Tis But a Scratch

Some folks don’t know when to stay down:

At a weekend meeting in Istanbul, 200 religious scholars and clerics met with senior Hamas officials to plot a new jihad centred on Gaza.

The BBC’s Bill Law was the only Western journalist at the meeting.

In a hall crowded with conservative Sunni Muslim sheikhs and scholars, in a hotel close to Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport speaker after speaker called for jihad against Israel in support of Hamas.

The choice of Turkey was significant. Arab hardliners were keen to put aside historic differences with the Turks.

Seems like they’re also keen to keep their necks safe in Istanbul while encouraging their flock to risk theirs in Gaza. And here’s the relevant Monty Python scene.