Read between the lines. We have:

• The truce being contingent on the re-opening of border crossings. Translation: Hamas is low on weapons supplies, and wants a time-out with easy access to re-arm.
• An expiry date on the truce of 18 months, after which all bets are off and the whole song-and-dance will start all over from scratch.
• Hamas doesn’t refer to this as a “truce”, but as the Arabic word “hudna”, which has a completely different meaning. It’s got nothing to do with a desire for reconciliation; instead, it’s viewed as a tactical move.
• And of course, no deal for the release of Gilad Shalit.

But we all know what will happen. Hamas will announce the truce with great fanfare. It will then blatantly proceed to ignore and violate the truce daily. Israel will close its eyes as long as possible before finally having no choice but to respond. And then the world will universally condemn Israel for “violating the terms” of the truce.

I wonder if Meryl Yourish will launch another Shudna Watch in her blog?

By the way, for anyone interested in why I support this day, or why I hate PETA so much, read this.

But never mind those clowns. Personally I think the winner should’ve been Meryl Yourish.

Meryl has numbers proving conclusively that the so-called “truce” was a myth all along. She’s been saying that since it started. Nobody’s been listening. I’m betting not too many people will now. Read her post anyway.

Closer to home, there’s no shortage of election coverage and commentary. But here’s something you don’t see every day: David Janes apparently wants to be Prime Minister. And he’s laying out his platform, piece by piece. I can’t say I agree with everything he says, but at least he’s refreshingly honest. Bloggers for PM!

Pauline cast her ballot in advance polling, for the eminently logical reason that Montreal weather is unpredictable at this time of year. If I find myself unable to vote on Monday because of an ice storm, Pauline, I give you permission to say “I told you so”.

The most feared terrorist in Asia, Azahari bin Husin, the man responsible for the two Bali bombings and an attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta, has blown himself up after being cornered by police in East Java.

Meryl, I see your question and raise you this one: How is it that I only found out about it through reading your blog?

Reuters top stories? Nope. AP? Not a chance. CNN? Andrea friggin’ Yates is a lead story but no sign of the news about bin Husin.

I guess successes in the vastly unpopular War on Terror would be conterproductive. Failures sell many more papers, right? Especially when Bush can be blamed for them.

Hamas leaders vowed to continue fighting Israel as tens of thousands cheered and waved the group’s green flags and masked gunmen hoisted assault rifles, rockets and anti-tank missiles.

“We will not rest and will not abandon the path of Jihad and martyrdom as long as one inch of our land remained in the hands of the Jews,” said Raed Saed, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza City, using the Arabic term for holy war.

“We are celebrating our victory in Gaza and now we are headed toward Jerusalem, Nablus, Akko, Haifa, the Galilee and all of Palestine,” he said.

“Sharon, you should know that we will win – the only language spoken will be the language of weapons. We are young people who aspire to die for Allah and for the weapons we are carrying.”

Catch that language? Jerusalem (not “East Jerusalem”), Nabulus, Akko, Haifa, the Galilee and all of Palestine.

For the uninitiated, that means Israel.

I was cautiously optimistic at the start of the pullout plan, figuring that Sharon had a strategy and that this could at the very least break the stalemate and get Israel out of a region it didn’t want in the first place. I have to sadly concede that those opposed to the plan were probably right – not for religious or ideological reasons, but because it set a very dangerous precedent in rewarding terrorism.

Just when the violence was starting to wane, just as the Palestinians were starting to believe that maybe their approach was a mistake, the Gaza pullout handed them a victory to re-energize their ranks and start up the bloodshed all over again.

I’d hoped I was wrong about that. It sadly appears that I was right.

Meryl, of course, is all over the story – here, here, and here are a few recent postings. And Lynn had no illusions to begin with, but as she well knows, there’s no joy in this version of “I told you so”.

The Palestinians have been handed a huge opportunity in Gaza to prove to the world that they’re ready for a state. And of course, this opportuity is being squandered, just like all those that came before it.

A Jewish settler in the West Bank has been indicted by an Israeli court in the shooting deaths of four Palestinians in northern Israel earlier this month.

News you’d never see:

A Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank has been indicted by a Palestinian court in the shooting deaths of four Israelis in northern Israel earlier this month.

What is it that Meryl always calls situations like these? Oh yeah, IDST: Israel Double-Standard Time.

But Meryl describes perfectly how horribly difficult it is:

I have found myself unable to read the stories, or watch the news reports, or even think very much about it, because no matter whether or not you agree with the removal of the settlements, if you have a heart, you cannot but be upset to see people uprooted forcibly from their homes.

I cannot watch Jews fight Jews and remain dry-eyed. I can’t even read about it and not choke up. And I find that I cannot write very much about it, either.

[ . . . ]

Here is what I think is going to happen in the next few months: The terrorist attacks will continue, redoubled, as soon as Mahmoud Abbas feels comfortable enough with doing so. Israeli will not invade Gaza in response; world opinion will prevent her from doing so. The terrorism will move to the West Bank, as the IDF already realizes. Rockets will fly at Israel proper. The world will tell Israel to “show restraint.” The UN will condemn any Israeli actions.

Nothing will change. Nothing. The Bush administration has proven that they believe in the Exception Clause when it comes to condemning terrorism against Jews. I’m not buying this op-ed in the Times; Zev Chafets is an optimist, and he is overlooking the Exception Clause. The EU and the UN are still slaves to Arab oil, Arab money, Arab voting blocs, and their own barely-repressed history of anti-Semitism. They still refuse to fully condemn Hamas and Hizbullah, whose leaders have a new rallying cry, and who insist they are winning the battle with Israel.

Did I say nothing will change? That’s wrong. Israelis will no longer be murdered in the Gaza Strip. But only because they aren’t there.

These days, I find I’m just as pessimistic as Meryl. And equally unable to write about it.

On the serious side, it appears that W. isn’t going to get the fact that Ma’ale Adunim is a neighborhood of Jerusalem, not a “settlement” in the West Bank (think Queens in NYC for a comparison, or the south side of Richmond, which is actually fifteen minutes away from downtown yet is still part of the city, and I have the tax bills to prove it), and then tell the PA to eff off. Because Ariel Sharon isn’t giving it up, nor will the rest of Israel.

Jerusalem was out of Jewish control for nearly two millennia. We will never willingly give it up again, since we had the proof during Jordanian control, when they were legally obligated by treaty to let Jews worship at the Western Wall and did not, that the Arabs cannot be trusted to let Jews worship at our holy sites — even though Jews have let Muslims worship at theirs since 1967, and indeed, enacted a law protecting all holy sites.

In fact, the Jordanians destroyed much of Jewish Jerusalem while they were in control.

Here’s the thing: The Arabs lost the war. Now they lose some territory. It happens. Deal with it.

Ah yes, cause they’ve been “dealing with it” oh-so-well for all these years.

In honor PETA’s continuing prevarications, and constant annoyance, we once again urge our readers to do what pisses them off the most: Eat meat on International Eat an Animal for PETA Day, March 15th.

[ . . . ]

Remember, nothing says “Eff you, PETA” like a yummy cow dinner. Mm. Cow.

Of all the self-righteous annoying pains in the world, PETA are some of the worst. I will happily eat some sort of poultry on March 15th (which is a week from Tuesday), and I encourage you to do the same.

Allison and Imshin pointed me towards Lisa’s story of how she came to Israel. I’m completely hooked. You will be too. So far, she’s got parts one, two, three and four.

While you’re over at Imshin’s, read this post about Hannah Senesh.

Damian has this disturbing story about how Russian nationalist lawmakers want to “investigate” and ban Jewish organizations. Meryl has more.

And in case you’re still looking for more to read, check out the Jewish and Israeli blog award nominees. While you’re there, vote for your favourites and check out some of the ones you may never have heard of.

Back to regularly-scheduled programming as soon as possible.

While you’re at it, you can vote for her or Allison for a BlogAward, even though it’s pretty much a lost cause for anyone in that category. And while you’re at the blog awards site, vote for Meryl Yourish, not just because she asked for endorsements, but because she’s also the source of a lot of the material you read here – and a very witty writer to boot. And the best Canadian blog category didn’t see fit to include yours truly (who am I kidding anyway?) but you can definitely kick a vote or two in for Damian.

Turns out I’m not the only lefty in the blogosphere… in a post reminiscent of this one. You just watch: one day we shall dominate.

To counteract all that nonsense, Meryl has a roundup on pieces on Arafat’s true legacy.

Yasser Arafat was a mass-murderer and a terrorist. He lied to the entire world, promising peace while plotting war. He thwarted his people’s attempt for statehood at every single turn. He massacred Olympic athletes, hijaked planes, sent thousands of suicide bombers to blow up innocent Israelis, and murdered tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese. His legacies consist of little other than terrorism and hatred, and that’s exactly how he deserves to be remembered.

Update: Irreverantly hysterical quote of the day from Meryl: “He’s no longer an Arafish, he’s an Aravegetable. And he’s going to be rotten soon enough.”

A Jewish community center in Paris was burned down last night. The police suspect arson. But there is no anti-Semitism in France.

[ . . . ]

How can that be? Anti-Semitism is not a big problem in France. Chirac said so. He even chastised Ariel Sharon for saying that it was.

Read the rest.

On a related note, Imshin has a disgusting travesty of justice for an 11-year-old Jewish boy who was beaten up by Arab classmates who shouted antisemitic jeers at him while they beat him. The school expelled both attackers, but then their parents sued the schoolboard and the ministry of education. Subsequently, both boys were allowed back into school, and damages ordered paid to them.

The ministry of education and the parents opposed this decision in an appeal court. Imagine what will happen to the Jewish boy if he sees his tormentors back in school. The execution of this judgment means in fact expelling the victim from the school. The judgment will be rendered in August, when all France is on vacation, and the lawyer of the parents is very pessimistic, based on many recent cases in France where complaints about anti-Semitism were minimized and usually dismissed by the French courts. In this case, the administrative court judged that, based on the accused boys declarations, the anti-Semitic acts, even though recognized by the authors, were not numerous enough to justify expelling the authors form school. So, for this French court, a certain level of anti-Semitism, even though illegal (it is against the law in France to proffer anti-Semitic or racist remarks in public), is acceptable.

But no, Meryl’s right, of course: there’s no antisemitism in France.

Update: Bad news for France but good news for the Israeli tourism industry.

Lynn is not impressed by Arafat’s mea culpa and neither is Meryl. Neither am I, for that matter. Arafat’s line about how “even the prophets made mistakes” sounds more like an egotistical attempt for Arafat to compare himself to a prophet than anything else. I guess megalomania comes with the territory for dictators. Whatever.

LGF has the Muslim self-congratulations for vote influence in Canada, which is a logical follow-up to some of what I posted before the election.

Damian has some thoughts about the backlash against Springsteen for participating in the concerts for John Kerry. I think he nails the issue – it’s silly to boycott all celebs for their political views unless they’re extreme. But if people want to boycott, or to criticize, that’s part of freedom of speech as well. Personally I wish celebs would butt out of politics and stick to their areas of expertise, but I know that’s about as likely to happen as peace in the middle east.

And finally, a shout-out to the newest link on my blogroll, Autonomous Source. Bruce is a blogger from right here in Quebec, and definately worth a read.

If you’re not reading Imshin, you should be. She has been blogging in her typically insightful fashion lately about Shavuot and Zionism’s true meaning, and about antisemitism at Berkeley.

LGF has the photo that proves just how little the UN can be trusted in the mideast. And Meryl has some biting commentary on the latest news emerging from Israel.

In Canadian news, the election talk that seems to be dominating the airwaves. But Damian Penny and David Janes have a disgusting story of racism interfering in custody cases that proves just how dangerous these “PC” policies can be for innocent children. As for the election, Paul Jané comments on the Liberals’ transparent scheme to make ridiculous healthcare promises at the eleventh hour that they clearly have no intention of keeping. (Anyone else remember the “no more GST” promise? Remind me again why I keep voting for these guys?)

I approve. I have nothing against vegetarians, but the wingnuts over at People Eating Tasty Animals (er, PETA) are the exception. Don’t want to eat meat? Fine. But shut up about it. PETA, on the other hand, is so obsessed with respect for animals that they have lost all respect for humans. Besides the aforementioned ad campaign, there was also the lovely incident where PETA decided that suicide bombings are OK as long as no donkeys are harmed, or the really classy tactic of telling children their mommy is an animal-killer for wearing fur, by approaching kids at performances of the Nutcracker and handing them flyers.

So I plan to go home after work and have a nice tasty chicken dinner in honour of IEAPD. ‘Course, I probably would’ve done that anyway. But somehow I think it’ll taste better, since I’ll know that it’s in honour of pissing off PETA.

I don’t think the Massachusetts court is an example of judicial activism. I think it’s an example of the inevitability of the rights of American citizens being granted to all Americans.

It doesn’t matter if some religions think it’s a sin. The Constitution doesn’t take religion into account when granting Americans equal protection under the law.

Read the rest.

Meryl wonders if the PA will also declare that unicorns exist. Personally, I’m much more curious as to whether they’d go after unicorns with suicide bombs because they’re living on “Arab land”.

I implored the blogosphere to do better. And some, at least, have.

Damian Penny wrote about the “People’s Democratic Republic of Death Camps”. David Janes astutely observed that “there’s no obvious way to blame the US for this, so it’s not really happening, is it?”. Lynn B. urges us to read up and talk about it. Meryl Yourish has a brilliantly-written post entitled “North Korea is Not Our Problem”.

I’ll update this throughout the day with (hopefully) more. Let’s not allow this to become a one-day headline.

Update: Paul Jané finds the words that failed me. Jonathan is feeling “curiously dispassionate”… which I find interesting in light of my reaction to the story, which was more emotional than even I expected. And Spin Killer weighs in.

From Israel, Harry has a prayer that you won’t find in any traditional siddur. And Allison has Hamas’s particular brand of “feminism”.

David and Lynn disagree on the appropriateness of the Israeli ambassador’s response to the disgusting “Snow White” art exhibit in Sweden glorifying a Palestinian suicide bomber. Judith posted reactions from a number of other bloggers on the same subject. And Mike Silverman has the poster that puts a whole new meaning on the closing of the Passover seder.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Oh, there’s also this charming headline from Reuters:

Palestinians Offer Truce Extension, Israel Says No

Wow, tough crowd. Why would Israel refuse to extend a truce?

[ . . . ]

Oh, that’s why. The Israelis are asking the pals to actually stick to the terms of the agreement, not some lame “truce” that isn’t even holding. Because the pals are supposed to dismantle the terror groups as part of the road map, and nobody seems to be holding them to that. But hey, are the pals serious about that truce agreement?

I couldn’t agree more.

She also notes that Israel seems to be getting the blame for “derailing” the peace process, but there’s virtually no mention of the latest Palestinian shooting attack on a woman and her three children. Instead, Israel is being criticized for only releasing Palestinian prisoners that have not been directly responsible for murdering innocent Israelis.

See, what nobody seems to realize is that “cease-fire” is not the proper translation of “Hudna”. Firstly, with 170 attacks since the June 29th declaration, one would have to be blind, deaf, and just plain stupid to call this an actual cease-fire. It’s a media relations ploy, plain and simple. The Palestinians sensed that the Western world was getting tired of their violent tactics, so they decided to claim to have called a cease-fire while continuing attacks like normal, as this makes painfully clear. Secondly, the “hudna” isn’t a cease-fire with the aim of peace, but with the aim of re-armement and reorganization in order to carry out even deadlier attacks as soon as it expires.

Israel was supposed to begin dismantling settlements, release prisoners, ease checkpoints, and pull the IDF out of Palestinian-controlled zones. The Palestinians were supposed to stop violent attacks and work towards dismantling the terrorist organizations. With all the focus on Israel’s non-compliance, it at least has made steps. What steps have been made, exactly, on the Palestinian side?

Magen David Adom has been a cause rather close to my heart, ever since my dad got food poisoning on a flight to Israel about 6 years ago and was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital . . . in an ambulance donated by the Canadian MDA.

That day in 1997, while we were in the air, a terrorist bomb exploded in Mahaneh Yehuda in Jerusalem. And when we arrived in the hospital, the injured victims of this bombing were being brought in.

In between ducking the news cameras so as not to scare our friends and relatives back home by showing up on the 6 o’ clock news, my mom and I had time to reflect on this crazy, wonderful country we were in. My dad was, thankfully, not seriously ill, but the doctors and nurses took excellent care of him. At the same time, they were treating the victims of senseless terrorism with expert skill and compassion.

The ambulances that are first on the scene when disaster strikes are not political. MDA ambulances are staffed almost entirely by trained volunteers. They treat all victims, be they Jewish or Arab, living on either side of the so-called “green line”, and no matter their background or political affiliation. Ambulance drivers have to brave enormous difficulties to make their way to these horrific scenes, often putting themselves at risk of delayed second attacks designed to target rescue efforts. They also fulfil the role of any other ambulance service, rushing to the scenes of car accidents, to the aid of heart attack patients, and the like.

Magen David Adom is the victim of a senseless campaign itself, to keep it out of International Red Cross/Red Crescent for purely arbitrary reasons – namely that the Jewish magen david is not an “acceptable” symbol, unlike the Christian cross or the Muslim crescent. Recently, the American Red Cross has come out in support of MDA and hopefully this isolation will end soon. On the Canadian side, a spat between CMDA and the CCRA has been resolved, allowing the organisation to keep its much-deserved charitable status in Canda.

So please mosey on over to Meryl Yourish and donate to Blogathon 2003. Israel desperately needs ambulances. Let’s help get them one.

Next we’ll see the different terrorist factions falling all over each other to get the prestigious claim of being the group to have destroyed this latest peace effort. They know they can do it. The world refuses to condemn them, and more than half their population supports them.

I think the President knows full well that the “Road Map” is doomed from the start. I think he knows that Arafat is still pulling the strings over there, and that terrorism is the lifeblood of the Palestinian Authority. And I think that President Bush is simply waiting for the failure of the Road Map before he tells the “Quartet” that it’s time to dismantle the palestinian terror operations — just like Al Qaeda is being dismantled, and just like Iraq’s dictatorship was dismantled.

Well, planned or not, it’s already a massive failure if week 1 is any indication. Anyone who thinks that this “road map” is going to lead to a real lasting peace is insane.

The Jerusalem Post has stories about how the Palestinian Authority’s representative at the UN Human Rights Convention publicly called for Israel’s destruction and made disgusting comparisons to Nazism, UNRWA was implicated once again in aiding and abetting terorrism, and Palestinians named a square in Jenin after the suicide bomber who killed 4 U.S. troops in Iraq. And all that in the past two days!

But sure, Israel should just give them whatever they want, and make nice, and all will work itself out. Yeah, right.