Archbishop of Canterbury falls for anti-Israel lies.

Last week, in the lead up to Christmas, Israel was once again thrust into the spotlight courtesy of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who jointly published an article with Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem Hosam Naoum in The Sunday Times claiming Christians were being “systematically” driven out of the Holy Land.

Yet the statistics prove otherwise.

While any attacks that have occurred at the hands of Jewish extremists are reprehensible, and widely condemned as such by the vast majority in Israel, the truth remains that the safest place for Christians in the Middle East to be today is the State of Israel.

So where did the archbishop get this misinformation?

Earlier this month, a letter was released by the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem claiming, without any evidence, that Israel is unfairly discriminating against Christians with coronavirus entry restrictions.

While there have been some despicable incidents of vandalism against churches by Jewish extremists in the last year, there is no evidence or statistics provided for any physical attacks, or for the claim that Jews are driving Christians out of the Holy Land. There is however evidence of the opposite.

The facts are:-

-The Christian community in Israel actually grew by 1.4%. Not only that, but the community is thriving and successful.

 -Christians being among the most educated groups in the entire country, and with Christian women in particular having some of the highest education rates. Israeli Christians also outscore Israeli Jews on matriculation exams by 60% to 51%.

- Christians have the lowest rates of poverty and unemployment of any group in the State of Israel, including Jews, and a total of 84% of Israeli.

-Christians are satisfied with their lives in the Holy Land. While Israel undoubtedly has shortcomings, these are not exactly statistics that represent a population being “driven out” by the government.

-In Gaza, Christians have gone from the thousands to around 1,000 under Hamas. Not only that, but they have been subjected to murders and terror attacks on their homes and places of worship by Islamic extremists.

-In the West Bank, Christians have not fared much better with the percentage of Christians in Bethlehem, the very birthplace of Jesus, shrinking from 80% under Israeli control, to roughly 12% today under the Palestinian Authority.

In the Middle East, Christians have gone from 20% of the total population to 5%, and face regular attacks and harassment from extremists across the Arab world, in particular in Egypt and Iraq.

Presenting the issue without context as the Israeli church leaders and the Archbishop of Canterbury did is simply playing politics, and to the Christians of the Middle East who really are being driven out of their homelands like in the Gaza Strip, Egypt, Iraq or the West Bank.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has a responsibility as a major religious leader to examine the full picture before latching on to an intentionally misleading effort to score political points and distract from the true persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East.

More on this read here

A New Goldstone Report from the UN

 

Full report at https://tinyurl.com/4t8za3ss

• The UN Human Rights Council has launched the most hostile anti-Israel “Inquiry” in
UN history, headed by the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, South
African Navi Pillay, known for her direct involvement and support of the infamous
Goldstone Report. Her two deputies have years of experience pillorying Israel.

 
• The Human Rights Council’s resolution in May 2021 created an “ongoing
independent, international commission of inquiry” with a sweeping mandate to
investigate “All alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged
violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since April
13 2021, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and all
underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict,
including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial
or religious identity.”
 
• The Human Rights Council resolution failed to refer to Hamas at all. It did not
mention – let alone condemn – the launch of thousands of rockets by Hamas into
Israel. Indeed, the Israeli civilian population was omitted from the resolution. The
only civilians mentioned are the “Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory.” Nor did the resolution condemn the use by Palestinian terror
groups of Palestinian civilians as human shields, a war crime.
 
• The “Inquiry” will have the mandate to ferret out “discrimination and repression
based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity” and to find discrimination and
repression at the hands of Jews. This is full-frontal antisemitism, an inversion of the
truth, such that the Jewish victims of racism and religious hatred become its
perpetrators.
 
• This attack on Israel is unprecedented in the history of the United Nations human
rights system in terms of the “Inquiry’s” funding, staffing, and permanence.
 
• The Commission has invited “individuals, groups, and organizations to submit
information and documentation relevant to its mandate. In particular, the
Commission has asked to receive information concerning the “underlying root
causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict in and between
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, including
systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial, or
religious identity.”

• Efforts must be made to encourage governments to condemn the Human Rights
Council’s “Inquiry.” More than 30 nations boycotted the biased and antisemitic
Durban hate fest in September 2021. Their condemnation of the anti-Israel
inquisition will underscore that the HRC undermines the promotion of international
human rights and erodes the standing of the United Nations.

 • The verdict of this kangaroo court is a foregone conclusion. The urgent need arises,
therefore, to challenge its veracity and legitimacy. Answering the “Call for
Submissions” en masse – and ensuring alternative voices reach the court of public
opinion – provides just such an opportunity for all those committed to combating
modern antisemitism and defending the human rights of Israelis.

Iranian UAV's Now Challenge the USA

 The Iranian UAVs pose a challenge and tangible threat not only to the Middle East but also to US soil. Iranian UAVs are located in Venezuela less than 1240 miles (2000 km) from Miami and 530 miles (850 km) from American citizens in Puerto Rico. It's just a matter of Iran's will.

Israel's Knesset Plans for 400 Autonomous Taxis

 Knesset Sets in Motion Plans for 400 Autonomous Taxis on Israeli Roads

The Knesset’s Economic Affairs Committee convened on Tuesday to discuss legislation on autonomous vehicles, with the first phase enabling the operation of 400 autonomous taxis.

Officials from the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety presented the bill for regulating, supervising and developing autonomous vehicles in Israel, making Israel one of a few countries around the world to be regulating this issue.

Committee Chair Member of Knesset Michael Biton noted that Israel “is leading in research and development” on autonomous vehicles. This is a historic day, creating a new reality in Israel, which will enable 400 autonomous cars to drive on Israel’s roads.”

Israel Completes Smart Border Barrier Around Gaza

After 3.5 Years of Construction, Israel Completes Smart Border Barrier Around Gaza Strip

Israel officially completed the construction of the “smart” barrier fence around the Gaza Strip, its defense line from attacks by terror groups above ground and terror tunnels running into the country below ground.

The 65 km long barrier includes an underground concrete component with sensors, an above-ground fence, a naval barrier to prevent incursions from the sea, radar systems, and command and control rooms to prevent infiltrations from the Gaza strip into Israeli territory.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated during a special inauguration ceremony on Tuesday that “the barrier, which is an innovative and technologically advanced project, deprives Hamas of one of the capabilities it tried to develop and places an ‘iron wall’, sensors and concrete between the terror organization and the residents of Israel’s south.”

Media Erase Plight of Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands

 

(From Honest Reporting )

The media went into overdrive this week with wall-to-wall coverage of the United Nations’ “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” that marked the 74th anniversary of the historic partition proposal that would have – but for its rejection by the entire Arab world – resulted in a Jewish state alongside an Arab one. In fact, this series of speeches and ‘cultural events’ only served to legitimize the Palestinian ‘right of return’ demand that would – if ever actualized – destroy the Jewish state by weight of numbers. 

In stark contrast, the November 30 commemoration by Israel and the entire Jewish world of the expulsion of Jews from Arab and Islamic lands that took place following the Palestinian leadership and neighboring Arab states’ violent rejection of the UN Partition Plan generated virtually no coverage by prominent news outlets.

Bottom of Form

 #Egypt; #SyriaOff Media’s Radar: Nearly 1,000,000 Jewish Refugees

Following Israel’s establishment, the state of Jews living in Arab countries became increasingly precarious. Libya’s Jewish Community Council was dissolved and, in 1961, a law passed that effectively stripped the Jews of their Libyan citizenship. The country’s Jewish community essentially came to an end with the evacuation of 6,000 Jews in one month.

In 1963, Algeria passed a law stripping non-Muslims of citizenship. In 1964, Syrian Jews were barred from working in the government or banks, purchasing property, or acquiring drivers’ licenses. Syrian Jews who obtained permission to travel abroad were required to post a bond, leaving behind family members as hostages.

And after the Six-Day War, Egyptian Jews were hit with a wave of confiscations.

It’s estimated that approximately 850,000 Jews were living in Arab countries and Iran at the time of Israel’s independence. Some scholars think that the number is closer to one million. In the North African region, 259,000 Jews fled from Morocco, 140,000 from Algeria, 100,000 from Tunisia, 75,000 from Egypt, and another 38,000 from Libya. In the Middle East, 135,000 Jews were exiled from Iraq, 55,000 from Yemen, 34,000 from Turkey, 20,000 from Lebanon and 18,000 from Syria. Iran forced out 25,000 Jews.

These people were forced to leave the countries where their families had lived for millennia solely because of their Jewish identity. 

Today, there are fewer than 7,000 Jews living in the entire Arab world. In many Arab states, once-thriving Jewish communities have all but disappeared.

In an attempt to correct this historic injustice the Israeli government took action in 2019, demanding compensation totaling $250 billion for property and assets left behind by Jews who fled for their lives.

What Jewish Refugees? Media Ignore Mass Expulsion

During Israel’s War of Independence, approximately the same amount of Jewish refugees arrived in the fledgling Jewish state as Palestinians who fled their homes. Yet one side of these historic events has been seemingly buried by leading news organizations.

Honest Reporting examined thousands of articles and news segments to gauge how the media have reported on the Jewish refugee story compared to the Palestinian refugee issue over the last 12 months. While ‘Palestinian refugees’ was cited nearly six and a half thousand times, there were only 865 ‘Jewish refugees’ citations during the same period.

No Recognition from United Nations of Jews Driven from Arab Countries

The media’s unwillingness to report on the story of Jewish refugees isn’t occurring in a vacuum. The United Nations is pushing the Palestinian narrative as well.

In 2008, the US House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the recognition of Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab lands. The resolution states that any agreement between Israelis and Palestinians must include recognition of Jewish refugees as well. The resolution makes it clear that the subject should be brought before the UN General Assembly.

Yet the United Nations refuses to recognize the Jews who were brutally expelled from Arab states. In response, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in December 2020 of his intention to submit a draft resolution requiring the international body to hold an annual commemoration for the hundreds of thousands of Jews exiled from Arab countries due to the creation of the State of Israel.

Erdan also asked the UN to launch a global research project on the deportation of Jews from the Arab world and to back the study of the subject in various UN forums.

By obfuscating the plight of Jewish refugees the media are keeping readers and viewers in the dark about the ethnic and cultural composition of modern-day Israel. As a result, the myth that the Jewish state is composed of people descendant from European ‘interlopers’ (See here, here, and here) is allowed to be perpetuated.

Until the media and United Nations recognize Arab leaders’ rejection of the Jewish state and persecution of the Jewish people, coexistence is liable to elude Israelis and Palestinians.

Blood in Jerusalem

 

Incitement, Incitement and more Incitement

A Hamas gunman and “teacher” spilled innocent Jewish blood in the holy Old City of Jerusalem the other day. And how do the “Palestinians” of Jerusalem respond? Happily. They march in the streets to show their support of this sick animal who killed 26 year old Eli Kay. These “protesters” burned tires and threw rocks at the border police while marching through the streets of the holiest city in the world…in support of a cold-blooded murderer.

How dare they? Does the world see it yet? Not only are there terrorists in our midst, but there are many, many others who support those terrorists! It is terrifying that this is in Jerusalem!

Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, the Hamas gunman who was killed after killing an innocent Jew and injuring others, was a TEACHER! He brainwashed the minds of the “Palestinian” youth. And his family is proud of what he did, that he murdered a young Jewish man. This culture is barbaric.

The Palestinian Jihad against Jews

 by Bassam Tawil  •  November 22, 2021 

• If Palestinian leaders believe that Jews are not entitled to their holiest site, the Temple Mount, and that Jerusalem belongs only to Muslims and Christians, how can they talk about establishing a Palestinian state that would exist in peace and security next to Israel?
• Western donors seem not to understand that the refusal by Palestinian leaders to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people remains a major obstacle to peace and the "two-state solution."
• "We categorically reject the Jewish state," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has stated on more than one occasion. "We will not backtrack on this matter."
• On the eve of the meeting of the donor countries, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh reminded Palestinians that there is no such thing as Jewish history in Jerusalem.... "Jerusalem has Canaanite, Roman, Islamic, and Christian antiquities, and no one else has any traces in it."
• This is the same Shtayyeh who days earlier told foreign journalists in Ramallah that the Palestinians have no problem with Jews.
• Perhaps Shtayyeh thought that his remarks in Arabic during the PA cabinet meeting would not be translated or noticed by non-Arabic speakers.
• On the same day the Western donors were meeting in Norway, the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the Palestinians oppose visits to the Temple Mount by Jewish students.
• The Norwegian foreign minister and the donor countries should have taken note of what Palestinian leaders are telling their people and the rest of the Arabs and Muslims about Israel and Jewish history. Had they paid attention to the words of the Palestinian leaders, they would have realized why it is impossible to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel at a time when the PA is openly saying that Jews have no right to live in their own homeland.
• Western donors might wish to consider this Judenrein type of Palestinian anti-Semitism and incitement against Israel and Jews the next time they open their wallets to the PA.

Why Palestinians Cannot Make Peace with Israel

 

by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  October 20, 2021 

• The Palestinian Authority, which is largely funded by American and European taxpayers' money, is imprisoning Palestinians for even trying to engage in real estate deals with Jews.
• The Palestinian public seems generally supportive of the death sentences and extrajudicial killings of suspected "land dealers" and informants. Even Palestinian human rights organizations appear to be extremely careful when they mention such issues.
• As far as Hamas and many Palestinians are concerned, peace with Israel or any form of "collaboration" with the "Zionist enemy" is an act of treason punishable by death.
• Mahmoud Abbas is already facing accusations of being a traitor because of the security coordination between the PA security forces and the Israeli authorities in the West Bank.
• As long as the PA and Hamas punish Palestinians who work with Israel or are willing to sell real estate to Israeli Jews -- frequently by issuing sentences of hard labor or death -- the hope of reviving the "peace process" is, unfortunately, a pitiful waste of time and effort.
• The verdicts passed against the "land dealers" in the West Bank and the suspected "collaborators" in the Gaza Strip show that Palestinians remain as far as ever from accepting Israel, let alone making peace with it.

The verdicts are yet more proof of how Palestinian leaders continue to radicalize their people against Israel -- to the point that no Palestinian who wishes to stay alive would ever claim that he or she seeks to make peace with Israel or recognize all of the land as anything other than totally Palestinian in every way.

Hamas to Israel: $8 million by tomorrow or else

"Do it or else", the latest threats from Gaza

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Gaza-based terror group Hamas is demanding that Israel fulfill a number of conditions, including transferring some $8 million in aid money, by Tuesday, or face actions that could dismantle the current Israeli government, Palestinian daily Al-Ayan reported.

Hamas is also demanding the full release of Qatari funding for Gaza, an end to the restrictions which prevent Gazans from approaching the border fence with Israel, easier movement for Gazans that wish to travel to Jordan, and family reunification permits for some 19,000 Gazans married to Israeli citizens, which would normalize their status in the Jewish State.

 If Israel does not fulfill these demands, the relative quiet along Israel’s southern border since May 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls clash will come to an end, the group threatened.

The warning that Hamas has the power to create a conflict with the potential to upend Israel’s current ruling coalition appears to be a reference to the unstable nature of the government, which is comprised of parties spanning from the left to right ends of the political spectrum.

News agency JDN suggested that Hamas is happy with the Bennett government, which has allowed the entry of building materials into the Strip along with other concessions, and does not actually want the current government to fall.

Iron Dome - Where is the USA Heading?

 An earth-shattering event happened in Congress:

House Democrats removed $1 billion for

Israel’s Iron Dome defense system from an

emergency funding bill and later put it back in a different bill.

‘Settler Violence’ – The Other Side of the Story

 News reports in Hebrew and English, in Israel and abroad, have been reporting on the “vicious Israeli settler violence” against the Palestinian village al-Mufaqara in the South Hebron Hills recently during the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah. Among the wounded was a three-year-old Palestinian boy who was hit by a rock that went through his bedroom window. His is in moderate condition at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

The news reports are typically inconsistent with one another, but what seems to be agreed on by the media is that Jews and Arabs threw rocks at each other, with Israeli settlers from the nearby Jewish communities of Avigayil and Havat Maon having instigated the attack.

While video and photographic evidence accompanies these articles, there is one video that none of them include — showing dozen of Palestinian Arabs moving up the hills toward Havat Maon. A few were launching large rocks using slingshots.

The video is credited to a group of activists, headed by Ari Kaniel.

“There were two parts to the incident on Simchat Torah, the first occurring when a group of residents of Avigayil were on a hike between their outpost and Havat Maon. A large group of Arab men came out from al-Mufaqara, attacking them with rocks and sticks. Instead of scampering away in fear, these unarmed Jews picked up rocks and drove the Arabs back into their village.”

Kaniel claims that the Jews were able to drive them back because the Arabs are not used to Jews defending themselves. The settlers kept up the fighting in the village itself until the IDF came.” he said.

“About an hour after this first incident, a few dozen Arabs amassed in the hills preparing to storm Havat Maon. At the sound of their approach,[Jewish] volunteers went out with their cameras to document it.”

Kaniel said that the IDF arrived quickly at this point, before the Arabs could enter the village. None of the Arabs in the video were arrested despite the fact that their faces are clearly seen, however Jews were arrested for their part in the first incident.

“There is no film of the first incident since, as Orthodox Jews, they did not take cameras out with them on the hike — on holidays and Shabbat they only bring out the cameras when something has already started to happen.”

Given that Israel is still living under conditions of war, with cameras having become a weapon of war, and given that pikuach nefesh (saving lives) is of utmost importance in Judaism, rabbis have given permission to the Jews of Judea and Samaria to use cameras on Shabbat and holidays (otherwise forbidden) in order to provide the IDF with faces of the Arabs attacking them and to counteract accusations spread about a Jewish instigation of hostilities,Yosef Hartuv told United with Israel,.

Similarly, throwing rocks is permitted on holy days only in self-defence.

“The Arab narrative of the events of the day were immediately adopted by the media,” Kaniel said. “Why does nobody ask what made Orthodox Jews throw rocks on a holy day, something that is forbidden unless in self-defence?”

Some interesting Israel-UAE agreements

 Ahead of the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords, here are some of many interesting deals reached to date

1.    1.Israeli search-and-rescue group signs MoU with Emirati counterpart

In a first agreement of its kind, Israel’s ZAKA Search and Rescue organization and organizers of the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference & Exhibition (DIHAD) signed an MoU that supports future collaborations in response to international crises and disasters..

2.    2,  Joint Israel-UAE water research institute is on the way

Earlier this summer, representatives from Israeli air-to-water company Watergen, Tel Aviv University and the Emirati Baynunah company met to sign on the establishment of a joint water research institute in the UAE. 

3.    3.  Israelis and Emiratis to develop Covid stem-cell therapy together

Immediately after the Abraham Accords were announced, the Haifa-based regenerative medicine company Pluristem Therapeutics signed a non-binding MoU with the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center to advance cell therapies for diseases including Covid-19.

4.    4.  Dubai chooses blue-and-white drones to secure expo

In what can only be described as a fantastic Middle Eastern twist, Dubai reportedly chose none other than an Israeli drone company to provide security for the World Expo it is to host this fall. Airobotics’ drone-in-a-box solution reportedly will aid local police in securing the international event and shorten emergency response time, as well as reduce the need for traditional security personnel.

5.     5. Emiratis get a share of Israeli natural gas

Israel’s offshore Tamar natural gas field got new owners this year when local drilling giant Delek sold its shares in the site – amounting to 22 percent – to Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Petroleum for $1.1 billion in the biggest commercial deal to take place between the two countries to date.

6.     6. Bahraini, Israeli think tanks collaborate on regional security

The Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at the IDC Herzliya and the Derasat Institute – The Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies signed an MoU this summer to collaborate on the fields of regional security and multilateral relations in the Middle East.

7.    7.  Abu Dhabi’s Dept of Health links up with Sheba Medical Center

This summer, top brass from world-famous Israeli hospital Sheba Medical Center flew to Abu Dhabi, where they signed an MoU allowing for the formation of a cooperation framework focused on research and development in telemedicine and the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, as well as the exchange of knowledge and best medical practices.

8.     8. Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center– soon in Dubai?

Last fall, reports surfaced saying that Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center’sformer director general, Prof. Zeev Rotstein, was in talks with Emirati medical organizations regarding the possible establishment of a branch of the prestigious hospital in Dubai.

‘Economy for Security’ Plan to Stop Hamas Terror in Gaza

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid laid out his detailed plan to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip through economic and diplomatic means in an address to the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism Conference at Reichman University on Sunday.

“We need to start a large, multiyear process of economy for security,” he said.

Lapid rejected the dichotomy that Israel can either reconquer Gaza or continue to engage in periodic rounds of war against Hamas and other terrorist groups in the coastal enclave that Israel evacuated in 2005.

“Those are two bad options,” he said. “That’s not a reality we can accept.”

Instead, Israel should advance the “economy for security” formulation without negotiating with Hamas, he added. “Israel doesn’t speak to terrorist organizations who want to destroy us,” which puts pressure on the group that controls Gaza.

“We need to tell Gazans at every opportunity: Hamas is leading you to ruin,” Lapid said. “No one will come and invest real money, and no one will try to build an economy in a place from where Hamas fires and that Israel strikes on a regular basis.”

An Israeli plan to improve life in Gaza if Hamas lays down its arms is a way to put pressure on Hamas and end the “absurd situation” in which an antisemitic terrorist organization attacks Israeli civilians and Israel is blamed for it, he said.

That process will take years and will be backed up by the IDF’s might, Lapid said.

 “Our position of strength allows us to initiate instead of sitting and waiting for the next round,” he said.

The foreign minister also vowed that Israel bringing back the soldiers and civilians held in Hamas captivity is part of his plan, which has two stages.

First would come the humanitarian rebuilding of Gaza in exchange for an effort, coordinated with the international community, to stop Hamas’s military build-up.

“The electricity system will be repaired, gas will be connected, a water desalination plant will be built, significant improvements to the healthcare system and a rebuilding of housing and transportation infrastructure will take place,” Lapid said. “In exchange, Hamas will commit to long-term quiet.”

The international community would have to use its influence to ensure that quiet and stop Hamas from arming itself, including preventing smuggling and an oversight mechanism to stop humanitarian funds from getting to the terrorist group that threatens Israeli civilians.

Without that oversight, Israel will not allow funds to be invested in Gaza.

During this stage, Israel would maintain control of electricity and water in Gaza. Only long-term positive results would yield energy independence.

The Palestinian Authority would go back to being responsible for crossings into Gaza, except for Rafah, which is controlled by Egypt. Egyptian support is critical for the process, Lapid said.

More on this at https://tinyurl.com/sbrv3985

The World's Most Moral Army

 Cross posted from Grandma's Army http://agariel33.blogspot.com/ 

 “The only reason Israel goes to war is to defend itself. And it has to defend itself because it is surrounded by countries, and armed groups, that want to destroy it”.

The above was stated by Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British army officer, who has more experience in war and terrorism than almost anybody. He was Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, and has fought in combat zones around the world, including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Macedonia and Iraq. He was also present throughout the conflict in Gaza in 2014. Among other awards, he was made the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2006

He stated that, nowhere was the essential morality and decency of the IDF more evident than in the Gaza War. In the first six months of 2014, Hamas (designated as a terror organization by the US State Department) launched hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians. If ever there was a purely defensive war, that was it. After repeated warnings from Israel to stop, the Israeli Air Force finally conducted precision strikes to halt the rocket fire. They also advanced into Gaza to destroy a network of terror tunnels that Hamas had constructed to attack Israeli communities near the Gaza border.

It is fascinating to read about the tactical and ethical dilemmas faced by the IDF and the surprising solutions it invented, and deployed, to prevent “collateral damage”.

They took unprecedented measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas. They dropped millions of leaflets, broadcasting radio messages, sending texts and making tens of thousands of phone calls. They even knocked on rooftops with a minor preliminary strike, and then launching the effective second strike only if people evacuated. Never, in the history of warfare, has an army phoned its enemy and told them where they are going to drop their bombs!

Most amazing is the fact that many IDF missions that could have taken out Hamas military capabilities were aborted to prevent civilian casualties, increasing the risk to Israeli citizens and soldiers.

Knowing the extraordinary measures the IDF will take to protect innocent civilians, Hamas deliberately positioned its military assets among the civilian population. They hid weapons in schools and hospitals, placed rocket launchers alongside apartment buildings, then forced those civilians to stay in areas they knew would be attacked. They also instructed their people to report the lie that every Gazan killed was a civilian, even if they were actually fighters. Numerous Internet sites show Palestinians elaborately staging sniper victims and smashed ambulances, among other phony horrors.

In the words of Colonel Richard Kemp: “Firstly, Israel is a decent country with Western values, run on democratic principles. Secondly, Judaism, with its unsurpassed moral standards, remains a major influence on the citizens of Israel. I say this as a non-Jew. Thirdly, Israel is a small country, with a small professional army. To fight a war it depends on its conscripts and its reservists. These are ordinary citizens, from professors to plumbers, called upon to defend their homes. They don’t want to be fighting and they don’t want to harm others.

                                                                    

No army takes such risks in order to protect civilians in the history of warfare as the Israeli army does. I say this as a professional soldier. I say it because it’s true. And people who care about truth should know it”.

 

Southern Israel Gets Hit Again

Gaza terrorists are at it again. They are back to their incendiary terror balloons. And of course, Southern Israel is the closest target. Can you imagine living like this? Can you imagine looking out your window and seeing fire balloons headed toward where you live?

The Israeli people deserve to live safely and peacefully. They deserve to live without fearing what Gaza terrorists will do next.

Iran's Renewed 'Promise' to the Palestinians

 by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  August 18, 2021

• [T]he leaders of various Palestinian factions are seeking Iran's support for their jihad (holy war) against Israel.
• This means that Iran under Raisi will continue to provide the Palestinian terrorist groups in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with financial and military aid.
• Iran did not promise to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of last May's 11-day war between Hamas and Israel. Iran did not promise to build new hospitals and schools in the Gaza Strip. Iran did not promise to help the two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip cope with the rising number of Covid-19 infections.
• Iran's renewed promise to help the Palestinians in their fight against Israel shows that the mullahs in Tehran feel emboldened by the perceived weakness of the Biden administration and other Western powers in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat.
• The silence of the US and the rest of the international community towards the latest threats from Iran and its Palestinian proxies signals that it is only a matter of time before the Palestinian terror groups' jihad toward Israel, most likely enthusiastically assisted by Iran, resurges in a way that is entirely expectable.

Raging Fire Brought Under Control

 

After 52 hours the fire is finally under control.
1500 firefighters fought valiantly to stop the fire reaching 

the Hadassah hospital.

From our front line view we saw the massive Hercules plane 

dropping the blue flame retardent on the last pockets of 

fire near the hospital.

This was a asuccessful experiment since the average 

firefighting plame can only drop 3000 litres of flame 

retardent wheras the Hercules can drop 18000 litres

What a world!!: Taliban on Twitter, yet Trump banned

 The Taliban Spokesman has a Twitter account without any problem. Meanwhile, President Trump is banned from the platform, in addition to many pro Israel activists

 “The Taliban who treats women and girls worse than dogs, kills gays, and is beheading people in the streets in Afghanistan right now can tweet. But not me said one activist, I’m suspended on Twitter for saying people should be able to choose to take the COVID vaccine or not.

Many pro Israel activists are banned for reporting facts but terror groups are given free reign on the social media

The Raging Fire Continues---

 As we watched the fire in our neighbourhood develop yesterday, it was clear that the whole valley would be destroyed. On the other side of the valley are a number of small communities, including a psychiatric hospital where all residents had to be evacuated. Eliyahu a Metzuda winery in Givat Ye’arim that went up in flames. “It’s dust and ashes. Nothing is left” said the manager. Around 150 barrels were burned. Last Thursday, a consignment of 30,000 new bottles were delivered that were due to be filled.

The fire – which is still burning as of this writing on Monday afternoon – is being called one of the largest blazes ever recorded in the wider Jerusalem area. It appears to have been started near the town of Beit Meir, an area targeted by arsonists in the past. Due to the strong westerly winds prevailing on Sunday, it spread rapidly to nearby communities which were swiftly evacuated – some 10,000 people were directly affected.

The manager of the winery stated that “It was going to be a day of harvesting the grapes,we started work indoors that morning, and suddenly, the world seemed to be going dark outside. The skies looked strange, but we didn’t realize the reason why, and we went back to work.”

“After around a quarter of an hour, the electricity went down, and we started to get worried. We went outside and then we saw the flames – they were already approaching – and there was an acrid smell of smoke. Then we realized what was going on. All of us – all the winery workers – ran for our cars and fled for our lives.

 “A quarter hour later or so, I tried to see what was going on at the winery from a distant vantage point, and I saw it going up in flames and I could actually hear the sounds of explosions as the bottles of wine shattered.”

And in that time the livelihoods of all in that business were shattered