När jag har något att säga säjer jag det här, om jag inte säger det någon annanstans. Politik, mera om Asien än om Västvärlden eftersom jag ofta känner mej mindre främmande där. Sometimes English, sometimes Swedish depending on what kind of keyboard and my state of mind.

2006-08-29

Börjar det koka? SvD

Olmert och hans kabinett vägrar fortfarande titta ut genom fönstret för att se det växande antalet demonstranter mot honom. Israel är ju inte precis berömt för att ha långvariga regeringar, men han vill visst till varje pris bita sej kvar. Åtminstone har han inte som högsta prioritet att avfolka Västbanken längre, så på det sättet har Sommarlovskriget gjort nytta, och kanske på andra sätt också, förutom att snabba på regeringen Olmerts fall. Peretz' arbetarparti vill inte ta pengar de har lovat i socialbidrag till fattiga, för att försvara Israel, vilket har lett till brytning mellan dom och Olmers Kadima - en annan fördel.

Här i Sverige är livet som vanligt. Svenska Dagbladets diskussionsarea Brännpunkt vägrar ha några diskussioner - en kollega berättade om ett rekord, det hade tagit mindre än en minut för dess Sune Olofsson att läsa igenom en anti-terroristartikel och refusera den p.g.a. "platsbrist", samtidigt som de har den ena hata-Israelartikeln efter den andra. Deras Bitte Hammargren har krafsat ihop en snyftartikel om "araberna i Israel" genom att snacka ett par minuter med några av dem, och besluta att de har det fruktansvärt. Hon är helt ointresserad av den lättillgängliga statistiken om deras åsikter, helt ointresserad av att jämföra genomsnittsaraben i Israel med genomsnittsaraben på Västbanken, Gaza, Egypten, Libanon . . . . . . För att inte jämföra genomsnittsarabiska kvinnan i dessa områden, eller för den delen genomsnittsjuden.

Diverse judehatande organisationer som Amnesty International har skyfflat ut "rapporter" som beskyller Israel för det ena och det andra - till och med al Jazeera undrar hur idiotiska de kan bli. Human Rights Watch kör parallellspåret med judehat. Internationella media sväljer allt med hull och hår, utan någon som helst kritisk eftertanke.

Vår förnämliga utrikesminister, Eliasson tror jag han heter, var mäkta stolt över att ha totat ihop den nygamla variationen av FN:s Human Rights Organisation emot USA:s och Israels vilja, så den garanterat innehöll tillräckligt många länder som inte på något sätt uppehåller några mänskliga rättigheter för sin egen befolkning, och så att judehat blir en permanent egenskap därstädes. Från Wikipedia kan man hämta:

Position on Israel

The new UN Human Rights Council voted on 30 June 2006 to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session. The Council’s special rapporteur on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is its only expert mandate with no year of expiry. The resolution, which was sponsored by Organization of the Islamic Conference, a block of Muslim countries, was passed by a vote of 29 to 12, with five abstentions. Israel, the United States and some human rights groups raised concerns about this revival of a practice of the UN's discredited former Commission on Human Rights[3].


Vad tycker libaneserna om aktionen i Libanon? Mycket varierande förstås, men en som nog talar för rätt många skriver såhär i en engelskspråkig tidning i Beirut.

En del tycker att Hezbollah är generösa som skänker bort packar med dollars till människor i södra Libanon för att bli älskade, andra har talat om allt som säger att de är hemmagjorda.



2006-08-17

Efter kriget?

Folkstormen i Israel börjar - med kommentarer från återvändande soldater som:

Many Israeli combat soldiers take a pretty dim view of their superiors and elected leaders

August 14, 2006, 10:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

Their views were freely expressed as the first groups exited Lebanon Monday with great relief after a ceasefire went into force

DEBKAfile summarizes some of their comments:

- The rear command did not know what was going on in the field.

- Some of their orders were suicidal. There were cases of officers and men agreeing to ignore such orders.

- Some of the tanks were ten years old and were confronted with an enemy armed with the most sophisticated, up-to-date equipment.

- Our training prior to being sent into battle was not adapted to the conditions we found in Lebanon.

- Their officers called Hizballah fighters terrorists or even primitive. This was a misleading misnomer. They are highly-trained, professional soldiers.

- Although we were better, Hizballah fought like lions.

- We had no food or water.

- Our entry into battle in Lebanon was belated.

- The troops were short of accurate intelligence.

- We were not prepared for combat against camouflaged bunkers.

- We had no information on the Hizballah’s anti-tank missile techniques.


Till och med det vänsterinriktade Ha'aretz, Israels Aftonbladet, skriver vettigheter och anklagar regeringen Olmert/Peretz som
A Spirit of Absolute Folly
Defense Minister: IDF didn't warn me of missile threat in the north
Dead man walking

Andra röster i frågan kan läsas på
Sellout
Why go to war if you don't intend to fight?

* * *




2006-08-14

Israel och folkrätten

Detta debattinlägg blev självklart omedelbart refuserat av Svenska Dagbladet.

Professor Bjereld har http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/brannpunkt/did_13430610.asp ett antal betänkliga luckor i sitt resonemang om Israel och folkrätten liksom utrikesminister Eliasson. Han har i dagarna sagt att Israel bryter mot ”andan” av FN-beslutet (ej tvingande), medan han är ointresserad av om Hizbollah gör motsvarande. Eliasson, som sitter på delad sits, var glad när han lyckades omskapa FN:s grupp för mänskliga rättigheter mot USA:s vilja, av många länder med skamfilat rykte i frågan – och gruppen har i huvudsak ägnat sig åt att fördöma Israel, inte Sudan och Darfur, inte Kina och Tibet, inte Ryssland och Tjetjenien, inte kvinnans ställning i muslimska länder. Cuba, Pakistan, Saudiarabien och Kina är med, men inte Israel. Därför är Israels brott ”välkända”.

UNESCO har judarnas heligaste plats, Tempelplatsen, på sin bevarandelista sedan 1982, men inte ett dugg har gjorts mot att muslimerna försöker hacka bort alla judiska lämningar från området. Vad hade FN sagt om judarna hade gjort motsvarande i Mecka (ej på världsarvslistan)?

Ordet demokrati bör nog läggas på is ett slag. Vad säger folkrätten om ett krig där den ena sidan har byggt skyddsrum för sin civilbefolkning men inte den andra? Vad säger den om ”demokratiska” val i en miljö som har haft flera generationers statlig och religiös hatpropaganda, till den grad att ungdomarna har förlorat självbevarelsedriften och mödrar villigt sänder sina barn i döden?

”Vägplanen” inleds med ett absolut stopp för denna hatpropaganda – den har intensifierats men EU/Sverige beivrar aldrig detta. I stället betalar EU skolböcker, fulla av hat mot Israel/judar, för palestinska barn.

Israel har översköljts av FN-resolutioner (jämför gärna med arabländerna) – men aldrig ett kapitel 7-beslut, vilket är de enda som är bindande. Däremot är San Remo-beslutet från 1922 folkrättsligt bindande, där hela Mandatet Palestina skulle utgöra ’judiskt folkhem’ medan den återstående 539/540-delen av Ottomanska Riket blev arabiskt.

Fram till 1967 existerade inga ”palestinska områden”, enbart områden illegalt ockuperade, av Jordanien och Egypten och ”palestinier” betydde fortfarande ”judar i Mellanöstern”. En 19-årig illegal ockupation av Jerusalem (förutom de judiska förstäder som började byggas för drygt 100 år sedan) kan knappast bestämma stadens hela framtid. Judarna hade accepterat staden som internationell, ingen protesterade under Jordaniens ockupation, men när Israel åter förenade sin huvudstad sedan 3000 år, under försvarskrig, blev det full kalabalik. Övrig legal ockupation försökte Israel förhandla bort med Arafat, utan resultat. Gaza lämnades helt och hållet – under ansvar – och vi vet hur väl araberna vårdar området. Konstigt att de har råd med enorma mängder dyra vapen men ej mat.

Ockupationen av Golanhöjderna är ett problem, visst, eftersom 80 kvadratkm köptes av Edmond Rothschild 1892 och gavs till den judiska staten några decennier senare av hans son.

Tortyren i arabiska fängelser vill vi gärna höra mera om. Liksom vilka förhörsmetoder som kan vara lämpliga med människor som har varit beredda att offra sina liv för att mörda så många civilpersoner som möjligt, när informationen kan förhindra ytterligare massmord.

Antag att världens ”judeproblem” måste lösas efter andra världskriget – dels återstoden från Europa (fortfarande finns färre judar än före Hitler) och alla från Arabländerna, vilket var ännu flera. Antag att UNHCR fick hand om problemet – de har framgångsrikt omplacerat 50 miljoner (10 gånger Israels folkmängd) som ej har flyktingstatus längre. Placerade i länder med samma kultur, religion, språk och inte mitt i en öken. Israel är då enda möjligheten. Detta skedde nu utan att världen behövde betala en enda krona till UNHCR, placering i vad som 1922 bestämdes skulle vara ’judiskt hemland’.

Tvåstatslösning? Ja, Israel och Jordanien. De mellanliggande områdena har varken visat intresse eller förmåga att skapa en ekonomiskt livskraftig stat, utan det är västvärlden som har försökt tvinga det på dem. Israel började bygga sin första kibbutz och stat för ca 100 år sedan, palestinaaraberna har inte börjat än – och ingen vågar ge dem lån för uppbyggnad.

Till syvende och sist gäller det judarnas överlevnad. Som Irans ledare sa: ”Bra att judarna samlas i Israel för då kan vi avliva dem med en eller två atombomber. Om de svarar med en atombomb försvinner bara några miljoner av oss, en droppe i havet.” Tänk om världssamfundet hade varit lika intresserat av att få stopp på Irans atombombsproduktion som av Israels försök att avväpna en terroristgrupp!

* * *

2006-08-12

"Prime Minister of Israel, am speaking to you from Jerusalem"

Om du söker på ovanstående rubrik, inklusive citationstecken, får du hundratalet hits på ett tal av Olmert. Det hade varit intressant att försöka klassificera reaktionerna. "Se hur bra han är!" "Äntligen har han lärt sej!" "Näääää, nåt är fel." och de som förklarar att det är från Ma'ariv, ett stycke som skrevs - vad som Olmert borde ha sagt. http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/olmert.asp

Vad han verkligen säger: tja . . . .

. . . . .

OLMERT TODAY devotes his attention not to addressing the question of how Israel can win this war, but rather to how he can convince the Israeli public that he is not a failure. And he is not alone. Over the past week or so the main push of the Olmert government, the IDF General Staff and the left-wing establishment in Israel has been to prepare the public to accept their version of events.

. . . . . .

* * *

2006-08-08

Media ljuger om Libanon. Reuters, CNN, BBC . . .

Reuters admits to more image manipulation

News organization withdraws photograph of Israeli fighter jet, admits image was doctored, fires photographer. Reuters pledges 'tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict'
Yaakov Lappin

Reuters has withdrawn a second photograph and admitted that the image was doctored, following the emergence of new suspicions against images provided by the news organization. On Sunday, Reuters admitted that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, used software to distort an image of smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut in order to create the effect of more smoke and damage.

The latest image to face doubts is a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet over the skies of Lebanon, seen in the image firing off "missiles during an air strike on Nabatiyeh," according to the image's accompanying text provided by Reuters.

Reuters admits to more image manipulation

News organization withdraws photograph of Israeli fighter jet, admits image was doctored, fires photographer. Reuters pledges 'tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict'
Yaakov Lappin

Reuters has withdrawn a second photograph and admitted that the image was doctored, following the emergence of new suspicions against images provided by the news organization. On Sunday, Reuters admitted that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, used software to distort an image of smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut in order to create the effect of more smoke and damage.

The latest image to face doubts is a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet over the skies of Lebanon, seen in the image firing off "missiles during an air strike on Nabatiyeh," according to the image's accompanying text provided by Reuters.



Reuters has recalled all photos by Adnan Hajj

The owner of the My Pet Jawa web log noted that the warplane in the picture is actually firing defensive flares aimed at dealing with anti-aircraft missiles.

In addition, the Jawa blog says the flares have been replicated by Reuters, giving the impression that the jet was firing many "missiles," thereby distortion the image.

"The F-16 in the photo is not firing missiles, but is rather dropping chaffe or flares designed to be a decoy for surface to air missiles. However, a close up (of) what Hajj calls "missiles" reveals that only one flare has been dropped. The other two "flares" are simply copies of the original," Shackleford wrote. "But what about the 'bombs' in the photo? Here is a close up of them. Notice anything? That's right. The top and bottom "bomb" are the same."



Another manipuated Reuters image

Following the accusations, Reuters conceded that a second image it provided had been manipulated, and released a statement saying it had recalled all photos by Hajj. "Reuters has withdrawn from its database all photographs taken by Beirut-based freelance Adnan Hajj after establishing that he had altered two images since the start of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hizbullah group," the statement said.

The news outlet said that it discovered "in the last 24 hours that he (Hajj) altered two photographs since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbullah," Reuters added.

"There is no graver breach of Reuters standards for our photographers than the deliberate manipulation of an image", Reuters' statement quoted Tom Szlukovenyi, Reuters Global Picture Editor, as saying.

'Tighter editing needed'

Reuters also said it would apply "tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict to ensure that no photograph from the region would be transmitted to subscribers without review by the most senior editor on the Reuters Global Pictures Desk."

"Reuters terminated its relationship with Hajj on Sunday... An immediate enquiry began into Hajj's other work," the statement said.

Hajj had provided Reuters with several images from the Lebanese village of Qana, many of which have also been suspected of being staged .

Other Reuters images have been called into question by blogs in the United States.

A reader of the Power Line blog , Robert Opalecky, wrote: "I don't know if this has been brought to anyone's attention yet, but in a quick search of the authenticated Reuters photographs attributed to Adnan Hajj, I found the following two."



The first Reuters image of July 24

"One is from July 24 of a bombed out area in Beirut, with a clearly identifiable building in a prominent part of the shot. The second is of the exact same area, same buildings, same condition, with a woman walking past "a building flattened during an overnight Israeli air raid on Beirut's suburbs August 5, 2006," he wrote.



Reuters' second 'Beirut attack' photo, dated August 5

A film released on the YouTube video sharing website compares the two images, and appears to show striking similarities between the photograph used by Reuters on both July 24 and August 5.

However, Reuters needs to explain clearly to the public several critical issues:

  1. Why did a Reuters photographer manipulate the images to make the damage look more severe than it was;
  2. How could Reuters editors not catch the fraud when a blogger and a group of amateur photographers noticed it easily;
  3. What steps is Reuters taking to punish all those involved in the creation and distribution of this forgery and what Reuters is doing to prevent these hoaxes in the future.

A CNN MAN LETS SLIP
"CNN senior international correspondent" Nic Robertson admitted that his anti-Israel report from Beirut on July 18 about civilian casualties in Lebanon, was stage-managed from start to finish by Hizbullah. He revealed that his story was heavily influenced by Hizbullah's "press officer" and that Hizbullah have "very, very sophisticated and slick media operations."
When pressed a few days later about his reporting on the CNN program "Reliable Sources," Robertson acknowledged that Hizbullah militants had instructed the CNN camera team where and what to film. Hizbullah "had control of the situation," Robertson said. "They designated the places that we went to, and we certainly didn't have time to go into the houses or lift up the rubble to see what was underneath."
Robertson added that Hizbullah has "very, very good control over its areas in the south of Beirut. They deny journalists access into those areas. You don't get in there without their permission. We didn't have enough time to see if perhaps there was somebody there who was, you know, a taxi driver by day, and a Hizbullah fighter by night."
Yet "Reliable Sources," presented by Washington Post writer Howard Kurtz, is broadcast only on the American version of CNN. So CNN International viewers around the world will not have had the opportunity to learn from CNN's "Senior international correspondent" that the pictures they saw from Beirut were carefully selected for them by Hizbullah.
Another journalist let the cat out of the bag last week. Writing on his blog while reporting from southern Lebanon, Time magazine contributor Christopher Allbritton, casually mentioned in the middle of a posting: "To the south, along the curve of the coast, Hezbollah is launching Katyushas, but I'm loathe to say too much about them. The Party of God has a copy of every journalist's passport, and they've already hassled a number of us and threatened one."
Robertson is not the only foreign journalist to have misled viewers with selected footage from Beirut. NBC's Richard Engel, CBS's Elizabeth Palmer, and a host of European and other networks, were also taken around the damaged areas by Hizbullah minders. Palmer commented on her report that "Hizbullah is also determined that outsiders will only see what it wants them to see."
Palmer's honesty is helpful. But it doesn't prevent the damage being done by organizations such as the BBC. First the BBC gave the impression that Israel had flattened the greater part of Beirut. Then to follow up its lop-sided coverage, its website helpfully carried full details of the assembly points for an anti-Israel march due to take place in London, but did not give any details for a rally in support of Israel also held in London a short time later.

Following an Israeli Air Force strike against a building in the village of Qana, Israel is once again subject to some severe criticism in the international media. TV viewers and newspaper readers have been confronted with highly emotive and disturbing images of bodies being pulled from the rubble.
Undoubtedly, the loss of life is extremely tragic and the vast majority of Israelis deeply regrets this incident. However, while some media wishes to portray Israel as a malevolent force that deliberately murders civilians, some wider context needs to be added to the coverage of the Qana story:

  • Some 150 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities from Qana over the past three weeks. This IDF map traces how these rockets have been launched in 30 salvos at Haifa and other locations, including Nahariya, Ma'alot and Kiryat Shmona. To date, 18 Israeli civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded as a result of this rocket fire.
  • Hezbollah has been deliberately hiding behind and operating from within civilian areas in the knowledge that Israel does not deliberately target civilians. Thus, when an incident such as Qana occurs, Hezbollah is presented with a propaganda coup, as is currently the case. Indeed, Australia's Herald Sun published damning photos "showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia. The images...show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons. Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon."

As the Washington Times points out:
One photograph depicts a fighter with an AK-47 rifle guarding "no-go" zones after an Israeli attack, and another with a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun in an apartment block, with sheets hanging out to dry on a balcony. Another shows the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. An Australian was standing just down the street when the block was obliterated. "Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said. "Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then, it was totally devastated...It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."

  • While Israeli civilians in northern towns and cities have between 15 seconds and one minute to find cover after an air raid siren is sounded, Lebanese civilians have been forewarned of IDF operations, in some cases, by days. The residents of Qana were warned 48 hours in advance of potential IAF air strikes.

DOUBLE STANDARDS
The Qana incident is likely to be a defining incident in this current conflict, aided by a media that lacks context and prefers to judge Israel by different standards to other nations involved in military actions. It is, for example, interesting to examine the record of NATO forces that bombed the Serb military in Kosovo in the late-1990s. In the face of an estimated 500 civilian deaths, NATO admits that: "Strikes were also complicated by the cynical Serb use of civilian homes and buildings to hide weapons and vehicles, the intermixing of military vehicles with civilian convoys and, sometimes, the use of human shields. In this way, NATO's concern to avoid civilian casualties was exploited by the Serbs."
EMERGING DOUBTS?
In past incidents such as the Mohammed Al-Dura affair, the "Jenin Massacre" and the Gaza Beach deaths, Israel has been castigated by the international media only for new evidence to emerge that has changed the nature of the story. While it is still too early to draw any conclusions before the results of any official investigation are known, there are a number of questions and inconsistencies regarding Qana:

  • The Red Cross has published that 28 corpses were evacuated from Qana, 19 of which were children. These figures clash with the Lebanese report that 57 people were killed.
  • Why is there an unexplained 7-8 hour gap between the time of the air strike and the building collapse? Initially the IDF speculated that Hezbollah explosives in the building were behind the explosion that caused the collapse. Another possibility is that the rickety building remained standing for a few hours, but eventually collapsed. "It could be that inside the building, things that could eventually cause an explosion were being housed, things that we could not blow up in the attack, and maybe remained there, IDF Brigadier General Eshel said. "I'm saying this very carefully, because at this time I don't have a clue as to what the explanation could be for this gap," he added.

2006-08-04

UNIFIL. Mänskliga sköldar. Yaalon. Olmert vill underlätta för terroristerna att attackera Israel med en bredsida.

Detta gick just som insändare till tidningar:

Vi minns hur hela världen inklusive Kofi Annan anklagade Israel när en missil från dem oavsiktligen landade nära en UNIFIL-position. Varför har nedanstående varit ointressant att rapportera?

Från UNIFILs websajt, http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/unifilpress.htm

Aug. 4: ”… Hezbollah avlossade raketer från närheten av två FN-poster...”

Aug. 3: “En raket från Hezbollasidan träffade direkt en UNIFIL-post … En halvtimme senare träffade ytterligare en raket från Hezbollahsidan samma UNIFIL-post… Hezbollah sköt också med mindre vapen från närheten av två FN-poster …”

Aug. 2: “… Hezbollah avlossade raketer från närheten av tre UNIFIL-poster …”

Aug. 1: “… Hezbollah sköt med granatkastare från närheten av tre UNIFIL-poster …”

Juli 31: “. . . Hezbollah avlossade raketer från närheten av denna UNIFIL-post . . . Hezbollah sköt också med mindre vapen från närheten av två UNIFIL-poster …”

Juli 30: “Det rapporterades att Hezbollah sände raketer från närheten av tre FN-poster… De avlossade även mindre vapen från närheten av två FN-poster …”

Juli 29: “… det rapporterades att Hezbollah fired sköt från närheten av sex FN-poster …”

Juli 28: “… Hezbollah sköt från närheten av fem FN-poster …”

Och så vidare. Visst har massmedia flitigt rapporterat om detta intima samarbete mellan FN och Hezbollah huh? Ett UNIFIL som precis har fått hundra miljoner fräscha dollars för det kommande året, att göra – vad då? Dricka kaffe med Hezbollah? Eller finns rapporterna om 15000 importerade missiler i Kofi Annans papperskorgar? Vad är säkerhetsavståndet mellan UNIFIL-post och terroristläger?

* * *

Från http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2006/07/emuna_news_spec_7.html
hämtar jag följande:

I nästan 30 år, sedan UNIFIL startade sina operationer i södra Libanon, har FN-soldater judiskt blod på sina händer. Nej, de har inte avlossat skotten men de har förvisso gjort vad de har kunnat för att hjälpa Israels fiender. Som:

  • UNIFIL-observatörer har ofta avslöjat IDF:s (Israels Försvarsmakt) positioner för terroristerna;
  • UNIFIL-observatörer, glada över att öka sina begränsade löner med tjocka buntar med dollars från iranska källor, har ofta hjälpt Hizbollaterristerna som artilleriobservatörer att rikta terroristeld mot Israel;
  • UNIFIL-observatörer har de senastre 6 åren blundat för den massiva konstruktionen av bunkers i södra Libanon liksom för den massiva upplagringen av dödliga vapen att använda mot Israel;
  • UNIFIL-observatörer lämnar fri passage åt terroristerna för att attackera eller infiltrera Israel och bygger även upp broar åt dem sprängda av Israel för att försvåra transport av ytterligare vapen från Syrien;
  • UNIFIL-observatörer håller terroristerna uppdaterade angående IDFs trupprörelser och aktiviteter.


* * *

I Washington Post skriver Yaalon om det vansinniga i Hizbollahs utnyttjande av civilbefolkningen som mänskliga sköldar:

The Rules of War

By Moshe Yaalon
Thursday, August 3, 2006; A27

The conflict in the Middle East is about much more than Israel and Hezbollah, or even Hezbollah's Syrian and Iranian sponsors. What is at stake are the very rules of war that underpin the entire international order.

Sadly, judging from how most of the world has responded to Israel's military action against Hezbollah, these rules have been completely abandoned.

The rules of war boil down to one central principle: the need to distinguish combatants from noncombatants. Those who condemned Israel for what happened at Qana, rather than placing the blame for this unfortunate tragedy squarely on Hezbollah and its state sponsors, have rewarded those for whom this moral principle is meaningless and have condemned a state in which this principle has always guided military and political decision making.

Faced with enemies who openly call for its destruction and victimized by unremitting wars and terrorism since well before it was born, Israel has risked the lives of its citizens and its soldiers to abide by this principle in a way that is unprecedented in the history of nations.

Here is but one of countless examples: In 2003, at the height of the Palestinian terror war against Israel, our intelligence services discovered the location of a meeting of the senior leadership of Hamas, an organization pledged to the annihilation of the Jewish state and responsible for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever carried out against Israel.

We knew that a one-ton bomb would destroy the three-story building and kill the Hamas leadership. But we also knew that such a bomb would endanger about 40 families who lived in the vicinity. We decided to use a smaller bomb that would destroy only the top floor of the building. As it turned out, the Hamas leaders were meeting on the ground floor. They lived to terrorize another day.

Imagine for a moment that the United States had advance knowledge of the meeting place of al-Qaeda's senior leadership. Does anyone believe that there would be a debate about what size bomb to use, much less that any leader would authorize insufficient force to do the job?

So while it is legitimate to question whether Israel should go to such extreme lengths to avoid civilian casualties, it is preposterous to argue that Israel uses excessive force. Even more absurd was the shameful statement last week that Israel appeared to have deliberately targeted U.N. officials -- a statement fit for a knave or a fool, not for the secretary general of the United Nations. Rather than lead the fight against those who target civilians and use them as human shields, Secretary General Kofi Annan has strengthened them.

It is clear to any objective observer that Hezbollah is using Lebanese civilians as human shields. It builds its headquarters in densely populated areas, embeds its fighters in towns and villages, and deliberately places missiles in private homes, even constructing additions to existing structures specifically to house missile launchers.

The reason terrorist groups such as Hezbollah use human shields is elementary. They try to exploit the respect for innocent human life that is the hallmark of any civilized society to place that society in a no-win situation. If it fails to respond to terror attacks, it endangers its own citizens. If it responds, it runs the risk of killing innocents, earning world opprobrium and inviting diplomatic pressure to stand down.

Hoping to retain its high moral standards in the face of such a cynical enemy, Israel has made every effort to avoid harming civilians. We have dropped fliers, sent telephone messages and broadcast radio announcements so that innocents can get out of harm's way. In doing so, we imperil our own citizens since, by losing the element of surprise, we invariably allow some of the enemy to escape with their missiles.

But at Qana, Hezbollah responded to Israel's compassion with more cynical brutality. After launching missiles at Israel, the terrorists rushed inside a building. When Israel fired a precision-guided missile to strike at the terrorists, scores of civilians, including children, were killed.

The difference between us and the terrorists is clear: We endanger ourselves to protect their civilians. They endanger their own civilians to protect themselves.

If tragedies such as Qana are not to be repeated, then, rather than condemning Israel, the world should be directing its anger at Hezbollah and at the Syrian and Iranian regimes that support it.

Terrorists are fanatics, but they are not idiots. If the terrorist tactic of using human shields helps them achieve their goals, they will utilize it. If it undermines their goals, they will abandon it.

If we want to live in a world where civilians are never used as human shields, then we must create a world in which employing such measures results in the unequivocal condemnation of terrorists and in forceful action against them by the civilized world.

If the world were now blaming Hezbollah, Syria and Iran for the innocent Lebanese killed, hurt or displaced in this conflict, then it would be sending a powerful message to every terrorist group on the planet: We will not tolerate the use of human shields. Period.

Instead, those who condemn Israel have sent precisely the opposite message. They have told every terrorist group around the world that the use of human shields will pay huge dividends, thereby providing them with a powerful weapon that endangers innocents everywhere.

The writer, a retired lieutenant general, was chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2002 to 2005. He is now a distinguished military fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

* * *

Ya'alon har alltid haft sunda åsikter, och det var därför Sharon/Mofaz slängde ut honom. Här ett stycke från honom före massdeporteringen av judar i fjol:

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 / 10 Nisan 5765

Speaking in Herzliya last night, outgoing Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon said, "Immediately after the disengagement, we can expect a burst of terrorism - especially in Judea and Samaria."

"The Israeli public must not think that the Mashiach (Messiah) is arriving with the withdrawal," Yaalon said, at the Army and Society Seminar.

Yaalon was one of the first to warn of the dangers of the disengagement, having said over a year ago that the withdrawal would provide a "tail wind" for terrorism. It is widely felt that this statement is one of the reasons why Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Mofaz did not allow him to remain in his post for a fourth year, as is customary. Yaalon's term as head of the IDF will end in June.

"All the signs point to [a renewal of terrorism]," Yaalon said last night, referring to intelligence reports reaching the security forces. The reports speak not only of the terrorists' massive preparations for the "day after," but also of the sharp increase in terrorism in recent days and weeks.

Yesterday, for instance, two Israelis were wounded in a sniper attack in southern Gaza, while last night, there were two infiltration attempts in Gaza and another shooting attack at Gush Katif.

Yaalon demanded that Israel insist that Abu Mazen fight concretely against the terrorist organizations. Abu Mazen's attempts to peacefully accommodate the terrorists without forcefully disarming them are not sufficient, Yaalon apparently feels.

Thousands of weapons have been smuggled to various locations in Judea and Samaria over the past several weeks and months. Among the weapons are anti-tank missiles and even five anti-aircraft missiles that could be used to threaten air traffic to and from Ben Gurion International Airport. Materials and instructions for the construction of roadside bombs and other explosives have also been smuggled in.

Other signs of likely terrorism in the future are attempted Kassam rockets from the Jenin area to Afula, distribution of Jordanian weapons in Jericho, attempts to smuggle terror experts from Gaza to Judea/Samaria, and more.

* * *

Jämför med det helt otroliga Olmert/Peretzparet. Samtidigt som de vägrar låta IDF göra sitt bästa för att försvara Israel håller de på att planera så att terroristerna kan attackera HELA Israel med en bredsida och inte enbart kortändarna:

Olmert Says War Will Advance Realignment, Refusals Result
11:23 Aug 03, '06 / 9 Av 5766
by Yechiel Spira and Ezra HaLevi


As a result of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's declaration that victory in the Lebanese war would advance his withdrawal plan, ten reserve soldiers have announced their refusal to fight.


For the past several months, Olmert has championed his "convergence" plan, which is in essence another unilateral withdrawal and the planned destruction of most of the remaining Jewish communities located throughout Judea and Samaria. Olmert has said he will "converge" them together into settlement blocs, but the international community has not agreed to this.

Speaking with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Prime Minister Olmert said, "I'll surprise you. I genuinely believe that the outcome of the present [conflict] and the emergence of a new order that will provide more stability and will defeat the forces of terror will help create the necessary environment that will allow me... to create a new momentum between us and the Palestinians."

"We want to separate from the Palestinians," he added. "I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to cope with these demands. It's not easy, it's very difficult, but we are elected to our positions to do things and not to sit idle."

Word of Olmert's statements quickly spread through the ranks of the IDF units fighting in Lebanon. Army Radio featured a father from Ofrah, one of the communities slated for destruction due to its proximity on the "other" side of the Partition Wall. "I text-messaged my two sons serving in Lebanon to tell them to come home," he said. "It is outrageous that the man sending them to war states that the victory they are risking their lives for will result in their family being expelled from their home, allowing it to become exactly what Gaza and southern Lebanon have become."

Shortly after, it was reported that at least ten reservists had refused to continue their emergency reserve duty if further withdrawals are truly the goal of the operation.

Olmert's public relations team later insisted that the war with Hizbullah has nothing to do with his plan, stating his planned ‘realignment’ must move forward as he promised it would prior to being elected.

Among the critics of Olmert’s plan is MK Dr. Yossi Beilin, who heads the left-wing Meretz-Yahad opposition party. Beilin stated there can be no additional unilateral Israeli policies, only withdrawals resulting from negotiations and agreements. His remarks were echoed by Arab MK Mohammad Barakeh.

Likud MK Gidon Sa’ar stated that the so-called realignment plan would bring the rockets to fall upon the entire country, and not the just the north and south as is the case today.

MK Dr. Ephraim Sneh (Labor), a former deputy defense minister, stated that it is obvious from the prime minister’s remarks that he has learned nothing from the unilateral withdrawals from Gaza and southern Lebanon.

The prime minister currently enjoys widespread support for his ongoing effort to destroy Hizbullah. Some critics are accusing the prime minister of taking advantage of his popularity to advance his political agenda, explaining he has made an error since he is splitting the nation at this critical time.

MK Effie Eitam (National Union-NRP), a retired IDF brigadier-general and former commander of forces in southern Lebanon, has been advising the prime minister and Defense Minister Amir Peretz frequently since the war broke out over three weeks ago. Eitam was quick to comment on Olmert’s AP interview, stating he made a tactical error, splitting the nation at this critical time.

Eitam told the media that following the prime minister’s interview, he was contacted by many rabbis and deans of IDF preparatory yeshiva programs, all expressing concerns regarding the timing of the prime minister’s remarks as the nation is in a state of war.

Realizing Eitam was the unofficial liaison to the Orthodox community that supports Olmert during the ongoing Hizbullah war, the Prime Minister’s Office was quick to contact him, seeking to implement damage control. Aides to the prime minister quickly issued a clarification, stating the realignment was not intended to have been the main focus of the AP interview.

Asking Eitam to convey a message to the Torah-observant public, the prime minister announced that at present, he is only dealing with efforts to halt rocket attacks, nothing else.

The prime minister’s interview broke the current momentum, with rabbis and other right-wing community leaders calling to reevaluate the war in the north, explaining it is unconscionable that soldiers living in Judea and Samaria fight for the country and then be evicted from their homes by the same army.

Eitam was called upon by Olmert to act as a go-between, seeking to allay fears and repair the damage resulting from his interview.

Eitam told the media that following a conversation with the prime minister, it is clear to him that the realignment/expulsion would not be dealt with at present. Eitam admits that the plan will be problematic at some time in the future, after the war, but for now, the nation must remain united behind the government while efforts continue to eliminate the Hizbullah threat.

Wednesday night, at a gathering of some 15,000 Jews who marched around Jerusalem's Old City at the fast of Tisha B'Av began, Women in Green co-founder Nadia Matar called upon all those present to bring their children home from the war front in order to defend their homes in Judea and Samaria, unless Olmert announces the cancellation of his plan.

Manhigut Yehudit, the Jewish Leadership faction within the Likud, was calling for refusal even prior to PM Olmert's explicit statements, saying it was obvious that the war's goal is to prove to the Israeli public that past withdrawals had been beneficial.

Already last week, Manhigut director Michael Fuah issued such a call. “We must remember what the IDF was busy with exactly a year ago,” he wrote in an essay published on Arutz-7's Hebrew site Tuesday. “The IDF, in its present state, is not capable of beating Hizbullah. When one adds the supposed ethical code the IDF is charged with – where the Defense Minister praises a soldier for refraining from shooting at a terrorist holding a child on one hand and his gun in the other – there is no chance for victory.”

Fuah adds that he realizes the stance is not a popular one, but while the Prime Minister continues to say he will continue with the destruction of Jewish communities and the expulsion of their residents, only such a refusal movement can demand:
1. Replacement of the IDF top brass who took part in the expulsion.
2. Rewriting of the IDF's ethical code to rule out endangering soldiers to protect the lives of terrorists and those around them.
3. A decision by the Knesset and the cabinet allowing all those expelled from Gaza, Samaria and the Sinai to return to their homes.

More than 10% of soldiers killed in combat in Lebanon hail from towns in Judea and Samaria - three times their proportion in the general population.

* * *





2006-07-29

PLO.

PLO Charter - PLO:s stadgar

Dessa, som styr Fatah, tycks ha trollats bort från västerländska ögon. Den finns kvar och lever i högönsklig välmåga - se här. Inget är ändrat sedan Arafat garanterade att han skulle göra det.

* * *

Vad har hänt med den palestinska regeringen? Och speciellt deras webbsite http://www.pna.gov.ps/ - man undrar om den har blivit hackad eller om Hamas har framtvingat en omskrivning, eftersom den handlar om Fatah, och brukade vara det första stället man kunde läsa PLO:s oförändrade stadgar. Tillsammans med världens brasklapp, kommentarer av Arafat för västerländska öron.

* * *

Hizbollah? En bild säger allt:














* * *


2006-07-23

Araber i Knesset. Anteckningar av israelisk soldat.. BARN

Ett trick: allt fler tidningar försöker tjäna lite extra på att ta betalt för att komma åt deras arkiv, ej dagsfärska artiklar. Är det en bra artikel så sök helt enkelt efter rubriken och författaren i den vanliga sökmotorn - sannolikheten är stor att någon har kopierat den och lagt den någon annanstans. Kom ihåg att man, om man söker efter flera ord i en mening eller rubrik, ska sätta citationstecken "före och efter" så söks just efter de orden tillsammans.

* * *

Arabiska knessetledamöter och landsförrädare i Israel fortsätter att uttrycka sin kärlek för arabiska terrorister - men jag har aldrig någonsin hört att de har försökt bidra till freden i Mellanöstern.

Jamal Zahalka i nyheterna i torsdags: "ja men Hizb'Allah är ju ett politiskt parti, varför slutar vi inte kriga med dom?"

Abdulmalik Dehamshe tyckte att "endast Hamas kan erbjuda fred".

Talab el-Sana mötte nyligen Hamasmedlemmar.

För övrigt, en del uttalanden av arabiska knessetmedlemmar har samlats här. Du kan också söka på Arab MK.

* * *

Anteckningar av en israelisk soldat, sänt till Naomi Ragen:

Notes from Zachary Taylor a soldier in the Nachal Haredi
Unit, sent to me by his mother.

People jump to conclusions about the Israeli leadership and
their strategies concerning Gaza and Lebanon. First of all,
do not believe anything you read in a foreign newspaper or
even half of the Israeli ones about this current situation.
For example, just a few months ago an Arab Family in Gaza
was killed on a beach. The Palestinians said the Israelis
did the killing, as did international media. After research
it was shown that in no way whatsovever was it an Israeli
bomb that murdered that family, but a bomb that was left by
HAMAS. However, by then, we lost the sympathies of world
media, and Olmert apologized prematurely for something that
Israel did not even do.

In Lebanon, you must understan that Hizbollah is not a
"faction" it is part of the government. As we have seen
lately as the puppet Lebonese government has come out and
declared itself as defenseless aganist Hizbollah. However,
that is not the case. Civilians in Beirut are handing out
cakes and cookies as a celebration of the 8 dead Israeli
soldiers and the two kidnapped ones.

What I have learned in three months of being at checkpoints
is something I call the middle eastern personality which is
common in both Arabs and middle easterners. People who visit
Israel have experienced it here too. It is the attitude that
"I gotta get for me what I can at the expense of almost
everyone else." The expression in Hebrew is to "work"
someone. At the checkpoints people come and cry or claim
they are sick and need to go to the hospital, or have
important meetings, all in an attempt to get us to let them
pass quickly into Israel. Most of the cases are false, and
just the way to "work" or "hustle" the soldiers at the
checkpoint. Most of this is witnessed by the Women in Black,
who for some reason, believe these stories and only take the
position of the Arabs, never that the soldiers are trying to
protect the citizens of Israel from potential terrorists.
So, the Arab citizens play up these stories to "work" the
hearts and minds of the "human rights" activists and the
media. These people do not learn through discussion or
compromise because of Middle Eastern culture. Look at the
history now in every Arab country about their ability to
compromise where it be honor killing, jihad terrorism,
constant civil war, pillaging and rape and all the other
cultural riches of the Arab world. It is not within their
mentality which has been nurtured thought history to
compromise civilly. (This does not in any way reflect on all
Muslims or Arabs) However, it is the typical behavior you
witness in the Arab marketplaces in Egypt and Israel If you
have been to these marketplaces, then you will understand
what I am talking about.

Israel is a westernized and Jewish society which is all
about discussion, analysis, and compromise Just look at the
Talmud! What Israel is coming to realize now because of
recent events and "compromises" such as leaving Gaza (while
Israel reaps the rewards of daily punishment by missiles
hitting several major cities such as Ashkelon and Sderot.
Our Jewish naivete is that everyone is nice and perfect and
can be dealt with through diplomacy. This is not true. Our
enemies learn one way and the one and only way is through
the language of war and the language of the sword. We did
not set it up that way, they have. And now, going into
Lebanon and destroying all of Hizbollah and their
infrastructure and their supporters with a firm, unwavering
hand is the only way. We were in Southern Lebanon for 20
years and there was "peace in the North" only when we
"compromised" and pulled out. Our soldiers are getting
kidnapped and missiles now fall on Haifa.

Now you have to understand the Arab guerilla tactics, both
Palestinian and Lebanese. They never fight in a battle field
like a normal army. They retreat to civilian villages and
cities and hide their until they poke their nose out of some
window and shoot some anti tank or aircraft missile. So for defense,
and I say DEFENSE forces, to succeed they must battle them
even if they are in civilian territory. Again, We did not
decide that, they did. So when civilians are killed
unintentionally it is because THEY decided that it should be
that way.

The world is full of naive bleeding hearts that will bash
Israel for doing what it has been FORCED to do. They forget
the fact that when soldier go into an Arab town for the sole
purpose of finding a group of terrorists, the "civilians"
are suddenly not so civil. They have guns, they throw
Molotov cocktails, and rocks, big large cement blocks at
soldiers. That is what we experience everyday in Gaza, the
West Bank and Lebanon. We are fighting a guerilla and
civilian army at ALL times. Suicide bombers are not part of
an army they are civilians. There has never been a war
fought like this in the history of humankind. But the
"lefties" and even some on the right and the people who are
not even connected and oblivious, including the
international community think they have the right to tell
Israel how to act, how to respond! Do you know why so many
soldiers die in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon? Not because
the enemy's army is better, they are not even close to the
IDF. We have better equipment, more equipment, better
training, so how is it that soldiers are kidnapped and
killed? That's a good question. It is because the left and
the international community is keeping such a close look,
and bias toward Israel's defense tactics, that are hands are
tied in defending ourselves properly. We take so many
dangerous steps in order to protect civilians, that in
return, we are killed and kidnapped. Did you know that at
the Lebanon Border for the last ten years, because of
"International" pressure, that if you see 500 Hizbollah
terrorists with AK47's and rocket launchers and missiles
coming up to the actual border fence, 50 feet from the
Israel soldiers, 50 feet from Israel's soil, that the IDF
cannot fire unless they fire first! They can aim, set up
shop 50 feet from you, but until they fire and shoot at you,
the Israeli soldiers cannot defend themselves. Is that
logical? No, it is insane. The only reason why so many
Israeli's both civilian and military are dying is explicitly
the fault of the International Leftist agenda. The Left
likes to see the minority win, even if it is Hamas and
Hezbollah. We can only defend ourselves the way of the
sword. Do not let anyone tell you anything differently. As I
and the other soldiers and Israeli citizens have personal
stakes in the matter, and as a supporter of the Jewish
homeland, you do too.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Zachary Rowen Taylor 20 years old.
(Zacharia Ben Abraham)
Nachal Haredi Unit, Beit Shean, July 16, 2006

* * *
BARN I

Mer från Naomi Ragen:

Over a million Israeli children are spending their
summer vacation listening to rockets falling, hearing
horrifying sirens, watching their fathers put on their
uniforms to go to the front, and experiencing the dispersion
of their families, as fathers remain to care for farms and
businesses while mothers and children go South. No one
mentions this in all the " growing "concern about the
humanitarian crisis" that the war has created. Pretty
one-sided coverage. A call-in children's program on Israeli
tv featuring a child psychologist answered their questions.
Meshi from Safad, who was afraid of the sirens and the
falling rockets, was told to breathe deeply during an
attack. In between, she was advised to call her friends, to
make a joke contest with her Mom, to color or paint. Meital
from Beersheva, whose father has left for the front and who
was in tears, was advised by a girl her age -also on the
program, the daughter of a career army officer -- not to
watch the news, to find games she enjoyed, to try to find
someone in the neighborhood who needed help - a new
immigrant, an elderly person, a child new to the
neighborhood.

BARN II

Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - July 23, 2006

Contact details here

View this bulletin online here

Murder, martyrdom and blood libels are themes of Al Manar TV station
attacked by Israel

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday condemned Israel for bombing the Hizbullah TV station Al-Manar, saying, "The bombing of Al-Manar is a clear demonstration that Israel has a policy of using violence to silence media it does not agree with." [IFJ General Secretary Aidan White, July 14, 2006, IFJ Web site]

To clarify to PMW subscribers, Al Manar television broadcasts not only material that Israel "does not agree with," but some of the most loathsome hate broadcasting in the world, which we are surprised the IFJ would condone. This has included using cartoons to encourage children to seek death as Martyrs, presenting Jews using Christian children's blood for Matzah as factual, and presenting the killing of Israel's Jews as God's will.

Click below to see these examples from Al Manar TV broadcasts:

1. Cartoons brainwashing children to die as Shahids (Martyrs for Allah).

2. A drama, presented as historical fact, in which Jews slit the throat of a Christian child to get blood for Passover Matzah.

3. Religious leader presenting the conquering and killing of the Jews of Israel by Muslims as God's goal.


To see more examples from Al Manar click here to PMW archives.

The following are the full transcripts:

1. Cartoons brainwashing children to die as Shahids (Martyrs for Allah):

Enemies harm us
Oh children, cry Allah Akbar
You are the aim and the concern,
let your stone pour out blood
Your land is your honor and is what matters
It is your promise and your friend
My book has turned into a stone.
With it I repel the treacherous
My book has turned into a stone
With it I repel the treacherous
It is small like (the boy)
But its effect is great.
Purify yourself,
Pray and set out
Your blood perfumes that soil of your land
Your name will be engraved on heaven’s door
I swear my loyalty to you, Al Aqsa
I swear my loyalty to you, Jerusalem
I may miss a lesson
But my love for you itself is a lesson
Come out of every tunnel, window and door
Join your stone to mine.
Shooting doesn’t scare us
[child falls to the ground]

The dear (child) has fulfilled his desire,
Achieving the honor of Martyrdom,
He is not considered dead
He who dies for his country

2. A drama, presented as historical fact, in which Jews slit the throat of a Christian child to get blood for Passover Matzah.

The blood of Christian child for Passover Matzah
Scene I:
Two men talking.
Rabbi (speaking to a young man seated next to him): We have a task from the leadership. We need the blood of a Christian child before Passover for matza.
Scene II:

Dimly lit hallway. Rabbi with young man behind him. A third man enters dragging a child.
Christian child: Nathan save me!
Nathan: Don't be afraid.
Rabbi nods to the young man who nods to Nathan. Nathan forces the child down onto the floor and cuts his throat. Someone catches the blood in a bowl.
Scene III:
Rabbi and young man standing eating matzo. While chewing they nod to one another as if to say, We have done what we need to do.

3. Religious leader presenting the conquering and killing of the Jews of Israel by Muslims as God's goal.

Muhammad Ali Deputy Director of the Palestinian Clerics Association in Lebanon, Al-Manar, Aug. 19, 2005:

"The Prophet [Muhammad] foretold:
'The Resurrection will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill them, and the stone and tree will say: 'Oh, Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew. It means of course the occupying Zionist Jew: 'there is a Jew behind me,come and kill him'. We will enter [Israel] as conquerors Allah willing, and will enter as liberators, not through negotiations, but through Jihad and resistance [terror], because the Hadith goes: 'The Muslims will kill them' - there is a killing operation."



* * *




2006-07-22

Titta inte om du inte har tom mage.

Den kända bloggen LittleGreenFootballs talar om en uppsättning massakerbilder, som man nog bör titta på FÖRE frukosten - och, som de säjer - och där FN tycks vara inblandat på ett sätt som nog inte har med uppehållande av fred att göra. Ja, vad har UNIFIL gjort i södra Libanon på sistone? Bevarat freden? Hur mycket kostar de?
"This is what the United Nations does behind the scenes in Lebanon. It’s grotesque to the point of absolute obscenity."

* * *

Naomi Ragen, författarinna i Jerusalem, skickar oregelbundet ut nyhetsbrev, och säger vad hon känner för att säga. Dagens mail berättar om småsaker som människor kanske inte har hört:
  • Min granne, en känd advokat, med ett utsökt hem, har bjudit in en familj av 6 okända personer från Kiryat Shmona.
  • IDF (Israels försvarsmakt) har i Libanon funnit stora lager av vapen i moskéer (varför rimmar det på arméer?) och privathem.
  • Hizbollahsoldater förhindrar med vapenmakt civila att resa iväg från det område de kontrollerar.
  • Nasralla mördade två små arabiska pojkar i Nasaret och kallade dem därefter "martyrer".
  • Hundratals raketer har fallit i norra Israel idag, ingen dödad men ... En familj satt i Safed och tittade på nyheterna när en raket kom och skadade modern. I Nahariyah satt en kille och såg nyheterna, gick ut i trappen när han hörde sirenerna. När han kom tillbaka hade en raket landat på hans stol.
  • Nasralla vill att arabiska mördare ska släppas. Som Samir Kuntar, som landade på Nahariyas strand, gick in i ett hus och slet med sig fadern och hans fyraåriga dotter ut. Därefter krossade han metodiskt flickans skalle med en sten, och sköt fadern. Nasralla vill ha de som mördade studenter och lärare vid ett anfall mot cafeterian i Hebreiska Universitet. De vill ha män som använde judiska barnhuvuden som målträning. Utan IDF hade ingen kunnat stoppa Nasralla att fortsätta vad Hitler började och vad hans goda vän Stormuftin av Jerusalem ville fortsätta - som i sin tur lämnade vidare till sin unga släkting Arafat.
  • Enbart idag togs 20 Hizbollahmän till fånga, och ett specialbyggt fängelse väntar dem.
  • Omar Bakri, en imam som har spritt dödligt hat i predikningar i England och befinner sig i Libanon, vill bli evakuerad av - England! Han krävde ett enmånaders visum, men det förvägrades honom.

* * *


Vidare om att Israel faktiskt måste ta av silkesvantarna nu. Steven Plaut lämnar ofta intressanta länkar, här en i Los Angeles Times.

* * *

Makabra avdelningen: Snabbnyheterna hos Arutz-7
00:15 28 Israelis Killed Since the Beginning of Hizbullah War
23:30 25 Cows Killed in Rocket Attack in Galilee

* * *
Den libanesiska normalt prosyriska president Siniora kritiserar Hisb'Allah öppet för första gången. Samtidigt laddar Syrien upp - rädda att de snart råkar illa ut.

* * *

Femtekolonnare - vad gör man med dem på ett "civiliserat" sätt? Arabiska riksdagsmän i Israel har just lett demonstrationer i Tel Aviv mot att Israel försvarar sin befolkning och tyvärr är där alldeles för många israeliska vänsterextremister som står på samma sida, mot Israels befolkning. Hizbollah sitter i den libanesiska regeringen och startar krig när det dem lyster utan att nämna något för resten av regeringen där. Demonstranter från Ramallah skriker "leve Hizbollah" - även om det tycks vara färre i arabländerna än i Skandinavien.

De fladdrande och förskrämda duvorna i Kadimaregeringen har plötsligt tvingats stoppa in hökfjädrar i dräkten och många är fortfarande våldsamt förvirrade, lär väl bli många nervösa sammanbrott snart. Men att låta de arabiska riksdagsmännen fortsätta med sin antiIsraeliska propaganda, på olika sätt som har framkommit på sista tiden, samtidigt som Israel har ett öppet tvåfrontskrig är nästan så att de borde fatta vinken.

* * *




2006-07-21

Olmert/Peretz måtte tacka kriget.

Deras popularitetsökning är påtaglig i en gallupundersökning om kriget:

Vad anser du är en lösning för krisen i norra Israel?
90% Fortsätt kampen tills Hizbollah har avlägsnats från gränsen, därefter förhandla.
8% Sluta omedelbart och förhandla.

Vad anser du om Israels och dess försvarsmakts reaktion mot Hizbollah?
95% korrekt och rättvist.
4% varken korrekt eller rättvist [Observera att procentandelen araber ibland de utfrågade är väsentligt högre än 4%.]

Är du nöjd med Ehud Olmerts aktioner?
Ja 78% Nej 20%
För två veckor sedan: Ja 43% Nej 47%

Är du nöjd med försvarsminister Amir Peretz aktioner?:
Ja 61% Nej 34%
För två veckor sedan: Ja 28% Nej 64%

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Har du funderat över vad som skulle hända om Hizb'Allah vinner över Israel? Om Libanon blir ytterligare ett fundamentalistiskt Iran, men lydrike till detta? Från en libanesisk dagstidning.

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I samma linje - vad måste Israel göra när de väl har drivit Hizb'Allah på flykten? Som vanligt säger ingen det bättre än Caroline Glick, som börjar med en spark åt de fortfarande halvtaskigt fladdrande duvorna i Israel.

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En ganska bra beskrivning över Israels passivitet, nuvarande aktivitet och vad de sen bör göra, finns här.

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För en torr vetenskaplig beskrivning av situationen fram till torsdag morgon, klicka här.


2006-07-20

Börjar Israel ta sej själv på allvar?

Israel har inte tagit själv på allvar sedan Oslosnacket började 1993. Araberna har sett hur Israel har kontinuerligt försvagats, Peres och Arafat, ärketerroristen, kysstes och vilken smitta Arafat överförde vete deras gudar, Barak rusade iväg från Södra Libanon och lämnade en stor grupp människor där, vars säkerhet garanterades av israelerna, i sticket - och Hizbollah såg omedelbart sin chans att börja stapla projektiler längs gränsen. Samma idioti hände under Sharon för mindre än ett år sen - och det krävs bra skitiga kontaktlinser för att inte se hur glada terroristerna har blivit, hur de nästan mangrant högt har berättat vilket svaghetstecken det är hos Israel - Hamas blev valt på det.

Här är några "vad var det vi sa!"

Steven Plaut
upprepar det gärna (och ger länkar).

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The End of Israel's "Peace Through Weakness"

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http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3763

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Netanyahu: "I told you so"

Något tidigare sa han detta.

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Ayn Rand Institute Press Release
(Kommer nog snart till http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_pressreleases )
Israel Should Wage a Real War
July 19, 2006

Irvine, CA--What will it take for Israel to wage a real war? How many more
Israelis will have to be murdered, kidnapped, or maimed?

Israel says the killing and kidnapping of Israelis by Islamic terror
groups Hezbollah and Hamas are acts of war. But is Israel prepared to wage
a real war in self-defense?

Hezbollah and Hamas have been launching attacks against Israelis for
decades--yet Israel has not used its military capability to inflict
massive destruction on these groups and obliterate the terrorist states
that harbor and sponsor them.

"It is long past time for Israel to wage a real war against these
terrorist groups and states," said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of
the Ayn Rand Institute.

"And it is long past time for the United States to join Israel in waging
this war."

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Lönar sej USA:s investeringar i Israel?

1) First of all, about 85% of the money Israel receives in military aid must be spent in the U.S., where it provides jobs for an estimated 50,000 American workingmen.
2) Conversely, total exports from the 50 United States to Israel between 1991and 2005 was $95.4 billion—more than twice the $45 billion Israel received in U.S. aid during this period. The annual average of U.S. exports to Israel was $6.4 billion, more than twice the average American aid package. In 2005 the total exports to Israel from the 50 states was $18.5 billion—more than six times the U.S. military-economic aid package!
By the way: the $2.6 billion Israel received from the U.S last year amounts to less than 2% of Israel’s Gross Domestic Product—currently more than $135 billion. Israel could easily dispense with this aid if massive tax evasion were curtailed along with the notorious corruption and inefficiency of Israel’s government. But this is only the tip of iceberg of U.S. dependence on Israel.
3) According to Gen. George Keegan, a former chief of U.S. Air Force Intelligence, between 1974 and 1990, Israeli aid to America was worth between $50-80 billion in intelligence, research and development savings, Soviet weapons systems captured and transferred to the Pentagon, and testing Soviet military doctrines up to 1990, when the USSR collapsed. Senator Daniel Inouye recently put it this way: “The contribution made by Israeli intelligence to America is greater than that provided by all NATO countries combined.”

Now a few points from a report of Yoram Ettinger, a consultant on U.S.-Israel relations.
4) Every day, Israel relays to the U.S. lessons of battle and counter-terrorism, which reduce American losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevent attacks on U.S. soil, upgrade American weapons, and contribute to the U.S. economy. Innovative Israeli technologies boost U.S. industries.

5) The vice president of the company that produces the F16 fighter jets told Ettinger that Israel is responsible for 600 improvements in the plane’s systems, modifications estimated to be worth billions of dollars, which spared dozens of research and development years.

6) Without Israel, the U.S. would have to deploy tens of thousands of American troops in the eastern Mediterranean Basin, at a cost of billions of dollars a year.

7) In 1981, Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor, providing the U.S. with the option of engaging in conventional wars with Iraq in 1991 and 2003 and preventing a possible nuclear war and a terrible price of thousands killed.
8) In 2005, Israel provided America with the world’s most extensive experience in homeland defense and warfare against suicide bombers and car bombs. American soldiers train in IDF facilities and Israeli-made drones fly above the Sunni Triangle in Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan, providing U.S. Marines with vital intelligence which saves many American lives.
All this intelligence and technological aid Israel provides the U.S is going to go down the tubes—and American lives are going to be lost and impoverished—if the U.S. fails Israel in this Islamic war against civilization. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nazrallah, who invoked the name of Allah, rightly said this is a conflict between Islam and Zionism—it’s either us or them. It’s a war to the death—a religious war which Israeli leaders lack the courage to assert and thus prompt Americans to face the truth about the enemy.
It’s ironic that Israel wouldn’t need U.S. military aid were it not for huge American arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. U.S. aid to Israel creates a demand for, and the purchase of, tens of billions of dollars worth of U.S. weaponry by these and other Arab states. U.S. grants to Israel—far from imposing a burden on the American tax-payer—actually enriches the American economy!
American Congressmen and corporations know this. They have a vested interest in opposing any sanctions against Israel if its government were to take a more independent and vigorous stand against its enemies. I attribute Israel’s failure to do so primarily to the intellectual poverty and timidity of Israeli prime ministers, whose policy of self-restraint and territorial retreat encourages the enemy, prolongs the bloodshed, and endangers Israel’s existence.

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När kan man börja fredsförhandla realistiskt?

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Israel tar ut lastbilar med långdistansraketer på väg till Hizbollah även inom Syrien. Uppskattningsvis har 50% av Hizbollahs raketpark förstörts.

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I går kom 250 nya nordamerikanska judar som invandrare till sitt hemland, Israel. En del flyttar omedelbart upp till norra Israel. Samtidigt som 20 miljoner muslimer har flyttat upp till Europa. Tänk efter vad det innebär!

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Från en Think Tank i Jerusalem: "En hög talesman för Iran berättade nyligen förl västdiplomater i Londonhuyr viktigt Hizballah är för iran: "Hizballah är en av hörnpelarna i vår säkerhetsstrategi, och utgör Irans första försvarslinje mot Israel." Walid Jumblatt, den libanesiska drusledaren, säger sammalunda: "Kriget är inte länge Libanons krig - det är ett iranskt krig. Iran säger till USA: Vill du slåss i Gulfområdet och förstöra vårt kärnvapenprogram? Vi slår mot mål närmare oss, mot Israel."


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