A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

August 28, 2008- Shalit 22nd Birthday, Labor in Doldrums

Today is Gilad Shalit's 22nd birthday. This is the third birthday he has celebrated as a captive of Hamas. He is within 10 miles of Israel's border, and yet there seems nothing Israel can do to free him. Negotiations for his release seem to be going nowhere. Israeli sources claim Hamas is actually upping their demands, seemingly uninterested in making a deal.

Recent polls show that in a new election, the Labor party is likely to receive 12 or less seats in the Knesset. This revelation has spurred talk within the party of replacing Ehud Barak as the leader of Labor. There is only one problem with the talk-- there is no other leader that stands out to possibly replace him. It looks like Labor has been fatally wounded by the formation of Kadima, and if Tzpi Livni wins the Kadima primary, something that is looking more and more likely, it will be difficult for Labor to even make a respectable showing in an upcoming election.

The current issue of the New Republic magazine has a review by Benny Morris of the book entitled: The Legacy of Islamic AntiSemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History. According to Morris, the book lays out a long history of Islamic anti-semitism. It makes a mockery of the claims that until the establishment of the State Jews lived freely in the Arab world. The dust jacket of the book (seen below) has a painting that depicts a true story of a girl name Sol Hachuel in Fez Morocco in 1834. She is about to be beheaded. Her alleged crime, that she had once converted to Islam (something she denied) and then returned to practicing her Judaism. It is a frightening review of what seems to be a frightening book.