Mahzor

New York Public Library

Churches

Sarajevo Haggadah

Mah Nishtanah

Sarajevo haggadah

Antaea Darom

Israeli women's art

Action

Torah as music

Ben Heine

Action

ceramic bowl

Mohammad Said Kalash, "Offering Reconciliation" exhibit (photo: Ilan Amihai)

Action

Punch and Judy/Pinchas and Jamila

Avi Katz

Action

David Grossman

Ben Heine

Action

Eldrige Street shul

Lower East Side

Action

Dove

Ben Heine

Action

Two birds

Hoda Jamal

Action

Israeli and Palestinian boys

from documentary, Promises

Action

Cat in the Hat

Yiddish version

Action

Daylight through the Wall

Banksy: graffiti art on Separation Wall

Action

Maurice Sendak's Brundibar set

New Victory Theater (photo: Nan Melville/NYT)

Action

Daniel Barenboim, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Palestinian-Israeli musical ensemble (photo: Kerstin Joensson/AP)

Action

Great Day on Eldrige Street

N.Y.'s klezmer greats celebrate shul rededication (photo: Leo Sorel)

Action

Joint Appeal for Peace

(Avi Katz)

Joint Appeal for Peace

Ketubah, Ancona, Italy (1772)

(Jewish Theological Seminary library)

Ancona ketubah

‘Professional Provocateur’ Peace Boats Break Gaza Blockade

You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “‘Professional Provocateur’ Peace Boats Break Gaza Blockade”.

Tags:

81 Responses to “‘Professional Provocateur’ Peace Boats Break Gaza Blockade”

  1. ellen says:

    wow. That must have been a happy moment. I realize it is a symbolic action, nevertheless it is nice to imagine Palestinians cheering, even if only for a while.

  2. ellen says:

    Israel strategy re the boats:
    A senior political source in Jerusalem said. “Instead of letting the entire international press obsess about this for a week, the boats received almost no coverage, simply because there was no confrontation.”

    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014505.html

    I did see a 5 or 6 word headline on the CNN zipper, which surprised me that there was any mention. Of course that was at about 4 am, it’s probably not going to be showing for long.

  3. Alex Stein says:

    Given that we’re constantly told that Gaza is starving under the weight of the siege, why did the activists feel it necessary to bring 5000 balloons with them? Indeed, given the urgency of the mission, wasn’t packing the boats with activists a bit excessive? Shouldn’t crew have been kept to a minimum, leaving more room for desperately needed supplies? Once again, activists’ egos are deemed more important than effective action.

  4. Michael Weis says:

    Okay, did they bring any humanitarian aid? If not, why not?

  5. Judy says:

    Having those ships enter the harbor meant the world to Gazans — even those watching on Al Jazeera from 12,000 miles away.

    I hope this event signals a paradigm shift in resisting the occupation and siege.

    For those who are interested in criticizing the activists, at best those 2 small ships could only make a tiny dent in the need of the hundreds of thousands. It would take several steamers to begin to undo the damage wrought by Israel’s unconscionable siege. Are we seriously going to criticize activists for helping to shine a light on that?

    The morale boost those two ships provided can’t be quantified.

  6. amir says:

    Yvonne Ridley (pictured) is not a “peace activist” and she is not a “radical leftist pro-Palestinian”. Her association with this group leads me to believe that they are not simply “well meaning useful idiots” like I thought but purely evil people. Hamas supporters and supporters of Jihad. Ridley certainly is a supporter of terrorists (she calls them martyrs). Read her eulogy of Shamil Basayev (http://yvonneridley.org/yvonne-ridley/articles/the-passing-of-a-chechen.html). Basayev was (probably) responsible for the taking of hundreds of hostages in a theater by chechen terrorists. But Ridley has nothing but praise for him. Thanks Richard, for pointing out that she was one of the passengers on the ship.

  7. AD says:

    What do you think of the fact these “peace activists” are more
    than happy to meet with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
    ? Does that not disturb you?

  8. Miriam says:

    Oh dear..there goes amir on a rant.! twould be nice if you offered information and not mere slander or rumor…Ms Ridley, who had been held hostage for an extended period of time in a war zone several years ago, in the course of her professional work, a news journalist, was onboard with 40 other people…in that capacity as a JOURNALIST…she IS capable of reporting the news whilst keeping her objectivity…are you labelling her because she wears a hijab? or do you hold Lauren Booth, sister in law to Tony Blair to the same scrutiny? also on board. Is Lauren ‘pure evil’ as well? Hamas is a movement installed BY ISRAEL in the Gaza in the 80s to unbalance the largely Palestinian SECULARISTS..but with oppression and suffering many have turned to faith for courage and strength. Hamas is a political party. They were duly and democratically elected by the suffering gazans in 2006 for REGIME CHANGE, and have been collectively punished with starvation, blockade, military incursions since that fateful election. Do you believe that Americans deserve blockade and starvation for imposing war criminals on the world like Bush/cheney/rumsfeld? Collective punishment is a war crime. Just like Gitmo, torture and renditions…As for chechnya..it was the Russian army which caused the collapse of a theater wall onto the people inside–that caused the deaths of many that day…something that Moscow tried pretty well to cover up..but then you’re not interested in things taht conflict with your world view..West benign, Islamic East evil.

    And a note to Richard…who believes that the humanitarian mission would have been taken more seriously by average Israelis IF Israelis had been key planners and participants instead of Americans!..I doubt that since I’ve been familiar with the dismissive and hateful way that many Israelis have and continue to treat fellow Israelis who are engaged in non violent peaceful efforts with Palestinians…with abuse, imprisonment, beatings, etc. let’s get over the myth !–that ANY Jews who work with or on behalf of ending the Occupation and FOR Justice for Palestinians is respected or taken seriously. ON YNET yesterday, 1 commenter of many hateful ones went so far as to “recommend that they seize that 81 yr old former nun and strip her”!!!! what?
    lets not sugar coat the idea that the average israeli approves of anything besides military response. If they did there would be Knesset that reflected a less violent and hateful response to the oppression and violence imposed on their captives under occupation for 41 yrs./salamaat.

  9. Miriam says:

    One more comment…this from Jerry Haber, blogger of MagnesZionist…an American Israeli who wrote this on the Free Gaza movement :

    “So, welcome to Gaza, activists. I hope that others take up the idea. Yours was a small symbolic gesture, but such things are meaningful, especially for the Gazans.

    I note, unsurprised, that virtually none of the US media have picked up the story yet. And I don’t think it is because of the Joe Biden story, either. Mind you, the initiative came from the US, and US activists were behind getting the boats. So why are stories like this ignored in the US, despite the fact that there is clear human interest of breaking the Naval blockade of Israel?

    Ask Walt and Mearsheimer!
    todah rabah…Jerry…

  10. amir says:

    Miriam: just go to Ridley’s web site. She was NOT there as a journalist. She was there as a participant. “I really was too overwhelmed yesterday to put pen to paper after the magnificent welcome I and my fellow peace activists from SS Liberty and SS Free Gaza received as we entered the port of Gaza.” Get it. “I and my fellow peace activists”. I could care less if she wears a hijab. I know many fine moral people who wear a hijab. What bothers me is that she is full of hate and she’s an Islamist or Jihadist. Just read her website. Regarding Lauren Booth, I know nothing about her. Being Blair’s inlaw says nothing to me. Finally, to blame Russia for the death of hostages taken by terrorists during a botched rescue attempt shows how morally twisted you (and Ridley) are.
    This whole stunt was coordinated with a member of the Hamas led government Jamal al-Khodary who met participants as they arrived. The Hamas leader himself greeted them with a press conference. Today they were guests in Haniyeh’s. Each one recieved a medal, hug and kiss from the leader of Hamas. So these people, whether it was what they intended or not, are serving Hamas and Hamas only.

  11. Miriam says:

    Hmmm. Ridley’s emotional response upon arrival, after days of stress, worry & fear of attack along with a view of thousands of Gazans waiting/cheering on the shore to greet these first outsiders to pierce the blockade & bringing attention and food and medical supplies from global supporters HARDLY indicates extremism! Most humans would have been overcome with feeling, even war hardened experienced journalists!
    The roster of participants have referred to themselves as ‘peace-activists’–not exactly a “shameful” tag! in these dark & violent times.
    I found nothing on her eponymous website that suggests anything of “hate”. She, a relatively recent convert to Islam (2003) could hardly be understood as anything beyond a typical western Muslim woman. and You are “manufacturing” a perspective.

    As for your being incredulous that Russian govt hid their actions as being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Chechnyans in the theater, consider that the reporter who was responsible for breaking that story/photos of the russian tanks which fired shells at that external wall of the theater, that journalist ended up with a bullet in her head…reminiscent of numerous murders/assassinations of journalists in all the current war zones.
    Silencing the press is not peculiar only to Occupied Palestine by PA security goons paid for and trained by US and Israel..freedom of the press has been suffering in Iraq, and the US has been true thru-out all the Bush years. Dictatorships dont like contradiction nor criticism.
    That these courageous participants were greeted by the local senior politician(s) should not come as a surprise, with the absolute exception of Bush who would rather have athlete’s foot than shake the hand of any critic of his perpetual wars and contempt for anti war activists. Big deal! they had a huge warm welcome from the people…a reflection that NOT everyone agrees in starvation as a politial policy for regime change. Being greeted is hardly a sign that they agree or question that political leader. Such catastrophizing and distortion is hardly useful or convincing. Try reading something beyond your own hasbara.
    /shalom/Miriam

  12. @Alex Stein:

    Can you tell me what you’ve done to end the Occupation lately? When you can point me to anything substantive then I’ll take more seriously any carping you’d like to make about this valiant project.

    Only carpers like you second guess people who really put their lives on the line to do something. Have they made a tremenmdous impact? Yes. Would I have taken 5,000 balloons with me to Gaza? No. Would I have done things differently if I were running the show? Sure. But I wasn’t. Like you I wasn’t there. Like you, I could’ve been there if I’d really wanted to be. Since I wasn’t I’m not willing to be overly judgmental about peripheral issues. Too bad you can’t take the same approach.

  13. @Michael Weis:

    Another carper. Can you tell me what humanitarian aid you’ve brought to Gaza? If not, I’m afraid you have very little credibility here. They brought 200 hearing aids for children who do not have them. That is humanitarian aid. They sailed in 2 reconfigured fishing boats which had precious little room for cargo.

  14. @AD: I only wish Ehud Olmert & Ehud Barak were meeting with Haniya. If that happened then maybe the FGM activists wouldn’t need to be making their journey or meeting with Haniyeh.

    But if you’re asking whether I think that the FGM meeting w. ‘Hamas terrorists’ is something that their supporters should be ashamed of–then I reject the terms of yr argument.

  15. @amir:

    purely evil people. Hamas supporters and supporters of Jihad.

    Only a pro-Israel apologist like you would conflate a supporter of Hamas & a support of Jihad (by which I suppose you mean Al Qaeda). Supporters of Hamas are NOT purely evil. You have not produced any evidence that Ridley is purely evil. Writing a eulogy of Basayev does not prove that she is “purely evil.” THere is lots of evil in Chechnya & a lot of it on the Russian side. The crime of the Moscow theater attack was far more on the Russian authorities who poisoned & killed, if I recall, something like 150-200 people in attempting to subdue the kidnappers. So Basayev organized a kidnapping. That’s certainly not something of which I approve. But I find Russian antidotes in dealing w. such challenges to be far worse than the illness.

    I warn you that calling someone “purely evil” in this blog w/o proof is a violation of my comment rules. I don’t allow such harsh epithets w/o substantive proof.

    And cut out the stupid snark about thanking me. It’s beyond annoying.

  16. Miriam says:

    Tis true….that some are carping on what was or was not brought in the way of medical supplies or food…when in actuality, if said complainers truly were concerned they might complaining to the Israeli government directly whose lap the problem belongs, for their barbaric ‘policy’ of allowing perishable goods to sit and rot in the trucks that carry them claiming ‘security’ and caring not one whit about starving people. Surely the thing of ‘conscience’ is not entirely alien to such critics? Blame those who have control and make a conscious decision to starve and let die those they are required to provide for as Occupiers. Remember Warsaw Remember “Never again”?

  17. @Miriam:

    ON YNET yesterday, 1 commenter of many hateful ones went so far as to “recommend that they seize that 81 yr old former nun and strip her”!!!! what?
    lets not sugar coat the idea that the average israeli approves of anything besides military response

    You see those who write Talkbacks on Ynetnews & Haaretz as “average Israelis?” Then you don’t know avg. Israelis. The Talkbackers are the Kahanists & far-right Israeli nationalists. The racists, the haters. The worst of the worst. There is a whole world of progressive discourse you’re missing partly because you don’t read Hebrew & partly because you’re only reading a few selected Israeli sources. Don’t overgeneralize from the tone of Talkbacks.

    It is true that the progressive side of Israeli politics is not as strong as I would like. But that’s not a reason to give up on them. They need to be challenged & strengthened.

  18. @amir:

    What bothers me is that she is full of hate and she’s an Islamist or Jihadist

    If you want to level such a serious charge you’ll have to do better than tell people to read her website. YOU bring the evidence or you won’t be able to level calumnies like this here in future.

    to blame Russia for the death of hostages taken by terrorists during a botched rescue attempt shows how morally twisted you (and Ridley) are.

    You’re reminding me of the most obnoxious tendencies of yr political ranting. The Russians killed the hostages at the Moscow theater & in Beslan. Pure and simple. They are inhuman incompetent brutes. For you to call someone who merely notes the truth about Russian callousness “morally twisted” is simply unacceptable here. So I warn you as I have done before. You can criticize. But using hyperbolic nasty epithets as you have done is way beyond the pale.

    these people, whether it was what they intended or not, are serving Hamas and Hamas only.

    Actually, it is Israel’s bankrupt siege & isolation policy which is serving Hamas & Hamas only. Were it not for this, Palestinians prob. would’ve abandoned Hamas long ago–if they had an alternative more viable than the corrupt Fatah, that is.

  19. Alex Stein says:

    Richard – we are on to a new level of political debate when positions are assessed in terms of what the person making them does or doesn’t do vis-a-vis the situation. Perhaps you should make that clear on your blog: only offer critiques if you yourself are doing something effective.

    The whole notion of them putting their lives on the line is absurd (aside from the fact that they weren’t very experienced sailors). It was clear from the outset that Israel wasn’t going to attack the boat. The worst they could have expected was to have been detained in Ashdod.

    It’s also interesting to note that they chose not to sail from Egyptian waters (the Egyptian response might not have been quite so pleasant), particularly so when we consider the fact that goods can’t pass through Egypt either, something that’s easy to forget.

    You then admit that, as you weren’t there, you also aren’t willing to be judgemental about peripheral issues. But you were willing to critique the conflation of issues (with the US Liberty boat that was sunk in 1967). Given the humanitarian situation in Gaza, I’d have thought that the issue of the balloons/excessive number of crew is far less of a peripheral issue than who they chose to commemorate en route.

  20. @Alex Stein: I thought yr criticism of the FGM journey was rather petty & simply wondered what, if anything, you’d done yrself to further that goal.

    The whole notion of them putting their lives on the line is absurd (aside from the fact that they weren’t very experienced sailors). It was clear from the outset that Israel wasn’t going to attack the boat.

    No, in fact it is your comment which is absurd. The defense ministry threatened to use force if necessary to detain them. Israel has killed perceived enemies with much less warning than that. Given that you’ve served in the IDF I guess these things wouldn’t phase you but–if I put you in a small fishing boat on the high seas and told you a major power threatened to stop yr ship with force I’d say you’d feel a bit less sanguine than you let on above.

    In my criticism of the issue of bringing in the U.S.S. Liberty I said that my criticism was secondary to the importance of the actual mission itself. You said no such thing. You merely criticized as armchair liberals tend to do. And yr criticism is among the most cynical possible–you implicitly deny there is a Gaza humanitarian crisis, yet reserve the right to attack the FGM for not doing more to relieve the crisis.

    Exactly how much do you think two fishing boats can do to relieve a huge humanitarian crisis facing 1.5 million people? Should they have filled their small amount of cargo storage area with medicine and food that would’ve rotted/gone to waste had the Israelis seized their boats?

    The people of Gaza are delighted with the outcome of this journey. Only carpers like you are not. Oh, and one Gazan whom Ynetnews dredged up & whose criticism you’ve appropriated as yr own.

  21. Joy Wolfe says:

    It is clear the people involved in this mission are trying to salvage something out of this failed attempt to break a seige that never existed in the first place
    There were varying reports of humanitarian aid and food being carried and thousands of hearing aids for children, ( a clear publicity stunt) yet all that arrived were a bunch of people claiming to be peace activists, 200 hearing aids, and 5000 balloons. A lot of help that would have been had the Palestinians in Gaza really have been starving
    A glance at the lists of daily supplies going in through Israeli crossing points will show the reality of the fact that the only blockade is the one operated by Egypt who recently refused to allow in one vehicle from Scotland carrying medical and humanitaian supplies. Perhaps next time Yvonne Ridley, Lauren Booth, an American. a holocaust survivor, the ever present Jeff Halper, and Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, a Jerusalem-based spokeswoman for the so-called Free Gaza Movement which organised the event might choose to direct their efforts to where the problem really lies, by breaking the Egyptian seal on her border with her Palestinian neighbour, and try to stop Hamas bombing checkpoints and misappropriating international and Israeli aid. It might also be good if they could pressurise oil rich Muslim states to offer the hand of friendship and humanitarian aid to their allegedly beseiged Gazan neighbour. When has any Arab state done anything other than kick out the Palestinians?
    How disapponted the publicity seekers must have been to have been allowed to sail in to Gaza peacefully. Confrontation would have suited their agenda and was what they were looking for.
    If you were to ask the grassroots Gazan people what this stunt did for their cause i am sure the answer will be less than nothing.

  22. Barbara says:

    $500,000 to deliver 200 hearing aids and a load of balloons?

    They have money to burn, these ISM idiots….

  23. Michael Weis says:

    @Richard:

    Tons of humanitarian aid goes through Gaza crossings from Israel every day. Thousands of Gazans come into Israel for medical attention for free (though many are denied) every year.

  24. Alex Stein says:

    Richard – first of all I still don’t know why your tone continues to be so aggressive towards me, particularly the snide remark about me serving in the IDF.
    Secondly, you call my criticism ‘petty’ while at the same time agreeing that – had you been the skipper – you wouldn’t have brought balloons.
    If I had been in charge of the boat, rather than the arm-chair liberal that I am, I’d have emphasised the humanitarian aspect of the mission, without getting involved in the nature of the Hamas/Israeli dispute. I’d have emphasised that I simply wanted to set an example that the humanitarian supply should be maintained come what may. I certainly wouldn’t have seen myself as being used by one or the other side in the conflict (I notice the activists’ decision to be presented with medals by Ismail Haniyah has – as yet – passed without comment on his pages).
    I will repeat: it was obvious that Israel wasn’t going to attack the ship. Even the hasbara crowd have more sense thanthat. It hoped to dissuade them from the voyage with threats etc; when that failed, slightly cooler heads prevailed (although not cool enough: the Israeli rhetoric about avoiding a confrontation was inane – they should have just labelled the mission a harmless humanitarian mission and left it at that).
    It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the fact that they decided not to sail from Egypt (the other country which enforces the blockade).

  25. Luc says:

    Alex,

    I’d be easier to make sense of your comments if you were straight talking.

    Do you support this action or not?

    Why do you write lines like “Given that we’re constantly told that Gaza is starving under the weight of the siege …”

    You apparently don’t believe it then? Why else the odd phrase?

    By the way it is Israel as the formal occupier of Gaza that is responsible for allowing humanitarian goods in.

  26. @Alex Stein: I apologize if I’ve been intemperate, but as it appears there is a mini-”hasbara crowd” stampede in this particular thread, I may have allowed myself to get carried away. But I do feel strongly that your attitude is disingenuous. Would I feel that you’re trying to find anything positive either in this project or in the effort to end the siege of Gaza, I would take a diff. approach to your contributions here.

    Again, regarding my own criticism–I want to be fully honest about my feelings about the project while at the same time not throwing the baby out w. the bath water. The project was worthy & accomplished a wonderful goal in bringing attention to Israel’s unlawful siege against Gaza. You, however, only want to criticize while finding nothing of value in what the FGM did. That’s the diff. bet. us.

    it was obvious that Israel wasn’t going to attack the ship

    And again, you are sitting in the comfort of your Israeli home & can make such a judgment. But there were 47 people sitting in 2 boats on the high seas who heard a defense ministry spokesperson, representing undoubtedly the views of real senior officers possessing real guns, threaten to stop them with force. The participants were fully reasonable to believe that such an eventuality could happen.

  27. @Michael Weis: Only 43% of the actual needs of Gazans is filled by those “tons of humanitarian aid.” Considering there is a siege of Gaza, Israel is responsible for that number being 100%. If it isn’t, then Israel is punishing the people of Gaza illegally & unjustly.

    As for “thousands” of Gazans coming to Israel for medical attention: you & I both know you don’t know what you’re talking about. SOME Gazans are approved for medical attention in Israel. And the Shin Bet uses this carrot to recruit its spies among the Palestinians as shown in articles published recently in the Guardian & elsewhere. THe number is not in the “thousands” by any means. MANY dying Palestinians are turned away for no discernible reason other than that they are Palestinians. What Israel needs to do is ensure that Gazan medical facilities can care for their own, which they cannot do due to the siege.

  28. Miriam says:

    Speaking of unaddressed ongoing HUMANITARIAN CRISES:
    We are instructed that” it is not our duty to complete the task but we are not to free to desist from it either”. (Pirkei Avot).
    The task is to feed the hungry and to treat others as we would wish to be treated.
    Lesson obviously not learned. As you have served the IDF, then you know that “purity of arms” is a thing of the past, and as Combatants for Peace explained rules of engagement are now classified in terms of ‘managing’ occupied peoples. Perhaps you do have ‘humanitarian’ inclinations now, but as LUC expressed above, you are not being straight/clear wiht readers. Here is something that can be done– write a letter..see below:

    IAW Amnesty International’s urgent action request below is a drafted letter I intend to send to Major General in Beer Sheva and also send to Barak, as well as the email, to also write to the Egyptian authorities (as requested by Amnesty).

    SAMPLE LETTER
    Mr. Ehud Barak
    Minister of Defence of Israel
    cc: Israeli Minister of Health, Yacov Ben Yizri; Embassies of Egypt and Israel in Austria

    Dear Minister,
    We have learned from Amnesty International that the following critically ill patients are being prevented from leaving the Gaza Strip for treatment abroad for urgently needed medical care:

    Nufuz Husni (44)
    Muhammad al-Hurani (25)
    Rami Al-Arouqi (29)
    Rami Al-Masri (25)
    Sameer Taleb (47)
    Bassam al-Oehidi
    Nadira Abu Oweimar
    Mustafa Sha’sha
    Rada Khdair
    Walid al-Sawarkhi
    Mahmud Odeh
    Radi abu Rida
    Ahmad Abu Shawish
    Fathi al-’Af
    Ayman al-Ladawi
    As’ad al-Qarinawi
    Ahmad Abu Shawish
    Jihad al-Shatali
    Muhammad Owdalla
    Naser al-Akhras

    The Israeli authorities are refusing to allow hundreds of patients to leave Gaza to obtain specialized treatment unavailable in Gaza for undisclosed security reasons. More than 200 patients have died in recent months following delays in receiving permits to leave Gaza.

    Nufuz Husni, a cancer patient, was refused permission to leave Gaza via Erez in March. She travelled to the Rafah Crossing on 2 July in a further attempt to seek medical attention elsewhere. After waiting 36 hours at the crossing with her husband she had no choice but to return home.

    The practice of denying people access to urgent medical care not available in Gaza is in contravention of human rights. The Rafah Crossing has been sealed almost totally since June 2007, with the exception of 23 days, and patients need special permission to exit from the Erez Crossing. Israel, as the occupying power, has the responsibility to ensure that the population of Gaza has access to medical care the same as Israeli nationals.

    We urge the Israeli authorities to ensure the reopening of the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is the only gate to the outside world for the population of Gaza. In addition, we urge that access to lifesaving care be granted immediately for the people listed above and that the Israeli policy of denying access to medical care unavailable in Gaza be changed.

    (from my European contact earlier today) please take action if you are moved by the suffering of human beings under Israeli occupation –despite the claim of ‘unilateral disengagement’..grinding their jackboot heel on the necks of occupied human beings must be opposed, resisted and ENDED. Please do your part.

  29. @Barbara: Have you ever outfitted boats for a sea journey? I thought not. Do you know anything about the costs of electronic equipment, shipyard repair services, etc.?? I thought not. ANd the number is $300,000, not 500,000. But why let facts get in yr way??

    Talk about “idiots”…

  30. Alex Stein says:

    richard – I clearly presented an alternative for how the mission could have been carried out; in that sense, I’m not sure how I could have been more positive. Any chance of an answer to the Egyptian question? Or to the fact that the group received medals from Ismail Haniya?

Leave a Reply

Performance Optimization WordPress Plugins by W3 EDGE