Jumping to Conclusions. Again.

I've read a bit about the Yasuf mosque arson. So far, I'm unimpressed by the "evidence" that Jews perpetrated the attack. Mostly because there is none. N-o-n-e. Not a grainy cell phone picture, no video, nothing:

CNN 12/11/09 - "No one knows who set ablaze and vandalized the mosque -- located in the West Bank village of Yasuf."

NYT, complete with photo op of Palestinian mama with her hands raised, says "arsonists, presumed by Palestinians and many Israelis to be Jewish extremists..."

AP "But authorities believe Jewish extremists carried out the attack in retaliation for a government-ordered slowdown in settlement construction."

Reuters just goes right ahead and assumes it was Jews. Facts? Who needs facts? These are Jews we're talking about: "The vandalism at the mosque marked a rise in violence by Jewish settlers mounting protests against a temporary freeze on construction in their enclaves, which Israel says was aimed at persuading Palestinians to resume stalled peace talks."

BBC's reporting is likewise full of conjecture, but nothing concrete. Some graffiti? I can spray paint anything I want in any language Google Translate offers ("Póg mo asal dubh!"). Palestinian eyewitnesses? Really now, no one actually believes them anymore now do they? 10,000 dead in Gaza, mass graves in Jenin, 40 dead in Houla, Lebanon...

The Arabs aren't only angry at the Jews. They're angry at everyone. Did the imam speak out against a Hamas leader? Did he speak out against Fatah? Did someone's daughter run away? Was it a Tuesday? There is no end to the reason why something like this could have happened.

As far as I'm concerned, the rabbis who did their little mea cupla shtick are an embarrassment, and if the Arabs themselves don't burn the Korans al Yahud brought to them, well then color me surprised. Vidduy is a wonderful thing. Let's save it for when we really have something to apologize for.

Metzger visited the Arab village? Wow, the Chief Rabbi of the Disengagement usually visits synagogues before they're torched.

Remind me how many chumashim were delivered when they torched the shul in California in 1999.
Remind me how many chumashim were delivered when they torched Kever Yosef in 2000.
Remind me how many chumashim were delivered when they torched the shul in Marseilles in 2002.
Remind me how many chumashim were delivered when they torched the shuls in London in 2004.
Remind me how many chumashim were delivered when they torched the shuls in Gush Katif in 2005.

One burnt mosque? Who gives a shit.

Netanyahu Doesn't Get It

"I would like you, as leaders, to sit at the steering wheel together with us. There is one item that is not on the agenda: You may demonstrate, protest and express your opinions, but it cannot be that you will not abide by decisions which have been made according to law."

Source

What the hell is this from Netanyahu now? And so what if the leaders of Yehuda and Shomron are choosing to ignore, oppose and 'not abide by' a mandate they weren't a part of issuing? Don't you think that Netanyahu should have checked with them first, before throwing them under the bus for Obama? Or even for a shot at Iran? It's called freedom. Look it up.

Does Netanyahu really expect an entire segment of a population, which still remembers the Gush Katif Sellout Debacle, to simply roll over when laws are passed that further deteriorate their quality of life? The settlers have learned from their mistakes, and promises from the government are generally viewed as total bullshit. You see, Bibi expected the protests, the screaming the yelling, but the whole "we're going to do what we want anyway" thing took him a little by surprise. Like I said, we've learned from our mistakes. There are almost a half million people. Is he going to put everyone in prison? My only wish is that I had something to build...

We all know this settlement freeze is a joke. It's been pundited (if that's a word) to death, and all but the most oblique idiot can see right through it. This is all about garnering support from the US in the UN when Israel bombs Iran back to the stone age. But this governing style where everyone gets to knock around the settlers is just gonna hafta stop.

"Liberty consists less in doing one's will than in not being subject to that of another; it consists again in not submitting the will of another to our own." -Rousseau.

Read a book, Bibi.