Gunman kills 3, injures 11 at gay club in Tel Aviv

[thundley4]

Israeli police officers and rescue work in a site of a shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009. Israeli police say a gunman entered a gay club in central Tel Aviv Saturday night and sprayed the interior with automatic fire killing two and injuring twelve people. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

"JERUSALEM – Israeli police say a gunman entered a youth club for gay teens in central Tel Aviv on Saturday night and sprayed the interior with automatic rifle fire, killing three people and injuring 11.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said it was "most likely a criminal attack and not a terror attack." Tel Aviv has been a target for Palestinian militants in the past.
He said the gunman burst into the basement of the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association and opened fire on a support group for gay teenagers.
Police are searching the area for the gunman, who fled the scene, he said. Roadblocks were set up.
Rescue services said six of the wounded were badly hurt." Yahoo

How will the DUmmies handle this conflict of interest?  I don't know why they are ruling out a terrorist act. it's not like Muslims are overly fond of gays or Israelis.

[Happy Fun Ball]

They'll do like they always do. First, they will say that christians and Muslims are no different, and this is what christians would do or want to do (or worse). Then with their usual sanctimonious moral "superiority", spend the rest of the thread bad-mouthing the christians and telling everyone how eeeeeeeevil they are.

[thundley4]

They'll do like they always do. First, they will say that christians and Muslims are no different, and this is what christians would do or want to do (or worse). Then with their usual sanctimonious moral "superiority", spend the rest of the thread bad-mouthing the christians and telling everyone how eeeeeeeevil they are.

Most are blaming the Orthodox Jews over on the DUmp.

[DixieBelle]

Most are blaming the Orthodox Jews over on the DUmp.

And they would probably be right. Broken clock and all that....

[Airwolf]

I'll bet it was another Palestinian attack. They hate Jews no matter how they swing.

[DumbAss Tanker]

And they would probably be right. Broken clock and all that....

Yeah that.  If it was the Palestinians, the Israelis wouldn't be shy about saying so, if they are avoiding calling it a terror attack it's because they've got reason to think otherwise, and not for some bullshit Napolitano/Holder/Obama "We're not calling it that now" reason. 

[DixieBelle]

^having been there recently, I totally agree. The ones protesting and burning things in the street? Orthodox Jews. They were upset about a parking garage being open on the Sabbath.

[thundley4]

^having been there recently, I totally agree. The ones protesting and burning things in the street? Orthodox Jews. They were upset about a parking garage being open on the Sabbath.

I remember reading about that.  Was it younger ones or older Orthodox Jews?

[DixieBelle]

Younger ones. 18-25 from what I could tell.

[thundley4]

Younger ones. 18-25 from what I could tell.

For some reason hearing Orthodox Jew, makes me think of the old guys with gray beards, and the broad brimmed hats.

[DixieBelle]

For some reason hearing Orthodox Jew, makes me think of the old guys with gray beards, and the broad brimmed hats.

Yeah, plenty of those too. But, our guide told us that 10% of the overall population is extreme orthodox. They basically only live to study the Torah from the age of 13. They don't work and live off govt subsidies. They spend all of their time at the Yeshiva studying. We saw groups of young guys (big hats, and payas - those are the curls on the side of the face) walking down the street at all hours. I was beginning to think they never slept. They seem to be everywhere no matter the time.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Yeah, plenty of those too. But, our guide told us that 10% of the overall population is extreme orthodox. They basically only live to study the Torah from the age of 13. They don't work and live off govt subsidies. They spend all of their time at the Yeshiva studying. We saw groups of young guys (big hats, and payas - those are the curls on the side of the face) walking down the street at all hours. I was beginning to think they never slept. They seem to be everywhere no matter the time.

Yep, they are also exempt from mandatory military service.  When I was there as a peacekeeper, we had instructions to stay out of the Orthodox areas from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning because they were just as likely to throw rocks at us as the Pali street kids in Khan Yunis, except it would be grown-ups throwing the rocks.

The way the Israeli government handles the Orthodox is why I laugh when I hear people call it a 'Western democracy.'  It's a 'Western Democracy' the same way their military is 'Best in the world' - it only looks that way because of what you can compare them to in the region.

[DixieBelle]

^exactly. We were told that 90% of the population is secular (and evenly divided politically) with the remaining 10% holding the rest by the you-know-whats.

[DumbAss Tanker]

^exactly. We were told that 90% of the population is secular (and evenly divided politically) with the remaining 10% holding the rest by the you-know-whats.

Quite true, the far-fringe Orthodox parties (Their love of arguing with each other so much over the nuances of the Torah is apparently so ingrained that they can't bring themselves to agree enough about anything else to form a single Orthodox party) have held the balance of power in the Knesset for many years.  Neither the Likud nor Labor can form a government without getting a couple of the fringe groups to sign on; since they tend to be pretty far to the right, in most but not all ways, this has generally but not always worked to the Likud's benefit.  Occasionally a Likud government has done something that pissed them off so bad they have aligned with Labor, mostly to teach Likud a lesson.  Their political positions are based on their interpretations of their faith rather than anything that relates to real world actions and consequences, so by and large they are irredentist in that they want to kick out everyone but the Jews out of territory they regard as Biblically theirs (Their opinions on the means vary from gentle to Canaanite), but at the same time they are not nearly as supportive of the IDF as you would think they should be.   

[Wineslob]

Yeah, plenty of those too. But, our guide told us that 10% of the overall population is extreme orthodox. They basically only live to study the Torah from the age of 13. They don't work and live off govt subsidies. They spend all of their time at the Yeshiva studying. We saw groups of young guys (big hats, and payas - those are the curls on the side of the face) walking down the street at all hours. I was beginning to think they never slept. They seem to be everywhere no matter the time.

Read Michener's "The Source". It'll give you an idea just how crazy orthodox Jews can be.
Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism

[DumbAss Tanker]

Wineslob, that is indeed an excellent and engaging book, I read it many years ago while deployed in the region.  Thumbs up on the book rec!