But For Palestinian Terror, Operation Cast Lead Would Not Have Occurred

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is considering taking the severely flawed and biased Goldstone Report to various international bodies in a bid to bring Israeli officials before their jurisdiction in charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity. As YnetNews reports:

The move appeared to mark a change in position, as the Palestinian delegation on Friday backed a move at the UN Human Rights Council to defer a vote on whether the report should be passed on.

Erakat said Abbas' decision came "in light of the controversy that has arisen" around the report, which accused Israel of committing war crimes during its three-week Gaza war that erupted December 27.

"We want to discuss the report in international bodies so they will take decisions on what emerged in the report, in order to insure that the crimes committed by Israel against our people are never repeated," he said.

That's a serious situation, particularly because if they're going to claim that Israel violated Palestinian human rights, they better bring Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders before the same bodies to convict them of war crimes as well - for precipitating the Operation Cast Lead in the first place.

But for kassam and mortar attacks, Israel would not have engaged in Operation Cast Lead.

But for kassam and mortar attacks, Israel would not have engaged in restricting humanitarian aid that was repeatedly hijacked by Hamas to further their war goals (reequiping Hamas at the expense of the civilian population).

But for Palestinian terror attacks, Israel would not need to maintain security checkpoints to thwart suicide bombers.

Without the thousands of rockets and mortars fired at Israel, each with the deadly intent to murder and maim Israelis with range of those mortars and rockets, Israel would not have engaged in an operation that was meant to stop the terrorists from firing on Israel in the first place. That civilians were inadvertently killed in the process is lamentable, but Hamas purposefully put civilians in harm's way by commingling with civilians, wearing civilian clothes, and firing rockets and mortars from civilian areas, including in close proximity to UN facilities.

The Palestinians are hoping to use the Goldstone Report to further undermine Israel's ability to defend itself from future attacks along the same lines.

As others have noted, the overwhelming number of those killed in Gaza were not civilians as the Palestinians propagandize, but were Hamas and Islamic Jihad members. They were counted as civilians primarily because they were wearing civilian garb, even if their longstanding ties to the terror groups were well known. In fact, Israel went above and beyond established international law and the Geneva Conventions to minimize civilian casualties by attempting to contact those individuals personally and directly to get them out of harm's way even as Hamas was engaging in all manner of war crimes to purposefully put civilians in harm's way.

Israel Carries Out Prisoner Swap For Shalit Video

I've warned about this kind of move for years, but Israel has gone ahead and has swapped 20 Palestinian women for a video that purporting to show that Gilad Shalit is still alive. The 20 women include terrorists, including one that attempted to use her pregnancy to hide explosives.

So who was released? Well, 14 of the 19 were convicted of attempted murder. The discrepancy in the number of Palestinians released is due to the fact that a 20th woman was added to the release.

The released women include those who attempted to stab Israeli soldiers at checkpoints, attempted suicide bombings while pregnant, and various other acts of violence. Israel's only possible reason for carrying out this swap is that many of these prisoners would have been released when their sentences were up within the year. That's the only possible justification, and Israel's leadership must have been convinced that cutting short their sentences slightly to get proof of life was more than justified.

The video purportedly shows that Shalit is still alive and holding a newspaper from September of this year.

Palestinian news agency, Maan, reported that Gilad Shalit read sections from the Gaza-based "Falasteen" newspaper from September 14 on his video transferred to Israel is exchange for the release of female Palestinian prisoners. Maan also reported that the video showed Gilad Shalit standing on his feet for a few seconds in order to prove that he is in good health. According to the report, the soldier is shown dressed in an IDF uniform with a yellow background behind him.

The news agency Palestine Today reported that Shalit appeared on the video reading a recent news item in Arabic from one of the Palestinian newspaper, according to Palestinian sources in the know.

A source that watched the video said a clean-shaven Shalit can be seen talking to the camera, and that he looks healthy and sounds coherent. The source said it was clear that his captors had prepared him for the video and went to great lengths to make sure he looks well and healthy.

I'm surprised that Shalit has managed to stay alive in the clutches of Hamas, but he's worth that many more terrorists alive than dead. After all, Hamas must realize that they can swap Shalit for hundreds of terrorists held in Israeli jails, but would get far fewer had he died in captivity.

Hamas has done all it can to pry as many terrorists from Israeli jails as possible, and it's been an excruciatingly painful situation for the Shalit family to endure. There has been little international pressure on Hamas to release Shalit as a humanitarian gesture, and instead most of the pressure has been on Israel to make concessions to release prisoners in exchange for a video.

It's also quite telling that Hamas feels that a video is worth 19 people, or that Shalit alive is worth 1,000 Palestinians. That's telling as to how much they value life. It's also telling just how much Israel wants to reunite Shalit with his loved ones that they'd even consider an offer to get a video showing proof of life in exchange for 19 prisoners.

Hamas is busy cheering the release of the 19 - yet another propaganda victory for Hamas and Ismail Haniyeh.

Daylife has photos of Haniyeh cheering alongside family members of the released.

Shalit has been in captivity for 1,194 days.

UPDATE:
Added a photo still from the video posted at the Jerusalem Post.

Video added:

Operation Cast Lead: Day 21

And you thought that Hamas would actually agree to a ceasefire? Hamas continues firing rockets into Israel. You must not have been paying attention all these years. Khalid Meshaal, who leads Hamas from the safety and comfort of Damascus has said that Hamas will not accept any ceasefire. That's easy for him to say at this point since the bombs aren't dropping on his head for now. Meshaal wants the Arab world to cut ties with Israel and so far Bashar Assad agrees. That makes sense given that Assad is host to Iranian, Hamas and Hizbullah thugs and is a major reason that the terrorist groups have the weapons and technologies at their disposal.

Israel demands a halt to Hamas rocket attacks into southern Israel and internationally backed guarantees that Hamas will not rearm by smuggling weapons into Gaza.

"We will not accept Israel's conditions for a cease-fire," Mashaal told the summit. He said Hamas demands that "the aggression stop," Israeli troops withdraw and crossings into Gaza be opened immediately.

He insisted that Israel was to blame for the Gaza conflict.

Mashaal set down Hamas's view of the conflict, trying to fend off suggestions from Egypt and Saudi Arabia that its rocket attacks were to blame for sparking the Israeli assault.

Mashaal said Hamas refused to renew a six-month-old truce with Israel that ran out in December because the period of relative calm had not led to an end of the Gaza blockade.

"Did we do wrong, by rejecting a truce that let the blockade continue?" Mashaal said. "Don't the people of Gaza deserve to live free? ... They want to live free without blockade or occupation, just like all the Palestinian people do."

Left out of the so-called ceasefire is that Israel ceased fire, but Hamas didn't. Hundreds of rockets and mortars were fired by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from Gaza into Israel during that six-month period, and Israel only engaged in retaliatory strikes when Hamas increased the level of attacks in December.

The Turkish President wants to ban Israel from the United Nations. Funny, but where were his calls to ban the Palestinian Authority and Hamas from talks when they were engaging in terrorism against Israel? He was silent. Keep in mind that Erogdan has his own problems to worry about - namely Islamists who threaten to destablize his regime. He's playing to multiple audiences, but don't expect Turkey to cut off relations to Israel or cease its training with the Israelis anytime soon.

At the same time Israel is taking on Hamas in Gaza, Fatah is cracking down on Hamas in the West Bank. Are there going to be calls for the world to alienate Fatah? Fatah wouldn't be in a position to crack down on Hamas unless Israel was taking out Hamas leaders in Gaza. This is a direct response to Israel's operation in Gaza.

Gazans continue to believe that Hamas are heroes, and thousands turned out to mark the death of terror master Siam.

Siam, 50, was a high-profile figure in Gaza. A former head of Hamas special executive forces, he won the highest number of votes in the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council; and was considered by many as the man who ended the Gaza anarchy by de facto ending the armed militias' frenzy, so common in the Strip until that time.

The defense establishment said Siam's brother Ayad and the head of Hamas' security organization in Gaza, Salah Abu Sharah, were also killed in the strike.

Siam was the most prominent Hamas figure targeted in Operation Cast Lead so far, and the most senior persona to be hit since the assassination of Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, in 2004.

Mohammed Nazzal, a member of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus said Thursday that "despite Israel's desire to annihilate Hamas' leadership, the factions will continue to defend Gaza Strip."

Hamas says that Israel has lost it in killing these terror masters even as Hamas swears vengance. If Israel truly lost it, Hamas wouldn't be operating anywhere in Gaza or Syria. Israel is still operating with more restraint than any other nation would dare.

Again, it's real easy for the terror masters in Damascus to sound tough when their lives aren't on the line and they are hosted by Assad in comfort. To them, Gazans who die are propaganda pieces in their unending war to destroy Israel.

What these statements also show is that Israel has started regaining the deterrence factor that it had lost by refusing to retaliate for the hundreds of rockets fired by Hamas into Israel during the six-month ceasefire along with the thousands fired at Israel in the months and years previous to now. Restraint was mistaken for weakness, and Hamas still needs to learn that lesson in a very harsh and real manner.

It's also relevant to diplomatic efforts to try and get Israel to discuss peace with Syria. Syria hosts terrorists like Hamas and Hizbullah, and yet we're to believe that Syria is serious about peace or that it seeks peaceful relations? Israel already has a cold peace with Syria - without the return of the Golan Heights. Returning the Heights would give Syria a strategic platform from which it could dominate Northern Israel, just as it did prior to 1967. Given Syria's cozy relationship with terror groups and UNIFIL's repeated failures, there's absolutely no reason to trust Syria's intentions or the UN's capabilities to thwart terror attacks on Israel.

UPDATE:
Hamas has to show that they're still in control (HT: ploome hineni at lgf), which is why they continue making bellicose demands. They're not in a position to make demands on anyone or anything, but here they are doing so and the diplomats are more than content to allow them the opportunity.

Also, note that no one is apparently demanding that Hamas release Gilad Shalit as a condition for Israel ending its Gaza operations. Where are the humanitarian gestures by Hamas? Again, we're seeing that conditions are being pressed for Israel, but not Hamas.

UPDATE:
Photo time:

Is that how you carry an injured Palestinian boy whose arm is bandaged? If anything, that would cause additional injuries. As you review the hundreds of photos of injured children, note that those carrying them are actually likely to make those injuries worse than claimed. If someone's arm is injured, you don't grab the person by that same arm.

Dead ambulances. Israel blamed for attacking poor defenseless ambulances, but let's not forget that Hamas has used ambulances in the past to carry their terrorists around town in the past to attack Israel.

Celebrating a mass murderer in Gaza. Thousands turn out to honor the mass murderer Siam.

Gee, we're supposed to listen to the OIS when they invite the Sudanese leader who's overseen the Darfur genocide to the table? I think not.

UPDATE:
What got into Israel?

"Hamas took a gamble. We thought, at worst Israel will come and do something from the air - something superficial. They’ll come in and go out. We never thought that we would reach the point where fear will swallow the heart and the feet will want to flee. You [Israel] are fighting like you fought in ‘48. What got into you all of a sudden?"

I'd say a healthy dose of realism and the survival instinct kicked in; dealing Hamas a death blow is necessary to Israel's survival, and the terrorists once again gambled and lost. They thought that Israel would do little in response to their rocket war, but Israel hit them hard and fast and with ruthless efficiency. The IDF also took care of aptly named Iran unit of Hamas:

The so-called "Iranian Unit" of Hamas has been destroyed, according to Gaza sources cited Thursday by the Haaretz daily. The sources said most of the unit's 100 members were killed in fighting in the Zeytun neighborhood of Gaza City.

The terrorists had been trained in infantry tactics, the use of anti-tank missiles and the detonation of explosives, among other skills, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Hizbullah camps in Lebanon's Beka'a Valley, as well as sites in Iran

UPDATE:
Hamas and Hizbullah are proxy armies for Iran, and the Hamas defeat isn't going to sit well with Ahmadinejad and the thugs in Tehran. This goes to why Meshaal is busy demanding Hamas attack and ignore ceasefire calls. His neck is on the line, not because of an Israeli attack, but because he's perhaps been told in no uncertain terms that Iran is about to revoke his Damascus privileges. There's a disconnect between Damascus Hamas and the Gazan Hamas who are swiftly being turned to humus.

Israel has indeed fought Hamas to a bloody pulp, and Israel isn't done yet.

Fatah has finally found its courage to take on Hamas in the West Bank, cracking down on Hamas there. That wouldn't be possible without Israel's operation in Gaza. Hamas wants to think that Israel has lost it by going after Hamas terror masters? Good. Let them.

Meanwhile, Hamas is making the same demands for Shalit's release that they've been making from the day he was captured after a Hamas unit invaded Israel to capture Israeli soldiers (two other IDF soldiers were killed in the operation). They've been demanding the release of hundreds of terrorists in exchange for Shalit.

Israel must disabuse Hamas of that notion, but Hamas has hope that Israel will eventually cave and release prisoners given the way Israel forked over hundreds of terrorists for the remains of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. That is, unless Israel learned that lesson as well (that you never carry out trades with terrorists because it only encourages further incidents).

The US and Israel have signed an anti-smuggling deal, which should put a crimp on Hamas resupply efforts.

Qatar and Mauritania have both suspended relations with Israel. Gee, that's really going to hurt, but I don't recall either country suspending relations with Sudan for their role in facilitating the ethnic cleansing and genocide in Darfur? Double standard? Absolutely.

The media just throws out baseless claims of Israel brutality, propagandists repeat the claims and soon they're treated as fact when the reality is something else entirely.

Operation Cast Lead: Day 13

MSNBC reports that Hamas and Israel are having technical discussions via Egypt based on the Egyptian-French proposals. It can't even wait a few paragraphs before engaging in rampant bias:

Even as the Israeli government tentatively welcomed the cease-fire proposal from Egypt and France, the Israeli military was instructed to continue its assault on Hamas.

Israel said it needs guarantees that any cease-fire will halt rocket fire and prevent Hamas from rearming, while Hamas demands that Gaza's blockaded border crossings be opened.

Despite the reservations, the proposal could mark the first sign of a possible exit from 12 days of bloodshed in Gaza, accompanied by continued Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel.

Hamas broke the 3-hour truce yesterday afternoon with a rocket barrage against Israeli cities, but that gets nary a mention. Instead, we're told that Israel is going to continue to attack Hamas even as it pursues diplomatic options. Funny how that works.

MSNBC, along with much of the rest of the media will focus on the Palestinian death toll, all while ignoring all the rockets fired against Israel for the past eight years with deadly intent (or the past six months during the so-called ceasefire in violation of international law). Hamas gets a pass on its actions, but Israel's response in the face of incessant violence is scrutinized with the goal of preventing Israel from responding altogether.

Where are all the appeals demanding that Hamas stop attacking Israel and releasing Gilad Shalit as humanitarian gestures? So far in this war, Israel has provided all the concessions and all the humanitarian gestures. Israel sends in food shipments, although warehouses are quite stocked with foodstuffs to the point that there are no food shortages. Israel sends in fuel, even as Hamas has repeatedly attacked the fuel depots that supply Gaza. Hamas has attacked with the intention of shutting down power in Gaza, but the media only bothers to pay attention when Israel cuts the power to the very terrorists who use that power to build their weapons for use against Israel.

Hamas has attacked the Israeli power station and power lines leading to Gaza so that Hamas can get the Palestinians to curse the Israelis in the dark.

Morally bankrupt diplomats, including representatives of the Vatican are quick to compare the situation in Gaza to the concentration camps, despite the fact that Hamas is a terrorist group and a national representative of the Palestinians who sought out war with Israel, hides behind the very civilians and couldn't care less how many Palestinians die since the greater the number, the sooner international pressure will be brought to bear to stop Israel's destruction of the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

Israel wanted nothing to do with Gaza after it withdrew unilaterally in 2005, and yet instead of building a viable society, Hamas launched directly into a war with Israel that has brought nothing but grief and ruin to Gaza and caused misery to all Israelis living within rocket and mortar range. Israel wanted quiet, but got a rocket war instead.

The IDF continues striking at targets in and around the Gazan border with Egypt, attacking tunnels Hamas uses to resupply itself with weapons and cash.

No other nation on the planet would tolerate months of rocket attacks from an enemy that seeks its destruction, and yet we've got diplomats from around the world racing to denounce Israel's actions to defend itself from terrorism and the jihad seeking its destruction.

So, what is Hamas' end game? It's the same as it has always been. It wants Israel destroyed. Anything it does short of an unconditional surrender with the destruction of all of its weapons will be in furtherance of its political and religious obligations.

The Hamas Charter makes that abundantly clear. It's a melange of political and religious doctrines and religious obligations. The call to destroy Israel is a religious obligation.

The Hamas Charter also shows how Israel's war is a war that the rest of the West is fighting against Islamic terror since the goals are the same. Laura Mansfield provides more details on the similarities between Hamas and al Qaeda. Keep in mind too that Zawahiri was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which has spawned more terror groups than you can shake a stick at. Hamas is an offshoot of the Brotherhood.

The goals are the same - to destroy Israel and establish an Islamic caliphate under Islamic law. The methods are similar - suicide attacks, mass murder, mass casualty incidents, and jihad against Israel and the West. Pundits and diplomats are quick to cite Israel's violations of international law, but ignore one salient and inconvenient fact. Hamas not only precipitated Israel's response, but its actions have violated international laws at every turn.

Hamas has broken just about every international law or convention with its use of weapons specifically targeting civilian populations, operating without uniforms, using civilians as human shields, hiding weapons and equipment in civilian facilities including schools, hospitals, residences, and mosques, and has engaged in massive and rampant war crimes up to and including the incitement to genocide of the people of Israel. Invariably, human rights groups like Amnesty International and media (including Israel's own Ynet) complain bitterly about Israel's military actions, but ignore why Israel's military is slogging through Gaza going after terrorists in the first place.

Beyond the real and deadly physical violence in Gaza, the propaganda war extends online. I know I'm part of that war, because I'm busy providing facts and details that debunk the Palestinian agitprop that is coming out of Gaza courtesy of a sympathetic media. Still others are engaging in hacking opposition websites, and that's an activity I simply can't condone. I'd much rather see the Palestinian propagandists exposed as the anti-Semitic bigots that they are. I want to see that they get exposed to the antiseptic light of day.

UPDATE:
Terrorists have once again sent Northern Israelis scrambling for shelter as they have fired a barrage of rockets into Israel from Lebanon. That's right folks, UNIFIL has failed to once again do its job in disarming all militias operating in Lebanon, and Israel is being attacked by the terrorists on two fronts. The problem is that Israel isn't treating it like the act of war and war crime that it is:

The discussions in Cairo got underway hours after at least three missiles from Lebanon landed near the northern Israeli town of Nahariya, slightly injuring two Israelis, and the Israeli army responded with fire. The rockets from Lebanon raised concern that they could presage a second front in the conflict that would complicate peace efforts and revive memories of the bloody war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006.

But the Israeli Army later dismissed the rockets on Thursday as “a minor event” and, in Lebanon, the government said Hezbollah had distanced itself from the attack. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon immediately condemned the rocket-fire. In a statement, Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri said: “Hezbollah assured the Lebanese government that it remains engaged in preserving the stability in Lebanon and respects Security Council resolution 1701.”

UN SCR 1701 requires UNIFIL to disarm all militias operating in Lebanon. Hizbullah is saying that they had nothing to do with it. Israeli forces believe that it was yet another Palestinian terrorist group. That terrorists are still firing rockets shows that UNIFIL has not done its job. Again.

Lebanon is responsible for the attacks, and those attacks are an act of war and while the Lebanese and Hizbullah claim that Hizbullah had nothing to do with the attacks, absolutely nothing happens in Southern Lebanon without Hizbullah approval.

Iran is pulling the strings here as Iranian diplomats were busy meeting with Hamas thugs in Damascus. That's no coincidence. It's a mapping out of long term strategies and you can bet that Hamas and Hizbullah were coordinating strategies and tactics to take pressure off Hamas as Hamas is on the ropes. Opening a second front would achieve those goals, and a similar tactic evolved during the 2006 Hizbullah war, when Hamas attacked Israeli communities with their rocket attacks to try and divert attention and Israeli forces from Hizbullah targets in Southern Lebanon.

For Israel, a failure to respond is a sign of weakness and shows that Israel will continue to tolerate random and sporadic attacks, which gives terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizbullah hope that they can gradually increase the rocket fire without incurring Israel's wrath.

Meanwhile, the rockets continue slamming into Southern Israel, an Israeli soldier was killed on the ground, and Hamas vows not to surrender in Gaza. It's that latter point that matters most.

The violence has a chance of stopping permanently - true peace - if Hamas surrenders unconditionally. The alternative is that Israel will again be threatened by Hamas attacks as soon as it has regained its strength and rebuilt its weapons caches.

UPDATE:
I'm not alone in noting UNIFIL's absolute failure to carry out the terms of UN SCR 1701 and all the related Security Council resolutions. UNIFIL's existence is based on its requirement to demilitarize Southern Lebanon and disarm all the militias operating there. Hizbullah is the biggest, and they're in a stronger position now than they were in 2006. Other terrorist groups operating there do so with Hizbullah's blessings. Richard Fernandez takes UNIFIL and the media to task. He notes that no one is holding the terrorists and regimes responsible for supporting them accountable for their actions to the point that terrorists have free reign to operate in places like Lebanon or Pakistan.

Meryl Yourish looks at Iran opening a second front against Israel via Lebanon to take pressure off their proxies Hamas in Gaza.

UPDATE:
Not all civilians are created equal. Terror master Nizar Rayyan who died in airstrikes last week along with his four wives and 11 of 12 children had so thoroughly indoctrinated his children that they begged to be martyrs alongside him.

According to his surviving children, the death of the Rayyan family children was not an accident: Rayyan had trained his wives and children to die with him as "martyrs."

Surviving family members spoke to local Arab media and said that in the days before his death, Rayyan had repeatedly asked his children, "Who wants to die with me as a martyr?" The children would respond, "Yes, daddy, we all want to be with you alive or dead."

Rayyan's adult daughter, Wala, said even the younger children wished to die with their father. "If In the days before his death, Rayyan has repeatedly asked his children, "Who wants to die with me as a martyr?" you had asked my four-year-old sister Aisha, who died in the attack, she would have told you that she preferred to die as a martyr," Wala told Ma'an news.

One of Rayyan's daughter-in-laws said she was offered the chance to die with the family. She stopped by the family's large home in Jabaliya and was asked by Rayyan if she wished to die with him, his wives and their children. She agreed to die, but later left the building, shortly before the IAF strike.

They wanted to add their bodies to the propaganda body count.

UPDATE:
More Hamas propaganda, courtesy of CNN:


No mention that Hamas uses civilian areas as weapons caches and ammo dumps, only that Israel destroyed homes. The narrator omits those kinds of details - it would get in the way of the narrative. No mention too that Hamas violated the 3-hour truce yesterday or that Hamas tried to sneak in equipment courtesy of one of those humanitarian aid convoys that the UN operated.

Words and Deeds

While Fatah claims that they're going to lay down their arms against Israel, Israel is actually releasing Fatah thugs from Israeli jails and will not target those Fatah thugs who signed on to this pledge. Which one is the more concrete and permanent action?

Scores of Fatah militants in the West Bank have signed a pledge renouncing attacks against Israel in return for an Israeli promise to stop pursuing them, a Palestinian security official said Sunday.

The deal would grant amnesty to 178 Fatah gunmen who will join the official Palestinian security forces, and Israel will remove them from its lists of wanted militants, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details of the agreement.

An official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office confirmed the deal would extend to wanted militants who openly renounce terrorism, and was part of a series of measures to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

This is also a plan that is doomed to failure. There is absolutely nothing beyond hope and wishful thinking that will keep Fatah from going back to attacking Israel the moment they think the time is right. Symbolically handing over weapons to Palestinian security services may look good for the diplomats, but how quickly and easily can those weapons end up back in the hands of the Fatah thugs, especially when Palestinian security services are Fatah thugs themselves? For now, they're saying the right things, but I'm highly skeptical. I'm not alone.

Israel has been down this road before, and earlier prisoner releases have not bought Israel any more peace than this deal will.

To me, this is nothing more than a hudna - a strategic pause before Fatah resumes its war with Israel.

For Israel, they look to such pauses with a sigh of relief, given that they've got so much on their plate - Hamas continues its war against Israel from Gaza, Hizbullah is busy rearming and preparing for another war along Israel's northern border, Syria is agitating violence inside Lebanon, Islamists are fighting Lebanon's military for weeks and no end in sight and if Lebanon fails, another Islamist force takes hold on Israel's borders, and Iran is threatening Israel with annihilation (including ongoing work on its nuclear program). Israel's leaders are hoping for any kind of diplomatic victory to muddle through for a little while longer.

Diplomats are hoping that these deals with continue to separate and distance Fatah and Hamas - to bolster Fatah's Abbas over Haniyeh and the thugs who continue to call for Israel's destruction, all the while ignoring the fact that Fatah also calls for Israel's destruction - they just do it with finely tailored suits and not simply terrorists with suicide bombs and kassams.

Hamas isn't taking this lying down, and they're trying to get the parliament to see things their way, even though many of their "legislators" have been incarcerated by Israel.

Props and Tools Revisited

I recently wrote about how the terrorists would use people like Gilad Shalit or Alan Johnston as props and tools in their propaganda campaign.

I certainly wasn't disappointed. That's Johnston on the left, and Ismail Haniyeh on the right. Haniyeh is the top terrorist in Gaza and head of Hamas there. He's responsible for multiple terrorist attacks and has no problem with launching rockets into Israel in its war against Israel.

It looks like whatever differences between the Doghmush clan and Hamas have been resolved, and they will be working together again. I get the feeling that this was all a sham of being able to play bad cop and worse cop.

Carl in Jerusalem points out how his release came to pass:

Useful idiot Alan Johnston was released early this morning by the 'Army of Islam' after a 'prisoner exchange' with Hamas. The fact that Hamas regarded Johnston as its prisoner, and gave up members of the Dugmash clan in return for his release, along with the picture at the top of this post, speaks volumes about who Johnston really is and what he represents. While rejoicing with Johnston, Haniyeh said that kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit could be released as well if Israel will be 'reasonable.' I wonder how many murderers of Hamas members were released in exchange for Johnston. I would assume none.

The only kind of reasonableness that Hamas wants is the release of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails in exchange for Gilad Shalit. Anything less has been unacceptable. Israel says that Hamas must now release Shalit.

There will be a demonstration on July 16 in front of the UN building at noon to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Shalit and Goldwasser and Regev who are being held by Hizbullah in Lebanon.

Partners in Peace? Not a Chance

How exactly can Fatah be a partner in peace when it doesn't even have control over the territories ceded to the Palestinians by Israel in 2005 and one would have to ignore the fact that Fatah is itself a terrorist group unworthy of any such support and aid? Abbas is trying to get an international peacekeeping force to operate in Gaza, to accomplish what he was unable to do - deal with Hamas.

Hamas threatens any international peacekeeping forces and will treat them as occupying forces should they operate in Gaza. As I've noted from the outset of the Palestinian civil war, there is absolutely no way the UN would get countries to participate in a peacekeeping operation in Gaza because it is simply a recipe for disaster.

Hamas reiterated Saturday that it would forcefully resist the deployment of a multi-national force in the Gaza Strip.

The group's armed wing, the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that they would regard "any foreign force as an occupying force, and we will respond decisively."

Hamas issued similar warnings when the proposal to deploy a multinational force was initially made after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip a few weeks ago.

"We will not receive them with roses, but with rockets and shells," Hamas members vowed Saturday.

Haniyeh says that he will follow in the path of Yasir Arafat and Sheikh Yassin, both of whom called for unending war against Israel until it was destroyed. Yassin melded the nationalist view with the religious ideological view in leading Hamas before he was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

It would also appear that there are those within Fatah who don't like what Fatah is doing these days, and may try to take things in a different direction.

Syria is busy producing more rockets and missiles, and if you think that those aren't being stockpiled for a conflict with Israel, you're sorely mistaken. As it is, the rockets keep hitting Israel from Gaza.

Egypt arrested a bunch of Muslim Brotherhood members. For those that aren't up on their terrorist groups, the Brotherhood spawned the ideological underpinnings of groups like the Hamas and al Qaeda.

Summit Talk

So, we're in the midst of yet another Middle East summit and Israel is once again making concessions that do not appear to make sense for Israel's national security. The Quartet is meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the situation. Among the issues to be discussed is naming outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as envoy to the region:

There was no official statement released after the meeting of the foreign diplomats, known as the quartet. A proposal to name Mr. Blair to a key new position for the regions has been endorsed by President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Heading into the meeting, a United Nations spokesman said the envoys had “no set agenda” and would discuss “recent developments and the way forward,” according to The Associated Press.

While there has been no formal announcement that he would become the envoy after stepping down as prime minister on Wednesday, Mr. Blair, speaking in London today, said that a negotiated settlement on the issue of Palestine is “essential” for world peace and he would do “whatever it takes” to help achieve a lasting solution.

“Anybody who cares about peace and stability in the world knows that a lasting and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue is essential,” he said in a news conference, according to remarks published on the prime minister’s Web site. “As I have said on many occasions, I would do whatever I could to help such a resolution come about.”

As the representative of the quartet of world powers, Mr. Blair’s appointment would signify the most visible attempt at laying the groundwork for a Palestinian state since President Clinton worked with Yasir Arafat and Ehud Barak in 2001.

Yes, and we know how well that worked out in 2000. Camp David exploded in Clinton's face - Arafat got nearly everything that had been demanded of Israel and not only rejected the proposal, but never ever so much as offered a counterproposal. Instead, Fatah and the Palestinians launched yet another Intifada.

That should be the backdrop for any future negotiations on the subject - demanding the Palestinians start living up to their obligations, rather than forcing Israel to make still more concessions. Those concessions have gotten Israel no peace, and have reduced its ability to defend itself from terrorist attacks (see Gaza withdrawal or the disengagement from South Lebanon).

Hamas still holds Gilad Shalit and his health situation is still unclear. He has not recovered from his wounds sustained when he was captured a year ago. Well, they probably would have been healed had Hamas released him months ago, but that's not going to happen unless Hamas gets Israel to make still more concessions along the lines of prisoner releases. Egypt's Mubarak says that Shalit's release depends on calm in Gaza. No, it depends on whether Hamas can be forced to release Shalit without Israel having to release terrorists in exchange. Shalit could be released tomorrow if Hamas wanted to, but it knows that Shalit's value lies in the ability to obtain concessions from Israel that threaten Israel's security down the road - prisoner releases (both in the immediate form of terrorists back on the streets and the precedence of what happens when Israeli soldiers are captured).

Rockets continue to be fired into Israel from Gaza, including one that landed in a schoolyard in Sderot.

Israel has already announced that it would release 250 Fatah thugs from Israeli jails, in a bid to prop up Abbas, whose own thugs have no problem carrying out terrorist attacks against Israel when they're not enriching themselves or fighting with Hamas. Netenyahu says that the prisoner release was a mistake, which is true, but Bibi doesn't have a problem with allowing the Badr Brigade to come to Abbas's rescue. The Badr Brigade, yet another force of Fatah thugs, are currently in Jordan.

There is one possible reason that Bibi has no problem with this deal (and this is purely speculation) - getting Fatah all in one place makes it easier to track 'em down going forward should things go sour. It would keep Israel and Jordan on the same page as they've had closer relations than Israel has with any other country in the region.

Israel allowing Fatah to bring in more thugs eases the problem for Jordan - and the question then becomes what is Israel getting in return. There's got to be something that isn't getting reported in the media to account for it.

UPDATE:
The Army of Islam has issued a list of demands for the release of Alan Johnston. They want three jihadis released - including a spiritual leader of al Qaeda held in Britain and an al Qaeda thug responsible for hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan that killed dozens, and another jihadi spiritual leader being held in Jordan.

This suggests that the Army of Islam's links to al Qaeda may be far stronger than previously acknowledged. Hamas has also been implicated in Johnston's capture, so this bodes poorly for all involved. Al Qaeda definitely wants to increase its footprint in Gaza, and they've found a willing fellow traveler in the form of the Army of Darkness.

UPDATE:
We're beginning to find out just how some of these news outlets are able to get the news reports - and the attendant bias - because they're in bed with the very terrorists we're supposed to be fighting. Like those who would rather not know how sausage is made, the British would rather you not know what goes into making BBC news reports - and how tied into the jihadis they really are. In this case, the BBC is employing Hamas thugs.

It must hurt something fierce to see how Hamas has repaid that close relationship with the ongoing capture of Alan Johnston.

You can be sure that this likely violates all kinds of British law, not to mention journalistic standards, but what's a few laws or standards when they've got an anti-Israel biased scoop to run.

Props and Tools

Hamas has released an audio tape with Gilad Shalit criticizing the Israeli government. Go figure. He's being held by terrorists who are ideologically dedicated themselves to Israel's destruction and think nothing of killing Israelis. The only reason Shalit may still be alive is because the terrorists think they can get the Israeli government to release hundreds of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails in an exchange for Shalit.

No doubt the tape was made under duress and should not be used to construe how Shalit actually felt about the Israeli government.

In the message, posted on the Web site of Hamas's military wing, Schalit sent greetings to his family and said his health was deteriorating. He also expressed disappointment in the government's "lack of interest" in his fate.

The Hebrew recording can be downloaded from http://www.blue-song.net/video//shallete.rmvb.

"Mother and father, my sister and brother, my friends in the Israel Defense Forces. I greet you from prison and miss you all," he said.

"I have spent a full year in prison, and my health is still deteriorating, and I need a prolonged hospitalization. I regret the lack of interest on the part of the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces in my case and their refusal to meet the demands of the al-Kassam brigades," he added.

In the tape, Schalit also called on the government to meet Palestinian demands for a large-scale prisoner swap, "especially since I was in the middle of military service, on a military operation and I was not a drug dealer" - probably said in reference to Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was abducted by Hizbullah and released as part of a prisoner exchange deal in 2004 and subsequently admitted that he had entered Lebanon to conduct a drug deal.

Once again, we have signs that the terrorist group Hamas is behind Shalit's abduction and ongoing captivity. However, we have no idea when the tape was made.

It would also appear that the letter was writting by his captors and that he was coerced into saying those statements. Noam Shalit, Gilad's father, also believed the message was coerced, although Noam has been a critic of how the Israeli government has been handling the situation. Indeed, I've been a critic of how Olmert has dealt with the situation.

I'm leaning even stronger towards the idea of swapping humanitarian aid for Shalit's release. Gaza gets nothing from Israel unless Shalit is released. Why should Hamas benefit from Israel's humanitarian gestures while Hamas continues to agitate towards Israel's destruction.

At the same time BBC journalist Alan Johnston is now seen on a video tape wearing a bomb vest:


If someone attempts to rescue Johnston, his captors will blow him up. He's seen on the tape pleading with Hamas or the British government not to use military force to rescue him. He's also been told to say that negotiations are very close to succeeding in rescuing him. How much will that cost the BBC or the British government, as that can only mean that a ransom is likely in the works?

Meanwhile, al Qaeda's Zawahiri is urging Hamas to make Gaza an Islamist state. Go figure.

So, Olmert says that Hamas is out to destroy Israel. If that's the case, why provide humanitarian aid that frees up Hamas to continue using its ill-gotten funds to procure weapons and continue its fight. Humanitarian aid simply allows Hamas to devote more of its resources for the fight against Israel than to actually take care of the day to day tasks of providing for the Palestinians living in Gaza.

This week's summit is sure to produce some mighty interesting demands on Israel. Abbas wants Barghouti released from Israeli jail. Barghouti is serving a life sentence for his involvment in the murder of numerous Israeli citizens in an array of terrorist attacks. He's also primed to ask for more weapons and armored vehicles. Yes, so Fatah could lose and hand them over to Hamas? Thanks but no thanks. Some in Israel are also worried about the folly of giving Fatah weapons.

Others are concerned that this latest summit will be a sham. As I've been saying, it will be yet another opportunity for the other countries and Fatah terrorists to prod Israel to make concessions without Israel getting anything concrete in return. Vague promises to fight terrorism are insufficient. Fatah is unwilling to make a real peace with Israel since it calls for Israel's destruction. It has refused to eliminate provisions in its charter calling for Israel's destruction. Abbas cannot even make that largely symbolic gesture, so how can they be trusted to deal with the more substantial actions of cracking down on other terrorists in the West Bank or Gaza?

Israeli airstrikes killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist and wounded two other terrorists in Gaza. The dead terrorist was responsible for firing rockets at Sderot early in the day.

UPDATE:
So, the ties that bind are far stronger than previously noted: Fatah thugs were cooperating with Hamas thugs prior to the Hamas takeover of Gaza.

Palestinian security official says officers received money from Hamas in exchange for transferring information on deployment of Palestinian Authority forces in Strip

"Dozens of officers in the (Fatah-affiliated) security forces are suspected of cooperating with Hamas during the Islamist group’s takeover of the Gaza Strip,” a senior Palestinian security official said Sunday.

According to the official, some senior officers have been suspected of cooperating with Hamas even prior to the decisive round of clashes with Fatah. He said the officers received money from Hamas in exchange for transferring information on the deployment of Palestinian Authority forces in the Strip.

This is yet more evidence that no monies should be transferred to Fatah or Hamas, as they are both flip sides of the same coin - terrorists dedicated to Israel's destruction who will use whatever aid is provided by Israel and the West to further line their own pockets and wage war against Israel.

UPDATE:
Haniyeh thinks that the release of the Shalit tape is an act of goodwill. Sorry, but releasing Shalit is an act of goodwill. The tape is an act of unmitigated propaganda designed to increase pressure on Israel to cut a deal for a prisoner swap.

UPDATE:
Physicians For Human Rights says that Shalit's captors must treat his ailments.

The Physicians for Human Rights organization appealed to Gilad Shalit's captor demanding they arrange medical treatment for him. The organization's statement said that "preventing treatment is a serious violation of the rules of medical ethics".

How about releasing him? Isn't that a better way to ensure Shalit receives the kind of care he should be getting - complete with the moral and physical of support of his family and friends?

UPDATE:
Free Gilad is polling as to what course of action the government should take now that Gilad has been in the hands of Hamas for a year.

UPDATE:
Breaking news: Israeli PM Olmert to release 250 Fatah prisoners as 'gesture of goodwill'

Nothing good will come of this. Not the release of Shalit, nor that of Johnston. It will only signal that if Hamas and the other terrorists persist long enough, they'll get Israel to capitulate on their demands.

UPDATE:
It will be interesting to watch to see if there was a quid pro quo between Olmert's statement on releasing prisoners and whether Johnston or Shalit are released or other movement happens - particularly at the summit this week.

UPDATE:
Conflict Blotter has some indispensible reading today - both about the history of recent summits between Israel and its neighbors (short answer - no good has come of them, the long answer isn't any better), and about what Olmert may be up to - trying to give concessions to Fatah without actually making concessions. That's a neat trick considering the news of the prisoner release.

UPDATE:
Abbas, who also goes by the nom de guerre Abu Mazen, remains a thug, and those who continue to think he's the solution are pushing a fantasy. That's what I've been saying.

UPDATE:
Noam Shalit calls for a renewal of the ceasefire. Compare that with the ongoing Palestinian attacks against Israel. They aren't going to stop, and are likely to be emboldened by the capitulation by the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Abbas is saying that it's a step in the right direction and that Israel must start talks for a Palestinian state. Hey, here's a news flash. Gaza is already in Palestinian hands - just not Fatah's. They're using it to go to war against Israel, and aren't willing to settle for just Gaza. They want the West Bank too. And Israel.

Egypt says that they'll renew efforts to mediate a deal between Hamas and Israel. Hamas says that Shalit's captors are treating him well. Israel's medical community could do a much better job at that, but they'll hold on to him until they get what they want.

Jaw Jaw Instead of War War

Egypt has called on Jordan, Israel, and the PA to meet for a summit in Egypt. Egypt wants to retain its leadership role in the Middle East among Arab countries, where its main competitor among Sunni countries is Saudi Arabia. The last time that the Palestinians met to discuss matters, they claimed to reach an agreement on a unity government. Within hours that devolved into the civil war that resulted in Fatah being ousted from Gaza and Hamas firmly in charge there.

The diplomats are doing what they always do; they are talking. Expect the usual from this - demands that Israel make concessions for the sake of peace. No where do I expect concessions to be demanded of Fatah although they're not exactly in a position to give up much of anything.

Closing ranks against Hamas, Egypt's president invited Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit, officials said Thursday, the biggest show of support yet by moderate Arab states for beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The meeting will take place Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, arguing that only progress toward Palestinian statehood can serve as a true buffer against Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last week, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.

''The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence,'' Erekat said. ''We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people.''

As immediate steps, Abbas will ask Israel to remove West Bank checkpoints that disrupt daily life and trade, and to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax funds Israel froze after Hamas came to power last year.

In Washington this week, Olmert said he would propose to his Cabinet on Sunday that it unlock frozen funds, thought he did not say how much money he thought Israel should free. Israel is holding about $550 million in tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

Despite the talk about peace, however, the Hamas takeover has dealt a setback to statehood efforts, with the Islamic militants in charge of Gaza and Abbas in charge of the West Bank.

Actually, Fatah is also comprised of terrorists, but we've decided to play realpolitik and give those terrorists a chance to act as a buffer against the more extreme terrorists in Hamas.

I'm not a fan of it, and consider it pseudorealism considering that Fatah still considers the destruction of Israel to be its ultimate goal - hardly a moderate stance. Still, the possibility that dipomatic action might undermine and forestall a wider conflict is what diplomats are hoping for. The problem is that hope is a very poor way to strategize dipomacy. It's wishful thinking when the Palestinians refuse to make concessions that could actually lead to peace.

Egypt is supposedly the key to dealing with Hamas. Well, if Egypt could manage to shut down the arms smuggling into Gaza, that may be worth considering. The idea that Egypt should be asked to take over Gaza and administer the territory is a nonstarter - Egypt didn't want it when Israel and Egypt signed the peace treaty at Camp David in 1979, so there's no reason to think that has changed. Egypt knows it doesn't stand to benefit from that - and the Islamists in Gaza could further undermine Mubarak's position.

However, it does stand to benefit from increased patrols along the Philadelphi corridor.

For its part, Hamas continues to threaten Fatah for what it considers an illegal takeover of the PA.

In an interview here, Mr. Zahar, the former Palestinian foreign minister, said Hamas would not sit idle if its political rival, Fatah, dominant in the occupied West Bank and backed by the United States and Israel, continued to attack Hamas institutions and politicians.

“If they continue to dismantle the local elections in the West Bank and punish Hamas there, the United States and Israel will face another surprise there,” Mr. Zahar said. Asked how, he said, “The way we defend ourselves against Israel and this occupation.” Pressed if that meant attacks and suicide bombings, he smiled and replied: “You said that.” Then he added: “We are ending the reign of the spies and collaborators in Fatah.”

In recent days, Fatah gunmen have been attacking and burning Hamas institutions in the West Bank, and its forces have arrested a number of elected Hamas officials there as well. Mr. Zahar, a physician singled out in the past by Israeli forces who killed one of his sons and his son-in-law, spoke on a day when Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, the Palestinian president, said he would not negotiate with Hamas. In a televised speech, he said that “there is no dialogue with those murderous terrorists” and added: “Our main goal is to prevent sedition from spreading to the west Bank.”

Their main goal is to create an Islamic state of Palestine, comprised of the West Bank, Gaza, and what is presently Israel. Make no mistake about that.

And in a poll conducted of Palestinian views on the situation, most Palestinians would prefer new elections but Hamas would still come out ahead. Make of that what you will.

Syria claims that it is willing to talk peace. Would they consider giving up the possibility of regaining the Golan? Or is that the deal breaker for them? Land for peace has shown itself to have limits - just look at what the Palestinians have done with Gaza when Israel withdrew and South Lebanon when Israel withdrew in 2000 - it turned in to Hizbullahland from which that terrorist group could start a ruinous war. Syria wants the Golan back, and anything less would not be acceptable to them. Count on it. This latest move by Syria is an attempt to put the pressure back on Israel, instead of on Syria, which repeatedly used the Heights to fire into Israel when it was in control from 1948 through 1967, and again during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Then, there's the not insignificant matter of who is actually holding Alan Johnston and what is being done to secure his release. There's a report that a member of the group claiming to hold Johnston was killed but note the language being used to describe the group; they're talking about a clan holding him, not the terrorist group Army of Islam which has claimed responsibility. Masked gunmen reportedly shot a member of the Dughmush clan, which could mean Hamas was behind the attack. Hamas has said that it would use force against those holding Johnston if he was not released, and Hamas' brand of diplomacy is to shoot first and make demands later.

The bottom story of the day from the UN is that Secretary General Ban has denounced the UN Human Rights Council decision to single out Israel's human rights stance.

UPDATE:
Well, this report clearly indicates that the Army of Islam and the Dughmush clan are one in the same. Via LGF:



I guess the Army of Islam decided to consult with the media critics to give 'em an extreme name makeover to make it more palatable to the West. Saying that you're the Army of Islam might be... inflammatory and undermine the Islamists jihad by being so damned overt in their calling.

Calling themselves a clan is so much more ... tribal.

Whatever they call themselves, they're still holding Johnston and deserve to be hunted down.

UPDATE:
We're also approach the one-year anniversary of the date on which Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas in a raid that killed two other Israeli soldiers. Gilad is still being held somewhere in Gaza.

Hamas, meanwhile, has said that the PA should be comprised of technocrats instead of Fatah and Hamas thugs. Interesting idea, but hardly unoriginal. I believe that that idea has been floated by others around the Internet. It would benefit Hamas since it would get around some of the problems of having Hamas on the West's blacklist (no economic aid), but Hamas would still be part of the government. Technocrats sound better than kleptocrats or thugocrats, but the Palestinians have shown themselves to be lacking in competent leaders.

Hamas sees this trial balloon as a way of getting back into the money and to reassert power in both Gaza and the West Bank, instead of largely being confined to the hellhole of Gaza.

UPDATE:
Israel has agreed to meet for this summit, and it would appear that the US might be trying to apply the screws to Egypt to get them to do more to secure the Hamastan/Egypt border, to the tune of withholding $200 million in foreign aid.

Oh, and where are the usual suspects in Israel who are quick to condemn Israel for defending itself and kill terrorists, but are silent when the terrorists of Fatah and Hamas are busy killing each other. Hypocrites.

The Israeli Left and Arab Knesset members are enlightened and humane people. They are quick to cry out in the face of any injustice. In the course of the ongoing, Sisyphean and bloody war against Islamic terrorists raging in our region, there were cases where Palestinians used as cover by murderers have been hurt by mistake. Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On and Ahmed Tibi were quick to storm the nearest microphones in order to condemn the act, resorted to harsh, impassioned criticism of IDF commanders and fighters, and threatened to submit High Court petitions and turn to local and international human rights groups.

A blatant example of this is the nutty establishment of a commission of inquiry to look into the targeted killing of a top Hamas terrorist, the "saintly" Salah Shahada.

As it turns out now, their conscience is selective, just like their memory. More than 300 people have been recently killed in Gaza and Lebanon. In Gaza we witnessed a massacre, executions, cold-blooded daytime murders on the street, lynching against a backdrop of cheering masses, and horrendous acts of abuse one cannot find in any horror film.

However, it appears that the blood of these victims is not as red, and the reason is that those who are killing them, slitting their throats and abusing them are their Muslim brothers. Heaven forbid we criticize the barbaric butchers. It is easier to criticize those who fail to offer assistance than it is to slam Hamas, which is committing the crimes. As usual, we are being condemned, for not treating gunshot victims.

I would highly recommend the map feature at the Guardian (via Conflict Blotter). It's an interactive map that lets you see who controls what in the West Bank and various aspects of Israel's means of self defense - aka the security fence. It's the Guardian, so it's couched in terms of occupation and a pro-Palestinian bent, but the key detail is when you click on the links for Palestinian controlled and administered territory. It highlights a key detail that is often missing in news reports. Israel has relinquished control over large areas of the West Bank to Palestinian civil administrative control. Palestinians have been governing Palestinians - not very well I might add since Oslo in 1993. And that's part of the problem. The PA is a bunch of kleptocrats, so the Palestinians haven't been able to do much with what they have.

UPDATE:
Hamas is going to get a dose of what it's like to run Gaza, but the journalist writing this piece, still can't help but find ways to pin the blame on Israel.

Still, even Zahar must know that once the euphoria wears off, the Islamists are almost certainly due for a humbling lesson in real-world management. Maintaining order in a 25-mile strip of land choked with 1.4 million impoverished Palestinians is a daunting task for even the most disciplined and efficient of organizations. Governing will be all the more difficult while fighting periodic skirmishes with Israeli troops stationed just across the border. Earlier this week, Israeli and Palestinian soldiers exchanged gunfire at the busy Erez Crossing, and on Wednesday Israeli forces killed six more Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. American officials have pledged vigorous support for President Mahmoud Abbas's forces in the West Bank, and Hamas activists could face further arrests there, where Abbas’s Fatah faction remains relatively strong. Meanwhile, dozens of Gazans are still trying to flee the fighting; on Wednesday Israel allowed more than 50 residents to pass on a bus to Egypt, although others remained stranded at Erez.

The Erez Crossing is a creepy place, even in the best of times. The walls of the concrete tunnel that leads from Israel to Gaza are chewed with the charred pockmarks of past shooting attacks; brass M-16 casings litter the floor alongside the pulled pins of smoke grenades. At a series of locked gates along the way, the disembodied voices of Israeli soldiers bark confusing orders over loudspeakers, instructing you to open your bags, take everything out of your pockets, raise your arms. On past trips to Gaza, a Palestinian policeman has checked my passport on the far side, and then waved me in. But this time I was thrust into a scene of frenetic activity almost as soon as I stepped across the border. Dozens of Palestinian kids were hanging from the green steel rafters of the tunnel, swinging axes and hoisting blowtorches—stripping even the tunnel itself of any metal that could possibly sold for scrap.

The violence at Erez crossing earlier this week was due to Hamas firing on Fatah thugs who were trying to gain entry into Israel. Israeli troops fired to provide cover for the Fatah thugs, and have even provided some medical assistance.

Erez crossing is designed the way it is because of the ongoing and persistent threat of Palestinian suicide bombers attempting to gain access to Israel, and to deal with crowd control.

Everything of even remote value is being scavenged from Gaza, and the situation will get only worse as Hamas cements its hold on Gaza.

UPDATE:
Yet another reason not to consider Fatah a moderate - the Fatah torture chamber of horrors (via LGF). Expect Hamas to return the favor, which goes hand in hand with the honor/shame cycle of violence.

UPDATE:
Meanwhile, the Lebanese military claims to have finally crushed Fatah al Islam. That group's leaders are on the run, which means that they could try to regroup elsewhere - namely one of the other camps, but this is a positive step. 16 people were arrested for a bus bombing back in February.

Back in Israel, PM Olmert is considering releasing taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinians to the PA. That's quite a tidy sum of money too, and could go a long way to building infrastructure, though it is most likely to be used for buying weapons and paying thugs.

Hamas is making itself right at home in Fatah's former bases.

Moving much closer to home, New Jersey is one step closer to requiring the state pension fund divest itself from those securities that invest in Iran.

UPDATE:
Bibi thinks that Jordan needs to be more involved in securing the West Bank. There is a certain amount of logic to that proposal, given that Palestinians from the West Bank were Jordanians before 1967, and Israel and Jordan have a peace deal. However, it's not in Jordan's interest to bring still more radical terrorists into their own sphere of influence since many do not consider Abdullah to be legitimate.

Israel also wants Saudi Arabia in on the peace efforts. Well, that's splitting the difference between the two regional Sunni powers - Egypt and Saudi Arabia. I don't see this doing anything one way or the other, except as to provide yet more money to any possible deal.

Israel is also allowing hundreds of tons of food to enter Gaza.

UPDATE:
Abbas is considering early elections. He obviously doesn't believe in the polls that would have Hamas winning.

UPDATE:
It would seem that Fatah al Islam's old neighbors don't want them to come back. Actually, it's not just Fatah al Islam, but the Palestinians in general who resided in the Nahr al-Bared camp and who had no problem with the terrorists operating from within the camp.

Palestinians, Power, and Responsibility

Gazans are hoping to elicit sympathy from Israelis. That's going to be tough, considering all the rockets fired at Israel from Gaza. Still more were fired into Israel today, but the US media always seems to report the situation only when Israel fired back. They always seem to miss the part where Palestinian terrorists fired first. Here's the Israeli reporting on the rocket attacks and Israeli counter battery fire.

All this comes as the Israelis are allowing sick Palestinians, including known terrorists on watch lists enter Israel for medical care. Erez Crossing is where Palestinians have been coming to escape the hellhole that is Gaza for the safer confines of Israel or the West Bank.

Conflict Blotter recounts stories of Hamas war crimes:

The 22-year-old presidential guardsman and 11 other soldiers had been sent on a mission from Abbas’ compound to the Preventative Security headquarters on the last day of the fighting to rescue some 30 officers who were holed up inside the besieged compound. Once inside the compound they called for the armoured car they had been promised but it never came and they wound up pinned down by Hamas militants.

They surrendered. A Hamas gunman shot one of the 12 soldiers in the leg and told the rest to run away. As they fled, they opened fire, Iki said, shooting them all in the legs as they tried to run away. A Hamas gunman came up and executed each wounded soldier, continued Iki. Iki was lucky, the execution bullet hit him in the side of the neck and he didn’t die. He lay semi-conscious on the street for an hour and a half bleeding. The bus driver who had driven the Hamas militants to the fight checked his pulse at one point and found he was alive. He started to help him.

“Leave him or we’ll shoot you,” a masked militant said. The driver obeyed and left Iki to bleed.

Foreign nationals in Gaza are also getting out of Dodge.

Much of the Arab world is based on a honor/shame culture, and the Palestinian civil war should highlight this to the extreme, but the diplomats seem to ignore the implications. Hamas won and its power is greatly enhanced as a result. Fatah's loss was not only stunning because it supposedly had the greater numbers, but it had the backing of the likes of the US, Israel, and the rest of the West. Palestinians on the fence are going to consider backing Hamas, despite its terrorist background, because they'll back the winning horse. Fatah is at a greater disadvantage now, even with more US and Western aid pumped in because Fatah is the losing horse.

Hamas claims that the US and Israel is blackmailing the Palestinian people. Throwing people off rooftops is far more effective at blackmailing than throwing money to a bunch of kleptocrats in Fatah. Hamas is whining that they aren't getting money from the US and Israel so that they can use that money to attack Israel.

Of course, Fatah isn't shying away from killing Israelis either. Meryl Yourish reports the following:

Two armed Palestinians were killed in a gunfight with an IDF force in a village near Jenin Tuesday night, eyewitnesses reported.

According to the report, local gunmen opened fire at the force that entered the village accompanied by a military bulldozer. An al-Quds Brigades commander and an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members were killed in the incident.

The AAMB is part of Fatah, Abbas's terrorist organization. All this goes on as the diplomats delude themselves into thinking that Fatah is the moderate among the Palestinian terrorist organizations and can be dealt with.

The US has finally issued a statement slamming the UN's Human Rights Council for once again singling out Israel for condemnation all while ignoring human rights violations elsewhere, including in Gaza and the West Bank by the Palestinians against other Palestinians.

Hamas is once again trying to assert that it is doing all it can to secure the release of journalist Alan Johnston. Right.

Hamas said that it was making intense, round-the-clock efforts to secure an imminent release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, on the eve of the newsman’s 100th day in captivity.

"When it comes to Alan Johnston we are multiplying efforts to secure his release, and we hope they will succeed and that he will be released in the coming days," senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told a news conference.

They can make the claims without having to actually supply any proof. And the media will take them at their word. Hamas is also calling on the media to return to Gaza, despite the fact that being a journalist in Gaza is perhaps the most dangerous job in the world. Journalists are purposefully targeted for kidnapping and killing precisely because of their high profile positions, and the likelyhood of ransoms to be paid.

This is just delusional: the Syrians think that some Israelis in the Golan might prefer to live under Syrian rule.

Iran is announcing that it has finished manufacturing a domestically produced fighter jet.

Iranian news agencies Maher and Fars have reported that Iranian army commander Ataollah Salehi announced that in the next few months the Iranian army is scheduled to hold maneuvers during which they will present, for the first time, Iranian-made fighter aircraft – Azarakhsh.

The Iranians claim that the fighter jet is on the same level as the American made F/A-18 but FAS suggests that the fighter is cobbled together from a variety of reverse engineered older aircraft in its inventory. Meanwhile, Russia is denying that it has deals to sell fighter jets of its own to Iran and Syria.

Meanwhile, another scoop too good to check - about the situation in Lebanon, fed to Sy Hersh by none other than Robert Fisk, turns out to be less than accurate. Go figure.

UPDATE:
The NYT opened up it's op-ed page for yet another shill for Hamas, which ignores basis details:

Sadly, it became apparent that not all officials from Fatah were negotiating in good faith. There were attempts on Mr. Haniya’s life last week, and eventually we were forced into trying to take control of a very dangerous situation in order to provide political stability and establish law and order.

The streets of Gaza are now calm for the first time in a very long time. We have begun disarming some of the drug dealers and the armed gangs and we hope to restore a sense of security and safety to the citizens of Gaza. We want to get children back to school, get basic services functioning again, and provide long-term economic gains for our people.

Let's just ignore all the assassination attempts by Hamas on Fatah's Abbas and other top leaders, both in Gaza and the West Bank. Let's ignore the Hamas thugs throwing Fatah thugs off rooftops or executing them in hospitals or firing on crowds of Fatah thugs seeking to flee Gaza to Israel.

Hamas isn't providing political stability. It's enforcing its brand of law and order according to Islamist precepts. If you're a member of Fatah, you're toast. Law and order consists of Hamas thugs doing what they do best - cowing those without the guns into doing their bidding. As for getting basic services going, perhaps the Palestinians should consider using piping for sewage rather than rockets. As for the economics, perhaps they should consider growing agriculture in greenhouses instead of looting them and then using the remnants as rocket launching facilities or terror training camps.

UPDATE:
Oh, as for the food situation - Hamas claims that the food will run out in 2-4 weeks.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip could start running out of flour, rice, edible oil and other commodities in 2-4 weeks unless Israel reopens the border crossings, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Gaza's crossings with border countries Israel and Egypt, including the Rafah Crossings in the south, the Karni commercial passage in the center and the Erez Crossing in the north, have been closed since late last week when Hamas assumed full control over the Strip after five days of fighting with the rival Fatah party.

Concerned Gazans have been stocking up on essentials, fearing the crossings with remain shut. The World Food Program estimates flour prices have risen 40 percent.

Here's a novel idea. Grow some in greenhouses as opposed to using 'em as rocket launching platforms. Oh wait. They looted the greenhouses and instead have to hold their hand out to the Israelis for food aid shipments. The irony is quite thick, especially as the UN repeatedly claims that Israel is violating Palestinian human rights. Yet, Israel is there providing humanitarian aid on a daily basis, ordered to in fact by Israeli courts, despite the fact that many of those receiving food and medical assistance are terrorists who would just as quickly shoot Israelis as each other.

UPDATE:
The Washington Post also engages in quite a bit of moral relativism in pushing for Hamas to be drawn back into a diplomatic process. Ahmed Yousef, who's a flack for Haniyeh wrote the piece. And the editors think nothing of letting terrorists and their shills write their demands on the editorial page of its newspaper.

UPDATE:
Abbas calls Hamas's actions a bloody coup. What a way to state the obvious, though Palestinian civil war is also fitting. Also, quite a bit of hand-wringing over the situation at Erez Crossing, where Palestinians are hoping for the opportunity to get out of Gaza and go to Israel or the West Bank.

Israel is also going after kassam rocket launchers and the Palestinian terrorists are finding time to get into gunfights with Israel:

Elsewhere Wednesday, Israeli aircraft pounded two rocket launchers in northern Gaza after two Qassam rockets were fired toward southern Israel, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said.

It is the first Israeli airstrike since Hamas took control of Gaza last week.

There were no reported casualties from either strike.

Israeli soldiers killed six Palestinian gunmen during firefights in Gaza and the West Bank early Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

In Gaza, Israeli forces pushed several hundred yards into the Palestinian territory, near Kissufim Crossing, to battle militants, the sources said. During the exchange, two Palestinian gunmen were killed and three others were wounded. Two of the wounded later died. An Israeli army spokesman said one Israeli soldier was wounded.

Overnight, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants in the West Bank town of Kafr Dan, near Jenin, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

According to residents, the gunmen were members of Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

As I repeatedly note, the AAMB is Fatah and there is no reason to distinguish between the two. Fatah gives its marching orders to the AAMB, which acts as a 'military' wing of Fatah.

UPDATE:
Syria has closed its border with Lebanon, with no reason given. (Via Haaretz). Hamas doesn't consider itself to be a protector of Israel's border, as terrorists continue to fire rockets into Israel. Of course, the world will soon find its voice to condemn Israel's reprisal attacks on those firing those rockets.

Meanwhile, Olmert and Abbas are set to meet in the next week. What I wouldn't give to be in that room to give them both a piece of my mind. Abbas and Fatah keeps making demands on everyone without even bothering to pay lip service to any of its prior obligations that it never fulfilled, and yet makes ever more extravagent demands on Israel for concessions. Olmert and Israel's government continue to give Fatah lifelines, despite no reason to continue doing so.

UPDATE:
The New York Times considers Israel's attack against terrorists firing rockets into Israel an escalation of the violence. Excuse me?! Palestinian terrorists firing rockets against Israel is the escalation; Israel's response is completely appropriate and within its rights as a sovereign nation to defend itself against attacks.

UPDATE:
Jay Tea at Wizbang points out that Gazans have gotten exactly what they asked for. They're now hostages of Hamas. Be careful what you wish for? Indeed.

UPDATE:
So, five more kassams struck Sderot today. Those rockets hit a power pole, knocking out power for a bit, and injured two Israelis. The media takes a powder, and instead will focus on Israel's response (which might come sooner than the terrorists had thought). The NY Times thinks that Israel's response is an escalation when it goes after the terrorists firing rockets against Israel.

Wonder what they'll come up with next? I don't. They'll simply recycle the same articles. It's far easier to recycle (and is good for the environment) than trying to report the facts as they are - that Hamas and Fatah are two sides of he same coin of terrorism, the terrorists continue to try and kill Israelis, and Israel has no choice but to eliminate the terrorists trying to kill Israeli civilians at every opportunity.

UPDATE:
This is just rich with irony. Abbas is calling Hamas "murderous terrorists." Fatah is no different, mind you, but Fatah wouldn't have a problem with Hamas if Hamas was busy killing Israelis and not Fatah leaders and thugs.

UPDATE:
Abbas has also said that Hamas tried to assassinate him. I don't have any sympathy for him as he's had no problem letting terrorists run amok in Gaza and West Bank who sought to kill Israelis. Now the shoe is on the other foot and he doesn't like it one bit.

As for why I continue to hammer away at the NYT and other media outlets that are shilling for Hamas and the terrorists, someone has to do it. These newspapers are attempting to shape public opinion by pushing an agenda that only an anti-Western leftist could love.

Guernica Redrawn

Hamas, Fatah, and the other regional terrorist groups and state-sponsors of terrorism, including Syria and Iran, are busy trying to recreate the conditions found in Picasso's masterpiece, Guernica.

The situation is little changed from yesterday. Hamas is still threatening Israel. Fatah is still playing games with the West, hoping to cash in for just a little while longer, all while wondering whether they can hold out against Hamas or will Israel be forced to finish Hamas off for them.

Abbas's office claims that Hamas is getting its marching orders from Iran.

An aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday Iran had encouraged Hamas to use violence to take control of the Gaza Strip.

"Iran supports non-democratic groups in Palestine, Lebanon and in Iraq and we hold Iran responsible for encouraging Hamas to carry out its coup in Gaza," senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said.

That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Iran, as usual, blames Israel for all the problems.

Hamas muzzling anyone speaking out against them isn't surprising either. They've shut down pro-Fatah radio stations in Gaza. You see, competition would be bad:

However, after Hamas defeated its rival Fatah in days of infighting and seized the Gaza Strip completely, Al-Horria Radio along with other pro-Fatah radio stations in Gaza is looted and closed.

"There is nothing here except for these scattered papers," she croaked with tear drops rolling down her cheek. and could be seen in the dark studio where the lamps were also looted.

Now, Fayrouz lost her job, while her fiance lost her voice in the Israeli jail.

In the Gaza Strip, only the Islamic radios, mainly Hamas' and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War)'s stations, remained broadcasting.

Fatah has broken off all contact with Hamas. Hamas says that they're large and in charge. Well, it's not as though they were communicating all that well before. It is, however, quite funny that Fatah is not talking to Hamas while the US and Israelis are busy sending humanitarian aid to the same terrorist group. Well, it's funny in a real sarcastic and ironic fashion. Fatah, a terrorist group in its own right, has decided that it is best not to talk with Hamas, another terrorist group that is even more violent than itself. Yet, the US and Israelis are busy providing humanitarian aid to Gaza and are propping up Fatah's Abbas.

Oh, and Fatah is again making demands of Israel to release convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Fatah is in absolutely no position to make demands on anyone these days, and yet it comes out with these kinds of pronouncements. Fatah's lucky that they're getting support from the US, Israel, and even China, because if they withdrew their support, Fatah would fold like a house of cards. Barghouti's name has repeatedly come up in relation to a prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit, so this is yet another attempt to use that situation to pressure Israel to release terrorists.

Other members of Fatah are blaming Dahlan for the crisis. Heh. Terrorists blaming terrorists for the fact that Fatah has always operated in this fashion. Arafat promoted the multiple factions so that he could remain in charge. Abbas inherited this, despite being obligated to create a single force under Oslo and other agreements with the US and West.

It was Arafat the created the entangled system of parallel security organizations that competed with each other for authority and power, in order to guarantee that none would challenge his power. Not only have these organizations fought each other, but their commanders were all too pleased to watch their rivals in Fatah lose battles against Hamas. Dahlan, who assumed his post two months ago, could not alter the culture of the organization.

Israel has sent tanks to the Erez junction to hopefully prevent a recurrence of yesterday's attacks by Hamas on fleeing Fatah thugs. Again, isn't it ironic that Israelis are being sent to protect Palestinians from themselves?

Several IDF tanks entered the Gaza Strip through the Erez Crossing on Tuesday afternoon. Military sources said the move was to protect the crossing from incidents similar to Monday's Hamas attack
during which Palestinians opened fire and threw a grenade at a nearby military outpost.

At least one Palestinian was killed, reportedly a Fatah military commander named Jihad Madhun.

Meanwhile, Israel has provided 11 tons of medical supplies to Gaza. Hamas will be sure to appropriate that for themselves, given that they're the ones with the guns. Humanitarian aid rarely goes where it is supposed to when you not only have failed states, but when you have terrorists and thugs dominating every aspect of the polity. Gaza is no different.

Israel, however, has decided to end a policy of letting the Israeli Magen David Alom (Red Cross) evacuate further Palestinians from Gaza. The possibility that some might be evacuated led to concerns that there might be additional riots and incidents at the crossing.

No food shortages are foreseen in Gaza, primarily because Israel is allowing humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. The Gazans aren't exactly producing food for themselves, or any other items of worth for that matter. To the Palestinians, Hamas thugs had taught that to give oneself over to jihad was the highest honor - to become a suicide bomber the ultimate goal.

Alan Johnston remains a prisoner of the Palestinian terrorist group Army of Islam. Some reports indicate that the Army of Islam was given an ultimatum by Hamas to release Johnston or else face military action. Where had Hamas or Fatah been for the past three months? They were clearly waiting for an opportune moment to push their own agenda - to put on a facade of humanitarianism, while the reality is quite different.

Russia, meanwhile, is sending a shipment of fighter jets to Syria.

The business daily Kommersant said that Russia had begun delivering five MiG-31E jets under a deal apparently negotiated during Syrian President Bashar Assad's trip to Moscow last autumn.

Commenting on the report, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement that "all of Russia's deals in the sphere of military-technical cooperation comply with international law and Russia's obligations under various treaties and United Nations resolutions." He would not elaborate.

Conflict Blotter points out that Gaza is an arms bazaar with more weapons entering the area that you can possibly imagine. Prices for the ubiquitious AK-47 have dropped by half from $2,800 to $1,400, which means that the arms dealers have to increase their sales to make up for the per unit costs. All those weapons, and Hamas is more than willing to use them. So are the other thugs and terrorist groups in Gaza. Fatah? Not so much.

Are the Hamas thugs going to engage in law and order administration of Gaza? Well, some are. However, it's quite telling when a looter had to do backbreaking work for hours, just to net $2.50 per kilo of copper wire taken from the Erez crossing. What it says is that there simply isn't anything to loot - at least not after Arafat's home was emptied.

Oh, and it figures that Jimmy Carter would show himself to be utterly deluded. He thinks that the US and EU must bring Hamas and Fatah together in Palestinian territories. The only thing that unites Hamas and Fatah is their unending desire to kill Israelis.

Elsewhere, the fighting in Lebanon between Fatah al Islam and the Lebanese military continues, with more two more Lebanese soldiers reported killed.

UPDATE:
To pick up on what former President Carter had to say about the situation in Gaza and the Palestinian plight:

Carter said the American-Israeli-European consensus to reopen direct aid to the new government in the West Bank, but to deny the same to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, represented an "effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples."

While seeking to boycott the Hamas leadership because of its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel, Europe and the U.S. have continued to send humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other organizations.

During his speech to Ireland's eighth annual Forum on Human Rights, the 83-year-old former president said monitors from his Carter Center observed the 2006 election in which Hamas won 42 percent of the popular vote and a majority of parliamentary seats.

Carter said that election was "orderly and fair" and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was "shrewd in selecting candidates," whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran multiple candidates for single seats.

Far from encouraging Hamas' move into parliamentary politics, Carter said the U.S. and Israel, with European Union acquiescence, has sought to subvert the outcome by shunning Hamas and helping Abbas to keep the reins of political and military power.

"That action was criminal," he said in a news conference after his speech.

"The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in Palestine and did everything they could to deter a compromise between Hamas and Fatah," he said.

Carter said the United States and others supplied the Fatah-controlled security forces in Gaza with vastly superior weaponry in hopes they would "conquer Hamas in Gaza" — but Hamas this month routed Fatah because of its "superior skills and discipline."

Carter still doesn't get it. Hamas will not give up the ghost of trying to destroy Israel. They are not a partner for peace. Fatah pays lip service to diplomacy and are both corrupt and devoted to destroying Israel (they've just gotten waylaid by the sticky fingers syndrome common to all thuggish regimes).

As noted above, Fatah was heavily factionalized - a byproduct of Arafat's methods of staying in power by preventing any one thug beneath him acquiring too much power. It had nothing to do with superior skills or discipline. It doesn't take much dicipline to throw Fatah thugs off rooftops, unless you're trying to keep score for accuracy.

Carter has never met an election he didn't certify, even when they were rigged or involved terrorist groups. There's no reason to treat Hamas as anything but a terrorist group. Indeed, there's no reason to treat Fatah any different than Hamas, but the diplomats have made the decision to look the other way - a fatal flaw in the current approach, but it's the one that started well before the current Administration.

Carter is right in one respect; the West shouldn't be playing favorites. We should be doing absolutely nothing to take sides and to prevent anyone else from taking sides. Let the Palestinians duke it out between themselves with no one else arming them, because once they've finished their own civil war, they'll turn those same weapons on Israel.

UPDATE:
The view in Tripoli, Lebanon as Lebanese forces continue pounding Fatah al Islam positions. This particular building has been hit with hundreds of shells, and is barely standing:

Fatah thugs in Jenin practicing their best impression of seig heil:


Baghdad, Iraq was the scene of a major terrorist attack, where a Shi'ite mosque was bombed and at least 78 murdered and 200 injured in the resulting carnage:


UPDATE:
The Israelis and Americans have pledged to assist Abbas. That's coming from President Bush and PM Olmert, and not simply their press flacks. I have a real bad feeling about this. Not only is this bound to backfire, but Hamas and others will use Israel's support for Fatah to further radicalize Gaza. That, and Fatah has no love for Israel or the US either, and sees this simply as a continuation of the gravy train. Calling Abbas a moderate is just nonsense. He is no such thing.

And the claim that if we had simply provided even more support to Abbas than we had months back that Hamas would not have been in the position to take over Gaza is simply false on its face. Hamas thugs are ideologically driven, and Fatah sees dollar signs. They have different motivations, which showed itself when Hamas overran the numerically superior Fatah thugs at the Palestinian security headquarters. The Fatah thugs simply didn't have the will to fight, and lacked the leadership among its terrorist leaders to put up a fight. As noted above, Fatah doesn't like any one thug getting too much power, so there was no coordination. All the money in the world wont fix those problems; it will simply increase the number of weapons that will fall in to Hamas's hands.

UPDATE:
Compare and contrast time - Fouad Ajami v. Carter. It's no contest. Ajami identifies the problems, and notes it has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with those who lead the Palestinians.

The Palestinian ruin was a long time in coming. No other national movement has had the indulgence granted the Palestinians over the last half-century, and the results can be seen in the bravado and the senseless violence, in the inability of a people to come to terms with their condition and their needs.

The life of a Palestinian is one of squalor and misery, yet his leaders play the international game as though they were powers. An accommodation with Israel is imperative — if only out of economic self-interest and political necessity — but the Palestinians, in a democratic experiment some 18 months ago, tipped power to a Hamas movement whose very charter is pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state and the imposition of Islamist rule.

The political maxim that people get the leaders they deserve must be reckoned too cruel to apply to the Palestinians. Before Hamas, for four decades, the vainglorious Yasir Arafat refused to tell his people the basic truths of their political life. Amid the debacles, he remained eerily joyous; he circled the globe, offering his people the false sense that they could be spared the consequences of terrible decisions.

In a rare alignment of the universe, there came Mr. Arafat’s way in the late 1990s an American president, Bill Clinton, eager to redeem Palestinian claims and an Israeli soldier-statesman, Ehud Barak, who would offer the Palestinians all that Israeli political traffic could bear and then some.

But it was too much to ask of Mr. Arafat to return to his people with a decent and generous compromise, to bid farewell to the legend that the Palestinians could have it all “from the river to the sea.” It was safer for him to stay with the political myths of his people than to settle down for the more difficult work of statehood and political rescue.

Read it all.

UPDATE:
Hamas vows to car bomb its way to power in the West Bank. They'll lay low, but they're going to put the screws to Abbas and Fatah thugs. Count on it. This is the terrorist group that Carter wishes the US to back, or at least get to talk with Fatah thugs. Need we remind Carter that federal law prohibits direct contact and the provision of aid to Hamas?

Still, the quotes about numbers of Hamas or Fatah thugs is based on self-serving statements by those involved. Hamas has every reason to inflate its numbers, while Fatah wishes to do the opposite.

UPDATE:
Investors Business Daily takes Carter to task for his ravings:

Has Jimmy Carter gone off the deep end? He's now scolding the West for refusing to bankroll Hamas terrorists who've just seized power at gunpoint in Gaza. It's a new low in coddling terrorism.

And it gets better from there.

Michelle Malkin rips into Carter and his ongoing anti-Israel and anti-US position, but also notes that US taxpayers have been providing assistance to Hamas for years, in the form of humanitarian aid. Carl in Jerusalem is quite right in insisting the world has gone mad.

Others blogging Carters ravings: Don Surber, Ed Morrissey, Ed Driscoll, LGF, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macranger, and Instapundit.

Hamas complains that the West is playing tricks with aid. No kidding. You're a terrorist group hellbent on destroying Israel, and we're just supposed to give you the means to do that? Sure. Well, we actually are - in the form of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which frees up Hamas funds from elsewhere to continue buying arms and paying off thugs in the black market.

An Israeli court! has required that Israel provide medical assistance to Gazans at Erez crossing. No good deed goes unpunished. Israel has to provide assistance to those who would, on any other day, be preparing to go to war with Israel.

The High Court of Justice instructed the State Attorney's Office on Tuesday night that "everything Israel can do to save human life must be done today," following a petition submitted by "Doctors for Human Rights" and "Gisha" that Erez Crossing be opened immediately to allow sick and wounded Gazans into Israel.

The High Court decided that a panel of three judges would rule on the matter Wednesday in an emergency hearing and demanded that until then, the State Attorney's Office respond to Tuesday's ruling in place of the IDF.

Some 190 Palestinians holed up in a stench-filled concrete tunnel at the border crossing with northern Gaza , desperately trying to flee the Hamas-controlled Strip.

Meanwhile, hoping to prevent a humanitarian crisis and to end the standoff at the Erez Crossing, defense officials revealed that Israel had asked Egypt to evacuate some 100 Palestinian women and children holed up at the border terminal.

The officials said Israel expected Egypt to play a role in solving the crisis at Erez, where a few hundred Gazans - mostly affiliated with Fatah - have taken refuge from Hamas.

That is no ones fault but the Palestinians themselves. They can't go to hospitals in Gaza because Hamas turned them into shooting galleries - eliminating rivals and killing civilians.

There are also reports that Hamas would like a dialogue with Fatah, but I don't think it means what most folks think it means.

Bush and Olmert still think a two-state solution is possible? How? What are they going to do that will eliminate Hamas from the equation? Or will Fatah fall by the wayside because Western support will push more folks to radicalize? Fatah is quite weak right now, despite the support from the West. They simply can't get the job done and that ignores the inalienable fact that they're still a terrorist group in their own right.