French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy may be convinced that Israel's 'security fence' is a necessity, but that isn't going to stop almost-gone UN Secretary General Kofi Goofy Annan. Haaretz is reporting this morning that Goofy has initiated the establishment of an office that would be responsible for collecting data and testimonies on damages caused by the separation fence to Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. It goes without saying that the office will be financed from the United Nations budget US taxpayers' money. The "Register of Damage" is based upon the 2004 recommendations of the International Court of Justice, which were presented to the General Assembly.

The 'register' would be set up in Vienna, and would be responsible to register damages to Palestinian homes, businesses and agricultural holdings caused by the "wall." The documentation will serve for possible future international adjudication. The 'register' will be brought to a vote in the General Assembly - not the Security Council - where the US has no veto and it will be assured of passage...

...How does it work? By making it harder to cross from the Palestinian Authority areas into Israel, smuggling is reduced, with traffic channelled through monitored border crossing points. Before the fence was erected, Israeli security managed to prevent around 30% of attempted terrorist attacks. Today, the number is closer to 95%. Waroud KasemA case study is young 20 year old Israeli Arab Warud Qasem (pictured). Qasem worked in our local Ra'anana supermarket as a cashier. Her cousin was an illegal Palestinian worker in Ra'anana's Spaghettim restaurant. Three months ago, she joined Fatah's Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades. [You will recall that Al-Aksa is an official organ of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, and that many of its active terrorists received salaries and benefits from internationally funded Palestinian Authority budgets.] Qasem was able to use her citizenship and familiarity with Israel to help weapons smuggling and to pinpoint terror targets. She recruited her cousin in a plan to plant a bomb in the Spaghettim Restaurant. But, asked to smuggle the 7 kilogram bomb into Israel in her car (which has Israeli license plates) she demurred, because the border police were likely to catch her. The bomb was driven around the West Bank, searching for a way around the fence into Israel, when Qasem was arrested with it in her possession. She is now facing charges - our town's citizens having been saved from attack by the security fence and the ever alert Israeli security services.

Of course, the intrepid Kofi Anan has never been one to let facts, public opinion or the potential saving of the lives of innocent civilians stand in the way of demonizing Israel. In his fading days as UN Secretary General, the ever vigilant crusader for the rights of Palestinians to murder Jews has found yet another way to divert even more UN resources to the Palestinian international propaganda campaign...