Hypocrisy Over Gaza

The latest from Pat Condell


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Israel doesn't owe a biased world any explanation for defending itself
against murderers.

Israel continues to survive irrational hatred and violent attacks

Israel continues to survive irrational hatred and violent attacks

Commentary by James Shott

Christians and Jews know from studying religious texts that the Hebrews lived in what is now Israel roughly 3,000 years ago, and many independent sources confirm their occupation of that land three millennia ago.

Even the Quran, the Islamic equivalent of the Bible, notes: “Sura 17, The Children of Israel (Banî Israel)” in the Khalifa translation, and perhaps others, as well.

Charles Krauthammer provided context in The Weekly Standard in 1998, commenting that “Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.”

The land occupied by modern Israel is small, about the size of Wales or half the size of Costa Rica, and is located roughly on the site of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, except that these ancient kingdoms also included what is now the West Bank.

Israel is 263 miles long and varies from 9 miles wide at the narrowest point to 70 miles wide at the widest point. It is a little larger than Connecticut and a little smaller than New Jersey, and is home to approximately 8 million Israelis, 5.5 million of whom are Jews.

Israel is bordered on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, and its contiguous neighbors are Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, with Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran not far away.

Israel is smaller than any of its neighbors, both in geographic size and population. The nations that surround it don’t like Israel or Jewish people. “Death to Israel” is in fact a common sentiment among those nations and their people. This sentiment is reflected in a BBC poll last year showing Israel as the fourth least popular nation on the planet, behind Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea.

This perception is based largely on the fact that there are more voices in the region where Israel and its enemies reside demeaning Israel – those would be the voices of the “Death to Israel” crowd – than there are Israeli voices telling the other side of the story. It is not so different than going to Boston and asking which American League team residents think is the most unpopular, and finding most named the New York Yankees, not the Red Sox.

As the saying goes, the more you tell a lie, the more it is believed, and with the help of dishonest reporting, the lie spreads far and wide.

In fact, while the enemies scream “Death to Israel,” Israel only asks for peace, and has made numerous concessions towards that goal, only to be slapped in the face with violent attacks.

The current fighting follows an unprovoked attack on Israel by Hamas. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Hamas “is the largest and most influential Palestinian militant movement … [and] is a Sunni Islamist group and a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization violently opposed to the state of Israel.”

The murders of three Israeli boys and the murder of one Palestinian boy initially stirred tensions, and Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets on Israel to kick-start the conflict.

The differences in how the two sides operate could not be starker: Hamas fires rockets aimed at civilian-occupied areas; Israel targets Hamas compounds, militant command centers, weapons storage facilities and tunnels into Israel and Egypt.

Thus far, more casualties have occurred on the Palestinian side of the conflict, due in part to the Israeli Iron Dome defense system used to protect their citizens by intercepting rockets aimed at population centers. Hamas, however, is said to store rockets in homes and schools, and reportedly uses civilians as shields against attacks on the storage areas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the two philosophies: “We are using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles."

Such tactics help explain the greater number of casualties among Palestinians, and Hamas turns this into anti-Israel propaganda, helping to propagate Israel negative image worldwide.

Steven P. Bucci, who served America for three decades as an Army Special Forces officer and top Pentagon official, writes that “before the Israelis strike a building, every home in it gets a call on its landline phone, as do all the cell phones associated with the inhabitants of the building — the cells additionally get text messages — telling them that in a few minutes the building will be targeted. Finally, to make sure everyone gets the message, Israel drops a dud bomb—one containing no explosives—onto the roof of the structure. … There is no instance in modern military history where a force has taken greater measures to give the innocents as much chance to get out of the way.”

The broad hatred of Israel and love for its enemies is irrational. Despite this, Israel behaves honorably in defending itself against repeated attacks, holds its own against the haters, and survives.

Cross-posted from Observations

Prayers For The Idf

Yesterday Hamas tried to invade a border Kibbutz in Israel, find the children's home and kill the children.  Israel has decided to stop Hamas once and for all.

No nation would allow tunnels to be built under their border and neither does Israel.

Prayer For The IDF

He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.

May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.

May He lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.

Now let us respond: Amen.

 

Hu Yivarech - A Song for the IDF Soldiers - by DOV


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Am Yisrael Chai!!!!

Operation Pillar Of Defense: Three Killed, Infants and Children Wounded UPDATED

By Findalis

Monkey in the Middle


WARNING:  GRAPHIC PICTURES

It was bound to happen, but the news is no less upsetting to everyone.  3 people have been killed, a married couple in their 30's and a single man in his 20's.  Their names are being withheld until the families are notified.  And 7 others have been wounded, including 2 infants.  (One is 8 months old.)

Three people were killed as a result of the Grad rocket attack on Kiryat Malachi Thursday morning. The three were killed during or within minutes of the attack, after efforts to save them failed.

Six others were injured, including two infants, one of them eight months old. An additional victim, a four year old boy, was taken to Tel Hashomer hospital in central Israel for treatment. along with his father. The boy was in serious condition, and the father in moderate condition. Altogether, seven people were injured in the Kiryat Malachi attack. Six others were treated for shock in the attack.

The three killed were a married couple in their 30s, and an individual in his 20s.

The victims were killed and injured when a Grad rocket hit an apartment building in Kiryat Malachi. The dead were among a large group that had taken refuge in an old building that suffered a direct hit from a Grad rocket. Rescue teams were trying to remove victims of the attack from the rubble, and were preparing for the possibility of more casualties, Magen David Adom officials said.

At around noon, several rockets were fired at Sderot, with one scoring a direct hit on a home. Miraculously, no one was injured in that attack, but that house sustained heavy danger. At least one rocket fell near a large gas installation. Rockets hit homes in Kiryat Gat and Ashdod. One person was lightly injured in the Ashdod attack. Also in Ashdod, a rocket destroyed two containers at Ashdod Port.

Another Grad rocket was fired at Kiryat Malachi at about 10:30 AM Israel time. Reports said that an Iron Dome missile blasted the rocket in the air above the city, before it could land and explode. Police urged residents to remain indoors and under cover, even in the event that an Iron Dome missile prevents an attack, because shrapnel from the destroyed missile falling to the ground could still injure people. At least one person in Ashdod was injured when they were struck by shrapnel from a rocket that was destroyed by an Iron Dome missile.

A heavy barrage of Grad and Katyusha rockets was fired at the main population centers in southern Israel Thursday morning. Red Alert warnings were heard in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, Beersheva, and Ofakim. Speaking live from Beersheva at around 8:00 AM Israel time, Israel Radio's correspondent counted at least a dozen missiles hitting in the area of the city. The IDF said that several of the rockets fired at Ashdod and Ashkelon were intercepted by the Iron Dome rocket interception system.

IDF officials expected the barrage to continue throughout Thursday morning, as Gazans prepare to bury Ahmed Jaabari, commander of Hamas's "military" terror wing, who was eliminated Wednesday night, takes place. The IDF was on alert throughout the country, saying that terror activity was likely to increase, with possible rioting by Arabs in PA controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, and a strong likelihood that terrorists would attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers or Israeli civilians. Speaking to Israel Radio, Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich said that the rocket fire would most likely get worse as the day went on, as the funeral for Jaabari progressed.

There was a very strong likelihood that Hamas would try to fire a missile at Tel Aviv or another city in the center of the country, security officials said, in order to score a decisive blow against Israel in revenge for the elimination of Jaabari.

The IDF eliminated three Hamas terrorists early Thursday, Israel Radio said, as Gaza Arab terrorists continued to hammer Israeli towns and villages with rockets. Several rockets were fired at the Be'ersheva and Ofakim areas on Thursday morning. The three were members of Hamas' military wing, the IDF said. Since midnight Wednesday, about 30 rockets were fired at Israeli targets, for a total of over 110 since the beginning of the Pillar of Defense operation Wednesday night.

Source

View video here.

3 people couldn't make it to the shelter in time.  They only had 20 seconds and it was not enough time.  Many people are living in their shelters.  Why bother even trying to run to the shelter.

The people of Israel stand behind the IDF.  The men and women who serve are their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters.  They are their family members.  Yet the world claims that they are murderers, Nazis.  That is because their targets hide behind civilians.  And by using fake videos of so-called injured victims, the world cries for the fake victims while Jews bleed and die.

Barely one day into the fighting in Hamas-run Gaza, the locals are hard at work playing the victim for the world's press.

Footage from the BBC captured by watchdog group Honest Reporting shows a heavy man lying on the ground and being carried away by residents, apparently after being injured by an Israeli attack.

Moments later, that same man again fills the frame, except he is walking about and obviously unhurt.

The widespread staging of such victim situations is a favored tactic of Arabs fighting Israel and has come to be known as "Pallywood." Because Israel is stronger militarily, the Arabs cling to the underdog image of poor refugees under occupation and siege by evil Israelis, thus eliciting sympathy.


View video here.

Source

Notice the lack of Blood or Bleeding.  And why do the Fakistinians need to fake an injured man?  That is because the IAF, who is leading the fight right now, has taken great care NOT to hurt civilians.  Even though Hamas fires rockets from civilian homes, schools, mosques and hospitals.

Pray for the IDF and the people of Israel.

UPDATE:  The names of the dead have been released.  They are:

Ahron Smalga (In his 40s) Father of the 8 month old baby girl who was wounded.
Mirah Scharf (25) and unborn child.
Yitzchak Amselam (22)

May G-d Avenge Their Blood!

Operation Pillar Of Defense UPDATED

By Findalis

Is the name of the latest operation against Hamas in Gaza.  This last weekend saw over 150 rockets fired at cities and towns in Southern Israel.  Many of them fired at the time that children were leaving school for the day.  It was a miracle that nobody was killed.  Add to the rocket attack an attack on a military vehicle that has left a soldier in critical condition, it was no wonder that Israel has lost her patience and has gone on the attack.

The IAF fired a missile at a car in Gaza Wednesday, killing the commander of Hamas's "military" terror wing, Ahmed Jaabari. Israel's TV Channel 2 says his son was also killed.

There are reports that Raed al-Atar, Commander of Hamas's southern division, has also been killed.

Hamas responded by saying that it was now in a state of "open war" with Israel with no date set for its end.

The IAF reportedly also struck targets in Khan Younes and Rafiah. Channel 2 said that the IAF has been striking launch silos for Hamas's longer-range Fajr rockets, which can hit central Israel, in order to preclude their use. About 20 reinforced silos holding Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 silos were reportedly hit.

Nine people have been killed in Gaza, according to reports.

The IDF has begun a wide scale operation, which has been named "Amud Anan," a phrase that refers to the column-shaped cloud that led the Israelites in Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt. The official English name is Pillar of Defense.

Terror missiles have reportedly been fired at Sderot and Ashkelon. There have been no reports of casualties.

Egypt's response to the events is not yet known. Hamas is saying that the "new Egypt" under Mohammed Morsi must withdraw from the Camp David accords with Israel and expel Israel's ambassador in Cairo.

Among other exploits, Ahmed Jaabari, 52, was personally responsible for the abduction and holding of IDF Sgt. Gilad Shalit. Raed al-Atar was in charge of Hamas's smuggling tunnels. He was released from jail in Israeli in 1995.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak appear to have purposely diverted attention away from Gaza by visiting northern Israel and publicly discussing the Syrian threat Wednesday, in order to make it easier to catch the Hamas off guard.

The IDF Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, announced on his Facebook page that "A harsh blow has landed upon Hamas's command and control array, as the IDF hit Ahmed Jaabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in Gaza, who headed the organization and dealt directly with carrying out terror attacks against Israel.

"We are at the beginning of a wide scale attack, in view of the unbearable situation of the residents of the South," he added.

"While we are not talking about conquering all of Gaza," Mordechai told Channel 2, "there is preparation for a ground operation as well, which will be undertaken if it is necessary. The required military units that need to be diverted for such an operation are at the ready," he said.

"The occupation has opened the gates of hell on itself," said a statement from Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which vowed its terrorists would "continue the path of resistance."

The United States is closely watching developments in Gaza following the killing Wednesday of Hamas' military chief in an Israeli air strike, a Pentagon spokesman said.

"We're monitoring the situation closely. We stand by our Israeli partners in their right to defend themselves against terrorism," Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Warren said.

President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Yaakov Amidror, at the White House.

Source

I just hope that this time they are not stopped by Obama's inaugural in order to give him a peaceful day and will do what it takes to secure the South.

UPDATED: Video of the actual hit from the IDF

80 Rockets, Shells Fired From Gaza And The World Is Silent On The Barrage!

By Findalis

Why not?  After all the victims are Jews not Arabs.  After all to the UN, the Lame Stream Media, the State Department, only Arabs can be victims.  Jews are never to be considered victims no matter how many rockets are fired, how many babies are murdered.

New salvos hit the south Wednesday afternoon; school canceled for the day; residents ordered to stay close to ‘secure rooms’; three foreign workers hurt in morning hit on chicken coop.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza continued their rocket assault on Israel Wednesday afternoon after a three-hour pause in the attacks, which have seen dozens of missiles target the south in the past two days. More than 80 rockets and shells had been fired into Israel Wednesday by late afternoon.

Israeli leaders warned of a much intensified military response if the attacks continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of “a more extensive” response. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the army was ready for “a far, far greater and wider response.” Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Israel would not maintain its restraint for many more days, and that Israel was “facing a serious escalation.”

A salvo of eight rockets fell on Hof Ashkelon just after midday, shattering the quiet that had descended for a few hours after a series of rocket attacks in the morning. Another two projectiles were fired at the Hevel Eshkol area. In late afternoon, another missile strike was recorded. There were no reports of injury or damage in the latest attacks.

Three foreign workers were injured, two of them seriously, in Wednesday morning attacks when a rocket hit the chicken coop they were working in, and several houses were damaged by other missiles. At least two other people were reported lightly injured in the strikes. Some of those hurt in the attacks were flown by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

School was cancelled in areas close to Gaza on Wednesday, and residents were told to remain within 15 seconds of “secure rooms” in case of further attacks.

Netanyahu, on a tour of the Iron Dome missile defense facility near the coastal town of Ashkelon, said, “It was not Israel that initiated this escalation, but if it goes on we are prepared to take far more extensive action.” Those who fire on Israel, he said, should know that “they have sealed their own fate.”

He also promised to fortify every building in communities 4.5 to 7 kilometers from the Strip, where until now only educational facilities had been protected.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking to Army Radio, said, “There are about 1,700 households that need fortification, but that said, the situation was a lot more difficult in the past because there was no Iron Dome.”

On Wednesday morning, Iron Dome intercepted seven Grads fired at Ashkelon. In the afternoon the system stopped another missile fired at the city.

France sharply condemned the rocket fire on Israel, urging restraint from both sides.

Since Tuesday afternoon Palestinian terror groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. The incoming missiles were a mix of Gaza-produced Kassam missiles and military-grade Grad rockets that have a longer range and larger warhead.

The IDF has responded to the barrages by targeting terror cells and Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were killed in overnight airstrikes.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz called a meeting Tuesday to assess the situation and toured some of the sites that were hit in attacks.

Barak said he could not rule out a ground invasion if fire continued. “If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. We will do whatever necessary to stop this wave” of violence, he told Army Radio on Wednesday.

“It’s important for the government to think before it decides. This move will bring escalation and not peace — there is no way to reconcile with the terror from Gaza. We are considering everything we need and examining everything. If there will be no choice and the fire continues, they will be struck hard, nothing is impossible,” he said.

Liberman said Israel was facing “a serious escalation” in the south. Speaking before a meeting with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he said the situation was “unacceptable” and that Israel would “not suffer” the ongoing rocket fire for much longer.

Source

I wonder if France would be as accommodating if it were their cities being bombed, their people being killed.  Oops, I forgot, they were when Germans were doing it.

I also wonder how long will Israel go until they send in ground troops to finish the job they started in Operation Cast Lead.  An operation they stopped to be nice to Barack Hussein Obama and not have riots at his inauguration.  Bad move.

Pray for the people of Israel under constant barrage from Gaza.  And if you can, throw a few dollars, Euros, etc... to the people of the Sderot Media Center.  Serving the people of Sderot and Southern Israel for over a decade.  Just click here.

He Is Alive And Home!!!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Gilad Shalit, prisoner of Hamas for 5 years, is finally home, and safe.

Gilad Shalit (rank at the time: Cpl.) was kidnapped early on Sunday June 25, 2006. A terrorist cell attacked Shalit’s tank that was defending the security fence near the southern Gaza Strip. The terrorists crossed the border using an underground tunnel dug near the Kerem Shalom crossing. During the attack, the tank commander, First Lt. Hanan Barak, and another soldier in the tank, Staff Sgt. Pavel Slotzker were killed. Four of the soldiers in the post were injured and terrorists kidnapped Shalit into the Gaza Strip, using the tunnel they dug.




In response to the kidnapping, the IDF began Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip on June 28, 2006 and lasted through November 26, 2006. Ground forces entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since the unilateral disengagement was executed.

Sgt. 1st Class Shalit was 19 years old at the time of his abduction. He is the son of Aviva and Noam Shalit and the brother of Yoel and Hadas. Sgt. 1st Class Shalit excels in math, graduating with distinction from the science class of Manor Kabri High School. He is also a major sports fan, with a passion for playing basketball.

Source

Sgt. 1st Class Shalit was exchanged for 447 Fakistinian murderers.  Another 550 Fakistinian murderers are to be released within the next 2 months.  Why should Israel release them?  Let them rot in jail.  Remove any privileges from them.  No cable, no phones, no visits, no college classes, nothing.  The minimum of food.  Only 1 hour of exercise a day.  Locked in small cells, crowded and with no running water.  Only a hole in the ground for their bodily functions.

A curse upon the Arab peoples.  A curse upon the Fakistinians.  A curse upon the Red Cross, who in 5 years violated the Geneva Conventions of War.

After 5 years Sgt. Shalit is home.  May he find peace after the horror he has experienced.

Breaking: Shalit deal breakthrough

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Word out of Israel today is that Gilad Shalit will be released from Gaza in November.

A deal for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit has been worked out with Hamas, reports in Israeli media and Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya said Tuesday night. The government is to meet Tuesday night, and sources said that the government is expected to approve the deal.

Official details have not yet been released, but reports say that Israel will release at least 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Shalit. Israel has also agreed to ease demands on where the terrorists will be released to. Israel reportedly agreed to allow at least some of the terrorists to return to their families in Judea and Samaria; previously Israel had demanded that most of the terrorists be sent to Gaza, or deported. The deal is set to take place in November, or possibly even before.

The Shalit family declined to comment on the reports. Reports in Israeli media Tuesday night said that the family had received several additional “signs of life” that were not reported to the public, the latest about two years ago.

Israel's government declined to comment, but a spokesperson in the Prime Minister's office said that “a short-term window of opportunity has opened to bring Gilad home.” A report on a Hamas-affiliated TV station said that Hamas Gaza head Khaled Mashaal would release details of the deal later Tuesday night.

Israel Radio reported that the inner cabinet met Monday night to discuss the deal, and members of the military and defense establishment were invited to present their opinions on the deal, especially the release of terrorists to areas within Judea and Samaria. Ministers reportedly discussed each of the terrorists to be released, and where Israel would demand they be sent. One minister, quoted anonymously on Israel Radio said that the deal was not necessarily the best Israel could have gotten, but that “we all feel it is time to bring Gilad home.”

Source

Israel is releasing 1,000 murderers and will get Shalit back.  There is no proof that Gilad Shalit is alive and I believe that all the Israelis will receive is a dead body.

Happy Birthday Gilad Shalit

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

On August 28 Gilad Shalit will turn 25.  He has been held without outside contact for 5 years.  A Prisoner of War without the rights of a POW under the Geneva Conventions of War.  The International Red Cross has been complacent in this horror by refusing to impose sanctions on Hamas until they are allowed to see Gilad.  The world applauds this action.  After all to the world at large Jews have no rights.  And Gilad sits in a prison cell without hope.

Stand With Us has a petition directed to the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, and the United Nations demanding that Gilad be released.  Reminding them that we have not forgotten him.  We haven't.  Please sign it here. 

On August 28th light a candle for Gilad, pray for his release and don't forget him.  Let everyone know who he is and why he matters.  There can be no peace in the Middle East until he is returned to Israel safe and unharmed.

7 Dead, Over 25 Wounded After Terror Attack

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

So much for working towards a 2-State Solution.  There can be no "solution" to the conflict in the region as longs as the Arabs refuse to renounce terrorism against Jewish civilians.

Today the world saw another "fine" example of Arab Military Tactics.

Seven people were reported dead and at least 25 injured in a three-stage terrorist attack along Israel’s border with Egypt on Thursday.

IDF forces were still searching the area around Eilat and the Egyptian border out of concern that there may be terrorists still in the area. Sources said that it is possible that there were as many 20 terrorist in the area, both in Israel and on the Egyptian side of the border.

They added that there may be another terrorist cell hiding in the area. IDF and special police counter-terrorist forces killed seven terrorists during the three coordinated attacks.

The terror attack began at noon Thursday when terrorists opened fire at an Egged bus traveling on Road 12 near Eilat.

Several minutes later, a number of bombs went off next to an IDF patrol traveling along the border with Egypt. There were also reports of mortar fire from Egypt into Israel. The terrorists apparently then moved on to another spot and fired an anti-tank missile at another vehicle, injuring a number of passengers.

Magen David Adom said that terrorists attacked a bus and a private vehicle 20 kilometers north of the site of the first incident. Paramedics said five people there were mortally wounded in that attack.

The casualties were evacuated to Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat. A number of soldiers were among the casualties

IDF soldiers targeted and hit seven terrorists involved in the attacks, according to IDF spokeswoman Avital Leibovich.

“This seems like a coordinated attack,” a senior IDF officer said. There was also speculation that there may have been more than one terror cell coordinating the attacks.

Commander of the IDF’s Edom Division Brig.-Gen. Tamir Yidayi arrived at the scene of the bus attack and set up a command post to coordinate efforts to capture the perpetrators. The IDF suspects that the terrorists infiltrated into Israel after crossing into Egypt possible from the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, the Egyptian Military launched a massive operation to capture terrorist cells operating in the Sinai.

Due to concern that terrorists had infiltrated into Israel from Egypt, security officers in Israeli communities along the border were ordered to raise the level of alert and to tell residents to remain inside their home.

Israel has so far managed to construct a barrier along 45 kilometers of it's southern border with Egypt, which stretches for over 200 km.

The original plan was to complete construction of the fence in 2013 but the Defense Ministry decided several months ago to hire six different contracts in order to speed up the construction and complete the project by the end of 2012.

The Defense Ministry said it would complete construction of an additional 100 km by the end of 2011. Officials said that 700 meters of fence was constructed on a daily basis.

Following the attacks near Eilat on Thursday, Defense Ministry Dir.-Gen. Udi Shani convened a meeting to discuss ways to increase the number of workers who work on the fence in an effort to move up the completion date.

Authorities set up an emergency telephone number for those affected by the attacks near Eilat: 1255175.

Source

Prime Minister Netanyahu and the IDF promises to retaliate for this horror.  That is not an idle threat.  Both Hamas and the UN in Gaza are running for cover.  2 small children were wounded in this attack.

Every protest scheduled for this weekend by the leftists in the "Tent Cities" have been cancelled.  In Israel people unite against terror, not support it.

My prayers go out to the families of the victims.  May the killers be tracked down fast and justice be swift.

Right Hook To al Jazeera!

By Findalis

This video is from 2009 but it could have been yesterday or today.

Captain Avichai Adra'i  (IDF) is not only impressive in what he says, but in how he says it.  He speaks clearly and forcefully to the Muslim world.  No PC or Diplomatic double speak.  He basically reads the Muslim world the riot act.  On al Jazeera to boot.

H/T Elder of Ziyon

America’s Most Unpopular War in Forty Years

America’s Most Unpopular War in Forty Years
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


The Libyan War is proving to be America’s most unpopular war in the past four decades say the pollsters.

OK. I AM calling it the Libyan War. Despite what the left, Obama’s supporters, and Obama himself, would have you believe, the act of establishing and enforcing a no-fly zone over a country IS AN ACT OF WAR!

From my standpoint, one of the reasons why Americans are not enamored of the Libyan War is because -- Obama will not take out Gaddafi. Americans would like to see Gaddafi GONE. I don’t mean gone to Venezuela, but GONE as in departed this life.

Another reason, I believe, Americans just cannot support our efforts in Libya, is that Obama does not seem committed to winning in Libya. The moment he stated publicly that the US would not place US troops on the ground in Libya; he lost a huge chunk of American support for the war. Whether we do, or do not place boots on the ground in Libya, is really not the issue troubling so many of us. It is what seems to be a lack of commitment on the part of the Commander-in-Chief to do whatever it takes to get the job done in Libya. THAT is the problem.

Handing the war off to NATO is only going to make the execution of the war even worse. It will be war by committee. Thee is a better than even chance that without American leadership, Gaddafi will die of old age in Tripoli!

But, the longer I observe America’s third consecutive war with a Muslim country the uneasier I become. I have a persisting feeling that there is much more going on in the Middle East -- and we are unaware of it -- because that is what the Obama Regime wants.

Over the past weeks and months I, along with many other commentators, have described the Middle East as “aflame.” While that is a truthful description of current events there, I have the foreboding feeling that the REAL crisis has not even begun.

Have you noticed the only Middle Eastern country not aflame with “rebels’, or protesters, demanding a change in their government? Yes. It is Israel.

But, I must tell you that while the eyes of the world are drawn to the uprisings in the Muslim world, events are taking place in Israel that force me to believe that soon, Israel will be leading the news … not Libya and not Gaddafi. In fact, I have come to believe that the dust-up in Libya will soon become a sideshow to the war, which I have come to believe, is eminent in Israel.

On Wednesday of this week Hamas fired 15 more shells into Israel. Amos Gilad, Israel’s senior Defense Ministry adviser, has reportedly told Hamas to knock-off the rocket and mortar attacks on Israel and to not do so will be a grave mistake.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was reported in the Israeli press as saying: “We have set a clear policy on security, the essence of which is a vigorous response to any attempt to harm Israeli citizens, and systematic and assertive preventive measures against terrorism.” Netanyahu went on to say: “They are trying to test our resolve and the fortitude of our people. They will learn that the government, the IDF and the Israeli public have an iron will to defend the state and its citizens.”

Israel is gearing up for war. The coming conflict will make the “Cast Lead” Operation resemble a Sunday School picnic.

If Israel attacks Gaza and Hamas with a full scale IDF invasion -- while the Muslim blood lust is up -- there is the potential for a hellish regional war, which would, no doubt, involve the use of nuclear weapons.

Why do I continue to pound the nightmare of a nuclear war in the Middle East? Because Israel is ready to unleash her nuclear arsenal as a last ditch effort to save their tiny country.

Now, this is important: We know that Obama is no friend to Israel. We are fairly certain that when Israel goes to war Obama will not lift a finger to help Israel. That means Israel will have to use whatever it has to defend itself. That means nuclear weapons.

Obama is supposedly a well-read man. I don’t know how much of the Bible he has read or how much of it he believes. I must tell you, as a southerner, I was reared in a home where the Bible was revered, read, discussed, and committed to memory. I distinctly remember God’s promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.”

It is apparent to anyone with eyes to see that Obama has stopped America’s support of Israel. It is also clear to anyone who cares to accept reality, that America is already paying the price for forsaking Israel. If you doubt it, look around you. Read a newspaper. Watch the news on TV. Check it on the Internet. America will pay a horrible price for throwing Israel to the wolves of the Middle East.

It is clear that Obama has no taste for war. The leader of a warrior nation, like America, ought to be a warrior. Obama is not. He is obviously out of his element as are the majority of his administration. He has withdrawn America from the leadership role in practically everything around the globe. What we are seeing in the Middle East is the result of Obama’s withdrawal of American leadership.

Like it or not, America is the Global Police. At least we have been until Obama. When the world dialed 911 – America answered. No longer.

Is Obama deliberately destroying America? It is an honest, sincere, question and it deserves an answer. He does not believe in American exceptionalism. He apparently DOES believe in an open society, a world without borders, and the redistribution of America’s wealth. In other words: Obama speaks, acts, and governs as a communist would speak, act, and govern. (See Alan Caruba’s recent article: “Obama: As Red As It Gets” HERE.)

America is in trouble today… but the REAL trouble hasn’t arrived … yet! But, rest assured, it IS on the way. And America has the wrong man in the Oval Office to deal with it when it arrives.

America: Prepare for a great tribulation unlike anything this nation has seen since it’s founding. And who is to blame? We are – for we elected Obama. Sometimes democracy can be it’s own worst enemy.

J. D. Longstreet

Why Is THIS Acceptable To The World?

WARNING: THESE PHOTOS ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN.

Why is the MURDER of 5 innocent Jews acceptable to the world and the world will scream bloody murder if an Arab develops a hangnail?

Photos of the murder of the Fogel family in the town of Itamar, north of Jerusalem, on March 11, 2011 by Arab terrorists.

These photos were released by the family. They have given full permission for their use in order to report on the horrific reality of murdering children and babies in their sleep, "simply because they are Jewish."

3-year-old Jewish boy

11-year-old son

Father and 3-month-old baby

3-year-old Jewish boy

This is the true face of terror. This is what the creatures who call themselves Palestinians dance, sing and rejoice in.  This is the true face of Islam.  Forget the lies CAIR, the liberal left and the idiot media tell you. Look carefully on this family. This could be your family.  If Muslims don't get their way, they resort to violence like this.

Please remember the 3 remaining children of the Fogel family who buried their parents and siblings today.  One day part of a happy, loving family, the next day ORPHANED!

The Most Shelled City In The World

A couple of articles from The Most Shelled City In The World.

1 million Israelis are asking: "Who's next?"

Last night, Wednesday the 23rd of March, was the first time since Operation Cast Lead that an Iranian Grad missile exploded in Be'er Sheba, 40km from Gaza.

Arriving at the scene of the rocket strike Thursday morning, in the Northern neighborhoods of Be'er Sheba, brought me back to the terror scenes in Sderot of the past few years. For several years, rocket attacks were part of my daily routine living and working at the Sderot Media Center. When the Tzeva Adom (Code Red) sounded, I would go to the neighborhoods where the rocket exploded and film the scene. The next day, I would return, documenting the 'the day after, listening to the stories of residents on what occurred to them the day before.



In Be'er Sheba, I saw the same scenes I'd witnessed in Sderot: shattered car windshields; the shrapnel holes making "windows" on the homes; the radius of damage from where the missile exploded; the 'cover up' of the missile hole; like nothing happened and expecting the people to go back to normal; the holes in the iron doors; the Shabbat candles standing among shattered glasses; pictures of Rabbis hanging untouched on what remained of the walls; frightened and excited residents of the damaged or destroyed homes who just want to share their personal experience with the world; hearing story, counting the amount of times I heard the words; Luck, coincidence, and miracles.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

Be'er Sheba resident Chen Saban, a Sapir College student in her early twenties whose house was hit, described how she and her family were lucky enough to reach the secured room on time, saying she never expected her home to be hit. She said it was ironic because she goes to Sapir College, which is only a few km away from Gaza. Chen, who is supposed to get married in the next 3 weeks, is no longer certain about her future in Be'er Sheba and how she ill be able to plan her life living there.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

It was amazing to hear all this because it took me 45 minutes to drive from Sderot to Be'er Sheba, which is 40km from Gaza, with residents having 60 seconds to run for the shelter once the siren goes off. And still the same reaction and comments of the frightened and traumatized people.

Today, the more than 1 million Israelis who live in the range of 40km from Gaza are not feeling as secure as they did yesterday, asking themselves "who is next?"

Yitchak Akli a resident of the Be'er Sheba neighborhood said: "We should learn from

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

the experience of 'cast lead'' that this would happen, they have (missiles) and hiding them, to launch and fire them at the right time, on any target in Be'er Sheba. It's a matter of time. They've learned our capabilities and they've learned us".


Since the last "cease fire" 530 rockets and missiles have been fired towards the South Western, past of Israel.

The Iranian Grad missile exploding in Bair-Sheba is a reminder how that a few months ago the Shin-Bet reported that there's a stack of over 5,000 Iranian missiles in Gaza, all of them having a range of 40 KM.

This is especially troubling because, in November 2009, Hamas test-fired a missile test towards the Mediterranean, reaching 60 KM, which is the distance from Northern Gaza to Tel-Aviv.

In November 2010, the ITIC reported that Hamas has missiles with an 80km range.

Almost everyone in the Western Negev knows not it's not "if'" but "when"' the next missile escalation starts, leading to the next Gaza war.

After living in Sderot for the past 5 years, watching the construction of 5,000 new bomb shelters, you don’t have to be a prophet to understand that the highest authorities in Israel know there has not been a permanent end to the rocket fire. Being realistic, Israel has to be prepared for many more years of conflict on the Gaza border.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

While Iran is certainly a threat for Israel, the biggest delegitimization threat for Israel, is with no doubt Gaza. Add to this the uprisings in Egypt and North Africa, bringing to power groups that have already declared they will end the "peace treaty" with Israel.

The harsh response that Israel received from the world media and many governments during and after Cast Lead, after the Flotilla incident, and right up to today is actually a modern-day version of a very old demonization of Jews and Israel. A tremendous effort is being made to delegitimize Israel, with the goal of eliminating the Jewish state. How Israel will deal with this threat?

How should Israel deal with this threat?  Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amatzia Chen believes that the current  policy has failed.

"In all of the previous wars, starting from the 1956 Suez Operation, through the Six Day War and in the Yom Kippur War as well, the IDF took the fight into enemy territory," Chen recalled. "The security concept was that of fighting the war we choose, and seizing the initiative. But since 1982, after that rally in Rabin Square, Rabin and Peres decided, for political reasons, that the strategy needs to be changed and that we should only go to war when there is no choice - i.e., when the sword is on our neck."

Chen said that since that decision was made, Israel has lost its deterrent capability. "Our enemies understood the dramatic change in Israel's security concept as a position of weakness. In any case, they had ceased threatening us with regular armies and turned instead to the weapon of terror. They murdered hundreds of Jews inside Israel, but controlled the bloodletting so as to enable Israel's leaders to maintain the concept that one does not go to war as long as there is a choice."

"Every Israeli citizen knows that the Israel of today is not the Israel of pre-1982."

Chen said that artillery fire on Gaza is not a proper response to the missile attack on Be'er Sheva. "We are a nation that wants to live, and there is no point in fair play when it comes to terrorists. That is not how terror is defeated. The State of Israel is a sovereign state that needs to formulate a proper strategy. Unfortunately, the strategy today is that if you are fired upon you fire back. We are, in effect, signaling to the enemies that they can continue using the same method in the future, too."

There is great anger in Sderot, a city with more bomb shelters than playgrounds.

Speaking from the city of bomb shelters

By Dave Balson

Like everyone else on the planet, I have heard about the "complicated" situation in the Middle East my whole life: promises to fix it, hopeful negotiations that crumble behind closed doors, rockets, wars, treaties, stalemates, etc. Round and round it goes until, exasperated, I figure both sides are unwilling to reach the type of tough-but-straightforward agreements that brought peace to Ireland and South Africa, and I give up. "It's complicated" is a Facebook status, not a diplomatic agreement.

I spent the last two weeks in Israel. The trip was free, as it is to any Jew, through a program called "Taglit Birthright." To any students who come from a Jewish background, I suggest checking it out. It is a free trip to Israel, if nothing else.

Last Wednesday I visited Sderot, a town of about 20,000 people in the western Negev desert, less than a mile away from the Gaza strip.

Sderot has been the target of more than 10,000 rockets fired from Gaza since 2000. Gaza is controlled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. Sderot is the only town in the 21st Century where rockets are being continually fired at a civilian population.

To deal with the rocket attacks, the town has a siren that gives residents a 15-second warning to get into a bomb shelter.

Stop for a moment and consider how far you could get in 15 seconds. Could you get to the nearest bathroom? The nearest car? The nearest stairway?

Sderot is the bomb shelter capitol of the world. Every house has a bomb shelter. Apartment buildings have bomb shelters crawling up their sides. Every bus stop is a bomb shelter and others are spaced in between; there is a bomb shelter about 15 seconds away from most places.

If you are a child in Sderot, you should hope you are in school when the rockets come. Older schools have been retrofitted with huge steel shields on their outer walls and roofs. Newer schools are literally giant bomb shelters, their paltry playgrounds nothing but dust and three safe cubes awaiting the siren's call.

Other parts of town have the type of playgrounds we grew up on: ladder up, slide down, monkey bars and the wall with a clear bubble that never made sense. They have painted a castle a nice shade of purple, and made two long concrete snakes look so vibrant and fun, you could almost forget they, too, are bomb shelters. Between 70 to 95 percent of children in Sderot have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.

So why are people still living in this god-forsaken place? There are a few reasons. For one, housing is much cheaper there (feel free to guess why). For another, Sderot has one of the most lively and productive music scenes in the Eastern Hemisphere. The town is home to more chart-topping bands than any other in Israel and rivals any in Europe.

But the real reason people stay is because they feel they must. Sderot is internationally recognized as part of Israel. If they leave, if they give up, what happens to the next town? And the next? Rockets from Gaza can hit Israel's economic and cultural centers - Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, respectively.

I saw all this from Israel's side of the border, so I cannot speak with objective moral authority on who is right or wrong, victim or oppressor. I know everyone I talked to in Israel wants peace more than anything, and would give up land if they thought it would achieve it. I also know that people suffer in Gaza and struggle for a homeland in the West Bank.

As a commentator, I am supposed to speak in shoulds and should nots.

No one should have to live like the people of Sderot. That's all I've got.

It's complicated.

Dave Balson is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or DENopinions@gmail.com

I always allow the people of Sderot to speak for themselves.  This is their story, their struggle, their battle. What is happening in Sderot, Beer-Sheva, Ashkelon, the Negev, is the price for living in Israel.  For Sderot's residents it is the price of living on the frontier.  If they surrender their city, it will only encourage Hamas to conquer the next city, then the one after it.  Until they have conquered the whole nation.

You are not on the frontier, the front line in this battle, but you can help. The small donation that you give to the Sderot Media Center goes to help the people, especially the children of Sderot. Just a bit of your spare change will help.  To donate click here.

Children of Sderot Just Want A Little Peace

Sderot- The bomb shelter capital of the world

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

For the last week rockets fired from Gaza have been a daily occurrence.  Although they have caused limited damage to property and no one has been hurt or killed. (Frayed nerves and a couple of neurotic cats.)  It is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

A Grad rocket fired by Gaza terrorists hit an open area near a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon on Friday morning. No physical injuries were reported, although several people suffered shock and required medical attention. A vehicle was also damaged.

Ashkelon had experienced relative quiet following the Cast Lead counterterror operation in Gaza in early 2009.

The attack follows an attack last week that was carried out using an imported rocket more sophisticated than the short-range “Kassam” rockets produced in Gaza. In that case, the rocket failed to explode, and no injuries were reported.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has followed a policy of quick response to attacks from Gaza. Air Force planes have demolished smuggling tunnels and weapons factories in the region following previous rocket attacks.

Sderot is the only town and the Western Negav is the only region in the world, where missiles are fired towards civilian population in the 21st Century.--Sderot Media Center

If you are planning a visit to Israel, plan a side visit to Sderot.  You can contact the Sderot Media Center for a tour.

No child should have to endure this.  Please help!

The Truth About Gaza

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Is fancy restaurants and Olympic-size pools!

Yes that is the truth. Some Concentration Camp!  That is what the Main Stream Media and the pro-Palestinian anti-Semites in the Free Gaza Movement call Gaza: The World's Largest Concentration Camp!

What they (The Main Stream Media) won’t tell you about are the fancy new restaurants and swimming pools of Gaza, or about the wind surfing competitions on Gaza beaches, or the Strip’s crowded shops and markets. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live a middle class (and in some cases an upper class) lifestyle that western journalists refuse to report on because it doesn’t fit with the simplistic story they were sent to write.

Here, courtesy of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, is a report on Gaza’s new Olympic-sized swimming pool . (Most Israeli towns don’t have Olympic-size swimming pools. One wonders how an area that claims to be starved of water and building materials and depends on humanitarian aid builds an Olympic size swimming pool and creates a luxury lifestyle for some while others are forced to live in abject poverty as political pawn refugees?)

If you pop into the Roots Club in Gaza, according to the Lonely Planet guidebook, you can “dine on steak au poivre and chicken cordon bleu”.

The restaurant’s website in Arabic gives a window into middle class dining and the lifestyle of Hamas officials in Gaza. And here it is in English, for all the journalists, UN types and NGO staff who regularly frequent this and other nice Gaza restaurants (but don’t tell their readers about them).

And here is a promotional video of the club restaurant . In case anyone doubts the authenticity of this video, I just called the club in Gaza City and had a nice chat with the manager who proudly confirmed business is booming and many Palestinians and international guests are dining there.

In a piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, I documented the “after effects” of a previous “emergency Gaza boat flotilla,” when the arrivals were seen afterwards purchasing souvenirs in well-stocked shops. (You can also scroll down here for more pictures of Gaza’s “impoverished” shops.)

But the mainstream liberal international media won’t report on any of this. Playing the manipulative game of the BBC is easy: if we had their vast taxpayer funded resources, we too could produce reports about parts of London, Manchester and Glasgow and make it look as though there is a humanitarian catastrophe throughout the UK. We could produce the same effect by selectively filming seedy parts of Paris and Rome and New York and Los Angeles too.

Of course there is poverty in Gaza. There is poverty in parts of Israel too. (When was the last time a foreign journalist based in Israel left the pampered lounge bars and restaurants of the King David and American Colony hotels in Jerusalem and went to check out the slum-like areas of southern Tel Aviv? Or the hard-hit Negev towns of Netivot or Rahat?)

But the way that many prominent Western news media are deliberately misleading global audiences and systematically creating the false impression that people are somehow starving in Gaza, and that it is all Israel’s fault, can only serve to increase hatred for the Jewish state – which one suspects was the goal of many of the editors and reporters involved in the first place.

Read it all here.

Olympic-sized swimming pools and fancy gourmet restaurants just like the type that Auschwitz and Dachau had.  And what about those starving children?

These children look starved, malnourished, and depressed!

Depression really has taken hold on these children of Gaza.

Compare those pictures to these of actual starving children.

These children starved to death. There have been no reports of massive starvation or malnutrition coming out of Gaza. If anyone can show me reputable source (None Palestinian or Free Gaza loonies.  WHO, or International Red Cross is acceptable.) I will post a retraction.  But they don't
acknowledge any incidents.

Before one condemns, one should learn all the facts.