A Message For ‘Reader X’ aka It’s My Blog And I’ll Ban Who I Want To!

.

 

Is freedom of speech absolute?

Here’s a candid answer: not for readers of my blog.

I make no apologies for this stance. Only one person has total free speech in this particular arena – and that’s me!

 

I’ve been pondering  ‘freedom of speech’ because I stand accused of ‘blocking opinions differing from your own’. My accuser? A regular poster on Jew With A View that I’ve now had to, reluctantly, bar from posting full stop.

 

Of course, most bloggers ban those who submit abusive or racist comments. 

 

 

It’s just common sense. But what about banning someone who is usually polite..?

  

 

Is it ‘wrong’?  Does it ‘prove’ that I ban dissent, especially when it comes to the topic of Israel…?   I can’t respond privately to this person, hence this post.

 

  

Truth is, I welcome dissenting opinions. Genuinely. Blogging would be mighty dull if everyone who posted here was just echoing my views!

Nor do I claim to be ‘right’ in all I say. Indeed, if I make factual errors, I hope someone will correct me and I am most grateful when they do! Hell, I’m appreciative when anyone takes the time to post a comment, and I hope regulars especially, know this

Let’s call the person I’ve banned Reader X. He knows who he is. He’s posted many long comments on this blog and that was fine, though I passionately disagree with him. But as he seems a reasonably decent soul, and as he’s taken the trouble to express his views, I’ve welcomed his thoughts.

 

But here’s the thing. Everyone has the right to their own opinions.  But nobody has the right to their own facts. That’s where a line exists, and it can’t be crossed if one still wants any form of rational discourse.

The discrepancy between these two was illustrated vividly back in 2007 when Oxford University decided to allow known Holocaust Denier David Irving, and his fellow weasel BNP head Nick Griffin, to speak at the Union debate.

 

The move was publicly condemned by Jewish and Muslim students alike, along with anti facism activists and numerous politicians – several of whom cancelled membership of the Oxford Union as a result.

 

But Oxford Union was unrepentant. These two racist twits had, it declared, the right to ‘freedom of speech’.

 

Wrong.

 

  

What they had was  freedom of opinion. But that doesn’t mean any institution, let alone Oxford, should offer them a platform to spread their malice.

 

If Irving and Griffin wish to go around peddling their mad and subjective belief that six million Jews did not perish, that is their right to do so – within the confines of their homes and in hushed conversations with their fellow neo Nazis.

 

But once they start publicly twisting and misrepresenting objective facts in their bid to deny history, then no. A thousand times, no.  They don’t have any unconditional, inalienable ‘right’ to do that.  Nor did Oxford Union have any ‘duty’ to help them.

 

I have the right to declare a disbelief in gravity. Does Oxford Union have any obligation to provide a platform for me to unveil my copious notes and ideas in ‘support’ of this idea…?

 

No, of course not – and nor would  Oxford dream of doing so!  Yet when it suits, countless individuals and institutions play the ‘freedom of speech’ card in order to promote all manner of absurd, irrational and sometimes dangerous beliefs.

Which brings us to Reader X. He has repeatedly stated: ‘I insist that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation’.

 

Well, dear Reader X, you may continue to insist this, and deny reality, as much as you like. Go on – knock yourself out!

  

But not on my blog.

  

 

Any group which attacks and kills unarmed, innocent civilians, is a terrorist group. Yep – it’s as black and white as that. Thus when Hamas sent suicide bombers onto two Israeli buses, killing sixteen people, including a 3 year old child,  that was terrorism. End of.

 

I’m not remotely interested in Reader X’s apologetics for Hamas. Nor will I feel bad for denying his ‘right’ to publicly condone them. He can seek to justify and rationalise and apologise for Hamas terrorism all he likes.

  

But not on my blog.

 

Nor do I accept that Reader X has any ‘right’ to use my blog to condone bigotry.

Last week I posted a story about how a top Obama aide cheerfully shared a platform with a man who then claimed that Hurricane Katrina was G-d’s ‘punishment’ towards Gay people, and that Jews are seeking to ‘control the world’.

 

Most sane people recognise this bigotry towards Gays and Jews for what it is: appalling. Likewise, they understand that it is not OK for a top Obama aide to share a platform with and thus legitimise someone expressing such spite.

But what did Reader X think? ‘It’s good that Obama is prepared to talk to lots of people.’

Er, right…

 Again, if Reader X wants to support anti Gay and Anti Jewish bigotry, he’s free to do so.

  

 But not on my blog.

 

In particular, Reader X has condemned my apparent unwillingness to allow dissenting opinions on Israel. So let’s clarify.

 

If someone wants to criticise Israeli policies, they are free to do so. If someone wants to post condemnation of specific decisions made by Israel or particular Israeli politicians, they are free to do this too.  If their posts are based on facts and – this is key – an accurate understanding of the situation.

 

But when someone makes it clear that they don’t even know the term ‘palestinian’ always referred to Palestinian Jews, and when they then try and ‘prove’ their case by anecdotal evidence, and when all they do is regurgitate weary old Arab propaganda that has been disproven time and again – then no, I don’t have any obligation to publish this person’s misconceptions.

  

There are countless sites out there where Reader X can share his inaccurate ideas on Israel.

My blog is not one of them.

 

And finally, Reader X,  I reserve the right to reject your blatant hypocrisy. For example, you have often stated that you trust the UN. Thus if the UN condemns Israel for something, it is  ‘good enough‘ for you – note, I’m using your own words here.

Yet at the same time, you ignore that the UN also stated in a resolution that Hezbollah should have disarmed.   But you don’t care what the UN says about this. Indeed,  only recently you tried to submit a post claiming that Hezbollah has nothing to do with terrorism!

This is rank  hypocrisy. When the UN condemns Israel, it’s acceptable. But when the UN condemns Palestinian and Islamic terrorism, it gets ignored. Again Reader X, you’re free to practise this hypocrisy.

  

But not on my blog.

 

Finally, and most egregiously, Reader X, you showed how little value you attache to Jewish life, any Jewish life, by your response to the recent update on murdered and tortured French Jew Ilan Halimi.

Responding to this post, what did you say?  You spoke of Palestinians in prison in Israel – and did not say a single word about the way that this young French man was abducted, tortured, set alight and killed by French Muslims. Muslims who admitted to being obsessed with killing Jews and who actually phoned the victim’s parents and quoted to them from the Quran.

Now of course, you’re not obliged to respond to the Ilan Halimi post at all. But to submit a response to it  that totally ignores his death? That is in poor taste and again, just reveals your hypocrisy. You care so much for Palestinian Arabs – yet don’t give a damn when Jewish blood is spilled.

 

And so, Reader X, if you are indeed looking at this post: don’t tell me that you’re ‘objective‘ and ‘fair‘ when it comes to any topic connected to either Israel or anti Jewish sentiment. You’re not. At least have the integrity to acknowledge your own bias and blatant double standards.

 

And if at any time you decide to adopt a fairer approach, then you are most welcome to post here again.

But, until and unless that time arrives, you’ll have to take your right to condone terrorism and bigotry and exercise it on other blogs –  ’cause you ‘aint doing it on this one!

Top Obama Aide Shares Platform With Rabid Anti Semite

I recently read an excellent article over at the    Investigative Project On Terrorism   and the good folk there have kindly said I can re-post some of it here. It’s an important story – do read and then share this information. And do visit the IPT’s superb site!

The article details how one of Obama’s top aides cheerfully shared a platform with people promoting Jihad, Anti semitism, homophobia, and Islamic terrorism. This is an abbreviated version of the original piece; the extra emphasis in italics and colour are mine:

 

A top aide to President Barack Obama provided a keynote address at last weekend’s 46th Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) national convention, a gathering that attracted thousands of people and also featured anti-Semitic, homophobic rhetoric and defense of the terrorist group Hezbollah.

In her remarks, Senior Advisor for Public Engagement and International Affairs Valerie Jarrett noted she was the first White House official to address ISNA. She spoke in general terms about interfaith dialogue and cooperation. She praised her hosts for “the diversity of American organizations, and ideas that are represented and will be debated” at the convention.

And she openly invited ISNA President Ingrid Mattson to work on the White House Council on Women and Girls that Jarrett leads.

The ISNA is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-support conspiracy and maintains significant leadership ties to its foundation 28 years ago by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. A more pointed statement also would have stood as a powerful retort to extremist sentiments offered in other segments of the conference.

While many panels featured criticism of U.S. policy and law enforcement, one stood out for its hate-filled rhetoric, and ISNA officials should have seen it coming a mile away. During a “meet the authors” session, Imam Warith Deen Umar, former head of the New York state prison chaplain program managed to:

Argue that key Obama aides are “Israeli,” proving Jews “have control of the world.”

Malign the motives of Jews active in the Civil Rights movement.

Portray the Holocaust as punishment of Jews for being “serially disobedient to Allah.”Insinuate that Hurricane Katrina was a result of tolerance for homosexuality.

 

Umar’s radicalism is no secret. He previously hailed the 9/11 hijackers as martyrs who were secretly admired by Muslims. He has called for violent jihad. In a January 2004 speech, he urged people:

“Rise up and fight. And fight them until turmoil is no more and strike terror into their hearts. You think there is no terror in Quran? It’s called [word unclear] read it in the 56th Surah of the Quran. There’s no lack of translation, there’s no mistranslation There’s not one Sheikh says one thing, no, it’s very clear. When you fight, you strike terror into the heart of the disbeliever.'”

 

He has a website promoting a past book, Judaiology, which features an excerpt describing “the inordinacy of Jewish power.” Jews, he wrote, are “an amazing people who can steal you blind as you watch. If you discover the theft, they can put you to sleep. If you wake up to them, they can put you back to sleep with mind games, tricks of fancy, smoke screens, and magic. Henry Ford almost uncovered them.”

 

Other choice comments of his included:

“It’s against the laws of Allah and against the laws of the Bible for homosexuality. And if you think the Quran talks about harsh punishment from Allah, you should read what the Bible says. I don’t have the time to go into it, but it’s in my book. The Bible is very hard on, he says, Allah says that the land itself is doomed. You wonder why things are happening in America are going to happen? You think that Katrina was just a blow of wind?”

And also:

“My conclusion is that there should be more jihad,” he said. “But people don’t want to hear that. They’re scared.”

 

This is the man responsible for the Muslim chaplain program in New York prisons for 20 years. He was forced out of that job after his praise for the 9/11 hijackers became known. This is who ISNA chose to showcase in a “meet the authors” panel and provide an unchallenged platform for.

 

Umar shared the microphone with another author who did not spew out bigotry, but who did cast Hezbollah as an innocent player.  Cathy Sultan described her book, Tragedy in South Lebanon: The Israeli/Hezbollah War of 2006, as a history of “the tragedy of the repeated incursions and wars in South Lebanon, the complexities of the Lebanese politics.”

She made no mention of Iranian funding for Hezbollah or Syrian meddling in Lebanese politics or its suspected involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Nor did Sultan describe indiscriminate Hezbollah rocket fire toward Israeli civilian communities, or the cross-border attack on an Israeli army base by Hezbollah that left three soldiers dead and two others kidnapped.

In response to a question, Sultan said: “Hezbollah still serves a role. I think that Lebanon is still under constant threat from its southern neighbor. And I see nothing wrong, as long as Hezbollah abides by certain rules and regulations; I see no reason why Hezbollah should not remained armed.”

The United States considers Hezbollah to be a terrorist group, and some experts consider it a bigger potential threat to the United States than Al-Qaeda.

The panel did not feature anyone with contrasting viewpoints to challenge Sultan or Umar. The program drew about 50 people, who sat passively during most of the remarks.

Umar’s books were available for purchase at the convention. Government agencies were represented with booths of their own, including the departments of Justice, State, Homeland Security, Commerce, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

 

In Cairo, Barack Obama said:

“Threatening Israel with destruction — or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews — is deeply wrong and a hindrance to peace.”

But somehow, partnering with a group that invites the same thing is okay?

 

 

With thanks to the Investigative Project On Terrorism for allowing me to re-post this material.

Visit the IPT by clicking

Iran’s ‘Peaceful’ Nuclear Project

Mad Mahoud AhmadinejIhad has insisted for months that his nuclear programme is a ‘peaceful’ one. Much of the world has chosen to swallow this fiction, with Israel being the lone dissenter.

Now Christopher Hitchens makes an interesting point in yesterday’s Sunday Express:

Referring to a recent Hezbollah rally in Lebanon that he attended, Hitchens notes:

“In a large hall that featured the official attendance of a delegation from the Iranian embassy, the most luridly displayed poster of the pro-Iranian party was a nuclear mushroom cloud! Underneath this telling symbol was a caption warning the ‘zionists’ of what lay in store.

We sometimes forget that Iran still officially denies any intention of acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet Ahmadinejaad recently hailed an an Iranian missile launch as a counterpart to Iran’s success with nuclear centrifuges and Hezbollah has certainly formed the idea that Iranian reactors may have non-peaceful applications.

This means that the vicious manipulation by which the mullahs control Iran can no longer be considered an ‘internal affair’. Fascism at home sooner or later means fascism abroad.  Face it now or fight it later. Meanwhile, give it its right name.”

Cognitive Dissonance And The ‘Palestinian State Will Bring Peace’ Myth

 

One of the most astute commentators on the Israeli/Arab conflict has to be Steven Plaut. Here is an extract from one of his latest posts, see the links at the end of this post for more details.

 

Today to promote “Two States for Two Peoples” requires a bit of
cognitive dissonance. After all, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, turning
it over to the “Palestinian Authority,” and the whole world saw the
consequences. They included 8000 rocket missiles aimed at Jewish civilians
inside Israel.

So those who insist that the Palestinian will desire to live in
peace once they have their own state are about as consistent and credible as
are people who argue that North Korea and Iran will seek genuine peace once
they get nuclear weapons, or those that once insisted that Hitler would be
satisfied once he got the Sudetenland.

But more generally, the whole “Two States for Two Peoples” campaign is
nothing more than a special case of the “Then Maybe they Will” doctrine.
For the past 30 years the Israeli political establishment has been prisoner to
the “Then Maybe They Will” doctrine.

Every major policy decision made by the
government has reflected the power of wishful thinking and faith in the
make-pretend. Here is a brief recapitulation of the doctrine:

If Israel gives Sinai back to the Egyptians, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL stop the
Nazi-like anti-Semitic propaganda in their state-run media.

If Israel agrees to limited autonomy for Palestinians, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL
stop seeking Israel’s destruction and the world will not try to set up an
independent Palestinian Arab terror state.

If Israel provides the Palestinian Authority with arms and funds, THEN
MAYBE THEY WILL not be used for terrorist atrocities against Israel.

If Israel grants its Arab citizens affirmative action preferences, THEN
MAYBE THEY WILL stop cheering terrorists and seeking the annihilation of Israel
and its Jewish population.

If Israel frees thousands of jailed Palestinian terrorists, THEN MAYBE THEY
WILL renounce violence and not murder any more Jews.

If Israel agrees to hold talks with representatives of the PLO, THEN MAYBE
THEY WILL put a stop to Palestinian terrorism.

If Israel allows the Palestinians to hold elections, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL
not elect Hamas.

If the Palestinians elect Hamas, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL not pursue a program
of aggression and terrorism against Israel.

If Israel holds talks with terrorists, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL renounce their
genocidal ambitions and seek peace.

If Israel conducts a unilateral withdrawal from all of southern Lebanon and
allows Hezb’allah terrorists to station rockets on the border, THEN MAYBE
THEY WILL not launch any of them.

If Israel sits back while the Syrians exert their hegemony over Lebanon,
THEN MAYBE THEY WILL rein in Hezb’allah and stop border attacks on Israel.

If Israel refrains from retaliating against Hezb’allah terrorists after
they murder captive Israeli soldiers in cold blood, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL not
seek to kidnap any more soldiers.

If Israel agrees to one cease-fire after another with the Arabs, THEN MAYBE
THE ARABS WILL eventually comply with one.

If Israel allows Arabs in Israel to build illegally, including on public
lands, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL become pro-Israel and moderate.

If Israel agrees to the stationing of UN troops in Lebanon, THEN MAYBE
THEY WILL actually do something to stop terror attacks on Israel.

If Israel ignores Hezb’allah border violations, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL come
to an end.

If Israel lets the Muslims control the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, THEN
MAYBE THEY WILL respond with friendship and moderation.

If Israel expels all Jews from Gaza as a gesture of friendship to the
Palestinians, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL reciprocate with friendship toward the Jews.

If Israel turns the Gaza Strip over to the Palestinians, THEN MAYBE THEY
WILL not use it as a base for terror attacks against Israel.

If Israel turns the other cheek after Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza, THEN
MAYBE THEY WILL stop being fired.

If Israel allows the Palestinian Authority to control parts of the West
Bank, THEN MAYBE THE PALESTINIANS WILL not fire rockets at Jews the same way
they do from Gaza.

If Israel returns the Golan Heights to Syria THEN MAYBE THE SYRIANS WILL
seek peace and reject the idea of using the Heights to attack Israel again.

If Israel agrees to place its neck in the Oslo/Road Map/Saudi Plan noose,
THEN MAYBE THE ARABS WILL not pull the rope.

If Israel officially agrees in principle to let the Palestinians have a
state, THEN MAYBE THEY WILL abandon their agenda of annihilating Israel.

 

Brilliantly said.

 

 

Links:

 

Steven Plaut’s site,

Obama – Selling Out Israel

Both Jews and non Jews alike are expressing alarm over Obama’s willingness to sacrifice Israel in order to placate the Arab world.

Atlas Shrugs has been monitoring this situation closely; here is a recent post which spells out precisely what is going on:

Obama committed to Expelling Jews from Jewish Homeland

The increasingly creepy President’s latest act of anti-semitism. From Israel Today:

‘Obama committed to ejecting Jews from Judea-Samaria,’ says Abbas

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday told reporters in Cairo that he is convinced that US President Barack Obama is firmly committed to finally ejecting the Jews from Judea and Samaria.

Abbas spoke to the press after briefing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his visit to the White House late last week, during which Obama apparently agreed with his guest that existing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria must not even be allowed to experience “natural growth.”

“When the American administration talks about Israel’s duty to stop the settlements – including natural growth – it is a very important step,” noted Abbas.

Following their meeting last Thursday, Obama said that he also told Abbas to make a bit more of an effort to halt what he described as isolated and sporadic anti-Jewish incitement in Palestinian schools, mosques and media. Documentation by Israeli and international watchdog groups shows that the incitement is far from isolated or sporadic.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials cited by Ha’aretz decried the Obama Administration’s stiff demands that no more houses be built for Jews beyond the pre-1967 borders.

They noted that under former President George W. Bush, Israel reached understandings that the natural growth of existing towns would not subject to Israel’s commitments to halt settlement activity (commitments many Israelis see as null and void anyway since the Palestinians have failed to honor their reciprocal obligations).

But one official said those understandings are now “worth nothing,” and that the US is taking an unfair position by completely siding with Palestinian demands that go far beyond the original peace agreements.

Other officials attributed Obama’s hard line positions against Israel to his efforts to reconcile with the Arab and Muslim worlds, which will be the focus of a much anticipated speech he will give in Cairo this Thursday.

Israel to U.S.: ‘Stop favoring Palestinians’

UPDATE: The Lid compares Obama to Pharaoh: “This week the President of the United States declared that the Jews living in the West Bank cannot have children, and if they do those kids cannot live with their parents. Oh, that’s not what he said, but the result is the same. What he said is that there cannot be natural growth in the West Bank settlements:”

‘Obama’s decrees are like Pharaoh’s’

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

“The American demand to prevent natural growth is unreasonable, and brings to mind Pharaoh who said: Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river,” Science Minister and Habayit Hayehudi head Daniel Herschkowitz said Sunday, referring to US President Barack Obama’s demand to freeze all settlement activity, even that ensuing from natural growth.

Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, mathematician Herschkowitz furthered his point with a simple equation. “If there is a family that expands from one child to four or five, what should we tell them – to ship the children off to Petah Tikva? This is an unacceptable demand, even if it comes from the Americans, and Israel should reject it decisively,” he affirmed.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai said, “The American demand to freeze construction means expulsion for young people living in large locales. I hope the US administration understands that. If not, I don’t want to be an apocalyptic prophet saying we’re facing struggle and confrontation. The concessions they’re demanding of us are a security impediment we cannot withstand.”

Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein chose a positive perspective on the dispute threatening an Israeli-American rift.

“The recent days prove what luck we have that it is [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s government conducting talks on West Bank natural growth and construction in Jerusalem,” he said. “Just imagine someone else, he would have led us to an entanglement lasting generations.”

“We aren’t headed for a confrontation with the White House, but rather for understandings, and Netanyahu’s visit there proved it. President Obama is a friend of Israel, and I’m sure we can resolve the disagreements,” Edelstein added.

Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog of the Labor party stressed the importance in preventing a head-on collision with Obama.

“The current American administration sees things differently than the last two presidents did. Construction is being undertaken around Jerusalem according to understandings with previous administrations. Israel wants very much to reach understandings, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s upcoming trip to Washington proves it,” Herzog said.

When Palestinians Kill Palestinians

Great post from HonestReporting:

Leave it to the BBC to use a passive voice when Palestinians kill other Palestinians in the West Bank. They just can’t acknowledge their internal blood-letting. The Beeb’s headline style is unfortunately consistent, a problematic pattern HonestReporting noted in a one-year study which found:

 

 In 63% of the stories about Israeli operations, Israel or the IDF were named directly. Typical headlines were: “Israelis kill militants in Gaza” (The “militants” had been firing rockets into Israel), “Children killed in Israeli strike” (the children were playing next to a rocket launcher), and “Israeli strike kills four in Gaza.”

On the other hand, of the seven stories concerning Palestinian attacks, none were written in the same style. The headlines took the responsibility for the attacks away from those who instigated them. Rockets, explosions,and clashes became the culprits in typical headlines such as: “Rocket injures dozens in Israel,” “Gaza explosion kills two children” (compare with headline above), “Two killed in clash in Gaza Strip,” and “West Bank clash leaves three dead.”

 

In the skewed world of BBC headline writers, Palestinians never kill other Palestinians.

 

Iran: We Have Now Test Fired A Missile That Can Hit Israel

Buried  on page thirty-nine of my newspaper, is a story about Iran. Oddly, many people seem to feel that anything involving Iran is ‘ just a middle eastern issue’ and nothing to do with us, safe and sound here in Britain.

They could not be more wrong. Iran’s declaration that it has successfully test fired the Sajjil-2, a missile capable of hitting Israel, and also USA bases in the region, has everything to do with us.

As does the spectre of an Iran with nuclear capability; something that is imminent if not already with us. For Ahmadinejad is not just, as the British media loves to call him, a ‘hardliner’.

Ahmadinejad is, bluntly put, a lunatic.

He’s also mismanaged the Iranian economy to such an extent that he may be defeated in the upcoming Iran elections on June 12.

Pray that he doesn’t get in. Pray hard.

Because remember, this is a man who has repeatedly vowed to ‘wipe the jewish state off the map’. This is a man who declared ‘there are no gays in Iran’ – presumably because any who dare creep out of the closet are immediately beheaded. And this is a man who has already organised a conference dedicated to the topic: ‘The World Without Israel’.

Ahmadinejad. Hitler. Different names: same aims.

A nuclear Iran will mean that the free world can be held hostage. Amadinejad subscribes to the  notion that ‘death for Allah’ is the highest honour any Muslim can hope for. A nuclear Iran is effectively an entire nation of potential ‘Shahids’, or ‘martyrs’.’

Not exactly a cheery thought, that, is it…?

Meanwhile, Obama has made it painfully clear to Israel’s Prime Minister, Netanyahu, that there is no support for a pre-emptive strike on the Iranian nuclear sites. Israel is well and truly on her own.

Apparently convinced that it is possible to ‘negotiate’ with a madman, Obama is  busy flapping his little olive branch at Mahmoud, amidst promises to deliver Israel on a silver platter ***if*** Mr Ahmadinejad would be kind enough to  shelvehis nuclear aspirations.

Those of us that support Israel often point out that she is the sole democracy in the region. This is a key point that the West would do well to remember. Because what Israel confronts today, the West will confront further on down the line. Support for Israel is support for democracy.

And when Obama hands Israel over in his insane bid to ‘reason’ with the unreasonable, in the form of Iran, he’s not just endangering Israel. He’s sending out a clear message to Iran and to every Islamic theocracy and Islamic terrorist group out there: the infidels are ours for the taking.

What the BBC and The Guardian Never Tell You

During, and ever since, Operation Cast Lead, the British media has repeatedly stated that ‘only 13 Israelis have died through Palestinian terrorism’. Indeed, it is on the basis of this piece of MISinformation that numerous people have condemned Israel for responding with ‘disproportionate’ force to the rocket attacks from Gaza.

But as we all know, the media can and does massage the facts, when it suits them. And my, how it has suited them in this instance.

For the reality is that Israel endured a staggering eight years of Palestinian terrorism prior to Operation Cast Lead. Hamas, in particular, has been busy targetting innocent civilians for years now – and the world, and the world media, didn’t give a damn.

So let’s dispense with this nonsense about ‘only 13 Israelis died’. Quite apart from anything, even if this was true, Israel would still have been both morally and legally entitled to retaliate. As it happens, there are many more Israeli victims – many of them young children and teenagers. Well, that’s hardly surprising. Hamas openly boasts about targetting innocents.

Here is a partial list of the Israelis who have been murdered by Palestinian, Arab and Islamic terrorists in the past few years. Next time someone states that ‘only 13 Israelis died’, do enlighten them.

July 2, 2008: An Arab resident of Jerusalem deliberately drove a bulldozer into pedestrians and vehicles in central Jerusalem, overturning and flattening a number of buses and cars. Three people were killed and 66 injured in the attack.

July 22, 2008: Sixteen people were wounded when a man drove a bulldozer into a bus and four other vehicles in central Jerusalem. The attack was an attempted copycat of an earlier attack on Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road on July 2, 2008.

April 9, 2008: Two Israeli civilians were killed and two wounded when Palestinian terrorists attacked an Israeli-controlled border crossing where fuel is piped into Gaza.

March 6, 2008: Eight men, seven of them teenagers, were killed when a Palestinian gunman entered the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem and opened fire. The terrorist also wounded nine in the attack.

February 4, 2008: A 73-year-old woman was killed and 40 people were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a shopping center in Dimona. Both Hamas and Fatah claimed responsibility.

January 24, 2008: Two terrorists entered the Mekor Hayim High School Yeshiva in Kfar Etzion, and stabbed two students. Hamas claimed responsibility

January 24, 2008: Rami Zoari, 20, from Beersheba, was killed after terrorists approached the entrance to Shuafat refugee camp in northern Jerusalem and opened fire on a group of Israelis. The Battalions of Struggle and Return, an offshoot of Fatah’s Al Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades, claimed responsibility.

December 28, 2007: Two Israelis were killed by Palestinian terrorists while hiking outside of Hebron.

January 29, 2007: Three people were killed in a suicide bombing in a bakery in Eilat. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

June 25, 2006: Eliahu Asheri, 18, of Itamar, was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists from the Popular Resistance Committees while hitchhiking from Betar Illit, to Neveh Tzuf, where he was studying.

His body was found on June 29 in Ramallah.

April 17, 2006: Nine people were killed and at least 40 wounded in a suicide bombing near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv.

The Islamic Jihad and Fatah’s Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades both claimed responsibility.

March 30, 2006: Four people were killed in a suicide bombing outside Kedumim in the northern West Bank. The Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the attack.

January 19, 2006: At least 30 people were injured in a suicide bombing near the old central bus station in southern Tel Aviv. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

December 29, 2005: Three people were killed – two Palestinian civilians and an Israeli soldier – in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint near Tulkarm. The suicide bomber was apparently planning to target one of the many children’s events taking place in Tel Aviv for the Hanukkah holiday, but was stopped at the checkpoint. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

December 5, 2005: Five people were killed and more than 50 others injured in a suicide bombing at the entrance of a shopping mall in Netanya. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

October 26, 2005: Six people were killed and 55 wounded in a suicide bombing in an outdoor market in the town of Hadera. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

October 16, 2005: Palestinian gunmen killed three Israelis and wounded as least 5 others in two separate drive-by shootings in the West Bank. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

August 28, 2005: A suicide bombing outside the Central Bus Station in Beersheba severly injured two security guards who stopped the bomber from entering the bus station. Islamic Jihad and Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

July 23, 2005: Two people were killed and three others wounded in a drive-by shooting near the Kissufim crossing in the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad and Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

July 12, 2005: Five people were killed and 90 wounded in a suicide bombing outside of a shopping mall in Netanya. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

June 24, 2005: Two teenagers were killed and three others wounded in a drive-by shooting near Hebron. The Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility.

February 25, 2005: Five Israelis were killed and 50 other civilians were wounded in a suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv nightclub. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

January 13, 2005: Six Israelis were killed and five other civilians were wounded in a double suicide bombing at the Karni crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

HAMAS and the Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed joint responsiblity.

January 4, 2005: Two adults were injured when a mortar shell, fired from Gaza Strip, hit a school bus near Nissanit. None of the children were wounded.

December 15, 2004: Five motorists, an officer, three soldiers and a civilian were wounded from gunshots fired by a terrorist at Israeli vehicles on the Kissufim road in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah claimed joint responsibility.

November 1, 2004: Three people were killed when a suicide bomber exploded in Tel Aviv’s busy Carmel market. At least 32 were wounded. The PFLP claimed responsibility.

September 22, 2004: Two police were killed and at least sixteen people were injured when a suicide bomber detonated a bag packed with explosives at a crowded bus stop in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. The Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, affiliated with Yasir Arafat’s Fatah, claimed responsibility.

August 31, 2004: Sixteen people, including a ****3 year old****, were killed and about 100 injured when two buses in Beersheba were attacked within minutes of each other by suicide bombers. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

July 11, 2004: One woman was killed and 32 people were injured when a bomb exploded next to a Tel Aviv bus stop. Fatah’s El-Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed.

June 28, 2004: A Kassam rocket fired by HAMAS terrorists in the Gaza Strip struck near a nursery school in the northern Negev town of Sderot, killing an Israeli man and a *****4-year old Israeli child*****

May 2, 2004: An Israeli woman, in her ****eighth month of pregnancy***, was shot dead along with her four daughters when two Palestinian terrorists fired on their car at the entrance to Gush Katif. After the car spun off the road after the initial attack, the terrorists approached the vehicle and shot the occupants at close range. Fatah and Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility.

March 14, 2004: Ten people were killed and 16 wounded in a double suicide bombing in the area of the Ashdod Port. HAMAS and Fatah claimed responsibility.

February 22, 2004: A suicide bomber attacked a bus in the center of Jerusalem, killing 8 people and wounding 70. The Palestinian terrorist group Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

January 29, 2004: A suicide bomber attacked a bus in Rehavia killing 11 people and wounding 50. The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

January 14, 2004: A female suicide bomber killed four people and wounded 20 at the Erez Crossing in the Gaza Strip. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

January 13, 2004: An Israeli motorist was shot dead and three of his passengers were wounded when their car was fired upon by Palestinian terrorists near Talmon. The Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

December 25, 2003: A suicide bomber killed four people and wounded more than 20 in an explosion near a bus stop at Geha Junction in Petah Tikvah. The PFLP claimed responsibility.

October 15, 2003: Three Americans were killed and one wounded at the Beit Hanoun junction when a massive bomb demolished an armor-plated jeep in a convoy carrying U.S. diplomats and CIA personnel.

October 4, 2003: Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa killing 20 people and wounding more than 60.

September 26, 2003: Eyal Yeberbaum, 27, and ****7-month old infant****** Shaked Avraham were shot dead by a Palestinian terrorist who knocked on the door of a home in Negohot, south of Hebron, during a Jewish New Year holiday dinner. Islamic Jihad took responsibility.

September 9, 2003: HAMAS claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings, the first at an entrance to the Tzrifin army base and the second at Café Hillel in the German colony neighborhood of Jerusalem, which killed 15 people and wounded at least 80.

August 19, 2003: HAMAS claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem killing at least 18 people and wounding nearly 100.

August 12, 2003: Suicide bombers killed two Israelis and wounded more than a dozen people in two attacks within a half hour of each other, one at a shopping mall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rosh Ha’ayin and the other at the entrance of Ariel. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and HAMAS claimed responsibility.

July 7, 2003: Mazal Afari, 65, of Moshav Kfar Yavetz was killed in her home and three of her grandchildren wounded in a suicide bombing. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

June 20, 2003: An Israeli motorist was shot dead and three of his passengers were wounded when their car was fired upon by Palestinian terrorists near Ofra.. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

June 19, 2003: A suicide bombing in a grocery store in Sede Terumot in northeastern Israel, killed the owner of the store. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

June 17, 2003: A shooting attack near the Kibbutz Eyal junction of the Trans-Israel Highway killed a ******7-year-old girl****** and wounded three members of her family, including her ***3-year-old sister*** The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades and the PFLP claimed responsibility.

June 11, 2003: Sixteen people were killed and more than 80 wounded when a suicide bomber blew up a Jerusalem city bus during the afternoon rush hour. ********The bomber was disguised as an ultra-orthodox Jew**** HAMAS claimed responsibility.

May 19, 2003: A suicide bomber attacked the Shaarei Amakim shopping center in Afula, killing at least four and wounding 15. Islamic Jihad and Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades both claimed responsibility.

May 19, 2003: A Palestinian suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked an Israeli checkpoint on the Gaza Strip, wounding three Israeli soldiers. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

May 18, 2003: Seven people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up a Jerusalem city bus. The bomber was disguised as an ultra-orthodox Jew.

Soon after, a suicide bomber carrying explosives and dressed in the garb of an ultra-orthodox Jew was stopped at a roadblock. The Palestinian detonated his explosives, killing only himself. HAMAS claimed responsibility in both attacks.

May 17, 2003: A **pregnant Israeli woman** and her husband were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself next to them in a public square in Hebron. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

April 30, 2003: Three people were killed and dozens wounded in a suicide bombing at a beachfront pub in Tel Aviv. The Fatah Tanzim and HAMAS claimed responsibility for the attack, carried out as a joint operation.

April 24, 2003: One Israeli was killed and 13 were wounded in a suicide bombing at Kfar Saba. Groups related to the Fatah Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades and the PFLP claimed responsibility.

March 30, 2003 – A suicide bombing at a cafe in Netanya wounded more than 40 people. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a “gift to the Iraqi people.”

March 7, 2003 – Two Israelis were killed and five were wounded when armed terrorists infiltrated the community of Kiryat Arba and attacked during Shabbat. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

March 5, 2003: Sixteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded when a terrorist detonated a bomb on a bus en route to Haifa University. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

January 5, 2003: Twenty two people were killed and about 120 wounded in a double suicide bombing near the old Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Islamic Jihad and HAMAS all claimed responsibility.

January 2, 2003 – The charred body of an Israeli from Menahemiya in the Lower Galilee was found in the northern Jordan Valley in his burned out car. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

December 27, 2002 : Terrorists broke into a dining hall at a yeshiva in Otneil, south of Hebron, and killed 4 students who were working in the yeshiva kitchen. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

December 20, 2002 – An Israeli rabbi was shot and killed on the Kissufim corridor road, while driving with his wife and six children to attend a pre-wedding Sabbath celebration.Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

November 28: A suicide car bombing of the Israeli Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killed 3 Israelis and 10 Kenyans, and wounded at least 80 people. Al Qaeda is a main suspect in the attack.

November 28 – Two terrorists opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Likud polling station in Beit Shea’an, Israel, killing 6 people and wounding at least 40 people. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

November 21: Eleven people were killed and 47 injured by a Palestinian suicide bomber on a bus filled with ****schoolchildren****, in Kiryat Menahem, Jerusalem. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

November 18: An ***Israeli mother of seven*** from Kochav Hashahar was killed Monday in a shooting attack on the Allon Road, just north of Ramallah. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

November 15: Twelve Israelis were killed and 15 others wounded in Hebron when Palestinian terrorists opened fire and threw grenades at a group of Jewish worshippers and their guards as they were walking home from Sabbath prayers at the Cave of the Patriarchs. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

November 10, 2002: Five Israelis were killed, including two children, at Kibbutz Metzer, near Tulkarm. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

November 7, 2002: Two Israelis were killed when a Palestinian worker fired on them at Pe’at Sadeh.

October 27: Two Israeli police officers and a soldier were killed, and 20 bystanders were wounded in a suicide bombing at a gas station near Ariel.The two officers and soldier were killed while trying to prevent the terrorist from detonating the bomb. HAMAS and the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

October 22: 14 Israelis were killed and more than 45 injured by a Palestinian suicide bomber near Hadera, northern Israel.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

September 19: Six people were killed and 60 wounded when a terrorist detonated a bomb on one of Tel Aviv’s busiest streets. Many of the wounded were in critical or serious condition. Islamic Jihad and HAMAS claimed responsibility.

September 18: An Israeli police officer was killed, and three others were wounded, in a suicide bombing at a bus stop near the Umm al Fahm junction in northern Israel. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

August 10: One Israeli was killed and another was seriously injured when a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated Moshav Mechora in the Jordan Valley, and opened fire. The Fatah al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility.

August 5: A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated himself in the vehicle of a resident of Nazareth. The driver, who tried to flee, was injured.

August 5: A husband and his ***pregnant wife*** were killed, and one of their children, aged 3, was injured, when terrorists opened fire on their car as they were traveling on the Ramallah-Nablus road.West A Fatah-affilated group claimed responsibility.

August 4: Four people were injured – one seriously – when shots were fired at a bus near the West Bank town of Tulkarem. In addition, three Israelis were seriously wounded by a bomb blast while traveling in vehicle north of Ramallah.

August 4: Two men were killed and 17 wounded when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire with a pistol shortly before noon near the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Fatah al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility.

August 4: Nine people were killed and 50 wounded in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus at the Meron junction in northern Israel. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

July 31: Eight people were killed and 86 injured, 14 seriously, when a bomb went off at the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria on the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus during the busy lunchtime rush. The bomb had been planted ahead of time, with the terrorist possibly detonating it by remote control. Five Americans were among the dead. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

July 30: Two Israeli brothers from the Israeli settlement of Tapuah were shot and killed by masked Palestinian gunmen while delivering diesel fuel to a neighboring Palestinian village. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

July 30: Five people were injured in a suicide bombing at a falafel stand on Hanevi’im Street in Jerusalem.

July 30: A husband and wife were attacked in Itamar, when a Palestinian terrorist entered their bedroom while they were sleeping, armed with two knives.

July 26: Four Israelis were killed, three from one family, and three were injured in a drive-by shooting attack near Hebron. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

July 25: One Israeli was killed and another injured in a shooting attack near Alei Zahav. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

July 21: The driver of an Israeli commuter train was injured when an explosive device, detonated by remote control, went off on the tracks between Rehovot and Yavneh.

July 17: Three people were killed, and 40 more were injured, six seriously, in a double suicide bombing near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

July 16: Seven people were killed and 20 injured, several seriously, in a terrorist attack on a bus traveling from Tel Aviv to the West Bank. An explosive charge was detonated next to the bullet-resistant bus and three terrorists waiting in ambush opened fire on passengers who fled the bus in search of safety. The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

June 30: Four people were injured when a bomb placed on the railroad tracks went off just after a crowded train passed over the spot, just north of Lod in central Israel.

June 20: Five Israelis, including a mother, three children and a neighbor who came to aid the family, were killed, when a Palestinian terrorist entered a home and opened fire in Itamar. Two other children and two soldiers were also injured in the attack. PFLP and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

June 19: Seven people were killed and more than 50 were injured – three of them in critical condition – when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded bus stop in Jerusalem’s French Hill. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

June 18: Nineteen people were killed and more than 70 were injured, in a suicide bombing just outside of Jerusalem. The bus, which was completely destroyed, was traveling from Gilo to Jerusalem and had many students on board. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

June 11: A 15-year-old Herzliya girl was killed when a Palestinian suicide bomber set off a pipe bomb at a restaurant in the coastal city of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

June 11: Three junior high school youths were injured in a roadside bombing near Hebron.

June 8: Three Israelis, including ***a pregnant woman***, were killed, and five were injured when an armed terrorist inflitrated the community of Carmei Tzur, south of Jerusalem. HAMAS claimed responsiblity.

June 5: Sixteen people were killed and 38 injured – 7 seriously – when a car packed with explosives struck a bus at the Megiddo junction near Afula, northern Israel. The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

May 28: Three yeshiva high school students were killed in Itamar, southeast of Nablus, when a Palestinian gunman opened fire. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

May 28: An Israeli man was killed in an ambush on the Ramallah bypass road. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

May 27: A ****baby girl**** and her grandmother were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself near an ice cream parlor outside a shopping mall in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv. The attack injured 40 others, some seriously. The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

May 23: A suicide bomber, disguised as an Israeli with his hair dyed blond, killed at least two people and wounded more than 25 after detonating a powerful explosive in an outdoor market in Rishon Le Zion. The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, claimed responsibility.

May 19: Three Israelis were killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide bombing at an open-air market in Netanya. A Palestinian disguised as an Israeli soldier carried out the attack.

Both HAMAS and the PFLP claimed responsibility. Two of the victims were identified as Yosef Haviv, 70 and Arkadi Wiselman, 40, both of Netanya. Wiselman, a chef at the Park Hotel, survived the Passover bombing on March 27.

May 8: A Palestinian terrorist detonated a suitcase packed with explosives in a crowded gambling and billiards club near Tel Aviv, killing 15 people and wounding 58.

April 27: Three Palestinian gunmen disg uised as Israeli Army soldiers cut through the perimeter fence of Adora, a settlement on the West Bank, and entered several homes, firing on residents in their bedrooms. Four people, including a ***5-year-old girl***, were killed in the attacks. Another seven were injured, including one seriously. Both HAMAS and the PFLP claimed responsibility.

April 12: Six people were killed and more than 60 reported wounded, in the wake of a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem. The terrorist was attempting to board a bus near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda open-air market when the explosives detonated. The Fatah Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades has taken responsibility.

April 10: An Egged bus was blown up in a suicide bombing near Kibbutz Yagur, killing 10 people.

April 1: An IDF reserve soldier, Sgt.-Maj. Ofir Rot, 22, of Gan Yoshiya was killed at a roadblock near Jerusalem’s Har Homa neighborhood by a Palestinian sniper firing from Beit Sahur.

April 1: Eight Israelis were wounded in a terrorist shooting attack at the entrance to Beit El in Samaria. Two were in critical condition.

March 31: A Magen David Adom paramedic was very seriously injured along with three other people in a suicide bombing at the emergency medical center in Efrat, in Jerusalem.

March 31: Fourteen people were killed and more than 40 injured in a suicide bombing in Haifa, in the Matza gas station restaurant.

HAMAS claimed responsibility.

March 30: Tomer Mordechai, 19, of Tel Aviv, a police officer, was killed in Jerusalem, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in his car after being stopped at a roadblock. The Fatah Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

March 30: About 30 people were injured, one critically and five seriously, by a powerful explosion in a cafe on the corner of Allenby and Bialik streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

March 29: Two people were killed and more than 20 were injured when a 16-year-old female Palestinian suicide bomber attacked a Jerusalem supermarket. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

March 27: Twenty-two people were killed and 140 injured – 20 seriously – in a suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya, in the midst of the Passover holiday seder with 250 guests. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

March 24: Esther Klieman, 23, of Neve Tzuf, was killed in a shooting attack northwest of Ramallah.

March 24: Avi Sabag, 24, of Otniel was killed in a terrorist shooting south of Hebron.

March 20: Seven people were killed and 30 people were wounded in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus traveling from Tel Aviv to Nazareth. Two of the injurerd are in critical condition. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

March 19: 1st Lt. Tal Zemach, 20, of Kibbutz Hulda, was killed when Palestinian terrorists opened fire at a training compound in the Jordan Valley. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

March 17: 25 people were injured when a suicide bomber exploded himself near an Egged bus at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem. Many of the passengers were high school students. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

March 17: Noa Auerbach, 18, of Kfar Sava, was killed and 16 people were injured when a terrorist opened fire in the center of Kfar Sava.

March 12: Eyal Lieberman, 45, of Tzoran in Samaria was killed and one person was wounded in a shooting attack on Tuesday morning at the Kiryat Sefer checkpoint, east of Modi’in.

March 12: Terrorists opened fire, ambushing Israeli vehicles traveling between Shlomi and Kibbutz Metzuba near the northern border with Lebanon late Tuesday morning. Six Israelis were killed.

March 10: Shots were fired at a bar mitzva celebration in the coastal city of Ashdod. A 13-year-old boy suffered -serious injuries in the attack.

March 10: St.-Sgt. Kobi Eichelboim, 21, of Givatayim died from wounds suffered in the morning when a Palestinian gunman disguised as a worker opened fire at the entrance to Netzarim in the Gaza Strip.

March 9: An ****infant girl**** and a 27-year-old man were killed and about 50 people were injured, several seriously, when two Palestinians opened fire and threw grenades at cars and pedestrians in the coastal city of Netanya. The Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility.

March 9: Eleven people were killed and 54 injured, 10 of them seriously, when a suicide bomber exploded at in a crowded cafe at the corner of Aza and Ben-Maimon streets in the Rehavia neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem. HAMAS claimed responsibility .

March 8: Staff Sargeant Edward Korol, 20, of Ashdod, the medic of the Golani’s Egoz unit, was killed by a Palestinian sniper in the Tulkarem refugee camp.

March 7: A suicide bomber blew himself up shortly after 3:30 P.M. in the lobby of a hotel in the commercial center on the outskirts of Ariel in Samaria. 15 people were injured, one seriously. The PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack.

March 7: Aharon Krogliak of Beit El, Tal Kurtzweil of Bnei Brak, Asher Marcus of Jerusalem, Eran Pikar of Jerusalem, and Ariel Zana of Jerusalem, ***all aged 18***, were **killed** and 23 people were injured, four seriously, when a Palestinian gunman penetrated a HIGH SCHOOL in the Gush Katif settlement of Atzmona late Thursday night. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

March 7: A suicide bombing was prevented Thursday afternoon, when a man carrying an explosive device was blocked from entering a cafe on Emek Refaim Street in the German Colony section of Jerusalem.

March 7: A suicide bomber blew himself up shortly after 3:30 P.M. Thursday afternoon in the lobby of a hotel in the commericial center on the outskirts of Ariel in Samaria.

March 6: Cpl.(res.) Alexander Nastarenko, 37, of Netanya was killed when Palestinian gunmen crossed the fence and ambushed an army jeep on the patrol road near Kibbutz Nir Oz.

March 6: 1st Lt. Pinhas Cohen, 23, of Jerusalem, was killed near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, in the course of anti-terrorist activity following the rocket attack on Sderot. Another soldier was killed when Palestinians attacked them with gunfire and grenades while on routine patrol along the border with Egypt

March 5: Palestinians fired two Kassam II rockets at the city of Sderot shortly before 18:00 PM on Tuesday. One of the rockets hit a residential building, wounding a *****16-month-old infant**** HAMAS claimed responsibility for the attack.

March 5: Police officers Salim Barakat, 33, of Yarka; Yosef Abey, 52, of Herzliya; and Eli Dahan, 53, of Lod were killed and over 30 people were wounded in Tel-Aviv when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on two adjacent restaurants shortly after 2:00 AM. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility.

March 5: Devorah Friedman, 45, of Efrat, was killed and her husband injured Tuesday morning in shooting attack on the Bethlehem bypass “tunnel road”, south of Jerusalem. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility.

March 5: One person was killed and 5 injured when a suicide bomber exploded in an Egged No. 823 bus as it entered the Afula central bus station at 8:30 Tuesday morning. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

March 2: The bullet-ridden body of Jerusalem police detective Chief-Supt. Moshe Dayan, 46, of Ma’aleh Adumim, was discovered Saturday evening next to his trail motorcycle, near the Mar Saba Monastery in the Judean Desert. Tanzim claimed responsibility for the attack.

March 2: ***Ten people were killed*** and over 50 were injured in a suicide bombing at 7 pm on Saturday evening near a yeshiva in the ultra-Orthodox Beit Yisrael neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem where people had gathered for a bar-mitzva celebration.

The terrorist detonated the bomb next to a group of WOMEN WAITING WITH THEIR BABIES IN PRAMS for their husbands to leave the nearby synagogue. ****Six children**** were among the victims. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility.

March 3: Sgt. Steven Koenigsburg, 19, of Hod Hasharon was killed and 4 soldiers injured Sunday morning when a Palestinian gunman opened fire near the Kissufim crossing in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

March 3: Ten Israelis were killed and 5 were injured when terrorists opened fire at 7:00 Sunday morning at an IDF roadblock north of Ofra in Samaria. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility.

February 25: Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli civilians and wounded two others – ***a pregnant woman and a small girl*** – in a shooting attack south of Jerusalem.

February 22: Valery Ahmir, 59, of Beit Shemesh, was killed by terrorists in a drive-by shooting on the Atarot-Givat Ze’ev road north of Jerusalem as he returned home from work. Fatah claimed responsibility.

February 19: Six soldiers were killed and one wounded in an attack near a roadblock west of Ramallah. Several terrorists opened fire at soldiers, including three off-duty soldiers inside a structure at the roadblock, killing them at point-blank range. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

February 19: A suicide bomber was prevented from boarding an Egged bus traveling from Jerusalem to Tiberias in the Jordan Valley.

February 18: Ahuva Amergi, 30, of Ganei Tal in Gush Katif was killed and a 60-year old man was injured when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on her car on Monday evening. Maj. Mor Elraz, 25, of Kiryat Ata and St.-Sgt. Amir Mansouri, 21, of Kiryat Arba, who came to their assistance, were also killed. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

February 18: Policeman Ahmed Mazarib, 32, of the Bedouin village Beit Zarzir in the Galilee, was killed by a suicide bomber on the Ma’ale Adumim-Jerusalem road on Monday afternoon. hThe Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility.

February 10: A drive-by terrorist shooting at the entrance to the IDF Southern Command base in Be’er Sheva killed two female soldiers and injured four others. One terrorist, wearing an explosives belt, fled in the direction of a nearby school when he was shot and killed by a soldier and police officer. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

February 9: Palestinian gunmen carried out a drive-by shooting on the Trans-Samaria Highway – they killed a 78 year old woman.

February 8: A 25-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death by four Palestinians, ages 14-16, while strolling with her boyfriend in the Peace Forest, below the Sherover Promenade in Jerusalem.

January 27: A suicide bombing in the center of Jerusalem killed one person and wounded more than 150.

January 25: A suicide bombing outside a cafe on a pedestrian mall in Tel Aviv injured 25 people. The Lebanese television station Al-Manar reported that the bomber was an Islamic Jihad activist sent by the organization’s cell in Tulkarm. Israeli security services are investigating whether the Fatah organization in Tulkarm and Hezbollah were also involved.

January 22, 2002: A Palestinian terrorist opened fire with an M-16 assault rifle near a bus stop in downtown Jerusalem, killing two women and injuring about 40 others. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility.

January 17, 2002: A Palestinian gunman burst into a bat mitzvah celebration in a banquet hall in Hadera, opening fire on the 180 guests with an M-16 assault rifle, ***killing 6 people*** and injuring 35 people. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility.

December 12, 2001: Palestinian gunmen attacked a No. 189 Dan bus and several passenger cars near the settlement of Emmanuel, killing 10 people and injuring about 30 people.

December 2, 2001: A suicide bombing on a No. 16 Egged bus in Haifa killed 15 people and injured about 40 people. Hamas claimed responsibility for the Haifa blast.

December 1, 2001: A double suicide bombing at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in Jerusalem at 11:30 p.m. on a Saturday night killed 11 people, *****aged 12-21*****, and injured 188 people. A car bomb exploded 20 minutes later. HAMAS claimed responsibility.

November 29, 2001: A suicide bombing of a bus on its way from Nazareth to Hadera killed three people. Fatah and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

November 27, 2001: Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a crowd of people near the central bus station in the city of Afula, killing two people. Fatah and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

October 28, 2001: Two Palestinian gunmen killed four Israeli women at a crowded bus stop in the city of Hadera. The gunmen were members of the Palestinian police force.

These are just some of the countless Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism. As you will note from reading the list, the majority are civilians.

Yet where were the news images of these victims? Where were the celebrities condemning the Palestinian terrorists? Where were the angry opinion pieces in newspapers around the world?

There weren’t any.

Both Israelis and Palestinians bleed red. But it seems that the worldwide media is not interested when Israeli blood is spilled.

Hezbollacks To That

And here’s the latest from Anglostan – sorry, Britain:

The British government has spent more than £20,000 of taxpayers’ money – so that civil servants c ould attend a course on Islam. And the keynote speaker? A HEZBOLLAH ‘media relations officer’.

Wait, don’t start screaming and throwing things in frustration yet. It gets better:

When the lucky civil servants in question arrived at the London School Of Oriental Studies, the course venue,  they got a surprise.

For the Hezbollah spokesman, one Ibrahim Moussawi, had been  barred from entering the UK by the Home Office!

(Will continue posting in a sec, just gotta pick myself up off the floor as I have fainted in shock at the home office actually getting something right).

Yep. Even as one government body deemed Moussawi a man worth listening to, another government body deemed him so dangerous that it refused him entry into the country!

Details released under Freedom Of Information laws reveal that the Ministry Of Defence, and the Department for International Development, each had five representatives at the Political Islam seminar, where Moussawi was due to speak. And the title of his lecture? ‘Current Politics And Prospects Of Hezbollah’.

One delegate from the Cabinet Office also attended the conference. The full fee was £1,890 for the five-day course.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the “lavish” spending was “frankly disgusting. This man and his organisation are committed to violence and the spreading of hatred. British people do not pay their taxes to provide a platform to that kind of bile.”

A government spokesperson stated:
“Staff need to improve their understanding of the current thinking and arguments” on Middle East-related issues and there was intrinsic value in their attendance.”

OK – now you can scream.

Hezbollah:
a.k.a. ‘Party of G-d’

Hezbollah was formed in 1982 in. Based in Lebanon, this is a radical Shia group which takes its ideology from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini.

The group follows the religious guidance of Khomeini’s successor, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran is a major supporter of Hezbollah and is believed to support it financially.

Hezbollah also has ties to Syria.

The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group’s highest governing body and has been led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah since 1992.

Hezbollah exerts a powerful influence over Lebanon’s Shia community, which comprises roughly one-third of Lebanon’s population.

Hizballah maintains offices in Beirut and elsewhere in the country, has official liaison officers to the security services, claims 14 elected officials in the 128-seat Lebanese National Assembly and was represented in the Cabinet for the first time, by the Minister of Water and Electricity Mohammed Fneish, until his resignation, along with other Shia ministers on November 11, 2006.

Hezballah supports a variety of violent anti-Western groups, including Palestinian terrorist organizations. This support includes provision of weapons, explosives, training, and funding.

Activities

In 2006, Hezballah launched a number of attacks on Israel, including the May 28 and July 12 attack, which resulted in the capture and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.

Hizballah has repeatedly called for the total destruction of Israel and has actively provided support to various Palestinian groups to aid their attacks on Israel.

Since at least 2004, Hezballah has provided training and logistics to Iraqi Shia militants, including for the construction and use of shaped charge IEDs, which Hezballah developed against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon during the late 1990s and which can penetrate heavily armored vehicles.

Hezballah has also taken part in numerous anti-American and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, and prior to September 11, 2001, was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group.

Hezbollah attacks have included the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984.

Four members of Hezballah, Imad Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, Mohammed Hamadei, and Ali Atwa, are on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists for the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, during which a U.S. Navy diver was murdered.

Hezbollah members were also responsible for the kidnapping, detention, and murder of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s.

Hezballah has also been implicated in the attacks on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires in 1994.

The U.S. Government has indicted a member of Lebanese Hezballah for his participation in the June 1996 truck bomb attack of the U.S. Air Force dormitory at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

In 2000, Hezballah operatives captured three Israeli soldiers in the Sheba’a Farms area and also kidnapped an Israeli non-combatant.

Hezbollah has thousands of supporters, several thousand members, and a few hundred terrorist operatives.

Hezbollah primarily operates in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Beka’a Valley, and southern Lebanon. In addition it has established terrorist cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.