Assumptions, linkage, priority

From their meeting at the White House, it's clear that Barack Obama has one set, Binyamin Netanyahu has another.

Iran is Netanyahu's priority, on the assumption that it is determined to develop nuclear weapons with which to annihilate Israel. The Palestinian state is Obama's priority, on the assumption that the Muslim world will become pacific once there is peace between Israel and the Palestinians (and that a Palestinian state would necessarily be at peace with Israel).

On Iran:

Following four hours of talks with Obama, Netanyahu told Israeli reporters gathered across from the White House that there are no green, red or yellow lights from the US but rather a shared sense that Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapons capacity.

Speaking side by side at the Oval Office earlier in the day, Obama stressed the importance the US places on Israeli security and its recognition of how the Jewish state perceives the threat from Teheran, even as he defended his policy of engagement.

Obama rejected the notion of "artificial timelines" in negotiations with Iran, which he indicated he expected would begin in earnest after the Iranian election on June 12 and could subsequently expand to include direct talks between Washington and the Islamic republic.

At the same time, he stressed that "we're not going to have talk forever" and allow Teheran to develop a nuclear weapon while negotiations go on, offering that "we'll probably be able to gauge and do a reassessment by the end of the year."

He also noted that "we are not foreclosing a range of steps, including much stronger international sanctions, in assuring that Iran understands that we are serious."

Israel has been pushing for a timeline on the United States's diplomatic efforts out of concern that Iran could use the talks to run out the clock. The notion of a timeline was just one subject where differences were expected to emerge between the two leaders as they sat down for their first meeting as respective heads of government in a visit deemed crucial for determining the contours of their relationship and personal rapport.

On a Palestinian state:

Asked about reports in the media that Israel felt progress on Iran needed to be linked to progress with the Palestinians, Obama explicitly rejected the formulation, saying, "If there is a linkage between Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, I personally believe it actually runs the other way: To the extent that we can make peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, then I actually think it strengthens our hand in the international community in dealing with the potential Iranian threat."

But he added that both issues needed to be addressed independently on their own merits.

And Netanyahu, with Obama nodding along, said each issue could be helpful in reaching a positive conclusion on the other, but that there was no "policy linkage." Netanyahu also thanked Obama for his willingness to keep all options on the table when it comes to Iran.

And following the meeting with Obama, he told the Israeli media that he sensed a seriousness in the new American administration to push the Arab states to take meaningful steps toward peace with Israel that he had not seen before.

In his remarks to the press, Obama said "there is a recognition that the Palestinians are going to have to do a better job providing the kinds of security assurances that Israelis would need to achieve a two-state solution, [and] gain additional legitimacy and credibility with their own people, and delivering services."

He also said, "The other Arab states have to be more supportive and be bolder in seeking potential normalization with Israel."

But he cautioned Israel that it would have to make difficult steps, too, including improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and stressed that "there is a clear understanding that we have to make progress on settlements; that settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward."

Each regards the other as basing policy on flawed assumptions: Obama regards Iran as a problem but not an immediate existential threat to Israel, and Netanyahu regards a prematurely-born Palestinian state as a breeding and staging ground for war against Israel. It seems that Netanyahu's assumptions are more grounded in real-life experience and knowledge of the Middle East.

Although the meeting seemed friendly and fruitful, the deep differences in how they see the exigencies of the situation are likely to lead to severe tensions between Israel and the United States. Where Israel sees immediate action against Iran as vital to its own survival, the United States will put pressure on Israel to make immediate concessions to the Palestinians. The inevitable clash of assumptions, priorities and linkage will sorely test the US-Israeli relationship.

A glimmer of hope

Underscoring the difference between Gaza and the West Bank:

Palestinian security forces on Sunday gave the IDF an explosive belt found in the West Bank town of Salfit.

Palestinian sources said that belt contained eight kilograms of TNT and that it was ready for detonation.

A Hamas operative arrested by the Palestinian Authority some two weeks ago led the security forces to the belt's hiding place.

A Palestinian official quoted by Israel Radio said the explosive belt was prepared by Samar Dawarhaka, a Hamas operative killed by the IDF some four years ago.

Pogroms in Gaza

Palestinian Christians in Gaza are experiencing pogroms carried out by their Muslim Palestinian neighbors. An 80-year-old woman was a recent victim:

Tarazi said a masked man dressed in black clothes had knocked on her door late at night and demanded all her money.

"He was carrying a club and a sharp tool," she said. "As soon as I opened the door, he pushed me inside and shouted: 'Where is the money, you infidel?' I shouted back: 'I'm not an infidel - I'm a proud Palestinian Arab.'"

Tarazi said the assailant had beaten her on her hands with the club, demanding that she hand over all her money and jewelry.

"I was so terrified that I gave him two golden bracelets, a cellphone and a few hundred shekels," she said. "But the man said this was not enough and hit me hard on the head with a tool he was carrying until I started bleeding." He then locked her in her bedroom and started searching the house for money and valuable items, she added.

This wasn't an isolated incident of petty crime. Churches and Christian schools have been attacked and desecrated:

The assault on the elderly Christian woman is the latest in a series of attacks against Christians over the past few months. Since the Hamas takeover, a Christian school and a church have been targeted by Muslims.

Father Manuel Musalam, leader of the small Latin community in the Gaza Strip, said masked gunmen torched and looted the Rosary Sisters School and the Latin Church.

"The masked gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to storm the main entrances of the school and church," he said. "Then they destroyed almost everything inside, including the cross, the holy book, computers and other equipment."

Musalam expressed outrage over the burning of copies of the Bible, adding that the gunmen destroyed all the crosses inside the church and school.

"Those who did these awful things have no respect for Christian-Muslim relations," he said.

So much for Islam's respect for other Peoples of the Book....

The world's smallest oud 2: the woes of Hamas

Gosh, the Hamas people seem to be having a lot of problems.

They're miffed that neither Egypt nor Saudi Arabia want to talk to them.

Sami Abu Zuhri, Islamic Hamas movement's spokesman in Gaza, slammed on Saturday some Arab states for being prejudiced to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abu Zuhri made the criticisim in his comment on a Kuwaiti newspaper's report on Friday, which quoted a Hamas official, who spoke in condition of anonymity, as saying that two Arab countries, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, refused to receive Hamas leader Khaled Masha'al.

The daily said that Egypt and Saudi Arabia refused to receive Masha'al unless he apologizes to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and promise to end Hamas control of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas took control of all Gaza in mid June.

In a statement, Abu Zuhri denied the Kuwaiti daily report, saying "these reports are untrue. The Mujahed (holy fighter) Khaled Masha'al did not ask to visit those countries and he isn't interested to visit those countries because it represents the American views."

He, meanwhile, accused "those countries" of being prejudiced to President Abbas, saying "they are working on normalizing the Arab and Islamic worlds with the culture of the parted peace."

They think Fatah is trying to blow them up.

Hamas forces on Sunday said they discovered a bomb next the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City and accused the rival Fatah movement of planting the device.

Islam Shahwan, spokesman for Hamas' paramilitary Executive Force, said the 33-pound bomb was defused after it was discovered at about 5 a.m.

"It's a dangerous escalation," he said. "We believe that some elements in Fatah, based in Ramallah, are behind this and other attacks," he said. No arrests were made.

It's making them want to just... kill... each other.

Two Palestinians were wounded in what appeared to be an internal Hamas gunfight in the Gazan town of in Deir el-Balah on Saturday night, Israel Radio reported. One of the wounded is a member of the group's special forces.

According to Fatah media outlets, one of the men is a confidant of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the other is an associate of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.

Zahar denied reports last week that he had threatened Haniyeh after he announced that he was ready to renew talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

That last thing, the killing each other? Yeah, good luck with that.

How was this not entirely predictable?

The San Diego Women's Film Foundation was forced to issue a somewhat embarrassing apology on Sept. 5:

Update

A statement was given by the San Diego Women's Film Festival Director in support of the Boycott of Israeli films. The San Diego Women Film Foundation and Festival would like to apologize to all in the community - we are embarrassed and horrified to learn such a position was taken without our knowledge or consent. It is the personal view of the Festival Director and not the view of the San Diego Women Film Foundation and we in no way support, sponsor or condone their statements. Furthermore, the mission of the San Diego Women Film Foundation is to empower, promote and mentor young women and women filmmakers by developing opportunities to expose the art of filmmaking and to tell women's stories to broad and diverse audiences. We do not promote or take a position with any political or religious issues.

For the record, the San Diego Women Film Foundation and Festival is NOT boycotting Israeli films. We are hopeful that filmmakers from the Israeli community will continue to submit films. Actions regarding the Festival Director will be dealt with internally. Again, our deepest and most sincere apologies.

- San Diego Women Film Foundation Board of Directors

Apparently the director of the San Diego Women's Film Festival, Jennifer Hsu, took it upon herself to announce a boycott of Israeli films, and the American Jewish Committee (among other groups) brought her action to the attention of the Foundation.

The American Jewish Committee today expressed appreciation to the San Diego Women Film Foundation and Festival (SDWFF) after it reversed a ban that the festival director had unilaterally imposed against showing Israeli films during the October event.

"We are pleased that the Film Foundation recognized the Festival Director's errant behavior and has moved expeditiously to correct the injustice of excluding Israeli filmmakers," said Tad Seth Parzen, president of AJC's San Diego Chapter.

The Foundation's apology was posted on the SDWFF website, after AJC's San Diego Chapter made a number of inquiries earlier today about the Festival's posture regarding Israeli filmmakers.

My question is, how was this episode not entirely predictable, therefore avoidable? Jennifer Hsu's position on freedom of expession for Israeli artists is a matter of public record. Here's her bio from Alternate Focus, an organization who says "its three founding directors, a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim, are working together for peace and justice by offering the American public media which shows another side of Middle Eastern issues."

Jennifer Hsu



Jennifer Hsu is currently the Festival Director for the San Diego Women Film Festival, and a video documentary-maker. She has an activist art media focus that pervades her work, and she works in the name of feminism, Arabism and the civil liberties movement. Her most recent video project, a collaboration with her partner, Jeremy Taylor, centers on Palestinian and Iraqi refugees living in Yarmouk, a refugee camp in Damascus, Syria. Jennifer has also worked extensively with Women in the Director's Chair Film Festival, TV show "UpFront with Reverend Jesse Jackson", and the University of Chicago Center for Urban School Improvement.

I guess we know what side Alternate Focus focuses on.

Ms. Hsu is also a signatory to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. That makes her just exactly the kind of impartial advocate of women in the arts that you want to run a women's film festival, because we all know that Israel is unique among Middle Eastern nations in its oppressive treatment of women... or maybe not.

Victory in Lebanon

For the past three months, the Lebanese Army has been battling an al-Qaida-affiliated militant group holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The Lebanese Army has finally achieved victory -- at a cost of 158 troops in those three months. Proportionate to their relative national populations, 158 Lebanese troops represent the same percentage loss as 11,850 troops would be to the USA.

Camp falls & the Lebanese are celebrating victory at last
Sunday, 2 September, 2007 @ 5:06 PM



Beirut - Eyewitnesses have reported that the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon has fallen and the army appears in complete control and is now chasing the fleeing militants.

There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of Shaker el-Absi the leader of the militant Fatah al-Islam terrorist organization. One eyewitness reported that he was captured by the army, but other eyewitnesses reported that he was able to escape.

Salim Taha, the last known spokesman of Fatah al-Islam has already surrendered to the Lebanese army according to army sources. Many other militants were captured according to the same sources.

The latest reports revealed that the army today killed 32 militants , but lost five soldiers to sniper fire, raising to 158 the total number of troops killed in the conflict.

Currently there is a huge traffic jam north of the camp. The Lebanese troops have set up road blocks for checking the vehicles for fleeing Fatah al-Islam militants.

Even in the Lebanese capital Beirut, over an hour's drive to the south, officials searched vehicles at military checkpoints set up on major streets. Other checkpoints went up along the coastal highway linking the north with Beirut, causing traffic jams.

State television reported that Lebanese residents of nearby villages, armed with guns and sticks, fanned out to protect their houses and prevent militants from melting into the local population. Smoke billowed from a field near the camp where residents said the army set fire to bushes to deny militants a hiding place.

The Lebanese residents in north Lebanon are celebrating the victory of the army. Fireworks are everywhere in north Lebanon in celebration. Troops were showered with roses and rice , in appreciation of their courage and sacrifices.

As we publish this article Lebanese are firing celebration shots in the air at news that the army finished off Fatah al-Islam, while others are waving the Lebanese flags and chanting as convoys of cars honk their horns.

The army was not ready yet to formally declare an end to fighting in the camp, large parts of which have been destroyed by army bombardments in the siege.

Fighting between the army and Fatah al- Islam militants broke out on May 20 and the Lebanese have been anxiously waiting for this day to celebrate victory.

Update - 6:00 PM Beirut time:
Army sources have reported that the troops were able to capture additional 24 militants of Fatah al Islam this afternoon. This raises the number of militants that were captured today to 40.

Update - 6:10PM Beirut time:
The Lebanese army has issued an appeal to the Lebanese citizens urging them not to fire any shots( in celebration of the victory ) to show respect to the Lebanese army troops that fell victim during the fight.

The army has also called on the Palestinians to stay away from the Nahr el Bared camp and not totry to return to it under any condition, since it is totally destroyed and will be rebuilt by the Lebanese government as soon as possible . Similar appeals were made by the Palestinian leadership in Lebanon.

Update - 6:25PM Beirut time:
The National News Agency has reported that the army has captured Shaker el-Absi the fugitive leader of the militant Fatah al-Islam terrorist organization. There were many conflicting reports about the whereabouts of Absi and many have reported that he was able to escape.

Picture: Lebanese soldiers flash the "V" for victory signs as they patrol an area near the besieged Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. The Lebanese army has taken full control of the refugee camp where it has besieged Islamist militants for the past three months

A sign of hope in Jenin

Palestinian Authority police rescued a uniformed Israeli Defense Forces officer from a mob in Jenin.

The Israeli army said the officer entered Jenin, a town known as a stronghold of militants, by mistake and he was evacuated by Palestinian security forces in cooperation with the army.

Israeli TV stations broadcast video showing Palestinian security officers surrounding the soldier and hustling him away from the crowd, while reassuring him in Hebrew. It was not clear who took the video.

Islamic Jihad militants were disappointed that the IDF officer didn't end up in their hands, presumably to be a bargaining chip like Gilad Schalit.

"We were successful in trapping a uniformed Israeli officer," a statement released by the group read. "We were surprised when [PA security forces] thwarted our efforts by surrounding us and taking control of the soldier. In a matter of minutes, four IDF jeeps arrived at the scene and were given the soldier."

The Islamic Jihad statement further condemned the PA security forces, saying that they should work to protect the "Palestinian people instead of soldiers of the Occupation."

A lieutenant colonel in the IDF observed that the PA seems to have responded positively to recent gestures by the Israeli government, which themselves were in response to the ouster of Hamas from the PA government.

Atilee praised the PA police's quick and responsible response. Atilee added that he had received a phone call at 12:30 p.m. that an IDF officer - unarmed and in uniform - was in Jenin.

"We began coordinating his rescue with the PA and at the same time sent large forces to the city in the event that we would need to save him," he recalled, adding that the quick coordination between the IDF and the PA was made possible due to the recent change in Israeli policy vis a vis the Palestinian government in Ramallah led by Salaam Fayad.

"There is better coordination today due to the change in Israeli policy and the Palestinians did what they needed to do," he said. "They also did what was in their interest."

Perhaps there is now reason to hope that so-called "confidence-building measures" may actually build some mutual trust -- at least a little bit.

But 'chutzpah' IS a Jewish concept

Quick question for Ehud Barak: if it's a bad idea to negotiate peace with the Palestinians today, why was it a good idea to offer them essentially the same deal at Camp David in 2000?

A peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will not be reached for at least three to five years; Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying.

Yedioth Ahronoth said on Friday that in private conversations, Barak said the idea of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians anytime soon was a "fantasy".

He also said that Israel would not withdraw from the West Bank before finding a solution to Palestinian rocket attacks, "which will take between three to five years".

Barak said he would not approve the removal of roadblocks from the West Bank, despite assurances given this week by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that some of the hundreds of checkpoints would be removed.

Olmert's meetings with Abbas would not lead to a final peace accord, the defense minister said.

"What will determine the situation in the end is if Abu Mazen (Abbas) and (Palestinian Prime Minister) Salam Fayyad are capable of implementing anything in the West Bank," Barak was quoted as saying.

Apparently Barak is prone to falling under the Svengali-like influence of Jimmy Car-- oops, I mean, Bill Clinton.

A child's garden of explosives

The only glimmer of light in this horrific story is that the Palestinians aren't trying to present this as an IDF attack on civilians.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A large explosion in northern Gaza on Tuesday killed an 8-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister and injured five other children, Palestinian health officials said.

Witnesses said a group of children stumbled upon a homemade rocket or a mortar shell and began playing with it. The device exploded, injuring all seven children, two of whom died later of their wounds.

Moaiya Hassanain, a Palestinian health official, said the explosion occurred in the village of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, and the wounded were evacuated to hospital.

If the Palestinian rejectionists continue to teach their youngest children to adore armaments and killing, there is scant hope for the future of the Palestinian people.

Gosh, I hope nobody was hurt

Somebody's toys seem to have gotten broken.

Breaking news: 4 explosions at PFLP-GC base in Lebanon's Bekaa
Friday, 3 August, 2007 @ 9:33 AM

Beirut - 4 huge explosions rocked the Qussaya base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command , in the eastern Bekaa valley east of Beirut.

The explosions shook the whole region.

PFLP-GC is based in Syria but has bases in Lebanon. Its chief Ahmad Jibril served in the Syrian army

The Qussaya base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command is about 2 kilometers from the Syrian borders.

There are no details available yet on causes of the explosions , damages or casualties. Ya Libnan will provide updates as we obtain more details.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything turns out all right in this incident. (I'm not sure the PFLP-GC would agree with what I think "all right" would be, though.)

The Gang Who Couldn't Spy Straight, Part 2

The Hamas takeover of Gaza left the Central Intelligence Agency caught with its tender parts in a trap, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

When the Islamist group Hamas conquered the Gaza Strip in June it seized an intelligence-and-military infrastructure created with U.S. help by the security chiefs of the Palestinian territory's former ruler.

According to current and former Israeli intelligence officials, former U.S. intelligence personnel and Palestinian officials, Hamas has increased its inventory of arms since the takeover of Gaza and picked up technical expertise -- such as espionage techniques -- that could assist the group in its fight against Israel or Washington's Palestinian allies, the Fatah movement founded by Yasser Arafat.

Hamas leaders say they acquired thousands of paper files, computer records, videos, photographs and audio recordings containing valuable and potentially embarrassing intelligence information gathered by Fatah. For more than a decade, Fatah operated a vast intelligence network in Gaza established under the tutelage of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Hamas leaders are expected as early as tomorrow to go public with some of the documents and the secrets they hold.

Or, as the Journal article sums it up:

• The Find: Palestinian group Hamas seized rival Fatah's intelligence-and-military infrastructure, which was built with U.S. help.

• What's at Stake: Secrets, expertise and technology are now in the hands of a group the U.S. calls a terrorist organization.

• The Damage: Though the ultimate impact is difficult to determine, Hamas leaders say they will make some details public and share others with Arab governments.

I suspect that the CIA spends more time gathering blackmail evidence against U.S. politicians to protect against being held to account than it does gathering actual intelligence about America's enemies to protect our nation. I could be wrong about this....

"These Hamas people are murderers and bloodthirsty. They are using religion as an excuse to commit crimes even against their own people."

Gosh, who said that? Benjamin Netanyahu? Rudy Giuliani?

Nope. It was a Palestinian general.

"I knew that I was wanted by Hamas and that's why I decided to fight to the end. I knew that Hamas was going to kill me anyway and that I had nothing to lose. On Thursday night [June 14], hours before Hamas completed its coup, I managed to fire dozens of rocket-propelled grenades at them. I inflicted heavy damages on them. I taught them a lesson that they will never forget.

"But when I finally realized that Hamas's forces were advancing toward our security zone, I decided to leave the area. At around 2 a.m. on Friday morning I ran away toward the Egyptian security delegation's offices on the 10th floor of a tower near my base. I covered my face with a keffiyeh and threw my rifle away.

"Shortly after I entered the Egyptians' office, about 30 Hamas gunmen stormed the area and detained me. They did not care about the fact that this was an office belonging to the Egyptian security forces. They dragged me down to the street, where most buildings and houses were on fire.

"As we stood there, I asked the Hamas people: 'Why don't you execute me and dump my body in the flames?' Actually I begged them to execute me because I knew I was going to be tortured. Before they put me in a jeep, I saw the Hamas gunmen execute several people right in front of me. They were shooting all the detainees. I was sure that one of them was going to shoot me in the head. But they later blindfolded me and took me to a place where I was held for about 12 hours.

"In this place, there were a number of senior security commanders who had also been captured by Hamas. We were all told that we were going to be executed immediately after our interrogation. They asked us many questions and kept us locked in small rooms. We had no idea where we were being held. Some of us were beaten severely," the PA general said....

Asked if he had any plans to return to the Gaza Strip, the general, who has been serving in the PLO security forces for more than three decades, said: "If I go back, Hamas will kill me immediately. I'm wanted by them. My wife and children are still there and Hamas has burned my house. I don't know what's going to happen now, but I'm not optimistic. These Hamas people are murderers and bloodthirsty. They are using religion as an excuse to commit crimes even against their own people."

There you have it, from someone who knows first-hand.

What does virginity have to do with it?

So three Palestinian sisters are murdered in Gaza, and as part of the murder investigation, apparently it was necessary to examine them gynecologically to see if they were virgins.

Three sisters murdered in Gaza on Sunday were all found to be virgins by medical examiners at Al-Shifah Hospital in Gaza City, Mona El-Shawa, director of the Women's Rights Unit at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights told The Jerusalem Post Monday.

Nahed Hija, 16, Suha Hija, 19, and Lina Hija, 22, were found buried in a shallow grave in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip early Sunday morning, said Hamdi Shakkour of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The girls had suffered multiple stab wounds - most notably to the face and knees.

Local rumors implicated the sisters' male cousins in the murder, leading to speculation that this was more than likely an honor killing.

I suppose if they hadn't been virgins, no one would bother to arrest the killers. But what honor is there in exterminating an entire family? (Maybe the real motive was to make sure that the girls weren't around to inherit a share of the grandparents' estate. But murder for profit gets a death sentence in Gaza, whereas honor killings are essentially ignored -- if not celebrated.)

Was he always this soft in the head?

I used to be a big admirer of Colin Powell. After he left the State Department, though, he seemed to soften quite a bit.

Now the softening has gone to his brain, based on the really stupid things he said to National Public Radio.

"This is a tremendous burden on our troops and on our families," Powell said of the ongoing troop presence in Iraq, in an interview with National Public Radio.

Speaking after Senate Republicans blocked a vote calling for troop withdrawals to start within 120 days and for a complete pullout by the end of April, Powell said the US Army and Marine Corps were stretched to their limit in Iraq since they had not been increased in size despite the greater responsibilities demanded of them.

"It is not sustainable for our troops just to stay over there for an indefinite period at 180,000 person-strength unless there is improvement in the conditions that generate what I consider to be a civil war. So we have to have progress on the Iraqi political side," Powell said.

Asked if in his opinion the US should start reducing troop numbers in Iraq by mid-2008, Powell said: "I think that's right ... It is not sustainable for an indefinite period at this level."

Powell also urged the administration of Bush to stop shunning Hamas as a political player in the Middle East.

"I think you'd have to find some way to talk to Hamas ... they are not going to go away," adding that Hamas has considerable support from the Palestinian people.

"They won an election that we insisted upon having. And so, as unpleasant a group as they may be and as distasteful as I find some of their positions, I think that through the quartet or through some means, Hamas has to be engaged."

No wonder we had to go back into Iraq to finish what Powell didn't finish during Desert Storm. One wonders whether he would have had the stomach for the Pacific Campaign of World War II, or the common sense to use the atomic bomb on Japan.

As for Hamas, what other genocidal fanatic movements does he want the world to 'engage'? Maybe he thinks we need to talk it out with al-Qaeda too -- after all, they seem to have pretty widespread support in the Muslim world.

To Die In Jerusalem

To Die in Jerusalem

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

While working on my master’s degree in film and television at Southern Illinois University, I read a newspaper article about a bombing in Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, I saw an article in Newsweek about the event, with a close-up photograph of the two girls on the cover. I couldn’t stop looking at them! The more I read, the more I realized that this tragic story ironically represents everything I feel regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As I started to learn more about the girls, it struck me that in a different time and place, they might have been best friends or even sisters who were simply out shopping together. Faith, or fate, brought each of them to the end of her life in such a tragic manner!

I tried to put myself in Ayat’s place. I tried to understand what would lead a beautiful girl just starting her life and with plans for the future, to wake up one morning, take a bag of explosives and put an end to her life — and in the process end the lives of others.

I contacted the mothers of the girls — Avigail Levy and Um Samir al-Akhras — and found them to be two wonderful women, each struggling to cope with her daughter’s death. They opened their hearts and shared their pain with me. This is where the real challenge began: Could I help close the gap between them or would cultural differences and hate ultimately stand in the way of reconciliation? Are their lives permanently unbridgeable in light of pictures/posters praising the young Palestinian’s actions and her parents’ hesitant pride as a result?

The more I got to know the mothers and their stories, the more I felt a deepening desire, along with Avigail Levy, to embark on a journey in search of the answer to the most basic question, Why? The highlight of the journey — for all of us — is an emotional meeting between Avigail and Um Samir.

Just as seeing the pictures of Rachel and Ayat — so similar and yet so different — drew me into their story in the first place, the dream of a meeting between the two women stirred me to take my own personal journey with this film. I believe that theirs is a story that needs to be told, in part because we can all identify with the individuals in this tragedy. Most of us have all been 17, after all.

Hilla Medalia,
Director/Producer

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

On the morning of March 29, 2002, Ayat al-Akhras had just spent a long night of studying for a big test at school. After taking the test, she met the man who drove her to a targeted grocery store, where, at 1:45 p.m. she detonated her bomb — killing herself, Rachel Levy and a guard, and injuring 30.


Because Al-Akhras and Levy looked so much alike, there was immediate confusion following the bombing as to who had carried it out. In an interview, the chief of police initially said that there appeared to have been two female suicide bombers. Professor Yehuda Hiss from the Forensic Institute remembers how the two girls were even wearing similar clothes and had been injured in what is known as the “mirror image effect,” i.e., their injuries were almost identical. As they lay side-by-side in the morgue, it was impossible to ignore the similarities between them. And, both girls had plans for the future.

Al-Akhras was engaged to be married that summer and wanted to go to college to become a journalist so she could defend the Palestinian cause before the world. Undoubtedly, the environment of Israeli occupation in which she grew up, and the exposure to violence and death, had influenced her profoundly. When al-Akhras’ motivation for committing this act is examined, it appears that she might have had several reasons; however, substance abuse does not seem to be one of them. Professor Hiss concluded there were never traces of drugs or any other toxic substance that could indicate a motivation for the suicide bombing. Dr. Anat Barko, in her book, On The Way To Heaven – The World of Suicide Bombers, has suggested that most female suicide bombers have personal problems such as family conflict, an intimate relationship with a terrorist, sexual relations before marriage, or a problematic social status (such as divorce or sterility). Others have indicated that suicide bombing is a way for females to gain power in a male-dominated society. Or perhaps al-Akhras and others like her simply want to fight for their cause but are feeling frustrated by current conditions and negative, suppressive and/or traumatic life experiences they’ve endured thus far.

Levy, like all 18-year-old Israelis, was about to join the army and wanted to study art and design. Her family had returned to Jerusalem following nine years in the United States. When Avigail and Amos divorced, their three children — Guy, Rachel and Kobi — stayed with their mother, while their father moved to Tel Aviv.

Neither of the young women’s fathers supported the idea of a meeting between the two mothers.

SYNOPSIS

On March 29, 2002, 17-year-old Israeli Rachel Levy walked into a grocery store in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel to purchase ingredients for Sabbath dinner. Soon thereafter, 17-year-old Palestinian Ayat al-Akhras approached the store’s entrance carrying a black purse loaded with explosives. She issued a brief warning to two elderly Arab women sitting just outside selling fruits and vegetables.


The store’s security guard stopped al-Akhras, who seemed suspicious. She immediately activated the explosive bag — killing herself, Levy and the guard, while injuring 30 civilians. The end result: three more victims added to the Middle East catalogue of martyrdom.

Al-Akhras had been transported to the store by Ibrahim Sarahnah, an Israeli Arab**, with whom she’d rendezvoused earlier, near Bethlehem. Sarahnah was later captured — on his way back from another bombing — and is now serving time at the Gilboa Jail in northern Israel.

Before al-Akhras had left the camp earlier that afternoon, she read her suicide statement into a video camera. It included verses from the Quran, and blamed Palestinian and other Arab leaders and armies for not coming to the aid of the Palestinians and their cause. She also blamed them for “leaving the fighting to Palestinian girls.” Among its themes, the film investigates what might have led this young Palestinian girl to undertake such a deadly mission.

One wonders whether the two 17 year olds with very similar looks may have briefly glanced at one another before the detonation. Perhaps they noticed that they were around the same age, had long dark hair and dark complexions, small body types and even similar facial features. Both were high school seniors with plans and dreams.

But, even though the two young women had numerous similarities and had grown up less than four miles apart, they hailed from two vastly different worlds. Al-Akhras lived in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, a heavily populated and impoverished area under the constant threat of Israeli incursions and where some 11,000 people are crammed together in one square kilometer. Al-Akhras’ formative years were spent in an environment of death, fear, checkpoints and humiliations. Levy, by contrast, grew up in a Jerusalem neighborhood remarkably western in style and culture, with an atmosphere of openness, freedom, independence and abundance. With all that, there is also the constant threat of terror, which creates lack of basic freedom and difficulties and fear in daily life.

Following the deaths of their cherished daughters, both families are hurt and broken. Levy’s mother can’t get over the loss of her daughter and struggles constantly with negative feelings toward al-Akhras, her family and Palestinians in general. Levy is unable to comprehend how a 17-year-old girl could decide to end her life — just like that — and potentially take so many others with her. As part of her quest for answers, Levy decides that she wants to meet the mother of her daughter’s killer.

TO DIE IN JERUSALEM presents the deadly conflict between Israel and Palestine through the eyes of two families who have lost their daughters in the conflict. By contrasting the lives and deaths of these two teenage girls, the documentary offers a personal perspective that is all too often eclipsed by political issues. The film explores on one side, al-Akhras’ reasons and ideology, and the events that led her to sacrifice her life. On the other, Levy, who paid with her life when she was caught up in the ongoing conflict during her daily routine.


Nothing about it is simple. Or clear. While one girl’s death was, in a sense, chosen, the other’s was a twist of fate or tragic destiny — yet both are victims of one of the longest, most complicated and disturbing conflicts of our time. The film’s glimpse into each young woman’s world seeks to enhance the viewer’s understanding of the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, while opening a window into the lives of these tragic families as they cope with their pain.


TO DIE IN JERUSALEM doesn’t suggest a solution to the conflict, but unabashedly explores the difficulties, fears and gaps between opposing sides. However, as Avigail Levy’s character develops through the film, and al-Akhras agrees to meet with her, a channel of communication opens up. And with it, new hope for a better future.


* Israeli-Arabs are full citizens of the State of Israel, with equal protection under the law, and full rights of due process. Israeli Arabs comprise around 15 percent of the country’s total number of citizens. They are the descendants of the 150,000 Arabs who remained within Israel’s borders during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and of the Wadi-Ara Palestinians who came under Israel jurisdiction as part of a territory exchange under the 1949 Armistice Agreement with Jordan.

Owls and kestrels bringing Jews and Arabs together

Interesting and hopeful story from the Middle East: Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians confer on using owls and kestrels to control rats in date orchards.


[AP Video here]

The effort still faces suspicions and superstitions, but organizers hope the message of their partial success will spread to Lebanon, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, and demonstrate the fruits of the 1994 peace treaty that ended a 46-year state of war between Israel and Jordan.

Political benefits aside, the project is driven foremost by environmental concerns.

In the late 1970s, chemicals killed hundreds of birds in northern Israel, said Yossi Leshem, an Israeli ornithologist and director of the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration.

So Leshem persuaded Sde Eliyahu, a kibbutz south of the Sea of Galilee, to try owls, which can eat up to 10 rodents a day. All the farmers needed was to build boxes where the birds could mate and raise their young.

"I put up 14 barn owl boxes, and everybody laughed at me," said Shauli Aviel, who oversees the effort at the collective farm.

A few years later, Sde Eliyahu's rat problem had vanished, he said. More than 60 nesting boxes now sit on the grounds of the kibbutz, and the technique has caught on with other farmers along the Jordan.

Yet as the owl population grew, the birds increasingly began flying - and looking to nest - across the nearby border with Jordan, where pesticide use remains rampant. Chemicals seeped into the water table, and owls were poisoned by eating contaminated rodents.

Then came the peace treaty, Israelis and Jordanians got used to being good neighbors, and in late 2002 Aviel and fellow Israeli farmers planned a regional conference on barn owls to explain their advantages to colleagues across the Jordan River.

The response was discouraging. Many Arabs consider owls the same way others view black cats - as bad luck. Word came back to the Israelis that no Jordanians would attend.

So the organizers changed the title of the conference to focus on organic farming, and two dozen Jordanians turned up. Midway through the gathering they were given a demonstration on owls, and soon Jordanian farmers were asking how they could attract owls to their fields, Aviel said.

With funding from the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Ohio, the kibbutz gave the Jordanians advice and building materials. More than three dozen nesting boxes have since been put up in Jordan, organizers said.

Someday the Arab nations will stop thinking of Israel as an embarrassing reminder of past failures and will start thinking of it as a source for useful knowledge and technology -- in other words, a good neighbor. That is, if the world's Islamofascist fanatics don't succeed in annihilating Israel first.

Still no Palestinian partner

I was willing to suspend judgment about the rush by Israel, the US, the EU, Egypt and Jordan to support Abbas as a counterweight to Hamas's takeover of Gaza. But the latest news out of the area demonstrates that Abbas is either unwilling or incapable -- or both -- of ending the armed intifada and negotiating with Israel on the basis of mutually recognized rights and responsibilities.

Overnight Tuesday, troops from the Givati Brigade, backed by tanks and attack helicopters, entered the southern Gaza Strip near the Sufa Crossing and began searching homes on the outskirts of Khan Yunis for terror suspects. Simultaneously, ground forces swept into an area near the Karni Crossing and began searching for tunnels and explosive devices.

Clashes erupted immediately and, in what sources in the Southern Command said was "fierce resistance," the Palestinians, some affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, fired anti-tank missiles at the incoming troops.

Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded during the operation near Karni when their armored personnel carrier was hit by an anti-tank missile.

"The troops only went two kilometers deep into Gaza," a source in the Southern Command said. "And, as can be seen from the resistance, the terrorists were heavily deployed near the border, waiting to attack."

In a report strongly denied by the IDF, the Palestinians claimed that an IAF aircraft bombed a car and killed Ra'ad Fanuna, a high-ranking Islamic Jihad operative implicated in manufacturing Kassam rockets and firing them at the western Negev.

The IDF said that it was not behind the attack. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) refused to comment.

Islamic Jihad vowed revenge for the death of Fanuna, who had been wanted by Israel.

Palestinians also claimed that four people were killed, including a child, by a tank shell which hit a home in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sajaya. The IDF denied the report. The army did confirm, however, that troops had killed a number of gunmen in the area.

Also Wednesday, six Kassam rockets fired from northern Gaza landed in and around Sderot, and eight mortars landed in open areas in the western Negev. No casualties were reported in the attacks.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office released a statement condemning the IDF operations.

"The crimes that were committed in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation must be strongly condemned," read the statement.

The statement continued: "This bloody escalation, which was initiated by the Israeli government, is a distinct violation of the cease-fire, and will lead to a chain of retaliations and the prolonging of violence."

The PA chairman's office went on to say that "this aggression comes only a single day after the Sharm e-Sheikh summit and calls into question whether Israel really intends to seal an agreement and negotiate to end the occupation."

Let's review: Abbas's Fatah forces in Gaza crumbled in the face of armed assault by Hamas. Abbas's Fatah forces are completely incapable militarily, and Abbas is impotent politically, to act to stop rocket and mortar fire from Gaza into Israel. But Abbas still finds it necessary to condemn Israel for taking the minumum steps necessary to establish security for its civilian populations on the Gaza border.

A better policy at this time would be for Israel to let Abbas and all of the Fatah Old Guard know that it is time for them to retire. Let them have a secure enclave in the West Bank where they will be able to live out their golden years safe from revenge attacks from Hamas and other wings of Fatah, and let new leaders step forward -- ones with the pragmatic vision to recognize Israel's right to exist and the backbone to take on the terrorist militias. (The biggest obstacle to this policy is that such new leaders may not exist -- the next generation of Fatah leadership may be just as corrupt, violent and intransigent as the Old Guard, and more energetic in their attacks on Israel to boot.)

Reuters headline: Blair gets job, Israel kills Palestinians

Boy, those Israelis are really pissed about Tony Blair, huh? According to this Reuters headline, they're rampaging around like Muslims after a Rushdie knighting!

Blair named Mideast envoy, Israel kills 12 in Gaza
Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:41PM EDT

By Adam Entous

Well, let's see what about Blair's appointment caused Israelis to kill a dozen Palestinians in Gaza.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - World powers named Tony Blair as their Middle East peace envoy on Wednesday, handing the outgoing British prime minister a daunting new challenge on a day Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Quartet of international mediators -- the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- made the announcement shortly after Blair handed power to party colleague Gordon Brown. Last-minute Russian hesitation was overcome.

Blair, who led Britain for 10 years, has strong backing from U.S. President George W. Bush. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the appointment as an opportunity to revive stalled peace efforts.

But the Islamist Hamas movement that routed Abbas's secular forces in Gaza two weeks ago, complicating efforts to found a Palestinian state in both the coastal enclave and the inland West Bank, derided Blair as pro-Israeli....

Oh, wait... turns out the Israelis weren't rampaging against the Blair appointment, they were fighting terrorists.

CLASHES

Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians, mostly gunmen but also a 12-year-old boy and other civilians, on Wednesday in the deadliest raid in the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized the territory, medical workers said.

Israel's operation in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Younis appeared to signal it intended to keep strong military pressure on Hamas along with efforts to isolate the movement financially and politically.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the Israeli incursion was part of a "conspiracy in which Abbas is a participant and which is aimed at pressuring Hamas and the people of Gaza".

Four of the nine militants killed in the Israeli operation belonged to Hamas. Gaza residents said gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and detonated explosive devices in confrontations with Israeli infantry and armour.

Medical workers and residents said a shell fired by an Israeli tank exploded near a house in Gaza City, causing the deaths of the 12-year-old boy and two men. Their bodies were shredded by shrapnel. Residents said the men were civilians.

An Israeli military spokesman said a tank shell fired in Gaza City's Shejaia neighborhood was aimed at a gunman, and he had no information about a house being hit. Residents said tanks in the area later withdrew towards the Israeli frontier.

Two Israeli soldiers were wounded by an anti-tank missile.

Those crazy Reuters headline writers! They're almost as funny as the Reuters photo stringers, aren't they?

Does releasing terrorists make them nicer people?

No better time to consider the wisdom "look before you leap" than this:

SPECULATION is growing that Israel may stage a dramatic U-turn and release the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti as part of a move to stabilise the West Bank.

Barghouti, 48, is serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for killing five people and belonging to a militant organisation, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

Fluent in Hebrew and English, and viewed by many Israelis as a pragmatist who favours negotiations with the Jewish state, he has enormous popularity in the Palestinian street. Many international experts see him as the best hope for peace in the area.

Barghouti would be the odds-on favorite to become the next President of the Palestinian Authority.

Polls carried out last week by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research revealed that if new presidential elections were held today and the only two candidates were Abbas and deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, 40% would not participate. Among those who would take part, 49% would vote for Abbas and 42% for Haniyeh.

But if the competition was between Barghouti and Haniyeh, non-participation would drop to 31% and among those who would participate, 59% said they would vote for Barghouti and 35% for Haniyeh. In the Gaza Strip, Barghouti would win against Haniyeh by 55% to 41%.

Not that releasing Barghouti would be the magic key to peace.

Still, Israeli security sources say Barghouti's release would need to be well timed and could most likely occur if Palestinian elections were to be held. Professor Shai Feldman, director of the Crown Centre for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, said the problem for the Israelis in freeing Barghouti was that such a move could badly backfire and be depicted on the Palestinian streets "as an Israeli-American conspiracy".

"Certainly, elections would provide such a hook, but his release could boomerang badly for the Israelis," he said. "Keep in mind that while he is an intelligent street-fighter and shows much promise as a leader, Barghouti is still an unknown quantity."

Here's an idea: let Barghouti stand for election to the PA presidency from his jail cell, and then grant him a conditional release if and only if (a) he runs on a platform of real peace with Israel, disbanding the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and other terrorist organizations, and (b) wins. If he then takes office and follows through on his peace commitments, let him stay free -- but if he tolerates continuing terrorism, recapture him.

Hey, it might be worth a shot.

Good thing Lebanon's version of OSHA doesn't inspect the refugee camps

Earlier I asked, "Who would bomb terrorists?" Turns out, it's themselves:

The real story, according to Lebanese security officials, is that the explosion occurred while the extremist militants of Jund al-Sham tried to prepare a bomb in the tire shop. The Lebanese security officials said that some of Jund al-Sham members were extracting TNT from a 107 mm shell, apparently to use it in making a bomb.

Among those lightly wounded was a leader of Jund al-Sham, Shehadeh Jawhar, also known as Abu Omar, according to residents and Abu Sharif, the officials said.

Residents said the two dead men were the shop owner ... Jawhar's uncle ... and his nephew.

Also wounded was a Lebanese man named Mohammed Ghuneim, whose brother, Shadi, has been held for months in Saudi Arabia for suspected links with al-Qaida, the security officials said.

Since the Lebanese army and security personnel cannot enter the Palestinian refugee camps, based on the absurd "Cairo agreement" that was agreed on in 1969, the camps have become breeding grounds for terrorism. A number of small, little known Islamic militant groups proclaiming a Jihadist (holy war) ideology have arisen in recent years in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, which have long been home to numerous Palestinian militias.

Jund al-Sham, which is Arabic means literally "Soldiers of Damascus", is a splinter group from another Palestinian militant group called Asbat al-Ansar based in Ein al-Helweh.

Gotta love those "work accidents."