'The Israeli Way of War' via Michael Totten

Michael Totten is such an impressive reporter and writer, and he gets to lots of places in the Middle East and writes so well and convincingly about events in the region without rhetoric or (any obvious) political slant.

Personally, I envy his talent, gumption, and, well geez', how the hell does he write so fast, and get all the quotes bang on, anyway?

In this post, he writes about the possible buildup towards a coming Israeli clash with Hizbullah in Lebanon, and about what the Israeli Defense Forces is doing to prepare:

"I’ve never been to a Hezbollah training camp, although I did ask Hezbollah officials if I could see one before they blacklisted me for “writing against the party.” They refused. Still, I’m certain they don’t have dummies representing civilians who aren’t to be touched.

"The Israelis do, though. They place mannequins on the grounds dressed in the clothes of civilians and peacekeepers as well as enemy soldiers and terrorists.

“'The other side includes both hostiles and civilians,' Lapson said, 'and the hostiles will often embed themselves among the civilians. We go over a large number of what-if scenarios. We imbue an ethical and moral backbone in all our soldiers from the very beginning, and we have humanitarian officers with our infantry troops. We take extra precautions, even when it puts our own troops in danger.'

You could argue, I suppose, that the Israelis pulled a con job on me, that they planted these civilian-clothed mannequins as part of some Soviet-style propaganda campaign, but there’s no evidence that’s what happened. Totalitarian regimes sometimes use Potemkin stage pieces and actors to fool foreign journalists. Anthony Daniels (aka Theodore Dalrymple) had just such an experience when he visited North Korea. Israel, though, is the sort of place that only behaves this way in the feverish minds of conspiracy theorists."

Read the rest, and do tip his jar so he can keep up the most excellent work, in a very tough, and sometimes terrifying region:

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My Interview on the Previous 'Mohammed Cartoon Scandal'

My interview with an expert in the previous "Mohammed cartoon scandal" (one in a developing series, sadly, apparently...):

9/11 Audio Exclusive: Reactions in Jerusalem's Old City

On the evening of September 11th, 2001, I visited Jerusalem’s Old City to gather reactions in the wake of the attacks, as a reporter for The Jerusalem Post newspaper. While some Palestinians celebrated, calling it a fitting response to US support for Israel, other Christian and Muslim Arabs were dismayed by the scope of the horror.

Frightened American tourists from Arkansas and Oklahoma scurried through dark alleys of the Muslim Quarter's Via Dolorosa seeking refuge. In the Jewish Quarter, Jewish seminary students from New York watched the fall of the World Trade Center towers in stunned disbelief on a television at a local pizza parlor. Some managed to contact loved ones, but others called in vain, trying to reach family members thought to have been in Manhattan that morning.

Audio podcast: http://www.davebrianbender.com

Mumbai: Repaying Carnage with Kedusha

A moving tribute and call to action from R' Tzvi Freeman of Chabad:

"We're all in pain. We're all stunned. But you are asking questions you know you cannot answer. Why? How will that help anyone? What we need now is strength and courage. What we need now is to regather our forces and to rebuild.

"We knew beforehand that we are at war with an enemy. We knew that the world needs to be healed, that it oozes with a venomous darkness, and that darkness will not sit passively as we steal away its dominion. We knew that the more we fight this darkness, the harder it will fight back. We didn't fool ourselves. We decided we will fight and we will win. That is why Gavriel and Rivky went where they went. They went not as tourists, but as fearless soldiers.

Once you are at war, you don't stop to ponder all over again—can we win? Is this worth it? Maybe they're worse than we thought? That's deadly. If you would rather stay home and enjoy comfort while the rest of the world sits out in the cold, you should have decided that a long time ago. Now you are out there on the field of battle, you have already awakened the bear from its den, now there is no turning back.

They are darkness. We are light. They storm the shores with death in their eyes. We come to teach compassion and acts of beauty. They carry assault rifles and grenades. We carry candles for Friday night, a Torah of wisdom, joy and beauty.

Are we to surrender before them? Are we to stop and cry and ask, "maybe we're fighting the wrong battle"?

This Saturday night, a young couple is leaving Israel to take the place of the Gavriel and Rivky. We, all of us, will help them. The Chabad House of Mumbai had five stories. We will build a ten-story Chabad House in Mumbai, with greater light, with greater joy, with even more voices singing the Shabbat songs and children kissing the Torah scroll. We will build with a vengeance. We will fill the world with light and wisdom and the spirit of darkness in men's hearts shall forever perish. They come with their guns and their might, with a god of destruction and terror, but we come in the name of the Eternal, the source of all life and healing. They and all memory of them will vanish from the face of the earth and our lamp will burn forever.

May the Almighty G‑d hear the cry of their blood from the earth and put an end to all sorrow. May it be very soon, sooner than we can imagine.

Amen.

Multiculturalism: the 'Star Wars Cantina' model doesn't work

From reputed former hard-Left author David Solway’s recently released book, The Big Lie: on Terror, Antisemitism, and Identity:

It is a grave error to conceive of a nation as a sort of gigantic Noah’s Ark in which every creature without exception is welcomed and given sanctuary, even those engaged in boring holes in the timber, throwing their bunkmates overboard, and blowing up the wheelhouse.

This is the multicultural model currently in vogue and in the long run it doesn’t work. Admission must be strict and those who may pose a significant threat, whether individually or communally, must be carefully screened and, if necessary, refused their boarding cards.

A viable society does not resemble the interplanetary tavern in Star Wars serving all the weird and wonderful but also rowdy and uncontrollable denizens hailing from every quadrant of the known universe.

Read it all.