Tikkun Olam

So many blog posts have been written about this Gaza operation, Protective Edge, the response to the incessant rockets raining over the heads of Israeli civilians that I didn't add another one.  I listen to NPR reports which are all slanted against Israel, decrying the "disproportionate" number of Gazans killed versus the much smaller number (thank G-d) of Israelis killed.  The world is railing against Israel for killing "innocent" civilians.  But in fact, they are not "innocent civilians": by an overwhelming majority in a democratic election they voted in the bloody Jew-hating terrorist group Hamas into government. Those who do not leave, after being warned by telephone calls ( telephone calls! ) from Israel and leaflets dropped from planes to flee or be in the line of fire, are no different than Hamas. They've made their choice, and chose their sides. And yet, everyone posted about this. I didn't. There was no need for me to.  Until no...

You've probably been reading dozens of stories and articles about the ongoing Israeli offensive (finally!) into Gaza to stop the rockets raining over the heads of their countrymen, women and children. Perhaps you've read other bloggers live-blogging the war (like The Muqata . Find him on Facebook). Here's something you may not have seen. An incredibly astute preschool teacher wrote a song to help children cope with constant "tzeva adom" sirens* (literally, "color red," translated into "code red"). By singing, using their bodies and hand motions, the children create for themselves a plan of action, execution of that action, and then when it's over, release. Here it is below. *The Code Red early warning radar system was initially called "Shachar Adom," which means "Red Dawn." The name was changed in 2006 when it was discovered that kids named "Shachar" were having "emotional distress.

I posted videos about Brigitte Gabriel before, and in light of the current Israeli defensive war going on today I thought this is relevant, showing the inhumanity and cruelty of the Arabs towards their own people--let alone the hatred and barbarism they show towards Christians and Jews. And meanwhile, this is what Israel is doing to help the children in Gaza, even as they are retaliating against their sworn enemy who rains rockets on Israeli children daily.

As the upcoming elections draw nigh, only one week away,  I am resigned to the fact that I have no one to vote for (unless I write in a candidate-say, my D. H.  I myself respectfully decline to run at this time...). There is no way I will vote for the incumbent. Except for partially funding the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system that has prevented hundreds of casualties from hundreds of missiles launched from Gaza--funding it with conditions, however--our president has shown a disdain for Israel and her leaders such as has not been seen before by an American president.  His lack of protection for the Embassy personnel in Benghazi  when desperately requested before the September 11th attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others, as well as his lame, ineffectual and embarrassing essentially non-response after the attack--saying that it was caused by a spontaneous protest against a "vile, disgusting video" condemning Mohammad, apologizing--again--...

Mitt Romney made his much anticipated visit to Israel after his first stop, Great Britain, where he wowed the Brits with his public gaffes on the potential security problems which might ensue at the London 2012 Olympics.  I'm sure the "Palestinian" leaders feel he made some more gaffes, when he stated that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel--" absolutely unacceptable ," according to an Arab official.  Not only did he apparently snub P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas, but he had the gall to say what everyone-except the Arabs-know: that it is Jewish and consequently Israeli culture, and may I add faith and values, which helped create the modern, technological, innovative and creative Israel extant today. It is Jewish culture, and perseverance in the face of adversity and "difficult circumstances," to quote Mr. Romney--a mild euphemism for everybody and his uncle trying to wipe you off the face of the earth--which created a thriving, relatively powerful econ...

Want to buy a new 2010 model Chevy in Gaza? You'll have to pay $45,000 , twice what they cost in Egypt.  Cars were on the banned list because of the Egyptian/Israeli blockade of goods, until now: Israel is now allowing cars in.  But wouldn't you know it? Hamas and Fatah can't agree on who's in charge of the car import business.  So meanwhile, while they're squabbling, the cars are being smuggled in through those secret tunnels. What I find significant, is something you might miss, if you're not paying attention: listen carefully, especially at around .30-45.  That Sky News reporter could have had himself a free Chevy, if he had gotten the dealer out of Gaza . Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. . . in Hamastan (bet he'd like to move to Israel, though).

 (nablopomo day 30) What humanitarian crisis? What lack of material goods? What poverty and starvation? I'm certain that is going on, but it is not caused by the Israeli embargo.  It is caused by the current rulers of Gaza, Hamas, and their extremely uneven distribution of goods, services and money.  Gaza is now Hamastan, folks. Here is a current example of what is going on in Gaza, told to us by none other than Ashraf Abu al-Houl, an Egyptian journalist (what? you've never heard of him? How about Tom Gross . Heard of him? ), who was surprised to discover (GASP!) that Gaza is rich with abundant goods at low prices.   Wow. Who woulda thunk it. If you'd like, you can even buy Zionist clothes (-and who wouldn't want to be seen wearing those? ) at really affordable prices, in the new luxury mall. Then, after you bought all your cool Jew-clothes, go cool off at a water park . Oh, but wait--although "supply is greater than demand," you may not be able to ...

(nablopomo day 21) Look at this "nice, new mall" which just opened in Gaza.  It looks like any new, modern mall with stores laden with merchandise.  So where is this "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, where there is " no concrete to build anything because Israel isn't letting anything in? " ( hat tip, my friend M. in Israel ) Baloney. As usual, they are lying through their teeth (it's an Arab mentality thing.  Go to my labels and read everything I've written about "Arabs."), because it suits their purposes.  It's an Arab custom. Read what Tom Gross has to say about it. Aside from not having any discretionary funds, by the looks of these pics, I would love to shop in a mall like that.  Wouldn't be able to eat in their food court, though; doubt if they'd have any kosher food emporia . . . See the whole story and all the photos here .  Happy shopping!

(nablopomo day 24) An article on Israel National News discusses a recent demographic study in Israel of the last 15 years which indicates a dramatic rise in Jewish births and a parallel drop in Arab births.  The interesting thing is that the rise in birth rate is among secular Jewish women, while the birth rate among religious women remains consistently high. Dr. Adam Reuter, writing on Arutz-7’s Hebrew site, presents a set of statistics showing that the dire predictions of an Arab demographic takeover of Israel that have become “common knowledge” are actually not true. It includes eye-opening statistics, a few enumerated here, such as: 1) The fertility gap between Arab and Jewish women, which used to be 6 births in 1969, has dropped to .7 in 2009. 2) The proportion of Jewish births in Israel has grown from 69% of total births in 1995, to 75% in 2008 3) A generation ago, secular Jewish women gave birth to 2.1 children.  Their daughters are giving birth to 2.6 ch...

(nablopomo day 16) I hate to say "As If," but now the Israeli government's investigative commission on the 2005 Gush Katif disengagement has just been revealed, and lo--wonder of wonders--it concludes that the evacuation of approximately 9,000 people from the Gush Katif communities in Gaza was a total governmental failure . The state’s official investigative committee regarding the country’s treatment of the Gush Katif expellees has been issued, giving failing grades to the government. Gush Katif residents say they hope the report will lead to change, The so-called "disengagement," which was really a total evacuation and expulsion of citizens of Israel from territory that was captured in a defensive war which was completely built up by these citizens from merely sand dunes to thriving towns, with a thriving economy and successful, closely-knit communities.  I will NOT use the term "settlers," because the truth is that the entire country of Israe...

(nablopomo day 9) Found this frightening article on the Marston Chronicles .  It corroborates what I have posted in the past about Obama being dangerous for Israel.   I am reprinting a part of it here.  Please click on the link to read the rest. We do not usually venture into foreign affairs because politics is our specialty. However, it is politics that is dictating the beginning of the end of the nation of Israel. Israel has become personna non grata amongst the leftists of the Western World. Since the leftists now control virtually all of the countries in the Western World, Israel is in a world of hurt. It is slowly but surely being squeezed to death from all sides. Israel no longer has a friend anywhere in the world. Yet at the same time support for the nation of Israel in the United States is at the highest level in two decades . Surely the United States government is reflecting this support in its foreign policy. That would ordinaril...

Have you ever seen such a ruckus raised by everyone over what Israel may have done in Dubai to a known Hamas leader, Mahmoud Al Mabhouh ? You'd think that Israel committed a heinous crime, when the crime which was committed was the Hamas leader's himself, that of murdering two Israeli soldiers and forging a connection between Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Hamas is classified as a "terrorist organization" by the United States and by Europe, but nobody accused Dubai of hosting this criminal. They only accused Israel of doing what nobody had the courage (or worse, inclination) to do, which is to eliminate him. Israel may have done just that, and for it, has been heaped with vitriolic condemnation from the world at large. And it isn't even certain that Israel's Mossad carried out this hit. According to Caroline Glick , What the initial European reaction to [Dubai Chief-of-Police] Tamim's allegations shows is that blaming Israel has become Eur...

There are still plenty of topics and subjects to write about, politically and culturally speaking, but I think I am experiencing TMI - 'too much information.' Have you ever had that problem? I've just spent the last several hours reading the Opinion and Op-Ed pages in the Wall Street Journal as well as different articles on the web (what they used to call 'surfing the 'net), and there are so many which interest me, that I can't make a decision as to what to write about! Let me give you an example or two. I couldn't decide whether to write about 1) Jews and Israel sending aid to the stricken Island of Haiti after the 7.0 earthquake which devastated it yesterday; does the world have a clue how much that little country of Israel--herself besieged and surrounded by enemies--does in sending disaster relief all over the world? Read about it also here . Or: 2) Jewish woman flees to freedom with her four children from Gaza; does anyone have any idea what kind of...

I didn't put up my "Dept. of Redundancy Dept." pic by accident, but rather by design. In this blog, I find myself repeating myself and repeating myself (and, um, repeating myself). I've written about the legitimacy of the Jews' right to the Land of Israel and the BIG LIE of the so-called "Palestinians" many times, case in point, here , back in November of '07. So I decided to post again a related excerpt of an article from Myths and Facts , about the BIG LIE (don't like that? Okay, call it a HUMONGOUS UNTRUTH) perpetrated by the Arabs after June 1967, when they lost yet another war that they had started against Israel. It is called " Palestinians- Peoplehood Based on a Big Lie " by Eli E. Hertz, from March 31, 2008: The Palestinians claim that they are an ancient and indigenous people fails to stand up to historic scrutiny. Most Palestinian Arabs were newcomers to British Mandate Palestine . Until the 1967 Six-Day War made it exp...

U.N. Watch has done it again--brought to light testimony by an Israeli physician who was injured along with her patients when her clinic was attacked by rockets from Gaza. In the course of her formidable speech at the U.N. she asked several important questions of Judge Goldstone, which he totally ignored. The full text of the speech is below the video (emphasis mine). UN Watch Oral Statement Delivered by Dr. Mirela Siderer, 29 September 2009 Agenda Item 7: Report of the fact-finding mission on Gaza My name is Dr. Mirela Siderer. I am a gynecologist living in Ashkelon, Israel. Judge Richard Goldstone, in July you invited me to testify. I told you my story. I am known by my patients -- including many women from Gaza. For me, every human being is equal. On May 14, 2008, my life was changed forever. I was working in my clinic. Suddenly, the building was hit by a missile, fired from Gaza. I was terribly wounded. Blood was everywhere. My patient was also wounded, and more than 100 others....

(first, the lateset Haveil Havalim #239 is up at ImaBima's, here .) Okay, better late than never as they say. Have been at the computer daily, but for work, not for blogging; I guess in a very gashmi'ut way that is a good thing; but there is a big void where blogging used to be. . . so I'm making an attempt to return to the blogosphere (when I should be sleeping, of course. When else do I have the time?) The title* of this post I borrowed (ok, I plagiarized. sue me.) from Batya , but only because she tagged me with the Super-Power Meme on September 24th. Good Lord. Where has the time gone? What with working, and the chagim, everything. Just. STOPPED. Because with the world slowly but surely vilifying Israel and condemning her for "atrocities in Gaza,"-- withdrawing from military maneuvers with terrible Israel because her soldiers murdered Palestinian women, children and babies in cold blood -- and this, from a country that had full diplomat relations with ...

Yes, folks, you heard it here first..er..second..er..third: Israel is now under serious scrutiny for surreptitiously distributing it's latest lethal weapon into Gaza in order to corrupt the young : what else, but aphrodisiac gum ? Hamas terrorists are blaming Israel for a new weapon: aphrodisiacs they say are being smuggled into Gaza in order to "corrupt the young." A Hamas police official said Tuesday that the aphrodisiacs are being introduced into the population through chewing gum and drops. The issue arose when a man complained that his daughter suffered "dubious side effects" from the chewing gum. Hamas contends the gum, and the drops, are actually "stimulants that were introduced into the Gaza Strip from Israeli border crossings." Both reportedly caused heightened desire, according to the AFP news agency. Islam Shahwan said Hamas police have arrested gang members that imported the products, claiming the suspects "admitted during the investig...

I don't want to say it (besides which, Steven Plaut said it very well first), but Israel is almost like the fool who keeps beating his head against a brick wall again and again, thinking that each time he does it--he might (finally) get the wall to break; instead, his head does (G-d forbid) . Perusing blogs I found this (hat tip Daled Amos ) about fantasy land and wishful thinking on Israel's part: doing the same thing over and over again hoping for different results. It is the " Two States for Two Peoples " fantasy by Plaut, last in the long line of previous fantasies, such as (in no particular order) the Oslo Accords , Camp David , the Road Map , the disengagement from Gaza , etc. In all cases, the surrounding Arab states have not officially recognized Israel as a Jewish state nor its right to exist, nor have the rocket and terrorist attacks against Israelis ceased. Basically it still is as they say the "same old same old." And here comes Israel's Pr...

Gaza Updates roundup #12 and 12.5 are now UP at Jack's, here and here , respectively. What can we do, those of us who are not in the IDF? We can continue to do good deeds, mitzvot: help others, give tzedakah, study and learn Torah, do acts of kindness, and send an email to The Office of Rabbi Kook, Rehovot , at the following email address : maortlmo@gmail.com (hat tip: Shoshana). In the email you send, you can request the name of a chayal or chayelet (soldier) in whose z'chut (merit) you can do these good things mentioned above: giving tzedakah, helping someone, visiting the sick, learning Torah , reciting Tehillim (Psalms). I already did, and received my soldier's name: Tamar bat Chana. May we all merit to see Israel's quick victory over its enemies, and a JUST PEACE over Israel and the Middle East, AMEN.

. . . is up at Jack's, here . In the light of four katyushas falling in Nahariya in the northwest of Israel, one of which fell on a Beit Avot (old age home) with several injured, it is imperative that we keep abreast of the news. Read the updates. Rally for Israel. Do your part to spread the truth, and foster positive public opinion. And may GOOD triumph over evil. AMEN.