A Jordanian boy holds a toy gun, wears a ribbon, reading in Arabic ‘Al-Qassam brigades’, the name of the armed wing of the Hamas movement, during a sit-in organized by the Islamic Action Front (IAF), protesting the Israeli aggressive actions against the Islamic sites in Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, in Amman, Jordan, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

Most Likely to Have Caught His Privates in His Zipper Award:

Honorable Mention:

Woman With An Ugly Pair Award

Winner:

Worst Effigy Award

Winner:

This July 30, 2009 photo shows Israelis sitting in a coffee shop as Arab women walk past in the French hill neighborhood of northern Jerusalem. A small but growing number of Arabs is moving into Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Most come for the better services and reasonable rents, but they represent a potentially volatile twist in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute over the holy city. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

I’d almost have given credit to the AP for running with this photo and mentioning some of the benefits to the Arabs of a Jewish presence in Jerusalem (another benefit: many Arabs make their living building these communities) . But old habits die hard, and they just couldn’t help putting a negative spin on it.

Why should these neighborhoods “represent a potentially volatile twist”? If everyone is benefiting, then they should be encouraged, not singled out as the biggest obstacle to peace.

A Palestinian holds up a photograph showing one of the lead characters of Turkish TV soap opera ‘Noor’ , displayed for sale at a street corner in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, July 20, 2008. Every evening for several months now, a tall young Turk with soulful blue eyes has been stealing hearts across the Middle East, from the refugee camps of Gaza to the gated villas of Riyadh. But women aren’t just swooning over the smooth good looks of ‘Mohannad,’ hero of the hugely popular Turkish TV soap ‘Noor.’ Mohannad is romantic and attentive to his fashion designer wife Noor, the title character, yet also supportive of her ambitions. In short, a perfect husband. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Again, I can only hope Israel was smart enough to have placed some poison in Kuntar’s food, to guarantee him a slow and painful death.

Note: Props to AP for publishing this photo. I am normally very critical of their (biased) coverage, so I am more than willing to acknowledge when they get it right.

Updates (Perth, Australia time):

11:19AM: You will find here some pictures of Kuntar and friends being processed for released.

Is it just me, or does Kuntar look like Adolph Hitler after sucking on some hydrogen?

11:45AM: The IDF believes Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah will leave his bunker and “make a special appearance to greet Samir Kuntar upon his arrival in Beirut.”

Here’s hoping this happens, and an IDF jet is there to help Kuntar and Nasrallah make a special appearance to greet Yasser Arafat and the other terrorists upon their arrival in hell.

12:22PM: Israel National News reports:

Palestinian Authority media, controlled by “moderate” PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has hailed the release of Samir Kuntar, saying the man who crushed the skull of four-year-old Einat Haran in 1979 “epitomizes the ideal Palestinian prisoner.”

I couldn’t agree more.

And that, my friends, tells you everything you need to know about Israel’s “peace partner.”

12:30PM: Ha’aretz reports that Hassan Chicken Nasrallah will apparently not attend the prisoner reception in Lebanon after all.

1:50PM: As the Jerusalem Post reports, the Regev and Goldwasser families are still hopeful their sons are still alive.

2:05PM: The exchange was supposed to happen 5 minutes, but I haven’t seen anything. The Ha’aretz news ticker reports that the swap is to be delayed by one hour, citing Hezbollah`s Al-Manar TV.

2:15PM: The soldiers are reportedly now on the border, but there’s no report of their condition.

2:16PM: They’ve been transferred to the Red Cross.

2:45PM: 2 coffins have been laid out at the border crossing.

This is a sad day for Israel.

3:50PM: Ynet reports:

Cries of horror sounded at the Regev and Goldwasser homes Wednesday, as family members witnessed the TV broadcast of the prisoner exchange, in which the coffins of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were shown being turned over to the Red Cross.

—-

Eldad Regev’s aunt, Hanna, collapsed upon seeing the images of her nephew’s coffin and was attended to by Magen David Adom paramedics, which were standing by.

My heart goes out to the Regev and Goldwasser families.

4:31PM: Ma’an reports that the body of terrorist Dalal Al-Mughrabi was one of those to be returned in the swap, contrary to an earlier report from Israel’s Channel 10.

Now the thing about a ceasefire is that it comprises of two parts – “cease” and “fire”. Clearly, the terrorists are focusing on the “fire” part, while ignoring the whole “cease” thing.

And speaking of focus, the AP’s is still on painting Israel as the villain. Here’s their headline for the story on today’s Qassam attacks:

Rockets hit Israel, which says truce broken

As if the firing of rockets into Israel does not really constitute a breaking of the truce; rather, it is merely an Israeli claim.

The report also mentions that today’s Qassam attack was to avenge Israel’s killing of an Islamic Jihad fighter, but does not mention the relevant fact that he was planning an attack on Israel, with ammunition, explosives and rifles being found in his apartment.

Yeah, that’s the AP for you. Biased and now charging money to silence those of us trying to point this out.

Unfortunately, these palestinian terror attacks are a daily occurrence, yet people only really take notice when there are casualties. And then it is forgotten again until the next deadly attack.

What I have found particularly interesting is the way the attack – and Israel’s response – has been reported. The AP report starts with this sentence.

An Israeli missile aimed at a group of militants struck a house and killed a 6-year-old Palestinian girl Thursday, Palestinian officials said, hours after an Israeli was killed by a Hamas mortar barrage fired from the area.

In other words, they seem to be quoting palestinians who acknowledge the IAF missile was not aimed at civilians, but rather “militants”!

Ha’aretz reports in a similar vein.

Hamas security said the Israeli aircraft targeted a group of militants in the southern Gaza Strip but missed them. Relatives of the girl said that she and her mother were in the yard of a house that was hit by the errant missile.

Again, we seem to have an acknowledgment from palestinians – in this case Hamas security and the girl’s relatives – that the IAF missile was not aimed at civilians.

Whether this is really a case of palestinian admission that Israel is targeting the terrorists only, or rather just the result of the report’s wording does not really matter. It is certainly a change from what we usually read in the mainstream media.

But if you think that’s amazing, check out how the anti-Israel, palestinian Ramattan News Agency reported the day’s events:

Not even Fox News uses the “T” word.

I’m sure someone’s head is going to roll over that one.