Palestine Theater

Bigotry unites monotheistic faiths

Kinda heartwarming, eh? From The Telegraph, Nov. 8:

Jews and Muslims unite against homosexuals
Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem have found common ground in their fierce opposition to a gay rights rally due to be held in the city this week. Leaders from both faiths have united to denounce the parade, which has prompted nights of street protest by ultra-orthodox Jews, who regard homosexuality as an "abomination", and death threats against those taking part.

Israel blames "errant shells" for massacre

The Israeli military brass is investigating whether human error or computer malfunction resulted in killing 19 Palestinians in their apartment block in Beit Hanoun, Gaza on Nov. 8. According to Ha'aretz, Nov. 9:

According to the IDF, the "normal" margin of error for an artillery shell under these conditions is about 200 meters, which is why IDF regulations for Gaza state that artillery targets must be at least 200 to 300 meters from civilian houses. But a 450-meter deviation would require only a three-degree deviation in the gun barrel, which is "undetectable by the human eye," said Brigadier General (reserves) Zvi Fogel, a former senior artillery officer.

Zionists seek to silence critics of Israel. Well, duh!

Here we go again. This Nov. 1 commentary from the World Socialist Web Site (which is being echoed all over the left-wing blogosphere, e.g. on San Francisco Indymedia) relishes in the latest example of censorious behavior by Israel's apologists, under the rather obvious title "Zionists seek to silence critics of US policy toward Israel":

Democrats task Carter over "apartheid" Israel tome

Nervous Democrats are distancing themselves from Jimmy Carter's forthcoming Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, and urging him not to use the term to describe the continuing Israeli occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories. It should be noted that Ha'aretz, Israel's most respected newspaper, wrote in an Sept. 13 editorial,"...the apartheid regime in the territories remains intact; millions of Palestinians are living without rights, freedom of movement or a livelihood, under the yoke of ongoing Israeli occupation, and in the future they will turn the Jews into a minority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.[...]"

Avigdor Lieberman: "fascism" or "smokescreen"?

Arthur Neslen on the UK Guardian's Comment is Free blog Oct. 25 outlines various intellectual responses to the ascendance of the frightening Avigdor Lieberman to the Israeli cabinet. One which he overlooks is the "smokescreen" response, put forth by the lefter-than-thou who maintain that the Israeli "moderates" are actually the greater threat because they lull the naive into a false sense of security. Perhaps Nelsen can be forgiven for overlooking this tendency, as some of these ideologues have actually found Lieberman's ascendance unworthy of comment, as if warning of the danger he represents somehow lets Olmert and Peretz off the hook.

Israeli war planes and German navy clash off Lebanon coast

From Reuters, Oct. 25:

Berlin: IAF jets fire shots over German ship off coast of Lebanon
Two Israel Air Force warplanes and a German navy vessel have clashed off the Lebanese coast, the Defense Ministry in Berlin said on Wednesday without giving further details.

Anti-papal backlash spreads to West Bank

Anybody have any idea who the "Lions of Monotheism" are? From Newsday, Sept. 19:

Palestine's Christians face retalliation from Muslims over Pope's words
NABLUS -- The charred churches of this West Bank town were shuttered yesterday and circled by armed guards, while members of its Christian congregations hid in their homes and braced for more violence following papal remarks that have inflamed the Muslim world.

Israeli diamond merchants worked with Hezbollah, al-Qaeda?

From the Israeli Committee on Housing Demolitions (ICHAD), Sept. 13:

Israelis and Hezbollah Haven’t Always Been Enemies
When Hezbollah operative and diamond trader Samih Ossailly was arrested in Belgium in April of 2002, one of the items found in a search of his apartment was an End-Use Certificate (EUC) for a shipment of 113 tons of arms from the Ukraine to the Ivory Coast. So what was an Israeli arms dealer doing in possession of an identical EUC? The answer is convoluted but revealing. Ready?

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