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.