15 Tammuz 5776
Friday, July 22 2016
PICTURES OF THE DAY:
A picture posted by Hamas from one their Gaza summer camps yesterday:
In this camp activity, the campers learn how to stab a Jew in the neck and kill him.
And then there’s this one:
Part of 23 km of illegal irrigation piping being pulled out of land near Azzun Atma by Israeli Civil Administration workers yesterday. The theft of water by Palestinians in situations like this are largely responsible for the current water shortage facing civilians in Judea and Samaria.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
Baroness Jenny Tonge, a member of the House of the British House of Lords, speaking in the House of Lords yesterday–and continuing what has been a decade long rant against Israel:
” . . . they [Israelis] are creating a generation of terrorists who will have a justified grudge against Israel and the countries that support her . . . [this] is a major cause of the rise of extreme Islamism and Islamic State.”
Gee, and your humble servant thought that extreme Islamism began with the founder of Islam, Mohammed. And that the Shi’ite-Sunni divide began shortly after Mohammed’s death.
And how long ago was that? About 1500 years ago?
Just yesterday, a hideous video came out of Syria in which an Islamic State fighter sawed off the head of a young Palestinian pro-Assad fighter in the back of a pick-up truck near Aleppo (the video is far too gruesome to post here). One wonders how Baroness Tonge would fit this incident into her skewed ideology.
JOKE OF THE DAY:
Another “unfunny” joke today.
So much for the IDF blockade around Hevron. It turns out that a number of the concrete “blockpoints” are not manned at all. So what are the Palestinians doing?
They brought a crane to one of these unmanned blockpoints and have been simply lifting cars from one side to the other.
So much for stopping terrorists from getting out of Hevron.
UPDATES 8 am Israel time
…Palestinian terrorism not in the mainstream news yesterday…
*A shooting attack took place near Beit Sahur (near Bethlehem) just before midnight. An Israeli car was fired upon; miraculously no Israelis were wounded.
*”Rock” attacks took place at Shavei Shomron, near Jenin, in eastern Jerusalem, and in a myriad of other places.
…Israel takes delivery of final 30 M-346 Lavi aircraft…
The Italian made M-346.
Say what? You’ve never heard of the M-346 Lavi?
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Actually, these planes which were produced by the Italian aircraft company Alenia Aermacchi which has recently gone into bankruptcy and become defunct.
Nevertheless the planes are part of a deal which was signed in 2012 and will be used primarily to train pilots.
…Israel continues to be overrun by African “refugees”…
Despite the fact that the fence along the Sinai border has done an adequate job of stopping so-called “economic refugees” flooding into the country from Africa, the number of such refugees is beginning to dramatically increase.
How? Through a soaring birthrate among the “refugees” already here.
Yesterday, Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv pleaded with the government for another 100 million shekels (the municipality of Tel Aviv is already paying 107 million shekels a year) to deal with kindergarten and elementary age “refugee” children in south Tel Aviv alone. For example 53 kindergartens serving “refugee children” are already in operation, and that number is expected to double in the coming years.
…Another day, another Hezbollah commander killed in Syria…
This time a major one. Ismail Zahri, aka Abu Khalil, a co-founder of the Hezbollah special forces, has met his timely end.
Hezbollah c0-founder of special forces Ismail Zahri with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Meanwhile, terrorist Salim Saad Yusef–this one from Hamas–died in Turkey after being injured in a car crash in Gaza (he was transported there for treatment).
TODAY’S BLOG:
Your humble servant often rues the fact that both the Israeli government and Israeli supporters abroad are mostly reactive. We simply wait for something bad to happen, and then we fight against it.
However, I cannot help but feel a surge of optimism over events of late. In so many areas, both the government and supporters of this country have become extraordinarily proactive.
Here are just some of the ways:
*Israel’s outreach to Muslim Africa: it is actually quite amazing that Israel and Guinea established diplomatic relations yesterday, and Israel and Chad are expected to do the same in the coming month. We can give Avigdor Lieberman much credit for this following his stint as Foreign Minister some years ago during which time he focused attention on Africa.
*The amazing fight being waged against BDS in the state legislatures in the United States: one state after another is passing a law to stop the state from dealing with companies that have embraced the BDS boycott against Israel. We can especially give grass-roots Christian evangelical groups such as Christians United for Israel as well as pro-Israel advocacy groups such as StandWithUs credit for these “victories.”
*Israel’s outreach to Russia: at a time when the Obama White House support has wavered (we all remember how Obama withheld military resupplies in the 2014 war), the engagement of Vladimir Putin has already had an impact in the area. We can give PM Netanyahu credit for this new strategy.
*The proactive push within Israel to the “right”: as mentioned in yesterday’s blog, a cultural, political, and judicial revolution is taking place here. We can give credit to a whole host of figures on the Israel political scene from Miri Regev and Ayelet Shaked to Naftali Bennett. And what about the economic revolution being engineered by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon? Suddenly there are vacant apartments popping up in developments all over the country; some taxes are dropping (such as ones on alcohol, imported vehicles, and corporations, etc.).
*The lawfare cases being decided in the courts which are hitting the Iranians, Palestinians, etc where it hurts–in their pocketbooks. To date, Shurat HaDin has won judgments totaling more than $200,000,000 to the families of terror victims, $2,000,000,000 against terror organizations and state sponsors of terrorism, and over $600,000,000 regarding frozen terror assets.
In addition, here are just a few recent cases (from the Shurat HaDin website):
“Lakin v Facebook: Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center filed an unprecedented lawsuit against Facebook on behalf of some 20,000 Israelis to stop allowing Palestinian terrorists to incite violent attacks against Israeli citizens and Jews on its internet pages.
Liebovitch v Kerry: A group of American victims of Iranian terrorism, who hold more than a billion dollars in court judgments against the Islamic Republic for its sponsorship of terrorist attacks, have moved to enjoin the Obama administration from releasing an estimated $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
ICC: In January 2015 Shurat HaDin requested the ICC to investigate and arrest Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah for committing torture against Palestinian civilians, a crime against humanity under international law.”
Shurat HaDin is an amazing organization, and all of the credit goes to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.
So, we have reason to feel good–in many areas, things are moving in the right direction!
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.