Father Of The Merkava Dead At 86

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Israel Tal, father of the Merkava, and Israeli Armor, passed away yesterday at the age of 86.

Major General Israel Tal (res.), one of the Israel Defense Force's most prominent commanders and military theorists, died Wednesday, after suffering from a prolonged illness.

Tal, who was a week shy of his 86th birthday, is known as the "father" of Israel's main battle tank, the Merkava, and served as the commander of the IDF's Armored Corps during Israel's "War over the Water" in the 1960s, as well as the commander of the armored division which broke through the northern Sinai in the Six Day War.

The former Major General eventually reached the portion of deputy IDF chief of staff and the commander of Israel's southern front against Egypt in the final stages of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

In one famous incident Tal, as commander of the southern front, refused an order by then IDF chief of staff David Elazar and defense minster Moshe Dayan to engage Egyptian forces after the war had ended, insisting on receiving authorization from then prime minister Golda Meir and the Supreme Court.

While Tal eventually won the argument, the incident virtually eliminated Tal's chances of being nominated chief of staff after Elazar stepped down in the wake of the report by the Agarnat commission, which investigated the conduct of Israeli political and military officials during the war.

Upon his release, Tal was nominated deputy minister of defense under Shimon Peres, and remained in that position even after returning to active duty during Ezer Weizman's stint as defense minister.

During this period Tal, following Weizman's request, prepared plans for central ground forces command, an offer which was intercepted by two chiefs of staff, Mordechai Gur and Rafael Eitan, fearing Tal would be named chief of staff following the command's establishment.

Later, defense minister Moshe Arena erected a downsized version of Tal's command, which was later restructured as the GOC Army Headquarters.

In 1999 Tal suffered from a stroke, following an argument over the Yom Kippur War with Maj. General Doron Almog. Following a rehabilitation process the former top IDF officer partially regained his health, only to fall ill again a few months ago.

Tal left a wife, daughter, son, and grandchildren. His military funeral is expected to take place on Sunday.

President Shimon Peres said in response to Tal's passing on Wednesday that regardless "of which rank he bore on his shoulders he was, and will remain, a man above others. In his eyes, moral considerations were equally important to technological advances."

"The tank he designed, was meant to be the best in the world, and it seems that it so regarded," Peres added, saying that Tal, above anyone else, was able to articulate a "strategy that distinguished between the need to save the country and to fortify it."

The president added that the former IDF officer knew that "there wasn't an alternative to victory, but he also believed that the alternative to war is the sought-after peace, which was at hand."

"He was Israel's inexhaustible dew ['Tal,' in Hebrew]. May his memory be blessed," Peres said.

At the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor at Fort Knox, Kentucky there is a wall with several framed portraits-prints mounted on a black cloth background. This is known as the International Commander’s Wall.

The wall, created by the Armor Association and the Patton Museum Foundation, recognizes the boldest and most innovative Armor leaders. It bears witness to their courage, skill and tactical genius, and recognizes the contribution to the art of war reflected in operations of modern mechanized forces – armor and cavalry of the 20th Century.

These leaders are recognized simply by name, and while they fought many battles, one of the most noteworthy for each appears on his print. They are: General Field Marshall Erwin Rommelat the 1942 siege of Tobruk; Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr. at the 1943 battle of El Guettar; Lieutenant Colonel Creighton W. Abrams, Jr. at the 1944 battle to relieve Bastogne; Major General Israel Tal, Israeli Defense Force, as commander of the “Steel Division” in the 1967 Six Day War; Major General Moshe “Musa” Peled, Israeli Defense Force, leading his division attack along “The Road to Damascus” in defense of the Golan Heights, in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

When asked which tank would win in battle General Tal replied:  "The one with the best tank crew."  Thus summing up his philosophy and that of the IDF.

The Merkava In Action

Magdi Khalil and Abdallah al-Hadlaq Support Israel's Stopping the Flotilla

Magdi Khalil is an Eqyptian-American writer and Abdallah al-Hadlaq is a Kuwaiti journalist. On Al Jazeera TV Khalil blamed increased hostility toward Israel on Western anarchists and said Arab discourse has fueled "illusions and hatred."  Abdallah al-Hadlaq, a Kuwaiti journalist writing in Al-Watan, supported Israel's stopping of the terror flotilla. Both men maintain that it was well-know the flotilla was not peaceful.

Magdi Khalil

Magdi Khalil's June 15th appearance on Al-Jazeera TV - a contentious interview - he noted the terrorist connections of the flotilla, which includes The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH). Khalil calls IHH "a terrorist organization." 

From MEMRI:

Magdi Khalil: Whenever there is an incident, Israel does 'damage control.' This is part of the Israeli defense tactics. These are successful people, not like Ahmadinejad, who said that Security Council Resolution 1929 should be thrown into the garbage bin. They deal with things seriously. These people know the meaning of world opinion. 

And here, Khalil also blames "leftist anarchists in the West" for renewed hostility toward Israel by the West.

Magdi Khalil: The Islamists, along with the leftist anarchists in the West and some neo-Nazis, have renewed the hostility towards Israel and the West. 

The interviewer tries to quiet Khalil, but it doesn't work, as he points out that the number of people killed in Arab police stations is much higher than those killed in Israeli-Arab wars. (yes, he said "wars.")

Politics and Capitalism quotes Khalil chiding Israel for actually believing the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's characterization of the flotilla activists as "peaceful people." Khalil said simply, the Turkish PM is an "Islamist" and should not be trusted.

Abdallah Al-Hadlaq, writing that the organizers were supporters of "the terroristic Hamas," Hizbullah, al-Qaeda and Global Jihad, Abdallah Al-Hadlaq said the flotilla was "a pre-planned provocation against Israel," and the [Israeli] soldiers had no choice but to respond." Investigative Project quotes him saying "the world is obsessed" with Gaza while ignoring other important world events, and there is a double standard when it comes to Israel:

Hadlaq explains that there is a "terrible silence, lack of consideration, and indifference that has overcome the world…with regard to more important and more valuable [issues] that merit attention far more than this murky piece of land called the Gaza Strip."

Iran is specifically pointed out by Abdallah. Read the story at Investigative Project on Terrorism and The Elder of Ziyon.

This CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) blog quotes Abdallah al-Hadlaq responding to a Breaking the Silence condemnation of Israel, saying he rejects Gaza's many and varying accusations war crimes committed by Israel, saying the IDF follows international law and obeys order "despite the stress of battle."

However these allegations are to be rejected because the IDF has proved that its troops follow international law and obey orders despite the stress of battle. These testimonies lack sourcing or corroboration, thus preventing any conclusions from being drawn... Furthermore, it was the ostracized Hamas that caused much grief when it fired dozens of Qassam missiles at innocent civilians in the southern towns and villages of Israel. The IDF had no choice but to fight back causing the deaths of 1400 Palestinians, half of them civilians used as human shields by Hamas, in addition to the 5,000 wounded. Israel lost just 10 soldiers and 3 civilians.

I find this very encouraging, and hope these two men can live their lives to a ripe old ages, but I can hear the fatwas now.

H/T to notalemming at twitter

Barney Frank Ashamed to be Jewish: What Frank Could Say From His Congressional Podium

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) joined the tirade against Israel for the deaths on the Terror Flotilla, and called for an impartial inquiry - as if such a thing is possible. Frank went beyond the Flotilla, criticizing Israel's treatment of Arabs and the settlements in the West Bank, both of which "as a Jew," make him "ashamed." No surprise here, really. Many Jews in America seem to be ashamed to be Jewish, and they certainly seem to be ashamed of Israel. It's one of the great mysteries of my lifetime. Outside of Israel, Jews savage those inside Israel. See a video below.

The Two-Step Program by Dry Bones

Barney Frank's comment doesn't warrant much attention. He's another Congressional Clown. He sits ensconced in prestige with access to plenty of podiums from which to speak, and when he gets to a mic, he rails against Israelis who protect the homeland - every single day.

As a congressman, I think of the ways Barney Frank might help support Israel:

From the podium always available to Barney Frank, think how he could educate Americans, and the world, on the truth about Israeli borders, about the land assigned by the League of Nations, about the Mandates for forming the Nation of Israel, and about the friendship between the British and the Mufti of Jerusalem - and how, because of that friendship, Israel was forced to accept a tiny slice of land, just minutiae compared to what should have been theirs.

From the podium always available to Barney Frank, he could explain to the world that "Palestinians" are not a "people." Palestinians were Philistines, Mediterraneans, which came to the area. They were not Arabs. Arabs are not Palestinians. No one proclaimed to be a Palestinian. No one is a Palestinian. Only when Israel began their statehood, did the Arab campaign begin to claim the unclaimed land and name it Palestine, or to call for it's 'being.'

From the podium always available to Barney Frank, he could explain the various Charters and Constitutions of Israel's next door neighbors:

Fatah Constitution Articles 12 and 19: Calls for the "complete eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence. Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic. Armed Revolution is a decisive factor in...uprooting the Zionist existence, this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished...

The PLO Charter Article 15 calls for the "liquidation of the Zionist presence" in Palestine.

The Hamas Charter calls for jihad, and jihad as the duty of every Moslem

From the podium always available to Barney Frank, he could explain the numerous times Israel has agreed to a two-state solution, IF Arabs agree to eliminate the clauses about Jewish extermination from their Constitutions and Charters. "Arabs" always refuse.

There are approximately 44 Jewish members of the 111th Congress. They are ALL Democrats except Republican Eric Cantor. All Democrats, folks, and we hear no real support for Israel coming out of Capitol Hill. Eric Cantor is continually denigrated by his Hill peers, and by the press, for working for the safety of Israel. No other Jews climbs to that podium to echo Cantor's call. However, many non-Jewish Republicans do.

I am embarrassed that Barney Frank is an American Congressman. I am embarrassed that Barack Obama is our president, and embarrassed that he has shunned Benjamin Netanyahu over and over. I suppose when the jihad comes, Frank thinks they will pat him on the back and ask him to share their evening prayer rug. One thing for certain, he doesn't care what Islam plans for Jews in Israel. In the video below,  Barney Frank explains his position. Thanks to RightPundits for the video. Check-out their excellent round-up of Barney posts. If anyone can explain why Jews outside of Israel, continually savage Jews inside Israel, please enlighten me.

Barney Frank Ashamed to be Jewish (video)
Related and Background:
The Angst of Supporting Israel
Who and What are Palestinians?
Jewish Teenager Carries Israeli Flag in LA Muslim Street Protest Video
Flotilla War Atmosphere before Israel Boarded - Martyrdom Sought
Israel Protects Right to Search Ships Bound for Gaza: IDF Video
Susan Rice Skips U.N. Debate: Rice Vacations - She's still "Wildly Ineffective
Rupert Murdock: U.S., European Survival Without Israel
Without Support, What Happens to Israel?
Golda Meir: War and Wisdom
About that Two-State Solution
How the Gaza Tunnels into Egypt Work
Discovering Kryptonite, Disabling Superman
United Nations Condemns Hamas - Gotcha!
United Nations Seal Condemnation of Israel

In a class of its own:
Gaza Flotilla Terror Choir: We Con the World Video

Furkan Dogan American Dead on Gaza Flotilla: Furkan Dogan Turkish American Dead on Gaza Flotilla

Furkan Dogan was among the dead on board the Gaza Flotilla, on the Mavi Marmara. The ship was stopped by Israeli IDF to be searched for weapons destined for Gaza. Dogan was a U.S. citizen and a Turkish-American. He lived in Turkey. Eight other Turks died as the ship's passengers attacked the Israeli military.

Furkan Dogan

Mr. Dogan was a 19-year-old high school student from the town of Kayseri. He was born in Troy, New York and moved with his family to Turkey when he was 2-years-old.

The blockade of ships going into Gaza has been in place for a number of years. Israel conducts the search, removes weaponry and send the ships on their way. This time, the flotilla knew they would be stopped and searched, and decided to aggressively stop it. Some aboard the ship used metal rods, heavy chains - they threw plates and worse. People on both sides died.

I don't know this young man's thinking for being aboard this boat that Turkey wants to spin as "charity." Turkey admits it was a "test." I don't know how Dogan was caught up in the fighting, but there is one thing very clear, every Muslim country in the area, including Turkey, wants to do away with Israel and with Jews. Israel has the right to blockade according to international law. They have to do it. They don't have a choice.

Related and Background:
American Emily Henochowicz Loses Eye in Terror Flotilla Protest

Young Jewish Man Carries Israeli Flag in LA Muslim Street Protest (Video)

Gaza Flotilla Terror Choir: We Con the World (Video)

Furkan Dogan American Dead on Gaza Flotilla

Hamas Flotilla Aid Refused

Gaza Flotilla - al Qaeda Members Aboard

Susan Rice, American UN Ambassador Skips Terror Flotilla Discussions at UN

Flotilla War Atmosphere before Israel Boarded - Martyrdom or Gaza Shores


The Angst of Supporting Israel
Who and What are Palestinians?
Rupert Murdock: U.S., European Survival Without Israel

Without Support, What Happens to Israel?
Golda Meir: War and Wisdom
About that Two-State Solution
How the Gaza Tunnels into Egypt Work
Discovering Kryptonite, Disabling Superman
United Nations Condemns Hamas - Gotcha!
United Nations Seal Condemnation of Israel

In a class of its own:
Gaza Flotilla Terror Choir: We Con the World Video

BLOOD LIBEL!!!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle
 
 
  

 Blood Libel

In the Middle Ages illiterate and ignorant people would believe any lie told to them by the Church, the Nobility or even their neighbor if it was said often enough. So it is true today. In the Middle Ages Jews were accuse of poisoning wells, causing the Black Death, ritual murder and killing Christian children so their blood (especially virgin blood) could be used in the making of matzoh for Passover. Today the blood libel has new twists to it. Matzoh is still being made with the blood of children (only now they are Muslim children), body parts of Muslim children are used in the making of food for Purim (the Saudis are very fond of this one), and now there is this bit of anti-Semitism from Sweden:

The tabloid Aftonbladet, one of Sweden’s most popular newspapers, published a report Tuesday that claimed IDF soldiers execute Arabs in Judea and Samaria, harvest their organs and sell them. The report carried a photograph that purportedly shows the body of a victim of such an execution, with a large scar running from his chin to his abdomen. It notes the IDF’s explanation that the scar is from an autopsy which is routinely performed on people who are killed in fighting – but seems not to give it much credit and prefers a completely unsubstantiated claim by Arabs regarding forced organ harvesting.

The report, which appears under the heading, in quotes, "Our sons plundered for their organs,” begins with snippets from a transcript of an FBI recording of a Jewish man who was arrested in July, in connection with a corruption scandal in New Jersey involving elected officials, rabbis, money laundering and illegal organ trading.

Screenshot from Aftonbladet website: article shows scarred body, Jewish man, leaves readers to make connection.

Immediately after providing a short description of the FBI’s suspicions against that group, reporter Donald Boström takes his readers across the ocean to discuss the organ trade in Israel, without explaining what connection there may be between the two matters. He describes “a strong suspicion” among Palestinians that young men’s organs were harvested by the IDF “as in China and Pakistan.” Boström repeats that this is “a very serious suspicion” and suggests that the International Court of Justice should open an investigation into it.

The paper says that half of the kidneys that are used in transplants in Israel are purchased illegally from Turkey, Eastern Europe or Latin America and that Israeli health authorities have full knowledge of the matter, but do nothing to stop it. It then connects the shortage of body parts in Israel to stories of Palestinian men who, it says, are killed and returned to their villages five days later by the IDF.

Seventeen-year-old eyewitness account The reporter then gives what he says is his own eyewitness account from 1992 -- 17 years ago -- of an IDF raid on a village in which a rioter named Bilal Achmed Ghanaian was shot and severely injured. He was taken away by a military helicopter and brought back by the army five days later, dead. As his family members buried him, they saw a large scar running from his stomach to his chin.

The report then quotes Arabs who claim that their sons were used as forced organ donors but provides no support for this claim. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that the newspaper had “turned the demonization of Israel into a sacred cause.” He called upon Swedish citizens to express their disgust with “the incitement to hate crimes that the report includes.” Aftonbladet claims to be the leading daily newspaper in Sweden and in Scandinavia, with a readership of more than 1.5 million.

I think I am finally at a loss of words or an action to take over this. Not only is is libelous, but it shows the ignorant mentality of the nation of Sweden. At first I was going to cancel my organ and bone marrow donation cards, but that wouldn't really solve this problem, only hurt many others in the long run. I would boycott all Swedish products, but there aren't many of them sold here in the US. So I just blog about this, feeling powerless to do anything, yet knowing the people of Sweden actually believe this, knowing the government of Sweden condones these stories, knowing the idiot Moonbats here in the US will use this to defame Jews world-wide.

There are just times when a person must choose to do nothing, and pray that somehow someway sanity will return to Sweden and just one person in the country will cry out:

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE HERE!

Operation Cast Lead

Cross posted by Findalis Just some of the highlights that came out of Operation Cast Lead.

GOC Southern Command Daily Orders, 23 Jan 2009, 11:11 IST Fighters and Commanders of the IDF in the Southern Front, For the last month, IDF forces, both in reserve and regular service, together with forces of the ISA, operated in a concentrated campaign against terrorism in the Gaza Strip. Operation Cast Lead was initiated on December 27th, [the sixth day of the Holiday of Chanukah], when an aerial attack was directed against central terrorist command centers and outposts. The operation continued in the weeks to follow in a ground campaign aimed at terrorist sites throughout all of Gaza. After years of continuous intentional terror attacks on Israeli civilians in southern Israel, the operation brought forth a new security situation, making clear that Israel will not allow its existence in this region to be doubted or questioned. IDF fighters on the ground, in the air, and at sea, operated out of a strong belief in the righteousness of our way and demonstrated a steadfast fighting spirit, ambition, and a maintenance of the goal of this mission, while operating with a sense of comradeship and brotherhood in arms. The cooperation between the various operating forces, as well as the presence of commanders in the front lines, were central factors behind the operation’s success. The defense of our right to a safe and peaceful life in Israel had once again come at a high cost. 13 of Israel’s finest - fighters, commanders and civilians - were lost in the campaign for the security of Israel’s south. We lower our heads and our flag in honor of their memory, and mourn with their families. We extend a wish of full recovery to the wounded, and once more emphasize that we will do our utmost to return the kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, to the warmth of his family. The battle for the security of the state of Israel is yet to be over. We shall look onward, to the challenges of the future, knowing that we will successfully engage them, thanks to the righteousness of our way and our courageous spirit. The Southern Command expresses its appreciation to the corps of the IDF for defending Israel and its people. Yoav Galant, Major General GOC Southern Command

Some major video highlights: Hamas Uses Schools and Ceasefire to Shoot Rockets at Israel View at YouTube Night Strike on Hamas Terrorists 14 Jan. 2009 View at YouTube Israel Air Force Strikes Hamas Offices and Armed Grad Launchers 31 Dec. 2008 View at YouTube And from Honest Reporting: Send a soldier a smile trip 2 View at YouTube

In the 15 days of the ground offensive the IDF lost 9 men with 336 wounded. Many believe that the IDF stopped too soon and didn't fulfill its objectives. I agree. And make no mistake about the outcome. Israel showed the world it has the determination and will to take on Hamas or any other group that attacks.

We Have Won! Sort Of...

by Findalis It hasn't been a week since the IDF stopped Operation Cast Lead and already Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al is claiming victory.

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al, which aired on Al-Quds TV on January 21, 2009: TO VIEW THIS CLIP AND OTHERS, YOU MUST LOG IN/REGISTER FOR MEMRI TV, AT http://subscriptions.memri.org/content/en/member_registr_tv.htm. REGISTRATION IS FREE OF CHARGE. To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1992.htm?auth=2c2fc0eae230e567c0f596bbed5f3b9c.

"This Is The First War That Our People Has Won On Its Land... Therefore, The Gaza War is a Turning Point in the Struggle With The Zionist Enemy" Khaled Mash'al: "Yes, Gaza emerged victorious. Yes, the enemy has failed, and the resistance has emerged victorious, and with it, our people and our nation have emerged victorious. Allah be praised, our victory in Gaza was greater and clearer than the false claims of the aggressors, and than the doubts cast by the collaborators, and by those who have forsaken us. Does it not suffice that the goals of the enemy have not been accomplished? It has failed on the ground, just as it has failed politically. Ultimately, after three weeks, it was forced to declare a unilateral cease-fire and withdrawal, without any agreement or terms that bind or limit the resistance. [...] "This is the first war that our people has won on its land - the first real large-scale war. Therefore, the Gaza war is a turning point in the struggle with the Zionist enemy. With its significance, its accomplishments, its timing, and its greatness, it serves as a cornerstone for an effective and serious strategy for liberation, which begins in Palestine, and will continue everywhere, with the support of the nation." [...] "Compensation For Your Blood And Souls You Will Get From Allah... In Paradise" "We will bear our responsibility vis-à-vis the displaced. Allah willing, we will give you all shelter. We will compensate you with what we can, but compensation for your blood and souls you will get from Allah, in the World to Come, in Paradise. "Your brothers in the Hamas movement, and in the government of my brother Haniya, as well as all the honorable national and Islamic leaders, have already begun working to accomplish this project – the project of rebuilding, housing, compensating, and treating the wounded. We have contacted several countries, some of which we even visited. Everybody is working like in a beehive for your sake. "There are two tracks with regard to our role in this plan. In the urgent track – to the families of the martyrs and the wounded, and to the displaced families who have lost their homes, we will give specific sums of money, the details of which I leave to the government of my brother Haniya. We will also treat the wounded. This is the urgent track. The subsequent track will include a reconstruction plan, with which we will compensate you for all that has happened, and rebuild what was destroyed." [...] "I Say to [The Arab Countries], Regarding the Money [Donated]...: Scrutinize Carefully Into Whose Hands You Place It" "I say to [the Arab countries], regarding the money [donated] on behalf of your countries and good peoples: Scrutinize carefully into whose hands you place it. Do not place it in the hands of the corrupt people. There are two options: Either give it to the legitimate government of my brother Ismail Haniya in Gaza – an honest government with proven experience in serving the people – and they will lead the reconstruction under your supervision, or carry it out yourselves, through companies from your own countries, funds and institutions from your own countries, or any method you choose. You yourselves take over the reconstruction plans. But today, no Palestinian – and I believe that no none among your own peoples – will accept that this money be placed in the hands of the corrupt people. You know the truth. You have vast experience in that." [...] "Some Say: What Kind Of Victory Is This, With All The Destruction... To Them, We Say: Was There Ever A People That Was Liberated Without Casualties?" "Some say: What kind of victory is this, with all the destruction? Some people have emerged from the holes in which they hid during the war. They were afraid of the war, so they lowered their voices, fearing the rage of the Arab, Islamic, and Palestinian masses. Today, they have begun croaking like ravens, saying: Hamas should see what has befallen our land. "To them, we say: Was there ever a people that was liberated without casualties? Take a look at history. This is important, and should reach the whole world. Large cities in the world were destroyed and rebuilt. These cities suffered great destruction. What happened to London in World War II? What happened to Paris? What happened in Hanoi, in Leningrad, and in Stalingrad? What happened to you, my brothers from the factions that have a history in Lebanon? What happened to Beirut? Beirut was not your land. You were guests there. Nevertheless, you fought for 88 days. So why do you pin your opposition to the steadfastness in Gaza on the destruction, the killings, and the massacres, even though you allowed yourselves to go on for all those days in Beirut in 1982?" [...] "Who Does the British People Respect More – Churchill, Who Fought the Nazis, or Chamberlain, Who Appeased Hitler?" "Who does the British people respect more – Churchill, who fought the Nazis, or Chamberlain, who appeased Hitler? Does the French people respect De Gaulle, who from London continued his resistance to the Nazis in France, or General Pétain, the leader of the Vichy government, which resembles more than anything the [Palestinian] 'Autonomy' Authority. Only the honorable are recorded in history in letters of light. "To those who appease [the enemy], under the pretext of avoiding casualties, we say that victory can only be achieved through blood. In 1940, Churchill, who is not considered a terrorist by today's criteria, because he had European blood in his veins, said to British people as soon as he took power in 1940: I can only promise you sweat, blood, tears, and toil. This is what leaders should be like. Leaders should not be like beggars on the negotiations track. "In Stalingrad... In Leningrad, there were 600 casualties... Sorry, there were 600,000 casualties in Leningrad, and there were one million displaced people. This rule applies to us, just as it applies to any other nation." "We Want a Palestinian Reconciliation – But After the Lesson of Gaza, What Will Be The Basis For The Reconciliation?" "My beloved [brothers] in the West Bank – your day has come. I know that you waged an Intifada in the past, but the oppression has prevented you from waging a great Intifada, as you did in the past. However, we cannot place the entire national burden on Gaza. [...] "We want a Palestinian reconciliation. But after the lesson of Gaza, what will be the basis for the reconciliation? We want it to be based on the resistance, and on adherence to our national rights, and not on these futile negotiations, or on concessions regarding Jerusalem, the Right of Return, or the land. [...] "Yes, we support internal Palestinian dialogue, but in order for it to be a serious and successful dialogue, it must be preceded by certain steps. The detainees must be released, and the security cooperation with the enemy must be stopped."[...] "The International Community... the Quartet, and... Obama's New Administration... Should Stop Israel... The Time Has Come For You to Deal With Hamas" "This was a lesson to the reasonable people in the international community, to the Quartet, and to Obama's new administration and his allies in Europe. They should stop Israel, and they should know that Israel is incapable of defending itself, and that the occupation and aggression have no future. The second lesson that needs to be learned is that three years of attempting to rule out Hamas are enough. [...] "The time has come for you to deal with Hamas, which has gained legitimacy from its struggle, from the ballot boxes, from its incorruptibility, from its service to its people, and now it has gained legitimacy from its victory over the strongest power in the region. The time has come for you to deal with Hamas properly – not because we have something to gain from this. By no means. This is a national demand. We do not force ourselves on anybody."

For some reason I don't quite understand, how can you call something a victory when your leadership is either dead or hiding in tunnels like rats. When your population is subjected to bombings and shootings, and your troops threw down their weapons and ran. Your crack troops, the one's trained by your masters in Iran, were slaughtered to a man. It didn't even take the IDF an hour to defeat them.

How strange it is to see him quote Sir Winston Churchill. But here is a better quote from Sir Winston. One that shows exactly how he felt and would feel about Hamas and its leadership today.

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property‹either as a child, a wife, or a concubine‹must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science‹the science against which it had vainly struggled‹the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

~~ Sir Winston Churchill

Not very supportive of Hamas, Islam and Palestinians is it? But that shouldn't stop him. After all he was on a roll. And a big mistake, a fubar, he gave away. One had to listen carefully to it and know the news to understand this one:

"In Stalingrad... In Leningrad, there were 600 casualties... Sorry, there were 600,000 casualties in Leningrad, and there were one million displaced people. This rule applies to us, just as it applies to any other nation."

Doesn't seem like much of a mistake until you read this report from the Jerusalem Post:

Maximum 600 Palestinians died in Gaza The number of Palestinians killed in Operation Cast Lead did not exceed five or six hundred, Lorenzo Cremonesi, a correspondent for Italy's Corriere della sera reported on Thursday. Cremonesi based his report on tours of hospitals in the Gaza Strip and on interviews with families of casualties. He also assessed the number of wounded to be far lower than 5,000, the number quoted by Hamas and repeated by the UN and the Red Cross in Gaza. "It is sufficient to visit several hospitals [in the Gaza Strip] to understand that the numbers don't add up," he wrote. In the European hospital in Rafah, one of the facilities which would presumably be filled with wounded from the "war of the tunnels," many beds were empty, according to Cremonesi. A similar situation was noted in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and in the privately-run Amal Hospital Cremonesi reported that only five out 150 beds were occupied. Cremonesi interviewed Gazans who echoed Israel's insistence of how Hamas gunmen used civilians as human shields. One Gazan recalled civilians in Gaza shouting at Hamas and Islamic Jihad men, "Go away, go away from here! Do you want the Israelis to kill us all? Do you want our children to die under their bombs? Take your guns and missiles with you." "Traitors, collaborators with Israel, spies of Fatah, cowards! The soldiers of the holy war will punish you. And in any case you will all die, like us. Fighting the Zionist Jews we are all destined for paradise. Do you not wish to die with us?" the religious fanatics of Hamas reportedly responded. Other Palestinians told Cremonesi of Hamas operatives donning paramedic uniforms and commandeering ambulances. A woman identified as Um Abdullah, 48, spoke of Hamas using UN buildings as launch pads for rockets. Cremonesi reported that he had difficultly gathering evidence as the local population was terrified of Hamas.

Civilians scared of their government. Terror coming not from Israel, but from Hamas. And a big slip of the tongue from Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al all adds up to one thing:

Hamas if fighting for its existence and is vulnerable.

How Israel Got Her Groove Back

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle In the movie How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Stella a successful, 40-year-old stock broker raising her son and niece, is talked into a trip to Jamaica by her friend Delilah. In Jamaica she meets William Shakespeare, 20 years her junior and is caught up in a steamy romance. During which she examines her life and tries to strike a balance between her need for romance and her life as a mother and executive. Israel has been like Stella. Israel was going through a crises. Trying to please the US and Europeans with concession after concession and getting nothing in return. The disaster of the Second Lebanese War of 2006 left her vulnerable, her enemies gathering like wolves for the slaughter. Now that has changed. Today Israel is back to her old self. She is stronger, better equipped to handle what the world throws at her. And her enemies are worried.

Courtesy of Power Line Dan Diker is a foreign policy analyst with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He writes from Jerusalem today with an optimistic assessment of Israel's current offensive: Israel may have reached a deterrent moment in its war in Gaza against Iranian-backed Hamas. I spoke with a senior Arab diplomat last night. He told me that the Arab street is afraid that "the Jews have gone crazy." Yes, it's true. He noted, "Israel has begun to restore its deterrence" in the Arab world. "Hamas miscalculated," he added. They had thought Israel would not attack, but would merely accede to tougher Hamas demands for an improved "Tahdiya," their version of a temporary calm. This is perhaps one of the more optimistic assessments I have heard from Arab colleagues recently. There is supporting documentation. Hizbullah's immediate public denial yesterday of the Katusha rocket attack from Southern Lebanon against Israel's North and the reports on Lebanese TV of convoys of Lebanese (read: Hizbullah) vehicles moving north in expectation of a major Israeli reprisal strengthens this sense. It's also notable that Al Jazeera's reportage yesterday avoided interviewing ordinary Gazans. Arab sources in Gaza confided that the public anger is not directed at Israel any more than it is at Hamas. Al Jazeera, doing a superb job as PR agents for Iran's proxies, likely wanted to avoid risking those types of reactions from the battlefield. The source also said that Hamas is "doing very bad things" to Fatah activists in Gaza both as revenge against claims that Fatah leadership provided intelligence to Israel, and as a warning to Fatah to avoid the temptation of being convinced by Egypt, the US and the West that they reassert control in Gaza. Fatah officials in the West Bank are also demoralized. Nasser Juma'a, a Palestinian Legislative Council Member from Nablus told a well known British reporter yesterday that the "Hamas are insects" and noted that the Palestinians would likely "not see a Palestinian state in his lifetime." Qadura Fares, a Fatah senior, said that the PA would not succeed either in the West Bank or Gaza without "tackling the privileges of the Fatah elite," who he said "have become like princes."

Yes, Israel has gotten their groove back! Gone are the days of concession after concession without anything in return. Gone are the days of humiliation at the hands of her enemies, and gone is the idea of the Saudi Peace Plan. A plan by Saudi Arabia to destroy the Jewish Nation. There will be no more concessions on Israel's part. Jerusalem will be taken off the negotiating table forever, Hamas and Hizbollah are scared of her might. I spoke with a senior Arab diplomat last night. He told me that the Arab street is afraid that "the Jews have gone crazy." The Jews haven't gone crazy. They are remembering that they are the Lions of Judea! That they are God's Warriors! That they are not, and never will again be Ghetto Jews! Today Israel got her groove back. Jews and their supporters all over the world are walking taller, with a pride in their step.

And it feels damn good!

The Beginning of the End?

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle What is the difference between a Hamas fighter and a thug? Give up? The Hamas fighter is indoctrinated from birth to kill Jews. Except when they fire back it seems.

A senior IDF officer estimated Saturday that roughly 300 Hamas men have been killed since the army launched its ground incursion in the Gaza Strip. The military official said IDF troops were able to wipe out whole battalions belonging to the Gaza terror group. "Hundreds of people were killed in the various combat sectors," the officer said. "Some Hamas companies and battalions were simply wiped out. We also see cases of desertions and unauthorized leaves, while some terror activists are scared to undertake moves that would jeopardize them vis-à-vis IDF troops."

I see that even the promise of 72 virgins isn't enough to make these thugs fight like soldiers. It is easy to march around, shout slogans and fire rockets at civilian centers. It is quite harder to attack a target that is well armed and well trained.

Earlier Saturday, the IDF killed Hamas' rocket chief in the Gaza City area, Amir Mansi. The senior officer said that shortly before his death Mansi clashed with his subordinates, who refused to come out of their hideouts. The rocket chief was left with no choice but to launch mortar shells himself, and was killed after being identified by the army.

Now the thugs are too afraid of firing their rockets. The IDF is actively searching for them and destroying the enemy. Jihad isn't any fun when those you are trying to destroy fight back.

The IDF official said that Hamas fighters had no qualms about exploiting civilians in the war. "Hamas is attempting every possible tactic against us – in psychological terms as well," he said. "Yet the day it comes out of its trenches and see the destruction and price it paid, it will understand the extent of the blow it suffered."

We have seen this time and time again. In videos that are surfacing from Gaza. From the fact that al Jazeera is no longer interviewing the average Gazan.

View at YouTube View at YouTube

Hamas cannot hope to accomplish a military victory over Israel. Hamas is just trying to stave off a total disaster and be eliminated from Gaza. To help achieve this aim, they are sending their minions in the West out into the streets.

View at YouTube

This time that is backfiring. Although the media refuses to cover the hatred, it is there. The tactic of hatred and anti-Semitism is backfiring upon their supporters. No longer are Americans tied to their televisions for their news. They are seeing the true nature of Hamas and their supporters, and they do not like what they see. It is only at the United Nations that Hamas has a chance for survival. Under the influence control of the Muslim nations, the UN Security Council is trying to impose a cease-fire on Israel. A cease-fire that would leave Hamas intact. And Israel is refusing. Hamas and their supporters should remember that the God of Israel protects His people:

Deuteronomy 28:7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

News from Sderot

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle From the Sderot Media Center

Over 70 Palestinian rockets strike Israel in 2 days: Baby girl hurt in Gedera

Since early Tuesday morning, over 34 rockets and mortar shells were fired from northern Gaza Strip at Israel. In one Palestinian rocket attack on Gedara, rocket shrapnel lightly wounded a three-month-old girl in a residential building where the rocket struck. In Sderot, a Palestinian rocket fell on a busy main street, right beside several main bus stops, located a few meters away from the pharmacy and theater. A taxi driver on scene, told Sderot Media Center that he was pulling out of the bus stop on the way to Tel Aviv, when he heard the Tzeva Adom alert sound. The eight passengers in his vehicle immediately got off and ran into the shelter. He followed through, and a few seconds later, he heard a tremendous explosion. The Palestinian rocket landed only a couple of meters away. The rocket explosion caused damage to vehicles parked in the area and several people experienced shock. The window in the taxi driver's vehicle completely shattered upon impact of the rocket explosion. Earlier in the day a Palestinian rocket slammed nearby the Sderot Peretz Shopping Mall Center. The Tzeva Adom set off at least 10 times throughout the day as rocket explosions vibrated throughout the city. Over 40 Palestinian rockets struck southern Israel on Monday, hitting civilian populated areas in the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba. One Palestinian Grad rocket slammed into an empty kindergarten in Ashdod, causing heavy damage to the buildings in the vicinity of the rocket explosion. The Ashdod kindergarten was closed thanks to instructions from the Israel Home Front Command to keep schools and kindergartens within 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip closed. Ashkelon was also struck by rockets on Monday, as five Grads slammed into the city, damaging several structures and sending several people into shock. Another Gaza rocket struck Be'er Sheva, two others hit Kiryat Malachi, seven landed in Netivot and seven others in Ofakim.

If the world thinks that forcing Israel into a truce with Hamas will stop the rockets, they are very wrong. It will only embolden Hamas and lead to the destruction of Israel.

FIRST GAZA, THEN THE WORLD

Some of Israel’s most blatant critics have written that for every Israeli killed, about a hundred Palestinians were killed. A half-truth is worse than a lie, but this is not even a half truth. This is deception. Because months and years of rockets fired at a civilian population are not a matter for bloody accounts. It is a nuisance that no country, neither Syria nor Sweden, would tolerate. It is a provocation that requires a tough response. And if we are already going for bloody accounts, we should do the overall math. We can suffice with just the accounting in the Arab-Muslim world. So, since the establishment of the State of Israel, close to 12 million Arabs and Muslims have been butchered, most of them by Arabs and Muslims. Israel’s “contribution,” since its establishment, is 60,000, and that includes all the wars and the two Intifadas. In other words, half a percent. And more importantly, the confrontation is not between Hamas with its rockets and Israel. The confrontation is between Hamas, as one of the entities that compose radical Islam, and the free world. Its declared goal is to establish a world Islamic caliphate as part of an anti Semitic ideology that also calls for the annihilation of the Jews. Explanations will follow. And since political Islam has already annihilated millions without any announcement, we should take it seriously when there is an announcement about annihilation. Is Hamas part of the global Jihad? Section 7 of the organization’s manifesto explains that it is not a local movement, nor even a national movement. The heading is “The global nature of the Islamic resistance movement.” And later, “Because the Muslims are spread throughout the entire world, the movement is global.” Is this a movement that calls for the annihilation of the Jews? That is what is written in a continuation of the same section. “The messenger (Mohammed) said, “The Muslims will fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them, until the Jew hides behind the stones and the trees, and then the stones and the trees will say, ‘Oh, Muslim, Abd Allah, there is a Jew who is hiding, come and kill him.” And this is in addition to blaming the Jews for all the wars in the world, for world domination, etc. Sheikh Muhsin Abu Ita stated on the Al Aktza channel that “The annihilation of the Jews is a wonderful blessing.” Dr. Ahmed Bahar, acting chairman of the Palestinian parliament stated that “the Jews are cancer, and they and the Americans should be destroyed to the last person.” According to the Palestinian constitution, this man, Bahar, will become the head of the Palestinian Authority if Abu Mazen ceases to function. Dr. Yunis Al Astal, a member of the Palestinian parliament, one of the senior Hamas officials, who served as dean of the faculty are of Shariyah and chairman of the Islamic Law Department at Islamic University, stated that the annihilation order is a matter for our time and not for the future. The book by Dr. Matthias Kuntzel, “Jihad and Jew-Hatred,” elaborates on the annihilation ideology of radical Islam, including among Hamas. We have not yet succeeded in imparting this awareness to the world. It is still not too late.

This is already starting with Muslims all over the world calling for a second Holocaust against the Jews in every nation of the world. Muslims in Europe, Great Britain, Canada and the US are compiling lists of Jews in their nations. Jews to murder. And they will have a carte blanche from the nations they are in. It will become public policy in all their nations.

Two-state illusion: The Sderot perspective

By Noam Bedein In early September, I was invited to take part in a press conference in Oslo, along with the Israeli ambassador to Norway, members of the Norwegian media and members of the Norwegian parliament. The title of the press conference was "Iran: At Sderot's Back Door." It was at that press conference that "rocket reality" was presented before Norwegians for the first time, showing the Western Negev as the only place in the Western world where rockets and missiles are fired at citizens on almost a daily basis. Of these attacks, 97 percent are launched by Palestinian militias from the convenient cover of civilian homes in Gaza. Their weapons come directly from Iran, with their delivery to Gaza facilitated by Syria and Egypt. This is how Hamas became Teheran's "third arm," after Hizbullah in Lebanon. While Norwegian parliament members showed sympathy and said that they more clearly understood Sderot and Gaza, they also rationalized the Gaza rocket reality with the commonly held illusion that "if the Palestinians would be able to have their own independent state - in the West Bank and Gaza - this would bring peace and security to both sides and the firing on Israel would stop." In other words, firing missiles at Israel is justified because of the lack of a Palestinian state, since the West Bank is still "occupied." From an Israeli perspective, then, promoting the "two-state solution" gives Europeans and their parliamentarians a way to justify ongoing rocket fire. This also gives nations around the world a justification to continue to aid the Palestinian Authority, which now receives the largest proportionate aid compared with any people of a similar sized population. Indeed, the Norwegian government provided $100 million to the PA over the past year, even after it was proven that much of this budget reaches the hands of Hamas, which openly uses these allocations to finance terrorism. The two-state solution is mistakenly used by Israel's advocates to justify Israel's approach to peace - pursued even under fire as a political solution. But when Israel's advocates support a two-state solution while Sderot and the Western Negev remain under constant missile threat - especially after Israel pulled out all Jewish communities and IDF bases from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 - they are simply ignoring the fact that 7,000 missiles have been fired at Israel from the de facto Palestinian state spawned in Gaza over the past three years. THAT IS what a two-state solution means - giving the country's enemies a convenient base from which they can terrorize the civilian population, in defiance of international law. The Western world's media, and even the Israeli media, refer to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, taken in 1967, as the territories that are in dispute, while Hamas, all of the other Palestinian terror groups and the PA itself define Sderot and the Western Negev as "occupied territory." They do not recognize the territory that Israel acquired in 1948, an integral part of the sovereign state of Israel. In the words of the press statement that Hamas issued on November 26, 2006, the day before the last cease-fire commenced (a six-month cease-fire in which more than 300 missiles were fired at Israel): "We will not stop firing on the Zionist settlement Sderot until the last citizen of Sderot leaves." Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority's "Palestine Map," which can be purchased in any PA office, replaces Sderot with pre-1948 Najd; Ashkelon is replaced by al-Majdal and Ashdod by Isdod. The Palestinian "right of return" refers to the return of Palestinian refugees to all of Israel. Meanwhile, the PA schools books show no rights for Jews living in the land of Israel, no mention of the history of the Jews in the land of Israel. By what right was the State of Israel established? What were the historical and legal rights of the Jewish people to the land of Israel? And why has the Palestinian refugee problem persisted, like no other in the world? It is the responsibility of anyone who speaks for Israel to emphasize that during the late 1940s, more than 40 million refuges around the world were resettled, except for one people. They remain defined as refugees, wallowing 60 years later in 59 UNRWA refugee camps, financed by $400 million contributed annually by nations of the world to nurture the promise of the "right of return" to Arab neighborhoods and Arab villages from 1948 that no longer exist. No nation would tolerate even one rocket being launched toward its territory; but that is what Israel is asked to accept as an integral part of its existence, since the supposed root of the problem is that the Palestinian Arab people do not have a state of their own. Yet the regime in Gaza let the ceasefire lapse and resumed its rocket attacks - provoking the current Israeli military operation - not to facilitate a two-state solution, but to "liberate" the rest of Palestine.

Try to check what happens to the money sent to the Palestinians and you will see most is siphoned off to Swiss bank accounts and the rest is used to fund terrorism. Hamas and the PA don't recognize the 2-state solution. They want only one state, free of all Jews, Druse, Baha'i and Christians. They will rape, murder and rob to get what they want. I ask my readers to take the time and say a prayer for the people of Sderot and the Western Negev who are and have been under rocket fire for the past 8 years. And if you can, click on the logo below and contribute to the Sderot Media Center. A group that helps the people of this area cope with constant attack.

Hamas Terrorists

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle The daily update from the IDF

View at YouTube

IAF planes have recently targeted dozens of tunnels used by the Hamas terror organization, located along the Rafah border. The Hamas tunnel network is used for the smuggling of weapons, for the movement of Hamas terror operatives from the Gaza Strip and back, and is an integral part of the operations in which Hamas purchases and is supplied with weaponry. During the operation, IDF forces hit dozens of terror operatives. The aerial and artillery forces also assisted the Ground Forces by attacking armed gunmen approaching the Ground Forces and striking launching areas from which Hamas fired rockets at the IDF and at Israeli civilians. In addition, the IAF attacked over forty additional targets throughout the Gaza Strip. These targets included a tunnel rigged with explosives, a number of weaponry storage facilities, among them houses of Hamas terror operatives– one of which housed an underground tunnel, a number of weapons manufacturing sites, rocket launching areas, and a rocket launcher itself. Also today (Jan.4), 80 trucks with humanitarian aid were transferred into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing. More than 30 rockets have been launched at Israel since this morning, landing in heavily populated areas and damaging a number of structures, including a kindergarten in Ashdod, which was closed at the time by the Home Front Command due to the rocket attacks perpetrated over the past week by Hamas.

IDF Artillery and Helicopters Strike Hamas Terrorists Involved in Gaza Fighting 4 Jan. 2009

View at YouTube

Lies, Lies, and More Lies!

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle Hamas and its supporters are becoming the Masters of Lies. In Islam lying is not a sin, but permissible:

In the Hadith, Mohammed emphasizes the same concept. From "Ehiaa Oloum al-Din," by the famous Islamic scholar al-Ghazali, Vol. 3: PP.284-287: One of Mohammed's daughters, Umm Kalthoum, testified that she had never heard the Apostle of Allah condone lying, except in these three situations: 1) For reconciliation among people. 2) In war. 3) Amongst spouses, to keep peace in the family.

And Hamas claims it has been at war with Israel (whom they call the evil Zionist entity) since their foundation. The Hamas Charter So I shouldn't be surprised to see this story:

The Hamas terrorist organization announced Sunday that it had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in the first stage of the ground invasion of IDF troops into Gaza. The statement, made to foreign television stations, is totally untrue, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, as was the statement Saturday night that 10 IDF soldiers had been killed in the first assault. Propanganda and disinformation is an inherent part of the psychological warfare used by Hamas to weaken the Israeli resolve, said Israeli officials. It is gamble used in the hope that news services will pick up the report and disseminate it before the truth becomes known. The goal is to confuse and frighten the Israeli readers and break their determination to continue the operation. The Reuters news agency apparently did not bother to check the facts before its initial publication of the Hamas statement, nor did it include a counter-statement from the IDF confirming or denying the veracity of the claim. During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, a Reuters staffer was caught faking a photograph of damage from IDF bombing in a Beirut suburb to make it appear as though Israel has massacred the neighborhood instead of using pinpoint surgical strikes as it had. The staff member was reportedly dismissed. Full Story

Why am I not surprised to see that Reuters not checking out a story. The once noble news agency has sullied itself down to a mockery of its earlier self. In 2006 it published a faked photograph by Lebanese freelancer Adnan Hajj. Not only was that photograph was faked, but it turned out that the majority of his photographs and stories were all faked. The truth is vastly different in this case:

Golani troops and IAF helicopters foiled an attempt by Hamas to kidnap a solder in a tunnel near Gaza City Sunday morning. The IDF refused to comment on the report. The incident was said to have occurred after Golani troops entered a Hamas command center in a house on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City and discovered smuggling tunnels underneath. A clash broke out between the troops and Hamas terrorists, who began to drag away one soldier, according to Israeli and foreign media. Helicopter cover and efforts by his comrades forced the terrorists to release the solider. The IDF refused to discuss the incident, saying it would not comment on "rumors," but its spokesmen on Sunday denied a Hamas claim to the media that it had kidnapped two soldiers. The denial was issued after Reuters published the report, and the source of the claim may have been the clash that was not reported until Monday morning. Full Story

But we should expect the lies. The lie of the Siege of Gaza. The lie of the starving children. The lie of thousands of civilians killed. 51 dead is not thousands. Pretty soon Hamas will be claiming that hundreds of thousands have died, they have captured a whole company (including their support personal), and that none of their fighters thugs have been killed. I'll let the videos speak for themselves: From Elder of Ziyon

Gettin' Mighty Crowded View at YouTube Save the Gazans View at YouTube

You have the facts in front of you, make the right call.

Ground War

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle After a week of precision bombing by the IAF led to the shelling last night of Northern Gaza. This evening forces of the IDF entered Gaza. Their objective is to take control of the area where the majority of rockets are being fired from. The same area which Israel left in 2005. Under International Law Gaza is no longer to be considered occupied (go tell that to the Moonbats on the left and the MSM)as Israel does not exercise effective control or authority over any land or institutions in the Gaza Strip. The fourth section of The Hague convention of 1907, Article 42 defines occupation as:

Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.

Israel relinquished all control over Gaza in 2005. It was also given assurance by President Bush and leaders of the Palestinian Authority that there would be no further attacks made on Israel. So much for assurances by leaders. The rocket attacks into Israel not only continued, but intensified to the point that even the boneheads in Jerusalem, the Kadima led government, could not ignore the suffering in Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and the Western Negev. Thus the start of Operation Cast Lead a week ago and now the ground operation that has started.

For the first time since the start of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF sent ground troops into the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening. The IDF said that the purpose of the ground operation was to eliminate launching pads in northern Gaza from which specific long-range rockets had been fired into southern Israel. Large forces from the army's infantry, tanks and artillery units are among those participating in the mission. Several hours earlier, the army began to fire artillery shells into the northern part of the Strip. According to reports, the artillery units were attacking targets in northern Gaza from where Palestinian terrorists had been firing rockets at southern Israel. Warplanes, gunboats and artillery units blasted more than 40 Hamas targets throughout Saturday, including Hamas's central intelligence headquarters in Sha'ati, weapons storage facilities, training centers and Hamas leaders' homes. Full Story

The objective is very simple, not the complete take over of the Gaza Strip, but the elimination of the launch pads from Gaza.

The IAF also hit the home of senior Hamas commander Abu Zacharia Al-Jamal. A Hamas spokesman announced that al-Jamal was killed in the attack, which would make him the third senior operative in the group to be targeted in the past three days. In addition, Palestinians reported four dead in an IAF strike in the Rafah area. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Channel 2 Saturday night, "We will do all that is necessary to provide a different reality for southern Israel, which has been under constant attacks for the past eight years." In Saturday morning attacks, the army struck the homes of two Hamas operatives, saying the buildings were used to store weapons and plan attacks. Hamas outposts, training camps and rocket launching sites also were targeted, it said.

3 senior officials in as many days. Already Hamas is boasting that they killed an Israeli soldier, but reports from the field show that fighting is light to moderate with the IDF losing no men. It seems that Hamas is waiting, biding its time, choosing the place it will actually fight, praying that the idiots liberals on the left will scream loudly for them and they will survive. That is all they can pray for right now, is to survive as a group in Gaza. Hamas has boasted in the last week that they will fight as soon as troops entered Gaza. That every man, woman, and child will give up their lives for Hamas. And that the world will force Israel to leave. So far they haven't come out to fight. We don't see thousands of Gazans blowing themselves up. And the world is on vacation until Monday. What happens in the next 48 hours is critical. If Israel can achieve their objective by then, then a clear victory will have been made. If the world starts to demand a withdrawal, will Israel listen? Will the US have the balls to veto such a request? Will Hamas survive this latest assault? The nation of Israel holds its breath, waiting to see what Hamas' and the World's response will be.