This story is sure to be overloooked in wake of today's horrific suicide bombing in Israel.

Mother Of Eight Kills Terrorist
In an act of uncommon heroism early this morning, a mother of eight overcame a knife-wielding terrorist as he was attacking her husband lying in bed, and stabbed him to death. The miraculous incident occurred shortly after 3 AM when a well-disguised terrorist infiltrated the Shomron town of Itamar and broke into the Mimran family home. It was later discovered that he began his rampage by going from room to room and bed to bed, looking for the children and trying to stab them; most fortunately, all eight children had left on Sunday night to spend some time at their grandparents' home in the north.

The Palestinians are wrong to think that the Israeli public will turn tail and run in the face of their Terrorism. They may kill Israelis, but they don't scare them.

(link via PatioPundit)

Sylvana Foa outlines the historic case for a Jewish State, and none of it is ground-breaking stuff, unless you considor that it's in the Village Voice, and that Sylvana is (was?) a left-wing peacenik.

(As seen at Not a Fish)

Mark Steyn Takes on the upside-down world of INS

Michael Ledeen thinks the European support for the Iranian Mullahs is short-sighted, and that they stand to lose the very thing they are trying to protect -- oil contracts.

Towering intellect, brilliant Economist, Stubborn defender of liberty, inventor of vouchers, and nonagenarian, Milton Friedman is now all of these. His 90th birthday is today and I am commemorating the occasion by re-reading Free to Choose. If you haven’t read any of his books I recommend you pick up Capitalism and Freedom. But for the lazy, Read what Thomas Sowell, Bruce Bartlett, Jacob Sullum, Donald Rumsfeld,or President Bush had to say about him recently

Dennis Prager would like us to consider what happens to those who curse the Jews and those who bless them. He says no one can prove that God has anything to do with it, but that history has been good to those who choose to treat their Jews well. It makes sense without the Theology though, Jews have always been some of the most educated, industrious, and inventive people wherever they have lived and keeping them down would simply rob a society of some of their most productive members.

Jed Babbin, deputy undersecretary of Defense in the first Bush administration, says we should let the Israelis take care of Hezbollah and the Syrians.

When our campaign to get Saddam Hussein begins, the Hezbollah can make things much more complicated by forcing the Israelis to respond. Any concerted attack on Israel will certainly draw a response against Hezbollah, as well as its Syrian ally. Which is precisely what Saddam wants: a wider war between Israel and an Arab nation. He believes the Arab nations will rally to his cause if the Israelis are in the fight. He's wrong in that, but not in the fact that a wider war will cause more unnecessary bloodshed.

The Israelis could have long ago taken out the Hezbollah, but haven't because of strong American pressure to hold back. At this point, we should tell them to go ahead, and the sooner the better. All the pressure we have used on them should be turned on the U.N. John Batchelor summed it all up: "The U.N. is a fellow-traveler of terrorism.

New York Times stupidity alert Exhibit Three:

Professor Anne Bayefsky, noted scholar of international and human rights law, had a run-in with the editors of the New York Times. An op-ed of hers critical of the United Nations and human rights groups for their distorted focus on Israel and their "diversion" from confronting actual rights abusers was accepted for publication by the Times. But the editors so radically altered the piece that Bayefsky went public with the obfuscations demanded by the newspaper. The uncut piece, with the changes the Times demanded, can be read by clicking here (PDF file pgs. 11-13)
(All links courtesy of Charles Johnson-Little Green Footballs)

The L.A. Times (unlike the NY Times) is reporting on the current turmoil in Iran. (link may require a free but annoying registration)

Victor Davis Hanson writes beautifully (as always) of European Parodoxes.

Once upon a time — especially in the Clinton administration — we patiently listened to moral lectures, apologized constantly, and tried all sorts of ways to explain our baffling behavior to our moral betters. Europeans felt their ace in the hole was that we really did want to be liked by them and earn their moral approval.

No longer. They fear now that September 11 was a macabre liberating experience for Americans, and realize that we don't much care about European carping when our greatest buildings and best citizens are vaporized. Yet, when you tell a European precisely that — and as politely as possible — he is either shocked or genuinely hurt.

Iraq? Stay put — we don't necessarily need or desire your help. The Middle East? Shame on you, not us, for financing the terrorists on the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority and Israel? You helped to fund a terrorist clique; we, a democracy — go figure. Racism? Arabs are safer in America than Jews are in Europe. That 200,000 were butchered in Bosnia and Kosovo a few hours from Rome and Berlin is a stain on you, the inactive, not us, the interventionist. Capital punishment? Our government has executed terrorists; yours have freed them. Do the moral calculus. Insensitive to the complexities of the Middle East? Insist that the next Olympic games are held in Cairo or Teheran, and let a deserving Islamic Turkey into the EU.

NY Times stupidity alert: Exhibit Two

The Times reports today that the Iranian government has disbanded an opposition political party and sent 33 of its members to jail. An interesting story, especially considering the political climate in Iran at the moment. The Times however, does not even mention the fact that there is any unrest in Iran, and (to my knowledge) has never mentioned it.

NY Times stupidity alert: Exhibit One

Last weekend, Palestinian officials were secretly working in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to achieve an agreement that some of those involved described as a unilateral cease-fire, others as a lessening of the conflict.
At the same time, Israeli officials were making secret preparations of their own, for a very different kind of unilateral action: killing a man they considered one of the most dangerous Palestinians, a founder of the military wing of Hamas.
The two paths crossed before dawn on Tuesday, when Israel dropped a laser-guided, one-ton bomb on the Hamas leader's house in Gaza City as the Palestinian negotiators were working on a text of their announcement.

This absolutely makes me sick. They have been reporting this story for a few days now, but until now it had been, “Palestinian officials say” or some other equivocation. For the NY Times to actually believe that the Palestinians were about to call a “unilateral cease-fire” is a shocking admission by the Times that they have their heads up their asses. (okay, not that shocking. )

SHHH! Don't tell Saddam.

The NY Times is reporting that the U.S. is exploring the possibility of taking Baghdad in a lightning strike as the first salvo in an attack on Iraq. All the leaking of various warplans would be worrisome, but it is pretty likely that at least some of this is coming from the administration. If it is in fact them leaking this stuff to throw off the Iraqis (or any other reason), that’s great. If it isn't and we have other faction within the government doing this stuff, then we are in some serious trouble.

I just spent a little while reading Tolerating Intolerance: The Challenge of Fundamentalist Islam in Western Europe by Bruce Bawer It's a fascinating read. Take a few minutes and check it out, it's well worth it.
( Found on Little Green Footballs)

Reuel Marc Gerecht wonders about Regime Change In Iran, and how to get there from here.

The Christian Science Monitor says that the U.S. sometimes ships captured Al-Qaeda members to the Middle East to be interrogated by the intelligence agents of their home country, who don't shrink from using torture. They say this as if it's a bad thing.

Jonah Goldberg Has developed a General Rule on Patriotism: The more negative your view of America, the more positive your view of the United Nations.

Many columnists have argued (correctly) that the killing of Salah Shehadeh in Gaza, and the unfortunate deaths of civilians, was perfectly justified. Their usual comparison is to America’s action in Afghanistan, but Nissan Ratzlav-Katz draws a better one.

"[I]n 1989, the US invaded Panama City in order to extract [the ruling strongman Manuel] Noriega, using jets and helicopters. Six hundred civilians were killed in that raid, according to American estimates, and thousands were wounded. Then [U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,] whose name was Colin Powell, said at the time that the appropriate amount of force was used 'and we have no need to apologize.' The Attorney General at the time, Dick Thornburg, said that the U.S. was operating according to the U.N.'s clause 51 allowing self-defense.

Wesley Pruden has a column that illustrates the difference between Israeli society and that of their enemies. Israel is so easy to criticize because they criticize themselves.

Many Israelis argue that pinpoint prevention is merely another name for summary execution, that the leaders of Hamas and Fatah killed under this doctrine are killed without benefit of judge or jury. And so they are. It's called "war," which is why starting one is risky business.

The Israeli Defense Force, for all its dispatch and efficiency, has never killed without compunction, and it has generally taken care to look out for civilians. That's why the Gaza City raid shook up so many Israelis: This time it looked as though sufficient care was not taken.

Iran news: The L.A. Times reports on the mood in Iran, and Michael Rubin asks our government to not ignore the will of the Iranian people.
One note : Michael Rubin's article claims there are 84,000 working Prostitutes in Tehran. I don't know how large Tehran is, But 84,000? That's unbelievable.

Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil. Charles Krauthammer says it's impossible to understand American politics without keeping this in mind.

Michael E. O'Hanlon and Philip H. Gordon of the Brookings Institute co-write an opinion piece in today’s NY Times, debating whether or not it is a good idea to attack Iraq. Their biggest concern? Well, it seems no one is debating whether or not we should be attacking Iraq. I'm pretty sure this is the third time I've read someone ask that question, and then ask why no one is asking that question. Quit it. We’ve all asked ourselves that question. The answer is yes. Move on.

They have been threatening, now here they come. A New York City lawyer has filed a suit against McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC Corporation , saying their fatty foods are responsible for his client’s obesity and related health problems. the suit claims the companies are "irresponsible and deceptive" in their nutritional labeling.
(as seen on db's Medical Rants)

JONAH GOLDBERG WANTS YOU!!! to do nothing. Join the Inactivist movement, or not, whatever. Seriously, he has a point in there.

There's actually a very serious philosophical point behind inactivism and for a movement which requires no actual movement (remember: Grass roots don't move), we might as well get the justification right.

The "Just Don't" school holds that most problems solve themselves. If nobody else will solve your problems for you, you will be far more likely to fix your own problems. This is a naturalistic philosophy in that it embraces the natural order of things. No creature — except for man — takes responsibility for the ecosystem it lives in. Sharks eat as much as they can eat. Birds fly where they want to fly. Bears crap in the woods without so much as a "by your leave" from park rangers. Everybody does what they do and the ecosystem achieves balance because of it.

Markets work the same way, most of the time. Few people think about the national or even the local economy when they buy a microwave oven. Sure, they are concerned about how the economy effects them, but they do not care whether their purchase will harm or help the GDP in anyway. And yet, by buying a microwave oven so he can reheat his spicy Jamaican beef patties from 7-11, Joe Slacker contributes to the GDP.

A letter to the Editor of a San Fransisco paper

Al Qaeda has the upper hand in the war against terror because the security agencies responsible for protecting us act like a bunch of sissies.

Case in point: I was recently hired for an FBI counter-terrorism position based on my ability to speak several foreign languages, my thorough knowledge of Middle Eastern culture and my extensive travel abroad. Each FBI employee who interviewed me told me, "We're desperately in need of language skills."

I'm a blue-blooded American, 44 years old, who has taught college several years for the Department of Defense, and I was excited my skills would be helpful in the war against terror. Then came the FBI's lie detector test.

I admitted I'd smoked marijuana about 20 times when I was 18. I've never used drugs since. But within five minutes I was put out on the street.

I told the FBI agent who kicked me out that "I doubt very seriously that Bin Laden screened any of the hijackers for drug experimentation when they were kids." The FBI agent confided, "You wouldn't believe the number of super- qualified individuals we've turned away. Just last week we let go a highly qualified psychologist for the same reason. It's very frustrating."

Moral of the story: Don't hold your breath for the FBI to save you.


JOSEPH ROSS
Sonoma

I had thought that the FBI might have been smokin' something after the LAX debacle, but perhaps they are simply a bunch of idiots.
(as seen on Instapundit )

---Dead man Talking----

MEMRI has posted an interview with Salah Sh'hadeh (who was assassinated by Israel yesterday) from May 29, 2002.

Drudge is reporting that the Palestinians will be asking the International Criminal Court to hold an "urgent trial over the crime against humanity carried out last night by the occupation forces." Just 23 days old and already the court is paying off for its supporters, not bad. But John Podhoretz says international law is quite clear about who is responsible for those civilian deaths.

When they named it The Criminal Court, did they mean "To protect"-- or "run by", criminals? I think I'm confused....

Dennis Ross sees a new front opening up for Israel: Syria and Iran, And he agrees with David Warren (see today's 2nd post) that Israel might find itself in an actual war with Syria in the near future.

HBO is set to air a video of Al Sharpton discussing a cocaine deal:

The tape shows Sharpton being offered thousands of dollars to arrange the sale of cocaine.

"Every kilogram we bring in, $3,500 to you. How does that sound?" FBI agent Victor Quintana asks, as Sharpton nods. "So we bring in 10, you'll make $35,000."

"I hear you," Sharpton replies.

"But that's a drip in the bucket," Quintana continues.

"Well, if (the buyer) can, if he's gonna do it, he'll do it much more than that," says Sharpton, sporting a cowboy hat and an unlit cigar in his mouth.

Sharpton said he is not worried about the tape.

"It's a cheap smear campaign, but I think it will end up generating sympathy for what I have been fighting for all these years against government abuses in trying to bring down successful minority businesspeople," he said.

The tape will be aired Tuesday on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel"

David Warren thinks that the killing in Gaza of Salah Shaheda is just the beginning of a larger offensive by Israel that will ultimately take them as far as Damascus

This Month's Smarter Harper's Index is up. Its always great stuff. Check it out.

Chris Matthews, host of "Hardball," has been hospitalized with malaria, He is expected to recover. Mike Barnacle is filling in for him, and as I type, lobbing softballs at Jesse Jackson. Get well soon Chris..

Eugene Volokh alerts us to an outragous (in my opinion) violation of our rights. It doesn't even have anything to do with "The War on Terror." It's called a "Voluntary Roadside Interview."

Off-duty troopers, hired at $30 an hour, picked motorists at random and directed them to pull off the interstate into a rest stop, where Palm Pilot-toting interviewers waited.

No, this roadside checkpoint wasn't looking for drunken drivers. The survey, which will cost about $150,000, was commissioned by the Florida High Speed Rail Authority to gauge public interest in riding a proposed 120 mph bullet train. . . .
"The bottom line is, we can do it. It's well within the law,'' said Adrian Share of HNTB Corp., general consultants for the rail authority. "With the cooperation of state troopers, the state is allowed to pull people over just to seek information.''

Bulloks, says Volokh

I'm pretty certain that this isn't just illegal but unconstitutional: When the police officer uses his authority to detain people, even very briefly (as, for instance, at a drunk driving checkpoint, where the detentions are likewise often very brief), that's a seizure -- and given the weakness of the government's reasons for interfering with people's liberty this way, it seems to me to be an unconstitutional seizure, and thus a Fourth Amendment violation.

Steven Den Beste has a post on the Israeli missile strike against Salah Shehada. Haaretz has details on who Shehada was and why Israel wanted him dead

The Bush administration has decided to stop dealing with President Mohammad Khatami and his reformist allies in the Iranian government, and will start appealing directly to democracy supporters among the Iranian people.

In other Iran news: an earthquake killed 500 people in northern Iran.

The St. Petersberg Times is running a five-part series called "inside Saudi Arabia." Part II contains some horrific stories of Ant-Western killings and the government's attempt to blame it on "liquor bootleggers"
(Link via Little Green Footballs)

James Carville, for the first time in his career, actually hears what is coming out of his mouth.
(Picture found at Blogfodder)

Virginia man opens fires on helicopter, thinking occupants are terrorists. I am definitely for gun ownership, but this man should never be able to look at a gun ever again.

Joel Mowbray reports that Visa Express is finally dead (regardless of what the Arab News says), but that is no reason to leave Visa authority with the State Department

The Bush administration seems to get so much of their foreign policy decisions dead-on, so their hesitancy to take on Saudi Arabia stands out. It has been widely claimed that this might be because of the many business ties between the Saudis and much of official Washington. The Boston Herald has an in-depth report on how deep the ties actually run. Part I Part II

Mark Helprin gave an extremely moving speech to the graduating class of Hillsdale Acadamy in Michigan. The following is an excerpt, but you can read the whole speech here (scroll past the first speech)

There is a time to lay down arms, and there is a time to take them up, and that we are now in a time to take them up is self-evident. Those for whom it is not self-evident, who would challenge the right to defend against and preempt barbarous attacks upon our persons and our country, and who would instead substitute a distorted inquiry that would end in the condemnation not of the terrorists but of the terrorized, do not find the need to defend their civilization -- Western Civilization -- self-evident. Nor do they find the action of doing so congenial, in that it is something from which they habitually abstain. This is a serious charge, and I have drawn a clear line, but I mean to...

I ask you to join this brotherhood, and, in your own way, whatever that may be, to defend and champion the sanctity of the individual, free and objective inquiry, government by consent of the governed, freedom of conscience, and the pursuit -- rather than the degradation and denial -- of truth and of beauty. I ask you to defend a civilization so buoyant with the presence of God that it need never compel others in His name. I ask you to defend a civilization that rather than deliberately obscuring the difference between combatants and non-combatants, struggles to maintain and respect it. I ask you to defend a civilization of immeasurable achievement, brilliance, and freedom. I ask you to defend civilization itself.

(seen on Not a Fish via Dawson Speaks)

According to a high-level Iranian defector The government of Iran was behind the bombing of a Jewish community center eight years ago that killed 85 people. Iran then paid Argentina's president at the time, Carlos Saúl Menem, $10 million to cover it up, claims the story in the NY Times. The defector, Abdolghassem Mesbahi, claimed there was an interesting relationship between Menem and the Iranians:

Iran's contacts with Mr. Menem began in the mid-1980's when he was the governor of La Rioja Province. Because Mr. Menem was of Arab descent and they believed him to share their anti-Jewish sentiments, the Iranians covertly funneled money to Mr. Menem in hopes that he would be elected president and pursue policies favorable to Iran, Mr. Mesbahi said.

Update: Drudge is reporting that Menem plans to sue the NY Times over this article. As Drudge likes to say, developing...

A transformer blew in Manhatten yesterday,and Jane Galt witnessed a strange thing, New Yorkers pitching in and helping each other.
(Link via Amish Tech Support)

There were Anti-America Pro-Government demonstrations in Iran on Friday. Tens of thousands of people showed up, but according to Iranian-born blogger Hossein Derakhshan (who is in Iran at the moment):

Most of them are government staff who are forced to come, or they are gonna have problems. Even some of them are brought down to Tehran from other cities. So nobody should take these things seriously. Iranians love Americans and their life-style, you just have to come here to see it.

It is not very surprising, these are the type of people that totalitarian regimes usually use to stock their rallies. It would have been nice to see them resist though, and it would have been further sign that the regime is crumbling
(link via LGF)

Steven Den Beste has a really good essay explaining the reasons the Palestinians like to use terms like 'Terrorist State' to describe Israel

Victor Davis Hanson isn't really talking about johnsongrass.

Leave it to Charles Krauthammer to turn a tiny diplomatic skirmish over an island in the Mediterranean, into an example of the clash of civilizations. And he’s not kidding.

Much of the conflict in the world today -- the Philippines, Kashmir, Chechnya, the West Bank, Sudan, Nigeria and now on this ridiculous little rock in the Mediterranean -- represents the Islamic world, once expanding, long contracting, pushing out once again to reclaim its place in the sun.

As Samuel Huntington has written, the borders of Islam are bloody. At least in the War of Parsley Point, no one has been killed and no one is likely to be. It will all end with the game's being called on account of silliness. The game goes on everywhere else, however, not as farce but as tragedy.

Melissa Seckora reports on the sounds of Radio Sawa. The replacement for Voice of America's Arabic version is a hit, bringing America's Side of the story to Arab youths, who are flocking to Radio Sawa for top-ten American and Arabic pop tunes, but staying for the substantive, and uncensored news reports. The station is already number-one in eight Arab countries, a stunning achievement for a service that was launched in March. This begs the question; does the State Department know? And what are they going to do to neutralize it?

David Warren sums up six months of Michael Ledeen reporting, with an absolutely terrific essay, The End Is Nigh, on what is happening in Iran, and why.
(Link via VodkaPundit)

If you care enough to help out, there is a way to send a care package to a victim of terror. Many victims are still in hospitals across Israel while others are at rehabilitation centers or at home, struggling to come to terms with their injuries. If you do want to help, this is, literally, the least you can do.
(Sent to me by Zion Blogster)

The State Department is starting to pay up for their lies and deception. Joel Mowbray takes them to task again in separate articles in the NY Post and the National Review. High-level State Department officials meanwhile, have been calling Mowbrey and the members of Congress who have joined him in calling for the removal of visa authority from the State department, "Neo-Nazis."

Iran Update: The leader of an Iranian Reform Part has warned the fundementalist government that a planned attempt to crack down on reformers "would be perhaps their biggest and last mistake".
(Link via LGF)

Who Is Syed Athar Abbas? David Tell knows who he might be, But the FBI seems, as usual, to be looking the other way

If you haven't been following the Joel Mowbray-State Department brouhaha then you must catch up. Today's installment quotes the Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, in a letter to the Justice Department: "[believing that] an applicant may pose a threat to national security... is insufficient [grounds] for a consular officer to deny a visa.(Read the Full document)" The State Department is having a hard time pretending it isn’t an arm of the Saudi Government. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on them they obviously have more important things to do than worry about Terrorists

Meryl Yourish is suggesting that people considor ballot stuffing this online poll(Should international monitors be sent to Israel and the Palestinian territories?). It doesn't seem that important to me. It's just a poll. A far more important poll can be found on the right side of this page

Mark Riebling has a great article in National Review on what would fix our Intelligence agencies

Yossi Klein Halevi sees a global wave of Anti-Semitism being swept under the rug:

This week, the denial syndrome spread to Toronto, where skinheads stabbed to death a Jew outside a kosher pizza shop. Despite the fact that the ultra-Orthodox victim was easily identifiable as a Jew, Toronto police quickly announced that the attack didn't appear to be a hate crime.

The chances of a murderous skinhead wandering around an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood without premeditated intent to kill are about as likely as an armed Muslim fanatic who just happens to open fire at a counter of Israel's national airline. The inability of law enforcement agencies to discern a motive in the July 4 shooting into a crowd of Jews at Los Angeles International Airport by a Muslim extremist who hated Jews and accused Israel of deliberately infecting Arabs with AIDS is hardly an isolated example of stupidity and self-deception. It's part of a worldwide pattern of denial in response to increasingly lethal Jew-hatred.

The House passed an important resolution today, congratulating the Detroit Red Wings for their Stanley Cup championship. the resolution passed 410-0, With 4 Members voting "present" and 20 Members not voting at all. One of the non-voters was none other than Michigan Representitive and gubernatorial candidate David Bonior. We here in Hockeytown love our Red Wings, and we cannot stand idle as one of our own shows such blatant disregard for our hometown heroes. While we have never liked Bonior's political views, our dislike has now turned personal. - The Toothbrush editorial staff

Lawrence Henry writes about The Middle East War Nobody Knows

There is a great unreported story in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what amounts to an unreported war: the war of the Palestinian resistance. And no, the Palestinian Authority and its terrorist accomplices -- Hamas, Hezbollah, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, and the rest -- are not a "resistance" movement. They are, rather, the dictatorship against which the resistance struggles. The real resistance, anonymous, not even properly described, is the fight against terror within the West Bank and Gaza by a fifth column of Israel sympathizers.

This resistance gets reported only under one rubric -- "suspected collaborators" -- and only under one circumstance -- the execution of those "suspected collaborators." Sometimes these executions take place under a thin cloak of criminal procedure, as sentences carried out by the Palestinian Authority after trial. More often lately, they are simply slaughters in the street, often accompanied by mobs baying for blood and mutilation -- and getting it.

The Chicago Sun-Times has an inside look into the hospitals that pick up the pieces after a suicide bombing. Written by Avraham Rivkind, the Head of Trauma at Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, it is a harrowing but uplifting commentary.

A bomb went off outside a Helsinki synagogue today, killing one man and injuring another. If you have been following the news recently, you know that this couldn't possibly be motivated by animus towards Jews or any other political motivations. "We are treating this as an isolated incident," said Detective Chief Inspector Olli Toyras. "We don't believe there are any terrorism or political links." Helsinki is home to about 900 Jews.

While the people of Iran protest their government, the State Department says that America “has no message for the people of Iran.” Our President, however, is singing a different tune:

When given a choice, people will choose freedom. As we have witnessed over the past few days, the people of Iran want the same freedoms, human rights, and opportunities as people around the world…As Iran's people move towards a future defined by greater freedom, greater tolerance, they will have no better friend than the United States of America.

Why Is the State Department always on the wrong side of every issue?

Michael Ledeen still smells a revolution in Iran and reports on an interesting side note; the emergance of that oft-rumored but rarely-seen creature, moderate Islam

Meanwhile, in Isfahan — -the epicenter of the anti-regime demonstrations (just as it was the eye of the hurricane that brought down the Shah 23 years ago)-there have been numerous proclamations and rallies in support of the regime's most visible critic, the Ayatollah Montazeri. Montazeri, who has been under house arrest for years, issued a fatwah some weeks ago, denouncing the practice of suicide bombing as sinful, and was praised last week by Ayatollah Taheri, who resigned as Imam of Isfahan and issued the most violent denunciation in the history of the Islamic Republic of the evils of the regime. The mounting support for this aged cleric is yet another sign of the disintegration of the extremist religious tyranny that has wrecked Iran at the same time it has devoted enormous resources to the support of anti-American terrorism.

John Weidner (Random Jottings) has posted this letter on his site. Iran is in turmoil and its fundamentalist regime may be falling. Just read it, or pass it on to those who may be supported by its message. For more on Iran see some of these recent articles by Michael Ledeen


AN OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF IRAN FROM THE WEBLOGGING COMMUNITY

We are not politicians, nor are we generals. We hold no power to dispatch diplomats to negotiate; we can send no troops to defend those who choose to risk their lives in the cause of freedom.

What power we have is in our words, and in our thoughts. And it is that strength which we offer to the people of Iran on this day.

Across the diverse and often contentious world of weblogs, each of us has chosen to put aside our differences and come together today to declare our unanimity on the following simple principles:

- That the people of Iran are allies of free men and women everywhere in the world, and deserve to live under a government of their own choosing, which respects their own personal liberties

- That the current Iranian regime has failed to create a free and prosperous society, and attempts to mask its own failures by repression and tyranny

We do not presume to know what is best for the people of Iran; but we are firm in our conviction that the policies of the current government stand in the way of the Iranians ability to make those choices for themselves.

And so we urge our own governments to turn their attention to Iran. The leaders and diplomats of the world's democracies must be clear in their opposition to the repressive actions of the current Iranian regime, but even more importantly, must be clear in their support for the aspirations of the Iranian people.

And to the people of Iran, we say: You are not alone. We see your demonstrations in the streets; we hear of your newspapers falling to censorship; and we watch with anticipation as you join the community of the Internet in greater and greater numbers. Our hopes are with you in your struggle for freedom. We cannot and will not presume to tell you the correct path to freedom; that is for you to choose. But we look forward to the day when we can welcome your nation into the community of free societies of the world, for we know with deepest certainty that such a day will come.

I just found this Victor Davis Hanson essay on Civic Pride. Why does this man not have a Pulitzer?

Victor Davis Hanson is in fine form, this time it's the ICC

Sesame Street is about to introduce a HIV-positive Muppet into the South African version of the Show. The character will then travel to all the other countries where Sesame Street is aired. Watch for the Palestinian Authority episodes, where the Muppet becomes a glorious martyr and brings biological weapons to the otherwise powerless Palestinians.
(link via Drudge)

The WSJ takes up the story of Amjad Radwan and her betrayal by the State Department. It's not pretty. The State Department needs to be disbanded if they can't get their loyalties in order. Nothing they do seems to be in this country's best interest.

Michael Ledeen seems to be America's Leading journalist on the turmoil in Iran. He is back with an update on the protests of the last couple of days

In my first post on Mona Baker (the British academic who fired two Israelis), I neglected to mention an interesting quote from the Telegraph article:

Prof Baker, who refused to disclose where she was born, claimed that her actions were supported by a growing number of academics across Britain and in Germany. She alleged that since the sackings she had been the victim of a hate campaign.

I was curious about it, but I didn’t really know what it meant. Well David Tell does. Turns out she was born and raised in Egypt. Which makes all the British Academics a little more comfortable criticizing her. You see how that works? Arab anti-Semitism is easy to criticize but European Anti-Semitism? That doesn’t exist.

Amnesty International, in its seventh report on the human-rights situation in Israel and the territories since the September 2000, has finally found something to condemn on the Palestinian side of the aisle. They are shocked, just shocked, to find that the Palestinians have been, get this, targeting civilians! Yeah, that's just wrong. CNN, now this? Are the EUniks next?
(News story link via LGF. Read the actual report Here)

The words of a Palestinian "peace activist" with a few drinks in him:

The Zionist experiment is over. The Palestinians have discovered a strategic weapon: suicide bombers. Once anathema, they are now considered heroes. The shahids (martyrs), once seen as religious fanatics, are now nationalist freedom fighters... they are growing in legitimacy all the time. The Arab world understands them and even some Europeans seem to. The Israelis have F-16s, the Palestinians, suicide bombers. The equivalency is obvious to all. Now there are thousands out there waiting in line to kill as many Israelis as they can, to make your lives hell on earth. They belong to no organization, but want revenge and are prepared to die for it. You think you are going to stop them by punishing their parents. You are wrong. You won’t even know who they are or where they came from. Nothing will be left of them.We are going to hit you everywhere we can: gas stations, theaters, parks, wedding halls. You will know no happiness. It will be one funeral after the next. And then, while you are reeling, the 1.5 million Palestinian allies, the Israeli Palestinians, our brothers and your enemy, will rise up as well. They are just waiting for a sign from us. They know you better than you know yourselves. They speak your language and know every street in every one of your cities. They are familiar with every nook and every cranny. And they will join at the right time. Make no mistake about it.

You must read the rest of this scary report
(link via Dr Manhattan, via Instapundit)

Jonah Goldberg's argument against the tyranny of cliches is tight as a drum

Iran news: Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri resigned his post and issued a “scathing” criticism of the Government. This comes one day after large demonstrations against the government were held in Tehran despite a ban on protests. The fundamentalist government has looked exceedingly weak in recent days

Tim Hames has no doubts we are going after Iraq, though he feels that it won't happen until early next year.

Tom Gross wonders: Does the FBI own a dictionary?

USS Clueless Knows the real reason that Hitler Didn't invade Switzerland

The race is on here in Michigan for Sander Levin's seat in the House of Representatives, "(I live in Levin's district). Levin's opponent in the Democratic Primary, William Callahan, was quoted as saying: "I mean, that man has never owned a Christmas tree. He's not a Christian. And I'm thinking, `Jeez, how can he represent me then?... I am a Catholic who is pro-life and of Irish, Polish and German descent, He is very much pro-choice and Hebrew. Enough said" (Notice how he even snuck in a reference to his savior). Levin faces a tough race now that his district is far more conservative, after a redistricting by a Republican controlled Legislature.

John O'Sullivan slams the FBI for thinking that we are idiots

the American public is an unknown beast which the political and media elites long ago decided was racist, sexist and homophobic. Our betters fear us. If not guided and controlled, they believe, we will hit out in dangerous spasms of violence at minorities, immigrants and anyone who looks like "The Other." We cannot be trusted with inconvenient truths. In particular, we have to be prevented from launching discrimination and attacks on Muslims and Arabs in bigoted response to terrorist outrages. Hence they seek to calm our latent hysteria by keeping the words "Muslim" or "Arab" as far as possible from the word "terrorist" lest we leap illegitimately to the conclusion that Muslims and Arabs in general are terrorists.

The UK's National Union of Students has called the firing of two Israeli academics "nothing short of racist."

"The union said the action had "shocked and horrified" the student movement - and it said that individual academics could not be held accountable for the actions of their countries. "To target individual academics for the actions of a government will lead to a complete loss of academic freedom of speech, irrespective of the issues. "To target these two will eventually lead to a biased representation of the situation, therefore stifling debate and discussion at all levels," said the union's Michelle Codrington.

(Scroll down for my previous post on this story)

For those of us who think the FBI has sunk to a new low with their refusal to call the LAX incident Terrorism, Daniel Pipes has some news for you; They have made the same mistake quite a few times before.

NZ Bear understands that the "War" is not simply about "Terror" but about Militant Islam. His Take? We are fighting the wrong meme.

What is the deal with Yasser's obsession with Baby wipes? Check out the evidence. Link courtesy of Little Green Footballs where Charles has been all over this story (forgive me), like a rash on a baby's bottom.

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?

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)

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.