A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.

A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.

The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad’s birthplace, and the name derives from “weaver of the Sabour”, the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior.

Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad’s track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.

Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: “This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s background explains a lot about him.

“Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.

“By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society.”

A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that “jian” ending to the name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews.

“He has changed his name for religious reasons, or at least his parents had,” said the Iranian-born Jew living in London. “Sabourjian is well known Jewish name in Iran.”

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said it would not be drawn on Mr Ahmadinejad’s background. “It’s not something we’d talk about,” said Ron Gidor, a spokesman.

The Iranian leader has not denied his name was changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s. But he has never revealed what it was change from or directly addressed the reason for the switch.

Relatives have previously said a mixture of religious reasons and economic pressures forced his blacksmith father Ahmad to change when Mr Ahmadinejad was aged four.

Oy to the vey.

(from here via Jewgle Perth)

Update: Still on topic…

(hat tip: Andrew)

“If not now, then when,” Netanyahu reportedly said in the conversations with American officials. “Action must be taken in all areas to increase pressure on Iran and impose crippling sanctions on it.”

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is remorseful over the whole affair.

Just kidding.

“They can continue to use this case (against Iran) through the media but it was a blow to their arrogance,” said the Iranian leader in reference to the United States and other Western powers.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

2:32PM: Hours before the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, around 150 palestinians have thrown stones at a group of Jews visiting the Temple Mount.

The incident began when a group of tourists entered the Temple Mount compound accompanied by a police force. At a certain stage, some 150 worshippers started gathering around them and calling out towards them.

Some of the worshippers began throwing stones at the group. The police force fired stun grenades in an attempt to gain control of the riot. Nine police officers were lightly injured by stones. Six of them received medical treatment on the site and the rest were evacuated to hospitals.

Fifteen worshippers were injured by stones and two were lightly hurt by the stun grenades and were evacuated to the al-Maqasid Hospital in east Jerusalem. Adult worshippers attempted to calm things down, while the group of tourists was removed from the site.

The palestinian Ma’an News predictably have a different take on events.

At least 26 people were injured and eight arrested as fierce clashes broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday.

Three of the 17 wounded Palestinians sustained serious eye and head injuries, sources said.

Israeli police said nine officers were also hurt.

Clashes erupted after groups of Israelis entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday morning, reportedly under the guard of Israeli police. Palestinians threw stones, chairs, and shoes at the Israelis, while police injured 17 Palestinians during attempts to forcefully disperse them with batons and stun grenades.

On Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Foundation warned that Israeli police were planning to permit settlers entrance to the area. Officials in East Jerusalem predicted that the break-in would occur on Sunday under the pretext of marking Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement.

In other words, Jewish people peacefully visiting the holist site in Judaism = break-in. How’s that for peace and tolerance?

Interestingly enough, some of the wording of the Ma’an News report seems to have been changed. According to Elder of Ziyon, this is what the Ma’an report was saying over an hour ago:

At least 13 Palestinians were injured as fierce clahes broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Sunday morning after Israeli police permitted settlers to break into the area, witnesses said.

Two of the injured Palestinians reportedly sustained serious injuries to the eye and head. Israeli police said two officers were also hurt.

On Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Foundation had warned of an impending incursion. Officials in Jerusalem said extremists were preparing to break into the holy Muslim area, and accurately predicted that the break-in would occur on Sunday under the pretext of celebrating a religious holiday.

Confrontations erupted after groups of Israelis broke into the compound, reportedly under the guard of Israeli police. Palestinians hurled stones, chairs, and shoes at the Israelis, while police tried to disperse the Palestinians by force, injuring nine people right away, and four more throughout the morning.

It’s almost as if Ma’an realized they had to tone down the language a bit, since it was even too much of a stretch for them.

12:32PM: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again thumbing his nose at the Obama administration and the West.

10:18AM: Hot on the heels of our peace partner Egypt showing their fond feelings for us comes Turkey doing the same thing.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday his country would push the Security Council to discuss a report by United Nations investigators accusing Israel  and Palestinian gunmen of war crimes in the Gaza war.

“We will definitely take the position to discuss this issue on the Security Council,” Erdogan told reporters.

9:00AM: According to some palestinian “political analysts,” Israel’s pinpoint strike on the three Islamic Jihad “ticking bomb” terrorists was not to prevent rockets from being fired on Israel, but rather for more devious purposes.

An Israeli airstrike that killed three Palestinian fighters on Friday night was targeted at Islamic Jihad in a calculated move intended to disrupt a precarious calm in the Gaza Strip, political analysts told Ma’an on Saturday.

The strike targeted Islamic Jihad in hopes that the group would respond violently, thus embarrassing the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza, which has assiduously enforced a unilateral ceasefire since the end of Israel’s three-week war on Gaza last January.

I’m just surprised they didn’t claim it was to kill the men so we could steal their organs.

7:54AM: Here’s the latest video of Zionist occupation soldiers carpet bombing Gaza city in order to stop three laborers from delivering pipes to a nearby construction site.

Aussie Dave: Err, sorry there. I invited Richard Goldstone to guest post, but I’m guessing that was not a good idea. Here’s what really happened.

IAF Targets Three Terrorists on Their way to Launch Rockets at Israel

Last evening, Friday, September 25th 2009, An Israel Air Force air-craft targeted and identified hitting three terrorists east of Gaza City who were on their way to fire rockets at Israel’s southern communities.

The three terrorists hit were Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives residing in Gaza City, and part of a terrorist cell that has been firing rockets into Israel for the past few weeks, including rockets that hit the city of Sderot during the holiday of Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year) a week ago. The names of the three terrorists are Mahmoud Mussah Rammadan Bana, Kamel Hamdan Ibrahim Dakhdukh and Mohamed Salem Barawi Marshoud.

Approximately 50 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel during the last three months, totalling more than 250 since the end of Operation Cast Lead and more than 750 in 2009. Throughout 2008, over 3300 rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel.

The IDF will respond harshly to any attempt to break the calm in Israel’s southern communities.

7:22AM: Here’s the latest interview with Richard Goldstone (in Hebrew with English subtitles)

You can read the speech here.

Or, see it for yourself..

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

3:16PM: Iran has just revealed it has a second uranium enrichment plant under construction which will produce nuclear fuel only for the purpose of making electricity.

Which begs the question: if this is truly for peaceful purposes, why did Iran previously say it was operating only one plant?

2:02PM: Introducing our latest weapon: Zionist Radiation Mercenaries of Death.^TM

It’s been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He’s sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and “Israeli mercenaries” are torturing him with high-frequency radiation.

“We are being threatened with death,” he said in an interview with The Miami Herald, adding that mercenaries were likely to storm the embassy where he has been holed up since Monday and assassinate him.

“I prefer to march on my feet than to live on my knees before a military dictatorship,” Zelaya said in a series of back-to-back interviews.

Zelaya was deposed at gunpoint on June 28 and slipped back into his country on Monday, just two days before he was scheduled to speak before the United Nations. He sought refuge at the Brazilian Embassy, where Zelaya said he is being subjected to toxic gases and radiation that alter his physical and mental state.

Witnesses said that for a short time Tuesday morning, soldiers used a device that looked like a large satellite dish to emit a loud shrill noise.

Honduran police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said he knew nothing of any radiation devices being used against the former president.

“He says there are mercenaries against him? Using some kind of apparatus?” Cerrato said. “No, no, no, no. Sincerely: no. The only elements surrounding that embassy are police and military, and they have no such apparatus.”

Alternatively, the man the Obama administration has been trying hard to restore to power in Honduras is plain bonkers.

9:58AM: Observations on Bibi’s UN speech:

• I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: the man can speak
• Good move stating unequivocally our historical connection to the land of Israel (in direct contrast to Obama’s Cairo speech in which the US President implied the Jews right to Israel arose from the Holocaust)
• When he ripped those who stayed during Ahmadinejad’s speech and the UN (including the UNHRC), I experienced the same rush as I did when the humans defeated the aliens in Independence Day.
• Nice 1-2 with the transition from Islamic fundamentalism and barbarism to Israel’s scientific accomplishments.
• Mentioning the painful disengagement from Gaza and the resultant Iranian-backed terror was another master stroke, as was mention of the Arab refusal to accept the 1947 partition plan

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Israel of “inhuman policies” in the Palestinian territories and of dominating world political and economic affairs in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad assailed Israel for what he said was a barbaric attack on the Gaza Strip last winter. He also accused the West of hypocrisy, saying it preached democracy, but violated its fundamental principles.

Addressing Israel, the Iranian leader said, “The awakening of nations and the expansion of freedom worldwide will no longer allow them to continue their hypocrisy and vicious attitudes.”

“How can one imagine that the inhuman policies in Palestine may continue?” Ahmadinejad continued. “How can crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children and destruction of their homes, farms, hospitals and schools be supported unconditionally by certain governments?”

Ahmadinejad spoke to a half-empty chamber as he sought to cast himself as a beleaguered champion of the developing world, that he portrayed as under attack from rapacious capitalism.

At the same time, the Iranian leader issued stinging attacks on the United States and its allies without calling them by name, prompting a walkout by the U.S. delegation.

At times, Ahmadinejad struck a softer tone, declaring that Tehran was prepared to warmly shake all those hands which are honestly extended to us. He peppered his speech with religious references, invoking the prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Ahmadinejad made a passing reference to the nuclear issue – call for global nuclear disarmament – but most of the speech focused on his usual themes – scathing verbal attacks on Israel and the West.

Ahmadinejad also accused foreign forces of spreading “war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation” in the Middle East, citing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Iranian leader said it was time for the world to respond. “It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the U.S., to attain its racist ambitions,” he said.

If you have the time and sufficiently masochistic tendencies, you can view his full speech here.

Bonus: Ahmadinejad answering a question about his Holocaust denial.

Don’t tell me the idea of this man having nuclear weapons doesn’t terrify you.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

2:38PM: Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, explains how the Goldstone report is a victory for terror.

Excerpt:

Consider this scenario. In response to the atrocities of 9/11, the United States invades Afghanistan and battles non-uniformed Taliban terrorists who fight within densely populated areas. Though American forces do their utmost to avoid inflicting civilian casualties, many innocents are killed – not the least because the Taliban uses them as human shields. Nevertheless, the United States carefully investigates each civilian death and, in the case of misconduct, punishes those soldiers responsible.

But then an international organization notorious for its one-sided condemnations of America launches an investigation into US “war crimes.’’ The inquiry is held under Taliban auspices, and Taliban commanders – disguised as civilians – are interviewed. Inexorably, the organization finds America guilty of mounting a pre-meditated campaign to inflict the maximum amount of civilian deaths and of failing to try those responsible. The final report calls for punitive action against the United States for its “crimes against humanity.’’

If true, this scenario would mark an unparalled victory for terror and deal a crippling blow to any democracy trying to defend itself. Yet, this is precisely the catastrophe created by a UN report on Israeli military actions against Hamas in Gaza last January.

12:38PM: You have to hand it to the palestinians. Their imaginations truly run wild when it comes to dreaming up ways to demonize Israel.

Case in point: the palestinian version of the killing of Israeli Arab Walid Tawil, who was shot after he broke through a checkpoint, and then tried to run over a soldier.

Walid Rabi At-Tawil, shot dead Tuesday by Israeli forces near the Beta Illit checkpoint, died not because the 27-year-old failed to stop when ordered, but from a planned ambush that abused the power soldiers wield over travelers, local residents told Ma’an.

The Israeli officer that shot At-Tawil met the young man Monday at the Betar Illit checkpoint, where he had pulled him over and detained At-Tawil for two and a half hours, according to purported witnesses. An altercation between the two during the period of detention saw the officer scream at At-Tawil that he was never to return to the checkpoint, they said, claiming that the officer threatened to kill At-Tawil if he ever saw him again.

The following day At-Tawil was stopped at a gas station near the checkpoint when Israeli army vehicles pulled in, one carrying the same officer with whom the altercation had taken place, according to the same witnesses. They said the officer disembarked from the jeep, walked over to At-Tawil, struck him and then demanded to see his ID card. He was instructed to get in his car and follow the military vehicle, they said.

A short distance from the gas station Israeli soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, shooting the car and driver at least 35 times, they said. One Palestinian said At-Tawil attempted to flee in his car when soldiers began firing their weapons, but did not manage to escape the scene.

They also said that the soldier was from the regular army, not an Israeli police officer or border guard. Their reports countered claims made in the Israeli press that At-Tawil had run through the Betar Illit checkpoint, been chased down by Israeli forces, and then tried to run them down when he was caught.

According to the Palestinians who spoke to Ma’an, the gas station’s owners had working video cameras operating at the time of the incident, but by Wednesday no footage had been brought forward.

Which begs the following questions:

• Why would the soldier with whom Tawil had an altercation the day before ask to see his ID card? If he intended to kill him, he surely would have recognized him without any ID, since they had spent two and half hours together the previous day.
• Why was Tawil  instructed to get in his car and follow the military vehicle, given that he was killled a short distance from the petrol station? The soldiers could have walked with him and then killed him, given that they were seemingly not concerned with the prospect of witnesses.
• Doesn’t it seem coincidental that the very same witnesses to the two-and-a-half hour detention and altercation happened to be on the scene to witness the killing the next day?
• What is the bet that video footage confirming this palestinian version of events does not actually exist?

11:36AM: Many delegations walked out before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s UN General Assembly rant, including those from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the United States.

Meanwhile, this graphic on the Herald Sun site suggests that delegates walked out because of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (although the report to which it links tells the true story).

Beware, the mighty ear wax picker!

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and President Barack Obama are set to meet on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, according to a surprise White House announcement on Saturday night.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

7:32PM: Earlier today, palestinians fired on Defense Ministry laborers engaged in infrastructure work. The IDF responded by firing mortar shells at the gunmen.

7:15PM: Back when I lived in Australia, a journalist by the name of Liam Bartlett was the news anchor for one of the local television stations. He seemed like a pretty laid back, affable fellow, and when he made it on to the Australian version of 60 minutes, he showed signs of not following in the footsteps of fellow 60 minuter Richard Carleton. In other words, not displaying an incredible anti-Israel bias.

Well, that was then and this is now. Watch here for Liam Bartlett’s blatantly one-sided treatment of the conflict.

And Bartlett’s blog reveals more of the same.

Bartlett shows no hint of even trying to cover the story fairly. He has made up his mind that the so-called” settlements” are wrong, and their inhabitants “extremists.” He takes the word of his palestinian interviewees as fact, while deriding the statements of the “settlers.” There is not even a mention of the terrorism plaguing Israel, and which is the reason for the checkpoints and security fence he is so quick to deride. In fact, one gets the impression that Bartlett would justify terrorism from palestinians, given their allegedly bad treatment at the hands of Israel and those “extremist settlers.”

Bartlett describes anti-fence demonstrations in which participants throw rocks at soldiers as “peaceful” (I’m guessing he has never been hit in the head with a rock, although if he had been, that would explain a lot). He also makes no mention of the context of the war in which Israel captured the territories in dispute, nor the other wars in which the Arabs made very clear their intentions to destroy the tiny Jewish state. And speaking of which, notice how Bartlett describes how tiny the “West Bank” is. He is simply not interested in the fact that Israel is the tiny place surrounded by hostile neighbors out to destroy her, which is the key to understanding the whole conflict.

(Thanks to both my mum and Gedalia for bringing this to my attention)

3:55PM: Old and busted: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

New hotness: Zionist man slayers of death.^TM

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday he was proud he had managed to enrage the West by denying the Holocaust during a speech he made in Tehran in honor of Jerusalem day.

Ahmadinejad was quoted by the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) as saying that the angering of “professional man-slayers is a source of pride for us and will not stand in our way”, apparently in reference to Israel and the West.

“The more these imperialists, enemies of humanity and those whose hearts have no love for the human kind run wild, screaming and throwing accusations, we know our path is correct,” said Ahmadinejad.

1:50PM: How bad is the Goldstone report? Even the former editor in chief of the leftist Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has ripped it.

Excerpt:

Israel intentionally went after civilians in Gaza — and wrapped its intention in lies.

That chilling — and misguided — accusation is the key conclusion of the United Nations investigation, led by Richard Goldstone, into the three-week war last winter.

1:25PM: How bad is the Goldstone report? Hamas is urging the world to embrace it.

De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged world powers on Sunday to embrace a recently-released report on alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s recent war on the Gaza Strip.

“We hope the report … will not be doomed to the fate of the dozens of reports that Israel has condemned for decades,” referring to the report of the fact-finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone.

Released last week, Goldstone’s 575-page report drew criticism from the US and Israel for its finding that Israel committed war crimes during the attack on Gaza. While the report focuses on Israel, it also calls for further investigations into alleged violations by Palestinian armed groups.

Responding to the alleged Palestinian violations, Haniyeh said he “affirm[s] our right to self-defense under international law.”

Haniyeh specifically asked the Arab League and European countries to use all means to make sure the report is brought to the attention to the UN Security Council and then referred to prosecutors.

11:15AM: Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the national security advisor of former US President/current fossilized meddler Jimmy Carter, has said in an interview that the US should use force against IAF planes if they fly over Iraq to strike Iran.

Is the fallout as bad if Israel preemptively strikes Iran?

Absolutely. That is the way, more importantly, how the Iranians would view it. They really can’t do much to the Israelis, despite all their bluster. The only thing they can do is unify themselves, especially nationalistically, to rally against us, and the mullahs might even think of it as a blessing.

How aggressive can Obama be in insisting to the Israelis that a military strike might be in America’s worst interest?

We are not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?

What if they fly over anyway?

Well, we have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren’t just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a Liberty in reverse.

10:15AM: Roseanne Barr:

I will be atoning for the sins of the state of Israel on behalf of the jewish soul. I may be one of the only jews on earth doing this, and so I feel compelled to do it even more strongly. It is very neccessary that this be done, because without atonement and repentance for the things we have done to offend and abuse our neighbors, we will be erased as a people, according to the teachings of our holy books.

Our very existence is the thing which offends our neighbors. I certainly won’t be atoning for that.

By the way, I am really curious as to where in our Holy books Barr found reference to us being erased as a people for offending our neighbors. Curious, since no such reference exists.

9:00AM: Sweden is giving us another reason to dislike them, besides the organ harvesting blood libel, their refusal to condemn it, and ABBA.

5:50AM: Here is Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren’s response to the Goldstone report, to which I linked a few days ago, but now embedded for your viewing pleasure.

5:40AM: Here’s Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talking about Iran, including the claim Israeli President Shimon Peres assurance to him that Israel would not attack Iran, and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent “secret” trip to Russia.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice responded to the Goldstone report.

“We have very serious concerns about many of the recommendations in the report,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Thursday in response to the findings of a UN team that investigated the recent war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

—-

Rice told reporters following a Security Council session that the US “is reviewing very carefully what is a very lengthy document. We have long expressed our very serious concern with the mandate that was given (to Goldstone’s team) by the Human Rights Council prior to our joining the Council, which we viewed as unbalanced, one-sided and basically unacceptable.

“We will expect and believe that the appropriate venue for this report to be considered is the Human Rights Council (in Geneva) and that’s our strong view. And most importantly, our view is that we need to be focused on the future,” she said.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

5:30PM: Here is a nice rebuttal of some Goldstone report findings by a non-Jewish, Aussie blogger.

1:52PM: Yet another example of what miserable failures we are at ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Four Magen David Adom teams evacuated six Palestinians to the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv and the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Zerifin after suffering serious burn wounds from a gas pipe explosion in a restaurant in Gaza on Thursday.

All six are members of the same family and four of them are children. They were transferred to Israel through Erez crossing.

1:35PM: Gorilla boy aka the poisonous midget has delivered his Rosh Hashanah message:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday the Holocaust was a “lie” and a pretext to create a Jewish state that Iranians had a religious duty to confront.

“The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false … It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim,” he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of annual anti-Israel Quds Day rally.

“Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty,” the Iranian president said.

—-

“This regime [Israel] will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it?. This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end,” he said in the speech broadcasted live on state radio.

And..

“If the Holocaust was planned by the West, why won’t you allow any research on the Holocaust? The Holocaust has turned into a black box and they won’t let anyone open it and examine it… If this is such an important event, why won’t you let us reveal the reality to the entire world?”

Ahmadinejad reiterated his past “proposal”, to have the Jews immigrate to other country. “Why don’t they immigrate to Canada or the United States? They can go live in other countries. The Palestinian people don’t have to pay for your crime. What is the Palestinians’ sin?

“The Zionists are the greatest criminals in history. Resisting the Zionists is a national duty and a religious commandment and a human duty. The Zionist regime is a tree with rotten roots,” Ahmadinejad said.

He added, “It’s clear that this fake regime was established for colonialist goals, and there is no logic behind its establishment.” The crowd responded by chanting, “Death to Israel.”

And a happy new year to you too, big little guy.

1:25PM: Amir Mizroch of the Jerusalem Post:

During his investigations into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during Operation Cast Lead, Judge Richard Goldstone asked a group of prominent South African expatriates living in Israel to persuade government officials here to cooperate with his commission.

Goldstone told them the commission’s findings and recommendations would be more balanced if Israel made its case.

The expats traveled to Jerusalem with the message, but after a relatively short briefing with Israeli experts, the delegation did a complete about-face and supported Israel’s position of having nothing to do with the UN fact-finding mission.

The trick: Israeli officials briefed the visitors on what Goldstone’s commission was already doing in Gaza, on the makeup of the UN Human Rights Council and on the rancid history of the HRC’s deliberate targeting of Israel.

Officials in Jerusalem say the decision not to cooperate with Goldstone has been vindicated, because the commission largely ignored, or twisted, the information already made available to it to suit its needs.

12:28PM: Here’s some women you don’t want to mess with.

10:30AM: The latest Jerusalem Post caption blooper could actually work well as a slip of the Freudian kind.

I mean, they both don’t seem to be taking the Iranian threat seriously.

10:05AM: One of the ploys used by opponents of Israel is to point to the relatively low number of Israeli casualty figures. For example, we just saw Richard Goldstone mentioning the number of Israelis killed by rockets compared to the number of palestinians killed.

But what about those who were lucky enough to survive terror attacks, yet were still injured? This next heartbreaking video should give you an idea as to the devastating impact of palestinian terror attacks, which reaches far beyond the official casualty figures.

Update: And here is another video of Ahmadinejad dealing with a fly.

Of the open variety.

He can’t let Little Mahmoud enjoy too much freedom.

My effort:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tries to wipe his contingent off the map.

(photo via Fark)

Update: Alternative caption:

Wipe Israel off the map? He evidently can’t even wipe his own bum.

But alas, their sycophancy and efforts to submit were not entirely appreciated by their Islamic overlords.

A team of visiting Hollywood actors and members of the movie industry, including Annette Bening, should apologize for films such as “300″ and “The Wrestler” which have angered many in Iran, said the artistic advisor to Iran’s president Sunday.

Javad Shamaqdari, the art and cinema advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said members of the Iranian cinema community should not meet with representatives from the nine-member team until they apologize.

“In my viewpoint, it is a failure to have an official meeting with one who is insulting,” Shamaqdari said.

—-

The film “300,” which portrays the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army at a mountain pass in Greece for three days, angered many Iranians for the way Persians are depicted as decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil in contrast to the noble Greeks.

Iranians also criticized “The Wrestler” starring Mickey Rourke as a rundown professional wrestler who is preparing for a rematch with his old nemesis, “The Ayatollah.” During a fight scene, “The Ayatollah” tries to choke Rourke with an Iranian flag before Rourke pulls the flagpole away, breaks it and throws it into the cheering crowd.

Burn!

Meanwhile, I do not recall the last time a Hollywood delegation came to Israel to conduct a “cultural mission of creative exchange”, let alone express solidarity with the one country in the Middle East that fights for the right for the likes of Hollywood to make crappy movies in the first place.