Obama and Kerry demonstrate their negotiating savvy

Heh heh... they sure pulled Bibi's pants down on that deal, didn't they?

Three months ago they sign an agreement to hand Israel 38 billions in military aid over ten years. I'm not much of a business whiz, but I think the word for that is "leverage," as in Obama had some leverage over the guys on the other side of the table. Once the deal was done, the leverage was gone.

So three months later they demand that Israel stop building settlements in the occupied territories? How inept are these guys?

The think tank here at Falling Downs figures they aren't really as retarded as they appear. What's changed in the past three months? Donald Trump won an election, that's what. And, difficult as it may be to fathom, a Trump presidency shows every sign of being the most sycophantic pro-Israel US government in history.

The Obama regime's eleventh hour recognition of the rights of Palestinians has nothing to do with Palestinians. After all, Obama had eight years to do something and did nothing. He's not motivated by issues of human rights or international law.

This sudden discovery of illegal settlements is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to stir up shit for the next president to deal with.

I love Israel

I love Israel even though the almost fifty years since the onset of the occupation has for all practical purposes rendered it a fascist state. As long as voices like that of Uri Avnery can be heard there is hope for redemption. Scant hope, perhaps, but hope nonetheless. After all, Germany was a fascist state at one time too.

The road to fascism has been paved by opportunistic politicians like the current PM. He's built a career out of doing the unthinkable and rendering it palatable. A few more (Palestinian) home demolitions here and a few more (Jewish) settlements there and the world can go fuck itself, because the Americans will always always have my back.

Any state of oppression can only persist over time with the complicity of the oppressed, of course, which is why Israel keeps Mahmoud Abbas in power and Marwan Barghouti in jail. God forbid that the kaffirs choose their own leaders... look what happened in Gaza!

Back in the hippy era a stop at a kibbutz for a few weeks or months was near mandatory. It was part of the hippy-dippy Kashmir trail. Today? Not so much.

Which is why stories like this matter more than ever.

As long as you can still find humour in the dead-end you're on, you might be able to find a way out.

Israel in the age of Islamic State

The arrogant Likudniks who have been running the show in Israel for the last 25 years today announced another 300 settler homes on Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

As every Israeli who gives these matters any thought whatsoever already understands, that's going to inflame resistance all over again.

The "resistance" these days is largely confined to teens throwing stones at settler vehicles.

Ya, I know there's those deadly Gaza rockets that never manage to hit anything, but by and large, those stone-throwers are the "resistance."

Their resistance has recently been further criminalized by the introduction of a 20 year jail term for the stone-throwers.

While that is going on, the Likudniks have been cynically annexing the Golan, because what the hell is Assad going to do about it?

We'll just help ourselves to those oil and gas resources while Mr. Assad is otherwise occupied.

Does nobody in the Likudnik power structure see where they are taking their country?

There may be folks high up in the IDF who think they have a handle on what's going on across the borders, and at this point the upheaval is ongoing across every border.

You've got a highly unpopular non-democratic government in Egypt tamping down the fires in the Sinai.

Lebanon is practically an anarchic state, as Syria and Iraq are already.

Jordan is on the brink.

And Netanyahu concludes that this is the moment to announce 300 settler homes in the West Bank!

Yes, it may be great PR to humour some of those IS guys who show up at the border seeking medical attention. But is there a long-term strategy at work in the Netanyahu cabinet?

The closest thing that the Likudniks have ever had to a "long term strategy" is the belief that when and if the shit hits the fan, the USA will come to the rescue.

It might be time to give that strategy a good re-think.

Sweden embraces hard-core anti-Semitism

What else can it mean when the incoming Swedish government declares that Palestinians are a people too?

Anyone who has a problem with the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands is obviously a dyed-in-the-wool Jew-hater.

Because Israel is the JEWISH homeland, don't ya know, and therefore all those non-Jewish Israelis, well over a million of them, aren't "real" Israelis.

Don't even get me started on the Lewinsky Park Schwuggies.

So once again Sweden takes the lead in race-baiting and anti-Semitism.

Tell you what; if they're so righteous, let THEM take all those African migrants!

And since all those Schwartzies claim to be Jews, this gesture will absolve Sweden of the anti-Semitic stain that is once again befouling her international reputation.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

Israeli election becomes horse race

Netanyahu has some competition.

A contender.

Unfortunately, the contender is coming up fast on his right. The only thing Netanyahu can do for the next two weeks is try to head off the upstart by cutting farther to the right himself.

It's going to be an ugly two weeks.

Bennett articulates what Netanyahu believes in but will not speak, namely that if there is to be a Palestinian state it will be somewhere else.

Like Antarctica maybe?

Netanyahu still pays lip service to the two state solution.

But that will officially be declared dead within the next few weeks.

And what do they think will happen then?