"Gevalt" For Sure- Lieberman Holds Israel by The Neck

Recent history here in Israel is showing Avigdor Yvette Lieberman to be a dangerous anarchist. His political machinations has brought down the government, and since then no working coalition has been formed.

For some inexplicable reason, many Israelis vote for him which has been perpetuating the political chaos. The results of yesterday's elections aren't any better than that of the previous ones. It's very dangerous for the large Arab party to be in the coalition, and Gantz's Blue and White have painted themselves in a corner by refusing to work with Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

All those who voted ל for Lieberman are as guilty or even more so for strengthening and legitimizing him. Lieberman has a chokehold on Israeli democracy, on every citizen, Jew or Arab, Torah observant or totally secular. I have an easier time accepting people's vote for Leftist parties than for those who voted Lieberman.

We are in the midst of the Jewish Month of Ellul, the time for more intense Teshuva, Repentance. I pray that those who have been elected to serve us, citizens of the State of Israel, in the Knesset will find it in themselves to work together, reject hatred and dangerous vows. May they form a strong coalition for the betterment, security and sovereignty of the State of Israel.

What is Democracy? Define It.

I'm writing this in "theory," not crossing t's and dotting i's and saying how it is or isn't applied today. I hope that you readers will be able to get the meaning by yourselves and respond intelligently in the comments.

In the Senior Citizen Adult Education program I attend in the Ofra Girls High School, we have a class on social issues in cinema. One week they showed us a classic Israeli movie, Sallah Shabati, which has a scene in which the new immigrants in the brand new State of Israel is being introduced to democratic elections. They don't understand the meaning of democracy.

The immigrants depicted are from countries that either never had democratic elections or hadn't for awhile, this being just after World War Two. Somehow they come to the mistaken conclusion that democracy means that everyone can do what they want. Of course I was seething. That's anarchy, not democracy. Obviously they thought that by voting each one can demand what they want.

Democracy means that the majority, after a vote, wins. And the minority loses. There is only one winner.

In some cases, that may really be a plurality, not a majority. To simplify the difference between the two terms think in percentages. For a majority, you need over fifty percent, 50%. 50.1% versus 49.9% means that the candidate or referendum, or whatever that got that 50.1% is the only winner.  The one who got 49.9% is "history." There are government systems that have a position called "Leader of the Opposition" for the loser who got the most votes, but most countries send the loser off to pasture and history postscripts. A plurality means "the most" in comparison to others. So, if there had been four choices and the results were 26%, 38%, 11% and 25%, the one with 38% would be the winner. Some government systems have a runoff election if nobody gets a majority or more than a certain percentage, like 40%. Then just the two candidates who got the highest amount face each other in elections. 

In a law-abiding democracy, the citizens, whether happy or not, accept the result of elections. That is the basic democratic principle I was raised with and educated in. Only in unstable, antidemocratic fascist societies do citizens protest the results of elections.

Here I am voting in Israeli Elections. (photo by Linda Fairman)

The Morsi, Syria, Lebanon etc Lesson for Israel

I should hope that this principle is taught in "Introduction to Political Science/International Relations" courses, the required prerequisite for anyone interested in learning how governments and history really work.

International treaties require stable governments or they are useless.

Maybe I'm naïve.  I must admit that I have no formal academic training in Political Science or International Relations.  I've just been following the news, international of course, for over half a century.  Yes, I'm old.  I've seen countries and super-powers come and go.  I remember the irony of Mao, when his Communist Red China population was forced to wear one type of jacket as he mocked the United States as a "paper tiger."  Today the Chinese have a stronger and more materialist economy than the USA, and their Communism is long gone.

I remember American government leaders quaking at the thought of an attack from the USSR, which today doesn't exist.  But the Americans, who claim to be the strongest and most powerful country in the world, still fear Castro's poverty-ridden Cuba.

To be honest, I don't have too much respect for the "experts."  How many predicted the events I lived through?  I prefer my common sense.

According to Jewish Law, an insane person can't sign an important contract. Potential aka wannabe converts who are mentally unstable can't be converted to Judaism. One has to be fully rational to make such a life-changing decision. If a woman is married to a man with serious psychiatric problems, his ability to give her a get for divorce can be affected.

PHOTO - AFP/THOMAS SAMSON

Considering the instability, anarchy in the Arab world, how can the Israeli Government even think of signing any sort of "peace treaty" with anybody?  And certainly the so-called Palestinians sic have no reliable track record to attempt an "enemy country in a country" which has never been peaceful/successful.  Have you ever heard of West Berlin?

REUTERS/Stringer

Israel is the one economically successful, democratic, stable country in the Middle East. 

Lots of Arabs are also being killed in Lebanon
Saudi, Gulf throw weight behind Egypt after Morsi ousted
Too late for Obama to act on Syria
Report: U.S. to Warn Israel in Advance of Syria Attack, Security Officials Say Assad Unlikely to Retaliate Against Israel  (Has the USA ever predicted these things correctly?)
Russia to U.S.: Don't Repeat Your Past Mistakes in Syria
Here’s How Kerry, Hillary and Obama Let Assad Get Away with Murder
Iran Draws ‘Red Line’ against US Intervention in Syria

Why risk everything for an experiment AKA "Peace Treaty" sic that will inevitably result in war, death and destruction?

How Can You Capture an Enemy When You Don't Know Whom to Look for?

From what I've been reading and hearing on the news, American security, police still haven't a clue as to who, what and why the Boston Marathon was bombed.  Confusion reins.

A runner near Boston's Kenmare Square after yesterday's explosions.(Getty Images/Alex Trautwig)

BOSTON (CBS) – Federal and local investigators are asking the public to come forward with information, photos, or video to help them track down who’s responsible for the deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line.
Officials said they had received 2,000 tips as of noon on Tuesday.
Three people were killed and 176 hurt when two bombs went off Monday afternoon on Boylston Street. 17 of the injured are in critical condition.

That doesn't sound encouraging, not at all.  It's easier to search for a needle in a haystack, because at least then you know you're looking for  a needle.

Officials from Boston to Washington seemed overwhelmed by the task of managing the aftermath of the shocking terror attack at the finish line of the Boston Marathon Monday. Though the White House called the two bombings acts of “terror,” President Barack Obama declined to do so in his remarks to the nation--and the Department of Homeland Security had not issued any terror alerts as of Tuesday morning, as might be expected.Meanwhile, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick referred to the site of the terror attacks in downtown Boston as a “crime scene,” and could not answer reporters’ questions about whether and how people would be able to commute to the area as usual the following morning.
“We are very much going to depend on you,” he told journalists during a press conference stuffed with politicians and law enforcement officials--but very few answers.

Will Americans begin to fear large public gatherings?



The one thing the police and other security experts know is that the bombs were made by experts who were trained in bomb making to cause the mot physical human damage. A there more of those sorts of bombs stored away waiting to be used in other American locations against more innocent United States citizens?

BOSTON — The explosives that killed three people and injured more than 170 during the Boston Marathon on Monday were most likely rudimentary devices made from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers, except they were rigged to shoot sharp bits of shrapnel into anyone within reach of their blast and maim them severely, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Apparently the bombs were made of commonly sold kitchen equipment, so it would be difficult to trace the bomber.

I  see this American style terrorism as very different from what we suffer from here in Israel. Our Arab terrorist and international Leftwing enemies proudly brag about their aims to destroy us.  See PMW

What Was The Point of That Boston Marathon Bombing?

What is there to say besides רפואה שלימה Refuah Shleimah,  Complete Recovery to the injured and May G-d Comfort the mourners?  The United States is a frightening place.

In America, one doesn't quite know who, where and what are dangerous.  What was the point, the aim of that Boston Marathon bombing?  Has anarchy reached the streets and events of the United States of America?  I don't quite see it as the terrorism as I know it living here in Israel when nobody is quite sure who the bombers are and what they want.

At least 3 dead, more than 100 hurt after two bombs explode at Boston Marathon
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near-finish-line-boston-marathon-spokesman-says/#ixzz2QbFO2Dav

The deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon that killed at least three and injured more than 130 is believed to be an act of terrorism, senior White House officials told Fox News.
Two explosions tore through the finish line of the world-famous race just before 3 p.m., going off simultaneously as throngs of onlookers watched runners complete the 26.2-mile trek. The timing of the blasts immediately sparked suspicions of a deliberate act.
“When multiple devices go off, that’s an act of terrorism,” a senior administration official told Fox News, just moments after President Obama delivered a statement to the nation and did not use the word “terror.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near-finish-line-boston-marathon-spokesman-says/#ixzz2QbGcKV4u

I've ranted plenty about winning that American security check lottery aka random checking.  Israeli security practices profiling, which judges/analyzes me as what I am, a harmless overweight grandmother.  During my last trip to the states a few months ago, I was "patted down" so frequently, most of the time being told, "just random checking."  Too bad I hadn't bought a lottery ticket; I could have won a million dollars instead, since my name was coming up so often.

I live in Israel.  I'm the survivor of a terror attack.  I was even injured in that attack, though very lightly.  I've lost friends and neighbors to terror attacks, so please don't consider me blind to the dangers.  In all honesty, I think America is a more frightening place.  We here in Israel have some idea who our enemies are.  In the USA, considering the impossibility to predict attacks, shootings, etc. the attacker may be anyone at all, a disgruntled and/or unstable child, teen, employee, neighbor, family member or stranger.  And, yes, there may also be foreign anarchists and terrorists ideologically and culturally related to the same Arab terrorists who want to murder Jews and destroy the State of Israel.

I ask in all sincerity:

How Americans can protect themselves from such dangers?

Honestly, I don't know.