Even more important than Fitna is: What the West Needs to Know

I remember reading a bit about the following documentary on video here, Islam: What the West Needs to Know, which is made in the US, almost two years ago. As Melanie Phillips says, it does an even better job informing about jihad, because it's longer, and there's even some interviews available in it with people like Walid Shoebat. Take a look at this important gem as well, and learn plenty more.

Just Journalism for the UK

Now, if you'd like to know some good news from the UK, there's a new independant non-profit outfit called Just Journalism (via Melanie Phillips), whose job it is to monitor distortions and bias by the British media's middle east coverage; the first such organization in the UK to work on a forensic and objective approach. I'm glad they're here.

Congress to vote today on Jewish refugees issue in mideast

The American Thinker reports that Congress is set to vote on an important issue that's been long ignored, in contrast to that of the Arab "refugees" whose own rejected them for the purpose of using them as a tool against the state of Israel. The issue in focus here is Jewish refugees who'd been driven out of Arab lands at the time of the 1940s. Justice For Jews (via Point of No Return) is supposed to have a phone press conference about it.

Update: here's another article on this in the Jerusalem Post.

Trackposted to: Dragon Lady's World, Is it Just Me, Pirates' Cove, Rosemary's Thoughts, Third World County, Tilting at Windmill Farms, The Yankee Sailor.

Secretary of State Rice initially didn't want to meet with Netanyahu...

But now, fortunately, she's agreed to do so (H/T: One Jerusalem). However, this latest attempted snub of an opposition leader is reminiscient of prior reports that Dubya didn't want to meet with opposition leaders when he came to Israel, and only makes the administration, and the State Dept, look more absurd.

Update: read also this article at National Review Online by Rafael Medoff (also via One Jerusalem) about how the State Dept. once again ignored Mahmoud Abbas' vile anti-semitism.

Oops, let me rephrase what I said earlier about LiveLeak

According to what's reported here on Hot Air, they have really ended up disappointing by yanking Fitna off their databases.

I almost misssed it, but, as I see, LiveLeak is a British-owned company? Initially, I had some rather hard thoughts on them, but here's what their announcement tells:

Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.
This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one. Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one anothers culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.

In that case, I'll take back what I thought at first about the company, because if there's anyone to really blame here besides the jihadists themselves, it's the British government and press for their [unsurprising] refusal to defend their citizens and businesses against said jihadists. The video of Fitna, fortunately, is available so far on Google Video, and there are various others who've recorded it already with a torrent program. I guess you could credit LiveLeak for doing its job by helping to get it up on air for starters. Update: now, they're restored their own video to their database.

Fitna is now online, thanks to LiveLeak

Well now, isn't that fortunate that Geert Wilders has found a prominent video host willing to take up on his need for server space for Fitna. Go over to Hot Air to see (I can't post it directly here even if I knew how to access the HTML code, because it's causing my Netscape browser to crash. I know, some of you may think Netscape is a tad outmoded, but I still find some uses in it.)

I wonder if LiveLeak is thus a better place, free or pay, for anyone to host their videos than Youtube. Speaking of which, I'm having a hard time accessing various things on Youtube because the firewall of this computer seems to cause problems, something it amazingly enough doesn't seem to do when I go to Daily Motion.

Oh, here's LiveLeak's special statement about their decision to host.

Others on the subject include Pursuing Holiness (plus, another one), Michelle Malkin, Wake Up America, Riehl World View, The Sundries Shack, A Blog for All, Fullosseous Flap.

Dov Hikind's visit to Sderot

New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind visited Sderot in a show of solidarity, and gives his thoughts and views on that, Olmert, and how American Jewry lacks leadership.

Plague of forced Muslim marriages in Britain

While the native British population's own marriage rate declines, the Muslim rate rises, and along with it a severe case of forced marriages (via Hot Air):

The figures have triggered a public debate about religion, archaic family traditions and British identity. The government now estimates that 3,000 forced marriages take place in Britain per year.

Even Khanum doubts these numbers. In Luton alone, each year sees 300 calls to an emergency telephone line for victims of forced marriages. “We’re dealing with something here that happens in secrecy,” Khanum says. She estimates that there could be about 4,000 cases nationwide each year of children and young adults who are forced to marry and taken out of the country, both against their will.

The sociologist has found girls living like prisoners in their own families. Even girls who do extremely well in school and are preparing for university — are forced into marriage, some at 16 or younger. Khanum has examples of children who were promised enticing vacations in the countres their families came from. And then, right after they arrive, they are suddenly told that there will be no trip back because the groom is already waiting.

According to Khanum, the girls are usually cowed into submission by threats. They are warned that if they refuse to wed their arranged partner, the dishonor will force her parents to divorce, for example. Or that the mother will commit suicide. They are bribed with gifts and penalized with rape. Moreover, not all of the disappearing children are girls. In fact, 15 percent of all cases concern young boys forced into marriage.

According to Ed Morrissey, who wrote that topic featuring this article, it's got Britian questioning their multi-culti beliefs. I hope he's aware that signs so far only indicate this on paper. He's written very questionable things before, and I should hope that he's learned a little bit over the past year or so. But I'm not going to let down my guard on him if I suspect that he's doing anything even remotely apologist.

I'm not too surprised that even boys are victim to this forced marriage epidemic. Here's a Daily Mail story on the subject, that, while it doesn't use the word "Muslim" in it, it still does have a picture providing a clue.

More info on Obama's Muslim connections

According to this info on Israpundit and Freedom's Enemy, there's more disturbing and eyebrow-raising details on Obama's Islamic connections.

Marriage rates in England hit an all-time low

The Guardian (via Hot Air Headlines) reports that marriage rates in the blighty are dropping considerably:

Marriage rates in England and Wales have fallen to the lowest level on record, government figures published today have revealed.

The proportion of adults who chose to marry in 2006 fell to the lowest level since marriage rates were first calculated in 1862, according to provisional figures published by the Office for National Statistics.

In 2006, 22.8 men per 1,000 unmarried men aged 16 and over got married, down from 24.5 in 2005.

The marriage rate for women in 2006 was 20.5 per 1,000 unmarried women aged 16 and over, down from 21.9 in 2005.

In 2006, the number of marriages fell by 4%, compared with the previous year, to 236,980. This is the lowest annual number of marriages since 1895, when there were 228,204.

More than three-fifths (61%) of all marriages in 2006 were the first for both parties, while remarriages for both parties accounted for just under one fifth (18%).

First marriages have fallen by more than one third (37%) since 1981, while remarriages have fallen by a quarter.

The figures show that people are also waiting longer until they marry. The average age at which men married was 36.4 years in 2006, a rise of almost five years since 1991.

The average age at which women married in 2006 was 33.7, an increase of just over 4.5 years since 1991.

Final figures for 2005, published by the ONS today, show marriages fell by 9% from the previous year.

The largest fall occurred in London (29%) and the smallest in the north-east of England (3%).

And even if they're opting for what's called common-law marriages, there may be a problem there too, if the last paragraph is any indication:

"The break-up of cohabiting couples is much higher than married couples. Cohabitation is clearly not a satisfactory arrangement as far as children are concerned."

This is a little cloudy, but if my estimates are correct, they're saying that children are what lead to a breakup? Oh, geez.

When homeschooling is a bad idea

The New York Times (via Hot Air Headlines) writes one of their sugarcoated articles about Islamists, here being how they turn to homeschooling. And here, it looks like a lot of those staying at home for teaching are girls. Just a sign of how the parents clearly don't want them making outsider friends, do they? While as for the boys, we can only guess what they'll learn at home when doing so, eh?

One of them even has the chutzpah to insult western girls:

“I don’t want the behavior,” said Aya Ismael, a Muslim mother home-schooling four children near San Jose. “Little girls are walking around dressing like hoochies, cursing and swearing and showing disrespect toward their elders. In Islam we believe in respect and dignity and honor.”

Classic, classic.

If it weren't for the fact that girls seem to be the biggest victims of this homeschooling problem, I'd say it's better that they go learn at home instead of complaining about US schools not accomodating their needs. However, if girls are the main ones subjected to this, I'm not sure.

Another spy/collaborator caught

We seem to have another traitor in our midst here:

An IDF non-commissioned officer was arrested on suspicion of giving Hizbullah information on the whereabouts of IDF troops, the Haifa Military Court announced Monday.

The officer was arrested a month ago in an joint Israel Police, Military Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation.

He allegedly gave over the details to Hizbullah in exchange for the guerrilla group allowing him to smuggle drugs into Israel.

In addition, two more suspects were arrested by Galilee police for allegedly running the drug dealing ring - a 30-year-old Nazareth resident and a 26-year-old man from Tuba Zangariya. The two were indicted Sunday on suspicion of smuggling into Israel two kilograms of Heroin with a street value of one million shekels.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old female IDF soldier was arrested for allegedly being part of an Arab car theft ring which stole scores of private vehicles across the country, police said Monday.

The soldier, Tamar Marton of Jerusalem, is suspected of aiding a group of 12 east Jerusalem Arab residents who allegedly stole dozens of private vehicles from the capital and other major Israeli cities over the last year, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

The ring was broken up by police this week after a six- month long investigation.

The 12 Arab suspects, all residents of east Jerusalem in their 20's, allegedly sold the vehicles to a Palestinian car pound near the West Bank city of Ramallah for NIS 1000-4000 each.

Make them do hard labor on a rockpile, I suggest.

Member of Symbionese terror group goes back to slammer

They were the ones responsible for kidnapping Patty Hearst in the mid-70s and brainwashing her into assisting them. Katheleen Soliah, one of the former members of this creepy/filthy gang, has been arrested again (via Hot Air and Power Line):

Former Symbionese Liberation Army radical Sara Jane Olson went back to prison Saturday after just five days as a free woman.

State corrections officials said they released Olson early because of a "clerical error." They said she must now return to a women's prison in Chowchilla to serve as many as two more years for her role in crimes including the 1975 murder of a Carmichael woman during a bank robbery.

[...]

Olson's arrest on Saturday is the latest wrinkle in a high-profile case spanning three decades. Olson was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the infamous band of radicals that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst and later hid out in a midtown Sacramento Victorian on W Street.

She spent most of the past 20 years on the lam, living an unassuming life in Minnesota under an assumed name. She married a doctor and reared three children. The FBI tracked her down in 1999, after she was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted."

California's legal system is most extremely awkward, which apparently caused this problem; they didn't give her a hard enough sentence.

Network Solutions is a dhimmi webhost

Once again, we're faced with a serious case of a cowardly company that will not show the courage to help inform the public about Islam by hosting a documentary about it, that being Geert Wilders' Fitna. From Reuters:

A U.S.-based web service, which Islam critic and Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders planned to use to show his film critical of the Koran, said on Saturday that it had inactivated the site due to complaints. “This site has been suspended while Network Solutions is investigating whether the site’s content is in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy,” the company said on the site www.fitnathemovie.com.

Wilders, who has given few details about his 15-minute film, has said he plans to release ‘Fitna’ on the Internet before the end of the month after Dutch broadcasters declined to show it. Fitna is a Koranic term sometimes translated as “strife”. Wilders still plans to show his film despite the setback, Dutch agency ANP reported.

“If need be, I will personally distribute DVDs in the Dam,” ANP quoted him as saying. The Dam is the central square in Amsterdam, popular with both the Dutch and tourists.

He should also consider distributing them over here. There are some people in Tel Aviv who could sure use a good lesson in what the RoP is really like. And, he should distribute them in the US as well. Until that can be answered, I see that a Dutch court is going to rule on whether to ban the film. Is it possible that they might cave?

Macsmind is calling for a boycott of Network Solutions. If they're going to cave, I support a boycott of them too.

Arab youths in Brooklyn assaulted rabbi

This happened just a few days ago, when, following an attempt by one to steal a kippa from rabbi Uria Ohana in Brooklyn, 3 others assaulted him. As far as I know, some of the perpetrators may not have been caught yet. I should hope that they are. The one who was responsible for trying to steal the rabbi's kippa deserved whatever he got, and should definitely be charged with committing a hate crime, and stealing.

More on this here and here.

Couple of briefs

Something I do on occasion...

At least 5 black youths were convicted for an assault on a white woman on a bus in Baltimore in December (via Michelle Malkin). This is exactly what you don't hear phonies like Al Sharpton objecting to, or arguing can hurt the community.

Melanie Phillips talks about using law to battle in war.

There's an exhibition with Vietnamese art in Tokyo.

Is Hosting Solutions betraying Geert Wilders by attempting to block his right to broadcast his 15-minute documentary, Fitna? If they do, all they're doing, really, is making people think twice about getting an account with their webhosting company, IMO.

Wow, this is most amazing news from Italy/the Vatican (via Hot Air Headlines): a most prominent Muslim speaker is going to convert to Christianity.

VATICAN CITY - Italy's most prominent Muslim commentator is converting to Catholicism by being baptized by the pope at an Easter vigil, the Vatican announced Saturday.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim, Magdi Allam has infuriated some fellow Muslims with his criticism of extremism and support for Israel.

The deputy editor of the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Allam often writes on Muslim and Arab affairs. He told the Il Giornale newspaper in a December interview that his criticism of Palestinian suicide bombing generated threats on his life in 2003, prompting the Italian government to provide him with a sizeable security detail.

I hope that he'll be provided with good security now that he's taking up a new religion. This guy is a good role model and/or sets a good example. Update: here's more on this interesting event.

According to this article published on IMRA, Egypt secretly collaborated back in the early 1980's with Saddam in making chemical weapons with poison gas when they were warring with Iran.

"From 1983 to 1988, the Iraqis repeatedly used mustard gas, tabun, sarin and possibly other chemical agents against the Iranians. Most notoriously, in 1988, Iraqi aircraft dropped sarin and mustard gas on Iranian-held villages in rebellious Iraqi Kurdistan, killing up to 5,000 Iraqi Kurdish civilians."

Just goes to show as to why Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak is simply not to be trusted. And it's already due time that Mubarak be punished for his crimes.

While doing some sleuthing on the Captain Comics forum, I discovered, most interestingly enough, something written by the very man for whom the "site" is named for on this topic here from circa the 2004 elections, that contains a most classic example of when a journalist tries to lump the right ones in with the wrong one:

"I don't think this 51 percent of this country opted overnight to suddenly embrace Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved and Pat Buchanan and change the political ambivalence of a lifetime."

Now you'll notice that I put Buchanan's name in bold lettering. This is in order to point out a very sneaky gimmick some establishment loyalists use ("smear by association") by putting people like Limbaugh and Medved, the decent ones, inside the same boat as Buchanan, who's simply dreadful. For heaven's sake, since when did any real percentage of America ever choose to embrace Buchanan, let alone Limbaugh and Medved?

What Capt. Comics says here is insulting to the electorate, and it's simply in bad form to be lumping Limbaugh and Medved in with a sinister persona like Buchanan, whose own Reform party became disillusioned with him, as cynically as Captain Comics does.

In any case, there's a most notable example of how some journalists can use a very clever gimmick of trying to subliminally insert a misleading part that's meant to say that good public representatives are in the same boat as bad ones. One more reason why I no longer have any faith in Captain Comics.

Older item from March 9, 2005: While Ha'aretz is usually considered a fairly biased newspaper around these parts, they did have a good topic to report this week, on how the Labour party in Britain used anti-Semitic stereotyping in two of their advertisements for the upcoming national elections:

The 37-year-old brand and advertising consultant was convinced Howard was intentionally being portrayed as Charles Dickens' villainous, cunning Fagin. "I knew the imagery was not entirely by accident," says Rowland, whose father is Jewish. "These things don't happen by accident. I was really upset. It seemed to me to be the worst kind of election pandering. Especially for a party that's supposed to be all about equality."

A second ad, which depicted Howard and his shadow chancellor, Oliver Letwin, who is also Jewish, as pigs, also annoyed some Jews. The advertising banner - both were posted on a Labour Party Web site - alluded to the idiom "when pigs fly," and was designed to knock the Conservatives' spending proposals.

It's no secret for a long time now that anti-Semitism is on the rise in many places in Europe, weak and self-righteous as they are for quite a while now.

What's really bothersome about these steps taken by Labour is how obviously they acted out of total irresponsibility, as is suggested by the following statement:

Daniel Finkelstein, an associate editor at The Times who served in the Conservative Party under John Major and William Hague, believes the ads "were not deliberately anti-Semitic, but they did make use of anti-Semitic stereotypes."

In other words, the advertising planners acted out of total ignorance to being selfless and responsible, by doing something even Hollywood seems to consider de riguerre: they think it's okay to use stereotypical images and other concepts in entertainment simply because it's not real life. Is that it?

If this is how anyone is to go about their business anywhere in the world, well, we are in trouble.

Oh, and another thing: Did anyone ever hear of such a phrase as "FOXophobes?"

Well, that's something new I just thought of for describing anyone identified with the media establishment who dislikes FOX News. You could use it to describe say, some of the movie critics who lauded the documentary "Out-Foxed" by Robert Greenwald, and, come to think of it, maybe even Greenwald himself. And who knows, even Michael Moore could probably fit that catagory that I came up with as well!

So now, for anyone looking for the perfect way to describe FOX News haters, "FOXophobe" is here for you to begin using. Ole, ole! Let's all raise a cup to the new slang word: FOXophobes.

An excellent article by the wonderful Nonie Darwish, from Isreal National News, that points out that the true freedom fighters in Iraq today are the voters in the elections currently being held:

Today's true freedom fighters are the voters of Iraq. It is the few of us speaking against the stoning of Muslim women, the lashing and torture of men, and the cruel and unusual punishments still going on in Muslim countries. We are fighting the extreme poverty in the Arab oil-rich region that is plagued with corruption. We are struggling against the indoctrination of Arab children, who learn the 'values' of hate, terror and vengeance.

Well said. Nonie is one of my most favorite heroines and freedom fighters of today too.

For the record, Nonie's also recently launched Arabs for Israel, another excellent website, I'd strongly recommend.

Shouldn't that be "US shouldn't pressure Israel to compromise its security"?

In his visit to Israel, US vice president Dick Cheney has said:

(IsraelNN.com) The U.S. will “never pressure Israel to take risks regarding its security,” American Vice President Dick Cheney said in a joint news conference with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Saturday evening.

But isn't that what they did almost 3 years ago, when Condoleeza Rice nastily ordered the government to leave Gaza? I'm sorry to say, but Cheney's making his statements much too late.

I sure hope Obama is losing ground now

After what I've heard/learned about this awful politician, I'll be glad if he doesn't get elected nominee for the Democrats. Here's a bit about him from Thomas Sowell at NRO (via Michelle Malkin). And here's more, truly ghastly news: the church he went to published Hamas manifesto. With people like that as his "mentors", is it any wonder he would be a horrible choice?

Poll finds 85% of Arabs under PA jurisdiction support terrorism

You know something is wrong when you see that a majority of that population supports terrorism:

(IsraelNN.com) Two recent polls find a vast majority of Arabs supporting terror attacks and a growing Israeli majority opposed to further withdrawals.

A recent Palestinian Authority poll shows that 84 percent of PA Arabs approve of the massacre at Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where eight students were gunned down and ten wounded.

The poll, carried out by Ramallah-based pollster Khalil Shikaki, interviewed 1,270 PA Arabs. 64 percent support the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns such as Sderot and Ashkelon launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza. Those who oppose the attacks don’t necessarily do so on moral grounds, but rather strategic considerations.

If so, then they don't deserve to have their own state, do they?

R. Emmet Tyrrell (via P. David Hornik) sums up what's come from how Israel performed "disengagement" since 2005.

Anti-feminine Muslim mothers

Phyllis Chesler talks about Patricia Said, the mother of Amina and Sarah Said, who were murdered by their father Yasser in Dallas, and how she basically led them to their deaths.

This leads me to consider any Islamic woman who makes herself a willing accomplice to murder of a daughter anti-feminine.

Maybe it's good that I've never cared for Facebook

Really, if they were going to force Israelis living in Judea/Samaria to have "palestine" listed when stating what area they live in, then I don't see what the point is of having an account with them. Fortuntately, the Facebook management has now taken steps to at least modify that (Hat tip: The Jawa Report).

However, I find it very off-putting that companies like this one keep going out of their way to add things that are not only nonexistant, but also propagandistic, to their options. It makes it hard at times to decide if I should support them or not.

A rigged Islamist poll

They say some polls are unreliable, and the one spoken about here by Patrick Poole, which took place at Wright State University, was certainly unreliable, because it was rigged by its Islamist launcher, who intended to use it for promoting the extremist agenda of the Islamist group he led, for starters by trying to use it in order to get a Mosque-style prayer room on campus. The way he conducted the poll was by having people outside the university who were not qualified to participate take part as well.

It's high time already to start limiting Muslim students at universities, since, if people like what Poole discusses here are allowed to infiltrate the campus, they'll be very likely to start manipulating to gain things done their way.

Open trackbacks: Blue Star Chronicles, Dragon Lady's World, Pirates' Cove, Right Voices, Stuck on Stupid, Third World County, The World According to Carl.

Mahmoud Zahhar admits there was never any "palestine"

In this article in the Economist, the Hamas member Mahmoud Zahhar admits more or less that the whole notion of there ever having been an Islamic country called "palestine" is phony:

Nonetheless, Hamas might accept a two-state offer if most Palestinians agreed. But it was entirely “fantastical”. He certainly would not now “accept the reality” of Israel, as some of his senior colleagues have hinted. It may, instead, become “an eternal issue”, he says, looking ahead to a distant future when, “like your European Union”, the Arab nation will form one state across its historic lands, joining up with other Muslim nations such as Turkey. “We [Palestinians] were never an independent state in history,” he notes. “We were part of an Arab state and an Islamic state.”

Isn't that something? So why does anyone who buys into the lie of it continue to do so?

Germany welcomes Islam at state schools

Oh dear, it does look like they're caving in (Hat tip: Hot Air Headlines):

BERLIN - State-run schools in Germany should offer Islam as a required religion class in the future, the nation's interior minister said Thursday.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said it would be a while before Muslim community leaders work out a legally binding accord with the government, but that an agreement on the issue has been reached.

"It will take some time, but we are moving ahead," Schaeuble told reporters after a conference with representatives of Germany's estimated 3 million Muslims and government officials.

Both sides have wrangled for years over the issue of teaching Islam in state-run schools, where religion classes are required by law. Pupils currently only have the option of studying Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. Many schools also offer ethics classes as an alternative.

Teaching Islam in schools will be "a very, very considerable contribution to integration and peaceful coexistence," said Bekir Alboga, a spokesman for the Muslim participants.

Participants in the conference, set up in 2006 in an attempt to improve often strained relations between Germans and the nation's Muslim community — dominated by roughly 2.2 million Turks — also agreed to support construction of more mosques and fight against Islamic radicalism.

Wow, how can they do two things at the same time? Sorry, but that's really not possible, and all they're doing really, is caving in to the very radicals they supposedly will try to stop. And peaceful coexistance? Do tell me about it.

Offensive comparisons continue

Barry Rubin talks about how Israeli policy in dealing with Islamic terrorism is being compared to nazism, which is simply offensive.

US army officials need to be on alert for violent anti-war activists

Whoever it was who bombed the Times Square army recruitment center has not been caught yet, and now, the US military has issued warnings to personnel to be on the alert for violent anti-war activists who could target them.

This is most unacceptable on the part of the anti-war hoodlums and vandals to do things like that, and IMO, any who would pull violent crimes against innocent army officials should be ostracized by the wider public.

Others on the subject include Gathering of Eagles, Pirates' Cove, Neocon News.

Interesting notes by John McCain

The New York Sun has an editorial about John McCain and the trip he's going to be taking to Jerusalem next week, and he's actually made some very positive and responsible statements:

Next week, Mr. McCain will present himself in the flesh — not through a video relay — in Israel and other Middle East countries. He is starting off on March 18 at Jerusalem, where he is scheduled to confer with Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni, and Defense Minister Barak. He will also visit London and Paris. The GOP nominee-to-be just denounced the Palestinian Arab attack on students at a yeshiva in the Israeli capital, calling it a "heinous massacre" and supporting Israel's right to self-defense. His campaign issued a statement saying, "This gruesome attack once again makes clear to the world that Israel faces extremists whose cause is not peace but the slaughter of Israelis."

Mark that Mr. McCain issued no comments about a "cycle of violence," no moral equivalence, no question about which side he and America are on. Cynics will attribute this to a campaign desire to firm up support among American Jewish voters, heretofore a Democratic bastion. If so, legitimate. We are more interested in what his visit and his comments portend for the type of president he would be. On Tuesday, Mr. McCain told Reuters that if elected, he would focus on the Middle East. Until quite recently, Democrats have been criticizing the Bush administration for having swapped a focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace-making for the war in Iraq.

It's very good to see that McCain acted responsibly in what he had to say about Israel. When he comes, I hope he'll visit Mercaz Harav, as that would be a positive show of solidarity. For now, time will tell if McCain can prove himself even better than Dubya as a politician.

BBC wrote faked report on house of Hamas terrorist, FOX News noticed

FOX News took note of Camera's report on how the BBC faked a report about the house of murderer of several students at Mercaz Harav, with the intention of getting people to sympathise with the devil. The house has yet to be demolished, but the Beeb claimed it had been, when in fact, it had not, though it most certainly should be torn down soon.

Now that's something to give FOX credit for.

Yeshiva attacker's house to be demolished

The order has been given to police to hand it the wrecking ball.

They'll be doing the right thing by leveling the house of the scummy Hamas-supporting family that raised that monster.

NY governer Spitzer involved in a prostitution scandal

And according to LGF, he's a KOS diarist as well. When someone is as far to the left as he sounds like, I'd say that's a bad sign. Meanwhile, what does this article (via Michelle Malkin) tell us here:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides inside his Fifth Avenue apartment early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He scheduled an announcement for 2:15 after inquiries from the Times.

Mr. Spitzer, a first term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform an end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

An affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan in connection with that case lists six conversations between the man, identified as Client 9, and a booking agent for the Emperors Club.

He had a difficult first year in office, rocked by a mix of scandal and legislative setbacks. In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.

Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.

So, he's first term, is he? And with any luck, it'll be his last. A married man with kids, and he slaps them in the face like that? Gee.

He's supposed to resign soon. If he's smart, he'll do so and save everyone a lot more trouble. Update: most fortunately, he has now resigned his position. Now, let us hope that the next governor will be a much more positive politician.

A thoughtful choice: Mercaz Harav shuns visit by Olmert

This Hebrew-language article on Walla tells that Mercaz Harav has wisely thought to turn down a visit by Ehud Olmert. After all, his policies have led to this happening and letting him visit will not make things any better.

On the other hand, John McCain is supposed to visit Israel in 2 weeks, and I think he should visit Mercaz Harav in a show of solidarity, which would be a most positive sign.

UNSC fails to condemn terrorist attack on Mercaz Harav

More proof that they're worthless:

The UN Security Council failed to reach an agreement overnight Thursday on issuing an official condemnation over the deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva because of Libyan opposition.

"Most members (of the council) wanted to condemn (the attack) but Libya blocked it," Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, told reporters.

In other words, they're slaves to Libya? Absolutely disgusting.

Meanwhile, here's a press release from the UJC condemning the terrorist attack:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2008

Contact:
H. Glenn Rosenkrantz, UJC Media Relations
212.284.6572 glenn.rosenkrantz@ujc.org

Steve Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz-Dorf Communications
202.265.3000 steve@rabinowitz-dorf.com

UNITED JEWISH COMMUNITIES AND JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA CONDEMN TERROR ATTACK AT JERUSALEM YESHIVA

New York – March 7, 2008 - United Jewish Communities (UJC) and the Jewish Federations of North America condemn the brutal murders of at least eight Israelis, and the wounding of at least nine more, by a gunman who opened fire at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem on Thursday.

"The North American Jewish community mourns those lost in this tragic and senseless attack, and prays for the recovery of those who were injured, many of them critically," said UJC Chair Joe Kanfer. "Such premeditated and planned murders of innocent civilians, in this case those in a school, is nothing but inhumane and barbaric. Israelis desire to live in peace and security alongside their neighbors. As always, we stand with Israelis through this tragedy and we share their dream of peaceful coexistence.”

The attacks have been claimed by a variety of terrorist organizations and come during a time of heightened missile attacks by Hamas at Israelis living in the Sderot region.

United Jewish Communities (UJC) represents 155 Jewish federations and 400 independent communities across North America. Through the UJA Federation Campaign, UJC provides life-saving and life-enhancing humanitarian assistance to those in need, and translates Jewish values into social action on behalf of millions of Jews in hundreds of communities in North America, in towns and villages throughout Israel, in the former Soviet Union and 60 countries around the world.

I'm glad that they by contrast are presenting a good example.

Update: eight have been arrested in connection with the murderer (via Hot Air Headlines).

Why there's a war with the Hamas

Barry Rubin talks about why there's a war with Hamas, and why it's important to understand it in light of the murder at Mercaz Harav by a terrorist yesterday.

Terrorist attack at Mercaz Harav leaves 8 murdered

More prices paid for "peace":

JERUSALEM (AP) - A gunman infiltrated a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem and opened fire in a library Thursday night, killing at least seven people, officials said.

On TV, they said it was eight dead. Absolutely tragic and abominable.

Rescue workers said at least 10 people were wounded. Government spokesman Daniel Seaman and police said there was only one gunman though initial reports said there were two.

[...]

The attack came a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice persuaded moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel and on the same day Egyptian officials were trying to mediate a truce between Gaza militants and Israel.

Abbas suspended the talks after Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza militants barraging southern Israel with rockets. Palestinian officials say more than 120 were killed in Gaza during the weeklong operation. Four Israelis were also killed.

Note that despite what they say here, it's not clear if Abbas actually agreed with Rice about resuming: according to McClatchy-Tribune (via The American Thinker), he rebuffed her pleas.

Yitzhak Dadon, a seminary student, said he was armed with a rifle and waited on the roof of a nearby building during the attack.

"He came out of the library spraying automatic fire. ... The terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head," he said.

Medic Yaron Tzuker said he arrived as the gunfire was still going on.

"They were still shooting when we got here," he told Channel 10 TV. "We took cover and the ambulance was hit. It's horrible inside - dead bodies and wounded - it's horrific."

Another witness told Israel TV that he heard both single shots and automatic gunfire from inside the building, and it lasted for about 10 minutes.

Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said one of the gunmen who attacked the seminary was wearing what at first appeared to be an explosives vest but turned out to be a belt holding extra ammunition.

"One or two terrorists infiltrated the Mercaz Harav seminary and opened fire in all directions," the police spokesman said. "One terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire, and apparently he had an explosives belt."

Hundreds of police surrounded the area and searched the campus as ambulances raced to the scene. Scores of seminary students spilled out onto the sidewalk and street outside after they were evacuated.

"There are at least seven killed and 10 people wounded," said Eli Dein, director of Israel's rescue service.

An hour after the attack, medics began removing the dead from the building, taking them away in ambulances.

[...]

"It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem. Many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem," Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski.

Some of the blame, of course, will have to be put upon the shoulders of Ehud Olmert for allowing this to continue.

Update: according to Mere Rhetoric (via Hot Air which has more here), Fatah has claimed responsiblity. Why do any politicians continue to consider them "partners"?

Others on the subject include Cosmic X, Dov Bear, Elder of Zion, Stand for Israel, Michelle Malkin, Daled Amos, Yourish.Com, Shalom New York, JoeSettler, Israpundit, Infidels Are Cool, Kumah, Treppenwitz, Trying to Fix the World, eJewishPhilanthropy, Sultan Knish, Esser Agoroth, Life in Israel, Likelihood of Success.

3 Arabs in east Jerusalem indicted for attack on municipal workers

A few days ago, there was an attempted lynch by Arabs in east Jerusalem against two municipal workers travelling there in their car. Now, three men have been arrested in the case:

(IsraelNN.com) Three Arab men from Jerusalem have been indicted for an attack on two municipal workers earlier in the week. The men were indicted for deliberately endangering life in a transportation lane, assault, and attacking public employees.

The men were part of a group that attacked two municipal inspectors on Monday as they drove on Salah A-Din Street in eastern Jerusalem. The group threw rocks at the inspectors’ car, breaking its windows, and attacked the vehicle with metal poles. The workers managed to escape by driving briefly on the sidewalk. One of the workers later described the incident as an attempted lynch.

Those men should be made to do hard labor in prison for their crime.

Attempted terrorist attack in Times Square army recruitment center

Terrorist activity is lurking in the Big Apple. No one was in the army center when it happened, but the bomb itself was definitely felt nearby:

NEW YORK (AP) - A small bomb caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above "the crossroads of the world."

Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m. No one was injured. The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame.

Authorities said at a news conference that a witness saw a person on a bicycle wearing a backpack and acting suspiciously, but that no one saw a person place the device in front of the recruiting center.

"If it is something that's directed toward American troops than it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate," said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.

He said no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.

Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.

"I was up on the 44th floor and I could feel it. It was a big bang," said Darla Peck, 25, of Portland, Ore.

"It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke so I knew it was an explosion," said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.

Members of the police department's bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the station in the early morning darkness, and police cars and yellow tape blocked drivers - most of them behind the wheels of taxicabs - from entering one of the world's busiest crossroads. Police began allowing some traffic through around the start of rush hour.

I wonder if this had anything to do with that case involving a soldier who made a video that showed him tossing a puppy off a cliff, though it's possible that the animal was a fake one? I don't know, but if it is, it shows that there are monstrous leftists out there who're willing to turn to savagery over their crazy beliefs.

Others on the subject include Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Confederate Yankee, Big Dog's Weblog, Webloggin, Texas Hold 'em Blogger, Yankeemom, Ace of Spades HQ, A Blog for All, Suitably Flip, The Dan Lee Report, NeoCon News.

Bomber-resistant buses

An article about buses being tested by Israeli defense officials for defense against suicide bombers:

JERUSALEM - Israeli officials said Wednesday that they are testing four buses with blast-proof windows, specialized doors and other features designed to protect passengers from suicide bombers.

The buses being tested in Jerusalem are equipped with a turnstile that allows the driver to inspect the passengers as they get on the bus and a back door designed for exit only. The buses also have crowd-control equipment for emergencies, said Ronit Eckstein, a spokeswoman for Israel Military Industries, the defense contractor that developed the buses.

No other information, such as additional security features, bus routes or cost would be made public for security reasons, she said.

Between 2001 and 2004, 77 passengers were killed in six bombings aboard Jerusalem buses, carried out by Palestinian attackers who detonated explosives they were carrying after boarding the buses. The bloodiest was Aug. 19, 2003, when 23 people were killed. In all, suicide bombers blew up 21 buses in Israel during that period, killing 208. The last bus bombing was in August 2004.

Ora Saloman, a spokeswoman for the Transport Ministry, said trial runs of the buses began on Sunday. She declined to elaborate. She said four buses are on the roads in Jerusalem, and if successful, they would be offered for export.

The special buses will be taken off the roads for further assessment after the six-week trials, she said.

Buses specially designed for defense are a good idea, and I hope the experiment goes through well.

Simply stupefying: why are some military officials willing to do things that cause needless trouble for the good members?

I read the news about a video that was distributed on YouTube that showed a marine tossing a puppy off a cliff. Whether the dog was alive or dead, the act was still disgusting, and provides ammunition for anti-war and anti-military leftists. Laughing Wolf at Blackfive says it best:

Whomever made this video frelled up badly. If a fake, they have given domestic enemies ammunition to use against the military and in support of the enemy. If real, well, the only positive thing I can find is that they have identified themselves for what they are.

If fake, they need to stand up, admit it, show the proof, and take their lumps for giving aid and comfort to the bigots and other domestic enemies. If it was real, I reiterate that the book should be thrown at them, and may their brothers in arms add to that as well.

In a day and age like this, it's beyond me how some army members could lose their minds so horribly and do things that only fuel the fire of bigots like what I'm going to point to in a moment. One of the worst parts of this is the obnoxious response elicited by some creepy people on the web, which ranged from death threats against the marine to even the same against his family members. For example, from the Youtube thread:

volcanicdiva (51 seconds ago) Show Hide
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Sick mother f***er - come to my house, I have a Colt Python waiting to blow your short-shit up, cock sucker.

SpaceJamEnthusiast (2 minutes ago) Show Hide
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all american soldiers are murderers who should be executed immediately

Lalalarisaa (1 hour ago) Show Hide
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I HOPE YOU F***ING ROT IN HELL,
)(*&^%$#@
Someone should f***ing throw you off a cliff.
riottheworldddd (1 hour ago) Show Hide
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if that f***ing asshole scumbag disgusting piece of shit doesnt get hunted down and tortured horribly until the day he f***in dies i will find him my f***ing self and tortue that viel festering ugly f***ing pathetic worm until hes cut down to nothing but a peice of rotting flesh.

And, from this thread on CBR:

Yesterday, 04:50 AM #10
Monkey Boy
The mightyest pinja

Monkey Boy's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: In my own world
Posts: 1,119

Default
someone should toss that guys family off a cliff and make him watch for doing that to that dog.

Someone should contact the webmasters of CBR and demand that they remove that obscene death threat from their forums at once, ditto plenty of the others there. The Digg thread's got even worse nightmares.

Of course, I seriously doubt that many of those who posted those obscenities have a care in the world about the dogs and even sheep who've been exploited by jihadists for murdering American soldiers. Here's an older report from the Telegraph:

Insurgents in Iraq attached explosives to a dog and tried to blow up a military convoy near the northern oil centre of Kirkuk.

The canine bomb went off but the only casualty was the unfortunate animal, said police. The militants wrapped an explosive belt around the dog and detonated it as the convoy passed through Dakuk, 25 miles south of Kirkuk, said the town’s police chief, Col Mohammed Barzaji.

“The dog was torn apart by the explosion which caused neither injury among the soldiers nor any damage.”

Col Barzaji said the bomb had been detonated outside a Shia mosque. “Eight suspects have been detained.”

This was not the first time that animals have been used in insurgent attacks. In 2003, donkey carts were used to conceal makeshift multiple rocket launchers in a flurry of attacks in Baghdad. Animal carcasses and human corpses have been used to conceal explosives.

I don't believe the leftists making those threats against the soldiers or even their families are really concerned about animal rights and safety. They just want to believe that army officials are devils with horns who eat children and other crazy and bizarre fantasies. I also seriously doubt many of them care about if army officials who are guilty of assaulting women in Japan have committed such an act. According to the Japan Times, there was a serviceman who'd recently raped a Filipino woman in Okinawa, but while leftists from the Phillipines may have reacted, few on the American left seem to have done the same.

One of the commentors at Michelle's blog sums it up well:

This Marine mom is sick and diseartened tonight… some of the comments that I have read today about our fine Marines have been so vile that they’ve made me physically ill.

And some of the comments made towards the innocent family members of this Marine by certain website owners, bloggers and their responders - and their actions - have bordered on the criminal in my opinion, and many have very frankly crossed well over that line. I saw one vile post advocating a sexual assault on this Marines’ mother.

I suspect that I’m not alone in my despair… this is not an easy time to be a military family member and even more so for Marine families.

You're not alone. Even I find it sickening to the stomach.

Others on the subject include The Mudville Gazette, Ace of Spades HQ, The Dan Lee Report, Hot Air (plus, another one), Matt Sanchez, Right Wing News.

But when will words become action as well?

The Israeli security cabinet decided in a long meeting to put an end to all rocket attacks. Unfortunately, there seems to be a bit of double-talk in their discussion, and unless they truly take massive army action, they fail to convince.

Libya still an enemy

The New York Sun reports that Libya is among those pushing for condemnation of Israel for exercising its right to defend itself. Some American diplomats, fortunately, are on our side trying to help.

This shows that Kaddafi is still a serious problem.

Remember and honor the victims of the 1993 WTC bombing

Who remembers the first time the WTC was attacked in 1993? Michelle Malkin reminds us of that, as does AMNY. And they're right, this is not something that should be forgotten either, nor the victims who lost their lives in that cannibalistic attack.

Remember this tragedy just as much as the horror that came later.

Others on the subject include A Blog for All, Debbie Schlussel, BitsBlog, Op For, The Reluctant Optimist, Conservative247.

AMS group has it both ways

Steve Emerson writes in the Jerusalem Post about how American Muslim Society director Mahdi Bray had it both ways regarding suicide bombing. Note that their group is suspected of being another front for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Washington chooses wisely

The Dubya administration, or the State Dept, or both, have wisely chosen to refrain from interfering in the case of American victims of terror suing the PLO:

The Bush administration on Friday declined to interfere in the case of American terror victims who are suing the Palestine Liberations Organization.

A judge in one of the multi-million dollar suits had asked the administration whether it wanted to weigh in on the cases, which the PLO has argued contradict American policy which is currently providing money to the cash-strapped Palestinians in an effort to bolster the population.

On Friday, US attorneys told the court the United States government would not be participating in this case, but held out the possibility that it might join in other similar suits.

"The United States supports just compensation for victims of terrorism from those responsible for their losses and has encouraged all parties to resolve these cases to their mutual benefit," the lawyers wrote. "At the same time, the United States remains concerned about the potentially significant impact that these cases may have on the financial and political viability of the defendants."

I don't suppose they'd be willing to consider the fact that, having provided the PLO/Fatah with tons of money before, any money they'd be foolish enough to continue providing would likely be wasted, as Neal Sher notes at the end of this JWR column?

State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said Friday afternoon that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayad "have acknowledged that these individuals deserve compensation" and would like to "see some mechanism found to provide fair and just compensation to these individuals." Casey suggested the parties might be able to find "an equitable settlement" as has been arrived at in other terror-related cases.

I really doubt they recognize the victims' right to compensation. I really do.

David Strachman, a lawyer representing several of the bereaved family members, welcomed the administration's decision.

"We are grateful that at this time the US government has decided to support justice over terror and that it will not now enter the case to support the terrorists," he said in a statement. "On behalf of the families who have suffered so much, we will do everything we can to ensure that justice will prevail."

Leslye Knox, Strachman's client, also expressed relief at the decision. She and her family members have been awarded $192 million in damages from the PLO following a terror attack in Hadera which killed her husband, Aharon Ellis, leaving her a single mother with six children. It was her judgment on which the Bush administration was asked to take a position.

Following the decision, she said, "I am glad that the government will not interfere at this stage and am hopeful that it will refrain from supporting the legal position of the terrorists-defendants in the future."

They should refrain due to the simple fact that to interfere would be both immoral and unconstitutional.

Another intifada?

The IDF has taken action against the Hamas in Gaza. Unfortunately, the Islamists in Judea/Samaria are going wild too. As if that weren't bad enough, another Katyusha rocket has struck Ashkelon, injuring a mother as she took cover with her children.

It's been said that a serious confrontation with the Hamas is imminent. I should certainly hope so. The time has come to rout them once and for all, and the Israeli government will soon find that as much as they don't want to, they'll have to deal with them.

While we're on the subject, I see that Ed Morrissey, formerly of Captain's Quarters and now posting at Hot Air, is talking about how the Arab League has demanded of those loyal suckups, the UN, to condemn Israel for exercising its right to punish the offenders.

I'm going to have to point out that Morrissey was one of those would-be conservatives who supported evicting Jews from Gaza 2 and a half years ago. Has he learned his lesson since then? Why do I get the feeling that he hasn't? I don't suppose he'd be willing to clarify if he's come to realize why that wrong. And you know something, I do wonder if he'd be willing to take a good look at what's to be read here, to understand what kind of a man Ariel Sharon, who was responsible for getting the residents of Sderot into what they're facing now, was really like?