Rockets Hit Sderot and Ashkelon; Land by Preschool

Two rockets landed in Ashkelon this morning, one directly hitting an 8-story building and another landing in a playground. 28 people were evacuated to a nearby hospital. The IDF has pulled out of Gaza, so clearly the rocket fire has nothing to do with our actions there (nor did it stop anything).

A short time later, 3 Qassams landed in Sderot and just south of Ashkelon. Another rocket landed by a kindergarten in Ashkelon where the kindergarten teachers claim they did not even hear the Tzeva Adom (Color Red) warning.

According to Ynet,

Sunday saw dozens of Qassam, Grad rockets and mortar shell fired at the western Negev: Two rockets landed in Sderot – one hit a house and caused several people to suffer shock; and the other hit a power transformer, which caught on fire, causing a temporary blackout in the area.

A Grad rocket fired at Ashkelon on Sunday hit a house in the city’s center. One girl suffered mild shrapnel injuries. Three children were in the house at the time of the Color Red alert – all three rushed to their secure room, thus avoiding any serious injury.

Several rockets fired Sunday landed at Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira’s (the Baba Sali) gravesite in Netivot.

Over 40 Rockets Launched at Israel Yesterday

No, this isn’t a repeat of the post from last week. More rockets landed in Ashkelon, with direct hits in private homes (children hurt).

Today over 20 rockets have been launched towards the Negev, and it’s only 1 pm.

Check out this blog post. It gives a glimpse into 36 hours of constant rocket attacks from the point of view of Laura Bialis, an independent filmmaker whose documentary, Refusnik, will be premiering in the Seattle Jewish Film Festival. Bialis has been living in Sderot. Here is a shortened account of this past weekend. You can read the entire entry here.

Friday, 3:00AM:
Tzeva Adom (Color Red Alert) does not go off, but there is a weird alarm going off– its the thing that goes off after there are several Tzeva Adoms in a row. It wakes us all up, and we don’t know what to do– do we run to the shelter? Maybe it is a mistake. I make a mental note to try and interview someone about the Tzeva Adom system.

Six Rockets Launched at Israel on Friday

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.

Exaggerated Conspiracy Theories

I’m sick and tired of people complaining all the time.

I’m sick and tired of people making excuses.

I’m sick and tired of people blaming others for their mistakes.

I’m sick and tired of people not owning up to their actions and consequently resigning their posts.

But more than anything, I’m sick of conspiracy theories, more specifically the Jewish ones.

I’m sick and tired of people blaming the Jews for everything. If something is wrong, blame it on Israel. It’s like in my old job, when I worked in television. I dealt with everything that had to do with the tapes, and there was a producer who didn’t like me very much.

Every time that something would go wrong, she would blame me, even if it wasn’t my fault. The highlight was when the soundman accidentally pressed a button that made a fart sound go off on live TV. When we were off air, the producer yelled at me.

So I yelled back. Do I look like a sound man?! WTF?!

The point of my rant is this: today I saw that the Daily Star in Lebanon said today that Israel’s attack on Lebanese factories was due to us losing bids to them in the international market.

In what world would a country lose hundreds of lives for milk?! Are you insane?! Okay, so maybe the folks got pissed, but get real! No one would call the army to bomb a city because of a lost bid to sell dairy products to UN forces in Lebanon?

As opposted to some countries we know, Israel values the life of its citizens, and would never consiously put them at risk.

Especially not for cottage cheese.

Get real.

Israeli Clothes – Now in Ramallah

The Israeli apparel chain H&O have opened their newest children store in an unlikely place: The Plaza shopping mall in Ramallah.

A source among the owners of the mall APSC said that they are planning to increase future business with Israeli companies and they believe that business can be used as a bridge for peace. “The problem starts when people have no money, and then they don’t have any education and they turn to violence and extremism,” he said. 

I’m not sure it lays down the building blocks for peace, but it certainly can’t hurt… 

Four Rockets Launched at Israel Today – Several Wounded

The Israeli Defense Forces’ recent operation in the Gaza Strip has been specifically designed to shut down the operations that keep sending rockets into southern Israel.

In the past year alone, around 300 Qassam rockets have been launched into Israel from the area of Beit Hanun.

For the entire article, click here.

Preachers: Ramadan prayers caused US deaths in Iraq

With October becoming the most deadly month for US troops in Iraq in nearly two years, Palestinian preachers in several major mosques in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are celebrating the anti-American violence as a gift from Allah bestowed upon Muslims through prayer during the holy month of Ramadan, according to congregants.

One preacher in the West Bank city of Hebron said that the death of  American troops is promised by Allah in the holy Quran.

For the entire story from WorldNetDaily click here.

Lebanon War Causes Pot Prices to Spike

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.

Hamas: Militant Died While Digging Tunnel to Fight Israel

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.

5 Qasam Rockets Launched at Israel

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.

Israeli Defence Forces Present: Anti-Missile Tables

This ain’t no joke, folks. Due to the enormous amount of missiles being launched at Israel, the IDF has decided to place concrete tables in classrooms across Ashkelon. In the event of a missile launch at Ashkelon, students would be able to hide under their tables.

Sderot, which has been hit significantly more times than Ashkelon, already has fortified classrooms in all their schools.

The problem with Ashkelon, however, is that there are too many schools in the city, therefore making them safe will take years.

Ahskelon schools all have shelters in them, however the ones in the south of the city are old and don’t have enough room for all the students.

The problem in the newer schools isn’t much better, seeing as the shelters are too far away for the children to reach them with the short (under a minute) warning system that is currently in place.

Click here for a full article about this from Ynet.

Israel to Upgrade Security in LA Airport

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.

Terrorist Attack In Israel Thwarted

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.

Terrorists: Major Attacks Against Israel on Their Way

 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.

An Olive Branch for an Eye

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.