Prayers For The Idf

Yesterday Hamas tried to invade a border Kibbutz in Israel, find the children's home and kill the children.  Israel has decided to stop Hamas once and for all.

No nation would allow tunnels to be built under their border and neither does Israel.

Prayer For The IDF

He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.

May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.

May He lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.

Now let us respond: Amen.

 

Hu Yivarech - A Song for the IDF Soldiers - by DOV


Click here if the video fails to load.

Am Yisrael Chai!!!!

Operation Pillar Of Defense UPDATED

By Findalis

Is the name of the latest operation against Hamas in Gaza.  This last weekend saw over 150 rockets fired at cities and towns in Southern Israel.  Many of them fired at the time that children were leaving school for the day.  It was a miracle that nobody was killed.  Add to the rocket attack an attack on a military vehicle that has left a soldier in critical condition, it was no wonder that Israel has lost her patience and has gone on the attack.

The IAF fired a missile at a car in Gaza Wednesday, killing the commander of Hamas's "military" terror wing, Ahmed Jaabari. Israel's TV Channel 2 says his son was also killed.

There are reports that Raed al-Atar, Commander of Hamas's southern division, has also been killed.

Hamas responded by saying that it was now in a state of "open war" with Israel with no date set for its end.

The IAF reportedly also struck targets in Khan Younes and Rafiah. Channel 2 said that the IAF has been striking launch silos for Hamas's longer-range Fajr rockets, which can hit central Israel, in order to preclude their use. About 20 reinforced silos holding Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 silos were reportedly hit.

Nine people have been killed in Gaza, according to reports.

The IDF has begun a wide scale operation, which has been named "Amud Anan," a phrase that refers to the column-shaped cloud that led the Israelites in Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt. The official English name is Pillar of Defense.

Terror missiles have reportedly been fired at Sderot and Ashkelon. There have been no reports of casualties.

Egypt's response to the events is not yet known. Hamas is saying that the "new Egypt" under Mohammed Morsi must withdraw from the Camp David accords with Israel and expel Israel's ambassador in Cairo.

Among other exploits, Ahmed Jaabari, 52, was personally responsible for the abduction and holding of IDF Sgt. Gilad Shalit. Raed al-Atar was in charge of Hamas's smuggling tunnels. He was released from jail in Israeli in 1995.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak appear to have purposely diverted attention away from Gaza by visiting northern Israel and publicly discussing the Syrian threat Wednesday, in order to make it easier to catch the Hamas off guard.

The IDF Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, announced on his Facebook page that "A harsh blow has landed upon Hamas's command and control array, as the IDF hit Ahmed Jaabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in Gaza, who headed the organization and dealt directly with carrying out terror attacks against Israel.

"We are at the beginning of a wide scale attack, in view of the unbearable situation of the residents of the South," he added.

"While we are not talking about conquering all of Gaza," Mordechai told Channel 2, "there is preparation for a ground operation as well, which will be undertaken if it is necessary. The required military units that need to be diverted for such an operation are at the ready," he said.

"The occupation has opened the gates of hell on itself," said a statement from Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which vowed its terrorists would "continue the path of resistance."

The United States is closely watching developments in Gaza following the killing Wednesday of Hamas' military chief in an Israeli air strike, a Pentagon spokesman said.

"We're monitoring the situation closely. We stand by our Israeli partners in their right to defend themselves against terrorism," Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Warren said.

President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Yaakov Amidror, at the White House.

Source

I just hope that this time they are not stopped by Obama's inaugural in order to give him a peaceful day and will do what it takes to secure the South.

UPDATED: Video of the actual hit from the IDF

80 Rockets, Shells Fired From Gaza And The World Is Silent On The Barrage!

By Findalis

Why not?  After all the victims are Jews not Arabs.  After all to the UN, the Lame Stream Media, the State Department, only Arabs can be victims.  Jews are never to be considered victims no matter how many rockets are fired, how many babies are murdered.

New salvos hit the south Wednesday afternoon; school canceled for the day; residents ordered to stay close to ‘secure rooms’; three foreign workers hurt in morning hit on chicken coop.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza continued their rocket assault on Israel Wednesday afternoon after a three-hour pause in the attacks, which have seen dozens of missiles target the south in the past two days. More than 80 rockets and shells had been fired into Israel Wednesday by late afternoon.

Israeli leaders warned of a much intensified military response if the attacks continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of “a more extensive” response. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the army was ready for “a far, far greater and wider response.” Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Israel would not maintain its restraint for many more days, and that Israel was “facing a serious escalation.”

A salvo of eight rockets fell on Hof Ashkelon just after midday, shattering the quiet that had descended for a few hours after a series of rocket attacks in the morning. Another two projectiles were fired at the Hevel Eshkol area. In late afternoon, another missile strike was recorded. There were no reports of injury or damage in the latest attacks.

Three foreign workers were injured, two of them seriously, in Wednesday morning attacks when a rocket hit the chicken coop they were working in, and several houses were damaged by other missiles. At least two other people were reported lightly injured in the strikes. Some of those hurt in the attacks were flown by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

School was cancelled in areas close to Gaza on Wednesday, and residents were told to remain within 15 seconds of “secure rooms” in case of further attacks.

Netanyahu, on a tour of the Iron Dome missile defense facility near the coastal town of Ashkelon, said, “It was not Israel that initiated this escalation, but if it goes on we are prepared to take far more extensive action.” Those who fire on Israel, he said, should know that “they have sealed their own fate.”

He also promised to fortify every building in communities 4.5 to 7 kilometers from the Strip, where until now only educational facilities had been protected.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking to Army Radio, said, “There are about 1,700 households that need fortification, but that said, the situation was a lot more difficult in the past because there was no Iron Dome.”

On Wednesday morning, Iron Dome intercepted seven Grads fired at Ashkelon. In the afternoon the system stopped another missile fired at the city.

France sharply condemned the rocket fire on Israel, urging restraint from both sides.

Since Tuesday afternoon Palestinian terror groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. The incoming missiles were a mix of Gaza-produced Kassam missiles and military-grade Grad rockets that have a longer range and larger warhead.

The IDF has responded to the barrages by targeting terror cells and Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were killed in overnight airstrikes.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz called a meeting Tuesday to assess the situation and toured some of the sites that were hit in attacks.

Barak said he could not rule out a ground invasion if fire continued. “If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. We will do whatever necessary to stop this wave” of violence, he told Army Radio on Wednesday.

“It’s important for the government to think before it decides. This move will bring escalation and not peace — there is no way to reconcile with the terror from Gaza. We are considering everything we need and examining everything. If there will be no choice and the fire continues, they will be struck hard, nothing is impossible,” he said.

Liberman said Israel was facing “a serious escalation” in the south. Speaking before a meeting with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he said the situation was “unacceptable” and that Israel would “not suffer” the ongoing rocket fire for much longer.

Source

I wonder if France would be as accommodating if it were their cities being bombed, their people being killed.  Oops, I forgot, they were when Germans were doing it.

I also wonder how long will Israel go until they send in ground troops to finish the job they started in Operation Cast Lead.  An operation they stopped to be nice to Barack Hussein Obama and not have riots at his inauguration.  Bad move.

Pray for the people of Israel under constant barrage from Gaza.  And if you can, throw a few dollars, Euros, etc... to the people of the Sderot Media Center.  Serving the people of Sderot and Southern Israel for over a decade.  Just click here.

He Is Alive And Home!!!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Gilad Shalit, prisoner of Hamas for 5 years, is finally home, and safe.

Gilad Shalit (rank at the time: Cpl.) was kidnapped early on Sunday June 25, 2006. A terrorist cell attacked Shalit’s tank that was defending the security fence near the southern Gaza Strip. The terrorists crossed the border using an underground tunnel dug near the Kerem Shalom crossing. During the attack, the tank commander, First Lt. Hanan Barak, and another soldier in the tank, Staff Sgt. Pavel Slotzker were killed. Four of the soldiers in the post were injured and terrorists kidnapped Shalit into the Gaza Strip, using the tunnel they dug.




In response to the kidnapping, the IDF began Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip on June 28, 2006 and lasted through November 26, 2006. Ground forces entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since the unilateral disengagement was executed.

Sgt. 1st Class Shalit was 19 years old at the time of his abduction. He is the son of Aviva and Noam Shalit and the brother of Yoel and Hadas. Sgt. 1st Class Shalit excels in math, graduating with distinction from the science class of Manor Kabri High School. He is also a major sports fan, with a passion for playing basketball.

Source

Sgt. 1st Class Shalit was exchanged for 447 Fakistinian murderers.  Another 550 Fakistinian murderers are to be released within the next 2 months.  Why should Israel release them?  Let them rot in jail.  Remove any privileges from them.  No cable, no phones, no visits, no college classes, nothing.  The minimum of food.  Only 1 hour of exercise a day.  Locked in small cells, crowded and with no running water.  Only a hole in the ground for their bodily functions.

A curse upon the Arab peoples.  A curse upon the Fakistinians.  A curse upon the Red Cross, who in 5 years violated the Geneva Conventions of War.

After 5 years Sgt. Shalit is home.  May he find peace after the horror he has experienced.

Breaking: Shalit deal breakthrough

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Word out of Israel today is that Gilad Shalit will be released from Gaza in November.

A deal for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit has been worked out with Hamas, reports in Israeli media and Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya said Tuesday night. The government is to meet Tuesday night, and sources said that the government is expected to approve the deal.

Official details have not yet been released, but reports say that Israel will release at least 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Shalit. Israel has also agreed to ease demands on where the terrorists will be released to. Israel reportedly agreed to allow at least some of the terrorists to return to their families in Judea and Samaria; previously Israel had demanded that most of the terrorists be sent to Gaza, or deported. The deal is set to take place in November, or possibly even before.

The Shalit family declined to comment on the reports. Reports in Israeli media Tuesday night said that the family had received several additional “signs of life” that were not reported to the public, the latest about two years ago.

Israel's government declined to comment, but a spokesperson in the Prime Minister's office said that “a short-term window of opportunity has opened to bring Gilad home.” A report on a Hamas-affiliated TV station said that Hamas Gaza head Khaled Mashaal would release details of the deal later Tuesday night.

Israel Radio reported that the inner cabinet met Monday night to discuss the deal, and members of the military and defense establishment were invited to present their opinions on the deal, especially the release of terrorists to areas within Judea and Samaria. Ministers reportedly discussed each of the terrorists to be released, and where Israel would demand they be sent. One minister, quoted anonymously on Israel Radio said that the deal was not necessarily the best Israel could have gotten, but that “we all feel it is time to bring Gilad home.”

Source

Israel is releasing 1,000 murderers and will get Shalit back.  There is no proof that Gilad Shalit is alive and I believe that all the Israelis will receive is a dead body.

Happy Birthday Gilad Shalit

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

On August 28 Gilad Shalit will turn 25.  He has been held without outside contact for 5 years.  A Prisoner of War without the rights of a POW under the Geneva Conventions of War.  The International Red Cross has been complacent in this horror by refusing to impose sanctions on Hamas until they are allowed to see Gilad.  The world applauds this action.  After all to the world at large Jews have no rights.  And Gilad sits in a prison cell without hope.

Stand With Us has a petition directed to the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, and the United Nations demanding that Gilad be released.  Reminding them that we have not forgotten him.  We haven't.  Please sign it here. 

On August 28th light a candle for Gilad, pray for his release and don't forget him.  Let everyone know who he is and why he matters.  There can be no peace in the Middle East until he is returned to Israel safe and unharmed.

7 Dead, Over 25 Wounded After Terror Attack

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

So much for working towards a 2-State Solution.  There can be no "solution" to the conflict in the region as longs as the Arabs refuse to renounce terrorism against Jewish civilians.

Today the world saw another "fine" example of Arab Military Tactics.

Seven people were reported dead and at least 25 injured in a three-stage terrorist attack along Israel’s border with Egypt on Thursday.

IDF forces were still searching the area around Eilat and the Egyptian border out of concern that there may be terrorists still in the area. Sources said that it is possible that there were as many 20 terrorist in the area, both in Israel and on the Egyptian side of the border.

They added that there may be another terrorist cell hiding in the area. IDF and special police counter-terrorist forces killed seven terrorists during the three coordinated attacks.

The terror attack began at noon Thursday when terrorists opened fire at an Egged bus traveling on Road 12 near Eilat.

Several minutes later, a number of bombs went off next to an IDF patrol traveling along the border with Egypt. There were also reports of mortar fire from Egypt into Israel. The terrorists apparently then moved on to another spot and fired an anti-tank missile at another vehicle, injuring a number of passengers.

Magen David Adom said that terrorists attacked a bus and a private vehicle 20 kilometers north of the site of the first incident. Paramedics said five people there were mortally wounded in that attack.

The casualties were evacuated to Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat. A number of soldiers were among the casualties

IDF soldiers targeted and hit seven terrorists involved in the attacks, according to IDF spokeswoman Avital Leibovich.

“This seems like a coordinated attack,” a senior IDF officer said. There was also speculation that there may have been more than one terror cell coordinating the attacks.

Commander of the IDF’s Edom Division Brig.-Gen. Tamir Yidayi arrived at the scene of the bus attack and set up a command post to coordinate efforts to capture the perpetrators. The IDF suspects that the terrorists infiltrated into Israel after crossing into Egypt possible from the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, the Egyptian Military launched a massive operation to capture terrorist cells operating in the Sinai.

Due to concern that terrorists had infiltrated into Israel from Egypt, security officers in Israeli communities along the border were ordered to raise the level of alert and to tell residents to remain inside their home.

Israel has so far managed to construct a barrier along 45 kilometers of it's southern border with Egypt, which stretches for over 200 km.

The original plan was to complete construction of the fence in 2013 but the Defense Ministry decided several months ago to hire six different contracts in order to speed up the construction and complete the project by the end of 2012.

The Defense Ministry said it would complete construction of an additional 100 km by the end of 2011. Officials said that 700 meters of fence was constructed on a daily basis.

Following the attacks near Eilat on Thursday, Defense Ministry Dir.-Gen. Udi Shani convened a meeting to discuss ways to increase the number of workers who work on the fence in an effort to move up the completion date.

Authorities set up an emergency telephone number for those affected by the attacks near Eilat: 1255175.

Source

Prime Minister Netanyahu and the IDF promises to retaliate for this horror.  That is not an idle threat.  Both Hamas and the UN in Gaza are running for cover.  2 small children were wounded in this attack.

Every protest scheduled for this weekend by the leftists in the "Tent Cities" have been cancelled.  In Israel people unite against terror, not support it.

My prayers go out to the families of the victims.  May the killers be tracked down fast and justice be swift.

A Study The Main Stream Media Will NEVER Show You

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

In a study by Natal, a trauma center for the victims of war and terror, it was discovered that 70% of the kids residing in the town that has been on the receiving end of thousands of rockets in recent years are suffering from at least one symptom of posttraumatic stress. A third of all Sderot's residents suffer from anxiety, and have trouble functioning normally.

Among children this comes in the form of PTSD and Depression.

Shaked and Maor Harush, 11-year-old twins from Sderot, saw a Qassam rocket explode a few feet away for them, setting a car ablaze. Since then, fear has become an everyday presence in their lives.

Shaked suffers from the worst of the trauma. She refuses to leave home without her parents. A slamming door makes her jump. Any conversation about the security situation is out of the question when Shaked is around, and her family knows to avoid words like Qassam and Color Red altogether.

Shaked's young cousin, who lives in the center of the country, was not aware of this little detail. While the two were playing in the yard recently, he yelled out "Color Red, Color Red," sending Shaked running into the house. She locked herself in her room and could not stop crying.

"Her cousin didn't think of it, he didn't know, but Shaked took it hard," her father said. "She is in bad shape. She suffers from anxiety all the time."

Shaked is not alone.

Qassam damage in Sderot in April (Photo: Ze'ev Trachtman)

Maor Harush is doing better than his sister; he speaks about his anxieties. Shaked never does. She has been in therapy for three years, but it hasn't helped – the situation only seems to be getting worse.

"We can't laugh about the situation, we can't talk about it," the twins' father said. "Most of the time she's at home, watching television. The television is her connection to the outside world."

She doesn't visit her friends, her father said, and her school work has slipped; she suffers from attention disorders.

According to the Natal report, 50% of Sderot's kids relive the trauma, and 41% suffer from over-excitation – they are constantly alert, ready for danger, and every little noise shakes them up. Twenty percent of the kids suffer from all the symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and 12% have severe trouble functioning.

"They stop playing, stop being interested in their surroundings, detach themselves from their friends and school," explained Professor Marc Gelkopf, who heads the Natal research team. "One of our newest and most interesting findings is that there is a connection between the symptoms that the parents experience and the ones their children experience. It underlines the importance of family therapy."

Rocket destroys house in Sderot, 2006 (Photo: Amir Cohen)

The study, which followed 518 adult and 570 kids, showed that one in three residents suffers from the disorder, and that one in seven is having trouble functioning due to anxiety.

"When we're talking about people suffering from posttraumatic stress, we're talking about people who wake up in the middle of the night because of nightmares," Gelkopf said. "People who are over alert… who are afraid to go far from their fortified rooms or visit places that remind them of the danger."

Despite the recent calm, Natal has found that nearly 30% of the residents feel threatened. Another 23% take anti-depression or anxiety drugs, or use sleeping pills.

Esther Itiel, 56, has been living in Sderot for 30 years. She is another victim of posttraumatic stress.

"Life in this town was beautiful before the Qassam fire started," she said. "Since then, there hasn't been one night when we could sleep normally. All aspects of life have been disrupted.

"I managed to survive somehow for years, but when a Qassam fell a few meters near my house, I broke down," she said. "I took my daughters and moved to Givat Shmuel, leaving my husband and three other kids behind in Sderot."

In the central town of Givat Shmuel, Itiel received therapy from Natal and the municipality, and graudally managed to regain some of her former self. She agreed to return to Sderot after a shelter was built in her house. Back at home, anxiety hit again.

Qassam hits building in Sderot, 2010 (Photo: Ze'ev Trachtman)

"Any noise from an ambulance, bus or plane makes me jump and triggers the anxiety," she said. "I can't listen to the news, this whole story about the fly-in made me anxious. I'm not happy, I don't laugh, I don't joke. I'm not the mother I used to be."

These days, Itiel rarely leaves home. Sleep evades her. She showers only when there is someone else at home with her – and even then, she does it quickly.

"I'm afraid that it will be like it was during the Qassam fire period," she said. "Then, when the Color Red alarm went off while I was in the shower, I would run to the shelter without clothes on. About a month ago, the alarm went off again. I heard planes flying by and I fainted. They had to take me to the hospital."

Some 6,400 people who are suffering from posttraumatic stress are treated at the municipal mental health center in Sderot. Some 3,500 kids and 500 teachers and staff members get psychological treatment through the town's school system. The Resilience Center, which provides counseling, treats 400 people each year, most of them children and teenagers – and the waiting list for treatment is growing.

"Especially during times of calm, people start feeling the tumult on the inside," said Hila Barzilay, who runs the Resilience Center. "(…) We get kids with serious motor function disorders, kids who weren't allowed to play outside in groups for years. Many residents' relationships have suffered. The situation causes critical damage to all aspects of their lives.

Full Story

What the Main Lame Stream Media is calling a successful ceasefire is in reality just a lull in the terror.  There isn't a week that the rockets attack Israel or an attempt is made to fire into Israel.  Yet the media outside of Israel is silent on this.  In fact they are reporting that the EU, US, Russia and the UN will IMPOSE a solution upon Israel.,  A solution that will try to force Israel back to the 1967 borders, the borders Abba Eban called:  The Auschwitz Borders.

Abba Eban

"We have openly said that the map will never again be the same as on June 4, 1967. For us, this is a matter of security and of principles. The June map is for us equivalent to insecurity and danger. I do not exaggerate when I say that it has for us something of a memory of Auschwitz. We shudder when we think of what would have awaited us in the circumstances of June, 1967, if we had been defeated; with Syrians on the mountain and we in the valley, with the Jordanian army in sight of the sea, with the Egyptians who hold our throat in their hands in Gaza. This is a situation which will never be repeated in history."

- Abba Eban, Israeli Statesman, in Der Spiegel, November 5, 1969

Borders that are impossible to defend the nation. With the deliberate separation into 2 halves of Jerusalem, the Arabs will gain everything they want without giving up any of Israel's demands.

The children of Sderot have only the people of Israel to help them.  But that can change.  Will you help them?  Just a few dollars will give a child the psychiatric help he or she needs.  The Sderot Media Center helps hundreds of the residents of Sderot and the Western Negev each day.  From their newly opened "Ella Center" that helps the children with their studies in the sciences to the only indoor playground, the first concern of the Sderot Media is the safety of the children of Sderot.  Their mission statement tells it all:

The Sderot Media Center mission is to provide Israeli and international news media with on-site film footage and reporting of the kassam rocket attacks and their psychological effects upon Sderot residents. In doing so, we hope to spur international and local involvement with the community of Sderot, both on a financial and social scale, in order to help out the residents of this war-zone region.

Other goals include the following four points:

To forge identification and empathy between the western world and the residents of the western Negev
To initiate community projects that will alleviate the economic and psychological condition of Sderot and western Negev residents
To improve the security situation of Sderot and the western Negev through international awareness of the rocket fire
To create a balance in the news coverage of Israel and promote a pro-Israel attitude in the western and international media

You can help by clicking here.

Right Hook To al Jazeera!

By Findalis

This video is from 2009 but it could have been yesterday or today.

Captain Avichai Adra'i  (IDF) is not only impressive in what he says, but in how he says it.  He speaks clearly and forcefully to the Muslim world.  No PC or Diplomatic double speak.  He basically reads the Muslim world the riot act.  On al Jazeera to boot.

H/T Elder of Ziyon

Why Is THIS Acceptable To The World?

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

WARNING: THESE PHOTOS ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN.

Why is the MURDER of 5 innocent Jews acceptable to the world and the world will scream bloody murder if an Arab develops a hangnail?

Photos of the murder of the Fogel family in the town of Itamar, north of Jerusalem, on March 11, 2011 by Arab terrorists.

These photos were released by the family. They have given full permission for their use in order to report on the horrific reality of murdering children and babies in their sleep, "simply because they are Jewish."

3-year-old Jewish boy

11-year-old son

Father and 3-month-old baby

3-year-old Jewish boy

This is the true face of terror. This is what the creatures who call themselves Palestinians dance, sing and rejoice in.  This is the true face of Islam.  Forget the lies CAIR, the liberal left and the idiot media tell you. Look carefully on this family. This could be your family.  If Muslims don't get their way, they resort to violence like this.

Please remember the 3 remaining children of the Fogel family who buried their parents and siblings today.  One day part of a happy, loving family, the next day ORPHANED!

The Most Shelled City In The World

A couple of articles from The Most Shelled City In The World.

1 million Israelis are asking: "Who's next?"

Last night, Wednesday the 23rd of March, was the first time since Operation Cast Lead that an Iranian Grad missile exploded in Be'er Sheba, 40km from Gaza.

Arriving at the scene of the rocket strike Thursday morning, in the Northern neighborhoods of Be'er Sheba, brought me back to the terror scenes in Sderot of the past few years. For several years, rocket attacks were part of my daily routine living and working at the Sderot Media Center. When the Tzeva Adom (Code Red) sounded, I would go to the neighborhoods where the rocket exploded and film the scene. The next day, I would return, documenting the 'the day after, listening to the stories of residents on what occurred to them the day before.



In Be'er Sheba, I saw the same scenes I'd witnessed in Sderot: shattered car windshields; the shrapnel holes making "windows" on the homes; the radius of damage from where the missile exploded; the 'cover up' of the missile hole; like nothing happened and expecting the people to go back to normal; the holes in the iron doors; the Shabbat candles standing among shattered glasses; pictures of Rabbis hanging untouched on what remained of the walls; frightened and excited residents of the damaged or destroyed homes who just want to share their personal experience with the world; hearing story, counting the amount of times I heard the words; Luck, coincidence, and miracles.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

Be'er Sheba resident Chen Saban, a Sapir College student in her early twenties whose house was hit, described how she and her family were lucky enough to reach the secured room on time, saying she never expected her home to be hit. She said it was ironic because she goes to Sapir College, which is only a few km away from Gaza. Chen, who is supposed to get married in the next 3 weeks, is no longer certain about her future in Be'er Sheba and how she ill be able to plan her life living there.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

It was amazing to hear all this because it took me 45 minutes to drive from Sderot to Be'er Sheba, which is 40km from Gaza, with residents having 60 seconds to run for the shelter once the siren goes off. And still the same reaction and comments of the frightened and traumatized people.

Today, the more than 1 million Israelis who live in the range of 40km from Gaza are not feeling as secure as they did yesterday, asking themselves "who is next?"

Yitchak Akli a resident of the Be'er Sheba neighborhood said: "We should learn from

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

the experience of 'cast lead'' that this would happen, they have (missiles) and hiding them, to launch and fire them at the right time, on any target in Be'er Sheba. It's a matter of time. They've learned our capabilities and they've learned us".


Since the last "cease fire" 530 rockets and missiles have been fired towards the South Western, past of Israel.

The Iranian Grad missile exploding in Bair-Sheba is a reminder how that a few months ago the Shin-Bet reported that there's a stack of over 5,000 Iranian missiles in Gaza, all of them having a range of 40 KM.

This is especially troubling because, in November 2009, Hamas test-fired a missile test towards the Mediterranean, reaching 60 KM, which is the distance from Northern Gaza to Tel-Aviv.

In November 2010, the ITIC reported that Hamas has missiles with an 80km range.

Almost everyone in the Western Negev knows not it's not "if'" but "when"' the next missile escalation starts, leading to the next Gaza war.

After living in Sderot for the past 5 years, watching the construction of 5,000 new bomb shelters, you don’t have to be a prophet to understand that the highest authorities in Israel know there has not been a permanent end to the rocket fire. Being realistic, Israel has to be prepared for many more years of conflict on the Gaza border.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

While Iran is certainly a threat for Israel, the biggest delegitimization threat for Israel, is with no doubt Gaza. Add to this the uprisings in Egypt and North Africa, bringing to power groups that have already declared they will end the "peace treaty" with Israel.

The harsh response that Israel received from the world media and many governments during and after Cast Lead, after the Flotilla incident, and right up to today is actually a modern-day version of a very old demonization of Jews and Israel. A tremendous effort is being made to delegitimize Israel, with the goal of eliminating the Jewish state. How Israel will deal with this threat?

How should Israel deal with this threat?  Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amatzia Chen believes that the current  policy has failed.

"In all of the previous wars, starting from the 1956 Suez Operation, through the Six Day War and in the Yom Kippur War as well, the IDF took the fight into enemy territory," Chen recalled. "The security concept was that of fighting the war we choose, and seizing the initiative. But since 1982, after that rally in Rabin Square, Rabin and Peres decided, for political reasons, that the strategy needs to be changed and that we should only go to war when there is no choice - i.e., when the sword is on our neck."

Chen said that since that decision was made, Israel has lost its deterrent capability. "Our enemies understood the dramatic change in Israel's security concept as a position of weakness. In any case, they had ceased threatening us with regular armies and turned instead to the weapon of terror. They murdered hundreds of Jews inside Israel, but controlled the bloodletting so as to enable Israel's leaders to maintain the concept that one does not go to war as long as there is a choice."

"Every Israeli citizen knows that the Israel of today is not the Israel of pre-1982."

Chen said that artillery fire on Gaza is not a proper response to the missile attack on Be'er Sheva. "We are a nation that wants to live, and there is no point in fair play when it comes to terrorists. That is not how terror is defeated. The State of Israel is a sovereign state that needs to formulate a proper strategy. Unfortunately, the strategy today is that if you are fired upon you fire back. We are, in effect, signaling to the enemies that they can continue using the same method in the future, too."

There is great anger in Sderot, a city with more bomb shelters than playgrounds.

Speaking from the city of bomb shelters

By Dave Balson

Like everyone else on the planet, I have heard about the "complicated" situation in the Middle East my whole life: promises to fix it, hopeful negotiations that crumble behind closed doors, rockets, wars, treaties, stalemates, etc. Round and round it goes until, exasperated, I figure both sides are unwilling to reach the type of tough-but-straightforward agreements that brought peace to Ireland and South Africa, and I give up. "It's complicated" is a Facebook status, not a diplomatic agreement.

I spent the last two weeks in Israel. The trip was free, as it is to any Jew, through a program called "Taglit Birthright." To any students who come from a Jewish background, I suggest checking it out. It is a free trip to Israel, if nothing else.

Last Wednesday I visited Sderot, a town of about 20,000 people in the western Negev desert, less than a mile away from the Gaza strip.

Sderot has been the target of more than 10,000 rockets fired from Gaza since 2000. Gaza is controlled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. Sderot is the only town in the 21st Century where rockets are being continually fired at a civilian population.

To deal with the rocket attacks, the town has a siren that gives residents a 15-second warning to get into a bomb shelter.

Stop for a moment and consider how far you could get in 15 seconds. Could you get to the nearest bathroom? The nearest car? The nearest stairway?

Sderot is the bomb shelter capitol of the world. Every house has a bomb shelter. Apartment buildings have bomb shelters crawling up their sides. Every bus stop is a bomb shelter and others are spaced in between; there is a bomb shelter about 15 seconds away from most places.

If you are a child in Sderot, you should hope you are in school when the rockets come. Older schools have been retrofitted with huge steel shields on their outer walls and roofs. Newer schools are literally giant bomb shelters, their paltry playgrounds nothing but dust and three safe cubes awaiting the siren's call.

Other parts of town have the type of playgrounds we grew up on: ladder up, slide down, monkey bars and the wall with a clear bubble that never made sense. They have painted a castle a nice shade of purple, and made two long concrete snakes look so vibrant and fun, you could almost forget they, too, are bomb shelters. Between 70 to 95 percent of children in Sderot have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.

So why are people still living in this god-forsaken place? There are a few reasons. For one, housing is much cheaper there (feel free to guess why). For another, Sderot has one of the most lively and productive music scenes in the Eastern Hemisphere. The town is home to more chart-topping bands than any other in Israel and rivals any in Europe.

But the real reason people stay is because they feel they must. Sderot is internationally recognized as part of Israel. If they leave, if they give up, what happens to the next town? And the next? Rockets from Gaza can hit Israel's economic and cultural centers - Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, respectively.

I saw all this from Israel's side of the border, so I cannot speak with objective moral authority on who is right or wrong, victim or oppressor. I know everyone I talked to in Israel wants peace more than anything, and would give up land if they thought it would achieve it. I also know that people suffer in Gaza and struggle for a homeland in the West Bank.

As a commentator, I am supposed to speak in shoulds and should nots.

No one should have to live like the people of Sderot. That's all I've got.

It's complicated.

Dave Balson is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or DENopinions@gmail.com

I always allow the people of Sderot to speak for themselves.  This is their story, their struggle, their battle. What is happening in Sderot, Beer-Sheva, Ashkelon, the Negev, is the price for living in Israel.  For Sderot's residents it is the price of living on the frontier.  If they surrender their city, it will only encourage Hamas to conquer the next city, then the one after it.  Until they have conquered the whole nation.

You are not on the frontier, the front line in this battle, but you can help. The small donation that you give to the Sderot Media Center goes to help the people, especially the children of Sderot. Just a bit of your spare change will help.  To donate click here.

Children of Sderot Just Want A Little Peace

Sderot- The bomb shelter capital of the world

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

For the last week rockets fired from Gaza have been a daily occurrence.  Although they have caused limited damage to property and no one has been hurt or killed. (Frayed nerves and a couple of neurotic cats.)  It is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

A Grad rocket fired by Gaza terrorists hit an open area near a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon on Friday morning. No physical injuries were reported, although several people suffered shock and required medical attention. A vehicle was also damaged.

Ashkelon had experienced relative quiet following the Cast Lead counterterror operation in Gaza in early 2009.

The attack follows an attack last week that was carried out using an imported rocket more sophisticated than the short-range “Kassam” rockets produced in Gaza. In that case, the rocket failed to explode, and no injuries were reported.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has followed a policy of quick response to attacks from Gaza. Air Force planes have demolished smuggling tunnels and weapons factories in the region following previous rocket attacks.

Sderot is the only town and the Western Negav is the only region in the world, where missiles are fired towards civilian population in the 21st Century.--Sderot Media Center

If you are planning a visit to Israel, plan a side visit to Sderot.  You can contact the Sderot Media Center for a tour.

No child should have to endure this.  Please help!

Hamas Denies Latest Plea By International Red Cross To Visit Gilad Shalit

Cross posted from Holger Awakens with permission.

Hamas is citing their fear that an International Red Cross visit to captive Gilad Shalit would lead to an Israeli military operation to save him as the reason the terror organization has denied yet another call by the Red Cross to visit Shalit.

From the story at Haaretz:

Hamas has rejected the latest request from the International Red Cross to visit abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday.

Hamas denied the request for fear that the visit might lead Israel to try to free Shalit in a military operation, according to Hamas lawmaker Yehia Moussa, who told a Hamas newspaper that the Red Cross did not take the military reality in the Middle East into account when it made the request.

"One of our main achievements is that we have been able to visit nearly everyone detained in connection to this conflict, with the exception of Gilad Shalit," Pierre Dorbes, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel and the Occupied Territories, told Haaretz on Tuesday, adding that he felt talks to free Shalit are deadlocked.

I've blogged so many times about Gilad Shalit that I'm nearly blue in the face - you've seen me get excited about new possibilities of his release only to let down by another opportunity lost. I firmly believe that there are some in Hamas that think that Shalit is the only insurance policy they have against Israel and unfortunately, those are the clowns whose opinion apparently counts.

One thing I'd like to say to Hamas is that when Hezbollah returned the bodies of IDF soldiers Goldwasser and Regev....when the Israelis saw exactly how those two sons of theirs had been treated....when the Israelis saw the tortured bodies of two of their defenders...believe me, that image will be burned into the memory of the IDF forever and one day, Hezbollah will feel the wrath of that. Bank on it. So Hamas, remember Operation Cast Lead when your terror organization was nearly wiped out and multiply that operation by 100 if anything happens to Gilad Shalit.

Hamas: We won't let Red Cross visit Shalit


Hamas has rejected the latest request from the International Red Cross to visit abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday.

Hamas denied the request for fear that the visit might lead Israel to try to free Shalit in a military operation, according to Hamas lawmaker Yehia Moussa, who told a Hamas newspaper that the Red Cross did not take the military reality in the Middle East into account when it made the request.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it has approached Hamas a number of times to allow its representatives to visit the kidnapped soldier in Gaza, only to be denied time after time.

"One of our main achievements is that we have been able to visit nearly everyone detained in connection to this conflict, with the exception of Gilad Shalit," Pierre Dorbes, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel and the Occupied Territories, told Haaretz on Tuesday, adding that he felt talks to free Shalit are deadlocked.

Meanwhile, Shalit's grandfather, Zvi Shalit, met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem Tuesday. Following the meeting, which was also attended by top Shalit negotiator Haggai Hadas as well as Netanyahu's military secretary, Brig. Gen. Yohanan Locker, the 85-year-old told Haaretz that the meeting was strained and fraught with disagreements.

The elder Shalit had to wait for three hours before Netanyahu was able to see him, as the prime minister's schedule shifted around the budget votes.

"I spoke [to Netanyahu] as a human being and as a grandfather who wants to see his grandson return home after four years [in captivity]. I told Netanyahu the conduct over this matter was not satisfactory and he said that yes, it was," he added.

Although Netanyahu did not issue a statement about the content of the meeting, nor did he allow photographers to be present, his office did comment Tuesday on the three-hour delay in the meeting.

Next week, the Shalits are hoping to join thousands of supporters, including supermodel Bar Refaeli and dozens of other local celebrities, on a cross-country march for Gilad's release.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is holding a special concert near the Gaza border — conducted by renowned conductor Zubin Mehta — to call for Shalit's release.

Shalit's parents have pledged to camp outside the prime minister's residence until their son is freed from captivity.

The Truth About Gaza

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Is fancy restaurants and Olympic-size pools!

Yes that is the truth. Some Concentration Camp!  That is what the Main Stream Media and the pro-Palestinian anti-Semites in the Free Gaza Movement call Gaza: The World's Largest Concentration Camp!

What they (The Main Stream Media) won’t tell you about are the fancy new restaurants and swimming pools of Gaza, or about the wind surfing competitions on Gaza beaches, or the Strip’s crowded shops and markets. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live a middle class (and in some cases an upper class) lifestyle that western journalists refuse to report on because it doesn’t fit with the simplistic story they were sent to write.

Here, courtesy of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, is a report on Gaza’s new Olympic-sized swimming pool . (Most Israeli towns don’t have Olympic-size swimming pools. One wonders how an area that claims to be starved of water and building materials and depends on humanitarian aid builds an Olympic size swimming pool and creates a luxury lifestyle for some while others are forced to live in abject poverty as political pawn refugees?)

If you pop into the Roots Club in Gaza, according to the Lonely Planet guidebook, you can “dine on steak au poivre and chicken cordon bleu”.

The restaurant’s website in Arabic gives a window into middle class dining and the lifestyle of Hamas officials in Gaza. And here it is in English, for all the journalists, UN types and NGO staff who regularly frequent this and other nice Gaza restaurants (but don’t tell their readers about them).

And here is a promotional video of the club restaurant . In case anyone doubts the authenticity of this video, I just called the club in Gaza City and had a nice chat with the manager who proudly confirmed business is booming and many Palestinians and international guests are dining there.

In a piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, I documented the “after effects” of a previous “emergency Gaza boat flotilla,” when the arrivals were seen afterwards purchasing souvenirs in well-stocked shops. (You can also scroll down here for more pictures of Gaza’s “impoverished” shops.)

But the mainstream liberal international media won’t report on any of this. Playing the manipulative game of the BBC is easy: if we had their vast taxpayer funded resources, we too could produce reports about parts of London, Manchester and Glasgow and make it look as though there is a humanitarian catastrophe throughout the UK. We could produce the same effect by selectively filming seedy parts of Paris and Rome and New York and Los Angeles too.

Of course there is poverty in Gaza. There is poverty in parts of Israel too. (When was the last time a foreign journalist based in Israel left the pampered lounge bars and restaurants of the King David and American Colony hotels in Jerusalem and went to check out the slum-like areas of southern Tel Aviv? Or the hard-hit Negev towns of Netivot or Rahat?)

But the way that many prominent Western news media are deliberately misleading global audiences and systematically creating the false impression that people are somehow starving in Gaza, and that it is all Israel’s fault, can only serve to increase hatred for the Jewish state – which one suspects was the goal of many of the editors and reporters involved in the first place.

Read it all here.

Olympic-sized swimming pools and fancy gourmet restaurants just like the type that Auschwitz and Dachau had.  And what about those starving children?

These children look starved, malnourished, and depressed!

Depression really has taken hold on these children of Gaza.

Compare those pictures to these of actual starving children.

These children starved to death. There have been no reports of massive starvation or malnutrition coming out of Gaza. If anyone can show me reputable source (None Palestinian or Free Gaza loonies.  WHO, or International Red Cross is acceptable.) I will post a retraction.  But they don't
acknowledge any incidents.

Before one condemns, one should learn all the facts.

Can it all be just a mistake?

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

For over a year I have been writing about the rockets that are fired and have been fired into the city of Sderot in Israel from Hamas in Gaza.  These rockets have no guidance system in them.  It is point, fire, hope that they kill someone.  What they really do is to instill terror into a CIVILIAN POPULATION.

For 8 long years these rockets have fallen, they are falling now even though there is suppose to be a cease-fire in effect.

I received this letter last night.  The author, Itzik Yarkoni asked me to pass this along to you, my readers.

With the result that Goldstone present to the UN Hamas’ response to the Goldstone report that the missiles sent to Israel were “by mistake”, I want to know if you would be interested in publishing my personal testimonial of life under Palestinian rocket fire, or life under the Hamas’ “mistakes.

Can it all be just a mistake?

By Itzik Yarkoni

Thursday, February 3, 2010, Jerusalem

Hamas officials said that a 52-page document has been compiled to testify that the offensive missiles fired during Operation Cast lead were “an accident” due to their weapon’s lack of aiming capabilities toward military installations.

However, section 1687 of the “Goldstone Report” presents that, “indeed, Palestinian armed groups, among them Hamas, have publicly expressed their intention to target Israel civilians…. claimed responsibility for the deaths of each of the Israeli civilians killed by rocket fired during the operations in Gaza”.

This begs the question: If Hamas weapon’s suffer from inaccuracy, maybe the information that was given to Goldstone is also off target?

I remember the first time that I heard about Sapir college was when I was traveling in the United States after the army. When I asked about the whereabouts of the college, a friend replied, “It is a nice place next to Sderot. However, the situation is a little strange. Rockets are launched towards the city daily”. I did not know what lay ahead for me at Sapir College, but I decided that I would take the risk. After all, I figured something would be done, eventually, to stop the rockets.

Eight years have passed since the first rocket was launched towards Sderot. The situation has not changed, I was wrong. More than ten thousand kassam missiles, grad, and mortar shells have been fired from Gaza, of which eighty-four fell in Sderot during Operation Cast Lead. Moreover, the “military installations” Hamas speaks of are nowhere to be found in the city. Where exactly were the rockets intended to fall?

I have witnessed firsthand the "mistakes" that have not only produced several deaths, but continue to affect hundreds, if not a thousands, of people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSD) as a result of the constant threat of incoming rocket attacks to the city.

What has been the result of the poor aiming capabilities of Hamas rockets?

As a student in Sderot, I awoke every morning to begin the usual routine of my day. However, my routine was not morning coffee and a newspaper. My routine, drenched with fear, caution, and preparation for the next rocket aimed towards my city, was different than the average student from other areas of the world.

Like clockwork, I was awoken at the same time, with the same target hit, and with the same color red alarm. This alarm notified me that I had only 15 seconds to take cover of my life. As I ran to the nearest bomb shelter, I passed the same children on their way to school. Once inside the crammed shelter, I heard the whistle.

That whistle of a rocket falling to my direction quickly became an all too familiar sound. Maybe this time the rocket will fall in my neighborhood? Maybe this time it will land in the home of someone that I know?

While waiting in a bomb shelter, praying for safety, the fire continued. It was not one rocket, or one “mistake”, that came to my direction. Many mistakes were fired towards me through the city. According to the Sderot Media Center, “Palestinian rockets directly hit more than 1,500 Israeli homes and buildings in the south. Three synagogues were hit, in addition to nine educational facilities, which include high schools, kindergartens, and elementary schools.

Can these cases actually be a malfunction in Hamas’ original plan?

After a day full of color red alarms, or after three weeks of 140 alarms during the Operation, the residents of Sderot and myself gathered to listen to the news. We heard about the mistakes that hit our loved one's homes, the mistakes that kept children from going to school the next day, and the mistakes that are expected to continue.

As a student and as a resident, we had to use our nights to recover from our day. There was homework to be done, relationships to build, our homes that we needed to continue to keep alive. We had to continue to live. However, our nights were full of their mistakes as well, for the nightly news had the highest Sderot ratings, and Hamas chose without fail to use that time for mistakes as well.

Maybe I shouldn't complain, for if Hamas had indeed aimed correctly, the extent of the destruction, the mental disorders, the loss of hope would be far greater. With that, I must say I have luck.

Last week Hamas issued a statement saying that the rocket attacks on Israel were not aimed at civilian centers in Israel, only military ones. (Somebody check the woods for constipated bears, and check Rome, the Pope has converted to Judaism.)

They retracted it a day later.

Make no mistake, the so-called Palestinians have a single goal:

The total destruction of the State of Israel and the death of every Jew living in the land.

To achieve this goal they will lie, cheat, steal, and murder anyone who gets in their way.

You can help in the battle against Hamas.  Become vocal.  Don't be silent on this subject.  Let others know about what is and has been happening to Sderot.  Tell your family, friends, church/synagogue,  pastor/rabbi, your Congressman or woman, your Senator, the President, your local newspaper.  But don't be silent!

Secondly, remember people like Itzik Yarkoni and the other residents of Sderot in your prayers.  You could sign up for Code Red Alerts, reminding you of the terror the men, women, and especially the children experience every day.

How long does any people have to be terrorized by the neighborhood bully before they will strike back?