So, Stan Laurel, The Three Stooges, Groucho Marx & Woody Allan go into this war...(UPDATED)

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

As the combat has trailed off in Lebanon, it can now be said that whatever Israel’s losses, it has discovered a great comedic genius: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert—a man who sent his army to war, but only after tying its shoelaces together.

In fact, Olmert is more than a performing comedic artist but also a director of a war cabinet that encompasses a veritable Shakespearean company performing a seemingly endless comedy of errors.

Olmert’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, offered to make peace with Syria scarcely hours after a ceasefire in a war promoted by Syrian rockets and propaganda. Only a few hours later, Syrian president Bashar Assad was so impressed by the peace offer that he again threatened to go to war directly against Israel.

Hyuk! Whatta' laff riot!

UPDATE:

Protest demonstration against Israeli government policy, Thursday, August 17, Kikar Rabin Square, Tel Aviv at 7 p.m. Organized by returning soldiers and concerned citizens, according to Naomi Ragen.

Palestinians shun, attack Israeli Arabs fleeing Katyushas

An inside view, thanks to Ynet News of how some Palestinians are relating to their northern Israeli Arab brethern who fled south to Jerusalem and Bethlehem to escape the Katyusha barrages. Does the Arab saying "The friend of my enemy is my enemy" (or is it the other way around...) ring a bell?

Several Arab families decided to act on Hizbullah Chief Hassan Nasrallah's "recommendation" and leave rocket-stricken Haifa during the war in south Lebanon. They traveled to Palestinian towns like Bethlehem and Ramallah, and even to east Jerusalem, but soon after decided they had rather return home and face the rocket menace. The reason: The bad treatment awarded to them in hotels, restaurants and stores, as well as ongoing harassments of their wives and daughters on the part of the local residents.

"We walked around town for a while, but the attitude we encountered on the part of the locals was horrible. The youngsters on the street started harassing our wives and daughters and used shocking expressions that I cannot even bring myself to pronounce," he said.

Another Haifa resident, who went with his family to Jerusalem to escape from the rocket threat, said that the local merchants blatantly took advantage of the situation and inflated the prices in stores. A bottle of mineral water that usually sells for about NIS 4, for instance, was being sold to the Haifa tourists for NIS 10.

"They told us, 'you are worse than the Jews.' We heard expressions of joy over the fact we have fled our homes, and some even tried to attack us. We were disgusted and decided to return to Haifa," he said, stressing that he used to be a regular donor to the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza.

According to him, after that day and the humiliation he experienced in Bethlehem, he does not plan on donating even one shekel. "We thought we are one nation and that what really hurts them, hurts us too. We went to demonstrations for them and we donated a lot of money to them because we thought they are our brothers and that is our obligation. But, what we found was exploitation and undeserving treatment toward someone supposedly from the same nation," he told.

Read on.

IsraelVoices: Real Israelis - Real Voices (Video)

A new pro-Israel video site came on-line in recent days: IsraelVoices. From their home page:

Real people on the frontlines of the global war against brutal terror. They face missile attacks, border incursions, kidnappings, suicide bombers and unlimited daily threats designed to spread panic and fear. Yet the courageous people of Israel - men, women and children of all ages, diverse backgrounds, and cultures - bravely stand together united to defeat an evil that threatens their nation and free societies throughout the world. Real People. Real Stories. Real Courage. Unscripted. In their own words.

These are their stories, in their own words, of their own search for relatively normal lives in a dangerous, hostile region of the world; opportunities for love and work; leisure and liberty; a chance to dream, build, risk and sacrifice; the freedom to live their lives and contribute to a better world.

Worth taking a look, and viewing some of the videos.

(Full disclosure: I am an editor/broadcaster at JerusalemOnline, who are partners with IsraelVoices)