Israel Mourns

Eight students at a seminary in Israel were massacred at the hands of a lone gunman:

Witnesses said the gunman went into the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary in the city's Kiryat Moshe quarter and opened fire.

The assailant, who Israeli police said was a resident of East Jerusalem, was shot dead by an Israeli army officer.

...the 15-strong UN Security Council failed to agree on a resolution condemning the attack because of reservations from temporary member Libya, which sought to link it to Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.

A previously unknown group called the "Jalil Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" claims to have carried it out, according to Lebanese Hezbollah media.

The fact that the school is at the heart of the settler movement in the occupied West Bank may have been the reason why it was targeted, BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen reports.

Hopefully, this will be a wakeup call for the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates. Rather than having a tit-for-tat over who called who a monster, pictures of people in funny hats, or who will be best suited to answer a 3am phone call, maybe we can get to atleast one real issue.

The Middle East peace process would be a good start.

The phone is already ringing. Who will answer the call?

via BBC