The Conundrum, Part 22

Nothing quite says I love you in international relations than warning anyone within earshot that if you don't listen to my threats, I'll take my revenge on you. That's precisely what Iran has said - warning Europe that it will face consequences for continuing to deal with Israel.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday Europe was stirring up hatred in the Middle East by supporting Israel and warned it "may get hurt" if anger in the region boiled over.

Never mind that the Islamists have been stirring up violence for decades, and that much of the current violence has nothing to do with Israel, and everything to do with the longstanding intranecine violence between Sunni and Shi'ite.

Ahmadinejad's latest statement on his country's nuclear program should raise eyebrows. He's saying that his country would produce nuclear fuel for sale to the West at half price. Why limit the sales to the West? And why for half price? That makes little sense considering the costs involved in production and enrichment unless you've figured something out to reduce costs. Also, if you're enriching the materials, you can be sure that they can be enriched to weapons grade with sufficient time. It also means that the materials can be provided to other Islamic countries, which could turn around and use them in radiological weapons.

And Ahmadinejad isn't alone in his genocidal rhetoric. The Hamas Foreign Minister echoed those sentiments and said that his terrorist group would not rule out additional kidnappings to force Israel to submit to its terms.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said Friday that Hamas had not ruled out the option of kidnapping more Israeli soldiers to attain the release of Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Addressing a rally of Hamas supporters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, al-Zahar demanded Israel release Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of captive Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

“Kidnapping soldiers is still an option, to assure the liberations of Palestinian prisoners,” he said.

Moreover, al-Zahar called Israel was “an abscess” on the Middle East and said Hamas would never recognize the Zionist nation.

According to al-Zahar, “Israel is an abscess supplanted onto our lands. It has no historical, religious or cultural justification, and we will never have relations with this ‘abscess’. We will never recognize Israel, and that is a final decision and is not up for negotiation.”

Well, considering that Israel has absolutely no intention of rolling over and ceasing to exist (much as the Israeli leadership has tried its best to put Israel in an even worse strategic position by not acting vigorously enough against the Islamic terrorists seeking Israel's destruction), I'd say that any talk of peace is premature.

Charles at LGF reported earlier today about an assassination attempt by Fatah against Haniyeh. The media reports have tried to downplay the situation, but watching one car in Haniyeh's convoy get ripped to shreds by rockets, and you have to wonder what would have happened had Fatah had better aim.

Egypt intercepted 200 crates of arms that were headed to Gaza. For use in the Palestinian civil war or against Israel - take your pick.

Just a day after the UN said that UNIFIL wouldn't fire on Israeli aircraft, France is again warning Israel that they might fire on Israeli overflights of Lebanon. Again, it's curious that France seems more than willing to pick a fight with Israel, but will not do anything to upset Hizbullah, the Islamic terror group that precipitated the war over the summer between Israel and Hizbullah fought largely on Lebanese soil.

Russia says that Hizbullah used US weapons, though I find that claim to be a stretch (and no evidence proffered), especially considering that the arms caches discovered by Israel largely appeared to be the hallmarks of Syria or Iran - and based on Russian or Chinese designs. However, Israel found that Hizbullah didn't use Russian weapons. Glad we got that straightened out.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian terrorists continue firing rockets into Israel. One rocket hit Sderot, injuring one person. That's after mortar fire hit the area.

As Ramadan comes to a close, more than 170,000 Muslims headed to the Temple Mount to pray at the al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock. There were no reports of violence, but considering that the Friday sermons are often chock full of exhortations to commit violence against Israel, let's wait and see what the translations of the various imam's and mullahs who spoke had to say.

Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.