Knowing this makes the next story quite remarkable.

(via MEMRI)

You heard correctly. She gloated about her father massacring the Jews of Hebron, and looks forward to the sequel.

Old people these days..

The end results for the patience-impaired: Of 180 people:

• 53% helped the Arab
• 42% did nothing
• 5% supported the racist seller

I wonder if they’ll ever do a similar experiment in Gaza or Ramallah. Oh wait, Jews don’t live there.

Ok, Hebron then (hat tip: Eric)

Medical officials in Hebron said an 11-year-old girl from the city was transferred to Hadassa Hospital in Israel on Sunday, after she was struck down by a settler car at the Beit Ainun junction.

The girl, identified as Amani Al-Mutawer, was said to have been walking to school when she was hit.

Her condition was described as moderate.

Which begs the question: How did these “medical officials” know it was a “settler” car? I assume they did not actually see the accident, so it could have been driven by a palestinian. And if they coincidentally witnessed it, how could they ascertain just by looking that the car was driven by a resident of Judea or Samaria? The driver could have even been an Israeli Arab. And if it was a visibly Jewish driver, how would they know the resident didn’t live in Israel proper? Unless that’s the point: all Jewish cities and towns in Israel are viewed as settlements.

What is also worth noting is that the palestinian girl was taken to Jerusalem’s Hadassa Hospital. Apartheid fail, anyone?

The announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office noted that the committee would be headed by former Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Tirkel. The committee will be comprised of professor of international law and Israel Prize laureate Shabtai Rosen, and Brigadier General (res.) Amos Horev, former president of Haifa’s Technion.

Two foreign observers will also be appointed: Lord William David Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Ken Watkin, international lawyer and former judge advocate general for Canada. The observers will also take part in discussions and consultations.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the committee will:

1. Examine the security aspects of the naval blockade on Gaza and adjusting it in accordance with international law.
2. Examine Israel’s actions to enforce the naval blockade and prevent the international flotilla from reaching Gaza on May 31, 2010 with respect to international law.
3. Examine the actions of the organizers of the (Gaza) flotilla and identifying its participants.
4. Examine whether Israel’s process of looking into complaints of Israeli violations of the Laws of War – as was implemented during the said incident – corresponds with the country’s obligations vis-à-vis international law.

The PM said he was guided by two main principles in deciding on a public commission of inquiry into the Gaza sail events: “First of all, to maintain IDF soldiers’ free hand and protect the independence and credibility of the army’s operational probing body.

“Secondly, to provide a credible and independent response for questions raised by countries in the international community regarding the naval event and its compliance with international law norms,” he said.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:00PM: Help save Mosab Yousef. Details here.

10:58PM: PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has condemned today’s terror attack, characterizing it as a “disgraceful act.”

Because it harms palestinians interests.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad denounced the shooting attack which took place south of Mt. Hebron Monday, calling it a “disgraceful act” and saying that the Palestinian Authority will continue to do all it can to prevent such incidents from taking place.

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Fayyad warned against deteriorating violence: “Past experience has proven that (violence) only hurts Palestinian interests and serves in favor of the Israeli settlement movement.”

The shooting, he added, contradicted the PA’s efforts to maintain Palestinian interests while living up to its obligations. “The Palestinian people is united in non-violent, pacifistic resistance against settlements, the occupation and the terrorist behavior of settlers.”

Terrorist behavior of “settlers”? Wow, talk about projection.

Meanwhile, the terror attack was perpetrated by Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades, affiliated with our Fatah “peace partners.”

9:22PM: Head Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh is apparently a real romantic.

Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has reiterated his vow to find a Gaza wife for the Iraq journalist who threw a shoe at former US President George Bush, the Arabic language news site Elaph reported.

The Monday report said Haniyeh’s comments followed complaints from the journalist, Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, that the prime minister’s promise was “false propaganda,” and that he had yet to be hosted for his Gaza wedding.

In response, Haniyeh said “tell him [Al-Zaidi] that I am ready to host him in Gaza and take care of all his marriage expenses,” the news site quoted him as saying.

Al-Zaidi rose to prominence in 2008 after throwing his foot ware at Bush during his final news conference after a tour of Iraq and calling him a “dog.”

8:08PM: Real Hamas public advertisement warning people they will be killed if they look at porn, do drugs, or collaborate with Israel.

6:15PM: Last week, Iara Lee, a Brazilian-American filmmaker, posted one hour of unedited video online that shows the early stages of the Israeli commando raid on the Mavi Marmara.

While she seems to think it furthers the cause of those disputing Israel’s claims as to what transpired, it does nothing of the kind.

For a start, there is this bit of important information.

Since the camera was on a lower deck of the ship, it also shows but does not give a clear view of the violent confrontation and shootings that took place on the top deck of the ship, after Israeli commandos boarded from a helicopter and met with resistance from passengers on board. But the video, and accompanying audio, will help give a better sense of the timeline of the raid.

But more than that; as CIF Watch argues, it actually corroborates Israel’s version.

5:55PM: Quote of the day:

“Dark forces from the Middle Ages are raging against us. I have received calls from concerned officials in the Balkans and Eastern Europe who are very worried about these developments.”

“This committee strengthens our ability to fight in the international political arena. If we had done nothing, I assume we would have had worse problems in the world. There is a certain price we are paying, but under the present circumstances it is our best move.”

“The flotilla to Gaza was not a one-time thing. We find ourselves in the midst of a difficult and continuous battle against the State of Israel. The flood of hate is being led by Israel’s enemies all over the world.”

- Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after announcing the establishment of the inquiry committee to probe the IDF’s flotilla raid.

5:38PM: More on Command Sergeant Major Yehoshua (Shuki) Sofer, the policeman killed by terrorists, including the fact he was to be married in 3 months time.

4:56PM: Separated at birth?

12:32PM: One of the policemen shot in the terror attack this morning has died of his wounds.

12:22PM: More than 1000 people have gathered in Sydney to show their support for Israel and the country’s “fight against terrorism.”

Photo credit: Martin

9:42AM: TERROR ATTACK: Terrorists have shot at a police vehicle outside of Hebron, wounding 4 officers, in what looks like a planned ambush.

Two of the policemen were shot in the chest, another was lightly injured from gunshots, and the fourth policeman was hurt by shrapnel. They have been evacuated by helicopter to Hadassa hospital in Jerusalem, with the most seriously injured in critical condition.

Police and IDF forces are combing the area for the terrorists.

5:48AM: Steven Colbert takes on the Gaza flotilla incident and talks to Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Oren.

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Three months ago, Australia voted against a similar resolution which sought to endorse the Goldstone report – a UN-sponsored paper which accused Israel and Hamas of war crimes.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said yesterday that the change was not related to the passport scandal and that Australia abstained because the latest resolution did not specifically endorse the Goldstone report.

”Our vote on the resolution was neither determined nor influenced by recent events,” he said. ”The Australian government always considers UN resolutions on a case-by-case basis and on their merits. Australia abstained on this resolution because, unlike previous resolutions, it did not endorse the Goldstone report.”

Six other countries also changed their votes, including Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Some countries, such as Britain, France and New Zealand, shifted from abstention to support. Others, such as the United States and Canada, voted against both resolutions.

Britain, France and Germany have all recently expressed anger at Israel after their passports were caught up in the Dubai plot.

One Department of Foreign Affairs source told the Herald there was no doubt the decision to abstain was intended as a sign to Israel not to take Australian support for granted.

”A number of things made it easier for us to switch our vote,” the source said.

”Firstly, the Americans helped the Palestinians to soften the wording of this resolution compared to the last one. Secondly, a number of other countries had indicated that they were toughening their own positions on Goldstone. But there is no question that the debacle surrounding our passports being used in Dubai helped to make up the government’s mind to abstain. The final decision was taken late on Friday, Australian time, just a few hours before the vote.

”Our pattern in the past has been to vote with the US when it comes to Israel, to show as much support for Israel as possible.

”We were also aware that the UK’s decision to vote in favour of the resolution was influenced by the fact that so many of their citizens had been caught up in the Dubai assassination.”

The opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, yesterday accused the government of downgrading its support for Israel as part of its campaign to win a UN Security Council seat.

”I don’t understand the government’s change of heart,” she told the Herald.

”The Coalition’s position has been consistent. Having voted against the Goldstone report, we would continue to vote against it … Since coming to office the government has weakened Australia’s long-held position of supporting Israel at the UN.”

Mr Smith last week publicly summoned the Israeli ambassador, Yuval Rotem, over the suspected use of three forged passports by Israeli spies in the Dubai killing. Mr Smith warned that if Israel was behind the forgeries ”Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend”.

Israel has refused to confirm or deny involvement in the assassination. Its embassy in Canberra would not comment yesterday on the passport scandal or on Australia’s UN vote.

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who has described himself as a lifelong supporter of Israel, indicated on Saturday he did not believe Israel’s public response to the incident was acceptable.

Mr Smith has been fiercely critical of the Goldstone report, saying it was excessively focused on Israeli actions and paid insufficient attention to Hamas’s rocket attacks against Israel.

Privately, Israeli officials expressed little concern at the vote, saying the new UN resolution simply expanded a plan for internal Israeli investigations of the allegations raised by the Goldstone report.

Meanwhile, contrary to the last statement, the Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli diplomatic officials are concerned by the fact Dubai “is slowly dripping out information” about al-Mabhouh’s killing to keep the issue alive and make Israel squirm.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:55PM: Earlier today, I posted the Dubai police chief’s comments regarding Israelis not being allowed into the UAE (see 5:46PM update).

Well, there’s more.

We will not allow those who hold Israeli passports into the UAE no matter what other passport they have,” Tamim said.

He did not explain what procedures would be used to identify the Israeli visitors, except that the police will “develop skills” to recognize Israelis by “physical features and the way they speak.”

Why do I get the feeling the following picture – or something similar – will feature in the Dubai police training?

9:45PM: In case you thought palestinian stone throwers were harmless..

A Palestinian youth lifts a rock during confrontations with Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City February 28, 2010.  Israeli police raided a plaza near the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Sunday in response to stone-throwing protests by Palestinians, an Israeli police spokesman said. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

I’m sure being hit in the head by one of those would cause a fair bit of damage.

Heck, I know it for a fact, since it happened to a friend of my wife’s.

By the way, I find it curious that the caption writer admits the palestinian is lifting a rock, but refers to stone-throwing protests. In my mind, a stone is smaller than a rock.

6:00PM: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak speak to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

5:46PM: Travelers suspected of being Israeli will no longer be allowed into the United Arab Emirates even if they arrive with alternative passports.

But if you are an Islamic terrorist, enjoy all the UAE has to offer.

4:48PM: There’s an elephant in the room.

And it’s mother is a rabbit.

19-year-old rabbit raiser in Jenin said he was “shocked and terrified” when his newest animal gave birth to what he described as a tiny baby elephant on Sunday.

“I was concerned when I saw a black baby elephant next to nine white baby rabbits,” Alawna told Ma’an, adding that the creature died only five hours after it was born. He said he was baffled as to how the elephant was produced.

The mother rabbit, Alawna explained, is a Dutch breed which he bought six months ago from a farmer in the northern West Bank village of Jaba in Jenin district.

Muhammad Alawna raises rabbits as a hobby on his small farm north of Jenin, and works construction in Israel during the week.

I’m just wondering when the palestinians will claim it is a mutation brought about by exposure to a Zionist Death Ray.^TM

4:32PM: Dubai’s police chief has said the Mossad has insulted Dubai and countries whose forged passports were used by its agents in the killing of Hamashole Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

“Mossad shouldn’t come to us. We haven’t done anything to Israel. This is an insult to us, to Britain, to Australia, to Germany and to New Zealand and it’s shameful,” Tamim told reporters in Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates.

Apparently, Dubai was not too insulted about hosting a known terrorist working to bring deadly weapons to other terrorists, and who himself was traveling under a variety of identities.

1:14PM: The palestinian cabinet has held its weekly meeting in Hebron “to strengthen the connection between the PA and the city, and demonstrate its importance to the palestinians.”

Of course, the palestinian connection to Hebron is over 80 years old.

11:52AM: The Jerusalem Post reports on the impending Israeli Apartheid Week, a week of campus moonbattery in cities across the world.

The sixth international Israeli Apartheid Week kicks off on Monday, with the “week-long” festivities taking place over 14 days in over 40 cities across the globe.

Organizers say this year’s events are meant to “educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement.”

The IAW’s Web site says 2010’s apartheid week “takes place following a year of incredible successes for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the global level.”

Organizers say the event will not only push for an end to “colonization of all Arab lands” and the “full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel,” but also the dismantling of the West Bank security fence and the right of return for Palestinian refugees

IAW released a trailer on YouTube earlier in February, showing a series of pastoral and urban West Bank and Gaza scenes as concrete sections of the wall plummet from the sky and mar the landscape. Halfway through the video, the words “Boycott, Divest, Sanction” appear and obliterate the wall.

IAW began in 2005 only in Toronto but by 2006 had spread to Montreal and Oxford, adding five more locations in 2007, including New York. In 2008, 19 additional locations were added, and by 2009, IAW was held in 27 cities. This year, over 40 cities are part of the proceedings, from Cape Town to Beirut to Melbourne.

The first IAW was organized by the University of Toronto’s Arab Students’ Collective in order to show  “solidarity with the people of Palestine and other oppressed nations. The first IAW was a five day event that featured lectures on the Nakba, as Palestinians refer to the dispersal of their population in the pre-state Israel following the 1948 war, as well as Palestinian prisoners, labor apartheid, and the Apartheid Wall. It also featured a lecture on ‘Resisting Apartheid’ that featured Haifa University professor Dr. Ilan Pappe,” according to IAW.

Noah Kochman, chair of the political affairs and advocacy department of the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students at McGill University in Montreal, said that activists at McGill and other universities in Canada will seek to counter IAW by reaching out to what according to him is the 80 percent of students “who don’t know about Israel and haven’t made their mind up about Israel yet.”

Kochman said that in addition to “combating the harassment and intimidation of Israel supporters on campuses and the demonization of Israel,” groups like his are moving to “harder-hitting, countering campaigns.” These include the “don’t play with the truth campaign,” in which the CFJS will hand out “truth cards” on campus to dispel what Kochman says are misconceptions about Israel, in addition to hosting a series of pro-Israel speakers on Canadian campuses.

Kochman says his group won’t seek to avoid politics or change the subject, saying they will directly address issues such as the Goldstone Report, Operation Cast Lead, and the Gaza Blockade. Kochman also said that IAW, for its part, does not address the peace process rather, “is devoted to the demonization of Israel.”

Dax D’Orazio, media coordinator for Students Against Israeli Apartheid at Carleton University, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday that his organization and others that are taking part in IAW are working “with the university community to launch a socially responsible investment policy that will work against investment in groups that violate labor rights and international law.”

D’Orazio discounted criticism that IAW is devoted to delegitimizing Israel or is anti-Zionist or anti-Semitic in nature, saying that such criticism “is part of an ongoing campaign to blur the line between the advocacy of Palestinian rights and anti-Semitism.”

Yep. Nothing anti-Semitic about it.

Meanwhile, here’s the official trailer for Israeli Apartheid Week 2010.

Seems to be missing some important elements, such as even a clue to the terrorist attacks that gave rise to the security fence to begin with.

6:05AM: King Abdullah of Jordan yesterday stated the international community must take immediate measures to protect the holy sites in east Jerusalem from unilateral moves on Israel’s part.

Thank G-d for Jordan, the epitome of Holy site protector.

A demonstrator is led away by Israeli troops during a rally against the presence of Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron February 25, 2010. Palestinian, Israeli and International activists gathered on Thursday for a rally to show solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Hebron on the 16th anniversary of the Hebron mosque massacre by Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler, who went on a rampage inside Al Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK – Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS ANNIVERSARY)

The AJC said in a statement that it was “dismayed that a guest on BBC Radio 4 was allowed to state unchallenged” that the Mossad relies on Jews for assassination plots.

“This baseless accusation crosses every red line between legitimate public discussion and bigoted fear-mongering,” said AJC executive director David Harris. “In less than a minute, the BBC has cast a shadow on the lives of Jews worldwide.”

BBC Radio 4’s PM program interviewed Gordon Thomas, author of Gideon’s Spies, a book about the Mossad, about the January 20 assassination of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Local authorities and many international media outlets believe that the killing of Mabhouh, who bought rockets for Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip, was carried out by the Mossad.

In explaining the Mossad’s operating methods outside Israel, Thomas told PM host Eddie Mair, “They have a whole backup system called ‘asylum.’ These are people, local residents, Jewish people, who help the Mossad. It is estimated to be in the world about half a million; some people say a million; I tend to say it’s about half a million, all of them Mossad people.”

“Of course, Mr. Thomas is irresponsible in making such unfounded assertions on a radio program heard around the world,” said Harris, “but even more shocking is BBC, a premier public broadcaster with a far-reaching global network. How can the interviewer allow such aspersions to be cast on a community without the reporter calling the so-called expert to order?”

The comments also drew condemnation from observers of the BBC.

“Unfortunately, such ugly and nonsensical statements on the BBC come as no surprise. The BBC often handpicks interviewees who are likely to say such things as part of a wider pattern to demonize the State of Israel,” said Tom Gross, a former Middle East correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph and a Middle East analyst who has long been critical of BBC coverage of the region.

The AJC called on the BBC “to examine this disgraceful transmission, apologize to Jews around the world and remove from its archive the slanderous words.”

Reached for comment, the BBC press office in London said, “This interview was part of a wider piece about the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh which involved contributions from a number of people including Gordon Thomas, an author of a book about [the] Mossad.

“The sentiments expressed by Gordon Thomas were clearly his own opinions. They came at the end of the interview when it was being wrapped up and there was no time to come back on them.”

You can hear Thomas’ accusations here (from 17:30 onwards).

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:16PM: Oy to the vey: Someone thought this would be a good way to sell Israel.

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER – BIG PARADISE from Size Doesnt Matter on Vimeo.

6:30PM: Interesting (CNN!) report on Israel’s Winter Olympics ice skating hopefuls.

6:20PM: G-d bless Colonel Richard Kemp (who you will recall from here and here).

A former senior British army officer has said international media including the BBC are being exploited by “dark forces” who want to harm Israel.

Col Richard Kemp, who was a commander in Afghanistan, said some international criticism of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) was motivated by anti-Semitism.

He was speaking at a dinner in London hosted by a pro-Israel lobby group.

Col Kemp had defended the actions of the IDF at the UN Goldstone Hearings into the Gaza incursion of 2008.

The Israeli minister for Information and the Diaspora, Yuli Edelstein, was also present at the dinner hosted by the Zionist Federation.

He refused to comment on rumours that the Israeli secret service Mossad had fraudulently used the passports of British citizens during an operation to kill the Hamas boss Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Col Kemp, who is now retired from the Army and makes a living from writing, said the advice he received from the Israeli armed forces on how to tackle Afghan suicide bombers had been invaluable, and formed the basis of official army guidelines used by soldiers on the ground there.

There were some “bad” soldiers in the IDF, Col Kemp acknowledged.

But he added that despite similarities between the IDF and British forces, UK soldiers did not have to deal with the same amount of criticism from the international community.

“When we go into battle we do not get the same knee-jerk, almost Pavlovian response from many, many elements of the international media and international groups, humanitarian groups and other international groups such as the United Nations which should know better… of utter automatic condemnation. We don’t have to put up with that.”

The event, which was attended by over 400 British Jews, heard Mr Edelstein criticise the Goldstone report, which is widely regarded as biased within Israel, and warn against the rise of what he called a “new” anti-semitism.

He said that although it was important to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing by Israeli forces, the Goldstone report had influenced the enemies of his country to continue their campaign of hatred.

“Yes, we have to investigate, yes we have to check ourselves. Yes, I am ashamed of the soldier who stole some credit cards from a deserted house in the Gaza Strip. But between this and war crimes?”

6:12PM: Noah Pollak looks at Israel Derangement Syndrome in the British press.

6:08PM: David Hartwell, a security analyst at IHS Jane’s, talks about the use of European passports in last month’s killing of a Hamashole in Dubai and its impact on Israel’s relationship with European governments.

5:10PM: Earlier today, EU foreign ministers condemned the use of forged European passports by the assassins, but made no direct reference to Israel.

“The EU strongly condemns the fact that those involved in this action [assassination] used fraudulent EU member states’ passports and credit cards acquired through the theft of EU citizens’ identities,” a declaration on behalf of EU foreign ministers said.

—-

According to the European source, the UAE government did not blame Israel for carrying out the assassination nor did it request that Israel be cited in the EU statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has gone on the offensive in responding to claims Israel was behind the hit.

“The Arabs have a tendency to blame Israel for anything that happens in the Middle East,” the Israeli FM said, adding that the region “has many internal struggles within groups and states which are not as democratic as Israel is.”

5:05PM: The Dubai police chief has tied the killing of arch terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh to the Mossad.

Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said, ‘The police investigation has turned the assassination mission from a political crime – to a scandal, to a diplomatic crisis for Israel and has exposed the Israeli Mossad and the outrageous modes of operation its cells employed in order to murder Mabhouh.”

In an interview to Emirati paper al-Bayan published on Monday, Tamim said that “despite Israel’s attempts at denial, claiming there is no evidence that a Mossad cell carried out the assassination, the Dubai police are in possession of dozens of items of incriminating evidence against the cell which attest to the Mossad’s involvement.”

He further noted that “the tactical success of Mabhouh’s assassination is equal to its strategic and diplomatic failure.”

Tamim praised the Dubai police, saying, “Thanks to the Dubai police’s vigilance and capabilities and the strength of the evidence it holds and has handed over to the relevant countries, Mabhouh’s assassination has turned into a scandal and a diplomatic crisis for Israel.”

He rejected claims that western intelligence bodies cooperated with the Israeli Mossad in the operation.

The police chief added with satisfaction that this is the first time the Arab spectator has been able to witness the “crime of assassination.” He said the killing was a subject of interest in the West, to the point where western countries summoned Israeli ambassadors a number of times to demand official clarifications on the use of passports of four European countries.

Tamim stressed that the passports in question were not stolen or forged – but were real. “We do not rule out the possibility that Israel has a printer that prints passports of countries around the world, and this confirms that Israel is country that violates international law,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the “dozens of items of incriminating evidence against the cell which attest to the Mossad’s involvement” was recently leaked to the media.

9:48AM: The PA reacted to Israel’s decision to include Rachel’s Tomb (in Bethlehem) and the Cave of the Patriarchs (in Hebron) in a national plan to rehabilitate some 150 Jewish and Zionist heritage sites by calling it “dangerous.”

“This particular violation is especially dangerous because it will add to the religious component of the conflict in a way that might bring dangerous consequences,” said Ghassan Khatib, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’  government in Ramallah.

Aussie Dave’s rules of Palestinian Authority lexicon #37: When the PA speaks of “dangerous consequences” in relation to an Israeli action, it is almost always a threat of violence.

6:10AM: According to a new Gallop Poll regarding Americans’ perceptions of 20 nations that figure prominently in the news or US foreign policy, Israel ranked fifth amongst the countries viewed most favorably, Iran came in dead last, and while the PA was low down the list, there was a slight improvement in views over the past year (from 15%).
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Meanwhile, Israel was the most favored country amongst Republicans, while not faring as well amongst Democrats.

Following are excerpts from speeches by Arab Islamic leaders expressing solidarity with Gaza, which aired on Al-Manar and Al-Aqsa TV, December 3 and 5, 2008.

Sheik Himam Sa’id, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan: Oh noble Gaza, raise your head high. You have made the Muslims raise their heads high. And you, people of Hebron – you are now waging a war against the Jews. You are well-versed in this. We saw how, on a day in 1929, you slaughtered the Jews in Hebron. Today, slaughter them on the land of Hebron. Kill them in Palestine. Arise, oh people of Palestine, all the people of Palestine – arise in defense of your Al-Aqsa Mosque, arise in defense of Nablus and Hebron. Arise and face the [PA] Preventive Security forces. Fear them not, for they are rabbits. They are wolves, so fear them not, oh lions.

Now the Jews are rabbits and the palestinians are lions? I thought the palestinians actually liked rabbits, and were not so keen on lions.