Ein Gedi Botanic Garden
Seek the serenity of a Judean Desert sky in Autumn at the Ein Gedi Botanic Garden
Sunday, August 03, 2014
To Israel’s International ‘Do Gooder’ Fan Club
August 3, 2014 - I have been sitting here at my desk since late morning, watching the ‘Code Red’ alert pop up on my screen every time there’s a launch from Gaza.
They appear every few minutes.
U.S. Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick gets it. He joined with his House colleagues to send a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on July 31, pointing out that this is the third campaign by Hamas in six years, “of terrorizing a civilian population by indiscriminately firing nearly two thousand rockets into Israeli airspace. As well, Hamas has built a network of underground tunnels from Gaza into Israel with the express intent of killing and capturing Israelis.”
A few years ago, it was estimated there were more than 600 of those tunnels honeycombing the earth under Gaza and its borders with Israel, Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula.
There are probably more, now. The Egyptians flooded and destroyed several hundred. Our soldiers detonated and destroyed a few dozen in the two weeks they have managed to discover and map out the ones they tracked down during Operation Protective Edge.
By my calculation, that still leaves several hundred more, and they're still firing rockets and missiles at our civilians, attacks launched every five minutes or so. That means that in the south, a significant portion of the population is cooped up in bomb shelters for a good part of the day, every day.
Could you live that way, with your family? How would you manage your job, or your farm if you had one? Could you work your fields like that? What about getting to your office? How about school for your children? What about getting your little ones to sleep through the night? Toilet training? Taking a shower? Intimate marital relations? A wedding night?
No one should be asked to live this way. Israel certainly refuses to live this way any longer.
“United Nations shelters must be safe zones, not combat zones,” Ban said in one of his sanctimonious statements on Sunday after another UN school was used as a refuge for terrorists, by terrorists. But Israeli soldiers aimed as carefully as they could and returned fire to the source. The source – Hamas terrorists – then fled in a vehicle, right next to the gates to the entrance of an UNRWA school. They moved quicker than the missile of course, which struck just outside the gate – where civilians were standing around, including children, as the terrorists knew – and hoped – they would be. It makes a great photo op!
“The Israel Defense Forces have been repeatedly informed of the location of these sites.”
You bet, baby. By Hamas, with its mortar shelling and rocket fire.
“This attack, along with other breaches of international law, must be swiftly investigated and those responsible held accountable.”
Now wouldn’t THAT be nice? If for once on this planet your self-righteous, pompous, bigoted world body actually did carry out a real investigation and hold those responsible for the violations of international law ?
“It is a moral outrage and a criminal act.”
Yep. It sure is. A pity you can’t see that though.
The IDF has dropped hundreds of thousands of flyers over Gaza, begging the residents to get out of the way so we could neutralize the weapons with which we were being attacked. No one wanted to hurt them. IDF personnel made phone calls to their homes – and to the hospitals that had to be evacuated too – and sent Arabic-language SMS text messages to all of their cell phones, letting them know where we would attack, and when. They were given plenty of notice to leave, and even directed as to where to go.
Which army in the entire world does that?
Neither of the nations of your birth – not you, Ban, nor you, Navi -- do that. That’s for damn sure. And neither does the U.S. Army. Nor does the UK. In fact, feel free to email me with the name of any other that does. I’d be pleased to know about it.
Have the people of Gaza taken the hint? Some have.
But many have not, and instead they follow the orders of terrorist handlers and race up to rooftops like sheep, thinking we will run.
But not this time, because at last we decided it was time for their relatives to stop attacking our own innocent sleeping children. Time to hit back, and stop allowing terrorists to fire at innocent Israeli families, without firing back.
It is now 6:30 pm Sunday night, and Hamas is still firing medium range missiles at major population centers in Israel. The Code Red incoming rocket alert sirens have been blaring across the coastal city of Ashkelon, and throughout the port city of Ashdod. Literally hundreds of thousands of Israelis are racing for shelter again, and the night has barely begun. In fact, the sun hasn’t even set yet.
Two missile were intercepted this evening over Ashdod by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system and one exploded in the city.
Were it not for a last-minute move by the U.S. Senate on Friday, and a signature by President Barack Obama, Israeli civilians might soon find the problem solved forever to the liking of Hamas, and perhaps the rest of the world – maybe including Ban and Pillay. Hamas has yet to exhaust its supply of missiles after all. Moreover, Iran is willing to supply more, and North Korea has just signed a contract to provide military supplies as well.
Has there been heard even one murmur of outrage from the United Nations against this incessant rain of rocket fire against Israeli civilians?
Silence. Just silence.
Similar to the gap in the words where there should be a condemnation of ‘those responsible’ for the breach in Friday’s cease fire – the one the UN and the US forced on Israel and Hamas. The one violated by Hamas, and which resulted in the death of three young IDF officers, including two about to be married.
I'm sick to the teeth of all of it, diplomatic hypocrisy cloaked in worldly wisdom.
Until the IDF has completed its mission in destroying the terror tunnels and silences the rocket fire, when peaceful days finally return to southern Israel, probably the less said by international ‘do gooders’ the better.
Those suffering from war crime issues, ‘moral outrage’ and ‘gross violation of international humanitarian law’ can shove them all. Either apply your standards equally or not at all.
Spend a month in our shelters, and then let’s discuss it. And yes -- we do have shelters and the Gazans don't. Reason: we spent our money on defensive technology and shelters to protect our citizens. They spent their money on buying more weapons and building tunnels to attack our citizens.
And no, we're not going to apologize for that.
They appear every few minutes.
U.S. Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick gets it. He joined with his House colleagues to send a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on July 31, pointing out that this is the third campaign by Hamas in six years, “of terrorizing a civilian population by indiscriminately firing nearly two thousand rockets into Israeli airspace. As well, Hamas has built a network of underground tunnels from Gaza into Israel with the express intent of killing and capturing Israelis.”
A few years ago, it was estimated there were more than 600 of those tunnels honeycombing the earth under Gaza and its borders with Israel, Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula.
There are probably more, now. The Egyptians flooded and destroyed several hundred. Our soldiers detonated and destroyed a few dozen in the two weeks they have managed to discover and map out the ones they tracked down during Operation Protective Edge.
By my calculation, that still leaves several hundred more, and they're still firing rockets and missiles at our civilians, attacks launched every five minutes or so. That means that in the south, a significant portion of the population is cooped up in bomb shelters for a good part of the day, every day.
Could you live that way, with your family? How would you manage your job, or your farm if you had one? Could you work your fields like that? What about getting to your office? How about school for your children? What about getting your little ones to sleep through the night? Toilet training? Taking a shower? Intimate marital relations? A wedding night?
No one should be asked to live this way. Israel certainly refuses to live this way any longer.
“United Nations shelters must be safe zones, not combat zones,” Ban said in one of his sanctimonious statements on Sunday after another UN school was used as a refuge for terrorists, by terrorists. But Israeli soldiers aimed as carefully as they could and returned fire to the source. The source – Hamas terrorists – then fled in a vehicle, right next to the gates to the entrance of an UNRWA school. They moved quicker than the missile of course, which struck just outside the gate – where civilians were standing around, including children, as the terrorists knew – and hoped – they would be. It makes a great photo op!
“The Israel Defense Forces have been repeatedly informed of the location of these sites.”
You bet, baby. By Hamas, with its mortar shelling and rocket fire.
“This attack, along with other breaches of international law, must be swiftly investigated and those responsible held accountable.”
Now wouldn’t THAT be nice? If for once on this planet your self-righteous, pompous, bigoted world body actually did carry out a real investigation and hold those responsible for the violations of international law ?
“It is a moral outrage and a criminal act.”
Yep. It sure is. A pity you can’t see that though.
The IDF has dropped hundreds of thousands of flyers over Gaza, begging the residents to get out of the way so we could neutralize the weapons with which we were being attacked. No one wanted to hurt them. IDF personnel made phone calls to their homes – and to the hospitals that had to be evacuated too – and sent Arabic-language SMS text messages to all of their cell phones, letting them know where we would attack, and when. They were given plenty of notice to leave, and even directed as to where to go.
Which army in the entire world does that?
Neither of the nations of your birth – not you, Ban, nor you, Navi -- do that. That’s for damn sure. And neither does the U.S. Army. Nor does the UK. In fact, feel free to email me with the name of any other that does. I’d be pleased to know about it.
Have the people of Gaza taken the hint? Some have.
But many have not, and instead they follow the orders of terrorist handlers and race up to rooftops like sheep, thinking we will run.
But not this time, because at last we decided it was time for their relatives to stop attacking our own innocent sleeping children. Time to hit back, and stop allowing terrorists to fire at innocent Israeli families, without firing back.
It is now 6:30 pm Sunday night, and Hamas is still firing medium range missiles at major population centers in Israel. The Code Red incoming rocket alert sirens have been blaring across the coastal city of Ashkelon, and throughout the port city of Ashdod. Literally hundreds of thousands of Israelis are racing for shelter again, and the night has barely begun. In fact, the sun hasn’t even set yet.
Two missile were intercepted this evening over Ashdod by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system and one exploded in the city.
Were it not for a last-minute move by the U.S. Senate on Friday, and a signature by President Barack Obama, Israeli civilians might soon find the problem solved forever to the liking of Hamas, and perhaps the rest of the world – maybe including Ban and Pillay. Hamas has yet to exhaust its supply of missiles after all. Moreover, Iran is willing to supply more, and North Korea has just signed a contract to provide military supplies as well.
Has there been heard even one murmur of outrage from the United Nations against this incessant rain of rocket fire against Israeli civilians?
Silence. Just silence.
Similar to the gap in the words where there should be a condemnation of ‘those responsible’ for the breach in Friday’s cease fire – the one the UN and the US forced on Israel and Hamas. The one violated by Hamas, and which resulted in the death of three young IDF officers, including two about to be married.
I'm sick to the teeth of all of it, diplomatic hypocrisy cloaked in worldly wisdom.
Until the IDF has completed its mission in destroying the terror tunnels and silences the rocket fire, when peaceful days finally return to southern Israel, probably the less said by international ‘do gooders’ the better.
Those suffering from war crime issues, ‘moral outrage’ and ‘gross violation of international humanitarian law’ can shove them all. Either apply your standards equally or not at all.
And no, we're not going to apologize for that.
Saturday, August 02, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
International Black Comedy Hour
July 23, 2014 - I heard a British-accented female voice announce on the radio this morning that Israeli actions in Gaza “may constitute a war crime.”
Actually, I thought I was mistaken because I had not yet had my morning coffee. But then I heard the same sound bite again an hour later in the next newscast.
It was our very good friend, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Madame Navi Pillay, saying that Israel “may have” committed war crimes in Gaza and determining that an investigation into every single questionable incident would have to be carried out.
Here’s the text of her statement, in full:
“As we speak, the indiscriminate firing of Hamas and other armed groups of more than 2,900 rockets as well as mortars from Gaza continues to endanger the lives of civilians in Israel. I have repeatedly condemned such indiscriminate attacks in the past. I do so again today.
“I further emphasize that it is unacceptable to locate military assets in densely populated areas or to launch attacks from such areas.
“However, international law is clear. The actions of one party do not absolve the other party of the need to respect its obligations under international law.
"My staff are continuing to document several other cases in which family residences were destroyed with the reported loss of civilian life and in which preliminary indications suggest not even a single member of an armed group was present.
“Then just two days ago on 21 July, shells hit the Al Aqsa Hospital in Dir Al Bala reportedly killing at least three people and wounding dozens of others including doctors.
“These are just a few instances where there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated in a manner that could amount to war crimes.
"Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated.” (bold and italics mine)
First of all, I get it. She's on a witch hunt. She even says so. That's not new. She also omits the fact that her staff is "documenting" the evidence from one side only, and the staff doing the "documenting" is biased, representing a massive conflict of interest. She also fails to mention that the hospital in question was evacuated and the area was designated as a closed military zone. Shocking.
No mention of the terrorist attacks on Israeli communities in sovereign Israeli territory. No mention of the incessant shelling of Israeli villages, towns and cities, homes damaged, entire families traumatized for life.
No mention of the dozens of incidents of destruction of ‘family residences destroyed’ in Israel, all without ‘even a single member of an armed group present’ because everyone in the family was hiding in a bomb shelter as the rockets were raining down.
No mention of the cross-border invasion by Hamas terrorists into Israeli territory.
No mention of the unprovoked kidnapping and murders of the three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists that ignited this entire nightmare in the first place.
No mention of the thousands of flyers dropped by the IDF days in advance warning Gaza residents to leave the areas they plan to attack, the phone calls to their homes and the SMS text messages, all in Arabic, all of which also warns the enemy as well – all in order to prevent civilian deaths.
No mention of the fact that UNRWA – the United Nations’ own Relief and Works Agency, has so far been caught twice during routine inspections with two of its own schools in Gaza being used as storage facilities for terrorist missiles, most recently Tuesday 22 July. In both cases, UNRWA chose to hand over the lethal ordnance to the Hamas terrorist organization that began this conflict and which repeatedly refuses to end it with a cease fire agreement.
No.
But that is no surprise, because Ms. Pillay leads a U.N. agency that from the outset aims primarily to condemn Israel above any other member nation in the world body.
I wondered how long it would take before she would come to hunt down Israel. I doubt she’ll convince Judge Goldstone to do her dirty work this time, however, and I wonder whether her agency is even relevant at this point.
In any case, the U.N. will require Israel’s cooperation in any so-called “investigation” of military events in Gaza; and the current government is not one led by eternally guilt-ridden, self-hating Jews. Not this time.
And given that even liberal Tzipi Livni has called the UN Human Rights Council an “anti-Israel” body – I doubt Madame Pillay has much hope of doing damage this time.
Actually, I thought I was mistaken because I had not yet had my morning coffee. But then I heard the same sound bite again an hour later in the next newscast.
It was our very good friend, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Madame Navi Pillay, saying that Israel “may have” committed war crimes in Gaza and determining that an investigation into every single questionable incident would have to be carried out.
Here’s the text of her statement, in full:
“As we speak, the indiscriminate firing of Hamas and other armed groups of more than 2,900 rockets as well as mortars from Gaza continues to endanger the lives of civilians in Israel. I have repeatedly condemned such indiscriminate attacks in the past. I do so again today.
“I further emphasize that it is unacceptable to locate military assets in densely populated areas or to launch attacks from such areas.
“However, international law is clear. The actions of one party do not absolve the other party of the need to respect its obligations under international law.
"My staff are continuing to document several other cases in which family residences were destroyed with the reported loss of civilian life and in which preliminary indications suggest not even a single member of an armed group was present.
“Then just two days ago on 21 July, shells hit the Al Aqsa Hospital in Dir Al Bala reportedly killing at least three people and wounding dozens of others including doctors.
“These are just a few instances where there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated in a manner that could amount to war crimes.
"Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated.” (bold and italics mine)
First of all, I get it. She's on a witch hunt. She even says so. That's not new. She also omits the fact that her staff is "documenting" the evidence from one side only, and the staff doing the "documenting" is biased, representing a massive conflict of interest. She also fails to mention that the hospital in question was evacuated and the area was designated as a closed military zone. Shocking.
No mention of the terrorist attacks on Israeli communities in sovereign Israeli territory. No mention of the incessant shelling of Israeli villages, towns and cities, homes damaged, entire families traumatized for life.
No mention of the dozens of incidents of destruction of ‘family residences destroyed’ in Israel, all without ‘even a single member of an armed group present’ because everyone in the family was hiding in a bomb shelter as the rockets were raining down.
No mention of the cross-border invasion by Hamas terrorists into Israeli territory.
No mention of the unprovoked kidnapping and murders of the three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists that ignited this entire nightmare in the first place.
No mention of the thousands of flyers dropped by the IDF days in advance warning Gaza residents to leave the areas they plan to attack, the phone calls to their homes and the SMS text messages, all in Arabic, all of which also warns the enemy as well – all in order to prevent civilian deaths.
No mention of the fact that UNRWA – the United Nations’ own Relief and Works Agency, has so far been caught twice during routine inspections with two of its own schools in Gaza being used as storage facilities for terrorist missiles, most recently Tuesday 22 July. In both cases, UNRWA chose to hand over the lethal ordnance to the Hamas terrorist organization that began this conflict and which repeatedly refuses to end it with a cease fire agreement.
No.
But that is no surprise, because Ms. Pillay leads a U.N. agency that from the outset aims primarily to condemn Israel above any other member nation in the world body.
I wondered how long it would take before she would come to hunt down Israel. I doubt she’ll convince Judge Goldstone to do her dirty work this time, however, and I wonder whether her agency is even relevant at this point.
In any case, the U.N. will require Israel’s cooperation in any so-called “investigation” of military events in Gaza; and the current government is not one led by eternally guilt-ridden, self-hating Jews. Not this time.
And given that even liberal Tzipi Livni has called the UN Human Rights Council an “anti-Israel” body – I doubt Madame Pillay has much hope of doing damage this time.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
How to Get Rid of a Terrorist Tunnel
July 22, 2014 - IDF soldiers are encountering an annoying number of terrorist tunnels in their efforts to reach and destroy the weapons being aimed at Israel's civilians.
But Israeli soldiers have not become discouraged by this obstacle, nor are they alarmed. They are simply eliminating the problem. Behold.
But Israeli soldiers have not become discouraged by this obstacle, nor are they alarmed. They are simply eliminating the problem. Behold.
Hamas Terrorists Tunneling Their Way to 'Glory'
July 22, 2014 - Several years ago, an Al Jazeera journalist did a feature on the 'Marhabetuna' tunneling unit of the Izz a-Din al-Qassam military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization, 'exposing for the first time ever' detailed visuals of the group's underground operations.
The piece, originally filmed in 2009, has been resurrected in light of the current conflict and the group's use of those tunnels in its guerrilla warfare against Israel.
The greatest advantage of the tunnels, he points out, is that "they will help members of the resistance in Gaza to carry out missions and attacks far away from the danger of Israeli air strikes. The tunnels have served as a powerful weapon," he adds, noting they were used in 2006 during the kidnapping of then-IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, "and to fire rockets on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities during the most recent war in Gaza."
The tunnels were also used during Operation Pillar of Defense, he reported, showing images of missiles being fired from concealed rocket launches inside the earth.
Yesterday, seven IDF soldiers from the Golani Brigade died and two others were badly wounded while preventing a massacre at two kibbutzim near the Gaza border just after dawn. An eighth soldier miraculously survived unharmed. (A number of others died in action inside Gaza, most from the Golani Brigade.)
An IAF pilot spotted two squads of Hamas terrorists erupting from two separate tunnels at a spot along the border between the two kibbutzim. But they hesitated to fire upon them, because all were dressed in IDF uniforms, right down to the regulation footwear.
An IDF ground force led by the Gefen Battalion engaged the terrorists instead, who fired at troops in two military vehicles. The lead vehicle, which carried a senior officer and several others, sustained a direct hit by an anti-tank missile. All four men died instantly. Soldiers poured out of an Israeli APC (armored personnel carrier). The Hamas operatives were heavily armed; they fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at the soldiers and then a second anti-tank missile at the APC.
The lone soldier who stayed behind in the APC somehow managed to escape at the very last instant, racing away as the vehicle was hit and exploded in flames.
Once a definite identification was made and pilots were able to confirm the difference between their own men and the terrorists, the IAF launched an air strike to prevent the terrorists from escaping into a nearby tunnel. Israeli missile fire combined with gunfire from ground forces eventually eliminated all 10 terrorists in the savage and bloody battle.
There have been many so far in this war, quite a few caused by terrorists emerging from tunnels in Israeli territory. But one particularly savage battle took place inside Gaza, in the neighborhood of Sejaiya, in Gaza City. That one was due to Hamas placement of concealed rocket launchers under numerous civilian buildings, including mosques, schools, private homes and children's playgrounds.
Hamas orders to Gaza residents to remain in those places as human shields in order to deter Israeli soldiers from attacking the launchers and the terrorists didn't work this time, as upsetting as it was to the soldiers forced to fire. The civilians were warned three days in advance, with flyers dropped on their neighborhood, with phone calls to their homes and via SMS text messages transmitted to their cell phones. All messages conveyed the same warning: "Please leave the area because Israel is going to attack and we would like you to be safe and out of harm's way." The residents know where to go and how to get there. That information is conveyed to them; UNRWA schools are neutral ground as they are well aware.
Actually, NOT so neutral these days: 20 missiles were "discovered" by international staff at an UNRWA school accidentally during a routine inspection of the facility in the town of Rafah, on the Gaza border with Egypt.
UNRWA -- the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, funded with tax dollars from the United States, among other nations -- promptly handed the missiles over to the Hamas terrorist organization.
Not so neutral after all and probably a war crime, committed by the very entity that sets the standard.
So much for unity of nations. Unity against Israel, I guess.
The piece, originally filmed in 2009, has been resurrected in light of the current conflict and the group's use of those tunnels in its guerrilla warfare against Israel.
The greatest advantage of the tunnels, he points out, is that "they will help members of the resistance in Gaza to carry out missions and attacks far away from the danger of Israeli air strikes. The tunnels have served as a powerful weapon," he adds, noting they were used in 2006 during the kidnapping of then-IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, "and to fire rockets on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities during the most recent war in Gaza."
The tunnels were also used during Operation Pillar of Defense, he reported, showing images of missiles being fired from concealed rocket launches inside the earth.
Yesterday, seven IDF soldiers from the Golani Brigade died and two others were badly wounded while preventing a massacre at two kibbutzim near the Gaza border just after dawn. An eighth soldier miraculously survived unharmed. (A number of others died in action inside Gaza, most from the Golani Brigade.)
An IAF pilot spotted two squads of Hamas terrorists erupting from two separate tunnels at a spot along the border between the two kibbutzim. But they hesitated to fire upon them, because all were dressed in IDF uniforms, right down to the regulation footwear.
An IDF ground force led by the Gefen Battalion engaged the terrorists instead, who fired at troops in two military vehicles. The lead vehicle, which carried a senior officer and several others, sustained a direct hit by an anti-tank missile. All four men died instantly. Soldiers poured out of an Israeli APC (armored personnel carrier). The Hamas operatives were heavily armed; they fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at the soldiers and then a second anti-tank missile at the APC.
The lone soldier who stayed behind in the APC somehow managed to escape at the very last instant, racing away as the vehicle was hit and exploded in flames.
Once a definite identification was made and pilots were able to confirm the difference between their own men and the terrorists, the IAF launched an air strike to prevent the terrorists from escaping into a nearby tunnel. Israeli missile fire combined with gunfire from ground forces eventually eliminated all 10 terrorists in the savage and bloody battle.
There have been many so far in this war, quite a few caused by terrorists emerging from tunnels in Israeli territory. But one particularly savage battle took place inside Gaza, in the neighborhood of Sejaiya, in Gaza City. That one was due to Hamas placement of concealed rocket launchers under numerous civilian buildings, including mosques, schools, private homes and children's playgrounds.
Hamas orders to Gaza residents to remain in those places as human shields in order to deter Israeli soldiers from attacking the launchers and the terrorists didn't work this time, as upsetting as it was to the soldiers forced to fire. The civilians were warned three days in advance, with flyers dropped on their neighborhood, with phone calls to their homes and via SMS text messages transmitted to their cell phones. All messages conveyed the same warning: "Please leave the area because Israel is going to attack and we would like you to be safe and out of harm's way." The residents know where to go and how to get there. That information is conveyed to them; UNRWA schools are neutral ground as they are well aware.
Actually, NOT so neutral these days: 20 missiles were "discovered" by international staff at an UNRWA school accidentally during a routine inspection of the facility in the town of Rafah, on the Gaza border with Egypt.
UNRWA -- the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, funded with tax dollars from the United States, among other nations -- promptly handed the missiles over to the Hamas terrorist organization.
Not so neutral after all and probably a war crime, committed by the very entity that sets the standard.
So much for unity of nations. Unity against Israel, I guess.
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