Israel is pushing the Middle East toward a new war, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday.

“Israel is not serious about achieving peace since all facts point out that Israel is pushing the region towards war, not peace,” the official Syrian news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying during a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Earlier Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem warned Israel that if war were to break out between Syria and Israel, it would be fought “inside your cities.”

“Israel must stop being the neighborhood bully. Don’t test our determination,” Moallem said during a press conference in Damascus where Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos was also present. “One day you threaten Gaza, the next day you threaten Lebanon, then Iran and now Syria.”

Moallem warned that if a war between Syria and Israel breaks out, it would be “total and take place inside your cities.”

His words were a reaction to a statement by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who said at the Herzliya Conference on Tuesday that if an agreement with Syria was not reached, the two countries might be dragged into a “forceful confrontation that may deteriorate into all-out war.”

“In the reality of the Middle East, we will conclude such a war and then sit and negotiate, talking about the exact issues we have been debating with the Syrians for the past 15 years,” said Barak.

Moallem said Syria “assesses that such a war will break out, we must not rule out such a possibility. I would say it would be a total and expansive war, whether it begins in South Lebanon or in Syria.”

Meanwhile, I may have to bring out the flying pig, because the leftist Ha’aretz has reported the Syrian statements as a threat and Barak’s statements as they were – a call for renewed peace talks.

The defense establishment is pushing for a peace deal with Syria, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is cool to the idea – and Syrian leaders responded Wednesday to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s call for renewed peace talks by threatening total war.

Two days ago, addressing a group of senior Israeli officers, Barak said it was vital to resume peace talks with Syria because otherwise war was likely to break out. Then, “immediately after such a war, we’ll sit down to negotiate and discuss exactly the same things we’ve been discussing with the Syrians for 15 years already.”

Barak’s statement was not meant to threaten Syria, but to persuade Israelis of the urgency of resuming peace talks. However, based on their response, it is not clear that Syrian leaders interpreted it that way.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:18PM: Jon Stewart takes on Hamas’ anti-Semitic cartoons (hat tip: Michael)

11:05PM: An explosive device was detonated near a Red Cross convoy in the Gaza Strip earlier today.

Hamas’ response is entirely predictable.

A spokesman for the Hamas group which runs the Gaza Strip suggested the blast was caused by an unexploded Israeli shell.

8:10PM: Dork of the day:

8:06PM: Dubai has threatened to issue a warrant for the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister if it turns out that the Mossad bumped off terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will be the first to be wanted for justice as he would have been the one who signed the decision to assassinate [Mahmoud] al Mabhouh in Dubai. We will issue an arrest warrant against him,” Halfan told the U.A.E. site The Natioanl.

The Dubai police chief also said that the method used to kill al Mabhouh, was a ?Mossad method,? but did not elaborate further.

On Wednesday, Dubai’s police chief warned international intelligence agencies from working “behind our back,” saying anyone who did so “should be wary of his own back.

Halfan added that that threat was also applicable “to any intelligence organization around the world, whether Mossad, Hamas or any other agency.”

Meanwhile, it looks like Ha’aretz borrowed someone from the Jerusalem Post to edit this report.

5:56PM: Ice hockey on the Israeli-Lebanon border?

Yeah, why not.

1:12PM: The war of words has continued with Syria, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman entering the fray.

(Syrian President Bashar) Assad must realize that if he “provokes” Israel  his regime will collapse, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman  said Thursday.

Speaking during a business conference at Bar-Ilan University, Lieberman said, “Whoever thinks (Israeli) territorial concessions will separate Syria from the axis of evil is mistaken. Syria must be made to understand that it has to relinquish its demand (that Israel cede) the Golan Heights.”

On Wednesday Assad accused Israel of “pushing the region towards war”. During a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Damascus, Assad said that the Jewish state “is not serious about achieving peace”.

Assad spoke just hours after his foreign minister, Walid Moallem, said that “Israel knows that if it declares war on Syria, such a war will reach its cities as well.”

The Syrian minister was responding to remarks made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak earlier this week. Speaking at a forum of senior IDF commanders, Barak said a full-blown war with Syria was possible in case a peace agreement is not reached.

Lieberman said Moallem’s remarks constitute a “blatant threat against Israel,” adding, “(Syria) has crossed a red line; and we cannot ignore this.”

6:05AM: Israeli President Shimon Peres watches Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi embrace Israeli singer Rita.

Peres: I can’t wait to show him how it’s done.

“We discussed today the ways to bring the peace process out of the deadlock that it has reached … because of the absence of a serious Israeli partner who aims to achieve peace,” he told a joint news conference with Erdogan.

“When Israel says it wants negotiations without conditions it means it wants negotiations with no foundation. This is like having a building with no foundation, then it’s very easy to be brought down and they want to bring down the peace process,” he said.

I’d venture to say that Assad himself is way more interested in constructing metaphors than achieving peace. He’s also rather clueless as to the meaning of the word “negotiation.”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:46PM: Only last week, Israel removed a road block on the very road where Meir Hai was shot dead today.

10:28PM: Photo-caption combination of the day:

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, arrives for an interview in Gaza December 23, 2009. As an Israeli drone flew overhead, Ubaida said the Islamist group would not shirk from battle with Israel, which carried out a powerful Gaza offensive a year ago. Picture taken December 23, 2009. REUTERS/Ismail Zaydah

Tough words from a guy wearing a mask and hiding under the cover of trees.

No shirking from battle? Against woodpeckers, perhaps.

9:50PM: More on terror victim Meir Chai:

The spokesperson said that Chai, the father of seven children between the ages of eight months and 18 years, was a very well-liked and respected man who contributed a great deal to the community. He said that residents “are very shocked, hurt, and angry.”

Chai was known locally for helping teach torah studies to local students in Shavei Shomron and reportedly showed special kindness towards children.

8:12PM: The victim of today’s terror attack was Rabbi Meir Chai, who was either 30+, 40, or 45, depending on which news outlet you want to believe.

6:10PM: What or who are these palestinian policemen looking for?

Palestinian police officers perform a security check inside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/ Nasser Shiyoukhi)

a) Arafat’s billions

b) Naqba dwarf

5:42PM: An group called the Imad Mughniya Group and proclaiming affiliation to Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades (Fatah as in our “peace partners”) claimed responsibility for the shooting.

5:40PM: The victim was a 45-year-old father of seven.

Meanwhile, MK Michael Ben Ari said in response to the attack:

“The path of capitulation, the opening of arteries, the [settlement] freeze and the release of [Palestinian] prisoners that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has brought down upon us signals to terrorists that Jewish blood is negligible. The terrorist probably thinks that he will be released in the next exchange.”

5:32PM: BREAKING NEWS: An Israeli man has been shot dead in an apparent terror attack in the West Bank while driving along Route 57, between Shavei Shomron and Einav. The terrorists fled the scene.

5:00PM: Introducing our latest weapon: Zionist Death Pony.^TM

This was a pursuit for which no policeman was prepared: Two inspectors, riot police, a police patrol car and one civilian ? all of them participated on Wednesday in the hunt for a pony that galloped across the central city of Holon.

On Wednesday morning, municipal inspectors received a report that a pony was galloping along the central city’s Dov Hoz Boulevard.

Two inspectors rushed to the scene and saw the animal galloping against the traffic toward Sokolov street, at which point officers from the Israel Police Yassam special forces unit also gave chase, riding mopeds. A few minutes later, the ensemble was joined by a police patrol car, which had been waiting at the corner of Sokolov street and Shenkar street.

The pony, unimpressed by the massive chase, continued to gallop through the streets, until another inspector, equipped with a rope, joined the crowd and successfully roped the pony and subdued him.

The pony was taken to the city veterinary department.

Dr. Uri Bartman, the city veterinarian, said the animal in question was a “Jewish pony” ? circumcised and sterilized.

Of course, this is not the first time one of our weapons of horse destruction has gotten away and caused havoc.

4:46PM: Oil!!

4:35PM: Hamas say they are ready to fight us. If a battle is..ehhh..imposed on them.

“We do not wish for war. We wish for calm and peace for our people,” Abu Ubaida, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades spokesman told Reuters.

“But if any battle is imposed on us, we are ready with all our manpower and equipment to confront any Zionist war, any crime and any attack regardless of scale,” he added.

Israel has said the brigades, which some observers estimate have 25,000 fighters, have been seeking with Syrian and Iranian help to upgrade their rocket capabilities and put the Israeli heartland and the commercial capital of Tel Aviv within range.

Yep. Those peaceloving Hamasniks don’t wish for war.

Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory).

3:52PM: From the IDF:

Following explosions heard on road 443 on 17.12.09, IDF and border patrol forces searched the area of the village Bir Neballah, south of Ramallah. During the searches, the forces uncovered a roadside bomb, attached to the bomb was a note with instructions on how to use the device in order to cause maximum damage and a message attributing it to a Palestinian terrorist unit. Upon discovery, the device was detonated in a controlled manner by the bomb squad.

3:46PM: Israeli President Shimon Peres wishes “all of us” a happy and merry Christmas.

1:22PM: Two can play this game.

More than a dozen Israeli victims of Palestinian rocket attacks have petitioned a court in Belgium to bring Hamas leaders to trial for committing war crimes against them during last year’s war in the Gaza Strip.

The 15 Israelis, who also hold Belgian citizenship, were all either wounded, sustained damage to their homes, or lost a relative in an attack from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.

In an unprecedented lawsuit submitted by a pro-Israel group in Europe, the plaintiffs have asked the court to open a judicial probe against 10 Hamas military and political leaders and issue arrest warrants if necessary.

“The request for arrest warrants was submitted after six months of legal preparation and is based on strict evidence which ties Hamas leaders to terror attacks in which Belgium citizens ware harmed,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Roel Coveliers told AFP on Thursday.

The complaint cites reports from international human rights groups, as well as the Goldstone Commission’s damning report on the war, which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the three-week conflict.

“The Goldstone report says, among other things, that the rocket attacks by Hamas constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, so as a member of the United Nations, I don’t believe Belgium will ignore the complaint,” Coveliers added.

Syria-based Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, strongman Mahmoud Zahar and the heads of the group’s armed wing Ahmed Jaabari and Mohammed Def have all been targeted in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes amid a slew of arrest warrants being issued in Europe against Israeli leaders. Most recently, opposition leader and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni canceled a trip to the United Kingdom after learning that a warrant had been issued against here there.

10:15AM: Honest Reporting has obtained Swedish blood libel “journalist” Donald Bostrom’s letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,

Please send me hard evidence that the IDF stole organs from Palestinian kids. I don’t have any, and Jewish bloggers are still breathing down my neck. Notwithstanding this Dishonest Reporting award, I still consider myself “nice.”

Sir, let me remind you of your ties to the 2001 Alder Hey scandal. It’s very curious that all the improperly harvested organs came from British kids on your “Designated Naughty Children” list.

It would be a real tragedy to see your image equated with the Israeli army amid calls for an international investigation, especially right before Christmas.

I look forward to your reply.

seasons greetings,

Donald Bostrom

6:08AM: I’m guessing the moonbats who took this next video and put it on YouTube were clueless as to what their “friends” were shouting out.

Jewlicious explains:

This was taken this past Friday in Sheikh Jarrah. Every Friday, protesters have been gathering there lately to protest the expulsion last August of two families from their apartments after the Israel Supreme Court ruled that the land upon which their homes were built belonged to the Sephardi Jewish community. The evacuated houses were built in the 1950s by the UNWRA in order to house Arab refugees who had fled from West Jerusalem during the 1948 war. In 1967, when Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan and reunited the city, the Palestinian families were permitted to stay on as tenants. Disputing the validity of the ownership of the land, they stopped paying rent. This led to the events that preceded the protests. As you can see, the bulk of the protesters are Jewish and Israeli. What really stood out though was at around 3:19 of the video. One of the middle aged Palestinian women started chanting what sounds like the following: “Falasteene Bladna, al-Yahud klabna” – that would translate into “Palestine is our country! The Jews are our dogs!” – which is kind of odd – I mean the people walking by her in handcuffs were the aforementioned “Jew Dogs” who had been arrested whilst protesting in favor of the Palestinians. Maybe that’s why she was shushed? I mean am I hearing this right?

Sheikh Jarrah is located on the road to Mount Scopus. In 1948, during the War of Independence, local Arabs butchered like dogs 78 doctors, nurses and others who were riding in a convoy on that road on their way to Hadassah hospital. Maybe old habits die hard?

Apparently, Jews are dogs, as well as sons of monkeys and pigs. It looks like we are not only taking over the banks, but also the animal kingdom (hat tip: Elder of Ziyon).

5:48AM: Some of the wives of palestinian terrorists that Israel insists be deported instead of returning to the West Bank have indicated to Ma’an News that deportation would be accepted.

“My husband’s position is that he wants to stay in the country,” Abla told Ma’an, “but under the worst circumstance he would accept deportation to Gaza.”

—-

Umm Ahmad, 48, is the wife of Nafeth Herrez, Gaza’s longest serving prisoner in Israel.

—-

“Even if he is deported if would be better than jail,” she said, adding that both Yasser Arafat and Ahmad Yasin were deported from their homelands before they returned.

Meanwhile, Ha’aretz reports that Hamas is expected to respond favorably to Israel’s offer, but will demand the number of expelled prisoners be reduced.

[poll id="5"]

More than a dozen Israeli victims of Palestinian rocket attacks have petitioned a court in Belgium to bring Hamas leaders to trial for committing war crimes against them during last year’s war in the Gaza Strip.

The 15 Israelis, who also hold Belgian citizenship, were all either wounded, sustained damage to their homes, or lost a relative in an attack from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.

In an unprecedented lawsuit submitted by a pro-Israel group in Europe, the plaintiffs have asked the court to open a judicial probe against 10 Hamas military and political leaders and issue arrest warrants if necessary.

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“The request for arrest warrants was submitted after six months of legal preparation and is based on strict evidence which ties Hamas leaders to terror attacks in which Belgium citizens ware harmed,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Roel Coveliers told AFP on Thursday.

The complaint cites reports from international human rights groups, as well as the Goldstone Commission’s damning report on the war, which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the three-week conflict.

“The Goldstone report says, among other things, that the rocket attacks by Hamas constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, so as a member of the United Nations, I don’t believe Belgium will ignore the complaint,” Coveliers added.

Syria-based Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, strongman Mahmoud Zahar and the heads of the group’s armed wing Ahmed Jaabari and Mohammed Def have all been targeted in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes amid a slew of arrest warrants being issued in Europe against Israeli leaders. Most recently, opposition leader and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni canceled a trip to the United Kingdom after learning that a warrant had been issued against here there.

The series of attacks on Israeli targets in Turkey planned by Hezbollah, as reported in the Turkish media, which was foiled by Turkish security forces two months ago, is likely to have caused the tension between Israel and Hezbollah along the Lebanon border this past summer and fall.

Yep. That would do it.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri met with Syrian Dorktator Bashar Assad to improve the relations between their countries to better defend Lebanon against Israel, even though the Syrians almost certainly killed his father.

Damn. I was hoping he was going to reveal himself as Iron Man and exact vengeance upon the Dorktator’s sorry ass.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:05PM: Sorry for the relative lack of blogging today but real life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes.

9:30AM: Majed El Shafie, founder and president of Canadian-based human rights group One Free World International, speaks about the Muslim palestinian persecution of Christians.

“We have agreed with the factions that nobody carries out any action involving rockets for now,” Fathi Hammad, Hamas’ interior minister, was quoted as saying by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

But if Israel sent troops to the Hamas-controlled territory, then the militants would have “an open space to respond,” Hammad

But before anyone gets the wrong idea about Hamas’ intentions:

During the meeting on Saturday, Hammad reportedly denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ claim that Hamas was seeking secret negotiations with Israel.

“There are no secret deals and our position is clear; the land of Palestine is an Islamic endowment” that can’t be put for negotiations, he was quoted as saying.

This announcement came after terrorists fired another Qassam into Israel yesterday morning, and before Israel’s response of bombing two Hamas weapons facilities, as well as an arms smuggling tunnel.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

4:30PM: Former Australian Labor minister Barry Cohen argues that Israel deserves respect in global forums (hat tip: Ian)

7:48AM: Syrian dorktator Bashar Assad may be an ophthalmologist, but he sure doesn’t have an eye for the art of negotiation.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said he would begin peace talks with Israel only after Netanyahu “guarantees the full return of land and rights,” the Syrian News Service reported.

Assad met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris where they spoke about the future of peace talks between Israel and Syria, reported the Syrian News Service.

Sarkozy told Assad that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to start talks with Syria with no preconditions.

Assad said that talks without preconditions were “unacceptable,” and that he expected the full return of land and rights before he would begin any peace talks.

“This is where talks begin from. The result of the talks is peace; if you want peace then the result will be peace,” Assad said..

6:16AM: Quote of the day:

While a civilian would be better suited for the post of defense minister than a military figure, “this doesn’t mean every moron can serve as defense minister”

- Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens

These remarks are seen as a jab at fellow former Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

That would be him on the right.

6:00AM: Iranian cleric Mojtaba Zolnour has issued a warning to Israel.

“If the enemy should want to test its bad luck in Iran, before the dust from its missiles settles in this country, Iran’s ballistic missiles would land in the heart of Tel Aviv,” said , IRNA news agency reported.

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.

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.

Dorktator Assad, Damascus, Golan Heights, musical knickers

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Answer: The Golan Heights. The rest belong to Syria.

Regarding those musical knickers..

Just off the crowded central market in Old Damascus, a sales assistant called Mahmoud is giving me my first introduction into an unusual Syrian speciality – musical knickers.

The garments come in many different shapes and colours, and play little tunes – or other extraneous noises like telephone ringtones – all made by small electronic devices hidden in the lining.

Singing underwear isn’t the only item on sale at the “Fatin Shop for Ladies Indoor Clothing”, where Mahmoud is proudly showing off his product lines.

He’s got knickers with flashing fairy lights, others that glow in the dark, a bra-and-knickers set shaped like manicured women’s hands enveloping the wearer’s crotch and breasts.

In a slightly higher price range, he’s got remote-controlled bras and knickers, designed to spring open and fall to the floor with a clap of the hands or a press of a button.

Lingerie that opens up and falls to the ground when triggered by loud noises? It certainly puts this into perspective. And I’m also thinking that the Syrian men should be thanking us for incidents like this.

Update: Separated at birth?