoundly sad moment for the city. It feels as if a cherished and inspirational colleague has passed away and, moreover, that our democracy and civic life are diminished.

...But the single greatest void left by the death of the Sun will likely be its principled commitment to telling the unvarnished truth about the great struggle of our times—the battle between democratic civilization and the forces of worldwide jihad. In some respects, the Sun was a Jewish paper in its editorial management, its financial backing, and its staff. And it didn’t try to hide its passions or equivocate about the moral imperative of defending Israel. It was openly Zionist at a time when that label has become a term of disdain in the sophisticated world of liberal opinion. It refused to be deterred by the bogus charge of “dual loyalty” hurled by academics like Professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer and nervous Jewish journalists like Time magazine’s Joe Klein. Almost every week for the past six-plus years, the Sun ran a column by the brilliant Israeli (originally American) writer Hillel Halkin that invited readers to see Israeli democracy and society, warts and all, from the inside. More than any other daily newspaper of our time, the Sun helped its readers understand that in standing up for the defense of Israel, they were also standing up for the defense of America.

I have quoted the Sun often in this blog, and it has done many stories that one would simply not see elsewhere. It will be sorely missed.

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PalArab news roundup

Here's some of what's been happening during the past couple of days:

A 16-year old PalArab girl from Jenin was arrested by Israel for planning a suicide bombing in Netanya. Apparently, information about her plans came from the PA security services.

A 17-year old boy was killed by "stray bullets" in Rafah while visiting a friend.

Hamas is accusing Fatah of torturing a prisoner to death. Fatah denies it, saying that he died from illness. I don't have enough information to call this one a "self-death."

Some 150 children in Gaza have been injured from toy guns. It seems that "toy guns" in Gaza shoot plastic bullets that can cause serious injuries, especially to eyes. But they are very popular; the peace-loving Gazans like to buy these guns for their kids for Eid.

On Monday, a shell from Gaza aimed at Israel fell short and landed on the Gaza size of the fence.

The 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 191.

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Shana Tova u'Metuka! ! שנה טובה ומתוקה

May this be a year of peace, happiness, blessings, prosperity, and redemption!

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Today's search terms

Here's how one can tell that it is almost Rosh Hashanah - my blog is Google's number one link for "Shana Tova u'Metuka"! (Because last year's post was so popular in recent days, and Isaw people were looking for how to write it in Hebrew, I added the Hebrew to the title this year - and already it surpassed my last-year post in Google.)

These are the keywords that people are using to find me today, in order of popularity:

shana tova u metuka
shana tova wishes
shana tova u'metuka
qods day iran
elder of ziyon
www.sagangor
shana tova ve metuka
shana tova u'metuka in hebrew letters
shanna tova u'metuka
shana tova u metuka! means
chomsky zionist
jewish humor shana tova
most hated kuwaiti
dalal mughrabi
saudi women preachers
shana tova wishes in english
adnan al-baitouni
nazi paratroopers
kidnaping soldiers jewish
world domination jews
druze jerusalem post
cleric targets mickey mouse
shana tova u'metuka translate
unclean employee
umetuka wikipedia
bahrain gays
shanah tovah wishes
images of non violent protests
sumaya al yusuf
falaka in ramadan series
elder of zion
fallisi, joe opera
shana tova u' metuka
g'mar chatima tovah
what does shana tova u'metuka mean
'gay bahrain'
saudi gazette
succes of the israeli wall
saudi maid
press release about a bank taking over another bank
g'mar chatimah tovah
u'metuka
lbj took 2000 jews to israel
street harassment of female joggers
muhammad seif al-islam
shanah tova u metuka
jihad photos
shimon peres speech to un
qods day
good yom tov
metuka translation
has obama ever met prince al-walid bin talal bin abdul aziz al saud
egypt hijab
stuff they found by the kotel
shimon peres
moses 72 cartoon
hebrew alphabet handwriting style
new york sun palin speech
grenades for sale
o servant of allah, o muslim, this is a jew behind me, come and kill him
shana tova metuka
shaná tová u metuká
chatima in hebrew
shanah tova u metuka translate
shimón peres, new year speach
anti semitism financial crisis
sigheh mashad islamic temporary marriage
g'mar chatima tova
yom kippur 19th-century
basnage
jews in jordan
prostitution in islam

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Another heartbreaking Gaza starvation picture

A Palestinian vendor sells sweets as Muslims prepare for the Eid-al-Fitr festival in the southern Gaza Strip September 28, 2008. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

The packaging on the candy boxes is in Hebrew.

(Although it is possible that the vendor is using old boxes as display cases. "Medjool" is a type of date.)

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Abbas in 2007 accused Israel of "desecrating holy places"

I couldn't find Mahmoud Abbas' full speech at the UN this year, but his speech last year included an amazing libel against Israel that I do not recall anyone condemning him for:

Is it not time for the city of Jerusalem to become a city of true peace for all peoples of faith from all religions, and for Israel, the occupying Power, to cease all actions aimed at altering the character of the sacred city, imposing siege on it and forcing its inhabitants to leave, and desecrating the Christian and Islamic holy places in the city?

This is an outrageous lie, and it far better fits the description of how Arabs have historically taken care of the city rather than how Jews did.

Yet I do not recall the Israeli government angrily condemning Abbas for this libelous claim, let alone other Western nations.

When a supposed "peace partner" cannot be trusted to tell the truth, how much weight should one give to his promises?

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Religion of Peace firebombs book publisher

From the Guardian (h/t Yerushalimey):

The London home of the publisher of a controversial new novel that gives a fictionalised account of the Prophet Muhammad's relationship with his child bride, Aisha, was firebombed yesterday, hours after police had warned the man that he could be a target for fanatics.

A petrol bomb is believed to have been thrown through the door of Martin Rynja's £2.5m town house in Islington's Lonsdale Square, which also doubles as the headquarters of his publishing company, Gibson Square. Three men have been arrested on terrorism charges.

The Observer has learned that police told Rynja late on Friday night to leave his property. His company recently made headlines when it announced it was to publish The Jewel of Medina.

Written by US journalist Sherry Jones, the book was due to have been published in August by US giant Random House. But amid controversy the company halted publication, a move denounced by Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, as 'censorship by fear'.

Rynja bought the UK publishing rights earlier this month. 'The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time,' Rynja said at the time. 'As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate.'

Yesterday the Metropolitan Police confirmed that three men had been arrested in connection with the incident in Lonsdale Square. Two men aged 22 and 30 were stopped by armed officers in the street outside the property and a third man, aged 40, was arrested near Angel tube station. Police have begun searching four addresses around north-east London - two in Walthamstow, one in Ilford and one in Forest Gate.

The men were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, and last night were being questioned at a central London police station, a Met spokesman said. Scotland Yard confirmed that a small fire inside the property had been extinguished. 'At this early stage it is being linked with the arrests,' the spokesman said.

This is exactly how Jews, Christians and other religions react when books are published that they feel insulted by, right?

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Anatomy of a supposed "settler attack"

Ma'an, as well as the rest of the PalArab media, reports:

Israeli settlers executed an 18-year-old shepherd boy in the fields outside Aqraba, a town in the Nablus district of the northern West Bank.

Village municipal affairs representative Ghassan Douglas identified the young man as Yahya Atta Riahin. Douglas said that a gang of Israeli settlers from Itamar settlement shot the boy at least 20 times at close range.

Yahya did not return home with his sheep for the fast-breaking meal, Iftar. His family alerted the neighbors and the whole village organized a search party to look for the missing boy.

His body was found in fields between the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar and the villages of Aqraba and Awarta.

According to Douglas, eyewitnesses reported seeing a white vehicle driven by Israeli settlers stop, chase down the boy and shot him directly.

We have here a story that only exists in the Palestinian Arab press and its veracity depends on a politician who claims that eyewitnesses saw it. (Some of the Arabic press is more lurid, claiming that the settlers beheaded the victim.)

None of the Israeli media has picked up on this story nor has any wire service.

Besides the fact that it is highly implausible that a carful of settlers was driving around just to kill a random Arab shepherd for no reason, there is another problem with this story: it supposedly happened on the Jewish Sabbath.

It had to have happened before the Sabbath was over, because the dead youth would have made sure to make it home to his family at the moment of the Iftar meal during Ramadan which would be roughly the same time that Shabbat is over.

So now we are supposed to believe that not only were settlers driving around and randomly murdering Palestinian Arabs, but that these supposed religious fanatics were violating the Sabbath to do that?

Sorry, but chances are more likely that the victim was shot by other Arabs, or something completely different happened. As it is, the accusations seem to be just another of a long series of lies.

UPDATE: The Israeli media is now reporting this story. YNet mentions the skepticism that "settlers" have towards being blamed; al-Aretz predictably believes the accusation, which now includes the detail that it happened "late Saturday night" - which means that the shepherd was still alive when he missed his family's Iftar meal, again making no sense.

UPDATE 2: Sure enough, it was not a settler attack. Ma'an reports it came from a grenade, which might indicate either a mistake or a "work accident." (h/t Shimshon)

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Iranian "Qods Day" pictures (updated)

Hat tip to commenter Marc El, who noticed that the turnout to this year's Iranian hatefest was pretty poor.

From Iran's Fars News Agency:

No rally is complete without the obligatory burning of the infidel flags:

The "Holy War or Victory" sign shows a kid with a Palestinian Arab flag smashing a Star of David:

"How many must die before YOU act?" says this sign held by an army of veiled drones. Looking at it closer, it appears to show a US soldier shooting bullets that have - corporate logos. (The upper left is clearly Coca-Cola, I couldn't make out the others.) Does this mean that Iran is imposing sanctions on the US? I hadn't noticed.

True love - a Hezbollah supporter and his partner.

Chances are very good that this keffiyeh was manufactured in China.

Can't you feel the love?
UPDATE: A couple more:

This guy should go into advertising.

Finally, someone who admits that the Al Aqsa mosque was built on Jewish land!

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"Free Gaza" freaks delayed yet again

There is an old maxim that when someone gives you more than one reason, you can be sure that they are lying:

Foreign activists who planned to sail to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade have delayed their trip to late October, an organizer said on Friday.

Members of the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement had planned to sail to the Palestinian territory from Cyprus this week, but said they were held up while attempting to find a boat.

There were also poor weather conditions in the eastern Mediterranean, and activists did not want their trip to coincide with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week, a spokeswoman said.

"The only analogy I can think of is like showing up with 22 people you don't know for Christmas dinner," said Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement.

Hmm. If they don't have a boat, the rough seas don't seem to be as big a problem. And isn't it amazing that the people who planned this trip for weeks - includign many Muslims - didn't notice that it was the end of Ramadan?

Their press release, which is not yet on their website, darkly implies that the Jooooz were behind their inability to find a decent boat:

Unfortunately, every time we thought we reached an agreement with a boat owner, our agreement has fallen through, in part, we believe, due to outside pressure. Though it is a very difficult decision to make, we have decided to temporarily delay our voyage.

Yes, that Jewish lobby stops all boat owners from selling their boats to an organization that is still deeply in debt and almost certainly couldn't scrape the money together to pay for it.

Even though their website has mutliple pages begging for money, they don't have the honesty to tell reporters the truth, and would rather blame those nefarious Zionists yet again for their own pathetic inability to do anything remotely useful for Gazans.

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Bolton on Iranian nukes

From the New York Daily News:

A wakeup call on Iran's nukes

BY JOHN BOLTON

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, just a few hours after President Bush. The contrast was palpable. Ahmadinejad expressed continued defiance of the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, insisting that Iran would continue and even accelerate its nuclear program. Bush, by contrast, has overseen nearly six years of failure trying to stop Iran from doing exactly that.

Iran is now closer than ever to achieving its long-held strategic objective of obtaining deliverable nuclear weapons. Why has Iran succeeded and the United States failed in this struggle? What does it tell us about the options available to our next President, in this increasingly dangerous situation? Will Iran be a centerpiece of the first presidential debate?

First, negotiating with Iran will not stop its nuclear weapons program. Sen. Barack Obama has said that he will speak with rogue state leaders like Ahmadinejad "without preconditions," implying this is a new idea. In fact, Britain, France and Germany ("the EU-3") have been doing exactly that for over five years. Throughout, they have been surrogates for America, and yet Iran has shown no inclination to terminate its nuclear program.

Negotiation is like all human activity: It has costs as well as benefits. The history of Europe's efforts underscores a significant cost of negotiating with a nuclear aspirant: time. More time is almost always on the proliferator's side, because it allows for the complex work necessary to master the nuclear fuel cycle. The net effect of five years of EU-3 negotiation is that Iran is five years closer to achieving a deliverable nuclear weapon. We cannot afford more of the same.

Second, Europe still does not fully appreciate the risks of a nuclear-armed Iran, nor is it willing to take the steps necessary to prevent it. Europe's lack of real concern stems in part from the controversy over intelligence about Iraq, but also from the deeper EU mindset that its members have passed beyond history, and entered a zone of security that will persist as long as outsiders are not "provoked."

This false sense of security saps EU willingness to take steps stronger than mere diplomacy, such as tough economic sanctions, much less contemplating the use of force. Thus, whatever impact on Iran that sanctions might have if imposed swiftly and comprehensively have only wound up giving the appearance of decisive action rather than the reality.

Third, the Security Council will not solve the Iran problem. Russia, and to a lesser extent China, have made it clear that they will block meaningful sanctions in the Council. This was the case in the first three sanctions resolutions, where Russian intransigence wore down the EU-3 to the point where they accepted only what Russia was prepared to allow, so they could "declare victory" even when weak sanctions resolutions were finally adopted.

Russia has an enormous interest in protecting Iran from meaningful Security Council sanctions. Moscow hopes to sell nuclear fuel, and construct many nuclear power plants in addition to the one nearly complete at Bushehr, and sees Iran as a substantial market for high-end conventional weapons sales. Similarly, China's large and growing demands for energy make Iran an attractive partner for assured supplies of oil and natural gas, as well as a potential market. All of these interests and more virtually guarantee that the Security Council's role in dealing with Iran will remain minimal at best.

On Jan. 20, either President McCain or Obama will face very unattractive choices if he is serious about disarming this outlaw regime. One is regime change in Tehran, through support of the widespread discontent across Iran with the mullahs. The other is the targeted use of force against Iran's nuclear program.

Both of these options are complex, risky and highly difficult. Unfortunately, the only other alternative - Iran with nuclear weapons - is far worse. Ready or not, our new President will have to make decisive and far-reaching choices.

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14 weeks in a row

For the fourteenth consecutive week, far more Palestinian Arabs managed to die from their own actions than from anything Israel did.

According to the PCHR, the IDF killed one "child" this week (a boy who was lighting up a Molotov cocktail and who had, the week before, stabbed a 9-year old). Interestingly, they repeat the accusation that the IDF was responsible for a woman's death in Abu Dis, but they don't count it as someone the IDf killed. (The woman apparently died of a heart attack.)

Meanwhile, I counted 10 people killed by Palestinian Arab actions this week in the territories - 5 in tunnel incidents that had no apparent other cause, the rest shootings and the like.

And, for more comparison, 5 more were apparently killed by Egypt when it dynamited a smuggling tunnel. And one PalArab was killed in a bomb in a mosque in Lebanon this week; three more killed last week in intra-PalArab fighting.

I dunno; this genocidal IDF is not doing a very good job compared to the Palis themselves.

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