Israpundit

by Omri Ceren

Qassams have a 10km range and can pack up to 20kg of explosives and shrapnel. The time between the red alert siren and the rocket’s impact is about 15 seconds. So the Palestinians routinely launch rockets at Sderot at around 7:45am to target kids who are walking to school and are too far from buildings to get to a shelter. Now that power is back on in Gaza, Palestinian soldiers are right back at it:

Two barrages were fired shortly before 8 am, as Sderot’s children were making their way to school. Nine Qassam rockets and 13 mortar shells were fired at the western Negev communities on Monday afternoon. Three of the mortars landed in the Palestinian territories.

Surreal. No country on the planet would tolerate that for a day, let alone for the months upon months of that Israelis have been subjected to.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]

by Omri Ceren

Maybe “makes them” is a little strong. But there’s certainly something in the way of an intriguing correlation:

Barak consented to ease the near-complete closure imposed on the Hamas-controlled territory, authorizing the entry of humanitarian aid and a one-time shipment of diesel fuel to power Gaza’s electricity station less than a day after it was shut down. Shortly after Barak’s pronouncements the relative respite in rocket attacks on southern Israel seemed over, with nine Qassam rockets and 13 mortar shells landing in and around communities in the western Negev.

On the day before the lockdown - which involved a less than staggering 30 percent energy cut and no fresh fruits or vegetables - the Palestinians launched forty rockets at Israeli schools and hospitals. Immediately after the lockdown, the number of Qassams dropped to one because Hamas got the message that the Israelis were serious about protecting Sderot. Then Barak lifted the closure ever so slightly, and the Palestinians immediately launched over 20 more Qassams and mortars. This is surreal. These people are lunatics. And the UN is set to condemn Israel. Of course they are.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]

by Omri Ceren

Anyone had a chance to review Ha’aretz’s ranking of candidates and their positions on Israel? This is from the people on Israel’s political left - and yet Obama and Edwards still get ranked as the absolute worst candidates for the Jewish State. Before Joe Biden and Chris Dodd dropped out, Democrats made up the four absolutely worst candidates on Israel. Obama - the champion of next generation’s Democrats - remains dead last. The only Democrat who makes it out of the bottom is Hillary Clinton. That would be the same Hillary Clinton who embraced Suha Arafat after Arafat slandered Israel with a blood libel - she’s the best the Democrats have when it comes to Israel.

On the other side of the political spectrum, McCain gets ranked as the most reliable Republican on Iran. And this is from panelists who hated Fred’s objectively awesome “they would have been introduced to those virgins that they’re looking forward to seeing” line because it was “too harsh.” Even they seem unimpressed by the Democrats’ “we should sit down and chat with the ayotallahs” foreign policy sophistication - on a 1 to 5 scale, the Republicans get 3.75 to the Democrats’ 2.75.

So all those Democratic Jews condescendingly insisting that a Democratic vote is a pro-Israel vote? They must just be a lot smarter than the political observers at Israel’s major left-wing newspaper. Or they’re retarded. But definitely one of the two.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]

by Omri Ceren

Last October we wrote that “the UN is preparing to blame Israel” as the Palestinians laid the groundwork for a manufactured humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Turns out, that was true:

Gaza’s only electrical plant shut down most of its turbines Sunday after an Israeli border closure blocked the entry of fuel that powers them, Palestinian officials said. But Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for Israel’s defense ministry, said Gaza has enough fuel and accused Palestinian officials of trying to create the impression of a crisis that did not exist. The fuel shortage was a result of Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s decision on Thursday to halt all shipments to the Strip… after Hamas renewed Kassam rocket fire last week, resulting in unusually heavy barrages on Sderot… In addition to the fuel it receives from Israel to power its electrical plant, Gaza gets about two-thirds of its electricity directly from Israel. Israeli officials said that supply would not be affected.

(more…)

by Omri Ceren

Just kidding, obviously. If you’re a country that’s not Israel, this is what you get to do when terrorists invade your capital city and murder your powerful politicians:

Pakistani artillery and helicopter gunships pounded militant positions Sunday close to the Afghan border, an extremist stronghold where a rebel leader blamed for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is believed to be hiding, officials and witnesses said. The strikes came after authorities said they had arrested a 15-year-old boy alleged to have been involved in the Dec. 27 slaying of Bhutto, an opposition leader critical of rising Islamic extremism in the country… Two civilians were killed and five others wounded in the attacks near the border close to the towns of Lhada and Makin in South Waziristan, said Fazal Subhan, a Makin resident. However, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said there were no reports of casualties in the operations.

If you’re Israel, of course, the options you have in similar situations are a little more limited. Probably for totally understandable reasons that have nothing to do with anti-Semitism.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]