Arab Israel conflict
November 28, 2012 — Scott Johnson
The murderous thugs of Hamas possess formidable expertise in a wide variety of subjects, including how to terrorize a civilian population — and not just Israelis. Their mastery of media manipulation also impresses. It would be even more impressive if the media they manipulated were’t such willing tools. In the video below, Rabbi Shraga Simmons gives a short course in Gaza Terrorist Theater. At this point, it’s a useful retrospective.
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November 27, 2012 — Scott Johnson
The Iranian mullahcracy has armed Hamas with increasingly powerful weapons. Daniel Pipes provides the background to the arms smuggling that Hamas depends on in “Gaza’s not the key, Philadelphi is.” Short of replacing Hamas with less murderous successors, shutting down the smuggling must be one of Israel’s key goals for the area. So what arrangements did the ceasefire engineered by the United States provide for the termination of smuggling into
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November 21, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Our friend Aussie Dave has posted the video below of Arab students protesting against Israel at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University yesterday. Their protest was interrupted by an air raid siren that caused the crowd to scatter. Dave comments that they “learned that Palestinian rockets don’t discriminate.” There is much that can be learned from this highly instructive video. Israel is a free country. Its Arab citizens are freer than Arabs in
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November 21, 2012 — Scott Johnson
The Times of Israel reports along with other media outlets that a bus was blown up in central Tel Aviv and 21 were injured today. The Daily Mail story is vague on the responsibility for the attack. The Twitter feed of BBC Middle East Bureau Chief Paul Danahar, who is stationed in Gaza City, leaves no doubt that Hamas claims responsibility for the attack. Danahar seems to suggest that Israel
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November 18, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
President Obama has encouraged Israel not to send troops into Gaza if it can halt the bombardment of southern Israel without the use of ground troops. Obama pointed out that not sending in troops is “preferable for Israelis, because if Israeli troops are in Gaza, they’re much more at risk of incurring fatalities or being wounded.” What would the world do without Barack Obama to provide such insights?
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November 18, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Paul Danahar is the BBC Middle East Bureau Chief and Chairman of the Middle East’s Foreign Press Association. He is camped out in Gaza City and its Shifa Hospital, reporting the sights and sounds of the war in which Israel is seeking to suppress Hamas’s rocket/missile capability. It is a capability that Hamas has freely used over the past 10 years to target Israeli civilians and generate terror among the
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November 16, 2012 — Scott Johnson
…on BBC or CNN. Found on Twitter’s #Gaza hashtag, the photo below of “Isareli soldiers helping Palestinian kids escape the rockets from Gaza.” Found on the IDF Twitter feed, the video below depicts life in southern Israel under fire of the rockets that have rained down from Gaza: “Over the past 12 years, the residents of southern Israel have suffered over 12,000 rockets fired at them from the Gaza Strip.
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November 16, 2012 — Scott Johnson
I just got off a call with Israel’s Ambassador Michael Oren, arranged by The Israel Project. Participants in the call included Anne Gearan of the Washington Post, Phil Klein of the Washington Examiner, and Peter Green of Bloomberg News. Ambassador Oren opened with a briefing that described Israel’s operation as occurring in stages, giving Hamas the opportunity to stand down. Instead it has escalated the conflit, with rocket attacks on
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November 15, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Referring to the BBC video we posted here, reader Jed Flint has kindly forwarded this “helpful photo montage from the YouTube video with bonus ‘bits and pieces’ scratching action!” Mr. Flint, thanks for the help.
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November 15, 2012 — Scott Johnson
I wrote a knowledgeable observer to ask whether he could shed any light on the suspicions I express in “Jihad poses for the cameras.” In response he invited me to check out the footage that the BBC played over its interview with Jonathan Sacerdoti last night. He observes: 2:10 – guy being picked up “injured.” 2:40 – same guy wandering around scratching his bits and pieces. It’s only day one
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November 15, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Three Israeli civilians were killed in the 196 rocket attacks from Gaza yesterday. Among the many items of interest posted on the IDF’s Twitter feed is the video below of “The Sound of Terror: 6 Rockets from Gaza Strike Ashdod.” Ashdod is Israel’s sixth-largest city, on the Mediterranean coast with some 200,000 residents, within 23 miles of Gaza. “We are at the start of the event and not at its
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November 15, 2012 — Scott Johnson
According to the caption, the Yahoo! News photo of the day depicts Jihad Masharawi weeping while he holds the body of his 11-month old son Ahmad, at Shifa hospital following an Israeli air strike on their family house, in Gaza City, Wednesday, November 14, 2012. According to the The Daily Mail, which has published a virtual time series featuring Jihad from various news services, Masharawi is the BBC Arabic picture
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November 15, 2012 — Scott Johnson
YouTube has removed the 10-second IDF video of the pinpoint strike on Hamas terrorist commander Ahmed Jabari yesterday. The IDF had posted the video in its excellent Twitter feed providing real time information and updates on its ongoing operation. The video was posted here. According to YouTube, the video violates its terms of service. YouTube’s terms of service are posted here; YouTube’s community guidelines are posted here. In place of
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November 14, 2012 — Scott Johnson
In response to months of escalating rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from terrorists in Hamas-run Gaza, Israel has begun a self-defense operation. It started with taking out the head of the self-proclaimed “military” or terrorist branch of Hamas who was unaffectionately known as Hamas Bin Laden. The Israel Project has posted useful background information here. We wish the IDF Godspeed in its critical mission. The IDF has a Twitter feed providing
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November 14, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Since Yasser Arafat died in 2004, I doubt there are many Power Line readers who have harbored the suspicion that he died of poisoning inflicted on him by Israel. I thought at the time that he had died of AIDS and the proposition goes beyond rumors, as indicated in this 2007 Israel National News round-up. Times of Israel editor David Horovitz nevertheless warns that “we’re going to hear for weeks
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