In other news, there is an airport named after Yasser Arafat, the father of airline hijackings.

Just saying.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:46PM: If it wasn’t already evident to you that the Goldstone Report is seriously flawed, it should be after reading about Desmond Travers, the senior figure responsible for the military analysis in the report.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New Revelations About the UN Goldstone Report that Seriously Undermine its Credibility

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers was one of the four members of the UN Fact Finding Mission that produced what is widely called the Goldstone Report. The Mission investigated Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009. Travers joined the Irish Defense Forces in 1961 and retired after forty years. As the only former officer who belonged to Justice Richard Goldstone’s team, he was the senior figure responsible for the military analysis that provided the basis for condemning Israel for war crimes.

After following his repeated public appearances with the other mission members in July 2009, and especially in light of his most recent interviews, serious flaws have now become evident in the methodology he followed, in his collection and processing of data, and in the conclusions he draws. In the past, the flaws in the Goldstone report, and especially its lack of balance, have been criticized by the London Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist, but the fundamental problems of its military analysis have not been fully addressed. In the material presented here, this becomes evident in four specific ways:

1. A Fundamental Bias against the Israel Defense Forces

During the Mission’s collection of testimonies from Palestinian psychologists in the Gaza Strip, Travers asked them straight out to explain how Israeli soldiers could kill Palestinian children in front of their parents. In an interview with Middle East Monitor, on February 2, 2010, he asserted that in the past Israeli soldiers had “taken out and deliberately shot” Irish peacekeeping forces in Southern Lebanon. Both of these statements by Travers are completely false. It should be stressed that one of the most vicious and unsubstantiated conclusions in the Goldstone Report is the suggestion that Israel deliberately killed Palestinian civilians.

While Travers assumes the worst of intentions on the part of the Israel Defense Forces, he praises Hamas for their cooperation with the Mission. When he was asked about Hamas intimidation that affected the Mission’s inquiries, he replied that that there was “none whatsoever.” Yet the Goldstone Report itself noted in Paragraph 440 that those interviewed in Gaza appeared reluctant to speak about the presence of Palestinian armed groups because of a “fear of reprisals.” He rejects the notion that Hamas shielded its forces in the civilian population and does not accept the idea that Israel faced asymmetric warfare.

2. False Information Reported About Weapons Systems

Travers comes up with a story that the IDF had unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) that could obtain a “thermal signature” on a Gaza house and detect that there were large numbers of people inside. Incredibly, he then suggests that with this information that certain houses were “packed with people,” the Israeli military would then deliberately order a missile strike on these populated homes. The primary technical problem with his theory is that Israel does not have UAV’s that can see though houses and pick up a thermal
signature. More importantly, Israel used UAV’s to monitor that Palestinian civilians left houses that had received multiple warnings, precisely because Israel sought to minimize civilian casualties, a fact that Travers could not fathom, because of his own clear biases.

3. Completely Inaccurate Data

Travers rejects that Israel began military operations against the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008 as an act of self-defense in response to Hamas rockets. He bases this idea on a “fact” that he presents that in the month prior to start of the war, there were only “something like two” rockets that fell on Israel. Israeli military sources found that there were in fact 32 rockets fired from Gaza at Israel over three days alone–between December 16 and 18, 2008. He adds to his analysis that at this time Hamas sought to extend the tahdiya, or lull arrangement–which he called a cease-fire. Yet the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas announced on December 17 that the lull would come to an end two days later and would not be renewed. The head of the Hamas political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Mashaal, announced the end of the lull on December 14. To say that Hamas wanted to continue the lull is a
complete distortion of events.

In his Middle East Monitor interview, Travers states that he “only came across two incidents of where there was an actual combat situation” – the exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas. Because he minimizes the possibility that Israel was engaged in real combat in the Gaza Strip, it follows that he naturally conclude that Israel was essentially attacking non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead.

4. Lack of Professionalism in Conducting Thorough Investigations

Travers relies on his own prejudices when he looks into the question of whether Gazan Mosques had been militarized by Hamas and turned into weapons depots. In an interview with Harpers, published on October 29, 2009, Travers makes a sweeping generalization: “We found no evidence that mosques were used to store munitions.” He then dismissed those who suggested that was the case by saying: “Those charges reflect Western perceptions in some quarters that Islam is a violent religion.” How many mosques did Travers investigate? He admits that the Mission only checked two mosques.

Of course, Israel produced photographic proof that large amounts of weapons were stored in mosques, like the Zaytun Mosque. In a subsequent interview, Travers rejected the Israeli proof: “I do not believe the photographs.” He described the photographs as “spurious.” Travers appears to be bothered by proof that contradicts the conclusions he reaches on the basis of a very limited investigation. In early 2010, Colonel Tim Collins, a British veteran of the Iraq War, visited Gaza for BBC Newsnight (
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8470100.stm , 20 January 2010) and inspected the ruins of a mosque that Israel had destroyed because it had been a weapons depot. He found that there was evidence of secondary explosions cause by explosives stored in the mosque cellar. Travers clearly did not make the effort that Collins made.

In his questioning of Palestinian witnesses in the Gaza Strip, Travers does not ask the questions that a military advisor should raise. He did not ask those giving testimony if they were member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam units of Hamas and were combatants. He also failed to ask them straight out if their homes had been used to store munitions, like Grad rockets. Instead, his questions reflected his ideological bias.

Travers most recent interview also had a disturbing additional element. When addressing the role of British officers in defending Israel’s claims, Travers suddenly adds: “Britain’s foreign policy interests in the Middle East seem to be influenced strongly by Jewish lobbyists.” Travers implies that British Jews have interests that differ from Britain’s own national interests and that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government is influenced by these considerations. This statement, unless corrected, places Travers is a position in which his views are suspect of being motivated by anti-Semitic prejudices. Even without this last statement, he clearly emerges as an individual who is not qualified to take part in any serious fact-finding mission and the U.N. should not seek his services in the future. Given his statements, Justice Richard Goldstone should repudiate Col. Travers and completely reject the conclusions that he reached as a result of his work.

10:20PM: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has condemned today’s “stabbing incident.”

Which was not as much an “incident” as a terrorist attack committed by a senior officer of his own security forces.

“Such an incident,” the Palestinian prime minister said, “undermines national Palestinian objectives, and the Palestinian Authority’s commitments.”

And is MURDER, Fayyad.

Meanwhile, the family of the murdered Druze Arab IDF soldier, 28-year-old Ihab Khatib, has pledged to continue enlisting in the army and contributing to the state of Israel.

Many residents arrived at the Khatib family home to comfort the parents.

“Our village has sadly ‘contributed’ many soldiers to the security of the State of Israel,” one of the visitors said.

“Even if there are disagreements among us, and despite the instances of discrimination and oppression, we will all continue to enlist and contribute to the country in which we live, and for whose continued existence we pray.”

6:20PM: An Israeli is set to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol.

Which would mean we retain some Zionist control on the panel.

6:15PM: The IDF officer murdered earlier today was an Arab – Ihab Khatib from Kfar Maghar.

The terrorist was PA officer Mahmoud al-Khatib.

A SENIOR officer in the PA security forces, that is.

6:10PM: Shame on Reuters who are even worse than the AP when it comes to media bias.

Case in point: the captions for these photos capturing yesterday’s riots at the Shuafat refugee camp.

An undercover Israeli police officer (R) scuffles with a Palestinian youth suspected of throwing stones while trying to detain him during clashes in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem February 9, 2010. Clashes erupted between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli police that entered the refugee camp, a Reuters witness said on Tuesday.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Looks like the Israeli police officer initiated the rough stuff with a palestinian “youth,” who does not look too youthful to me. That is, until you read the AP caption from the same incident.

A Palestinian rioter tries to grab a weapon from a plain-clothes Israeli police officer, right, during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. Palestinians scuffled with Israeli security forces, after an arrest operation triggered clashes in the camp the day before. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Here it becomes clearer that this was not a case of Israeli aggression against a palestinian, but a matter of life of death for the police officer, who would surely have been killed with his own weapon had the palestinian succeeded in grabbing it. Furthermore, the palestinian is not described as a youth, which seems to be accurate.

5:55PM: The Israeli murdered earlier this afternoon was an IDF soldier.

3:52PM: TERROR ATTACK: Almost two hours ago, an Israeli was killed after being stabbed by a palestinian while sitting in his jeep near the Tapuach Junction.

Judea and Samaria District Police officers apprehended the terrorist. The knife used in the attack was found at the scene. Israeli security officials said the terrorist acted alone.

The incident occurred at around 1:50 pm, when the Israeli vehicle was stuck in a traffic jam. The Palestinian terrorist stabbed the Israeli twice in the chest through the open car window.

The Israeli tried to flee the scene, but his jeep overturned into a ditch.

A security officer from the nearby Jewish settlement Rachelim, who happened to be at the scene, ran the terrorist over with his car. The Palestinian sustained very mild injuries.

“I was in my car when I saw a man approach another vehicle and stab the person inside. I realized I was witnessing a terror attack. The terrorist began running away, but I kept my cool, drove after him and managed to hit him with my car,” the security officer, Yossi Margalit, told Ynet.

“I stepped out of my car, apprehended the terrorist and turned him over to the security forces,” he recounted.

Prediction: we will not hear any condemnation of this attack by the palestinians and their supporters, but we will hear complaints about the palestinian being run over.

Meanwhile, the Ha’aretz report includes this interesting fact.

Yossi Margalit, a security officer from a nearby settlement who arrived the scene ran over the attacker, lightly wounding him. He was then arrested, and given medical attention on the spot.

Wow, we are so bad at genocide and ethnic cleansing that we ensure even their terrorists are alive.

2:16PM: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad “Stark” Hariri has confirmed that Lebanon=Hizbullah.

Hariri added that Lebanon was united, and that his government would stand by Hezbollah – the Lebanese terror group which fought Israel in 2006.

“I think they’re (Israel) betting that there might be some division in Lebanon, if there is a war against us,” he said, “Well, there won’t be a division in Lebanon. We will stand against Israel. We will stand with our own people.”

Which means that Israel’s agreement to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which demands, inter alia, that Hizbullah be disarmed and full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon, was a really rotten idea.

But we already knew that.

1:05PM: PA sex and corruption scandal? Naaaa, just an Israeli conspiracy of course!

The Palestinian Authority expressed their outrage on Wednesday at Israel’s Channel 10 report of a video found depicting one of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ senior advisors in compromising positions with a woman candidate applying to work in his office. According to a PA official, the report was merely an Israeli smear campaign meant to embarrass Abbas.

The report also aired claims made by former General Intelligence chief Fahmi Shabana that officials close to Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat were entangled in corruption scandals amounting to millions of shekels stolen from public coffers.

Shabana, who was in charge of the PA’s anti-corruption campaign, claimed in interviews with the media that he placed before Abbas evidence of widespread economic corruption around him, but that the president declined doing anything about it. According to him, senior Fatah officials during Arafat’s rule stole millions of shekels from PA coffers, a large amount of which originated from Arab states, Europe, and the US as donations.

The Fatah officials allegedly requested inflated sums for purchasing land, which was valued far lower than the numbers they presented, and the proceeded to pocket the difference. Shabana hinted that even Abbas’ family members were involved in the corruption, but has yet to prove so.

Shabana also revealed an embarrassing video from 2008 depicting the head of Abbas’ office, Rafik al-Husseini, rubbing his body against his secretary and apparently trying to convince a woman seeking employment in the office to have sexual relations with him.

Shabana was suspended from his position. When Abbas sought to reinstate him, he was arrested by Israel for holding membership in a foreign security body in light of the fact that he is a resident of east Jerusalem and holds an Israeli identity card. Shabana claims, however, that he was arrested at the behest of the Palestinian Authority.

A high-ranking PA official said Wednesday to Ynet that the video revealed by Shabana is a personal issue known for quite some time and that his staff are not rattled by the corruption claims. According to the official, the PA maintains transparency with donor countries and operates a strict oversight mechanism on their payments.

The source said that publishing such a report along with the video is nothing but an Israeli conspiracy aimed at tarnishing the credibility and status of Abbas in light of his refusal to return to the negotiation table under the conditions stipulated by Israel.

Here’s the report (see from 1:15 onwards). Those of you who do not understand Hebrew can skip to 4:47 onwards, which features some shots from the aforementioned “embarrassing video.”

The video must have been doctored by crafty Zionists, since PA officials never act corruptly.

6:00AM: Ashkelon Municipality and the city’s Parents’ Association yesterday filed a petition with the High Court of Justice demanding the court order the government to finish fortifying its schools, in accordance with the Homefront Command’s recommendations.

The petition says that after nine kindergartens were fortified in March of last year the Defense Ministry halted all work, and that 13 kindergartens and 10 elementary schools still remain vulnerable to rocket threats.

The children studying in these facilities are currently instructed to hide underneath their desks in case of a Color Red alert.

The petition says the parents of these children are “incredibly worried and anxious”, and asks the court to remedy the situation.

I wonder if Richard Goldstone or others who have come out against Operation Cast Lead ever had a child who had to experience something like this.

A Palestinian woman walks behind a partly cut olive tree in the northern West Bank village of Burin, Thursday, Jan. , 7, 2010. According to Burin’s mayor, Jewish settlers cut more than 20 olive trees in the village in protest against the Israeli army’s recent evacuation of an unauthorized settlement outpost in the area. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

All of a sudden, in a spontaneous outpouring of emotion, the palestinian woman cries out.

Lucky our intrepid AP photographer just happens to be there.

Right in front of the woman.

A Palestinian woman reacts next to cut olive trees in the northern West Bank village of Burin, Thursday, Jan. , 7, 2010. According to Burin’s mayor, Jewish settlers cut more than 20 olive trees in the village in protest against the Israeli army’s recent evacuation of an unauthorized settlement outpost in the area. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

All that’s missing is a toy.

According to palestinian medics, one palestinian was killed, two were wounded and several others were feared trapped inside the ruins.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

2:50PM: Egypt has engaged in some garbage disposal and prevention.

Egypt has declared renegade British politician George Galloway persona non grata, accusing him of incitement after his harsh criticism of Cairo over delays in an aid convoy’s entry into Gaza.

A Foreign Ministry statement on Friday said Galloway will not be allowed to enter Egypt again. The activist left Egypt that morning from Cairo airport.

I’m sure this speech didn’t help matters.

11:28AM: Another humanitarian gesture on the part of the IDF.

In a joint effort of Israeli and Syrian authorities, a Druze doctor on Thursday was brought to burial in Israel after living in Syria for the past 30 years. The doctor, Afif Jamal al A’aur, was born in the Golan Heights village of Bukata and passed away last Monday. He was in his 50s. The deceased was transferred to Israel  via the Red Cross and was laid to rest in his native village.

In 1977, al A’aur left his village and moved to Syria in order to attend medical school. His parents and brothers stayed behind. After completing his studies, al A’aur married in Syria and had two children.

After 1982, he was forbidden to return to Israel and began working as a doctor in the Druze village of Suwayda, near Damascus.

Once receiving word of al A’aur’s death, his family members turned to Israeli authorities and requested that they allow their loved one to be buried in Israel. The family members turned to Deputy Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galilee Ayoob Kara, who initiated talks with representatives of the Red Cross as well as the ministries of interior, defense and health.

“As part of efforts to boost relations and open the Quneitra Crossing for humanitarian and economic purposes, as well as for the passage of religious figures, students and apples from the northern Golan Heights to Syria, there was a true willingness to allow a deceased person’s body to be returned for burial in his native village,” said Kara.

IDF sources stated that al A’aur’s body was permitted to be returned to Israel as a humanitarian gesture and with full permission and cooperation of the Red Cross.

8:52AM: Someone please show Galloway the way to the gallows..

Left-wing British politician George Galloway (L) is greeted by senior Hamas leader Ismail Hanyieh during a rally honouring international peace activists in Gaza City January 7, 2010. Egypt has reached a deal with members of an aid convoy, led by Galloway, to take supplies to Palestinians in Gaza after protests overnight, but Cairo barred their private cars from crossing, an Egyptian security source said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

An international “peace activist” cosying up to the leader of a terror organization whose charter states, amongst other things:

Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors (preamble).

And:

[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement….There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad (article 13)

8:38AM: Class is in session: Media bias 101.

And guess what? They included one who had recently been released from an Israeli prison and one who agreed to lay down his arms in exchange for Israel’s promise not to hunt him down.

Deal over, scumbags.

Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement on Saturday in the West Bank city of Nablus, medical officials and sources with the group said.

The shootings came two days after Meir Avshalom Hai was killed in a roadside ambush in the West Bank, land Israel captured in a 1967 war that Palestinians seek for a state.

The army said the three gunmen had carried out the attack on Hai.

Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi said, “The IDF and the Shin Bet will act with resolve against all those looking to harm the State of Israel’s citizens and security forces. We will not rest until we settle the score with those involved in last week’s deadly attack.”

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Fatah was one of two Palestinian militant groups that claimed responsibility for what was the first fatal shooting of an Israeli in an attack by militants in the territory in eight months.

Medics said soldiers entered the casbah of Nablus as well as the Ras al-Ayin region at around 4 am on Saturday. Then soldiers surrounded the homes of the Palestinians before shooting and killing them.

The Al-Aqsa Brigades gunmen who were killed were identified as Raghsan Abu Sharah (40), Anan Sabah (36), and Raed a-Sarkaji (40), who was recently released from an Israeli prison after seven years. Sources said a-Sucharji’s wife had been injured during the shootings.

The three gunmen were well-known Tanzim figures. Sabah was included in the amnesty agreement with Israel, in which Fatah gunmen agreed to lay down their arms in exchange for Israel’s promise not to hunt them down.

What great timing; a stark reminder as to why Israel should not be releasing terrorists. In fact, Israel should not be capturing them alive if you ask me.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas issued a condemnation.

Clue: Not of the terrorists who carried out the murder and who are affiliated with his Fatah party.

An aide to Palestinian President Abbas condemned Israel’s killing of six Palestinians (the three terrorists, plus three other palestinians trying to infiltrate into Israel – ed) on Saturday, accusing the Jewish state of escalating the violence.

Nabil Abu Rdainah said, “This grave Israeli escalation shows Israel is not interested in peace and is trying to explode the situation.”

“Israel is torpedoing international and American efforts to restart peace talks,” which stalled a year ago, Rdainah said.

And let’s not forget to mention that the PA were represented at the funeral.

The funeral procession, attended by Palestinian Authority officials, was accompanied by many calls for retaliation for the IDF operation and promises to avenge the deaths.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press have run the story with their usual aversion to the word “terrorist.”

Heck, they couldn’t even use “militant.”

Palestinians take the body of Anan Subeh, a Fatah activist to an ambulance who was killed during an Israeli army operation in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestine, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009. Palestinian officials say Israeli troops have killed three activists of the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Saturday’s operation in Nablus’ old city came two days after Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli in a West Bank ambush. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

As if he was killed while handing out fliers.

Update: A number of “fails”:

FAIL #1: Despite the facts 1) the terrorists were affiliated with the PA 2) The PA condemned Israel for killing them and 3) PA representatives attended the funerals, sources in the IDF lauded the Palestinian security establishment for its conduct following the terror attack, calling it “determined and impressive.”

The sources further noted that some 120 suspects have been detained by the Palestinian security establishment since the attack on Thursday, in an attempt to apprehend the responsible terrorist cell. The fourth suspect reportedly turned himself in to the authorities prior to the Saturday military operation.

“They acted with determination, but alongside that we have the responsibility to act against whoever executed the attack and settle the score with them,” said a senior officer with the Central Command.

FAIL #2: “Human rights” group B’Tselem has accused the IDF of executing the terrorists while they were unarmed.

According to B’Tselem, in two of the three cases the troops behaved as if they were preparing for an execution, not an arrest. Relatives and eyewitnesses told B’Tselem that the two were unarmed and did not attempt to flee, and that the soldiers weren’t trying to stop them, but rather shot them from close range once their identity was revealed. There were no witnesses to the shooting of the third man.

FAIL #3: One of the terrorists used his wife as a human shield.

The two refused to leave their houses, and continued hiding inside even after IDF forces used different methods including shots in the air in order to make the two surrender. Abu Sharah sent his wife out to face the soldiers, but did not agree to step out himself.

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

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

Honorable Mention:

Woman With An Ugly Pair Award

Winner:

Worst Effigy Award

Winner:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Updates (Perth, Australia time):

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

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

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

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

12:22PM: Israel National News reports:

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

I couldn’t agree more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is a sad day for Israel.

3:50PM: Ynet reports:

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

—-

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

My heart goes out to the Regev and Goldwasser families.

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

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

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

Rockets hit Israel, which says truce broken

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

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

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