Needless to say, most of what is written by Israeli military reporters includes information that the IDF wants to make public for political or strategic purposes. So while the following piece by Alex Fishman in Yedioth Ahronoth is absolutely TERRIFYING, take it with a grain of salt, as it seems to be a message to […]
Gaza Strip
Peace Now anti-war rally expresses (gasp) love for Israel
Check out this video of a Peace Now demonstration against the war in Gaza. Yariv Oppenheimer. Peace Now’s current honcho, explains the point of the rally: We are here because we care about the [Israeli] soldiers. We are here because we care about the residents of southern Israel. And yes, we are here because we […]
Odessa, 1918 and the Gaza Strip, 2008-2009
My maternal grandmother, Pearl Weiner, used to tell me stories about her adolescence in Odessa, where, in 1918, she lived through the Ukrainian Revolution. In one year, Odessa was overrun with a succession of occupying armies and gangs, whom she invariably described as “the Bolsheviks, the Denekinovitches [followers of Anton Denekin, a White Russian General] […]
“Emergency! Emergency! U.S. caves in at the U.N.”!
MJ Rosenberg writes, somewhat gleefully, that “AIPAC is furious with George Bush for not vetoing Security Council Resolution 1860 which calls for an immediate ceasefire. After almost eight years, the Bush administration has decided not to stand with Israel against an otherwise unanimous resolution.” The AIPAC statement notes: AIPAC…expresses its disappointment with the U.S. administration […]
“Stevey reads Ha’aretz? Oh no!”
Q: Sorry to wake you. We have an emergency A: It’s OK. I’m here to serve the community. Q: It’s about Stevey, my son. A: So sorry. He’s sick? Q: No, he’s started to read Ha’aretz on-line. A: Oh, no! A: He’s started to surf the Web and find out what’s really going on. And […]
Philip Weiss picks the wrong enemies
In a recent post, Philip Weiss denounces Americans for Peace Now and J Street for “equivocating” about the assault on Gaza. He believes they have not been emphatic enough in their opposition to Israel’s behavior because they have not come down hard enough against Palestinian civilian casualties. His conclusion: “It is very difficult, nigh impossible, […]
Tearstreaked notes from the news cycle: Gaza assault timing “couldn’t be better”
Happy New Year, information warrriors. I spent half an hour trying to write an angry riff on what follows, as I am still appalled by Israeli behavior. Then my mind wandered. I pictured a junior IDF information officer, staring at a memo sent in advance of the possible ground operation, asking him to answer the […]
More challenges for the Gaza assault’s spin machine
Yesterday, I reported on the frenetic efforts of Israel’s p.r. volunteers to defend what most of the world views as an over-reaction to Hamas’ provocations. Now there are even more troubles ahead, because the would-be spinmeisters are getting different messages about the goals of “Operation Cast Lead.” I bet you a hundred dollars that, right […]
The Israeli spin machine is sputtering
The carnage in the Gaza Strip has shaken me out of my blogger’s hibernation. The best response, thus far, comes from Gideon Levy in Haaretz: Once again, Israel’s violent responses…exceed all proportion and cross every red line of humaneness, morality, international law and wisdom…Israel did not exhaust the diplomatic processes before embarking yesterday on another […]
One man’s fantasies about “unruly Palestinians”
Epraim Inbar of Bar-Ilan University has published a piece that disproves the notion that everything that can be said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has already said. He harbors the fantasy that somehow the chaos in Gaza and the disarray in the West Bank will turn out well for Israel because….eventually Egypt and Jordan will share […]