No one wanted to acknowledge that, along with the Israeli wall there was an Egyptian wall keeping the Gazian Palestinians in. Yesterday the Egyptian wall was knocked down.
Good or bad news? Well, from an Egyptian perspective the wall was an embarrassment. But it served the purpose of ensuring that the poor wretches in Gaza were “someone else’s problem”. Now they are Egypt’s problem.
From the Israeli perspective the Egyptian wall was a sort of steel sieve which allowed all manner of weapons in but made very little difference politically or economically. If Israel is serious about disengaging from the Palestinians the end of the Egyptian wall may very well be a good thing. Now the Palis are Egypt’s problem not Israel’s.
The Palestinians themselves are much better off without the Egyptian wall. So long as the wall was there they were stuck with whichever gunmen happened to be in control. Now they have, briefly, the option of getting out of the self-made Hellhole of Gaza. Apparently a lot of them were taking their suitcases and running.
As to this being a Hamas triumph; does anyone really think the Israelis were surprised? The whole of Gaza has a low key but highly effective Israeli intelligence op going 24/7. Months of acetelyne torches? It is pretty much impossible that Israeli intelligence had no clue.
One way of looking at this is that Hamas has, essentially, invaded Egypt. 350,000 people - about 1/5 of the population of Gaza - has now gone shopping in the Sinai. The question is how many go home.
Historically, the Palis have been more of a problem for their Arab brothers than the Israelis. Jordan, Syria and Lebanon have all had to deal with Palestinian problems - sometimes brutally. Mubarak has to walk a very fine line between his Muslim Brotherhood opposition and the vexed issue of what to do about a land grab by an alien people.
The rockets keep flying and, no doubt, Israel will retaliate. But with this difference, so long as the Egyptian border remains open, Palestinians can vote with their feet. Given the horrible conditions in Gaza and the Hamas incapacity to do anything but make them worse, it would be a great surprise if half a million Palestinians decided to take a chance and get out from under.
Written by jay on January 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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Over at Scott Tribes a commentor has left an intelligible tech comment as to the relative likliehood that the IP used by Warman as he sockpuppeted “Lucy” was the same one used to sockpuppet “90sareover” (the vile puppet which made the horrible remarks about Sen. Anne Cools. Here’s his conclusion:
On the basis of the evidence presented, no reasonable person could conclude, beyond reasonable doubt, that Richard Warman made the disgusting Anne Cools post.
However, in my view, as an engineer who’s worked with DARPANet since the 80’s, and the Internet since then, there is certainly enough evidence at this stage to believe that, on the balance of evidence presented, if it is correct, Richard Warman’s computer was likely used to make the September 2003 Anne Cools post.
This is emphatically not certainty, as I’ve stated above. But to dismiss the case with the arguments that Mike has made smacks of nothing but sophistry.
I’ve no dog in this hunt, as southerners would say. I’m not a conservative blogger, and I don’t regularly post anywhere. (I’ve worked on Wikipedia for years, and I’ve made maybe 20 posts in the last 5 years. But this case has attracted my attention, partly because of the free speech elements, and also because (more recently) of the news about the very disturbing post smashing Senator Cools.
Whoever made that post about Senator Cools is a contemptible excuse for a human being. If it was someone trying to smear Mr. Warman, then he or she is doubly contemptible. If it was Mr Warman himself… well, words fail me. holmwood, scott’s diatribe
I would say that the state of play on Warman at the moment is that the pro-censorship folks know he did it and that explains sending out Kinsella to throw sand in peoples’ eyes while the damage is assessed and various pro-censorship folks are brought onside. Warman has not been heard from but I suspect he’s being woodshedded to come up with a “fighting non-apology/admission.”
Something on the lines of “I had no choice but to write those disgusting words to establish my credibility so that I could gather evidence of what those Nazis were up to. I had to talk like they talk to make sure I could shut them up.”
Look for Kinsella, the CJC and possibly B’nai Brith (which should know better) along with some black/feminist/Muslim organizations, to come out in support of Warman in the next day or two. It will be all about Nazis and anti-Semites/blacks/Muslims and the noble end of destroying hate speech justifying these tawdry tactical means. Warman will be transformed into a hero wading through the cesspools of the wider shores of the internet provoking bigotry and hatred all the better to stamp it out.
Written by jay on January 24th, 2008 with 8 comments.
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And the silly man wants me to man up and post my home address on the internet. Having watched him melt down when Joan Tintor even hinted at where Kinsella hangs his hat I am sure Kinsella will understand if I don’t rush my address onto the net.
But the liar has my email address and I am perfectly prepared, on certain undertakings - like not publishing it to the net - to fire off my address.
Interesting case: my claim is that Kinsella is a liar. To make good that claim I would have to find a single instance in which Warren has not told the truth. Happily I have one very well documented instance which will make a rather brilliant counter-claim…do you think there might be two? Do you think I should start collecting?
Update: Kinsella gave the undertaking required and I have sent him my address for service.
Written by jay on January 24th, 2008 with 24 comments.
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