One can tell much from the way a society regards, honors and protects the remains of those passed away. Often it is the first heartbreak for Jewish communities and a sign that their welcome has worn thin and the end is coming and coming fast if steps are not taken to turn the malodorous intents of hatred growing more vehement or even violent against their Jewish neighbors. The stench of Jew hatred is currently running rampant across Europe to such an extent that even the United States State Department, not exactly the best friend of Jews worldwide, especially those in Israel, has assigned additional staffers to assist United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ira Forman in her efforts to combat and bring attention to the growing problem. This recognition has been made most evident with the destruction and defacing of Jewish graves and entire cemeteries. When repair or restoration of these cemeteries is ignored, or worse, refused, then the reality needs be addressed by the world. When these same hatreds which wreak havoc and destruction of memorials to those souls who have passed is transferred to the living with demands for judgement before facts are even investigated by the world’s stage, then it is an entirely different matter. That places actual lives not only of the accused in danger and under threat but extends to the entire public should such cause pause in acting in difficult and potentially deadly situations where a simply hesitation can result in deaths and permanent injury. But Israel as the Jewish State is held to such a different set of standards that a soldier’s future freedom is of less value than the use the leaders can derive from grandstanding on this soldier’s freedom and life just for some public relations seeking approval from the Europeans who engineered the entire set of events to get just that result. The reality that the Europeans just desire turning Jew against Jew and are willing to pour millions upon millions of Euros just to turn the government loose grinding a soldier for a momentary reaction within the gears greased by a European funded NGO and its video manipulation following an organized provocation filmed start to finish in the hope the video can be edited to destroy the reputation of the IDF, its soldiers and the government overseeing them. The destruction of cemeteries is insufficient when they can destroy living Jews, especially Israeli Jews and even more so its protectors, the IDF. Let us first establish the destruction perpetrated in European nations against Jews long dead and buried simply because they were Jews no matter how distantly in the past they committed the sin of being Jewish. Their rest must be marred by violence against which they are not about to rise up and protest and soon there may be no Jews left in Europe to protect and protest such defamations. Below are visuals of two separate but equally insulting desecrations against Jews past after which we will discuss a case of destruction of a Jew in the present using Jews and the Jewish State’s leadership, a sad situation where the government and people are on vastly different tracks. The people think less of European praise and could not care less about European scorn, deserved or not. The world has done all it could and as we have returned home we are done with walking with heads hung low refusing to look those who claimed to be our betters eye to eye, Simply put, Never Again!
Jewish Section of European Cemetery
Emblazoned with Swastikas Painted
on Every Last Jewish Gravestone
Destroyed Jewish Cemetery in Poland, Europe
Elor Azariya is the soldier who has been turned into a media circus and the latest sacrifice by those who care less about this young man or the truth. One item ignored was the entire event was a provocation be the NGO named B’Tselem. B’Tselem is registered as Israeli NGO due to vulnerability in Israeli law which allows for foreign financed organizations to register as domestic in origin. This is something not permitted by any other democratic government or nation anywhere on the planet. When similar laws are introduced in Israel, the uproar would make one believe this was an unimaginable offense to have NGOs who are predominantly foreign financed register as such. The caterwauling from mostly European hypocrites claiming that making foreign funded NGOs register as foreign financed or reveal such financing will destroy democracy in Israel. What they are protesting is losing their fifth front implanted within Israel by European government and the European Union in order to destroy Israel and her credibility through pretending that these are native NGOs and not foreign entities financing the miniscule extreme leftist minority making them giants through largess from Europe. B’Tselem is one such NGO and has been at the center of this entire fiasco which may destroy one soldier’s life who, at worst, may have made a judgement which might at worst be judged as a mistake but not a conspiracy or heinous miscarriage of justice and prejudicial killing of an innocent. Perhaps we should cover the entirety of the story from the very beginning, the beginning ignored by virtually every news service as proving racist attitudes in Israel is just too juicy a morsel to allow for honest reporting free of prejudging the case and sacrificing a young soldier simply to skewer Israel and press her political class against true justice and the will of the people. So, who are the real murderers of Israeli democracy now?
The event took place in and around Hevron where terror attacks including shootings, stabbings, firebombing, rock throwing often utilizing slings and even suicide bombings of patrols and checkpoints. This day a checkpoint was assaulted by a pair of Palestinians under the direction of instigators from B’Tselem with it not having been determined if the team from the foreign funded NGO which specialized in provocations claiming that their use of Palestinians to attack, harass, and press soldiers in whatever manner might produce what could be filmed and edited to give an appearance of wrongdoing. Then once the video taken from these confrontations have been carefully edited, they are placed on the internet where they receive reposting, likes and whatever any other push it may require to force it into a viral rating thus initiating an inflated viewing using chains of fellow travelers using numerous accounts. B’Tselem claims to be a human rights organization whose aim is to improve IDF human rights training but as they have never taken a single instance to assist training IDF soldiers but instead use provocations to paint the IDF as fierce and unprincipled murderers. Their acts do nothing to improve human rights, better training or even assisting in improving conditions and relations between the IDF forces and the Palestinians. The biggest successes of B’Tselem and their fellow extreme leftist European NGOs which are still registered as Israeli has been getting two combat unit commanders removed from their commands and one even forced into early retirement. One such command officer reacted to having his hand grabbed and at least one finger bent back to the point of breaking the digit and then was pushed and spat upon numerous times. When he attempted to step between leftist Europeans who were intent on blocking a major roadway and his beleaguered soldiers he was again struck and lost his temper and struck the lead European instigator and soon after another assault by the European group leader again struck the officer who defended himself. Needless to point out the video showed little of the provocation but placed the officer’s reactions in full and glorious coverage. About the only thing left out was a slow motion replay of the officer attacking the European instigator. These events which placed Elor Azariya (pictured below) at the center of this firestorm of political correctness was manufactured to fit compliance with European dictats. Another item which requires consideration is there exists a state of war between the Palestinian Authority and Israel as far as their government and society are concerned. This war is an anything for the cause being part and parcel of this conflict.
Elor Azariya
This day brought the B’Tselem team replete with photographers who filmed most of the entire instigation from several different angles so as to miss little if any actions. They were escorting two Arabs armed with knives who at a sign set upon the soldiers with knives in an attempt to murder them. After they relatively seriously wounded one of the soldiers and were continuing their assault on the remaining soldiers as well as, the injured soldier who was possibly unable to defend himself adequately led the remaining soldiers to open fire. They struck both terrorist assailants killing one outright and disabling the other as their action had removed his knife. The terrorist was wearing a heavy coat on a very warm day making such an obvious danger of the terrorist attacker having a bomb belt strapped to his body. To this point the soldier under investigation and being tried for manslaughter (he was originally charged with murder but that was quickly realized not prosecutable) had not arrived on scene. Once Elor Azariya did arrive on scene it was known that the terrorist had yet to be searched and nobody had checked or knew what was, if anything, concealed under the heavy coat which was very loose fitting. The MDA (Magen David Adom) medics were standing off waiting for the terrorist to be searched and the heavy coat to be at least opened and confirmed not to be concealing a bomb belt or other explosives. MDA rules do not allow their medics to treat or even approach any terrorist who has yet to be searched due to concerns and the potential for their personnel’s health and safety. Elor Azariya reached this scene and quickly realized that the terrorist and the other dead terrorist, had both been injured with the one having died of his wounds and the other injured and presumably pacified. What is important is pacified does not mean rendered completely threat free as he had yet to be searched as the other soldiers were busy attending to their injured brother in arms. This was the initial scene from which the series of events would proceed.
The remainder we will describe here is the best scenario we are able to piece together with a few commentaries to put everything into prospective. At some point soon after the arrival by Elor Azariya the terrorist moved his hands from over his head and appeared to start to reach inside or under his coat which caused Elor Azariya to fire one shot striking the terrorist in the head killing him instantly. The fact the shot was to the terrorist’s head is important as IDF soldiers spend a great amount of time training to shoot terrorists in places which will render them unable to continue any attack while not necessarily fatally wounding them unless they are a direct threat to life and that is the only effective choice. Obviously when firing to end a confrontation the likelihood that a terrorist will receive fatal injuries is far higher. The IDF soldiers are particularly good at aiming their weapons and striking exactly what and where they aimed which has left many a terrorist alive and able to eventually be released in some exchange of a thousand terrorists for a single soldier or as a bribe to allow Abbas to shake the Israeli Prime Minister’s hand at a photo op often with an American President or his representative. There is one time when the IDF soldiers are trained to take a head shot which is when any injury which allows the terrorist even a few seconds of life before passing from their wounds could result in the death or injury of others including soldiers by the terrorist’s next action. Pressing a detonator on a bomb belt is very high on said list of times a soldier is permitted to take a head shot. The terrorist had not been approached or checked for explosives as every testimony has proven. Perhaps soldiers’ ranking officer had decided to wait for trained bomb disposal experts so as to limit vulnerability of his men. Whatever the reason, the terrorist had not been checked and very well may have possessed explosives and have been reaching for the detonation button which would have killed or wounded most soldiers, medics and potentially civilians watching; this soldier had good, solid reason to take that fateful head shot. He also deserves support, not a circus to amuse and please the Europeans who will never accept Israel or her leaders. This all backs Elor Azariya and the story given by the MDA medics, other soldiers and commander of the units at the checkpoint that the terrorist appeared to be reaching for a detonator under his coat. Even the military investigator backed the story line that all actions appeared to have coincided with the scenario of a terrorist wearing a bomb belt. This has weakened what has been an establishment lynching of an IDF soldier on the altar of European political correctness. All else is hearsay and barracks braggadocio is worthless as actual evidence. The main evidence which will be ignored is the soldier took a head shot as per his training when facing a potential bombing is imminent.
Another attack last week occurred in Aleppo, Syria where the hospital was struck along with the living quarters next door used as a dormitory for personnel, particularly those from Doctors Without Borders, killed the sole existing pediatric physician for hundreds of miles as well as other physicians and nurses. There has been no call for those responsible to be brought up on charges. The numerous bombings and mistaken shootings in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere in the modern post-World War II world have resulted in extraordinary little prosecutions. Then there was the entirety of World War II and the bombings of cities into rubble and then bombed the rubble until a firestorm was ignited and which claimed millions of lives in European theater alone. The loss of life in Japan was horrific in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and even greater carnage was committed by the firebombing of Tokyo and in all of these there were no trials for these bombings. There have been seldom and far between prosecutions even if mistaken identities resulting in noncombatant deaths. In Israel this past week one security patrol member shot dead a terrorist who acted in a suspicious manner causing the security officer to suspect the existence and imminent detonation of a bomb belt so they shot the terrorist dead and this individual may be receiving a medal for their quick actions which may have saved lives. We could continue and the list would grow longer and reading more tedious so let us just agree that mistakes are made and nobody is brought up on charges of murder or manslaughter as during times of war violence often goes too far. Yes, we realize this is Israel where one side is held to an impossibly high set of expectations while the other side can shove children in front of a speeding train and claim the conductor intentionally ran the child down and an investigation would be launched and politicians would be apologizing from the outset before the investigation could be organized while seeking somebody to try on charges to prove how noble they are.
That is exactly what happened in the case involving Elor Azariya and his shooting of the terrorist. Another item we need remember is this individual terrorist had also attempted and may have assisted in the stabbing of an IDF soldier and had to be shot and bleeding before he was prevented from continuing his stabbing spree. His cohort was shot and killed to end his killing spree. This terrorist had already proven he would do anything he could to kill IDF soldiers and that is the starting point in this fiasco. Defense Minister Ya’alon from the get-go had tried this young soldier and was prepared to throw him to the alligators in the swamp. Recent surveys have shown the Israeli public supporting the soldier from the low end two-to-one to the higher end of three-to-one and likely to grow even higher as more information is leaks out to the public. The Prime Minister was equally hurried in joining in condemning the soldier demanding the investigation be hurriedly put together and the politically correct verdict be found and the facts subsequently arranged in support. Everywhere there were politicians from presumably both sides of the aisle attempting to condemn this soldier and sacrifice him on the alter of political correctness for the purpose of placating the Europeans who will refuse to be placated for as long as Jews are permitted their own nation. Perhaps the best would be to quote a presumed random sample of individuals from this editorial here.
From a young soldier: “In our unit we are all completely ashamed of how this soldier is being treated. Of course he should have shot the terrorist dead. If this is the way he is treated why are we in the army at all?”From a mother: “I do not want my children to go into the army if that is how one soldier is being treated.”
From a grandmother: “It is all the Supreme Court’s fault. They set the tone. They are pro-Arab and do not care what happens to us. It has always been like that.”
From a male voter: The rule of law is important. What will the world think if we don’t appear to be just?
From his wife: When you are dealing with such an enemy you can’t afford to pander to world opinion. Do you really think that they cared that we were moral during the Holocaust or any of the wars against us?
From a bank manager: The media are partly responsible for fanning flames on behalf of the terrorists which enables further murders. Where are our censors in this time of actual war?
There very well could be a cleansing of the Knesset and a huge turn around against Bibi Netanyahu to the point that the Likud Party may best be served by his stepping aside and allowing one of the more nationalistic members such as Moshe Feiglin or Danny Danon to step up and lead the party onward . If Bibi refuses to step aside while the people of Israel are this upset and agitated, then he is far more tone deaf when it comes to ruling than many believed and perhaps all he really cared about was remaining the leader of the country. From the limited number of people we have interacted with, support for Elor Azariya is very strong with those who follow events and these are the people in our community who are the leadership. The next elections may be coming far sooner than most believe and another sacrificing of one of our brave young men before the idol of Ba’al. Elections may come immediately as we want nothing to do with idolaters, especially those making sacrifices in the hopes of placating the Europeans who want nothing less than every Israeli shipped to America or dead and nothing in between as that would place some Jews in Europe. They have made their fateful choice which has ended any hopes of Jews being accepted back. Europe is gone and we in Israel would be wise to remember that reality.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 