15 Tishrei 5780
14 October 2019
Chag Sameach!
The holiday of Sukkot began last night as Israelis went to their sukkas for a good time with their family and friends. The holiday will end at sundown on October 20.
PM Netanyahu in his sukka last night with three members of the IDF. Note the decorations on the ceiling and the pictures on the walls.
The News On The Israeli Street
Samaritans celebrate Sukkot . . .
The sights from Mt. Gerizim were amazing yesterday as the Samaritans celebrated Sukkot. There are only about 800 Samaritans left from a group that once numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
A Samaritan priests hoists a Torah scroll overhead. All Samaritan men dress in white for the occasion (photo aacom).
The reason that they go to Mt. Gerizim (some live on the mountain) is because they believe that is where God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. They also believe that the mountain is where King Solomon’s Temple stood–not in Jerusalem.
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The Continuing U.S. Pullout From Syria
The continuing U.S. pullout from Syria has everyone talking in Israel. No one can understand how President Trump could have willingly gone along with the destruction of the safe Kurdish zone in northern Syria. Today another 1000 American soldiers have been evacuated as well as a diplomatic contingent.
Aerial bombardment, artillery pounding, infantry attacks: the last 24 hours have seen the Turks continuing their onslaught against Kurdish cities and villages.
This morning comes word that the Kurds (in the form of the SDF–Kurdish “Syrian Democratic Forces”)–have hastily entered into an agreement with the Syrians (and Iranians). The gist of the agreement is that Assad and his cohorts will take over the border positions between Turkey and what was the Kurdish enclave–and will enter Kurdish areas to stop the Turks.
There are even reports this morning that Russian troops have entered Kurdish areas to stop the Turks. And other reports that the Russians have established a no-fly zone in northern Syria. Whether these reports are true is anyone’s guess.
In the meantime, Turkish leader Erdogan has warned the Syrians that nothing will stand in his way of achieving the obliteration of the “Kurdish terrorists.” Of course, the main people being killed are Kurdish civilians.
By the way, many of the Islamic State prisoners being held in prison by the Kurds have escaped as the Kurds rushed to the front lines to fight the Turks. Numerous videos have emerged of Islamic State fighters now fighting alongside Turkish army units–and of captured Kurdish fighters being summarily executed.
Unbelievably, President Trump suggested in a tweet this afternoon that the Kurds may be letting the IS terrorists go on purpose in order to generate sympathy for the Kurdish cause.
Whatever you think about President Trump’s actions, his decision has been a disaster for the Kurds, the cause of a major power shift in the region, and a factor in the re-emergence of Islamic State.
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.