27 Elul 5777
18 September 2017
The News on the Israel Street
Palestinian terror yesterday . . .
*Regular readers of israelstreet know that one of the most terror-prone spots around Jerusalem is Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem. A sacred place visited by hundreds of women each day who pray that they may become pregnant, it is the site of not only “rock” and Molotov attacks–but also numerous “IED” attacks.
What is an IED attack in the context of Rachel’s Tomb? It means an improvised bomb that can be thrown by the terrorist. Primarily, we are talking about homemade pipe bombs, homemade grenades, and other explosive devices.
Yesterday, the “Etzion” Brigade carried out an operation around Rachel’s Tomb targeting terrorists who throw IEDs. Numerous were captured and a repository of weapons was uncovered. During the course of the operation, a terrorist who attempted to throw an IED was shot.
*Overnight, 16 wanted Palestinian terrorists were captured by a joint effort of the IDF, Shin Bet, Border Police, and Israel Police. Most of those captured were wanted for carrying out violent attacks against Israelis.
Fatah and Hamas reconciliation: what does it mean? . . .
After having the financial, electrical, and water squeeze put on Gaza by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization during the last few months, Hamas has apparently agreed to abandon its Gaza government council and hold a new election.
If you feel like you have heard that before, you have. Your humble servant has lost count of how many failed reconciliation attempts there have been since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007.
Is this reconciliation going to be any different? Only if you think that Hamas is suddenly willing to relinquish power in Gaza. The chances of that happening are about the same as NASA discovering monkeys on the moon this afternoon.
Even Fatah’s second in command, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, who was in Cairo when the negotiations were taking place, had this to say: If the news is correct, that is good and positive. But we do not want to act with haste regarding what is being said in the news.”
Funny.
Headline versus reality? . . .
The headline on page 2 of the Jerusalem Post today reads “King of Bahrain denounces Arab boycott of Israel, says his residents are free to visit.”
It turns out that the article however does not contain a direct statement from the King of Bahrain at all. What we have is a statement from Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
They say that the King made the above statement earlier this year when Hier and Cooper were visiting the country. In other words, it is a “they said he said” with no confirmation from “him” that “he” said that.
Nor from the King’s son who was at the Wiesenthal Center. You can be sure that if the King of Bahrain said what it is said he said, in Arabic, Bahrain would be booted out of the Arab League in a milli-second and condemnations of Bahrain would reverberate around the United Nations.
Having said all of this, the King’s chief claim to interfaith fame lies in the fact that for the last two years he has celebrated Chanukah in Bahrain with Jews (there are only about 35 left in the country), Muslims, and others.
TODAY’S BLOG:
The Man of Benjamin
A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head.
1 Samuel 4:12: describing how fighter ran from the battle line at Eben-Ezer to Shiloh to describe the disastrous battle that had taken place which resulted in the loss of the Ark, and the death of Eli and his sons.
How far did the Man of Benjamin run that day? The best estimates are from 20 to 30 miles. Along this path (more or less):
Graphic source: google maps.
It is often said that this may been the first marathon (though we all known the story of what happened at Marathon, Greece).
To commemorate his run, the Bible Marathon has been run along the same route for the last two years. And was to have been run again this year.
But guess what? The body that controls international marathoning announced yesterday that it was delisting the Bible Marathon. Why is it now impossible to retrace the route of the Man of Benjamin from some 3300 years ago?
You guessed it. We are now being told that race route violates UNSC resolution 2334. This resolution that was only passed last year demands that Israel stop all “settlement” activity (part of the route goes through Area C of Samaria). Obviously the marathon has nothing to do with construction of anything, but when has that ever stopped Israel-bashers?
The decision will be appealed, but can’t you just see the Man of Benjamin rolling over in his grave?
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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.