Litvishe--What exactly do you think needs to be done by those that participated in the disengagement to repent and earn the forgiveness of those affected (I'm not being sarcastic, I'm curious)?
VIDEO - Lebanese television network LBC says it plans to air a new movie soon featuring missing Israeli airman Ron Arad.
The promo to the movie, which was aired Monday evening, shows an Israeli jet fighter followed by Arad speaking to the camera.
The content of the movie is unclear at this time. The network, associated with Lebanon's Christian community, is boasting that the film is an exclusive. The promo promises that the images and sounds will be aired for the first time ever.
In October 16, 1986, an Israeli Air Force jet was hit while attacking terrorist targets south of Sidon. Arad and the pilot bailed out of the plane over Lebanese territory. A helicopter dispatched by the army managed to rescue the pilot, but Arad was not as fortunate and was captured by the Shiite Amal organization.
After being captured, Arad exchanged hands and according to some estimates eventually reached Iran. Israel received no sign of life from him for many years.
In the last prisoner swap with Hizbullah that secured the release of Elhanan Tennenbaum and the bodies of three IDF soldiers, Israel released Hizbullah's top two prisoners, which were held in Israel in an attempt to secure information about Arad and possibly serve as bargaining chips.
The Arad family was infuriated after the release of Mustafa Dirani and the Sheikh Obeid and charged that Israel abandoned Arad. A non-profit organization set up on behalf of the missing navigator is offering a financial reward for any information about him.
Fox News reports network’s journalists kidnapped in Gaza on August 14 have been released by their Palestinian captors; earlier, journalists seen in video accusing Israel of using Apache helicopters, American weapons against Palestinian population (Ynet)Just think, all the dhimmi had to do was convert to Islam (and whatever else Fox had to pay off the Palestinians). Olmert is probably wondering how bad it would look for our IDF soldiers to convert as well...if it means they would get out of jail.
A Sunday morning article in the British weekly the Sunday Times states that IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz phoned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the first night of the war to inform him that the war had been won.
The article reports that, on this day, July 12th, Halutz was stationed in the general staff operations room in Tel Aviv, overseeing Israel Air Force strikes on Hizbullah strongholds in south Beirut. Over the Mediterranean, an F-15I squadron was preparing to strike at the Iranian made Zelzal rockets pointed at Tel Aviv.
At around midnight, the squadron received instructions to fire and, within minutes, had demolished the first rocket launcher. The squadron leader made contact 39 minutes later, reporting that "54 rocket launchers have been destroyed. We're returning to the base."
According to the article, Halutz smiled and called the prime minister, who was smoking a cigar as he waited in his Jerusalem home to receive the general's phone call. "All long-range rockets have been destroyed," Halutz declared. Then, he added three words that haunt him to this day: "We won the war." (Sunday Times via YNETnews)
Simultaneous to his declaration of victory, 12 soldiers from an elite paratroopers unit encountered an ambush near the village of Maroun al-Ras in south Lebanon.
A soldier who gave an interview to the British paper, and who was identified only as Gad, said: "We didn't know what hit us. Within seconds, we had two dead. We expected a tent and three Kalashnikovs – that was the intelligence that we'd received. Instead, we found a hydraulic steel door that led to a network of well-stocked tunnels."
As the sun rose, the soldiers found themselves under fire from Hizbullah operatives who knew the lay of the land like the back of their hand and used this to their advantage.
"What's happening with the paratroopers?" asked Lt. Gen. Halutz. "They're surrounded," replied Chief of Northern Command Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, "I must send more forces."
As reinforcements from the Egoz infantry unit prepared to enter Maroun al-Ras, a number of them encountered an additional ambush. Exchanges of fire raged for hours, until soldiers succeeded in evacuating their dead and wounded.
The Sunday Times reports that, at this moment, everyone in the operations room in Tel Aviv knew that the fighting would be much harder and more complicated than Halutz had predicted. As the war progressed, the general's optimism crumbled – and along with it, Israel's reputation of invincibility, the paper wrote.
DURING THE RECENT month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel, U.N. "peacekeeping" forces made a startling contribution: They openly published daily real-time intelligence, of obvious usefulness to Hezbollah, on the location, equipment, and force structure of Israeli troops in Lebanon.
UNIFIL--the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a nearly 2,000-man blue-helmet contingent that has been present on the Lebanon-Israel border since 1978--is officially neutral. Yet, throughout the recent war, it posted on its website for all to see precise information about the movements of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and the nature of their weaponry and materiel, even specifying the placement of IDF safety structures within hours of their construction. New information was sometimes only 30 minutes old when it was posted, and never more than 24 hours old.
"Just one thing, my dear children, may you live and be well, I ask of you that you put away this letter for the generations. Each year, at an agreed‑upon day, you should all meet and give thanks and praise to God, blessed be He, who saved your parents from this great catastrophe, and each one of you should make a generous contribution to charity. The miracle took place on Shabbes, Torah portion Ekev, the 18th day of the month of Av, 5689 [August 24, 1929], in Hebron."
2:30 PM Gotta love this guy. Kadima MK Meir Shitreet says: "You don't topple a government over every little thing..." After all -- the war was such a little thing...just a minor blip in Israel's history, that it doesn't warrant a serious response. Olmert is trying his hardest to prevent an official government inquiry into the handling of the war, rather, using every spin possible to tone down the board of inquiry...(NRG)
1:44 PM IDF Casualties on the border of South Lebanon Cleared for publication, 1 killed, 2 in serious condition, 1 moderate. Senior officers are among the wounded. The soldiers, from the Givati Briagade were hurt by walking in a minefield in South Lebanon near the border.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
YNET: Reservist protest movement, bereaved parents join forcesIt's sort of being ignored by Israel's media...but IDF reservists are starting to demonstrate against Olmert. In front of his home...in front of his office...and coming soon...a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Correction, it is being reported. Here's an item from today's JPost:
The staff of the reservist protest movement and the bereaved parents group agreed Tuesday night to join forces and signed a petition calling on the prime minister, defense minister and chief of IDF staff to resign.
"The pain you have caused us by your failure has succeeded in uniting us. In the name of our friends, in the name of the hostages, their families and our sons, we declare the following: We will not desist in our struggle until the responsible parties hold themselves accountable for their actions," the petition read. YNETnews
More here.Reservists and their supporters protesting outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Jerusalem office for the second day on Tuesday said their primary objective was to see Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz resign because of "their incompetence in the Second Lebanon War."
Complaints about military mismanagement and the government's failure to free the two kidnapped Armored Corps reservists, defeat Hizbullah, or "protect the citizens in the North" provided the impetus for dozens of angry demonstrators to spend the day in the Rose Garden under the hot sun.
The baby was of course, was named Benaya [Ori second name].
As Benaya's mother promised at her son's funeral, "We will keep building...and continue on."
בבנין הארץ ננחם
"The breakthrough is based on the inclusion in the call for a cessation of hostilities for a progressive Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory to go simultaneously with the deployment of the Lebanese army backed by reinforced U.N. peacekeepers."
Olmert spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy and called on Italy to take a leading role in the international force, according to a statement released by Olmert's office. Italy has offered to send up to 3,000 troops while France, which helped broker the cease-fire, has so far refused to commit more than 200. International Herald Tribune.
"We must prevent the continued arrival of a Lebanese army force up to 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) away from the border, before a multinational force is stationed there first...."We will not allow Hizbullah to approach the border with Israel again" (YNETNEWS)
(** please see below -- this second picture does not belong...credit to Ironi B.)
Last week Olmert, Peretz and Livni stated that "the war's objectives have been reached" due to the Lebanese army moving into South Lebanon...yet now Peretz DOESN'T want them there? (without a multinational force?)
And where are our kidnapped soldiers?
Please tell me that I'm missing something...
--Jameel
UPDATED CORRECTTION (Hat-tip: Ironi Burgoni) The second picture above is from before the war, and has nothing to do with the current situation. I'll leave it up as a tribute to Ironi who spotted it. The second picture was sent in by reader "Matthew" with the following credit, as is therefore, indicative of Hizbolla, in fact, being back at the border. The JPOST and other papers have been showing pictures of Hizbolla terrorists in Bint Jebail observing IDF forces thorugh binoculars, but I haven't been able to locate the pictures on-line.
August 16, 2006 Kfar Kileh, face à nous, les drapeaux et les terroristes sont déjà revenus
Photo Jean Tsadik © Menapress, moyens techniques, Even Sokol
Wife of Fox News cameraman kidnapped in Gaza makes tearful plea for his release
The wife of a Fox News cameraman kidnapped in Gaza made a tearful plea Friday for
information about the whereabouts of her husband and a fellow Fox journalist.
Cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, and American 0reporter Steve Centanni, 60, were taken Monday from their TV van near the Palestinian security services headquarters. (AP)
If this hadn't happened to me, personally, I would have written this story off as so much humanist propaganda.
During the fourth week of the current war, I was in a hotel in England - where the elevator wasn't working. This ancient grandfather, yours truly, found himself trudging up to his second floor hotel room several times a day. On some of these trips, I would pass a fellow from the third floor. We'd exchange pleasantries like:
I: Every time I see you come down from 3, I realize things could be worse!
He: No, we are still young, we can do this!
On our last such meeting (I was going up), I said "Good News! They're fixing the elevator!". He replied that that was indeed good news, then...
He: By the way, you are Israeli, are you not?
I: Yes, I am.
He extended his hand in friendship, and with a smile said: "I am Lebanese, we are enemies.".
I was astounded. He continued, "Do not worry, I am Christian."
I vigorously shook his hand, and the conversation continued as follows.
He: Your air force is destroying our cities, I had to flee with my car, no other way out!
I: Your people have to break away from Hizbollah!
He: We cannot! (Moves his forefinger across his throat) They will kill us! Do you not see what they have already done in Beirut against those who oppose them?!?
I: (At a loss for words) I don't have to look to Beirut. I see what has happened to your people in Bethlehem.
He: That was a terrible mistake! Look what you have done, giving so much power to Arafat. See how strong you have made them!
Our conversation continued for a few more minutes, on a more personal level, but I will not reveal further information that could somehow endanger him in the future. I came away from that encounter, dizzied with the realization that we have comrades in spirit on the other side of the line. I wanted to meet him again, and apologize for the treatment my government had ultimately given to the South Lebanese, but given my short stay, another such encounter never materialized...
How can we get our OWN people to think so rationally?
Outside the Rein's home in Karnei Shomron.
Over 1000 people attended the funeral.
Captain Rein's coffin.
After the Rav of the yishuv spoke, Benia's friend and brother also spoke of his modesty, his character, and how he strove for excellence in everything he did.
I noticed there were lots of soldiers who came to pay their last respects -- except at this funeral, many of them were wounded and bandaged. One particular soldier caught my eye -- he was wounded in his neck and arm, and I could tell from his Uzi (and mega silencer) that he was from one of those "elite" units you read about that did alot of the house to house fighting in Lebanon.
Wounded Elite Soldier who attended the funeral.
From the Rein's home, the funeral procession followed the truck, as it drove to the local cemetery...about a 45 minute walk. After walking for a few minutes behind the truck, I got into my car and drove to the cemetery, where I saw the honor gaurd lined up, preparing to bring the coffin from the truck -- to it's final resting place for burial. The honor gaurd was comprised of soldiers who served with Captain Rein -- his brothers at arms.
If it wasn't under such sad circumstances, I would have been able to appreciate the beauty of the landscape. The cemetery is surrounded by breathtaking scenery -- the green, rolling hills of the Shomron mountains. The Israeli flag flew at half-mast, as the third soldier in the military section of this cemetery was about to be buried.
The truck carrying the coffin arrived, and the honor gaurd carried it towards the open grave as family members quietly cried...friends and soldiers looking on silently.
Gently lowering the coffin into the ground, the sobbing of the family grew louder, as the military rav said a chapter of tehillim. The chevra kadisha (burial society) quickly shoveled dirt into the grave, and the rest of the eulogies followed. Officer after officer spoke about the leadership qualities of Captain Benia, his lopsided, bashful smile, his determination to excel at everything he set his mind to, how he volunteered with developmentally challenged youngsters, how he was the tank commander that everyone could rely on. One of his commanding officers said, "It's unfortunate that such a cliche has to be used, but he was truly one of the best we have."
An officer from the paratroopers brigade was called to speak, and he said, "I only met Benia for 3 minutes my whole life, and that was last week on Friday when I gave him written instructions that needed to be brought by his tank unit to other paratroopers on the banks of the Litani. The impression he left on me after those 3 minutes, was one that I could rely on him 100%, and that he would do whatever it took to complete his mission....which he did."
Captain Benia Rein's grave.