“Politics should be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
Sorry for the long time between posts. I’ll be honest, its because nothing really noteworthy has happened, until now. As I’m sure you’ve all been aware now, there has been another terrorist attack in Israel, specifically Jerusalem. As you can see from this awesome clip below, the terrorist gets absolutely destroyed, enjoy.
The driver rammed at least two buses, overturning one, and crushed several cars in a five-minute spree just after midday (7pm AEST) in west Jerusalem.
However this brings up some important issues; how was this guy allled to get into Israel? Quite easily actually.
He was identified as an Arab resident of East Jerusalem, whoheld an Israeli identification card, with full access to all parts of the country.
As well as this the guy was known to the police for raping a former girlfriend, he served two years. Hopefully, next time Israel will do a better job in not letting these people get citizenship. I really think that a citizenship test should be given to every Israeli citizen. Of course this begs another questions, why are we issueing Israeli ID cards to a possible fith element anyway?
The attack came at a highly sensitive time in intra-Palestinian politics, with Hamas struggling to hold together the truce with Israel, which has seen limited supplies allowed into the Gaza Strip in return for a stop to rocket fire on Israeli settlements.
Egypt immediately locked the Rafah crossing into the Strip, which had been due to open around the time of the attack. Hundreds of Palestinians on either side rioted in response.
Israeli security forces were last night interrogating the terrorist’s family, amid calls by enraged members of parliament for them to be deported en masse to Gaza.
This is was news yesterday but I thought I may as well add my 2 cents in just for fun. Yes, we nearly had a record. The truce only lasted 6, repeat 6 days! Guess who violated it? Was there even a hesitation when you said Hamas? Probably not. However that is strictly not correct, it came from Islamic Jihad which although:
did not agree to the truce but had vowed not to violate it.
However, it may as well be the same thing in my opinion. Now is the world starting to wake up about these people? They don’t keep their word, we knew that already. Hamas is the government in charge of the Gaza Strip, yet they can not even keep their allied terrorists (or as MSM says ‘militants’) under control. Never mind that Israel took down a terrorist (he was a senior in Islamic Jihad person which was the reason for the attack) in the West Bank, where there is no truce. Never mind Israel is completely in its right to target terrorists, Hamas replied that:
Hamas blamed Israel for yesterday’s violence, saying it had “provoked” Palestinian armed factions with the killing of the two men in Nablus.
Still what do you expect. I could now go into a rant about Olmert trying to save his political skin by destroying Israel’s chance to destroy Hamas, but if you’ve read the blog you already know my views on this.
On a lighter note, I am going to be seeing You Don’t Mess With the Zohan on Sunday. Review will follow. Oh and more good news, regular blogging will follow from this Friday as I will be on a break, so expect posts at least once every second day.
I must be crazy. That’s the only reason why I would be posting during an exam period about to take an exam that I will most likely only scrape a bare pass! However, when I see the amount of stupidity in the world I can’t help myself. Why, oh why, does Olmert think it will be actually beneficial to have a temporary peace (Tahdiya) with Hamas? It doesn’t make sense, they aren’t interested in permanent negotiations. Here’s a few reasons why from Jonathan Dahoah Halevi.
Hamas regards the temporary cease-fire as a tahdiya and not a hudna. A tahdiya - “a period of calm” - is used by Hamas to describe a simple cease-fire. A hudna implies recognition of the other party’s actual existence, without acknowledging its legitimacy.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera (April 26, 2008), Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal clarified that for Hamas, a tahdiya is “a tactic in conflict management.” He added that it “is not unusual for the resistance…to escalate sometimes and to retreat a bit sometimes as the tide does….The tahdiya creates a formulation that will force Israel…to remove the siege…and if it happens it will be a remarkable achievement.”
Official sources in Israel have explained that Hamas’ interest in a lull in the fighting is a result of its “distress.” But the organization did not experience “distress.” Hamas has introduced and maintained law and order in Gaza, strengthened its overall control, suppressed opposition, and achieved broad popular support for its policies.
One diplomatic consequence of the tahdiya will be increasing pressure on Israel to accept a future reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. That could lead to increasing demands on Israel to negotiate a permanent status arrangement with a joint Hamas-Fatah government, while Hamas remains committed to its political program of the elimination of Israel.
The cease-fire also grants Hamas a golden opportunity to expand its military build-up for the next round of terror and violence. Emulating Hizbullah’s strategy, Hamas is striving to acquire longer-range and more destructive missiles to be used for deterrence and as a sword on Israel’s neck.
To summarise, for some reason, Israel believe that by going along with this ‘ceasefire’, which by the way will not last the week (if it does I will be genuinely surprised), in order to get their captured troops back through further negotiations. What they don’t understand is this will aid Hamas, and as you can see above, was probably what they were hoping for. Now all Hamas has to do is sit tight and rearm baby! Instead of this piss-poor excuse for a truce, Israel should be in the Gaza Strip right now engaging Hamas, not in dialogue, but the traditional kind of engagement, the one that actually works with these people.
So sorry about the large gap between posts, I have been very busy with work and the like. I have another big load of work coming up in the next few weeks so regular posting won’t be back for a while yet, here’s a few tasters just to let you know that I’ve not given up on this blog. Anyway, two really nice articles from FrontPage.
Just to let you know, last Wednesday (May 21), I heard Mr Dor Shapira, spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Canberra discuss the future of Israel for the next 60 years. I didn’t really learn that much primary because he went into the history of Israel, of which I am quite versed. Interestingly, one the questions asked was (paraphrasing here), what sort of contingency plan is there if talks with Fatah don’t work out (or Fatah is taken over by Hamas)? Mr Shapira didn’t really have an answer for it. He went on about trying to keep Fatah going but eventually admitted that Israel would be in ‘deep shit’ if that happened. I myself asked the question what sort of chance is there for Israel and Syria making peace? The answer that I got was its not likely that peace would achieved, it is doubtful that Syria would want to cut its relations with Iran and all the other terrorist groups. He also mentioned that it was a kind of cycle, every three years or so there would be talks but no real action.
That’s pretty much all the exciting things that have happened to me this week, yay… Once again hopefully I will have some more posts for you all.
Sorry guys for the large break. I’ve had a lot of work to get through, but know the worst is over, yay! Israel has made it to her 60th birthday which is something to celebrate, even if there those who can’t appreciate it, here and here, hat tip to LGF.
My favourite of these links is the Daily Kos one, just read this and laugh.
It thus emerged as a major power and a formidable challenger of existing Arabic powers that will decide the fate of the world, coordinated assassination of President Kennedy which unnaturally led to the hasty re-evaluation of American foreign policy for adjustion that align with the interests of Israeli state for total compatibility in irreversibly entangled alliance.
I’m going to be talking and linking about a few things here, but first how’s this for an eye-catching title? “Lesbians Pick Fight With Gay Women”. This is not joke, its an article about a court case in which the residents from the island of Lesbos are suing gay women!
Next, I’m sure everyone has heard about what happened to those poor children in Austria (locked in a cellar for their whole life). The most interesting thing (and very disturbing) to emerge from this is the fact that the kids thought they were in heaven when they emerged into the sunlight. As well as this, these kids speak in their own private ‘language’ to each other. Words can’t really describe just how, excuse my french, f**ked up that is. Their development is going to be damaged for life, besides being born from incest, I doubt these kids will ever have a normal life. I feel so sorry for them.
Now here is another strange situation that just happened on our metaphorical doorstep (for Australia that is). ‘Timor troops party with rebels’, yep you read right, these people, who many would consider terrorists are being treated like a ‘commander in chief.’
Opposition Fretilin MPs said the party was “bizarre” and sent the wrong message to the people of East Timor.
You think?
“It’s quite immature and also looks bizarre that some, who you call as a rebel who has also been accused of conducting an attack against state, is welcomed like a big head or commander in chief - it is not the right message,” said Arsenio Bano, a Fretilin MP and member of the parliamentary defence and security committee. “Anyone in this country will think now that if you need to get attention from the President or important men, you just need to make trouble - a lot of trouble will allow them to talk to you and negotiate with you.”
Today Israel and Jews all across the world have celebrated Holocaust Day. I have a couple of friends in Poland at the moment who are marking this day while being in Auschwitz on a program called March of the Living. I myself attended this program 2 years ago and I definitely recommend it. The Palestinians however are remembering this day in a different manner (link above).
Meanwhile, Hamas television marked the 63rd anniversary of the Holocaust by suggesting it was orchestrated by Jews to wipe out the disabled among them in preparation for the creation of the state of Israel.
According to the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Media Watch, the head of the Palestinian Centre for Strategic Research, Amin Dabur, said: “The Israeli Holocaust - the whole thing was a joke, and part of the perfect show that (Zionist leader and future Israeli prime minister) Ben Gurion put on”.
The “young energetic and able” were sent to Israel, while the handicapped were sent “so there would be a Holocaust”.
How disgusting is that?
A two-minute siren sounded across Israel at 10am yesterday in memory of the estimated six million Jews who died in the Nazi death camps. People stopped were they were and cars came to a standstill.
Firstly, I had a really great Pesach Seder, lots of people. I got a present from my aunt, a book called Tobruk by Peter Fitzsimons which I will start reading as soon as I get the chance. In the meantime, here’s a nice piece from Bruce Bawer detailing how the West has surrended culturally to Islamism. The paper talks about how the West’s media, acedemia and artists have betrayed their ideals (namely freedom of speech) to kowtow to Islamism. The byline of this article is Motivated by fear and multiculturalism, too many Westerners are acquiescing to creeping sharia. Hat tip to LGF for this one. Here’s the link to the article.
Enough. We need to recognize that the cultural jihadists hate our freedoms because those freedoms defy sharia, which they’re determined to impose on us. So far, they have been far less successful at rolling back freedom of speech and other liberties in the U.S. than in Europe, thanks in no small part to the First Amendment. Yet America is proving increasingly susceptible to their pressures.
The key question for Westerners is: Do we love our freedoms as much as they hate them? Many free people, alas, have become so accustomed to freedom, and to the comfortable position of not having to stand up for it, that they’re incapable of defending it when it’s imperiled—or even, in many cases, of recognizing that it is imperiled. As for Muslims living in the West, surveys suggest that many of them, though not actively involved in jihad, are prepared to look on passively—and some, approvingly—while their coreligionists drag the Western world into the House of Submission.
But we certainly can’t expect them to take a stand for liberty if we don’t stand up for it ourselves.
Actually after reading this, I sometimes wonder if in Australia we should have a Bill of Rights as well in order to further cement our ideals and values to stop Islamists or some other group trying to censor what we say. If anyone here has an opinion on this feel welcome to share it in the comments section.
Just wishing everybody a happy Pesach and Chag Sameach! I am definitely looking forward to this Pesach as my mother will be making her trademark (and best) chocolate Matza’s as well as this, the Seder which I will be going to will have around 40 people! Before I leave, here’s the link for Michael Totten’s new post about the tribes in Iraq and how the Marines are trying to use them to contain a sustainable democracy.
Captain Quintin Jones and Mayor Abu Abdullah
Also I leave you with another link to an article written by Margot Dudkevitch from Infolive.tv about the amount of weapons that are being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through the most interesting ways.
In recent months, Iran has increased its efforts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip via the sea and also tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, sending the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups there not only weapons and rifles but advanced Iranian made rockets and mortar shells.
…
A report in the Jerusalem Post says that many of the weapons are too big to smuggle through the tunnels built underneath the Philadelphi Corridor linking Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and therefore resort to dropping them off the waters in Gaza in waterproof sealed tubes.
No. I’m not talking about the current situation between Lebanon and Israel. I am talking about Lebanon pre-2000. When Hezbollah was easily Israel’s most dangerous foe at the time, as explored in the novel, Beaufort by Ron Leshem.
Infolive.tv has given a wonderful overview of the situation which you can view here.
Despite the fact that senior government officials have stated a number of times that it is only a matter of time before a large scale military operation will be launched in the Gaza Strip, Israel appears reluctant and instead opts to launch frequent limited incursions on the ground and rely on air force strikes, rather then a major ground offensive.
I’m pretty sure the reason why this is so is Shalit. The Knesset does’t want to endanger his life and lose whatever credibility it has left. However, leaving the problem to fester as Olmert is just plain wrong, the reasons of which I explored in this post.
In conversations with Israeli defense officials in recent months, there were those who supported continuing with the current IDF strategy, relying on small but frequent ground incursions and air strikes to do the job and eventually reap results. There were other officials who declared that after almost eight years of intifada, constant rocket attacks on Israeli communities in the South, it was time to act, and harshly. Time to make the terrorists pay. The method ? To issue warnings to residents in Gaza informing them that they have until the following day to leave their homes., and then bomb the neighborhoods and flatten them. Only then the officials said, will the Palestinians realize that Israel means business and if the terror continues there will be heavy and harsh price to pay.
I’ve always believed in destroying every part of Hamas. There can be simply no negotiation with them. All they seem to understand is force. Their version of a cease-fire with Israel is that of a Hudna, or a temporary cease-fire in which they can rearm and regroup. Right now, Hamas doesn’t give a damn about what might happen if they capture an Israeli solider because there will be no real consequence. Sure they may lose a few men, but who cares when they can ransom off their hostages for dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Isreal. This is just one of the reasons why I believe that Israel needs to act now in order to deter any future attacks.
As the violence in the South threatens to mar the Pessah holiday once again, perhaps Israel’s government echelon owes it to its citizens to take more decisive and determined action, and take the necssary steps once and for all, to protect its citizens and halt the terror.
I found this post on LGF and honestly I just started laughing my head off. Read the whole thing here.
GAZA, April 15 (Xinhua) — The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement in Gaza has slammed on Tuesday the statements of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, after he termed the rockets attacks on Israel as “a big crime.”
I’m sorry but can you not even recognise your own allies? He’s trying to help you (for some stupid reason), you’re bashing him? I mean the man even layed a wreath at Arafat’s tomb!
Dawood Shihab, spokesman for the Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza, said in response that “Carter’s statement of describing resistance as a crime against humanity is in itself an overthrow on the morals of humanity.”
Now that’s just laughable. Carter made an understatement with his comment and now you’re trying to tell us its an “…overthrow on the morals of humanity”? Don’t make me laugh even more then I am now.
Atilla89
gowronx2
mrprofessional
shkoles
