Moving into Day 5 - Beersheva and Nitzan Sewer Pipes

Today, missiles hit the city of Beersheva in the Negev. Not only the city, but a kindergarten - which thank G-d was empty. And still we sit, afraid to give the full force of our very capable response.

Will rockets on Tel Aviv make a difference? Why do not the towns along the coast and deep in the Negev count as much as Tel Aviv would? Is Jewish blood more precious in Tel Aviv?

In case you haven't heard or read, the families who were living in Gush Katif's Ne've Dekalim and are now living on an agricultural plot of old Nitzan in makeshift caravilla's (read paper thin walls) have been given special and wonderful attention by our government, now that the shelling of Hamas' rockets has followed them to Nitzan.

Since there are no miklatot (bomb shelters) here, the government is making these families feel protected and cared for. They are bringing in large sewer pipes for them to run into should the Color Red Alert sound, giving a few seconds to take cover..

Yes, you are reading this right.

They have been told of course, that the sewers will not protect from a direct hit, only from peripheral damage of a nearby one.

Rachel Saperstein gives the descriptive naarative in an Arutz Sheva Opinion article. Rachel and her husband Moshe were expelled from Ne've Dekalim.

What words can convey our disgust with this government?

A few pictures supplied by Debbie Rosen of Nitzan.

Israel's Response is Disproportionate by Jonathan Mark

The following article by Jonathan Mark, associate editor of the Jewish World Review, is, shall we say..."right on the mark!"

Please follow the link and read the entire piece.

Israel's Response Is Disproportionate
By Jonathan Mark

JewishWorldReview.com

I condemn Israel's disproportionate attack on Hamas because, so far, it has only lasted four days and I would like to see a proportionate response that terrifies Hamas for seven years, the years that have filled Sderot and neighboring towns with nightmares, death, amputations and trauma coming from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza.

Perhaps a proportionate response would have Gaza's leaders fearful of being killed every day for the next two years, as Gilad Shalit has been terrified of torture and death every day for the last two years in his solitary Gaza dungeon. .......

Read the full article at: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/jonathan/mark_disproportionate.php3

Tsafrir Ronen

Last Shabbat, not only did the surprise attack on Hamas take place, but a dear dear man, a strong and remarkable voice for Eretz Yisrael, was taken from us. Tsafrir Ronen, of the Galil, died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack.

His funeral was Sunday, and those who knew him are in shock and mourning. I had met him only once, but his love for this country is legendary. When I heard him speak a few months ago at Bet haShalom in Hebron, both he and his message were electrifying. His words, his knowledge, his passion grabbed the hearts of everyone who knew or heard him. A remarkable man.

There have been many tributes. This is one of them - a beautiful and personal tribute by Adina Kutnicki

Israel’s Hero, My Hero

Tevet 2, 5769, 29 December 08 11:50by Adina Kutnicki

(IsraelNN.com) While all lovers of Zion anxiously scan the news regarding the IAF’s ‘shock and awe’ operation against Hamas, those who received the shocking news of Tsafrir Ronen’s untimely and very sudden death this very same weekend could not help but be shaken to the core of their souls.

While every death deeply affects family and friends, few of those deaths can be described as a monumental loss for Zion. The passing of Tsafrir Ronen - a stalwart, non-intimidated defender of Zion - will surely register as such when the history of modern Israel is told in full.

As a former sayeret matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit) commando, a prolific documentary filmmaker and a founder of the Nahalal Forum, to name a few of his accomplishments, Tsafrir was a totally devoted defender of the land and people of Israel. An individual with great vision and a sweeping understanding of Jewish history, he knew instinctively that the war being waged against Israel had many dimensions. As a warrior he understood well the military dynamics, but it was his visceral and incisive understanding of the media war being waged against us that caused him to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

To that end, he decided to direct all his passions and energies - through the use of his extensive knowledge of the media - to save Israel both from its external foes and internal ones. As the ex-CEO of the Israel History Channel, he knew what needed to be done media-wise. Constructively, he put his vision to work by creating the conceptual and business underpinnings for Israel World Television, the first pro-Israel satellite channel to be broadcast worldwide, providing for 24/7 coverage, FOX News-like.

He assembled an all-star lineup of backers, which included major players in the Israeli and worldwide business scene, coupled with a roster of the most astute political thinkers on the Israeli landscape today. Most importantly, he had the backing of Natan Sharansky, a man of worldwide respect as a champion of freedom. What his diverse group of supporters had in common was the intrinsic understanding that Israel is losing the battle on the media front and that we are at an existential crossroads. They all believed that Tsafrir had the integrity, vision and expertise to lead the charge.

The sudden loss of this wonderful, humble man is first and foremost a devastating one for his loving and supportive wife Judy and their ‘three blondinas’, the pet name he had for his three beautiful, blond-haired daughters. They were his pride and joy. On a personal level, I will miss my best friend in Israel, a man I considered my blood brother, with whom I worked side by side to support him in his mission and vision.

On a national level, his loss will most likely be appreciated when history is written. In the same manner that few understood the profound essence of all of Ze'ev Jabotinsky’s efforts for our homeland while he was alive, so too will Tsafrir’s undertakings resonate in future generations. I suspect that he will be the model that future generations of Zionists will emulate when his activities on behalf of Zion become more widely known.

Rest in peace my dear friend. May your memory be for a blessing.

With eternal friendship.

www.IsraelNationalNews.com
© Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com

Questions on Day 3 and 4 of the War

We are into the 4th day of the war and the rocket attacks on Israel have escalated as predicted. Yesterday over 80 rockets and mortars hit the southern region, striking towns never hit before such as Ashdod, Ofakim, and Yavne. Three people were killed, one in Ashdod, one near Nahal Oz, and one in the Bedouin town of Aro'er in the Negev. In addition a home in the Sha'ar haNegev region was hit directly. Many have been wounded or in shock.

Of course, towns like Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot and others continue to be pummeled.

The caution of the IAF to target only pinpointed military positions which are civilian safe has returned, and is as ludicrous as always. We are at war. We have been at war for many years. Now that we have finally reacted, we need to go in and act like we mean business.... This shouldn't be asking too much!

Our military spokesmen predicted the upsurge in rockets after our strike, predicted the longer range, and many other things about the arsenal of Hamas. These predictions show clearly that we know exactly where and what they are, so why, in G-d's Name, do we not go in and destroy everything?

Oh, yes, it is not politically correct.

I am concerned about our ground troops going in. A war fought for political and politically correct reasons, at the cost of our young men's lives, is immoral. A war fought to pulverize an evil entity is another matter.

There is another issue that I mentioned in an earlier post. The volatile 5th column. There have been several terrorist attacks by Israeli arabs. In Modi'in, two arab workers stabbed the family members of the home where they were working, one of them, the father, seriously wounded. Border police and soldiers have been attacked, cars and motorcycles pelted with rocks, riots in Yafo, northern Jerusalem... several have been wounded. Several other severe attacks have been thwarted by the IDF - e.g. a firebomb at the Kalandia checkpoint just moments ago was stopped by the soldiers.

Protests around the world have escalated in their level of violence. Now and then a bright light surfaces...the incoming EU president just released a statement defending Israel....a rather remarkable happening. The EU itself however continues to condemn us, although the condemnations world wide are rather muted, if you look closely, as only idiots and fools would take a position siding with terrorists. Nonetheless, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric is escalating and we are heading into some deep waters.

The next weeks will tell us more of the story...but remember - only something beyond logic can cause every action of a tiny little country to result in world wide uproar.

Think about it.

A Chanukah Surprise

In a fitting Chanuka gift to the nation and to the world, our government, over Shabbat, finally ordered a strike on Hamas in Gaza - a pretty powerful one at that. One hundred tons of ordinance were dropped on terrorist targets, police and terror training facilities, in an operation that took Hamas by surprise. Over 250 were killed, nearly all of them Hamas officials and terrorists including the senior commander of Hamas' police force, Tawfik Jabber, his military assistant, Ismail al-Ja'abri, commander of defense and security, and Abu-Ahmad Ashur, governor of the central district.

Operation Cast-Lead, as it is called - from a Chanukah poem by H.R. Bialik - continues this morning, with rocket launching sites, Hamas government offices and television stations being the recipients of today's IAF bombings.

Very few civilians have been casualties, but I must remind our readers that we are at war. Unfortunately, some civilians casualties can happen. The people in Aza elected this terrorist government, and unfortunately, the terrorists hide behind and in the midst of civilians so that they can manipulate the media PR against Israel.

Within Israel, power and other utilities are being affected for whatever reasons, and areas along the Gaza corridor and much deeper into Israel are now hearing the Tzeva Adom (Color Red Alert), some for the first time....places like Gan Yavneh and Ashdod.

In an attempt to placate world criticism and demonstrate that our target is Hamas, not the civilian population, our government this morning ordered crossings into Gaza to open - to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and to receive out of Gaza, and into Israel, some of the wounded who will receive treatment in Israeli hospitals.

This is what makes the situation so crazy. What other government or country in the world would feed and heal the enemy? Many think this is exemplary and laudable, showing the world that we are compassionate people above all else; others think it is insanity.. aiding and abetting the enemy is, after all, treason. While I tend to lean towards the second opinion, some things happen in spite of ourselves that are beyond understanding... thus I will leave this matter untouched by much commentary.

Of course, all of this could have been avoided had we not destroyed the lives and homes of the beautiful and brave Jews who lived in Gush Katif. Beyond that - given the reality of that cowardly deed by our government, had we gone in many months ago to destroy the terrorists activities and developments, we would find ourselves in a much less dangerous situation. By our appeasement, we have allowed the poison of Hamas to fester and grow to a much larger problem.

Of course, the timing of this coincides with the elections, and one worries that the elections may now be postponed and Olmert will continue to operate as Prime Minister, indefinitely....even though he resigned weeks ago. It's a sobering reality, and a sickening one. However, the words of my friend, Moshe Kempinski, whom I often quote in this blog, sum it up in an encouraging way. Believing that rising up with courage to destroy evil and defeat our enemies, is indeed the G-d given mandate for Israel in this hour, he said this: ".... when a nation is led into a path that coincides with their destiny and survival, the reasons behind the move are less important."

One last piece of information. Our strategic operations are given names that have significance. It is important to us that this courage to act against Hamas came in the midst of Chanukah. While the more popular celebration of this holiday focuses on the miracle of the oil burning for 8 days in the recaptured and cleansed Temple, (Chanukah means "dedication", i.e. the (re)dedication of the altar in the Temple), an equally significant importance of Chanukah is to remember the miraculous victory that God gave us, and to remember the faith and bravery of the Maccabees, whose victory over the Greeks was profound, unexpected and dramatic.

Through the ages, Jews have remembered this miraculous victory in ways that aren't observable to the world. One way is in the spin of the dreidle...its letters in Israel are נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), פ (Pei) "A great miracle happened here."

One of our beloved poets, Haim Nahman Bialik wrote this poem, which on the surface is just about tops and pancakes, but at a deeper level recognizes the importance of this remembrance. The finest of victories is exemplified by the finest of dreidles - one made of solid or cast-lead.

Here is his poem. May our soldiers be protected by the Almighty as they go to battle.

For Hanukkah

Father lighted candles for me;
Like a torch the Shamash shone.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Teacher bought a big top for me,
Solid lead, the finest known.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Mother made a pancake for me,
Hot and sweet and sugar-strewn.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Uncle had a present for me,
An old penny for my own.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

(This is cross-posted on the parallel blog From the Hills of Jerusalem)

Steyn On the World

I'm sure this will appear on blogs around the world, but no reason why it shouldn't also be on this one. It is an excellent piece by Mark Steyn, author of America Alone. I was alerted to it by Naomi Ragen. Please share.

WHO'S VULNERABLE?

Steyn on the World
Saturday, 13 December 2008

Shortly after the London Tube bombings in 2005, a reader of Tim Blair, the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s columnar wag, sent him a note-perfect parody of a typical newspaper headline: “British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow’s Train Bombing.”

Indeed. And so it goes. This time round — Bombay — it was the Associated Press that filed a story about how Muslims “found themselves on the defensive once again about bloodshed linked to their religion.”

Oh, I don’t know about that. In fact, you’d be hard pressed from most news reports to figure out the bloodshed was “linked” to any religion, least of all one beginning with “I-“ and ending in “-slam.” In the three years since those British bombings, the media have more or less entirely abandoned the offending formulations — “Islamic terrorists,” “Muslim extremists” — and by the time of the assault on Bombay found it easier just to call the alleged perpetrators “militants” or “gunmen” or “teenage gunmen,” as in the opening line of this report in the Australian: “An Adelaide woman in India for her wedding is lucky to be alive after teenage gunmen ran amok…”

Kids today, eh? Always running amok in an aimless fashion.

The veteran British TV anchor Jon Snow, on the other hand, opted for the more cryptic locution “practitioners.” “Practitioners” of what, exactly?

Hard to say. And getting harder. Tom Gross produced a jaw-dropping round-up of Bombay media coverage: The discovery that, for the first time in an Indian terrorist atrocity, Jews had been attacked, tortured, and killed produced from the New York Times a serene befuddlement: “It is not known if the Jewish center was strategically chosen, or if it was an accidental hostage scene.”

Hmm. Greater Bombay forms one of the world’s five biggest cities. It has a population of nearly 20 million. But only one Jewish center, located in a building that gives no external clue as to the bounty waiting therein. An “accidental hostage scene” that one of the “practitioners” just happened to stumble upon? “I must be the luckiest jihadist in town. What are the odds?”

Meanwhile, the New Age guru Deepak Chopra laid all the blame on American foreign policy for “going after the wrong people” and inflaming moderates, and “that inflammation then gets organized and appears as this disaster in Bombay.”

Really? The inflammation just “appears”? Like a bad pimple? The “fairer” we get to the, ah, inflamed militant practitioners, the unfairer we get to everyone else.

At the Chabad House, the murdered Jews were described in almost all the Western media as “ultra-Orthodox,” “ultra-” in this instance being less a term of theological precision than a generalized code for “strange, weird people, nothing against them personally, but they probably shouldn’t have been over there in the first place.” Are they stranger or weirder than their killers? Two “inflamed moderates” entered the Chabad House, shouted “Allahu Akbar!,” tortured the Jews and murdered them, including the young Rabbi’s pregnant wife. Their two-year-old child escaped because of a quick-witted (non-Jewish) nanny who hid in a closet and then, risking being mown down by machine-gun fire, ran with him to safety.

The Times was being silly in suggesting this was just an “accidental” hostage opportunity — and not just because, when Muslim terrorists capture Jews, it’s not a hostage situation, it’s a mass murder-in-waiting. The sole surviving “militant” revealed that the Jewish center had been targeted a year in advance. The 28-year-old rabbi was Gavriel Holtzberg. His pregnant wife was Rivka Holtzberg. Their orphaned son is Moshe Holtzberg, and his brave nanny is Sandra Samuels. Remember their names, not because they’re any more important than the Indians, Britons, and Americans targeted in the attack on Bombay, but because they are an especially revealing glimpse into the pathologies of the perpetrators.

In a well-planned attack on iconic Bombay landmarks symbolizing great power and wealth, the “militants” nevertheless found time to divert 20 percent of their manpower to torturing and killing a handful of obscure Jews helping the city’s poor in a nondescript building. If they were just “teenage gunmen” or “militants” in the cause of Kashmir, engaged in a more or less conventional territorial dispute with India, why kill the only rabbi in Bombay? Dennis Prager got to the absurdity of it when he invited his readers to imagine Basque separatists attacking Madrid: “Would the terrorists take time out to murder all those in the Madrid Chabad House? The idea is ludicrous.”

And yet we take it for granted that Pakistani “militants” in a long-running border dispute with India would take time out of their hectic schedule to kill Jews. In going to ever more baroque lengths to avoid saying “Islamic” or “Muslim” or “terrorist,” we have somehow managed to internalize the pathologies of these men.

We are enjoined to be “understanding,” and we’re doing our best. A Minnesotan suicide bomber (now there’s a phrase) originally from Somalia returned to the old country and blew up himself and 29 other people last October. His family prevailed upon your government to have his parts (or as many of them as could be sifted from the debris) returned to the United States at taxpayer expense and buried in Burnsville Cemetery. Well, hey, in the current climate, what’s the big deal about a federal bailout of jihad operational expenses? If that’s not “too big to fail,” what is?

Last week, a Canadian critic reprimanded me for failing to understand that Muslims feel “vulnerable.” Au contraire, they project tremendous cultural confidence, as well they might: They’re the world’s fastest-growing population. A prominent British Muslim announced the other day that, when the United Kingdom becomes a Muslim state, non-Muslims will be required to wear insignia identifying them as infidels. If he’s feeling “vulnerable,” he’s doing a terrific job of covering it up.

We are told that the “vast majority” of the 1.6-1.8 billion Muslims (in Deepak Chopra’s estimate) are “moderate.” Maybe so, but they’re also quiet. And, as the AIDs activists used to say, “Silence=Acceptance.” It equals acceptance of the things done in the name of their faith. Rabbi Holtzberg was not murdered because of a territorial dispute over Kashmir or because of Bush’s foreign policy. He was murdered in the name of Islam — “Allahu Akbar.”

I wrote in my book, America Alone, that “reforming” Islam is something only Muslims can do. But they show very little sign of being interested in doing it, and the rest of us are inclined to accept that. Spread a rumor that a Koran got flushed down the can at Gitmo, and there’ll be rioting throughout the Muslim world. Publish some dull cartoons in a minor Danish newspaper, and there’ll be protests around the planet. But slaughter the young pregnant wife of a rabbi in Bombay in the name of Allah, and that’s just business as usual. And, if it is somehow “understandable” that for the first time in history it’s no longer safe for a Jew to live in India, then we are greasing the skids for a very slippery slope. Muslims, the AP headline informs us, “worry about image.” Not enough.

The Orange County Register, December 2008
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/1545/101/

Beautiful Niggun

The information continuing to come forth about the Mumbai massacres is a bit overwhelming. Every day new stories emerge, about the Chabad couple and others so brutally murdered, about survivors.

Rabbi David Grossman, the Rabbi of Migdal Ha'Emek and uncle of Rivka Holzberg, brought into his home the infant son of the Holzberg's, and the nanny, Sandra Samuel, who miraculously rescued the child. While they were in his home, Rabbi Grossman, known as the Disco Rabbi, composed a niggun (holy verses put to song) to give thanks for saving the lives of baby Moishe and others in this horrendous tragedy.



The words to the niggun are a verse from the 18th blessing of the 'Amidah' Silent Prayer which is recited by observant Jews three times every day. It reads "HaTov Ki Lo Chalu Rachamecha VeHaMerachem Ki Lo Tamu Chasadecha, Ki Me'Olam Kivinu Lach" ("The Good, because Your mercy has not ended, and the Merciful One because your kindness is not over, for we have always hoped for You." ) The words and translation from Israel News article at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128783
.

The full article and other videos can be found at this blog: http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2008/12/rabbi-grossman-sings-thanks-for.html

Background Info

An excellent article by David Wilder explaining some of the background to the terrible situation in Hevron

Extremism Breeds Extremism

Dec. 7, 2008DAVID WILDER , THE JERUSALEM POST

Following the expulsion of families from Beit Hashalom in Hebron, during a radio interview with the BBC, I was asked about our future plans. When I responded that the community would continue to purchase property in Hebron, the interviewer asked, "But won't that just cause more violence?" I answered, "If I bought a home in London and was told that a Jew purchasing on 'that side of the city' would cause a violent reaction, how would that be viewed? Probably as anti-Semitism and racism. Why then can't a Jew buy property in Hebron, just as people purchase homes all over the world?"

Another common question I've had to field from journalists is, "Don't you think this has all gotten out of control?" My response is quite simple: "Of course it is totally out of control. That's not the question. The question is who is out of control?" Clearly, in my opinion, those who have lost control are those democratic institutions which are designed to protect citizens from despotic leadership.

FOLLOWING PURCHASE of Beit Hashalom for close to $1 million, the Hebron community found itself under attack from numerous sources. Rapidly the question of our legitimate presence in the building made its way to court. The original court decision found enough evidence supporting our claims to prevent immediate eviction. However, harsh restrictions were imposed, including denial to install windows and to hook up to the Hebron municipal electric grid. Only in the middle of a major snowstorm did the defense minister allow installation of windows in the building last winter.

Due to the political sensitivity of the case, we soon found ourselves opposite a Supreme Court panel hearing the various issues involved. That panel was composed of Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justices Edmond Levy and Uzi Fogelman. Levy is religious. Following a break in the court hearings, Beinisch changed the panel, removing Levy and Fogelman and replacing them with Justices Ayala Procaccia, who is known to be one of the most left-wing justices on the court, and Salim Joubran, the only Arab on the court. Beinisch, it must be noted, is not known for her right-wing ideological opinions. Two leftist justices and an Arab were left to decide the fate of the Jews living in Beit Hashalom. If that's not a stacked deck, nothing is. So wrote retired District Court judge Uzi Struzman, calling the court's final decision blatantly political.

In that decision, the court ruled that it would not examine the evidence presented, including proof of authentication of the legal sales documents, a video of the seller receiving and counting the money received for the building, and an audio recording of his description of the sale and receipt of the money.
Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz, when presented with new evidence in the case, specifically the audio cassette, refused to meet with community attorneys or examine the proof of purchase.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced only two weeks ago his intention to legalize all the illegal Beduin construction in the South. Yet he gave the go-ahead to violently expel all residents of the building in the midst of advanced high-level negotiations which would have allowed him to forgo the brutal confrontation.

These are examples of nothing less than terror - administrative terror, utilized by the highest echelons of the country's democratic institutions to further their own political beliefs against loyal citizens of the state, in this case, residents of the Hebron Jewish community.

FOLLOWING VIOLENT reactions to the extremely harsh expulsion, which included use of tear gas and stun grenades, I was asked about "red lines" - and decisions to "cross those red lines." Unfortunately we are presently facing situations where the government is crossing all the red lines that previously existed. The transformation of the judicial system, including the attorney-general and the Supreme Court, into an extended arm of the political arena ends all notions of impartiality or objectivity.

Hebron residents are often labeled extremists. However nothing could be more extreme than the above-described actions of Mazuz and Beinisch. But due to their positions and political ideologies, their extremism is considered legitimate.

It should be clear. Hebron's Jewish community opposes and rejects any and all violence aimed at innocent people, be they Arabs, Jews or anyone else. However it is unthinkable and intolerable that Israel's top leadership should change the rules in the middle of the game, expecting the other side to play by the old ones, while they play by the new. Such actions, as we have recently witnessed, quite literally push a large segment of the population into a corner with no way out, creating a dangerously volatile situation. Peace may breed peace but by the same token, extremism breeds extremism.

The real danger to Israeli society is not a few dozen kids throwing rocks while violently and illegitimately being thrown out of a home in Hebron. The true threat to our country is the warping of the fundamental institutions whose presence is supposed to protect the people rather than terrorize them. The decisions made concerning Beit Hashalom were not based upon justice, rather upon pure judicial terror.

The writer is spokesman of the Jewish community of Hebron.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1227702464908

Nadia Matar

Following is an excerpt from the communique that Nadia Matar posted on her website. She is at home after being beaten with clubs by Israeli police. She was left unconscious and temporarily paralyzed, but thank God is now recovering. Keep her in your prayers for complete healing.

Dear Friends,

I would like to thank the tens of people who called and sent emails to ask how I was doing. Thank G-d I feel better and returned home after having been in the hospital.

The many beatings by the expulsion forces dressed in black who kicked us and beat us with their clubs during yesterday’s expulsion from Bet Hashalom, paralyzed me completely and the paramedics feared my neck and spine had been hurt. I was rushed to the Shaarei Tzedek hospital. Thank G-d, after different tests in the hospital all were shown to be OK. My body obviously hurts very much but that will pass in the next few days. My fighting spirit on the other hand has only increased and was strengthened after I had the honor to spend the entire last week, together with thousands of others, in Bet Hashalom.

We had the honor to get to know the 14 wonderful families who have been living in Bet Hashalom for the past year and eight months and the many other activists from Kiryat Arba Hebron. I am telling you, there are not enough words to describe those wonderful Jews. They gave us the most incredible lesson in hospitality and in love and total devotion to the Land of Israel. In addition, I want to salute the wonderful hundreds of youth who came to Bet Hashalom and strengthen them.....

Read the entire article at http://womeningreen.org/

Following Beit Shalom.....

So many emotions - of outrage and disgust, of compassion for injured and hurting people, of determination to not let this break the spirit, of anger and outrage and disgust again, nausea at the sights, betrayal, weeping for the moment, outrage and disgust again and again, and eventually...hope and strength and vision.

Over and over again the government and its pundits label any one opposed to their brutal tactics as "extremists," "hot-headed," "lawless," "wild homeless youth," etc, etc. - and they scratch their heads and wonder why.

My friend Moishe Kempinski put some of his thoughts to paper on his blog at http://ajerusalemvoice.blogspot.com/. Here is the article in its entirety.

THOSE ANGRY YOUTH

When the news first broke of the police expulsion of the residents of the Peace House I was overwhelmed by a wave of anger pain and disgust. Memories of facing the horsemen at the street corner demonstrations during the early Oslo years, , standing against the cold lifeless faces of the soldiers in Kfar Maimon, and driving helplessly along the roads by the Gaza strip trying to find a way in , all came up like poisonous bile. Memories of the water cannons, the grey shirted Yassam thugs and the brutal forces at Amona all chilled my heart again .

Nothing seems to have changed and nothing seems to have been learnt. Just like in Amona the possibility of an agreed upon solution was discarded in favor of confronting the "powers of evil" as a way of lifting the political prospects of our Minister of Defense.

No...the powers of evil were not the terrorists holding Gilad Shalit. It wasn't the murderers lobbing death missiles into Sederot. It wasn't even radical Islam which murdered so many good souls just this last week.

It was a stand off against young ideological and faithful Jews living in a house that they legally purchased.

Yet the expulsion on Thursday was not the worst of the crime . The media defamation and hateful lies regarding the settlers of this house and of all the Biblical heartland was horrific. Reports were repeated about a soldier blinded by acid poured on him. Just as in Gush Katif this news story proved to be false. Suddenly young religious Zionist youth were all branded as homeless toughs with no controls. The young families in the Peace House represented the greatest threat to Israeli democracy since the Altalena. Reshet Bet news correspondents described the people demonstrating in the street corners as "thrill seekers". Psychologists and pundits wondered on radio talk shows “ why these youth were so angry.

Lets see if I can help.

• You arrested them as they sat in intersections in a cry of anguish after terrorist murderers.
• You threw 14 and 15 year old kids into jail for long periods of time as you were releasing terrorists murderers as a "gesture"
• You ran over them with your horses and you attacked them with water cannons
• You brutalized them with hooked batons and heavy clubs in Amona.
• You threw them out of their homes
• You blamed them for everything from Rabin's murder to the spread of world wide Islamic terror.
• You called them thugs and wild weeds and yet let them die for your ill planned wars in Lebanon.
• You threw stun grenades and tear gas canisters at them when you wanted to evict them AGAIN from a home they purchased

And you wonder why they are angry and mistrustful of you…

Thanks, Moishe, for sharing your heart on this.

Shameful Government Gone Mad

Late night update: Many have inquired about Nadia Matar, co-chairwoman of Women in Green, who was targeted and beaten by police. Nadia is in Sha'arei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem, but by all reports is progressing. She has many bruises and some injuries but they are not life threatening. It was clear when the police invaded the house (the residents were eating lunch) that they had done much surveillance and planning. They knew specifically where Nadia and Daniella Weiss were within the house and headed for them immediately.

Eye witness reports speak of the arbitrary and capricious violence of the soldiers who were the ring around the yassamniks, put there to keep others from going towards the house. Apparently they went to extremes to "fulfill their role", as women and young girls were targeted. A Hebron resident who wasn't even a part of Beit Shalom, attempted to drive to her home, and was terrified and screaming when soldiers began rocking her car to overturn it (just for fun). Finally, a commander stopped the "entertainment." Our government has turned one of our precious treasures (the IDF) into a ghoulish monster.

As I write this post, hundreds of police have amassed and are at this hour, in process of violently expelling the Jewish families who are living in Beit Shalom - the house purchased by Jews in Hevron. DM Ehud Barak ordered an invasion of Beit Shalom immediately after meeting with Beit Shalom leaders and with Rabbi Moshe Levinger, the founder of the present day community and a leader in Hebron. I know Rav. Levinger, and cannot fathom someone meeting with him and then turning around and doing what Ehud Barak is doing.

Barak continues to state that the High Court ordered the evacuation, which is completely untrue. The Supreme Court decision was one that allowed the State (i.e. Barak) to proceed with expulsion if it wished... leaving the decision wholly in the hands of Ehud Barak. To hide behind the Courts, pretending it was their decision and that he is just enforcing it, is duplicitous behavior of the worst kind.

I am watching the live coverage on Channel 1 (IsraelBroadcastingAssoc. - IBA) and I have observed countless acts of violence by the police. In one case, 4 policeman ran and attacked a person from the back, (it looked like a woman, but in the balygan I am not positive); they threw her to the ground, beat her and dragged her off. All this on camera. They apparently don't care. You complain, the same thing will happen to you.

As I write, these are the reports that are coming in as reported by Channel 1 news (IBA) - not a source normally sympathetic to the national cause:

1. Yassam police are seen without their name tags. This is totally illegal in Israel and done so that when violence is done to a citizen, the citizen cannot sue, as they don't know the name of the policeman committing the violence. (Sara Beck, IBA)

2. Ambulances are being prevented by the police from reaching Beit Shalom and treating the victims, one of whom is seriously injured. (Sara Beck)

3. Palestinian Arabs are cheering, dancing and attacking Jews, thrilled that Jews are being thrown out of their home by Israeli police and knowing they and the police are on the same side. Nothing is being done to stop the rock attacks. (also witnessed and commented on by IBA news)
( I have noted in recent weeks how many times the arabs and the Israeli police have banded together and are seen visibly fighting the Jews. Think about this picture and the message it sends the arab world.)(mf)

4. Youth who are trying to get back into the area are being tear-gassed

5. As I complete this post, the house has been evacuated but all of Judea has just been sealed off. It is now a closed military zone - which means that residents can get through the checkpoints, but no one else.

A sad sad day for our country. G-d help us.

Mumbai and Israel

Mumbai. It will be one more name etched in our collective memories - a picture of horror immediately associated with the word.

The depth of the tragedy is just unfolding and the gruesome details are extremely difficult to hear. We mourn the terrible deaths of so many innocent people, and deeply mourn the loss of our own. There is a plethora of information and misinformation swirling about the events that took place, and we will probably have only partial knowledge of what really transpired.

The truth is, however, we don't need the details. We have more than enough of them. We all know the source and the direction of the beyond the pale agenda of the islamists. The attack was one of the clearest pictures of the insanity of the hatred of islam against Jews, Israel and the western nations. The hotels were targeted because of the American and British patrons, and the Chabad House was specifically targeted because it is a center for Jews, and particularly Israelis as they travel. The Chabad house was hidden away on a side street and had to be located (the surviving terrorist said from Google earth maps).

But we are all responsible for what happened - the western nations in general, especially the media, and yes, our own Israeli government, are responsible for these escalating and increasingly brazen attacks . Islam has never held it a secret that they wish to dominate the entire world, and that they will use a variety of methods to do so. Some of it will be accomplished through methods of extreme violence such as what happened in Mumbai, some through quiet and behind the scenes manipulation and positioning. The key players now hold much of the world's wealth, and have in their grasp others in positions of influence who are more than willing to cooperate to be on the side of power. Ethics and morality be damned and wisdom ignored, our world leaders - all of them - would rather be on the winning side and stay in positions of power (they erroneously believe) than to act with courage against this rising scourge.

Our continual appeasement and coddling of these vile people and their agenda is so absurd and so scandalous there are no words. Legitimization of their leaders by negotiation and back room deals, recognition in the media through countless interviews and kindly words is completely irrational. This goes for the entire range of these depraved individuals, from the high-up Saudis to Arafat/Abbas to Hamas to each particular terrorist. Everything we have done simply emboldens them to move with confidence towards world domination.

The great tragedy, however, is that we, as Jews, were given a mandate by G-d to stem the tide of just such agendas, and we have instead, "turned the other cheek". We alone, were given the commandment of administering both mercy and justice, for one without the other can never work, and yet, tragically, our leaders are afraid to apply justice. How different it would be, if we in Israel, had said No. No to giving over the Land we returned to and legitimately conquered as well, No to giving up the Temple Mount, No to Olso, No to giving away Hebron, Shechem, Bethlehem, Jenin, and more, NO to expelling Jews from Gush Katif to give the Land over to Hamas, No, No, No to appeasement after appeasement after appeasement.

How different it would be if we had said Yes to G-d, and moved with courage to smash the evil in our midst - which is done both by standing up strongly for what is right and rightfully ours, and by destroying or stopping in other ways, the evil people who continually perpetuate it. That means we quickly subdue the enemy - yes, militarily - not only because that is the just thing to do, but because it is also the most merciful. Taking swift action against evil protects millions from future tragedy and violence against them.

Instead we all have nourished and sheltered the evil until it has grown out of control -reaching world wide epidemic proportions, vile and festering and ready to spew its poison in untold catastrophes.

Israel was supposed to set the standard for the rest of the world. The world, whether it realizes it or not, looks to us for example. And what a terrible tragic example we have given.

This morning it is clear that we still don't awaken to reality. Our government's response to the massacre in Mumbai was to release 250 more terrorists, ready to be jihad soldiers against us and carry out the same kind of deadly and devastating events.

Are our leaders bewitched? Are they paralyzed with fear, or are they so enamored with the attention of the world and their own legacies that they can can no longer discern between good and evil?

It seems these days that the most appropriate response to our leaders is that of our ancient prophet:

"...And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment ..... and sat down appalled." Ezra 9:3