I know that I have touched on this subject on numerous occasions, but find it increasingly hard to understand the Israelis’ disbelief when facing foreign criticism. With last year’s Israeli new year offensive still fresh in mind, and Israel’s subsequent offence, and astonishment even, in the international community’s disapproval, you have to wonder.
Our support of Israel’s right to exist does not pave the way to act as if the nation owns the entire Middle East, which would make our support unconditional. Well, Mr. Nethanyahu, it is not.
Today’s Israeli raid on …

About a week after New Year’s Eve, amid Israeli warfare in Gaza, I wrote a post on Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life was in immediate peril as he remained at home to report on the Israeli advances.
Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (photo from Gaza today)
Needless to say, we were all severely shocked by the atrocities the Palestinians were forced to endure, even though most fled their homes to take shelter. Unlike Sameh Akram Habeeb, who provided us with the latest developments – a true and passionate journalist at …

Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre (as depicted) is, unlike officials from many Western countries, attending the UN Durban review conference in Geneva, but warns that any attempt, by Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to cross the line with regards to Israel, will be met with sharp protests, according to a newswire report brought by Norwegian dailies VG Nett and Dagbladet.no (both sources in Norwegian).
He may soon find that he’d be held to his words, as:
Diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a …

The five-day Durban Review Conference on racism is due to open in Geneva on Monday, but several countries, among them Sweden and the United States, have decided not to attend. U.S. state department officials explain the American boycott with differences over Israel and the right to free speech.
According to the BBC, EU diplomats are still debating whether to attend or not, whereas the Canadians and the Israelis have decided not to.
While U.S. concerns are related to the Durban II text singling out Israel, as well as continued limitations in the …

Jerusalem Post’s web edition published an article last Monday, accusing Norway’s minister of finance Kristin Halvorsen of shouting “Death to the Jews” during an Oslo protest against Israel’s Gaza war in January.
The article has been “depublished” and altered twice since, resulting in a slightly more balanced version – although not much. The original text has been preserved in this (otherwisely highly dubious) blog, whence I’ve extracted a few excerpts:
[...] During the war, Olso [Sic!] was fraught with violent anti-Israel demonstrations. Numerous government officials decried Israel’s actions in Gaza — including …

I’ll be the first to acknowledge a bias in my recent comments on Israel’s military operations in the Gaza strip, undoubtedly fuelled by disgust over the cruelties taking place. But we’d be ill advised to draw civilian Israelis or Jews into this. Let’s put the blame where it belongs: On Israeli authorities.
As a matter of fact, I’m equally disgusted by Norwegian protesters going after a supporter of Israel, shouting “Take him!” and “Bloody Jew!”, as was the case with the 73 year-old Mr. Sverre Martin Haug, who, incidentally, probably isn’t …

It’s always been interesting to see how terrorism – or who the terrorists are, rather – is defined. In any conflict the victor or the stronger party gets to set the definitions, as it’s always been. Agreeing on an internationally acceptable definition of the term, however, turns out to be an impossible task, but I think it’s safe to say that any actions intended to instigate or, over long stretches of time, resulting in fear, qualify for the expression.
However, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, as we’ve seen …

German soldiers during the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising or Israeli troops in Gaza City streets, 2009? Of course the uniforms and the b/w image give them away, but apart from that, wherein lies the difference?
You have to admit that the Third Reich had every right to defend itself from Jewish resistance terrorist attacks. Surely, incarceration in KZ Gaza a ghetto is no reason for them to act aggressively against Germany?
Then again, the Jewish resistance’s charter (if they had any) clearly stated that annihilation of the Third Reich was an ultimate …

Note: I migt stop reporting either if I die or I flee my home. Shells rain down beside my house now. Pray for me…Pray for Me….
Such are the last words of Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (23) yesterday, blogging from the very heart of Gaza City. We haven’t heard from him since, and I can’t help wondering whether or not he’s still alive or if he fled his home amid the raining shells, but I can tell you this much:
Blogs – from both sides of the ongoing calamities – provide …

Here we go again, then, with Israeli forces invading Palestine territories on the Gaza strip Saturday night – Live, as it were– following a week’s devastating air raids. Business as usual, really, while the international society keeps protesting, as if it’s any use at all. If Israeli territories territories were under Arab control, however, there’s every reason to suspect a different outcome.
Just give it a thought, if you please: Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Israel was Iraq, in the hands of a president named Saddam Hussein, renowned for cruelties …

Two years ago or so, as words between Iranian and US presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and George W. Bush junior grew harsher, many of us feared a US invasion of Iran in the wake of the Iraqi war. It seemed a likely outcome at the time, with Bush accusing Iran of harbouring Iraqi insurgent leader Muqtada al-Sadr – and of weapon supplies to the Iraqi insurgents. Luckily our worst fears didn’t come to pass in 2006, not last year and – up until now, not this year, but we were pretty …

Israeli Kadima leader and acting PM Tzipi Livni is very likely to become Israel’s next prime minister on a permanent basis. It’s been decades since Israel’s last female prime minister, Golda Meir, but what are the chances of Livni bringing about stability to the Middle East region? Let’s consult my friend Wikipedia:
Born in Tel Aviv,[9] Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni (born in Poland) and Sara Rosenberg, both prominent former Irgun members.[10] Tzipi Livni served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces and worked for the Mossad for …