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6/30/04
Ralph Nader, anti-Semite
After reading his interview in Pat Buchanan's rag, I wasn't greatly surprised to hear this:
"What has been happening over the years is a predictable routine of foreign visitation from the head of the Israeli government," Nader said. "The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington. The Israeli puppeteer meets with the puppet in the White House, and then moves down Pennsylvania Avenue, and meets with the puppets in Congress. And then takes back billions of taxpayer dollars. It is time for the Washington puppet show to be replaced by the Washington peace show."
Nader spoke Tuesday in Washington at the release of a survey of American Muslim voter opinion, commissioned by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The survey of 1,161 voters this month showed that the majority of voters, 56 percent, supported the presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, and 26% favored Nader, more than five times the percentage Nader has received in nationwide and statewide polls.
The thread over at LGF is over 400 comments long, and one in particular, by LGF reader Renna, struck me as completely right:
It also amazes me that he can think the opposite of support for Israel is the support for peace.
But of course, if you think that the Jews and Israel are responsible for all the world's ills, then of course, the opposite of Israel is peace.
By the way, this has not shown up in a single American major media outlet, or on any wire service. A major presidential candidate comes out with blatant anti-Semitic remarks, and the media ignores it completely.
Time for the yourish.com anti-Semite mantra. permalink | |
Cleaning out the viper's nest
The IDF has started operations in Gaza to eliminate the terrorist bomb factories. They're going to last months.
Responding to a continuing series of Qassam rocket attacks on and near Sderot, Israel Defense Forces troops have started a major operation in the northern Gaza Strip area of Beit Hanun and the Jabalya refugee camp.
IDF sources said last night that Operation Front Shield is likely to be conducted in a number of stages over several months.
Palestinian militants fired a barrage of homemade Qassam rockets at the town of Sderot yesterday as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the southern region. Israeli security officials said that at least three rockets landed in western Negev areas. One person was moderately wounded in the attacks, which came a day after Qassam rockets killed three-year-old Afik Zahavi and 49-year-old Mordechai Yosepov.
That's right, the bastards are still firing rockets into Israel proper. Go to the second link above, and you can see a picture from Reuters showing one exploding outside of Sderot.
Still waiting for the condemnation from Kofi Annan. I guess he only gets upset when palestinian women and children are hurt or killed.
For everything you never wanted to know about palestinian rocket scientists, check out this article in the Jerusalem Post:
Since the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip first developed the crude Kassam rocket about two and a half years ago, they have launched about 300. According to IDF statistics, 70 have hit Sderot, 160 landed in open ground across the Green Line, and some 20 in Gush Katif. This is in addition to the some 4,000 mortar rounds that have been fired. A large percentage of the Kassams have been duds.
The Palestinians have experimented with the Kassam design to boost its warhead and range. Their ultimate goal is to hit Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's ranch, some 10 kilometers from the northeast corner of the Gaza Strip.
[...] Until Monday's attack on Sderot, no one had been killed by the Kassam. But that was only luck. "I don't think that there has been any major change in the Kassam. It is true that there were fatalities. But they could have come from the first or second attack or the 300th," said Yiftah Shapir, a missile expert and senior researcher at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies.
The Kassam that killed toddler Afik Zahavi and Mordechai Yosefov, 50, in Sderot Monday was considered more advanced, as the warhead was filled with more powerful TNT and not home-made explosives.
Still, Shapir said that the latest rockets, dubbed "Nasser 3," do not appear to be a major leap in capabilities.
The Kassam is a simple product made with ordinary pipes and worked on standard lathes. Thin fins are welded to its sides to give it moderate stability, and it is stuffed with a solid concoction of propulsion fuel. The more difficult part is the warhead. But that is operated by a simple fuse that detonates upon impact. They can only be aimed in a general direction, with an accuracy of some 10 percent of their range. Fired from the Beit Hanun area to Sderot, eight kilometers away means they may land 800 meters from their target. This makes it more of a terror weapon than a tactical one.
Terror weapon or not, these rocket attacks will continue until the palestinians decide to stop them. Which will be never. I have no faith whatsoever in the ability of the Egyptians to tame these terrorists. I no longer have any faith that Ariel Sharon has any kind of plan, either, other than "Get the hell out of Dodge." And I don't think that's going to work.
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6/29/04
Where is the outrage?
Rockets fell on a nursery school. A four-year-old died. The world, with few exceptions, is silent. Why? Because it was an Israeli child. Reverse the situation, have a shell fall and kill a four-year-old palestinian boy, and the world rushes to condemn Israel.
This, as Anne Bayefsky said, is anti-Semitism in action.
This
is the child who died. His mother still doesn't know her baby is gone.
His father said
"It wasn't his time to die, I would have gone instead of him."
One thing that is absent from the funeral: The cries of revenge on Afik's killers. Complaints that the government isn't protecting the townspeople, yes. Prayers for peace and protection, yes. And statements of determination.
But no cries of revenge. There is no cult of death in Israel. Jews are taught to revere life. Islamists think that's a weakness. I think it's one of our strengths. permalink | |
6/28/04
The "cycle of violence" strikes again
Of course, it's all Israel's fault. If they hadn't gone and killed all those terrorists, then the terrorists wouldn't have done anything to them. Right?
Uh, no. The terrorists pulled off an attack on an army post. A four-year-old was killed by Kassam rockets that struck Sderot, which is a community in southern Israel. (Not a "settlement." A town in Israel.) And what does Reuters say?
About a dozen people were wounded.
It was the first time Qassam-2 rockets fired from Gaza, whose small payloads usually cause no serious injuries, had killed anyone in Israel. Sharon planned to hold security consultations later in the day, an official said.
So those dozen people, what, fell on the ground in shock and wounded themselves? Reuters reporters can't even stop from contradicting themselves in their own articles.
Then there's this piece of crap about how the slain terrorist "stood up to Arafat," the clear implication being that Israel has killed a reformer. Funny how Reuters doesn't seem to care that this "reformer" was responsible for suicide bombings and the deaths of innocents.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - When Israel killed its most wanted man in the West Bank, it may also have removed a headache for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
As the most senior commander for the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in its West Bank heartland, Nayef Abu Sharkh had led a drive to unify the disparate bands of the armed faction within Arafat's Fatah movement.
But he was also at the vanguard of calls for Arafat to clean up corruption, jettison a generation of politicians seen as discredited by many young Palestinians and to hold elections.
"Abu Sharkh had threatened Arafat that if the Brigades' demands for democratization were not met, the armed groups which form the bulk of the younger generation would leave Fatah or carry out elections in defiance of the old guard," a senior Fatah official said.
Abu Sharkh, 38, was killed at his hideout in Nablus on Saturday with five other militants.
He had been in the job for two months.
The Israeli army said Abu Sharkh was behind a suicide bombing that killed 23 people in Tel Aviv early in 2003 and numerous other attacks.
Then, of course, Reuters reported with great glee the attack on the IDF outpost later in the day. The Reuters count: Five or six dead, "scores" wounded. The actual count: One dead, five wounded. Retractions: None.
But the worst is yet to come:
Rescue efforts were hampered by Palestinian gun and mortar fire directed toward the scene, on the route to the Gush Khatif settlement bloc. The militant Islamic Hamas movement and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed joint responsibility.
They called it retaliation for Israel's assassination of two top Hamas leaders earlier this year as well as the killing of a leader of the al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank city of Nablus Saturday.
The factions said 3,300 pounds of explosives were hidden at the end of a 350-yard tunnel under the post.
Cheering crowds of tens of thousands of Palestinians filled the streets of Gaza City in celebration. Gunmen fired in the air and youths set off pipe-bombs.
"God pleased our hearts. An eye for an eye," they chanted.
There is going to be a war after Israel withdraws from Gaza and the West Bank. Mark my words. The pals will not stop firing rockets, and they will not stop suicide bomb attacks.
I'm beginning to believe that Egypt's role in all of this is to prime the Gazans to be their front line soldiers. permalink | |
Bits and pieces of this and that
I like this guy. I have no idea who he is, or even if he's a guy, but damn, I like this blog. Soup Tree. Nice concept.
It's old home month for me. A few weeks ago, I heard from someone I haven't seen or heard from since I was 13 years old. Then last week, I got an email asking me if I'm the Meryl Yourish that went to [name withheld] Junior High School. Yes, I am, and yes, it was a long time ago, and geez, Googling my name is going to bring me email from lots of people I used to know, I think. Especially now, when more and more people have internet access. So perhaps I should run this pre-emptive strike: If you knew a Meryl Yourish at any time in your past, it was probably me. As far as I know, I'm the only one with that name in the country, if not the world.
Which is, frankly, really cool.
My Jeep got rained on a bit Friday night. I heard the rain start as I was lying in bed, and thought about getting out of bed and putting the windows on. I had the top up. I decided against it. Well, it poured. Oh, well. That's what the plugs in the bottom of the Jeep are for, and it's mostly dry now. Sunny tomorrow, so that ought to finish it up.
I watched the moon as I was driving home from work Saturday night. Not through my windshield. Over my head, where the roof would be. That's why I don't mind too much that the carpet is wet. It'll dry.
There appears to be a wasp's nest in the roof of my kitchen. I saw a wasp fly into a hole under the shingle. It didn't fly out. That would explain my visitor from last week, and the dead wasp on my laundry pile, and, oh yeah, the wasp that got into my kitchen this evening.
The bugs have it in for me this summer. Or, as one of the rental agents said to me last week: Welcome to life in a forest. (My development has many, many trees and is sort of in the woods.)
The Terriorist thinks that Tig is a danger to me. I'm going to talk to Tig and tell him what this dog wrote about him, and get back to you later in the week. I suspect the fur will fly over this.
I'd be mad at Harrison, but he links to the story behind that duck photo that's made the rounds of email lately. The photographer saved all but one of them. Thanks, Harrison. I really hated seeing those photos and thinking of the poor ducklings.
And no, I didn't think of them as cat toys.
Joe G. got such a kick out of the Manhattan driving stories, he grabbed a picture of this great parking job near his home. I think his title is about right: Best parking job ever.
And, uh—that's Joe's car. He parked it that way.
Perhaps this isn't the time to tell him that I failed parallel parking on my driving test once upon a time.
These are two really funny links, with one for background purposes. You need to go to them in order. First, go here to see what Bucky Badger looks like. (The reason I needed to know is because Sarah and Larry G. are Wisconsin alumni, which is why they found the badger song in the first place.) Okay. Then go here. Max was singing this song last week, and Sarah needed to explain to me what he was singing. Last, but not least, click on this link, especially if you're a LOTR fan. Mind you, even though the last two links are really funny, I must give you fair warning: The song is incredibly, annoyingly catchy. You will find yourself singing it, either aloud or in your head. And it's really, really stupid.
In other words, perfect for me and my readers. permalink | |
6/27/04
A lazy Sunday afternoon
I took off from work today. There are no parties scheduled, it's dead, and my boss knows I'm twelve minutes away if a large party suddenly decides to climb rocks indoors on a beautiful summer Sunday in Richmond. So I'm surfing the web, writing posts, taking pictures, and all-around enjoying my first Sunday off since Easter. I slept very late this morning. I would have slept even longer, but Wind Rider called me from the road. He's currently discovering the joys of traffic on the Northeast Corridor. He hit some typical NJ traffic on the Turnpike, which I explained to him was not really 95 as I told him he could hop west to Pennsylvania and get on 95 if the traffic got too bad. I don't think he liked that idea, though I find the ride past Philadelphia nicer than being on the two-lane section of the Turnpike. There's always traffic on the Turnpike.
Anyway. Yay for lazy Sunday afternoons. I haven't even showered yet, and it's after three. I'll get to it before WR gets here, and then he can tell me all about his New York trip over dinner. He drove around Manhattan, he told me. "Nobody drives around Manhattan," I said. "It was fun," he said. Yeah, it's all fun and games until you hit the block party in the Village and discover the true meaning of the word "gridlock."
Which he did.
Well. Off to finish my lazy afternoon. I tried to edit Jake's birthday pictures into a memory book, but damn, I'm feeling too lazy for that, too. I tried to get to my long-promised full-page kitty pictorial for Rahel. Too lazy and tired for that, too. (I have a legitimate excuse. Working seven days a week will do that to you.) But I did crop one picture for Rahel and the other cat-lovers in my audience. This is the view from my patio door on a sunny day. Tig has discovered the joys of sleeping in the sun.
Good thing cats don't get sunburn. For Tig, and frankly, right now, for me: Life is good. permalink | |
The re-emergence of French anti-Semitism
How can you tell that the level of anti-Semitism in France has reached heights not seen since the 1930s? When the man who is a former Prime Minister of France, a current member of the European Parliament, and in line to become the next president of the European Union tells an audience in Egypt that the Balfour Declaration was "a historic mistake," I think we can safely conclude that French Jews are in grave danger once more.
Michel Rocard, who is said to be in the running for president of the European Parliament for the coming two and a half years as part of a political deal, spoke about Israel in a lecture last week in Alexandria, Egypt. Israel is a "unique and abnormal condition," he said, "because it was created with a promise, and [because] millions of Jews gathered from all around the world, creating an entity that continues to pose a threat to its neighbors until today."
Even more disturbing is how little press attention this has garnered. But then, we have the Euro-Palestine party in France, state officials refusing to take action against anti-Semitic attacks, French textbooks that attack Israel, French Jews leaving France in rising numbers, and anti-Semitic attacks in France on a regular basis.
J'accuse, France. J'accuse. permalink | |
Last week's blogs are archived. Looking for the Buffy Blogburst Index? Here's Israel vs. the world. Here's the Blogathon. The Superhero Dating Ratings are here. If you're looking for something funny, try the Hulk's solution to the Middle East conflict, or Yasser Arafat Secret Phone Transcripts. Iseema bin Laden's diary is also a good bet if you've never been here before. Oh, and: Jooglebomb.