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Yesterday’s terrorist attack was different than most. Not just because “only” two people were killed (talk to their families – see if they care that it was “only” two). In case you don’t know, 4 Palestinians snuck into Israel yesterday and murdered two Israelis who were working at a fuel terminal close to the border. It is believed that they were looking to kidnap Israelis.

The Palestinian gunmen took advantage of Israel’s eases on roadblocks. As part of an agreement made when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Israel, Israel eased many restrictions on the Palestinians, including opening up a checkpoint and removing 50 roadblocks.

While Israel was transferring 127 truckloads of medical aid, diapers, and basic food supplies to the Palestinians, 4 people, backed by several different terrorist organizations, took advantage of these open crossings to enter Israel and murder 2 workers at the fuel terminal (through which, by the way, Israel has been transferring over 75,000 liters of fuel a week to the strip). At the same time, the Palestinians shot more than 50 rockets and mortal shells at Israel. For the record, the purpose of the terminal is to transfer fuel, food, and medical supplies to the Palestinians.

By the way, this is not the first time that the Palestinians have taken advantage of the humanitarian crossings: This has happened quite a few times before. There have been terrorist attacks at the Karni crossing – in January 2005, 6 people were murdered. The Erez crossing also had quite a few terrorist attacks.

Here’s my question: Why in G-d’s name would you (the terrorists and terrorist organizations) take advantage of the places that help your own people? You yell and scream to the world that you are being mistreated and neglected, and when Israel eases restrictions and transfers literally tons of humanitarian aid to your own people on a daily basis, you do the one thing that could torpedo these acts.

You are shooting yourself in the foot. In Hebrew there is a saying, “You are spitting in the well you drink from.” That is actually quite literal here. So Israel is in a position where it’s damned if it does, and damned if it doesn’t. If Israel stops transferring aid – they are committing a Holocaust and are an apartheid. If they keep it going – they’re idiots. After all, while they are helping the Palestinians, the Palestinians are helping themselves to taking Israeli lives.

If Israel makes border crossings more difficult and opens up roadblocks again – it is, again, being an apartheid, committing a Holocaust, and sins against humanity. If it keeps the status quo (the present status quo), its own citizens are in danger.

Israel has been passing much humanitarian aid to the Palestinians for quite a while. Almost 20,000 truckloads (close to half a million tons) of humanitarian aid and supplies, including food and fuel, have been transferred to the Palestinians since this summer.

Let’s pretend for a moment that terrorist attacks help you achieve your purpose of getting a Palestinian state. Let’s put aside the fact that surveys SHOW that most Israelis are for a Palestinian state. How does forcing Israel to stop providing aid or making it harder for your own people to get around serve your purpose?

Is it really worth not getting the fuel and medical supplies and food from the Israelis just to prove to the world that Israel is the Big Bad Wolf?

You are risking the lives of thousands of people for the murder of a few. I’m not expert aboutIslam – I know very little. But I know that Islam is against suicide and is supposed to be a peace-seeking religion. And surely it must be about protecting its own, right?

This isn’t even close to being the only example of Palestinians torpedoing themselves. Take for example the employment situation. The Palestinian economy is in the rocks. Let’s “ignore” the fact here that, while Arab countries support the Palestinians fight against the Zionists (Israelis don’t exist), their money is only good for terrorism, not to help their “brothers.” You can also ignore the fact that millions of dollars are transferred to the Palestinians from the US government (and Israeli government) but the people don’t get to see it.

Israel allows for a certain number of Palestinians to work inside Israel proper. (Forget the fact that we have our own homeless and unemployment issues). The recent concessions made towards the Palestinians included increasing the number of Palestinians who can work inside Israel. (Remind me how many Mexicans cross the border every day to work inside the US, please?) Just today, the Shabac, one of Israel’s intelligence agencies, publicized that they were able to stop a terrorist attack that was to be carried out by two Palestinian workers at a restaurant in Ramat Gan. (Sorry – it’s in Hebrew – I couldn’t find the English version yet.) This is only today’s example, but it’s not a new one.

Israel can’t make all of the concessions and measures of good faith without receiving something on their end. We’re not asking for anything material – all we want is for the Palestinians to stop murdering innocent people and stop launching dozens of rockets and mortars on a daily basis.

Israel has tried to meet you halfway. It’s time you do the same.

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I received this by email. I Googled it and found out that it has been published several times on different blogs, but I feel the topic is important enough to publish again. Hopefully others will do the same. This letter was written by the family of Malki Roth.

[Several months ago,] the New York Times carried a review of a film called “Hot House” that goes inside Israeli prisons and examines the lives of Palestinian prisoners. We’re not recommending the film or the review. But we do want to share our feelings with you about the beaming female face that adorns the article.

The film is produced by HBO. So it’s presumably HBO’s publicity department that was responsible for creating and distributing a glamor-style photograph of a smiling, contented-looking young woman in her twenties to promote the movie.

That female is our child’s murderer.

She was sentenced to sixteen life sentences or 320 years which she is serving in an Israeli jail. Fifteen people were killed and more than a hundred maimed and injured by the actions of this attractive person and her associates. The background is here.

Neither the New York Times nor HBO are likely to give even a moment’s attention to the victims of the barbarians who destroyed the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem and the lives of so many victims. So we would be grateful if you would pass along this link to some pictures of our daughter whose name was Malki. She was unable to reach her twenties — Hamas saw to that.

Though she was only fifteen years old when her life was stolen from her and from us, we think Malki was a beautiful young woman, living a beautiful life. We ask your help so that other people — far fewer than the number who will see the New York Times, of course — can know about her. Please ask your friends to look at the pictures — some of the very few we have — of our murdered daughter. They are here.

And remind them of what the woman in the Israeli prison — the woman smiling so happily in the New York Times — said last year. “I’m not sorry for what I did. We’ll become free from the occupation and then I will be free from prison.”

With so many voices demanding that Israel release its terrorist prisoners, small wonder she’s smiling.

With greetings from Jerusalem,
Frimet and Arnold Roth
On behalf of Keren Malki

Additional background is available here.

Malki and Michal Raziel were best friends who both perished in the terrorist attack at Sbarro. I wanted to make sure a picture of them is posted so you can put a face to the many names.

Taisir Karaki, the Arab cab driver from Jerusalem who was murdered in Tel Aviv Tuesday, will be recognized by the State of Israel as a terror victim, National Insurance Institute officials estimated.

The decision is pending the approval of the defense establishment.

Karaki was allegedly murdered by Julien Soufir, a new immigrant from France, after Karaki drove him to Tel Aviv. According to suspicion, Soufir invited Karaki to come up to his apartment and use his bathroom, and then slit his throat with a knife.

You can read the rest of the article from Ynet here.

I’m waiting for the announcement that the Palestinian Authority will pay the families of all the victims who died in terrorist attacks carried out by their people. Many of whom were commissioned by Hamas. Which their government.

One of the rockets launched this morning landed inside a classroom at a high school where students were taking their finals.

Luckily, the classroom was empty since it was not fortified, which is the only reason a huge disaster was averted. Several students were hurt in a nearby classroom and all exams were suspended.

The only students who arrived at school today were those who had to take their matriculation exams, and they were placed in fortified classrooms.

Eli Moyal, the mayor of Sderot, said that although the country and Gaydamak had buses take residents to nearby towns, it was only to “catch a breath” and not to get everyone out of the town.

That would be giving them what they want.

Extensive retaliation is being planned for Gaza.

And this isn’t a war zone? Watch this video from Channel 10 News in Israel. Someone was video taping one of the rocket attacks and the rocket landed just by him – literally. In their back yard.

Israel is going to plan a retaliation, and I’m normally against it, but seriously – over 40 rockets launched in the past 2 days, and this didn’t just start now. Dozens injured, many “only” shocked, but that’s still not normal.

Again, in case this is the first time you’re reading my blog, these rocket attacks are being carried out by the Palestinian “government” led by Hamas (along with Fatah, but they aren’t the ones trying to annihilate us.)

Also, 2 mortar shells were fired earlier today at a kibbutz in the south from Gaza. As a reminder: This group is actually their government.

I’m going to sleep. Unlike the people of Sderot, I will sleep peacefully tonight.

I wonder how many more rockets will be launched before I wake up in the morning.

I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Some of us thought that since the Palestinians were too busy killing each other over the last few days that we’d get a break.

Apparently not.

Today 13 Qassam’s were launched into Sderot, a town that has been hit by these rocketsfor years now. 18 people were wounded, including a mother and her son, when one of the rockets hit their home. Other rockets fell all over the city, including another residence and almost completely destroying an elementary school.

Hamas, who IS the government in the Palestinian Authority, has said they will continue to launch more throughout the night.

This is following the 3 rockets launched at Sderot yesterday.

I’m just not understanding how we are supposed to make peace with a government literally led by a terrorist organization.

Rockets are still being launched into Israel despite IDF activity in the area that they generally come from (duh!)

Two were launched this morning and an additional four this afternoon.

Luckily, no injuries were reported, though there was structural damage where they landed in residential areas.

In an earlier post, there was a comment about if Israel ends the occupation, then no more rockets will be launched at it.

Thing is (and I added that in my reply), I don’t believe it will end at all even if we pull out today, for the simple reason that these rockets aren’t being launched at us because of the occupation.

They’re being launched as us because we exist.

I kid you not. Another casualty of the Lebanon War – pot prices have increased 8-fold due to increased border security both in the north and the south.

Apparently the border with Lebanon has long since been fertile ground for drug trafficking into Israel, many times with full cooperation between Israeli citizens and the Hezbollah on the other side of the border.

Who says Israel and the Hezbollah can’t co-exist? All we need to do is legalize pot.

Or, actually, keep it illegal.

This post is dedicated with love to Fizz.

A Hamas militant died today while digging a tunnel to be used in the Islamic group’s fight against Israel, Hamas said in a statement.

A 20-year-old from a refugee camp in Gaza died “while fulfilling his holy mission in an underground tunnel… while he was preparing with his brothers and colleagues… to shake the Zionist entity,” the Hamas statement read.

This is actually the first time Hamas has officially announced that one of its members had died while digging tunnels used tboth to smuggle weapons from Egypt and to enter Israel to carry out terrorist attacks.

For perspective, in June Hamas militants used one of these tunnels to enter Israel and atack a military post, killing two soldiers and kidnpaping Gilad Shalit who, so far, has not returned home.

Two rockets were launched on Saturday and three more this morning at Israel. One of today’s rockets landed in Palestinian lands.

For more details, click here.

A team of Shin Bet and Ben Gurion Airport security experts recently reviewed the security arrangements at Los Angeles International Airport and suggested recommendations for improvement.The original initiative for the visit was brought up by Jack Weiss, a Los Angeles City Council member who participated in a homeland security conference held by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, during which he was very impressed by the security arrangements at Ben Gurion Airport.

Upon his return to the United States, Weiss contacted the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles to arrange a visit of Israeli security experts.

The Israeli team made patrols and held meetings with those responsible for airport security, which is about to go through a USD 500 million upgrade. The Israeli team pointed out a number of weak points and holes in the airport security system and passed on a list of recommendations to their American counterparts.

President of the Los Angeles Airport Board of Airport Commissioners Alan Rothenberg said that the Israelis had at least six suggestions to improve security, some of which were relatively easy to carry out, and others that necessitate sophisticated technological developments.

Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles Ehud Danoch said that this is an unprecedented project in which the commissioners of an Israeli governmental body, as opposed to experts from the private sector, have come to an American airport for an extensive examination of the security arrangements.

Danoch’s deputy, Yaron Gamburg, said that the visit signifies a new stage of cooperation in homeland security with the US.

For the original article, click here.

Gaza resident tries to sneak 6 kg of explosives into Israel through Karni Crossing, to Palestinian resident of Tulkarm. Police: ‘We have no doubt we prevented terror attack in Israel’

The Shin Bet, in cooperation with Southern District Police, in recent days thwarted an attempt to smuggle explosives from the Gaza Strip into Israel through the Karni Crossing, it was released for publication Wednesday.  

A number of Palestinian laborers tried to smuggle the explosives with the apparent aim of carrying out a terror attack in Israel. At the start of the week security forces discovered six kilos of standard TNT hidden inside an iron cage used to transport goods from Gaza into Israel.

The same day, three Israeli truck drivers from the Negev were detained for questioning for suspected involvement in transporting the explosives. 

An interrogation of the suspects revealed that Mahmoud Samih Abu Nagi, a Palestinian residing in Sheikh Radwan in Gaza who works at the Karni Crossing coordinated the transfer of the explosives into Israel.

Meanwhile, the same night Rami Samir Abid, 25 from Tulkarm, who was allegedly supposed to collect the TNT once it reached Israel, was arrested at his home.

 How can you say we’re not being provoked? How can you say the Palestinians want peace when they themselves are treatening us with rocket attacks and suicide bombing with the sole purpose of provoking at attack on Israel???

This is an article from WorldNetDaily

By: Aaron Klein, WND

Several senior terror leaders in Gaza told WorldNetDaily that terror groups allied with Hamas in the Gaza Strip are planning a series of large-scale attacks against Israeli positions near Gaza “within the coming days,” including rocket attacks, suicide bombings against Jewish communities and raids of Israeli military posts.

Palestinian and Israeli security officials said they are aware of the attack plans. Israel said it beefed up security at Gaza border crossings.

The Palestinian officials said the threatened large-scale attacks, which they claimed may be imminent, are meant to provoke an Israeli military response in Gaza that would unite the Palestinians and thwart any attempt by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

“The Israelis have misunderstood the period of calm in last few weeks and months. This was the calm before the storm,” Abu Abir, spokesman of the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees terror organization, told WorldNetDaily.

“The Palestinian resistance will carry out very soon a big offensive that will include shootings of rockets for a distance farther then until recently; it will include tunnel attacks and suicide attacks inside Israel,” Abu Abir said.

The terror leader urged Israel to respond with a Gaza assault.

“We wish Israel will come in (to Gaza) in a bigger way because we will turn the entire area of the Israeli operation into a big cemetery filled with Zionist soldiers,” Abu Abir said.

The Popular Resistance Committees is an umbrella of several terror groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Islamist sections of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared “military wing” of Abbas’ Fatah party. Israel says the Committees carries out terror attacks at the direction of Hamas.

Abu Ahmed, the northern Gaza commander of the Al Aqsa Brigades, told WND today his group decided to participate in the coming spate of theatened attacks from Gaza.

“The United States is pressuring Fatah leaders like (Gaza-based Fatah strongman and former PA security chief) Mohammad Dahlan into collaborating with them and dismantling the Palestinian government. We will not let the US dictate the future of the Palestinian people,” Abu Ahmed said.

Abu Ahmed said while his cell of the Brigades will work with Hamas, other Al Aqsa Brigades cells may not.

Asked whether his group is planning to attack Israel in order to stall the dismantlement of the Hamas-led government, the Committees Abu Abir replied, “No. But these attacks will mark to our people that the enemy is Israel. Killing Israelis hurts the Americans and the Israelis and this is who we should target. Not each other.”

The last major Hamas-led attack from Gaza was a well-coordinated raid through a tunnel of an Israeli military station at the Gaza border during which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. The attack, which took place in June, resulted in the first large Israeli ground assault of the Gaza Strip since the Jewish state vacated the territory last August.

Israeli security officials say they have received multiple attack warnings against the same military station in recent weeks. They also said they received warnings of possible tunnels dug from Gaza into nearby Jewish communities.

Hamas won a majority of Palestinian parliamentary seats in elections earlier this year. According to multiple press reports Abbas has been considering dismantling the Hamas-led PA.

As Palestinian president, Abbas has the authority to abolish the PA and establish an emergency government that he would head for three months, at which point new elections would be held. Under certain circumstances, Abbas can maintain and lead the emergency government indefinitely, usurping Hamas’ power

Major Hamas-Fatah clashes are feared if Abbas dismantles the PA, said Israeli and Palestinian security officials.

Last month Hamas and Fatah engaged in heavy gunfights in Gaza, Judea and Samaria after negotiations to establish a national unity government between the two appeared to have fallen through.

Even if any Hamas-directed attacks are not carried out, Israel might still conduct a major military operation in the Gaza Strip in the near future, according to senior Israeli Defense Force officers speaking to WND yesterday.

The IDF officers said the Israeli military is set to present battle plans for approval by the government here later this week for a large-scale Gaza offensive. The IDF assault, a version of which includes reoccupying the Philadelphi Route between Egypt and Gaza, is aimed at blocking weapons smuggling routes, confiscating weaponry already transferred into Gaza, halting the rocket-firing at Jewish communities and badly damaging Gaza’s terror infrastructure.

The officials said the offensive is “crucial” for Israel’s security and would be the largest military operation launched against Palestinian terror groups in Gaza since Israel evacuated the territory last year.

The statements follow the regular firing of rockets by Palestinians in Gaza aimed at nearby Jewish communities and continued reports that massive amounts of weaponry have been smuggled into the territory from neighboring Egypt.

Meanwhile, if Abbas indeed dismantles the Hamas-led Palestinian government, there are fears Hamas might target both Israeli and regional United States interests.

A report in Time Magazine this past weekend quoted several anonymous Hamas sources claiming the US was urging Abbas to dismantle the PA. The sources, speaking to Time anonymously, said clandestine meetings were held in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to discuss the possibility of targeting the US

The report said the Israeli intelligence estimate is that for now Hamas will restrain from targeting the US, but if its government is toppled such restraint could dissipate.

Speaking openly to WorldNetDaily on Sunday, Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas’ so-called military wing in Gaza, confirmed the Time report.

“The Americans are supporting Israel unfairly and are playing a leading role in the conspiracy against the (Hamas led) Palestinian government. All Palestinians feel a hatred toward the American government and wouldn’t mind attacks (against it), but for now we are limiting our fight to Palestine,” said Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas’ Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas’ declared “resistance” department.

Abu Abdullah warned to WND that if the Hamas government is “toppled” with the help of the US then “all options are open.”

When I was snoozing this morning between alarm rings, I realized that there is a fundamental difference between Israel and the Palestinians that will prevent peace from occuring in the region.

While the Israeli government acts against the Palestinians when provoked, Israeli individuals don’t.

The bible says “an eye for an eye” but the people don’t implement it. That is, if every person who was personally vicitimized in any way (which, unfortunately, is almost everyone – there is not one person in Israel who hasn’t lost someone or has a friend who lost someone) in this conflict (general conflict, not the recent Lebanese war) were to implement  the “eye for an eye” rationale, both our peoples would be wiped off the earth.

The Palestinians need to put faith in their elected government. For heaven’s sake – they have a government! Why all the resistance organizations? Put faith in your elected government to “revenge” for you or act in your name.

If you continue to take “an eye for an eye” literally (or whatever the Quran says), then this will never end.