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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

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

Well, there’s more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And it’s mother is a rabbit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yep. Nothing anti-Semitic about it.

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

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

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

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

In other news, there is an airport named after Yasser Arafat, the father of airline hijackings.

Just saying.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:46PM: If it wasn’t already evident to you that the Goldstone Report is seriously flawed, it should be after reading about Desmond Travers, the senior figure responsible for the military analysis in the report.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New Revelations About the UN Goldstone Report that Seriously Undermine its Credibility

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers was one of the four members of the UN Fact Finding Mission that produced what is widely called the Goldstone Report. The Mission investigated Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009. Travers joined the Irish Defense Forces in 1961 and retired after forty years. As the only former officer who belonged to Justice Richard Goldstone’s team, he was the senior figure responsible for the military analysis that provided the basis for condemning Israel for war crimes.

After following his repeated public appearances with the other mission members in July 2009, and especially in light of his most recent interviews, serious flaws have now become evident in the methodology he followed, in his collection and processing of data, and in the conclusions he draws. In the past, the flaws in the Goldstone report, and especially its lack of balance, have been criticized by the London Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist, but the fundamental problems of its military analysis have not been fully addressed. In the material presented here, this becomes evident in four specific ways:

1. A Fundamental Bias against the Israel Defense Forces

During the Mission’s collection of testimonies from Palestinian psychologists in the Gaza Strip, Travers asked them straight out to explain how Israeli soldiers could kill Palestinian children in front of their parents. In an interview with Middle East Monitor, on February 2, 2010, he asserted that in the past Israeli soldiers had “taken out and deliberately shot” Irish peacekeeping forces in Southern Lebanon. Both of these statements by Travers are completely false. It should be stressed that one of the most vicious and unsubstantiated conclusions in the Goldstone Report is the suggestion that Israel deliberately killed Palestinian civilians.

While Travers assumes the worst of intentions on the part of the Israel Defense Forces, he praises Hamas for their cooperation with the Mission. When he was asked about Hamas intimidation that affected the Mission’s inquiries, he replied that that there was “none whatsoever.” Yet the Goldstone Report itself noted in Paragraph 440 that those interviewed in Gaza appeared reluctant to speak about the presence of Palestinian armed groups because of a “fear of reprisals.” He rejects the notion that Hamas shielded its forces in the civilian population and does not accept the idea that Israel faced asymmetric warfare.

2. False Information Reported About Weapons Systems

Travers comes up with a story that the IDF had unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) that could obtain a “thermal signature” on a Gaza house and detect that there were large numbers of people inside. Incredibly, he then suggests that with this information that certain houses were “packed with people,” the Israeli military would then deliberately order a missile strike on these populated homes. The primary technical problem with his theory is that Israel does not have UAV’s that can see though houses and pick up a thermal
signature. More importantly, Israel used UAV’s to monitor that Palestinian civilians left houses that had received multiple warnings, precisely because Israel sought to minimize civilian casualties, a fact that Travers could not fathom, because of his own clear biases.

3. Completely Inaccurate Data

Travers rejects that Israel began military operations against the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008 as an act of self-defense in response to Hamas rockets. He bases this idea on a “fact” that he presents that in the month prior to start of the war, there were only “something like two” rockets that fell on Israel. Israeli military sources found that there were in fact 32 rockets fired from Gaza at Israel over three days alone–between December 16 and 18, 2008. He adds to his analysis that at this time Hamas sought to extend the tahdiya, or lull arrangement–which he called a cease-fire. Yet the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas announced on December 17 that the lull would come to an end two days later and would not be renewed. The head of the Hamas political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Mashaal, announced the end of the lull on December 14. To say that Hamas wanted to continue the lull is a
complete distortion of events.

In his Middle East Monitor interview, Travers states that he “only came across two incidents of where there was an actual combat situation” – the exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas. Because he minimizes the possibility that Israel was engaged in real combat in the Gaza Strip, it follows that he naturally conclude that Israel was essentially attacking non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead.

4. Lack of Professionalism in Conducting Thorough Investigations

Travers relies on his own prejudices when he looks into the question of whether Gazan Mosques had been militarized by Hamas and turned into weapons depots. In an interview with Harpers, published on October 29, 2009, Travers makes a sweeping generalization: “We found no evidence that mosques were used to store munitions.” He then dismissed those who suggested that was the case by saying: “Those charges reflect Western perceptions in some quarters that Islam is a violent religion.” How many mosques did Travers investigate? He admits that the Mission only checked two mosques.

Of course, Israel produced photographic proof that large amounts of weapons were stored in mosques, like the Zaytun Mosque. In a subsequent interview, Travers rejected the Israeli proof: “I do not believe the photographs.” He described the photographs as “spurious.” Travers appears to be bothered by proof that contradicts the conclusions he reaches on the basis of a very limited investigation. In early 2010, Colonel Tim Collins, a British veteran of the Iraq War, visited Gaza for BBC Newsnight (
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8470100.stm , 20 January 2010) and inspected the ruins of a mosque that Israel had destroyed because it had been a weapons depot. He found that there was evidence of secondary explosions cause by explosives stored in the mosque cellar. Travers clearly did not make the effort that Collins made.

In his questioning of Palestinian witnesses in the Gaza Strip, Travers does not ask the questions that a military advisor should raise. He did not ask those giving testimony if they were member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam units of Hamas and were combatants. He also failed to ask them straight out if their homes had been used to store munitions, like Grad rockets. Instead, his questions reflected his ideological bias.

Travers most recent interview also had a disturbing additional element. When addressing the role of British officers in defending Israel’s claims, Travers suddenly adds: “Britain’s foreign policy interests in the Middle East seem to be influenced strongly by Jewish lobbyists.” Travers implies that British Jews have interests that differ from Britain’s own national interests and that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government is influenced by these considerations. This statement, unless corrected, places Travers is a position in which his views are suspect of being motivated by anti-Semitic prejudices. Even without this last statement, he clearly emerges as an individual who is not qualified to take part in any serious fact-finding mission and the U.N. should not seek his services in the future. Given his statements, Justice Richard Goldstone should repudiate Col. Travers and completely reject the conclusions that he reached as a result of his work.

10:20PM: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has condemned today’s “stabbing incident.”

Which was not as much an “incident” as a terrorist attack committed by a senior officer of his own security forces.

“Such an incident,” the Palestinian prime minister said, “undermines national Palestinian objectives, and the Palestinian Authority’s commitments.”

And is MURDER, Fayyad.

Meanwhile, the family of the murdered Druze Arab IDF soldier, 28-year-old Ihab Khatib, has pledged to continue enlisting in the army and contributing to the state of Israel.

Many residents arrived at the Khatib family home to comfort the parents.

“Our village has sadly ‘contributed’ many soldiers to the security of the State of Israel,” one of the visitors said.

“Even if there are disagreements among us, and despite the instances of discrimination and oppression, we will all continue to enlist and contribute to the country in which we live, and for whose continued existence we pray.”

6:20PM: An Israeli is set to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol.

Which would mean we retain some Zionist control on the panel.

6:15PM: The IDF officer murdered earlier today was an Arab – Ihab Khatib from Kfar Maghar.

The terrorist was PA officer Mahmoud al-Khatib.

A SENIOR officer in the PA security forces, that is.

6:10PM: Shame on Reuters who are even worse than the AP when it comes to media bias.

Case in point: the captions for these photos capturing yesterday’s riots at the Shuafat refugee camp.

An undercover Israeli police officer (R) scuffles with a Palestinian youth suspected of throwing stones while trying to detain him during clashes in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem February 9, 2010. Clashes erupted between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli police that entered the refugee camp, a Reuters witness said on Tuesday.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Looks like the Israeli police officer initiated the rough stuff with a palestinian “youth,” who does not look too youthful to me. That is, until you read the AP caption from the same incident.

A Palestinian rioter tries to grab a weapon from a plain-clothes Israeli police officer, right, during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. Palestinians scuffled with Israeli security forces, after an arrest operation triggered clashes in the camp the day before. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Here it becomes clearer that this was not a case of Israeli aggression against a palestinian, but a matter of life of death for the police officer, who would surely have been killed with his own weapon had the palestinian succeeded in grabbing it. Furthermore, the palestinian is not described as a youth, which seems to be accurate.

5:55PM: The Israeli murdered earlier this afternoon was an IDF soldier.

3:52PM: TERROR ATTACK: Almost two hours ago, an Israeli was killed after being stabbed by a palestinian while sitting in his jeep near the Tapuach Junction.

Judea and Samaria District Police officers apprehended the terrorist. The knife used in the attack was found at the scene. Israeli security officials said the terrorist acted alone.

The incident occurred at around 1:50 pm, when the Israeli vehicle was stuck in a traffic jam. The Palestinian terrorist stabbed the Israeli twice in the chest through the open car window.

The Israeli tried to flee the scene, but his jeep overturned into a ditch.

A security officer from the nearby Jewish settlement Rachelim, who happened to be at the scene, ran the terrorist over with his car. The Palestinian sustained very mild injuries.

“I was in my car when I saw a man approach another vehicle and stab the person inside. I realized I was witnessing a terror attack. The terrorist began running away, but I kept my cool, drove after him and managed to hit him with my car,” the security officer, Yossi Margalit, told Ynet.

“I stepped out of my car, apprehended the terrorist and turned him over to the security forces,” he recounted.

Prediction: we will not hear any condemnation of this attack by the palestinians and their supporters, but we will hear complaints about the palestinian being run over.

Meanwhile, the Ha’aretz report includes this interesting fact.

Yossi Margalit, a security officer from a nearby settlement who arrived the scene ran over the attacker, lightly wounding him. He was then arrested, and given medical attention on the spot.

Wow, we are so bad at genocide and ethnic cleansing that we ensure even their terrorists are alive.

2:16PM: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad “Stark” Hariri has confirmed that Lebanon=Hizbullah.

Hariri added that Lebanon was united, and that his government would stand by Hezbollah – the Lebanese terror group which fought Israel in 2006.

“I think they’re (Israel) betting that there might be some division in Lebanon, if there is a war against us,” he said, “Well, there won’t be a division in Lebanon. We will stand against Israel. We will stand with our own people.”

Which means that Israel’s agreement to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which demands, inter alia, that Hizbullah be disarmed and full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon, was a really rotten idea.

But we already knew that.

1:05PM: PA sex and corruption scandal? Naaaa, just an Israeli conspiracy of course!

The Palestinian Authority expressed their outrage on Wednesday at Israel’s Channel 10 report of a video found depicting one of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ senior advisors in compromising positions with a woman candidate applying to work in his office. According to a PA official, the report was merely an Israeli smear campaign meant to embarrass Abbas.

The report also aired claims made by former General Intelligence chief Fahmi Shabana that officials close to Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat were entangled in corruption scandals amounting to millions of shekels stolen from public coffers.

Shabana, who was in charge of the PA’s anti-corruption campaign, claimed in interviews with the media that he placed before Abbas evidence of widespread economic corruption around him, but that the president declined doing anything about it. According to him, senior Fatah officials during Arafat’s rule stole millions of shekels from PA coffers, a large amount of which originated from Arab states, Europe, and the US as donations.

The Fatah officials allegedly requested inflated sums for purchasing land, which was valued far lower than the numbers they presented, and the proceeded to pocket the difference. Shabana hinted that even Abbas’ family members were involved in the corruption, but has yet to prove so.

Shabana also revealed an embarrassing video from 2008 depicting the head of Abbas’ office, Rafik al-Husseini, rubbing his body against his secretary and apparently trying to convince a woman seeking employment in the office to have sexual relations with him.

Shabana was suspended from his position. When Abbas sought to reinstate him, he was arrested by Israel for holding membership in a foreign security body in light of the fact that he is a resident of east Jerusalem and holds an Israeli identity card. Shabana claims, however, that he was arrested at the behest of the Palestinian Authority.

A high-ranking PA official said Wednesday to Ynet that the video revealed by Shabana is a personal issue known for quite some time and that his staff are not rattled by the corruption claims. According to the official, the PA maintains transparency with donor countries and operates a strict oversight mechanism on their payments.

The source said that publishing such a report along with the video is nothing but an Israeli conspiracy aimed at tarnishing the credibility and status of Abbas in light of his refusal to return to the negotiation table under the conditions stipulated by Israel.

Here’s the report (see from 1:15 onwards). Those of you who do not understand Hebrew can skip to 4:47 onwards, which features some shots from the aforementioned “embarrassing video.”

The video must have been doctored by crafty Zionists, since PA officials never act corruptly.

6:00AM: Ashkelon Municipality and the city’s Parents’ Association yesterday filed a petition with the High Court of Justice demanding the court order the government to finish fortifying its schools, in accordance with the Homefront Command’s recommendations.

The petition says that after nine kindergartens were fortified in March of last year the Defense Ministry halted all work, and that 13 kindergartens and 10 elementary schools still remain vulnerable to rocket threats.

The children studying in these facilities are currently instructed to hide underneath their desks in case of a Color Red alert.

The petition says the parents of these children are “incredibly worried and anxious”, and asks the court to remedy the situation.

I wonder if Richard Goldstone or others who have come out against Operation Cast Lead ever had a child who had to experience something like this.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance said it has taken up the issue of incitement against Israel in the Palestinian territories because it believes there must be greater scrutiny of aid programs for the PA, so that taxpayer money from the UK and the EU no longer funds programs that harm the peace process and the national interests of British and EU citizens.

Matthew Sinclair, research director for the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said at a press briefing in Jerusalem, held with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, that in Palestinian society, “we’re looking at a population where 42 percent are under the age of 15. You have a huge younger generation whose views are going to shape the situation for a long time.

“Peace lies in the hearts and minds of people and it’s vital that the right attitudes are encouraged in people and the right conditions are created for peace,” Sinclair continued.

“It’s rare we see it [foreign aid] doing as much harm to the British taxpayers as we do in this case,” he said.

According to the Taxpayers’ Alliance, European foreign aid provided to the PA, including €420 million and £63.6m. in 2007 alone, “create[s] a responsibility to ensure that the Palestinian Authority does not misuse its budget.”

Ayalon described the problems that hatred and incitement toward Israel in the Palestinian territories spell for coexistence and said that peace will remain impossible “as long as we don’t see the acceptance of Israel as a legitimate and natural part of the Middle East.”

He then related an anecdote from a debate with a British man at the London School of Economics, whom he asked: “‘Can you name one leader of Palestine, one king, one leader?’

“Of course they couldn’t because Palestine never existed,” Ayalon said.

“There has never been a Palestinian state,” he said. When we came here we didn’t find any other nation here. We aren’t going to argue narratives with the PA, he said.

Ashley Perry, the media adviser for the deputy foreign minister’s office, told The Jerusalem Post that much of the onus for battling incitement must shift from Hamas to Fatah, arguing that the image of the Mahmoud Abbas-led party as “moderate” has allowed Fatah to skirt responsibility for battling incitement and indoctrination against Israel in PA-run schools and media outlets.

“When [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas is mentioned, he is talked about as a moderate and a good leader and the complete opposite will be said of Hamas. It’s time for Fatah’s actions to be in line with the perception,” Perry said.

He called on Fatah to adhere to the demands made of Hamas.

“For the [peace] process to go forward, they [Fatah] must stop calling for the end of Israel, end indoctrination and [stop] naming summer camps after murderers.”

Meanwhile, here is yet another example of the fruit borne by Fatah’s incitement and indoctrination against Israel (hat tip: PMW).

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:30PM: While Israel’s willingness to discipline two IDF officers over the unjustified use of artillery shells during Operation Cast Lead indicates her willingness to hold herself to account, Hamas, as usual, has its own unique take.

Israel’s willingness to punish its own officers is proof enough the country’s armed forces committed war crimes, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Tuesday.

—-

Barhoum said that even the “occupation’s allegation that it punished its officers for their crimes in Gaza” was “clear evidence and condemnation, [amounting to] official recognition of the commission of war crimes against the Palestinian people.”

8:55PM: CAMERA deals with yesterday’s misleading Ha’aretz report “Two IDF officers disciplined for using white phosphorous in Gaza offensive.”

2:50PM: Druze member of the Knesset and deputy minister for development of the Negev and the Galilee Ayoub Kara reportedly told the Church’s representative on the Middle East his thoughts on who should control Jerusalem.

Member of Knesset Ayoub Kara said on Monday that he got the feeling from his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican last week that the Catholic Church was behind the pontiff on behalf of the Jewish people. Speaking on Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew journal, the deputy minister for development of the Negev and the Galilee said that the pope’s speech on International Holocaust Day showed that he knew what happened in the concentration camps.

Kara said that after his meeting with the pope, he had an argument with the Church’s representative on the Middle East, who said internationalization of Jerusalem was the optimal solution to the Arab-Israeli struggle over the capital. Kara responded by saying that if there was no Israel, there would be no churches in the Middle East, noting how the Christians of Bethlehem and Nazareth are being treated by their Muslim neighbors. He added that the interest of the Church should be Israeli control, and felt that some of what he said was accepted by the cardinal.

2:32PM: Turkey’s ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz  Celikkol has asked to be transferred to a new posting after he was treated with deliberate disrespect by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.

I request that his replacement be someone with an easier-to-spell name.

2:30PM: Or it was the Mossad.

Sheesh! How many versions of this guy’s death are there? I feel like it is a game of Cluedo (“It was Colonel Mustard, in the hotel room, with an electrocution device”)

8:55AM: A preliminary investigation conducted by Hamas suggests that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s death in Dubai was likely carried out by agents of an Arab government, and not by the Mossad.

I don’t think it’ll matter, though. Terrorist groups will no doubt still try to perpetrate an act of terrorism against Israel in retaliation for al-Mabhouh’s killing.

For me, it is not a clear cut decision. After all, one of the main reasons I continued with this format after Operation Cast Lead was it enabled me to post updates during the day, without worrying whether I had something to add to each and every update – whether it be a snappy one liner, or deeper analysis. After all, I am loathe to create many posts which are nothing more than copy and paste jobs from other sources. Consequently, what happened after I adopted this format was an increase in Israel-related news content on the blog.

On the other hand, I understand the arguments against it and being pro-democracy, have decided to put it to a vote.

[poll id="6"]

Please vote only once.

The Iron Dome is supposed to be capable of intercepting all of the short-range rockets in fired by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon, by using an advanced radar that locates and tracks the rocket that is then intercepted by a kinetic missile interceptor.

During the test, the radar succeeded in detecting which rockets were headed towards coordinates that were designated as open fields and therefore did not launch an interceptor to destroy them.

The IDF has already established a new battalion that will be part of the IAF’s Air Defense Division and will operate the Iron Dome. Prototypes of the Iron Dome have already been supplied to the new battalion which has commenced training with the systems.

The IDF has also located positions along the Gaza border that will be used as bases for the system, which includes a launcher and radar system. After it completes the deployment of the system along the Gaza border, the IDF will begin deploying the system along the northern border with Lebanon.

MOD Dir.-Gen. Pinhas Buchris said that the system would eventually “transform” security for residents of southern and northern Israel.

“The defense establishment continues to be committed to do everything it can to provide all residents of Israel a multi-layered defense against missiles and rockets,” he said.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:36PM: How I wish for a Hizbullah vs Hamas clash.

Hizbullah communicated “deep disappointment” to Hamas leadership over the discovery that the party was conducting military drills in a residential building in Lebanon without the party’s knowledge, the country’s An-Nahar newspaper reported Wednesday.

Information around the training was uncovered during the course of an investigation into an explosion in Haret Treik that killed two Hamas members last week, the paper said. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Al-Murr said the blast targeted Hamas Representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan.

According to the London-based Arabic daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, the attack was carried out as Hamas members received live ammunition training in the basement of the building under Hamas control.

The daily said Hezbollah told Hamas it would not intervene, and that Hamas “would have to resolve the problem on its own.”

Ash-Sharq al-Awsat also reported that Hamas decided to close its office in Haret Hreik until the situation was resolved.

Note Hamas were conducting their drills in a residential building, and Hizbullah was not disappointed about that, but rather that Hamas did so without their knowledge.

And please remember these details next time Israel responds to terrorist fire, and civilians are hurt or killed (especially you, Mr Goldstone).

10:28PM: The Jerusalem Post has reported it was a Katushya rocket that landed near Ashkelon, and not a Qassam as reported by the likes of Ha’aretz and Ynet.

Why can’t we get some reliable reporting?

8:50PM: And for their next trick – a Qassam.

And Ynet, get your facts right. It has been 10 mortar shells today, not 7.

8:02PM: Someone please tell me this is a joke.

Israel will pay US $10m in compensation for damage caused to United Nations buildings in Gaza during the assault a year ago, officials have said.

This will be the first compensation paid by Israel for damage caused during the Gaza offensive.

UN storehouses, school buildings, offices and vehicles were damaged or destroyed during the conflict.

Israel insists UN sites were not targeted during the offensive and says the payout is for collateral damage.

Israel also says that Hamas fighters operated in or near UN-protected buildings during the offensive.

The payout is a result of several months negotiation. A UN inquiry in May last year found that Israeli forces had, on seven occasions, “breached the inviolability of United Nations premises” and were responsible for deaths and injuries.

At the time UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he would seek more than $11m compensation from Israel for damage to UN property.

Israeli officials say that the settlement should be viewed as a good-will gesture and says it has a good working relationship with the UN.

The UN is beyond being openly hostile towards Israel; it also employs terrorists (admitting doing so) including one of the schools hit during Operation Cast Lead and for which Israel is now paying compensation. Not only that, but the terrorists were actually using UN buildings to launch their terrorist attacks.

So as far as I’m concerned, the UN should be paying us.

6:14PM: Meet the anti-Semitic..err anti-Zionist palestinian sheikh who states the Jews are a cancer. And like AIDS.

And that’s some of his more mild claims.

Notice how he says Islam will one day rule the world again. And that belief, my friends, is the root cause of Islamic terrorism.

6:08PM: Not content with firing 10 mortar shells at Israel, Gaza-based terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at IDF troops earlier this afternoon.

5:50PM: Zionist Muslim Sheikh Abdul Palazzi on his recent visit to Jerusalem.

4:32PM:  Honest Reporting looks at 10 significant articles, blog posts, cartoons and videos from the past decade.

1:12PM:When it comes to palestinian/pro-palestinian protesters, there seems to be no shortage of potential future Darwin Award winners.

This tool protesting against Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer during a New Zealand tennis tournament (because Peer shows disproportionate force against her opponents?) is the latest in this long line of those who might just improve humanity’s gene pool by removing themselves from it.

1:00PM: Palestinian terrorists have already fired 7 at least 10 mortar shells from the Gaza Strip today. There have been no reports of injuries or damage, so once again I expect the world to collectively yawn.

It should be noted that the terrorists are also causing their people to suffer.

In the wake of the mortar fire, the Defense Ministry closed the Kerem Shalom crossing until further notice. Dozens of aid trucks that were prepared to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza were waiting at the crossing Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported.

Now compare the terrorists utter disregard for the lives of civilians with Israel’s.

Palestinians said the Israel Air Force dropped thousands of fliers in Gaza morning, warning residents there to stay away from the border with Israel and to avoid involvement in smuggling, Ma’an reported.

One of the fliers featured a map, and warns Gazans that anyone within 300 meters of the security fence is endangering himself.

Another flier urges Gazans not to sit idly by as smugglers put them and their communities in harm’s way. It includes a phone number and E-mail address for anyone willing to provide information about the smuggling tunnels.

When it comes to genocide, we are huge failures.

12:54PM: The White House has denied Rahm Emanuel said he is fed up with Israel and the palestinians.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel denied reports that said he is fed up with Israel and the Palestinians, a White House aide told Haaretz on Wednesday.

The White House aide emphasized that Emanuel’s statements were distorted. “He expressed frustration with the lack of progress with the peace process, but he certainly didn’t threaten to walk away from it. The allegations are completely ridiculous,” the aide said.

The White House doth protest too much, methinks.

10:25AM: Interesting article on the plight of palestinian Christians.

6:12AM: Still on the subject of Hizbullah,it is the Lebanese government’s refusal to reach any understanding with Israel over security arrangements in the north, apparently under pressure from Hizbullah, which is holding up an Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar.

The Lebanese government, apparently under pressure from Hizbullah, is not willing to provide any kind of commitments that would allow this plan to be put into practice, The Post has learned, “fearful” that this would be seen as giving Israel legitimacy.

Needless to say, I’m not optimistic about the Lebanese government ever arriving at a peace agreement with Israel.

6:06AM: It has been reported that UNIFIL forces last week discovered a large number of buried explosive devices in southern Lebanon about a kilometer from the border with Israel, apparently planted by Hizbullah.

The well-made bombs, approximately 10 in number, believed to be made either in Iran or Syria, contained a total of about 300 kilograms of explosives. According to sources in Israel, it is believed the devices were placed at the site by Hezbollah to strike at an Israel Defense Forces patrol that might try to enter Lebanon at the site, near the northern Israel town of Metula.

—-

The UNIFIL statement said placing the explosives was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which prohibits possession or use of weapons south of the Litani River by unauthorized persons, meaning other than the Lebanese army or UNIFIL forces.

Senior government officials in Jerusalem said that following the incident Israel approached UNIFIL officials as well as UN Headquarters in New York to make clear that it believes that Hezbollah is behind the incident, rather than World Jihad, which had fired rockets into Israel in recent months.

In other news, there is a group who fired rockets into Israel called World Jihad. I suppose the root cause of their terrorism is Israeli “occupation”?

12:10AM: Hamas is blaming Israel for yesterday’s Galloway “aid convoy” inspired riot.

Clashes on Egypt’s border that left at least one Egyptian soldier dead and dozens of Palestinians hurt are related to the construction of an Egyptian underground barrier, Hamas admitted Wednesday.

Ehab Ghussein, the spokesman for Gaza’s Interior Minister, linked the day’s events to Egypt’s construction of the underground barrier along its border with Gaza. He called the protest “a natural reaction to the iron wall and against the policy of cutting the veins of life that is taking place there.”

Ghussein said 35 Palestinians were injured, including five who are brain dead. His tally could not be reconciled with that of local doctors.

Cry of the hungry

Meanwhile, Hamas parliamentarian Mushir al Masri said that the “iron fence would not be able to defeat the Palestinian people, just like Operation Cast Lead did not defeat us.” He also stressed that Hamas will continue to view Israel as its main enemy, noting that “the occupation is dangerous for Egyptian security just like for Palestinian and Arab security.

Another Hamas member, Fauzi Barhoum, said that Wednesday’s protests marked “the cry of the hungry.”

Cry of the hungry, eh?

You mean, like this?

“Hey waiter, pleasssssse bring some more desert to our table?”

Wow, the last time a Leonardo made it’s way to Israel, it was accompanied by a pretty girl. I wonder if that will be the case this time.

Meanwhile, Berlusconi is taking the visit seriously, especially his speech to the Knesset.

A few days ago, the Knesset received a telegram from one of Berlusconi’s advisers stating that the prime minster did not intend to miss his visit to the Israeli parliament. The adviser wrote that the visit is one of the highlights of his career,” and he sees the speech he is to give to the Knesset plenum as the most important speech in his life along with the speech he gave to the U.S. Congress.

As is Israel.

The Knesset House Committee is expected today to vote to permit Berlusconi to address the Knesset in Italian.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:55PM: The former head of El Al explains to Fox News why the underwear bomber would never had made it on to an El Al flight.

8:15PM: From nuclear to nookie? Nuclear “whistleblower” (I hate that term) Mordechai Vanunu claims he was arrested for meeting his Norwegian girlfriend.

Vanunu was released after claiming during a court hearing that the relationship between him and the Norwegian woman he met with is of a romantic nature, Channel 10 news reported.

“He is not accused of divulging any information,” said Vanunu’s lawyer Avigdor Feldman, according to Channel 10. “She is not interested in nuclear matters. She is interested in Mordechai Vanunu, who seems to be interested in her.”

Assuming he is telling the truth (a huge assumption to in itself), I wonder what pick-up line he used. My bet is:

“There’s a whistle in my pocket with your name on it.”

7:56PM: It’s time for another round of “Blame the Zionists.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday opposition rallies were a foreign-backed “nauseating masquerade”, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“This is a nauseating masquerade that the Zionists and Americans organized and bought a ticket for, and for which they are the only spectators. The Iranian nation has seen a lot of such masquerades,” Ahmadinejad added.

It was the first public speech the president had given since the eruption of reformist protests in his country a few days ago, which have so far claimed the lives of at least 15 people. At least 20 have been arrested.

The nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was one of the victims of the protests, and the conservative Kayhan paper ran an editorial blaming Mousavi for his death. The editor, Hossein Shariat Madari, also claimed that the opposition leader had ties with “Zionists” and received orders from the Israeli Mossad.

“Since the beginning of the riots all evidence shows that there is a connection between the leaders of the struggle to the Zionists and that they have received orders directly from the Mossad and the CIA,” wrote Madari, who is known as an associate of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The barbaric and bloodthirsty enemies and the agents who accept orders from Israel did not even refuse to plan the murder of their own nephew,” he added.

I wonder if they actually believe this rubbish.

5:50PM: Yet another example of the word “women” being used loosely.

Mrs Doubtfire called. She wants her look back.

4:50PM: George Galloway once again voices his support for terrorism.

4:28PM: A 50-year-old Israeli man has been granted a divorce for an Israeli-record 11th time.

He apparently has no grey hair.

Go figure.

1:06PM: Sderot, one year after Operation Cast Lead.

1:04PM: Nu nu Vanunu: Israeli traitor Mordechai Vanunu – previously incarcerated for 18-years for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program – has been arrested on suspicion he met with foreigners in direct violation of his parole orders.

Perhaps he missed those long summer nights in prison..

11:32PM: Lebanese paper Al-Nahar has reported that the UN is holding talks with Israel and Lebanon, concerning an Israel withdrawal from the northern part of the village of Ghajar* by the end of January.

According to the report, the UN and the United States hope that Israel’s withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar will lead to an ease in tensions between Israel and Lebanon.

Not very likely, considering Hizbullah has made it clear they won’t rest until Israel is destroyed.

* Not to be confused with this

9:00AM: From the Karma’s-a-Bitch Department: Norwegian doctor Erik Fosse, who along with the appropriately named Mads Gilbert, collaborated with Hamas in helping to disseminate anti-Israel propaganda during Operation Cast Lead, was recently stabbed in Gaza.

Per an unauthorized translation from Aftenposten:

I take it as a sign of how desperate people are. They have cause to be dissatisfied with the west, he says.

Why do you think precisely you were attacked?

Because I was the only blond western present. I understand that people are frustrated with the west. It is an expression of desperation. But of course one cannot stab people for this reason. The man who attacked me was a disturbed person, says Fosse.

He says there was only a small wound, since the knife-blade broke.

Notice how Fosse is so willing to exonerate the attacker and blame it all on the West. It is inconceivable that palestinians would murder, maim or wound anyone without valid justification. It must be because they are oppressed or disturbed.

As this blogger states:

Another interpretation might be that Fosse’s attacker was frustrated with Hamas, the genocidal movement Fosse and Gilbert insist the west acknowledge as a legitimate organization and pressures Israel to negotiate with.

When Hamas went to war against Israel through a sustained rocket-barrage which lasted for years, the NORWAC doctors looked the other way. When Israel struck back and Hamas hid behind the unfortunate civilian population, the doctors published a book filled with photographs of maimed children. And now that Fosse is stabbed, it is the west’s fault.

(hat tip: Brian of London)

6:20AM: PA politician Mustafa Barghouti claims that Jesus was the first palestinian.

Well, if you invent an entire nation, what’s the big deal with reinventing the history of one individual?

Because We’re Bad, We’re Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know We’re Bad, We’re Bad-
You Know It

Here’s a picture of palestinians holding up photos of their relatives killed during Operation Cast Lead. Undoubtedly as non-combatants.

Just a picture of a child brandishing a rifle (and an adult with some weird growth coming out of his behind). Nothing to see here, move along..

Another photo of some palestinian women holding up pictures of dead relatives.

Woman on right: And to think I could have been competing in the beauty pageant right now.

Meanwhile, talk about being in a precarious situation

“It’s ok, Ahmed, don’t be scared. Just don’t stare at any of them and you’ll be fine.”

Or have they? Ha’aretz reported that Israel has given a German mediator its response to Hamas. The question is: what was the response? Yes, no, or still thinking about it?

Meanwhile, I will keep my poll active to gauge your opinion on the matter.

[poll id="5"]

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:42PM: Quote of the day:

“I’m faced with two vital principles: the desire to redeem captives and the desire to defend Israeli citizens from future attacks.”

“I have listened with great attentiveness to your personal and difficult stories, and have noted all the important points you have raised.”

- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, after meeting with representatives of the Almagor terror victims organization, which opposes any prisoner swap deal.

5:22PM: Reuters has published a number of photos, such as the following, showing a palestinian boy who lost his leg during Operation Cast Lead.

Moathe Abu Rabeeh (R), a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who lost his leg during the three-week offensive Israel launched last year, attends a physiotherapy session at al-Salama Association in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip December 22, 2009. December 27 marks one year since the start of a three-week offensive Israel launched in Gaza during which more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. Israel launched the offensive with the declared aim of stopping Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel (Reuters)

Leaving aside the accuracy of the figure of 1,400 palestinians killed (which seems to be based on a B’Tselem estimate, even though the IDF found 1166 were killed, including  709 “terror operatives”), why are we also not seeing from Reuters photos of crippled palestinians such as this man?

4:35PM: The Guardian has admitted it erred in using the headline “Israel admits harvesting Palestinian organs” on the story about an admission by the former head of the Abu Kabir forensic institute that organs were harvested from bodies without permission from the families of the deceased, since “That headline did not match the article, which made clear that the organs were not taken only from Palestinians.”

3:42PM: A few months ago, Head Hamashole Khaled Meshaal claimed:

“Hamas does not aim to kill civilians. Hamas does not want to target the civilians. Hamas defends itself, but because it has simple abilities and its rockets are inaccurate in targeting, so it reaches the civilians, but we do not intend to do that.”

With that in mind, here’s an animated video released by Hamas.

3:12PM: It’s that time of the year again: Dishonest Reporter Award 2009

This year’s winners list is packed full of nutty goodness, including Ken Livingstone, Ha’aretz, The Guardian and Donald Bostrom.

9:24AM: Israel’s response to Hamas regarding the Gilad Shalit-terrorist exchange deal is reportedly “Yes, but…”

Israel gave a positive response to the general outline of the deal presented by the German mediator last week. The condition placed by Israel in its response refers to the names of “heavy prisoners” Israel demands are expelled to Gaza or abroad. According to Israel, these prisoners will not be allowed to return to the West Bank.

This stance, which is backed by a number of ministers and the head of the Shin Bet, stems from a serious concern that these “heavy prisoners” may revive Hamas’ terror infrastructure in the West Bank and resume the armed conflict as well as terror attacks against Israeli citizens, settlers and the Palestinian Authority.

The response which was transferred to the German mediator gives him enough pull to continue pushing to close the gaps between Hamas and Israel on the matter of expelling prisoners to Gaza.

Hamas is unlikely to drop out of negotiations, as it also has much interest in the execution of the deal. The moment of truth has yet to arrive, but can be expected in the near future.

6:06AM: Now for a change of pace: a joke about the Israeli rowing team told by an “old Jew.” (hat tip: Noah on Twitter)

6:04AM: A group of leading Zionist rabbis have drafted clear guidelines for prisoner swaps.

The guidelines in the document include the need to take future risk into consideration. Other principles include a call to engage in more moderate efforts in cases where abductees risk themselves needlessly, and a ban on releasing live detainees in exchange for bodies.

The rabbis who signed the document include Shlomo Aviner, Yaakov Ariel, Haim Druckman, and Dov Lior. The guidelines state that previous swaps completed by Israel were characterized by the “absence of clear criteria” and by a “dangerous preference for the welfare of the individual captive (or casualty) over the public’s wellbeing.”

The document includes a total of six brief clauses and is backed up with Jewish law sources for the various rulings.

The rabbis begin with an uncompromising rule of thumb: “Despite the importance of the mitzvah of prisoner redemption, any deal for the exchange of terrorist prisoners must be weighed with the public’s best interest in mind, as well as its effect on national security in the short and long term”.

“National security is affected, among other things, by the deterrence of enemies and their debilitation, as well as the willingness of soldiers to risk themselves knowing that a great effort will be made to release them if they are captured,” the rabbis say.

“A decision on a deal should consider intelligence agencies’ assessments of the future risk that it carries.”

Three basic principles

The rabbis call for a policy of negotiations based on three basic principles, each one derived from scenarios experienced by Israel over the years.

Hinting at the Tannenbaum deal, the document says that “the level of effort invested in releasing a man who unlawfully endangered himself should be lower.”

Regarding the return of corpses, such as deals made for IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, the document says that “despite the mitzvah of bringing a fallen soldier to burial in Israel, it is prohibited to release live terrorists in exchange for corpses”.

Regarding cases such as that of Shalit, the rabbis say that “a special effort must be invested in releasing security personnel who served the country”.

Possible answers:

a) Yes

Senior officials in Israel confirmed reports on Monday that a British court issued an arrest warrant against opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni for her role in orchestrating Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago.

The request for the warrant was submitted by a pro-Palestinian organization.

—-

Earlier Monday, Arab-language media reported that Livni canceled her participation in a Jewish function in London after a warrant for her arrest was issued over part in last winter’s Israel’s Gaza offensive.

Israel’s ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, conferred with officials in the British Ministry of Justice who told him that they were unaware of any criminal complaint or arrest warrant against the former foreign minister.

Yet, further inquiries by Israeli officials revealed that a warrant had indeed been issued.

b) Yes, but it was later rescinded

The Guardian reported Monday that a warrant for the arrest of Opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni had been issued by a British court, but was rescinded once it was discovered that she was not in the country.

Livni was scheduled to travel to the UK on Sunday but canceled her trip at the last minute. The Guardian reported that the Westminster magistrates court issued the warrant at the request of pro-Palestinian activists, but it was later withdrawn.

The attorneys who appealed for the warrant had apparently not been informed of Livni’s cancellation. Their clients wanted the former foreign minister arrested for her implication in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

The British Foreign Office immediately issued an apologetic statement. “The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East and to be a strategic partner of Israel. To do this, Israel’s leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government. We are looking urgently at the implications of this case,” it said.

b) No

Kadima leader Tzipi Livni declined a request to lecture in Britain due to her inability to obtain a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and not due to fears of being arrested, sources close to Livni said Monday night.

Livni was invited a month ago to address the Jewish National Fund UK’s annual conference in London, but two weeks ago she turned down the invitation because Brown would be abroad at the time. Instead, she addressed the conference by video.

Al-Jazeera had reported on Monday that Livni did not go to London because a British court had issued an arrest warrant against her for alleged “war crimes” committed during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip last winter, when she was foreign minister.

—-

The Guardian confirmed later in the day that the Westminster Magistrate’s Court had issued the warrant on behalf of Palestinian victims of the three-week offensive.

Both Livni’s office and the Foreign Ministry refuted the report.

“The opposition leader is proud of all her decisions connected to Operation Cast Lead,” Livni’s office said in a statement. “The operation achieved its goal of defending the people of Israel and restoring Israel’s deterrence. Livni will continue presenting her view everywhere around the world.”

—-

Israeli ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor met with officials in the British Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry, who denied that there had been any warrant issued or requested for Livni’s arrest.

Foreign Ministry officials speculated that once it was known that Livni had planned on visiting Britain, one of the pro-Palestinian groups there likely spread the word that they had requested an arrest warrant. Legal officials in the Foreign Ministry said Livni lacked diplomatic immunity that could protect her from arrest.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:45PM: Great blog post on the recent Yasuf mosque attack, purportedly committed by Jewish “settlers.” (hat tip: Daled Amos)

“Rush to Judgment”

Last Friday, in the Arab village of Yasuf, in Samaria, near the Jewish community of Tapuach, a mosque was vandalized.

News reports spoke of the fact of “mosque arson,” but in point of fact the mosque wasn’t torched.  Korans and prayer rugs were burned, while the mosque was left in tact — this fact visible from photos.  Graffiti was written in Hebrew on the wall of the mosque: “Price tag — Greetings from Effi.” This is presumed to represent a radical group of “settlers” who have vowed to extract a price from the Arab population every time the Israeli government restricts development by Jews in Judea and Samaria.  It is thus being assumed in many quarters that Jews did this in “revenge” for Netanyahu’s building freeze.

Across Israel there have been condemnations of this act — including by law enforcement officials and rabbis.  The fact that they felt the need to condemn this passionately seems to indicate that they were assuming that it was likely Jews who did it. There were statements by law enforcement officials about how it’s time to get tougher with the “extremists” in Judea and Samaria.

~~~~~~~~~~

I believe that the assumption that “extremist” Jews did this IS a rush to judgment. There is a mind-set that tends to paint the “settlers” as bad, a danger to peace.  This perception has been shaped by Arab and leftist PR and been assimilated to a large degree.  And the assumption that Jews who live in Samaria set fire to a mosque fits right in with that.

If it turns out that Jews did do this, I will roundly condemn them. But I am not prepared to do so yet, for a host of reasons:

The law enforcement officials have come out full force in investigating this. But as I write, there is not only no suspect, but no lead.  Clearly, they keep close tab on those Jews considered to be radical.  That there is not even a “lead” after four days gives pause. The fact that there was an ostensible graffiti “signature” from a radical group does not, of course, mean that this group really did the vandalizing.  As the Regional Council of Samaria pointed out, “Who would be stupid enough to leave a name?”

~~~~~~~~~~

And there is more:

Reports I received today indicate that the mosque has already been cleaned up, so that a police investigation of the “scene of the crime” is impossible.  (News reports did say that the PA was going to be doing the clean-up.)  As it was, the damage was relatively minimal.  Not destruction of a mosque, but of the accessories of prayer — just enough destruction to make press and to make a fuss over.

~~~~~~~~~~

Over a period of years, there have been accusations of Jewish “radicals” cutting down Arab olive trees, but on several occasions it turned out that Arabs themselves had cut down the trees to make Jews in the area look bad.  Seems strange from our perspective, that they would damage their own property. But that’s because we don’t think as these Arabs do. The same thinking takes place in Gaza. Terrorists target the crossings from Israel into Gaza, making it necessary for Israel to close the crossings for a period. This means that the supplies don’t get to the people. But that’s OK, for it’s more important to make Israel look bad for closing crossings.

Ponder this carefully.

The working assumption is that the mosque was vandalized by a radical Jewish group in “retaliation” for the government freeze. But the freeze wasn’t just announced. It’s a good couple of weeks old. So why now?

What is new is the priority map, which was just announced last week by Netanyahu. It indicates which communities will receive special attention. And guess what? A number of communities in Judea and Samaria were included (more follows on this below). How threatening to the Arabs who want to see us move back to the Green Line. Is it coincidence that the “arson” took place last Friday, just two days after the announcement?

When a contingent of rabbis from the Shomron (Samaria) tried to visit Yasuf, they were rebuffed. The residents there said these rabbis were radicals, or associated with radicals. I though this a little strange, as one of the rabbis was Rabbi Froman of Tekoa, who has a reputation of sustaining warm relationships with Arabs, and he had brought his Arabic-speaking son with him.

What did the Yasuf villagers say? That they need the land to be rid of “settlers.” No peaceful co-existence. No acceptance of peaceful gestures. Get out.

I noted this carefully when it was said, and everyone else needs to note it, as well. The vandalized mosque potentially provides “evidence” for the world to see of why Jews should not live in Judea and Samaria.

~~~~~~~~~~

As to that priority map:  It has caused considerable dissension within the government. To me what has been taking place is schizoid, with one arm of the government unclear as to what the other is doing.  As I noted last week after the priority map was announced (announced just as there was a demonstration against the freeze taking place), it seemed to give a very mixed message with regard to that freeze.  And, sure enough, it made the Obama administration uneasy, so that reassurances had to be provided.  The communities in Judea and Samaria which were on the map would receive other kinds of assistance, our government said, but not housing assistance.  Not clear is whether this set of parameters was for the ten months of the freeze only, or would continue thereafter.

The map was approved by the Cabinet on Sunday, after announcements that the decision might be delayed because of objections.

Shas objected, and with good reason, because communities where those who were expelled from Gush Katif are settling were not given priority.

But the major source of tension with regard to the priorities set by the map emanates from the Labor party.  Four party “rebels” have been discontented for some time with Barak’s participation in Netanyahu’s coalition. (It is likely that the ferocity with which Barak administered the freeze on the ground, adding strictures that weren’t in the original announcement, was an attempt by him to show these rebels how tough he is with “settlers.”)

Now the rebels — Eitan Cabel, Shelly Yacimovich, Yuli Tamir, and Ophir Paz-Pines — say that clearly Barak knew what the priority map would include, and that this is the proverbial straw. According to a spokesman for the rebels, “The chances of us making peace with Barak are the same that this government will make peace with the Palestinians.”

What is being demanded is that within two to three months Labor leave the government if progress has not been made in the “peace process.”

The insistence of the left wing in blaming Israel for a failure of the “peace process” drives me to distraction.  How, precisely, do they think “progress” is supposed to be achieved when Abbas won’t come to the table? (See below on this.)

At any rate, this is one of those situations that will bear close watching, as the political implications are real.

~~~~~~~~~~

There are other issues with regard to communities in Judea and Samaria that I will return to as soon as possible.  It seems today that there is more to write about than time to do the writing.  It is almost time for candle-lighting and then celebration with friends.

Here I will simply report that Abbas has announced that he is abandoning the format of the Road Map and refusing to come to the negotiating table until we agree to return to the ‘67 lines.  There is much to say about this, in due course, although we’ve been watching this unfold; it’s not exactly unexpected. (The PLO, by the way, will be formally extending Abbas’s term as PA president, until there are elections.)

Today in the village of Yasuf, Arabs demonstrated with the demand that Jews get out of the West Bank.  And, while I might be mistaken, it seems to me all of a piece.  How convenient that they have the “evidence” of the Jews having vandalized their mosque, to show the world why we cannot remain.

I am incensed, by the way, that the president of the EU has made a statement about this mosque. How many times, pray tell, has the president of the EU made statements when Arabs killed innocent Jews in Judea and Samaria?

7:48PM: As if the driving here wasn’t bad enough, now we have to worry about passenger jets.

A Russian commercial airplane narrowly avoided disaster on Tuesday afternoon after missing the landing strip at Ben Gurion International Airport.

According to Channel 10, the passenger jet arrived at the airport from the South, and was preparing to descend when the air traffic controllers realized the pilot was planning to land on the wrong landing strip and instructed him to turn back.

Several minutes later, the control tower noted that again the airplane had come from the wrong angle, and alerted the pilot about his error to avoid the jet crashing into Route 1, the highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

On the third try, the jet finally landed on its designated landing strip at the Ben Gurion Airport.

The Civil Aviation Authority opened an investigation into the incident.

6:20PM: On yesterday’s Breakfast Show on BBC Radio, the Guardian’s Associate Editor Michael White managed to turn a discussion on Silvio Berlusconi’s encounter with a nutter into an anti-Israel diatribe. (via Media Backspin)

In Israel they murder each other a great deal. The Israeli Defense Forces murder people because they don’t like their political style and what they’ve got to say and it only means that people more extreme come in and take their place.

Doesn’t really sound like the guy who over three years ago wrote:

As I get older my own sympathies are shifting back to where they started – with Israel as the regional underdog, however short-sighted and self-defeating some of its actions are.

4:12PM: PA President Mahmoud Abbas continues trying to take advantage of the international community’s insistence (especially the US) that Israel take unilateral steps towards peace, by insisting on the borders of a palestinian state as a precondition to negotiations.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas  demanded Tuesday that the international community recognize the 1967 borders as the borders of a new Palestinian state, and stated that this was a condition for the resumption of peace talks with Israel.

“We will renew negotiations if the settlements are completely halted and the 1967 borders recognized as the borders of the Palestinian state,” he said in Ramallah.

Speaking before the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Central Committee, Abbas commended the European Union on a proposal to declare east Jerusalem the future capital of a Palestinian state.

He also condemned settlements. “Netanyahu’s announcement of a 10-month freeze in settlements is not considered a halt of all settlement activity,” he said, referring to a cabinet decision backed by the prime minister.

12:30PM: The Israeli Foreign Ministry has released the following statement in response to attempts to have Tzipi Livni arrested in Britain.

Israel rejects attempts to exploit British courts against MK Tzipi Livni

15 Dec 2009

Britain should fulfill its promises to stop anti-Israel exploitation of the British courts.

(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)

Israel rejects the cynical legal move made in the British court against the Head of the Opposition, MK Tzipi Livni, at the behest of radical elements, and wishes to point out that Israel and Britain are both engaged in a common struggle against the forces of international terror. In many parts of the world, British soldiers are fighting to eradicate terrorism.

Israel calls on the British government to fulfill its promises, once and for all, to act in preventing the exploitation of the British legal system by anti-Israel elements against the State of Israel and its citizens.

The absence of immediate, determined action to correct this abuse harms relations between Britain and Israel.

If Israeli leaders cannot visit Britain in proper, dignified fashion, this will, quite naturally, seriously compromise Britain’s ability to play the active role in the Middle East peace process that it desires.

10:40AM: Welcome to Israel’s first Sudanese restaurant.

10:00AM: Comedian Butch Bradley, who was just here in Israel for the first time performing as part of the Comedy for Koby tour, was really affected by the experience.

Which brings us to Israel – a country which, even on this brief acquaintance, Bradley says “touches your heart.” He sees us simply as “real people, just trying to live. And you’ve got all this banging on your front door late at night.”

He also describes us as a kind of “huge family,” which may hold a further secret of his empathy, since he comes from one himself. “I have a fiancé and millions of Irish cousins,” he says. “I’m going to bring them all, tell them all to come.”

America, he declares, with a conviction that defies dissent, “would go to war for Israel without a second thought. Even if not officially, the airports would be full… We do respect and love family.

“I was raised by a single mom,” he flows on. “We hug a lot. We say I love you. We pray. We go watch our cousins play high school football. We’re an Irish-Italian family, and we respect time. We know it’s not there forever. We’re postal workers, police officers, waiters and waitresses, concrete workers – real people. If my brother calls me at 3 a.m. I’m there.”

9:05AM: Here is an insight into the bullying tactics of the anti-Israel crowd.

The caller is apparently associated with a mob called Stop Funding Israel, whose website proclaims:

This website aims to deliver to you a comprehensive list of companies you can avoid to cut off the flow of money to the Ashkenazi run terrorist state of ISRAEL.

(for more on what Ashkenazi means, see here)

..while stating:

This website does not, will not, can ever endorse discrimination upon anyone for their opinions of religion, creed or nationailty or culture.

What is also telling is how the caller seems to think true knowledge is gained via Google. I somehow doubt he has read any historical books of note on the conflict, or has made any real effort to better understand what is truly going on in this part of the world.

An inflammatory anti-Israeli television show in Turkey on Tuesday did what Ankara’s cancellation of Israeli participation in an international military exercise last week failed to do – lead the foreign ministry to call in Turkey’s envoy to register a protest.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement Wednesday night announcing that the Turkish envoy would be summonsed to protest the “inciting” television program that appeared Tuesday evening on prime time on the popular state-run station TRT1.

In the first episode of a series on a Palestinian family living in the West Bank, IDF soldiers are variously seen killing a baby, a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad.

Lieberman, currently holding meetings in Austria, issued a statement saying the airing of this show, on a government controlled station, represented the “gravest form of incitement.”

“This series, which has absolutely no connection to reality, and which presents IDF soldiers as murderers of innocent children, is not fit to be broadcast even in the most hostile countries, and certainly not in a country that has full diplomatic relations with Israel,” he said.

Since the start of the current diplomatic tension with Ankara, Israel has opted to take a very low profile, not wanting to exacerbate the situation with harsh public comments.

Tuesday’s airing of the television show – on top of the cancellation of Israel’s participation in the military exercise, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan harangue Monday accusing Israel of killing children with phosphorus bombs in Gaza, and the announcement of joint military manoeuvres with Syria – has now changed the situation.

To make matters even more complicated, Turkey – in the midst of all this tension – is not currently represented by an ambassador in Israel, as the previous ambassador left the country a few weeks ago, and his replacement has not yet arrived. Some diplomatic observers in Israel doubted this was a mere coincidence.

Here’s an example episode of the show. Although it’s in Turkish, you’ll still get the drift.

While this all seems to be happening at once, none of this should come as a surprise to those of you closely following the news this year. Remember this from January?

Of course, Turkey has still been more than willing to take our tourist dollars (at one point estimated at $300 million annually), and otherwise continue to trade with us where it benefits them.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:18PM: As I mentioned earlier today (1:35PM update), Hollywood actress Mia Farrow planned on visiting Sderot, which she did. But while her visit to Gaza prompted her to comment on the trauma suffered by palestinian children who “deserve better”, her visit to Sderot elicted a rather different response.

She also appealed to Gazan militants to stop launching rockets onto Israel.

“On a personal note, I would like to ask the people of Gaza not to give the international community ammunition to view you in a negative way … If [rocket] offenses could stop then there would be more support, though I understand the impasse. I’m a mother of 14 children, I know about conflict.”

In other words, the rocket attacks should stop not because they could kill or and traumatize people, but because they do not serve the palestinian’s interests.

10:30PM: The UK has seemingly grown a pair.

8:20PM: The Jerusalem Post really might want to invest in better picture-caption technology. Not to mention better punctuation.

[click image to enlarge]

Regarding the Hizbullah video (which does anything but refute the IDF video), since I posted my observations of the discrepancies between the videos, a reader has framed the issues as follows:

1. the hezbollah video was shot in broad daylight, whereas the IDF footage was taken at night, shortly after the blast occurred.

2. the position of the truck in the hezbollah version and the IDF video are not the same. in the hezbollah version the truck is backed up directly to the loading dock and there are two men shoving the debris into the back of the truck. in the IDF footage, the truck is parked a little bit away and there are at least 5 men carefully carrying the disputed object and loading it onto the truck.

3. In order for the Hezbollah video to disprove the IDF footage, their video has to be of the same event, which is impossible given points 1 and 2.

4. If it is not of the same event, and the Hezbollah video was shot the next day, then that does not disprove anything, since they could have shown up, and started clearing debris while filming themselves. This would also account for the presence of the Leb. Military and UNIFIL since Hezbollah gave them access to the explosion site several hours after the explosion, after they had removed various items.

5. The IDF video shot shortly after the explosion shows Hezbollah cordoning off the area, loading items which could be a missile onto a truck and then driving the trucks 4km away to a known Hezbollah arms depot in another village. After they were done clearing the house, they let UNIFIl and the Leb Military enter the area.

6. a couple of questions:
-If they were not clearing the area of weapons, why would they have sealed off the area?
-why would they have transfered the objects (whatever they may have been) to known weapons depot?
-and why would they have gone through the trouble of making this video when it is so blatantly proves nothing?

8:08PM: Hillel Neuer of UN Watch is liveblogging the UNHRC emergency session on the Goldstone Report on Twitter.

5:45PM: Today’s Worst-refutation-of-an-Israeli-claim award goes to Hizbullah*, who have claimed that the IDF footage showing Hizbullah terrorists closing down the area around the warehouse in which an explosion occurred, driving in two trucks and removing weaponry from the site, is a fabrication. They have then proceeded to release their own video showing what they claim to be the true events surrounding the site of the explosion – just a few guys loading a door on to a truck in front of the building.

The website of Hezbollah’s al-Manar television channel reported Thursday that the supposed missile in the IDF footage  of weapons being smuggled out of a Hezbollah activist’s residence where an explosion  occurred earlier this week is nothing more than a metal door being taken out to the garbage.

The site claimed that the door successfully threw off the sophisticated, top-of-the-line espionage equipment used by the Israel Air Force.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military released footage it said was shot by one of its drones in the area of the explosion. It said the grainy, black and white video shows Hezbollah members sealing off the explosion site, recovering rockets from the home and driving them away in two covered trucks.

Hezbollah slammed the video as a “fabrication” by Israel and broadcast its own video on Thursday depicting what it said were the true events around the blast.

The video, aired on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV and other local stations, shows two persons loading what appears to be a steel garage door onto a white covered pickup truck in front of the building where the blast allegedly occurred.

The video, which showed no actual aftermath of the blast, also shows two uniformed UN peacekeeper and a Lebanese soldier standing nearby as the pickup is being loaded. The UN mission did not immediately comment on the Hezbollah video.

“The random explosion that occurred in Tayr Filsay in south Lebanon that made a stir in some of the Arab and Western media has returned to its natural proportions despite efforts made by the Zionist enemy to exploit it in its repeated claims that Lebanon and Hezbollah are violating Resolution 1701,” wrote the al-Manar website.

The website posed the question: “What were the Israeli spy planes doing in the skies of Tayr Filsay when they shot the pictures that the occupation’s leadership was not ashamed of publishing in the media outlets, some of whom rushed to adopt the Israeli position and to exaggerate the event, speaking of casualties, wounded, and mass destruction?”

According to the website, “The inflation is fundamentally unfounded, the Israeli footage is fundamentally unfounded, and whoever builds on this lie is also unfounded.”

The website issued criticism that “without any investigation or pre-examinatino, the television stations were quick to broadcast news flashes on the screens of Lebanese, especially those who live in the south of the country, and to publish a shower of items about casualties, wounded, and destruction.”

According to the article, tensions were only high the night the story broke, but that in the morning it became clear that only a small explosion took place that caused only light damage and no casualties.

“In the Israeli footage that was released, two people are seen transferring something from the site of the location. According to the Israelis, this is a missile, but in the footage itself, one can clearly see that the people are moving quickly and carrying something light, which cannot logically be a missile,” wrote the website.

Of course, Hizbullah do not explain:

• Why they filmed the apparently mundane task of carrying a door to a truck
• Why their footage was taken during the day, while the IDF footage was taken at night
• Why the building in their footage shows no signs of damage
• Why the events in their video do not match those of the IDF’s aerial footage (such as different movements of people, different position of vehicles, absence of a car parked in front of the truck as shown in the Hizbullah video)

* The Turkish television producer comes in a close second

5:06PM: Believe it or not, Iranian and Israeli officials reportedly met and engaged in serious discussions on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament last month. And it took an Aussie to help make it happen.

Australia has helped accomplish the seemingly impossible – bringing Israel and Iran into the same room for high-level talks on nuclear weapons.

The meeting took place with little public fanfare in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, last month as part of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, an expert panel assembled by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to help rid the world of nuclear arms.

Coming only days after Tehran revealed it had secretly constructed a uranium enrichment plant, participants said there was a ”very robust exchange” between the Israeli and Iranian officials.

—-

While careful not to claim any breakthrough at the talks, sources have told The Age both sides engaged in ‘’serious discussions” and canvassed the idea of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

Contact between Israeli and Iranian officials is sporadic and only takes place at international forums – no formal meetings between the two countries have occurred since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Officials from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and other regional countries also took part in the three-day meeting and it is believed the talks floated an idea for a further regional conference – possibly hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – to outline the broad aims of a treaty to create a Middle East nuclear-free zone.

Similar ideas have stalled in the past over the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and questions of security guarantees for Israel. But last month’s talks in Egypt attempted to skirt such obstacles by focusing on proposals to safeguard any fissile material in the region that could potentially be used for nuclear weapons.

Iran’s senior envoy to the meeting was its ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

Israel sent the director of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Merav Zafary-Odiz. Israel’s former foreign affairs minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, was also at the meeting in a non-official role.

The high-level representatives are believed to have impressed regional diplomats who observed the proceedings.

3:32PM: And back to being really confused. The Ynet report on the Turkish television producer’s response also suggests he is claiming the soldiers being depicted are not Israeli.

He added, “The uniforms are not IDF uniforms, they only look similar. The Turkish and American militaries have uniforms like that as well.”

At the start of each episode it is clearly stated that it is not a true story, but a fictional one. Cobanoglu said, “Clearly it must be real enough for the viewer, but these are not the same uniforms. It is very important that I stress that we love the people in Israel. We love the Israelis.

“We know that Israel didn’t do these things, but there are small groups who did things like this sometimes, they killed children and things like that. We made the series about them, not about Israel directly,” he said.

So the question is which “small groups” did these things?

I was about to provide my answer but then I noticed someone else beat me to it.

TRT1’s television producer Saljuk Trubanulad responded to the allegations mentioned in the previous post about their show.

“The show is not about IDF soldiers, we also wrote this in a warning that appeared on the screen at the beginning of the program,”

The first episode is the story of a “Palestinian” family living in the West Bank.

Ah-huh. So exactly which army is it in the West Bank? The Jordanians?

“…this show isn’t about Israeli soldiers but rather about a specific group that is responsible for all the murders.”

And who might that group be?

“These soldiers are not Israelis, we know the Israeli public does not justify the operation. It’s just a small group of soldiers who murdered Muhammad al-Dura, the Palestinian boy.”

Well now he’s making sense. The riddle is unraveling.

Mohammed al-Dura was killed by Palestinian soldiers.

Saljuk says he’s not talking about Israeli soldiers.

And we know that the only other soldiers in the West Bank are “Palestinian” soldiers.

The only logical conclusion is that these are Palestinian soldiers in the show massacring their own people.

That does make sense when you put his words in the right context.

2:55PM: Ok, this report dealing with the last item makes more sense than the Jpost report.

2:38PM: Turkish gobbledegook: The Turkish television producer of the anti-Israel TV drama has responded by saying the soldiers depicted in the show are not Israeli soldiers.

At least that is what I think  he is saying. See if you can make any sense of this.

In an interview full of contradictions, Turkish television producer Saljuk Trubanulad, whose anti-Israeli TV drama led Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to summon the Turkish envoy for a meeting, told Israel Radio on Thursday that the soldiers depicted in the drama “are not Israeli soldiers” and stressed that all of the program’s staff love the Israeli people.

“The show is not about IDF soldiers, we also wrote this in a warning that appeared on the screen at the beginning of the program,” the Turkish producer said.

In the first episode of a series on a Palestinian family living in the West Bank, which appeared Tuesday evening on prime time on the government-controlled station TRT1, IDF soldiers are seen killing a baby and a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad.

In Thursday’s interview, Trubanulad stressed that “all of our staff loves the Israeli people, that is, this show isn’t about Israeli soldiers but rather about a specific group that is responsible for all the murders. We love the Israeli people.”

“These soldiers are not Israelis, we know the Israeli public does not justify the operation. It’s just a small group of soldiers who murdered Muhammad al-Dura, the Palestinian boy,” he explained, referring to a 12-year-old Palestinian boy whose footage cowering next to his father during a firefight and then slumping dead became the symbol of Palestinian suffering in the early days of the Second Intifada, despite it being entirely unclear that the cause of the child’s death was indeed IDF bullets.

“These are not Israeli soldiers, their uniforms aren’t Israeli uniforms. It’s a small group that killed all the people and all the children. We say this group is not of Israeli soldiers, neither [those shown murdering citizens] in Gaza nor in Beirut,” he told the radio station.

He went on to stress that the production team based the screenplay on historical facts. “We sent our script to Israel, we checked it,” he said.

I’m still scratching my head.

1:35PM: Actress Mia Farrow has commented on her trip to Gaza.

US actress and outspoken human rights activist Mia Farrow said on Thursday that children living in blockaded, impoverished and war-wracked Gaza Strip deserve a better life.

“The children appear traumatised,” Farrow told a media conference in the Palestinian enclave on the second and final day of a visit as goodwill ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“The teachers say that when they hear a loud noise they (the children) look to the sky and cry out and weep. They don’t know what the future holds,” she told the joint media conference with Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil, also a UNICEF ambassador.

“They deserve better,” she said.

Of course, when the children are pictured next to palestinian terrorists firing weapons in the vicinity, they never seem to be crying and weeping. Nor when they hear of successful terror attacks (it is hard to cry with a mouth full of candy).

Meanwhile, it looks like I was wrong and Farrow does intend to visit Sderot after all.

Later on Thursday Farrow was due to visit the Israeli town of Sderot, which for years has borne the brunt of Gaza militant rocket fire.

12:58PM: Turkey has continued it nastiness towards Israel with news it intends to impose a heavy fine on Israel  if we do not deliver 10 unmanned drones by the end of the year, and take us to the International Court of Commercial Arbitration if there is any further delay.

In other litigation-related news, Hamas is threatening to prosecute PA President Mahmoud Abbas for his “smear campaign” against them, as well as his actions during Operation Cast Lead.

“We demand Abu Mazen name those he claims hid,” said al-Zahar. “I want him to say exactly where he thinks we ran to. This man must stop trying to spread his lies, especially now that the Goldstone fiasco has been exposed, now that the Israelis exposed him as the one who wanted to prolong the war in the Strip. That is why he chooses to slam us instead of apologizing.”

6:10AM: Headline of the day:

China voices deep concern over humanitarian situation in Gaza

The irony is delicious.

6:02AM: Here’s a report about a Muslim student protest at the University of Kentucky against former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was speaking there.

Notice the bizarre ending to the report.

5:50PM: Head Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh continues to use the Goldstone report for propaganda purposes, contrasting his “government’s” reaction to that of Israel.

Speaking at a sit-in protest in Gaza organized by victims and families of victims of Israel’s war on Gaza last winter, Haniyeh explained, “If there is a concern about how the report will affect the peoples’ right to resistance vis-à-vis the Goldstone report, that in no way means we have withdrawn our support for the document in general.”

Haniyeh said de facto government personnel would offer up their total support to the Goldstone report mission, “offering all we can to convict the Israeli occupation.” The Hamas leader also said he hoped Israeli leaders would be held accountable at the International Criminal Court.

“We are for a serious, national effort ahead of dealing with this document and implementing its recommendations,” he said, comparing the de facto government’s reaction with the Israeli position.

Hamas, like Israel, understands clearly that the report is good for terrorists who use their people as human shields, and bad for those fighting them.

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