And Syrian dorktator Bashar Assad also says he supports negotiations.

With a little bit of terrorism on the side.

“The essence of peace is not just negotiations but rather, resistance as well,” state-run SANA news agency quoted Assad as saying.

Speaking at a conference of Arab political parties in Damascus, Assad said that by supporting “resistance” he also supports the peace process.

Armed fighting and peace talks are parts of the same “axis” to recover legitimate Palestinian rights, the Syrian leader said.

Sounds like someone we should deal with!

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

7:24PM: Photo of the day

Omm Ahmed, right, a woman militant in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), poses for a portrait in a house of a fellow fighter, in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Founded in 1969 the DFLP is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. Approximately 40 women militants for the DFLP started training 6 months ago as a response to Israel’s January offensive. They range in age from 17 to 53 and many are married with children. (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill)

The caption writer seems to have omitted to mention the elephant in the room, which is actually more like a child.

Then again, as we saw a few days ago, Ms Todras-Whitehill has a tendency to leave out relevant details.

4:52PM: Here’s the interesting story of an Israeli-Russian boxer out to kick butt.

And become a Rabbi.

Bonus: His surname is Foreman.

1:20PM: It is not every day that I agree with Shimon Peres about something. But today I do.

Richard Goldstone, who authored the United Nations report accusing Israel of perpetrating war crimes in its Gaza offensive earlier the year, is a man devoid of any real sense of justice and is intent on harming Israel, President Shimon Peres told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during their meeting in Brasilia on Wednesday.

“Goldstone is a small man, devoid of any sense of justice, a technocrat with no real understanding of jurisprudence,” Peres told his Brazilian counterpart, adding that the South African jurist “was on a one-sided mission to hurt Israel.”

Referring to Goldstone’s recommendation to investigate possible war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, Peres said, “If anyone should be investigated, it should be him.”

5:46AM: University lectures on trains! Is there anything those crafty Jews haven’t thought of?

12:05AM: Still on the subject of Syria, look who’s a fan.

Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie is planning to adopt a child from Syria, OK! magazine reported Wednesday.

The actress, who was recently in Syria with partner Brad Pitt to visit Iraqi refugees, has reportedly started the adoption process to bring home a baby girl.

—-

“It is clear that the Syrian people, no matter the challenges or difficulties they may face, have always shown generous hospitality to people in need,” the magazine quoted Jolie as telling local news agency ChamPress during her October trip.

I agree that Syria has shown generous hospitality to people in need, if by “people in need” Jolie means terrorist organizations.

(I wonder if this news is going to ruin the recent reconciliation with her father).

Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari responded by accusing Israel of committing “an act of piracy on the high seas,” and dismissed the charges as  “the usual outrageous concoction of lies.”

The same day, President Shimon Peres urged Syrian President Assad to engage in “direct and immediate negotiations, without mediators, without conditions, without postponements.”

I dunno. It’s almost like Peres is from another planet.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)?

5:50PM: Photo of the day:

A Palestinian holds up a banner depicting the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during a rally marking the anniversary of Arafat’s death in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 11, 2009. The Fatah movement of Abbas accused Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers of detaining dozens of its members on Tuesday to stop them marking the 5th anniversary of the death of Arafat. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK POLITICS ANNIVERSARY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Is it just me, or does it look like Arafat was wearing a condom on his head?

5:22PM: PA President Mahmoud Abbas is celebrating the fact his people have been engaged in terrorism for longer than anyone else.

“The Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership will not lose hope and won’t allow despair to enter into our souls,” he said. “Our revolution is the most difficult and the longest revolution in history, and is perhaps the last revolution in the world.”

1:58PM: You remember that media blackout after yesterday’s Netanyahu-Obama meeting? Seems as though it may have been due to Washington disappointment with Bibi.

The White House expressed disappointment in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington, with officials saying that they had hoped that the prime minister would present a concrete plan to scale back Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Speaking at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington on Monday, Netanyahu urged the Palestinians to resume peace talks with Israel, but failed to offer any new commitment regarding the settlements, which the Palestinians have demanded be halted as a precondition for talks, nor did he present any new terms for the talks.

“We had an idea that he might bring something out to push the process forward,” one U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. “But he’s kept it in his pocket.”

There’s an obvious (Bill) Clinton joke here, but I am going to resist temptation. [add additional obvious Bill Clinton joke here]

6:15AM: Former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and three- time Defence Minister, Prof. Moshe Arens, speaking on the topic of the War on Terror and the Goldstone Report.

Relations between Israel and the United States are in crisis. This is the conclusion that stems from the difficulty in arranging a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama.

The White House wanted Netanyahu to sweat before being granted an audience with the president, and wanted everyone to see him perspire.

The delays in finding a time to meet, and pushing it to a late hour – after the news programs on Israeli television – make Netanyahu look as if Obama threw him a bone. In such circumstances, it is no longer important what will be said at the meeting, and the extent to which there will be an attempt to present it as an achievement. The prime minister of Israel was humiliated before all.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:52PM: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was heckled by some schmekels during his address to the 2009 General Assembly of the The Jewish Federations of North America in Washington.

Props to Bibi for remaining composed and coming back with a zinger.

8:08PM: International “activists” have helped palestinians remove part of the security barrier for the second time in a week, making it easier for terrorists to enter Israel.

5:06PM: Syrian Dorktator Bashar Assad has clearly expressed his support for terrorism.

Syrian President Bashar Assad  warned on Monday that if the Golan Heights are not returned peacefully – Syria will turn to resistance. Speaking at an economic forum of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Istanbul, Assad said, “The failure of negotiations towards the full restoration of rights automatically means resistance is the alternative solution.”

According to Assad, “Resisting the occupation is a national duty. It is our legitimate and moral obligation to support it, and it is an honor that we take pride in. This does not contradict the constant desire to achieve a just and inclusive peace on the basis of the restoration of the occupied lands, starting with the occupied Syrian Golan.”

He has also repeated an old blood libel against Israel.

He also slammed Israel for the situation at the Temple Mount  in Jerusalem: “We felt this danger 40 years ago, when the Israelis tried to set fire to the al-Aqsa Mosque.

He is referring to the al-Aqsa Mosque fire in 1969, which was started by an (insane) Australian Christian by the name of Dennis Michael Rohan. In fact, it was Israeli firemen who worked hard to extinguish the fire, while being attacked by Muslim onlookers.

2:04PM: Disturbing quote of the day:

“At the beginning I was attracted to the leader of the revolution, then to the courage and masculinity and intelligence, and then also to the romance there was in him”

- Suha Arafat speaking about her former husband Yasser

5:42AM: Palestinians fired a Qassam into Israel just before midnight.

No injuries, no damage…and no response.

Palestinian seething to ensue.

Meanwhile, here is a response to Goldstone from one of the co-sponsors of the resolution, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif., after the former claimed the resolution was significantly factually inaccurate.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

5:50PM: Some more Turkey Jerkey behavior.

5:48PM: Richard Landes with another fine fisking of the Goldstone Report, this time focusing on the incidents Goldstone and company decided to investigate.

4:30PM: More on that weapons ship.

3:20PM: More than 60 tons of weaponry – including 122 mm. Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades – were found on board the ship stormed by Israeli Navy commandos.

Meanwhile, the ship’s owners have invoked the Manuel defence.

1:56PM: Ma’an News reports on the anonymous flirts of Qalqiliya.

The Palestinian police arrested nine Qalqiliya youth on charges of mobile phone theft and using the devices for anonymous flirting, police said on Tuesday.

11:45AM: It has been revealed in the Mumbai special court that Israeli officials had tried to negotiate for the release of several hostages inside the Mumbai Chabad House during the 26/11 attacks last year.

Details of negotiations and phone conversations between 26/11 terrorists at Nariman House in Mumbai and the Israeli Embassy in Washington were revealed at the Mumbai special court on Tuesday.

The court heard a CD of telephone conversations between the terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November 2008 and Israeli officials. So was Israel negotiating or buying time?

The court heard clear evidence that Israeli officials had tried to negotiate for the release of several hostages inside the Jewish Chabad House during the 26/11 attacks.

So almost a year after the November 26, 2008, terrorist attack in Mumbai it was officially established that that the Israeli Embassy officials in Washington DC had initiated negotiations with the terrorists at Nariman House.

In an audio clip of the telephonic conversation played before the special court at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, two things were clear. Firstly the Embassy wanted to ensure the safety of captive Jews and secondly the officials were trying to buy time, perhaps to strategise their next move.

Israeli officials contacted the terrorists by the number of one of the Jewish hostage in Hariman House.

10:50AM: Israeli Navy commandos have stormed an arms-laden ship, suspect to be heading from Iran to Syria/Hizbullah, 100-150 miles off the Israeli coast.

Meanwhile, judging by the report, Ha’aretz has managed to find a new word for “terrorist”:

Israel believes the weapons on the ship were meant to be delivered to Palestinian rejectionist groups in the Gaza Strip

8:30AM: Sir, I do believe a Darwin Award awaits you.

A Palestinian man keeps dry inside a plastic bag as rain falls on West Bank labourers looking for work in the Jewish State, on November 3, 2009 at the Eyal crossing in central Israel.

In the meantime, if you keep yourself alive, isn’t it nice to know that Israel provides employment opportunities for you, despite the fact your people are trying to destroy the Jewish state?

Naa, not really.

In the weeks following the arrest, the family still held hope that the Shin Bet had made a mistake: “We want to believe that everything will turn out to be a mistake, that the Shin Bet is trying to create the impression that they arrested the man responsible for all those crimes just to get others to talk, but we don’t know anything,” Rivka’s sister, Dassi Krief, told Ynet.

Teitel’s wife, said the family, has faith that the situation will resolve itself. “She can’t afford to think that there can be truth to this,” said a relative. “Otherwise she’ll just fall apart. She has to stand by him even in this difficult time.”

Rivka was accompanied by several neighbors when she first attended her husband’s arraignments, but as the case began to unfold, she began attending the hearings on her own.

Now, as the case became public knowledge, the family seems angry and embittered. They feel as if they were all deceived, said Dassi. “It’s very hard. We were all so happy that she married such a good man, and he turned out to be a lunatic. How are we supposed to handle that?

“(…) I think it’s better that we know, but that is what hurt her the most – learning that she has been living a lie. Just last week she told me that she felt cheated and then I realized she knew. She understood.”

Moshe Avitan, Rivka’s brother-in-law, said the family feels exploited: “This man married her while hiding a can of worms. He knew what he was. He started a family without giving his children a second thought.

“This is very hard for us but be can’t ignore this… We’ve already decided to cut all ties with him and his family.”

Rivka, he added, “Is in a complete state of shock. He is a psychopath who was leading a double life… She wants to talk to him and she has plenty to say.

The same goes for his Jewish neighbors.

Meanwhile, the Shvut Rahel community, where Ya’acov resides with his own family, and where police found a cache of weapons near his home, issued a statement Sunday expressing its revulsion to the actions attributed to him.

The community expressed hope that the security establishment would uncover the truth, but also “prays that the suspicions against Ya’acov Teitel will be found to be untrue, and so long as he was not proven guilty we believe in his innocence.”

Not to mention other members of the so-called “settler” communities demonized by all and sundry.

“Acts of the kind allegedly committed by Yaakov Teitel are grave, prohibited and unacceptable. The security forces should be congratulated for discovering him,” Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council of settlements, said Sunday.

“Any person of conscience in Israel must rise up in indignation against such acts, as well as against any despicable attempt to use them to gain political capital by blaming an entire community that is not connected – and is in fact vehemently opposed – to such actions,” Dayan added.

Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah, a liberal religious-Zionist movement, said that it “condemns any kind of violence. There is no justification for these heinous acts in the Torah, which espouses kindness and peace. However, we ask that people avoid pointing fingers and casting blame on an entire community because of the acts of one person.”

Reader homework exercise: compare these reactions to those of the palestinians.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

5:55PM: Some good old fashioned incitement from the palestinian Ma’an News, which use a picture of an Israeli girl praying to illustrate a story on “Jewish terrorists.” [click on image to enlarge]

3:35PM: Quote of the day:

“If you say that this is a Palestinian land, can you mention to me one Palestinian ruler, king, or government that ruled the land? Can you tell me the boundaries of that land? There was never a Palestinian state. Never ever in history was there a Palestinian state. It will be another twist of history that Israel – the Jews – will create the Palestinian state, not Arabs, not anyone else. We will create a Palestinian state.”

- Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon speaking at the London School of Economics last week

3:30PM: From the Department of Crafty Jews:

Israel’s Mossad espionage agency used Trojan Horse programs to gather intelligence about a nuclear facility in Syria the Israel Defense Forces destroyed in 2007, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday.

According to the magazine, Mossad agents in London planted the malware on the computer of a Syrian official who was staying in the British capital; he was at a hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Kensington at the time.

The program copied the details of Syria’s illicit nuclear program and sent them directly to the Mossad agents’ computers, the report said.

3:26PM: Here is former Egyptian Chief of Staff Sa’ad al-Din al-Shazli in an interview with an almost comatose Al Jazeera reporter, in which he says that there will definitely be more Arab-Israeli wars – not because of some supposed Israeli “occupation” of palestinian lands but “based on our belief in G-d, the Koran, and the Prophet Muhammad.”

This coming from a Muslim who looks rather secular.

1:48PM: Swedish blood libel “journalist” Donald Bostrom was booed during his panel at a media conference in Israel. But he seemed defiant and unrepentant about publishing his story.

The hoopla from Sweden spreads to Dimona. Swedish reporter Donald Bostrom, who published a report in the Aftonbladet newspaper accusing the Israel Defense Forces of stealing and trafficking in Palestinians’ organs, was received Monday with boos and shouts during a panel he partook in at a media conference held in Dimona.

The Swedish reporter said that he understands the anger and explained that his infamous article only claimed that the Palestinian families’ allegations need to be investigated. He also said that there was much misunderstanding surrounding the article. “The fact is that the families said what they said. That’s a normal article,” he said.

Interviewer Yair Lapid said, “It is a well-known phenomenon that some of the Palestinian propaganda is lies. It is the weapon of the weak.”

Lapid claimed that he was not at all certain that the Swedish reporter had any basis for the article.

Bostrom responded, “If you are as journalist, you always interview, ask questions, and get answers. Organ trafficking is a global problem.” He said that before he wrote the article, he invested a lot of time researching and spending time in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where he said he interviewed many families off of list given to him. Bostrom said that he chose to publish the story of one of the families, whom he says he interviewed for quite some time and received pictures of their son’s corpse.

Lapid shot back, “To say this without a shred of evidence, that Israel possibly harvested organs from Palestinians who disappeared, in other words, whom we kidnapped, killed, and robbed their organs, is a degrading and monstrous idea.”

In response, Bostrom said that he understands why people are angry, saying that everyone lies while at war. He said that it is difficult for reporters to distinguish between what is correct and what is a lie. “If it were just one family, fine. But there were many families. Mothers have a right to know what happened to their sons,” claimed Bostrom

Bostrom said that everyone would benefit from an investigation into the issue, saying no one had anything to lose. “If it is possible to give an answer to a Palestinian mother that nothing happened to her son, this must be done,” Bostrom asserted.

Bostrom claimed that he never said that the IDF track down Palestinians with the express purpose of harvesting organs. “This is a terrible lie,” he said.

‘Crossing the line’

Lapid concluded, “You are an anti-Semite because you are prepared to believe that there is a possibility that the government and the authorities would take part in such a monstrous thing. The only thing I can say in your favor is that you don’t know you’re an anti-Semite.”

Bostrom said in response, “If we walk in the streets of Stockholm and ask passersby about Israel, the vast majority will respond that they support its right to exist in peace. However, we also have a tradition of criticism, and we will criticize Israel though we support your country.”

Some of the people sitting in the audience did not accept the Swede’s explanations. They called the Swedish reporter a “liar,” and waved banners with “Israel is stronger than anti-Semitism” written on them.

Nor did Bostrom receive a warm welcome when he arrived the night between Saturday and Sunday at Ben Gurion Airport. Dozens of protesters from the Beitar youth movement met him there with shouts.

Incidentally, the Goldstone Report is based on the same principle: publish something based on spurious palestinian claims and then place the onus to investigate them on Israel, who is already comdemned in the court of public opinion by the very publication of the lies to begin with.

Meanwhile, what is Swedish for “Would somebody please show this poor asshole the way out of town.”

The Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead will not go away even if Israel launches an independent inquiry into the campaign, UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said Wednesday.

“There are no legal questions here – and we shouldn’t be deluding ourselves that the report will disappear if we launch a probe,” Shalev said during a discussion held at the Israel Democracy Institute. “We are seeing a murky wave against the State of Israel the likes of which has not been seen in many years.”

“It reached the point of de-legitimizing our existence as an independent state,” she said.

“We are doing a poor job of explaining our position,” Shalev added. “What we have here is an indictment against Israel, against freedom of expression, against the legal establishment, and against the army.”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

6:02PM: A state memorial ceremony was held today marking 14 years since the assassination of formerPrime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Besides the obvious human tragedy, Yitzhak Rabin’s murder led to others co-opting his name to advance their own agendas. For instance, those who advocate a palestinian state like to refer back to Rabin and the Oslo process, yet conveniently leave out Rabin’s own views on the subject.

From his speech on the ratification of the Israeli- Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip:

We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says similar things and he is derided as an extremist.

5:26PM: There is nothing humorous about this Daily Show interview with palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti and Jewish anti-Israel activist Anna Baltzer.

Stewart does not challenge them on any of the blatant lies, including the corker from Barghouti that “90% of the palestinian struggle has been non-violent. Today, it’s maybe 99;5% non-violent.” (05:55), although even Stewart’s B.S detectors activate when Baltzer claims that “Jews lived better within the Arab world than virtually anywhere within the Western world” (05:45).

9:48AM: Lebanon has sprung into action following the Katushya attack on Israel a few days ago, already identifying the culprits.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman says Israel is behind the Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon on Tuesday. In an interview to Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, the president did not conceal his concern over the recent incident.

Suleiman said the rocket “is an excuse for Israel to keep violating Lebanon’s sovereignty and immediately use it to continue its intelligence activity in Lebanon due to Hezbollah’s presence.”

The president explained that the rocket attack from Lebanon coincides with Israel’s interested and said the shooter was an Israeli agent. “Therefore, I do not rule out the possibility that Israel is the one behind the Katyusha attack,” he said.

8:45AM: Ha’aretz headline:

White House slams Obama’s poor standing among Israelis

The problem is, there is no indication of any such “slamming” in the report itself, which does mention this though:

Obama’s advisers are worried about his lack of popularity and the expressed feeling that he is hostile to Israel. They believe this seriously harms his ability to advance the peace process with the Palestinians. Obama’s advisers see this as the reason why Israelis view his diplomatic initiatives on both Iran and the Palestinians so negatively.

Recent weeks have seen a number of meetings on the matter in the White House, and one of the ideas under discussion is an Obama visit to Israel. It was decided at this stage to wait and send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Jerusalem; she is to arrive Saturday night.

I don’t know if that will work either. After all, if the below Jerusalem Post picture and caption is anything to go by, Israelis do not think much of her either.

8:35AM: As if we didn’t have enough problems.

The reliability of a breathalyzer device widely used by Israeli police has been called into question: A new study found the device is vulnerable to external conditions, and prone to registering innocuous substances as alcohol.

The defense team for a suspect charged with driving under the influence hired an expert to test the breathalyzer, manufactured by the German firm Draeger and widely used by the Israel Police.

The expert – Dr. Igal Bar-Ilan, head of the Analytical Chemistry Department at the research institute MIGAL in Kiryat Shmona, and a lecturer at the city’s Tel-Hai Academic College – found that external conditions such as temperature, humidity, and the length and speed of inhalation can affect reported BAC levels, making the driver seem intoxicated when he is not.

Bar-Ilan also found that the device is likely to incorrectly interpret compounds like acetone and acetic acid as alcoholic substances.

The study was conducted under police supervision and in cooperation with Draeger.

The device reported alcohol in Tirosh brand grape juice and the energy drink XL, the experiment found. When small amounts of alcohol were mixed with these beverages, the device reported the quantity was larger than it actually was.

Eran Ben-Ami, the attorney who initiated the study, said thousands of Israeli motorists may have been wrongly convicted of driving under the influence – an offense for which drivers may lose their licenses for two years.

5:50AM: The UN General Assembly announced it will meet next week (November 4) to consider the Goldstone Report.

12:45AM: While Syrian Dorktator Bashar Assad’s statement that Syria is ready to continue peace talks with Israel has been widely reported, not many news outlets are reporting claims by a Kuwaiti news site that an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister in New York (auto-translation):

Arab normalization: Syrian official adviser had met with Netanyahu

New York – Palestine Media – newspaper (Gazette) Kuwait on its website, quoting informed sources in Jerusalem said the Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad recently met in New York Yitzhak Molkho adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She explained that the meeting was held in the Helmsley Hotel in New York under the auspices of the rich American of Jewish origin Ron Lauder, known for his close ties with Damascus.

Kuwaiti newspaper quoted the sources mentioned as saying that the meeting was cordial and took two hours, during which the parties talked about the circumstances and climates conducive to the resumption of negotiations between Israel and Syria under the auspices of an American, referring to the Israeli side has confirmed his intention to hold talks without conditions. These sources added that Molkho Mekdad reported that Netanyahu is ready to make peace.

The same sources confirmed occurrence of other events at different levels between the Syrian and Israeli officials with the knowledge of authorities on both sides.

The prime minister said during the meeting that the establishment of an investigation committee was “not an option.”

“IDF soldiers and officers will not be subjected to investigation,” he stressed.

An official at the prime minister’s office said that there were “differing opinions on what should be done.”

Barak added that “we sent the fighters on the mission, and they deserve our full support.”

“Israel is prepared to fight against the legitimacy of the Goldstone report. In addition, Israel will act to amend rules of war to adjust them to the battle against terrorists who fight from among civilians,” he said.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:30PM: Solomon has more on the Silverstein panel incident. As he notes:

This is interesting for what it says about the “progressive” mind-set. Also note that while J Street doesn’t want an official affiliation with this panel, they were not above giving them space and using their own paid staff as enforcers.

9:10PM: Here’s the video of Richard Silverstein having a blogger kicked out letting a blogger know he was about to be booted out of his panel discussion (held in a room at the same hotel as the official J-Street conference).

I am told the blogger wasn’t doing anything wrong – just filming – and was a paid attendee. Someone from JStreet ended up apologizing.

8:58PM: You can watch the “pro-Israel” (read: not so much) J-Street conference live here.

Meanwhile, I have it on good authority that anti-Israel blogger Richard Silverstein had a blogger kicked out of his J-Street Blogger panel. My contact has promised me video of Silverstein having the blogger ejected, and I’ll post it then.

8:25PM: A new ADL poll shows that Americans are more sympathetic towards Israel than the palestinians, and support an Israeli strike on Iran.

Here are some of the highlights (you can click on any of the graphs to enlarge).

5:20PM: Meet the palestinian Sesame Street, where youngsters supposedly learn about non-violence and tolerance.

Or so we are led to believe. From 1:00 onwards, the tone takes a somewhat darker turn.

Call me crazy, but that pissed off bear bears an uncanny resemblance to Nassur.

5:02PM: The Syrians are trying to stir up trouble.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has denounced Israel’s “blatant violation of the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque,” following the recent wave of riots in Jerusalem.

In an official statement released Monday, the ministry said that “(Damascus) believes the Israeli security forces’ invasion of al-Aqsa was part of Israel’s scheme to Judaize Jerusalem and destroy the mosque.”

A Syrian news agency further quoted the official as saying Israel’s actions were “a crime against Arab history and heritage and against Muslims’ holy places.”

I’m not quite sure how allowing the Muslims – through the Waqf – to retain control over the Temple Mount, and never attempting to destroy the mosque, in the 40 plus years since we captured the old city of Jerusalem, quite fits in to this scheme.

1:34PM: Today’s caption bias comes to us courtesy of Reuters.

A tourist takes a photograph of the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) in Jerusalem’s Old City October 26, 2009. Israeli police stormed the compound on Sunday, hurling stun grenades at Palestinians who threw rocks at them, in another outbreak of violence at the holy city’s most sensitive site. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM POLITICS RELIGION TRAVEL)

The caption makes it sound like Israeli police aggressively raided the Temple Mount, which was met by the palestinian response of throwing rocks.  There is no mention of the fact the whole reason for the Israeli police doing what they did was as a response to Muslims preparing to cause trouble, nor the fact they did not just throw rocks, but also deadlier petrol bombs.

9:34AM: Turkey continues to attack Israel, with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan now claiming that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to use nuclear weapons against Gaza.

This doesn’t even dignify a response, given Israel’s proximity to Gaza and the fact Israelis would not agree to such action. But perhaps the Turks can include such a plot line in their favorite television show.

Meanwhile, Erdogan is calling someone who actually does intend to use nuclear weapons a “friend.”

The Turkish leader also stressed that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, was a “friend” of Turkey’s.

“There is no doubt he is our friend,” Erdogan was quoted as saying. “As a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all.

6:00AM: Saeb Erekat, PLO Chief negotiator and master of propaganda, is up to his old tricks, accusing Israel of incitement and not being a partner for peace.

Dr Saeb Erekat, the PLO’s chief negotiator, on Sunday called on the US and Europe to demand that Israel end incitement against worshipers in occupied East Jerusalem.

“The international community must intervene and demand an end to Israeli incitement,” Erekat said in a statement. “Otherwise we fear that violence may spiral out of control.”

At least 30 Palestinians were injured and some 20 were arrested following the arrival of Israeli forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday morning. Nine Israeli police officers were also hurt in the clashes, which sparked amid announcements from right-wing Jewish groups and individuals, including Israeli parliament members, vowing to “ascend” the compound area under armed guard.

“This latest assault on the Al-Aqsa compound is part of a systematic and deliberate policy of incitement,” Erekat continued, condemning what he termed Israel’s latest violence against Palestinian worshippers in the holy city. “By escalating tensions to the point of violence, the Israeli government is looking for an escape clause to avoid meaningful negotiations.”

The PLO official urged Israel not to let extremists set the agenda.

“These are not the actions of a partner for peace, but a coalition of political forces in Israel that have consistently opposed peace between Palestinians and Israelis,” he said. “Israel is intensifying the violence of its occupation against ordinary Palestinians while it relentlessly pursues its colonization of occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.”

In the coming days, President Mahmoud Abbas will be meeting with King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who chairs the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s Al-Quds (Jerusalem) committee, Erekat announced. Abbas is expected to call on members of the committee to take decisive action to demand that Israel halt all settlement construction and other provocative policies in East Jerusalem.

Given that US President Barack Obama has called for the palestinians to end incitement against Israel, and Israel has repeatedly lamented the absence of a partner of peace on the palestinian side, I would fathom to say his choice of words is no coincidence. He is deliberately using those words commonly applied to the palestinians, in the tried and tested palestinian propaganda method of “turnspeak.”

5:48AM: Some scenes from yesterday’s Arab riots on the Temple Mount.

As you can see, they have a huge deal of respect for this holiest of sites.

And by alleged war crimes, I am referring to alleged war crimes by Israel. No-one is interested in discussing Hamas’ actions.

UN officials say 18 of the council’s 47 members signed a motion calling for the debate. The backers are: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Senegal.

Egypt and Jordan, eh? Peace!

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:00PM: Going Gaddafi on Goldstone: Here is Knesset member Danny Danon ripping the Goldstone report.

Literally.

Full story here.

7:46PM: Ha’aretz reports:

1,700-year-old footprints discovered under Lod mosaic

Which begs the question: what the hell was Shimon Peres doing under a mosaic floor?

7:38PM: PA Prime Minister Salam Fayad says he refuses to have a “Mickey Mouse” state.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayad on Wednesday called the demilitarized Palestinian state envisioned by Israel “a Mickey Mouse state,” and said the Palestinian people would not accept such a plan.

“By all indications, [Israeli officials] have a Mickey Mouse state in mind” Reuters quoted Fayad as saying in a press conference in Ramallah.

Besides, he’s more of a Farfur kind of guy.

7:32PM:

US actress and human rights activist Mia Farrow leaves a tent erected on the site of a house destroyed during Israel’s January incursion in Gaza, during her visit to Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. Farrow is on a 4 day visit to Israel, West bank and Gaza as a good will ambassador for UNICEF. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Why do I get the feeling that the chances of Farrow visiting children in Sderot are about as slim as her getting back together with Woody Allen?

(Although her lawyer son seems to recognize some double standards when it comes to Israel).

12:20PM: Here is a copy of the draft resolution the palestinians plan to submit ahead of the UNHRC’s deliberations over the Goldstone report

6:00AM: The US has criticized Turkey for canceling the NATO military drill due to Israel’s participation.

Neither the Turks nor NATO has confirmed that Israel’s participation in the exercises over Turkey was Ankara’s reason for canceling it.

US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tuesday, however, that “as to the question of whether there was a government that was invited to participate and then removed at the last minute, we think it’s inappropriate for any nation to be removed from an exercise like this at the last minute.”

He was asked whether that was what happened, and if Israel was the spurned country. He confirmed both.

So much for being cryptic.

Meanwhile, Syria has commended the decision.

“We held our first joint land military exercise (with Turkey) last spring. And today we have agreed to do a more comprehensive, a bigger one,” said Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib, speaking at a news conference.

I somehow imagine Ali Habib and his fellow Syrian officials like this after those comments.

Israel responded to yesterday’s firing of 5 mortar shells by bombing a smuggling tunnel.

(the above is a new boilerplate I will be using to save time).

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

4:16PM: Today’s Gilad Shalit impending release story is brought to you by Ha’aretz.

Hamas senior official Khaled Meshal is planning to finalize a prisoner swap deal for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit on a rare visit to Cairo this weekend, top Palestinian sources told the Saudi daily Al-Watan on Friday.

Hamas spokesman Taher A-Nunu confirmed that Meshal was traveling to Cairo on Saturday for a round of talks with Egyptian officials, attended by the organization’s top-brass from Gaza and Damascus.

According to the Al-Watan report, Meshal intends to use the visit to approve the clauses of the prisoner swap deal and sign off onto a final draft.

No other sources could confirm the report.

But of course.

1:12PM: Hundreds of palestinians are about to be deported for “security related” reasons.

By the UAE.

The silence from so-called Human Rights organizations is deafening, presumably because Israel is not involved.

9:48AM: Wrap your head around this one.

Pop music icon Madonna, who took Israel by storm earlier this week with two back-to-back concerts in Tel Aviv, wrapped up her tour with a visit Thursday night to the Safed tomb of a kabbalistic great.

Rabbi Isaac Luri – or the Ari – was one of the founders of kabbalism, a tradition Madonna has embraced over the last few years.

Pilgrims flock year round to his grave and the neighboring ritual bath at the foot of the ancient northern city.

Madonna was accompanied in her visit by Rabbi Michael Berg, her own rabbi’s brother, as well as her partner Jesus.

8:15AM: Today’s Darwin Award candidate:

An Egyptian soldier accidentally shot himself while on duty near the barbed-wire fence with Israel on Wednesday, Egyptian security sources said.

The shooting took place in the Al-Contella area of the Sinai desert. The sources added that the soldier, Salah Ad-Dasouki, 21, years old), heard a sound, causing him to take an alert stance. The source said the soldier slipped on a stone and shot himself in the left leg. He was taken to a hospital in Al-Arish.

8:05AM: Yesterday, the Jerusalem Post revealed that Holocaust denier David Irving is a Transformer. Today, it’s Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s turn.

7:55AM: Batshit crazy cleric flashback.

Spit? I guess it could be worse.

7:32AM: Venezuelan President Hugo “to hell” Chavez yesterday verbally attacked Israel during his visit to Syria, calling us “a country that annihilates people and is hostile to peace.”

In comments carried by Venezuelan state television, he also accused Israel of being part of imperialist efforts to divide the Middle East.

“The entire world knows it. Why was the state of Israel created? … To divide. To impede the unity of the Arab world. To assure the presence of the North American empire in all these lands,” he said.

Pop music icon Madonna, who took Israel by storm earlier this week with two back-to-back concerts in Tel Aviv, wrapped up her tour with a visit Thursday night to the Safed tomb of a kabbalistic great.

Rabbi Isaac Luri – or the Ari – was one of the founders of kabbalism, a tradition Madonna has embraced over the last few years.

Pilgrims flock year round to his grave and the neighboring ritual bath at the foot of the ancient northern city.

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Madonna was accompanied in her visit by Rabbi Michael Berg, her own rabbi’s brother, as well as her partner Jesus.

“There is no escaping the fact that the day will come when we will free the Golan, through peace or through war,” Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday.

He added: “We have our principles, and whoever abides by them will not constitute a problem for us.”

According to Assad, “From the war of Palestine (in 1948) to the occupation of the Golan (in the Six Day War – R.N.) people are becoming more hostile towards Israel. There may come a generation that is unwilling to talk peace.

“There is now a resurgence of the idea of resistance. Israel is advancing in a direction that goes against its interests, and eventually all people are moving towards resistance, which is certainly in the interest of the Arabs.”

This points to a fundamental difference between Israel and most of its neighbors. To Israel, the major goal is peace. The means to get to that goal is negotiations, concessions, and sometimes through shows of strength, but the ultimate goal is to live in peace with her neighbors.

To Arabs, though, peace is not the goal. The goal is land, concessions, “Palestinian rights,” apologies, compensation, and a whole host of other demands – but the end-goal is not to have peace.

For Israel, concessions are a way to bring peace. For the Arabs, the pretense of “peace” is a way to wrangle a never-ending stream of concessions.

Which is, as Assad implies, exactly how they view war and terrorism (”resistance.”)

What kind of a peace can be expected when one side views it as a tactic and not as a goal?