BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by Khaled Abu Toameh Hamas and Fatah officials traded accusations over the weekend, holding each other responsible for the collapse of the reconciliation talks that were aimed at forming a new Palestinian unity government. The negotiations, which were held in Cairo under the auspices of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, were called off on Thursday after the two sides failed to solve most of their differences. BLAME is the concept. Notice I didn't say "responsibility." Think for a few seconds about the two words. Perhaps use them in a sentence. Blame is an affect laden word. Responsibility, on the other hand, does not tend to have the same level of affective (emotional) weighting. Usually, when we think of somebody as being to blame for an event we are judging both their behavior and that person. Hamas and Fatah spokesman said the talks might restart at the end of April. However, Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that, given the wide gap between ...

Torture widespread in Palestinian jails By KARIN LAUB and DALIA NAMMARI One detainee told of being beaten with pipes and having a screwdriver rammed into his back. Another said interrogators tied his hands behind his back then lifted him into the air by his bound wrists. Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread torture of political opponents by bitter Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah, and Associated Press interviews with three victims and a doctor backed the reports of abuse. The findings emerged as the two sides carried out fresh arrest sweeps in the West Bank and Gaza — highlighting deep tensions in the Palestinian territories after a flare-up in violence over the weekend. In the West Bank on Monday, the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rounded up more than 50 suspected Hamas supporters, including mosque preachers and intellectuals, in retaliation for a similar sweep of Fatah loyalists in Gaza, set off by a bombing that killed five Hamas members Fr...

I spent some time on Sunday reading all the news and blog posts on Jimmy Carter's latest nonsense. This man is obviously never going to get it. So I propose that we move him and his family to Gaza and stop letting him enjoy the fruits of the U.S.A. Carter doesn't get that Hamas has NO INTENTION of doing anything other than giving the WORD "peace" lip-service to get what they want. Like a guy saying he "loves" you just to get in your pants there's nothing but self-serving lies behind it all. And Jimmy's just proved, once again, how STUPID he really is by not only buying it - but trying to sell it to the rest of us. That's the 'Sin of Sodom', Jimmy... making someone BEND OVER FOR IT. If you want to commit that sin, don't expect anyone else to go along with you! So -- Jimmy, SHUT UP! Carter Defends Plan to Meet Hamas to Promote Peace By Matthew Benjamin Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter defended his decision to meet with leaders of...

by Emilio Karim Dabul There was a time centuries ago in Arab countries when intellectual introspection was common and the culture produced searching, self-critical scholarship in various arenas. That time is gone. Today, brave and questioning souls like Irshad Manji, who calls for an Islamic Reformation, receive death threats. Without the ability to look inward, Arab blame for problems is projected outward - meaning, at Israel and the U.S. That is very dangerous for the world. As an Arab-American, recent events have reminded me in very stark terms why introspection needs to return to the Arab world in a big way, as quickly as possible, as a prerequisite for anything resembling peace, in the Middle East or elsewhere, to be a real possibility. First, look at what Fatah just attempted to do regarding American victims of Palestinian terrorism. Because of the 1990 Anti-Terrorism Act, numerous lawsuits have been brought against Fatah and other Palestinian terrorist groups that have injured o...

So typical... So disgusting... Such blame-shifting, smear and ponerized LYING! What does he call Fatah's kassams? The P.A. Welcome Wagon!? The first trick of the defensive & guilty: SMEAR THE VICTIM By HEIDI VOGT Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of implementing policies he claimed were part of an "ethnic cleansing" campaign in the Palestinian areas of Jerusalem. Speaking at a summit of Islamic countries in the Senegalese capital Dakar, Abbas said Israel had carried out policies designed to force Palestinians out of the city. "Our people in Jerusalem are under an ethnic cleansing campaign," Abbas said in a speech. "They are suffering from a series of decisions like tax hikes and construction prohibitions." Abbas said Palestinians "are facing a campaign of annihilation" by the Israeli state. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that "we would not use that term to describe the situation. ...

IT'S STILL ISRAEL Is there anyone who didn't see FIELD OF DREAMS ? In it, Kevin Costner's character, Ray Kinsella, is plagued by hearing voices telling him to turn part of his cornfields in a baseball field. He eventually succumbs to it and "they" do come along with his dreams. When I was an actor I once had an acting coach give me a really lousy piece of advice. "Barbara, if you ACT happy... then you will BE happy. That works in life, too." I was willing to give it a shot and while it worked somewhat on stage or in front of a camera - Hello? That's why they call it ACTING! - it didn't work in real life. You can walk around with a big grin on your face and still feel horrible inside. The only thing it accomplishes is making people think you're an idiot. I guess I am far too empathic for that 'trick to work.' Admittedly I also believe that coach had no clue what they were talking about. At least it wasn't touchy-feeling co...

FATAH, HAMAS & THE TERRORIST CLOWN-CAR Every time I see news like this I think "if we're lucky they will kill each off!" Then I remember that Abbasssss (snake like hiss at the end) handed off 'intel' to Hamas and that Fatah and Hamas were ...um, supposed to be joining forces. Wait! Abbas is powerless isn't he? Dang... so confusing! Like a clown car at the circus, you never know what's gonna spill out. Yet when I check my news feeds off and on during the day, I see posts and articles galore about the poor poor Palestinians. How Israel is conducting an 'ethnic cleansing' on them. People just can't seem to remember Israel is the only democracy in the area. They are the only ones using military force DEFENSIVELY. There are none so blind as those that cannot see. And the Palis can't see beyond shooting more kassams and sniper fire into Israel and each other. What's it going to take before people wake up to the fact that their ac...

THE POST-ANNAPOLIS BLAME GAME Reposting Honest Reporting's GREAT article (on target as always) about how Israel is being set up as the fall guy... AGAIN. I have followed up with a piece from my favorite blogger, Kathy Krajco - read, compare and know the enemy. And YES, the MSM and Islam ARE OUR ENEMIES ~~~~~~~ Israel's opponents laying the groundwork for blame if peace process fails. Less than a week after the Annapolis conference and even before serious peace talks officially begin on Dec. 12, Michael Shaik, the public advocate for Australians for Palestine, and Antony Loewenstein, co-founder the Independent Australian Jewish Voices, provide a distorted commentary on why the peace process appears doomed to failure. Writing in the Australian newspaper, The Age , Shaik and Loewenstein ignore the Palestinian Authority’s weakness and inability to implement their agreements, particularly in the area of security, as a factor in the peace talks. In fact, they write, the Palestinia...

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS JUST LIKE THE OTHER I gotta do it again... I know its monotonous and I sound like "Barbara-One-Note." However, repetition does help my ADD child so, maybe, just maybe - someone who stumbles onto my humble blog will read this and GET IT!! Yes, I do believe in negotiation, peace when possible and talking & openness. Yes, even with people who have hurt you or you hurt - in fact - ESPECIALLY. HOWEVER - in the case of the current Annapolis Conference with the Clown Car from Middle East now open and the clowns running amok around the stage - TALKING IS NOT GOING TO WORK. BECAUSE ITS ALL AN ACT. WE HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE and as my friend, Chaim said, the players are the same and the script has not altered . Except maybe Olmert the Jellyfish might help the snake pit of Arabs take apart Israel (something he has NO BIBLICAL RIGHT TO DO!) And why does it seem like I have done a 180-degree turn here? First, read why I relate personally to the plight of Is...

ACTING LIKE ITS FOR REAL When I was acting there was a principle called THE WILLING SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF - click here for explanation . I'm not sure if people are suspending reality here to think ANYTHING can actually be accomplished here. Why do we persist in thinking that we can negotiate with the Arabs? Why do we think that these leaders have any of the cajhones to take these people on? We can't - because just look at how they treat their own. Even if (miracle of miracles) we do get some PROMISE of peace (anyone having Oslo deja vu here?) can we trust or even believe them? What is wrong with people? Am I and some of my politically minded, clear-seeing friends the only ones who see this farce?? Israel wants peace. That's clear - but AT WHAT COST? How bad? Are they so desperate to "get married" they will wed themselves to evil? How long can we be ostriches? Am I one of the only ones who sees? Olmert is useless, he's not even listening to his own pe...

Doctors of Death by Oliver North On July Fourth, President Bush told the troops and families of the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg, W.Va., that, "Our first Independence Day celebration took place in the midst of a war — a bloody and difficult struggle that would not end for six more years before America finally secured her freedom." He urged "more patience, more courage, more sacrifice," to achieve victory in Iraq. If we were to quit Iraq before the job is done," the president explained, "the terrorists ... would follow us here," and he reminded his critics: "These people want to strike us again." What he didn't do was describe just who "these people" are. In the aftermath of last week's botched terror attacks by eight medical professionals in Great Britain — explaining who "these people" are has became more difficult, and the potentates of the press aren't about to help him. Mainstream media coverage of th...

CONDI RICE? COME ON DOWN! Now that Bob Barker is leaving THE PRICE IS RIGHT, maybe Condi wants his job? She'll be free in another year or so... Wait! Occupation? Who is occupying who here? And if Condi gets this one does she get free gas for a year from her Arab buddies? It is with some relief and a lot of anger that I am watching the Bush Administration finally show its true colors. Relief because I have been saying this and sticking to my guns about this since 2000! Angry because despite the facts that the American people (their EMPLOYERS!) have shown the Bushites that they are not happy with what's going on, people like Condi just keep doling out the Neocon-Kool-Aid view of things. In this case its Israel. But, there is no Palestine! Why are we giving MORE land to people who want the Jews dead and annihiliated? Do you feed a rabid dog and invite it to play with your children. You mean Bush just said all those things about standing by Israel to get votes? You mean,...