Some of you may remember the wonderful posts my dear friend aka "Netivotgirl" had posted in the past about living in Netivot. Here's something she sent to friends and agreed that I post it here on Shiloh Musings. You can read more of her articles here by searching "Shiloh Musings Netivotgirl."
Facebook will NOT allow me to share this post so I am emailing it to some of my close friends. EVERYTHING mentioned here is fact taken from sites such as Human Rights Watch. Why am I not surprised? I welcome any and all remarks from you my friends. We need not agree but we must keep the lines of communication open between us. It's bad enough that anti-Semitism is currently rampant the world over; as Jews no matter what our political stance we are all loathed at present (if we can be recognized as being Jewish.) I will add here that later this year will be the first American election in which I will NOT cast my vote since making aliyah in 1977. In my opinion, Trump is totally off his rocker and Biden is a doddering incompetent man who is no friend of Israel. He is also (IMHO) a crook along with his son Hunter. These are my opinions and you may differ with me.
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Although I am an avid reader, I'm not a particularly gifted writer unlike some of my friends (Ariella McCauley Kopels, Paula R. Stern, and Batya Medad, that means you three!) Yesterday during Shavuot, I finished reading one thick book and half of a second one after reading all of the book of Psalms. I want to share some thoughts with you all to explain why I have decided to take a break from Facebook. As an Orthodox Jew, I believe that everything is decreed in heaven. Here in Israel we have been living in a surreal nightmare since October 7th of last year. Everyone has somebody they love serving in the IDF and many of us have lost people on that dreadful day. (I lost Judith Weinstein Haggai with whom over the years I participated in numerous in-service courses in Beer Sheva.) At the end of this missive, I will bring the sources for the facts that will be mentioned.
"In January and February of 2016, Human Rights Watch interviewed 21 Sunni Muslim Arab women from Iraq and women and girls from the Yezidi minority ethnic group, all of whom had fled ISIS-controlled areas, most in late 2015. Several of the Yezidis, abducted by ISIS in mid-2014, had spent more than a year in captivity. They described being forcibly converted to Islam, kept in sexual slavery, bought and sold in slave markets, and passed among as many as four ISIS members." The world was silent.
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Although I am an avid reader, I'm not a particularly gifted writer unlike some of my friends (Ariella McCauley Kopels, Paula R. Stern, and Batya Medad, that means you three!) Yesterday during Shavuot, I finished reading one thick book and half of a second one after reading all of the book of Psalms. I want to share some thoughts with you all to explain why I have decided to take a break from Facebook. As an Orthodox Jew, I believe that everything is decreed in heaven. Here in Israel we have been living in a surreal nightmare since October 7th of last year. Everyone has somebody they love serving in the IDF and many of us have lost people on that dreadful day. (I lost Judith Weinstein Haggai with whom over the years I participated in numerous in-service courses in Beer Sheva.) At the end of this missive, I will bring the sources for the facts that will be mentioned.
"In January and February of 2016, Human Rights Watch interviewed 21 Sunni Muslim Arab women from Iraq and women and girls from the Yezidi minority ethnic group, all of whom had fled ISIS-controlled areas, most in late 2015. Several of the Yezidis, abducted by ISIS in mid-2014, had spent more than a year in captivity. They described being forcibly converted to Islam, kept in sexual slavery, bought and sold in slave markets, and passed among as many as four ISIS members." The world was silent.
In 2022, "Rohingya Muslims are still awaiting justice and protection of their rights five years after the Myanmar military began a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape, and arson ….on August 25, 2017, Human Rights Watch said. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled to precarious, flood-prone camps in Bangladesh, while about 600,000 remain under oppressive rule in Myanmar." How did the world react? A few words of concern were expressed but life went on as usual.
In March 2023, "The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) announced in a report marking the 12th anniversary of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria that it has documented the deaths of 230,224 Syrian civilians, including 15,272 who died due to torture." The world was silent.
Now let's mention the facts: The Palestinians actually had a state. In 2005, Israel put into action a plan called, "The Disengagement from Gaza." IDF installations and forces were removed and over 9000 Israeli citizens living in 25 settlements were evicted. Jews who lived in the settlements in that area left behind millions of dollars' worth of greenhouses that could have helped turn the Gaza Strip into a modern Singapore. However, all of that expensive machinery and agricultural apparatus was put on fire and destroyed! Fast forward to October 7th, 2023. Israel suffered an incursion by barbarians who swept through Moshavim and Kibbutzim in the Gaza Envelope. Entire families were shot and killed. Babies were burned in their cribs and often beheaded. Women were gang-raped and their bodies dismembered. (i.e. breasts were found near the defiled women.) In total, 251 men, women and children were abducted into Gaza. Hostages who were later released told chilling stories of the abuse they suffered. And the world? Suddenly non-Jews the world over began spewing anti-Semitic chants such as, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." (Few if any of those protesters can name to which river and sea are referred.) Neither Egypt nor Jordan (nor any other country for that matter) cares to take in refugees from Gaza. Why is this? Nobody wants them. Why are we Israelis responsible for them? As Douglas Murray, famed British author and reporter has mentioned many times, Israel is the only nation in the world that is not allowed to win a war. We the Jews are the indigenous people in our land, speaking the same language that was used 3000 years ago. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is built upon the remains of our holy Temple. Coins excavated from that area show ancient Hebrew letters and symbols. Biden has been attempting to force upon us a "two state solution" which IMHO would in essence be rewarding the Arabs for the worst genocidal attack we Jews have suffered since the Holocaust in WWII.
It seems like yesterday (actually it was on November 10th, 1975) that the UN General Assembly adopted G.A. Resolution 3379, which declared Zionism to be “a form of racism and racial discrimination.” I feel that I must distance myself from what is posted on Facebook about current events in order to retain my sanity. I run a fund for poverty stricken brides from Netivot and am involved with other communal activities so I will not be bored. So forgive me if I remove myself from the public arena. As mentioned earlier, sources will appear below.
I will also add that I have no idea how long I will take my break. What I can say with certainty is that not listening to the news nor watching videos on my laptop has brought me some small measure of serenity as the world continues to go berserk.
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source for the Yezidis: https://www.hrw.org/news/
source for the Rohingya Muslims: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/
(The above email address belongs to "Human Rights Watch.")
The source for the slaughter in Syria by Bashar al-Assad: https://www.
Source for the disengagement from Gaza: https://embassies.gov.
I will also add that I have no idea how long I will take my break. What I can say with certainty is that not listening to the news nor watching videos on my laptop has brought me some small measure of serenity as the world continues to go berserk.
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source for the Yezidis: https://www.hrw.org/news/
source for the Rohingya Muslims: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/
(The above email address belongs to "Human Rights Watch.")
The source for the slaughter in Syria by Bashar al-Assad: https://www.
Source for the disengagement from Gaza: https://embassies.gov.
