Recently in Israel Category

"TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad."

Anyone want to take bets on when you'll see Jews rioting in the streets? Personally I think it'd be almost comical if that happened... which it never would. Why would I say it'd never happen? Because Jews are not animals like these people are. Jews go through proper civilized channels rather than burning down buildings. Jews don't blow up buses or crash planes in to buildings.

I guess this is how civilized Iranians behave: "Iranian protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones at the Danish Embassy in Tehran for a second successive day on Tuesday and Tehran announced it had cut all trade ties with Denmark."

It is Purim time and I can't help but think of friends that have served in the army in Israel. It is very important work that the IDF soldiers do. No matter if you have issues with the Israeli government or not you hopefully don't feel anything bad for the individuals serving in the IDF. They do their best to protect everyone. Some of them die trying to just maintain peace. There is a custom during Purim that you will give a gift consisting of at least two 'portions' to another person. Even a poor person is required to fulfill this mitzvah. If one is unable to do so directly, he may exchange his own food for that of his friend; both of whom would thus fulfill their obligations. The mitzvah can not be fulfilled with money, clothing, and the like, but only with foods or beverages that are edible without further cooking or preparation. If at all possible, these 'portions' should be sent by messengers, rather than to be delivered personally. The mitzvah of Mishloach Manot and the giving of gifts to the poor, during the days of Purim, are prescribed in order to recall the brotherly love which Mordechai and Esther awoke in all Jews. When there is inner unity among Jews, even the wrongdoers among us becomes righteous. This year I'm using PizzaIDF to give soup for 5 soldiers and a Mischloach Manot package to 1 soldier to be fulfilled with my mitzvah with 1 soldier by the soup / manot. Have you fulfilled your mitzvah this year? Consider at least sending food to soldiers in Israel. It's not expensive at all.

A story on Netscape.com wrote...

Read 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30 in the Old Testament and you'll find a reference to a tunnel that was built in 700 B.C. by order of King Hezekiah to protect Jerusalem's water supply against an Assyrian siege. Long considered an engineering feat for that day and age, the serpentine tunnel ran 1,750 feet long and moved water from the Gihon spring across the entire city of ancient Jerusalem to the pool of Siloam.

Fast forward to modern-day Jerusalem. The Siloam Tunnel in that city matches the biblical description of King Hezekiah's tunnel. But is it really the same one? That question has stumped scholars for years, many of whom insisted the Siloam Tunnel was built centuries later than the Bible suggested in Kings and Chronicles. The only clue that survived for more than 2,700 years is an inscription discovered in 1880 on a tunnel wall that supported the link to King Hezekiah, although it did not name him specifically, reports The Associated Press.

Now geologists from the Cave Research Center at Hebrew University in Jerusalem think they have solved the mystery. By using radiocarbon testing to analyze the age of stalactite samples from the ceiling of the Siloam Tunnel and plant material recovered from its plaster floor, the biblical record and the tunnel's age have been confirmed, the researchers wrote in the journal Nature. The Siloam Tunnel is the one built by King Hezekiah.

This is also significant because it is the first time that a well-identified biblical structure has been subjected to extensive radiocarbon dating.

Even with all our modern-day technology and scientific knowledge, very little testing of biblical structures has been done to prove or disprove their age or authenticity. Why? The experts told AP such testing is difficult because it's often hard to identify such structures, they may be poorly preserved, or they may be restricted for various political or religious reasons.

The Siloam Tunnel is different. It's long been a tourist attraction. Anyone can wander in it and see the pick marks the original builders made in the walls to adjust their course so the tunnel would meet with a second team of workers who were heading toward them from the opposite end of the city. AP notes that those pick marks tell us how difficult it was to connect the two ends of the tunnel. "The tunnel is extraordinary, but these guys didn't know where they were going a lot of the time," Hershel Shanks, an expert on the history of Jerusalem who writes for the Biblical Archaeology Review, told AP. Still, he added, "It's nice to have scientific confirmation for what the vast majority of biblical scholars and archaeologists believe."

The first picture below is of a cafe in Jerusalem that was bombed today. The second picture is one I took when I was walking in Jerusalem about 9 months ago. I remember walking down Yaffa Road and seeing the Cafe. I thought to myself how nice it looked so I took a photo of it. Sadly I passed this Cafe after passing the Sbarro Pizza that was bombed prior to my visit to Israel. I was nervous to be walking past the pizza place even though I knew it would probably not be bombed again. Now the one I passed was more in east Jerusalem, and the one that was bombed was more to the south. Still it's a scary thought looking at these pictures, and knowing I was so close. These lunatics in Hamas can attack at any time. I hate them. What they fail to realize is that I'm going to Israel in November in spite of them, and there is nothing they can do to stop people like me from spending time and money in Israel to support Israelis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3095570.stm

Photo Gallery (Click Picture to zoom)

So there were more attacks in Israel today. I see this on the news and it makes me want to cry. How can these animals expect peace when they murder Israeli men, women and children? Let's face it. Palestinian militants are animals. They do not deserve land. They do not deserve to walk the earth any more than Bin Laden does. At every turn it is obvious that the Arabs only want to see Jews go away. When I watch the news and see Jewish children covered in blood I don't think the Arabs understand that my feeling is not fear. My feeling is that I want to go to Israel to stop them. Even though I hate them with all my heart I still would not blow them up. I think that is a big difference between Jews and Arabs. Arabs are willing to murder for whatever they want. Jews get upset and do all they can to defend their position. We do not kill like the Arabs do. Last year I went to Israel to ride ambulances for Magen David Adom. It was my way of doing what I could to help Israel. In November I'm going back to Israel. Arabs will not stop me from going to my homeland. The more that they hurt my brothers and sisters, the more often I will return to Israel to help however I can. I will simply not allow them to steal my homeland by murdering my family. Golda Meir said it best... "We will have peace with the Arabs when they will love their children more than they hate us."

Read about the peace that Arabs would like with the Jews with this...

'Hatred against Jews is commonplace in mainstream Palestinian society. Five years after agreeing at Oslo to stop anti-Semitic propaganda, the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, continues to publish what is clearly anti-Semitic hate material. For example, on November 7, 1998, the paper said: "Corruption is a Jewish trait worldwide. One can seldom find corruption that was not masterminded by the Jews or that Jews are not responsible for. A Jew would cross any line so long as it were in his interest." Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, however, don't stop at teaching hatred of Israel and the Jewish people to school-age children. They take it a step further. Children are often used as human shields in riot situations. Palestinian children are often sent to the front lines of riot zones to antagonize the situation by throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and fire upon Israelis with semi-automatic machine guns. The Palestinian Authority police regularly give Palestinian children lessons in how to operate semi-automatic weapons. When young children return dead or wounded, they are celebrated as heroes or martyrs. These same children are taught that to be a suicide bomber is among the noblest of callings. Just incase their parents have any second thoughts about getting their young children involved in the conflict, the families of such martyrs are financially rewarded in a generous fashion."' - http://www.umanitoba.ca/manitoban/archives/feb21_2001/opinions_index.html

Or this...

'"I will teach [my son] to love our country, to know that the Jews occupy our land, that we are right and the Jews are wrong. I will teach the baby to hate Israel. If the occupation continues, I will teach my child to do what his father has done." These are the words of a pregnant widow in the Gaza Strip; she is a widow because her husband was attempting a suicide bombing at a Jewish settlement.' - http://www.californiaaggie.com/_articles/3153.taf

Or this...

'"A reliable Hadith [tradition] says: 'The Jews will fight you, but you will be set to rule over them.' What could be more beautiful than this tradition? 'The Jews will fight you'- that is, the Jews have begun to fight us. 'You will be set to rule over them' - Who will set the Muslim to rule over the Jew? Allah… Until the Jew hides behind the rock and the tree…

"But the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, a Jew hides behind me, come and kill him.' Except for the Gharqad tree, which is the tree of the Jews.

"We believe in this Hadith. We are convinced also that this Hadith heralds the spread of Islam and its rule over all the land…

"Oh beloved, look to the east of the earth, find Japan and the ocean; look to the west of the earth, find [some] country and the ocean. Be assured that these will be owned by the Muslim nation, as the Hadith says… 'from the ocean to the ocean…'

"Oh Allah, accept our martyrs in the highest heavens…

"Oh Allah, show the Jews a black day…

"Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters…

"Oh Allah, raise the flag of Jihad across the land." - http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHPSpeaksOut/israelRightToSurvive.htm

An two-year-old Israeli girl was killed and a second child and an adult were wounded in a shooting attack Tuesday near the West Bank town of Qalqilya Tuesday night.

The man, apparently the driver, was moderately wounded, while a second child was seriously wounded when shots were fired at the car as it was exiting the Trans-Israel Highway near Kibbutz Eyal, adjacent to Qalqilya.

Sixteen people were killed and more than 100 were wounded when a Hamas suicide bomber, dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, detonated his explosives belt on a bus in downtown Jerusalem Wednesday.

A number of those wounded in the Jerusalem bus bombing Wednesday afternoon included pedestrians outside the nearby Clal Building, a shopping center in the city's downtown area, on Jaffa Road.

Forty-five people remained in hospital Wednesday night. Ten are listed in 'serious' condition. The rest are listed in 'light-to-moderate' condition.

Today I worked at the Israeli Day Parade in New York City. What a fun time I had. It was rainy, but still it was fun. I am in the picture on the right wearing my bright yellow EMS vest. That rickety cart I am in was my emergency vehicle for the parade.

This year was very quiet. I was stationed by Grand Army Plaza on 5th Avenue by 59th Street. Because of the rain many people didn't show up for the parade. Sad for the parade. Nice for me. :) Because of the rain they had to cancel the concert in the park that normally happens. Aside from having to listen to the Pro-Palestinians that protest against Israel right where I was stationed it was a good day. It amazes me how these people can come out in support of palestinians. One ride on a bus in Israel with one of their suicide bombing brothers, and I bet their perspective changes a little.