Of Palestinian Pincers, Terror and Crime, again

Does anyone know a way out of this pincer movement?

Hamas:

- Haaretz: "Meshal: Upcoming Middle East conference is doomed to fail"- "The U.S.-sponsored international conference on Israeli-Palestinian peace is doomed to fail because it will serve only Israel's interests, Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal said in a CNN interview broadcast on Monday. >>>

Fatah:

- Jerusalem Post: "Summit failure may ignite new intifada" - "A failure in the upcoming US-sponsored Middle East peace conference would have more dangerous repercussions than the botched Camp David summit in 2000, Fatah officials warned on Tuesday. This was the first time senior Fatah officials hinted at a possible wave of violence if the conference - expected to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, next month - did not meet the Palestinians' demands. >>>

- Daily Mail: "Police raid finds £50m Da Vinci masterpiece in a lawyer's office"- "A stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece was recovered in a raid on a lawyer's office yesterday. Police officers interrupted a meeting during which it is understood a deal to buy the £50million painting was being negotiated. Four men were arrested and are due to appear in court today. The Madonna with the Yarnwinder, painted in 1501, was taken from a castle belonging to the 9th Duke of Buccleuch, Britain's largest landowner, four years ago. >>>

- Elsevier: "Saint Martin centre of global narcotics trade" - "The Caribbean island of Saint Martin is an important centre for international narcotics trafficking, and through it also money flows to terrorist organisations. This is the conclusion of the Dutch Ministry of Justice in a confidential report on 'Organised crime and law enforcement on Saint Martin'. The report, dating back to June, speaks of an 'important and multi-purpose role concerning (international) drugs trade'. The Antilles island functions as a port of transit not only for cocaine, but also for heroin, marijuana and synthetic drugs. Moreover, local law enforcement agencies mention a flow of funds to terrorist organisations through the island. Large sums of money, the proceeds of drugs and human trafficking, arrives on bank accounts of organisations connected to the Taliban and Hamas. According to American intelligence, on the island itself are terrorists who have been trained in Al Qaeda training camps and are barred from flying to the United States. The Ministry of Justice report cautions the credibility of the information, but does stress that American intelligence agencies are not optimistic concerning crime and law enforcement on the island."

Of Sick Games, Dangerous Asymmetrics and Demographics

It's a bit of a mixed bag today, mostly covered by the press from hell.

- "Church threatens legal action over 'sick' Sony game which 'desecrates' cathedral"
Sony stands accused by Church of England clergy of desecrating Manchester Cathedral after using the place of worship, without permission, as the backdrop to an ultra-violent computer game. A Dutch media outlet picks up the story (probably the low season has started to kick in) and heads "Church of England upset about a little game". The diminutive and the postmodern inverted commas trivialize the alleged qualification of the 'sickness' as well as the game itself, while in 'desecrates' they serve the purpose of throwing into doubt if such a thing really exists: isn't it all a gross exaggeration posed by hysterical Christians?

It reminds me of the comments of a E.U. Commissioner Margot "make-love-not-war" Wallstrom a few months ago, who briefly assumed the role of film critic. She derided the American production "The Departed" - covered by the freedom of expression, if not artistic licence - for its 'violence'. Apparently virtual violence from American sources is much worse than produced by Japanese. Ah, the selective indignation of the postmodern establishment and the overt game of deriding organised Christian faith in the press! And so our opinions are manipulated.

- The Los Angeles Times exploits and misuses Pope Benedict's criticism of the Iraq war for its own purposes. In "On Iraq, pope's message to Bush is quiet but firm" (which is an invention in contradiction of their own words further down the article: "Benedict did not use Bush's visit to make public remarks of substance and instead chose to deliver his message in private") the reporters state: "Benedict has been vocal in his opposition to bloodshed in the Middle East, singling out the Iraq war in this year's Easter message ...".

Actually, Pope Benedict XVI in his Easter message, worked his way down the entire list of the world's trouble spots. Instead, it was the press that singled out Iraq from that list!

- South Africa's IOL, with the intrepid headline "Palestinians 'take fight' to Israelis" is reporting on the brazen attack by a disguised Israeli army jeep on the Kissufim crossing, a fortified army position. Jerusalem Post clarifies that the hapless disguise of the car, with the letters TV taped on it, attracted attention of the Israeli soldiers since journalists do not usually drive so close to the security fence. A Palestinian spokesman admitted the raiders meant to snatch a soldier, but the attempt was foiled when IAF helicopters arrived.

The asymmetric warfare of the Palestinians could easily have backfired, as we have seen prior to last year's Lebanon war as a result of the abduction of an IDF soldier. It seems the Palestinian cause is well worth the risk of a few Palestinian lives. On top of that, after ambulances being used in attacks, press vehicles have now become also suspect. Which means that Palestinian lives are at stake as the former are checked for fighters and explosives, and that in the latter case the press are being hampered in their pet project of bringing the Palestinian cause to the world. In today's climate of emotion over reasonable arguments, in both cases the Israelis get blamed, while the Palestinians shoot themselves in the foot.

- Dutch Elsevier Magazine's Women's section carries a column on the lengths some people will go to in order to conceive: "It is actually possible to live without children, you know", taunts the columnist. Holland hasn't woken up yet to the fact that this attitude is the reason, that millions of Muslims from Turkey and Morocco are uprooted from their rural agricultural or pastoral base, into a society that is overly permissive, postmodern and post-industrialized, so as to broaden the tax base to pay for the columnist's pension in twenty years time.

In "Liberty for Social Security" in the series "Neo-Totalitarianism" we concluded that immigration is the Socialists solution to the problems caused by Socialist policies. It will have grave consequences for the future. The impending demographic annihilation is being hushed up, and very few people have as yet woken up to the fact.

Refuge within the Western hemisphere will just land you in another pickle: here's Ann Coulter's view from America. The similarities are striking! Anybody got any data on New Zealand's Southern Island of late?

How existential demographic imbalances can become the Israelis as well as the Serbs in Kovoso can attest to: of what once was the Serbian heartland, today only ten percent remain, fighting for their culture and way of life, a tiny enclave beleaguered by an assertive Muslim majority.

In Israel P.M. Olmert spends billions for Jerusalem, amidst warnings of a Palestinian demographic threat to the capitol, saying Hamas could take over the city without as much as firing a shot. I can do better than that: given time, large parts of Europe will be added to that inheritance, The Netherlands almost certainly in the vanguard of that development.