Thanks to Israellycool commenter Juvanya, we see they are not alone.

Egypt:

Iraq:

Exactly 45 years ago Cpt. Munir Redfa, an Iraqi pilot, defected to Israel with the successful Mossad operation – Operation Diamond in 1966. He arrived in Israel on his MiG-21 aircraft after four years of cooperation with Mossad agents and after making the decision to leave Iraq with his family.

“Our goal was to learn about our enemy, understand our threats and acquire a MiG-21 aircraft,” explained Col. Daniel Shapira Chief IAF Test Pilot at the time. Immediately after receiving the plane, Col. Shapira was required to examine it, learn about it and use it in training as soon as possible.

“While I was learning from Cpt. Redfa, we’ve become true friends,” said Col. Shapira. “He was an incredible person: persistent, intelligent and determined. He never for a second regretted his decision to come here.”

Upon leaving Iraqi territory, Cpt. Redfa was confronted by Iraqi planes who attempted an attack to no avail. “He crossed the designate point on the Dead Sea and successfully reached Hatzor where he safely landed with his family,” explained Col. Shapira.

“Cpt. Redfa told me that his main motive for leaving Iraq was that he feared for his life and the lives of his family while living there,” said Col. Shapira.

Other than Cpt. Munir Redfa, two other pilots defected to Israel. In January 1964 Cpt. Mahmud Abbas Halimi of the Egyptian air force, followed by Cpt. Radfa two years later. In 1989, Maj. Bassam Adal a Syrian pilot arrived in Israel as well and was granted an alternative identity.

Update: More on the defection here.

In 1966 Redfa was a 32-year-old pilot in the Iraqi air force. He was frustrated that his Christian background was blocking prospects of promotion and outraged that he had been ordered to attack Iraqi Kurds. He was beginning to doubt whether he had any future in Iraq.

Joseph Shamash, one of Israel’s top agents in Baghdad, befriended Redfa and his wife Betty and persuaded them to join him on a Greek island holiday during which they were introduced to Liron. They knew him only as Josh.

“Josh can help you to leave Iraq,” Shamash whispered to Redfa.

“When Munir heard what we wanted – to fly his MiG from Iraq to Israel – he almost fainted,” said Liron. “‘My MiG? To Israel? Are you guys out of your minds?’” He pointed out that his tanks carried insufficient fuel to reach Israel and that he would be shot down as soon as he tried to head for the border.

Speaking as a fellow pilot, Liron pulled out a map and showed Redfa that his plan could work. “Finally Munir was convinced,” Liron said, “but by the morning he’d got cold feet.”

Urgent action was required. Mossad consulted Yitzhak Rabin, the army’s chief of staff and future prime minister, who ordered: “Bring him to Israel. Show him where he’ll land and let him fly in one of our jets.”

Redfa was given an Israeli passport in the name of Moshe Miz-rahi and touched down with Liron in Tel Aviv, where he was taken to the airfield where he would land the MiG. Before he left Israel, Redfa asked Liron not to tell his wife anything about the plan. “I’ll prepare the ground,” he promised. But he did not – and it almost derailed the operation.

Back in Baghdad, Redfa was assigned to a long-haul flight and he convinced his ground staff to add an extra fuel tank to his MiG.

Meanwhile, the Israelis arranged for Redfa’s entire family to leave Iraq for their summer holiday. The last to leave were Betty and their two children, aged three and five, who flew to Paris.

When Liron met her there ina Mossad safe house and told her they were about to fly to Israel, she had hysterics. “Forget it!” she screamed. “Israel? Are you mad? And who are you anyway? I’m going straight to the Iraqi embassy.”

“Only then did I realise Munir hadn’t said her a word to her about going to Israel,” said Liron.

Eventually he calmed Betty down, persuaded her not to expose the plot to the authorities, gave her an Israeli passport and got her onto a flight to Tel Aviv. Several hours after they landed, Redfa and his MiG21, escorted by an Israeli Mirage, landed at the airbase.

With Redfa’s help, the Israelis immediately began to unlock the secrets of the Russian plane. Their pilots tested it to its limits. They fought mock dogfights with their Mirages and learnt the tactics needed to beat it.

After the 1967 war, Redfa and his family left Israel. Betty had told her husband that living with the enemy was out of the question. Mossad arranged for them to adopt new identities – as the proprietors of a petrol station in the West.

The MiG was lent to the US, which tested it in the Nevada desert, and it helped develop a new generation of American fighters. In return, for the first time, the US began to supply Israel with modern jets. Redfa died of a heart attack in 1998.

"Firing rockets at innocent people makes me feel like a real man! Plus, they're Jews, so it's a win-win."

Residents of the western Negev woke up to yet another day of rocker fire Monday, as the Color Red alert sounded in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council in the early hours of the morning.

Two explosions soon followed, as two rockets landed in the council’s open areas. No injuries or damage were reported.

The rockets landed in a relatively remote area of the council, unaccustomed to rocket fire. Security forces are canvassing the area in search of the rockets, but have yet to locate them.

Monday morning’s rocket fire followed a similar rude awakening the area’s residents received on Sunday, as two rockets were fired from northern Gaza at Israel’s south.

Still, the Color Red system failed to operate Sunday. Luckily, those rockets landed in open areas as well, causing no harm.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:32PM: According to Lebanon’s Naharnet:

Tensions were high on Monday at the Mahmoudieh region in southern Lebanon after the Lebanese army went on alert when an Israeli bulldozer started digging a water duct into Lebanese territory from the Israeli side of the border.

A patrol from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soon arrived on the scene and stopped the bulldozer’s activity.

Contacts are underway to determine the full details behind the incident.

I have seen no mention of this in the Israeli or international media.

8:55PM: Today’s must-read: Who Are the Palestinians?

Prime Minister Netanyahu  has called upon Palestinian leaders to recognize the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination – “two states for two nations.” But are Palestinian Arabs a nation, or a people? What is “Palestinian national identity” based on? Although taken for granted today, Palestinianism has neither a long, nor distinguished history, which may explain why the peace process between Israel and the Arabs has failed and will continue to fail

Palestinianism, inherently meant only one thing: the rejection of a Jewish state in any form. A few elite Arab intellectuals did talk about Palestinianism, but it was not widely accepted. As Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi shows in his book on the subject, not until Zionists began settlements did local Arabs seek an alternative.

Focused on opposition to Zionists, rather than a positive self-definition, “Palestinian identity” then, as now, was negative. Palestinian leaders, like the mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husayni, an ardent supporter of the Nazis, and arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat – “fathers” of Palestinianism – rejected Zionism and promoted terrorism.

Anti-colonial and anti-Zionist uprisings against British rule were not directed towards another independent Palestinian state. Nor were Arab riots and pogroms, like those in 1929, 1936, for example, nationalistic. There were no calls for a Palestinian state; the battle cry was, “Kill the Jews.”

Arab leaders like Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi told the Peel Commission in 1937: “There is no such country as ‘Palestine’; ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented!”

During the 1930s, anti-British and anti-Jewish riots were enflamed by the newly created “Arab – not Palestinian – Higher Committee,” the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine.

In 1946, Arab historian Philip Hitti testified before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry that “there is no such thing as Palestine in history.” In 1947, Arab leaders protesting the UN partition plan argued that Palestine was part of Syria and “politically, the Arabs of Palestine (were) not (an) independent separate … political entity.”

In 1947, the UN proposed a “Jewish” State and an “Arab” – not Palestinian – State. Efforts to organize a political leadership in 1948, in response to the establishment of Israel, soon collapsed.

The womb of Palestinianism was war, the Nakba (catastrophe) in the Arab narrative, the establishment of the State of Israel. Five well-armed Arab countries invaded the nascent state, joining local Arab gangs and militias in a genocidal war to exterminate the Jews. This was not seen as a war for Palestinian nationalism, however; it was a genocidal war against Jews and Zionism itself.

‘Palestinians’ used to be Jews

Arab gangs that attacked Jews in 1947/8 were called the “Arab – not Palestinian – Army of Liberation.” The reason is that prior to Israel’s establishment, the notion of a “Palestinian people” was irrelevant, since Arab affiliations are primarily familial and tribal – not national. And also because “Palestinian” meant something else back then.

Before 1948, those who were called (and called themselves) “Palestinians” were Jews, not Arabs, although both carried the same British passports. In fact, only after Jews in Palestine called themselves Israelis, in 1948, could Arabs adopt “Palestinian” as theirs exclusively. Indeed, the central organ of the pre-Israel Jewish community was called “The Palestine Post” – later changed to the Jerusalem Post.

The establishment of UNRWA in 1949 to provide for Arab refugees provided the institutional structure to build and preserve the idea of an “Arab Palestinian people” – and their “right of return.” Today, in 58 camps, with an annual budget of nearly a billion dollars, the residents are indoctrinated with hatred and Israel’s eventual destruction. Except in Jordan, which granted most citizenship, the residents of these UNRWA towns are severely restricted and denied basic human and civil rights.

Were it not for UNRWA, there would probably be no “Palestinian refugee” problem today. The problem is UNRWA’s controversial definition of “Arab refugee,” which includes anyone who claimed residence in Palestine since 1946, regardless of their origin; this date is important because it marks the high point of a massive influx of Arabs from the region into Palestine, primarily due to employment opportunities and a higher standard of living.

This category of “refugees” was different from all others in that it included not only those who applied in 1949, but all of their descendents, forever, with full rights and privileges; the total population is expected to reach seven or eight million next year, and keeps growing. This is one of the core issues preventing any resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. UNRWA’s existence, therefore, perpetuates the conflict, prevents Israel’s acceptance, and breeds violence and terrorism.

Palestinianism was defined in 1964, in the PLO Covenant, when Jordan occupied “the West Bank,” a Jordanian reference from 1950 to distinguish the area from the East Bank of the Jordan River, and Egypt held the Gaza Strip. On behalf of the “Palestinian Arab people,” the Covenant declared their goal: a “holy war” (Jihad) to “liberate Palestine,” i.e. destroy Israel. There was no mention of Arabs living in “the West Bank” and Gaza Strip, since that would have threatened Arab rulers. Arab “refugees” were convenient proxies in the war against Israel; Palestinianism became a replacement nationalism for Zionism, a call to arms against Jews.

Solution is regional

This balancing act was no longer necessary after 1967, when Israel acquired areas that had been originally assigned to a Jewish State by the League of Nations and British Mandate – Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip – and the Golan Heights, all rich in Jewish history and archeology. A year later, the PLO Covenant was amended to cover both “occupations” – in 1948 and 1967.

Dedicated to armed struggle, its goal has never changed; unable to defeat Israel militarily, however, the Arab strategy is to demonize and delegitimize, creating yet another Arab Palestinian state, in addition to Jordan. In order to accomplish this, it concocted a narrative, an identity and ethos to compete with Zionism and Jewish history: Palestinianism.

Presented in the PLO Covenant and Hamas Charter (1988), the purpose of Palestinianism is to “liberate Palestine” and destroy Israel; neither reflect any redeeming social or cultural values.

“Palestinianism” lacks the basic requirements of legitimate national identity: a separate, unique linguistic, cultural, ethnic, or religious basis; it is nothing more than a political-military construct, currently led by Fatah and Hamas terrorist organizations. However, it became legitimized by the UN.

Despite mega-terrorist attacks and, backed by the Arab League, Muslim and “non-aligned” countries, the PLO was accepted by the United Nations in 1974. The following year, the UN passed its infamous “Zionism is Racism” resolution, sanctioning Israel’s demonization, and setting the UN on a course of Israel’s destruction.

The myth of Palestinianism worked because the media accepted Arab and PLO claims and their cause. Nearly all media, for example, use the term “Palestinian,” or “Israeli-occupied West Bank,” reinforcing Palestinian claims, rather than the authentic designation which appears on earlier maps, Judea and Samaria, referring to its Jewish history. The term “West Bank” is a political, not geographic statement.

By the early 1990s, some Israeli politicians, Left-dominated media, academia, cultural elite and some jurists accepted “Palestinianism as a way of expressing their opposition to “settlements,” and hoping for some sort of mutual recognition with the PLO. Their efforts culminated in the Oslo Accords (1993), which gave official Israeli sanction to Palestinianism.

Anti-Israel academics around the world promote “Palestinian” archeology, society and culture as a brand name, and a political message. Advertising works; every time someone uses the term “Palestinian,” it acknowledges and reinforces this myth. Palestinianism, however, regardless of its lack of historical, cultural and societal roots, is now well-established as a political identity that demands sovereign rights and a territorial base. The question seems to be not if, but where.

The solution is regional. Arab Palestinians are entitled to civil and human rights in their host countries where they have lived for generations. A second Arab Palestinian state, in addition to Jordan, which was carved out of Palestine in 1922 – whose population is two-thirds “Palestinian” – will not resolve any core issue at the heart of the conflict. The conflict is not territorial, but existential; recognition of a Jewish state is anathema. That explains why Palestinian Arab leaders refuse to accept it in any form.

The problem, for Palestinianism, is not “the occupation” in 1967, but Israel’s existence; seen as an exclusively Arab homeland, Palestine is an integral part of the Arab world, completely under Arab sovereignty. This is axiomatic; there are no exceptions and no compromises.

Promoted in media, mosques and schools, anti-Jewish incitement, denial of the Holocaust and Jewish history, and rejection of the right of Jewish national self-determination, by definition, Palestinianism is the greatest obstacle to peace.

I am sure some of you will not agree with this, but I challenge you to show where it is inaccurate.

6:15PM: Photo of the day:

Passengers wait for their luggage in the arrivals hall at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv September 13, 2010. Ground staff began an indefinite strike at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport on Monday, initially halting all outgoing flights, an airport spokeswoman said. REUTERS/Nir Elias

More here.

6:08PM: What an evil plan!

Israel has found a unique way to retaliate against Iraq for firing Scud missiles on it nearly 20 years ago; it has decided to sell Iraq Israel’s used cars.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said he has approved a new plan to export tens of thousands of used cars to Jordan and Iraq. The move aims to thin out the glut of second hand cars on the market and pave the way for boosting new car sales, which would put millions of shekels into the government’s pockets in taxes.

According to a statement from the ministry, about 50,000 cars could be sold to Jordan and Iraq annually, which constitutes about 10 percent of the used car market.

The decision was made after a study that showed such a move would make the average age of cars newer, safer and pollute less. What it didn’t mention was that it would also likely increase the price of used cars, which are now already about double similar cars elsewhere in the world due to heavy taxation.

The new plan still must get final approval from the Israeli Ministry of Finance since it would require giving tax breaks for selling a used car.

“We welcome the decision,” said Uri Digmi, the chairman of the Israeli Used Car Dealers Association. “This would bring about a situation where the average car was newer, greener, safer and more efficient and also reduce the number of old cars on the road.”

Each year, Israelis buy about 200,000 new cars. About 600,000 used cars change hands annually. The first eight months of this year saw about 140,000 new cars sold, which is reportedly a 27 percent increase over last year.

Israel charges an exorbitant 113 percent new car tax, which more than doubles the price of cars. This is the main reason used cars cost twice as much in Israel compared to the rest of the world.

The deal would require the state to give the seller of a used car a tax break, or even a voucher toward a tax reduction for the purchase of a new car, in order to make it competitive for dealers to sell used cars abroad.

“Israel right now is like an island, an isolated land where the cars come in and never leave. It’s not like Germany or Switzerland where you can resell them to neighboring countries,” Digmi told The Media Line.

The Transportation Ministry issued a report that found that the move would lower the average age of cars and boost new car sales, which would have a beneficial impact on road safety and engine emissions.

Digmi said the average age of cars in Israel was about five years and in an average lifetime it would be sold half a dozen times until it is eventually crushed in a junkyard. They are never taxed again so the state doesn’t gain anything.

“The state has to encourage the export of used cars abroad in order to improve the local market,” said Digmi. “The moment it comes here it remains until it dies. We have to change that. There’s plenty of market opportunities in our neighboring countries.”

According to Digmi, shiploads of used cars dock in the Israeli port of Haifa where they are unloaded and transported by lorry to Jordan and resold in Iraq.

“There’s plenty of room for the Israeli cars to enter this niche,” he says.

In Amman, Jordan, used car dealer Amer Salman was looking to unload his fleet of used cars. While he had no reservations in principle with the idea of selling Israeli cars on his lot, he was skeptical it would work.

“We have no problem doing business with Israel, but to be honest, we don’t need any more used cars in Jordan,” Salman told The Media Line.

“We have a huge surplus here,” said Salman, a salesman from the Amman dealership of Marwan Eneibsy.

One of the reasons for this was the kingdom’s decision to give huge incentives to Jordanians buying hybrid cars. Taxes were dropped from 80 percent to just 5 percent, which created a glut.

The main beneficiaries in Israel of this new plan would likely be the large car leasing companies in Israel who purchase about 60 to 80 percent of all new cars in Israel. They sell them after some three years into what is a limited market.

In 1991, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein fired 39 Scud surface-to-surface rockets at Israel in an attempt to draw the Jewish state into the war against Iraq by a coalition of Arab countries and their Western allies. Under enormous diplomatic pressure from the United States, Israel did not retaliate, thus preserving the allied coalition.

Bwaaaaaa!!

5:54PM: This story brought a tear to my eye.

4:40PM: Introducing a new Hamas video depicting a Hamas takeover of Israel, replete with and bad acting and scenes of palestinian wishful thinking.

More here.

3:48PM: Do you remember after the flotilla incident, the Jewish teen who marched alone, with an Israeli flag, in front of a pro-palestinian demonstration?

Here’s a reminder:

Well, the teen has just emigrated to Israel.

Last week, Pereg realized a lifelong dream and made aliyah.

“I bought a one-way ticket. My heart is here,” he said with a spark in his eye. “I intend to join the IDF and serve the country as much as I can.”

Ever since his daring appearance, Pereg has become a sort of mini-celebrity in Los Angeles and Israel, receiving hundreds of support letters and even some checks.

“I speak at all sorts of eventד; especially fundraisers for Israel. I’ve become an unofficial ambassador,” he said.

“Many Knesset members have been calling me; today MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu) called to invite me to her son’s bar mitzvah. Sometimes, it’s a little embarrassing,” Pereg said.

His moment of famewas completely spontaneous, Peres said, adding he felt teh need to face the pro-Arab protestors while holding up an Israeli flag.

“At first the police asked me to step away, but I ignored them. Only when the protesters shouted slurs at me, the officers said they would be unable to protect me, and so I walked away,” he said, adding that friends told him they feared for him.

“However, I felt a rush of adrenalin and wasn’t scared at all,” he said.

Pereg landed in Israel last week, accompanied by his mother. He was in fact born in the Jewish state 16 and-a-half years ago, but his parents immigrated to the United States when he was still an infant.

Pereg said he always felt the passion of Zionsim burning inside him, and thought of himself as an Israeli temporarily visiting abroad.

The young teen’s dream is to join the IDF Intelligence Corps: “I am half Persian, and speak the language. My intention is not necessarily to fight, but use my skills to contribute as much as I can.”

After he completes his military service, Pereg’s ambition is to become a Knesset member, although he hasn’t decided yet which party to join. He also said he would like to live in Judea and Samaria, “where people do on a daily basis what I did for 20 minutes.”

2:50PM: Regarding the three palestinians reportedly killed yesterday when an “IDF unit spotted suspicious figures attempting to fire anti-tank missiles, at which point the soldiers returned fire,” the palestinians have claimed they were innocent civilians.

The thing is, their ages are being reported differently, suggesting palestinian sources cannot get their “facts” straight.

CNN:

Three people, including a teenager, were killed Sunday and two others were injured when an Israeli tank shell landed east of the Beit Hanoun neighborhood in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian medical and security officials.

The number of dead was initially two, but a 13-year-old boy died from injuries sustained in the incident, the officials said. The other fatalities were a 61-year-old man, the teenager’s grandfather, and another youth, 21.

BBC:

Medical staff and witnesses said Israel fired shots across the border near the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza.

One report said the two of those killed were a 91-year-old man and his 33-year-old grandson.

AP:

Palestinian mourners pray next to the bodies of Ibrahim Abdullah Abu Said, 70, and Hussam Abu Said, 16, during their funeral in Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Sept. 13, 2010

I smell a rat.

1:34PM: Via MEMRI comes excerpts from a speech delivered by Hamas PLC Speaker Ahmad Bahr, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on September 5, 2010.

It is said that ‘Omar [Ibn Al-Khattab] wished to become a martyr. It is said that one day, ‘Omar addressed the people: “In the Garden of Eden, there is a palace – hear me well, brothers – with 500 gates. At every gate, there are 5,000 black-eyed virgins.” Brothers, 500 multiplied by 5,000 is 2.5 million.

And I thought 72 was a lot.

Ibn Hajar explicated a hadith, saying: When a man is having sex with his wife, he should be praying for a son who would wage Jihad for the sake of Allah.

How romantic. Can you imagine the Hamas pick-up line?

“Wanna help me create a son who will wage Jihad for the sake of Allah?”

With so many female Muslim virgins, I am surprised there aren’t more male ones.

1:20PM: Here is a story I missed when I was offline during Rosh Hashanah.

A CNN investigative report aired Thursday slammed the treatment of Palestinian children by IDF soldiers.

The report included uncorroborated charges of sexual abuse against Palestinian youngsters while in IDF custody.

The CNN report featured an unidentified Palestinian boy claiming that IDF forces attempted to insert an object into his rectum after he was arrested. The unidentified youngster said a dozen officers were standing around and laughing while he was being interrogated, stopping only when their commander stepped into the room.

The IDF could not offer a response to the charge because the youngster’s name was not provided. The army did say that a complaint should be filed if such cases ever happened.

“Any claim regarding improper conduct by soldiers or police officers will be thoroughly examined by the relevant officials,” the army said. “We cannot address general claims on the subject in the absence of a specific complaint.”

According to human rights group Defense of Children International, cited in the CNN report, five Palestinian children said they were sexually abused by the Israeli army. No evidence or further information was provided.

According to the report, which did not seem to include any hard evidence of IDF wrongdoing, Palestinian youngsters detained over such offences as stone-throwing are being held in contravention of the law. It cited charges that some boys underwent torture at the hand of Israeli forces.

Needless to say, antisemitic websites and other scum and villainy have latched on to this story.

This is CNN.

12:25PM: PA negotiator Saeb Erekat has threatened that peace talks will fail if Israel resumes building in “West Bank settlements.”

Apparently, continued rocket fire and refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state are not showstoppers, while a Jew adding on an extra room to their house is.

9:15AM: It is just uncanny how many times the foreign press photographers choose to portray Gazans as “caged in”, no matter where in Gaza they are.

Here’s today’s example.

Palestinian boys stand outside the hospital where the bodies of Palestinians killed by an Israeli shelling were brought in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip September 12, 2010. Israeli shelling killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, medical workers and witnesses said, after militants in the Hamas-ruled territory fired rockets across the border.An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers in the area shot at a group trying to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at them, "who were apparently hit." REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

9:08AM: Luckily, when Aussie Dave is out of action, you guys step up and send him some good news tips.

For instance, Shy Guy noticed these headlines yesterday:

JPost: IDF foils attempted terror attack at Gaza border fence

INN: IDF Kills Two in Firefight with Gaza Terror Infiltrators

AP: Hamas: Israeli strike in Gaza kills 3 Palestinians

What media bias?

9:04AM: Sorry for the relative lack of posting yesterday, but it was a combination of having too much work and too much of no working internet at home.

Those bloggers who manage to churn out 5 plus posts a day, while maintaining a day job and family life, please email me. I want to know your secret.

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Rooms start at only $170. Click here for more details.

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Quantifying happiness isn’t an easy task. Researchers at the Gallup World Poll went about it by surveying thousands of respondents in 155 countries, between 2005 and 2009, in order to measure two types of well-being.

First they asked subjects to reflect on their overall satisfaction with their lives, and ranked their answers using a “life evaluation” score between 1 and 10. Then they asked questions about how each subject had felt the previous day. Those answers allowed researchers to score their “daily experiences”–things like whether they felt well-rested, respected, free of pain and intellectually engaged.

Subjects that reported high scores were considered “thriving.” The percentage of thriving individuals in each country determined our rankings.

See the full list here.

Note:

• Israel is in equal 8th place with Canada and my birthplace, Australia.
• The only Arab country in the top 20 is the UAE, which just snuck in (I guess this guy wasn’t surveyed).
• The palestinian territories are in 96th place, which puts it above 50+ countries including Turkey (103), Iraq (110), Egypt (115), and Syria (115).

Of course, like many things here in Israel, the announcement caused controversy.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:30PM: While people like Richard Gere’s friend Hanan Ashrawi claim it’s Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government who do not want peace, it is the PA who are showing us their true intentions.

7:55PM: Quote of the day:

“The American leaders still act like cowboys and like heroes in Western movies. Whenever there is a problem, they use their guns.”

“Obama seems to be just a new face but with the same intentions, which is deceiving world nations.”

“We advise Mr. Obama to be careful and not follow the path of his predecessor as he would have the same fate as Bush, and we are not interested in this to happen.”

- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad showing Obama where all that appeasement has gotten him

6:05PM: Excerpt from the Bank of Israel Report which will be published in April:

• The number of Palestinians working in Israel increased markedly in the years 2002–08. This contributed to the improvement of employment in the Palestinian economy, and in 2008 yielded an income of $649 million, more than 10 percent of the Palestinian GDP.
• The number of Palestinians resident in Judea and Samaria working in Israel’s economy reached 44,000 in 2008––about 25,000 of them with work permits and 16,000 without––constituting about 2 percent of the number of employees in Israel’s business sector.

5:08PM: What happens when you plagiarize: This Turkish columnist opines that Israel may well be training Kurds in Iraq.

Problem is, he has inadvertently copied chunks from a pro-Israel columnist.

Is Israel training Kurds?

Any people baffled by the weight and frequency of events involving or surrounding their country will inevitably rely on conspiracy theories. And Turkey is saturated with an abundance of them. Contaminated with the poison of “internal enemies,” besides external ones, what one sees may be quite the opposite.

Peaceful rhetoric may be a cover for an ongoing covert war waged against us. A friend may be an enemy in disguise. Although we cannot really answer why we have so many enemies or why so many people have made us their enemies, we are on constant alert.

This state of mind was once again provoked with reports suggesting that Israeli military and intelligence agents are currently engaged in covert operations in the Kurdish section of Iraq. They are reported to be training Kurdish commandos in guerrilla warfare and anti-terror tactics. Under normal circumstances, this information is not newsworthy. Every armed force has an elite special operations unit. However, the intention behind this training is poisonous: Kurds feel that their country is being invaded from all directions by states like Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, and they are getting ready to end the occupation of these “imperialist” forces! That is why they are accepting Israeli assistance in their struggle for reunification and full independence.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq sniffed something in the air to this effect, but Kurdish leaders and Israeli officials denied cooperation between Iraqi Kurds and Tel Aviv. Both of them refused to make any comments on the issue.

But the American press picked up the scent of blood. The New Yorker in particular pressed on, but got no positive answers from the Israelis. Yet the reporters of the magazine found out that Israel’s presence in northern Iraq was widely acknowledged within the US intelligence community. American intelligence officials told The New Yorker that when asked why they were in the Kurdish region, the Israelis answered “because we should be here.” Not convinced of this answer, CIA officials at the time thought of exposing Israel’s assistance to the Kurds. This is what The New Yorker wrote in 2004, adding that besides rumors of Israel training Kurdish commandos, Israeli-Kurdish relations have expanded considerably starting in 2003. In July 2003, the Israeli government lifted its embargo on Iraq, allowing trade between the two peoples. But it seems this decision was driven with the aim of exporting Israeli military material to the Kurds.

Jews feel that they are threatened by the Arabs and Iran, and Kurds are neither Arab nor Persian. So if Israel supports the Kurds’ claim for independence, it will have a natural ally plus a functional watchtower to see what is going on in Iran, Syria and Iraq. Needless to say, such cooperation will draw the wrath of all three states as well as Turkey, and the Kurds themselves will suffer most from the backlash.

Israeli-trained Kurdish commandos have also been reported to accompany Israeli operatives across the Iraq-Iran border in recent years to install sensory devices meant to monitor suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.

Recently, a Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, was assassinated in Dubai by alleged Israeli agents. The Hamas organization seriously suspects Israeli agents operating out of Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurdish officials and their Israeli counterparts do not utter a word, but rumors are circulating that Israel is training the Kurds to be anti-terrorist commandos. In return for their training, Israelis are anticipating Kurdish commandos will gather intelligence about Iran and Syria for Israel. It is claimed that the Kurds monitor Iranian nuclear facilities.

These rumors, needless to say, are heard by Turkish intelligence circles, too. Could it be that recently this information has seriously contributed to Turkey’s coldness to Israel and distancing itself from the Jewish state? Especially when the Turks heard that Israelis are telling the Kurds or sharing with them the statement that “the Kurds, whose country is currently occupied by Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, are aided by Israel in their fight for independence, as they were many years ago.”

The source of this information is (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/, 2/5).

The Kurds fought for independence from Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Some Kurds committed terrorism against Turkey. It is going too far to call their “country” “occupied.” What country? It would be sufficient to suggest that the 40 million Kurds are a separate nationality for whom a case can be made for self-determination. This is in contrast with the Palestinian Arabs, who are not a separate nationality and for whom no case has been made for self-determination, only asserted, and who in any case have a state of their own in Palestine, called Jordan.

Winston Mideast Analysis & Commentary has a general admonition about Western training of Muslim allies. If not careful about who is recruited, the West will train people who turn on them, as did the Mujahideen of Afghanistan. The next likely candidates to make trouble are the Palestinian Authority troops trained by the US and others.

4:36PM: Here is a Nigerian doctor expressing his views about the Apartheid state of Israel.

4:26PM: Bahraini MPs want to cancel a soccer friendly between Bahrain and “Palestine” because..well, you read the reason.

A call to cancel plans to have the Bahrain national football team play a friendly match against Palestine next month went out from MPs yesterday.

The friendly match between Bahrain and Palestine, which is set to take place in the West Bank, has drawn criticism from individual MPs, civil society groups and some of the players who say it was a step towards normalisation of relations with Israel.

They claimed that Bahraini players and team delegates will have to be approved and have their passports stamped by the Israeli authorities, who control the West Bank’s entry and exit points.

Egyptian officials indefinitely postponed a similar match last month.

MP Ibrahim Busandal said that having Bahraini passports stamped with Israelis authorisation was a clear normalisation with the Zionist enemy.

“We don’t acknowledge Israel and having Bahraini players and delegates go through Israeli procedures and get approval from them means that we accept their existence, while we don’t,” he said.

Does this sound like people who would tolerate a Jewish state alongside a palestinian one?

4:22PM: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Israel “the principal threat to regional peace,” and demonstrated why Richard Goldstone has been so useful to haters of Israel.

“Goldstone is a Jew and his report is clear,” the Turkish leader told reporters invited to meet him at the Paris Ritz.

4:20PM: Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi has called Israel “too weak to start a war with Iran,” followed by the mandatory threat of destruction.

Asked about Iran’s response to any possible aggression by Israel, he underlined, “We have given their response before and if something like that happens, nothing will likely be left of the illegitimate Zionist regime.”

2:35PM: Ma’an reports that the mortar shells fired this morning (referred to as “homemade projectiles”) , and which landed in palestinian territory, injured 5 palestinians.

Medical sources at the Beit Hanoun Hospital said the injured were from the Al-Amoudi and Abu Uda families, who were all hospitalized at 10:00pm sustaining varied wounds from shrapnel and a small fire that broke out in one of the homes. Medics said four of the victims suffered light to moderate injuries, while a fifth was seriously injured, sustaining fractures in his feet. He was transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, they said.

Needless to say, there are palestinians not happy about this.

Commenting on the incident, senior leader of the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) Walid Awad, called on armed Palestinian groups to stop firing homemade projectiles from the Gaza Strip immediately.

“These projectiles do not harm the occupation and pose a threat to Palestinian citizens,” he said, adding that projectile fire was used as an excuse by Israel to continue launching airstrikes on Gaza, to invade the West Bank, to continue building settlements and to finalize plans for a new invasion of Gaza.

Awad reiterated the call of the 2006 Prisoners Document for a Palestinian national agreement, saying there must be a united front against Israel, that did not include the launch of projectiles at this time.

But perhaps at a later time, no doubt.

12:25PM: An Australian real estate agent has been threatened by someone who took issue with its public support of Israel.

A Melbourne real estate agent was accused of “supporting 62 years of terror” last week after erecting a sign backing Israel ahead of Yom Ha’atzmaut.

The slur was made in an anonymous letter sent to LJ Hooker Elsternwick.

The letter also called the agents “traitors” and included the threat, “take that board down or your business will suffer”.

Director of the family run company Alex Flamm, who together with his sons, Oren and Golan, are the faces of the agency, said the company has never been targeted like that before.

“[I feel] absolutely ropeable, angry and infuriated by the ignorance of the idiot that sent it,” he said. “The person who sent the letter is voicing his patriotism the only way they know how and that is by threats, while at the same time accuse the Jewish people of having achieved statehood by using “terror”.”

Flamm said he is not “paranoid” about anti-Semitism, rather, he is proud of his Jewish heritage and disappointed about the “few morons” who “are capable of writing hate mail filled with their version of terrorism and threats under the guise of their patriotism”.

Flamm has reported the letter to the police and Community Security Group.

While the anonymous nature of the threat makes it difficult for the police to act on, Senior Constable Deryn Boote from Caulfield Police Station has referred the matter to the Divisional Intelligence Unit based at Moorabbin Police Station.

That unit was set up in recent years to gather information on anti-Semitic and Israel-related offences in Victoria.
 The sign, which was situated on Glen Eira Road, was still visible early this week, but Flamm said it would be removed to protect his business.

LJ Hooker is one of a handful of real estate agents who are active in supporting the local Jewish community and Israel.

Ahh yes. Opponents of Israel are such a tolerant bunch, aren’t they?

8:25AM: A few days after Hamas said they were trying to curb the rocket fire into Israel and Islamic Jihad announced it would cease firing rockets into Israel, 6 mortar shells have been fired at Israel, but landed in palestinian territory.

Looks like they’ve found a loophole.

6:06AM: It’s not every day you see a headline like this on Lebanon’s The Daily Star.

Israel allows clothes into Gaza as another rocket fired

6:04AM: Watch British charity War On Want trash the Waitrose, Barbican, London branch on 30 March in another “boycott Israel” endeavor.

As Jonathan Hoffman writes:

Please remember this when it comes to the BBC’s “Red Nose Day Appeal”, “Comic Relief”, “Sport Relief”. War On Want is a major beneficiary of these appeals.

http://www.comicrelief.com/files/cr09/files/imce/all-grants-africa-grant…

http://www.comicrelief.com/files/cr09/files/imce/uk-grant-approvals-2006…

if you want to donate to Comic Relief etc, just look at the list of charities in the above links, strike out War On Want, then pick and mix the Charities of your choice and donate

And do not let your children be sucked into appeals at their schools which include War On Want.

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Ahead of the United States’s planned withdrawal from Iraq, American military teams have visited Israel to consider the possibility of storing some of the equipment and ammunition that is pulled out in special storage centers at various locations here, according to senior defense officials.

According to the officials, the Americans plan to leave a significant amount of equipment in Iraq to assist local security forces. Additional equipment, though, would be transferred to Afghanistan as well as possibly to Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

A security agreement between the United States and Iraq calls for withdrawal of all US forces by the end of 2011. The equipment that Israel might receive, one official said, is ammunition, vehicles, and a specially designed rapid cannon – called C-RAM – that can intercept small projectiles such as mortars.

“There is talk that some of the equipment will be stored in Israel,” the official said. “If that is the case, in the event of an emergency we may be able to use it.”

Last month, Defense News reported that the Pentagon had decided to double the value of emergency military stockpiles it stores in Israel to the value of $800 million. Defense officials said that this was a separate move, not connected to the withdrawal from Iraq.

The US already maintains several stockpiles in Israel that include missiles, armored vehicles, aerial munitions and artillery ordnance. The US began stockpiling equipment in Israel in the early 1990s.

The new deal, according to Defense News, was signed by Brig.-Gen. Ofer Wolf, head of the IDF’s Logistics and Technology Branch and Rear-Adm. Andy Brown, logistics director for the US Military’s European Command (EUCOM).

“Officially, all of this equipment belongs to the US military,” the official said. “If however, there is a conflict, the IDF can ask for permission to use some of the equipment.”

The last time this happened was during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 when the IDF received access to US stockpiles and also received shipments of weaponry, particularly smart bombs from the United States.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:40PM: Do you remember the moron who claimed Israel went to Haiti, not to help but to harvest organs?

As ludicrous and unsubstantiated as his claims are, there are those who think Israel needs to investigate.

You know, just to be sure.

Baroness Tonge, the Liberal peer, said this week that Israel should set up an inquiry to disprove allegations that its medical teams in Haiti “harvested” organs of earthquake victims for use in transplants.

Her call has been sharply criticised by fellow LibDems, but party leader Nick Clegg has refused to act against her.

The organ theft claims were published last week in the Palestine Telegraph, an online journal based in Gaza of which Baroness Tonge is a patron.

In a statement to the JC, she said the Israel Defence Forces were “to be commended for their fantastic response to the Haitian earthquake”.

But she added: “To prevent allegations such as these — which have already been posted on YouTube — going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.”

Ed Fordham, the Lib Dem candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, said: “It’s abhorrent that anyone should suggest that something as perverse and sick as this should be investigated.”

Monroe Palmer, chairman of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, added: “Whilst I welcome Tonge’s approval of Israeli actions in Haiti, she is misguided to call for any investigation. On this basis, there could be calls for an investigation to discover the ‘truth’ in the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

Matthew Harris, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hendon, called it “perverse in the extreme to suggest that there needs to be an investigation of allegations to which she gives no credence”.

Baroness Tonge’s position on Israel has in the past caused embarrassment to the Liberal Democrats, but leader Nick Clegg has consistently refused to discipline her.

A spokesman for Mr Clegg said neither Baroness Tonge nor the Lib Dem leader gave the allegations “any credence whatsoever. We do not believe there is a need for an investigation and we understand why the idea would be offensive to the Jewish community”.

An Israeli Embassy spokesman dismissed the allegations as “not fit to grace even the sickest of publications”.

The allegations came in an article titled Focus on Israel: Harvesting Haitian Organs by an American researcher, Stephen Lendman, who accused Israel of a “crime against humanity”.

Mr Lendman referred to a “damning” YouTube video cited by Al Manar, the pro-Hizbollah Lebanese TV station. The video offers no evidence to support the claims against Israel. It has a warning from ‘T West’, a member of an American group, AfriSynergy Productions, that Haitians should be careful because the “IDF has participated in the past in stealing organ transplants [sic] from Palestinians and others”.

Sameh Habeeb, the Palestine Telegraph’s founding chairman, said that Mr Lendman’s article represents “him and his views. Some people believe in this and some don’t”.

But this should come as no surprise. Jenny Tonge is a known Israel hater anti-Semite, having featured on Israellycool on numerous occasions for things like stating she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were a palestinian.

8:18PM: Scene from the “world’s largest concentration camp”.

A Palestinian man takes his horse into the water of the Mediterranean Sea, in Gaza City, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Interestingly enough, I don’t recall ever seeing in those countless black and white pictures Jewish concentration camp inmates with their horses.

Meanwhile I can’t resist posting this again, as I did last time we saw Gazans horsing around.

5:20PM: It has been cleared for publication that the Shin Bet thwarted a Hamashole attempt to kidnap a soldier in order to use him as a bargaining chip

As part of a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation, carried out during the negotiations for the return of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, two Hamas members were arrested on the Israel-Gaza border while trying to smuggle explosives, counterfeit money, a pistol and a silencer into Israel.

One of the terrorists planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier while the other was caught in possession of two explosive devices, which he planned to plant in crowded locations inside Israel.

Salman Abu Atik was apprehended by an IDF force on December 12, 2009 while he was trying to infiltrate Israel along with four other Palestinians. The 43-year-old Hamas man was in possession of $15,000 in counterfeit bills when he was nabbed. A day later, soldiers found a silencer that Abu Atik also tried to smuggle into Israel, and he later turned in a gun he had tried to smuggle as well.

During his interrogation, Abu Atik admitted that he wanted to kidnap and then murder an Israeli soldier in order to use him as a bargaining chip during negotiations on a prisoner swap. He said another Hamas member, Ibrahim Zuara, was supposed to infiltrate Israel with two explosives devices and assist him in the operation.

Zuara was arrested on December 31 while in possession of the explosives. He told investigators that he had planned to plant the devices in crowded locations in Israel within 10 days of his entry to Israel. He also admitted that he was supposed to help Abu Atik kidnap and murder an Israeli soldier on Hamas’ behalf.

Abu Atik was recently indicted for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, infiltration, illegal military training, weapons violations and contacting a foreign agent. Zuara was charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping with the intent to murder and extort, weapons violations and other offenses.

Here’s a photo of the two Hamasholes. As you can see, modelling was never going to be a viable career choice for them.

3:28PM: It’s reaper time!

The Israel Air Force on Thursday attacked a terror cell planning an attack near the Karni humanitarian aid crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

Fares Ahmed Jaber, a “Global Jihad operative”, was killed in the air raid, an IDF spokesman said.

Jaber, a 26-year-old Gaza City resident, was involved in firing rockets at Israeli communities in the southwestern Negev desert over the past few months, the army said.

11:30AM: When Gorilla Boy speaks to the Dorktator on the phone, they don’t exactly talk about the weather.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Syrian counterpart that Israel should be resisted and finished off if it launched military action in the region, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

“We have reliable information … that the Zionist regime is after finding a way to compensate for its ridiculous defeats from the people of Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah,” he told Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

“If the Zionist regime should repeat its mistakes and initiate a military operation, then it must be resisted with full force to put an end to it once and for all,” Ahmadinejad said in the telephone conversation on Wednesday evening.

6:00AM: Photo of the day:

A Lebanese police officer, left rear, stands guard as protesters from a leftist group hold hands to block the entrance of Starbucks coffee shop during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010. Demonstrators tried to block the entrance of the shop, shouting anti-Israel slogans and causing customers inside to flee. The protesters said they targeted the store because they claim that Howard Schultz, the company’s CEO, chairman and president, donates money to the Israeli military. (AP Photo/Grace Kassab)

It looks like the AP caption writer missed a small detail in describing the events captured in the photo.

But what’s a little trampling on the Star of David between friends.

More on the protest here.

“In recent weeks, I’ve had the impression there is a certain change in atmosphere, and I hope that a maturation that would enable the negotiating process to move forward has occurred,” he told a meeting of his Likud faction at the Knesset.

Meanwhile, here is PA leader Mahmoud Abbas demonstrating that “change of atmosphere”:

We are interested in negotiations, we do not object to resuming the meetings with the Israelis and we are not setting any preconditions, but at the same time in order for us to return (to the negotiation table) – there must be a halt to settlement building and recognition of the peace process’ principles.”

Translation: We will negotiate without preconditions. Well, not exactly.

How exactly has anything changed?

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:44PM: You can’t make this stuff up.

An Iraqi parliament member said Tuesday that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki plans to sue Israel for damages done to his country following its destruction of the Tammuz nuclear reactor.

The Air Force bombed the site in 1981. Now, 29 years later, al-Maliki has instructed the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad to clarify with the UN whether it would be possible to extract compensation from Israel.

An Iraqi source told the German DPA that MP Mohammad Naji said UN Resolution 487, approved after the strike, allowed his country to sue Israel.

“Al-Maliki’s appeal follows an answer received from the UN Secretariat by the government of Iraq on November 25, which says Iraq has a right to demand compensation for the damage Israel did to it with the attack on the reactor, through a neutral committee which will assess the extent of the damage,” the report says.

Naji estimated that Baghdad would complete the suit very soon. In an interview with the Iraqi al-Sabaah, he said a number of parliament members were leading the initiative and “trying to carry out international decisions on the matter”.

8:30PM: In an interview with the New York Times regarding his “toy” photographs from the 2006 Israel/Lebanon war, AP stringer Ben Curtis admits he witnessed Hizbullah’s weapons and equipment inside a civilian apartment building.

BEN CURTIS: Yes. I couldn’t say it’s the same street, but it’s the same area. We’d been in a building where we had come across some weapons and, what do you call them, those green khaki pouches that you’d wear around your waist that soldiers would wear? We’d come across some of those piled up next to a door with nobody around. And we took a couple of pictures of them, but it wasn’t particularly exciting visually.

(hat tip: Snapped Shot)

8:20PM: Someone’s been telling porky-pies.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, July 5th, 2009:

“Jews, to the extent they choose to stay and live in the state of Palestine, will enjoy those rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights than Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the state of Israel.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, January 3rd, 2010:

The future Palestinian state will be “free of fences and of settlements.”

Pray tell, if a palestinian state is to be free of the “settlements”, how are Jews to live there?

Meanwhile, Fayyad took part in a demonstration in which products made in Jewish communities were burned.

Fayyad and residents of the West Bank town of Salfit threw the products, which were confiscated from Palestinian stores, into a fire.

—-

Economics Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said the Western-backed Palestinian government had already confiscated $1 million worth of products, including foods, cosmetics and hardware, and the goal is to eliminate all settlement-made goods from Palestinian store shelves next year.

—-

Israel’s Histadrut labor federation said a few months ago that a boycott would harm the Palestinians more, as many of them are employed by Israeli factories that are based in the West Bank.

Draw your own conclusions.

7:34PM: Palestinian Media Watch has the latest on the PA’s glorification of terrorists.

Wafa Idris, the first Palestinian female suicide terrorist, was honored as a “Shahida” – holy Martyr – in a new Fatah promotional music video broadcast this week on Palestinian Authority TV. Idris killed one Israeli and wounded 150 in her suicide bombing in 2002.

This picture of Wafa Idris with the text “The Shahida (Martyr) Wafa Ali Idris” appears in the new PA TV music video, which blends scenes and pictures paying tribute to the PLO, Fatah, Yasser Arafat and PA and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. PA TV is under the control of Abbas’s office.

In addition to this terror glorification, Abbas spoke at a PA event marking the 45th anniversary of the Fatah Movement, and honored as “Shahids” (Martyrs) the six most recent terrorists killed by Israel. By giving them this title of honor, Abbas is once again legitimizing and glorifying their acts of terror.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas:

“Our latest Shahids (Martyrs) are the six who were killed in cold blood by Israeli forces in Nablus [terrorists who killed Rabbi Avshalom Meir Hai] and in Gaza [terrorists carrying explosives and a ladder near Israel's border fence].”
[PA TV (Fatah), Dec. 31, 2009]

These are the latest two examples of the PA’s policy of honoring terrorists.

4:48PM: Goldstone and other NGOs say they have “no evidence” that Hamas hid among civilians in Gaza.

No evidence?

3:42PM: What’s missing from this picture?

British Member of Parliament George Galloway attends a news conference with fellow members of pro-Palestinian organisation Viva Palestina, upon arriving from Syria at El-Arish airport, 344 km (214 miles) northeast of Cairo, January 4, 2010, A convoy from Viva Palestina, which has been granted entry to Gaza by the Egyptian authorities, arrived in Arish on Monday, led by Galloway, before proceeding to Rafah to enter Gaza with 200 truckloads of basic food and medical supplies. Picture taken January 4, 2010.
REUTERS/Stringer

Answer: A boot to Galloway’s head.

Galloway and his merry bunch of terror-enablers were due to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt an hour and a half ago, but I have not seen anything regarding them having entered.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has gone to the extraordinary length of ripping Galloway and company a new one.

Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry welcomed the entry of the ship carrying the biggest part of “Lifeline 3″ relief convoy to Al-Arish port in order to pave its way for entering Gaza Strip.

The Spokesman said that the media hype that accompanied this convoy was mainly due to the convoy failing to  following the required procedures set by the Egyptian authorities from the very beginning. He pointed out that Egypt, during the past period, continued to welcome the convoy entrance through its land to the Gaza Strip, while highlighting the importance for the convoy to follow the procedures set by the concerned Egyptian authorities and within the framework of organizing the entrance and the passage of relief convoys into Gaza Strip through Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman expressed deep regret regarding some publications inside and outside the Egyptian arena, which criticized the Egyptian adherence to its procedures and the keenness of Egypt for foreigners to respect these procedures. The Spokesman described such method as being shortsighted, taking into consideration that it follows  the known political agendas of certain groups inside Egypt and abroad.

In this regard, the Spokesman outlined that some media publications, coverage, and comments seemed, during the past days, to imply that it is ok for a group of foreigners to impose their will on the Egyptian state under the allegations of assisting Palestinian in Gaza. He added that assisting the Palestinians, which is an important issue, must not contradict by any means  respecting the Egyptian procedures, as well as not to challenge it under any circumstances.

The Spokesman once again reviewed the most important facts related to the convoy issue, as follows:

1- The Egyptian concerned authorities (Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, General Intelligence Service) set in July 2009 “the Egyptian mechanism to receive the relief convoys directed to Gaza Strip”, and within this mechanism Al-Arish port was selected to be the only entry point for relief materials, because of the administrative confusion that occurred when tons of assistance arrived at different ports, especially if the clearance process was taken into consideration, as well as the returned relief cargos which were not valid for usage (expired, used,…). Also, Al-Arish port is considered the closest point to Gaza Strip, and is near warehouses of Al-Arish city, if some of the materials needed to be stocked.

2- The Egyptian concerned authorities (Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, General Intelligence Service) followed up the news on preparing for “Lifeline 3″ convoy on the Viva Palestina website, which is under the supervision of the British MP George Galloway. The Egyptian embassy in London sent a letter, on November 10th, 2009, to the British MP informing him of the Egyptian mechanism to receive relief convoys in Gaza Strip, which underlined the importance of the convoys to enter through Al-Arish port.

3- The convoy launched from London, on December 6th, in front of the British Parliament, while neither the Egyptian Embassy in London nor the Egyptian Foreign Ministry received any information or requests from the organizers of the convoy. Moreover, the embassy did not receive a response to its letter sent on November 10th

4- Following the departure of the convoy from London, the Egyptian embassy sent a letter to MP Galloway, on Dec. 10, highlighting the Egyptian mechanism and the importance of entering relief materials through Al-Arish port. Yet, the Embassy did not receive a response to its letter.

5- As a result of Galloway ignoring the embassy’s two letters, the Egyptian embassy in London, for the third time, contacted the Office of MP George Galloway on 17/12 (one week after sending the second message), emphasizing the need for the convoy to literally commit to the Egyptian mechanism used to receive such convoys. The embassy also asked the Office of Galloway to send data and names of participants in the convoy, as well as a list of the aid materials, as Galloway did not provide the embassy with such data (eleven days after the convoy had started from London). In that day 17/12, the embassy received the lists of participants and aids carried by the convoy, and then received a modification to such data on 20 December.

6- According to the instructions of Cairo, the Egyptian Embassy in London, in its contacts for the fourth time, reconfirmed to Mr. Galloway the decision of the Egyptian authorities to allow access for the convoy to the Gaza Strip, on December 27 as proposed by Galloway, on the condition that it commits to all Egyptian rules and procedures organizing the entry of relief convoys.

7- Notwithstanding the Egyptian successive assurances, Egypt was surprised by Galloway’s insistence on ignoring its instructions; the convoy traveled to Jordan, then south to the city of Aqaba, in preparation for trying to enter the Egyptian territories through the Nuweiba port sea, contrary to the mentioned mechanism.

8- In this regard, perceiving that the convoy organizers are trying to impose a fait accompli and ignore the Egyptian instructions, Egypt announced that it will not allow access for the convoy except through the port of El Arish, and the Egyptian consulate in Aqaba informed Galloway of such decision upon receiving him.

9- In the city of Aqaba, and following the discovery of the Turkish participants, having the biggest part of contributions in the convoy, that there is an Egyptian mechanism, concealed by George Galloway. The Turkish side in Egypt interfered to consider the best means to complete the trip of the convoy,  Egypt has confirmed the need to adhere to the mechanism referred to, especially that the convoy organizers were  informed of the procedures one month before launching the convoy. This has prompted the Turkish side to consult with the participants to adopt a resolution to return to the city of Latakia to navigate to El Arish.

10- Egypt had previously cooperated with Galloway in two convoys, “Lifeline 1″, which entered the Gaza Strip in March 2009, as well as “Lifeline 2″ in mid-July 2009.

The Spokesman concluded the statement by asserting that any aid convoys, requesting access to the Gaza Strip through the Egyptian territories are welcomed by Egypt, on the condition that it commits to the Egyptian mechanisms and procedures.

Sounds to me like Galloway and company either have something to hide, purposely ignored instructions to create an “incident” to generate publicity, or both.

11:42AM: Israeli-UK relations have been further damaged after British authorities could not vouch that IDF officers invited to the UK by the British army would not be arrested.

Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approached the British government in order to ensure that the officers, a colonel, lieutenant colonel and a major, would be able to stay on British soil without fear.

The British authorities could not make such a promise and therefore the delegation’s visit was canceled.

The incident is viewed with great severity by Israeli government officials.

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said that “should we not get the appropriate securities and if the British law remains unchanged, Israeli officers and seniors will not be able to travel to Britain, which would undermine the good relations between the two countries who share common values and interests. The British must bear in mind that these visits serve both countries.”

Meanwhile, British Attorney General Baroness Patricia Janet Scotland is currently visiting Israel and is expected to meet with Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman and elements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Israeli side is slated to stress that it expects a change in British legislation that would prevent any arrests. Israeli elements are also expected to assert that British-Israeli relations are in danger of being cynically exploited by hostile Palestinian elements. The Israelis also noted incidents that could jeopardize relations, for example the academic and commercial boycott of Israel.

8:58AM: They may not be the most professional at reporting the news, but Ynet at least has a sense of humor.

6:10AM: Israeli police officers last night arrested three palestinians near Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, in town from Hebron for a game of “Stab the Jew.”

6:02AM: It’s not everyday you see a mo-hawked punk espouse the virtues of Israel. So enjoy!

For the record, he seems to have been raised in Israel.

If you think that’s sick in itself, wait until you hear how she did it.

A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has confessed to organising their rapes so she could later convince them that martyrdom was the only way to escape the shame.

Samira Jassam, 51, was arrested by Iraqi police and confessed to recruiting the women and orchestrating dozens of attacks.

In a video confession, she explained how she had mentally prepared the women for martyrdom operations, passed them on to terrorists who provided explosives, and then took the bombers to their targets.

“We arrested Samira Jassim, known as ‘Um al-Mumenin’, the mother of the believers, who was responsible for recruiting 80 women”, Major General Qassim Atta said.

“She confessed her responsibility for these actions, and she confirmed that 28 attempts had been made in one of the terrorists’ strongholds,” he said.

Samira Jassim was arrested on January 21. She is allegedly linked to the Ansar al-Sunnah insurgent group.

Two of the attacks for which Samira Jassim admitted responsibility in the video confession took place in Diyala province, in central Iraq, which is considered one of the most dangerous areas of the country.

The Associated Press reports US military figures indicate at least 36 female suicide bombers attempted or carried out 32 attacks last year. Women are often allowed through military checkpoints without being searched, making it easier for them to hide explosives under their traditional robes.

Here’s the video:

Of course, there will always be those who will attribute this woman’s despicable actions to things like oppression, occupation, frustration and poverty. Anything but the real root cause – the same sick, twisted and evil ideology that is behind the vast majority of terrorism around the world.

(hat tip: Tony)

In a standing-room-only crowd that snaked outside the chapel, Pfc. Daniel Agami was memorialized Tuesday by hundreds of friends – and even some strangers from the local chapter of Jewish War Veterans – as a happy-go-lucky man who was profoundly patriotic.

Agami, 25, who grew up in Broward County, was killed in Baghdad on Thursday.

Rabbi Yossi Denburg of Coral Springs Chabad Lubavitch remembered him as a young man who had “not been given a chance to grow old” and had joined the Army not for a paycheck, but because he found his calling.

After the tearful memorial service at the Star of David Memorial Gardens in North Lauderdale, Agami’s family and friends walked to his burial spot. There were too many people in too many cars to drive to his grave, so they formed a procession and waited until his parents came to take the front row. His mother, Beth Agami, walked while supported in her husband Itzhak’s arms. The sight of them made some of his friends wail.

An Army officer gave his mother a folded flag and a handful of awards including the Purple Heart for being wounded in action, the Bronze Star for his dedication and a gold star lapel pin.

His friends first saw hints of his pending military career after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he consoled them.

“He said, ‘America is going to fix the problem,’” said Rachel Kenner, 24, of Boynton Beach, his friend since childhood. “When he puts his mind to something, that’s it.”

Agami enlisted in the Army two years ago and was assigned to a station in Germany. He had been in Iraq for about a year and was often sent on raids to scope out bombs and other weapons.

He died when an improvised device detonated near his Humvee. The other men in the vehicle were also killed: Alphonso Montenegro II, 22, of Far Rockaway, N.Y.; Ryan M. Wood, 22, of Oklahoma City; Anthony D. Hebert, 19, of Lake City, Minn., and Thomas R. Leemhuis, 23, of Binger, Okla.

Brian Gross, 24, of West Palm Beach, his friend of five years said: “He loved to party. I close my eyes and I remember that.” He said he tries to block the attack on Agami’s Humvee from his mind.

Sandra Becker, Daniel Agami’s grandmother, said the family was moved by the outpouring of hundreds of friends who came to share their tears.

She said she’ll remember him by the nickname that his non-Jewish comrades affectionately gave him: “G.I. Jew.”

“How can you put it in the words? He was the best of the best,” she said.

Agami was well-known for taking pride in teaching his fellow soldiers, many of whom told him they were unfamiliar with his people, about Judaism.

In the Army “Jewish kids often hide the fact they are Jewish,” Rabbi Denburg said. “He was the only Jew on base that was openly proud to say he was a Jew.”

Agami is survived by his parents, Beth and Itzhak, of Parkland, who are known in the Jewish community for their philanthropy.

He is also survived by his sister Shaina, 7, and a brother Ilan, 23, who married just two weeks ago.

Erik Cilen, 25, of Coral Springs, was Agami’s best friend for almost 20 years. Cilen said they spoke the day before his death.

“He told me he was going on a mission and he was scared,” Cilen said. “He had said that if, God forbid, anything happened to him, this is where he belonged.

“I can’t forget him,” he said. Then he started to cry.

Memory-of.com have started this memorial site for Daniel.

G-d bless Daniel, as well as his fallen comrades, and indeed all of those fighting so you and I can enjoy our freedom.

Update: Here’s is Bill O’Reilly on Daniel, who appeared on the O’Reilly Factor in December of last year.