Are we under siege ?
In the European diaspora with the pogroms in France, the increasing anti-semitic attacks in Britain, the feeling in Germany's Jews that' it is 1938 again', a brutal attack on a Rabbi in Morocco,the calling by elements of the Turkish press for Turkey's Jews to collectively 'apologise' for Gaza, along with their Prime Minister's (an apparent NATO ally) outrageous remarks about Israel, the media hostility toward Israel defending herself ...
In Israel there is the diplomatic flurry for Israel to come to terms with terrorists who wish to see the destruction of the Jewish people, whilst the brave men and women, Jews and non Jews alike of the IDF are fighting in fierce battles to stop the terrorism that has been the bane of the Children of Israel ever since Israel pulled out of Gaza nine years ago.
As for what happens now : we need to sit tight and realise we are all in the long haul of bringing the terrorists to book . We need to continue to pray and support Israel and the IDF as well as those in the diaspora community who feel that are under threat. We must also Daven for the very men and women, the young flowers of Israel who serve in the IDF, in doing what they have to do, namely defend the people of Israel against all harm and in so doing being willing to commit the ultimate sacrifice in their blood and possibly, their lives.We also need to find muster and a prayer for Israel and for our diaspora, that our leadership will model themselves on the Israeli leadership of Moses, the steadfastness of Deborah, the spiritual guidance of Samuel, the faithfulness of Hannah, the courage of Esther, the military prowess of David and the wisdom of Solomon.
Above all, we as a people need to continue to follow Hashem and pray that he will, via the brave men and women of the IDF, swiftly deliver the children of Israel from harm. May we be able to see the coming of Mashiach and the end of all wars & universal peace as it is said "The L-rd will be King over the whole earth. On that day there will be one L-rd, and His Name the only Name." [Zechariah 14:9].
Two other concluding thoughts. Firstly over at Esther's Place, she reminds us that Jews have used their wits and intelligence to defend ourselves in centuries before and that this is a key part of the equation today :
"The one thing that we must remember is that we Jews have often had to defend ourselves and our religion, when we had no Israel and no IDF. We did so on the back of our wits, belief & sheer courage : does anyone remember the disputation of Barcelona? So today there is an Internet and yes it can be full of disturbing messages and arguments.
We must regain that voice quickly and win the argument .It is not social media that is the problem, rather we must remind ourselves that we are Jews and we have never been afraid of defending our faith when necessary, often with the most powerful weapon of all: words, writing and debate. So today we must remember that whilst opponents have a voice so do we. Let us make them hear us. Let us win the argument once more. "
Secondly and finally, after gross hypocrisy of the latest UN resolution (where is their consideration for the ethnic cleansing of Iraq's Christian minority?) ,Ambassador Ron Prosor tells it how it is :
Dov,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this, well written and I am glad you managed to plug my little blog as well :)
Of course it's not a war of equals. That is the absurd notion that the media and Israel use to try to justify this barbarism. The U.S gives Israel over $3 billion in aid every year and every time it develops a new weapon it gives it (not sells it) to the IDF. Palestinians don't even have one helicopter just home made rockets, which as we have seen are almost completely useless against Israel's "iron dome" defense system. How can anyone with a sound mind attempt to find parity in such a nightmarish situation? Do we ever think of prison guards and prisoners in terms of two sides of a conflict? Of course not, that would be as absurd as it is to say so about this horrific conflict. Gaza is one big prison with no way out for its defenseless population that is being driven by Israel to the limits of human grief and suffering. I think the notion that Hamas force people to act as human shields is an Israeli propaganda lie because apart from anything else it doesn't have the human resources to police such a policy as Israel pounds Gaza into dust from every angle and we would have seen examples of Palestinians shot dead for refuses to stay put put. There have been no such examples only Israeli claims that it happens and given its truly cruel and merciless behavior, what are those claims worth? The actions of the IDF shame us all as human beings and people will look back on this period of history and ask, how did the world let that continue without stopping it?
ReplyDeleteAtheist,
ReplyDeleteAny response to a terrorist group by a country using it's army will not be a war of equals.Do this mean that no country can ever respond using it's military to suppress the terrorist activity against it's citizens?That would be absurd.Any country under military threat by a group, no matter how large or small, has the right to try to stop that group.Ah, "but it's disproportionate" I hear you cry.
First, this running score of deaths on each side is something that I've not witnessed being broadcast in the same way for any other conflict - including those Britain itself was directly involved in. We might get a summary at the end - but never a daily update of the dead on each side - in the news ticker - almost like reporting on a sports event.
I assume that Guardian, the BBC, the UN and Al Jazeera do not have reporters on every street. So how do they know who'd fire killed each person? If Israel moves forward into another street or neighborhood, and is fired at by Hammas fighters using their guns, rocket propelled, anti-tank rockets, booby trap bombs, and civilians in the area who have ignored warnings to leave their homes are hit and injured or killed, who's to say whether this was by Israeli or Hammas fire? Granted, Israel has, and uses more fire power (e.g. from the air, sea) - but Hammas has plenty of it's own - and, if you watch the videos of the battle - everyone fires back at the source of firing aimed at them - and it's very difficult to see who is there - hence innocent civilians are hit - but who's to say by whom??? Assuming that all Palestinians are killed by Israel is not accurate - just as some Israeli soldiers are killed by friendly fire.
Every one of these lives lost is a tragedy. A lost loved one. A lost life.
What's disproportionate here is the reporting. The hate in the media. The strong opinions.
They are totally disproportionate to the activity on the ground, relative to other conflicts in the world.
Just for the record:
Sudan 1983 war - 1 million muslims dead
Iraq 1988 war - 800,000 muslims dead
Algeria - 1991 war - 150,000 muslims dead
Algeria - 2011 Arab Spring - 174,000 muslims dead
Syria - 2011 war - 250,000 muslims dead
None of the above killed by Israel
Gaza 2014 war - 1000+ muslims dead while Israel looks for rockets in tunnels aimed at its citizens.
Which one received more media attention, views, opinions, hate?
I see that the Zionists are in full propaganda mood.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the reaction from the authorities if there had been mass hate attacks on Muslims? Long live Israel.
ReplyDeleteIf Jews around the world didn't so openly knee-jerk in support of anything israel does, no matter how immoral or criminal the action is, they wouldn't be getting so much blowback. That's the price they pay for criticizing anything and everything EXCEPT israel.
ReplyDeleteBloody disgraceful. I hope they catch these anti-semites and send them down for a very long time. Anyone found shouting hail Hitler or Jew hate generally should be fined £5000 on the spot, this is not what our fathers & grandfathers fought for.
ReplyDeleteThe media are to blame for this by hyping up the reports from Gaza. Remember who started this latest conflict HAMAS. Remember who just refused a ceasefire TWICE. HAMAS. Remember who hide amongst their own civilians to fire rockets. HAMAS
Oscar, well said and thankyou. I have Davened also for the fate of the Iraqi Christians as well. The civilised world faces an onslaught that must be fought.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like it, then there are other places for you to troll
ReplyDeleteDouble standards perhaps?
ReplyDeleteYes. The gross hypocrisy, the violence and the tone of these marches really sickens me as well.
ReplyDeleteSo it is our collective fault? How very Fascist of you. I've deleted your comment as a result.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Esther !
ReplyDeleteAtheist,
ReplyDeleteGaza is a totalitarian police state. Hamas are making sure that the journalists see what they want them to see.
This what happens when a brave Iraqi Zionists has the audacity to produce the flag of Israel :
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WveT_syAXYI
That's a lot like Sam, except the accept and lack of Kippah!
ReplyDelete