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Author: David Gerstman

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David Gerstman

David Gerstman blogged as Soccer Dad from 2003 to 2010. Formerly a computer programmer, he is now a blogger for The Israel Project's The Tower blog.

1) We wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea Yesterday Max Fisher wrote, Knowledge of pressure-cooker bombs is not limited to readers of al-Qaeda’s ‘Inspire’ magazine: And “Inspire” was far from the first extremist publication to distribute instructions for making pressure-cooker bombs. Yair Rosenberg of Tablet...

1) The PA's defense budget The Palestinian Authority regularly complains about its budget woes. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner writes that the largest portion of the PA's budget goes to defense: Recently, the Palestinian Authority publicly revealed its new budget. In approving the 2013 fiscal plan, the Palestinian leader Mahmoud...

Shai Bazak is Israel's Consul General in Boston: In the hours following the attack, he said, he had been swamped with concerned phone calls - many coming from Israel - and emails from friend, colleagues and the Foreign Ministry. “It is a weird feeling to be in...

Ambassador Yehuda Avner wrote a wonderful recollection of the original Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) (formatting provided by Elder of Ziyon) "Wait!" shouted a hassid whom everybody knew as Nussen der hazzan - a cantor by calling, and a most diligent volunteer digger from the ultra-Orthodox...

1) Bursting the balloon When I saw the following headline at the Baltimore Jewish Times I was worried, " J Street Carved Out A Place In The U.S.-Israel Advocacy." The article, written by managing editor, Maayan Jaffe starts by faithfully recounting all of J-Streets claims. But,...

Holocaust Memorial Day was commemorated last week. The day occasioned a number of remarkable stories. Orin Kerr wrote about his late father: The death march brought Aronek and his group to a death camp called Rieben in West Prussia. On the way there, they slept on church floors...

1) How to fight asymmetric warfare Once again Charles Enderlein and Philipe Karsenty are back in court. Enderlein was the reporter who created the story of Mohammed al-Dura. Karsenty is the media critic who had the temerity to question the much honored "journalist." Back in 2008...

1) Egyptian plagues Last week Zvi Mazel wrote in the Jerusalem Post (h/t Leslie Eastman) In a remarkable and enduring show of unity, non-Islamic opposition parties under the banner of the National Salvation Front are boycotting the regime until their demands – canceling the Islamic constitution...

Earlier today Prof Jacobson noted the passing former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. What I remember most about her was a speech she gave in 1985 to the American Bar Association in which she argued against giving terrorists the "oxygen of publicity." The more open our society,...

1) The language of concessions The Washington Post reports Kerry presses Israel and Palestinians for concessions to pave way for peace talks: Kerry first visited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has resisted new talks for most of the past four years. His government had sought to file...

Joe Klein recently wrote, ObamaCare incompetence (via memeorandum) Let me try to understand this: the key incentive for small businesses to support Obamacare was that they would be able to shop for the best deals in health care superstores — called exchanges. The Administration has had...

1) Casting the first stone - and all the subsequent ones too What's the difference between assault with a deadly weapon - a shooting - and assault with rocks that hit cars at potentially lethal speeds? Why should teenagers think of rock-throwing as something fun to...

Instapundit linked to Jeffrey Goldberg's tribute to Michael Kelly, an editor of The Atlantic who was killed in Iraq 10 years ago. Goldberg makes an observation that is apt: I miss Michael a lot, not least because he was one of the few funny people in Washington, but...

1) Palestinian prisoners protest The New York Times reported Palestinians Jailed in Israel Protest After Inmate Dies: The office of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said in a statement that it held the Israeli government “fully responsible” for Mr. Hamdiya’s death, which it said...

1) Meanwhile in Egypt The New York Times is reporting Egyptians Struggle as Wary Tourists Stay Away: Tourism plummeted in 2011 with the fall of President Hosni Mubarak and the unrest that followed. Some tourists have started to return, but officials say they are mostly beachgoers rather...