What an insult!

Last week a mid-level bureaucrat in the Jerusalem city administration issued a routine announcement that the fourth in a series of six building projects had been approved to start. As it happened, Joe Biden came to visit Israel on the same day.

Whoo-ey! What a balagan! Plagiarist Joe didn’t need an Irishman to write his words for him this time – he took after Israel with words of his own choosing. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units," he snarled, adding that the building of homes on State-owned land that had never, in all of history, been claimed by Arabs, served to "undermine the trust" and "ran counter to the constructive discussions" that he’d hoped to have in Israel.

Once Plagiarist Joe was safely back on US soil, Missus Bubba got on the horn and ripped into Bibi for a 43 minute harangue, which -- among other things – probably give you a good idea why Missus Bubba and Bubba himself are living separately these days.



(Could someone please stick a bottle of shampoo into Missus Bubba's travel case, by the way? Since she's flying on Air Force One, she won't even have to give it up to the security checkers like the rest of us.)

Anyway, among other choice epithets, Missus Bubba insisted that the announcement – given as it was while Plagiarist Joe was on Israeli soil – was “insulting” to the US and would harm future relations.

The Community Organizer then sent his Worshipful Proselyte, David Axelrod, to several morning television shows where Axelrod repeated everything that Joe and Missus Bubba had already said, although most likely with fewer cuss words, although he did add the word “affront”.

The World Community jumped into the fray. "The secretary-general condemns the approval of plans for the buildings” U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement. "Ban Ki-Moon reiterates that settlements are illegal under international law. He underscored that settlement activity is contrary to Israel's obligations under the Roadmap, and undermines any movement towards a viable peace process," he said.

What a fuss! Amazing.

So here’s what I don’t understand. Another toots came calling in this part of the world on Thursday. Baroness Catherine Ashton, European Union Foreign Policy Chief, came to visit the Iran-backed terrorists in Aza. It’s always nice when Europeans come to call on terrorists – it illustrates that three-little monkey thing, ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ so perfectly. Baroness Ashton first placed a wreath on the grave of her hero, Yasser Arafat, then made her way into Aza, where she was met by the Hamas terrorists.



And lo! What happened then, right in front of her eyes? As her convoy of white SUV’s entered Aza, a group of terrorists -- who call themselves ‘Ansar al-Sunah, and are affiliated with al Qaeda -- fired off a rocket that killed a 30 year old Thai foreign worker who was unlucky enough to be working in a greenhouse in Netiv Ha’asarah, a farming community within Israel. The rocket slammed into the greenhouse, scattering potted tomato plants in all directions. The worker was still alive when he was found, but passed away on the way to the hospital.

Was the European Union insulted? Certainly not! Did they suffer an “affront”? No. Was this murder likely to harm any future “peace agreement”? Of course not.
Instead, Baroness Ashton made it clear that it would take more than witnessing a terrorist murder to “affront” her sensitivities. She voiced her anger at Israel.

Okay, okay, she first voiced a ‘balanced’ condemnation of violence, saying, “I condemn any kind of violence, we need to move forward to get the peace process moving toward a successful resolution."

"What we have been saying to the Israelis for a long time is that we need to allow aid into this region, to be able to support the economy to grow for people."

Amazing, isn’t it? Killing a civilian greenhouse worker -- which is also a violation of law, in case Ban Ki-Moon would like to comment on that – doesn’t ruffle anyone’s feathers. But issuing a routine approval of housing unit construction is a major affront, worthy of condemnation by every leader who could find his way to a microphone.

By the way, in case you missed it, that poor greenhouse worker isn’t the only one to have been murdered by a terrorist rocket attack by the peace-loving Arabs in Aza.

On July 14, 2005, 22-year-old Dana Galkowicz was killed by a Kassam rocket when it exploded next to her as she was sitting on her porch. She was a communications student at Sapir College in Sderot.



And the second by-the-way: The rockets are falling with regularity again. One, just a few minutes ago, near Kibbutz Sha'ar Hanegev. The ‘Color Red’ alarms sounded.

Before that?

On March 17: A Kassam from Aza struck just outside Sderot, and a second one hit just north of the city. Four people were treated for shock.

On March 13: A Kassam hit the Eshkol area, this one fired from Aza by another terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda that calls itself “The Supporters of the Sunah on the Wings of Jerusalem.”

On March 11: A Kassam hits a kibbutz storage room in the Eshkol area. Ansar al-Sunah Brigades rejoiced in their hit.

None of this causes anyone, in any government – other than Israel – any heartburn.

These attacks do not harm the “peace process”, they don’t insult anyone, they offer no affront. When senior Hamas leader and former “Palestinian” Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh says, “This movement [Hamas] liberated the Gaza Strip with the help of the militant factions...Brothers and sisters, we will not be satisfied with Gaza...Hamas looks toward the whole of Palestine”, that causes no upsets anywhere at all.

When the Hamas Charter notes that its goal is to “kill the Jews” -- or any Thai worker who gets in the way – no one pays any attention. None of that is relevant.

The only thing that drives anyone nuts is when Jews build homes in Jerusalem.

Shabbat shalom, everyone!