Operation Pillar of Defense, Rocket Shooting Competition

I'm finding this latest war against Israel, the  Operation Pillar of Defense, to be a strange one, sort of by remote control in a sense.  It's a rocket shooting competition on civilian targets.  The Gazan Arab terrorists purposely aim to murder and terrorize Israeli civilians, while Israel tries to aim only at the terror networks, but have no choice other than to hit civilians because the Hamas Gazan terrorists use them as shields.

Dry Bones

credit

Even though tens of thousands of Israeli reservists have been called up to active service so far, as we approach the end of the first official week of the war, it has been more of a target shooting competition than anything else.  Israel has been using technology aka the Iron Dome to try to catch and destroy the deadly rockets before they hit civilian areas. 

1. Unfortunately the Iron Dome gives people the feeling that nothing will harm them and then they take risks they shouldn't.
2. Unfortunately the Iron Dome isn't 100% effective.
3. Unfortunately the Iron Dome is relied upon as if it is an offensive weapon, which it isn't.
4. Unfortunately the Iron Dome is defensive only and has no positive influence on the Arab Hamas Gazan enemy.
5. Unfortunately the Iron Dome just encourages the terrorists to produce and fire more deadly rockets at us in order to give the "misses" more weight.

Remember:

DEFENSE IS NOT OFFENSE

This is something our tech-crazy Defense Minister Ehud Barak frequently forgets. 

Defense protects us, but only offense will destroy the enemy.

On the good side, we have G-d and history:

We're soon going to be celebrating the Holiday of Chanukah, an example of how we Jews, a small nation and country with minimal fighting force defeated the mighty ancient Greeks.

Maccabees, annoyed, in unison: What does “hard” have to do with it?
Fortunately for us, the Maccabees were not discouraged by difficulty. If they had been, the Hellenists would have won, and Judaism would have disappeared. Not only would there be no Chanukah, but there would be no Judaism and no Jews.
The Maccabees, dedicated to an ideal and undaunted by difficulty, are indeed worthy Jewish role models. The world’s highest pole-vaulter has nothing on them!

And who are today's enemies?  We have many, especially because I include those who find all sorts of excuses to support Hamas, Arab terrorists and the faux fake Palestinians.



We must never give up.  The more determined we are, the more strength and miracles G-d will give us to achieve victory over our enemies.

Sprinting to Safety

The 100 meter final at the 1988 Seoul

 Olympics remains one of the most

infamous and fascinating moments

 in the games' history. The race was

 won in a world record time by

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson.

 But he was to be stripped of his medal

 and record under the shadow of drug use.

cnn

When it comes to Olympics medals, many athletes are willing to risk their health by taking drugs to break records and win, especially in the sprints, which need such powerful muscles and time is so short. Professional athletes run for medals, fame and money, but residents of the Israeli south are running for their lives!



Israelis in the south aren't chasing fame and fortune; they're running to safety. 

• And instead of wearing fashionable running clothes, sometimes they are lucky to be wearing more than an old sweatsuit/pyjamas or a bathrobe. 
• Instead of scientifically designed running shoes, they are wearing easy to slip on slippers.
• Instead of their arms efficiently pumping to maximize speed, they're holding their valuables, an infant and toddler while trying to encourage the other children to keep up.
• Instead of being encouraged by cheering fans, they hear the alarms.
• Instead of the audience exploding in cheers, their home explodes from the missile before their eyes.

A citizen clears away wreckage caused by a Grad rocket hitting a house in Netivot on Monday,
November 12 (photo credit: Edi Israel/Flash90)

A sprint in Netivot and other southern Israel locations is not a game.  And the finish line doesn't promise a medal nor a world record.  The runners don't even know where to run to in many situations, because there's no way to predict exactly where the bomb, deadly missile will explode.

More voices from the south:

"I am so tense. We had a siren and rocket at 7 something this morning. In Netivot my
daughters (who are both scared by the whole situation, and one is expecting) didn't
have to teach as their schools are partly made up of caravans. I teach at the edge of Netivot. A LOT of students showed up so I taught literature (as planned but we lack migun*. (The building of a huge 'mamad**' is continuing but not yet completed.) So I was on pins and needles-- if there is a siren, it's under the desk with pupils. I've done it before with hysterical pupils and it ain't fun!

....got home at 2.15.Then 2.40 - another siren and BOOM. I just thank G-d I wasn't at school anymore, where they DEFINITELY heard it and went bonkers!! My hubby and I stayed home during Cast Lead (babysat for our building,) but with married kids who ARE terrified and grandkiddies, I am feeling the pressure build up as I DIDN'T then. And see no end in sight. And have no idea how - and -  live with even worse tension day in and out all year long."

 

"As I was walking my dogs, I just saw fireworks: Iron Dome shooting down two rockets. Fireworks, but the real deal. Would have been beautiful - if it weren't so ominous and frightening."

 

"Morning has arrived. Checking updates on the newspapers and Facebook sites.I want to have a shower, but am certain that as soon as I am under the water there will be a Red Alert. I am supposed to go to Tel Aviv to work but concerned about the drive which has me hugging the Gaza Strip (it takes me about an hour to drive out of missile range, and when you are driving outside the cities you don't even hear alerts or sirens. I want to go to do my medical clowning after my meetings, but that would mean driving back home after dark- an even scarier prospect in this war-torn situation . I am truly held prisoner by my fears through living in this area . And I am sure I am not alone. Life in the shadows of the rockets. Life on the Gaza border. Just thought you should know."

 

"So this is the deal in our house today: schools in Ashkelon are open (after all we need to keep to our routine), but this time I’m not sending my girls to school. I’ve learned that every time there is a rocket attack on Ashkelon only about 5% of the kids go to school. Most Israeli parents want their children to feel that they are safe – and who can blame them, right? They don’t learn anything that day, and whatever they do, they repeat when the whole class is back. My girls find it creepy to be in a nearly empty school, and most of the kids that do come leave in the middle of the day. And also of course there is a fear factor – they know that if there is a siren while they are at school that they have nowhere safe to go!
Dozens of rockets and mortar have been shot into southern Israel yesterday and this morning. I really hope that we can put a stop to this once and for all!"

 

"Ok, that's it. Everyone is now sleeping downstairs besides -, - & I. When (not if..) there will be a siren all we have to do is scoop up - & run.
Today ,during the time that - was on the school bus on the way home there was a siren. The driver didn't have Radio Darom on, the windows were closed and until they made their first stop and were met by hysterical parents - no one knew. That could of ended in a tragedy. I am dealing with it."

There's nothing I can add to this.  It's amazing how people find the energy to continue.  Most of Israel is totally unaffected by the attacks.  It's very much like it used to be when northern Israel was being attacked by Syria before the 1967 Six Days War.  The Syrians had used the Golan Heights as their base to attack, bomb and terrorize parts of northern Israel, especially the Gallilee (Hula Valley, Hazor.) 

And northwestern Israel, such as Kiryat Shmoneh, has still been in danger and attacked by Lebanon.

Most of the country ignored that, too.  We must consider an attack on Netivot to be an attack on Tel Aviv and react appropriately.

* protection
** shelter/safe room

And Meanwhile, Back at The Ranch... Southern Israeli Jews are Still Being Attacked!

The world, including the Israeli media, politicians etc have their minds, attentions on one thing today:

WHO WILL WIN THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS?* 
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA or MITT ROMNEY

My friend Miriam blogs from the Israeli south, so she has a much closer perspective than I do.

Israelis Under Attack! Weapons of Choice: Missiles, Firebombs, Boulders and More....
The purpose of the posting is to make you aware that over a million southern residents are being held hostage by Hamas and their band of terrorists, firing missiles indiscriminately at southern communities. They want us to be so terrified to live in the South, that we abandon our land and run away. Their goal is to inch down from Gaza [Gush Katif] to the south, to the center, to Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv and eventually take over all of Israel.

This is a Grad Missile that landed in Sedot Negev

This is the large crater it made.

 

I think it's very important for us to remember that there are good Israeli Jews, a million according to most counts, under the threat of attack all the time.  And one of the tools/techniques of terrorism is the element of surprise to create insecurity.  You can have a few days of quiet and think that the optimistic "diplomatic agreements and media proclamations" are really for real, and then BOOM!  Another kassam, launched by Arab terrorists rips through the sky and destroys a home, school, garden, field, life and/or family...

We must feel their pain and fears, as if we're there with them.

I am angry.
You see, as most people in the United Kingdom and elsewhere around the world were going about their daily routines on Wednesday, here in Israel, over 1 million people were running for cover from a hail of rockets being rained down by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. In the space of the preceding 24 hours, at least 80 rockets were fired on southern Israel. That’s more than three rockets per hour.
Just to put things in context: one million Israelis is roughly 13 percent of the population. Thirteen percent of the population of the UK equates to about 8 million people, or the entire population of London.  (complete article)

I guess I found this old

raincoat just in time.

There's a campaign now to wear RED as identification with  the people in southern Israel on Thursday, November 8, 2012, because their alarm is called RED.  It's a call to Stop the Abandonment of Southern Israelis! 

 

Wear RED!

*Sometimes I seriously wonder if it will really make a difference...

A Drop In The Bucket

Yes, this morning, if you can see from the photos, it's raining. It's also very windy, and I didn't feel like opening the door to take pictures. And, no, I didn't place the pail outside as a prop.

Now, just because there's some rain today, it doesn't mean that our drought is over. This year's rainfall is less than half an "average" year, and that's not enough for our water usage. Note that I used the term "usage," and not "needs."

Just as loony and disengaged from reality as Israeli politics and security policies are, is the the government's attitude towards water and conservation.

• Over the years, the government has signed agreements giving our Arab neighbors control over water.
• Public and private gardens are allowed water-guzzling plants like grass.
• Cleaning with high-powered water hoses is becoming more and more common.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, as the saying goes. That's from the scientific end, for those who don't see our water problem, the lack of rain, as a sign of a spiritual drought.

Certain Torah, Bible, passages and Chazal, our sages, make it clear that G-d controls the rainfall here in the HolyLand. And the quantity of rain that falls is dependent on how we well observe the Commandments.

It is clear that we, as a nation, are failing. Instead of G-d sending rain from the skies, the Arab terrorists are launching rockets to kill and destroy us.

We should be praying to G-d and following His commandments rather than running to the US and UN for assistance.

Yisrael, B'tach B'Hashem!

People of Israel, Trust in G-d!

Chag Urim Same'ach

May we have an enlightened Chanukah

Olmert and Rice!

Is this really something to celebrate?

A bitter anniversary - seven years of Kassams from Gaza

These two things, the headlines and the picture were on the same Jerusalem Post homepage this morning. How the Prime Minister can have the audacity to smile when innocent civilians of his country are being constantly attacked for seven years is totally immoral. And his smiling partner is only concerned with alleviating the "miseries" of those attacking us. Something "stinks" here; that's for sure.

While Olmert Fiddles and Bush Dances A Jig

Ashkelon, a major Israeli city, is being attacked by the same Arab terrorists Olmert, Bush, Blair, Peres, Livni etc, want to reward with a well-endowed "country."

(IsraelNN.com) Arab terrorists in Gaza fired two Grad Katyusha missiles at southern Ashkelon late Wednesday afternoon, and one rocket scored a direct hit on a children's medical clinic inside a shopping center. Parts of the building collapsed, trapping four people for a half-hour. (complete article and picture credit)

Read this first person account--near miss:

Attention K-Mart Shoppers - Incoming Rockets

by Sara Layah Shomron

As I walked into the Nitzan caravilla site, my temporary home away from home - may Gush Katif be speedily rebuilt, I heard and felt a BOOM! Once in my crowded caravilla, I turned on the computer and learned that the earth shake underfoot were 2 rockets that had landed at the Ashkelon Hutzot mall on the health clinic floor from where I was returning.

I met my son at the Hutzot mall in Ashkelon who had traveled there from his Jerusalem Yeshiva specifically for a 5:15pm medical appointment at the Hutzot Mall. He arrived earlier than expected (3:30) on account of concern over traffic of Jerusalem roads caused by American President Bush's visit. I hadn't expected my son so early and was still at the caravilla when he phoned me of his Ashkelon arrival. I instructed him to go to the specialist's waiting room area where hopefully he could be seen earlier - I would be there shortly. Fortunately someone I knew stopped for me as I walked toward the highway to catch a bus headed for Ashkelon. As fate would have it, their destination was the same as mine.

We got him in to see the specialist, stopped in the pharmacy and were out at the bus stop to catch our respective buses - it was 5:15pm.

Had my son's scheduled appointment time been kept I fear ... there but for the grace of G-d go we.

May those injured have a speedy and complete recovery. May what
masquerades as our government quickly understand that George Bush is not the burning bush and act accordingly - with G-d's help fighting the war with a clear and unequivocal victory.

Now, honestly, do you think that US President Bush is a real friend of Israel? And do you think that Olmert and crew are doing what they should be for Israel?

There's Nothing to "Talk" About

Sderot Mayor to Hamas – Let's Talk; Hamas Says No

We must destroy terrorism, and yes, it's Arab terrorisim, plain and simple. Nothing else will work.

Report: IDF Prepares for March on Gaza Border

And what's a "walk" going to solve?

Why Don't They Demand That The Kassams Be Stopped?

Negev Residents Demand: Rocket Shelters in Every House

It's not going to help. Most injured weren't home. Next they'll be demanding rocket-proof umbrellas or a rocket-proof tunnel system. Or maybe they just want to build a new Sderot underground.

Israelis wouldn't go for giant city-like space stations, since it would be too hard to visit or host relatives. How would the bubbies send weekly gefilte fish or the savtot the tradtional Shabbat kubbe?

Tonight on the news someone actually asked if wouldn't be wiser to "l'tzamtzem," move the border to make it "safer." Try to run away from the kassams, as if the Arab terrorisits wouldn't bring the kassam launchers closer.

That was just after a government official, who may have been Vilnai, Ass't Defense Minister, using that same verb, "l'tzamtzem," to say that the "war aim" will be to "reduce" the kassam attacks.

I think I'm going to "l'tzamtzem" my time on the computer right now and sign out.

Rackettot, Don't they sound cute?

Today I caught a ride ("tremp") at the T junction to Beit El just as the 12 noon radio newscast began. They kept talking about "rackettot" in Sderot, which hit a nursery school. I had never heard kassams, also spelled qassam, called "rackettot" before.

Kassams are rockets developed by the Arabs specifically for attacking Israel.

Kassams are dangerous. Only G-d's mercy and miracles have prevented more deaths and injuries from those weapons.

"Rackettot" just sound too cute for words. They remind me of "mouflettot," the Moroccan crepe, slathered with butter and honey, traditionally served at the post-Passover Mamouna celebrations. "Rackettot" sort of rhymes with Gepetto, Pinocchio's "father." "Kassam" has much more "zip" and violence in its sounds.

Nothing's by chance, and I have no doubt that this new "Hebrew term" was chosen to make the kassams, their builders and launchers, you know, those Arab terrorists, seem more benign and harmless, like Gepetto.

Remember, as Shakespeare would have said, if he was alive today:

A kassam by any other name is still a kassam, a very
dangerous weapon!