Ease up on the Jew baiting. I can think of far more productive things for Jews to do than hang out at a ‘counterprotest’ with you against Hamas on any given Sabbath.
While only a small number of you have been counter-protesting, Canadian Jews have been kniting hats for the IDF, buying Israeli bonds or products, and giving generously of their time and money to Jewish and Israeli causes as well as davening for soldiers of the IDF.
Frankly, if you are going to try to out Jew the Jews, I suggest you start by learning the concept of Lashon Hara and Hotzaat Diba. All that being said, this Sunday’s rally is not a counter protest but a show of support for the State of Israel, homeland of the Jews.
An Israeli citizen residing in Kaikoura, New Zealand has informed Ynet Friday that a local pub, the Strawberry Tree, placed a sign outside its door reading, “Israelis not welcome before shelling (in Gaza) stops”.
Two other Israeli tourists encountered a similar restriction at a café located in another part of the country. Kaikoura, located on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, is a tourist hub known for its dolphin shows. “The pub’s owner has extreme views; in the past he worked as a photojournalist in Gaza, and inside the pub a sign reading ‘Free Palestine” has been hanging for some time now,” the Israeli citizen, who wished to remain nameless, told Ynet.
“It is alarming the (conflict in Gaza) has resonated to this region and in such a one-sided way.” The Israeli continued to say that “the owner expressed his aversion to the supposed racism on Israel’s part – but he himself is acting in a racist manner when he screens his patrons according to their nationality.”
The Toronto Star hosts a report on the ‘nightmarish’ situation in Gaza Strip hospitals and while I have no doubt medical personnel are operating in their worst case scenario this bit caught my eye.
The Lancet cited the Ministry of Health in Gaza as saying that as of Monday, 292 children and 75 women had been killed in the offensive, with 1,497 children and 626 women wounded.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the death toll is somewhat lower: As of today, it said, 225 children and 70 women had been killed. However, the ministry defines children as 18 and under, the Palestinian Center 17 and under. Israeli defence officials acknowledge the military has loosened its rules of engagement during the current round of fighting to prevent the killing or capture of soldiers.
But military officials note that Hamas fighters have worn civilian clothing while fighting Israeli troops, using schools, mosques and crowded residential areas for cover, making it hard to keep ordinary residents out of harm’s way.Reacting to the Lancet articles, Israeli Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog said his country has worked hard to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza throughout the fighting, and Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor sharply criticized one of the doctors quoted in the Lancet for “spreading vicious lies.”
Paul Garwood, a Geneva-based spokesman for the World Health Organization, said the Gaza Health Ministry’s figures had not been independently verified, but they seemed reasonable based on their staff’s observations in Gaza. In a statement last week, WHO declared that health services in Gaza were “on the point of collapse.” UNICEF called the situation “tragic” and “unacceptable.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the Israeli army has failed to evacuate the wounded. “The violence launched on Gaza is taking an unjustifiable toll on civilian populations,” the Lancet said in an editorial. “These actions contravene the fourth Geneva convention,” it said, referring to the international agreement that civilians are to be protected in times of war.
Why? Well, let’s roll with this video aptly titled Children of Hamas.
There are those who suggest the Israeli Operation Cast Lead will only create more enemies and hardened the attitudes of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip/ I would counter that Hamas and Fatah have indoctrinated and incited, so well for so long, unencumbered by an vestige or pretense of humanity, that anything the Israeli state would do or did not do, is absolutely irrelevant in the face of this ideological pathology. There is only one counter – which is to allow those who preach and toil incitement, blood and hatred; to feel the full measure of sowing what they reap, and make no mistake, it is a harvest of the most bitter fruit a human heart can taste.
Meanwhile, as the calls for more worldwide pro-Hamas/Gaza Strip rallies are being staged, and I do mean staged, Ha’aretz reports on the lack of protests in Ramallah.
Well, well, not only are Hamas fighters donning IDF uniforms and utilizing civilian human shields, (contrary to umpteen articles of the Geneva Convention) Hamas is now firing white phosphorus mortar shells into civilian centres in Israel reports Ynet News:
One of the mortar shells fired from northern Gaza at the Eshkol Regional Council Tuesday contained white phosphorus. The council’s security chief, Nikki Levy, said that “the potential danger of using such a rocket is enormous. It is far more dangerous than other Qassam rockets and mortal shells. This is an escalation in the type of explosives the Palestinians use on civilians.”
Of course, Israel has been denounced as using white phosphorus missiles by all the usual suspects despite denials from the IDF Chief of Staff, and contrary to certain pro-Hamas fractions would have you believe – there are legitimate legal military uses for white phosphorus munitions but Hamas’ use of white phosphorus mortars does not even come close to being a considered legit in the broadest interpretation of the word.
I await the Hamas denunciations and charges of war crimes and I wait, and I wait, and I wait….
The Jerusalem Post is reporting, once again, rockets have been fired into Israel from Lebanon.
At least three Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon landed near Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday morning, the second rocket attack from Lebanon in less than a week. While security forces continued to search for the impact sites of the rockets, there were no immediate reports of anyone wounded or damage to property. The army launched a counter strike, firing artillery shells at the assumed location of the Katyusha launchers.
Lebanese officials also confirmed that several rockets were fired, with at least one falling short inside Lebanon. They said that the source of the rockets was likely the village of Kfar Hamam. Israeli helicopter gunships flew reconnaissance missions along the heavily protected border as Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers sent out patrols, the Lebanese officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
The IDF Northern Command announced it was holding ongoing security assessments in light of the situation. “We view the Lebanese government and military as responsible to prevent such attacks,” an army statement said. Following the strike, the Home Front Command ordered all residents of the north to stay close to bomb shelters in case there was a repeat attack. Students in Kiryat Shmona were moved underground into bomb shelters to finish out the rest of their school day.
No doubt there will be denials issued all around from all the usual suspects in Lebanon but Hezbollah is in control of southern Lebanon. So given this is the second attack from Lebanon in less than a week I think its time to replay my favourite Nashrallah song because it’s just so darn catchy.
OTTAWA–Canada stood alone before a United Nations human rights council yesterday, the only one among 47 nations to oppose a motion condemning the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
And then the Toronto Star starts the spin:
The vote before the Geneva-based body shows the Stephen Harper government has abandoned a more even-handed approach to the Middle East in favour of unalloyed support of Israel, according to some long-time observers.
No doubt the Jewhaters in Canada will be having a fit and will come out in full force against Stephen Harper’s government but I can live with the implications of not standing on the same side of those alleged big promoters of human rights. Of course, both Russia and China vote against humanitarian intervention in places like the Dafur…go figure.
Siddiqui, not being a member in any kind of standing within the Jewish community so I suspect difference of opinions are newsworthy only for him. Obviously, he never grew up hearing that old joke – two Jews, three opinions.
I am back in Toronto, and while the mother in me is finally at peace knowing all my sons are now sleeping safely under one roof – even if it is in Canada’s premier city of Jew-haters, I can’t help wishing there was a little more Alberta and a lot less Toronto.
Those brave ‘militants’ (or is the correct term ‘freedom fighters’) in action. Did anyone else notice the ‘ambulance’ in the background? Now you know why so many children have been killed but can I get anyone to agree this is not only child abuse but a war crime in action? Of course, I fully expect no international tribunal or body will ever call any Palestinian, anywhere, to ever account.
This should be a term limit on how long an ex-Presidents of the United States should be allowed to openly pimp for terrorists in the public eye. The Washington Post opinion piece:
And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
A defensive tunnel which just happens to lead into an opening into Israel…and the World Trade Centre towers are for sale. I will say it again – there is no human right to build tunnels into Israel. Carter is not just a major embarrassment to the United States but to human beings everywhere. As much as I dislike Bill Clinton, he does manage to conduct himself without being an absolute and complete tool.
