I hope everyone had a fine weekend, or extended weekend as the case may be. Let's get to it.

Today's first link comes to us from a Marxist mailing list and accuses Israel of burying tons of radioactive waste in all of the populated areas of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

[Marxism] Genocide? 'Israel Buried 80 Tons of Nuclear Waste in the Palestinian Territories'

It goes on. Do otherwise intelligent people really believe this? The post hasn't attracted any discussion, so no one's refuting it, either, but a brief look at the thread index indicates that many postings do not attract much discussion. Take that as you will. You will note that the list is hosted on Columbia University's server and moderated by Columbia Professor University Employee, Louis Proyect, a self-described "leftwing activist" and believer in "peace and social justice" - honesty apparently figuring fairly low on the priority list.

Do I really need to belabor the reasons why this "report" is transparent nonsense? I suppose it's worth taking a moment to do so. Israel's slanderers can't seem to keep their complaints straight. Either Israel wants to hold on to the land, in which case it makes no sense to poison it, as they supposedly want to kick all of the Palestinian Arabs out and that would leave them with nothing, or they want to leave but are going to poison the population centers of Gaza and the West Bank as a sort of vindictive revenge as payback for withdrawal. Either case makes no sense. Whether the Israelis are staying or going, why would anyone massively irradiate their next door neighbor's land? It seems rather self-defeating doesn't it? And poisoning the ground-water of the entire region?

Further, why would Israel, with the eyes of the world upon it, perpetrate such an obvious and provable crime, when any investigator with a geiger counter could be taken to the dump-sites and have the story of the year?

But will anyone investigate these claims? If the article were just a posting on a Marxist email list, or the online diary-entry of some fevered activist who's spent too much time in the hot Gaza sun, I'd rather fairly assume not.

The trouble is, the source for this story is not some internet backwater fantasy-land, but the Palestinian Authority itself. The original source is apparently here, at the PA's own web page. Yes, this is an official release - in this time when the PA is charged with preparing the ground for peace.

So now I ask why this story is ignored by all but the true believers - the people who will believe anything that fits their pre-conceived "Israel as Satan" paradigm, or who are dishonest enough to know it's nonsense but recognize its use for their political ends regardless? This would, after all be a slam-dunk for any energetic reporter. Simply visit the territories - I'm sure the PA officials would be happy to give a tour of these toxic sites - bring along a geiger counter and some baggies for soil samples and voila - instant Pulitzer, and you'll be saving lives and preventing birth-defects for generations to come.

Of course, the reason that doesn't happen is that everyone, including the official quoted in the story, knows the idea that Israel is intentionally depositing tons of nuclear waste around Palestinian population centers is pure nonsense - the product of a sick and fevered mind.

So that begs the obvious question. Here we have posted on an official PA web site the most outrageous of transparently slanderous stories - one that could be disproven easily and quickly - so why is no one reporting on this? Imagine some agency of the American, or even the Israeli, Government posting such whoppers. The outcry would be instantaneous. The calls for resignations would reach high decibels. The Government's word would be broken and untrustworthy into the forseeable future, and the press wouldn't hesitate to remind us of the story with every statement from that agency or official until well into the misty future.

The answer lies in many factors, but prominent among them is the light racism of low expectations. Most people expect fevered propaganda from Arab governments as a matter of course. Pointing it out would be redundant. Further, demonizing Israel and America is a favored blood-sport of even our own press. For the dishonest, it suits their short-sighted political purposes to have this story out there. Aiding and abetting the type of hatred a story like this engenders is a secondary matter to the vogue of the moment - taking the side of the noble savage against the evil colonialists. And for the morally lazy, demonizing Israel is free and bares no consequences, even questioning the PA means a loss of access, and maybe even a danger to life and limb. Those who question the "Palestinian national consensus" need to watch their backs - even if that consensus is based on a vicious fantasy.

Most know the story is nonsense, hence no word in the mainstream press, but no criticism either. Imagine the Palestinian Arabs were held to the same standards as everyone else, and this story got the attention it deserved. It might actually mean that the PA and the people they supposedly lead would need to grow up and be responsible for the things they say and do.

And that would change everything.