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...

Over recent years there have been several Arabs, both Muslims and Christian Arabs originating from various countries such as Lebanon and Egypt and even from Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank), who have become prominent in the news because of their about-face from their initial hatred and condemnation, to absolute support of Israel and the Jewish People. Names which come to mind, and some about whom I've written before in this blog include Brigitte Gabriel , Wafa Sultan , Nonie Darwish and recently Mosab Hassan Yousef of Son of Hamas fame, who grew up in Ramallah and whose father was a founding leader of Hamas. Some of these brave individuals have renounced Islam and converted to Christianity, while others have kept their faith but condemned Islam's lies, obfuscation of the issues and unequivocal hatred of and blame of Israel for all the problems in the Middle East. I have just learned of another such hero, a Muslim, who has reversed the anti-Jewish and anti-Zio...

I am afraid there will be no peace before Rosh Hashana.  Nor will there be before Yom Kippur, or Sukkot--unless a miraculous redemption happens.  The world is heading down the slippery slope, and kowtowing to rogue states and terrorist supporters.  Already there have been at least four innocent people murdered by Arab terrorists during this month of personal introspection, Elul, approaching the High Holy Days. Here are some reasons why. There is blatant Anti-Semitism everywhere, it is totally accepted now--even on  Facebook , which apparently is doing nothing about removing the anti-Israel hate sites (I reported two--did you?). It looks to me as if everyone is capitulating at this time: Netanyahu stated last week that the "construction freeze" would end as originally planned, on September 26th.  I don't trust what he says anymore.  He should have cancelled the meeting with Abbas after the terrorist attacks on four civilians, and ended the construction f...

I am sick to my stomach upon reading of the Arabs' massacre of the four Israeli Jews who were driving on route 60 on Tuesday.  Hamas has claimed responsibility for this brutal, unprovoked attack on unarmed civilians, two of them women, one of whom was pregnant.  It was thought that this was a move to undermine the direct negotiation 'peace talks' which began in Washington, D.C. today. The reports called these victims "settlers." They are as much settlers as are Americans living in Texas or New York.  They are--were--Israeli citizens, ordinary middle-class people, people with families, children and unborn children, of a country recognized and voted into being by the United Nations in 1948.  A nation which has a perfect right to exist on its ancient lands where it had sovereignty two thousand years before.  A nation which did not even overthrow and conquer another nation in order to exist-- no one had sovereignty over what is now Israel, except for the area be...

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 ...

In addition to the few and far-in-between lone Arab voices out there (though thankfully their ranks are increasing) who are vociferously pro-Israel, among them Wafa Sultan , Brigitte Gabriel the founder of American Congress for Truth,  Joseph Farah of World Net Daily (an American of Arab descent), and more recently Mosab Hassan Yousef , the son of a Hamas leader--who renounced Islam, converted to Christianity and spied for Israel for ten years--there has just been created a new organization which is pro-Israel, pro-Zionist, anti-two state solution and pro one-state-solution: the State of Israel--by a Palestinian Arab. Elias Issa, from Judea-Samaria (referred to in the media as the "West Bank") has stated on his website the Palestinian Zionist Organization , that Palestinian leaders and spokesmen have lied to the world about the causes of Arab terrorism; that their jihad against Israel has nothing to do with the Israeli 'occupation' of Judea and Samaria, and that ...

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...

As usual, it is immensely difficult for me to let go of a chag* . Purim ** came like a lion, and also went out like a lion (as opposed to a lamb)! The chag, for me, was filled with meaning and mitzvot, and great portent for the future, in the light of events and developments in Iran, who's evil leader Ahmadinejad has threatened Israel existentially. Although both my husband and daughter--D.H. and Toodles respectively--say that this is pish-tosh : like, Jews have been threatened in every generation and decade so, buddy, what else is new?! I understand where they're coming from, but my opinion differs. I think these times-- partially because of radical Islamists' terrorist attacks globally, the rise of antisemitism's ugly head all over the world, combined with nuclear weapons development and proliferation by rogue nations (read: Pakistan, North Korea, and now Iran)--are much more dangerous and have greater portent than in the past. So Purim, the story of the planned ...

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 recently began training for a new job, just a few days after my last post—which is why I have not been able to sit down, collect my thoughts, and post anew since the 8 th of the month. The job involves learning an entirely new area for me (a little real estate, business, etc.) — with a little IT work thrown in for good measure, which I already love doing--I guess being married to a geek has rubbed off--all of which is creating interesting new synapses in my brain . By the time I get home, however, I just want to relax, maybe read—not research topics to blog on my s-l-o-w, maxed-out 512 MB of RAM computer (-which sometimes itself decides to relax and freezes , right in the middle of an operation.) In the interim, between my last post and now, I’ve been following the war; last week I downloaded an Israeli toolbar with direct access to all the radio stations, TV, etc. – with even an ‘emergency’ four way split-screen dealie where I can see several TV stations, including Al-...

First and foremost, the latest War in Gaza Update is UP at Jack's, here . Saw this on a blog, can't remember which one (I'm bleary-eyed reading through blog after blog and article after article at the same time as listening to Radio Darom and watching emergency split-screen Israel TV while fasting) by Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journa l . The lead is very telling; Stephens wrote, "Maybe this column would get a better reception if it were titled, "No Endgame for Israel." Many pundits are commenting and arguing that Israel is lost, no matter what it does in Gaza. This author has, in my opinion, a good analysis of what Israel can accomplish with this war, but it has to not succumb to international pressure for a cease-fire and continue with its mission. There are those who think that this war will enable Israel to 're-occupy' Gaza (which Israel has stated it wouldn't do). I personally think Israel should retake Gaza and annex it; the Arabs h...

. . . to CNN for it's brilliant, one-sided histrionic reporting-again- with their article entitled In Gaza, Living with Anger and Fear . I've got an idea: let's subsitute the word "Sderot, Ashkelon or Gedera in the same paragraphs, use Jewish names and paraphrase it, something like THIS: "Listen, listen to this!" shouts Fida Qishta Re'ut as the crackling of rockets is heard over her phone receiver. "It's difficult for anybody to imagine that in a second, maybe when I am talking to you on the phone, maybe something [will] happen to me or to my family," the Palestinian blogger Israeli mother told CNN from her home in Gaza Sderot, [or Ashkelon, or Gedera, or the rest of Southern Israel]. She has gotten little sleep during the past 10 days as Israel Hamas continues its attacks on her homeland, prompting the [defense] attacks the Jewish state says are designed to stop months years of rocket strikes on southern Israel by Hamas militants t...

Where is the United Nations in all this? Where is their "moral compass?"(-as Dennis Prager would say). Oh, here it is; seems they dropped it. I think it's irreparable: 3 January 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his deep concern over Israel's launch of a ground operation into Gaza today, with the Security Council calling an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. Mr. Ban expressed his extreme disappointment to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “He is convinced and alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering of the affected civilian populations,” according to a statement issued by the Secretary-General''s spokesperson. “He called for an immediate end to the ground operation, and asked that Israel do all possible to ensure the protection of civilians and that humanitarian assistance is able to reach those in need.” All I hear the U.N. spouting is anti-Israel rhetoric. Where is the protest of the ...

First of all, Haveil Havalim #199 (is it that many already?) is UP, at Ima's . Also check out Jack's Gaza Updates-9.5 and counting-linked here . Okay, so maybe I was too serious in my last post. You want funny? IMAO shows how Hamas can be funny (really). This is only an excerpt; go to the site for the rest of it. Hamas sure seems to like provoking Jews into killing them, so as a public service I thought I’d send my crack research staff to revisit and revise their facts about Hamas before research about Hamas becomes a job solely for anthropologists. FUN FACTS ABOUT HAMAS * Hamas was founded in 1987 according to some site I found with Google. I was eight years old then and wanted to be a fireman or an astronaut. Blowing up Jews had not crossed my mind. * Hamas is Arabic for “dumb @#$% with explosives”. * Contrary to popular belief, Hamas has nothing to do with ham. Actually, if you throw hams at them, they’ll get angry. * Make sure to keep Hamas away from your Jews. * ...

In case you weren't sure about the purpose of Hamas' rocket attacks vis a vis Israel's "disproportionate response" attacking military weapons caches, installations, launching areas and terrorist headquarters, take a look at this, which I found on Yael's blog, Aliyah Step by Step : Contrast that with Israel dropping leaflets over the civilian areas of Gaza, warning them to flee to avoid casualties, because their areas are terrorist strongholds and are being targeted by the IDF. Disproportionate response, anyone?

I'm trying to rationalize this out, and that is the only conclusion I can arrive at. A psychologist would have a field day with this. Why else would the world rail against Israel for fighting back to protect its citizens? Why else would the world accuse Israel of using "disproportionate force?" Why else would the world cry out that Israel is ' indiscriminately killing civilians?' Why else are there 'demonstrations' against Israel's offensive in Gaza? I'll tell you what is disproportionate response . What is disproportionate is the world's reaction to tiny Israel making a belated attempt to defend itself and prevent further murder of its own civilian population. The world's response (with the exception of the United States') is generally negative towards anything Israel does to defend itself. It's outrageous. Where was this world when Hamas was lobbing rockets into Sderot? When Hizbollah was firing Katyushas into northern Israel? ...