I share this from Mona Charen.
The Facebook page of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah (the Palestinian Authority) lauded the anniversary of the "martyrdom" of Ahmed Masharqa. He is described as "Hero of the Kedumim settlement operation who answered the call of justice and the shout of duty when the land called to him." Translation: In 2006, Masharqa disguised himself as a religious Jew, strapped a suicide belt under his clothes and crossed the border to an Israeli village. When an Israeli family offered him a ride, he blew himself up inside the car. Or, as Fatah has it, "He caused the deaths of five Zionists and wounded many." Keep in mind Abbas is a "moderate" in the Middle East context.
By an overwhelming majority (110 of 120), the Jordanian parliament has called for the release of a former soldier who is serving time for the murder of seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997. The students had traveled to the ironically named "Island of Peace," a manmade island that lies on the Jordan/Israel border and has been made into a park. The island was developed by Israel, but as part of a peace agreement with the late King Hussein, Israel ceded it to Jordan. On March 13, 1997, a group of 13- and 14-year-old Israeli girls was visiting when one of the Jordanian soldiers opened fire on them, killing seven and wounding many others. The death toll would have been even higher if Ahmed Daqamseh's gun hadn't jammed. At the time, King Hussein traveled to the girls' hometown to express condolences and beg forgiveness on behalf of his country. But that was then. Hussein Mjali, Daqamseh's defense lawyer, has since become Minister of Justice in Jordan. In 2011, he described the unrepentant Daqamseh as a "hero" who should never have been imprisoned, and a huge majority of Jordan's parliament agrees.
