War Again?

Reuters

Yesterday two IDF soldiers were killed and seven injured by enemy attacks in the north.

Two IDF soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded, most of them suffering shrapnel injuries and broken bones, in an attack on northern Israel launched Wednesday at 11:35am by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization.
A UNIFIL peacekeeper from Spain also died in the exchange of artillery fire that followed.
The multi-pronged attack on Mount Dov, Mount Hermon and the Metullah area in northern Israel involved gunfire and anti-tank missiles directed at a convoy of two IDF vehicles and two civilian vehicles traveling from Mount Dov. Both of the unarmored army jeeps were hit directly. (Jewish Press)

Reuters

Ordinary Israeli citizens have barely recovered from the war this past summer, which had Tel Aviv sprinting to shelter and citizens of the south realizing that the sounds under their feet weren't paranoid hallucinations. There really were/are Arab terrorist tunnels under their homes and schools. Now it looks like our Northern enemies are itching for a war against us.

Troops remain along border, continue drilling for tunnels near Zir'it. (Jeruslaem Post)

This is not good! For years residents of the North had also complained of strange sounds under their feet, and the chances are that like in the South, the Arab terrorist enemies have been building a sophisticated network of tunnels in order to enter and leave Israel undetected.

We're a month and a half from Israeli Knesset Elections which are a couple of years ahead of schedule. Serious security problems will make Israelis focus on that, rather than the social issues the Left promotes. But Bibi's problem will be that he didn't "finish" the war in the south last summer. He left our brave IDF soldiers and most of the public feeling very frustrated and angry.

For much too long, our wars have been incomplete. Instead of demanding total surrender from our enemies, we beg for a ceasefire. And in exchange we send our soldiers home and our enemies work hard so that they'll be in a stronger position next time. And then each "next time" comes faster.

This is not good!

Do All Arabs Support Hamas?

As you who read my blogs probably know, I work with Arabs. I don't exist in an all Jewish ghetto or vacuum. Being part of a multicultural/national/religious environment was one of the unexpected "bonuses" or phenomena I discovered working as an ordinary salesperson in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin. I'm pretty sure my boss didn't mention it when she offered me the job.

Few people outside of Israel have an idea of how much daily mundane interaction there is between Jews and Arabs in Israel. It's not just a matter of those who hire Arab builders, cleaners and other blue-colored workers. The hospitals are full of Arab Israeli-trained medical staff, and all sorts of stores and restaurants hire Arabs. Besides that, you'll find Arab customers and bus drivers, pharmacists etc. Arabs with Israeli citizenship can enter any part of the country, even more easily than Jews can. That's because anyone who seems Jewish  isn't allowed on "Arab roads" or in "Arab buses," even in Jerusalem.

There are a few interesting things many people have noticed since this recent war between Israel and Hamas began. One is that most Arab countries are trying to keep out. Egypt, which occupied the Gaza Strip (as it was once called) until the Six Days War is promoting itself as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. Jordan which had occupied Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley from 1948-1967 has been keeping a very low profile. It has too much to lose if Hamas gets stronger. Jordan is actually the second item on Hamas's menu after Israel. So the Jordanians are hoping that Israel will keep Hamas under control.

As Israel seeks to sideline Hamas in any accord on the Gaza Strip’s future, it’s finding quiet support among Arab nations where antagonism toward the Islamist group eclipses their enmity toward the Jewish state.
Egypt, which mediated a second 72-hour halt to Gaza fighting yesterday, is now ruled by an army chief who presided over a crackdown on Hamas’s Islamist patrons. Saudi Arabia’s king didn't explicitly criticize Israel in a recent lament over civilian deaths in Gaza. The United Arab Emirates, which pledged aid to help rebuild the coastal strip, is also hostile to political Islam.  (Bloomberg News)

At work the extreme reduction in the amount of Arab shoppers is very obvious. I've been working at Yafiz, part of the Rami Levy company for close to four years, and we always had masses of Arabs shopping for holiday clothes during the latter part of Ramadan. It had always made up a very impressive percentage of our sales volume. This year it didn't happen. Hardly a single Arab customer entered the store, certainly none of the usual "shopping tours" we were used to seeing. They didn't patronize Rami Levy Discount Supermarket either.

On the other hand, Arab staff members barely missed a shift. They didn't want to lose their jobs. Minimum wage jobs with Israeli work conditions are considered as relatively "good jobs" for Arabs whether living in Jerusalem with Israeli papers or in the nearby Arab villages. When asked where the Arab customers were, they said that the village leaders had warned them all that the Jews were preparing to murder them, revenge, "tag mechir," "price tag" attacks. The fact that the Arab employees in Rami Levy and Yafiz return home from their shifts in good health doesn't seem to convince them that they are being manipulated, lied to.

It seems like just as the Americans and the so-called "free world" would like Israel to take care of Iran and destroy its nuclear weapons industry, the Arab world would be perfectly happy if Israel would take care of Hamas and destroy its terror base. That makes me wonder which country really is considered the greatest power on earth...

Are There No More Terrorists?

Deadly Rampage in Pakistan Shows Reach of Militants*



According to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the War on Terror is over.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the Obama administration had dropped "war on terror" from its lexicon, rhetoric former President George W. Bush used to justify many of his actions.

"The (Obama) administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself. Obviously," Clinton told reporters traveling with her to The Hague for a conference on Afghanistan, which Bush called part of his "global war on terror."

The term "war on terror" was coined after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, which were planned in Afghanistan by the militant* group al Qaeda. (complete article) *my emphasis

Does this mean that U.S. President Obama and government will not fight terror? Or does it mean that there is no terrorism?

The United States was never supportive of Israel's need to fight terrorism. For some "peculaiar" reason, the Arab terrorists who attack Jews and Israelis have never been considered a danger to world peace, nor connected to the terrorists whom the United States deamed worthy of being fought.

I presume that this new policy will only bode even more dangerous for Israel and Israelis. G-d willing, I should be wrong this time.

Rally for Israel in New York

Show your support for Israel’s War on Terror!

Tuesday January 6th at 12 30pm

in front of the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan,

42nd Street at Second Avenue

come out in support and stand strong with us

Please bring friends, family, colleagues, members of your Churches & Synagogues. We have gotten a great response: Some of the many sponsoring organizations: Fuel for Truth, UJA, AJC, ZOA, Act for America, National Council of Young Israel, CJC-AMCHA, AFSI, Mothers Against Terrorism, Students for Peace in the Middle East, Betar, Aish and Hasbara Fellowships, Northeast Queens JCC , Westchester Jewish Conference and more.

Thousands of rockets have been launched by the terrorist organization Hamas into Southern Israel since Israel left Gaza in the name of peace. Actually, the terrorists have been launching missiles at southern Israel for almost eight years! Israel has the right to defend herself.

Please come and show your support for Israel’s war on terror.

If you have an organization that would like to participate, please contact Meredith mw812@aol.com