Palestinian youth orchestra disbanded after playing for Holocaust survivors (IHT)

JENIN, West Bank: The Palestinian authorities disbanded a youth orchestra from a West Bank refugee camp after it played for a group of Holocaust survivors in Israel, a local official said Sunday.

Adnan Hindi of the Jenin camp called the Holocaust a "political issue" and accused the orchestra's conductor, Wafaa Younis, of unknowingly dragging the children into a political dispute.

He added that Ms. Younis had been barred from the camp and that the apartment where she taught the 13-member Strings of Freedom orchestra had been boarded up.

Yeah...the peace process in Gaza is going to happen.

CLARIFICATION:
Palestinian authorities are BIGOTS, HATEMONGERS, & UNREASONABLE ENVY DRIVEN JACKASSES!!!!! Anyone who supports their childish and asinine behavior is similarly categorized into that neat little niche...JACKASSES ONE AND ALL.

Carry on...
_________________

UPDATE: A very cursory and non-comprehensive search will reveal in a period of less than 10 minutes that Palestinians have received more than $14 Billion in financial aid (that's money...not food, supplies, medical equp.) in the last seven years. Considering there are 1.5 million "Palestinians"...that's nearly $10,000 per individual. And yet, they live in "ghettos" and "slums."

Documented US financial aid to Palestine (cursory...and missing quite a bit I'm sure)
2002 $72,000,000
2003 $134,484,000
2004 $74,558,000
2005 $274,400,000
2006 $150,000,000
Other: 2004-2005 $716,000,000
$30,000,000 Australia 2007
SUBTOTAL 1,451,442,000

Pledged 2009: $5,200,000,000 (Palestine only requested $2.8 Billion)
SUBTOTAL: $6,651,442,000

$7,400,000,000 (Paris donors conference for Palestinian Authority‘s President Mahmoud Abbas)

TOTAL: $14,051,442,000 (since 2002 and not inclusive of all contributions)

WHY!?

Hope-a-dopes...

He quoted an article by Anne Roiphe, an American Jewish liberal, which said that witnessing the popularity of Mr. Lieberman in Israel made her feel "as if my spouse had cheated on me with Mussolini."

She added: "We here in America are waiting as of this writing for a government to emerge in Jerusalem, and most of us keep on hoping that its shape will not preclude the peace process, will not doom a two-state solution, will not destroy the hope that our new president brings to the table."

Are there any liberals out there who can reason and evaluate beyond the level of a punch drunk three year old? This "hope" nonsense goes beyond annoying in that I feel pity and sympathy for those shallow and naïve enough to actually believe that this is a tangible and substantial quality.

Of course, for Israel's critics, including those who firmly support the existence of a Jewish state, the problem is not one of image but of policy. They say that four decades of occupation, the settling of half a million Israeli Jews on land captured in 1967, the economic strangling of Gaza for the past few years and the society's growing indifference toward a Palestinian state are all reasons Israel has lost favor abroad, and that no amount of image buffing will change that.

Israel's critics (such as the International Herald Tribune) which published un-vetted Hamas accounts of the latest skirmish in Gaza including inflated casualty reports etc. Or, are we referring to the anti-Semitic jackasses who haunt the halls of the United Nations? Let's not forget the required clarification when the 1967 War is noted by a media organization. Egypt, Jordan, and Syria amassed tanks and soldiers on the Israeli border and started a war in which they had their lunch handed to them. Israel, correctly, expanded their territory in the process. There are repercussions...you know...when you attack someone and lose.

As far as being indifferent to the Palestinians...I would be far from indifferent, and they wouldn't like it. They should be treated reflective of how they treat others. Form your own conclusions on that comment.

Insane in the membrane...

Clinton said the United States was pledging $900 million. She gave no breakdown of the funds, but her spokesman, Robert A. Wood, said on Sunday that it included $300 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza and about $600 million in budget and development aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank.

Clinton said the Obama administration is committed to engaging vigorously and intensively in the Mideast to push for a durable peace.

"We have worked with the Palestinian Authority to install safeguards that will ensure our funding is only used where and for whom it is intended and does not end up in the wrong hands," Clinton told the conference, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks provided in advance by the State Department.

Meanwhile, high ranking Hamas officials (terrorists) required medical attention due to blisters forming while rubbing their hands together vigorously.

More HERE.

Elementary, my dear Abdullah...

Oh...this is so golden (via: Ghost of a Flea)

Small investors in Gaza face losses as tunnel industry collapses.

I'll forego the rimshot...and urge you to read the article. It is comedy gold wrapped up in what can only be the most incredible lack of deductive reasoning ever.

Abdullah is one of thousands of small investors in Gaza who were tempted to put their money into the tunnel business. The Hamas government turned a blind eye to the trend since it was making good use of the income toward tunnels.

But now, at least on the surface of things, Hamas is showing much determination in tackling the trend. In recent days, rumors spread throughout the Strip that local police arrested a broker who collected an almost fictional-sounding amount of money -$480 million dollars – in investments.

Official sources in the Strip provided no details on the arrest, but unofficial reports said the amount collected by the broker in question was much lower.

Hamas sends out their "fund raisers" to sell investment shares in the creation of a vast array of "smuggling" tunnels. The investors (Gazans) somehow don't associate these "fund raisers" with the party that benefits the most from the tunnels (Hamas). Every once in a while they tempt the populace with a get rich quick scheme by paying off dividends. This bags more investors. The tunnels expand/ multiply while Hamas takes the money that their bag men ("fund raisers") collect to purchase weapons. It was a ponzi scheme to some extent.

The weapons are smuggled back into Gaza through these magic tunnels along with various contraband (that also creates a minimal profit). In short, it's an underground version of the Wal-mart sportsman department without a waiting period where the consumer finances the stock in advance.

I don't know which is more astounding...Abdullah not understanding that Hamas was using him to finance and transport guns/rockets/ ammunition...or Hamas stating that they were looking into the matter.

Quick...call the post office...I need a policeman !!!

THE HAGUE: The Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate potential war crimes committed by Israeli commanders during the recent war in Gaza.

The Palestinian minister of justice, Ali Kashan, first raised the issue during a visit to the court's chief prosecutor late last month, and he and other officials are expected back again in The Hague this week, court officials said.

I don't think this is meant as a joke. But, I could be wrong. I mean...the "International Criminal Court in The Hague" is a joke, and always will be. I was, however, referring to the Palestine Authority actually pursuing this. After all:

The court here is the world's first permanent international criminal court, created to examine war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It can prosecute any citizen from the 108 countries that are currently members of the court. The United Nations Security Council can bring cases irrespective of the nationality of the accused or the location of the crime.

Israel is not a member and the Palestinian territories, not being recognized as a sovereign nation, appear not to fulfill the requirements.

(if you could see me...I'd look confused) Put aside the outright bias and ineptitude of such a endeavor. Put aside the extrordinary lengths Israel went through in an effort to avoid civilian deaths (to the extent that they called to warn folks that a bomb was on the way). Put aside the fact that neither Israel or the Palestinian Authority qualifies to be heard in the Court. What you're left with is this:

In order to qualify to be heard in an International Court that self-proclaims authority over the 108 members states...you need to be SOVEREIGN !!!

(I still have that confused look on my face...and it's not going away)

That's it...paint the target a little brighter on your chest...

RAFAH, Gaza Strip: It was Friday, the Muslim day of rest, but the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt was a hive of activity. Men scraped sandy soil out of holes that had served as tunnels for smuggling, and were one of the main targets of Israel's assault.

Now, less than a week after it ended, Gazans were back, plunging deep underground with lamps to carry rocky loads of soil out on pulleys.

"Everybody's busy rebuilding now," said a manager of one digging team. "In a month, it will be back to normal."

The defiant pose seemed surprisingly brazen in light of recent events: Israel said smuggling tunnels were a prime concern, after Hamas rockets, in attacking the Gaza Strip, and it hit dozens of them in airstrikes during the war. But the tunnels are the principle livelihood for many people here, and as soon as the bombing stopped, they were right back in them with their shovels.

Stop the carnage!!! The Israelis are barbarians!!! The proportional firepower used by the Israelis was overkill!!!

Are the Palestinians really this stupid??? How vacuous and obtuse do you have to be to flaunt the continuation of one of the primary motives on the Israeli action? And, I'd like to point out that those interviewed in the IHT article do not identify themselves (for the most part) as Hamas. They are Gazans...they are your everyday, run of the mill...Palestinians.

The tunnels do not address the more important question of reconstruction. Though the focus internationally has been on who will receive the money - the West does not want Hamas to get any - here in Rafah, a far more urgent question is whether the Israelis will let materials through official crossings. Tunnels, managers said, will not work.

"Reconstruction now depends on the Israeli's good will," said Jabbar Qeshta, deputy mayor of Rafah, and a member of Hamas.

The municipality has three bulldozers and about 30 cement mixers, Qeshta said, but the most basic ingredient was missing.

"Tell them I want cement," he said.

To summarize...Hamas (with the support of most of the Palestinian constituency in Gaza) lobs rockets continuously on Israeli border towns. Israel responds by taking out the origination of the mortars (continuously hid in residential as well as UN operated buildings), attempts to destroy the tunnels by which the armaments are being smuggled into Gaza, and make a concerted effort to neutralize those responsible for the decision making.

The entire cadre of media morons attempts to show Israel in an unfavorable light, and apply Sainthood to the Palestinians. The United Nations does the same (as expected). A ceasefire is finally realized (although way too early in my opinion).

And NOW...regular everyday Palestinians flaunt that they are continuing on by rebuilding the tunnels such that this same scenario can take place again in the near future.

"Reconstruction now depends on the Israeli's good will."

Yeah...you know what...screw their future...by their own idiotic murderous hands.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Bureacratic lackey...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: The U.N. chief inspected the devastation wrought by Israel's onslaught in Gaza on Tuesday, leading a moment of silence at the smoldering U.N. headquarters, as the territory's militant Hamas rulers, triumphant at having survived, held victory rallies amid the ruins.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, appearing stern and saddened at a ceremony at the burned out U.N. headquarters in Gaza, demanded an Israeli investigation into strikes on United Nations facilities. Ban asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence for victims of the offensive, who included nearly 40 Palestinians who had sought refuge at a U.N. school shelled by Israel.

Hamas held victory rallies...eh...triumphant at having survived? More than likely they were celebrating the demonization of Israel by the global media and the anti-semitic favortism displayed by the United Nations. Look at the first sentence of this article..."wrought", "onslaught", "devastation"...to describe Israel's contribution. "Triumphant" to describe Hamas.

The basis for the United Nations' position to secure a cease-fire at all costs was grounded in the anti-semitism for which they have become well known. However, it also rests in the current mentality of the emerging defanged populous that "peace" is always the best path. It used to be that being "ethically correct" was the ultimate endeavor. We are losing that philosophy, and that benefits the wrong people on this planet.

Ban called the attacks on the U.N. headquarters and two of its schools "outrageous" and demanded a full investigation through proper judiciary systems. He also demanded guarantees it would never happen again.

Yet, Hamas was using UN buildings (including the school) to fire mortars and store weapons... I refer you to LGF:

The UN and the mainstream media are wailing and accusing Israel of war crimes (yes, again) after the IDF returned fire at a UN school from which Palestinians were firing mortars.

The explosives and booby traps installed in the school by Hamas then blew up, killing dozens of people.

And the world blames Israel.

My personal opinion is that Israel stopped too soon...was not brutal enough...and suffers from the same politically correct nonsense that has partially neutered the United States' military. At the same time, I wouldn't be too confortable if I resided near an Iranian testing laboratory.

Quit saying that...someone will get hurt...

PARIS: The French authorities will increase their checks on television, radio and the Internet to prevent any hate messages prompted by the conflict in Gaza from spreading, Prime Minister François Fillon said Friday.

France is experiencing an increase in anti-Semitic acts apparently related to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in three weeks. Thirteen Israelis have been killed.

Meanwhile...in the real world.

But almost every day brings news of another attack on a synagogue, a rash of xenophobic graffiti or, in some cases, violence against people. The police are investigating allegations that radical pro-Israel youths beat up three Arab teenagers Monday outside their school in a wealthy area of Paris.

So...in order to "crack down" on synagogue attacks, xenophobic graffiti and actual physical violence (not to mention Muslim Yutes burning cars)...the French authorites are going to rigorously monitor the internet for someone saying something they think is offensive.

I'm not a big fan of the French to begin with...and this will not close the gap of my discontent.

PS: Don't you just love the way Reuters evaluates morality based on how many people have died...and avoid the basis of the conflict in the first place? The Israelis 13 Palestinians 1,100...Israelis bad...Palestinians victims...(Margin of error 100% due to bias reporting)

Past Performance breeds a cynic...

Morbid?..HELL YES. This is the photograph that The Guardian chose to use in support of the United Nations warning Israel about war crimes. The caption underneath the photo reads thus:

The body of a girl who was found in the rubble of her destroyed house following an Israeli air strike on a house in Zeitoun Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

Can we trust The Guardian to be delivering hard news without agenda driven opinion. Of course not. They are unapologetically leftist and if they bent any further towards favoring Hamas, they would require a lumbar fusion with fixation.

For example...who took the photograph?

Mohammed Abed took it.

Who is Mohammed Abed?

He is the same individual who took this photograph with the following caption.

Palestinian guerilla fighters prepare a homemade bomb in Rafah refugee camp south of the Gaza Strip. (AFP/Mohammed Abed)(h/t Backspin)

That's some pretty good access Mr. Abed has as a lowly AFP stringer. Why, those high school kids working on their science project didn't even hear him sneak up and snap the pic...

And, where do you suppose Mr. Abed's personal opinions on the conflict reside?

VERJEE (voice-over): He's looking at a breathtaking image he's just made where the whole Muslim world is represented. But Palestinian photographer Mohammed Abed is between two worlds. Here in Mecca he's both journalist and pilgrim. His life and livelihood is Gaza. He says he's had enough.

MOHAMMED ABED, PHOTOGRAPHER: I need to change my mood. Every time I shoot the blood, it stretches between Israeli and Arab and Palestinian and Gaza. Ok, I should be upset but this makes a problem for me in my mind, in my emotions you know.

VERJEE: He's emotional in Mecca, too, he says. But the difference is he's anxious to cover this story and be a part of it.

ABED: I saw millions of people going around the Kaaba with the same clothes, the same chants, men and women together. It stopped me in my tracks, he says. Seeing the people circling the Kaaba really moved me. He says he was so awestruck at first, he couldn't even shoot. When he finally did, his pictures of the Kaaba ended up in the paper.

VERJEE: Out on the streets and on the marble of the grand mosque, Mohammed aims his camera at the faces he rarely gets to shoot. Like this old man. Or these women who wanted to pose. But it's not all smooth outside the grand mosque. He runs into police, ever-ready to pounce on photographers who aren't allowed near the Kaaba. A few feet away, he sees fellow Palestinians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know me?

VERJEE: Taking pictures of them makes him smile. The holiest day of the hajj pilgrimage is day two, the day of Arafat. Mohammed puts down his camera and utters a silent prayer alongside almost 3 million Muslims. He has a special plea.

ABED: I want to pray to the Palestinian people to finish the occupation and finish the clashes with Israel. This is the important thing I like.

VERJEE: Mohammed tries to cleanse his spirit here and erase the images of loss and pain in Gaza and replace them with this.

Well, he's a Palestinian, and "his life and livelihood is Gaza" according to the transcription of a CNN report of haj back in 2007. He freely admits that when he shoots "the blood" it stretches between Israeli and Arab and Palestinian and Gaza. I assume that this is an interpretation suggesting the opposite of coming together. Regardless, it's hard to believe that the photographer isn't a bit more invested in the story for a particular participant rather than a non-bias observer.

Is the child in The Guardian's photograph really dead?

I won't take Mr. Abed's or The Guardian's word on that. The AFP has a history of agenda drive photo staging (h/t Jawa Report). If the child is really dead, should we take The Guardian's or Mr. Abed's word that the Israelis were responsible? Neither hold any credibility based on past performance and behavior. So even if The Guardian's story and Mr. Abed's photograph are legitimately represented...they have compromised the effort in the past.

So, again...I am forced to look at the photograph at the top of the post...read the accompanying article...and conclude that "I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT..." Mohammed Abed, The Guardian, and the AFP have, really, given me no choice in the matter...

Garbage in...garbage out...

PARIS: The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had discovered "shocking" scenes — including small children next to their mothers' corpses — when its representatives gained access for the first time to parts of Gaza battered by Israeli shelling. It accused Israel of failing to meet obligations to care for the wounded in areas of combat.

In response, the Israeli military did not comment directly on the allegation. In a statement, it accused Hamas, its foe in Gaza, of deliberately using "Palestinian civilians as human shields" and said the Israeli Army "works in close cooperation with international aid organizations during the fighting so that civilians can be provided with assistance."

Watch this...here is a perfect example of how the media outlets reporting all kinds of propaganda and past photoshopping of photographs has trickled down to their readers...

I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF THIS...

Maybe it's true...maybe it's not. The fact is...I don't trust any of the media outlets to report the news without an agenda. Therefore, even if this is true...I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF THIS...

The International Red Cross wouldn't lie...would they?

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (JTA) -- Israel's exclusion from the global Red Cross organization appears to have been the pivotal factor in the resignation of the head of the American Red Cross. Dr. Bernadine Healy said last Friday that she had been forced out of her job over policy differences with her board.

That gosh darn credibility thingy is a real stickler.

Nyuk...nyuk...nyuk...

TEHRAN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Gaza will become Israel's graveyard, the speaker of Iran's parliament was quoted as saying on Sunday after the Jewish state launched a ground offensive deep into the coastal Palestinian territory.

Israeli tanks and infantry battled Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, hours after launching a ground offensive after eight days of deadly air strikes failed to halt the Islamist group's rocket attacks on Israel.

"The Zionists faced the powerful resistance of the zealous Palestinians ... the Zionists should know that Gaza will become their graveyard," Mehr News Agency quoted speaker Ali Larijani as telling parliament.

Meanwhile...back in the real world...Eagles picked by 3 over the Vikes...

Pi$$ing down a well...

William Teach (Pirate's Cove) highlights President Bush's radio address, and then points out a missed opportunity:

See, what Bush should have done was blame it all on Israel, at which point all the moonbats with Bush Derangement Syndrome would have all of a sudden decided that Hamas is the bad guy and switched their normal support of any terrorist and/or America hating group/country to Israel.

There is some surreal truth in that...

Of course, one would have to wonder why in the name of all that is Holy the Bush Administration keeps doing this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States announced on Tuesday it would give $85 million to the U.N. agency providing aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The announcement comes as the humanitarian situation is worsening in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has been pounded by Israel for the past four days in retaliation for rockets fired into the Jewish state by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

The U.S. funds, which will help cover appeals for aid by the agency for 2009, would pay for urgently needed food, medicines and other humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees, said the department in a statement.

Show of hands...who is deranged enough to think that any funding given in cold hard currency through the surrogate United Nations is going to be used as intended? And, if by some miracle, the currency finds itself in the hands of the Palestinians...which of you has the extreme optimism to believe that it will be used for food, medicines and humanitarian aid?

The Worm Turns...

CAIRO: A sustained Israeli ground operation in Gaza would sharply increase public pressure on President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to do more to help the Palestinians of Gaza, despite widespread feelings here that the radical group Hamas provoked the current crisis.

While few criticize Mubarak himself, there is unhappiness with the government's relative silence about Israel's bombing campaign and its Palestinian victims, and the apparent lack of diplomatic pressure from Cairo on Israel and the United States to stop the fighting.

Instead, government officials from Mubarak to Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit have blamed Hamas for abandoning the cease-fire with Israel and seeming to seek Israeli retaliation. On Thursday, for example, Aboul Gheit said that Egypt had warned Hamas of Israel's intentions, but Hamas "served Israel the opportunity on a golden platter to hit Gaza."

Funny how the article focus is that Egypt blames Hamas...yet make a point of calling the Palestinians victims in the second paragraph.

Then again, what's to stop Israel from heading south after initiating a ground war in Gaza. The current stance of Cairo is likely an exercise in self-preservation. Egypt is right down the road.