June 22, 2010: There is growing violence in the Sinai, as Egyptian police and soldiers seek to shut down Bedouin smuggling gangs. This has caused many Bedouin to, in effect, rebel. Attacks on Egyptian government officials and truck traffic moving through the area (much of it headed for Israel) are much more common. Israel faces a similar problem in the West Bank and Gaza, where terrorist groups are allowed, by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, to operate. The terror groups only get into trouble if they attack the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. In turn, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas tolerate constant Israeli raids against the terrorists (which the Palestinian officials also see as unpredictable and dangerous.) Palestinian public opinion supports the terrorism, even though the Israelis have defeated the ability of the terrorists to make attacks inside Israel. This self-destructive attitude by the Palestinians, who, officially, are seeking a peace deal with Israel, has been created by decades of anti-Israel propaganda within the Palestinian community (in the mass media and the schools). The propaganda insists that Israel has no right to exist, and all Israeli territory is actually part of Palestine. This angle is constantly stressed in Palestinian electronic and print media.

Then the  Palestinians found that they had growing support in Europe from activists and politicians who were willing to ignore Palestinian media, and pretend to believe the non-Arabic line that the Palestinians are willing to negotiate a two state treaty. They aren't, and the Moslem world agrees with them. The Arab world is able to view Palestinian Arab language web sites and satellite TV shows, and willingly consume the constant stream of "Israel must be destroyed" propaganda. Palestinians are hoping that this situation will eventually result in economic sanctions, or maybe even military action, against Israel. The Palestinians accept the fact that they cannot destroy Israel via military or terrorist action. The Arab world has also accepted that they cannot defeat Israel. So an indirect strategy is accepted as more likely to succeed, a strategy based on deception and delusion.

Israeli police has broken up a terrorist cell operating in Jerusalem. The terrorists were Israeli Arabs, and were responsible for several attacks on Jews, using pistols. Such weapons can be obtained from criminal gangs, who normally want nothing to do with terrorists (too much attention from the police.) Hezbollah, Hamas and terrorist groups in the West Bank have encouraged Israeli Arabs to form terror cells, and have tried to provide cash and advice.

Several other groups are claiming that they are sending ships to break the Gaza blockade, but none have shown up. Israel has assured all such groups that their ships will be stopped before they get too close to Gaza.

June 20, 2010: Israel has eased up on its Gaza blockade, allowing in more items that might be used for weapons or military activity. Gaza has always gotten food, medicine and fuel (except when Hamas attacked the crossing points, to halt shipments momentarily so they could accuse Israel of starving them.)

Because of the corruption in Egypt, smuggling tunnels into Gaza continue to exist. The Egyptian government has made several efforts to shut down the tunnels. But the government does not control all its officials and security forces. Palestinians can still bribe enough Egyptians to keep plenty of tunnels operating, bringing in many of the good that Israel bans from legal entry. But the size limitations of the tunnels keep out, so far,  the large Iranian rockets that could reach most targets in Israel.

June 17, 2010: The French government tried to ban Al Aqsa TV, a satellite channel based in Gaza, from continuing to reach Moslems in France, because the Al Aqsa TV content was blatantly anti-Semitic. This is against French law. But the government backed off when Al Aqsa TV said they would modify their content. The way this usually works, Al Aqsa TV pretends to change their tune, the French pretend to agree and the hateful propaganda keeps coming.  

June 12, 2010: After "opening" the Gaza border, at the Rafah crossing, Egypt quietly closed it again. The opening was for propaganda purposes. Palestinians were still checked going in or out (and less than a thousand people a day were allowed in, or out.) And bans on weapons and other military goods was maintained. Egypt sees Gaza as a threat because Hamas allows anti-Egyptian terrorists to use Gaza as a sanctuary.