FresnoZionism.org — ציונות פרסנו

A car took a direct hit from a Qassam missile in Sderot today. One person was killed, another wounded.

The Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing, which claimed responsibility for the barrage of Qassam rockets on Sderot that killed one woman on Monday said it would continue to fire rockets at Israel…

According to Abu Abir, the Palestinian resistance organizations would not back down, even if the targeted killings reach more senior leaders.

…We want to see thousands more residents of Sderot and the vicinity be evacuated,” Abu Abir said. — YNet

Israel is determined to stop the rocket attacks, if necessary by killing the the leadership of groups like the PRC and Hamas. We’ll see who prevails.

By the way, “Abu Abir” would best stay indoors and think about the virgins that he is going to meet shortly.

Technorati Tags: Israel, Sderot, Qassam

From today’s Jerusalem Post:

The US ambassador to Israel on Monday said it is unlikely that convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard will ever be released, saying the fact that he has not been executed should be seen as an act of clemency by Washington…

“It came out in the trial very clearly, Jonathan Pollard took money for what he did, he sold out his country,” [Ambassador Richard] Jones said in comments at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv. “The fact that he wasn’t executed is the mercy that Jonathan Pollard will receive.”

“This is a very emotional issue in the United States,” Jones said. “I know he was helping a friend, but that’s what makes it even more emotional for Americans – if a friend would cooperate in aiding and abetting someone who is committing treason against his own country.”

The ambassador’s statement is not only malicious, as Esther Pollard said, but absurd. If it were especially heinous to spy for a ‘friend’, then the penalty for spying for an ally would be greater than that of spying for a hostile power; and this isn’t the case.

Pollard’s supporters often point out that his sentence was especially severe compared to those given to other spies who had seriously damaged US security (for money as well as for other motives). It’s particularly hard to understand why Pollard received the same sentence as Aldrich Ames, who spied for the Soviet Union and was responsible for the deaths of numerous American agents. Pollard even spent seven years in solitary confinement; this was not the case with Ames.

There’s been lots of speculation about the reason for this. It seems to me that the most likely explanation is that Pollard knows something which would be so embarrassing to the US government — or to particular officials — that they cannot afford to allow him to be in a position to speak. This could relate to policy connected to Iraq or Iran.

The US has always kept information about why Pollard’s crime is considered so serious secret. Much more information is available about other cases, such as that of Ames. The secrecy, the remarkable disparity in sentencing, plus comments like those of Mr. Jones, give rise to all kinds of speculation about what Pollard knows and what motives — including antisemitism and the desire to make an example of a Jew with ‘dual loyalty’ — may be behind his treatment.

It seems to me that if the US cannot release Pollard and allow him to go to Israel (he’s served 22 years at this point), then the least that it can and should do is be more forthcoming about why Pollard’s offense justifies the treatment that he’s received.

Technorati Tags: Jonathan Pollard

As you will recall, Arab former Knesset member Azmi Bishara was accused of having spied for Hezbollah during the war, supposedly including transmitting targeting information for Hezbollah’s rockets. He’s currently in Qatar; if he were to return to Israel he could be arrested and tried, possibly for his life.

The Balad movement [Bishara’s Arab nationalist party in the Knesset] is planning to launch an international campaign this week demanding that Israel drop the case against former MK Azmi Bishara. The party’s most senior Knesset member, Jamal Zahalka, will leave Wednesday for a five-day tour in the US to promote the issue.

Balad will call for the establishment of an international committee to investigate the way Bishara was allegedly framed, and urge Israel to cancel the probe against him.

“We are ready for any inquiry commission or international investigation of this matter,” Zahalka told Ynet. — YNet

I just bet they are. Like the International Court of Justice’s decision that Israel’s security fence violated international law, it’s hard to imagine Israel getting a fair shake from an international commission, and even more so from world opinion.

Bishara was apparently allowed to leave Israel because the government feared the media circus that would surround a trial.

It looks like there will be one anyway.

Technorati Tags: Israel, Bishara

The BBC reports:

Fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamist gunmen from a Palestinian refugee camp has killed at least 40 people in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

Some 15 fighters from the radical Fatah Islam group [an Islamist organization not to be confused with the al-Fatah organization of Mahmoud Abbas — ed.] and 23 Lebanese soldiers died in intense battles, reports said.

At least two civilians were also killed and a further 40 reportedly hurt in the worst internal fighting Lebanon has seen since the civil war ended in 1990.

There’s some dispute about whether the group is linked to al-Qaeda or Syria, but there’s no doubt that they are another nasty bunch that believes that the path to paradise runs through puddles of blood.

Technorati Tags: Lebanon, Fatah Islam