The Day In Israel: Wed July 29th, 2009

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In an address to the graduating class of the National Security College at a ceremony at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that palestinians in Gaza would get rid of their Hamas government if they had the power to do so.

I hope he is right, but I get the feeling that you could replace the words “their Hamas government” with “Israel,” and you would arrive at a statement that is even more correct.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:22PM:

AP

Palestinian youths walk next to a wall of a school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency, (UNRWA), decorated with graffiti painted by the school children as a part of summer activities in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 28, 2009. Some 280 schools were damaged and 18 destroyed in Israel’s three-week offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers seven months ago.

Notice the figures I circled in red. If I am not mistaken, those are depictions of Farfur the mouse and Assud the rabbit, known for extolling the virtues of killing Jews.

10:12PM: Madonna – actress, singer….Israeli newspaper article writer?

10:00PM: Ma’an News reports:

A no-smoking campaign was launched by the Youth Health Parliament at Duheisha Refugee Camp’s Ibdaa Center Tuesday, targeting shop keepers and local teens with information on the health risks of the habit.

I wonder when the palestinians will launch a campaign warning of the health risks of blowing yourself up.

7:25PM: And now for some airborne pig action:

The United Nations headquarters in New York is usually not a place in which Israel receives compliments, yet the Israeli delegation there recently garnered rave reviews for the way it responded to the explosion of a Hezbollah weapons cache in southern Lebanon.

Though unable to say so publicly, Arab representatives at the UN were impressed with the Israelis’ efficient and successful diplomatic campaign following the incident.

Instead, Arab deputies and officials criticized the Lebanese government “whose representatives failed in a frightening fashion,” in the words of one Lebanese journalist.

In the wake of the weapons cache explosion, diplomats in New York credit the Israeli delegation with exposing Hezbollah as “the neighborhood bully.” This is a significant achievement considering that some in the UN have refrained from labeling Hezbollah as a destabilizing factor in the region.

5:22PM: An IDF military court has convicted Fuad Shubaki, Arafat’s former financial aide, of security offences, including arms smuggling, financing and organizing the Karine-A (a Gaza-bound weapons ship seized in January 2002), supplying thousands of tons of weapons to the PA in exchange for millions of dollars, and maintaining contact with Iran.

Not to mention using a really outdated-looking photograph.

3:35PM: Here is an interesting blog by a Muslim man named Ali, who speaks out against terrorism and Muslim anti-Israel sentiment.

For example, here is his blog post explaining why Israel is not anathema to Islam.

The notion that Israel is anathema to Islam needs to be abandoned. Individuals like Sheikh Palazzi and Islamic scholar Khaleel Mohammed provide some particularly strong arguments for peace. Unfortunately, many Muslims fail to see that Islam adds another layer to their ethnic identities; it adds a layer of peace and rationale.

Instead, Islam has become a vehicle for Arab nationalism; used to fight a war under the guise of being religiously sanctioned. Those who refuse to seek peace with the Jews are only willing to throw away Islam for a hollow victory.

Many will ask, “why do you not sympathize with the plight of those affected by the Israeli-Arab conflict?” If one is in the trenches and all they can see is the battlefield, they still lack sight of the situation. I fail to see how one can speak of disloyalty when the focus is on saving lives.

Furthermore, there is a double standard applied to Israel. How many Muslims speak of destroying Sudan because of its conflict/genocide? How many speak of destroying Syria because of the 1982 Hama massacre in which thousands were killed?

Respecting the message of the Quran is all that I am asking my fellow Muslims to do (Quran 5:21). There will be those that will attempt to find other verses to disprove what has been cited in the Quran. I ask those rejecting peace to simply look at the Quran as a whole text, not as individual verses intended to be abrogated.

I wish Ali luck in his blogging endeavors.

3:12PM : According to an Iranian Mehr News Agency report, Russia and Iran will hold a joint naval maneuver in the Caspian Sea.

A senior official in the Iranian ports authority was quoted by the report as saying that the maneuver would increase the coordination between the two countries and focus on search and rescue operations and the prevention of pollution.

U-huh. Just like Iran’s nuclear program is for “peaceful” purposes.

1:08PM: Peace Now have gotten “religious” in their latest campaign.

“The occupation will lead to the destruction of the Third Temple”– a Peace Now poster to be hung all over Jerusalem on Wednesday, the eve of Tisha B’Av, reads.

“The goal is to stress that continued construction in settlements and the occupation of the (West Bank) will lead to the destruction of Zionism and, for us, the destruction of the Third Temple,” said Peace Now Secretary General, Yariv Oppenheimer.

The poster, that is certain to stir up controversy in the capital, reads: “Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three things – idolatry, incest and bloodshed. Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because there was unfounded hatred. And what, heaven forbid, will lead to the destruction of the Third Temple? The settlements, fanaticism and occupation.”

I’m thinking they’ve skipped over some rather major parts of the bible.

9:16AM: I love how some people can go to such pains to be nice to the environment, yet completely miss the mark when it comes to morality.

At a recently opened eco-friendly bar in Tel Aviv, customers can enjoy vegan delicacies, politic with left-wing activists or indulge in green-colored beer.

But wearing green may get them thrown out.

The Rogatka Bar – the word means “slingshot” in Russian and was used colloquially to describe slingshots used by Palestinian youth during the first intifada – has found itself at the heart of a fiery debate, after Army Radio reported earlier this week that the vegan eatery does not allow entry to IDF soldiers in uniform.

According to the report, two combat soldiers who were sent to the restaurant last week by Army Radio with a hidden recorder, were forbidden from entering the restaurant, and were told they would have to change into civilian clothes if they wanted to come in. Wearing IDF uniforms inside the restaurant, they were told, was forbidden.

“It’s nothing personal, but ideological,” the soldiers were told by Rogatka employees. “Your uniforms symbolize genocide and violence, and the violence that the IDF perpetrates is the reason for ongoing violence.”

One of the soldiers took off his IDF-issue shirt, but his unit’s t-shirt didn’t pass the restaurant’s dress code either. The two were told to leave.

Army Radio later sent another soldier to follow up on the story, but as soon as he sat down at the bar, employees came over to him and demanded that he leave.

“Your shirt symbolizes shit and disgust and as soon as I see your shirt, it hurts me,” one of the employees said. “Get out of here.”

“I kill myself to protect you and you’re throwing me out?” the solider reportedly replied.

“You aren’t killing yourself,” the soldier was told. “They are taking advantage of you, and you’re a slave to the army. Now leave.”

Calling itself an “anarchist collective,” Rogatka, which is located on Rehov Yitzhak Sadeh, also refuses to purchase produce grown in Jewish settlements and prohibits the carrying of weapons.

I would love to know how these hippies would have us protect ourselves. Throw tofu at our attackers? Ward them off by not showering for a week?

Meanwhile, here is a flier of theirs from a number of years ago (found on their Facebook page) which should convince you of the dangers of not getting enough protein by abstaining from meat.

6:18AM: This should be good.

The Palestinian Authority will find the building of a museum dedicated to the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the cabinet decided Monday.

The PA will assume the costs of construction and operations of the new museum, which will play home to documents and artifacts from the history of the Palestinian National Movement, including many articles that belonged to Arafat.

Here are some items I think should be included.

6:10AM: Israeli defense officials have lashed out at UNIFIL commander Maj.-Gen. Claudio Graziano for meeting with Amal and Hizbullah officials this week in southern Lebanon.

“UNIFIL should focus on cracking down on Hizbullah instead of meeting with representatives of the terrorist organization,” an Israeli defense official said, noting that Israel was working to “sharpen” UNIFIL’s mandate to allow the force to sweep villages without coordinating with the Lebanese beforehand.

Reuters

Graziano’s meeting with terrorists should come as no surprise, since he is on record as saying the UN enjoyed excellent cooperation with Hizbullah, and has made it clear that he sees Israel as the threat to peace and quiet in the region.

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