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02/28/2007

Fifty things about me, part 4

Filed under: Life — Meryl Yourish @ 2:00 pm

Part one. Part two. Part three. Part five. Part six.

Readers, it has been nearly a year since my last Fifty Things post. I blame, uh, me.

26. I love kids. I like them from the age of one day all the way up to their twenties (yes, I still consider many twentysomethings kids, especially the ones still in or just out of college). I find them infinitely interesting and amusing in all of their stages. They like me, too. I’ve always treated children as adults-in-training, which is to say: I never speak down to kids. They know when you do it, and believe me when I tell you that the minute your back is turned, they are mocking you for it. And I’ve always been able to relate to teenagers. I’ve never really forgotten what it was like being one of them.

27. I couldn’t stand kids when I was in my teens and early twenties. I didn’t like being around them, and after one miserable attempt at babysitting for which I am still ashamed (I hit a four-year-old girl because I didn’t know any other way to make her behave, and I was imitating what I had learned), I gave up babysitting. I think it was because I didn’t really know what to do back then. When my childhood friend’s son, who was the first baby I knew as an adult, learned to walk, I spent days following him around making sure he didn’t fall. Now, at Sarah’s, I just look over, check for blood, and ignore the child if there’s no red stuff.

28. I hate mushy food. I can’t stand oatmeal, Jell-O, or anything that you can’t chew, with the exception of ice cream. I can eat pudding in small amounts, but I will take a dish of chocolate ice cream over pudding any day of the week. All I can say is: It’s a good thing I wasn’t born in a Dickens novel. Too much porridge.

29. I went through a Dickens phase in high school. I read most of the Dickens section in the school library. I also went through a Kipling phase, a Bronte phase, a Jules Verne phase, a Vonnegut phase … you get the picture. When I like an author, I read all of his or her books.

30. I like to reread books that I like. If it’s a particularly special author, such as Patricia McKillip, I read her new book slowly, to savor it, then reread it immediately afterward to impress it in my memory and appreciate it more. If you have never read Patricia McKillip, you are missing one of the greatest fantasy authors alive. I recommend The Alphabet of Thorn, which I think is her best work, to start.

31. In spite of what you may think since when reading this site, I am an optimist. I generally see the glass half-full. I believe in happy endings, even, though I know they’re few and far between.

32. Speaking of happy endings: I watch televison and movies for sheer escapism. I hate reality shows. They bore me to tears within a minute or two. I want my shows scripted, with a definite beginning, middle, and end. I want my characters to live (generally) happily ever after, or to have good triumph over evil, and I hate it when a character dies, even if I really didn’t care about that character to begin with. On the other hand, I also love a great dramatic show. China Beach was simply phenomenal, and Sisters was probably my favorite-ever nighttime soap (Teddy was my favorite). If you can give me a good reason to cry, I don’t mind that your show is sad. But not depressing. There is a huge difference. As for any kind of dance or song competition: Yawn. Wake me up when the CD is released. On the other hand, you can keep all your gory CSI shows. I really don’t need to watch yet another show about yet another serial killer, mass murderer, rapist, or pedophile. Ugh. How can you people watch all that crap? It makes me want to turn on the Teletubbies or something to cleanse my mental palate. Geez. Columbo did it so much better, and all they ever showed was a body with, like, no blood on it, ever.

Okay, I’m out of things to talk about for now. Two more posts ought to do it. I’ll try not to take another year to complete them.

Once more, with bias

Filed under: AP Media Bias, Israel, Media Bias — Meryl Yourish @ 11:54 am

The Reuters version:

Israel kills Islamic Jihad commanders in W.Bank
Near Jenin’s refugee camp, an Israeli undercover unit ambushed a car in which Ashraf al-Saadi, described by Islamic Jihad as a commander in its armed wing in the West Bank, was traveling.

Witnesses said Saadi was wounded by Israeli gunfire and two other men in the vehicle, Mohammed Abu Naaseh and driver Ala al-Breiky, were killed outright. Saadi fled on foot and fired a pistol, but was shot dead by the plainclothed unit after falling to the ground, the witnesses told Reuters.

“Israeli forces came to arrest the wanted men. Saadi spotted the unit, took out a pistol and fired at it, wounding a (paramilitary) border policeman. The force fired back, killing the three men,” an Israeli military spokesman said.

The AP version:

Israeli Troops Kill 3 Islamic Militants
Witnesses said the militants were sitting in a car when undercover troops fired at them from another car. Two militants were killed in the car and the third, Saadi, was fatally shot trying to escape, the witnesses said.

The army disputed the witnesses’ account, saying Saadi fired at troops when they tried to arrest him in a hospital parking lot. Troops returned fire, killing two militants and injuring Saadi. Saadi continued to fire as he fled, and the troops shot him dead, the army said. One soldier was slightly wounded by gunfire.

The Ynet version:

Border Guard kills Islamic Jihad commander, 2 others
Security officials said the head of the Islamic Jihad in the city opened fire at the officers, hitting one in the shoulder and lightly wounding him. The officers returned fire, killing the three men.

Palestinian reports said the men were sitting in a car when a black vehicle passed and lethal gunshots were fired. They claimed that one of those killed in the incident was a civilian who was driving the Islamic Jihad members.

Notice the weight given the palestinian witnesses accounts by AP and Reuters. Note the use of the word “ambush” in the Reuters account, as if the IDF were lying in wait for terrorists to pass by, then exploded out of cover to, uh, kill them while they were sitting in their car. Which is quite a feat, to ambush someone who is sitting in a car. Yes, I know, it’s the AP version that says they were sitting in a car, but still—Reuters deliberately uses the word “ambush” to describe the hunting down, with intent to arrest, a terrorist responsible for suicide bombings.

Score yet another black mark in the “Objectivity of the Media” column.

Lemony Snicket’s Judaism

Filed under: Books — Meryl Yourish @ 11:30 am

An interview with Daniel Handler in Moment magazine, in which we discover the Baudelaires are Jewish.

Has the series been influenced by Jewish history?
I think there is something naturally Jewish about unending misery, yes. I mean, I guess naturally but not exclusively Jewish. I’m Jewish so, by default, the characters I create are Jewish, I think. Then I think I have something of a Jewish sensibility shaped by having a Jewish upbringing and so, therefore, books that I produce would be somewhat Jewish in tone.

Are the Baudelaires Jewish?
Oh yeah! Yes. The Baudelaires are Jewish! I guess we would not know for sure but we would strongly suspect it, not only from their manner but from the occasional mention of a rabbi or bar mitzvah or synagogue. The careful reader will find quite a few rabbis.

Can you tell me where?
No, I don’t think I should. I think the rabbis should be for people to find.

With thanks to Judith.

Think I’ll print it out and give it to my students. I think they’re going to like this part the best:

Will you be writing a prequel or sequel to the series to tell us more?
I’m sure there’ll be more from Lemony Snicket, but people who are hoping to have all their questions answered shouldn’t hold their breath.

02/27/2007

We love the internet

Filed under: Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 9:43 pm

Because the CW in Richmond pre-empted the Gilmore Girls two weeks ago, and we never got around to finding the episode on YouTube, and if they ran it a different night, we couldn’t find out, because, well, season seven is nothing at all like one through six, and we care much less about it as a result. But it was a critical episode (Lorelei breaks up with Christopher! Woo-hoo!), so we went on search today, and found it. In WMV. In 15 separate zipped files. But we found it, and we watched it, and now, our lives are complete.

Okay, first, stuck in this royal “we” crap, must stop.

Second, no, my life is not yet complete, but my viewing of Gilmore Girls up to two weeks ago is.

And third: I really do love the Internet. It totally rocks.

The French and the Jews: plus ça change…

Filed under: Anti-Semitism — Meryl Yourish @ 12:00 pm

…plus c’est la même chose.

Yes, it’s the same old story. Only worse.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in France jumped sharply in 2006, lifted by attacks following the brutal murder of a young Jew at the start of the year and by the war in Lebanon, a Jewish group said on Monday.

CRIF, the representative council of Jewish institutions in France, said physical attacks on Jews rose 46 percent to 112 last year from 77 in 2005.

Anti-Semitic “actions”, including both assaults and lesser attacks such as throwing objects or causing material damage, rose 40 percent to 213 from 152, while the number of threats rose by 7 percent to 158.

CRIF said the rise in attacks appeared to have been fuelled by the murder of Ilan Halimi , a 23-year-old Jewish man whose death at the hands of a group of kidnappers in February last year shocked France.

Read that again. Attacks rose after Ilan Halimi was tortured and murdered. The scumbags were egged on by his murder.

Here’s the thing. CRIF, like most French Jewish organizations, tends to play down attacks on Jews. It is a rare thing to see them complain that attacks are up. Even when they are.

Time to bail on France, my fellow Jews.

IDF leaves Nablus, which it invaded for no reason: AP

Filed under: AP Media Bias — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

If you were to read this story, you’d really wonder what the hell Nablus had done to deserve being invaded by the IDF.

The Israeli army pulled its troops and armored vehicles out of the West Bank city of Nablus early Tuesday after a three-day operation targeting Palestinians militants, Palestinians said.

No Israeli forces were visible in Nablus at dawn Tuesday. But the army did not confirm the end of the raid the largest military operation in the West Bank in months which left tens of thousands of residents in the city’s center confined to their homes while troops combed houses and alleys for wanted men.

Adli Yaish, the mayor of Nablus, said the Israeli forces were gone and called on residents to resume their normal lives.

“We have to continue living,” Yaish said, urging students and teachers to attend school Tuesday. Municipal workers already had begun cleaning the streets in the raid’s aftermath, Yaish said.

But Nablus district governor Kamal Sheikh said he feared the army had only briefly halted the operation and that it would soon resume.

“I think the Israeli military action is not over,” Sheikh said.

Six paragraphs in, and all we have are vague references to “targeting militants.” We have lots of sympathy for the innocent residents of Nablus, whose only misfortune, apparently, was to have some “militants” among them.

Let’s take a look at the Ynet article, shall we?

Palestinian sources reported on Monday evening that Israel Defense Forces soldiers were beginning to withdraw from the West Bank city of Nablus.

The Palestinians reported that dozens of IDF jeeps were leaving parts of the city, particularly the Old City. However, they expressed their doubts over the possibility that the operation was coming to an end. The IDF refused to respond to the Palestinian report.

Meanwhile, the IDF concluded two days of an intensive activity, in which forces have been operating against terror infrastructures after receiving intelligence information.

During the operation, which was launched Sunday morning, large Israeli forces entered the West Bank city. The soldiers uncovered three explosives laboratories containing explosive devices, LAW antitank rockets, materials for preparation of explosive devices and additional weapons, including military equipment and ammunition.

Oh, the Israelis found weapons labs! And antitank rockets, and other means of murder. Huh. Who knew?

Apparently, the AP doesn’t want you to. Not until the eighth paragraph, anyway:

The army said the Nablus raid was necessary because most of the suicide bombers trying to enter Israel from the West Bank come from the city. Troops arrested five wanted militants and uncovered workshops used to manufacture explosive devices and bomb belts, as well as a studio where suicide bombers recorded their farewell statements, the army said.

And let me point out again, that in the AP story, palestinian spokesliars are identified, while IDF representatives are not. Yet another step in the dehumanization of Israel. Which is picking on poor, innocent little Nablus.

Study finds today’s college kids are spoiled brats

Filed under: Pop Culture — Meryl Yourish @ 10:12 am

Or words to that effect.

Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.

“We need to stop endlessly repeating ‘You’re special’ and having children repeat that back,” said the study’s lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. “Kids are self-centered enough already.”

Granted, there is that (apparently mis-attributed to) Socrates quote about how the youth of today aren’t anything at all like when he was growing up. But this is a study by, uh, psychologists. Who also came up with the study that Democrats are saner than Republicans. So we’re talking salt-grain territory here, but—and this is a big one—I agree with this study. Therefore, I accept its results. (Insert stupid ascii grin here.) Actually, it seems to be a fairly broad study.

Twenge and her colleagues, in findings to be presented at a workshop Tuesday in San Diego on the generation gap, examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006.

The standardized inventory, known as the NPI, asks for responses to such statements as “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,” “I think I am a special person” and “I can live my life any way I want to.”

The researchers describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students’ NPI scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982. By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above-average scores, 30 percent more than in 1982.

This explains much, like the propensity for many-pierced children to think that expressing themselves the way that they want should have no effect on getting the jobs they apply for. And apparently, it starts young:

As an example, Twenge cited a song commonly sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques” in preschool: “I am special, I am special. Look at me.”

“Current technology fuels the increase in narcissism,” Twenge said. “By its very name, MySpace encourages attention-seeking, as does YouTube.”

Huh. I used that tune to teach my students the names of the Hebrew months. They learned them by the time they sang the tune twice. It’s an effective teaching tool.

By the way: In every generation, a report like this comes out. So we’re back to the salt shaker here—but I do think there is much more emphasis on the self than there was twenty years ago, and again forty years ago.

I’m from the era first called “the me generation,” and I always resented it. It isn’t all about me. It’s all about my generation.

Yeah, there goes that invisible ascii grin again.

Bat-you-know-what crazy

Filed under: Iran — Meryl Yourish @ 8:00 am

I told you they’re batshit crazy.

Iran’s president said on Sunday the country’s enemies had hatched a range of plots to push the Islamic Republic to give up its disputed nuclear programme, including driving up the price of tomatoes and other food.

But Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said such tactics would not work, Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.

[...] “In order to harm us, they (enemies) make plots, for instance they come and push tomato prices up in the market. They think we will give up our ideals with their plots,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech in which he said Iran would not reverse its atomic plans.

But fear not! Help is on the way.

“Of course, God willing, the problem of meat, chicken and tomatoes will be solved. One should be aware that our revolution is like a bulldozer … the enemies think by throwing a few small stones and sand they can stop this bulldozer,” Ahmadinejad said.

Next thing you know he’s going to steal our own campaign slogans. A chicken in every pot!

Politically incorrect suggestions to a dying man

Filed under: Anti-Semitism — Meryl Yourish @ 7:00 am

Louis Farrakhan may be dying of prostate cancer, but he’s going out the same anti-Semite he’s always been.

“Farrakhan may have held his anti-Semitic views in check while on the dais, but if this is what he wants people to read, then the leopard hasn’t changed his spots,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

My suggestion for him: Faster, please.

Here’s hoping his successor isn’t a Jew-hater.

And oh, yeah. This post will bring out the trolls. Watch for it. If they slip through moderation, please don’t answer them.

Update: Yep, got one. Here’s an excerpt:

When Minster Farrakhans speaks on Muslim Issues, I don’t hear any of you saying he’s anti-muslim, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything but Semetic, which means a pereson origination from Africa-Black

[...] Slavery was more attrocious than the Holocust, though both were bad.. but slavery’s affects are long lasting, into today, yet the victims of the Holocust do not suffer social, ecconomic, and other long term disgraces.

Yet we can label a man who has raised up Black People to respect themselves, take care of their families, communities and people as Anti-Semetic.

Do you really see and understand how IGNORANT you all sound and seem?

Uh-huh. We did not approve the comment, nor will we. But he’s right. The victims of the Holocaust are not suffering long-lasting effects, what with their being dead and all.

I may have to put the whole thing in a post for all to see.

The lightness of posting

Filed under: Site news — Meryl Yourish @ 12:19 am

That would be due to my new contracting position. Although I am working from home, I’m finding it’s just as difficult to turn 24 hours into 30. Go figure.

02/26/2007

This week’s Shire Network News

Filed under: Podcasts — Meryl Yourish @ 8:15 pm

Not even labor pains could stop SNN from going up. Mostly because Brian of London wasn’t the one in labor.

And I can’t wait until he reads what I just wrote.

Go. Listen. I guess we’re in the middle of what’s known as a pregnant pause.

(So glad his wife is thousands of miles away from me.)

Co-opting the language, Hamas style

Filed under: Hamas, Israel — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

I’ve written before how the palestinians make it a habit of taking the terms and descriptions used by and for Israel (such as the Israeli Law of Return changed to the palestinian “right of return”) and co-opting them for the palestinians. Here’s Hamas’ latest attempt to turn the tables on the Israelis:

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Moscow on Monday for talks aimed at lobbying Russia to push for an end to a Western aid embargo on the Palestinian government.

“Our goal is to encourage the international community to start cooperation with the Palestinian government and pressurize Israel to recognize the Palestinian state’s right to exist,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying.

Say what you will about them, they’re experts at PR.

And say what you will about the Russians, they’re still the Jew-hating sons of bitches who invented the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and kept millions of Russian Jews hostage rather than let them emigrate to freedom.

“We value Russia’s position toward lifting the blockade from which the Palestinian people suffer. We also value Russia’s special position in the issues of the Middle East settlement.”

Russia has taken a softer line on the Islamist Hamas than the United States and the European Union, which along with the United Nations make up the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators.

Russia wants the world to deal with the openly genocidal terrorist organization, and return to giving them more money with which to murder Jews. I’m betting the Russians never met a Jew-hating terrorist they didn’t like. Well, except for the ones in Chechnya. Funny how terrorism only matters there, and nowhere else. Well, no, not really funny. We know why that is.

02/25/2007

Day by Day

Filed under: Pop Culture — Meryl Yourish @ 10:29 pm

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Chris Muir is back from his embed in Iraq. And Zed is going back to Iraq as part of the Special Forces.

Oh. And Sam is pregnant.

Things happen so fast around here.

Yes, it’s been quiet

Filed under: Site news — Meryl Yourish @ 7:25 pm

Been tired and busy.

More later. Especially if I wind up watching the Oscars.

02/24/2007

The hunt for terrorists

Filed under: Israel, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 11:46 am

Remember that smashing success Ethiopian forces had encountering the jihadists in Somalia? Well, it seems that those people who reported that U.S. Special Forces were the key to the success were right.

The American military quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa, including the use of an airstrip in eastern Ethiopia to mount airstrikes against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia, according to American officials.

The close and largely clandestine relationship with Ethiopia also included significant sharing of intelligence on the Islamic militants’ positions and information from American spy satellites with the Ethiopian military. Members of a secret American Special Operations unit, Task Force 88, were deployed in Ethiopia and Kenya, and ventured into Somalia, the officials said.

The counterterrorism effort was described by American officials as a qualified success that disrupted terrorist networks in Somalia, led to the death or capture of several Islamic militants and involved a collaborative relationship with Ethiopia that had been developing for years.

Put this one under the “success against Al Qaeda” column. This is what has needed to be done, and it’s great to know that the Administration is doing it. These actions are probably what the president refers to when he tells the American public that there are many operations against Al Qaeda that we don’t hear about, because to discuss them would be to tip off the terrorists.

It has been known for several weeks that American Special Operations troops have operated inside Somalia and that the United States carried out two strikes on Qaeda suspects using AC-130 gunships. But the extent of American cooperation with the recent Ethiopian invasion into Somalia and the fact that the Pentagon secretly used an airstrip in Ethiopia to carry out attacks have not been previously reported. The secret campaign in the Horn of Africa is an example of a more aggressive approach the Pentagon has taken in recent years to dispatch Special Operations troops globally to hunt high-level terrorism suspects. President Bush gave the Pentagon powers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to carry out these missions, which historically had been reserved for intelligence operatives.

When Ethiopian troops first began a large-scale military offensive in Somalia late last year, officials in Washington denied that the Bush administration had given its tacit approval to the Ethiopian government. In interviews over the past several weeks, however, officials from several American agencies with a hand in Somalia policy have described a close alliance between Washington and the Ethiopian government that was developed with a common purpose: rooting out Islamic radicalism inside Somalia.

Indeed, the Pentagon for several years has been training Ethiopian troops for counterterrorism operations in camps near the Somalia border, including Ethiopian special forces called the Agazi Commandos, which were part of the Ethiopian offensive in Somalia.

Can we have a great big shout-out of thanks to the American military here, please?

You guys rock.

Frogstar

Filed under: Podcasts — Meryl Yourish @ 12:39 am

I found Frogstar a while ago while looking (I think) for a copy of “The Cat Came Back,” a song we used to sing in camp. Now I use it for clips in my podcasts, and I thought it’s only right that I link it (as Jeff asks) and point you all there.

Frogstar is also a web hosting company. If you’re looking for a new host, check ‘em out.

02/23/2007

The definition of chutzpah

Filed under: Hamas, Israel — Meryl Yourish @ 6:53 pm

Khaled Mashaal, the man who should have been executed as a terrorist leader but instead is feted in Syria and other Israel-hating nations, has told Noam Shalit, Gilad’s father, that the reason his son is still in the hands of terrorists is because Israel won’t give Hamas enough jailed terrorists as ransom for Gilad.

Yes, really.

Hamas’ politburo Khaled Mashaal on Friday accused Israel of deliberately hindering mediated talks with his group over the release of an Israeli soldier kidnapped near the Gaza Strip last June.

Speaking in Cairo after meetings with Egyptian officials about a possible prisoner exchange deal with Israel, Mashaal called on the soldier’s father, Noam Shalit, to exert pressure on the Israeli government to finalize a prisoner exchange deal.

Corp Gilad Shalit was kidnapped on June 25 last year in a cross border attack by gunmen from Hamas and other factions.

“Exert pressure on the Israeli side that is hindering the finalization of the deal,” he called on Noam Shalit, referring to the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for his son.

I have a better idea. Send a hellfire missile up Mashaal’s ass. And then send another one for Ismail Haniyeh, and pretty much all the rest of Hamas. Then take out Islamic Jihad. And Baby Assad’s summer palace.

Now that would be exerting the right kind of pressure.

If it’s Friday, this must be Bilin

Filed under: Israel — Meryl Yourish @ 2:00 pm

Or Bi’ilin, or Be’ilin, or howeverthefrig you spell it.

On the second anniversary of the weekly anti-fence riots, protestors—rioted.

Five protesters where injured on Friday in clashes with security forces near the Palestinian village of Bilin, where villagers and left-wing protesters staged a demonstration to mark the second anniversary of their campaign against the security fence section there.

Hundreds of Israeli and foreign activists joined dozens of Palestinian villagers to mark the passing of two years since their struggle began against the expropriation of Palestinian land to build the fence and expand a Jewish settlement in the area.

Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you see something interesting?

Shyeah. It’s all ISM and B’tselem tools doing the rioting. You know, those people who insist they’re marching for peace. Looks like they’re not keeping their promise to crack down on ISM tools sneaking into Israel.

Protesters said Israeli army soldiers and Border Guard policemen attacked them when they approached the fence using stun and teargas grenades.

One of the protesters, an Israeli, was injured by a teargas grenade, activists said.

The army said soldiers spotted a number of protesters spraying their comrades with red spray to make it look as if they had been injured by army and police fire.

What? They would lie about being injured? Say it isn’t so! Because it’s not like the military doesn’t warn them that they are trespassing in a closed military zone and order them to stay back. You can see that, in fact, on this video, in which the narrator says the IDF gave them no warning and just started launching stun grenades and firing on them. This is immediately after showing the army telling the protestors that they’re trespassing and must stop.

In LoonyLeftyLaLaLand, that constitutes “no warning.”

It astonishes me that they can make these claims in spite of clear evidence to the contrary, but then, when you live in LoonyLeftyLaLaLand, and you are told that you are trespassing in a closed military zone, it doesn’t matter. Because you have the right to be there. Because your cause is just.

I would also point out that these creeps bring fence-cutters and try to rip down the fence when they get close to it. They’ve also thrown rocks and objects at the military, causing one to lose an eye. But they’re “peaceful.”

The JPost says ten of them got roughed up at this week’s protest. I’m betting they were all “internationals.”

Sound the bell again, professor

Filed under: Israel, Media Bias, Politics — SnoopyTheGoon @ 12:30 pm

It is an old story, and I don’t know its source:

A professor of anthropology visits a Bedouin camp to investigate this or another habit of the tribe. Feeling thirsty, he looks around for a well and finds it. Near the well he observes (professors usually observe, you know…) a donkey with a bell on its neck walking around a pole and powering a water pump via a system of pulleys, levers and whatnot attached to it. The donkey walks, the bell dingles, the water gurgles – a sweet country idyll, in short.

Suddenly professor is struck by a thought. He looks around and finds an old Bedouin resting in the shadow of a palm tree a way off. Approaching the elder, professor asks, after a usual ceremony of introduction and all the mandatory exchange of polite questions: “Tell me, wise elder: that donkey – what would happen if it stops walking around the pole and instead just shakes its head from time to time? After all, no one is watching it.”

“You see,” says the wise Bedouin, “that donkey here is not that clever. If it were clever enough to do what you say, it would be already a professor in a university”.

And the reason I was reminded of that story is a new “investigative report” on the human rights abuses in the occupied territories by Israel. The report is issued by one John Dugard, a South African law professor who is the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. The report is quite long, some of it is true, some of it is based on the say so of the people the learned professor interviewed, nothing of it is new.

No, Israel is not lily white, I am not even trying to hint at this possibility.

But the report, besides not contributing a iota of new information, continues the line of endless “Israeli apartheid” sound bites. It is especially poignant coming from a white South African (some kind of guilt transfer or what?). And the way our professor, not even being an anthropologist, comes to the “apartheid” label is:

After describing the situation for Palestinians in the West Bank, with closed zones, demolitions and preference given to settlers on roads, with building rights and by the army, he said: “Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group (Jews) over another racial group (Palestinians) and systematically oppressing them?

How exactly Jews and Arabs are split into two racial groups is up to professor to explain. Probably a short course in anthropology will not go amiss in his case. There is another pearl of wisdom, this time squarely in professor’s professional bailiwick:

Israel denies that this is its intention or purpose. But such an intention or purpose may be inferred from the actions described in this report.

Interesting what would happen if professor Dugard were trying a case in a court of law and attempting to prove someone guilt (or innocence) by inference? I am afraid that both the case and the professor’s law diploma will be thrown out into the nearest garbage bin.

And what would you say about the objectiveness of an “investigator” that dismisses the arguments of the other side off hand in the following manner:

He dismissed Israel’s argument that the sole purpose of the vast concrete and steel West Bank barrier is for security. “It has become abundantly clear that the wall and the checkpoints are principally aimed at advancing the safety, convenience and comfort of settlers,” he said.

In fact, it is not only the manner of the dismissal, but the language in the quote above, that stink to high heaven. It is proved beyond doubt that the (yet unfinished) border fence has already drastically reduced the terrorist acts inside the Green Line. And not a week passes without a wannabe martyr or two being caught at a checkpoint. So whom exactly our professor is calling “settlers”? Isn’t he adopting the Hezbollah lexicon that refers to all 6 million Israelis as “settlers”, by any chance?

Israel is certainly heavy-handed in its behavior and there is much to be improved in our treatment of Palestinians. To call what Israeli does “apartheid” and to ignore the basic right of the Israeli citizens to be safe is just another link in the endless UN-manufactured chain of sounds that serve no positive goal. Aside of providing our worthy professor with a useful occupation – albeit a monotonous one, somewhat similart to the one described in the donkey’s story above.

So – shake your neck again, professor…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

U.S. to Israel: We like you! We really, really, like you!

Filed under: Israel — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

The Gallup Organization polled Americans on which countries they like and dislike, and which most greatly affect U.S. interests directly. Israel scored the big one, being declared both favorable and a “vital friend.”

WASHINGTON – A Gallup poll surveying US opinion on geopolitics singles out Israel as only foreign nation Americans feel favorably toward and also say that what happens there is vitally important to the US.

Americans remain most favorable towards English-speaking countries – Canada (92 percent view it as mostly favorable), Australia (89 percent) and Great Britain (also 89 percent). Additional countries the majority of Americans view favorably are Japan (82), India (69), Israel (63), Mexico (60), Egypt (60), Russia (53) percent and Jordan (51).

Among the least favorable? Look at who’s number four.

The country viewed as least-favorable by Americans is Iran (9 percent), followed by North Korea (12), Iraq (15), Palestinian Authority (16), Syria (21), Afghanistan (23), Cuba (25), Pakistan (28), Saudi Arabia (35), Venezuela (41) and China (48).

Can we have a Nelson here please?

And here’s where Israel scores the lone high value:

The five countries deemed by Americans as the world’s ‘hot spots’ – nations that a majority of Americans view unfavorably and say that what happens in each is “vitally important” to US interests – are Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, and China.

Countries viewed as ‘less relevant enemies’ – unfavorable but not important – are Pakistan (47 percent), Syria (42), Cuba (31) and Venezuela (29).

Of the countries viewed both favorably and important, only Israel was named, with 55 percent of Americans deeming it a ‘vital friend.’

Countries viewed as ‘low-pertinence friends’, favorable but unimportant, are Great Britain (43 percent), Mexico (42), Japan (40), Russia (40), Canada (36) and India (28).

That makes sense. Britain is important to us, but unless it’s taken over by a megalomaniac madman, nothing that happens inside the country will directly affect us. I think that what happens in India is a lot more important than the Gallup respondents do, but they didn’t ask me.

I think this poll is extremely heartening, especially now when so many are trying to delegitimize Israel. And I love that Americans can see through the bullshit they get from the media every day. Israel is training our boys in urban warfare. Israel is helping us defeat the enemy in Iraq. Israel constantly shares information with America on every enemy, from the Soviet Union (the nation that sold the Arab armies advaned weaponry in their vain attempts to defeat Israel) to today’s Islamic terrorists. And Israel will be there if the U.S. needs aid and cover for Iran.

The percentages on that poll also indicate that it is neither the “Jewish lobby” nor the evangelicals in America who are supporting Israel. It’s the majority of the nation. Unless someone out there would like to prove to me that Jews and evangelicals make up 63% of this nation.

Don’t mess with these old coots

Filed under: Miscellaneous — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

A retired military man and eleven other senior citizens fought off three would-be robbers, killing one of them. These folks were all off a Carnival cruise tour in Costa Rica. They got back on their cruise and sailed away, doubtless the hit of the senior circuit.

A tour bus of U.S. senior citizens defended themselves against a group of alleged muggers, sending two of them fleeing and killing a third in the Atlantic coast city of Limon, police said on Thursday.

One of the tourists _ a retired member of the U.S. military aged about 70 _ put assailant Warner Segura in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the 20-year-old and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus Wednesday, said Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose.

The two other men fled when the 12 senior citizens started defending themselves. The tourists then drove Segura to the Red Cross where the man was declared dead. The Red Cross also treated one of the tourists for an anxiety attack, Hernandez said.

The tourists left on their Carnival cruise after the incident and Hernandez said authorities do not plan to press any charges against them, saying they acted in self defense.

“They were in their right to defend themselves after being held up,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said Segura had previous charges against him for assaults.

All it takes is one courageous person to start the pebble rolling down the hill.

Cognitive dissonance alert

Filed under: Israeli Double Standard Time — Meryl Yourish @ 8:00 am

What time is it, kids? That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time. From an editorial in The Gulf News:

As the international community ponders ways to revive the Middle East peace process, Israel responds by launching its biggest war games in five years on the occupied Golan Heights and threatening to launch another war against Lebanon.

During the past three years, the Israeli government has rejected peace overtures made by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Israel occupied the Golan in 1967 and unilaterally annexed it in 1981. More than 15,000 Jewish colonists now live in the area.

Instead of working towards peace, the Israelis embark on provocative exercises, increasing tension in the region. The war games, a naked infringement on Syrian sovereignty, coincide with the Quartet meeting in Berlin. They do not help the efforts exerted to find a way out of the current impasse.

Now, for the cognitive dissonance. Hey! Asshats! Take a look down the Gulf and what do you see?

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday staged a war game simulating an enemy air strike as a second nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived in regional waters in an apparent warning to Teheran.

The Revolutionary Guards land forces fought back the hypothetical air strike from enemy helicopters, planes and missiles with 620 anti-aircraft cannon and shoulder missiles, state television said.

“Today, we are fighting back at all kinds of planes at low and average altitudes,” said Brigader General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander of the Guards’ land forces.

“The manoeuvre is exceptional in terms of the number and types of the weapons used. We have used anti-helicopter weapons with a range of more than 10 kilometres (six miles),” he said.

It was the second of the three-day “Power Manoeuvre” exercises involving 3,000 units of the elite force in 16 of Iran’s 30 provinces, the second war games staged by the Guards this month.

Lest you think the Gulf News didn’t notice the Iranian war games, they did. Buried at the end of an article about the U.S. adding more carriers to the Gulf.

All together now: What time is it?

That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time. All’s right with the world.

02/22/2007

Learning something new

Filed under: Meanderings — Meryl Yourish @ 5:00 pm

I have always—always wondered what the hell “reading them the riot act” meant. I knew there was a Riot Act, but I never got it. But then I found this nifty website, which explains what that prhase means.

In English law the control of unruly citizens has usually been the responsibility of local magistrates. Any group of twelve or more that the authorities didn’t like the look of could be deemed a ‘riotous and tumultuous assembly’ and arrested if they didn’t disperse within an hour of the Riot Act being read to them by a magistrate.

Ohhhhhhh. Now I get it.

The Danger Room

Filed under: Bloggers — Meryl Yourish @ 3:00 pm

The man behind Defense Tech, Noah Schachtman, is now defenseblogging for Wired in the Danger Room. (As an X-Men fan, I love the name, of course.)

If you’re a milblogger or someone interested in defense, this is the place to bookmark.

In which we educate Tony Blair on why he cannot deal with Hamas

Filed under: Hamas, Religion — Meryl Yourish @ 1:00 pm

The Prime Minister of Britain is a fool, an idiot, or hopelessly naive.

The UK has indicated it could be prepared to do business with the Islamic group Hamas, in comments that underlined the growing difference in approach between Europe and the US on how best to pursue peace in the Middle East.

Speaking in London on Thursday ahead of a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president, Tony Blair, British prime minister, welcomed the agreement earlier this month to form a Palestinian government of national unity. He even anticipated working with officials from Hamas, which agreed during talks in Mecca to set up the government with Mr Abbas’s Fatah party.

“It’s far easier to deal with the situation in Palestine if there is a national unity government,” he said. “I hope we can make progress, including even with the more sensible elements of Hamas.”

Thus proving that Tony Blair hasn’t got the foggiest notion of what Hamas is all about. Read the charter, Tony. There are no “sensible” elements in Hamas. All of them want the destruction of Israel and an Islamic caliphate in her place.

If Britain deals with Hamas, all of the dominoes will fall. The rest of the world is just itching to try to force Israel into peace negotiations with the PA, regardless of the fact that Hamas—the organization devoted to the destruction of Israel—is now the government of Israel. Israel needs to continue boycotting any government that includes Hamas, and screw the morons who think that they should deal with a group of genocidal terrorists.

Article Six:

The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine [...].

Yes, absolutely, go find the more “sensible” elements who believe in this.

By contrast, Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, said earlier this month that her efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement had “been made more complicated by the unity government”.

“We want to see this [unity] government in operation. We’re not interested in the rhetoric, we’re interested in its actions,” said a British government official last night. “We have to find a way forward here, and if we find people we can do business with we have to work with that.”

Uh-huh. Let’s try to work with the people who wrote this:

We should not forget to remind every Moslem that when the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that “Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women.”

Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. “May the cowards never sleep.”

And this:

The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.

These words were not written by people who intend to deal with Israel and create long-lasting peace.

As were these:

The Islamic Resistance Movement views seriously the defeat of the Crusaders at the hands of Salah ed-Din al-Ayyubi and the rescuing of Palestine from their hands, as well as the defeat of the Tatars at Ein Galot, breaking their power at the hands of Qataz and Al-Dhaher Bivers and saving the Arab world from the Tatar onslaught which aimed at the destruction of every meaning of human civilization. The Movement draws lessons and examples from all this. The present Zionist onslaught has also been preceded by Crusading raids from the West and other Tatar raids from the East. Just as the Moslems faced those raids and planned fighting and defeating them, they should be able to confront the Zionist invasion and defeat it. This is indeed no problem for the Almighty Allah, provided that the intentions are pure, the determination is true and that Moslems have benefited from past experiences, rid themselves of the effects of ideological invasion and followed the customs of their ancestors.

There is no dealing with Hamas. None. They do not want peace. They want the land of Israel to become this mythical country of Palestine, in which Mohammed never set foot, but which they insist is Islamic:

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Moslem generations until Judgement Day.

There is no “sensible” member of Hamas. By definition, they’re insane. They believe that the Masons are keeping Muslims from their land. They cite the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a guidebook, rather than the anti-Semitic hoax that it was. And they firmly believe in jihad.

If Tony Blair continues on this course, watch for the rest of the dominoes to fall. Israel must keep to her stance and not deal with any government that includes Hamas.

If a Quartet issues a statement that nobody likes….

Filed under: Hamas, Israel, Media Bias — Meryl Yourish @ 11:22 am

The Quartet released a statement that can apparently be read in Humpty Dumpty-ese:

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. “It means just what I choose it to mean – neither more or less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.”

Who is to be master? Well, for the majority of the press, it is to be Hamas.

Hamas said Thursday it was encouraged by what it called a “wait and see” approach by the Quartet of Middle East mediators towards a new Palestinian unity government.

But the unity government deal between the ruling Hamas movement and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction widened divisions within the Quartet.

The United States wants to continue to shun the government if it does not meet the three conditions, whereas Russia and other European governments favor a softer line.

“They (the Quartet) have decided to wait and see until the new government is formed and they have not rushed to reiterate the continuation of the siege and sanctions,” Hamas cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad said. “They have left the door open for the possibility of opening a dialogue.”

That, of course, is Reuters’ take. The JPost:

The Quartet issued a statement following its talks in Berlin Wednesday night reiterating the need for the Palestinian Authority to accepts its three principles, but also adding that there was a discussion about “possible further steps by the international community in the context of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.”

Ynet, via the AP:

The revived Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators – the US, UN, EU and Russia – underscored its demand that any Palestinian government recognize Israel, and vowed to hold another meeting in an Arab country.

The meeting Wednesday of Quartet representatives in Berlin offered no breakthroughs in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a statement. But officials pointed to their commitment to keep the effort going. “We know that this process of drawing closer together is difficult, and for that reason we want to support it,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, stressing the need to seize a “window of opportunity.”

Gee. When have they held a meeting in Israel, I wonder?

As an aside, you can hardly find the news of this meeting in Google News. Funny, the AP isn’t giving it as much of a push as they give, say, news of the IDF killing a terrorist, or worse, accidentally killing palestinian civilians. One might suspect the reason they’re not pushing the news is because it’s not filling the anti-Israel agenda. But of course, then one would be assuming bias in the news media.

For the record, this is the statement the Quartet released. Read in it what you will:

The Quartet reaffirmed its statements regarding its support for a Palestinian Government committed to non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Road Map, and encouraged progress in this direction.

The Quartet discussed efforts under way for a Palestinian national unity Government, pursuant to the agreement reached in Mecca on 8 February. The Quartet expressed its appreciation for the role of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the cessation of violence among Palestinians.

The Quartet concluded with a discussion of possible further steps by the international community in the context of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

It welcomed preliminary ideas put forward by the European Commission to meet the needs to better coordinate and mobilize international assistance in support of the political process and to meet the needs of the Palestinian people.

The Quartet reaffirmed its commitment to meet regularly and asked envoys to monitor developments and actions taken by the parties and to discuss the way ahead. It was agreed to schedule a meeting in the region soon.

Yes, it’s a Rorschach statement. (No, it really isn’t. But the media pretends that it is.)

02/21/2007

The non-truce farce is over

Filed under: Israel, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 6:47 pm

Hamas has finally declared their non-truce—in which they continue to launch suicide attacks, shootings, and rockets at Israel, but don’t claim the attacks in Hamas’ name—over.

It’s good to know that Mahmoud Abbas thinks that these are the people that Israel should “deal with” being in his cabinet, because now the real face of the palestinian has been revealed. Hint: It’s not the face of peace.

Hamas’s Qassam Brigades have declared an end to a ceasefire with Israel, according to a statement released on Wednesday evening.

The call to end the truce appeared on Hamas’s official website , in both English and Arabic, and is the first time in months that Palestinian armed forces directly under the control of the Hamas government openly threatened to attack Israel .

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said in the statement that “the truce with the Israeli occupation is no longer valid,” citing the “assassination of Islamic Jihad commander” Mahmoud Qassem as the reason.

Qassem was shot dead in the West Bank by Israeli Border Police on Tuesday, after security forces traced a foiled suicide bomb attack planned for Tel Aviv back to him.

In Hamas’ statement, Abu Obaida said: “This crime falls in line with a plan to liquidate Palestinian resistance in the West Bank in particular.”

I look forward to hearing the excuses Abbas makes after the first time Hamas claims an attack. Of course, it’s reprehensible that even a paper like Ynet calls this “the military wing” of Hamas. All of Hamas is the military wing. That’s an Orwelling deception used only for the purpose of political cover, and the Israeli papers, at the very least, should not abide by the fiction. The “Qassam Brigades” answer directly to the Hamas leadership—the ones that won election to the PA, and the ones that are hiding out in Damascus.

Here’s hoping the IDF has much success in making the “military wing” suffer the same kind of fate as the PIJ leader who is now sporting an extra few pounds of lead in his chest.

Talk amongst yourselves

Filed under: Cats — Meryl Yourish @ 2:00 pm

Barring my co-bloggers putting up something new, this will be my last post until I get home from D.C. tonight. Through the magic of scheduling, I wrote it last night before I went to bed. So you have to go back in time [insert cheesy flashback music here] to read it.

Tig just chased off the Maine Coon interloper who seems intent on trying to take over Tig’s territory, in spite of being chased off by Tig several times, and by me several times (the last time with water). I ran outside the second I heard the yowling, found Tig crouched down by his bushes, spread out and looking very big, growling and yowling and muttering. I talked him into coming inside. He is currently on top of the boxes in my closet, looking down, the ruler of all he surveys. And, I might add, looking mightily pleased with himself.

Tig on comic boxes

That’s an old picture, but you get the idea. He’ll probably sleep there most of the night.

In any case, my plans are to have dinner with my friends again, and possibly meet up with Citizen Smash at the same time. That way I can wait out the D.C. rush hour and possibly even get home in time to watch Lost. If not, well, I’m taping it. No biggie.

So, talk amongst yourselves while I’m gone. Post any news tips you think I might like to write about.

World anti-Semitism update

Filed under: Anti-Semitism — Meryl Yourish @ 11:30 am

Croatia thinks it’s just nifty to publish sugar packets with Hitler’s image on them, as well as anti-Semitic jokes.

Charming.

A senior member of the al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, told Ynet that although Tuesday’s attack failed, more attacks were planned in the future.

“This is also a message to the American administration, its supporters and its collaborators, that if any harm comes to Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah, this will set fire to the region,” the operative said.

The newspaper noted that the packets have become very popular in local cafes and restaurants.

Even more charming.

But once again, world-wide anti-Semitism is not up. Just Jew-hatred, I suppose.

A monument to Holocaust victims and 240 Jewish graves have been defaced with swastikas in southern Ukraine, an activist with a local Jewish community said Tuesday.

Unidentified vandals desecrated the Holocaust Monument late Sunday with red swastikas and with the inscription “Congratulations on the Holocaust” and painted swastikas on 240 graves in a Jewish cemetery in the Black Sea port of Odessa, said Boleslav Kapulkin, a spokesman for Odessa’s Jewish community.

As for that Holocaust thing, well, gee, who cares about that anymore?

A prominent French political figure who ordered hundreds of Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II will be buried wearing his Legion of Honor medal, his lawyer said Sunday, even though the deceased man was stripped of his right to wear the decoration in 1998.

Maurice Papon, the No. 2 official in the Bordeaux region in southwestern France during Germany’s World War II occupation, was convicted in 1998 on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity. The former French cabinet minister was sentenced to 10 years in prison for ordering the arrest and deportation of 1,690 Jews, including 223 children, to Nazi death camps.

Unlike the 1,690 Jews, he lived a long and fruitful life.

He died on Saturday at age 96.

His lawyer, Francis Vuillemin, said he would see to it that Papon is buried with his medal, France’s highest distinction.

“I personally will make sure that the cross of Commander in the Legion of Honor … accompanies him in his tomb,” Vuillemin told France Info radio.

Papon was freed less than three years into his sentence under a law allowing early release for the ill and aging. He caused a stir in 2004 when he wore his medal in photos that appeared in Le Point news magazine. A court later fined him $3,275 for wearing the banned award.

Those pushy Jews. Imagine, wanting the man not to be buried with honor. Imagine, thinking that just because sometime in the 1940s he was responsible for collaborating with the Germans and sending Jews to their deaths, his honor should be taken from him.

Yeah. It’s us pushy Jews that cause the anti-Semitism. Because let’s go take a look at how many Jews live in the Ukraine: 84,000 out of a population of 47 million, or .6% of the population.

Croatia has 1700 out of 4.4 million, or less than .05%.

Somehow, it seems to me that the number of Jews don’t matter to the Jew-haters. It is our sheer existence that feeds the hatred.

All together now, it’s time for the Yourish.com mantra: Anti-Semites of the world, just die already.

The non-stop suicide bombing attempts

Filed under: Israel, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 8:00 am

They caught yesterday’s would-be Tel Aviv suicide bomber. But don’t think that Israel is safe, or even that the terrorists have stopped trying to murder Israelis. They most certainly have not.

Security officials were not surprised by the attempted suicide bombing in the heart of Israel Tuesday. “The calm in recent months is deceiving. There are constant attempts to launch terror attacks,” they said.

During the past year, after numerous bombing attacks during the al-Aqsa intifada, a substantial drop was registered in the number of terror attacks. However, sources say that such attacks are still constantly being attempted, but are mostly foiled by security forces.

[...] Ecsoll stressed that despite the quick police work, there are cases where the terrorist manages to blow himself up before he is caught. “To our great joy we managed to stop him, but unfortunately we don’t always manage to catch him at the last second.”

Hundreds of suicide attacks are foiled every year. You rarely read about them. Israel’s security forces, combined with the crackdown on the palestinians and the security wall have lowered the murderous attacks to the fewest in recent memory, thankfully.

But don’t think they aren’t trying.

A senior member of the al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, told Ynet that although Tuesday’s attack failed, more attacks were planned in the future.

“This is also a message to the American administration, its supporters and its collaborators, that if any harm comes to Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah, this will set fire to the region,” the operative said.

It’s not quite an “open the gates of hell” threat (the usual terrorist response to Israel’s taking out a leading terrorist), but it’s pretty standard. Israel recently identified Shalah as a target. Funny, I thought they all wanted to go out in battle with the Zionists. Guess not all of ‘em.

PIJ is funded and trained by Iran, and used as an arm of their proxy army against Israel.

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