Boo.

Booing during a moment of silence is distasteful. Then again, booing during a football match, which is far from a bastion of culture is to be expected.

Israel's in a tizzy that Beitar fans booed during the moment of silence for Rabin; reactions range from "imprison anyone who booed for 5 years" under the law against incitement (courtesy of Israel Radio's Moshe Negbi) to suspending the Beitar team based on the booing of their fans.

Just a though...please picture this scenario:

The Hevron** performance is about to start at the Habima Theater in Tel-Aviv.

An announcement rings out;

"Would everyone please rise -- we would like to have a moment of silence in the memory of an Israeli politician, murdered because of his political views -- by an extremist.

Please join us as we honor the memory of Member of Knesset, Rabbi Meir Kahana, may G-d avenge his death."

What do you think the reaction would be?

Deafening Silence?


**The HaBima web site describes the Hevron play as: “An original and surprising political drama portraying the Israelis and Palestinians as trapped in a conflict of mythic proportions…The pressure cooker in which the tiny Jewish settlement imprisons the Arab majority in the city explodes on the day of the olive harvest.”

“My family and I went to the play ‘Hevron’, which is being performed at the HaBima-Cameri theater in Tel Aviv,” Batsheva Weinberg [widow of Col. Dror Weinberg who was killed by Arab terrorists in an attack on November 15, 2002 in which 12 people were killed.] told Army Radio. “The way they portray the settlers is exactly like the Nazis used to try to portray the Jews. They portray them as completely fanatical and without any sense of humanity, while creating emotional sympathy for Arab murderers.” (source)

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Spin Doctors target Israel's Right.

Today's Maariv headline screams the following:

Due to the upcoming [Annapolis] Summit, The Shabak [Israel's secret police] is worried:

TIGHTENING SECURITY: INCREASED THREATS AGAINST THE PRIME MINISTER'S LIFE.

This is classic Israeli spin. PM Olmert's popularity is rather low, the Annapolis summit looks like a dud, the Palestinians are refusing to even acknowledge the right to exist of a Jewish State, so what's a Prime Minister to do?

Coming on the heels of Rabin's 12 year memorial, these "threats" against Olmert are allegedly coming from the "right wing." The media has banged into everyone's head that "words kill", and take every effort to remind us that any criticism towards Rabin is deadly -- after all, that's why he was killed -- because of vocal criticism. (Go on over and read David Von Treppenwitz's excellent posting incitement on this subject as well.)

Unfortunately, Maariv is too busy condemning the right wing than to edit their own paper. On page 2 of Maariv is the following headline as well: Knife Fight !!! (thanks YB)

No, the knife fight isn't between the right wing and Ehud Olmert.

Rather this potentially bloody battle is between Olmert and Defense Minister Barak.

Perhaps someone should tell the Shabak where to look if they want to protect Olmert.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

The Festival of Hate

A Grieving Israeli at the memorial site of Rabin's murder in Tel-Aviv

Today (tomorrow?) is supposed to be the memorial day for Yitzhak Rabin. Instead, it's the culmination of a month-long festival of hatred towards Israel's political right-wing and religious camps.

If Israel was really interested in building bridges in Israel's society, Rabin's legacy of hate should be acknowledged, instead of sweeping it under the rug and going on an offensive attack on the right wing. The mantra, "words kill" has become synonymous with "protecting democracy" -- and the demonization of the right wing continues daily.

I believe that Rabin was a terrible, cold hearted person who had no problem ordering the killing of Jews for political gain (the sinking of the Altalena) and his arrogance towards the personal security of Jews in Israel as Palestinian terror rose to an all time high during his "Oslo Peace Accords" -- was despicable.

What Israel fails to understand is that there's a huge gap between writing the above and supporting the killing of Jews by Jews (which I do not support.)


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael