June 3, 2007:
The fighting in Lebanon, between
Lebanese troops and about 200 al Qaeda (Fatah al Islam) militants in a
Palestinian refugee camp, continues. Over a hundred people have been
killed so far (about 60 al Qaeda, 37 soldiers and 20 civilians). About
400 homes in the camp have been killed. Most of the 36,000 residents have fled
the refugee camp, but thousands refuse to leave. Yesterday, the
government began using helicopter gunships against the militants. The
terrorists have been told that the army will not wait much longer before coming
into the camp. But the terrorists insist they will fight to the death. The
militants are considered a front for Syria and Iran. Syria, and Iran-backed
Hizbollah, oppose Lebanese action against the militants. Syria, Iran and
Hizbollah also oppose UN attempts to bring to justice those terrorists who
killed former prime minister Hariri in 2005. The killers have been tracked back
to Syria, as part of a wider campaign to kill or intimidate anti-Syrian
politicians in Lebanon.
June 2, 2007: There are about 80 percent
fewer rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza, with only two or three landing
near the Israeli town of Sderot each day. The Palestinians are calling it
an undeclared truce, Israelis are calling it terrorists suffering from weeks of
heavy artillery and missile attacks. Israeli intelligence networks inside Gaza have
been more successful, as the popularity of Palestinian terror groups declines.
The Israelis are getting better intel about where the key bad guys are, and
when they people are killed, terrorist operations are greatly hampered.
June 1, 2007: Islamic militants in Gaza have
threatened to kill women who read the news on television, unless these women
wear "Islamic dress." This apparently means hiding their faces, as
many of the women news readers already wear a headscarf. These same militants
have been threatening stores that sell videos or what they consider
"un-Islamic material." Some of these stores have been attacked and
destroyed.
May 31, 2007: In the second half of May,
Palestinian terrorists fired over 300 Kassam rockets into southern Israel. Most
were aimed at the Israeli town of Sderot. Israel has an early warning system,
which means the people of Sderot are constantly responding to the alerts (by
running for cover). Not all the incoming rockets are detected, so nearly half
the towns population has developed psychological problems related to anxiety
and stress. During the last three weeks, two people in Sderot have been killed,
and sixteen wounded. In six years of Kassam attacks, Sderot has suffered eleven
dead and over a hundred injured. For the towns 23,000 residents, the recent
increase in Kassam attacks have proved too much, and over a third of the
population has left.
In response, Israel launched 68 attacks on specific
terrorist targets in Gaza during the last two weeks, leaving fifty dead and nearly
200 wounded. About half (30) of those were between 24-27 May. That series
of strikes killed seven people, and wounded 35. One of the dead and several of
the wounded were civilians. The Palestinian terrorists know the Israeli rules
of engagement put a premium on avoiding civilian casualties, and so they try to
keep their key people surrounded by civilians as much as possible. That way,
the Israelis may call off the strike, or, if they do proceed, the civilian
casualties make great photo-opportunities for Palestinian propaganda and
foreign media. This works, insofar as the UN declared that Israel had used
"disproportionate force" during this period. Israel, being a
democracy, has to respond to attacks on its civilians. The UN is responding to
an attitude that recognizes Arabs as inept losers who can't do anything right,
and the Israelis as a much more together group who should know better. In other
words, it's all Israels fault.
Inside Gaza, the May 19th ceasefire is holding,
more or less. The Palestinians are fed up with the inability of their elected,
or self-selected, leaders to govern. Many Gaza residents openly speak of how
much better things were when Gaza was under Israeli occupation, and why can't
the Palestinians govern themselves. Hamas was seen as the last hope for an
effective Palestinian government. Now Hamas is considered another bunch of
loud, but inept, activists. Moreover, Hamas is more into violence, not just
against Israelis (which most Palestinians don't mind), but against Palestinians
who disagree with them (something Palestinians do mind.)
May 30, 2007: Norway has become the first European
nation to recognize the new Palestinian coalition government, and has given the
Palestinian government $10 million. Holland is planning on giving $8.4 million
to the Palestinian police. Many Europeans are willing to overlook the Hamas
goal of destroying Israel, and all the anti-Israeli Arab propaganda. For these
Europeans, as long as the Arabs are unsuccessful in killing a lot of Israelis,
the situation is bearable, at least for the Europeans.
May 29, 2007: In late 2000, the Palestinian
Authority didn't just turn down an Israeli peace deal, but declared war, and
began a terror campaign that has turned out disastrously for the Palestinians.
Since 2000, Palestinian GDP has declined by 40 percent. Unemployment is 24
percent. The Palestinians blame Israel for all this, which is the result of
Israeli travel restrictions. These were one part of a counter-terror campaign
that defeated the Palestinian terror attacks. The Palestinians refuse to take
responsibility for the terror attacks, or do anything to stop them. Palestinian
media still calls for the destruction of Israel, praises dead terrorists as
heroes, and proclaims any damage done to Israel by the terrorists as a great
victory. Thus two dead Israelis, from over 300 rockets fired at the town of
Sderot, is hailed as a big deal. Fatah and Hamas are still squabbling over how
to share power, and give much less attention to a peace deal with Israel.