Ajay's - view

More Reuters photo fakes

2006-08-07T17:56:00.000-04:00

Reuters admits to more image manipulation

Reuters has withdrawn a second photograph and admitted that the image was doctored, following the emergence of new suspicions against images provided by the news organization.

On Sunday, Reuters admitted that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, used software to distort an image of smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut in order to create the effect of more smoke and damage.

The latest image to face doubts is a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet over the skies of Lebanon, seen in the image firing off "missiles during an air strike on Nabatiyeh," according to the image's accompanying text provided by Reuters.

The owner of the My Pet Jawa web log noted that the warplane in the picture is actually firing defensive flares aimed at dealing with anti-aircraft missiles. In addition, the Jawa blog says the flares have been replicated by Reuters, giving the impression that the jet was firing many "missiles," thereby distortion the image. "The F-16 in the photo is not firing missiles, but is rather dropping chaffe or flares designed to be a decoy for surface to air missiles. However, a close up (of) what Hajj calls "missiles" reveals that only one flare has been dropped. The other two "flares" are simply copies of the original," Shackleford wrote. "But what about the 'bombs' in the photo?...The top and bottom "bomb" are the same."

Following the accusations, Reuters conceded that a second image it provided had been manipulated, and released a statement saying it had recalled all photos by Hajj. "Reuters has withdrawn from its database all photographs taken by Beirut-based freelance Adnan Hajj after establishing that he had altered two images since the start of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hizbullah group," the statement said. The news outlet said that it discovered "in the last 24 hours that he (Hajj) altered two photographs since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbullah," Reuters added. “There is no graver breach of Reuters standards for our photographers than the deliberate manipulation of an image", Reuters' statement quoted Tom Szlukovenyi, Reuters Global Picture Editor, as saying. Reuters also said it would apply "tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict to ensure that no photograph from the region would be transmitted to subscribers without review by the most senior editor on the Reuters Global Pictures Desk." "Reuters terminated its relationship with Hajj on Sunday... An immediate enquiry began into Hajj’s other work," the statement said. Hajj had provided Reuters with several images from the Lebanese village of Qana, many of which have also been suspected of being staged .

Other Reuters images have been called into question by blogs in the United States. A reader of the Power Line blog , Robert Opalecky, wrote: "I don't know if this has been brought to anyone's attention yet, but in a quick search of the authenticated Reuters photographs attributed to Adnan Hajj, I found the following two." "One is from July 24 of a bombed out area in Beirut, with a clearly identifiable building in a prominent part of the shot. The second is of the exact same area, same buildings, same condition, with a woman walking past "a building flattened during an overnight Israeli air raid on Beirut's suburbs August 5, 2006," he wrote. A film released on the YouTube video sharing website compares the two images, and appears to show striking similarities between the photograph used by Reuters on both July 24 and August 5.

Massacre?

2006-08-07T17:54:00.000-04:00

From here:

Earlier Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora reversed his previous claim that 40 people had been killed in an IAF strike on a southern Lebanon village earlier in the day, saying that there was at least one person dead.

"The massacre in Houla, it turned out that there was one person killed," Siniora told reporters. "They thought that the whole building smashed on the heads of about 40 people... thank God they have been saved."

Yet anothe Reuters folly

2006-08-06T23:36:00.000-04:00

Reuters’ Hijacking Lebanon’s Answer to the UN?

A few hours after a Franco-American draft for a UN Security Council resolution was released, pro-Hezbollah lobbies and allies launched a campaign to hijack the response of Lebanon to the United Nations. As noted by seasoned observers the campaign started at the top with an alert release by News Agency Reuters written by Lin Noueihed. The article, put out early Sunday has reached the four corners of the Globe and its title has framed the position of the Lebanese people in a “no” to the UN expected resolution. Amazingly enough, Lin Noueihid titles her release “Lebanon rejects draft UN resolution.” But when you read the release you realize that the “representative” of all of Lebanon in the eyes of the Reuters reporter is no one other than pro-Syrian, Hezbollah ally, Nabih Berri, the leader of Shiite Movement Amal.

Noueihid wrote that “Lebanon rejects a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to end 26 days of fighting because it would allow Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday.” Basing her entire report on one of the most powerful supporters of the Syrian occupation and who heads a militia allied to Hezbollah, Noueihid gives Berri the full power of the credibility of Reuters. This title will find itself printed from Yahoo to the last local newsletter in the Fidji islands. Evidently, local editors around the world trust Reuters as they trust the Red Cross, and will conclude that indeed “Lebanon” has rejected a UN resolution, while in reality, it is Tehran-Damascus-Hezbollah axis that rejected it, and unfortunately a Reuters writer framed it otherwise. ...

Commenting from Beirut, Human Rights activist and Cedars Revolution Human Rights officer Kamal Batal said the “Reuters framing of Lebanon’s answer to the UN is a hijacking of the opinions of millions of Lebanese. The popular majority in Lebanon wants to end the War now and the disbanding of all militias,” he said. Analyzing Reuters’ release closely George Chaya, Director for the Lebanese Information Office for Latin America in Buenos Aires said “it is not really a coincidence that Lin Nouaihid twisted realities and induced millions of readers around the world into error in perception. From a thorough review of Nouaihid’s previous campaigns through Reuters and other media, you can easily see her framings in the Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Koran affairs in addition to her postings on radical web sites. Nouaihid has all the freedom to express her ideological positions but Reuters credibility as a fair and professional news agency are now damaged.”

Great cartoon

2006-08-06T23:33:00.000-04:00

Olmert to Europeans...

2006-08-06T23:05:00.000-04:00

"European countries attacked Kosovo and killed ten thousand civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket.

"I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: Don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians."

Read the whole thing here.

Another Reuters suspension

2006-08-06T23:02:00.000-04:00

Ynet:

Reuters employee issues 'Zionist pig' death threat

Worker suspended after telling American blogger: 'I look forward to day when you pigs get your throats cut'.

A Reuters employee has been suspended after sending a death threat to an American blogger.

The message, sent from a Reuters internet account, read: "I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut."

It was sent to Charles Johnson, owner of the Little Green Footballs (LGF) weblog, a popular site which often backs Israel and highlights jihadist terrorist activities.

In the threat, the Reuters staff member, who has not been named, left his email address as "zionistpig" at hotmail.com.

Reporting the message to his readers, Johnson wrote on his website: "This particular death threat is a bit different from the run of the mill hate mail we get around here, because an IP lookup on the sender reveals that he/she/it was using an account at none other than Reuters News."

Speaking to Ynetnews, Johnson said: "I was surprised to receive a threat from a Reuters IP, but only because it was so careless of this person to use a traceable work account to do it."

He added: "I think it's more than fair to say that Reuters has a big problem."

After bringing the threat to the attention of Reuters, Johnson was told by the news organization's Global Head of Communications, Ed Williams: "I can confirm that an employee has been suspended pending further investigation. The individual was not an employee of Reuters' news division."

In an additional twist, Johnson traced the movements of the sender of the threat, and found direct parallels between the internet locations of the sender and Inayat Bunglawala, Media Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain.

Bunglawala, who contirbuted an editorial to the Guardian website, has attracted negative attention in the past after making anti-Semitic outbursts, and has declared that the British media was "Zionist-controlled."

In the comment section of the Guardian, underneath his own editorial, Bunglawala denied sending the threat, blaming "Zionists" instead.

"That was not me! Methinks some Zionists are up to mischief," he wrote.

"There is strong circumstantial evidence connecting Bunglawala to the threat, but there is no way for me to verify this for certain. Only a Reuters network administrator would have access to the necessary records," Johnson said.

Power of blogs

2006-08-06T22:47:00.000-04:00

Original photo

Ynet:

Reuters admits altering Beirut photo

Reuters withdraws photograph of Beirut after Air Force attack after US blogs, photographers point out 'blatant evidence of manipulation.' Reuters' head of PR says in response, 'Reuters has suspended photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to photograph.' Photographer who sent altered image is same Reuters photographer behind many of images from Qana, which have also been subject of suspicions for being staged.

A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs. The blogs accused Reuters of distorting the photograph to include more smoke and damage. The photograph showed two very heavy plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut after an Air Force attack on the Lebanese capital.

Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors. In the message, Reuters said that "photo editing software was improperly used on this image. A corrected version will immediately follow this advisory. We are sorry for any inconvience."

Reuters' head of PR Moira Whittle said in response: "Reuters has suspended a photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to a photograph showing smoke billowing from buildings following an air strike on Beirut. Reuters takes such matters extremely seriously as it is strictly against company editorial policy to alter pictures." "As soon as the allegation came to light, the photograph, filed on Saturday 5 August, was removed from the file and a replacement, showing the same scene, was sent. The explanation for the removal was the improper use of photo-editing software," she added.

Earlier, Charles Johnson, of the Little Green Footballs blog , which has exposed a previous attempt at fraud by a major American news corporation, wrote: "This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop “clone” tool to add more smoke to the image." Johnson added: "Smoke simply does not contain repeating symmetrical patterns like this, and you can see the repetition in both plumes of smoke. There’s really no question about it."

Speaking to Ynetnews, Johnson said: "This has to cast doubt not only on the photographer who did the alterations, but on Reuters' entire review process. If they could let such an obvious fake get through to publication, how many more faked or 'enhanced' photos have not been caught?" A series of close ups are then posted on the blog, showing that "it’s not only the plumes of smoke that were 'enhanced.' There are also cloned buildings." The close ups do appear to show exact replicas of buildings appearing next to one another in the photograph.

The Sports Shooter web forum, used by professional photographers, also examined the photo, with many users concluding that the image has been doctored. "I'll second the cloned smoke...but it looks so obvious that I don't know how the photographer could have gotten away with it," wrote one user. After further research, Johnson posted a photograph he says is the original image taken before distortions were made, showing much lighter smoke rising.

Other blogs have also analyzed the photographs, and reached similar conclusions, such as Left & Right , which states: "The photo has been doctored, quite badly."

The author of the Ace of Spades blog wrote: "Even I can see the very suspicious "clonings" of picture elements here. And I'm an idiot."

The Hot Air blog also looked at the photo, describing the image as "the worst Photoshop I have ever seen."

Adnan Hajj, the photographer who sent the altered image, was also the Reuters photographer behind many of the images from Qana – which have also been the subject of suspicions for being staged. "A photographer who would blatantly falsify an entire 'news' image would certainly not be above posing and staging photographs of rescue workers," Johnson concluded.

Saudi religious leader blasts Hizbullah

2006-08-05T23:23:00.000-04:00

From here:

A top Saudi Sunni cleric, whose ideas inspired Osama bin Laden, issued a religious edict Saturday disavowing the Shi'ite guerrilla group Hizbullah, evidence that a rift remained among Muslims over the fighting in Lebanon.

Hizbullah, which translates as "the party of God," is actually "the party of the devil," said Sheik Safar al-Hawali, whose radical views made the al-Qaida leader one of his followers in the past.

"Don't pray for Hizbullah," he said in the fatwa posted on his Web site.

The edict, which reflects the historical stand of strict Wahhabi doctrine viewing Shi'ite Muslims as heretics, follows a similar fatwa from another popular Saudi cleric Sheik Abdullah bin Jibreen two weeks into the conflict with Israel.

"It is not acceptable to support this rejectionist party (Hizbullah), and one should not fall under its command, or pray for its victory," bin Jibreen said at the time. That fatwa set off a maelstrom across the Arab world, with other leaders and people at the grass roots level imploring Muslims to put aside differences to support the fight against Israel.

Qana - the director's cut

2006-08-05T23:21:00.001-04:00

From here

I have called this post, "the director's cut", as that is what it is. The narrative here is of how the combination of Hezbollah's media management and modern photo-journalism has turned the recording of a tragic event into theatre, in the best tradition of Michael Moore.

As best we can, we have pieced together the jumble of evidence which surrounded the production of the iconic photographs which were published around the world, and put them in perspective. Many of the photographs have been used before, some are new to this site and others are video "grabs". But it is not the pictures, per se, that tell the story, so much as their ordering and analysis. Make of this what you will, but I can assure you that you are not supposed to see them in this light.

The "story" - for that is what it is - starts here, in the wreckage of the buiding at Qana which is performing the temporary and unwholesome function of a morgue. It is from here, that the bodies are extracted, the essential props of this theatre. And standing on the left of the frame is one of the two star characters of our story, Mr "White Tee-Shirt". With equal accuracy, though, we could call him Mr Hezbollah, for reasons which will become apparent.

Mr "White Tee-shirt" is billed variously as a "rescuer" and "local resident". We see him in many pictures, very much at the centre of events. He has free, unchallenged access to the collapsed building, even though he is not in uniform and has no apparent formal role. But, although we see a lot of him, there is not a single picture of him digging or moving rubble. More often, he is standing around watching, like he is doing here. But for what?

Well, here he is again, this time inside the wreckage and again he is not actually doing anything but watching. But it seems he is doing more than that. We get the distinct impression he is looking for particular bodies. The one in the arms of the Red Cross worker, the body of the "girl in orange" is not one of them. Mr "White Tee-shirt takes no interest in it and shows no emotion.

And it is in this frame that we see the teeshirt (inset) which seems to have writing on the chest. An expert has contacted us and agrees, telling us that it seems to have been electronically blurred to obscure the message it conveys.

Anyhow, it is now clear that the body of the "girl in orange" is not what is wanted. It is unceremoniously dumped outside, and is later stretchered off to the waiting fleet of ambulances. This is what happens to most of the bodies, which are carried up "stretcher alley" by diverse parties of stretcher bearers through the day. As with other casualties, the wrapping is conveniently left open to allow photographers to take pictures as the stretcher passes.

However, there then seems to be something of a commotion. Not one but two bodies of girls have been found. From this Newsnight video grab we see them being manhandled out to the opening of the wrecked building. At this stage, the bodies are not treated with any care or dignity as they are handed to "White Tee-shirt". But it seems evident that he has found what he wanted. And, although, on film he speaks loudly and gesticulates, there is no display of anything that could be interpreted as emotion.

Now, entering stage-right is the second of our star characters, "Green Helmet". Without any ado, he makes a grab for the first of the girl's bodies, which is surrendered by a deferant "White Tee-shirt". In the next frame (not shown) Mr "Green Helmet" cradles the body in his arms, as if to carry it. And here we also see that "White Tee-shirt" seems to have changed his top, his new garment sporting a small logo on the chest (although we now know, courtesy of The Daily Telegraph that this is not the case).

Anyhow, in the next frame, we begin to see the game plan. "Green Helmet" is making a "camera run", carrying the highly photogenic corpse of a little girl, holding it is arms to maximise the shock value and the emotional impact. At this stage, though, he is walking up to "Stretcher Alley" and is reserving his expression. This is sombre but not demonstrably dramatic. Several "snappers" go through the motions and take his picture but the results are little used.

In this frame, though, "Green Helmet" is going up "Stretcher Alley" in full view of the waiting media. Framed against the rubble, with the girl's body in his arms, he displays an intensity of emotion that we have not seen in him before. The combination makes for the iconic shot which is published throughout the world and, ironically, is now available printed on a white tee-shirt.

Out of shot, the route is marked out by Red Cross workers and others, redolent of mashalls on a race route. It has the feel of a highly organised film set, which is precisely what it is. And, in this frame, "Green Helmet" co-ops one worker into the theatre to provide the media with another photo opportunity. Whatever the message though, it is not real. The uniformed worker is merely a prop. "Green Helmet" does not need guidance - he has been up and down this route ceaselessly.

The corpse having served it purpose, "Green Helmet" has no further use for it. He dumps it on a guerney, leaving it in the care of the worker we have called "the man in black". There are other photo-opportunities in the making and, to "Green Helmet", these are his priority. He is off, without even waiting to see the corpse properly secured.

While "Green Helmet" and "White Tee-shirt" could have left together (the corpses were available together at the wreckage), and even carried the two corpses on a single stretcher, properly covered in respect for the dead. But that was never the game plan. With "Green Helmet" having done his camera run, it is now the turn of his partner to show off the trophies. We see him striding out carrying his photogenic corpse, surrounded by snappers and TV cameramen, who are obviously ready and waiting for him.

This and the previous shot, taken as "screen grabs" from a France 2 news broadcast, are hardly iconic material. But, as he approaches the media scrum, "White Tee-shirt" is assuming an anguished expression which intensifies with every stride. His mouth opens and he starts to shout passionately, as he steps onwards, his swiftening stride conveying a sense of urgency. Yet, the urgency is false. He has waited for "Green Helmet" to complete his run before even starting out.

Well into his stride now and emoting freely, "White Tee-shirt is producing iconic material, eagerly captured by the snappers. This picture here makes the Daily Telegraph and many other dailies. Again, the combination of the photgenic corpse and the "raw emotion" make the picture irresistable. It is a stunning performance, even if the result lacks the essential touch of the background wreckage.

Now the strategy becomes clear. Round the corner and on top of the rise formed by "Stretcher Alley" is the "fiercely competitive" media, coralled like sheep in a pen, waiting for the next photo-opportunity to be presented to them. And Hezbollah is about to lay on the performance of a lifetime, a human interest story starring "Green Helmet and "White Tee-shirt" in a bravura display of raw emotion.

First of all, here comes "White Tee-shirt" for a solo performance. But, while the snappers do their business, he hasn't quite got it. The stride is too purposeful. He looks soulful but his head hangs and there is no passion or drama in the pose. The rubble is bit too messy and amorphous and there is nothing to draw the eye to add contrast to the sole figure marching up the litter-strewn slope. As a picture, this simply doesn't hack it.

By now, "Green Helmet" has got in position for a dual shot, although from this angle you can only just see the crown of his helmet over "Tee-shirt's" left shoulder. Even then, the pose is magnificant - head thrown back in anguish, the corpse cluched to the bosom and a soulful expression all combine to give just the note that is needed. Many editors find this is just right and rush to print it.

Perhaps in the this one, "White Tee-shirt is overdoing it slightly, but it isn't a lot different from the previous frame. What really spoils it is "Green Helmet" peering round "Tee-shirt's" shoulder, as he strides along to catch up with is co-star in order to take an equal role in the drama. But his presence at such an awkward angle breaks up the symmetary of the pose and creates a distraction. Nevertheless, Nicolas Asfouri for AFP-Getty Images labels the pic, "A man screams for help as he carries the body of a girl killed in the Israeli strike on Qana on July 30", and it gets used by Newsweek, amongst others.

As a dual shot, this next one is unusable. Look closely at "Green Helmet" and - although he most certainly isn't - he appears to be smirking. The combination of the exertion and trying to present the appropriate gravitas is proving too much for the man. But, if the effect is grotesque, "Tee-shirt" is strutting his stuff. So out come the scissors (or the crop button) and "Green Helmet" is history. The result is perfect for the front page of The Independent.

But everything is coming right. Without moving from their positions, all the snappers have to do is let the stars come to them. Now the angles are right, the pair complement each other and the expressions are spot on. With an imaginative caption "man screaming for help...", it goes straight on the front page of The Guardian. This is award-winning stuff, except the prize should really go to Hezbollah.

With the pics in the bag, the corpse is so much dead weight. "Tee-shirt" dumps it on the gurney, leaving it to the good offices of "the man in black" to strap it in and organise the load. Nevertheless, it provides a poignant photo-opportunity and the snappers do not miss out. The trouble is that the shadows are wrong and the face of "Green Helmet's" corpse, the one he was in such a hurry to deliver, is partially obsured. This does not really score as a top-rate picture.

Neither is the next, but as a picture, it is worth a thousand words. The starring duo, having got what they wanted from the corpses, putting on their display of raw emotion and all the rest - to the delight of the assembled media - have completely lost interest in their props. The man in black is left to struggle unaided with the burden, heading over rough, wreckage-strewn ground to the ambulance. This can be seen in the distance over his left shoulder, past the nearer, more modern-looking vehicle. "White Tee-shirt" as gone on ahead, without offering any aid and, although in the picture, is not looking at the gurney. He has other, more pressing things on his mind, as we will see shortly.

For all his trouble, the "man in black" is at least rewarded - he gets to pose with one of the bodies discarded by the stars. A noble figure standing at the back of the ambulance, the tiny figure in his arms, there is a certain majesty and gravity to the man. Nevertheless, he clearly lacks the star quality, the ability to project raw emotion, a deficiency that will forever condemn him to looking after the props after they have been discarded and playing the bit parts after the stars have left the scene.

Even then, one of the stars could not resist a repeat performance. It was obviously hot work running up and down the hill, and back up again, so off comes the trade-mark helmet, the radio, the flack jacket and the fluorescent waistcoat. "Green Helmet" au naturelle now poses once more with his prop. But he is only going through the motions when it comes to projecting emotions once more and he lacks conviction. But hey! The front pages are already in the bag, so this is just one for the scrap book.

And at last the body of the poor mite that was once a pretty child is laid rest temporarily in the back of the ambulance. Even then, her mortal remains are publicity fodder, providing a poignant reminder of the tragedy, without the artifice of poses. This is the only natural pose in the whole sequence, but it lacks the drama the editors need. The picture ends up as a filler for internet archives.

While the dead rest at last, we now see why "White Tee-shirt" was so anxious to get away. He has to return home to be interviewed by a France 2 reporter. He starts by showing the reporter round the house, well furnished and far from modest. This is no poverty-stricken man, embittered by deprivation. Even by European or American standards, the house is well-furnished and comfortable.

But what is so evident are the pictures of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah - even a calendar. This is not a dwelling - it is a shrine to Hezbollah, the party of God. But "White Tee-shirt" is not Hezbollah, oh, no! That is what he tells the young reporter, saying that it is the Israeli aggression that is radicalising Muslims and driving them into the arms of Hezbollah.

Make up your own mind. Is this a Hezbollah member, or a mere supporter? This is a Hezbollah stronghold, a town from which the IDF claim over 150 missiles have been fired. And our "White Tee-shirt" has a house full of Hezbollah material and is not a member - was not all day driving that agenda forward? Was he simply an ordinary joe, overcome with emotion at the death and destruction around him, of which he was entirely innocent?

These issues are, of course, not addressed by the media, either on the ground or back in the comfortable, air conditioned editorial offices, thousands of miles from the action. There, pictures of death are a commodity. It doesn't matter under what circumstances they were gained, and to what purpose the actors paraded their emotions. Another forest-load of dead trees conveyed the story and a few dead children were exploited to provide pictures and add drama.

Against all that, does it matter that we were sold a lie? Ironically - and unintentionally - The Independent headline articulates the question: "How can we stand by and allow this to go on"? But I suspect they were not thinking what we are thinking.

Qana

2006-08-05T23:21:00.000-04:00

Media bias

2006-08-05T22:34:00.000-04:00

From here:

Hours after 60-year-old Fadia Jumaa and her two daughters, Samira, 31, and Sultana, 33, were killed by a Hizbullah rocket attack on their home in the Israeli-Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, the international media has so far largely ignored their deaths.

Reuters was alone among non-Israeli media outlets to report the deaths, according to a Google news search, a number of hours after the first reports of the attack surfaced.

The lack of coverage of the Israeli civilian war casualties stands in marked contrast to the swift response by many sections of the international media to reported Lebanese casualties.

Meanwhile, the British press, which has produced some of the most venomous anti-Israel coverage during the war, has continued its tirade against Israel.

An article in the London-based Guardian, entitled "Militants merge with mainstream ," argues that Hizbullah has gained widespread, cross-religious support in the Arab world, and uses terms such as "the Qana massacre" to explain the apparent newfound unity.

The article argues that Sunnis and Shiites have come together in their backing of Hizbullah: "Whatever qualms Arabs once had about Hizbullah they have since been dissipated by Israel's attacks, the hundreds of deaths, the sight of up to a quarter of the Lebanese population fleeing their homes, and especially the bombing of UN observers and the massacre at Qana. The Shiite organisation and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have become symbols of resistance even in such unlikely places as the Gulf countries where Sunnis and Shiites have been spotted waving the yellow-and-green flag."

The article was co-written by Issandr el-Amrani, a freelance journalist in Egypt who referred to Hizbullah as " Lebanese resistance fighters " on his personal blog and who describes reports of Hizbullah members operating out of civilian areas as "Israeli lies."

The article's authors failed, however, to note that an influential Saudi Sunni cleric, Sheikh Safar al-Hawali, has issued an anti-Hizbullah fatwa declaring that "Hizbullah is not the 'Party of God' but the 'Party of Satan.'"

An Associated Press report, which undermines the Guardian's claims, says that "Al-Hawali's words are an addition to a previous fatwa issued two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia by the leader of the Wahhabi movement, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jabrin, which declared that it is illegal to support, join, or even pray for Hizbullah."

Meanwhile, an article has appeared on the BBC website in which a reporter for the British broadcaster, Hugh Sykes, relays a conversation he has with Lebanese residents.

The article is remarkable as it contains the views of a BBC journalist being given to Lebanese locals, rather than the other way around.

In the piece, written in first person narrative, Sykes tells people in Lebanon that there would be "no point" for Israel to strike Hizbullah targets in Lebanon: "'People keep asking me… ' Beirut - will they bomb Beirut again?' 'What would be the point?" I reply.'"

The BBC journalist also attempts to second guess where Israeli strikes hit.

"Four massive thumps one night, and six the next, as Israeli bombs or shells slammed into the ground a few kilometres away. Or into the children's homes," Sykes wrote.

Mel Gibson linked to anti-semitic group

2006-08-05T22:31:00.000-04:00

From here:

Mel Gibson once had close links to the Australian League of Rights, a Far Right group notorious for its anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.

The league claims the world is run by a secret society of Jews.

The Hollywood star's foray into Far Right activist politics in Australia occurred in 1987 when he campaigned for a friend, Rob Taylor, who stood unsuccessfully for the northern Victorian federal seat of Indi.

Charles Pinwill, a former Queensland state director of the League of Rights, said he knew Gibson's father, Hutton, and said Gibson was interested in the league's ideas.

"They were never members of the league, no. But we never really recruited members, just support. (Mel and Hutton) were interested in some of our ideas," Mr Pinwill said.

"His dad had politically similar ideas to me. His dad had a well-considered philosophy, he thought things through."

Lebanon's illusion

2006-08-04T16:37:00.000-04:00

Comment on a blog:
Jonathan, Tel Aviv said...

Lebanon had an illusion. Its people thought that they could have anarchy in the border with Israel and prosperity in the capital city. That illusion has faded away. In my opinion, for us, the Israelis, that fact is much more important than Hezbollah's popularity. Every bomb of IAF tells you one simple thing: No country can permit the existance of an armed militia and get away with it. It must be clear that weakness is not an execuse. If Lebanon can't cope with a rebellious milita, It has no right to exist. Let syria take control.

Israel is not the bully here

2006-08-04T16:35:00.000-04:00

By Michael Costello:

The most powerful influences on global opinion are television pictures. An experienced TV journalist will tell you that the picture is the story. No picture, no story. Those same journalists will tell you that a powerful picture will overwhelm reality. The picture becomes reality.

That's why there is such a global outcry for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. The pictures of death and injury, of lives ruined and property destroyed, are horrifying. All decent human instinct demands a ceasefire immediately. The pictures say that what Israel is doing is out of all proportion to the injury done to it and the threat posed to it. Global opinion seems to be solidifying around the view that it's all Israel's fault.

The trouble is that these reactions, understandable given the power of the images, do not stand up to sober analysis. They contain within them the seeds of greater strife in the future.

Let's start with Israel's ostensibly disproportionate response. It would be disproportionate if Israel were responding just to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers and the deaths of eight others. This was just one small incident, however, in an almost 25-year war conducted by Hezbollah to obliterate Israel. Iran boasts publicly that it founded Hezbollah, is its greatest supporter and supplies it through another of Israel's enemies, Syria.

Many of the same people who accuse Israel of a disproportionate response recount in the same breath, some with barely hidden pleasure, that Israel is having trouble dealing with Hezbollah, which is turning out better armed, better trained, better disciplined and in much larger numbers than expected.

Why hasn't anyone recognised the profound inconsistency of alleging on the one hand that Israel is acting disproportionately to the threat, while stressing that this so-called disproportionate action is barely dealing with that threat.

It's illogical, but logic plays little part when emotion rules and images flood our TV screens with horror.

Next, the question of an immediate ceasefire. Who benefits? Hezbollah, of course. Hezbollah will proclaim that it has fought Israel to a standstill and will immediately begin to rebuild and rearm, even if expressly prohibited by the UN from doing so. If Israel were to take military action to stop this happening, it would be back to the present situation with horror TV pictures of artillery bombardments and bombings, plus this time being vilified for allegedly breaching a ceasefire.

That's why France's insistence on a ceasefire first, before the sending in of credible forces able to enforce it and the beginning of substantive negotiations, would equally be a victory for Hezbollah. Once such a ceasefire begins. there will be no agreement on a serious peacekeeping force, no negotiations on a real solution.

Even stout-hearted figures such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair are joining the chorus that solving the Palestinian problem is the only way to bring peace.

If only the US would exert itself to the maximum, so the argument goes. If only Israel would be reasonable and accept its 1967 borders, we could have a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine side by side.

Why do otherwise intelligent people perpetuate this myth? It wouldn't matter if the US exerted every ounce of its being. It would not matter if Israel went back to the 1967 borders or even to the 1948 borders. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, most likely Syria, certainly the Islamic fundamentalist world, would not regard this as in any way acceptable. Here's what former Hezbollah leader Hassan Massawi said about Israel and negotiations: "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you."

On October 22, 2002, Hezbollah's present leader Hassan Nasrallah, said: "If they (the Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."

This is the true heart of the problem. The Palestinian issue cannot be resolved because a significant part of the Arab and Muslim world still do not accept Israel's right to exist. They will not accept the two-state solution beloved of analysts because they do not accept the existence of one of those two states, Israel. This is just not a matter of politics to them; it is a matter of religion. It is non-negotiable.

Until this changes, Israel will remain as it has for 60 years: under siege. Those who seek Israel's elimination will engage in conflict and terrorism against Israel and its friends.

So what are we to conclude? That Israel is just too much trouble? That it causes all of us too much grief? That in defending itself against these implacable enemies Israel offends our sensibilities by the manner in which it feels compelled to use force?

Already there are growing whispers from the so-called realist school of international relations that it would be a really smart thing if we just quietly walked away from Israel because it has become an embarrassment and inconvenience to our larger interests. Such is the consequence of privileging the power of the TV image over reason.

HT: Israellycool

Look at this map

2006-08-04T16:34:00.000-04:00

Chronology of Rocket Attacks

2006-08-04T16:30:00.000-04:00

(IsraelNN.com) The following is a chronology of rocket attacks during the past weeks.

July 12, 2006 – Six rockets were fired – 1 person wounded seriously, 2 moderate and 1 light.
July 13th – 133 rockets: 2 dead, 2 serious, 5 moderate, 112 light
July 14th – 108 rockets: 2 dead, 1 serious, 3 moderate, 50 light
July 15th – 126 rockets: 3 moderate, 13 light
July 16th – 36 rockets: 8 dead, 3 serious, 5 moderate, 54 light
July 17th – 95 rockets: 1 serious, 2 moderate, 18 light
July 18th – 127 rockets: 1 dead, 1 serious, 9 light
July 19th – 107 rockets: 2 dead, 1 moderate, 25 light
July 20th – 33 rockets: no injuries
July 21st – 92 rockets: 4 moderate, 18 light
July 22nd – 122 rockets: 2 serious, 2 moderate, 22 light
July 23rd - 88 rockets: 2 dead, 2 serious, 1 moderate, 44 moderate
July 24th – 103 rockets: 2 serious, 12 light
July 25th – 118 rockets: 2 dead, 7 moderate, 37 light
July 26th – 125 rockets: 1 serious
July 27th – 106 rockets: 26 light
July 28th – 107 rockets: 1 moderate, 19 light
July 29th – 93 rockets: 5 light
July 30th – 148 rockets: 2 moderate, 8 light
July 31st – 5 mortar shells: no injuries
August 1st – 12 mortars, 7 rockets: no injuries
August 2nd – 225 rockets: 1 dead, 1 moderate, 14 light
August 3rd – 163 rockets: 8 dead, 12 serious, 88 light

I found this graph on the Israelicool blog

Israel's Lost Moment

2006-08-04T16:28:00.000-04:00

From here:

America finds itself at war with radical Islam, a two-churched monster: Sunni al-Qaeda is now being challenged by Shiite Iran for primacy in its epic confrontation with the infidel West. With al-Qaeda in decline, Iran is on the march. It is intervening through proxies throughout the Arab world -- Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in Iraq -- to subvert modernizing, Western-oriented Arab governments and bring these territories under Iranian hegemony. Its nuclear ambitions would secure these advances and give it an overwhelming preponderance of power over the Arabs and an absolute deterrent against serious counteractions by the United States, Israel or any other rival.

The moderate pro-Western Arabs understand this very clearly. Which is why Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan immediately came out against Hezbollah and privately urged the United States to let Israel take down that organization. They know that Hezbollah is fighting Iran's proxy war not only against Israel but also against them and, more generally, against the United States and the West.

Hence Israel's rare opportunity to demonstrate what it can do for its great American patron. The defeat of Hezbollah would be a huge loss for Iran, both psychologically and strategically. Iran would lose its foothold in Lebanon. It would lose its major means to destabilize and inject itself into the heart of the Middle East. It would be shown to have vastly overreached in trying to establish itself as the regional superpower.

The United States has gone far out on a limb to allow Israel to win and for all this to happen. It has counted on Israel's ability to do the job. It has been disappointed. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has provided unsteady and uncertain leadership. Foolishly relying on air power alone, he denied his generals the ground offensive they wanted, only to reverse himself later. He has allowed his war cabinet meetings to become fully public through the kind of leaks no serious wartime leadership would ever countenance. Divisive cabinet debates are broadcast to the world, as was Olmert's own complaint that "I'm tired. I didn't sleep at all last night" (Haaretz, July 28). Hardly the stuff to instill Churchillian confidence.

His search for victory on the cheap has jeopardized not just the Lebanon operation but America's confidence in Israel as well. That confidence -- and the relationship it reinforces -- is as important to Israel's survival as its own army. The tremulous Olmert seems not to have a clue.

G-d Bless President Bush

2006-08-03T18:33:00.000-04:00

From this speech:

We have so much in common. We're both young countries born of struggle and sacrifice. We're both founded by immigrants escaping religious persecution. We have both established vibrant democracies built on the rule of law and open markets. We're both founded on certain basic beliefs, that God watches over the affairs of men, and that freedom is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman on the face of this earth. These ties have made us natural allies, and these ties will never be broken. America's commitment to Israel's security is strong, enduring and unshakable.

Moral corruption at the UN

2006-08-03T18:29:00.000-04:00

From here:

The UN’s difficulty in even defining terrorism is symptomatic. It is a lie that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” In the Western tradition, freedom fighters did not target innocents. Terrorism is nothing but murder – the killing of innocents for political gain. The fact that the United Nations has been unable to understand that elementary point for twenty years is a measure of its moral corruption.

Rather's admission

2006-08-03T18:13:00.000-04:00

Bill O'Reilly: Here's the problem with the American reporting: some networks give moral equivalence to Hezbollah in the reporting of this war. Do you agree it happens?

Dan Rather: I agree it happens and I agree it's -- it's a problem. It is a problem that those of us in journalism has been, uh, reluctant to address. I do not exclude myself from this criticism. Reluctant to address that Hezbollahs is a terrorist organization. It is committed to the destruction of Israel. It isn't committed just to trying to just gain territory. It's committed to it's destruction.

The Iranian Hitler's speech

2006-08-03T18:04:00.000-04:00

Text

Video

Sick blokes

2006-08-03T17:17:00.000-04:00

The BBC has been urged to pull a 'sick' new comedy show which features spoof news reports of Tony Blair being assassinated and a 9/11-style video of terrorists crashing an airliner into the Houses of Parliament.

The clips for an Oscar-style 'Terrorism Awards' ceremony that forms one of the sketches in the new BBC2 series, Time Trumpet.
As well as the al-Qaeda plane attack and a picture of Mr Blair with a bullet hole in the side of his head after being 'shot as he slept beside his wife', the skit also features a Hamas bombing in Tel Aviv.

Read the whole thing here.

UN second in command

2006-08-03T17:04:00.000-04:00

A very revealing statement:

U.N. Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown contested characterizations of the Lebanese militia as a terrorist organization in the mold of al-Qaeda and challenged the U.S. diplomatic approach to the crisis. In remarks published Wednesday, he told the Financial Times: "It's not helpful to couch this war in the language of international terrorism."

He said that while Hezbollah "employs terrorist tactics," it is "an organization whose roots historically are completely separate and different from al-Qaeda."

Qana lies

2006-08-03T16:58:00.000-04:00

Number of Kana dead half of original estimates

Evidence Mounts that Kana "Massacre" Was a Fake

Lies, lies and more lies

2006-08-03T16:56:00.000-04:00

From here:

If Hezbollah-run media are to be believed, then 35 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed or wounded in Aita Shaab, militants downed an Israeli helicopter and destroyed a house in which IDF soldiers were hiding, and IDF troops are always hit in the back because they are running away.

All these statements are baseless because - despite the impression Hezbollah has made for straight talk - credibility is not its strong suit.

Hezbollah's reports have become less and less believable in recent days. On Monday, Al-Manar television - the central component of Hezbollah's well-oiled media empire - reported that the organization had destroyed an Israeli ship off the coast of Tyre, which had some 50 sailors aboard - a charge the IDF dismissed completely.

French folly

2006-08-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

Remember this from a few days ago?

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy says Tehran is a significant, respected player in the Middle East – 'a great country, a great people and a great civilization'...which is playing a stabilizing role.

What will the FM say now?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel, Iranian state media reported.

In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia, Ahmadinejad also called for an immediate cease-fire to end the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-back group Hezbollah.

"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," Ahmadinejad said, according to state-run television in a report posted on its Web site.

An about-face:

France's foreign minister condemned Ahmadinehjad's comments Thursday, saying Iran is ruining its chances to play a positive and stabilizing role in the Middle East.

"I totally condemn these words," Philippe Douste-Blazy said on France-Inter radio, saying they were "absolutely unacceptable on anyone's part, especially from a head of state."

The crisis had presented an opportunity for Iran to "show that it can play a positive and stabilizing role in the region," Douste-Blazy said, adding that Ahmadinejad's statement "confirmed that this is not the case."

Threat...Counterthreat

2006-08-03T16:41:00.000-04:00

Threat

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to bomb Tel Aviv during a TV address Thursday night, should Israel attack in Beirut. "If you indeed do this, I say this clearly. I won't use terms I used up to now, past Haifa, but I will say clearly and in a way that is not open to interpretation: If you bomb our capital we'll bomb your capital. We'll bomb Tel Aviv and we can do this."

Counterthreat

Israel will retaliate harshly against an attack on Tel Aviv and will destroy the entire infrastructure in Lebanon, according to a highly-positioned IDF officer quoted by Channel One's Mabat news program.

The IDF has restricted bombing attacks in Lebanon to the enforcing a land and sea embargo on Lebanon and to hitting Hizbullah terrorist homes, offices and weapons centers. In the bombings on Beirut, only about one per cent of the Lebanon capital's area has been attacked.

Satan's son

2006-08-03T16:30:00.000-04:00

From the NY Post:

A son of Osama bin Laden has gone from Iran to Lebanon with the mission to organize terror attacks against Israel, it was reported yesterday.

Saad bin Laden, 27, one of the terror mastermind's eldest sons, was released by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard last Friday, according to the German daily Die Welt.

"From the Lebanese border, he has the task of building Islamist terror cells and preparing them to fight with Hezbollah," the paper said, quoting intelligence sources.

"Apparently, Tehran is counting on recruiting Lebanese refugees in Syria for the fight against Israel, using bin Laden's help," it added.

Qana probe

2006-08-02T19:22:00.000-04:00

IDF estimated targeted building was empty

Ynet: An investigation into the killing of dozens of civilians in an air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana concluded that the military estimated the building was uninhabited and used by Hizbullah terrorists. The probe concluded that had the military known that civilians were in the building the air strike wouldn't have been okayed.

Killing Civilians in a Time of War

2006-08-02T19:18:00.000-04:00

Bill O'Reilly:

Worldwide demonstrations against Israel after about 60 people, including many women and children, were killed by Israeli bombs in southern Lebanon. Of course, these protestors, many of them pro-Hezbollah, also targeted the USA for condemnation.

No question, the Israeli bombing was a mistake and will hurt Israel in the court of public opinion, but mistakes are made in all wars. Abu Ghraib was a huge mistake by the American military in Iraq and the USA has suffered because of it.

However, isn't it interesting that the Islamic fascists never make a mistake?

We rarely see worldwide demonstrations condemning their consistently barbaric behavior. In violation of a U.N. mandate, Hezbollah has fired thousands of missiles targeting civilians into Israeli cities. Have you seen many demonstrations against that?

How about after 9/11? Did you see mass demonstrations condemning Al Qaeda? Did you see protests when those savages beheaded civilians on videotape?

The answer is no. The terrorists can do pretty much anything without the world condemning them. Want more? Iran is defying the United Nations on nuclear weapons. Any demonstrations? Muslims are slaughtering each other inside Iraq. Any protests?

"Talking Points" could list examples all day long. The truth is that hatred, not compassion for civilians, is driving these hypocritical demonstrations we saw over the weekend. This is not justifying the killing of innocents by Israel. My analysis is addressing a different problem: select outrage to advance the cause of Islamic fascism.

Back in America, the left-wing press counsels negotiation. OK, it's worth it. We're trying. But let's look at the negotiating record. President Clinton and Israel negotiated with Yasser Arafat until every cow in the world came home.

Arafat didn't want peace. Why? Because his terror activities made him millions of dollars. If you don't believe me, speak to his widow, currently living lavishly in Paris.

The U.N. has negotiated with Iran over nukes for years. No result. Iran doesn't want peace, it wants jihad.

North Korea doesn't want peace either. It signed a nuke agreement with the Clinton administration and promptly violated it.Does Al Qaeda want peace? Even Howard Dean could figure that one out.So what makes anyone believe Hezbollah would negotiate in good faith? The sad truth is that many in the Muslim world want to kill Jews and Americans.

"Talking Points" does want peace, but also wants to blunt the growing danger of Islamic fascism. Allowing Hezbollah to sit on Israel's southern border with thousands of missiles isn't a peaceful conclusion. It's capitulation, which is exactly what the jihad has won.

HT: Israellycool

Tisha B'av at the Kosel

2006-08-02T18:39:00.000-04:00

It's 1:35AM and it's still jam-packed.

Click here to see.

UPDATE:

2:30AM and still packed.

Mel Gibson: Has He Gone Too Far?

2006-08-02T17:56:00.000-04:00

From Readers Digest - Posted August 2, 2006 :

When we interviewed Mel Gibson over two years ago for his controversial movie, The Passion of the Christ, we expected to make news. But we didn't know then that what Gibson had to say to us would be just as relevant today. Our interviewer, Peggy Noonan, asked Gibson about his father's rumored doubts about the scope of the Holocaust. Here's how Gibson responded:

MEL GIBSON: My dad taught me my faith, and I believe what he taught me. The man never lied to me in his life. He was born in 1918. He lost his mother at two years of age. He lost his father at 15. He went through the Depression. He signed up for World War II, went off to Guadalcanal, got malaria and shot at, and didn't like it too much. [He] served his country fighting the forces of fascism, came back, worked very hard physically, raised a family, put a roof over my head, clothed me, fed me, taught me my faith, loved me, I love him back. And he did all that so some guy has the right to misrepresent him and say nasty things and paint him in a very bad light. And then other people said, 'Well, he's just an old kook.' He's not an old kook. He's very intelligent. He's in complete possession of all his mental faculties. And if he says something he has a reason why he says it and he can back it up. Mensa wanted this guy, okay? He's very intelligent. So I'll slug it out with anyone until my heart is black and blue if they say anything against him or ever try and hurt him in that way. Now, that said, you know, I pray for the guy who maligned him in that way and hope that he will one day apologize.

NOONAN: You're going to have to go on the record. The Holocaust happened, right?

MEL GIBSON: I have friends and parents of friends who have numbers on their arms. The guy who taught me Spanish was a Holocaust survivor. He worked in a concentration camp in France. Yes, of course. And my dad also knows that there were internment camps where many people died. Now, his whole thing was about the numbers. I mean atrocities happened. The thing with him [my father] was that he was talking about numbers. I mean when the war was over they said it was 12 million. Then it was six. Now it's four. I mean it's that kind of numbers game. I mean war is horrible. The Second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps. Many people lost their lives. In the Ukraine, several million people starved to death between 1932 and 1933. During the last century 20 million people died in the Soviet Union. Okay? It's horrible.

Amazing allegations

2006-08-02T17:39:00.000-04:00

From a Lebanese blog (I translated it from French by using Google's translation tool):

"Lebanon awoke on a new massacre of innocent, the victims are handicapped children who were taken refuge in a building which was attacked by Israeli aviation.

A premeditated massacre? A source generally quite informed tells us his version: “Hezbollah, wedged by the 7 points suggested by the Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who put a plan of deployment of the Lebanese army on all the territory and primarily at the South Lebanon, and thus the disarmament of the militia of the party of God, wanted to ruin these negotiations. It put in place a plan machiavelic by creating an event which would enable him to cancel this project. Knowing very well that Israel will not have a state of heart to bombard civil targets, militants of Hezbollah installed a base of launching of rockets on the roof from a building in Qana and piled up crippled children in the firm intention to see a counterpart on behalf of Israeli aviation and to create a new situation, using the massacre of these innocent to take again the initiative of the negotiations. ”

Bein Hazemanim

2006-08-02T15:45:00.000-04:00

Jerusalem Post version:

The present military conflagration in the North and the South led respected Charedi rabbis and yeshiva heads to call on their students to cancel the customary summer vacation after Tisha Be’av known as Bein Hazmanim.The rabbis and yeshiva heads said they wanted their students, who are exempt from military service because of their religious convictions, to make their own spiritual contribution to the war effort. They would continue to devote their time to prayer and learning, which, according to Jewish custom, helps protect Jews from their enemies.

But these spiritual leaders were also concerned that a mass exodus from the yeshivot to vacation sites at a time of war would result in a backlash of resentment among secular and modern religious Israelis who serve in the army.

“Imagine secular Israelis’ reaction if a group of yeshiva students go for a hike some place up North and get stranded like they do every year, and the IDF is called in to bail them out,” said one yeshiva head, quoted in the haredi weekly Bakehila.

“Imagine the desecration of God’s name.”

As one yeshiva student put it, “we don’t feel the need to apologize for not serving in the army, but we also think it is wrong to go on vacation at a time when men our age are risking their lives to fight the enemy.”

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of Shas and the most revered Sephardi halachic authority, was the first to make the call to cancel summer vacation.

However, many Sephardi yeshiva students feel obligated to adhere to the orders given by their respective yeshiva heads.

Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel, head of the Mir Yeshiva with about 4,000 students, also called to continue studies as usual.

“At this time, when our enemies raise their heads and outside the sword bereaves and inside there is fear, and in light of the rabbinic teaching that the world is saved from destruction only thanks to Torah scholars who sit in the synagogues and study halls learning, I once again call from the depths of my heart to each and every yeshiva student, may they blessed with long life, to strengthen themselves as much as possible to continue to learn in the yeshiva.

“Each should know the extent of his responsibility for sanctifying God’s name and carrying the yoke with our Jewish brothers. Multiply prayers and learning so that our Father in heaven, may he be blessed, will be compassionate with us and save us from all our troubles.”

At Bnei Brak’s Ponevezh Yeshiva, considered the ‘mother of all yeshivot’ in the haredi world, the rabbis sent a clear message to their students that this year there should be no vacations.

David, a student at the yeshiva, said that there was a logistical problem with allowing some 2,000 Ponevezh students to continue to study in the yeshiva’s study halls.

He explained that every summer the yeshiva hosts hundreds of men who take time off from work to learn at Ponevezh. The initiative, called Yarchei Kala, would make it difficult to maintain regular learning at the yeshiva.

According to haredi sources, the two most senior spiritual leaders in the haredi yeshiva world, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rabbi Yehuda Leib Steinman disagreed on whether to do away with the vacation altogether (Elyashiv) or to close the yeshivot but encourage individual learning and prayer (Steinman).

Steinman argued that canceling the vacation would be detrimental to learning in the Jewish month of Elul, when the yeshivot return to their studies. Therefore, for the sake of the Torah studies, he recommended going ahead with the vacation and allowing students to rest so that they could return to learning with renewed strength.

According to the sources, Steinman cited the Yom Kippur War as proof. He said that the vacation after Yom Kippur was cancelled due to the war. But yeshiva students ended up not learning as much as they normally do and the cancelled vacation also hurt learning afterwards.

In contrast, Elyashiv felt that the vacation was unnecessary.

Nevertheless, both Elyashiv and Steinman agreed that every effort should be made to learn and pray as much as possible.

Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, head of the Edah Haredit’s Rabbinical Court told The Jerusalem Post that it was an inopportune time to go on vacation. He called for all yeshiva students to continue to learn and pray.

Many yeshivot that belong to the Edah Haredit do not go on vacation after Tisha Be’av anyway.

Sternbuch declined to say whether a special prayer should be said for the success of IDF soldiers.

Shmuel Poppenheim, editor of the weekly Ha’edah, the mouthpiece of the Edah haredit, a virulently anti-Zionist group of haredim, many of whom continuing centuries-old haredi communities that preceded the establishment of the state of Israel, said that mass prayer vigils had been held for the past week.

“We say Psalms and special prayers for peace and for the protection of all Jews everywhere,” said Poppenheim.

“But we do not pray for the IDF.”

Poppenheim explained that theologically it was problematic to pray specifically for the success of “Zionist soldiers”.

“We don’t pray for the IDF because it causes a blurring of vision as if we were advocating a body that is not based on Torah ideals. People might get the wrong impression.

“But we do pray for the safety of every Jew including a Jewish soldier.”

Cross Currents version:

A Call to Bnei Hayeshivos from Rav Y. S. Elyashiv, Rav A. L. Steinman and Rav M. Y. Lefkowitz

We currently find ourselves in a time of communal suffering, when Klal Yisrael is threatened by its enemies, and many residents of our Holy Land are in constant danger. It is surely a time to cry out and raise our voices in order to know that we bear responsibility for this great evil. And each of us must strengthen himself and to improve his actions so that our Father in Heaven removes this decree from upon us. “The heart knows its own bitterness” (Mishlei 14:1).

Our sages have declared that the Torah has the power to protect and shield from all evil. Therefore we must strengthen ourselves in Torah study. And what Torah study has this protective power? That which is learned with the conditions described by our Sages – i.e., learning with yirah, kedushah and taharah, without being drawn by the pleasures and vanities of this world. There are many challenges in this area and it needs much strengthening. There are many levels towards this goal, but each act of strengthening oneself in these areas finds favor before Hashem, and its merit serves to protect from evil.

The days of bein hazmanim approach. At a time like this, it would truly be appropriate to continue the learning schedules as usual, without any break at all, and even to increase in our learning in order to bring merit to Klal Yisrael. Accordingly, we greatly value the decision of those yeshivos that have already decided to continue their regular learning schedule, ashreihem v’tov lahem.
Everyone should use this period for the purpose for which it was intended—in order to prepare himself for learning with renewed strength. Be careful not to spend time in the streets and marketplaces and places that are inappropriate for Bnei Torah. One who guards his soul should always stay away from such places, and how much more so during these times when we need extra chizuk because of the evil.

Each and every one of us must share the burden of those who are in danger and feel their pain. Chas Veshalom should anyone go on outings and recreational trips. The roshei yeshivah should stringently warn their students about this, and it is the obligation of parents to ensure that their children should not break this geder and remove themselves from the Klal, and cause a chilul Hashem.

At this time, we are calling upon the bnei hayeshivos to join in the learning in yeshivos bein hazemanim and to keep a regular seder. The yeshivos bein hazmanim across the country should be strengthened, and should be established, at minimum, as they are in Nissan and Tishrei. It is our request that all donors recognize the necessity of strengthening these yeshivos in these days of emergency and tzarah.

Tefillah should be strengthened at this time. Eveyone should keep his regular place of tefillah, and be careful with the halachos of zman kriyas sh’ma and zman tefillah, and to pray and beg for mercy that Hashem remove this tzarah from upon the house of Israel.

Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv Aharon Leib Steinman Michael Yehudah Lefkowitz

**************
A Call from HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Rosh Yeshivas Mir

We are now in a period in which “our enemies have reared their heads” (Tehillim 83:2) and “on the outside the sword will brings bereavement, while indoors there is dread” (Devarim 32:25). As Chazal comment on the verse, “Why is it that I have come and there is no man? [Why is it] that I have called and there is no answer?” (Yeshaya 50:2): Only in the merit of Torah scholars who are sitting in the halls of study and shuls and learning Torah is the world saved from destruction.

I once again call out from the depth of my heart to each member of our holy yeshiva, may he live and be well, to strengthen his Torah learning in the upcoming days and to make every effort to set up learning sessions in the holy yeshiva, with no weakening whatsoever.

Everyone must know the great responsibility that is upon him to be mekadesh shem Shamayim and to bear the burden together with all of our fellow Jews, and to increase Torah and tefillah in order that Our Father in Heaven take mercy upon and take us out to a broad space and protect us from all suffering.

How Faith Saved the Atheist

2006-08-02T15:22:00.000-04:00

From the WSJ:
By PAMELA R. WINNICK

A medical resident -- we called her "Dr. Death" -- at the Intensive Care Unit at Long Island's North Shore Hospital chased us down the hallway.

"Your husband wants to die," she told my mother, again. Just minutes before I had asked her to leave us alone.

"He can't even talk," I reminded her.

"He motioned with his hands when we tried to put in the feeding tube," she said.

Not exactly informed consent, I pointed out as we turned our backs on her and walked down the hallway, trying to avert our eyes from the other patients in the ICU that night, each of them at various points in the so-called "twilight zone" between life and death.

Afflicted with asbestos-related lung cancer, my father, Louis Winnick, was rushed into the ICU in late May after a blood clot nearly killed him. The next day, my husband and I raced to New York from Pittsburgh. I packed enough work and knitting for what might be an extended stay, but I also put in a suit for what I was certain would be my father's imminent funeral. Still, he wasn't dead yet. And we had no intention of precipitating the inevitable.

"Dr. Death" was just one of several. A new resident appeared the next day, this one a bit more diplomatic but again urging us to allow my father to "die with dignity." And the next day came yet another, who opened with the words, "We're getting mixed messages from your family," before I shut him up. I've written extensively about practice of bioethics -- which, for the most part, I do not find especially ethical -- but never did I dream that our moral compass had gone this far askew. My father, 85, was heading ineluctably toward death. Though unconscious, his brain, as far as anyone could tell, had not been touched by either the cancer or the blood clot. He was not in a "persistent vegetative state" (itself a phrase subject to broad interpretation), that magic point at which family members are required to pull the plug -- or risk the accusation that they are right-wing Christians.

I complained about all the death-with-dignity pressure to my father's doctor, an Orthodox Jew, who said that his religion forbids the termination of care but that he would be perfectly willing to "look the other way" if we wanted my father to die. We didn't. Then a light bulb went off in my head. We could devise a strategy to fend off the death-happy residents: We would tell them we were Orthodox Jews.

My little ruse worked. During the few days after I announced this faux fact, it was as though an invisible fence had been drawn around my mother, my sister and me. No one dared mutter that hateful phrase "death with dignity."

Though my father was born to an Orthodox Jewish family, he is an avowed atheist who long ago had rejected his parents' ways. As I sat in the ICU, blips on the various screens the only proof that my father was alive, the irony struck me: My father, who had long ago rejected Orthodox Judaism, was now under its protection.

As though to confirm this, there came a series of miracles. Just a week after he was rushed to ICU, my father was pronounced well enough to be moved out of the unit into North Shore's long-term respiratory care unit. A day later he was off the respirator, able to breathe on his own. He still mostly slept, but then he began to awaken for minutes at a time, at first groggy, but soon he was as alert (and funny) as ever. A day later, we walked in to find him sitting upright in a chair, reading the New York Times.

Gillerman is a great spokesman

2006-08-02T15:04:00.001-04:00

Dan Gillerman tears apart a vicious BBC interviewer here (Real Player required)...the good parts begin around the 11 minute mark.

A few quotes:

"The big difference between us (the Israelis) and them (the terrorists) is that for us, every dead Palestinian child is a mistake and a tragedy...for them every dead Israeli child is a victory and a cause for celebration. In our homes we have bomb shelters...in their homes they have missiles. That's the difference between the two sides".

"I think we are doing exactly what any other country would do. I can cite you examples of countries who went to war on FAR LESS than that. I mean, your own country Britain went all the way, thousands Of miles away, to the Falkands for a couple of SHEEP...what do you expect us to do when we are shelled, when our cities are shelled, with how many thousands of missiles?"

He then asked her if she new how many missiles were shelled over the last few weeks. When she avoided the question (because she didn't know) he then asked her "I'd be happy to tell you so that you can base what you are saying on some facts".

Ambassador Dan Gillerman

2006-08-02T14:52:00.000-04:00

I saw this in a comment on Hot Air:

I like Gillerman, so I regret that his talents are wasted on the UN Assembly. The UN Assembly seems to have become little more than a theater production put on to preoccupy the United States, and one in which the U.S. government acquiesces partly because it’s so impressive to private U.S. citizens. Maybe, as long as the show goes on, Israel must have its own actor in the cast; however, an unfortunate side effect of the presence of this intelligent, articulate, grave, and likeable man in the UN Assembly is that it perpetuates the problem of so many Americans’ taking the UN Assembly seriously and according it moral authority and even governmental authority.

Qana questions

2006-08-01T15:44:00.000-04:00

A brief summary from SerandEz:

Helicopter strike times vs. collapse:

The IDF carried out 3 waves of attacks.
1) Midnight - 1am, at or near the area of the building collapse.
2) A few hours later, nowhere near the area.
3) 730am, closest bomb about 460 meters from the building.

The building supposedly collapsed over half an hour after the third strike, and 7-8 hours after the first one [the only one likely to have hit near the structure]. Why such a long delay? (One possibility: Hizbollah weaponry inside ignited, causing a collapse.)

Building itself:

The roof wasn't collapsed. How could that be if an air strike caused it? There was a crater next to the building. CNN noted that it appears not to have collapsed from an Israeli air strike.

Victims:

1) Almost no blood.
2) CNN noted that the victims appeared to die in their sleep. Qs: How could they sleep through a thunderous attack? How could they be so unlucky as to remain in a building that collapses 7-8 hours after a strike... and why would they remain in the first place?
3) No markings consistent with a building collapse.
4) Rigor mortis had set in on the bodies, and the bodies appeared to have been dead 12-24 hours. This, just one hour after the collapse. [Rigor mortis starts after 3 hours; full rigor mortis takes 12+.]
5) No concrete dust on the victims, except one.
6) The workers helping to take the bodies out had no concrete dust consistent with having dug out any bodies.
7) Discoloration on some victim faces consistent with natural decomposition, of a few days.

Reporting:

1) Journalists not allowed near the building.
2) All bodies were pulled out by certain people from the exact same opening.
3) Evacuation didn't start until after the journalists arrived.
4) No live or injured people evacuated. [This was blamed on lack of equipment, though the journalists had no problem getting there.]

Sad statistic...but maybe a good thing

2006-08-01T14:40:00.000-04:00

Sad - "It will take JNF another 40 years to return the Galil to the green forest situation that Israel enjoyed only a few weeks ago."

Good - "perhaps Hashem is B"H taking out the charon af of din mainly on aytzim vih'avonim"

Ahavas chinam

2006-08-01T14:39:00.000-04:00

Someone sent me this story:

Three years ago, Tzipporah attended one of the asifos on Tisha B’Av, which encouraged each person to undertake an act of kindness to strengthen ahavas chinam. As she was sitting there, listening intently to the rabbi’s speech, she thought about her archenemy Miriam whom she hadn’t spoken to for several years. No one was able to get them back together.

When Tzipporah went home that day, she decided that she was going to call Miriam to restore harmony. She gathered all her strength and picked up the phone to contact Miriam. Finally, after so many years, the ice was broken.

After that, Tzipporah decided that she wanted to make sure that everybody would know about their renewed friendship. Therefore, for her child’s upcoming wedding, which was to take place in the outskirts of Yerushulaim on May 24th, she invited Miriam and all the people who had ever tried to get them back together.

Upon receiving the invitation, Miriam regretfully declined the invitation since she had already arranged to undergo medical tests on that date. Tzipporah didn’t hesitate to postpone the wedding for the following week, so that Miriam would be able to attend the wedding ceremony.

Tzipporah called the caterer at once and requested to reschedule the event. Since she had not yet given a deposit, the caterer granted her request. However, he asked that this time a deposit must be given to secure her date, since the hall was in great demand. All three floors were usually booked months in advance.

A few weeks after getting the deposit, the caterer called Tzipporah and asked her if she could do him a favor by rescheduling to the 24th. On that day, the two lower floors would be empty. In order to be able to accommodate her very special guest, Tzipporah declined. When hearing that, the caterer tried to persuade his customer by giving her an irresistible offer, which she also firmly declined. No money in the world was going to replace her invaluable friendship. Thus, the two lower floors remained vacant on May 24th .

On the night of May 24th, 2001, the second day of Sivan, 5761, the very day that Tzipporah had originally scheduled to marry off her child, we all know what happened to The Versailles Ballroom. The top floor of the catering hall collapsed, injuring more than 700 people and causing 25 fatalities. The catastrophic tragedy was greatly minimized by Tzipporah’s decision of ahavas chinam to postpone the wedding date to accommodate her friend Miriam. Thus, Miriam became the Shliach of Hashem to save the life of Tzipporah and so many others.

Gematriyos

2006-08-01T14:35:00.000-04:00

From here:

War in iraq started on 5750

stoped a year later 5751

intifada continued 13 years later 5764

war in Lebanon now 3 years later

בלב ים: אָמַר אוֹיֵב אֶרְדֹּף אַשִּׂיג אֲחַלֵּק שָׁלָל תִּמְלָאֵמוֹ נַפְשִׁי

אָרִיק חַרְבִּי תּוֹרִישֵׁמוֹ יָדי

First letters 1000x5 alef=elef [אחד ירדוף אלף]

אָמַר אוֹיֵב אֶרְדֹּף אַשִּׂיג אֲחַלֵּק = 5000

War in iraq started on 5750

אָמַר אוֹיֵב אֶרְדֹּף אַשִּׂיג אֲחַלֵּק

שָׁלָל תִּמְלָאֵמוֹ נַפְשִׁי

stopped a year later 5751

אָמַר אוֹיֵב אֶרְדֹּף אַשִּׂיג אֲחַלֵּק שָׁלָל תִּמְלָאֵמוֹ נַפְשִׁי אָרִיק

and continued 13 years later 5764

חַרְבִּי תּוֹרִישֵׁמוֹ יָדי

first letters = 13 mispar Kattan

אָרִיק חַרְבִּי = אירק יחרב

Three years later Lebanon

[3] Roshey Teivos

בלב ים

mispar Katan 3

5766

A very optimistic assessment of the war

2006-08-01T14:31:00.000-04:00

From here:

I'd like to state Israel's maximum war aims, followed by how the war in Lebanon started and evolved. What is the desired outcome for Israel? The defeat of Hizbollah, Syria, and Iran.How do you do that? Pin the Hizbollah. Take the Bekaa resupply area. Syria gets involved out of popular desire, and because the Bekaa Valley is on the Syrian border. Iran comes in to support Syria. America takes out Iran.

So those are the goals and grand strategy. What strategy and tactics are required to achieve those goals?

The first part of the strategy was to give Hizbollah 24 hours to respond to Israeli demands to return its soldiers or else. With no response Israel crossed the border but didn't get far. Raids. Reconisance in force. Day after day. Occasionally new troops are called up. Stupid Olmert insist that they be used to relieve front line troops. They rotate in and out of what amounts to a live fire exercise. Hizbollah is being attrited but no ground is being gained. The Israeli Army and government is looking more and more incompetent by the day. Israel defeated five armies in the Six Day War. It is now going on two weeks plus and 5,000 Hezbollah fighters are holding the mighty Israeli Army within a few miles of the border. The front is static. The hizzies are winning. This is no Six Day War. The Israeli forces are checked by what appears to be a force barely adequate to hold them for a day let alone several weeks. Things are not going well. Not going well at all. The Arab street is convinced of the ineptness Israeli generalship. The civilians in goverment from Olmert on down are giving the military bad advice. Who put those galoots in charge? The thing that is fooling most people is that Olmert, Peretz, and the rest look and sound like nebbishes. And they are mostly Labor. Not known for their warrior spirit. All the better. And all the reporting about cabinet meetings saying there is dissention in the cabinent and they are holding the troops back.

That is almost all deception. Its purpose is to entice Syria and Iran. If that doesn't work secondary pressure can be brought from an inflamed Arab street. And the Arab street is on fire. So much so that Saudi Arabia has been forced to change its "official position" on the war. And the troop rotations? Well when the big push comes you will have a lot of very well and recently trained troops to lead the way and teach others. Reducing casualties.

In any case Hizbollah is pinned. Its forces reduced and the axis of advance to the Bekka Valley has had the chance and intensity of flank attacks reduced.

This is what is called preparing the battlefield. Such artistry hasn't been seen since WW2.These folks will go down as some of the greatest warriors in this century or any other. The only thing that could hurt this plan is lack of time.

That has always stopped the Israelis in the past. Not this time. Condi is making painfully slow progress. At the start Bush delayed any diplomacy for a week. Her latest gambit is proposing a multinational force (Which does not exist) to separate the two warring parties when the fighting stops (which it hasn't). Hizbollah can't stop fighting. Its street cred is on the line. How can it be a "resistance" if it stops resisting? So nothing useful diplomatically will be done for weeks. It does help to quiet the French street though. French diplomacy is also enhanced since Condi is proposing the French military be the lead force. Best to keep the jaw jaw going while the war war continues for those who need to believe something is being done by the International Community to stop the war.

-----

The next move to look for is an Israeli advance into the Bekaa. Expect it in less than a week.

What is the end state in Iran? The Iranian people who are already unhappy with the government and might over throw it for losing a war. Think Russia 1917. If they start lobbing missiles at Israel, Bush might invoke his mutual defence promises to Israel and attack Iran.

The really interesting thing is that the hizzies, Syria, and Iran are so enmeshed in the Israeli plan that no matter what move they make now it will only give them bad and worse options. At this point you could lay the plan out in front of them and it wouldn't make any difference. They are defeated.

Hezbollywood instructions

2006-08-01T14:24:00.000-04:00

- Collect dead women and children in ,make-shift' morgue.
- Park rocket launchers next to building
- Wait till boom.
- If boom not close enough, make own boom.
- Wait for media
- Pull out 'dead' women and children
- Hold them up like dead fish prizes for the cameras.

Hezbollywood

2006-08-01T14:21:00.000-04:00

From here:

Milking it?

For an update on this post, see here.

Certainly, the photographs are distressing, and indeed they are meant to be. As this piece tells us:

Until recent years, images of civilian casualties in wars often took days to appear in newspapers, but now they can be captured and transmitted around the world to newspaper Web sites, where they are posted immediately, adding to the shock value that sketchy words by reporters often cannot capture. This happened again Sunday morning in the case of the Israeli air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana that left dozens dead, reportedly at least half of them children sleeping in their beds overnight.

The photos, taken by The Associated Press, Reuters, and others, showed bodies in the rubble, or being taken away; survivors digging or wailing…

But the photographers, it seems, are not too fussy about how they go about "adding to the shock value". These two sequences illustrate the extent to which photographers on the scene are prepared to ensure that the "shock value" is maximised.

In this first of the two sequences, we see a shot by Reuters and taken by Adnan Hajj, timed at 2:21 pm. It has the caption:

Rescuers pull the body of a toddler victim of an Israeli air raid on Qana that killed more than 60 people, the majority of them women and children, in south Lebanon, July 30, 2006.

Note the "rescue worker" in the foreground, complete with olive green military-style helmet and fluorescent jacket, with what appears to be a flack jacket underneath. His glasses, "designer stubble", blue tee-shirt and jeans make him quite a distinctive figure. Note also, he has a radio in his jacker pocket and he has bare hands, things which becomes relevant later.

The next shot in this sequence is credited to AP's Kevin Frayer. Timed at 4.09 pm, it shows the same "rescue" worker, and has this caption:

Lebanese Red Cross and Civil Defense workers carry the body of a small child covered in dust from the rubble of his home that was hit in an Israeli missile strike in the village of Qana, east of the port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday. Lebanese Red Cross officials said 56 people died in the Israeli assault on the village, including 34 children. Rescuers dug through the debris to remove dozens of bodies.

This is horrific, but a scrutiny of the framing does suggest that the subject is offering the victim to the photographer.

Just in case you missed it, however, we get another view, courtesy of Reuter's Adnan Hajj, with a time given of 4:30 pm - some 20 minutes after the first shot. The caption reads:

A rescuer carries the body of a toddler victim of an Israeli air raid on Qana that killed more than 60 people, the majority of them women and children, in south Lebanon, July 30, 2006.

Interestingly, in this sequence, the pocket radio is missing. And, although the positioning of the child looks the same, the angle of the shot looks to be about ninety degrees from the first, but in each case, the "worker" is facing towards the camera. The shots are clearly posed.

But now, timed at 12:45 pm, an hour and twenty minutes before the child's body is pictured being pulled from the ruins, we get a picture from AP's Kevin Frayer of the same child's body being paraded by our ubiquitous helmeted rescue worker.

Lebanese Red Cross and Civil Defense workers carry the body of a small child covered in dust from the rubble of his home that was hit in an Israeli missile strike in the village of Qana, east of the port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, July 30, 2006. Lebanese Red Cross officials said 56 people died in the Israeli assault on the village, including 34 children. Rescuers dug through the debris to remove dozens of bodies.

At 12.53 pm, after an interval of eight minutes, Frayer photographs the child's body again, from a different angle. The caption is the same. This time, though, our helmeted worker is showing some distress, which was absent in the previous photograph.

The photographs show the characters moving down the hill, with little distance between the scenes, which suggest that they have been taken sequentially and spontaneously. But they have not. The eight minute interval has allowed a crowd to gather around "green helmet". Furthermore, "orange jacket" has switched from left to right. Note also the tee-shirted man in the centre of the picture.

Then, timed at 1:01 pm, eight minutes on, we get another picture from Frayer. Once again, the caption is the same but this time the child's body is being paraded aloft by our ubiquitous helmeted rescue worker, but the tee-shirted character had moved from centre to right and is taking his turn to displaying his emotion to the camera. The UN soldier in the background has turned away, confirming a time lapse. The scene is clearly staged, as have been those preceding it.

Next, we have the second of the two sequences, the first shot of which, timed at 7.21 am shows a dead girl in an ambulance. Taken by AP, the caption reads:

Among others, the body of a child recovered under the rubble of a demolished building that was struck by Israeli war plane missiles at the village of Qana near the southern Lebanon city of Tyre, is placed in an ambulance Sunday July 30.

In the next frame, we have the same girl, this time apparently being placed in the ambulance. Also taken by AP,this time by Mohammed Zaatari the caption here reads:

A Lebanese rescuer carries the body of a young girl recovered from under the rubble of a demolished building that was struck by Israeli warplane missiles at the village of Qana, near the southern city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, July 30, 2006. Dozens of civilians, including many children, were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike that flattened houses in this southern Lebanon village - the deadliest attack in 19 days of fighting.

Intriguingly, though, the dateline given is 10.25 am, three hours after she has already been photographed in the ambulance.

Also from AP's Nasser Nasser, we see the same worker, showing obvious distress, carrying the same girl. But now he is wearing his fluorescent jacket and helmet and has acquired latex gloves. He has also got his radio back. The photograph is timed at 10.44 am and the caption reads:

A civil defense worker carries the body of Lebanese child recovered from the rubble of a demolished building that was struck by an Israeli airstrike at the village of Qana near the southern Lebanon city of Tyre, Sunday, July 30, 2006. Israeli missiles struck this southern Lebanese village early Sunday, flattening houses on top of sleeping residents. The Lebanese Red Cross said the airstrike, in which at least 34 children were killed, pushed the overall Lebanese death toll to more than 500.

Here we are now, same "worker" and same girl, but this time it is done for the benefit of EPA, the photographer, Mohamed Messara, the worker rushing towards a uniformed Red Cross worker. This caption (without a time) reads:

A rescue worker carries the body of a Lebanese girl after an Israeli air strike on the village of Qana, east of the southern port city of Tyre, on Sunday 30 July 2006. At least 51 people were killed, many of them children, and several others wounded in the raid Sunday, witnesses and rescue workers said.

But now, for the benefit of AFP, the photgraph taken by Nicolas Asfouri, we have the same unfortunate child being handled by another worker, the original worker showing in the background, having passed the casualty on. The timing of the photograph is 7.16 pm (now apparently corrected to 6:46 am) and the caption reads:

A rescue worker puts the body of a dead girl on a gurney after Israeli air strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Qana. Israel agreed to temporarily halt air strikes in south Lebanon a day after 52 people were killed, many of them sleeping children, when Israeli warplanes bombarded the Lebanese village of Qana, triggering global outrage and warnings of retribution for alleged "war crimes".

Remember, however, earlier in the sequence, the girl is being carried to the ambulance, by the other worker, sans jacket, helmet and gloves.

Finally, in this sequence, we get another shot from AP's Nasser Nasser, again without a timing but with this caption:

A civil defence worker carries a body of a young Lebanese child recovered from the rubble of a demolished building that was struck by Israeli war plane missiles at the village of Qana near the southern Lebanon city of Tyre, Sunday, July 30, 2006.

Whatever else, the event in Qana was a human tragedy. But the photographs do not show it honestly. Rather, they have been staged for effect, exploiting the victims in an unwholesome manner. In so doing, they are no longer news photographs - they are propaganda. And, whoever said the camera cannot lie forgot that photographers can and do. Those lies have spread throughout the world by now and will be in this morning's newspapers, accepted as real by the millions who view them.

The profession of photo-journalism thereby is sadly diminished by them, and the trust in those who took them and in those who carried them is misplaced. Truly, we are dealing with loathesome creatures.

Pallywood

2006-08-01T14:19:00.000-04:00

Separated at Birth - Osama Bin Laden and Mel Gibson?

2006-08-01T14:17:00.000-04:00

Separated at Birth - Saddam Hussein and Mel Gibson?

2006-08-01T14:12:00.000-04:00

European discourse is "wrong" and "morally imbecilic"

2006-07-31T22:51:00.000-04:00

Sir Winston Churchill warned about Hitler throughout the 1930's. Unfortunately, he wasn't the PM...Neville Chamberlain was. Unfortunately again, most of Europe today ignores the foresight of Churchill, rather they settle for the blunder of Chamberlain.

The tall story we Europeans now tell ourselves about Israel
By Charles Moore

European discourse on the subject seems to have been overwhelmed by something else - a narrative, told most powerfully by the way television pictures are selected, that makes Israel out as a senseless, imperialist, mass-murdering, racist bully.

Not only is this analysis wrong - if the Israelis are such imperialists, why did they withdraw from Lebanon for six years, only returning when threatened once again? How many genocidal regimes do you know that have a free press and free elections? - it is also morally imbecilic. It makes no distinction between the tough, sometimes nasty things all countries do when hard-pressed and the profoundly evil intent of some ideologies and regimes. It says nothing about the fanaticism and the immediacy of the threat to Israel.

IDF "very revealing" video

2006-07-31T22:40:00.000-04:00

What a stark contrast!

2006-07-31T22:31:00.000-04:00

Great links from Israellycool:

Ever noticed how the anti-Israel demonstrations contain scenes of hatred and violence, such as flag burning, show of weapons, nazi comparisons, and general nastiness, while the pro-Israel demonstrations don't?

I'm thinking that perhaps that tells you something about the different agendas.

Wow

2006-07-31T22:01:00.000-04:00

What a post...and comment:

Just wondering about Qana

Over at the Power Line Blog, John Hinderaker asks an interesting question:

This AFP photograph shows Beirut demonstrators with a giant poster of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that was used in a rally protesting the accidental killing of civilian human shields, along with terrorists, in Qana:

What seems odd about this is that the banner was unfurled within hours after the Qana attack took place. The building where the civilians died was bombed on Sunday morning, and the demonstration took place during daylight hours, later the same day. I have no idea what kind of facility it takes to produce a 30-foot-high banner like this one. It is obviously professionally done. It would be interesting to know where this banner was produced; who designed and paid for it; and how its production was expedited so that it was ready for use, on the street, within hours after the event being protested.

John has more questions too, so make sure to read the whole thing.

Hat Tip: Kranky (in the civilized world)

Naomi Ragen, in a mailing to her list last night, also asked whether Qana is "more Pallywood:"

Hat Tip: Harvey in Efrat

1. Tonight, an IDF spokesman showed aerial photos of rockets being fired from residential areas in Qana. It showed the portable rocket launchers being parked beneath residential buildings. The spokesman said that the bombs dropped on Qana were dropped at 1 a.m. The reports of the building collapse took place at 7 a.m. Also, no bombs actually hit the building. So, who was responsible for the collapse of that building? Could Hezbollah weapons have exploded, destroying the building? Was it deliberate, a way to pressure Israel into a ceasefire the same way they did last time, in exactly the same spot? And why is no one in the media picking up on this time gap and asking questions? [Well, the bloggers sure are. Many of us posted it last night. CiJ]

2. The number of those injured is being supplied by Lebanese sources, and being quoted by all the news stations. So far, only 26 bodies have been recovered. [Even I wasn't aware of that. CiJ] But news reports are saying the number was twice that, and half are children. That too is supplied by unknown sources and repeated by the major media.

For those of you who think that Naomi is being far-fetched, recall that IDF Brigadier General Amir Eshel hinted at the same thing last night, and recall that just last month, an explosion at a Gaza beach that was blamed on Israel turned out to have been caused by explosives being stored by Hamas on the beach.

Unfortunately, the world's mind is made up, and even if this is eventually determined to have been an instance of 'Pallywood North,' most of the world will still blame Israel, as is the case with the Gaza Beach incident, and as was the case with the Muhammed al-Dura incident six years ago. But maybe the United States and a couple of other countries will acknowledge the truth - if we are lucky and convincing.

2 Comments:

At 10:45 PM, Postermaker said...: Since I do banners like this for a living, I can tell you it take more than a few hours depending on the equipment. A banner that large can be done one of two ways. With a grant format printer. It would probably take about 3-4 hours to print, then hours more to sew and grommet so it could hung. It would have to be Made of heavy duty material or one that was reinforced or the sheer weight would rip it apart.

The other way it to use a smaller series of machines all color calibrated and produce sections. At that point they would have to be stretch the length of the banner ( read large facility) and sewn together. Additional support would go on the tops and bottoms.

In short if it was related Qana and went up within two hours- four hours, it was done prior to the bomb hitting. No other way. Just putting an image together that large on a computer with Type would take a few hours.

Then color tests, proofs and finally printing. That would be an all day affair for most print houses even with a grand format printer. The cost would be in the thousands.

Then you would have to transport it.

Here's another Wafa Sultan clip

2006-07-31T14:14:00.000-04:00

Watch it here.

Here's the transcript:



The following are excerpts from a debate between Wafa Sultan, a psychologist from Los Angeles and Dr. Ahmad Bin Muhammad, an Algerian professor of religious politics. Al-Jazeera TV aired this debate on July 26, 2005. Wafa Sultan: Why does a young Muslim man, in the prime of life, with a full life ahead, go and blow himself up? How and why does he blow himself up in a bus full of innocent passengers? In our countries, religion is the sole source of education, and is the only spring from which that terrorist drank until his thirst was quenched. He was not born a terrorist, and did not become a terrorist overnight. Islamic teachings played a role in weaving his ideological fabric, thread by thread, and did not allow other sources – I am referring to scientific sources – to play a role. It was these teachings that distorted this terrorist and killed his humanity. It was not (the terrorist) who distorted the religious teachings and misunderstood them, as some ignorant people claim. When you recite to a child still in his early years the verse: "They will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off," regardless of this verse's interpretation, and regardless of the reasons it was conveyed or its time – you have made the first step towards creating a great terrorist... Bin Muhammad: The guest from America asked how a young man could blow up a bus. If only she had asked how a president could blow up a peaceful nation in Iraq. How does a president help the arch-killer of occupied Palestine? Why doesn't she ask from where Hitler was brought up – Hitler, who murdered 50 million innocent people. Why doesn't she ask where the people who dropped two atom bombs on Japan were educated? Who killed three million innocent Vietnamese? Who annihilated the Indians? Who maintained imperialism to this day? Who waged the Spanish civil war, which exacted a toll of 600,000 in 36 months? Why don't we ask these questions? Who has over 15,000 nuclear warheads – Muslims or the non-Muslims? The Muslims or the Americans? The Muslims or the Europeans? We want an answer. Where was Bush educated – if education is really what makes a person a criminal?... Wafa Sultan: Murder is terrorism regardless of time or place, but when it is committed as a decree from Allah, this is another matter... The Crusader wars about which the professor is talking – these wars came after the Islamic religious teachings, and as a response to these teachings. This is the law of action and reaction. The Islamic religious teachings have incited to the rejection of the other, to the denial of the other, and to the killing of the other. Have they not incited to the killing of Jews and Christians? If we had heard that a tribe in a distant corner of China has a holy book and religious teachings calling to kill Muslims – would the Muslims stand idly by in the face of such teachings? The Crusader wars came after these Islamic religious teachings. When these Islamic teachings were delivered, America did not exist on the face of the earth, nor was Israel in Palestine... Why doesn't he talk about the Muslim conquests that preceded all the wars he is talking about? Why doesn't he mention that when Tariq bin Ziyyad entered Andalusia with his armies, he said to his people: "The sea is behind you, and the enemy is in front"? How can you storm a peaceful country, and consider all its peaceful inhabitants to be your enemies, merely because you have the right to spread your religion? Should the religion be spread by the sword and through fighting?... Bin Muhammad: Who invented slavery in recent centuries? Who colonized the other – us or them? Did Algeria colonize France, or vice versa? Did Egypt colonize England, or vice versa? We are the victims... I am not saying that killing innocent people is nice. I say that all innocent people should be protected. But at the same time, we must start with the innocent among the Muslims. There are millions of innocent people among us, while the innocent among you – and innocent they are – number only dozens, hundreds, or thousands, at the most... Wafa Sultan: Can you explain to me the killing of a hundred thousand children, women and men in Algeria, using the most abominable killing methods? Can you explain to me the killing of 15,000 Syrian civilians? Can you explain to me the abominable crime in the military artillery school in Aleppo? Can you explain the crime in Al-Asbaqiya neighborhood of Damascus, Syria? Can you explain the attack of the terrorists on the peaceful village of Al-Kisheh in Upper Egypt, and the massacre of 21 Coptic peasants? Can you explain to me what is going on in Indonesia, Turkey, and Egypt, even though these are Islamic countries which opposed the American intervention in Iraq, and which don't have armies in Iraq, yet were not spared by the terrorists? Can you explain these phenomena, which took place in Arab countries? Was all this revenge on America or Israel? Or were they merely to satisfy bestial wild instincts aroused in them by religious teachings, which incite to rejection of the other, to the killing of the other, and to the denial of the other. When Saddam Hussein buried 300,000 Shiites and Kurds alive, we did not hear a single Muslim protesting. Your silence served to acknowledge the legitimacy of these killings, didn't it?... What do you want from me? To speak evil of the American society? I've never said that America is the eternal city of Plato, but I did say it was the eternal city of Wafa Sultan. The idealism of American society was enough to allow me to realize my humanity. I came to this country with fear. Bin Muhammad:Along with the Indians? Along with the Indians? What was left of the Indians? What do you have to say about the Indians? Wafa Sultan: Christopher Columbus discovered American in 1492. America was founded in 1776, approximately 300 years later. You cannot blame America – as a constitution, a regime, and a state – for killing the Indians.

She is laying it on...powerfully

2006-07-31T12:48:00.000-04:00

Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles on Al Jazeera television explaining that there is no "clash of civilizations" but a "clash between the mentality of the Middle Ages and that of the 21st Century".

Watch it here.

It is better to watch it...just to see the way she says it...with passion.

If you prefer to read it, here is the transcript:

Following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 21, 2006

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

[...]

Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

[...]

Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to stop this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels.

My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?

I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic?

Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural...

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran...

Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.

Great news...if it's true

2006-07-31T12:39:00.000-04:00

From Reuters:

Israeli forces have destroyed an estimated two thirds of Hizbollah's long-range missile capabilities, a senior government official told Reuters on Monday.

The Iranian-supplied Zelzal-2 missiles have been Israel's main strategic concern during an a 20-day-old fight with the Lebanese guerrilla group. They have a range of 200 km (125 miles) and are believed capable of carrying biological or chemical warheads.

"We know how many of them we destroyed and we know how many they shot," the senior government official said.

URGENT!!!

2006-07-31T12:32:00.000-04:00

I just received this e-mail:

Please Call

Called the number listed below to give your input on the need for the US to continue its high level of support in this latest Israeli vs. Terrorist war in the Middle East.

This comment line puts you in touch with a real, live, person. Please express your support for Israel and tell the President to "hang tough" in the prevention of a cease fire in Israel that would render the efforts of Israel in vain.

PLEASE CALL PRESIDENT BUSH AT THE WHITE HOUSE AT 1-202-456-1111 and provide your thoughts.

The ARABS ARE CALLING AT TWICE THE RATE OF AMERICAN JEWS AND HE NEEDS TO KNOW THAT WE NEED HIS SUPPORT!

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU BELIEVE CARES.

THANKS

A very revealing piece

2006-07-31T12:18:00.000-04:00

From here:

Fatal Flaws in Arab Thinking

Most Westerner's have become aware, because of the war on terror, that people in the Middle East view the world according to different standards. Perhaps the most important difference between the Middle East, especially the Arab world, and the West, is the attitude towards compromise. While Westerners see compromise as a path to success, Arabs see it as an admission of defeat. This attitude is reflected in many ways. For example, Arabs are more willing to accept religious absolutes ("all non-Moslems are scum"). The Middle East attitudes towards women, especially Arab acceptance of "honor killings" (murdering a women if she is even suspected of misbehavior), are part of this lack of nuance.

The Arab love for absolutes has also produced a culture that more readily accepts conspiracy theories. Indeed, the conspiracy theories are often preferable to reality. In this way, we get the common Arab willingness to blame all their woes on "others" (other Arabs, or, better yet, Westerners.)

After decades of avoiding problems, and solutions, because of these conspiracy theories, it has become fashionable among many educated Arabs to admit that, perhaps, many Arab problems are caused by things Arabs do, or don't do. That's a start, but the Arab preference for absolutes makes it very difficult to change. And democracy doesn't work that well either, for one of the cornerstones for a functioning democracy is compromise.

All of these bad habits, and even many Arabs will admit that the paranoia, blame-shifting and absolutism are bad, can be seen in Arab media. While many Arab journalists know they are putting out misleading, often counter-productive, garbage, it's what the markets still wants, what too many Arabs still respond to most enthusiastically.

Many Europeans are still willing to leave the Arabs alone as they work these problems out themselves. Eventually. But the United States decided it could not wait, after the events of September 11, 2001. This difference in attitudes towards Arab thinking has created a continuing rift between Europe and the United States.

Syria's Chemical Misslies

2006-07-31T12:16:00.000-04:00

NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS

Syria may not have nuclear weapons, but it has created a force of ballistic missiles equipped with chemical (nerve and mustard gas) warheads. Syria is believed to have about 1200 ballistic missiles. About 85 percent of them are SCUDs, and most of these are improved designs from North Korea and Iran. The main improvement is a larger fuel tank, giving these missiles a range of about 700 kilometers. This allows them to reach anywhere in Israel. About 15 percent of their missiles are more modern (solid fuel) Russian SS-21s. But these only have a range of 70 kilometers. Thus the Syrians have about 600 missiles with a range of 700 kilometers, another 400 with a range of 300-400 kilometers, and about 200 with a range of 70 kilometers. All these missiles carry a half ton warhead. And some of these warheads carry nerve gas or mustard gas.

There are about 70 mobile launchers for the SCUDs, and about as many for the smaller SS-21s. The SCUD launchers, and support vehicles, are hidden in fifteen or more tunnel complexes. A major disadvantage of the SCUDs is that they take over an hour to fuel and get ready for firing. Some of the liquid fuel is poisonous, and the crews have to be careful while handling it. While there are some underground SCUD launching facilities, these are probably known to the Israelis, and likely to be bombed early in any conflict. That's why the 70 mobile launchers are so important. These will be much sought after by Israeli aircraft, UAVs and satellites.

Israel also has an anti-missile system (Arrow) that can knock down a few SCUDs at a time. If the Israelis can destroy most of the mobile launchers, and underground launch sites, that might be enough to avoid getting hit with chemical warheads.

These ballistic missiles are really the only reliable weapon Syria has. Poverty, and the end of Cold War era handouts from Russia, has led the 220,000 man Syrian army to decline in quality. The Syrian air force has sunk even deeper. The Syrian forces were never all that great to begin with. But now, all they can do is threaten Israel with chemical warheads carried on ballistic missiles. The United States has threatened to reply with nukes if anyone uses chemical weapons against U.S. troops or civilians. It's unclear if Israel would respond the same way. The Israeli armed forces could roll over the Syrian army and capture all of Syria in short order. The threat of Israeli war crimes trials against Syrian leaders (who survived the Israeli offensive), might be the ultimate deterrent.

The Phony War

2006-07-31T11:17:00.000-04:00

From here:

The Hizbollah tactic of firing rockets from residential areas, and forcing civilians to stick around when the rockets are fired, has paid off. One rocket launching site in a large building in southern Lebanon, for which Israel released video of rockets being launched, before bombing the building, turned out to contain over fifty women and children. The civilians know that the Israelis bomb any place where rockets are fired from, but Hizbollah gunmen will force the civilians to stay. This has caused many Lebanese, even Shia in the south, to turn against Hizbollah. Some journalists have even been able to get out of Lebanon with pictures of this, but most of the world media prefers to call Israeli response to Hizbollah attacks a war crime and leave it at that. This is going to be one of those situations where, down the road, historians are going to wonder just what the world was thinking during all this.

While Hizbollah is good at getting Lebanese civilians killed, they are not very effective at hurting Israelis. Engineer and intelligence troops have identified less than a hundred rockets landing in Israel each day so far. This is done by collecting and identifying fragments. But as time goes by, more rocket hits are discovered in unpopulated areas of northern Israel. Apparently more than a hundred rockets are landing in northern Israel each day, but on many days, only a few dozen land anywhere near residential areas. Many of the rocket salvos (two dozen or more 122mm rockets are being fired at a time) are not aimed very well at all, and don't come down anywhere near to an Israeli settlement. This is why there has been less than one Israeli casualty per rocket fired. This casualty rate has been coming down. One recent barrage of 25 122mm rockets landed in an Israeli town and caused no casualties at all (but damaged several buildings).

The Israelis keep civilian casualties down by having better bomb shelters, using them more effectively and evacuating many of the more exposed towns in northern Israel. Since Israel is a democracy, the government has to do all it can to minimize its civilian casualties. Hizbollah is not a democracy, but a religious dictatorship (trying to bring that form of government to Lebanon, and then the world.) Hizbollah considers itself on a mission from God, and within its rights to kill anyone, and do anything, to complete its mission. Thus the policy of getting the maximum number of Lebanese civilians killed. European and Moslem media have taken the bait, and are calling Israeli responses, to Hizbollah attacks, "war crimes."

Israeli ground operations appear to be using paratroopers and other elite infantry to hunt down and kill Hizbollah rocket launching teams. Hizbollah has not got a lot of trained people. Kill them, and they are hard to replace. There are only so many rocket launcher teams. Kill them, and no one will be available to take the rockets out of their hiding places and launch them. Right now, this battle is being won by the Israelis, because Hizbollah has not been able to launch many longer (over 20 kilometers) rockets at more densely populated areas deeper in Israel. Most of the rockets are short range ones. The Israeli attack on the transportation system in southern Lebanon has made it difficult to move large objects, like big rockets, into position for launch.

Israel agreed to a 40 hour halt to air attacks on the 30th, to provide time to investigate the bombing the day before that killed over fifty civilians at a Hizbollah launching site. This is supposed to give Hizbollah an opportunity to reciprocate. But Hizbollah has more pressing problems. While the Lebanese media won't discuss it much, most Lebanese are quite angry with Hizbollah. The stories, of how Hizbollah forces civilians to stay around rocket launch sites, are now widely known. Israeli intelligence agents in Lebanon are getting more good tips on Hizbollah activity, especially within Christian areas. The Lebanese Christians know they are considered eventual targets (as infidels) of Hizbollah, and have noted Hizbollah men joking about getting the "Jews to do our work for us" (killing Lebanese Christians.)

The main problem in Lebanon is, and always has been, that the civil war never really ended in 1990, especially not for the Shia faction represented by Hizbollah. Iran accepted the 1990 ceasefire in Lebanon under pressure from the rest of the Moslem world. But while Hizbollah entered Lebanese politics in the 1990s, they never disarmed their militia, supported the continued Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and did not recognize the authority of the Lebanese government, in portions of southern Lebanon that Hizbollah controlled.

Israel is not giving detailed briefings on its tactics and exactly what its forces have accomplished so far. That's because this war is largely a psychological one. It's also an Information War, where the manipulation of the media is an important aspect of the fight. In this respect, Hizbollah has an edge, because most of the Moslem and European media will automatically side with them against Israel. That said, the Israeli strategy appears to be the destruction of people and material that Hizbollah will have the most difficulty replacing, and weakening Hizbollah enough so that the majority of Lebanese, and the Lebanese government, can regain control of southern Lebanon (and Hizbollah controlled Beirut neighborhoods), that Hizbollah has controlled for decades. If Lebanon can put itself back together, Hizbollah will be much less of a threat. Because this conflict is also seen as another battle in the thousand year old war between Sunni and Shia, most Arabs, while cheering for Hizbollah, because they are armed Arabs who did not go down before the Israeli in the first round, will not be terribly upset if Hizbollah ultimately loses and disappears.

Further proof...

2006-07-31T11:04:00.000-04:00

of what Mark Twain once said "mankind was created one step below the angels and one step above the French":

Iran is a significant, respected player in the Middle East which is playing a stabilizing role, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Monday.

"It was clear that we could never accept a destabilization of Lebanon, which could lead to a destabilization of the region," Douste-Blazy said in Beirut.

"In the region there is of course a country such as Iran – a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region," he told a news conference.

From here.

Hypocrites

2006-07-30T15:41:00.000-04:00

The Islamic Double Standard
By Pete Fisher (07/27/2006)

Hamas sends children to their death by strapping explosives onto them to destroy innocent lives and property. They teach their children from birth to hate and raise them up with the same murderous intentions as the generations before them.

They kidnap Israeli soldiers; they commit acts of terror on an almost daily basis. No different than Hezbollah or Al-Qaida, and dozens more like them. They see no wrong with what they do because they honestly believe that by taking certain passages from the Koran, they have a god given right to steal and destroy from those who refuse to believe in Islam and it’s founder.

Iran and Iraq fought for years on end with millions dead. No Jihad was proposed to protect Muslims from death in that war. Syria slaughtered tens of thousands of Palestinians, as did Jordan when the Palestinians decided to try and squat inside those nations and begin to scream for their own state. No Jihad.

Iran keeps Muslims oppressed by the millions within its own borders. The Taliban oppressed and tormented an entire nation with Sharia in Afghanistan with no protests from the Muslim streets world wide. Sudan sits devastated as Muslims destroy and kill daily the innocent people who have been displaced by the millions. No Jihad.

And now Hezbollah crosses into Israel and kidnaps 2 soldiers from the IDF, and runs to hide once more behind the civilian population instead of fighting as an army should fight. They lob missiles into Haifa where no military bases are launching from. They kill, innocent civilians as they always have, through means of cowardice and terror tactics.

They have occupied Lebanon for years. They have infiltrated the government, and they have put forth the face of benevolence by using Iranian and Syrian monies to feed the locals in order to gain support. Yet no Jihad was ever begun to stop the oppression in any of these nations simply because Muslims are the ones oppressing, and not an infidel entity.

And we watch as Israel continues to create a buffer zone to keep these cowards from lobbing missiles into civilian areas for the sole intent to murder those who cannot fight back. It is their right to do so. But they are at least attempting to spare civilian life and property, which would be easier if Hezbollah did not hide behind them.

Hezbollah are not bombing Israeli launch sites or tanks with their rockets. They are not attacking military bases where Israeli forces operate from. They are bombing homes and businesses that are simply innocent of the thrust into Lebanon by the IDF.

So much for the Muslims who have been telling me all these years that " Even ONE life taken is like taking the life of ALL humanity." Must be just Muslim lives, because I hear no Jihads for the people of Haifa or Sudan.

And if the IDF hid among civilians, and placed their rocket launchers and tanks into civilian neighborhoods, one could not blame Hezbollah for attacking those sites if they had a legal and moral reason to do so. But the IDF does not hide behind the women and children of Israel, nor do they operate their military campaigns from holy sites as do Muslims. And they have a legal and moral reason to attack.

Just today there is another call for Jihad and genocide by Islam against Israel by Ayman al-Zawahri for the destruction of Israel, “Until Islam reigns from the Gaza to Spain.” Because Israel decided to fight back against the cowardice of Islam?

It is so easy to see from any other angle outside of Islam that Hezbollah messed up pretty bad here. And it should be plain to see that Hezbollah has no true concern for the Lebanese people, as they commit acts of terror and hide behind the innocent people of Lebanon. No different than Bin Laden, who hides in holes directing others to their deaths with visions of a virgin laden Paradise, or the clerics who scream safely from their parapets for all around them to sacrifice their lives and the lives of their children while keeping harems of young boys and enjoying a prosperity that is never shared with those they lead.

Arafat robbed his own people blind, Saddam and his family stole from Iraqis their oil fortunes while torturing the population, the Taliban killed people for adultery while engaging in sex with children and animals. No Jihad was ever called for.

They disallow other religions in many Muslim nations, and treat the people as animals who believe differently. Yet come to Europe and America screaming about equality and suing for discrimination in predominantly Christian cultures.

Hypocrites.

This is what is taught in Koran, and some of these practices borrowed from Mohammed, such as pedophilia and slaughtering those who refuse to believe. And as long as it is being done by Muslims, it can be excused away or forgiven, no matter how evil or sickening the act. Hypocrites.

But a small nation like Israel cannot defend itself from Islamic terror without having the bulk of the Muslim world call once again for her destruction? One cannot even print a small cartoon of Mohammed without riots and cries of terror on a global scale? Hezbollah and Hamas can commit stupid acts of terror and kidnap Israeli soldiers on their own soil, and no Jihad is cried out against them for endangering innocent civilians with their stupidity?

Hypocrites.

The world tires of this hypocrisy and it will continue to tire of it. It is not Israel who began this conflict. It was Hamas and Hezbollah. It was not America who began the War on Terror; it was Bin Laden and his murderous gang of Mohammedan thugs. It was never Israel calling for the destruction of all Muslims, nor was it the West.

It has been Islam calling for the annihilation of Christians and Jews and their nations that began all this. And I truly believe that it will not be Europe, America, or Israel that begins a nuclear war in the Middle East or elsewhere. I believe it will be those who continue to salivate over the thought of blood in their hopes of appeasing Allah, so they can finally look at a nude woman in Paradise without fear of hell fire. They can partake in death what Allah has outlawed in life. Hypocrites.

Once again, it becomes the fault of Israel and her supporters in the Islamic mind. Just as a Muslim male thinks a woman can be raped if she dresses in a way that offends him, Islam believes it can rape the nations and people it finds offense in. Hypocrites.

And I truly believe they will continue this asinine hypocrisy until they get what they so truly desire. Their perception of a martyrs’ death or the annihilation of any who refuses Mohammed and his strange cult seems to be the only way out for them.

Personally, I would prefer the first choice before having to deal with the latter.

Will he say the same about Qana?

2006-07-30T15:27:00.000-04:00

Last week:

Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah has issued an apology to the Nazareth Arab family whose two children, Rabiya and Mahmou Talouzi, were killed by a Katyusha missile.

"I ask this family for forgiveness, he told Al-Jazeera. "I know apologies are insufficient and I take full responsibility. It was not intentional and the dead in Nazareth are considered martyrs like those in Lebanon, Palestine and the resistance."

Bolton: Hezbollah are "Barbarians"

2006-07-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

(IsraelNN.com) John Bolton, American Ambassador to the United Nations, said outside the Security Council meeting Sunday night that Hizbullah immorally uses civilians as shields but that Israel is forced to take into "this barbaric practice" while exercising its right to self-defense.

He spoke as most of the Council's leaders denounced Israel for the bombing of the Lebanese village of Kana and demanded an immediate cease fire.

Fascinating interview

2006-07-30T12:04:00.000-04:00

Read the whole thing here:

Interview with Pierre Rehov, documentary filmmaker, on psychology behind suicide bombings

Pierre's upcoming film, "Suicide Killers," is based on interviews that he conducted with the families of suicide bombers and would-be bombers in an attempt to find out why they do it.

Why is this film especially important?

People don't understand the devastating culture behind this unbelievable phenomenon. My film is not politically correct because it addresses the real problem—showing the real face of Islam. It points the finger against a culture of hatred in which the uneducated are brainwashed to a level where their only solution in life becomes to kill themselves and kill others in the name of a God whose word, as transmitted by other men, has became their only certitude.

What insights did you gain from making this film? What do you know that other experts do not know?

I came to the conclusion that we are facing a neurosis at the level of an entire civilization. Most neuroses have in common a dramatic event, generally linked to an unacceptable sexual behavior. In this case, we are talking of kids living all their lives in pure frustration, with no opportunity to experience sex, love, tenderness or even understanding from the opposite sex. The separation between men and women in Islam is absolute. So is contempt toward women, who are totally dominated by men. This leads to a situation of pure anxiety, in which normal behavior is not possible. It is no coincidence that suicide killers are mostly young men dominated subconsciously by an overwhelming libido that they not only cannot satisfy but are afraid of, as if it is the work of the devil. Since Islam describes heaven as a place where everything on earth will finally be allowed, and promises 72 virgins to those frustrated kids, killing others and killing themselves to reach this redemption becomes their only solution.

What was it like to interview would-be suicide bombers, their families and survivors of suicide bombings?

It was a fascinating and a terrifying experience. You are dealing with seemingly normal people with very nice manners who have their own logic, which to a certain extent can make sense since they are so convinced that what they say is true. It is like dealing with pure craziness, like interviewing people in an asylum, since what they say, is for them, the absolute truth. I hear a mother saying "Thank God, my son is dead." Her son had became a shaheed, a martyr, which for her was a greater source of pride than if he had became an engineer, a doctor or a winner of the Nobel Prize. This system of values works completely backwards since their interpretation of Islam worships death much more than life. You are facing people whose only dream, only achievement is to fulfill what they believe to be their destiny, namely to be a shaheed or the family of a shaheed. They don't see the innocent being killed, they only see the impure that they have to destroy.

Is there a suicide bomber personality profile? Describe the psychopathology.

Generally kids between 15 and 25 bearing a lot of complexes, generally inferiority complexes. They must have been fed with religion. They usually have a lack of developed personality. Usually they are impressionable idealists. In the western world they would easily have become drug addicts, but not criminals. Interestingly, they are not criminals since they don't see good and evil the same way that we do. If they had been raised in an Occidental culture, they would have hated violence. But they constantly battle against their own death anxiety. The only solution to this deep-seated pathology is to be willing to die and be rewarded in the after life in Paradise.

What role does the U.N. play in the terrorist equation?

The UN is in the hands of Arab countries and third world or ex-communists countries. Their hands are tied. The UN has condemned Israel more than any other country in the world, including the regime of Castro, Idi Amin or Kaddahfi. By behaving this way, the UN leaves a door open by not openly condemning terrorist organizations. In addition, through UNRWA, the UN is directly tied to terror organizations such as Hamas, representing 65 percent of their apparatus in the so-called Palestinian refugee camps. As a support to Arab countries, the UN has maintained Palestinians in camps with the hope to "return" into Israel for more than 50 years, therefore making it impossible to settle those populations, which still live in deplorable conditions. Four-hundred million dollars are spent every year, mainly financed by U.S. taxes, to support 23,000 employees of UNRWA, many of whom belong to terrorist organizations (see Congressman Eric Cantor on this subject, and in my film "Hostages of Hatred").

How can we put an end to the madness of suicide bombings and terrorism in general?

Stop being politically correct and stop believe that this culture is a victim of ours. Radical Islamism today is nothing but a new form of Nazism. Nobody was trying to justify or excuse Hitler in the 1930s. We had to defeat him in order to make peace one day with the German people.

Are these men traveling outside their native areas in large numbers? Based on your research, would you predict that we are beginning to see a new wave of suicide bombings outside the Middle East?

Every successful terror attack is considered a victory by the radical Islamists. Everywhere Islam is expands there is regional conflict. Right now, their are thousands of candidates for martyrdom lining up in training camps in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Pakistan. Inside Europe, hundreds of illegal mosques are preparing the next step of brain washing to lost young men who cannot find a satisfying identity in the Occidental world. Israel is much more prepared for this than the rest of the world will ever be. Yes, there will be more suicide killings in Europe and the U.S. Sadly, this is only the beginning.

History is repeating itself

2006-07-30T11:15:00.000-04:00

Obsession:
What The War on Terror Is Really About

You can watch this documentary film here.

Some quotes:

"The world is in denial over this radical Islamic enemy."

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

"America has to be woken up, because we are strangling ourselves with political correctness"

"This is exactly what happened in Germany. Like in Germany, they are corrupting a generation of youth mostly through propoganda in their schools."

"We are in the 1930's again and the world is sleeping again. The world refuses to see that this is Nazi Germany all over again."

"They learned from the Nazis how to indoctrinate their young. They have the same goal - the extermination of the Jews."

"The worst form of child abuse is teaching a child to hate."

It ends with a quote from one of the Arab preachers
"It is only a matter of time until we rule Earth...until we control Earth."

History is repeating itself.

Photos that damn Hezbollah

2006-07-30T11:02:00.000-04:00

From here:

THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

Rumors

2006-07-30T10:59:00.000-04:00

Rumors are that the main explosionsin Kfar Kana were from Katyusha stored in buildings being used by Hizbullah terrorists.

Update:

IDF May Not Have Caused Kana Deaths

(IsraelNN.com) Senior IDF officers told reporters a short time ago that there is a contradiction in the timing of the bombing of the village of Kana and reports of the explosion that killed more than 50 civilians and set off world-wide condemnation of Israel. Air Force Commander Amir Eshel left open the possibility that Hizbullah terrorists blew up the building or that an unknown cause set off explosives which were stored in the structure.

He explained that recorded information shows that Israeli Air Force planes bombed the building between midnight and 1 a.m. and that the next attack at 7:30 a.m. was up to 500 yards away. He said reports of the killing of civilians came around 8 a.m. "It is not clear what happened" between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., he said.

Brigadier General Ido Nehushtan pointed out that Hizbullah terrorists have fired more than 150 rockets from the village of Kana since the beginning of the war

France: An eye-opener

2006-07-30T10:56:00.000-04:00

From here:

There are many theories to explain the French position on Iraq. Some believe France is trying to retain its access to Iraqi oil. Others believe France is trying to hide its involvement in supplying Saddam’s nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. There are even reports of cash bribes to President Chirac from Baghdad. Many are simply ascribed to based on how low an observer’s opinions are of the French. If this is not part of a duplicitous plot, what could the French be thinking?

The French have proven time and again throughout the 20th Century that their tactical and strategic vision is woefully outdated. During World War I, the French annihilated a generation of their own youth by relying on human wave attacks against machine-guns and modern artillery. Following the war, France used the peace process to so cripple Germany’s economy that the nation was ripe for Hitler’s hate mongering. The French insisted on carving up old empires and creating new countries that have lead to many of today’s problems in the Balkans and the Middle-East.

Prior to World War II the French constructed massive concrete fortifications known as the Maginot Line to stop the Germans. The Germans simply drove around the Maginot Line and conquered France in only six weeks. France also had the largest and most modern army in the world; but its outdated tactics could not withstand the German blitzkrieg.

The democratic allies defeated imperialism in Italy, Germany, and Japan. The French response to their liberation was to enlist Nazi Prisoners of War into the Foreign Legion and dispatch them to enslave a new French Empire in Africa and Asia. This convinced many in the Third-World that the West intended to keep democracy and freedom for itself. In 1956 the French convinced Britain and Israel to join in its unilateral invasion of Egypt. This invasion was launched to embarrass President Nasser of Egypt for supporting Muslim rebels in the French colony Algeria. The only time in UN history that France used its Security Council veto power was to foil a UN resolution to stop their invasion of Egypt. The French unilateral wars against Algeria and Egypt are one of the primary causes of Arab distrust of the West.

Now the country that blundered its way through the 20th Century wants to decide how to deal with the Iraq crisis. They believe that inspectors and sanctions will contain Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)program. They are trying to build a Maginot Line of UN Inspectors to protect themselves from WMD attacks. While this line of defenses, like the last one, may look impressively strong; Saddam has simply mounted his production on trucks and is driving them around the new Maginot Line.

Once again France’s strategic thinking is decades out of date. In the past WMD production and research required huge industrial complexes. Today’s facilities are truck mounted and can be hidden in a million places the inspectors will never look. In the first seven years of inspections the UN found documents to verify that Iraq may have produced ten billion lethal doses of biological toxins. The Iraqis have been able to hide these huge stockpiles from inspectors for twelve years.

In previous wars it took large artillery bombardments to make chemical weapons effective. Today the weapons are more potent and terrorists provide an effective delivery system. Al Qaeda has been caught with plans to add chemical weapons into building ventilation systems. We could assign a UN Inspector to guard every air conditioner in the free world; but would they have the will to stop the slaughter, or would they stand aside and watch the massacre like UN Peacekeepers did at UN Safe Havens in Bosnia.

During their 12 years of inspections the UN has proved Saddam had 36,000 WMD delivery systems he will not account for. The new round of inspections have found 18 of these weapons, with continued inspections they are on pace to find all of Saddam's weapons by September the 11th, of the year 2301. Only a fool or a Frenchman could believe we could contain the weapons for that long.

The French still don’t realize that nations no longer need fleets of inspectable bombers and intercontinental missiles to attack their enemies. For the cost of 19 plane tickets the world’s only superpower was brought to its knees. Now what if those 19 attackers had WMD, how much damage could they do? A Defense Department analyst found that one plane spraying 440 pounds of anthrax over Manhattan would kill 1,000,000 people. Zacarias Moussaoui had the research on his laptop and Mohamed Atta tried to buy the cropduster. Why would Atta try to buy the cropduster unless he had access to WMD? The Czech Republic still affirms that Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence chief in early 2001. The Czechs expelled this “diplomat” BEFORE 9-11-01 for providing assistance to terrorists who were planning to attack American and Jewish targets. An intelligence agent, from a hostile nation that is hiding WMD, was assisting Islamic terrorists and met with a suicide bomber who was trying to buy a cropduster to spray WMD. These actions occurred two years ago; yet the French don’t believe their ally Saddam and his alliance with terrorists is an “imminent” threat.

The French have proven they have no interest in containment. They have signed agreements with Saddam to develop Iraqi oil fields when UN sanctions are lifted. Even though the inspectors have proven that Saddam is still hiding WMD; the French have tried on several occasion to have the inspections and sanctions lifted. Hans Blix has stated that he will submit a plan in March to end inspections and lift the sanctions; ending the containment the French and their apologists say will work.

The Maginot Line did not protect France from Germany. It only forced Germany to invade three other countries to get around it. The Maginot Line of Inspectors has failed to stop Saddam for twelve years, and their current pace requires 300 more years. The only question is which countries will be attacked with Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, while they drive around this new Maginot Line to France. Recent terror alerts suggest Al Qaeda is planning to used WMD. Police throughout the world are on the look out for terrorists using light bulbs and fire extinguishers to spread deadly toxins. It’s beginning to look like the Maginot Line has already been breached.

The UN is impotent

2006-07-30T00:18:00.000-04:00

From here:

The UN is impotent. That's the only diagnosis an objective person can arrive at if you look at the facts. Time and time again, the United Nations has been called upon to protect innocent people and has failed.

In Rwanda, in the Balkans, in Somalia, in Iraq and now in Lebanon, perhaps as many as a million people have died on the U.N.'s watch.

Let's take Lebanon. On July 29, 2004, the Security Council reiterated its strong support for the "territorial integrity" of that tiny country. To back up that support, the U.N continued to fund a force of soldiers to make sure any misbehavior on the part of terrorists, Syria or Israel was kept to a minimum.

Less than two months later, the Security Council passed Resolution 1559, which called for, among other things, the disbanding and disarmament of all militias inside Lebanon. That means you, Hezbollah.

Well, the Hez guys and Syria and Iran were all greatly amused by Resolution 1559, and soon thereafter, thousands more long-range missiles began finding their way into southern Lebanon, where some of them were placed in private homes and mosques.

The U.N. did nothing.

Then, three weeks ago, Hezbollah attacked, killing eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two others inside Israel! Obviously, this was an act of war to which Israel responded by bombing Hezbollah positions throughout Lebanon.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan then swung into action and called for an immediate cease-fire. Annan is really good at doing that. He is an expert at giving peace a chance while innocent people are being attacked. Would Kofi want a cease-fire if thousands of missiles were pointed at his house? I don't think so. Kofi might want those weapons destroyed. Maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway, there is no question that once again the United Nations was supposed to diffuse a bad situation -- the chaos in Lebanon -- but actually made things worse. There is not enough Viagra in the world to fix the U.N.'s impotency problem.

So now the world faces an onslaught on Islamic fascism with no credible international body to stand in its way. The left in the USA and Europe has no solution to the growing menace, and the right is on the defensive because of the bloody stalemate in Iraq.

In the meantime, the terrorists believe they are winning.

Put yourself in the sandals of an Iranian mullah who hates Jews and Americans. He sees that the world is not going to help Iraq form a democracy. He sees the United Nations failing in every attempt to impose order. He reads the New York Times and grins while its columnists savage any anti-terror measure the Bush administration comes up with. He sees Russia and China not willing to take action against Iran as it continues to pursue nuclear weapons. And, finally, he sees much of the world siding with Hezbollah against Israel.

This mullah is one happy guy, is he not?

So that's where we are right now in the war on terror. Just as in World War II, the bad guys have gotten off to a fast start. The good guys turned it around 60 years ago, but, today, the betting line in Teheran is that Kofi and the world body he represents will continue to be no problem.

Sounds like a safe bet to me.

A great read

2006-07-30T00:09:00.000-04:00

Life in an Orwellian universe

By Charles Krauthammer

Israel's moral scrupulousness is being paid in blood — and yet they're still branded as evil personified

Jewish World Review

What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by the world, given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless of whether it has restored its own security?

What other country sustains 1,500 indiscriminate rocket attacks into its cities — every one designed to kill, maim and terrorize civilians — and is then vilified by the world when it tries to destroy the enemy's infrastructure and strongholds with precision-guided munitions that sometimes have the unintended but unavoidable consequence of collateral civilian death and suffering?

Hearing the world pass judgment on the Israel-Hezbollah war as it unfolds is to live in an Orwellian moral universe. With a few significant exceptions (the leadership of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and a very few others), the world — governments, the media, U.N. bureaucrats — has completely lost its moral bearings.

The word that obviates all thinking and magically inverts victim into aggressor is "disproportionate," as in the universally decried "disproportionate Israeli response."

When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, it did not respond with a parallel "proportionate" attack on a Japanese naval base. It launched a four-year campaign that killed millions of Japanese, reduced Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a cinder, and turned the Japanese home islands to rubble and ruin. Disproportionate? No. When one is wantonly attacked by an aggressor, one has every right — legal and moral — to carry the fight until the aggressor is disarmed and so disabled that it cannot threaten one's security again. That's what it took with Japan.

Britain was never invaded by Germany in World War II. Did it respond to the blitz and V-1 and V-2 rockets with "proportionate" aerial bombardment of Germany? Of course not. Churchill orchestrated the greatest land invasion in history that flattened and utterly destroyed Germany, killing untold innocent German women and children in the process.

The perversity of today's international outcry lies in the fact that there is indeed a disproportion in this war, a radical moral asymmetry between Hezbollah and Israel: Hezbollah is deliberately trying to create civilian casualties on both sides while Israel is deliberately trying to minimize civilian casualties, also on both sides.

In perhaps the most blatant terror campaign from the air since the London blitz, Hezbollah is raining rockets on Israeli cities and villages. These rockets are packed with ball bearings that can penetrate automobiles and shred human flesh. They are meant to kill and maim. And they do.

But it is a dual campaign. Israeli innocents must die in order for Israel to be terrorized. But Lebanese innocents must also die in order for Israel to be demonized, which is why Hezbollah hides its fighters, its rockets, its launchers, its entire infrastructure among civilians. Creating human shields is a war crime. It is also a Hezbollah specialty.

On Wednesday, CNN cameras showed destruction in Tyre. What does Israel have against Tyre and its inhabitants? Nothing. But the long-range Hezbollah rockets that have been raining terror on Haifa are based in Tyre. What is Israel to do? Leave untouched the launch sites that are deliberately placed in built-up areas?

Had Israel wanted to destroy Lebanese civilian infrastructure, it would have turned out the lights in Beirut in the first hour of the war, destroying the billion-dollar power grid and setting back Lebanon 20 years. It did not do that. Instead, it attacked dual-use infrastructure — bridges, roads, airport runways — and blockaded Lebanon's ports to prevent the reinforcement and resupply of Hezbollah. Ten-thousand Katyusha rockets are enough. Israel was not going to allow Hezbollah 10,000 more.

Israel's response to Hezbollah has been to use the most precise weaponry and targeting it can. It has no interest, no desire to kill Lebanese civilians. Does anyone imagine that it could not have leveled south Lebanon, to say nothing of Beirut? Instead, in the bitter fight against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, it has repeatedly dropped leaflets, issued warnings, sent messages by radio and even phone text to Lebanese villagers to evacuate so that they would not be harmed.

Israel knows that these leaflets and warnings give the Hezbollah fighters time to escape and regroup. The advance notification as to where the next attack is coming has allowed Hezbollah to set up elaborate ambushes. The result? Unexpectedly high Israeli infantry casualties. Moral scrupulousness paid in blood. Israeli soldiers die so that Lebanese civilians will not, and who does the international community condemn for disregarding civilian life?

Syria is knee-deep in this war

2006-07-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

From here:

The Lebanon war raging between Israel and HIzballah took an alarming detour Friday, July 28, when, according to DEBKAfile’s military sources, Syrian air defense batteries ambushed and shot down an Israeli spy drone (picture) flying on the Lebanese side of the border with Syria.

These drones have been used to “paint” the weapons convoys heading in from Syria, for the Israeli air force to hit them before they can reach their destinations and replenish Hizballah stockpiles.

This time, the Syrians knocked the drone out of the sky to allow a large consignment of rocket launchers and truckloads of rockets to cross into Lebanon undetected and safe from Israeli air attack.

The pilotless craft crashed on the eastern slopes of Jebel Barukh. The IDF bulletin evaded mention of the Syrian role and reported that a technical fault had caused the crash and the fragments had been destroyed from the air to prevent their falling into the hands of Hizballah.

While Israeli leaders reiterate constantly that Israel has no intention of going to war with Syria, Damascus openly supports Hizballah with massive injections of weapons and other aid. It has already crossed several red lines.

1. A Syrian weapons system opened fire on an Israeli target for the first time.

2. The ambush of the Israeli drone by Syrian air defenses was a calculated move to clear the way for Syrian convoys loaded with rockets and rocket launchers to roll into Lebanon free of constant bombardment by Israel warplanes.

3. The drone was shot down while flying in Lebanese air space. This was a signal from Damascus to Israel that it would not scruple to target Israeli military forces inside Lebanon when its interests were deemed to be in jeopardy. Earlier this week, the Syrian information minister Buthaina Chabane declared that if Israeli artillery came within 20 km of Damascus, Syria would fight.

Israel’s official spokesmen and its military held back from answering her, just as the Americans let Syria get away with its hostile interference in the Iraq war.

Although Bashar Assad has turned his country into a central hub and highway for fighters, arms, explosives and cash to bolster the Iraq insurgency, Syria has gone unpunished except for a single American air attack on a busload of Hizballah fighters heading into Iraq.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that some members of Israel’s high command criticize this policy of restraint as encouraging the Syrians to deepen their involvement in the conflict and bolstering Hizballah’s endurance for long-term combat. Other generals defend this policy, arguing that while Syria placed its military on a state of high preparedness from the start of the war, Syrian military doctrine assigns its Scud missiles a defensive not an offensive role. Therefore, an Israeli attack on a Syrian target might well trigger a Scud missile assault on Israeli military or civilian locations.

Nichnas yayin yutza sod

2006-07-29T23:19:00.000-04:00

From here:

TMZ has learned that Mel Gibson went on a rampage when he was arrested Friday on suspicion of drunk driving, hurling religious epithets. TMZ has also learned that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department had the initial report doctored to keep the real story under wraps.

TMZ has four pages of the original report prepared by the arresting officer in the case, L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy James Mee. According to the report, Gibson became agitated after he was stopped on Pacific Coast Highway and told he was to be detained for drunk driving Friday morning in Malibu. The actor began swearing uncontrollably. Gibson repeatedly said, "My life is f****d." Law enforcement sources say the deputy, worried that Gibson might become violent, told the actor that he was supposed to cuff him but would not, as long as Gibson cooperated. As the two stood next to the hood of the patrol car, the deputy asked Gibson to get inside. Deputy Mee then walked over to the passenger door and opened it. The report says Gibson then said, "I'm not going to get in your car," and bolted to his car. The deputy quickly subdued Gibson, cuffed him and put him inside the patrol car.

TMZ has learned that Deputy Mee audiotaped the entire exchange between himself and Gibson, from the time of the traffic stop to the time Gibson was put in the patrol car, and that the tape fully corroborates the written report.

Once inside the car, a source directly connected with the case says Gibson began banging himself against the seat. The report says Gibson told the deputy, "You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you." The report also says "Gibson almost continually [sic] threatened me saying he 'owns Malibu' and will spend all of his money to 'get even' with me."

The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

The deputy became alarmed as Gibson's tirade escalated, and called ahead for a sergeant to meet them when they arrived at the station. When they arrived, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and then said, "What the f*** do you think you're doing?"

A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"

We're told Gibson took two blood alcohol tests, which were videotaped, and continued saying how "f****d" he was and how he was going to "f***" Deputy Mee.

Gibson was put in a cell with handcuffs on. He said he needed to urinate, and after a few minutes tried manipulating his hands to unzip his pants. Sources say Deputy Mee thought Gibson was going to urinate on the floor of the booking cell and asked someone to take Gibson to the bathroom.

After leaving the bathroom, Gibson then demanded to make a phone call. He was taken to a pay phone and, when he didn't get a dial tone, we're told Gibson threw the receiver against the phone. Deputy Mee then warned Gibson that if he damaged the phone he could be charged with felony vandalism. We're told Gibson was then asked, and refused, to sign the necessary paperwork and was thrown in a detox cell.

Deputy Mee then wrote an eight-page report detailing Gibson's rampage and comments. Sources say the sergeant on duty felt it was too "inflammatory." A lieutenant and captain then got involved and calls were made to Sheriff's headquarters. Sources say Mee was told Gibson's comments would incite a lot of "Jewish hatred," that the situation in Israel was "way too inflammatory." It was mentioned several times that Gibson, who wrote, directed, and produced 2004's "The Passion of the Christ," had incited "anti-Jewish sentiment" and "For a drunk driving arrest, is this really worth all that?"

We're told Deputy Mee was then ordered to write another report, leaving out the incendiary comments and conduct. Sources say Deputy Mee was told the sanitized report would eventually end up in the media and that he could write a supplemental report that contained the redacted information -- a report that would be locked in the watch commander's safe.

Initially, a Sheriff's official told TMZ the arrest occurred "without incident." On Friday night, Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore told TMZ: "The L.A. County Sheriff's Department investigation into the arrest of Mr. Gibson on suspicion of driving under the influence will be complete and will contain every factual piece of evidence. Nothing will be sanitized. There was absolutely no favoritism shown to this suspect or any other. When this file is presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney, it will contain everything. Nothing will be left out."

On Saturday, Gibson released the following statement:

"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the LA County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health."

A real hero

2006-07-29T22:55:00.000-04:00

Fron the Jerusalem Post:

Maj. Ro'i Klein and Lt. Amihai Merhavia of Battalion 51 used to drive together to their Golani Brigade unit from their respective houses in Eli. On Thursday, they were buried in their West Bank settlement, a day after they and six other soldiers were killed in a battle in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail.

Klein, 31, jumped on a grenade during the course of the battle, giving his life to protect his soldiers.

"First he said the 'Shema' prayer and then he jumped on a grenade. That's why some of the soldiers who were with him survived," said Yechiel Leiter, a resident of Eli.

A few cartoons

2006-07-28T17:35:00.000-04:00

One-Third of Hizbullah Potential Gone

2006-07-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

(IsraelNN.com) The IDF has destroyed one-third of the capabilities of Hizbullah terrorists, according to American military and intelligence officials quoted by NBC television. The report was broadcast before the Israeli Air Force bombed a missile command center in Tyre early Friday morning.

IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said at a news conference Thursday night that Hizbullah suffered serious losses in manpower and equipment in the fierce battles at villages near the Israeli-Lebanese border which resulted in the loss of nine IDF soldiers on Wednesday.

Showing their true colors

2006-07-28T11:50:00.000-04:00

From the NY Times:

At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a nod to continue the fight.

Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.

The Saudi royal family and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who were initially more worried about the rising power of Shiite Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, are scrambling to distance themselves from Washington.

An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Hezbollah while attacking the United States and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for trumpeting American plans for a “new Middle East” that they say has led only to violence and repression.

Even Al Qaeda, run by violent Sunni Muslim extremists normally hostile to all Shiites, has gotten into the act, with its deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, releasing a taped message saying that through its fighting in Iraq, his organization was also trying to liberate Palestine.

Mouin Rabbani, a senior Middle East analyst in Amman, Jordan, with the International Crisis Group, said, “The Arab-Israeli conflict remains the most potent issue in this part of the world.”

Distinctive changes in tone are audible throughout the Sunni world. This week, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt emphasized his attempts to arrange a cease-fire to protect all sects in Lebanon, while the Jordanian king announced that his country was dispatching medical teams “for the victims of Israeli aggression.” Both countries have peace treaties with Israel.

The Saudi royal court has issued a dire warning that its 2002 peace plan — offering Israel full recognition by all Arab states in exchange for returning to the borders that predated the 1967 Arab-Israeli war — could well perish.

“If the peace option is rejected due to the Israeli arrogance,” it said, “then only the war option remains, and no one knows the repercussions befalling the region, including wars and conflict that will spare no one, including those whose military power is now tempting them to play with fire.”

The Saudis were putting the West on notice that they would not exert pressure on anyone in the Arab world until Washington did something to halt the destruction of Lebanon, Saudi commentators said.

American officials say that while the Arab leaders need to take a harder line publicly for domestic political reasons, what matters more is what they tell the United States in private, which the Americans still see as a wink and a nod.

There are evident concerns among Arab governments that a victory for Hezbollah — and it has already achieved something of a victory by holding out this long — would further nourish the Islamist tide engulfing the region and challenge their authority. Hence their first priority is to cool simmering public opinion.

But perhaps not since President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt made his emotional outpourings about Arab unity in the 1960’s, before the Arab defeat in the 1967 war, has the public been so electrified by a confrontation with Israel, played out repeatedly on satellite television stations with horrific images from Lebanon of wounded children and distraught women fleeing their homes.

Egypt’s opposition press has had a field day comparing Sheik Nasrallah to Nasser, while demonstrators waved pictures of both.

An editorial in the weekly Al Dustur by Ibrahim Issa, who faces a lengthy jail sentence for his previous criticism of President Mubarak, compared current Arab leaders to the medieval princes who let the Crusaders chip away at Muslim lands until they controlled them all.

After attending an intellectual rally in Cairo for Lebanon, the Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm wrote a column describing how he had watched a companion buy 20 posters of Sheik Nasrallah.

“People are praying for him as they walk in the street, because we were made to feel oppressed, weak and handicapped,” Mr. Negm said in an interview. “I asked the man who sweeps the street under my building what he thought, and he said: ‘Uncle Ahmed, he has awakened the dead man inside me! May God make him triumphant!’ ”

In Lebanon, Rasha Salti, a freelance writer, summarized the sense that Sheik Nasrallah differed from other Arab leaders.

“Since the war broke out, Hassan Nasrallah has displayed a persona, and public behavior also, to the exact opposite of Arab heads of states,” she wrote in an e-mail message posted on many blogs.

In comparison, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s brief visit to the region sparked widespread criticism of her cold demeanor and her choice of words, particularly a statement that the bloodshed represented the birth pangs of a “new Middle East.” That catchphrase was much used by Shimon Peres, the veteran Israeli leader who was a principal negotiator of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which ultimately failed to lead to the Palestinian state they envisaged.

A cartoon by Emad Hajjaj in Jordan labeled “The New Middle East” showed an Israeli tank sitting on a broken apartment house in the shape of the Arab world.

Fawaz al-Trabalsi, a columnist in the Lebanese daily As Safir, suggested that the real new thing in the Middle East was the ability of one group to challenge Israeli militarily.

Perhaps nothing underscored Hezbollah’s rising stock more than the sudden appearance of a tape from the Qaeda leadership attempting to grab some of the limelight.

Al Jazeera satellite television broadcast a tape from Mr. Zawahri (za-WAH-ri). Large panels behind him showed a picture of the exploding World Trade Center as well as portraits of two Egyptian Qaeda members, Muhammad Atef, a Qaeda commander who was killed by an American airstrike in Afghanistan, and Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001. He described the two as fighters for the Palestinians.

Mr. Zawahri tried to argue that the fight against American forces in Iraq paralleled what Hezbollah was doing, though he did not mention the organization by name.

“It is an advantage that Iraq is near Palestine,” he said. “Muslims should support its holy warriors until an Islamic emirate dedicated to jihad is established there, which could then transfer the jihad to the borders of Palestine.”

Mr. Zawahri also adopted some of the language of Hezbollah and Shiite Muslims in general. That was rather ironic, since previously in Iraq, Al Qaeda has labeled Shiites Muslim as infidels and claimed responsibility for some of the bloodier assaults on Shiite neighborhoods there.

But by taking on Israel, Hezbollah had instantly eclipsed Al Qaeda, analysts said. “Everyone will be asking, ‘Where is Al Qaeda now?’ ” said Adel al-Toraifi, a Saudi columnist and expert on Sunni extremists.

Mr. Rabbani of the International Crisis Group said Hezbollah’s ability to withstand the Israeli assault and to continue to lob missiles well into Israel exposed the weaknesses of Arab governments with far greater resources than Hezbollah.

“Public opinion says that if they are getting more on the battlefield than you are at the negotiating table, and you have so many more means at your disposal, then what the hell are you doing?” Mr. Rabbani said. “In comparison with the small embattled guerrilla movement, the Arab states seem to be standing idly by twiddling their thumbs.”

Spiritual awakening

2006-07-27T22:57:00.000-04:00

Rav Shimon Shkop once explained that Avrohom grew up in a house of idolatry. He had no role model for proper belief in Hashem, and only came to that recognition on his own. In contrast, although Yitzchok added his own unique expression of serving Hashem, he nevertheless had a father who taught him to believe in Hashem, and Yaakov even merited to have two generations of teachers.

One might have expected that throughout time, each succeeding generation would build on the belief and accomplishments of the previous generation until the generation of Moshiach would reach the pinnacle.

Chazal saw that the sad reality would be otherwise. There would come a time when the momentum would be reversed, and each successive generation would only decline further in its commitment to observing the Torah and believing in Hashem.

However, just as the status of the Jewish people appears ready to disappear into a bottomless abyss, Hashem will allow the innocent and ignorant children to rediscover Him, just as their ancestor Avrohom had done. This is alluded to in the words of Chazal, who suggest that one might have thought that “the end” (of the current era, not of one’s blessings) would come about through continuing to build on the successes of the previous generations as did Yitzchok and Yaakov, but in reality “the end” will be brought about by an entire generation of those eager to rediscover and reconnect to the truth of their roots.

He concluded by reassuring those gathered that although Judaism seemed at that time doomed to physical and spiritual extinction, the children and grandchildren of those abandoning their traditions would be brought back in an unprecedented spiritual awakening, and prophetically suggested – some 70 years ago – that this is the intent of our verse:
וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה ובניכם אשר לא ידעו היום טוב ורע –
and the little children, regarding whom you said “they will be taken (spiritually) captive,” and the children who (aren’t educated to) know the difference between good and evil,
המה יבאו שמה ולהם אתננה והם יירשוה –
those very children of whose futures you despaired will be the ones to come to the land of Israel, and to them will I give it and they will possess it!

UN Force in Lebanon warning for days about what caused tragedy

2006-07-27T22:45:00.000-04:00

From here:

What makes Annan’s allegation so unforgiveable is that his UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been warning for days about what almost certainly caused this tragedy. Hezbollah fighters, who have already been firing behind screens of women and children, have also been shooting from behind and next to the UN positions, presumably hoping Israel will not dare shoot back and risk exactly this kind of propaganda disaster.

Read the UNIFIL press releases for yourself to learn that Hezbollah has not just shot at and seriously wounded UNIFIL observers - without any protest from Kofi Annan or The Age. You’ll also learn that UNIFIL has repeatedly reported Israeli shelling and bombing near UNIFIL outposts because Hezbollah fighters were shooting from right beside them .

UNIfulFILed

2006-07-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

From the Jerusalem Post:

The small group of Ghanaian soldiers manning UNIFIL Position 6-52, to the west of the village of Maroun a-Ras, less than a kilometer from the border, hasn't left its base in the last two weeks.

"Those are the orders of our superior officers," explains one of them who presents himself as commander of the post, but refuses to give his name. "We have been visited by our officers three times since the fighting began and a supply truck arrives here every three or four days."

On the wall nearest to the gate of the white-washed building is an "Alert State" board with the arrow pointed to black. But none of their information on the current situation has come from their own sources. "We know what's going on from the television," says the commander.

Even the deaths of four UNTSO members on Tuesday night in an IAF bombardment, at a base not so far away, wasn't communicated to them from headquarters. That, too, they learned from TV.

The current contingent from Ghana has been in Lebanon for three months. The soldiers at the post are charged with patrolling and monitoring, with their single jeep, the area where the heaviest fighting has been going on for the last 10 days. The fact that Hizbullah has been well entrenched in the area ever since Israel's withdrawal six years ago - with hundreds of fighters, well stocked ammunition depots and extensive fortifications - seemed to have escape the Ghanaians notice. "I have never seen one of them," says the soldier. "You cannot easily identify them in the population."

The UNIFIL soldiers have "zero contact" with the Lebanese living in the surrounding towns and villages. All their supplies are brought by UNIFIL, and they never go out for recreation, aside from periods of leave in Beirut.

The supply of "peacekeeping" troops to the various blue-helmet forces of the UN is a major source of income for Ghana's army; they have soldiers in Ivory Coast, Liberia and Congo. The troops operate in rotations of six months. Those currently serving on the border profess to have never heard of the accusations that the force has cooperated with Hizbullah in the past and allowed the organization to build its posts next to UNIFIL bases.

However, they are aware of the ongoing debate over the force's future and the growing support for a new multinational force to replace UNIFIL.

"The problem is not UNIFIL," says the soldier at the gate. "It's the mandate we have from the UN. That is what decides our job. In my personal opinion, if UNIFIL's mandate was changed and the force increased, it would be more efficient."

At the beginning of the fighting, a number of bombs exploded around the UNIFIL post, including one 150 meters from the gate. Two weeks later, the area around the post is quiet, except for the distant thud of artillery fire. Hizbullah has been banished from this small part of Lebanon. IDF Merkava tanks roar through a nearby opening in the border fence. There isn't even a guard at the border and Israeli and foreign journalists pass in and out unhindered.

The Ghanaian soldiers weren't even aware of the breach in the fence they are supposed to monitor, by mandate of the United Nations.

UN ambulances ferrying around Gaza gunmen

2006-07-27T22:26:00.000-04:00

Video

The United Natzions (not a typo)

2006-07-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

A must read.

Is Israel Refusing to Win?

2006-07-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

From here:

Is Israel's political leadership refusing to win in Lebanon?

It has only been two weeks since the start of the counter-offensive against Hizbullah terror, and already Israel's government is rejecting the military's professional recommendations for how to achieve victory.

At a meeting held late into the night on Wednesday, Israel's security cabinet denied the army's request to launch a more expansive ground operation in southern Lebanon with the aim of clearing the area entirely of Hizbullah's terrorist infrastructure.

Instead, the cabinet prefers to continue using airpower combined with pinprick ground incursions against select Hizbullah targets.

Rockets_hit_kiryat_shmonaThe result, of course, has been that Hizbullah continues to succeed in firing some 100 rockets each day into Israel. Because they do not face a concerted Israeli ground offensive, Hizbullah does not have to throw everything it has into fighting off the Israeli army.

Consequently, they can deploy men and resources to shoot rockets into northern Israel with the aim of terrorizing the country.

Don’t get me wrong – a ground offensive aimed at carving out a security zone in southern Lebanon would not be simple or risk-free. But Israel's limited operations thus far have failed to stop the attacks, and the army's experts are saying that the only way to do so over the long-term is to go in full force.

If that is the key to stopping Hizbullah terror, then that is what the army must do. Let's just hope the politicians don't stand in the way, and prevent Israel from winning this all-important battle.

CNN Exposes Hizbullah's Staging Tactics

2006-07-27T21:53:00.000-04:00

From INNews.com:

A CNN reporter has exposed tactics used by Hizbullah terrorists to stage media events in order to give the impression of a large number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli bombing attacks on terrorist position, according to a report issued by the Honest Reporting organization.

Rich Noyes said he was assigned to photograph buildings damaged in the bombings. "After letting us take pictures of a few damaged buildings, they take us to another location, where there are ambulances waiting. This is a heavily orchestrated Hezbollah media event. When we got here, all the ambulances were lined up," and the drivers turned on their sirens and sped away for photographers. "These ambulances aren't responding to any new bombings. The sirens are strictly for effect," Noyes said.

Why are our soldiers dying in Bint Jubeil?

2006-07-27T17:24:00.000-04:00

From here:

While certain sectors would like to tell you that we have given the IDF a free hand – that unfortunately is a lie.

Yesterday we witnessed a repeat of Jenin, again resulting in the needless deaths of some of our outstanding young men.

The corrupt value system of the Left is still holding the IDF and our country shackled.

The majority of the civilians have long left Bint Jubeil. Yet instead of Halutz dropping some of his infamous (‘bump under the wing”) 1 ton bombs on the town (among other weapons), we are foolishly rush in our ground troops as cannon fodder.

Instead of spending a few weeks clearing out the ground ahead of us with air support, we are prematurely accelerating our ground troop deployments to avoid the externally demanded deadlines and ceasefires that we will voluntarily choose to accept being imposed on us.

For once I want to see Israel throw away the left’s distorted value system and put the lives of our own soldiers first.

For once I want to see Israel say we will not accept your deadlines and ceasefires that attempt to maintain the status quo – a status quo that is openly detrimental to Israel and merely invites more of the same.

It's time that Israel dumped the Left and their damaged value system. If the Left wants to protest the war against Hezbollah, let them go to Nahariyah and do so, and let’s make sure no one lets them into any bunkers when the missiles begin to fall.

Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield'

2006-07-27T17:05:00.000-04:00

From the Ottawa Citizen:

The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a "shield" to fire rockets into Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia.

Those words, written in an e-mail dated just nine days ago, offer a possible explanation as to why the post -- which according to UN officials was clearly marked and known to Israeli forces -- was hit by Israel on Tuesday night, said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie yesterday.

The strike hit the UN observation post in the southern Lebanese village of El Khiam, killing Canadian Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener and three others serving as unarmed UN military observers in the area.

Just last week, Maj. Hess-von Kruedener wrote an e-mail about his experiences after nine months in the area, words Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie said are an obvious allusion to Hezbollah tactics.

"What I can tell you is this," he wrote in an e-mail to CTV dated July 18. "We have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both (Israeli) artillery and aerial bombing.

"The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters (sic) of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters (sic) from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity."

Those words, particularly the last sentence, are not-so-veiled language indicating Israeli strikes were aimed at Hezbollah targets near the post, said Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie.

"What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces)," he said.

That would mean Hezbollah was purposely setting up near the UN post, he added. It's a tactic Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie, who was the first UN commander in Sarajevo during the Bosnia civil war, said he's seen in past international missions: Aside from UN posts, fighters would set up near hospitals, mosques and orphanages.

A Canadian Forces infantry officer with the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the only Canadian serving as a UN military observer in Lebanon, Maj. Hess-von Kruedener was no stranger to fighting nearby.

The UN post, he wrote in the e-mail, afforded a view of the "Hezbollah static positions in and around our patrol Base."

"It appears that the lion's share of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has taken place in our area," he wrote, noting later it was too dangerous to venture out on patrols.

The e-mail appears to contradict the UN's claim there had been no Hezbollah activity in the vicinity of the strike.

The question of Hezbollah's infiltration of the area is significant because UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, speaking Tuesday just hours after the bombing, accused the Israelis of the "apparently deliberate targeting" of the base near Khiam in southern Lebanon.

A senior UN official, asked about the information contained in Maj. Hess-von Kruedener's e-mail concerning Hezbollah presence in the vicinity of the Khiam base, denied the world body had been caught in a contradiction.

"At the time, there had been no Hezbollah activity reported in the area," he said. "So it was quite clear they were not going after other targets; that, for whatever reason, our position was being fired upon.

Why Do We Support Israel?

2006-07-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

I got this from an e-mail that is going around:

The next time someone asks you why the US supports Israel, remind them of any or all of the following:

Israel,the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:

The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.

Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Voicemail technology was developed in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U.S.

Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.

Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.

The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day -- and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship -- and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union)

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

Medicine...Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from
treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible videocamera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnoseheart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.

A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct -- all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year.

Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or from a short ladder.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL .. .continues to EXCEL !

This is their goal

2006-07-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

More ugliness

2006-07-26T16:06:00.000-04:00

From the same rally

A picture is a thousand words

2006-07-26T15:56:00.000-04:00

These are actual photos of Muslims who marched in the streets of London during their recent Religion of Peace Demonstration.

Lebanese President: I Support Hizbullah

2006-07-26T11:41:00.000-04:00

From IsraelNN.com:

Lebanese President Emil Lahoud said today that he supports the Hizbullah terrorist organization.

"I support the Hizbullah because they liberated our land," Lahoud said, adding that the Lebanese army does not have the wherewithal to confront the IDF, but that it will defend Lebanon as much as it can.

Hizbullah is a part of the current Lebanese government, with one of its members serving as Lebanon's minister of energy. Lahoud is widely regarded by Lebanese citizens as a Syrian agent in the country's regime.