THE TIME HAS COME TO DEAL WITH THE JUDENRATS - REMOVE THE TRAITORS...

Marginalize the renegades

Isi Leibler - Oct 06, 2009
wordfromjerusalem.com

The exploitation of Judge Goldstone’s Jewish background by our enemies intensifies our obligation to confront the enemy within - renegade Jews - including Israelis who stand at the vanguard of global efforts to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state. Such odious Jews can be traced back to apostates during the Middle Ages who fabricated blood libels and vile distortions of Jewish religious practice for Christian anti-Semites to incite hatred which culminated in massacres. It was in response to these renegades that the herem(excommunication) was introduced.

More recent examples include Jewish communists who, in addition to undermining campaigns to liberate Soviet Jews and defending state-sponsored anti-Semitism, even applauded the Stalinist execution of their kinsmen on bogus charges. Like their contemporary counterparts, some of them attempted to depict themselves as devoted Jews championing "world peace.

"In practice they simply advanced the objectives of the Evil Empire. They were regarded as pariahs and isolated from the Jewish mainstream.

Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, took ruthless measures against Israeli renegades, insisting also that Israeli embassies maintain close ties with local Jewish leaders and persuade them to refrain from publicly criticizing policies impinging on security. The consensus was that it would be immoral for Jews abroad to influence decisions that could have life-and-death implications for Israeli citizens.

Unfortunately, in the wake of the Oslo Accords, the massive divisions which tore Israeli society apart shattered this convention, ironically with right-wing politicians encouraging Diaspora leaders to undermine the Rabin government.

This occurred simultaneously with the rise of post-Zionism, vigorously promoted by the daily newspaper Ha’aretz, which published critiques of Zionist doctrine until then considered beyond the pale by the vast majority of Israelis.

Ha’aretz also launched an English internet edition which emboldened Diaspora Jewish extremists and provided a green light to global media outlets to run demonizing articles about Israel on the grounds that they had already appeared in a "reputable" Israeli daily. The most recent example was the Ha’aretz campaign defaming the IDF, which proved to be entirely baseless but created an enormous global upsurge of anti-Israeli hysteria and eased the way for the Goldstone Report.

IN THIS atmosphere, fringe groups of "non-Jewish Jews," many with no prior involvement in Jewish life, exploited their Jewish origins or Israeli nationality to defame Israel. Today, they occupy leading roles fueling global anti-Israel campaigns.

Regrettably, successive Israeli governments failed to respond even when professors at universities funded by Israeli taxpayers and Diaspora Zionists began exploiting their positions to delegitimize their country. They identified with Israel’s enemies, calling on the world to boycott Israeli institutions, including their own universities.

Israel prides itself on being the only country in the region in which genuine freedom of expression reigns supreme. But it is also a country under siege, surrounded by neighbors seeking its destruction and confronted by an ever-hostile global community. To tolerate such abominations in the name of freedom of expression is taking an ideal to a lunatic extreme. Besides, it is hard to visualize the authorities adopting such a laissez faire approach had the offenders been racists, fascists or even radical right-wing extremists.

In fact, when senior academics like Ben-Gurion University’s Neve Gordon, call Israel an "apartheid state" and encourage the world to boycott Israeli institutions, they are the ones abusing academic freedom.

It is thus high time for the Knesset to set up a non-partisan commission to recommend legislation to deny tenure at state-sponsored institutions to those indulging in such activities.

The rot has extended to the Diaspora, especially Europe and has also affected the United States. Highly vocal Jewish groups like the recently created J Street describe themselves as ’Zionist’ but their prime objective is to pressure the US government to use "tough love" against Israel - a euphemism for demanding that the Jewish state make further unilateral concessions to neighbors pledged to its annihilation.

In the past two weeks alone, a host of new anti-Israeli initiatives were reported. In Toronto, Jews were at the forefront of a campaign to boycott Israeli films at a film festival because the anniversary of Tel Aviv - ’built on the destroyed villages of Palestinians’ - was being celebrated; two Israeli women who evaded national service are conducting a North American campus tour under the auspices of ’Jewish Voice for Peace’ to persuade students to intensify their role in the "resistance movement"; in San Francisco the local Jewish Federation is providing funds for a film festival which promotes the vilest anti-Israel films; radical Rabbi Michael Lerner invited a woman who justifies suicide bombings to address his synagogue on Yom Kippur; and so on.

IM EIN ani li mi li? If we are not for ourselves, who will be? We are engaged in a battle against fiendish enemies committed to our destruction. The Israeli government must now take steps to neutralize the impact of renegade Jews who present themselves as legitimate alternative Jewish viewpoints. Such an initiative by a country which provides genuine democratic rights to all its citizens, including Arabs, could hardly be categorized as eradicating freedom of expression. It would rather represent a highly overdue effort to exorcise such odious groups from the mainstream and expose them as unrepresentative fringe groups with no standing.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is currently riding a wave after his superb United Nations address. He should summon a global Jewish solidarity conference encompassing Jewish leaders, opinion makers, philanthropists and activists similar to that organized in 1989 under the auspices of then prime minister Yitzhak Shamir and then defense minister Yitzhak Rabin in order to demonstrate the unity of the Jewish people.

At a time when we desperately seek allies, in addition to encouraging millions of Jews in the Diaspora who remain committed to Israel to become more actively engaged in our struggle, such a gathering would also provide an opportunity to exorcise the renegades from our midst.

U.N. Smears Israeli Self-Defense As 'War Crimes'

U.N. Smears Israeli Self-Defense As 'War Crimes'

A one-sided report on the Gaza war lets Hamas off the hook

By GERALD M. STEINBERG
Jerusalem

Judge Richard Goldstone and the three other members of the U.N.-authorized "fact finding mission" on Gaza spent five months collecting testimony, interviewing witnesses and writing a 575-page report, with 1,223 references. But they ended up where they and the U.N. Human Rights Council began an assumption of Israeli war crimes "proved" by a collection of NGO claims and Palestinian "testimony," both of which lack credibility.
The report ostensibly presents the results of an intensive investigation into the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas from June 2008 to the end of July 2009. Yet on every significant issue, Judge Goldstone's group simply repeated what it chose to hear from carefully selected witnesses. (When Israeli victims of Hamas rocket attacks were given a few hours to tell their tales of horror, photos show Mr. Goldstone taking a nap.) The result vindicated the Israel government's view that the books were cooked from the beginning, including the one-sided terms of reference and the selection of Mr. Goldstone and of Prof. Christine Chinkin, whose anti-Israel prejudices were clear. There is no evidence to indicate that a fair hearing was possible, or that Israeli government cooperation would have made any difference.

Unusually, the tendentious and extremely biased report succeeded in angering Israelis from across the political spectrum. President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, who does not see eye-to-eye with Prime Minister Netanyahu on many issues, said the report made a mockery of history and gave legitimacy to terror. The committee condemned every Israeli response to the 8,000 rockets fired by Hamas, but its recommendations did not include any steps to end this aggression. And while Israel is accused of committing acts of terror, the report never acknowledges that Hamas committed acts of terror, even though it is legally banned as a terrorist organization by the U.S and the European Union, among others. This distortion undermined the facade of even-handedness, as if balance between a terrorist group and aggressor, and a democracy meeting the obligation to defend its citizens, had any moral foundation.
Iran, which is the main patron of Hamas and its primary source of funding, political support, training and weapons, is only mentioned once, obliquely, in the report, in connection with "the 220 mm Fadjr-3 rocket ... thought to be smuggled into Gaza." The committee, like the NGOs on which it relied, did not bother to investigate this central issue, since it would not have contributed to the indictment of Israel.

Mr. Goldstone's professional qualifications are anchored in international law, but if anything, this report highlights the absurdity of a vocabulary and framework that are anachronistic. Applying classical concepts and terms to terror and asymmetric urban warfare, in which the entire population is a massive human shield and hospitals are used as command headquarters, as in the case of Gaza, is ridiculous. The report fails to deal with the difficulty of defining a civilian in this context, and following the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the report classifies the members of the Hamas "police" as civilians, erasing their membership in Hamas' armed forces and their participation in the rocket barrages targeting Israeli civilians.

On most issues, Mr. Goldstone followed the lead and biases of NGO "superpowers" particularly Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Human Rights Watch's publications on Gaza have been discredited following the exposure of the obsession with Nazi memorabilia and false claims of its "senior military expert," Marc Garlasco. But his allegations are adopted in this report, again without any independent investigation and despite the testimony of military experts who exposed Mr. Garlasco's fictions. Indeed, Mr. Goldstone's long relationship with Human Rights Watch, including his membership on its board, added to the credibility problems of this inquiry.

Similarly, the attempt to shove the role of Iran under the carpet follows the lead of these NGOs, as does the decision to ignore video evidence showing the use of civilians as cover for Hamas fighters attacking Israel (human shields), including the launch of rockets from schools. Instead, copying the unreliable NGO claims almost word for word, the issue is dismissed on the grounds that the committee "received no reports of such incidents from other sources." No independent research was conducted.

The issue of military necessity is central in grappling with the moral issues of an asymmetric-warfare environment in which terrorists use schools, hospitals, houses and other civilian facilities. Neither the NGOs nor Mr. Goldstone show any understanding of the dilemmas involved they can only repeat the claims of Palestinians who, in almost every case, say that Hamas members and assets were never near the target of any Israeli attack.

One of Israel's primary and most important objectives in the war was to search for clues to the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped from Israel and taken to Gaza in a 2006 cross-border raid. Mr. Goldstone does not consider this to be related to military necessity, and even labels the interrogation of Palestinians on this issue as criminal. And in rejecting Israeli statements regarding the storage of weapons in a mosque (ignoring video evidence), the report admits: "the Mission cannot exclude that this might have occurred in other cases." In other words, they did not have a clue.

As is often the case, the implications of this report, including the threats of a Security Council monitoring mechanism and possible action by the International Criminal Court, go far beyond Israel. If Israel is condemned for attacking "civilians" like Nizar Rayan, the head of Hamas' military wing, American officials could find themselves in the dock for the raid in Somalia that killed al Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.

Using the warped interpretations of international law on display in this report, the same terms could be applied to NATO officials responsible for the deaths of civilians in strikes against Taliban assets, such as oil trucks in Afghanistan. American troops who used white phosphorous to protect against detection in the battle of Fallujah in Iraq could be accused, like the Israelis targeted by Mr. Goldstone, of war crimes. And when they do become targets of such pseudo-legal actions, the Goldstone precedent will include the absence of transparency (much of the "testimony" remains secret, allowing the committee to pick and choose) or due process, including the cross-examination of witnesses.

Instead of promoting legal accountability and reconciliation, Mr. Goldstone's report will increase Israeli cynicism regarding the viability of international institutions and guarantees of Israeli security and fair treatment. The damage wreaked by Mr. Goldstone's offensive will not help the efforts of President Obama's peace envoy, George Mitchell, in efforts to gain Israeli flexibility and willingness to take risks. Hopes for peace, already very tenuous, may be another casualty of the Goldstone report.

Mr. Steinberg is president of NGO Monitor and a professor in the political science department of Bar Ilan University.

Sweden's hatred for Israel boils to the surface...

Sweden's Refusal
to Condemn Organ Libel is Bogus

by Alan M. Dershowitz

Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Posted: 25 Aug 2009 03:58 PM PDT

The Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, has refused to condemn a “blood libel” published by one of Sweden’s leading newspapers, Aftonbladet. The article outrageously claims that Jewish soldiers in Israel killed Palestinians in order to harvest their organs. The writer of the article, Donald Bostrom has acknowledged, according to the New York Times, that “he has no idea whether the accusations are true.” Yet a widely-read Swedish newspaper was prepared to publish this undocumented and highly volatile accusation, without requiring its author to present any credible evidence.

This false accusation is reminiscent of the medieval blood libels that falsely accused Jews of killing Christian children in order to use their blood for religious rituals.

Not only has foreign minister Bildt refused to issue to a personal condemnation of the current “organ libel,” his foreign ministry explicitly disavowed the denunciation that was issued by Sweden’s Ambassador to Israel, who had called the article “shocking and appalling.” In a self-righteous statement, Mr. Bildt claimed that condemnation of the article would be inappropriate because freedom of expression is a part of the Swedish Constitution.

This is a bogus and ignorant argument, as anyone who understands freedom of speech will attest. I have devoted much of my life to defending freedom of speech and consider myself something of an expert on the matter. Nobody is talking about censoring the Swedish press or imprisoning the writer of the absurd article. What we are talking about is expanding the marketplace of ideas to include a completely warranted condemnation of sloppy journalism and outrageous accusations that foment an already increasing anti-Semitism in Sweden. Freedom of speech is based on an open and vibrant marketplace of ideas. No journalist is immune from criticism for bigotry and defamation, even from high ranking government officials.

Recall that virtually every government official in Europe went out of their way to condemn the depiction of perfectly innocent cartoons that offended some Muslims by portraying Mohammed. (More recently, the Yale Press withdrew these cartoons and other classic art depicting Mohammed out of fear of violent reaction.) Without getting into the business of comparative offensiveness, no reasonable person could argue that depicting a long-dead religious figure comes anywhere close to falsely accusing contemporary Jews of murdering innocent Palestinians to steal their organs.

The reality is that the Swedish government, long known for its cowardice, simply does not want to get into a fight with the Muslim world, much as it didn’t want to get into a fight with the Nazi’s during the Second World War. Sweden is perfectly willing to sell out the Jews in the name of neutrality, or in this case, in the false name of freedom of expression. Its silence is beneath contempt.

I am offended by Sweden’s craven complicity with evil not only as a Jew, but also as a strong defender of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech carries with it certain obligations as well. One of those is to condemn false speech. The best answer to false speech is not censorship, it is truthfulness. By remaining silent in the face of the bigoted falsities contained in the Aftonbladet article, the Swedish foreign minister inevitably creates the impression that he sympathizes with the writer, and perhaps even with his conclusions. Mr. Bildt, too, has freedom of speech, which he has exercised on many occasions. By choosing not to exercise it on this occasion—or even worse, by exercising it to criticize the Swedish Ambassador to Israel for her condemnation of the article—Bildt becomes a facilitator of bigotry. He should be ashamed of himself. His country should be ashamed of him. And if his country is not ashamed of him, then every decent person in the world should be ashamed of Sweden.

Silence in the face of evil is not an option. As Edmund Burke reminded us many years ago: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” To that I may add, “Or say nothing.”

THE TRUE STORY OF: The Operation in Gaza - 27 Dec 2008 - 18 Jan 2009

The Operation in Gaza - Legal and Factual Aspects:

The definitive Israeli version
(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman)

On July 30, the Government of Israel released a detailed paper addressing a wide range of factual and international legal issues relating to the military operation undertaken by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza in December 2008 - January 2009.

The Paper, 160 pages long, describes in detail the context of the Gaza Operation. It documents the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians in the years prior to the Operation and the increasing range of Hamas rocket and mortar attacks, as well as Israel's efforts to prevent the attacks and avoid the conflict.

The Paper contains an extensive legal analysis of the legal principles and of State practice regarding the use of force and examines in detail the application of the principles of necessity, distinction and proportionality. In particular, with photographic and video evidence, it documents the tactics adopted by Hamas in launching attacks from within civilian populations and describes the IDF precautions and efforts to limit civilian harm in such situations.

The Paper also gives a detailed account of Israel's humanitarian efforts in the course of the operation, particularly in the face of Hamas attempts to launch attacks during humanitarian pauses to allow aid to reach civilians, hijack aid and assistance, and hide within and behind medical and international facilities.

The Paper also gives previously unpublished details of the multiple IDF investigations into allegations made by various groups of violations of the law. It reveals that IDF investigative teams are currently examining approximately 100 complaints, including 13 criminal investigations opened so far. The Paper describes the preliminary findings of some of the IDF field investigations, which can be released without comprising the integrity and independence of these investigations including some of the lessons learned. It notes that these investigations will be reviewed by the Military Advocate General and may be subject to further review by the Attorney General and the Supreme Court of Israel.

The

Paper, with a brief executive summary, has been posted on the web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

My Gaza War Diary

by Rabbi Ephraim Choban

The power of faith and unity on the frontlines.

Saturday night, December 27, the seventh night of Chanukah. I'm listening to the news at home that the IDF has launched a major operation. They called it "Cast Lead," from the song by Chaim Nachman Bialik known to every Israeli child, about a dreidel made of cast lead. Suddenly, a children's Chanukah song has become an army operation. "This is it. Maybe it'll put an end to the suffering in the South. It's no accident that they gave the operation this name.

The courage of the Maccabees lives within us!" I think to myself.
Eight years of never-ending mortar attacks. Eight years of air-raid sirens. Eight years of destroyed streets and homes. Eight years of fear. An entire generation of children in the south born into this; all they know is a life of "red alerts" and bomb shelters. "Color Red" is the slogan over the PA system that warns you you've got 15 seconds to run to shelter. And in the midst of this "routine," people try to lead normal lives. Eight years of Israelis in the south feeling abandoned. Maybe we'll finally be able to change things.

The call isn't long in coming. At 2 AM, the phone rings. It's my unit commander. "Ephraim, it's an emergency call-up! Report to the unit first thing tomorrow morning."
"For how long?"

"Don't know, but bring enough equipment for at least a month." At 5 AM, the bus to the unit picks me up. As we head down south I think, "What's going to happen tomorrow morning? Who will look after my family? What will be with my students?"

Suddenly, all the little everyday things seem less important. We reach the base, sign for the equipment, and I quickly find myself on the way to the border leading to Gaza.

Missiles are landing not far from us.

Every moment is a miracle.

Along the way, we already see signs of war. The roads are full of soldiers and tanks on their way into Gaza. In all the noise and confusion, we can't tell whether the artillery and the missiles are ours or the enemy's. Missiles are landing not far from us. Every moment is a miracle. At any moment, a missile can injure us and destroy our lives. I feel the Divine Protection watching over us.

We reach the assembly point. We check the tanks and armored vehicles, the weapons, the ammunition. And then the really hard part -- getting ourselves emotionally ready.
The first few days are pretty unclear. The operation has begun, but there still hasn't been a ground incursion. We're just "sitting on the fence" waiting for orders. There's a feeling that's hard to explain, not of fear but of questions: "What's going to happen? And when?"
When there's free time, especially before the danger starts, our thoughts race. A soldier comes up to me and seeing my religious appearance says, "I'm afraid. What's going to be? Which of us won't come back? My wife's in her ninth month and she's supposed to give birth any minute. When will I get the chance to see my son? Will I even become a father? For you, it's probably a lot easier."

"We can't allow ourselves to think this way," I answer. "We go into battle without fear. We are not alone! The entire Jewish people is here alongside us! And we're relying on them. This is how you have to think! This is how you have to speak! Think positively and things will turn out fine. This is how you go to war. We are not going to war because we seek money or honor or anything else, but only because we want our right to peace and quiet. No nation in the world could remain indifferent to what we've gone through! In a situation like this, there is no greater privilege. And because of this, there is no reason why we won't win. I promise you we'll come out of this okay, and not only that, but I'll come to your son's bris! That is our prayer."

My confidence comes from the words of Maimonides that I was raised on:
"He who fights with all his heart, without fear, with the sole intention of sanctifying God's Name, is assured that no harm will befall him and no evil will touch him. He will build for himself a lasting house in Israel, and he and his children will merit good all their days, and will be worthy of life in the World to Come" (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 7:15).

But I also have a question for him: "Why do you think it's easier for me?"
"Because you believe. You have someone to lean on," is his answer.
***

Calling in the Name of God

Before we go into Gaza, Hamas tries to frighten us. We're told that they have loudspeakers blaring: "Soldier, I am not afraid of you! Jewish soldier, though you have tanks and rifles, I am not afraid of you. I believe in God and I will triumph over you!"
As a believing Jew, a different thought comes to mind. It is written: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we call out in the name of the Lord our God" (Psalms 20:8). But it seems like the opposite is happening. We are calling out to God and they are calling to the same God. What is happening here?

The answer is clear. This is not a struggle based on strength, on who will be victorious, for our enemies know very well that we have a much stronger army. They are trying to break our spirit. This is not just a physical battle; it's a battle of beliefs. Which will be the faith that triumphs? Will it be the God of Mohammed or the God of Israel?

This is a profound test. They know what they're fighting for. They want the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, al-Aqsa. Do we truly know what we're fighting for?

This battle is intended to strengthen our belief that "God will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His heritage" (Psalms 94:14). The home front has got to be strong! The entire Jewish people must say without hesitation: We are here! We have returned to our land, and we will never be thwarted again! I feel all the words of the prophets, every verse. All the things that I believe in live within me. History is happening through me. It not my private fight but that of all the Jewish people, who are the bearers of truth in a world searching for peace without terror.

Saturday night, January 3, one week later. The order has come; we are going in. Long lines of soldiers, tanks, and armored vehicles wait at the entry point. I stand there marveling at this strength, this courage, this spirit. Everything takes on special meaning. No longer are we a weakened body living in Exile, a small child beaten by the neighborhood bully. We have stepped out of exile and into redemption. We are a people standing on its own two feet.

We no longer feel the bitter cold, just the courage and the power of the moment.
We no longer feel the bitter cold, just the courage and the power of the moment. We climb onto the tank and proudly hang the Israeli flag up high -- this unique symbol that only a few know is based on the colors of the tallit. A soldier walks among the tanks and gives out small pages with a special prayer said before going into battle. We grab a quick moment before everything begins to say the prayer. I say these words with special feeling: "May God...grant us the merit of triumphing over our enemies and putting them in their place. May the power and courage of Israel be exalted, and may we fulfill the verse: ‘And all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is upon you, and they will stand in awe of you.'"

***

We go in.

Three years earlier, I was in this same place, on these same sands, under these same trees. I had come to visit a friend. Since then, the prophesies of doom have come true. Instead of a battleground turned into thriving fields, the opposite has happened.
I serve in a rescue unit that extricates tanks that have been hit. The night is very dark. A tank has become stuck en route and we are laboring to get it out. Every report of a tank that is hit makes my heart stop for a moment. We haven't finished yet and a report comes in of another tank that needs to be pulled out. We continue till we've completed our mission.

Thank God, there's been no report of casualties so far. We're not allowed to go outside because of the shooting. We even have to go to the bathroom inside the tank, in a bottle or a bag that gets thrown out. We find the time to grab a little sleep sitting up inside the tank.

Morning comes and a sliver of light makes its way in through the opening. It's time to say the morning Shema prayer. I ask the commander for permission to take off my helmet inside the tank for a few minutes to put on tefillin. We say the prayers sitting down, inside the tank of course. Although we have to say them quickly, the prayers are very powerful. Every word takes on new meaning.

We finish praying and suddenly hear shooting in our direction. They miss our tank; we don't get hit. The tank that we had come to rescue fires back to the best of its ability. After an exchange of fire that lasts several minutes, the other tank commander notifies us over the radio that the enemy has been eliminated. We continue the rescue mission and manage to pull out the tank and all its crew alive and well. I have the feeling that I've contributed to the war on two fronts: in battle and in prayer.

The army endangered the lives of its own

soldiers to keep innocent Gazans safe --

something that no other army in the

world would have been prepared to do.

So it goes for the next few days. From time to time, we get reports over the tank radio of casualties and of the progress of our forces. The army had prepared us for a much higher number of casualties. They had told us we'd be rescuing crippled tanks non-stop. Thank God, the number of wounded is miraculously much smaller than anticipated.
During the war, we heard of many protests around the world. It's not clear to me why. Under combat, our moral code as fighters was evident to all. Throughout the fighting, the IDF did everything possible to protect the innocent. The army endangered the lives of its own soldiers to keep innocent Gazans safe -- something that no other army in the world would have been prepared to do.

***
Leadership and Responsibility

We went in, we came out. We've rescued several tanks, and performed our duties well. Now another force is brought in to help us. And the question comes up: What missions should we take? Now that there is a new force, should they handle all the work? Should we try, very discreetly, to ask for the less dangerous missions?

A fierce argument breaks out among the crew. Some of them decide that they've done their part, they've had enough. Other soldiers, full of faith, filled with a sense of personal and collective responsibility, ask to go out again and help in any way they can.
One of the basic principles that we teach at Aish HaTorah is not to ask 'why me,' but 'why not me.'

One of the basic principles that we teach at Aish HaTorah is not to ask 'why me,' but 'why not me.' This is the power of mutual responsibility. The power of leadership. In my eyes, this is the courage that is demanded of us. To do the job not just so we can check it off our to-do list, but to help and contribute the most that we can. Those who go in again and again, despite the fact that they could go home and be in a safe place, they are true heroes.

The Power of Faith

During the fighting, a friend and a student of mine are wounded, one of them seriously. The other one suffers "light wounds" -- which means that we're praying he'll regain the use of his arm. This remark -- that it's easier for me because I believe -- stays with me all the time. Maybe it's true of the sense of certainty when going into battle, but the believing Jew still has many difficulties. When he confronts the wounded, the dead, the pain of the families whose boys were killed, it's hard for him, just as it is for everyone. But his faith still strengthens him, and his belief in the justness of this war is not shaken.
Faith has the power to give strength. Faith has the power to give a different way of looking at reality. Faith had the power to take the people of Israel out of Egypt and carry them through the desert, from darkness into light. Faith has the power to give us hope even in hard times. People who believe do not despair! Hardship does not break them but motivates them to fight to rid the world of evil.

Only with great faith will we recognize -- and will the world acknowledge -- the justness of our path and our right to the Land of Israel.

"The power of His deeds He has declared to His people, in giving them the heritage of the nations" (Psalms 111:6). It is the Jewish people who must recognize the power of God's deeds. It is they who must recognize our right to the Land. And the moment that we know this, all the nations of the world will grant us our rightful place in our inheritance. They will understand that it is not dominance that we seek. We are nation charged with the mission to bring light to the nations of the world. We are a nation that leads and takes responsibility, that seeks to give and to help others.

***
Ceasefire

The day of our discharge arrives. Our feelings are mixed. On the one hand, it's good to return home from the front. But on the other, we know that the job isn't finished. We're prepared to do it again whenever we are called.

I feel that I want to thank God for the privilege I was granted. And I am certain that I am giving voice to thousands who feel as I do. I want to thank God that my comrades and I came home safe from the war and that we finished the war with a resounding victory. I want to thank God for the fact that the home front stood strong and united, and thanks to this, we were victorious. Despite all the hardships there, I have no doubt that it would have been harder for me to sit idle and not take part, with God's help, in aiding our heroes.

I also want to offer thanks for the public support that emerged in so many places around the world; from Mexico to England, people demonstrated in the streets on behalf of Israel. This support gave us great strength to carry on despite all the difficulties.
Unity brought us victory -- and so it will forever more! May the merit of these words bring healing to the wounded soldiers and success to the people of Israel.

This article can also be read at: http://www.aish.com/jw/id/48962526.html
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Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi Is Right

21 Shevat 5769

YNET: IDF Renounces General's Comments
Hanan Greenberg, 02.14.09, 20:20

Remarks made by Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi alluding to Turkish oppression of Kurds, Armenians were rejected by army in statement. The comments were in reaction to Ankara criticism of Israel's Gaza operation. (Read more...)

No, it wasn't very diplomatic. No, it wasn't his role to make such comments. And, yes, he may have hurt his career. But, he's right.

What happened to Jews going out of their way to defend the rights every people treated unfairly but themselves?

Oh, I guess that doesn't apply when upsets the diplomatic balance, when it upsets one of the few Muslim countries which tolerate us,...barely, and throws Europeans into a tizzy of cognitive dissonance.

Did Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi think before he spoke? Was this an "Oops, I forgot there were journalists here" faux pas? Did he walk into a trap? Or was this a well-thought out publicity-grabber.

I'll go with Door #1 for now, but you never know.

Look up Gen. Mizrahi on Wikipedia, and you will find that his page is available in three different languages: Hebrew, English, and, of all things, Turkish.

I kid you not. A certain general is no longer flying under the radar.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

U.S. and Israel Sign Understanding Regarding Smuggling of Arms to Terrorists...

Note. The below article posted before Shabbat.

Israel and the United States sign Memorandum of Understanding regarding prevention of the supply of arms and related materiel to terrorist groups


Text:

Memorandum of UnderstandingBetweenIsrael and the United States RegardingPrevention of the Supply of Arms and Related Materiel to Terrorist Groups

Israel and the United States (the “Parties”),

Recalling the steadfast commitment of the United States to Israel's security, including secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen Israel's capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, against any threat or possible combination of threats;

Reaffirming that such commitment is reflected in the security, military and intelligence cooperation between the United States and Israel, the Strategic Dialogue between them, and the level and kind of assistance provided by the United States to Israel;

Taking note of the efforts of Egyptian President Mubarak, particularly the recognition that securing Gaza’s border is indispensable to realizing a durable and sustainable end to fighting in Gaza;

Unequivocally condemning all acts, methods, and practices of terrorism as unjustifiable, wherever and by whomever committed and whatever the motivation, in particular, the recent rocket and mortar attacks and other hostile activity perpetrated against Israel from Gaza by terrorist organizations;

Recognizing that suppression of acts of international terrorism, including denying the provision of arms and related materiel to terrorist organizations, is an essential element for the maintenance of international peace and security;

Recognizing that the acquisition and use of arms and related materiel by terrorists against Israel were the direct causes of recent hostilities;

Recognizing the threat to Israel of hostile and terrorist activity from Gaza, including weapons smuggling and the build-up of terrorist capabilities, weapons and infrastructure; and understanding that Israel, like all nations, enjoys the inherent right of self defense, including the right to defend itself against terrorism through appropriate action;

Desiring to improve bilateral, regional and multilateral efforts to prevent the provision of arms and related materiel to terrorist organizations, particularly those currently operating in the Gaza Strip, such as Hamas;

Recognizing that achieving and maintaining a durable and sustainable cessation of hostilities is dependent upon prevention of smuggling and re-supply of weapons into Gaza for Hamas, a terrorist organization, and other terrorist groups, and affirming that Gaza should not be used as a base from which Israel may be attacked;

Recognizing also that combating weapons and explosives supply to Gaza is a multi-dimensional, results-oriented effort with a regional focus and international components working in parallel, and that this is a priority of the United States’ and Israel’s efforts, independently and with each other, to ensure a durable and sustainable end to hostilities;

Recognizing further the crucial need for the unimpeded, safe and secure provision of humanitarian assistance to the residents of Gaza;

Intending to work with international partners to ensure the enforcement of relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions on counterterrorism in relation to terrorist activity in Gaza;

Have reached the following understandings:

1. The Parties will work cooperatively with neighbors and in parallel with others in the international community to prevent the supply of arms and related materiel to terrorist organizations that threaten either party, with a particular focus on the supply of arms, related materiel and explosives into Gaza to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

2. The United States will work with regional and NATO partners to address the problem of the supply of arms and related materiel and weapons transfers and shipments to Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza, including through the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and eastern Africa, through improvements in existing arrangements or the launching of new initiatives to increase the effectiveness of those arrangements as they relate to the prevention of weapons smuggling to Gaza. Among the tools that will be pursued are:
Enhanced U.S. security and intelligence cooperation with regional governments on actions to prevent weapons and explosives flows to Gaza that originate in or transit their territories; including through the involvement of relevant components of the U.S. Government, such as U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. Special Operations Command.
Enhanced intelligence fusion with key international and coalition naval forces and other appropriate entities to address weapons supply to Gaza;
Enhancement of the existing international sanctions and enforcement mechanisms against provision of material support to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including through an international response to those states, such as Iran, who are determined to be sources of weapons and explosives supply to Gaza.
3. The United States and Israel will assist each other in these efforts through enhanced sharing of information and intelligence that would assist in identifying the origin and routing of weapons being supplied to terrorist organizations in Gaza.

4. The United States will accelerate its efforts to provide logistical and technical assistance and to train and equip regional security forces in counter-smuggling tactics, working towards augmenting its existing assistance programs.

5. The United States will consult and work with its regional partners on expanding international assistance programs to affected communities in order to provide an alternative income/employment to those formerly involved in smuggling.

6. The Parties will establish mechanisms as appropriate for military and intelligence cooperation to share intelligence information and to monitor implementation of the steps undertaken in the context of this Memorandum of Understanding and to recommend additional measures to advance the goals of this Memorandum of Understanding. In so far as military cooperation is concerned, the relevant mechanism will be the United States-Israel Joint Counterterrorism Group, the annual Military to Military discussion, and the Joint Political Military Group.

7. This Memorandum of Understanding of ongoing political commitments between the Parties will be subject to the laws and regulations of the respective parties, as applicable, including those governing the availability of funds and the sharing of information and intelligence.
This Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 16 January, 2009 at Washington, in duplicate, in the English language.



Remarks by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni following the signing of the U.S.-Israel Memorandum of UnderstandingWashington, D.C., January 16, 2009

SECRETARY RICE: I’m very glad to be here this morning to sign this Memorandum of Understanding with Israel, and with the Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister at my side.
We have worked together over the last years with a common commitment to bringing peace and security to Israel and its citizens, and to Israel’s Palestinian neighbors. I know how important it is to her and to the Israeli government to see that Israel and all of its citizens achieve the security and peace that they so deserve. It is for this reason that the United States has been working so hard to bring an end to rocket attacks and threats directed against Israel from Gaza, and to stabilize and normalize life for both Israelis and Palestinians.

The current crisis in Gaza was instigated by Hamas, a terrorist group that has called for the destruction of Israel, and refused to extend the calm, and still holds Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier, who was captured.

The Israelis cannot be expected to live under daily threats, nor should Gazans be put at risk by Hamas’s reckless targeting of Israel or endure the brutality of life under Hamas. Hamas has presided over the degradation of safety and well-being of innocent Palestinians since it seized power in a violent coup against the legitimate Palestinian Authority 18 months ago.

We’ve said repeatedly that the continued supply of armaments to Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza, including by some in the region, is a direct cause of the current hostilities. It is, therefore, incumbent upon on us in the international community to prevent the rearmament of Hamas so that a ceasefire will be durable and fully respected. There must be an international consensus that Gaza can never again be used as a launching pad against Israeli cities.

This Memorandum of Understanding that we will sign today responds to that need. It provides a series of steps that the United States and Israel will take to stem the flow of weapons and explosives into Gaza. The United States is reaching out to its partners, as well. And together, the steps that we and other members of the international community can take will contribute to a durable ceasefire.

The United States remains deeply concerned, too, about the innocent Palestinians who are suffering in Gaza. A sustainable end to hostilities, rather than one that collapses in a few days or weeks, is crucial to ending the suffering. In the meantime, we are doing all that we can to respond to the humanitarian needs of the population of Gaza.

And Foreign Minister Livni and I have talked about the need to be responsive to the humanitarian organizations that are working there, including the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross, as well as nongovernmental organizations with which we are working through USAID to relieve the suffering of innocent people there.

When this is done, we must all turn again back to the goals of UN Security Council Resolution 1850. That resolution noted that lasting peace can only be based on an enduring commitment to mutual recognition, freedom from violence, incitement, and terror, and the two-state solution, building upon previous agreements and obligations. The United States remains firmly committed to Israel’s security, to continued bilateral negotiations through the Annapolis process, toward a two-state solution, which is the only way, ultimately, to secure a future for Israelis and Palestinians alike over the long term. The sooner that these hostilities can be brought to an end, the sooner the real work of forging a permanent peace can resume.

President Bush and I have very much enjoyed and valued our work with you, Tzipi, and with the people of Israel, with Prime Minister Olmert, with Defense Minister Barak, and with others. Israel and the United States will and always will – are and always will remain friends. We share values and we share a common desire to see a Middle East that lives in peace and in freedom.

And so, I welcome you here today in these difficult circumstances, but I know that you, in your personal commitment to a better life for the people of Israel and for the people of the Middle East, as well as for the people of the world, will continue your endeavors well beyond this day. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER LIVNI: Thank you.

Israel is fighting today against the Hamas terrorist organization that has taken Gaza hostage and continues to target the citizens of Israel. We are fighting Hamas that continues to hold Gilad Shalit and even denies him ICRC access. I said from the outset that ending the fighting in Gaza will not be achieved by agreements with terror, but with effective arrangements against it. This is what we are doing today.

I said from the outset that an end to the fighting will not come through a simple call for a ceasefire, but through a determined, united and effective effort of the international community against terror groups such as Hamas. And this is what we are doing today.

Israel left the Gaza Strip years ago. When we left, Hamas claimed that terror made us leave. But the truth is that it was the hope for peace that made us leave Gaza, and terror that forced us, and forced our soldiers, to come and fight in Gaza today.
After years of restraint, Israel has shown that it will no longer tolerate attacks on our citizens, and that there will be a high price for terror from Gaza against our citizens. We have also made clear, as have many international leaders including President Bush and Secretary Rice, that for a cessation of hostilities to be durable there must be an end to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That is why the MOU we signed today is so important, as a vital component for the cessation of hostility.

It is true that even after the fighting ends we will reserve our right to act to defend ourselves against terrorist activities in Gaza, including weapons smuggling and buildup of military capabilities. But this can be prevented by actions by the international community according to this MOU.

In this MOU we have agreed on a series of actions with regional and international players in order to complement Egyptian actions and end the flow of weapons to Gaza. I will not repeat the list of measures, but these are specific steps to end the flow of weapons along the supply routes by working with NATO and regional states and by enhancing the effectiveness of measures against Iran, the main supplier of these weapons.

As I have said many times, our commitment to peace and the solution of two states for two peoples requires not only genuine negotiations with our pragmatic partners, the legitimate Palestinian government, as was decided in Annapolis, but also determined action against terrorists and enemies of peace. It is this dual strategy that we are pursuing, and I believe that it is this strategy that will lead us to a more secure and peaceful future.

I believe that this MOU, together with a parallel understanding with Egypt, and an end to attacks from Gaza can create the basis for Israeli decisions on the future of the operation.

I am glad to thank Secretary Rice and the entire administration for their efforts to conclude this important and I think historic MOU in record time, and I think that this MOU shows once again not only the strong strategic partnership between Israel and the US, but also the principled and determined stand of the United States against terror as the leader of the free world. We value this leadership under President Bush, and we are confident that it will continue under the new US administration under President-elect Obama.

On a personal note, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, Condi Rice, not just for her efforts on this MOU, but for her leadership, support and friendship over the last years. Important work has been done over the last years to lay the foundation for a secure and stable Middle East, for the benefit of the people of Israel and the region as a whole. There are many challenges ahead, but I want to thank my friend Condi for her important contribution on our shared goals and shared values. It is values that we are talking about, and the determination to act according to your values. I know that you care, I know that in each and every decision that you made, you were working according to your values and the understanding that we need to work together in order to create a better world.

THE IDF "JEWISH SPIRIT" HAS RETURNED

Fighters' Jewish Spirit Returns
by IsraelNN Staff

An IDF rabbi shared this personal testimony...I had the privilege this week [the week before the ground offensive into Gaza - ed of accompanying the Golani Brigade's Regiment 12 soldiers.

I am the regiment’s rabbi, in reserves, and I was called up to serve just like the all the rest, to “aid Israel at its time of tribulation.”

As a long-time ba'al-teshuvah [returnee to observant Judais, a rabbi in a yeshiva who usually walks around wearing a jacket and hat, I now had a major change of atmosphere: my black “uniform” became one of dusty dark green, the hubbub of the Torah study hall was replaced by not-so-pleasing army slang, and my wife's delicious food was given up for the “delicacies” of the mess hall, most of which I don’t eat because of one stringency or another.

We spent most of the week in wet tents, with the terrible cold preventing me from sleeping at night. (I apparently wasn’t working as hard as the other soldiers, because they fell asleep the second they hit the pillow.)

My work, as an official of the Army Rabbinate, was to give encouragement and strength to the soldiers, give out Books of Psalms [Tehilli and distribute special prayers for those who go out to battle.

Psalms for All

And what did I discover down there in southern Israel? My brothers! The Golanchiks (Golani Brigade soldiers), about to go out to war, want to hold on to the Rock of Israel! There wasn’t a soldier there who didn’t equip himself with a Tehillim in his pocket or combat vest - but the big surprise we had was when we gave out tzitzit [four-cornered shirt with the required ritual fringes attac. Usually only the yeshiva guys take them, but this time, every soldier there seemed to want one!

“Rabbi, bring me some tzitzit, my whole tent wants.” “Hey, achi [my brothe, take one of these, it’s better than the ceramic vest!” These were the types of calls we kept hearing over and over. Every package of tzizit that we opened was snatched up within seconds.

There was one young fighter who came to the synagogue whose face fell when he heard that there were no tzitzit left. He was totally bereft, until one of the officers who wasn’t going out to battle took off his own tzitzit and gave it to him, saying, “Take it, achi (in the Golani you can’t say something without achi), you need it now more than I do.”

Email readers: Click here to watch video on tzitzit distribution in the IDF organized by Kulanuachim


The Ma'ariv evening prayer of Friday night, Parashat Vayigash, was simply unbelievable. The Rabbinate realized that the synagogue was too small to fit all the hundreds of soldiers, and so it turned the soccer field into an impromptu synagogue, with prayerbooks, Holy Ark, and everything else.

Whoever did not take part in that Kabbalat Shabbat [Sabbath Welcomin service, is like one who never took part in a Kabbalat Shabbat service in his life! Almost the entire Golani Brigade, officers and soldiers, yelling out the Kaddish and Tehillim prayers. If it wasn’t for the uniform I was wearing, I could have almost thought that I was at a Yom Kippur service in one of the large yeshivot!

No Questions Asked

Our loving Father, too, was there, enjoying every minute of His sons gathering around Him. Our Father doesn’t ask, “Where have you been until now? Why do you remember Me just when you go out to war?” He welcomes all His children and embraces them with love.

After the Sabbath meal, held in an atmosphere of a great “high,” we were privileged to be able to hold an Oneg Shabbat for the soldiers. Chief IDF Rabbi Avi Ronsky was with us the whole Sabbath, and he warmed our hearts with stories of the Nation of Israel, on compassion, on brotherly love, and more. We sat outside with cake and sunflower seeds in the cold, but inside our hearts it was warm.

During the Sabbath, we had to travel to the places from where the soldiers would leave for Gaza. We arrived and the soldiers were imbued with combat spirit, getting ready, trying to get in a last cigarette. Many soldiers tried very hard not to smoke that Sabbath, after I explained to them the importance of observing the Sabbath. They would come up to me every five minutes and ask if the Sabbath had ended yet.

We prayed Ma'ariv there, recited Havdalah [the Sabbath-ending blessin over grape juice, a lighter [instead of a cand and an orange [in place of spice. And then it was time to go in. The Regiment Commander gathered everyone for last-minute words of strength, and explained to them about the “corrective experience” we were about to impart to the enemy.

When he finished, the Deputy Commander read aloud the prayer before going out to battle. “Repeat after me,” he ordered, and a whole regiment of hundreds of soldiers yelled out, “Ana Hashem hoshia na! Ana Hashem hatzlicha na! [O G-d, save us! O G-d, grant us success” After the prayer, the Deputy Commander asked me to blow the Shofar, just as thousands of years ago when we conquered the Holy Land.

Perfect Coordination

Though I’ve blown the Shofar in public before, this particular time was something that will remain with me my whole life. And then, as if I and the Israel Air Force were in perfect coordination, the very second that I finished blowing the Shofar, our planes bombed the enemy area, as if it were a signal to begin the ground offensive.

The soldiers lined up in two columns, and as I parted from them with handshakes, I thought to myself, “What a special nation we have! This is how a Jewish army looks as it goes out to war – not with boastful ‘We will win’ stickers, but rather ‘We will win with G-d’s help.’”

No Dispute

I will just end by saying that where I live in Modi'in Illit, we have a clever interpretation of the verse ‘G-d’s voice is powerful’ – the word for power is spelled with the letters kaf and chet, which we say are the initials of kova and chalifa [hat and sui, our usual garb. But as of this week, we now know that they are also the initials of the kumta chuma [brown bere worn by the Golani soldiers. There, too, the voice of G-d is heard – and “lo pligi” (there is no argument between the two, both are right).

translated by Hillel Fendel

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DOUBLE STANDARDS

Stop Complaining About “Double Standards”

by Paul Eidelberg

It is futile complaining about the media or about various nations using double standards in their negative portrayal of Israel vis-a-vis Hamas terrorists. Such complaints will have no effect on the Jew-hatred evident in Israel ’s detractors. Besides, such complaints are self-demeaning when uttered by Jews.

Let me suggest another approach via Friedrich Nietzsche.In The Dawn of Day, Nietzsche exalts like no other gentile, "The People of Israel." Here is a very small sample:
In Europe they have gone through a school of eighteen centuries, such as no other nation can boast of … In consequence whereof the resourcefulness in soul and intellect of our modern Jews is extraordinary… their heroism in the spernere se sperni [despising their despisers] surpass the virtues of all the saints.

The attitude Israel must develop when maligned by the media or by the spokesmen of any nation is to despise Israel ’s despisers, indeed, to regard them as beneath contempt. Do not seek the approval of the “goyim.” Israel is at war. Just do: devastate, defeat, and disarm the enemy by swift, awesome, and uninterrupted attacks. This is the teaching of the classics on war.

Those who denigrate Israel vis-a-vis Hamas­ a terrorist organization that uses women and children as human shields­are primitive or uncivilized human beings who adorn their barbarism in the aura of a religion that rejects the idea of human rights.

If other people do not see this, they are not misinformed: they are sick, pathological human beings, and it’s not your business to enlighten and heal them. You are soldiers, not academics or priests or social workers.

To Israel ’s political echelon I say: The liberal-left thinks that the use of might in defense of right is morally suspect. The liberal-left is suffering from a mental disorder. Don’t waste your time trying to win them over.

Normal people love a winner, and they are not overly concerned about how you win. So go ahead and win: win as big as you can, and forget about your public image. Stop all thus drivel about being humanitarians.

Don’t worry about UN condemnations or even about sanctions. As I have elsewhere shown, there are big corporations in the USA that sell tens of billions of dollars worth of military hardware to Arab states­ thanks to Israel .

Israel has enormous power. But if Israel’s government thinks small and acts small, then Israel will be treated like a banana republic.

So stop complaining about double standards. Make winning your standard, and despise those who favor the losers.

HYPOCRITICAL ANTI-ISRAEL MEDIA EX-POSED!

Hypocrisy of anti-Israel Headlines Exposed!

by Steven Shamrak

Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev recently announced that : "The main goal is to destroy completely this terrorist gang, which makes people on both sides of the border, in Gaza and in Israel, suffer daily." Nothing wrong with the annulling of Hamas as another Islamic terrorist organization, but we must not forget that it is the population of the PA controlled territory, which elected Hamas to lead them. The unwillingness of the so-called Palestinian population, in Israel or the territories, to live in peace and their support for terror against Jews is the main problem!
The 'Coalition of the Willing' has been trying for seven years to destroy al Qaeda. Surprisingly, there are no UN resolutions of condemnation of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in spite of heavy casualties among civilians, or calls for restraint and negotiating peace with Taliban or al Qaeda. We must remember the reason why Americans are still dying in Iraq: the population of Iraq had hated Sadam, but they hate us, Western democracy and the Crusaders, even more!
"UN demands international action to stop Israeli strikes on Gaza" - For many years 'Ugly Nothing' and other international organizations, as well as governments, were peculiarly mute when Israel was under continuous attacks from Gaza. There were no condemnations or call to end them. There are 192 members of the UN. Israel is only country which is not allowed to defend itself!
"UN chief calls for ceasefire as Israel pounds Hamas targets" - Was the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon so prompt when for several years Hamas terrorised Jews in Israel with daily rocket and mortar fire?
"Syrian-Israeli Negotiations Halted" - There were no negotiations! Syria demanded the return of the Jewish Golan Hights without any commitment of ending support of terrorism or even peace with Israel! Both sides just played the PR game of 'Peace Negotiation'.
"Top PA negotiator: No peace talks with Israel during Gaza assault" - Daily rocket attacks, suicide bombings, rock throwing and kidnappings - This is the peace process that Israel has endured from the PA. There is no difference between these two terrorist organizations: Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is targeting support from the Islamic world, Fatah has mastered the better PR spin, aiming at the Western countries.
"UN official says Israel attacked during lull." - What an idiotic comment! It would be difficult to start major military operation precisely at the time when Hamas chose to send another wave of rockets.
"Good Question: Why Is Israel Bombing Hamas?" " For many years nobody asked why Hamas attacks civilian population in Israel.
Creating Human Disaster Artificially. "Egyptian border guards have opened fire on Palestinians who breached the border to escape Israel's assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip." - As usual, no international outcry!
Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

The only reason why Israel is losing support of Jews and non-Jews world-wide, even conservative ones, is because no one likes to be associated with a 'Loser' who is able but unwilling to fight back and defeat the enemy!
Mosque was a Rocket Warehouse. The IDF has released images of a mosque exploding in a fireball after being hit by a missile...proof say authorities that Hamas has been storing rockets in their mosques, sure that Israel would not hit a religious institution.
Sane Voice of the True Friend. The Czech Republic has backed Israel's right to defend itself. Czech foreign minister Karel Schwartzenberg said ''Hamas has progressively stepped up its rocket launchings onto Israel since the end of the truce, and the situation is unacceptable.'' (This is the same country which helped Israel to win the War of Independence by supplying weapons during the international anti-Semitic blockade of Israel in 1948 while the world waited indifferently for the second Holocaust which was planned by the advancing Muslim states.)
Listen Hamas and Leave. Hamas has called, on Hamas TV, on Egyptians and Jordanians living in Israel to leave the country. The radical Islamic group has repeated threats to re-commence suicide attacks. (The The same calls were made in 1948, in order to make killing of Jews easier for advancing Muslim armies! Yes, all of those so-called Palestinians, including the Jordanians and Egyptians, Syrians, Bosnians from the western Balkans , Circassians from the northern Caucasus, Iranian and others who live in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and who have been occupying Jewish land.)
Air Force Hits over 40 Tunnels. The Israel Air Force said on Sunday evening that it hit 40 of the hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egyptian border near Rafah.
The Fifth Column Must be Removed. Since the start of military action in Gaza, more than 150 Israeli Arabs have been arrested in the north of the country for violent protests.
Emotinal Blackmail. An Egyptian newspaper has reported that kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was wounded in an Israel Air Force attack on southern Gaza. The extent of his reported injuries was not reported, and there were no other confirming sources. (No "Proof of Life" has been given and during the two years no international representative has been allowed to visit Gilad!)
Quote of the Week: " If someone was sending rockets on my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop it, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." - President-elect Barack Obama, July 2008. - Must we trust his words, spoken in the heat of an election campaign, and wait for another flip-flop spin?
Soldier Charged for Self-Defence. Army corporal Nachum Ben-Yaakov has been charged for making threats and for firing his weapon in the air twice when surrounded by hostile Arabs during a disturbance between Jews and Arabs next to Hevron. (Soldiers who sadistically had bitten Jews during the army assault on the "Peace House" were taped, but not charged by the army. Since when has the IDF become the protector of the enemies of Jews? Stop this legal terrorisation of IDF Soldiers for fighting our enemies! Put Olmer, Barak and Livni on trial for fighting Jews and destroying Israel's future!)
Injustice Under the Cover of War. The judge of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court dismissed the indictment of Yassam Special Forces officer David Atyah, the first police officer to be indicted for the violent evacuation of Jews from the expanded community of Amona, located near Ofra. The Yesha Human Rights Organization responded to the dismissal of charges against the Yassam officers that the judge's decision is a mockery of the severity of police brutality violations.
Hamas Leadership of Cowards. Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin said at a security cabinet meeting that some Hamas heads are hiding in hospitals in Gaza and even disguising themselves as doctors, in order to melt into the general population. ( They use an ideological demagogy to agitate anti-Israel feelings among so-called Palestinians and are perfectly happy for more civilians to die for the fake cause! They - Hamas, Fatah. Hisbollah, Iranian government, Al Qaeda... - do not care about the Geneva Conventions and have cynically been using dead civilians to draw sympathy from an anti-Semitic or brainless international community.)
Negotiations, What Negotiations? "Why would we continue with these negotiations?" said Abbas, whose 'moderate' Fatah movement lost authority in Gaza after Hamas took control of the coastal territory by force in June 2007, but still undemocratically holds on to power in Judea and Samaria. "We will not hesitate to end them if they continue to be a cover for Israeli aggression." ( For 15 years, since the Oslo agreement, Israel has been negotiating with terrorists being under fire. This political idiocy must end now and the government should stop being a political wimp!)
Hypocrisy of the 'Loaded' Headlines:
"Killing a two-state solution" - Editorial, The Guardian - It is impossible to kill something that has never been alive. For the enemies of Israel, Islamic and anti-Semitic ones, the 'two-state solution' is just a step toward the destruction of the Jewish state!
"Lack of condemnation as good as approval for Israel" independent.co.uk - This not approval but an embarresment, created by continuous international anti-Israel policy and years of silence while Israel was under endless rocket attacks from Gaza!
Half-Hearted War Again. Defence minister Ehud Barak has given the green light for humanitarian aid to cross into Gaza. Some 80 trucks carrying food and medical supplies passed through the Keren Shalom crossing. (Name any other country which has done this in the heat of initial military action against the enemy?) Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said ''Israel has not learned its lessons from the war in Lebanon.'' He added, ''the goals are not clear, and the air force acting alone cannot win the war." (This enemy of Israel is right! They know well the gutless habits of the current Israeli government.)
Massacre in Congo.
Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has massacred close to 500 villagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo since Christmas. The LRA, which has plagued northern Uganda for 20 years is now threatening villages in Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic. The United Nations refugee agency says villages are being set alight, women raped and children abducted.
On Dec 26 2008, the LRA guerrillas massacred dozens of people in a church, according to Ugandan military sources and aid workers. The guerrillas used machetes, swords and clubs to kill the people - amongst them women and children. (This atrocity is being committed at the same time as Israel began its anti-terrorist operation in Gaza. Interestingly, there is no international condemnation, outcry from the world press or the UN Security Council emergency special session! Is this indifference of the world to the suffering of the people of Africa a manifestation of international racism? Why is there such a "disproportionate" preoccupation with Israel? Is it a deep brotherly 'love' for Jews?)

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