Running for Cover

A kassam lauched - knows no distinction. New York City Mayor runs for shelter in Sderot

A Tales of Mothers

Israelis are often characterized by their detractors as ‘warmongers’ and with that in mind, I want to contrast this report titled Hamas Women Vow Bombing via Arutz Sheva:

A second woman called to "strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah." Two of her sons have died as "martyrs", the woman said, and she hopes to do so as well. "There will be days of battle between us, and this will be our opportunity to avenge our sons whom they have bombed, and the blood of the 400 martyrs who were killed in the headquarters," the woman continued. She called on Gaza Arabs to be strong, saying, "Your daughters march by your side on the path of Jihad and martyrdom.”

With this, from an Israeli mother of a soldier currently serving on the southern border:

May God please, please protect my son, all my sons - because they are all mine. Watch over them and keep them safe and guide their missiles to hit only those buildings that have explosives and rockets in them. And please, God, give the Palestinian leadership enough sense not to store their explosives with their wives and children.

Oh, and one more prayer - please take care of those Palestinian gunmen who are hiding themselves and their weapons in hospitals - especially in the maternity wards among the innocent newborns.

Oh, wait - one other - please ask the Palestinians to choose between praying in a mosque and storing weapons there because, if they store weapons there, like the two we have already bombed, we are going to bomb those structures too. A House of God is not an arsenal and an arsenal cannot be a House of God.

I have been reading A Solider’s Mother for well over a year now. I first started to read it as my own son started to creep up in age where military service will become a choice of his own choosing. I looked for insights or wisdom in how she copes, and instead, I found more than I bargained for. Now I find every day I dread the next new post. While today her and her family are spared the endless sorrow which makes up the blood and flesh reality of war there are other mothers and families who are not.

In the end, I am utterly impotent, and can do nothing more but pray. And so it goes,

May He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, bless the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who keep guard over our country and cities of our Lord from the border with Lebanon to the Egyptian desert and from the Mediterranean Sea to the approach to the Arava, be they on land, air or sea.

May the Almighty deliver us our enemies who arise against us, may the Holy One, blessed be He, preserve them and save them from all sorrow and peril, from danger and ill.

May He send blessing and success in all their endeavors, may He deliver to them those who hate us and crown them with salvation and victory, so that the saying may be fulfilled through them, "For the Lord, your God, who walks with you and to fight your enemies for you and to save you", and let us say, Amen.

Out of province but not out of sight

Currently I am out of province and I cannot help sneering at the ‘cold weather alert’ which was issued for Toronto last night. The temperature -10C. Yesterday’s day time temperature for here was -18C. Wussies.

Even though I am out of town I did manage to catch the reports and videos of demonstrations held to condemn the Israeli Operation - Cast Lead in my neighborhood. My only thought was where were all these people and their ‘righteous indignation’ as Hamas launched rocket attacks against Israeli civilians for the last 3 years?

I blame my cynicism from 3 years of kassam watching

I’m one of those political cynics who believed the timing of Israel Operation Cast Lead had more to do with what was politically expedient for the careers and political fortunes of Barak (Labor) and Livni (Kadima) rather than dealing with an untenable situation on the ground.

Since the start of Operation Cast Lead, the burning question mark for me was what would Hezbollah do? I half-suspected, if we were going to have the 2006 war redux, it would begin days after the ground invasion began. Certainly there are a few ominous omens. Rocket Launches found in Lebanon, Nashrallah’s increasingly nasty and heated rhetoric towards not just the Israelis but the Egyptians as well. But perhaps, I should give the Israeli military intelligence a little more credit for making the case now, at this time, for the green light rather than later. Ha’aretz:

Ahead of Israel's ground offensive into Gaza, leading Lebanese political commentators said Hezbollah would not open a military front with Israel even if it invades Gaza. The commentators further explained that Hezbollah was not interested in a destructive round of violence months before the Lebanese election.

Hezbollah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb told AFP over the weekend that she believes Hezbollah is trying not to upset the opposition. "On the domestic level, Hezbollah does not want to antagonize its domestic foes. They don't want to ruin the dialogue that allows them to keep the issue of their weapons indefinitely unsolved; it is a way of postponing the issue," she said. "Hezbollah is not in a position that allows it to carry the burden of a second war," Paul Salem of the Carnegie Middle East Center told the agency.

Last week, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced that he had instructed his troops to up their alert level ahead of a possible military campaign with Israel. Moreover, 10 days ago United Nations troops stationed in Lebanon found a rocket launcher aimed at Israel. Israeli army sources believe it was placed there by Jihadists who do not belong to Hezbollah. In any event, UNIFIL - the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon - has increased its routine patrols in the area.

Israeli and UN officials believe Hezbollah will try to prevent other Islamist organizations from provoking Israel into retaliatory action. Meanwhile, Nasrallah and Hezbollah are paying a political price for their inaction. Some Lebanese media pointed out that while Nasrallah has been vocal in criticizing Egypt, he has not done anything, either.

What better time for a Gaza Operation than when Hezbollah, Hamas most staunch allies, are too pre-occupied with their own internal affairs?

Hamas Multi-tasks

Hamas, even in the midst of the most serious invasion of the Gaza Strip proves it can multi-task. Jerusalem Post:

The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip.

(…)Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.

Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets. "Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing," a senior Fatah official said. "They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip."

Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations. The sources quoted Hamas officials as saying that the decision to kill the suspected collaborators was taken out of fear that Israel might try to rescue them during a ground offensive. The officials claimed that at least half of the victims were killed by relatives of Palestinian militiamen who were killed as a result of information passed on to Israel by the "collaborators."

Justifying the latest crackdown on Fatah, a Hamas official in Gaza City said that his government had received information according to which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had instructed his loyalists in the Strip to start moving toward undermining Hamas. "We will kill them all if they try to help Israel bring down our government," the official said. "We will hang Mahmoud Abbas and [former Fatah security chief] Muhammad Dahlan in the public square if they try to enter the Gaza Strip aboard Israeli tanks."

The Hamas official said that his security forces had launched a massive "preemptive" campaign aimed at thwarting Fatah's attempts to "spread anarchy and chaos." He confirmed that many Fatah operatives had been shot in the legs over the past few days by Hamas "to make sure that they don't help Israel." Fahmi Za'arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, accused Hamas of "executing" a number of Fatah detainees. He said the Fatah leadership knew of at least two Fatah men who were shot dead by Hamas after being released from prison. He named them as Nasser Muhana and Saher al-Silawi.

Za'arir said that several Fatah members who attended funerals of victims of the IAF strikes were severely beaten by Hamas militiamen who accused them of collaboration with Israel. It was "shameful" that Hamas was directing its weapons and energies against its own people instead of fighting against Israel, the spokesman said.

The decision to place Fatah operatives under house arrest was issued by the much-feared "Internal Security Apparatus," which reports to the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza. The order, which was delivered to the Fatah activists on Thursday, reads: "You are forbidden from leaving your home for 48 hours unless you want to attend Friday prayers. Anyone who violates the order will be punished."

Of course, there will be no international hue or outcry against Hamas for these mutilations or murders as no Jews were involved.

imagine facing a jail sentence for insulting the dignity of a public official

There are a great many of what I would call really asinine laws on the books in Israel. The real injustice is that these laws are dusted off from time to time to prosecute all those who don’t fall easily into line with the thinking of any given Israeli Administration. One of these laws is called ‘insulting the dignity of a public official’. When I first heard of this law, I immediately thought it referred to a bribe which was too small, and hence, it insulted the public official. Alas, it refers to a type of name calling – not libelous or slanderous name calling per say but insinuations which said public official finds offensive.

Currently, Nadia Matar, leader of Women in Green, is on trial in Israel for writing a protest letter to a public official against the Gaza Engagement. The offending paragraphs (courtesy of Arutz Sheva):

"The truth is that you are a modern version of the Judenrat - actually, a much worse version, because then, during the Holocaust, this was forced upon those Jewish leaders by the Nazis, and it is extremely difficult for us, today, to judge them. Today, no one stands with a gun to your head and forces you to collaborate in the crime, without any conscience pangs."

In her letter, Matar went on to warn of "the bloody price that we will have to pay for our retreat. If the criminal Oslo accords cost us more than 1,000 victims, Sharon's deportation plan will give such a push to the Nazi Arab terror (for the Arabs will see that Israel's folding is proof that terror pays) that I fear to think how many Jews will pay with their lives for Sharon's 'disengagement'." In comments defending the content and tone of her letter at the time, the Women In Green head said that it was justified by the situation, because the Disengagement will lead to "Katyushas and rockets fired from Gaza."

Matar’s trial has been post-poned - Arutz Sheva:

As it turned out, the call-up of the State's attorney due to the war in Gaza provided an even more ironic twist to Sheftel's response to the court. He said:
"Let it be written in the protocol that Attorney [Erez] Padan has been called up for the reserves as a direct result of the fact that his place of work, the Supreme Court, described the expulsion from Gush Katif, against which my client was protesting and for which she now stands trial, as something positive that will improve the security situation of Israel when today we know that it is that expulsion that brought upon us Katyushas in Be'er Sheva, Ashdod and Yavne. That is why Attorney Padan has been called up for reserves and my client is sitting on the bench of the accused."

Well. Well. If that irony doesn't rot ones socks, what will?

How long could you live with the idea of your children being a 'military' target?

One of the issues which seems to get lost in media reports covering the latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is that every kassam and every mortar launched against Israel, is with the intent of terrorizing, maiming, injuring, or killing civilians and has no military objective – as in nada, none whatsoever. This makes every kassam and mortar launched by the Palestinian terror masters a war crime. Israel, in Operation Cast Lead, has done its best to seek out military targets while minimizing civilian causalities in its fight to protect its citizenry. Even the left leaning Toronto Star has been forced to acknowledge that:

However, Israeli forces offered a general warning by dropping leaflets and recording brief announcements that interrupt radio broadcasts. They also reached other homes by telephone, telling Gaza residents to flee their homes if they were hiding weapons or militants.

Although, Gaza civilians are injured and killed in the course of the IDF assault, the IDF is doing what it possibly can to minimize such injuries and no one can accuse the Palestinian Terror Masters of doing the same. Hamas sends to warning.

Take a moment to watch how the Israeli children of Sderot have been forced to live.


And then tell me you would not demand your government to do the same or more - if it was your children forced to be nothing more consequential than a living breathing target for rocket fire.

h/t Israel Matzav

better a bullet to the head than nails in a cross

Shin Bet (internal Israeli security forces) is reporting Hamas members are taking cover in Gaza hospitals. Ynet News:

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin briefed the cabinet Wednesday on the progress of Operation Cast Lead. According to Diskin, "Hamas has been attacked like never before. It has suffered significant damages and its rule over Gaza has been compromised." Diskin also noted that large numbers of Hamas operatives are hiding in hospitals and that some are posing as medical staff. "Some are also hiding in mosques and some of those have been turned into headquarters, since they assumed Israel won't attack them there.

I’m not surprised by this, as this is how Palestinian terror groups have always behaved under fire. What is more interesting is what exactly Hamas members have been up to as they pace those hospital halls. A NY Times report gives a peek into their extra-curricular activities:

At Shifa Hospital in Gaza, the director, Dr. Hussein Ashour, said that keeping his patients alive from their wounds was an enormous challenge. He said there were some 1,500 wounded people distributed among Gaza's nine hospitals with far too few intensive care units, equipped ambulances and other vital equipment.

On Monday, Dr. Ashour was not the only official in charge. Armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes roamed the halls. Asked their function, they said it was to provide security. But there was internal bloodletting under way.

In the fourth-floor orthopedic section, a woman in her late 20s asked a militant to let her see Saleh Hajoj, her 32-year-old husband. She was turned away and left the hospital. Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Hajoj was carried out by young men pretending to transfer him to another ward. As he lay on the stretcher, he was shot in the left side of the head.

Mr. Hajoj, like five others killed at the hospital this way in 24 hours, was accused of collaboration with Israel. He had been in the central prison awaiting trial by Hamas judges; when Israel destroyed the prison on Sunday he and the others were transferred to the hospital. But their trials were short-circuited.

I would suggest a bullet to the head is a far kinder exit - considering that shortly before the Israeli Operation Cast Lead, Hamas legislators had brought back crucifixion as a viable punishment for ‘capital’ crimes.

China has some explainin’ to do

Or at least someone in the international community should be demanding answers as to the how Hamas got a hold of missiles manufactured in China. Ynet News:

"We are witnessing the expansion of the rocket fire emanating from Gaza to a radius of 30 - 40 kilometers (about 19 – 25 miles)," the deputy commander of the IDF's Home Front Command said Wednesday. Brigadier-General Avraham Ben-David told reporters that in light of the rocket attacks on Beersheba, all planned events with over 100 participants will be cancelled, including New Year's Eve parties.

(…)Referring to the rocket attack that severely damaged a Beersheba school earlier in the day, Ben-David said the IDF's decision to cancel classes in all of the Negev city's educational institutions "saved lives", adding that school will be out at least until the end of the week.

The army official said the rocket that struck the school in Beersheba was manufactured in China, is heavier than the Qassam and can "potentially cause much greater damage." He said the rocket contains metal pallets that can spread out across a radius of up to 100 meters (about 328 feet) from the point of impact.

I don’t expect much traction on this development as China seems to possess a permanent pass and so far has effectively avoided any serious international reprecussions for selling every thing from tainted food, baby formula to toxic toys – so why not rockets? The simple most obvious answer is that Hamas received the Chinese made rockets via Hezbollah-Iran Axis.

The selfishness of the Jooos

I once quibbed that the greatest crime Christianity committed was giving the world a love for dead Jews. It was one of those cynical smart alecky type of remarks I utter from time to time without a great deal of thought – usually wine or cognac is involved…but I am really starting to believe there is something about dead Jews which makes non-Jews go all misty and sentimental in a way living breathing Jews can never hope to aspire to. Want empathy for Jews - think Jesus’ suffering on the cross, think holocaust, or Chabad murder victims in Mumbai and a chord of empathy is immediately struck. Think living Jews fighting for survival and get immediately accused of selfishness and wreckless disregard for others. The London Daily News

In London the mainstream media have been warned to avoid the subject in phone-in's to avoid escalating tensions, but that is unrealistic. What Israel has done again, is look at its own security concerns and forget that of other nations like ours.

Read the rest if you must here.

h/t Simply Jews

Pimping for Hamas

There have been a number of incidents throughout the years when the UNRWA aid agency has provided cover for individuals belonging to the various terror fractions operating within the Gaza Strip but at least the agency was previously able to maintain some shred of plausible deniability. Those days are obviously gone when the UNRWA actively pimps out Hamas lies and misinformation. Ynet News covers a UNRWA press conference:

Palestinians in Gaza believed Israel had called a 48-hour "lull" in retaliatory attacks with Hamas when Israeli warplanes launched a massive bombardment of Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip, a UN official said Monday. Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which helps Palestinian refugees, raised the possible violation of an informal truce in a video press conference with UN reporters from her base in Gaza.

(…)Abu Zayd said Palestinians in Gaza were surprised when Israeli warplanes sent more than 100 tons of bombs crashing down on key security installations in Hamas-ruled Gaza starting Saturday morning because it was in the middle of the lull. (…)"What we understood here (was) that there was a 48-hour lull to be called, and this was called by the Israelis," Abu Zayd said. "They said they would wait 48 hours. That was on Friday morning, I believe, until Sunday morning, and that they were going to evaluate." "There was only one rocket that went out on Friday, so it was obvious that Hamas was trying, again, to observe that truce to get this back under control," she said. "Then, everything got loose on Saturday morning at 11:30 am. We were all at work and very much surprised by this," Abu Zayd said.

While it is true only 1 kassam rocket was widely reported as being launched from the Gaza Strip on the 26th Abu Zayd neglects to make any reference to the 27 mortar rounds fired into Israel on that day.

(…)Abu Zayd mentioned the lull when she was asked whether the population of Gaza was aware "that this was all commenced by the Hamas government unilaterally ending the cease-fire and firing rockets." "I don't think they think the truce was violated first by Hamas," she said. I think they saw that Hamas had observed the truce quite strictly for almost six months, certainly for four of the six months, and that they got nothing in turn - because there was to be kind of a deal," Abu Zayd said. "If there were no rockets, the crossings would be opened," she said. "The crossings were not opened at all."

So many lies, so little time. Firstly, the crossings were opened periodically and aid was sent through at various times. Let’s start with the myth of an ‘informal truce’ which was not reported in either the Arab or Israeli and seems to be a delusion created not only after the ‘truce’ officially expired but after the launch of Operation Cast Lead. In fact, Hamas stated very publicly the truce would not be renewed in both Damascus and the Gaza Strip.

As for the 48 hour ‘lull’ period – someone should tell it to the civilians of southern Israel. It seems those code red alerts were still working rather vigorously for an ‘informal truce’ or ‘lull’. Furthermore, it is beyond convenient for Abu Zayd to completely omit all reference to “Operation Oil Stain” I suspect Abu Zayd is counting on her intended audience having no familiarity with what is reported in the local Palestinian press.

As for the claims of Hamas strictly observing the so-called ‘truce’ for four months – try two out of six months – September & October – although neither month was completely projectile free and truce officially began on June 19, 2008.

As for Israeli violations of the truce, once again, I would like to point out there is no human right to build a tunnel from the Gaza Strip into Israel or fire mortars rather than kassams into Israel. Furthermore, the fact such a tunnel was built by Hamas during the truce is gross violation of the ‘truce’ as well as a violation of Israel sovereignty. When a UN agency becomes the unofficial voice for a terrorist organization there is only one humane course of action - disbandment.

A Solider's Mother

writes:

What I want...is to go collect my little boy and bring him home. I want to lock him in a room and tell Israel that no, you can't have him. I've changed my mind. No, I'm sorry. He's not allowed to play with guns and big things that go boom. No, I'm his mother. I gave birth to him and no, you simply can't take him.

What I want...is to call him and make sure he is where I put him, where he told me he was yesterday. Not in the north, where Hizbollah is promising to burn the ground and open a second front and not in the south, where dozens of rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel, where a man was killed and dozens were wounded.

That's what I want...

And what I'll do, is sit here at my desk and keep editing this document for my client. I'll update the copyright statements and change the installation information to reflect the new platforms the product now supports. I'll answer the phone and I'll talk to my accountant.

And what I'll do, is tell my heart to settle. I'll tell my eyes to take a moment and look at the next beautiful wave of clouds rolling in over Jerusalem. I'll sign the papers I need to sign; type the words I need to type. I'll tell my younger daughter to clean her room and my younger son that he has to study for his test NOW. I'll tell my middle son he can borrow the car like we agreed, but he has to drive carefully. I won't talk to my daughter because she's old enough to see the cracks in my smile and know that outside, it's all a front.

What I'll do is answer the phone if Elie calls and I'll talk to him calmly. I'll listen if he tells me he's staying where he is. I'll listen if he tells me they are moving him up north. I'll listen if he tells me they are moving him down south near Gaza. I'll listen, I'll tell him to be careful, and call me when he can. I won't for a single moment, tell him that I'm scared, that I have no real experience with this war thing and that I don't really want him to have any experience with it either.

What I'll do is continue to listen to the news and pray for our civilians who are under attack, and our soldiers who are risking their lives to defend them.

And most of all, what I will do is dig deep inside where I store my faith in God and in my country and my people. I will do what every Israeli is doing today, hoping this will end soon, but not too soon that we only succeed in putting off to tomorrow what should have been dealt with today. I will do all of this because we are what we have always been, a nation with no choice but to deal with what our enemies choose.

Go read the rest. Then say tehillim, for the nation and those who seek to defend her. If you don't know where to start - try here, chapter 121, A Song of Ascents

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?
My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is thy keeper; the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall keep thee from all evil; He shall keep thy soul.
The LORD shall guard thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for ever.

On the Israeli Homefront

While Operation Cast Lead continues on, I thought I would present a round up on the war in the Israeli homefront. The Jerusalem Post:

In an apparent sign of Palestinian violence spreading beyond Gaza and the South, four people were wounded Monday morning, one of them seriously, in a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian terrorist in the town of Modi'in Illit (Kiryat Sefer). The terrorist was shot by Kobi Rosenstein, a Magen David Adom volunteer who came to treat wounded. MDA said the medic's bravery prevented additional casualties.

At 8.05 a.m., MDA's Ayalon branch received an alert about shooting and stabbing in the haredi settlement's Rehov Yehuda Hanassi. Two regular ambulances and two more sophisticated ones were dispatched. When the rescue teams arrived, they found someone they knew well - MDA volunteer medical Arye Deutsch, lying on the floor bleeding heavily. The apartment owner, who was herself lightly wounded, said the Arab attacker - the head of a renovation team in her flat, seriously wounded his contractor employer, stabbed her and her husband and fled.

Deutsch was rushed to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, where he was in critical condition with wounds to his head. Five others were also hospitalized there, one serious and four lightly injured. The terrorist was seriously hurt by Rosenstein's bullet and hospitalized in Sheba as well. Security forces believe that a second man may have been involved in the attack, and were conducting searches in the area.

What day would be complete without a baby stoning? Arutz Sheva:

(IsraelNN.com) Arab stoning attacks are on the increase, in light of Israel's counter-terrorism offensive in Gaza: An eight-month old baby from the Gush Etzion area, traveling in her family car on Sunday afternoon, is listed in moderate condition in a Jerusalem hospital. She was hurt by Arab-thrown rocks north-east of Hevron. Shortly before that, a 1-year-old baby boy was lightly wounded by glass shards in a similar stoning attack. He was taken to Kiryat Arba for treatment.

While Hamas and Egypt clash over the Rafah border Israel treats Gaza’s wounded under rocket fire:

(IsraelNN.com) Dozens of Gaza Arabs are being treated in Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital at the same time terrorists are bombarding the city. The medical facility, the largest on the southern coast, is in the line of rocket fire, and medical staff often have to stop caring for patients and run for cover during air rain warnings.
The 500-bed Barzilai Hospital has close ties with Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, Barzilai deputy director Dr. Ron Lobel told the Associated Press. "It might seem completely absurd, but we have the privilege to be doctors. Our medical ethics do not distinguish between patients. We treat whoever needs to be treated," he said.

I am sure there are those of who will sneer but Israeli humanitarian efforts don’t end with treating the wounded. Arutz Sheva:

(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to open the Kerem Shalom Crossing Sunday morning in order to enable international humanitarian agencies to deliver supplies into Gaza.Thirty trucks bearing medical supplies, basic food commodities and other humanitarian goods made their way through the crossing beginning at 11:00 a.m. and continued for several hours.

"As the prime minister said yesterday, we are not at war with the Palestinian people, but with the Hamas terrorists, and therefore we are bringing in the goods for the Palestinian people," noted IDF Major Peter Lerner, Defense Ministry Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories.

Three humanitarian aid agencies are sending goods into the Gaza war zone: UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), WFA (World Food Agency) and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). All three agencies were notified Saturday evening that they would be allowed to send as many truckloads of supplies into the region as they could muster, Lerner told Israel National News. "We didn't place any limit on the number of trucks," he said. "There are only thirty truckloads because that was what they were able to get ready for today. That's what they have in their warehouses at the moment." The Erez Crossing, which is almost always open for the passage of medical patients into Israel, has been closed to all traffic in the wake of specific terror alerts.

And what internal round up would be complete without student protests on campus – far from the theatre of war. Ynet News:

Hundreds of Haifa University students took part in hot tempered demonstrations in the middle of the campus Monday. On the one hand, Jewish and Arab students belonging to a leftist movement called for an end to the IDF's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and under the slogan "Diplomatic Terror" yelled out nationalistic chants and "Barak is a murderer".

On the other hand, Jewish students gathered to support the Israeli operation and called out "Death to terrorists" and "Ismail (Haniyeh) is next". Large police and university security forces separated the two groups, which occasionally got into heated arguments with each other, and objects were even thrown from one side to another. During the protests, an argument broke out between left-wing lecturers and IDF officers studying at the university, who were dressed in uniform and carrying their weapons.

During the demonstrations, that were held with the University's permission, students associated with Balad, Hadash and the Islamic Movement waved PLO flags, red flags and posters denouncing the operation. "In spirit and in blood we will save Palestine", "The defense minister is a child killer", and "Fascism lives on" are just some of the slogans shouted out by the students.

So what comes next?

Over 50 rockets struck Israel reports the Jerusalem Post:

Gaza terrorists fired over 50 projectiles at southern Israel Monday, the latest two rockets hitting the Ashkelon Beach region, causing no casualties or damage. Earlier Monday, Hanni Al-Mahdi, 27, of the Beduin town of Aroer in the Negev, was killed and at least 14 people were wounded when a Grad-type missile hit a construction site in Ashkelon's center. Of the wounded, five were reported to be in moderate-to-serious condition and the rest were lightly wounded. Several people were sent into shock by the attack.

And rumours abound that a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by the IDF is eminent but what I want to understand is what happens after the ground offensive. I have no doubt that an IDF command along with a united political echelon can defeat Hamas decisively on a field of battle but what happens the day after the ground offensive ends in the Gaza Strip?

Does control turn over to the impotent Fatah run Palestinian Authority and we watch a repeat of June 2007 in 18 months with kassams once again flying into civilian centres in southern Israel? Does a UN body come into to take civilian control of the Strip? Does the IDF take control and run a quasi military-civilian authority in the Gaza Strip? The one thing the Israeli Defense Forces cannot give to Gazans is responsible Palestinian political leadership, and until the Gazans reject overwhelming rule by terror, the Gaza Strip will remain nothing more than a viper’s nets in Southern Israel.

Northern Israel will burn as Gaza is burning

So says Hezbollah leader Nashrallah. Arutz Sheva.

(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists have vowed to open a second front against Israel in the north in retaliation for the IDF military operation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Terrorist chief Hassan Nasrallah issued a statement on Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station Sunday, vowing that "northern Israel will burn as Gaza is burning." Nasrallah rarely appears in person; he speaks via a video hook-up from his hideout due to fears of assassination by Israeli agents, following the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Hizbullah officials were quoted in a number of Arabic-language publications on Saturday warning that they would not permit Israel to attack Gaza without retaliating.

Last week seven Katyusha rockets were discovered primed and ready for launching in southern Lebanon, located near the northern border of Israel. All seven were aimed at targets in the Jewish State.

(…)The last time Israel faced a two-front war was in June 2006, when a military conflict began with a cross-border raid by Hamas terrorists near the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Gaza that resulting in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Two other soldiers were killed and a fourth soldier was critically wounded in the attack. Shalit remains captive in Gaza to this day.

Less than a month later, in July 2006, Hizbullah terrorists carried out a cross-border raid in northern Israel, kidnapping and ultimately murdering IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The attack, which was conducted simultaneously with the launch of a barrage of Katyusha rockets at Jewish communities in northern Israel, opened a second front in the military conflict that had began with Gaza, and ignited the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

So are we in Redux 2006? Hezbollah may plan to revisit its alleged glory but Hezbollah would be seriously overplaying their hand by fighting the same war - again. This time, Israel has a capable Minister of Defence with extensive military training under his belt as well as a new IDF Chief of Staff. Ashkenazi has made in roads in addressing a great number of deficiencies in the IDF and coming from an army background he understands how to effective weld and command ground troops unlike his predecessor Dan Halutz, who had no army command prior to his appointment as the IDF Chief of Staff.

Casting a few lead darts

While reading a Toronto Star report on Israel’s Operation Cast Lead I found two things noteworthy. The first –

Nearly 700 Palestinians were wounded in yesterday's air strikes, many seriously, medics said. Palestinian sources reported last night there were at least 230 fatalities. Most of the casualties were security forces, but Palestinian officials said at least 15 civilians were killed.

Imagine 700 wounded, 230 killed, but of 930 individuals involved - only 15 were civilians. This is an absolutely astounding figure given the size and breadth of this operation and suggests the IDF offensive has utilized some amazing military intelligence to full advantage. Although, I will caution the ‘700’ wounded figure does sound a little hyper-inflated and in a first search could not find another news source which confirmed that tally.

The other noteworthy point concerns the white washing of the Israeli Disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians in Gaza began shooting rockets at Israel in 2001, but the attacks grew more frequent after Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections in early 2006 and worsened again following a bout of Palestinian infighting in 2007 that left Hamas in sole charge of Gaza, while Fatah, its more moderate rival, withdrew to the West Bank. Israel left Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, but the withdrawal did not lead to better relations with Palestinians in the territory as Israeli officials had hoped.

While it is true that the shelling of Israeli communities within the 1949 Armistice borders commenced in 2001, it was strictly a willy-nilly affair with the first kassam landing inside the so called Green line community in April 2001. The attacks grew frequent immediately after the Israeli Disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005 when Hamas was not in electoral control of the Gaza Strip.

One of the upsides of blogging as long as I have is that my archives documenting the history of shelling of Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip paint an entirely different picture than the Toronto Star report suggests.

On September 12, 2005, the first official day of the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip handover, the first kassam and second of the year, lands within the so-called Green line communities of Israel. On September 24, 2005, just a scant two weeks after the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip officially ended, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip fired 30 kassams upon the Israeli city of Sderot. Previously to this, the vast majority of kassam attacks were launched against Israeli communities within the Gaza Strip.

By December 2005, the attacks on Israeli communities like Sderot (within the 1949 Armistice borders of Israel), has grown so frequent that the Israelis were forced to launch Operation Blue Skies to deal with the ongoing kassam attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip. It has been steadily downhill ever since the utterly disastrous Disengagement from the Gaza Strip and not just since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Chanukah War - Lighting up the Gaza Strip

I saw this You Tube via Jameel at Muqata.


There is a special joy in the IAF finally being allowed to get their mark. And no, I don’t feel a damn bit sorry for those Hamastanis caught on the ground.

Deport the Fifth Column

While Hamas exiled leader Mashaal in Damacus calls for a third intifada, a group of Israeli Arabs decided to riot as a protest against the ongoing IDF Gaza Operation launched against Hamas for attacking their fellow citizens. Ha’aretz carries a brief roundup.

Israeli Arabs on Saturday protested Israel Defense Forces attacks in the Gaza Strip, with demonstrations and clashes with police breaking out in communities throughout Israel.

In East Jerusalem, a police officer was lightly hurt by an Israeli Arab who hit him with his car. The driver, who has a criminal record, was arrested by police shortly thereafter. On Salah-a-Din Street in East Jerusalem, dozens of youths lit dumpsters and hurled stones at police. One assailant was arrested by police at the scene.


In the Shuafat refugee camp, hundreds of Palestinian protestors threw rocks at security forces. In the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, a three-year-old boy was lightly hurt after he was hit in the eye by a rock thrower. In the Bedouin village of Rahat in the Negev, around 400 residents protested the attacks, while mosques throughout the town broadcast prayers of mourning.

Hadash, the predominantly Arab leftist party, will stage a demonstration on Saturday in Nazareth to protest the IAF operations in Gaza. Hadash chairman Mohammed Barakeh called on the government "to immediately halt the crime in the Gaza Strip."

"Escalation will not bring quiet and calm," Barakeh said. "It is inconceivable for the Palestinian people in Gaza to live between starvation and bombardment.

There was not a single Israeli Arab protest when Hamas was launching attacks against Israeli Jews. So much for loyalty to one’s fellow citizens or the state. Time to take names and send the malcontents to the Gaza Strip where their loyalty can be duly rewarded.

the dogs of war will cry

No one can say Hamas was not warned that by continuing to launch rocket attacks at Israeli civilians in their homes and on their way to work and school or in their synagogues that one day Israeli patience and restraint would just flat run out. Apparently, it now has – Toronto Star:

GAZA CITY–Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of air strikes Saturday, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory.

The vast majority of those killed were security men, but civilians were also among the dead. Hamas said all of its security installations were hit and responded with several medium-range Grad rockets at Israel, reaching deeper than in the past.

The Gaza Strip death toll will only continue to rise as the day continues but this is the price to be paid as long as Hamas continues to launch attacks against Israeli civilians. No doubt the professional Palestinians apologistas will come out in full force decrying the disproportionate use of force by the Israelis, but you know, when you reap the whirlwind of war this is what you sow. Besides, it is long past the time for the international community to stop juvenilizing the Palestinians and start treating them as adults who are responsible not only for their actions but their rhetoric. Jerusalem Post:

Despite the massive casualties, Hamas remained defiant, vowing revenge and calling on all other Palestinian factions to join in the fight.

"Today we are stronger then we've ever been," one spokesperson for the group said at a press conference. "We won't raise the white flag, we won't give anything up, we won't retreat."

We can start by acknowledging Hamas has clearly set not only the rules but the terms of engagement, and henceforth, there is only one viable ending. Although, I expect the Israeli and international community will waffle from doing all that is needed to be done and in six months, a year, a year and a half, this same scenario will be played out again.

Time to end the occupation of the squatters in Hebron

Here is an irony for you - from the man who rarely steps outside of Ramallah unless he is heading to Jordan to catch a flight to a more (shall we say), ‘congenial’ place, and then, only under heavy guard to protect him from his peeps. Jerusalem Post

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday visited Hebron for the first time since he took office in 2005 and demanded that the settlers get out. "Hebron is ours, and they have to leave if they want peace," he said.

Nearly four millenniums later, and Abu Mazen thinks it 1099 or 1929 all over again. Here is a news flash – Fuck you.