Only two months ago, 250 Baltimoreans joined with their Israeli counterparts in our sister city, Ashkelon to build a playground in a wonderful mission by the Associated. 

What a beautiful and peaceful act. Nearby, just south of where Baltimore’s lasting ties to Israel are now enjoyed every day by children, peaceful acts don’t seem to exist. In Gaza, the preference is to build weapons to murder innocent children rather than building infrastructure that will make lives better.

Yesterday, an Israeli man died when a rocket – one of dozens fired that day—struck his minivan just in Sederot, which is just south of Ashkelon. In Ashkelon itself, eight Hamas rockets fell on Thursday, destroying homes and injuring people. (Read more about this.)  These events are now daily occurrences.

Less than three years ago, Israel walked out of Gaza, leaving the Palestinians to govern their own land. We all expected celebration to erupt for their newfound freedom. But it’s so clear that the Palestinians don’t know how to govern, only how to fight. It takes no leadership to be rebels and terrorists; you can’t be a PR darling if you are shown on TV as prosperous and happy. It’s far easier to fire rockets on Israel, inviting necessary retaliation, than to build a civil society.

So now that Hamas has full control of Gaza, of course they chose to terrorize rather then act responsibly. No surprise there, just sadness – sadness that there is no end or solution for the Israelis trying to live in peace.

I’m just proud that the citizens of our sister city, in partnership with friends here in Baltimore, continue to invest in the future by building playgrounds for their children.

During the past December holiday season, I ran into Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) a few times. I asked how it was going with his new gig as the state’s newest U.S. Senator. I figured that going from being a Congressman in a minority party to this new job in the now majority party must have been heaven. He said it was. As someone who’s served in Congress since 1987, he said he’s never seen the U.S. Capitol so ugly and partisan as it is right now.

The animosity across the aisles, he said, is mean-spirited and makes it near impossible to get anything significant done.

I’d go farther. It’s getting down right gross and dangerous. Like “Extreme Makeover,” the reality shows on TV, the most extreme one wins. Did you see those commercials that State Sen. Andy Harris (R-7th) ran in his race for the House against incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-1)? They lit into Gilchrest for voting with the Democrats—as if it were a crime to get things done for our country such as finally having an energy plan. Every candidate is pitted as “too liberal” or “too conservative” as if moderation is bad for our country.

Yes, our political system is set up for gridlock so that changes happen slowly, but we’re now in an ugly mode where doing anything to move our country forward is seen as extremism.

It’s gotten so bad that even the Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who died this week and was the Congress’s only Holocaust survivor, is a target. Conservative talk show host Michael Savage, speaking on “Talk Radio Network,” the third most listened to program in the country, said this about the congressman’s February 11 death: “You’re not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn’t do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I’ll make an exception. I think he was one of the most—he was a scoundrel. And I’ll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life.”

That’s sick. Savage is Jewish and should know better. Lantos was a man of conviction who spoke honestly and with moral authority. He chastised Bill Clinton for his behavior as well as led the fight against ANY genocide from Darfur to Armenia. He didn’t believe genocide could only be committed against Jews.

If he “used” the Holocaust, it was as a voice of reason to bring about positive change, which is exactly what he should have done. To say that made him a “scoundrel” is as wrong as it is offensive.

Enough of this ugliness. It has to stop.

It’s terrible to see the way the people in Gaza are treated.  It’s inhumane.  Shame on the way those perpetrators are keeping the Palestinians in those conditions. Call the UN. Alert Amnesty International.

Why would I condemn Israel?

I’m not. I’m pointing my finger at Egypt and the rest of the Arab world.

Hamas’s recent forced opening at the Egypt/Gaza border – the literally blew open the wall—highlighted how much the Palestinians need help. When the wall came down, literally hundreds of thousands of Gazans went surging into nearby Egyptian towns, seeking basic provisions such as food and gasoline.

So we see how easily the Palestinians could have been helped – if they had a responsible government in control and true friends. That is, if the Arab world was not too busy trying to score PR points against Israel.

How did this happen? Well, after Gaza’s Palestinians lobbed literally hundreds of rockets and mortars into Israel, randomly aiming them at civilians, the Israelis limited those supplies. If Hamas had worked on getting its citizens out from camps and into homes, or if it had created jobs and not suicide bombers, their citizens wouldn’t have been in peril.

It’s easy to blame Israel for closing the borders. Why hasn’t Egypt worked with Israel to open the border with Gaza? After all, Gaza was part of Egypt from 1949 until 1967. Then, when Israel and Egypt negotiated a peace treaty in the late 1970s, Egypt didn’t even want Gaza back. They wanted no part of a barren land with not natural resources—and filled with Palestinians. They didn’t even want Gaza back to help nurture it into an independent Palestinian state. Had they done that, they would have lost world opinion PR points against Israel. So they kept using the suffering Palestinians.

It’s no way for the Arab world to treat the Palestinians. Shame on them.

This is the best Italian food in town. We have tried many others and nothing can top Fazzini’s. Everything is fresh, homemade and delicious.

The pizza here was undercooked and really doughy.
entrees on other tables looked good though.

we like fazzini italian kitchen because of good wait staff and consistently good italian food. everything there is homemade; pasta, sauce,bread,pizza dough,etc.  large portions and reasonable prices and no ambiance!