In the West Bank, an Escort for Palestinian Pupils

[bemildred]

TUWANI, West Bank — In the khaki hills of the southern West Bank, the children gathered for their unusual after-school ritual.

Seventeen Palestinian children attending school in this village set out along a dirt track leading 2 1/2 miles to the village where they live, called Tuba. But they were not making the hike alone.

Trailing closely were two Israeli police officers in an armored truck, assigned to make sure that no harm came to the youngsters, ages 6 to 12.

For more than a year, teams of Israeli police officers and soldiers have taken turns escorting the children here past the Jewish settlement of Maon and a nearby outpost, where tensions have flared between settlers and Palestinian villagers.

LA Times (reg. req.)

[number6]

1. ...bout time

"Trailing closely were two Israeli police officers in an armored truck, assigned to make sure that no harm came to the youngsters, ages 6 to 12."

some settler creeps
who would be so low as to attack children ?

[bemildred]

2. Well, I thought it was nice.

I can think of more direct approaches to the problem, but still, I'm sure the kids feel safer.

[Poll_Blind]

3. 2 weeks ago:Settlers attack IDF jeep driving Pal. children from school

DU thread here.

Despite the fact that a large police and military force was called to the scene, no arrests were made.

The IDF plays with kid gloves when it comes to the settlers.

PB

on edit: misspelled kid with two d's

[bemildred]

4. I agree, a few rubber bullets, some expulsions, this would get better. nt

[Poll_Blind]

5. The IDF knows it's easier to bus escort kids around than to...

...get the settlers to do anything. They're also very aware how close they are to a civil war and don't want to push it. Little birdie tells me the settlers are't going to get any better. These are the same folks who would like to see Rabin's killer, Yigal Amir, pardoned. It became such a likelihood that the Knesset had to pass a law preventing anyone who kills a PM to be pardoned.

How's that for messed up?

PB

[bemildred]

6. Stalling is not so good either.

I can understand that Olmert is not "ready" to go after the "settlers", but he won't do himself any favors by procrastinating either.

[Poll_Blind]

7. There is one way I've found where Olmert moves make sense:

Olmert was number two in Kadima so let's assume for a moment that his intentions are better than those of Likud. However, Israel's economy is tanking. It's not as bad as the US but it's going under as well. There's one way to quickly bring the dollar back up and that's a military action in Iran. And if the dollar goes up so will the shekel. I was frankly astounded to hear the level of his rhetoric on Iran. It's one thing to have rhetoric like that aimed at you- another thing to return it with interest. I think- and maybe this is just hope- that Olmert's going to try to help Big Brother put some steam back in their currency and thus help out Israel's own economy as well, then try to work things out with the settlers. If Israel assists the US on a strike on Iran it's going to cause all hell to break loose in Israeli society. The Left he can deal with. It's the far-Right, who eat dinner under a picture of Yigal Amir or Baruch Goldstein that he's worried about.

Shas shouldn't even have a place in the current Israeli government but it does. Olmert says setters will be part of Israel forever. He knows they're nuts, but he needs something from them. It's a deal with the devil if you ask me. What his real intentions are only time will reveal.

PB

[bemildred]

8. Well, I don't find that convincing.

There are economic issues, to be sure, but the notion that attacking Iran will fix anything is ridiculous, and it would probably deliver the coup de grace on the US dollar and oil prices and so on, not the opposite. It would be a desperate and futile act.

This is not to say that someone might not be so foolish as to think that way, but it doesn't hold up as any form or logic.

Olmert's problem, other than the general failure of Israeli strategy in dealing with the Arabs, is that he lacks the political clout to do what needs to be done, both domestically and internationally. Sharon, fool that he was, at least had political legitimacy. Olmert will need time, and luck, to get that sort of political power; and he doesn't have much time, his predecessors frittered it away with fatuous plans to grab more land and too easy acceptance of the American financial tit. They would have done better to address internal issues and to make a settlement with the Arabs while the advantage lay on their side.

[Poll_Blind]

9. I know it's convoluted and unconvincing.

The other way to look at it is Olmert is to Kadima what Lieberman was to the Democratic party and I'm desperately hoping that's not true.

:shrug:

PB

[bemildred]

10. I think that would be an unfair comparison, unfair to Olmert.

I must say I don't know much about Olmert, but Lieberman (the Amurikin one) is a known quantity. Olmert is the guy left holding the bag of merde, Joe Lieberman is the guy that helped fill up the bag. Olmert may well prove to be flawed, but for now one must withold judgement. He got where he is legitimately, as these things go, and the alternatives to him are better known and look worse. The aggressive line being taken against Hamas seems foolish to me, but I don't think Olmert is calling the shots on that, he's still trying to gather together the reins of power; meanwhile his nominal minions pursue their own agendas.

[Poll_Blind]

11. LOL! That's an excellent and very astute observation...

It's going to take a while before the imagery from that metaphor fades though! :)

PB

[pelsar]

12. do you just make this stuff up?

Israel's economy is tanking. It's not as bad as the US but it's going under as well...

_________

funny how the israeli economy didnt notice....

[Phx_Dem]

13. Israel's GDP sees 6.6% growth

Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2006, led by surges in consumer spending and investment in fixed assets, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday, citing preliminary estimates in annualized terms.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961349042&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull