A veiled Palestinian girl uses a catapult to throw stones at Israeli soldiers during a weekly demonstration against the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements on village lands in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on January 6, 2012. ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images

[Source]

While the palestinians have tried all kinds of weapons, I don’t think catapults are part of their arsenal.

Update: Apparently, it is me asleep at the wheel, since some do refer to a slingshot as a catapult.

[Language warning]

He’s quite the ladies man.

A potent symbol of peace and harmony, the olive has become a source of confrontation and violence in the decades-old conflict that pits Israel against Palestinians.

Excerpt:

The key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and in the wider Israeli-Arab dispute, is the issue that dare not speak its name, the pervasive and profound anti-Semitism that permeates the contemporary Islamic world, especially the Middle East.

This is the real barrier to peace, and people who are concerned with peace will try to ameliorate it.

It is analytically false, historically untrue and conceptually impossible that all this anti-Semitism has arisen from Israel’s sins, real and imagined.

Read the whole thing, which contains, amongst other things, an interesting quote from a former Indonesian President about Yasser Arafat.

Sure, it is by no means perfect. But in all fairness, he did come out against any “shortcuts” to peace (i.e. a unilaterial declaration on the part of the palestinians), mentioned peace can only come about through compromise of the parties, reaffirmed America’s commitment to Israel’s security, emphasized the security concerns Israel faces every day, acknowledged Israel’s neighbors have waged wars against us and continue to threaten to wipe us off the map, and mentioned Israel as the “historical homeland” of the Jewish people. In other words, he rectified much of what was wrong with his infamous May speech to the State Department.

Obama’s speech this time was not the only improvement. In a Press Conference with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after the speech, the body language between the two leader seemed warmer, albeit slightly.

Perhaps this time around, Netanyahu will be invited to dinner.

Update: Another reason to be content with the speech.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas top 3rd R places his hand on his face as he listens to U S President Barack Obama s address at the 66th United Nations General Assembly at the U N headquarters in New York September 21 2011 REUTERS Jessica Rinaldi

 And this:

Palestinian officials from various factions voiced criticism of US President Barack Obama for his UN General Assembly address, and accused him of “adopting Israel’s stance” to win over the Jewish vote in the upcoming presidential elections.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, said that the movement expected Obama to show support for the Palestinian cause, and asserted that the US president’s statements on the freedom of the Arab people were far removed from his call to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.

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Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki told Palestinian television following Obama’s speech that “The time has come for us to stop differentiating between Israel and the US, because they are committing the same crime.

“The Americans slaughtered the Indians there, so wouldn’t they be capable of slaughter here? The world is a small global village, and it is changing,” he added.

Senior Hamas official in Gaza Ahmed Yousef dismissed the president’s positions as nothing new. He said that the peace talks are doomed due to the US’ inability to pressure Israel to stop settlement construction.

“Obama’s statements are pro-Israeli, and are considered an evasion of the Palestinian UN bid,” Yousef said. “The US has proved that it is not an honest broker in the Palestinian issue.”

Palestinian political analyst Hani al-Masri noted that “Obama adopted Israel’s stance in his speech. This is the US’ permanent position, as its ties with Israel are stronger than its ties with the Arabs.”

Masri suggested that Obama is taking Israel’s side in the conflict to ensure that he gets the Jewish vote in the upcoming presidential elections.

Update: In other news, Abbas has claimed we deliberately train wild animals to attack palestinians.

Zionist Death Pigs^TM and Zionist Death Dogs^TM to be precise.

Abbas condemned the rise in Israeli settlers’ violence against the Palestinian people and Israel’s training of dogs and wild pigs to attack Palestinians

Photo: Avi Rokach

Ok, I’ve tried to avoid getting into this situation, but it seems many people are expecting me to cover the latest war being waged against us here in Israel. And sure, I’ve expressed my concerns about retaining my sanity if I start attempting to blog updates, but, heck, at least I do not have rockets raining down on me (yet).

I’ll do my best to keep you updated, but am not sure how regularly I’ll be posting updates. So I’ll include a Twitter widget with updates and you’ll have the latest news and links when I am not providing my own.

Note: When posting updates, it won’t be of the solely “newsy” variety. I can’t help but include my brand of punditry and snark.

Spread the word.

You can also find updates over at The Muqata.

10:22PM: Despite reports of a ceasefire, the rockets keep coming.

8:40PM: Hamashole speak with forked tongue:

Hamas official: Gaza militants agree to cease-fire

Hamas fires phosphorus bomb at southern kibbutz

5:22PM: PMO Spokesman Ofir Gendelman posted on his Twitter feed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “has instructed the IDF to target only Palestinian terrorist organizations and to avoid collateral damage as much as possible.”

5:15PM: What a mensch!

Actor John Voight has visited rocket attack victims at Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center

During the visit, Voight said that he has come to witness and report to the American people the harsh reality faced by the residents of southern Israel. He added that he was amazed to see that terror victims were hospitalized next to residents of Gaza and Hebron

5:08PM: Photo of the Day: Subtle, isn’t he?

An Egyptian protester holds an anti-Israel slogan near the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Hundreds of Egyptians protested against the deaths of Egyptian security forces killed in a shootout between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants on Thursday in the Sinai. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

5:00PM: From the Boy, Were They Wrong Department:  

4:50PM: More on our peace-loving Egyptian neighbors.

4:05PM: This would almost be funny but for the fact it isn’t.

Hamas Foreign Minister Mohammed Awad has been conducting talks with various contacts in international and regional organizations in an effort to stop Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported on Sunday.

According to the report, Awad contacted the United Nations several times.

What is sadder is the fact the UN will likely act to stop Israel.

3:45PM: From the IDF Spokesperson blog earlier today:

2 rockets hit so. of Ashkelon, Israel, threatening 112,900 Ashkelon residents; city Pop. = 1/3 of Florence, Italy Pop.

3:25PM: Our “peace partner” Jordan has condemned palestinian terrorists targeting of innocent civilians Israel’s targeting of terrorists in Gaza.

1:18PM: Some of the palestinian-fired rockets have landed in Egypt. No word yet on whether Egypt expects us to apologize.

1:15PM: Clearer footage of Egyptian Flagman.

1:08PM: The IAF has struck Gaza, targeting a terror cell about to fire rockets at Israel.

12:00PM: The man killed in last night’s rocket attacks on Be’er Sheva was on his way to his nine-month pregnant wife after hearing air raid sirens and becoming concerned for her safety.

11:38AM: Here’s another news item from the Theater of the Absurd:

Hamas has been holding talks with the Islamic Jihad over the weekend in an effort to convince the terror organization to stop firing rockets into Israel and resume the de facto truce that has been in place for two years, Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported on Sunday.

This comes hot on the heels of Hamas taking responsibility for firing grad rockets at Be’er Sheva.

Do as we say, not as we do?

11:15AM: Anti-Israel cartoonist Carlos Latuff has created the following cartoon depicting the Egyptian who took down the Israeli flag from our Cairo embassy as a super hero.

As one of his commenters states “This drawing pix is now the facebook profile for most Egyptians.”

11:05AM: Another head-scratching news ticker update from Ha’aretz:

Islamic Jihad leader travels to Cairo in attempt to return calm to region (Ch. 10)

Yes, I’m sure their goal is calm in the region.

10:28AM: You’d think CNN could find a better image to illustrate a report on our predicament, say an image that doesn’t make us look like the aggressors.

Then again, this is CNN.

10:22AM: Egypt is not happy with our statement expressing regret for the border deaths of five of their policemen, killed during exchanges of fire with terrorists. 

Ok, I guess it is too much to expect them to express condolences for the Israeli lives lost during the terror attack, but to demand an apology from us?

Meanwhile last night, Egyptian protesters removed the Israeli flag from our embassy in Cairo..and were quite happy about it.

Peace!

10:05AM: More than 100 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel during the past 3 days. And that’s not including the multi-staged terror attack near Eilat, which claimed the lives of 8 people.

9:38AM: Update from the Ha’aretz news ticker:

Spain FM: It is time to recognize Palestinian state (Ch. 10)

Sends a clear message, doesn’t it? Fire more rockets into Israel, and you can accelerate the process towards getting your state.

But we already knew Spain has a terror appeasement policy, so no surprises there.

9:35AM: So far this morning, terrorists have fired rockets and mortars towards Ashkelon and Be’er Sheva, with the Iron Dome system successfully shooting down 4 of them.

One rocket hit a school building in Be’er Sheva, causing no injuries as students “Israeli soldiers” are currently on summer break.

Because the Israeli left tends to advocate for a two-state solution, which just won’t cut it.

On 15 July, thousands of Israelis marched in occupied East Jerusalem to show their support for a Palestinian “state” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Portrayed by its Israeli organizers as a joint Palestinian-Israeli march and ornamented with the slogans of “shared struggle” and “solidarity,” the Palestinian participation in the event was however scarce — a fraction of those in attendance were Palestinians. This event came a few weeks after a similar march in Tel Aviv, and while the Jerusalem march garnered more publicity due to its location, both events expose the failures of the purported solidarity of the Israeli Zionist “left” with the Palestinians.

The term solidarity — much like co-existence — is so overused in the liberal Zionist discourse as to render it meaningless. The misconception of solidarity raises the question: what does solidarity mean and, more specifically, when can an act carried out by Israelis in the name of supporting Palestinians be considered an act of true solidarity?

Can every instance of Israelis flocking to the streets chanting “End the occupation” be blithely described as solidarity? Should every occasion of Israelis carrying Palestinian flags be ecstatically celebrated as a major boost for the Palestinian cause? Should Palestinians be simply grateful that, amid the increasing construction of settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the overwhelming surge of racism in Israeli society, there are still some Israeli voices willing to “recognize” a Palestinian state?

When persons in a position of privilege formulate and design a solution and impose it on a colonized and occupied people as the only viable solution and the “sole remaining constructive step,” as the 15 July call to action put it, this is not solidarity but rather another form of occupation. Solidarity means not telling people what you think their problem is, let alone telling them what you think the solution should be. Solidarity means not agreeing on everything or even agreeing on a fixed solution but fighting for a shared cause irrespective of the differences.

A quasi-state built on 22 percent of the land of historic Palestine is not what Palestinians have been fighting for over the last 63 years and presenting it as such strips Palestinians of their voices and of their right to decide their own destiny.

Many argue, though, that struggling shoulder-to-shoulder with Zionist leftists widens the support base for Palestine and provides Palestinians with an opportunity to debate and convince the other side. This would be true if Zionists viewed Palestinians as equal partners but they do not. The whole idea of two states for two peoples as the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli impasse — extremely popular among liberal Zionists — is predicated upon isolationism, exceptionalism and Zionists’ sense of moral righteousness and superiority to Palestinians which grants them the legitimacy to determine the problem, the solution and the means by which this solution shall be achieved.

A “joint” Palestinian-Zionist march does not offer an opportunity to engage in a productive dialogue; it rather gives Zionists one more chance to marginalize Palestinians’ voices and lecture Palestinians on how they should resist and what they should accept.

Thus, these demonstrations that ostensibly demand equality in reality maintain the privileged status of Israeli Jews. And although such demonstrations are capable of drawing thousands of Israelis every once in a while, they do not really widen the Israeli support base for Palestinians. Instead, they reflect support for a “solution” that overlooks the refugee problem — the core of the Palestinian struggle — and fragments the Palestinian nation and dooms Palestinian citizens in Israel to perpetual inferiority and discrimination.

Solidarity is not measured by numbers; it’s not about how many people came to a pro-Palestine demonstration. It is about why those people came. Fighting alongside fifty Israelis who are truly committed to the Palestinian cause is, therefore, much more important and valuable than marching in the shadow of thousands of Israelis who think Palestine is merely the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

On its Facebook page, the 15 July Jerusalem march was titled in Hebrew “Marching for the independence of Palestine” while the Arabic version read, “Together towards the liberation of Palestine.” There is a huge difference between liberation and an “independent state.” Freedom for Palestinians means much more than establishing a bantustan in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The inconsistency in the Arabic and Hebrew wording is telling but it is neither new nor rare for “leftist” Israeli organizations to address the Palestinian public in a different language and tone to that used for addressing the Israeli public.

Of the hundred or so Palestinians who attended the march, many may have joined because of the false perception that the aim of this march was to demand freedom, rather than to call for bogus “independence.” In addition, members of the Palestinian popular committees of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, whose neighborhoods face house demolitions and a silent, grinding process of ethnic cleansing, say that they felt they had no option but to join the march in order to draw attention to their struggle. But their plight was exploited by the organizers to advertise the march as a “joint struggle,” to score political points and serve their public relations purposes.

The contributions of the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, the main organizers of the 15 July march, should not be diminished. The weekly demonstrations it has been organizing in Sheikh Jarrah and al-Lydd shed light on the struggle of the Palestinian residents against Israel’s systematic policy of house demolition and evictions. Leading members of the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement and other Israeli leftist peace organizations receive vicious attacks from the Israeli far right, including death threats and accusations of treason.

This, however, must not place them beyond criticism. For all their activism, they have failed to fully embrace the Palestinian public and get it involved. Their demonstrations are dominated by white, secular liberal Zionists and the Palestinian voice, which they supposedly want to make heard, is inaudible amid a chorus of Hebrew-language chants about peace and coexistence. Even the slogans and the placards which were raised during the demonstrations were decided beforehand by the Israeli organizers, turning the protests into a tedious, painfully predictable and elitist routine.

In sum, Israeli “solidarity” is a double-edged sword. It has the potential of advancing the Palestinian cause and influencing Israeli public opinion and bringing the Palestinian struggle into the mainstream media. However, there is a great risk of groups hijacking the growing grassroots movement of Palestinian popular resistance under the cloak of solidarity and coexistence.

That there is a sweeping tide of blatant extremism among the Israeli ruling elite and wider society does not mean that Palestinians should gratefully cheer soft-core Zionist “compromises.” Solidarity is neither an act of charity nor a festival of boastful speeches and empty rhetoric. It is a moral obligation that should be carried out with full, unwavering and unconditional commitment.

Those who seek appreciation and gratitude had better stay in their cozy chairs in Tel Aviv. Attempts to exploit the Palestinian plight for political purposes and to turn the Palestinian cause from a struggle for human rights, justice, freedom and equality into a parade of fake independence and cliches must be called out and countered.

This piece is a must-read for those with their heads still stuck in the sand. Which definitely includes the same leftists being ripped in the article.

By the way, did I mention the person who wrote this piece describes herself not just as a Palestinian socialist activist but also as a ”third-year law student at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem”?

I wouldn’t necessarily call all of these facts “unknown,” but rather “neglected.”

It is good to see them finally getting more airplay.