10 Av 5778
22 July 2018
The Tragic Picture of the Day
Staff Sgt. Aviv Levy, the 21 year old IDF soldier from Petah Tikva who was killed by a Hamas sniper on the border two days ago.
Our hearts go out to the family of Staff Sgt. Levy who was eulogized by his girlfriend yesterday:
“My dearest love, my fighter. The heart burns and the tears don’t stop. Who would have thought you’d be gone so quickly? You were never scared, no matter what was in front of you. My Aviv, we had a million plans ahead of us and we were counting the days until we’d be together again. In two weeks you have a birthday, and while I was making plans for a perfect birthday celebration, everything exploded. I refuse to believe this is real. I refuse to believe you are gone.”
The oddity is that Staff Sgt. Aviv was wearing a bulletproof vest when he was shot in the chest.
A soldier holds the ceramic vest that Aviv was wearing when he was shot. The bullet obviously pierced the outer part of the vest–but supposedly did not reach Aviv himself.
According to reports, the bullet did not pierce the vest, but its concussive effect killed him. Another report yesterday revealed that the sniper rifle used came from Iran.
Your humble servant cannot help but say that he found the comments of some of the politicians yesterday completely disingenuous, but we will not dwell on that today. Suffice it to say, may Aviv Levy’s memory be blessed.
The News on the Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
The government and the IDF are jumping through hoops in order to suppress information about the continuing kite/balloon terror afflicting southern Israel. On a day on which it was proclaimed that the threat is decreasing, hundreds of incendiary devices started numerous fires along the border.
600 tons of grain were burned in a storehouse in Nahal Oz alone.
Here is a picture taken yesterday by Palestinian terrorists of a few incendiary balloon launches:
I have added the arrows so you can see how many were launched at this one site at this one time alone. You can see 13 in this picture.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Exhilaration in Jerusalem Last Night!
By any definition, it has been a bad week for Israelis living along the border with Gaza, and for Israel itself with the death of our soldier two days ago.
As we watch the IDF delight in releasing pictures of empty Hamas buildings that it has destroyed, we have learned yet again that our politically correct government and IDF General Command cannot be counted on to defend us.
To top it off, Tisha B’Av arrived last night–one of the saddest days on the Hebrew calendar. So what was there to do except to mourn the loss of our First Temple in Jerusalem to the Babylonians and our Second Temple to the Romans?
Except that your humble servant is not one to mourn. For almost 20 years now, we have driven from our home here in Ashdod to Independence Park in Jerusalem for the annual sovereignty walk of the marvelous Women in Green.
It is always a wonderful experience in which Jews and Christians come together from all over the planet to show their belief that Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem and all of Israel must be constantly defended and proclaimed.
This year we had added motivation because the PLO publicly called on international Israel-bashers to stop the walk because such walks endanger the creation of a Palestinian state.
Obviously, in light of that statement, more people than ever showed up.
Last night, we arrived at the Park (across from the American consulate–the new Embassy is in a different place) at 9:30 pm and listened as a gifted reader passionately read the wailing words of Jeremiah in the Eicha (Lamentations).
At 10:15 pm, “our” good friend Caroline Glick who has been promoting sovereignty for years spoke to the crowd.
And then we were off some 3000 strong, waving Israeli flags and walking toward the Old City two blocks away. We walked down the northern wall in the approximate area where the Roman troops finally broke through the Jewish defenses in 70 CE. Past the Sha’ar al Shechem (Damascus Gate) and on down to the northeast corner of the walls of the Old City.
From there we went to the Lions’ Gate and finally, after midnight, continued on to the Dung Gate and to the Kotel.
In a word it was exhilarating and a welcome respite from the news of the day. What follows are a few pictures that your humble servant took:
Caroline Glick, far left, speaking before the walk began.
As I wrote above, the park was the across the street from the American consulate:
Old Glory never looked any better blowing in the stout Jerusalem wind.
The walk began:
We began walking toward the Old City.
It was festive as we met people from England, Canada, the U.S., Australia, Belgium, France, and many other countries:
People talking with each other, laughing, enjoying the moment!
We began to walk into eastern Jerusalem:
Can you read the sign just under and to the right of the large Israeli flag? It reads “Al Aqsa Mosque”, a building lest it be forgotten sits on the Temple Mount, land under complete Israeli sovereignty.
Along the wall we walked, waving our flags, and smiling to the Arabs on either side–all of whom had been blocked off by the marvelous Israeli police, border guards, and IDF:
At Herod’s Gate. Note the Arabs standing in the archway, blocked by border guards.
And on along the north wall:
Can you imagine the exhilaration we felt? You must come to the walk next year!
And we neared the northeast corner of the Old City walls:
Note the green sign: turn right to the Mt. of Olives.
As I wrote before, the walk ended at the Kotel at about 1:00 am. By 2:30 am we were back in Ashdod. I leave you today with a picture of our motley crew from Ashdod:
From right to left foreground, our friends Uri and Yael–and then two other folks.
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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.