Cozy Corner

The CozyWife and I have had an ongoing debate about having an emergency food supply in the house. We prefer to cook fresh foods, so our inventory isn't one that lends well to "just buy an extra box of each item and keep it around" - when all your vegetables are fresh, that doesn't work so well. And we don't want to buy food that we'd never eat, forget to deal with refreshing it, and then have a wasted and pointless expense.

But this weekend, she came up with a very clever plan. Each year, we'll buy a stockpile of goods that will last for at least two years. But at High Holidays, when our congregation makes a call for canned goods for needy families, we will replace our entire supply - and give the previous year's supply as tzedakah.

Now, we'll have our emergency supply on hand, no food will go to waste, *and* we'll end up giving more generously. I think everybody wins. Now, to make a list....

Posted by Andy at 09:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Apparently my earlier question didn't get me banned (or maybe it's the use of a different address to email them than we used to donate after the tsunami). More email from UNICEF:

July 31, 2006

Dear Friend,

Yesterday's attacks in Qana are dramatic evidence that children are once again paying the price of war. As hostilities continue, more than a third of those already killed and injured have been children.

With staff in Lebanon since 1948, UNICEF has been able to rapidly assess the situation of children forced to flee their homes. Their number has increased to more than 400,000, and I hope that you will be able to make a donation today to help these children their hour of need.

UNICEF is providing emergency supplies—including essential medicines, nutritional supplements, and water and sanitation kits—and will begin a measles immunization campaign tomorrow to ward off the outbreak of disease.

This is only the beginning of relief efforts in the region. UNICEF needs $23.8 million to save and protect the children caught in this crisis. Please give generously.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Charles J. Lyons
President, U.S. Fund for UNICEF

ABOUT UNICEF and Israel: UNICEF is non-partisan and does not take sides in conflict situations. UNICEF's concern is the safety and welfare of all children, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion or nationality.

UNICEF has no plans to operate emergency relief programs in Israel. As with many other nations that once received assistance from UNICEF, Israel has attained economic security and no longer qualifies as a developing nation according to international standards. Instead, as one of the world's leading industrial nations, Israel provides assistance to UNICEF. For more information, please click here.

Apparently, enough of us yelled at them that now we get a disclaimer. But my response to them, unaddressed by their website:

Mr. Lyons,

How many Israeli children are displaced as a result of Hizb'allah rockets?

Do you care?

-Andy

Posted by Andy at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Here's a new way to support Israel in her crisis.

Yemin Orde is a youth village / immigrant home located south of Haifa. And it has opened its doors to displaced families from further north, and provided a place of rest for some of its graduates. And, today, they mourn their graduate, Shimon Egda, who fell in battle in Bint Jbael.

They could use a little help. Donate here.

Posted by Andy at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Meryl's got me thinking.

Each year at Pesakh, I tell this story:

For me, the four children represent the four generations of my family coming to America, and the transformation into Reform Jews. My great-grandfather was born on the shtetl, and was "wise" in the ways of Judaism. He came to America, and lived a quiet, Jewish life. He had seen the pogroms firsthand in Russia, and knew that one day, "they" would come to get him. His daughter - my grandmother - was raised in a house where Yiddish was spoken as freely as English, yet with every breath, she was taught to hide her Jewishness; to turn away from it. While smart in the ways of being a Jew, she was "wicked", and turned her back on her heritage. My mother - now the third generation of American Jews - was raised in a Jewish neighborhood. She attended a public school which virtually closed for all Jewish holidays. She could not, however, attend any Jewish events, for her grandfather would warn her, "Do not be marked out, for one day, they will come for you". So she became a simple Jew. She knew that she was a Jew, and the only Yiddish she knew was, "Kleine Kinder hogn groise oiren." - Little children have big ears. On to my generation. There are three of us, and I am the youngest. We did not even know enough to ask. We grew up in a house with a Christmas tree and a menorah. When I was 11, I decided I wanted a bar mitzvah, so my parents dutifully selected a synagogue, and off we went. Of my brothers, one still lights the menorah next to his Christmas tree. The other has recently fallen into (and back out of) evangelic Christianity, and is now a Methodist. And me? I'm a Jew. And may my children be wise.

But today, I was discussing Meryl's post with my mother; and the tragedy in Seattle. And she said to me, "Maybe my grandfather was right."

Posted by Andy at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who don't listen to her podcast, Meryl Yourish transcribed it. Here's a snippet:

When you go to church on Sunday, do you ever wonder if a gunman will break into your church and start indiscriminately shooting?

When you’re going to the gym at the YMCA, do you have armed policemen standing outside the door?

It's always something in the back of your mind, when you're practicing or congregating. If I forget to remove my kipa after services, I sometimes wonder who noticed, or cared if I stopped to pick up dinner. How publicly should I embrace my Judaism? Would I have Seva's courage, to attend and document an anti-Israel protest?

I don't know. Do you?

Posted by Andy at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to Orthodox Union, the White House is being inundated with calls opposing President Bush's support of Israel:

Calls to the White House are running 2 to 1 against President Bush’s strong support for Israel. Please call the White House immediately at (202) 456-1111 and thank the President for standing by Israel. He has been a voice of moral clarity in the wilderness. Please encourage your friends and family to call as well.

You've all been encouraged.

Posted by Andy at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Singapore loves that Arizona heat::

The Bush administration plans to extend Singapore F-16 fighter pilots’ use of an Arizona training range and munitions, in a deal valued at up to $301 million, the Pentagon said on July 28.

The notice did not specify when Singapore’s F-16 pilots started at Luke Air Force Base

Let me help out. From the Luke AFB website:

04 March 1988
First class of two Republic of Singapore AF (RSAF) pilots entered training with 311TFTS under a Peace Carvin FMS Program.

Go Emerald Knights! (h/t: WoC)

Posted by Andy at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jeff Jacoby, one of the two reasons I read the Boston Globe, notes that Americans have reverted to September 10th thinking.

Gallup's numbers suggest two things. First, that most Americans, sizing up the warfare in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, recognize that Hezbollah is the aggressor and that Israel is fighting in self-defense. And second, that most Americans believe this fight has nothing to do with the United States.

I wonder, should we just rebrand September 10th as National Naivete Day?

Posted by Andy at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you hadn't been over to WInds Of Change before, you should go read today's Winds Of War news update. Warning: if you're a news junkie, this is the pure, uncut smack your daddy warned you about.

Posted by Andy at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Two of my favorite authors have recently taken on radical Islam.

Dan Simmons wrote, in April, an interesting story of a Time Traveler warning about the Islamic future:

“Your enemy is he who will give his life to kill you,” said the Time Traveler. “Your enemies are they that wish you and your children and your grandchildren dead and who are willing to sacrifice themselves, or support those fanatics who will sacrifice themselves, to see you and your institutions destroyed. You haven’t figured that out yet – the majority of you fat, sleeping, smug, infinitely stupid Americans and Europeans.”

He stood and set the Scotch glass back in its place on my sideboard. “How, we wonder in my time,” he said softly, “can you ignore the better part of a billion people who say aloud that they are willing to kill your children . . . or condone and celebrate the killing of them? And ignore them as they act on what they say? We do not understand you.”

I'd missed his May/June followup, which included this The End of Faith's analysis of a Pew survey of Muslims in various countries:

Over 38,000 people recently participated in a global survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The results constitute the first publication of its Global Attitudes Project entitled ‘What the World Thinks in 2002.’ The survey included the following questions, posed only to Muslims:

Some people think that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies. Other people believe that, no matter what the reason, this kind of violence is never justified. Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?

Before we look at the results of this study, we should appreciate the significance of the juxtaposed phrases ‘suicide bombing’ and ‘civilian targets.’ We now live in a world in which Muslims have been scientifically polled (with margins of error ranging from 2 to 4 percent) as to whether they support (‘often,’ ‘sometimes,’ rarely,’ or ‘never’) the deliberate murder and maiming of noncombatant men, women, and children in defense of Islam.

The results are about 2/3 of the way down the page. Go read them.

Orson Scott Card chimes in, and notes the most important quality we Americans should be looking for this November, and in two years:

For me, there is only one test of candidates for Congress this fall. Do they actively support aggressive opposition to terrorists and terrorist-supporting nations, including the continuation of the occupation and pacification of Iraq? If both candidates fit that description, then of course you can look at other issues. But whenever the choice is between Churchill and Chamberlain, then no other issue really matters, does it?

Either way, we will be at war with the madmen of the world over the next decade at least. The real issue is just how bloody it will have to be.

Posted by Andy at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Australian synagogues that was attacked? The mufti of Australia declaims it: "Sheik Taj al-din al-Hilali said today that those responsible for the attack were not religious people." Aside from wondering how he knows that, I wonder if there is a trend going on in Australia?

Posted by Andy at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EU referendum collects pictures from Qana, and notes the mishandling of the dead for PR purposes. I'd note that there are an awful lot of gentlemen in flak jackets and helmets, and wouldn't they look paramilitary, but we can see that Hizb'allah has a very liberal 'dress-down' policy.

Posted by Andy at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently, the building in Qana did not collapse immediately following an IDF airstrike:

"The attack on the structure in the Qana village took place between midnight and one in the morning. The gap between the timing of the collapse of the building and the time of the strike on it is unclear," Brigadier General Amir Eshel, Head of the Air Force Headquarters told journalists at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, following the incidents at Qana.
Eshel and the head of the IDF's Operational Branch, Major General Gadi Eisnkot said the structure was not being attacked when it collapsed, at around 8:00 in the morning.
The IDF believes that Hizbullah explosives in the building were behind the explosion that caused the collapse.

I will admit, this one left me stunned. Elder of Ziyon has a little more.

Sadly, this has accomplished a little of the Anti-Zionist Alliance's goal: IAF operations over Southern Lebanon are suspended for 48 hours:

Israel has agreed to suspend its aerial bombardment of southern Lebanon for 48 hours, effective immediately, to allow for an investigation into Sunday's bombing that killed 56 civilians, a U.S. State Department official said early Monday.

And some excuses for irrationality: The Palestinians are too distracted to release Gilad Shalit, Iran now must "reevaluate" it's response to the incentives plan around its nuclear capability.

Wow, this is starting to sound like a plot from a science fiction novel.

(bonus hat tip: Dave at IsraellyCool.)

Posted by Andy at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Sunday, Hizb'allah slaughtered 37 children in the village of Qana, in addition to a score of adults. Hizb'allah leader Nasrallah was not available for comment, as he was coordinating his next strikes with Syrian and Iranian government officials in Damascus, but a notional Hizb'allah operative gloated off camera, "We knew we could get the Israelis with this one! 50 of our own people! They are shahid to the cause! And many of them were handicapped, so we have killed two birds with one stone!"

For the past three days, Hizb'allah operatives in and around Qana have been playing a cat-and-mouse game, as operatives launch missiles at innocent civilians in towns and cities in sovereign Israel. With each launch, the IAF would target the launchers to protect their own civilians. Meanwhile, other operatives were collecting shahids. These innocent civilians were collected into one large building, "for their safety", and not provided information about Israeli warnings for innocent civilians to leave the village and head north for safety. Rumors that the civilians were held by force could not be substantiated at press time, as none of the shahid were available for comment.

Hizb'allah's public relations department is said to be pleased with their success, as the international media blames Israel for this latest of death of human shields. As hoped, The Jerusalem Post is comparing this to the shelling of Lebanese civilians at a UN outpost ten years ago in Qana. Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is apparently more resolute than Shimon Peres was a decade ago,

"I express deep regret, along with all of Israel and the IDF, for the civilian deaths in Qana. Nothing could be further from our intentions and our interests than harming civilians - everyone understands that. When we do harm civilians, the whole world recognizes that it is an exceptional case that does not characterize us. In contrast, Hizbullah has launched rockets with the aim of murdering innocent civilians in northern Israel."

In protest, the UN compound in Beirut came under attack from Lebanese rioters. It is not clear if the rioters were aware of the impotence of the UN.

Hamas also seized this opportunity, claiming that Qana would be the excuse for its attacks against Israel. An anonymous terrorist was overheard, "Whew! Now we have a good excuse for the next year or two of murders, bombings, and Qassam launches at women and children in Sderot! Because who knows when Israel will hand us another opportunity like this?"

***

Disclaimer: All quotes by terrorists are made up, and probably fictional. Death of innocents is truly heartbreaking, and while I denounce Hizb'allah for causing these deaths, my sympathy lies with the families of the deceased, and the IAF pilots involved.

Update [31 July 2006: 00:31 UTC-5]: The IDF asserts the building was destroyed by Hizb'allah. Wow. Apparently, I didn't go far enough on this one.

Posted by Andy at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (4)

A Frenchman, a Texan, and an Israeli are captured by cannibals (Of course, isn't this the norm?). The cannibals explain to their captives that they prefer well-fed meat, so offer each one a last request. The Frenchman proclaims, 'Certainement! Escargot, sauteed in a beure blanc, and a glass of Chateau Margaux 1971!' A few cannibals race off, and return with this meal (where the rest of the Margaux went is another tale). After he finishes his meal, the cannibals toss him in the pot, and start stoking the fire. The Texan declares, 'I'll have a Black Angus porterhouse, two inches thick, cooked medium rare, with a side of taters. And a bottle of Longhorn, while you're at it.' Another group of cannibals runs off, and return with his meal. When he finishes, the cannibals add him into the pot, alongside the Frenchman, who is starting to look a bit peaked.

The cannibals turn to the Israeli, and ask him for his final request. The Israeli looks around, and says, "Please, just kick me in the balls. Really hard." The cannibals look a bit stunned, then, after verifying this is what he wants, do so. As they go to throw him in the pot, the Israeli pulls out a gun, and proceeds to kill the cannibals. He helps the Texan and the Frenchman out of the pot - both looking a bit worse for wear - and the Frenchman gasps, "Why? Why did you not shoot them before they almost killed us all?"

The Israeli replied, "If I'd shot them earlier, you'd have a UN resolution accusing me of disproportionate force up in no time."

Posted by Andy at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Solomonia recommends watching Obsession:

Honest Reporting's film on radical Islam, Obsession, is available in full on Google Video. Just watching it now. Looks like a must-see. [via Atlas]

Update: I watched it. Do NOT miss it.

I haven't seen it yet, and I'm taking the CozyWife and CozikinGirl to a party, so you'll get my review later. If you, on the other hand, have nothing else to do tonight, watch it, and give me a movie review.

Posted by Andy at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

First, he gets arrested for drunk driving:

Gibson told the deputy, "You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you." The report also says "Gibson almost continually [sic] threatened me saying he 'owns Malibu' and will spend all of his money to 'get even' with me."

The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

Then he apologizes:

After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the LA County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone who I have offended. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.

Hmmm, anyone notice what he didn't apologize for?

***
Updates here and here.

Posted by Andy at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Power Line notes the likely shipments of WMDs to Syria from Iraq:

Based on this and a number of other reports, it seems likely that some, at least, of Iraq's WMDs were shipped to Syria shortly before the war started in 2003.

Now I have to wonder. If Syria is arming Hizb'allah, and Syria has Saddam's WMDs, are we going to see those WMDs come into play in this war?

Posted by Andy at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I mean, we've all been criticizing the UN Human Rights Council for unfairly focusing on Israel, right? Well, they've decided to focus on a more egregious violator:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United Nations Human Rights Committee on Friday urged U.S. lawmakers to give the District of Columbia a voting member of Congress, saying the lack of such representation appeared inconsistent with international law.

The rebuke came in a report released by the committee in Geneva on Friday which said residents of the U.S. capital deserved to take part in government affairs directly or through freely chosen representatives under the 1992 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Hmmm, I like that the HRC is trying to bring everyone up to their standard. Hey, China, Cuba, how go those free elections? Saudi Arabia, can you show us how to improve women's rights?

Posted by Andy at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This may or may not be in error:

The Syrian government has knowledge about the presence of al Qaeda cells in Lebanon and Syria and is prepared to share it with the United States, Sky News reported July 23, citing Syrian Cabinet minister Amr Salem. Such al Qaeda cells have grown since Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanon, he said. Salem added that Syria is also prepared to mediate discussions on Iraq between the United States and Iran.

Syria categorically denied on Tuesday reports that it has information about the terrorist al- Qaida organization in Lebanon and that it is ready to offer them to Washington as "baseless".

The press office of Syran Ministry of Communication and Technology made the denial in a statement, the official SANA news agency reported.

The French AFP news agency carried a report by Britain's Sky News television on Sunday that Syria is prepared to tell the United States the whereabouts of al-Qaida cells in Lebanon.

They quoted Syrian Communication and Technology Minister Amr Salem as saying that "Syria has real hard knowledge."

The Syrian statement denied the reports, saying that "the news is categorically baseless and these issues have not been raised at all during the interview or in any talk of the minister with this news network or any media side."

The press office of the ministry has asked representative of the Sky News network about the subject and got an official statement that the al-Qaida issue was not part of the interview and the network did not say the minister has made such remarks, said the statement.

"Such lies and deviation are only to deform the honorable stances of Syria", it stressed.

Sky News' website is mum; even though they seem to be the root source of all of this. So either:

• Several news agencies misquoted Sky News. Unlikely.


• Sky News misquoted Amr Salem. Given that at least the Daily Telegraph has specific Amr Salem quotes, this is a bit doubtful, but a possibility.


• Amr Salem exceeded his authority in disclosing this information. Possible, but I'm not sure that's the likelihood.


• The Syrians used this venue to leak that al Qaeda is in Lebanon (like we didn't know that), either to warn the US against adventures in Beirut, or to warn the Lebanese to stay in line. We'll have to see what game they're playing, but I'm going to put my money on this one.

Posted by Andy at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Via InstaPundit, Pajamas Media covers a Pakistani Muslim on a killing spree ... in Seattle:

At least five people were shot, one of them fatally, Friday afternoon at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and one person was arrested, authorities said.

Oh, wait. That's an AP feed, did they leave something out? Via Meryl, we find better coverage:

Six women were shot - one fatally - this afternoon at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle by a man who told a witness he was upset about "what was going on in Israel."

Women! Why am I not surprised? Always the anti-Semites target our women and children.

police officers throughout the city were being asked to step up patrols of synagogues and mosques.

"We are protecting mosques because there is always concern about retaliatory activity," he said.

Huh. Yeah, because that's what Jews, especially American Jews, do. But how much do you want to bet one of those mosques has an imam, known as a firebrand, who denounced Israel and her Jewish benefactors in America, and the shooter listened to? Maybe a sermon with wording like, "As long as American Jews funnel money to the Zionist oppressor, the Palestinian resistance will fail"?

LGF calls it Sudden Jihad Syndrome. I think that's too nice. I bet it is incited, and it's murder.

There's discussion over at Winds of Change. AL has a John Brunner reference, which is always appreciated, even if not so relevant here.

Posted by Andy at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

Temple Israel has a host of support activiities coming up:

Give generously to Or Hadash, our sister congregation in Haifa. Continue below to read the first-hand report of the situation in Haifa from our beloved friend, Edgar Nof, Rabbi of Or Hadash: Congregation Or Hadash.
...
we urge you to join Rabbi Zecher and Rabbi Kolin and other members of the congregation at the Temple on August 15 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. for a briefing on the current crisis and an opportunity to discuss personal reactions and concerns. Joining us will be Seth Brysk, director of the Israel Action Center, JCRC.
...
As I write this lengthy letter, my wife, Irene, and I are preparing to leave Boston on August 3rd for Israel. Our initial reason for the trip was to celebrate the wedding of the son of our intimate friends. Now we’ll travel also as an expression of our solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are forced yet again to fight for the right to live in their own land, free from terror. We pray that our people will be protected from harm and that the day will come soon when it is no longer necessary for them to resort to force in order to defend their children, their land and the Jewish future. I look forward to sharing our stories with you upon our return. My clergy colleagues, Cantor Einhorn and Rabbis Zecher, Morrison and Kolin join me both in this correspondence and in wishing you the very best for the rest of the summer.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Ronne Friedman

Go read the rest of the open letter.

Posted by Andy at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

He may be a great economist, but Jeffrey Alan Miron doesn't get it. Neither does his recommended read, Matthew Yglesias.

It's usually best in the American context to keep one's criticisms of Israel polite and measured, but there are times when it's better to be blunt in the hopes of achieving clarity. Israel's current war in Lebanon is strategically blinkered and morally obtuse. The idea that the United States or American Jews like me should support it out of friendship is akin to the notion that a real friend would lend a car to a drunk buddy after the bartender confiscates his keys. I understand why the Israeli government and public think this war is a good idea, but they're simply mistaken.

The cross-border raid to capture Israeli soldiers was, of course, another matter. But here Israel had options. If they wanted their soldiers back, they could have traded some Hezbollah captives for them. If they wanted to act tough in the face of threats, they could have refused to negotiate and mounted a smallish, well-targeted retaliatory strike that would have garnered significant international support. Instead, Israel chose to escalate a low-intensity border conflict that posed no serious threat to its security into a much larger-scale battle it can't possibly win -- one that will only harden anti-Israeli sentiments in its neighbor to the north.

Here's where Matt just demonstrates a flaw in understanding. First off, negotiating with terrorists - satisfying their demands - just provides an economic incentive for them to continue. They are kind of like spammers; just taking it doesn't make them go away; in fact, they come on stronger. And second, this isn't just retaliation. There isn't an economy, where one Israeli life is worth so many dollars or Hizb'allah lives. One life. One life has the same value as a thousand, or a million. And, frankly, in defense of their home, Israel has the right to flexible response.

Israel and its friends abroad need to face reality -- the problem that needs solving is the Palestinian problem. Were Israel's conflict with the Palestinians resolved, other challenges like Hezbollah would soon melt away. The idea of firing rockets into Israeli towns would appear absurd. Iran and Syria would have nothing to gain from supporting groups that behaved in that manner. Arab public opinion would no longer applaud the firing of rockets at random into Israeli cities.

Hah! And, with one stroke, he tells us the solution. Unfortunately, as the prisoner's plan so aptly elucidates, a not-more-than-one-state solution is all the current Palestinian leadership would accept. Of course, Matthew is right; that solution would lead to no more rockets into Israeli cities.

Matthew does have a point. Until the Palestinian issue is resolved, Israel won't know peace. But until the rest of the Arab world knows war, the issue will not be resolved.

Posted by Andy at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SoccerDad asked for a compare and contrast of two articles. On one hand, we have Charles Krauthammer:

Had Israel wanted to destroy Lebanese civilian infrastructure, it would have turned out the lights in Beirut in the first hour of the war, destroying the billion-dollar power grid and setting back Lebanon 20 years. It did not do that. Instead, it attacked dual-use infrastructure -- bridges, roads, airport runways -- and blockaded Lebanon's ports to prevent the reinforcement and resupply of Hezbollah. Ten-thousand Katyusha rockets are enough. Israel was not going to allow Hezbollah 10,000 more.

And, on the other hand, we have Eugene Robinson:

The one thing that's clear so far is that Rice believes that allowing Israel to decimate Hezbollah and drive what's left of the group out of southern Lebanon is such a valuable step toward her "new" Middle East that it's worth crippling a nascent Arab democracy with hundreds of civilian casualties and billions of dollars worth of infrastructure damage.

The obvious contrast is, of course, that Krauthammer puts the damage in context - Israel is doing the bare minimum damage to achieve their means. Robinson doesn't bother. The telling quote, however, is one that SoccerDad left out from Robinson's article:

Rice's predecessors have all discovered that containment, incrementalism, trust-building and similar unglamorous, snail-paced measures are the worst way to handle the Middle East -- except for all the other conceivable ways.

In fact, Robinson is just plain wrong. Israel has a nice, quiet border with Jordan. A nice, quiet border with Egypt. By and large, a nice, quiet border with Syria. What do those three borders have in common? Oh, yeah - Israel kicked their teeth in. And when they came back for more, Israel did it again. And again. And again.

Now, the territories and Lebanon? That's where Israel has tried those unglamorous measures. And, let's see - attacks across her border. Her citizens killed. Her soldiers abducted.

And now, a lot of us think Israel needs to kick some teeth in. Because in the Middle East, power is respected. Diplomacy isn't.

Posted by Andy at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, my complimentary copy of Patriots Football Weekly arrived! Everyone has early warning that in two weeks, the preseason starts, and you may have to put up with occasionally outbursts of football excitement. The real excitement will be on September 17th, when Joe Schick's NY Jets have to face up against the Patriots. And we know your head coach!

Posted by Andy at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Before I dive in, a reminder to each of you to take a few moments this evening to send a prayer to Israel. The IDF, the refugees, the stalwarts in their basements, the livebloggers - whomever. Then take a moment and pray for the Lebanese, who need all the help they can get to make it out of this.

Dave at IsraellyCool has done the most amazing job of liveblogging. Really; if you're going to read only one website, this is it. (Well, except for Cozy Corner; don't abandon me!) In today's roundup: New missiles in use by Hizb'allah, Anderson Cooper outs the Hizb'allah press machine, Ha'aretz succumbs to a moment of moral obfuscation, Charles Krauthammer's piece on Israel's restraint and Hizb'allah's lack thereof, Dan Gillerman makes fun of the UN, Walid Jumblatt thinks this is all an Iranian military intelligence gathering operation, Palestinians are murdering solitary Jews, and some Australian editorials. All this, and he points us to the Hizb'allah Dating Service.
Meryl offers us Ha'aretz's laziness (or bias), reporters trying to kill off sympathy for Israel, the divine irony of a Nasrallah hiding in an Iranian embassy, and a brief summary of actions, including a Palestinian attack on a kindergarten. She also points out that the UN has moved their unarmed observers in Hizb'allah-land to locations with lightly armed observers, and suggests that maybe the UN should just evacuate. She also highlights that Bint Jbeil wasn't an ambush. For some reason, though, she isn't taking it easy! Meryl, Shabbat approaches! Go curl up with Tig and Gracie for a few hours!
SoccerDad post the daily Haveil havalim, which includes notes about Hizb'allah using a mosque as a firing position (I thought they didn't do that?), Hizb'allah's training as a regular army (by...?), a discussion of morale with IDF soldiers, and a new assignment. I'll need to look into that one.
After her husband Craig takes over her blog to rip apart David Broder, Betsy Newmark antes up the $10.95 for Internet access and opines on the worst foreign policy blunders of the US. (Elder of Ziyon answers, "Oslo").
Elder of Ziyon follows up with a 2004 video of Palestinians gunmen using a UN ambulance as a transport vehicle. Hmmm, doesn't the ICRC care about that? Or the UN? Apparently not.
AbbaGav posits that just maybe, Nasrallah's refrain is, "Would I say something that wasn't true?"
Despite a DoS attack and a makeover, Solomonia is back it, making fun of the perverse logic of Al-Hayat's columnist. And apparently FNC liked the same Seva quote I did.
Honest Reporting UK heads into Northern Israel.

Elder makes his tzedakah matching challenge, and is looking for the next mensch to do it. Anyone? Even if you're not matching, check out one of the sources on this post, and give!

Posted by Andy at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier, I wrote about UNICEF soliciting funds - but only for Lebanese children. I wrote back to UNICEF, asking about Israeli children, and received this response:

Thank you for contacting the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. We welcome the opportunity to respond to your questions regarding UNICEF’s work for and with Israel. UNICEF's mission is to ensure every child’s right to health, equality, education, and protection.
UNICEF is very concerned about the impact of the Middle East conflict on children, including the deaths of both Israeli and Lebanese children. UNICEF’s position in all conflicts is that children should be treated as "zones of peace," neither targeted, recruited to fight, nor otherwise made victims of an adult conflict. There are no exceptions to this, and no party to this conflict is unaware of UNICEF’s views. Adults on both sides of the conflict have a special responsibility to protect children from violence. The conflict is between adults and not between soldiers and children. Yet children are gravely affected by the violence.

As one of the first beneficiaries of UNICEF, Israel received child survival and development support beginning in 1948 and lasting 18 years. By 1966, the government of Israel achieved the goal of many developing nations - attaining economic wherewithal to care for its children - and notified UNICEF that it no longer required assistance. Today, UNICEF fully supports peace education activities for both Israeli and Palestinian children in the belief that violence can be prevented through education. The Israeli National Committee for UNICEF, founded in 1969 to support UNICEF's work, supports and conducts peace education events throughout Israel. And each year, the Israeli government makes a voluntary contribution to UNICEF and is a signatory to all UN conventions protecting the rights of children. In 2004, the government of Israel donated $60,000 to support UNICEF’s programs. An additional $13,187 was raised from voluntary contributions.

UNICEF works to ensure the health and well-being of all children, regardless of nationality, race, or gender. UNICEF is an organization made up of dedicated humanitarians, working for the best interests of children everywhere, even in the most complex and challenging settings.

We appreciate you taking the time to voice your concerns. Please feel free to contact our offices with further questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Program Services
212-686-5522
U.S. Fund for UNICEF
www.unicefusa.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For every child
Health, Education, Equality, Protection
ADVANCE HUMANITY

I've replied:

UNICEF Program Services,

Thank you for the context. I will note, however, that at this point, many children are refugees within Israel. And, while Israelis, Jews, and concerned peoples around the world are raising funds to support those who are sheltering the children, it seems odd to me that UNICEF would not be one of them. In fact, in light of the actions of other UN organizations, it behooves UNICEF to act to dispel any notion of UN bias. I would suggest at the very least, you look into whether the residents of Beit Shemesh could use your assistance. Or maybe those of Tzfat. It is possible you are already doing so; if so, I would be pleased to hear it. And I understand that the Lebanese have not done as good a job at safeguarding their own children as the Israelis have, and need the lion's share of your attention; but I would suggest that you consider ways in which UNICEF can actually be a non-partisan agency.

Thank you for your time,

Andy

So their short answer is: You Jews are doing a mighty fine job of taking care of yourself. Keep it up. Especially if you can keep giving us money, too.

Posted by Andy at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (4)

Armed Liberal over at Winds of Change is having a bad day. Apparently, no one loves his candidate:

Did you think I was kidding when I asked you to send 10 emails to friends asking for cash for Hank Johnson??

I've gotten like 3 emails from people who've said they did it. I'm feeling depressed and ashamed. Where's my vast influence? Where's the legions of people ready to stand up and follow the banner of...wait a minute, I'm not Kos.

Now, I'm not advocating for Mr. Johnson, but I seem to also have a lack of response for my candidate, Ashton Kutcher for Secretary General. So I figure a little, you scratch my back, I scratch yours is appropriate. Head over to WoC and browse around, and, if you're so inclined, tell AL that you'll support his candidate if he supports mine.

Posted by Andy at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

AbbaGav gets me thinking:

I recently took a stroll through Yahoo's Mideast Conflict News Photos, as is my wont when I'm looking for something easy to blog about -- if you have a blog that deals even remotely with media bias, you owe it to yourself to wade in there at least once a week because those posts practically write themselves.

Posted by Andy at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'd seen a few links to Daniel Gordis' Dispatches, but tonight I read this for the first time. A lot resonated with me, but this especially:

It is not lost on virtually any Israelis that the two primary fronts on which this war is being conducted are precisely the two fronts from which we withdrew to internationally recognized borders.
...
without intending to, we called their bluff. And now we know: the issue isn’t their statehood. It’s ours.

Chazak Ve'ematz.

Posted by Andy at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I almost missed this:

The Syrian government has knowledge about the presence of al Qaeda cells in Lebanon and Syria and is prepared to share it with the United States, Sky News reported July 23, citing Syrian Cabinet minister Amr Salem. Such al Qaeda cells have grown since Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanon, he said. Salem added that Syria is also prepared to mediate discussions on Iraq between the United States and Iran.

Option 1: This is just table stakes to get to a bargaining table. Iran and Syria have been clamoring that they need to be part of the solution (after all they are part of the problem; if they can be part of the solution, maybe we'll forget that inconvenient fact). Hurting al Qaeda probably doesn't matter to to Syria, especially if it preserves their catspaw, Hizb'allah.

Option 2: We've already seen that Iran is sending suicide bombers to Lebanon. What if this is designed to push al Qaeda against a wall, and force their hand? Increased violence in Lebanon plays into what Syria thinks is their long term winning strategy.

Option 3: Syria wants to reduce the amount of terrorism in the world. Nah.

Posted by Andy at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (2)

Following up to our earlier discussion of truth, preception, and bias in the media, Ha'aretz covers the Arab media in Israel:

Ashkar, who is 29 years old, has already managed to work for several Arab TV stations, and to write for several newspapers in the north. Despite the terms she plants in her broadcasts, she claims that "our news merely reflects the dilemma that Israeli Arabs live with every day. As the editor, I don't put across my personal views."

Impossible. Something of your views must get across?

"Of course it is expressed in the content, in the choice of the items. That is why I decided, for example today, to interview Bishara rather than MK Majli Wahaba who is part of the establishment and supports the government that is attacking the Lebanese people. It's not that Wahaba never appears on our station, but he does so in other contexts ... I feel that Bishara gives better expression to the feelings of the Arab public of which I'm part. If I'd interviewed Wahaba, I'd have lost my legitimacy in the eyes of this public."

Let's see. You don't put across your personal views. But, you select content which reinforces the views that you subscribe to. Can you not see the vicious cycle you are a party to?

Posted by Andy at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You can also see this image on the sidebar; transliterated, it is "Chazak, ve'ematz", or, "Be strong, and be brave." Design by Sarah. It's a fitting image to go with this story:

"It's our turn now," said Captain Ori Lavie. "It's our turn to protect the border. And we'll carry out any mission we need to, against any force, in the best way possible. If we don't, we have no right to exist.

"We will not lose this war. We did not start it, but it's our duty to protect the Jewish nation and see to it that the residents of Metula and Haifa can live in peace. If we don't do it, no one will. We waited 2,000 years for our own state, and we won't fold because a group of terrorists think that they can scare us.

"Someone who cannot protect his freedom does not deserve it, When missiles and rockets land on all the northern cities and reach Haifa, and when two of our soldiers have been kidnapped and ten have been killed and dozens have been wounded - this is no time to talk, it's time to fight. From the moment we cross the border, you must be super alert, super sharp. We are threatened from every side. Each of you is responsible for his comrades."

Posted by Andy at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Ha'aretz:

Police on Thursday restricted entry to Jerusalem's Temple Mount to Palestinians under the age of 40 after it received information that a protest was scheduled to take place on its premises after Friday prayers.

Demonstrators were said to have planned an event including 70 wedding ceremonies and a rally against Israel's offensive in Lebanon.

I'll admit, that's an interesting demonstration choice. And the filtering is interesting. We'll see how effective it is.