Hamas War

Thursday, July 3, 2014

A War of Rockets, Fires and Words

A good friend of mine who lives in Southern Israel was awakened by red alert, emergency alarms at 4:24am.
"Good morning ladies At 4:24 this morning our yishiv was rudely awaken by 2 double sirens. We get Grads. Not a nice way to wake up."
There are times, much too frequently even though even once is more than enough, when her house shakes and booms fill the air. So far, each time she reports that they are fine. But no country should accept this as "normal" for their citizens to be targeted by missile fire.

As I write this, more alarms and missiles destroy what should be summer calm in Israel.
"And again a double siren with very loud booms...."
This is no "Summertime and the living is easy..."


Real life is no fairy tale.
We have only 15 seconds to get to safety. We are fortunate that we only have to get the dog to safety. But a house full of young children it is a nightmare..totally impossible. Kids are crying and frightened. Not nice at all.
Will those carefully "targeted attacks" by the IDF on Gaza really destroy the Arab terrorists' structure and morale?
Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted 15 terror sites in Gaza on Wednesday night.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the airstrikes targeted concealed rocket launchers, training compounds and weapons storage sites, all of which belong to the Hamas terrorist group.
The statement said that the airstrikes were in retaliation for the latest escalation in rocket attacks on southern Israel.
No matter what "brave words" come out of the Israeli Government, unfortunately, I doubt if this retaliation will end Arab terrorism against Israel and Israelis.
"A wide-ranging intelligence effort is underway to find the killers," Ya'alon said. "We will pursue them until we get our hands on them."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for a military offensive along the lines of Operation Defensive Shield, Israel's operation against Palestinian terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria in 2002.
We've tried this too many times and it's a waste of bullets and manpower. Each time the Arab terrorists come out stronger. What can I say?  It's like mowing the lawn to make the grass stronger. We are just mowing down terrorism instead of pulling it out from the roots and totally destroying it.

It also really galls me when Jews are too quick to condemn Jews for the murder of Arabs. As angry as we are, and as much as we shout, it's extremely rare for Jews to act on it. I totally agree with Lori Lowenthal Marcus's Jewish Press article:
The public statement, “JCPA Mourns Palestinian Teenager, Calls for an End to Violence,” was posted on its website just after mid-day on Wednesday, July 2, less than 12 hours after news that an Arab teenage boy had been found dead in Jerusalem.
And yet, although JCPA President Rabbi Steven Gutow noted in the statement that, “the circumstances of his death remain uncertain,” the same sentence then takes a sharp turn and places the blame squarely on Israel: “it appears that Mohammed was not a party to nor instigator of the tragic events of recent days and weeks. But he now has paid the ultimate price regardless.”
So although no one yet knows for certain how the teenager died or who was responsible, the JCPA publicly drew a target on the back of the Jewish State. Not content to simply act as judge and jury, the JCPA proceeded to send out the statement to its members across the country, inviting everyone to embrace its judgment – that Israel or individual Israelis are responsible for the abu Khaider’s murder, and pronouncing the murder a revenge attack.
I also recommend reading the Arutz 7 article that gives good reasons to put the blame/guilt on Arabs not Jews.
Arab riot in response to murder
Flash 90
A senior former police official argues that the abduction and murder of the Arab youth who was found dead Wednesday morning was most likely a criminal act, rejecting the claim that Jewish "revenge" for the murdered Israeli teens lay behind it.
The official noted that the family of the murdered 16-year-old was well known to police sources in Jerusalem, adding "it's a problematic family with internal clashes that have been ongoing for many years."
"I have no doubt that as time passes it will be clarified that the murder was criminal and nothing more," declared the official, who spoke to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity.
My first reaction upon hearing of the dead Arab was that he was killed by fellow Arabs for possibly condemning the murder of the Jewish boys. It's doubtful that I have the reason right, but violence of the fatal kind is much more common among Arabs than Jews, and whenever possible people do try to pin on Jews.

I'd say that it's an easy bet to say that if the murder is solved, the guilty party will be shown to be an Arab, not a Jew!


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought Lori Lowenthal Marcus's article was an excellent one.

It galls me, too, when Jews condemn Jews.

Lorri

Batya said...

Too quick to condemn Jews.

goyisherebbe said...

I wish people would just keep quiet until they know what really happened. But that's not going to happen for two reasons. One, people have gut feelings they want to express NOW. Two, there are a lot of people, including Jews, who feel compelled to blame the Jews. Later, when it turns out that it wasn't what it looked like, or if we never find out what it was, they have already moved on to issue the next condemnation.

yosef said...

I was kind of hoping that Jews HAD killed the arab in a revenge attack. "Gosh, we're normal afterall". See chapter 12, volume I of Rabbi Kahane's "Or Hara'ayon (The Jewish Idea).

Batya said...

goyish, yosef, when Jews condemn Jews without any proof it's as if we've admitted guilt. Motzei shem ra!

Miriam said...

Batya, thank-you for spreading the word about Life Under Fire.

We are fortunate that we don't have any little kids at home all we have to do is get our dog and bring her to safety.

But families are another story...My daughter who is the mother to 7 children, posted this comment on her status this morning after our second double siren.

Good morning.
OK, let's be honest. It was a very long night. Double siren after double siren, booms that could literally wake the dead and terrified little ( and big just they won't admit it) children. Running down stairs with sleeping children is not easy,especially since we only have 15 seconds to get to safety. Twice tonight I got cought with my youngest (almost three) in my arms on the staircase trying to get to saftey when the rockets exploded. 15 seconds just isn't enough time.
I am going to work soon (in a daycare). Under my care, there are18 babies ages 4 months until 14 months. How am I and the other girls that work with me supposed to get 18 babies to safety in 15 seconds????

This statement says it all.

May Hashem look after each and every one of us.

Batya said...

Miriam thanks for sharing. May Gd give wisdom and guts to our politicians.

Shimona from the Palace said...

"I'd say that it's an easy bet to say that if the murder is solved, the guilty party will be shown to be an Arab, not a Jew!"

And I'd say it's an easy bet that, even if that's the case, the "Palestinians" won't accept it and will still insist it was a crime committed by Jews.

Batya said...

Shimona, I agree with you on that.