2 Israeli civilians were killed and 11 more were wounded in Katyusha attacks.
2 Israeli soldiers were killed and 22 more were wounded. 122 Israelis have been killed so far - 83 IDF soldiers, 38 Israeli civilians and 1 Israeli civilian in the Diaspora.
Israel said that they killed at least 7 Hezbollah fighters.
An Italian tourist was stabbed to death by a Palestinian in the Old City. He was apparently mistaken for an Israeli Jew.
There was fighting in Labouna, Kfar Kila, the El Marj Valley, Marjayoun, Khiyam, Qulayah, Markava, Ainata, Labouna, Taybe and Ayta Al-Chaab. At least 2 tanks were destroyed in the El Marj Valley by antitank missiles. 18 soldiers were wounded in Markava, Ainata, Labouna and Marjayoun.
Sorry for the poor pic, but this photo was very hard to find. It shows 2 Merkava tanks in flames between Marjayoun and Khiyam, probably in an area called the Khiyam Plains. You won't find this pic in the New York Times! Photo from the Assafir website in Lebanon, whatever that is.****
My good friend Simon Jones, he of the Canadian expat in temporary residence in Uzbekistan, has a long-awaited new article up on his blog, The Tail Really Does Wag the Dog. Simon is smarter, more educated and a better writer than I will ever be, so it is always a humbling experience to head on over there.
In this piece, he seems to be pointing out how the US is trying to assert control over Israel's foreign policy, as opposed to the status quo, which is vice-versa. What he is referring to here, though not explicitly spelled out, is that the hardline neoconservatives in the Bush Administration (especially those in Cheney and Rumsfeld's offices), are actually more extreme and rightwing than the Israeli government itself.
They are actually aligned with the rightwing of the rightwing Likud party, while the Olmert/Peretz Administration is what passes for Centrism in Israel.
On the other hand, left out by Simon, is that there is a split in the neoconservative movement, with the "moderates" refusing to criticize Israel's War (this is a longstanding trend in US Jewish thought - "We have no right to criticize Israel on any issues" - see Elie Wiesel) and the bomb-throwers aligned with Cheney and Rumsfeld egging Israel on to an even more all-out war in Lebanon and also on to Iran and Syria.
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A very provocative article in the Norwegian paper Aftenposten by Joostein Garnder, a Norwegian philosopher, God's Chosen People, is raising a firestorm around the world, with Jewish organizations and PC whackjobs like Angry Arab alike falling all over themselves to call it anti-Semitism.
As'ad is just a typical Leftist. These PC Leftists spew the anti-Semite accusation around like sunflower seed shells. In the lunatic PC netherworld that As'ad inhabits, if I repeat the Jewish jokes my Jewish gf tells me all the time, I am another Hitler. Is that nuts or what?
Worst of all, (for a case in point, see Joseph Massad on Israel Shahak here), these types cannot handle any critique of the Jewish religion, which itself is a violation of Left principles. We Leftists critique everything - all religions, all cultures - nothing is sacred. Radical critique of Islam, Christianity and of course Judaism are all acceptable.
So is radical critique of all cultures - Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, Jewish or otherwise. As'ad and the PC Zombies rising from the tombs of the Identity Politics Movement of the 1960's are turning the history of the Left on its head in invalidating all cultural and religious critique, and hence end up in bed with the conservatives.
Thorstein's article is very provocative and not carefully written, but most of it is not really anti-Semitic. It is more a radical Christian Replacement Theology critique against fundamentalist Judaism (not Reform Judaism or Judaism itself).
The message, like Marx's The Jewish Question, which is linked on the right side of this blog (Hey As'ad, is that anti-Semitic too?) is that the liberation of the Jews and their religion lies through the assimilation of the Jews to the rest of the society. That means leaving the ghettos that Massad and As'ad are perfectly content to leave them in.
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There is new information about how Hezbollah survives. They use a huge tunnel network. The IDF will go into a village, clear it out, leave, and then Hezbollah will come back later, popping up out of tunnels. The tunnels are very deep and some are even air-conditioned. Many tunnels are very well camouflaged. Fighters pop up out of tunnels, shoot and disappear.
Hezbollah's techniques are classic guerrilla warfare. IDF forces say that they rarely see Hezbollah fighters and usually just hear them. Hezbollah is also using some sort of long cylindrical antitank mines to kill Merkava tanks. In addition, some reports say that they have US TOW missiles, though this needs to be confirmed.
The IDF will go into a village that seems deserted and walk right into an ambush. Hezbollah attackers will pop up out of windows, fire and disappear. Interviews with UNIFL observers indicate that Israel is not winning at all and that "it is difficult to imagine an end to the fighting."
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Jonathon Cook points out, first, that Katyushas are not so inaccurate as one may think, and second, that there is evidence that not only are IDF forces also "hiding behind civilians" but that many of Hezbollah's Katyushas seem to be aimed more at strategic targets as opposed to just recklessly trying to kill civilians.
For instance, in Haifa, most of the rockets are hitting the port area, which has mostly been abandoned. The port area contains the naval docks, oil refinery and other strategic installations. In Kiryat Shemona, a recent TV tape showed a reporter in the center of town being drowned out by the sounds of an IDF tank firing into Lebanon from very close by. I think at least this is called "hiding behind civilians", eh?
He also points out that Hezbollah's rockets are not "indiscriminate" at all, or at least in many cases they are not. Rather, lacking good guidance systems, they are inaccurate.
It strikes me as an imperialist conceit that armies with the luxury of modern guidance systems (state armies) are free from war crimes allegations if they fire at legitimate targets, but that poor, guerrilla, non-state armies are guilty of war crimes simply for being poor compared to a state and unable to invest in state-of-the-art guidance systems.
Because they are poor, they are not allowed to use the only weapons they can afford, and if they do use the only weapons they can afford, they are war criminals because those are imprecise.
I would like to take this opportunity to condemn Human Rights Watch (the head is Kenneth Roth, clearly a highly-conflicted US Jew whose organization relies for its survival on donations from large Zionist, often Jewish, donors) for utilizing this imperialist conceit and condemning guerrilla groups for not being rich enough to afford top-of-the-line guidance systems.
Not that Roth can mention his ethnic dilemma or anything. Why, that would be racist!
Cook's on-the-ground reports on this war are superb and essential. He is reporting from out of Nazareth, where he has lived for the past 5 years.
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If you want to know why Hezbollah is so hard to defeat, look no further than here. Hezbollah is secretive to the point of paranoia and has a strict split between the military and political wings. Most political wing members cannot tell you who the fighters are. They have eliminated all of the leadership between Nasrallah and the regional commanders. The structure is flat, not triangular.
They, in general, do not do media interviews, and when they do, they are strictly staged, more like "Hezbollah guided tours". Local cells are free to take actions on their own, fight in the same towns they live in, and are hard to differentiate from local civilians. Hezbollah has a very healthy respect for Mossad (Israeli intelligence), and has gone to extreme lengths to guard themselves from infiltration.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, are constantly being infiltrated by Shin Bet.
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The Israeli Merkava tank is one of the best on Earth.
The Merkava-4 is the latest iteration, from 2002. It is the best of the Merkavas. Only about 50 M-4 tanks a year are produced in Israel, and about 200 M-4's have been produced by mid-2006. The Palestinians have only very rarely been able to destroy a Merkava, typically with an anti-tank mine weighing about 400-600 pounds. This is not an easy weapon to acquire or deploy.
The Merkava utilizes reactive armor (the armor explodes anything hitting it on contact, preventing penetration into the tank). It is apparently also protected by something called the Trophy Active Prevention Strategy, an anti-antitank technology that enables tanks to actually explode missiles before they even get to the tank.
This system is state-of-the-art and cutting edge, and only came online at the first of the year. Yet another excellent system from Rafael Armorment Development Authority, one of the best arms manufacturers in the world, TAPS is advertised as the "most advanced tank protection system in the world".
Well, that may be so, but it is to Hezbollah's credit that they are able to blast past the world's finest defenses. No matter what you think of Hezbollah as an army, I think it is proper to respect their fighting abilities, which are far beyond what anyone felt they were capable of.
Hezbollah is not only one of the best guerrilla armies on Earth; they may well be the best guerrilla force around. For that, any student of warfare ought to give them a tip of a hat.
Apparently, even TAPS is not working well, as 20% or so of the anti-tank missiles and RPG-29's are making hits, destroying and damaging Merkavas, and killing and wounding IDF forces in the process. About 1/2 of the IDF soldiers who have been killed in this war have been in Merkavas!
Shall we discuss here how to kill a Merkava-4 tank? Why not, as we are not hindered by Israeli censorship rules that hamper reporters in Israel.
If you look at the photo below, you will see an air intake for the 1500 horsepower diesel engine on the forward upper right flank of the tank. There is obviously limited armor in this area and the fuel tank is nearby. Just aim the RPG or antitank missile for that air intake.
See that air intake on this Merkava-4 beauty here? Aim that AT-3, AT-4, AT-13, AT-14, MILAN, TOW or RPG-29 right inside that air intake, ok? Ready, aim, fire. Ok, fedayeen, today's lesson is over. Head on over to the shooting range and test your new skills.These Jews (let us forgive their ultra-arrogance for a moment) do not understand. The commenters typically shout for more armor on the Merkavas. That is a fantasy. The thing is already as armored as a tank can get, plus add-on armor.
They don't understand that Hezbollah's missiles can penetrate a full 3 feet of the world's best armor. And they fail to realize that there is a Law of Diminishing Returns when it comes to armoring tanks. That is, at some point, you have slabbed so much armor on thing that it can barely even move.
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I have been spending some time at the Free Micheal Kilo Now blog, run by a Syrian named Fares. His English is not the best, but it is intelligible and he is smart. The comments section has some great stuff, with a lot of play between Jewish Zionists out for blood and secular Arab supporters of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. To see how real decent Syrian Arabs think, head on over.
I must say, as a caveat though, that he and his commenters are non-Zionist Arabs of the Arafatist ilk, seeking ways to make peace with "peaceful Israelis", supporting the unworkable 2-state solution, and condemning mysterious "Arab radicals" and "Arab fascists" for refusing to accommodate with Zionism in any way.
They need to point out these ghostly forces to me, as they cannot include Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Hamas, the PFLP or the DFLP. All of these movements and both states have made tactical agreements to accept a 2-state solution for the time being as the only workable solution, while still opting not to accept the Jewish super-racist colonialist robber state's existence.
We have seen since June 12 what the Israeli "peace movement" is all about - an impotent movement in a society controlled by the military - the officer corps and retired officer corps, as the always excellent Israeli author Uri Avnery notes. As Angry Arab says, "Don't ever say 'The Israeli Peace Movement' in my presence". Cheers, As'ad.
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Another cool blog I just found is called Zionists Out of the Peace Movement. Now, there is a place for these folks and their principled line. But at this time, we need to make alliances with all Jewish and Zionist voices who are opposing the current disasters and looming disasters in the region.
The blog points out how many Jews in the Jewish Peace Movement are supporting this current asinine war. Now that is a valid subject for sure. But nitpicking the 2-staters to death because they are not ideologically pure one-staters, at the moment, is counterproductive. For Chrissake, even the 2-staters' 22% solution would be a great leap forward from the nightmare of our current 1938 deja vu moment.
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Hey, check out the nervous Jewish Democrats on this Daily Kos thread. Here we have a Jewish liberal Zionist Democrat squirming and warning Daily Kos folks that Daily Kos is "starting to make Jews nervous". The implicit threat here really needs to be noted, for I have seen it before.
This is what the game is, ok? They are threatening to leave the Democratic Party if we do not ease up on our criticism of Israel! It is heartwarming to note that the left wing of the US Democratic Party is finally tiring of that s-tty little state, for, after all, it only capsizes most every liberal principle on Earth by its very "Jewish South African" existence.
I smile when I see these liberal Jewish Zionists fret that The Progressive and The Nation are "Jewish-hostile" publications. Of course they are no such thing, but the fact that Zionists think they are shows these magazines are finally moving in the right direction.
The wicked (pretty much unstated) threat here, and I mean wicked, is something like this: You Democrats waver in your support of Israel and we liberal Jews will take off and...what? Join the Republican Party, I guess. And take all our Jewish money (wink wink) with us.
Except that most Jews need a permanent barf bag affixed to their face to vote Republican, not to mention the abasing act of registering Republican in the first place. So most ain't goin' nowhere.
On the chance that some may go Republican, I say, Good riddance! Go! And take all of your dirty money with you! I am sick and tired of dirty US Jewish money, tainted with Zionism, used as a political threat against the Democratic Party. Go! Get out! You will not be missed!
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7 Israeli soldiers were wounded when Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli supply convoy in Marjayoun.
4 IDF soldiers were wounded when Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at 2 Merkava tanks in Ainata. At first, one tank was hit and 3 soldiers were wounded. A second tank arrived and it too was hit by an anti-tank missile and 1 more soldier was wounded. Both tanks were damaged or destroyed in the attacks.
Heavy fighting raged for hours in Markava (the Lebanese border town, not the tank) and 10 IDF troops were wounded.
PM: The IDF reported that 18 soldiers were wounded in fighting in Lebanon.
PM: 1 Israeli soldier was killed and 1 more was wounded in fighting in Labouna, on the border in the western sector. Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile in the attack, hitting a Merkava Siman-2 tank and destroying it. Hezbollah also fired on other armored vehicles in this battle.
8:53 PM: Heavy fighting at Al Qulayah, 3 1/2 miles north of Metulla on the border, killed 1 IDF soldier and wounded 2 more. The casualties occurred when Hezbollah fighters fired antitank rockets at Israeli tanks.
8:14 PM: A lone Arab terrorist attacked a tourist in Jerusalem. The tourist, a 24 year old man from Italy, later died. Later, 2 Arabs were arrested on suspicion of committing the crime. The man later apologized and said he thought the tourist was a Jew. Yuck!
6:22 PM: Hezbollah fired 3 rockets at Acre. They landed without causing any damage or injuries.
6:09 PM: There was an attempted hijacking of a Qatari Airlines plane going to Jordan. The hijack attempt was thwarted. This later turned out to be a false alarm. The fuss was all about a conflict between a passenger and the pilot. On the other hand, Angry Arab suggests that the hijack attempt actually occurred, but was covered up by the authoritarian Jordanian state.
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5:52 PM: The IDF was engaged in raging battles with Hezbollah guerrillas around the Christian village of Marjayoun. The IDF is moving towards the Shia village of Khiyam in an area known as the Khiyam Plains.
Hezbollah is fighting with mortars and anti-tank weapons and the IDF is providing bombardment from artillery and the air to cover the ground advance. Marjayoun is 5 miles north of Metulla on the border and Khiyam is 4 miles northeast of Metulla.
Israeli bombardment of the town of Khiyam. Zionists, mostly Jews, are agitating on Israeli news forums for Israel to "take the gloves off", "quit holding back" and "flatten every village". Based on this photo, would you say that they are fighting with gloves on, holding back, or not flattening villages? Also, has there been any comparable destruction of Israeli towns and cities? If it is ok for Israel to do this to Lebanese towns, why is it not ok for Israel's enemies to treat Israeli towns like the photo above?5:22 PM: IDF aircraft attacked West Beirut for the first time, knocking out a government radio transmitter. This was the first time that the IDF had attacked West Beirut. Sounds like an "act of war" to me, eh? Oh where are you, Lebanese Army? You will not even defend your land from invaders?
5:04 PM: Hezbollah fired 10 rockets at Maalot. Hezbollah has fired 140 rockets at Israel so far today.
4:49 PM: Hezbollah fired a Katyusha rocket at a suburb of Haifa and the rocket hit a building, wounding 1 Israeli.
4:34 PM: The IDF killed 3 Hezbollah fighters in Ayta Al-Shaab and 4 more in western villages.
4:20 PM: Guerrillas fired on IDF troops in Ramallah. There were no casualties.
4:14 PM: Katyusha rockets hit Maalot and Rosh Hanrika. Fires were burning as a result of the attack.
3:05 PM: A Katyusha rocket hit a home in Maalot but there were no casualties.
2:29 PM: Fires burning out of control from Katyusha attacks in both the Galilee and the Golan Heights caused serious property damage.
2:08 PM: A Katyusha attack hit Kiryat Shemona, landing on a chicken coop and killing a number of chickens.
1 PM: 4 Katyusha rockets landed in Krayat, near Haifa. 4 people were wounded in this attack.
12:03 PM: A woman who was seriously wounded in the Katyusha attack earlier on Dir al-Assad, an Arab village near Carmiel, died. 2 Israeli civilians were killed and 2 more were wounded in this rocket attack.
11:51 AM: A Katyusha attack on Safad wounded 4 Israelis and caused serious property damage.
11:49 AM: A child was killed by a Hezbollah rocket fired at the Arab village of Dir Al-Assad. In addition, a rocket slammed into a home in Carmiel.
9:54 AM: Very heavy fighting was reported in the western part of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah guerrillas were firing large numbers of antitank rockets at IDF forces. No word on any casualties yet.
9:56 AM: The IDF reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards were among the dead in recent battles in southern Lebanon. They were apparently identified by their papers. This report has later been found to be unsupported by evidence.
8:13 AM: The IDF surrounded a building in Ramallah, apparently because guerrillas were holed up inside.
6:56 AM: The IDF arrested 7 Palestinian guerrillas in the West Bank overnight. The arrests occurred in Hebron, Nablus, Qalqilya and Jenin and involved guerrillas from the PFLP, Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
6:30 AM: The IDF attacked a home in the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza that housed an Islamic Jihad fighter. The IDF telephoned his home and told the family to leave, before destroying the home with an air raid . There were no casualties in the attack.
5:55 AM: Palestinian guerrillas fired a number of Qassam rockets towards Sderot outside Gaza. All of them landed in open areas and there were no injuries or damage.
2:22 AM: The IDF arrested a female guerrilla south of Nablus who was supposedly planning to carry out some sort of terrorist attack inside the Green Line.
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