One of my close friends living in Nahariya just called with the news that rockets landed near his home. He thinks they came from Lebanon. It's not as if his family hasn't been through enough over these past few years. His body exists in a perpetual state of fight or flight. Imagine the damage caused by such longterm high exposure to key stress hormones. I wish that his family could have the bucolic peaceful homelife that they so deserve and so need, in order to recover from the hardships they've experienced since the second lebanon war. Other close friends of mine are spending the weekend camping and trekking up north. I hope they'll be safe and nothing will escalate.
Hariri just stepped down as prime minister due to failure to form a consensus government. Hezbollah wouldn't accept his ministerial choices. Chances are Hariri will be reappointed but that's left Hezbolalh with a drop gap chance to attack without blame. They've sent rockets to blast us out of our sense of holiday security. Bowls of nuts, apples and honey are being readied for Rosh Hashona tables as the month of Ramadan concludes. We've respected the muslim observance, to the point that border guards were instructed not to eat or drink during the hours of the ramadan fast. Instead of responding in kind, our safety is being challenged as we prepare to sit down to our own observance.
This could very well be hezbollah giving the sitting lebanese gov't notice that if it's demands aren't met for a consensus gov't than it still holds the power to let loose the hounds of war, hence the rockets landing next to our friends and families shabbat tables in nahariya today.
Perhaps Netayanhu expected this and his secret military tour this week was in preparation for reciprocal force. I sincerely hope the answer is otherwise.
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Rosh Hashana has snuck up on methis year but I am ready for it.
I think it is just awful what your friend is going through and sadly I am not surprised that our friends from Hezbollah pulled something like this. Do you realize the uproar that would be directed at Israel if the IDF did something on their holy days? The international media would be having a feeding frenzy. People do not realize the lengths Israel goes through to be humane about a lot of things involving their neighbors who do not wish to be humane in return.
It is of course more complicated than how I am describing it, but I really wish the deadly games would stop.
You're ready for the holidays? How so? I'm not at all.
There was very little media coverage of lebanon breaking the peace treaty and indeed if it were Israel sending over renegade missiles it would be breaking news on every media channel.
It does look like it was just the usual antagonization testing Israel's response. Reporting it directly to the UN was wise. For now we have our calm.
Actually I'm NOT prepared for the high holidays, I just have my ticket to get into shul.
Speaking of the UN, I read on Jewlicious that Israel is the only country the UN has a special webpage on about how terrible they are or something to that effect. I really am amazed Israel is still around with all the double standards imposed on it.
It's funny that you bought a ticket, because I was just reading an article in the herald tribune that lamented the lack of tickets being purchased in shuls across the U.S., rabbis are starting to quietly give tickets away to keep people close to the fold during trying economic times. My mom's been giving tickets away to her shul for years, while the board members look in the other direction. She feels it's better to have people come and maintain their connection.
I haven't seen the jewlicious article yet but it's true that Israel is the only country singled out with the highest number of human rights motions towards sanction by arab countries against it. Sudan and China don't even compare.
...I saw one of your other comments about the UN not doing anything. I don't think that this situation demands or incorporates the expectation that the UN will intervene, but this way we're building our paper trail as well which will give us a buffer in any defence maneuvers.
also,I think the argument over at emspeace by sean and the lebaneseguy is missing a fundamental point in that the incursions by israeli airforce plains are there to pre-empt further missiles and weapon stockpiling that the UN is too timid to deal with ( as we've read recently). The lebanese know not to shoot down these planes and they tolerate them because it's easier than getting their political kitchens in order. defence is equal to offence and that has nothing to do with proportionality. This is the fundamental point that no one has yet brought up.
I meant planes, not plains hahaha
and that defence is not equal to offence ;-)
I didn't by my ticket either. LOL! It was given to me on the cheap because like where you are, people aren't not going because those tickets cost A LOT!!!! I think my rabbi felt sorry for me because he knows I'm broke. Maybe they'll make me get up there and sing Ein Keloheinu or something to pay it back which will be painful to everyone ears.
Yes, while the no one is cheering for bombings, Israel has to do what it must do to halt the attacks because no one else has the nerve to do it. It would be nice if other sides would step in and mediate but they don't. People don't understand that Israel just wants to be left alone. They don't want to take over the whole middle east. There's no mad conspiracy. they just want to be recognized and left to carry on their business. It's not a lot if you think about it.
That's just it isn't it? The misconception that Israel has some sort of manifest destiny complex.
Asking to exist in a culture of anti-semitism or veiled intolerance is a huge demand and we've paid dearly for it so far.
The idea at this point in our national existance is to go quiety about subverting efforts to destroy us through terrorism and war ranting, by honing directly in on the demands of the ordinary people in this region who long for measures that make their life better on a day to day basis to a greater degree than the excitement that war provides to the warmongers.
Israel has bigger fish to fry than the lebanese. war with the lebanese isn't imminent. There are larger threats to our existance and the military brass doesn't want to waste manpower or firepower on a useless pointless war.
No I would not put Lebanon on the list. Iran scares me.
the only people with the whole manifest destiny thing I see in Israel are the settlers but it seems like most people think they are crazy and based on what I see on the news they do seem pretty crazy or at least the type that would make me nervous to be around.
I don't think even the settlers have a manifest destiny complex. They don't want to take over jordan, or egypt, or syria.
what I see is a group of passionate but misdirected people who feel the only way to secure our countries existence is to camp out on the fringes so that we won't be pushed into the sea. It's an unfortunate and mostly ineffective tactic that's earned us a lot of hatred.
I admire their passion for the country but abhore their method of expressing it. I do question their sanity and yet most of them work in israel proper and lead entirely normal lives with a security twist in that they carry guns and have to take more precautions for the safety of their children. many people I work with live in settlements but I actually try to avoid getting into deep discussions with them and end up glossing over less volatile topics because extreme and dogmatic opinion of any sort worries me.I see it as a conduit for violence.
I see it as a conduit for violence also and I have seen the people walking around with guns to get their mail and newspaper on the news. I am all for securing Israel but I don;t feel it is the most sound strategy either. And yes, it does huge damage to Israels reputation abroad. It is also proported here that these settlements lead to more violence. that is what is alleged here in the US. How much it actually does may differ from an Israeli perspective. Even if settlements stopped tomorrow, I still think attacks would continue.
But, since Israel is damned if they do, damned if they don't, stop the settlements for awhile and if the attacks continue, they can tell the world, "See? we told you so."
Israel always has to be the one to let their guard down first for some reason to appease the world even though they know they will get sucker punched.
If the settlements were all dismantled tommorow then hamas would have more bases on which to build and aim their weapons towards Israel. The last disengagement left well developed land with greenhouses and schools and infrastructure and turned it into a garbage can and weapons delivery zone for hamas. The attacks shot up exponentially.
most of the settlers are harmless and want to live in their own personal utopian, little house on the prairie dream. others are less stable and prone to reactive behavior that feeds into anti israel sentiment.
ultimately, israel can never let it's guard down. one sucker punch will throw us clear off the map.
I read the jewlicious article. I was right i think. It's about the section of the website that all the pro palestinian resolutions are stored on. No other country has this many resolutions against it, nor does any other refugee group have an entire websection devoted to publicizing these resolutions and other statistics.
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