Michael Weiss on the incorrigible Hamas apologists in the West

Michael Weiss, "While Hamas turns Gaza into an Islamist state, the Western media praise it for keeping 'law and order." The Telegraph. April 21, 2011.

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The politics of Gilad Shalit

A cruel lesson in why the everyday morality of decent people often makes for foolish political strategy.




Via Michael Totten.


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Hamas paranoia re, and crack-down on, Gazans suspected of collaborating with Israel proceeds apace.

"Hamas action to catch spies spreads panic Gaza," IBRAHIM BARZAK and DIAA HADID. Associated Press (Via Kansas City Star). September 22, 2010.


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Hamas and Fatah at war with each other

This is just really sad.

With each incident, the wedge is hammered deeper and the hostility grows between the two halves of what is meant to be a future Palestine, just as the U.S. relaunches Mideast talks at the White House this week in hopes of getting an agreement within a year.

The talks aim to create a Palestinian state, but it appears unlikely any deal could be implemented as long as the split persists, particularly if Hamas - shunned by Israel and the West as a terror organization - remains in charge in Gaza.

In the West Bank, touted by the international community as the cradle of a democratic Palestine, rights violations committed in the name of protecting that vision could end up destroying it, rights activists say.

"Palestinian rivals crack down harder on opponents," Karin Laub and Diaa Hadid/The Associated Press. Washington Post. August 29, 2010

More on exploiting the Palestinian cause at the expense of actual Palestinians

A couple of years ago, a Palestinian refugee camp was encircled and laid siege to by an army of tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers. Attacks initiated by Palestinian militants triggered an overwhelming response from the army that took the life of almost 500 people, including many civilians. International organizations struggled to send aid to the refugee camps, where the inhabitants were left without basic amenities like electricity and running water. During the conflict, six U.N. personnel were killed when their car was bombed.

Government ministers and spokesmen tried to explain to the international community that the Palestinian militants were backed by Syria and global jihadist elements. Al Qaeda condemned the government and the army, declaring that the attack was part of a "crusade" against their Palestinian brothers.

At the time, there was little international outcry. No world leader decried the "prison camps" in Lebanon. No demonstrations took place around the world; no U.N. investigation panels were created and little media attention was attracted. In fact, the plight of the Palestinians in Lebanon garners very little attention internationally.

Today, there are more than 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who are deprived of their most basic rights. The Lebanese government has a list of tens of professions that a Palestinian is forbidden from being engaged in, including professions such as medicine, law and engineering. Palestinians are forbidden from owning property and need a special permit to leave their towns. Unlike all other foreign nationals in Lebanon, they are denied access to the health-care system. According to Amnesty international, the Palestinians in Lebanon suffer from "discrimination and marginalization" and are treated like "second class citizens" and "denied their full range of human rights."

Amnesty also states that most Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have little choice but to live in overcrowded and deteriorating camps and informal gatherings that lack basic infrastructure.

In view of the worsening plight of the Palestinians in Lebanon, it is the height of irony that a Lebanese flotilla is organizing to leave the port of Tripoli in the next few days to bring aid to Palestinians in Gaza. According to one of the organizers, the participants are "united by a feeling of stark injustice."

This attitude exposes the dishonesty of the whole flotilla exercise. Whether it is from Turkey, Ireland or Cyprus, those that participate in these flotillas reek of hypocrisy. There are currently 100 armed conflicts and dozens of territorial disputes around the world. There have been millions of people killed and hundreds of millions live in abject poverty without access to basic staples. And yet hundreds of high-minded "humanitarian activists" are spending millions of dollars to reach Gaza and hand money to Hamas that will never reach the innocent civilians of Gaza.

Read the rest: "The Flotilla Farce," Danny Ayalon. Wall Street Journal. July 29, 2010.


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Efraim Inbar at Bitterlemons.org

"AN ISRAELI VIEW: Gazans deserve a better future," Efraim Inbar. Bitterlemons.org June 28, 2010 Edition 14.

Inbar explains why those who claim to be defending the Palestinians' interests are wrong to pressure Israel to end its blockade of Gaza.  On that point, I think he is right. However, I'm not convinced by his claim that the Netanyahu administration's recent adjustments to the blockade substantively diminish Israel's security. I get the sense that these movements they are symbolic more than anything--a sign between Israel, on the one hand, and the U.S. and Israel's few allies in Europe, on the other. Israel has been tinkering with the specifics of the blockade on a regular basis in order to strike a balance between limiting potentially harmful materials from entering Gaza and letting purely civilian goods through. If, in exchange, Israel can get them to resist the demagogic calls for a UN investigation, and/or to show some more spine with regard to Iran and Erdogan, then I am all for it.  That Israel's friends and quasi-friends are willing and able to step up...well, I will believe that when I see it.

The entrenchment of Hamas rule in Gaza amplifies the schism in Palestinian society and strengthens Hamas' influence in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. It is also a slap in the face of President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the PA, who demanded the blockade's continuation. Hamas' achievement here further undermines whatever ability--albeit a very limited ability--the Palestinian national movement had to move toward compromise with the Jewish state."

The easing of the blockade reflects the success of a Hamas propaganda campaign to depict the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian disaster. While Gaza is not prospering, the standard of living there is generally higher than in Egypt--a little noticed fact. The ability of this Goebbels-type propaganda to entrench a tremendous lie in the consciousness of the international community testifies to the continued vulnerability of naive westerners to sophisticated psychological warfare and to the complicity of much of the western press in this enterprise. 

The step taken by the Israeli government also significantly helps Hamas strengthen its grip on Gazans, as Hamas controls the distribution of any goods entering its territory. Moreover, even if Hamas allows for a general improvement in the daily lives of all Gazans, this reduces the incentive for regime change, which should be part of the western goal to give Gazans a better future. Strengthening this radical theological regime in the eastern Mediterranean, which is linked to revolutionary Iran, defies western rational thinking.

The entrenchment of Hamas rule in Gaza amplifies the schism in Palestinian society and strengthens Hamas' influence in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. It is also a slap in the face of President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the PA, who demanded the blockade's continuation. Hamas' achievement here further undermines whatever ability--albeit a very limited ability--the Palestinian national movement had to move toward compromise with the Jewish state.

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Did the Saudis consent to open airspace for Israel to reach Iran?

"Saudi Arabia denies Times report on airspace clearance," Yediot Aharanot @ ynetnews.com updates. June 12, 2010.


"Report: Israel can cross Saudi airspace," United Press International (UPI). June 12, 2010.

Is this plausible, or would the Saudis never do this, as some have suggested? But wouldn't they deny it even if they did?

Last summer, the Obama administration was asking the Saudi government to let Israel fly through its airspace as a "normalization gesture." They flatly rejected the idea. Saudi Arabia should know that Iran and other revisionist powers in the region represent a greater threat to regional stability and their regime than Israel--the country that, day in and day out, is publicly touted as the most vicious bully in the neighborhood.  Are they willing and able to act accordingly?


Tzipi Livni at least maintains that the Saudis have offered their tacit support for a number of Israeli military operations, if only by refraining from criticizing them. None of Syria's neighbors seem to care when Israel attacked its nuclear facilities in 2007. Some Arab analysts  have explained their grave concerns about the prospects of a nuclear Iran. Many observers argue that the dominant cleavage in the Middle East is now between Iran and its revolutionary Islamist clients on the one hand, and the largely status quo Arab states (excepting Syria). See Barry Rubin for example.

But beating the drums against the Zionist menace is just so good for business. Can any Muslim ruler facing serious challenges at home stay in power without it? To publicly collaborate with the Zionist enemy, no matter how much it may be in a country's national interest, seems politically impossible.

I have heard many security analysts and strategists suggest that the Gulf countries and others--rightly fear Iran more than Israel, and quietly support Israel's efforts to deter Iran. A December 2009 public opinion poll found that "a clear majority in 18 Arab countries now thinks Iran poses a greater threat to security in the Middle East than Israel," as Michael Totten interprets a YouGov's (hosts of Doha Debates) numbers.

I've often wondered if wishful thinking was clouding these assessment in some way though. My sense is that, if the Saudi government were really about playing a productive role, they would make some effort to stop financing Jew-hating clerics, mosques, Jew-hating daycare, etc. all around the world.

See subsequent stories that seem to be related:

"Saudis upgrade fighter jets," Arieh O'Sullivan. Jerusalem Post. June 13, 2010

"Ahmadinejad: Israel, U.S. trying to sabotage Iran's relations with Saudi Arabia," Haaretz. June 13, 2010.


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Turkish opposition parties wary of Erdogan's provocative role in Gaza flotilla

"Criticism in Turkey: Erdogan knew Gaza sail would be violent," Yitzhak Benhorin.  Yediot Aharanot. June 9, 2010.

"Enjoy the 'bridge,'" Burak Bekdil. Hurriyet Daily News (English edition). 

A fitting culmination to a cynical affair:

"Hamas refuses to allow aid ships into Gaza," Hanan Greenberg. Yediot Aharanot. June 7, 2010.