Z Word Posts

Surprise

Pius XII and The Jews

The Yom Kippur War

If there is any lesson from the Yom Kippur War still relevant today it’s this; don’t get cocky. The enemy may be weaker than you, may appear to have no option but to accept what you seek to impose on him but, at the moment you least expect and in a way you aren’t prepared for, he can still strike back at you and if he does it in an intelligent way, inflict heavy losses on you and oblige you to accept at least some of his demands. There’s reason to think about that now, whether your political sympathies lie with Likud or Peace Now.

The rest, here

Raï Rules

I’ve been using Last for a bit more than a year now and if you aren’t using it too, you should be. Below are  my ten most-listened-to artists over the the last 12 months.

1

Rachid Taha

2

Altan

3

Ali Hassan Kuban

4

Souad Massi

5

Sawt El Atlas

6

Cheb Mami

7

Khaled

8

Patrick Street

9

De Dannan

10

Bob Dylan

Good For Them

Now perhaps we can have an end to the absurdity of only Israel copping the blame for civilian suffering in Gaza when Egypt plainly has a share of responsibility too. Why was it necessary for Hamas to blow holes in the fence to let the people out? Why didn´t the Egyptians allow Gaza residents to cross the border to buy supplies before?

Of course the Israelis have been complaining about the possible security risks in letting thousands of Gazans come and go to Egypt. If they had they had any sense though they’d see that Egypt accepting its share of the responsibility for the civilian population of the strip is in their own interest. Up to now the only ones able to cross into Egypt freely have been smugglers bringing in weapons – a la Johnny Cash, – to be fired at Israel civilians while ordinary people’s access to basic necessities has depended on the degree to which Hamas has been permitting Israel to be goaded at any given moment.

So I hope the fence stays down, that ordinary people in Gaza continue to have access to supplies from their giant neighbour and that in due course they have access to services like fuel oil and electricity and anything else they want too.

Just Asking…

Further to yeserday’s post and the situation in Gaza, why doesn’t Egypt open its border? And while I am at it, why doesn’t Egypt get condemned from pillar to post for its treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza?