November 15, 2002

Yossi Klein Halevi, who I heard speak earlier in the month, has an article in the LA Times on the contrasting approaches towards peace taken by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Arab leaders today. He states that Sadat flew into Israel, and told Israelis that he accepted Israel in the Middle East. As a result for this real peace, Egypt received the entire Sinai back. In contrast current Arab leaders use items such as the Saudi "peace plan" as fig leafs to hide behind in the international arena while they call for Israel’s destruction when speaking to their people. Yossi Klein Halevi also makes use of the examine of Palestinian radio using the term "colony" to refer to Kibbutz Metzer (see posting on the Jeff Jacoby article below) 9:05:45 PM

Writing in the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby examines Palestinian reaction to attack on Kibbutz Metzer in northern Israel in which five people including 2 children were killed. He notes that official Palestinian radio called it an attack on a "colony" and that the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of which the attacker was a member called it a raid "on the settlement of Metzer". Mr. Jacoby notes that this is more proof that the current Palestinian goal is not to gain a state in the West Bank and Gaza but to eliminate Israel, all of which they claim is occupied land. 9:04:46 PM

Slate.com examines Canadian reactions to be included in "Osama bin Laden's Top Six list of iniquitous infidels". Guess those Canadian snipers in Afghanistan really made a mark on al-Qaida. 9:04:22 PM

Paul Foot writing in The Guardian makes claims about UN Resolution 242 that The Economist dismissed in an October issue. In addition to not understanding the significance of the word "the" he ignores the demands that the same resolution makes on the Arab side, which have been by and large ignored, namely: Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force; Given that The Economist is no friend of Israel, it's telling when even they point out that anti-Israel claims about Resolution 242 are false. 12:59:00 AM

David Edelstein has an enthusiastic review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and defends Harry Potter against fellow Slate writer Chris Suellentrop’s attack that he is an opportunistic jock-celebrity backed by a large inheritance and the actions of his dead mother. 12:42:59 AM

SyFy Portal reports that the new Joss Whedon scince-fiction western, Firefly may be cancelled as early as next week due to poor ratings. In shocking news the same article reports that 2 million more people watch Fox’s John Doe than Firefly which is its lead in. 12:41:58 AM

The New York Times reports that NASA has decided to put the development of a full scale replacement for the space shuttle on hold while it develops an orbital space plane. The plane would be launched into space atop a conventional, nonrecoverable rocket and return to Earth to land on a conventional airport runway. Its main use would be to carry up to ten people at a time to the International Space Station and could remain docked there for use as an escape vehicle. While the space plane could be available in 2008, this will delay a shuttle replacement until 2015 or even 2020. 12:41:41 AM