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.