Annapolis

I actually have very fond memories of Annapolis. I worked there for nearly five years when we lived in Baltimore. Sadly, it seems that Annapolis may become another place name associated with Israeli concessions for no discernible benefit.

A friend just sent me an email that highlights, in a humorous way, some of the stupidity that may happen there.

Here is part of the text from my friend:

See attached "invitation" and please ignore any spelling mistakes -
this "invitation" was prepared quickly by a wonderful artist/writer
who lives in the Golan Heights.

Her email message (which accompanied the invitation) includes this info:

Basic etiquette dictates that invitations to major events be sent out
six - eight weeks ahead of time. The Annapolis Peace Conference
invitations are not even in the mail, and this is simply not done.
What is this world coming to?!

I have taken the liberty of drafting the attached invitation for the
organizers and planning the menu, as I understand that they are under
tremendous pressure.

Here is the proposed invitation and menu:

Peres Doesn't Get It

You may have missed this latest pondering by our president as reported by Arutz 7:

Peres Can't Understand Why Arabs Attack Jews

(IsraelNN.com) Responding to the Kassam rocket attack on an army base north of Gaza early Tuesday morning, President Shimon Peres told reporters, "It makes no sense why they would continue to shoot at us despite the fact that we disengaged from the Gaza Strip."

He also stated in a British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) television interview that Hamas will be a thing of the past. "In the long term there won't be Hamas. There is no long-term for Hamas. They lack reason."

We would be happy to explain the details to him. If he'll just post a comment to this blog, we'll get back to him as soon as possible!

Shana tova

Leadership in Action

Don't miss this article from the Jerusalem Post.

Barak refuses to distribute gas masks

Defense Minister Ehud Barak will not order the distribution of gas masks, despite intelligence reports that Syria has built up an arsenal of missiles that can carry biological and chemical warheads, Army Radio reported on Monday.

According to military assessments, Syria is nearing the end of an accelerated deployment of a large rocket arsenal of Katyusha and Scud missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and causing thousands of civilian casualties.

However, Barak has decided to avoid taking any concrete action out of fear that distribution of gas masks could be interpreted as preparation for war.

Now I would have thought that the Defense Minister would be making a top priority of protecting Jewish lives in case of a war. I also would have thought that some lessons had been learned from the lack of preparedness last summer. Also, doesn't Syria's missile buildup look a bit like preparation for war? I guess I was wrong.

Read the rest of the article on the JP website to see the reaction of MK Yuval Steinitz.

Little White Lies

Personally, I'm glad to see that Islam (according to this cleric) has standards. Of course, for all we know, he may be lying.

Egyptian Cleric: OK to Lie to Women, Jews

(IsraelNN.com) Egypt’s Al-Nas TV recently featured a sermon to children by Egyptian cleric Mahmoud Al-Masri, who explained that lying to Jews and women is permitted by Islam.

Al-Masri said: "If the wife asks her husband: “Do you love me, Abu Muhammad?” He should say: “Of course I love you, honey. How could anyone not love you?” He might not love her at all, but when he says: “I love you,” she feels happy and stable… Right? But if he were to say to her: “The Prophet has forbidden lying, so I cannot tell a lie – I hate you, I want to kill you, and get rid of you...” Can they possibly continue to live together after this? No…"

"'My dears, the second kind is lying to the enemy in times of war," the Muslim cleric explained. "What does this mean? For example, somebody joins the army, and a war breaks out, between us and the Jews, for example. He is captured by the Jews, who ask him: 'Where do you keep your weapons, where is your artillery, and where are your airplanes, and so on?' He knows, but what will happen if he tells them the truth? He will destroy his country, right? So what should he do? If, for example, he knows that the tanks are at Heliopolis, he should say they are at Hilwan."

The segment is available for viewing at MEMRI.ORG.

This article is from Arutz 7.

Look over here

Hi:

We've changed the address of the main blog to here. This address reflects our main focus, the fact that we live in Jerusalem and will be mostly writing about our experiences in the Holy City.

This blog will be used to publish any political rants that can't be held back. At times we will ask the important question: Is there anything so stupid that the government won't do it?

Shlomo