Monday, August 7, 2006
Are We Paranoid? Oil Prices Soar
Boy, the oil prices are getting high! $78.40 a barrel. That's like the barrel we're over, right? Isn't it cute that the world power elite, led by the oil cartels, with a cut for their Arab stooges, keep making money while American and Israeli soldiers and civilians are paying in blood. The Lebanese civilians are also caught in the middle. Our Palestinian neighbors who think they hate us are only brainwashed. If they only were a little more aware how closely they are related to us, perhaps they would think differently. That doesn't mean that we don't pull the trigger if they are coming to kill us, but things have to change, and they will. Yishmael was together with Yitzhak, the Torah tells us, at the burial of their father Avraham. Chazal tell us that the deeds of the fathers are reflected in the acts of the sons. Something similar, the return of Yishmael to Hashem and the family fold, will happen in the future. As usual the game is called divide and conquer or "let's you and him fight". How dumb are we? The powerful always have done that. The Romans did it, the British did it, now the Americans are doing it. Our despicable leaders are playing right into their hands. If we did teshuva, if we returned to Hashem, right now, it could be over. That's all it's about. And if you are davening for the welfare of all our people, soldiers and civilians, wounded, abducted, missing, in the line of fire, say a little word for Hashem to let the real bad guys have it between the eyes, too. We are seeing prophecies fulfilled from the Tanach and Chazal now, right before our eyes. The enemy laying waste to the north, all the people scurrying around asking where they will go, this is the prelude to the Geula, the Redemption. Is that Mashiach in a bomb shelter in Tzfat or Tiberias? Maybe and maybe not quite. But stay tuned for the next exciting episode.
Saturday, August 5, 2006
A worried nation barely maintains an internal cease-fire
As my daughters and son-in-law and I were sitting down at Shabbat dinner without my wife, who is in America, we began to hear of men who received emergency call-up orders on Shabbat. I didn't believe the situation was so critical, and after Shabbat I saw that it actually wasn't. I think I would have advised someone receiving such an order to wait until after Shabbat. Last night after dinner I went to the Daf Yomi shiur (class on the daily page of Talmud), and in between the lines people were of course discussing the situation. Someone mentioned that he had been up north recently and he saw that life was actually pretty normal. Olmert has put his foot in it recently by announcing that after the war he will continue his policy of unilateral withdrawals. Although he made the statement for the benefit of the foreign press, the national-religious and right-wing public is pretty angry. Some people are not interested in getting their pink rear ends put in danger of getting shot off, only to have themselves at best or their widows and orphans at worst driven out of their homes afterward. Opposition Knesset member and former general Effie Eitam has been acting as unofficial liaison and internal peacemaker these days. IMHO that won't make him very popular with his core constituency after the fighting dies down. We all wonder why he is bothering to do Olmert any favors. See the Jerusalem post analysis here. Are we who live here in Judea and Samaria ever going to stop being the doormat for the left that hates us? Is Israel, looked at collectively in the world as the Jews in the Diaspora always were, ever going to stop being the same? The "enlightened" Israelis are looked at exactly as the same Jew-boys and get exactly the same treatment. Just like the what "enlightened" Jews got in Europe. And now Olmert is encouraging the Germans, of all people, to join the proposed international peacekeeping force. What rock did this guy crawl out from under, anyway?
Kiruv in Great Neck
I spent Tisha B'Av in Great Neck, where my parents live.
The Great Neck Synagogue's newsletter announced that there would be a program between the morning prayers and the afternoon ones. I figured it would be a good idea to attend.
The past few years I've gone to a variety of programs in Jerusalem, at the Israel Center, She'arim and Midreshet Rachel. Then, after returning home, there's a shiur in the neighborhood by Rabbi Dov Berkovits, my nextdoor neighbor. it really makes the fast pleasant, as pleasant as a 25 hour fast can be in the middle of the summer.
My parents dropped me off a bit early/late. It was early for the shiur and late-ish for the kinot, special "lamentations" said in the morning. It was close to the end, and after feeling it to be silly standing around the hallways I went in and found a wall to sit against. (This was taking place in the Beis Medrash, not the fancy giant shul.) The custom is not to see in proper, comfortable chairs. They had provided some cardboard things. They reminded me of the "bricks" I had played with as a kid. They strong cardboard, and my parents found some for my kids, too. I don't know if they make them as toys any more. I sat on the floor, since I thought that would be better, sure I'd squash the cardboard.
When it was over, the rabbi announced that the shiur would be shortened so the rest of the program would begin on time. He gave a short shiur on the differences between the reasons the two Holy Temples were destroyed. I don't have my notes here, but I think his point was that the reasons for the First Temple were less serious than the second. The difference was because the first types of sins weren't "sneaky," but the second was.
Then we went into another enormous room which had a screen set up. they showed us a movie from the OU, Orthodox Union, a plea to all of its synagogues to join a "Kiruv" drive, with training by Aish HaTorah. "Kiruv" is a term used to describe the act of helping non-observant Jews to get closer to Judaism.
You can't imagine the emotions going through me. I wasn't raised as a Torah-observant Jew. It was only as a teenager, when we moved to Great Neck and joined the Great Neck Synagogue when I discovered Torah-true Judaism. It was as a member of the youth group of the synagogue's NCSY chapter when I was first exposed to it. Kiruv? Great Neck? Did anyone else sitting there have any idea that the late Rabbi Wolf, zatz"l, was one of the hidden, secret pioneers of kiruv? Nobody knew me there. I was just a stranger, a middle-aged woman in a hat, sitting by the back wall.
Tish B'Av is a day of mourning, and when one is mourning, one isn't social. So it wasn't from coldness that nobody asked me who I was. And even if they had asked, who would remember my name, even though Rabbi Wolf had spoken about me from the pulpit proudly?
As we listened to the Aish Hatorah Rabbis expounding on the importance of Kiruv and how easy it could be, I was shaking, and not from hunger.
Over forty years ago, when we moved to Great Neck, it wasn't the Modern Orthodox stronghold it is today. There were very few truly observant families. Today there are certainly many more kosher restaurants and shomer shabbat stores than there once were Orthodox families, but those first families were wonderful. A few made me feel at home and invited me frequently. I wasn't alone, as there were a few others also helped, more than influenced, by the synagogue members. By the time I finished high school, I was ready for YU's Stern College. Over the years, my religiosity grew in observance and ruach, spirituality.
Sitting there in that room, listening and watching the movie, my mind continued to wander. Last summer our country suffered the mutalation of Disengagement, when Jews were forced to leave their homes, and Jewish communities were destroyed in Eretz Yisrael.
One of the methods tried in order to prevent it was "Panim el Panim," a sort of kiruv, but not enough. Just visiting and talking to people aren't enough.
While our country is being blitzed and violated by Arab rockets, the government, Olmert's government is still planning on destroying even more of Eretz Yisrael.
In Great Neck the Kiruv is for Torah and Mitzvot, but not Yishuv Ha'Aretz, settling the Land. Nothing in that movie made by Aish HaTorah for the OU mentioned Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel or Aliyah.
When Rabbi Wolf was the Rabbi of the synagogue, he mentioned me a lot as an example. I understand that he was very proud of what I did, especially that I did more than just become a Torah observant Jew. He was proud that I did even more than my "teachers" did. I made aliyah, moved to Israel, and after a decade in Jerusalem, I moved to Shiloh, which made him even prouder. Among the pictures in his "retirement journal," is one of the two of us planting a tree in Shiloh.
I have no idea how many members of the Great Neck Synagogue will join the new "Kiruv Campaign." I'm proud and happy to be a product of its early one.
The Great Neck Synagogue's newsletter announced that there would be a program between the morning prayers and the afternoon ones. I figured it would be a good idea to attend.
The past few years I've gone to a variety of programs in Jerusalem, at the Israel Center, She'arim and Midreshet Rachel. Then, after returning home, there's a shiur in the neighborhood by Rabbi Dov Berkovits, my nextdoor neighbor. it really makes the fast pleasant, as pleasant as a 25 hour fast can be in the middle of the summer.
My parents dropped me off a bit early/late. It was early for the shiur and late-ish for the kinot, special "lamentations" said in the morning. It was close to the end, and after feeling it to be silly standing around the hallways I went in and found a wall to sit against. (This was taking place in the Beis Medrash, not the fancy giant shul.) The custom is not to see in proper, comfortable chairs. They had provided some cardboard things. They reminded me of the "bricks" I had played with as a kid. They strong cardboard, and my parents found some for my kids, too. I don't know if they make them as toys any more. I sat on the floor, since I thought that would be better, sure I'd squash the cardboard.
When it was over, the rabbi announced that the shiur would be shortened so the rest of the program would begin on time. He gave a short shiur on the differences between the reasons the two Holy Temples were destroyed. I don't have my notes here, but I think his point was that the reasons for the First Temple were less serious than the second. The difference was because the first types of sins weren't "sneaky," but the second was.
Then we went into another enormous room which had a screen set up. they showed us a movie from the OU, Orthodox Union, a plea to all of its synagogues to join a "Kiruv" drive, with training by Aish HaTorah. "Kiruv" is a term used to describe the act of helping non-observant Jews to get closer to Judaism.
You can't imagine the emotions going through me. I wasn't raised as a Torah-observant Jew. It was only as a teenager, when we moved to Great Neck and joined the Great Neck Synagogue when I discovered Torah-true Judaism. It was as a member of the youth group of the synagogue's NCSY chapter when I was first exposed to it. Kiruv? Great Neck? Did anyone else sitting there have any idea that the late Rabbi Wolf, zatz"l, was one of the hidden, secret pioneers of kiruv? Nobody knew me there. I was just a stranger, a middle-aged woman in a hat, sitting by the back wall.
Tish B'Av is a day of mourning, and when one is mourning, one isn't social. So it wasn't from coldness that nobody asked me who I was. And even if they had asked, who would remember my name, even though Rabbi Wolf had spoken about me from the pulpit proudly?
As we listened to the Aish Hatorah Rabbis expounding on the importance of Kiruv and how easy it could be, I was shaking, and not from hunger.
Over forty years ago, when we moved to Great Neck, it wasn't the Modern Orthodox stronghold it is today. There were very few truly observant families. Today there are certainly many more kosher restaurants and shomer shabbat stores than there once were Orthodox families, but those first families were wonderful. A few made me feel at home and invited me frequently. I wasn't alone, as there were a few others also helped, more than influenced, by the synagogue members. By the time I finished high school, I was ready for YU's Stern College. Over the years, my religiosity grew in observance and ruach, spirituality.
Sitting there in that room, listening and watching the movie, my mind continued to wander. Last summer our country suffered the mutalation of Disengagement, when Jews were forced to leave their homes, and Jewish communities were destroyed in Eretz Yisrael.
One of the methods tried in order to prevent it was "Panim el Panim," a sort of kiruv, but not enough. Just visiting and talking to people aren't enough.
While our country is being blitzed and violated by Arab rockets, the government, Olmert's government is still planning on destroying even more of Eretz Yisrael.
In Great Neck the Kiruv is for Torah and Mitzvot, but not Yishuv Ha'Aretz, settling the Land. Nothing in that movie made by Aish HaTorah for the OU mentioned Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel or Aliyah.
When Rabbi Wolf was the Rabbi of the synagogue, he mentioned me a lot as an example. I understand that he was very proud of what I did, especially that I did more than just become a Torah observant Jew. He was proud that I did even more than my "teachers" did. I made aliyah, moved to Israel, and after a decade in Jerusalem, I moved to Shiloh, which made him even prouder. Among the pictures in his "retirement journal," is one of the two of us planting a tree in Shiloh.
I have no idea how many members of the Great Neck Synagogue will join the new "Kiruv Campaign." I'm proud and happy to be a product of its early one.
Friday, August 4, 2006
Not looking good
Most of the news I hear/see is from American TV, and we're not looking too good. Even worse for the Israeli government, there was some mocking commentary over the fact that the war "aims" keep yoyoing. This ynet article gives some background.
My gut feeling is that many good Jewish patriots are reliving the delemma during WWII, when there were debates in Eretz Yisrael among those fighting for Jewish Independence if there should be a "cease fire" with the British, since the British were fighting the Nazis.
The Haganah/Palmach and Etzel took that break, but the Lechi (Stern Gang) didn't, if I remember correctly, and sorry, I'm on a borrowed computer, so I don't have time to do all the research and linking.
Of course one should remember that the British were fighting the Nazis in order to defend Great Britain and didn't give a "hoot" about the Jews being murdered, and while we're at it, the US didn't plan their battles to save Jews either.
"Yisrael, b'tach b'Hashem!" "People of Israel, trust in G-d!" not the UN, US or anyone else.
And for that reason, I can't support the government, even now, since at the same time it's sending our sons, brothers, husbands, neighbors etc, etc out to fight, it is still planning on expelling me, throwing me out of my home. It still considers Jews, Yishuv Ha'Aretz to be an enemy.
I'm waiting for true leadership an alternative leadership to take over the country. Yes, it can be by "democratic means." I haven't heard anyone brave enough.
Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov
My gut feeling is that many good Jewish patriots are reliving the delemma during WWII, when there were debates in Eretz Yisrael among those fighting for Jewish Independence if there should be a "cease fire" with the British, since the British were fighting the Nazis.
The Haganah/Palmach and Etzel took that break, but the Lechi (Stern Gang) didn't, if I remember correctly, and sorry, I'm on a borrowed computer, so I don't have time to do all the research and linking.
Of course one should remember that the British were fighting the Nazis in order to defend Great Britain and didn't give a "hoot" about the Jews being murdered, and while we're at it, the US didn't plan their battles to save Jews either.
"Yisrael, b'tach b'Hashem!" "People of Israel, trust in G-d!" not the UN, US or anyone else.
And for that reason, I can't support the government, even now, since at the same time it's sending our sons, brothers, husbands, neighbors etc, etc out to fight, it is still planning on expelling me, throwing me out of my home. It still considers Jews, Yishuv Ha'Aretz to be an enemy.
I'm waiting for true leadership an alternative leadership to take over the country. Yes, it can be by "democratic means." I haven't heard anyone brave enough.
Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov
IRRESISTABLE!
- Truth may be stranger than fiction but sometimes fiction tells a lot of truth...in an hysterically funny way. Read on,
- A Lady wrote a lot of letters to the White House complaining about the treatment of a captive insurgent (terrorist) being held in Guantanamo Bay.
- She received back the following reply:
- The White House
- 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
- Washington, D.C. 20016
- Dear Concerned Citizen,
- Thank you for your recent letter roundly criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Quaeda detainees currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington.
- You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself, we are creating a new division of the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short.
- In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care.
- Your personal detainee has been selected and scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence next Monday.
- Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint. It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant care-takers.
- We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter.
- Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will help him overcome these character flaws.
- Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. We understand that you plan to offer counseling and home schooling.
- Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.
- Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except sexually), since he views females as a sub-human form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will recommend as more appropriate attire.
- I'm sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka over time.
- Just remember that it is all part of "respecting his culture and his religious beliefs" -- wasn't that how you put it?
- Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job. You take good care of Ahmed - and remember, we'll be watching.
- Good luck!
- Cordially, your friend,
- Don Rumsfeld
- A Lady wrote a lot of letters to the White House complaining about the treatment of a captive insurgent (terrorist) being held in Guantanamo Bay.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
QUOTE of the DAY - Schwartzkopf
I don't know if this originated with this war, but it certainly is applicable:In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward Hizbollah.
The General said,
"I believe that forgiving Hizbollah is G-d's function. Israel's job is to arrange the meeting."
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Have an easy fast
Brothers and sisters, here and everywhere, since we have not merited the privilege and honor of seeing the Temple rebuilt this year, have an easy fast. May Hashem grant that it be the last.
Gush Katif and our Fallen in Lebanon
I spent last Shabbat in Nitzan, one of the refugee camps for Gush Katif/Northern Gaza expellees. I really wanted to say something about that, but it was both too overwhelming and overshadowed by all the events in the North. After Shabbat at some point I got some more names of the fallen from the battle of Bint Jbeil and discovered that among them was Capt. Amichai Merchavia of Eli. Amichai was an amazing son of amazing parents. I knew his parents from the period when Kochav Hashachar was just getting off the ground. Moshe was the helping hand from the Amana settlement movement in setting up Kochav Hashachar. My wife and I were members of the original group. Moshe Merchavia was a legend. He lived, ate and breathed Kochav Hashachar up to his eyeballs until it got itself organized. The Merchavias lived at the time in Ofra and later moved to Eli to get it started. When Moshe was single in Ofra, he lived in a tent. When buildings with walls became available (refurbished Jordanian army camp buildings), Moshe stayed in the tent. Let other people have comforts first. I never knew or never noticed before that Amichai Hy"d (may Hashem avenge his blood) had been the co-editor of a volume called Ein Ganim, about the Jewish history of the area around Jenin. It was dedicated to the memory of Shmuel Weiss Hy"d, a boy from Kiryat Arba who fell in the battle of Jenin during the Defensive Shield operation.
The weekly Manhigut Yehudit e-mail newsletter just came in this afternoon with a piece on Amichai which I am passing on:
A Chilling Answer
The following letter was written by Second Lieutenant Amichai Merchavia on the first day of the expulsion from Gush Katif. He never got an answer to his letter. The Chief of Staff promptly dismissed him from his position. Only after the soldiers under Amichai's command intervened was he re-instated as officer of his unit. He continued to be an admirable officer and personal example for his soldiers. Amichai Merchavia was killed last week in the battle of Bint Jbel. Perhaps he finally got his answer...
10 Av, 5765
To Chief of Staff General Dan Halutz,
I am writing this letter at a time of deep pain and a feeling of lack of faith in the foundation of justice and morality that is behind the army's orders. Today's difficult pictures of thousands of Jewish brothers being driven out of their land and robbed of their property puts a moral stain on the IDF uniform.
The decision to drive the Jews out of Gush Katif that passed in an immoral and undemocratic manner and was authorized by the Supreme Court with a wink of the eye to the government and police is hypocritical from its very foundation. Basic human rights were trampled in the implementation of the decision, effectively turning Israel into a corrupt dictatorship.
I am ashamed of the army and disappointed in the commanders who hide behind empty words of the obligation to carry out orders and army discipline while they are actually working toward a corrupt and immoral goal.
Second Lieutenant Amichai Merchavia
Dan Halutz and Amichai Merchavia are in totally different places. The concept of "morality" comes up again and again in the young commander's short letter. He approaches the Chief of Staff in the language of values. He points to the severe spiritual deterioration of the army and he expects the Chief of Staff to understand his language and to grapple with it. Amichai lived his values and was willing to put his position and personal comfort on the line on matters of principle. He actively protested the destruction of Havat Gilad and of Amona. (Click here for pictures of Amichai protesting the expulsion of Jews from Amona.) But he was naive. He didn't understand that the army heads no longer speak about values. Army language is strictly technological.
A year after Amichai wrote his letter, the technological thinking that has lost its moral foundation once again encounters reality. This time it faces an entirely different type of spiritual challenge. A primitive, religiously fanatical Arab is ranting about his God. Once again, the IDF attempts to deal with a spiritual challenge with a strictly technical solution. And once again it fails.
Why? Because the moral stain that "defiled the IDF uniform" has blotted out the basic values that the army needs in order to win. Technology devoid of belief cannot overcome an enemy that is fighting for its values -- no matter how ghastly those values are.
Only soldiers like Amichai can save our nation from the Hizbollah and from the Islamic tsunami behind it. Only soldiers like Amichai can counter Nasrallah's deity of holy war and death with the living G-d of Israel -- and back it up with technological know-how.
But Second Lieutenant Amichai Merchavia, may G-d avenge his blood, was killed in the battle of Bint Jbel. All that we are left with is technology.
Dan Halutz and Amichai Merchavia are in completely different places.
The weekly Manhigut Yehudit e-mail newsletter just came in this afternoon with a piece on Amichai which I am passing on:
A Chilling Answer
The following letter was written by Second Lieutenant Amichai Merchavia on the first day of the expulsion from Gush Katif. He never got an answer to his letter. The Chief of Staff promptly dismissed him from his position. Only after the soldiers under Amichai's command intervened was he re-instated as officer of his unit. He continued to be an admirable officer and personal example for his soldiers. Amichai Merchavia was killed last week in the battle of Bint Jbel. Perhaps he finally got his answer...
10 Av, 5765
To Chief of Staff General Dan Halutz,
I am writing this letter at a time of deep pain and a feeling of lack of faith in the foundation of justice and morality that is behind the army's orders. Today's difficult pictures of thousands of Jewish brothers being driven out of their land and robbed of their property puts a moral stain on the IDF uniform.
The decision to drive the Jews out of Gush Katif that passed in an immoral and undemocratic manner and was authorized by the Supreme Court with a wink of the eye to the government and police is hypocritical from its very foundation. Basic human rights were trampled in the implementation of the decision, effectively turning Israel into a corrupt dictatorship.
I am ashamed of the army and disappointed in the commanders who hide behind empty words of the obligation to carry out orders and army discipline while they are actually working toward a corrupt and immoral goal.
Second Lieutenant Amichai Merchavia
Dan Halutz and Amichai Merchavia are in totally different places. The concept of "morality" comes up again and again in the young commander's short letter. He approaches the Chief of Staff in the language of values. He points to the severe spiritual deterioration of the army and he expects the Chief of Staff to understand his language and to grapple with it. Amichai lived his values and was willing to put his position and personal comfort on the line on matters of principle. He actively protested the destruction of Havat Gilad and of Amona. (Click here for pictures of Amichai protesting the expulsion of Jews from Amona.) But he was naive. He didn't understand that the army heads no longer speak about values. Army language is strictly technological.
A year after Amichai wrote his letter, the technological thinking that has lost its moral foundation once again encounters reality. This time it faces an entirely different type of spiritual challenge. A primitive, religiously fanatical Arab is ranting about his God. Once again, the IDF attempts to deal with a spiritual challenge with a strictly technical solution. And once again it fails.
Why? Because the moral stain that "defiled the IDF uniform" has blotted out the basic values that the army needs in order to win. Technology devoid of belief cannot overcome an enemy that is fighting for its values -- no matter how ghastly those values are.
Only soldiers like Amichai can save our nation from the Hizbollah and from the Islamic tsunami behind it. Only soldiers like Amichai can counter Nasrallah's deity of holy war and death with the living G-d of Israel -- and back it up with technological know-how.
But Second Lieutenant Amichai Merchavia, may G-d avenge his blood, was killed in the battle of Bint Jbel. All that we are left with is technology.
Dan Halutz and Amichai Merchavia are in completely different places.
UPDATES on Some Prior Posts
The letter "Dear World," which was in my first post, is now a video. Excellent depiction of the letter, and certainly worth a 5-minute viewing!
Naomi Ragen's article, "Cry to Those Using Babies," which was part of my Quote of the Day, is online at Ha'aretz and Arutz 7.
QANA: EU Referendum has two updates, here, and this one is an interesting attempt at a rebuttal from the MSM. Surely there are a lot of unanswered questions here.
And Israel Insider has a further update, which includes this:
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Red Cross reported on Monday that only 28 bodies, 19 of them children, were removed from the rubble. The count is half that of the 50-60 bodies still being reported by news agencies, quoting Lebanese security officials.
Also worth repeating is Nicholas of Victoria, Canada's comment:
First, there was a missile launcher on the building.
Two, disabled children and a few caretakers, were placed into the building.
Three, only 28 bodies were found, and not the over fifty as suggested by the terrorists to the media.
FourIsrael
Five, The building exploded 7-8 hours later.
Six, All the photos were taken, while the sun was still rising. This is noticeable by the level of the shadows on the faces of the rescue workers.
Seven, the rescue workers posed the victims, for the media. The posses were not natural, and repeated.
Eight, there was little or no respect for the dead. Unlike other people, who prefer that the dead are not filmed, or exploited, these people deliberately exploited the situation.
Nine, There were very few, if any Hizbullah dead. This shows they left the women and the children, in the building, while knowing full well, they were killing them.
Hizbullah, therefore, not only committed an atrocity against humanity, they staged it very badly.
So, where is the UN outrage? I suppose that a UN meeting will be called, to look at the gross atrocities, as committed by the terrorists? I will not hold my breath on that one!
Naomi Ragen's article, "Cry to Those Using Babies," which was part of my Quote of the Day, is online at Ha'aretz and Arutz 7.
QANA: EU Referendum has two updates, here, and this one is an interesting attempt at a rebuttal from the MSM. Surely there are a lot of unanswered questions here.
And Israel Insider has a further update, which includes this:
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Red Cross reported on Monday that only 28 bodies, 19 of them children, were removed from the rubble. The count is half that of the 50-60 bodies still being reported by news agencies, quoting Lebanese security officials.
Also worth repeating is Nicholas of Victoria, Canada's comment:
First, there was a missile launcher on the building.
Two, disabled children and a few caretakers, were placed into the building.
Three, only 28 bodies were found, and not the over fifty as suggested by the terrorists to the media.
Four
Five, The building exploded 7-8 hours later.
Six, All the photos were taken, while the sun was still rising. This is noticeable by the level of the shadows on the faces of the rescue workers.
Seven, the rescue workers posed the victims, for the media. The posses were not natural, and repeated.
Eight, there was little or no respect for the dead. Unlike other people, who prefer that the dead are not filmed, or exploited, these people deliberately exploited the situation.
Nine, There were very few, if any Hizbullah dead. This shows they left the women and the children, in the building, while knowing full well, they were killing them.
Hizbullah, therefore, not only committed an atrocity against humanity, they staged it very badly.
So, where is the UN outrage? I suppose that a UN meeting will be called, to look at the gross atrocities, as committed by the terrorists? I will not hold my breath on that one!
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
week #1 in NY
I can't believe that it's a full week since I've landed.
The war in Israel is continuing, more soldiers, more wounded, more dead and more innocent Jewish civilians, in innocent Israeli towns, villages and cities attacked by the Arabs.
If you call the attackers, Hizbollah or Lebonon or Syria or combined Arab forces, it's all the same.
My big question/ is why are only Arab civilians referred to as "innocent?"
The same thing I noticed before I left is continuing. Israelis are never referred to as "innocent civilians," but the Arabs always are. Pictures generally show Israeli soldiers and suffering Arabs.
There are references to the "destruction of Israel" as a (G-d forbid!!!) possiblity, which is new for sure. It's very frightening.
I hear of more Israeli reserves being called up.
I hate to repeat myself, but it's still clear that this present Israeli political "leadership" is incapable of making the kind of decision, build the battle plan, create the "vision" we need to survive.
Tonite is the AFSI evening, 8pm,
Fifth Avenue Synagogue
We all must find something to do to save the Jewish State,
to save the Jewish People!
The war in Israel is continuing, more soldiers, more wounded, more dead and more innocent Jewish civilians, in innocent Israeli towns, villages and cities attacked by the Arabs.
If you call the attackers, Hizbollah or Lebonon or Syria or combined Arab forces, it's all the same.
My big question/ is why are only Arab civilians referred to as "innocent?"
The same thing I noticed before I left is continuing. Israelis are never referred to as "innocent civilians," but the Arabs always are. Pictures generally show Israeli soldiers and suffering Arabs.
There are references to the "destruction of Israel" as a (G-d forbid!!!) possiblity, which is new for sure. It's very frightening.
I hear of more Israeli reserves being called up.
I hate to repeat myself, but it's still clear that this present Israeli political "leadership" is incapable of making the kind of decision, build the battle plan, create the "vision" we need to survive.
Tonite is the AFSI evening, 8pm,
Fifth Avenue Synagogue
We all must find something to do to save the Jewish State,
to save the Jewish People!
More on Qana (2)
I know that this may not be such a popular post, being that it's not very PC and the MSM really is starting to look bad in this one. And of course, the MSM is taken as "the gospel truth" by so many, that who are we to challenge them? But as I've mentioned in one of my comments, here in Israel we know the truth -- that the MSM has its own slant on things -- and it's mostly to the left. So in the name of "balanced reporting," I continue on with the so-called Qana affair.
Tyre
This is from Naomi Regan:
A few things journalists might want to check out, regarding Qana.
1. The men parading around with dead children dressed as "rescue workers" are the same man, photographed again and again. He's the main actor.
2. The same man was caught in similar photos in 1996 parading around with a dead child, which means that he is a professional dead-child parader, a very prestigious job that has been created by terrorists concerned about CNN's ratings.5. If these things don't sound possible to you, that no one could be that callous or horrible, then let me remind you of Beslan, where hundreds of children were held hostage on the first day of school, the little girls raped, and then the building exploded. Might I remind you of the terrorist massacre of Israeli children in Maalot? Might I remind you of the flying of several passenger planes filled with women and children into skyscrapers? Terrorists are not nice people. Other questions: How did that building alone have so many people when other buildings had none? And why so many children? And why not a single man? And why, davka, the building in which they stored the rocket launchers? Why would people have chosen to huddle there against the bombs instead of somewhere else unless they were forced to?
And what about the gap of eight hours between the bombing and the explosion?
Inquiring minds want to know. Isn't that what journalists used to do, dig beneath the obvious to get the truth instead of guzzling down and regurgitating staged propaganda like so much draft beer in a cheap bar? And another question, if the death of children is being staged for the benefit of CNN, then isn't CNN responsible for their deaths?
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EU referendum has an update on what they refer to as the “Green Helmet” man
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MORE BALANCED REPORTING:
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