This is not an easy post to write.

As our readers know, I am a dedicated Zionist and strong supporter of Israel. It is with a heavy heart, then, that I must report a development today that will probably make the life of one Palestinian a truly living hell.

Earlier today, Israeli forces in Ramallah captured a Hamas terrorist by the name of Maher Ouda. Ouda is in his mid-forties and accused of being involved in the murder of at least 10 Israelis and possibly as many as 70 Israelis.

Well, tough luck for Ouda because now he’s really going to suffer. In an Israeli prison.

How do I know this?

Because today, Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah terrorist leader widely held to be the “Nelson Mandela” of the Palestinians who will apparently merely need to be released in order to bring them to some sort of, uh, holy land, showed the world what it means to be incarcerated in an Israeli jail for the murder of four Israeli civilians and the attempted murder of one.

Yes indeed. Today, Marwan Barghouti completed his doctorate.

He has finished his thesis and other obligations!! He is going to be considered by a faculty committee at an Egyptian university as to whether he has completed all of his obligations towards a Ph.D.

Now at this point, you’re thinking, “Those horrid, vicious Israelis must have broken his thumbs so that he had to type with eight fingers.” Nope, it doesn’t say that in the story.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Surely some NGOs financed by Naomi Chazan’s New Israel Fund are planning to sue the Israel prison system for “shaking” Barghouti until all his knowledge spilled out.” Nope, as far as I know, the NGOs are busy undermining Israel with important accusations.

Your mind is telling you, “Well, hell, of course he had time to finish a doctorate, what else is he going to do?” Well, Israeli prisons permit conjugal visits, just ask Samir Kontar, the Lebanese terrorist and murderer who killed a little girl after murdering her dad in front of her and forcing her to watch. Yup, Samir got married and had conjugal visits during his horrendous stay in an Israeli prison.

Now you’re thinking, “Get outta here!”

Nope. It’s all true and I’m staying.

How did Barghouti get his degree?

Barghouti, 50, is one of several hundred Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons who enroll in studies at universities around the world, including in Israel.
…
Barghouti was able to complete his thesis with the help of hundreds of books and documents that Israeli authorities allow inmates to bring into prison.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are currently enrolled as students with the Open University of Israel, which facilitates their studies by allowing them to sit exams in jail.

You’re thinking, “Sure, only ‘hundreds’ of prisoners are enrolled in university studies, but there are thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Ha!”

Maybe so, but some are still completing their high school studies. They’ll have opportunities in future arrests, especially if murder is involved.

That’s right, all you need to do is murder or plan to murder some Israelis and then you get to study for a number of years, generally uninterrupted except for the pesky conjugal visits or management duties for your in-prison political machinery that influences Palestinians outside prison.

And you don’t really need to worry about the 4 life sentences imposed upon you by the dastardly Israelis because at some point a live or dead Israeli soldier will be traded for your release and that of a thousand or so others. It’s not a question of “if” but “when?”

The sweetest part of the story is that it’s obvious that Israel wants to help the international community support the Palestinians as much as possible. Sure, the Palestinians get billions of dollars in aid from UNWRA and other bodies, but they don’t need to waste that money on things like education. After all, the Israelis will take care of any gaps. You didn’t believe me about the high school studies, but now you will:

Barghouti, who is also a Fatah member on the Palestinian Legislative Council, completed his high school exams while in Israeli prison in 1980.

See? I told you this was a painful post to write. I can only imagine the pain Maher Ouda is going through right now as he decides whether to apply for an MA degree. Poli Sci or Sociology? If only the Zionist occupiers would stop with the newspapers, television and radio available in Arabic, Hebrew and English and start offering cooking and yoga classes!

And yet…

“Dr. Marwan Barghouti.”

It has a nice ring to it.

Dr. Marwan Barghouti Thanks His Jailers for Their Kind Offer to Subsidize His Education

Usually, I read something interesting, I make a comment and cite a relevant paragraph with a link to the story. Now however, words fail me. I can go on and on about barbarity and inhumanity, but what the fuck… I have no words in response to this article about the particular torture that was reserved for Israelis and Jews by the Mumbai terrorists:

“Bombay has a long history of terror. I have seen bodies of riot victims, gang war and previous terror attacks like bomb blasts. But this was entirely different. It was shocking and disturbing,” a doctor said… The other doctor, who had also conducted the post-mortem of the victims, said: “Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again,” he said… Corroborating the doctors’ claims about torture was the information that the Intelligence Bureau had about the terror plan. “During his interrogation, Ajmal Kamal said they were specifically asked to target the foreigners, especially the Israelis,” an IB source said… It is also said that the Israeli hostages were killed on the first day as keeping them hostage for too long would have focused too much international attention. “They also might have feared the chances of Israeli security agencies taking over the operations at the Nariman House,” he reasoned.

I feel sick to my stomach.

According to the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, the Lebanese military captured an Israeli spy ring on Saturday. The two men, whose names were not released, supposedly confessed to being Mossad agents. The Lebanese military claims that it has been monitoring these agents for quite some time. They were said to have been in possession of technology and transmitter devices which proves that they were in contact with Israel. This spy ring has supposedly been operating since the late 1980s. It is believed that the men spent a great deal of time in the Western Beqaa Valley. Supposedly, the spys were focusing their espionage activities on Lebanese, Syrian, and Hizbullah military movements, outposts, and secure locations. In addition, the spy ring is believed to have been affiliated with the car-bombing of Hizbullah leader Mughniya in Damascus. The Israeli government has refused to comment on the supposed capture of Mossad agents.

Could it be? Did the Lebanese military really capture two Mossad agents? Its possible. Every country has spies everywhere; strategically you spy on your friends. After all, in an anarchic world order, today’s friends may be tomorrow’s enemies. All the more so with today’s enemies. Some spies even get caught. Eli Cohen, the Israeli Mossad agent who achieved high ranks in Syria, was caught (and gruesomely murdered). This supposed spy ring had been operating for 20 years. 20 Years! How did the Lebanese military only find them now? Did they get reckless? Did the slowly disintegrating Lebanese army suddenly get a lot better? Were they sold out? Or are they some poor schmuks who after days of torture confessed to being Mossad agents, and anything else they were asked to, including starting the Great Fire of London (which was in 1666)? As you may have noticed, I am, frankly, a bit skeptical that these individuals were, in fact, Mossad agents. Even without the the glaring questions of why weren’t their names released? how were they caught? why didn’t the Mossad pull them out of Lebanon if it seemed that their cover was blown? etc., there is still the unfortunate fact that almost every Arab country, at one point or other, has accused some random group of people of being Mossad agents or Israeli spies, and hanged them. In an Arab country, if you don’t like someone, call them an Israeli spy, and they’ll be “taken care of.”

This, however, reminds me of a joke. The CIA, Mossad, and Syrian Intelligence decided to play a game. Each would send 2 agents into a forest to find a special white rabbit. So in they went. After 1 hour, the Israelis returned with the rabbit. An hour later, the Americans returned, having determined that the Israelis had already captured the rabbit. An hour passed… two, and still the Syrians had not returned. The Israelis and Americans decided to mount a search party for their Syrian friends. In they went, were they found a donkey, with a black sack over its head, and all 4 legs tied to trees, being beaten by the Syrians. “Admit it!” shouted the Syrians, ” You’re a rabbit!”

**p.s. the picture at the top is not of real spies. Its from the movie Munich.