The Effect of Standing With Israel on the Falling of Judaism
© 2007 Ronald W. Fox
Isaiah 1:17,27 “Learn to do well – seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow .. Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and they that return of her with righteousness.”
All Judaism is Local
Part 1 – A Brief History of a Jewish Community
Why do we always seem to confine the argument among Jewish people to who stands with Israel and who doesn’t, who loves Israel and who doesn’t, who is pro-Israel and who is anti-Israel, who is for everything that the government of Israel does and who is an anti-semite?
The fundamental issues should be whether there is a basic disagreement about the definition of Judaism, whether the actions of the government of Israel in the occupied territories are contrary to the core values of Judaism and whether there is a correlation between unquestioning support for the government of Israel and the recent recognition that fewer and fewer are professing that they are Jewish.
My concern is that the love for the government of Israel and the values it seems to symbolize has for many become the definition of Judaism. As stated by Alice Rothchild in her new book “Broken Promises, Broken Dreams”, “Have we sacrificed Jewish values in the name of Israeli nationalism and aggressive expansionism? Is Israeli nationalism our new fundamentalism?”
In my opinion:
the unquestioned support of the actions of the government of Israel over the last 60 years by Jewish institutions has been accompanied by their lack of interest in, and attention to, the personal issues that concern Jewish individuals;
the suppression of opinions and dissenting voices within the Jewish community critical of the actions of the government of Israel have given the impression that the values of Judaism are those exhibited by the government of Israel;
the values symbolized by the actions of the government of Israel in the occupied territories over the last 40 years are not consistent with the core values that Jewish individuals in this country attribute to Judaism such as social justice, compassion, human dignity and equality; and
these factors have resulted in a significant number of those born Jewish being unable to find a reason to be Jewish and their walking away from not only Jewish institutions but Judaism itself.
Since I am concerned that the disintegration of many Jewish communities, as well as Judaism, might be little more than a generation away, it might serve a useful purpose to look back at what happened here during the 20th century and consider why we now find ourselves staring at what some may consider an unfortunate prospect.
Both my parents were born and grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts. I heard so many stories about the immigration of individuals from Europe, the development of a community as family and strangers were welcomed into homes so much so that they could often not even explain how a cousin was related (if, in fact, she was even a relative). Stories about my grandmother starting the “Hebrew Ladies Helping Hand Society”. Stories about my grandfather and his brothers starting the “Achsy” - a place where money could be borrowed by those in need. Stories about my other grandfather and others starting businesses or entering professions - law, medicine, education - which served the entire community. In a place where there was less discrimination and more opportunity, they thrived and made their community a better place to live.
After World War II a number of things happened. First, as some of those who had escaped the pogroms of Europe became more affluent, they moved to the suburbs, built temples and began to feel at home. Second, the Long Road Home ended for many refugees of the horrors of the Holocaust with the formation of the state of Israel. Both in Israel and in the Diaspora, there was pride in being Jewish.
But many remained wary of outsiders and began to segregate themselves within the institutions they had created. Their social lives focused on the temples and Jewish Community Centers. Their charitable giving focused on Jewish Federations and other organizations raising funds for the survival of Israel
The problems of the larger community, locally and nationally, no longer seemed relevant. During the 60’s, when we began to recognize concern about the plight of blacks in this country, the members of the temple in which I had grown up and been bar/mitzvahed reacted so negatively to our Rabbi, Stephen Schwartzchild’s constant pleas that they fight for civil rights, that he eventually resigned and left the community. I had always thought that he immediately joined the faculty at Washington University of St. Louis, vowing never again to take a pulpit assignment. I recently learned, reading p. xvii of the Introduction to Healing Israel/Palestine by Rabbi Michael Lerner, that I was wrong, “The next year (1969) the American Jewish Congress fired the editor of Judaism magazine, Stephen Schwartzchild, for the “sin” of having reprinted a section of our founding statement of the Committee for Peace in the Middle East.”
I also vividly recall a lay leader of our temple speaking from the pulpit on Yom Kippur in the early 70’s castigating Jewish people who were involved with civil rights because they were neglecting their obligation to work for the survival of Israel.
In the 70’s the country was nearly driven apart over the war in Vietnam. While our young people faced moral and ethical conflicts over serving in the military and while churches and other organizations fought for peace, in my local area, there was little, if any, local organized Jewish institutional discussion of the issues or support for these efforts.
The lack of concern included even Jewish community problems. In a meeting of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore’s Young Leadership Committee in the early 70’s, the heads of our local Hebrew schools described ineffective educational facilities with one of them saying that his Hebrew school was not very good but that’s all the parents wanted.
In fact, the lack of concern of the rabbi at our temple and the congregation in Vietnam and the quality of Jewish education were factors in our resigning from the temple and forming a Havurah in 1971 with six other families, one of the first in this country that included young children. It continued to function for 15 year as the adults met monthly to design and implement family holiday services/celebrations.
More issues arose during the next three decades - women began to question their roles in society, divorces became rampant, decent safe and sanitary housing became less available, drug and alcohol abuse increased dramatically, the high cost and unavailability of healthcare services became a scandal, divorced people and the elderly began to be isolated, the public school systems started to fail, jobs were lost as downsizing became a reality, and serious questions began to be raised about the quality of our air and water.
Those growing up Jewish looked for leadership and guidance on these issues – advice that might mean the difference between a life of dissatisfaction and one of meaning. In my local area I do not recall the board of any Jewish institution (federation, temples, JCC) issuing a public statement, passing a resolution or participating in a social action directed at any of these issues (although some rabbis, as individuals, became involved).
While many parents taught their children how to live based on Jewish teachings and ethics, the Jewish community as an entity did not take actions which clearly evinced a Judaism that guided individuals on how to live, that answered real life issues and conflicts and that gave tools to provide moral directions.
The impetus to leave the Jewish community gained momentum as many fell in love and dreamed of years of happiness. When they asked the religious leader of their temple to bless their marriage, the response, when the rabbi found out that the intended was not Jewish, was a refusal to perform the ceremony – nothing less than a condemnation of his or her love and a rejection by the Jewish community.
What happened? The institutions began to reflect the image of many of their members. They became secular American and began to turn away from religion, not simply from the customs and rituals, but, more importantly, from the ethical and moral teachings that form the foundation of Judaism. What was left was often the accumulation of things, the acquisition of material goods, the focus on “me”, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and, to a great extent, the state of Israel.
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me, and if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Rabbi Hillel
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Applying Jewish Values to a Lawyer's Search for Career Satisfaction
Eureka!
A week ago today, my wife, Joan, and I were driving to New York for the annual weekend with my sister and brother-in-law. There were two discussion topics.
The first was this Blog – the application of the core values of Judaism to the search for a just peace for Israel/Palestine – an important but only one of many efforts we have been involved with in the Jewish community over the last forty years. In 1971, Joan, and I helped form a "havurah" with several other families which for fifteen years shared Jewish holidays, retreats and celebrations. In 1981 our family spent five weeks working on Kibbutz Gevim and touring Israel. In addition, I: served in the past on the boards and social action committees of the Jewish Community Center, the United Way the North Shore Jewish Federation, and the national Tikkun Community Leadership Committee; worked on presenting a debate in 1982 on the invasion of Lebanon by Israel; co-founded a discussion group on the Israel/Palestine conflict; and am on the Board of Directors of the Israel Fund, a federation of the Combined Federal Campaign. Joan and I raised funds to build a medical clinic for the unrecognized Bedouin village of Wadi Na’am in Israel and, most recently, we founded the Center for Jewish Alternatives to advise people alienated from their local Jewish institutions who are seeking to incorporate Jewish values, principles and traditions into a spiritually meaningful life.
The other topic was my work through the Center for Professional Development in the Law which began after 20 years practicing law when I joined the staff of Harvard Law School as the Public Interest Career Advisor. There I counseled law students who hoped to use their degrees to help those with personal plight issues and edited Harvard Law School’s Public Interest Directory. After I left, I started the Public Interest Law Career Planning Center (now the Center for Professional Development in the Law) to help individual lawyers search for professional work consistent with their personal values and beliefs. I presented workshops at law schools and bar associations, wrote Lawful Pursuit: Careers in Public Interest Law, published by the American Bar Association in 1995 and am the co-editor of “ Find Satisfaction in the Law” an on-line career planning resource sponsored by FindLaw.
Joan pointed out the parallel involvement I have had within the law and within Judaism over the last 40 years, not only the belief that both the legal profession and Judaism are disintegrating and the thought that both could be repaired if they were to focus more on promoting justice but also that individuals would find satisfaction from applying their core values to decisions about issues that are important in their lives.
I realized that the fundamentals I had employed in career counseling had always been the same; i.e., for career satisfaction, you must search for and find a position consistent with your professional goals and your personal values and beliefs. I had, on a few occasions, gone further and made proposals that included within those values ones religious and spiritual beliefs.
In a flash, I decided it made sense to merge these two worlds and to specifically provide as a service of the Center for Professional Development in the Law advice on how to incorporate a client’s Jewish core values into his or her search for satisfying work within the law. My vision is that the client would become more aware of, and examine, these values; for example, do not wrong the stranger, pursue justice, what is hateful to you do not do to others, relieve the oppressed. He or she would then apply these as criteria when evaluating various options within and around the law.
Interestingly enough, the book that speaks to me most clearly on this subject is one by Matthew Fox, no relation and, in fact, a defrocked Catholic priest. In “The Reinvention of Work” he says, “Spirit means life, and both life and livelihood are about living in depth, living with meaning, purpose, joy and a sense of contributing to the greater community. A spirituality of work is about bringing life and livelihood back together again.”
My friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Byers, says, “The importance of incorporating spiritual beliefs is based on the fact that a concern for proper vocation and calling is central to all religious and spiritual traditions that have recognized the value of work in the path to spiritual development. The culture of the professions, including law, has incorporated many of the features of spiritual and religious callings in the context of a nominally secular outlook.”
Last night I sat and listened to a talk by Tom Wolfe. He referred to Nietzsche and his writings in 1880; i.e., God is dead (religions no longer guide people); we are entering an age of barbaric nationalism; there will be cataclysmic wars between nations in the twentieth century; in the twenty-first century it will get worse as society becomes totally de-moralized, no longer even knowing or remembering what values are (by these I think Wolfe meant what we usually acknowledge as the “higher” standards since fascists have values). While he devoted too much time to it, he focused on present day free sex as his evidence as well as the lack of attendance in churches.
So this week I begin to offer advice and assistance to lawyers (and law students) who would like to pursue justice or Tikkun Olam and incorporate their Jewish values into their search for meaningful work. I hope my efforts will encourage others to provide a similar service for those from the Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist and Humanist religious traditions and that this might be a small step in the attempt to counter the falling apart of the legal profession as well as Judaism.
A week ago today, my wife, Joan, and I were driving to New York for the annual weekend with my sister and brother-in-law. There were two discussion topics.
The first was this Blog – the application of the core values of Judaism to the search for a just peace for Israel/Palestine – an important but only one of many efforts we have been involved with in the Jewish community over the last forty years. In 1971, Joan, and I helped form a "havurah" with several other families which for fifteen years shared Jewish holidays, retreats and celebrations. In 1981 our family spent five weeks working on Kibbutz Gevim and touring Israel. In addition, I: served in the past on the boards and social action committees of the Jewish Community Center, the United Way the North Shore Jewish Federation, and the national Tikkun Community Leadership Committee; worked on presenting a debate in 1982 on the invasion of Lebanon by Israel; co-founded a discussion group on the Israel/Palestine conflict; and am on the Board of Directors of the Israel Fund, a federation of the Combined Federal Campaign. Joan and I raised funds to build a medical clinic for the unrecognized Bedouin village of Wadi Na’am in Israel and, most recently, we founded the Center for Jewish Alternatives to advise people alienated from their local Jewish institutions who are seeking to incorporate Jewish values, principles and traditions into a spiritually meaningful life.
The other topic was my work through the Center for Professional Development in the Law which began after 20 years practicing law when I joined the staff of Harvard Law School as the Public Interest Career Advisor. There I counseled law students who hoped to use their degrees to help those with personal plight issues and edited Harvard Law School’s Public Interest Directory. After I left, I started the Public Interest Law Career Planning Center (now the Center for Professional Development in the Law) to help individual lawyers search for professional work consistent with their personal values and beliefs. I presented workshops at law schools and bar associations, wrote Lawful Pursuit: Careers in Public Interest Law, published by the American Bar Association in 1995 and am the co-editor of “ Find Satisfaction in the Law” an on-line career planning resource sponsored by FindLaw.
Joan pointed out the parallel involvement I have had within the law and within Judaism over the last 40 years, not only the belief that both the legal profession and Judaism are disintegrating and the thought that both could be repaired if they were to focus more on promoting justice but also that individuals would find satisfaction from applying their core values to decisions about issues that are important in their lives.
I realized that the fundamentals I had employed in career counseling had always been the same; i.e., for career satisfaction, you must search for and find a position consistent with your professional goals and your personal values and beliefs. I had, on a few occasions, gone further and made proposals that included within those values ones religious and spiritual beliefs.
In a flash, I decided it made sense to merge these two worlds and to specifically provide as a service of the Center for Professional Development in the Law advice on how to incorporate a client’s Jewish core values into his or her search for satisfying work within the law. My vision is that the client would become more aware of, and examine, these values; for example, do not wrong the stranger, pursue justice, what is hateful to you do not do to others, relieve the oppressed. He or she would then apply these as criteria when evaluating various options within and around the law.
Interestingly enough, the book that speaks to me most clearly on this subject is one by Matthew Fox, no relation and, in fact, a defrocked Catholic priest. In “The Reinvention of Work” he says, “Spirit means life, and both life and livelihood are about living in depth, living with meaning, purpose, joy and a sense of contributing to the greater community. A spirituality of work is about bringing life and livelihood back together again.”
My friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Byers, says, “The importance of incorporating spiritual beliefs is based on the fact that a concern for proper vocation and calling is central to all religious and spiritual traditions that have recognized the value of work in the path to spiritual development. The culture of the professions, including law, has incorporated many of the features of spiritual and religious callings in the context of a nominally secular outlook.”
Last night I sat and listened to a talk by Tom Wolfe. He referred to Nietzsche and his writings in 1880; i.e., God is dead (religions no longer guide people); we are entering an age of barbaric nationalism; there will be cataclysmic wars between nations in the twentieth century; in the twenty-first century it will get worse as society becomes totally de-moralized, no longer even knowing or remembering what values are (by these I think Wolfe meant what we usually acknowledge as the “higher” standards since fascists have values). While he devoted too much time to it, he focused on present day free sex as his evidence as well as the lack of attendance in churches.
So this week I begin to offer advice and assistance to lawyers (and law students) who would like to pursue justice or Tikkun Olam and incorporate their Jewish values into their search for meaningful work. I hope my efforts will encourage others to provide a similar service for those from the Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist and Humanist religious traditions and that this might be a small step in the attempt to counter the falling apart of the legal profession as well as Judaism.
Monday, June 4, 2007
The Challenge - Summarize and Analyze the Cycle of Violence in Gaza - Part 5
Attached below is
1)a post by Dan on Tikkuntalk (a very active yahoo group to which you may want to subscribe by sending a blank message to tikkuntalk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ) in response to my suggestion of reading Part 2 and 3 of my posts about the Cycle of Violence in Gaza, and
2)my response to Dan posted also on Tikkuntalk
DAN'S POST
Ron – I read both of your blogs and found them well-written and compelling. What they arouse in me are deep feelings of resignation, bordering on despair. As you know, I have been an activist on behalf of a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than 20 years.
During the 1980s and 90s, there were a series of crossroads where the American Jewish community had the opportunity to influence Israeli and U.S. policy in the direction of a negotiated settlement agreement. These culminated in the emergence of Yitzak Rabin as the first Israeli Prime Minister who was determined to change the status quo. Sharon and Netanyahu engineered his assassination, and with it the destruction of the peace process.
Since Sharon’s and Bush’s ascendancy, US and Israeli policy has been purely aggressive and violent. We now live in a permanent state of war. The US Jewish community, as represented by the Major American Jewish Organizations, AIPAC, and the rabbinate, have supported these policies of war and aggression with near unanimity.
There is no relief in sight. Our community continues to support the war in Iraq, opposes a meaningful Israeli-Palestinian peace process, backed last summer’s disastrous invasion of Lebanon, and are leading the call to bomb Iran.
It was difficult enough to advocate for healing and reconciliation with peace/war hanging in the balance. Seven years beyond the tipping point, with war blazing from Gaza to Iraq, and the guns trained on Teheran, I find no energy for this lost cause. Instead, I have redirected my energies towards areas where there is at least a patch of fertile ground.
Dan
MY RESPONSE TO DAN
Hi Dan
I want to first thank you for taking the time to post your thoughtful response. I also want to comment, especially on this, “It was difficult enough to advocate for healing and reconciliation with peace/war hanging in the balance. Seven years beyond the tipping point, with war blazing from Gaza to Iraq, and the guns trained on Teheran, I find no energy for this lost cause. Instead, I have redirected my energies towards areas where there is at least a patch of fertile ground.”
Having been an observer of the tragedy of the West Bank and Gaza for about 33 years, I believe that the only “rational” course to take is yours. You are certainly not the only person I have had contact with in the last few years who has decided to devote his or her energy to hopefully more productive efforts. What can anyone do that would make a difference? What can anyone do that might result in a just peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians?
I know that over the years, I have made the same decision you have made about involvement in a variety of organizations from law associations to community groups to Jewish organizations. My reasoning was, I think, that, on balance, the goals of the organization were not worth the effort it was taking to reach them. For me personally, participating in an effort to try to end the occupation and bring about an end to the conflict is so important that it has clearly overpowered my ability to think through the many reasons why this effort is likely to succeed. This may be an explanation for some of the many who I hope will be in DC this weekend for the mobilization and for those who will participate around the country over the next few days in events protesting the 40th year of the occupation.
I also have another reaction to your quote, Dan, something that distinguishes two approaches to the conflict. I am aware of the highly regarded work that you are doing working on healing and reconciliation. What you may have noticed in my writings lately is not an effort to heal or to reconcile. While in my legal practice, I gave up representing clients individually in favor of doing divorce mediation (and ended that in favor of providing career advice to dissatisfied lawyers), in the case of this conflict, I have reverted to my legal training; in my opinion, the actions of the government of Israel are illegal according to international law and immoral according to the teachings of Judaism. My focus is not on bringing the parties together to talk about where we go from here but on pointing out the wrongdoing and trying to stop it; for example, one should not have to negotiate over a person or a state violating human rights. The wrongdoer should simply cease such action.
What I would like to see is a recognition by individuals, governments and the media that what the government of Israel is doing is wrong (don’t you get upset when the news reports continue to report that Israel missiles struck and killed Palestinians “in response to” a Hamas rocket fired into Sderot?) and intense pressure brought on the government of Israel to pursue justice.
I hope, and believe, you will find satisfaction in your new direction.
Ron
1)a post by Dan on Tikkuntalk (a very active yahoo group to which you may want to subscribe by sending a blank message to tikkuntalk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ) in response to my suggestion of reading Part 2 and 3 of my posts about the Cycle of Violence in Gaza, and
2)my response to Dan posted also on Tikkuntalk
DAN'S POST
Ron – I read both of your blogs and found them well-written and compelling. What they arouse in me are deep feelings of resignation, bordering on despair. As you know, I have been an activist on behalf of a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than 20 years.
During the 1980s and 90s, there were a series of crossroads where the American Jewish community had the opportunity to influence Israeli and U.S. policy in the direction of a negotiated settlement agreement. These culminated in the emergence of Yitzak Rabin as the first Israeli Prime Minister who was determined to change the status quo. Sharon and Netanyahu engineered his assassination, and with it the destruction of the peace process.
Since Sharon’s and Bush’s ascendancy, US and Israeli policy has been purely aggressive and violent. We now live in a permanent state of war. The US Jewish community, as represented by the Major American Jewish Organizations, AIPAC, and the rabbinate, have supported these policies of war and aggression with near unanimity.
There is no relief in sight. Our community continues to support the war in Iraq, opposes a meaningful Israeli-Palestinian peace process, backed last summer’s disastrous invasion of Lebanon, and are leading the call to bomb Iran.
It was difficult enough to advocate for healing and reconciliation with peace/war hanging in the balance. Seven years beyond the tipping point, with war blazing from Gaza to Iraq, and the guns trained on Teheran, I find no energy for this lost cause. Instead, I have redirected my energies towards areas where there is at least a patch of fertile ground.
Dan
MY RESPONSE TO DAN
Hi Dan
I want to first thank you for taking the time to post your thoughtful response. I also want to comment, especially on this, “It was difficult enough to advocate for healing and reconciliation with peace/war hanging in the balance. Seven years beyond the tipping point, with war blazing from Gaza to Iraq, and the guns trained on Teheran, I find no energy for this lost cause. Instead, I have redirected my energies towards areas where there is at least a patch of fertile ground.”
Having been an observer of the tragedy of the West Bank and Gaza for about 33 years, I believe that the only “rational” course to take is yours. You are certainly not the only person I have had contact with in the last few years who has decided to devote his or her energy to hopefully more productive efforts. What can anyone do that would make a difference? What can anyone do that might result in a just peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians?
I know that over the years, I have made the same decision you have made about involvement in a variety of organizations from law associations to community groups to Jewish organizations. My reasoning was, I think, that, on balance, the goals of the organization were not worth the effort it was taking to reach them. For me personally, participating in an effort to try to end the occupation and bring about an end to the conflict is so important that it has clearly overpowered my ability to think through the many reasons why this effort is likely to succeed. This may be an explanation for some of the many who I hope will be in DC this weekend for the mobilization and for those who will participate around the country over the next few days in events protesting the 40th year of the occupation.
I also have another reaction to your quote, Dan, something that distinguishes two approaches to the conflict. I am aware of the highly regarded work that you are doing working on healing and reconciliation. What you may have noticed in my writings lately is not an effort to heal or to reconcile. While in my legal practice, I gave up representing clients individually in favor of doing divorce mediation (and ended that in favor of providing career advice to dissatisfied lawyers), in the case of this conflict, I have reverted to my legal training; in my opinion, the actions of the government of Israel are illegal according to international law and immoral according to the teachings of Judaism. My focus is not on bringing the parties together to talk about where we go from here but on pointing out the wrongdoing and trying to stop it; for example, one should not have to negotiate over a person or a state violating human rights. The wrongdoer should simply cease such action.
What I would like to see is a recognition by individuals, governments and the media that what the government of Israel is doing is wrong (don’t you get upset when the news reports continue to report that Israel missiles struck and killed Palestinians “in response to” a Hamas rocket fired into Sderot?) and intense pressure brought on the government of Israel to pursue justice.
I hope, and believe, you will find satisfaction in your new direction.
Ron
Did Jewish People in Boston Read This Article?
Today is Day 14,296 of the Maintenance of the Immoral (and Illegal) West Bank Settlements and almost the 40th anniversary of the start of the immoral (and illegal) occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18) - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
CHASM OF NEED IN NABLUS:
DID JEWISH PEOPLE IN BOSTON READ THIS ARTICLE?
WHAT DID THEY THINK?
Do you ever wonder how those in the Jewish community can continue to so strongly Stand With Israel and not criticize the government of Israel? My impression is that they believe that: Israel needs to survive as a safe haven for Jews; that “the Palestinians” (the Arabs) want to destroy Israel; and that every murderous action of a Palestinian is simply part of this plan.
I thought of this when I read the front page article in the Boston Globe this morning “Charity Faces Chasm of Need on West Bank” by Thanassis Cambanis about the overwhelming effort of a charity in the West Bank city of Nablus to help those in need.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/06/04/charity_faces_chasm_of_need_on_west_bank/
The story focuses on the efforts of abdul Rahim Hanbali , the chairman of the local "Zakat," or Islamic Alms Committee, an apolitical charitable organization which receives contributions from believers of Islam who are supposed to contribute 2.5% of their income to charity. The Zakat distributes money to residents for food, education, healthcare, utilities and education.
According to Adly Yaish the Mayor of Nablus, seventy (70) percent of the residents of Nablus live below the poverty line. As I recall, the standard for determining poverty is income of $2.10 (American Dollars) per day.
The Palestinian Authority and the Nablus municipality can afford to do little more than keep electricity and water coming into the city and keeping roads passable while still owing a million dollars for Israeli utilities.
The Zakat has a budget of $1.2 million this year, down from $2 million last year. Keeping in mind that the population of the city of Nablus is 100,000 and the population of the Nablus area is 200,000, the organization could only provide $12 per person a year, not even enough to buy sugar and flour..
“Yusra Ridha Sawafta, 37, is a typical Zakat beneficiary. She lives with eight relatives in an almost completely unfurnished apartment in downtown Nablus, owned by her brother. The Zakat's monthly grant pays for flour and rice. She and her nephews pick wild greens from the hill above their neighborhood to boil with their starch. ‘If the Zakat stops giving us money, we would only have God left to ask for help,’ she said.”
Employing the recently honored micro-loan approach, Hanbali has also built the Al Safa Dairy Plant which employs 76, provides cows for poor families, buys the milk, provides milk to schools and divides the profits between the Zakat and the dairy.
What are the causes of this poverty?
First is the economic boycott by the United States, Israel and others, the reaction by these countries to the democratic election by the Palestinians of Hamas.
Second is the fear that Palestinian Americans and others concerned about the treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have that any donations might be in violation of US terrorism laws, certainly not the kind of impression that the current administration and Congress are willing to counter.
Third is the view of the government of Israel. “While most of the leaders of the Nablus Zakat, like Hanbali and the mayor of Nablus, are not members of any political party, they are known as religious men who support the same Islamist political philosophy espoused by Hamas. Israel considers the distinction semantic, often identifying Islamist ‘independents’ as Hamas activists.” It is inconceivable to me that the security forces of the government of Israel are not able to distinguish between those who pose a physical threat to Israelis and those working to improve the lives of Palestinians. The only justification for lumping those distributing food to the poor with Hamas “militants” would be a political decision either that all Palestinians are evil or that those Palestinians who are trying to improve the lot of Palestinians are a threat to the ultimate security of Israel that will come only when the West Bank is such a humanitarian disaster that all Palestinians will finally leave.
And the piece de resistance is that last week, 33 “alleged” members of Hamas including Adly Yaish, the Mayor of Nablus, were arrested by the government of Israel. Will the government of Israel publicize the charges against the Mayor of Nablus and what evidence it has that he is not only a member of Hamas but that he has been involved in some activity that is contrary to some law? And when will that information be released?
I wonder how many Jewish readers of the Boston Globe read this article. I wonder what their reaction is? Will they think that there is justification for keeping Palestinians unemployed? Justification for keeping them in poverty? Justification for keeping them hungry? Justification for jeopardizing their health because they can’t pay the utility bill for kidney dialysis? Justification for keeping Palestinian children uneducated?
I am not going to bother to include here the teachings of Judaism that I have attached to many of my previous posts about our obligations towards the poor, the hungry, the homeless, children, the sick, the elderly. The Jewish community knows our obligations when those affected are Jewish and, locally, when those affected are in the inner city.
The question is – do the members of the Jewish community here know the obligations Judaism imposes on us when those affected are Palestinians, especially when the governments of the United States and Israel bear responsibility for much of their suffering and have the ability to alleviate it?
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18) - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
CHASM OF NEED IN NABLUS:
DID JEWISH PEOPLE IN BOSTON READ THIS ARTICLE?
WHAT DID THEY THINK?
Do you ever wonder how those in the Jewish community can continue to so strongly Stand With Israel and not criticize the government of Israel? My impression is that they believe that: Israel needs to survive as a safe haven for Jews; that “the Palestinians” (the Arabs) want to destroy Israel; and that every murderous action of a Palestinian is simply part of this plan.
I thought of this when I read the front page article in the Boston Globe this morning “Charity Faces Chasm of Need on West Bank” by Thanassis Cambanis about the overwhelming effort of a charity in the West Bank city of Nablus to help those in need.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/06/04/charity_faces_chasm_of_need_on_west_bank/
The story focuses on the efforts of abdul Rahim Hanbali , the chairman of the local "Zakat," or Islamic Alms Committee, an apolitical charitable organization which receives contributions from believers of Islam who are supposed to contribute 2.5% of their income to charity. The Zakat distributes money to residents for food, education, healthcare, utilities and education.
According to Adly Yaish the Mayor of Nablus, seventy (70) percent of the residents of Nablus live below the poverty line. As I recall, the standard for determining poverty is income of $2.10 (American Dollars) per day.
The Palestinian Authority and the Nablus municipality can afford to do little more than keep electricity and water coming into the city and keeping roads passable while still owing a million dollars for Israeli utilities.
The Zakat has a budget of $1.2 million this year, down from $2 million last year. Keeping in mind that the population of the city of Nablus is 100,000 and the population of the Nablus area is 200,000, the organization could only provide $12 per person a year, not even enough to buy sugar and flour..
“Yusra Ridha Sawafta, 37, is a typical Zakat beneficiary. She lives with eight relatives in an almost completely unfurnished apartment in downtown Nablus, owned by her brother. The Zakat's monthly grant pays for flour and rice. She and her nephews pick wild greens from the hill above their neighborhood to boil with their starch. ‘If the Zakat stops giving us money, we would only have God left to ask for help,’ she said.”
Employing the recently honored micro-loan approach, Hanbali has also built the Al Safa Dairy Plant which employs 76, provides cows for poor families, buys the milk, provides milk to schools and divides the profits between the Zakat and the dairy.
What are the causes of this poverty?
First is the economic boycott by the United States, Israel and others, the reaction by these countries to the democratic election by the Palestinians of Hamas.
Second is the fear that Palestinian Americans and others concerned about the treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have that any donations might be in violation of US terrorism laws, certainly not the kind of impression that the current administration and Congress are willing to counter.
Third is the view of the government of Israel. “While most of the leaders of the Nablus Zakat, like Hanbali and the mayor of Nablus, are not members of any political party, they are known as religious men who support the same Islamist political philosophy espoused by Hamas. Israel considers the distinction semantic, often identifying Islamist ‘independents’ as Hamas activists.” It is inconceivable to me that the security forces of the government of Israel are not able to distinguish between those who pose a physical threat to Israelis and those working to improve the lives of Palestinians. The only justification for lumping those distributing food to the poor with Hamas “militants” would be a political decision either that all Palestinians are evil or that those Palestinians who are trying to improve the lot of Palestinians are a threat to the ultimate security of Israel that will come only when the West Bank is such a humanitarian disaster that all Palestinians will finally leave.
And the piece de resistance is that last week, 33 “alleged” members of Hamas including Adly Yaish, the Mayor of Nablus, were arrested by the government of Israel. Will the government of Israel publicize the charges against the Mayor of Nablus and what evidence it has that he is not only a member of Hamas but that he has been involved in some activity that is contrary to some law? And when will that information be released?
I wonder how many Jewish readers of the Boston Globe read this article. I wonder what their reaction is? Will they think that there is justification for keeping Palestinians unemployed? Justification for keeping them in poverty? Justification for keeping them hungry? Justification for jeopardizing their health because they can’t pay the utility bill for kidney dialysis? Justification for keeping Palestinian children uneducated?
I am not going to bother to include here the teachings of Judaism that I have attached to many of my previous posts about our obligations towards the poor, the hungry, the homeless, children, the sick, the elderly. The Jewish community knows our obligations when those affected are Jewish and, locally, when those affected are in the inner city.
The question is – do the members of the Jewish community here know the obligations Judaism imposes on us when those affected are Palestinians, especially when the governments of the United States and Israel bear responsibility for much of their suffering and have the ability to alleviate it?
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Challenge - Summarize and Analyze the Cycle of Violence in Gaza - Part 4
Today is Day 14,290 of the Maintenance of the Immoral (and Illegal) West Bank Settlements and almost the 40th anniversary of the start of the immoral (and illegal) occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 )- this is the major principle of the Torah."
My Summary and Conclusions on the 11 Days in May Cycle of Violence in Gaza
On May 16, there was intense fighting going on between Fatah and Hamas with deaths and injuries. The GOI sends in gunships. Why? Because of the possibility of violence spreading into Israel? Are you kidding? How? Why not say because of the rockets being fired into Sderot? Because that hadn’t happened yet. Then why now when Hamas is involved fighting Fatah?
As soon as the GOI killed its first Palestinian, Qassam rockets were fired into Sderot not killing anyone. The GOI had to know that this would happen. It has to be assumed that it wanted to have rockets fired by Hamas into Sderot. Now the GOI causes the power to be shut off for Gaza knowing that Palestinians might die because there is no electricity for their dialysis machines and other medically necessary equipment. This is collective punishment and is a violation of international law.
The GOI from past experience knew that its attacks in Gaza are not a long-term solution to area violence but there is no indication that the GOI reached out to Fatah and Hamas to talk about how to end the violence.
What followed for the next few days was continued fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas firing rockets into Sderot with no deaths, airstrikes by the GOI and assassinations of about 13 Palestinians.
ON or about May 20, while al Haya, a Hamas official was attending a cease fire talk with Fatah, a GOI gunship struck his house, assassinating eight of his family and friends. At this point, the violence between Hamas and Fatah seems to end and still the GOI does not reach out to participate in any negotiations.
The GOI must have wanted to incite Hamas and Fatah violence against Sderot and be able to justify more assassinations. By now, the GOI had assassinated 35 Palestinians.
As the GOI had to know would have happened, on May 22, a Jewish Israeli resident of Sderot was murdered by a Qassam rocket. The residents of Sderot in this case, are pawns whose (predictable) injuries and deaths can be used as an alternative pretext by the GOI to “justify” the assassination of Palestinians in Gaza
After the Fatah/Hamas cease fire, the pretext for the GOI getting involved ended but for the next 5 days the GOI kept assassinating Palestinians, destroying their property and disrupting their lives and then the GOI began to arrest Hamas officials and lawmakers. Over this 11 day period there was NO report of any GOI official reaching out to representatives of Hamas or Fatah in an attempt to find a political solution
The GOI violence this month is consistent with a pattern of behavior exhibited at least two other times in the last three years.
In her powerful book, “ Broken Promises, Broken Dreams”, Alice Rothchild recounts the attacks in Rafah, Gaza by the GOI Gaza over 7 days in May, 2004. The GOI used as a pretext that the Palestinians were smuggling weapons into Gaza through tunnels from Egypt. What Human Rights Watch (HRW) found was that 298 homes were destroyed in Rafah making 3800 Palestinians homeless. Also roads, agricultural fields, olive groves, greenhouses and the Rafah zoo were devastated. HRW concluded “the IDF grossly exaggerated the threat (from the tunnels) in order to rationalize extensive home demolitions” “The Egyptian authorities have also monitored the tunnel system from their side of the border in collaboration with Israel. The Egyptians informed HRW that there are a limited number of tunnels and they are mostly inactive.” Israeli authorities claim to have killed more than 40 militants and 12 civilians …. and injured an unknown number of people. The IDF apparently does not keep statistics on civilian injuries and deaths caused by their activities.” (p 197)
Last year the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit was the pretext for the attacks in Gaza including the bombing and destruction of the power plant, the primary source of energy for Gaza so unbelievable and so horrendous that it resulted in the first labeling by B’Tselem of an act by the GOI as a “War Crime”.
There is only one conclusion. The GOI does not want a just peace. The GOI simply wants all Palestinians in Gaza (and the Wet Bank) to become totally submissive to GOI arbitrary control and oppression. What the GOI does when it feels pressure to sit down and negotiate with the Palestinians is to every year or so, jump upon an act of violence of a Palestinian or some other action - a kidnapping or murder of an IDF soldier, a rocket attack or tunnels – and use it as a pretext to send gunships and tanks into Gaza to wreak havoc on the lives of the Palestinians – to assassinate them and destroy their property, their physical and mental health and their economy.
Here is what I read is a "War Prayer" for Memorial Day
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/28/155431/792
written by Mark Twain. He was persuaded by his family to not let it be made public until after his death commenting that only the dead can tell the truth:
"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen. "
As expected and desired by the GOI, the Palestinians will then be unwilling to talk to the GOI. A retaliatory act of violence by the Palestinians will then be used by the GOI as an excuse to not sit down with the Palestinians and the GOI violence will continue unabated.
And this will continue so long as lawmakers in the United States continue to sign adds like this “We Stand With Israel. As concerned citizens, we stand with the Jewish community and proudly raise our voices in solidarity with the people of Israel, a brave democracy that has yearned so long to live in peace.”
And this will continue so long as the voices of Jewish people in the diaspora and in Israel crying out to the GOI the core value of Judaism "Justice, Justice shall you pursue" are ignored.
But it will end when genuine world pressure is brought on the GOI to end its violence against, and its terrorizing of, the Palestinians in Gaza.
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 )- this is the major principle of the Torah."
My Summary and Conclusions on the 11 Days in May Cycle of Violence in Gaza
On May 16, there was intense fighting going on between Fatah and Hamas with deaths and injuries. The GOI sends in gunships. Why? Because of the possibility of violence spreading into Israel? Are you kidding? How? Why not say because of the rockets being fired into Sderot? Because that hadn’t happened yet. Then why now when Hamas is involved fighting Fatah?
As soon as the GOI killed its first Palestinian, Qassam rockets were fired into Sderot not killing anyone. The GOI had to know that this would happen. It has to be assumed that it wanted to have rockets fired by Hamas into Sderot. Now the GOI causes the power to be shut off for Gaza knowing that Palestinians might die because there is no electricity for their dialysis machines and other medically necessary equipment. This is collective punishment and is a violation of international law.
The GOI from past experience knew that its attacks in Gaza are not a long-term solution to area violence but there is no indication that the GOI reached out to Fatah and Hamas to talk about how to end the violence.
What followed for the next few days was continued fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas firing rockets into Sderot with no deaths, airstrikes by the GOI and assassinations of about 13 Palestinians.
ON or about May 20, while al Haya, a Hamas official was attending a cease fire talk with Fatah, a GOI gunship struck his house, assassinating eight of his family and friends. At this point, the violence between Hamas and Fatah seems to end and still the GOI does not reach out to participate in any negotiations.
The GOI must have wanted to incite Hamas and Fatah violence against Sderot and be able to justify more assassinations. By now, the GOI had assassinated 35 Palestinians.
As the GOI had to know would have happened, on May 22, a Jewish Israeli resident of Sderot was murdered by a Qassam rocket. The residents of Sderot in this case, are pawns whose (predictable) injuries and deaths can be used as an alternative pretext by the GOI to “justify” the assassination of Palestinians in Gaza
After the Fatah/Hamas cease fire, the pretext for the GOI getting involved ended but for the next 5 days the GOI kept assassinating Palestinians, destroying their property and disrupting their lives and then the GOI began to arrest Hamas officials and lawmakers. Over this 11 day period there was NO report of any GOI official reaching out to representatives of Hamas or Fatah in an attempt to find a political solution
The GOI violence this month is consistent with a pattern of behavior exhibited at least two other times in the last three years.
In her powerful book, “ Broken Promises, Broken Dreams”, Alice Rothchild recounts the attacks in Rafah, Gaza by the GOI Gaza over 7 days in May, 2004. The GOI used as a pretext that the Palestinians were smuggling weapons into Gaza through tunnels from Egypt. What Human Rights Watch (HRW) found was that 298 homes were destroyed in Rafah making 3800 Palestinians homeless. Also roads, agricultural fields, olive groves, greenhouses and the Rafah zoo were devastated. HRW concluded “the IDF grossly exaggerated the threat (from the tunnels) in order to rationalize extensive home demolitions” “The Egyptian authorities have also monitored the tunnel system from their side of the border in collaboration with Israel. The Egyptians informed HRW that there are a limited number of tunnels and they are mostly inactive.” Israeli authorities claim to have killed more than 40 militants and 12 civilians …. and injured an unknown number of people. The IDF apparently does not keep statistics on civilian injuries and deaths caused by their activities.” (p 197)
Last year the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit was the pretext for the attacks in Gaza including the bombing and destruction of the power plant, the primary source of energy for Gaza so unbelievable and so horrendous that it resulted in the first labeling by B’Tselem of an act by the GOI as a “War Crime”.
There is only one conclusion. The GOI does not want a just peace. The GOI simply wants all Palestinians in Gaza (and the Wet Bank) to become totally submissive to GOI arbitrary control and oppression. What the GOI does when it feels pressure to sit down and negotiate with the Palestinians is to every year or so, jump upon an act of violence of a Palestinian or some other action - a kidnapping or murder of an IDF soldier, a rocket attack or tunnels – and use it as a pretext to send gunships and tanks into Gaza to wreak havoc on the lives of the Palestinians – to assassinate them and destroy their property, their physical and mental health and their economy.
Here is what I read is a "War Prayer" for Memorial Day
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/28/155431/792
written by Mark Twain. He was persuaded by his family to not let it be made public until after his death commenting that only the dead can tell the truth:
"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen. "
As expected and desired by the GOI, the Palestinians will then be unwilling to talk to the GOI. A retaliatory act of violence by the Palestinians will then be used by the GOI as an excuse to not sit down with the Palestinians and the GOI violence will continue unabated.
And this will continue so long as lawmakers in the United States continue to sign adds like this “We Stand With Israel. As concerned citizens, we stand with the Jewish community and proudly raise our voices in solidarity with the people of Israel, a brave democracy that has yearned so long to live in peace.”
And this will continue so long as the voices of Jewish people in the diaspora and in Israel crying out to the GOI the core value of Judaism "Justice, Justice shall you pursue" are ignored.
But it will end when genuine world pressure is brought on the GOI to end its violence against, and its terrorizing of, the Palestinians in Gaza.
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Broken Promises, Broken Dreams by Alice Rothchild
Today is Day 14,275 of the Maintenance of the Immoral (and Illegal) West Bank Settlements and almost the 40th anniversary of the start of the immoral (and illegal) occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
Broken Promises, Broken Dreams by Alice Rothchild
"Have we sacrificed Jewish values in the name of Israeli nationalism and aggressive expansionism? Is Israeli nationalism our new fundamentalism...... I treasure my legacy of endless questioning, soul-searching, and respect for human rights and dignity combined with a responsibility for healing the world."
After writing these posts about the 11 days in May, I finished reading “Broken Promises, Broken Dreams" by Alice Rothchild including the two quotes above. Coincidentally she writes about the massive attacks on Rafah over seven days in May - this time in 2004 -by the government of Israel and the resulting Palestinian deaths, destruction, devastation and injuries, both physical and mental.
That is only one episode in this truly powerful, beautifully written book which, I believe, is a must read for anyone who seeks peace with justice for the Palestinians and Israelis. For me, much of the appeal of the book is her emphasis on how the actions of the government of Israel are contrary to the ethics, teachings and core values of Judaism and her conclusion:
"It is time to speak loudly and clearly and work forcefully towards ending the occupation. This means truly dismantling Jewish settlements."
I purchased it at her presentation at Workmen's Circle, Brookline, MA, but you can order it through the University of Michigan Press
http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=290364
or Amazon.
But it is even more effective to hear her speak. To invite her to a gathering of an organization, contact Mary Bisbee Beek at bisbeeb@umich.edu or (734) 615-6477
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
Broken Promises, Broken Dreams by Alice Rothchild
"Have we sacrificed Jewish values in the name of Israeli nationalism and aggressive expansionism? Is Israeli nationalism our new fundamentalism...... I treasure my legacy of endless questioning, soul-searching, and respect for human rights and dignity combined with a responsibility for healing the world."
After writing these posts about the 11 days in May, I finished reading “Broken Promises, Broken Dreams" by Alice Rothchild including the two quotes above. Coincidentally she writes about the massive attacks on Rafah over seven days in May - this time in 2004 -by the government of Israel and the resulting Palestinian deaths, destruction, devastation and injuries, both physical and mental.
That is only one episode in this truly powerful, beautifully written book which, I believe, is a must read for anyone who seeks peace with justice for the Palestinians and Israelis. For me, much of the appeal of the book is her emphasis on how the actions of the government of Israel are contrary to the ethics, teachings and core values of Judaism and her conclusion:
"It is time to speak loudly and clearly and work forcefully towards ending the occupation. This means truly dismantling Jewish settlements."
I purchased it at her presentation at Workmen's Circle, Brookline, MA, but you can order it through the University of Michigan Press
http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=290364
or Amazon.
But it is even more effective to hear her speak. To invite her to a gathering of an organization, contact Mary Bisbee Beek at bisbeeb@umich.edu or (734) 615-6477
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Challenge - Summarize and Analyze the Cycle of Violence in Gaza - Part 3
Today is Day 14,288 of the Maintenance of the Immoral (and Illegal) West Bank Settlements and almost the 40th anniversary of the start of the immoral (and illegal) occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
The Challenge - Summarize and Analyze the Cycle of Violence in Gaza - Part 3
Here is My Summary and Analysis of May 21 - May 27
(As noted in the last post, I have copied the text from Part 1 in small print and annotated throughout with my comments italicized and bolded.)
Again, for 11 days I have read the headlines and the articles about what is happening in Gaza. They all describe violence by Hamas, Fatah and the government of Israel. Rather than being conflicted about even reading about this, I thought I would challenge myself to summarize and analyze the cycle of violence. What I did first was to cut and paste excerpts from each article (primarily those from the Boston Globe) and compile them into one file. That file appears below. What I challenge you to do is to read the entire 11 day chronology and write your own summary and analysis. I am in the process of doing the same thing and will post mine when I am not prepared to agonize over it any more (note that I did not say "when it is completed"). I encourage you to do the same.
May 21, 2007 JERUSALEM—Of the Israeli missile that killed 8 members of his family and friends, “These crimes will not stop us or our people from continuing the struggle and resistance," Haya, the head of Hamas's parliamentary bloc, said later at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. But Israeli military officials said Haya was not the intended target. They said Israeli aircraft fired on a "terrorist cell" in the Sharjiya neighborhood where Haya lives. Israeli officials said one of the men killed was Sameh Ferwanah, 28, a senior Hamas military official from Gaza who has been involved in rocket and shooting attacks on Israel. The name appeared on the list of dead provided by Palestinian medical officials. "We know from initial reports that of the terrorist cells we targeted, all five were hit," said Captain Noa Meir, an Israeli military spokeswoman. "They were the target and they were hit. Anything else that happened, that was not our intention."
The GOI says that the assassination of the 8 friends and members of the family of al Haya when his house was hit by an airstrike was unintentional.” What is the reason for assassinating these Hamas officials? Was it because of the rockets fired into Sderot which appears to have been in response to the GOI airstrikes?
The strike followed another day of rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, along with warnings from the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, that the military response would intensify unless the attacks stopped. About 35 Palestinians, most of them Hamas gunmen, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes over the past six days. Last evening, an Israeli tank near Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza fired on a group of men who had just launched two rockets toward Israel, military officials said. Palestinian hospital officials said the tank shell seriously wounded five members of the Masri family, including several children.(On Monday, an Israeli airstrike just after midnight on a post used by the Hamas military wing in Gaza killed at least one gunmen and wounded several others.) Hamas's military wing has fired more than 120 rockets into Israel over the past six days. Israeli military officials said 20 rockets were fired yesterday toward Israel, many of them landing in and around the city of Sderot. One woman has been seriously injured in the days of attacks and dozens of others treated for light wounds and shock. At the same time Israel appears to be ratcheting up its military retaliation, the factional fighting between Hamas and the rival Fatah party appears to be waning. A cease-fire agreement between the parties -- the fifth since the latest spasm of partisan fighting began a week ago -- held yesterday with no reports of casualties. More than 50 Palestinians have died in the fighting over the past week.
It appears that the violence between Fatah and Hamas has temporarily ended. Why does the GOI of Israel continue to assassinate Palestinians? At this point in time, the GOI has assassinated 35 Palestinians and NO ONE has been killed by the rockets fired into Sderot!
At this time, the GOI should it want peace in this region and safety for the residents of Sderot would do what – it would end its violence and assassinations in Gaza and propose negotiations with Hamas and Fatah.
May 22, 2007 GAZA CITY -- Israeli-Palestinian violence escalated dangerously yesterday when Israel killed five militants in air strikes and hinted Hamas political leaders could be their next target.
Mais non!! But NO! The GOI did not propose a meeting with Fatah and Hamas. The GOI assassinated five more Palestinians. Note that I did not use the word militant. What is a militant? Is being a militant enough to subject you to the death penalty without trial?
A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli woman, the first Israeli to die in a Palestinian rocket attack since November.
And the failure of the GOI to seek a negotiated political solution has now resulted in the death of an Israeli women. Will that now be a justification for the GOI to retaliate?
The precautions followed an Israeli air strike late Sunday on the home of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya that killed eight people. Israel denied Haya, who was not there at the time, was the target. But Israel's leaders said they would use more drastic measures to stop daily barrages of rocket fire into Israel. Yesterday an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car carrying four Islamic Jihad men, killing all of them. A spokesman for the group, which has carried out hundreds of rocket attacks and suicide bombings in recent years, said the men were targeted just after firing rockets into Israel. Other airstrikes yesterday killed a Hamas militant and hit suspected weapons-storage facilities, the Israeli Army said. More than 40 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a decision last week to start hitting back for the rocket barrages.
Why do they write that the GOI was killing in retaliation for the rocket barrages when it appears that the GOI airstrikes preceded the rocket barrage and was likely the reason for the rocket barrage? Why don’t they sometimes write that the Palestinians decision to fire rockets into Sderot was in reaction to the GOI airstrikes, assassinations, closure of Gaza, etc?
Late yesterday, Israel imposed a closure on Gaza and the West Bank, banning Palestinians from entering Israel except in humanitarian cases. The military said the closure would be lifted tomorrow after a Jewish holiday, depending on the security situation. The Israeli strikes have not slowed the rockets. Militants launched at least 18 homemade rockets at Israel from Gaza yesterday, according to the military and Israeli media, bringing the total over the past week to more than 150. In addition to the death yesterday, 16 Israelis have been wounded in the past week and the barrages have disrupted life in Israeli towns near Gaza. At sundown, a Palestinian rocket hit a car and set it on fire in the Israeli town of Sderot, about a mile from Gaza. The woman died en route to the hospital and two others were wounded in the attack. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
May 23, 2007 GAZA CITY -- Israel launched more air strikes on suspected Gaza militants today, wounding seven people, hospital officials and residents of the northern part of the coastal strip said. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that an aircraft had fired missiles into a building used to store munitions and that secondary explosions were observed. Israel said yesterday that it could target the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, and that a Gaza ground offensive was possible unless world pressure was brought on the Islamist group to halt all rocket fire aimed at the Jewish state.May 26, 2007 JERUSALEM (CNN) – Israel unleashed a new round of airstrikes on Gaza and arrested a second Hamas member of the Palestinian unity government in the West Bank on Saturday, Israel Defense Forces told CNN.Israeli forces seized State Minister Wasfi Kabaha at his home in the West Bankin in an early-morning raid. On Thursday, Education Minister Nasser Al Shaer and about 30 other senior members of Hamas were arrested.
Isn’t it about time for the GOI to respond to that pesky annoying question about why it doesn’t sit down with the Palestinians and negotiate a political settlement for a just peace by having a spokesperson for the GOI announce “We have no partner for peace”? That is such a ridiculous statement, anyway, since it is evident that you negotiate with your enemies, not your friends. The GOI is quite aware of everyone with whom they could and should negotiate because they are now arresting them when they are not trying to assassinating them!!!
Airstrikes directed at Hamas targets in Gaza killed four members of Hamas' special forces and injured three, according to Palestinian security and Hamas sources.The airstrikes hit in Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Yunis.
By now I’ve almost forgotten why all these Palestinians are being assassinated by the GOI. Was it because they were killing each other? Was it because they were firing rockets into Sderot? Was it because the GOI can?
Earlier in the day, Palestinian security sources reported four people were injured when Israeli airstrikes struck targets in and around Gaza City. Those targets included a facility used by bodyguards for Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and a wood workshop near the Jebailya refugee camp, the sources said.
More assassinations.
Recent days have been marked by Palestinian rockets flying into Israel followed by Israeli strikes at Hamas targets.
More rockets fired into Sderot.
On Friday, Palestinian security sources said Israeli airstrikes targeting positions in and around Gaza City killed a Palestinian and wounded more than 10 others.
Another assassination.
The strikes followed a Palestinian-fired Qassam rocket hitting the yard of a house in Sderot Friday afternoon, according to the IDF and Israel Ambulance Services. At least eight rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza on Friday, officials said.
Hey, here it is again. The strikes followed the firing of the rockets. Who knew?
Also Friday, the IDF said it had carried out an aerial attack south of Gaza City against Hamas targets in an attempt to combat Palestinian rocket attacks.
Hey, here it is again. The strikes followed the firing of the rockets. Who knew?
Palestinian security sources said three Palestinians were wounded. They said the strike targeted a base of the Hamas Executive Force and a base of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.Journalist Talal Abu-Rahmi contributed to this report. Palestinian factions met to discuss a possible truce with Israel.
Well now you can be SURE that the GOI, in order to protect the Ethiopians of Sderot and the other residents from death and injury from rocket attacks, will do whatever it takes to contact these Palestinian factions and join in the talks.
May 27, 2007 GAZA CITY -- Hamas hardened its stance yesterday after a new barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed five militants, saying it would not consider a truce and calling for more attacks on Israel.
My oh my. Another airstrike and an assassination of five more Palestinians. How could I be so wrong?!
The Islamic militant group also warned Israel that if it continued its 10-day air assault, it would threaten the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier nabbed in June by Hamas-linked militants. Shalit has not been heard from or seen since his capture. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate from the rival Fatah faction, has tried in recent days to revive a cease-fire with Israel. Under his plan, Gaza militants would halt rocket fire for a month to allow for negotiations on a more comprehensive truce that would include the West Bank. After a meeting late Friday, the militant groups initially asked for 48 hours to consider the proposal. But after the rash of new air attacks yesterday, including five in less than an hour, Hamas called on its fighters to "direct painful strikes at the Zionist enemy." Hamas "will not offer a free truce to the Zionist occupation," the group said. "If there is an end to the attacks, we can talk about a truce," said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military wing.
Apparently the GOI intelligence and security groups were unaware that Abbas is trying to bring about a cease fire with Israel leading to a comprehensive peace agreement that would include the West Bank because surely the GOI wants an end to the violence and a just peace. How could they have known that if they continued to assassinate Palestinians and arrest Hamas officials, it would make Hamas reluctant to sit down at the bargaining table!?
He said Shalit's freedom was in danger, but not his life."The enemy knows that getting Shalit back is in our hands," he said. "It would be a dream" that Hamas would release him while attacks continued, he added.
Wait a minute. I nearly forgot about Corporal Gilad Shalit. Wasn’t it his kidnapping by Hamas that was the reason for the GOI doing what – was it invading Lebanon again last yea? Whoops, no, that was two other IDF soldiers. Cpl Shalit was taken by Hamas and, in another unbelievable overreaction, the GOI destroyed the Gaza power plant. Why haven’t we heard about his plight lately? Why isn’t that given as a reason for the assassinations?
Israel has launched dozens of targeted missile strikes over the past 10 days that have killed 48 Palestinians and damaged many Hamas installations in an attempt to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli border towns. Israel said some 225 rockets have landed in Israeli towns since May 15, killing one woman and sending thousands of frightened Israeli residents fleeing. Two rockets landed in Israel yesterday, including a direct hit on a home in Sderot. No one was injured. In all, Israeli aircraft launched 14 missile strikes yesterday. Before dawn, they struck near the house of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in a Gaza refugee camp, while troops in the West Bank arrested a Hamas Cabinet minister. One of the Israeli airstrikes hit a key Hamas base in Gaza City, killing five Hamas members and wounding four.
225 rockets, one Palestinian murder, with 1000s fleeing many with the help of a Russian Israeli Billionaire.
The compound was used as a training center and base for Hamas's militia, the Executive Force. Two rooms in the camp were destroyed and rescue workers searched the rubble. A nearby charity was badly damaged from the strike. Earlier yesterday, two missiles hit close to Haniyeh's house in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City. One landed around 100 yards away and the other 300 yards away, hitting trailers used by Haniyeh's bodyguards. "This is a critical stage," said Haniyeh in a statement hours after the strike. "The aggression will not achieve its goal, but will lead to more disturbance and will have serious consequences."
Dozens of GOI targeted missile strikes? How many? 48 Palestinians assassinated? How many wounded? How many building destroyed? How many Hamas officials arrested? How many families’ lives seriously disrupted? How many families living in constant fear of airstrikes and the arrest of a parent? Who will help these families to flee? Where can they go?
NEXT - CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
The Challenge - Summarize and Analyze the Cycle of Violence in Gaza - Part 3
Here is My Summary and Analysis of May 21 - May 27
(As noted in the last post, I have copied the text from Part 1 in small print and annotated throughout with my comments italicized and bolded.)
Again, for 11 days I have read the headlines and the articles about what is happening in Gaza. They all describe violence by Hamas, Fatah and the government of Israel. Rather than being conflicted about even reading about this, I thought I would challenge myself to summarize and analyze the cycle of violence. What I did first was to cut and paste excerpts from each article (primarily those from the Boston Globe) and compile them into one file. That file appears below. What I challenge you to do is to read the entire 11 day chronology and write your own summary and analysis. I am in the process of doing the same thing and will post mine when I am not prepared to agonize over it any more (note that I did not say "when it is completed"). I encourage you to do the same.
May 21, 2007 JERUSALEM—Of the Israeli missile that killed 8 members of his family and friends, “These crimes will not stop us or our people from continuing the struggle and resistance," Haya, the head of Hamas's parliamentary bloc, said later at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. But Israeli military officials said Haya was not the intended target. They said Israeli aircraft fired on a "terrorist cell" in the Sharjiya neighborhood where Haya lives. Israeli officials said one of the men killed was Sameh Ferwanah, 28, a senior Hamas military official from Gaza who has been involved in rocket and shooting attacks on Israel. The name appeared on the list of dead provided by Palestinian medical officials. "We know from initial reports that of the terrorist cells we targeted, all five were hit," said Captain Noa Meir, an Israeli military spokeswoman. "They were the target and they were hit. Anything else that happened, that was not our intention."
The GOI says that the assassination of the 8 friends and members of the family of al Haya when his house was hit by an airstrike was unintentional.” What is the reason for assassinating these Hamas officials? Was it because of the rockets fired into Sderot which appears to have been in response to the GOI airstrikes?
The strike followed another day of rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, along with warnings from the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, that the military response would intensify unless the attacks stopped. About 35 Palestinians, most of them Hamas gunmen, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes over the past six days. Last evening, an Israeli tank near Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza fired on a group of men who had just launched two rockets toward Israel, military officials said. Palestinian hospital officials said the tank shell seriously wounded five members of the Masri family, including several children.(On Monday, an Israeli airstrike just after midnight on a post used by the Hamas military wing in Gaza killed at least one gunmen and wounded several others.) Hamas's military wing has fired more than 120 rockets into Israel over the past six days. Israeli military officials said 20 rockets were fired yesterday toward Israel, many of them landing in and around the city of Sderot. One woman has been seriously injured in the days of attacks and dozens of others treated for light wounds and shock. At the same time Israel appears to be ratcheting up its military retaliation, the factional fighting between Hamas and the rival Fatah party appears to be waning. A cease-fire agreement between the parties -- the fifth since the latest spasm of partisan fighting began a week ago -- held yesterday with no reports of casualties. More than 50 Palestinians have died in the fighting over the past week.
It appears that the violence between Fatah and Hamas has temporarily ended. Why does the GOI of Israel continue to assassinate Palestinians? At this point in time, the GOI has assassinated 35 Palestinians and NO ONE has been killed by the rockets fired into Sderot!
At this time, the GOI should it want peace in this region and safety for the residents of Sderot would do what – it would end its violence and assassinations in Gaza and propose negotiations with Hamas and Fatah.
May 22, 2007 GAZA CITY -- Israeli-Palestinian violence escalated dangerously yesterday when Israel killed five militants in air strikes and hinted Hamas political leaders could be their next target.
Mais non!! But NO! The GOI did not propose a meeting with Fatah and Hamas. The GOI assassinated five more Palestinians. Note that I did not use the word militant. What is a militant? Is being a militant enough to subject you to the death penalty without trial?
A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli woman, the first Israeli to die in a Palestinian rocket attack since November.
And the failure of the GOI to seek a negotiated political solution has now resulted in the death of an Israeli women. Will that now be a justification for the GOI to retaliate?
The precautions followed an Israeli air strike late Sunday on the home of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya that killed eight people. Israel denied Haya, who was not there at the time, was the target. But Israel's leaders said they would use more drastic measures to stop daily barrages of rocket fire into Israel. Yesterday an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car carrying four Islamic Jihad men, killing all of them. A spokesman for the group, which has carried out hundreds of rocket attacks and suicide bombings in recent years, said the men were targeted just after firing rockets into Israel. Other airstrikes yesterday killed a Hamas militant and hit suspected weapons-storage facilities, the Israeli Army said. More than 40 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a decision last week to start hitting back for the rocket barrages.
Why do they write that the GOI was killing in retaliation for the rocket barrages when it appears that the GOI airstrikes preceded the rocket barrage and was likely the reason for the rocket barrage? Why don’t they sometimes write that the Palestinians decision to fire rockets into Sderot was in reaction to the GOI airstrikes, assassinations, closure of Gaza, etc?
Late yesterday, Israel imposed a closure on Gaza and the West Bank, banning Palestinians from entering Israel except in humanitarian cases. The military said the closure would be lifted tomorrow after a Jewish holiday, depending on the security situation. The Israeli strikes have not slowed the rockets. Militants launched at least 18 homemade rockets at Israel from Gaza yesterday, according to the military and Israeli media, bringing the total over the past week to more than 150. In addition to the death yesterday, 16 Israelis have been wounded in the past week and the barrages have disrupted life in Israeli towns near Gaza. At sundown, a Palestinian rocket hit a car and set it on fire in the Israeli town of Sderot, about a mile from Gaza. The woman died en route to the hospital and two others were wounded in the attack. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
May 23, 2007 GAZA CITY -- Israel launched more air strikes on suspected Gaza militants today, wounding seven people, hospital officials and residents of the northern part of the coastal strip said. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that an aircraft had fired missiles into a building used to store munitions and that secondary explosions were observed. Israel said yesterday that it could target the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, and that a Gaza ground offensive was possible unless world pressure was brought on the Islamist group to halt all rocket fire aimed at the Jewish state.May 26, 2007 JERUSALEM (CNN) – Israel unleashed a new round of airstrikes on Gaza and arrested a second Hamas member of the Palestinian unity government in the West Bank on Saturday, Israel Defense Forces told CNN.Israeli forces seized State Minister Wasfi Kabaha at his home in the West Bankin in an early-morning raid. On Thursday, Education Minister Nasser Al Shaer and about 30 other senior members of Hamas were arrested.
Isn’t it about time for the GOI to respond to that pesky annoying question about why it doesn’t sit down with the Palestinians and negotiate a political settlement for a just peace by having a spokesperson for the GOI announce “We have no partner for peace”? That is such a ridiculous statement, anyway, since it is evident that you negotiate with your enemies, not your friends. The GOI is quite aware of everyone with whom they could and should negotiate because they are now arresting them when they are not trying to assassinating them!!!
Airstrikes directed at Hamas targets in Gaza killed four members of Hamas' special forces and injured three, according to Palestinian security and Hamas sources.The airstrikes hit in Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Yunis.
By now I’ve almost forgotten why all these Palestinians are being assassinated by the GOI. Was it because they were killing each other? Was it because they were firing rockets into Sderot? Was it because the GOI can?
Earlier in the day, Palestinian security sources reported four people were injured when Israeli airstrikes struck targets in and around Gaza City. Those targets included a facility used by bodyguards for Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and a wood workshop near the Jebailya refugee camp, the sources said.
More assassinations.
Recent days have been marked by Palestinian rockets flying into Israel followed by Israeli strikes at Hamas targets.
More rockets fired into Sderot.
On Friday, Palestinian security sources said Israeli airstrikes targeting positions in and around Gaza City killed a Palestinian and wounded more than 10 others.
Another assassination.
The strikes followed a Palestinian-fired Qassam rocket hitting the yard of a house in Sderot Friday afternoon, according to the IDF and Israel Ambulance Services. At least eight rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza on Friday, officials said.
Hey, here it is again. The strikes followed the firing of the rockets. Who knew?
Also Friday, the IDF said it had carried out an aerial attack south of Gaza City against Hamas targets in an attempt to combat Palestinian rocket attacks.
Hey, here it is again. The strikes followed the firing of the rockets. Who knew?
Palestinian security sources said three Palestinians were wounded. They said the strike targeted a base of the Hamas Executive Force and a base of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.Journalist Talal Abu-Rahmi contributed to this report. Palestinian factions met to discuss a possible truce with Israel.
Well now you can be SURE that the GOI, in order to protect the Ethiopians of Sderot and the other residents from death and injury from rocket attacks, will do whatever it takes to contact these Palestinian factions and join in the talks.
May 27, 2007 GAZA CITY -- Hamas hardened its stance yesterday after a new barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed five militants, saying it would not consider a truce and calling for more attacks on Israel.
My oh my. Another airstrike and an assassination of five more Palestinians. How could I be so wrong?!
The Islamic militant group also warned Israel that if it continued its 10-day air assault, it would threaten the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier nabbed in June by Hamas-linked militants. Shalit has not been heard from or seen since his capture. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate from the rival Fatah faction, has tried in recent days to revive a cease-fire with Israel. Under his plan, Gaza militants would halt rocket fire for a month to allow for negotiations on a more comprehensive truce that would include the West Bank. After a meeting late Friday, the militant groups initially asked for 48 hours to consider the proposal. But after the rash of new air attacks yesterday, including five in less than an hour, Hamas called on its fighters to "direct painful strikes at the Zionist enemy." Hamas "will not offer a free truce to the Zionist occupation," the group said. "If there is an end to the attacks, we can talk about a truce," said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military wing.
Apparently the GOI intelligence and security groups were unaware that Abbas is trying to bring about a cease fire with Israel leading to a comprehensive peace agreement that would include the West Bank because surely the GOI wants an end to the violence and a just peace. How could they have known that if they continued to assassinate Palestinians and arrest Hamas officials, it would make Hamas reluctant to sit down at the bargaining table!?
He said Shalit's freedom was in danger, but not his life."The enemy knows that getting Shalit back is in our hands," he said. "It would be a dream" that Hamas would release him while attacks continued, he added.
Wait a minute. I nearly forgot about Corporal Gilad Shalit. Wasn’t it his kidnapping by Hamas that was the reason for the GOI doing what – was it invading Lebanon again last yea? Whoops, no, that was two other IDF soldiers. Cpl Shalit was taken by Hamas and, in another unbelievable overreaction, the GOI destroyed the Gaza power plant. Why haven’t we heard about his plight lately? Why isn’t that given as a reason for the assassinations?
Israel has launched dozens of targeted missile strikes over the past 10 days that have killed 48 Palestinians and damaged many Hamas installations in an attempt to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli border towns. Israel said some 225 rockets have landed in Israeli towns since May 15, killing one woman and sending thousands of frightened Israeli residents fleeing. Two rockets landed in Israel yesterday, including a direct hit on a home in Sderot. No one was injured. In all, Israeli aircraft launched 14 missile strikes yesterday. Before dawn, they struck near the house of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in a Gaza refugee camp, while troops in the West Bank arrested a Hamas Cabinet minister. One of the Israeli airstrikes hit a key Hamas base in Gaza City, killing five Hamas members and wounding four.
225 rockets, one Palestinian murder, with 1000s fleeing many with the help of a Russian Israeli Billionaire.
The compound was used as a training center and base for Hamas's militia, the Executive Force. Two rooms in the camp were destroyed and rescue workers searched the rubble. A nearby charity was badly damaged from the strike. Earlier yesterday, two missiles hit close to Haniyeh's house in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City. One landed around 100 yards away and the other 300 yards away, hitting trailers used by Haniyeh's bodyguards. "This is a critical stage," said Haniyeh in a statement hours after the strike. "The aggression will not achieve its goal, but will lead to more disturbance and will have serious consequences."
Dozens of GOI targeted missile strikes? How many? 48 Palestinians assassinated? How many wounded? How many building destroyed? How many Hamas officials arrested? How many families’ lives seriously disrupted? How many families living in constant fear of airstrikes and the arrest of a parent? Who will help these families to flee? Where can they go?
NEXT - CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
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