Tikkun Olam

No need for more words. We strive to overcome, we build, we create, we live :  This is who we are: ...and this is who our partners for peace are:

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.

This positive piece about our president's "support for Israel" was written by Haim Saban and published in the New York Times before Mr. Obama was elected for his second term. Here is a video from the Israel Video Network showing the opposite. There may be some truths to both of them...but I'm leaning towards the video.