Arnold Roth, whose 15-year old daughter Malki was killed in the Sbarro bombing in Aug 2001, has been in attendance at the Marwan Barghouti trial and left a couple of messages in my blog comments (to which I added paragraph breaks).

First comment:

The lead lawyer of the three who addressed the Tel-Aviv district court yesterday on behalf of Marwan Barghouti, spent much of his time developing the argument of "parliamentary immunity" for his client. On this basis, Jawad Boulos said, Barghouti ought not to be tried in an Israeli court. This has serious implications. It implies *no* court could ever try him on terror/murder charges. Immunity -- what a wonderful notion! Sitting there in the over-filled court room, I fantasized trying to explain to my murdered fifteen year old daughter Malki how immunity would work. Barghouti can finance, organize and plan massacres of civilians like the one which destroyed my daughter's life and my family's last year... and then sit back and laugh the cynical, ice-cold laugh I saw yesterday. Anyone know a parliamentary immunity doctrine that works like this?

Contrary to the impression conveyed by press reports, most of the victim families present in court yesteday (outnumbered, in my estimation, by Barghouti supporters and quasi-lawyers) did NOT engage in violent clashes with anyone. I'm one.

Second comment:

Another thought about the Barghouti proceedings on Thursday.

The BBC report quotes Khader Shkeirat accusing http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2296113.stm) "Israeli police of beating and shoving him when he tried to get to Mr Barghouti in the crowded courtroom." Having sat there and seen it all, I know he's bending the facts.

He arrived after proceedings started and gave the impression of itching for a fight. He was decked out in a black legal robe (required dress for lawyers in courts here) as were four or five other Arabs who may or may not have been members of Barghouti's legal team. (These were in addition to the three who actually addressed the court. The adequateness of the man's representation is beyond doubt, at least in terms of numbers.) Boulos, the lead lawyer, who was in the middle of presenting his arguments, advised the judge that Shkeirat is not admitted to the Israeli bar.

On that basis, Shkeirat was told he could not sit at the already-full bar table. Choosing to stand in the aisle near the door at the back, he was visibly edgy and irritated, and seemed intent on picking a fight. Eventually he got into one - not clear to me with whom - which clearly disturbed the proceedings. When the Israeli security men who ringed the court made their move, it was an elegant piece of "social engineering" which got him out the door in seconds.

In general, the security people were polite to the point of walking on eggshells throughout a difficult day's proceedings, at least until bedlam broke out after the hearing itself ended. Hard for me to imagine court officials being quite as careful and considerate in other jurisdictions (I'm thinking of US and Australian court systems, both of which I know fairly well), given the intense hostility of the people passing through their hands.

Thanks Arnold. And please feel free to keep us updated.

There are some people who talk a fair amount about Baruch Goldstein, though his 1994 rampage was really a sui generis event (and who remembers the name Abed Al Basat Uda - perpetrator of the equally deadly Netanya Park Hotel bombing this past spring?).

At any rate, today's Yediot reports that Goldstein's son has been accepted into Air Force pilot's school. This is after the army initially refused to accept him, but relented due to the efforts of an organization called the Citizen's Rights Movement (which is coincidentally also the name of an old political party that became Meretz).

This article by Cameron W. Barr in the Christian Science Monitor casually reports as fact the tired allegation that Israel's killing of Hamas leader Salah Shehade "scuttled a hard-fought diplomatic effort to negotiate an agreement among all Palestinian factions to renounce attacks on Israeli civilians within Israel proper, and led to more violence."
(good article on this topic here, previous entry on this here).

Relying heavily on anonymous sources, Barr also says that the Palestinians have decided to switch to tactics of non-violent resistance, but that this change is not visible because the IDF is still present in Palestinian areas; and anyway this invisible tendency won't last because Sharon is such a butcher and also because Hamas et al really just want to erase Israel from the map.

How loopy can can you get?

Has the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman at the Barghouti trial - Daniel Taub - appeared at all in the global media?

Unlike many Israeli spokespeople, he speaks English well and has a sense of humour.

According to this article, engineer Adnan Husseini acknowledged to Voice of Palestine radio that the south wall of the Temple Mount is indeed in danger of collapsing.

He went on to repeat his previous (apparently fabricated) claim the Wakf had begun repairs but the Israelis had forced them to stop 20% of the way through. In August, the Palestinian al-Ayyam paper quoted Husseini as saying that the wall was not endangered, as does this BBC article - titled "Wailing Wall collapsing" - which confuses the endangered Southern wall with the stable Western ("Wailing") wall.

Husseini now says:

The Israeli authorities bear the responsibility for any loss of lives resulting from a collapse of the wall,"

Here's an earlier blog entry including an aerial view of the site.

Channel 2 News tonite said that according to the German magazine Die Zeit, some agents of the Mossad were monitoring 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and his roommate in Florida. They reportedly warned the US gov't that Atta was planning a major attack, but their warnings were not heeded and the agents were expelled.

More:

Alis writes:

Here is the original German article:

http://www.zeit.de/2002/41/Politik/print_200241_fahndungspannen.html

I guess a computer translation would give a good idea of it.

It does describe a meeting between Mossad and CIA agents under "Langely, 23. August 2001". There is neither a specific mention of Atta, merely of "4 out of 19" terrorists, nor of an expulsion of the Mossad agents.

Channel 2 said that the surveillance was done in December 2000.

This is unusual, especially if it's true. A 3 yr.-old Chinese book describing a WTC attack? (here)

On the radio this AM there was a discussion with Amram Mitzna, a leftish man who is attempting to wrest leadership of Labor from staid centrist Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. Mitzna actually sounds quite charismatic and is very upfront about his leftishness - he wants an immediate return to negotiations and, if these fail, partial unilateral withdrawal from West Bank/Gaza. (though how flexible would the PA be if it knows that it can just ride out negotiations and then get another round of something for nothing?)

Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Masri of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service says that the PA has the capability to reign in Hamas, but sees no political reason to do so (report).

Some quotes:

"Capabilities and principle are two different things. Besides ending the occupation, our major goal is not to be labeled collaborators," said Masri.
...

"Why should we be responsible for security in Tel Aviv," asked Masri, "when we have enough trouble protecting our own people against Israel?" For this reason, the GIS is not engaged in roundups of suspects, but is attempting to dialogue with them.

It's well-established that Saeb Erekat tells lies to the global media because he knows he won't be fact-checked.

His latest comes in response to an Amnesty International report which criticizes the PA for not taking action against terrorists who target children.

"The Palestinian Authority has always stood to condemn all attacks on Israeli civilians, not just children. It's really unfair to put the blame on the Palestinian Authority, which is being crippled and systematically destroyed by the Israelis," he said.

Not even PA officials buy this line from Erekat (see blog entry immediately below).

(The Amnesty report is itself disturbing because it implies a moral equivalence between Islamikaze bombings and cases where children have been killed by the IDF in the course of dealing with violence by Palestinians).

Yesterday, Army Radio's morning show spoke to a number of different people and asked them: "What is the way to end the violence now entering its third year?" and "What do you think will happen in the near future?".

One interviewee was a senior Palestinian Authority official who spoke excellent Hebrew. Don't remember his name ("Abuzaida"? maybe it was Ziyad Abu Ziyad), or position ("Ministry of civil authority"?). Here's a paraphrase of the interview:

Interviewer: What is the way to end the intifada?

PA official: Israel should implement, immediately and without negotiations, the plan advocated by King Abdullah - and return to the '67 borders (more or less), evacuate all of the settlements, and create a Palestinian state.

Interviewer: OK. That's what you think Israel should do .... but what about your own government? What should the PA do?

PA official (angrily): The ball is not in our court, the ball is in your court etc. etc.

Interviewer: What about arresting or neutralizing Hamas? That's something that many Israelis ask about..

PA official: You expect us to neutralize Hamas?! And then what?! The government of Israel will go and fund more settlements etc.

Interviewer: What do you expect in the near future?

PA official: We're waiting to see what happens in Iraq and in the Labor and Likud Central Committees. We are in a waiting position for probably the next nine months or so....

So note that when a PA official speaks to the Israeli public, he doesn't say "we try to restrain Hamas and prevent terror attacks, but Israel attacked our security forces". Rather, he is frank about the fact that the PA has no intention whatsoever of reigning in Hamas, much less other groups like Fatah that are closer to the PA.

Most of the other interviewees were not so interesting, though editorialist Dan Margalit said that after the US takes care of Saddam it is likely to try to impose a solution here.

Saturday night I drove past Kikar Paris and saw the Peace Now demonstration outside the Prime Minister's Residence. There were about 50 people. I wanted to stop my car and try to reason with them.

Israeli gov't has in effect issued a total cave-in and is ending the Mukata siege (Jpost, Haaretz)

Jpost (print edition) says that one of the attacks whose planning is attributed to Mohammed Deif is the attempted car bombing of a bus full of Israeli schoolchildren in October 1998.

To see how times have changed, take a look at what Time magazine said about that attack:

Later that week, a member of Hamas, the largest Palestinian Islamic group, nearly blew up a bus filled with the school-bound children of Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip. (An Israeli army jeep escorting the children cut him off, absorbing the blow of his 170-lb. car bomb. The bomber and one soldier died.) "[Arafat] was really panicking about it," said an official who saw him afterward. "Had it been the 40 schoolchildren, it would have been the end of the peace process as we know it."

Back in 1998 people had higher expectations of Arafat.... Nowadays what would it take to force the EU or the columnists in the IHT to concede that the Palestinians have torpedoed the "peace process"?

This photo might shed light on what happens in some cases where Palestinian kids get hurt or killed by the IDF (via LGF)

There are conflicting reports about whether the IDF helicopter strike in Gaza killed Mohammed Deif. The IDF is saying that they got him (report).

Update: Currently it looks like Deif was only injured but 2 Hamas fellows in the car with him were killed (report).

Palestinians say that 40 bystanders were injured, including 15 children - but see Imshin. 6 people were said to have been seriously injured. This wasn't the Shehade hit, but it wasn't exactly the Yihya Ayash hit either.

Here's a background article on Deif. He organized the Hamas "military" branch into a secretive and cell-oriented command structure, and had personal connections with Mohammed Dahlan that enabled him to stay out of jail even when the PA was doing its revolving-door terrorist roundups. Deif is an expert bombmaker, and is said to have had advance knowledge of all attacks conducted by Hamas from Gaza and given instructions and briefings in at least some cases.

Ynet (Hebrew link) adds that Deif planned the kidnapping of soldier Nachson Waxman and the murders of soldiers Aryeh Frankenthal and Shahar Simani. Israel repeatedly asked Arafat to incarcerate Deif; Arafat's customary response was to ask his assistants: "who is he?".

Hamas spiritual leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi seems a little dense. How does Rantisi react when Israel rockets a car carrying a senior terrorist leader and 2 other Hamas officers?

"We are determined to wipe out Zionist terrorism. They are targeting civilians. They are targeting children. There are at least 15 children among the wounded here," said Rantissi.

This article on "radical left" group Gush Shalom is good but misses the basic lack of sanity that floats around Uri Avnery/GS, with its conspiracy theories and disingenuous accounts of Camp David/Taba et al.

As a student I came across Uri Avnery's old magazine Ha'olam Hazeh from the 60s at the University library. The one thing I remember is a sarcastic interview with a little girl who said that she wants to grow up to be a mother in a big city - the point was that she was bourgeois and didn't have good socialist values.

Barry Rubin thinks that optimism about democratic developments in the PA is premature (here).

At the moment, I've got nothing to say about Muqata or the Security Council. Here's what I did today ...

Visited the Sorek Stalactite Cave near Beit Shemesh.

Went to visit a friend who lives in a small community just over the Green Line (ie. in the West Bank) near Modiin. From his 3rd floor balcony there was a nice, hilly, and (of course) rocky view which includes 2 nearby Arab villages (Bilin and Kafr Niame maybe). My friend bought his apartment there because it was affordable; today he would have bought elsewhere, but if his community were evacuated he thinks that would probably be decently compensated. Travelling in the area is mostly safe, but there is one highway that passes Arab villages and is avoided at night.

A road was plowed on the first of the few hills that separates the settlement from the nearest Arab village. My friend says that this is to "claim" the hill so that Arab villagers don't begin building on it. I saw an article in the UK Independent that about an Arab who was - they said - being evicted from his home to make way for a settlement, but that's not what generally happens. The largest settlement (and the one I'm most familiar with) is called Maale Adumim - meaning "red cliffs", which is what was there beforehand.

In the evening T. and I went to see a concert by an American-Israeli group who were trying to channel Pearl Jam and had a couple of songs that were vaguely political (after the fashion of vaguely utopian political rock songs) - one about a child killed in crossfire and another one about "not giving up" (ie. hope).

It's a holiday week here, and it seems to have turned into a bit of a blogging pause ... Kalle, Dash, Alisa, and the rest of you guys are having some really interesting discussions in the comments sections that I hope to catch up with soon.... Someone suggested creating a discussion forum that would live outside of the individual blog items - opinions?

I had meant to call my old friend C. in Tel Aviv before Rosh Hashana, but didn't manage.

I finally did call after I heard that her husband was on the bus that was Islamikaze-d last Thursday. He actually sounded OK on the phone, but would be receiving some treatment for minor injuries and trauma. He had jumped through a window when the boom happened, and it was only when he looked back at the bus that he saw the extent of what had happened.

A study by Arab academics says that the entire GDP of the Arab world (250 million people) is only 5 times that of Israel (6 million people). (report)

Israel is still pumping water into villages in south Lebanon, Wazzani conflict notwithstanding (report).

Salah Elayan, aide to Palestinian legislative speaker Abu Ala, has been arrested over accusations that he threatened to kill Jpost reporter Khaled Abu Toameh unless the latter divulge the source who told him that Ala sought a meeting with PM Ariel Sharon (report)

More

Been real busy for the last day or so. Hope to be back soon.

Army Radio's "Last Word" had a fairly predictable discussion about the latest siege on Arafat's Muqata compound: Right-wing guy thinks that we should have ejected Arafat to Tunisia a long time ago (there is some thinking here that this is what's underway); left-wing guy thinks that we're ultimately not accomplishing anything, and the world thinks that we're being cruel and oppressive.

According to Zeev Schiff , the government sees this as a further step towards marginalizing Arafat and removing "hardcore" militants (like Tawfiq Tirawi I would guess) from the picture. The other operation that was considered in response to the last week's bus bombing - a wide offensive against targets in Gaza - was ruled out because of the Iraq situation. "Defense sources" are quoted as saying that Arafat has been attempting to squelch voices within the PA that seek to discontinue violent conflict with Israel.

The IDF is "isolating" Arafat. Haven't we been in this movie before?

Erekat lies; Reuters doesn't care Reuters is carrying Saeb Erekat's line that ""Six weeks have passed without any suicide attacks but during that same period Israeli troops killed 71 Palestinians" (on the BBC he said "71 Palestinian civilians").

From Aug 6 (after the Hebrew U bombing - which was not a suicide attack) up to Aug 31, B'tselem lists a total of 34 Palestinian casualties (including many killed in "exchanges of fire" etc.). For September, this Arabic site seems to list 20 casualties total - for a total of 54.

Of the B'tselem August list, 22 are described in a manner that is "civilian-like". I can't read the September list to determine which of the "martyrs" are civilians, but it's clear that there were fewer than 42 Palestinian civilian casualties for the entire six week period - perhaps as few as 28.

This count comes at a time when the IDF has been imposing curfews and conducting extensive operations in the Palestinian areas - and Israelis have been distraught over failed IDF operations to the extent that a probe was launched (not that Israel's detractors were impressed).

All civilian casualties are tragedies, but the BBC and Reuters must not allow Erekat and other Palestinian spokesmen to lie baldfacedly.

Whoa ... IDF is in Yasser's compound .... a "wanted person" was shot dead .. maybe it was Intelligence head Tewfiq Tirawi..

Haaretz reports.

Ynet quotes Said Erekat as saying that Arafat telephoned him and said that 2 of Arafat's guards have been lightly injured.

Take a look at the summary that RibbityFrog gives on al-Jazeera's coverage of today's Tel Aviv bombing. Then you can leave your thoughts at al-Jazeera's feedback section at the URL that Ribbity provides.

Khaled Abu Tomeh says that there are plenty of indications that the "al-Aqsa intifada" was planned in advance. (here)

Good article on the role of reservists in the IDF here.

Sayeth the BBC:

The Palestinian leadership responded by condemning all attacks on civilians. Senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said that in the six-week period in which there had been no suicide attacks, the Israeli army had killed 71 civilians, including the child killed on Thursday.

I think that number (71) is much much higher than the actual number (anyone feel like going through 6 weeks of Haaretz archives?). Erekat knows that he lie through his teeth and the BBC/CNN will just pass it on.

Why now, again? Bus bombing in downtown Tel Aviv . 5 dead, 40 injured(report)

Ribbity has more.

The BBC writes about the tragic shooting of a 12-yr. old Palestinian boy in Ramallah who was (according to his mother) sent to buy cigarettes for his father. The BBC leaves out the fact that a curfew was in effect (mentioned in the AP report).

From the same article:

An Israeli inquiry found Mr Sharon responsible for the slaughter in the Beirut camps, which saw Israeli-backed Lebanese Christian militiamen kill hundreds of Palestinians.

See here for what the inquiry actually said and other background.

Lots of billboards around with red letters on a black background: "If Sharon is like this (no peace, no security, no economy), then even Bibi is better". If this is part the Netanyahu campaign then it's not going to be very effective. :}

Regarding responses: I'm glad to have Kalle, Joe, Andrew, etc. as regular readers even though (well, actually because) they don't entirely identify with my perspective. Guys, please stick around, continue to respond, and please be patient with the occasional harsh responses that happen. Also, since you have access to media sources that I do not, please feel free to supply links or summaries.

A fellow in Iceland who repeatedly wrote to me about the "Jenin Massacre" (see here), has written me again:

These days there are 20 years since the mass murders in Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon.They were committed by Israeli troops under command of Ariel Sharon.Have anice anniversary.

Here's a long article about Elie Hobeika, the Lebanese Christian Phalangist leader who is acknowledged to have authorized the Sabra/Shatila massacres. According to the article, in 1985 the CIA recruited Hobeika to launch an assassination attempt on the head of Hezbollah. The assasination was botched with horrific consequences, leading the CIA to break its ties with him. Quite incredibly, despite all of this Hobeika was appointed to various cabinet positions in the Lebanese government from 1991 onward. Hobeika died in a car bombing a few months ago - Syrians are thought to be responsible but of course in the Arab world it's easiest to blame Israel. Hobeika's militia actually has its own website.

Here is the Kahan Commission report which imputes "indirect responsibility" to Ariel Sharon for not anticipating what the Christian militia would do in the camps. More recently, the situation has been to Dutch complicity at Srebrenica(long article, summary).

The world at large is much more concerned about the "indirect responsibility" of Sharon than the very direct responsibility of Hobeika, who was until recently a Lebanese minister.

Interestingly, I think that a lot of Israelis (myself included) are much more sympathetic to Sharon than we would have been a few years ago. After Sabra/Shatila, Sharon was disgraced and his political career was regarded as over. But after his comeback (which was brought about by Arafat's humiliation of Ehud Barak), Sharon has been a much more effective Prime Minister than his two predecessors. It's not just that we appreciate Sharon now .... we do see a sense of judgement and humanity about the man ...

Comments policy: Comments which supply additional information are welcome. Well-thought-out responses are also welcome, especially when they disagree with me. Making broad generalizations and ex-cathedra pronouncements is not encouraged. And posts including personal attacks or lots of naughty language will be deleted.

Jpost: Lebanon scorns US mediation efforts over Wazzani
BBC: Israel hardens stance on water

BBC says that 10 million cubic meters a year will be pumped; Jpost quotes an Israeli official who says it's 50 million cu. m.

Jpost also quotes experts as saying that the Litani River could easily supply all of south Lebanon - and its waters are now simply flowing into the ocean; the diversion of the Wazzani is to create a provocation. Jpost quotes the same Israeli official to the effect international law dictates that agreements between countries have to be reached over water use when upper levels flow into lower ones.

Jpost says:

US officials visited the site on Monday, and an expert on international water law is due to inspect the area today and then shuttle between Beirut and Jerusalem to try and resolve the issue. The Lebanese stance [that the UN rather than the US must mediate] has basically torpedoed the efforts before they begin.

BBC's "harder line" is pure bias, since there has been no change at all in Israel's stance.

PM Sharon opened a cabinet meeting this AM by saying that he hopes Macabi Haifa will beat Manchester United (IDF Radio).

The US has expressed opposition to the Danish/EU "peace plan" (report).

The Americans say it is "too detailed" and that they weren't consulted sufficiently, but my interpretation is that the US justifiably objects to an initiative now while Arafat is on the way out and there are indications of reforms within the PA. Also, since the "Bush speech", the US is no longer sympathetic to the European inclination to give the Palestinians real gains in exchange for vague promises.

5 Palestinian students were "lightly injured" (according to ynet) when a bomb exploded in a schoolyard near Hebron (report). Ynet says the injured were mostly 8-yr. olds and that the school ("Zif") is coeducational. Israeli police are searching the scene and the pupils have been evacuated.

The presumption is that a bomb was placed by a "Jewish underground" group, but police say all possibilities are being investigated. Finally seeing something which correlates a bit with the fabrications that float around in their media, Palestinian residents are blaming the IDF and "settlers".

An article in the Christian Science Monitor reports that young Israelis have started singing old folk songs as a response to the current turmoil.

If this is supposed to be a trend, I haven't noticed it here. But Gil would know best.

To provide the "deep meaning" of the trend, Prof. Jeff Halper is quoted. The CSM thinks of Halper as a "peace activist" - actually Halper writes dogmatic pro-Palestinian articles for publications like Counterpunch, and advocates replacing Israel with a binational entity.

More:
Gil writes:

In the last two years singalongs nights became very popular among people aged 20-30 in Israel, I didn’t go to one yet, though I plan to do so. I didn’t like the article in the Christian Science Monitor, I’m not sure that “singalongs have become a way of escaping from the harsh realities of today's Israel”.

During the late 90’ old Israeli rock songs from the 70’ became popular again and they were played in almost every party and that was during the peaceful years when things were looking just fine. So today it’s a different group of old songs that gained popularity.

Ari Shamai, who is behind many of these singalongs evenings, says that the singalongs would have picked up anyway even if there was peace today but then people would have said that it’s peace and the good atmosphere that made the singalongs so popular again.

Palestinians have developed longer-range mortars and have fired them a couple of times at small Israeli communities. There is concern that they will be able to reach population centers (report).

This is said to be an al-Qaida recruiting video.

This article details two versions of the incident where the IDF shot dead 4 Palestinian men in the middle of the night near Bani Naim a couple of weeks ago. Often Haaretz presents a vivid attachment to the Palestinian perspective - together with a more sober account that doesn't really connect with the first.

But in this instance there's only the accounts given by Palestinians (who claim that soldiers came into a factory where men were working and then dragged them off and shot them) and the totally different version given by the IDF (that the men were shot after breaking in to a fenced area that was the site of several violent attacks previously).

One side is deliberately lying, and I see no reason to doubt the version of the IDF. Though the men are said to have no known association with violent groups, the amateur video of their funeral shows the father of Ala'a Ayayda crying "A month ago you said that you want to be a shaheed [martyr] ....".

The funeral video showed the victims wounds in gory detail (something that's common on Islamic sites like Clearguidance ). Villagers expressed their desire for revenge, and of course...

There is no solution to the cycle of bloodshed without an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state within the `67 borders," the young people of the village repeated with determination...

If Haaretz' Ada Ushpiz had studied math, she would know that the villagers were describing their view of a "necessary" condition rather than a "sufficient" one. "There won't be peace unless X" does not mean "There will be peace when X". It means "Give me at least X; and then I'll demand more".

Weekend Papers III This article says in passing that the US National Security Agency has been conducting Denial of Service attacks on radical Islamic websites.

Yediot Ahronot describes a study by Prof. Nissim Danah which claims that the text of the Koran recognizes an association between the Jews and the Land of Israel. His evidence is that twice in the Koran, Moses is quoted as referring to Israel as the Promised Land. Perhaps more convincingly, chapter 17 includes a description of the "end of days" in which Allah tells the Children of Israel that they should go to live in the Land of Israel, and that Allah will bring them in "tribe by tribe".

Weekend Papers II Analyst Zeev Schiff is a guy who doesn't just talk out of his hat. And here's his assessment of where things stand following Operation Determined Path

.....The Palestinian security organizations collapsed, and terrorists from all the various groups are on the run and in hiding. Hundreds of them were killed and thousands more are under arrest. The IDF proved its strength and determination to the Palestinians and to the Arabs in general.

The Palestinians have a sense of failure and are doing some serious soul-searching about the violent path Arafat chose. The criticism is coming from the grass roots and the mid-level leaders. New channels of negotiations with Israel are opening. But there is still a danger of terrible terror attacks by those opposed to the change.

Schiff also says: there are currently 91 "settlement outposts", of which 21 are illegal in the sense that they had not been approved by the Netanyahu or Barak governments (as an aside: remember that the Oslo Accords did not freeze settlement growth; the post-Oslo Mitchell Plan included a settlement freeze after the establishment of a ceasefire); Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer thinks that Israel should now begin a new diplomatic initiative and is likely to leave the gov't soon.

My own view is that "diplomatic initiatives" belong to the world of pie-in-the-sky diplomats. When there is a Palestinian leadership that wants to reach a real rapproachment with Israel, there will be communications - with both the gov't and also with the media and the left.

Weekend Papers Good background article on the row over the Lebanese pumping from the Wazzani River (here). Initial pumping began 3 years ago but is now being increased substantially. The waters of the Wazzani server to reduce the salinity of the Kinneret Lake.

Lynn B. provides background to a Haaretz article on a new Palestinian "spin" - according to which it's the Israelis who fabricated a report that Palestinians claimed that there had been a massacre in Jenin [got that?].

The Arab News Network is a London-based cable channel which host interviews with Israelis - provided that the Israelis are far-right extremists (report)

This article describes how Israel's very public murder/terror trial against Marwan Barghouti has mega-boosted his popularity among Palestinians. There is speculation that the whole Mandela metaphor is being encouraged by Israel, as some Israelis (eg. the always naive Shimon Peres) think Barghouti is a desirable negotiating partner.

Barghouti and his lawyers are not claiming innocence, but have a creative argument about jurisdiction. Assuming that they're not dry legalists, Barghouti's international supporters are thus pretty much admitting that they think killing Israeli civilians is A-OK by them....

This and other articles say that some in Fatah are pushing for a "unilateral ceasefire" - they keep losing sight of the fact that what is actually being discussed is a halt to attacks on Israeli civilians (ie. a "shaheed-o-pause"). Such a halt can only be unilateral, since Israel doesn't target civilians .... or maybe that means that it's automatically bilateral.... whatever..

Some more thoughts about the attempted food poisoning.... The targeted Cafe Rimon is on the central Ben-Yehuda mall. If, when I was single, it had been open 24 hours/day as it is now I probably would have gone there a lot. The Cafe recently received a citation because the anti-bomber fence around the sidewalk cafe was built without a permit.

Imshin says that she is concerned about the next terror attack. Perhaps naively, I think the Islamizake lull will continue. The terror groups are now changing their tactics and I'm more afraid that they will do something that we haven't seen yet.

This AM on the radio there were a lot of comments about Fatah essentially forcing the removal of Arafat's cabinet.

Shimon Peres said that this was not democracy, but a positive step towards it; he didn't mention whether this seemed to disprove his previous contention that the attempt to marginalize Arafat was dangerous and doomed to failure.

A woman associated with the left-wing Meretz party said that this was very dangerous. Israel should neither try to affect the Palestinian political process nor be positively inclined about the latest developments. The weakening of Arafat's position could lead to a more official presence by Hamas, which would be a step backwards, or even to total chaos - she said. Though chaos is actually what Sharon desires, she contends, since he has no diplomatic strategy and would love nothing more than for there to be noone to talk to.

What's fascinating is that Peres and Meretz have this emotional and intellectual investment in Arafat. What's really funny is that Meretz can't deal with an event which seems to contradict their worldview - this woman was not quite hyperventilating as she described the satisfaction that she imagines Sharon would have with her imagined Palestinian chaos. The simple indication is, of course, that the resignations are a step away from Palestinian chaos.

I wouldn't care if Hamas officials attained positions in the PA. It would just give an official veneer to the policies that the PA has had till now.

My concern is that the next PA leader will be an Oslo-era Arafat, who has no real change of goals or attitude, but keeps the lid on the violence just enough so that the USA, Europe, and the Israeli left will push for unilateral concessions.

I'm sure this will everywhere soon, but Israel radio says that the al-Qaida website says that Osama died on December 9 in Tora-Bora.

Endowments from the Persian Gulf ensure that academic works that term Israel the "Zionist entity" and bemoan conditions in the "occupied territories" are ones that get funded - according to this article.

Ynet quotes (in Hebrew) Israeli reactions to the resignation of Arafat's cabinet: the head of IDF Military Intelligence Ahron Farkash said that it marks the Palestinian people for the first time breaking with Arafat; Labor leader Ben-Eliezer said that it means that Palestinians are realizing that terrorism is not the means to accomplish their goals.

Ben-Eliezer's point is doubtful as it seems that the PLC delegates are dissatisfied more with the corruption and incompetence of Arafat's folk. I'll tell you more if I manage to catch the Channel 2 news.

Compared to some European reactions to the 9/11 anniversary, the discussions here in Israel are straightforward: some clips from the American ceremonies, descriptions of precautions against anniversary attacks, lots of sympathy and identification. There's plenty elsewhere about the Palestinian response. Gratuitous Clearguidance link..

Never saw this amazing picture before.

The newest Israeli blogger - RibbityFrog - has translated the Palestinian and Lebanese news reports on Arafat's speech to the Palestinian Legislature (here). Link to it you uberbloggers.

Within a year, aircraft that fly in Israel will have equipment to enable them to dodge shoulder-fired missiles (report).

Masters of the Obvious Evelyn Gordon concludes that there's no serious argument to be made that international law prevents Israel from relocating Kifah and Intisar Ajouri from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. She regards as hypocritical the remarks by Amnesty International (that the pair's "fundamental rights" were violated because their trial was not open) and the US State Dept. (who termed the expulsions as "punishing the innocent" despite the relocatees having behaved as accessories to murder).

A bureau of the Israeli defense ministry has issued advice to travelers that includes things like keeping hotel doors locked at all times and not flashing Israeli passports.

So ... concern about food poisonings, rocketing civilian aircraft, travelling abroad.... The dominant Israeli (and probably American) attitude is: take preventative measures, including pre-emptive measures. Terrorist failures, punitive measures, and eradicating incitement will eventually discourage these kinds of attacks.

The [smug?] European response is probably: Israel eradicated Hamas and Fatah in the West Bank/Gaza, so they're switching tracks and using Jerusalem Arabs and trying to attack Israelis and Jews abroad. This shows that force doesn't solve anything. Hence partial capitulation is the only solution even though all significant Palestinian factions (eg. Arafat, Fatah, and the PA; though possibly not Sari Nusseibeh) insist that the West Bank/Gaza is not enough for them to give up their struggle.

Al-Jazeera has a video in which the voice of Osama Bin-Laden is said to take responsibility for 9/11. This was mentioned in Maariv; I didn't see it anywhere else.

Today on the radio there was a lot of discussion about the foiled restaurant poisoning.

They interviewed some professor of Pharmacy or something who said several other prescription medications can be fatal and undetectable when administered in quantities as small as a milligram or two. There was lots of talk about what kinds of security measures can or should be taken.

Some restaurant owners said that they thought their business might drop off for a few days but would not be affected for long. The restaurant critic for Kol Ha-ir (Jerusalem's equivalent of the Village Voice) said that panic must be avoided because it's not justified (he knows many Arab chefs and food workers), and is precisely what the terrorists want, and recommends that people continue to eat out("at good restaurants, obviously").

Chef Zaid Amram (an Arab) of the Guest House at Kibbutz Ramat Rahel, said that when he and his employees heard about the attempt they were worried about what it would mean for them, but that he felt no suspiciousness from his employers or the kibbutzniks.

Time Magazine said Monday quoted Israeli intelligence officials as saying that 98 percent of known members of the Hamas military wing have been arrested or killed over the past five months, leaving the terrorist organization in a state of disarray. (report).

Arafat condemns "every act of terror against Israeli civilians", but stopped short of saying that the attacks must be halted (report).

3 Jerusalem Arabs were arrested for planning to poison drinks in a downtown restaurant where 1 of them worked(report). This type of thing unfortunately motivates businesses to avoid hiring Arabs - legal and ethical issues notwithstanding.

Thanks to those who contributed to some interesting discussion on the Stig Moeller thread below. It's wonderful when people try to refrain from ad hominem attacks, and also when people realize that they can't change someone's entire world-view in a single posting.

I'm quite occupied at the moment with reallife and (especially) job-related issues.

Tonight is Rosh Hashana - the Jewish New Year. Here's wishing everybody a Shana Tova and a happy, safe, and peaceful year.

What planet did Per Stig Moeller arrive from? The Danish Foreign Minister is here in Israel to promote the EU's Middle East plan - which calls for immediate declaration of a Palestinian state (without borders), and a full-fledged state by 2005. No strings attached. (report)

Yasser Arafat, who is never averse to getting something without having offer something in return, said "in principle, we accept the ideas you brought. We will study them closely and give our response soon.".

Moeller said he was "encouraged" by Arafat's "positive acceptance of the ideas" - so pleasant for him to deal with someone who will enable the EU to expand its sphere of influence. Moeller said the aim of the plan is "putting the peace process back on track". (a statement which no doubt perplexed most Israelis - a "peace process" demands mutual trust of which there is currently none; and what's "back on track"?

Saeb Erekat said "we have nothing to fear from the European initiative". Of course you don't. The initiative doesn't make any demands on your side (eg. you're not required to arrest Hamas and Fatah operatives).

"We think the [Palestinian] suicide bombers must be stopped, of course, but the answer to that cannot be that you kill civilians," Moeller told reporters. Did reporters ask Moeller why he thought that killing civilians was Israel's "answer to stopping suicide bombers"? Did Moeller reply "I know that Israel doesn't target civilians. But that line just sounded so deliciously glib and snooty that I couldn't resist"?

More:
RibbityFrog responds:

This is not the first time that Moeller has implied that Israel deliberately targets civilians. While visiting the Saudi Prince Amir Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, on 2nd September, just after the spate of civilian killings by the Israeli army, he commented: "These killings might give the impression of a lack of Israeli desire for peace, as well as adding the danger of an Palestinian response in revenge".

Moeller's words are cited here in translation from Arabic from a report appearing in the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar < http://www.annaharonline.com/htd/ARAFATAY.HTM>. I tried to find the English original but nobody seems to have reported this statement. Note that Israeli killings demonstrate a lack of willingness for peace; Palestinians merely respond in revenge. Who could blame them.

There was gangster rap.... now there's Islamofascist rap: The Soldiers of Allah (lyrics, downloads) are an Islamic rap group with songs that include: "Staring into the kafir's eyes", "Sleeping Giant", "They Can't Stop Islam". An upcoming CD is called "Salahudin: The Return of Palestine Soundtrack".

The following is a press release sent to me by David Weinberg (press officer for an organization called the Mosaica Center) :

Jerusalem .. At the first-ever "Islamic-Jewish dialogue on social justice", held yesterday (September 3, 2002) in Beersheba, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron and Israeli Arab Islamic Movement Leader Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour tried hard to stick to the planned topic, but it wasn't easy.

The two clerics were brought together, at the initiative of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, under the promising title "Religious Leaders Speak Out for Social Justice", by the Mosaica Research Center for Religion, Society and State. They managed to agree that "truly religious people ought to place social justice at the forefront of their agendas", as Sarsour declared. Bakshi-Doron added that "In the prophets and in our religious-halachic sources, social justice is paramount. I believe that we can bridge gaps between Jews and Moslems by working together on the social agenda", the Chief Rabbi said.

But the daily politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were never far from the surface. Sarsour bitterly attacked the Israeli Supreme Court for agreeing (yesterday) to allow the deportation from the West Bank to Gaza of two Palestinians who assisted family members in carrying-out terror attacks. "The Court is joining the Israeli destruction machine", Sarsour sniped.

"You should take example from British Chief Rabbi Sacks", he then told Bakshi-Doron. "Sacks is not afraid to speak out against Israeli injustice", said Sarsour -- referring to a controversial interview with The Guardian given by Jonathan Sacks last week in which he decried the immorality of Israel's presence in the territories.

Sarsour went on to condemn Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians, saying that "he who attacks the People of the Book chips away at the holiness of Allah himself". Bakshi-Doron was not satisfied with Sarsour's declaration. "I no longer know which Sheikh to believe and when", lamented Bakshi-Doron. "Last year in Alexandria I signed a joint religious declaration against terrorism with Sheikh Tantawi, the senior-most Egyptian Islamic cleric. But under pressure from Islamic radicals, he backed away from the declaration as soon as I left Egypt and the media cameras left with me".

"Tantawi never repeated this religious commitment against terror in Arabic when speaking to his own people", accused Bakshi-Doron. "I would like you, Sheikh Sarsour, to do so; speak out against terror in Arabic in your mosque! We have to ask -- who sets the tone for the Islamic world? Sarsour speaking Hebrew, or Tantawi, Yassin, and Nassrallah?!", demanded Bakshi-Doron, referring to the clerics that head Hamas and the Hezbollah.

Mosaica Center Chairman Adv. Aviad Hacohen summed-up session thus: "This seminar is part of a wider effort, spawned by the Mosaica Center, to build a new language of trust between religious leaders of both faith communities. We have no illusions that it will be easy. But this event was significant in the very fact that it happened, and we will keep at it". Rabbi Melchior was hopeful too. "We must break the dangerous linkage between religiosity and radicalism. Religion can, and should be, a force for peace", declared Melchior.

The "relocate-ees" (brother and sister of suicide bomber Ali Ajouri who knew of the bombing plans) are on their way to Gaza. The PA has said that they won't be accepted in, so they might end up stranded at the crossing point.

This article discusses the Israeli Supreme Court's determinations on when such expulsions are justifiable. The criteria are quite fuzzy in the end - with the net result being that only people who are "clearly and convincingly" threatening can be expelled.

The court's decision also neutralizes an initial intent of the expulsions: expelling the families of Islamikazes to Gaza is thought to dissuade a future Islamikaze who might think twice before exchanging his family's comforts for his own 72 virgins, as well as making shaheed-rearing parents a little less proud. The court's decision also leads to the question: why should we expel such people instead of just prosecuting and jailing them? The answer would seem to be that in some cases doing so would compromise sources of intelligence.

This article explains the Court's determination that the West Bank and Gaza are part of the same territory, so that the expulsions constitute a relocation rather than a deportation.

The PA official Saeb Erekat called this a "black day for human rights" ... are there really people who believe that the PA has any real interest in human rights or rule of law?

Former Palestinian Authority cabinet minister Nabil Amer published publicly blamed Arafat for the disarray in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and accused him of missing an opportunity to reach a deal at Camp David (report).

It was bound to happen. The encyclopedic Israeli music site Mooma (Hebrew link) is shutting down in a couple of days.

Channel 2 news tonite showed a building in Gaza that it preparing to receive the 2 West Bank Palestinians that Israel is sending there tomorrow. It's the same place where the exiles from the Church of the Nativity standoff are now living. According to channel 2, the IDF sent another 2 Palestinians who were previously being held at Ketziot prison (this would be problematic because there had been no Court ruling permitting it - IDF spokesmen said that they were unaware of the 2 from Ketziot).

Palestinians that were interviewed said that they thought that the policy (ie. of exiling abettors of violence against civilians to Gaza) is actually just a tactic to remove all Palestinians from the West Bank.

Today's Haaretz has an article about blogs (Hebrew article - not yet on the English site). And it includes an interview with me.

If you are coming in from Haaretz (or Walla!), please feel free to leave some comments or send me email

Zeev Schiff writes that Syria has enabled 150-200 al-Qaida men to take refuge in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon. Schiff says that there are other new indications of cooperation between al-Qaida and Syria.

The BBC's Caroline Hawley previously wrote a fictional report that claimed Israel was planning to eject all Arabs from Jewish cities (see here). Now, in article on the difficulties faced by Palestinians returning to school while curfews are enforced, she writes that:

Mr Abu Homos said he was also worried for the safety of pupils after more than 200 schoolchildren were killed and more than 2,500 wounded last year.

and a photo caption says:

Hundreds of schoolchildren were killed last year

Where do these numbers come from? This study says that from Aug 2000 to Aug 2002 (ie. a two-year period) there were a total of 40 non-combatant Palestinian deaths under age 10 and another 80 between 10 and 14. All deaths of noncombatants are tragic, but the BBC has the duty not to pass on Palestinian exaggerations.

Also, this BBC article says:

Environmentalists warn the salt lake, which is sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews alike, could vanish by 2050 if nothing is done.

The Dead Sea is not in any way "sacred" to Jews.

Allegations that the 4 Palestinians killed near Hebron had been detained first will be shown to be absolute nonsense.

PA officials have been driving stolen Israeli cars (report).

I'm too tired and occupied with various things to write about the latest events.

Ribbity writes that British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks "almost addresses" the meaning of covenant in the absence of belief in divine revelation... Leo Strauss already demonstrated in "Philosophy and Law" that that's a question not really worth addressing. Gershom Scholem essentially agreed in "On the Possibility of Jewish Mysticism in Our Time".

In a similar vein, here's an interesting essay by Mark Lilla on the Counter-enlightenment.

Mark Lilla and Tony Judt were both interesting-to-read Europhiles who had a certain amount of disdain for America. After Sept 11, Judt seems to be even more of a Europhile, and, in his periodic "Fisk-me-please" articles in the NY Review of Books, identifies heavily with the EU approach to the Middle East. I had been wondering if Lilla, who has visited Israel periodically, had become more sympathetic to the USA - I just recently came across this piece from February that criticizes Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech. Lilla's remarks are interesting; but somehow it always works out that attempts to be "nuanced" and subtle with respect to Saddam or whomever just end up being appeasements. Lilla is also very critical of Yoram Hazony.

Friday I was walking around in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City and saw a group of 4 Arab kids, all probably under the age of 10, playing Cops and Robbers. Actually, maybe it wasn't Cops and Robbers. This boy wrapped a black bandana over his head and covered his face with it as he used his elbow to hold his sister[?] around her neck and placed a toy gun to her head. I regretted not having my digital camera with me, and realized I would have thought twice before photographing someone holding a gun that looked so real. They all seemed to be having fun.

This is interesting: Teddy Katz, an Israeli affiliated with the leftist Meretz party, claimed in his Masters thesis that a Jewish militia (called the "Alexandroni Brigade") committed a massacre during the 1948 war of independence.

When veterans of the brigade sued Katz for libel, the PLO supplied him with money for his legal defense (report). Katz seems to have backed down from his accusations.

This is the site for that Birmingham Islamic Conference that the Swedish hijacker was supposed to be going to. The Islamic radical kids at Clearguidance say that the sponsoring Salafi Publications is Saudi-backed and not serious enough about Jihad for their tastes.

This is a hacked Islamic site (cache of original page)

At this moment, the country feels the calmest that it's been for at least 6 months. That's not saying much, and it could change any second - especially with the trouble on the Lebanese border and the Iraq situation. But the IDF has been successful in rooting out much of the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas. A few weeks ago Defence Minister Ben-Eliezer said there were something like 50 suicide bombers ready to go; we're not hearing much of that sort of thing now. Nor are we hearing about foiled attacks on a daily basis the way we used to. The PFLP has been practically speaking neutralized (report).

In the Oslo era, there were periods in which there were surges of Islamikaze bombings (often these were immediately after one of the "phased withdrawals" that turned over territory to the PA). After a period of calm, Israelis would then go back to their daily routine - as well as their routine political dogmas. Cynics thought that we had very short memories. The past two years of chaos will not be so easily forgotten, but if the current relative absence of attacks were to continue various things could happen: downtown would come back to life; tourists, businessmen, and investors would return.

Then it's striking to hear stuff on the radio like: "The curfew in Nablus will be lifted from noon until dusk. Jenin remains under curfew while in Kalkilya the curfew has been lifted", or about the 4 members of a family killed by tank fire in Gaza. The quiet and stability that we are experiencing comes at the expense of the Palestinians (as well as at the expense of the pressures on the IDF and reservists).

But it's foolish (and I would say immoral) to argue that Israel should sacrifice its own citizens (and civil stability) in order to spare Palestinians from hardships necessitated by the failure of their own government (and to a large extent the failure of their culture).

Some guy got confused and thought that I was Adam Shapiro (here).

Joshua Sharf writes:

Colorado College has invited Hanan Ashrawi to be their 9/11 keynote speaker. A fairly substantial group of us has noticed the irony involved in having the spokesman for a terrorist group lecture us on the proper response to, well, terrorism. We're going to have a nice, peaceful, non-disruptive rally on 9/12 during her speech, and I'm in charge of getting website publicity.

Here's Joshua's website.

Went to a concert tonite by Hamadregot at a place called Haoman 17.

Haoman 17 housed a dance club which (I think) moved to Tel Aviv. The club is said to have had a real international reputation - so that DJs from the UK and Europe were willing to come in even after the "situation" began 2 years ago. Unlike Tel Aviv, Jerusalem is a quiet and somewhat religiously-oriented city, which makes the whole thing quite unusual.

Hamadregot are terrific live. After the concert T. and I stopped at a restaurant called Caffit. We ended up sitting close to the gate: a few steps away from the location of a failed Islamikaze bombing.

Aerial shot of the Temple Mount (from Yediot) shows the location of the Western Wall, al-Aqsa mosque, and shaky Southern wall. Yahoo unfortunately made the picture smaller.

Yediot also provides the following background:

Like other parts of the wall, the Southern wall was built by King Herod in the first century CE. In the course of years, parts were destroyed, and the most recent repair was carried out by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Great in 1517.

The south-east portion of the wall is one of the highest segments of the Old City Wall, and its foundation reaches several tens of meters underground. The protrusion that was discovered is found in the Ottoman section of the wall. Adjacent to the inside face [near the protrusion] is an area called "Solomon's Stables", which was renovated in 1996 and became the large roofed mosque that bears the name "Almoosa Almarwani" - a mosque that was renovated and built by the Arab-Israeli "Islamic Movement".

Jews were accustomed to pray at the south part of the wall in previous centuries because of prohibtions against praying at the Western Wall. In the Second Temple period, stairs were erected on the south wall which led to Hulda Gates (the Double Gate). These wide steps, still visible today, led to the gates.

this article, attention in the Arab world and media has abandoned the Palestinians as it focuses on Iraq. Despite all indications to the contrary, Arab media interprets American hostility to Iraq primarily as cultural and political imperialism. It doesn't seem to register that the US is specifically concerned with Saddam Hussein and the proliferation of non-conventional weapons.

"EU president Denmark wants Palestinian state by 2005"... Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller didn't say "come hell or high water", but it sounds like that's what he means. According to Moeller

"It is necessary through parallel progress on security, economic and political matters to strengthen the Palestinians' faith that an independent state is within reach and Israel's faith that they can finally achieve security within their own borders,"

It sounds like Moeller just came out of a meeting with Yossi Beilin and some other constituency-free Israeli dreamers - signing a few more documents could indeed help buoy their much-challenged "faith", but the rest of us know that stability, let alone security, in Israel won't result from establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank/Gaza.

Here's more on the ongoing attempts to prevent damage or destruction of the wall surrounding the Temple Mount. UNESCO is offering to get involved because the Muslim Wakf responsible for the site refuse to take seriously the assessements of the Israeli Antiquities Ministry - the Wakf says that the assessments are part of a conspiracy against them.

Various personal commitments are vying for my attention. And my place of work could use some additional clue density.

"Peace Now" was once a formidable force in Israel. They believed that the policies of the rightist Israeli governments were counterproductive and that compromise with the Palestinians was the only viable option. Two years after the Oslo bubble has burst, "Peace now" is largely a spent force, and probably the most vocal leftist organization is Gush Shalom. Gush Shalom once again proves that they are a bunch of insane conspiracy-theorists by running the following large ad in today's Haaretz:

An Emergency call An Emergency call

THEY PLAY WITH OUR LIVES!

Sharon and Peres are urging the United States to attack Iraq.

Israel is the only country in the whole world that supports this war.

All European and Arab states oppose it. In the American political elite and Bush's own party, too, there are voices warning against this adventure - even while unanimously opposing Sadam [sic] Hussein's regime.

Almost certainly, with the outbreak of war, Sadam Hussein will throw at us everything he has got: poison gas, fatal diseases, even nuclear radiation.

Israel is as defenseless as last time. We have nothing but the "sealed rooms", adhesive paper and masks. Now there are tables against nuclear radiation!

Thousands and tens of thousands of Israeli citizens may be hurt.

If this is madness - there is method in it.

Sharon intends to exploit the ensuing chaos in the Middle East in order to realize his real plan: to drive out the Palestinian [sic] from all of the country ("Transfer"). To this end, he is ready to bring disaster on all of us.

A shocking fact: Until now, hardly any voice has been raised in Israel against this disastrous policy. Not a single politician, either in the coalition or opposition, not a single officer in the army has spoken out.

The silence of the lambs

Gush Shalom

More:

Gil Shterzer observes:

Gush Shalom are a bunch of loonies. It sounds that they are more worried about Sharon’s plans (I’m sure what they wrote isn’t really Sharon’s plan) than their prediction that thousands of Israeli might die.

I should really get on top of what's happening with the "Gaza-Bethlehem first" progress. I know the international media is talking about it; it might be that here we're a bit bored with whether the IDF is leaving or going back in to Area A.

The media here is focused on the Israeli Arabs who have been involved in terror attacks recently, statements attributed to British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Saks in the UK Guardian (report), and a "Jenin inquiry" which determined that the IDF soldiers who were sent there in Operation Defensive Shield were inadequately equipped and briefed.

According to Yediot, the 7 Israeli Arabs who of the Bakri clan who assisted in the Meron bus bombing were middle-class and secular.

The British Chief Rabbi reportedly said that Israel has been forced into postures incompatible with "our deepest ideals". Jacky Levy on Army Radio's "Last Word" said cynically that he's sure that in a few hours some spokesman will announce that Rabbi Saks' words were taken out of context. Reading the Guardian's summary of the interview it's easy to imagine how they might have done that. We'll see.

RibbityBlog (aka. the amphibian MEMRI) has a summary of an article in the official Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam which outlines an imagined Jewish conspiracy against the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli police procedure is to return confessed criminals to the scene of the crime and have them reconstruct the events (ie. "reenact" the crime). Tonite on the Channel 2 news they showed police reconstructing the bombings authored by the Hamas cell from Silwan.

These included the bombing of the social club in Rishon Letzion, where a member of the arrested ring entered the stairwell to check for a security guard and then directed his friend wearing the explosives belt that it was OK to go up. At the Hebrew University bombing, HU employee Odeh selected the site of the bombing and determined that no suicidalist was necessary. He placed the bomb, ran away, got in his associate's car, and pressed the "call" button on his cell phone to detonate the bomb.

For me the most striking thing is that these attacks just seem so calculated.... that makes them hard to fathom. They don't promote anyone's interests, nor do they seem to be acts of blind rage or revenge.

The Hamas ring is connected to another group in Ramallah; authorities say that their identities are known and it's only a matter of time until they are put out of operation.

UN Middle East Envoy Terje-Roed Larsen is nostalgic about the Oslo period. Evelyn Gordon shows how each of Larsen's assertions about the Oslo era - that it provided peace for Israelis, economic improvement for Palestinians, and a "balanced Palestinian budget" - is simply false.

I hope that the Jpost article inspires some more Israelis to start blogging. Here is a brand-new blog by an Israeli fellow familiar from my comments section. He goes by the jocular name of RibbityFrog, and he also reads (and hopefully will translate from) the Arabic media.

And Yehudit Weiss, another frequent commentor, is now blogging at Kesher Talk.

My own blogging should pick up again later today.

Madame Tussaud's museum in London has installed a portrait of Arafat making the V-symbol and stationed it among portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela, and Prince Charles (hebrew report)

The Palestinian Authority has refused a request to bury Abu Nidal in the Palestinian areas. The group that Nidal commanded was a splinter of Arafat's Fatah (hebrew report).

Some people left me good questions in the comments section; I hope to respond soon.

This Hebrew article reports the inflammatory rhetoric of Sheikh Raed Salah who led a 45,000 person rally held in Jerusalem today.

Salah said that the slogan of the rally - "al-Aqsa in Danger" - refers to the fact that the mosque is surrounded by Israeli security forces and that excavations are being carried out underneath it by the Antiquities Ministry. He also mentioned the arson attempt on the mosque in 1969 (apparently forgetting that an Australian Protestant was responsible). In actual fact the Islamic Wakf has untrammeled control over the mosque and the Temple Mount, and have been carrying out excavations which have damaged the site's external wall as well has archeological remnants from the Temple period (report).

This well-designed pro-Islam anti-democracy UK site seemed surreal to me. In the discussions of Islam in Europe I've yet to see mention of a book called "1985" by Anthony Burgess which depicts a UK dominated by Islam and labour movements.

Update: Here's the Haaretz article in English.

This article in Haaretz looks at the circumstances surrounding the death of Italian photojournalist Raffaele Ciriello and the IDF's response. The only foreign journalist to have been killed in Israel, Ciriello was shot in Ramallah during Operation Defensive Shield.

Cirello went for a walk with 2 colleagues near Ramallah's central Manara Square where "armed Palestinians" were walking around. Upon seeing an Israeli tank (in proximity to the "armed Palestinians"), they tried to take cover. Cirello then stepped out to take pictures of the tank, but he was not wearing a flak jacket or "Press" identification and was shot - apparently from the IDF tank.

Various journalists and Italian officials are upset with the IDF's standoffishness - which does not seem unreasonable, in view of the Haaretz article. But from some of the remarks it sounds like journalists expect to just be able to show up in a war zone and have everyone watch out for them. Some are demanding to speak to the soldiers who were in the area at the time.

Interestingly, Ciriello's website (entitled "Postcards from Hell") seems to have no material on his work in the West Bank. Nor does it have the photo of Cirelllo linking arms with Arafat that appeared in Haaretz.

The Jerusalem Post has an article on Israeli and Palestinian blogging here (annoying but free registration required) or read it at Renatinha's blog. Mentioned: me, Renatinha, and Gil).

Muhammad Itzhak Shehada Odeh, the Hamas operative who placed the bomb in the Hebrew University cafeteria a couple of weeks ago, worked as a painter/handyman for the University and actually participated in the subsequent cleanup.

The Jerusalem-based Hamas ring of which Odeh is a part also tried to bomb the Pi Glilot fuel depot in Tel Aviv (see these old blog entries: here, here, and here). Most of the ring members are from Silwan, which is known as a "bad neighborhood".

The Muslim teen site ClearGuidance now requires registration.

As many people know, ClearGuidance is disturbing - but it's also interesting because it gives you an look inside at what's happening in the extremities of the English-speaking Muslim community. A while back they had a thread discussing the legalities of suicide bombing, and it appeared that anglo-Muslim schools went both ways: some approved of it and others taught that it was usually prohibited.

In the blog entry immediately below I copied a thread, where the CG kids tackle the 72 virgins question.....

Another thread from the Muslim teen site ClearGuidance:

-------------

u kno how men get women in heaven....
so what about women, do they get men in heaven?

------------------

As-Sayf
Junior Member

Registered: Jun 2002
Location: Whatever Allah wills...
Posts: 96
Actually, I was reading in the paper on this topic. There is some Egyptian feminist, she uses this point to claim that their is nothing for women in Islam, and this couldn't be further from the truth.

Question:
If a woman is killed as a martyr for the sake of Allaah, how does the hadeeth “The shaheed will be married to seventy-two hoor al-‘iyn” apply to her?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

We put this question to Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen, may Allaah preserve him, who answered as follows:

This number is only for men. A woman will have only one husband in Paradise, and she will be satisfied with him and will not need any more than that.

The Muslim woman – who is not influenced by the claims of those who propagate permissiveness and knows that she is not like men in her make-up and nature, because Allaah has made her like that – does not object to the rulings of Allaah or feel angry. Rather she accepts what Allaah has decreed for her. Her sound nature tells her that she cannot live with more than one man at a time. So long as she has entered Paradise, she will have all that she desires, so she should not dispute now about the delights and rewards that her Lord has chosen for her, for your Lord does not treat anyone unjustly. If she is one of the people of Paradise, then she is included, like men, in the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):

“Trays of gold and cups will be passed round them; (there will be) therein all that inner‑selves could desire, and all that eyes could delight in and you will abide therein forever”

[al-Zukhruf 43:71]

We ask Allaah for al-Firdaws, the highest part of Paradise. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)
-----------

mad_scientist
scientist gone mad

Registered: Jul 2002
Location:
Posts: 280
...
thanks alot for the information... honestly, one is enuf, for many of us anyway. but its heaven, and Allah knows what we desire...

sorry to drag this on and on, but many people still ask me, what about those hooralyns; where they created for that purpose?

wana tackle people with every question answered possible. alota people ask me this last question.

------

Ibn Musa
-·=»‡«=·-

Registered: May 2002
Location: terroristan
Posts: 997
quote:
i can't wait for the hoors


me too...

honestly i cant wait to be a shaheed

erm i wanna taste how it is the way one dies for His sake
when i see those videos such as "israeliz breakin palestinian boys bones" and like the other videos in which they show how kafir's torture those mujaahideens

i feel like i wanna be over their one of them to get tortured
i wanna taste how it is
after hearing that my teacher said somethin like "no man will wish to return to earth from jannah but if its to get martyred again...he will wish to return to dunya for that

----

ahhh i wish i taste that ONCE man

then

hooors n anything i wish

BUT my first wish is to taste how one diez for His sake
its a great fitnah too tho...

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is currently meeting with officials in Norway. Initial reports in Jpost focus on his discussions with boycott-advocating labor leader Gerd Liv Valla (who Peres' criticizes as "misinformed") and his shrugging off previous criticisms from the Nobel Prize committee.

According to the Norwegian paper Aftenposten (link via Bjorn Staerk), however, Peres made the unparseable remark that the Oslo agreement is still alive because

it maintains that there can't be any peace in the Middle East unless the Israelis reach an understanding with the Palestinians.

Peres is continuing to conduct his own foreign policy, but this is a tolerable price to pay for a unity government.

[Norwegian Foreign Minister] Petersen noted that Norway maintains close relationships with both sides in the Mid-East conflict, but doesn't hesitate to speak up when criticism is called for. Norway has criticized, for example, Israeli "liquidations," the use of Palestinians as human shields and the destruction of Palestinian homes.

Petersen uses rhetorical inflation when talking about the Israelis and is willfully blind when he looks at the Palestinians.

For the moment, normalcy has returned to Bethehem (report):

Most Palestinians in the city said the real test for the PA would be when and if it decides to arrest Fatah, Hamas, and other terrorists who have declared that they will continue to launch attacks against Israel. Many gunmen and activists belonging to the extremist Palestinian factions have either been killed or wounded or arrested since the IDF reoccupied Bethlehem.

Yesterday there were no signs of gunmen roaming the streets as they have done in the past.

This interview with Harry Kney-Tal, who is completing his term as Israel's ambassador to the EU, covers familiar ground regarding the European faith in negotiated solutions and the good nature of the Palestinians, and also makes a few new points....

One is that when Europeans hear the word "terrorism", they recall the IRA or the Basque ETA in Spain - purposeless violence against civilians of the sort practiced by Palestinians is unfathomable to them.

Kney-Tal says that the EU is specifically proud that it enabled the PA to survive in the face of Israeli economic pressure, and that they think that their distance from the situation here gives them an objectivity which we Israelis lack. The EU was in a state of denial after the Camp David/Taba talks floundered, and were ecstatic when former Clinton advisor Robert Malley published his flimsy attempt to split the blame.

Kney-Tal says that the new generation of Western European leaders "grew up" on the "Palestinian narrative". The "Palestinian narrative" is a term used by use to denote the Palestinians' mythological version of their history; in the Palestinian narrative, most problems are attributable to the Jews who came from nowhere and ejected them from their land, to which they will eventually return.

With the little bridges and tacky chandeliers, Venice did seem a bit like Disneyland at first. It's not a city like Prague, where "real life" happens among the old buildings.

But it is beautiful and relaxing. Murano is not just an expensive tourist trap, but also a place to get away from the crowds and have a pleasant walk around. The Guggenheim collection has Kandinsky and Ernst. The Doge Palace is worth seeing. Saw an interesting collection of books and manuscripts on alchemy at the National Library.

The Jewish ghetto is tiny; the synagogues there (particularly the 2 Sephardic ones) are beautiful. It looks like little has changed in the ghetto's external appearance since 1943, when Salo (what happened to Mussolini?) declared Jews to be enemies of the state and shipped them out. Knowing that made the place seem depressing.

The Palazzo Bo at the University in Padua was good to see; so were the Roman ruins and the Piazzas in Verona. Padua seems more like a "real city"; we skipped "Juliet's house" in Verona.

At the train station in Padua I asked how to get to the main cemetery. They did a bit of a double-take and told me that it's not much of a tourist spot. We didn't make it there as it was far away, but I wanted to see the grave of the 16th-century Jewish philosopher/statesman Don Isaac Abarbanel.

There were lots of Israelis around in Italy and I didn't encounter any anti-Israeli sentiment. I think that we are more sensitive to loud noises than the Italians.

A bomb was discovered at the Jerusalem end of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway (report, more).

Ynet says that the bomb was enclosed in a backpack and placed in a wadi (former riverbed) near the highway. I can't imagine where that would be or how it could have caused much damage.

Update: The word is that the bag was dropped in order to be picked up by someone.

The IDF has left Bethlehem. The PA moved in 200 men from Ramallah to assert control over the city. This AM IDF Radio spoke (in Hebrew) to various residents of Bethlehem who generally seemed to be optimistic about prospects for quiet, and spoke about how hard it is to live with the IDF and intermittent curfews.

Meanwhile the IDF is carrying out operations in Tulkarm (where the terrorist infrastructure is said to be largely still intact) and Gaza (where an IDF soldier was killed - report).

On the satirical "Last Word" program, Uri Orbach said that even a cynical right-winger like himself still has an eentsy-bit of naive hope that the withdrawal won't result in terror. Left-leaning Irit Linur said that she thinks that the withdrawal is largely motivated by exhaustion of resources within the IDF. Both agreed that calling the plan "Gaza and Bethlehem first" is a bad move that recalls "Gaza and Jericho first" from the beginning of the Oslo period.

Sweden is said to be boycotting Israeli food imports (report).

Update: This doesn't seem to have appeared anywhere other than the brief Post report above. An anonymous commenter from Sweden writes that the author of the Post article could not provide a source.

Barry Rubin is not ruling out the possibility that the new withdrawal from Palestinian cities/informal ceasefire will actually work (here).

Here is how the IDF describes what they call the "neighbor procedure".

Haaretz is using the term "human shields" pretty freely, though the other Hebrew papers put the phrase in quotation marks.

William Palmer asks:

Do you feel that there is a sort of critical mass of terrorism that would have to occur before all these normal social events, concerts, etc. would cease...and the folks would just stay home?

A "threshold" like that was reached a long time ago.... see previous blog entries. The street fair this week was kind of like a flashback to the old days.

These days just about every place where people gather has an armed guard at the entrance.