UPDATES
7 pm Israel time, Wednesday, April 22 2015
An IDF tank officer on the Gaza border last summer.
In two hours, the mourning of Yom Hazikaron will give way to the happiness of modern Israel’s 67th Independence Day.
After day of extraordinarily sad stories on Israeli television documenting the bereavement of families, Israelis will take out our fireworks and flags and party.
Tomorrow’s blog will have the story of Independence Day 2015 in pictures.
TODAY’S BLOG:
What happened in the Middle East yesterday?
In the war in Syria which has now claimed the lives of more than 215,000 people including more than 20,000 children, fierce fighting in southern Syria killed “dozens on both sides as rebel factions regained the ground they lost earlier” (Associated Press). 27 men, women, and children were killed in Daraa alone after the Syrian Air Force struck the city.
In the war in Yemen, Saudi-led forces bombed the capital of Sana’a one final time (itvnews) before declaring that their month long campaign was coming to an end (actually, they were apparently ordered to halt their campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthis by the Obama Administration). Meanwhile, Iranian warships continue sailing toward Yemen to arm the Houthis who now maintain positions overlooking the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, a chokepoint for all ships heading toward the Red Sea.
In the war in Iraq, intense fighting continues in Anbar Province, focused on the city of Ramadi. An Iraqi news report yesterday described: “Iraqi sources are still in heavy fighting against ISIS militias inside the city of Ramadi. Iraqi forces have been able to fully recapture the central hospital in the Huzzi neighborhood of Ramadi, but the fight is ongoing in the Soufia neighborhood.” Meanwhile, coalition forces (Iraq, Iran, the U.S.) announced “we have conducted 12 airstrikes in the past 24 hours on ISIS positions and military bases including towns of Baiji, Fallujah, Kirkuk, Ramadi and Shingal.” Who knows how many were killed?
In the war in Libya (from the newspaper Libya Herald),
IS on the march in Libya (Libya Herald).
“Renewed fighting broke out again south west of Tripoli in the Warshefana area this morning and towards Gharyan, with the latter hit in air strikes. Fighting was said to be heavy around midday near Zahra and a convoy of Dawn forces was seen heading to the near Tripoli International Airport to protect the area from any further movement by LNA (IS) forces. In fighting some 30 kilometres west of Gharyan, at Abu Sheiba, three Gharyan fighters were killed. They have been named as field commander Mustafa Al-Talib and Mohammed Shtaiwi and Ahmed Al-Grari. A number of missiles also landed near Gharyan causing slight material damage but no casualties. However, this evening there were unconfirmed reports that the army had taken Zahra.”
In the war along the Lebanese-Syrian border . . . in the war in the Egyptian Sinai . . . in the war . . . in the war . . . in the war . . . you get the idea. Everywhere you look, the Middle East is embroiled in war.
So what happened at the United Nations yesterday?
Led by New Zealand, France, and the United Kingdom, diplomats in the Security Council spent the day talking about forcing Israel to “negotiate” with the PLO. The French Ambassador declared: “It’s the responsibility of this council to adopt a consensual and balanced resolution that sets the parameters of a final status and a timeline for the negotiations.”
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The responsibility of this Council? The Middle East, in which Israel is an island of stability, is going to hell in a hand basket, and the Security Council is devoting its time to “the Palestinian cause.”
Unbelievable.
Also amazing is the reasoning behind the move by New Zealand, France, and the United Kingdom. They are moving now because Obama has indicated that he may “reassess” the American position on “negotiations.”
Reassess? In layman’s terms, Obama is preparing once again to abandon Israel–this time in the Security Council. And before he changes his mind about “reassessment”, the rest of the Security Council has to jump on the Obama-PLO bandwagon.
If there is a more pathetic body in the world than the United Nations, your humble servant wishes that one of you dear readers would tell me.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.