Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Who strengthened Hamas?

A month ago, Elder of Ziyon had strung together a number of reports from different sources (and different levels of credibility) that suggested that Hamas was losing its grip on Gaza. The items listed by Elder of Ziyon, with Hamas’s … Continue reading

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Passion and instinct vs. reason and wisdom

I gotta say that “passion and instinct” should win every time. (Besides, “passion and instinct” always gets the girl.) I also think that the “reason and wisdom” is overrated. I mean in middle of battle Capt. Reason and Wisdom shouts, … Continue reading

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Annals of smart diplomacy – NPT edition

President Obama has done much to distance himself and his administration from the Bush administration. However In some ways he has persisted. And when he has chosen a different path, it hasn’t always been successful. President Obama summarizes his approach … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, The One | Tagged | 1 Comment

“Worsen conditions”

China’s Xinhau news service has this misleading headline: Israel to worsen condition of Hamas prisoners Read the article and this tells you how bad Hamas prisoners would have it: According to the bills, prisoners in Israeli jails who were convicted … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The poverty of Gaza

In Defying Blockade, Cargo and Passenger Vessels Head for Gaza, Isabel Kershner of the New York Times reports: In a sarcastic e-mail message to reporters this week, Israel’s Government Press Office recommended a high-end restaurant in Gaza, the Roots Club, … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | 1 Comment

Strong but empty words

Jennifer Rubin observed last week: At a signing ceremony for the Freedom of Press Act, it is ironic and shameful that Obama could not bring himself to identify the killers who beheaded the man who fearlessly reported on the jihadist … Continue reading

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Lies my Fatah told me

The headline reads Abbas: Second intifada was one of our worst mistakes The first paragraph reads: “The second intifada was one of our worst mistakes,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told an Egyptian television station on Wednesday. “[Late Palestinian leader Yasser] … Continue reading

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Peter’s perverse principle

I haven’t weighed in on Peter Beinart’s silly essay in the New York Review of Books. Shmuel Rosner though, asked Beinart a few questions. Beinart’s answers show that he’s ignorant of what Israel is. In particular, Beinart, in one of … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | 6 Comments

The messaging or the strategy?

In a meeting with fifteen Rabbis last week, White House shief of staff Rahm Emanuel said that the administration “screwed up the messaging.” Part of me wants to buy that, but I’m very skeptical. I’d have been a lot more … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, The One | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A treasure trove of terror

A few weeks after the Sbarro terror attack, the students at Hamas hotbed Al Najah University prepared a sick tribute to the attack. According to reports in the Israeli media and The Associated Press, the exhibition was comprised of a … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, Lebanon | Tagged | 1 Comment

What’s the point of sanctions if there’s no way to enforce them?

The title, Sanctions Effort May Open Door to Press Iran Central Bank, looked promising. The particulars, not so much. American and European officials said Wednesday that the reference, passing though it is, could give them a legal basis in the … Continue reading

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What’s the difference between comedy central and al aqsa tv?

Comedy Central publishes anti-Semitic, anti-Israel game The Comedy Central website has published an anti-semitic game called “I.S.R.A.E.L. Attacks,” in which a murderous robot called Israel is called upon to wipe out every cartoon character on the show. The short animated … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias | Tagged , | 3 Comments

History for Arabs but not for Jews

In his famous speech in Cairo last year President Obama said: For decades then, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It’s easy to point fingers — for … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, The One | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Anti-semantic

The NYT’s public editor Clark Hoyt, today navigates “Semantic minefields.” I had little doubt that at least one of those “minefields” would involve the Middle East, and I wasn’t disappointed. No subject arouses reader passion more consistently than the Israeli-Palestinian … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Tagged | 5 Comments

Is Obama, Carter, but without the good fortune?

In his devastating critique of ex-President Jimmy Carter, Our Worse Ex-President, Joshua Muravchik wrote: Carter’s interest in the conflict is in one sense natural: the agreement he mediated between Israel and Egypt at Camp David in 1978 stands as one … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged , | 3 Comments