Leadership and More Media Lies

 

There was a period in European and World history when Kings led their forces into battle. One such ruler became a legend in his time and on the silver screen, such was El Cid, actually named Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, Prince of Valencia. In legends and screen play and perhaps reality El Cid led his troops nobly even into death. In battle after battle with the invading and conquering Moors he charged at the enemy taking arrows and other blows which would have felled a mere mortal, yet again he would ride to lead the charge day after day. Well, eventually the Moors figure if they would simply once and for all murder El Cid the day would be won. Such was his stature and the fable of his immortality. That day in battle he took sufficient arrow strike to resemble a pin cushion upon a bleeding steed, yet he hobbled back within the city wall and into the castle’s battlements. As he lie dying, in the movie, it was deemed he must lead the troops the next day to give them courage and win the battle, the war was to be lost, but that is mere history. They placed the cleaned and shining armor, likely a new suit as there were no arrow holes in this armor, upon the corpse of El Cid and attached him firmly upon his saddle and he led the troops out one last time onto the field of battle and it did give the Spanish troops high valor and broke the Moors who now too believed El Cid to be an immortal enemy they would never defeat. One would believe that such leadership is simply for Hollywood and legendary fighters but there are still such leaders in modern day recent history.

 

One such leader was Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) of England. Then there was her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Good Prince Philip claimed that merry old England would suffer interminably should their monarch die in the bombing of London and fled to a northern Scottish castle beyond German bomber range for the duration, but we are not interested in this character. Queen Elizabeth II (Queen Elizabeth from here on) did not retreat with her husband believing firmly that the people needed their leadership, their royalty, to be with them, share their threats, stand against the same dangers and live and lead by example and giving them hope and heart. Just an aside mention, it is rumored that indirectly Queen Elizabeth supported Prime Minister Winston Churchill when some believed a more reasonable leader could admit defeat and work a deal, as had France, with Heir Hitler and were planning to replace Churchill Parliamentary style, stabbing him in the back, and the good Queen Elizabeth subtly spoke of her admiration for the job Winston was doing in leading the people and the war effort, just in passing, to one of those insipid media types thirsting for something juicy, and what a juicy tidbit he received. This is all hearsay and this person in question let what he had heard be known and the buzz saved Winston, the war effort and perhaps the world from defeat. But that is not the high point; the high point was a Queen doing lowly things. After some of the worst bombing of London where the south end, the poorer section of town, were left ruined and still burning and the people were sifting through the rubble for good and unbroken bricks with which to rebuild and possible survivors as well as the dead. Then something remarkable, unbelievable was rumored to occur, Queen Elizabeth rode to view the damage and had her carriage stopped and she, the Queen herself, dismounted and joined combing the rubble for useable bricks and all that included right along next to these poorer and considered most common folk. Rumor has it this was far from a one off and that Queen Elizabeth had aided such efforts on a regular basis though not daily as rank has privilege and Royalty takes such privilege up a few rungs. We will have more on this later but now to the lies.

 

You have heard of the wild-fires striking across Israel burning down forests and possibly a few homes, or that is how friends outside Israel have claimed the coverage has been. There has barely been any hint at acts of violence starting these fires; it is as if Israel has suddenly erupted in many dozens of fires all started in places where the winds would carry then into towns and cities. There has only been one thing wild about these fires, and that has been the wildlings who have started them. These entities who would burn down the natural beauty of the forests and destroy people’s homes through forest fire knowing full-well that the world media would pick-up on the story line being fed the media by leftist, post-Zionists and Arab media that these are all natural events and run with the Israel caught fire and the winds have carried the flames to and fro across Israel lighting thus far dozens of ignition points over close to the entirety of the past week. Nobody elsewhere in the grand world ever appeared to give a passing thought to these fires being arson and most certainly not terrorism. The saddest thing is that there are leftists within Israel demanding we not use terminology which might be provocative, instigative, or in any way suggestive that this is what it really is, a new round in the annual “Fire Intifada” which springs up at the beginning of, you’re going to love this, our winter and the rainy season. The reason is because it is every fall and spring when the winds in Israel blow with a ferocity which spreads fires easily and with such directional and steadily strong and gusting wind one can start a fire and be assured of the path it will take. Below is a map and picture which together tell the story despite it does not quite have all of the fires started in the past few weeks. Looking at the map and it becomes rather apparent that these are not just forest fires as each one is started just eastward of a town, city or other community which are considered by pro-Palestinian Arabs to be Jewish areas (see map below). The truth is some of these communities, Haifa as a particular example where fires have been set (see picture which was just taken of an apartment community on the outskirts of Haifa) are communities which have a mix of Arabs and Jews residing as neighbors working, living and thriving together equally. To the terrorists starting these incidents of the Fire Intifada these are not their fellow Arabs because these Arabs are not out to murder Jews, destroy Jewish property and thus are to be considered Jews and if they end up targeted by these fires they deserve it and brought it on themselves. Please, for the sake of accuracy and honesty, when referring to the wave of wildling fire starts across most of Israel and continuing, though the news is unlikely to spend any additional time reporting on this, refer to this as what it is, an assault, attacks, terrorism, simply it is the Fire Intifada.

 

“Fire Intifada” Israeli Forest Fires
Threatening Towns, Cities and Communities

 

Thusfar there have been over a dozen arsonist arrests in conjunction with these fires and more are expected should they continue, which is likely as the winds have yet to abate. Below is a map of all the fires in Israel since this past April through July (see map below) which does not include any of the most recent fires. These were both the natural occurring fires, yes we admit such do occur, as well as the spring version of the Fire Intifada as the winds do blow twice a year strongest during the seasonal change from cool and wet to hot and drier as there is a short rain season during the summers known as the late rain in biblical texts. These attacks using fires have been used to attack Israel for many years and until the most recent years to year and a half these fires had been set to destroy mostly woodlands and crops making the nation less beautiful and destroying livelihoods more-so than attempts to take lives. But as with most other terrorist activities, the scope and lethality increases every season and this has been the most focused attempt to destroy actual cities and communities even including areas where other Arabs reside as residing amongst the Jews apparently makes one a target for the arson terrorists as well as do the stabbing and vehicle rammings at bus and metro stops. Yes, believe it or not the Jews and Arabs who live in Israel and are neighbors use the same rapid transit to get to and from work and ride the same trains and busses together, Arabs and Jews. When these general assaults which includes bombing restaurants, stabbing attacks of the patrons eating at an open air Tel Aviv area eatery targets Arabs as well as Jews with a one in five chance the person attacked is an Arab and not necessarily a Jew as twenty-percent of Israeli population consists of Arabs.

 

 

Further, the Israeli Arabs live under the same rules, face the same threats, and live and work amongst Jews with the exception that there are a number of Arab towns and cities which have had almost if not all Arab populations, Bedouin towns and cities which have had almost if not all Bedouin populations and they do not permit others to reside within these areas; just as certain religious Jewish and other religious sects which buy entire areas of towns or have their own Kibbutz or community which they only allow their own to live such as some Haredi religious groups. In most of Israel where there are no residence restrictions Jews, Arabs, Druze, Bedouin and all other racial groups plus Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’I and others all live in mixed neighborhoods. When walking our dog, cutest little thing, but sorry, no pictures, we often see Arabs wearing traditional garments, Yemeni Jews who wear a different Kippah, Ethiopian Jews and Christians we have met and we all live in the central area of town in relative harmony and all buy fruits and vegetables at the same shuk and shop the same stores, share the same beaches and generally respect our differences and treasure our similarities. While we made Aliyah, we have cousins who are Sabra, native born Israelis. In all candor, these fires threaten all of Israelis lives and especially those living in eastern Haifa as that has appeared to be especially targeted.

 

The message behind these attacks is a simple one. They scream that these are individuals willing to totally destroy every structure, every home, market, shuk, store, hospital, school; everything if that is what is necessary to force the Jews out or murder every last Jew no matter who gets caught in the fires. That is the message and the counter message is we will continue to build, rebuild and live peaceably with those willing to live peaceably besides and with us. There will be no more living in the shadows without a nation of our own which we can call home and know it is a place where we will make it safe and open to other Jews and our friends. Friends are those who wish and desire to build and craft a society which leads the world in medical discoveries, technical innovations, agricultural sciences and any area including living by example. We want a land where there is freedom for all and Torah is respected and kept as the preciousness that it is and where there is freedom of religion, freedom of actions within the laws, fair and decent laws for all to follow and civility which permeates every facet of life.

 

What is strange is that in the Torah it actually stated what we were to offer the people Canaan when we made the exodus to live here from the east and west sides of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Litany River to the Sinai Negev border, a border not well defined in those times as it was not the most fertile of lands (see map below). We were to tell the Canaanites that they were to choose from three alternatives; first they could live amongst us and follow the Noahic Code (the Seven Laws of Noah) , they could take all their possessions and depart and we would not make chase after them and would wish them the best wherever they move (and land was not fully settled and there would have been places they could travel and start again) or they could choose to war with us and should they so choose we would wipe all trace of their existence from the Earth killing even their cattle and all else. Simply put, they could live under the basic civil code for establishing just governance, they could leave freely and continue as they saw fit elsewhere, but if they chose war it would be a total war. Three Canaanite tribes chose to stay and follow the Noahic Code which required giving up idolatry, made murder, theft and other criminal acts against person and property punishable. This instituted the most basic legal codes, plus required courts of law where bribery was a serious offense as the justice was to be blind. Three tribes chose to leave and they went off and settled elsewhere and are not followed further other than they left with their wealth intact. The rest, a majority, decided they would war with the Israelites and they did leading to a long series of wars which were finally ended during the reigns of King David and King Solomon.

 

 

Assistance for fighting the flames consuming the land has come from places which make things quite interesting as the Palestinian Authority has assisted and aircraft have been sent on loan from Russia, Cyprus, Turkey, Croatia and Greece while Egypt and Jordan have sent firefighting vehicles. There has also been a Supertanker Fire Suppression aircraft from the United States which had to be hired privately as rumor has it while President Barack Obama has had no comment nor taken any action in a situation which can only be described as an emergency and dire threat. Times like these one sees who their true friends are and we are not discounting the love of the American people, it is the man living his final weeks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. who we are referencing. The fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu went out of his way to assure that something which could be labeled as help from America was found in this time of need and we thank those in the United States for the lease of this vital piece of equipment. One simple defining factor of these fires has been the destruction to homes and structures where many fires are set just up-wind from Yeshivas, residential communities, Synagogues, Churches, fire stations, schools, hospitals and other high value places. The worst hit has been Haifa where the evacuation of 75,000 citizens from their homes, businesses and lives was necessitated thus far. Reuters’ Bureau Chief in Israel reportedly tweeted a sensationalist Palestinian claim that the fires were set by Jewish settlers trying “to destroy as much as possible of the Palestinian agricultural land.” This report itself remains unsubstantiated. There is good news, thus far, ‘Bless Hashem’ there has been no deaths but one-hundred-twenty-two people were treated for injuries, mainly smoke inhalation at last count.

 

There has been no United Nations special assembly meetings called and none of the United Nations organizations or NGOs appears to have noticed the fires raging across Israel. As noted previously, President Obama has been remarkably silent on the entire issue. The President’s silence sounds deafening as the lengths of condemnation he would have if a Jewish family in Judea or Samaria had the audacity to build a permanent brick bar-b-que outside off their patio or other insignificant structure. But let seven-hundred homes be destroyed and thousands of acres of forests and farmlands be burned, torched by arson and the victims almost universally appear to be Israelis and not a sound, not a lifted pen or spoken in phone to offer assistance or even condemn the criminal acts. There has been an excess of silence from European Union (EU) leadership, particularly EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini. Similarly, the vast majority of European national leadership leading the way in complete silence and that continues on to the Vatican and much of the rest of the world. The news coverage around the world has been equally stressful as they refuse to name the arson behind the fires. The news would have you believe that the thousands who were forced to flee before the flames in Haifa alone went shopping or something, or that it is normal for flames fed by high winds ripped through thousands of acres of farmlands and forests and that everything in Israel is just fine. The one side that is also obvious by the coverage thus far is we can rest assured that there have been no arson threats against Palestinian Arab farms and structures as had that been the case there would have been declarations, denunciations, demands for an inquiry and calls for Prime Minister Netanyahu and various other Israeli leaders heads on pike polls by the end of the day. Still, it must be said that we are very thankful to the aid sent by the nations mentioned above and will remember to pay these voluntary offers and assistance should the time ever arise that such is required. Some we have already proven to be that sort of friend and we will continue as that is part of being Israel, doing what is correct despite what others may choose to do or not do.

 

What might surprise people is that after Katrina struck; Israel, through the government and aid agencies, offered field hospitals and hundreds of doctors, nurses, technicians and other experts in trauma, natural disasters and public health. Further, Magen David Adom (Israeli version of the Red Cross) began “United Brotherhood Operation,” which sent a plane-load of supplies and financial assistance; Israel sent airlift arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas with an eighty-ton shipment of humanitarian aid, including baby food, diapers, water, ready-to-eat meals, clothes, tents, blankets, mattresses, stretchers, first aid kits, wheelchairs, and other medical supplies; IsraAid sent a delegation of medical personnel, psychologists, and experienced search-and-rescue divers. The 18-member team – which included physicians, mental health professionals, trauma specialists, logistics experts and a special unit of Israeli police divers – arrived in St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish on September 10 and spent a week and a half assisting fire department search-and-rescue squads and sitting in on daily planning meetings that included local leadership and a complement of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), police, military, fire representatives and medical team, five universities in Israel welcomed displaced American students from the affected areas and invited both undergraduate and graduate students to continue their studies in Israel.[32] In particular, medical students unable to attend the Tulane University in New Orleans can attend Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine. Israel was eventually allowed to assist after Sandy struck New York City and surrounding areas. Initially New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rejected a formal offer by Israel to assist in emergency disaster relief, while on the other foot, other authorities in New York State have formally asked Israel for “all aid and or assistance.” Israel, as noted in the above article, delivered. Israeli aid to Haiti earthquake victims, the Philippines after a typhoon struck, relief to cyclone victims in Myanmar, long term aid programs for starving communities in Malawi, rehabilitation and relief in South East Asia following the devastating tsunami, psycho-social programs for Darfur refugees on the Chad-Sudan border, and aid to Somali war refugees in Kenya, Japan after the devastating double-hit of earthquake and tsunami which caused the malfunction and devastating leakage of an entire nuclear power facility, and the list almost appears endless as you go back through tragedies worldwide, Israel is there if permitted by governments. To assist without the government’s permission is called an invasion, just for the record of why approval is so vital. With hope and prayers these fires will pass and we will continue with building a better home and a better nation through simply trying to do what is right even if many nations wish to see us fail and be destroyed. That we cannot allow to happen again as this time we must have returned home for good. May Israel bless Hashem and Hashem in turn bless Israel, we know he has blessed our lives and for this we give our eternal thanks in prayer and effort.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Despicable Violence Condemnable, Period

 

An Arab Palestinian child, a one-and-a-half year-old baby, was killed and four other people were wounded as a result of an arson attack on a house in the village of Duma, northeast of Ramallah. To the best of our knowledge the perpetrator of this horrific crime has yet to be named or arrested. Whoever committed this crime should pay dearly for their crime whether Jew or Arab and that is the truth. The international outcry and the hand wringing within the Knesset, the President’s residence and from the Prime Minister is righteous anger and is completely and honestly expressed, or at least we pray their concern is as they have acted. The strange thing is that this is what it took to get them to condemn violence against people simply out of what we have thus far assumed was interracial violence out of pure hate. It is refreshing to have them demonstrate such human emotion and abhorrence to such violence but it begs a question, why all of a sudden and only now when their public outcry had been muted by comparison when the perceived violence has been in the other direction. Before waiting for the answer, allow me to try and see if I can venture a guess. It is due to the apparent first instinct that this was committed by a Jew against the family whose house was incinerated and whose infant died as a result of this criminal and hateful act and that is an aberration and completely unacceptable by Jewish laws and we are shocked beyond words so instead we issue an avalanche of condemnations even before we know who committed this crime.

 

Arab Palestinian child died as the result of terror attack was only one-and-a-half year-old baby, while four other people were wounded and were initially treated at a Palestinian Hospital but have been transferred to an Israeli hospital where a more intensive level of burn care is available as specializes in burn care which is needed as the wounded suffered burns as a result of the arson attack on this house in the village of Duma, northeast of Ramallah

 

 

May the wounded be given speedy and total recovery from their wounds by the tender mercies of Hashem as any human suffering is to be eased wherever and whenever possible. May the perpetrator of this heinous crime be caught and brought to trial for this crime. Beyond that there is little we can honestly assume or conclude in order to condemn this act with any more or less severity than we could have any other such horrific act where the life of one so young was snuffed out so early that they barely were able to get beyond the innocent amazement moment to moment as the wonders of the world were unfolding beyond their curious eyes and experiencing new sounds at every bird chirp or leaves rustling in a breeze. Such a senseless loss of one so innocent is always seemingly more horrific a loss but a life taken is a life taken and when it occurs accidently it is a tragedy and when done as a result of an act with malicious intent it crosses into abhorrence and our shock is doubled. This should be true no matter whose infant is so cruelly taken and the mourning should be just as heartfelt whether the loss is a Jewish child or a Arab child as a child so young has no hatred within them and only wonder. Much of the reaction to this loss by the Jewish leadership is due to the shock at the possibility that this act of spite and hatred may have been committed by a Jew making this a truly shocking act in an additional manner. I understand that should this have been an act resulting from an act of a Jew they are to be spit out of our community and ostracized for committing an act unacceptable no matter the reason motivating the individual.

 

That is the difference and why the reactions appear to be so out of place and amplified beyond our normal reaction to violence taking the life of an infant, an innocent from amongst the families of all mankind. We as Jews suffer the end of the life of an innocent whenever such occurs in our neighborhood for we love life and abhor senseless death of any kind. When it becomes apparent that such taking of a life of an innocent may have been committed by another Jew our abhorrence for the act is increased astronomically as we all feel we are guilty by association. We are reacting to the possibility that the stain of this act may fall on our heads as we are all to some extent feeling the extra pain of responsibility. There is the truth behind the reactions we are witnessing within our community. If the perpetrator of this horrific act does indeed turn out to be a fellow Jew there will be no candies handed out in our streets, no street named for this shameful person, no celebratory parades honoring this act, no praise for a victory in some perceived struggle, and no excuses made as we will meter out justice probably with just that extra amount of force and severity in the punishment and all because we, each and every Jew, feel the abhorrence and pain that such an act could emanate from amongst our community. This is what is behind the gnashing of teeth and the heads hung in shame.

 

What is also apparent are the reactions from outside Israel which came and each one felt as if the target was each and every Jew in Israel. The truth is that many of the accusatory fingers were pointed in just that accusatory manner blaming the entirety of Israel for this crime. That is what was different in the outside world’s reaction to this murder, an extra seeming feeling that this lost life was somehow worth just a little more of a loss than the deaths of previous infants. There were true expressions of pain and somehow no call for restraint as they expected and desired no restrain, just a wholly vindication as this one potential criminal act if perpetrated by a Jew now vindicated every crime committed against the Jews as they are now deserved. This outcry from the rest of the world was the equal of the outcry for the death of Mohammed al Dura and the special editing performed by some French media to the taping of the event in order to make it appear to fit the scripted tragedy which never occurred. When the investigation eventually revealed the hoax the reaction by much of the world was a big sigh and the comment that well, it could have been real. There is a continuing outcry heard in Europe and the United States at rallies against Israel where the cry goes out demanding remember ‘al Dura’ and the appropriate yells abound.

 

Now there will be an echoing outcry for this loss and all the more so should the evil person who committed this crime prove to be a Jew and even continued if not committed by a Jew because a Jew was suspected of committing this criminal act. This additional outcry is the result of the need to blame the Jews so that the next fifty such crimes against Jewish children will be excused because of the incrimination abounding now, simply because this may have been an act of Jewish terrorism and thus so much more of an abhorrence. Remember why it is such a greater abhorrence if a Jew committed this horrific act, it is a greater abhorrence because it flies against everything that is expected of Jews to never take an innocent’s life. The difference in the outcry against this act as it stands as potentially an act of Jewish hate is decried by both the outside world condemning this act and the equally loud condemnations from the Jews who doubly are outraged by this possible act by one of our own. When the victim has been a Jewish child the outcry usually comes only from inside the Jewish community while the outside community denounces the act couched within a demand for diminished action and for understanding of the motivations of the perceived act of vengeance more so than an act of hate.

 

There is the difference as the Jewish community is in a search of our communitive soul seeking where the cancer of hate may have invaded and we seek to excise this hate before its vileness has the chance to spread. Jews react with horror at even the possibility that such an act could have come from within our societal body and we seek it out in order to remove it from the body of our community and fulfil the act of punishment of the perpetrator and punishment we will mete out to ourselves as if a Jew committed this barbarism then we all have a small part in this act of animalistic hate. As Jews we feel the responsibility of our community when such hatred appears to have emanated from one of our own and we seek to find and denounce the perpetrator of this crime. We refuse to accept any excuse from within our community as such barbarity is never to be accepted from a Jew, and this is the additional outcry from every corner. The sorrow is that similar calls for communal purging are seldom made when the act is in the opposite direction. We are witnessing the long held belief that ‘Arab Palestinian Lives Matter’ and they apparently matter more if a Jew is to blame for their death. On the other hand we seldom see the opposite that ‘Jewish Lives Matter’ being expressed anywhere outside the Jewish community as a reaction to equivalent acts against Jews as there is always some mitigating reason which makes the act against a Jewish life somehow partly the fault of the Jews, even if it is only for being the victim.

 

How many people remember an act of equal if not superior barbarism in Itamar? How about the overturned car resulting from a rock attack on a vehicle on Route 60 near Hevron which took two lives, one not quite two years in age? Does anyone remember the tragic last year of the life of Adelle Biton who was struck in the head by a rock crashing through the family car window in an ambush where we eventually were to learn that the infant barely two years old was actually targeted when the gang of youths saw a child in an infant seat in the back of the car. The young Adelle Biton hung on to life for a little over a year succumbing to her wounds just after her third birthday. The list of Jewish children murdered are never listed as reasons to mitigate the criminal act such as this case because their deaths are irrelevant except as a metric to understand the difference in the reactions both within and outside the Jewish community and within the Arab community. The contrast that needs be made is the official reaction over time between the criminal, vicious and murderous act against an Arab child will be echoed on by those choosing to exploit those rare, though not rare enough, acts of hatred potentially by a Jew compared to an apparently similarly motivated criminal act brought against a Jewish child where immediately upon it being committed by somebody from outside the Jewish community the uproar consists more towards the demand that the Jews just suck it up and take it as just another act of senseless violence.

 

In a different look, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, also known as Joseph Stalin, has been credited with making the callous statement that, “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths merely a statistic.” While a slightly differently quote attributed only as coming from a Frenchman in a review written by Charles J. Rolo writing in “The Atlantic Bookshelf” section of the magazine claimed the quote was, “Scourges as immense as fascism and war present the novelist with a knotty problem of ways and means. A Frenchman has aptly remarked that ‘a single man killed is a misfortune, a million is a statistic.’” Giving credit once again to Stalin when as Commissar of Munitions during a meeting of what was described as some of the highest ranking Commissars discussing the continued deaths from hunger in the Ukraine, as the figures were being listed Stalin interrupted exclaiming vociferously, “If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics.” In another instance during an interview where Stalin was questioned by Lady Astor presumably with George Bernard Shaw present according to the article in the Christian Science Monitor dated 1932, as she queried, “Mr. Stalin, how long are you going to continue killing people?” to which Stalin calmly and sternly replied, “As long as it is necessary.” The original quote of “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths merely a statistic,” can be said to apply as an explanation of the uproar largely due to the suspicions that this heinous crime was perpetrated by a Jew places it in the “single death being a tragedy,” while the murdering of Jewish infants or children fall under, thanks to a long history of such events being merely recorded rather than denounced and protested, fall into the category of “a million deaths merely a statistic.

 

My last commentary will be on the reported quotes of the graffiti found at the scene of the arson attack where the scrawling were in Hebrew, not necessarily damning by itself, but still the main lead putting the sleuths to seek a Jewish perpetrator, as only Jews are capable of writing on walls of crime scenes in Hebrew. The graffiti, which according to Walla! News read “יחי מלך המשי” which translates to, “long live King Messiah” as well as the word “revenge” while next to each phrase was the Jewish star. Revenge is a universal concept and is more often than not insufficient an excuse for taking matters into one’s own hands. Revenge can be the motivation for any arsonist though arson is rather peculiar method for extracting revenge though such has been the case. The other quote, “יחי מלך המשי”which translates to, “long live King Messiah” strikes me as somewhat odd as in Judaism the Mashiach has yet to come, though we are to live our lives as if he will appear in the next moment such as we have no way of determining the arrival of the Mashiach and thus must always be in a state of holiness just in case the improbable occurs and the Mashiach were to appear. Since the Mashiach, the Messiah, has yet to arrive one really cannot wish them long life and anyways, the Mashiach is an eternal entity and thus has infinite life, or at least life for as long as there is existence which we all pray is infinite despite the mutterings of physicists and astronomers or, dare we say, astrophysicists. I may be out on a limb all by myself on this one but it just struck me as rather a strange thing to write, especially at the scene of a horrific act of arson and murder. Hopefully the perpetrator of this unspeakable horror which caused the death of a one-and-a-half year-old baby be brought to justice and through the ordeal learn that revenge lies not in our hands but only in the hands of the state and ultimately in the care by Hashem.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Where is the Rising Terrorism Leading?

Starting with the renewed push of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians by President Obama’s then new Secretary of State, former Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the levels and severity of the acts of terror perpetrated began an inexorable ramping up in both frequency and severity. This accompanying of negotiations with increasing terror attacks has become so commonplace that it did not even rise to the level of news reporting with the exception of those attacks causing serious injuries or fatalities. But as the negotiations broke down there was a different flavor to events. This had an obvious point of origin, the latest unification agreement between Hamas and Fatah to reinstitute a single overriding entity under the banner of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), a recognized terrorist entity, in order to unify Gaza and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and form a unity in moving forward in the efforts to replace Israel with an Islamic Arab state called Palestine. The moves to unify the two groups, Fatah, which had been resurrected as Israel’s only viable peace partner from amongst the Palestinian terrorist organizations, with Hamas, which had remained a nearly universally recognized terrorist entity, actually showed signs that this time the merger would be consummated. This was further supported when Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian terrorist group recognized universally as such, also requested inclusion within the PLO. This unification of much, if not the majority, of the terrorist entities within Palestinian society should create problems within the efforts to continue any form of negotiations between the Palestinian representative organizations and the Israelis as Israel has stated numerous times that she will not hold negotiations with terrorist groups which declare their intent to destroy her. What was not surprising was how quickly, one could say instantly, the European Union came out and declared they saw no reason why Israel could not continue negotiations despite the inclusion and unification of terrorist groups within the Palestinian Authority. The European Union reasoning was simple and straightforward, these terrorist entities represented the Palestinian people thus making them the ones who would need to be recognized and negotiated with by Israel and there could not be any other recourse for Israel but to accept the new forms representing the Palestinians. Initially, the United States State Department released a statement stating that they could see no way forward in which Israel could be expected to negotiate with terrorist entities which in their charters called for the eradication of Israel and, in the case of Hamas, the final eradication of the entirety of the Jewish People from everywhere on Earth. This breath of sanity did not last long as within two or three days Secretary of State Kerry was already calling for the Israelis to sit and talk in order to find common ground and a path to realize the two state solution stressing the new and urgent need for Israel to make the concessions which would be necessary to further the desires for a peaceful solution.

 

Soon after Secretary of State Kerry and official State Department spokespeople had taken up the renewed calls for the necessity to continue the recently broken-down peace talks came the official blaming for the previous failure and it was, unsurprisingly, completely all Israel’s fault, no doubts or questions about it. According to Secretary of State Kerry, the Israelis, despite informing all parties when the Palestinians demanded Israel release terrorists that this would permit Israel to build as they had not chosen a building freeze and that Israel did indeed intend to build, especially in the Jerusalem areas including Gilo, simply pointed to the Israeli announcement of starting to take tenders (bids) for construction of residential units in Gilo and “poof” there went the peace talks. This position was soon restated without the magic word, “poof”, by State Department spokespeople, President Obama, White House press contacts and, after a meeting with Martin Indyk, was also touted by Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Needless to say, the media found Secretary Kerry’s command of the English language using the brilliant wording that even a wordsmith would envy, his “poof” description of the implosion of the peace talks was quoted by news outlets around the world.

 

Meanwhile, the levels of terrorism have been steadily increasing since the imploded peace process again faltered and apparently in response to the proposed unity governance combining all the terrorist groups, Fatah, Hamas, PLO, Islamic Jihad, al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and who knows who else under one leadership. There has been a point of contention as to who will be the leader of the new and improved Palestinian Terror Authority with Abbas declaring that he will be the leader and thus Israel has nothing to fear from the unity government and while Hamas’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has stated with great authority and assurance that he and Hamas will make up the leadership of the new and improved Palestinian Authority on Terror. The dirty little secret which the Europeans, Americans and just about everybody else refuse to speak of is that it really makes little if any difference which group’s leaders take charge as all of these disparate groups are reflections of each other seen through slightly different lenses but all standing and calling for the complete destruction of Israel. Despite the fact that Abbas sounds conciliatory when quoted in the Western media as he speaks of peace and reconciliation when speaking English, contrarily he sounds just as steeped in terror as does any other terror leader when addressing audiences in Arabic. Abbas is just as up to his neck in terrorism as he helped plan the Munich Olympics massacre and also arranged the funding and training of the Black September cell which committed that horrid attack. Abbas is another Holocaust denier who wrote his doctoral thesis on that subject while studying in Moscow.

 

One of the more ominous escalations in terror has been the rioting on the Temple Mount which now occurs virtually daily. These riots have grown to include augmented attacks where simple rock throwing has come to include Molotov Cocktails and tear gas grenades from the Arab rioters. They have targeted any non-Muslim who dares venture onto the Temple Mount including a number of United States Congressional leaders from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Most expressed their shock as they claimed to be completely unaware of the severity of the problem. Some claimed that the riotous acts were a complete surprise and questioned how such events could transpire without any coverage in the world news sources. How indeed? What has become quite disconcerting is that over the past week we have witnessed a serious rise in the level and threat of the hostilities by the Palestinians. The rock and firebombing of vehicles has now escalated to shooting as Israelis travelling just outside Jerusalem were shot upon who then reported the attack to the police who inspected the bullet holes in their vehicle. Reportedly nobody was injured though the potential was great. Also there have been other shootings in the areas of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as well as two foiled terror attacks by Palestinians wearing suicide explosive belts. Additionally, over the weekend two Synagogues were set ablaze. One was a small prayer room in which many prayer books were destroyed and the other was in Beit Yaakov Synagogue of Petach Tikvah where the arsonist poured flammable liquid around the Holy Ark that holds the Torah Scrolls. Even though the building was destroyed in the blaze and the Ark itself badly damaged, a miracle saved the Torah Scrolls inside the metal Ark from damage, Baruch Hashem.

 

Meanwhile, the only reports anyone is likely to read in the mainstream world media is that Mahmoud Abbas is expressing a great desire to return to the negotiating table and has suspended applying to international institutions, treaties and accords in the hope that his restraint will entice Israel to return to the talks. What is being intentionally left out of these articles in the majority of reports is that Abbas also demands a few “small” (his claim) concessions from the Israelis. These include but may not be limited to; acceptance of the 1949 Armistice Line as the borders for Palestine; a comprehensive building freeze throughout the contested areas including Jerusalem; complete surrender of northern, southern and eastern Jerusalem; the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees; the complete removal of every Jew from the lands that will become the Palestinian state, and the release of every last terrorist from Israeli prisons no matter the severity of their crime. Abbas has played this game consistently for years since taking the helm after the death of Yasser Arafat, the founder of the PLO to whom Abbas was the number two man from the 1964 beginning. That beginning called for the replacement of Israel with the state of Palestine and all the Jews driven out of the lands and they did not mean the West Bank and Gaza as the West Bank was occupied by Jordan and Gaza by Egypt and there were no Israeli occupied lands unless you believe that every inch of the lands from the river to the sea are occupied lands as do Abbas and Haniyeh. And do not allow yourself to believe for a moment that the above list is complete for as soon as Abbas has been placated by the Europeans and Americans and they force a series of concessions out of Israel just for the displeasure of renewed talks with Abbas and his fellow liars, just as after Israel conceded to release terrorists and Abbas immediately demanded the addition of a building freeze as he claimed he had earned the right to make such demands, he will come forth with a litany of additional concessions, a list that apparently has no end unless it includes the complete destruction of Israel as a home for the Jewish People. Meanwhile the levels and severities of terrorist attacks will continue to climb and the mainstream world media will talk about the Kardashians, Justin Bieber’s arrests and anything but the attacks on Israelis by the Palestinians, after all, one must have priorities.

 

Beyond the Cusp