'Debacle or success? Experts doubt Mossad's role in Dubai assassination'

My first published article for China's Xinhua News Agency, datelined Jerusalem (yes, you read that right):

News Analysis: Debacle or success? experts doubt Mossad's role in Dubai assassination

By Dave Bender, Gur Salomon, David Harris

JERUSALEM, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli analysts on the Mossad cast doubt on international reports assuming the legendary spook shop is behind the killing of top Hamas commander, Mahmoud al- Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room on January 19, and whether the operation was even a success.

Read more.

(The article is a compilation of three stories that I edited together, Gur's, David's, and mine, which was part of a video interview I held this week with Yediot Aharonot intel, and investigative report, Ronen Bergman, on the liquidation and it's aftermath).

No Joke: 'Purim Gift Baskets Middle East'

No Joke: Purim Gift Baskets Middle East - Egypt, EG Iran, IR Israel, IL Jordan, JO Kuwait, KW Lebanon, LB Oman, OM Qatar, QA Saudi Arabia, SA Syria, SY Turkey, TR United Arab Emirates, AE Yemen, YE

(Head-smacking moment annnnnnysecondnow...)

(Photo) Netanyahu: 'Sanctions With Teeth' Against Iran (UPDATED)

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu striding towards the podium at the seventh annual Jerusalem Conference, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. (Photo: Dave Bender - All Rights Reserved).

By Dave Bender

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for “sanctions with teeth,” against the government of Iran, including imports of gas, and energy exports, in an address to a packed seventh annual Jerusalem Conference.

"'The argument is over,' Netanyahu said of the possibility that Iran was trying to make a nuclear weapon, and added that Iran was a threat to world peace, and to Israel...."

Meanwhile, in a related item, The Jerusalem Post's Sarah Honig, commenting on the Dubai Hamas hit (that, just to keep in mind, was aimed at stopping a Hamas/Iranian attempt to get even more, longer-range weaponry to use against Israel), says pretty much what I've been telling many over the years - often, unfortunately, to little avail:

"'dam butlab dam' (blood begets blood– but only for some)'

"As in yesteryear, so in the 21st century, it’s axiomatic that Arabs have the right to inflict incalculable harm on Jews, but the Jews’ attempts to deflect such blows are evil, outrageous and deserving of merciless punishment."

---

Other conference updates, audio and photos will be posted here: http://www.davebrianbender.com

Two-wheelin' it in Tel Aviv

UK Peer + IDF + Haiti = 'Teh Styupid is Strong in This One'

Jenny! Look!: That must be an Israeli baby-organ bandit sizing up his next meal now!

From the UK Jewish Chronicle:

Tonge: Investigate IDF stealing organs in Haiti

Baroness Tonge, the Liberal peer, said this week that Israel should set up an inquiry to disprove allegations that its medical teams in Haiti “harvested” organs of earthquake victims for use in transplants.

Her call has been sharply criticised by fellow LibDems, but party leader Nick Clegg has refused to act against her.

The organ theft claims were published last week in the Palestine Telegraph, an online journal based in Gaza of which Baroness Tonge is a patron.

Previous Haiti posts: http://betbender.blogspot.com/search?q=Haiti

Trying Out For 'American Idol' - in Israel

An utterly frikin' WONDERFUL take on trying out for Israel's version of "American Idol." With pics!

(VIDEO EXPOSE') What Israelis REALLY Think of US Airport Security

(H-T: Israeli satire site: Latma)

(Video) Elvis at 75, in Israel: 'It's Now or Never'

The 'Neon Sistine' Elvis ceiling. More here (Photo: Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

I just love sweet, yet mildly bizarre subculture stories, don't you?



Great vid. I covered this a few years ago in print, with photos - and in video, too:

'Blue Suede Jews'

"Memphis has Graceland. Vegas has impersonators. And Israel - yes, Israel - has the Elvis Inn, a bizarre desert Mecca for Middle East Elvis enthusiasts. It's the Holy Land, people, and the King has risen."... See More... See More

Read More: http://www.atlantajewish.com/content/012006/bluesuedejews.html

http://www.davebrianbender.com

(VIDEO) Israel: 30 countries at mass-casualty, NBC drill

"Preparing for a germ warfare attack, Israel stages its largest ever drill on emergency preparedness as hundreds of emergency response experts from around the world attend a simulated biological attack on Tel Aviv."

Israel: Just Jew it (developing post)

Which is to say that I'm returning to Israel, to resettle after three amazing years working and living here in Georgia among some pretty amazing folks, both in Atlanta and elsewhere, statewide.


Atlanta skyline. (Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Rav Kook wrote:

"When people are asked why they are unwilling to settle in Eretz Yisrael [The Land of Israel] right now, they have all types of cheshbonot - calculations - as to why now is not the time.

One says his chesbon is that his children need to finish school or college; another's chesbon is that he has to vest his pension, and so on.

If we look in the Torah, though, we will see that before the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisrael, they first killed the King of Chesbon.

Once the King of Chesbon is killed, the decision to move to Eretz Yisrael becomes easy."

In more contemporary terms:

This post will be developed and expanded, as I try to get more nuanced feelings about this whole process of being here and there down on pap- 'er, blog...


Sunset panorama outside the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City. (Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Comments welcome.