Under the gun. Target date: May, 2007

Muse cited an article on Arutz 7 about more planned expulsions. She seems to think that
(a) the fact that most Israelis are against it should mean something
(b) it's being done to please the Americans.

She's missing the point of this latest round of expulsions. It's got nothing to do with security; even the Israeli government sees that we got nothing for what we gave this summer. Even Sharon isn't that stupid, particularly when a Kasam rocket is found near his wife's illegal grave.
It's got nothing to do with pleasing the Americans, either. Remember, the expulsions were Israel's idea, not America's. Enough with the typical Israeli ploy of using Uncle Sam as a bunching bag, blaming it for everything one doesn't like.

No, the reason is simple--money.

More expulsions scheduled for 2007? How shocking--I've been telling everyone who would listen that there would be massive expulsions by the first half of 2007. I've been telling people this since the second half of 1992. It was blindingly obvious.

Why?

Flashback to '92. The Ministry of Housing, under Ariel Sharon, had built massive amounts of houses in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. In late June, Rabin, with his left-leaning platform, was elected prime minister. The market for the housing dried up, as people feared making a large investment under the shadow of planned negotiation with Palestinian arabs. The pencil-pushers got into the deal and on top of generous grants for buying in these areas, buyers were promised a 50% grant which would be paid 15 years after their houses were bought. Houses went on sale in late June of 1992. (We bought ours, the first double-house sold by the Tel Aviv office on June 25, 1992.) Our 50% grant, worth some 53,500 NIS, is due to be paid to us by the government on June 25, 2007.

Multiply our 53,500 by the thousands of houses that were sold that year. Where is Israel, perpetually short of funds, going to get that money? Good old Uncle Sam, whom the country loves to hate? Don't be silly. But someone has to pay. Oh, yeah--let the settlers pay! We'll kick them out of their homes before the debt comes due, make them finish paying off their mortgages in full, without the grant (since residence in the houses, at least a majority of each year, was a condition of the grant), and get the Americans to pay because we're trying to "advance the peace"!

Who said the Jewish brain was a myth?

Cotton count:
harvested:
4 bolls brown
10 bolls white
10 bolls green

spun:
3 bolls brown
4 bolls green