Good for Egypt for laying the blame where it belongs. It's nice to see someone in the Arab world tell the truth for once.

Raizy:

Don't expect this Egyptian attitude to remain in place for very long. They are under intense pressure from the always murderous, Jew-hating Muslim Brotherhood, but it's nice to see, if only for a brief time.

Good. Israel should push this broadcast out to everyone.

Jack:

Sigh.

Doesn't make a difference what Israel says.

People claim "media bias" against Israel.

False.

It's Jew-hatred, plain and simple.

Take a look at the headlines about Gaza in The Guardian, naturally from Britain. They say that the Israeli offensive is a massacre.

That is a blood libel.

No country, even under attack by a genocidal enemy, goes to such lengths to avoid civilian casualties.

That woman has some 'tude.

Alice:

Mae Murray was something of a diva. Finally, L.B. Mayer got so disgusted with her shenanigans, he blacklisted her. She ended up poor and crazy.

I'm suspicious of the motives behind this attack. Let's face it, there's nothing that has happened lately that hasn't been going on for several years. Why the sudden enthusiasm for an attack? Can it be that Olmert and Livni are satisfying a partisan political need to be seen as tough on the Palis? I would not put it past them.

Kishke:

Look, I'm no fan of Olmert, Livni &Co., but they are doing their jobs. The air strikes are incredibly precise and for all we know Gen. Ashkenazi did not have enough intel to respond properly until now.

I will give the govt. the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Until more info is available, and depending on the outcome of this offensive.

25 years ago I took a trip to Kenya and Egypt. At the Raddison Hotel in Giza there was a buffet and some Israeli tourists came for breakfast. I knew that this was something momentous. Anwar Sadat died from the Muslim Brotherhood for his stance on Israel - but his legacy lives on.

Are these Palestinians (A) incredibly stupid to think that months of rocket attacks on Israel should be ignored while Israel's response should be considered the worst thing in 60 years or (B) so blind in their hatred that the rocket attacks should be considered just while the response outside the norms of civilization? NBame some other country that would have tolerated what Israel has tolerated for months without response.

The dirty little secret is that event the Arabs consider the Palestinians to be Pariahs...

Robert:
Sure, they're doing their jobs. But this is a job they should have been doing for the past two years at least, and haven't been. Which makes it legitimate to ask: Why now? The answer may well be a political one.

Robert,

I know. I don't expect it to change overnight, but I want to catch whomever we can and see if we can't move the needle a bit.

While I think Israel's bombing of Gaza is regrettable I also feel it's necessary: like one previous poster said...you can't really expect Israel to ignore the near-continuous rocket fire coming from Hamas.

That being said however I have to take issue with your "no Israel-bashing" rule. You state it is a form of "anti-Semitism"

I completely disagree with that and find that a bit offensive. No State is too sacred that it's actions cannot be criticized. The minute you equate criticizing a State to hating its people you have taken a dangerous step into stiffling dissent.

This is a hallmark of fascist thinking: to equate criticism of the government with attacking the people so that you can be labeled a traitor and persecuted as such.

I'm almost sure that you are not going to post my comment in your website since you do seem to run a very controlled and sanitized blog but I just wanted YOU to read my message and maybe rethink your stance.

Israel may have a special place in the heart of Jews worldwide but to criticise its governmental actions does not always equal anti-Semitism.

After all...I criticized Russia's behavior in Chechnya and last I checked I was not anti-Russian. I think China's government is corrupt and tyrannical. If I say that publicly does that make me anti-Chinese?

Why should criticism of Israel be different?

Wow! Carole Lombard huh? That's a pretty big compliment! Glad you liked my commentary - hope you enjoy my other posts as well ;)

oh and about your offsprings' shoes - i definitely approve!

Jean:

I think it depends what kind of criticism you're talking about, but the rule here is no Israel "BASHING" which I take to mean unfair attacks, not criticism, (which can be positive, by the way).

Most organized attacks against Israel are Anti-Semitic however.

Jean:

Thanks so much for your articulate comment.

Israel bashing is defined as pathological propaganda attacks on the State of Israel designed to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish State, and to render Israel a pariah among nation states. This bashing is characterized by ignorance of Jewish and Muslim history, a deliberate twisting of facts, and a curious indulgence of Arab Muslim terror. In most cases, this so-called criticism is a fig-leaf for Jew-hatred.

Seraphic Secret criticizes the State of Israel all the time. We believe that the current government is led by a corrupt buffoon and his enablers.

We also criticize the totalitarian rule of Robert Mugabe, the horrors of Congo, Chad, Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, in fact almost all of West Africa, an ocean of genocide, and a wretched universe of some ten million refugees.

Material Maidel:

Greatly enjoying your blog. Keep up the fine work.

Bill:

The other great secret of the Arab world is that the Sunni states are most anxious for Israel to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities.

So when you were talking about Aussie Dave and how you felt sort of technically (or is that technologically?) inadequate (my words), I got indignant (on your behalf). I actually think that you're very technical - what with all the hotlinks and cool pictures and music/video inserts and stuff. But then I visited his blog...and now I see what you mean. Wow.

Mata Hari:

Very kind of you, but as you correctly noted my mate Aussie Dave is on a whole other tech madrega, level.

Robert,

you don't need to worry so much about RSS, as your blogging engine gives it to you for free. I've been reading your blog via Google Reader for the best part of a year now.

Robert, I suspect that more people read Seraphic Secret through RSS feeds than otherwise. So while it would be nice if you got it, the important thing is, they're working for you.

Leo:

What's Google Reader?

Antoine:

What's an RSS feed, in English please?

Robert,

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Any website that produces regular updates (like a blog or a news site) can publish a list of its latest articles using its RSS feed.

The RSS feed is written using a particular dialect of XML. You can see the Seraphic RSS feed by going to http://www.seraphicpress.com/atom.xml

Google Reader is Google's online Feed Viewer. If you have an existing Google account (like a Gmail address), then go to http://www.google.com/reader Click on the "Add a subscription" button and enter the RSS feed for your blog.

I use Reader to follow all my regular blogs. Instead of having to continually check lots of different sites, I can see updates to them all by visiting one site.

A useful summary article is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss The first few paragraphs give a good explanation, but it gets very technical later on.