Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Fulbrights and qassams

Israel’s DM Ehud Barak announced that the siege of Gaza is working: Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday said that Israel has identified signs of distress coming from Hamas. According to the defense minister, some 70 Hamas fighters have been … Continue reading

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

Leveraging – reloaded

Earlier I wrote about Thomas Friedman’s column, It’s all about leverage. In retrospect the construction of that post was awkward and needs a real makeover. Friedman, is capable of astute observations. In his op-ed today he argue that Iran, Syria … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Lebanon, Media Bias | 2 Comments

Jihad on jihad

An op-ed in the NYT today asks What Do You Call a Terror(Jihad)ist? The word “jihad” means to “strive” or “struggle,” and in the Muslim world it has traditionally been used in tandem with “fi sabilillah” (“in the path of … Continue reading

Posted in Media Bias | 1 Comment

Fullbright followup

The other day it was reported that the State Department was canceling 7 Fulbright scholarship to students in Gaza. Given the way the story was reported, it looked like a pretty obvious attempt of the State Department to embarrass Israel … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel | Comments Off on Fullbright followup

Leveraging

In a hypothetical column written in 1999, Thomas Friedman described how PM Binyamin Netanyahu would be re-elected. Now that Israeli troops are out of Lebanon, noted Mr. Netanyahu, everything is reversed: Politically, if the Iranian-directed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas try to … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Comments Off on Leveraging

Hoyt’s blindness again

Clark Hoyt still hasn’t addressed my question about how the NYT reports news, however he’s dug up a several weeks old column to question whether the Times was correct in running a specific opinion piece. At issue is an op-ed … Continue reading

Posted in Media Bias | Tagged , | Comments Off on Hoyt’s blindness again

Ghost of a chance of peace

Some twenty years ago a Palestinian soda company started hiring students from the nearby Yeshiva in Beit El to certify that the soda was Kosher for sale in Israel. It seemed like a good idea at the time but then … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, palestinian politics | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Full of fulbright

Four and a half years ago three Americans were killed as they crossed into Gaza: From the wreckage, it appeared that the explosion had occurred directly beneath the driver’s seat of the second of three American vehicles, ripping off the … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Derfner digs deep

My contempt for Larry Derfner goes back a ways. In the 90’s he was one of the Israel correspondents for every Jewish American weekly. As an extreme leftist, he used that platform to present Israel in the worst possible light. … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Derfner digs deep

R-i-i-i-i-i-i-p

In order to show the progress that the Palestinian police are making, news services often provide pictures of them in amusing physical poses and give a caption that they’re undergoing training. There were a couple of pictures yesterday, that defied … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, palestinian politics | Tagged | 2 Comments

The pariah

From the Times of London (h/t Backspin) Some Israelis object to this program. They remember that Saddam Hussein fired Scuds into Israel during first Gulf War and find it offensive that Iraqis now seek their help but had no objection … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The pariah

How significant was the al-Dura verdict?

Richard Landes comments on the court’s decision in the Karsenty/Enderlin case. Generally speaking, I think this is a devastating decision. The judges go out of their way to criticize everyone involved on the side of France2 (including some backhanded swipes … Continue reading

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

A kick against progress in Iraq

From the NYT. Soccer’s world governing body suspended Iraq’s national soccer association on Monday, leaving the players on Iraq’s national team who had united a divided country fearing that they will not be able to participate in the 2010 World … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | Comments Off on A kick against progress in Iraq

Out of school

The NYT citing a Reuters report doesn’t seem to feel that this is any big deal. Former President Jimmy Carter said Israel held at least 150 nuclear weapons, the first time a current or former American president had publicly acknowledged … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | 5 Comments

Thinking of the troops

In his column today, William Kristol writes in Remember to Remember: One retired general I know urges civilians to go out of their way to say thank you to servicemen and women they happen to encounter. At first I thought … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , | 2 Comments