Monday 18 June 2007

Iran 5 minutes from Askhlelon

This was the headline of last Friday's (15th June) edition of Yediot Achronot, Israel mass circulation tabloid daily newspaper. This brilliant headline was the newspaper's calming way of bringing home to the (mostly Jewish) fearful Israeli population that we have something new to worry about.

The news (and it is news) behind the headline is that the armed factions of the Hamas have, during last week, captured or destroyed the remaining strongholds of the Fatah in Gaza, thus taking control of Gaza in some way (more of the implications of that in a separate post).

Iran is supected or accused of supporting the Hamas and Iran is currently Israel's number 1 bogeyman . Iran, as you know, is suspected of developing nuclear weapons and the repeated declarations of Iran's Preseident Ahmedinajad about the iminent or desired demise of the State of Israel cause many Israelis to fear Iran greatly.

What better way for Israel's hysterical media to turn up the fear and to suggest that the threat of Israel's annihalition is now only 5 minutes from Israel's southern coastal town of Ashkelon ? Maybe, one day the media will pay the price for their bloodcurdling.

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