Haveil Havalim #68

Crossing the Rubicon hosts this week's Haveil Havalim #68

Go take a look at the wide assortment of posts on a wide variety of topics, especially relating to Yom Haatzmaut.

Posts this week are listed by blogger instead of category--over 60 posts.

Enjoy!

Next week, Haveil Havalim #69 will be hosted by Soccer Dad.
You can email him your submissions at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com.


Listed at the Truth Laid Bare Ubercarnival.
Technorati Tags: Blog carnivals, haveil havalim, Israel, Judaism.

Mixed Marriage, Mixed Message

I read a disturbing article this evening in The New Jersey Jewish News, entitled Non-Jews raising Jewish kids — now they’re heroes. Written by the president/publisher and the editor of an online magazine for interfaith couples, they write:

Recently, interfaith couples have been getting a message from the Jewish community that raising Jewish children — by participating in Passover seders and other Jewish activities — is not enough. Instead, they’re hearing that only the conversion of the non-Jewish partner to Judaism will do. Now, following a new study on conversion sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, some Jewish leaders are suggesting even conversion isn’t enough.

A recent JTA article on the study (“Study: Non-Jewish spouses not converting,” April 20) quoted Steven Bayme, the AJC’s director of contemporary Jewish life. “We should not see conversion as the end of the story,” he said. “What we’re really aiming for is converts who enrich the Jewish community through Jewish activism.”

Which raises the question: When is enough enough?

When indeed. The issue of inter-faith families is a delicate one, and not one with easy answers. There has been an understandable decision by some Jewish groups to focus on the conversion of the non-Jewish partner in mixed marriages. The article, however, works from the assumption that too much is being asked, that conversion is not the answer. However, the answer given in the article is not enough either:

Let’s be clear: Anyone who chooses conversion deserves a “mazal tov!” We should be delighted when anyone makes this wonderful personal decision. But conversion should not be the goal of Jewish outreach. Non-Jewish partners who are participating in Jewish life and, more importantly, raising their children as Jews should be accepted as they are, not as if they are somehow “damaged goods” because they didn’t happen to have Jewish parents or have decided not to convert. As Reform rabbis and leaders begin to gently encourage conversion, it is essential they continue to offer statements of gratitude and acceptance to non-Jewish spouses who are raising their children as Jews. To those interfaith families raising their children Jewish, we should emphatically say “Dayeinu” — “it is enough.” [emphasis added]

The point that the article ignores is what it means to raise one's children as Jews in a mixed marriage. In what ways is such a child Jewish, even if the mother is Jewish? No definition is given; no guidelines are provided. Apparently anything goes--everything is left as a personal decision. But if so, just what is Jewish in the result--and by what right is it called Jewish?

On answer may be provided by the April issue of Cooking Light magazine, which features the article Blended Holiday: Easter and Passover have some food traditions in common. Here's a menu creatd by a couple who bring them all to their table. Among other things, the authors of the Cooking Light article take it upon themselves to explain the symbols of Passover:

The Lamb...For Jews, the name of the holiday, "Passover," refers to the story that lamb's blood marked the homes of Jewish children so those homes would be "passed over" and the children would not be sacrificed when G_d liberated the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

The confusion in the description is obvious, and unfortunate. It also highlights the problem with the 'hands off' approach suggested in the Jewish News article. There can be no dedication to a true and complete Jewish upbringing when at best only half of the parents have any knowledge of the tradition, history, and laws that a full Jewish life require. The arbitrariness resulting from such a diluted approach may be praised as being 'enriching,' 'beautiful,' and 'inspiring.'

But it is presumptuous to call the result Jewish.

Update:

Soccer Dad directed me to an article that led me to another article on the special initiative that has been taken by 170 Orthodox rabbis from around the world to reach out to intermarried families with universally accepted standards for conversion:

When is an Orthodox conversion really kosher? How long should a prospective Jew have to study before being universally accepted as a convert? And how much should a rabbi charge to supervise the process?

No one has easy answers to these questions. In fact, until recently few Orthodox rabbis even were asking them, at least not in a public forum. And most, if not all, did not accept applicants with Jewish spouses.

Now the Orthodox community gradually is encouraging non-Jewish spouses to convert in accordance with halacha, or Jewish law.

"We're reaching out to intermarrieds to encourage them to apply for conversions if they are truly and sincerely dedicated" to being religious Jews, said Rabbi Leib Tropper, co-founder of the group Eternal Jewish Family, or EJF, based in Monsey, N.Y.

Technorati Tag: Judaism and Intermarriage and Interfaith.

Is The Democratic Party Part of The Israel Lobby?

You might think so, to hear Howard Dean in a speech to the American Jewish Committee claim:

"I was recently asked about the difference between the Democratic and Republican parties," Dean said. "When it comes right down to it, the essential difference is that the Democrats fundamentally believe it is important to make sure that American Jews feel comfortable being American Jews."

Actually, Dean's statement reveals nothing so much as his poor memory. It was just last year that Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and other Democrats staged a mock impeachment inquiry over the Iraq war:

The session took an awkward turn when witness Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst, declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration "neocons" so "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation," McGovern said. "The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic."

Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), who prompted the question by wondering whether the true war motive was Iraq's threat to Israel, thanked McGovern for his "candid answer."

At Democratic headquarters, where an overflow crowd watched the hearing on television, activists handed out documents repeating two accusations -- that an Israeli company had warning of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and that there was an "insider trading scam" on 9/11 -- that previously has been used to suggest Israel was behind the attacks.

Contrary to Dean's speech, you could just as easily argue that the Democratic Party is fertile ground for the musings of Mearsheimer and Walt (though it is refreshing to see the word 'activist' used in its traditional sense and not as a euphemism for 'terrorist'), though a number of Democrats did condemn what was said--including Conyers--afterwards.

Richard Baehr at The American Thinker has written a number of articles on the question of Republican vs. Democrat support for Israel. In The Growing Threat to Israel, he notes the solid support of Republicans for Israel as opposed to Democrats--all the more remarkable for the fact the majority of American Jews live in Democratic "blue states," while some of Israel's strongest supporters in Congress are Republicans in states with few Jews--such as Representatives Mike Pence of Indiana and Roy Blunt of Missouri and Senators Sam Brownback of Kansas and Richard Shelby of Alabama.

In another article, Why Does the Left Hate Israel, Baehr proposes 7 reasons, which he then goes on to explain in detail:

1. It is an easy way to express one’s hatred for America.


2. Israel is viewed as an outpost of colonialism , and an active practitioner of it.


3. Israel is a western nation, and hence can be judged by the left. Israel is not protected by cultural relativism, as the Arabs are.


4. Leftist Christian churches can escape any lingering guilt about the Holocaust, by turning Israel into a villain. Some leftist churches hate Israel because they think this will help protect their members in the holy land- in other words they feel threatened.


5. Ferocious Muslim hatred of Israel and the Jews reinforces the natural cowardice of many on the left who go along with the Muslims to stay out of their line of fire.


6. Jewish leftists are prominent in the anti-Israel movement. This opens the floodgates for everybody else.


7. Israel is attacked because the secular left is appalled by the influence of religious settlers and their biblical connections to the land of Israel, and by the support for Israel by evangelical Christians, and Christian Zionists.

With the Democrats' increasingly catering to the left wing--with its opposition and even outright hatred for President Bush and his policies--it is not difficult to see how the Democratic Party as a whole would be less favorable to Israel that the Republicans.

Of course, there are opponents to Israel on the Right as well, such as Patrick Buchanan, and you no longer hear people trumpeting the claim that Bush is the best friend Israel ever had, but as a group, the anti-Israel rhetoric is currently more concentrated on the Left.

Soccer Dad directed me to a post in Daniel Pipes' weblog back in March, Republicans and Democrats Look at the Arab-Israeli Conflict, which provides numbers on support for Israel between Republicans and Democrats:

Gallup Poll: Sympathies With The Israelis or The Palestinians Results By Party Affiliation and Ideology 2002-2006 Aggregate
	Israelis	Palestinians	Both/Neither/Don't Know
Conservative Republicans	78%	7%	14%
Moderate/Liberal Republicans	62%	16%	21%
Liberal Democrats	43%	23%	33%
Moderate Democrats	50%	17%	32%
Conservative Democrats	46%	23%	30%

By the same token, it is not enough just to have solid support from Republicans. As Baehr points out, it is not in Israel's best interests to have solid support on only one side of the Congressional aisle--thereby leaving support for Israel dependent on which party is in power.

If American Jews want their interests in Israel supported by both Republicans and Democrats, by the Left as well as the Right, we had better figure out just what our priorities are and how we define support for Israel. Platitudes such as Dean's ambiguously expressed desire to "make sure that American Jews feel comfortable being American Jews"--which, depending on how you understand it, can actual sound scary--are not enough. It is not enough accept to John Kerry's claim during the last election about his 100% voting record over a 20 year period, when, as reported by Rich Richman in John Kerry On Israel: Second To Several:

The JVL [Jewish Virtual Library] list notes that, in connection with the FY 2000 Foreign Aid Conference Report, Kerry opposed the pro-Israel position. In 2000, he failed to join 60 co-sponsors of the "Middle East Peace Process Support Act" — a bill calling on the president not to recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state. He also failed to co-sponsor the pro-Israel "Peace Through Negotiations Act," which attracted 60 co-sponsors.

In 1993, Kerry failed to join 55 senators signing the Grassley/Lautenberg letter to the State Department, which demanded that it include Hamas in its annual report on terrorism.

It is not enough to judge by the numbers. While Kerry voted for pro-Israel measures, he did not propose them himself; he just followed along. True allies and friends of Israel need to be judged by the quality of their support--and their support needs to be judged outside of Congress as well. One example is Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is working to slash US funding for the PA and the UN and ensure that America moves to isolate the new regime and whose Middle East Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, heard the findings about the exaggerated claims for Palestinian Arab population.

Bottom line, despite the FBI investigation of AIPAC and the Mearsheimer and Walt paper, Jews need to unite behind Israel's best interests and find and create friends in Congress and elsewhere who truly feel the same way.

Crossposted at Israpundit

Technorati Tag: Israel and Democrats and Republicans and Howard Dean and Ray McGovern and James Moran.

How Did You Spend Yom Haatzmaut At Work?

I work at IDT.

One of the nice things about working at a Jewish company is that they celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut. Back when IDT was located in Hackensack, NJ, they used to hand out blue and white cookies. Now that IDT has moved and has its own building, they do things a little differently. Now they give a Barbeque lunch.

Come take a closer look

And don't forget about the band

There are other nice things about working for a Jewish company. There are 2 plaques in the lobby on the opposing walls as you walk in: At the bottom of one plaque is the quote from Gemara Shabbos 31a: What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it. – Hillel

And on the other plaque is this:

May it be the Ratzon HaShem that Klal Yisrael always have the Will to achieve its dreams. Hope you had an enjoyable Yom Ha'atzmaut Enjoy the rest of your week!

Technorati Tag: Israel and Yom Haatzmaut and Israel Independence Day.

Israel Meme Roundup

Based on a thought that came to me during Shabbos, I had an idea for an Israel Meme. After passing it on to a few people, I tried to track down all the people who took it upon themselves to take part in it. I don't know if I got everybody--please email me if you did and I somehow missed you--but here are the posts that I tracked down who took part in the meme...and some others who just have great posts on Israel:


SerandEz writes about a hitch & a prayer

Soccer Dad writes cisterns and the uniqueness of Israel

Sweet Rose writes about a moving experience Friday night at the Kotel

Ezer K'Negdo writes about her experiences in Nachla'ot

The Hashmonean shares his experience Sabra Picking

Perspectives of a Nomad writes on learning about Har Gilboa

Ocean Guy writes about some of his experiences in Israel in his helicopter

My World: writes about a moment during Succos 2003

Search for Emes, who has never been to Israel, relates his imaginary trip to Israel

Erica's Blog writes about Shabbat at the Kotel

My Obiter Dicta: has a link to Israel's former ambassador to Great Britain and his account of how he heard about Israel's establishment- while waiting for Iraqi troops to attack

Random Thoughts writes about his experience as a 16-year old living in Israel for the summer

ConservaJew writes about her experience visting Israel as a 17-year old

SerandEz also links to some other great posts:

I'm Haaretz PhD has an excellent post which also has the recording of Israel taking over the Old City of Jerusalem, which is incredibly moving... and BeyondBT linked to a heart-wrenching story on Aish titled "The Rabbi & The Professor".

JoeSettler asks the tough question about why more people aren't moving to Israel en masse... a sharp, excellent post...

And Rafi G discusses the juxtaposition of Yom HaZikaron & Yom Ha'atzma'ut.

Technorati tag: Israel and Yom Haatzmaut and Israel Independence Day.

Palestinian Despair, Pakistani Thrills, and Iranian Ecstacy

In what has since become typical of the media description of the Palestinian Arab suicide bomblers, Julie McCarthy's report included the following for NPR in October 2004:

McCARTHY: ...Glorifying death, according to psychiatrist Iyad Sarraj, has been one of the most damaging effects of the intifada. The doctor and human rights advocate says that the psychology of the people has changed with many younger Palestinians instinctively prepared to sacrifice their lives.

Dr. IYAD SARRAJ (Psychiatrist): The suicide bombing in one word is defying defeat. And the principle behind it is that it is better to die in dignity rather than to live in humiliation and shame.

...Mr. MAHMOUD AJRAMI (Palestinian Diplomat): If a settlement were offered to the Palestinians, we will isolate that tendency. Give us a settlement, a real just compromise, you know, and all these radicals will be isolated in the corner and they will diminish.

While the media excuses, if not glorifies, suicide bombers purely as a reaction and result of Israeli aggression, reports such as "Will the Next Generation of Palestinians Make Peace with Israel?" discuss the active and deliberate educating and training of children by Palestinian Arabs to become suicide bombers.

But if--according to the media--it is the Palestinian hatred and despair aimed at Israel that is creating suicide bombers, what is going on in Pakistan?--

In Pakistan, compelled to join a U.S.-led global war on terrorism after al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the United States, anger has risen over what many see as an attempt by the West to suppress Muslims around the world.

But that is only part of the story. Pakistan is also locked in a long struggle with its own demons, particularly sectarian violence that has killed thousands.

Three weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed at least 57 people at a prayer meeting in Karachi celebrating the birth of the Prophet Mohammad. [emphasis added]

As a result...video sales are brisk, with titles such as "Slaughter of Americans in Iraq", "Slaughter of Traitors in Afghanistan" and "Taliban Celebrations" being very popular. The article describes one video seller who didn't have the latest best-sellers and had to compensate:

"This one is about the activities of mujahideen in Waziristan and Afghanistan," the seller said.

Dated in December, and supposedly shot in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, it had footage of hangings ordered by influential militant clerics.

The bodies of the hanged men, described as criminals and bandits, were then dragged through the streets by pick-up trucks, in a grisly demonstration of rough justice in an area where the civil administration has, according to tribesmen, collapsed.

...For less than a dollar apiece, some VCDs glorify the exploits of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, promise 72 heavenly virgins for prospective suicide bombers and prescribe beheadings for informers.

According to the Religion of Peace website that tracks Islamist terrorist attacks, there were 70 terrorist attacks in Pakistan during the first 4 months of this year, resulting in 295 deaths and 401 injured. Among the attacks:

• 12 people are blown to bits when terrorists bomb a passenger bus. (2/05/06)
  
• At least 26 people are killed when a radical Muslim cleric incites his followers to attack resettled Afghan families. (3/28/06)
  
• 28 people traveling to a wedding party are blown to bits by a terrorist landmine. Another two die of injuries overnight. (3/10/06)
  
• Some 31 Shiites are blown to bits while celebrating a religious holiday by a suicidal Sunni extremist. The dead include women and children. (2/9/06)
  
• 55 people attending a religious gathering in a city park are blown apart by two suicide bombers. Some seventy others are injured. (4/11/06)
  

Anger at the West hardly explains those terrorist attacks--and suicide bombings--carried out by Moslem against Moslem. Nor does it explain the lack of Moslem outcry against those sorts of attacks by Moslems both in Pakistan and in other countries, such as Darfur. And it does not explain their fascination with videos of brutal murders and beheadings. It does, though, parallel the similar fascination that Palestinian Arabs have for terrorist attacks and for inculcating those values that lead to it.

Those same values were evident in Iran during its war with Iraq, when children as young as 12 years old walked together en masse to clear minefields. Later, to keep their remains together, they were given a blanket and would roll over the minefield. In "Ahmadinejad's Demons" Matthias Küntzel writes:

These children who rolled to their deaths were part of the Basiji, a mass movement created by Khomeini in 1979 and militarized after the war started in order to supplement his beleaguered army.The Basij Mostazafan--or "mobilization of the oppressed"--was essentially a volunteer militia, most of whose members were not yet 18. They went enthusiastically, and by the thousands, to their own destruction. "The young men cleared the mines with their own bodies," one veteran of the Iran-Iraq War recalled in 2002 to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine. "It was sometimes like a race. Even without the commander's orders, everyone wanted to be first."

The sacrifice of the Basiji was ghastly. And yet, today, it is a source not of national shame, but of growing pride.

Ahmadinejad is a member of this group, whose philosophy predominates:

As Basij ideology and influence enjoy a renaissance under Ahmadinejad, the movement's belief in the virtues of violent self-sacrifice remains intact. There is no "truth commission" in Iran to investigate the state-planned collective suicide that took place from 1980 to 1988. Instead, every Iranian is taught the virtues of martyrdom from childhood. [emphasis added]

Add to this the Shia tradition that true Islamic rule requires the return of the Twelfth Imam, descended from Mohammed--and Ahmadinejad's interest in accelerating that return.

Küntzel concludes:

A politics pursued in alliance with a supernatural force is necessarily unpredictable. Why should an Iranian president engage in pragmatic politics when his assumption is that, in three or four years, the savior will appear? If the messiah is coming, why compromise? That is why, up to now, Ahmadinejad has pursued confrontational policies with evident pleasure...And the Basiji who once upon a time wandered the desert armed only with a walking stick is today working as a chemist in a uranium enrichment facility.

This Islamist fascination with death cannot be blamed on the West--or on Israel--but they will have to deal with it nonetheless.

Crossposted at Israpundit

Technorati Tag: Israel and Palestinians and Pakistan and Iran and Ahmadinejad and Islam.

Israel Meme

With Yom Haatzmaut just hours away, I wanted to start a meme--an Israel meme.
I thought it would be a good opportunity to share together experiences we have had in Israel or stories we have heard.

The first time I visited Israel was when I was a Junior at Columbia University. I took a year off and as part of a special third year program I attended Hebrew University.

I arrived during the summer and attended an Ulpan. I was dorming on the Givat Ram campus in Shichunai HaElef--fondly referred to as Shichunei HaKelev. I arrived late and found that the room-mate I was assigned to was a Seventh Day Adventist; I travelled half way around the world to come to Eretz Yisrael to room with a Seventh Day Adventist. We once had an argument about curse words. He claimed that the optimum word to use was "Fah" which was in itself not dirty but conveyed the same thought as actual curse words. For my part, I claimed that "Fah" would never do because any decent curse word ends in a hard consonant. Oh to be young again..

At the start of the school year, the group of college students I was with was moved to the Har HaTzofim campus. Again I was among the last, and assigned to a separate floor away from my group. As a result of a conflict with the room-mate I ended up with, I asked to be moved, and because there was no other place for me in that dorm, I was assigned to another set of dorm/apartments used by New Olim.

It was amazing to be among Jews from Spain, France, Portugal, South Africa--and Sabras--all together. There was a tremendous sense of Chevra. I was invited to a Sheva Brachas of a newly married French couple I had never met. My Hebrew was marginally bettter than my French. Someone taught me to say "Je ne comprapa l'francais" ("I don't know French"). I spent most of that evening saying "Mazal Tov...Je ne comprapa l'francais!"

We would go on tiyulim, have all kinds of discussions, and share Shabbos meals with each other.
More frum, less frum; Sephardi, Ashkenazi--and political views that ran the gamut.
It was a great Chevra.

It was a great year.

Oh to be young again.
And in Israel.

See also links to those who participated at Israel Meme Roundup

I tag SerandEz, Soccer Dad, Meryl Yourish, and Jack's Shack.

The Israeli Airstrike On Iran

Over at The National Review's The Corner, Jonah Goldberg has a number of posts and email responses from readers about the odds for a successful Israeli preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Some of the emails posted are from people with a military background.

For instance, a reader with background in military research claims:

The Israelis have a deep strike capability with their Dolphin-class (Germany Type 212) submarines. They have a demonstrated land-attack capability with cruise missiles. Of course, they are pretty secretive, but you can bet they have some sort of deep-strike capability that hasn’t been broadly announced yet.

This is rebutted by Airforce Pundit who counters:

Unfortunately, as a military planner for Air Force tactical and strategic strikes the effects of an Israeli attack will not be conducive to success.

Can they actually send a squadron or two of F-16 I and F-15 E over Iran? Probably they can. But they have to deal with the Iranian air defense system, the Iranian Air Force, and a round trip covering 3,000 miles. They would have to ingress and egress over at least three Arab countries- including one which is occupied by Americans (meaning they would need IFF codes to avoid being shot down by OUR aircraft). They would have to strike over 40 WMD targets- carrying extra fuel in drop tanks.

At the same time, the Iranian WMD encompasses dozens of production facilities, with buildings underground heavily protected (probably our Bunker Buster or JDAM ammunition will not suffice in one strike). A pinprick attack on Iran will lead to Hezbollah firing of ten thousand katyushas, terror attacks by Hamas/Islamic Jihad, and Iranian terror attacks on Jewish facilities around the world.

Unfortunately, ONLY the US Air Force has the number of appropriate strike craft as well as advantageous airfields to seriously degrade the Iranian WMD program.

According to Goldberg, the majority of readers who emailed in response to Airforce Pundit's point agree with him. However there were some who did not. On the one hand, Confederate Yankee refers to a post where he researched the issue of Israel's military capabilities and comes to the conclusion that Israel has the capability to take out the reactors--though his post was written in December last year and anticipated an Israeli response by March.

The other response is from someone with first-hand knowledge of the Israeli pilots themselves. He writes:

It was my privilege in the 70’s to help train the first pilots for the Israeli AF in the F-15. In the mid 60’s I had some Iranian pilots in my Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) Class. The contrast between the Arab and Israeli was more than dramatic. The Israeli’s were in a class by themselves. One of the conversations I had in a debriefing with an Israeli pilot was illuminating. He had used up all of his airspeed/energy trying to get a shot on me (I was the Instructor) and I was able to reverse the tables and get a shot on him. I remarked in the debrief that he just needed to be a bit more patient, maintain his energy and he would have been able to get a shot in a minute or two. As it was, he had pissed away his energy and I was able to take advantage. His response was illuminating and a light bulb came on. He said: “George, you must understand we fight the man, not the machine and the Arab isn’t capable of doing what you did!” A light bulb went on and I have never forgotten that mission. The Israeli’s fly two to three times a day. They are young, aggressive and extremely skilled. They are smart and they will not be beaten by the Iranian Air Force, as they have also never been beaten by the Syrian/Egyptian/Iraqi Air Forces. The Iranian’s don’t fly often and their aviating skills are less than stellar!

As far as can the Israelis attack Iran with success the answer is yes. There are significant obstacles but if the survival of Israel is at stake, they will find a way, and I do not believe any weapon the Israelis have will be off limits!

Even assuming that Israel has the potential to carry something like this off, the longer the delay in doing it, the more time Iran has to fortify it's nuclear facilities. Iran has already established fortified control towers for Hizbollah on the Israeli-Lebanese border less than 100 yards from Israeli positions and has provided them with heavy mortars and rockets--effectively openning a second front with Israel.

With the element of surprise long gone and the tension building, if Israeli was going to do something--wouldn't they have done it already?

Update:
Soccer Dad points out 2 interesting posts on the subject:

VolkaPundit has a post back in February pointing to a post at The Officer's Club that examines how daunting a task would face Israel in terms of the logistics vis-a-vis Israel's assumed capabilities.

Professor Bainbridge has a post from December on the limitations on what even a successful Israeli--or American--strike could accomplish. He quotes American Thinker on reports that Israel actually has bases in northern Iraq, and on the possible repurcussions.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Iran and Hizbollah.

Islamist Terror Attacks During April

Based on the table at TheReligionofPeace.com:

17 countries were attacked in January by Islamist terrorists: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Chechnya, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Ingushetia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Yemen.

16 countries were attacked in February by Islamist terrorists:Afghanistan, France, India, Ingushetia, Iraq, Israel, Nigera, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, and Uzbekistan

17 countries were attacked in March by Islamist terrorists: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Chechnya, Dagestan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, USA.

17 countries were attacked in April by Islamist terrorists: Afghanistan, Algeria, Chechnya, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kabardino-Balk., Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand, and Yemen.

For each month below, the total killed/injured in Iraq and Afghanistan is subtracted from the actual total

During January:
619 people were killed. (minus 472 killed in Iraq and 49 in Afghanistan=98)
796 people were injured. (minus 515 injured in Iraq and 122 in Afghanistan=159)

During February:
894 people were killed (minus 584 killed in Iraq and 88 in Afghanistan=222:
126% increase over January)

1542 people were injured (minus 821 injured in Iraq and 125 in Afghanistan=596:
275% increase over January)

During March:
1280 people were killed (minus 800 killed in Iraq and 74 in Afghanistan=406:
83% increase over February)

1585 people were injured (minus 804 injured in Iraq and 33 in Afghanistan=748:
25% increase over February)

During April:
824 people were killed (minus 515 killed in Iraq and 48 in Afghanistan=261:
36% decrease over March)

1210 people were injured (minus 661 injured in Iraq and 57 in Afghanistan=492:
34% decrease over March)

And still no word from the media.

Except for this:

A major international conference on how to check the rising tide of Islamophobia in Europe begins in London today. It is being described as the first of its kind on the issue.

Islamophobia? Phobia doesn't begin to cover it.

Technorati Tag: Terrorism and Islamist and Islamism.

Will Al Qaeda's Failure Be Hamas'?

Strategy Page has a brief piece entitled Why Al Qaeda Is Retreating From Iraq, Harold C. Hutchison writes:

Despite the many brickbats of the media, al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq, and is now retreating to lick its wounds where it can. If it can. Just over four and a half years, al Qaeda has gone from being the dominant terrorist group in the world to a defeated shell of its former self. In trying to defeat the United States, al Qaeda made three big mistakes: They fought the last information war, they underestimated the American leadership, and they also managed to anger the Iraqi people.

The basic point is that Al Qaeda's strategy was to recreate images of Vietnam in Iraq, cause American support for the war to drop and ultimately force the US out.
Putting aside for the moment if Hutchinson is correct, I was wondering how his 3 points would apply, if at all, with Hamas.

Let's see. Here are Hutchinson's 3 points, with a summary of his explanation of each, with my take on the Hamas side of the issue. See if you agree.

o Fighting the last information war:

Al Qaeda: Unlike Vietnam, in the case of the Iraqi war, the MSM did not have a lock on access to the American people to create the image of losing the war. One reason wsa increased competition to CNN, especially Fox News--which has been fairly favorable in reporting on the war. Also, bloggers have provided an alternate view to what the MSM has been reporting

Hamas: In an odd reversal to the Al Qaeda situation, the previously pro-Israel view of the media is now pro-Palestinian. Thus, the MSM has spouted the pro-Palestinian line, with it's reluctance to use the 'T' word, using Palestinian stringers, and printing editorials and cartoons that take a decidedly pro-Palestinian view. For the moment, Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel, to commit to stopping the terrorist attacks, or to fulfill previous PA agreements have been a bump in an otherwise smooth road in the media's relationship with Hamas. Blogging provides pro-Israel information as well as more pro-Palestinian.

o Underestimating American leadership

Al Qaeda: Unlike Clinton, Bush came after Al Qaeda and did not fold

Hamas: Bush, who at one point was described by some as the greatest friend that Israel has ever had, has used one set of criteria in attacking Al Qaeda and another in pushing Israel to make concessions to support Abbas. The hands off attitude of the US towards Palestinian politics--as opposed to its efforts in Iraq--have put Hamas in power. Whether US can maintain the financial pressure on Hamas without the EU caving in remains to be seen. Aid from some Arab countries and Russia won't fill the gap.

o Angering the local population

Al Qaeda: The attempt to kill and intimidate Iraqis failed. They got became unpopular with Iraqis, and drew the Sunnis into the democratic process.

Hamas: While Hamas did kill Palestinians on 2 occasions last year as the result of "work accidents," they are not in the same boat as Al Qaeda--they have the support of the Palestinian people. This is subject to their ability to collect the funds to pay salaries. The opposition they do face is from Fatah, with talk of civil war surfacing now and then.

Perhaps there is no real reason to compare the two, but Hamas is still not home free. In another post, I suggested that the following problems face Hamas

o Cannot get the aid it needs to pay salaries
o There are Palestinians who are willing to kick Hamas out of the government if it cannot get the money needed
o Fatah still controls key areas of the government, such as security
o Fatah wants to oust Hamas
o Hamas cannot stop the firing of missles from Gaza
o There is some friction between the political and military wings of Hamas
o Hamas lacks experience in government
o Al Qaeda is looking to stir up trouble and is attracting members of Hamas

Hamas may yet make mistakes all its own.

Update:

On the other hand, perhaps Al Qaeda's bad habits are difficult for them to break:

Palestinian Authority officials here expressed deep concern over the weekend about reports that al-Qaida was planning to assassinate top PA leaders.

...Radical Palestinian groups have generally avoided issuing direct death threats against PA leaders, but PA leaders say that with the recent disclosure that al-Qaida has managed to establish cells in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they feared that its members would target Abbas and other Fatah leaders.

..."We hereby declare that we have begun operating in Palestine," the leaflet said, heaping praise on Zarqawi and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. "We have deiced [sic] to revive the sunnah [one of the sources of Islamic jurisprudence] of slaughter against these people to avoid dissension."

To avoid dissension? Killing Moslems in Iraq also avoided dissension: by driving the Sunnis into the democratic process and against Al Qaeda--where does Al Qaeda expect to drive the Palestinian Arabs? Into the waiting arms of Al Qaeda? Hamas? or the US?

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Al Qaeda and Iraq and Palestinians and Bush.