Routine

The celebrations are over and we are now back to the routine. Qassams have been slamming into the Negev communities as Hamas returns to its routine of destruction. Mortars fired at Israel killed a civilian on a kibbutz. In addition we watch what is happening in Lebanon as Iran oops I meant Hezbollah flexes its muscle. Of course at the very sight of this Siniora began to shake and of course gave in to Hezbollah's demands. I think he was crying again too. Of course he added that they should keep the focus on the real enemy Israel. I feel sorry for the citizens of Lebanon who have such poor leadership. They are not our enemy. I just hope they like the rulers of Iran. I'm just saying...

Of course the routine continues in our own back yard. Will the other shoe finally drop on Olmert? Cabinet ministers have given him support. Mofaz thinks he is innocent until proven guilty. Great concept. Livni was the only minister who remained silent. Her mother taught her well. If you don't have anything nice to say...you know the rest.

The next decade for Israel should be an interesting one. My only prediction is that Israel will still be here and stronger than before.

Submitted by Carol

Don't Forget

I will always remember Staff Sergeant Michael Levin and I have never met him. He was killed in a clash with Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War. An American who immigrated to Israel in 2004. He as a member of an elite paratrooper unit. 

My friend Natan's brother was called to active duty during the war and was fighting in Lebanon. We would exchange daily SMS. Just my way of checking that he was okay. Then one day I woke with a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong. I spent the day like that. And no answer to my SMS. Then later that day I heard the news.

Natan's brothers name in Hebrew is pronounced Micha-el. I always called him Michael, using the American pronunciation of his name. When I heard the news I understood that something terrible happened to Michael. Just not my Michael. 

Tonight starts Memorial Day in Israel for Fallen Soldiers. They fought for all of us. Remember them. Make Israel a better country in their memory.

Irony

Today Israel went after two terrorists in Gaza. They were hit from the air by the air force. They were killed. A family eating breakfast on their balcony near by was also killed. A mother and her children. But no they were not killed by the IDF. They were killed by the explosives that the terrorists had in their possession. Imagine that. Explosives being kept near civilians. Does Hamas take responsibility for putting its civilians in harms way or do they blame Islamic Jihad? Silly me. They are never responsible for anything.

Submitted by Carol

Not Now

Maybe later. Syria and Israel are not at war so we do already have a kind of peace. Our border with Syria is quiet. Our border with Egypt is not so quiet and we have a signed piece of paper that says we have peace. But they allow arms smuggling to our enemy Hamas. 

Eventually we will have to deal with Syria but I think we need to concentrate on only one thing right now. Figuring out how to deal with the Hamas/Fatah dynamic so we can reach an agreement which will end in two states for two people. As I view the dynamics of the region I see this as of major importance. Of course there is the obvious which is an end to the already too long conflict. The other reason is Iran. Iran is itching to get its claws into the area. It doesn't need a nuclear bomb. In fact the logistics of bombing Israel and not destroying Jerusalem and some of the neighboring Arab countries is pretty impossible. Even a dirty bomb poses most of the same problems. Now Syria and Iran have bonded. Syria arms Hezbollah with weapons from Iran. Syrias venture into nuclear something or other is in my opinion connected to Iran. While the IAEA was busy focussing on Iran, Syria was quietly building a secret reactor or nuclear bomb making plant with the help of the North Koreans. Smoke and mirrors. A good trick that luckily did not succeed. So back to the premise. How does Iran destroy Israel without directly bombing it? 

Lets go with the land for peace formula. Israel gives back the Golan Heights. Syria puts a civilian population on the Golan Heights. Then Syria puts a resistance movement on the Golan Heights. Well I would call them terrorists but thats just me. Everyone has learned from the Hezbollah Second Lebanon War example. Its the homefront stupid. They hit us just like Hezbollah and just like Hamas and friends in Gaza. We are then forced to hit back at a population center. You can all say its an act of war if we are hit. I say yada yada yada. What Hezbollah did was an act of war and we are still at fault because of civilian deaths. What is happening in Gaza is our fault because there are civilian deaths. The formula has been perfected. We don't have an answer to it. Not yet anyway. You need finesse to answer this kind of crap and we have no leaders who know what finesse means. 

So the argument that the height of the Golan Heights is not strategically important anymore due to advanced technology may or may not be true. It doesn't matter. Its not part of the equation. When we left Gaza the feeling was that the terrorists would do what they wanted. They were shooting at the settlers anyway. Except now they are closer to our population centers and things have gotten so much worse since we pulled out.

Once we have an agreement with the Palestinians we can deal with Syria. Until then they are a pawn of Iran who wants to destroy Israel and who wants control in Jerusalem. Its the whole Sunni/ Shiite thing. We need to take away the motivation to destroy our great country. Then we can deal with the Golan Heights which I think some parts of should stay permanently in our hands. 

Submitted by Carol 

Sharav

Its just too freakin hot to write about anything!

Two Irritants and an Idiot

Peace Now. Sounds like something one should strive for and something that most normal people would want. The group is celebrating 30 years of one sidedness that also wears blinders. Peace now was formed with one aim, to stop the occupation. I hate the term and no I do not live in la la land. It is the term adopted from the enemy which gives the impression that we went out to get us some more land when what we did was fight a defensive war and we ended up with extra land. The term occupation ignores the fact that we wanted to return the land and the only answer was NO from the Arabs. While I am at it let me just mention that although we wanted to negotiate its return it is as much Israel as Tel Aviv. So what irritates me? Certainly not vocabulary. What irritates me is their inability to advocate for peace on both sides. For them the end to the "occupation" will bring the coming of the messiah. Get out and peace will come. They ignore all Palestinian acts of violence against Israel. They ignore the fact that these terrorists see ALL of Israel as being occupied. They demand nothing from the Palestinians. They show no sympathy for the people of Sderot or victims of other terrorist attacks. Maybe if they had called themselves by another name and not pretended to be peace activists I would be less offended by them. You need only one side to make war but you need both sides for peace. Ironically I would like to see a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza. But for this goal I will never give my support or stand with those from Peace Now.

The second irritant I discovered this morning as I read my paper. The Ultra Orthodox community has decided to boycott a certain supermarket chain because the owner also operates mini markets that are open on Shabbat. Hypocrites! They do not boycott other establishments whose owners own other businesses that are open on Shabbat. I agree with the author of the article who said that this particular tycoon wasn't donating money to Ultra Orthodox venues. Money trumps halacha any day.

And lastly the idiot. Mr Meshal the CEO of Hamas in Damascus. I almost never think of him as a fool. His daughter just got married and he told her to have many children with which to fuel the resistance. Looks like our old buddy realizes that what he is doing won't succeed and he will need future generations because we, Israel, will still be here! Actually I may not be giving him enough credit because he did get that part right! 

Holy Cow!

Hey I woke up this morning and my usual routine is ro read the paper and have some coffee. I hadn't taken a sip of coffee yet as I opened the newspaper. There was an article on the front page, right in the center actually, about Sderot. For a few seconds I thought I was looking at Haaretz. Then I realized it was the International Herald Tribune. I was stunned. Okay so maybe it was the lack of caffeine but still amazing.