I'm an Irish Girl, A Dubliner, with the 'Gift of the Gab' ... I like to talk & to tell you things. In Celtic times news, views and comment were carried from place to place by wandering Seanachaí ~ Storytellers ~ who relied on their host's hospitality and appreciation. I will need that from you too, as I venture to share Politics, Poetry, Laughter, Love, Life & everything in-between ... from Bog to Blog!!
I Posted the interview below in Facebook yesterday, but wanted to wait for a good English translation before posting here & in fact it has permitted me to tie two stories together!!
The first is that President Shimon Peres visited the Shalit residence at Mitzpe Hila in the Galilee last Monday Afternoon to meet with freed hostage Gilad Shalit and his parents, Aviva and Noam. The Shalits waited for Peres at the entrance to their home and shook hands with him heartily. President Peres then hugged Gilad and said, "You have no idea how excited I am to meet you here in your home, alive, healthy and whole." Peres praised Shalit for his ability to survive the harsh experience of captivity and isolation and told the Shalits that he is "glad that they were stubborn and did not let up for a moment." I personally believe it was in fact this elevation from the realms of Personal tragedy to National situation that enabled Gilad's freedom to be achieved, Baruch Ha'Shem!!!
And yesterday yet another story concerning Gilad Shalit arose .... Palestine Today reported that prominent Saudi Sheikh Awad al Qarni has offered a $100,000 reward to any "palestinian" who kidnaps another Israeli soldier. He apparently made the offer on a Facebook page that has some 700 fans so far. I searched but couldn't locate it. I did however find an English excerpt from a Saudi Newspaper in 2009 where this same "cleric" issued a Fatwa to attack all Israelis and Israeli interests anywhere in the world. The contrast in these two news snippets could not be more pronounced!!
Israel MUST now renege in it's 'deal' with the Arabs re the release of another 550 murderers ..... the conditions being broken now thus negating the further releases. The first list of 477 terrorists already freed for Shalit included dozens serving 924 life terms for murdering or organizing the murder of Jews. The freeing of such convicted child murderers to our streets & our communities all but guarantees further future loss of Jewish life. Enough is Enough is Enough!!!! This deal perverts justice and is a slap in the face for all victims of terror and their families. It promotes future terror as can clearly be seen from Al Qarni's inducements to future kidnap horror. That Gilad was mistreated & malnourished in captivity is clearly evidenced by his gaunt appearance & nervous gait .... see the interview below. The wounds sustained in Gilads capture did not receive adequate medical care according to his dad. His suffering is almost unthinkable .... His Courage is Inspirational. He is a Soldier!
I read in Arutz Sheva last Sunday evening that Reserve Soldiers are requesting that if they are captured in future then NOT to redeem them with a prisoner exchange even at the cost of their own lives ~ They are Israeli soldiers and know the risks. But they do not want to be responsible for the senseless shedding of yet more Jewish blood by freeing terrorists on their behalf. Each one of them deserves a medal of Honour. The IDF is the Most Moral Army in the World & yet it is so Villified by that world.
"Love has its place, as does hate. Peace has its place, as does war. Mercy has its place, as do cruelty and revenge. Never, ever deal with terrorists. Hunt them down and, more important, mercilessly punish those states and groups that fund, arm, support, or simply allow their territories to be used by the terrorists with impunity. No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place."
~ Rabbi Meir Kahane Zt'l ~
MAZEL TOV TO THE SHALIT FAMILY!!!!!
An English Translation of the Conversation ~ Subtitled ~ below ....
The LA Leftists are Lunatics ...... Those protesting at Los Angeles City Hall ~ the 1% (ha!) are overwhelmingly Anti Semitic as their defining characteristic ~ Most are Holocaust deniers too ~ And they are not Alone!! The Pictures & rantings herein tell their own story ... Incredible as that is. Their actions in abhorring America are an Aggressive Act that violates the right of other Americans to live in a city with rules, and law and order. So much for 'Democrat' politics .... ???? ....... And America is our 'Ally' in the 21st Century!?!?!?!?!
This all came to light in an interview given last Wednesday, October 12, 2011. A Lady in LA identifies herself as Patricia McAllister and as an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District to 'Reason TV' during the Occupy LA protest. She then said, "the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our federal reserve ~ which is not run by the federal government ~ they need to be run out of this country."
This Lady was subsequently fired .... McAllister was fired by LAUSD after her anti-Semitic statements went viral over the weekend on YouTube! She re-iterated this sentiment during a later interview with Fox11, in which she said "Jews have been run out of 109 countries throughout history, and we need to run them out of this one." Apart from McAllister not having anything other than a casual contract, which the county of Los Angeles enacts on a "we need you this day/week" basis & may decline to call at their pleasure. She is not "tenured" as a teacher. However, this lady has decided she has a "case" against the county.Here she's holding a sign that reads, "Congress Should Print the Money, NOT the Zionist Jews" in this interview that follows .....
In a Press release, LAUSD acknowledged her right as a citizen to air her views but emphasized a teacher's responsibility to serve as a role model for students. All Students ... not just Jewish students ~ but imagine for a moment her 'impartiality' in teaching History Class to Jewish children after publically uttering such an unacceptable expressions of anti-Semitism????
As a teacher, McAllister works with a captive audience of vulnerable children. Her comments certainly raise questions about her ability to treat them all equally and fairly. What's more, even if she's been the soul of discretion on the job, as well as kind and evenhanded with all her students, by making herself a public symbol of intolerance, McAllister no longer can serve effectively as a teacher. For one thing, Jewish students likely would feel intimidated in her classes , no matter how nicely she treated them. Remember .... Children, not adults who may or may not be capable of holding their own when faced with such racial predjudice. And I as a Jewish Parent would certainly withdraw my child from her care .....
This isn’t the first time Patricia McAllister has lashed out at Jews in a public manner. She runs a rather odd website called “Genocide of African Americans” though which she manges pages such as this one called “Jews Profit from Prison System.” Let me Quote ....... "During slavery, Jews had become commission merchants, brokers, auctioneers, cotton wholesalers, slave clothing dealers, and peddlers, keeping the slave economy oiled with money, markets and supplies". She also supports this site for "Mandated" African American Reparitions!!
And McAllister’s racist background wouldn’t be complete without a supporting link to, none other than, the Black Panther Party!! In fact, her “Events and Interests Around California” page only has one single link .... That link points to this page!!! Democrats are embracing this movement whose bigotry is on display for all to see. Democrats have ONLY favuorable things to say of the “occupy” movement, and Obama sees the Occupy Movement as powerful support for his presidential re-election. The Democrats and Obama are clearly aligned with this radical and colossally ignorant group of hooligans leaving trash and wreckage in their wake wherever they go. They aren’t just trashy and dumb, they’re virulently and openly anti-semitic, making no attempt to hide their bigotry, nationwide! I should be entirely fair though, and point out that The Democrat party isn’t the only group that supports this stuff. The American Nazi Party and the Communist Party have both thrown their support behind the Occupy Wall Street Movement also. Hints of the 1930's European continent abound ...... & when I suggested that was the way things would go two years ago to American friends, I was told I was just a "Bad Jew"!!
Let's Look ......... At LA
At NYC
At Oregon
Where is 'Team America' when you need them, huh????
Frail, Fragile, Gaunt .... Gilad is Still a Soldier!!!
I think the above image is THE Definitive Image of the last week ~ I so love that Gilad came home a Soldier!
And as this week in Eretz Yisrael has been 'A Soldier's Salute', this constitutes a fitting blog with which to end to this week, methinks!
The remarks of PM Benyamin Netanyahu on the Shalit release follows (unedited) ....
Citizens of Israel, today we are all united in joy and in pain.
Two-and-a-half years ago, I returned to the Prime Minister’s Office. One of the principal and most complicated missions that I found on my desk, and which I set my heart to, was to bring our abducted soldier Gilad Shalit back home, alive and well. Today, that mission has been completed.
It entailed a very difficult decision. I saw the need to return home someone whom the State of Israel had sent to the battlefield. As an IDF soldier and commander, I went out on dangerous missions many times. But I always knew that if I or one of my comrades fell captive, the Government of Israel would do its utmost to return us home, and as Prime Minister, I have now carried this out. As a leader who daily sends out soldiers to defend Israeli citizens, I believe that mutual responsibility is no mere slogan – it is a cornerstone of our existence here.
But I also see an additional need, that of minimizing the danger to the security of Israel’s citizens. To this end, I enunciated two clear demands. First, that senior Hamas leaders, including arch-murderers, remain in prison. Second, that the overwhelming majority of those designated for release either be expelled or remain outside Judea and Samaria, in order to impede their ability to attack our citizens.
For years, Hamas strongly opposed these demands. But several months ago, we received clear signs that it was prepared to back down from this opposition. Tough negotiations were carried out, night and day, in Cairo, with the mediation of the Egyptian government. We stood our ground, and when our main demands were met – I had to make a decision.
I know very well that the pain of the families of the victims of terrorism is too heavy to bear. It is difficult to see the miscreants who murdered their loved ones being released before serving out their full sentences. But I also knew that in the current diplomatic circumstances, this was the best agreement we could achieve, and there was no guarantee that the conditions which enabled it to be achieved would hold in the future. It could be that Gilad would disappear; to my regret, such things have already happened.
I thought of Gilad and the five years that he spent rotting away in a Hamas cell. I did not want his fate to be that of Ron Arad. Ron fell captive exactly 25 years ago and has yet to return. I remembered the noble Batya Arad. I remembered her concern for her son Ron, right up until her passing. At such moments, a leader finds himself alone and must make a decision. I considered – and I decided. Government ministers supported me by a large majority.
And today, now Gilad has returned home, to his family, his people and his country. This is a very moving moment. A short time ago, I embraced him as he came off the helicopter and escorted him to his parents, Aviva and Noam, and I said, ‘I have brought your son back home.’ But this is also a hard day; even if the price had been smaller, it would still have been heavy.
I would like to make it clear: We will continue to fight terrorism. Any released terrorist who returns to terrorism – his blood is upon his head. The State of Israel is different from its enemies: Here, we do not celebrate the release of murderers. Here, we do not applaud those who took life. On the contrary, we believe in the sanctity of life. We sanctify life. This is the ancient tradition of the Jewish People.
Citizens of Israel, in recent days, we have all seen national unity such as we have not seen in a long time. Unity is the source of Israel’s strength, now and in the future. Today, we all rejoice in Gilad Shalit’s return home to our free country, the State of Israel. Tomorrow evening, we will celebrate Simchat Torah. This coming Sabbath, we will read in synagogues, as the weekly portion from the prophets, the words of the prophet Isaiah (42:7): ‘To bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.’ Today, I can say, on behalf of all Israelis, in the spirit of the eternal values of the Jewish People .... ‘Your children shall return to their own border [Jeremiah 31:17].’
As Promised ..... A Pictorial Essay ~ Gilad Shalit's Release from Hamas Captivity & His Homecoming ~20th Tishrei 5772 ~ 18th October 2011!
First Class Sgt. Gilad Shalit .... Five Years On.
1,941 Days in Hamas Captivity!!
Gilad Shalit was a 19 year old Solider who was serving in the Israeli Defence Forces. He was kidnapped by palestinian terrorists, Hamas, on the 25th June 2006, when they made an illegal incursion into Israeli territory. His partner was killed in the incident & Gilad has been held in Captivity Ever since. 1,941 Days Detained in a Dark, Dank Dungeon, kidnapped & wounded. Not even the Red Cross had access. Yesterday, Gilad Came Home!!
The Ramallah Butcher is going home to a hero's welcome, with the blood of two IDF soldiers on his hands (literally!). This man is about to be released as part of the deal of 1,027 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit & he personally mutilated Israeli reserve soldiers who got lost on the streets of Ramallah. You can see the blood on his hands after he dumped the body from the window onto the street below. This prisoner exchange deal that Israel has reached with Hamas is a victory for terrorism and a setback for Israeli security. Hamas has won this encounter .... Justice has lost!
The first list of 477 terrorists to be freed Shalit includes dozens serving 924 life terms for murdering or organizing the murder of Jews. The other terrorists were sentenced to a collective total of hundreds of years in jail, but all of them will see the light of day on Tuesday in the unprecedented exchange for Shalit, who is expected to arrive in Israel in Tuesday, one week after this 'deal' was announced to the world. Hamas still might torpedo the arrangement with demands for the release of more terrorists, but it is not the likliest at this stage.
In his public statement on the Shalit deal last Tuesday night, Netanyahu invoked the Jewish tradition of Pidyon Shevuim, or the Redemption of Captives. But the Talmudic writ is not unconditional. The Rabbinic sages were very clear. The ransom to be paid cannot involve the murder of other Jews. This deal ~ like its predecessors ~ is not in line with Jewish tradition. It stands in opposition to Jewish tradition. Even in our darkest hours of powerlessness in the ghettos of exile, our leaders did not agree to pay for a life with other life. Judaism has always rejected human sacrifice.
The modern state of Israel has made itself a source of darkness for the nations, not a light. This deal perverts justice and is a slap in the face for all victims of terror and their families. It promotes future terror. In fact, Netanyahu, if I'm ever captured, do not release terrorists for my life. If you do, you make me partly responsible for every Jewish child murdered in Israel by, or with the help of, the terrrorists you released for me. Benyamin Netanyahu .... This deal is NOT IN MY NAME!!!
Many murderers will be released in return for kidnapped Israeli Soldier, Gilad Shalit. Although I welcome his freedom of course I would regretfully that this is the Absolutely WRONG way to achieve it. A Military operation should have freed Gilad Shalit. Gilad Shalit should have been freed by force, by crushing Hamas, not allowing it to achieve victory through it's terrorist strategy of kidnapping. The price that Israel has reportedly agreed to pay for his release is itself a terrible one which will have untold consequences for Israel.
Israel will apparently release 1,027 "palestinian prisoners", including 400 serving long sentences for some of the worst terrorist atrocities in the country's history. For the IDF it is a moral imperative to bring home its fallen or captured soldiers. But the terrible thing is that by releasing these thousand terrorists back to Gaza and to towns in Israel's heartland of Samaria, it makes it more likely that not just the Hamas but Hezbollah in Lebanon too will redouble their efforts to kidnap yet more Israeli soldiers in order to further such barters in future. It is a statistical certainty that the release of 1,027 Arab terrorists for Shalit will lead to the murder of untold numbers of Israelis. According to Israeli security bodies, about 50 percent of the terrorists freed in past prisoner exchanges have returned to terrorism, either as perpetrators, planners, or as accomplices. Hundreds of Israelis have been murdered, and thousands wounded, by freed terrorists.
* After his release in 1996, Abbas ibn Muhammad Alsayd was involved in three terror attacks in Netanya, including the Park Hotel Passover massacre on March 27, 2002, in which 31 people were murdered and 155 wounded.
* After his release by the Netanyahu government as a “goodwill gesture” to Yasser Arafat, at the behest of Bill Clinton in 1998, Iyad Sawalha perptrated the June 5, 2002 bus bombing at the Megiddo junction, murdering 17 people and wounding 42.
* Seven months after his release, Ramez Sali Abu Salmim blew himself up in Jerusalem’s Café Hillel on September 9, 2003, murdering 7 young people and wounding over 50.
* Matsab Hashalmon was released from jail as part of the “Tennenbaum deal” on January 29, 2004. Three months later, on August 31, 2004, he masterminded the attack on two buses in Beersheba, that killed 16 civilians and wounded scores of others.
The list of freed terrorists and their victims goes on and on. It has happened before & It will happen again.
This morning some details have emerged of just who is about to be released ... unleashed into Israeli society.
* The Sbarro restaurant Suicide bombing on a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem, Israel, on August 9, 2001, in which 15 lunctime diners ~ women & children ~ were murdered and 130 wounded with a bomb containing nails, nuts and bolts among its powerful explosives. See the picture above & the video below for details of this horrific attack ...... Within the last hour, relatives of the victims of the Sbarro pizzeria bombing and other terror attacks received phone calls from the Israel Prisons Pardons Board informing them that two terrorists, serving sixteen consecutive life sentences for this attrocity are about to be released. Those terrorists have shown no remorse for what they have done. Quite the opposite last week they again said how proud they were of their actions. Who doubts they will repeat them??
How is this anything but a bad deal for Israel? It will become a Bloody Bad Deal for Israel!
Don't get me wrong, I am 100% in favour of getting Gilad Shalit back, I'm not heartless, but there were other ways to do this. Lot's of ways .... the most sensible of which would be bringing Gaza to it's knees with no electricity or water, both of which Israel supplies, no monetary aid or funding from abroad allowed thorugh, and the threat of a massive military campaign aimed at wiping out Hamas. We did none of these, and instead we are set to release mass murderers of innocent Jews, whose families now have to grapple with the horror that their family members killer might bump into them in the streets of Jerusalem. Or worse, watch them resume their murderous rampage against other Jewish families in their own localaties.
While virtually everyone wants to see Gilad Shalit freed, many in Israel (and elsewhere) are very unhappy with this deal given Israel’s past experience when (in order to secure the release of kidnapped Israelis) Israel released convicted murderers who subsequently returned to Israel to kill again. This prisoner exchange deal that Israel has reached with Hamas is an enormous victory for terrorism and a setback for Israeli security. Gilad Shalit should have been freed by force, by crushing Hamas, not by bolstering it & its terrorist methods. Hamas terrorism has won in this encounter .... Justice has lost!
Today's message is that Kidnapping pays. A thousand-fold. The Israeli government just proved that to Hamas. And whether we want it or not, we'll (chas v'shalom) ALL pay the price for it. This is a Bad Deal for Israel. It will become a Bloody Bad Deal for Israel. And we will all taste its Bitter aftereffects .....
It is Four years since I actively began campaigning in earnest for the release of kidnapped Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit, It is Five years since his abduction and detention somewhere in Hamas ruled Gaza. Five years in captivity, 1,936 days detained in the darkness of a dungeon in Gaza, in solitary isolation with no communication to the outside world. Held by Hamas.
Five years ago, the Hamas terror organization kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit during an incursion from Gaza into Israel. His captors have denied access to him by the Red Cross in complete violation of the Geneva Convention. For five years a merciless enemy has held captive a young man, a soldier. Gilad Shalit has become a symbol, and it appears Gilad is coming Home at last.
If Shalit is indeed returned alive and well, it will of course be a matter for rejoicing that he is unharmed after his appalling five-year ordeal and that the terrible suffering of his family is now at an end.And we must remember that we have exchanged prisoners under promise before & received home corpses, namely in Lebanon in 2008 when the bodies of two Israeli soldiers ~Staff Sergeants Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev ~ came home across the border from Lebanon in spartan black coffins. Their brokenhearted parents and families seeing the coffins on television in Israel and realising they would not be embracing their loved ones again, nor was it a celebratory day. And a notorious Lebanese prisoner, who broke into an Israeli family home and murdered a four-year old girl with his rifle butt, was released from jail and sent to a hero's welcome in his homeland that same day. That day it was Hizbollah which delivered the remains of the soldiers to Red Cross officials, who identified the bodies, which were described as "mutilated", before they were transferred to Israel for DNA testing. This next day to come it will be Hamas ..... We must ENSURE that it is Gilad ALIVE & transferred to Israeli custody that initiates this swap. It will be good to have this Soldier Free at last.
BUT ... it must be asked if this is the right way to achieve his freedom. Although I welcome his freedom of course I would regretfully say No. No, It's Not. A Military operation should have freed Gilad Shalit. Gilad Shalit should have been freed by force, by crushing Hamas, not by bolstering it. The price that Israel has reportedly agreed to pay for his release is itself a terrible one which will have untold consequences. It will apparently release 1000 Palestinian prisoners, including 400 serving long sentences for some of the worst terrorist atrocities in the country's history. For the IDF it is a moral imperative to bring home its fallen or captured soldiers. But the terrible thing is that by releasing 1000 terrorists back to Gaza and to towns in Israel's heartland of Samaria, it makes it more likely that not just the Hamas but Hezbollah in Lebanon too will redouble their efforts to kidnap yet more Israeli soldiers in order to further such barters in future.
Don't get me wrong, I am 100% in favour of getting Gilad Shalit back, I'm not heartless, but there were other ways to do this. Lot's of ways .... the most sensible of which would be bringing Gaza to it's knees with no electricity or water, both of which Israel supplies, no monetary aid or funding from abroad allowed thorugh, and the threat of a massive military campaign aimed at wiping out Hamas. We did none of these, and instead we are set to release mass murderers of innocent Jews, whose families now have to grapple with the horror that their family members killer might bump into them in the streets of Jerusalem. Or worse, Resume their murderous rampage against other Jewish families in their own localaties.
So whilst this deal ~ brokered by Egypt and Germany ~ redeems one Israeli soldier, it ultimately puts more Israeli soldiers at risk. And the Israeli citizenry too.. Moreover, it strengthens Hamas in Gaza ~ they are already boasting that this is a great victory ~ and it makes it more likely that more Israelis will be murdered by terrorism in Israel, and demoralises those IDF soldiers who brought these 1,000 terrorists to justice in the first place.
And Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu knows all this. As the Jerusalem Post notes, in a book published in 1995 Netanyahu wrote that prisoner exchanges were .... ‘“a mistake that Israel made over and over again” and that refusing to release terrorists from prison was “among the most important policies that must be adopted in the face of terrorism.
“The release of convicted terrorists before they have served their full sentences seems like an easy and tempting way of defusing blackmailed situations in which innocent people may lose their lives, but its utility is momentary at best,” Netanyahu wrote. “Prisoner releases only embolden terrorists by giving them the feeling that even if they are caught, their punishment will be brief. Worse, by leading terrorists to think such demands are likely to be met, they encourage precisely the terrorist blackmail they are supposed to defuse.”
It's not up to Israel to bargain and beg for Gilad's life. Those Arabs who hold him are being strengthened by the International media, because the media blame Israel, and not the Arab terrorists who continue his incarceration and are the guilty ones. Gilad Shalit is not a negotiating tool to be bargained off in a numbers game with Hamas, which they have tried to turn on & off for the last five years ~ NOT ONE Hamas murderer should be released in a trade off for the freeing of Gilad Shalit.
How can one compare the life of a soldier with the release of such evil to the world? Will Hammed Ibrahim, military leader of Hamas in the 'West Bank', who killed & organized attacks that killed 76 people, be freed? Or Abdullah Barghouti, "the engineer" who prepared all the explosives that caused bloodshed in Jerusalem between 2001 and 2003? His targets included the Sbarro restaurant, the University Cafeteria at Mount Scopus. He killed at least 46. What about Sayed Abbas, who masterminded the suicide bombing in a Natanya hotel in 2002, in which 30 Israelis were killed during the Passover seder, including many elderly Holocaust survivors and their families?
Having said that I am TOTALLY for Gilad being freed NOW!!!! Not one day more in Captivity, five years is too long. Five years is too long!!! One day more is too much. But, I dont believe in a negotiated exchange. A Military Operation, along the lines of Operation Entebbe which freed 100 hostages held by the PLO in Uganda in 1976 should have freed Gilad. An undisputed Victory for Israel. Not a Negotiated exchange which bolsters Hamas & encourages further kidnappings!!!
All Red Cross visits to Arab terrorist prisoners in Israeli hands should have been suspended five years ago. If they can't see Gilad Shalit, they can't see anyone in Israel. No family visits for Arab prisoners .... no walks in the yard, no games, no cards, no books, nothing, no education, no degrees or doctorates to earn. Same conditions as Shalit has endured all of this time. Hamas are not playing games or being 'nice' or even 'humane'!!
Hit Hamas where it hurts ~ No monetary 'Aid' Allowed At All. This would probably have been the most effective measure of all had it been employed.
At the same time all "humanitarian aid" to Gaza should have been suspended and blocked. Turn off the Power & the water to start. Then every week lessen the 'aid'. Let's "Aid" this Israeli Soldier not Hamas Murderers. Remember that All the supposed 'humanitarain' flotillas REFUSED to bring a parcel or letter to Gilad from his family.
A total embargo by land and by sea should have been enforced by our capable IDF. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out. By shutting down the Temple Mount to Arabs. By putting the PA hierarchy in Ramallah under seige. By assassinating the Hamas leadership, one after the next after the next. Same with convicted Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails. By returning Israeli's to their surrendered homes in Gush Katif and other sites in Gaza. By using the combined forces of the IDF & IDA to go get Gilad. Oh! Yes. There's lots of ways to get Gilad back without releasing 1000 terrorists. Why were 'palestinian' supplies allowed in to Gaza? Why were "ambulances" allowed out? Why was medical treatment allowed to allieviate the suffering of 'palestinian' children .... Yes, I know it is the Jewish way to show Chesed. But Gilad Shalit & his family have paid that price!!
At this stage I would have to say Let's Bring Gilad Home. However it is WRONG that such a deal has been done this way .... Military Action NOT a deal which sees the realease of child murderers, 1,000 Operatives for Hamas to gloat, is how Gilad should have been freed. Let's not assume that this will end the public agony is Israel. Hamas yesterday warned that Gilad Schalit will not be the last soldier that it will kidnap. Abu Obaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Izzadin Kassam said that Schalit, "will not be the last solider kidnapped by Hamas as long as Israel keeps palestinian prisoners detained."
The senior official added that his forces were committed to all the prisoners that remain in Israeli prisons after the prisoner swap deal, and their release will be the organization's top priority. We have now opened the door to this .... further kidnaps for ransom!!! The former IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier General Avichai Ronsky on Tuesday said that Israel should not have striven towards a prisoner swap that included freeing terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit. He believes the captive soldier should have been declared a dead soldier that cannot be reclaimed. Speaking to Ynet, he continued that the only right way to release Shalit was through military action and if that was impossible, to sadly accept the fact that the soldier would remain in Hamas captivity though he added it was "tough to say that". It is. Very tough, but you equally cannot place the entire citizenry of Israel at risk and surrender to terrorism. I'm afraid that will have even tougher consequences for All of Israel!
I wrote this Remembrance last Yom Kippur. I Reprint today as it Retains it's Relevance .... This year I write from Eretz Yisrael itself, having made Aliyah. Baruch Ha'Shem!!!
It is a day of Atonement & Affliction. One affliction Israel did not expect happened on Yom Kippur, 1973. The Yom Kippur War began with a joint surprise attack by our Arab enemy on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, when Egypt and Syria crossed ceasefire lines to enter Israel in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. The war began with a massive and successful Egyptian attack across the heavily-fortified Suez Canal during the first three days, after which they dug in, settling into a stalemate. In the north, the Syrians attacked the Golan Heights at the same time and initially made threatening gains against the greatly outnumbered defenders, but their momentum waned.
Within a week, Israel recovered and launched a four-day counter offensive, driving deep into Syria itself. And so, we turned the situation right around, the Egyptians went back on the offensive, but were decisively defeated ~ the IDF then counterattacked at the seam between two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal, and advanced southward and westward in over a week of heavy fighting. Israel encircled elements of Egypt's Third Army after an agreed United Nations ceasefire resolution, which we correctly ignored!
Victory for Israel meant between 2,520 and 2,800 killed in action. An additional 7,250 soldiers were wounded. Some 293 Israelis were captured. Approximately 400 Israeli tanks were destroyed. Another 600 were disabled. The Israeli Air Force lost 102 aircraft & two helicopters were also shot down. But Victory is Victory!!!!
Defeat in this war further humiliated the Arab world .... let's remember this, & how our Arab enemy issued the "three no's", resolving that there would be "no peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel". They haven't changed their minds, just their strategy. Why have we changed ours?? Let's remember our forthrightness under Ha'Shem & our astounding victory in battle this Yom Kippur & may it lead to a decisive change in our Strategy in our present 'peace' negotiations. Appeasment Never Works!!!!
What lessons are still to be learned from a war Israel fought 38 years ago today?
The current wave of Blatant Anti-Semitism & Anti-Israel demonization in Europe and elsewhere was prefigured then, in the months after the Yom Kippur War. The Arab oil boycott turned Israel into a pariah ~ fewer countries had diplomatic relations with the Jewish state than with the PLO, which didn’t even pretend to seek anything but Israel’s destruction. The UN General Assembly gave a standing ovation to Yasser Arafat, who wore a pistol to the session and preached the destruction of a UN member state, the Jewish State of Israel.
Zionism is the Jews’ final strategy for acceptance, ending their status as a ghost people haunting the nations, as Zionist thinker Leo Pinsker put it. Yet not only had Zionism failed to win Jews acceptance, Zionism itself has become the pretext for the latest assault on Jewish legitimacy. Why does every attempt to create a normal Jewish relationship with the world seem to fail? Because we are seeking to please International opinion into accepting the Jewish State of Israel on Equal terms. I don't think they will ever do this. Ever, except over our dead bodies. Destruction of Judaism .... that is the world's Desire, this Yom Kippur, as last Yom Kippur, as Yom Kippur 1967!!
If anything, the crisis that began with the Yom Kippur War has only deepened. The question of Israel’s permanence as a Jewish entity has become even more urgent in recent years. In fact, it is now an existential one. No Western society lives in greater intimacy with death than Israel. Reflecting on the Yom Kippur war of 1973 this day may be the next phase of Israeli response to Yom Kippur, 1973.
"in military terms Israel would recognize its achievement in the war as having few historic parallels. Reeling from a surprise attack on two fronts with the bulk of its army still unmobilized, and confronted by staggering new battlefield realities, Israel's situation was one that could readily bring strong nations to their knees. Yet, within days, it had regained its footing and in less than two weeks it was threatening both enemy capitals, an achievement having few historical parallels. Israel faced not just the Egyptian and Syrian armies but much of the Arab world, and did so with the arm it had most relied on, the air force, tied behind its back. As a military feat, the IDF’s performance in the Yom Kippur War dwarfed that in the Six Day War. Victory emerged from motivation that came from the deepest layers of the nation’s being and from basic military skills that compensated for the grave errors of leadership" ~ Abraham Rabinovich, 'The Yom Kippur War' p. 498.
Oren Almog,
Ten years old at time of the bombing, was blinded by the blast, lost two of his grandparents, his father, his brother and his cousin, H"YD!!
One of the obligations of being Jewish is Zahor ... to remember. And today, the eighth yartzeit of the bombing of Maxim's Restaurant in Haifa, Israel by an Arab homicide bomber. A friend of mine lost family in this atrocity. Baruch Dayan Emet!! This is dedicated to their memory ..... May their Neshamot receive an Aliyah!!
On this day, October 4th, 2003, twenty-one people were killed, including three children and a baby girl, and 60 were wounded in a suicide bombing carried out by a female terrorist in the Maxim Restaurant in Haifa. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber, Hanadi Jaradat managed to get past Maxim's security guard and this 28-year-old "palestinian" girl detonated an explosive belt she was wearing inside the Arab-Jewish Maxim restaurant blowing herself up in the middle of the restaurant. The security guard was killed in the attack, along with three other Israeli Arab employees of the restaurant. The blast devastated the restaurant, of joint Jewish-Arab ownership, on Hahagana Boulevard near the southern entrance of the coastal city which was packed mostly with regular Saturday customers. Among the victims were two families in their entirety and four children, including a two-month-old baby girl.
The Maxim restaurant IS a beachfront restaurant located near the south entry to Haifa, a beautiful city in Northern Israel. It was rebuilt within seven months, Baruch ha'Shem!!!
The restaurant is also the favourite dining place of the famous Israeli football club Maccabi Haifa. Three Maccabi Haifa Officials were injured in the bombing. The interior of the restaurant was completely destroyed in the attack, but it was quickly rebuilt and reopened within several months, Baruch Ha'Shem!! A monument was erected near the restaurant in memory of the innocent victims killed in the attack and today stood basking in the Autumn sunshine, a testimony to the Awesomeness of the Jewish Spirit in these the 'Ten Days of Awe' to Yom Kippur!!
In Rembrance of H"YD .....
Five members of the Almog family: ~
Commander Ze'ev Almog, 71
Ruth Almog, 70,
Moshe Almog, 43,
Tomer Almog, 9,
Assaf Staier, 11,
Five members of the Zer-Aviv family:~
Brurua Zer-Aviv, 59,
Bezalel Zer-Aviv, 30,
Keren Zer-Aviv, 29,
Liran Zer-Aviv, 4,
Noya Zer-Aviv, 1,
Nir Regev, 25,
Zvi Bahat, 35,
Mark Biano, 29,
Naomi Biano, 25,
Hana Francis, 39,
Sharbal Matar, 23,
Mutanus Karkabi, 31,
Osama Najar, 28,
Irena Sofrin, 38,
Lydia Zilberstein, 56, ~ died of her injuries on October 9th,
George Matar, 58, ~ died of his injuries on October 15th.
Today, on this your eighth Yarzeit, we Remember you All ...... May your blood be Avenged!!!
As the Clocks went back one hour last night here, in Israel, it is officially Wintertime. My very favourite season .... & one of my most favourite musicians, Tori Amos, with one of her most impassioned performances .... From "Live At Montreux 91/92". It is Winter .....
I Promised you Poetry .... I Promised you Pearls !!!!!!
Snow can wait, I forgot my mittens
Wipe my nose, get my new boots on
I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter
I put my hand in my fathers glove
I run off where the drifts get deeper
Sleeping beauty trips me with a frown
I hear a voice you must learn to stand up for yourself
Cause I cant always be around
He says when you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that Ill always want you near
You say that things change my dear
Boys get discovered as winter melts
Flowers competing for the sun
Years go by and I'm here still waiting
Withering where some snowman was
Mirror mirror wheres the crystal palace
But I only can see myself
Skating around the truth who I am
But I know, dad, the ice is getting thin
When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear
Hair is grey and the fires are burning
So many dreams on the shelf
You say I wanted you to be proud
I always wanted that myself
When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses have gone ahead
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear
