Mahmoud Abbas--Purim Master: Spain, France and Italy-- Purim Suckers

My wife complains that I am Mr. Last Minute with Purim. Usually I decide my costume last minute. Sometimes I even need to pick up costume supplies on the way to Shul. But in the end I usually have the best costume around...no one ever knows who I am behind that mask, makeup, or whatever my face is covered with. I have always seen myself as the Purim master, until recently.

You see, it has occurred to me that PA Chairman Abbas combines the best of both my wife and me. He has already picked his costume months in advance, and very few people realize who he really is. This morning during an interview with the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, he revealed that he would be wearing the same costume he has used for the past two years, a peacemaker costume.

Abbas was quoted as saying:

Don't waste the chance of peace." He said a solution depends on "full Israeli withdrawal from the Arab and Palestinian lands occupied in 1967," referring to the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, as well as a solution for Palestinian refugees. Israel pulled out of Gaza unilaterally last year

What form, what talent! Not only is he using the same act for two years and world leaders believe him, but also it is the same act that the terrorist Arafat used before him, and everybody (including Israeli PM Olmert) buys it.

During the last two years Israel has made more and more concessions, Abbas has absolutely nothing to advance peace but is still seen as a moderate peacemaker. Isn't he great...the next Lawrence Oliver!

Since he took over after the death of Arafat there has been at least 45 Terrorist attacks within Israel that has resulted in deaths (see below) yet he has made no move toward peace.

Since he took over from Arafat, Israel has made numerous concessions toward peace, including uprooting families from Gaza (many of whom are still uprooted) Yet Abbas' Fatah as well and Hamas have charters that still call for the destruction of Israel, his schools still teach children to kill Jews.

And through it all Abbas continues to be seen as a man of peace. This week was the boldest stroke of all. After finally gaining an agreement for a coalition government, Hamas, who controls their parliament, announces that the new leadership they would not accept a Jewish state even if Israel withdraws from the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. Despite this, Abbas has received assurances that, once the new cabinet is seated, sanctions against the Palestinian warlords will be removed.

What a stroke of costume genius! Nothing has changed; the new Palestinian Government will still support terrorism and the destruction of Israel...yet they will be seen as men of peace. This year before I go shopping for a Purim costume, I am calling Abbas, if he can lead a terrorist state and be seen as a peacemaker, this Haman wannabe is the ultimate Purim master!


Spain, France and Italy Prove that they are Suckers for a Good Costume

The Associated Press reported today that:

Spain will sponsor a new Middle East peace initiative along with France and Italy, the prime minister said Thursday, stressing that the international community cannot remain idle as violence rages between Israel and the Palestinians. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the initiative at a summit with President Jacques Chirac of France. "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene," Zapatero told a news conference. "We cannot remain impassive in the face of the horror that continues to unfold before our eyes," Zapatero said.

The peace plan will be presented to an EU summit next month, Zapatero said, adding he hopes to win the backing of Britain and Germany as well.
He said it had five components: an immediate cease-fire, formation of a national unity government by the Palestinians that can gain international recognition, an exchange of prisoners - including the IDF soldiers whose kidnapping sparked the war in Lebanon and fighting in Gaza this summer - talks between Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian Authority Chairman and an international mission in Gaza to monitor a cease-fire.
Eventually, a major international conference on Middle East peace should be held, he added, but did not specify if such a meeting should take place in Spain. Spain hosted a landmark peace conference in 1991 that laid the groundwork for the Oslo accords, which in turn led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority.

I bet they would love another Oslo, it was a disaster for Israel.

My Friend the Elder of Zion Agrees, I urge you to go to his site an read his take. Here is a taste and a link

Please ignore this smoking gun

Even after Hamas' election as the appointed terror head of the PalArab people, the Western media and politicians still tend to treat Haniyeh as a political figure - perhaps strident, perhaps stubborn - but not as a terrorist himself.

Similarly, the Fatah-dominated portions of the PA, from Abbas on down through the police, has always been given a free pass as far as terror was concerned. Sure, some of the policemen moonlighted as terrorists, and we all know that they were corrupt, but no one in the West ever really thought of them as the actual instigators of terror.

Terrorist Incidents Resulting in Israeli Deaths Since December 2004

Dec 7, 2004 - St.-Sgt. Nadav Kudinski, 20, of Kiryat Gat of the Oketz canine unit was killed by a bomb, along with his dog, when a booby-trapped chicken coup exploded northwest of the Karni Corssing in the Gaza Strip. Four soldiers were wounded in the exchange of fire while evacuating him. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Dec 12, 2004 - Five IDF soldiers were killed and five wounded when a tunnel filled with 1.5 tons of explosives were detonated under an IDF post at the Rafah crossing, followed by the infiltration of the post by two terrorists who opened fire and activated another explosive device. Hamas and the Fatah Hawks claimed responsibility for the attack. The soldiers killed: Sgt. Araf Azbarga, 19, of Kseifeh; Sgt. Sa'id Jahaja, 19, of Arara; Sgt. Hussein Abu Leil, 23, of Ein Mahal; Corp. Adham Shehada, 19, of Turan; and Sgt. Tarek al-Ziadne, 20, of Rahat. Dec 14, 2004 - Jitladda Tap-arsa, 19, a female agricultural worker from Udon Thani’s Nong Han district in northereastern Thailand, was killed and two other foreign workers from Thailand and Nepal were wounded by mortar shells fired at Ganei Tal in the Gush Katif settlement bloc from the Gaza Strip. Dec 21, 2004 - Ariella Fahima, 39, of Moshav Nehusha, south of Beit Shemesh, was stabbed to death at the door to her house, apparently by a terrorist who infiltrated the perimeter fence. Dec 22, 2004 - Salem (Sami) al-Kimlat, 28, a Bedouin from the town of Rahat employed as a security guard at the construction site of the security fence west of Hebron, was shot and killed by Palestinian terrorists. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Jan 2, 2005 - Nissim Arbiv, 25, of Nissanit in the Gaza Strip was mortally wounded in a mortar shell attack while working in the Erez Industrial Zone. He died of his wounds on January 11. Two others were wounded in the attack, for which Hamas claimed responsibility. Jan 7, 2005 - St.-Sgt. Yosef (Yossi) Atia, 21, of Petah Tikva, was killed and three fellow off-duty soldiers were wounded when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their car on the Trans-Samaria Highway. The Fatah al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. 2nd Lt. Ariel Buda, 21, of Tel Aviv, seriously wounded in the attack, died of his wounds on October 15, 2005. Jan 12, 2005 - Gideon Rivlin, 50, of Ganei Tal was killed and three IDF soldiers were wounded when a bomb was detonated as a military vehicle patroled the route near Morag in the southern Gaza Strip. Two terrorists were killed by IDF forces. The area was booby-trapped with explosive devices, in addition to the bomb that exploded. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. Jan 13, 2005 - On Thursday night, shortly before the closing of the Karni Crossing, terrorists activated an explosive device on the Palestinian side, blowing a hole in the door through which Palestinian terrorists infiltrated the Israeli side of the crossing and opened fire at Israeli civilians. As a result of the explosion and exchanges of fire, six Israeli civilians and three Palestinian terrorists were killed, and five Israeli civilians were wounded. Hamas and the Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed joint responsiblity for the attack. The victims: Dror Gizri, 30, of Sderot; Ibrahim Kahili, 46, of Umm al-Ghanem; Munam Abu Sabia, 33, of Daburiyeh; Ivan Shmilov, 53, of Sderot; Herzl Shlomo, 51, of Sderot; and Ofer Tiri, 23, of Ashkelon. Jan 15, 2005 - Ayala-Haya (Ella) Abukasis, 17, of Sderot was mortally wounded when a Qassam rocket landed near her and shrapnel penetrated her cerebellum, leaving her brain dead. She was struck while protecting her younger brother, who was lightly wounded. Kept on life support throughout the week, her parents agreed to stop treatment when doctors told them there was no chance of recovery. She died on January 21. Jan 18, 2005 - Oded Sharon, 36, from Gan Yavne, an ISA officer, was killed, an IDF officer seriously wounded, and four IDF soldiers and three members of the ISA were lightly wounded in a suicide bombing attack at the Gush Katif junction in the central Gaza Strip. While search procedures were being implemented at a post at the junction, the suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body detonated himself. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Feb 25, 2005 - Five people were killed and 50 wounded Friday night, when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Stage club on the Tel Aviv promenade at around 11:20 P.M., on the corner of Herbert Samuel and Yonah Hanavi streets. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Yitzhak Buzaglo, 40, of Mishmar Hayarden; Aryeh Nagar, 37, of Kfar Sava; Yael Orbach, 28, of Rehovot; Ronen Reuvenov, 30, of Tel Aviv. Odelia Hubara, 26, of Jerusalem, died of her wounds on February 28. May 2, 2005 - St.-Sgt. Dan Talasnikov, 21, of Nir Galim was killed and another soldier lightly wounded in an exchange of fire during an operation to arrest wanted terrorists from the Islamic Jihad in the village of Saida, north of Tulkarem. One of the terrorists, responsible for the February 25 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, was killed. The second terrorist was apprehended. June 7, 2005 - Three workers were killed and five wounded when a Qassam rocket hit a packing shed in Ganei Tal, in the Gaza Strip, penetrating the building's roof and exploding indoors. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The Chinese worker killed has been identified as Bi Shude, 46, from Jilin province in northeastern China. The Palestinian workers killed were Salah Ayash Imran, 57, of Khan Yunis, married and the father of 8, and Muhammed Mahmoud Jaroun, of Khan Yunis. June 19, 2005 - IDF NCO Sgt.-Maj. Avi Karouchi, 25, of Beersheba was killed and two soldiers were wounded in a coordinated Palestinian attack in which RPG missiles and gunfire were fired at an IDF engineering force conducting construction work on the Philadelphi route along the Israeli-Egyptian border. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. June 20, 2005 - Yevgeny Reider, 28 of Hermesh was killed and a 16-year old teenager was wounded in a terrorist shooting attack in the village of Baka A-Sharkiya in the northern West Bank. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. June 24, 2005 - Avihai Levy, 17, of Beit Hagai was killed in a drive-by terrorist shooting at a hitchhiking stop about 200 meters from the entrance to Beit Hagai, south of Hebron. Aviad Mansour, 16, of Otniel, fatally wounded in the attack, died on June 26. Three others were wounded. The Islamic Jihad and Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. July 12, 2005 - Rachel Ben Abu, 16, of Tel Aviv; Nofar Horowitz, 16, of Tel Aviv; and Julia Voloshin, 31, of Netanya were killed and about 90 people were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself outside Hasharon Mall in Netanya. Anya Lifshitz, 50, of Netanya, who was mortally wounded, succumbed to her wounds on July 13. Cpl. Moshe Maor Jan, 21, of Netanya died of his wounds on July 14. The bomber was identified as Ahmed Abu Khalil, 18, from the West Bank village of Atil. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. July 14, 2005 - Dana Galkowicz, 22, of Kibbutz Bror Hayil, was killed by a Kassam rocket fired at Netiv Ha'asara north of the Gaza Strip. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah all claimed responsibility for the attack. July 23, 2005 - Dov, 58, and Rachel Kol, 53, of Jerusalem were killed late Saturday night near the Kissufim crossing in the southern Gaza Strip while returning home from visiting family in Gush Katif. Three others were wounded. The Islamic Jihad and Fatah al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Aug 24, 2005 - Shmuel Mett, 21, of Britain, a Mir Yeshiva student, was returning from the Western Wall to the yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Beit Yisrael neighborhood when he was fatally stabbed near Jaffa Gate in the Old City. Two other students were wounded. Sept 21, 2005 - Sasson Nuriel, 55, of Jerusalem was kidnapped and slain by Palestinian terrorists. His body was found on Sept 26 in a garbage dump in the industrial zone of Bitunya, west of Ramallah. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Oct 16, 2005 - Matat (Rosenfeld) Adler, 21, and her cousin, Kineret Mandel, 23, both of Carmel, and Oz Ben-Meir, 15, of Maon were killed and three were wounded when Palestinians opened fire at the Gush Etzion junction south of Jerusalem. Another teenager was shot and seriously wounded near Eli, in Samaria. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for both attacks. Oct 23, 2005 - Katy David, 27, of Kfar Yona, was found murdered in a grove of eucalyptus trees near Hadera. She was stabbed and beaten to death by two Arab terrorists, who later confessed that they murdered her "because she was a Jew." Oct 26, 2005 - Six people were killed and 55 wounded, six seriously, in a suicide bombing at the Hadera open-air market. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Michael Kaufman, 68, of Hadera; Pirhiya Machlouf, 53, of Hadera; Sabiha Nissim, 66, of Moshav Ahituv; Jamil Qa'adan, 48, of Baka al-Gharbiya; and Ya'acov Rahmani, 68, of Hadera. A sixth victim, Genia Poleis, 66, of Hadera, died of her wounds 11 days later, on November 5. Nov 2, 2005 - St.-Sgt. Yonatan Evron, 20, of Rishon Lezion, was mortally wounded in a gun battle with terrorists near Jenin. He died en route to hospital. Nov 9, 2005 - Hussam Fathi Mahajna, 36, an Israeli Arab businessman from Umm al-Fahm, was among 57 people murdered and 300 wounded in simultaneous attacks by suicide bombers in Amman, Jordan at three luxury hotels. Mahajna was a guest at a wedding held at the Radisson Hotel, known to be popular with Israeli tourists. Al-Qaida claimed responsiblity for the attacks. Dec 5, 2005 - Five people were killed and over 50 wounded in a suicide bombing at the entrance to the Sharon shopping mall in Netanya. The terrorist detonated the bomb when he was stopped by security guards, one of whom was killed. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Haim Amram, 26, of Netanya, a security guard at the mall; Alexandra Garmitzky, 65, of Netanya; Daniel Golani, 45, of Nahariya; Elia Rosen, 38, of Bat Hefer; and Keinan Tsuami, 20, of Petah Tikva. Dec 8, 2005 - Sgt. Nir Kahane, 20, of Kiryat Tivon, was stabbed to death at the Kalandiya checkpoint, south of Ramallah. The assailant was apprehended.The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Dec 16, 2005 - Yosef (Yossi) Shok, 35, of Beit Hagai was killed in a shooting attack while driving home in the southern Hebron hills. Two passengers were wounded. The Islamic Jihad and Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed joint responsibility for the attack. Dec 29, 2005 - Lt. Ori Binamo, 21, of Nesher was killed when a terrorist en route to carry out an attack in Israel detonated himself at a roadblock set up near Tulkarm following an intelligence tip. A second intended suicide terrorist was also killed in the blast as well as the taxi driver and a third passenger. Three soldiers and seven Palestinians were wounded. Feb 5, 2006 - Kinneret Ben Shalom Hajbi, 58, of Petah Tikva was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist while traveling on a number 51 service taxi to Tel Aviv. Five other passengers were wounded. Mar 1, 2006 - Eldar Abir, 48, of Migdalim was killed when two Palestinian shot him at point blank range at the gas station near Migdalim in the West Bank. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Mar 30, 2006 - Rafi Halevy, 63, and his wife Helena, 58, of Kedumim, Re’ut Feldman, 20, of Herzliya, and Shaked Lasker, 16, of Kedumim were killed when a suicide bomber hitchhiker disguised as an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student detonated his explosive device in a private vehicle near the entrance to Kedumim. Apr 17, 2006 - Eleven people were killed and over 60 wounded in a suicide bombing during the Passover holiday at the Rosh Ha'ir shawarma restaurant, near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Philip Balhasan, 45, of Ashdod; Rozalia Beseneyi, 48, and Piroşca Boda 50, of Romania; Marcel Cohen, 73, of Nice, France; Ariel Darhi, 31, of Bat Yam; Victor Erez, 60, of Givatayim; Binyamin Haputa, 47, of Lod; David Shaulov, 29, of Holon; Lily Yunes, 42, of Oranit. Lior Anidzar, 26, of Tel Aviv died of his wounds on May 13. Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Florida (USA) died on May 14. June 11, 2006 - Marwan Abed Shweika, 35, of the Abu Tor neighborhood in Jerusalem was killed and two other Arab Israelis were wounded in a shooting attack while driving late at night West Bank highway north of Jerusalem. June 25, 2006 - Lt. Hanan Barak, 20, of Arad and Staff-Sgt. Pavel Slutzker, 20, of Dimona were killed when terrorists from the Hamas and Popular Resistance Committees terror organizations infiltrated Israeli territory between the Kerem Shalom and Sufa crossings, by means of a tunnel dug from the Rafah area. Another soldier was abducted, and four others were wounded. June 25, 2006 - Eliyahu Pinhas Asheri, 18, of Itamar was kidnapped by terrorists from the Popular Resistance Committees while hitchhiking from Betar Illit, southwest of Bethlehem, to Neveh Tzuf, where he was studying. His body was found on June 29 in Ramallah. It is believed that he was murdered shortly after his kidnapping. July 17, 2006 - St.-Sgt. Osher Damari, 20, of Netanya was killed and six IDF soldiers wounded by an explosive device in Nablus as troops from the Haruv Battalion were engaged in anti-terrorist activity. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. July 27, 2006 - The burnt body of Dr. Daniel Yaakobi, 59, a doctor from Yakir in the West Bank, was found in the trunk of his car near Qalqilya. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Aug 10, 2006 - Angelo Frammartino, 24, of Monte Rotondo, Italy was stabbed to death by an Arab knifeman while walking with friends on Sultan Suleiman street in east Jerusalem. It is believed that the attack was a nationalistically motivated terror attack, and not an attempted robbery. Aug 19, 2006 - St.-Sgt. Ro'i Farjoun, 21, of Yehud was killed when a terrorist opened fire at the Bekaot chekpoint in the Jordan Valley. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Sept 12, 2006 - An IDF reserve Bedouin tracker, 44, was killed by sniper fire in the course of an army operation to uncover terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, near the Kissufim Crossing. The armed wing of Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the shooting. Nov 1, 2006 - Staff Sergeant Kiril Golenshein, 21, of Moshav Keshet, was killed by a sniper's bullet as his unit entered the town of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip in pursuit of terrorists firing Kassam rockets at Israel.

Nov 15, 2006 - Fatima Slutsker, 57, of Sderot, was killed by a Kassam rocket fired into the town by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip. A barrage of six rockets hit Sderot at about 7 a.m., also seriously wounding a security guard for Defense Minister Amir Peretz.