Not a lot of weekend action to report. I installed a security gate on my back door on Saturday, thereby vastly enhancing the safety of my castle by adding yet another line of defense. Today was my church's annual Baptism at the Beach, and we baptised 20 people, which was pretty sweet. There was a sand castle building competition and my small group won handily. I had been planning to bring shovels and heavy equipment to assist the effort, but I forgot -- I've been forgetting a lot of things recently. Maybe I'm getting senile? I'm juggling a lot, what with the wedding and all, so maybe that's it.
Anyway, there isn't much news is there? The Gaza pull-out makes me sad. What does it say about the Palestinians that both they and the Israelis agree that the ex-settlers' abandoned homes need to be demolished before the pull-out is complete to prevent the Palestinians from fighting and killing over the structures? And, of course, to prevent the walled compounds from becoming terrost fortresses.
Cindy Sheehan is finally out of the news. Best wishes to her and her mom. I hope this is the last we hear of her, and I suspect it will be since August is winding down and there's a confirmation battle to be fought, if for no other reason than to satisfy the lobbyists.
Otherwise... the weekend felt nice and long. See you all tomorrow!
from kirazalan.net
The Palestinian part of the bargain is to disarm and disable the terrorists, but Abbas has yet to make a move. So far, he has been striking deals with Hamas to not interfere with Israeli withdrawal. But negotiating with terrorists has only backed the Palestinian Authority into a corner.
Hamas, the most organized and most popular terrorist group, will hold the Palestinian Authority hostage on every decision. As Sami Abu Zouhri, a Hamas spokesman, clarified that “If the Palestinian Authority continues to manage the withdrawal alone, we will protest at all the mistakes it may make. In particular, if the land is stolen from the people, or devoted to private projects or given to people close to the Authority, then we will react.” Reaction means “resuming operations” (what the rest of us like to call terrorist attacks). The “mistakes” will be determined by Hamas.
If Abbas is planning a swift round up of all known terrorists, he is likely to lose all credibility with the Palestinians. This is because Abbas has been visibly aligning himself with the popular martyr theory. Last week, banners waved across Gaza proclaiming that “The blood of martyrs has led to liberation.” Then, Abbas attended Friday prayers at Caliph Mosque, where the imam announced, “Allah knows that when we offer up our children, it is much better than choosing the road of humiliation and negotiation.” Additionally, the PA’s official radio station - Ramallah Voice of Palestine - continues to broadcast messages that Israelis “want neither a solution nor peace.” These statements are synonymous with those of Hamas, and the Palestinians are listening.
KZ: Yeah, although it's mostly Israelis getting killed by the terrorists directly, it's hard to imagine that the Palestinians themselves haven't suffered even more, in the aggregate, because of their ties to and support for the terrorists in their midst.