Friday, August 27, 2021

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.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

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

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

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

Monday, August 16, 2021

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

Sunday, August 15, 2021

A Scary Day at Home - A Raging Fire

 Today was intended to be a sort of more relaxing day, however by mid afternoon, we were shocked to see thick black cloud passing by our balcony.


Yet another fire erupted in our neighbourhood, this time much closer than the one two weeks ago. The fire could be seen from miles away. This photograph was taken from Jerusalem

By mid afternoon we were told to leave our apartments and go down to parking level -1 where were served with ice cream (not Ben and Jerry's) and cold water

Everything was done in an orderly manner, no panicking and in good humour. 

To be honest, even though i was very young at the time, it reminded my of going down steps to a shelter under out garden when the sirens sounded to warn of incoming German aircraft during world war !!.  Strange tricks memories play!


Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Endless Aid to Eternal Fake Refugees!

source wikipedia.org / FaceBook

International aid has been provided to Palestinians at least since 1948!

The Palestinian National Authority (PA), within the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza Strip, receives one of the highest levels of aid in the world.

The entities that provide such aid are categorized into seven groups: the Arab nations, the European Union, the United States, Japan, international institutions (including agencies of the UN system), European countries, and other nations.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was set up in 1949 to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians displaced by the 1948 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Originally, it was intended to provide jobs on public works projects and direct relief. Today, UNRWA provides education, health care, and social services to more than 5 million registered Palestinian refugees and their descendants, and other segments of Palestinian society, as well as providing some financial aid to Palestinians.

UNRWA employs over 30,000 staff, 99% of whom are locally recruited Palestinians.

In 2013, $1.1 billion was contributed to UNRWA, of which $294 million was contributed by the United States, $216.4 million from the EU, $151.6 million from Saudi Arabia, $93.7 million from Sweden, $54.4 million from Germany, $53 million from Norway, $34.6 million from Japan, $28.8 million from Switzerland, $23.3 million from Australia, $22.4 million from the Netherlands, $20 million from Denmark, $18.6 million from Kuwait, $17 million from France, $12.3 million from Italy, $10.7 million from Belgium as well as $10.3 million from all other countries.

Did you know that the PLO has received over $50 Billion in foreign aid since the mid 1990's? Let that number sink in - $50,000,000,000.

Why do they claim poverty to the world while we know they have received more aid than any other legitimate refugees per capita on earth? 

Iran helped the EU lose its credibility

 After countless EU lectures on human rights and the moral high ground it has taken towards Israel and others, the EU has crossed a line that even most fervent critics and Eurosceptics would have had a hard time to believe.

The drop was when Josep Borrell, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, decided to send an envoy to attend the inauguration of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, aka “the butcher of Tehran.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat reacted on Twitter by saying that Israel is “puzzled” and recommended the EU to retract its attendance. Israel was indeed puzzled, and so were most Europeans. It was simply hard to wrap our heads around the fact that the EU, the self-proclaimed ultimate human rights defender, failed to draw a line in the most extreme of circumstances: an EU envoy sitting among leaders of terrorist organizations, celebrating the election of a man guilty of the worst crimes against humanity.

Nonetheless the signs were there, piling up slowly but surely.

It is a fact, Borrell has failed to stand up for any Iranian dissident that faces a grim outcome. Even Dr. Ahmad Reza Djalali, a EU citizen no less, who has been incarcerated in Iran on baseless accusations and awaits his death penalty, could only count on an appeasing message to Iran regarding his release. Iranian dissidents and human rights activists implore the EU to stand up to Iran for Djalali, but there’s no one home.

Borrell systematically looks the other way for Iran’s human rights abuses, its terror activities throughout the Middle East, its threats against Israel and even more flagrantly, decided to condemn the recent vessel attack in Oman only after EU envoy Enrique Mora’s attendance was decried.

Even more absurd, when it comes to Israel’s policies regarding Jewish communities in Area C, the EU reacted in a harsh tone and suggested legal action with the ominous statement: “steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged.”

Furthermore, the EU does not hesitate to use the terms “humanitarian law”, “international law,” “illegal” and accuses Israel of fueling tensions on the ground. In reality, the EU has been systematically misusing these legal terms to falsely accuse Israel of violating international law in order to pressure Israel into political concessions.

To top it off, the EU takes a softer approach when it comes to Hamas’ human rights violations and indiscriminate rocket attacks against civilians. The terror organization that, contrarily to Israel, actually violates human rights on a daily basis. Mora sitting next to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh shouldn’t shock any of us after all.

One would think that threatening a state with “legal action” is a reaction that could better fit Iran’s constant threat in the region and its gross human rights violations. Yet, everyone understood that the EU does not wish to undermine any of its interests with Iran and so Iran’s violations were repeatedly met with silence. Israel, on the other hand, is a safe partner in the background and a safe foe at the forefront in order to secure the left and center-left votes in Europe. Therefore pointing fingers at Israel is a much needed exercise.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

One Picture + 1000 Words

 


One picture is worth 1000 words: 1- on the right-a senior #Hezbollah representative ( Kasim) 2- on the left- a senior #Hamas representative ( Haniya) 3- in the back, circled- a senior #EU representative (Mora)

The occasion- the inauguration of
the ‘butcher from Teheran’,Raisi.