Why Do I Bother

I should really stop reading anything that has to do with the UN. The security council still can't hammer out a resolution concerning the events in Israel and Gaza which is not worth the paper its printed on in any case. The Arab league version only asked for the blockade of Gaza to be ended. Maybe if they say pretty please with a cherry on top. No mention of the constant rocket fire hitting Sderot, Ashkelon and the Negev. You would think fair is fair. The UN is all about making a secure world to live in. No country comes with any agenda do they? So now that a demand to stop the rocket fire has been added to the resolution Libya suddenly has to phone home for more instructions. The other 14 members of the security council have all signed on. Libya stands alone unwilling to sign on. No Arab country is going to sign something that says rockets fired at Israel is wrong. As far as they are concerned any violence toward Israel is justified. And they say the US is biased toward Israel. I need a 12 step program.

Submitted by Carol

The Lions Den

I found something good in the newspaper. His name is Ron Prosor. He is the new Israeli ambassador to the UK. He recently spoke at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. It was organized by the British Zionist Organization. Students arrived in kafiyyeh headresses and questions at the ready. So I loved that at the opening an announcement was made that the ambassador said that the tougher and harder hitting the questions the better.

They asked the usual questions. Questions accusing Israel of war crimes. Questions that put Menachem Begin and the Irgun on equal ground with Hamas. The article did not give his replies. A shame. But I guess he was able to answer because someone asked him if he actually believed what he was saying. That is a question that comes from frustration. I hope it was frustration because he was able to answer the questions without hesitation.

Most of those students see it in over simplified terms of David versus Goliath. They like to put it in terms they already know so they make the conflict fit the apartheid of South Africa. Its easier that way but it is way off the mark. Hopefully they will take with them one thing that Prosor said. He said "Israel is a democracy under attack that is dealing with difficulties that no other country is facing."

You have to love the guy who in the lions den did not back down as he also told his audience that Jerusalem shall remain the capital of Israel forever. I only can hope that more ambassadors will take his cue and fill the void by meeting with people who don't support Israel. As the article said, if we don't than our place will be filled by speakers against Israel.

Submitted by Carol

My Dark Side

I just want to preface that what I am about to write is not my usual way of doing things. I am in real life hard pressed to harm any living thing.

I read that the gentleman from Hamas in charge of Gilad Shalit, the soldier that was kidnapped, has said that what is happening in Gaza now could cause them to make Gilad Shalit disappear forever ala Ron Arad. They would simply sever all ties. You see we are getting pounded by Qassams and we have hit back. We have also hit back for the death of an innocent volunteer on a kibbutz in the Negev. When I read the headline I wanted to reach into my computer screen and kill "the gentleman from Hamas" with my own two hands. Being an oncology nurse I felt that an overdose of several different chemotherapies would be appropriate.

I pray that Gilad's family will find peace and that his captors will know hell here on earth and in the world to come.

The Back of the Bus

I was cheered up this morning as I read in Haaretz that the state is being taken to task in court over the mahedrin bus lines. Egged which runs these lines is a PUBLIC transportation provider. These bus lines are meant for Haredim who want separate seating for women and men. Of course the women have to sit in the back. These bus lines should be illegal. The state doesn't see a problem. They say the seating is strictly voluntary. Tell that to the three women that have been beaten and verbally abused for not sitting in the back of the bus. Kudos to Naomi Ragen, well known author and the IRAC ( Israel Religious Action Committee) for taking up the cause. Naomi Ragen was one of the women abused by the Haredi men. All of the women were religious. So its not a case of some upstart secular women out to cause trouble. Until women will be wearing burkas they won't be religious enough for these Haredi bullies.

While we're on the subject of women I had to chuckle about a small article in the paper. The American Jewish Congress wanted to place an ad in Ms magazine promoting Israeli women. Our Foreign minister Tzipi Livni, our Supreme Court President Dorit Benisch and Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik would have been in the ad with the caption that reads This is Israel. Ms refused saying it would create a firestorm. Do you remember when they used to have balls?

Israelisms...The Blog 2.0

I haven't blogged in a few weeks and I started to feel guilty. With that I also started thinking about why I wasn't blogging. For me the podcast is my number one priority. It gives me joy. I love podcasting. I decided to start the blog with Charley because I felt I had more to say than what I could fit on the podcast. I still do. The reality is that writing a political piece is hard work. Life keeps getting in the way. I don't want to give up the blog but I can't expect people to keep coming here and finding nothing new. To remedy the situation I decided to change course. I'm going to write about how I feel. So I'll be writing about frustration and also pride and whatever else I feel. Living here is dynamic so it should be interesting. Some posts may be really short. When truly inspired I may write a political piece. Of course Charley will continue to write his analysis when he is able. Lets see where this takes me. I hope the ride will be worthy of your time.

Something to Remember

I had high hopes for the Prime Minister of the PA. He seemed to get it. He seemed to understand that it was up to the Palestinians to make their own future. He was against violence and armed militias and terrorist groups running the lives of the Palestinian people. He wanted to build businesses and infrastructure. He changed things in Nablus for starters. Not an easy feat. He was doing what I had been talking about for years.

I could excuse a lot from a man who is trying to take his people in the right direction. We can disagree on borders and divisions. Today however he sounded like every other Palestinian leader in the short history of the people. He ignored the Palestinian terrorism, the leadership and the peoples support of it as well. He talked about the IDF and its strikes against Qassam launchers.

"On Tuesday evening, the PA leader condemned Israel's "crimes against our people in the Gaza Strip and Qabatiya in the West Bank," and called on the international community to intervene immediately "in order to stop Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people."This is from an article on Ynet.

Once again in true Palestinian fashion he forgets about the qassams. He forgets about the eighteen people killed in qassam attacks. He forgets about the lives of the people living in Sderot who live under a daily rain of rockets and mortars. His government wants Israel to tighten the noose around the neck of Hamas. Oh the irony. His government wants us to do the dirty work. So excuse me Mr Fayyad if I wonder about the crimes against my people. The crimes that the Palestinians and Arab world are responsible for. Do not be mistaken. This is not a case of what came first the chicken or the egg. The definitive answer is that Arab violence came first. Arab intolerance came first. Arab hatred came first. Palestinian terrorism came before any roadblock checkpoint or wall. Don't let them or the world forget that.

submitted by Carol

Facebook Fantasies

Myself included, Facebook is not known for being the foundation of forward thinkers. There is a new post going around, at least among Jewish and Israel based Facebook "walls" that goes exactly like this:
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Bush Heading to Jerusalem

President Bush will be in Jerusalem on January 9th to push his
"Palestinian State in '08" proposal forward with East Jerusalem as the capital.
This is President's Bush first trip to Israel since becoming
president. His goal is to convince the Israeli public that a Palestine State
with East Jerusalem as its capital is in their best interest and he has
the support of the American people. 21,150 people have signed the urgent
petition to the president. Send this to everyone on your list and ask
everyone to do the same. We need 100,000 signatures so President Bush
knows that we will not support the U.S. dividing Jerusalem. He has
mobilized virtually the entire world behind this plan. If everyone will just
get four friends to sign this we will have the 100,000.
Vote your opinion now.

http://tool.donation-net.net/CTBF/AnnapolisVote.c

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Now, just like the next guy, I'd like a list of those 100,000 morons just so I can point and laugh. There's nothing that amuses me more than a moron. People that listen to Israelisms Podcast know this. And to have 100,000 of them? Wow...my sides hurt just thinking about it.

The amazing part of this nit-witted petition is that there is not also a petition to pour a few billion shekels into an urban renewal program in East Jerusalem, which is what it needs and which is what it would take. There is no petition to improve the school systems in East Jerusalem. There is no petition to insure that, since we insist on keeping ALL of East Jerusalem, every citizen has full rights as Israeli citizens there.

Be careful what you pray for, "Oh Ye Petition Signers"...you just might get it!


Submitted by Charley