Dave Bender: Compelling Photography

Thursday, August 17

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)

Wednesday, August 16

'Al-Qaida: 5 City Gas Attack' (Speculative fiction from a parallel universe)

Andrew Sullivan (one of many fascinating reads) in New York magazine on "What if 9/11 Never Happened?"

(...) To recap: We now have reports of up to 30 separate gas attacks in subway systems in New York, D.C., Moscow, and London, and a shower of chemical-tipped rockets directly into Tel Aviv from somewhere in the Syrian-controlled part of Lebanon.

October 23, 2006, 10:36 a.m.
AMERICA ATTACKED—that’s the headline on Drudge. world attacked would be more accurate. Write this date down now: October 23, 2006. It’s the day we finally slipped into the reality of the world many of us have feared for several years now. The Islamofascists—maybe that term won’t be so stigmatized in polite circles any longer—have struck.

The synchronization—five Western cities, if you include Tel Aviv and Moscow, within one hour of each other—suggests a sophisticated operation. There are poignant reports on CNN of text messages sent from the subway cars in the few minutes before the gas killed the passengers. They finish mid-sentence. London seems to be the worst hit so far. Given that the attacks happened at rush hour, and we don’t even know how many there were—ten? Twenty? The BBC is sticking to “more than a dozen”—it’s impossible to know how many people may have died. I’m seeing experts on Fox saying the swiftness of the deaths suggests cyanide. But how were the chemical weapons unleashed? Maybe we’ve just seen the first suicide bombings in the West.

An important read.

(Hat tip: The New Steve Silver Net)

Israel's broken heart

Yossi Klein Halevy is telepathic. Either that, or he stands in the same check out lines that I do at the supermarket, shuk and bank. I cannot think of one Israeli who I've met in the last few weeks who isn't bewildered over the handling and outcome by the government of this war. And, to read the press, certainly not only on the right.

In The New Republic, Klein writes:

This is a nation whose heart has been broken: by our failure to uproot the jihadist threat, which will return for another and far more deadly round; by the economic devastation of the Galilee and of a neighboring land we didn't want to attack; by the heroism of our soldiers and the hesitations of our politicians; by the young men buried and crippled in a war we prevented ourselves from winning; by foreign journalists who can't tell the difference between good and evil; by European leaders who equate an army that tries to avoid civilian causalities with a terrorist group that revels in them; by a United Nations that questions Israel's right to defend itself; and by growing voices on the left who question Israel's right to exist at all.
---

Sitting with a close friend at a Jerusalem coffee shop last night, I watched from across the table as her son, who serves in the Armor Corps and was in battles in Lebanon, called her to say he was back in Israel - but not coming home for Shabbat.

She immediately asked him to pass the phone to his commander, so she could convince him to give her son a break after such hellish experiences (only in Israel...):

"He can't come to the phone, mom."

"Why not?"

"Well, he's not here."

"Where is he?"

"He's been at funerals all day of soldiers in the unit."

Ashen-faced, she replied, "This is not a conversation for the telephone..."
---

Klein:

(...) Still, in the Jewish calendar, the summer weeks after the fast of the Ninth of Av, commemorating the destruction of the Temple, are a time of consolation. "Be consoled, be consoled, my people," we read from the Torah on the Sabbath after the fast. And so we console ourselves with the substantial achievements of the people of Israel during this month of war.

First, our undiminished capacity for unity. My favorite symbol of that unity is the antiwar rapper, Muki, whose hit song during the era of Palestinian suicide bombings lamented the absence of justice for the Palestinians but who, this time, insisted that the army needs to "finish the job" against Hezbollah. Second, our middle-class children, with their cell phones, iPods, and pizza deliveries to their army bases. In intimate combat, they repeatedly bested Hezbollah fighters, even though the terrorists had the advantage of familiar terrain.

This generation has given us some of Israel's most powerful images of heroism, like the soldier from a West Bank settlement and father of two young children who leaped onto a grenade to save his friends, shouting the Shema--the prayer of God's oneness--just before the grenade exploded. Along with the recriminations, there will be many medals of valor awarded in the coming weeks.

So moving. So right. So go sign in and read the rest.

(Hat Tip: An Unsealed Room)

Tuesday, August 15

Keeping faith with IDF soldiers & civilians on the northern border (Exclusive video)

These video clips show Chabad Youth and an American supporter during a recent series of visits with IDF soldiers and civilians along the northern border with Lebanon, bringing food, gifts, moral and spiritual support and cheer.

Produced for and in conjunction with The Israel Home Front Fund - a great donation site for Israel.

(Full disclosure: I manage and edit that site - and they really are a worthwhile organization)

Illusionist David Blaine magically appears in Israel

Illusionist David Blaine

Illusionist and stunt performer David Blaine is visiting Israel until Friday on a solidarity visit.

“I want to ease the pain, to bring smiles to people who have been living under the threat of missile attacks," the magician said in New York last week. "I want to give hope to the injured, and to bring magic into people’s lives."

Blaine will give benefit performances for children and families in shelters in Israel’s north and in Jewish Agency-run camps in the center of the country. He will also perform for wounded soldiers in hospitals in Safed and Haifa, and for IDF troops on army bases. The visit is a joint initiative between Mr. Blaine's manager Yossi Siegel and the Israeli Consulate in New York. The trip is being supported by UJA-Federation of New York and organized by United Jewish Communities (UJC) and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

David Blaine, 33, has been called “the most famous stunt artist in the world, and a true heir to Harry Houdini.” In his latest stunt -- Drowned Alive -- Blaine spent seven days in an eight-foot sphere of water in front of New York’s Lincoln Center.

'Master Lock' (Editorial Cartoon)

Pop quiz:

Where and in what years did this editorial cartoon appear? (Think for a second , and no peeking below or at the mouseover link...)

Iran? Huh-uh (gotta' love MSNBC's "evenhanded" headline and alt head, though - two points for trying):

"Holocaust cartoon exhibit kicks off in Tehran
"Furor over caricatures of Prophet Muhammad inspired contest, display"

Nope, folks this one's from the Sacramento News & Review. And get a load of the thoughtful comments - a regular laff riot. In a noxious way.

(From The Volokh Conspiracy via instapundit)

Monday, August 14

Hizbullah: How... disarming... (Editorial Cartoon)

Cox & Forkum

From Ha'aretz:

A meeting of the Lebanese government on the disarming of Hezbollah south of the Litani River was canceled yesterday following an announcement by the Shi'ite organization that it was not willing to discuss the subject. Hezbollah informed the government of its stance through the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Beri, who serves as a conduit to the organization.

Beri informed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of Hezbollah's decision, and Siniora decided to cancel the meeting.

From Ynet News:

Israel Defense Forces officials reported that a Hizbullah terrorist tried to open fire at soldiers in the village of Hadata in the western region Monday morning.

The soldiers fired back and hit him. There were no injuries among the soldiers.

IDF officials stressed that "the force opened fire in self defense. The IDF honors the UN resolution agreement, but will continue to defend the forces deployed in the area and the citizens of the State of Israel."

From The Jerusalem Post:

As Israel pounded Hizbullah targets in southern Lebanon with bombs, artillery fire and advancing ground troops, some Lebanese at home and abroad were quietly applauding Israel's offensive.
And finally (saving the best for last):
Michael Totten and Allison Kaplan Sommer recently discussd "how to boil down some of the dynamics of the Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon relationship in this conflict to a level that the average non-Middle-East-expert would understand:
"I told him how I tried to explain how Israelis feel about the Lebanese civilian casualties, particularly the children:

"Imagine that someone with a gun is holding you (Israel) hostage. And the gunman (Hezbollah) had his pistol pointed right at your child’s head."
Read the rest here.