Tikkun Olam

Have you ever seen such a ruckus raised by everyone over what Israel may have done in Dubai to a known Hamas leader, Mahmoud Al Mabhouh ? You'd think that Israel committed a heinous crime, when the crime which was committed was the Hamas leader's himself, that of murdering two Israeli soldiers and forging a connection between Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Hamas is classified as a "terrorist organization" by the United States and by Europe, but nobody accused Dubai of hosting this criminal. They only accused Israel of doing what nobody had the courage (or worse, inclination) to do, which is to eliminate him. Israel may have done just that, and for it, has been heaped with vitriolic condemnation from the world at large. And it isn't even certain that Israel's Mossad carried out this hit. According to Caroline Glick , What the initial European reaction to [Dubai Chief-of-Police] Tamim's allegations shows is that blaming Israel has become Eur...

As usual, it is immensely difficult for me to let go of a chag* . Purim ** came like a lion, and also went out like a lion (as opposed to a lamb)! The chag, for me, was filled with meaning and mitzvot, and great portent for the future, in the light of events and developments in Iran, who's evil leader Ahmadinejad has threatened Israel existentially. Although both my husband and daughter--D.H. and Toodles respectively--say that this is pish-tosh : like, Jews have been threatened in every generation and decade so, buddy, what else is new?! I understand where they're coming from, but my opinion differs. I think these times-- partially because of radical Islamists' terrorist attacks globally, the rise of antisemitism's ugly head all over the world, combined with nuclear weapons development and proliferation by rogue nations (read: Pakistan, North Korea, and now Iran)--are much more dangerous and have greater portent than in the past. So Purim, the story of the planned ...

Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate which grew into a fantastical, magical world with the tallest planned skyscraper in the world and palm tree-shaped islands, might be going bye bye. Dubai World cannot pay pack its loans and is asking for a 6-month moratorium on repaying its $60 billion debt, which is sending the international financial world reeling. (Hat tips to Rafi , and Yeranen Yaakov ). Now what if they had, with all that investment money, helped out their own brethren, say, the so-called Palestinians, in building an infrastructure of a new "Palestinian" state? Wouldn't that have shown the world that the Arabs do care for their own people, and are working towards building a better future for themselves? Instead, they built a Middle Eastern fantasy land. And now the bubble has burst. Good thing Israel didn't BUY much into Dubai. . . ( But boy, do I love those hotel interiors! ) Oh, and let's not forget about the sheik's silver Audi A8. That is, it's...