It seems that the Jordanian government reads the Jerusalem Post, and unlike, as Orange and Black mentioned, they don't like Olmert's "trial balloons".

While giving their reason as not wanting to intefere with the fledgling Palestinian state, they made it clear they won't let Olmert drag them into the mess that the Left created. They have enough Palestinians (80%) of their own to deal with, and they don't need to deal with more, especially the uncivilized ones.

At least someone is thinking.

It would seem that this government’s policies are a series of random thoughts. It’s not even that someone is looking to create a policy plan, but rather they just blurt out whatever idiocy first enters their brains, and that is what is to be implemented.

Olmert’s latest brain spasm is to introduce foreign Arab troops into the West Bank to “fight terrorism”. It’s not enough that he armed up Hamas in Gaza by giving Fatah weapons, and he followed that up by further arming Fatah for apparently no reason except to give Hamas weapons again. He now has decided that he should let Jordanian troops patrol inside the Land of Israel – after all the model works so well in Lebanon, he spasmed again.

Following in the footsteps of that particular genius was the decision to cut Oleh benefits for Western Olim yesterday.

Personally, I’m of the philosophy that I expect nothing from the Israeli government, except that they will try to take as much as they can from my pocket, so my advice to Olim is very simple.

Don’t plan your Aliyah around any expected government benefits, whether they be living expenses, mortgage assistance, ulpan, lift rights, or anything else.

If you happen to get something, consider yourself lucky, but don’t ever build your financial and aliyah plans around it. That would be a big mistake.

But it goes to show how much brain power these people have.

So do these random thought have meaning? Clearly not, except that someone forgot to take their pills.

There is occasionally a bit of a disparity between the IDF’s motto of not abandoning a soldier in the field and how it actually works out in practice.

There are two ways this disparity comes about.

On one hand, we have Ehud Barak’s willful abandonment of soldiers in the field on more than one occasion (Tze’elim and Kever Yosef)– leaving them to die. This is what gave him the nickname “Ehud Barach” (Ehud Ran Away) –even before he ran away from Lebanon.

On the other hand, we have occasional negligence, human error, and plain stupidity. It looks like the third (stupidity) caused today’s mishap with the Golanchik who got left behind in Gaza.

As someone who got left behind in Lebanon many years ago after being sent out to do a very sensitive (and secret) mission – I can attest that the truth is, is that despite all the safeguards, mistakes happen.

Of course, that my immediate officers didn’t notice I was missing for a few days while I was wandering around the streets and roads of Lebanon until I hiked back into Israel was negligence (after I had completed my mission, I finally realized they weren’t coming back to retrieve me).

Though now that I think about it, I wonder who got kitchen duty while I was gone – they must have noticed the dishes piling up. :)

That I didn’t get shot on the border was luck, that I wasn’t shot in Lebanon was skill, and both times with the grace of God.

Anyway, mistakes happen, but I’ve met on another occasion another person with a similar story, so it is apparently not an unknown phenomena under battle conditions.

My point is though, sometimes soldiers get left behind by accident, and sometimes their superiors (usually a Prime Minister) abandon them in the field for political expedience.

It’s a shame the politically motivated abandoners get to keep their jobs.

Three (Israeli?) Arabs tried to kidnap a boy walking in the Sanhedria neighborhood (the boy may have also been an Israeli Arab - waiting for an update). The boy got away. The search is on. We need to find them so they can be declared "Peace Partners".

It is HOT in Jerusalem, and apparently going to get hotter.

And for a change there is going to be lots of free and cheap stuff to do in Jerusalem next month!!!

Me? I'm going to the Beer Festival.

By the way, one of the good things Luplionsky has done for Jerusalem is move all these events until after Tisha B'Av. I remember when Jerusalem would offer the concerts and events during the 3 weeks, in complete disregard for season.

Sometimes an intelligent, thought-out, and correct piece slips through YNET's censors.

Man, it has been hot in Israel this week. It's been at least in the 90s (F) if not higher. I've gotta get air-conditioning.

Here is the story of two particular busloads of Efrat residents that were rounded up yesterday and herded on to buses from the Eitam hill.

The residents were peacefully hiking on property indisputably owned by the town of Efrat. The residents went peacefully onto the buses when asked to do so by the police. They were told they were being sent back to the Entrance of Efrat.

After stewing on the sealed buses without air-conditioning for hours, just outside the entrance to Efrat the buses began to pull out.

Passengers on both buses knew the police were about to take them for a ride and dump them somewhere.

The passengers on the bus I described last night found themselves unceremoniously dumped in the middle of nowhere, only managing to get home some (minimum) 6 hours later from when they left Eitam.

The passengers on the second bus took a different course of action.

As the bus began to pull out, they rioted.

They broke out of their cages, smashed the windows and doors. They grabbed the keys from the driver. They all got off the bus, and for good measure, they slashed all the tires.

They then calmly walked back into Efrat (they also rented buses and sent them to the Beit Shemesh region to find and pick up the other passengers after they were dumped onto the side of the road).

Total time from leaving Eitam – maximum 2 hours.

I think the lessons learned are clear.

Update: Police handcuffed a girl on the Eitam hill and then threw her down, breaking both her arms.

Approximately 5 children (under age 12, exact number and names unknown) are missing after being forced off the bus near Beit Shemesh. No one saw where they went after being dragged off the bus, and they didn't get back to Efrat with the rest of the kidnapped residents.

Picture of policemen trying to force a 75 year old man off the bus so they can dump him in the middle of nowhere.


The policeman's words (I kid you not), "I am only following order".

(When asked whose orders, he refused to say.)

Many more pictures can be seen here.

And there is more information here.

Next time I hear another leftist talk about the “Rule of Law” in Israel, I think I will smack him.

There is no question that the Eitam hill belongs to the town of Efrat, nor that much of it is actually privately purchased by Jews from before the State.

Whether or not one believes that it is legal for Efrat residents to go up to their own property (and only in this sick government would it not be) the government must decide that either it follows the law or not. Because, if the government doesn’t follow the law, then the citizens don’t need to either.

This evening, the police gathered up residents of Efrat who were on the Eitam hill and piled them into police buses.

These residents went peacefully and were told they were being driven back into Efrat.

The Efrat residents were driven to the entrance of Efrat. The police then turned off the engine (and air-conditioning), left the buses, and left the residents of Efrat locked in to stew in the unbearable heat for hours without even the option of opening a window (or going to the bathroom either for that matter).

After a few hours the police came back and then drove the Efrat residents (who had peacefully, and in good faith entered the buses) out to the middle of nowhere, somewhere near Beit Shemesh, where they were unceremoniously dumped on the side of the road.

Oh, and I’ve also heard reports on how the police violently beat up people.


There are only 2 options here.

1) Either the Efrat residents did something illegal, in which case they should be arrested and charged – and not have been subject to police abuse and police brutality.

2) Or the residents of Efrat did nothing illegal, in which case they should not have been the subject of police abuse and police brutality.

Either way, the police abused their power, knowingly overstepped the boundaries of what is allowed by law, and no longer played by the “Rule of Law”.


If that is the case, I see no reason for the police to expect the citizens of this state to continue playing by the same rules the government purposely ignores to the detriment of its citizens.

Quietly it has been building momentum, but it is now in full swing. Perhaps Elazar Stern is responsible for making it respectable, but, as unbelievable as it sounds, attacking Hesder yeshiva students as army shirkers is now the "in thing" for the left.

The Hesder program is a 5 (or 6) year program.

Generally it consists of a year of yeshiva learning, and then between 16 months to 24 months of active army service (depending on the Yeshiva) and the remaining time back again in yeshiva, alternatively, the 16-24 months are broken up into 2 periods. And regardless, during the yeshiva stints there is a minimum of one month of reserve duty every year (beyond the active service) and sometimes more.

Almost all Hesder students go (and want to go) into top combat units (not “jobnicks” or desk jockies - compared to a mere 40% of secular enlistees who want to serve in a combat unit), and Hesder soldiers have been traditionally recognized as among the best and most highly motivated soldiers by just about everyone.

A good number of Hesder students go on to officer school and sign on for even more time, and I’ve even met a Hesder pilot (but his service terms were different).

Furthermore, an unusually high percentage of Hesder graduates tend to continue (and show up for) their reserve duties in combat units – not shirking it, unlike some other demographic groups we won’t mention.

But suddenly, now Hesder are shirkers - this coming from people who probably spent their army service lounging around in the Kirya Alazorov Shopping Center.

It’s unbelievable.

Last Night, just as Tisha B'Av entered I received a surprise SMS.

For a second I couldn't believe our great fortune.

The SMS said:


"Tisha B'Av Canceled


Arkady Gaydamak buys Temple Mount


Have an easy fast"

Last night I walked around the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Nadia Matar (founder of Women in Green) spoke (I was sure she would immediately be arrested after all she said).

She discussed the destruction of Gush Katif which physically began 2 years ago on Tisha B'Av and how it relates within Jewish history and how we should relate to those that would try to perpetrate it yet again.

Very powerful.

Well, if you had any doubts that the government sees Jews as a greater danger than terrorists, tonight should put that doubt that to rest.

While the government frees 256 terrorists, removes road blocks for terrorists, forgoes protecting Sderot and tells Israeli Arabs they should teach their children that the creation of the State of Israel was a catastrophe for them – two years on, the government has decided to reenact Gush Katif.

If you are on your way home to the Shomron this evening. Forget it.

You know that fence that blocks the entrance to the Shomron?

Well, the government decided to (collectively) punish all Shomron residents because of Chomesh.

Since some Zionists are using Machsom Eliezer to enter the Shomron to get to Chomesh, the government has decided that no residents of the Shomron will be allowed in – and they have closed the fence.

'Nuff said.

It’s now officially mosquito season in Israel.

Flying ants and black beetles from Jordan soon to follow.

Here is an interesting story.

My brother-in-law rents a home in a Chareidi neighborhood (probably because he is Chareidi). He lives there with his wife and 5 children. His landlord decided she wants them out.

Her first step was raising the rent. But as much as it hurt, he agreed. It’s not easy finding apartments in their neighborhood.

Next she claimed he owed her money and refused to pay. They had made a deal that he would install bars on the windows and it would be reduced from the rent.

Then she simply told them to get out, and decided to take them to Beit Din to get them to comply.

It should be noted that they are good tenants and keep the house in good condition. She even admitted that. She just claims she doesn’t like them and want to continue renting it out to anyone else.

So they went to the Beit Din, and first off, the landlord claimed they owed her rent money as the bars could only cost a hundred shekels each.

My sister-in-law pulled out the receipts that showed that bars cost at around 300-400 shekels each (which is about the cheapest price you can get in Israel).

So first of all, the court determined that the landlord owed my brother-in-law 500 shekel which she have need to pay (and not the other way around).

Then the court determined that if she planned to continue to rent out the apartment, and if they were willing to pay the rent, and were good tenants, then they had “first rights” to continue to live there - and it wasn’t right to kick out a family of 7 people for absolutely no tangible reason.

And finally, since she claimed her problem is that she simply didn’t like them on a personal level, the court said they (the court) would now be managing the property. The court would collect the rent and transfer it to the landlord and she needn’t interact with her tenants at all.

It’s an interesting and scary decision all at the same time.

Comments & Reactions anyone?

There is no point to this post, except an article on YNET discussing the knee-jerk use of terms by the media.

Since the term "Leftist Fury" and the phrase "Criticism on the Right" are pretty rare, I figure I'd use them, so in case someone does a search, it will stand out.

This is not the first time this has happened.

Israel promises to release PA terrorists from jail, and some refuse to go.

This time, one of the 250 prisoners refuses to go because he gets good medical treatment (for free) for his medical condition.

Last time this happened, a large number of prisoners refused to go because it was a few weeks before they would take their high school matriculation exams – and they all wanted to graduate – something that wouldn’t happen in the PA.

Arutz-7 once did a write up about PA teenagers getting themselves arrested to get a free Israeli high school education.

I’d say there are plenty of Palestinians that wish for the good old days of the “Occupation”, there are clearly plenty in Israeli jails who are quite happy with it.

On one side of the table, we have citizens who willingly and non-violently broke the law to fight against a law they felt was morally wrong and even evil.

On the other side of the table, we have a government and government representatives who willingly and violently broke the law to allegedly protect the Rule of Law.

Let’s compare.

One group is being hurt by what they see as an abuse of the legal system and the Rule of Law by a few influential individuals in key positions and then chooses to civilly and non-violently protest something they are sure is morally wrong.

The other group claims to represent the Rule of Law but then willing and violently breaks and ignores all the inconvenient sections of the laws they claim to uphold.

I raise this subject because a bill just passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset and the second may end up being included too.

The original bill grants amnesty to citizens who non-violently protested what has proven to have been a morally evil decision.

A counter-bill (or amendment) has been proposed to grant amnesty to policemen who used violence against non-violent protesters.

Hardly seems fair.

>Arutz-7 shows even more hypocrisy from the left:

MK Yossi Beilin (Meretz) objected to the bill, saying that from a judicial standpoint, "it is unacceptable to legitimize violence against soldiers merely because it was done for ideological reasons." MK Benny Elon called out, "You have no judicial problem with pardoning convicted terrorists and setting them free - but to pardon a young boy who protested against the expuslion - that's a problem?!" Beilin said the two cases should not be compared.

Of course they shouldn’t be compared. Beilin’s position is morally reprehensible and evil, but it advances his distorted political worldview and therefore it is OK. But protesting to keep your home, or perhaps even defending yourself against a violent policeman who has stepped outside the boundaries of Rule of Law is wrong.

A clear example of what is wrong with this country.

In related news, the court decided that a policeman who was caught on film (and therefore it couldn’t be denied or ignored) harming non-violent protesters, should not be fired. Instead it was decided he should be given a job away from protesters. The only aspect of this that is punishment to the sadistic police officer involved is that he won’t be able to relieve his internal torment on innocent people for a little while.

Chazal liked to play word games. By changing the way a word was pronounced they would come up with interesting and related messages to the pasuk in question.

I was looking at the “Chomesh First” signs and was thinking, “How appropriate”.

The messengers got the message right. You see the fight isn’t whether we rebuild or return to this or that destroyed Yishuv first, because ultimately that is dealing with a symptom, not the disease.

But if we read the sign as “Chumash First”, then we are dealing with the disease.

That Jewish children grow up ignorant of the Chumash – the five books of the Torah is the root cause of the problem. They have no connection and no understanding why they are here and what their rights to Eretz Yisrael are.

If only they learned “Chumash First”, we wouldn’t be in such a bad position.

So don't read Chomesh first, read Chumash first.

I received a letter today that was quite interesting.

It seems Channel 10 has decided to blame the Settlers again for something. That in of itself is nothing unusual, but that is before you hear the details.

It seems that Channel 10 publicized a film that blames a Yishuv for destroying the apricot orchards of a nearby Arab village. These settlers allegedly did this to install a sewer pipe.

While the local villagers are apparently interviewed, no one thought to ask the Yishuv for their reaction (or if they did it was ignored)

So lets go through some of the facts. First of all, it is not a sewer pipe being laid, but rather a water pipe.

Second, this Yishuv is not responsible for nor connected to the pipe, and when the case went to the Supreme Court the Yishuv wasn’t even mentioned.

Why?

Because it is the government that is laying this pipe and it has to do with the Wall they are building and has nothing to do with the Yishuv.

But those minor facts have no relevance to Channel 10.

----

Meanwhile, as we speak, the Gush Katif Victims are protesting in Jerusalem demanding the government return what they stole from them. Specifically their land, farms, hot houses, and livelyhoods.

No response is expected.

There are a number of dumb and dangerous bills being promoted in the Knesset these days.

Yisrael Beitenu wants a bill that will withhold a day’s salaries from workers who don’t vote.

Personally, if I didn’t want to vote it’s my business. If you (the government) want me to vote then provide me with direct representation. I don’t need to support your farce if I don’t want to.

The second is by Shas to start censoring the internet. They want the ISPs to automatically block “porn” sites unless one specifically asks to have it unblocked.

My first question is who decides what is porn?

Second, is it really (halachically) right that someone will have a government (or government legislated) job to look at porn all day to decide if it is blocked or not?

But that starts the slippery slope.

Forget for a minute about deciding what is porn, what happens when the government, seeing how easy that was, decides that Hamas and Al Quida sites must be blocked.

Of course since, we are blocking terrorists sites, there goes anything that mentions the name Kahane. After that, bye-bye Muqata and JoeSettler, they are far too radical for the average Israeli to be reading. It will certainly be a good way to get Arutz-7 off the internet too.

Shimon Peres would certainly support and promote that kind of bill:

Peres: "There is a radical minority within us -- it is forbidden to let them express their opinions/views over the airwaves and media. They are a grave danger to democracy."

(hattip: Muqata )

Isn’t there too much government interference in our lives already?

How about giving me the opportunity to vote you jokers out and vote in individuals I want.

That is a bill I would support.

I have never seen such solidarity in the Land of Israel. I have never seen everyone, be they on the Left, Right, Arab, Jew, MK or News Pundit agree on one thing. It’s incredible. It’s as if the Mashiach could come any day now.

There is absolutely no disagreement.

Shimon Peres will use his position as President of Israel as a platform for intrigue and to undermine the policies of the State of Israel for his own personal pet agendas.

Some say it openly, some imply it clearly, and some hint at it with their backhanded compliments.

The Foreign Ministry writes they are used to Peres trying to go around them, and expect it to continue (in nicer words). Livni says that it is Olmert who will have the problem of Peres’s foreign policy games, and stupidly asks why would Peres try to undermine Olmert when they agree, are such good friends, and Peres owes him (sic). Bibi basically said that Peres lives in a dream world disconnected from reality.

His own words before his inauguration show the intrigues have already begun and we wouldn’t have expected less.

But I am amused when people say that after Weizmann and Katzav he will clean up the Presidency.

There certainly are a lot of questions and documentation floating around concerning the Peres Peace Center, its investments, and how (and to and from where) the money flows. No matter, the press will ignore it like always, and the true tradition of the scandals of the Presidency and other political elite will continue.

At least everyone agrees there will be intrigues.

OK, let's hear it.

Do you like the new layout?

Do you like the new colors?

Any recommendations?

My problem with Jewish holidays is that they try to force you into certain moods or emotional states at specific times, and that simply doesn’t resonate with me.

Sukkot irritates me when I have to spend up to $25 on a lemon. I never feel repentant on the days leading up to Yom Kippur, and when Yom Kippur comes around, I tend to feel I missed the opportunity yet again. Purim simply makes me angry with all the drunks running amok, smashing on your car, and so on. You get the idea.

But the Three Weeks, the Nine Days, and especially Tisha B’Av have always been especially problematic.

Here we are, right smack in the middle of summer break and suddenly we have to be downcast and depressed. No swimming. No music. No fun.

And three weeks of this artificially enforced emotion and behavior – can be way too much.

(Yes, I know some people will strongly disagree with me at this point, and good for you that you are able to keep up being down and depressed for 3 weeks on end. Can I recommend Prozac?).

Occasionally sitting by the steps leading up to Har HaBayit I might feel a twinge, but again I know it was in part compulsory and driven by outside forces and demands.

Intellectually I understood it, but the feelings were mostly not from inside.

After all, for me, the Temple Mount looks like it always does, I didn’t experience the destruction, or see what it was like before, or visit it and walk in its courtyard. It was an intellectual understanding.

That all changed on 9/11.

Suddenly the bedrock and foundation stone of the world I live in was rocked, shaken, and fractured. It wasn’t the building itself, but the steadfastness, and constancy that it represented and previously existed, that was destroyed.

I wasn’t necessarily feeling grief for the thousands of victims or a few buildings, but rather for what was destroyed for me as a result. The veneer of a continuity, steadfastness, and civilization that I was a part of. The reality of my environment. The idea that something so huge and permanent could be gone so instantly and everything around it can suddenly change and disappear and perhaps no longer be safe.

It was literally at that point that I first felt what the destruction of the Temples must have been like to the Jewish people then and how it should feel to us today.

And while the strong shock is gone when I visit the site of the Twin Towers, the impalpable feeling of loss and destruction still remains.

It is that shock and loss that the Rabbis of the Churban try to have us remember and feel every year. And that is why they instituted such a long period of annual mourning because they (and as a result, we) were so devastated by this loss and this was their natural reaction, and they wanted it to be ours too.

It is only now that I have what to draw from, that I understand emotionally what this loss means to the Jewish people. I can now begin to grasp the enormity of something that I before took for granted because I knew of nothing else.

I have internalized, at least in part, the emotional impact and meaning of Tisha B’Av.

I can think of no other way to finish this post than with "L’shana haba b’Yerushalyim habnuya".

While Jameel likes to crown of himself the King of Barbeques, he will happily acknowledge that I, JoeSettler, taught him everything he knows when it comes to barbequing hot dogs and steaks. I guess that make me a Kingmaker.

There are probably a few American in Israel who brought over their BBQs from the US on their lift. Along with the BBQs many presumably brought along the 20 lb. LP gas tank that came with the system (the ones that cost a mere $10-$15 back then).

I, of course being different, also brought my gas tank to Israel, but I brought mine with me on the plane as carry-on luggage. Of course, that was before 9/11. Still, it was an interesting story getting it through the security check (after they couldn’t get it through the X-Ray machine – can you imagine they tried?!) .

I quickly learned a lesson from friends of mine. Those gas canisters are mighty enticing to some people. It used work here sort of like printer cartridges do today. You returned your tank to a store and received a different when it was ready.

No big deal when you are talking about the same cheap Israeli balloons that used to float around. But our American tanks were something different, something desired - they were twice as big as the largest Israeli size and were clearly made of higher quality parts.

At least 2 friends of mine, right off the boat, lost their gas tanks to the stores that switched them. Of course their old balloons were never to be found again, and the storeowners cheerfully explained to them that they only switch canisters and never, ever return the originals ("and some other customer got them") – that was policy.

Remember, this was almost 2 decades ago, and customers (especially green ones) didn’t have much recourse.

I learned from my friends' mistakes and shopped around until I found a store that promised to not switch them (Gaz Nuni on Bar-Ilan St in Jerusalem) and they kept to their word. Unfortunately, all that ended a few years ago when one day I walked into Gaz Nuni and they told me they can no longer fill up my balloon.

The law had changed and it was decided that American balloons aren’t up to Israeli standards so they aren’t allowed to fill them anymore. It would be illegal to fill them – they’re considered substandard!

My American balloon was outlawed.

It took a while, but eventually I found a “hole in the wall” shop that would quietly refill my balloon as long as I didn’t make a fuss about it. And that lasted for a while, and over the years I sent them a few quiet customers, until I (like Jameel), out of convenience, eventually ran a gas pipe directly from the wall to the BBQ.

I’m writing this today because JerusalemCop desperately called me up this week trying to find out where he could fill up his American balloon. It took some research, but I found my “hole in the wall” shop again, and they did their thing for JerusalemCop.

Unfortunately they told JC that this would probably be the last time they can do it, as their supplier was afraid of getting caught and was no longer willing to refill the tanks.

As compensation, they said if they can’t fill it up again next time, they offered to go to his home (for free) and help him retrofit his BBQ to (“superior”) Israeli standards when this tank ran out.

In all seriousness, I think that was nice of them to offer.

I still want to know what is substandard about my American gas tank that is/was sold in America in every Sears in the country.

Don't know what to do during the nine days?

I wrote about it here, but that was almost a month ago.

The most exciting conference in Jerusalem is about to start.

Check it out.

If there is anything the Left is good at, it is getting their sound bites promoted by their Left-wing friends in the media.

How often did we hear, before leaving Lebanon (the first time), that by leaving Lebanon our boys will no longer be endangered or killed.

Or more recently, how often did we hear that by leaving Gaza our boys wouldn’t be endangered or killed in Gaza.

The problem with these sound bites is that they are populistic, simplistic, and of course complete lies.

Today an Israeli soldier was killed – in Gaza, fighting against terrorists trying to kill the Jewish population that is no longer in Gaza.

The Left will continue to spew their fabricated sound bites – to the detriment of the country we all live in, and unfortunately people will still continue to believe them no matter how often it strikes back at us.

Jameel sent me a link to a book by Kenneth Levin called The Oslo Syndrom that attempts to analyze this problem. I haven’t read it yet, but it looks interesting.

The question above is more for the Left than just Peace Now, but Peace Now is just so stereotypical (from Arafat to Abbas) that they beg the question.

The Left just seem to love dictators. Maybe because it makes them feel superior to the suppressed population? Maybe they just like strong men? Who knows.

The latest is that Israel should make peace with the dictator of Syria.

Ignoring that he keeps his country locked up under his paranoid guns, that his citizens disappear for saying the wrong thing, and all his actions in Lebanon (and Iraq), the Left just want a lovefest with Baby Assad.

They want to eat Hummus in Hama (with the survivors).

Their latest idiocy involved hanging Syrian flags along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.

How about they start protesting for Human Rights in Syria first?

How about they demand that all Syrian political prisoners be released?

How about they demand that Syria leaves Lebanon?

How about they demand democracy for Syria?


But no, they only demand that Israel give up the Golan, so that Israel finds itself with less defensible borders and reliant on the whims of our Northern despot who is busy destroying Syria, running guns for Iran, and helping Iran destabilize Iraq.

Good choice of allies there.

The only thing that Assad really wants is a reduction of US pressure so he can continue to do what he does best – be an evil dictator that suppresses his population.

What is wrong with these people?

JP is reporting that one of England's larger Unions (representing 800,000 workers) will be boycotting all Israeli products.

I don't think there is a need for me to repeat the list of items they will need to give up, including medicines, designer clothing, cheap clothing, Intel-based computers, software, flowers, fruits, and other modern day essentials.

Instead, I think we should demand and confirm that they give up these items, and open up their homes, closets, computers, and medicine cabinets to make sure that all these offending objects are gone.

Next, I hereby declare that I, JoeSettler, am boycotting all British produced items.

As a result, I am giving up - absolutely nothing.

Ha’aretz is headlining yet another slanted “Peace” Now report. According to the report, only 9% of settler owned land is built on, and only 12% is used at all.

I am not going to go into ripping apart the details of the report because the story I am about to tell does it for me (and other people will rip it apart better than me).

As most of you know, since Oslo, the Left created a “settlement freeze”. What this means in real terms is that it has become extremely difficult to build new buildings and homes on Jewish owned land in parts of Eretz Yisrael– if you are a Jew.

It’s rather disingenuous to say that Settler land isn’t filled up (implying we don’t need it), when they are the one preventing us from building there and using it.

However, I want to tell you about another story.

The “Basheva” newspaper (Arutz-7 printed weekly) tells the story of Mattiyahu Mizrach – a new Chareidi town near Modiin.

Some 3000 apartments were built, but almost no Chareidim have moved in.

Why you may ask?

For one simple reason. “Peace” Now.

You see, the town was planned, built, and sold.

But then “Peace” Now came along and filed their standard court complaints to stop construction and entry.

Of course, you say, the land was stolen from the Palestinians, that’s why they filed. “Peace” Now is concerned about Settlers stealing Arab land.

You would of course be wrong.

You see the court determined 100% that this land is owned by Jews.

“Peace” Now didn’t even fight the construction on that ground.

No! “Peace” Now ran their colossal emergency campaign and utilized portions of their massive foreignly-funded budget to eventually find a technical mistake in the Taba – and that is the basis for stopping this project and causing serious financial hardship to thousands of families and the construction companies.

By the end of the summer the Taba technicality will be fixed. It is only a minor bureaucratic issue.

But protecting the technical details of the law is not the goal of “Peace” Now.

To quote “Peace” Now’s Etkes, “Next time they’ll think twice before they buy in this type of area”.

I think that says it all.

Evil.

It’s about time. If you read the left-wing papers you would have read a report that the police have determined that the documents and the sale of the Hebron house are all a forgery.

You would have missed the part that this was from an unfinished, preliminary section of a police investigation that was (of course) leaked.

It took a few days, but the Hevron community finally got their act together and responded.

David Wilder explained that the police aren’t saying which documents they claim are the forgeries, only that 2 (not all) documents aren’t real.

Hebron’s legal team responded that all the documents are real, and to top it off, they even have a video of the Arab owner receiving his money for the sale.

I’d say, seeing is believing.

The Prime Minister is busy reshuffling his cabinet right now.

He’s also busy reshuffling roadblocks.

You see, Olmert has promised to remove roadblocks that restrict the freedom of movement of Arabs in Yesh(a).

But Olmert won’t actually be removing the roadblocks, rather he will be reshuffling them.

If, during this past week, you’ve had the opportunity to drive on 60 or on 443 you would have noticed the traffic jams you were sitting in (I know I noticed them).

You see, roadblocks have been moved. For the past week there have been high alerts due to attempts by Arabs to take advantage of the already begun roadblock reduction to bring on another major attack on Israel.

Mada has even gone to a level 2 alert because of this.

So instead of roadblocks between Arab towns protecting us, by hindering them, we now have roadblocks on our main roads hindering us while we wait for them to slip through and blow up.

True Genius.

It’s not nice to use the word assault, but the only alternative that the thesaurus comes up with is mugging. Badger may be more accurate, but it doesn’t strongly enough describe the experience.

Yesterday evening I stopped at the Bnei Brak Paz gas station – you know, the one with the ‘Allo Taiman shuwarmarama.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find it annoying to stop there and fill up as first your car always gets encircled by locals looking for free rides to Jerusalem (occasionally taking the liberty of opening your car door to ask), and then they firmly block the exit from the station in an attempt to slow you down and hop in while you try to avoid hitting them.

We once took a “milluimnik” for a ride from there, but he pocketed our cellphone when he got out.

In New York you used to (and perhaps still do) see “moonies” hanging out on street corners and bus stations selling flowers for a buck. We all know what that business was about.

In Israel, we have Breslevers selling books on street corners – presumably using the same business model.


So late last night, on my way home, I entered the shuwarmarama to get dinner before the fast.

I was doggedly badgered and assaulted by some persistent 15 year old “Breslevers” who wanted money so he and his friends “could eat”. I’ve seen him before. He and his young friends seem to be permanent late-night squatters at the gas station and in ‘Allo Teiman.

I don’t what this is about.

First of all, I think social services needs to be checking out this place.

There is something fundamentally wrong here with 15 year olds begging for food money.

Second, there is something wrong with this whole Breslever begging culture that has developed. I don’t if it is a philosophy, state of mind, or big business (for the guys on top). But it is very wrong and it has to stop.

I gave them some money, but honestly, I don’t feel good about it.

Olmert has a problem on his hands.

He wants to strengthen Abbas and that group of moderate terrorists. But he locked himself in a corner.

You see, he said he would release 250 Fatah prisoners “without blood on their hands”.

One minor technicality stands in his way.

Among all his moderate Fatah terrorist partners prisoners, he can’t find 250 that haven’t been involved in terrorist attacks that didn’t result in Jews being hurt, injured ot killed.

Now, us normal people already know that there is no such thing as a moderate terrorist, be it in the Fatah, the PLO, the PA, Hamas, whatever.

Olmert of course now has to look for a new solution to save face and build of Abbas’s confidence that he and the Israeli left are complete chumps.

His preferred solution appears to be that he will redefine what the term “blood on their hands” means.

Good luck with that. Not.