Time for a Change

UNRWA Lords of Misery

The NYT Delivers

Richard Benkin Has Even More

Poor Palestinians

It is long past time for UNRWA to be disbanded.

Human Rights

Liraz Madmony, a 23 year old student from Sderot Israel addressed the UN Human Rights Commission.

Are human rights for some, but not others?

The constant assault on Sderot has destroyed our ability to lead a normal life. The warning before each attack gives us only 15 seconds to run for shelter. Fifteen seconds that will decide, life or death.

Mr. President, who will protect our right to life? My family does not have a bomb shelter, so we run to the most protected room, which is the shower.

There is one attack I will never forget. We heard the siren at seven in the morning. We ran to the shower. The rockets fell next to my house. My little brother, who was 14, went to see if anyone needed help. He found a man whose legs were blown off, and a woman blown to pieces.

My youngest brother is six. The rockets have been falling for eight years. He knows no other reality.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the Human Rights Commission is that member states which have of the most horrendous human rights violations are allowed to sit on it. When thousands of people are being massacred in Congo and the only state being censured is Israel, there is clearly a problem. When people are imprisoned in China so their organs can be harvested and the only state being censured is Israel, there is clearly a problem. When Kim Il Jong of North Korea can blatantly allow his civilian population to starve and the only state being censured is Israel, there is clearly a problem. When the people of Burma await world reaction for their freedom and the only state being censured is Israel, there is clearly a problem.

Like Liraz asks, are there human rights for some but not others?

Human Shields

Saw this at Gail's:

Crisis

Since the beginning of December, I've been living through a personal crisis, the details of which I cannot go into. It has affected every aspect of my life from taking photos to blogging. This past Sunday, I felt the old stirrings of the black wall of depression. The emptiness I felt was like looking into a bottomless abyss, with no light.

I forced myself to go take photos. The day matched my mood. It was raining. grey, and cold. The dark pit lifted and is almost all gone today.

I haven't had the opportunity to post about the crisis Israel is going through. When I come into work, I begin checking all those I read who are in Israel to make sure they are okay. I read in the news about the synagogues in Europe and in the United States being attacked with Molotov cocktails and those that have been vandalized.

If protests against Israel are merely to show disagreement, why are synagogues being attacked?

All Are Targets

Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist groups just want to murder. They do not care nor have any moral compunctions if Israeli schools are hit. In fact, they rejoice! Today, some terrorist group in Lebanon launched Katyusha toward Israel. It hit a senior citizens home. Jameel has photos of the damage. I'm sure Jimmy Carter will call the terrorist action "defensive", much like he called the tunnels Hamas dug to smuggle in weapons "defensive".

The world has gone insane. From the UN to European leaders, all expect Israel to ask her people to just take rocket fire from whatever terrorist group decides to fire.

Old people should be able to live out their years in peace. School kids shouldn't have to learn the nearest routes to bomb shelters. Moms and Dads shouldn't have to read bed-time stories to their children in bomb shelters.

I care about the Palestinian children who go through this as well. I'm outraged that these precious children are being used as human shields by Hamas. I'm outraged that civilians are routinely used as human shields by terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and let's not kid ourselves, Fatah. I'm outraged that the UN has not sought to end the plight of Palestinian "refugees" by not dismantling UNRWA.

I'm outraged that some church groups would prefer to talk to "charities" such as Hamas and Hezbollah and make the decision to divest from Israel. I want peace in Israel. I want the Palestinians to live better lives(Gazans have better living conditions than many Egyptians). Peace will not be achieved by criticizing Israel as the sole problem. If people really wanted peace, they would condemn the terrorists instead of trying to justify them.

It Is Time

From news reports about Israel's defensive Operation Cast Lead, the same ole scenario is being played out. The terrorists hide behind the civilian population and use schools and even hospitals to fire rockets. They used the UNRWA schools and the UN defends them!! It is long past time for UNRWA to be disbanded. It's goal is supposed to be helping Palestinian refugees resettle. It is also deceptive for the UN changed the definition of refugee for Palestinians alone. UNRWA is perpetuating the problem and Palestinian refugees since 1948 have been cynically used by Arab governments and is now being used by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Yet Hamas is not the only Palestinian group at fault. In 2005, shortly after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, I met with the chief of staff to the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. My question to him: Now that we have uprooted thousands of Jews and empowered Gazans to be masters of their own fate, can we hope that within a year's time there will be fewer refugees in the camps? "Absolutely not," he said. "The refugees will be relocated only in the context of the final status [agreement]. How can we move them if we do not know where they will live? Maybe they will live in Israel."

In withdrawing from Gaza, Israel made painful concessions for peace by forcibly removing Jews from their homes. And yet even the Palestinian Authority, the most moderate among Palestinian political groups, would not consider easing their own people's plight in the wake of Israel's compromise. This is because the suffering of the refugees is essential to their broader political struggle.

How does the West respond to the obvious exploitation of Palestinian refugees? Soon after my meeting with Mr. Abbas's chief of staff, I met with the ambassador of one of the West's most enlightened countries. I asked: Why are the Palestinians not willing to help their own refugees? "I can understand them," he answered. "After all, they don't want the refugee problem to be taken off the agenda."

This reflexive "understanding" for the Palestinian leaders' abuse of their own people is the heart of the problem. For decades, the international community has actively assisted in building the terrorists' unique system of control -- over where Palestinians live and in what conditions, and over what they think -- by allowing terrorists to turn the refugee camps into the center of the Palestinian war machine. Instead of working to relieve the refugees' misery, the United Nations has dedicated an entire agency, UNRWA, to perpetuating it. For the rest of the world's refugees, the U.N. works tirelessly to improve their conditions, to relocate them, and to help them rebuild their lives as quickly as possible. With the Palestinians, the U.N. does exactly the opposite, granting refugee status to the great-grandchildren of people displaced in 1948, doing nothing to dismantle the camps, and acting as facilitators for the terrorists' goal of grinding an entire civilian population under their thumb. Nowhere on earth do terrorists get so much help from the Free World.

It is long past time for UNRWA to be disbanded. It is long past time for European and other countries to blindly stop the billions in aid money to the Palestinian Authority until all terror activity has stopped.

Not Turning the Other Cheek

I finished reading Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin this past Shabbat. It gives a brief outline of topics ranging from the Torah to the prayers we say during services. The section on antisemitism had a quote by Sigmund Freud. In it, he surmised that antisemitism exists because Jews are the moral conscience of the world. It is for this reason many hate us.

It caught my attention because I had been thinking about antisemitism for months and had come to the conclusion it was because we do serve as a moral compass. From the way we eat to the way we bury our dead and everything in between helps us to remember to love our neighbors. If we are to show compassion to the animals that are slaughtered for our food, how much more compassion should be shown to our selves and others?

Acts of loving-kindness are supposed to be at the center of our lives. We see this in action even as Israel once again finds it necessary to defend itself. While seeking out targets of the Hamas military infrastructure, leaflets are dropped to the civilian population letting them know to get out of the way. While tanks were being lined up before the start of the ground-offensive, trucks at other parts were loaded up with food, water, and medicine to be dispersed to the civilians in Gaza.

While Israel tries to warn the civilians in Gaza, the murdering terrorists in Gaza aim their Qassams, GRADs, and other missiles at Israeli schools, businesses, hospitals, and shopping malls. The terrorists don't care who they hit.

While we are commanded to acts of loving-kindness, we are also commanded to not stand by while another's blood is being spilled, to kill those who would kill you, and to seek justice.

Lebanon killed far more Palestinians couple of years ago and was very brutal in its actions against the Palestinian terrorists in refugee camps. They cut off water and electricity to the refugee camps, and yet there was no wide-spread condemnation of Lebanon.

And yet, Israel after finally doing something about the rockets aimed at its citizens for over ten years, is condemned by the UN and so many others. Israel is a sovereign nation and has the right to protect its citizens from cut-throat murderers. Hamas is a murderous band who takes joy in the slaughter of children. To try to defend them, as some newspaper columnists have done, because they may provide some social services should be morally repugnant to any decent mensch.

The only reason I can come up with the vitriolic hate against Israel is antisemitism. Hitler called Jews a cancer and now many say Israel is a cancer, some even stoop so low as to say Israel is as atrocious as Hitler. Iran has openly stated it will wipe Israel off the face of the earth. The Palestinian Authority says it wants peace with Israel and yet its maps do not show Israel, only Palestine from the River to the Sea. The United Nations uses the same flag when it holds its Palestinian Solidarity day, the same day when Israel accepted the UN terms and the Arab world swore to drive all the Jews into the sea.

Israel has made mistakes. Most Palestinians, like Israelis, want to live in peace. Peace will never be achieved as long as there are those who defend or try to justify the tactics of terrorists like Hamas. It is surprising and a hopeful sign that many countries such as Egypt place the blame on Hamas for the fighting now going on. This needs to be done on a consistent basis and then peace can be reached.

Let's Pretend

Huddled

We in south Mississippi can relate to huddling with our families when hurricanes threaten. We have a least two days to prepare and make everything safe and secure for our homes and families. Imagine what it would be like if we only had 60 seconds or even 10 seconds to prepare for something that could kill us, our family members, our homes, or our businesses.

People in Sderot have about 10 seconds to seek shelter when the bomb sirens sound. Ten seconds to find a child that may have been playing outside, 10 seconds to shelter kids at school, 10 seconds to leave your car to find a bomb shelter, 10 seconds to choose which children will go in your home's bomb shelter and which ones will have to remain outside: This is what the people of Sderot have had to contend with for over 5 years.

Now, in Beersheba, the longest range yet of any Hamas bombs, the sirens are sounding. Those in Beersheba have a little bit more time, about 60 seconds.

Those extra seconds don't really mean much when it is your family in danger or when you are at work.

Outrage

Where's the Outrage?

H/t: Seraphic Secret

Checking In

There are many Israeli blogs I've been reading for several years now. Every time there is a terror attack in Israel, they are the first blogs I check to make sure they're okay. They are the same ones I check when Israel has to use its military forces in order to protect it's citizens. The calls from around the world condemning Israel are a tired and profane response to a nation's right to protect and defend itself. If those who cast the condemnations would have been as loud in condemning the Qassam rockets which have been falling on Israeli for over 5 years and if those same voices would have condemned the unjust and inhumane kidnapping of Galid Shalit, perhaps the Israeli military would not have had to act.

So I check in with those I know from Israel.

Muqata is given live updates.

David writes eloquently and has some very suggestions on how we can help.

Israellycool is doing a superb job, as usual, of liveblogging.

The Sandman is worried about his wife and children who are in the southern part of Israel. They are away from the Grad rockets and Qassams.

Akiva and the others who post at his blog all seem to be okay.

Miriam, Shiloh Musings, and Esser Agaroth are okay as well.

Updates

I'm over at my Mom's. I forgot the Saints were playing today. As of now, she isn't too happy with them. The Panthers are ahead by 20 points.

It does give me a chance to post a few thoughts. I found out about the justifiable action Israel began in Gaza yesterday. No nation should be expected to allow it's people to be bombarded on a daily basis by Qassam rockets. From what I've read, Israel has destroyed a terrorist training camp and killed over 200 terrorists.

Jack has a good round-up.

I missed last weeks Haveil Havalim. 198 is up.

Miriam has some great news about Chabad House of Mumbai re-opeing.

Who Will Speak?

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

The above poem is famous because it speaks volumes about the injustices and atrocities the Germans carried out. No one spoke against them except a few brave souls who ended up the concentration camps as well.

There's a new silence going on in the world today and it is being helped by none other than the United Nations. The United Nations has a special envoy only listens to the Palestinian side. These envoys usually have never met an Israeli victim of a Palestinian terrorist. The United Nations also has a special refugee unit for just the Palestinians, never mind the fact there were more Jewish refugees from Arab countries than there were Palestinian refugees. The United Nations has has a special day of solidarity with Palestinians when the 1947 partition plan went through. They don't have a special day of solidarity with Israel for the same partition.

When India is attacked by Muslim terrorists, very few offer excuses for the terrorists. The murderers are seen for who they are: Cold-blooded murderers. During the attacks in Mumbai, the Chabad Center was targeted. India has a total population of 1 billion. Of that billion, 5,000 are Jews.

Mottel written a post well worth reading. An excerpt:

Did the Terrorists target Israelis and Israeli causes -yes, but by the very fact that they indiscriminately killed Jews, regardless of National affiliation or belief, makes it much larger then Anti-Israeli sentiment. It is Judeophobia and antisemitism most foul.

There may be those that can argue that Jewish identity is one entirely separate then that of the Holy Land. Perhaps in the past there was room for philosophical debate, and in the isolated realm of Academia (which by no chance of fate is host to the most vicious and virulent antisemitic tirades spoken in the free world since the fall of the Third Reich) there may be continued room for debate. - I would venture that since Antisemitism went out of style with ashes of our brethren in Auschwitz, Belzec and Chelmno, and has today hidden itself in Anti-Zionism and the pages of the Guardian. Mr. Silverstein may choose differ.

When we deal with Islamic Extremists, however, there is no room for differentiation between Judaism and Zionism -to them they are one and the same. When Daniel Pearl was killed, by Pakistani terrorists might I add, there was no difference between Zionism and Judaism. So to by the victims of Beis Chabad Mumbai.
Mr. Silverstein, may I perhaps suggest (though I by no means recommend) strolling alone down the streets of Gaza city, Damascus or Karachi and see if your separation from "Jewish Nationalism" will be of much use to you . . . If your knowledge of Geo-Political conflict will allow you to point out that you are there to help the Islamic cause . . . Need I any further proof to my words then Silversteins own, and I quote:

"Even the Chabad movement should taken to task for not providing greater security for its facility. In a city already beset by past terror attacks, any target perceived as Jewish or Israeli (not just Israeli government buildings) should have had serious surveillance (i.e. security cameras) and the ability to lock itself down quickly"

Already, Islamic terrorists have moved beyond merely Jewish/Israeli targets. Americans and the British are targeted more and more. Indians are facing more threats.

No excuses for any type of terrorist must be allowed. It shouldn't matter if the victim of terrorism is an Israeli citizen, an Indian citizen, and American citizen, a British citizen, or someone from Bali. No excuses must be made for the terrorists. Terrorists seek to destroy, maim, and murder. Who will speak against these vile acts against humanity?

Speaking Out

The Muslims in India are speaking out against the terrorists who attacked Mumbai.

Throngs of Indian Muslims, ranging from Bollywood actors to skullcap-wearing seminary students, marched through the heart of Mumbai and several other cities on Sunday, holding up banners proclaiming their condemnation of terrorism and loyalty to the Indian state.

Muslims took part in a candlelight march last week toward the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai.
The protests, though relatively small, were the latest in a series of striking public gestures by Muslims — who have often come under suspicion after past attacks — to defensively dissociate their own grievances as a minority here from any sort of sympathy for terrorism or radical politics in the wake of the deadly assault here that ended Nov. 29.

Muslim leaders have refused to allow the bodies of the nine militants killed in the attacks to be buried in Islamic cemeteries, saying the men were not true Muslims. They also suspended the annual Dec. 6 commemoration of a 1992 riot in which Hindus destroyed a mosque, in an effort to avert communal tension. Muslim religious scholars and public figures have issued strongly worded condemnations of the attacks.

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There were 40 Muslims among the dead in the Mumbai attacks. The Muslims in India have realized that terrorism isn't to redress grievances but to murder innocents and that it is an attack against the country in which they live. it is a good start.

There are 140 million Muslims who live in India. The Muslim leaders in India have made a strong stand against terrorist attacks even going as far as not allowing the terrorists to be allowed burial in Muslim graveyards. Perhaps these leaders in India can talk to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries. Instead of making heroes out of child-murderer Sumar Kuntar, shun them. When suicide bombers blow them selves up and try to murder innocents, do not allow them to be buried in Muslim cemeteries. Instead of making martyrs out of those who are willing to gun down high school students, condemn them loudly and offer no excuses for the vile murders they have committed. This will be the real start for statehood for Palestine and peace in the Middle east.

Until all terrorists are condemned and no more excuses are offered for their vile murders, there will not be peace. It cannot be okay for Palestinian terrorists to shed the blood of innocent Israelis. Those terrorists must be condemned as well.

Tears of Heaven

As a Jew, it distresses me to see the mess going on over the Peace House in Hebron. This house, from all I have read was legally purchased by Jews. The Israeli courts have ruled those living in the house need to be evicted until the matter is settled. The Jews who bought the house and most of the settlers have been labeled as extremists. I can sympathize with their anguish. They want to be able to live in a town were Jews have lived since the time of Avraham. They want to be close to were Sarah and Avraham are buried. Like Avraham, they purchased the house. Unlike Avraham, they didn't do it in the open so that there would be no dispute later on.

What I don't like is the level of violence they have shown. It would be nice if the Palestinians who live close to some of the most holiest sites for Jews would respect our rights to visit those places. It would be nice if Palestinians would not destroy those sites like was done with Joseph's Tomb and the ongoing work at the Temple Mount.

I read an interesting D'var Torah about Ishmael and Isaac. It stated that the reason Sarah wanted Hagar and Ishmael to be cast out was because Ishmael wouldn't be willing to share. I see this reflected in the ongoing violence in Israel. It started in the 1920's when those who were willing to work with Jews and wanted peace were assassinated. We saw that when Sadat was assassinated after the historic peace treaty with Israel. We see it today with the Iranian threats to 'wipe' Israel off the maps.

The country now known as Jordan was supposed to have been the Palestinian homeland. By default, with 90% of its population being Palestinian, it is. In 1947, the United Nations proposed a two state solution. Israel accepted even though the lines drawn up seemed more like a sick joke. The Palestinians and the Arab world were not willing to share.

Israel has benefited the Palestinians. Even with the weekly news articles about the supposed distress of those living in Gaza, those living in Gaza have a better quality of life than most in Egypt.

It bothers me more that Israelis seem to be turning on each other. Israeli peace activists seem more willing to stand with Palestinians than Israelis in Sderot. They do not seemed to be too concerned that those evicted from Gaza three years ago still await for the promises of the Israeli government.

I can sympathize with the bitterness of those in Hebron. They are being forced by their government to leave a house they purchased. They have the promises of the IDF that they will not allow the house to be occupied by Palestinians until the issue is resolved. Those that purchased the house see from the experience of those in Gaza that the Israeli government doesn't seem willing or able to keep its promises.

I do not like the images of Israelis fighting one another.

Songbird

Suketu Mehta, from Mumbai writes about the terror attacks. Two paragraphs stuck out. The first:

Mumbai is a “soft target,” the terrorism analysts say. Anybody can walk into the hotels, the hospitals, the train stations, and start spraying with a machine gun. Where are the metal detectors, the random bag checks? In Mumbai, it’s impossible to control the crowd. In other cities, if there’s an explosion, people run away from it. In Mumbai, people run toward it — to help. Greater Mumbai takes in a million new residents a year. This is the problem, say the nativists. The city is just too hospitable. You let them in, and they break your heart

In the news reports on the vile, cowardly, and murderous attacks, time after time, it was reported how the population of Mumbai did their best to help those trapped in the hotels and wounded on the streets. They did so at great risk their lives. Sandra, at the Jewish Center, faced the terrorists head on and slammed a door in their face. Hours later, when she heard two year old Moishe calling her name, she didn't hesitate and ran toward him, scooped him up from amid the bodies of his dead parents, and carried him out of the building. Hers is but one of the many of selfless acts by those in Mumbai who tried to help one another.

The other paragraph that struck me reflects the anger I've been feeling about the Jewish Center attack. I'm angry about the loss of life and all those who were murdered but the attack on the Jewish Center was personal. I didn't know any of those were murdered but they were my people. I know there are many critics of Chabad but my personal experience has been positive. Mehta has this to say:

In 1993, Hindu mobs burned people alive in the streets — for the crime of being Muslim in Mumbai. Now these young Muslim men murdered people in front of their families — for the crime of visiting Mumbai. They attacked the luxury businessmen’s hotels. They attacked the open-air Cafe Leopold, where backpackers of the world refresh themselves with cheap beer out of three-foot-high towers before heading out into India. Their drunken revelry, their shameless flirting, must have offended the righteous believers in the jihad. They attacked the train station everyone calls V.T., the terminus for runaways and dreamers from all across India. And in the attack on the Chabad house, for the first time ever, it became dangerous to be Jewish in India.

Think about that last statement. India has become dangerous for Jews. The sickness and evil of Islamic terrorists is spreading.

It is a war on the openness that we have in the West and in India. It is a war on ideas and the notion that all people are free to chose how to live their lives. It is an evilness and a darkness. There should be no excuses for these vile murderers. Condemnation must be given where ever the attacks occur. There can be no excuse given for terror attacks in Israel, Spain, London, New York, Bali, and India. These terrorists are not freedom fighters. They are not militants. They are cold-blooded murderers who seek nothing more than to silence the songbird of freedom.

Fiddler on the Roof

Yesterday, TCM showed Fiddler on the Roof. I've seen it about three times and it led me to read Sholom Aleichem's books. Throughput the movie, Teyve and his family have the daily joys and struggles of people everywhere. Then you see the fiddler on the roof and you know something is about to befall Teyve and his neighbors. First, it is the half-hearted pogrom. The official who leads it is reluctant but does it anyway. At Tevye's eldest daughter's wedding, the gifts for the bride and groom are torn apart and through the village, window shops are smashed and stores are looted. At the end, all the Jews in the village are ordered to leave in three days. The fiddler plays madly. The fiddler represents the bittersweet life of many Jews. There is the dancing at the wedding and there is the precariousness of life. And yet, Teyve, his family, and his neighbors have a wonderful capacity to continue to struggle on. The point is that Jews have been targets in one or another for over 2,000 years. And in the end, the toast of l'chaim is said with gusto.

Today, no less than in the Dark Ages, during World War II, and Israel's rebirth, Jews are targets. Even in America, this bastion of religious freedom, Jewish shuls and schools have to be heavily guarded. Across the world, in places like France, Jewish school children riding school buses are targets.

The latest attacks have occurred in India. Two hotels and the Chabad Jewish center were attacked by Islamic terrorists. The fate of the Chabad rabbi and his wife are still unknown at this time. The two hotels are very popular with tourists. Why the Chabad Center?

News Bunny: The insurgents targeted luxury hotels and such, why do you think they also targeted a Jewish center.

News Hack: I just don't know what their motive could possibly be. We'll have to identify the insurgents and then figure it out.

We must say Tehillim, Psalms, for everyone being held hostage by the terrorists, who by the way, have made a demand and gee, what a shock: “We urge the Indian government to return stolen Muslim lands,” the terrorists said in a statement.

It's surprising that the world hasn't condemned the tactics of India's commandos against the terrorists. After all, these Islamic terrorists are just trying to get the land 'stolen' from them, the terrorists are surely justified in their murders of civilians? It is the same excuse they give for attacking Israelis. When Pakistan was formed, close to 10 million people were uprooted, funny how there isn't a UN refugee department for them. Kashmir was given to India. These is the land the Islamic terrorists consider 'stolen'. Why isn't the Indian government condemned when it does everything in its power to stop the murderous rampages of Islamic terrorists?

Perhaps the answer is this 'joke':

Speaker: Hey, I just heard that the first act of the re-unified German Parliament was to declare their intention to kill all Germany's remaining Jews... and two postmen.

Listening: [after a long pause] Um, I don't understand... why two postmen?

Speaker: What, wiping out Germany's remaining Jews doesn't strike you as odd,... but the death of two postmen does???!

The joke echoes the actual statements by newscasters. It is somehow acceptable for Jewish life to be spilt. It is somehow acceptable to condemn the Israeli government for its actions against Islamic terrorists while countries like Lebanon, Egypt, India, and even Pakistan use the same or even harsher methods without condemnation.

A few weeks ago, the Torah portion read was the akedah, the binding of Isaac. G-d tells Avraham that human sacrifice is a big no no.

The majority of people on this planet want world peace, I think it will only come when a Jew can wear a Star of David and walk down any street without fear of being attacked. This is something that cannot be done safely in many parts of the world. This is something that cannot be done even in some parts of the US.

Anti-Semitism is rising across the world. The position of the fiddler on the roof is becoming even more precarious. Iran openly threatens Israel with nuclear annihilation.

In Treppenwitz's post, he makes the observation that out of India's 1.1 billion population, there are about 5,000 Jews. We know why the Islamic terrorists targeted the Jewish center. It is only because it is a Jewish center. It is no different from when the Israeli athletes were targeted by Islamic terrorists. It is no different when a Jewish high school in Jerusalem is targeted by Islamic extremists. It is no different than when an Islamic terrorists smashes the head of a Jewish 4 year old against rocks, It isn't because of 'stolen' lands. It is because they are Jews.

With Friends Like These

With friends like these, who needs enemies? Secretary of State Rice has announced it is Israel's fault for the peace deal not going through. Olmert calls Bush Israel's best friend forever. Some friends, eh?

The fact that Israel and the Palestinians have not reached a peace agreement and will likely fail to do so by the end of 2008 is "largely due to" political turmoil in Israel, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday night.

"Even though there was not an agreement by the end of the year, it is really largely because of the political situation in Israel," Rice told reporters.

.....

Olmert often speaks of the close personal friendship he has developed with Bush over the past three years. When Bush visited Israel in May, Olmert showered the president with praise, saying, "You're a great person, you're a great leader, and you're a great friend." Though largely unpopular internationally, Bush is loved in Israel, where he is seen as a staunch defender of the US ally.

Some ally Israel has in the US. Never mind the belligerence of Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, no peace deal is the fault of Israel.

Days Upon Days

You access the Internet. You see the news headlines: Nine killed in school shooting. You breath a sigh of relief that it was in Finland this time. Briefly, you may even think about those who were murdered and those injured. Never once does it cross your mind to blame the policies of the Finnish government or try to excuse the mad murderer. You may wonder if the person had a mental illness but you don't really try to excuse his barbaric behaviour.

So why are excuses given for the murders of Israeli students? You hear that it is the fault of the policies of Israel, much like some were saying the barbaric murders of 9-11 were due to the policies of the United States. It just excuses away the brutal murders and serves to give to justification to the barbarians who do these acts of murder.

Some try to say that the root cause of terrorism is poverty. This is untrue. Many of the barbaric, murderous terrorists come from middle class homes. Some, like Osama bin Laden are even millionaires. Terrorists are not some poverty stricken group that seeks justice. If they were, those in the slums of Cairo would have long risen up against the brutal Egyptian government. Some may try to say the barbaric Palestinian terrorists are seeking to right perceived wrongs. Does this really give them the right to murder toddlers? Does it give them the right to throw acid into a soldier's eyes and blind him? Does it give them the right to drive BMWs into a crowd of students and off-duty soldiers? Common sense would tell you no.

But common sense has nothing to do with the support Palestinian terrorists receive. These barbaric terrorists receive support in many ways. There are the church groups who seek to divest from Israel. There are the idiotic protesters who hold signs proclaiming they are Hezbollah. There is the UN "Peacekeepers" in Lebanon who salute the coffins of terrorists who have murdered children. The list goes on and on. Days upon days, Israelis have to deal with barbaric terrorists whose only goal is to maim and murder as many Israelis as possible.

Why is the murder of Israeli school children not treated as the tragedy it is? Why is there always excuses for the barbarian who pulls the trigger or flicks the switch of bomb belts, or throws the acid, rock, Molotov Cocktail, or drives the front-end loader, bulldozer, BMWs?

UN "Peacekeepers"

UN "Peacekeepers" in Lebanon salute a truck with a photo of Imad Mughniyeh, mastermind of the Marine barracks bombing that killed hundreds of US citizens. The coffins contain some of the worst terrorists that killed Israeli citizens. One of them being Dalal Mughrabi, another child murderer:

On the morning of March 11, 1978, Dalal Mughrabi and her Palestinian Fedayeen unit of eleven members (including one other woman) landed by Zodiac boats on a beach near Ma’agan Michael north of Tel Aviv, having departed from Lebanon. They killed Gail Ruban (some sources spell Rubin [2]), an American photographer who was taking nature photographs nearby, and then hijacked a bus full of Egged bus drivers and their families on a day outing, on the Coastal Highway.

While driving, Mughrabi and her unit opened fire at the vehicles in the vicinity. An Israeli army unit, headed by Ehud Barak (who, in the 1990s, became Chief of the General Staff and later Israeli Prime Minister) pursued the bus until it was finally stopped near Herzliya. A long shooting battle between the Palestinians and the soldiers ensued. The Palestinians started shooting the passengers that attempted to escape. Eventually, the Fatah members blew up the bus which became a large deathtrap of fire. The attack left thirty five civilians, thirteen of them children, and six Palestinian guerillas killed (38 by some sources) and seventy-one civilians wounded.

Remember this image the next time you hear UN and "peacekeeping". The UN "soldiers" are honoring those committed to carrying out murders of Israelis, including Israel's children.

H/t: Little Green Footballs