President Obama calls for Palestinian State Along pre-1967 Borders

In a display that clearly indicated there was no American ally he wouldn't be willing to stab in the back, President Obama has endorsed long-standing Palestinian demands that a Palestinian state be set up along pre 1967 borders in a wide ranging speech regarding Middle East policy earlier today.

He also warned Palestinians that “efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure” and that they would “never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.”

He also chastised both sides for taking steps that don’t help the peace process.

“Israeli settlement activity continues. Palestinians have walked away from talks,” he said. “The world looks at a conflict that has grinded on and on and on, and sees nothing but stalemate.”

[Umm....earth to Barry, the Palestinians have done MUCH worse than walking away from peace talks (or even building new apartments) in the past few weeks- NANESB!]

Should Israel go back to their pre-1967 borders, that would leave the Jewish state only 8 miles wide in some places, bordered by a belligerent Palestinian government seeking to unify with terrorist group Hamas (the same Hamas which condemned the killing of the islamic 'Holy Warrior' Osama Bin Laden) and replete with terrorists acquiring longer-range weapons with the Israelis holding less territory.

The only reason I'm not saying President Obama is throwing Israel under the bus is because the Palestinians have this tendency to blow up buses.

Not surprisingly, Israeli leaders are lukewarm on the President's suggestion. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Obama's proposal, saying that the boundaries would make Israel 'militarily indefensable'.

Israel has attempted 'Land for Peace' before, unilaterally withdrawing from the Gaza strip in 2005, only to be rewarded with a near-constant bombardment of southern Israeli border towns by Katusha rockets fired from the Gaza strip since then.

Exit question- What on God's green earth would make anybody who has been paying attention for the last 6 decades think that Israel should expect any semblance of peace from the Palestinians after giving up even MORE land?

New Israeli Missile Defense System Combat Tested; Anti-Tank Weapon Fired at School Bus; Western Activist Kidnapped, Killed

Israel's new 'Iron Dome' short-range missile defense system enjoyed some early success last week after a battery in Ashkelon intercepted a Grad rocket that fired from the Gaza strip.

The system has three main components - a tracking radar to detect the incoming projectile, a battle management and control system, and the missile launchers themselves. The manufacturers (Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems) claim to be able to hit anything from a missile to a 155mm artillery shell in any weather condition. The system underwent comprehensive testing in late 2010 and was deemed operational by Defense Minister Ehud Barak last month.

Southern Israel has been bombarded by rockets and short range missiles from the Hamas controlled Gaza strip for the better part of the last decade, with the accuracy and payloads gradually increasing.
ELSEWHERE IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL: Shortly after the Iron Dome system's early success an anti-tank rocket was fired at an Israeli school bus in the Negev region along the Gaza border, wounding the driver and a 16 year old student on board. Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack and the Israeli Defence Forces responded with artillery and helicopter gunships firing on targets inside the Gaza strip. The missile is thought to be a Russian-made Koronet- manufacture of the Koronet reportedly is only permitted inside Russia. The missile was reportedly sold to Syria and likely smuggled to the Gaza strip from there.

GAZA: The body of an Italian pro-Palestinian activist was found hanging in a Gaza apartment a few hours after he was abducted on Thursday. An al-Qaeda inspired Islamic group calling itself Monotheism and Holy War abducted 38 year old Vittori Arrigoni. He then appeared blindfolded and with cuts on his face in a video circulated online in which the group demanded Hamas released one of their jailed leaders hours before the International Solidarity Movement's activist body was found in the otherwise vacant apartment. Hamas claims it arrested two of the suspected kidnappers not far from where the body was found and were reportedly seeking a 3rd suspect.

Nine Killed as Israeli Commandos Board Gaza-Bound Ships

A few days after a violent clash between Israeli commandos and Gaza-bound foreign activists in the Mediterranean killed nine and left dozens injured, some interesting facts are starting to see the light of day that seemingly derail the narrative that some well-intentioned do-gooders bringing food and clothes to the Gazans were arbitrarily attacked and roughed up by the Israeli military.

After announcing well in advance their intention to try and run the Israeli Naval blockade of the Gaza strip a few weeks ago, things came to a head over the weekend when 'activists' on the MV Mavi Marmara attacked Israeli Naval commandos boarding the vessel (other vessels in the six ship flotilla were boarded without incident). With members of the boarding party outnumbered and being beaten, stabbed or thrown overboard, the Israelis responded with deadly force, with 9 activists dead, an estimated 60 wounded and 10 of the commandos wounded when the dust cleared.

The ships and their cargo were eventually diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod. From the onset, the goal of the 'activists' was likely more about scoring propaganda points against Israel than it was helping the Gazans. If you stop and think about it from that perspective, the two most likely scenarios put the flotilla organizers out ahead- either they'd succeed in running the Israeli blockade and show the world that they could come and go at will, or they could instigate a confrontation and garner sympathy and outrage from the ensuing bloodshed.

While there apparently weren't any firearms on board the ships, the IDF displayed pictures of bulletproof vests, Kevlar helmets, night vision optics and a rifle scope they claimed to have recovered from the MV Mari Marmara. Granted the IDF may not be considered impartial on the matter, but some more news came out earlier today that supports the notion that the 'Flotilla for Gaza' was more about propaganda than aid.

Now the flaw in the argument that da Jooooooos the Israelis were out for blood is the fact that they boarded the ship with paintball guns as their primary weapons (they did have pistols holstered and eventually ended up using them). If they were intent on massacring the 'activists', I suspect they would've boarded with something more potent than an Airsoft slung over their sholders.

A former high-ranking anti terror magistrate in France said that the Turkish aid group that organized the flotilla had ties to terror groups, including a plot to set off bombs in the Paris Metro and attack targets in the French town of Roubaix by an Algerian cell. Another member of the same cell was apprehended in December 1999 in Washington state with explosives in the trunk of his rented vehicle after crossing over from Canada via ferry. After Ahmed Ressam was arrested, he said the explosives were destined for Los Angeles International airport and to be detonated in the passenger terminal.

In an AP Interview, the French magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere, said that he was present when French and Turkish police raided the Istanbul headquarters of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms (Known by its Turkish acronym- IHH) in 1998. There, they found weapons and fake documents and it was determined that the IHH was a front for moving weapons, money and fighters to Bosnia and Afghanistan.

"It's hard to prove, but all elements of the investigation showed that part of the NGO served to hide jihad-type activities [snip] ...I'm convinced this was a clear strategy, known by IHH."

French investigators found in the 1990s that "several members of Fateh Kamel's network worked at the IHH as a cover," Bruguiere said. "It was too systematic and too widespread for the NGO (non-governmental organization) not to know" their real goal, he said

A US State Department spokesman said on Wednesday that they were aware of IHH representatives meeting with senior-level Hamas officials in Syria, Turkey and the Gaza strip since 2006 and that it was "obviously of great concern to us".


Spin, Strangeness and Charm has more on this, including the almost Pavlovian international condemnation of Israel just hours after the MV Mari Marmara incident and video shot at the scene.