News in about another death, this time in another small border village called Budrus, just to the north of Bil'in where 5 Broken Cameras was filmed.

“17-year-old Samir 'Awad, who was killed this morning by shots fired by the Israeli military in the village of Budrus in the West Bank, was hit by three live bullets: in his back, nape and leg.”
B’Tselem

And on it goes.

Dear DavidG,

I am offering this as an explanation, not as an excuse because I completely stand by the principle that in no armed struggle should there be justification for indiscriminatly targeting unarmed civilians full stop. Both sides have engaged in it and I condemn them both for it.

I understand that the limited weaponry available to the Palestinians makes specific targeting problematic and the means of alerting the population is limited, but much of the rocket fire is indiscriminate. Of course there are excellent Israeli early warning systems in place and the death toll from these weapons is minimal so I would prefer them to bombs on buses in Tel Aviv. But in one thing you are right, who am I to pontificate on my preferences when I do not live in either the State of Israel not the State of Palestine.

However I will not put my imprimatur of the targeting of civilians, full stop!

In today's headline:

>>Upper Nazareth mayor: No Arab school here as long as I am in charge<<

20% of the Upper-Nazareth population are Arab, but the mayor does not allow their 1900 school-children to study in their own town, either in public schools or being allowed to open their own school. Instead they must travel daily to the town of Nazareth in the valley below.

In the mayor's words, "No Arab school, cemetery or mosque will be built in Upper-Nazareth so long as I am the mayor... Upper Nazareth is a town that was created in order to Jewify the Galilee."

I feel like vomiting: that's not the Israel I knew, but as predicted by the Israeli prophet, Yisha'ayahu Leibovitz, with every year of occupation the Israelis' skin grow thicker and thicker.

5 days into the Israeli elections, those who want to destroy Israel need not do anything because Israel's ruling class already does it for them. Those who do care for Israel, however, should exert their influence and plead with Israel's Arab population to come and vote. If they bothered to vote, things could have been different there.

Yes, David G. I do blame the Israeli Palestinians for not voting to help themselves; those of Eastern Jerusalem, currently with Israeli Permanent-Resident status, for not applying for citizenship so they can improve their conditions as well as those of their brothers in the West Bank and Gaza; and those of the West Bank and Gaza for not accepting Israel's earlier offers to get 97% of their land back where they could have their independent state long ago (they could always resume the fighting later of course in order to get the other 3%). Yes David, I blame the Palestinians and their supposed "supporters" in the Arab world and in the Western Left for caring more about destroying Israel than about the welfare of their families.