Obama Moves To Punish Israel?

The United States administration plans to cut about $1 billion from the balance of its loan guarantees to Israel because of its investments in the settlements. The balance currently stands at $4.6 billion.

[...]

The assessment now is that the Obama administration will weigh the political situation carefully before deciding on a cut to the guarantees and may try to link it with Israeli measures beyond the Green Line.

I don't really understand how these loan guarantee thingies are supposed to work. However, it seems to be that the 1st Bush administration was able to use them as an effective cudgel to move the Israelis on certain issues. A stick to go with the carrot, in other words.

Can Someone Please Tell Them Not To Burn Any Israeli Flags

Another Demo this Sunday in Montreal. Another opportunity for the Pro-Palestinian forces to appear in the MSM as a whole whack of lunatics because of angry and perhaps criminal behavior on the part of a few.

And yes when an outfit like the CJC points out instances of hate-speech at a "Peace Rally" you can argue that they're just trying to distract from the real issue--the civilian casualty count in Gaza, shelling the U.N.'s Gaza HQ, and etc.

But they've certainly been given a lot of help in creating that distraction, haven't they? And in this as in any propaganda war "fair" doesn't enter the equation.

Activist On Activist Action! This Time Its Hebraic!

The CJC condemns "excessive rhetoric" at anti-Israel Rallies!

The IJV srikes back, condemns CJC over JDL!!

Battling allegations of hate speech at peace demos! Oh My! Did everyone bring their complaint kits?

Because They Didn't Have Any?

If the Iroquois were Israel, it's doubtful they'd use rubber bullets...

But would they use polythene tomahawks?

Dubble Dumbbbest column to date on the Gaza fighting, courtesy Peter Worthington.

Your Daily Nazi: Nazis For Mid-East Peace?

The folks at Anti-Racist Canada, who spend their days tracking the street-level activity of Canada's various Neo-Nazi groups, weigh in on the Aryan Guard's participation at last weekend's Gaza rally in Calgary:

Neo-conservative blogs that have posted commentaries on the rally have omitted Mr. Devine's comments and have some have claimed that the Aryan Guard's participation is proof that the march was instead anti-Semitic in nature. To be sure the Aryan Guard, and two extremist Muslim men we're aware of who were calling for the killing of Jews, found common cause, but most of the people who attended the rally were there to support the end of the fighting and calling for a long term cease fire, the opening of borders and the distribution of humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, the Aryan Guard took advantage of the good will of, and perhaps inexperience of, the organizers. However, that is absolutely no excuse and the organizers have to know that the participation of the Aryan Guard or any other hate group, be that group Christian, Muslim, atheistic, or other, is absolutely unacceptable.

We at Anti-Racist Canada have one request of organizers of this rally should they organize others.

Please get your shit together next time.

And as for the two men who were calling for the killing of Jews, we hold you and others like you with the same contempt that we have for members of the Aryan Guard and their affiliates. Just as we call out the likes of Ezra Levant and Edward Kennedy when it comes to anti-Muslim rhetoric, we will happily call you... Muslim extremists out on their anti-Semitism. Now, with that said, if you two or any other Muslim man or woman is so naive as to believe that you and the Aryan Guard have found a common cause, here is how the Aryan Guard views your religion and culture:

Since Kevin Libin's NP blog post has been quite heavily referenced in connection with this event, it is passing ironic that National Post staff photographer Brett Gundlock is even now composing a photo-essay on the very same Aryan Guard, and with their cooperation. Now, it is a private initiative and, given the difficulty of penetrating such groups, I'm kind of curious as to what might come out of it. But, given the enthusiasm of Guard members, and in light of the rather flattering picture he is showing on his blog, I have doubts.

One of them being: I doubt the Post is going to want to touch these pictures now. Wait until their writers goes back to referring to them as free-speech heroes, Brett.

Leave Amy Alone

FEARS grew last night that hate-filled Islamic extremists are drawing up a “hit list” of Britain’s leading Jews — bringing the Middle East conflict terrifyingly close to home.

TV’s The Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar and Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson are among prominent names discussed on [ummah.com] a fanatics’ website.

That's from the U.K. Sun. On the other hand, Ummah strikes back in a news release:

The quotes that the article carries are from a thread on Ummah Forums entitled, "Compile a list of those who support Israel". In the very first post, which sets out the theme and purpose of the thread, the user "Saladin1970" encourages other members to aid in compiling a list of British people who support Israel. He writes, "It would bebeneficial to start compiling a list so that we can write polite letters reminding them of the injustices of Israel and to stop supporting Israel." Later in the thread, the user "Abuislam" asks if any names and addresses have been posted up yet in . Further along the discussion still, the original user suggests that rather than contacting those listed directly, it may be a better idea to contact Muslim organizations and individuals involved with them and encourage them to boycott said individuals.

Clearly, most people will realize that this thread is about a peaceful form of campaigning against the state of Israel by writing "polite"letters to well-known and wealthy supporters of the state asking them to withdraw that support and encouraging Muslims not to do business work with them until they do.

And they link to the original thread which, in its current state at least, seems pretty mild stuff, calling at its most furious for demonstrations outside of businesses sympathetic to the Israeli cause, which may be ill considered or not but was legal the last time I looked.

Also, an interesting turn at the end:

This is the Thread which triggered the Headline in The Sun News Paper Today

I can confirm that the User "AbuIslam" who is posing as a Muslim on this forum is in fact a freelance Journalist by the name of "Richard Tims" who registered on this forum to twist what the original Intent of this thread was for and to make Muslims look bad.

Abuislam Deliberated added comments on this thread which made is as if this thread was intended to cause harm to names that were mentioned

This has been confirmed from his IP address and Email addresses has he used on this forum and previous usernames

Whatever, leave Amy out of this stuff. She's got enough problems with her fella'.


PS. Interesting how "Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson" becomes Amy herself in all subsequent news stories. The media must die. It stands in the way of truth.

Israel Concedes A Point

No mortar shells were fired from the play-ground of the al-Fahora school, as per earlier claims by the IDF.

And No Fat Chicks Either

Which one would you rather kiss?

A surprisingly difficult call to make, I know.

You Mean Blood, Zipperhead

So, DNA pumping away, in I marched....

I guess there's a few on both sides of teh conflikd.

The Real Issue...

...with the Israeli response to Hamas rocket attacks does not lie in considerations of proportionality. It lies in the fact that none of the strategies under contemplation going forward will have any effect on anything beyond the shortest of short terms. Furthermore, nobody in the Israeli leadership structure really expects them to. Here's Yossi Alpher, from a couple of days ago:

The official end of the six-month cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza is not going to change very much in Israel-Hamas relations. Of course, it could change a lot for those Israelis and Palestinians who may now again be exposed to more intense physical danger. But just as before the cease-fire and during the cease-fire, the country will continue not knowing what to do about Hamas.

[...]

AN ALTERNATIVE military strategy not yet invoked would be to launch a full-fledged military invasion aimed at reoccupying Gaza and physically eliminating Hamas. The high price the country would pay in civilian and military casualties, the difficulty in maintaining control over 1.5 million civilians in reoccupied Gaza, the trauma of an unsuccessful military campaign in Lebanon in 2006, the regional and international complications and, most glaringly, the absence of a workable exit strategy that could turn over a pacified Gaza Strip to an alternative sovereign capable of maintaining control - all combine to prohibit such an adventure. Of course, this doesn't prevent some of our politicians from talking about it endlessly.

[...]

Meanwhile, yet another strategy - cease-fire - has failed, at least for now. The development of effective anti-Kassam and anti-mortar weapons that could neutralize Hamas' offensive capabilities is years away. Hamas appears to be here to stay - on the Israeli, Palestinian and Middle East Islamic scene. Under these circumstances, whether we are now entering into an informal cease-fire, a new round of conflict or something in between appears to be largely irrelevant to the big picture. That we have difficulty acknowledging this fact - that our ineffective leaders continue to bluster day in and day out with an utter lack of credibility about what we are going to do to Hamas rather than acknowledging strategic bankruptcy as a first step toward more constructive thinking - is part of the problem.

Here's Yossi and others from today's Guardian. Note that the most anybody is hoping for is, come the next cease fire, "more acceptable terms".

Dawg's Wrong

Palestinian fighters fire their rockets at Israeli civilians. Israeli planes drop their bombs on Palestinian civilians.

The Israelis have better weapons. You expect them not to use those weapons?

There are no heroes today in the Gaza Strip. Just different varieties of asshole.