Conflict Blotter

I wonder if the Lebanese or the Syrians for that matter know they’ve sent buddy bears to Israel, where they’re on display in Midan Safra in front of the Jerusalem municipality.

The Lebanese buddy bear

The Syrians have sent a buddy bear also.

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Anyone noticed that dozens of trees have suddenly died along Zahra Street in East Jerusalem in the past few weeks? They’re invasive Ailanthus trees, or “ghetto palms” as the species has been dubbed elsewhere. The trees have been deliberately poisoned by Evyatar Cohen, head of the National Parks Authority Jerusalem District. Unfortunately, he’s poisoned all […]

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 I’ll bet you didn’t know toy transformer robots were banned on flights out of Amman’s Queen Alia Airport. For that and more, here is the definitive list of banned items on signs outside the gates at the Amman airport:

Ammunition
Automatic Weapons
Axes
Baseball Bats
Bb Guns
Billy Clubs
Blackjacks
Blasting Caps
Bows and Arrows
Box Cutters
Brass knuckles
Bull whips
Cattle prods
Compressed Air Guns
Corkscrews
Cricket Bats
Crow Bars
Disabling Chemicals […]

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A couple of items from today’s Hebrew press.
First, Yediot Aharanot reports on more madness by Ben Gurion Airport’s out of control security screeners. Leading Egyptian businessmen have said they will not visit Israel again. People I speak with at the Foreign Ministry are going bonkers over this issue, but seem powerless to do anything […]

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Washington Institute fellow Andrew Exum is just back from a trip to Lebanon and has written up his own take on Hezbollah’s doings north of the Litani. Andrew is a former Army Ranger platoon leader and incorporates his knowledge of military tactics into his analysis. I’ve pulled out a few passages below, but the whole […]

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I’ve been playing with Virgil Griffith’s addictive new website that allows you to track Wikipedia edits to individuals and organizations. Here are a few examples of edits made by the Israeli government I found. Have a go at it and feel free to post any nuggets you find in the comments.
In the Wikipedia entry on […]

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I RECENTLY returned from Gaza where I met with deposed Hamas foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar. Our hour long conversation produced few bomb shells, but was an interesting window on the man pegged as a leading Hamas hardliner in the Gaza Strip.

“I am the committed man to our principles. I address our attitudes very clearly,” he […]

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I usually detest right wing bloggers’ ignorant attacks on the press, but this one is just too funny.

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Yesterday and again today the Israeli press is awash with reports that Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas have been secretly toiling away at final status talks in recent months.
Yediot Aharanot reported yesterday that the two planned to present a joint document on the core issues at a US sponsored peace conference in November.
The two [Olmert […]

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Have a look at this rather bizarre clip starring notorious Hamas TV children’s character Nahool the bee. The clip ultimately arrives at a rather commendable end with a message about being kind to animals, although one might question the means used to deliver the message.
In any case, I mention this only because it’s my second […]

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