Bloodthirsty Liberal

Three stories (vaguely related) in one, just to get rid of some open windows on my desktop.

Story number one:

An Egyptian court has sentenced 12 Christians to life in prison and acquitted eight Muslims in a case that is likely to stoke religious tensions in the country’s south.

The Christians were found guilty of sowing public strife and shooting dead two Muslims in April of last year in Minya province after a scuffle with Muslim protesters.

The eight Muslims on trial in the same case had been charged with possession of illegal weapons and burning down dozens of Christian-owned homes and stores after the shooting.

Egyptian rights researcher Ishak Ibrahim called the verdict “faulty and unfair.”

Yeah? So?

Story number two:

A Toronto native living in Jerusalem literally got away with his life when Arab school students smashed the windows of his car and tried to attack him Monday morning.

The near-deadly rock-throwing attack occurred as Ephraim Silverberg was making his annual pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives Cemetery for the anniversary of the death of his grandfather, who was brought to Israel for burial after he died in Toronto.

He was driving from Mount Scopus to the Mount of Olives via the A-Tur Arab neighborhood. Silverberg, armed with a hand gun, took the precautions of locking his doors and turning on his mobile phone.

“About midway through the trip, there was a traffic jam, and the traffic slowed to a halt near the entrance of a boy’s high school with the pupils just arriving for a day of studies,” he told Arutz Sheva.

“A few yards beyond the entrance to the school grounds, I heard a boom and immediately realized that a rock had struck my side of the car. At that point, I called emergency services on my cell phone and reported that I was under attack,” he related.

“The first rock was followed by many others as well as youths coming up and kicking the car. The traffic jam started to ease and I managed to move slowly forward. I informed emergency services that I was not attempting to exit the car but rather move forward as best as I could … I heard the sound of shattering glass and realized that the rear window and perhaps others were gone.”

What’s a country to do when surrounded by countries hostile to itself and any ideology different from its narrow interpretation of Islam?

Thank G-d for Israel:

The Knesset plenum on Monday passed in second and third reading a bill to amend the Income Tax Act, by which those who donate to settlements will enjoy tax benefits.

The initiator of the bill, Coalition Chairman MK Zeev Elkin (Likud), said that it aims to make amends for the lack of legislation that supports the settlement enterprise, although the government declared it as a top national priority.

“Organizations that wish to construct new mosques – like the Islamic Movement or other charity groups that funnel money to Hamas – receive tax breaks, while organizations that want to settle the Negev and Galilee fall between the chairs,” he said.

“The bill,” MK Elkin explained, “wishes to make amends for this injustice.”

There you go, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Stephen King—you want to pay more taxes? Here’s your chance. I’ll join you. For once, I’ll agree with Joe Biden: paying taxes is patriotic.

Those of us looking for lasting peace in the Middle East (the kind that doesn’t require the elimination of every Jew in the region, that is) look beyond the daily headlines of this so-called settlement or that white phosphorous-laced Qassam rocket.

And we see a way, if only people would follow us:

Two weeks ago, US Congressman Joe Walsh published an op-ed in the The Washington Times in which he called for the US and Israel to abandon the two-state solution.

After running through the record of Palestinian duplicity, failed governance, terrorism and bad faith, he called for Israel to apply its sovereignty to Judea and Samaria. In his words, Israel should “adopt the only solution that will bring true peace to the Middle East: a single Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel is the only country in the region dedicated to peace and the only power capable of stable, just and democratic government in the region.”

That is precisely my view, as I’ve stated here explicitly for maybe two years now. It makes sense geographically, culturally, historically, and, not least, for reasons of security.

Given the abject failure of the two-state paradigm, it is abundantly clear that for all the complications that may be associated with the application of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, it is a better option for Israel than Israeli surrender of the areas.

Walsh’s op-ed is not his first statement of support for Israeli annexation. Last September, ahead of the UN general assembly, Walsh authored Congressional Resolution 394 supporting Israel’s right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinians asked the UN to recognize a Palestinian state outside the framework of a peace treaty with Israel. Forty-four other congressmen co-sponsored the resolution.

And this makes sense.

But American Jews, motivated more by liberal orthodoxy than religious orthodoxy, are apoplectic.

It is hard to know where to begin a discussion of this assault in which Jewish Americans attacked one of Israel’s strongest supporters simply because he had the temerity to recognize reality and call for the US to support an Israeli victory against our enemies who seek our destruction.

First, it is important to consider the claim that Walsh went against the grain of American ideals by suggesting, “Those Palestinians who wish to may leave their Fatah- and Hamas-created slums and move to the original Palestinian state: Jordan. The British Mandate for Palestine created Jordan as the country for the Palestinians. That is the only justification for its creation. Even now, 75% of its population is of Palestinian descent.”

A quick correction: initially, a Jewish homeland was to be permitted in the entirety of the British Mandate. So stated the Balfour Declaration:

According to the Peel Commission, appointed by the British Government to investigate the cause of the 1936 Arab riots, “the field in which the Jewish National Home was to be established was understood, at the time of the Balfour Declaration, to be the whole of historic Palestine, including Transjordan.”

Only later—the first step in a long march toward ghettoization—did Britain and the League of Nations amend the intention to establish a Jewish homeland from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Which is all Walsh et al are asking for.

The demands of the Arabs and the “international community” today are not only dangerous and bigoted, they repudiate recent decades and distant millennia of history.

Yes, “bigoted”:

The fact of the matter is that the two-state paradigm rests on the assumption that the Palestinian state will be ethnically cleansed of Jews before it is established. Whereas Walsh somehow stands in opposition to American ideals for suggesting that the Palestinians may voluntarily immigrate to Jordan, Kampeas, Ben- Ami and their cohorts have no problem with the concept of a Jew-free Palestine and the forcible expulsion of up to 675,000 Jews from their homes in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem simply because they are Jewish.

Those seeking peace—real peace, not a hudna (strategic ceasefire)—must first recognize the lay of the land.

From the practical impossibilities:

A Hamas leader said Thursday that if his militant group came to power in a future Palestinian state, it would not abide by any previous Palestinian peace deals with Israel.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, the Islamic militant group’s number two figure, said any potential deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, even if ratified in a Palestinian referendum, would be considered only as a temporary truce.
“We will not recognize Israel as a state.”

To more existential threats:

Following are excerpts from an interview with former PA Mufti Sheik Ikrima Sabri, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on May 11, 2012:

Interviewer: Do you agree that in Jerusalem, there are places that are holy to the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians?

Ikrima Sabri: No, not to the Jews. I didn’t say to the Jews. Omar Ibn Al-Khattab didn’t find any synagogues of the Jews. There weren’t any.

Interviewer: So in your opinion, today there are no places whatsoever in Jerusalem that are holy to the Jews?

Ikrima Sabri: No, none. They build new synagogues, but there are no archaeological remains [pertaining to the Jews]. For many years, they have been digging for archaeological remains, but they haven’t found anything. How can we acknowledge something when they themselves admit that they have found nothing?

I would ask what he thinks the Temple is, but I’m sure I don’t want to know.

I encourage all our readers to reject the racist ideology of the Arab nationalists and their liberal Democrat (and sometimes Jewish) enablers. Israel is a pluralistic, Democratic state (larger may it grow, long may it live), offering more rights to Arabs than any other country in the region. The Arab enclave of Gaza is a human rights septic tank and a burial ground for religious liberty. It is free of Jews, yet full of hate.

Which side are you on?

Because they [bleeping] owe us money!

You’ve got till Friday, Mahmoud, or every mother[bleeping] mullah in Qum is going to wake up with his brains in his turban. Capisce?

An Israeli advocacy group won a $323 million judgment in a US court against Iran and Syria for supporting Palestinian militants that killed an American teenager and ten others in a 2006 bombing, the group’s director said Tuesday.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center that represents victims of Palestinian violence said Tuesday that the group had won courtroom victories against Iran but never before against Syria.

The center was representing the family of 16-year-old Daniel Wultz of Florida, who was among 11 killed when an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber set off his explosives at a Tel Aviv restaurant six years ago. Daniel’s father was severely injured in the attack.

Darshan-Leitner said that Iran supports the Islamic Jihad movement financially while Syria had granted the group a haven to train in its territory.

US District Judge Royce Lamberth said in the Monday ruling, “When a state chooses to uses terror as a policy tool – as Iran and Syria continue to do – that state forfeits its sovereign immunity and deserves unadorned condemnation. Barbaric acts like the April 17, 2006 suicide bombing have no place in civilized society and present a moral depravity that knows no bounds.”

That’s going to cost you, shorty.

“Barbaric acts”? Surely he means “acts of legitimate resistance”. Let’s ask the victim. What say you, Daniel?

Oh dear, I’m sorry, Daniel can’t answer. He was murdered six years ago.

Even $323 million won’t bring him back, but if it makes a state sponsor of terrorism think twice about dispatching a mentally ill young man to set off a girdle of Semtex and hex bolts in a crowded restaurant, then it may buy us a measure of peace.

For Daniel and his family, it is sadly too late.

PS: How can we not keep in mind the “barbaric acts” committed by the Arab/Muslim world in any discussion of the Middle East? Aren’t they the defining acts of the region, of the “conflict”? How can one side’s olive trees or another side’s garden shed even rate a mention when these (and I quote) “barbaric acts” are still committed as regularly as opportunity allows? (Just ask the Fogel family or Asher and Yonatan Palmer if you don’t believe me. Oops—dead again!)

Let’s see, silver is for 25th anniversaries, gold is for 50th.

What do you suppose is for 64th anniversaries? In this case, chicken [bleep] seems appropriate:

Zionist activists confronted Arabs and leftist sympathizers in Israeli campuses Tuesday for the second straight day as Arabs marked “Nakba Day,” in which they mourn their failure to annihilate the Jews in the Land of Israel in 1948.

Arabs in the Har Hatzofim campus of Hebrew University waved PLO flags and chanted the PLO battle cry, “with blood and fire we will redeem Palestine.”

They were confronted by activists from the grassroots Zionist Im Tirtzu movement, who handed out copies of their booklet – Nakba Harta – which dispels Arab lies about the 1948 War of Independence.

On Monday, hundreds of student activists and protesters showed up in Tel Aviv University to protest the radical left’s attempt to mark “Nakba Day” on campus. The demonstrators were led by MKs Michael Ben Ari and Aryeh Eldad (National Union).

The nationalist activists succeeded in disrupting a leftist ceremony honoring Arab victims of the war in 1948. MK Ben Ari denounced the “hypocrites in the university,” which itself sits upon land that belonged to an Arab village, Sheikh Munis. “They dare to lecture us on occupied land? I wish our enemies many more Nakba days,” he declared. “Happy Nakba Day.”

According to your lot, it’s all “occupied land”, right? So what’s the difference?

Regardless, Happy Nakba Day, indeed, to all our Arab readers! As if every day isn’t Nakba Day to them.

Like May 9th:

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the break-up of the concluding colloquium of the Palestine Festival of Literature, which was being held in the ancient al-Bahash Castle in Gaza City, by Palestinian security forces on Wednesday, 09 May 2012. PCHR stresses that this measure constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to peaceful assembly, which are ensured under the Palestinian Basic Law.

And May 7th:

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the prevention of the al-Quds satellite channel’s crew from carrying out their work at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and their detention by the security officers of Shifa Hospital on Monday, 07 May 2012. PCHR calls upon the Palestinian police in Gaza to respect the press freedom and the freedom of opinion and expression which are ensured under the Palestinian Basic Law and relevant international standards.

April 7th, man, that was a real Nakba (especially if you were one of these guys):

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the implementation of death sentences against 3 Palestinians by the Ministry of Interior in Gaza this morning. These death sentences were implemented without the ratification of the Palestinian President. PCHR reiterates that the ratification of death sentences is an exclusive power of the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) under the Code of Criminal Procedures (3) of 2001; the implementation of any death sentences without the President’s ratification constitutes a violation of the law and constitution.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, on Saturday morning, 07 April 2012, three men were executed by hanging.

And how does that little Arab ditty go? “With blood and fire we will redeem Palestine”?

One objective met, the other incomplete:

Arab terrorists attacked southern Israel with a Kassam rocket early Tuesday and attacked Jews in the Hevron area with two firebombs overnight as “Nakba Day” began. No one was injured.

Like St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo, however, Nakba Day has degenerated from whatever historical truth it intended to remember into just another day of loutish behavior:

A freelance journalist and blogger, Richard Millett, was assaulted and subjected to abuse Monday evening at an anti-Israel event at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

Millett was attacked after he refused to stop filming the viciously anti-Israel meeting, which was organized by the university’s Palestine Society and the General Union of Palestine Students.

The speakers included Karma Nabulsi, a professor at Oxford and former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) representative, and Abdel-Bari Atwan, a ‘Palestinian’ journalist who revealed his deep-rooted desire to see the obliteration of the Jewish state when he stated, “If the Iranian missiles strike Israel — by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square, and dance with delight if the Iranian missiles strike Israel.”

Oh, shut the [bleep] up and pass me another green beer, you Nak-kneed Arab bigot.

The next time some bore corners you at a party and starts in on the “daily humiliation of the Palestinian people”, your first answer should be, “The what?”

After they explain that they really mean the Arab populations of Gaza, Judea, Samaria and any of the god-forsaken concentration camps in which the surrounding Arabs have locked them up, you can reply:

Oh, I know! So many terror attempts, so few innocent lives taken. I’d be too humiliated to show my face!

[Remember the humiliation felt by fans of the New Orleans Saints? They could relate!]

Very little of what actually goes on in Israel is reported by mainstream media. A lot of incidents are never published–though they’re very significant. Here’s a brief recap of the incidents which were just short of the next big terror attack, but which you probably never heard of:

January 2: IDF force captured 2 Palestinian men carrying illegal guns. The two were taken in for investigation near Nablus while the M-16 rifle, an Uzi, and matching ammunition they carried were confiscated by security forces.

January 15: IDF force uncovered a hunting rifle and a shotgun in a Palestinian’s house in the village of Dahariya, near Hebron. The man was known to the police on previous charges of criminal violence.

February 21: A powerful explosive device was uncovered along the Israel-Egypt border. Israeli forces saw a man hurling a suspicious bag and immediately fleeing the scene. The explosive was detonated in a controlled manner. No one was hurt.

April 11: IDF forces stopped a would-be bomber over Passover at a checkpoint east of Nablus, northern Samaria. The terrorist was carrying improvised explosive devices, three knives and 50 bullets.

April 21: 2 Palestinian teens carrying bombs and guns were nabbed by Israeli forces. They were apprehended near Tapuach junction with 5 pipe bombs, a gun, and ammo.

April 24: IDF forces uncovered 4 improvised bombs on two Palestinians at a crossing north of Jericho. The bombs were found in the men’s bags and detonated safely.

April 28: IDF forces nabbed 2 terrorists with 4 pipe bombs as they were trying to smuggle explosives through a checkpoint in northern Samaria.

May 7: Israeli forces arrested 17-year-old Palestinian for carrying 3 pipe bombs. The teen was detained near Tapuach junction, a known hotspot for terror attacks.

May 10: Israeli forces arrested 2 Palestinians carrying 2 explosive devices and 3 prepped firebombs near Tapuach Junction, again.

Notice how many of these would-be murderers were caught at checkpoints? Fancy that!

What is the difference between a coupe of Arab teens caught with pipe bombs and guns and the teenage slaughterers of the Fogel family?

A checkpoint.

What is the difference between a “would-be bomber over Passover” and the 2002 Passover massacre in Netanya—which killed 30 and would 140 exactly a decade ago?

Getting caught. (And the anti-terror barrier, don’t forget.)

Just thought you—and would-be party bores—ought to know.

What’s the big deal? I’m a hunting enthusiast!

In America, we name our you sports leagues after legends in their field: Babe Ruth baseball, Pop Warner football.

The Arabs who live in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have a similar tradition:

“The physical education department at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis completed the 12th educational [program] for its scouts team. It was held in cooperation with the university, and under the auspices and with the support of the [PLO's] Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, at the Martyr (Shahid) Salah Khalaf Center in Al-Fari’a, for 40 male and female scouts…

Participants were divided into four small groups, named for Martyrs: the Martyr Izz a-Din Al-Qassam group; the Martyr Abd Al-Rahim Mahmoud group; the Martyr Bajes Abu Atwan group; and the Martyr Dalal Mughrabi group.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 2, 2012]

…

Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) – a founder of Fatah and head of the Black September terror group. Attacks he planned included the murder of two American diplomats, as well as the murders of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Izz a-Din Al-Qassam – influential Islamic preacher in British Mandate Palestine during the 1930s, who led a Muslim terror group.

Abd Al-Rahim Mahmoud – poet who composed the “Song of the Martyr.” He was killed in 1948 fighting against Israel.

Bajes Abu Atwan – killed fighting against Israel in the ’70s.

Dalal Mughrabi – led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history in 1978, when she and other terrorists hijacked a bus and killed 37 civilians, 12 of them children.

There’s our girl!

To be fair, terrorism against Jews is the national pastime for youth in that part of the world. They’re pretty good at it:

Though it’s an activity not without hazard if you’re not quick on your feet!

Seriously, Israel, this sort of thing has to stop!

[...] forces launched a large scale security crackdown in the Jenin district on Saturday.

…

“There will be detentions all around Jenin,” he added.

The occupation is unjust! Israel is an imperialist, colonizing, occupying… beg pardon? What’s that again?

Oh, Palestinian Arab forces! Why didn’t you say so?

“Security services are sending summons to all suspects who possibly partook in the shooting at the house of the late Jenin governor Qaddura Musa, and suspects involved in murder, blackmailing or other assaults,” the commander of Jenin’s security forces Radi Asida told Ma’an.

The governor of Jenin died from a heart attack on Wednesday, which officials say was brought on by an attack on his home by gunmen.

…

A number of members of the PA security forces have also been questioned on suspicion of involvement in different illicit activities, Asida said.

The security campaign also aims to collect illegally possessed weapons in the Jenin district which could pose a threat to public security, he added.

The northern West Bank city of Jenin became known as a center for Palestinian fighters during the second intifada, with many militant groups launching attacks on Israeli targets from the Jenin refugee camp.

Remember how “Jenin” was once used as a code word for Israeli fascism—how it symbolized the brutality of the Zionist entity? Yeah… good times. Too bad it had to come out that the psychopathic Arab terrorists booby-trapped buildings and fought block-by-block as Israeli forces tried to restore order. No “massacre”, it was an ambush. (Why does the truth have to be such a buzz-kill?)

Anyhow, this is your “Jenin”: same as it ever was.

Hey, look what I found!

Pretty cool, huh? Somewhere, Mahmoud Abbas is spewing Folgers through his nose.

Pity he couldn’t aspirate it:

During the week of the anniversary of the death of PLO arch-terrorist Abu Jihad, the Palestinian Authority held events and broadcast TV programs celebrating him and his terror attacks. One of the striking components of the Abu Jihad festivities was the presentation of the 125 Israeli civilians and soldiers killed in terror attacks he planned and directed, as a positive achievement. Six sporting events were also held in his honor.

…

“Abu Jihad was killed by the Israeli Mossad in Tunisia on April 16, 1988… and was crowned the Prince of the Martyrs of Palestine… Among the military operations planned by Abu Jihad: the explosion at the Zohar reservoir in 1955; the operation to blow up the Israeli National Water Carrier in 1965; the operation at the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, which killed 10 Israelis, in 1975; the blowing up of a truck bomb in Jerusalem in 1975; the killing of Albert Levi, the senior sapper, and his assistant, in Nablus in 1976; the Dalal Mughrabi operation (i.e., bus hijacking), in which more than 37 Israelis were killed, in 1978; the shelling of the Eilat Port in 1979; the Katyusha fire on the northern settlements [in Israel] in 1981…” (See full listing below).

…

“The anniversary of the Martyrdom-death of our people’s legendary leader, Khalil Al-Wazir, Abu Jihad, is approaching, and in its honor the sports organizations in Palestine are organizing many tournaments in diverse branches of sports… the knights of the Ansar Al-Quds club have commemorated this anniversary every year, and continue to do so. This year they will be holding their 18th tournament.”

First of all, how bad-ass a nom de guerre is Abu Jihad? The name’s Jihad, Abu Jihad. But it should be a rank, like five star general, not a name. You should start off as Abu Stone Thrower (private first class), then graduate to Abu Molotov cocktail (corporal), Abu Bulldozer (sergeant), Abu Ambulance (lieutenant) Abu Baby Carriage (captain), Abu Mortar (major), Abu Qassam (colonel), and so on up to Abu Jihad.

They even named a museum after him! How cool is that? Only, instead of priceless Impressionists or crucifixes in urine, you have thoughtful and provocative exhibits like this:

That’s either a birthday cake for Hugo Chavez or a blue plate special at the Burrito Palace.

But did you notice who one of Jihad’s proteges was? Dalal Mughrabi. I like to think of our humble corner of the Web as the online Dalal Mughrabi Museum, which has only one piece, though it’s a masterpiece:

Israel’s parters in peace.

UPDATE:

A bus filled with children ages 3 to 13 was suddenly pelted with rocks and concrete cinder blocks hurled by Arab teens in Jerusalem’s mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood of Abu Tur.

Rivka and Eilat, two eighthgrade students living in the area who were on the bus at the time, told Arutz Sheva about the experience.

The incident started when the bus reached Naomi Street. Large rocks began flying at the bus, cracking the windows and breaking the front door completely.

…

“There was great fear in the bus,” they added. “Children were shaking and crying. There were some who were 3 years old, children who were not used to rock throwing,” they said. “But there were no bombs, thank G-d.”

Rivka and Eilat are certain this event will not stop them from traveling in the area. “We are not afraid,” they said. “It is important to keep traveling, and for them to know we are not afraid of them. We must be here.”

“Children not used to rock throwing”. What a sad, sad comment.

And Jews will always be unwelcome:

Supermarket chain the Co-Operative Group is extending a boycott of goods from Israeli settlements and will now shun any supplier known to source from these areas, a statement said Saturday.

“Following an audit of the Group’s supply chain, it will no longer do business with four companies, accounting for £350,000 worth of sales, as there is evidence that they source from the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories,” the statement said.

The Co-Op, Britain’s fifth-largest food retailer, has not bought goods from the settlements since 2009, it said, but does trade with about 20 Israeli businesses that do not source from the settlements.

“The Group will also continue to actively work to increase trade links with Palestinian businesses in the occupied territories,” it added.

Israel was clearly broken up by the news:

Israel subsequently decided to legalise another three settlements in the West Bank, a move that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said left him “deeply troubled”.

The three outposts will now join some 120 official settlements dotted across the occupied West Bank that are home to more than 342,000 people.

Your loss, Britain. More arugula and beets for the rest of us.

But Britain won’t take that lying down:

Until Monday morning, the official website of the 2012 London Olympics portrayed Israel as a country without a capital, while Jerusalem was listed as the capital of “Palestine.”

The website appears to have been fixed to show Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as well.

The fix may have been the result of a request by online advocacy group My Israel to its members, to demand that Jerusalem be listed as Israel’s capital.

Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected a request from the families of the Israeli athletes who were murdered by Arab terrorists at the 1972 Munich Games to organize an official commemoration on their behalf.

Ankie Spitzer, whose husband, Andre, was one of the 11 Israelis killed, said the IOC did not want to enrage Arab countries by mentioning the tragedy at high profile events.

Heh-heh, Israel, it was just a little joke. Where’s your sense of humor?

Those who argue that the Olympics should be without politics are as ignorant of the games as they are of politics. Thanks a lot, Britain.

While President Obama “slow-jammed” the news with Jimmy Fallon last night (did George Washington slow-jam the news with Tom Paine?), a leader of another nation passed time in a different manner:

We bow our heads and fly our flag at half-mast in honor of our loved ones, in commemoration of the members of the underground organizations, security forces, intelligence, police, and the IDF who fell in Israel’s campaigns.

Not far from here, Rachel the Matriarch wept for her children. Today, some 4,000 years later, we weep for our sons and daughters who fell for our right to be a free people in our country.

My fellow members of the family of bereavement, I am familiar with what you experience today, and on every day. I am one of you. How does one contain the torment of parents who have lost their son or daughter, the tragedy of children never knowing their fathers, the sensation of severed limbs felt by bereaved siblings, the never-ending longing of a young widow for adolescent love, never to be experienced again?

My brothers and sisters, I stand here today on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, as the Prime Minister of Israel and as a bereaved brother. Two days ago I came here with my family and I stood by the grave of my older brother, Yoni. Yoni, I miss you; I miss you today and every single day. I feel your absence at big events and little occurrences, at happy occasions and sad moments.

My brothers and sisters in the family of bereavement, we all feel that way. Memorial Days come and go, and suddenly we realize that the number of years without our loved ones exceeds the number of years we had them by our sides. As time goes on, when we face difficult moments we search for shreds of new memories, any mark of our fallen loved ones. When anyone says: “I knew him,” we immediately ask if they have a photograph with him, or a scrap of paper, a memory, a letter? We seek any anecdote that might breathe life into the lifeless, who are alive inside of us.

I know, time is supposed to heal everything. That is not true. The years pass and the ache remains. But in time, that flash of sharp pain is dulled by other instances filled with memories of the good times we had with our beloved.

Dear families, we feel that pain day in and day out. But today, on Memorial Day, our private pain becomes national grief. As we stand here by the graves of our fallen family members in cemeteries all over Israel, the entire nation stands with us. It stands in silence, bows its head and cherishes the memories of the fallen and their families. Today we are one big family, because our people, well versed in sorrow, knows that its independence exacted the price of the courage of our finest; it knows that it is thanks to those who fell that we are alive today.

May the memory of the fallen, the memory of our dearly loved ones, be forever cherished in the national memory.

I have a spectrum of presidents in my mind, with Lincoln and Washington at one end and Carter and Obama at the other. Benjamin Netanyahu may not be Lincoln, but he’s a lot closer to his end of the spectrum than he is to Obama’s. And I bet he’s a better crooner too.

This must happen:

Last week saw the launch of an online petition seeking the observation of a minute of silence during the London Summer Olympics in memory of 11 Israeli athletes slain during the 1972 Munich massacre.

According to the petition, families of the victims have been working for decades to have the International Olympic Committee grant official recognition of the massacre during the ceremonies but have not thus far been successful.

During the Munich Olympics in the summer of 1972, Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group, orchestrated the capture of much of the Israeli Olympic delegation. In what was widely seen as a bungled rescue attempt by the Germans, all of the captured athletes and most of the terrorists were killed.

“If you forget history you are bound to repeat it,” said Ankie Spitzer, widow of fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, in a promotional video. “One minute for the Munich 11 victims to show the world that the doctrine of the Olympic spirit, ‘to build a peaceful and better world which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play,’ is more powerful than politics.”

The attack was horrific and cowardly, but it also showed the world how cold-blooded the Arabs were—and how vulnerable the Israelis if they didn’t protect themselves. (As if anyone still needed proof?) I still remember how the sports announcers were speechless as the news of the atrocity unfolded.

And it’s also part of Olympic lore. As much as any achievement, athletic or nonathletic (the clenched fists of 1968), the kidnapping and execution of the Israeli Olympic team should be remembered. A minute of silence in their memory 40 years later seems a reasonable request.

What do you say, Tom Friedman, wanna blast the faces of those sons of bitches?

A group of some 20 Arabs attacked a Jewish family as they drove to their home in Tekoa on Thursday afternoon.

Akiva Ami-El, his wife Keterya, and their two-year old son Benaiya were coming home from a shopping trip in the Gush Etzion city of Efrata when a gang of Arab students began pelting their car with stones and bricks.

“We were coming home from shopping at Rami Levi [discount supermarket chain, ed.],” Ami-El related. “We were driving past Tekua – Arab Tekoa – a little before 1PM, when school let out. The kids came out to the road like they do every day.”

“I saw an Arab kid pick up a large stone on one side of the road, while kids on the other side of the road picked up bricks,” Ami-El related. “And then they just started smashing us, like they do. I just kept going.”

“Thankfully, we made it home okay,” Ami-El added.

Yeah well, sort of okay:

But more okay than some:

Arab ambushes of passing cars driven by Jews in Judea and Samaria is a daily and potentially life threatening occurrence.

Last September, Asher Palmer and his infant son Yonatan were killed when Arabs hurled a massive stone through his windshield near Hevron. The stone smashed through the glass and struck Palmer’s head, causing him to lose control of the car and go off the road.

Both father and son were later declared to be Victims of Terror by Israel’s government.

Did someone say “daily occurrence”?

Two Molotov cocktails were thrown Thursday at an Israeli vehicle near Bethlehem. Troops began searching the area. No casualties or damage was reported.

Earlier in the day, in two separate incidents, stones were thrown at an Israeli bus and car in the area. There were no injuries reported but both vehicles were damaged.

Back when Tom Friedman actually lived in and reported Israel, he could identify with a people under siege from a cult of death and a society of hate. When he was pelted by Arab stone-throwers, he wanted to blow their effing heads off. Now he just equates the two sides. Who’s the son of a bitch, Tom?