Obama's favorite metaphor fails to properly identify the real drivers: Reid & Pelosi.

Time for a quick refresher course for our itty-bitty-brained politicians: Why did bin Laden choose the World Trade Center as his target?

The PA has dealt with opposition to the direct talks with Israel.

By beating the living daylights out of those voicing it.

Palestinian Authority security forces on Wednesday used force to prevent dozens of Palestinians in Ramallah from voicing their opposition to the US-sponsored direct talks with Israel.

PA security agents and policemen who stormed the building, where the press conference was supposed to be held, first turned off the lights and then beat some of the participants.

The policemen also beat cameramen, Khaled Milhem and Aysar Barghouti before confiscating their equipment. The two work for the local Al-Watan TV.

The incident is an indication of growing tensions among Palestinians in light of the PA leadership’s decision to abandon its previous conditions for conducting direct negotiations with Israel.

Many Palestinians have strongly condemned the PA leadership for “succumbing” to US and Israeli pressure by agreeing to negotiate with Israel unconditionally.

Following the incident, PA President Mahmoud Abbas decided to establish a special commission of inquiry to look into charges that PA security forces had used excessive force to prevent the conference from taking place.

A statement issued by Abbas’s office said that he showed “instant interest in the state of chaos that prevailed during the meeting at the Protestant Club [in Ramallah].”

But of course Abbas showed an interest in a “state of chaos.” It is what he is aiming to replace the state of Israel with.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

2:32PM: Today’s been a real riot. But once again, I am left asking “Is the palestinian version of events really what happened?”

Or should that be versions.

Here’s what Ynet reports:

Dozens of youths hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Border Guard officers in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Thursday morning. The forces dispersed the rioters, who also attacked firefighters.

A spokesman for the Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Services said the rioters torched four vehicles, two scooters, trees, trash cans, and a guard post.

Palestinians said the clashes broke out at around 4 am after masked Jewish residents of the neighborhood tried to enter a mosque in the area. The Palestinians, who were awake because of Ramadan, saw the intruders and alerted the youths who started the riots. Jerusalem Police are probing the incident.

Which leaves me wondering: if they were masked, how do the palestinians know they were Jewish residents? It is not like the phenomenom of a masked palestinian is unheard of.

And then there’s the Ha’aretz version:

According to the demonstrators, the clashes began when settlers tried to break down a gate leading to a mosque courtyard.

“At three a.m., four settlers arrived and asked to open the gate so they could take a shortcut to a spring,” said Mahmoud Karin, a resident of the neighborhood and an employee of the Silwan information center. “One of the [Muslim] worshippers saw them and yelled to them to find out what they were doing and they fled,” he said.

Palestinians began hurling rocks at settlers’ homes following the incident, and local security personnel began firing shots into the air.

No mention of masked intruders; and here they were trying to break down a gate leading to the mosque courtyard and/or requesting palestinians open the gate, rather than trying to enter the mosque.

Let’s see what the investigation yields. Color me skeptical.

12:10PM: Israelis are to serve on a UN force for the first time.

An Israeli police delegation will leave for Haiti to serve as part of a U.N. multinational force, marking the first time Israelis will serve on a U.N. force.

The 14 police officers attended a ceremony at the Western Wall on Monday ahead of their scheduled departure on early next week.  The delegation constitutes the first-ever Israeli group to serve in active duty under the command of the United Nations. The police officers will remain in Haiti for an extended period of time.

“You are Israel’s true face,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told the officers during a meeting Wednesday. “This mission will demonstrate to friends and foes alike that Israel is always willing to contribute and volunteer anywhere and at anytime. It is important for people to see Israel beyond the conflict and to see that this is the real Israel. We are not only strong materially, but also strong in spirit.”

Two police officers in the mission reportedly delayed their weddings to participate in the mission.

6:55AM: UNIFIL announced the completion of its investigation of the LAF attack on IDF forces along the Lebanese border in the beginning of the month of August, confirming its preliminary conclusions that the tree in question was located inside Israel’s border.

UNIFIL announced today (Wednesday, August 25) that it had completed its investigation of the August 3rd incident that occurred between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israel Defense Forces, and verified its preliminary conclusions that Israel had operated within its own borders when Lebanese sniper fire targeted Israeli soldiers. The IDF had been pruning a tree that each side claimed to be within its own territory, when the Lebanese army used live fire towards the IDF force operating in the area, killing a senior officer, and provoking an exchange of fire. UNIFIL announced that while “both the LAF and IDF cooperated fully with the UNIFIL team during the investigation”, their completed report “confirms the preliminary conclusions” in which UNIFIL had determined that the tree in question was located inside Israel’s border.

The preliminary conclusions had emphasized that the “trees being cut by the Israeli army were located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side”, as stated by UNIFIL military spokesperson Lt. Col. Naresh Bhatt following the event. Moreover, as explained to Israeli Army Radio the day following the event, Hungarian diplomat and UNIFIL spokesman Milos Strungar noted that, “the IDF had coordinated the pruning work along the border with the Lebanese Army through UNIFIL. The IDF had informed UNIFIL that it would be pruning a tree on the northern side of the border fence, but south of the international border line.”

Force Commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said in today’s statement that, “UNIFIL’s investigation report is a result of a professional and impartial work. It is based on the facts and all the evidence available to UNIFIL at this stage. We hope this report will assist the parties to prevent the reoccurrence of such a serious and tragic incident. I emphasized to both sides that the incident of August 3rd, 2010 must remain an isolated event.”

IDF senior officer Lt. Col. (res.) Dov Harari was shot and killed when Lebanese forces began to open fire, and IDF Officer Capt. Ezra Lakia was severely injured during the incident. Two LAF soldiers and one Lebanese journalist were also killed in the ensuing exchange of fire.

Meanwhile, at the time of this post, I was hardpressed to find the mainstream media reporting this. Besides Israeli media outlets,  I found this MSM report which did it’s best to bury the favorable-to-Israel-results by using the banal headline UN mission’s report on clash between Israel and Lebanon completed, and waiting until the fourth paragraph to mention the results.

6:42AM: Pro-Israel group Z Street is suing the IRS for discrimination.

IRS SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST ORGANIZATIONS
THAT DON’T SHARE ADMINISTRATION’S POSITIONS ON ISRAEL

Z STREET, a pro-Israel non-profit corporation, filed a lawsuit in federal court today charging that the IRS violated the organization’s First Amendment rights.  The suit was filed after Z STREET was told by an IRS official that its application for tax-exempt status has been delayed because an IRS policy requires consideration of whether a group’s views on Israel differ from those of the current Administration.

“Not only is it patently un-American but it is also a clear violation of the First Amendment for a government agency to penalize an organization because of its political position on Israel or anything else,” said Z STREET president Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a former First Amendment lawyer.   “This situation is the same as if the government denied a driver’s license to people because they were Republicans or Democrats. It goes against everything for which our country stands.”

Z STREET filed for tax-exempt status in January of this year and, despite having met all of the requirements for grant of this status, the application has been stalled.  An IRS agent told Z STREET’s lawyers that the application was delayed because of a Special Israel Policy that requires greater scrutiny of   organizations which have to do with Israel, in part to determine whether they espouse positions on Israel contrary to those of the current Administration.

Z STREET is a Zionist organization that proudly supports Israel’s right to refuse to negotiate with, make concessions to, or appease terrorists.  Z STREET’s positions on Israel and, in particular, on the Middle East “peace process” differ significantly from those espoused by the Obama administration.

If Z STREET had tax-exempt status, its donors would be able to deduct contributions from their taxable income. The IRS’s refusal to grant tax-exempt status to Z STREET has inhibited the organization‘s fundraising efforts, and therefore impeded its ability to speak and to educate the public regarding the issues that are the focus and purpose of Z STREET.

The lawsuit, Z STREET v. Shulman, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, was filed today in the United States District Court for the  Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

As Solomon posts:

If you’re not a little disturbed by this, you should be. Z Street is having its status held up to see if they’re in line with Obama Administration policy? And the government admits this? It sounds outrageous.

Even more interesting is that this seems to be directly in line with what J Street and other leftists were calling for, just a short time ago, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack against administration critics and those whose ideas of supporting the Jewish State differed from their own.

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Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon of Yasser Arafat (in fatigues, sunglasses, and signature 5 o'clock shadow). It was done 22 years ago this month!

Back in August 1988, King Hussein of Jordan called PLO chieftain Yasser Arafat's bluff by saying that he'd recognize a Palestinian State as soon as it was declared.

The decades slip by, the "Palestinian" leadership continues to threaten a unilateral declaration of statehood ...and never does! So what's going on?

I'm ready to hear your opinion as to why the terrorist leadership of the Arab populations of the West Bank and Gaza have never declared statehood.

Nu? -Dry Bones- Israel's Political Comic Strip Since 1973

The ink is barely dry on yesterday's Let Hashem Worry post about the earthquakes in Iran, and Hashem continues to perform more major miracles to the theme of, "You, My beloved children, worry about strengthening your emuna and making real teshuva - teshuva from love, not from fear - and I'll worry about your enemies."

Hashem is sure doing a great job of showing us what He can do if we do our job. Tensions are high in Gaza today, because the Jihad Islami and the Hamas are at each other's throats.

Yesterday in Beirut, there was a gun battle between the Shiite Hizbulla and the Sunni al-Ahbash.

Our enemies will soon be too busy fighting each other to mess around with us. Oh, and by the way, the Syrian Army has not yet recovered from the mysterious epidemic that paralyzed it this summer.

Not enough for you?

The Arabian Gulf's popular Al Bawaba news site is now reporting that Egypt's Minister of State for Military Production Sayyed Al-Meshal, said yesterday that Iran's military capabilities do not represent any threat to Israel, but represent a definite threat to the Arab countries as Iran has been interfering in the Arab region's affairs.

Can you believe it? Hashem now has Egypt fighting our battles!

C'mon folks, when will you acknowledge Hashem's miracles? Doesn't Hashem deserve our love, praise, and gratitude? We get all huffy and puffy when people don't thank us for doing them one iota of the smallest favor that Hashem doews for us.

The more we strengthen emuna, the more we'll continue seeing such fabulous miracles. This is only the beginning.

If you'd like to contribute to the security of Israel, roll up your sleeves and help us spread emuna.

jsoffer: Don Rosa es canon. Si hay alguna discrepancia, el que se equivocó fue Carl Barks.

jsoffer: no; es de 3/4 contra 2/4

jsoffer: "Por qué brillamos" de Bacilos tiene unos contrapuntos 3/4 - 4/4 interesantes

jsoffer: Se me cayó el agua bendita en el disco duro. Ahora el enlazador se queja de que no encuentra la función "sin".

The tangled web woven by George Soros served as a safety net for Barack Obama when he needed rescue from the exposure of Jeremiah Wright as an America-hating radical.

jsoffer: Preinscripción CBI hoy (ya está activo)

If we follow the suggestions of the radical environmentalists, human beings will be sacrificed on the altar of "sustainability."

We've come a long way, baby. And not in a good way.

The Department of Defense's recommendations from an independent review of the Fort Hood massacre assiduously avoid the central issue.

In the spirit of Obama the Apologist, I have to tell you how sorry I am. Just like Obama, I get to pin my apology on other people.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamists may be the focus of current national security efforts, but other scary threats are multiplying.

While campaigning, President Obama took the opportunity to lambaste Republicans as obstructionists and the Party of No. Let's hope he keeps it up.

It all began with boycotts. Boycotts that were taken to defend against an imaginary Jewish threat. For info about the Nazi BDS program I turned to the History Place to track events of 1933:

Above: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels delivers a speech to a crowd in the Berlin Lustgarten urging Germans to boycott Jewish-owned businesses. He defends the boycott as a legitimate response to the anti-German "atrocity propaganda" being spread abroad by "international Jewry."

Below: Nazi storm troopers block the entrance to a Jewish-owned store. Their signs read: "Germans, defend yourselves against the Jewish atrocity propaganda, buy only at German shops!" and "Germans, defend yourselves, buy only at German shops!"

On April 1, 1933, a week after Hitler became dictator of Germany, he ordered a boycott of Jewish shops, banks, offices and department stores. But the boycott was mostly ignored by German shoppers and was called off after three days. However, the unsuccessful boycott was followed by a rapid series of laws which robbed the Jews of many rights.

On April 7, "The Law of the Restoration of the Civil Service" was introduced which made 'Aryanism' a necessary requirement in order to hold a civil service position. All Jews holding such positions were dismissed or forced into retirement.

On April 22, Jews were prohibited from serving as patent lawyers and from serving as doctors in state-run insurance institutions.

On April 25, a law against the overcrowding of German schools placed severe limits on the number of young Jews allowed to enroll in public schools. -moreAnd it all began with the supposed victims fighting back with what they claimed was a legitimate response ...an anti-Jewish boycott to "defend" against the Jewish "threat". -Dry Bones- Israel's Political Comic Strip Since 1973

Frank Johansson, Chairman of the Finnish Amnesty International, who called Israel a “scum state” (or, to be more exact, “nilkkimaa”) has backed down now that his comments have been exposed beyond his narrow Finnish readership.

Just kidding.

The head of Amnesty International’s Finnish branch, Frank Johansson, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that he stands by his statement that Israel is a “scum state.”

Writing in his blog, which appears on the Web site of Finland’s third largest newspaper Iltalehti, Johansson wrote on Monday that “A friend of mine who works in Israel was visiting [and] while piling wood in the shed, we got to [talking about] his favourite topic. [After] several years of residence in the Holy Land, he has come to the conclusion that ‘Israel is a scum state.’ Based on my own visit[s], which occurred during the 1970s and for the last time in the 1990s, I agree.”

—-

Asked why he termed Israel a “scum state,” Johansson told the Post in a telephone interview that it was because Israel has “repeatedly flouted international law,” and due to his “personal experiences inside and outside of Israel with meeting Israelis.”

Johansson said that his remarks were not anti-Semitic. “I actually praise Breaking the Silence,” he said, referring to an Israeli organization claiming to collect and share testimonies of former IDF soldiers over human rights violations they allegedly witnessed, while rarely providing names of troops, dates and locations of these incidents.

Asked whether there are other countries aside from Israel that, according to him, meet the definition of a “scum state,” Johansson did not specify any, but noted that there are “Russian officials” who meet the criteria.

The Amnesty International official said: “I have been on record on Finnish TV as saying George Bush is the biggest executioner in the Western Hemisphere, [I] use strong language… I am writing those [blogs] in my capacity as a private person, not as an Amnesty official.”

However, Iltalehti’s Web site clearly provides readers with his title as “director of the Finnish branch of Amnesty International,” which appears above his blog.

NGO Monitor chief Gerald Steinberg condemned Johansson’s remarks in the context of his organization as a whole. The head of the watchdog organization, which tracks anti-Israel activity among NGOs, told the Post in an e-mail on Tuesday that “Amnesty International has promoted an intense anti-Israel ideology, resulting in statements like these. Such one-sided ideological campaigns, with false allegations of war crimes, are entirely inconsistent with Amnesty’s claim to support ethical principles and universal human rights.

“Amnesty International’s new secretary general, Salil Shetty, must immediately condemn this immoral statement by the head of the Finnish chapter, freeze links to the chapter until he resigns, and take measures to end Amnesty’s central role in demonizing Israel,” he added.

Also Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International’s headquarters in London, Susanne Flood, told the Post in a telephone interview that “Amnesty would never use an expression like this toward the State of Israel, or any other state.”

Flood said that Johansson used the phrase “creep state” to describe Israel, rather than “scum,” as the initial English translation of the Finnish word found. Native Finnish speakers from Tundra Tabloids said the Finnish term used by Johansson to denigrate Israel is a “highly derogatory term,” and is frequently translated as “scum,” “scum bag” or “douche bag.”

Asked if AI plans to discipline or sack Johansson, Flood said she would have to check on his employment status, but noted that the organization generally does not comment on human resource matters.

Pressed if he is singling out Israel for disparate treatment – a manifestation of modern anti-Semitism according to some critics – Flood said that one “has to look at the full context of his articles.”

She added that Johansson assured her that he is not using his title to write the anti-Israeli blogs. But, when shown that his title was indeed being used in his blog, she conceded to this fact.

The deputy head of Mission for the Embassy of Finland in Israel, Anu Pulkkinen, told the Post on Tuesday that Johansson “is responsible for his own comments, and we are not commenting on blog writings of individual Finnish citizens.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:02PM: Return of the Zionist Death Cows.TM

A woman was lightly wounded and a few cars were damaged Wednesday when a cow went on a rampage at a shopping center in the northern Israeli city of Nesher.

Police said the cow, which eventually headed north towards Haifa’s Checkpost Junction, was part of a herd that was grazing near the “Big” shopping center. At some point, police said, the cows entered the area of the shopping center.

The cows were eventually cleared from the area, and their owner was questioned.

Witnesses said the cow rammed into a vehicle that tried to block its path.

Magen David Adom paramedic Kobi Ben-Haim said that during the incident, which went on for more than an hour, a woman sustained light injuries when the cow grazed her back.

So there you have it. The cow was merely getting revenge. What was the woman doing grazing the cow in the first place?

1:55PM: A look at Iran vs Israel weapon capabilities.

1:45PM: Israel’s Kadima party and opposition leader Tzipi Livni thinks to herself while listening to Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair at the ‘Delegitimization of Israel’ conference (photo credit: JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images).

What the hell is wrong with his teeth?

1:40PM: Despite saying he stands behind “Israel is a scum state” comment, Frank Johansson is more standing in front of it.

Hiding it from view while he goes to town on it with a large eraser.

The article by Weinthal appears in today’s edition of the J’Lem Post, and surprise, the offending blog post by the AI chairman at the Iltalehti website has been scrubbed, thrown down the memory hole, but thanks to Vasarahammer we have the cached picture of the post. Interestingly enough, though the Amnesty International chairman (Finnish branch) is totally unrepentant, nonetheless the post has disappeared. A passive mea culpa?

11:54AM: Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East Tony Blair,speaking as keynote speaker at the August 24 symposium entitled “The De-legitimization of Israel: Threats, Challenges and Responses.”

He needn’t look much further than his own sister-in-law.

6:10AM: Turkey has seen a 90% decline in Israeli tourism.

Meanwhile, in other bad-news-for-the-Turks, a fire has destroyed many negatives of the virulently anti-Israel Turkish TV show “Ambush in the Valley of the Wolves” spinoff movie “The Valley of the Wolves: Palestine.”

6:05AM: Hassan Nasrallah, comedian.

Nasrallah  urged the Lebanese government to draw conclusions from the current electricity crisis and follow in Iran’s footsteps and build a nuclear reactor to generate electricity like the reactor in Bushehr.

“The cost of building the Bushehr reactor was less than Lebanon’s investment in the electricity network. I call on the government to build a nuclear reactor to generate electricity, and then we can also sell energy to Syria, Cyprus, and other countries in the region,” he said.

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Rooms start at only $170. Click here for more details.

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It's not our job to worry, especially about things that are beyond our control.

Many alarmist commentators - who unfortunately haven't learned the ABC's of emuna - say that Israel can no longer strike the Bushehr Reactor without causing widespread radiation contamination to innocent neighbors.

Personally, I'm thrilled. I've never been in favor of a preeemptive strike against Iran, for any military victory would certainly have a Pyrrhic element to it, with thousands of civilian casualties on both sides, G-d forbid. If the war wouldn't be global, it would certainly ignite the entire Middle East.

So what do we do? Wait until Iran develops the A-bomb?

Again, it's not our job to worry, especially about things that are beyond our control. Hashem won't judge the Jewish People on Rosh Hashana for not initiating a preemptive strike against Iran. He will judge us for not doing what we are supposed to do, namely, strengthening our emuna, readjusting body-soul priorities and living more upright lives.

Rav Shalom Arush, my beloved teacher and spiritual guide, says - with a big smile on his face - that we have no need to worry about Iran. Why?

No bunker-buster bombs can penetrate more than a few meters of rock or concrete. But, an earthquake can run miles deep into the earth. During recent weeks, there have been two major earthquakes in Iran, weighing in at 5.7 and 5.8 on the Richter scale, with a half dozen lesser tremors. The one on July 31st was only a few miles from Bushehr.

Hashem is showing us that with a snap of His fingers, there'll no longer be a nuclear reactor in Bushehr; the price - teshuva. Yes, we won't have to fire a shot. And, if you're looking for a historical precedent, simply go back to 1991 when Hashem dismantled the entire USSR without firing a single shot.

Iran? It's out of our control and therefore not our worry. Teshuva? Yes, that's an immediate option and within the realm of our ability to choose. Let's put Iran aside and concentrate on teshuva. For everything else, let Hashem worry.

Oh, and if the Iranian saber-shakers threaten to make the ground tremble under our feet, remember that Hashem does a turn for a turn; wait and see how the ground shakes under the Bushehr reactor. Now put a smile on your face 'cause there's no need to worry...