The Washington Post has given Jane Ehrenfeld, a first grade teacher, a forum to decry vouchers, because… umm…well she doesn’t really have a point. The article raises only one serious question, and that is; Does the editor of the Post actually read any of this stuff?

According to Barry Shaw of Netanya, Israel, on July 4, 2002, "Israelis [murdered in the rampage at LAX] suffered the double indignity of being killed and then having the world deny that they died in a terror attack." I can't say that I disagree with him.

Mike Hendrix (ColdFury) has what could be the biggest story of the day (at least according to Stephen Green). This is the kind of thing that makes Blogging great.

Safire shoots down a few of the European left's misconceptions about America and in the process suggests Condi Rice as our next Sec. of State. It’s not going too happen soon though, as Colin is insisting he "won't let those bastards drive me out."

An LA cop slams FBI for the dog-and-pony show at LAX

Michael Ledeen claims Iran is only a few days away from revolution.

Dozens of anti-government organizations are calling for peaceful demonstrations on July 9, Tuesday, the third anniversary of the monster student rally against the regime at the university, and an army officer, thus far anonymous and perhaps even apocryphal, is widely quoted as having said "if a million people demonstrate July 9th we shall arrest the leaders of the Islamic Republic and turn them over to the people."...Part of the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran has been blocked to public access, at least one landing strip has been closed to commercial traffic, and a number of airplanes have been stationed on the tarmac. It could well be that some of the regime's nastier rats are planning to abandon the sinking ship if they are unable to contain the people's rage. Indeed, in recent days private passengers have been removed from commercial flights to make room for the families of the country's most powerful men, suggesting that the exodus may have already begun.

The UK Observer is reporting that the U.S. plans to use Jordan as a base for an assault on Iraq. That would definitely be good news for Israel.
(link via Not a Fish)

Why is it that so many in the Arab world are inclined to look at a walking, talking, quacking duck and unashamedly declare that "this animal is not a duck - it is, in fact, a cow? True, it does not seem to moo or eat grass but, nonetheless, I insist that this two legged beast is none other than a cow. Take a look at the latest example of this thinking.

The Telegraph is reporting on the firing, by Mona Baker, a professor at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, of two scholars, Dr Miriam Shlesinger and Prof. Gideon Toury, from her highly respected international journals. The reason? They are Israeli. Not only that, but they refused to resign when their “Isrealiness” became a problem (for her).

Despite a storm of complaints raised by her action, Prof. Baker stood by her decision, telling The Telegraph: "I deplore the Israeli state. Miriam knew that was how I felt and that they would have to go because of the current situation."Prof. Baker asked Dr Shlesinger and Prof. Toury to resign from the boards of two academic journals she owns, after signing a website petition last month calling for academics to boycott Israel. When they refused to resign she sacked them.

Notice that quote? She deplores “the Israeli State.” No petty equivocation there, about the “occupation” or some sort of “humiliation” or even some swipe about “Nazi-like tactics”(although she does a little of that too). Just can't handle the whole idea.That “storm of complaints,” it should be noted, came from American academics, British academics have yet to voice any complaints themselves.

Two Jews were killed at the El-Al counter in the LAX International Airport on the Fourth of July by an Egyptian Arab. According to the FBI, the motivation for the murderous rampage is still unclear. Initial reports indicate the shooter was upset that the airline had no record of him ordering a Glatt Kosher meal for the flight. If this turns out to be untrue, there may be other explanations. For instance, there has been some wild speculation on the part of many Israeli government officials that the shooting might actually have been an act of terrorism. Stay tuned.

The FBI's new tactic for combating terrorism is to not tell anyone it is terrorism, and hope it just goes away. USS Clueless has it exactly right, and had it exactly right yesterday.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting an scary development in air travel.

Suspected terrorists have been breaking into flight crews' hotel rooms in the United States and elsewhere with increasing frequency during the last year and stealing crew uniforms, credentials and passports, a key security official said Wednesday.The break-ins have become such a problem that the Air Lines Pilots Association, which represents 66,000 commercial pilots, is holding daily discussions with FBI counter-terrorism experts

Saudi Arabia's first English Daily Newspaper for inquiring Islamists that want to know warns the civilized world about the Israeli nuclear weapons program in a signed editorial/news(aren't they all) article entitled "Sharon threatens global nuclear war."

Two little details need to be highlighted about the article. First, the article digs up some interesting U.S. political reaction to the Israeli nuclear program. Interesting? Here's what I mean: "Democratic Party Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche reacted strongly to the Israeli announcement about an ICBM capability....etc." I thought he was dead or in jail. Apparently not. Secondly, the author of the piece is nice Jewish boy Jeffrey Steinberg. The Arabs love nothing more than a stooge with a Jewish name to write belligerent articles against the State of Israel (witness Arabs protesters embracing anti-Zionist Neturei Karta Jews -- "in your face Zionist bastards, these are REAL Jews and they agree with us"). Now I don't know this Steinberg fellow. He's probably a Larouchian Loony who believes that the Queen Mum was a drug runner (yeah they believe that) more firmly than anything he may believe about the conflict in the middle east. I can just imagine the joy over at the Arab News when they hooked a guy named STEINBERG to write for them. STEINBERG! Oy, what a metzia (find)!

Richard Cohen writes of a country, and a little girl, that were born on the fourth of July.

PejmanPundit has a powerful essay on America from the perspective of a first generation citizen

Today would be a good day to watch (or re-watch) the terrific Sep 11th slide show at politicsandprotest.org

Steven Den Beste makes a powerful fourth of July statement without saying a word. I don't know how long he will keep it up, so check it out

Urgent message to Saddam Hussein - please click here before doing anything rash.

Susan Konig lists the top ten reasons why there won't be any terror today.

Omar Karsou, a Palestinian businessman, writes an article in Today’s Daily Telegraph claiming that democracy is gaining ground among Palestinians.

These days, the tightly controlled Palestinian media are trying to suppress the fact that many ordinary Palestinians are heartened by the calls for democracy for Palestinians from around the world. In the West Bank and Gaza, people are whispering that there might be an end to the repression and corruption that have characterised the past five years under the Palestinian Authority.

I don’t buy it, and those “whispers” are being drowned out by the people yelling, “kill the Jew.”I’m glad to hear points of view like his, but it is ludicrous to assume that this line of thought has much of a following in the West bank or Gaza.

Eric Raymond weighs in with the fourth and final installment in his series on Islam. Terrific stuff. Read it.

I have read opinion columns denouncing the firing of Stephen Shwartz, by people I trust like Safire,and Ronald Rodash. They claim he was fired for his outspoken views on Wahabi-ism. That would be an outrage.Then I read this and wonder if Shwartz hasn't gone completely nuts. Please note that I don't find any of the views he expresses offensive, or grounds for removal, I just think his story is of an unstable individual, and there might be some things about him we don't quite know.
(link to conversion story via The Corner)

Quote of the day - So, as for celebrations, let's celebrate our freedom, our liberty, on July 4th, and then let's put on the armor of the righteous and do battle with those who would take these precious legacies from us." --Alan Caruba

Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Thinks that American Patriotism has had a profound effect on the Israeli public.

Victor Davis Hanson writes of the Return of Military History

Saudi Arabia's first English daily online newspaper resurrects none other than Albert Einstein to work for the Saudi anti-Zionist publicity machine. The miracle comes in the form of a letter Einstein signed on December 2, 1948, which denounced Menachim Begin and his right-wing cohorts as Fascsists. We can, it would appear, be sure that Einstein didn't approve of the Israeli Right Wing opposition of the late 1940's. We cannot, however, even imagine what he'd think of the Saudi ruling regime of the early 21st Century.

Michael Medved Asks Why won't Hollywood admit terrorism's Islamic link? You know the answer, but there is more:

Even some schoolchildren understand the danger, but in today's climate must be careful describing it. A friend of my eighth-grade daughter got into trouble at their public school when a teacher asked why al-Qaeda hates us so ferociously. The 14-year-old girl accurately observed that some Muslims have always interpreted passages in the Islamic holy book, the Koran, to demand that believers conquer or kill infidels who refuse to follow the prophet. Her observation produced gasps of horror from fellow students and a stern reprimand from the teacher for her indulgence in "hate speech."

I'm working on changing the color scheme, seems it was aggravating someone’s hangover.

Read this post on Indymedia.com about an Isreali Woman and her increasingly strained freindship with a Palestinian family
(Via Not a Fish)

A Pakistani tribal council recently took up the case of an 11 year-old boy who was caught walking with a girl from a higher tribe. The verdict? His sister, an 18-year-old girl, was ordered to be gang-raped in order to punish the family. The court-appointed rapists(now that is a job you might not want on your resume) were joined by hundreds who stood outside "laughing and cheering"
(As seen at Little Green Footballs)

The U.N. is set to release a study that finds Arab society “being crippled by a lack of political freedom, the repression of women and an isolation from the world of ideas” The NY Times calls the study “blunt” but later adds that it does not directly criticize Islamic militancy and its effects on intellectual and economic growth. The study also found a "severe shortage" of new writing and a dearth of translations of works from outside. "The whole Arab world translates about 330 books annually, one-fifth the number that Greece translates." In the 1,000 years since the reign of the Caliph Mamoun, it concludes, the Arabs have translated as many books as Spain translates in just one year.

Our names are not showing up after the posted by... If anyone out there knows why this might be happening, drop me a line- Moe

Update: Seems to be working now. Special thanks to Rev. Brian Chapin of 3bruces

The Voucher decision will help the Republicans, says none other than Mickey Kaus

Bat Ye’or writes of Jihad and Human rights, and guess what, the two are incompatible. The Islamists simply do not believe in the equality of Human beings. Take this quote From a London Islamist newspaper:

Upon the establishment of the Islamic State, the whole world will potentially be Dar ul Harb since the foreign policy of the Islamic state is aimed at conquering the world... Once the Islamic State is established anyone in Dar ul Harb will have no sanctity for his life or wealth hence, a Muslim in such circumstances can then go into Dar ul Harb and take the wealth from the people unless there is a treaty with that state. If there is no treaty, individual Muslims can even go to Dar ul Harb and take women to keep as slaves.

Ye’ors conclusion?

Jihad is therefore a genocidal war, according to the modern definition of genocide. It encourages terrorism against civilians and does not differentiate between innocent civilians and soldiers. All infidels without a treaty of protection can be killed. Jihad does not recognize universal human rights, for there is no equality between Muslims and infidels, and no reciprocity between Muslims and infidels in legal matters. Jihad warriors do not accept that either the Geneva Conventions or the conventional rules of war have any validity for them.

Victor Davis Hanson writes the feature article in this month's Commentary, and it's all about Our Enemies the Saudis

"Postcards" from The House Of Islam.

Quote of the day-The greatest harm that can be suffered in the fight against perceived evil and injustice is not physical death or 'occupation.' It is the death of the conscience and spirit cut off from the nourishment of moral law. This death threatens us above all when we begin to believe that the evil we see in our enemy frees us from moral obligation in our own lives. The barbarism of those who have voluntarily destroyed their own claim to participate in civilization is the deepest evil to which human beings can fall. Such a people utterly abdicate any claim of fitness to assume the benefits and blessings of responsible self-government." --Alan Keyes

Fifteen of their citizens (yeah, you know which country) participate in the murder of 3,000 souls in the middle of New York City and yet, and YET, they have the unmitigated Chutzpah to boycott American products. Why do we buy their damn oil? I'd rather walk.

Jay Nordlinger writes about the effects of the Middle East wars on U.S. campuses and highlights what will no doubt be a serious problem for the Democratic Party in the years to come. The alignment of the left with the Palestinian cause has some normally left leaning Jews to reassess their positions. Laurie Zoloth is just one example:

There has been widespread discussion among Jews on the left, with a strong history on the left. I myself ask, 'How does a movement that I care about — a progressive movement — make such a dramatic misassessment? How could it possibly legitimize Yasser Arafat? How could it have gone wrong?' Lay that against what should be done in this war, or the general question of love of country, and, yes: It gives one pause. I am very devoted to the Democratic party, and here I am, talking to a very conservative, Republican magazine [i.e., National Review]. And yet it is very important to hear the truth from whatever quarter it emerges. This is a time for thinking about issues in a different way. September 11 raises questions, the politics of the Middle East raise questions . . . and all of this tends toward realignment.

Rabbi Elazar Meisels offers more anecdotal evidence, from one of his classes in Michigan:

the talk got around to anti-Israel media bias, and the most vocal of this bunch — a real liberal — just kept going on the topic." Rabbi Meisels recommended that he take a look at National Review and its website. "And this fellow looks at me incredulously and says, 'That's Bill Buckley! I can't do that!' And I said, 'Why not? They're saying what you're saying, but with more facts and better English.'" The gentleman soon became hooked. Rabbi Meisels admits to enjoying the "discomfiture of liberals" on display before him. "They have such a difficult time trying to justify their past beliefs and trying to maintain them. I've been watching this progression. I've got a group of guys I teach every week. They've been complete liberals, never hearing other arguments, blaming Israel for everything, blaming the settlements — and they're shifting.

This re-alighnment is a real boon for the Republican party, election-wise, as losing the Jewish vote to the Republicans would severely hamper the Democrats. From what I read and hear,I sense the shift has already happened.

THIS IS CNN?
Not everyone is impressed by CNN’s recent coverage of the terrible toll that terrorism has taken on the Jewish people in Israel. Israeli Alan Perlman wonders why CNN arbitrarily chose to analyze and profile murder victims over only the past 6 months and not all of those who have perished during the two year Palestinian orgy of violence that began in September of 2000. Is he demanding too much or have we Zionists become so inured to CNN’s pro-Palestinian biases that we sing the Cable giant’s praises at any sympathetic coverage of the Jewish State?

Reader TeddyFlipped alerts us to an article written by Harold Evans in the Times of London, that warns of the Anti-Semitic lies that threaten all of us.

UPI -A leader of the small worldwide Muslim reform movement warned the West Tuesday against wishful thinking as the U.S. government promotes an intensive dialogue with Islam.
Bassam Tibi, the Winston Smith of the Muslim world, sees things clearly:

The dialogue is not proceeding well because of the two-facedness of most Muslim interlocutors on the one hand and the gullibility of well-meaning Western idealists on the other...First, both sides should acknowledge candidly that although they might use identical terms these mean different things to each of them. The word 'peace,' for example, implies to a Muslim the extension of the Dar al-Islam -- or 'House of Islam' -- to the entire world

WAR IS PEACE.

Similarly, when Muslims and the Western heirs of the Enlightenment speak of tolerance they have different things in mind. In Islamic terminology, this term implies abiding non-Islamic monotheists, such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, as second-class believers. They are 'dhimmi,' a protected but politically immature minority.According to Tibi, the quest of converting the entire world to Islam is an immutable fixture of the Muslim worldview.

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.

In an article in the prestigious Hamburg weekly, Die Zeit, Tibi, gave anecdotal evidence of how daunting a task this dialogue with Islam can be.
The bishop of Hildesheim in Germany paid an imam a courtesy visit in his mosque. The imam handed the Catholic prelate a Koran, which he joyfully accepted. But when the bishop tried to present the imam with a Bible, the Muslim cleric just stared at him in horror and refused to even touch Christianity's holy book.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGH
(link via Charles Johnson of lgf)

Not all Palestinian mothers are the same.

Have a good weekend! No more posts until Sunday morning

European graffiti circa 1939: JEWS TO PALESTINE European graffiti 2002: JEWS OUT OF PALESTINE This is one of the depressing realities that Yossi Klein Halevi feels is turning The nation of Jews into "the Jew of nations."

Quote of the day: "The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made" - Jean Giraudoux

Mark Steyn Is pretty sure that Osama is dead

Why is this man still alive?!?

Kids Dress in the Darndest Things
If you thought September 11th was hilarious you'll really bust a gut at this Palestinian prank.

George Will takes on the Anti-choice liberals:

It has been well said that really up-to-date liberals do not care what people do, as long as it is compulsory. Many liberals are "pro-choice" only about killing unborn babies. Not about owning guns, driving large cars, wearing fur, smoking cigarettes, privately investing a portion of their Social Security taxes, saying the unedited (by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit) Pledge of Allegiance, and on and on and on. The opposition to school choice for the poor is the starkest immorality in contemporary politics. It is the defense of the strong (teachers unions) and comfortable (the middle class, content with its public schools and fretful that school choice might diminish their schools' resources and admit poor children to their schools) against the weak and suffering -- inner-city children.

Get it before it's too late. Deal ends soon. Don't waste your money at Amazon.Com. Islamzine now offers FREE (that's right FREE) online versions of two of the great works of Western Civilization: The International Jew by Henry Ford and Jewish Ritual Murder by the little known, but no less important scholar, Arnold Leese.

CNN is really taking their pledge seriously, (CNN.com at least) this page is a must see

Letter To the editor of the Wall Street Journal (Here's the Link)

(I read your editorial about how the home video of Palestinian mother Naima al-Obeid and her 19-year-old son, Mahmoud, was made public, celebrating his decision to carry out a homicide mission, in which he was successful in being killed, while killing two Israelis. I submit the following letter, hoping to reach Naima al-Obeid.)

To Naima al-Obeid:

I want to buy your children. As I understand it, you have seven children still alive (your son Mahmoud killed himself, I'm sorry to hear). I'll offer more than Saddam Hussein has offered; he'll pay $25,000 each, if they are willing to turn themselves into human bombs, but I'll pay $30,000 each.

I want to buy them away from the god of death you worship. Perhaps I can help them convert to traditional Islam, a religion that abhors murder and suicide. Maybe they'll wish to become Christian or Jewish or Buddhist or atheist. That will be their choice, if I can raise them as Americans.

If you sell your children to Hussein, instead of me, they are guaranteed to die young, to die blown to bits, to die while perhaps killing innocent women and children. I can't guarantee them immortality (neither can that god of death you worship, I can assure you), but I can guarantee to try to keep them safe and allow them to live long, healthy and productive lives. That's our dream in America.

I will pay top dollar for your children. I will top the offer of Hussein, of the Saudis, of Hamas, or the Palestinian Authority put together.

For a long time my wife and I have wondered what we might do to help in the war on terror. In buying your children, I see an opportunity for us to save countless innocent lives, among them your seven children.

Contact me. I'll pay.

SCOTT MILLER, Atlanta
Thursday, June 27, 2002 12:01 a.m. EDT

Jay Nordlinger has been researching an article on Anti-Semitism on college campuses, and shares some of the details in his column.(scroll down a little) he also links to a story he has previously shared of his own Campus experience:

I’d like to say one more thing — something autobiographical. I have held off, but it seems appropriate, and — who knows? — it may be of some help to people, as they think our situation through.

When I was young, I was quite the little Arabist — cocksure, arrogant, wholly misguided. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich., and there were many Arab students — most of them Palestinian — in my high school. I befriended them, loved them. Was intensely interested in them. Some wore keys around their necks, and they claimed that these were the keys to the homes back in Palestine their families had been forced to abandon. I was mightily impressed. Later on, I knew to doubt the authenticity of those keys.

I remember one girl, who liked me, asking, “Jay, you’re not Jewish, are you?” She had to be reassured before our friendship could continue.

I was taught to believe that the Arab-Israeli conflict was very much like the American South: a civil-rights struggle. The Arabs were the blacks — the victims, the oppressed. The Israelis were the whites, the oppressors. Menachem Begin was pretty much George Wallace; his defense minister, Ariel Sharon, was Bull Connor (they even looked alike). Arafat, of course, was Martin Luther King. It seemed very clear.

In due course, I grew up, but it took a while. I enrolled in the Near Eastern Studies Department at the University of Michigan, where I took several courses, including the Arabic language. The department was dominated by extremists. The graduate assistants, certainly, were Arabs to the “left” of the PLO, meaning, they took Arafat and Co. to be sell-outs, untrue to the cause. There was no discussion of the legitimacy of Israel: It wasn’t discussable; Israel was illegitimate, and every worthy person knew it.

One day, we trooped into an auditorium to see a documentary on the conflict. I can’t remember the name of the documentary or of the documentary-maker, but I can see her, and she was on hand to introduce her film and to take questions. The film featured mainly radical Palestinians talking about dismembering Israel.

During the Q&A, a middle-aged white woman — a little fat — raised her hand and asked the following question: “These were such extreme voices. You’ve made a wonderful film, but couldn’t you have found some softer, more moderate voices?”

In the row in which I was sitting were several Arab students — older ones, graduate students — and one of them, in front of everybody, stood up and said words I will never forget. I won’t forget the words, or his face, or his relatively quiet, determined tone. He said: “I will kill you.” (This was directed at the woman who had asked the question.) His buddies got him to sit down.

But that’s not the important part — what he said is not the important part. The important part is, no one said a word. No one reacted. We all sort of coughed, and looked away, nervously. We all pretended that what had just occurred had not, in fact, occurred — or that it was normal, acceptable. We simply ignored it.

Eventually, I took another path, both at the university and in my own thought. I could never be convinced that America and its influence were evil. I could not be convinced that Israel was illegitimate. And I could not accept the “I will kill you” and our complete cowardice, or complicity, in the face of it.

I sort of vowed, inwardly, that I wouldn’t be afraid, wouldn’t be intimidated, by Arab extremism. We all dance delicately around it. We tend to sweep it under the rug. We look away, all politically correct, and cough . I further vowed that, unlike my fellow white liberals, I would pay Arabs the compliment of treating them as full human beings, accountable for their words and actions, capable of good or bad, like everyone else — morally responsible. I wouldn’t treat them as children, unable to help a certain savagery. I wouldn’t “understand” that savagery, in the sense my teachers intended. I wouldn’t have double, or triple, or quadruple standards. All men were equal.

My lessons were hard, but they have lasted, and I believe they are right ones.

Late night cable TV for horny teen Islamists - VIRGIN VIDEO ON ARAFAT’S TV PROMISES SEXY AFTER-LIFE FOR ‘MARTYRS’ - Saddam grants 'em money but Arafat gives 'em what they really want.

FOUAD AJAMI has a great column in todays WSJ warning the palestinians of the prices they are going to have to pay for the choices they have made.

Jeff Jacoby makes an important point

...it is not only Arafat and his aides who are compromised by terror. The Palestinian people themselves are openly wedded to it and deeply opposed to coexistence with Israel. Bush fudged when he said, ''The hatred of a few holds the hopes of many hostage.'' The dismal truth is that among the Palestinians, it is the majority who nurse hatred and support the slaughter of civilians.

Just this month, a poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, a Palestinian institute, found that 68 percent of Palestinians approve of suicide bombings and 51 percent favor the liquidation of Israel. Palestinian TV extols the terror attacks that have been turning Israeli pizza shops and commuter buses into horrific scenes of massacre. Palestinian muftis preaching in the mosques of Gaza exhort the faithful to kill Jews ''wherever you meet them.'' Summer camps indoctrinate Palestinian kids in jihad; schoolbooks teach them that Israel must be destroyed.

Articles and opinion columns in the media too often make the claim that that the majority of Palestinians don't approve of the "extremists" that are "hijacking" the process.

I don't have much to say about the Pledge decision, (I'm against it) but Victor Davis Hanson does

The Palestinian Authority newspaper expresses its disappointment that National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice seems to side with Israel despite her being a "dark-complexioned lady." According to the article in the "progressive" Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, her stated positions have "dealt a severe blow to the image of the African-American in the eyes of the vast majority of the world's inhabitants."

Charles Krauthammer on Democracy and the Middle East

As long as Arafat is in control, the blood is guaranteed to flow. Of course he has to go. But President Bush went far beyond the obvious. He dared to apply the fundamental principle of American foreign policy--the promotion of democracy--to the one area where it has always been considered verboten: the Middle East.

Why is that important? Because the Middle East conflict is often dismissed as one of those incurable they-have-been-killing-each-other-for-centuries ethnic conflicts. So what can we do?

Do what Europe did. Europeans have been killing each other for millennia (see Heroditus, Thucydides, Caesar). But not anymore. Why? They discovered democracy, and the peace that comes with tolerant, open societies.

When CNN decided to no longer show the videos made by Palestinian "suicide" bombers, and to pay more attention to the plight of their victims, it was not simply an example of a media company “caving” under pressure from Pro- Israel letter writers and activists, or a planned one-day boycott by an Israeli cable company. There has also been a sweeping (if less noticed) shift in the coverage of the Arab Israeli conflict by the NY Times, who themselves were subject to a boycott by some American Jewish groups.

I know I’m going to take some heat for saying this, but I think that the Media, in general, has swung from being rabidly Pro-Palestinian to being, if not Pro-Israeli, somewhere in between (where they should be) I was watching MSNBC recently, and in a segment about the re-surrounding of Ramalah, the anchor (Lester Holt) tried in vain to get the reporter to say something negative about the Israeli troops. He asked the reporter to explain how uncomfortable the residents of the town must be with the troops there. The reporter refused to bite, claiming the troops were allowing the residents as much leeway as they possibly could, then called them “brave” for doing so. This was MSNBC! It is clear to me that something has changed. Did the media just cave to pressure to moderate their own views of the conflict? Not likely. What I think happened is this: Their views have simply changed.

One of the more popular claims about media bias from the Israeli side, is that the reporters were ignorant of the history of the conflict. The claim for the most part was true. Early this year the major television and print outfits sent reporters to the region that had no specific knowledge of the conflict. Their view of the conflict was, as was to be expected, a reflection of their liberal slant, their sympathy for the underdog, and their general moral and cultural relativism. (Whether there was some latent Anti-Semitism is another issue.) Namely they felt (naively) that most of the population on both sides wanted peace, but the events were being hijacked by extremists. They were quite susceptible to the lure of stories like Sharon vs. Arafat, the two teenage girls, bomber and victim, and concepts like the “Cycle of Violence.” When, early on, they saw evidence of evil on one side, they assumed they would find it on the other. Their identification with the underdog, and the belief that there were “extremists” on both sides, caused them to discount all the things they disagreed with on the Palestinian side of the aisle. When “moderate” Palestinians would say things like “I think killing of innocents is wrong, but you have to understand the environment of occupation that causes people to resort to suicide bombing” they would nod their heads, and think if only the Israelis were that sensitive, we could all just get along. (Or something like that) These ideas have fundamental inconsistencies that evaporate if examined too closely. The reporters are slowly learning that there really aren’t that many “moderates” in the west bank, Arafat really is a terrorist, (who would have thought?) and that most Palestinians do want all of Israel back. This turnaround is happening slowly, but I would bet that these reporters would not recognize the stuff they wrote during the Jenin frenzy. The editors back home meanwhile, are actually being forced (by pressure from both sides) to examine carefully the way they report these stories. The CNN producers were probably surprised to find out exactly how much more time they spent talking about the suicide bombers and their families then they spent on the victims. After all, reporters while they might be soft brained, are people too. They were biased at the start because they didn’t know any better. They are learning. The more the Arab Israeli conflict remains front-page news, the better Israel looks. This unfortunately doesn’t apply to the Euros, as they’ve got too much real Anti-Semitism bouncing around that place to chalk up their sympathy for the Palestinians to Ignorance.

The corruption of the U.N. is so accepted, that when Israel asks them, in their role as administrators of the refugee camps, to help stop the suicide attacks, it is seen as a "clear bid to embarrass an institution Israel has long seen as biased"
(link via Laurance Simon)

Quote of the day: I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him 'father'." --Will Rogers

Jonah Goldberg writes that when it comes to the Middle East, Honesty is the Best Policy He is sick of the illogical arguments used to justify, among other things "suicide" attacks:

my favorite example of this Mobius-strip logic: the people here in the U.S. who would justify suicide bombings because Palestinians don't have tanks and planes while insisting that the Palestinians want peace. Well, if they are only using suicide bombers because they don't have tanks and planes, logic suggests that if they had tanks and planes they would use them. In other words, they're at war with Israel, they're just poorly equipped. If a career armed robber doesn't have a gun and uses a crowbar instead, that doesn't change the fact that he's a robber. If he told the judge "I don't have guns and squad cars like the police, I have to use a crowbar," we wouldn't nod with appreciation at the impeccable logic. But if you make this point about Palestinians, eyes roll at your simplistic view of such a complicated situation.

Recently spotted sign being carried by a homeless Manhattanite: "Why lie, I need a beer." The beggar in question is now reported to be drinking well thanks to his fellow New Yorkers, impressed, no doubt, by his candor.

Dennis Prager asks the question, Why does the left support the Palestinians? The Answer?

In general, the left does not care about women, independent judiciaries, minorities, democracy, gays or almost anything else for which it marches...Nearly all the causes the left speaks for are noble-sounding covers for its real agenda -- the overthrowing of Western, especially Judeo-Christian and capitalist, values. Remember the chant at Stanford, "Hey, hey, ho ho, Western civ has got to go"? That is what animates the left.

If you live in Michigan, vote for this guy.

Let's just call it Islamocarnage.
I just can't stay off those Muslim Web Sites. They can always be counted on to entertain us infidels. Anyways, check out the poll on today's edition of IslamWeb where the faithful are asked "Is Resistence Bombing a Legitimate Means of Self-defence?" Suicide bombings? Well, they kill more than just themselves. Homicide bombings? Mmmm, but they do kill themselves in the process and this term doesn't seem to take that into account. Resistance bombings? Aha, there it is. Thanks IslamWeb. Many Western media outlets are sure to latch on to the term..

The Arab News claims that "The West" is using "Psychological warfare" against Saudi citizens. This is the funniest thing I have read recently, made all the more so by the lack of intent. An example of the "warfare":

His operation, it must be admitted, was beautifully carried out: a polite handshake that was followed, after he was sure the female victim’s trust had been earned, by a dramatic series of penetrating questions regarding her assumed oppression as a woman, her assumed Al-Qaeda sympathies, and her assumed personal adoration of someone called Osama Bin Laden the poor girl had in fact never given much thought to before.

She later recalled through her sobs that he did not so much listen to her answers as command her in a most dictatorial fashion to make stereotypical statements about Islam and other subjects he knew nothing about so he could later force feed them to his largely ignorant readers back in Britain.

His strategy was to make his victim seem as though she were crazy whenever she objected to his extraordinary and bizarre suppositions.

But that was just the first phase of his operation.

(thanks to Instapundit)

Rich Lowry is reporting that the Saudis think they know where congress's hostility towards them comes from.

Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz accused Jews of leading attack on Saudi Arabia in US congress and British media.On Saturday he told reporters after attending a military graduation in Al-Kharaj that you can see Jewish member of congress wearing their Jewish hats in congressional meetings. He said “we watch them on television wearing their yamaka in congress and that is enough evidence.”

Victor Davis Hanson writes of something there that doesn’t love a wall. He feels it's instructive to notice the reasons why Arafat doesn't like the wall, when it might be seen as a step toward a Palestinian state.

Mr. Arafat, whose state-run media glorifies suicide-murdering more than his aides pro forma denounce it, is aghast for other reasons. With this new fence, he really will have his own private state of sorts — a land cut off from the Jews but with an open border to all his beloved Arab neighbors. His ire, rather than delight, suggests that the Palestinian Authority is parasitic on Israel: It wants an open border with a free, democratic, and economically vibrant neighbor for profit and fun — but it also needs an indefensible populace "a stone's throw away" that it can threaten and from time to time vent frustrations at due to the failure of its own corrupt government. Without accessible Jews, who is Arafat to terrorize or profit from?

Author Naomi Ragen theorizes that Israel's enemies are winning because they singlemindedly and callously pursue their strategic goals whereas the Jews of Israel shoulder the responsibilities of building a livable, successful, humane society while battling a relentless enemy and their own inner conflicts. Israel needs to look to King David for a model of how to defend itself, not Woody Allen.

Eric Raymond (a.k.a Armed and Dangerous) has written an in important essay, Why Americans Don't Understand the Threat of Jihadism. It is the third of a series but it stands up beautifully on its own. Read it. Then bookmark him, He’s great

British journalist Melanie Phillips has written an excellent piece called Wake up Europe,that explains away the myth that Arab anti-Semitism is merely some form of anti-Zionism. The piece draws on Bat Ye’Or’s recent book Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilisations Collide as well as Robert S. Wistrich’s Muslim Anti-Semitism: A Clear and Present Danger, which you can read here.
(Link via Charles Johnson)

Loyal reader Teddyflipped alerts us to an article from the Jewish World Review describing the hideous physics of "suicide" bombing, (Visit Teddyflipped's website to support Israel by buying Israeli products)

Chuck Colson warns of the radical Islamists preying on our nation’s prison population. Though his answer to the problem is somewhat intellectually dishonest, he presents a problem that to my mind is quite serious.

One more thing - I understand the need to qualify statements about Islamofascism with sentences like this one-"Yes, most Muslims interpret jihad as an inner struggle." but I think the word "most" might be a little hopeful. Do more than half of Muslims feel that Jihad is something less than total war? I doubt it. And there is certainly no evidence to that effect. the word "some" is probably more honest.

CNN moves to deflect criticism of its anti-Israel bias by waking up to the toll Islamic terror has taken on Israeli Jews with a post to their web page just a few hours past prime time last night at 12:33 A.M. Eastern Standard Time. Zionist leaning insomniacs are grateful.

A Palestinian Portnoy's Complaint
A Palestinian suicide bomber's mother outdoes Jewish mothers the world over, guilting her son not merely into calling her more often but into actually paying a personal call on Allah for the sake of Jihad. Just a little excerpt from an interview with Muhammad's mom brought to you by the intrepid translators at MEMRI: "Because I love my son, I encouraged him to die a martyr's death for the sake of Allah... Jihad is a religious obligation incumbent upon us, and we must carry it out. I sacrificed Muhammad as part of my obligation." Click here for more of the interview with this overbearing, proud Muslim mother.

CNN has decided that they have been showing more footage of Suicide bombers and their families than the Israeli victims and their families. While not admitting bias, CNN says it will no longer air videotaped footage of the suicide bombers

The Earth Island Journal, an environmentalist magazine, has an article fawning over Islam, calling it a "greener religion. They quote some passages from the Koran, talk to a few Imams, all peace and love, peace and love. The mere idea of environmentalists quoting scripture strikes me as hilarious. Oh, and did I mention that Islam is also very animal friendly? Apparently some women went to hell for locking her cat in the closet (says the Koran). So there you go, lock a cat in a closet, you’re going to hell. Kill some of the “apes and pigs”; you go straight to heaven. Every Shaheeds nightmare; you kill thirty Jews, and then find out you’re going to hell because you forget to let the dog out before you blew yourself to bits.

Jonah Goldberg of NRO has identified The Real Nazi's.

Click here for a friendly reminder from the Orthodox Christian Church in Jerusalem that Arab fanatacism directed against Jews is not confined to the Islamic Arabs but also includes the Christian Arab world. A special thanks goes out to Father Dr Attallah Hanna, official spokesman of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, who refuses to turn the other cheek but, rather, proudly stands up to be counted amongst the enemies of the Jewish people. Jesus, we can be sure, would be proud.

At some point the left is going to realize that the Arabs are screwing up all their arguments for cultural relativism. James Lileks has written a must read screed on the scary views that are common on our college campuses, and other bastions of soft-brained intellectualism.

Bruce Thornton, the second-most eloquent Classics professor at Cal State Fresno, claims he doesn't understand the Left's distaste for Israel. he then proceeds to explain it pretty well in this article for Frontpagemag.com.

Peggy Noonan has some interesting things to say about Smallpox vaccinations. If medical professsionals are claiming that it would be a good idea to vaccinate them for smallpox,it's a good bet it is good for everybody.

John Derbyshire thinks a "Provisional State" made up of the West Bank and Gaza is An Insanely Bad Idea. History, he points out, has never been kind to states that are made up of non-contiguous parts. He doesn't like the "solutions" that have been suggested:

The other day I was listening to some TV talking head explaining that it would be a good idea, following the establishment of a Palestinian state, for the West Bank and Gaza to be connected by an elevated expressway. That would (he explained) cause minimal bother to the Israelis, and would give the West Bank access to the sea. I was sitting there watching this person, who to the best of my recollection did not have bananas sticking out of his ears, and thinking to myself: You, Sir, are mad, crazy, deranged, delusional, barmy, wacko, and meshuga.

Does anybody disagree?

Fox news is reporting that the FBI is warning of possible attacks on American Jews and Synagogues using fuel trucks.

Those of us who support the State of Israel have insisted for years that Arafat is either 1. Behind the violence against Jewish civilians in the Land of Israel or 2. Cannot stop the violence perpetrated by Palestinian extremists against Jews in the Holy Land. Either Arafat delivers violence or he can't deliver at all. In an interview with a Belgian weekly today, Jordan's King Abdullah opts for the latter explanation, claiming that Arafat has "lost control over the extremist Palestinian factions" but the King makes no suggestion that Arafat be ignored in future negotiations if he doesn't have the ability to control his people. The King of Palestine is "dead" he mutters under his breath but....long live the King.

The American embassy in Saudi Arabia is warning all Americans in the country to "check their cars before starting them." The violence towards Americans in that country, and the Saudi’s obstruction of American investigations into any of the incidents is starting to get shameful. Are we that desperate for oil? Do the Saudi’s dictate our relationship or do we? They are clearly not our allies, yet the Bush administration seems unwilling to see it that way.

Paul Hollander, writes a great article about how the Islamofascists have ruined Hannah Arendt's theory of the Banality of Evil

Rarely in history has the relationship between belief and behavior been so clear as in the actions of the Islamic suicide pilots and bombers fortified and reassured as they had been by conceptions and personifications of evil defined with great clarity and held unhesitatingly. There was nothing banal, impersonal, dispassionate or detached about their behavior. A pure, burning hatred of the evil eagerly embraced motivated them as well as certain specific, if peculiar but deeply felt beliefs in other-wordily rewards.

Hollander goes on to warn of the danger inherent in divorcing the ideas of our enemies from their actions.

There have also been many attempts to deny that Islamic religious beliefs could have inspired or legitimated the murderous political impulses and behavior of the suicide bombers. These attempts are reminiscent of the old dispute about the relationship between Marxism and the practices of communist states. The repressive nature of these states cannot be directly blamed on Marx and his theories but there was a connection, at the very least in the sense of entitlement to ruthlessness on behalf of great ideals to be realized. A paradise awaiting the suicide bomber is such an ideal or aspiration, and it is a religious notion not invented by the individuals in question who act on it.

David Brooks writes in the Atlantic Monthly of the myth that is Yasser Arafat. Not surprisingly, almost everything that Abu Amar says about himself or his background, is untrue.

Know thine enemy, read thine enemy's Web Page, see thine enemy frothing at the mouth, chuckle at how infantile thine enemy is. Enjoy.

Charles Krauthammer's column on the State Department's new idea that is A Guarantee of More Violence

Update: Fred Barnes doesn't like the new "provisional state" idea either.

Anne Wilson has a fascinating post on the Pat Rousch story. Apparently the State Department had a page on their website asking American women to think twice before marrying those charming, "westernized," Saudi fellows (the problem doesn’t occur with Saudi women, who are banned from marrying non-Saudis). It warned of the possibilities of not being allowed to travel, work, drive a car, or see your kids should the marriage not work out. It also let on that the State department would be of no help whatsoever. The American Muslim Council complained, and the page was taken down. (The State flunkies can be of help sometimes; it just depends who you are) Gone, but not forgotten, the page can be viewed >here

From the Duh! file

The Forward is reporting on a new study of the Arab-Israeli conflict

Compared to Palestinian casualties, Israel's dead during the 21-month-old intifada include a higher percentage of noncombatants, women, children and people 40 and over, according to a new study.Due out next week, the study by the Herzliya-based International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism shows that only 22% of the 506 Israelis killed in the intifada through May were combatants, compared to 53% of the 1,450 Palestinians killed during the same period.The number of Israeli women killed (135) is twice as high as Palestinian women and the number of Israelis 40 and over killed (159) is 50% higher than the same Palestinian cohort — despite the fact that three times as many Palestinians have died overall.

So let me get this straight... the Palistinians are targeting...civilians? Who could of seen that coming?.

Mark Steyn is not frightened by the "Dirty Bomber," America's latest Scare of the week

a dirty bomb is a l'il ol' pissant firecracker that real men scoff at. "Mass death"? Dream on, jihadi losers. It might kill a few dozen folks, maybe a couple hundred, and turn a bunch of the stampeding pantywaists into panty-radioactive-waists, but that's no reason to get in a big panic. If you're, say, a 5' 2" gran'ma who happens to be in the right-hand seat of a mid-size sedan in the vicinity of Times Square when the dirty bomb goes off, you're more likely to be killed when a Chevy Tahoe fleeing the scene rear-ends you causing your lethal passenger-side air-bag to go off.

Click here to read all about the "militant Zionist colonialists" that were murdered in yesterday's terror attack in Jerusalem. Here's just a few words about some of the victims:
Shani Avitzedek, 15, loved dance, her teacher said. "She was a good student in all of her subjects, and had good grades." Shani was a pupil at Boyer High School in Jerusalem. She was on her way to go swimming with classmates when she was killed. Her parents reportedly identified her remains by a new bathing suit she was wearing.
Boaz Aluf, 54, celebrated his son's bar mitzvah last month, making him, in one friend's words, "the happiest man on earth." Aluf was in charge of the computer department at Bank Tefahot. He is survived by a wife and five children.
Mendel Bereson, 72, worked as a shoemaker in the center of Jerusalem, after immigrating from St. Petersburg in 1991. "He was the only Leftist in the family and until his dying day, he believed that there would be an end to the conflict and that peace would come," his son said.
Galila Bugala, 11, was a fifth grade pupil at the Paula Ben-Gurion school in Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood. Her family immigrated from Ethiopia 11 years ago. "She was afraid of terrorist attacks," said a classmate. "She said she was afraid to travel alone on busses. She was a good student and a good friend. Everyone in the neighborhood loved her."

Dan Beste Of USS Clueless, has a pretty good discussion of Israel's options for fighting terror

Victor Davis Hanson is afraid that some of us have false hopes

Where do such optimistic (but quite dangerous) American assumptions about the human condition arise? Why do some of us believe that the hundreds of state-of-the-art M-1 tanks we shipped to Egypt will never be used against Israel, that the nuclear waste in Korea will not packed into missiles aimed at Japan, or that the guns we sent to Arafat will not be used to riddle Israeli schoolchildren? Most average Americans, of course, would never entertain such delusions.

He suggests that a few of the editors of our media elites, along with some of State Department should switch places with average americans for a year

I have no idea what havoc the local cesspool pumper, the peach picker, or real-estate hustler would do during a year's sojourn in the State Department or as hosts of NPR. Plenty, perhaps. But I do know that they would never provide nuclear expertise to North Korea — much less condone giving machine guns to the Palestinian Authority..

Another attack in Jerusalem against the infidels by a demented member of the Oprah certified religion of peace and love. Will this ever end?!?!

Say it ain't so Terry! It seems that these days, as it may have been the case throughout human history, the more often you put the most cynical spin on people and events the more often you are right. Anyways, click here to read about how angry ex-wife Terry Barton has further stoked the fires of my cynicism by "heroically " burning down the state of Colorado.

Martin Bodeck has come up with an interesting theory on why the West has been able to sustain democrocies while all those Arab countries can't. I'ts called Comedemocracy, and i'ts all about our ability to laugh.

We used to be British, but then sought out the Americas so we could drop our quasi-Aussie accents and find better methods of personal hygiene. We set out for America and found a funny native people making rain dances, naming their children after rivers, mountains, and other inanimate objects, and laying the grounwork for the second funniest Seinfeld episode ever, you know the one where he dates Winona? We couldn't quite understand this comedy, so we cut them to pieces. Why did we do this? Because of Comedemocracy Theory # 2.1b:
When a non-funny nation encounters a funny nation, the former will seek to destroy the latter.

The Arabs however,are

The most ticked off people on earth. Why? Because they're not funny, no sense of humor whatsoever, no Palestinian Comedy Awards show to speak of. Also, their women are covered up in Burkas, which is another theory I have that I'll discuss at another juncture. If Osama Bin Laden would've had a cave jester, he would've been happier and not have been so peeved at the U.S. Somebody's gotta e-mail these people some jokes, particularly the ones about Bin Laden himself, it'll liven 'em up a little.

News of Yesterday's Terror attack in Jerusalem was first picked up around 1 a.m. in the White House Situation Room, where staffers decided not to wake the President or his National Security Advisor. I'm not sure I have a problem with that decision, though others clearly do. Let's listen to the explanation from the sensitive Ari Fleischer, the man in whom the president entrusts the delicate task of putting just the right spin on things.

The sad fact is, after so many of these, as horrible as they are, the 10th and the 20th and the 30th just don't have the same emotional impact as the first

What an idiot.

Is there a connection between the recent attempts by the Islamists to boycott Starbucks and the recent revelation by James Lileks,(to use link, click, then scroll down to the post for the 13th) that their biggest competitor (Caribou Coffee) is 87.8% owned by First Islamic Investment Bank? Here is (fellow Detroiter) Debbie Schlussel with the story.

Laurence over at Amish Tech Support downshifts into seriousness to discuss the Jerusalem bombing, with a little experiment that can really make you think. He goes on:

Two mothers kissed their sons goodbye this morning, and one just killed the other.
One weeps, one cheers.
One ends up mourning, and one sees veneration of her son in collectible medallions and leaflets and videotapes.
One has neighbors and family gathering to grieve, and the other is probably celebrating and gathering up their things so that when the bulldozers come they'll be able to put them in the house that Saddam will build for them and they'll furnish it with the checks they'll get from Yasser and Saddam and all the others lining up to praise them.
One asks God for answers, and the other asks God for further bloodshed.
Think about that. Try to figure it out.

Amoral, athoughtful Arab apologists have been claiming for months now that the disparity of deaths between the Israelis and the Palestinians (more Palestinians have been killed than Israelis in the 2 year assault on the Jewish State if you haven't been paying attention) demonstrates the justice of the Palestinian "cause". Rather than refute this obnoxious argument with sound reason, I'll now answer it on the Islamists' terms -- More Israelis than Palestinians have been killed in this month's violence, The Associated Press reports. Is Israel's cause more just now I ask (through my tears)?

The enemy remains clearly defined on Lou Dobbs' Moneyline with Mr. Dobbs rightly continuing to define The West's ongoing battle against those who would destroy us as "The War on Islamists." Dobbs had Political Scholar Daniel Pipes on his show recently. Pipes has been a straight thinker since September 11th and before, declaring that terrorism is merely a tactical (though immoral) means of waging warfare, it is not the enemy itself. Radical Islam is the enemy. It ain't just a coincidence that those who have engaged in terrorist violence against America and its democratic allies throughout the world are adherents of radical Islam. Expansionist ISLAM is the driving force behind these folks, not some sort of convoluted fealty to Terrorism. Anyways, sweet Lou continues to be right on the money.

Are you street smart? Test yourself.

Hector knocked up three girls in his gang. There are 27 girls in his gang. What is the exact percentage of the girls in the gang that Hector knocked up?

Rufus is a pimp for three girls. If the price is $65 per trick, how many tricks per day must each girl turn to support Rufus' $800 per day crack habit?

These are actual questions from an exam given to 13 and 14 year old students in Thompson , Manitoba. The exam, which asked students for their name, gang name and home room is causing quite a stir in the town of 15,000. Supplied with the exact speed of travel and the number of seconds it takes to load a shot gun, another test question asked students to calculate the distance, Billie, a skateboard thief, would be able to flee before getting "whacked."

Jerusalem's worst suicide attack in six years has taken the lives of 19 and wounded over 40 others. The scene is horrific. A horrible excuse for a human has detonated a ball bearing studded bomb on a bus carrying students to school. The Arab world will certainly have a hard time holding in their glee. Just yesterday the Egyptian foreign minister scolded Israel for beginning to build a fence to separate the Palestinians from Israel. The fence is offensive, no doubt, because it will make it harder for Palestinians to kill Israeli civilians, which according their rhetoric, is the only form of “expression” they have. News reports suggest that Arafat is trying to prevent the Hamas leaders from talking to the press. Yeah, wouldn’t want them to say anything inflammatory.

Today, Ted Turner, in an interview with the British paper The Guardian, accused Israel of Terrorism.

Aren't the Israelis and the Palestinians both terrorizing each other? The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists?

On a similar note, he went on to claim that the United States was at fault in the war on terror cause “after all we’re the ones with the A-bombs and Atta and those guys didn’t even have guns” …um… I might have made that part up. In fact, Turner took the opportunity to retract some earlier statements praising the WTC bombers for their bravery. Said Ted, "I made an unfortunate choice of words, look, I'm a very good thinker, but I sometimes grab the wrong word.” The Israeli government choosing their words with the utmost care, called Turner's comments “stupid”

I urge all Americans to watch a little bit of what passes for educational TV in "Palestine" tonite at 10 P.M. (ET) on MSNBC, care of Mr. Alan Keyes. Keyes will be airing several videos showing actual footage from Palestinian Authority TV broadcasts that one can be sure won't fail to offend (and one hopes, anger) us infidels. Kudos to Dr. Keyes for not buckling to pressure from the Islamists and their friends and apologists in the West. Click here to read more about tonite's broadcast.

A Still Small Voice (1 Kings 19:12)

Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, a Muslim cleric who supports Israel in its battle with the Palestinians, will be a guest tomorrow on Phil Paleologos' national morning radio show, "American Breakfast". Click here to read all about it on World Net Daily.

Regulations require that passengers on outbound flights from Reagan National remain in their seats until 30 minutes after takeoff. While the rule was enacted to combat terrorism, it has recently led to an embarrassing political leak

Reader Janice (a.k.a Teddyflipped,) writes in with more information on Jewwatch. According to Access Whois, the website is run by Don Black, an infamous neo-nazi, and publisher of Stormfront.org

Arafat has always claimed that he's married to the Palestinian cause. Therefore, it only makes sense that he feels comfortable dipping into his "wife's" bank account. Click here to read all about it.

The Taliban's official website is still up, and is surprisingly up to date. Go there to vote in important polls such as, Do you believe the Taliban will defeat Army of disbelievers by the Grace of Mighty Allah? Or just get the "real facts" about the infidels.
(Thanks to Instapundit)

Khidhir Hamza, former director of Iraq's nuclear program, Warns that Al Qaeda, Is not the only threat.

Restricting the lookout for this source of terrorism to Al Qaeda is taking the easy way out. No matter how much their caves and former dwellings were searched, all that was found were some primitive documents about nuclear radiation. The real expertise--and the real stockpiles of nuclear material--remain in countries like Iraq and Iran. With Afghanistan removed as a safe haven, terrorist training grounds and sources of expertise have to come from these countries.

Are you a member of a Jewish hate group? I am referring of course to the ACLU, The B’nai Brith, or the Anti–Defamation League. Or are you a citizen of a country with a Zionist occupied government, like Poland, Austria, or Germany? Or maybe you’re a proponent of a Jewish mind control mechanism (Socialism, Liberalism, Civil Rights, Homosexuality, Freudianism, Atheism, Relativity, Paper Money) If you are guilty of any of these sins, be careful, you are being watched .

'Amer: What's your name?
Toddler: Basmallah.
'Amer: Basmallah, how old are you?
Toddler: Three and a half.
'Amer: Are you a Muslim?
Toddler: Yes.
'Amer: Basmallah, are you familiar with the Jews?
Toddler: Yes.
'Amer: Do you like them?
Toddler: No.
'Amer: Why don't you like them?
Toddler: Because . . .
'Amer: Because they are what?
Toddler: They're apes and pigs.
'Amer: Because they are apes and pigs. Who said they are so?
Toddler: Our God

Ain't she the cutest little thing? More Here

Starbucks, long a victim of the wacky, anarchist American Left's rhetorical and literal molotov cocktails through the front window is now being targeted by, yeah you guessed it, the Arabs. Activists in five Arab countries are launching a boycott campaign against the overpriced coffee franchise in response to the Zionist leanings of its Jewish chief executive Howard Shultz. Shultz had told a Jewish audience in Seattle earlier this year that "the Palestinians aren't doing their job - they're not stopping terrorism." Seems to me to have been a reasonable observation of the goings on in Israel. Some Arabs do not agree -- hence, the boycott. They apparently are under the impression that Palestinians are spontaneously combusting in Jewish population centers around the State of Israel. Must be that spicy Middle Eastern food.

Huda Al-Husseini, who made the news recently after writing a poem glorifying suicide bombing, defended himself in an interview,(from MEMRI)against claims that he was an “Ambassador of death.”

That is incitement to murder... It is true that I have many faults, but fear of death is not one of them... I do not fear death - on the contrary, I long to die as a martyr, although I am at an age that does not allow me to carry out a martyrdom operation. My weight does not permit this. But I still hope to die as a martyr...

Remember, this guy is not some mullah, he is the Saudi Ambassador to London. His stay in the west has taught him a few things...

There is a cultural gap. We make fools out of ourselves when we say there are no differences between Islam and the West. The fundamental difference is that in Islam many of the rulings - those included in the right texts - don’t change, and people cannot change them. Yet the rulings in Western culture are the complete opposite. For Muslims, a ruling that has changed is not fit for human beings...according to the Islamic view, no one - the nation cannot, 1,200,000,000 Muslims cannot - make the forbidden permissible and cannot make the permissible forbidden. [In Islam] punishments have been set, and no matter what we say, the West will see them as barbaric and primitive. According to the Western view, flogging is illogical. Execution is unacceptable, and the same goes for amputating hands and stoning. These are things that in Muslim eyes are at the core of the Islamic faith.

So there you have it. The core of the Islamic faith. Flogging, execution,amputating hands and stoning. All the rest is commentary

The fearless John Derbyshire takes issue with the idea that the lack of democracy in the Middle East is All America's Fault.

Shoe bomber Richard Reid is facing one less charge today. U.S. District Judge William Young has thrown out one of the charges against him. The charge — attempting to wreck a mass transportation vehicle — was filed under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The reason, you ask? Apparently an airplane is not a mass transportation vehicle.

(Thanks to Laurence over at Amish Tech Support who never fails to amuse.)

Krauthammer writes from Jerusalem of an Israel that is Troubled, but Not Terrorized

For those of you who have not yet listened to Krauthammer's unbelievable speech, the transcript is now available here.

Jeff Jacoby writes an eloquent piece in today's Boston Globe which not only defends the showing of the Pearl Video(WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC) but argues that it is a must see for anyone that wants to recognize what we're up against. "The three-minute video," Jacoby writes,

is a piece of Islamist pornography: A frightened Jew - even better, a frightened American Jew - confesses his Jewish roots and denounces US foreign policy. Then his head is cut off and brandished triumphantly as English words scroll up the screen: ''And if our demands are not met, this scene shall be repeated again and again.

Zionists could not have made a better propaganda film than the Islamists have done themselves portraying the callous theological pomposity that is militant Islam. Jacoby goes on:

It conveys with a force no words can match the undiluted malignancy, the sheer evil, of the enemy we are fighting. Yes, it is a horror. Yes, it is barbaric. But we are at war with barbarians, and what they did to Pearl, they would gladly do to any one of us. This is no time to be covering our eyes.

Sing it Jeff, this is truly no time to be covering our eyes - we must all take a look at the Islamofascists' summer release and send them our "reviews" care of the US military.

Police in Israel are investigating reports that an illegal Israeli gambling ring is taking bets on where the next Palestinian suicide bomber will strike. Each city has different odds and payouts - Jerusalem (often a target) pays 1-1.5 whereas Eilat (not hit yet) would pay out a jackpot of 17-1. Wonder what the odds are that the next terrorist attack against Israel or the West will be perpetrated by a man or woman under the influence of that peaceful treatise on life and spirituality, the Koran.

Just finished Michael Oren's fabulous book, Six Days of War. I recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in the Middle East conflict. If that's not good enough for you, read some reviews: Victor Davis Hanson - Amitai Etzioni

Bryant Preston of JunkyardBlog has an interesting theory about Jose Padilla. And lest you think Preston is merely a kook, check out his (unrelated, but interesting) article in the National Review. Actually he still might be a kook but he's a published, respectable, Kook

Read this bit of peace loving Islamic theology from an Al-Quaeda spokesman brought to you by the incomparable Middle East Media Research Institute. Just one little gem from the text:

We have not reached parity with them. We have the right to kill 4 million Americans - 2 million of them children - and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands. Furthermore, it is our right to fight them with chemical and biological weapons, so as to afflict them with the fatal maladies that have afflicted the Muslims because of the [Americans'] chemical and biological weapons.

Ahh, they really are such liberals. Perhaps, he is only speaking of his own personal "inner" jihad. Perhaps, he only wants to kill 2 million of our "inner" children.

The Baby Face of Hate

David Tell, opinion editor of the Weekly Standard, attended a briefing on Arabic –language media given by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute.) He was confronted with a glimpse of a culture where

the anti-Semitism is no longer ancillary but central, basic, and paramount. It turns out that the Islamic Middle East, just as the Israelis have been begging us for years to figure out, has got itself trapped in a deep, deep swamp of near-psychotic Jew hatred.

He cites several chilling examples of how much our societies differ:

The April 25, 2002 interview with Prof. 'Adel Sadeq, head of the psychiatry faculty at 'Ein Shams University in Cairo, for example. Professor Sadeq beams with glee as he explains how Western civilization "has no concepts such as self-sacrifice and honor," which is why Americans fail to understand that the suicide bomber experiences "the height of ecstasy and happiness" just at the moment when, "ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and then he presses the button to blow himself up." Big smile.

Then there's the May 9, 2002, program on "discipline in the family," featuring one Jasem Al-Mutawah, an "expert on family matters," who patiently describes to his viewers where on her body, how severely, with what weapon, and under what circumstances a man should beat his wife.

I’ll tell you, If Islam didn't mean "peace" I'd think they were complete barbarians

Update: Fox News has a story on the Toddler.

Arafat is Israel's Bin Laden, yet many in the West and in the Bush Administration demand that he be treated no worse than patriotic Americans would treat, oh let's say.... Tom Daschle. His very own organizations have taken credit for numerous suicide bombings and 10 large bombs were found in his very own headquarters. It appears that nothing short of Arafat strapping on an explosive belt will dissuade many in the West from viewing him as a negotiating partner for "peace" (a piece of Israel, that is).

Mark Steyn worries that no matter how the terrorists act, and how much they stick out, we still can find excuses not to see them. Consider the now famous case of Johnelle Bryant, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mark writes:

Ms. Bryant has come forward now because she thinks "it's very vital that the Americans realize that when these people come to the United States, they don't have a big 'T' on their forehead." No, indeed. In some cases, they have a big "T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T" flashing in neon off the end of their nose. Ten days ago, I pointed out that these fellows made virtually no effort to blend in. They weren't in "deep cover," they were barely covered at all. Atta was the brains of the operation, and he did a marginally better job of it than Leslie Nielsen would have. His one great insight into Western culture was his assumption that he could get a government grant to take out the Pentagon. Yet no matter how dumb he was, officialdom was always dumber.

The National Organization for Women will be pleased with today's news on CNN.COM which details the arrest of two Al Queda wives for their involvement in a plot to blow up US warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. The Islamist movement remains as dangerous, expansionist and violent as ever but at least, and this cannot be stressed too much, they are giving some women in their organization a chance to participate in their various "cultural" activities.

Fresno cowboy Victor Davis Hanson calls for A New Tone for New Times. He has just been awarded the Breindel Award for Excellence in Journalism, a modest award, for as those who have been reading his columns recently know, he deserves a Pulitzer

Yet again the New York Post speaks for the common man with common sense in the common streets (or subways) of this great nation. Today's unsigned editorial declares that we cannot stop the Islamist threat simply through deterrence and security but must take the fight to the enemy. We cannot secure an enormous nation of nearly 300 million people without crushing the fidels (is that the opposite of infidels?) where they live. The Post, in all of its gossipy tabloidy sensationalistic glory shames the staid NYT every time out of the box.

Put Your Toothpicks in the Mail

William F. Buckley Jr writes a great column about the absurdity of airline "security." It includes a great story of a

"tall man with a moustache who checked in carrying a magnum automatic pistol, fully loaded. He got by the inspectors in the matter of the firearm, because he had a permit exactly describing and authorizing the weapon. The searcher then turned to a manicure set and removed from it a clipper, used to trim the traveler's moustache. He was told he would have to give up the clipper and have it mailed to his home address".

Hey, infidels, we're over here!! It seems that some nations can't seem to get President Bush to notice them no matter what they do. Read this posting from the often fascinating Middle East Media Research Institute which tells of a little Farsi speaking country next to Iraq that is not getting the attention those of us who worry about Israel and the West feel that it deserves. The argument that said nation doesn't really present a danger to us because they are more likely than any other members of the Axis of Evil to reform themselves seems specious to me. I am worried about TODAY'S Iran - its support of violent Islamists around the world, its attempts to acquire nuclear weapons, its belligerency towards the West, its suppression of freedom in it own borders....well, actually, who cares (The West seems not to).....just keep those pistachios coming.

What happens when you remove guns from the hands of the criminals? Answer - they use knives. The Atlantic County News tells us of a knife fight that broke out at a meeting of the Atlantic City Democratic Reorganization Committee. The story is instructive not so much for what it tells us about gun control but, rather, for what it reveals about Democrats (at least the Atlantic City Strain).

Charles Krauthammer gave a speech last night at Bar-Ilan University in Jeruselam entitled "He Tarries: Jewish Messianism and the Oslo Peace." Read about it in the Jerusalem Post or listen to the (30 minute) speech here

Thanx to Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs.(Link at left)

James Taranto, who heads up the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web, found this interesting item.

Two Palestinians gunned down 24-year-old Yael Sorek, who the Los Angeles Times (link requires free registration) says was "in the late stages of pregnancy" (the Jerusalem Post says she was nine months pregnant) and her husband, Ayal Sorek. An Israeli soldier also died in the attack.

This attack didn't occur in Israel but in Karmei Tzur, a neighborhood in the West Bank Jewish community of Gush Etzion. According to the L.A. Times, Karmei Tzur's establishment "is part of a plan to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, despite U.S. and other international calls for an end to the practice." The San Jose Mercury News picks up the L.A. Times piece, but in place of the word practice it uses the highly charged term colonization.

Colonization? According to the Israeli tourism site Travelnet, Jews were living in Gush Etzion as early as 1927, more than two decades before Israel was founded. Arabs drove Jews out of the area during Israel's War of Independence:

After Israel recaptured the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War, many survivors of the 1948 siege returned to rebuild their community. To describe this as "colonialism" seems simplistic to say the least.

Reuters, in an article reporting on the Al Qaeda Operative recently arrested for planning to set off a "dirty" bomb inside the U.S., lets loose this doozy of a sentence:

The United States blames Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network for the Sept. 11 hijacking attacks on the United States that killed 3,000 people.

First of all, "dissident"? Are they crazy? Not terrorist? It's hard to believe that they feel "dissident" is the objective description. Secondly, the U.S. " blames Saudi-born dissident...for the Sept. 11 hijacking "; Reuters will not even cede that? I guess they are still working hard trying to get someone on the record about that Mossad plot.

( Thanks to Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs)

Mary Eberstadt's well researched and fascinating piece The Elephant in the Sacristy (give yourself a little time, it's 16 pages) has caused quite a stir. What she makes clear is the centrality of Homesexuality to the scandal and the media's attempts to downplay it. Blogger Amy Welborn takes issue with some of the article but agrees with most of it

New York Jews Are Ready to Roll
Apparently the Jews of Brooklyn have taken a bit more notice than the mainstream press of the report that in 1993 the Islamists pondered an attack on their neighborhoods prior to their bombing of the WTC. The Islamofacsists, thoughtful as they are, opted for the WTC because they wanted a more high profile site and "plenty of Jews worked there anyways." Killing Westerners is both emotionally and religiously rewarding to these folks but killing Jewish Westerners, achaa..... Now that's a mitzvah!

Why the U.S. Will Always Be Rich

David Brooks of the Weekly Standard, and author of Bobos in Paradise, gets his view of American wealth into the NY Times Magazine and it is basically, that we are rich, really rich, no no you're not getting it. Think of the largest number you can think of. Now double it. Multiply that by three and just maybe you can have an inkling of how rich we really are. Surprisingly enough it isn't just the rich that are rich but according to Brooks, it's the poor too (they just don't know it.) Brooks point (though I'm not sure I agree) is that while it should be going to our heads, it isn't.

All hail King Lou!
A letter from Glenn Gayer to Lou Dobbs:
Thank you, thank you Lou Dobbs, for fearlessly speaking the truths that dare not rear their politically incorrect heads on most of your network. This is truly a time for clarity and hard truths. This country is blessed to have individuals like yourself that refuse to to use absurd labels in order to hide the realities of the war America and The West find themselves in. Was it the War on Blitzkriegs? The War on Kamikazes? No, we properly called it the War on Facsism, Naziism. Straight thinking individuals like yourself, Mr. Dobbs, can bring this country the clarity it had back in those other dark days.

What exactly are the standards for admittance into this "exclusive" club? I think, perhaps, the British have gone a wee bloody bit too far from the days when they would keep the Micks out at all costs.

The Masai, a tribe that lives in a remote corner of Kenya, have just recently heard about Sep. 11. Their immediate reaction was to donate 14 cows to the United States. Leonard Pitts, in a beautiful column, says this proves the Whole world doesn't hate us, after all

The Spector of Terrorism
As the government tries to flesh out its Homeland security policies, David Tell and the editors of the Weekly Standard take to task those who are "unwilling or unable to engage the conversation on grownup terms." Like Sen. Arlen Spector who, while questioning FBI Director Robert Mueller, said in reference to the possible surveillance of Known al Qaeda in this country, "[I]t's troublesome to have surveillance unless there's a really good reason for doing so." Apperently Mr. Spector is willing to wait for the next attack before allowing the FBI too surveil known al Qaeda supporters.