Sunday, June 25, 2006
Haveil Havalim #75
Welcome to Haveil Havalim #75, this week's kosher smorgesborde of blogging delights. We'll start out, as is not uncommon, with some Israeli fare.
Defending Israel
Pallywood is the media phenomenon in which Palestinian video journalists stage events in order to portray Israel in the worst possible light. While hardly the only difficulty Israel faces, Pallywood has been in the news again after recent deaths on Gaza Beach.
Richard Landes at Augean Stables examines the inability of many journalists covering "Pallywood" to comprehend that, yes, it really is that bad.
You will probably be surprised to learn whose wisdom Arlene from Israel is uncharacteristically quoting this week on the issue of taking out Qassam-launching terrorists, even after the Palestinian civilian casualties of last week: "Only an idiot would not shoot to stop them from launching,"
Omri at Mere Rhetoric writes that people who say that Abbas's referendum endorses a two state solution are either ignorant or lying. Daled Amos, reports on the shady financial dealings of a Jewish organization operating as an unregistered foreign agent, and it's not AIPAC. He also looks into defusing the demographic timebomb, and considers the possibility that as we wait for the fateful moment of Palestinian numeric superiority, watching the timebomb's LED tick down the last few numbers (that would be '3', '2' and then '1'), perhaps the best way to defuse the bomb is to do nothing. Omri also took a look at the demographic time bomb -- and don't worry, he didn't cut the red wire.
Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters notices Hamas: Islam, Islam Uber Alles.
Many complain (who me?) but Treppenwitz actually has a plan. The Aliyah Blog also tries to answer the question what should Israel do?
Muse from Shiloh Musings is unhappy with the defense leadership's priorities, comparing them to the Defense Forces from Chelm.
Gulf Coast Pundit brings us some very surprising poll results from Al Jazeera -- and no, the surprise is not in the English language version of the poll.
WestbankMama points out progress made by the Israeli Air Force in responding to the media challenge after civilian casualties.
Bookworm Room has the scoop on one of Israel's newest defenders, a guy you probably haven't heard a lot about.
Dymphna at Gates of Vienna has a stirring defense of Israel in the face of the ironic support for anti-Israel boycotts from the leadership of many American church groups. Canuck at In defence of the righteous also defends Israel against a boycott, the CUPE boycott.
Eliott from Middle East on Target posts about Civilian Casualties.
Ocean Guy at Somewhere on A1A shows us what a Palestinian rhetorical pretzel looks like.
In the wake of Palestinian salaries being paid after recent influxes of cash-stuffed diplomatic suitcases, the Elder of Ziyon has a fascinating theory that might lead you, should you somehow end up shopping in a Palestinian store, to be sure to pay the exact amount rather than risk receiving change in return.
Carl explains at Israel Matzav how even getting Israel admitted to a supposedly non-political, humanitarian organization like International Red Cross is no simple matter as the Arab and Islamic worlds continue to demonize Israel absolutely anywhere and everywhere they can. And just in case you didn't hear about the Mossad agent who made it big at the World Cup, Carl is on top of that story too -- fear not, proper apologetic prostrations for the slightest hint of Israeliness at this year's games have already been offered before the Arab League. Soccer Dad has found the common thread holding these two stories together, and it's not a frayed strand pulled loose from the tapestry of brotherly love.
Defending Israel from Ahmadinejad And Friends
.
While a lot of attention has been paid to conflict on Israel's immediate borders this week, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime continued with their own mishegas, which should not be ignored.
The American Thinker reveals how even a loss by the Iranian World Cup soccer team is no simple matter, with ramifications from Germany to the streets of Teheran. While Germany may be tempted to thank Portugal for solving their Ahmadinjejad problem, in the end it is the Iranian leadership itself which may be most responsible. Snoopy the Goon at Simply Jews brings us the shocking scoop about ancient Persian technology: Iran has had nukes for a looong time.
Roger Waters and the Wall:
While not perhaps the most serious challenge Israel faced this week, Roger Waters' visit and accompanying cliched and gratuitous host-bashing made quite an impression.
Dave at Israel at Level Ground has "all in all, just another prick at the wall." Laya at Jewlicious has more about the same prick at the same wall.
Joe Noory at No Pasaran also covers Waters with "That's right, Roger. No thought control." Aussie Dave objected too, and not just to the gratuitous traffic jams caused by arevised choice of venue.
Boker Tov, Boulder has another wall to recommend for Roger Waters' next trip to the region, not that he's trying to control anybody's thoughts or anything.
Living in Israel:
Let's take a deep breath now and remind ourselves that there is more to Israel than appears on CNN. Sometimes we Israelis just live here, pretty much like people live in most other places.
Olah Chadasha of Greetings from the French Hill fame recommends speaking Hebrew in her post, I No Speaka Hebrew. I think I should have read that about 9 years ago.
Ra'anana Ramblings has Food for Thought. She tells us a little bit about some of the charities here in Israel that feed the hungry, point out one food in particular that they hand out here that you would probably never see from a US food-based charity.
Batya tells us about Orange Basketball at Shiloh Musings and also points out some big music news blogging as the muse at Me-Ander..
Jameel at The Muqata has an amazing midnight visit to Kever Yehoshua bin Nun.
Visiting Israel:
And those of us who live here would love to have you for a visit. It can be an amazing experience...
Irina of The Ignoble Experiment has Inside the Fence. More about her adventures here.
Scottage from Perspectives of a Nomad has the second in a series of posts on his Israel experience. Rafi G., who lives here in Israel, shares a bit about his sister's Israel visit.
Blogging
Lest we forget, Jewish bloggers are still bloggers, even me. I read Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, just like everybody else, hoping for a good tip or even one of his very generous links. I just wish I'd paid more careful attention to all those good tips when I had the chance; this is harder than it looks. (All right, sure, this link-bait is just a bit transparent, but I think it's ok; Glenn is notably pro-transparency.) Anyway, as bloggers, in addition to writing about Israel and Judaism, we also frequently blog about... blogging.
If you haven't taken Aussie Dave's poll over at IsraellyCool yet, now would be a good time. We'll wait.
Muse at Me-Ander has a New Banner.
Jameel takes the JBlogosphere global, introducing us to the list of Spanish JBloggers. Bienvenidos!
Pragmatician explains how a year of blogging has affected the way he handles issues in real life.
Toronto Pearl at Pearlies of Wisdom has a post noticing a scary phenomenon: An explosion of mid-blog crisis. I feel it. I really do. Must. Keep. Blogging....Stam! I'm ok. [corrected 6/25 3pm: to clarify that Pearl is not having such an explosion herself, but noticing it in others. Pearl has already had her explosion, maybe more than once, and has provided advice on how to survive the blast -- but only for those who click and read!]
Torah
At the heart of all of it, of course, is Torah, and we have a number of strong posts focusing on that very subject.
Greg at Presence asks How you like dem apples?
Robert J. Avrech at Seraphic Secret has a moving Hesped.
Hindarochel asks for orthodox opinions and experiences regarding the issue of transplants and brain death.
Jameel looks at Parashat Shlach and finds lessons relevant to today's political world, and the issue of what drives Jewish politicians.
More Good Stuff...
In addition to the frequently blogged topics you know you can expect from the J-Blogosphere, there is also great diversity and unexpected entertainment coming from some very creative writers. This is what is otherwise known as "the miscellaneous section."
If you don't know what the words plinth, vexilloligist, and intaglio mean, then you aren't reading Soccer Dad regularly enough.
Meryl Yourish finds another "exposing top secret information" story in the New York Times, one that can really cause some harm, and in this case, it isn't George Bush or anyone remotely connected to the administration who is doing the damage.
Hashmonean has some survey results, including the large proportion of Muslims who do not believe Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. Did the pollsters ask a follow up question to find out who these skeptical Muslims believe was yelling in Arabic on the cockpit voice recorders? Scour Hashmonean's post thoroughly, and let me know if you find it. I probably just missed it.
Jack has some great gadgets, including one that would be a perfect gift for the sleep-walker in your life.
Ezzie's got a nice picture this week, one of the few half-decent ones he says, that includes a guy who doesn't look at all like Ezzie.
Judith at Kesher Talk has good news in the middle east. Wait, that must be a typo. Nope. She really has some good middle eastern news. Who ever heard of such a thing, and from a blogger?
Mottel from Letters of Thought has To Hel and Back (lots of scenic pictures from poland)
Jonathan Rosenblum of Cross Currents has Defanging Derfner, a fisking of Larry Defner's piece on Charedim.
Over at PsychoToddler you'll find a beautiful post in which he explains how it is that even after 17 years of fatherhood, in an important way this felt like his First Father's Day.
Rafi G. from Life in Israel has Kadima and the Conservative Movement.
Steve at It's Almost Supernatural has First Anti-Semitism Ruling in Equity Court: Victory Against Hate.
Jameel is on a roll this week, and even his shakiest post deserves a look.
And we'll close out this week's Haveil Havalim with a little Scotch Whiskey, for those who partake, courtesy of Presence.
=====
That's all for the this week. Time to start writing for next week's edition.
Special thanks are due to Soccer Dad who not only founded this whole endeavour, but is still incredibly generous with his time in making sure each issue of Haveil Havalim links to the very best. But if, by chance, some of your very best was overlooked this week, please accept my apologies. If you've blogged something special that belongs in this space next week, you can submit your Haveil Havalim entry using either Conservative Cat's handy dandy submission form or the submission form over at BlogCarnival. You can also email the future hosts directly:
Issue #76 - July 2 - Irina from The Ignoble Experiment has volunteered. e-mail her at sicat222 at gmail dot com
Issue #77 - July 9 - The muse from Me-Ander will be hosting. e-mail her at shilohmuse at yahoo dot com -- but not until after July 2 of course.
Listed at the Truth Laid Bear Ubercarnival.
If you really, really liked this -- or even really, really hated it -- there's lots more:
Defending Israel
Pallywood is the media phenomenon in which Palestinian video journalists stage events in order to portray Israel in the worst possible light. While hardly the only difficulty Israel faces, Pallywood has been in the news again after recent deaths on Gaza Beach.
Richard Landes at Augean Stables examines the inability of many journalists covering "Pallywood" to comprehend that, yes, it really is that bad.
You will probably be surprised to learn whose wisdom Arlene from Israel is uncharacteristically quoting this week on the issue of taking out Qassam-launching terrorists, even after the Palestinian civilian casualties of last week: "Only an idiot would not shoot to stop them from launching,"
Omri at Mere Rhetoric writes that people who say that Abbas's referendum endorses a two state solution are either ignorant or lying. Daled Amos, reports on the shady financial dealings of a Jewish organization operating as an unregistered foreign agent, and it's not AIPAC. He also looks into defusing the demographic timebomb, and considers the possibility that as we wait for the fateful moment of Palestinian numeric superiority, watching the timebomb's LED tick down the last few numbers (that would be '3', '2' and then '1'), perhaps the best way to defuse the bomb is to do nothing. Omri also took a look at the demographic time bomb -- and don't worry, he didn't cut the red wire.
Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters notices Hamas: Islam, Islam Uber Alles.
Many complain (who me?) but Treppenwitz actually has a plan. The Aliyah Blog also tries to answer the question what should Israel do?
Muse from Shiloh Musings is unhappy with the defense leadership's priorities, comparing them to the Defense Forces from Chelm.
Gulf Coast Pundit brings us some very surprising poll results from Al Jazeera -- and no, the surprise is not in the English language version of the poll.
WestbankMama points out progress made by the Israeli Air Force in responding to the media challenge after civilian casualties.
Bookworm Room has the scoop on one of Israel's newest defenders, a guy you probably haven't heard a lot about.
Dymphna at Gates of Vienna has a stirring defense of Israel in the face of the ironic support for anti-Israel boycotts from the leadership of many American church groups. Canuck at In defence of the righteous also defends Israel against a boycott, the CUPE boycott.
Eliott from Middle East on Target posts about Civilian Casualties.
Ocean Guy at Somewhere on A1A shows us what a Palestinian rhetorical pretzel looks like.
In the wake of Palestinian salaries being paid after recent influxes of cash-stuffed diplomatic suitcases, the Elder of Ziyon has a fascinating theory that might lead you, should you somehow end up shopping in a Palestinian store, to be sure to pay the exact amount rather than risk receiving change in return.
Carl explains at Israel Matzav how even getting Israel admitted to a supposedly non-political, humanitarian organization like International Red Cross is no simple matter as the Arab and Islamic worlds continue to demonize Israel absolutely anywhere and everywhere they can. And just in case you didn't hear about the Mossad agent who made it big at the World Cup, Carl is on top of that story too -- fear not, proper apologetic prostrations for the slightest hint of Israeliness at this year's games have already been offered before the Arab League. Soccer Dad has found the common thread holding these two stories together, and it's not a frayed strand pulled loose from the tapestry of brotherly love.
Defending Israel from Ahmadinejad And Friends
.While a lot of attention has been paid to conflict on Israel's immediate borders this week, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime continued with their own mishegas, which should not be ignored.
The American Thinker reveals how even a loss by the Iranian World Cup soccer team is no simple matter, with ramifications from Germany to the streets of Teheran. While Germany may be tempted to thank Portugal for solving their Ahmadinjejad problem, in the end it is the Iranian leadership itself which may be most responsible. Snoopy the Goon at Simply Jews brings us the shocking scoop about ancient Persian technology: Iran has had nukes for a looong time.
Roger Waters and the Wall:
While not perhaps the most serious challenge Israel faced this week, Roger Waters' visit and accompanying cliched and gratuitous host-bashing made quite an impression.
Dave at Israel at Level Ground has "all in all, just another prick at the wall." Laya at Jewlicious has more about the same prick at the same wall.
Joe Noory at No Pasaran also covers Waters with "That's right, Roger. No thought control." Aussie Dave objected too, and not just to the gratuitous traffic jams caused by arevised choice of venue.
Boker Tov, Boulder has another wall to recommend for Roger Waters' next trip to the region, not that he's trying to control anybody's thoughts or anything.
Living in Israel:
Let's take a deep breath now and remind ourselves that there is more to Israel than appears on CNN. Sometimes we Israelis just live here, pretty much like people live in most other places.
Olah Chadasha of Greetings from the French Hill fame recommends speaking Hebrew in her post, I No Speaka Hebrew. I think I should have read that about 9 years ago.
Ra'anana Ramblings has Food for Thought. She tells us a little bit about some of the charities here in Israel that feed the hungry, point out one food in particular that they hand out here that you would probably never see from a US food-based charity.
Batya tells us about Orange Basketball at Shiloh Musings and also points out some big music news blogging as the muse at Me-Ander..
Jameel at The Muqata has an amazing midnight visit to Kever Yehoshua bin Nun.
Visiting Israel:
And those of us who live here would love to have you for a visit. It can be an amazing experience...
Irina of The Ignoble Experiment has Inside the Fence. More about her adventures here.
Scottage from Perspectives of a Nomad has the second in a series of posts on his Israel experience. Rafi G., who lives here in Israel, shares a bit about his sister's Israel visit.
Blogging
Lest we forget, Jewish bloggers are still bloggers, even me. I read Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, just like everybody else, hoping for a good tip or even one of his very generous links. I just wish I'd paid more careful attention to all those good tips when I had the chance; this is harder than it looks. (All right, sure, this link-bait is just a bit transparent, but I think it's ok; Glenn is notably pro-transparency.) Anyway, as bloggers, in addition to writing about Israel and Judaism, we also frequently blog about... blogging.
If you haven't taken Aussie Dave's poll over at IsraellyCool yet, now would be a good time. We'll wait.
Muse at Me-Ander has a New Banner.
Jameel takes the JBlogosphere global, introducing us to the list of Spanish JBloggers. Bienvenidos!
Pragmatician explains how a year of blogging has affected the way he handles issues in real life.
Toronto Pearl at Pearlies of Wisdom has a post noticing a scary phenomenon: An explosion of mid-blog crisis. I feel it. I really do. Must. Keep. Blogging....Stam! I'm ok. [corrected 6/25 3pm: to clarify that Pearl is not having such an explosion herself, but noticing it in others. Pearl has already had her explosion, maybe more than once, and has provided advice on how to survive the blast -- but only for those who click and read!]
Torah
At the heart of all of it, of course, is Torah, and we have a number of strong posts focusing on that very subject.
Greg at Presence asks How you like dem apples?
Robert J. Avrech at Seraphic Secret has a moving Hesped.
Hindarochel asks for orthodox opinions and experiences regarding the issue of transplants and brain death.
Jameel looks at Parashat Shlach and finds lessons relevant to today's political world, and the issue of what drives Jewish politicians.
More Good Stuff...
In addition to the frequently blogged topics you know you can expect from the J-Blogosphere, there is also great diversity and unexpected entertainment coming from some very creative writers. This is what is otherwise known as "the miscellaneous section."
If you don't know what the words plinth, vexilloligist, and intaglio mean, then you aren't reading Soccer Dad regularly enough.
Meryl Yourish finds another "exposing top secret information" story in the New York Times, one that can really cause some harm, and in this case, it isn't George Bush or anyone remotely connected to the administration who is doing the damage.
Hashmonean has some survey results, including the large proportion of Muslims who do not believe Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. Did the pollsters ask a follow up question to find out who these skeptical Muslims believe was yelling in Arabic on the cockpit voice recorders? Scour Hashmonean's post thoroughly, and let me know if you find it. I probably just missed it.
Jack has some great gadgets, including one that would be a perfect gift for the sleep-walker in your life.
Ezzie's got a nice picture this week, one of the few half-decent ones he says, that includes a guy who doesn't look at all like Ezzie.
Judith at Kesher Talk has good news in the middle east. Wait, that must be a typo. Nope. She really has some good middle eastern news. Who ever heard of such a thing, and from a blogger?
Mottel from Letters of Thought has To Hel and Back (lots of scenic pictures from poland)
Jonathan Rosenblum of Cross Currents has Defanging Derfner, a fisking of Larry Defner's piece on Charedim.
Over at PsychoToddler you'll find a beautiful post in which he explains how it is that even after 17 years of fatherhood, in an important way this felt like his First Father's Day.
Rafi G. from Life in Israel has Kadima and the Conservative Movement.
Steve at It's Almost Supernatural has First Anti-Semitism Ruling in Equity Court: Victory Against Hate.
Jameel is on a roll this week, and even his shakiest post deserves a look.
And we'll close out this week's Haveil Havalim with a little Scotch Whiskey, for those who partake, courtesy of Presence.
=====
That's all for the this week. Time to start writing for next week's edition.
Special thanks are due to Soccer Dad who not only founded this whole endeavour, but is still incredibly generous with his time in making sure each issue of Haveil Havalim links to the very best. But if, by chance, some of your very best was overlooked this week, please accept my apologies. If you've blogged something special that belongs in this space next week, you can submit your Haveil Havalim entry using either Conservative Cat's handy dandy submission form or the submission form over at BlogCarnival. You can also email the future hosts directly:
Issue #76 - July 2 - Irina from The Ignoble Experiment has volunteered. e-mail her at sicat222 at gmail dot com
Issue #77 - July 9 - The muse from Me-Ander will be hosting. e-mail her at shilohmuse at yahoo dot com -- but not until after July 2 of course.
Listed at the Truth Laid Bear Ubercarnival.
