A PLO official called on Sunday for international observers to protect Palestinian olive farmers and their groves, after more than 450 trees were vandalized last week as the harvest began.
“We urge every country with a diplomatic mission to Palestine to dispatch observer teams to Palestinian olive groves in order to discourage attacks by settlers and to document any abuse that occurs,” PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said.
“Given Israel’s support for the settlers and its refusal to allow the Palestinian Authority to provide protection through the occupied territory, the Palestinian people require international intervention to ensure their security,” Ashrawi wrote.
Everything the PLO says needs to be taken with a few grains of salt...especially, when this video was provided today by the Shomron Settlement Council, taken today - of Palestinians and a Leftwing activist actively cutting down a Palestinian Olive Grove (what better way to demand international observers).
Too bad for them we caught it all on video. Not that Ashrawi cares, as long as she can blame the evil Zionist Joos.
See for yourselves:
Repeat as a mantra..."Price Tag"...settlers..."Price Tag"...settlers...
Residents of Jaffa reported on Monday morning that vandals set fire to an Arab-owned restaurant on Yefet Street in the city.
According to a Tel Aviv-Jaffa city council member, the phrases "price tag" and "Kahane was right" were scrawled on walls at the location.
Police were called to the Abu el-Abed restaurant on Yefet Street and opened an investigation into the incident.
This week, 20 olive trees belonging to an Arab family in East Jerusalem were cut down. A sign was found at the scene that read in large letters "price tag".
Earlier this month, two cemeteries in Jaffa were desecrated. Headstones were smashed and racist slogans were spray-painted on graves. The two cemeteries, one Muslim and the other Christian, were vandalized with graffiti that said “Death to the Arabs”, and “price tag”.
The term "price tag" refers to vandalism and revenge actions initiated by activists, usually against Palestinians, following terror attacks or state demolitions in West Bank settlements or outposts. (Haaretz)
"Abu Alabaz - 1949 - Palestinian-Lebanese Kitchen and Catering" (You can be sure this is a recent sign; Palestinians never referred to themselves as "Palestinians" in 1949)
What Haaretz failed to report, was that in the previous cemetery desecration in Jaffa this month, the police were pretty sure that Football hooligan fans were responsible -- "Police said the incident was "linked to a soccer group," and that they were not convinced it was carried out by right-wing elements. (JPost)"
They also conveniently forgot to mention that no charges have been filed against any settler or right-wing Israeli for the mosque arson attacks, and that the vast majority of alleged "price tag" attacks have not been linked at all to Jewish extremists. (For the record, the Muqata condemns this sort of activity)
Yet that's not all. The Al-Arab website had pictures of the atrocities...and plenty of invective against the alleged price-taggers.
Problem is, that their expert photography revealed a spray-painted scrawl that was out of place with a price tag, nationalist graffiti attack -- the name of the football team; "Barcelona" (you can also see this in the first picture above on the left-hand side)
99.9% of the settler movement is disgusted by vandalism...routinely suspecting them for alleged "price-tagging" is just as odious.
And its getting boring already.
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Judea and Samaria police were on Wednesday hunting for a Palestinian man suspected of disguising himself as a settler and attempting to carjack an Israeli woman as she drove in the West Bank with her baby in the back seat.
"We received a complaint by a female resident of [the settlement of] Ma'ale Levona," police confirmed in a statement.
"As she drove in her vehicle, she noticed a man with a backpack and a kippah who was hitchhiking. She pulled over to give him a ride," the statement continued.
After he entered her vehicle, the woman realized that the suspect had disguised himself, police said. "She was then sprayed with tear gas by the suspect, who sought to steal the vehicle," police added.
The woman removed the keys from the ignition and told the suspect she would leave the vehicle with her baby. After he consented, she walked away from the vehicle with her baby.
"The suspect tried to start the car but failed. He then escaped on foot," police said.
There are also reports that this past Sunday, a Magen David Adom ambulance crew was ambushed and almost kidnapped by Palestinians terrorists in the Shomron region after responding to an emergency call of a bad vehicular accident with seriously wounded. IDF troops arriving on the scene (who also responded to the same emergency call) managed to foil the kidnapping.
We have received reports that Magen David Adom is now re-evaluating its procedures for dispatching ambulances and first response EMTs to reported traffic accidents, till the authenticity of the caller has been verified or unless IDF/Police forces are on the scene.
Carjacking. Hijacking. While IDF soldiers try to dance, Palestinians terrorists are dreaming up new ways of killing Israelis.
Over 300,000 trees burned down in Israel on June 29...
Wild Boar are indigenous to Israel's hilly regions, specifically the Shomron and Galil.
This sounds like a joke, but these animals terrorize local populations of Jews and Arabs alike. I know of a community in the Shomron where Wild Boar have moved into the community uninvited, and they've chased people at night.
This past Monday evening, a motorcyclist was killed in the Western Galil when he hit a wild boar on the road.
Don't be fooled -- these beasts can weigh up to 200 pounds, the males have very sharp tusks, and it takes more than a handgun's bullet to knock a charging wild boar off its feet.
While the Shomron Jews fret and wait for the State-licensed hunters to come and get rid of their boars, the local Arabs have decided its simply easier to blame their wild boar issues...on the Settlers, of course.
The Always-Reliable (and Objective) Maan Palestinian News Agency has the "scoop":
Salfit – Ma'an – A sounder [Jameel: What the heck is a sounder?] of wild boars destroyed several dunums of Palestinian farm land in the Salfit district on Sunday, local farmers said, prompting accusations of settler involvement.
Adjacent to the largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Ari'el, Salfit farmers are enclosed on all sides by urban centers that specialists say disrupt grazing patterns for the large animals.
What are termed "pig attacks" by farmers are often blamed on settlers, with rumors of malicious intentions based on repeated settler attacks on the area, with olive groves ruined and sewage pumped continuously into a local spring.
Considerable damage was done in the Al-Matwi, Ash-Shala and An-Nejarah areas, farmers said, with Othman Balasmah reporting that "the fields in Al-Matwi were totally destroyed."
I don't really follow their logic. First they claim it was the wild boar who destroyed their fields. Then the Arab farmers claim "Jewish involvement." Being adjacent to Ariel disrupts the grazing patterns of the Wild Boar?
Unfortunately for the Maan fact checkers and the "Salfit specialists", Ariel doesn't enclose Salfit...its only adjacent...there's more than a mile between them, and there's nothing on the other 3 sides of Salfit. See for yourself (Salfit is in the center, Ariel is to the North)
What are termed "pig attacks" by farmers are often blamed on settlers, with rumors of malicious intentions based on repeated settler attacks on the area, with olive groves ruined and sewage pumped continuously into a local spring.
Are they calling settlers pigs?
And if we're already blaming settlers, a mosque in the Arab village of Luban al-Sharqiyya (Southern Shomron region) caught fire yesterday causing some serious damage. Israel radio announced that the IDF, Border Police, Shin Bet, Israeli Fire Department, and Palestinian Authority all immediately cooperated to determine the guilt of the settler arsonists...but alas, there's no proof of arson, and it looks like the fire was a result of a short circuit and was completely accidental.
"Extremist Israeli settlers broke into a mosque in the Palestinian village of Luban al-Sharqiyya (near Nablus, North of West Bank) on Tuesday early morning, gathered flammables and set them fire, seriously damaging the 80% of the mosque."
And it doesn't stop the PA President, Mahmoud Abbas from calling the fire a "criminal" act that "represented a threat to the efforts to revive the peace process" because the Israeli army protects the settlers.
Slander is a criminal act, especially when said with malicious intent. Yet criminal behavior is nothing new to a terrorist like Mahmoud Abbas, who denies the Holocaust in his spare time.
He might also enjoy raising wild boar.
Visiting Israel?Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
When it comes to defending Arab lawlessness, Haaretz is always at the forefront.
Today's headline: Israel using strong arm tactics against young Palestinian stone-throwers
"Several children in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan were arrested and taken from their homes in handcuffs in the middle of the night over the past few months, as part of a police crackdown on suspected stone-throwers, several teenage residents told B'Tselem and Haaretz.
Haaretz and B'Tselem, the Israel Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, collected testimonies from several teens that suggest the police are treating them violently and violating their rights.
"They told me to get down on my knees and slapped and kicked me, one from behind and one from the front," a 15-year-old told B'Tselem. " (Haaretz)
Of course, when Israel's police did the exact same thing, and worse to settler kids during the Disengagement (who didn't throw rocks, but were accused of blocking traffic), or general harassment of settler kids who get arrested by the Shin Bet and dragged off for interrogations in the Shin Bet underground dungeons, (btw, those kids were released with zero charges against them, as they had real alibis) you never see similar headlines or even articles by Haaretz.
Can you imagine a headline, "Israel using strong arm tactics against young settlers"
Its a shame that Haaretz reporters have never been on the receiving end of Palestinian stone throwing. Here's a photo I took a few months ago, when a Palestinian youngster threw a harmless rock through the windshield of a car. The driver is still recovering.
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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
Israel's in an uproar today over a Swedish newspaper's allegations blood libel that IDF soldiers are killing Palestinians to harvest their organs.
"Leading Swedish daily Aftonbladet claimed Tuesday that IDF soldiers killed Palestinians in order to trade in their organs, adding that this suspicion may lead to an international war crimes investigation against Israel. (ynetnews)"
You don't have to go to far away Ikealand to see the same sort of venomous libel...unfortunately we have the same, even in Israel.
Nehemia Shtrasler decides in Haaretz that the settlers from Gush Katif actually wanted the Disengagement, so that they could milk Israel dry from government compensation.
The offending passage reads:
The settlers in Gaza won big time. They had two goals: to extract huge amounts of compensation from the government and to keep the issue on the public agenda as an open wound, as a traumatic and costly experience in the extreme so that all politicians who might dream of a similar solution in the West Bank would tell themselves that it is impossible.
Later in the article Shtrasler libels further:
At this point we have spent NIS 8.1 billion on the evacuation, including NIS 4.9 billion in investment in infrastructure and direct compensation to families. It's a huge, unreasonable sum and it's not final. At the evacuation administration, they expect the final amount to grow to about NIS 10 billion! These are much larger amounts than the Sinai evacuees received, but the former Gaza residents continue to play the role of victims of injustice, demanding more and more so that the wound will never heal.
My friend Robert Klein notes:
It is such a patent lie that the victims of Disengagement "extracted huge amounts of compensation", that I hope representatives of the victims sue Haaretz & Shtrasler for libel. Poetically, I do hope they extract huge amounts of compensation from both libelers.
For those unaware or who've forgotten, the Gazan Jews didn't want *any* compensation; they wanted to stay in their homes and communities. They and the Right protested the entire concept of the illegal and immoral evictions. It was the likes of Haaretz and Shtrasler who supported Disengagement and the compensation made necessary by the plan.
Moreover, the compensation plan did not take into account the economic suffering that would be incurred, i.e. loss of livelihood, for the majority whose jobs were tied to their now-destroyed communities.
Worst of all, the government didn't pay, or paid so long after it was promised that when the money arrived, it didn't even cover the evictees' debts due to unemployment.
Shame on the libelers!
In addition to Sweden, Nehemia's is in good company. I found some more examples of those who blame victims as "greedy".
An Israeli government report that claims to be the first of its kind has set material damage to the Jewish people during the Holocaust at some $240 billion to $330 billion (http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/holocaust.php)
They have blackmailed and are still raping the swiss banks...now with this report, one can see what lies ahead for the Jew mafia .
These greedy jew bastards wont be happy untill they own everything in this world.......The holocaust is a gift to the Zionists...It makes me wonder....If there were no "holocaust" where would the jews be today?...
what a scam !
Gonzo: 04-26-2005, 01:14 AM
there is no stopping them.......Only war can stop the jews and their constant extortion and exploitation.....
They bought up all of Germany in the 1920's for pennies on the dollar due to their ownership of the banks.......Hitler put a stop to the thievary.....and now the thieves are demanding back their ill gotten gains that doesnt even belong to them in the first place.
I just wish once i would hear ONE JEW on Pravda denounce what Zionism is doing in regards to this extortion. not once does a jew denounce the behavior of their leadership.
Thats why i say phuek off to you when someone says......"denounce Zionism and not jews"....This illusion they play is nothing more then good cop - bad cop .....
Saif Islam Gaddafi said the Lockerbie families had traded with "the blood of their sons and daughters" during negotiations over payouts for the deaths of loved ones.
His outburst infuriated relatives of those who died in Britain's worst terrorist attack.
Mr Gaddafi, who is seen by many as likely to succeed his father, also told the BBC that the Libyan government had only taken responsibility for the disaster in order to get international sanctions lifted.
"You have to ask the families of the victims," he said. "The negotiation with them, it was very terrible and very materialistic and was very greedy. They were asking for more money and more money and more money."
He added: "I think they were very greedy and I think they were trading with the blood of their sons and daughters."
THE Nigerian high commissioner says people who are ripped off by so-called Nigerian scams are just as guilty as the fraudsters and should be jailed.
Responding to a story in yesterday's Herald, which revealed Australians lose at least $36 million a year to the online scams, Sunday Olu Agbi said Australians had failed to heed repeated warnings not to deal with shady characters on the internet.
Kudos Nehemia. Why not freelance for the Swedish daily Aftonbladet as well?
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
Last night, 3 Israelis tried to get to the tomb of the Biblical Jewish Leader Yehoshua Bin Nun in the Arab town of Kifel Haris.
Normally, one needs IDF approval to visit the location, and the IDF opens the site a few times a year.
These 3 individuals from the town of Elad, near Rosh Haayin in Central Israel decided to visit without IDF authorization, and apparently got into an accident on the way out and the IDF believes then men blamed a non-existent Palestinian rock throwing attack for their own reckless driving. [Jameel adds: Palestinian Rock and molotov cocktail/firebomb attacks are on the rise, and I was hit by a few rocks 2 nights ago, damaging my car.]
YNET jumps on the bandwagon, and immediately labels the 3 Israelies as settlers, despite that they live in the town of Elad, in pre-1967 Israel.
But why should the YNET factcheckers care, when its a good excuse to slanders settlers for stupid behaviour, regardless of whether settlers were even involved in the first place.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
Haaretz's Gideon Levy can't stand that anyone has a good word to say about settlers, which is why the following statement blew his mind.
"I love the settlers, they are the salt of the earth...the insufferable ease with which they are denigrated and harmed and the statements made against them is just disgusting." (Ha'aretz)
That statement was made by none other than Police Major General Shlomi Katbi, outgoing commander of the "Shai" region (Shomron and Yehuda; "West Bank").
Knowing the source of the denigration, he threw his barbs at Tel Aviv, who described his his words, "whose willingness to contribute to the state is one big zero."
Katbi, who will retire from the police force after 30 years of service, launched a lengthy verbal diatribe against "those who sit in Tel Aviv, park their jeeps on the sidewalk on Sheinkin Street, drink espresso with one foot resting on the other, and allow themselves to level criticism and to tell stories."
Personally, I know many people in Tel Aviv who do contribute to Israel -- but they aren't the ones castigating the settlers around the clock.
Tel Aviv is the oasis of normalcy in an insane country. Between the espresso and the SUV arise art, culture, finance, science, intellect, media, openness and a healthy (albeit insufficient) introspection of the State of Israel, without which it has no real backbone. May God protect Israel if, heaven forbid, it ever turns into Yitzhar: violent, isolated, conservative, religious and backward. May God protect it if the majority of its police officers think like Katabi. Yes, we sit with out legs crossed on Sheinkin Street, sip espresso, and some of us even park our SUVs on the sidewalk. But at least it's our sidewalk, not a stolen sidewalk that belongs to another nation.
It's time to call a spade a spade -- the Palestinians consider Giedon Levy a settler just as much as me. While the settlement I'm living in wasn't stolen from anyone, and was "State's Land" before 1967, without any private person living on it, Tel Aviv, and many of the Leftist hideouts in pre-1967 Israel were Arab villages.
Israel's founding was turbulent and difficult, but to dump all of Gideon Levy's guilt on the settlers is totally hypocritical.
Levy's "willingness to contribute to the state is one big zero"...as opposed to the settlers.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
Last week, the Hevron "Peace House" evacuation was the news of the day. The only thing the media could write about was the "settler violence". Ehud Olmert called it a pogrom against the Palestinians, BTselem offered a video of a settler allegedly shooting a Palestinian for no apparent reason, except demonstrate that "settlers are racists", and the final straw was the call to demand swift action against the settler.
Since then, some cooler heads seem to have emerged (surprisingly).
Public Security Minister Dichter announced "We know what a pogrom is" and added that the Prime Minister's use of the word was totally unsuitable. "There was no pogrom of Jews on Arabs in Hebron, and anyone who uses the term 'pogrom' plans to degrade," he added. "Hevron is not on fire; there is no Jewish intifada." (source)
The settler from the video was "swiftly" arrested (after he turned himself in).
During the hearing Brauda's lawyer Ariel Atari said his client, who has never been involved in any violent incidents, had gone to the wadi to keep his son away from the disputed house, when he was surrounded by Arabs carrying large stones and feared for his life.
The judge decided to let Brauda free, and is only under "house arrest" despite the police's recommendation, State Prosecutor's direct involvement:
Before issuing her decision, Jerusalem Magistrate's Court's Judge Malka Aviv harshly criticized the police. "The police are being extremely lenient towards the behavior of the Palestinian residents in that incident… We cannot play a part in such outright double standards."
The judge pointed out that none of the other people involved in the serious incident were arrested by the police and no proceedings were opened against them, when it was clear that Brauda was being lynched. (source)
The judge made it amply clear that Brauda was clearly in a life-or-death situation, yet that didn't stop the media or Ehud Barak from immediately painting the settler as the devil's spawn.
I predict Brauda will be exonerated, and can gaurantee you that the State will appeal.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
I was rudely awakened by my pager's buzzing, as an incoming message from the IDF spelled out that a terror attack just took place not from from us in the settlement of Yitzhar. A Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the Shalhevet Yam neighborhood of Yitzhar, set fire to a building, and stabbed a nine year old boy. The terrorist fled and was not apprehended. Security should be tightened in the surrounding areas.
Additional details came in ... the terrorist tried burning down a second home as well, and the 9 year old discovered the attack and started yelling for help. It was then the terrorist stabbed him 5 times in the back until the knife broke....he then threw him off the balcony of a caravan -- a 12 foot drop.
What we all found out on Saturday night was that the terror attack against the 9 year old was a minor detail -- the big story was the settler reprisal against the village that hosted the terrorist.
The IDF's inaction of not chasing after the terrorist infuriated the residents of Yitzhar -- this terror attack came on the heels of their fields routinely burnt down by Palestinians. Yes, the settlers reacted, took the law into their own hand and went into the village. Were their actions a beacon of democracy and good will towards their Palestinian neighbors? Nope. Should the IDF have done their job? Yes. Should the police have done their job? Yes.
No one did their job except for the Palestinian terrorist.
Yitzhar's community spokesman reported the following:
The stabbing attack and torching of an empty home in the settlement marked the "climax of the abuse perpetrated by Arab residents of the nearby village," Yitzhar Spokesman Yigal Amitai told Ynet. He also slammed the IDF conduct earlier in the day, referring to the army's failure to identify or capture the terrorist behind the attack.
"It's clear to everyone that this incident could have ended disastrously," Amitai said. "A whole family would have been butchered and burned. Yitzhar residents said that in recent months Arabs set seven fires in the settlement's wheat fields.
"To our regret, in all those incidents no real deterrent activity was conducted by the military and army," Amitai said.
The settlement spokesman also slammed the reactions issued by leftist Knesset members and groups during the Shabbat.
"They knew well that because of the sanctity of Shabbat we won't be able to respond in the media, and therefore took advantage of it," he said. Meanwhile, members of the Jewish National Front said that "the time has come for the Arabs to realize that Judea and Samaria residents aren't suckers…it would be better for the IDF and police to address Arabs who stab a nine-year-old Jewish boy, rather than target those who seek to defend themselves." (YNET)
The media pogrom against the settlers was swift and brutal, everyone conveniently refusing to condemn or acknowledge the severity of the terror attack that triggered yesterday's events.
MK Ahmed Tibi: referred to the settlers as "two-legged animals" following the riots. (ynet) MK Zahava Gal-on: It's impossible to have a situation whereby the army is doing nothing while this is going on... the time has come to end the policy of inaction vis-à-vis the settlers." (ynet)
Peace Now Secretary General Yariv Oppenheim: "The settlers do not miss any opportunity to hurt Palestinians and endanger human life" (ynet)
But the best is reserved for Ehud Olmert to comment:
"There will be no pogroms against non-Jewish residents in the State of Israel -- a terror attack took place over the weekend in northern Samaria against a Yitzhar resident. A terrorist entered the community, a young boy was injured and there was an attempt to carry out a more severe attack. This is a serious and grave matter." (YNET)
It's much more serious and grave to Ehud Olmert that the Yitzhar residents should be upset at the torching of 2 buildings, upset at the IDF's inaction against terrorists, upset at the terror attack against a 9 year old -- and then they overturn a car and charge through the village which harbors terrorists....all that is much more grave and serious than the terrorist attack against a nine year old.
Yet let's take a step back. Can you imagine what the Arabs would do when there's an attack against them by a Jew? I'm sure they are the epitome of calm, and coldly calculated reasoned action. And if they would lose their cool, they would be soundly criticized by Ehud Olmert and the MKs of the left...?
Let's examine an actual case study from 2005.
Situation; Four people were killed and at least six others were wounded after army deserter Eden Natan Zada opened fire aboard a bus in the Arab town of Shfaram, in northern Israel.
Eyewitnesses said angry locals, or possibly bus passengers, managed to storm the bus following the attack and killed the shooter. Police reportedly had trouble retrieving the body, which was lying on the stairs of the bus, as a result of the angry Arab mob gathered at the scene.
Reaction against the terrorist: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issued a special statement following the Shfaram shooting saying, “This is a vile act by a blood-thirsty Jewish terrorist who aimed to hurt innocent citizens.” “Terror by citizens against citizens is the most dangerous thing regarding Israel’s future and its democratic character,” the statement said What happened to the blood thirsty Palestinian terrorist this past Shabbat that tried killed a 9 year old? Did anyone dare call him a vile, blood thirsty terrorist? At the scene in Shfaram, a lynch mob disarmed the Jewish terrorist, and then rioted, taking the law into their own hands, and killed Eden Zada. In response to the possibility of charges being brought against those who took the law into their own hands MK Barakeh said, "We will take action to break any hand that is raised against us." Balad chairman, MK Jamal Zahalka slammed the Haifa prosecution's decision to subpoena the Shfaram residents in the case: "This is an act of provocation. The police failed to find out who was assisting Zada and who sent him, and are blaming the victims. If they indict they will have riots on their hands"
Any comments from MK Tibi about the 2 legged animals in Shfaram?
Any comment from MK Zehava Gal-on the impossibility of a situation whereby the police is doing nothing while this is going on -- or has he time has come to end the policy of inaction vis-à-vis the Arabs?"
I don't recall Peace Now Secretary General Yariv Oppenheim saying the "The arabs do not miss any opportunity to hurt Jews and endanger human life"
And of course, Olmert was uncharacteristically silent then too.
It seems that its settler season again.
I was reminded of the painful artistic expression on road 60 near Beit-El, 10 years ago after many terror attacks on the roads.
A congregation of benevolent, smart and wise gave guns to the foxes. And as the days grew, the era of peace they hallucinated turned [us] to a flock of ducks.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
R' Harry Maryles had the following words to say about the cause of Jews hiking in Eretz Yisrael;
They had absolutely no obligation to go there even if it was to save the lives of others… which it wasn't. They placed themselves at risk… and paid dearly for it. It cannot be ignored that had they heeded Halacha and not gone into a Makom Sakana, a dangerous place they would still be alive today. This Halacha seems to have been lost on the Religious Zionist rabbis who praised these two hikers for having the 'courage' to hike in dangerous territory. Instead of conveying a message of how dangerous it was to go hiking there they are adding to their image as martyrs. He also writes in the comments section;
I also don't think my understanding of the Arab/Muslim mindset is all that different from that of the most militant religious Zionist. I know what Muslim/Arabs are thinking. It is pretty much the same as what Ahmadinijad thinks. Which is why taking a hike in an unsecured and open area like these two soldiers did was wrong.
Going for a hike in Eretz Yisrael, with 2 soldiers in elite units (Shaldag [IAF] and Shayetet 13 [Navy]) in an area they knew inside out, is far from irresponsible.
Instead of placing the blame on the terrorists (Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad), those who send and incite them (Palestinian Authority), those that release terrorists and give them weapons and ammunition (Olmert & co.), and those who offer political support to their cause (Bush and Rice) -- of all the people possible, R' Maryles has chosen...to blame the Jewish victims.
Outside of Hashem's Divine Providence, Israel exists today because of the combined efforts of Settlement and the Army. Since the establishment of Modern Israel over 100 years ago, it was Jews moving to all parts of Eretz Yisrael and LIVING there, that enabled the founding and continued existence of the State. From Eilat to Ramat HaGolan, from Hevron to Gav HaHar, it is the Jewish presence that keeps the army vigilant. Were it not for the Jewish community in Hevron -- Mearat HaMachpela would look very similar to Kever Yosef (and entrance would be just as difficult).
R' Maryles used to "cheer" on the settlers; The truth is that I admire the courage of your convictions... and those of others like you. I used to be the first one to cheer West Bank settlers on. But as time has gone on, there have been too many deaths of innocent people who have made these kinds of courageous choices. One must begin to ask their whether their courage is misplaced and causing too many innocent people to die…
R' Maryles bemaons hearing Sherri Mandells agonizing over the loss of a 13 year old son. Can anyone who hasn't experienced what she has possibly begin to understand her sacrifice? Was her sacrifice ultimately so necessary?!"
Kobi Mandel was a 13 year old who went to explore the caves in the backyard of his settlement, Tekoa. A group of Palestinian teenagers stoned to death Kobi and his friend. Kobi's crime? A Jewish teenager exploring a cave. Why is R' Maryles blaming Kobi...or his parents?
R' Maryles is apparently tired. We are not. We will continue building the land, touring the land, and securing the land for ourselves and for all of Am Yisrael, including R' Maryles.
The big danger is getting tired. Ehud Olmert stated "We are tired of winning [against the Arabs]" -- and has started a downward spiral of capitulation which will lead nowhere, but G-d forbid, the destruction of the Jewish rebirth in Eretz Yisrael.
In the Torah, parashat Ki-Tezeh, Moshe admonishes the Children of Israel -- the reason they were attacked by Amalek is because, "זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים, אשר קרך בדרך, ויזנב בך כל הנחשלים אחריך, ואתה עייף ויגע, ולא ירא אלוקים". The Children of Israel were tired and weary.
Capitulation, throwing Jews out of their homes, giving away land to the enemy (let alone guns and ammunition) is the last thing we need.
Please see this wonderful video of R' Aharon Soloveitchik zt'l -- what he thought of the settlers in Hevron.
Andy Grove, the past CEO of Intel Corp proved via the Pentium bug fiasco, that there's no such thing as "bad" publicity.
Therefore, how do some religious Israelis get their name everywhere?
They write articles that bash...religious Israelis.
In this fashion, the spotlight is on today's idiot, "Efrat Shapira-Rosenberg"
I have no clue who she is, but her article in YNET entitled, "The Plague of Eretz Yisrael" is proof positive that she's an attention seeker, rather than someone who wants to honestly deal with facts.
Her opinion piece can be summarized as such: Religious Jews in Israel place an inordinant amount of focus on Eretz Yisrael and neglect everything else...and that is a "plague."
Her closing paragraph:
Yes, the Land of Israel is beloved, and it’s important, and it’s possible that for some people, there is no other issue. But the total focus on the struggle for the Land of Israel is not just a religious, social, and moral injustice. It’s also a plague.
Since Ms. Efrat Shapira hyphen Rosenberg is too busy mouthing-off via her YNETnews soapbox, let me tell you a single story from last week, which shows just how wrong she is.
Last week, Magen David Adom needed volunteer ambulance drivers and medics for night shifts in large cities in the Gush Dan (Tel Aviv) region. I answered their call, and did a night shift. What I found was the following: in this particular city, there were no local volunteers...at all!
Rather, all their volunteers in that (rather large city) were from settlements in the Shomron, and one volunteer from North America!
So the next time MS Efrat Shapira-Rosenberg has an epiphany about bashing religious Jews and settlers for caring "too much" about Eretz Yisrael, perhaps she should check out all the wonderful work they are doing around the country; including volunteering for MDA, Hatzala, Soup Kitchens, Aiding Developmentally challenged children, outreach, social service and welfare programs, and of course...IDF duty.
And if some people want to focus on Eretz Yisrael, that's their right, just as I know some people who focus on tzedakka, some who focus on learning and teaching Torah, and others who focus on saving lives.
Focus is a "religious, social, and moral injustice"???
I would advise that she be very cautious about using language such as "plague" and Eretz Yisrael in the same breath.
When the 10 spies spoke poorly about Israel, it didn't do them any good, nor the rest of our nation.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
I don't know who to credit for this picture, since I've gotten it so many times by email. It was taken during the fog yesterday morning, January 28th. I suggest you click it to see the full clarity of the picture.
In the center of the picture is the Azrieli towers (seen below on a sunny day).
To help put things in perspective and give you a slightly better appreciation of the fog picture.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
