Yeah. A standard AP propaganda headline. As if Israel, out-of-the-blue, decided to attack poor little "militants" in Lebanon. But thank you, Mr. Spencer, for pointing out again the propaganda produced by the dhimmis at AP, via your own, more accurately descriptive, headline.

Posted by: del at December 28, 2005 12:58 PM

I think something interesting is happening here. Here at Jihad Watch, Hugh and others, with precision, point out the concept of Palestenians are Arabs and the whole concept of 'nationhood' in this region, with a few exceptions, is artificial. I'm not sure if I buy this arguement completely, hook, line and sinker. Yes, the concept of 'displaced Palestinians' against the Israeli occupier turns the arguement away from the religious dispute of dhimma against Islamic people . . . which is what it is . . . that Israel is an eyesore to good arabs because of their Islamic belief system. My point, though, is there has been a palestinian belief system that Arafat cultivated(obviously for bs political gain ie the underdog in the eurotrash leftist circles of the 70's), but what is happening in Gaza and Judea ect. is a removing of the mask, removing the last vestige of a Palestenian people with the corruption and demise of the Western Suit clad Fatah and the ascension of the Hamas, Jihad, even Al quada . . . ALL of which preach against the concept of artifical nations and embrace the return of the caliphate as a goal and islamic law in the now. They willingly agree with Israelis and those here at Jihad Watch in this singular point that Palestinians are passe and that they are one of a large Islamic nation, deserving of Islamic law, and, unlike the fatcats of the PA and the remnents of the old guard of Arafat(the Parisian shopping, sitcom watching(Arafat reportedly liked Golden Girls, Rolex wearing) they are the true believers, with less distortion(obviously some), but more the real McCoy. I predict the elections will either a. not be hold in the PA or b. Hamas will sweep them. Illusions slip away don't they. Some, like the talented Spielberg, Clinton or Yosi Belin cling to them, realizing that something desperate is called for(like the release of "Marwan" from prison to run for office. These peacniks realize(correctly), that the "moderates in the PA" are the ones who will talk to you(forked tongue or not), but the true believers will not talk. So masks are being stripped away, whether in Iran, now in Iraq with the true believers in ascension, or coming soon in the "palestinian territories" with Hamas. Pity the peacniks, who will they have to 'negotiate' with except themselves. I say this not with sarcasm . . . perhaps the peacniks are the best among us(in all countries) but the rise of the true believers to power in the arab world force us to see the world as it is(not as how we wish it to be). The success of the religious sunnis and shias at the expense of Alawi and company in Iraq is a metaphor for this.

Posted by: biorabbi at December 28, 2005 1:30 PM

Biorabbi:

What don't you buy?

Egyptian born, Arafat was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood as a student in Cairo and, according to an account I read recently of a 90-minute speech he gave over a cellphone when the Israelis were bombarding his Ramallah compound in retaliation for the 2nd Intifada, he shreiked away his consternation at other Arab leaders for failing to come to his aid (still sore at him for his defence of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait) because "Palestine is the logical launching pad for the greater jihad" or something to that effect.

Arafat was an Islamist before he was courted by the Soviets and, presumably dropped it for their support. Later, when the USSR broke up and he lost its patronage, he became again the Islamist he always was, speaking about jihad and martyrdom for the cause.

That Arafat could walk both sides of the street politically as well as sexually shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.

Posted by: waterdragon52 at December 28, 2005 3:18 PM

I agree with all you say, with the caveat, that this deceptive 'leftist' mirage from the 70's was for foreign(and domestic) consumption . . . the pan arabist Nasser vision that appealed to so many Arabs, to have faded so completely, to be replaced(better, unveiled) by the islamist interior. There was a time . . . not too long ago, where a pan arabist like Nasser appealed and united many in the arab world. Now, it is gone. Abbas and company are pathetic, no longer even useful stooges for Hamas. It will be interesting to see how Israel deals with Hamas. I think it will make their job easier . . . no longer having to deal with the western suit clad crowd. Even the most deluded ardent anti-zionist will realize that Israel is essentially in a one way dialogue(an internal dialogue)with no peace partner for thousands of miles.

Posted by: biorabbi at December 28, 2005 3:33 PM

Biorabbi: "but the rise of the true believers to power in the arab world force us to see the world as it is(not as how we wish it to be). The success of the religious sunnis and shias at the expense of Alawi and company in Iraq is a metaphor for this."

I am in total agreement. As much as the "Iraq as a light unto the Muslim nations project" has been mocked at this site, one has to admit that the events of the past several years have provided a certain moral clarity, which I don't think would have been possible had we never gone into Iraq in the first place. Obviously there are many, like Robert and Hugh, who understood what Islam is about from the get-go and predicted how the grand democracy project would turn out, but the Iraq war has revealed so very much that could not possibly have been grasped by the vast majority of people had we not gone in there - everything from the brutality of the enemy (the beheadings, the hiding behind women and children and so on), to the direct results of the democratic experiment in the Muslim world, which have made it very clear that they ARE NOT LIKE US. What I think this means, is that should we be forced to take military action in the future to protect ourselves, noone will be under the illusion that the vast majority of Muslims are liberal democrats like us, held hostage to the dictatorial regimes in the region that we have supported.

The cost of this realization has been roughly 2,000 American soldiers (yeah, I know, and some big bucks). The value of the lessons learned as we make the inevitable tough decisions that will confront us in the future? Priceless.

Posted by: Caroline at December 28, 2005 5:52 PM

Caroline writes:
"which have made it very clear that they ARE NOT LIKE US."

That is it in a nutshell. The utopian vision
collapses when one realizes that all people don't
want the same things. Some people just want to kill
or enslave you for being an infidel.

Us or them.

Posted by: American at December 28, 2005 8:25 PM

Dear Bio,
The PLO always claimed to be a pan-Arabist. Read the first article of the PLO charter [while you're at it, read the Hamas charter too]. Article I says: "The Palestinian Arab people is part of the Arab nation and Palestine is part of the great Arab fatherland [watan]." Some translations vary slightly. Anyhow, they were fairly frank about their primarily Arab identity. No doubt sometimes when speaking to non-Arab, non-Muslim groups they pretended to be a separate people from Arabs. But usually they were very proud of being Arabs. Arafat when speaking in Arabic to his own always spoke in pan-Arab terms, which justified his support for Saddam Hussein's conquest of Kuwait and justified the PLO's intervention in the Lebanese civil war. Regarding Lebanon, arafat said that it was necessary to prevent "separatists" [i.e., Lebanese Forces, General Aoun, Abu Arz, etc.] from detaching Lebanon from the "great Arab nation." So the PLO never saw itself among its own as a separate little people that only wanted its own little homeland. They were militant pan-Arabists. They wanted a resurgent Arab empire. It was the Western and Communist press [Commies of many stripes], plus Western and Communist diplomats and Third World fantasists and the NGOs, most of them supported by funds of one govt or another, who propagated the big lie of a unique, separate, distinct "palestinian people." And this big lie is one of the reasons that the mass murder in the Middle East was able to go so far.

Posted by: Eliyahu at December 29, 2005 1:26 AM

Arafat always used Islamism for his own people, Pan Arabism for his Egyptian Sponser Nasser and his Soviet Supporters, and Opressed Palestinian identity for Western Trash (Hey if you guys don't think there are Dhimmi Americans as well as Dhimmi Euro-Trash pay Ramsey Clark a visit).

Posted by: Druze at December 29, 2005 3:55 AM

A little outside the discussion but I never understood the obscenity of giving Arafat the Nobel Peace prize, Makes the whole thing obsolete really.

Posted by: marilyn at December 29, 2005 4:44 PM

Ever heard of Jizyra? The Nobel Peace Prize to Arafat was a Jizyra Tax.

Posted by: Druze at December 29, 2005 10:46 PM