Human Rights Groups Demands Hamas Protect Gazans From Hamas

This is absurd

The Gaza governmetn [sic] "is legally obliged to provide protection to civilians and civilian objects under the international humanitarian law...and law enforcement persons [must therefore] take necessary procedures to protect civilians and their properties..."

Why is this absurd? This is the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights reacting to the injury of Gaza civilians from rockets fired into Gaza--from Gaza. Seems that someone's aim was off on Wednesday, and instead of the rockets reaching their intended destination (Israeli civilians), they landed in Gaza instead.

But far be it for a 'Palestinian human rights group' to say a word about Israeli civilians suffer through years and years of thousands of rockets.

Nope. Legal obligations and international humanitarian law stop at the Gazan border--especially when the Kassams do. Palestinian 'human rights groups' are too busy dealing with preventing the Hamas terrorist government from killing its own citizens to worry about Hamas war crimes. For the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, launching Kassams at Israeli citizens is OK, as long as the rockets don't on the Gazan side of the border.

Technorati Tag: Gaza and Hamas.

Israel Wins Competition Demonstrating Its Superior Knowledge Of International Humanitarian Law

Maybe that is because for the rest of the world, these laws are theoretical--and claims about war crimes are really nothing more than a means for human rights groups to achieve their own agendas.

The laws of war – Israelis know them best

An Israeli team from the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, recently beat out 44 universities to take first place in the 2010 edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition on international humanitarian law.

The week-long international competition, held between March 20-27 in Quebec, Canada, matched up teams from universities around the world to test their knowledge in the field of international humanitarian law (IHL) – commonly referred to as the laws of war.

Hamas Suffering From Big Government Blues? Maybe They Should Consider The VAT?

Apparently it is something that the Obama administration is considering--maybe Hamas should as well?

Hamas imposes new Gaza taxes to pay for burgeoning bureaucracy

Hamas has begun to raise new taxes in Gaza in an apparent effort to shore up their coffers – as the economy of the small, overcrowded strip of land descends into a vast and often unfathomable parallel market.

Now Obama Wants To Impose His Version Of Peace On Israel Against It's Will And With No Say

I don't know how you can force 2 sides to sit down and live in peace, but then again--I don't have the years of experience that Obama has in such matters.

Oh, wait...

In any case, Jennifer Rubin does have a good question: How Do You Impose Peace?

The most famous attempt to impose peace was at the Treaty of Versailles after WWI--and one of the key ingredients was to demilitarize Germany. Of course, that was then: this is now. These days, one of the key ingredients to create peace is to give arms to the Palestinian Arabs and train them on how to use them--ideally on other Arab Palestinians.

Ideally--but not necessarily. Last year Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, who is training the Palestinian Arabs, spoke to the 2009 Soref Symposium organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Robert Dreyfuss, a blogger for The Nation wrote in US General Builds A Palestinian Army:

Recognizing that by organizing and training thousands of Palestinian troops, professionally led, he is creating in effect a nationalist army, Dayton warned the 500 or so WINEP listeners that the troops can only be strung along for just so long. "With big expectations, come big risks," said Dayton. "There is perhaps a two-year shelf life on being told that you're creating a state, when you're not." To my ears, at least, his subtle warning is that if concrete progress isn't made toward a Palestinian state, the very troops Dayton is assembling could rebel.

Abbas Learns From Iran: It Pays To Ignore Diplomatic Overtures From The US [Updated]

Just last month, Evelyn Gordon wrote on Contentions:

That Israel and the Palestinians, after 16 years of direct talks, are now back to indirect talks is an undeniable retreat. But in a must-read analysis, the Jerusalem Post’s diplomatic correspondent, Herb Keinon, points out that this may nevertheless be one of the most hopeful moments of the entire peace process — because for the first time, “the Palestinians gave in on something.

“Israelis, Palestinians and the world have become accustomed to Israel setting red lines, and then moving them,” Keinon wrote. “The Palestinians, on the other hand, have set a track record of saying what they mean.” For instance, they have never budged from their demand for “all of east Jerusalem, including the Old City,” or for “the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel proper.”

But after months of proclaiming that he would not resume talks with Israel without a complete freeze on Israeli construction in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has backed down. And this offers a crucial lesson for the future.

“The reason Abbas was willing to move his red line was because he came under intense pressure from the US, certain elements inside the EU, and from Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan to start talks, even though all his conditions were not met,” Keinon noted. “The valuable lesson here: The Palestinians, too, and not only Israel, are susceptible to pressure. [emphasis added]”

Now it turns out that Abbas knew better--much better.

Because Abbas has gotten Obama to serve up Israel on a silver platter--with Abbas's most outrageous demands on the table:

"Everyone knows the basic outlines of a peace deal," said one of the senior officials, citing the agreement that was nearly reached at Camp David in 2000 and in subsequent negotiations. He said that an American plan, if launched, would build upon past progress on such issues as borders, the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem. The second senior official said that "90 percent of the map would look the same" as what has been agreed in previous bargaining.

Karzai Proves Obama May Have Nothing Personal Against Netanyahu After All

Maybe it's just me, but this article in The Wall Street Journal seems to have a number of parallels to Obama's bullying of Netanyahu as well:

President Obama isn't faring too well at converting enemies to friends, but he does seem to have a talent for turning friends into enemies. The latest spectacle is the all-too-public and counterproductive war of words between the White House and our putative ally, Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The only winner so far in this spat is the Taliban.

The Obama Administration seems to have had it out for Mr. Karzai from the day it took office, amid multiple reports based on obvious U.S. leaks that Vice President Joe Biden or some other official had told the Afghan leader to shape up.

Rally At Nigerian Consulate--Today At 5PM

From an email--check out the 2 links at the end of this post

MEDIA ALERT Contact: Beth Gilinsky (212) 726-1124 actionalliance1@yahoo.com

INTERFAITH RALLY TO PROTECT THE CHRISTIANS OF NIGERIA THEY WERE MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN. THEY WERE DEFENSELESS. THEY WERE CHRISTIANS. SOME WERE BUTCHERED ON THEIR BEDS WHILE MANY MORE WERE KILLED WHILE TRYING TO FLEE FROM THEIR JIHADIST ATTACKERS.

Anti-Israel Film Is Such A Turkey, Even Palestinians Protest

“Those who think that a Palestinian female prisoner is raped when she’s arrested are living in an illusion and are mistaken. There has never been such a case."
Statement by female Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons--in response to a Turkish anti-Israel film

Even the Palestinian Authority has come out against the film:

Palestinian Authority officials have also expressed outrage over the drama, dubbing it “offensive” and “detached from reality.”

Read the whole thing.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Turkey.

It Will Probably Get Easier For Us To Get Along With Our Allies, The Fewer We Have

Remember how candidate Obama promised improved relations with US allies?

Walter Russell Mead gives a rundown about how the Obama administration done so far to accomplish that goal:

[T]he pattern of poor relations with close allies is disturbing. Currently embroiled in a quarrel with Israel over Jewish housing construction in East Jerusalem, the administration recently angered the EU by refusing to attend a summit in Madrid, embarrassed Britain by seeming to side with Argentina over negotiations over the Falklands Islands, canceled an invitation to Afghanistan’s President Karzai, and cheesed off Brazil when President Obama made his last minute, ill-fated dash to Copenhagen to snatch the 2016 Olympics from Rio. And where the administration hasn’t figured out a way to insult an old ally, Congress steps in — this time by passing another version of the Armenian genocide resolution through a key House committee.

And the result?

Amnesty International Defends Jihad "In Self Defence"

First some background.

Back in February, Melanie Phillips wrote about Gita Sahgal--

Sahgal, head of Amnesty’s gender unit, spoke of her concerns about Amnesty’s relationship with Cageprisoners, an organisation headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo internee. Since his release in 2005, Begg has spoken alongside Amnesty at a number of events and accompanied it to a meeting at Downing Street. Saghal wrote to Amnesty’s leaders:

‘To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment.

Her views have been endorsed by Amnesty’s Asia Pacific director Sam Zarifi, who has said in an internal email to his staff:

‘We should be clear that some of Amnesty’s campaigning ... did not always sufficiently distinguish between the rights of detainees to be free from torture and arbitrary detention, and the validity of their views’.

Powerline adds:

Begg isn't just Britain's most famous Taliban supporter. According to Steve Emerson and Tom Joscelyn, he is also a friend and supporter of Anwar al-Awlaki, imam to some of the 9/11 hijackers, and an inspiration to both the Christmas Day bomber and the Fort Hood mass-murderer.

Now things really get interesting.