Meanwhile, a terrorist-swap deal for Gilad Shalit is reportedly nearing completion, with Hamas handing over to Israel a new prisoner list with 70 new names aimed at replacing 70 to which Israel strongly objects.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

4:00PM: PA “peace partner” Mahmoud Abbas is advocating “resistance”:

In an interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation in Arabic, the Palestinian leader implied that his people may adopt a new type of struggle against the occupation.

“Those who have to resist are the people, and there are different types of resistance, like in (West Bank villages of) Bilin and Naalin, where people are injured every day,” he said.

In case you think he is preaching non-violence, be aware that in these places, the “protesters” are throwing rocks and other projectiles.

Even more worrying (but hardly surprising to anyone following this blog and my contention that Abbas and Fatah are just terrorists in suits):

He went on to point a finger at the Hamas organization. “Hamas talk about the importance of resistance, but why aren’t they resisting now. There is a truce between them and Israel, and since the war in Gaza Hamas has not carried out any act of resistance.”

And I assure you here, he is not talking “just” about throwing rocks and other projectiles.

3:45PM: Some recent new immigrants to Israel….from China and India.

1:18PM: Fatah has reportedly made a strategic decision to declare a third intifada against Israel, thus implementing a decision made during its recent sixth convention.

This intifada is supposedly to be in the form of “unarmed resistance”, in order to garner more sympathy for their cause, as well as to embarrass the Israeli government (not because murder is immoral).

1:04PM: While Israelis endeavor to repair bones, palestinians endeavor to break them.

6:16AM: Photo of the day:

This Nov. 16, 2009 photo shows Palestinian teacher Gada Aby Ward teaching in the Omar Ben al-Khattab School. Twenty years after the U.N. adopted a treaty guaranteeing children’s rights, fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school, but an estimated 1 billion children still lack services essential to their survival and development, UNICEF said Thursday.
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Oh, I get it. A palestinian teaching about the human heart, while meanwhile those bad heartless Israelis are making them suffer. How symbolic.

I guess there’s a chance the AP photographer just happened to be in the classroom while the palestinian teacher was teaching about the human heart of all things, but there just seems to be too many coincidences when it comes to foreign press photographs.

“The threat that Iran poses is very grave for the state of Israel, for peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Without any doubt, we are the first target, but not the last.”

- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:12PM: Opposition leader Tzipi Livni today blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, but not before experiencing “technical difficulties.”

Here’s hoping she had better luck with the coffee machine.

8:32PM: Hamas is using a photo of yesterday’s “Netanyahu slip” to ridicule the Israeli Prime Minister.

Two can play this game, you know.

7:35PM: Sarah Palin criticizing the Obama administration and expressing her support for Jewish settlements.

8:38AM: The moving story of an Indian doctor and his wife, who converted to Judaism thanks in large part to murdered Mumbai Chabad Rabbi Gabi Holtzberg HY”D and his wife Rebecca Holtzberg HY”D, and who married in Hebron on the first anniversary of their murders.

‘Our whole life centered around the Chabad House, “he said in a trembling voice.” It’s the only place where we could get kosher food. Gabi and Rivki were our guides, we did not move without them. They gave us Judaism and we gave them medical care for their sick child. We began a process of true conversion and found the extraordinary beauty of the Torah commandments. Then came that terrible night, and took away my Master …”. He sobs a few moments and says: “But what we learned from Gabi and Rivki will accompany us and our children forever.”

Read the whole thing.

8:27AM: So much for quitting.

8:26AM: Palestinian terrorists have fired a Qassam into Israel.

5:52AM: Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on the backside.

And even then, he’d accuse it of Israeli aggression.

In his latest episode of lying, he now claims the PA are not seeking a unilateral declaration of statehood.

“I want to make sure the Israeli people understand that we are not speaking of a unilateral declaration,” Erekat said. “This is not an option.”

He blamed Israeli leaders for reports that the PA was seeking a unilateral declaration of statehood, saying they were “always trying to twist our words.”

Compare that to some of his other statements.

This is the right time” to seek Security Council recognition of a Palestinian state, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said in response to comments made by EU officials calling the move “premature.”

—-

Erekat responded almost immediately through an interview with Agence France Presse (AFP) from Cairo, saying “it is time to recognize a Palestinian state on the borders of 4 June 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital.” Arguing the case, Erekat argued that the EU recognized the State of Kosovo before other official channels supported its claim for independence.

Sweden is not alone in determining EU policy, Erekat then quipped, noting other EU countries support the Palestinian decision and adding that as of yet, the EU does not have a common foreign policy.

On Sunday, Erekat announced that members of the Palestinian Authority would seek recognition as a state from the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has made the “it’s not unilateral because we have Arab state backing” argument.

Abbas said the move was not unilateral and enjoyed the backing of Arab countries.

“The decision emanates from an Arab follow-up committee (of the Arab League) that was convened recently … and which agreed to go the Security Council for it to say that it supports an independent Palestinian state,” he said.

12:15AM: A former Islamic terrorist tells his story, and in the process dispels a few myths about the root causes of Islamic terrorism.

He’s also got a message for Israel.

12:10AM: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner tries to outdo Binyamin Netanyahu.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, left, slips during a press conference with Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, right, in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Kouchner is in Amman on his two-day visit to the region as part of France’s efforts to revive the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Kouchner will also visit Israel.

And if he is to be believed (which is always in doubt), we can thank the EU foreign policy chief for this.

The Palestinian Authority is mobilizing international support for declaring statehood, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Saturday.

“The idea is clear and understandable,” Erekat told the Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Ayyam. “Now we mobilize.”

Palestinians will bring the issue to a vote before the United Nations Security Council, which would declare a Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 border with Israel, he explained. He called the initiative a response to Israel’s policies, which would send a clear message that “settlements and other unilateral actions are null and void and do not establish rights or territory.”

Erekat said he had discussed the idea more than once with the Americans and Europeans, while President Mahmoud Abbas raised the proposal with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian officials, who reacted positively. Abbas will seek support from Latin America by the end of the week, Erekat added, and continue to lobby Europe.

The concept was first proposed by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, he said. “Contacts with the Europeans have been ongoing as well as with Russia and the UN. All Arab countries support the idea and will choose the right time to bring up the issue with the UN Security Council after they consult the other international powers, including Europe and even America.”

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a warning.

“There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will only bring unilateral steps from Israel’s side,”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:50PM: Rare picture of Arafat’s spawn with her equally attractive mother (hat tip: Jewish Chronicle)

10:28PM: To those who want to boycott Israeli and Jewish products:

10:18PM: Interesting CNN story on Arabs fighting for Israel.

5:02PM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has confirmed that the PA asked Israel to help crush Hamas, and accused them of playing an “ugly and double game.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday accused the Palestinian Authority of playing an “ugly and double game,” by seeking Israel’s support in crushing Hamas while submitting simultaneous complaints to the international community.

“During Operation Cast Lead, the Palestinian Authority pressured us to crush Hamas,” Lieberman told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Then, a month later, they submitted a complaint against us to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

Even before the Goldstone Commission published its damning report about Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said Lieberman, “there were a thousand complaints against Israel at the ICC, a large number of them encouraged by the PA.

3:52PM: Former US President Bill Clinton has stormed the Temple Mount, and in response, Arabs have rioted said “Oh.”

Former US President Bill Clinton visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock on Sunday, sources said.

The visit surprised officials, however, as neither media nor the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Endowments were informed in advance.

“It seems it was a special visit,” said Jerusalem endowments director Azzam Al-Khatib.

Israeli forces suddenly imposed a number of strict security measures, and then half an hour later, Clinton entered from the Moroccan Gate, Al-Khatib added.

The US Consulate opted not to inform officials of the visit ahead of time as they usually do, he said.

A spokeswoman for the consulate told Ma’an that Clinton’s visit to Jerusalem was personal and thus not coordinated with the Americans.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Clinton visited the Western Wall, as well. Clinton prayed and placed a note at the Jewish holy site, according to these reports.

Clinton was in the region attending the Saban Forum, a conference on US-Israel relations.

Now compare this response to that of the Arabs when Jewish people go up to visit the Temple Mount, even when the visit is announced up front. The Jewish “extremists” or “settlers” are said to be “desecrating” and “storming” Al Aqsa mosque, and the Arabs have used the visits as a pretext to start violent riots and even the second “intifada.”

3:00PM: Heh (hat tip: Ian).

1:28PM: Ma’an reports on a “surprising” statistic.

An estimated 200 million children aged under five in the developing world suffer from stunted growth due to maternal and childhood undernutrition, according to a new UNICEF report.

“Stunting is associated with developmental problems and is often impossible to correct. A child who is stunted is likely to experience a lifetime of poor health and underachievement,” a UNICEF statement on 11 November said.

In the Middle East, the occupied Palestinian territories have a stunting prevalence of 10 percent, a surprisingly better result than other, far wealthier neighbors, which have the following scores:

Egypt – 29
Iraq – 26
Jordan – 12
Kuwait – 24
Lebanon – 11
Oman – 13
Saudi Arabia – 20
Syria – 28
UAE – 17
Yemen – 58

Well, surprising to those who believe that palestinians are starving to death, as pro-palestinians and the media would have us believe.

But according to Ha’aretz, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has reached a secret understanding with the Obama administration over US recognition of a unilateral palestinian declaration of independence within the 1967 borders, which would render any Israeli presence across the Green Line (including in Jerusalem), an illegal incursion to which the palestinians would be entitled to engage in measures of self-defense.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:45PM: Quote of the day:

“I wouldn’t be able to speak with Netanyahu so comfortably but I would speak comfortably with Bashir. I say comfortably “What you’ve done is wrong”. And I would say it to his face. Why? Because a Muslim couldn’t do such things. A Muslim could not commit genocide.”

- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

6:25PM: Here’s Hamas’ response to Mofaz’s peace plan:

The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip said Sunday that they would never negotiate with the “Zionist enemy”, hours after Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz presented a plan to hold talks with the group and establish a Palestinian state in 60 percent of the West Bank within one year.

In its official response, Hamas called Mofaz’s offer “Zionist vulgarity” and said it would never recognize Israel or give legitimacy to the occupation.

“Any negotiation with the Zionist enemy regarding rights and legitimate recognition would only give it further excuse to commit crimes,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

My spidey senses detect some Hamas opposition to his plan.

3:50PM: Today’s prize for Most Likely to Fail Math goes to..

A woman holds placard reading ‘US plus Israel equals a monkey’ as she joins hundreds of Islamist Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia movement members in an anti-US and anti-Israel rally in front of the US embassy in Jakarta on November 8, 2009.

2:56PM: Someone’s been drinking the foolade.

Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) on Sunday presented his plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state in temporary borders, saying such a plan is needed “because the relative calm is dangerous, and at its end hides a violent and bloody conflict.”

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Mofaz said, “If (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu won’t implement this plan, I will do so when I become prime minister.”

The MK, a former IDF chief of staff, also said Israel should consider negotiating with Hamas.

“How can it be that six months have passed since Netanyahu’s Bar-Ilan address and there is still no plan in place?” Mofaz told the press conference. “If Hamas is elected and chooses to negotiate – Israel must conduct dialogue with any group that changes its behavior.

“Meanwhile, Hamas continues to prepare for the next round (of fighting). They must realize that if they plan to continue firing on communities, their fate will be sealed,” he said.

The main point of Mofaz’s plan is the establishment of a Palestinian state in temporary borders on 50% – 60% of the Palestinian territory in the West Bank, mainly in Area A and Area B, which are under Palestinian control. The next stage, according to the plan, will be negotiations on the core issues, including the future of Jerusalem, the Palestinian refugees and the permanent borders. Mofaz is opposed to dividing the capital.

Mofaz is willing to commit to the world, and even give guarantees, that the final Palestinian state will not be formed on less than 92% of the territory.

Brilliant! Negotiate with terrorists who are openly attacking us (and are known to negotiate short-term “ceasefires” to regroup before attacking us again), reward them for their terror and then warn them not to continue along this path. (Come to think of it, this is not much different than the Oslo process. We would just be negotiating with the terrorists who don’t wear the Armani suits).

Thankfully, Mofaz is not the Prime Minister and hopefully has little chance of being so after revealing his plan.

8:20AM: US President Barack Obama’s videotaped message for last night’s Yitzhak Rabin commemoration.

Many people – including yours truly – have noticed Obama’s statement “Israelis will not find true security while the Palestinians are gripped by hopelessness and despair.”  While I don’t agree that it justifies terror, it certainly does seem to attribute blame to Israel. It is also patently wrong – Israelis will not find true security while her neighbors hold on to dreams of removing her from the world map.

6:05AM: Hamas has commended the current Israeli government for its efforts in trying to reach a swap deal for Gilad Shalit.

But al-Zahar said Abbas’s resignation had nothing to do with talks on Shalit. “The current Israeli government is continuously occupying itself with a swap deal, in contrast with the previous government, which would send an envoy and then disappear for months,” he said.

Hamas’ political leader has said that his Islamist organization is willing to form an investigative committee to present “the facts” of its actions during the winter conflict with Israel, following a United Nations report which accused both sides of war crimes during the hostilities.

“When Hamas deals seriously with the Goldstone report, with some reservations on it, this is evidence that Hamas respects the international law and is ready to cooperate with this law,” Khaled Meshal told the Web site Palestine Note in an interview from his base in Damascus.

“If the report or any other side has any reservations on Hamas’ actions, we are ready to explain them and we will form an honest and neutral investigative committee in Gaza to give Goldstone and its committee and the international community the facts.”

—-

But Meshal rejected the claim that Hamas had deliberately targeted Israeli civilians during the fighting, when thousands of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip – which it controls – into Israeli communities.

“Hamas does not aim to kill civilians. Hamas does not want to target the civilians,” he said. “Hamas defends itself, but because it has simple abilities and its rockets are inaccurate in targeting, so it reaches the civilians, but we do not intend to do that.”

The Hamas leader also said that the group is willing to abide by any international attempts to secure a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, and that Hamas is willing to accept the borders that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War.

—-

Meshal said that the Palestinians, including Hamas, would be willing to accept a peace deal based on the 1967, and warned that this was the only option for peace.

“…[I]f the Arabs and the Palestinians found seriousness from the American administration in pressuring Israel to withdraw to 1967 borders, and recognize the Palestinian and Arab rights and stops its occupation and aggression, I’m telling you that the Arabs and Palestinians will cooperate with the American administration and there will be peace in the region,” he told Palestine Note. “Without that, the struggle will remain and all the American and international attempts will fail because in brief they’re not moving in the right direction.”

You can watch the interview here.

[Warning: Fast moving subtitles may cause severe dizziness. As may trying to comprehend the ridiculousness of Meshaal's answers]

The only thing more infuriating than Meshaal’s audacity in believing people will swallow his blatant lies is the fact that in this regard, he’s right.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:52PM: Disturbing report on the largest cult in Israel – Scientology.

Pay special attention to what the reporter says about Tom Cruise.

7:50PM: Anti-Israel blogger Richard Silverstein has posted about the J Street conference (http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/10/28/2-12-cheers-for-historic-j-street-national-conference/). Here’s his reaction to Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel getting mocked.

Returning to the blogger panel, Blumenthal had one of the more memorably funny quotes of the day criticizing Elie Wiesel’s address to Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel national event (the joke refers to Wiesel’s investment losses with Bernie Madoff):

The last person Elie Wiesel trusted this much was Bernie Madoff.

Nice guy, huh?

Meanwhile, here’s Silverstein’s version of the infamous “blogger ejection incident.”

Another denizen of the right-wing Jewish deep slime, Hillel Stavis, crashed the panel, taking pictures of the panelists and attendees without authorization and had to be escorted from the room.  Since he was a registered conference goer, J Street allowed him to remain in the hall even though he wrote a scummy report at his own blog complaining of his “shabby” treatment.

Notice how Silverstein does not mention his own role in Stavis being escorted from the room (he was the one who approached security), nor the fact notification was not given to participants that filming or recording was prohibited.

6:00PM: Here is a debate on the Goldstone Report with perhaps the worst representative of the Israeli side I have ever seen – aggressive, rude, inarticulate, and showing more than a passing resemblance to Dr Evil.

Of course, the Iranian they chose to debate him is very articulate.

Ouch.

It’s a shame they didn’t invite someone like Richard Landes or other Understanding the Goldstone Report contributors instead.

5:25PM: Israelis are increasingly getting cheesed off with Turkey.

An employee stands behind a sign depicting a crossed out Turkish flag taped to the window of a coffee shop in Tel Aviv October 27, 2009. A manager at the coffee house said the decision not to sell Turkish coffee was made in protest at Turkish criticism of Israel over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Israel this month summoned a senior Turkish diplomat to protest a Turkish television drama that depicted an Israeli soldier shooting dead a Palestinian baby. Picture taken October 27, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL FOOD POLITICS CONFLICT)

If you think this is harsh, consider the kinds of signs displayed in Turkish shop windows.

1:00PM: Lebanese troops have found and dismantled four rockets ready to be fired into Israel, in the same area from where yesterday’s Katusha was fired.

Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev has filed an official complaint with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council president over yesterday’s rocket attack, expressing concern over the rise in hostile activity from Lebanese territory and stressing that Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for any attack to come from its territory.

6:05AM: Lawfare: Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has faced possible arrest on war crimes charges during an official visit to the UK.

Ayalon returned to Israel on Tuesday evening after a two-day visit to London, during which pro-Palestinian activists attempted to use a section of British law to have him arrested.

The International Criminal Court Act of 2001 and the Criminal Justice Act of 1988 allow for private individual complaints of war crimes to be lodged against military personnel, even if they are not British citizens and the alleged crimes were committed elsewhere.

Ayalon and his advisers received the news on Monday evening before he was scheduled to give a keynote speech at the London School of Economics. His team took the necessary precautions and, after consulting with the Israeli Embassy, decided that he would continue with his trip.

On Monday night, Ayalon spoke at LSE. However, a student wearing a keffiyeh held up proceedings by shouting at the minister as soon as he took to the podium to deliver his speech, “The Situation in the Middle East: The View from Israel.”

Despite appeals from Prof. Michael Cox, head of LSE’s International Relations department and chairman of the event, the student refused to stop hurling abuse at Ayalon. Eventually the audience turned against the student, after the chairman lost control, and the minister was able to give his speech and engage in debate afterward.

—-

Ayalon’s advisers believe that the material advertising the university event was the catalyst behind the call for his arrest, as it described him as a former IDF officer: “Mr. Ayalon is a former captain in the Israeli army who served as foreign policy adviser to prime minister Ariel Sharon and as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2006.”

No further details were available at press time regarding who demanded the arrest.

Earlier this month, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon, a former chief of General Staff, declined an invitation to travel to the UK to speak at a Jewish charity fund-raiser, for fear that he might face arrest on charges of war crimes.

On Tuesday, Ayalon had meetings with government officials, in which he raised the absurdity of Israeli officials facing possible arrest under the universal jurisdiction law when they visited the UK. The minister also discussed the boycott call by a number of British trade unions, and bilateral relations.

Ayalon has yet to tweet about his experience.

Palestinian men compete during a bodybuilding contest in Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 23, 2009. Approximately 20 men competed in the contest, and over 500 people attended the event. Although not the first of its kind to be held in the Gaza Strip, bodybuilding contests are rare in the Hamas controlled territory.

Emaciated.

Meanwhile, I suggest the Freddie Mercury lookalike on the left and especially the guy checking him out stay away from the Hamas religious police.

For previous profiles, see here.

The Hawkeye

Yousuf Hamdan Abu Zuhri

Update: Any excuse to post a scene from one of my favorite movies.

Osama al-Muzaini, who is in charge of the talks for Hamas, was quoted as telling a newspaper run by the group that negotiators were currently studying the remaining issues.

He was further quoted as saying that the German mediator in the negotiations is both objective and serious.

Of course he’s serious. He’s German.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:58AM: A team of Israeli breast cancer researchers were denied entry into Egypt earlier this week, for a major conference sponsored by a leading breast cancer awareness group based in the US, despite having previously received the necessary clearances to attend the conference in Alexandria.

“It is absolutely intolerable for Israeli scientists and advocates to be excluded from a conference like this, apparently on the basis of their nationality,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “We urge the Egyptian government, and in particular the First Lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, who is the patron of this conference, to ensure that the Israeli delegates are permitted to enter the country. We urge the Susan G. Komen organization to make clear to the Egyptian authorities that such bigotry has no place in the global fight against a terrible disease which afflicts millions of women of all nationalities and groups.”

The conference, which takes place over the coming week, is also being supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and the United States Agency for International Development in Egypt. Israeli researchers, working at major centers like the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hadassah Medical Center, have been at the forefront of attempts to fight breast cancer.

Peace!

9:35AM: Candid words from a Sudanese refugee in Israel.

In other news, there are Sudanese refugees in Israel.

9:28AM: Tough crowd:

Interior Minister Eli Yishai referred Thursday evening blamed Reform Judaism for the assimilation among Jews.

“Look what is happening with the Reform Jews because of the assimilation. They are disappearing,” Yishai told the Israeli Presidential Conference. He was booed by the audience, which was mostly comprised of American Jews.

9:22AM: Anti-Israel Protester of the Day: Woody Allen and Steve Urkel all rolled into one.

Security guards forcibly remove a protestor after he interrupted Ehud Olmert’s, former Prime Minister of Israel, lecture about the challenges of the Middle East and Israel-Palestinian peace process during a World Affairs Council event at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, Thursday Oct. 22, 2009. Over 20 protestors were removed from the lecture. (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels)

An inflammatory anti-Israeli television show in Turkey on Tuesday did what Ankara’s cancellation of Israeli participation in an international military exercise last week failed to do – lead the foreign ministry to call in Turkey’s envoy to register a protest.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement Wednesday night announcing that the Turkish envoy would be summonsed to protest the “inciting” television program that appeared Tuesday evening on prime time on the popular state-run station TRT1.

In the first episode of a series on a Palestinian family living in the West Bank, IDF soldiers are variously seen killing a baby, a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad.

Lieberman, currently holding meetings in Austria, issued a statement saying the airing of this show, on a government controlled station, represented the “gravest form of incitement.”

“This series, which has absolutely no connection to reality, and which presents IDF soldiers as murderers of innocent children, is not fit to be broadcast even in the most hostile countries, and certainly not in a country that has full diplomatic relations with Israel,” he said.

Since the start of the current diplomatic tension with Ankara, Israel has opted to take a very low profile, not wanting to exacerbate the situation with harsh public comments.

Tuesday’s airing of the television show – on top of the cancellation of Israel’s participation in the military exercise, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan harangue Monday accusing Israel of killing children with phosphorus bombs in Gaza, and the announcement of joint military manoeuvres with Syria – has now changed the situation.

To make matters even more complicated, Turkey – in the midst of all this tension – is not currently represented by an ambassador in Israel, as the previous ambassador left the country a few weeks ago, and his replacement has not yet arrived. Some diplomatic observers in Israel doubted this was a mere coincidence.

Here’s an example episode of the show. Although it’s in Turkish, you’ll still get the drift.

While this all seems to be happening at once, none of this should come as a surprise to those of you closely following the news this year. Remember this from January?

Of course, Turkey has still been more than willing to take our tourist dollars (at one point estimated at $300 million annually), and otherwise continue to trade with us where it benefits them.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:18PM: As I mentioned earlier today (1:35PM update), Hollywood actress Mia Farrow planned on visiting Sderot, which she did. But while her visit to Gaza prompted her to comment on the trauma suffered by palestinian children who “deserve better”, her visit to Sderot elicted a rather different response.

She also appealed to Gazan militants to stop launching rockets onto Israel.

“On a personal note, I would like to ask the people of Gaza not to give the international community ammunition to view you in a negative way … If [rocket] offenses could stop then there would be more support, though I understand the impasse. I’m a mother of 14 children, I know about conflict.”

In other words, the rocket attacks should stop not because they could kill or and traumatize people, but because they do not serve the palestinian’s interests.

10:30PM: The UK has seemingly grown a pair.

8:20PM: The Jerusalem Post really might want to invest in better picture-caption technology. Not to mention better punctuation.

[click image to enlarge]

Regarding the Hizbullah video (which does anything but refute the IDF video), since I posted my observations of the discrepancies between the videos, a reader has framed the issues as follows:

1. the hezbollah video was shot in broad daylight, whereas the IDF footage was taken at night, shortly after the blast occurred.

2. the position of the truck in the hezbollah version and the IDF video are not the same. in the hezbollah version the truck is backed up directly to the loading dock and there are two men shoving the debris into the back of the truck. in the IDF footage, the truck is parked a little bit away and there are at least 5 men carefully carrying the disputed object and loading it onto the truck.

3. In order for the Hezbollah video to disprove the IDF footage, their video has to be of the same event, which is impossible given points 1 and 2.

4. If it is not of the same event, and the Hezbollah video was shot the next day, then that does not disprove anything, since they could have shown up, and started clearing debris while filming themselves. This would also account for the presence of the Leb. Military and UNIFIL since Hezbollah gave them access to the explosion site several hours after the explosion, after they had removed various items.

5. The IDF video shot shortly after the explosion shows Hezbollah cordoning off the area, loading items which could be a missile onto a truck and then driving the trucks 4km away to a known Hezbollah arms depot in another village. After they were done clearing the house, they let UNIFIl and the Leb Military enter the area.

6. a couple of questions:
-If they were not clearing the area of weapons, why would they have sealed off the area?
-why would they have transfered the objects (whatever they may have been) to known weapons depot?
-and why would they have gone through the trouble of making this video when it is so blatantly proves nothing?

8:08PM: Hillel Neuer of UN Watch is liveblogging the UNHRC emergency session on the Goldstone Report on Twitter.

5:45PM: Today’s Worst-refutation-of-an-Israeli-claim award goes to Hizbullah*, who have claimed that the IDF footage showing Hizbullah terrorists closing down the area around the warehouse in which an explosion occurred, driving in two trucks and removing weaponry from the site, is a fabrication. They have then proceeded to release their own video showing what they claim to be the true events surrounding the site of the explosion – just a few guys loading a door on to a truck in front of the building.

The website of Hezbollah’s al-Manar television channel reported Thursday that the supposed missile in the IDF footage  of weapons being smuggled out of a Hezbollah activist’s residence where an explosion  occurred earlier this week is nothing more than a metal door being taken out to the garbage.

The site claimed that the door successfully threw off the sophisticated, top-of-the-line espionage equipment used by the Israel Air Force.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military released footage it said was shot by one of its drones in the area of the explosion. It said the grainy, black and white video shows Hezbollah members sealing off the explosion site, recovering rockets from the home and driving them away in two covered trucks.

Hezbollah slammed the video as a “fabrication” by Israel and broadcast its own video on Thursday depicting what it said were the true events around the blast.

The video, aired on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV and other local stations, shows two persons loading what appears to be a steel garage door onto a white covered pickup truck in front of the building where the blast allegedly occurred.

The video, which showed no actual aftermath of the blast, also shows two uniformed UN peacekeeper and a Lebanese soldier standing nearby as the pickup is being loaded. The UN mission did not immediately comment on the Hezbollah video.

“The random explosion that occurred in Tayr Filsay in south Lebanon that made a stir in some of the Arab and Western media has returned to its natural proportions despite efforts made by the Zionist enemy to exploit it in its repeated claims that Lebanon and Hezbollah are violating Resolution 1701,” wrote the al-Manar website.

The website posed the question: “What were the Israeli spy planes doing in the skies of Tayr Filsay when they shot the pictures that the occupation’s leadership was not ashamed of publishing in the media outlets, some of whom rushed to adopt the Israeli position and to exaggerate the event, speaking of casualties, wounded, and mass destruction?”

According to the website, “The inflation is fundamentally unfounded, the Israeli footage is fundamentally unfounded, and whoever builds on this lie is also unfounded.”

The website issued criticism that “without any investigation or pre-examinatino, the television stations were quick to broadcast news flashes on the screens of Lebanese, especially those who live in the south of the country, and to publish a shower of items about casualties, wounded, and destruction.”

According to the article, tensions were only high the night the story broke, but that in the morning it became clear that only a small explosion took place that caused only light damage and no casualties.

“In the Israeli footage that was released, two people are seen transferring something from the site of the location. According to the Israelis, this is a missile, but in the footage itself, one can clearly see that the people are moving quickly and carrying something light, which cannot logically be a missile,” wrote the website.

Of course, Hizbullah do not explain:

• Why they filmed the apparently mundane task of carrying a door to a truck
• Why their footage was taken during the day, while the IDF footage was taken at night
• Why the building in their footage shows no signs of damage
• Why the events in their video do not match those of the IDF’s aerial footage (such as different movements of people, different position of vehicles, absence of a car parked in front of the truck as shown in the Hizbullah video)

* The Turkish television producer comes in a close second

5:06PM: Believe it or not, Iranian and Israeli officials reportedly met and engaged in serious discussions on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament last month. And it took an Aussie to help make it happen.

Australia has helped accomplish the seemingly impossible – bringing Israel and Iran into the same room for high-level talks on nuclear weapons.

The meeting took place with little public fanfare in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, last month as part of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, an expert panel assembled by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to help rid the world of nuclear arms.

Coming only days after Tehran revealed it had secretly constructed a uranium enrichment plant, participants said there was a ”very robust exchange” between the Israeli and Iranian officials.

—-

While careful not to claim any breakthrough at the talks, sources have told The Age both sides engaged in ‘’serious discussions” and canvassed the idea of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

Contact between Israeli and Iranian officials is sporadic and only takes place at international forums – no formal meetings between the two countries have occurred since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Officials from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and other regional countries also took part in the three-day meeting and it is believed the talks floated an idea for a further regional conference – possibly hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – to outline the broad aims of a treaty to create a Middle East nuclear-free zone.

Similar ideas have stalled in the past over the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and questions of security guarantees for Israel. But last month’s talks in Egypt attempted to skirt such obstacles by focusing on proposals to safeguard any fissile material in the region that could potentially be used for nuclear weapons.

Iran’s senior envoy to the meeting was its ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

Israel sent the director of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Merav Zafary-Odiz. Israel’s former foreign affairs minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, was also at the meeting in a non-official role.

The high-level representatives are believed to have impressed regional diplomats who observed the proceedings.

3:32PM: And back to being really confused. The Ynet report on the Turkish television producer’s response also suggests he is claiming the soldiers being depicted are not Israeli.

He added, “The uniforms are not IDF uniforms, they only look similar. The Turkish and American militaries have uniforms like that as well.”

At the start of each episode it is clearly stated that it is not a true story, but a fictional one. Cobanoglu said, “Clearly it must be real enough for the viewer, but these are not the same uniforms. It is very important that I stress that we love the people in Israel. We love the Israelis.

“We know that Israel didn’t do these things, but there are small groups who did things like this sometimes, they killed children and things like that. We made the series about them, not about Israel directly,” he said.

So the question is which “small groups” did these things?

I was about to provide my answer but then I noticed someone else beat me to it.

TRT1’s television producer Saljuk Trubanulad responded to the allegations mentioned in the previous post about their show.

“The show is not about IDF soldiers, we also wrote this in a warning that appeared on the screen at the beginning of the program,”

The first episode is the story of a “Palestinian” family living in the West Bank.

Ah-huh. So exactly which army is it in the West Bank? The Jordanians?

“…this show isn’t about Israeli soldiers but rather about a specific group that is responsible for all the murders.”

And who might that group be?

“These soldiers are not Israelis, we know the Israeli public does not justify the operation. It’s just a small group of soldiers who murdered Muhammad al-Dura, the Palestinian boy.”

Well now he’s making sense. The riddle is unraveling.

Mohammed al-Dura was killed by Palestinian soldiers.

Saljuk says he’s not talking about Israeli soldiers.

And we know that the only other soldiers in the West Bank are “Palestinian” soldiers.

The only logical conclusion is that these are Palestinian soldiers in the show massacring their own people.

That does make sense when you put his words in the right context.

2:55PM: Ok, this report dealing with the last item makes more sense than the Jpost report.

2:38PM: Turkish gobbledegook: The Turkish television producer of the anti-Israel TV drama has responded by saying the soldiers depicted in the show are not Israeli soldiers.

At least that is what I think  he is saying. See if you can make any sense of this.

In an interview full of contradictions, Turkish television producer Saljuk Trubanulad, whose anti-Israeli TV drama led Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to summon the Turkish envoy for a meeting, told Israel Radio on Thursday that the soldiers depicted in the drama “are not Israeli soldiers” and stressed that all of the program’s staff love the Israeli people.

“The show is not about IDF soldiers, we also wrote this in a warning that appeared on the screen at the beginning of the program,” the Turkish producer said.

In the first episode of a series on a Palestinian family living in the West Bank, which appeared Tuesday evening on prime time on the government-controlled station TRT1, IDF soldiers are seen killing a baby and a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad.

In Thursday’s interview, Trubanulad stressed that “all of our staff loves the Israeli people, that is, this show isn’t about Israeli soldiers but rather about a specific group that is responsible for all the murders. We love the Israeli people.”

“These soldiers are not Israelis, we know the Israeli public does not justify the operation. It’s just a small group of soldiers who murdered Muhammad al-Dura, the Palestinian boy,” he explained, referring to a 12-year-old Palestinian boy whose footage cowering next to his father during a firefight and then slumping dead became the symbol of Palestinian suffering in the early days of the Second Intifada, despite it being entirely unclear that the cause of the child’s death was indeed IDF bullets.

“These are not Israeli soldiers, their uniforms aren’t Israeli uniforms. It’s a small group that killed all the people and all the children. We say this group is not of Israeli soldiers, neither [those shown murdering citizens] in Gaza nor in Beirut,” he told the radio station.

He went on to stress that the production team based the screenplay on historical facts. “We sent our script to Israel, we checked it,” he said.

I’m still scratching my head.

1:35PM: Actress Mia Farrow has commented on her trip to Gaza.

US actress and outspoken human rights activist Mia Farrow said on Thursday that children living in blockaded, impoverished and war-wracked Gaza Strip deserve a better life.

“The children appear traumatised,” Farrow told a media conference in the Palestinian enclave on the second and final day of a visit as goodwill ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“The teachers say that when they hear a loud noise they (the children) look to the sky and cry out and weep. They don’t know what the future holds,” she told the joint media conference with Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil, also a UNICEF ambassador.

“They deserve better,” she said.

Of course, when the children are pictured next to palestinian terrorists firing weapons in the vicinity, they never seem to be crying and weeping. Nor when they hear of successful terror attacks (it is hard to cry with a mouth full of candy).

Meanwhile, it looks like I was wrong and Farrow does intend to visit Sderot after all.

Later on Thursday Farrow was due to visit the Israeli town of Sderot, which for years has borne the brunt of Gaza militant rocket fire.

12:58PM: Turkey has continued it nastiness towards Israel with news it intends to impose a heavy fine on Israel  if we do not deliver 10 unmanned drones by the end of the year, and take us to the International Court of Commercial Arbitration if there is any further delay.

In other litigation-related news, Hamas is threatening to prosecute PA President Mahmoud Abbas for his “smear campaign” against them, as well as his actions during Operation Cast Lead.

“We demand Abu Mazen name those he claims hid,” said al-Zahar. “I want him to say exactly where he thinks we ran to. This man must stop trying to spread his lies, especially now that the Goldstone fiasco has been exposed, now that the Israelis exposed him as the one who wanted to prolong the war in the Strip. That is why he chooses to slam us instead of apologizing.”

6:10AM: Headline of the day:

China voices deep concern over humanitarian situation in Gaza

The irony is delicious.

6:02AM: Here’s a report about a Muslim student protest at the University of Kentucky against former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was speaking there.

Notice the bizarre ending to the report.

5:50PM: Head Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh continues to use the Goldstone report for propaganda purposes, contrasting his “government’s” reaction to that of Israel.

Speaking at a sit-in protest in Gaza organized by victims and families of victims of Israel’s war on Gaza last winter, Haniyeh explained, “If there is a concern about how the report will affect the peoples’ right to resistance vis-à-vis the Goldstone report, that in no way means we have withdrawn our support for the document in general.”

Haniyeh said de facto government personnel would offer up their total support to the Goldstone report mission, “offering all we can to convict the Israeli occupation.” The Hamas leader also said he hoped Israeli leaders would be held accountable at the International Criminal Court.

“We are for a serious, national effort ahead of dealing with this document and implementing its recommendations,” he said, comparing the de facto government’s reaction with the Israeli position.

Hamas, like Israel, understands clearly that the report is good for terrorists who use their people as human shields, and bad for those fighting them.

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