Exploiting the Cease-fire in Gaza

36 months after Israel pulled out, what do we have to show for it? Is Gaza safer? Is Israel safer? The answer is an unequivocal 'no'
Guess what? Three years after Israel withdrew from the area, Gaza is being used as a training ground to attack Jews.

No surprise there: indeed, the Palestinian terrorist organizations are busy exploiting the cease-fire currently in place in Gaza to retrain, rearm and prepare for the next round of conflict with Israel.

That, at least, is what emerges from a report in the Arabic daily A-Sharq Alawsat, whose Gaza correspondent was invited to watch dozens of members of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades practice urban warfare.

"Since the calm agreement between Israel and Hamas came into play," the paper states, "it has been clearly evident that Palestinian resistance factions, without exception, have taken advantage of the ceasefire by conducting military training for their recruits."

Such training, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees said, also includes practicing how to abduct Israeli soldiers.

A number of the Palestinian terror groups are making use of the abandoned and largely demolished Jewish communities that once flourished in Gaza. "These sites," the Arabic daily helpfully explains, "are regarded as the best environment for conducting military training because they are uninhabited, have sandy hills, and are very close to the seacoast."

There you have it: 36 months after Israel pulled out, what do we have to show for it? Is Gaza safer? Is Israel safer? The answer is an unequivocal 'no'.

Instead, the Strip is now being used as a laboratory for terror. And if it isn't dealt with soon, it will undoubtedly blow up in Israel's face.

The French, again....

Following in the finest tradition of misguided French policy, Mr. Sarkozy is doing precisely the opposite of what needs to be done
As much as French policy has shifted since Nicolas Sarkozy assumed the presidency, it seems that old habits die harder than expected in Paris.

Ever since the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut in 2005 (an act that virtually everyone believes was carried out by the Syrian regime), Western leaders have largely shunned Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad.

Until yesterday, that is.

Sarkozy arrived in Damascus to much fanfare, where he has even been photographed smiling side-by-side with Assad. And since France holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, the trip takes on added diplomatic weight and significance.

In private, Assad and his aides must be rolling in laughter at this turn of events. Syria continues to support terror groups such as Hizbullah, maintains its alliance with renegade Iran, and even backed the recent Russian bloodbath in Georgia.

Yet, instead of paying a price for its mischief, the Syrian regime once again finds itself being courted by France and the West, who naively hope to bring about a change in the wily Assad's stance through "engagement" and "dialogue".

Following in the finest tradition of misguided French policy, Mr. Sarkozy is doing precisely the opposite of what needs to be done. Rather than rewarding Assad for his bad behavior with photo-ops and praise, France should be leading the charge to isolate and undermine the dangerous Damascus regime, which does not hesitate to use violence and terror to further its interests.

Then again, I guess we really shouldn't be all that surprised by Paris' pitiful policies. As the French themselves like to say, "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" ("the more things change, the more they stay the same").

America's Arab Allies?

Look at the company that America is keeping.

Here is a story I came across at the Kuwait Times about the Kuwaiti Interior Minister's announcement that unaccompanied women will not be granted visas to visit the country.

Note the headline, which indicates how Kuwait's government views women who travel by themselves.

This of course speaks for itself, and says a great deal about the kind of regimes that Washington is backing throughout the Arab world.

But don't expect to read about this in the mainstream liberal media in the West - after all, most journalists are too busy focusing on Israel's alleged mistreatment of the Palestinians to take notice of how America's Arab allies treat half of their own citizenry.