Tabla Gaza

There was a time that Hamas would take credit for the missles being fired from Gaza at people's homes.

There was a time that Hamas would take credit for the missles fired from Gaza as the reason for Israel's retreat from Gaza, for the Disengagement.

There was a time that Hamas would take credit for the missles being fired from Gaza as evidence of their power and the reason they should be elected by the Palestinian Arabs.

But not anymore.

Now Hamas blames Fatah for wave of rocket attacks on Israel:

"Their main goal is to drag Israel into a major confrontation in order to bring down the Hamas administration," a Hamas minister said. He pointed out that Hamas was not involved in firing rockets and that the movement would continue to honor the unofficial truce with Israel.

It really is true--the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just last year, Fatah was in control of the PA, and we read stories like this:

Tensions have mounted between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas leading up to the withdrawal. Last month, the two sides clashed when Palestinian security forces tried to stop Hamas from firing rockets and mortar shells at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. Hamas is in control with a clean slate, a table rasa, and big plans--but Fatah is upsetting Hamas' apple cart, undercutting them.

Hamas has other problems as well, as the West seems to have finally--if temporarily--found the backbone to present a united front in withholding funds from Hamas until it recognizes Israel, stops the terrorist attacks, and agrees to hold itself to previous PA agreements.

Meanwhile, al-Quds Brigades apparently has decided to stop firing rockets into Israel--in part because of the Israel's retaliatory military strikes:

"The decision was taken to prove to the world that Israel is initiating attacks on the Palestinians and that we are only responding," the military wing said in a leaflet distributed in Gaza City. "We want to show the world that we are only defending ourselves and that we don't love bloodshed." [emphasis added]

Kind of late in the day for that, isn't it?

With all of their preening and posturing, Fatah and Hamas are no different from al-Quds Brigades, distancing themselves from the terrorist image that got them the world attention that got them this far, but which may finally prove a liability--as Hamas is finding out.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Palestinians and and Fatah.

Haveil Havalim # 65 Is Up!

The Ignoble Experiment a.k.a. Living Dangerously is hosting this week's Haveil Havalim #65.

This week's edition features posts from a wide assortment of JBlogs in the following categories:

o Israeli Elections
o Israel
o Finding Inspiration
o Photography
o Reflections
o Pesach
o The Hallowed Halls of Academia
o Humor
o Living Dangerously
o Personal Issues

Listed at the Truth Laid Bare Ubercarnival .

Technorati Tags: Blog carnivals, haveil havalim, Israel, Judaism .

Where Can I Get My Hamas Decoder Ring?

At least for now, it looks like good news: the EU is going to follow in the footsteps of the US and Canada in withholding funds from Hamas. According to Reuters:

The European Commission said on Friday it had halted aid payments to the Hamas-led Palestinian government because the new cabinet had not recognized
Israel's right to exist or renounced violence.

Meanwhile, according to The Irish Examiner Hamas has supposedly reacted to the threat--and follow-through--of the slashed funding and is willing to rethink its stand on Israel:

While Hamas condemned the EU move, one senior Hamas leader said the group is ready for a "two-state" solution with Israel, a softening in Hamas' position that would imply recognition of the Jewish state. [emphasis added]

So readiness for a two-state solution means that Hamas is ready to change it's charter and actually recognize Israel?

The Reuters/Yahoo article is even more optimistic:

Zahar has twice this week appeared to float trial balloons by talking of a "two-state solution," code for co-existence with Israel, in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, later half-denied, and an interview with the London daily The Times. [emphasis added]

So, according to Reuters, readiness for a "two-state solution" (why do they keep putting that in quotes anyway?) is code not only for recognition of Israel, but co-existence as well.

Not that what a terrorist group says really means anything, but what did Hamas say, anywa?.

According to YnetNews.com, here it is:

“We wish, like all nations of the world, to live in freedom and security, and that our people will be able to enjoy peace and independence, side by side with our neighbors in this holy part of the world,” Zahar wrote to Annan.

Even if one were to assume that Hamas words of peace would be backed up with concrete action--where is there any mention of Israel at all?

Gee, where can I get my Hamas decoder ring?

Funny thing though is that already on April 5th, there was already coverage that Hamas was denying any reconciliation with Israel:

Palestinian Foreign Minister and senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar on Wednesday denied referring to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, wording that might have hinted at Israel's right to exist.

A senior Palestinian diplomat at the United Nations said on Tuesday that Zahar had made the reference in a letter he sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week.

"Such a sentence was not used in the letter," Zahar told Reuters. A copy of the letter seen by Reuters also showed no mention of a two-state solution. [emphasis added]

Mmmmmm...Looks like Reuters doesn't have the decoder ring either. I guess their old decoder ring doesn't work for Hamas. You know, the decoder ring where "terrorist" really means "freedom fighter" and "disputed territory" really means "occupied territory".

But wait--it looks like Hamas is having trouble with the code too:

In an interview with Britain's Times newspaper published on Friday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, said the group was prepared to discuss what was meant by a two-state solution.

Hmmm. Which word is difficult for Hamas--two? state? or solution?

Doesn't anybody out there have a decoder ring?

See also Soccer Dad on this topic.

Crossposted at Israpundit

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Zahar and Palestinians and Media Bias.

The Islamic Empire Strikes Back

"Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will..."
Yoda

Ephraim Karsh has new essay out this week, "Islam’s Imperial Dreams", accessible both on the Wall Street Journal website and Commentary Magazine. The column is based on his book, Islamic Imperialism: A History, which is coming out next week.

In his essay, Karsh details the early history of Islam--especially its desire for empire, which always seems to be overlooked by the MSM and the academicians in favor of its other perceived achievements:

To Islamic historians, the chronicles of Muslim empire represent a model of shining religious zeal and selfless exertion in the cause of Allah. Many Western historians, for their part, have been inclined to marvel at the perceived sophistication and tolerance of Islamic rule, praising the caliphs' cultivation of the arts and sciences and their apparent willingness to accommodate ethnic and religious minorities. There is some truth in both views, but neither captures the deeper and often more callous impulses at work in the expanding umma set in motion by Muhammad. For successive generations of Islamic rulers, imperial dominion was dictated not by universalistic religious principles but by their prophet's vision of conquest and his summons to fight and subjugate unbelievers.

I remember during the months following 9-11, when there were some in the Jewish community who were overawed with the Islamists' readiness to die for their 'cause'. They held up the Islamist suicide attack as a prime example of being 'Moser Nefesh,' as if it were somehow a refinement of the Jewish concept or something that Jews should respect and try to emulate.

I discussed this with someone once and suggested that whatever one might ascribe the Islamist 'dedication' to, it was not Mesiras Nefesh--Mesiras Nefesh has its roots in Ahavah, in Love of Hashem and building up. Whatever the Islamists drew their inspiration from, it was not Love, but Hate--and the desire to kill and destroy...and conquer.

Not only has the Islamist desire to extend Moslem influence in the West not died, but it has adapted to the latest threat to it from the West--Bush's efforts to spread Democracy at its doorstep in the Middle East. Rather than fight it, and risk alienating fellow Moslems through suicide attacks, the Islamist alternative has become to co-opt the democratic process, going so far as to harness popular support in a democratic Iraq in order to bring jihadist rule to Iraq. This approach is not limited to Iraq.

A case in point:

Something of the same logic clearly underlies the carefully plotted rise of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority, the (temporarily thwarted) attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to exploit the demand for free elections there, and the accession of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran. Indeed, as reported by Mark MacKinnon in the Toronto Globe & Mail, some analysts now see a new "axis of Islam" arising in the Middle East, uniting Hizballah, Hamas, Iran, Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, elements of Iraq's Shiites, and others in an anti-American, anti-Israel alliance backed by Russia.

You don't have to be in the Middle East to see this manipulation of democracy happening. Anyone paying attention to current events over the last few months has noticed--in the Moslem protests about the Danish cartoons, CAIR's successful stifling of criticism of Islam, and the banning of Piglet that Islamists have been able to co-opt democratic values and neutralize its threat to them by turning it back upon itself.

Karsh concludes:

...the fuel of Islamic imperialism remains as volatile as ever, and is very far from having burned itself out. To deny its force is the height of folly, and to imagine that it can be appeased or deflected is to play into its hands. Only when it is defeated, and when the faith of Islam is no longer a tool of Islamic political ambition, will the inhabitants of Muslim lands, and the rest of the world, be able to look forward to a future less burdened by Saladins and their gory dreams.

That time sounds like it is a long way off.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Karsh and Islamists.

Links for a Late Wednesday, Early Thursday

Some posts to point to before going to bed. This is going to cover for this week and next...and the one after that. I hope.

Here they are:

AbbaGav thinks he has a Nobel Peace Prize in his future.

Adloyada writes about Passover delights from Yiddishland

A Simple Jew writes about the Lesson of the Simple Son

Boker Tov, Boulder notes that Zarqawi sees HAMAS as weak, threatens attacks

Crossing the Rubicon gives a roundup of Israel news

Elder of Ziyon notes the rich Arab response to the Hamas request for increased funding.

It is almost a year now that Elie's Expositions' son passed away and he writes about Compression, Depression, and Expression

The Hashmonean notes that Hamas is broke

Israel Perspectives has some quick takes on current events

Israel Matzav catches Amira Hass channeling Meir Kahane

Jack's Shack is looking for feedback to questions about your blogroll

Life of Rubin has a number of posts about the Borough Park riots

Judeopundit has a list of interesting links

Me-ander gives the recipe to a Pesach breakfast favorite

Mere Rhetoric writes about the iPod-ization of American Judaism

Mirty's Place provides the link that will take you directly to the source of all evil

The Modern Orthodox Woman writes about Divrei Torah by Women in the Synagogue

Perspectives of a Nomad compares Iran's recent 'moves' to a chess game

Psycho Toddler does a mean imitation of Sean Connery

SerandEz has a link roundup for April 5

Shiloh Musings has some post-election...musings

Smoothstone notes what over 900 Israelis have in common.

Soccer Dad covers some of the most recent response to the "Israel lobby' paper

The Sunken Synagogue writes about post-election machinations

Treppenwitz writes about perception and prejudice

Meryl Yourish writes about the Civil Rights Act being amended to include Anti-Semitism

WestBankblog writes about an unusual mating dance

Why Palestinians Get It Wrong writes about a World Bank report that is not optimistic about Palestinian prospects


Technorati Tag: Blogs and Israel and Judaism.

What Good Is A Roadmap If They Change The Terrain?

I've quoted this before, and I'm quoting it again--Amir Taheri's basic but apparently unachievable point:

For a war to be won, it is not enough for one side to claim victory. It is also necessary for one side to admit defeat. Yet in the Arab-Israeli wars, the side that had won every time was not allowed to claim victory, while the side that had lost was prevented from admitting defeat. Why? Because each time the United Nations had intervened to put the victor and the vanquished on an equal basis and lock them into a problematic situation in the name of a mythical quest for an impossible peace.

It may be unachievable, but the logic is surely not so hard to grasp.

Or is it?

In Bush's Oslo Syndrome, I wrote that Israel just does not talk about a definitive military victory against the Palestinian Arabs. But don't just take my word for it. Daniel Pipes, in an article for the NY Sun entitled Israel Shuns Victory, notes that not one of the leading parties in the March 28 election offered the option of winning the war against the Palestinian Arabs. He also gives a historical context to Taheri's point, where there have been countries that were beaten up, but not beaten:

Wars are won, the historical record shows, when one side feels compelled to give up on its goals. This is only logical, for so long as both sides hope to achieve their war ambitions, fighting either continues or potentially can resume. For example, although defeated in World War I, the Germans did not give up their goal of dominating Europe and soon again turned to Hitler to try again. The Korean War ended more than a half century ago, but neither North nor South having given up its aspirations means fighting could flare up at any time. Similarly, through the many rounds of the Arab-Israeli conflict (wars in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982) both sides retained their goals.

The problem seems to be that Israel has totally bought into the idea of giving up on the idea of a real victory, and instead looking elsewhere for ways to 'manage' the conflict:

o Unilateralism (building a wall, partial withdrawals): the current policy, as espoused by Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, and the Kadima Party.

o Lease for 99 years the land under Israeli towns on the West Bank: the Labor Party of Amir Peretz

o Palestinian Arab economic development: Shimon Peres.

o Territorial compromise: The premise of Oslo diplomacy, as initiated by Yitzhak Rabin.

o Outside funding for the Palestinian Arabs (on the Marshall Plan model): U.S. Representative Henry Hyde.

o Retreat to the 1967 borders: Israel's far left.

o Push the Palestinian Arabs to develop good government: Natan Sharansky (and President Bush).

o Insist that Jordan is Palestine: Israel's right.

o Transfer the Palestinian Arabs out of the West Bank: Israel's far right.

Pipes of course rejects these approaches as being valid. However, he does not address what approach Israel should be taking. After all, it is all well and good to say that Israel should be aiming for a decisive victory over the Palestinian Arabs--but considering the pressure from the West in general and the US in particular, let alone the left-wing in Israel itself, it is not as if Israel go declare war and bring the whole issue to an end.

Pipes does address the issue in a follow-up article in the New York Sun, entitle How Israel Can Win, laying down some basic guidelines and advice:

o Israel hardly enjoys freedom of action to pursue victory; in particular, it is hemmed in by the wishes of its primary ally, the American government. That is why I, an American analyst, address this issue with the intention of influencing policy in the United States and other Western countries.

o Israel should be urged to convince the Palestinian Arabs that they have lost, to influence their psychology.

o An aggressive step like "transferring" Palestinian Arabs out of the West Bank would be counterproductive for Israel, prompting greater outrage, increasing the number of enemies, and perpetuating the conflict.

o Contrarily, perceptions of Israel's weakness lessen the possibility of Palestinian Arab defeat; thus did Israeli missteps during the Oslo years (1993-2000) and the Gaza withdrawal inspire Palestinian Arab exhilaration and more war.

o Israel needs only to defeat the Palestinian Arabs, not the whole Arab or Muslim populations, who eventually will follow the Palestinian Arab lead.

I agree with Pipes on the first four of his points, but on his last point, I think the rules have changed. I think that at this point there are elements in the Arab world that have gone beyond merely using the Palestinian Arabs to keep tensions going and distract the populace from making waves. To just let them be defeated by Israel would allow for the possibility for the Arab world to seriously note how well off those Palestinians are in comparison. Also, groups like Al Qaeda are just getting started in Gaza and are not going to go quietly. And then there is Hamas.

In U.S. Policy at a Crossroads: The Relevance of the Roadmap in the Aftermath of the Hamas Victory, Yechiel M. Leiter, Benjamin Netanyahu's former Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Finance:

A Palestinian state is not the goal of Hamas, the goal is Islam. Nowhere in the Hamas Charter is there mention of a Palestinian state. This point is crucial. The new Hamas foreign minister, Dr. Mahmud al-Zahar, has explicitly stated in this regard: "The Islamists' view, which Hamas adheres to, is that a great Muslim state must be established, with Palestine being a part of it." Thus, any attempt to satisfy Palestinian nationalist hunger through sovereignty in "Palestine," or part of it, is pure folly to Hamas. Statehood as offered by the Roadmap is irrelevant.

One practical difference between having the goal of a Palestinian State on the one hand and establishing one big Moslem state with 'Palestine' as a part of it, on the other is that--while the Arab world at large does not really care about the former not coming to pass, it will come together to defend against the possibilty of the latter being defeated.

If Leiter is right, then the Arabs are on the verge of once again redefining the terms and the battleground, just as it did in creating the concept of Palestine, Palestinians, the Palestinians refugee problem, and the occupation.

Besides, the Arab world has always seen the Palestinian Arabs as a means to an end. When have they followed the Palestinians' lead in anything?

The Sunken Synagogue also discusses Pipes' analysis, and will be coming out with even more.

Crossposted at Israpundit

Technorati Tags: Israel and Road Map and Hamas and Terrorism and Islam.

Avos UBanim: A 60 Second Video On Parenting

There is a 60 second video that deals with the most basic thing you need to know about raising children, produced by Avos Ubanim.

Your can view it at Google Video.

Technorati Tags: Parenting and Raising Children.

Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire?

Here is the introduction to a game, by Adina and David Lederer, that you can do at the seder table for kids. At the end of the introduction is a link to the questions for the game (3 versions) and a separate link to the answers, as word documents.

Have a Chag Kasher V'Sameach.

Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire?

Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire?
Revised 5761

Introduction

As we wrote last year, one of the primary mitzvot of seder night is to tell over the story of our Exodus from Egypt (Sipur Yeziat Mitrayim). As parents to young children, we have a challenge to keep our kids interested during seder night in order to help us fulfill this mitzva. After hearing one of our friends telling us how he makes up Torah-related questions in “millionaire” format for his then 5 year old son who watches the show with him, we thought of creating a Pesach version of the game to play with our young children over Pesach.

After success of our first version of this game last year, we decided to publish a new version for this coming year. The first game (Game #1) is brand new featuring all new questions. The two original games from last year are included as well (Games #2 and #3).

Last year, we played one game each night with our kids breaking up the game into three parts at appropriate points during the seder. Realize the game is geared for primary school-age children. We would encourage you to change questions or the format to tailor to your own children’s level.

We played the games with three lifelines similar to the popular television show – 50/50 (chetzi/chetzi), poll the audience (ask the seder table) and phone a friend (ask someone specific at the table).

Like any educational game, the purpose of the game is not an end in and of itself, but it is meant to be used as a springboard for discussion and further learning.

We hope you enjoy it!


The Questions

The Answers

Adina and David Lederer

Nissan 5761

Technorati Tag: Pesach and Passover.

A Short, But Timely Video

Fortunately, it is not too late to do something about this--but time is short; click here
See also this article.

When Bill Cosby Teaches Algebra

In a previous post I made a mistake in calculating percentages, which I suppose I can blame on my 6th grade public school teacher--if only she hadn't interfered with Bill Cosby's lesson.

Remember The Bill Cosby Show? No, not the one from the 80's--I'm talking about the Bill Cosby Show that ran from 1969 to 1971. In it he played a gym teacher. There was an episode of the show where Cosby was assigned to be a sub for the algebra teacher and tries to find the answer to one of the problems without having to admit he doesn't know algebra.

I was in 6th grade and so intrigued by the episode, I asked my father to teach me algebra. He taught me linear equations, which I enjoyed so much I showed it to other kids in class and would pass linear equations around during class (yes, I was that kind of a kid).

Unfortunately, the teacher caught me passing these notes--unfortunate, not because I got into trouble, but because she was so impressed that she talked my father into teaching me...Probability. Probability? Factorials and all that stuff--yuch! I was so bored by it that I got turned off to math until analytic geometry in High School.

Pity. My 6th grade teacher was an interesting person. She had only 2 fingers on her right hand--her thumb and pinky--yet was somehow able to hold a piece of chalk in that hand and write notes on the board. I never was able to figure out how she was able to do that.

One thing she did do for me was make me proud of my hebrew. I went to an afternoon Talmud Torah twice a week and on Sunday. One of the most boring things about it was learning hebrew--each year learning how to conjugate the same words in the same tenses in binyan kal (katavti, katavta, katavt...). Every year the same thing.

But one day in class--I forget the exact context--she commented that Hebrew was one of the 'classical languages.' Suddenly, for the first time, learning Hebrew was cool. I learned to appreciate it for other reasons, but if it wasn't for my 6th grade teacher, I would not have gained that appreciation for Hebrew, in all probablility.

Technorati Tag: Hebrew and Algebra and Bill Cosby.