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Friday 11 May 2007

JPix Carnival No 7is Live
Go check it out at Temunot




Fire in the Sky
Baleboosteh

Wow!
JPix 7 is UP
David fron Temunot has done an amazingly thorough job.
I must say I'm impressed with just how good a Job David has done.

Its a Huge edition make sure you check it out. JPix 7

What pleases me is that the JBlogosphere has actually really stepped up and offered to host carnivals.
Its tough being the organiser of this JPix Carnival.
With , Me-ander hosting JPix 3: Pt 1 & Pt 2, Chaim hosting Jpix 4 and Baleboosteh doing, JPix6 (after doing JPix 5) David from Termunot put up his hand to do this fortnights JPix7 and Rafi is doing Jpix 8, [Submit]

Mottel has declared his interest, so he is doing JPix9.

That's why JPIX is really making leaps and bounds, every one participates, it doesn't matter if your not a web guru, it doesn't matter if you present it a little different, change is good.
Just make sure you do have a go with JPix, its both fun and entertaining!

If you need a reason to do it, think about your ranking, if your a member of TTLB, the chances are you will end up going up a level just by doing this carnival!

But the best thing is you've got a captive audience guaranteed!
J-Pix Carnival No. 7 is Live!!


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Mr Bagel gets on the Soap Box #2
Lend me Your ears




Please consider voting for Mr Bagel.


All I ask is that you do consider all entrants in the particlular field.
I would like to thank all the people who have voted for Mr Bagel, I really appreciate your gesture and hope I don't disappoint you.

Shalom Aaron
aka Mr Bagel

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Thursday 10 May 2007

I'm going to Win the JIB Awards!


With the JIB Awards about to begin their final round of voting, I thought it might be a good idea to reflect in a positive way about what it all really means.

Some of us are going to be madly running as fast as we can towards the finish line, ringing up neighbours, friends, emailing people we have neglected in a sudden display of ummhh 'sincerity', all to hasten our arrival to the finish line.

Some of us are so focused on the tape at the end of the race, that I wonder have we actually considered what is at the finishing line?

Could it be that Just like Willie Coyote we're busy inventing new ways to go faster and get more votes only to realise that once you have passed the finishing line their may actually be nothing there?

As in this metaphor that I've 'appropriated' from Warner Brothers', its not always the first to get somewhere that wins.

These are my first JIB's and in the spirit of positiveness and candidness I've done some things I'm not so proud of.

I've neglected my friends, I've neglected my family, I've been so busy 'with the awards' I haven't visited the people I know will still be there when this is all over.

In a moment of clarity and self realisation, I'd like to pause and share something with you.

Being involved initially in helping with these awards, was for me something I was very proud of.

I really did have only noble intentions, in fact I would have been quite happy not to run.

But whilst I was busy helping with these awards initially, something happened.

I changed from being an 'us' to a 'one' of them. I don't know why, I hadn't changed in any great way, but I felt a disconnect from the JBlogging community as a whole, I've never felt before.

Needless to say, after spending so much time working on a certain project and to think i had finished it, only to have it fail, I felt disappointed, and some what bitter.

That's the down side to my experience in helping with these awards.

I may sound like a broken record but I would like to make two observations:

1. Any one that helps run the JIB's in general is worthy of our respect.

2. Any one that helps with these awards, needs professional help.

Whoa? Yes, I ask you look at the track history of the Jewish Blogging Awards.

Its path is strewn with more dismembered bodies (people who wanted to make a difference) than the total number of awards given out.

These awards haven't all been bad for me thou.

I've got to meet some blogger who I would not have normally had the chance nor inclination to talk with. Some of them I argued seemingly about every single point, but given the chance to meet with them in real life now I would jump at the chance.

I've focused on making changes on my blog which all though requiring more work will ultimately make both my blog more enjoyable to read, and blogging more enjoyable to pursue.

I've formed an incredibly good friendship with a blogger. One of those very rare friendships you know will last as long as you do.

I've had people who normally wouldn't come to my blog actually come to check it out.

Whether they come with friendship in mind doesn't really matter, they came and that in itself gives the chance of friendship.

If I could change anything about myself and the JIB's what would it be?

I must admit I have in some ways I admired Cosmic X's position, he has refused point blank to seek the 'prestige' of these awards. Something which I know is in the Torah, and I think for good reason.

When we allow ourselves to be overtaken by our own sense of importance, or our own sense of what seems important to us at the time, we neglect the really 'important' things in life.

The partner who you have stopped talking to because you're so 'busy now', your children who you keep sending away telling them to find something to do, when all they want is what they had previously and seem to have in some way have lost - your love.

You know, as I sit here and type, I no longer 'imagine' winning a an award, I simply sigh, wish they would finish, and hope in some way I can make it up to the people I do love and have let down.

Shalom Aaron.


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JPix 7 Last call for Submissions
...Hurry! Last Chance!

JPix 7 is going to be posted shortly at Temunot

David, the owner of the blog Temunot is one of the moderators of the large group blog, Beyond Teshuva and has recently began Temunot.

Temunot
in my opinion, has to be one the best blogs to recently arrive.

David has a real Passion for Photography, which you can clearly see in the adventurous subjects he chooses.

Get you Photo Posts in Now!
Last call for Submissions for
JPix7which is going up on 10th May
Read more about where and what is JPix ...
Submit your photo post: Here

Lag B'Omer
[Image Copyright:Temunot2007]

If you haven't visited Temunot the blog, then make a point of it!.

The recent editions of JPix, the Jewish Photo Carnival have been outstanding. It has been a real show case of Jewish photography representing some of the best photos of the JBlogging community.

Don't forget to get in your submissions for the JPix7 carnival

which will be hosted by David at Temunot.

Last Submissions by May 9th at the latest,
The Jpix 7 Photo carnival opens on the 10th May
which will be hosted by David at
Temunot


If you have any questions you can email at
JpixcarnivalATgmailDOTcom

_______________________

The upcoming JPix 8 and JPix 9 have volunteers already!
We are
looking for someone to host JPix 10 and JPix 11,
so step up and help this carnival
(and get a significant boost to both your traffic and links)

Rafi G from Life in Israel has offered to host JPix 8 [May 24th]
and Mottel from Letters of Thought is hosting
JPix 9 [Jun 07th]

_______________________

Here's a little badge to put on your side menu. Point it to go to:

http://blogcarnival.com/bc/latest_987.html

If you would like to have the submit buttons and
archive buttons there on the side bar of Bagelblogger.

Dont forget the only criteria to entering your photos is:

What is JPix
JPix is a carnival for Jews and their pictures, it doesn't necessarily have to be that 'joyous expression of art' which photography can capture, it doesn't have to be just about photos of Eretz Israel, though they are most welcome, its not even about communicating some deep spiritual meaning in a long photo essay, although that's alright too, its about two things.

You're Jewish and you have photos you want to share, whether they be family, historical, artful, funny, quirky its about sharing, so get your submissions in for the next JPix.

Thank you to all those that submitted their wonderful photos to JPix6

JPix 1 , JPix2 , JPix 3 Part 1 , Jpix3 Part2 , JPix 4 , JPIX5, JPix6
I look forward to seeing some great photos in the next carnival JPix 7

If you have any questions you can email Danielle via
JpixcarnivalATgmailDOTcom

Mr Bagel Photos Get those entries into JPix7..!
Jpix5 * Jpix4 * Jpix3 * Jpix2 * Jpix 1* Jpix * Jewish Photography * Jewish Photography Carnival * JPix CarnivalJ Pix Carnival * Jewish Art * Temunot * Jewish Photo BlogsJewish Photo Essays * Israel and Photos * Jewish Creativity * Jewish * Israel * Baleboosteh * Temunot Photos * Mr+Bagel * BagelBlogger * Bagel Blogger *

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Wednesday 9 May 2007

Breaking News with Video:
6 Men arrested for plot to Kill
US soldiers at Fort Dix N.J.

FORT DIX, N.J. — Six Islamic militants from Yugoslavia and the Middle East were arrested on charges of plotting to attack the Fort Dix Army base and "kill as many soldiers as possible," authorities said Tuesday.

"This was a serious plot put together by people who were intent on harming Americans," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said. "We're very gratified federal law enforcement was able to catch these people before they acted and took innocent life."


If the video fails to play click here:
Fort Dix Combat Training

A 4 minute movie showing a squad combat training at Ft Dix.
Ft Dix was where the Terrorist Attack was targeting
___________________________


One suspect reportedly spoke of using rocket-propelled grenades to kill at least 100 soldiers at a time, according to court documents.

"If you want to do anything here, there is Fort Dix and I don't want to exaggerate, and I assure you that you can hit an American base very easily," suspect Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer said in a conversation last August that was secretly recorded by a government informant, according to the criminal complaint against him.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Tuesday there is "no direct evidence" that the men have ties to international terrorism.

In court documents, prosecutors said the suspects came to the attention of authorities in January 2006 when a shopkeeper alerted the FBI about a "disturbing" video he had been asked to copy onto a DVD.

The video showed 10 men in their early 20s "shooting assault weapons at a firing range ... while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allah Akbar' (God is great)," the complaint said. Six of the 10 were identified as those arrested in the plot.

"What concerns us is, obviously, they began conducting surveillance and weapons training in the woods and were discussing killing large numbers of soldiers," Boyd said.

Christie said one of the suspects worked at Super Mario's Pizza in nearby Cookstown and delivered pizzas to the base, using that opportunity to scout out a possible attack.

The six were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Camden later Tuesday to face charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey. They were arrested Monday trying to buy automatic weapons from an FBI informant.

Officials said four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one in Jordan and one in Turkey. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently; the other is a U.S. citizen.

Besides Shnewer, the other five men were identified in court papers as Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar and Agron Abdullahu. Checks with Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka are illegally living in the United States, according to FBI complaints unsealed with their arrests.

Five of the men lived in Cherry Hill, a Philadelphia suburb about 20 miles from Fort Dix.

"They were planning an attack on Fort Dix in which they would kill as many soldiers as possible," Drewniak said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because documents in the case remain sealed, said the attack was stopped in the planning stages. The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military institutions, including Fort Monmouth, a U.S. Army installation, the official said.

By March 2006, the group had been infiltrated by an informant who developed a relationship with Shnewer, according to court documents. The informant secretly recorded meetings in August 2006 in which Shnewer said that he and the other suspects were part of a group planning to attack a U.S. military base, the complaints said.

Shnewer named Fort Dix and a nearby Navy base, explaining that the group "could utilize six or seven jihadists to attack and kill at least one hundred soldiers by using rocket-propelled grenades" or other weapons, the complaint said. The Navy base was not named in the complaint.

Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

Soldiers at Fort Dix have been training for warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Republican U.S. Rep. James Saxton, who represents Fort Dix. The base typically has about 15,000 people, including 3,000 soldiers.

"Everything is a replica of what they would face in the field," he said.

The base has been closed to the public since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. There are heavily armed guards at entrances, along with X-ray machines. Yet the main road through neighboring Cookstown cuts through the base and is accessible to the public. A half-dozen locations on the base, including at least two where soldiers were conducting maneuvers Tuesday morning, were only a few hundred yards off the main road.

The description of the suspects as "Islamic militants" renewed fears in New Jersey's Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim men from New Jersey were rounded up and detained by authorities in the months following the 2001 attacks, but none was connected to that plot.

"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented many of the detainees. "But when the government says 'Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous.

"Don't equate actions with religion," he said.

BB: Nah we wouldn't do that Sohail, every one knows Islam is the Religion of Pieces.
This is a breaking story, it will be updated as more information comes to hand.

References:
Chron.com: 6 charged with plot on Army post in N.J.


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Tuesday 8 May 2007

Arab Birth Rate in Jerusalem far exceeds Jewish

From JPost

The capital's Arab population has increased at more than twice the rate of its Jewish inhabitants over the last decade, according to a survey released by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies on Monday.

Rest of the post here
By 2020, if current trends continue, 60 percent of Jerusalem residents will be Jews, while the remaining 40% will be Arabs.

The city's population is currently 720,000, 66% Jews and 34% Arabs.

Its population has increased by 170% from 300,000 since it was reunified in the Six Day War. In the last four decades, the Arab population of Jerusalem has grown by 257% (from 68,000 residents to 245,000) while the number of Jewish inhabitants has increased by 140% (from 200,000 to 475,000), the survey shows.

The Arab growth rate over the last decade was 3-4%, the survey found, more than double that for Jews.

"If these trends continue, we could reach the 60/40 rate by 2020, and by 2035 we could see the same number of Jews and Arabs in the city," senior institute researcher Dr. Miya Hoshen said.

Tens of thousands of Israelis continue to migrate from the city to the suburbs, a trend that began in the 1980s.

Over the last five years, the suburbs of Beit Shemesh, Betar Ilit, Ma'ale Adumim, Modi'in Ilit, Mevaseret Zion and Givat Ze'ev have attracted the largest numbers of former Jerusalemites.

Among the main reasons cited by those who have left the city are better job opportunities and more affordable housing.

A recent study carried out by Hebrew University demographer Prof. Sergio Della Pergola also predicts that if Jerusalem's borders remain unchanged, only 60% of the capital's residents will be Jews by 2020, with the remaining 40% Arab, while another survey projected that the number of Jewish and Arabs living in the city will reach parity in a quarter century.

A possible redrawing of the municipal borders - such as annexing land between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim in Judea, or ceding east Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinian Authority - could be a major factor in reversing such trends, according to city officials.
BB:
This is a hard question to address, I certainly don't advocate some of the more radical propositions. What I do think is necessary is the restriction on expansion of occupants per house holds not to stop the rearing of children, but to stop illegal dual and triple occupancy of buildings within Jerusalem. This is no different to any where else in the modern world.

The other essential change Israel society needs is the adaption of less draining 'social security services', at the moment there is no incentive for having small families, when families are faced with the real prospect of having to support their children, then we may see the birth rate adjust to a more realistic figure.

There could be the proviso for large families to receive extra funding from the relevant religious authorities, something which of course would be the direct responsibility of the religious authorites involved.


I acknowledge certain segments of Jewish and Palestinian society are predisposed to having large families and to receive funding from the State, but shouldn't this responsibility rest with both the individuals and the related religious authorities that encourage such activities?

With Jews moving out of Jerusalem and into the suburbs, the issue does raise the question of available housing. Is it not democratic to expect all housing to be available and on the market to all of the population?



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US Will not Restrain Israeli Attack on Gaza

The firing of Qassams from Gaza towards Israel has been a never ending rain of steel, whole communities are living on the edge never knowing when they could die.

The time has come.

(IsraelNN.com) As the government weighs its response to the increase in Kassam attacks from Gaza, the US, through its ambassador to Israel, has stated that it will not restrain Israel from carrying out attacks in Gaza.

The Israeli Air Force carried out an attack in Northern Gaza on Monday, destroying a load of rockets being delivered to terrorist cells. Under the cease-fire agreement that Israel is unilaterally adhering to, it may only attack in Gaza to prevent an immanent threat.

In the attack, the terrorists themselves succeeded in escaping, but an Arab bystander was injured.

BB: Get ready for the howls of Protest, for months the Palestinians have been firing Qassam after Qassam after Qassam and there has been little in the way of world protests, now their going to face the consequences of not stopping the terrorist attacks, and all of a sudden the pleas and hysterics will begin. For months Fatah and Hamas have done nothing in the way of policing Gaza and preventing the firing of hundreds of missiles into Israel, in fact Hamas has actively been involved in supplying the rockets. The time has come.

Reference:
Arutz Sheva: US willl not restrain Israeli attack on Gaza


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Monday 7 May 2007

A Big Welcome to JBlogs newest Blog



When I saw the Newest JBlog 'Sports Yids' appear at the top of JBlog central, I have to be honest with you, the thought did cross my mind that it might just be the second smallest JBlog of all time.

Playing on the Pun Of Jewish Sporting Super Stars. (Yes I am aware that Jews actually are quite well represented on a pro rate population basis, but thats a point aside.)

What shocked me even further was after clicking on the latest blog added it actually was empty! Its a cruel joke!! seems the RSS feed can take up to 24 hours to come in.


I chased down the address of SportsYids and it seems that it is this blog address: SportsYids
It seems like a great idea, I hope the posting becomes even more regular.
The introduction to this blog is here: Welcome

I look forward to seeing this newest addition.
__________________________

If I may say, I'd also like to thank David from Israel Forum for the fantastic Job he does with this aggregator. His Job is a thankless task, he never gets any credit, is accused continuously of 'conspiracies', the latest being something about because he doesn't have advertising, he must be up to something sinister, seems a few left wing loonies think Israel Forum is here to corrupt our innocent minds, kind of makes you think you're back at Junior School.

The irony is he has previously been accused of a grand master plan of 'stealing peoples content and making a million dollars, well I'm pretty sure this forum isn't generating a million dollars, it might be generating a million loony conspiracy plans by our loony friends but I do detect a rather sparse presence of Advertising.

Got to love that:
JBlog Central is no good because it has advertising, - oh wait JBlog Central doesn't have advertising so it must be no good.
I know there are a few people who disagree with my sentiments, but for me personally its my favorite website, and my point of contact to the Jewish Blogging World, and without it, the Jblogosphere would be rather duller.

Once again David, you have done a fantastic job thank you.

BTW: To appease your critics David may I recommend you offer one roll of free aluminium foil to members, never know when a few of them might need a new hat.


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16 More Reasons to visit Mr Bagel:
Meet Mr Bagel's Blogs

The vast majority of content in the Mr Bagel Blog stable doesn't hit the "aggregators". It will one day once I've combined all the feeds and produced one mega feed, but at the moment most aggregators only see changes on Mr Bagel.

The rest of the Mr Bagel Blogs and there's a few just quietly don't as yet feed into aggregators.
So when you're looking at your favorite aggregate list, and you see Mr Bagel hasn't up dated in a while, well you almost certainly are not seeing the real story.

Whilst you're here please do check out all of the Mr Bagel stable, including the New Jokes section, (taking submissions) and the soon to be opened Mr Bagel Free, if you know of good offers, that other Jews would be interested in then please let me know via email.

Why 16 different sections? In an effort to decrease page sizes, and give permanent addresses to some of my sections, I have created these sub sections to improve the experience of visitors.

Please forgive the odd unfinished section, there's a lot of Blog Building going on.



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Sunday 6 May 2007

Hezbollah is prepared but not seeking new Israel War...
and other fairy tales.



Hezbollah is prepared but not seeking new Israel war
From: Gulf Times
Sunday, 6 May, 2007



BEIRUT: Hezbollah guerrillas, the bane of successive Israeli governments, have rearmed since last year’s war in Lebanon but have little interest in provoking a new one, analysts say.

[You'll have to excuse my cynicism here, its not like Israel's enemies have a history of taking advantage of situations and launching surprise attacks.]

Israel has complained about Hezbollah’s re-supply effort, but it too seems unlikely to plunge into any fresh conflict until it has digested the lessons of the previous one.

Israel is also preoccupied with the political firestorm around Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, rebuked by an inquiry for his handling of the war.

Lebanese security and political sources said Hezbollah had amply replenished its rocket arsenal and had received improved anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles from Iran via Syria since a UN-backed truce halted hostilities in August.
Why is that Lebanese security and political sources claim that Hezbollah has 'amply' replenished its rocket arsenal, yet we are receiving very few reports by the UN on arms smuggling?
The Beirut government says it has no proof of arms transfers from Syria. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon discussed the issue last month with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who opposes any move to put UN troops on the Syria-Lebanon border.
I bet Assad opposes UN troops along the Syrian Border, that would be a rather large dent in the arms trading that Syria is involved with.

“What the group took six years to achieve (after Israeli troops left Lebanon in 2000), it has achieved in six months,” one political source said of Hezbollah’s military buildup.
This is got to be of major concern, the claim here is that Hezbollah has re equipped itself militarily in six months, when its last effort took 6 years. That's on average 12 times the rate of re armament, 12 times more trucking, transport, logistic's and 12 times more money and most likely an significant increase in the contribution by Iran.

I don't think it would be far from the truth , that Iran considers the border of Lebanon and Israel as a 'guarantee ' or security blanket for its clandestine nuclear activities.
A security source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said Hezbollah was in better shape than before the war that erupted after it seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.
Now there's a pretty good reason to not even contemplate any peace negotiations. Don't forget the UN mandated that the soldiers would be returned as part of the cease fire. This Arabic News Organisation must have a made a terrible typo, (or rather failed to 'adjust the news feed') they actually state it was a 'cross border' raid.
The Shia guerrillas have had no visible presence in the border region since Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers took over the area south of the Litani river. But Hezbollah can call up hundreds of villagers with military training if need be.

Hezbollah has also established a new defence line, with trenches, bunkers and rocket bases just north of the Litani and in the southern part of the Bekaa Valley to the east, the sources said.
They said the group has sent hundreds of fighters, both new recruits and veterans, for training in Iran — more than making up for its war casualties, including 270 or so dead.
Impossible that another country would be interfering with a UN mandated international force. Where's the world condemnation, where's the French Defense Minister protesting? Iran is actively involved in the supply of munitions and weapons, it is actively engaged in training hundreds of fighters and the UN says... nothing. France says nothing, is Hypocrite a French word? It should be.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has openly stated that military preparations are under way, couching them as precautions rather than as a prelude to attack.

Another Glorious victory, pay little heed to the environment,
its what the Poster says that counts!

This week he jubilantly noted the Israeli inquiry’s flaying of Olmert for his conduct of the war, in which Israel failed to destroy Hezbollah or stop it firing rockets across the border.
“Today the climate in the whole of the Zionist entity is that this war was a failure,” Nasrallah said.
You can't help but notice the glee that Nasrallah is showing whilst the Israeli Public tears apart Olmert. I see this as a major concern.

Why is it every Western leader who has been involved in recent military action against radical Islamic forces, is now facing the real prospect of being usurped. Yet conversely not one senior fundamentalist leader, or representative faces any kind of political backlash
Many Israelis agree, with two-thirds telling pollsters Olmert should resign. Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz argue that Israel made some gains in the war because UN peacekeepers had replaced Hezbollah fighters on the border.
Its fairly apparent gains were made, not the kind of gains that have historically been made by Israel, but I suspect this has more to do with the changing landscape of military engagement, rather than total incompetence by the Israeli leadership.

A UN Security Council resolution in 2004 demanded the disarming of all militias in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, the only faction to keep its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war, says it is an anti-Israel resistance movement, not a militia.
Despite Olmert's poor polling, one needs to remember who exactly was the person that called of the IDF from attack the Hezbollah even further when they had the chance to strike a mortal blow.

It wasn't Olmert, it was Peretz, or even Peres the Dov, it was simply Ms Rice on instructions from her boss, who was being put under considerable strain by the Arab countries and world opinion.

Don't forget that Livni was the person who appeared to cave in the most when dealing with US demands. It was absolutely unforgivable that Israel stopped its military actions before the solders were released. This is the real problem that haunts us today. It is the pressure that the Arab league places on the US via the UN voting as a block.

Israel needs to stop allowing the US to absolutely dictate its own agenda.

We are now facing the absolute farce of the US rewarding the Arab League with 'Palestinian demands' as the prize for the Arab League being constructive towards the Iraq problem.

Stating it clearly the US is being BLACKMAILED into a path of action by the Arab Leagues potential threats in Iraq. The Arab league are dictating US foreign policy, and can you guess who is going to be the biggest loser?

We see a similar modus operandi in Lebanon.

A resistance movement that seems to be more motivated at embroiling its own country Lebanon in total civil disruption rather than accept responsibility for the pain and suffering it has caused though its short sighted planning.
Analysts in Lebanon and Israel said Hezbollah was in no mood to go into battle again — unless any US or Israeli assault on Iran’s nuclear installations set off a regional conflict.
Gee, do you think this is a thinly disguised warning?....

Yes puts further strength in that Hezbollah are positioning itself as a deterrent to an 'Attack against Nuclear assets' option. The Americans would do far better paying attention to the developing Iranian military tactic of escalating any conflict, to a regional level.

The Iranians aren't stupid, they know the US might just attack Iran, but the US public is not in any way interested in a expanded theatre of war, the US administration knows this, and unfortunately the Iranians do to.

The vulnerability of the US's softer domestic under belly has been exposed in the Iraq conflict, expect the Iranians to capitalise on this in a similar fashion to what they did in Beirut over 20 years ago, with the Marines Barracks Bombing.
"Hezbollah are thumping their chests now because they are trying to get some credit for the mess in Israel,” said Timur Goksel, a former spokesman for UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

He said their posture was not aggressive. "They get credit in the Arab world and their own community for challenging Israel in the public domain, but I don’t think they'll go beyond that."
The saddest thing about the release of this interim report is that it has actually re emboldened the radical forces of the middle east, they are using Israel's discontent with the War and with Olmert to convince their supporters that they won the war. Nashrallah would have you believe it was a glorious victory.



This sets a dangerous precedent , one that other radical groups including Hamas are already trying to emulate.
Hezbollah must consider its own people — Shia civilians who took the brunt of Israeli bombing and now want to rebuild.
Nasrallah is convincing his supporters who have suffered collateral damage that it has been all worth it, it seems time and propaganda will allow what otherwise was a defeat turn into a great victory.
A political party as well as an armed group, Hezbollah has also been locked for months in a domestic stalemate that pits the Western-backed government against factions close to Syria.

“Hezbollah is not looking for a new war,” retired Israeli intelligence analyst Matti Steinberg said.“It is aiming to reshape the character of the Lebanese state. It is not looking southward to the border, but inward to Beirut.”
While Hezbollah devotes part of its energies to the Lebanese power struggle, its alliances with Iran and Syria link it to broader conflicts that could lead to a military flare-up.
Dont expect the US to attack Iranian Nuclear assets in the short term, dispite some sabre rattling the US public is in no mood for another victory like the Iraq debacle.
"What troubles me is that perhaps the Americans will attack Iran,” Aharon Zeevi-Farkah, a former chief of Israel’s military intelligence, told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot. “That would thrust us into a war and the home front is not ready.”
Some Israeli analysts say another conflict is inevitable.
“Israel cannot live with a situation in which Hezbollah is regrouping and rearming,” Efraim Halevy, former chief of the Mossad spy agency, said.
“Hezbollah, for its part, is predicated on the idea of an ultimate confrontation.”- Reuters
The sooner we realize that the recent war in Lebanon was simply the first act the better.
Bagelblogger

References:

Gulf Tines: Hezbollah is prepared but not seeking new Israel war

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Israel critic retained by
Australian Labor Party


Israel critic retained by Labor Party

from the AJN

ONE of Federal Parliament's most scathing critics of Israel and the Jewish community has avoided being dumped by the Labor Party. [Australia's Center Left wing party]

Julia Irwin, the member for the federal seat of Fowler, received an 11th-hour reprieve on Saturday morning when former ALP national president Warren Mundine withdrew his candidacy for preselection against her.

The ALP national executive fast-tracked several high-profile candidates into key NSW seats ahead of this year's federal election, following a decision at its national conference last weekend.

Irwin was widely expected to be dumped by the party in favour of Mundine, but the Aboriginal activist withdrew his candidacy on Saturday morning, giving Irwin an opportunity to extend her nine-year career in the capital.

A member of the Labor left, Irwin has used her decade in parliament to launch a series of vitriolic attacks on Israeli policies and the Australian Jewish community.

In 2002, she read to the house an email that described the Jewish lobby as “the most implacable, arrogant, cruel and powerful lobby in the country”.
The following year, she was accused of breaking parliament’s longstanding bipartisan support for Israel when she led a team of renegade Labor MPs calling for UN intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

BB: Unfortunately, it would seem the ALP national executive's failure to replace Julia Irwin does not bode well for the Jewish community.

Julia compared Israels withdrawal from Gaza an organised conspiracy to create 'a Ghetto, she continually makes comparisons between the Palestinians and the Jews at the hands of the Nazi's. In fact in Australian Politics there are few Politicians that could be considered less supportive of Israel than Julia Irwin.


Reference:
AJN: Israel Critic retained by Labour Party

Further reading:

VILE: Labor's Disgrace Julia Irwin Vilifies Israel; Calls Gaza "Concentration Camp"




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