30-Nov-12: With attention focused on the UN, the terrorists of Gaza show again how true they remain to core values

From the website of the BBC

It's a sunny and pleasant Friday here in Jerusalem. But in the south of Israel, it has been considerably less pleasant.

Perhaps intending to show just how broadly the Palestinian Arabs view their own national aspirations and how very flexible their leadership, their terrorist rocket-men fired a missile into Israel's Sha'ar Hanegev region around midnight this past night (between Thursday and Friday) and then again around 6:25 this morning. Yes, there is a ceasefire, but such matters are not always taken as seriously on the ground as they are in the air (the airwaves, that is).

In the words of the BBC, today was the day when

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to recognise Palestine as a non-member observer state - a move strongly opposed by Israel and the US. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said this was the "last chance to save the two-state solution" with Israel. Israel's UN envoy said the bid pushed the peace process "backwards", while the US said the move was "unfortunate". The Palestinians can now take part in UN debates and potentially join bodies like the International Criminal Court. The assembly voted 138-9 in favour, with 41 nations abstaining. Hundreds of Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Ramallah, in the West Bank after the result was announced.

Other voices, as well as other activities - witness the rocket-men's unsuccessful efforts to yet again try to kill them some Israelis this morning - are part of today's events. Times of Israel covered a different aspect of the voices from Ramallah that somehow are not being so well observed from outside this area:

A young university graduate roaming the empty square with a camera around his neck, his hair spiked up with gel, claimed he was not excited about the UN bid. ‘It’s all nonsense,’ said Khaled, a 29-year-old unemployed journalist who told The Times of Israel he would not be celebrating at night. ‘It’ll be like the Vatican. Have you ever heard of the Vatican doing anything?’ “We don’t want 67,” he said before running off with a group of friends, referring to the territories captured by Israel in the Six-Day War. “We want all of Palestine.”

There is no shortage of observers who see the events in New York, and perhaps also in Ramallah, as a step closer to peace. From our vantage point, we wonder what they're smoking.

APOLOGY: Sorry for the relative quiet during these recent turbulent days. We have been unable to update our blog for personal reasons, but hope to get back into the swing in the next 36 hours.