I have a question?

Have you ever been accused of being brain-washed, having voiced an "unpopular" position or opinion?

I always find that kind of response to be such a cop-out from actually giving any thought to an opinion that doesn't fit the general consensus.
I mean if what I have to say causes you such insecurity maybe one should think about why and not just accept what you think as The Way Things Are.

A smart person told me that there are no facts, there are only opinions. I have to say, coming from this person I found it odd that they would have such a post-modern way of thinking (post-modern, because it basically says that there is no such thing as empirical data that can be trusted), and I agree with them... it's true. Facts have very little bearing on opinion and opinion in general is what accumulates fact.
Makes the little adage "Don't confuse me with your facts", so funny.

In any event, while "empirical data" is often skewed and changed to fit an agenda - Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics - material reality is something you can't change. It's representation in the world, yes. What actually happens... not so much.

Over the past months I've been called "brain-washed", "extreme", "strange", "provocative", "sitting in an ivory-tower", "out of touch" etc. etc.

All I can think when I hear those words thrown at me is: "I can't believe how much people refuse to look, listen and learn outside what we're spoon fed".
And then I *sigh* and shut up, listen to what's being said, what isn't being said and continue to feel confident in the security that my opinions can take the beatings the general consensus throws at them.

Here's for some ( mainstream media madness )

Here is some more information. Skewed though it may be.
Israeli Commitee Against House Demolitions.

I've been a busy bee these past few days.
I had a fairly large exam today and handed in the paper I stayed up all night doing (same course, BTW). If I never touch this material again it will be too soon.

In two weeks the second semester exam season is to commence.
*glomps*

Monday and Tuesday there was a bunch of activity on campus planned and arranged by the Student Coalition (with your truly being one part of the planning and arranging team. Yes, I'm touting my own horn) regarding the Occupation, as June marked 41 years of the Occupation in Gaza and the West Bank).

On Monday we arranged an open discussion regarding the One State Solution and the Two State solution. It was great, as a whole bunch of opinions were heard and discussed.
The majority were Leftists, obviously - though the posters and fliers were worded to not be too demagogic or partial, we wanted the Mainstream student body to come a listen - of which there a few but out of thirty or so people that quickly dwindled to twenty to fifteen there weren't a whole lot of Liberals, though those that were there spiced things us a bit.There were no outright Rightists, as they know us and hate us... that's okay, we don't like them much either.

On Tuesday we had a myth busting session; an ICAHD activist gave a hugely informative lecture about the population control that goes on in the West Bank (specifically East Jerusalem, which is a world in and of itself within the Occupation discourse) under the guise of Security and how that word is used as a motivation for a whole slew of attacks against civilians in the West Bank (these attacks include House Demolitions, "Check Points", the Separation Wall etc. etc.).
After the ensuing discussion and break we had MBC reporter Qasem Hatib who came to talk to us about the "No Palestinian Partner" myth and discourse. We discussed how that particular discourse became prevalent in the Barak and Camp David years (and following) and how it has been used since then as a political tool by Israel to keep the status quo (not what he said, but what I gleaned from his very cynical journalistic words - such a pessimist, made us idealists all sad... kidding, I don't think I've ever met a bigger bunch of cynics than those in the Coalition).

Very successful half week so far, I'd say.

So it was a good, if stressful week on campus.
Wednesday was a bad day for Jerusalem.
A man went on a killing spree on a tractor. ( Read more about it, there is a plethora of links to be found behind )

RIP George Carlin.

Once again we have scientific research detailing the differences between the "Straight" brain and the "Gay" brain.
Turns out, surprise, surprise, that the brains of gay men and straight women have similarities in the area of the brain that has to do with emotional response and communication, while the brains of gay women and straight men have similarities in the area that focuses on spacial perception.
The source of this oh so progressive info: The Guardian - Gay men and heterosexual women have similarly shaped brains, research shows.

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous.
Seriously.

Scientists at the prestigious Stockholm Brain Institute in Sweden also found certain brain circuits linked to emotional responses were the same in gay men and straight women.

Biology doesn't count for much in our modern society.
Emotional responses were similar in two segments of the population which are by default considered "Other" and lesser than the ruling population?
Gosh, I wonder.

The results could explain a University of London study earlier this year that found gay men and straight women share a poor sense of direction compared with heterosexual men, and were more likely to navigate using landmarks alone.

Don't you just love the way they phrase things.
Yes, all gay men and all straight women have "poor sense of direction".
Those cunts and homos shouldn't be driving, eh.
As though having a a good sense of direction enabled you to be a better participant in society's larger scheme.

The research is part of a larger effort to identify differences between the male and female brain, in the hope they will shed light on why some mental disorders affect men and women differently.

Perhaps it is because we are taught to behave differently to ailments?
While no doubt that the biochemistry of males bodies and female bodies are different, ignoring social ordering and societal structuralism is like trying to put together a puzzle in which you have none of the frame pieces and you don't have a picture of the puzzle to compare with.

For example, major depressive disorders are far more common and persistent in women, while autism is around four times more common in boys than girls.

Because women, in general and not all, have less avenues for independence and are constantly bombarded with mixed messages on what they must do in order to be a Good Woman - Western society, obviously, seeing as this article doesn't mention any queers or hetero's of colour, it is safe to assume that of the 90 volunteers they were all white and of a certain class (though perhaps not, as this research is trying to be "objectively scientific" while taking a bio-sociological stance. Hypocrites).
As for autism being more common in boys... perhaps, maybe, I dunno, it presents itself differently in girls!
Isn't that exactly what the research is trying to show?!

Oh and by the way? Where do the bi men and women stand in this little experiment. Any Transgenders (or are they in the same categories as gays and lesbians). Anything at all about intersexed or genderqueers.

Yeah, no so much.

Gah, these things piss me off so much.
Scientific research my peachy ass.

The two alleged violent offenders that were arrested today.
Have been remanded to house arrest for three days.

A truce between Israel and Hamas is just two days away so I've been informed by Ha'aretz and Al-Jazeera.
These announcements were made just a few hours before six Palestinian militants were killed by IAF forces.
None the less, despite the ongoing carnage being pelted at Gaza and the Western Negev, a simultaneous and mutual truce is set to commence on Thursday at six of the AM.
Leaving another 36 hours in which each side can do as much damage as possible.

Oh, I'm optimistic.

What is that you say? I didn't hear you because my cynicism is laughing in the background.

Sometimes I just feel old.

The Israeli Jews living in Hebron are such charming fella's.
So charming that at one of them poured boiling water over a Meretz member on a "Break the Silence" tour through the city.
This of course comes after yesterday's News in which Hebron police department released to the medias that Leftist activities are deliberately provocative and that "Break the Silence" "Bnei Avraham", "B'Tselem" and other organizations go there for the express purpose of causing trouble.

It's nice to know which side the police takes in that area of Hell.

As for the claims of the activities being provocative; anything that goes into an intense area like Hebron with an agenda that wants to show that the Status Quo is really not of the good is going to be considered provocative.
The less legitimacy the Settlers have for what goes on there and what the IDF has to to in order to "protect" the Settlers from their Palestinian neighbors (though more often than not, the soldiers have to restrain the Settlers and protect the Palestinians), the better.

Settlers are held accountable for their illegal actions.

Remember last week, I mentioned the lynch just outside Susya - you can read about and the links that go with the incident here.

Well, two of those (and I loathe to call them that) people were arrested today.

Imagine that.
I guess when there's actual video footage of a lynch being committed, as much as they'd like to, I don't think the police can actually deny that there is actual, ya know, fucking violence committed against old ladies who just happened to be there.

And they do it for the hell of it.

It doesn't matter that these (and again, I hate using this word to describe them) people believe that what they do is right.

Objectively... these particular Settlers are pieces of shit.

To this kind of News I can only go *snort*.
No, seriously.
I snorted so hard when I read this that I scared my cat.

This gem from Madam Secretary Rice:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Jewish settlement building "a problem" on Saturday and said Israel had not done enough to ease restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"Look, it's a problem and I think it's a problem that we're going to address with the Israelis," Rice said of recent Israeli settlement construction announcements as she flew to Tel Aviv on her sixth trip this year to try to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Annapolis was less than six months ago and the Settlement growth, which was supposed to cease and desist just continued. With an explicit governmental Carte Blanche I might add.

Eight years in which the only interest Uncle Sam had of this little Hell Hole was that of Israeli weapons capabilities (kudos to us in that regard) and deterrence capabilities with said weapons (we fucked that one up).
So while the Bush is limping around Europe like the lame duck that he is and sending Ms. Rice to run his dirty errands... which here are many and have been neglected.

I'm cynical.
I want this to work out.
I really, really do.
But when only now Hamas and Fatah are talking to each other.
When Hamas fires over fifty rockets into Israel and Israel is constantly retaliating which causes retaliation from Hamas.
There are so many other factors which are just too long to go into, because it's late in the day and I just get depressed when I think about it in a way that isn't in the back of my mind.

Fuck it.

No superheros here.
No background music.
And certainly no happy endings in which said superhero lives to save another day.

Hey you guys, remember that lynching I mentioned last week?

Surptise, surprise... earlier this week there was another one - Ynet article.
And this time you can watch a video via the BBC article of it actually taking place, because the clever people at B'Tselem have been giving out video cameras to the people in villages to shoot the violence committed against them by the Settlers.

Those young men in the video that are wielding those baseball bats are probably in their late teens or early twenties.

No arrests have been made.
Yes, really.
A week have gone by and nothing, nada, ziltch, gurnisht and אפס מאופס.

And you know what really grinds my axe? The fact that, once again, the authorities, the media, the lawyers (should they come to be... though whenever there's trouble you can always rely on "Lawyers, Guns and Money") will say, what they said about the Jewish boys who lynched the Arab boys in Pisgat Ze'ev: This was a one time incident, they're wild weeds in the garden of Jewish goodness, these are normative youths who are misguided, etc, etc, etc.

And you know something, I keep seeing the word "Normative" thrown around when I read or come across incidents like this and to that I can only quote:
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." - Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride, 1987)

Reading headlines and articles like like this one, proves, that in a way, these people are so incredibly obtuse as to be considered actually stupid.

Just the headline of the linked article: Olmert: Next U.S. administration may not be as accommodating.

Accommodating to what, pray tell? Protecting Israel from the consequences of its destructive policies. Demand actual fucking change to the way Israel has been treating it's minorities within Israel proper and the role of the IDF in the Occupied Territories!

Fuck it, this article just pissed me off.

The presumption, Olmert's arrogance, the assumption that any administration will actually do anything to anger AIPAC.

I can't really analyze this at the moment, because I'm just going on my gut feeling here; but something is off here and I don't know what.

Thoughts?

Body of the text for the linkphobic:
( Olmert: Next U.S. administration may not be as accommodating )

Because of the holiday I had a very long weekend in which I managed to actually meet friends, earn some money, write a short paper for Lit. (about Foucault, don't tell me that takes five minutes, because I will have to kill you).

There's a lot in the News about stuff that may or may not go on in Gaza, which is worrying, because that means a whole lot of dead people.
Always a negative.
A positive is that the Shalit family have received a letter.

Another plus is that Hamas and Fatah are communicating. Yes, actual communication between the Palestinian factions which makes me feel optimistic, though again, my cynicism is getting the best of me and I have the feeling they're just doing it for show in order to try and get more sympathy from governments while leaving the actual people to rot in Gaza and the West Bank.

Leadership in these parts is quite nauseating.

I was discussing with a friend of mine who we were going to vote for in the elections, which have yet to be confirmed, but with the way things are looking it's not a long shot that Israel will be having elections not too long after good ole Uncle Sam.

Who are my options do I hear you ask; well it looks like every time I think about I can't help but shudder. The only person I wouldn't "mind" so to speak, out of the big three (Netanyahu, Barak and Livni) is Livni. I would never vote for Kadimah as it lacks any kind of moral or social fiber and stands on a platform of "security".

Axing the top three of Labour *snort*, Likud *vomit* and Kadimah *aforementioned above*, I'm left with Meretz (social-democrats), Hadash (communists) and the Green party (yes, the environmentalists).
I'm leaning towards the greens, as they've yet to get any seat in the Knesset and haven't been corrupted beyond recognition.

Ach, this is very frustrating!

I think I need to go back to Foucault and read about how as a Subject my identity is established by language and that if I'm not in the discourse I cease to exist.
Neato!

In October 2000 there was a lynch. It was all over the News. It isn't easily forgotten, especially not with images as iconic as this.

It took me no time to find these links.
The only link I could find of this disgusting story, beyond the blogosphere, was in Ha'aretz weekend supplement (printed edition) in Hebrew. Today I got an RSS feed of the story translated into English. Unlike the Hebrew article, which has markup errors and is thus basically unreadable on-line, the English edition doesn't have pictures and I have not been able to find any other photos of the lynching. A group of dozens Jewish boys between the ages of 15-18 from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev assaulted and almost murdered two Palestinian teens from Shu'fat, which is just a stone throw away form that Jewish neighborhood.

The lynching took place on the 30th of April (yes, a month ago) and it was only brought to the media this past week.
What is even more disgusting is that the 30th of April this year was National Holocaust Memorial Day, obviously the date was not chosen for the hell of it, especially because Palestinians come to Pisgat Ze'ev Mall often enough for them to be familiar to Jewish population.

The article is a horrifying and illuminating read. I must be growing cynical in my old age as I was not surprised at all that something like this happened. The fact that I share with those "good Jewish boys" an iota of commonality is sickening.

Did I mention there was a book burning as well? Oh, and that Israel is the 4th largest arms dealer in the world.

I end this extremely depressing entry with the hope that someday lynches, burnings and profiteering through the suffering of others will be shocking and nauseating.

I am not shocked and nauseated that these things happen in the country in which I live.
That is the saddest thing of all.

What an interesting story.

On the gut level I thought; fuck that's a brave thing to do.
On the more cognitive level I thought; damn that's clever.
On the student-who-analyzes-everything-she-reads level I thought; well, that's one of the most rebellious, subjective things she could do in that situation.
On the absurd/political level I thought; those men harass her to the extent to which she must bare all, literally and she's reprimanded!?

Just goes to show that sexual harassment is the most normalized crime, there really is nothing wrong with wolf-whistling to a total stranger in the street.
She retaliates to a perceived threat and gets the punishment.

A few prize quotes from the article, just to show a little bit more of the absurd/political side of this:

"She gave the explanation that she had been ... pestered by New Zealand men. She's not an unattractive-looking lady," [Sgt. Peter Masters] said."

Police treated the incident as a one-off.

"She was taken back to the police station and spoken to and told that was
inappropriate (behavior) in New Zealand," [Sgt. Peter Masters] added."

And since this is Ha'aretz, the woman in question is an Israeli tourist.
Take from that what you will.

( Feeling linkphobic? Just Follow the cut )

My big bro suggested that I translate my previous entry as would be of interest to my f-list that doesn't read Hebrew.
I though about and so here is the translation. I hope I manage to put some of the metaphors and idioms forth strongly enough, as the entry contains quite strong language.

---

As it's said: You don't say!*
Our foreign minister, "suggested" that there may not be a peace agreement with the Palestinians by the end of 2008.

Did it actually cross somebody's (anybody's) mind that there would be the slimmest of chances to reach an agreement by the end of this year?
With the detention, the siege, the dis-communication between the Palestinian factions and the building of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Was there any kind of hope, that even if Abu-Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] had some kind of political clout, that something would come out of it? In any event he's in Israel's pocket which in the USA's pocket, for the next ten years at the very least. Israel, that doesn't give a toss out of its National Erection about the residents of Sderot and the Kibbutzim that surround Gaza, isn't even interested in the Palestinians because, Oy Vavoi, Iran is threatening us, with A-Bombs! A-Bombs they will develop in the next decade, five years, next year! רחמנא לצלן [GD forbid].
Never mind that the USA has a clear economic interest in Iran (and is using Israel as the ultimate weapon against, well, anyone they want), after they lost the country following the Islamic Revolution (and all its wonderful oilfields which are nationalised and can't be invested through the Free market, sanctions or not).

Of course there won't be an agreement, not this year, not next year and not in two years time (I'm willing to pay money to whoever bets against me and wins) because Israel isn't interested in changing the status quo - so rockets are falling in Sderot, so what? It strengthens the citizens and they are a good example to the state of Israel.
Who cares about a few Towel-heads swimming in sewage, they're future terrorists any way, we don't need no agreement with them! Gilad Shalit? Yeah, sounds familiar. So do Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, aren't they overseas?

The war in Lebanon wasn't Entebbe 2 like Halutz, Olmert and probably Peretz as well, hoped for. Gilad Shalit will remain as Ron Arad 2 for a little longer.

An agreement with the Palestinians, yeah right! At least minister Livni gave a proper disclosure... with suggestions and guesswork, but c'mon... it was clear from Annapolis, wasn't it?

*It's important to note, that the Hebrew news update was much shorter and didn't mention the French foreign minister, Hamas, Haim Ramon or anything other than what Ms. Livni said to Ms. Pelosi.

---

I suggest you read the comments from my previous post, as the discussion between me and hemlock_sholes is not badly written: here.

So Lebanon.

Talk about a big fucking mess.

No doubt that as soon as something stabilizes there, somebody will invade it... just to make sure that the "right" man is in power.

Am I right?

Mean time, I'm not sure the Lebanese knew what hit them. You can just hear a parody of SNL going "Good Morning, Beirut... I love the AK-47 you're sporting!"

I'm tired.
I'm never taking a course that requires me to wake up at six AM.
Or alternately I could start going to sleep at reasonable hours...
But fuck that right?

But the fact that I'm tired won't stop me from reporting this shit, that went down in the beginning of last weekend and which may or may not be resolved.
It pissed me off royally.
Beyond the tragic and cruel nature of these invalidated conversions, it spotlights a grave and important matter about the relationship of religion and state in Israel.
That it is rotten.

I got into an argument about what is acceptable involvement of religious establishment in the state.
Personally, I think they can fuck off, since these establishments are chauvinistic, sexist and racist.

There is no civil marriage in Israel, the closest we have is common-law unions which were established so that "un-marriageable" couples could have legal standing.
Who are the "un-marriageable" you ask - they are members of the population that cannot get married through the Rabbanut. The system was initially built for couples who according to Halakha couldn't marry each other: Cohens and divorces mainly. But this also includes Mamzerim (bastards) who cannot marry through the Rabbanut, Jews cannot marry Muslims or Christians, nor can Muslims and Christians marry each other, there is no same-sex marriage either.
This, is of course easily solved by marrying elsewhere; Cyprus, Canada, the USA, Anywhere that allows foreign nationals to marry.

And after marriage (which brings great civil benefits) comes divorce (more and more these days and don't let anyone tell you otherwise).
It's a great invention, Jews are practical that way.
Of course it is the Husband that must grant the Wife the Get (divorce), she can "choose" whether to accept it or not. Not that the man would give a shit, all he needs in order to have a Halachikly legal family (while not divorced to his first wife) is something like a 100 signatures from 100 Rabbis and he can marry and have (halachicly)legal children - bigamy and polygamy are illegal in Israel - so he can ignore with impunity the pleas his Wife makes so that they can be rid of each other. There are sanctions, monetary usually, but go beg a Yeshivah Bochur to pay alimony when he can't sustain himself without a wife, or just a run of the mill asshole who doesn't want to pay alimony and that putting him in jail only postpones the writ of execution of whatever he owes his wife, his lawer and his children should he have any. The wife, due to all this, is now an Aguna - another side effect of the Rabbis revocation of the conversions - there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Agunot women in Israel.

My side of the argument was that we either take the anti-patriarchy hammer and bash the Rabbanut until nothing is left of that racist, sexist establishment, or have the state acknowledge the fact that there is more to Judaism than Orthodoxy so that that the pluralism we pretend to have in Israel have some basis in reality.

A mixture of reform and revolution - I'm more keen on rebuilding from the grassroots, but others kind of like the way things are... or at the very least don't mind the way things are; seeing as the privilege of being born Jewish has the added bonus that no one will be nosing around our private life and checking to see if we're actually being Jewish.

It makes me sick.

I've heard people say it takes time for these things to change, after all blacks in the USA only got civil rights in the 60's of the 20th century and the women only got the vote less than a hundred years ago.
Change is slow but it happens.

Yes, change is slow... when those in power have no incentive to change, when the atrocities that these establishments perpetrate don't touch their lives, then change can be slow.
When the status quo is just fine and dandy to The Man, then change can be slow.

Classical liberal* bullshit.

*No offense to any liberals who may be reading this.

Despite (or maybe because of) yesterday's raid which resulted in the death of a mother and her four children in Beit Hanoun; it seems the infighting between the different Palestinian factions has been put on hold in order to secure a truce with Israel - even with conditions which I doubt Israel will accept.

Pity the reps didn't tell their people to lay off on the Qassam rockets which were being fired into the Negev at approximately the same time.
I doubt the Security Cabinet will accept any kind of agreement from the groups, because they will demand an end to the rockets before they lift the siege.

When I read the headlines I was really pleased, seriously, it seemed as though things are/were moving in the right direction, until I read the headline about the Qassams being fired during the meeting in Cairo and the continuous raids by the IAF.

Is it so hard to just Shut the Fuck Up! Put down your Guns! And listen to what The Other is saying!?

Sometimes when I read the News and manage to not be connected to what I'm reading I feel like I'm reading a running commentary between two Gangs of adolescent children where one comes from the Slums and the other comes from the High Rises that surround said Slums.
It's so frustrating I can even explain this.

"The head of the criminal affairs bureau in Lower Austria, Franz Polzer, said Mr Fritzl had admitted sexually abusing his daughter repeatedly during the time he imprisoned her".

May I please ask; why is no one calling what this disgusting excuse for a human being did, rape?
Why is it sexual abuse, when it happens between family members?
Why are "incest" and "molestation" used instead of calling it what it is?
Is there any doubt that this so-called father forced his daughter into becoming a sex-slave and having seven children of his children?

That... man... should be castrated, thrown into a jail cell (solitary confinement at that) for the rest his natural life and never see the light of day again.
Of course, that kind of justice isn't what's given out to sex offenders these days.

If I weren't so angered by this, my mind would be boggled.

When they've been forced into marriage.

Sometimes I fail to understand the logic of the world that I live in.

You know, the kind of bravery it takes for a little girl to run away from a house where she has was forced to "consummate the marriage" by her twenty-something "husband" is extraordinary.
The girl is eight.
EIGHT!
The whole idea of child brides, never mind teen brides, but Child Brides is beyond me. Isn't that institutionalized pedophilia?

The good news is the marriage was annulled, and the girl has gone to live with her family and will be returning to primary school.

Child brides make as much sense to me as "honour killings" - it's a "cultural thing" so it's okay. That's the way "they" treat women and children.
Who are we in the "West" to judge?

But see it's not the way "they" treat women and children. Women and children, in every culture, whether it's in this monolith we call the West or in "Ethnic" (I hate this word) cultures, will suffer for being women and children - especially female children.
I'll tell you how I feel the West has changed, instead of "honour killings" we have women and girls who are raped and murdered by their boyfriends, husbands or colleagues.
The majority of women who have been murdered, were murdered by their exes.
Instead of child brides we have child prostitutes.
The trafficking of women and children into sexual slavery is a pan-global phenomena.

So in the "West" there women can work, own property, choose to not marry, choose not to have children, wear pants and sneakers, not wear make-up etc.
In the "West" women can love who they want, speak out against gender based crimes, they can be doctors, lawyers, engineers, factory workers, writers, editors, actors, performers, leaders... they can go into any profession if they so choose.
I get to have more choices.
Which is a great consolation prize no doubt - this is said seriously.

My point is Relativism, as my Ethics professor said in the first lecture is "Moral Bankruptcy". If you're (editorial you) going to say "well, it's their culture, who are we to judge" - please make sure you understand the what makes a "culture", a culture and how it relates to the culture you're living in.

Here is the text to the article about the amazing little girl who got me ranting about the stupidness of moral and cultural Relativism: ( Under the Cut )

Cognitive dissonance can easily be described as the opposite of doublethink.
It can also easily describe what is happening today in this lovely blood soaked land o'mine.

A quick news recap to ease your jonseing for Israel-Palestinian updates.
Let us begin:

In case someone missed it, a few days ago there was a skirmish on the Gaza-Israel border at the fuel station of Nahal Oz. Gaza, as we know, is low on fuel for their basic needs and having gotten nowhere with Egypt concerning shifting the economic dependency from Israel to Egypt, like Hamas hinted at after the border breech in January Israel had planned on renewing fuel supply on Sunday, but got round to doing it today.
All hell broke loose and so far there are three dead soldiers and approx. nine dead Palestinians, though some have reported twelve.

At the same time Mr Blair, Former British PM and Current Quartet Ambassador has said: "It is true that the weight of the occupation is very heavy" (understatement of the effing century!) he urges foreign investment in Palestinian economy - because like everyone knows, there's no labour like cheap labour, especially cheap labour that has no freedom of movement, no other viable economy and no other prospects.
Can't wait to see the kind of investors that come to the West Bank.

And last but not least, let us hope that the Dove does indeed overcome the Hawk, or even makes a chirp in the background.
Yep J Street has finally been launched as a counter point to AIPAC. Though obviously it doesn't say that anywhere, but everybody knows it.

Check their nifty campaign video ( here. )

And in with all this going Israel is preparing to celebrate 60 years of independance with a budget so enormous 100 million NIS which is approx. 28 million US$.
Yeah.
For some reason I thought it was less despite having signed the petition against the hugeness of the budget.
It is also the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe in Arabic) which is commemorated on the 15th of May (Israel's Independence Day is celebrated according to the Hebrew Calendar on 5th of Iyar and changes over the 19 year cycle, the Gregorian date is the 14th of May).
Like me, not many are in the "Celebratory" mood.
I thankfully will be in South Africa over a portion of the month of May, hopefully I'll bypass the riots, violence and sheer insanity that will consume the country.

And thus I conclude this recap, hope your jones has lessened and that your head is not bleeding from it's repetitive meetings with the desk.